1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:06,440 Oh, crossing family, I love you, but more importantly, God loves 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:07,680 you. And I want to welcome all of our 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,120 different locations, those of you watching online and those of 4 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:13,480 you who are part of the Crossing Inside family. 5 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,760 I don't know how many of you watched, but we had over 30 or 6 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:21,000 3000 people watch our election night coverage and choose to 7 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,920 watch and pray during the election. 8 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:28,280 And I had the time of my life. And if you are here for the 9 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,000 first time or the first time in a long time, you might be super 10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,560 excited, don't applaud yet about who's in the White House. 11 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:37,640 And you might be super sad about who is not going to be in the 12 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:39,800 White House and this election frustrated you. 13 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,360 But I want to tell you about the most important election, and 14 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,160 that is the election of whether or not you are going to let 15 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:46,160 Jesus Christ reign over your life. 16 00:00:46,160 --> 00:00:50,280 Our church exists to help people find an intimate personal 17 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:53,520 relationship with Jesus Christ. And we think that it is the best 18 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:54,720 thing that could ever happen to you. 19 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:55,840 And you might be going to Clayton. 20 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,400 You're the pastor. You get paid to say stuff like 21 00:00:58,400 --> 00:00:59,600 that. Well, you don't have to listen 22 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:01,320 to this idiot. You can pay attention to the 23 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,920 idiots in your row. So at all of our locations, help 24 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,280 me out. If deciding to follow Jesus is 25 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:08,640 the greatest decision you ever make. 26 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,200 Can I get a whoop whoop with a hand raise? 27 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,440 And if your biggest regret is you didn't do it sooner, can I 28 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,000 get up? Bomp bomp, You get it. 29 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:19,200 So you don't have to listen to me. 30 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:20,720 Listen to the people in your row. 31 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:26,200 We are in a sermon series called Counterfeit Fruit Establishing 32 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:30,400 an Authentic Walk with Jesus. You see, when you begin an 33 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,000 intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Bible 34 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,440 tells us that you receive the Holy Spirit. 35 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,400 He comes and dwells in your life and the Holy Spirit does a very 36 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,880 special thing. He produces fruit in the life of 37 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:44,680 a believer. What is this fruit you might 38 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,040 ask? Well, Galatians chapter 5 tells 39 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,000 us this is the fruit of the Spirit. 40 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,760 The fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, patience, 41 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,720 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and 42 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,440 self-control. How many of you, when you look 43 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,280 at that list of fruit are going, I could probably use a little 44 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,600 bit more of that in my life. If your spouse did not answer 45 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,919 that question appropriately, answer the question for him. 46 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,520 How many of you, your spouse could use more of that fruit in 47 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:12,320 their life? Yeah. 48 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:14,160 OK. How many of you have a teenager? 49 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,160 Right. So how does the fruit come about 50 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,520 in the life of a believer? Do we get it through a bunch of 51 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,320 hard work? Do we get it through US trying 52 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,000 to do more? Oh no, no, no. 53 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:32,480 It happens when we remain, when we abide in Christ. 54 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,480 The word I use for abide is wrinkly. 55 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,240 Just like when you get in. And I had a guy this week at our 56 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:40,200 church and he's still going to come this week, but I don't know 57 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:42,680 about next week because men shouldn't take baths. 58 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,120 But when you get in a hot bath or in a hot tub and you stay 59 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,000 there for a really, really long time, you get wrinkly. 60 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,440 You cannot make the wrinkles. You just stay in the water long 61 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,160 enough for the wrinkles to show up. 62 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:57,600 The same is true in your walk with Jesus. 63 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,480 When we remain, when we abide, we are getting a wrinkly faith. 64 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:03,560 And how do we abide? How do we get wrinkly? 65 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,000 When we spend time in God's Word, when we spend time in 66 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,800 prayer, when we spend time in biblical community, and when we 67 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,800 are obedient. Knowledge is not the goal, 68 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:19,200 obedience is. John 15 shows us what happens 69 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,080 when we abide in him. I am the true vine, and my 70 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,720 father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me 71 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:32,120 that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he 72 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,720 prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 73 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:38,800 You are already clean because the word I've spoken to you 74 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:42,080 remain in me, as I also remain in you. 75 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:44,600 No branch can bear fruit by itself. 76 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:49,640 It must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit 77 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:54,480 unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the 78 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,080 branches. If you remain in me and I in 79 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:05,520 you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from Me you can do 80 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,480 nothing. 4 things to look at real quick. 81 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:14,160 One, God expects fruit out of your life because He has saved 82 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:15,840 you and His Spirit lives inside of you. 83 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,680 He expects there to be fruit in your life, and when he doesn't 84 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:24,080 find the fruit, you're cut off. Good branches bear good fruit, 85 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,440 and in order for them to keep bearing more good fruit, He 86 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:29,760 prunes them and you might be going. 87 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:31,640 But Clayton, how do I know if I'm being pruned? 88 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,400 You are being pruned when you feel a conviction over sin. 89 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:40,240 You are being pruned when you are find yourself being prodded 90 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:44,360 outside of your comfort zone to do a spirit LED activity that 91 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,200 requires spirit power. And the reason for that is, is 92 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,720 we only grow outside of our comfort zone. 93 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,600 We only produce fruit outside of our comfort zone. 94 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,840 The third thing is remaining and abiding is how we produce the 95 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:01,320 fruit. When we abide in Him, we become 96 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,280 more fruitful. This is not this is not 97 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:11,040 accomplished through human effort and #4 apart from Jesus 98 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:16,360 we can do nothing. Husbands, you will never be the 99 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:18,960 husband you were supposed to be apart from God. 100 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,360 Wives, you will never be the wife that you were created to be 101 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,320 apart from God. Parents, you will never be the 102 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:30,760 parent that God created you to be apart from God. 103 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,160 Apart from God, you can do nothing. 104 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,960 Sometimes though, it can look like we are producing fruit. 105 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:44,560 It can look like we are living by the Spirit when in reality, 106 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:49,320 what is being manufactured in our lives is counterfeit fruit. 107 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:54,360 In week one, we learned that love does not equal no 108 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:59,040 boundaries, that there are clear boundaries in Scripture about 109 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,480 how love behaves and what love does. 110 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:06,640 We also learned that joy does not equal toxic positivity. 111 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,400 In other words, when we feel like because we're in a 112 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,840 relationship with Jesus, we have to have an endless supply of 113 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:15,760 rainbows in our pockets. That is not true authentic 114 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,440 faith. The Bible calls God a God of all 115 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,240 comfort, which means that you and I will experience seasons 116 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:27,400 where we need to be comforted. We want to have an authentic, a 117 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,560 real, a genuine walk with Jesus, not a fake one. 118 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,720 The big take away in week 1 was that in an effort to live the 119 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:40,800 Christian life, you might be wearing yourself out trying to 120 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,720 do something that God never commanded you to do. 121 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,960 And if God never commanded you to do it, then He will not 122 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:54,000 empower you to carry it out. Last week we learned that peace 123 00:06:54,160 --> 00:07:00,760 does not equal staying comfortable and patience does 124 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:06,720 not equal complacency. There is to be a movement in our 125 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,640 walk with Jesus. And if you've been following 126 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,360 Jesus for a long time but you haven't moved, you're not 127 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,960 following Him because God is always on the move trying to 128 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:21,520 bring His lost children home. The big take away is if you are 129 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:26,240 not sensing the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, it 130 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:30,480 might be because you are not doing anything that requires His 131 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:36,760 power. Parents, let me just play with 132 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,440 you for a little bit. If you're yelling and screaming 133 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,880 at your kids, that is not something that the Holy Spirit 134 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,840 empowers you to do. But when you decide to have 135 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,880 patience with your kids, be long-suffering with your kids, 136 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,440 have high standards for your kids, that is a Holy Spirit 137 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,680 empowered moment. And so if you are not doing 138 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,080 anything that requires his power, you might be going. 139 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:01,720 I don't feel him anymore and he's going. 140 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:03,800 Yeah, because you're not doing the thing that requires me. 141 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,040 Enemy love pretty hard. How many of you got an A+ an 142 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,120 enemy love? No, you liar. 143 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,040 That's a lie. OK, Nobody gets an A plus. 144 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,120 How do we do? How do we do enemy love through 145 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,560 the power of the Holy Spirit. Today we're going to look at two 146 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:24,200 more fruits of the Spirit, kindness and goodness, and the 147 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,560 devastating impact of their counterfeits. 148 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:29,880 I've told you guys this before that when I was growing up, my 149 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:33,200 parents were navigating some intense financial hardships. 150 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:38,000 We lived in a vet clinic in three rooms and I bathed in like 151 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,080 the elevated dog bath and I slept on the floor underneath 152 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:46,000 the business desk. And my mom one day in an effort 153 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:51,000 to keep costs low, she went to ALDI and bought fruity loopies 154 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:55,280 or whatever they call them. And I'm First off, let me pause 155 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,400 for a second when I use illustrations about things in my 156 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,760 life, This is you are not obligated to bring me those 157 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,640 things. I got I got Cologne this week. 158 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:05,560 Sometimes people bring me fruity pebbles. 159 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:09,920 Hear me, I'm not I love it. God bless you for it. 160 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:12,960 But I'm wait, I don't need it. So I don't want a bunch of Fruit 161 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:14,720 Loops at my house at the end of this sermon. 162 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:16,720 That's not the take away. There's a better one. 163 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:21,680 So I love Fruit Loops. And my mom went to ALDI, and 164 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:25,960 instead of buying Fruit Loops from Hyvee, she went to ALDI and 165 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:30,480 bought the fruity Loopies. Yeah, I grew up with a really 166 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,200 bad mom. Oh, you're going? 167 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:34,840 No, but wait till you hear what she did. 168 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:37,720 Did my mom sit us down as a family? 169 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:39,760 And, you know, Clayton, things are a little tight right now. 170 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:41,520 We're now a fruity, loopy family. 171 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:43,640 I know we used to be a Fruit Loops family, but now we're 172 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:45,560 fruity, loopy people. No, she didn't. 173 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,040 Did she say, hey, guys, I know you want this stuff. 174 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:49,160 We just can't afford it right now? 175 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:54,640 No, my mom is an evil, conniving person, and she's watching right 176 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,560 now at our Keokuk campus. And you didn't think that when 177 00:09:57,560 --> 00:09:59,720 you did that, that you'd have to experience this? 178 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:05,920 She went to a Fruit Loops box that she had saved, you know. 179 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:11,240 You know, she took the fruity, loopy stuff out of the fruity 180 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,960 loopy box and put the plastic inside the Fruit Loops box and 181 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:19,640 then boxed it back up and just waited for her innocent, 182 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:26,440 wonderful, favorite child to be hungry. 183 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:34,920 And I sat down at the table and I poured myself a bowl of Froot 184 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:40,160 Loops and my mom waited in the distance seeing if I would 185 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:46,920 notice. And I took one bite and I knew 186 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:53,880 that something was way, way off and my mom was hoping that she 187 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:58,560 would slip something by me. The packaging was the same, but 188 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:03,520 the inside was a counterfeit. And that is what can happen very 189 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,560 easily with these two fruits of the Spirit. 190 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,960 We can have all of the right packaging, but not the right 191 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:13,680 ingredients. And the reason we don't have the 192 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:17,760 right ingredients is because we're using the wrong recipe. 193 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:25,160 Let's get into it. Kindness is not people pleasing. 194 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:32,000 If you find yourself being a decent, honorable, reliable 195 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,600 person, people are going to see you as kind. 196 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,000 They have such a kind disposition. 197 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:42,920 However, when you do these activities in an effort to 198 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:51,560 please people, your motives are all wrong and sometimes we are 199 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:56,360 doing things that should be directing people's attention 200 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,760 towards God. But when we are people pleasing, 201 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:04,960 we are self worshipping. And when you are self 202 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,640 worshipping, we are no longer trying to point people to Jesus, 203 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,720 we are pointing them to ourselves. 204 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:14,960 Our kindness is not actual kindness. 205 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:22,280 Our kindness is manipulation. I want people to see how good I 206 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,520 am. I don't want to step into this 207 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,680 conversation because they might perceive me poorly. 208 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:33,040 Me, me, me. Our kindness should direct 209 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,800 everybody's attention to God. We are to live our lives in 210 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:41,160 service to Him. Our goal as Jesus followers is 211 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,520 to please Him. And if you are constantly trying 212 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:51,000 to please people, you will make yourself into an image that you 213 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,360 believe other people want you to be. 214 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,760 And when you try to please God, you will mold yourself into an 215 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,240 image of who God wanted you to be. 216 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:08,760 In other words, when you are a people pleaser, you will never 217 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:14,560 become who God created and commanded you to be. 218 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,160 Paul points this out in Galatians chapter one, verse 10. 219 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:18,600 You don't have to take my words from it. 220 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:20,840 I'm taking it from the Bible. This is what he says. 221 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:24,520 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of 222 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,600 God? Or am I still trying to please 223 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,680 people? Check out this last line. 224 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:39,200 If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant 225 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:43,680 of Christ. Here's what he's saying. 226 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,720 When you become a Christian, you no longer live. 227 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,800 Christ lives in you. That means that you belong to 228 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,800 him, and you and I are to serve him and His mission. 229 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,280 And when you are a people pleaser, you are serving 230 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:04,400 yourself. Being a follower of Jesus will 231 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,520 at times put you at odds with the world and the people in this 232 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,680 world. And what you may be called to do 233 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:20,560 as a Christian may be perceived as unkind by the world, but God 234 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:26,320 is the one who gets to determine what is and is not kind. 235 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:31,600 And more importantly, God gets to be the author of the motives 236 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:37,040 and fuel those motives. Associated deeply with the idea 237 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:42,960 of kindness is the word usefulness, that our kindness is 238 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,200 supposed to have a useful air about it. 239 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:53,040 The way it was presented in the scriptures was a kind house, was 240 00:14:53,080 --> 00:15:02,480 an orderly and well kept house. A kind meal was both healthy and 241 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,520 tasty. It was useful. 242 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,320 A meal that is good for you, that doesn't taste good is not 243 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,800 kind. Can I get an Amen right? 244 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,480 A meal that is tasty but not good for you? 245 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:23,400 Can I get a McDonald's right? A kind yard was a yard that had 246 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:29,480 lush green grass and it was mowed and weed eaten and edged. 247 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:36,480 It was a taken care of property. So when a kind person is a 248 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:41,480 person who is doing something for a useful purpose, the useful 249 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:46,840 purpose of your kindness is to point people to Jesus. 250 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,960 And your kindness is not kindness. 251 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:54,200 If it points people to you, you might be go. 252 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:57,920 If your kindness is in the direction of you, it is not 253 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,640 kindness. Look at the usefulness of 254 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,480 kindness in Romans chapter 2, verse four. 255 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,840 You're going to love this. Or do you show contempt for the 256 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:13,360 riches of his kindness? This is God forbearance and 257 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:19,960 patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to 258 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:24,560 lead you to repentance. Kindness is useful. 259 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,080 It moves people in repentance towards God so they can be 260 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:33,840 forgiven of their sins, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and 261 00:16:33,840 --> 00:16:36,600 eternity in heaven placed in their hearts. 262 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:39,840 It is designed to lead people to repentance. 263 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:44,680 It is not intended to point people to you so they worship at 264 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:48,760 the glory of you. I know this was a tough one. 265 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,400 Let's make it tougher. Let's look at goodness. 266 00:16:53,320 --> 00:16:57,560 Goodness is not self righteousness. 267 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,640 This too is a version of self worship. 268 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:09,319 Self righteousness shows up when we are doing good things for our 269 00:17:09,319 --> 00:17:14,040 own glory, for how people will see you. 270 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:18,480 Oh, there goes Clayton. He's just so good. 271 00:17:19,079 --> 00:17:21,920 You should go to the church where Clayton's at because he's 272 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:26,000 such a good guy. You should see how Clayton picks 273 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,040 up trash when he's walking places. 274 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,200 Oh my goodness. More people should pick up trash 275 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:32,560 the way Clayton picks up trash because Clayton's a trash pick 276 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,000 and fool. Look at Clayton helping that old 277 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:37,440 lady across the street. He's such a good guy. 278 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:39,680 Oh my goodness. He helps all the old ladies 279 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:41,680 across the street. And he saw this lady who was 280 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,920 getting ready to go off a curb at Keynes, and when she was 281 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:45,800 getting ready to go off the curb, he swept right in with his 282 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:51,240 strong right arm. I'll get you to your car, old 283 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,800 lady. He is such a good guy. 284 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,000 And you know what? When we do those things, you 285 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,080 know how it makes us feel all kinds of good inside. 286 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:08,960 I am a good boy. But kindness, kind actions with 287 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:15,400 the wrong motives is all kinds of wrong because it points 288 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:19,400 people to us. And the goal of our lives is 289 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:23,440 never to point people to us. It is to point people to him. 290 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,040 And if you start doing all these good things to be seen by other 291 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,600 people as a good person, self righteousness starts to show up. 292 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:32,920 We start to believe our own press. 293 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:35,840 And because we do these things and other people don't, we start 294 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,920 seeing ourselves as better than other people, right? 295 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,080 And then you start viewing yourself in a pretty unhealthy 296 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:48,680 way. No one can compare to you when 297 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:53,360 you put your highlight reel against their low points in 298 00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:56,040 life. And you start thinking that 299 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:59,480 you're a pretty good person and everybody else isn't. 300 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,560 Isn't that where your marriage problems show up? 301 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,680 You're a pretty good husband. Your wife thinks of being a 302 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,600 wife. You're a fantastic mother. 303 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,880 Your kids are just rotten. You start looking at other 304 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:13,200 people differently because you start thinking that you are 305 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,920 really, really good and everybody else is really, really 306 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,560 bad. But you know who our measuring 307 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:25,520 stick has always supposed to be? Our measuring stick has never 308 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:29,840 been the failings of other people and the Because if I were 309 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,800 to look at myself and compare myself to some of you, I would 310 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,880 look pretty stinking awesome. And if some of you were to 311 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,560 compare yourself to me, you would look fantastic. 312 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,840 But our measuring stick was never supposed to be others. 313 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:47,120 Our measuring stick was supposed to be Jesus. 314 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,360 Now for those of you who are here for the first time or the 315 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:53,640 first time in a long time, you may have heard people talk about 316 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:55,560 hypocrites. Here's what a hypocrite is. 317 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:59,080 A hypocrite is a Fruit Loops box with a fruity loopy center. 318 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,680 And here's here's what happens. Because even if you're a non 319 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,760 Christian you do this too. You look at Christians and you 320 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:14,440 make up your determination about God, and on some level that's a 321 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:17,400 very fair statement to make. I just want you to know you 322 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,200 don't do that in about any other area of your life. 323 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:23,840 Here's what you don't do. You don't go to a gas station 324 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:26,040 and have a bad interaction with another person who's getting gas 325 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:27,600 and go, I'm never getting gas again. 326 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,400 No, I've talked about this before. 327 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,040 When I go to the gas station, I'm at the gas station because 328 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:35,880 I, like everybody else, need gas. 329 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,480 Just because other people eat Fruit Loops and some of the 330 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:40,760 people who eat Fruit Loops are trash. 331 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,840 I haven't sworn off Fruit Loops. I eat Fruit Loops for the same 332 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:45,080 reason that everybody else eats Fruit Loops. 333 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,200 I'm hungry. And if you are looking at other 334 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,160 people and you're evaluating everything about the goodness of 335 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,720 our God, about the behavior of other people, you will never 336 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:55,640 find out that the sort. We were never trying to get you 337 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,200 to worship us. We were trying to get you to 338 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,160 worship the one that we worship. And if you want to use us as 339 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:07,080 your permission slip for how you behave, that's a really bad move 340 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,280 because when you die and you come to the judgment seat, 341 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:12,720 you're coming to the judgment seat no matter what. 342 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:15,320 And I'll tell you what you don't get to do when you're at the 343 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:17,560 judgment seat. You don't get to point your 344 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,920 finger at me or jacked up Joe who lives in your neighborhood. 345 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,880 You have to stand there on either your own righteousness or 346 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:30,200 the righteousness of Christ. Look what it says in Romans 347 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,040 chapter 3. Tough truth for all of us, 348 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,760 Christian and non Christian. There is no one righteous, not 349 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,640 even one. There is no one who understands. 350 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:44,640 There is no one who seeks God, all who have turned away and 351 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:48,440 together become worthless. There is no one who does good, 352 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:53,160 not even one. And there's some of you right 353 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,160 now who you're going. You know what? 354 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,880 My life is pretty stinking good. I mean, when I look at it, it's 355 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:01,480 pretty fantastic. And I would tell you there are 356 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,200 nooks and crannies in your life that are dirtier than you can 357 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,080 possibly imagine. I have a pet peeve. 358 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,320 I like a clean vehicle. It's just kind of how I'm 359 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:15,480 hardwired. And I wish everybody, my family 360 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,920 also liked having a clean car. And here's what I do when I 361 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,520 clean my car, I wipe it down and I get the leather stuff out and 362 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,360 wipe it and vacuum it out. And I buy the expensive floor 363 00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:28,600 mat so that way none of the stuff gets where it's not 364 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:30,360 supposed to go. I try to do a pretty easy job, 365 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:33,960 but when I clean up my car, I'm like, man, my car is pretty 366 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:35,840 clean. And then after I've cleaned out 367 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:39,360 the whole inside, there's this spot in every car that just, Oh 368 00:22:39,360 --> 00:22:45,080 my goodness, it's the sill right where the, the and I'll have a 369 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,560 rag and I'll have cleaned my whole car and that rag looks 370 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,360 pretty stinking good. And if I look at the sill, the 371 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:52,360 sill looks pretty stinking decent. 372 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:55,800 But when I squirt some stuff on there and then I give it a wipe, 373 00:22:55,800 --> 00:23:01,120 that thing becomes unusable. It becomes darker than you could 374 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:04,760 possibly imagine. Even when I wash it, the dirt 375 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:08,640 doesn't come out of it and it forever becomes the rag that you 376 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,120 use to wipe down the sill of all four of the your car doors. 377 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:14,400 And that is what's happening in your life. 378 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,320 Some of you are cleaning out the seats, and you're wiping off the 379 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:18,880 dasher. Maybe you're a person who just, 380 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,720 you know, gets all of the cups out of the floorboard of your 381 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:22,840 car. And you're going, man, my car's 382 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,240 pretty clean. But if you were to wipe in some 383 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,160 of the areas that you have never wiped, you'd find out a rough 384 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,120 truth about how dirty your car actually is. 385 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:32,880 And right now, if you were comparing your goodness to the 386 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,040 goodness of other people, all you're doing is getting all the 387 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,000 Starbucks cups out of your floorboard. 388 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,520 And if you're comparing yourself to some other people around you, 389 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:42,560 you might be wiping down the seats and wiping off the 390 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,160 steering wheel. But when you stand before a holy 391 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,240 and righteous God and nothing, nothing is hidden from His 392 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,920 sight, it will not take long before every part of you that 393 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,600 you think is righteous will become nothing more than a dirty 394 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,800 cleaning rag. And you can wash it as many 395 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,840 times as you want, and it will never become clean. 396 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,680 Because there is nothing that we can do to earn our salvation and 397 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,440 to right our heavenly wrongs, except for turn all of who we 398 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,720 are, the good, the bad and the ugly, over to the One who can 399 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:19,280 make us new. Watch what happens if you and I 400 00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:23,600 spend way too much time trying to please people and too much 401 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:25,520 time trying to prove how good we are. 402 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:32,600 We will miss out on pleasing God, or worse yet, believe that 403 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:40,920 we don't need Him. So how do you and I do good? 404 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,960 How do you and I become kind? Look what it says in Philippians 405 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:53,000 chapter 2, verses 3 and 4. Do nothing out of selfish 406 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:58,960 ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others 407 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:04,800 above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of 408 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:10,720 you to the interests of others. What we end up doing if we want 409 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,640 to live in humility, if we want to be the kind of good and kind 410 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,720 that God requires, what we do is we put the mission of God and 411 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:24,080 other people ahead of ourselves. We are not hear me, please hear 412 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:25,320 me, please hear me, please hear me. 413 00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:30,440 We are not thinking less of ourselves. 414 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:34,360 That is sometimes like that. That is one of the worst 415 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:37,520 Christian attributes, that somehow when we come to faith in 416 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,200 Christ, we have to devalue what Christ has redeemed. 417 00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:43,840 You don't need to think less of like less of yourself. 418 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:50,200 You need to think of yourself less like where you didn't even 419 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:54,240 enter into your brain. You were thinking about God and 420 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,560 his mission. You were thinking about Jesus 421 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,400 and his sacrifice. You were thinking of the needs 422 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,720 of others. You weren't even thinking about 423 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:08,320 you because you no longer live, but Christ lives in you. 424 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:14,680 It is time for people all across this region to experience people 425 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:17,920 who have a godly ambition instead of a selfish one. 426 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:22,600 It's time for them to run into people who are out to please God 427 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,440 instead of trying to please them. 428 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,360 And when you and I do these things, when we step into these 429 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:34,600 areas, God shows up. You see God in his or Jesus in 430 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,560 his goodness. He went into the temple and he 431 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,560 cleansed the temple, kicked everybody out. 432 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:44,200 And Jesus was known for being the perfect nature of goodness. 433 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:49,680 He was also incredibly kind. He stepped into a situation that 434 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,000 was not good and he made it good. 435 00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:56,520 And that is a useful and kind thing to do in his goodness. 436 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:58,640 He would have hard conversations with people. 437 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,840 He would correct people, He would rebuke people. 438 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,120 He would do a good thing in a kind way. 439 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:12,240 If Jesus was trying to people please, he would have not had 440 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,480 hard conversations. He would have not stepped into 441 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,440 difficult moments. He would have gloried in the 442 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,200 fact that all the glory was for him. 443 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,960 And Jesus came to give all the glory to His heavenly Father, 444 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,200 and He did it for the good of the people around him. 445 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:30,680 Tough question. How many of you don't raise your 446 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:31,880 hands? Please don't raise your hands. 447 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,440 You have been doing good things for your own glory instead of 448 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,760 God's. I wonder how many of us have 449 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,640 avoided doing the good thing that God called us to do because 450 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:44,800 it was going to cost us too much. 451 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,840 How come we keep showing up in an equation that we were never 452 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:53,120 supposed to be in? And when we are not the good 453 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:55,840 that we are supposed to be and calling people to the good that 454 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:59,600 God calls them to, we are not being kind or useful to their 455 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,920 spiritual development on their pathway to find the one that we 456 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:07,520 have found. Our lack of godly goodness keeps 457 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,400 us from doing the good that He has in store for us to do. 458 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,000 Our lack of kindness keeps us from being useful to the 459 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:19,200 advancement of the Kingdom. In other words, our ambition 460 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,200 should be to point people to Jesus, not to make ourselves 461 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:30,080 look better, but to show them how much better Jesus is. 462 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:34,440 And when we abide in him, we will end up doing what Jesus 463 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,120 says His followers are supposed to do. 464 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:40,360 You all know this verse. It's from one of his most famous 465 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,560 sermons, Matthew chapter 5, verse 16. 466 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:45,880 Look what it says in the same way. 467 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:49,560 Let your light shine before others that they may see your 468 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:54,080 good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 469 00:28:54,600 --> 00:29:00,600 Not you, God is. God has like this much cares to 470 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:08,920 give about how good you come across, how much glory you get. 471 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:14,040 Here's what God wants. He wants you to do good things 472 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:18,800 and give God all the glory so people are drawn to Him, not 473 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,520 you. How many of you died on the 474 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,440 cross for anybody's sins? I think none of you. 475 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:25,920 So how much glory do you think you should get? 476 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,680 I would say close to 0, maybe a little less. 477 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:33,400 Do you know who deserves all the glory He does? 478 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:36,320 We want God to get all of the glory. 479 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,880 Furthermore, when you and I abide in Him and we go about 480 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,600 doing the good that He calls us to do, First Corinthians Chapter 481 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:48,920 9 verse 8 promises that He will bless you abundantly so that at 482 00:29:48,920 --> 00:29:54,200 all or in all things at all times, you and I will have 483 00:29:54,200 --> 00:30:00,160 everything we need to abound in every good work. 484 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:04,480 What He's saying is when you and I start practicing goodness and 485 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:10,240 kindness, we can step into every single situation, being 486 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,520 empowered not by our flesh, but by His Spirit. 487 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:17,120 We will have abundantly more than we could possibly need to 488 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:21,600 accomplish any task at any time so that God would get the glory. 489 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:28,880 And for too long, some of us, myself included, have been 490 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:34,400 guilty of doing things that have the appearance of godliness and 491 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:40,040 none of the substance. We are simply fruity loopies in 492 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:43,880 a fruit loop box. And when the world takes just 493 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:54,160 one bite, they know. And I think they deserve better. 494 00:30:55,480 --> 00:31:01,360 And I think he does too. So let's do something about it. 495 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:03,200 We're moving to a time of decision. 496 00:31:08,530 --> 00:31:11,850 To those of you who are in this room and to those of you who are 497 00:31:11,850 --> 00:31:17,530 watching online, you might be thinking, man, I would love to 498 00:31:17,530 --> 00:31:22,490 start this relationship with Jesus, but you're like, I just 499 00:31:22,490 --> 00:31:27,760 don't measure up. And I just want you to know you 500 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:32,800 are 100% accurate. Coming to faith in Jesus is not 501 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,320 about you being good. It's about you finding your 502 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:41,320 goodness in him. God in his goodness and His 503 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:47,520 kindness sent Jesus to step in and settle the debt that you 504 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:53,840 owed that you could never pay. If you're sitting there going, I 505 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:56,960 don't deserve the goodness and kindness of God. 506 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:01,280 You are 100% right. You don't deserve it. 507 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,400 In fact, the Bible tells us that this is a really cool picture of 508 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:06,560 God because I don't know what kind of picture of God other 509 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,960 people have painted for you, but this is a really good picture 510 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:11,720 about God speaking about himself. 511 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:15,320 This is what he says that in Romans chapter 5, verse 8, while 512 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:18,480 we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 513 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,440 Do you know when we forgive people, we forgive people. 514 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:24,680 Uh oh, this is going to drive me nuts, boys. 515 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:29,800 You know when we forgive people after they say I'm sorry? 516 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,480 Do you know when we're nice to people after they start being, 517 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:38,720 we do everything after. And isn't that why you have 518 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:41,040 marital problems? You're going to start being a 519 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:45,040 good husband after your wife starts being a Good Wife after 520 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:47,760 everything is after. I'm going to let my kids have 521 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:51,360 something nice after they start behaving after. 522 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,280 This is why God is so much better than us. 523 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,680 And This is why, hear me, This is why you should never point 524 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,160 people to you. You should keep pointing them to 525 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:06,000 God because we are an after people and God is a wild God. 526 00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:11,080 While you were still sinning is when he sent Jesus on your 527 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,120 behalf. We can't comprehend love like 528 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:17,960 that. When you were at your worst, God 529 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:22,320 was at his best on your behalf. He didn't wait until you said 530 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:25,400 the right things, sang the right song, prayed the right prayer, 531 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:27,880 worshipped at the right song, attended to church. 532 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:31,840 He pre decided in advance that he loved you, would make a path 533 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:35,400 for you, send his Son Jesus to die on the cross for you while 534 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:41,040 you were at your worst. How good is our God? 535 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:47,400 How kind is our God? And the most unkind and ungood 536 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:54,080 thing that you could do is say no to him to the offer of 537 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:58,720 salvation that He is pre purchased on your behalf. 538 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:03,520 And if you're here today, I'm sorry if I'm coming across too 539 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:05,320 strong. I just believe it too much. 540 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,400 You saw the testimony of the other people in the room. 541 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,480 It's the greatest decision we ever made, and our biggest 542 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:13,800 regret is we didn't do it sooner. 543 00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:17,400 And I want you to have that story. 544 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:20,560 I want you to have that testimony. 545 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:23,679 I want you to find what we have found in him. 546 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:25,520 And you might be going with Clayton. 547 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:27,760 I'm pretty sure that after I find Jesus, I'm going to screw 548 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:29,239 up. You know what I'll tell you? 549 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:35,960 Welcome to the club. But I can tell you, every time 550 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:39,000 I've failed, he has always caught me. 551 00:34:40,639 --> 00:34:44,840 I have never outpaced His grace. I have never outran His mercy. 552 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:48,280 I've never found myself in a spot where His love wasn't 553 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:52,040 already waiting on me. When are you going to have that 554 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:54,600 story? If you're watching the line, I'm 555 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,000 encourage you to type something in the chat or click on that 556 00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:58,560 link that just showed up. Or somebody will take you to a 557 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:01,240 private spot online where you can just talk to them. 558 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:03,280 And you don't have to air what's going on in your life in front 559 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:05,640 of everybody, but with somebody who cares for you and wants to 560 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:08,880 pray with you and talk with you. If you're in this room, Oh my 561 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,600 goodness, we're so glad you're here and you've never started a 562 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,160 relationship with Jesus. I'm going to encourage you to 563 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:16,440 take a walk that is long overdue. 564 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:19,520 In just a few moments, the people around you are going to 565 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:21,560 stand and sing, and some of them are going to come to the steps 566 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:23,680 and pray. And I want to encourage you to 567 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,440 walk right over there underneath that screen next to the 568 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:29,720 baptistry, and somebody would talk to you about how to start a 569 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:32,200 relationship with Jesus Christ. You might be going. 570 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,600 I don't have all my questions answered, so I'm not ready to 571 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:36,400 start them. Great. 572 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:38,520 Are you at a spot where you'll at least start asking the 573 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:42,840 questions to the rest of you in the room? 574 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:47,280 To those of you who would qualify yourself as a Jesus 575 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:55,320 follower, it is time for us to be the good, kind people that 576 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:59,760 God created us to be. Is there an area of your life 577 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:05,160 where kindness has been lacking? Is there an area of your life 578 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,360 where you have not been doing the good that God has called you 579 00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:12,040 to do? I'm going to ask you to do 580 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:17,560 something that you may not want to do, but that will be good for 581 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:19,880 you. Repent. 582 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:25,080 Own it. Get down on your knees and say, 583 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:28,320 God, this is an area in my life where I have been unkind and I 584 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:32,480 have not been good. Repent for being a people 585 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:35,440 pleaser instead of being a God pleaser and saying God after all 586 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:38,440 you've done for me, why do I keep making an idol out of me 587 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:43,000 and an idol out of other people I know I'm supposed to worship 588 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:45,840 you. Help me use your spirit God to 589 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:49,760 redirect me. Is there a conversation you need 590 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:55,800 to have with a spouse, a kid, a Co worker where you own the fact 591 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:58,600 that you haven't been the good you're supposed to be or kind in 592 00:36:58,600 --> 00:36:59,800 the way you're supposed to be kind? 593 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:05,760 Can I give you a cool verse In Matthew Chapter 11, verse 30, 594 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:10,280 Jesus is talking to his followers and he says when you 595 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:14,160 follow me, he invites the weary to come to him and he says for 596 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:21,960 my yoke is kind. It is kind to the shoulders. 597 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:27,160 It is a kindness that you can put on and you can carry a heavy 598 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:33,240 load and it won't hurt the soul shoulders because it is useful. 599 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:43,120 God is calling you to a useful, productive life in Him. 600 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:48,240 And if you can't see the fruit, it's probably because there's 601 00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:55,560 something wrong with us. So let's fix it and you might be 602 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:57,600 going. I see people come to the steps 603 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:02,920 every week and pray, and I bet that's kind of embarrassing and 604 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:05,880 humbling to walk all the way up to the steps. 605 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:08,080 And you know why you might not come to the steps? 606 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:10,320 Because you're thinking that other people will see you. 607 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:13,480 And I want you to know they're not supposed to be thinking 608 00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:17,960 about you. And you know what? 609 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:21,800 You're not supposed to be thinking about them. 610 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:24,080 You know what? Yours. 611 00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:27,520 This is the math in your head. I want to do something to get 612 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:31,840 right with God right now, and whether you come to the steps or 613 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:34,760 you pull a Tim Tebow in your seat or you find some spot 614 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:39,200 around the room, don't waste this moment to get right with 615 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:40,440 Him. Would you stand with me? 616 00:38:47,300 --> 00:38:52,340 It is impossible to get over how good and kind and patient and 617 00:38:52,340 --> 00:38:56,620 long-suffering you have been with us, and by Your grace and 618 00:38:56,620 --> 00:39:00,600 mercy, you have given us another chance to chase after you and 619 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:04,520 follow after you and repent in all the ways that we haven't. 620 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:12,040 God, I am begging your Holy Spirit to reign in this church, 621 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:17,520 not just at this location, but at all of our locations. 622 00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:21,200 And not just at our locations, but at every church where Jesus, 623 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:25,920 people gather, gather. Your Spirit would move us and 624 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:30,880 change us and empower us to do things that only you can do in 625 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:34,360 ways that only you can do it. In your name I pray. 626 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:35,280 Amen.