REWIND
The podcast "REWIND" features a collection of past sermons from Organic Church. Each episode takes listeners on a journey through the teachings and messages delivered during previous worship services. The content is a retrospective look at the spiritual guidance and insights shared by Pastor Michael and visiting guests!
Listeners can expect to revisit powerful sermons, meaningful scriptures, and impactful messages that have been shared in the past. The podcast aims to provide a convenient and accessible way for the church community and new audiences to engage with the timeless wisdom and spiritual teachings presented during earlier sermons.
Whether it's a reflection on a particular theme, a series of teachings, or a selection of sermons covering various topics, "REWIND" offers an opportunity for individuals to deepen their understanding of the faith and find inspiration in the timeless messages.
The podcast may also include commentary or reflections on the historical context of each sermon and how it continues to resonate with the present-day congregation.
REWIND
Squirrel Revival on the Straight and Narrow (January 12, 2025)
Ever wondered how a mischievous squirrel can transform a self-righteous congregation or how a summer adventure becomes a metaphor for faith? Join us as we share the delightful chaos of inviting families into our sanctuary, complete with coloring books and the joyful echoes of 80s rock, country classics, and the whimsical tunes of Ray Stevens and Weird Al Yankovic. Listen in as we reminisce about the hilarity of "The Mississippi Squirrel Revival" and its profound connection to our sermon theme, all while navigating the narrow path to heaven with humor and insight.
Life is often like a juggling act between personal responsibilities and spiritual commitments, especially when societal expectations weigh us down. Reflect on the beauty of internal spiritual growth as we discuss the transformative power of prayer, fasting, and true worship. Revel in stories of personal struggle and redemption, and learn how to maintain spiritual fire amidst life's chaos. Through humorous anecdotes, we emphasize focusing on internal health over outward appearances, reminding us to follow the path of Jesus Christ even when human leaders falter.
As we wrap up, we celebrate the power of gratitude and the blessings that come from serving a higher purpose. Find joy in the simplicity of expressing thanks in both abundance and scarcity, and extend prayers for guidance and healing to those in need. Together, we cherish the moments of laughter, reflection, and spiritual awakening, ending with heartfelt appreciation for God's goodness and anticipation for future gatherings. Join us for an episode that blends humor with spirituality, crafting a narrative that inspires faith, introspection, and an appreciation for the simple joys of life.
We will only have nursery today, so it's every other week for kids' class. So if you're having your children in the sanctuary with us today, welcome for the first time. My kids are not excited, but they're here anyway. We do have some coloring books and crayons in the back up on the sound booth, so if your kids need something to keep them entertained, you're welcome to do that. However, I ask that you keep your children with you and not send them to somebody else. So I say that specifically because typically my wife ends up with a bunch of kids and she's not going to be here, and so children who are here I'm looking specifically at my three, remember? I will turn the microphone on, just warning you. It's happened in the past and it will happen again.
Speaker 1:All right, okay, question, I'm weird. That's not a question, that was a statement. Right, okay, let me figure out a new way to say that. Yeah, has everybody figured that out yet? Let's okay, all right, I'm unique. Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:How do you catch a strange squirrel? You kneecap on it. That was a two-fold. That leads me into my next point. It was a great segue. Does Holly get it? She did Okay, all right, we're all on the same page. This is great. How do you catch a tame squirrel? I don't know. Tame way, that's a good one. That's a good one, all right. How many of you are familiar with the song the Mississippi Squirrel Revival, ray Stevens, right Now, listen, I was going to sing it this morning but my wife told me no, I know right.
Speaker 1:She was like not going to happen. And she told me absolutely under no uncertain circumstance are we allowed to do it. Okay, I know. So that was oh, is that her? No, that's not her. Okay, we're safe. Thought we were going to get caught y'all. Do you know all the words? I could probably do it from memory.
Speaker 1:So remember that I grew up in kind of a Do it, do it. If any of you tell on me, if any of you tell on me. My kids were like you got to do it, dad, you got to do it. Yeah, you're no live streaming. Okay, all right, let me get back to it. We got a point here.
Speaker 1:So I grew up in a house that loved music. Like we listened to everything in my house. I'm talking from like 80s hair metal, kiss, metallica, poison, you name it Warrant, doggy Dog. You know, some of us know that stuff. We listened to rock and roll music. We listened to country music I'm talking like old country music Like my favorite Christmas music is Gene Autry Christmas music, if that tells you anything. Right, so that's what I'm used to. And then my parents let me stay with my grandma for a whole summer in Alabama one year Worst thing they could have ever done for themselves.
Speaker 1:Because then I got turned on to parody music like Weird Al Yankovic and Ray Stevens and things like that. And so I remember my grandma had this old VHS tape that had that song on it. Have you ever seen the video for that song? It's hilarious, it is absolutely hilarious. But it's just one of those things that just brings back memories. And I was riding in the car the other day and that song came on and I was listening to it. It was like that, that moment where I was like, oh, you know, I really miss those moments in time Because as we get older we forget about that stuff, right, until something jogs that memory. But I was really listening to it and I was like there are some really great lines in that song that so many of us we hear the song and we laugh about the song, but we miss some of the really good lines, and so I've got one in my mind that I'm preaching on today. Okay, I'm not going to tell you what it is, I'm just going to assume you know, and if we get to the end and you don't know, you'll figure it out. All right, is that fair?
Speaker 1:So the premise of the song is there's a kid who goes and visits his grandma in this sleepy little town that doesn't really know what's happening in the world. It's got this pre-war feel where really everything is small town Think of Mayberry, right Like it's just very quaint and that's where he's visiting. And he spends his entire summer outside doing whatever he wants, fairly carefree. We can't let our kids do that anymore, right? It's such a strange difference, such a stark comparison to what we can do. So, anyhow, he manages to catch a squirrel, puts it in a shoebox, takes it to church and then it just goes sideways from there. Right Now, easton and Emmett wanted me to catch a squirrel and bring it with me this morning and we just let her out the box and see if we could get that going here, and then I told them no, I'll be chasing it through the attic in about six minutes. I'm like we're not doing that Anyhow. Could you imagine Pastor Holly comes in the building by herself, comes to take down the trees and the squirrel jumps out, like in Christmas Vacation. Poor Pastor Holly.
Speaker 1:Anyhow, what does anybody recall from listening to that just now? What he called the church, what the name of the church was, the First Self-righteous church. That's a good line, right? Because we sit here we're laughing about, really, this, what is proclaimed to be a miracle in that building? Right, this is a group of self-righteous people who aren't worried about God or worship. They're worried about showing up and doing exactly what they're supposed to do in order to be model Christians. Right, I show up every Sunday. I sit in my seat until a squirrel gets some underwear and then it gets a little bit scary.
Speaker 1:But all of that to say, have we ever really stopped and thought about the miracles that God has performed on earth? See, we read about them in all of the gospels. You read of all of Jesus's miracles, amen. You think about Sissy's favorite is when Jairus goes to the water and dips. She loves that story. That was a miracle all on its own. You know that took place on earth. Right? You know that when Lazarus was raised from the dead, that was on earth. It's on the same planet that we walk on today that those things really happen. You know that God can still do that today.
Speaker 1:If you don't believe me, we'll bring a squirrel next week and we'll see. Roger will catch one. We'll get that skunk. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Let him loose and just let him go. See, we laugh about the little things that God does, but they really are miracles in their own way. Think of a whole building full of people who are self-righteous and full of condemnation and really just don't believe that other people belong in there from the outside right. And then this miracle happens. And it sounds crazy to say that a loose squirrel might be a miracle, but whenever you think about it, all of these people get saved. $25,000 got raised and 50 volunteered for missions in the Congo on the spot.
Speaker 1:Well, I was going to say we need some squirrels around here because we need to raise $25,000. Amen, hallelujah, thank you, jesus. You guys think I'm kidding. I ain't kidding. The song plays off the fact that God can move in mysterious ways and really when we least expect it.
Speaker 1:But I want to share a passage of scripture because I want to get us all on the same page. We're going to go to Matthew, chapter 7, verses 13 and 14. And after I read these, we're going to leave 13 up on the screen for just a little while, because I'm going to come back to this several times. So this is Matthew, chapter 7, verse 13, and this is the New Living Translation. It says you can enter God's kingdom only through the narrow gate, the highway to hell. I'm on a highway to hell, told you. I listen to all kinds of music. The highway to hell is broad and its gate is wide for many to choose. That way, 14 says but the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is very difficult. Hear this line and only a few will ever find it. Only a few will ever find it. It doesn't say only a few will ever choose it. It says only a few will ever find it. Now we can ask ourselves what does the word few mean? Right? Because maybe this whole group is a few, because when you think about the vastness of the world and all of the people that are in the world, this is just a few, right? So maybe we're all on that straight and narrow, but the fact is, we may not all be.
Speaker 1:Got another story for you. I told this story before. There was a little boy who went to class one day and they were talking about marine biology and the teacher was talking about whales. And the little boy said yeah, jonah, in the Bible, he got swallowed by a whale. And the teacher said no, that's not true. Jonah did not get swallowed by a whale. And he said well, yes, he did, it's in the Bible. And she said it would be physically impossible for the whale to swallow a human. And even if a whale did swallow a human, that human would not live to tell the story. And the little boy said to her well, I'll ask Jonah when I get to heaven. And she said well, what if Jonah's in hell? And the little boy says then you ask him?
Speaker 1:The truth about heaven and hell are outlined in scripture very plainly. We know that heaven is real. We know that hell is very real, amen. See, the problem is in that passage. Jesus is reminding us that in order to enter through heaven, we have to be willing to walk the straight and narrow and we have to be willing to go the road less traveled. And sometimes that road less traveled is lonely, amen. Because sometimes you get on that road and you realize that all the people that you were walking with back on the narrow road have stayed over there and they're not with you anymore. And now you have to make a decision. Do I stay on the road less traveled, do I stay on the straight and narrow, or do I decide that having friends or having this attachment in my life is more important and I go back to the road more traveled? It says? Few will ever find it. Every day we walk past that path. Every day, when we make choices in our lives, we decide am I on the straight and narrow or am I on the highway to hell? Amen, all right.
Speaker 1:It tells us very plainly that few people will be on that path and the road to destruction is wide and greatly traveled. That means, for those of you who haven't figured it out yet, there are people going to hell. Right, there are people, real life people, who are going to end up in hell. You could be sitting next to one of them. I don't know. I'm not asking questions and I'm not trying to decide who's going. That's not my place, but I'm telling you if you are on the road that has traveled greatly. If you're on the wide path towards destruction, you will not inherit everlasting life. Amen, okay, all right, if I tell you that hell is real, I am not trying to scare you. I'm trying to educate you.
Speaker 1:If I wanted to scare you, I would do one of those little pop-up videos where the boogeyman comes up and you know what I'm talking about. You guys ever watch those before. Holy smokes make my heart stop, right. You don't know what you'm talking about. You guys ever watch those before. Holy smokes make my heart stop, right. You don't know what you're watching. You turn the volume up real loud and somebody screams. It's hard to jump, scare me, but those ones get me sometimes, specifically if there's a frog involved.
Speaker 1:So here's where we end up in this conversation. The age-old question will come up once we talk about hell being real and people going there. If God is so good, how can he let people go to hell, if God is so good? But if God is so good, if your God is so good, why would he allow anyone to go to hell? Why wouldn't he just change their heart? Why wouldn't he? You know, we talk about Pharaoh, freedom of choice. I completely agree with you. We are God's creatures, but we all have the ability to make our own choice. That's why we're talking about a path. Right? If God wanted us to all go to heaven, he would have made one path, and one path only. What he's saying is this is a choice on how you choose to live your life. He is not a forceful God. He will not make you do anything that you do not want to do. Amen.
Speaker 1:If you wake up in the morning on Sunday and you decide I'm not going to go to church, god ain't going to make you come to church, he's not going to go to church. God ain't going to make you come to church. He's not going to make you. But you're going to feel it later in the week, aren't you Right? Because once the devil's done his work and he's got you to skip church, he's going to move on, he's going to do something else and you're going to be sitting there on Wednesday going why didn't I go to church on Sunday? I didn't feel that bad, I was okay on.
Speaker 1:But here's the point the truth of our faith journey causes us to embrace things that are contrary to what the world would have us believe. Amen, that's a big statement. Break it down for you. The world would have us believe that God is vengeful, god is mean, god is wrathful, because not everyone gets to go to heaven, but the Bible tells us that the people who go will be few, and only if they follow the path right. So it is not God sending you to hell, it is the decisions of your life that are putting you in that position. Now I am not asking you to follow me or any other church leader blindly. All I'm asking is that you submit to Jesus Christ and you trust him with all your heart, your mind and your soul, because that is going to allow you to go in the right direction. Now I was thinking about that path and I'm thankful that there's a lot of off-ramps Right. Amen. Because today I wake up and maybe I'm walking on the path towards destruction. Because I woke up and I thought something or I said something or I did something or acted a certain way.
Speaker 1:How many of you with kids ever just like screaming at your kids when you pull in the parking lot Right, like I'm losing my cool in the parking lot, and then you hit the door You're like, hey, good morning, good morning, nice to see you. Hey, happy to see you. He's like Dave's like I do that with Holly in the morning. He's like you've been eight hours on that hair lady, let's go See. We have a choice to make.
Speaker 1:At some point in the day I've been on this path that is wide and traveled, and I have said things and done things and acted a way that God would not be proud of. I've behaved like an animal. Right, listen, they got to go back to school at some point. Right, my kids don't even go back to school, but I'm like at some point school's got to come back. Right, like what is with all the snow Come on. And when I'm thinking those things, I'm like but I love my children dearly, don't I? Don't I, do I? How much are they worth on the black market? No, I'm kidding, I love my children dearly.
Speaker 1:But the point is is that at some point we become less patient. Right, we become frustrated, and we become frustrated because we allow the world to tell us this is in my house, this is me. I'm not speaking for everybody, but this is me that my house should look like a showroom. Right, I want my house to be clean and tidy, and when you walk in, I want you to be like oh, they keep a really clean house. Here's the fact.
Speaker 1:If you come in my house and you say that you are very confused because our house is lived in, right, you come to my house, I promise you you're going to see a couple of things. You're going to see dog toys all over the place. You're likely going to see Adeline's toys all over the place. She drags them everywhere. They're always everywhere. Last night she made a nativity scene out of almost complete garbage. She brings in my wife's phone and she shows me. See, daddy, look what I did. And she's got three Barbie dolls knelt down holding little gifts that she made out of Plus Plus. And she has a little daisy duck laying in a manger and this is not a joke. I think it's a Barbie, I don't know Holding a pencil, to be Joseph with his staff, like, she's legit, like.
Speaker 1:But this is stuff that like, normally that's on the counter in the kitchen or whatever. You're going to find those and then you're going to find always going to find dirty laundry in my house. You just can't keep up, right, but somewhere in my brain, my house should never be like that. Can I tell you a secret about laundry? For those of you who haven't figured it out yet, I thought for a long time that there was a laundry fairy that just did it and it just appeared clean back in the drawer. And when my wife realized that's what I thought, she just stopped doing laundry and she said you can do it yourself. So I started doing my own laundry and I realized I don't like doing that, and so then it just kept piling up until eventually I started helping with the laundry. Right, this is not a joke. I folded like six baskets of laundry in one day. They never got put away, we just used them out of the baskets.
Speaker 1:But even if all of the clothes in the house are clean, the clothes on your body are still going to be dirty. You will never be caught up. Stop allowing the world and social media to tell you that you have to live a certain way. God ain't worried about how many pairs of dirty pants you got laying in your bedroom, right? He's worried about your heart posture. Are you clean on the inside? Amen.
Speaker 1:Are you focused on what really matters and stop focusing on the things that are just trivial? Right, listen, I have never in my life, never in my life ever had it together. Right, I need to be honest with you. Last week I had my sermon done on Wednesday, right, that felt good. You know, when I got this sermon done this morning at 745. Actually, it was later than that, it was about five to ten, because Holly and I started talking and I made new notes my life has never been together. Don't pretend like, because I stand up here, that I've got it together, and I will promise you this if you are looking at a church leader or a leader in general and you think that they've got it together, you are fooled and misguided. Amen. We all have struggles, but some of us stop focusing on those outward struggles and begin to focus on the inward again.
Speaker 1:I'm not asking you to follow any follow me or any other church leader blindly. I'm asking you to follow jesus christ and to trust him with all your heart, your mind and your soul. People are going to lead you astray. People will cause you to believe that they are more than they really are, and people will disappoint you. Don't allow them to be the reason that you don't follow Jesus. Do not allow people to be the reason that you won't follow Jesus, and that is a choice. He wants you to be close to him. He wants you to be in fellowship with him.
Speaker 1:How many of you are doing the 21 days of prayer and fasting? How many of you are reading the 21 days of prayer, man? I read those in the morning and I'm like this is a fresh, like there's a new anointing in this. I feel like I start my day better and then I ask myself at the end of 21 days, how am I going to keep that fire burning? I could make a Ronnie Millsap reference there and go into another song. We're not going to do that today.
Speaker 1:What I'm saying is that fire that burns inside of us when we have a renewal of our spirit, that internal revival. When that happens, what are we doing to keep it alive? See, you're depending on somebody else to keep the fire burning. What are we doing to keep it alive? See, you're depending on somebody else to keep the fire burning. You are counting on somebody else to keep the fire. Do you know that all of those passages of scripture that you get each morning are in here? Can you believe that? Every single one of them? None of them are made up, they're all out of the word. It's fascinating to believe that you have this at your fingertips and that fire could burn every day. We don't get to Wednesday and we're burnt out.
Speaker 1:Listen, if I had the time and the energy and the wherewithal, I would send each and every one of you a text every single morning with a passage of scripture and a prayer for you. I ain't got it. When I leave this pulpit today, I'm going to have to go home and take a two hour nap, because I'm going to give you everything I've got in the time that I have with you. Amen, because that's what I'm called to do Now. It is not my responsibility to make sure that you read your word every day. It is my responsibility to encourage it and take this as that encouragement, okay, but it is your responsibility to be in relationship with Christ every single day. Don't allow the world to be the reason that you won't follow Jesus. Now I have a new thought. This one's been rolling around in my brain for a couple of weeks. I posted it on social media yesterday to test the waters. Didn't get a whole lot of feedback on it, but that's okay, because I know that when I did it it scares some people.
Speaker 1:Worship and service are not conditional. What does that mean? It's not conditional. That means that when I walk into the church on Sunday morning, I say you know what? I'm going to do this so long as somebody else does that. I'm going to serve the Lord so long as he continues to bless me financially Transactional.
Speaker 1:You're exactly right. This is not a trade-off. My worship and my service are because it's what I'm called to do. It is what God requires of me. It's kind of like tithing. God requires us to give 10% Now on your gross or on your net. We are not going to split hairs, right? Some of us are like trying to do the math. It doesn't matter. The point is is if you understand the principle of what God is asking you to do, can somebody please turn off the heat? Yeah, I'm going to have to get the big fan back out.
Speaker 1:Tithing is not optional if you are truly, genuinely following God, because when you come into the presence of the Holy Spirit and you're praying about things, he should be laying that on your heart, and likely he is. But you're choosing not to use that one, right? Oh, that's conditional. Well, I can't tithe this week because of this, but, god, if you continue to bless me financially, I'll give. Uh-uh, it doesn't work like that, because the way that that works is when you give out of joy, he gives back abundantly. It's not always money, sometimes it's just good health. Sometimes you wake up in a better mood. Have you ever woke up and know you have to go to work on Monday? You retired people don't know nothing about that anymore. But those of us who have to go to work on Monday morning when we wake up and we're like I have to do this again and we're counting down the days to retirement, right. But then you look at those retired people who are like, if I could only have that those years back. Amen, see, it's conditional. I'll only do so long as somebody else does or God does.
Speaker 1:And I'm telling you that if you are serving or if you are worshiping on a condition that your pastor will treat you a certain way or do a certain thing for you, let me tell you something. I'm going to let you down. It's not intentional. I love most of you. Some of you I don't even like, but most of you I love, right. And what I need you to understand is that I can't be everything to everyone all the time. When I go to bed at night, all I can do is pray that everybody understands my heart. All I can do is say, god, make me better tomorrow than I was today, because Lord knows I need it. If you have conditions on your relationship with Christ, you aren't doing it right. You've missed the point of the mission. Okay, I have one more big statement that I'm going to make. This is not mine, this is Pastor Holly's, but it fit this message so well. I begged her to let me have it. Actually, I didn't have to beg, I just asked and she said absolutely no.
Speaker 1:Conviction means no change, no change. She said absolutely no conviction means no change. No change means no repentance. No repentance means no transformation. Let's break down those words Conviction, a formal declaration that somebody is guilty of a crime or offense or a firmly held belief. Change is to alter, modify or replace. Repentance is sincere regret or remorse. And transformation, transformation, a thorough and dramatic change. Without a declaration of guilt, of a firmly held belief, you will not alter or modify and replace and you will not have a sincere regret or remorse and you will not have a dramatic change.
Speaker 1:Now I think that can go one sentence deeper. I think we can say without repentance there is no salvation, without repentance, there is no salvation, and you will literally end up in the hot seat. Be the hottest seat you ever sat in, you guys, like the heated seats in your car? Ain't going to be like that. Ain't going to be like that. Ain't going to be like that. Let me tell you, if you choose to not have repentance, you will go to hell. Whew, that don't feel good, because sometimes I hold on to things for a long time and I think, if I were to die today, is there something that I'm hold on to things for a long time? And I think, if I were to die today, is there something that I'm holding on to that is going to stop me from getting into heaven. Lord, whatever it is, take it away from me right now, in the mighty name of Jesus. Take it away from me right now, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Speaker 1:Sometimes we forget just how serious and important it is to seek God's face and work towards transformation. See, we come in and we occupy a seat and we get comfortable and we have fun and we laugh and we carry on, but we miss why we're really here, and that is for life-changing experience. I don't mean experience because the worship set was great, or because Pastor Holly prayed for you. I'm talking genuine change in your heart, attitude and the way that you view the world, because of who Christ is inside of you. Amen. This is not about the experience inside of the building.
Speaker 1:Listen, we can play worship songs all day. There are some that are written to elicit emotion, right, like when I hear Jaira. It takes everything in me to not cry because the chord progressions in that song are just such that it feels powerful, right, a lot of times I'm not even hearing the words. I'm the only one, huh, I'm the only one. No, that's, and I know it's not true because there are studies about it. You can walk into a church for the first time. I'm going to tell a story, but you can walk into a church for the first time and have tears rolling down your face because of how the music makes you feel. It's not about the words, it's not about the subject matter, it's about the way the music makes you feel.
Speaker 1:You guys ever heard that you hear a song that you used to really like on the radio and you're like, oh, my jam, and you turn it up, right? How often is that a worship song? Not very often, right? Because we don't. That's not how we treat it. We treat worship as a transaction. I come and I worship, I listen to music so that I can get into the mood for whatever message Pastor Michael is going to deliver. That's not why we are in worship. We are in worship to assure, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, so that when he moves in this place that we're ready to accept it. Amen, that first song. Behold, he comes riding on a cloud. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. That is what we should be doing in worship preparing for a move of the Spirit. But instead we come in and we sit and we're like I don't like this song, this one, this one. Still it repeats itself to me I don't like this one. Well, that song don't like you either. I'm telling you that that's not why we're here, and that song may not speak to you today, but somebody in here is sitting in their seat going I needed this today. I needed this today. I'm gonna tell you I just this is.
Speaker 1:The world that I live in is much different than the world that most people live in. So I manage a lot of little bits and bobs of companies and I spend a lot of time in and bobs of companies and I spend a lot of time in the theater world and for those of you who aren't aware, let me share this with you for the first time. The theater world tends to be a little more liberal than I am Now. I don't vote policy or I don't vote party. I vote policy and I'm very open-minded. However, there are some people who are not Right and it's one side or the other and that's that. Well, sometimes when you get into the theater world, it tends to be one-sided, very much so.
Speaker 1:And I have a friend who works at the Amish Country Theater and he had the opportunity to witness to one of the acts that were coming to work for us and the guy opened up and was telling him about all the church hurt and just how terrible his life was when he was younger. And then he started going to church. But then he actually went to school and got a license in ministry and he went and served in a church and the pastor in that church his words, not mine was a sleazebag. Now I don't know what that means. I don't know if he's stealing money, lighting buildings on fire, insurance fraud, I don't know. But he called him a sleazebag. And he said I've never been in a church since Resigned my position, never been in a church since.
Speaker 1:And the guy who was witnessing to him. He said man, that's terrible. He's like you know that stuff happens every day, but that's not who Jesus is. And so a couple of days go by and he sends the guy a text and he's like hey, I'd really love for you to come to church with me on Sunday, no pressure. And the guy's like I'd love to, I'm coming.
Speaker 1:Guy drives to his house, they get in the car, they carpool to the church together. And when the guy got in the car, he's like listen, I had a hundred reasons why I wouldn't come to church with you this morning. He said I woke up and I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. They get to church, they sit down in the seats, the first worship song starts and the guy starts to cry, looks over at the dudes wiping his eyes. He's just a mess.
Speaker 1:He divulges later on that he's living in a house that is chaotic. He has all of his grown children still living with him. All of them have what I will call social concerns. They do things that are of the world and not of the word, and he just didn't know how to handle it. And the message was it's never too late. It's never too late to come back. And this guy was blown away because he's like. It was like the message was written for me today Right, have you ever sat in church and felt that way? Listen, when it doesn't feel that way for you, it feels that way for someone else. It is not about you. Stop being self-righteous, stop being self-absorbed. Stop thinking about all of the things that the church should do for you.
Speaker 1:Listen, we did the math last night. Alyssa and I have been just stressed about church finances again, because that's what we do. Do you know how much money this church made last year Not revenue how much money we ended up making at the end of the year? I'm telling secrets y'all. Most churches won't tell you this stuff. I don't care. No guesses $423. You know how much money we brought in? $124,000. Most of that money went to building repairs. Do you guys understand that you cannot operate this building every day if it isn't for tithes and offerings? $36,000 a year just to keep the doors open, gas, water, electric heat all of the basics of keeping the. That's not including any of the like replacing light fixtures and any of those things that's just to keep the building open. Do you understand how hard it is to do that and how? How like ministry for me is not just coming in here on Sunday morning. Guys, I am constantly trying to figure out how can we budget, how can we do better? It's hard. When you got somebody like Roger in a building, he falls through the roof. You got to fix it right Roger's fault.
Speaker 1:But my point, my point is so often we walk into this place or we walk out into the world and we're trying to battle the world for what the world is Right. You fight stupid with stupid. We like to argue about who God is. I don't need to argue with you about who God is. I need to show you who God is by being kind and patient, by showing love. Every day we fight to just manage in this world.
Speaker 1:Now, if you haven't figured it out yet and you probably haven't that silly song at the beginning, the one line that stuck out to me, it was a fight for survival that broke out in revival Whoo. Every day we fight to survive in the world and we focus on the physical things and we argue the Bible and we argue who God is and we try to tell people how wrong they are and how right we are. But can I tell you that in Ephesians it already tells us the truth. It says for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in the dark world and against evil spirits in heavenly places. What does that mean? We are fighting in the spirit. Stop fighting in the flesh. Stop arguing with the world that doesn't care about you. Fix your eyes on Jesus, fix your spirit on Jesus, because when this is right, this becomes right.
Speaker 1:If my heart is right, if my mind is right, it is so much easier for me to show Jesus in the world. I don't have to walk through the world being hateful and hurtful. Right? Listen, my personal word for this year is candor. All right, I'm going to let people sit in the uncomfortable. I'm going to say things to people that make them and we're going to sit there. We're going to hear it, because why not? Do we grow if we lie? Oh, it's fine? No, it's not fine. You hurt my feelings and you know what. I'm going to process that. But I need you to understand what you've done, right. I'm not mad at you for it, but don't expect me to hug you, because I want to hug you. But I want to hug you with my hands around your neck, right, like we got to have these conversations, because we cannot pretend like if our spirit is constantly masking over all of the uncomfortable things that are happening. Listen, we've got to be honest with each other as Christians. It doesn't feel good sometimes, but sometimes we just listen.
Speaker 1:I'm going to tell the story. Roger, can I tell the story? I'm going to tell the story. Okay, I'm going to tell the story. Roger, can I tell the story? I'm going to tell the story. The question has been asked many times and so you're going to get the story today.
Speaker 1:What is the deal with that strip of asphalt in the parking lot? Yeah, out there on the side, what is going on with that? Let me tell you the story. Roger and I were here one evening. We had a guy installing that air conditioner that you guys, or that heater and air conditioner you see out in the lobby, because, if you don't know this, there's no heat in the lobby. That was our only heat source, so you know when you would come in, everybody would freeze to death and it was always terrible in there. So we decided we were going to fix that.
Speaker 1:So we did that and while Roger and I were working, this guy came in. He's like hey, I'm paving a lot uptown and we're going to have some extra asphalt, we'll lay it for you really cheap. And I'm like, ok, well, what is really cheap? And he gives me a number and I don't know if you know this about me or not, but I am not super mechanically inclined, like I can figure it out, but somebody's probably going to get hurt when I do it, right, um, they're probably Roger. He is probably going to bleed, um. And so he came up with a number and, uh, like he told us what it was going to be for a square yard or a linear foot or I don't know whatever he said.
Speaker 1:And so we kept working and he comes back and he's got two truck loads and I'm like, before you start, we need to know how much it's going to cost. He's like, I don't know how much I have on the truck. I'm like, okay, that's fine. So he picks a spot and he starts to over here on the side of the building, just so you know, that was the fulfillment of a vision that I had anyway. So I'm saying that God is good in all things. Amen starts to pour it. He finishes that and I say, before you go any further, we need to know how much that costs, so we can have a ballpark idea. And he comes over to us and he says it's $6,000. Now so, yeah, it could have been $6,400.
Speaker 1:Yeah, see what I did to myself? I just walked right into this, didn't? I Shouldn't have told this story, should have kept my mouth shut. I, yeah, I'm like sweating through my shirt at that point and I'm like I don't know how we're going to pay this guy. We don't have $6,000 to pay the guy. Like, if I write a check for $6,000 out of this church checking account, it's going to bounce. That's it all right.
Speaker 1:So I walk back to my office, I grab the checkbook and I'm like, all right, here we go. What else am I going to do? I'm like we're going to have to figure this out and I'm thinking to myself Alyssa and I are going to have to write a hefty tithe this month in order to cover this, because I don't know what else to do, because the guy wasn't leaving until we wrote him a check and he looked like the kind of mobbish guy that would put you under the concrete. If you asphalt truck, nobody would have asked any questions, it would have just been a clean disappearance, but anyhow. So I wrote him the check and I called him the next day and I was like listen, I don't know what to say, but that check ain't going clear, and he's like what? And so I just explained to him the situation. I'm like we were like taken aback. We were really surprised by the amount, like we never expected. That's why I asked. And he was a fairly nice guy and fairly understanding. He did reduce the amount that we paid to $5,000. Wasn't that nice of him. But in all of that we still survived that year because God is good right Now.
Speaker 1:Here's the point of that. You have to understand that as the pastor, I had to call my counsel, who was responsible for finances, and explain that to them, because the check was already written. Folks, there wasn't going back on it. And I started with Beth, who didn't answer her phone, go figure, because she was the treasurer and I was like she needs to know before everybody else does. And I went down that list, one at a time, and everybody gave me such grace in that moment and I remember making those calls. I remember Tina Bober specifically. I called her and I tell her and she goes okay, I'm waiting for you to tell me this is a joke. And I said it's not, I'm so sorry. And she's like okay, well, we'll be fine, we'll figure it out. And sure enough, we figured it out Right, but I'll never forget this.
Speaker 1:When I called, I was so nervous that everybody was going to be angry, because the world has taught me that when you make a mistake, you're punished for it. Can I remind you that even the least of the things that you have done when you have sought forgiveness from Jesus Christ, that all of that is wiped away. Now that debt still lasts on the bank balance. But God is good, amen. He is taking care of us and I'm thankful for that. And now, anytime anybody asks, you guys know the story. I will tell you this.
Speaker 1:When we did it, roger's like oh yeah, that's probably X amount. And then, when they told us the price, he was like that wasn't that amount. And Roger said he said this to me, I'm not joking. He said this is my fault. He said I should have known that that was going to cost more than I told you it was going to cost. And when I called every one of those council members, I said the exact same thing to them. If Roger tries to take the blame for this, it is not his fault. I am his covering and I stood next to him when that call was made and it sucked. It was a mistake.
Speaker 1:I will do that for each and every one of you, all day, every day, because I believe that if you are on the straight and narrow and if you are actually doing what God has called you to do, then I will help stand beside you, I will lift you up in prayer. Don't go killing people, right? I'm saying we got to be on the straight and narrow in order to have that support, but I will tell you this that even when you think that something bad is happening in your life, god is good all the time. Amen, let's pray together.
Speaker 1:Father, I just thank you and I praise you for an anointed word today. Father, thank you for the laughter and the joy that comes in ministry. There is nothing greater than to have ministry easy Because, god, your burden is light, and I thank you for that, lord. I pray that you continue to bless us, lead us, guide us, direct us. Father, we will worship you in much, we will worship you with little and we will just continue to believe that you are good in all things.
Speaker 1:Father, I just continue to give thanks to the people who serve in this house. Allow us to just be thankful that we are able to be part, a small part, of what the kingdom of God will look like. I thank you for the year that's coming to pass, father, that, as we work our way through this, that you will continue to bless us abundantly. Bless those who are in attendance today, father. Bless those who are just at home and not feeling well, or whatever the case may be, father. Touch them, lead them, guide them, direct them. Father, I pray that you bring us back here to our next appointed time and, father, I just thank you for your goodness In the mighty name of Jesus, and the church says amen. Love you, guys. We'll see you Wednesday night.