Harvest Church Arroyo Grande

More Practical Faith Living

1 (1s): Welcome to churchy stand. As we worship this morning, how beautiful it is to be in the house of the Lord. 0 (14s): Finding the nine. She Oh, to him. 0 (1m 35s): And before the I stand complete, Jesus died. She To him. 0 (3m 11s): I see. And have that to cramped and stayed. He watched Jesus, paid it 2 (3m 27s): All 0 (3m 28s): To him. I 2 (3m 31s): See 0 (3m 32s): Dan had left a crazy insane. He watched, he washed, he washed it a wide as, 3 (3m 52s): Hey, everybody. Welcome to harvest church. My name is Curtis and I just got a couple of announcements for you. But first you should know that the info center is like the hub around here. So if you want to get connected, then that's the way that's where you should go from here. You just go up the driveway. If you're in the patio, you go down the driveway. If you're in the left, you'd like to the left. You'll you'll figure it out. It's got big signs. Can't miss it. So if you want to get connected with any life groups, there's life groups for men and women, recreational groups, there's every kind of group you can imagine. So please, if you want to get further connected, you can join a life group there. Let's say, if you want to give, you can give in here at the collection boxes in every venue at the collection box or online at the gift task. 3 (4m 37s): So with that, let's just pray. And also if you have kids sixth grade and up visit six fifth, and they're going to be released after worship. So just be aware of that. So Lord Jesus, we just thank you so much that you paid it all. Lord, you paid it all on our behalf. Jesus, and you have given you gave everything so that we could have life in you so we can have relationship with you. And so that we don't have to feel condemnation because of her sins because of her doing so Jesus, we are so eternally grateful for setting us free for giving us new purpose in you and God. 3 (5m 21s): So we just want to worship you with everything in us. And we just, we just praise you, Lord Jesus name. Amen. 1 (5m 35s): Where should you this morning? Jesus. We are expecting God. You are here. You are. So this morning we, we don't waste time depressing. We know that you were the king of Kings and the Lord 0 (6m 4s): The people see The people. 2 (6m 38s): See 4 (10m 54s): I just want to speak the name of Jesus, Every heart and every mind. Cause I know there is peace within your breasts. I speak G I just want to speak the name of Jesus. Every God Declare me there is hope and there is free. 4 (11m 38s): I speak G Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. 4 (13m 36s): In the dark, every yen I fam I span the whole 5 (15m 14s): Thank you, Lord. Thank you for the power. That is the name of Jesus. Goodness. I think we forget sometimes Lord, the power of your name to break through strongholds Lord. As we speak the power with the name of Jesus, the person and the work finished work of the Lord Jesus over our lives and families. Lord there's there's hope. There's the ability to endure Lord God in your name. Jesus. So Lord God, give us a glimpse of your power. The resurrection power of Jesus that heals the sick and raises the dead and sets people free. Thank you, Lord God. 5 (15m 54s): We're wherever we need to be healed in Jesus' name. We pray that your power would just touch our lives. Lord God, I think about pastor Rick at Calvary chapel in Nepal, Mo and Cheryl are missionary to Israel. Lord, both of them battling cancer right now, we just got, we just ask Lord God that you would release your power in their bodies. Lord God, for the host of others who are dealing with chronic illness and pain and discomfort in their bodies, Lord God cancer and sickness and disease. Lord, I just pray in Jesus name God that you would work powerfully and intentionally in our lives. Lord God, there would just be a healing outpour of your power and your grace. 5 (16m 35s): Lord God. So minister, Lord to minister, to our friends and family who are in need today. Bless pastor Rick Jenkins, Lord touch every spot in his body. Those five areas that he's got cancer. We just pray that you would touch him and heal him. God, that you would encourage his wife, Tina encourage their congregation. I'd pray their church in Nepal Mo bless them with hope and encouragement, guidance, provision, and direction. Lord for Cheryl Lord as she's she's been so faithful Lord to preach the gospel, to proclaim the good news in Israel and everywhere she goes, Lord God. We just pray to God that you'd bless her Buster with healing and grace and power for what she's needed, what for what she needs in her body. 5 (17m 22s): Lord God do wonderful and supernatural things. Lord things that only you can do, God, God, we call out to you for things that only you can do. And we ask that you would do that now. Lord, thank you for your grace. We love you, Lord. Thank you for loving us in Jesus name. Amen. Turn to greet your neighbor. We'll come right back. 8 (18m 38s): The words 5 (19m 47s): Alrighty. Welcome back. Yeah. I had to get a little throat lozenge. My throat was I'm not cooperating and the while I'm back there, my son's on the, on the command central back there and he gave me just this amazing little massage just now. So that's why I was taking a while. He's like, let me get it. He's just digging into me. Have you ever gotten a good back rub, whatever We're in Hebrews chapter 13 today and the title of the message. More practical faith livings. We talked about practical faith living last week. We're talking about even more practical faith, this, this week more practical faith living and kind of be covering some verses. 5 (20m 31s): So Thank you Lord. 9 (20m 38s): Yeah, I feel like we should, 5 (20m 39s): Again, Lord, we just invite your presence. God, God, that we've, we've all kind of greeted and worshiped and prayed together Lord, and we're praying together some more Lord. I just pray that you would have opened our hearts to you. God, I, I just know that you're going to speak something to us and encourage us and challenge us. And we want you to do that. Lord. We want you to do all of those things, building us up in our most holy faith Lord. So God do what you want to do. Lord will, will be submitted to that. Lord harvest church is your church and where your people. So we want to hear your, your, your word today. So bless us as we do in Jesus name. Amen. 5 (21m 20s): More practical faith living Hebrews 13, eight says keep focused on the changeless or excuse me, Jesus. That's the first title. Go ahead and put it up there. First point. Keep, I just preach this message. Do you think I'd have it like down right now, but I got, I think I got distracted from that neck rub. So I've got to get focused again. Number one in your notes, keep focused on the changeless. Perfection of Jesus. Hebrews 13, eight says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. I grew up in a Foursquare Foursquare church for about six years. And that's like their theme verse as Hebrews 13, eight, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He's immutable. 5 (22m 1s): He doesn't change. He is faithful. He is reliable. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He's our past sacrifice for sin yesterday. Like he died for our sins past present and future sins. He is our present intercessor today. Like he's at the right hand of the throne of God, constantly making intercession for us. He's praying for you. He's praying for me. So he's died for us, cleansing us of our sin, removing sin from our lives and then he's interceding for us. And he is our future forever. 5 (22m 43s): He is the purpose of our lives. Not before we know him, but when we come to faith in him, we realize that he is the purpose for our lives. He saves us out of darkness and he plants our feet on a solid foundation who is Christ the Lord. And then he gives us purpose in the earth. When we come to faith in Jesus, we begin to realize that whatever it was before, it's not it now, whatever our focus and our priorities were before now, Jesus takes the throne of our lives and he is our priority and our focus. And honestly he makes everything else better. So if you're your family was your priority for make Jesus your priority, your family will be better than ever. 5 (23m 24s): If your marriage was your priority before make Jesus your priority and your marriage will be better than ever. If your vocation was your priority before make Jesus your priority. And you'll bless that area of your life as well, seek first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness and everything else, everything else will be added unto you. The scripture says, so we need to keep focused on the changeless perfection of Jesus. So the writer of Hebrews is challenging the people to stay focused in a world that is full of distractions. Then, and now we have to constantly be thinking about Jesus, making him our priority, keeping focused on the change of this perfection of Jesus. 5 (24m 7s): Jesus Christ is changeless and perfect in every way. His sacrifice on the cross is the only answer to man's sin. So he met our needs. He, he is constantly interceding for us on our behalf and he's got this incredible eternal plan. Jesus, his sacrifice, intercession, his plan. It's all about Jesus. And it's all because of Jesus, his plan, his purpose, his way. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. He's immutable, eternal and final. He is the judge. He's the bedrock of our faith. And so we always need to come back to Jesus, right? 5 (24m 47s): We never graduate and beyond Jesus, we never moved beyond Jesus. We're always in this state of dependence on him, where we need to forever make him our priority and the foundation of every area and arena of our lives in a culture that says you're the most important person in a culture that says your needs are the most important needs in a culture that says you are your own little God. We confront that culture with the reality that Jesus has God in Jesus is Lord of our lives. And when we come to faith in him, scripture says, if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, that God has raised him from the dead. You will be saved. 5 (25m 29s): And so we're talking about Lordship leadership. I mean, he gets to tell me what to do. He gets to tell me how to do it. He gets to tell me how to spend my life, gets to tell, tell me how to spend my time, my money, everything he gets to tell me whatever he wants to tell me, because I've submitted my life. I've come under the authority of the person of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I wonder if we fully grasp our need for Jesus and his gospel or is Jesus and the gospel something we've just kind of added to our lives. It's an appendage. We carry it around with us or has it been all consuming? Has, has Jesus made himself so real in our needs? So of him so real that we've just, we've taken him in and breathed him in and we've consumed him and we've allowed him to consume us. 5 (26m 14s): If we haven't done that, then we probably are missing the reality of the situation that we are desperately lost without him. We are not good at all in a culture that tells us we're good. The Bible says there is none righteous. No, not one, not even one. John Calvin wrote only those who have learned well to be earnestly dissatisfied with themselves and to be confounded shame at their wretchedness, truly understand the Christian gospel. We don't like the word shame, but, but as we look at the sinfulness of our lives, we need to be ashamed of that. 5 (26m 58s): We need to, we need to have a humble disgust Discontentment with our lives. I'll read that again. Only those two have learned well to be earnestly dissatisfied with themselves and to be confounded with shame at their wretchedness, truly understand the Christian gospel next verse, Hebrews 13, nine. So do not be attracted by strange new ideas then. And now the church has to be challenged, not to be attracted and distracted by strange new ideas. The enemy will always try to attract us to strange new ideas and the enemies pretty. 5 (27m 43s): I was actually reading this recently. The enemy is actually pretty good at delivering on his promise for a moment. Like if you do this sin, that will feel good and he's right for a moment. Right? But, but we don't see the full cost of that decision because the enemy is not going to show us that I was reading a story about a pastor who had many, many affairs extramarital affairs. And you know, the temptation is if it feels good, do it. And it feels good for a moment, whatever it is. But the price tag is unbearable. 5 (28m 26s): So for that guy, the price tag was his marriage for that guy. The price tag was his children for that guy, that price tag was his grandchildren for that guy. The price tag was his church and his ministry and his life as he knew it. And so the enemy will deliver on his promise to please you for a moment. But we got to remember the wages of sin is death. The penalty is always death. There's always a price to be paid. What are we willing to pay? So, Nope, don't be attracted by strange new ideas. Your strength comes from God's grace, not from rules about food, which don't help those who follow them. So let's look at these two, this verse in two sections, the first part of this verse. 5 (29m 10s): So do not be attracted by strange new ideas. First of all, there's nothing new under the sun. So everything that we're being tempted with today, the enemy has been tempting. People for generations, for thousands of years, strange or new stranger, new would be anything contrary or foreign to God's plan of salvation, anything different than the good news that Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross provided that Jesus provided the means of forgiveness and eternal life. If we're beginning to build our lives on anything else we're missing the mark, the enemy will always try to introduce subtle changes to sound doctrine. 5 (29m 50s): Why? Because if your doctrine can be corrupted, then your conduct can be corrupted. And if your conduct can be corrupted, your lives can be destroyed. And that's the goal is to steal, kill, and destroy. That's his purpose in the earth is steal, kill and destroy the apostle Paul address. This problem in gold, in the Galatians church in Galatians one six through eight, he wrote, I'm shocked that you are turning away so soon from God who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. They began to fall back into their old ways of relating to God and maybe earning God's favor that they begin to move back into the old covenant way of thinking the old law way of thinking and Paul so surprised, but I kind of get it. 5 (30m 47s): You know, we can kind of manage the law in our, you know, when we're delusional and think we can actually keep the law. The Bible says, if you break one part of the law, you're guilty of breaking all the laws. So the reality is that we can't keep any of the law, even if we're good in one area, we broken the other. And so we're guilty of breaking the whole law. So, but we, we kind of come up with this convoluted idea that I can do a, B and C one, two and three. And so the enemy gets us focused on those things, but in doing so where we've divorced ourselves from our need for Christ, whose grace is sufficient, who said, Hey, because you weren't or enabled to keep the whole law because you weren't able to attain righteousness in your own works. I came and it became your sacrifice. 5 (31m 28s): Your final sacrifice, you were following a different way. Paul said that pretends to be the good news, but it's not the good news at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. And this is the reality. Every other faith, every other religion under the sun will always twist the truth about who Jesus is. So they describe him and define him in a lesser way than this. Holy scripture is define and describe him. They will always limit him. He will always be less than what the scriptures declare him to be. 5 (32m 10s): So he's not the king of all Kings. He's not God incarnate. He's a God. The Jehovah's witnesses will say, he's not the king of the eternal one. He's the spirit brother of Lucifer Mormons will say new agers will say that he was a good teacher, that he was an enlightened leader, but that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says he is king. That is eternal. And that he is the one way to the father. Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life. And no man comes to the father except through me. Every other faith in the world, humanism secularism in any ism will, will define and describe Jesus in lesser terms than what the scripture describes and defines Jesus. 5 (32m 55s): And so this is why we always go back to the scripture. We always find our theology and our, our beliefs about who God is through the word of God, not even internal sources, although some external sources will help us understand the word of God, but that's the word of God that ultimately speaks to our understanding. Galatians one continues, let God's curse fall on anyone, including us, or even an angel from heaven who preaches a different kind of a good news than the one we preach to you. I say it again. What we have said before, if anyone preaches any other good news, then the one you welcome. Let that person be cursed because that person is leading people astray. 5 (33m 42s): God's coming, that we might have life and life abundantly. People preaching a different gospel. Once you lay heavy burdens on us and distract us from the life that God has called us to live. Second part of verse nine says your strength comes from God's grace, not from rules about food, which don't help. Those who followed them. Paul explains to Timothy in first Timothy four, one through five. Now the holy spirit tells us clearly that in the last times, in the last days, some will turn away from the true faith. They will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 5 (34m 22s): So I'm going to say something it's unpopular. Every other faith in the world that isn't about Christ is demonic. It's it's, it's, it's, it's in their religion and their experiences. Four is informed by the enemy of our soul. It's demonic. Even those who seem like they're doing some incredible work. It is. It's an invention of Satan. It's a counterfeit, it's demonic. And this is what we see here. I'll read it again. Now the holy spirit tells us clearly that in the last times, in the last days, some will turn away from the true faith and they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 5 (35m 8s): These are people, these people are hypocrites and liars and their consciences are dead. They will say it's wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods, but God created those foods to be eaten with. Thanks by faithful people who know the truth, since everything God created is good. We should not reject any of it, but receive it with thanks for, we notice made acceptable by the word of God and prayer. So there's this temptation to become a POS state, to begin to move away from the truth of the gospel, to begin to dilute and to redefine what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And we begin to mix in like, it's our option to mix in new age philosophies and ideologies and thinking and other religious and worldly things we get. 5 (35m 56s): We think we can kind of mixed all that in and serve Jesus. When the reality is that we need to examine our lives, eliminate everything that is godless and new age and contrary to the scripture and eliminate it and just make the word of God, our focus and our priority. So there's this apostasy, this kind of falling away. We see it. More people just begin to slip, begin to compromise, begin to change, begin to fall away from the truth. It's demonic. It's this apostasy is falling away. It's demonic, it's deceptive. And it's distorted in its origin. 5 (36m 38s): These deceiving spirits are evil and work in individuals to promote chaos and to seduce them into believing false doctrines concerning God, Jesus concerning the church concerning the Bible and especially the way of salvation. So the enemy is constantly trying to confuse us about the truth. And so we just need to be constantly opening up the word of God. Every time I open up the Bible old or new Testament, I get clarity. No matter what I'm dealing with. If it's an old Testament passage or a new Testament passage is I open up the scripture and just avail myself to the word of God, my heart, my mind, my spirit. I just get clarity about things. I get clarity about who I am in Christ. 5 (37m 20s): I get clarity about who God is and about what he's doing in the world. I get peace. I get, I get joy. I get clarity because of the truth that is spoken to me. So our spiritual strength comes from God's grace, which is communicated to us through God's word, not from religious rules, that demand conformity, but lack any ability to spiritually strengthen or give eternal life. I mean, that's what the religious elite in Jesus' day were all about. The Sadducees and the Pharisees. They were about he being expectations on the people, never lifting a finger to actually help them work called as the body of Christ to use our gifts, to Edify, to build up the church, to build people up in their most holy faith. 5 (38m 0s): And so God has called us to do what he's doing. He's speaking to people to lighten their load. Jesus said, come to me, all you who labor and every lady I will, I will give you rest of your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So anything that's contrary to scripture, maybe you're feeling experiencing it. If you're, if you're feeling the weight of something on your, your shoulders or in your soul, you need to figure out what it is. Maybe the Lord's trying to convict you. Sometimes conviction and condemnation seem very similar. But the difference is that when we ask the Lord, what's going on, am I feeling convicted? Or am I condemned? And the Lord will show us, he'll show you a sin that you're being convicted about, or he'll show you that it's the enemy of your shoulder trying to condemn you. 5 (38m 43s): And so if it's the enemy of your soul, trying to condemn you, then you just need to cast that out in Jesus name. I just say, Lord, would you get rid of that in Jesus' name? That's not from you. I don't want to carry that around. And if it's a conviction for a sin or something, I've in word thought or deed, I've done. I say, Lord, forgive me. And then we just move forward. I always encourage us to keep short accounts with Jesus, keep short accounts. If you stumble, acknowledge it, admit it, repent of it and move forward. That's the gospel. That's your whole life. You'll be doing that until you go to meet Jesus until he arrives until he takes us home, we will be doing that same thing. Get used to it, get humble about it. Get excited about it. 5 (39m 23s): Because when we confess our sins, he is faithful. And just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, our spiritual strength comes from God's grace that is communicated through his word and his, the reality of who we are in Christ, Romans 14, 17 says this for the kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the holy spirit. When you're walking with Jesus, the way that God has invited us to walk with him, this is what you'll be experiencing life of goodness and peace and joy in the holy spirit, goodness, and peace and joy in the holy spirit. And that our aim like I wanna, I wanna experience that. 5 (40m 6s): Well, w the way you experience it as just by honoring Jesus, by walking with Jesus, to just be with the Lord, constantly be praying with, without ceasing. You're just, you're, you know, I was out in the garden yesterday, pruning things, and I'm just praying the whole time. And I, it just, there's just something about that lifestyle. Yeah. I don't do it perfectly, but there's something about it that brings goodness and peace and joy in the holy spirit. Verse 18. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, in that great news. We're always wondering how do I please, God, right? This is how you please God living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the holy spirit. 5 (40m 49s): If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God and others will approve of YouTube verse 19. So then let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up harmony in the church when we're operating out of any other priority, out of any other motivation, there's going to be pride in our lives. I don't know about you, but well, pride I'm con I'm like harsh with people and critical of people think I'm better than I really am. And then God gets my attention. Then I realize, and then all of a sudden, out of that reality, that truth I'm I I'm able to extend grace and I'm able to do what God has called me to do in my life. 5 (41m 30s): Not just as a leader, pastor, but as a father, husband, grandfather, all of us things let's continue. Continue in Hebrews 13, 10. It says we have an altar from which the priests in the tabernacle have no right to eat. Why? Because that old system, that old religious system is dead. It's obsolete. Jesus has made it dead and obsolete. So the writer's making a clear distinction here, the old and the new system, Jesus has called us into this new covenant, whereby we are saved by grace through faith, and that he has offered himself as the final sacrifice. 5 (42m 13s): And so these priests who are stuck in the old system have no access to this. Alter the priest under the operating under the old system, have no access to the altar of the Lord. Jesus Christ. When we're operating out of works and trying to please God through our good works, we've got no access to the grace of Lord Jesus Christ. We're saying, Hey, I'm choosing works. We need to choose Jesus Christ offered his life on the altar of sacrifice once for all time, making final atonement for the sins of man once. And for all the old covenant is obsolete. Hebrews 1311 says that under the old system, under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the holy place as a sacrifice for sin. 5 (43m 1s): And the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. Under the old covenant, constant sacrifice was needed to atone for the sins of the people. Hebrews 7 23 says this. There were many priests under the old system for death, prevented them from, from remaining in office. But because Jesus lives forever. He's eternal. His priesthood lasts forever there for, he is able once and forever to save to save. And that word means to save completely. The word is so Zoho. It means to save completely, to make whole and to heal. This is the power of the salvation that's available to us in Christ. 5 (43m 44s): He's able to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. Hebrews seven continues. He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people, but Jesus, but Jesus did this once for all. When he offered himself as a sacrifice for the people's sins, as we serve God, it's imperative that we keep focused on the changeless perfection of Jesus. 5 (44m 30s): There's a thousand things that try to distract us. Why do we need to stay focused on the changeless perfection of Jesus? Because our strength comes from his grace. Our strength comes from the reality of who he is and the reality of who we have become as followers of Jesus. Hebrews four 16 says, so let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There, we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it. Most. Number two more practical, faith living number two, live boldly, and be willing to look the fool for Jesus, Live boldly and be willing to look the fool for Jesus. 5 (45m 13s): Most of us aren't willing to do that. We're uncomfortable even bringing up the name of Jesus. If we're honest, most of us would have a hard time even telling somebody that Jesus loves them, let alone look the fool for Jesus, but really that's what he's called us to do to live completely devoted and committed to him, Willing to say, do, go wherever, whatever the Lord would have us to do. Verse 12 says, so also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. So Jesus is crucified out side. The city, a picture may be of his separation from the old religious system. 5 (45m 57s): Normally the priests Could eat, whatever was left over after the sacrifice was made. But on the day of a Toma, the leftover sacrifice is taken outside the city to be burned. Jesus' atoning work was accomplished outside the city, outside the religious system of the day. So verse 13 says, so let us go out to him outside the camp and bear the disgrace. He bore. What disgrace did he bear? He hung naked on a cross 9 (46m 27s): Scorned, 5 (46m 28s): Beaten, pierced Crucified for my sin. He hung there naked in front of everybody dying for my sin. And I'm afraid to even tell somebody about him. 9 (46m 43s): There's 5 (46m 43s): Something's got to shake loose in us, Whereby we decide in Jesus' name, that we're not going to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ whereby we're. We're going to stand firm as followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And we're going to point people to him. We're, we're declaring to the world, to our friends, with our family, with, with tastes, but with kindness and love and with conviction, we're declaring that Jesus is his Lord. So let us go out to him outside the camp and bear the disgrace Gracie board. We should be willing to at least emulate the one we follow. Maybe this will change your mind. The Bible says here in verse 14 for this world is not our permanent home. 5 (47m 26s): This world is not our permanent home. We are looking forward to a home yet to come. And yet we're so settled in into this life. We're trying to make this life so comfortable and so amazing. We're not even thinking about the world to come. So we're not thinking about our friends and family who will die one day apart from Christ and go straight to their judgment straight into the fiery pits of hell. We're not thinking about that because we're just trying to, we're just trying to make this life comfortable. We're just trying to make investments so that we can retire someday and travel and do all of the things that we want to do. Not once thinking about the people around us, I was talking to a friend of mine over lunch on Friday, and he was saying, my dentist, that I've been going to for 25 years passed away. 5 (48m 12s): And I realized when I heard that he passed that I had never once shared the gospel with him. And I'm thinking to myself, I've never once shared the gospel with my dentist. You know, we've got these people in our lives and we compartmentalize them. Like I'm here for a checkup. I'm not going to bring Jesus into the conversation. I'm just here for this or my gardeners here to cut the lawn. I'm not going to bring Jesus into the conversation or my coworkers, or I've been working with them for decades, but I'm not going to bring Jesus into the conversation. I don't want things to become awkward. I don't want things to be come uncomfortable. The gospel is awkward. 5 (48m 52s): It's uncomfortable. It confronts our sinfulness and it needs to confront our sinfulness. I'm so glad that the gospel was communicated to me. It radically changed my life forever and all my descendants forever. It's changed my life. So glad somebody decided to broach that uncomfortable conversation. Tell me that I'm a sinner in need Jesus. We want to soft pedal it. Jesus will make your life great. And you give your life to Jesus is going to be like one of the hardest things did you ever do? Trying to walk that out, trying to remain faithful, opening up the word every day. Praying constantly. I'm reading the scripture in the old Testament king David, before he's anointed king, but he's not there yet. 5 (49m 35s): He becomes king at age 30, but as he's working his way there, he's praying at every turn about battles about confrontations, Lord, what do you want me to do? It's just, it's this life of surrender to God where we're saying, God, is this what you want for my life? Is this the path? Is this the conversation? Is this the confrontation? Whatever it is, Lord, I w I'm willing to do that. So we can't soft pedal it because soon as things get difficult for people like we know it gets difficult for people. Is it ever been difficult for you as a follower of Jesus? Absolutely. So don't say it's going to be easy and all you're going to receive as God's grace. I mean, that's, you'll receive God's grace, but you're entering into a battle. That's worth it. It's like you've got enlisted into the Marine Corps and you're going to the front lines. 5 (50m 20s): So we need to be honest about the truth of what's going on. Hey, you need Jesus. He died for your sins. Give him control of your, and he will radically change your life forever. That's really what it's all about, right? It's not about just showing up to church on a Sunday morning, click in that box. And it's about giving your life to Jesus. If you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, how do we miss that Lord over everything. My time, my talent, my treasure, my whole life. Jesus. I'm surrendered to you. My whole life belongs to you. Nothing is withheld. That's that's the call. Jesus said to his disciples, come and follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. 5 (51m 2s): Leave your boats, leave your family, come and follow me. And I will give you a whole new purpose in life. We had Christianity like it's an appendage or like something in our tool belt. Like it's something, you know, and we totally miss it. And I wonder, we've never felt passionate about sharing the gospel with people. It's, hasn't really impacted our lives very much. When Jesus begins to impact your life, you'll start telling people about him. Cause he matters to you. He's transformed your life. I was talking to a friend of mine earlier this last week and she was talking about a pastor in north county. His name is pastor Pete. Before he got saved. 5 (51m 42s): His name was pistol. Pete. Not because it's cute, but because he had 15 felonies on his record and he earned his nickname, pistol, Pete. Now they call him pastor Pete, because his life has been completely transformed. I don't think that needs to be. That's not like the rare thing. That's like the thing. This is what God does. He trans forms our lives. And if he hasn't transformed your life, you've got to go back to the drawing board. Yes, he got I'm I'm coming back because I don't feel like I'm getting it. My life has not been transformed. I'm still watching the same stuff. I still talk the same way. I still entertained by the same things. 5 (52m 22s): I'm still having sex outside of marriage. I'm still lying on my taxes. I'm still cheating my employer. I'm still doing all these things. My life hasn't changed. Go back to the drawing board and confess and just let Jesus know that you've missed it because you have, you can't do those things and follow Jesus. You can't do those things and follow Jesus. It's oxymoron. It's your swimming up. There's two separate places you're trying to go. And you're gonna just be miserable For this world is not our permanent home. 5 (53m 3s): God will bless us with places to live and roof and all of those things, but that's not the priority. Jesus. And the kingdom is his priority. I was reading in second Samuel chapter six recently. And in this chapter king, David is bringing in the Ark of the covenant back into, into Jerusalem. And he's so excited. He's so excited that the presence of God, the Ark represents the presence and the power and the blessing of God. He's so excited that the arc of the covenant is coming back into Jerusalem. He's dancing and celebrating as the arc is ushered in. 5 (53m 44s): This is the king of Israel, but he realizes he's not the king, but Jesus is the king. He's the king of Israel, but God is the king of all Kings. And he will be submitted and live his life before the Lord. David's wife was embarrassed by his adoration of the Lord. Why was she embarrassed? Because she didn't know God, she'd never been touched and encountered the God of king David. So she said in first 16, first Samuel six, it's not up there, but it's an Ark of the Lord to enter the city of David. Michael, the daughter of Saul looked down from her window. And when she saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him. 5 (54m 30s): That's, that's what the world will think about us for a while, till Jesus shows up and they're going to think completely different about us. And if we haven't shared the gospel with people, with love and grace and conviction and, and truth and compassion, w w w David was, was willing to live boldly and he was willing to look the fool for Jesus. Number three, more practical faith living demonstrate faithful allegiance to Jesus. It's kind of what we've been talking about. 5 (55m 12s): Demonstrate faithful allegiance to Jesus. Therefore, first 15, let us offer through Jesus. A continual sacrifice of praise to God proclaiming our allegiance to his name. Our praise should proclaim our allegiance. It has to be focused and our praise should be committed to the focus and the allegiance of Jesus or a love for him. Verse 16 says, don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please, God, person's greatest need salvation. 5 (55m 53s): Everything else is secondary and temporal. Person's greatest need is salvation. They need the gospel. Everything else is secondary and temporary. The gospel is what is primary and eternal. Our actions should proclaim our allegiance. The way that we live should demonstrate that our allegiance is to Jesus. And yet we live as if our allegiance is our retirement accounts. Our next vacation, our family, our kids are animals. 5 (56m 34s): Our hobbies are sports, anything but Jesus and people look at our calendars and they see church from nine to 10 on Sunday morning that doesn't demonstrate allegiance to Jesus because the other hours of the week are focused on everything else. It's not to be a condemning message. It's just to wake us up in this culture. What is our allegiance to is our allegiance to Jesus, or is it to everything else in our lives? Does Jesus get to decide what we do with our lives? With our time, our talent and our treasure? Does Jesus get to the side or are we just deciding and hoping he blesses it? 5 (57m 14s): Does Jesus get to the side is again, as David would go into battle before he would even go into battle, he'd say, Lord, is this the direction that you would have me to go before I move into a town? Lord, is this the town that you want me to go before? I have this conversation? Is this the conversation that you want me to have? And you let God be God, and you let him direct. You you'll save yourself a whole lot of heartache. If you let God be God in your life, you've come to Jesus. I've come to Jesus because I can't be God in my own life. I've messed it up from start to finish. Jesus comes in and everything gets put in his proper place. And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. 5 (57m 54s): These are the sacrifices that please God. So our actions should proclaim our allegiance. Our words, thoughts and deeds should demonstrate our faithful allegiance to Jesus. The use of our time, our talent and treasure should demonstrate faithful allegiance to Jesus time. I don't know what the statistics are at harvest church, but everybody should have a ministry in their lives. God has equipped each of us with a, a talent that's to be used for the kingdom. So maybe it's work within the church. Maybe it's work within ministries like lifeline or whatever it is, but you've gotta be using your gifts for kingdom work. 5 (58m 40s): And so none of us should be here without being a part of it. Like every one of us should have a job, like a responsibility within the kingdom, within the body of Christ time, reflecting our allegiance to Jesus. We spend our time doing everything else, making time for everything else, except for Jesus time talent using our gifts to do what Jesus has called us to do our treasure. What are you doing with your money? 5 (59m 21s): Is it demonstrating your allegiance to Jesus? Where is it demonstrating your allegiance to your next vacation, your retirement? What's your priority with your resources? I, from the earliest time I talked to my kids about tithing giving 10% of your income. I was show them, check, see, this is what tide looks like. Here's my paycheck. Here's my tie. That's 10% at least of what I make I'm giving to the work of the kingdom, because I want to disciple my kids in truth. So many young people are growing up and they're not giving their time, talent or treasure to the kingdom. So many old people are living life, not giving anything of their time, talent, or treasure to the kingdom. 5 (1h 0m 2s): It demonstrates your allegiance to the world. When you live like that, it doesn't demonstrate your allegiance to Jesus. What are you doing with your time, talent, your treasure? Does it reflect your allegiance to Jesus time? Are you investing yourself talent, using your talents to expand the kingdom? We pray every, every day, every morning, Jolene and I pray and we pray that everything we do, we would just expand the kingdom that we would use our gifts and talents to expand the kingdom. We've been praying that not just for, since we've been in vocational ministry, but since we've been married for the last 32 years, we just pray this all the time. We want the kingdom to be expanded. Not because we're professional ministers, pastors, not because I'm a pastor. 5 (1h 0m 42s): I've done this my whole life. Since I knew Jesus. Since I've known Jesus, we're all called to do what God has called us to do. What has God called you to do are using your time talent? Your treasure ties means 10%. So if you make a thousand bucks, a hundred bucks goes into kingdom work. That's how that works. 10%, not 1% or 2% or 3%, 10%. That's just, that's what the ties means. Say, well, I don't believe in the tithe. Well then you don't believe in the Bible. Not saying it God's bus. Do what you want with this information, but I hope I've at least triggered something in your soul that helps you to realize, helps me to realize that Jesus, I, every part of my life needs to be reflect my allegiance to him. 5 (1h 1m 34s): So I could preach a softer message that would fill seats. But you don't want to hear that. I don't want to preach that kind of stuff. My job is to preach the gospel. And if you get mad at me, it's okay. It's probably good. I got kicked out of puppet ministry when I was in high school. Junior high school. Yeah. I joined the puppet ministry cause Jolene was in a puppet ministry, but my life wasn't quite squared away with the Lord. And so I was partying on the weekends and doing all kinds of stupid stuff. And my youth pastor said, you can't do puppet ministry until you get your life squared away. 5 (1h 2m 15s): And I was mad about it. It's like, you can't do that. And he's like, I just did. All right. We need people to yank our chains from time to time. It's not gonna do any good. If I just stand up here and both smoke, you need to hear the gospel need to hear the truth and your life needs to reflect your allegiance. So don't leave here and just go back to life. As it is, go back and reflect and think, how is my life reflecting? Jesus. We've got work to do. I don't want to do it alone. I know I'm not, but what has God called you to do? What has God called you to do with that? Let's go and stand up and invite the worship team. 5 (1h 2m 56s): More practical, faith living Lord, if we need it, thank you for it. Lord convict us where we need conviction. Encourage us, where we need encouragement, help us, where we need help. Lord, forgive us where our faith is. Small. Forgive us for our lack of belief. Our lack of obedience. God, we repent in Jesus name. Repent means I'm not doing that anymore. So I pray God from the youngest to the oldest, everybody would use their gifts, their time, talent, and treasure to honor you to reflect the allegiance. Thank you, Lord. Proper allegiance. 5 (1h 3m 37s): Amen. 0 (1h 3m 45s): Jesus paid it 2 (1h 3m 50s): All 0 (1h 3m 51s): To him. I see it had led to cribs and Steed. He washed . She says 1 (1h 5m 44s): Thank you, Jesus, that you have washed our sin away. Thank you that you have made us clean. Thank you for the cross for salvation That we get to have a hope in eternity because of your son. Thank you. That we got to be in the house this morning and worship your name In Jesus name. We pray. Amen. If you would like prayer this morning, we have a prayer team at Fred, so you can make your way forever forward. Otherwise have a wonderful day and we'll see you next week.

Easter 2022 - Hope Resurrected

1 (2s): Happy Easter. What'd you stand as we worship marking this morning. 2 (2m 23s): I give my to this by the lamb who was 4 (4m 44s): All right. Good morning. Good, welcome. Welcome to Horace church outdoor Easter service. Hey, my name is Jeremy. I'm the youth and family pastor here at harvest church. And we just want to say welcome. Thank you for joining us. And there's been a long standing tradition in the church that is to say he is arisen, and then you respond with, he is risen. Indeed. Can we do that? All right. So he is risen. Amen. That is the, that is the day that we celebrate today. The risen savior. So, so welcome. Hey, just a few announcements this morning. We've got some great stuff on. Normally we meet at 1 0 2 west branch street right there in the village, and that's our normal service, but sooner agree, moving to 1 0 2 west branch. 4 (5m 28s): The something's different location. That's be our new worship center will be in there shortly, but we're excited about that. Just to let you know the lay of the land. We have the info center back here, and you can get all the find out all about CA harvest church and ways to plug in. We have our coffee and water over here as well, as well as the bathrooms are right back there. So you want to know where those things are. That's where they well, that's where they are. But we just want to say thank you. If you're joining us for the first time, feel free to go back to the info center and fill out a communication card. We'd love to find out more about you and ways to get plugged into harvest church. And for those kids that are here, we're so glad you're here in, in service with us. 4 (6m 11s): Normally we have an amazing kids program, but this morning, it's family Sunday. What a great day to celebrate Easter with a family. So kids are in service parents. If you just keep an eye on your kids, that the service has been amazing, but the kids afterwards, we have a special egg hunt for you guys. So there'll be more on that in a bit. And then lastly, Hey, we're going to be having some baptisms today. We're believing that there's going to be some people who are going to make their decision to follow Jesus for the first time this morning. So after service, pastor Steve is going to give the, the invite and we have a baptism tank right over here. We can baptize you today, fully immerse you in water, just like Jesus was. 4 (6m 51s): And it's going to be an exciting Sunday. We already have a bunch of people signed up. So it's going to be a, it's going to be an incredible day to see, see that that take place in the life of the, of the believers. So we're going to have baptisms after service. And if you're thinking, well, I didn't bring my shirt. I didn't bring shorts. I didn't bring a towel. Put those things aside because we have all those things ready for you. We got, we got stuff to go. So if you've never been baptized and you believe in the Jesus as your Lord and savior, we want to baptize you today. So amen. Let's say he is risen. Amen. Let's worship again. 2 (7m 52s): The stars just shy. They're half screen moms to have the words to see There is it time to see Jesus. 2 (12m 24s): This song is food. 6 (12m 55s): I cast my, my two Cauvery with And Todd for me, I see his, his hands, his fee. I say, if you're corsetry His body and dressed, and two, they laid him down and Josephs to the streets. 6 (13m 39s): You buy Haffey stone. 6 (15m 27s): In robes of why the blazing shall Pierce. The hand-eye will ride among the same. My gaze transfixed on Jesus. 7 (17m 55s): We are so grateful. So grateful for sunshine and overwhelmed by your goodness. Every time we do an outdoor service, you just make things happen for us. Thank you, God, that you are in charge of the weather and overseeing all things in life for God. And so we just invite your presence. Lord, we invite you to eat to us, to continue to move among us. God, every person's in a different season of life, dealing with different challenges and struggles. And as we've gathered, Lord, you've got the capacity and the desire to speak to each of us, to minister, to each of us. 7 (18m 39s): And so we invite you to do that and just a powerful and profound way. Do what only you can do work supernaturally in every soul gathered Lord, we prayed. We are so thankful for your love. So, so thankful for your goodness. We bless you Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Hey man, he is raised in say seated. He is risen. He is risen. Indeed remain standing. And we're going to read from Matthew 28 drinks. Yes, sorry. Please stay on Matthew 28 verses one through seven. It says this early on Sunday morning as the new day was dawning Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. 7 (19m 23s): Suddenly there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord, came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone and sat on it. His face shown like lightning and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. He said, I know you're looking for Jesus. Who was crucified. He isn't here. He is risen from the dead, just as he said, what happened? He has risen from the dead just as he said, what happened? 7 (20m 4s): Come, come see where his body was lying. And now go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. And he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you? The angel said, don't be afraid. He has risen from the dead. Amen. Amen. Turn and greet somebody. And we will come right back in just a moment. Say hello to your neighbor. We'll come right back. 7 (21m 10s): Alrighty, come on back. Come on back. I'm going to met somebody new today. Somebody, anybody being in a brand new. Good, good, good. That's the idea. Welcome. So I've got a joke to kick us off here as we kind of get things rolling again. I'm told that everybody loves my jokes. And so here we go. Did you hear, did you hear about the Jewish guy who sold his family tomb? His wife was furious with him. This family tomb had been in the family for generations and she assumed rightfully so that she would be buried there, that her husband would be buried there. 7 (21m 51s): And that generations following would be buried there. So she asked him, who did you sell the family tomb to? She said, he said, well, it was this guy named Jesus, but he told me that he only needed it for three days. That's as good as it gets research. Sorry guys, we're talking about hope today. Hope resurrected in order for something to be resurrected, someone or something to be resurrected. And obviously it has to be dead first. So when we talk about hope being resurrected, we're talking about something that has been dead, a person, a plan, a purpose, something has died. 7 (22m 38s): And we're here today to talk about the resurrection power of the Lord, Jesus Christ. As we talk about the resurrection of the person of the Lord, Jesus Christ, the historic person, Jesus Christ. We're also talking about the resurrection of the hope that he is. He is the hope of the world. He is absolutely the hope of the world. So we're talking about Jesus, who is our hope being resurrected from the dead, but we're also talking about the hope we can experience in light of the reality of Christ's resurrection. So hope is a noun and a verb. We have hope and we exercise hope. 7 (23m 19s): We have hope in the person and the work of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And we exercise hope. We put our hope in him. Those who know the Lord, we already have hope. And for those of you who are here today, and you don't know Jesus, if you're here, just kind of checking things out, you can know Jesus, you can choose hope today. Have you ever felt hopeless in your life? I felt that times, maybe my earliest memory of feeling hopeless was in 1980, in 1980, I was 11 years old and we were visiting friends in Ventura. And on the day that we were supposed to leave to come back to this area, my mom sent me off for a quart of milk at the storm. 7 (24m 5s): And so I go to the store. I find my way there. I get the milk and I've got a terrible sense of direction. So I come out the wrong door and I had the wrong direction. And I spend the next 12 hours looking for the place that I'm supposed to be returning to. The street that I was looking for was Amherst. The street that I thought I needed to be heading toward was I, I thought I was heading toward Ash. So if you look on a map, Ash street in Amhurst and Ventura is about four and a half miles apart. So I spent the day wandering, looking for the wrong place. I was looking for the wrong streets. 7 (24m 48s): And when did it occur to me that I could probably find my way back by remembering the store that I had gone to initially I began to have some hope. So I began to ask the question to people around me, Hey, how do you get to this market? I can't remember the name of the market now, but I began to ask, how do I get back to this market? And they said, are you sure you want to go to that market? That's like way across town. I said, no, that is that's the spot I need to get back to that market. And so over time I made my way back to the markets. And from there made my way to my friend's house, where we were staying. And 12 hours later, I made it home. And, but I was completely hopeless until I realized the direction that I needed to head. 7 (25m 32s): And once I had that direction, I just felt revitalized in my hope. And I, I knew that I was moving in the right direction and I knew eventually I would make it back to the place I started. How is hope resurrected in our lives? I believe hope is resurrected in our lives. And we have clarity about the direction of our lives when we're lacking clarity about the direction of our lives. We lack hope. We're not sure what tomorrow brings. We're not sure how to move forward. We're not sure who we are and what we're supposed to be about in this life. Especially given these last two years with COVID, it kind of wrecked the world and we're all kind of wondering and scratching our heads and trying to figure out how does this thing end. 7 (26m 14s): And here we are two years into it. And we're grateful that we can gather as a church, the people of God, people in the community on Easter service. But, but we, we, we, we needed in the midst of all that, to know somehow that this was going to come to an animal. We're so grateful that it's kind of wrapping up hope resurrected when Jesus was born and lives and was crucified and buried in that tomb, his followers were utterly hopeless. They had given everything away, they've sold everything. They had abandoned everything so that they might follow Jesus. 7 (26m 57s): Jesus would call them on the shores of the sea of Galilee. And they would say he was a common follow me. I will make you fishers of men. Like I'm going to change your whole life. Like, I don't want you to focus on what you've been focusing on up to this point. I want you to follow me and I will change your life. And even though Jesus had told them, listen, I'm going to die. And then on the third day, I will be resurrected. When it, it actually happened. His people were confused and lost and even angry. I would imagine. And just distraught at the reality that this Jesus that they gave everything for and were following for three years was dead. 7 (27m 40s): He was crucified unjustly, so and wrapped and put into a tomb. I mean, that's pretty final, right? It's, it's pretty final unless we're talking about God, unless we're talking about God. If we're talking about God, then nothing is final until God says it is final. When, when Jesus came out of that grave, hope was restored when they saw him. And the scripture says that 500 plus people saw him after his resurrection. It's a historical fact that Jesus resurrected from the dead, his disciples, his followers held on to that reality of that truth and gave their lives for the reality of that truth. 7 (28m 24s): They would not buckle. They would not change course because they knew that their savior had been resurrected from the dead. And so they gave their lives so that others might hear that message. Maybe you're here today and you don't know Jesus. Maybe you've never heard a gospel presentation. The gospel presentation is just Jesus. This is it's. This Jesus loves you. God, God lavish you. He's absolutely in love with you. And he wants to forgive your sins and welcome you into his family. He wants to bless your life and challenge you to follow him all the days of your life. I often say it like this. 7 (29m 5s): It's God has made it incredibly easy to walk in new life with him as a believer, as a follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ. But it's the hardest thing you'll ever do. As you follow him, the very, the rest of your life, his grace is a free gift, but walking after him is the hardest thing that you will ever have to do. But it's the thing in life that makes everything in life worthwhile. Maybe you're here today and you don't know who Jesus is. The good news is that you can know him and he wants to know you and he wants to come into your life. But who is this? Jesus let's understand first. 7 (29m 46s): Who is this? Jesus? Well, most people are familiar with the name. Jesus few people truly know who he is and knowing Jesus identity and his mission are important because there are ramifications that are eternal connected to what we know and what we believe about Jesus. The ramifications are eternal. It doesn't just touch this life. Although it touches this life, it touches all of eternity. So the best source of information about Jesus is in the Bible. And the Bible tells us that Jesus is God. 7 (30m 26s): He is not a God. He is the God. Someone say that Jesus was a good teacher. And I would agree with you, but he wasn't just a good teacher. He was the teacher, the very best teacher. He was a rabbi, but he wasn't just a rabbi. He was the eternal God. The magnificent one who has been there since, before the foundation of the earth. He's eternal. He's eternal. He's certainly not just to clear some things up. He's not the new age. Jesus. They just have a different perspective. New agers don't believe that Jesus has God all mighty. And the second person of the Trinity, rather new agers reduce Jesus to a mere man who attained spiritual enlightenment through a cultic activity and involvements new age G new agers reduce Jesus. 7 (31m 18s): And number him among the so-called masters. Like the Buddha who offer a way to offer a way. But Jesus said in John 14, six, he said, I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the father except through me. So Jesus is not just a way. And if we think he's a way, then we're missing the point all together. He is actually the only way to the father. So he's not a Buddha. He's not an enlightened wan. He's not an enlightened master. He is God, some have said, he's a good man, but he's not just a good man. And honestly, he's probably not a good man. If we don't believe what he says about himself, if we don't believe that he is God and he is claiming to be God, then he's probably a lunatic. 7 (32m 4s): So we got to figure out what we believe about Jesus. He is God. And that's who he claims to be. He's fully God and fully man in the incarnation. He is not at all. He is here. This, he is not at all the spirit brother of Lucifer. That's not, that's not who Jesus is. You never married. And he never fathered children. He just never did those things. We need to read. The scripture. Charles Spurgeon wrote discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It's knowing the difference between rights and almost right. So we need to open up the scripture and understand who this Jesus is because it's the Jesus that we celebrate on Easter is the Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas. It's the Jesus. 7 (32m 45s): This Jesus, you came into the world so that we might have new life. He is eternal. He existed before his physical birth. And even before time began, he is the creator of everything that exists. He is the perfect reflection of the invisible God we see in Colossians one 15 through 17. It says Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is Supreme over all creation for through him. God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we cannot see such as Thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world, everything was created through him and for him. 7 (33m 32s): He existed before anything else. And he holds listen. He holds all creation together. Jesus is God. Jesus is the eternal king of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is God. He has the power to forgive sins. And his followers worshiped him. He, he is worthy of worship. Think about, think about this. The all-powerful eternal son of God, coming to earth as an infant. Imagine him lying in a manger, built with trees that he created. Imagine him under the stars that he created in flung into space. 7 (34m 17s): He's reduced to an infant child so that he might come and that we might know him and be saved through him. Scripture makes it clear that he was no ordinary baby. He's the savior of the world. The Bible declares that there's only one way to eternal life. And that is through faith in Jesus Christ. As savior acts four 12 says this salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Jesus was given so that we might be saved. 7 (34m 57s): God is working in the world today. And I'm so thankful that idea, that reality should give us hope that he's Supreme over all things in the earth. He is working in the earth and he's always been working in the earth. He is working to bring us to himself by faith. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. It's the assurance of things we can not see. Hebrews 12 two says this through their faith. The people in days of old earned a good reputation through their faith, the people have days of older and a good reputation. So let's talk about a couple of people from days old. 7 (35m 37s): We're going to talk about Abraham and Sarah for a few minutes. So there's a guy in the Bible named Abraham and his wife's name is Sarah. When Abraham was 75 years old, the Lord made a promise to him at 75. The Lord said to him, this in Genesis 12 two, I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous. And you will be a blessing to others. So Abraham is like, okay, but there's a problem, Lord. There's a problem. It's all about impossible. You see I'm an old man. And my wife is barren. She can't have children. 7 (36m 19s): So it's an impossible word from the Lord. But listen, nothing is impossible with God. And when he declares something to be true, it will come to pass again. Abram's wife was barren. She wasn't able to have children. So where with this, where this nation come from, we read in Romans four 18. It says even when there was no reason for hope, have you been there even like, there was no reason for hope. Abraham kept hoping, believing that he would become the father of many nations for God had said to him, that was good enough for Abraham. God had said to him, that's how many descendants you will have. 7 (37m 2s): God's promise of children. Resurrected is hope. Because up to this point, 75 years old, he's got no descendants, nothing that a nation could be built around or be established through. He's got no descendants before then because of their age and inability to have children, they had no hope of children of a future, especially that type of future. But because they chose to believe God, they chose against all odds. They chose to believe God, their hope was resurrected. So number one hope is resurrected. When we choose to believe God against all odds, hope is resurrected. 7 (37m 45s): When we choose to believe God against all odds, where do you need to believe God against all odds in your life? Maybe you're up against a physical infirmity. That seems impossible. Maybe you're in a relationship that seems like it's going to and, and, and not well, where do you need the Lord to speak a word, a promise to you from his word, where do you need to be built up? Where do you need your hope resurrected? I've watched God heal people against all odds. We've seen it happen over and over again. I've watched God restore marriages against all odds. 7 (38m 26s): We've seen it happen over and over again. I graduated from college and grad school against all odds. If you know me, that's a miracle, right? That's a supernatural miracle, but it happened by God's grace. I've been married for 32 years to the same woman. That's a miracle. Again. If you know me, you know, that's a miracle. That's just, that should not have happened. I pastored the same church for 19 years against all odds. And we've watched God do wonderful and supernatural things. Hey Abraham, he waited 25 years for God's promised to come to pass. It's a long time. Sometimes we're in this waiting season where we we've heard something, we felt the Lord leading. 7 (39m 9s): We know that God has spoken and directed, but we've been in a season of waiting. This is God's emo. And he's what he does. He, he speaks and in the waiting, he builds us up in our faith. He challenges us to believe and to continue to hope in him and Romans four 19, it says, and Abraham's faith did not weaken. Even though at about a hundred years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead. And so was Sarah's womb. So now he's not 75, he's a hundred and still nothing, but he never wavered. He continued to believe God. 7 (39m 49s): Abraham kept believing God against all odds. Verse 20 says Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger. Isn't that amazing? His faith grew stronger. And in this, he brought glory to God. Listen, if you wait in your season of waiting and believe God and allow your faith to grow stronger, you will, you will enjoy life more. You will honor the Lord. You will glorify God. And then you will get to see God do what he told you he would do. So open up the scripture and find out what the Lord has told you. 7 (40m 29s): He will do. And we're going to be talking about some of the promises of God here in just a moment. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. Verse 21. Are you, are you fully convinced? I think we, we need to get there. As people, as believers, we need to be fully convinced that God is who he said. He, he is that Jesus is who he said he is. And that he is going to do what he said he would do. We needed to be fully convinced how hope is resurrected when we choose, we have to choose to believe God against all odds. And so it's not easy. It's not an easy thing to do, but by God's grace, if we, as we continue to look to him and believe him and put our faith in him, hope is resurrected. 7 (41m 10s): Hope is resurrected. When we choose to believe God against all odds. Number two hope is resurrected. And when we, when we keep our eyes on God and on his promises, I, I noticed in my life that when there's problems, that's where I'm focused. Like I'm, I'm focused on the problems instead of the one who can bring the solution to the problem we were thinking about this service. We've been thinking about it for months, planning on it for months and, and inevitably, no matter what is happening in the weather, there's always rain like right around, right around the time that we're supposed to gather as a church outside the, you know, the one time a year that we gather outside. And so yesterday or Friday, when I'm writing this portion of my message, it was Friday at 1:29 PM. 7 (41m 56s): And I'm looking at the weather for Saturday because we got out here early yesterday and spent the day setting up and there was a 60% chance of rain. And so we thought, well, we're just going to go for it. And we're just going to pray. And we're just going to believe that God will bring out the sun and part the clouds and allow us to meet. And that's precisely what he has done. We've we believed God and looked to him as the, whether he's the weatherman. He can change the weather. He can do whatever it is that he wants to do. Friday 1 29, 60% chance of rain yesterday. So there's rain in the, in the early, early morning hours, and then we're setting up and then it starts to sprinkle on us. And we're like, you know what? 7 (42m 36s): It doesn't matter. We're just going to keep going. We're just going to keep going. And by God's grace, we set it up. And here we are. The temptation again, is to get our eyes on the problem, the obstacle, the battle, the, the need in front of us. We, we focus on that when we really need to get our eyes on God, who is able to bring solutions for all of those things, we were worried about the weather. We, we didn't get a promise. We didn't get a promise from the Lord that the weather would be good, but we sense that this was the right direction for us. And so we moved in that direction. We believe God not having a promise that the weather would be good, but believing that if God has called us out here, then he would make it plausible for us to have an outdoor service. 7 (43m 23s): So we moved forward. He trusted God for good weather, listen and believing. God doesn't mean we don't have doubts. It means we move forward despite our doubts, because we're all filled with doubt at different times. Like we're hearing something, we're reading the scripture, we're trying to move forward, but we've got doubts and fears and anxieties. So faith having hope is it doesn't mean we don't experience those things, but we have the grace and the strength to move forward. In spite of those things, hope is resurrected. Hope is resurrected. When we choose to believe God against all odds. Number one, number two hope is resurrected. When we keep our eyes on God and on his promises. Now let's look at some of God's promises to people of faith. 7 (44m 8s): Romans 4 22 says. And because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous to be righteous, just means to be in right. Standing with God is not a good idea to like be in right standing with the creator and the judge of the universe and be like, I want to be in right standing with him. But I know in my own ability, in my own strength, in my own works, I can never get there. But by God's grace, he's imputed righteousness to those who believe. And so because of God and his goodness and not because of me and my goodness, because God, in his goodness, not because of you in your goodness, he will impure righteousness. When we believe because of Abraham Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous. 7 (44m 49s): So again, to be righteous, it's just to be in right standing with God. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn't just for Abraham's benefit. It was recorded for our benefit to assuring us that God will also count us righteous. If we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus, our Lord from the dead. So, so what are we believing about God? Is it a belief that brings us humbly to a place of acknowledging our need for salvation, for the forgiveness of sins? What are we believing about Jesus? And are we believing in the right Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible. It's important that we understand Jesus from the context of the scripture that we have opened up the Bible and understand Jesus in light of scripture, Romans 4 25 says he, Jesus, he, Jesus was handed over to die because of our sins. 7 (45m 41s): And he was raised to life to make us right with God Romans five one, therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight, there's that word? Righteousness. Therefore, since we've been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God. So that is a promise. That's one of the promises that we can have as followers of the Lord. Jesus Christ. We can have peace. Now, if you've lived at all with any part of your life without peace, you w you really understand and value peace. A few years ago, I was really struggling with a lack of peace and I couldn't figure out what was going on in my life. I was, I just couldn't get happy. I couldn't get satisfied. He couldn't get fulfilled in, in any arena, Amy, any area of my life, I wanted to quit the ministry. 7 (46m 22s): I wanted to just do anything, but do what I was doing. I was just so unhappy. So my wife, with all of her wisdom, she said, Hey, do you have this symptom? And this symptom and this symptom and this symptom. And she went down a list of symptoms that she had downloaded from the internet. And I didn't realize, I thought, man, you've been paying close attention to my life. You know exactly what I'm going through. She said, no, these are just symptoms of depression. She said, I think you're depressed. I'm like, yeah, I think you're right. And so with some therapy and some prayer and some I'm medicated by the way. 7 (47m 4s): So little medication never hurt anybody, but I was able to get back to a place where I could put the full weight of my trust in God and believe him, there was something chemically going on in me. That was hindering me from doing that. So through the wisdom of my wife and doctors, I began to discover what was going on in and by God's grace, by God's grace. The hope of God, the peace of God, the grace of God just began to flow through my life. Once again, therefore, since we've been made right in God's sight, we've been made righteous by faith. We have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 7 (47m 44s): Listen, I don't care how many meds you're on. If you don't know Jesus as your Lord, you'll never have peace meds. Don't equal peace. It might be meds. Plus Jesus equals peace in my case, but you need Jesus. That's the, you need Jesus. And God is faithful to meet you and, and fill you with hope and to fill you with peace because of our faith. Christ has brought us into a place of undeserved privilege. That's another promise undeserved privilege. What does that look like? Well, we've been saved by his grace and adopted into his family when we, by faith, trust him. So we get actually adopted into his family. That's undeserved privilege where kids of the king, where we now stand and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory. 7 (48m 29s): We understand where we're going. When it's all said and done, those are some of the promises of God. So number one, hope is resurrected. When we choose to believe God, it gets to all odds. Number two hope is resurrected. When we keep our eyes on God and on his promises. And number three, as we get ready to wrap up here, hope is resurrected. When we believe we are made right with God, by faith, maybe you're hearing you're wrestling. Cause you know, you're not right with God. If you will believe by faith and put your trust in God, you can have that sense of security. That sense of peace. That sense of joy, knowing that you're made right with God, Jesus was born. He lived, he died in resin, resurrected from the dead. 7 (49m 10s): So we might have new life so that we might be right with God so that we might have peace so that we can confidently enjoy fully, look forward to sharing God's glory. Whatever has you feeling hopeless God by his grace and goodness can resurrect your hope. Choose to believe God against all odds. Keep your eyes on God. And his promises believe that you can be made right with God by faith. No matter what you've done, no matter what you have done. If you, if you do these things, God will resurrect your hope. When Jesus died and was buried, his followers lost all hope. 7 (49m 54s): When Jesus resurrected, he restored their hope, their purpose and their joy. When I was lost as an 11 year old boy, my hope was restored. When I finally remembered where I needed to go, Jesus is calling you home. He's calling us home. What will you do with that invitation? That opportunity? Well, I want you to go ahead and stand and I'm going to pray you. And as we get ready to wrap up the service with some more prayer and song, I just want to invite you to do something with this invitation to receive the grace and the mercy of the Lord. 7 (50m 41s): Jesus Christ. Maybe you've heard the message over and over again. Maybe you've heard it here. You've heard it. Other places. Maybe you've been told the message, the gospel that Jesus loves you, that he died for you. That you might have new life in him. If you're here today and you want to say yes to Jesus, I just want you to pray this prayer and the quietness of your heart. You say, Jesus, I need you. Jesus. I welcome you into my life. Lord. I want you to be Lord and king and ruler of my life. I need you to forgive my sins. I need you to come into my life. And as you by faith, declare that prayer to the Lord, God hears. 7 (51m 22s): And he responds. He welcomes you into his family and he gives you new purpose for your life. It gives you new purpose, new identity, and he calls you like he called the original 12 common and follow me. That means you're gonna look at your life completely different from now on. You're going to be looking at your life through the lens, this lens. I'm a follower of the Lord. Jesus Christ in my life is for him. If you've done that today, at some point after the service, if you've given your life to the Lord today, at some point after the service, I'm going to direct you over to the baptism tent. Not so that you can get baptized necessarily, but we've got a, we've got a new believers bag of information for you. 7 (52m 5s): But if you like to get baptized, as Jeremy said earlier, we've got t-shirts and shorts and towels that you can have, and we'll baptize you over there. So as we wrap up this part of the service, the band will be leading us. The band will be leading us. And as the band is leading us in worship, we're going to begin to assemble over there for those who want to be baptized and so make your way over there. And then the baptism will actually be on the screen as well. So Lord, with that, we just invite you. We invite you. We invite your presence. We thank you, Lord. We thank you for your goodness. Thank you for what you're doing. Lord in Jesus name. 7 (52m 47s): If you would like to receive prayer, there's, there'd be people over there ready to pray for you as well. People who love Jesus and who will love on you. So if you'd like to get prayer, receive a new believers pack. If you like to get baptized, head over there as we sing this last song. Amen. Let's worship. 9 (53m 7s): Let's sing this together. 6 (54m 42s): Yeah. Strange. His name is one It's a dome that you hoppy trouble. Hold your head up high. Don't feel the Big guys. 6 (55m 24s): 2 (1h 0m 12s): We To the Virgin came though. to that stone was moved forward for the land who was Yes, we magnify Jesus. 2 (1h 13m 46s): This song is a thousand hot and 9 (1h 14m 2s): Thank you Jesus so much for just a beautiful Easter Sunday morning, Lord. Thank you that you are saving us. Thank you that you sent your son Jesus to die a horrible death on the cross so that we could be right with you so we can have forgiveness of our sins. Lord, thank you for the resurrection. Thank you. That you're resurrecting hope in us today. And I just pray that as we go, would you just, would you just do that in, in hearts and minds today? Lord, in our communities and our families, Lord, would you be resurrecting hope where there might not be any? So we thank you for all this in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. 11 (1h 14m 47s): All right. Thank you all for joining us today. Happy Easter. Before you go, we have a for birth to four year olds and five to 10 year olds over here to your left. So be sure to head over there. We're going to be doing the acorns starting in a few minutes. So head on over, if you have kids that are birth to 10 years old, all right. Happy Easter. He is risen.

Practical Faith Living

1 (2s): Welcome harvest 2 (3s): Church. Welcome this morning. Stand and worship with us. 1 (1m 48s): . 1 (3m 4s): I am who you say you are for me? Not against me. I am who you say hi. I am chosen show. Who's not foresee. Can you say you love for me? 1 (3m 43s): Not against me. I am who you say you love for the kids? 1 (4m 3s): 4 (4m 54s): Good morning, everybody. Go ahead and have a seat on no. Okay. Hold on a second. I'm good. I'm good. Okay. I was on, but I wasn't on whatever that means. So good morning. Welcome. Love to have you all gathered together today, a beautiful day out. So want to welcome you, those of you in the sanctuary, also in the loft and the patio, and those are tuning in online. So my name is Ron and I have a few pieces of information you might be interested in. So the first of which is today is, is what we call family Sunday. So the fourth, Sunday of each month, what we do is we encourage families to worship together. 4 (5m 36s): And so if you have kids that are first grade and up, they don't have class today. They're they're in with mom and dad with a family. And if you have kids younger than first grade, if you want to keep them with you in church, that's totally fine. We encourage that. But if you want to take them to class, we do have class for the little ones. So you'll feel, feel free to do that. Also on family Sunday, it's popular because we have donuts. So I head up the driveway, right near the info center. You're going to find a bunch of donuts, feel free to help yourself. There's coffee up there, and just a fun time to gather together and have coffee and donuts. But more importantly, today, we also have communion. And so towards the end of Steve's message, he will be inviting us to partake of communion and have communion together as, as the family of God. 4 (6m 22s): So we can look forward to that. If you're new to harvest church, we want to welcome you super happy to have you with us today. And if you have, if you'd like any information you need about harvest church, you can head up the driveway to the info center. There's some folks who would love to talk to you about what's going on here. Or if you prefer, you can go onto our website or our church app, and you can find out what's going on that way as well. So what we do three or four, three times a year, we have life groups that we start up. I should know this, right? If I'm making the album is I should know about this. So what we have is, is a new flyer. We put together about the different life groups that are coming up quickly. 4 (7m 2s): It beginning in may. So a life group is simply a small group of folks that gathered together in somebody's home may be here on campus, smaller venues during the week. And we w we really encourage everybody to get involved in a life group, a small group, because that's where you really get connected with people. And you really get into the, you know, the life of the church and make relationships and all that kind of good step. So feel free to pick one of these up there, up again at the info center, but just to let you know, we've got groups going on in a row grand day, we've got groups in Grover beach and a Pomo. We've got a couple of different men's groups that are happening. A bunch of women's groups that are happening as well. Probably the most important group of all. We've got a prayer group that meets on Thursday mornings would encourage you to be a part of that. 4 (7m 45s): There's a singles Bible study, and there is what we call recreational groups. So this is the good yarn club. So they get together and have fellowship and, and knit things, which is super fun. So check that out. Okay. What else is going on? So I want to update everybody on the worship center. That's just down the street at 1 0 2 branch. Okay. So here's, what's going on. We're getting close to Mo moving into the worship center. We will. I'm going to say we're definitely going to be in there in may. We're not exactly sure which Sunday in may, but we're, we're fairly positive about that final preparations are, are being made and getting, you know, getting the final permit on everything permission to occupy it. 4 (8m 26s): So we're gonna announce it in the future, the exact date, as soon as these things come together. So we're going to be shuffling around some different things. And with, with things like this comes some change. Okay. So sometimes change is a little difficult to, you know, get, get, get a handle on. Most of us don't really like change, but here's what's happening. Okay. So the new worship center is going to be called the east campus because it's east, this, this campus is going to be called west campus. And so here's a couple of other things. So the worship center is at 1 0 2. So whenever we talk about the worship center, that's what we're talking about. The east campus at 1 0 2 and over there, it's also, they're also going to have an outdoor courtyard venue where we're going to have coffee there. 4 (9m 12s): We're going to have some seating out there, some TVs to watch what's going on inside. It's a really cool garden area. If you hadn't had a chance to check it out. And also in the new worship center, we're going to have a nursery with his birth through two years. And we're going to have a mother's room over there as well. So at the west campus, we are actually changing the name of the sanctuary to our chapel. So we're going to have a chapel livestream happening here, right here in this venue. So if you prefer to hang out here, you're welcome to do so at the, the chapel live stream. So the, the kids' worship center is going to be moving into the loft. 4 (9m 54s): So again, the lock, which is right behind me is give me the new kids' worship center and kids classes, ages three, and up as well as youth classes are going to stay put right where they are currently. So that's, what's happening. As soon as we get to our, our new space. And as we open up the new worship center, we're going to need a lot more volunteers for various things that are happening because we're growing. So, for example, if you would like to get involved in, in the coffee ministry, greeting ministry, safety team, worship, team tech, team, kids, team, youth team, and many, many other things are going on. So what, when we get there, we're gonna have a better idea of all the things that we need to fill. So what you will find is if you get involved in a ministry team at church, it's super fun. 4 (10m 41s): You're going to get to know a lot of new people and, and it's a way to serve the Lord. So it encouraged you to get involved again, to, to volunteer for any of those things. You can go on our website and click on the connect tab, and that's what we're going to do. All right. So last Sunday, what happened last Sunday? Oh, that's right Eastern the park. We have a little clip. We want to share with you so you can see what, what went on last Sunday. Okay. You ready? Okay. 5 (13m 19s): And I invite you to stand in. As we continue to worship, we're going to introduce a new song this morning. It's called strong God. It's taken from verses in Psalm 68. And those verses are father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home. He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. This has God in his holy place, 1 (13m 52s): Father to the fatherless 5 (13m 56s): Defender 1 (13m 57s): Of the weak Freedom for the prison. We see this is God in his holy 7 (20m 45s): God, you are surely great. And we're humbled your presence here today. Lord is so as we've gathered to pray, and as we've gathered to worship God, we've gathered for you to remember you, to worship you, to be in your presence. Lord God, as the family of God, we want to be with you, Lord God, we want to be in your presence, Lord God. And as we teach your word today, Lord, we want to take it in and believe it. So Lord God give us faith where we lack faith, give us clarity where we lack clarity, give us the help that we need. Lord God, to believe you, Lord, to believe your promises, to walk in those promises, Lord God, that our lives would be actually changed and transformed as a result of your word, your promises, your guidance, your direction. 7 (21m 36s): So Lord lead us. We pray. We humble ourselves before you today. We say, we need you. We say, we love you. We, so we say, we're so thankful, Lord God, that you've adopted us into your family. We think we're thankful that your grace is sufficient. Lord God. And so I pray that your grace would be extended all over this campus Lord, for whoever needs it, especially this morning, Lord, we all need it. But there are those who especially need just to an extra dose of your grace, Lord God, a truth to saturate their hearts and lives. Lord God. And so for those who are doubting fearful, unbelieving, Lord, we pray that you would reveal yourself in powerful and significant ways. 7 (22m 16s): God, that there would just be a move of God in each of our lives today, Lord all over this campus. And God, we just want to say thank you for our new worship center for what you're doing there. Lord, it's been a, it's been a long time in the, in the, in the making Lord, God, we're so thankful Lord for the way you've are bringing that to fruition and making that possible for us. Lord, we just continue to give that to you, God, for the expansion of your kingdom Lord. So we just want to honor you with that space. So be glorified Lord. Thank you for this time in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Turning green. Somebody will come right back. 7 (23m 44s): I got a feeling it's going to get 8 (23m 45s): Rowdy. 7 (24m 13s): Alrighty, come on in and grab your chair. How's everyone I'm blessed and no less is what I keep hearing. Hey, I'm so grateful for every person who came out last week to help us get that space set up. But when we were setting up the chairs and when we were cleaning up the chairs, I didn't think we would ever end. I mean, those chairs just continued. They were, they were just a ton of them. I'm not sure how many we had set up. It was almost 900. And so it was really, really good. And then the sound and audio video stuff. It's all, man. It all just came together. We were having so many technical challenges on Saturday. 7 (24m 55s): It was ridiculous. We didn't, we weren't sure what was going to happen, but, but our team got it together and I need a bigger podium is what I need. I've got all this stuff. Can we work on that? Like a four by just getting so thanks for that to everyone. Yeah. Great turnout. It was so good to be back at the, at the park. After two years through COVID of not being able to be out there. It was, I mean, we had a great time last year at our back lot back here, but we just love being in that park. Love the opportunity to be salt and light and in the neighborhood there in our community. And so we're just really, really grateful for that. 7 (25m 38s): And we're going to be in Hebrews 13 today kind of wrapping up in the next few weeks, our study through Hebrews. And we're just going to continue to March right through the rest of the new Testament. And so we'll be teaching through revelation here in a few months and I think it'll be really, it's really good timing, I think to get into a study through revelation and so wanted to let you know that that is coming. I, I taught last through revelation 15 years ago in that crazy. Yeah. I was looking at my old notes and I thought, man, it's been 15 years since I've taught through that. So a lot has changed in our world and last 15 years. So it's time for an update and the word of God never changes, but our culture, our circumstances certainly change don't they speaking of change, my son Curtis got engaged yesterday, go ahead and stand up. 7 (26m 30s): Curtis Curtis St. Clark. So we just did a wedding for Steven and Amanda a few months ago and our cup two and a half, three months ago or whatever it's been now. And, and so now we get to plan for another one. So the more the merrier. And so we're excited about that. So congratulations to you too. And you guys want to just get married now you want to just go, I happen to know somebody you can make that happen for you. So it would be zebra. I know, right? Get things done. What are the cupcakes say to the frosting? 7 (27m 13s): I'd be muffin without you. There we go. Told you, I'd tell you a joke on family Sunday. Hey, a lot of us, thousands of people throughout the state went up to Sacramento last Monday and Tuesday to, to lobby against assembly bill 2, 2, 2, 3. And I mean, it was just a huge outpouring of people throughout the states who showed up and, and people from other states. And so sadly the assembly health committee passed AB T T two three last week. 7 (27m 55s): So the bill will go next to the assembly appropriations committee before making its way to the assembly floor. So continue to pray, just continue to pray. It's re if you've done any research at all, you know that this assembly bill is, is heinous and it's, it's so grieves the heart of God to see this type of legislation making its way through and into, into, into law. I mean, it's not just California, there's other states who are trying to do the same thing. So anyway, take a look at it. We don't often talk about political things, but this is not just a political thing. It's a political thing, but it's a moral thing first and foremost. 7 (28m 36s): And so that when we're talking about moral things that contradict the word of God and God's direction for our lives, then we talk about it and we encourage action. So do some research, pray, pray, pray that this thing gets stopped in its tracks. And so we're going to just pray right now for that. And then we'll get into Hebrews 13, one through seven Lord. We do pray, God, God, we ask Lord God for it's just a supernatural intervention here, Lord God that she would stop this bill, this proposed bill or God that it would not become law. 7 (29m 17s): Lord God, that you would not allow it to become law. That born babies would not be allowed to legally be killed in our state Lord God. And as goes California as goes the nation. So it goes the nation, Lord God. And so we pray God that this would be stopped here. And then it would be a message to the rest of the nation that we, we don't, we don't want to stand for this kind of stuff and we will not stand for this kind of stuff. So Lord, I pray that the, the, the people of our nation be aware of what's going on, that these, this type of legislation is being moved forward. Lord, I pray that we would be alert. 7 (29m 58s): That'd be that we'd be wise to what's going on in our world and that we would be prayerful and lobby against things like this. It's our, our responsibility Lord. And so I pray God that we would take serious this responsibility, remember to pray and trust you, Lord God. So speak to those who will be deciding in this next step, Lord, God, speak to their hearts. Thank you Lord, for the opportunity to pray and to petition and to lobby against things like this, help us. We pray Lord in Jesus name. Amen. So last Tuesday we were walking through the buildings. We were out in front of the Capitol, on the lawn there. 7 (30m 40s): And then we were walking through and being able to, which we were trying to lobby the people who are a part of the part of the assembly health committee. And they wouldn't even open the doors for us. We would go knock on their door and they would say, Hey, we're not taking guests at the moment. And so just dozens and dozens of people would just pray outside of their doors in the hallways. And so we went to each office and just prayed and petitioned by God's grace, that, that things would change here. And so let's continue to do that and that we wrestle not against flesh and blood enemies, but we're in a spiritual battle. 7 (31m 23s): And so let's continue to fight against things like AB 2, 2, 2, 3. Amen. Hey, we're in Hebrews chapter 13, we're going to be looking at verses one through seven, the title of the message today, practical faith living. So it will be in Hebrews chapter three verses one through seven. The book of Hebrews is all about challenging your religious activity and tradition so that genuine faith life can be experienced and lived. And I think we need to do that all throughout the course of our lives. We need to be challenging religious activity, things that seem good, but are actually a hindrance to our intimate walk and commitment to Jesus Christ. 7 (32m 8s): So the book of Hebrews is all about challenging religious activity. It was written to Jews. This, we don't know who the author of Hebrews is, but it was written to Jews who had made a decision to trust Jesus as their Messiah. And they were breaking away from a religious tradition, a tradition of lots of works and that sort of thing. And so this book is written to this group of people, giving them practical insight. These are the things as we wrap up Hebrews, this, these are the things that we should be doing. These are the things that should mark the lives of believers, the lives of people in God's church. 7 (32m 53s): So Hebrews three 13 brings to light, very practical things that mark the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. And so as we look at the first seven verses of Hebrews 13, we find seven points that define for us practical faith, living seven points in seven verses. And so it's going to take us about three weeks to get through Hebrews 13. And, and then we'll, we'll just jump right in with number one, practical, faith, living, number one, love each other. We see that throughout the scripture that God has called us to love each other. We see that in Hebrews 13, one says, keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 7 (33m 36s): And so the author saying, Hey, keep this up. You're doing it. The marks of a godly person is that we would continue to love one another. So love each other. The transliteration of the Greek word for love here is Philadelphia. The city of Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love, right? If you've ever been to Philadelphia, you have, I'd never been there, but I've, I've heard that it's not necessarily living up to its name. I don't know, but in 1994 at Gallup poll named Philadelphia, America's most hostile place. So maybe there's some truth to what I'm hearing. 7 (34m 17s): So good intentions only take us so far. So the founders of that city had great intentions. Let's call this place, Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love with the expectation that the goal that this place would be marked by brotherly love. And instead though it's become hostile and one of Philadelphia America's most hostile plays. So good intentions only take you so far. Have you experienced that? Like I'm gonna do better. I'm going to love this person better. And then we fall short, listen, we can't love people effectively unless we're filled with the grace of God, the presence of God and the power of God, because some people are just very difficult to love, but by God's grace, he gives us the ability and even the desire he refreshes our hearts and minds so that we actually have the desire to love people who are on lovely. 7 (35m 11s): How do we love each other? Romans 12, 10 says this love each other with genuine affection. So now we're kind of getting some action points here, genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other. So we're to love one another with genuine affection honoring each other. I would just reading in first Samuel this morning, and I was reading about the relationship between Jonathan, the King's son and David, the newly anointed king, who was yet to take the throne. But as we read through first Samuel, we see the, the, the love relationship that David and Jonathan had. 7 (35m 57s): There was, there was a sacrificial commitment to one, another to protect one another. And you can see how Jonathan over and over again, protected David from Saul's wrath. Saul was jealous of David and Saul was envious of David saw was, was, was angry at David. And so over and over again, Saul was trying to kill David and Jonathan would step up over and over again to protect him. He had, he had genuine love and affection for David and he honored him. And so there's, there's great examples in the scripture and there's great examples in our own lives. Maybe where people have loved us with genuine affection. 7 (36m 40s): And with honor, I can think back in my life about different people who have loved me. So well, my wife, for sure, being one of them for the last 32 years, she just loved me really, really well, genuine affection and honor. And I really do think that's part of like the recipe for longevity in marriage is that we would love and honor one another, a genuine affection can only come from a genuine heart. And so we need to regularly ask the Lord, God, what's going on with my heart. Why, why am I having a hard time loving this person? Maybe it's your spouse. You're having a hard time loving you. 7 (37m 21s): Say, Lord, what's going on with my heart because we can't love when we can fake it, but we can only love people with genuine affection. And honor, when we have a pure hearts, when our hearts are in the right place, we've, we've got to guard our hearts and make sure that we've confessed sin, that we've forgiven, that we're walking in purity and honor before the Lord so that we can lovingly serve others and love others with a genuine affection and honor. So genuine affection can only come from a genuine heart. And honor only comes from a humble heart. So we need to check ourselves. What's the condition of our heart. 7 (38m 2s): Are we being, are we being humble? Are we pure in our heart? Or are we do we have guile and unforgiveness and hatred in our heart brother and sister Lee love can only happen when we choose to extend grace from a genuine and humble heart. So part of doing what anything God has called us to do, what it requires that we're empowered by God, but that we always extend grace. If we think about our relationship with God, what is he always doing with us? I don't know about you, but he's always, always grace to me, right? I mean, I think about the person who loves me more than anybody who has the capacity to love me more than anybody that's God. 7 (38m 45s): And he knows all of my failures and shortcomings, but he genuinely loves me. And he genuinely loves you with affection. And he honors us in that relationship by loving us unconditionally. So in order for us to love, like, God loves us to love others. Like God loves us. We need to, we need to be constantly extending grace to the people in our lives. If you've been alive for any amount of time, you know that you need to extend grace to people constantly in work relationships and marriage, relationships and sibling relationships. And in every relationship, there's going to be opportunity for you to be offended or for you to offend others. 7 (39m 30s): And so there needs to be that constant extension of grace, constant extension of grace meets you. You to me, we, to each other, we just constantly extend grace. The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians four 13 for I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. So maybe you're here today. And you're like, this is like a really impossible thing. There's this person in my life that I just don't like at all. I don't respect this person. I don't like this person. This person gets under my skin every time I see him or her. And so Lord, I don't know how all things are possible. When we submit our hearts to the Lord, we can love people. 7 (40m 11s): I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. God will give you the strength to forgive great story. When the first missionaries arrived in Alberta, Canada, a young chief of the Cree Indians named Masco opportun, savaged, savagely, opposed them. But he later responded to the gospel and accepted Christ shortly afterward. A member of the Blackfoot tribe killed his father mascot. Batoon rode into the village where the murderer lived and demanded that he be brought before him confronting the guilty man. 7 (40m 51s): He said, you have killed my father. So now you must be my father. You shall ride my best horse and wear my best clothes in utter amazement and remorse his enemy exclaimed. My son. Now you have killed me. He meant, of course, that the hates in his own heart had been completely erased by the forgiveness and kindness of the Indian chief. This is the power of the gospel. When we've been touched by the grace of God, we, we find capacity. 7 (41m 33s): Expend extend that same grace to others. Even those who have done us rate great harm. God's grace, as we're filled with the spirit of God and the word of God, the truth that God gives us the capacity to extend grace to others in Luke 10 27, the most important commandment says this. You must love the Lord, your God with all your hearts, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind and love your neighbor as your self over and over again. We see this in the scripture. We see that God calls us to love others. The world. We will know that we are his disciples by our love one for another. 7 (42m 17s): So the love that we're exposed to be feeling for one another and extending to one another is constantly under attack. The enemy wants us to be at odds with one another, because then we're not properly representing the person of the Lord. Jesus Christ. Jesus was gracious in all that. He did. He extended grace and love to everybody. Even to those who executed him on the cross. Jesus tells us in his sermon on the mountain, Matthew 5 21 through 24, he says, you have heard that our ancestors were told you must not murder. 7 (42m 59s): If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment. But I say, if you were even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment. If you call someone an idiot, you're in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell. So if you verse 23 are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the temple. And you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar, go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and off your sacrifice to God. You think God is serious about what he's talking about in his word. He's very serious. 7 (43m 40s): He modeled it for us. He communicates it and the old and the new Testament, he's very serious that we would love one another. So that means we've got to constantly be forgiving, extending grace like 70 times seven. That means essentially that there's no limit to the number of times that we will extend grace and forgiveness. Number one, love each other. Number two, love strangers. So now we're getting a little more specific, loves strangers. We see that in verse two, don't forget to show hospitality to strangers for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it. That's kind of a neat thought, huh? Well, some, some of us have entertained angels without realizing it. 7 (44m 22s): Have you ever wondered about that in your own life? Like, was that an angel? I wonder like, was that a messenger of God that I just entertained? Like, I didn't know who that person was and I haven't seen him since. I wonder if that was an angel of the Lord, that text refers to what happened to Abraham to lot and to Gideon in the old Testament, Genesis 18 Genesis, 19 judges, six and 13, they all entertained angels unaware. They were ministering to angels as they reached out with love to these strangers. One of the best pictures of a person loving a stranger, seen of the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10 when Jesus was asked and who is my neighbor? 7 (45m 13s): So that's the question. I'm like, okay, if I'm supposed to love my neighbor, then who is my neighbor? Right? We're always looking for loopholes, right? Luke 10 30 says this Jesus replied with a story. A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and left him half dead beside the road by chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed by him. Also a temple assistant Levi gets walked over and looked at him, lying there, but he also passed by on the other side of the road, then a despised Samaritan. 7 (46m 1s): So Samaritans were half blood, half blood use. They were, they were a mixed race and they were despised by the Jewish people. Then despise Samaritan came along. And when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with all of oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an end where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, two silver coins to denari were essentially the wage for two late to two days of labor in the day. So he had an two days of work of pay to continue to take care of him, take care of this, man. 7 (46m 46s): If this bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here. So this despised Samaritan served this stranger paid for his well and made sure that he was going to be taking care of until he was completely healthy. Now, which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits? Jesus asked the man replied the one who showed him mercy. Then Jesus said, yes. Now go and do the same. So we have an opportunity to, in a practical way, love those who we don't know as we see people in need. 7 (47m 33s): Now we can't help everybody in need, but we do have the responsibility to help people in need. So we need to pray as we know of people in need and say, Lord, what is my role here? What is my place with this person? How can I serve this person? How am I supposed to serve this person? And as the Lord leads, you, you can minister to that person, but we've got to be prayerful, listening, responsive obedience so that we can do the things that God has called us to do. So there are going to be people in your life that are going to require your love. People that you don't know, maybe people don't like, but God has given you an assignment responsibility to serve them. 7 (48m 21s): Being essentially Jesus with skin on practical, faith living involves loving strangers, but also number three, loving the forgotten, loving the forgotten verse three says, remember those in prison as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated as if you felt their pain in your own body. Often we think about people who are incarcerated. We think, well, they deserve to be there. Well, we, if the truth were told, if we all got busted for things that we have done throughout the course of our life, then we would probably be in there as well. 7 (49m 3s): Truth, be told we've gotten away with a lot of stuff over the course of our lives and found out we might all be in that same place. I often say that apart from Jesus, that I rather either be dead in prison or addicted to something. I mean, apart from Jesus that's, that would be my lot. I just know myself way too well. And I know my life before Jesus came in, remember those in prison. One of my first ministries was to those who were incarcerated. And so we had ministries at the county jail. We had three services on Sunday morning. We had a service for the men's side of the jail and then a service for the women's side of the jail. 7 (49m 43s): And then we'd go over to the honor farm and we would have a service over there. So Sunday mornings, we have three services over there and it was a pleasure to minister and to serve those who are incarcerated. And in my early sales life, as an outside sales rep for a company might part of my territory included me service going into and serving those in prisons. And so I would go in to, I think I had six or seven or eight prisons that I would go into on a regular basis. And what I realized with a few exceptions, most of the people that I was seeing in these prisons, they, they had just made mistakes and they serving their time. 7 (50m 29s): And the truth is they were, they were worthy of love. They were worthy of respect and what I treated them with love and respect that was returned to me. And now I know that's not the case across the board, but overwhelmingly. So that was the case. It's only went to San Quentin prison. San Quentin prison was an altogether different scenario. I walked in that place and it was dark and cold and scary. It was scary. I went in there. I spent about half a day at San Quentin prison once and I decided never to step foot in his hand, Quentin prison. 7 (51m 9s): Again, it was a scary place for me. I didn't want to go back and it was my choice to go in or not. And so I decided not to. So I continued to serve the other prisons, but at San Quentin, I decided to stay away. Now I've heard it's gotten easier at San Quentin, but all the same, I steer steer clear. So we need to remember those in prison. Sometimes we, we think, well, they're not, you know, they're, they're incarcerated. We have an incredible opportunity. Mike and Sharon do tra take their curriculum into prisons and jails all over the country. And they're having a huge impact inside the walls of jails. Now, people who are there, most likely they deserve to be there. 7 (51m 49s): They're not all innocent. Like they would probably say, but we need to take the opportunity to serve people who are forgotten. And remember, remember also those being mistreated as if you felt their pain in your own body, we need to with empathy, remember those who are being mistreated. And so that's why we stand up for bills against bills like AB 2, 2, 2, 3. We believe in life. And we believe that those who are born and the unborn deserve life. And so AB 2, 2, 2, 3 is just another step that eliminates life in our nation. 7 (52m 39s): We need to remember those who are forgotten. There's a young man in our community. He's a homeless guy and he we've known him for years and he doesn't work around the church from time to time. And we've helped him from time to time. And he came to me recently and he said, Hey, I'm trying to get my life back in order. Would you help me get to teen challenge? And so I said, absolutely, we'll get, we'll help you get to teen challenge. And so we gave him a train ticket to get over to Shafter, and we helped him to get there. And we it's important that we are for people who are trying to get their lives back in order. 7 (53m 20s): And so he wanted to go to this Christian program and get his life back in order. So we sent him over there earlier this month and I've been praying for him. And then I got a text from him yesterday. He said, I got kicked out for fighting. So he's out. But that doesn't mean we stop trying. I mean, often we'll try stuff. And in our estimation, from our perspective, it looks like it failed, but it's just maybe another step in the journey that people are taking. And we need to continue to give grace and extend mercy. So he asked me for a train ticket back to the coast and I told him, you are on your own. 7 (54m 4s): He got kicked out. So now the rubber meets the road and he's got to figure out his own path forward. And so we'll figure out, we gotta figure out with good boundaries and good grace, how to serve people, but not enable people. So there's a lot there. We could probably talk about it for a very, very long, a long time. So number three, love the forgotten. Number four, love your spouse. That's actually in the Bible of your spouse, mess something we should just do naturally. Right? We should just love our spouse. We get engaged because we're in love. We get, we want to spend the rest of our lives together because we're in love. And so why is it so hard for us to love our spouse? 7 (54m 44s): Well, typically people coming together to get married are completely opposite of for whatever reason opposites attract. And so there begins to be a rub. Maybe you've never experienced it. And then in your own marriage, but there can be a rub sometimes in marriage, right? I mean, you guys are brand new, married if you guys experienced any rub. Never. Okay, good. So Amanda saying yes. Even saying no. So there's going to be a rub. Whether you've been married for two days or 20 years or 40 years, there's always going to be some kind of an opportunity to love our spouse. When there's a disagreement verse four says, give honor to marriage and remain faithful to one another in marriage. 7 (55m 30s): God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. So how do we love our spouse? Well, we give them honor. We honor them find different ways to honor your spouse. What is your spouse enjoy? What is your spouse? Not enjoy. Figure out those things, answer those questions and then honor them when the way that you live in relationship with them, speak with respects, with tenderness, with kindness, I've heard some men talk to their end vice-a-versa spot, talk to their spouse and very damning and hurtful dishonoring ways. 7 (56m 17s): And so those things need to be, we need to pay attention. Sometimes we can get comfortable in our relationships and we get sloppy about the way we communicate. We get insensitive about the needs of our spouse. And for as long as we're married, we need to be working on honoring one another. Speaking with tenderness, with respect, with kindness, with humility, and just watch what the Lord will do to heal up. Whatever's going on in your marriage remain faithful. So someone's heard this quote recently when a man says yes to a particular woman, he is saying no to every other woman out there. 7 (57m 5s): And that's true for women, either women too. When, when a woman says yes to a particular man, that means she is saying no to every other man out there. So that's part of the deal. We, we honor one another by loving one another and saying, faithful remaining, faithful to one another. Then you make your spouse, your priority, make your spouse your priority. Often in life, everything else becomes priority. The kids that becomes priority. But what happens when your kids grow up? Like your kids are all grown up and maybe you spent the last 20 years making your kids your priority. And then now you're just kind of stuck. 7 (57m 46s): Just the two of you, right? Like now what do we do with each other? Right. Often people get divorced after their kids are raised because they've spent the last 20 years making their S their kids a priority and really everything else, a priority. And so when it's just the two of them in the house, it's, it's like, what do we do with each other? I couldn't wait for my kids to get out of house. It just, the two of us, you know, my wife and I, we, we just, I love my kids, but at 18 it's time for them to go, right. We raised them to be independence. Self-sufficient relying on God, loving Jesus and getting out of the house. 7 (58m 27s): Like they can show up anytime they wanted, they need food or laundry done while they have to do their own laundry. But if they need, they can rate my cupboards. If they need money, I'll give them whatever I have, but they need to be out. Right. Because I just, I want to hang out with my bride. We got, we got married in 11 months and three weeks later we had Caitlin, right? So like, there's no honeymoon period. Like she got pregnant immediately. And then 14, 15 months later, Steven was born. And then like 16 months later, Curtis was born. And like two years later, Leslie was born. So I'm like, Hey, I've done my duty. 7 (59m 7s): Right. Lights out. Time to go. And so no Jolene and I can walk around the house naked. It's wonderful. She would never do that. Me on the other hand, I might buy the house is right. So let's enjoy. Let's enjoy what God has given to us. I forgot his family Sunday, but sorry. Lastly, my daughter's dying over there. He's like, we need to love our spouse. And like, like I, I believe, and like after decades of marriage, that the spark can still be there and be magical and wonderful. 7 (59m 52s): And it needs to be there. It needs to absolutely be there. And if it's not there, work on it, get it back, begin to date your spouse again. All right. Let's take a look at things that hinder our ability to love love of money will hinder our ability to love others. So number five, don't love money. Money is a terrible thing to love. It's it's a one way street. I verse five says don't love money. Be satisfied with what you have for God has said, I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. 7 (1h 0m 34s): When money is a person's focus. Inevitably God loses first place in that person's life. And when God loses first place in a person's life, everything else begins to diminish as well. Loving money is the ultimate selfish thing. I mean, it's, it's about making sure that I have what I need, that I have my safety, my provision. I have everything that I need. And so it's all about me and my money. And, and so then we're not allowing God to be on the throne of our lives. We're not honoring our spouse and others and loving others with our resources because it's all selfishly belongs to me. 7 (1h 1m 20s): The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It's the root of all kinds of evil. So don't love your money, money. This prob I think he's a proverb says, man, it's just like, takes on wings like an Eagle and just flies away. It's just, it's temporary. You can't take it with you. It doesn't bring lasting satisfaction. It's not helpful for most things in life. I mean, we can be thankful that, you know, we've got homes and food and things like that, that things that money buy, but man money can never be our priority. Our driving force, the kingdom of God has to be our driving force, doing what God has called us to do in the scripture. That needs to be our driving force, getting up every morning and making sure that Jesus is the Lord Lord of our lives. 7 (1h 2m 5s): That needs to be our driving force. Matthew 6 24, no one can serve two masters for you will hate one and love the other. You will devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. Love of money is the root of all kinds of evil money can be a blessing when handled properly. And it can be a curse. I've watched so many families over the course of my life and ministry get blown up over, over money. 7 (1h 2m 45s): Inheritances. They divide families, squabbling over possessions. I'm just, I, I, I'm sick to my stomach of the stories that I hear when money gets introduced into a family and there begins the squabble. It's like, oh, we love each other until money shows up and you're not getting mine, man. I tell ya, I I've been so blessed by my, my brother in Denver. He's my half-brother. So my dad passed away six months ago or eight months ago. It's been awhile now, number of months and six months before that, my dad's second wife passed away. 7 (1h 3m 30s): My step-mom. And so my brother who lives in Denver, where my dad lived is handling the estate. And he's been so completely gracious with the way he's handled everything. I, I just tell him all the time I'm so Shane I'm so thankful for the way that you're handling all of this, because the last thing we want is for our family to be blown up because of a few bucks, right? It's not worth it. Relationships. We, we need one another. Am I done with time? How far over am I? I still got like 14 points left. Here we go. 7 (1h 4m 10s): I got five minutes. Thank you very much, Amanda. Here we go. So don't let the love of money. Dictate whom you will love the antidote for the love of money is contentment. Contentment. Godliness with contentment is great. Gain our culture. We don't understand contentment. We see the next new shiny thing. We want it. We, we, we need to have that next thing and I'm can be just as guilty as the rest. So we need to learn to find this place of contentment. Verse five. Again, for God has said, I will never fail you. I will never abandon you. 7 (1h 4m 51s): So that's where our focus, our hope our priority is has God. He, he will never fail you. He will never abandoned. You'd often were hoarding money or save, hold on to stuff because we're afraid of the future and the world's a crazy place. And so we're afraid. And boy, if, if, if we just honor the Lord seek first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness, everything else will be added on to us. Someone said, if you fear God, you've got nothing else to fear, right? Like fearing God means to obey him, to honor him to do what he's called us to do. We put that kind of priority in our lives. Everything else will be taken care of. 7 (1h 5m 30s): Everything else will be taken care of. Another hindrance to love is fear. Don't live in fear, verse six. So we can say with confidence and we'll wrap this up quick. The Lord is my helper. So I will have no fear what can mere people do to me. So the writer of Hebrews is writing to people who are under persecution, Jewish people who have said I'm breaking away from Judaism to honor Christ to enter into this covenant relationship with the Lord. Jesus Christ. I recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. Well, this was a threat to the church, the Jewish church. 7 (1h 6m 14s): This was a threat to the church. And so there was persecution, the Orthodox religious use of the days, guys like Saul of Tarsus before his conversion were persecuting the church, pressuring the people to follow the laws of Moses. And so they were feeling fear. And so the writer is saying, Hey, you've got nothing to fear in light of eternity, which is where we're going to be spending. Most of our time. This, this life here is a blip on the screen of eternity. It's just a blip. It's an important blip. Jesus died for this blip that we might live for him, that we might take as many people with us to heaven as possible. 7 (1h 6m 57s): So it's an important blip, but, but it's not the whole thing. We'll spend eternity with the Lord or not depending on how and what we choose in this life. 9 (1h 7m 11s): Ah, 7 (1h 7m 12s): What can I skip here? This is good. An adverse or number seven, practical faith living number seven verse seven says, remember your leaders who taught you the word of God, think of all the good that has come from their lives and follow the example of their faith. So how do we, how do we love our leaders? We've all got leaders. I've got to leaders, you've got leaders, we've all got leaders. And so we have this responsibility. I submit to my elders. I submit to their leadership in my life. 7 (1h 7m 54s): We all have people that we must submit to because we all have leaders in our lives. So how do we, how do we love our leaders? I w I would say guard against criticism. It's easy to get critical of leaders. Often. We don't understand what our leaders are going through. The decisions that they're facing, the expectations that are upon. So if we can just be careful to extend grace and avoid criticism, and if we can pray for our leaders, that's governmental leaders, that's church leaders. We need to pray, pray, pray for our leaders. Often I'll ask the church. Will you remember to pray for our elders, our staff, our, our church. 7 (1h 8m 34s): Would you remember to pray for me specifically when we praying for people praying for the operative word, they're praying for people, not against people like Lord help his car to crash into that telephone pole. That's not praying for that's bringing again. So don't pray for Lord that they would be blessed and walking in grace and experiencing your clarity. That's what we need to be praying for. People decide to extend grace, understand our human limitations. I think we need to be able to look back at the, of our lives and be able to speak well of people that have led us currently and in the past. And if there's things sticking in our crawl a little bit about past leaders, we need to pray for them and watch the Lord change our hearts. 7 (1h 9m 16s): And then we begin to see their human limitations and begin to see the things that they were up against. And we can extend grace so that we're living in harmony with those who are in leadership over us. I don't think we can honor our earthly leaders very well. Let me, how do I say this? I think we really are. We begin to honor our earthly leaders really well when we figured out how to honor our heavenly leader. When we figured out how to honor the Lord, there's just something that of a work of God in our lives that allows us to honor our leaders and really everybody in our lives. So love each other. Love strangers, love the forgotten and love your spouse. Don't love money. Don't live in fear and love your leaders. Hey, let's take communion. 7 (1h 9m 57s): So thankful for communion. I, once a month, we remember what the Lord has done, and hopefully often more often than that, but especially once a month on family Sunday, we remember. And even as I flipped my elements, I'm like, that was the wrong thing to do. So I don't mean to take it. Forgive me for that. I it's really, we need to honor what God has given us in this active worship that we would honor the Lord. So I'm going to read first Corinthians 1123. 7 (1h 10m 39s): And then as I get ready to read that, just get your hearts, pray that you get your hearts in the right place. And that be a time of confession, time of humility, time of brokenness and contrition that we would go humbly before the throne of grace and say, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for salvation for new life and forgiveness for I pass on to you. What I receive from the Lord himself, this first grand thing is 1123 on the night when he was betrayed, the Lord, Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. 7 (1h 11m 22s): Then he broke it in pieces and said, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me. It's taken away from Got I'm filled with joy, and I'm also perplex. Lord. I I'm grateful that you Allowed your body to be nailed to a cross. Allow your board, your blood to be poured out for my sins. Lord God, I'm perplexed. Lord God that you would love us me enough to do that. Lord, I, I, I don't have the capacity to understand why you would do that Florida, But thank you. 7 (1h 12m 10s): Thank you Lord. For your grace. It is sufficient Verse 25 in the same way. He took the cup of wine after supper saying this cup is the new covenant between God and his people and agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me. As often as you drink it for every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again. Let's go ahead and take the cup. Thank you, Lord. 7 (1h 12m 51s): Thank you for your blood. Thank you that you poured out your blood for my sins. You took the wrath of God that belonged to me upon yourself. And you gave me an exchange. Your righteousness. You gave us an exchange, your righteousness. If you're here today and you need the righteousness of God in your life. If you need God to take that weight of burden from sins and mistakes and failures and shortcomings, if you need God to lift those things off you and you want to enter into a relationship with God, a saving a life, changing, born again, relationship with God you say, Lord, I, I need you to lift this burden of sin. 7 (1h 13m 32s): I need you to forgive me. I repent. I change my mind about the way that I've been living and I'm going to turn and live for you. I'm going to turn and follow you. I want you to be the Lord and the leader of my life. I will submit to you in all things. I will follow you in all things. And I will love you always Lord by your grace. So Lord come into my life, forgive my sin and help me to follow you all the rest of the days of my life. And as you do that, you, you began, you began a journey of being a follower of the Lord. Jesus Christ. It's not about getting sins forgiven. 7 (1h 14m 14s): And then you move on. It's about submitting your life to Jesus and following God, the rest of your life into eternity forever and ever. Amen. It's about allowing God to transition your life from what it was to new life in him. To allow you to be born again into the kingdom of God, adopted into his family. So Lord, this is a life altering transaction that we're believing you for, help us to walk in that life-changing way. We pray this way that you have designed for us. We love you Lord in Jesus name. 7 (1h 14m 54s): Amen. Let's go out and stand up and worship. 1 (1h 15m 22s): You give you a green light to the job 0 (1h 15m 34s): You 1 (1h 15m 35s): Restore and every house that is . It's your breath in? praise. Praise. It's your breath. You bring right John? 1 (1h 16m 33s): Oh, hi. That is Oh, the wish shout shoe tricks cry. 1 (1h 18m 20s): These bones 2 (1h 19m 51s): Lord. You are great. You are awesome. And mighty, we praise you this morning as we go about the rest of our week. Lord, we just pray that you'd be filling us with your holy spirit so that we can shine light to the rest of the world. And everybody we come in contact with. We can glorify you in everything that we do in Jesus name. Amen.

Jesus the Messiah

4 (9m 35s): Good morning church. How are we doing? Good. Everybody doing good? Yeah. Sweet. Sweet. I got a few announcements for ya if you're ready for it. So, you know, just hang onto your seats here. We got some good stuff here going on. My name is Curtis, first of all, and I work here at church. I do branding and design and stuff like that. So I'm very blessed to work here. And so this year we've got Easter celebrations happening next Sunday. It's going to be at 10:00 AM. And please, please, please. On your way out, grab a flyer, invite a friend, invite a coworker, invite a neighbor. We've got them at all the exits all the entrances. So please grab a flyer on your way out and invite somebody. 4 (10m 18s): I was actually at, I was going to pick up some faucets for the worship center about a week and a half ago, and the person who was helping me, I just had it on my heart that I should invite them. So I gave her a flyer and she was like so excited and so thankful to receive it. And so if you're, you know, if you're hesitant about it, just, you know, trust the Lord and he'll guide you, it's going to be really good. So also, if you want to sign up for serving for Easter on Saturday, set up or clean up or whatever you want to do, we'll have a QR code on the screen that you can scan and sign up there. Or you can sign up at the info center up the driveway. 4 (10m 59s): Also, if you'd like to be baptized on Easter, we'd love to baptize you. So you can also get more information on that, on the baptism tab, on the website or at the info center as well. And then we had an amazing, amazing cleanup day yesterday. So we had a great turnout, I think 35, 40 people or something like that and got a lot done there. That was great energy. It was super exciting and really fun and just a great time to connect together. So it went really well. And so we're excited about the progress that's happening at the worship center and yeah, it's all, it's all going great. And then M six men's gathering is happening tomorrow night at 6:00 PM. 4 (11m 44s): So a thousand Hills ranch. So if you're a guy and you want to connect with some other guys, it's a great, great opportunity to do that. So with that, let's worship some more 1 (19m 26s): You're faithful. God. We're so thankful Lord for your presence here today. And for the privilege that it is to gather as friends, brothers, and sisters in the Lord, the family of God. Yeah. We just pray that every person gathered would feel your presence. God, that each person gathered would just feel welcomed and loved by the people of God. But also you Lord, that people would just feel your love for them and your grace for them. Lord God. So Lord, we just invite your power and your presence. Lord, we invite you to do supernaturally abundantly above everything that we might hope or imagining Christ Jesus, Lord, that there would just be life changing worship today. 1 (20m 12s): Life-changing prayer today life-changing fellowship today. God, that you'd be glorified. God, we're so honored by your presence. And I pray God that you would fill every room on this campus, every space Lord inside and outside, Lord, God, God, that we would just experience your presence. God, that even as people walk by the front on the sidewalk, Lord, they would just be drawn by your spirit. They would just feel something of your power in your presence. Lord God, that would draw them by your holy spirit. And so Lord, for those who are wondering about you today, I prayed you would reveal yourself to those people in powerful and profound ways. 1 (20m 53s): God, that you would affirm and confirm your existence. Jesus, your love for them, your kindness toward them, your plan for them or Jesus. So bless we pray. Every person gathered young and old everybody. Lord, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Hey man, you may be seated. I'm going to cover a couple things and then we'll take a little break and then we'll introduce our speaker today. First and foremost, I just want to acknowledge Danny and Norma Gaddis. Can we get Danny enormous picture up there on the screen these guys have been serving. They are, they've been a part of our church for the better part of two decades. And they've been serving our community in the food pantry ministry for years and years and have served literally hundreds and hundreds of families. 1 (21m 44s): They're the people behind all of the baskets at Christmas and Thanksgiving. And they've been out there on Thursdays, passing out food at our food bank for literally years and years and years just they've been a huge blessing and it's their season now to kind of retire from that ministry. So we just wanted to honor them and bless them. It's actually being taken over by a pastor at grace Bible church. And so it's kept, we're seeing a little bit of a transition there. We'll see what happens here at harvest as we move forward. But pastor Mario over at tag grace Bible church is just doing a phenomenal job and providing food for people here and over in Guadalupe. 1 (22m 27s): And so we're really grateful for that partnership that we have with grace Bible and we loved them and grateful for what God has been able to do as we've collaborated together over the years, we wanted to bless them. Also, I wanted to just highlight something for everybody's. There's a new assembly bill that's coming out. It's called AB two, two to three. How many are familiar with AB 2, 2, 2, 3. So let's go ahead and throw up the first slide there. AB 2, 2, 2, 3, it's new legislation that's legalized as self abortion at any stage of pregnancy and it essentially legalizes infanticide in California. 1 (23m 9s): So this bill has been changed. They've been, they've added to this bill so that you can actually, it's going to be legal if it passes to kill your babies up to depending on how you define what they're talking about, but at least up to seven days. But some, some definitions speak of up to a year that you're able to kill your baby up to a year. So it was just as new language added to AB 2, 2, 2, 3 last week revealed that the, a tent, the proposed legislation would shield a mother from civil and criminal charges for any actions or omissions related to her pregnancy, including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion or perinatal. 1 (24m 1s): So that's the word, perinatal death at word is defined differently depending on where you look, but it means, you know, the five months or so leading up to delivery and then up to depending on where it's defined and where you look up to a year after. So you can give birth and have a kid at your house for six months and decide you don't want the kid. You can kill the kid and there's no legal recourse or equal there. So, so what we're doing is we're just asking everybody to be aware of this. And if you would like to call, let's put up the next slide here, where it's at right now on April 5th, 2022, the bill passed the assembly judiciary committee. 1 (24m 44s): The next step is the assembly health committee and it's most likely going to be happening on April 19th. So that's this the Tuesday following Easter. And so a lot of people will be at the state Capitol, myself included. And a lot of our staff will be there at the state Capitol on Tuesday, the 19th to pray and to protest this horrific bill. And so let's go and throw up the next slide. I think it gives us a phone number on the next slide. Hopefully. Yeah. So Buffy wicks is a politician up in the bay area. Who's kind of offering this and driving this. And so if you can call and just express your perspective on this, I called yesterday and with great clarity expressed my disapproval. 1 (25m 34s): So if you would like to call and express your opinion, then please call that number (916) 319-2015. I'll have that number as well. So we just want to take a moment to pray and ask the Lord to protect our states. And this is kind of something is happening in New York. And I think, I believe in Washington and California, and then there's another state somewhere, but it's happening. So we just have to be aware. This is a moral outrage is what this is. The scripture is clear about the value of human life we're made in the image of God. And so we have as a church, as a, as believers, as people of faith have to stand up and oppose this type of legislation, these types of laws, they're, they're, they're insane. 1 (26m 20s): So let's go ahead and stand up and pray. And we're going to agree together. Lord, we just agree together in Jesus' name that you would not allow this assembly. Bill 2, 2, 2, 3, to be approved, Lord God, in Jesus' name, we pray God that you would protect kids, protects our, our state and our nation from this type of law being allowed. And so we, we pray in Jesus name and we break the powers of darkness. It's the enemy of our souls is Satan, who is trying to drive this thing through Satan, who hates life and us. 1 (27m 0s): We pray in Jesus' name God that you would be victorious in Sacramento on the 19th, God, that you would protect this state from this atrocity, from this terrible, terrible bill Lord. So we pray God that you would remind us to pray and remind us to participate in the process. Lord, that we might stop this type of thing from happening in our state. Lord God, that we would always pray that your will would be done in our state Lord God, that we would trust you God, for your divine plans and purposes in this state and in this, in this nation, we pray. Thank you Lord, for who you are. Thank you that we have an opportunity to express our opinion and to let governing officials know where we stand. 1 (27m 43s): So help us to do so with clarity and with passion. We pray. Thank you, Lord. Let us remember to pray. We pray every day. Lord, help us remember to pray every day throughout the day for this bill, Lord. And we love you. And we thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So with that to go ahead and turn and greet your neighbor and we'll come right back here. And just a moment 9 (28m 57s): Oh, geez. Oh, geez. Oh, 1 (29m 42s): It's like, Cheryl's got some breakfast for us here. He's got a little applesauce. It looks like he's got some greens. Are you going to make us an omelet? Okay. There'll be a treat. Good, good, good. And so this is cereal. I'll stand down here with serum. So cereals he's been here. This is, I think Cyril's third time with this presentation or similar presentation and it's been five years or so 2017. Okay. So it's been a while since Xero's been here. And so he reached out to me and we talked in the last, I dunno, a few months and there's some music. I liked the music. 1 (30m 23s): Yeah, that's good. Yeah. That's not bad. Right? So we want to welcome Cyril and just, he's going to give us a Jewish perspective. He's a Jewish man completed you. He believes that Jesus is the Messiah. And so Cyril is going to give us his perspective and hopefully a little bit of his testimony I get got saved at USB, right? UCS beam. 11 (30m 45s): No, actually. 1 (30m 47s): Okay. You fill us in. Yeah. Yeah. I'm misremembering already. So let's pray for Sierra and then we'll let him go for it here, Lord. Thank you Jesus. For what Sierra role will bring to us today, we pray that it will enrich our Bible knowledge, our souls, our hearts and minds. Lord God that we would be enriched in every way. Bless our brother. As he brings this message in this word, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 11 (31m 11s): Hey man. Hey man. Thank you brother. All right. Am I coming in? Great. What a joy to be back here. I was so looking forward to this really. I love you guys. I missed you. It's been five years. I've been in the battlefield in Los Angeles, AKA Gomorrah, Who knows where sodomy is North San Francisco. That's right. Wow. Never thought I'd be speaking in churches. Coming from a Jewish background. I was born in France, grew up in San Francisco. We were the only Jews and an Italian Catholic neighborhood Went to UC. 11 (31m 54s): Santa Barbara got tired of the party scene by my sophomore year. I said, there's gotta be more to life. Started searching gut. But of course I went where you're not supposed to go as a Jew Eastern religion. So I became a Jew BU And dabbled in all that. Eventually went back to my Jewish roots. When I came to see that the Bible is truly of God. When I studied with rabbis in Jerusalem and became a modern Orthodox Jew from 1988 to 93. And in my search, I had a dream and assume me a vision of Jesus and a roadway to heaven and the desert back in Joshua tree. It's a long story, but basically in my search for after this vision, I kept getting the wrong Jesus for four years. 11 (32m 44s): You know that my rabbi said he was a revolutionary, the psychics I was going to said he was some ascended master books. I read said he escaped the crucifixion and went to Southern Europe and had a family. And his kids became the Kings of Europe. I mean just whatever. Finally though, thank God I met a true Christian here in the central coast and my brother was going to Cal poly and I was down here helping him move. And the lady he was renting from was a Christian. And we talked and I saw her Bible and I was looking through it and it had the old and the new Testament in it. I'm like, what's this Gentile doing with my Bible? 11 (33m 26s): And it was all written up. And, and you, I mean, she, it was a Bible and she, we went out to pizza and she shared the gospel with me. And I don't remember a word she said, but I do remember the spiritual piece that she had and I didn't, and I'm supposed to be from the koans and the Levites, I'm an Orthodox Jew something's missing. Anyway, I go back to San Francisco two weeks later, she sends me a big box of books and a five page letter. And I'm like, oh, she's got a crush on me, But I read the letter. And it, what it was was she saw that I was searching and I was thirsting for living water. 11 (34m 8s): And it was these books about the real Jesus evidence that demands a verdict by Josh McDowell, more than a carpenter. And I started reading these books. I was not against Jesus at this time because I'd had this vision of him. And then the next night I had this dream of visitation of a being in such that it is such glory and I's like welding torches. I couldn't even look at them. I thought it was going to die in his presence. It doesn't say anything, but he holds out this parchment with all this writing on it and I couldn't read it, but I knew in my spirit, it was my whole life up to that time. And in big bold letters and a bottom, it said it's time to come home. 11 (34m 49s): And I woke up and I said, something's going to happen to me. So I told my rabbi, who I was studying Kabbalah with. And he tried to give me some crazy answer and that's not it. I finally picked up the Josh McDowell books. And through that, I saw how Jesus fulfilled the many prophecies from the old Testament. These are hidden from my Jewish people, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22 is that gray night. I'm like, why didn't anyone show this to me? And I learned from this a book that you needed a blood of Toman for forgiveness of sin. My Jewish people are not taught this anymore. The rabbis teach, if you fast and pray on Yom Kippur, you're good to go for a year. That didn't work. 11 (35m 29s): So I went through the four spiritual laws, made sure it was okay that it was kosher. And I knew I was a sinner was not a problem. I was an Orthodox Jew. I, you know, I was face-to-face with my sins every day. And I prayed to receive Jesus as my Lord and savior by myself in my kitchen. And it was like a brick house lifted from me. I was a tangible darkness and I knew that I was white as snow, that I was completely forgiven finally. And I was so excited. I was on that phone. What some, you know, I was trying to call all the people I thought were Christians that I knew. And they, most of them thought I was nuts. 11 (36m 10s): Finally, I met one guy and he told me you've been born again. So that was the Lord just did a very quick work in me. I did a 180 didn't need to party anymore. I didn't need to chase girls anymore. I didn't need to take drugs anymore. Everything went out the window. Everything was Jesus. After that. And the Lord sent me to Hawaii, sold everything and got discipled out there for two years. You know, that's where God sends Jews to get discipled. The Lord gave me a passion for souls right away. And I just couldn't stop talking about Jesus. And soon after that, I went to Israel, became a citizen. 11 (36m 51s): Did Alia did evangelism, frontline evangelism out there for two years and came back here, did frontline evangelism in San Francisco. And for three years then got married and went to a Southern California where I've been since 2000. So it's been quite an adventure. If you like testimonies. My wife and I did write a small pamphlet called match by Messiah. And that's a, you get two for one, two Jews for the price of one. And my wife's extra Jewish. Cause she's from Brooklyn. Anyways, we did pass over every year in my house in San Francisco. 11 (37m 32s): My grandmother made the best lamb. I just loved it, but it was a tradition. We just did it because we were supposed to do it. But now that I've been born again, it's alive. It has, the meeting is so much richer. Like all the biblical holidays that the Lord gave my people, they are about reminding us who God is and what he's done, because the Lord knows how apt we are to forget and get complacent. That's why I actually love sharing my testimony. I'll share it every day. If I have to, because it reminds me of the mud ache I came out of. And I don't want to take that lightly. So Passover is a seven day holiday. It happens this time of year. 11 (38m 12s): I think it starts on the 15th this year and it revolves around 11. We're not allowed to eat any 11. We're only allowed to eat unleavened bread Motsa and we get very creative with this. You see 11 in a Bible, symbolic of sin because just as it's used to puff up cakes and cookies and breads sin puffs us up with pride, which separates us from God. And The first night of Passover is a Seder. When the whole family comes over and ushers in the Passover the week, and you cannot have a Passover. If you have any 11 in your house, you have to do a major house cleaning. It's a time of the year. When you clean all the places in your house that you don't normally clean the rest of the year under the fridge, under the couches and the, in the, you know, the pillow under the pillows and under the cabinets, wherever a crumb could be hiding, you got to get it, or you cannot have a Passover. 11 (39m 8s): In fact, you cannot have any bread cakes or cookies in your house during Passover. So we're supposed to take it and burn it. And if you go to Jerusalem before the Passover, it's not unusual to smell burnt toast in a year because people are taking their bread to the park and they're having a bread bonfire. But here in America, they don't do that so much. What they usually do is they bag up their cakes and cookies and they give them to their Gentile neighbors to hold. So after the Passover, I'm pretty sure that my grandma, she bagged it all up and stuck it in the freezer downstairs, but we're supposed to burn it once the 11 is out of the house, the whole family comes over and the head of the house is going to wear a special prayer shawl. 11 (39m 52s): If any of you been to a synagogue or a bar mitzvah, it's the men will wear these prayer shawls. They have tassels on the corners. It's a commandment of my Jewish people to remember the covenant we made with God at Mount Sinai. It goes over like this, But instead of wearing the usual yamaka or skull cap, as a sign of respect to God, the night of Passover, the man of the house is going to wear something a little more elaborate symbolic of a crown because the night of Passover, the main of the house is the king of the house. And in a, And in a Jewish family, it's the only night of the year that he's figured out. 11 (40m 43s): At least it's not an Italian family where he's never king of the house. And as the king of the house, he's going to guide his family through the traditional Passover Seder Seder means order. Cause there's an order to this using four cups of grape juice and a Seder plate that has six different food items that are going to help us tell the story of Passover. And he's going to do that. Using this book called a Haggadah, which means the telling, because it's all about telling a story. So the evening we'll begin with the lighting of candles. This is the honor and duty of the oldest woman of the house. 11 (41m 24s): She would light the candles. Where's my wife. And she will say a prayer and make this motion to welcome the holy spirit, the raw codec to the evening. And it's appropriate that the woman of the house light the candles because the Bible is very clear that it would be through a woman that the Messiah would come. And the enemy knew this. Look at the matriarchs of the Jewish people, Rebecca, Sarah, Rachel, they were all barren. The enemy said, Hey, got you. 11 (42m 4s): No Messiah is coming from here. Well, the Lord opened all those wounds. In fact, my wife, when we got married, the doctors said we would never have children. She had a condition ovarian syndrome and they said, you're never going to have children. We have three. So who's in charge folks. So the candles are lit at this point, the head of the house is going to lift up the first cup, the cup of sanctification. This cup sets the night apart from all the other nights, he'll hold it like this and say a Hebrew prayer that goes like this. hello? Hey, new fan, ah, man, which translates into Bless it. 11 (42m 58s): Are you a Lord? Our God king of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine, the cup of sanctification sets quite apart from all the other nights. After that, the head of the house is going to move over to the Seder plate. And he's going to start to tell the story of Passover. And it starts with Jacob, the patriarch of the Jewish people. He lived in the promised land in Atlanta Cain, and he had 12 sons and his, his favorite was little Joseph, one of the youngest. And he wasn't shy about letting everybody know. This was very annoying to the older brothers, especially later on, Jacob sent Joseph to go and spy on the older brothers who were taking care of the sheep and the goats out in the fields. 11 (43m 40s): So when the older brothers saw little Joseph coming to spy on them, they were very annoyed. They seized them and they sold them to some slave traders and some on the way to Egypt, a couple hundred miles away, and then lie to Jacob and said, poor Joseph was killed by a wild animal. Jacob was devastated and went into a deep, deep mourning at would not be consoled. This wasn't bad enough for poor Joseph serving his master faithfully in Egypt for several years, several years later, the master's wife falsely accused them and he was sent to prison for life, but God was with Joseph and he gave him the gift of interpreting dreams. 11 (44m 23s): And it wasn't long before the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt had two dreams that nobody could interpret. None of his psychics or sourcers could interpret these dreams. And they tormented him. And he soon learned of Joseph's gift of interpreting dreams. And he called him out of prison and he asked him, can you interpret these dreams that are tormenting me? And he said, no, but my God will. And sure enough, he did. They were prophetic. They foretold of seven years of plenty followed by seven years of worldwide famine. Pharaoh saw that God was with Joseph. He made him his right-hand man, put him in charge of all the grain of Egypt. And God gave Joseph wisdom to stash away. 11 (45m 4s): 20% of the grain that came in during the seven years of plenty, for sure enough, when he eighth year hit famine, hit the whole world. And it wasn't long before peoples from all around, were coming to Egypt to buy grain. Well guess who showed up? After a couple of years, Jacob's brothers, Jacob sent them to Egypt to buy grain. They were starving and there they were in front of their brother to buy grain. Well, guess what? They didn't recognize it. He was dressed like an Egyptian. He spoke at , but he recognized that. So he decided to make him sweat a little bit. 11 (45m 44s): But after a while, when he saw that they were repentant for what they did, he couldn't hold back and he had to reveal himself. And he said, I am Joseph, what was the reaction? They were horrified. This is the brother they betrayed and sold into slavery. Now he was the right-hand man of Egypt. He could squish him in a second, but there was a forgiveness that was poured out. And the brothers were reconciled, kind of reminds me of when I came to faith and discovered that Jesus wasn't just a rabbi or an ascended master, that he was God in the flesh. I was horrified. I'd been using his name as a swear word my whole life, but the Lord's forgiveness was poured out and I was reconciled to God. 11 (46m 29s): So the brothers are reconciled. They have Pharaoh, Pharaoh has favor on the Hebrew people and he invites them to come and dwell in Egypt. God shows Jacob that it's okay, go to Egypt because one day I'll bring you back to the promised land. So Jacob goes, he's overjoyed to know that Joseph lives and that he has a couple of grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh. And so Jacob and his whole clan come to Egypt and there they dwell and prosper and multiply so much. So that later on, when the new Pharaoh takes over, who doesn't know Joseph, he decides to deal shrewdly with the Hebrews and make them slaves, not just for 10, 20 years folks, we're talking several hundred years of hard bitter bondage. 11 (47m 19s): And we remember this as we lift up the first item of the Seder plate, fresh parsley, symbolic of life, and it's dipped in salt water, symbolic of tears to make tears, to remind us that a life of slavery is a life filled with tears. After this, we move over to the second item, a horseradish root. This is a very bitter root, and it's a visual reminder of the bitterness of life. As a slave. The third item, my favorite fresh ground horseradish. 11 (47m 59s): We're supposed to eat a whole teaspoon of this stuff. You know what happens when you do that? Usually you turn red and start crying. Well, we cannot proceed with this Passover Seder presentation and we have three volunteers that are gutsy enough to try the horseradish. Who's ready for that. Come out, come on up. Young lady. Anyone else? We need two more. Come on. Or we're stuck here. Two more. Come on, go on. There's gotta be a brave soul in here. They'll come on up. Let's give him a hand. Okay. One more, one more. Come on up. Come on up. Okay. Fantastic. Now, since my Lord is merciful, I thought I'd be merciful and give it to them with some Motsa. 11 (48m 44s): Is that okay with you guys? No. Give it to him straight. Yes. Okay. Okay. All of you stand right in front here. We're going to set you up. Okay. There you go. Don't take it yet. Yeah. Okay. There you go. Right next to her. Good. Okay. All right. There you go. All right. All right there. Okay. Now this is supposed to be the taste of slavery. Does anyone know the prayer for last rights? 11 (49m 26s): Okay. On 3 1, 2, 3. . Thank you, my man. Good job. Thank you. Let me shake your hand. Thank you. Thank you. I knew there were some brave souls at this church. We can now proceed with the Passover Seder. After that the head of the house is going to lift up the fourth item. It's called . It's a sweet mixture of apples, honey cinnamon almonds. 11 (50m 8s): And it's supposed to remind us of the mortar or the cement that we were forced to make us slaves for many years in Egypt. But why use a sweet mixture for that? Well, we had the promise of God that he would bring us back to the promised land and that kept us going 17 (50m 25s): Rosa, 11 (50m 27s): Good. After that, the head of the house will lift up the fifth item, the huggy guy, or hard boiled egg. Now we have to understand about half of what I'm going to show you this morning. We believe that Jesus did that with the disciples in the last supper. There's everything else is traditions that came later like this, this came later because this is a symbol of mourning for the Jewish people. It reminds us of the temple in Jerusalem that was destroyed and burned to the ground by the Romans. Yeah. And it's placed over the fire to remind us that the temple was burned to the ground by the Romans in 70 Ady. 11 (51m 10s): And the Jewish people were dispersed all over the world. But for Jews, for believers like us, this is a symbol that reminds us that Jesus was a hundred percent accurate when it came to prophecy. You see, he foretold that this magnificent temple that took 40 years to build would come down and not one stone left on another and they mocked him. But folks that's exactly what happened. The huggy guy after this, the head of the house is going to move over to the second cup, the cup of plagues. And here we remember how God chose Moses to go to Pharaoh, to say, let my people go. But Pharaoh said, no, not just once, but 10 times. 11 (51m 50s): And every time he did, God had to pour out a plague on Egypt. We remember these plagues as the head of the house would dip his finger in the grape juice and let 10 drops fall on to his plate. As the 10 plagues are remembered anyone, remember what some of those plagues were Riverdale, blood frogs, flies, lights, lice, locusts boils, darkness, Hale, modifier to more Death of the firstborn. And finally the pestilence, the animals died, the Egypt in the Egypt, but the animals in the Jews didn't die. It's funny. 11 (52m 30s): It's really amazing. Whenever I ask people always say the frogs first and the pestilence lasts. It's amazing. What's interesting about this second cup is it reminds us that this was a showdown folks between the God of Israel and the false gods of Egypt. You see the Egyptians used to worship the Nile river. God made it useless, turned it blood. They used to worship the sun. God turned it off for three days. They used to worship the beasts of the field. They all died except for the ones in the of the Hebrew people. In fact, did you know that the Pharaoh was everyone, all the firstborn of Egypt were consecrated to worship Pharaoh as God. 11 (53m 14s): And when the last plague death of the firstborn, God did away with Pharaoh worship in one day, if he can't protect his only firstborn son, he's not God you see the goal of the Passover was to show not only the Egyptians, but the Hebrews that the God of Israel is the one true God cup of plagues. After that, the head of the house is going to move over to the last item of the Seder plate. There's ROA or Lambo. And here we remember how God made a provision to spare his people. Death of the firstborn was coming to Egypt and the Lord told the Jewish people to take a perfect lamb or go. 11 (53m 58s): You had to live with, live with it for four days. And after that, the poor thing had to be killed. And it's innocent blood placed on the doorpost for when death visited Egypt and saw the blood. It passed over those houses. And everyone that was in those houses was spared. That's where we get the name Passover. And this also reminds us of the three food items, items we're supposed to eat. A Passover bread, unleavened bread, lamb, and bitter herbs. There's ROA good. Well, that's the six items at the Seder plate. After that, the head of the house is going to move over to this pouch where there's three pieces of unleavened bread, but only the middle one is pulled out. We believe it's it's that it's because the three symbolizes the father, the son, the holy spirit, but the rabbis will say, it's symbolic of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 11 (54m 47s): But we believe it's the son because the son of God is the aspect of God that dwelled among us. It's taken out of the pouch, broken in half placed in a white pouch and hidden away because later on all the children are sent out to find it. They tear the house apart cause they know the one that finds it gets a big prize. When it's found everyone rejoices into pulled out of the pouch for everyone to see broken up and shared with everybody. And that's when the third cup is raised. The cup of redemption. Does this look familiar? This is where we get communion. Jesus ushered the communion in during the last supper with the third cup, because it's the cup of redemption and he is the Redeemer you see, before I came to faith, when sin came knocking on my door, I was like, come on in let's party. 11 (55m 38s): I couldn't say no, but now I got a big sign on my front door, says no soliciting. I can say no to sin. I'm no longer a slave. So Jews that don't know Jesus they'll think of Moses and how God used him to set us free from physical slavery. But Jesus took it and magnified and said, now you're going to remember with the new covenant, how God set you free from spiritual slavery cup of redemption. Amen. Now the matzah is unleaven just as Jesus was without sin, it's broken just like Jesus was broken. It's hidden in a white cloth. As he was wrapped in white linen. 11 (56m 19s): It's hidden away. God says you must be as a child to know me. The children are sent out to find it. When it's found everyone rejoices. When we're found the angels rejoice, it's pulled out of the pouch for everyone to see just as Jesus was risen from the dead. After three days witnessed by over 500 Jews, broken into pieces and shared with everyone just as Jesus is the bread of life. It looks like the gospel message to me folks. But my Jewish people don't see this. If you ask the rabbi, Hey, what's the deal with hiding the Matsa and the kids finding it, getting a prize. They usually say it's just a game to keep the kids occupied. We think it's a tradition that came from the first church in Jerusalem and got somehow mixed up with mainstream. 11 (57m 2s): Good will. After the third cup, the head of the house is going to lift up the fourth cup, the cup of praise, the cup of Hallel and here we praise God for his faithfulness to bring the people out of slavery and back to the promised land. The cup of Hallel good. Well, that's the four cups, sanctification, plagues, redemption, and praise. We run the home stretch folks. There's this fancy looking cup we haven't talked about yet. The cup of Elijah and at every Seder table, there's an empty place setting with this cup because the Jewish people know that before the coming of the Messiah, God would send a Lija to tell them who the Messiah is. So at the end of the Passover, the youngest child present center, the front door, everyone will look as he opens it. 11 (57m 46s): And they're hoping and praying that Elijah will come walking in to tell them who the Messiah is. So if you're driving around town the night of Passover and you see some doors go flying open, go on in, Have a seat. Tell them who the Messiah is. We know who Elijah is, right? John, the Baptist Jesus said he is Alijah. Who has come to prepare the way of the Lord. Amen. All right. Well, I'm going to give all of you a hand for surviving a Passover Seder And quickly, I'm going to give you a window into my world before we close. 11 (58m 29s): We got those slides. All right, we're going to just zip through this folks. Okay. This is me before I got saved, like I said, I was in bondage. Go ahead. The devil thought he had me, but thankfully I was set free by the power of the blood of Jesus. Go ahead. The Lord sent me to Venice. It's the enemy's camp. It's the second most visited place in California, behind Disneyland. Thousands of people go there every day. A lot of people don't know that. Go ahead. This is what go ahead. This is what Venice looks like. It's a walkway, a mile and a half long thousands of people just strolling back and forth. Go ahead. Here's another picture of the walkway. 11 (59m 10s): Go ahead. Another picture. Go ahead. The end of the road for a lot of people, folks, you know, people come to LA, they try to make it big and they get beat up and ended up homeless drug addicts, alcoholics, whatever. And they end up sleeping on the beach at Venice. Go ahead. And the enemies there every day, you got the tarot card readers. Go ahead. You got the marijuana. Go ahead. You got the Hindus. Go ahead. And you got the psychics. You know, I lived at Venice for three months when I was going to UC Santa Barbara. When I graduated, I was an artist. I did painting. I had a big show. There lived on a roof for three months and I was searching. 11 (59m 50s): I'd walk up and down that walkway never ran into a ministry or a Christian, but the psychics were there. Come on in. And I ended up getting deceived. You got the Krishnas. Are there, go ahead. You got the devil shows up now and then you got to rebuke him in the name of Jesus. Go ahead. You got the warlocks. Go ahead. You got the witches. This is not Halloween folks. You got the Colts. This guy's part of a black Hebrew, Colt Israelites. And they're very violent. There's a whole, I got whole stories about that. Believe me. Now I'm not going to be able to get into too, too, too much detail this morning. But if you want to be in the trenches, if you have a heart for, in California souls in California, you want to sign up with this clipboard at the back table and you'll be put in the trenches where all the action is at Venice beach. 11 (1h 0m 44s): My praise reports are short and sweet. There are no fluff. You're going to get the good, the bad and the ugly. Go ahead. Where are we at? Okay. Yeah, you cannot be like little Bo peep at Venice beach. You'll get beat up and you'll never come back. Go ahead. You gotta be like this guy. You gotta be ready for battle with your sword of the spirit, your shield of faith and your helmet of salvation. I love that picture. You he's not going anywhere. He's got his foot planted there and he's not going to run. Where are we there? Okay. Yeah. So here we are. We're at Venice beach with our Jesus loves you shirts and our show FARs. And when the enemy shows up, that's what we blow the show far. 11 (1h 1m 28s): Hallelujah. The Bible says in numbers, chapter 10, verse nine, he instructed Moses to say, when you go to the enemy and when you go into your land and the enemies harassing you, you blow your show far and I will fight your battles. And that's who we trust to fight our battles. Go ahead. We set up a canopy with a table with free English, Spanish and Hebrew, new testaments. And people just come to our table all day long. We don't have to go hog tie anybody. They are just coming all day long. We have a trained volunteer ministry team that comes out with me every time, Jews and Gentiles serving God together. We waive the Israeli flag so that Israelis know that it's a safe place and Israelis love going to Venice. 11 (1h 2m 13s): And they come by our table all the time. And a lot of Christians come by for prayer. Go ahead. We got these people came by for prayer. This lady was digging for cans and the garbage came back for prayer. Go ahead. Another guy came by for prayer. Go ahead. Prayer. Another woman for prayer. Go ahead another man for prayer. Go ahead another man for prayer. Go ahead. Prayer. Prayer, prayer, prayer. Go ahead. Another one for prayer. Go ahead. This lady was happy to get new testaments for her kids. Go ahead. The whole family came by for prayer and Bibles. Go ahead. A little kids. Get Bibles. Go ahead, kids reading Bibles. 11 (1h 2m 56s): Go ahead. The hippies. Come by now and then go ahead. And some people just ready to get into God's word. And we're doing that with this young man. Go ahead. Here's this guy came to faith named Aaron. Some people were just ready to give their life to God. We've calculated that 2,700 people a year will stop by our table. 1600 of them will take new testaments and over 70 will come to faith. I don't know where else you can get that kind of exposure. Go ahead. There's a Muslim that came by. Got the gospel. Go ahead. Here's a trans trans us transvestite. He came by his name's Eve. Jenny. He came by and got the gospel. 11 (1h 3m 36s): We've been praying for him for years. Go ahead. Israelis coming all the time. 12 to 24 every time. Go ahead. Another Israeli, getting the gospel. Go ahead. Another Israeli getting the gospel and the Bible. Go ahead. Another one. Go ahead. And my dog Moodles, This is rainy was ready to get into God's word and we're showing them the prophecies. Go ahead. Here's a local Jew. Getting the gospel. Go ahead. And a homeless Jew from Pennsylvania got the gospel and the Bible. Go ahead. So it's seeds, sowing, seed sowing. This guy was an Israeli tank battalion. He came by and got the gospels named Joseph. Go ahead. 11 (1h 4m 17s): Whole group of Israeli soldiers came by. They were so moved by what we heard. They heard that they asked us to pray for them and we blew the show far for them and they left with Hebrew new testaments. Go ahead. Orthodox Jew came by big animated discussion with him. Go ahead. And finally, this guy's name's Mandy. He was a guy who was struggling with sexual identity. He was on his way to get a sex change came by our table, gave his life to the Lord, left with the new Testament, showed up three months later. Go ahead with a beard. Amen. He canceled his operation. 11 (1h 4m 57s): Now he's reading his Bible every day. So praise God for Mandy. Go ahead. This was, we got teams from churches coming to Venice beach now getting trained, getting experience, and they're taking it back to their churches. Go ahead. Go ahead. And finally, this is a picture of my wonderful family. My wife, Rhonda, my daughter, Gabriela, Daniel, and Yossi. So folks never adult day serving the Lord. All right, well, we're going to wrap this up. If you have any questions, come see me at the table in the back. Don't forget to sign up for our praise reports. If you want to be in the trenches. And if you want to give, if God's moving you to help support this ministry and be a part of it, I did. 11 (1h 5m 38s): And, but you didn't come prepared. I can take credit cards at the back table. So God bless you. I'm going to say a prayer. As we close, I personalize the, our father prayer. And I want to share it with you because it means so much to me for me now, I don't know you to get to the part where it says lead me not into temptation. It always sounded like God was trying to tempt me, but God doesn't tempt us, right? The real meaning is this Lord don't let me give into temptation. So let's say the, our father together, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thank you for giving me my daily bread. 11 (1h 6m 21s): Forgive my sins. As I forgive those who sin against me, don't let me give into temptation, but deliver me from evil for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory. Amen. God bless. 2 (1h 6m 45s): Awesome. Church. Will you stand as we worship? I think it's only appropriate that we sing about our savior and we sing about his coming and his time on earth and how we get to praise his name. 7 (1h 7m 26s): . Hi, And transfixed all in cheese.

Running Strong Part 2

Running Strong

4 (14m 56s): Thank you, Lord. For your spirit, your power, your grace Lord. We need it desperately. We thank you that you meet us in those desperate places and you bless us with your spirits and your grace and your power. What? I pray that we would be refreshed in that today for those, especially who maybe have been struggling, trying to find their way. Lord, we just pray in Jesus' name. God that you would guide. Show yourself faithful. As you have in the scriptures of the old and the new Testament, you have shown yourself faithful. And as we study the people, those who have gone before us Lord, as we study their lives and remember how you work so powerfully in them. 4 (15m 43s): Lord, we have courage that we do can run the race, faithfully and fruitfully and long-term Lord till death to his part. Lord, we can run the race set before us. So Lord give us strength or give us stamina in Jesus' name. Give us desire in Jesus' name. Give us perspective in Jesus' name. Thank you, Lord God for your help right now in Jesus name all over the campus. Lord, we invite your presence all over the central coast, where people are gathered to lift up the name of Jesus. We, we invite your presence. Lord God, your grace, your protection, your help upon every person. 4 (16m 23s): Lord God. So minister powerfully Lord, we pray. Thank you for your goodness, Lord. We love you, Lord. We're excited about what you will do today in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Turn to greet somebody that you never have greeted before and we'll come on back. 4 (19m 14s): Hey, welcome back. It's a communion Sunday. So hopefully every buddy received their elements. If you did not receive your elements, go ahead and raise your hand. And pastor Ron will grab the elements. Somebody will deal. We'll grab the elements and we'll get those things to you. Do yourself a favor ahead of time. So there's a little piece of saran wrap on top. Work that up a little bit. Give yourself a chance to get, you know, stay with us because it's really sometimes very tricky. We started using these because of COVID and we're sticking with them. It looks like. So here we are. What's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? 4 (19m 58s): What's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile one you'll see later the other you'll see in a while I know. Well I know these jokes keep getting better and better. So this is the deal students, not for adult students, only 18 and under students. Cause some of us have been, students are like our whole life, but I'm 18 and under. If you have a good we'll call them dad jokes. If you have a good dad joke that can be used on Sunday morning. And if I use it on Sunday morning, I'm going to try to have a dad joke for every family Sunday. I tried to do it every Sunday and it's just too much. I, I just don't have the material for that. 4 (20m 39s): So if you do, I will give you five bucks, but I got to use it and you got to get it to me during the week so that I a chance to think about it for Sunday. So don't show up to me on Sunday morning because I'm not going to use that morning probably unless it's really good. And then I will find a way then I will find a way, ah, running strong. We're talking about running today, running strong in light of what we've been studying. And Hebrews 11, as we've looked at all of the heroes of faith, men and women who have just been faithful, imperfect, but faithful. I think that's good news for us because we're a room full of imperfect people, starting with me where a room full of imperfect people, whom God has called to be faithful. 4 (21m 26s): And so God calls imperfect people to be faithful and we are allowed and enabled, empowered to be faithful by his grace, by his spirit, by his calling upon our lives. He's called us all into the work of ministry, whether it be in a secular, you know, environments or a church environment, we're all called to have an impact in our community. So I love talking about running because I was a runner growing up and I there's, it just resonates with me. I love the idea of running. I still run a little bit, but I don't run. Like I used to. And I just love the idea of running. I remember a number of years ago, I was running the strawberry stampede out here. 4 (22m 9s): I think it was a 10 K and I ran it for like three or four or five years in a row. And I've shared this story before, but there's this friend of mine, Kristen, she's on the city council. So Christian, if you're listening, this is anyway, Kristin's been a friend for years. And so she would always, she would always sneak up like the last half mile and pass me. And I was too worn out at that point to do anything about it. I would just have to watch her go by and I, I just, I stored that information away and then she, I forgot about it. And then she did it again the next year, two years in a row, she did that. So then I'm like, okay, next year, this is not, is not happening. 4 (22m 50s): Not going to happen. So half mile before the race is over, I look over my shoulder, who's there Kristen. And she's like pouring it on. You know, she's like trying to do three times in a row and she's already done to me twice. So I poured it on and I did not let her beat me. And I haven't talked to her since I think she might be a little, little, little hurt. I don't know. But anyway, she'll need to lose with grace next time. Not that I was losing with grace I'll I'll I was just getting kind of uptight, you know, anyway, we're talking today about running strong running with focused endurance is our first points. We, this is part of the deal. If you've ever competed in any sport running or whatever it is, you need to compete with focused Endura. 4 (23m 35s): And if you expect to finish well to compete well, if you expect to leave it all out there on the field or in the court, you need to, when you need to run or, or compete with focused endurance. And this is what we see in the scripture. Again in light, we just spent four weeks studying Hebrews 11 and just real quick, we didn't get to like the last five verses of Hebrews 11. And so my plan this weekend was to teach through those last five verses. And then Friday or Saturday, I can't remember. I think it was Friday. It occurred to me it's family Sunday. So we're going to have all bunch of kids in the services. And, and so the end of Hebrews 11 talks about the unsavory ways that some of the early church passed away. 4 (24m 15s): So I can't talk about, you know, how people got sod in half and that's where I just can't talk about that stuff in a sermon. So if you would like to learn more about that, I will teach on those verses another time or you can email me and I'll send you my message from that is prepared for that. And anyway, so we won't be talking about people getting ending their lives. That way. We're going to talk about it. The things we're gonna talk about running strong. So sorry, we didn't get a chance to preach on those last few verses, but go back and read it and you'll understand why the children's ministry director is very clear that I shouldn't talk about that kind of stuff. So here we go run with focused in Durance Hebrews 12, we're going to get through verses one, one through about first 15 eight, the first part of 15. 4 (25m 3s): It says this. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge, huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up and let us run with endurance. The race God has set before us with that. Let's pray for a moment. Lord, we just invite your presence. God, as we talked about running the race that is set before us today, Laura, we want to engage in your word and in your spirit with your spirit and we want to be instructed or what are those things that are hindering us, those weights, those sins, those things that are just tripping us up over and over again. 4 (25m 53s): Lord, we just invite you to speak to us about those things, Lord, and that we might hear. And as that, there will be evidence that we've heard Lord, because there's action. After we've heard Lord that we've not just hearing, but we're doing, we're responding. We're listening and responding, listening and obeying. So help us to do so. Lord, I just humbly ask that you would speak your message through me, Lord God, that it would just be what the people need to hear. I know it's what I need to hear. Every time I prepare a message, Lord, I'm like, ah, this is for me, but I know that you've got a message for the rest of us as well. So bless us as we open up the scripture and learn and grow as followers of yours, Lord, for those of the, for those people who are here, they're just trying to figure out, do I want to serve Jesus? 4 (26m 45s): What's this Jesus all about. I pray God that you would bless those people who are searching and still unsure, still doubting and prince. You bless them with your presence and with your grace and ultimately with salvation. Thank you Lord, for your goodness in Jesus' name, amen. Run with focused in Durance. It's an interesting thought that we've got this crowd. Your, your version might say cloud of witnesses, same thing. It's like these, this crowd in the cloud, people who have gone before us, people that we've been studying and reading about in Hebrews chapter 11, that those and many, many others, those who have gone before us who have run the race, those who have finished the race, those who hear as they stand before the Lord will hear and do hear well done. 4 (27m 35s): Good and faithful servants. We are to run within Durance this race that God has called us to. And I, I love that though. There are those who have gone before us who have showed us the way who have let us know that it is possible because there are days when I I'm afraid. It feels like we just, we can't go on it. Doesn't feel like we've got the grace and the strength and the capacity to continue to press on in this race. As we battle temptation and sin and the world, the flesh and the devil, all of these things, it's helpful to read the scripture old and the new Testament and be refreshed in the reality that it is indeed possible to run with endurance. 4 (28m 19s): So these people that we've been studying in Hebrews 11, they were imperfect people, but man, they did wonderful and profound in supernatural things, things that were worthy to be put in the pages of scripture so that we might throughout the generations that would follow that. We might learn something from them, grow in our understanding because of them and move forward with greater confidence with greater endurance because they did, they did it. And they were people just like you and me. People broken people in need of God's grace who received God's grace and then walked in that grace, as we understand their race, as we understand how they endured through the end, we, we, we, we, we bear witness to the reality that we to by God's grace can do what they did. 4 (29m 20s): As we understand their race. We compete with greater strength in our own race. That's really what the scripture is all about. That's what that the reading of the scripture is all about. That's what the preaching of the scripture is all about. That we might be built up in our most holy faith so that we could run so that we can run the race with endurance and finish the race that God has called us to. So we look their lives and we say, man, there, they're not perfect, but they were still counted among the faithful. That should give us all a reason to say thank you Lord, because none of us are perfect. But somehow God sees the incredible work that he accomplishes in our lives. And he's glorified in those things. 4 (30m 1s): And we can be counted among the faithful. How do, how do we run with endurance while we need to run unencumbered? The scripture says we need to run unencumbered. Verse one says we are to strip off every weight. If you ever tried to run with too much weight, I know there's people who run with weights. I see guys carrying weights and they're trying to try to build up their endurance, but in a real race, you don't run with weights. You're, you're stripped down, you've got shorts, tank, top shoes, and you're going for it because you want it to be unencumbered. You don't want to wear anything. It's going to slow you down. And so that's the analogy here. We need to strip off anything that will hinder our ability to run and to run effectively and to run fruitfully and to run the way that God has called us to run. 4 (30m 50s): So we're to strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And so we see two different things here that we're to shed that we're to eliminate from our lives, the weights and these things aren't necessarily sin. Although they can be, and they can become sin, but it may be like the love of pleasure. Like I, I'm having a hard time serving Jesus because I just love, pleasure. I love getting what I like and pursuing the things that I like. And so that's got me Duplessis in my perspective, I'm I want to do God's will, but I also want to do my will. I want to accomplish God's plans, but I also want to accomplish my plans. 4 (31m 32s): When you put your plans in God's plans together, there's a scripture that says seek first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness and everything else will be added unto you. Like if you make God your priority, he will make sure that your life is filled and fulfilled. And in ways that you, you can never understand apart from God's will it's, it's more, it's brighter and fuller. It's more satisfying and life-giving than anything that we can pursue in the natural, in our own strength without God's grace. Maybe it's a love of pleasure. Maybe it's a love of comfort, love of security. All of these things are weights hindrances to our ability to really move forward as followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ like unencumbered by God. 4 (32m 13s): I'm all yours. I'm not allowing anything of this life to slow me down to hinder me, to keep me from doing what you've called me to do to accomplish the stuff that you have called me to do. So we need to get rid of those weighty things. And then the sin, a sin that so easily besets us sin is direct violation against God's law. So anything that we see in scripture that we're told not to do, and we do it. That's a sin. Sin is falling short of God's plans and purposes and goodness, and all of the design that he has for us. When we fall short in a thousand different ways, we are sending against God and those things hinder us. They slow us down. 4 (32m 54s): I wonder what sins might be in our lives that are hindering our ability to have the grace to keep moving forward, to have the desire, to keep moving forward, the strength to keep moving forward. What are those things that continue to trip us up? And what do we need to do about those things? We need to deal with those things. We need to acknowledge they're real and repent and confess our sins, knowing that he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, we have the ability to connect with God, confessing our sin. When you sang a song about nothing standing between us, we have this mediator who is Christ the Lord. He was died on the cross for our sins. We're gonna be celebrating his death. 4 (33m 36s): When we take communion here in just a little bit, we need to confess those things that are hindering. So maybe they're sins of commission or sins of omission, sins of commission, things that we're doing, that we shouldn't be doing. Sins of omission, things that we aren't doing, that we should be doing. So we've got sins, both commission and omission. So what are we not doing that we should be doing? And what are we doing that we shouldn't be doing? And let's address those sin issues and move forward. Either type of sin begins to Dole us spiritually. And that's your experience as well? I know it is. I, I we've been at this too long. We know that sin doles, our spiritual life, it begins to affect negatively our ability to run as successfully. 4 (34m 26s): We are to run on encumbered. And so that means a constant inventory. Lord, what's going on in my life. Am I running unencumbered? Am I running faithfully? Am I doing what you've asked me to do? If I'm running encumbered, then I want to deal with that. If I'm running with trying to manage cinema my life, I don't want to manage cinema my life. I want to confess my sin. And that's often what we're trying to do. We're just trying to manage sin, trying not to get too close to it. Try not to let it consume too much of our lives. Instead of that, we just need to confess our sin and run from it to confess it. Repenting means to turn and run a getting away from that as quickly as possible, sorta where to run unencumbered. If we're to run with success, we're to we're running cumbered by keeping completely focused. 4 (35m 11s): We run unencumbered by keeping completely focused on God. Hebrews 12 two says we do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus. How do we get rid of those weights? And those sins? We keep our eyes on Jesus. The champion who initiates and perfects our faith. We were just singing there's there's another in the fire. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were in the fire under the judgment. And Jesus is walking in there with them. There's a there's in the water, holding back the waves, the water there's Jesus is there in the midst of the trial. He is present. We run unencumbered by keeping our eyes on Jesus, by remembering that he's the author and finisher and Perfector of our faith, Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. 4 (35m 58s): The verse says because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. So we need good run, completely focused on Jesus. So every day we get up and say, Jesus, this is a new day. Thank you that your mercies are new every morning. Great. Is your faithfulness. God, what do you want to do with my life today? That's the perspective. What do you want to do with my life today? And maybe it's a Sabbath day of rest. And Lord says, just rest, because we need times of rest where we're just resting in the Lord. I was telling my wife yesterday. I said, Hey, when this project is done, this new worship, the center, I need like two weeks off. 4 (36m 39s): She's like, where are you going to go? I said, I don't care. Wherever I can't be reached. Right? Like we just need those times of rest. So there's times where we're really pushing hard and accomplishing wonderful things for the kingdom, but then it's just time to rest so that we can go again so that we can continue to do those supernatural things that God has called us to. So there's time for rest. And maybe that's a good season of rest for a season or for you for a season. But now maybe it's time to get moving again because of the joy awaiting him. Who's the joy you me. He thought about us in our need for grace, salvation, redemption, healing, new life. 4 (37m 21s): And so, because we were on his mind, he endured the cross and all of its shame. And now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. We got to keep our eyes on Jesus. Why? Because he is the champion. He's the champion who already finished the race for the same reason that we read the scripture and read about those who have gone before us. There are champions in the faith who have finished the race. Jesus finished the faith race. Then he calls you and he calls me into that race. And then Jesus perfects us in that faith race. And so he calls imperfect people into this race and he's affecting us along the way as we stumble, he's working in our lives. 4 (38m 5s): As we doubt he's working in our minds. As we, as we get fearful, he's working in our hearts, she's working out his good and perfect plan in our lives. As we move forward, as we do the things that God has us to do because of the joy awaiting him here, endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. So even now Jesus cheers us on from heaven. Even now he's cheering us on like the cloud of witnesses, the crowd of witnesses they're cheering us on. He is seated next to the father forever making intercession for us, Hebrews 7 25. 4 (38m 44s): He lives Jesus. He lives forever to intercede with God on our behalf, on their behalf. He's praying for us interceding for us. He's cheering us on from that place that finished work, where you sit on the cross, it is finished. He finished the race. He finished his call and he ascended. And now he's given us responsibility and the great commission go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. That's why we highlight missionaries missions, organizations that we support and partner with once a month so that we can hear about what's going on. We know what's going on in our own community for the most part, but we need to hear about what's going on in other communities that we're having a part in, in, in, in other parts of the world that we're impacting. 4 (39m 27s): So we run focused on Jesus awning cumbered and we don't give up. Verse three says, think of all the hostility he, he endured from sinful people. Then you won't become weary and give up. So we run and don't give up. Jesus faced all kinds of hostility from angry people, false accusations, his friends abandoning him, foes all around him, but he kept his eyes on the father. He would often get away to the father because he needed to be refreshing as spirit as a man, as the God, Nan, he needed to get with a father and just have communion with the father. We can do the same thing we get with, with the father through Jesus filled with the holy spirit. 4 (40m 9s): And we get refreshed and renewed in our ability to run with stamina, with endurance, the race that is set before us, we run and we do not give up. Sometimes we grow weary and we want to give up because things aren't always going well, good indication that you're in the race. If things aren't going great, because anytime you're in a race, you're going to come across difficult. You're going to get tired and worn down. If you're not getting tired and worn down, you may not be in the race. You might be in the sidelines at present, you know, at the event, but you may not actually be in the race. And so expect your yourself to, you know, get tired and, and, and, and, and in need of God's grace to sustain you. 4 (40m 53s): It's just part of the deal. I mean, you run a race, you're going to get thirsty, right? You're going to get fatigued in your physical body. You're going to get fatigued. You're going to feel like you're in the race. Like you're actually doing something. And so we need to refresh ourselves and take times of rest and then get back out there. A number of years ago, my cousin was in this fundraising event where she was trying to raise money for cancer. And they were doing 20 miles a day, walking 20 miles a day for three days. And it's a lot of walking. So the second day she's like lying in her tent, trying to psych herself up because two days, 20 miles, a day, day three coming, another 20 miles. 4 (41m 39s): She had to psych herself up. Why? Because she's been exerting herself. She's been committed to this fundraising effort and she was not going to give up. She was focused on the finish line, on the purpose of the race. He was focused on why she was there and that allowed her to continue. And to go that third day, I'm psyching myself up. She said, I'm psyching myself up. Like I got to get ready. Like I I've got to finish. Like some days you're gonna wake up. And you're like, man, I, I got nothing. I got, I'm not sure I can do this again today, Lord, whatever it may be that God has called you to, would you say, Lord, I'm just, I can't, I can't give up. 4 (42m 27s): That's not an option. I don't want to give up Lord. That's that's not what you've called me to do to give up. I want to press on and never give up. And so you just like Paul, when I'm weak, God's strength is made perfect in my weakness. And I just rest in him and allow his grace to give me the endurance that I need. So we run with focused endurance. Number one, number two, we run with focus perspective, run with focused perspective, a quick perspective story. Dear Abby, our son was married January five months later, his wife had a 10 pound baby girl. 4 (43m 9s): They set the baby was premature. Tell me, can a baby. This big, be that early signed, wondering, dear wondering the baby was on time. The wedding was late. Forget about it. Sometimes we disqualify ourselves because maybe we fall in shorts. We've sinned. We haven't lived the way that God would have us to live. We haven't measured up to the, even our own expectations. Let alone God's expectations. If we were to take a poll in this room and ask that question, how many have fallen short of your own expectations? And don't raise your hand because that would be everybody. 4 (43m 49s): But, and then how many have fallen short of God's expectations, but our everybody's hands would be up, right? So with grace, we move forward realizing that his grace is sufficient, that when we mess up, the perspective needs to be that his grace is sufficient. If our perspective is anything other than that, we will quit. We will count ourselves out of the race. Don't allow your past mistakes to hinder you from running run with focused perspective. 4 (44m 31s): And part of that is run running even when you're struggling. So you're struggling with something, a friend of mine years ago, I don't even understand what he means by it, but it kind of communicates. He said, if I'm going to fall, I'm going to fall forward. Like toward the cross. I'm like, huh? I'm not sure how that works, but I get it kind of like I'm going to, I'm going to at least make progress in my falling. I'm not sure theologically if it's even sound, but I get his mind, you know, he's like, I just want to be close to Jesus. And if I make mistake, I just still want to be close to Jesus. I think was his point. I, I just want to fall forward toward Jesus. And that's what I would call all of us to. If we've blown, it just, just fall toward Jesus. Come to the foot of the cross and know that his grace is sufficient. 4 (45m 12s): He loves you unconditionally. He wants you to confess your sin to repent of your sin because he wants you to get that out of your life. He wants you to run from that so that you can run toward him and run with endurance. The race that is set before you so run. Even when you're struggling, after all verse four says you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. Like we're still here. Got pulls. I haven't given my life yet. I may. One day you may, one day, we all may one day, but we haven't given up our lives yet. And so we have purpose to move forward, moving for even moving forward. Even as we struggle, I'm still alive. 4 (45m 54s): I might as well keep going. We talk about this all the time. If you've got a pulse, you've got a purpose. So keep going. Don't stop repent and go get clear. Get clear with the Lord, you know, come clean with the Lord and then just get moving. His grace is sufficient. Keep moving forward. Even as you struggle in your faith, run, struggling again is an indicator that you're actually in the race, the world, the flesh and the devil are coming against us in our run. If the world, the flesh and the devil is not coming against us, it means we're probably not running. We're not being effective. We're not really doing anything for the kingdom, but in the race that God has called us to, to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, using our gifts and talents that God has given us to be salt and light in the earth. 4 (46m 43s): If we're doing those things in whatever capacity that the Lord has given us grace to do those things, then we're going to come up against difficulties, hard things. So run when you're struggling run during times of failure, verse five says, and have you forgotten the encouraging words? God spoke to you as his children. He said, my child don't make light of the Lord's discipline. And don't give up when he corrects you. So if you're failing the Lord's going to correct you, he's going to discipline you. I, when I think about my kids, when they were young, I would discipline them so that they would learn how to live. Right, right. And hopefully it wasn't out of anger. I'm sure there was some of that as well in my human is, but you hope that you're disciplining them so that they stay on the right path. 4 (47m 30s): I threatened to discipline them now, but they're bigger than me. So I, I don't go there, go there anymore. I used to be able to take my boys. I got two boys there. Well, there's one right there, tall bearded guy there. And where's another one. There's another one wandering around with a camera. So I used to be able to wrestle them, like flinging them, like, you know, no problem. And there came a day when I couldn't do, I couldn't do that anymore. So I'm like, all right, time out. I gave up UN. And so I haven't wrestled with them like that because I'm afraid they're gonna hurt me. They, every time they get a hold of me now, they, they they're, they're bigger and stronger and rougher than I am. 4 (48m 11s): And so anyway, so you discipline them when they're young, because when they get older, you can't do. But for adults, God is bigger than all of us. Right? And he's, his grace is sufficient. He does disciplines us like a good father because he wants to show us the right path. My child don't make light of the Lord's discipline. And don't give up. When he corrects you. Sometimes we beat ourselves up. When God's not beating us up, he's just disciplining us. He's correcting us. He's bringing correction to our lives so that we can keep moving forward. That's his goal. It's not to condemn us. It's to build us up and to strengthen us in our holy faith, our most holy faith so that we can be strong doing the right stuff. 4 (48m 53s): We're not strong when we're doing the wrong stuff or we're weak when we're doing the wrong stuff. So we correct sin, disciplines, us out of his great love for us. You're his child. You're his child. He loves you. Of course, he's going to discipline you. If he doesn't discipline you, it means you don't belong to him. But because you belong to him, he going to discipline you run when you're struggling and run. When you're failing and run with confidence that God accepts you. He accepts you. Not because you're good, but because he's good. Not because you're faithful, but because he's faithful. 4 (49m 33s): Although he's called us to a life of goodness and righteousness and faithfulness, he doesn't love us based on our merit. He loves us based on his own, his own merit. His grace is sufficient. His power is what transforms our lives. He calls us to run and he empowers us to run with confidence that we're his we've been adopted as part of the it's part of the new covenant is part of the gospel message that we've been adopted into his family. When we come to him as children and recognize our desperate need for him, he forgives us and adopts us into his family. And he calls us his own for the Lord disciplines, verse six, those he loves. 4 (50m 13s): And he punishes each one. He accepts as his child, as you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own child, who, whoever heard of a child who has never disciplined by his father, if God doesn't you, as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn't we submit even more to the discipline of the father, of our spirits and live forever for our earthly fathers, disciplined us for a few years, doing the best. They knew how, but God's discipline is always good for us so that we might share in his holiness run with focused endurance run with focused perspective and run with number three focused faith run with focused faith. 4 (51m 7s): We've been talking about faith. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for a while actually happened. It's the assurance of things we can not see. So we have this call, this responsibility, this opportunity to run with focused faith, faith on Jesus, faith in Jesus, eyes on Jesus, trusting him to fill us, strengthen us, give us what we need to move forward. As followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ run with knowledge that God is helping you. We see that in the verse. No discipline is enjoyable while it's happening, it's painful. But afterwards, there will be a peaceful harvest of right living. This is God's desire. This is a person's desire, disciplines, their children, peaceful harvest of right living. 4 (51m 51s): Don't we discipline because we want our kids to do well in life. We want them to avoid pitfalls. Some of the same pitfalls that we fell into. We want them to avoid those pitfalls. So we discipline our children. God is wanting us to experience a peaceful harvest of right living. And when we are right with God, there is a peaceful harvest of right living. We just feel right with God. We feel at peace, confident, not in, not in anything, but God's grace to bring us to this place where we're choosing healthy things and righteous things and good things and blessed things. We have this peaceful harvest of right living. There's something powerful that happens. 4 (52m 32s): The opposite is true. We also, when we're not choosing those right things where we are, we are not at peace. We are anxious, fearful, filled with doubt. We are a mess, mind, emotion. Everything's just kind of out of, out of, out of sorts. And we're out of cahoots and we're just not feeling right, but there's great. Peace that accompanies right living. I think it takes us a while to figure that out right in the beginning we get saved and we're still wrestling. And I, this was my deal. I got saved in junior high school at a camp and I hadn't really know what to do with my faith. 4 (53m 14s): I got saved. I, you know, I probably have fire insurance, but that was the extent of it. And I didn't really know what to do as a follower of Jesus. I didn't know what it meant to be a believer. I didn't know what it meant to be a Christian. I just, I had heard the message over and over again. And I said yes to it. And then I just wrestled trying to figure out what to do next and how to live out this Christianity. Did I really want to live out this Christianity or did I want to go after the things of the world? And it was a difficult five years for me and four or five years. And then about my junior year of high school, I had experienced enough of this, like doing well with the Lord and experiencing that peace, just feeling right with things with the Lord and like, everything's good. 4 (53m 59s): Like I've got this piece and then I'd be a knucklehead and I'd go off and, you know, explore things of the world. And all of a sudden, because I had tasted the goodness of God, I was no longer able to have fun in the world. So it was appealing to me and drawing me because that's what sin does. It's what the flesh, just what the world, the flesh and the devil does. It's drawing is trying to draw us into this place of destruction. And so I'd go into that place. And I just feel gnarly. Like, what am I doing? I did this for like four or five years. I'm a very slow learner. Right? Very slow learner. And then finally, my junior year of high school, I knew I either need to go full blown into the world, or I need to go full blown following Jesus and thankfully, and not perfectly by any stretch. 4 (54m 46s): Just ask my mom. I have not done it perfectly, but I have tried to follow Jesus ever since. And you don't have to just ask them. You can ask my staff been imperfect. You can ask my kids been imperfect. You can have, oh my wife, of course you can ask her. That's my neighbor. Who else can you ask? You can ask. You can ask pretty much anybody. If you hang around long enough, you'll see my imperfections, thank you for your grace by the way. But we move forward as followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ, even as we struggle and, and, and make mistakes, we just continue to move forward. And we allow the peace of God to fill us. We allow the peace of God to direct us level. 4 (55m 29s): When people are praying for wisdom, for direction, Neil, you're famous for saying this. I'm going to follow the piece. I just want to follow the piece. Like God's going to show me the piece. And when people don't have the peace of God for a decision, then they, they, they know which direction to go. They know what the decision is. And we honor that. We bless that. So we need to run strong in the power of his might filled with faith. Verse 12 says, so take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. So the writer of Hebrews understand something of the nature of what it means to follow Jesus. 4 (56m 11s): It's going to be hard at times. It's going to be glorious and hard all at the same time. Sometimes it's going to be hard and then sometimes it's glorious. And sometimes there's a blend. So the writer knows from experience and from watching the church that people will get tired. And so he writes, so take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. You will get tired, expect it, expect it. Don't be dismayed by it. Think about running. I'm going to get tired physically and spiritually. So how do you take a new grip with your tired hands? 4 (56m 51s): How do you strengthen your weak knees by faith and by faith? We believe God, we follow God and we open up his word and we allow that word to speak to us. I was reading the word this morning and Proverbs four. And I came across these verses verses 18 through 27. And it spoke to the message. It's it's supports the message. And so it's not going to be on the screen because I just put it in this morning. But this is what it says. The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of Dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. That it's just a beautiful picture of the way of the rice. 4 (57m 33s): It's late. It's like the first gleam of Dawn. It's just refreshing. It's life-giving but the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they're stumbling over. And that's the contrast, the way of the righteous, the way of the wicked beautiful lights, total darkness, my child pay attention to what I say, listen carefully to my words. Don't, don't lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart for they bring life to those who find them and healing to their whole body guard your heart above all else for, for it determines the course of your life. 4 (58m 24s): Avoid all perverse talk. Stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you mark out a straight path for your feet, stay on the safe path. Don't get sidetracked. Keep your feet from following evil. So when, when not, if, but when you get tired, take a new grip with your tired hands, know that those who have gone before you have had to do the same thing, you're not less than you're not inferior to those who have gone before. Take a new grip with your tired and strengthen your weak knees. 4 (59m 4s): Do what the scripture tells you to do re refreshed with the word and the spirit Abraham and Sarah failed failed. It's shocking as you read through the patriarchs and the people that have gone before us, their mistakes and how God still able to work through them, Abraham and Sarah failed along the way, but they believe God and they received the promise. So they didn't quit. They continued even in light of failure, they just kept moving forward by faith that God had given a promise that they would receive the promise king David failed, but he repented and he's described in scripture as a man after God's own heart. 4 (59m 49s): Wow. Read his story. And you'll be surprised by that statement. Israel failed over and over and over and over and over. And we could do that until the cows come home and still not have enough overs that they just fail over and over again. But God still identifies them as his people. Hmm. I don't understand God's grace, but I appreciate it. And I need it. Don't be discouraged. Don't be fearful. Don't be too hard on yourselves. You know, some people are harder on themselves than God is then God is hard on you. So don't be a tool of the enemy in your own life by just resting and condemnation, confess your sin, move forward, confess your sin, move forward. 4 (1h 0m 38s): Confess your sin. Move forward. I think I got to do this. Like every single day, sometimes like multiple times a day. I'm like, Lord, I shouldn't have had that thought. Forgive me. I want to move forward, Lord. I shouldn't have said that. Lord, forgive me. Move forward, Lord. Sorry about that. You know, some guy cut me off up here and I was like, It turns out it was one of my kids' kindergarten teachers. So I'm like, Now what I wanted to do, I'm like, are you getting me right now? You just got me. Forgive me, Lord. I didn't, I should've been like, forgive me, Lord. I've just gonna move forward. Run the final point to this final point, run with other runners in mind. 4 (1h 1m 23s): You know that your life, my life impacts those that we encounter. People are watching crowd of witnesses, cloud of witnesses. People are watching in the heavens and in the earth, people are watching. So we need to run with other runners in mind. If, if I'm running, like Kristen just kept passing me up. She gave me the grace to just keep running, to dig deep. If everybody's quitting around you in a race, you're like, ah, maybe I can't make it either. And so you just kind of stop potentially First 13 says mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall, but become strong. 4 (1h 2m 3s): We're get living in peace with everyone and work at living a holy life. For those who are not, holy will not. Excuse me, work at living in peace with everyone and work at living a holy life. For those who are not, holy will not see the Lord look after each so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. So we have the ability to encourage one another. And that's my hope. Every time I stand up in the pulpit is to encourage us. I get encouraged as I prepare for the message. And my hope is that you would be encouraged that you would be challenged, built up in your faith, equipped to move forward as followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ, doing the things that he's accomplished or caused you to accomplish. 4 (1h 2m 44s): So run, run strong with endurance, with perspective and with faith, I'm gonna invite the worst of team up and we're gonna take communion. And so as they come up, we're going to pray and just ask the Lord direct our time and communion and that we would just humbly come before the Lord. So Lord, we humbly come before you. And we, we say thank you that you died on the cross. Your body was pinned to a cross. Your side pierced your blood flowed. You died a criminal's death for me. 4 (1h 3m 25s): You took my guilt upon yourself and you died for me. So that righteousness might be imputed to me and to the world to all who would say yes to you. So thank you for your sacrifice. We commemorates. And we remember your sacrifice. We thank you for your sacrifice. We humbly take communion today, having repented of our sins, having a recognized our need for you. And maybe if you're here today and you don't feel ready to confess your sins, you, you don't feel ready to Say thank you to the Lord. 4 (1h 4m 8s): If you're not, if you're not in that place, I just maybe just let this moment Pass you by for don't. Don't take the elements unless your heart's right with the Lord. You've said yes to him and you've confessed your sin to him and you've you've run to him. And now this is just a celebration of all of those things. And so thank you, Lauren. Paul wrote for, I passed on to you. What I received from the Lord himself On the night, when he was betrayed the Lord, Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. 4 (1h 4m 49s): Then he broke it in pieces and said, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me. Let's take the wafer. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Jesus. First 25 says in the same way, he took the cup of wine. After supper saying this cup is the new covenant between God and his people and agreement confirmed with my blood. 4 (1h 5m 31s): Do this to remember me. As often as you drink it for every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again. It's take the juice Got. Thank you for all of those years ago, God, that you saved me and got for whatever, whatever the time line is in our own lives. 4 (1h 6m 17s): Lord, we want to go back to that time and say, thank you. Maybe today's the time where you're saying I'm ready for God's grace. I'm ready for him to forgive me. If you're here today and you want to receive the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ. You, you just simply acknowledge to the Lord, your need. You say, Lord, I, I, I need you. I, I, I need your grace and forgiveness in my life. I need you to come into my life and I want, I want to be adopted into your family. I want to run this race that we've been talking about. I want to have eternal purpose for my life and I want to have eternal life. I want to live with you God, forever and ever. 4 (1h 6m 58s): Amen. Lord, if there's anybody here today, I pray that they would make the bold step of accepting your grace And experiencing this new life that is in you and God that they would enter the race, Run with a Durance Lord, God run with endurance. Thank you Lord, for what you're doing. And in each of our lives, we trust God that wherever we are in our journey of faith or God that you are with us and directing us and helping us. So Lord help us to trust you and believe you, Lord. We love you. Thank you for this time. 4 (1h 7m 38s): As we get ready to worship, Lord, pray God that she'd be glorified in this final time of worship. And in the prayer time after be glorified, we ask him pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. You may be. You may stand up 3 (1h 14m 53s): Thank you, Jesus. That we can re surrender every day that we can fall before you at the cross And that in your grace, you catch us. Thank you that we get to run this race with endurance Lord, you are the prize. We fix our eyes on you. You are the goal. So thank you for everyone in this room. I thank you for everyone watching online. Thank you for those on the patio, wherever they find themselves hearing this message this morning, I pray that something would resonate And ring true this week. God, We love you. 3 (1h 15m 35s): Jesus. It's in your name. We pray. Amen.

Faith in Action

0 (0s): I mean, it's good to be in the house of the Lord. Amen. Good to lift his name. It's going to take time to sing and to praise 2 (24s): The passion Oh, With that to fulfill the law to Virgin came To 3 (9m 13s): This next song we're going to sing comes from the Apostle's creed. And in the apostles, creed talks about the Trinity, the father, the 4 (9m 20s): Son, and the holy spirit. 3 (9m 22s): And this song is a declaration of our faith 4 (9m 26s): To get 6 (13m 39s): Oh God. We believe in you. We believe that you're present with us, Lord, that you care about us, that you love us, that you've got plan and purpose for us, Lord, God, and God, we, we thank you. We know that you are with us. Lord. You are with Gideon and Joshua, Moses you're with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. God, you were with Your early church and you're with us Lord here with us Lord, and we welcome you tonight to the today. We welcome you, Lord God, to be in our presence and to speak and to move. 6 (14m 19s): And God, as we exercise faith by listening and obeying Lord, we pray that above everything else above anything else, God, that you would be glorified in our lives. We would honor you. And in our lives, we would point people to you. So Lord, thank you for who you are and for the things that you are doing and the ways that you empower us to do your work here in the earth. We need you. We need your power. We need your presence. We thank you for it in Jesus name. Amen. Hey man, attorney grease somebody and we will get back here in just a moment. 6 (16m 49s): Well, good morning. Good morning to those on the patio, those in the lofts, those online good morning and welcome. Welcome to our 11 o'clock service at harvest church. It's it's been, it's been a good morning. It's been a fun morning. So excited about what God will do this service. Interestingly, first service we had. So we bought this property from a family about, I dunno, how many years ago it was a while ago. Anyway, we, we moved in here 17 years ago. And so clam and Amanda Lambert and their family will not claim because he's passed, but Amanda and her family were here on the second row this morning. 6 (17m 32s): And so we got a chance to honor them because because 17 years ago we were driving through, I was driving through the village and I saw a sign up on the front lawn that said the place was for lease. And so we had been praying because our church had been a meeting at a high school up on the Mesa Lopez high school. So we'd been praying that God would give us a space in the village. And so I'm driving through. And so I I've lived in this community since fifth grade, but I'd never noticed this building, this church kind of setback. And so that day I drove through and I noticed there's a church in the village were actually praying that God would give us a church building in the village. And so I stopped by and met Amanda for the first time against he was here. 6 (18m 12s): Second, first service. And I said, Hey, Amanda, we're, we're just a small church looking to move from the Mesa into town. You've got this amazing facility here. Would you be interested in leasing it to us? And just in that conversation on a handshake, a handshake, she said, yes. And so we started the process and we raised the money to renovate stuff. And, and then one by one, we just kind of took over all these buildings and were able to buy them. So we're talking about faith this morning and it was just such a great illustration of what God will do with people who are just saying, being willing to say, yes, Lord being obedient to do what God has called us to do. And they were obedient. They, they, you know, we were a church of 60 people. 6 (18m 51s): We didn't have a lot going on in any way financially at all, but it was just a total faith venture. And I told her all of that and she said, well, it needs to be a church and we want to work with you. And so a lot of you are here back in the day. And a lot of you are hearing this story for the first time, but it was God working through the Lamberts to give us favor. And then God working through our current geishas to provide resource and everything that's been needed over these last 17 years that we've been here. And so God has blessed us. And now we're getting ready to add to our space over at 1 0 2 west branch, the new worship center there. I was just in there this morning and the painters just about all wrapped up and it's going to really start looking like something pretty quick. 6 (19m 36s): I mean, it kind of does, but it's just kind of messy right now, but it's getting there. It's getting there. So we've been discovering what faith looks like as we've studied through Hebrews chapter 11, the heroes of faith. And recently we, we said faith is obedience to God. We said, faith is trusting. God's timing for me. That's probably the hardest thing. Obedience is not as hard as trusting as timing. They're both hard, but trusting his timing is always been hard for me. So faith is trusting. God's timing that he will unfold his plan when he's ready to unfold his plan. And we can trust that. We can believe that God is good and that he's unfolding something wonderful for our lives. 6 (20m 17s): And so faith is trusting that timing. And then faith, faith is following your God-given destiny. So we believe that God creates people with purpose, giving gifts and talents. Every believer has a gift, a talent that God has given. Every person is created for purpose, that we might know God and walk in those eternal purposes that he has for us. So, so as we look at the rest of Hebrews 11, we'll get through the rest of Hebrews 11 today. We'll discover more trues about the faith. As we look at more examples, people that have gone before us real life, historical people who have gone before us, you've demonstrated faith, exercised faith. The title of the message today is faith in action. 6 (21m 0s): And really it could be faith equals action because faith without action is not faith at all. It's just a, it's just a word. But faith inaction is what God implied in mince and spoke and demonstrated through his people throughout the scriptures of the old and the new Testament early church. And up to this point in our lives today, faith is action. Faith inaction is what God wants to say. Faith equals action. So if we say we have faith, we must follow that faith with some actions, some things that God has called us to and has invited us into. 6 (21m 41s): So where does faith come from? Again? Romans 10, 7, 17 says, so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So as we study the word, it's not just an academic exercise, but it's a spiritual exercise as well. So it's academic, but it's also spiritual. And it's meant to encourage us and form us, compel us to do what God has asked us to do. And following the examples of those who have gone before us do what they've done, because we've seen God be faithful in their lives and in their circumstances. So we believe that God will be faithful in our lives and in our circumstances because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. 6 (22m 23s): So as his attributes, haven't changed, she is a faithful God who calls his people to be faithful in response. So we're going to look at a lot of scripture today. Hebrews 1130 through 34 will kick us off here. It says it was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days and the walls came crashing down. We've a lot of us have read the story. You've heard the story in Sunday school or in sermons. And if we take a serious look at this, it seems crazy. The whole story. It seems like, God, this really, this is your plan, but by faith, number one in your notes by faith, Joshua believed God's promise. 6 (23m 7s): God made a promise to Joshua, to the people of Israel. What was that promise? We see that in Joshua six one and two, it says now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. They had witnessed what God had done for the people of Israel. And so they were afraid no one was allowed to go out or in. But the Lord said to Joshua, I have given you Jericho its king and all its strong warriors. So by faith, Joshua will believe God's promise the first generation of Israelites that left Egypt failed to believe the promise. 6 (23m 47s): And so they failed to receive the promise. They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years until that whole generation of unbelievers died off. And after Moses died, Joshua became the leader of Israel and he was the leading. He was, he was the one charged with leading the people with fresh faith in God. I think we need that from time to time in our lives like Lord, I need fresh faith. I'm feeling tired or worn down, or I'm not exercising. The faith that I think that you've asked me to exercise. And so Lord, would you refresh my faith? And then God will begin to refresh our faith. Just supernaturally. Well, all of a sudden have courage for the stuff that we didn't have courage for in the past. 6 (24m 33s): We'll have energy for the stuff that God has called us to we'll have fresh faith for the things that God calls us into. So after Moses died, Joshua became the leader of Israel and he was leading the people with fresh faith in God, the first-generation again, failed to believe. And so they failed to receive the blessings of the promise land. The second generation shows that, and this is the decision that all of us need to make in every season and situation of our lives. We need to choose to believe God, we need to choose faith. The second generation chose to believe so they receive the blessing of the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey. 6 (25m 13s): This place of rest that God had promised his people. Interestingly, for 40 years, the people of Israel ate manna and this manna sustained them. They would get up six days a week and the man that would be there on the sixth day, they would grab enough for the next day. And they would gather enough to eat. And for 40 years, the Lord provided manna for them to sustain them. Manoj was used by God to bless the people, to sustain the people. But the fat of the land was to bless the people in the new promised land that God provided. So when the people of Israel moved into the promised land, the man is stopped and the people were able to eat from the fat of the land. 6 (25m 58s): So Manoj was to sustain the people. The fat of the land was to bless the people. Sometimes we're in a man, a season, sometimes we're in a man, a season where we get sustained by the Lord. But there's not a lot beyond that. We were kind of in this season of just kind of waiting, trusting, believing, obeying, believing that God's going to provide for us. And he does. So sometimes we're in that man, a season, other times, we're in the fat of the land season. Like everything is going our way. Financially things are flowing our way. We've got our health and our relationships and things are just amazing. 6 (26m 38s): So there's, there's a test to our faith in both situations in the manna season, it's a test. Will we continue to trust the Lord? He's met my needs today. I'm going to trust him to meet my needs tomorrow. And so it's a test of our faith. Where were we? Where are we putting our faith for our provision in the fat of the land season of our lives. It's also a test of our faith because often when we've got the fat of the land and everything's going well, we've got ample resource. We can get our eyes on those things and not on the Lord. And so it's a test of our faith is God, really our source in our resource, no matter what, no matter whether we have plenty or little, our focus is on God is our focus on God. 6 (27m 23s): And that's the, the tests. And that's probably been the test through most of our lives, different seasons. We've had plenty different seasons we've been lacking or just had enough. And it's been a test of our faith. What we continue to trust the Lord, no matter what's both seasons are a test of our faith. Number one by faith, Josh you'll believe God's promise. Number two by faith, Israel followed God's plan. So Joshua, their leader was hearing from the Lord and he was leaning them. But would the people of Israel would they rebel like they did against Moses or would they believe and follow their new leader? Joshua by faith, Israel followed God's plan. 6 (28m 5s): They decided to believe Joshua six, three says you and your fighting men should March around the town Jericho. That is once a day for six days, seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark. Each carrying a Ram's horn. On the seventh day, you are to March around the town, seven times with the priests blowing the horns. And when you hear the priest, give one last blast on the Ram's horn, have all the people shout as loud as they can. So this is God's war strategy, March around Ram's horn, and then shout. Alright, really Lord. 6 (28m 47s): Then the walls of the town will collapse and the people can charge straight into the town. What we see in scripture and what we probably would have noticed in our own lives is that God's plan. Doesn't always make human sense. Often his plan is counter intuitive. His plan is always a test of our faith. If his plan is not testing our faith, I would question whether it's his plan. His plan is normally counter-intuitive, it's not what we would come up with, but it always grows us in our faith. So God's plan for his people, needed it to be followed by faith. 6 (29m 27s): They did not want another wilderness experience. And maybe you're here today and you're thinking the same thing, man, I've been in a wilderness experience where I've had a wilderness experience and I do not want to see that repeated God by God's grace. As we yield to him, as we obey him, as we listen and believe and follow and trust, he will lead us into amazing things. Wonderful. Not that there won't be challenges along the way, because it's in the challenges that we have our faith tested and built up and challenged, and it's like a muscle, you know, you got to work it or else it gets weak. And so we work that faith muscle, God works that faith muscle to build us up, to strengthen us so that we can do what he's called us to do. 6 (30m 16s): So they didn't want another wilderness experience. So by faith, Israel followed God's plan. No faith is the only way someone can follow God's plan kind of alluded to that. But faith is the only way someone can follow God's plan that interesting without faith, it's impossible to please, God, right? So he's called us into this life of faith and it's by faith as the only way that we can follow God's plan back to Hebrews 1131, it says it was by faith that rehab, the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refuse to obey God for she had given a friendly welcome to the spice. You never think you'd see a prostitute in the hall of faith. 6 (30m 56s): So these are the powerful men and women in the scripture, in the history of God's people who have demonstrated faith. So Hebrews 11 kind of points out incredible people who have been people of faith. And so in our natural understanding, we would never think that God would point out a prostitute, but this is exactly who he points out in this, in this chapter. Number three, in your notes by faith, Rahab, trusted God's protection. Let's figure out what the story saying here in Joshua, two 18 to eight to 13, it says before the spies went to sleep that night rehab went up to the roof to talk with them. 6 (31m 37s): I know the Lord has given you this land. She told them we are all afraid of you. Every one of the land is living in terror. Why? Because they had seen what the God of Israel did to protect and deliver the people into the promised land. For, we have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the red sea when you left Egypt. And we know that you, what you did to see on an awe that you Amorite Kings east of the Jordan river, whose people you completely destroyed now. No wonder our hearts have melted in fear. No one has the courage to fight. After hearing such things for the Lord, your God is the Supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below. Now, swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family. 6 (32m 22s): Since I have helped you give me some guarantee that when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters and all of their families. So Joshua was six 17. Joshua told the people, Jericho and everything, and it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord only rehab the prostitutes and the others in her house will be spared for. She protected the spies. I love that God is no respecter of persons. One of the 12 that he called was a tax collector, despised tax collector, a scoundrel, and a guy who would steal from his own people and was used to gather money for the enemy. 6 (33m 13s): And yet God chose Matthew Joe's fishermen who really didn't have a lot of understanding. A lot of education, a lot of political or religious clouds. He's no respecter of persons. Rehab. A prostitute is an example of faith to all people. Maybe you think your past precludes you from believing God and your past the things. If I went around the room, we'd see that every one of us have a past, right? All of us have a past that we wish we could go back and change things that we regrets are embarrassed by things that we wish we could get a do over with. 6 (33m 58s): But we, we, we don't get the do overs. In fact, I believe that God uses and we see it throughout our lives that God uses our past mistakes and failures to prepare us to minister, to others who might be going through the same thing. Maybe you think your past precludes you from believing God, don't let your past prevent you from living a faith filled blessed life. God is a God whose mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness. If we confess our sins, he is faithful. And just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So if we're on a new path as followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and we've got a past, let it go repent. 6 (34m 40s): If you haven't let it go, forgive yourself. If you haven't let it go and watch what God will do as you let that go so that you can hold on to God, move forward in those supernatural plans that God has for you. Believe that God's grace is sufficient back to Hebrews, Hebrews 1132. How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of faith, of the faith of Gideon Barak, Samson, Jephthah David, Samuel, and all the profits by faith. These people overthrew kingdoms rural with justice and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched, the flames of fire and escape death. 6 (35m 24s): By the edge of the sword, their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put a whole army the flight. And so we're going to kind of unpack these last verses here and talk about the faith of some of these people that did what the writer is about here. So number four, in your notes by faith, Daniel shut the mouths of the lions. My faith, Daniel shut the mouths of the lion. So king Derrius was tricked. King Derrius was a friend of Daniel, but he was tricked into signing a law that prohibited anyone for 30 days, from praying to anyone human or divine. If the law was broken, you would go into the lion's den. So typically people will be thrown into the lion's den. 6 (36m 5s): The lions would grab hold of them and consume them immediately. This is just the way it was. They were ravenous animals and they would destroy their victims quickly, killing them and eating them quickly. So if the law was broken off to the lion, Dan's you, lion's Dan, you go, Daniel, Daniel refused. He refused to submit to the law. That would hinder him from praying as was his custom. So the King's men tried to kill him. They wanted, they threw him into the lion's den. The king loved Daniel and was grieved by the law he had signed. And so he was up all night. He was tricked and his friend was now in the den of lions and the Daniel six, 19 through 22, very early, the next morning, the king got up, been hurried out to the lion's den. 6 (36m 59s): When he got there, he called out in anguish, Daniel servant of the living, God, where's your God whom you serve. So faithfully able to rescue you from the lions. Daniel answered he's alive, long lamb, the king, my God sent his angel to shut the lion's mouth. So they would not hurt me for, I had been found innocence in his sight and I have not wronged you, your majesty. So a real story, historical real God is able to protect his people. Do we believe that God is able to protect us? 6 (37m 43s): Not that we won't go through difficult seasons of life, but it's when it's in his purposes to deliver us and to protect us, he will deliver us and he will protect us. We have to believe this is true. God can, and he will protect his people. Is that was looking at this point and thinking about it. I, it reminded me of the spring of 1967 before I was born. By the way, most of you were around, but me, I was not born yet. And by the spring of 1967, following close to a decade of relative calm, Israel found itself poise for war against four Arab neighbors. 6 (38m 25s): So four Arab neighbors were getting ready to invade Israel, but God had a different plan. And it didn't matter if the whole world, which it seemed like the whole world against them, but it wouldn't matter if the whole world was against them. There were miracles in that six day war, eye witness accounts that demonstrate that God was with his people, protecting his people. So I'm going to read a few of those accounts to us today, just to remind us of God's faithfulness. This first one, this first eye witness account is titled 18 Egyptians against two IDF soldiers, yest rail, the cab driver, who was drafted to fight in the six day war as part of the paratroop unit assigned with conquering. 6 (39m 11s): The straits of Tiran told the following upon his return. So you got a cab driver, the Israeli soldiers didn't have to parachute out of the Nord airplanes, which took them into the Taran straights. They landed like spoiled tourists in the airport because the Egyptian regiment, which was on guard there fled before the Israel, Israeli troops were visible on the horizon. After landing, I was sent with another reserve, soldier and electricians. So you've got a cab driver and electrician there to fight the war, to patrol the area. When we had distance ourselves, two kilometers in Egyptian, half track appeared before us filled with soldiers. 6 (39m 54s): And now two with machine guns. On every side, we had only light weapons with a few bullets that could couldn't stop the half track of for a second. So we couldn't turn back. They said, he said, so we stood there in despair, waited for the first shot. And for lack of a better idea, aimed our guns at them two against 18 heavily, heavily outnumbered, and, and not able to defend themselves in the natural, but the shots they didn't come. The half track came to a halt and we decided to cautiously approach it. We found 18 armed inside sitting with guns in hand with a petrified look on their faces. 6 (40m 39s): They looked at us with great fears though, begging for mercy. I shouted hands up. Can you imagine this new found courage hands up as we are marked sitting am I had returned to a state of calm. I asked the Egyptian Sergeant next to me, tell me why didn't you shoot at us? He answered, I don't know. My arms froze. They became paralyzed. My whole body was paralyzed. I don't know why it turned out that these soldiers didn't know that the straights of Turan were already in Israeli hands. Why didn't they eliminate us? I don't have an answer. 6 (41m 21s): How can one say that? God didn't help us. Another story titled the finger of God idea of director of operations. Major general ESER Wiseman was asked by Mr. Lebanon, the father of a fallen pilot, how he explains the fact that for three straight hours, Israel air force planes flew from the one Egypt airstrip to another destroying the enemy planes. Yet the Egyptians did not radio ahead to inform their own forces of the oncoming Israeli attack. Easier Wiseman later, who, who later served as president of the state of Israel was silent. Then he lifted his head and exclaimed the finger of God, a secular newspaper, the Haaretz newspaper titled bottom line, following his blow by blow analysis. 6 (42m 14s): The military correspondent for the secular Haaretz newspaper summed up the six day war with the admission. Even a non-religious person must admit this war was fought with the help from heaven, the German viewpoints, the German journalists summarize nothing like this has happened in history of force, including a thousand tanks, hundreds of artillery, cannons, many rockets and fighter jets, and a hundred thousand soldiers armed from head to toe was destroyed in two days in an area covering a hundred hundreds of kilometers filled with reinforced outposts and installations. And this victory was carried out by a force that lost many soldiers and much equipment positions in vehicles. 6 (42m 59s): No military logic or natural cause can explain this monumental occurrence. So the whole world can fight against God's people, but if God's not ready for Israel will be taken out, then they won't be taken out. And so that's what, when people battle against Israel, it's just a losing scenario. And that's why it's important that America stays connected to and stays allies with Israel. Number five, by faith, three men quench the flames of fire Jewish guys, three Jewish guys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They quenched the flames of fire. These three guys refused about out a Kings navigate as a statue. 6 (43m 42s): The statue is 90 feet tall, nine feet wide. So imagine this ceiling's about 30 feet tall. So imagine three times this that's who, who needs a 90 foot statue, by the way, what kind of a person requires a night? I don't know. Never can ask her apparently. So the statue is 90 feet, tall, nine feet wide, and it was gold, solid gold. Well, these three guys refused about down to the Kings statue in Daniel three 19 through 25 says Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. We're going to do some things as believers that make other people upset, uncomfortable, even angry, distorted with rage in our obedience to God, we're, we're going to be offensive to people, but our purpose in life is to be obedient to God and, and do what he's called us to do. 6 (44m 39s): And so that's what these guys did. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into a blazing furnace, throw them into the blazing furnace. So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully dressed in their pants, turbines, robes, and other garments. And because the king in his anger had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace. The flames killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in. So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego securely tied, fell into the roaring flames, but suddenly, suddenly Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisors. 6 (45m 23s): Didn't we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace. Yes, your majesty. We certainly did. They replied look, Nebuchadnezzar shouted. I see four men Unbound and walking around in the fire unharmed. And the fourth looks like a, a God. My faith is three men quench the fires, the flames of fire. And we read later in the story that they came out and didn't even smell like smoke. So I know when I walked by a barbecue, I'm picking up the scent and got home. My wife's like, Hey, you smell like a barbecue. Right? Imagine being inside this furnace and coming out unharmed and a while inside walking around and having fellowship with the Lord, you know, the Lord is with us in our times of trial. 6 (46m 11s): And we forget that. We, we think sometimes that we're all alone, but when we can believe, and we can know that God is with us, he gives us a great deal of courage and confidence to do what he's asked us to do by faith. These three men quenched the flames of fire up against impossible scenarios. God is faithful. Number six, by faith Gideons, a weakness was turned to strength. Maybe you're here today. And you identify with Gideon. You just feel weak and insignificant and unimportant and the wrong guy for the job, the wrong person for the job. I think those are the best people. Those are the kinds of people that God wants to use. 6 (46m 53s): Because as we'll see in Gideon's case, when using people like that, broken and humble and contract people, God gets all the glory. And so we will see what happened with Gideon here. Judges six, 12 through 16, says the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, mighty hero. The Lord is with you is getting like, you're talking to me. Do you know who you're talking to? Mighty hero? The Lord is with you. So God sees in us what we don't see in ourselves, right? So we need to learn to see what God sees in us and walk in those things by faith, walk in that identity by faith, giving glory to God, sir, Gideon replied. 6 (47m 39s): If the Lord is with us, why has all of this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn't they say, the Lord brought us up out of Egypt, but now the Lord has abandoned us and the Midianites. And sometimes we have that same sense. Lord, where are you? Like, why have you not come through? This was Gideon's perspective. He was struggling with his faith in the Lord, turned to him and said, go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you. So I love it. That the strength that we have with the presence of God brings the victory. 6 (48m 24s): So we don't feel like we've got a lot of strength in us. Naturally. We're feel like Lord, these battles are too big for us. These circumstances, whether way over my head, I don't, I don't know how to walk in this. I don't know how to believe you through this. I don't know how to trust you and honor you in my life right now. God says, go in the strength that you have. And I will be with you when God through Christ, who gives us strength. He is faithful to meet us and to lead us and to guide us and to protect us and to provide for us, go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you, but the Lord, but Lord Gideon replied. 6 (49m 5s): How, how can I rescue Israel? We sometimes look at our own lives and think, Lord, how can I do what you're asking me to do? Well, you got to get your eyes off of yourself and onto the Lord, we will never have faith for the supernatural things that God is calling us to. If we are watch looking at ourselves, watching ourselves, but if we keep our eyes on the Lord, he will lead us and he will go with us and we will have the victory. Lord, how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh. And I am the least in my entire family. 6 (49m 45s): The Lord said to him, I will be with you and you will destroy the Midianites as if you are fighting against one man. Long story short Gideon defeated the Midianites with 300 soldiers because God caused a panic in immediate and camp and they kill each other. So if we read the whole story, we see that Gideon started with 32,000 warriors, 32,000 men who are ready to go to battle. But God knew that if Gideon went to war with 32,000 troops, and if he got the victory, then he would take the credit for the victory. He would say, look what our strong men have done. Look what we have accomplished. Look, we have conquered. 6 (50m 25s): So it got whittled down the army whittled down Gideon's troops down to 300 so that when they did get the victory, they would recognize that it was God who gave them the victory. God won't share his glory with anyone. He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So when we, when we trust him and we're filled with his presence and his spirit, and we do the supernatural things that God calls us to do, it will be a mere, miraculous things happening, unfolding God's plan, unfolding God's plan happening. It's it's something that we just kind of get to go along with by his grace, trusting him, believing him and being part of that wonderful and supernatural plan that God has by faith. 6 (51m 15s): Joshua believed God's promise by faith. Israel followed God's plan by faith. Ray Hab trusted God's protection by faith. Daniel shut the mouths of the lions by faith. Three men quenched the flames of fire by faith. Gideon's weakness was turned to strength. Number seven, what will you do by faith? So we can read scripture and grow in our knowledge and our understanding of the word of God and the principles of God. But if we don't apply them, then it's been just an academic exercise and God's not interested in academic exercises. 6 (51m 56s): He's interested in life transformation. So what will we do by faith for God's kingdom? What is God calling us to do? Now? I think about that question corporately for harvest church. I think about that question individually for my life and for my family. And I, I challenge us to do the same thing. Each of you to do the same thing. What will you do by faith? If you can figure out and do ministry in your own strength, then you're not. You're probably not where God would have you to be. But if you're in over your head, that's probably a good indication that you're where God would have you to be. 6 (52m 42s): Because without faith, it's impossible to please God. And by faith, we follow God. And by faith, we believe God. And by faith, we trust God. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. It's the assurance of things we can not see. So by definition, faith requires faith, trust confidence in not ourselves, but in the king of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We, we, we need to humble ourselves and recognize the greatness of God that wants to work through us. And as we humble ourselves and recognize the greatness of God who wants to work through us, then he will do wonderful and supernatural things in our lives will, they will never be the same. 6 (53m 27s): They will never be the same with that. I want to invite the worship team up and invite you to stand. We're going to pray. And then we're going to worship two more and then we'll be dismissed into our mission field, where we get to do by faith, the stuff that God has called us to do. So Lord, we love you. We thank you for your word. I've got nothing to say up here without your word. So thank you Lord, for your word and for how it speaks to us and how you minister to us. Lord, we're humbled by your presence. Every time we gather we're humbled by what you will do with us and innocent through us. As we humbly obey and submit and trusting your timing and trusting your plan and your purpose, Lord God fulfilling the destiny that you put within us to fulfill. 6 (54m 16s): So Lord, as we worship, God, continue to stir us and to speak to us and to direct us and point us in the direction that we're supposed to go. God, be glorified. We pray as we listen and obey in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Let's worship. 9 (54m 43s): Bless you. And keep you Make his face shine upon face to And 3 (1h 0m 25s): Thank you, Jesus, that we get to say amen, over and over again. Let it be God, have your way in our lives. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you for your salvation. That is, that is new. Every day. God, I pray that we would be a people who seek you each and every single day that we would know your word and we would know your truth. God, that we would hide it in our hearts. So here, ready to fight the good fight of faith. Thank you Jesus. For your presence. We thank you for this house. It's in your precious name. 3 (1h 1m 5s): We pray. Amen.

What Does Faith Look Like?

We believe for victory by faith. We see victory Lord by faith. We know that you're at work in our lives. Moving in our circumstances, you're meeting our every need by faith. We believe that you will always meet our, every need. Our emotional needs God, for those, with real significant emotional needs today, we pray that you rest on them and speak to them and bless them. Lord, thank you that they're here in church, where they might receive the grace and the goodness of God and God's people or God, I pray that you'd minister to your people. For those who need a physical touch, emotional touch, just a spiritual touch, relational touch, Lord. 1 (15m 4s): Whatever's going on, Lord. We just pray that she'd be ministering all over the campus. Lord, for those who are watching online, we just pray God that you would be ministering powerfully. Lord God, thank you for who you are and for who we are in you by faith. We know that we are your adopted sons and daughters. If we've come to you by faith, we know that you take us in that your grace is sufficient. Your mercy is unending. Your love is unconditional. Your kindness is supernatural. Lord God, we just thank you Lord by faith. We just want to walk in all of that truth and that reality Lord will help us to do so today, Lord. And then as we kind of getting our heads around that and our hearts around that and our lives around that truth, Lord help us to walk in that all the days of our lives. 1 (15m 52s): Lord, thank you, Jesus, God, thank you for who you are and for what you're doing at harvest church and all over the central coast, wherever the name of Jesus is being lifted up all over the world. Wherever the name of Jesus is being lifted up. You're doing wonderful and profound things. So thank you, Lord God. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your grace. For those struggling. We know we've got lots of brothers and sisters in the Ukraine, People just struggling right now. Lord, we just pray that you would strengthen them and help them to protect the innocent Lord and work supernaturally in that place. 1 (16m 37s): Like we already know that you are Lord. I pray that you would bring, bring the conflict to an end Lord, a peaceful and God that you'd be glorified, that we would see the supernatural hand of God quelling that and stopping that and ending that and bringing health and healing and freedom in Jesus name. So Lord God, we pray for your grace upon our world and our nation, our community and our church. Lord, we need you. Thank you for this time in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Turn and say hello to somebody that you've never ever, ever met. 1 (17m 23s): Excellent. And you just start first place. You just different place. Yes he did. I love Nancy. Thank you for that. Where did you see Nancy? Oh, Clark center. Oh, next time you see her, just give me a, give her a hug for me and just tell her how much I love her. 1 (18m 3s): And she does when she was Ron's assistant. I interacted with her. 1 (18m 49s): It's always hard to bring people back after the greeting time. It's easier just to let's just keep going. Right? Come on back here. People have been asking me why don't you take your glasses off when you get up to speak. And I really hate, I don't like hate is a strong word, so I'll use it. I hate these things. So what I did is on my iPad, the beauty of an iPad is you can make the font really, really big. So I'm going to set these here on the front row. Don't confuse those with yours cause you won't like trifocals as much, but Hey, we're, we're going to do some things a little bit different today. 1 (19m 31s): I'm going to preach and teach for a bit and we're talking about faith. And so as an illustration of faith, so last week we had Fred crop coming up and he came up and he spoke to us about one act of obedience, his book that he's writing and the things that kind of stir or spurred that on. And so as we teach through Hebrews 11, the heroes of faith, I think it's important that we think in the 21st century, in terms of what does it mean to be heroes of faith, people of faith who were just excited about doing the will of the Lord? I think that's really what heroes of faith are. There. They come in all shapes and sizes. 1 (20m 11s): And in fact, Don gainer, a lot of you remember Don gainer, but before he passed, he was writing a book about all of these unknown heroes of faith, right in our community. And some, maybe somebody will pick up the Baton and, and be able to complete that work. But it's so true. People are doing all kinds of incredible faith things behind the scenes. And most of us never hear about them, but those I'm, I'm convinced that those are the heroes of faith that we're going to be celebrating in heaven when we get there. And we're going to say, man, I had no, I D I what was going on the scenes. And so as we think about our lives, as people of faith in a, a religion, for lack of a better term of faith, where God has called us by his great grace to be people of faith. 1 (21m 4s): I mean, you think about it. We, by faith, we trust an invisible God for his grace to forgive us, to cleanse us, to set us free from the bondage of sin, we trust the invisible God who does visible work in our lives. But we attributed to him by faith, believing that he is omnipresent omnipotent, that he is everywhere, president one at once ministering in our very needs. And so we're talking about faith. I looked at Hebrews 11 in my notes and I taught on Hebrews 11, four weeks in a row back about a year ago. 1 (21m 46s): And as we were getting ready to go into 1 0 2, 1 0 2 is our new worship center. We should be in the next month. Maybe I say, you know, whole everything kind of loosely, you know, but our new worship center is up the road. And, and as we got ready to take on that challenge, I just thought felt it was important to talk about faith and build us up and our most holy faith. And, and then almost a year later, we're almost done with the project and we spent way more money than we expected, but God has been so faithful. And so by faith, we continue to get the project done and we'll be in there hopefully in April, but our whole lives are about faith. And so when we think about our faith lives, we're gonna be interviewing Shane here shortly, who just got back from Africa, spent six months in Africa. 1 (22m 31s): I don't know if you remember, but we prayed him out about seven months ago and he'd been back for a few weeks now. And, and I, I, it's easy to think, okay, I'm in Africa, I'm, I'm here to minister by faith and to do all of these things. And that's like one of our greatest fears right in the world, like, Lord, I want to serve you, but I don't, I don't want to go to Africa. Like, please do not send me to Africa. Right? But listen, if God sends you to Africa is because he's got work for you to do, and he'll prepare your heart and your life. And when you get there, it's going to be like a hand and a glove. It just fits who you are, your gifts set and all of that sort of stuff. So most likely, God won't send you to Africa. But if he does where then wherever he sends you or whatever he asks you to do in your neighborhood and your place of work, faith is a part of every response to God. 1 (23m 22s): As you're sitting here today, you're by faith asking the Lord, Lord, speak to me. I know you can hear me by faith Lord. And so you're believing God to speak to you. I was talking to a woman in between services and this is the anniversary of her husband's passing and her daughter's passing. And she's here in her brokenness, my faith, believing that God's going to minister to her. I talked with a woman as I was out in the U area and Kelly, Wade. She has her little bundle wrapped up next to her body. 1 (24m 4s): And it's this precious little girl that they brought into their lives by faith. I said, how many does that make? And she said, well, that's number seven, number seven. I said the number of completion. So, so maybe this or that, I don't know. Anyway, I think she's hoping for that. Anyway. So number seven she's by faith, just she and Tom had brought this precious little baby into their lives, hoping to make it a permanent thing, believing God for great stuff or that little, little, little baby. So on the macro level, on the micro level, we walk by faith doing what God has asked us to do. So we're going to answer the question today. What is faith look like part of the way that we grow in our faith just by being plugged in, in church and Bible study throughout the week. 1 (24m 52s): And there's lots of great stuff going on. So get involved in a small group, the journey groups are kicking off. I did the journey last year and spent nine months in that. And it was just an incredible opportunity to grow in my faith as a believer in the Lord, Jesus Christ to grow, to grow in my ability to just comprehend God on a new level. It's just, it was powerful. It was powerful. I've been hearing all of these testimonies about people going through the journey and just half of their lives have been transformed. And a lot of people just keep going through it over and over again. So there's, women's groups, there's men's groups. If you're interested in joining the journey group, just fill out a communication card, let us know. And we'll, we'll get you in touch with the right people. Sound good. 1 (25m 32s): Do you, do you do the necessary things to build yourself up? And your role is totally faith and watch what God will do powerfully in you. So we're going to ask you the question today. What is faith look like before we answer that question? Let's first define the word faith. And we define it right from the scripture in Hebrews 11. One where it says faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. It gives us a short sense about things. We cannot say it with me. See if we can see it. It doesn't require faith, right? But if we can't see it, that's when faith is required. And so everything about God and everything about his plan for us requires faith to believe him for things we can not see. 1 (26m 20s): And so we were to pray without ceasing, where to walk in relationship with Jesus, filled with the spirit and allowing God to direct our steps, to direct our conversation. So that by faith, we might do what he has called us to do by faith. We might speak the life-changing words that we need to speak by faith. We might pray the life changing prayers that need to be prayed over somebody's life. But where does his faith come from? Where does all this good stuff come from? This strong faith come from where it comes right from the scripture in Romans 10, 17, we're told. So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so we're built up in our most holy faith. 1 (27m 3s): We're strengthened in our faith as we turn our attention to the word of God as we, and that's our hope, every time we teach or preach is that people will be built up in their faith so they can move forward as followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ in their faith to encounter the world, to conquer the world for Jesus and to do great things for Jesus. And so faith, faith comes from it's like the reading of the word, like in Jack sass with faith and confidence in God, we read stories about the people of old, like Hebrews 11 talks about, we read stories about what those who have gone before us have done, and it builds us up and it gives us courage to do what God is asking us to do in the simplicity of our own lives and the complexity of our own lives. 1 (27m 53s): What is God asking us to do? So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So if you're struggling in an area of your life to have faith in an area of her life, if you're struggling with a relationship to have faith that God is working and reconciling healing and restoring, just turn your attention to the word of God and ask the Lord to speak to you. I still do this to this day. Lord. As I opened up the scripture, would you speak to me through your word? Would you, would you bring truth to illuminate truth to my understanding so that I might understand what you're saying to me and how I might apply it to my life. And then as I am able to do that, I'm built up. If I neglect the word, if I neglect time with, with, with my father, if I do that, my faith begins to wane a bit. 1 (28m 34s): I began to struggle, but when I come into relationship with him and read his word, faith is it's injected again. It's powerful. So what does faith look like? Number one. And I'm going to give you the first point to the message today. And we'll wrap up the rest of the points next week. Cause I want to leave time to have a conversation with Shane and the clock never got started. So it's may go along today because I have no idea how long I've been up here. Right? Has it been five minutes? Has it been 25 minutes? Do I have five minutes left? Do I have 25 minutes left? I have no idea. So we might have to order in some lunch fellowship around some food and take little naps. We'll get little blankets and that sort of thing. So what does faith look like? 1 (29m 16s): Faith is obedience to God. Faith is obedience to God, especially when God directs us to do something we don't fully understand. And it's been my experience that God usually directs us in a, in an arena, in an area to do something we don't fully understand. I don't fully understand preaching. If I'm honest, I think why can't people just read the Bible? What's the point of somebody expounding and preaching and leading in that way. I'm always perplexed by it. My Lord, it must be a supernatural thing. Cause I'm just a normal guy up here trying to teach and preach and trying to explain some things and God, for whatever reason does something with it beyond any of my capacity or ability. 1 (30m 5s): So there's all kinds of things that God does supernaturally. When we just surrender ourselves to him. Shane, we'll be talking about that today. So faith is obedience to God. It will be in Scott, especially when God directs us to do something. We don't fully understand God's plan. They don't always make human sense. Has that been your experience like Lord, I don't understand why you want me to do this. Like I've already got six kids. Why, why do I need a seventh kid? Right? Like, like I I'm getting older and I just want to chill right in this season of my life. Why are you asking me to do this uncomfortable thing? This thing that takes me out of my comfort zone or God, I'm just a kid. Why would you want to use me? I was having a conversation between services with a five-year-old and I asked him, I said, have you given your life to Jesus yet? 1 (30m 51s): He's like, no, I'm going to wait until I'm 12. I said, I said, why 12? And we talked about baptism or something like his plan is to get baptized at 12. I said, well, why don't you just accept the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ right now? And he said, ah, I will, when I'm 12, I said, do you know what the grace of God is like I, so I explain it to him. And I've known this kid since birth and now he's five. And anyway, so I'm just sharing the gospel with this guy. And he's listening patiently and being just polite with me probably. But, but I'm sharing the gospel with him. Cause I'm like, man, if you can get it at five years old, why wait till you're 12 years old? Like right now. So if you can get the gospel now in your season of life, why would you wait? 1 (31m 31s): Why would we wait to by faith? Just welcome the goodness and the grace and the kindness of Jesus. If you are beginning to understand the grace and the mercy of Jesus Christ, his welcome his message in his life, into your life and watch what will happen. God's plan. Doesn't always make human sense. It can be even counter-intuitive like, like this is not something I would normally do. Lord God's plan will always test your faith. God's plan, always tests our faith. We're gonna be talking about a man, Abraham, who is tested in his faith and who came through it with flying colors, by the way. And we're gonna learn some stuff from him and God's plan for his people always requires faith. 1 (32m 16s): So picking up or pastor Jeremy left off last week, we're in Hebrews 11, 17. We're just going to get through a couple of verses today. It says this in Hebrews 11, 17, it was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him, Abraham who had received God's promise was ready to sacrifice his only Isaac, even though God had told him, and this is a quote from Genesis 2112, Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted. So Abraham and Sarah received this revelation as child lists people, they received this revelation from God, go to this land that I will show you. 1 (33m 5s): And I will make you the father of many nations, like the sand of the seashore and the stars in the sky. That will be the number of your descendants. So their child lists, Sarah is barren, unable to have kids. And so time goes on and then Sarah's like, Hey, take my servant Hagar and go, you know, do the thing. And maybe God will provide a descendant through her. And so she was born that God reiterate, this is not the son of promise. So that's not as pro center promises, born supernaturally wonderfully. So Abraham was a hundred years old. 1 (33m 48s): Maybe your family time is maybe you got some more family. Sarah was 90. Abraham was a hundred. So if you're in that rate range, maybe you've got another kid coming. I don't know. I don't know. I don't pretend to know these things, but Isaac was the son of promise. And he was the only son that Sarah gave to Abraham. And so Isaac, the only son of Sarah and Abraham, God is being, is asking them to sacrifice him. Literally, literally speaking, literally sacrificing their son. And so they make plans. 1 (34m 28s): I love the story because it's a hard ask. Would you, I mean, maybe you've got asked you to sacrifice one of your kids. It wouldn't be so hard, but this was the son of promise, right? This was the son of promise. This was the son of promise. And so this was a hard ask and there, all right, so there's not like a plan B like we could try, but probably not going to have another kid. He's the son of promise. And so he had to decide, Abraham had to decide what, what am I going to do with this direction from the Lord? And he did what all of us should do with the direction of God. And we say, yes, Lord, because no Lord is not actually it's, it's, it's a contradiction in terms when we say no Lord, because Lord means Lord ship leadership priority. 1 (35m 27s): So if we say no Lord, it means he has no, actually no longer Lord, but something else is. And so he said, what he and all of us should say, yes, Lord, yes, Lord verse 13. This is what Abraham did or shoot me first, 19 Hebrews 11, 19 Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead. Why? Because the moment that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac was as good as dead in his mind because the answer was of course, yes, Lord. 1 (36m 7s): I don't understand. But yes, Lord, I will do what you've asked me to do. Believing that God is supernatural by faith. Believing that God, if the son died, God could resurrect him from the dead. And so this true story, the historical account of what happened in the life of this family might remind us of another story in the Bible. This story points us to the reality of the sacrifice God made in sending his only son to die for the sins of humanity. There are similarities. Genesis 22 tells us that it was a three-day journey for Abraham and Isaac to get to the land of Moriah, the place of the sacrifice. 1 (36m 52s): And so immediately hearing the voice of God, the plan of God, the direction of God in Abraham's mind, Isaac was dead because that was the plan took him three days. So in his mind, Isaac is dead. Now for three days in his mind, because this is what God directed. You might consider it conclude that Abraham had walked in such obedience that his son was considered dead. And so after three days, when the sacrifice, the Ram caught in the thicket to sacrifice, to replace the sun, it was like a resurrection. It was like a life giving resurrection, even as Jesus was dead three days before the Rez resurrection, it was, there was something about this and we see old Testament stories. 1 (37m 39s): Pictures of that point is to Jesus in the new Testament. Really that's what the old Testament is all about. The old Testament is all about preparation, pointing people for 39 books, pointing people to Jesus, the resurrected Lord in the new Testament. We see the same example in the story of Jonah. When we read Matthew 1240, it says for, as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights. So will the son of man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Faith is all about obedience. I want to invite Shane up right now and we're going to hear about his faith journey, his obedience and all of that stuff. 1 (38m 25s): So let's turn our attention to the front with Shane Shane. Why? Once you introduce yourself, let me give you a microphone first and 3 (38m 35s): Then you good morning, everyone. My name's Shane. 1 (38m 38s): Hey Shane. Yeah. Shane, thanks for, for joining us today. When you showed up. So three weeks ago, when, when Shane got back three weeks ago, I think it was three weeks ago today, right? So we're having church in. I know Shane's in Africa. I know he's coming back soon, but he just shows up and he's sitting over there and I'm like, what's going on? So he told me he flew 25 hours and then drove three hours from lax to get to church that morning. So if you had a rough day getting to church, it didn't require 28 hours of inflight and on the road travel. 1 (39m 21s): So welcome. I've been trying to figure out a way to get you up here because six months plus ago, so almost seven months ago, we prayed you out and we've been praying for you. And we've been excited to hear your updates. So tell us kind of your story. How, how did you end up experiencing this fear that we've all had about being sent to Africa? What, what did God do to present that to you and to get you there? What does that all look like? Sure. Let me 3 (39m 50s): Rewind back to 2018. When I started coming to harvest, I joined a men's group and Lou was actually in that group. Yeah. And Mike Maddie also, he started the bold faith journey, which is how I went to Africa, the door that opened. And so Mike started a S a zoom group that we would meet seven days a week for 30 minutes each day. And pray through the Bible. We would read a scripture and pray. I'm still doing that. And it's been three years, two years, two years. I've been on three years. That they've been all right. So, so how did that then? 1 (40m 31s): Yeah. What, when did you hear thus sayeth the Lord go to Africa. That's where 3 (40m 35s): That, that's how the Lord that happened. When I, when I read the scripture that it says to go and make disciples. Okay. 1 (40m 43s): And so to you, that meant go to Africa. 3 (40m 46s): Yeah. Well, to me that means my neighbor, you know, meant to be willing to serve wherever I am with whatever I have. You know, I think a lot of us think that we have to be educated or have to have something special. Yeah. But me, I, I can't even speak very good, 1 (41m 5s): Like Moses. Right, right. Yeah. Yeah. 3 (41m 6s): Good. Yeah. But you know, I just wanted to get out of my, get out of my comfort zone and see the world, see what God's doing in the world. Yeah. Through me, it's not about me. It's about what God's doing. So yeah. 1 (41m 21s): Well, faith is all about obedience, surrender, all that kind of stuff. So what happened when you got there? Yeah. 3 (41m 26s): Yeah. I got to a village in Zimbabwe or a student Zimbabwe for four months and we share, we shared the gospel to a, a village of about 6,000 people. Only about 300 people would come. Okay. But 300, 6,000 people didn't have running water or electricity, sewage. So we would take them the gospel and, and water. So we call it a water ministry twice a week. We'd bring two, 3000 liter trucks full of water. They would line up their buckets and we'd fill them up. They would carry them home. And that's how they drank washed dishes, showered, anything. 3 (42m 10s): They lived out of a bucket. Yeah. 1 (42m 11s): What was the result if you didn't bring that water? How far did they have to walk? 3 (42m 14s): Probably a mile, mile and a half. Okay. Pretty far. All right. Yeah. Round, round trip to two miles. Yeah. Wow. 1 (42m 22s): So what did that do for the people when you met their most basic need for water? 3 (42m 28s): Yeah. Water is a blessing to them. They were really blessed and happy to do have that. And 1 (42m 35s): I love that you went not only to bless them spiritually, but to bless them in a real, tangible, and physical way as well. I think that's really consistent with what we see in the scripture and with what God has called us to that we're meant to minister to the whole person, body, soul, and spirit. And when we can do that, I think we have the greatest impact. So tell me about leading. How did you guys tell people about Jesus besides the water ministry? You talked earlier about going door to door and knocking on doors 3 (43m 6s): And that sort of thing. Yeah. Pastor shepherd would share. He's a, he was our shepherd, he was our name. He was our mission. 1 (43m 12s): So it's like pastor, pastor or shepherd shepherd. Right. Okay. I 3 (43m 17s): Should have a name like that. Here's our missionary family. And, and so he would teach and preach and yeah. And I would share a message once in a while to 1 (43m 29s): That's awesome. So when you knocked on the door, tell us about those cubes. Those, 3 (43m 34s): Yeah. So we had a Vanji cube. It's a little block and it's kind of the size of Ruby. Cute Rubik's cube. Yeah. And it would fold out and had images on it. And we would share scriptures with each image and explain a story. And it took about five minutes to go through and share the gospel. Wow. And before I would even finish, they would be ready to accept Jesus. And so it's called the Vanji cube. Huh. 1 (43m 60s): So if so, so simplistic, but yet so powerful. 3 (44m 3s): Yeah. They were very receptive. I didn't have, people are just open to hearing about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 1 (44m 10s): So we talked earlier and that's, that kind of got a little pre privy information, but Y so you talked about the intentional spiritual warfare. So talk, we'll talk about a couple of things. Talk about the witchdoctors that you encountered and kind of the culture spiritually in that place. 3 (44m 29s): So which doctors are kind like their preacher, their religion is ancestral worship. They believe in spirits. And so they would consult a witch doctor and they would perform spells if they wanted a spell cast on somebody, they could do that. The witchdoctors very powerful. They would could cause illnesses, death, and very oppression. Oppressed. Dark. 1 (44m 58s): Yeah. So what about the gospel do you think? I mean, cause they, they're obviously part of a culture where there's just darkness and oppressive spiritual stuff going on. What, what, what about the simplicity of that five minute presentation spoke to, 3 (45m 12s): We spoke to two witchdoctors while I was there. They were receptive to the gospel. I was so nervous more than I am right now. And I just couldn't believe that she, it was two, two women which doctors and they were just receptive to the gospel and I was, yeah. 1 (45m 35s): Yeah. So I think part of what makes people receptive is just the preparation and the spirit realm. So talk about the hour, a day. Prayer that I believe is what prepares people to hear the gospel message. 3 (45m 53s): Yes. We would go in or they would wait, I didn't always do this, but they would wake up and pray for an hour at 3:00 AM or 4:00 AM. Wow. And, and also, yeah, it was just to break the demonic spirits, the plans of the enemy each night. Cause the darkness spirits operate in the dark realms of dark also dark. Yeah. 1 (46m 16s): Yeah, absolutely. So they would, they understanding the culture and the spiritual battle. We wrestle not against flesh and blood enemies, but against principalities and darkness. And so they understood something about that. I think we can learn from what they're doing and their culture and their lives. They recognize now spiritual darkness here looks different than spiritual darkness there in their culture, but it's spiritual darkness, all of the same. And so there are generational things that we need to break through. There are things that we need to pray through and ask God for grace and strength and opportunity to share the gospel. And so that's essentially what these guys are doing. They're saying, Hey, because the enemy has got authority where he's been given authority, he's, he's able to possess what he's been given to possess. 1 (47m 1s): And so we need to break all of that in the spiritual realm and there's too much to go into it today, but, but there's really something that needs to be addressed in the spiritual realm that opens people up to the gospel. And so when we do that spiritual battle, God has an opportunity. We have the opportunity to speak life and grace. And so as you spoke to the witch doctors and they, what does it mean that they were receptive or responsive? What 3 (47m 27s): Does that mean? They listened to everything and then they wanted to accept Jesus. And so they're going to have the pastor, the local pastor there in that village. It was a very rural area. It took us about three hours to get to wow. And driving on dirt roads doesn't even look like a road. Yeah. And so the pastor there is going to follow up with them. Okay, 1 (47m 49s): Good. Yeah. Very good. Good. Again. What was your highlight? The highlight of your experience there? Oh, 3 (47m 54s): Do you have any do make it, yeah, just to everything that God planned for me, I, I didn't really plan anything and I always had somewhere to sleep and ate better than I've ever eaten. Yeah. And what do they eat there? A lot of corn maze. Yeah. And, and organic everything's organic beef. Okay. The cattle walk around the streets and grazed it's green. So they just eat grass everywhere. Yeah. 1 (48m 25s): So then when it's time to eat, they grab one of those cows and that's it. Yeah. There we go. Okay. Good. Good, good. And you've got some pictures and so let's throw some, the first picture up here and you just kind of talk us through and walk us through. 3 (48m 38s): Yeah. So the first week I got to, we went to PA I was staying with pastor ZQ. So after Zimbabwe, I went up to, I went to South Africa, then Tanzania. So this is Tanzania. We went to pastor ZKO, who was my missionary family in Tanzania. This is his in-laws. We went to their house and stayed for a week. And we would also, we would go to the third church six days a week and pray for an hour at 6:00 AM. And, and then at night we would eat dinner together and then pray and have a teaching, a Bible study. And then we would sing songs and it was just very centered around God. 3 (49m 20s): That was my initial initiate first week there. So it was very, 1 (49m 24s): I'm kind of, I'm got to stuck at the thought of staying with my in-laws for a week. 3 (49m 29s): It wasn't like that. They were it's when you're it's you're always with family there. Yeah. And it's not like, okay, when are they going to leave? That's kinda how I felt like I, you know, but yeah, but they don't, their family is everything to them. Yeah. Yeah. 1 (49m 46s): So they, the a stay for together for a week, pray and worship and just enjoy life. Let's see, didn't know 3 (49m 51s): The next picture here. This is where we set up Jesus, a Jesus film. It's a projector stand and we can project a movie on to it. So we would show Jesus film and they could learn about who Jesus was. This is in rural, rural, a rural area village. And there's about 200 people there that showed up for this one. 1 (50m 11s): Talk about the speakers that draw the people. 3 (50m 12s): Yeah. The speakers is a very loud, they can amplify and reach about two, a mile, a mile away. Very they're very loud. And so people just hear and they come curious, what's what's going on. And then they'll just sit and watch and then out yes. In their language. Yeah. And then people would get saved afterwards and it was just very powerful. 1 (50m 35s): Yeah. So how many pastors equals the one that plants all the churches, right? Yeah. 3 (50m 38s): Zip pastor's EQL has been planting churches for 20 years. He's planted about 27 churches. Wow, 1 (50m 47s): Incredible. Yeah. And there just seems to be such a hunger there. What do you attribute the spiritual hunger to? 3 (50m 55s): They just, they don't have anything they don't have, they don't know where their provisions are coming from. So they depend on the Lord and they believe in God, but they don't know about Jesus. Many of them don't. Yeah. 1 (51m 7s): Tanzania. Okay. So when you present the gospel to them yes. Yeah. Wonder how transferable that is in this nation and our town and our neighborhood. What in your, with your experience there and knowing the culture here, what, what can, I mean, what can we do? Can we expect similar, I mean responses or what's it going to look like for us? 3 (51m 30s): Sure. To go into Africa or just for us in 1 (51m 33s): This ring light to our neighbors in our community here in Asia. 3 (51m 36s): Yeah. Definitely. I encourage where wherever you are. You know, I, I have a short story to share that I sharing the gospel. I try to share it wherever I go. Yeah. Whenever I have a couple of minutes and I had just chaired my, with my tax accountant guy. Yeah. On online, I said, do you know Jesus? He said, yes. You know, so something so simple as that taking a risk, you know? 1 (52m 1s): Yeah. Just bringing Jesus into the conversation or the story. I think it was a week or so ago, a guy just given his life to Jesus and it was trying to find a job. And so he was at a job place and he walks in and says, Hey, I've just rededicated my life to Jesus. And I'm trying to find a job I'm like, that is so bold. Right. I mean, it was so bold. And so the gal was a Christian as well. And so she was grateful to hear that, but I think we miss opportunities to bring Jesus into the conversation. That's what pastor Fred was talking about last week. And I went to lunch with pastor Fred and Pam last week. And sure enough, you shared the gospel with the cashier and that's just because I was there and he's trying to display it or anything, but it was just because that's who he was and that's who they are. 1 (52m 42s): So I think we've got missed opportunities all around us, if we'll just slow down, pay attention. And if you would go back 3 (52m 49s): So win. When we first heard about Jesus, somebody was bold enough to share with us. Yeah. Like me, I'd heard about Jesus before, but nobody really told me about the gospel. And so 2017, I met somebody who was bold enough and, and then got me. Yeah. Just kept pressing and saying, Hey, check, you know, look into this. Yeah. 1 (53m 12s): That's awesome. Yeah. The 3 (53m 14s): Next, next slide. Yeah. A lot of the kids there hadn't had never seen a white person before. So they were, these kids weren't scared, but many times little babies or kids, young kids would see me and they would cry because they would be scared. I had that same effect on people. So what are they doing here? They're just what's happening here. Yeah. We were just playing. I spent about a few hours. I was there in this village for three days and I spent about three hours with them just playing. 3 (53m 58s): And they were showing me all kinds of little games that are simple without you don't need anything, but like with rocks and just, just so simple, how, how they have fun. That's obviously without a PlayStation. That's awesome. This is the youth group at the church. That's to meiny, which means hope in Swahili. And he was very good with the kids. He also led the Jesus film. He's a pastor as equals assistant. Okay. Okay. Next slide. This is how they get around on motorcycle for people on the next slide. 3 (54m 40s): There's me with his granddaughter and or with the guy in the motorcycle. That's his granddaughter. Next slide. There's me with as pastor Zico watching Jesus film on my phone next. And there's, we're praying for a lady. Next slide. We're just going to go through these kind of fast because a time next, this is me sharing with the college students at a university and pastor ZKO prepared a message or a teaching on a drug and alcohol. Next slide. There's where Buendia is. 3 (55m 20s): That's where we went for our three day trip. And then we went up to another town called meiny meiny, which is a mining town. Gold. They have a lot of gold there. And the Hills it's about two hours from where I was staying. Next slide. They're singing God. There there's none other like you. And I just thought their, their voice is so beautiful. The way you could start it over. If you can Hmm. 3 (56m 3s): You could play it again. Akuna come away. Way God. There is no So this church is a church that is eco planted on a hill of granite, no roads, all trails. And they carry up the bricks to my hand. Wow. To build any the houses and churches. Next slide, please. 3 (56m 44s): This is the village. One of the side streets. There's 4 million people in this town. Next slide. This is a little market where they sell beans and goods. That's oil in the, in the bottles, cooking oil. Next. This is when we were sharing the gospel and we were just going around. 3 (57m 28s): So you could go next slide. Next. This is them praying. We prayed for an hour in church and they just walked back and forth and pray or some lay down and pray. So it's a month. It's January is a month of prayer. And, and to prepare the next slide. Yeah. On the, on the buses there, they have a glory to God and Jesus. Yeah. So very God is very real. And, and for those who have, have heard Jesus there display it everywhere. 3 (58m 13s): So what's next for you? I would like to go back to Africa after I finished the job at it. Out of Diablo canyon. Yeah. Yeah. And what's, what's the longterm plan. I would just like to get, get equipped, go to a Bible college and get equipped and go back out to Africa and wherever the Lord sends me. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. What's the biggest challenge about going to a place like that? For me, it was just finances. I, I really pastor Zeke hill, his biggest obstacle was finances. Yeah. For me it didn't, I didn't, it wasn't about, I don't need the money. 3 (58m 53s): Yeah. I'm going to work so I can help as equal out. And he is just such, such a big vision and dream for a, what he wants to see happen in Africa. And I think finances is the only thing that's the obstacle, right? Yeah. So we're just waiting on God's timing. Yeah. He's faithful. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's a theme running through what we're talking about and just your, your, your surrender and your trust and your faith and just your availability and all that, that 1 (59m 21s): Sort thing. And I think that is transferable to us as well, surrender faith availability, you know, to our point earlier obedience, and then just watch what God does with all of that raw material. Like you said, you know, we've, we feel like we need to be S we have certain gifts or talents or abilities, but God really just works best with the raw material of an obedient, faithful, willing person. So thanks for being that person. And thanks for sharing your story with us really, really appreciate you. I want to pray for you as we get ready to release you here, Lord. So Jesus, we just want to pray for Shane. We thank you for what you're doing in his life, Lord and God that he's available. 1 (1h 0m 4s): And it's just holding onto his life loosely, ready to go, where you would call him to go show us how to do that. Lord, not all of us are single and able to do, you know, at the drop of a hat, what Jane's been able to do. Lord, show us Lord in our contacts with our kids and grandkids and jobs and responsibilities. Lord, show us how to do what you've called us to do to live by faith Lord. So thank you for the opportunity to hear this story and to be a part of this man's life bless. And we pray in Jesus name. Amen.  Thank you, Jesus. The battle belongs to you. Thank you that you have gone before us. Thank you for the faith that we have in you. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your protection. Thank you for salvation. Thank you that we get to be your hands and feet on, on this earth. God, and that the gospel gets to spread spread wide. We love you. Jesus. It's in your name. We pray. Amen.

One Act of Obedience

0 (0s): Happy Sunday to you guys. Good to see you all. I'm filling in for Amanda. If you guys didn't know, she, she got married last week to, to Steven pastor. Steve is going to tell a story later about how him and his family want the dance off. Please don't believe him. He's lying. I was there. He doesn't dance as well as you think you can, but yeah. Excited to worship with you guys this morning. So let's let's think together. 2 (51s): Christ Jesus. Believe in the resurrection that we will arise. 2 (1m 34s): And And now we get that chance. 2 (8m 3s): The same swing wide. You heavenly gates is the people of the Lord enter into praise him. That's what we're here for this morning. Praise our Lord and savior. Let the praise go up as the walls. 2 (10m 42s): Oh, geez. Fred is king. 3 (11m 26s): We were waiting without hope without from him. There was You rose all of his breath to that. 3 (13m 46s): Stone was moved for good for land. And the dead was from there too. And just for the 4 (15m 46s): Got we bless you, Lord. Yes, Lord. We bless you, Lord. We love you, God. We're so grateful for your presence. Holy God, God fall fresh on us in a special and a profound, in a powerful way. We pray, Lord, we thank you God for your holiness. God, we thank you. God that you've imputed your righteousness. God you've made us the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, by your grace, Lord God, you filled us. You've overcome the world in us. God, you've obliterated the sin in our lives. Lord, God, we're so thankful. God, we invite you to continue that work of sanctification, that work of holiness, God that we would say yes and amen to everything that you want to do in our lives. Lord, God, we are so thankful for who you are. 4 (16m 28s): Jesus. So thankful. Holy spirit. Fill this place. We pray. Lord. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your grace. Thank you. 4 (17m 20s): Got for every, for every person gathered Lord, we just pray for got the touch that is needed. God, that you administer God, grace and healing and deliverance, encouragement. God that you would set people free today and welcome people into your kingdom. Lord God, the souls will be added to the kingdom as a result of this service Lord, this time of worship and prayer and time in the word and hearing testimonies, Lord God, we just want, we invite, you got to do supernaturally abundantly above everything that we might hope or imagining Christ Jesus, God, that we would just be surprised. 4 (18m 5s): And yet we shouldn't be surprised, but we will be surprised by your goodness, Lord God. So continue to surprise us and work in our lives in our church and God for every church that lifts up the name of Jesus here on the central coast here in this area, Lord, we just bless them. Lord, we bless them. We pray grace upon them. Lord God provision for them. God that the power of God would fall heavily and substantially Lord God and move wonderfully. So in the hearts and lives of our brothers and sisters and churches all over the central coast, Lord God, we bless your name, Lord God. We love you. We thank you for this time. Jesus, your name. We pray Lord. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. You may be seated. So we're going to do things just a little bit differently today. 4 (18m 47s): We're going to take communion up front before the service is preached. The sermon is preached. And so if you need elements, go and raise your hand. If you need communion elements, raise your hand. We have runners who will get those to you. So who are runners? We got runners. Good. Thank you. We might need another runner. We might need another runner. Levi. Why don't you do that? Once you be a runner Levi, you want to be a runner. Elements should be over there. There we go. And Jack thrown his brother under the bus. It's no fun. 4 (19m 28s): We're getting them. Keep your hands up. If you need them, keep your hands up. Here we go. Fourth, Sunday of the month we take him union remembering just the grace and the goodness of our savior. The Lord Jesus Christ. We've been singing about him all morning and we're going to celebrate him some more as we take in union. All right, did we get everybody? I think we got everybody. All right. Paul wrote in first Corinthians 1123 and following he says for, I pass onto you. What I received from the Lord himself on the night, when he was betrayed the Lord, Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. 4 (20m 16s): Then he broke it in pieces and said, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me. Let's take the way for the bread. Thank you, Jesus. We remember Lord, we remember our desperate, desperate need for your grace. 4 (20m 58s): If you're here today and you've never accepted the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, but you know, you need it. I would just say, reach out, pray to the Lord. And he will come into your life. He will forgive your sins. If you simply say Jesus, I need you. I don't even know why I need you, but I know that I need you. I need you to come into my life and I need you to forgive. My sins. Need you to make me whole again, need you to guide and direct me to take over the leadership of my life. As you declare your heart to the Lord and the quietness of your own mind and hearts, God hears. And he responds and he, he runs to you as you run to him. So Lord, we just invite you to move today. And for those who have maybe been hesitant about accepting the grace and the mercy of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray that today would be the day of salvation God, over all over this campus, Lord God. 4 (21m 49s): And for those who watch online, Lord God, we thank you, Lord. We thank you, Lord God, thank you for salvation. If you've received the grace message, the mercy of the Lord, Jesus Christ and the blood of Christ has washed over your sins. And it's a peculiar, supernatural, wonderful thing that God does. We don't fully grasp it, but we can fully appreciate it and live in it. And so thank you Lord, for what you're doing. Thank you, Lord Verse 25, first Corinthians 11 in the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper saying this cup is the new covenant between God and his people and agreement confirmed with my blood. 4 (22m 45s): Do this to remember me. As often as you drink it for every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again. Let's take these use God. We're so refreshed by your grace. It never gets old. The goodness of God, the grace of God, the patience and the forgiveness of God. 4 (23m 29s): It just never, ever gets old. And we never run out of need to have it Lord. And so we thank you that you are patient with us. She love us. Your grace is sufficient. Your love is unconditional. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Lord, help us to walk in the new life that we've been given and the power that we've been filled with with a grace that has washed over us. Lord, we love you, Lord. We bless you, Lord. Thank you for this time. And for the balance of this service we just gave you. We give you permission control authority. 4 (24m 12s): We asked for you to reign and rule Supreme in our space, all over the campus, online Lord in our hearts and in our lives. We pray. Thank you Lord, for your goodness. We love you Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Now stand up and then meet somebody that you've never ever met before. And we'll come back and just a few minutes. 4 (26m 4s): And you met somebody new brand new. All right. So a third of a part of you did the job, right? Thank you for that. Welcome back. So my son and his wife are now married off. They've been married for a week and a day. So I tried to call my son yesterday just to check in on him, you know, right to voicemail, right to voicemail. So a few minutes later he texted me, Hey dad, everything. All right, what's up? I'm like, no, I'm good. I'm just checking in on you. He said, Hey dad, we're still in the honeymoon phase. So we're not taking phone calls. 4 (26m 44s): Like whatever, whatever do your thing while they're home now, they're home. Now. They went, they spent three nights in Cambria and then like four nights down in Palm Springs. And so they're back now. We had a wonderful time. And some of you, some of you may have heard of the dance off at the wedding. There's been a bit of a rumors going about, about this dance off. And so the, the tradition with the Coles, which is Amanda's family, they've married off for their, for their kids now I believe. And so every wedding, they have a choreographed dance and there's a dance off between the parents of the bride and the parents of the groom. So we got sucked into that. And, and so the results of the dance off, of course the Henrys killed it and we, they would tell you different, but we had a wonderful celebration last Saturday. 4 (27m 36s): It was just so, so good. So, Hey, remember to pray for our youth. There, there are 39 young people and six adults up leaders up in the mountains at a camp right now. I think there may be heading back today. So I remember God really supernaturally touching my life in junior high school is where I formerly gave my life. Formally, gave my life to the Lord and under Gary Tucker's leadership here and God's been faithful. So my prayer, every time youth go off is that they would just be slammed by God's goodness and filled with his presence and his spirit. And that God would do wonderful life changing life, altering things. And so life altering things alternating, probably not a word and altering things. 4 (28m 16s): So, Hey, today we've got a good friend of mine. Fred and Pam are they're here. They've been Fred and Pam, come on up for it. They've been in this area for in fact, Pam going to come up as well. These guys have been here since 2016. I remember the day that I met Fred at a pastor's gathering and we've been connected for the last 16 years. We met each other in Hawaii, a number of years ago and just connected there. And I was talking with Fred recently. I needed some counsel about some things. So I said, Hey, Fred, what do you think? And, and then we started talking and he wrote a book and he's going to tell you all about that. And the book really is about modern day heroes of faith. 4 (29m 2s): And we just went through the first half of Hebrews 11, talking about the heroes of faith. And next week I'll finish up Hebrews 11, finishing the stories there in Hebrews 11. But I thought in the middle, it would be a great idea just to have Fred come and share just 21st century stories about how God uses someone who's available just to do his work and his will to accomplish his plans and his purposes. So here we are, we've got Fred and Pam here. So I just want to pray over them, pray, blessing upon them. And why don't you extend your hand and just bless them. So Lord be blessed. These guys, we are so thankful for Fred and Pam Lord, and for who they are in this region. Lord, they love you. 4 (29m 42s): They've served you faithfully. And in this new season, a new life of ministry, we pray God that you would strengthen them, continue to give them clarity and vision and wisdom and open doors. We pray Lord open doors for a ministry all over the central coast, all over the state, all over the country and all over the world. Lord God. So we just pray blessing upon them. Bless this work. This book that has been written, pray that it would touch a million souls Lord. We wanted to touch a million souls, Lord God. So we just invite you to do that. Be glorified. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. 5 (30m 30s): Well, we really love pastor Steve and Jolene, and they've been such good friends to us through all the years over here. We, we used to have a small group of pastors. We met for three years every week, getting together and this such a special, special time and really appreciate. And Hey, Hey, I was going to begin by telling you how great I was, but I decided not to waste your time and instead tell you about how great Jesus is, but I want to pray. And then the Lord has given me a word for someone here. 5 (31m 13s): And so let's just pray right now, father, we thank you again for the convenient. We just had celebrating what you did for us. We thank you for the power of the blood of Jesus and your body that was given so that we might be made whole. We thank you for that. We thank you. Holy spirit that you're here and we acknowledge you right now. Holy spirit, come on, everybody acknowledge him. He's right here in this room with us and holy spirit. There's some things you want to do. And some things you want to say, and we just submit to you and relinquish ourselves to you and have your way in our lives. Let my words be spirit in life to everyone that hears. I pray that in Jesus name. 5 (31m 53s): If you agree with that same man. Well, I got a word for this brother right here on the front row, in the middle. If we met before, okay. Would you stand up? What's your name? Noah. Noah. Well, there you go. I'm going to get in the boat with Noah. How about you Noah? I was just sitting over there and the Lord just highlighted you to me and gave me this verse of scripture for you. You may not be, you're probably not unfamiliar with it, but it's in found in second Chronicles, 16 verse nine. It says this. This is for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. 5 (32m 38s): It says seeking to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is holy. His and the Lord said to me that you're that man, that the eyes of the Lord, I have been searching all over the earth and his eye is on you right now. And, and I just see, I don't know what that means that I know it's going to be powerful through your life. God's really going to use you because he's found a heart in you that just wants to be his heart. Is that right? You want his, your heart to be in his heart. So I want to pray for you, Noah father. I thank you for Noah. And I see that you've been through a lot of hurtful things in the past, but God says, forget those things. 5 (33m 23s): Let them go. Forget the past because there's a new day ahead for you. And it's a big day. It's a powerful day. And because he's found his heart in you, his heart is wholly yours. Your heart is holy his, I mean, and so Lord, I pray a blessing over him and I pray for an increase in his life. I prayed that for a whole new ability. As you read the word of God, it's going to open up to you. Like never before. It's going to be like, you're reading the Bible and God's going to be speaking directly to you over and over again through the word of God. I pray that in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Let's give Jesus a clap for that one. 5 (34m 9s): Well, today my assignment is to talk to you. Not, I guess I did write a book, actually. I wasn't planning on writing a book. It started in March of last year, this last year I was being interviewed on a national network and they were just interviewing me. And I was just sharing stories. And I kept talking about one act of obedience, one act of obedience. And the person that was interviewing me said, you gotta to write a book about this. And I thought, yeah, I should. And then as I realized, oh, it's really the Lord telling me to write this book. 5 (34m 53s): So I began to write and it just flowed. It was just like easy to write and I'm writing the book and then I'm thinking, well, I'm going to publish this book. I have a daughter in Berkeley who is a novelist. So she's published some novels and so on, but I'm like, okay, how am I supposed to publish my book? And then I, all of a sudden, I come across an advertisement from Trinity broadcasting network TBN saying they looking for new authors and especially if it had to do with evangelism. And so I called him on the phone and I said, Hey, I'm writing this book. And they said, well, you know, we don't know if we want to publish your book or not, but send us a couple chapters and we'll get back to you. 5 (35m 34s): So I sent him a couple chapters and seven days later, they called me and said, we want to publish her book. And so it just went off to the publishing company just this week. Actually I was waiting to get acknowledgements, but pastor Steve wouldn't acknowledge me, but I'm like, okay, I'm sending it in anyhow. Now I'm just kidding. And so, and so it's off and the title of the book, I'm kind of debating there. I titled it one simple act of obedience, but the really the phrase God gave me was one act of obedience. And I'll show you where it came from. It's found in it's going to be on the screen here in Romans five verse 19, Romans five verse 19. 5 (36m 18s): Notice this, it says as by the one man's disobedience talking about Adam many were made sinners. So by the one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. Now the one man, some versions do it different. You know, the man is talking about Jesus through the disobedience of Adam. We all became sinners. We're not sinners because we sin. We sin because we were born into sin. Right, right. No, just checking. Okay. And, and so, but then it says through one man's obedience, which is Jesus, perfect obedience, many will be made righteous, but I got caught with the phrase one active obedience. 5 (37m 2s): I saw, you know, how many of you think we might be living in the last days? Three people. Okay. The rest of you are in for a surprise. Okay. And, and so the question should be for every one of us, what should I be doing? What should I be doing? Well, I don't think we even have to wait for the last days to know what to do, but what should I be doing for sure right now? And so my wife and I were in Israel in 2017 and it was, I've been in I've ministered in 41 different countries, but I'd never been to Israel. 5 (37m 42s): So we were in Israel. And while we were there, kind of give you a little background here. We had, we were just turning our church over to a young guy. And so we were stepping out of being pastors. We were pastors for 32 years and I traveled in ministry for a number of years, been in full-time ministry, whatever you want to call it for forty one forty two years. But we're in Israel. And while we were there, God said, I want you to call your ministry, that what you're going to do now, as you go ministries, as you go ministries now share kind of how that came about. 5 (38m 23s): And so I came back from Israel and while I was there, it's just like, if you've ever been to Israel, the land speaks to you wherever you go. It's just, you hear the voice of God speaking to you over and over and over again. And so I came back and I had a renewed desire to study Matthew 24. Now Matthew 24. How many of you ever read Matthew? 24, same three people. Okay. Now at the 24 is where Jesus disciples ask him, tell us what the signs of the end times will be before you come back, tell us the science. So you've probably, most of us here have heard this. 5 (39m 5s): Well, there'll be wars. Oh my gosh. And rumors of wars, there'll be earthquakes. Just had one yesterday. Bank-to-bank went all the way around the world. There was an earthquake that happened in multiple places around the world. There will be pestilence or sickness and diseases that will come. There will be, it says, people will hate one another. Don't look at anybody right now. People will hate one another. And here's another one. The science many will be offended. Come on. I'm about to offend you today. So you might as well get ready to forgive me ahead of time. 5 (39m 47s): May have you ever seen, at least in my lifetime, I'd never seen anything like how many people are so easily offended today. No matter what you say, you know, that offends me well, get over it, grow up, stop it. And so, and then Jesus, here's the last sign, this numbers at the end of the list, here's all the signs that are going to happen. And then he gives one more sign. And here's what it is going to be on the screen here, Matthew 24 14, Jesus said this and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. 5 (40m 32s): And then the end will come. You all see that? And then so we're like, okay, what? We got the wars, we've got the rumors of wars. We got the sickness, we got the hating, one another, we got the people being persecuted. We got all these things happening, but the one thing that's going to end it all is going to be this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the nations and then the end will come. So I just got arrested. I come back from Israel and I'm just looking at Matthew 24. And I just landed on this verse, like God said, this is this. You got to get this. 5 (41m 12s): So, you know, throughout my history with the Lord, I've been, I got saved in 1970 on the side of the mountain and lake Tahoe, Nevada. I was a hippie drug addict and just had a sovereign encounter with the Lord. But all, you know, and by the way, do I have any ex hippies here? Any ex hippies? Okay. I got a couple of us hippie Christians when we got saved in 1970, we heard about this book came out called the late great planet earth, my hell, Lindsey. It was all about that. The rapture was about to come. So we were fixated on the end times I knew I was going to be raptured at any moment. I was afraid. 5 (41m 52s): I didn't know if I felt anything, got to shaking her though. I hope here we go. We're out of here. And, and so we were because of that, we were desperate about getting people saved. We believed that Jesus was coming back. We're going to be raptured and so on. And so throughout my years, as a pastor seems strange to me. I don't know if you do this, Steve, that I keep having to come back and to the gospel and say, do I really understand the gospel? And to keep asking my, I have to go back and say, okay, do I really get it? And so here in this passage, Jesus says the major sign of my coming back is that this gospel, not just any gospel of the kingdom, everybody say of the kingdom, this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed or preached in all the nations. 5 (42m 49s): And then the end will come. So I'm focusing on that and I'm like, okay, I got to get this Lord. What is the gospel of the kingdom? And the Lord led me to another passage, which is found, we're going to put it on the screen here in Matthew 10 verses seven, eight. So we might Pam and I have a ministry, the name of our ministry, what we're still, we still are, are part of our church. We turned our church over to a young guy three years ago and the church has moved to, to Santa Maria. It's exploded. We're there every week. I tell you, I didn't tell you this, but I think I told you this, you know, we have nine speakers that rotate at our church nine. 5 (43m 35s): I was talking to the pastor today. He only preached once this last month, we were like, we'll get back to you for a password right now. We're preaching and both men and women. And it's awesome. Anyhow, I don't know why I went there, but anyhow, so this gospel of the kingdom. So I had to go back and say, well, what is the gospel of the kingdom? And it's found in Matthew chapter 10, verses seven and eight. So Jesus is now assigning his disciples to go out and preach the gospel y'all with me. And so here's what he says. He says, and this is the name of our ministry. 5 (44m 17s): And as you go like, whoa, okay, as you go proclaim, the kingdom of heaven is at hand heal. The sick cleanse, the lepers raise the dead cast out demons freely you ever received freely give. And so my understanding of the gospel of the kingdom is that is, it is a show and tell, gospel a show and tell it's not just words, although words are important. I, I hear people quoting this quote all the time and I, it makes me angry actually, just to be honest with you, they're saying, you know, by all means, preach the gospel and if necessary use words, okay, that sounds really spiritual, but it's totally wrong. 5 (45m 2s): Totally unbiblical because the gospel is words. And then they say St. Francis of Assisi said it. And the fact is, he didn't say it. I don't know who said it, but they needed an, I do know who said it was actually a writer back in the early 19 hundreds here in America. And he was just telling Christians, you ought to act like Christians. And, and so that the gospel of the kingdom is a demonstration of the reality of the react resurrection of Jesus and the power of Jesus being manifest with the preaching of the word of God, of the declaration, that there is a kingdom and it's Jesus' kingdom, the God who was raised from the dead who's alive right now. 5 (45m 46s): And, and so, so I, you know, I'm just honing in on that. And, and then I began to kind of, when I started getting into this book, I realized that's kind of what God's been doing with me for many, many years. I began, I would demonstrate the kingdom. Not that I, although were sent out to, to do that. And I would demonstrate the kingdom and then see people get saved at the encounter they would have with Jesus. And it came in all different forms and different ways. And so on. Now, one of the things, this is last verse, I'm going to share as I just want to share some stories with you. So as I talk to Christians, let me back up here. 5 (46m 31s): Let me just tell you what's wrong in America. They may come on CNN, Fox news. Everybody's telling you what's wrong when America that I'm going to tell you the truth what's wrong in America is the, is the average Christian, whatever that means stopped sharing Jesus with people in America. We would not be in the situation we're in right now because the enemy saw the open door. The enemy saw, okay, the church is backing off. So I'm moving in and Hey, you know what? The first service told me that you guys were there like the on fire ones. 5 (47m 14s): I was just wanting to double check here. And so we it's actually possible for a Christian to get saved, born again, go through their whole life die and never share Jesus with anybody else. So God, when he says what's wrong with a nation, he says this in second Chronicles, seven 14. If my people that are called by my name will humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will heal their land and I will forget. So the problem in America is not the leftist or the rightest or the, any of that. It's the church it's us. 5 (47m 55s): We've got the answer. America was founded to be actually a nation that would be a Christian nation. And somehow I'm not, I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about all those other Christians out there. Somehow we have lost our way and for God about our responsibility to represent Jesus every day in our lives. So let me, so I was talking to one of my past friends years ago, and he's been a missionary in difference of the world and all this. And so we're talking on the phone just a week ago. And I was just talking about this thing about sharing Jesus with people and so on. He says, well, you know, I'm really not called to be an evangelist. 5 (48m 39s): And I'm like, what is, yeah, that's not my gift. I said, well, wait a minute, let's stop here. I totally disagree with you. Yes. You're not called to be an evangelist, but second Corinthians, let's put it on the screen. Chapter five verses 18 through 20 says this. And God has given who, okay. Turn to your neighbor and say, we as us, God has given us, ask us the task of reconciling people to him for God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. 5 (49m 20s): And here it is, again, case we didn't get the first one. He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation, this the gospel. So we are Christ ambassadors. God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ. When we plead, come back to God. Now, I don't know if you know this, I'm assuming you do. I'm trying to assume some things here. You know that the Bible tells us in Genesis chapter one, that all people were created in the image of God, in the image of God, they were created both male and female and God gave them dominion in the earth. 5 (50m 3s): So God's original intention was to have a people that represented him on the year. Ambassadors. An ambassador is someone that represents their country and they have authority and they have a responsibility to represent their country in a foreign land. In case you haven't checked lately, we're in a foreign land. If you're a born again, Christian, you're not of world. Come on, you are on another kingdom. We come from God's kingdom. We've been born into a completely new species of people. You know what I discovered the other day. Now you're even a while back that I believe in aliens. 5 (50m 47s): I pastor, if you taught on aliens, I hope you have. I believe in aliens. It's just that I believe that we are the aliens. We're not of this world. We're here to represent the kingdom of God wherever we go every day, come on and go tell your neighbor. Did you know I was an alien? And so understanding that then I, so in, as God gave us this ministry, as you go proclaim, the kingdom of God is at hand heal. The sick cleanse leper cast out demons, raise the dead freely, received freely. Give as God gave us that, I realized that what then God said to me, I want you to activate in America, 1 million Christians in lifestyle Christianity. 5 (51m 40s): Now, what do I mean by lifestyle Christianity? It's not going to church on Sunday. It's representing Jesus on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday. And yes, on Sunday, we are to a lifestyle. Christianity is Jesus is my life. Watch Bernie. If you've ever read any of his books, somebody asked him to define what a Christian is. And he says a Christian he's is Galatians two 20. I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. 5 (52m 23s): A Christian is Christ. Living his life through my life are y'all with me. It's like, we can come to church for this. Yes you did. So what does that look like? So my book is simply a 22 chapters of stories of how that's happened through my life. Not that I've been perfect. I've messed up. I missed it. I missed all divine opportunities, all that. I don't want to paint myself as anything, but I'll just give you a couple of examples. How am I doing on time? 5 (53m 3s): Okay. I got another hour. Is that what it's okay. All right. Well, they didn't say that in the first service who give me five minutes, raise your hand. 5, 10, 15, 20. So just what happened to me. So it's not about me. It's about, so my goal is in this book, what I mean activate is that I want to get 1 million Christians in America who will do acts of obedience. They'll do acts of obedience. And the thing the Lord showed me is that it says through one man's active obedience, many will be made righteous through your act of obedience. 5 (53m 50s): It's going to make somebody else righteous. Come on. So well, are you telling me to go door to door and witness? No. Unless God tells you to do that. When I am telling you to do is to obey the holy spirit. Oh baby. I'll look for the opportunity. I'll explain all that. So let me give you an example. So I get saved. I know before I got saved, when I was in high school, before I was in high school, when I was a little kid, we had this neighbor friend, Amy Piedmont. She was the wildest one. She could have outdanced pastor Steve. She was the wildest woman in our neighborhood. She could, she could drink bourbon, smoke a cigar and Gantz all at the same time. 5 (54m 31s): That was wild back then. And my mom came home. They were friends with my mom and dad, and she came home one night, one day. And she said to me that Amy is no fun anymore. She's got religion, which was my mom's interpretation of Amy got saved. So I didn't think anything about it until I was in high school. Freshman year, I'm walking to school and I made the mistake. I thought of walking down Amy street, I'm walking down the street as I'm going past her house. Eight o'clock in the morning. Amy walks out of her house, walked into the middle of the street, grabs me by the arm. And she's trying to put some little booklet in my hand telling me I need God. And I looked at her and I shook her off and I ran down the street and I yelled back. 5 (55m 17s): Amy, you're a fanatic. And I determined to never go down Aimee street ever again. And I never did until at the age of 22. And I had an encounter with God on the side of a mountain. I got born again, folks, I got saved and I lost all my friends. I was part of a commune. Somebody, you don't know what that means. But then I was hippie drug addict that blah, blah, blah. And I get saved. And I lose all my hippie friends. They think he's had this God encounter. It's weird and stay away from him. And so I didn't know who to talk to. And then I remembered Amy Piedmont went over her house, knocked on the door. 5 (55m 58s): She comes to the door here. I am standing with buckskin clothes beads, you know, and I have a new added attraction. I'm wearing a big wooden cross hanging around my neck. And I said, hi, Amy. I'm a fanatic too. And she got a, took two steps back and count, looked up, looked me up and down. She will come in here and tell me about this. So I shared with her and she just started balling. She says, Fred been, you've been born again. You've you've encountered Jesus. And she became my mentor for the next six months. I was over her house every day after work. And she would pray with me. She would teach me, she would show me things in the Bible and so on. I'm totally indebted to an Amy Piedmont who did one act of obedience, like coming out on the street, taking that risk of being rejected, not caring about that. 5 (56m 49s): Loving me enough to risk her time, risk her life, risk her rejection to tell me that I needed Jesus in my life. I only had three people like that in my entire life that ever did that kind of thing. And so what we need is more Amy Piedmont's right. We need to realize that you are the supernatural answer to your neighbor's condition right now. She does. Jesus said this. He said, he said, the harvest is what harvest is not that good. No, he said the harvest is ripe. 5 (57m 29s): But the problem is there's few workers. There's not many workers willing to, to represent the kingdom of God. And so I'm on a mission. We're on a mission to activate people. And so you guys are the first victims this week and to activate us. So let me just tell you a couple more stories here. This one. So I have lots of these special, Steve would tell you I got a boatload of these, but so this happened several years ago. I was, I was in Wisconsin and I was teaching in churches and stuff in Wisconsin. And I was going to have went back to the airport in Milwaukee to go home. 5 (58m 12s): And it was only going to have like a couple of days at home. And then I had a fly out again and so on. So I get to the airport and the fog comes in and they keep announcing the plane is delayed till 12 o'clock the plane is delayed till two. O'clock the plane's delayed to four o'clock. So I started getting the idea that the plane isn't going anywhere. So I went to the counter and I just said, Hey, let's be honest here. We're not flying out of here today. Right? They go, right. I said, well, listen, I know what's going to happen. Everybody's going to be looking for a hotel room, get me a hotel. And so I went and stayed in a hotel and I was mad. I was angry with God. I was kicking the walls literally. 5 (58m 53s): And like, God, I only had a couple of days home. And now I'm stuck here in Milwaukee and I want to go home. And I, this is not fair God. And so, you know, I had my little tantrum and got over it, but so the next day I go to the airport, they start the same thing over again. Well, the flights written, I'm like, oh no. And then they go, okay, the fog is lifting. We're going to fly on like, oh, LA loo. And so I'm just so excited. I'm going to get to go home. And so I go get on the plane and I just go to my seat. I'm like, I'm so happy because I get to go home. And so I'm sitting there and there's nobody sitting next to me. 5 (59m 34s): And I happened to, you know, when you fly a lot, you look down the island, you just observed people coming in. Well, this big old guy comes in, looks like Paul Bunyan. You know, he's got the beard. He's just a huge guy, six foot seven. I don't know what and big and he's drunk. And he's literally banging his way down the aisle, bumping into people and talking really loud. And I'm watching this guy. And I think, man, I feel sorry for whoever that guy sitting next to him. Now you got it already. It was me. So he comes in, he gets on the plane. He sits next to me and I literally looking up at him and he turns around, he goes, I want to talk. 5 (1h 0m 18s): I'm like, oh. So he proceeds to tell me what a mean guy. He is, how he's beats up people. And he's talking about all this stuff. And he, he caught his wife at a bar with was, was there with two other guys. And he's telling me, I knocked one guy out with a cue ball, the other guy through the plate, glass window in the front of the bar. And he says, he's just going on and on about what a mean mad, terrible guy he is. And so I'm sitting there and his name is bill. And as he's going along, I said, well, bill, why are you in here in Milwaukee? And I sure heard a little crack in his voice. And he says, well, I'm my nephew got ahold of me and said, you know, uncle, bill, are you ever going to come and go fishing with me or something like that. 5 (1h 1m 3s): So I heard this little crack crack. And then, so then I'm sitting there. And then I think, I think I got to confront this guy. And so I turned to bill and I put my finger right in his chest. And I'm thinking I'm not ever going to see this finger again. I said, I said, bill, you need Jesus. And to my shock, I'm getting ready to like get pummeled. He breaks down and starts balling. And he said, you know, there's this guy at work. And he's been talking to me about Jesus. And, and he gave me a Bible and I've been reading this Bible and all that stuff. 5 (1h 1m 47s): And right there on that plane bill gets born again, received Jesus as his savior. And he, we get to the airport and Kansas city is where we're going to, we get there. He grabs me because my mom's coming here. He's razzing KV, mom, mom, look at this preacher guy, man. He just blessed me to Jesus. You know, he's all changes. He's got, she's shiny. And he's doing all this stuff. Now. Here's the significant thing about that. God changed the weather. God changed my schedule because of one person that he wanted to bring into the kingdom of God. 5 (1h 2m 27s): It was. Then I began to understand, whoa, this is a bigger deal than we ever thought about. God will move mountains for one person, but we've got to be on the move. We've gotta be what Isaiah one 19 says, willing and obedient so we can eat the good of the land now. So again, I have lots of these stories, but let me move forward. And I'll just tell you a current story I shared in the first service. So Pam and I, we lived in Nepal for the whole time. We've been here since 2006 and then three years ago, we bought a town home in Santa Maria and we moved to Santa Maria. All my Navajo people said, no, you don't want to go to Santa Maria. 5 (1h 3m 8s): It's a terrible place. You don't want to go there. And, but we've kept feeling God want us to go there. And by the way, eventually our church, we were pastoring moved to Santa Maria is now within a mile of where we live. And just so God set it all up. So anyhow, so we moved to this condo and then a little while after we're there, this young couple moves in next door with the adjoining wall on the other side of our are not Nakano, but townhome. And so, okay, great. This is exciting. We got this young couple moving in. The only, only issue was that they really liked music. I mean, they really liked music. 5 (1h 3m 48s): They liked for everybody in the whole block to like their music and we've got the adjoining wall and especially their base. And so I would be trying to take a nap, but the bed is vibrating from the base. You know what you call it, waves coming through the wall and everything. And then I thought, oh man, I'm going to have to say something. So having met him yet. So I go over, knock on the door, the young husband comes into the door and I said, Hey, welcome to the neighborhood. But I I'm not enjoying your music. Might as quite as much as you, I didn't say it that way. But I just said, would you mind turning the music down, which they did? 5 (1h 4m 28s): And they have was great. Especially when I had my gun strapped to my side of us. I knew that they would comply. I'm just kidding. So some time goes by and then I pull, our drivers are right next to each other. So I pull in one day and there's an older man standing in the driveway at which I later find out is the, is the young man's father. And he's got a brace on his knee. And so I get out of the car, I see him. And I go, I just yell across the driveways. Hey, what happened to your knee? He said, oh, I've blown my knee next week. I'm going in. And I'm having an operation on my knee. 5 (1h 5m 8s): And I said, well, how about if I just come and pray for you right now? And he's like, sure. So I go over into his driveway. I kneeled in front of the guy and I grabbed his knee and I just began to speak healing into his knee. Don't see anything dramatic happen. And that was it. So then I went on into my house and so a couple of weeks later, I see him, he's there in the driveway. Again, it doesn't have the brace on. I said, well, what, tell me, how's your knee doing? He says, oh, I went to get the surgery. And they said, you don't need any surgery. And he's fine. I'm like, cool, thank you, Jesus. 5 (1h 5m 50s): And so then period of time goes by. And now we're in 2020 during the beginning of the COVID situation, I was around November, something like that. I get a knock on my door. I go to the door and it's the, it's the son. And he's standing there and he goes, Hey, can I borrow an egg? I'm like, sure. I'll give you two. And so I go in and get a couple eggs and, and so I go out, I give them the eggs and he goes, well, he says really what it is. I need you to pray for me. He said, I've been in bed for over a month in depression. Cause I lost my job and all this and I don't know what to do. 5 (1h 6m 32s): And so I just put my arm around him and said, Hey, just like a dad would, you're going to be okay. This is no big deal. Yeah. We have things that happened, but you're going to be all right. And all that. He looks at me. He says, you don't tear in his eyes. He goes, you don't understand. God made me come over here for you to pray for me. And so no problem. I said, I got faith for jobs. And so I just laid hands on him. And I prayed that God would give him a great job and blah, blah, blah, blah. I didn't see him again for like three weeks. So three weeks later I see him and he, and he goes, I go, Hey, how you doing? Oh, he says, I'm so sorry. 5 (1h 7m 12s): I didn't tell you. He said the very next day I got offered three major jobs that I didn't even apply for. And I took them. I'm doing great. They even started paying me ahead to take care of us for this job. I'm like, cool. Then we'd come up to again, 2020. And we come up to December and here it is right at Christmas time again, another knock on the door. Here's the dad and the son standing at the door with a big gift basket and they go, Hey, we just, we just wanted to come over and give you this. We don't do this for anybody else, but we love you. 5 (1h 7m 53s): Now. They're coming to our church. Come on. And so you know, this, those are just a couple of examples and there's, and you, you gotta understand you're the miracle that then is waiting to happen for the people that around you. It doesn't have to be as dramatic as what I'm talking about. I threw some fairly dramatic ones out there. It could be a text. It could be I'm praying for you. Or it could be give them a little money. You're standing at the gas pump. Hey, can I buy your gas and all kinds of ways. But the key is one act of obedience. 5 (1h 8m 37s): You just obey. Now you say, well, as soon as God talks to me, I'll all day. Well, he doesn't have to talk to you. You can just be moved with compassion. I was in, I walked my neighborhood and pray over everybody there. And the other day I'm walking on and there's a lady in her garage and I noticed that she has a brace on her knee. So I thought, well, I don't want to like yell at, I'll take another lap around and I'll come back around. She's still there. I'll come back around. And she's still standing there and I go, Hey, killed this lady in her garage. Hey, what's wrong with your leg? She goes, I have cancer knowing that this has been the worst year of my life. This year, my parents died. My son died. 5 (1h 9m 17s): And they told me I had cancer. I said, well, can I pray for you? She said, yeah. So I laid hands on her. The next week. She went to LA for special clinic to get some tests done on her cancer and all that. So I didn't see her for a couple a week or so. And I see her and I said, Hey, how are you doing? She said, they tell me I don't have any cancer. So God's just looking for us. You don't have to have, I didn't have God speak to me. You ought to talk to that lady. I was just moved by compassion, seeing her situation, by the way, that's how God talks to us. Many times. He just moves our heart with compassion. So I want to end with this. I want to give you some simple steps that will help you to begin to activate one act of obedience through your life. 5 (1h 10m 2s): Here. They are there on the screen. Number one, acknowledge that it is our responsibility to demonstrate the kingdom of God. You don't have to be an evangelist. If you're a Christian and by a Christian, I mean, you have God living in you. It's your responsibility. It's my responsibility to demonstrate the kingdom of God. Number two, ask the Lord to fill you with love. For the lost gave you a heart for the loss. Number three, stay filled with the holy spirit. Ephesians chapter five says we are to be being filled with the spirit, speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our heart for the Lord. 5 (1h 10m 43s): So it isn't just a one-time lay. I got baptized in the holy spirit or filled the holy spirit back in 1972. Now I need the holy spirit every day. I need to get filled. Why? Cause we all leak, right? We got to get refilled because it's really the holy spirit working through you. That's what's happening. Number four, present your body. This is Romans 12 one. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your body, right? Present your body, a living and holy sacrifice. God's not looking for dead people. He's looking for live people. One of my chapters, as I mentioned in the first service is the title is God wants your bod. 5 (1h 11m 26s): God wants your bod. Well, I gave him my money on Sunday. I gave him like, you know, an hour and 15 minutes on Sunday. I mean, c'mon no, he wants your body on Monday and on Tuesday on Wednesday and Thursday. And so on. God wants your body ever five walk around with the eyes of your heart open. We've got to break out of this. My world, my bubble, all I see is what's happening with me and we need to lift up. Jesus said, lift up your eyes and see the harvest is ripe, right? To told his disciples that twice, lift up your eyes and see the harvest is ripe. So we just need to walk through life with our eyes open and look around us. 5 (1h 12m 8s): There's plenty of need out there right now. Let me just tell you the harvest is super ripe right now. People are desperate for someone that will just look at him and say, you know what? You're going to be okay. I believe in you. I believe God's going to do something great in your life and you don't have to just go in there and blast them with the gospel necessarily. You're going to get to that, but you're you just want to approach them and say, how are you doing? Tell me your story. What's going on in your life. And then listen for the need and say, can I just pray for you right now? Number 6, 5, 6, be willing to take faith risks. So somebody said one time, how do you spell faith? 5 (1h 12m 50s): It's spelled R I S K. Faith is a risk. And you, you and I, if we're going to see God got by the way God works through moving objects, not through objects that are like, I'm immovable. I'm just going to heal. If God wants me, I'll be watching TV. He can get ahold of me. Now. He works through moving objects as we're w when we see the opportunity or there's a line in front of us. And on this side of the line, we're afraid, or I don't know what to say here, or I don't want to do it, or I don't want to take the time, or I don't feel like it right now, Lord. But if we'll step across the line, his grace will come upon us and his power will become off on us. 5 (1h 13m 32s): And we'll become a different kind of person. We'll be, we'll have a boldness we didn't know before. So let's all stand. I want to just end with this. I want to pray over us. I hope this message was convicting. If it isn't, then I'm in the right church. Come on. Then we need to get this message out to everybody else that needs to hear this message, right? That's all. I want to pray for us and pray for myself. You know, I just want to, you know, the Bible says we're to redeem the time for the days are evil. What is redeem timing? It means bringing natural time into time. 5 (1h 14m 13s): It breeds to bring natural time into kingdom time. It means it means to buy the word actually means to buy time, to buy back time. And so, I don't know how many years you have. I dunno how many years I have left, but I want to make sure I'm using the, doing the best use of the time while I have on this planet are y'all with me. How many of you say I'm in for that? Listen, if you're over 60 or 70, you're like, I'd better be into that. So father, I'm going to pray for you. If you want to receive prayer, just lift your hands to the Lord right now, father, I thank you for the precious people of harvest church, saints, people that know you and want to make you known God. 5 (1h 14m 58s): I pray for just your word says when we come together in Hebrews chapter 10, where to stimulate one another, stir up one another into love and good deeds. God, I pray for a whole new level of divine appointments. I pray for a whole new level of acts of obedience to be released upon the people of harvest church. I pray for a grace. I pray for a power of the holy spirit to come upon them. And they're going to have a new level of boldness and confidence, and they're going to be miracle workers. Lord, I decree that over them in the name of Jesus. If you receive that, say, amen, let's say you a shout. Amen. 0 (1h 15m 42s): And then what guys as we finish up this morning. Yeah, I left my phone over there and there was a thing I was going to have on my phone. There was deep and moving. I can't remember it now, but we did this, this, this, some we're going to finish with this morning is called fresh wind. And it was, you know, several relatable to what Fred was saying earlier. But the way that, you know, the worship pastors who wrote it when they were saying is they really feel like there is a time right now, I'm just in a world in our country that we're just dying, where we're calling out for this, this loyalty of the holy spirit in this new kind of wave of his presence, just to fall upon us. That's what this song is about. It's, you know, asking and it's declaring like, Lord, give us a fresh wind. 0 (1h 16m 23s): Give us a new, exciting opportunity to, to just to worship you. It's honor to have you in our, in our midst. So just think of that. As we, as we sing this out, as we worship to, to close up on 3 (1h 16m 55s): , As we repent and turn from sin revival And see 0 (1h 21m 37s): Father. That is our, not our prayer this morning that you would just pour your spirit out. Father, Lord, be with us as we, as we leave this place and go back into this as well, father, that would lead change. Lord, just knowing that we have just encountered the true and living, God has placed this morning. Lord Jesus, that we would go out into this are an unbelieving world largest as believers seeking to just enter your kingdom in this place. But the, you would just blow through this nation Lord low through this state, through this town father, the people who were once far from the Lord, which are close to you. 0 (1h 22m 18s): Jesus, we thank you. Thank you that you are a God of miracles. You are a God who wants to fill us father and Lord see your work and your kingdom. Come in this place. Jesus, on how fast you seek to further your kingdom. We thank you, Lord. Thank you for this time. Let me thank you just for, for a touch of heaven. They were able to experience this load. We just, we lift these things off and we give you thanks father, and your precious, precious name. Amen.

Living by Faith Between the Shadow and the Cloud

0 (0s): And I'm so excited to worship with you all this morning. I'm in Psalm 104, the where it says I were to enter his gates with Thanksgiving and enter his courts with praise. So I want to take a moment and let's just, let's just thank God for what he's doing in our, in our, in our lives. Whether it's big or small, just 2 (4m 49s): and call. They fall to our lives. All the, all the things we did at first, you're clearing out your cleaning out We are your people. 2 (5m 27s): You see all the nation call to pray. 2 (6m 52s): 1 (7m 9s): Your 2 (7m 9s): Hearts. Oh Lord. Our shepherd. You to all things. 2 (8m 51s): We come in. We're not, oh God, we need your service. come in. Not walking. God, we need me servant. God, we need reserves. 2 (11m 18s): So we re surrender your car. We're coming or not. We're running that. We need research. We research. 1 (12m 1s): I see. 2 (12m 3s): When I lock eyes with 1 (12m 5s): You, I feel you. 2 (12m 10s): I love to get 1 (12m 14s): Your, 2 (12m 15s): My obsession when I log. 1 (12m 28s): I see . 2 (13m 56s): I see 1 (13m 57s): I don't care. 1 (15m 22s): I don't care what it does. 1 (15m 26s): is you just, you just, 0 (17m 14s): Yes, Lord. Let that be our prayer and our worship this morning. We just love you, Lord. We want more of you and always sees all we need is your all we need to in this life, you you're you're you provide every extra thing that we ever could need in Florida. Your provider, your, You are a salvation. You are a God. We worship you. Jesus. 1 (17m 59s): Thank you, Lord Jesus in Jesus name. Amen. 3 (18m 9s): All right. Good morning. Harvest church. I am. My name is Jeremy. I'm normally the announcement guy, but this week I get to bring the word, be the, bring the word guy I got promoted. Hey, I could definitely use your prayer, huge prayer requests. Next weekend. I'll be trapped on a bus with 39 youth headed up to the mountains. Now the youth group is next week is headed. Next weekend is headed to Heartland Christian camp, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or rented a 48 passenger bus. We got 39 students going six liters, be praying for us that the goddess just, just reaches those students. 3 (18m 55s): During that time up there, it's a really neat testimony is one of the junior high boys that's going. His dad went to Heartland Christian camp when he was in junior high and gave his Lord to give his life to Lord at that camp. So it's going to be a special time. We're really looking forward to it. Been planning for months. So it's, it's, it's really neat to see the fruit of that coming out. We're going to be in Hebrews chapter 11 this morning. Steve's let me pick up right where he left off. I feel like the bases are loaded in a, in a sense. Everybody knows chapter 11, the hall of faith. So I'm going to bring, do my best to bring the word this morning, but let me geek out with you on a few things. 3 (19m 37s): I I'm a nerd. Okay. I used to be more of a math and science nerd, but lately it's been more literature nerd. I love these chapters. I love the word of God. I've grown in my just love of English, literature, poetry. And so let me just geek out first for a second with you. The word Smith there's wordsmithing that goes on in Hebrews is phenomenal. We know that it's God breathed. It's inspired by the holy spirit. God does use these authors to write this, but if you go back, think back really quickly to Jen, sorry. See Hebrews chapter 10. It starts out this way. Verse one for the law, having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things that the law, the old Testament was a shadow of things to come. 3 (20m 30s): And so I think we read through that so quickly. We just think, oh yeah. Shadow. Okay. Yeah. Think about it for a second. You're out on a sunny day. Not now because it's cloudy, but John was saying, Hey, and you look down and you don't see a shadow either it's noon and the shot, the sun is directly overhead or something's wrong, right. That shadowed. But that shadows are always following us around. And yet there, they don't have an actual substance. It's an outline of our, our bodies that are laid out depending on whatever the sun is. But you can deduce a few things from a shadow. If you, if you went outside and just walk up strangely behind somebody and look at their shadow, but don't actually look at who it is. 3 (21m 13s): You might be able to figure it out by their shadow, who it is. Especially if you know a few people around here, you might be able to do this, but it doesn't give their exact skin eye, hair color. There's no, all the details are lost. One of my classes at UCFB was a class on photo interpretation. And that's where they, these, these airplanes from above would take pictures over the ground. And then often there were times farmers use them within their fields of, for looking at crops and stuff. But also we got to look at some unclassified photos of area 51, and it was really cool. Cause we had like over the decades, we got to see like area 51 from the fifties and the sixties and the seventies. 3 (21m 59s): And you get to analyze like what's changed over time. So you get to see the runways that were lengthened. Like why, why an extra 5,000 feet on that Renu? Why do you need, you know, that's interesting or you get to see where buildings are are, are, are either buildings were built or whether they're added onto the, in their elevation and what you could. The beginning of the details that emerge from those photo interpretations was if you knew what time and what date that photo was taken. And he knew the elevation of that airplane that took that photo, you could find out actually a lot of details depending on the angle of the sun, as myth from the date and time you could say, well, the sun was at this angle that way, this shadow from the building cast a 60 foot long shadow. 3 (22m 47s): And at that angle, well that means that building is six, six stories tall. And so then all of a sudden these do, you can pull out little details, which help when you're looking at your enemies and trying to figure out, well, what do you, why, why do you have a missile? That's nine. You know, all these different things. You can pull out some details, but you'll never looking at area 51. You'll never know what's inside those buildings. You can figure out the height. Then you can figure out a few things, but you'll never, the details are lost. And the same with the shadow, the shadow of the things to come in the law, the outline is there, but there's the details were somehow lost. They were, they were just darkened. Compare that contrast chapter 10, with chapter 12, the next chapter we'll be looking at chapter 12, starts out with this. 3 (23m 34s): Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. So when from a shadows to now clouds, I love that the word play that's going on. The clouds are interesting because clouds can cast a shadow, but clouds can also block the shadows from happening and in a sense clouds or something, that's kind of a theorial there. They're real, but they're not. They're kind of they're there, but they're not. And this is, this is from this morning, driving into work. I live in Santa Maria. I was crossing the Santa Maria bridge, a, a car going about 90 miles an hour with Arizona license plate flew by me. 3 (24m 16s): And right after the bridge, there was this big fog bank. I don't know if any of you experienced that. There's this big fog bank and this, this, this Arizona licensed plated car, all of a sudden you can just see him hitting the brakes. He didn't know what to make of this fog. And he put on his flashers, like he needed to do that. I guess Arizona drivers don't know what Tulley fog is. You know, for those of you who've ever driven the central California as because there's, this fog was so thick and it was about, I had a, maybe a hundred yard visibility. It was a, it was a thick cloud. Or maybe it's like this when you're flying in one of those small passenger airplanes, you know, like the Cessna, you know, those little four-seater airplanes had a chance a year, a few years ago to go with a pilot and we're flying. 3 (24m 59s): And on our course was going to take us right through a cloud. And as you're approaching the cloud, you want to, I wanted to like, Ooh, you know, like we're going to, we're going to hit the cloud. We're going to have to go. And then all of a sudden the cloud, we just pass right through the cloud. It's there, but it's not. It's the strangest thing. So that is the cloud of witnesses that are cheering us on. They're in a sense, they're there, but they're, they're not, you know, so between the shadow of the things that come and the cloud of witnesses, we find ourselves in the hall of face, this chapter 11, living by faith between the shadow and the cloud chapter 10 ends with how to live by faith. 3 (25m 39s): And that's going to give us a number of examples of how patriarchs and how people from the past are ancient heroes. Show us how to do that, how to live by faith. Let's pray this morning, heavenly father, we thank you Lord, for your word of God. That's open on our laps. Lord. It's living, it's acting active. It's sharper than any two-edged sword Lord. So will you cut to the joints? And the marrow is a division that only you can do through your scriptures. Lord illuminate your word of God to us this morning in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. There's a number of different chapter titles that have been given to chapter 11. 3 (26m 23s): I I'll refer to it as the hall of faith, as in like, you know, baseball hall of fame, the legends of the sports, those, those people are kind of like solidified in there. You know, he got babe Ruth, Pete rose was, but then he wasn't right. And all that drama, but the different titles titles that have come out of this chapter, I like, it's just interesting to follow. So the new king James version says titles. This chapter by faith. We understand by faith, we understand the NIV says just simply by faith, newly living translation says faith and action. I kind of liked that this is how they showed their lived out by living in action by faith and action, the way mouth and older translation. 3 (27m 5s): He's he called it faith and his ancient heroes kind of like that one faith in his engine heroes. Cause I like picture books. Anybody else? Like picture books, love, picture books, even reading to my daughters, the picture books. It's fun as especially the beautifully illustrated ones. There's this fun to follow along. But recently as my girls have been good, getting older, we've kind of trans, you know, we're, we're still reading some picture books, but we're starting to get into some novels. So I've been recently reading the Chronicles of Narnia with my daughters. And I think we're on book four or five and it's so fun. And so my girls will be up in their beds and they're kind of playing with their dolls and doing different stuff while I'm reading out loud to them every once in a while, you as you're, as you're opening through the book or you're reading through the book, there's a little black and white sketch. 3 (27m 53s): And my girls are always like dad. If, if there's a picture, we want to see it like stop. Like just, you have to stop reading. We have to take this and show us the page because they want to know if what they're hearing is is, is, is what the art, the artist or the writer was portraying. They want to see that it aligns up. And that's why I love the old Testament. And that's why the Hebrews that he author is pointing back to the old Testament patriarchs because the old Testament is a picture book of new Testament truths. The old Testament is a picture book. It's, it's how it's lived out of new Testament truths. It makes tangible, it makes faith a tangible thing. 3 (28m 34s): It shows us encouraged us of examples, of those who have gone before us and encouraged us to live in that way. Now faith is verse one. What faith is now, faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. This chapter starts out with almost a working definition of what faith is. It's the substance of things. Hope for the evidence of things not seen. And another definition of faith would be what can be believed in a state of certainty with regard to belief. And this definition that the book of Hebrews gives is, is twofold. 3 (29m 16s): In relation to one, in relation to the future, faith is the substance of things hope for, so the things that are yet to come and in relation to that right now, the invisible it's the evidence of things not seen. That is what faith is and that word substance. It's an interesting word. It's almost like substance is something that you're able to tangibly grasp a hold and different translators translated that Greek word. That's only used five times. The new Testament is called Hoopa. Stacy's it's only translated five times. It's only in the new Testament five times and it's translated a little differently. Sometimes it's translated to assurance or confidence or reality and the biblical usage. 3 (29m 59s): It has this, this picture of a steadfastness from resolute much like the, like the foundation of a home. That's, that's how this substance is used. The substance of our faith. It's this foundation. So over the years, I've, I've loved doing construction. Most of my jobs have been remodeling. So kind of fixing what's already there. But my dream is to someday build my own home. And you start out with a blueprint. You, you design your home on a blueprint and then you take that page and then you, then you have the concrete foundation poured and is from that foundation that then you can walk on. 3 (30m 39s): You can stand on that foundation, begin to see all my walls are going to go here. The window's going to open up to that viewpoint. Okay? This is, this is where the different things are we, and it becomes really it's this it's the substance that's there. It's the foundation it's underlying of all the building that's going to take place next. And that's what that word substance speaks to is tangible. It's the reality. And it's the reality of things yet. Hope for you walk onto that foundation. You begin to see the things that you're hoping for, that this house to turn out this way, you can begin to see it in your mind's eye. Second Corinthians says that this is how we are to walk. We walk by faith, not by sight, walk by faith, not by sight. 3 (31m 23s): And then first Corinthians 13 says this now and now abide faith, hope, and love. And these three, but the greatest of these three is love. Why is love the greatest of faith and hope? 'cause when you're standing on that finished house, inside the finished house, as dry walled and furnished, you don't have to have faith that this is how, how the house is going to turn out. You don't have to have hope that it's going to turn out this way. You are standing within a Fe finished house on the foundation that you placed because it's it's there. You just do. You love your house. Now you don't have to have faith or hope in these things. 3 (32m 3s): And that is the foundation of we're called in our Christian life. Someday, when we meet Jesus face to face, we won't have to say, well, I hope I get to see Jesus. No, we will see him face to face. We won't have to say, well, I have faith that this is going to happen. No, we will be in the presence of God. That's why those faith and hope are just going to pass away and there's going to be love. They won't be needed. So it's the substance of things. Hope for, and as the evidence of things not seen, it speaks to future award. It speaks to a furnished proof. It's it's a police officer takes evidence, takes substance from a crime scene stores away. 3 (32m 46s): And then at the court trial later, when bringing it to court, he would produce that evidence. But you don't take an empty bag of evidence and say, well, this is my evidence. Now you have to have firm evidence. You have to have some kind of substance. And that's our faith, our substances, the things hope for the evidence of things, not seen the way Mount translation translates this verse this way. He says now faith is a confident assurance of that, for which we hope a conviction of the reality of things we do not see. Do you have that conviction for the things we do not see this morning? Verse two says for by it, the elders obtained a good testimony and those elders that is speaking of our, that chapter 12, those in the Coliseum that are surrounding us and saying, go go, you can do this. 3 (33m 36s): We were able to do this by God's grace. You can do it. Go in there. They're encouraging us on by faith. They have a testimony. Now they're here to cheer us on verse three gives us now, but what faith does, what does faith do? Faith verse three says by faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. So the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. So heavy verse faith understands is what faith starts with. Faith understands. Fifth understands that the worlds that all that we can see was framed by the world. 3 (34m 16s): God, that God created that. And if you've ever read the haul of this, this chapter and been like, man, I wonder if my story could fit in there or do I have the faith to be in Hebrews chapter 11? Guess what you do? Do you notice who that, that first, where it starts off the list, what faith does it says by faith, we understand who is that as us. If you believe that this whole universe, the ages that the worlds were made and created by God and for him that puts us right top and central into the hall of faith. I think that's amazing having not even been, been born yet when he rose was written, we, we are included in that list by faith because we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God, you and I, and that word worlds speaks of the Greek word, a on its universe, it's its ages. 3 (35m 16s): It's all that we can see. And it was all created in Quip. It goes back to Genesis one when God created the heavens and the earth, we are included in that list. And what I love about the Bible is it's not, it's not a science book, but when it speaks about science, it's a hundred percent accurate. No matter what the current thought is at the time of this was written. The understanding of what all matter was made of was very different and the different theories. And, and in fact, 500 years before the book of Hebrews was written, they said everything was one substance. That was their understanding 500 years before that everything was one substance. 3 (35m 59s): And then about 500 years before the book of Hebrews a philosopher came on the scene and he said, well, if you take a rock and you split that rock into, you have two halves, well, let's just take that half and split that in half. And then you have half of the half, and then, then you have that. And then all the way down until you have these small indivisible, polar particles, or little, little things, little tiny things that you can't quite see, but they're there. And that is an Adam. That's what we're made of these, the small indivisible particles. That was the thought. But if you dig into this, we in what we've come to know is that the Adam is not the smallest of things Adam's are made of electrons, protons, neutrons, and then those things are made of corks and matter. 3 (36m 52s): Anti-matter all of these crazy stuff. And yet at the core and Adam, if you, if you were to take an electron cloud of an atom, it has a radius 10,000 times greater than a nucleus nucleus follow me. I know you didn't, you weren't expecting a science lesson, but the electron has electron cloud, which is the electron is like the free floating negative charge. And that's floating around the knee, the nutrient, the nucleus, and the proton neutron to proton. And it has a thousand times greater radius than the nucleus. And that was according to Los Alamos national laboratory. So to make that into a tangible way, if the proton, if the center of the atom was the size of a basketball, the electron would be circling three miles away. 3 (37m 42s): That's a lot of space facts. There's more of nothing than there is actual substance in our world that we see. And we look at is what the Bible was saying. It has been saying all along, there's more of nothing than actual substance Genesis. One says in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And he created that science says 13.7 billion years ago. There was a clump of mass that was so tightly compressed and it exploded. And that's what created all that we see. And it was some say the title, the size of a pinhead is what all that the universe would encompass if all that space was taken out. 3 (38m 24s): So the Bible says that all that we see is made from stuff that we cannot see, new living translation says this first it's translated by. It says, by faith, we understand the entire universe was formed at God's command. And that we now see, sorry, what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. ESV says by faith, we understand the universe was created by the word of God. So that it seen that what is seen is not made of things which are visible. Young's living translation from 1862 says this by faith. We understand the ages to have been prepared by a sane of God, in regard to the things not having the in regard to the things seen, having not come out of things that appeared Websters in 1833 S wrote this. 3 (39m 19s): He said through faith, we understand that the worlds were not framed by the word of God. So the things which are seen were not made of things, which appeared that is us. That is what we believe that God created the heavens and the earth. And if you look up the word Bible and in the Webster's English language from 1828, he was an amazing man. It may surprise you. This is what he wrote about. If you, if you read the entry Bible, this is what he said. He says the Bible, the book by way of eminence, the sacred volume in which are contained the revelations of God, the principles of Christian faith and the rules of practice, it consists of two parts called the old and new testaments. 3 (40m 6s): The Bible should be the standard of language, as well as a faith. That's what no Webster had to say in his dictionary in 1828. And he was also often called the father of American scholarship and education. Webster took 26 years to complete his dictionary in the process of learning 28 languages, including Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. And he knew so much after writing his dictionary, that he wrote his own translation. And five years later, the Webster's Bible in 1833. And he wanted the difficult king James version to be understood by schoolchildren. And it's one of the reasons why he wrote the dictionary in the first place. 3 (40m 47s): He felt inspired by the holy spirit to write the Webster's dictionary so that people could read the Bible and understand it. And he, in his own words, he said, education is useless without the Bible. And I think, man, how far have we come from from that? And now we're going to get into the exciting part. Sh the examples of the faith, not only are we on the list by implication of believing that God created the heavens the earth, but now it's going to give out how some characters in the Bible actually respond to that examples of the faith verse four says by faith, Abel offered to God and more excellent sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained witness, that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. 3 (41m 28s): And through it, through it, he being dead still speaks. So faith offers it's the Firth first encouragement is faith offers. And what did Kane offer Keene offered, but some of the fruit of the ground, and he'd worked for that. He'd worked for that fruit he'd toiled and pluck in the weeds and preparing the soil and all the hard work that went, that goes involved with farming, the sweat off his brow, the blood, and often his hands. You know, he has his, his labor, his work in his hand of his hands. His effort is what he offered to God as a sacrifice. And it wasn't accepted, but evil. 3 (42m 12s): What does evil offer? Well, he offered the first, the best in the bloodied. Why did evil offer sheep that time? Why was able even a keeper of the sheep at that time, man, it wasn't until after the flood that man be candy, eat meat. So why did Abel even keep sheep in the first place? Why did he spend all this time? Keeping sheep? Well, it would have been for covering you go back to Genesis chapter three, verse 21. We find this scripture that says this, you see, God had just laid out the consequences of the fall of man's sin and their choices thereof. 3 (42m 57s): And while they're still in the garden, it says, and also for Adam and his wife, the Lord, God made tunics of skin and clothed them. So they're in the garden before they had to leave the garden to protect them from eating the tree of life. God looks at their condition and they've sinned. They've messed up and they've done what's best. They took of some of the plant around them, the fig leaves. And they covered themselves with that. And fig leaves, if you know, they are scratchy and itchy, I could not imagine having fig leaf clothing, they would break apart. They would tear up, it would just be gone in no time, but that's what they use to try to cover their sin because they knew that they were naked. And so God says, I got something better for you, but God, in the garden of Eden says he made tunics of skin. 3 (43m 45s): I don't think God just called a tunic of skin and Vina. I think in that first temple on the garden of Eden, God took an innocent lamb and he sacrificed that lamb in a sense, and then took of the skin of that lamb and then covered Adam and Eve. So when Kane said, I need to make an offering for sacrifice, this is what God's called me to do. He knew the pattern already that the pattern of the bid set an Abel speaking, not only of the pattern that the covering of sin was, was made, that God had made the covering of skin and clothed them. That, that one days, someday soon he would look forward to the coming lamb of God that would come and sacrifice on his part. 3 (44m 28s): In honor of heart, he was looking forward to something and that still speaks. Abel looked forward to the sacrifice of the lamb of God. And we look back on it that still speaks back to Hebrews 11, verse five. We come to one of my heroes of the faith by faith. Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death. And he was not found because God had taken him. And for before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God, faith, pleases God, that was his testimony that he pleased God. He was just this strange guy that he, he walked with God. 3 (45m 8s): And then he was not for God, took him. He simply continued his walk, his journey with the Lord, forgetting about his contemporaries, keeping his eyes on God, just continue that walk of faith until he was raptured up, he was caught up into heaven. You see, he was a prophet of righteousness. Jude would say he was prophesied to his generation of the judgment. That was to come namely the flood that he would never have to see because he was raptured out of it. He was, he was walking to be above the ways of his fellow man, the culture around. And he chose to walk with God, not with his friends as the how Enoch pleased God by faith for six says the ness is the necessity of faith. 3 (45m 55s): It says by without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is. And that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. If you, if you take that into account, that's really serious. But without faith, it is impossible to please God, how do we please? God, only by faith, not our, at our works, not our attitudes, not the things that we can do towards or for him. It is by faith alone. Ephesians two eight says for by grace, you have been saved through faith and is not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. So not only is it impossible to please God, without faith. It also, we come to God in a certain way. 3 (46m 37s): For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder. And that of those who diligently seek him. So we believe that God is that he rewards and that we, he can be sought out. And as our God, maybe this morning, you want to be, you're building the foundation of your faith. If you're just starting to set that foundation. If you're reading the blueprint of the word of God and you say, I wanna, I want to start building that house of faith. A few resources, just from our church. Our provost wrote a 600 page book. He assembled it called what is your foundation for life? 3 (47m 17s): And in it, he pulls all these different science and mathematics and all these things to point that we have a good trader God and I have that available in my office. If anybody is interested, shin shin, Sharon Dutcher also wrote a book called new beginnings. She, she goes to our church and just on the foundations of faith, that's what you're building. Look, because God can be sought after so many atheists like CS Lewis, Lee Strobel sought to disprove God. They said, I'm going to disprove the Bible. I'm a disproved God. And in fact, they ha they ended up proving God and coming to God, love CS Lewis love his books. 3 (48m 2s): So we have these continued examples. Continue on in verse seven, we have the example of Noah. Noah listened. It says by faith being divinely warned of things, not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an Ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is according to faith, faith, and listens. And he surfers out there. You ever been in on the water and you hear somebody yell outside. It doesn't mean that you're out of doors and you're just enjoying the outside. Outside means there's you are in the set waves currently, but there is a wave that's breaking and it's bigger than any other wave. 3 (48m 49s): And it's coming right at you. So you yell outside. And the thought is to warn everybody else that there's this big wave coming out. And if you don't start paddling out, out in PA, try to get past that wave. Then it's going to take you out. So y'all outside. And that was what Noah was doing to his generation. At that time, no one had ever seen rain. It had never flooded. And so God is listening to God and God warning him a things to come. He moves with godly fear. He yells outside to his contemporaries and begins building an arc. And he began building his arc for not only himself, but his first household. 3 (49m 33s): It cost him. Everything cost him. His reputation. People would have called him silly, dumb. What, what are you? This thing? That's that's coming. Rain sucking, arranged or rained. We have the do that comes other ground at waters. The grass, no, that's not going to fall from the heavens. That would be ridiculous. Building large ships was not known as occupation before that. So it cost him everything. If you think of the timeline and this, this, this, this gives me a little bit of curiosity. But if you think of the timeline, the Bible says in Genesis seven, that the floods came upon the earth. 3 (50m 14s): When Noah was 600 years old, Noah's sons were born to him when he was 500 years old in Genesis five, but Genesis six, verse three, we find this verse. It says, the Lord said, spirit shall not strive with man forever for he is indeed flesh. Yet. His days shall be 120 years now, does that mean the limits of us are only going to be 120 years old? I believe it was God speaking in 120 years because of the condition of mankind. I'm going to bring a flood. So if you do the math that puts the flood at when no one was that puts God warning, making that warning, making that call the prophecy that he was gonna be 480 years old. 3 (50m 57s): That's 20 years before his kids were even born. It was God giving him a prophesied. Noah, your don't have kids yet, but you are going to have kids. You're going to have sons. And if you want to prepare you, if you want to save you and your household, then begin building this arc begin preparing for the future. No heard that. And he moved with godly fear. He didn't wait. He didn't delay. Think we have an amazing example of how faith listens to God and moves. Verse eight says now Abraham obeyed, when he was called to go out of the place from which he would receive as an inheritance. 3 (51m 39s): And he went out not knowing where he was going. Abraham gives us the example of faith, obeys, faith, obeys, faith, obeys, the voice of God. And most likely he had an inheritance inheritance in his own land, in the land of earth, the Kaldi's and it was probably would have been a great inheritance. Early. The Kaldi's was known to be a place of a luxury living. It was a place where there's many temples to different gods. It was, it was a place where a lot was happening. It was a metropolis. It was a place where hot tubs were invented. God says, Abraham, I want you to leave your hot tub. And I'm going to bring you to this special place where you're going to live call to leave that place and go out faith, obeys and faith obeys. 3 (52m 27s): Even during that time, you don't leave a family. Moving was not something that was common in that culture. You would have to move away from your family, your land security, all those were tied up from where you were yet. Faith obeys, hearing the voice of God, not knowing where he was going. But once he was there, verse nine says by faith, he is an Abraham dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise for he waited for the city, which has his foundations, whose builder and maker is God, what example? 3 (53m 11s): Faith lives it out. He had to live it out day to day. He had to live in a tent. The rest of his life, traveling around. I go backpacking from time to time. Living in a tent is not a comfortable thing. He had to leave his, the wealth land of earth. And didn't now live in tense, waiting for that promise that God was going to give him in 1859. The third hottest temperature on record that we have on record was recorded in Santa Barbara, 133 degrees. 3 (53m 51s): You can fact checks me 133 degrees in 1859 in Santa Barbara. according to documents. And at it began to blowing this warm, warm air off the off from, from Arizona. And by the time it was four or five in the afternoon, it was 133 degrees. You can imagine there's a pre air conditioning. So people are trying to get out of this heat. And that was recorded on a schooner ship out in the Harbor, 130 to three trees on the water. So you can only imagine how hot it was on the shores. 3 (54m 32s): And people did everything to try to escape the heat. They, they, they, they tried jumping down their Wells and some people died down there. The, the, the trees were scorched on one side from this hot wind cattle died out, out in the, out in the pastures. It was a ho. It was, it was called the day that hell came to Santa Barbara, 1859. But a lot of people were able to survive because they went into their Adobe homes and those Adobe homes helped buffer the heat. And they were able to survive because they had those thick walls. And that was the same thick walls that Abraham had to leave and earth that he went to now live in a tent. And if you've ever woken up in the morning, out in a tent on the backpacking, you know that the second that sun hits that tent is blazing hot. 3 (55m 20s): So there Abraham and his sons are sitting in the shade of their tent and they're have their fans out in the heat of the day. And they're talking and his son says Abraham or dad, why can't we live in a house like everyone else? Why couldn't we build a house? We have the resources we're rich beyond measure. Why can't we build a solid house? And Abraham would have to remind them, no, these are our promises. God has promised us this, that we have a foundation we're waiting for heaven. There's something greater than building our home here. God is making a city for us, which has this foundation to builder and maker is God. And I look at the way that I try to raise my own girls. 3 (56m 0s): And I think of all the times they said, dad, why can't we watch this movie? Or why can't we go this place? Or why can't we do that? I'd have to say, well, that's because we need to listen, obey God for his plan for our life. Sometimes there's things we can't do. There's sometimes it won't do because we're looking forward to our future home for seven, by faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed. And she bore a child when she was past age, because she judged him. Faithful who had promised faith, receives faith, receives the promises of God. Sarah was 90 years old when she gave birth to Isaac. 3 (56m 42s): And yet she looked not to herself, but she looked to God as the promised her. So she received that, that, that blessing because she received that blessing. She was able to pass on to her husband and ultimately the world, therefore verse 12 from one man, and then him as good as dead were born. As many as the stars of the sky in multitude, in numerable is a sand, which is by the sea soar. He goes on to say in verse 13 and all these, they died in faith, not having received the promise, but having seen them afar off. And they were assured of them, they embrace them and they confess them. How do you embrace a promise where you believe it? You embrace it by faith. 3 (57m 24s): They embraced them in the confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things, declare plainly that they seek a Homeland. And truly, if they had called to mind that country from which they had come, they would have had the opportunity opportunity to return. They're looking forward to this country, the promises that God has, if they had a chance like, like lot's wife to look back and with wishful thoughts to go back to that place. And she turned into a pillar of salt, no, they kept their eyes forward. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they kept their eyes forward. They said, no, there's a better place, verse 16. But now they desire a better. That is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for. He has prepared a city for them. 3 (58m 10s): Very much reminds me of a young missionary man named Jim Elliot, Jim Elliot, when he was 18 or 19 wrote in his journal, a quote. And I, my dad wrote in his Bible and I've since then re written it in mind, but it says this. It says he is no fool. This is from my dad's Bible. He is no fool who gives what? He cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Jim Elliot, as a, as a young man realized that there were things that in this world that he was not going to be able to keep. When you go to heaven, there's no limousine or all your, you whole stuff going with you, right? 3 (58m 51s): He's no fool gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. He looked towards heaven and all that was there waiting for him. And he went to down to south America, to a head hunting tribe and lost his life for the Lord because he said, what I have on this earth is temporary. It's fleeting. But what heaven offers is much far greater. These all died in faith because they desired something better. Do you seek that Homeland? I guess I look my bookshelf and I'm like, man, I, my, my, my balance is so off. I have probably 500 books in my office and only two books are on heaven. And my first thought of heaven and forgive me. 3 (59m 33s): But I think of chubby baby angels floating on clouds. My friends growing up, his mom loved to have these little baby chubby baby angels floating on clouds in her house. And that was what just always stuck. Okay. That's heaven. Okay. Heaven's a eternal worship service and my arms are going to get sore. But yet all these patriarchs of the faith will looked forward to heaven because it was so far greater. What are your thoughts on heaven? I think that will shape how you live now. How real is heaven to you? Is it a tangible thing? Every once in a while, I feel like God gives us those little glimpses. 3 (1h 0m 14s): I, and I can remember randomly being in the garage with my brother as a kid. And we were just tinkering replaying. There was just, we were just having the best time. I'm like, man, I wonder if this is what heaven's going to be like, maybe it's outside hiking or maybe it's in the water. Like what is, is cannot be so good. But why do I only have two books at a 500 on this topic of heaven? All these patriarchs. They, they show us examples by faith. They understood by faith. They offered by faith. 3 (1h 0m 55s): They please God, by faith, they listened by faith. They obeyed by faith. They lived out by faith. They received by faith. We can live as strangers and pilgrims and that's expressed by their, by their will and by our will, by the choices that we make, do we have that heavenly hope? Pray. The Lord, give that to us in Jesus name, let's pray. Or we desire that heavenly hope Lord for a place whose foundations will not crumble for a builder that has been building for thousands of years, this eternal home for us Lord, where this, everything of this world that we seem to know is just going to fade away the sin, the death, that pain, the cancer, the, the hurt caused by others. 3 (1h 1m 51s): All that's going to fade away Lord until we are in the presence of you in your immeasurable love in our resurrected bodies, in a physical place, thorn eating the best of foods or God just give us that hope of heaven that these patriarchs have. Lord Jesus name. We pray. Amen. 1 (1h 2m 24s): Oh, I has gone. Bursey feels this coupon Tuesday walk with there will be a day when all about we saved through job and on that day, we joined the resurrection stand beside the heroes with one invoice 0 (1h 6m 43s): Thank you, God, that you are holy. And we just look forward to that day. When we get to stand face to face with, with Jesus who died and rose again for us, made her made our way so we could be there. So we have that hope, that constant assurance, Lord, thank you for just the truth of your word and the hope that it brings Lord to our lives. Very helpless to walk it out and walk in faith as we leave today. Thank you for all this in Jesus name.