WEBVTT 00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:03.120 Welcome to the Springs Church Podcast. 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:04.879 We are so glad you joined us. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:11.439 Our mission is to reach the lost by raising up fully trained disciples that are empowered by God to impact their world. 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:15.839 We pray that you are challenged and encouraged as you listen to this week's message. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:19.920 2 Samuel chapter 6, verse 16 to 22 says this. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:34.159 Now, as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michael, Saul's daughter, who was David's wife, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord. 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:37.439 And she despised him in her heart. 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:44.960 So they brought the ark of the Lord and they set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:50.880 And then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:52.799 Let's go down to verse 20. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:01:15.120 It says, When David returned to bless his household, and Michael, the daughter of Saul, his wife, came out to meet David and said, sarcastically, if I could put it this way, how glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of the servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:26.640 So David said to Michael, It was before the Lord who chose me instead of your father and all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord over Israel. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:35.840 Therefore, I will play music before the Lord, and I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:37.680 I will be humble in my own sight. 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:49.200 Verse 22, just in the NLT translation, just for reference, says it like this it says, Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this. 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:51.120 In other words, you haven't, Michael. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:57.120 If you think that this is undignified, if you think that this worship is foolish, you haven't seen anything yet. 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.719 Just turn to the person next to you and say, You haven't seen anything yet. 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:03.200 You've not seen anything yet. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:08.719 Now, the title of this morning's message is this Too Foolish to Fit In. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:11.280 Too foolish to fit in. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:18.639 Now, David was a person who desired to be for the house of God, for the things of God. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:27.120 He was known still to this day historically as a man that was after God's own heart, even yet his life was so complex. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:34.639 There were so many things that David went through was a part of, letdowns, failures on his own part. 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:39.120 It's a very complex life. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:57.680 But from the very moment of David coming onto the scene, being anointed as king, facing Goliath all the way through to the end of his life, where he's still preparing the elements and the resources for the temple so that his son Solomon would be able to build a temple and dedicate it. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:10.159 His whole life he was he was able to embody the psalm that he wrote, one thing I've desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I shall be found in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:11.520 He had desire. 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:14.000 And now desire gives birth to direction. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:18.319 When you have a desire for something, you tend to follow those desires. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:22.319 You tend to move in the direction of those desires. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:23.919 Now I thank God for this church. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:30.319 I thank God, you know, as I've kind of said a few times, you cannot misdirect a par car. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:33.199 And I do not believe that the Springs Church is a par car. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:34.240 I believe we're going forward. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:36.159 I believe we're going in a direction. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:40.000 But there may be times where we don't always get everything right. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:42.719 Maybe there's times where God will have to alter our direction. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:47.599 He will all have to alter us and say, you're going too far this way, or you're going too far that way. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:58.400 But I would rather go forward with the chance of getting it wrong than waste the opportunities that God has set before us and he's given us in this time and in this hour. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.960 Because this is the generation that God's called us to. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:02.800 Thank God for the generations past. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:04.879 Thank God for the movements that have gone past. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:07.599 Thank God for Billy Graham. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:08.560 I've been listening to Billy. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:09.759 What a man of God. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:11.520 How many people he led to the Lord? 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:31.040 But how many know we need people to rise up in our generation that know what it is to preach boldly the word of God, to be unashamed of the gospel, to stand on street corners, to stand in the business place, or stand in households, and to be unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:33.279 Desire gives birth to direction. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:33.920 It does. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:41.839 That can be sinful desires that will lead you in a direction that is opposite to God's plans and God's purposes for your life. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:45.759 And it can cause you, sin will cause you to go further than you ever thought that you would go. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.399 Sin will cause you to do what you never thought that you would do. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:52.959 It will cause you to make decisions that you never thought in your wildest dreams that you would make. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:54.560 Sin will make you go further. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:05:03.759 Those desires of a sinful nature will take you in a direction that's opposite to the heart and that God would have for us and how He created us. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:09.600 But in the same manner, desires for the Lord, desires for His kingdom will cause us to take on Goliaths. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:17.279 It will cause us to do things that we wouldn't normally do by ourselves because there's a desire there. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.240 There's a hunger to see God's kingdom advance. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:21.040 Desire. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:23.439 Desire gives birth to direction. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:25.439 I've seen this firsthand. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:39.920 When I served as a young adult pastor, I would always be amazed as a young adult pastor when you know we would be there on a Sunday night, and all of a sudden, maybe in the worship, a new group would come into the young adults group. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:48.160 A bunch of guys would come in, and all of a sudden, all the girls would be would be worshiping like this, like looking over their shoulder, like who are they? 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:48.639 Huh? 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:49.360 Who are they? 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:50.399 Praise the Lord. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:56.319 And so all of a sudden, desire would give birth to some new direction, and they would begin to do things. 00:05:56.399 --> 00:06:00.800 They wouldn't, I would, I'd be like, oh, like the people who never played volleyball in their life. 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:10.240 All of a sudden, if they played volleyball, they were on the volleyball court, they were in the huddle, they were they were spiking it, they were volleying it, they were doing everything because man, they were they were in it. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:27.279 And I would watch the guys, if a new girl came in, there was a desire, and they they were they were they were attracted to somebody and they were you know wanting to make a good impression, all of a sudden that desire would cause direction and for them to do things that they wouldn't normally do. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:39.600 Like they would never serve, and all of a sudden they're lifting the chairs and they're flexing their muscles and they're like walking past and setting up the tables and they're putting out the chairs and they're doing things that they would not normally do. 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:43.120 Their desire makes you do things that you wouldn't normally do. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.879 They would they they they foolish things, they would make you do foolish things. 00:06:47.759 --> 00:07:02.959 I've got the scar to prove it, I've got a scar on my chin from the time when I was dating Sarah, and I remember I was trying to make a good impression, but we were both very competitive people, and so we were we were out bowling with friends one night, and we were bowling, and I was in the lead. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:07.920 I was I was I was one pin uh in the lead, and it was Sarah's last time to bowl. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:14.800 And if she got more than one pin, she would win the competition, which I thought was out of the question, shouldn't happen. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:18.800 And so, and so I thought, uh, now I can't dance. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:20.240 Periods. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:22.480 I don't have any rhythm in my body, right? 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:23.839 Not a no rhythm. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:34.399 But in that moment, I thought I was a break dancer, and I thought I would, I thought I would do the worm to distract her and to put her off so that she wouldn't win the she wouldn't get the pens. 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:36.480 So so she's getting ready to bowl. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:42.720 I'm over here trying to do the worm, but as I'm doing the worm, I bang my chin off of the ground, it splits open. 00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:47.199 It's it here's the good news she didn't win, and she married me, so that's good. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:59.120 But we spent we spent that night in the emergency room getting stitches, and that's where she fell in love with me, right there in the in the ER, getting those stitches, and the rest is history. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:05.279 Love, desire will make you do things that you would not normally do. 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:10.800 Now, let me tell you, when you say I'm gonna follow Jesus, there's a desire to follow him. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:17.519 I want to I want to please him, I want to love the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:25.759 When it when you when you when you truly want to walk with him, it will cause you to step into places you wouldn't normally step into. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:30.560 Say, say boldly things you wouldn't normally say by yourselves. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:33.200 There's there it's putting yourself out there. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:45.519 Let me tell you, all these worship leaders that were here this morning, can I tell you, there's there's a sacrifice in having to put yourself in front of people and and and and and worship and lift your hands. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:47.039 It can feel foolish. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:57.039 I remember the first time being in church and and seeing people lifting their hands and having this desire within myself, I want to worship, I want to lift my hands, I want to magnify God. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:01.279 But I I wasn't from a church evangelistic background, so I didn't know. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:02.639 Do I lift my hands this way? 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:03.759 Do I lift it like this? 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:04.960 Like, what do I do? 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:12.799 And how foolish I felt worshiping, but but there was something about just worshiping him, just being abandoned in my praise, just magnifying him. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:21.919 And felt foolish on the front end, but but I remember going to my first altar call, the salvation message, and and and my heart stirring within me. 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:24.000 But what would people think if I go forward? 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:35.120 Nobody's going forward to this altar call, nobody's going forward, but I thank God with all my heart that they're just in the foolishness of stepping out, coming to that altar, crying out to Jesus. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:39.440 I remember Jesus touching my life, saving me, washing me, cleansing me. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:45.120 They may have felt foolish in the moment, but I thank God with all my heart for the work of God. 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:54.000 It may feel foolish the first time you evangelize to somebody, may feel foolish the first time that you open up your Bible and begin to read it in public. 00:09:54.320 --> 00:10:01.200 But but but when you follow God, it will cause you to step out, it will cause you to do things you won't normally do. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:04.240 We were at the end of prayer and fasting on Wednesday night. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:07.200 How many here were when on Wednesday night for our last night? 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:18.639 And let me tell you, it was just the there was people were praising God, it was it was powerful, and at the end of the service, there was just a sense of celebration in the house, and they were singing that song. 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:23.279 Uh um some may call it foolishness, but I will say it's worth the risk. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.200 I can't forget what Jesus has done. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:32.639 And we were jumping, and I got up there and I said, We're just gonna jump, we're gonna praise, we're gonna magnify God, and people were bouncing in the presence of the Lord. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:40.720 I I've heard hip surgeries are now uh are uh being signed up, knees are gone out, but we were we were going for it. 00:10:40.799 --> 00:11:00.799 And I was looking over here, Pastor Jesse, who oversees our youth ministry, was here, and he was jumping in the presence of God, he was giving, going for it, and then there was all these teenagers behind him, just jumping and worshiping and praising God and thanking God and and and and not ashamed of what Jesus had done for them and and their love for him and their care for him. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.519 It's sometimes you got to put yourself out there. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:18.320 I think of being at the senior adults' banquet on Friday night, Pastor Robert and Rebecca oversee our senior adults ministry, and they had the idea to do a 1920s themed senior adults banquet, and it was fantastic. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:19.840 We had a great time. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:28.960 I showed up, he was dressed like Sherlock Holmes, they had all the stuff on them, and you know, to the world's eyes, foolishness. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:30.080 What are you doing? 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:37.600 But Pastor Robert seemed beyond foolishness, he seemed beyond maybe the awkwardness of putting yourself out in front of people to do games and activities. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:48.000 He seen senior adults connecting with one another, praying for one another, being about, being with each other, standing with each other, community, connection, fellowship, the work of God. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:51.840 And here he is on the choir on a Sunday morning leading the choir. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:52.320 Why? 00:11:52.559 --> 00:12:01.200 Because when you've got a desire after something, it will cause you to put yourself out there in the ways you would never have put yourself out before in the past. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:06.000 I look at that when I come here on Friday and I see our food ministry. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:20.399 When uh when they're giving out the food here from the food pantry on a Friday, and there's hundreds of cars uh uh lined up, and the heat index is 115, and these ladies and these men are out there and they're lifting up boxes of food and they're sweating. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:25.600 It may look indignified, it may look foolish, but there's a greater purpose, there's a reason. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:32.720 I'm willing to step out of what others might say, what others might think, and what the world may define as foolish. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:37.200 It's in my eyes, it's worth it, it's worth the risk, it's worth standing out there. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:40.080 I'm I'm gonna be even more undignified than this. 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:42.240 I'm gonna even be more foolish than this. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:45.840 I'm going to step out because I know what God has done for me. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:52.879 One author said it like this a drop of praise is unsuitable acknowledgement for an ocean of mercy. 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:57.519 A drop of praise is unsuitable acknowledgement for an ocean of mercy. 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:12.159 See, David, when he came and and and and his wife Michael from his own household began to condescend and began to look down and look unfavorably upon David's exuberance in worship. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.639 David said, I wasn't doing it for anybody, I was doing this unto the Lord. 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:19.759 I wasn't worried about what other people thought about me. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.159 My eyes were upon the Lord. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:26.639 I was giving a praise the Lord to him because he's worthy of praise. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:28.480 I thank God for this church. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.759 I thank God that we're a praise the Lord church. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:36.000 I thank God that we get a little bit rowdy every once in a while. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:48.559 I I do, I thank God that sometimes we push past even just the emotion of it, and we say, Jesus, even if I've had a bad beat, you're still worthy of my praise, you're still worthy of the glory, you're still worthy. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:14:01.120 And every once in a while somebody will just look a little bit foolish and just in the middle of a message, praise the Lord, because they know it's unto the Lord, they know the mercy of God towards them, they know what God's done to them. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:23.039 I heard the old story of uh of somebody showing up to a uh a Lutheran church and and and being a visitor and not being used to the liturgy uh the liturgy or the liturgical style service and walked in there and in the middle of service was so delighted with the word, just shout out, praise the Lord! And somebody in the back said, We don't do praise the Lord's at this church. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.240 And somebody in the front of the church said, We do praise the Lord's. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:28.480 It's in page number 19 of the hymnal. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:39.360 It's not about the style that you're doing it, it's that God's worthy of praise, he's worthy of worship, he's worthy, he's worthy to be thanked. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:44.240 It's worth he's you can ascribe worth to him because he's worthy. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:46.960 How many believe that Jesus is worthy this morning? 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:52.720 How many believe Jesus is worthy of worship, worthy of praise, worthy of all the glory? 00:14:53.679 --> 00:15:24.080 And there's a tension in this because Michael is Saul's daughter, which is important to know because Saul was the king before David, and there was a direct contrast between Saul and David in the sense that as they Saul began his journey well, it didn't end the same way it started, it ended really in tragic circumstances, and somewhere along the line, Saul became more focused on what people thought about him and what God thought about him. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:30.480 And Michael, Saul's daughter, represents that mindset in this story. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:43.600 It represents wanting more to look like a king than rather than being uh passionate about worshiping the king. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:49.919 She wanted to look like a king, uh kingdom people, but David said, I want to worship the king. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:58.080 I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I'm not so concerned about what other people think about me, I'm I'm thinking about what Jesus thinks about me. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:01.600 We're living in an image conscious generation. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:10.320 Everything is filtered, everything is edited, everything is wants to put the best version of ourselves forward. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:17.919 But nobody wants to be undignified, nobody wants to look foolish, nobody wants to look look radical about following Jesus. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:19.360 But David knew something. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:47.519 He knew something, he knew the mercy of God, he knew the grace of God, he knew what it was to have much, and he knew what it was to have little, he knew what it was to slay Goliath, but he also knew what it was to be at Ziglag when his the city was devastated, his family was taken captive, the people began to turn on him, and yet he was still able to go in and encourage himself in the Lord and put find strength in God to keep on moving forward. 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:48.960 No, David's an unusual. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:57.279 Because this very story comes on the heel of getting it wrong. 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:52.400 The the the the context of the story is that David sees the ark of the Lord, which is the visual representation of the presence of God in the Old Testament, and he sees that it is outside of Jerusalem, outside of the tabernacle, outside of the center of where the work of the kingdom took place, and so he goes to bring it into Jerusalem, but along the way, although his desires were right and his direction was right, his discernment was off, and he takes the ark, and although scripture had given instructions for how it was supposed to be brought in, he decides to put it on a new cart, and as the oxen stumbles, he uh one of the priests put out his hands to stabilize the ark, and and it says the anger of the Lord was aroused, and it struck that man, and he ended up dying. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:18:07.920 And fear entered in, and discouragement probably entered in, and they took the ark and they brought it into a man called Obed Edom's house, and they placed the ark in there, and for three months the ark remained in that place, and David must have been discouraged. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:11.839 He got it wrong, he tried to do the right thing and got it wrong. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:21.920 He his desire was right, but his discernment and the word of God was off, and it had consequences, it had tragedy attached to it. 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:26.960 David knew tragedy, David knew consequences, he knew what it was to face. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:33.839 Think about Bathsheba and the challenges he faced and the disruption that caused to his own home, even in the loss of life. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:45.440 Think of the rebellion in his house with Absalom and people who were close to him, the council turning, uh Hethophel turning on him, people abandoning him along the journey. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:56.480 He knew what it was, but yet there was something inside of David that says, One thing I've desire, that shall I seek, that I will be found in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, of my life. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:05.839 And so he hears that down in Obed Edom's house, follow it me, the ark is there, they've placed it in a space, and God is blessing the house of Obed Edom. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:11.519 And David wants the blessing, he wants the presence of God, he desires the presence of God. 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:14.799 He might have got it wrong, but that doesn't change his desire. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:21.440 Now I'm praying that there's some people in here, you may have got it wrong, but it shouldn't change your desire. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:31.759 You may have messed up along the way, you may have not got it all correct, but it should not change that you have a heart to see God's kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:44.880 If you are going to put yourself out there as a fool, as a re as a person who believes in the work of Jesus, can I let you notice you're not going to have a perfect track record of success? 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:53.359 And if you're not going to have a perfect track record of success, don't you think that anybody besides you is going to have a perfect track record of success as well? 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:56.559 You're not going to win every battle. 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:02.400 He's already won the victory, but it doesn't mean that you're going to win every battle that you walk through. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.759 You will face some losses along the way. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:08.559 And David faced some losses. 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:14.240 He faced some battles, but he was determined that he wanted the presence of God. 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:19.920 He didn't want the presence of God outside, he wanted the presence of God inside. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:24.000 He was determined that he was going to bring this up into the house. 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:27.200 He was determined that this was going to be in the tabernacle. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:31.200 You know, we're called to be tabernacles of the Holy Spirit. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:38.720 In other words, there should be something in us that doesn't want the move of God just to stay at 900 Park Avenue in Orange Park. 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:40.319 That's the address of this building. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:47.359 We shouldn't just want to come in and sing, shout to the Lord all the earth, and then walk out and just leave the presence of God. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:49.759 And He never leaves us and never forsakes us. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:50.720 Catch what I'm saying. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.160 But we're with the anointing, we just think the anointing of church. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:21:02.240 No, I'm praying that there's some dads and some moms that says, I want the presence of God in my house, in my home, at my address. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:08.720 I want to see God glorified and worshiped and magnified in my home. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:15.680 It's not just when the pastor prays that there's power, there's prayer, there's power when I call upon the name of Jesus. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:17.599 I will lay hands on my children. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:19.839 I will pray a hedge of protection around. 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:24.799 I will pray over the sick and believe that they shall be hailed in the name of Jesus. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:25.759 I want it. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:31.680 It's gonna take some students to say, I just don't want God to show up and radiate on a Wednesday night. 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:38.160 I want God to show up in my high school, I want God to show up in my college campus, I want God to show up in my workplace. 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:41.680 I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:45.759 I'm willing to be a little bit more undignified than even this. 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:53.839 There has to be something within us that says, I desire the presence of Almighty God's. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:58.160 I don't want to just be seen as a Christian, I want to be a Christian. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:21:59.680 Let me just say. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.640 That again. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:03.119 I just don't want to be seen as a Christian. 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:04.880 I want to be a Christian. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:06.480 Hallelujah. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:09.039 We gotta be careful. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:11.279 We're living in a culture here. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:18.799 I speak as a somebody who loves where I live, loves this nation, loves being here in the Bible belt. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:22.960 But you know, being a Christian in this environment can open doors for you. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:36.240 You can have just enough Jesus to open up doors for you, give people, give access to certain places, and to be popular and get social media interaction on it just by saying the name of Jesus. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:40.400 But I don't want to be a Christian that just uses the name of Jesus for my own gain. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:49.519 I want to be a Christian that uses and loves the name of Jesus so much that I am so foolish I don't even fit into this world. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:56.559 I want to be such a radical believer in Jesus that it is going to distinguish me. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.759 It's going to cause me to look strange in certain places. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.599 People will not always like me. 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:03.759 People may not always throw me a party. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:05.359 People may not always accept me. 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:10.079 I might not even get that job, uh promotion that I was praying for and hoping for. 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:18.240 But I will not bend my knee to a secular, unbelieving, ungodly, god-forsaking culture. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:19.680 I believe in Jesus. 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:21.359 I believe all of it. 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:23.920 I believe all of it. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:26.720 Count me amongst the foolish. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:28.240 Count me amongst. 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:31.039 I believe that Jesus is God. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:34.000 I believe that God took on flesh and dwelt among us. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:36.720 I believe that he came and a virgin birth. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:38.240 I don't believe it's a fairy tale. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:40.240 I believe that actually happened. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:45.519 I believe he raised the dead, he healed the sick, he cast out the demons. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:47.759 I believe that Jesus went to the cross. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:50.640 I believe his blood washes away my sin. 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:53.359 I believe he carried my shame to the cross. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:56.079 I believe he rose up from the dead. 00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:58.480 I don't believe that was a made-up story. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:02.400 I believe the tomb could not hold him, the stone was rolled away. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:05.519 I believe he revealed himself to the disciples. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:08.480 He is resurrected. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:11.359 I believe he ever lives to make intercession for me. 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:19.920 And I believe the same power that raised Christ from the dead now lives inside in me and lives inside in you if you are a born-again believer in Christ Jesus. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:23.599 And I believe that Jesus is coming back for his church one day. 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:25.200 I believe there's a day coming. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:28.720 Nobody knows a day, nobody knows the time, nobody knows the hour. 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:31.119 But he's coming back for his church. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:32.079 I believe in. 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:33.279 I believe all of it. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:35.519 I believe God created the heavens and the earth. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:41.519 I believe that rocket that was launched off from SpaceX is only getting a glimpse of what God knows everything. 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:45.680 He put it in it, it's his handiwork, it's his work, it's his creation. 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:49.920 I believe in Noah, I believe in the flood, I believe in all of it. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.240 I believe Moses walked through the Red Sea. 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:55.200 I believe he protected them and kept them through the wilderness. 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:58.000 I believe he fed them through every stage of the journey. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:00.480 I count me among the fools. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:02.640 Count me among the fools. 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:05.920 Oh, it may look foolish to this world, as Paul would say. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:09.440 The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:12.799 But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:22.640 You know, the world is unashamed of what it believes, and why should we be ashamed of the great witness of the this gospel that God has given us? 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:23.920 Why should we be ashamed? 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:28.079 I believe we've got Jesus who is the way, who's the truth, and who's the life. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:33.519 I believe that the the world, the enemy, is digging a pit for itself and will fall into it. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:39.200 I believe all of its ideas and imaginations of evil will one day consume this world. 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:48.640 But I'm praying and believing that the gospel is going to go forward, it's going to redeem people, it's going to save people, it's we're going to it's going to turn it around one more time. 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:49.680 I believe it. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:50.799 I believe it. 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:52.960 Why should we be ashamed? 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:54.319 The world's not ashamed. 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:56.400 The world creates pride months. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:06.480 The world creates listen, you may not be marching on your city street, but can I tell you, in London, in Cork, where I grew up, in Paris, in New York City, they're marching down the streets. 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:12.880 They believe in Sharia law, they believe in Islamification, but I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:17.519 This sets people free, this gives people liberty, this people gives people hope. 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:19.359 This people gives people heaven. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:21.440 I'm not ashamed of this. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:26.480 This doesn't make people bound, this makes people free. 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:29.839 He whom the sun sets free is free indeed. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:32.160 Where is the church? 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:36.079 It's time for us to get a little bit of backbone behind us again. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:39.279 It's time for us to go back to the old rug across. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:43.200 It's time for us to say, I'm okay bring raising my kids up in church. 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:46.480 Thank God for sports, but sports is not gonna come first. 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:49.440 Jesus is gonna come first in my household. 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:52.880 Can I go there for a little while this morning, church? 00:26:53.119 --> 00:27:04.480 We're not gonna allow, we're not gonna allow unfiltered internet into our into our children for them to be discipled by all types of perversion that this world says is acceptable and okay. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:08.000 Parents, you do not have to give in to that type of peer pressure. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:12.880 You are parents, you are mom, you are dad, you're the priest of your homes. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:25.839 You may look like foolish, others may put some scorn upon you and may make you look ridiculous, but I'd rather be a fool and please God, and I'll become even more undignified than this. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:43.599 It's time for men and women to stand up, and when your environments where people begin to use the name of Jesus like a cuss word, or they're getting involved in all kinds of things that does not please God, you break open the word and you stand there as a testimony and you get into this word and begin to read it again. 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:48.960 Oh, it's time for a little bit of backbone in the church, time for a little bit of man. 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:53.359 I'm gonna go against the norm, I'm gonna go against what this society tells me. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:56.880 Let me talk about generosity for a moment, church. 00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:04.880 I I've been living in this country now for 14 years, coming up 15 years, and in that time things have changed, even in this nation. 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:17.519 I believe we gotta be careful that for the next generation that's rising up, our young parents or our parents uh that are parent teenagers and children and young people that are rising up, but it comes to generosity. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:22.640 One thing I noticed when I came here first is that the American people were generous people. 00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:24.799 The American church were tidying people. 00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:29.759 They said, I'm gonna put first God first in my giving, and I'm gonna trust God with it. 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:33.039 It's not about what I can get back in return, I'm just trusting God with it. 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:50.559 We're living in a generation now, we're more interested in car payments, boat payments, Disney tickets, whatever I can get that comforts me in this world, and we have no ability to say, I want to be radically generous towards sending missionaries out to building churches to seeing the kingdom of God advance. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:52.720 Oh, it hurts, doesn't it? 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:55.359 But can I just hear a praise the Lord this morning? 00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:56.960 I say, praise the Lord. 00:28:57.119 --> 00:29:07.680 I say I want to be about the father's business, I want to be about what God is doing, I want to see the kingdom of God advance, and David all his life was about it. 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:10.160 I'll become even more undignified than this. 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:13.759 Listen, I'm not here to please you, I'm here to please God. 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:18.480 I'm not here to itch your ears, I'm here to say whatever God has said to me. 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:25.200 And if you don't like it, I'm sorry, but I'm just gonna tell just say it because I've got a savior, hallelujah. 00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:51.119 I've got who laid aside his majesty, who laid aside his dignity, who took on my shame, he bled, he was naked, he was mocked, he was scourged, he was beaten, he was and he hung there for all the world to see why, because he moved past even the foolishness of the cross so that I could stand here today, washed in the blood, my name written in the Lamb's book of life, to make a way for us. 00:29:51.920 --> 00:30:06.480 Oh God, to make a way for us, He He laid aside all He left the glory of heaven to come down to the dust of desert, but he has a way of turning dust into life, doesn't he? 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:10.559 All the ways from Genesis, he can breathe into dust and create life. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:19.920 When Abraham chose his way and Lot chose his way, Abraham just did chose the dusty spot, but God blessed it, God used it, God blessed that place. 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:22.799 Oh I I want to go with where the Lord leads. 00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:25.440 I want to go where the Lord calls us to. 00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:27.920 Oh, thank you, Jesus. 00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:29.279 Where am I this morning? 00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:32.319 I'm completely lost in my message today. 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:35.759 Romans chapter 1, verse 16. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:38.319 Worship team, why don't you just come on out? 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:40.319 We'll end in some worship this morning. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:44.799 Romans chapter 1, verse 16 says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:50.240 It is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first in also the creek. 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:51.680 You know, we're making a big decision. 00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:55.759 For us, it's a it's a fate step to go from the two services to the three services. 00:30:55.839 --> 00:31:04.240 It might feel like that's not a big thing, but it is a big thing when you have to organize it and you have to worry about it, and when you feel like you're not even able to do two services, now you gotta do three services. 00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:06.079 You know, it takes a bit in there. 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:08.240 And people are like, well, what if it doesn't work? 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:10.400 I'm like, well, what if it doesn't work? 00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:12.400 What if it does work? 00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:16.400 What if it does work? 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:27.920 Yeah, I might be, I might feel a little bit foolish, but I'd rather be a fool and and and not waste what God has given us the opportunity to do. 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:31.119 Been worried about it being wrong the whole time. 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:37.119 Oh, well, what if I what happens if I go and tell my neighbor about Jesus and he shuts the door in my face? 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:39.759 Well, what if he does shut his door in your face? 00:31:39.839 --> 00:31:43.039 But what if he gives his life to Christ and he's in heaven forever? 00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:47.519 What if he's in heaven forever? 00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:55.440 What if I tell my work colleague that I sit next to every day what God's done in my life, how he's saved me, how he's redeemed me? 00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:02.720 What if I have to sit alone from now on my colleague doesn't want to sit there next to me because he thinks I'm crazy and all this. 00:32:03.039 --> 00:32:04.000 Well, maybe he does. 00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:07.200 Or maybe there's a seed that's planted in his life. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:12.559 Maybe 20 years from now, there'll be somebody else that will come and water that seed. 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:17.680 Maybe somebody else will come and bring in the harvest and lead that person to Christ. 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:25.200 But it will all begin because you'd had the boldness and the courage to in that in next in next to your work, Colleague, to say, Jesus. 00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:29.119 I love Jesus. 00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:30.799 What if we get it wrong? 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:36.400 It's time for us to do the work of the evangelist, it's time for us to be bold. 00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:39.119 What about the gifts of the Spirit? 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:41.359 Are we just gonna rationalize everything away? 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:42.160 What if we get it wrong? 00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:43.359 What if you get it wrong? 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:46.000 What if God uses you to prophesy? 00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:48.400 What if God uses your life to heal? 00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:52.000 What if you actually lay your hands on the sick and somebody gets healed? 00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:53.839 I've experienced that in my life. 00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:55.599 I prayed for a lot of people. 00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:57.839 I've prayed for a lot of people. 00:32:58.079 --> 00:33:06.960 Not everybody gets healed, but doesn't mean I'm not going to stop placing my hands on people and saying, God, would you heal them in the name of Jesus? 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:11.119 Because there is power in the name of Jesus. 00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:12.640 Hallelujah. 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:13.599 Hallelujah. 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:14.880 Look at what the Lord has done. 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:16.000 Hallelujah. 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.160 He's been so good, He's been so faithful. 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:21.200 Come on, can I get a proper praise of the Lord in the house this morning? 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:28.640 Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:31.039 God's been so good. 00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:33.599 God's been so good. 00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:40.240 I had pictures that I was gonna put up on the screen that were just all of the events of the summer. 00:33:40.480 --> 00:33:48.400 Because really, with the beginning of summer, you look at all of the mission trips and the camps and everything, and you're going, How are we gonna how is this all gonna happen? 00:33:54.079 --> 00:33:55.599 Let's just actually let's go through them. 00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:57.920 Costa Rica, let's just go through these faster. 00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:02.880 This is a school, the gospel that we preached in a school in Costa Rica. 00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:03.920 This is team challenge. 00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:06.079 Just pause there for a moment, just in this one right here. 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:16.719 I can't say I know this guy's name, I don't, but I know that he comes in here with team challenge, that he has a desire to have God glorified in his life, that see chains broken. 00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:26.480 And here he is, making his public declaration of his faith in Jesus. 00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:33.519 And I am believing that that will have a generational impact in his home and his family for years and years to come. 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:35.360 Let's keep going through these for a moment. 00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:37.119 We had UCamp, let's keep on going. 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:38.480 Let's look at all these teenagers. 00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:40.079 Come on, let's give God praise for this. 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:43.360 All of these amazing teenagers worshiping. 00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:46.960 They could be in a million other places, but they're worshiping the Lord. 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:53.760 Clay community outreach, bagpacks given out, people responding to the gospel, haircuts being given. 00:34:53.920 --> 00:35:02.400 Here we are in El Salvador, raising money for a women's center for helping people out of some very difficult backgrounds. 00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:10.719 In Ireland, in a place where secularism is continues to be on the rise, all types of confusion, and yet I believe God's not done with them yet. 00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:12.079 Can I pause there for a moment? 00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:13.039 Just here for a moment. 00:35:13.119 --> 00:35:14.719 This is personal for me. 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:16.480 That kind of looks foolish. 00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:18.960 A lot of the world looks at that and goes, foolish. 00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:22.480 But can I tell you that I'm only here because somebody did this? 00:35:26.239 --> 00:35:27.920 This is in Ireland. 00:35:28.480 --> 00:35:33.840 See, my mom was given a gospel tract walking down the city street with by somebody doing this. 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:39.119 And it changed not just her life, but my dad's life, my brother's life, my sister's life. 00:35:39.280 --> 00:35:41.679