SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us today.
SPEAKER_00: At Crosschurch, we believe people need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: People need each other.
SPEAKER_00: People change the world.
SPEAKER_00: And people leave legacies.
SPEAKER_00: Our desire is for you to understand, accept, and grow in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_00: If you would like to know more about Crosschurch, please visit CrossChurch.com.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what you've memorized in your life, maybe some really pointless things all the way to some really memorable things like your social security number.
SPEAKER_01: You should you should know that.
SPEAKER_01: I've memorized some pretty ridiculous things in my life.
SPEAKER_01: For instance, I could tell you from when I was nine years old, every member of the 1992 dream team.
SPEAKER_01: How about you?
SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, that's like I can name them off.
SPEAKER_01: Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Christian Leitner, John Stockton, Cry Clyde Drexler, uh Chris Mullen, Carl Malone, David Robinson, Magic Johnson, and Charles Barkley with Chuck Daly as the coach.
SPEAKER_01: Don't clap for that.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no eternal value whatsoever.
SPEAKER_01: Pointless, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh, when I was 11 years old, 1994, the Hogs won the national title.
SPEAKER_01: We beat Duke 76 to 72.
SPEAKER_01: So remember that.
SPEAKER_01: And a funny little fact about me every time I fill out a March Manis bracket that makes you fill out the championship score, it is always 76 to 72.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you were a Christian back in the 90s or in church in the 90s, uh, where I grew up, um, I could tell you a little bit about a music group called DC Talk.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you know, you know.
SPEAKER_01: And if you don't know, you don't have to know.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: But I from about 92 to 2000, I could probably sing most of their songs today just off the fly, off the cuff, uh, or rap them depending on the era that they were in.
SPEAKER_01: Again, if you know, you know, and if you don't, don't.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: But uh you may Spotify them today and just enjoy a little good afternoon there.
SPEAKER_01: But uh what are the things that you've memorized?
SPEAKER_01: All right, or are there important things that as a family you've memorized, like, you know, each other's cell phone numbers, or you know, your address from your last house that you lived in, or maybe it's part of your family tree that you want to keep, you know, you want your kids to know about their great-grandparents and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_01: And all of us know random things like that.
SPEAKER_01: All of us memorize certain things with intention.
SPEAKER_01: And what I'm gonna give you today is I'm gonna give you one chapter of the Bible that I think every person in the room should memorize.
SPEAKER_01: It's a whole chapter, it's six verses.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we can all do six verses, and I would encourage you as a family, make it fun and uh, you know, read this chapter together in Psalm chapter one.
SPEAKER_01: As I said, we're in a series called Summer of Psalms.
SPEAKER_01: We'll finish this next Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: And uh you may wonder, well, Nick, why do we have Psalm one towards the end of the series and not at the beginning, like numerically?
SPEAKER_01: And it's a very in-depth reason that I've had a few weeks off of preaching, and I wanted to do Psalm chapter one, so I put it at the back end of the series.
SPEAKER_01: That's the only reason, all right?
SPEAKER_01: And so I love this psalm, and I want to read it to you in its entirety, and then we'll come back and uh we'll kind of break it down a little slower and a little more in-depth along the way.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what it says Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.
SPEAKER_01: In all that he does, he prospers.
SPEAKER_01: But the wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away, therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
SPEAKER_01: This is a good word for your heart today.
SPEAKER_01: For the Lord knows the way of the righteous.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody need that today?
SPEAKER_01: But the way of the wicked will perish.
SPEAKER_01: Those are the six verses.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody see why I would say this is a good one to memorize for every follower of Jesus in the room.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to be a blessed man or a blessed woman, if you want to live a life of right righteousness, this passage gives us the pathway to that kind of life.
SPEAKER_01: It's really, honestly, the passage is about two ways to live your life.
SPEAKER_01: You can live according to God's way or your own way.
SPEAKER_01: You can live according to righteousness or wickedness, God's law or your own law.
SPEAKER_01: And uh that choice really is yours.
SPEAKER_01: And it's every person in this room, it's your choice today.
SPEAKER_01: Will I live a godly life or will I live a godly, an ungodly life that is only about what I want to do?
SPEAKER_01: Now, I titled this sermon very simply, just Psalm 1.
SPEAKER_01: If I were to give it like an extra title, here's what I would say.
SPEAKER_01: Which way are you gonna go?
SPEAKER_01: That's really the question on the table for every single person here.
SPEAKER_01: Which way are you going to go?
SPEAKER_01: You are at a fork in the road, many of you in this room.
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, some of you are teachers, coaches, administrators.
SPEAKER_01: You're about to head back full steam ahead into the school year.
SPEAKER_01: And the question for you is will you live according to God's way or your own way?
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are middle school, junior high, high school, college students.
SPEAKER_01: You're about to head back into school as well.
SPEAKER_01: And the choice is this like, will I live according to righteousness or will I live according to sin?
SPEAKER_01: God's way or my own way.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are in a new job, or maybe you're new to Northwest Arkansas, and you're like, man, I'm just I'm trying to figure this out.
SPEAKER_01: Are you going to live according to God's way or your own way?
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have been entrusted, and I and I say that intentionally and with heartache, you've been entrusted with suffering.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody in your family's got cancer.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody in your family's just passed away.
SPEAKER_01: And you're at that fork in the road of will I go this way or will I go that way?
SPEAKER_01: Will I lean into the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: Will I run away from the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: Will I get angry at God or will I lean into the Lord and trust what He's doing even when I don't understand it whatsoever?
SPEAKER_01: So many of us are at a fork in the road today, and here's the word of God for your life.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go back to verse one.
SPEAKER_01: And uh let's walk through this together.
SPEAKER_01: It says this, it says, blessed, I would underline that in your Bible, is the man, or you could say, is the woman who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.
SPEAKER_01: But what is it?
SPEAKER_01: His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if I were to ask you by show of hands, who in this room wants to be blessed?
SPEAKER_01: Raise your hand.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Most of us in the room would be like, I want to be blessed.
SPEAKER_01: Let me help explain what it even means to be blessed, okay?
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to be blessed according to Psalm chapter one?
SPEAKER_01: Uh, within this is the concept of being right with God or being at peace with God.
SPEAKER_01: So, you know who is blessed?
SPEAKER_01: Those of you in the room who have been made right with God because of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Um, this word also carries the idea of happiness, joy, or contentment.
SPEAKER_01: So we could say this um content is the man.
SPEAKER_01: Content is the woman who lives their life according to righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: It also carries the idea of God's favor.
SPEAKER_01: Favored is the person who walks according to righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: Now, in these first couple of verses here, righteous people avoid some things and they lean into some things.
SPEAKER_01: All right, you got that?
SPEAKER_01: They avoid some things and they lean into some things.
SPEAKER_01: What are the things that you avoid in your life?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I avoid snakes.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone else?
SPEAKER_01: Not a snake person?
SPEAKER_01: If you're a snake person, I think you're weird.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, just honest with you.
SPEAKER_01: We can hug it out after, but I think it's a little strange.
SPEAKER_01: Uh Meredith and I have uh live on the back of a long driveway.
SPEAKER_01: So sometimes we'll just exercise up and down the road.
SPEAKER_01: And during spring and summer, it's not abnormal for us to see one of those giant black snakes that everybody says are harmless and don't kill them.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, and and then I see it, I scream, then she screams, and we're all screaming.
SPEAKER_01: Kids are wondering what's going on.
SPEAKER_01: I just avoid snakes in general.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, also avoid spiders.
SPEAKER_01: Never like spiders.
SPEAKER_01: I think I may be more afraid of spiders than I am.
SPEAKER_01: Snakes goes back to a traumatic experience in my garage in Springdale growing up with a spider.
SPEAKER_01: It's a different sermon altogether.
SPEAKER_01: My grandma killed it, everything's fine, but I I have been traumatized by spiders since I was little.
SPEAKER_01: You think that's not manly?
SPEAKER_01: I agree with you.
SPEAKER_01: It's fine.
SPEAKER_01: Um I avoid close talkers with bad breath.
SPEAKER_01: You laugh because you know who those people are.
SPEAKER_01: You're you're picturing them in your mind right now.
SPEAKER_01: And here's the hard part some of them are at church with you today.
SPEAKER_01: You're trying to beeline out of that lobby before uh before they come close, right?
SPEAKER_01: Here's what righteous people avoid.
SPEAKER_01: Now that don't miss this.
SPEAKER_01: Righteous people are known more for what they do than what they don't do.
SPEAKER_01: But in this passage, they're still known by what they do not do and what they do not involve their lives in.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what righteous people avoid.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, they they avoid the counsel of the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: The counsel of the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: This is this is gonna sound elementary, what I'm about to say, and yet I'm I'm pretty convinced that we need elementary in this area, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Who do you go to when life gets hard?
SPEAKER_01: Where do you turn to for advice when you don't know what to do?
SPEAKER_01: Again, let me make a very simplistic statement, but I think we need it today.
SPEAKER_01: Wicked people will not give you righteous advice.
SPEAKER_01: And some of you would say, you know, you're arguing me with me already in your mind say, well, I don't get a wicked people.
SPEAKER_01: I just go to Sandra at the office.
SPEAKER_01: I just go to Bill, who's my neighbor.
SPEAKER_01: And they're not wicked people, and they're not a Christian, but let me say it to you like this people who are not walking with Jesus will not give you godly advice.
SPEAKER_01: People whose lives are not centered on the word of God will not give you good advice.
SPEAKER_01: Here's one people who avoid centering in and connecting to a church, they will not be the best discerners in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Um, people, you say, well, you don't need to say this next one.
SPEAKER_01: I do, I think I do.
SPEAKER_01: People whose life is dysfunctional will not give you good advice.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you would say, I would never do anything that Sandra does.
SPEAKER_01: If your name is Sandra, I apologize to you today, okay?
SPEAKER_01: What's funny is my mother-in-law's name is Sandra, but it's not intentional, just came out, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you would look at Sandra or a bill at the office and say, What?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they're they're jacked up, like totally dysfunctional family, totally dysfunctional person.
SPEAKER_01: I would never do anything that they do in their life, and yet Sandra's the one I call when life hits the fan.
SPEAKER_01: You see, you see how this is a little weird?
SPEAKER_01: Here, here's Psalm chapter one on relationships.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what they do righteous people go to righteous people to get righteous advice.
SPEAKER_01: Righteous people in your life, people who are godly, they go to other godly people, righteous people who then in turn give you godly advice and godly counsel.
SPEAKER_01: So I know we're like hardly in the message here, but I wonder how many of you are already sensing, like, man, okay, there's some changes that need to take place in my life.
SPEAKER_01: Are you are you getting bad advice from ungodly people?
SPEAKER_01: Are you listen to this?
SPEAKER_01: Are you basing decisions based on what you see on social media?
SPEAKER_01: People's highlight reels?
SPEAKER_01: Are you are you watching Netflix and you're you know you watched a movie last night and you thought to yourself, why is my husband not like that?
SPEAKER_01: Why is my wife not like that?
SPEAKER_01: It's because they're not an actor.
SPEAKER_01: That's why they're real people who got real emotions and real problems and real stuff, and you married them.
SPEAKER_01: And so we figure it out, right?
SPEAKER_01: Righteous people avoid the counsel of the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: They also avoid the way of sinners, according to the passage here.
SPEAKER_01: The way of sinners.
SPEAKER_01: Um, can I give you just like a heart-to-heart here?
SPEAKER_01: I think one of the hardest transitions a person goes through after they meet Jesus is the transition of close relationships.
SPEAKER_01: Um, you come to faith in Christ, your whole friend group or the all the families and couples that y'all hang with don't know Jesus, and and you're kind of struggling with like, well, what do we do now?
SPEAKER_01: They're not, they don't really, they're not going where we're going as a family.
SPEAKER_01: They're not going where I'm going as an individual, and I don't really know what to do.
SPEAKER_01: And there's no doubt you don't, you don't abandon your friends, you know, because God, God wants to use you to reach them.
SPEAKER_01: But there is a shift, and it's probably more complex than I have time to get into today.
SPEAKER_01: But I just say it simply this way you're gonna have a hard time living a righteous life if your closest friends are unrighteous people.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that to you again.
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna have a hard time living a righteous life if your closest friends are unrighteous people.
SPEAKER_01: So you get saved, but but the group continues to do the things that you used to do before you got saved, keeps going to the same places you used to go to before you got saved, and now you're in a pickle and you're like, okay, I I I don't know what to do.
SPEAKER_01: Chris, can you help me for a second?
SPEAKER_01: All right, I'm gonna give you an old youth group illustration right here, all right?
SPEAKER_01: Um try that again.
SPEAKER_01: There we go.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: So um, is it gonna be easier for me?
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know, I mean you're looking at these guns, you're like, it's probably easy.
SPEAKER_01: Is it gonna be easier for me to pull up Chris?
SPEAKER_01: Or is it gonna be easier for Chris to pull me down off the stage?
SPEAKER_01: Which one?
SPEAKER_01: Pull me down, right?
SPEAKER_01: And yet many of us live our relationships like this.
SPEAKER_01: We're like, man, I know, I know you're not a Christian, but I I think I think that I can do it, and nothing happens.
SPEAKER_01: Or how about this?
SPEAKER_01: All the single people?
SPEAKER_01: I I think that she's okay.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, have you seen her?
SPEAKER_01: I I think that he's got a good heart.
SPEAKER_01: I just have to find it in there.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure he'll change once we get married.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all see the picture?
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Chris.
SPEAKER_01: You see the picture?
SPEAKER_01: Way easier to be brought down than it is to be brought up.
SPEAKER_01: Righteous people live a righteous life, and they invite people into the life of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: It's not that you avoid evangelism and you abandon your friends, but there's a shift, there's a turning, there, there's a reprioritization there of your friendships.
SPEAKER_01: Now, some of you, as parents and grandparents, like, golly, I hope little Jimmy's listening right now.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to middle school and it's really hard right here.
SPEAKER_01: I hope my my college daughter, I hope she's listening right now.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I tell you, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Been a pastor for 20 something years now.
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think adults have just as big of a problem as this than kids.
SPEAKER_01: Just because it plays out different, it's not in the lunchroom, it's like the weekends.
SPEAKER_01: And so I would just encourage every adult, like, don't think this is the teenage thing you gotta figure out like back then.
SPEAKER_01: It's an adult thing you gotta figure out right now.
SPEAKER_01: I see it all the time, and here's what happens is that this is your spiritual life, and your friendships cap it.
SPEAKER_01: And you, you know, you you come to church, you're like, yeah, honey, I think we really should do do what they're saying.
SPEAKER_01: I think we should get in a small group.
SPEAKER_01: I think we should be more consistent.
SPEAKER_01: I think we should really sell out in every area of our life, and then friendships cap it.
SPEAKER_01: They're inviting you to do the same old things that you used to do, and it's just a it's a cap on your spiritual life.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01: So, adults, you got to listen up as well.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, here's the third thing righteous people avoid.
SPEAKER_01: They avoid the seat of scoffers and say, Well, what in the world is that?
SPEAKER_01: Well, think of posture here, think of a seat.
SPEAKER_01: And in Hebrew, this word for seat can point to a settled position.
SPEAKER_01: All right, so here's what this means is that you get comfortable with people who mock God and who mock the things of God.
SPEAKER_01: You become comfortable watching things that mock the Lord and the things of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Um, there are some scholars who even even believe these these three things that are mentioned in these first two verses, that they are progressive in nature, meaning they are describing actions that get progressively worse.
SPEAKER_01: So, so let's go with this.
SPEAKER_01: Like, let me just give you an example of what this would look like you know for you to see.
SPEAKER_01: It begins with, well, you're just listening.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's it's not that big of a deal.
SPEAKER_01: So then you're just hanging out, so then you become them.
SPEAKER_01: This is the pattern of warning in Psalm chapter one.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just I mean, I'm just listening to what they're saying, I'm just kind of around.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just around them more, and then I become them.
SPEAKER_01: I am I am pulled down when I should be pulling up.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is uh this is a critical point of the year, okay.
SPEAKER_01: In two weeks, we have kickoff Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: It is the beginning of our calendar year as a church.
SPEAKER_01: So really we we kind of think in terms of August being the beginning of the year more than we even see January is the beginning of the year.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's here's my challenge to you, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Um, the Christian life works best when your closest friends are followers of Jesus in the same church living out the life of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: That's the best case scenario.
SPEAKER_01: Closest friends in your church living out the Christian life together.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's my challenge to you.
SPEAKER_01: What would it look like if you gave God the next year of your life?
SPEAKER_01: What would it look like if you centered your life in the church, maybe for the first time?
SPEAKER_01: Like, what if you went to growth track like Chris just talked about?
SPEAKER_01: You hear us talk about it, somebody somebody like, uh I'll get to it, or maybe I won't, maybe I will.
SPEAKER_01: Like, what what if you started to get in a small group?
SPEAKER_01: What if she started serving?
SPEAKER_01: What if you went, you know, you were in church every time you were physically able to be in church?
SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't like a well, it's raining outside, and I don't know, they may have church outside today.
SPEAKER_01: So probably shouldn't go.
SPEAKER_01: What would it look like if you went to to the extra stuff?
SPEAKER_01: Like you went to the women's gathering, ladies, men don't go, be weird.
SPEAKER_01: But women, you went.
SPEAKER_01: Or you you went uh uh to Crosshirs together.
SPEAKER_01: Like I've always heard y'all talk about those at the grave, but I've just never been.
SPEAKER_01: Like, what would it look like if if instead of well, our schedule, well, I don't know what what if you just said, Lord, whatever, yes, yes, yes, this year, yes.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what you'd find.
SPEAKER_01: You would find that you are a completely different person one year from today.
SPEAKER_01: Almost guarantee you that.
SPEAKER_01: You know what it would look like?
SPEAKER_01: It would look like verse three.
SPEAKER_01: Let's get into it, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Um, actually, don't get into it yet.
SPEAKER_01: I skipped over a part.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what righteous people lean into very quickly.
SPEAKER_01: What do they lean into?
SPEAKER_01: They lean into the law of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: So they avoid some things and they lean into some things.
SPEAKER_01: What is the law of the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: It's basically just how the Bible talks about the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: It is a descriptor, like the law of God is the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: And righteous people do two things.
SPEAKER_01: They delight in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: Number one.
SPEAKER_01: Um, one author said it this way that the psalmist found drudgery, excuse me.
SPEAKER_01: He found delight, not drudgery, in the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: We encourage you every morning to have a time with the Lord where you're reading the word of God, where you're praying on your own, not at church, not us, not me.
SPEAKER_01: It's you.
SPEAKER_01: And you can approach that with with two kind of mindsets.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the first one's drudgery of like, well, I guess I gotta read my Bible because Nick says I should read my Bible.
SPEAKER_01: And God's gonna be mad at me today if I don't read my Bible and I've I got a big meeting.
SPEAKER_01: I need God to help the meeting go well.
SPEAKER_01: But I don't know how many verses like will make me right with God.
SPEAKER_01: So is it five verses, is it 10 verses, is it two chapters, is it three chapters?
SPEAKER_01: And listen, you're not made right with God based on whether you have a quiet time or not.
SPEAKER_01: You're made right with God because of Jesus, what he's done.
SPEAKER_01: So, like, don't walk in with drudgery and legalism to a time with the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Walk in with a sense of Lord, I need your direction today, man.
SPEAKER_01: This 3 p.m.
SPEAKER_01: meeting is gonna be a doozy.
SPEAKER_01: My daughter, she's going crazy right now.
SPEAKER_01: My son, he's going off the rails right now.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I need your direction and my You see the difference right there?
SPEAKER_01: One's legalism, one's desperation.
SPEAKER_01: And I think you know which one goes better.
SPEAKER_01: So you delight in the word of God and then you meditate on the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: This means you spend time reading it, thinking about it, talking about it, all those kinds of things.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: This is why a small group is so important.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we talk about them very often.
SPEAKER_01: You should get in a small group.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Now, verse number three.
SPEAKER_01: If you do all that, what is your life going to look like?
SPEAKER_01: It says you're like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither.
SPEAKER_01: In all that he does, he prospers.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, we are talking about a Middle Eastern biblical context here.
SPEAKER_01: When you go to the Holy Land with us, and I hope you do at some point, and we hope the Holy Land opens back up.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I have been often when I go, it has been in the summertime.
SPEAKER_01: And so summertime in the Middle East is exactly what you would picture, summertime in the Middle East.
SPEAKER_01: You get off the bus, and as soon as you do, that tour guide is looking for shade, looking for a building that you can get under, or often, hey, let's all go under that big tree right there, and then I'll talk to you.
SPEAKER_01: And everybody goes and huddles around.
SPEAKER_01: Why do they do that?
SPEAKER_01: Because they know you're gonna listen better if you are not in the sweltering heat and you are sweating like crazy, right?
SPEAKER_01: In certain parts of the Middle East, a luscious tree that bears fruit would stick out.
SPEAKER_01: Think about this spiritually.
SPEAKER_01: A righteous person who delights in and meditates on the law of God will stick out.
SPEAKER_01: So if you really take God at His Word today and you're like, okay, I got a fork in the road, and man, I'm going after the Lord this year.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna commit to what you talked about, Nick.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna give God one year of my yes, you're gonna find that as you're walking in daily obedience to Jesus, submitted under the word of God, you will experience the reality of verse three.
SPEAKER_01: Say, well, what is the reality of verse three?
SPEAKER_01: You will be planted in a life that bears fruit for the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: Your life will matter, your life will count, your life will be purposeful.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody want to live that kind of life today?
SPEAKER_01: Like it, like if you're if your heart starts to beat and like the blood starts to rush a little bit, when I say, Man, I want my life to count for God.
SPEAKER_01: Someone is the way to do that.
SPEAKER_01: I avoid some things and then I lean into some things.
SPEAKER_01: And when I do that, my life becomes just like a tree that is bearing fruit for the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: Now, these last three verses here make a clear contrast between these two paths, between the righteous people and the wicked people.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 4.
SPEAKER_01: It says, the wicked are not so, but are like chaff, underlying the word chaff there, that the wind drives away.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
SPEAKER_01: There it is.
SPEAKER_01: For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will what?
SPEAKER_01: It will perish.
SPEAKER_01: Do you see that that distinction there?
SPEAKER_01: It's like a totally different life.
SPEAKER_01: God knows your path if you're righteous, and if you're wicked, your path will perish.
SPEAKER_01: Said simply here, these three verses are showing us that very thing.
SPEAKER_01: This is the path of the righteous people.
SPEAKER_01: This is the path of the wicked people.
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm not speaking to wickedness over here in these sections, all right?
SPEAKER_01: The word wicked here in the Hebrew is the word Rasha.
SPEAKER_01: It is speaking towards not a saved person, in other words, not a person who has put their faith in Jesus, but this is a lost person.
SPEAKER_01: They are not in a relationship with God, and the word even can give off the impression and carry the idea of gross evil.
SPEAKER_01: And so you may say, well, how are we supposed to view the last three verses here of Psalm chapter one?
SPEAKER_01: And what I'd say to you is this it's about eternity.
SPEAKER_01: Like it shifts from verse three ends, verse four is like then first three verses, now last three verses, then.
SPEAKER_01: This is not about your behavior, it's about destiny.
SPEAKER_01: And so look at how it describes the wicked, okay?
SPEAKER_01: The description of the wicked is this they are like chaff.
SPEAKER_01: My guess is that not many of you in this room are farmers of grain.
SPEAKER_01: Let me explain what that is.
SPEAKER_01: Chaff is the outer husk of grain, it is extremely light, it has no purpose, and it is ultimately thrown away.
SPEAKER_01: So look at the contrast.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 3 the righteous man, they're planted like a tree by water, yielding fruit.
SPEAKER_01: The wicked are like the outer husk of a grain that is simply tossed aside and is of no use.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, it describes the wicked like this: they will not stand in the judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Some different views on this.
SPEAKER_01: Some believe that this is just speaking to judgment in general, that sinners will not be able to stand before the judgment of God.
SPEAKER_01: Others believe like this is speaking directly to the end of time on the final judgment.
SPEAKER_01: We know this, that at the end of time there will be a separation.
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about a fork in the road today.
SPEAKER_01: Some people will go this way, some people will go this way.
SPEAKER_01: At the end of time, it will also happen in that manner.
SPEAKER_01: Those who know Christ personally, who have submitted their lives to him, they will be separated to God and they will live in eternity in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Those who uh have never trusted Christ, they've rejected his offer of salvation, they will be in hell forever.
SPEAKER_01: It's a clear teaching of the Bible throughout the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: And so when the Bible says that these sinners will not stand in the congregation of the righteous, it is repeating again that there's going to be a separation.
SPEAKER_01: Some will go this way, some will go the other way.
SPEAKER_01: He says finally, third description is this their way will perish.
SPEAKER_01: This is the ultimate climax of these two differences between the righteous and the wicked.
SPEAKER_01: The righteous will find life, the wicked will perish in hell.
SPEAKER_01: So here's a question for you which way are you gonna go?
SPEAKER_01: Let me speak just in this manner.
SPEAKER_01: Let me speak to Christians first of all, and then I'll close by speaking to those of you who are not Christians.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a follower of Christ today, uh, I want to encourage you with verse six one more time.
SPEAKER_01: For the Lord knows the way of the righteous.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here today and you're wondering, man, I just don't know if God sees me.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if God notices what I'm going through.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if God sees the suffering that we're in as a family.
SPEAKER_01: I just don't know if God is aware because it doesn't feel like he's near me.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't feel like he sees me.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, though the Lord knows the way of the righteous.
SPEAKER_01: That's for somebody today.
SPEAKER_01: And may you may you grab a hold of that in faith today.
SPEAKER_01: There are some of you who are Christians who man, you you've been right on that verge of like, man, I've just kind of been living casually, and I know I'm at the point where I've either got to go like all in with the Lord, all in with church, all in with other Christian friends, or I just kind of gotta go back into my old life.
SPEAKER_01: I just want to encourage you, man, that you are at a fork in the road, and I want to encourage you from Psalm chapter one to choose the path of righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: There's always pain and there's always regret at the end of the road of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Every single time you take that.
SPEAKER_01: And so I I want to tell you this on this side of that equation, choose the way of God.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you are at a place where there needs to be a radical reorientation of your friendships.
SPEAKER_01: And man, that's a scary thing.
SPEAKER_01: It's a scary thing if you're if you're going to high school next week and you're like, dude, all my friends are just they're crazy and ungodly.
SPEAKER_01: And Nick, if if I try to stand up for Christ, I don't know what's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01: You know what's gonna happen?
SPEAKER_01: You might be made fun of, you might be discarded by the group.
SPEAKER_01: You also might reach somebody in there.
SPEAKER_01: So don't be casual in your walk, maybe sold out for the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: But if that's you and and you may be 16, you may be 66.
SPEAKER_01: But you know there needs to be a radical reorientation of some relationships.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna invite you to come and just get on your knees.
SPEAKER_01: Say, Lord, I I need new friends.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a bad prayer to pray.
SPEAKER_01: I need new friends.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder how many parents, grandparents want to bring your own kids to the altar.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, would you bless them with friendships, with godly counsel?
SPEAKER_01: Would you make Psalm 1 a reality in their life?
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna invite you to come.
SPEAKER_01: There are others of you who, man, God's convicting you over something in your life.
SPEAKER_01: I've not even spoken about it today.
SPEAKER_01: But God just does that, doesn't he?
SPEAKER_01: He does it to me all the time.
SPEAKER_01: Listening to a sermon, not even talking about what I'm dealing with, but God's speaking, God's dealing with it.
SPEAKER_01: And if that's you, and man, you just need to get to a place of surrender before the Lord, I'm just gonna invite you to the altar and uh get on your face before the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I'm I'm coming back to you, whatever that looks like.
SPEAKER_01: Let me speak to those of you who are not a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, number one, I'm I'm thrilled you're here.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you, you know, you're newer to church.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, some of you may have been in church for a long time, but uh, you know, you're you're you're at a place where you're really considering spiritual things.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to encourage you that today can be the day that you trust Christ and everything changes.
SPEAKER_01: Like what an amazing thing that could be in your life.
SPEAKER_01: That today your life can change.
SPEAKER_01: See, the Bible describes our life like this: that every one of us are born with the sin nature, meaning we all naturally, like if this if this direction indicates sin, it's very normal and natural for us to just walk in sin.
SPEAKER_01: We don't know that we're doing it, it's just what feels normal.
SPEAKER_01: So if it feels good, we go for it.
SPEAKER_01: If it seems right, we do it.
SPEAKER_01: And the Bible says that this kind of life will cost you eternity in hell.
SPEAKER_01: We're not living for God, we're living for ourselves, we're living for sin.
SPEAKER_01: So the Bible has a word called repentance, it means a change of mind.
SPEAKER_01: And what that means is this when you hear the gospel that God loves you, send his only son Jesus to die on the cross for you.
SPEAKER_01: So that if you would ever hear that and turn away, you'd repent, is with this word, and you'd turn in faith to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what would happen: he'd save you.
SPEAKER_01: What does saving mean?
SPEAKER_01: Means he'd forgive you of all your sin.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody need a new start today?
SPEAKER_01: Means that he would transform your life.
SPEAKER_01: Means that he'd give you a fresh start.
SPEAKER_01: Ultimately means you go to heaven when you die.
SPEAKER_01: And so I just ask you, and the reason why they call the gospel the good news is because it it is good news in the midst of very bad news.
SPEAKER_01: Do you realize how bad verses four through six are for a lost person?
SPEAKER_01: You are under the judgment of God, and you will spend eternity in hell unless you bow the knee to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That's pretty bad news, is it not?
SPEAKER_01: And yet the good news of the gospel is that if you'll just come to God directly, you know, exactly as you are, He cleans you up.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to clean yourself up to come to God.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you will think, you know, I need to go home and stop doing this and start doing this, and then I'll come to God.
SPEAKER_01: No, you come exactly as you are, and Jesus saves you and He cleans you up.
SPEAKER_01: So we're gonna do something a little bit different today as we close.
SPEAKER_01: I just want you to bow your head and close your eyes.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna give you an opportunity to do that right now with me, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna pray a prayer to the Lord, and you're not praying to me.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but if this is you, like if you are convicted by the Holy Spirit, thinking, man, I need to respond to what this guy's saying, like that is me.
SPEAKER_01: It's like I'm reading your text messages, like I'm reading your heart.
SPEAKER_01: It's not me, it's God.
SPEAKER_01: But if you're here today and you are ready to repent of a life live for yourself, to repent of a life live for sin, and you are ready to turn in faith to Jesus Christ and be saved, to come under his authority in every area of your life, then I'm gonna invite you just to utter a simple prayer to God.
SPEAKER_01: You can just do this in the quietness of your soul, God can hear you.
SPEAKER_01: But if that's you, first time in church, been in church a couple times, been in church your whole life, doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_01: If that's you, I'm just gonna invite you today to say something like this to God.
SPEAKER_01: Just say, Dear Jesus, I know that I've lived my life for myself.
SPEAKER_01: And yet today I repent of a life of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, today I turn to you.
SPEAKER_01: I believe that you died on the cross for me.
SPEAKER_01: Strap up your prayer like this, in the best way that I know how, I give my life to you.
SPEAKER_01: With every head still bowed, if that was you, I'm gonna ask you just make one bold step right here.
SPEAKER_01: If that was you, I'm just gonna ask you just to raise your hand all over this room.
SPEAKER_01: That's never happened before in my life, but right now I just got saved.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, raise your hand all over the room.
SPEAKER_01: I see you, brother.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody else?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, praise God, I see you right here.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody else?
SPEAKER_01: Wave at me.
SPEAKER_01: I've got I've got lights in my eyes.
SPEAKER_01: Say Nick, that was me.
SPEAKER_01: All the way in the balcony, all the way in the back.
SPEAKER_01: Say Nick, that was me.
SPEAKER_01: I just gave my life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I see you back there in the back section.
SPEAKER_01: Alright, here's what I'm asking you to do.
SPEAKER_01: Our staff's gonna make their way to the front right now.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, if you just pray to receive Christ, raised your hand, didn't raise your hand, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: If that just happened in you and it's never happened before, I'm gonna invite you, as soon as we sing, I'm asking you to take a bold step.
SPEAKER_01: I'm asking you to come to one of these men or women who are all over here.
SPEAKER_01: You can see them back by the stairs, and they're also down front by the stairs.
SPEAKER_01: And if you just pray to receive Christ, I want you to walk to one of them as we sing.
SPEAKER_01: And all you gotta say is this I just prayed with Nick.
SPEAKER_01: And they'll know what that means, and they'll lead you to faith in Christ, or they'll they'll answer questions about that.
SPEAKER_01: Um, we're not gonna make you come on stage.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to talk in a microphone, you don't have to get a tattoo today, like you're not gonna do anything weird today, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But if that was you, I'm gonna invite you to tell somebody what just happened in your life.
SPEAKER_01: You say, in front of all these people, if you can't stand in here, you'll never stand out there.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna encourage you to walk to somebody in just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: Christians, you already heard the call.
SPEAKER_01: If God is speaking to your life in any way, you need to surrender before Him, this altar is open as we continue.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, as we wrap up today, I pray that those who just got saved would tell somebody about it.
SPEAKER_01: That those who are already Christians about who you're dealing with in their life, Lord, would you bring them right now to do business with you?
SPEAKER_01: It's in Jesus' name that we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If you have questions about what you have heard or would like more information about your relationship with Jesus, please email us at info at crosschurch.com or visit our website at crosschurch.com.
SPEAKER_00: At Crosschurch, our mission is to reach Northwest Arkansas, America, and the world for Jesus Christ.