I'M NOT LEAVING AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY:
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I'M NOT LEAVING AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY:
Thanks so much for listening to the Believers Center podcast!
Service Times:
Sundays at 10AM (online + in-person)
Tuesdays at 7PM (in-person only)
Follow us on Instagram @believerscenter
To learn more about Believers Center, visit https://www.believerscenter.com
To submit a prayer request, or to get connected with a pastor, visit https://www.believerscenter.com/prayforme
Matthew, chapter 7, if you have your Bibles. I'd like to begin in verse 24, and it says this therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Can someone say amen? So this is the fourth and final week of a series that I have entitled spiritual stability, and if you've been here through the whole thing, you know that I started at week one with this statistic. I've got it for you on the screen 64% of churched high schoolers drop out of the church permanently by the time they graduate from college. And it's interesting 64%, I mean that's a lot, but I've found this not just a phenomenon with teenagers. It's actually people of all ages who come to the faith with great passion and enthusiasm only to fizzle out and fall away. And so it's with that in mind that I want to preach for just a few minutes from this subject I'm not leaving, I'm not leaving. Turn to your neighbor and say that I'm not leaving, I'm not leaving, I'm not leaving, I'm not leaving. So, heavenly Father, today we say thank you for what you've done, thank you for what you're doing. Lord, we ask that you would prepare our hearts, even in these moments, to receive the word, that we wouldn't just be hearers of the word, but it would penetrate our hearts and transform us from the inside out. We say thank you for that and we love you, and it's in your son's name we pray. Everybody said amen.
Speaker 1:So, as I've told you, I have been following God my entire adult life. I've been studying Scripture seriously for at least the last 25 years, and I've been volunteering at this church or serving at this church, either as a volunteer or, of course, as a staff member, for 27 years now, and so it shouldn't surprise you that I have seen a tremendous amount of people come and go through these doors. And I don't mean when I say come and go, I don't mean specifically like leaving a particular church, I mean people who come and go from the Christian faith, who they come into the Christian faith only to essentially leave the Christian faith in a later season. And so I was thinking about that and I'm just thinking. You know why that is what's happening. You know, what is it about me that has caused me to stay and I'm a little boomy on this mic, if you guys could turn down the low what is it about me that has caused me to stay that for some reason, seems like it's absent, other people who come here and aren't able to stay.
Speaker 1:And so I want to say something that I don't want you to misunderstand, and it's this that if somebody were to come and reject the idea of God, right, so maybe they're an atheist, maybe they're an agnostic, right, they don't believe that there is a God at all. Don't misunderstand me, I can understand that. I don't agree with them. I think they're wrong about that, but I can at least understand their point of view. Right, why would they worship? Why would they come to church? Why would they give their life to a deity that they don't believe is real, makes sense.
Speaker 1:But if someone believes in God, right, and someone believes, like, even in the basic sense, like the basic tenets of the Christian faith. If they believe it, I'm a Christian and it's not a significant part of their life. I don't understand that. It's totally nonsensical to me for you to believe, like even in a very basic way, that God created the universe. And not only has he created the universe, he wants to come to you and have an intimate loving relationship with you, the guy who made this whole place, and you don't find that at all interesting. I don't understand that. Think about this at this very moment, there are angels and demons fighting for the fate of mankind, right, and there's an enemy that even today, is actively trying to kill you, right. There's an enemy that right now is trying to kill your children, right, and you don't find that at all alarming or interesting or worth like understand. I don't understand that kind of thinking at all.
Speaker 1:If you reject the idea of God, at least I get you right, but if you're someone who's like a Christian, but it's just like only like one part of your life, I don't understand it. In fact, I'd say this I think that maybe you think you're supposed to believe it, but that you don't actually believe it, right? Because if you really believed the basic ideas of the Christian faith. How would that not be one of the most important things to you in your life? Right, like if you were to get the opportunity to meet, you know, brad Pitt, let's say, or Elon Musk, or someone Teenagers Thinks Cool. Snoop Dogg, okay, I don't know, I don't know kids, harry Styles, is that cool, okay.
Speaker 1:Okay, if you were to, if you were to have like the opportunity to meet like somebody that you think is just like larger than like most of you would pee your pants, right, like you couldn't believe it, you couldn't focus if you knew that they were in the room, right, but like then the creator of the universe wants to meet with you and you can't be bothered by it. You know what I mean? It's just like just there's some sort of disconnect here. Right, because because for me, when I learned the Christian faith and when I bought into the Christian and I'm still ringing a little bit, if you guys can even just bring it down or something why was it that I bought into the Christian faith and never departed from it? Like it was something that was real to me and when it became real to me, it stayed with me.
Speaker 1:Why is it that it seems like people are at that same place as me, fast forward five years and they're like they don't even have a Bible, they don't pray, they don't come to church. You ask them if they're a Christian, they'll say yeah, but just in a real generic sense, and so, like, why is it that? I find that and I'm for sure humming. Can you guys just bring it down or something, can you? Why is it that people find the Christian faith so compelling but then other people claim to see that it's super compelling, but they don't see a reason for it to become a big part of their life.
Speaker 1:Right, and so what is it about me, what is it about you sitting here that gets you through aggravation, frustration, offense, hardship, boredom, trials, challenges, like, what is it about the Christian faith that keeps you here? Right, and how is it that those things the trials, the tribulations, the challenges, the storms take those other people out, while someone for me, like for the last 40 years, I can say I'm not leaving. What is it? And it's important that you understand, just for clarity's sake. I am not talking about leaving a particular church, are we clear on that? But I'm not saying that.
Speaker 1:I'm saying like, leaving the faith in general or, as is more common, putting it on the back burner, where you're still a Christian but you're not a Christian. You know what I mean. Like you're a Christian but you're not a Christ follower. You haven't, you haven't or you haven't shaped and ordered your life around following Jesus Christ, right, and so I was just thinking about that for me, and so what I have for you this morning to close the series, it's just kind of a personal message, I think, but it's four reasons that have caused me to say, pastor David, I'm not leaving, here's the points, and it's not a preachy message. I didn't like take all kinds of time to make cool little sticky statements that you can tweet. I didn't do too much of that today. I just it's just me trying to share my heart as for why I find the faith to be something that's with me, and I feel like I'm gonna need God to help make it real to you, because I think all this stuff you're gonna agree with, but there's people that are gonna agree with everything I'm gonna say and are still not gonna be here in two years, right, and so what I'm believing God to do is gonna penetrate your heart and that you're not just realizing things and believing these things in your head, but it's something that becomes real to you in your heart and you orient your life around it, and it causes you to be stable in your faith when other people are unstable. Okay, so here we go. Are you ready? Okay, why I'm not leaving? Number one is this, if you're taking notes eternal life, eternal life.
Speaker 1:I'd like to introduce you to the current Guinness World Record holder of the longest living person. This is Jeanne Calment. She's currently celebrating in this picture, her 121st birthday. She does not look happy about it. I believe. Her quote was why am I still here? Yeah, get this. She was born, are you ready? In 1875, 1875, lived 122 years and died in 1997, a year after this photo was taken. 122 years, that's a long time.
Speaker 1:Did you know that Jesus teaches that the people who follow him live forever? Right, they don't just live 80 years, don't just live 122 years, they don't just live 800 years, don't just live a million years, you don't just live one billion years, you don't just live 10 billion years. That you live literally forever. Eternal life. I bet everyone in the room knows at least one scripture, and it's which one John 3.16,. Let's read it. It says this for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Speaker 1:Eternal life, the King James says, everlasting life. And so it's a life that doesn't end. It's a life where we live forever, and I think our minds have a hard time grasping the idea of something living forever. I feel like it's the universe, like it's the same as the universe, that we have a hard time grasping it. They now know, if you don't know, that the universe is expanding. Everything's getting farther away from each other and so the universe is expanding. And I'm thinking like how can the universe be expand, expanding into what you know what I mean? And like what's at the end of the universe? A wall, what's behind the wall? You know what I mean? Like you can't consider and your brain cannot comprehend, like a universe that's expanding. And the same is true with this idea of eternal, like it literally boggles the mind. But just the idea is that this life that you're living currently here on earth, it's just like the tiniest piece of what your life actually is, both in duration and in quality, because of what Christ has came to bring Eternal life. And I'll tell you, for me, you know, it's like that's a cool idea or whatever, and it's like, yeah, that's interesting. It's like, man, I have oriented my life around that belief. Everything that I do, everything that I think, everything that I, how I process the world, how I process myself, how I process my marriage, how I process being a parent, how I process being a pastor, it is all in the light of understanding eternal life.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you guys know the show Alone. Has anyone ever seen the show Alone? It's like a reality show where they take these survivalists and drop them into the middle of nowhere and then basically they've got like nothing. They've got like a dental floss and a tarp or whatever. And the idea is whoever lives in a walkie-talkie to say, come get me. That's all they have. And so the person who survives the longest out there gets all this money. And what's interesting is that most people, when they arrive there, one of the first things they do is they set up a temporary shelter, and so what that is is it's just like a little place that they have to get out of the elements and they have to get away from predators, and so they make this tiny little temporary shelter that they might sleep in one day, three days, something like that, but it's super janky, it's dental floss and leaves and sticks. It's like you blow on this temporary shelter and it falls over. But also, what they're doing is they're eyeing like this more long-term shelter that they're gonna build. And sometimes the long-term shelters is like one of the coolest things about the show Is that these people build like legitimate log houses with their bare hands, and it's really an amazing thing. And so they have this temporary shelter. They put a tiny bit of work in, but then they have this long-term shelter that they put a ton of work in.
Speaker 1:Did you know that the body that you're in right now, right, like if you looked at your skin right now, some people are like I don't wanna look at my skin, but if you look at your skin right now, you look at your hands, you look at your arms. Did you know that what you're looking at is your temporary shelter, right, and some of you are thinking like, oh, thank God, because this thing is breaking down quick. You wanna talk about being held together by dental floss, but this is dangerous, your 시. So right now, you look right into your arms as if you'm outside, as you think you're inside a faut. Your only friend deserve it. Or they're gonna ask you why that side of your body is it? And they don't know if their are. Scr gheeладhah, no, right here on this one, no-transcript. No matter how great, no matter how horrible, no matter how big, no matter how small, like if you have put your faith in Jesus, this is a temporary shelter.
Speaker 1:Let me show you 2 Corinthians, chapter five, verse one. Paul says this for we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed wait, the earthly tent, he's talking about your body, he's calling your body. Right now, an earthly tent that we have is destroyed. We have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be closed instead with our heavenly dwelling. Right, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, but he's talking about, like, getting off the toilet, groaning right. When we're in this tent, we groan right, everything's hurting. We're groaning in this tent because we do not wish to be unclothed, but be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling. So that is what is mortal, maybe swallowed up by life. So that's like some seriously dense scripture that I don't have time to get into.
Speaker 1:But what I'm wanting to do is I'm wanting you to notice the contrast. Right, he's talking about two different houses. Right, he's talking about a temporary tent. He calls it a tent and an eternal dwelling. Right, so our current bodies, current temporary shelter, but God himself is creating a heavenly dwelling for us.
Speaker 1:And what's amazing is that, like, if you truly wake up to that reality, right, that it's like this life, I mean, no matter how good, no matter how bad, no matter how everything's turning out like the things of this earth are still important, but they're not and I use this term on purpose the end of the world. Right, even the end of this world isn't the end of your world. Oh, yeah, in November, like, oh, my God, everyone, with the November, it's like look, this life, no matter how it goes, for you, if you've put your faith, if you've put your faith in Jesus Christ, like this is just like a really short, small blip. Paul calls it like a mist. He's like this is like a mist that comes, and the reality of eternal life for me is something that I would never want to live my life without. In fact, I would say this the reality of eternal life for me makes this life livable. If I had to go through this life and witness the evil and the suffering and the heartache and I didn't have the belief that God has all the time in the world to like make that, to like right those wrongs right, if I didn't believe that God has all the time in the world to make it up to those people, right. Like I don't see how you could see life as anything other than a tragedy. Right that, like if this life is all that there is, I mean, it's awful, that's what I think. Like if I had to do funerals for kids, which I do I could not do it if I didn't believe in eternal life. But now I can do it and it affects me for sure, but I'm like, yeah, but I believe in eternal life and so it helps me perceive everything here at the proper weight, with the right perspective.
Speaker 1:Look at what Paul says. Romans, chapter 8, verse 18,. He says this I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. This is amazing. He's saying all the junk, all the heartache, all the pain that this world has, and this is a man who has suffered. He's saying all of that's not even worth comparing what God has in store for us, and like, I hope I'm communicating that right, but it just seems insane to me that someone would say, yeah, I believe that and it's just not that important to them. Like, how can that possibly not matter to you? Like, how can how many likes you get on your Instagram put like, be more important than that? It's just crazy.
Speaker 1:And what I think is there's a lot of people who pretend like they believe it. It's amazing. But, man, if you really believe that you actually live forever, right, it puts everything else in perspective, right. So, like, if someone hurts your feelings, right. Like what you're going to? Like leave the faith, but you're going to leave the belief of eternal life because someone said something stupid. It's crazy, right.
Speaker 1:Like, like in 10 billion, 10 billion years, when you're still alive, by the way, 10 billion years from now, right, like, do you think? Do you think you're going to be like oh, I can't believe, pastor didn't say hi to me in the hall. Like, how much do you think you're going to care about that in 10 billion years, I imagine. Imagine, like we're walking up there and you're like, oh, I can't believe Kevin broke up with me. And I'm like when? And you're like 10 billion years ago, like you think you're going to care about that, and Paul says Paul says man, that's why it's silly to even compare the two. Right, it's ridiculous to even compare those two because one is so small when you put it next to something that is so much bigger.
Speaker 1:Pastor David, are you saying that God doesn't care about the things that we go through? No, I'm not. He for sure does. But at the same time, he's wanting to provide you with an eternal perspective so that you can see things the right way, right, and so you can weigh things correctly.
Speaker 1:Right, like I hate, I hate, you know, like my pants ripping as much as anybody, right, but like, if you put it in context, right, it's like, well, I'm going to live forever, I can deal with the pants. You know what I mean. And it's amazing. And it's not just that you're going to be like quote unquote alive forever, but it's that for all of eternity, you're going to live in perfect joy, perfect peace, perfect love, perfect contentment, every moment of every day, not just for the next 100 trillion years, but forever Right. And so I'm just telling you this is trying to be like me and my testimony why I think this is worthwhile, why I think church matters it's like, it's just amazing. It's like the most blissful ecstasy that you've ever experienced here on earth is just like a cheap counterfeit to what you'll feel every moment of every day in the presence of God who loves you. You know what I mean. And so it's like I'm never, I'm never leaving the Christian faith. I'm never leaving it. Like, even if you hurt my feelings, even if I go through hardship, even if I go through things I like don't understand, I'm not leaving because eternal life means too much to me. Okay, did I use all my time on that one? Okay, no, we're all right. Number two why I'm not leaving eternal life. Number two unshakable peace, unshakable peace.
Speaker 1:I think of peace sometimes kind of like air, like you don't realize how much you appreciate it until you don't have it Right. And then, the moment you don't have it, all you can think about is how you'll do anything to get it back Right. And that's what. That's what peace is. Like man, you don't even, you don't even appreciate peace when you have it. But, man, when you don't have peace, you know what that feels like and how bad it is.
Speaker 1:And anyone who has been on this planet for any amount of time knows the painful reality that peace, as the world defines it, is fickle, fragile and fleeting. Right, why? Because the world's peace is situational peace. What in the world does that mean? It means that the peace that you're going to experience from this place is a byproduct of things going your way. You hear me, are you tracking me? Young people?
Speaker 1:So let's say, okay, so it's like, okay, you're popular, okay, so of course you have peace. It makes sense, right, of course your relationships are all going great, of course you feel peace. Like, that makes sense. Your, your body is healthy. Of course you have peace. That makes sense.
Speaker 1:But the peace that Jesus brings is a piece that doesn't make sense. Paul says that the peace that Jesus gives is a piece that transcends your understanding, and that's why I'm calling it unshakable peace. Not just peace, right, because people who don't believe in God, they can still have peace. But I'll tell you what they don't have. Unshakable peace Right, they've got peace, but it's like a like um, like the little house made out of dental floss, right. When the storm comes, the peace goes, right, but. But Jesus offers something that's unshakable it's peace that stays with us, even listen to me, even when situations change.
Speaker 1:And that's what I want. Man, I like. Like, I want my relationships to be great, but even if my relationships are not great, I still have peace. I want to look successful. I want to be cool you know, like I got my chain, because that you know what I mean Like I want to look cool, right, but. But even if I don't, right, look, I still have peace. I want my career to be great, but even if it's not, I still have peace. I want to have a fat bank account, but even if I'm a little light and it's like ramen noodles, breakfast, lunch and dinner, uh til payday, right, like, I still have peace. I want a peace that the world didn't give me and the world can't take away from me.
Speaker 1:I even noticed, like notice, what Jesus says in John, chapter 14. He says this peace. This is Jesus talking to you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. So Jesus says that he's leaving us not just peace, but his peace, right, not just peace, his peace. And see, jesus understood this. That you need to understand too.
Speaker 1:Situational peace is fragile peace. Situational peace is fragile peace. And so when something is fragile, what does that mean? It's fragile? It means that it crumbles under weight.
Speaker 1:You know, like when it's raining I hear it's like either raining or snowing out there it's kind of exciting. You know when, when it rains, like all these snails come out. I don't know from where are they under the ground? Are they falling from the sky? Right, our backyard gets covered with snails, and so it's like I'm walking out and I'm trying to like take out the trash, and I'm just taking a step and it's like crunch, oh, oh, my God. So it's like, do you want to make Jesus come out? It's like, do you want to make Jesus the Lord of your life? Maybe you can live on as a slug, but you know, a snail's shell is relatively strong when you're that size, right, but when you're my size, a snail's shell is fragile, right.
Speaker 1:And there's, there's the world's peace. That might seem like relatively strong when the stakes are small, right, but when real trouble hits, when you get that phone call that changes everything for you when the thing happened that you never thought would happen and now it happened. Like now, you're going to need a peace that's unaffected by the inconveniences and the adversity that life brings. That's what you're going to need, and that doesn't mean that things won't happen. It doesn't mean that we ignore what's happening. It doesn't mean we're in denial. It means that you have a peace that comes from somewhere else.
Speaker 1:And remember, what I'm doing is I'm just trying to tell you why the Christian faith is what I have anchored my life around. I need that. I need peace that stays with me even when situations change. I can't be like this my whole life, man. I can't be like, oh, everyone thought my sermon was great, oh, cool, yeah, life's good, my daughter is nice today, you know it's like life's okay. Versus like, oh, people left and called me fat and bald on the internet or whatever. Now I can't operate Like I can't do that. I can't be living with this like, oh, I'm cool, oh, I'm great. Oh, now everyone thinks I'm dumb, like I can't do that.
Speaker 1:For me to be able to do what I'm supposed to do, I need peace that stays with me in good days and bad days. Right, and you know, it's been said like the greatest gift that you can give your family, your spouse and the world is the healthiest version of yourself. And I don't know if this is true for you, this is just true for me. I feel like the healthiest people that I meet in this world are Christians. That's what I think Like. Now there are tons of unhappy, unhealthy and miserable Christians, for sure.
Speaker 1:But, man, there's something about a person who's following God and has, like, the love of God on the inside of them and the joy of God and the peace of God, and just this is my experience it just makes them shine brighter than other people. I feel like not always, but I feel like a lot of times I can walk into the grocery store and I can tell you who the Christians are. Am I the only one? It's like, oh, these are the people. They're standing up straight and they're looking people in the eye and they're smiling and they're trying to do nice things for people and they let people in and it's like I can like spot the Christians, Because I just think there's something about the peace that Jesus brings that's unlike any other peace. I told you this a few years ago.
Speaker 1:But there was a time I went to discount tire. I was having my wife's tires rotated and I was waiting there and there was a lady who came in and, you know, she dropped off her keys. I don't know, probably mid-sixties and she walks over to me and like, gets so close to me and she's like who are you? I was like hi, I'm David. I believe in personal space I can still smell the ranch on your breath. No, I didn't say that. I was like oh, hey, I'm David, I'm a pastor.
Speaker 1:She's like, oh, she says that's it. She says the energy, all about energy. The energy that's coming off you is unbelievable. I was like thank you, oh my gosh. So we just kept talking and talking.
Speaker 1:After a few minutes she was like now I see what it is, you are one of God's chosen ones. She told me wow, thank you, you can be too. Yeah, they come and they bring her keys to her, her car's done and she's like I just don't want to leave you. She's like your energy is filling me up. And I was like cool.
Speaker 1:And she said at first just show me all of your tattoos. I was like how much time do you have? And she said for you all the time in the world. And I was like all right, if there's anybody scary, just ask to see their tattoos. So that Bonnie Han knows this I don't know if she's in here, but she asked people, big old, scary people at the gym. She walks up right up to them and says let me see your tattoos friends for life.
Speaker 1:Anyways, yes, she wanted to see the tattoos and it's a very silly story, but I do think it's a strange example of something that, for many of us, we know is true, and it's this Christians, more than any other group, tend to have a peace that's not fragile like the peace of the world, and so I'm not leaving. I'm never leaving the Christian faith. Even if I go through things I can't explain, even if I endure things that I shouldn't have to, I'm staying because un-shakeable peace means so much to me. So it's like I'm never going, and it's utterly bewildering to me to see people that grow up in the faith believe that this is what's offered to them, even have tasted it, tasted the peace that comes from God, only to fall away. That's never going to happen to me.
Speaker 1:Eternal life number one. Unshakable peace. Number three is this forgiveness of sin. Forgiveness of sin and this might seem like a strange one. Let me see if I can explain it to you. I have lived long enough to recognize the brokenness in the world and the brokenness in myself, whether there's something in the world and there's something in me that's not right, and the Bible calls this broken nature and broken behavior, both individual and collectively, sin. In fact, we can see James says this in James, chapter 4, verse 17. If anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them. Isn't that interesting? So sin is not just doing the wrong thing, it's also passing up opportunities to do the right thing.
Speaker 1:And it gets even worse. Look at this. Romans, chapter 3, verse 23,. Paul says All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So the sin is not just a problem for drug dealers and gangsters. The sin problem is a problem for everybody. So let me ask you a question Do you sin? Everyone sinned. Some religious types are going to be like no, no, that was BC, bc before Christ. Yeah, I grew out of that sin. Well, that's the sin of pride and you're in big trouble, mr. We all sin. We all have sinned and we all sin, even Pastor Marshall, you bet. We all have sin, and look, it gets even worse. Romans, chapter 6, verse 23. Listen to this, for the wages of sin is death. Okay, so this is something that we all do and what we deserve for it is death. Right, that's the gospel. If you don't step one of the gospel, it's this, you deserve death, right, that's one that we all have sinned and we are all deserving of the punishment for that sin. Look at this. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Right?
Speaker 1:So the Christian faith not only gives me personally a way of understanding the brokenness in myself and the brokenness in the world, but it also gives me a way of dealing with it. Right that it doesn't just tell me there's a problem. It presents the problem, but it also presents the solution, which is forgiveness and redemption and resurrection through Jesus Christ. And so the first thing that happens is the Christian faith helps us. See, I'm not as good as my fans think I am. I'm not. Like. I'm not as good as someone you think I am. I'm not, but you know what? Neither are you. You're not as good as I think you are Right.
Speaker 1:But there's like lots of things in the Christian faith that point to this. Probably the primary one that we should point out obviously this week would be the cross Right that, like the eternal God, triune God, the Father, god, the Son, god, the Holy Spirit, fully God, right Jesus leaves his place in heaven, comes to earth, fully God, fully man, to offer redemption and forgiveness and love to people who don't deserve it. And we repay that good deed by murdering him. And if you're like, please don't call it murder, the disciples call it murder. In the book of Acts he says Christ, whom you murdered, right? And so we kill him.
Speaker 1:And so it's amazing that we look at the cross and we recognize that when we see the ugliness of the cross how gross and horrible that is we realize that what we're seeing is the ugliness of mankind and the ugliness that's in our own heart, right. And so when I see the cross, I see it's horrible, but I look at the cross and I remember that that horror is also something that exists in me. But what's amazing about the Christian faith is it doesn't leave you there, right. It teaches you that God loves you so much that he takes our sin. He takes our punishment and he puts it on himself so that we could live lives as, like, redeemed people, forgiven people, and then we can become ambassadors of that forgiveness to the rest of the world. Right, so we're sinners who have been forgiven, and then we can go out in the world and offer that forgiveness to people, both saying that Jesus forgives you and I forgive you. Right, so we offer the forgiveness of Christ in our words, but also in our deeds. And it's important for me. I'm trying to tell you it's important for me. This is important for me because it becomes the framework through which I see the world and it becomes the framework through which I see other people, I think, people who don't understand this struggle showing God's compassion to other people, because they forget how much they've been forgiven of Right.
Speaker 1:So, like when I go out and I see a drug addict on the street, I look at them and I say, yeah, me too, that used to be me too, and in a lot of ways that is still me too. But the forgiveness that Jesus came to offer he's offering to them, and without that forgiveness I wouldn't be forgiven either. Right, and so we're the same, right. So I dare not judge. I dare not judge them because I remember that we're both in the same boat, which is unentitled beggars in need of God's mercy, but so loved by God and so welcomed by God that we can come off. And that's how I see everybody, right? So some people are like they're struggle with the drug addicts on the street. I don't personally struggle with that. This is the one I struggle with.
Speaker 1:Ready, the corrupt politician on TV, right, and depending on who you are and how you see things, you might struggle with one of those types of people more than the other. But, man, I look at the corrupt politician on TV and I look at them and I say, yeah, me too. Yeah, me too, there's corruption in my own heart too. Right. And the forgiveness that Jesus comes to offer. If I'm to receive it, if I'm to be eligible to receive it, I have to realize that that forgiveness is for me and for him, right and so. And the forgiveness is available, and so I'm trying to be an ambassador of forgiveness, right? How does that look? It means that I walk in forgiveness.
Speaker 1:I don't just preach forgiveness, I forgive, you know. And so I look at him and I don't judge him because I say, man, we're in the same boat, and for me that has become that might sound like, oh god, that is like church talk. That has become for me the framework for which I see everybody. Right, like I go to the bank and I recognize that all of these people are in the same boat as me. Right, that we all have this sin problem and we've all been offered the same solution. We're all sinners, we all fall short and God is consistently offering forgiveness to us and to them all the time. And it's my job to be someone who echoes that reality. God loves them and wants to forgive them.
Speaker 1:You'll recall what Jesus talks about seeing, recognizing a plank in your own eye before you see the speck in someone else's Right. That it's like you're supposed to see the sin in someone else's life and say that's a speck, and you're supposed to see the sin in your own life and say that's a log, right. So if I'm gonna make a big stink out of anyone's sin, you know who it's gonna be. And so, like forgiveness of sin, like it, it's something I'll never leave the Christian faith, right, like I could leave a church. I'm not gonna, but I could leave a church, I could be hurt. I could say all kinds of horrors. I will never leave the Christian faith because I believe in sin. You know what I mean. I believe in the reality of sin, right, both in me and in other people, right, and I just feel like the world is truly and deeply doomed if it were not for Jesus, and Jesus is the Savior of the world, and that means so much to me. So I'm never leaving. I'm never leaving because he. Eternal life means too much to me. Unshakable peace means so much to me. Forgiveness of sin means too much to me. Lastly, number four, I'm done. Kingdom purpose, kingdom purpose.
Speaker 1:I think I've told some of you guys this story a while ago, but one time I was preaching in here and if you, if you don't know, I've spent most of my ministerial time up to this point pastoring young people, teenagers, middle schoolers, young adults, college, and so I'm gonna say something, but I feel like I'm uniquely qualified to say it. I'm not saying it as some outsider, but after I preached, someone came up here. He was a father of a young teenager boy, teenage boy, and he said Pastor David, what do you think about teenagers these days? And I said, just like, broadly, generally speaking. He's like, yeah, and I said directionless Not bad people, I just not particularly sure where they're going. And like, look, that's fine when you're 12. It's fine when you're 13, 14, 15, 6. Like, what do you want to do with your life? That's fine. But, man, like when you're 28 and you still have no sense of being a part of something bigger than just yourself and your own Instagram, you know it's like something has gone wrong and I stand by that statement. But you know what I think?
Speaker 1:I think it's not just young people. I think people of all ages struggle with purpose, and so we self-medicate with alcohol, whatever, but we also self-medicate with social media. You self-medicate by cleaning your house all day Because you want to face the reality that you don't feel like you have something that matters, right, and there's just no sense of like I'm contributing to something that outlives me, and so if something happens to me but the cause is still going, then I'm okay and that means everything to me. Man, I don't want my whole life to be like this temporary shelter. That's too stressful, you know, but so like I need something that is like it matters to me, but it matters to God, it matters to the world, and so it just outlifts me, and I just see people who, like, have no sense of purpose and they're miserable and they hate themselves for it. You know, and it's like they outside the mall, you know, wearing black clothes, I like I wear black, but, you know, wearing black clothes like pouting. You know, it's like man, these poor people, man, they've got no sense of doing anything that matters in the world, and I just think, like why would anyone choose that when the Christian faith gives you such a clear and concrete sense of purpose, right of like, of like why you're here? I think it's such an incredible gift to mankind for God to come and say this is your job. It's great, I love that. It's like.
Speaker 1:Okay, pastor Davis, so what's our job? Are you ready to put Christ on display in the world? That's your job. What's the job? Well, you know, I've got lots of jobs. I work at a restaurant. That's cool. That's cool Really.
Speaker 1:Your job, though, is to put Christ on display in the world. Let me hit you with a few scriptures to back that up. 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 9, says this but you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, god's special possession. Oh yeah, why? Okay, ready that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light. That's why, right, so you're a holy nation. How come? So that you could declare the praises of Jesus is what it says.
Speaker 1:1 Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 31, says this so, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it, why? All for the glory of God. So that's your job, young Christian. That's your job, old Christian right, to put Christ on display in the world. And every other job that you have is a vehicle through which you accomplish your real job, which is to put Christ on display. Right, so maybe you're like a CEO of a huge company. Man, that's cool, that's super beautiful, and that's a platform for you to do what your real job is, which is to put Christ on display. How, I don't know? By being a person of integrity, being a person of wisdom. Right, making the world a better place, raising your family in the ways of the Lord. Right, like financing the spread of the gospel. Amen to that one.
Speaker 1:So maybe you're a stay-at-home parent. It's like, that's beautiful, super cool, and that's a platform for you to do your real job, which is to make the name of Jesus great, to spread His name across the world. Remember, how will I do that? Well, as a stay-at-home mom. By caring for God's children. Hello, right, by raising up world changers. Right, by raising up kids. Who will raise up kids? Who will raise up kids? Who will raise up kids that make the name of the Lord great in the world? Stay-at-home parent, man, but your real job is to make the name of Jesus great by being an example, both to your children and to the world, of what Christ's love really looks like. Maybe you're a full-time student and it's like okay, that's super cool, beautiful, beautiful. But that's just a platform for you to do your real job, which is to spread the name of Jesus. Okay, how Well, by modeling Christ's likeness to everyone you encounter, by showing kindness and compassion and integrity, by putting the fruit of the Spirit on display everywhere you go, right, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, right. And in doing that, you'll be a great student and you'll be a phenomenal employee and you'll be a phenomenal boss, right? But all of that will be ultimately just a platform for your truest and highest calling, which is to put Christ on display to the world. And so maybe you're retired okay, that's super cool, retired, you're beautiful. But that's just a platform for you to do your real job, which is to put Christ on display to the world, how, by giving of yourself to other people, by praying for people, by serving people, by going out of your way to show people how much Christ loves them.
Speaker 1:And some people think, like man, I'm retired, so like my purpose is not really like a thing anymore. My purpose is kind of over. That's crazy, I would say. I would say, now that you're retired, you can serve your purpose full-time. You know, now you have to be like oh, I'm not allowed to serve Jesus. Like you can be like a shining light of Jesus' love everywhere that you go. You might be retired, but you still have a full-time job To make the name of the Lord great.
Speaker 1:And I'm just so grateful. I'm so grateful for me that it's like, even as, even if my life changes, even if my life situation changes, my purpose stays the same. I'll tell you for me personally, like I feel like I'm called to be a pastor, I feel like I'll be doing this, I feel like I'll retire from this job, but like, look, even if God has a different plan for me and I don't think he does. I'm not breaking up with you, more committed to you than I have ever been. But look, even if my life situation stays the same, my purpose or it changes. My purpose will never change, it'll always be. I know that I'm here to make the name of the Lord great.
Speaker 1:You could say like this is one tweetable statement that I worked out for you. Purpose will make you stay when pride tells you to leave. Purpose will make you stay when pride tells you to leave. And so, like, when I'm coming and I'm sitting in church, like I'm not sitting here, being like okay, pastor Dave, pastor Goff, you've got to, you've got to wow me with worship. I need goosebumps. You give me gooseies twice or I'm out of here. I'm not doing that right. It's like, okay, I'm not sitting in here. Like, oh, pastor David, okay, make me laugh, make me, you know, say something funny, funny man. But like I'm not, I'm not doing any of that. Like I'm not consumed.
Speaker 1:When I'm in this room, I'm not consumed with preference, I'm consumed with purpose, and that keeps me stable. People that come in here and expect all of our preferences to be accommodated are unstable people, because I don't know, if you know this, y'all's preferences aren't the same. People complain to me every week that it's too quiet in here. People complain to me every week that it's too loud in here. You know what I mean. Like all the time and so, like, and so if the church does something that's not my preference, I'm not proud about it, but I'm not going to leave Because my purpose keeps me stable, my purpose and so and so it's just a powerful stabilizer for you, right, that the moment you change your Christian faith to being what can God do for me, or what can I feel to, what can God do through me and what can I do?
Speaker 1:Well, then all of a sudden, you become much more stable, right, and then the storm comes. That purpose holds you there and not only does, not only does faith clarify my purpose, it also helps me accomplish my purpose. Here's what I mean. So sometimes I'll do pastoral counseling and I'm totally done. But sometimes I'll do pastoral counseling and I'll meet, and pretty much all that I have to offer people who want my help is faith. That's pretty much all I have to give them. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Like I'm not, I'm not some wise, you know, psychotherapist. There's amazing people. Thank God for them. That's not me. Like, here's what I can do. I can tell you how faith applies to your life, right, and that's, that's all my cards. Those are the only cards I have to play, right.
Speaker 1:And so if you, if you're an atheist, and you come and want to see me which happens occasionally it's like there's not a whole lot I can do for you, right, if you reject the idea of faith, because I have, I have anchored my life around that whole concept, right, it's like I don't have a lot to a lot of help. How they would say the same thing. We would all say the same thing. That's like what we have to give people is faith, right. And so let's say you're an atheist and you come to me and you're like help me with my anxiety. I don't have anything to say to you except for, like, go to the doctor. But but for for me, like, the Christian faith is so precious to me because I have a purpose in this world, and not only that, I also have a tool to offer people in the world that I think can really help. So I'm not leaving.
Speaker 1:Number one eternal life. Number two unshakable peace. Number three forgiveness of sin. Number four kingdom purpose. And so what are those for you? Maybe, maybe for you there's, those are the same things. Like, what's it different? Maybe it's different for you, but what is it about the Christian faith that that anchors you when the storm comes?
Speaker 1:And I hope the answer is not like, I like best of David's preaching he's funny. It's not going to work long term. Hear me, young people Harvey's super sick, super cool, right. But like, if you just come to church because you like Harvey, that's not going to work for you for the next 50 years. Right, it's cool, it's a cool excuse to bring your friends. But like, if, if your faith never roots in something stable, right, it falls when Harvey falls, which will never happen. But you know what I'm saying. Right, it can't. It can't hinge on that. I hope you don't say I come to church because I get to see all my friends. That might work short term. That's not going to work long time. Long term, that might keep you here for three months. It's not going to keep you here for 50 years, right. Right, like I love church because I get goosebumps with the worship, that's not going to last. But there has to be something that keeps you stable in the Christian faith keeps you on course, keeps you moving forward, even when the challenges of life come.
Speaker 1:So I was asking how I might, asking God how I might end the series. So I wanted to do something cool and I was praying about it. I guess Friday, and God brought to my remembrance, this time in this room, I had preached and I came down here and I said the shweel about people can come up and pray, I have time for you all that. And this lady came up to me and she was crying, middle-aged lady, and she told me that she had just found out that her husband was having an affair and that he was leaving her and her two children, the two children that they had together. They were happily playing in the children's church and she said the kids didn't know any of that yet and so that day she was going to have to try to tell them somehow. Right, the dad was going away and she didn't even know how to I don't know process any of that. And so I prayed for her.
Speaker 1:I don't know, even as I was praying I just kind of got the sense and if you all know me, you know like I don't ever do this. But we prayed, we said, I said I looked her in the eye and I said God wants me to remind you that you're still standing. And I don't know like it meant a lot to me and I think it meant a lot to her, but I just want to tell somebody in here it's like man. You're still standing Right, like the devil gave you his best shot and it wasn't enough to take you out. Right, like the winds of adversity came. And you're still standing Right and you might feel like you're in the storm right now, but the sun is getting ready to come out. You've come too far to give up. Now you can be stable and when you feel like the storm is hitting you on both sides, look, you can be stable. And I'll tell you this we can give you all the principles, but sometimes, when it's not working, you just pray to God and sometimes he can come and give you like supernatural stability for that season. Right, and so that's what we're believing for you, you know, because, like, we've given our life to doing this. Some of y'all might think that's super cool, some of you might think it's super silly, but the reason that we do this is not because we like lights and smoke machines and all that. It's because, like, we really hope that we can make a positive impact for you, and one thing that we wish for you in this year, next year, the year after that, the year after that, is that you will have the strength to make it. You can make it.
Speaker 1:Here's my closing statement. I'm not leaving, and I'll tell you why. Eternal life, the revelation of eternal life, keeps me thinking with an eternal perspective and helps me endure temporary hardship. Unshakable peace the peace that Jesus offers is not fragile like the world's peace and stays with me even when situations change. Forgiveness of sin my faith helps me to understand the brokenness in the world and the brokenness in myself, but it also provides the only real solution Forgiveness and redemption through the cross. Lastly, kingdom purpose my faith gives me my unchanging purpose to put Christ on display.