SPEAKER_00: Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_01: It really is a joy to come in and hear y'all singing every morning.
SPEAKER_01: What a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_01: Great to see you as we uh start spring break.
SPEAKER_01: I guess all of you came today to say thanks to the Lord for the number 16.
SPEAKER_01: Is that sweet?
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all get that tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01: It's sweet, somebody said.
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly right.
SPEAKER_01: No, it's good.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I want to remind you a couple things.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, uh, we are looking for some folks to help us in England.
SPEAKER_01: Uh May the 4th, you leave that evening.
SPEAKER_01: Come back on May the 11th.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we're going, we need about four to six people to go uh and support Pastor Joel in a pastor's conference.
SPEAKER_01: So as you know, our churches here in Arkansas and now some other states are beginning to join or creating a network of churches to support a network of churches in England, many of them in the London area, but spreading beyond.
SPEAKER_01: And this is their annual pastor's conference.
SPEAKER_01: So this is really a great trip to go on for several reasons.
SPEAKER_01: First of all, you get to see what's happening, you get to meet a lot of the pastors involved and find out what's happening.
SPEAKER_01: Some great men of God.
SPEAKER_01: It'll bless you to hear their heart to reach their nation.
SPEAKER_01: It's just incredible to be around.
SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna help with things like help do food and just be there and support host and hostess.
SPEAKER_01: Also, this trip, you have two, it ends up because of the travel schedule, you end up with two England days.
SPEAKER_01: So the first day, Pastor Joel is talking about taking folks to uh Churchill's home out in the countryside, which is a beautiful place.
SPEAKER_01: I've been there.
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's an incredible home and fascinating history.
SPEAKER_01: And then you'll get a London tour day on the back side of that.
SPEAKER_01: And then the rest of the week you'll get a chance to uh be with men of God who are praying for their nation to know revival.
SPEAKER_01: So we hope you'll plan for that.
SPEAKER_01: If you have any questions, call me.
SPEAKER_01: We'd love for you to go.
SPEAKER_01: We need four to six people.
SPEAKER_01: A couple of couples would be great.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to be a couple, you can go.
SPEAKER_01: But if we had a couple of them, it's a great opportunity to go and do some touring uh and be a part of that.
SPEAKER_01: So we have some information available.
SPEAKER_01: We'd love for you to be a part of that.
SPEAKER_01: So please let us know.
SPEAKER_01: Be in prayer.
SPEAKER_01: I know that God has some folks out there.
SPEAKER_01: You talk to me all the time about one day you want to go to England, here's your shot.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the next thing I want to remind you of is we are finishing our Faith Forward Emphasis uh this year.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we are paying off the property, the construction project for the utilities and all that is just about done.
SPEAKER_01: So it's really exciting to be there.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we are also doing some repairs here.
SPEAKER_01: I think we've just finished some repairs on the steeple.
SPEAKER_01: We'll have some other things to do around here, but the bulk of that is going to be paying off that property utility project, and it's very important that we pay that off and get that done for two reasons.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, the bill is coming due very soon, and so make sure if you haven't participated, you jump in.
SPEAKER_01: And second of all, we need to plan, begin planning on the next phase.
SPEAKER_01: So, what are we going to do next?
SPEAKER_01: So I hope you're in prayer and a part of that.
SPEAKER_01: There are three ways that we can give.
SPEAKER_01: You can give online or in person, but also uh you can give a cash gift, you can pledge, which is a great way to do that, and uh and then you can give in combination.
SPEAKER_01: My family and I like to do that because it allows us to leverage our gift.
SPEAKER_01: This is over and above our tithes, and uh and it goes to help us advance forward as a church.
SPEAKER_01: And so I hope you'll be in prayer for that.
SPEAKER_01: If you have not had a chance to give or participate yet, we want everyone to be a part, and so that we can say this is our work that God is doing through us, and it's not their work.
SPEAKER_01: And so you we want you to be a part.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 17, and here's what we're going to talk about the high standard of the Christian life.
SPEAKER_01: Now, that's kind of an interesting title for an Old Testament passage, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so, but here's the question you get from a lot of folks, and you see it around.
SPEAKER_01: Why are we studying the Old Testament?
SPEAKER_01: Isn't there a way you could just go deeper in the New Testament and just read that through the year?
SPEAKER_01: Sure, you can do it however you want to.
SPEAKER_01: But why are we studying the Old Testament?
SPEAKER_01: So I get these kinds of comments.
SPEAKER_01: Well, we live under grace and not the law.
SPEAKER_01: Well, that is true.
SPEAKER_01: That is true.
SPEAKER_01: That is a true statement.
SPEAKER_01: But let me ask you this question.
SPEAKER_01: Paul asks this question in Romans chapter 6.
SPEAKER_01: Now it's interesting, the book of Romans, some people refer to that as either a theological textbook or a legal textbook.
SPEAKER_01: It's written kind of that way, where Paul is really doing his most intellectual and specific best.
SPEAKER_01: He takes the Old Testament and he teaches that this is how Jesus fulfilled that.
SPEAKER_01: He is the salvation that God promised, and then because of that, how we move forward in our life.
SPEAKER_01: So he asks this question in Romans chapter 6 well, should if grace is so awesome, shouldn't we just sin a whole lot more?
SPEAKER_01: And then there will be a whole lot more grace that will abound.
SPEAKER_01: And he's using that as a rhetorical device, and of course, that's a dumb question.
SPEAKER_01: Like intellectually, we just sort of think that doesn't sound right.
SPEAKER_01: But a lot of people live that way.
SPEAKER_01: They live as if there's no standard.
SPEAKER_01: We're under grace, and so if I blow it, I just blow it.
SPEAKER_01: It's just not that big a deal.
SPEAKER_01: I can just do whatever I want to do, and God is good and Jesus is wonderful.
SPEAKER_01: We can just kind of do what we do.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul says, absolutely not.
SPEAKER_01: That's not how that works, right?
SPEAKER_01: And then he teaches us all throughout the book of Romans that the standard of the Christian life is the standard that God establishes from the very beginning.
SPEAKER_01: It is all the same, it is all seamless.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, in the New Testament, best count I could come up with, Deuteronomy is the book that Jesus quotes the most.
SPEAKER_01: That should be instructive to us.
SPEAKER_01: Forty-four times in the New Testament, at least, is a direct quote quoting Deuteronomy.
SPEAKER_01: And remember when Peter and Paul and whoever else was preaching in the New Testament time period, if you want to say the book of Acts, period, what is the Bible they're preaching from?
SPEAKER_01: The Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: And so if Jesus is all through that and it's instructive to our lives, 44 times the writers in the New Testament quote the book of Deuteronomy exactly, and another 20 or so at least, they refer in part or in concept directly to what we're learning in Deuteronomy.
SPEAKER_01: So you cannot separate the experience and the learning that we are getting in Deuteronomy from the walk that we have in our daily life as followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And as you're reading through like today, you're reading through, I don't want you to miss the significance of what today's reading means.
SPEAKER_01: He is, they are on the planes there, getting ready and preparing to go into the land of Canaan to receive God's promise, and Moses is unpacking all these things.
SPEAKER_01: He's reminding them of all these things.
SPEAKER_01: They're constantly consecrating themselves, they're recommitting themselves to the covenant.
SPEAKER_01: And even in today's reading, he gives them an explanation.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, if you're obedient to God, all kinds of blessings flow if you're obedient.
SPEAKER_01: And if you are not obedient, then there is a curse for all of that.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I love what the uh teacher in the podcast said this morning as I was listening to that.
SPEAKER_01: She said, we need to get this concept down.
SPEAKER_01: God's blessing.
SPEAKER_01: And so if they refuse and they sin in the Old Testament, what does the curse mean?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we just think, ah, well, we didn't get blessed, but I can just give up with that blessing.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what the curse means.
SPEAKER_01: It actually reverses the blessings and goes the other way as God's discipline for not following him.
SPEAKER_01: And so when you think about the Old Testament, and as we're reading through and finishing up the book of Deuteronomy, as we're heading into the book of Joshua, I want you to see that what we are reading is highly instructive to us as New Testament Christians.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what Deuteronomy chapter 17, verse 1 says.
SPEAKER_01: Now this this verse stuck in my, it just stuck in my brain.
SPEAKER_01: It was like a, you know, the story of the princess and the pea, 14 mattresses and put a pee under there and still messed her up, couldn't sleep at night.
SPEAKER_01: This this has been that for me.
SPEAKER_01: We I love cowboy movies, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like, let's watch cowboy movies.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, John Wayne, any of them.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I got it.
SPEAKER_01: His Cavalry movies, John Wayne Cowboy movies, I'm all in.
SPEAKER_01: El Dorado, I mean, I'm all in.
SPEAKER_01: Let's watch.
SPEAKER_01: You give me some peanut butter and some vanilla wafers and cowboy movie, I'm all in.
SPEAKER_01: Magnificent Seven is the greatest film of all time.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you've gone with wind people, y'all just sick.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's just goofy, right?
SPEAKER_01: That's just a dumb soap opera.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, give me a break.
SPEAKER_01: The Magnificent Seven is about heroism and right and wrong and redemption and revenge over evil.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's just like the greatest experience.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you could have church after you watched.
SPEAKER_01: But I digress.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to think about this what here, December Deuteronomy 17.1.
SPEAKER_01: Just stuck right in the middle of this.
SPEAKER_01: My cowboy movie.
SPEAKER_01: It's like a burr under my saddle since we passed through Deuteronomy 17.
SPEAKER_01: You're reading along in 16, and you got all this stuff, don't worship other gods, and all this kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: You get this one verse, it's just stuck there, and then he heads off into some other territory and he starts covering some other stuff.
SPEAKER_01: It's just this one verse stuck right there, but it is stuck like a burr under that saddle.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what he says: you must not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, for that is detestable to the Lord your God.
SPEAKER_01: Now that ought to arrest us.
SPEAKER_01: Detestable to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Like, can you get any stronger language than that?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's like eating Brussels sprouts.
SPEAKER_01: It's like eating turnip greens.
SPEAKER_01: It's like eating liver and onions.
SPEAKER_01: See that face?
SPEAKER_01: Y'all got it right there.
SPEAKER_01: This means it makes you want to gag and throw up.
SPEAKER_01: It is, you cannot abide it, is what it means.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, if you bring me that ox, or you bring me that sheep, and it's got some flaw on it, you know it has, I'm gonna upchuck it.
SPEAKER_01: Not only am I not gonna receive it, it is detestable to me as your God.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you to think about this, just stuck right in there.
SPEAKER_01: Now, it looks like we have been reading about offerings for three weeks, have we not?
SPEAKER_01: It's like 20 chapters of offerings.
SPEAKER_01: They're bringing offerings for everything.
SPEAKER_01: You harvest, offering.
SPEAKER_01: You do this, offering.
SPEAKER_01: Have a party, offering.
SPEAKER_01: Have a fellowship or a festival, offering.
SPEAKER_01: You sin, offering.
SPEAKER_01: You mess up your neighbor, offering.
SPEAKER_01: Once a year you've got to bring the sacrifice for a sins offering.
SPEAKER_01: They're bringing offerings all the time.
SPEAKER_01: All the time, all the time, all the time of bringing offerings.
SPEAKER_01: What's the point of the offering?
SPEAKER_01: Why can it not have a flaw or defect?
SPEAKER_01: Because it is a picture of the redemption that comes through Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It is the repentance of sin, and sin flaws us.
SPEAKER_01: In the book of Romans, the Bible says, all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in the book of Romans, for the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: And so we know that Jesus came and he died on the cross to pay the price for our sins.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus came and lived a sinless life so that his death had no judgment attached to it, so it could be a sacrifice for ours.
SPEAKER_01: If Jesus had sinned, his death would have paid the price for his sin.
SPEAKER_01: And so in the Old Testament, as he's pointing to the Redeemer who would come to be the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world, this sacrifice had to be without defect or flaw.
SPEAKER_01: It had to be sinless in order to be a repentance offering or a worship offering.
SPEAKER_01: Now you think about this.
SPEAKER_01: God is setting up this picture.
SPEAKER_01: We saw before how serious it was when Moses broke the picture of salvation.
SPEAKER_01: And so here he says again, here's the picture.
SPEAKER_01: You cannot bring that flawed ox or sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Because here's what happens.
SPEAKER_01: You think about it.
SPEAKER_01: Man, I got six offerings this week this month.
SPEAKER_01: We got the festival, and then next month is the sacrifice of the lamb and the Passover Supper, and then I got a harvest, and then I got to do this offering, and my kid went and messed up my neighbor's deal.
SPEAKER_01: I got to have an offering for that.
SPEAKER_01: Man, I don't got that many sheep.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all think we're bad?
SPEAKER_01: Modern-day church, give me a break.
SPEAKER_01: We should have an offering every day at First Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_01: Like you have to drive by and bring your offering every day.
SPEAKER_01: This is a good idea.
SPEAKER_01: Jacob, write this down.
SPEAKER_01: I like this idea.
SPEAKER_01: I'll give you 10% of it for the music ministry.
SPEAKER_01: Anything we get on top of that.
SPEAKER_01: How's that?
SPEAKER_01: That's because Pastor Eli in the children's ministry already spoke for 50% of it.
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it always worries me when I see Jacob and Eli talking to each other in the hallway.
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking, that's a conspiracy.
SPEAKER_01: How much is that going to cost me?
SPEAKER_01: We got offerings all the time.
SPEAKER_01: So you think about here's a dad, he's got these sheep, he's got this side of the herd, he's trying to grow his herd, he's got this bull over here, man.
SPEAKER_01: This ox, this this man, this that right there, I can put that thing to stud and I can grow a herd, and everybody wants my cows.
SPEAKER_01: And I got six offerings this week.
SPEAKER_01: I can't do any more offerings.
SPEAKER_01: You know, that one's a little gimpy.
SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
SPEAKER_01: I'll just tell the Lord, I'll double it out of that other beautiful one, this without flaw, and I'll bring him this one.
SPEAKER_01: And you bring that to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And you're holding back your best from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: That's what he's talking about.
SPEAKER_01: That's not a heart of worship.
SPEAKER_01: That's not working.
SPEAKER_01: That's detestable to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Now, we've been talking about Romans, so let's look at Romans 12, 1 and 2.
SPEAKER_01: This is a famous verse we've talked about here, kind of quoted a lot of times.
SPEAKER_01: But I want you to see how these work in tandem together.
SPEAKER_01: And what we are reading in Deuteronomy teach us the standard that we should have in our lives as modern-day Christians.
SPEAKER_01: Because of all that stuff I've been talking about, Romans 6 and sin more, so grace is more, and wages of sin is death, and gift of all that stuff, all that stuff we've been talking about.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus coming to be our Savior explains it all in the first 11 verses, 11 chapters of Romans, and then he says this, therefore, because of all of that, because of all of this understanding, because of the nature of sin and the sacrifice of sin and sin into the world by one man, and Jesus died for all of our sins and all of that.
SPEAKER_01: Now, because of that, because you know what salvation is, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: Where does that word come from?
SPEAKER_01: The Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Where does the picture come from?
SPEAKER_01: The Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: When you're reading from Deuteronomy, and Paul says, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, what do you think that means?
SPEAKER_01: We're learning from Deuteronomy what that means.
SPEAKER_01: I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: That means what you bring to the Lord matters, and that means if you bring something in your life with defect or serious flaw, it's detestable to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the standard set in the Old Testament still applies.
SPEAKER_01: And we're learning the lessons, and Paul goes to that and he says, Look, man, in the same way, I urge you to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
SPEAKER_01: You see the opposite of detestable?
SPEAKER_01: This is your spiritual worship.
SPEAKER_01: This is an act of worship in how I come to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
SPEAKER_01: All of a sudden, when you get this idea of sacrifice and you understand, man, you gotta bring the best exactly as God commanded, and it's got to be without flaw.
SPEAKER_01: There's no more bringing him your second best or your leftovers or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: All of a sudden, man, that verse becomes even more.
SPEAKER_01: And it sets for us the high standard of Christian living.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to just see some of the parallels in there.
SPEAKER_01: Sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: In Deuteronomy, he says, Do not bring that flawed animal for this act of worship.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: Why is it detestable?
SPEAKER_01: Because that means in your heart, he knows you made a choice.
SPEAKER_01: You decided that that was good enough.
SPEAKER_01: Or, hey man, I showed up, I did it, I should get credit, and the box checked.
SPEAKER_01: There's no box checking in the Christian life.
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, in the same way in the New Testament, the same picture, present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: That means your person, you present yourself as that living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: And if you are presenting yourself with defect and flaw and all of that, the word picture of that, if you are making a choice to leave your best over here and just give your second best or whatever's left or whatever, you're making a choice.
SPEAKER_01: It's the same choice.
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, detestable versus pleasing.
SPEAKER_01: If I bring the sacrifice appropriately to the Lord, if I bring him my best, that is pleasing to him.
SPEAKER_01: And as I live for him and I'm not transform uh and I'm not conformed to this world, but I'm transformed by the renewing of my minds, and that transformation happens so that I can live out the will of God, that's pleasing to him.
SPEAKER_01: But if I'm bringing him my second best, it's detestable to him.
SPEAKER_01: Man, these verses are inextricably linked.
SPEAKER_01: And he is looking at these Old Testament pictures and he's explaining to us this standard.
SPEAKER_01: And just because we're in the New Testament and we're under grace, it does not change the standard.
SPEAKER_01: The law and requirements may function differently, but they still set the same standard of righteousness and holiness and forgiveness and worship.
SPEAKER_01: It does not change.
SPEAKER_01: That's why there's an entire book in the New Testament, Hebrews, that explains the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: So that's two books directly built on what we're reading and understanding and how it translates into our life today.
SPEAKER_01: So let me give you a couple of truths from this passage of scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, sacrifice is God's standard.
SPEAKER_01: Second best and leftovers, neither one of them is acceptable.
SPEAKER_01: It is not acceptable.
SPEAKER_01: And we talk about this as pastors and staff meetings and stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Man, in modern-day Christian life, Jesus always gets the leftovers.
SPEAKER_01: He gets the leftovers.
SPEAKER_01: I want this to be a teaching.
SPEAKER_01: I'm tempted to like go find a pulpit somewhere and pound away at it.
SPEAKER_01: Or y'all like it when I do this, right?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I got that out of the way.
SPEAKER_01: I want this to be thoughtful and I want you to think through it with me.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you just think about all the simple things that go on.
SPEAKER_01: What happens if you're late to work every day?
SPEAKER_01: What happens if you don't show up to work?
SPEAKER_01: Several times now I've read a thing that breaks down church attendance by generations.
SPEAKER_01: And before all you seniors think I'm here all the time, we're all that good, and our generation is better.
SPEAKER_01: Not one generation in today's America reaches twice a month on average.
SPEAKER_01: Not one.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, some of the younger generations are at 1.9.
SPEAKER_01: Empty nesters are at 1.6 and senior adults are at 1.8 most of the time.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of stunning, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Now, we have a really good church.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not trying to be super critical.
SPEAKER_01: We have a lot of people who are highly committed.
SPEAKER_01: And so I don't ever want to take that for granted.
SPEAKER_01: So please understand what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_01: But we're reaching a lot of people, we're talking to folks on the internet, television, all that kind of stuff, and we have a ton of almost 50% of tenors in our church.
SPEAKER_01: We have a lot of folks.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of stuff that gets in the way.
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you what, you get around the fall, there's not a deer hunter that's not out there seeding their fields and putting out corn, making sure their cameras are right and checking their cameras and doing all that, right?
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, the quality level of deer hunting in Arkansas is incredible.
SPEAKER_01: When I lived in Nashville for a year, there were deer everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: I was driving home from work one night at 11 p.m.
SPEAKER_01: on I-40 in downtown Nashville, and a 10-point buck came running down I-40, and somebody next to me hit it and knocked it over.
SPEAKER_01: I told him, you people in Tennessee are terrible deer hunters.
SPEAKER_01: Like, y'all must not kill anything.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all must not get it, because there's deer everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: Arkansas, all those deer are on people's plates and grills.
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you what, man, we don't miss a trick.
SPEAKER_01: When I was the number two executive of the Arkansas Baptist Convention, do you know when we set the state convention meeting, the convention of 1,600 Arkansas Baptist churches to come together to pray together, to plead for God, to bring revival in our state, to vote on our budget of how we distributed all our missions dollars and all that, you know what the first thing we did before we set the calendar for the state convention meeting is?
SPEAKER_01: We had to check the deer schedule.
SPEAKER_01: Because if we set it on any of the opening weekends, bow, muzzle loader, whatever, the pastors in Arkansas wouldn't come to the convention.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, seriously?
SPEAKER_01: There wasn't a ball field that wasn't filled when I drove by church today.
SPEAKER_01: And I bet you at least a third of those people are members of Baptist churches in Fort Smith.
SPEAKER_01: Not trying to keep you from playing ball.
SPEAKER_01: I love ball.
SPEAKER_01: I raised my kids doing it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm got it.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, I can't tell you how many times my daughter's team was really good, and they always played in the finals, which was terrible because they played their finals on Saturday night, and I can't tell you how many times I left the ball field at one in the morning and preached two services the next morning.
SPEAKER_01: But I drugged my kids at church and I told them, listen, if we got time to do that, we got time for Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We're not bringing him our second best.
SPEAKER_01: If you show up late for your kids' ball practice, they're penalized, aren't they?
SPEAKER_01: Man, how dare you ask somebody to show up at church on time?
SPEAKER_01: I had a deal one time in Cabot.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna do this here, so y'all just, okay.
SPEAKER_01: We decided all these people coming in interrupting Sunday school 30 minutes late, we weren't gonna let that happen in our children's ministry anymore, so we locked the doors.
SPEAKER_01: Like if you showed up 30 minutes, you couldn't get into Sunday school.
SPEAKER_01: Because by that time we were in the lesson.
SPEAKER_01: Man, you'd have thought I was preaching heresy from Sunday mornings.
SPEAKER_01: Baptists were coming unglued because it was their right to come to church 30 minutes late.
SPEAKER_01: It's just, I mean, you know, the lake gets more time, the bass get more time, the crappie get more time, the catfish get more time, the grandkids get more time.
SPEAKER_01: I'm about to have another one this week.
SPEAKER_01: Like I get it.
SPEAKER_01: Do not bring a sacrifice that is broken, defective, has a serious flaw.
SPEAKER_01: Present your bodies a living sacrifice which is acceptable to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
SPEAKER_01: If we don't bring our best to the Lord, and when you read today's reading and you see those blessings that come from obedience, from following God's plan, when we live that way, our lives look different.
SPEAKER_01: The blessing of God, the provision of God, the protection of God, everyone around us, they see something different.
SPEAKER_01: But if we're just bringing our second best to Jesus, we don't look any different than anybody else.
SPEAKER_01: And who wants that?
SPEAKER_01: If all I've got is showing up on a Sunday morning, checking a box and feeling like I did something good, I'd just soon be on the golf course.
SPEAKER_01: It's pretty out there today, y'all.
SPEAKER_01: But there's gotta be something different.
SPEAKER_01: And it's different when it is an act of worship, and we make the decision in this vlog.
SPEAKER_01: That is God.
SPEAKER_01: It's not mine.
SPEAKER_01: It's not mine anyway, because he provided all of it.
SPEAKER_01: But I recognize that's God.
SPEAKER_01: No more leftovers.
SPEAKER_01: They tell us people don't witness today.
SPEAKER_01: They're gonna get a question they don't know the answer to.
SPEAKER_01: How long have you been in church?
SPEAKER_01: Really?
SPEAKER_01: We can't answer.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's a sinner.
SPEAKER_01: Holy God judges sin.
SPEAKER_01: Sin must be punished.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus took your punishment on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: He rose again, conquered death of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Give your life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: It means you take everything in your life, you've ever been, you are, and you're ever been, you give it all to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Here's when I gave my life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: How hard is that?
SPEAKER_01: Why do I do the invitation the same way every week?
SPEAKER_01: Why do you think?
SPEAKER_01: I can come up with all kinds of ways.
SPEAKER_01: I've got awesome, dramatic, gut-wrenching stories that I can tell at every invitation.
SPEAKER_01: A few years ago, my wife, we were in Memphis still, and I came up on the experience of my wife and my sister cackling and laughing.
SPEAKER_01: And this is what I pick up on.
SPEAKER_01: Did he look good today?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, he's so handsome.
SPEAKER_01: He's so handsome.
SPEAKER_01: You know, he must work out.
SPEAKER_01: A young guy, he is just so handsome.
SPEAKER_01: And he's sitting on that motorcycle.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he it was, yeah, he was really handsome.
SPEAKER_01: And he was so nice to me today.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, What are y'all talking about?
SPEAKER_01: Well, that motorcycle cop over in Countrywood gave me a speeding ticket today.
SPEAKER_01: Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_01: You're telling me how handsome he is and gave you a speeding ticket?
SPEAKER_01: How much is that gonna cost me?
SPEAKER_01: And then I gotta hear how big his muscles are.
SPEAKER_01: Like, are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_01: What kind of conversation is this?
SPEAKER_01: He was famous.
SPEAKER_01: He parked right there, and I mean he gave every housewife in that part of East Memphis a speeding ticket.
SPEAKER_01: They would speed just so he would stop them and talk to them.
SPEAKER_01: That's a Tuesday.
SPEAKER_01: Friday afternoon.
SPEAKER_01: I'm on what we used to call beeper duty.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all remember before cell phones on, you had a beeper, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so we had so many people at my church, it was so big and all that, and they were calling all the time and doing stuff all the time that we would rotate being on call, and they called it beeper duty.
SPEAKER_01: And I had beeper duty Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: We rotated it through our staff.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm on beeper duty Friday.
SPEAKER_01: One of my friends, his father was the sheriff of Shelby County, Chief Wright.
SPEAKER_01: And Chief Wright called me, he says, Son, I understand you're on duty.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir, Chief.
SPEAKER_01: He says, You need to get down to the hospital right now.
SPEAKER_01: One of my boys had a wreck.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir, Chief.
SPEAKER_01: I got down to the med.
SPEAKER_01: I walked into this hospital room, families weeping all around.
SPEAKER_01: And this virile, sharp guy, I mean, just this officer with his whole life ahead of him.
SPEAKER_01: Tuesday gave my wife a speeding ticket.
SPEAKER_01: Friday night wrapped a motorcycle around a telephone pole.
SPEAKER_01: And I was standing in his room when he died and went into eternity.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, if you haven't gotten saved in a few minutes, I'm gonna give an invitation.
SPEAKER_01: You need to give your life to Jesus because you don't ever know what's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says, boast not yourself for tomorrow because you do not know what a day will bring for.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, I've been doing ministry a long time.
SPEAKER_01: I can tell you those stories.
SPEAKER_01: I can tell stories like that.
SPEAKER_01: I can tell you stories like my took my dad on a mission trip and he preached, and I preached, and I told that story in Nicaragua, and four young men came and gave their lives to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: But listen, I give you the invitation the same way every week.
SPEAKER_01: You know why?
SPEAKER_01: Because my pastor taught me that it's my job to teach you.
SPEAKER_01: And there's not one person here who does not have the excuse.
SPEAKER_01: You cannot say you don't know how to share the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Because I do it the same way every week, and you know it by heart, and you know it by rote.
SPEAKER_01: And so when God tells you to bring somebody to church or pray over your love list, don't give them your leftovers.
SPEAKER_01: Truth number two how you come to Jesus matters.
SPEAKER_01: What is the choice that you're making?
SPEAKER_01: That was really pretty.
SPEAKER_01: I think I'll bring this one.
SPEAKER_01: This is good enough.
SPEAKER_01: I know it's got some sick, but it looks good on the outside, and I'll wash this sheep real well, make his fur all white and fluffy, and I'll bring it in.
SPEAKER_01: No one will know the difference.
SPEAKER_01: How you come to Jesus matters.
SPEAKER_01: All of these are repentance.
SPEAKER_01: When you bring that animal for sacrifice, the reason it's got to be perfect is you know that you've sinned and you're coming to the Lord, and you're saying, Lord, please forgive me of my sin.
SPEAKER_01: I know this did not meet your standard as holy God, and I'm trusting you in your forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: You come in repentance.
SPEAKER_01: In Romans chapter 12, it says the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: By the mercies of God, 11 chapters what it meant that Jesus died for us, eleven chapters that he saved us, eleven chapters that he took the wages of sin, which is death, eleven chapters.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, by the mercies of God, present yourself a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: We come in repentance before the Lord, relying on God's grace to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: Now listen, here's another thing in our world.
SPEAKER_01: Repentance is not some weird, dysfunctional, woe is me, everything is terrible, I'm not good at anything.
SPEAKER_01: That is weird modern-day dysfunction.
SPEAKER_01: That is selfishness.
SPEAKER_01: That is not what repentance is.
SPEAKER_01: Repentance is this.
SPEAKER_01: 1 John 1 9 says, if we confess our sins, that word means we agree.
SPEAKER_01: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
SPEAKER_01: The reason that you protect those lambs and you keep them in that place and you save them for the Lord is because you know you're going to have to ask for repentance.
SPEAKER_01: And you ask for repentance because God has promised to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: By the mercies of God, you present your living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: You know Jesus died for us to save us.
SPEAKER_01: And repentance is coming to the Lord and saying, Lord, I know I did wrong, and I want to agree with you what that was, but Lord, I don't want to be that way.
SPEAKER_01: And Jesus died for me to forgive me, and I want to be clean.
SPEAKER_01: Please, here is my sin.
SPEAKER_01: I am trusting in your forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for forgiving me.
SPEAKER_01: And now let's go and let's live a transformed life that is pleasing to God because we believe He forgives sin.
SPEAKER_01: That's what repentance is.
SPEAKER_01: And He'll forgive your sin if you'll repent.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody's asking you to sit around and wallow around of what you didn't do right and didn't do wrong and all this kind of stuff and whine over all this stuff and never.
SPEAKER_01: That's not what repentance is.
SPEAKER_01: Repentance is believing God's promise that he forgives.
SPEAKER_01: And he does forgive.
SPEAKER_01: And he changes you.
SPEAKER_01: And he frees you up from the guilt and the shackles of that sin to go be renewed and transformed and to walk with him in a way that is pleasing to him.
SPEAKER_01: It is changing.
SPEAKER_01: It is a standard that he has set.
SPEAKER_01: Truth number three.
SPEAKER_01: Preparation is required.
SPEAKER_01: I know that grammar is a little awkward, but I wanted you to get this.
SPEAKER_01: Preparation is required.
SPEAKER_01: Commitment is required.
SPEAKER_01: You got offerings all the time.
SPEAKER_01: We've been reading all these offerings.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, every time you turn around, there's another offering, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so you've got to be prepared for that.
SPEAKER_01: All through here, he teaches them how to manage their finances and how economies work and how private property works and all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: I'd give anything to have time to preach on the economics in the book of Deuteronomy.
SPEAKER_01: Man, we have gotten so far off track in our country, it's horrible.
SPEAKER_01: Like we don't understand basic economics.
SPEAKER_01: And it's all in there.
SPEAKER_01: And here's the deal: you got to have a budget and you got to be prepared to give to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You got to have a calendar and you got to block out time and you got to be prepared to learn and to give yourself to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to have a calendar and you've got to set aside time to meet with people in your church and invest in people and to share Jesus and to pray over that.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to have time.
SPEAKER_01: If you are not prepared, you're not ready.
SPEAKER_01: Every Christian ought to have a passport.
SPEAKER_01: Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_01: Acts 1.8 says, you're going to the uttermost part of the earth.
SPEAKER_01: I don't understand a Christian doesn't have a passport.
SPEAKER_01: Like I really don't understand that concept.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I wish somebody could explain it to me.
SPEAKER_01: Well, we got to reach our community first.
SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, we do, but the Bible doesn't give you the option.
SPEAKER_01: Acts 1.8 says, you will wait there in Jerusalem, then you will receive the Holy Spirit, you will have power in the Holy Spirit, and you will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth.
SPEAKER_01: No option.
SPEAKER_01: There's no option.
SPEAKER_01: Explain to me why you don't have a passport.
SPEAKER_01: Don't understand it.
SPEAKER_01: Can't understand it.
SPEAKER_01: Because we're not prepared.
SPEAKER_01: We don't understand the standard of sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: Don't bring to me that sacrifice that's defective or has a flaw in it.
SPEAKER_01: Well, Pastor, we're just all lowly sinners saved by grace.
SPEAKER_01: You don't understand what happened when you got saved.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, you're a sinner, and yes, there is absolutely no way to be saved without placing your life and your faith in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: But when you have given your life to Jesus Christ and you have repented of your sin, he comes in and he changes you and he makes you different and the command of your life, because you've trusted in the mercy of Christ is to daily give yourself as a sacrifice without defect or flaw.
SPEAKER_01: How'd I do that?
SPEAKER_01: Well, first of all, you recognize that Jesus saved you, and the Bible says in the same book of Romans, in Jesus there is no condemnation in him.
SPEAKER_01: And because of that, there is a standard for how we're supposed to live.
SPEAKER_01: And what he's talking about here is Christians, this defect, this flaw, this sacrifice where you're bringing your leftovers to Jesus, that all comes after you're saved and you're just playing around with it.
SPEAKER_01: You got to think about all these offerings, man.
SPEAKER_01: How much of their flock did they have to set aside to have enough animals to protect them so they didn't break an ankle and a step in a hole.
SPEAKER_01: They weren't bit by a snake.
SPEAKER_01: They didn't catch a disease from some of the other animals.
SPEAKER_01: They got to protect all these, and they got to put the flock over here.
SPEAKER_01: And every time you have a harvest, you've got to put 10% of that back, and then some more back for this, and some more back for that.
SPEAKER_01: And all of that, you got to spend your life in preparation to properly worship the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it takes time and effort.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, we got a lot of folks you'd love to give to faith for, but you're broke and dead up to your eyeballs.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna do Dave Ramsey again in the fall.
SPEAKER_01: And if you can't wait that long, you need to call me and I'll do it with you.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: It takes work.
SPEAKER_01: It takes work to present yourself a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to prepare yourself.
SPEAKER_01: You gotta be prayed up.
SPEAKER_01: You gotta be studying God's Word.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to be engaged, you've got to have a budget, you've got to schedule your time.
SPEAKER_01: You're supposed to evaluate where you are and what's happening and what's coming next.
SPEAKER_01: And am I in that process?
SPEAKER_01: You've got to be prepared for that.
SPEAKER_01: And there's a commitment to it.
SPEAKER_01: Dad, Dad, you see that bull?
SPEAKER_01: Man, he is real.
SPEAKER_01: That ox, man, he is that sheep, dad, that sheep is perfect.
SPEAKER_01: Let's eat that one.
SPEAKER_01: It looks awesome.
SPEAKER_01: You know, mom has that special rub she puts.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, son, that one's for the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You know that's our pen where we keep our animals and protect them for our sacrifice to the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Well, God loves us.
SPEAKER_01: He's not gonna care.
SPEAKER_01: He provided all the sheep.
SPEAKER_01: What's the difference?
SPEAKER_01: Why don't we just bring them this one?
SPEAKER_01: Son, you remember that story we told you about Adam and Eve and their sons, Cain and Abel?
SPEAKER_01: Remember that story?
SPEAKER_01: And you remember how Cain, like, didn't do it the way God asked him to do?
SPEAKER_01: And all the problems it created?
SPEAKER_01: You remember that story?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Dad, I remember that story.
SPEAKER_01: We better not eat that one.
SPEAKER_01: You're right, son.
SPEAKER_01: Because we are committed.
SPEAKER_01: My kids used to say, How come we gotta go to church just because you're the pastor?
SPEAKER_01: I said, Well, it is appropriate if the pastor goes to church.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of a job requirement.
SPEAKER_01: Kids, we're not going to church because dad's a pastor.
SPEAKER_01: It's harder to go to church when your dad's the pastor.
SPEAKER_01: But we're going to church because Christians go to church.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to church because Jesus told us not to forsake the gathering.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to church because Jesus died for us.
SPEAKER_01: You've got to be committed and you've got to be prepared.
SPEAKER_01: Finally, this parents, especially.
SPEAKER_01: Constant focus and depending on scripture is required.
SPEAKER_01: Deuteronomy chapter 11, it's one of my favorite chapters in all scripture.
SPEAKER_01: He tells them, listen, you adults, he's pointing at them, just like this crowd right here, Moses saying, You adults, y'all 20 to 50 right here.
SPEAKER_01: All your parents died, they're gone.
SPEAKER_01: They wandered in the wilderness 40 years, lack of faith, they died.
SPEAKER_01: Your kids are kids.
SPEAKER_01: They don't know yet.
SPEAKER_01: You know this.
SPEAKER_01: You were here, you saw God's salvation, you saw God's provision.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what you you heard the commands, here's what you do.
SPEAKER_01: You memorize them, you put them in a box and you strap it to your forehead.
SPEAKER_01: You create a little box and you strap it on your forearm so that every time your hand reaches to do something or it acts, you remember, I am following God's command.
SPEAKER_01: My renewing your mind, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: It means Deuteronomy 11.
SPEAKER_01: You commit these commands to your heart, you write them on your heart and your mind, and then you teach it to your children.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, this doesn't get it.
SPEAKER_01: Where's that verse?
SPEAKER_01: Pastor said something about teach your children.
SPEAKER_01: Let me Google it.
SPEAKER_01: Seriously, we got no more commitment than that.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm all about using your phones.
SPEAKER_01: I use my phone, I track my daily reading and all that.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, they didn't have, they couldn't pull out a phone and go to Google.
SPEAKER_01: They couldn't go over to the bookshelf and pull their Bible off and thumb around and get a concordance.
SPEAKER_01: They couldn't even, I mean, it cost extensive amounts of money just to create a scroll by hand.
SPEAKER_01: And it took the training of a Levi Levite to learn or do all that.
SPEAKER_01: And what did he write down?
SPEAKER_01: He only wrote down what he was taught by rote and memory.
SPEAKER_01: So, how does a parent teach a child in a Obedience to Derun in chapter 11.
SPEAKER_01: You teach your child when they wake up in the morning, you teach them God's word.
SPEAKER_01: When you walk around, everything you're doing, you teach them God's word.
SPEAKER_01: When they go to bed at night, you teach them God's word.
SPEAKER_01: I coach my daughters' girls' teams in upper basketball.
SPEAKER_01: And in upper basketball, you have to play man defense.
SPEAKER_01: You can't play zone because they're little.
SPEAKER_01: They hadn't learned to shoot yet, right?
SPEAKER_01: So you can't break the zone, threes or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: So you got to play man to man, and they got to learn how to play defense anyway.
SPEAKER_01: And so what did we do?
SPEAKER_01: We did pick and rolls all the time.
SPEAKER_01: And you know what I taught them?
SPEAKER_01: I taught them every scripture that had a tree in it in all of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: And if you got your memory verse right, you got to start.
SPEAKER_01: And if you didn't, you didn't get to start.
SPEAKER_01: And so here we are.
SPEAKER_01: You set your screen.
SPEAKER_01: How do you set your screen, Susie?
SPEAKER_01: Like a tree planted by the rivers of water, Pastor Greg.
SPEAKER_01: It was awesome.
SPEAKER_01: We didn't win very many games, but man, we knew God's word.
SPEAKER_01: It was awesome.
SPEAKER_01: You teach your kids how much time you spend your kids, constant focus and depending on scripture, how much you spend it.
SPEAKER_01: Your kids can hit a curveball, they can catch a bass, they can shoot a deer, they can ride a motorbike, they can do whatever, but can they quote God's word?
SPEAKER_01: Man, Wednesdays, give me a break.
SPEAKER_01: Who cares about homework on Wednesdays?
SPEAKER_01: Kids, give me an amen right there.
SPEAKER_01: Who cares?
SPEAKER_01: They ought to be in I not doing their homework.
SPEAKER_01: You got four other days, and then you can catch up on Saturday.
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, it is more important that they learn God's word than we are overly committed in whatever school's going on.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying school's not important, but I'm telling you it ain't as important.
SPEAKER_01: I did fine in school.
SPEAKER_01: Doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_01: My parents taught me God's word.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why we're in church.
SPEAKER_01: Because of the heritage of my parents.
SPEAKER_01: They did it.
SPEAKER_01: Not me.
SPEAKER_01: Most of the time I was fighting them.
SPEAKER_01: Just to be true.
SPEAKER_01: Most of the time I was mad about it.
SPEAKER_01: And then we did Bible drill when I was a kid, and you had to do all those things, and you know, had to, they graded you and all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: I did it because I didn't want my friends to be better than I was.
SPEAKER_01: That's a flawed sacrifice, but you know what?
SPEAKER_01: My parents didn't care.
SPEAKER_01: He's young, he's learning.
SPEAKER_01: If we get enough scripture in him, God will fix it.
SPEAKER_01: And he'll teach it.
SPEAKER_01: Man, we teach our kids 50% of tenants, Jesus ain't that important.
SPEAKER_01: We teach our kids flawed sacrifice is okay.
SPEAKER_01: You gotta be in God's Word.
SPEAKER_01: Romans 12, 2 says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, theology by AI and theology by YouTube and theology by TikTok and theology by Instagram is gonna send a lot of people to hell.
SPEAKER_01: That is not where you get your answer.
SPEAKER_01: That's not where you get your answer.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of good stuff on there.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of good research.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to say go live in a hole somewhere and whatever.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm saying, listen, we just Google stuff and look it up going about our way instead of being committed daily, focused in God's word, memorizing scripture, learning it and studying it on our own.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just tell you again, thank you for how you're doing this Bible reading.
SPEAKER_01: You guys are doing great.
SPEAKER_01: I really do tell, I told you this a couple weeks ago, I really do tell my pastor friends that y'all are smarter than all their congregations.
SPEAKER_01: You guys are doing a great job, but I want to encourage you to hang in there, hang in there.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, that's what he is saying.
SPEAKER_01: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that we think different than everybody else.
SPEAKER_01: We act different than everybody else.
SPEAKER_01: We act in a way that reflects the power of God and the blessings of God, and other people want.
SPEAKER_01: I want that.
SPEAKER_01: And so it is necessary to be in Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: There is no way to be a sacrifice pleasing to God outside the teaching and the instruction of God's word.
SPEAKER_01: But let me tell you what.
SPEAKER_01: Please don't miss today's reading.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you will follow God's plan, he will bless you in ways you cannot possibly imagine.
SPEAKER_01: God loves you.
SPEAKER_01: He explained it all right here in plain Hebrew and Greek.
SPEAKER_01: It's all right there.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to love you.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to walk, he wants to bless you, his promise to do that.
SPEAKER_01: And if you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, hear me.
SPEAKER_01: God's promise is to save you if you'll bring your life and give it to him.
SPEAKER_01: He gave his life for you so that he could answer your prayer of repentance and dependence to trust him as your Savior.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus didn't do that to tell you no.
SPEAKER_01: He died for you because he loves you.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says in the book of 1 John, not that we loved him, but he first loved us and gave his life to be the payment of our sins.
SPEAKER_01: And so I encourage you, if you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, I'm going to pray in a moment.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to sing, and I want you to give your life to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to ask you, I'm going to plead with you, give your life to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: How do I do that, Pastor?
SPEAKER_01: You take everything you've been, you are, and you ever will be, and you give it all to Jesus in repentance, just like we've just started.
SPEAKER_01: You give it to him and friends, he'll do more with your life than you could ever imagine.
SPEAKER_01: Brothers and sisters, forward is our word for this year.
SPEAKER_01: Let's move forward as a living sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: No more leftovers.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, we love you and we come now and we ask that you move in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: We come to you as an act of worship.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit speaks to every heart.
SPEAKER_01: Do in each of us what you want to do.
SPEAKER_00: It is in your name we pray, and all God's people said.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to chapter and first, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith First Baptist Church.