WEBVTT 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:15.519 Good morning. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:16.719 Good morning. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:17.760 Good morning. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:18.399 Amen. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:23.280 Some songs are just hard not to not to get you excited. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:25.839 I don't know if you came in here feeling some kind of way. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:32.640 Maybe you walked in here down or depressed or sad or burdened or stressed or worried. 00:00:32.879 --> 00:00:39.760 But when you just think about the goodness of God, as I as I stood back in the back, there's there's a corner back there, and man, they'll mess you up. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:42.560 Don't don't stand back there with that with that group. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:49.759 If you if you didn't come ready to give God glory, don't stand next to Gifty and Sandy and that that back row back there. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:53.359 But God is good and He is worthy to be praised. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:55.679 And that even blessed my soul this morning. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:58.640 So so thankful to be in the house of the Lord. 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:00.719 It's so beautiful to gather. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:03.679 You know, sometimes we we think, oh, I could do that at home. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:10.159 But to me, it's just nothing like being in your presence and nothing like worshiping together collectively. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:13.439 And that leads me to what we're going to be talking about this morning. 00:01:13.520 --> 00:01:14.960 We're continuing in our series. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:19.840 Oh, by the way, if you don't know who I am, my name is Pastor Krista, one of the pastors around here. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.840 So uh if you've never met me or you know, there's the introduction. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.719 So in case you're wondering, who's that lady with the Jaguar jersey on, by the way? 00:01:29.199 --> 00:01:30.800 Okay, we'll leave that alone. 00:01:31.039 --> 00:01:36.639 We're continuing, we're continuing in our series called Why Church? 00:01:36.960 --> 00:01:37.840 Why church? 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.080 Church, the beloved community. 00:01:40.240 --> 00:01:42.319 Why are you here this morning? 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:50.080 You could have been, especially with the weather being so beautiful, you could have been any other place, but you decided to be in the house of God, the church of God. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:54.000 Now, this is a very practical sermon this morning. 00:01:54.080 --> 00:02:03.199 Um, when we thought about this sermon, this sermon series, it's designed to help us grow in our understanding of what it means to be a part of God's family. 00:02:03.360 --> 00:02:05.120 And that's for all of us, the church. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:05.840 I love this. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:13.680 The Apostle Paul, we're going to be in um some of the letters of the Apostle Paul, you know, over the next next couple of weeks. 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:16.319 But Paul prayed this prayer in Ephesians. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:34.879 He says, Since I heard of your faith, I have not stopped praying for you, that our Lord Jesus Christ would give you spiritual wisdom and insight that you might grow in the knowledge of God. 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:43.599 And so I just want to say to you, as we as pastors, we're pastors and leaders, but we're also, we're also a part of the body. 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:46.719 We're also uh children who are we're walking this out. 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:49.759 We're believers who are walking this out just like you are. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:54.879 So when we're sitting back and we're thinking of these sermon series, we're not just going, oh, that's for them. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:56.959 I'm saying that's for me. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:58.560 That's for me this morning. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:01.280 I desire to continue to understand God. 00:03:01.359 --> 00:03:03.359 I've been walking with God for 39 years. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:05.680 But how many of you know I might have said this before? 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:10.799 If if we could figure it all out in this lifetime, then he wouldn't be God. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:18.719 There's still to be known about him, there's still things to be discovered about him, there's still ways that he wants to change us and to grow us. 00:03:18.799 --> 00:03:22.239 And so that's what this series has been designed to do. 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:22.959 Okay. 00:03:23.519 --> 00:03:25.840 How many of you remember? 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:29.519 First of all, how many of you remember your high school yearbook? 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:34.159 Like some of us are so old, it's like got some dust on it, but Sandy raised her hand. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:35.439 How many of you remember? 00:03:35.519 --> 00:03:40.719 And I I fact-checked this because I was gonna say, I don't even know if they have this, but I checked it and they do. 00:03:40.959 --> 00:03:44.079 The section in your yearbook that was most likely to. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:45.519 Y'all remember that? 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:46.639 Most likely to? 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:50.879 Now, when I graduated in 1984, I wish I had this picture. 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:52.319 I had this big old hair. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:56.479 My kids teased me, they said, Mom, you had a uh a Joe Dirt. 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:58.239 I was like, that's not a Joe Dirt. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:03.439 You know how we in in the 80s we cut our hair short right here, and then we had it real long in the back. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:05.039 I said, that wasn't Joe Dirt. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:06.400 That was like Sheila E. 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:08.159 That wasn't no Joe Dirt. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.719 But anyway, I was like, Joe Dirt, no. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:18.560 But but in 1984, our most likely likely to succeed looked a little bit something like this. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:20.319 Most likely to become a doctor. 00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:21.600 This is a true story. 00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:24.720 I don't think I I don't think I got as high as algebra two. 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:26.240 I barely passed algebra two. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:41.279 I don't remember liking science, but because it was popular to become a doctor, some of you in the house, my first my freshman year of college, my I I enrolled myself in a science class and I declared that I wanted to be a physician and a and a science major. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:45.279 I was in that class like one session of like wrong, wrong. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:48.079 I didn't take not one prerequisite. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:54.319 This is and and then I I disenrolled from that and signed up for a more appropriate uh major, which was psychology. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.439 But that's what everybody wanted to be was a doctor. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:04:58.560 How about this one? 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:01.120 Most likely to be a jock forever. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:04.800 Most likely to be featured in Teen Beat Magazine. 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:06.240 Y'all don't remember that. 00:05:06.719 --> 00:05:10.079 For the more uh hued people, it was right on. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:15.439 For those of us with more hue, it was in our melanin in our skin, it was called Right On Magazine. 00:05:15.599 --> 00:05:22.079 And then most likely to want to play a role on days of our lives, these are the days of our lives. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:29.360 Now, 2024, you know, it goes with 1984, but 2026 most likely looks a little bit different. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:32.159 Most likely to go off the grid. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:33.519 I'm like, who are these people? 00:05:33.599 --> 00:05:37.199 Who are these people in high school that are most likely in high school to go off the grid? 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:44.240 Most likely to have the best playlist or to become TikTok famous, and the last one is most likely to go viral. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:48.959 So that's what your most likely list looks looks like today. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:51.920 But I wonder, I wonder this too. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:59.360 How many of those kids that other people projected what their future would look like actually lived into that future? 00:05:59.599 --> 00:06:00.879 Have you ever thought about that? 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:09.599 Maybe you've gone to your high school reunion and you thought, I wonder what the person that was most likely to become a doctor or a kumas, uh sumo cum late, and late late. 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:10.560 I was just la de late. 00:06:10.719 --> 00:06:13.040 I wasn't none of the kumas or the sumas or nothing. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:14.560 I was just la de la di. 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:19.519 I wonder they had a projected future, a future that was projected upon them. 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:21.439 I wonder if they lived that out. 00:06:21.599 --> 00:06:22.879 I'm sure some did. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:31.360 If you were like me though, you were most unlikely to make any of those lists. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:33.120 You were most unlikely. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:39.759 Well, if you're like me this morning, I want to just tell you, affirm you that we are all in good company. 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:41.199 Listen to this list. 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:50.159 These are some of this list is called the most unlikely successful people in history. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:51.759 Now put those together. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:55.519 They're unlikely to be successful, but these are the most successful. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:00.240 Number one, I don't know if this is uh the order of the list, but these are the people that were listed. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:02.159 Oprah Renfrey. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:09.279 Born into extreme poverty in um during Jim Crow South in Mississippi. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:11.040 I mean, you see the pictures of her. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:13.199 She she talks about her upbringing. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:18.879 She's on the list of people that that people thought was most unlikely to be successful in life. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:25.519 And now she's one of the most influential women and one of the richest, by the way, that we know in our culture. 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:29.759 Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team as a sophomore. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:34.319 They thought he was not likely to be a good basketball player, I guess. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:38.159 Steve Jobs of Apple dropped out of college. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:39.599 We might not have our iPhones. 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:40.719 Where's my iPhone at? 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:42.399 We wouldn't have, I wouldn't have this. 00:07:42.719 --> 00:07:47.759 If he went by what people thought would make success, he was unlikely. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:53.680 Now, this person may take you a little bit to recognize, but this guy's name is Harlan Sanders. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.680 He faced numerous setbacks in his career and in his life. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:06.240 He began, he became successful in his 60s when he franchised his fried chicken business. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:10.000 Harold Sanders, Harlan Sanders is who you think he is. 00:08:10.159 --> 00:08:12.560 He's the Colonel Sanders and he's KFC. 00:08:12.719 --> 00:08:15.120 I know some of y'all like KFC. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:21.439 Life circumstances and society counted some of these people out. 00:08:22.159 --> 00:08:32.720 Many of us in this room know what it feels like, and we've experienced other people thinking that we are unlikely. 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:36.000 That we are unlikely. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:40.720 You know, I was I talk to people often, and even us pastors, right? 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:44.320 I know you all think that, oh, we pray, you know. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:51.120 I've had people say, I know you and your husband Gus, y'all sit down and pray every every night, and you read your Bible every day. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:56.080 And can I just tell you, I wish I prayed like I should every day. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:01.120 I wish I was devoted to my word every single day like I should be. 00:09:01.280 --> 00:09:04.320 But can I just tell you that is an illusion? 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:10.160 I'm just as I'm just as salible, I'm just as human as you are. 00:09:10.400 --> 00:09:13.040 So I know what it feels like to be unlikely. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:21.440 In fact, I shared this message on Thursday night at our SAC campus, and this gentleman, this young man, um, he looked very put together. 00:09:21.520 --> 00:09:23.440 He looked very, he was very articulate. 00:09:23.520 --> 00:09:26.080 So he said, Pastor Krista, I just had to wait for you. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:29.920 He said, My name is Eli Likely. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:31.760 Okay, Eli Likely. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:33.360 And I'm like, You kidding me? 00:09:33.520 --> 00:09:35.760 He said, No, look at my driver's license. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:37.840 I said, This is this is this is crazy. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:44.879 He said, My name is Eli Likely, but he said, All my life I've been unlikely. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:49.280 Now, let me give you some words that describe what that feels like. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:55.680 Likely means that you're the person or the one that people expected to see things happen for. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:57.440 You were the favorite person. 00:09:57.600 --> 00:09:58.400 You had advantage. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.400 People saw you and say, girl, you're uh a sir. 00:10:02.800 --> 00:10:05.360 You are you you're going places. 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:09.680 Uh likely means something is very obvious and very, very clear. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:11.120 There's no question about it. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.080 He said, All my life, and it just broke my heart. 00:10:14.160 --> 00:10:21.920 My husband and I sat there and just listened to a story, and I'm looking at this young man, and again, by all appearances, I'm thinking, why was he unlikely? 00:10:22.160 --> 00:10:25.920 But he said, I've, you know, I he's got this awesome name, right? 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:27.920 But people labeled him as unlikely. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:30.000 Now, this is what unlikely means. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:31.360 Improbable. 00:10:31.760 --> 00:10:35.680 He didn't look like the young man that people thought could could succeed. 00:10:35.920 --> 00:10:37.840 Anyone else feel like that? 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.560 People told him he was unqualified. 00:10:40.800 --> 00:10:42.879 He did not have what it takes. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:44.400 He was doubted. 00:10:44.560 --> 00:10:48.960 He wasn't a person that people believed in, and he was definitely counted out. 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:52.720 He told me that when he was 15, he had he had a baby. 00:10:52.800 --> 00:11:04.800 And he said, all the teachers and everybody in his community, even right now, he said he doesn't have a high school education, but he works for Tesla and he's you know he's he's he's um making a life for himself. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:09.840 He did not look unlikely to me, but he just said, Thank you so much for just acknowledging. 00:11:09.920 --> 00:11:13.840 He said, As soon as I heard that, I just said to myself, he's going through something in this season. 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:15.520 He's like, I'm just so grateful. 00:11:15.680 --> 00:11:19.040 Well, this morning I want to shed light on an important truth. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:21.760 The church, somebody say the church. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:23.840 Y'all talk back to me this morning, okay? 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:32.879 The church is made up, thank you, of unlikely, and let me add this, imperfect people. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:37.840 So if you're looking for me to be perfect, I'm I'm telling y'all now, I'm gonna fail you. 00:11:37.920 --> 00:11:42.800 If you're looking for Pastor Tyrone to be perfect, um, I'm telling you now, we're gonna fail you. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:44.400 So we don't want to set you up for failure. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:46.640 We want to set you up for success. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:52.879 In high school, you would have not looked at me and said, She is most likely to be in ministry and to become a pastor. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:53.920 Definitely not. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:59.200 Like, I remember calling one of my classmates later, I think it was you know, 10 years after we graduated. 00:11:59.280 --> 00:12:00.160 I said, Guess what? 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:01.920 I'm he was saved in high school. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:02.960 I said, Guess what? 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:04.000 I'm saved too. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:08.320 He was like, Wow, never saw that one coming. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.040 I didn't think that was a phone call I was gonna get from you. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:13.200 And I said, And I'm in ministry. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:17.680 He was like, Hmm, God, he is the God of miracles, right? 00:12:20.560 --> 00:12:31.120 Throughout the Bible, God chooses people like Eli Likely, like me, and like you to be his a part of his family called the church. 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:35.680 People that others overlooked, people that others feel are inadequate. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:41.040 God even chooses people with shady past, with ratchet past. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:45.440 Now, I'm not the only one in here, and I know I don't like I said, I don't tell y'all all my business. 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:49.200 But how many of you say, Yeah, that's me, that's me, that's me. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:49.600 Good. 00:12:49.680 --> 00:12:51.520 Some of y'all not telling the truth. 00:12:53.280 --> 00:12:58.960 But listen to this: He chooses us to accomplish his plans. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:03.040 This is this is uh this is check this verse out. 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:04.960 This is 1 Corinthians 1 27. 00:13:05.520 --> 00:13:06.800 Take a good look. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:10.640 Look around the room, look at the person sitting next to you, don't stare them too hard. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:16.960 Said, take a good look, friends, at who you were when God called you into this life. 00:13:17.280 --> 00:13:20.720 I don't see many bright, many of the brightest and the best. 00:13:20.800 --> 00:13:22.480 I'm like, is he throwing shade? 00:13:22.640 --> 00:13:25.120 What among you? 00:13:25.280 --> 00:13:30.000 There's not many influential, not many from high society families. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:42.640 Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chooses men and women that culture overlooks, exploits, and even abuses. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:51.440 He chooses nobody to expose how pretentious the somebodies are in this life. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:14:00.000 Then Ephesians 2.8 says, For it is by grace that you have been saved. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:07.600 Through faith, and this is not from you, this is not of yourselves, he says, it is a gift from God. 00:14:07.760 --> 00:14:09.120 And why does he do that? 00:14:09.280 --> 00:14:10.879 He said, It's not by works. 00:14:11.040 --> 00:14:11.760 Guess what? 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:19.680 So none of us can stick our chest out and get proud, high, and lofty and boastful and look down our noses at anybody else. 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:25.600 He said, It's not by what you've done, it's not by your resume, it's not by any of that. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:27.280 It is by my grace. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:35.040 Can you say grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. 00:14:35.280 --> 00:14:39.600 Now, I have prayer in here, but we already prayed, so I'm gonna continue on with the sermon. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:41.040 Lord, just bless us. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:44.240 Continue to speak to me, continue to speak to us. 00:14:44.400 --> 00:14:46.080 Open up your word, Lord. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:48.640 Touch hearts today in your name. 00:14:48.800 --> 00:14:51.680 And I just I just want to be so honest with you. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.080 I often feel unlikely. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:56.800 In fact, I felt unlikely this week. 00:14:57.040 --> 00:15:03.040 It was a busy week, and I didn't feel like I had a chance to really pray like I wanted to. 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:15.280 And even Thursday night, I felt like a little bit rocky in my sermon, and and I wanted to, but I was like, you're preaching about being unlikely, and you're preaching about it's not by works, and you're preaching about it's not by you qualifying yourself. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:16.240 So you better live it out. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:22.720 So I said, okay, you know, I did go home Saturday, like tweak my sermon some and tighten it up so I could feel comfortable. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:25.520 But I often feel unlikely, you all. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:32.960 And so I would say that Pastor Ty and I are just as surprised as some of you all that we've been called to ministry too, right? 00:15:33.040 --> 00:15:35.280 If you're surprised, we're surprised too. 00:15:36.160 --> 00:15:37.200 I'm surprised. 00:15:37.280 --> 00:15:38.240 I'm surprised. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:46.560 So today I want to, the title of this message is if you haven't already caught on, is God Chooses Unlikely Heroes. 00:15:47.040 --> 00:15:48.960 God chooses unlikely heroes. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:52.720 And today I want to talk to you about a woman named Rahab. 00:15:53.040 --> 00:15:57.120 Now, because of her background, most people don't talk about her much. 00:15:57.280 --> 00:16:00.720 And when they do, it's unflattering, right? 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:05.760 It's not the, it's not the it's not the it's not the hero that you would normally think of. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:20.320 Scholars say that she is one of the most unlikely and unexpected figures to appear in Hebrews chapter 11, which we're getting ready to read in a little bit, which is called the Hall of Faith. 00:16:20.560 --> 00:16:24.080 So some of y'all might have on some jerseys of some Hall of Famers. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:27.280 I don't, I hope, I hope this one goes to the Hall of Fame. 00:16:27.520 --> 00:16:32.080 But um imagine, like this is the Hall of Fame for faith, right? 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:40.320 These are the heroes of the faith, these are the uh y'all name them, yeah, you know, the the sports athletes that you look up to. 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:49.680 And here we're gonna find Rahab right smack dab in this hall of faith, and I'm gonna tell you why that's so unusual. 00:16:49.920 --> 00:16:52.320 Okay, she's an unlikely hero. 00:16:52.560 --> 00:17:57.080 So now I'm reading at Hebrews chapter 11, verse 31, and it should be on the screen so you can follow along. 00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:05.400 Hebrews 11 says this it was by faith that Rahab the prostitute. 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:24.039 It was by faith, those don't seem like they go together, it was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God, for she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:27.720 So here is the list, as I said, of the great heroes by faith. 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:32.279 The words by faith are mentioned over 18 times in this. 00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:35.079 And I want to encourage you to go back and read this chapter. 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:37.079 There's two chapters I'm gonna encourage you to read. 00:18:37.159 --> 00:18:39.399 One of them is Hebrews 11, if you've never read it. 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:44.039 It's all the heroes of the faith that I'm talking about, that I'm not gonna talk about today. 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:45.319 I'm talking about Rahab. 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:47.319 But listen, it says, this is a few. 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:52.599 By faith, Noah built an ark before it even rained. 00:18:52.919 --> 00:18:58.039 By faith, Moses gave up the palace to fulfill God's purpose. 00:18:58.279 --> 00:19:04.119 By faith, Sarah believed that she could have a baby at 90 with an old man who was 100. 00:19:04.199 --> 00:19:05.720 Now, that's not the kind of faith I want to have. 00:19:05.799 --> 00:19:08.679 I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I'm good on that faith, Lord. 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:10.039 I'm I'm good on that. 00:19:10.199 --> 00:19:12.359 But but that's the faith Sarah had, okay? 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:18.759 Maybe I'll take some Noah faith, and maybe I'll take some Moses faith, but y'all can have the Sarah kind of faith. 00:19:19.159 --> 00:19:22.759 I already, I already did, I already had all my children, so I'm good, right? 00:19:23.000 --> 00:19:23.960 I'm good. 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:29.480 Sarah and Rahab are the only two women listed in this hall of faith. 00:19:29.639 --> 00:19:38.199 You know, in the Bible, we um, you know, we often lift up the the patriarch and then we kind of downplay the matriarchs. 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:46.359 That's just how the how how it is with people who have um interpreted the Bible over the centuries, but God doesn't. 00:19:46.679 --> 00:19:56.679 Notice how God throws these women in there too, and he throws in a prostitute in the hall of faith, in the hall of faith. 00:19:56.919 --> 00:20:00.599 These women are recognized from the Old Testament to the New Testament. 00:20:00.679 --> 00:20:03.960 So Rahab's story is in Joshua, which we'll get to a little bit. 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:11.319 Here's this woman, centuries and centuries later, she's in the New Testament, and even today, in 2026, September. 00:20:11.399 --> 00:20:14.119 We're still talking about this woman, Rahab. 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:17.240 Now, here's the difference between Sarah and Rahab. 00:20:17.879 --> 00:20:20.039 Sarah was a church girl. 00:20:21.639 --> 00:20:24.279 Sarah went to Sunday school. 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:34.439 Sarah came from a family that that that professed faith and and sang songs, and all my life, you have been faithful. 00:20:34.679 --> 00:20:35.559 I was, I don't know. 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:41.319 Rahab now, on the other hand, she's like, Meet me at the uh-uh, we might as well do this. 00:20:41.480 --> 00:20:42.919 Maybe, maybe, right? 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:44.439 I'm just messing. 00:20:44.519 --> 00:20:46.599 I don't know what Rahab was singing. 00:20:47.639 --> 00:20:49.720 Her Rahab is from Canaan. 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:52.679 She didn't grow up in church, a church like this one. 00:20:52.839 --> 00:21:00.839 She wasn't a part of Rise 45, she wasn't in a youth group, she didn't go to youth camp, and she wasn't part of the bridge, and she probably didn't have a praying mother. 00:21:00.919 --> 00:21:02.359 I'm gonna just say that, right? 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:09.399 Again, she's the only one that God intentionally lists her profession. 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:11.000 I promise you, go read it for yourself. 00:21:11.159 --> 00:21:13.480 No one else's profession is listed. 00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:22.199 But he specifically and intentionally says, Rahab the prostitute, and then other translations say, Rahab the harlot. 00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:24.199 That sounds a little worse, right? 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:32.439 I believe that God places a prostitute in the hall of fame to show us what grace and his sovereignty look like. 00:21:32.679 --> 00:21:35.799 He's saying, I can save anybody I want to save. 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:41.960 I don't care what y'all think about them, I don't care how y'all count them out, and I can use anybody I want to use. 00:21:43.720 --> 00:21:48.279 Because I'm sovereign and because of my grace, say it's by grace. 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:50.519 It's by grace that we're here today. 00:21:50.679 --> 00:21:52.039 It's by grace. 00:21:52.679 --> 00:21:54.119 He can use us. 00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:56.919 So we wouldn't have any legitimate excuses. 00:21:57.079 --> 00:22:00.439 I believe he did this, so we wouldn't have any legitimate excuses. 00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:03.000 We got excuses, but they're not legitimate. 00:22:03.399 --> 00:22:03.960 Right? 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:14.199 Most of us choose our heroes by this appearances, accomplishments, reputation, credentials, status, and their track record. 00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:20.519 Rahab's story reminds us that God doesn't qualify us by any of these things. 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:27.319 First Samuel says this people look at the outside of a person, but God looks at the heart. 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:35.079 Aren't you so glad that God doesn't judge you or you or you or me by what we see on the outside? 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:37.559 Because sometimes we we don't look right, right? 00:22:37.720 --> 00:22:40.839 We we don't, and then sometimes the opposite happened. 00:22:40.919 --> 00:22:42.039 We don't look like what we've been through. 00:22:42.119 --> 00:22:43.159 Y'all judging, right? 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:45.720 But what I don't look like what I've been through. 00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:47.879 Some of y'all don't look like what you've been through. 00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:52.279 You know, you're thinking I remember one time one of our pastors said, You should talk to Pastor Chris. 00:22:52.439 --> 00:22:54.519 She's like, I don't know how I would talk to her. 00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:55.559 I don't think she could relate at all. 00:22:55.639 --> 00:22:57.399 I'm like, oh sis, I could relate. 00:22:57.639 --> 00:22:59.319 You just don't know my story. 00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:00.759 You just don't know my story. 00:23:00.919 --> 00:23:03.399 So he puts, and and some of us don't know your story. 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:05.240 And that's why you need to share your story. 00:23:05.399 --> 00:23:08.839 Maybe you would encourage somebody if you would say, Hey, I come from this too. 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:10.439 I come from some brokenness too. 00:23:10.519 --> 00:23:12.279 I come from From some mess too. 00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:15.319 I'm still a mess sometimes, if to be honest. 00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:21.480 Maybe more people would feel like they're not as unlikely if they knew that we were unlikely too. 00:23:23.159 --> 00:23:29.240 The thing that qualified her to be a part of the family of God and that qualifies us is faith. 00:23:29.639 --> 00:23:30.759 Can you say faith? 00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:37.240 God isn't looking for people with a perfect past, He's looking for people with an act of faith. 00:23:37.559 --> 00:23:41.639 Faith is the thing that qualifies the unqualified. 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:44.919 Point number two in your outline if you're following along. 00:23:45.399 --> 00:23:49.879 Faith requires action, or it's usually accompanied by some action. 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:50.359 Okay. 00:23:50.919 --> 00:23:56.919 In the same hall of faith, Hebrews 11, the writer teaches us something really important about faith. 00:23:57.159 --> 00:24:06.039 Hebrews, the verse 6 above that says this it is impossible to please God without faith. 00:24:06.679 --> 00:24:08.279 It is impossible. 00:24:08.679 --> 00:24:14.039 Then he goes on to say, anyone, somebody say, anyone, anyone. 00:24:14.279 --> 00:24:27.960 That means every single person in this room, anyone who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently or sincerely who seek him. 00:24:28.759 --> 00:24:34.119 So I know some of you are saying, but um, Pastor Krista, that's good for you, but I'm still unlikely. 00:24:34.279 --> 00:24:36.359 I don't know how to pray the right way. 00:24:37.159 --> 00:24:38.519 I made too many mistakes. 00:24:38.679 --> 00:24:39.879 His blood covers that. 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:42.839 I don't feel spiritual enough, faith over feelings. 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:44.919 I'm too old and I'm too young. 00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:48.039 I don't look like the people that God usually uses. 00:24:48.359 --> 00:25:04.519 God has heard all of our unlikely excuses, and he said, if I can save Rahab and save her, if I can save uh Mary, who's who's another prostitute in the Bible, I don't know why they were all the women, you know, but there's some bras in there that was messing up too. 00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:08.519 Them them disciples had anger problems cutting off people's ears. 00:25:08.679 --> 00:25:12.839 Some of them was murderers and all that, but you know, we're just talking about the women today. 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:15.079 But there's some bras in there too, right? 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:19.559 If he can save and use these people, then he can save us. 00:25:19.879 --> 00:25:22.839 Rahab's full story is found in Joshua 2. 00:25:22.919 --> 00:25:24.519 Please go back and read it, right? 00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:26.679 I'm gonna give you a summary just in case. 00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:33.399 So basically, the children of Israel have come out of Egypt and they're getting ready to be in this battle with Jericho. 00:25:33.879 --> 00:25:45.639 So, as they did before, they send out it the Israelites commanders and chiefs send out two spies to spy out the land to check things out because they're getting ready to attack Jericho. 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:52.599 Rahab, the harlot, who's running uh R R R Hotstein of VRBO with benefits, right? 00:25:53.799 --> 00:25:57.960 She's she's she they laughing at me. 00:25:58.199 --> 00:26:01.399 But um the spies end up at her house. 00:26:01.559 --> 00:26:03.559 The spies end up at her house, right? 00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:07.480 Now, um there's a plot twist here. 00:26:07.639 --> 00:26:15.720 Like back in the day, back in the day when we were gonna fight in my hood, we braided up our hair, we put gasoline on our faces, we took off our earrings. 00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:19.000 So Rahab was in her house figuring out well, now what I'm about to do. 00:26:19.079 --> 00:26:23.079 So she's braiding her hair and taking off her earrings, but there was a plot twist. 00:26:23.240 --> 00:26:27.000 She was getting ready to line up with the other side, with the other team. 00:26:27.159 --> 00:26:31.960 So she goes to the spies and she says, This why would she do this, right? 00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:34.359 Why would why would Rahab risk everything? 00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:37.319 These are her people, the people of Jericho are her people. 00:26:37.639 --> 00:26:45.319 So it says, Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up to the rooftop to talk with the spies, and this is what she said. 00:26:45.799 --> 00:26:50.039 I know that the Lord has given you this land. 00:26:50.599 --> 00:26:51.879 We're all afraid of you. 00:26:52.039 --> 00:26:54.679 Everyone in the land is in terror. 00:26:55.079 --> 00:27:01.079 We have heard how the Lord made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. 00:27:01.319 --> 00:27:06.839 The Lord your God is the supreme God in heaven above and on earth below. 00:27:07.159 --> 00:27:11.000 Rahab's faith was ignited by what she heard. 00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:15.000 She hadn't seen the Red Sea crop being parted. 00:27:15.159 --> 00:27:20.759 She wasn't with the children of Israel in Egypt when God uh completely destroyed Pharaoh. 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:29.720 She believed that God existed, like Hebrews 6 says, you must believe that he exists and that he is gonna reward you for sincerely seeking him. 00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:30.839 That was her faith. 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:35.639 She believed it, and she believed that he was the supreme God by faith. 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:37.639 Let me say this to you. 00:27:39.399 --> 00:27:49.240 True worship and reverence for God begins when our hearts receive the revelation of who God is. 00:27:51.399 --> 00:27:55.159 For a moment, think about your Rahab moment. 00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:57.799 When was your Rahab moment? 00:27:58.279 --> 00:27:59.000 Where did you? 00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:03.639 I know where I was, I know what I was thinking, I know what I was feeling. 00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:06.919 I won't tell y'all that story today because I've totally ad nauseum. 00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:09.559 I think I even remember what I had on. 00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:14.119 When in 1986 I had my Rahab moment. 00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:18.039 Where were you when you had your Rahab moment? 00:28:18.199 --> 00:28:20.359 When you realize there's a God. 00:28:21.159 --> 00:28:22.039 Oh my goodness. 00:28:22.199 --> 00:28:31.399 I'm like, there's a God, Rocky, there's a God, and and and deeper than that, Gifty, there's a God who loves me. 00:28:31.639 --> 00:28:33.799 How come nobody told me this years ago? 00:28:33.879 --> 00:28:36.679 I could have avoided all these mistakes, right? 00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:41.559 And maybe today you're saying, Well, I quite I haven't quite had a rehab moment. 00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:43.559 Well, maybe today is your day. 00:28:44.359 --> 00:28:54.279 Maybe a brought God has brought you here today, September, El Grove, 10 o'clock service, to let you know today is your day. 00:28:54.519 --> 00:29:13.720 Today is your day to know that there is a God who is real, there is a God who is a redeemer, there is a God who says, I for though your sins be as scarlet, though your sins are red like crimson, I'm able to wash you and make you white as snow. 00:29:13.879 --> 00:29:15.960 That's the God, that's my king. 00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:17.879