WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.140 --> 00:00:05.620 Thank you so much. Wow. Thank you for all 10 2 00:00:05.620 --> 00:00:09.300 of you that stood. You're good people. Extra blessings for 3 00:00:09.349 --> 00:00:13.220 you in heaven. You may be seated. Man, I'm so, 4 00:00:13.609 --> 00:00:15.810 so glad to be here. I'm honored to be here today. 5 00:00:16.429 --> 00:00:19.710 And we did not make things easy for the children's workers. 6 00:00:19.750 --> 00:00:25.570 I'll tell you that. We started attending New Horizon back 7 00:00:25.589 --> 00:00:28.510 when we were at the community center. And my dad 8 00:00:28.589 --> 00:00:32.149 worked on setup and teardown teams. And so my parents 9 00:00:32.229 --> 00:00:36.899 believed that church was a good place to punish your children. 10 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:41.140 And so when we would misbehave, I ended up on 11 00:00:41.179 --> 00:00:45.320 the setup team. And I'll never forget rolling out that 12 00:00:45.500 --> 00:00:49.700 giant carpet. And I was stacking chairs before it was 13 00:00:49.780 --> 00:00:52.689 cool in Master's Commission when I was 10 years old here, 14 00:00:52.689 --> 00:00:56.740 8 years old here. But anyways, we're family. You may 15 00:00:56.780 --> 00:00:58.439 not know me that well. I might be that weird 16 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:01.829 uncle who shows up for Thanksgiving that was uninvited. But 17 00:01:01.850 --> 00:01:05.489 we're here and we're family. And we're so grateful for you. 18 00:01:05.549 --> 00:01:07.750 Just the opportunity for me to say thank you. For 19 00:01:07.790 --> 00:01:12.590 some of you, maybe just your gift was not even super, 20 00:01:12.750 --> 00:01:14.420 maybe you didn't even put a ton of energy or 21 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:16.540 effort or even thinking into it. But I get to 22 00:01:16.599 --> 00:01:19.780 see the impact of what you do every single day. 23 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:21.859 And I was just with our Congo team last March. 24 00:01:23.049 --> 00:01:25.230 I brought them into Uganda because it's just so hard 25 00:01:25.250 --> 00:01:27.590 to get into that nation. We brought their board in, 26 00:01:27.629 --> 00:01:30.370 brought them in, and spent a few days just training 27 00:01:30.409 --> 00:01:32.299 them to send them out. And just the things that 28 00:01:32.329 --> 00:01:35.859 they've seen and experienced, just to be able to purchase 29 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.439 land and even build a temporary facility. I was talking 30 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:41.859 with Gotina, who is the head there, just last week. 31 00:01:43.099 --> 00:01:45.519 It's amazing what God is doing there and the challenges 32 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:48.670 that our brothers and sisters in Christ face in different 33 00:01:48.709 --> 00:01:52.359 nations today. And the land that you purchased in Nakapiri, 34 00:01:52.409 --> 00:01:55.090 I was just there last month as well, in March. 35 00:01:55.230 --> 00:01:58.650 I actually just got back from Uganda on Wednesday, so 36 00:01:58.689 --> 00:02:01.530 I sort of know where I am right now, time-wise. 37 00:02:02.590 --> 00:02:04.890 But I was there, and we walked the facilities with 38 00:02:05.010 --> 00:02:07.290 his team and with some of our staff, and we 39 00:02:07.349 --> 00:02:09.439 prayed over it. And guys, I just got to tell you, 40 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:12.800 that area is very, very poor. I know you've heard that, 41 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:16.699 but to experience it for yourself, it's mud huts everywhere. 42 00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:20.300 Very little electricity anywhere. Maybe a couple of brick and 43 00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:24.849 mortar buildings. Most everything is just half falling down. There 44 00:02:24.930 --> 00:02:28.750 isn't clean water in the area. And so we are 45 00:02:28.789 --> 00:02:31.629 local church based. Like we believe in the local church. 46 00:02:31.729 --> 00:02:34.469 I believe very strongly in it. I've pastored for 23 years. 47 00:02:34.490 --> 00:02:36.689 I believe the local church is a vehicle that Jesus 48 00:02:36.750 --> 00:02:40.469 chose to spread the gospel to a community. I'm unapologetic 49 00:02:40.590 --> 00:02:43.219 in that. And so we do a lot of things 50 00:02:43.300 --> 00:02:46.520 in communities at World Outreach. We're really involved in five 51 00:02:46.580 --> 00:02:49.439 different things. And one of them is water. And people 52 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:51.819 have asked me before, you know, you're not preaching the gospel. 53 00:02:51.860 --> 00:02:56.330 You're just, that's a humanitarian type project. And my response 54 00:02:56.370 --> 00:02:59.129 to that is, yes, that's true. But a local church 55 00:02:59.189 --> 00:03:01.710 needs more than one tool. And so if you can 56 00:03:01.750 --> 00:03:04.449 go into a community and say, hey, we're putting the 57 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:06.930 flag in the ground here. and we're going to preach 58 00:03:06.969 --> 00:03:09.110 the gospel in this place, and then we're also going 59 00:03:09.129 --> 00:03:11.669 to put clean water in. You just don't understand the 60 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:16.569 impact that that makes. It's massive. Over 300 million people 61 00:03:16.629 --> 00:03:21.770 in sub-Sahara Africa suffer from water insecurity. 300 million. In 62 00:03:21.789 --> 00:03:24.870 the nation of Uganda, 50% of the population is under 63 00:03:24.909 --> 00:03:28.259 the age of 17, and last checked, it's 60 million people. 64 00:03:28.259 --> 00:03:31.599 30 million children in that. And here's why water is 65 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:35.000 so important, because it breaks the cycle of poverty. Because 66 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:37.069 it's not the adults that go and get the water. 67 00:03:37.110 --> 00:03:39.789 It's the kids. They send the kids to go get it. 68 00:03:39.849 --> 00:03:42.169 And so rather than going to school, they're just going 69 00:03:42.210 --> 00:03:45.370 and getting water for their daily needs. To have clean 70 00:03:45.389 --> 00:03:48.250 drinking water in some places in that area because it's 71 00:03:48.289 --> 00:03:51.840 so swampy. You're walking a couple of miles with five-gallon 72 00:03:51.849 --> 00:03:54.840 jerry cans. And it's not uncommon to see little ones 73 00:03:54.900 --> 00:03:57.400 who are four or five years old with the one gallons. 74 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:02.360 It's important. It's valuable. It's meaningful. And so I just 75 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:04.539 wanted to say thank you for that. We appreciate it. 76 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:07.599 Thank you for partnering with us to do what we do, 77 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:09.979 for partnering with your brothers and sisters in Christ. And 78 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:12.060 some of you may never go to that nation or 79 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:14.699 any of the nations that we work in, but because 80 00:04:14.740 --> 00:04:18.819 of your generosity, you're participating in that. And so I 81 00:04:19.180 --> 00:04:21.120 just want to say thank you. Thank you to your pastors. 82 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:24.360 We appreciate your consistency, your faithfulness through the years. I 83 00:04:24.379 --> 00:04:28.060 want to honor you with that. Missions is something you 84 00:04:28.139 --> 00:04:31.300 fight for inside of your local church community because everybody 85 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:34.089 always says, well, we could do something else. It matters. 86 00:04:34.410 --> 00:04:37.069 So thank you for that. I appreciate it. If you could, 87 00:04:37.129 --> 00:04:39.089 could just give your pastors a huge hand clap for 88 00:04:39.449 --> 00:04:43.949 their faithfulness through the years. And then let's pray. And 89 00:04:43.970 --> 00:04:45.930 then let's dive into the word. God, we thank you 90 00:04:45.970 --> 00:04:48.029 for the opportunity that we have to be here today. 91 00:04:48.110 --> 00:04:50.610 Thank you that we just open up our heart to you. 92 00:04:50.649 --> 00:04:52.490 And we ask God that you would speak to us. 93 00:04:52.949 --> 00:04:54.970 We ask that we'd hear your voice clearly. The Holy 94 00:04:55.050 --> 00:04:57.750 Spirit would lead us and guide us into truth. God, 95 00:04:57.769 --> 00:04:59.769 we want to change. We want to be who you've 96 00:04:59.790 --> 00:05:04.500 called us to be. In Jesus' name, everybody stand. Amen. 97 00:05:04.540 --> 00:05:06.220 If you have your Bibles, you can turn to Romans 98 00:05:06.259 --> 00:05:09.860 chapter 12. We're going to read through verses 1 and 2. 99 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:14.769 And last September... The New Horizons team was with us 100 00:05:14.980 --> 00:05:17.839 at a pastor's conference. And so Pastor Dwayne was preaching 101 00:05:17.879 --> 00:05:19.639 to our pastors. And we had, I think it was 102 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:22.220 four or five other senior pastors were there with us. 103 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:26.319 And so there was about 300 pastors, 300 plus pastors 104 00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:30.779 at that conference. And then Pastor Joel took a team 105 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:33.220 from New Horizons and they went way up there. And 106 00:05:33.420 --> 00:05:36.220 that video is not lying. When they said that even 107 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:38.759 in the nation of Uganda, Ugandans don't want to go there. 108 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:42.730 It's the truth. I was just there and I'm like, hey, 109 00:05:42.750 --> 00:05:44.529 I'll pay your way. I'll put you in a hotel. 110 00:05:44.589 --> 00:05:47.939 And they're like, I don't know. It's a nine hour 111 00:05:48.009 --> 00:05:50.379 minimum drive. You leave at three, four o'clock in the 112 00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:53.060 morning just so that you can miss all the traffic. 113 00:05:53.139 --> 00:05:57.480 It's not smooth roads. It's challenging. And so we're preaching 114 00:05:57.579 --> 00:06:00.660 to all of these pastors and leaders and it's thousands 115 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:04.449 of people represented from the senior pastors. And so we 116 00:06:04.509 --> 00:06:07.050 took all the senior pastors out and said, hey, let's 117 00:06:07.089 --> 00:06:09.230 just from the U.S. and said, let's just go to 118 00:06:09.269 --> 00:06:12.060 a restaurant. just to say thank you, thank you for 119 00:06:12.100 --> 00:06:14.180 coming and giving of your time. And so we were 120 00:06:14.220 --> 00:06:16.480 sitting there, and all of us are just talking. There's 121 00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:19.120 probably 10 or 11 of us around this table, ordered 122 00:06:19.170 --> 00:06:23.910 our food, and Pastor Dwayne gets this text from Pastor Joel, 123 00:06:23.970 --> 00:06:26.310 and it's a video. And so as we're sitting in 124 00:06:26.350 --> 00:06:29.490 this nice restaurant eating this food, we get a video 125 00:06:29.550 --> 00:06:32.129 of Pastor Joel and Sandy Sims and some of the team, 126 00:06:32.230 --> 00:06:36.410 and they're literally wearing gumboot waders up to here, and 127 00:06:36.470 --> 00:06:42.519 they're like leveling concrete. And so they're doing real missions work, 128 00:06:43.209 --> 00:06:47.040 leveling concrete. And we did the most spiritual thing possible. 129 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.959 We sent them a picture of our food and said, 130 00:06:50.180 --> 00:06:55.459 God bless you. So, good time. So Romans chapter 12, 131 00:06:55.459 --> 00:06:58.879 verses 1 and 2, it says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, 132 00:06:58.990 --> 00:07:01.250 by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as 133 00:07:01.310 --> 00:07:04.709 a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is 134 00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:07.910 your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, 135 00:07:07.930 --> 00:07:10.610 but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that 136 00:07:10.629 --> 00:07:13.300 by testing you may discern what is the will of God, 137 00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:18.850 what is good, acceptable, and perfect. So the first 11 138 00:07:18.850 --> 00:07:22.149 chapters of Romans, before we get to Romans chapter 12, 139 00:07:22.149 --> 00:07:25.389 Paul is telling the Roman church, which is filled with 140 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:30.160 Gentiles and Jews alike, and he explains the mercies of God. 141 00:07:30.899 --> 00:07:34.970 He's saying to them, He explains justification by faith. He 142 00:07:35.029 --> 00:07:38.980 explains adoption of sonship into the kingdom of God. He 143 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:41.800 works through that we're not saved by works, but by 144 00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:45.180 grace alone. He talks a bit about atonement in Christ, 145 00:07:45.220 --> 00:07:48.779 the blood of Jesus. He explains it's really rich in 146 00:07:48.860 --> 00:07:53.000 doctrine for 11 chapters. And then in chapter 12, he 147 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:57.750 moves away just from doctrine into application. In saying, because 148 00:07:57.790 --> 00:08:01.790 of the mercies of God... chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, 149 00:08:01.790 --> 00:08:05.410 here's the way that you should live. Your reasonable act 150 00:08:05.670 --> 00:08:10.009 of worship, your reasonable act of service as a follower 151 00:08:10.060 --> 00:08:13.279 of Jesus, this is where it begins. And it starts 152 00:08:13.379 --> 00:08:19.160 with being a living sacrifice. Being a living sacrifice. This 153 00:08:19.339 --> 00:08:22.939 idea of a living sacrifice is so strange sounding when 154 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:26.300 you really think about it. Because they understood in that 155 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:30.019 context from the Jews had temple worship. By the time 156 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:33.360 that Jesus showed up, it was very firmly established. There 157 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:35.820 was the shedding of blood for the covering of their 158 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:39.580 sins that happened inside the temple. And then even in 159 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:42.200 the Gentiles had their own temples where the shedding of 160 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:44.850 blood took place on an altar for their own things 161 00:08:45.110 --> 00:08:48.279 that they believed in. And so when Paul says, take 162 00:08:48.299 --> 00:08:52.320 your life and be a living sacrifice, it probably set 163 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:55.230 off all sorts of crazy alarm bells in their head. 164 00:08:55.769 --> 00:09:00.169 Because things got on the altar to die. Things got 165 00:09:00.210 --> 00:09:02.190 on the altar, they died. They didn't get off the 166 00:09:02.289 --> 00:09:06.039 altar alive. So when the sacrifice came in, they put 167 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:08.360 it up there. They didn't just pray over it and 168 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:09.940 send it on its way and say, thank you for 169 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:13.799 your service. No, that thing died on that altar. So 170 00:09:13.899 --> 00:09:16.840 Paul is saying to them that there are things in 171 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:19.440 your life, as a follower of Jesus, you're going to 172 00:09:19.460 --> 00:09:22.100 have to climb up on this altar and you're going 173 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:25.519 to have to be a living sacrifice. That something's going 174 00:09:25.539 --> 00:09:28.350 to die on that altar and that you need to 175 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:32.610 do this every single day of your life. Now this 176 00:09:32.690 --> 00:09:36.049 becomes important because why we live the way that we do, 177 00:09:36.090 --> 00:09:39.250 the motivation behind it is super important. And so I 178 00:09:39.250 --> 00:09:41.049 want to work through a couple things real quick to 179 00:09:41.090 --> 00:09:42.809 help us get to the right place so that when 180 00:09:42.850 --> 00:09:45.309 we work through a process of change or when we 181 00:09:45.470 --> 00:09:48.250 deal with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we come 182 00:09:48.289 --> 00:09:50.720 from the right place that it's not motivated by guilt 183 00:09:50.750 --> 00:09:53.500 and shame. And so the first facet of God that 184 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:57.500 we have to understand is the justice of God. The 185 00:09:57.539 --> 00:10:01.539 justice of God. Justice is is getting what you deserve 186 00:10:02.139 --> 00:10:04.980 right justice is what we desire for others and not 187 00:10:05.019 --> 00:10:08.639 for ourselves right I'm not a seeker of justice for 188 00:10:08.679 --> 00:10:13.570 myself I'm a seeker of mercy for myself but have 189 00:10:13.590 --> 00:10:15.990 you ever been a person who wants to be the 190 00:10:16.029 --> 00:10:20.809 dispenser of justice I have I I'm super guilty of that. 191 00:10:22.049 --> 00:10:24.450 So I grew up in church. I've shared a little 192 00:10:24.490 --> 00:10:26.769 bit about that already, but what you have to understand 193 00:10:26.840 --> 00:10:30.940 is my dad didn't. My dad was a street kid, right? 194 00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:32.740 So my dad was raised in the streets. He was 195 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.779 in and out of juvenile detention since he was 13, 14. Listen, 196 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:38.909 I don't know really anything about it, but he informed 197 00:10:38.990 --> 00:10:40.710 us when we were younger, which I'll tell the story, 198 00:10:40.789 --> 00:10:42.960 is that the rules on the street are different. than 199 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:45.960 just the rules that the church playground, right? And so 200 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:50.220 I'm raised in church. My dad had a different set 201 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:53.019 of values because he came from the streets, and he's 202 00:10:53.100 --> 00:10:55.610 still renewing his mind to the Word of God and 203 00:10:55.669 --> 00:10:57.690 was figuring all that out when I was much younger. 204 00:10:58.110 --> 00:10:59.769 And I have a great dad. I love my parents. 205 00:10:59.789 --> 00:11:03.629 They're amazing human beings, and I'm very blessed. But I 206 00:11:03.690 --> 00:11:05.750 say that just so that you understand the story that 207 00:11:05.769 --> 00:11:08.509 I'm going to tell. You know, when my kids were younger, 208 00:11:08.690 --> 00:11:12.789 my son came running in and he ratted out my daughter, 209 00:11:12.850 --> 00:11:15.379 who's his older sister. And my dad looked at him 210 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:19.860 and was like, hey, snitches get stitches. And I said, dad, 211 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:24.059 he's four. Like he's four. That's a real true story 212 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:27.679 that happened. So anyways, we were younger. We were the 213 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:29.470 way it used to work in those days. Like I 214 00:11:29.490 --> 00:11:32.070 was raised, you know, I was born in 1980. Maybe 215 00:11:32.110 --> 00:11:35.519 I'm dating myself here. and raised in the 80s and 216 00:11:35.539 --> 00:11:38.460 the 90s and things were very different then right you 217 00:11:38.500 --> 00:11:40.679 just things were done a lot different like my youngest 218 00:11:40.700 --> 00:11:43.659 son said to me a couple of weeks ago he's 219 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:45.789 like dad what was it like to be raised in 220 00:11:45.809 --> 00:11:48.549 the 19th century and it's like why are you gonna 221 00:11:48.610 --> 00:11:53.019 say it like that that is so rude um But 222 00:11:53.059 --> 00:11:56.269 in those days, like you'd go into this church, Sunday school, 223 00:11:56.570 --> 00:11:58.549 and this was a small community church that our family 224 00:11:58.570 --> 00:12:02.169 was attending. Not here. This was not a New Horizon, right? 225 00:12:02.830 --> 00:12:05.610 But they would do the flannel graph board thing, right? 226 00:12:06.110 --> 00:12:08.620 And Joseph looked the same as Moses, so you added 227 00:12:08.659 --> 00:12:11.299 the coat of many colors, and now it was Joseph. 228 00:12:11.340 --> 00:12:13.460 You took it off and added a staff that was Moses. 229 00:12:14.250 --> 00:12:17.100 And so after about 15 minutes, they sent us outside. 230 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.000 They're like, that's enough Bible for you. Go outside and 231 00:12:20.059 --> 00:12:22.559 go play out in the playground. So we're running around 232 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:24.639 outside the church, and there was a guest kid who 233 00:12:24.700 --> 00:12:28.519 came into town. And he was a bigger kid. And 234 00:12:28.600 --> 00:12:32.279 so I'm the middle child of three. And so this 235 00:12:32.379 --> 00:12:35.360 kid comes up, and he starts messing with my older brother. Now, 236 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:38.909 once again, raised in church. Well, this guy turns into 237 00:12:38.950 --> 00:12:41.909 a fight because my older brother starts arguing with him. Well, 238 00:12:41.950 --> 00:12:44.860 he thumps my older brother. like beats them up pretty 239 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:48.000 good on the playground. I just, my younger brother and 240 00:12:48.059 --> 00:12:49.659 I didn't know what to do. So we just watched. 241 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:54.039 We're like, that's a bad day for you, bro. It's 242 00:12:54.100 --> 00:13:00.980 too bad. Once again, raised in church, don't understand that world. 243 00:13:01.059 --> 00:13:03.720 It was shocked by it. And so we got home 244 00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:06.360 that day and my dad found out about it. Now 245 00:13:06.679 --> 00:13:09.580 to this day, my, my kids gave my dad a 246 00:13:09.620 --> 00:13:13.269 present that he keeps in his garage that says, snitches 247 00:13:13.309 --> 00:13:18.970 get stitches. Okay, that's my dad. And so we get home, 248 00:13:19.009 --> 00:13:20.809 and he said, did you watch your older brother get 249 00:13:20.850 --> 00:13:24.509 beat up? And we're like, yeah, it was crazy. And 250 00:13:24.549 --> 00:13:27.480 he said, you didn't help? We're like, no, didn't know 251 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:31.559 that was allowed. And so my parents loved the scripture 252 00:13:31.580 --> 00:13:33.879 verse that foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, 253 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.320 and the rod of correction shall drive it far from them. 254 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:40.159 That was the second part they liked way too much. 255 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.419 And so we were disciplined. We were spanked because that happened. 256 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:46.519 And my dad said, never let your brother, because he's 257 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:48.940 from the streets, never let your brother get beat up 258 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:52.139 like that again. So next Sunday comes along. And me 259 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:54.480 and my younger brother, we're like, that ain't happening again. 260 00:13:55.539 --> 00:13:58.649 No chance. I'm not getting spanked again. I don't even 261 00:13:58.690 --> 00:14:01.110 know this kid. This kid shows up to church again. 262 00:14:02.070 --> 00:14:05.110 Starts messing with my older brother. Y'all, we beat the 263 00:14:05.210 --> 00:14:11.230 trash out of that kid. Dispenser of justice. Right? It 264 00:14:11.250 --> 00:14:15.029 was like, oh, yeah. And then my mom was so mad. 265 00:14:15.610 --> 00:14:17.990 My grandpa, who's the founder of the ministry that I 266 00:14:18.029 --> 00:14:21.070 now work for, let my dad have it. We're confused. 267 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:25.419 We're like, we didn't know what to do. And so 268 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:28.340 the point is we have to be careful because our 269 00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:32.809 justice is flawed. Our justice is based off what we know, 270 00:14:32.889 --> 00:14:36.409 what we've experienced, and what we think is right. God's 271 00:14:36.509 --> 00:14:41.070 justice is perfect. And it is a discipline to submit 272 00:14:41.090 --> 00:14:45.649 to let God be the dispenser of justice and not ourselves. 273 00:14:46.470 --> 00:14:49.710 It's a discipline. It is real easy to preach on 274 00:14:49.769 --> 00:14:53.629 Sunday morning, right? It's like, yeah, the Lord is my vindicator. 275 00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:56.529 And then you get on I-5 and you want to 276 00:14:56.549 --> 00:15:01.340 be the vindicator. And we even get spiritual about it. 277 00:15:01.620 --> 00:15:05.149 Somebody messes with you, you get stolen from, lied about, whatever. 278 00:15:05.210 --> 00:15:07.529 You're like, may you reap what you sow. You start 279 00:15:07.629 --> 00:15:11.230 quoting verses at people. You start praying those prayers of 280 00:15:11.269 --> 00:15:14.450 David when he's like, grind my enemies up to dust. 281 00:15:14.990 --> 00:15:18.750 Make them my footstool. Like we get real spiritual when 282 00:15:18.789 --> 00:15:23.100 we're wanting God to dispense justice to other people. And 283 00:15:23.139 --> 00:15:26.019 so it's a discipline to say, all right, God, not 284 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:29.120 my will, but your will be done. And your justice 285 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:33.950 is perfect. And your word says that you are vindicator. 286 00:15:34.470 --> 00:15:37.429 And that's really hard to practice, but it's the life 287 00:15:37.529 --> 00:15:40.769 that God has called us to live. And it's why 288 00:15:41.029 --> 00:15:44.980 being a living sacrifice is a challenge. Because you have 289 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.460 to trust and believe that God knows what's best. That 290 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:52.279 even what you're going through in the moment is uncomfortable. 291 00:15:52.620 --> 00:15:55.799 His word hasn't changed. And the best thing that could 292 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:59.139 happen is that God would be the dispenser of justice. 293 00:15:59.620 --> 00:16:03.059 Because his justice is perfect. And his justice will draw 294 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:07.750 that person back to him. Our flesh doesn't want that. 295 00:16:08.590 --> 00:16:11.450 Our flesh wants revenge. Our flesh wants them to feel 296 00:16:11.509 --> 00:16:14.529 the thing that we feel. The pain that you've caused me, 297 00:16:14.570 --> 00:16:17.929 I want you to experience so that you'll be sorry. 298 00:16:18.570 --> 00:16:22.240 But God doesn't work that way because his justice is perfect. 299 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:25.919 It always brings us to a place of repentance and 300 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:29.159 brings us to a place where we come back to him. 301 00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:33.679 The second facet of God that we have to understand 302 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.309 is the mercy of God. The mercy of God. Mercy 303 00:16:37.549 --> 00:16:41.980 is not getting what we deserve. Justice is when it 304 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:46.220 is getting what we deserve. Mercy is when we get 305 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:49.039 what we is. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. 306 00:16:49.159 --> 00:16:50.990 It's like when you get pulled over and you know 307 00:16:51.029 --> 00:16:54.960 you're guilty is all get out. And you're just praying 308 00:16:55.000 --> 00:17:00.159 and you're so kind to that police officer. Hey, you know, 309 00:17:00.230 --> 00:17:03.210 I was distracted and I'm in a hurry. And they say, 310 00:17:03.230 --> 00:17:05.930 you know, we're going to let you off. You're throwing 311 00:17:05.970 --> 00:17:08.309 yourself on the mercy of the court. You're like, please, 312 00:17:08.589 --> 00:17:11.069 I promise my heart is good. I go to church. 313 00:17:11.390 --> 00:17:13.769 I'm a tither. I'm not one of those other people. 314 00:17:14.049 --> 00:17:17.789 We're pleading for mercy. And so we're grateful when mercy 315 00:17:17.829 --> 00:17:20.069 gets into our life because that's really what we desire 316 00:17:20.170 --> 00:17:24.910 for ourselves. And the third is grace. Grace is getting 317 00:17:25.009 --> 00:17:29.930 something that you don't deserve. You sinned, yet you receive 318 00:17:29.970 --> 00:17:33.930 forgiveness and eternal life. Grace is the greatest gift that 319 00:17:33.970 --> 00:17:37.609 we can ever get. It's God extending to us something 320 00:17:37.630 --> 00:17:40.930 that we can't earn and that we don't deserve. It 321 00:17:41.069 --> 00:17:46.359 means his unmerited or unearned favor. And this is a 322 00:17:46.430 --> 00:17:49.720 beautiful thing. We were on the end of the most 323 00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:53.980 lopsided trade in human history. We said, God, here's my brokenness, 324 00:17:54.099 --> 00:17:57.839 my sin, my shame, my guilt. In exchange, God said, 325 00:17:57.980 --> 00:18:01.180 I'll give you Jesus and eternal salvation, and I will 326 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:05.640 take that sin, that sickness, that disease, that rejection, that brokenness. 327 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:09.240 I will take that from you and give you something 328 00:18:09.579 --> 00:18:13.630 that you can't earn and that you don't deserve. Grace 329 00:18:13.849 --> 00:18:19.019 is the fuel for change in our life. This is 330 00:18:19.079 --> 00:18:22.500 really important because when we talk about being a living 331 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:26.579 sacrifice and not being conformed to the spirit of this world, 332 00:18:26.619 --> 00:18:31.119 but transformed by the renewing of our mind, our intentions 333 00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:36.349 and the fuel for what drives that change becomes really important. 334 00:18:36.910 --> 00:18:41.289 Because if it's based out of behavior modification, we'll constantly 335 00:18:41.329 --> 00:18:44.190 be trying to earn something from God that he's already 336 00:18:44.369 --> 00:18:48.609 freely given to you and I. And so an understanding 337 00:18:48.650 --> 00:18:52.619 of God's grace fuels us to change. And why does 338 00:18:52.630 --> 00:18:55.700 God want us to change? Because when we don't, the 339 00:18:55.799 --> 00:18:58.660 things we refuse to lay on the altar are the 340 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:04.240 things that stop us from living our best life. And 341 00:19:04.259 --> 00:19:07.460 God is consistently trying to free us from the things 342 00:19:07.640 --> 00:19:11.789 that chain us. It's why he asks us to give. 343 00:19:13.470 --> 00:19:16.220 I remember having a conversation. I pastored for 23 years. 344 00:19:16.619 --> 00:19:21.359 Tithing is the least important, or sorry, the least popular 345 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:23.900 part of the message. It's an offering time. They're like, 346 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:26.869 here we go again. And I had a guy confront 347 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:29.930 me one time, and I said, hey, I just got 348 00:19:29.950 --> 00:19:31.890 a question for you. Do you really think God cares 349 00:19:31.930 --> 00:19:36.230 about your paper money? Like seriously, think about it for 350 00:19:36.269 --> 00:19:39.150 a moment. He walks on streets paved in gold. He 351 00:19:39.170 --> 00:19:42.039 has angels literally on both sides singing, holy, holy is 352 00:19:42.059 --> 00:19:44.720 the lamb of God for all eternity. The gates of heaven, 353 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:47.309 it says one of them is carved by a single pearl. 354 00:19:47.890 --> 00:19:51.569 Like precious gems or sandals. scattered into the walls like 355 00:19:51.970 --> 00:19:54.630 heaven is an incredible place and we pull out our 356 00:19:54.670 --> 00:19:57.230 dollar bills or your shillings or whatever it is you're 357 00:19:57.630 --> 00:20:00.470 like hey this is super important and how dare you 358 00:20:00.630 --> 00:20:04.019 ask me for it is it possible that god is 359 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:07.000 asking you for that thing not because he needs it 360 00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:10.420 but because of what it's doing to your life And 361 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:13.690 he will constantly ask us to lay on the altar 362 00:20:13.750 --> 00:20:15.809 and he will show us the things that are holding 363 00:20:15.869 --> 00:20:19.039 us back. And so it's super important that we understand 364 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:22.640 the grace of God, his unmerited favor. Because when we 365 00:20:22.779 --> 00:20:26.839 know God loves us, we know he's not asking us 366 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:31.230 to change because he's frustrated at us. Because he's mad 367 00:20:31.289 --> 00:20:34.069 at me. Because you're viewing him through the eyes of 368 00:20:34.130 --> 00:20:37.109 what your earthly parents did or didn't do for you. 369 00:20:37.710 --> 00:20:42.230 He's a good father. His justice is perfect. His mercy 370 00:20:42.410 --> 00:20:47.819 is perfect. His grace is extended regardless of whether you 371 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.000 can earn it or not. You can't. It's given to 372 00:20:50.059 --> 00:20:53.720 you freely. It is the free gift of salvation. It's 373 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:57.019 the biggest tragedy is when people think to themselves, man, 374 00:20:57.299 --> 00:20:59.059 I got to clean myself up. I'm going to get 375 00:20:59.099 --> 00:21:01.400 my act together and then I'm going to start going 376 00:21:01.500 --> 00:21:03.619 to church and then I'm going to surrender my life 377 00:21:03.660 --> 00:21:07.200 to God. You're missing the entire point. You don't get 378 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:10.160 clean to come to God. You come to God to 379 00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:17.910 get clean. And his grace fuels us for the sanctification 380 00:21:17.990 --> 00:21:21.430 part of Christian living, which is I've given my life 381 00:21:21.490 --> 00:21:28.029 to him. He's accepted me into, adopted me into his beloved. 382 00:21:28.609 --> 00:21:30.970 I'm born again and been made the righteousness of God 383 00:21:31.009 --> 00:21:35.990 in Christ Jesus. I'm transformed. I'm a new creation in Christ. 384 00:21:36.170 --> 00:21:39.450 I'm new. Old things have passed away. All things have 385 00:21:39.490 --> 00:21:43.920 become new. I'm a new creation. I'm a new kind 386 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:47.589 of thing, a new kind of person. But he says 387 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:51.250 you need to work out this salvation thing in your 388 00:21:51.329 --> 00:21:56.009 life because these addictions, these habits, these poor behaviors, this 389 00:21:56.089 --> 00:22:00.089 lack of generosity, this negativity, these things are destroying you 390 00:22:00.230 --> 00:22:03.759 and they're making your life harder. And so you remember 391 00:22:03.900 --> 00:22:06.819 the grace of God because it begins to fuel the change. 392 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:10.420 I've never thought about the grace of God and thought, man, 393 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:13.970 I'll just sin a whole bunch more. It's such a 394 00:22:14.190 --> 00:22:16.910 weird way to view grace. And there are some that 395 00:22:16.950 --> 00:22:20.369 that's how they view it, right? I remember my daughter 396 00:22:20.410 --> 00:22:23.049 when she was much younger, she used to do this 397 00:22:23.109 --> 00:22:25.309 thing and a pastor's kid, right? Like she'd come to 398 00:22:25.349 --> 00:22:28.170 church early and the kids run the church when service, 399 00:22:28.210 --> 00:22:30.789 before service starts. If you don't know this, volunteer kids, 400 00:22:30.849 --> 00:22:33.130 all of it. They're just, they're in charge of everything 401 00:22:33.150 --> 00:22:35.990