Man, it is good to be with you. I'm so glad we get an
opportunity to hang out today. I want to welcome all of you
guys. Joining those of you here at
48th Street, those of you in Macomb, Kirksville 929, Pike
County, Hannibal Lima, Mount Sterling Keokuk, mom, with
Jacksonville online inside. I am just so thankful to be a
part of this church with incredibly awesome people like
you watching the baptism video and just seeing all the
incredible work that's happened you just Can't help but be
grateful to God and be grateful to be a part of this church in
my alone in that. Okay.
You guys are awake. All right.
Hey listen. It's been a hot week, but it's
been raining today. So, you should feel a little bit
better about yourself if you're brand-new to the crossing.
I'm so glad that you're here. Make sure that.
Before you leave today, you spend some time.
Connecting with the campus, pastor, and one of our
incredible staff members difference makers at each of our
location. If you want, you can click on
that QR code. That's in the seat in front of
you. It might be on one of the
screens. And you can click on that and
it'll give you an opportunity to connect with us.
So that way we can help graph g into the family.
You can realize what an incredible group of people you
get an opportunity to be surrounded by because they will
love you. Well, now before I get into the
message, I got to do a little bit of housekeeping with you.
In a couple of weeks, we're going to start a sermon series
on the weekend of Thursday, the 21st and Sunday July 24th.
We're going to start at 12 weeks.
I mean series called weeds in my garden a series on being honest,
about mental health and we are going to spend and I've said
this already that, I believe that these 12 weeks could be the
most important 12 weeks of the year for our church.
And during that sermon series, we are going to be talking
about. Well we're going to be talking
about suicide, we're going to be talking about self-harm, we're
gonna be talking about stress anxiety, burnout, low
self-esteem and depression. It is going to be a
transformative 12 weeks in the life of our church.
It's going to be transformative in your life and it can be
transformative in the life of the people that you love.
And I want to give you three things that I'm going to ask you
to do. Is we prepare for that sermon
series one. I want you guys to continue, I
brought this up a while back. Would you guys keep praying for
Jerry? And I as we're preparing those
messages second thing would you pray for our staff as they're
going to be no doubt feeling lots of questions and
challenging conversations the third thing and I mean this this
is Is going to be an incredible sermon series for you to invite
your friends, your family members, your neighbors, and
your co-workers. Because every person, you know,
Is either dealing with one of those things or has somebody
that they love who is and this sermon series is designed to
give us some help to give us some hope and some put some
tools in our toolbox to help us navigate the days we have
between now and when we get to meet Jesus and it is going to
require our help to be able to do the most good all across this
region. I want to make a special
request. If you are watching this sermon
series from wherever, you're Joining from and you are a
counselor or a mental health professional, would you click on
the QR code that's either on the chair in front of you or it's up
on the screen right here and if you would click on that and when
you do that, there is a it's going to pull up our link tree.
And one of those things in there is counselor info form.
I want you to click on that and I want you to fill out your
information and we Are going to send you an e-mail this week.
That's going to give you a little insight into where we're
going and actually give you the opportunity to help us as we
prepare for that series. I have a team of people that are
all mental health professionals that are going to help guide me
through this sermon series. But we want to give you guys an
opportunity to go on the journey with us because we would greatly
appreciate your help. That being said, I want to give
you a heads up. If you're a parent and you love
bringing your kid to church with you and you love bringing your
kid into the auditorium. Here's what I'm asking is in two
weeks when we start that sermon series, I'm going to encourage
you to not do that. I'm going to give you a couple
reasons why if you have, you know, kids that are in sixth
grade and down. We have incredible programming
at all of our different locations.
If you have a fuse that meets on Sunday morning, I want you to
take full advantage of that and I'm asking you to not bring your
kids for three reasons, one, I don't want to put ideas in your
kids as mind when you haven't been may be prepared to leap
through it, okay? So I'm just, I'm telling you up
front, I don't want to Tucked you in that.
Second thing is your kids will always learn way more in our
kids programming than they ever will hear learning from Jerry.
And I, if you think that they learn more in here than just
pull them out of grade school and just send them straight to
John Wood or Western Illinois or Truman State, but you and I both
know that this is not the best environment for them to learn.
And if you want your kids to learn about Jesus, you want to
put them in the very best possible place.
Place for them to learn about Jesus.
And we spend a ton of money in our church employing, a bunch of
awesome people and buying a bunch of great tools to make
sure that your kids experience is the very best.
It can be for them to learn about Jesus and for them to be
able to have friends that can help them grow with.
Jesus, third reason, I said there was three and I'm a man of
my word. Third reason is I want you to be
a good neighbor. And when your kid is jacking
around in the service, I need you to hear me, there's people
around you that are going to be hanging on for dear life during
that sermon series and they are going to be doing everything
they can to learn, as much as they can.
So they can go home and make a difference in their loved ones
lives, and your kid could be a distraction from that moment.
So, I want you to be a good neighbor.
Now, I'm not saying that today, you know, I love having my kids
come to church, they love coming and Listen to Jerry, just like
my wife got no home team, and I When my kids want it, it's
great. I let them do that after.
They've already been to church because I want them to learn in
an age appropriate environment. We all good, nobody hates me yet
because today we're talking about hell and I wanted to have
everybody on my team. When I did I'm being serious,
okay. We're in a sermon series called
the other side and we're going to be talking about what happens
after you die last week because I love Jerry.
I let him talk about heaven. This week is hell.
And next week, we're going to talk about the two judgments
that every single one of us is going to face.
Whoo, it's been hot this week. Let's just keep it going.
Now, some of you might be wondering why are we talking
about hell this week of all the weeks this is the week.
I was finally able to bring a friend to church.
I get it you might be going some of you just wandered off the
street. You lost a bet at work and here
you are you're just looking for some AC cuz your air
conditioners out and you Load up here.
Listen, I want you to hear me say this.
This is an incredible weekend for you to be in our church.
This is going to be a great message for absolutely every
single one of you to hear. And if you can put up with the
first 20 minutes of this message, and we're already eight
minutes and you only got 12 minutes left of the tough stuff.
The last 10 minutes are going to be life-giving, they're going to
be powerful, they're going to be life-altering.
I is the reason I'm talking about hell is because the Bible
talks about it, And if we are going to be Jesus people, if
we're going to be church people, if we're going to be people who
believe in the word of God, then we have to believe that when the
Bible says that, everything in scripture is useful that us
looking at hell, and expand seeing, what the scripture says
about it is going to be useful to our lives, that we need to
submit Our Lives to God's will God's purposes and God's word.
And if I'm going to be a good pastor, I've got to make sure
that we spend some time talking about all the things.
Things that God talks about and some of you you may be grew up
in a church that talked about hell.
A little too much like it was, you know, he'll all the time and
it was really got around to Heaven.
It was all law and no Grace. You may have had to go to an
old-school. Revival, raise your hand.
If you went to a Revival, my parents took me didn't work but
I went. Yeah.
And you heard that he'll was hot and Eternity was long and you're
like no we got to get out of here.
Okay, however it may be it has been overdone but My worry is
that We probably don't talk about it enough and I just
wanted to at least level the playing field and have an honest
dialogue about it, because there is a lot of confusion not just
in the world but in Christian circles about hell, I'll hear
good, well-meaning Christians say things like well you know
more of a new testament, Christian person, a more of a
love and grace guy and I you know hell and all that wrath.
That's Old Testament. That's cute.
It look good on a bumper sticker.
Might make for a good Christian, Jesus.
And shirt for you to wear to your new Christian band that you
like to go to. But hear me guess who talked
about hell more than anybody else.
Jesus whoa. Yeah, check this one out.
Guess who talked about it more than everybody else combined?
Yeah, that new testament. Guy were a big fan of Jesus.
If it was important to Jesus, the probably ought to be
important to us. Now there's a lot of ideas
floating around from atheists and religious people about what
happens after we die. So, we're going to spend a
couple minutes, just going through all of them, The
Atheist, they believe they're Bound by Evolution and so they
believe that when we die, that's it game over.
There's nothing after it, they have to become a naturalist,
there's no way away from it for them.
However, An atheist believes that there is ultimately no
right? And ultimately no wrong.
There is no higher power and there is no higher purpose.
If a person is an atheist, their moral High Ground is either
grounded in the worship of self. Whatever is good for them or
popular opinion, whichever group is in power.
The problem with the atheistic worldview is that it reinforces
a philosophical A belief in survival of the fittest.
That means that at some point in time, in order for you to
advance in order for you to win, in order for you to get head
eventually You will have to be the fit one.
Which means that you will have to step.
An advance on the weak and the marginalized, the oppressed.
And it flies in the face of what Jesus says in Mark chapter 10,
if you're a Jesus person, this is where we draw our inspiration
from Jesus called them together. And said, you know, that those
who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles, Lord it over them
and their High officials exercise authority over them.
Not so with you. Jesus people instead, whoever
wants to become great. Among you must be your servant
and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all and you're
going well that would be really hard for me Jesus because I'm a
pretty big deal. We'll check out what he says.
Let's keep going for even. Oh Even Jesus, the son of man
did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a
ransom for many Christian. He flies in the face of survival
of the fittest. It's the fittest loving the
least. Now some of you might be going.
Okay, that's cool but I'm not an atheist fine.
You heard some people? Talk are you've heard maybe
heard some people talk about reincarnation that after you die
you come back as something else. And if you are really bad, you
know, you come back as a as a, you know, a fat white guy who
doesn't have a lot of money and if you were really, really bad.
You come back as lettuce, which is why, you know, I don't eat
salad. And if you were pretty decent,
if you did a pretty good job, you come back as an attractive
wealthy person. If you were fantastic, you come
back as somebody who's, you know, famous and popular and
Steve Job. That's what happens.
The problem is the Bible flies in the face of that because you
don't just keep dying over and over again and coming back to
life and never realizing it, which is the general thrust of
reincarnations because Look, what Jesus says, remember, Jesus
Matthew chapter 25, then they will go away to Eternal
punishment but the righteous to eternal life when it's over.
There's no do-overs. Your destination is cemented,
eternally. You don't get a second chance.
Since you don't get a do-over you don't get to try it out all
over again. When you die, you're done.
That's what Jesus says. There's some who believe in
universalism and man all roads lead to Heaven.
Come on, bro. They usually have like a hemp
sticker somewhere on their car. I get it.
Peace man, everybody I get it man.
It sounds fun, fantastic everybody.
There's no right? There's no wrong man.
I get it. I'm not even being mean they
seem like super cool. People wouldn't let him watch my
kids but they sound like they'd be a lot of fun.
And they just think that everybody eventually ends up in
the same place, the problem with that, this pesky guy named,
Jesus, look what he says for God.
So loved the world that he gave his one and only son that
whoever believes in him, it's not whoever believes I believe
in a heaven, I believe in a better place.
That's not what gets you there? Whoever believes in him, him,
being Jesus, shall not perish. But have eternal life.
Look what it says in Matthew chapter 7, enter through the
narrow gate for wide is the gate and Broad is the road that leads
to destruction and many enter through.
It universalism really wide Road.
Everybody gets their really wide gate.
Everything there's room for everybody here no matter where
you're at no matter what you think.
Come on in Jesus is saying no because that road leads to
destruction but small is the gate and narrow is the road that
leads to life. Only a few find it.
The narrow road is only as wide as Jesus Christ, unless you go
through him, you're not getting in.
Now, there's some people out there, who believe in
Annihilation ilysm. You might be going Clayton, we
don't believe any of these things, but you'd be surprised
to show up. This is a belief that
unbelievers will not experience eternity in Hell suffering, but
they will just be extinguished. Like remember when you got
grounded your parents like you're getting grounded for a
week and if you're a really bad, you're grounded for two weeks.
The functionally when you die God, just grounds you.
And he just burns you inhale for a little bit until you've burned
up enough and then he extinguishes you and you
disappear. And after a long period of
Torment there just no more. And they argue that the word
Eternal in scripture should be translated a Jory on.
That mean you're just gonna you're just gonna be in hell for
a little bit and then it'll be over the huge problem with that
is the Bible. The reason why there's a huge
problem is because when the Bible talks about hell, it talks
about day and night forever and ever already showed you this
verse, but let's look at it again, Matthew chapter 25, then
they will go away to Eternal punishment.
But the righteous to eternal life, the word that they want to
translate a jury on, which is a perfect fought, which is a fine
interpretation, you can't go. It's just a short period of time
for Eternal punishment but it's forever and ever for those.
We're going to eternal life. If this is temporary, then this
is temporary. Doesn't make sense, no matter
how you measure it. Heaven would only end up being
for a short period of time. Some of you may have grown up in
a church where you heard about purgatory.
Those who believe in purgatory, believe that you it's a place
where you go to pay for your sins before you go to heaven.
Aside from the fact that nowhere is, this is Purgatory, mentioned
in scripture nor is anything remotely close to it.
Alluded to in scripture the main text that they use is First
Corinthians. Chapter 3 verses starting with
verse 12. This is, this is the Purgatory
verse in the Bible. If anyone Builds on this
Foundation using gold silver, costly Stones, wood, hay or
straw. Their work will be shown for
what it is because the day will bring it to light, it will be
Old with fire and the fire will test the quality of each
person's work. If what has been built survives,
the Builder will receive a reward.
If it is burned up, this is the Purgatory.
Verse verse 15, the Builder will suffer loss, but yet will be
saved, even though only as one escaping through the flames.
This is the Purgatory verse in the Bible that you be saved, but
only is one escaping through the Flames.
However, the context of this verse is about how we build our
faith and the quality of the work of our faith.
In other words, what is built on the solid foundation of Jesus
Christ, the solid rock of him. That quality material, it will
last, but that which is of poor quality and poor material will
be burned up. You're going Clayton, you have
not made sense yet. Keep going.
Here's what he's saying. Our faith will be intact, but
the flaws in our theology, the shortcomings of our belief
system. The errors in our walk will be
consumed by the fire. It is not the believer that
passes through the fire but our works.
Furthermore to believe in purgatory is a wretched assault
on the work of Jesus Christ in the very same book that I just
read from. Paul is writing.
Look what he says in chapter 15 for what I received.
I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for
our sins, according to the scriptures that he was buried
and that he was raised on the third day, according to the
scriptures. That Christ died for our sins.
If Christ died for our sins. Then what are you paying for in
purgatory? What's your functionally saying
is that Jesus could afford the bill but he couldn't afford the
tip. That somehow he needs you at the
end of your life to make up the difference.
That's wrong. We sing about the death of
Jesus, on the cross. We sing songs, like Jesus, Paid
It All. Furthermore, we have these words
of Paul in Colossians, same author, but now he has
reconciled You by Christ's physical body through death to
present you, holy in God's sight without blemish and free from
accusation, if you continue in, your faith, established and firm
and do not move from The Hope held out in the gospel.
This is the gospel that you heard and that has been
proclaimed to every creature under heaven.
And of which I Paul have become a servant nowhere in that burst
does. It talk about you?
Making you, holy in God's sight. The thrust of the Gospel message
is that Jesus made us right with God?
It is not of our own. It's something that he did on
our behalf. Okay.
So what's hell? You have four more minutes?
Hang on and we get to the good stuff.
So what is hell? Hell is described all throughout
scripture. As a place of eternal torment,
unquenchable fire. It's a place where the worm does
not die, where people gnashed their teeth in anguish and
regret. It is a place where people go
and they do not return, even to warn loved ones.
It is a place of outer Darkness. One of the descriptions that
Jesus uses is that of gehenna, we're going to be going to
Israel late next year. And if you go, you'll get to be
you'll get to see it. It was This place on the
outskirts of the city of Jerusalem that had previously
been used for child sacrifice and it was deemed as an
uninhabitable place and so, because of the Steep edges on
the walls of Jerusalem, it became the trash dump.
And people would go to the edge of the city walls and they would
dump their trash over the top and it would fall down and they
take dead bodies and it would fall down.
And then they would keep the fires burning to keep the smell
down and to keep the bacteria and the disease from spreading
and all day long. Smoke rose out of gehenna.
And when Jesus got talking about hell, he says that's what it's
like. It's a place where God is absent
and all things God are absent. I know, I know it's fun.
Sometimes we're talking about oh yeah, you know, I'm going to
hell and I'm just going to keep on partying when I get there.
I'm just going to keep on Dancing.
Keep on having sex keep on partying.
When I'm in hell, hear me sex? And music are both gifts from
God. They won't be there.
I know it's catchy to, like, when someone dies at their
funeral to play, you know, if you get to heaven, give Heaven a
little hell? No, no.
The one thing you won't find in heaven.
There's a little bit of hell. I want to be very clear.
So what will happen? Some of you might be wondering,
will who goes to hell? You've obviously said it's a
place. We don't want to go.
So who goes there? Well John 14:6 tells us who goes
there. Jesus answered.
I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the father, except through me.
There's only one of two places for you to go.
You can either go to be with the Father, which is what heaven is,
or you can choose to not go to the father and the absence of
the father, we've already established.
This is hell. And the only way to get to the
father is through the son, Jesus Christ, and there might be some
of you going. Well I don't know about that
hear me. Unless Jesus is the source, the
foundation, the power of your faith and of your salvation, if
you are not going to heaven, That means woke.
Leftist ideology, won't get you there.
It means, conservative nationalism won't get you to
heaven. You won't get in for being a
republican. You won't get in for being a
Democrat. It means that if you're an
atheist, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Mormon, your life is
in peril. There's some of you who are
going. Whoa, I thought I like this
place. Hear me.
You might be on Clayton. We, we really do.
We like this church, but that does not seem fair.
I couldn't agree with you more. It's not fair.
It's not fair at all. However, I want to say a couple
things to you regarding the fairness of God, one, we live in
a world that has been so covered in the grace of God, that we can
forget his Justice. We live in a world that has been
so infused with his Mercy that we can lose sight of his
holiness. So for those of you who be gone,
this does not sound fair. This does not sound like a god
that I can get behind. Let me, let me speak to that.
First thing I would say to you is that it's not about fair and
then he's not being closed-minded and he's not being
exclusionary. When we say that Jesus is the
only way to the father. What we're actually saying is
Jesus is the only one who He's the only one who he's, the only
one who left heaven and came to Earth.
He's the only one who lived a perfect life.
He's the only one who paid the ultimate price on the cross.
He's the only one who perfectly demonstrated the love of God.
He's the only one who destroyed the works of the Devil.
He's the only one who healed this with his wounds.
He's the only one who had the iniquity of us all placed on his
shoulders. He's the only one who saves
because he's the only one who could he's the only Who did he's
the only one who died in my place.
He's the only one who was buried and three days later rose from
the dead. He's the only one who ascended
to the father full of grace and mercy, when we say that Jesus is
the only way to the father. It's because Jesus is the only
one who saves. That's it.
We're not saying that he's hateful.
We're not saying that he's exclusionary.
He's saying I'm the Lifeboat and there's not another one.
I'm the only boat in these Waters, reaching out his hand
asking. People do you want to be saved?
It's not exclusionary. I'm just the only one here.
Second thing. We don't want Fair.
Right? If you believe In fairness,
you're a bad parent. Do you know this in your heart
when your kids come to you? That's not fair.
Do you go? You're brilliant.
Oh, I know you've got some catchy parenting tip.
Well, life's not fair. Sometimes kid question.
If things aren't fair in your house, raise your hand.
Yeah, that's what I thought. Life's not fair.
Because we only want fair when we stand to benefit.
We don't want fair when we stand to lose.
We want fair when it's in our favor.
But we don't want fair. When it's time to pick up the
tab. Husbands.
When your father-in-law when you were dating, the, his daughter
took you out for a meal and he offered to buy.
Did you go? That's not fair.
You're broke. But said Thank God.
That's what you did when, when your kids come up to you and go.
That's not fair. It's only when you're talking
about who gets to watch what on the TV and who gets to play for
how long on the gaming console. But when the bill show up at the
house, no one's going, hey, that's not fair.
I didn't get to pay for the car this month.
No. Did that right there?
That's your kids aren't showing up dead, Mom.
It's not fair that you guys work so hard to pay for this house.
We want to get jobs to never heard it.
Not once in my entire life, have they gone to the store and said,
oh my goodness. These groceries are getting
expensive. Can we help out?
Right. Imagine going home and send, you
know what kids it's been pretty unfair around here.
Your mom's been doing a Lion's Share of the laundry and I've
been doing a Lion's Share of the yard working.
We've been doing it for his by. We can count your entire
stinking life. So we're going to take the next
12 years of your life, and we're going to kick back.
Christians. We don't want fair when it comes
to the goodness of God. Because there's only one thing
you and I deserve in a fair world and it's hell.
When we look at God's saving work, the question that doesn't
come to our mind. Is not.
How does anybody end up in? Hell, what blows our mind is
that anybody shows up in heaven, How could, how could you?
And I have ever get there. Because every single one of us,
myself included, we deserve hell.
And we know this internally because when I sin, I sin
against an eternally, perfect God.
And so, do you and Justice is always determined by the offense
of the person. Let me explain if I come to your
neighborhood tonight and I kill all the Flies.
You know. You guys are going to do put
palm branches in ago. This guy rocks.
If I kill all the mosquitoes. Pete is not going to be walking
down your neighborhood going. This guy's got to be stopped.
He's a monster. He kills animals, right?
There's a difference between me killing all the Flies and
mosquitoes and me killing all the neighborhood, dogs.
That'll raise some Flags, right? There's a difference between
speeding on the highway and speeding in a school zone.
because there's a difference between an offense against
18-wheelers and small children at play, there's a difference
between killing the neighborhood cat, and taking the life of a
human being and our justice system is built on who the
offense is against So what do you think?
You and I should get when our sin is an offense against a holy
and an eternal God. What would seem fit?
Eternal. Punishment.
It's when we understand the reality of God's holiness and
Perfection and the sinfulness of Our Lives that we are left to
ponder this question. How does God allow anybody into
heaven? And I'm going to tell you.
Second Corinthians, five verse 21.
This is how he does. It, God made him Jesus who had
no sin to be sin for me. And you so that in Jesus, we
might become the righteousness of God.
How do I get into heaven? How do you get into heaven?
He took all of your sin, all of your iniquity and he laid it on
Jesus. And in that moment, Jesus became
my sin and I became his righteousness.
When God set out to solve the problem of hell, he did it
through the work of Jesus. Think of all the sins that you
could ever. Think of that you've committed,
they were laid on Jesus. Jesus became an adulterer, a
cheater, a liar, a coveter, a Steeler, a murderer, a molester,
a pedophile. He became all of those things.
So you and I could be the righteousness of Jesus, we
became the 33 year old man who lived a perfect and sinless.
Life, we became his righteousness and he became our
guilt. He became our shame, he took up
our penalty, we get the mercy of Jesus and he gets our mess.
We get the good works of Jesus and he gets our sins, we get the
perfect life of Jesus and Jesus gets pierced, we get the
righteousness and he gets the unrighteousness.
Don't ever doubt the love of God, because look what it says
in 2nd Peter. The Lord is not slow, in keeping
his promise as some understand slowness.
Instead, he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance.
That's the desire of Jesus. That's the desire of God that
you and I would come into fellowship with him.
We're hell no longer becomes an issue because you are in right
standing because of Jesus. So what should you and I do?
Well, the Bible's really clear when you come to the knowledge
of what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross, you're supposed to
do three things. You're supposed to believe that
what Jesus said, and what Jesus did he did and he is second
thing you repent. You recognize, hey, I got to
stop living for me. I got to start living for him.
I'm done being in charge. You're in charge and then you
get Baptized, you make him your lord and savior.
Lord means you live for him. Now, you're no longer in charge
and some of you you might be going.
But Clayton, when it comes to get baptized, what do you mean
by that? I mean that you symbolize what
Jesus Christ did on the cross, you are buried in your sins and
you are raised to New Life in him and you might be going.
But Clayton, I was baptized as a baby.
That's great, but that's nowhere in scripture.
You might be going every time. Baptisms talked about in
scripture. It's your decision.
You don't get saved because your parents wanted you to be a
believer. That was a wet baby dedication.
That's what it was. Listen if baptism against
somebody's will worked. What should we do today?
We should get a bunch of people drop drunk, take him out to the
Mississippi, dip them and bring them back up and go see you in
heaven, man. Like what happened?
I well, you just got dumped. You got baptized right, okay?
That clip is going to live in the wrong ways and I apologize
for that. Okay, they look at me like I
knew that church was jacked up. Listen.
Listen, if you can't take a person against their will and
baptize them in that count, how can you take a baby and do the
same? Now, listen, there's nothing
wrong with. That means your parents loved.
You means that they wanted you to grow up in church, and means
that they wanted you to grow up and make a decision to follow
Jesus Christ, on your own accord.
And what better way to fulfill that prayer then for you to do
it yourself and some of you might be going to Clayton, I've
been following Jesus and coming to this church, for a really
long time. And if I get baptized, people
are gonna be like what's wrong with that person that they took.
So long, listen, this church will never get frustrated at
people being obedient never will cheer just as loud.
You might be going to clean. Its give me a little awkward
because I mean I've been a small group leader, I've served at
this church. Listen, this church will never
get frustrated at people being obedient, because guess what?
I'm going to learn some about Jesus next week where I screwed
up. And I bet you want me to be a
person who goes, I got to fix it.
That's what happens. Is.
We continue to follow? Jesus.
Hear me. Those of you who are already
have a faith, I want you to pay attention to me.
Me, this is why we give, this is why we serve, this is why we
lead life groups. And D groups is because we see
our lives, and our hardships, and our struggles and our
opportunities. As ways.
To point people to the goodness of God, and point them to the
realities of heaven and turn them away from the possibility
of Hell Christians. What would happen if you saw
your life in between these two Cosmic realities Heaven and
Hell, could you deal with people being harmed?
Do you if you knew that the way you operated might show them a
little Jesus and it might lure them into his ways.
What if you were to change the way you posted because you
wanted to make sure you always had an opportunity to point
people to Jesus and said of turn them away and if you turn them
away, there's going to be less people to show them the ways of
Jesus. What if we saw our hardships and
our struggles as opportunities, to reflect the goodness of God,
and how we endured that hardship as an opportunity.
T to point people to Jesus, what we should be the kind of people
that Overlook offenses in order to make inroads to point people.
To Jesus. Christian should be so full of
grace. So full of Mercy, because we
have a deep longing desire to turn people away from hell and
point them to Jesus, who's the only one who can save and I hope
you will join me in that mission.
We're moving to a time of decision.
I went long. Okay, I shave 25 minutes, out of
my sermon and I'm still long, so pay attention.
We're going quick. I want you to just say the word
win, say it a little bit louder. Okay?
If you were to come to me with marriage counseling, and you'd
like a, we've been getting in a fight, but he said he was sorry,
I would say. When did he say he was sorry.
Why? After he got caught, if you were
to come to me and you were to be hanging out with me and you were
to say, you know, we've been having problems with our kids
and we had a fight and a big deal and but he said he was
sorry and I would say will win. Well after I went to him and I
said I was sorry. That's when my kids said that
they were sorry. Timing matters.
Give me the word one more time. So when did God move on your
behalf? We live in a world where it's
always after. I'll be good to my wife, after
she's good to me. I'll be work hard for my boss
after. He pays me.
What I'm worth. We live in an after culture, but
when did Jesus move on your behalf?
When did he do it? That would be interesting.
Where does this scripture talk about?
When God moved on my behalf, you better believe.
It does top 5. Favorite verses of the Bible.
Get the tattoo on your neck, for all I care.
Romans 5:8 while. That's when he moved.
Not after. While Romans 5:8 while we were
still Sinners. When did he move?
He moved while. You keep thinking, gotta love me
after I get baptized you keep thinking, God will love me after
I get my life, right? You think God will love you
after you come to church enough times, you think God will love
her after. You serve enough after you sing
enough songs after you give enough money but the Bible is
clear while we were still Sinners. when you were cheating
on your wife, God demonstrates, his love for us in this while.
When you're beating somebody. Stealing from somebody robbing
somebody bullying. Somebody posted on somebody
while we were still sinners. That's when he moved.
He moved in your behalf. Wow, you were doing an assault
against his character. he moved while you were sinning against
him, while you were racking up a bill not after He saw you and
you were worth it. God was at his best when you
were at your worst. When did he move?
He moved Wild. And if you're here today, and
you're watching online, And you've never started an intimate
personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Don't put it off. It's just a few moments.
Everybody's going to stand around you for watching online.
There's maybe some that's going to pop up in the chat.
There's any people over here that would love an opportunity
to talk with you about starting an intimate personal
relationship with Jesus Christ. There's some of you, you've
never been baptized, there's some of you that may have been
sprinkled, but never have been immersed, as the Bible teaches.
Listen, we want to celebrate with, you will stay until we're
done. If you're going, you know what
he's talking about me. It's not Clayton talking to you.
That is the spirit of God, drawing his children back home.
and our church will celebrate that Now, you're already here
and you're a Jesus follower. I want us to live our lives in
light of these two realities. There is a very real hell and
there is a very real heaven and how we live our lives changes.
The population of both at the beginning of the year, when I
cast a vision for this church, I said I want us to make this
region the hardest place on planet Earth to get to Hell
from. And the way we give and serve
and love and lead and handle offense and hard shift will show
people the love and the power of Jesus Christ.
And maybe some of us need to spend just a little bit of time
on our knees going. God, I have not been a
reflection of you to a watching world and I need some help and
let's just be a church that's real about that stuff.
Okay, stand up and we pray for you.
God, we need you right now in every heart and every life and
ever seen one of our locations, while campus pastors Elena in
the plane got I'm asking that you would move in this church.
Solidify in us a desire to live in light of your truth.
Your And I pray, amen.