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
Repentance: More Than Words (July 6, 2025)
How often do we mistake God's grace as permission to sin freely rather than understanding it as the transformative power that enables us to turn away from sin completely?
Grace is the unmerited favor given through Christ's sacrifice, but many Christians have developed a dangerous misunderstanding—believing grace provides freedom to sin without consequences. This podcast episode tackles this misconception head-on, exploring how we often acknowledge ourselves as "blood-bought children" while making choices that directly contradict our proclaimed faith.
True repentance isn't merely feeling remorseful or offering hollow apologies. It represents a complete 180-degree turn from sin toward our Savior. Looking at the thief on the cross in Luke 23:39-43, we see the perfect model of genuine repentance—acknowledging guilt, recognizing Christ's innocence, and believing in Jesus as King. Even in his final moments, this man's sincere heart transformation was honored with Christ's promise of paradise.
We examine how our relationship with "the world" affects our spiritual walk, exploring James 4:4's warning that friendship with the world creates enmity with God. This doesn't mean avoiding relationships with non-believers but refusing to embrace worldly values that pull us from authentic faith. The episode challenges listeners to consider where their treasures truly lie—in temporal possessions or eternal rewards.
Whether you're struggling with habitual sin, wondering about the nature of true repentance, or seeking to understand grace more deeply, this conversation will inspire you to live a life worthy of Christ. Remember, Jesus doesn't expect perfection before we come to Him, but He does invite transformation after we do.
Walmart. It's not really devotional. It's kind of a one-year guide to reading your Bible, helps you get through it. And the very first day that I opened it I bought it. I probably had it for a couple of months before I cracked it open. The very first day that I opened it, the very first paragraph that I read, I was like this is God knew what I needed and how I need it and when I needed it. So here's what this first paragraph says and I want to read it to you. It says Genesis is the book of law. So it starts in Genesis and works our way through. Genesis is a book of law. It is not a science book or a history book, though it does tell us a lot about history.
Speaker 1:While scripture is 100% true, it isn't always 100% literal. It's important for us to hold our scientific conclusions or our opinions with an open hand. It's even more important to hold our questions with an open hand, because this book isn't necessarily here to answer them. It's here to reveal God. Holy smokes right, because how many people challenge what the Word of God says with logic or with emotion? That is not what the Bible is here to do. The Bible is designed to reveal God, amen.
Speaker 1:Okay, a couple of weeks ago, before I started preaching, I got up here and I was talking about repentance and the Lord kept working on me and he said yeah, that was fine, you did what I told you to do. But there's so much more, and so today I want to start with a passage of scripture in the book of Luke. We're going to start in chapter 23, verse 39. It's Luke 23, 39. And we're going to read through 43. So if you've got your Bibles and you want to get them out, if not, it'll be on the screen for you, so we'll keep you moving.
Speaker 1:It says one of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed. So you're the Messiah? Are you Prove it by saving yourself and us too, while you're at it. But the other criminal protested don't you fear God, even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong. Then he said Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus replied I assure you today you will be with me in paradise.
Speaker 1:So the message that I want to deliver today is about grace and mercy and repentance, and I want to start by saying that I think we misunderstand grace. See, grace is essential to the gospel and it's the unmerited favor freely given through Jesus Christ's death on the cross. Amen, we can all agree on that. Amen, yes, we're excited. Today Everybody got to bed late, right? All right, we're excited. It was freely given through Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:But it is not freedom to sin without consequence and that's what we hold on to. Well, I'm covered in the blood, yes, you are, but it does not mean that you should willingly live in sin. Amen, amen. Okay, so we all know that, but we, many of us I don't want to say all of us many of us choose to ignore it. Right, see, some of us. We know that we are blood-bought children of the Almighty. Amen that. I know that Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, came to this world, went to the cross, died for my sins, rose again on the third day and pretty soon he's coming back for me, amen.
Speaker 1:But then I go out and I spend the 4th of July with my friends drinking beer and smoking weed. Right? Am I telling you the truth? Because somehow we have calculated that, because I am saved, I can do what I want. I'm telling you that we have misunderstood grace and we choose to abuse God's goodness, amen. Now I want to remind you that if you were in the Old Testament, if you were pre-Jesus era, we would all be killed, beheaded, impaled, whatever the case may be, because God was wrathful. It was through the grace of Jesus, god giving us his one and only begotten son, that whosoever should believe in him shall not die but have everlasting life, amen. So if I have everlasting life, if I know that Jesus came to die for me, then I should be willing to choose to live without sin. Amen. Now I said it, but now I have to live it right.
Speaker 1:It's easy to say, it's easy to put on paper, it is not easy to live. But remember it is God's unmerited favor, freely given through Jesus Christ. But it is not freedom to sin without consequence Romans 6, 1 and 2, it says Well then, well then, right. Well then, should we keep on sinning so God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? This is a question he's asking a question Should we continue to do what we want so God can continue to show us grace? Of course not. Since we have died to sin. How can we continue to live in it? If we are alive in Christ, we are dead to sin, amen. So why do we choose to live in it? We choose to live in it as a simple word the choice right. It is a choice to live in sin, right?
Speaker 1:So when you do something that you know you're not supposed to do, you ever get that still small voice that says, hey, you probably shouldn't do that. You probably shouldn't say that. Hey, you probably shouldn't look at that. Hey, why are you looking at Marcus like that? Marcus, you want to come over here and sit, buddy, you want to come over here and sit. Listen, there are a lot of ways that we can be sinning. We always like to think of the big ones, right, we always like to think of the big ones.
Speaker 1:I think where most of us get tripped up today and every day, is when we start talking about one another. Listen, that's the one I'm telling you. It's so easy. It isn't easy to pull somebody into that or to get pulled into it, like you say to yourself listen, I know this person's gonna try to get me to talk about so-and-so and I ain't gonna do it. I'm not going to. I don't care what they say, I'm not having this conversation. The next thing you know, you're having that conversation. It's easy to do, but I'm telling you that that is what the enemy is using today as his tactic, because all of the other things we've become smart to, right Now we've.
Speaker 1:So people get all worked up because I, you know, smoking is a choice. Right, it's not good for your body If you're putting that before the Lord. And I'll just be honest with you, I used to, every Sunday morning when I was on the worship team Dan Burway, his wife's not here today Wendy we would, he and I he was the drummer, I was singer we'd sneak out back behind the building, we'd smoke a cigarette before we started praise and worship. Right, I was choosing that over prayer because I would go and smoke while they were in the prayer room. Right, I was choosing that over ministry. See, that's when it becomes sinful, right?
Speaker 1:How many of us are again going out to the bar on Saturday night and then coming to church on Sunday morning and pretending like nothing ever happened? Shut up, marcus. Listen. Some of y'all come in here high as a kite. Some of you have come in here hungover. I know it's not a secret and I'm going to tell you if you think it's a secret. Probably everybody knows, right, probably everybody has figured it out. You don't hide it. Well, the problem is, is it's a choice? And then we come into church and we come to the altar and we're in front of the altar oh Lord, forgive me. Hey, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, because that is repentance. But repentance is not just lip service. Amen, it is not just lip service. This isn't just telling God oh, I'm sorry, I won't do that again.
Speaker 1:I listened to a podcast the other day and it was this guy who, as a kid, his parents would punish him when he would do something, mean by writing an essay. Listen, my kids think you're killing them if you make them write something, even if you make them write their name and a birthday card. Right, can we voice detect that birthday card? Like, is there a faster way to? And it's interesting because he said he felt like it was torture. His parents tortured him with this and every time they did something they had to answer five questions. I can't remember all of the questions, but there was no length requirement on the essay. You just had to hit all five points. Some of them were things like how was I responsible for what happened? Facts on how it happened. How am I going to make it right? And one of them was I don't remember, but again. So there were these five points and he said he absolutely hated doing it.
Speaker 1:And then one day he was in college and he had a roommate and the roommate had left some leftovers sit out and he decided, well, if he left them sit out, he's obviously not going to eat them. So he went and ate them and his roommate came home and his roommate was mad and he said to his roommate I'm sorry that I ate your leftovers. I obviously wasn't thinking how that would affect you and I will replace them tomorrow. And again, I just want you to know how genuinely sorry I am. And the guy said to him that's the most full and sincere apology I've ever had. And he realized in that moment his parents were teaching him how to apologize. In all of those things. He was learning a life lesson that most of us have never learned.
Speaker 1:Because we say I'm sorry because I don't want you to be mad at me, right? We say I'm sorry because we want you to still talk to us. We say I'm sorry because I still want whatever favor I have in your life. We don't say I'm sorry because we're actually sorry. It's the same thing with God, because you don't see God face to face, amen. So whenever you're at the altar, god, I'm sorry that I'm here hungover, lord, I'm sorry that I was calling that person a name, and, lord, I'll never talk about that person. Don't lie to God, because he already knows, he already knows. The problem is is you're on your knees in front of him and you're saying these things, but you can't see his face, and so if I tell him I'm sorry, maybe he'll believe me. Amen, maybe he'll believe me.
Speaker 1:Grace saves us from sin, not allows us a lifestyle into sin. Amen. Grace removes us from sin. It doesn't permit us to have a lifestyle of sin. Titus 2.11. It says for the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people, and we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness and devotion to God. Amen. Go back to that first one for me. It says for the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. We are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasure. If the grace of God is intended to turn us from sinful living. As Christians, we should be the first to turn from sinful living, amen.
Speaker 1:See, the world shouldn't be able to look at us and go well, they sin, so I can sin. See, a lot of times we use that. Well, I'm not perfect. I'm not trying to be perfect, but I'm also not trying to go out into the world to make the world think that I am of the world. I live in the world. I am not of the world. I live in the world. I am not of the world. I don't have to participate in worldly sports, right? I don't have to do a pub crawl to prove that I live in the world. Listen, this flesh is here every day. I'm walking this walk every day. I am not perfect, but I am not trying to abuse the grace that God has bestowed upon me. I am trying to live in his unmerited favor by turning away from sin at every opportunity.
Speaker 1:Listen, repentance is not just a feeling, because you can feel bad, right? You ever said something to somebody and then felt bad about saying it. Something to somebody and then felt bad about saying it right? It's not just a feeling. It's not just about feeling bad, it's a decision. Repentance is a 180 degree, turn from sin to Savior. Right, we're not focused on the sin, we're focused on the Savior. And so when we come to the altar or when we stand in our seat with our arms raised high and we're asking God for forgiveness, this is not just so that we can be forgiven, it is so that we can be pleasing unto God, so that we can live in that unmerited favor. Amen, amen. Listen, I'm not here to beat you up. I'm here to tell you that we're doing it wrong. We are doing it wrong as a church, as the church, as the body, as the people who are supposed to be bringing the world to Christ. We keep telling them the same thing Jesus loves you, jesus loves you. He may love you and he may want you to come into his fold, but he does not want you to sin. You will not have unmerited favor if you choose to live willingly in sinful nature. Amen, and see the church. We don't wanna talk about that anymore. Listen, I was on.
Speaker 1:I love social media because I like to watch. Do you guys know nobody's gonna know this there's this guy who plays piano at Disney. His name is Grayson. Has anybody ever seen any of his videos on Facebook or TikTok? Yeah, so my dad was just at Disney. His name is Grayson. Has anybody ever seen any of his videos on Facebook or TikTok? Yeah, so my dad was just at Disney last week and I'm obsessed with this guy. He's like 24 years old and he plays the piano like nobody's business and he does it all from memory. You can tell him to play a song. He'll think for a second and he'll just play it. It's fascinating to me that somebody's brain can retain that right. Okay, can retain that right. Okay, I don't know where I was going with that. Yep, don't know where I was going with that, but let me just tell you if you ever get the chance to watch this, oh, that's why I like social media. That's where I was going.
Speaker 1:I enjoy watching that kind of stuff on social media. I don't enjoy watching, although. Have you ever watched those skater videos where, like, people try to make ramps and they fall and they hurt themselves, like? I do that every time, but I do like to watch those. I don't know why. It's just one of those weird like, but I don't want to watch videos of people fighting. Have you ever seen those? Like? People record other people fist fighting and then post them on social media. Why are we doing that? Why is that the world we choose to live in Right? So I was on social media and I was watching a couple of videos.
Speaker 1:And I was watching a video of a pastor who was preaching and I had to stop and pause it for a second because I was like they certainly didn't just say what I think they said. I rewound it it and I watched it again and they started using feminine pronouns for God and I thought, all right, let it slide, let's keep watching. And pretty soon it got to the point to where they were basically telling you that we aren't really sinners, we don't sin. We just we haven't accepted grace for ourselves yet. What, what? I'm going to tell you, if people are attending that church, they're going to hell. If they're going there and they believe that they will end up in hell, listen, we can love each other all day long. We can love each other all day long, but if our choice is sin because remember that we know that we can lose salvation if we choose to walk away, If we say I am not going to believe in God any longer, I'm going to walk away from my faith, and I'm going to tell you what my sister is that way right now and it breaks my heart. It breaks my heart. She says I'll never set foot in a church again and I'm like, but why? And she says I just won't. She has chosen. She knows better, but she has chosen to walk away from her savior. That means she won't get to heaven. Do you know how hard that is to say, how hard that is to think? Because, like, I'd like to hit her in the head with a hammer because she knows better. That's what this is here for, by the way. She knows better but chooses not to live in better. Right, okay, okay.
Speaker 1:Acts 3.19. It says now repent of your sins and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped away. What does that mean? That means when I come to God with a pure and clean heart and I say to him Lord, lord, you are my savior, take this sin from me. It doesn't mean you're not going to fall short at some point, but you are willingly giving it to him. Right, you can't lay it down and pick it up as you walk away.
Speaker 1:I always picture it like those suitcases on wheels. You know what I mean. You bring it to the altar with you and you sit it there. But on your way back out of the building, you come up and collect your luggage and head back out. Right, it's like the baggage check. We drop it here when we walk in because we want to be in a spirit of worship, in a moment of worship, we want to be in his presence right, but it's an experience for us and we want to enjoy it. But then we want to carry all the stuff back out with us because I'll be darned if I'm going to let that go. Right. You ain't going to say that to me and expect me to just lay it down. Right, I might tell you I did, but I didn't. I might pretend like I did, but I didn't. And I'm going to pick it back up and I'm going to carry it around and it's going to be heavy for me. But you don't give a crap. You don't even know I'm carrying it. You don't even know I'm pulling it behind me. And I continue to just wear myself out and wear my, and then I get to the point to where I'm like I don't want to do this anymore. God, if you can't fix this, I'm going to walk away. And he says I tried to fix it. I let you lay it down. You chose to pick it up. You chose to pick it up.
Speaker 1:Isaiah 55, 7. It says let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Banish the very thought of doing wrong. Welcome to the Himalayas Monsters Inc. Anybody. No, that's fine. It's just what you get, guys, if we banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Speaker 1:Remember, sin starts here. The mind is the battlefield, right, when we're thinking negative thoughts, when we're thinking bad things. Listen, some of us are going through some stuff today, right? Amen, hallelujah, Thank you, jesus. We're going through it and all we do is think about it. We can't do anything else with our lives. We're constantly consumed with all of the things that are happening good, bad or indifferent. We can't do anything else with our lives. We're constantly consumed with all of the things that are happening, good, bad or indifferent. We can't allow ourselves to focus on the Savior because we are focusing on the bad. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
Speaker 1:Now I believe that my wife and I we give generously, right we always, if there's a cause. We went and got breakfast at the fireworks festival yesterday and you could get sausage, gravy and biscuits and a hash brown, or you could get a breakfast sandwich and a hash brown, and it was by donation only. So we're like, okay, well, we'll give like $10 a breakfast. That seems fair, right, because I'm thinking sausage, gravy and biscuits, that's a decent meal. So my wife donates the money and then we get these tiny little portions and I was like, dang it, it was a $5 breakfast, not a $10 breakfast. But then I thought, thought, but we are supporting a cause that we love, right? We enjoyed being able to be at the fireworks festival and all of that money goes back to them. That's wonderful, right. So we give very generously, but oftentimes we don't forgive generously, right? That's hard to do.
Speaker 1:It's hard to forgive generously because every time somebody does something to us, it consumes us at every turn. Have you ever dealt with somebody and then had to see them real quick afterwards? They had a situation. Then you have to see these people. You're like I don't want to look at their face, I don't want to talk to them. I don't want to be in the same room as them face, I don't want to talk to them, I don't want to be in the same room as them and God says well, guess what you're going to be. You know why? Because he needs you to let it go. Let it go, elsa. Let it go, because there is no reason to hold on to it. You are not doing that person any good and you're not doing yourself any good. If God has grace and mercy on you, why can you not have it on somebody else?
Speaker 1:Matthew 3, 8. Here it is Prove, by the way that you live, that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Amen. Prove by the way that you live, that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Again, I ask you do you come to the altar and say God, I'm laying this down at your feet and then leave and go? Listen, you peel out of the parking lot, you get out to Macaulay Drive and realize you can't go straight because you really wanted subway. And then you run the light anyway and you're giving somebody the bird as you fly by and it turns out it's your pastor, right? See, I have a luxury. You guys don't do that to me because you recognize my car, so but it happens, right, you do it and you realize it's somebody you go to church with or somebody that knows that you attend church. Right, if you live a life of sinful nature but proclaim to be a Christian, the world thinks everyone is like you, everyone. That's why I don't go to church, because those Christians are hypocrites.
Speaker 1:Listen, this should look more like a hospital than it does a country club, right, like we ain't coming in here because we're perfect. We're coming in here because we need healed. But when we walk out of this place, it should be game face right. You come in to worship should be game face right. You come into worship, you leave to serve, amen. And you should be serving a world of people who are lost and broken and you need to prove that Jesus Christ is king of your life, amen. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone and a new life has begun, amen. Thank you, jesus, for a new life.
Speaker 1:Listen, I've been through some stuff. I've seen some ugly things in my life. I've done some ugly things in my life. I am thankful for that grace. But here's the thing I can't do those ugly things anymore. I can't be that person. But here's the thing I can't do those ugly things anymore. I can't be that person. I can't call people names and I can't throw stuff. And I remember one time these are not like when I share this stuff. I just need you to understand that I haven't always been a perfect person.
Speaker 1:I remember one time I took a jewelry armoire one of those ones that stands up about this tall, had somebody say something to me. I didn't like. I grabbed that sucker by its front legs and smashed it off the wall, blew into pieces, doors coming off, jewelry flying everywhere, and I thought that'll serve you, right? Well, guess who had to clean it up? Right, think about it. It sounds like such a a mundane statement to make, but I wasn't always living for Christ. I wasn't always doing and saying things that I wanted the world to see.
Speaker 1:And then you try to keep that stuff hush-hush. I'm going to be honest with you guys. You legacy members are lucky you didn't grow up with social media. People didn't take videos of you saying stupid things at McDonald's, right, because I guarantee you did it. There just wasn't video proof, right? I watched a video of a lady knocking stuff off the McDonald's counter and throwing food at people because she was mad that she didn't get whatever it was that she wanted fast enough, right? That's the world that we live in today and that we stand and record it as entertainment. Listen, sin is not entertainment. Sin is not entertainment.
Speaker 1:All right, I want to jump back to the thief on the cross again. So, if we can go back to Luke 23, I just want to read this again real quick. It says one of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed so you're the Messiah, are you Prove it by saving yourself and us too, while you're at it. But the other criminal protested don't you fear God, even when you have been sentenced to death? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong. Then he said Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus replied I assure you today you will be with me in paradise.
Speaker 1:So I want to talk about and this was stemmed from the podcast, last podcast episode, by the way this pretty much this whole second half of the message. I love not being in that room sometimes, but then I just yell at you guys while I'm listening to it on the radio, it's true, like I'm riding in the car and I'm like no, no, no, wait, wait, wait. I've got a point to make. Can't nobody hear it but me. I'm gonna have to start recording mine and then putting it in over top of theirs, because it's it's such a great, it was such a great message.
Speaker 1:But they were talking about deathbed um repentance, and I believe that it's a true thing. We see it in the thief on the cross, right. But what did the thief on the cross do? He acknowledged his guilt. We deserve to die, right. He knew that he was wrong. He recognized Christ's innocence this man has done nothing wrong and he believed as Jesus and as king. Remember me as king, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Hanging on the cross, he repented of his sin. He believed that Jesus Christ was his Lord and Savior. The guy on the other side was like you fool, this guy can't even get himself down. How do you think he's going to save you if he can't save himself? Little did he know that Jesus wasn't willing to save himself because he needed to save us instead. Amen. Romans 10, verses 9 and 10.
Speaker 1:If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God and by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. That's the reason that we have a water baptism right. That is an open declaration that we have turned our lives to Christ, amen. Here's the thing, for by believing in your heart that you are made right with God lost you pull that back up In your heart that you are made right with God. And it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. Right Saved, it doesn't say by good works, it doesn't say by being kind, it doesn't say any of those things. Now listen, discipleship is great because that's how we make new Christians right, that's how we. But when we make disciples through social and just hanging out and being friends with one another and saying you should come to church with me on Sunday, that's wonderful, right, because that's how people end up becoming saved.
Speaker 1:But just because they sit in a pew doesn't mean they're saved. They have to be willing to believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord of their life and when they do that, the good works will come. Naturally. They will want to do good things. It will be easier for them to understand. Giving it will be easier for them to understand. Giving it will be easier for them to understand being kind and being gracious, right, those things come with being saved.
Speaker 1:That is not what gets you saved. It is not what gets you saved. Listen, we could go see. Do you guys see that guy on the corner by Walmart all the time with his repent sign? I love that man Like, listen, there aren't many people brave enough to do that anymore, right? Remember they used to wear those sandwich boards and walk around town and you know, jesus is king, all of those things. There aren't many people brave enough to do that. Listen, we should be doing that every day through our actions. Our lives should be a living example of repentance, grace and of mercy.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing. You're going to see people sinning doesn't mean you have to just call it out. You have to love them. But you still have to be able to preach the truth. You still have to be able to speak truth into their life. It's not easy to do. Sometimes it's incredibly difficult to do because when you say it it rubs the wrong way and it hurts feelings. But iron sharpens iron, right, Iron sharpens iron. And if I know that there is a hint of belief. If there's faith, the grain of a mustard seed in their body, then I want them to repent of their sin. I want them to be saved. I want them to turn to Christ because I want them to have everlasting life. I want them to be in the kingdom, right, even if I don't like them. I want them to be in the kingdom.
Speaker 1:The great debate on the podcast was what does heaven look like? What does it look like when we get? Will we know our loved ones? We don't know. I ain't never been there, I ain't ready to go just yet. Now, if he gave me a revelation and showed it to me, it would probably be hard to describe because we, for our brains to understand it, we would have to be able to comprehend all of the glory and all of the grandeur that God truly is, and I don't think that we can. I think that our spirit can absorb it, but I don't think that our flesh can truly absorb it. Even in death, that thief had living faith and Jesus honored it Deathbed conversions are real. It can happen, but only with true repentance.
Speaker 1:So a lot of times what I'll get is I'll get a call that says hey, you know my best friend, they're in hospice and you know they're not a believer. Can you come up and pray with them? Most of the time there's nothing there. Right, I'm going to come do it, but I'm not going to make you any promises. I don't know. Do I want to give you hope? Yes, I certainly want to give you hope, but I cannot promise because I don't know their heart. I don't know what they've been through, I don't know what. Are they able to process this? Because, honestly, I can't know what they've been through. I don't know what are they able to process this? Because, honestly, I can't get you to heaven. Jesus Christ is the only one that can get you to heaven. That's why I tell you that today is a great day for salvation. You're alive and breathing right now.
Speaker 1:Right, this is when we should be repenting, turning of our sins, looking to Jesus and living our lives for Christ and not for the world, because tomorrow is not promised, this evening not promised, this afternoon not promised, and if we want to have true salvation, true salvation, it has to begin right now, in this moment. We can't be looking at it going I'll do it tomorrow. We can't be looking at it saying oh yeah, I'll do that. No, no, stop, focus on what matters. You get a bachelorette party tomorrow and you know they're going to drink. I'll wait until after that so that I'm not silly. It's just silly. You're going to play cards with the guys tonight and you know there's going to be some beers there.
Speaker 1:Listen, stop. Do you know how easy it is for me to say no when somebody offers me alcohol? Now listen, when I was 23 years old, if you offered me alcohol, I was taking it. Now listen, when I was 23 years old, if you offered me alcohol, I was taking it Like two or three at a time, however many you'd give me. Right Now I look at you and say, no, I'm good, I don't need to explain myself. Do you know why I don't need to explain myself? Because I know that God in me is already showing them why I don't need it. See, the enemy is working through them to try to get me to do something, to knock me off course. I'm not willing to be knocked off course, to be out of control of my own body, right? It doesn't make sense to me. Now there are people who struggle with that. So my question is you decide to have a barbecue and you invite them and you offer it to them. They may not be able to say no. And now you have dragged them down back into the pits of hell, where they have been clawing and climbing and begging to be released from Christians. Don't do that to one another.
Speaker 1:We should be willing to live a life centered on Christ. What passage of scripture did we just read? Romans 10, 9, or not? Yeah, 10, 9, and 10. Hebrews 11, 6. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Speaker 1:That's the deathbed confession part that becomes a struggle God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. You can't seek him out of desperation, because you're afraid of death. You seek him because you know that he is king of kings and lord of lords. You seek him because you want a different life, because you want salvation. You want to be able to share the gospel with the world. That is why we truly seek our heavenly father. We want to be saved. Right, I want to go to heaven. I don't want to go to hell. That sounds terrible. I don't even like to go outside when it's hot, let alone spend eternity in hell. I bet they got air conditioning in heaven. I like central air, right, I enjoy being here. I'm standing in front of this fan thinking this thing ain't cool enough, right? Listen, it is a choice that we make every day. Repentance is not a revolving door between sin and forgiveness. We are all called to be worldly Christians, but transformed followers. Amen.
Speaker 1:James 4.4. It says you adulterers, don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you the enemy of God? Now, I'm not saying friends with people who are of the world. I'm saying friendship with the world. When you're living in the world, when you're buddying up to sin, when you're saying that this isn't wrong, this is okay, this is acceptable that is when you have a problem Makes you an enemy of God. I say it again If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Listen, I'll be enemies with a lot of people. I don't think I want to be enemies with God. He is smarter than me. He is stronger than me. He knows all of the things that I'm thinking, which means he has an edge in all things. Every time I think adversely, every time I act, speak, do something that is opposite of the word of God. He knows it, he sees it and it ain't good for me. Amen. Now I can go back and I can repent, but I have to genuinely make change. I have to do a 180 from sin to Savior.
Speaker 1:1 John 2.15,. Do not love this world, nor the things it offers you. For when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, amen, right. When we talk about the world, it's always about some sort of pleasure for us, right, a craving for everything we see and pride in our achievements and possessions. This is not from the Father. But these are not from the Father, but are from the world. And the world is fading away along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. Your physical body will not live forever. That's not saying you're going to get to live forever. That is telling you that you will have everlasting life. Amen, amen, amen. Telling you that you will have everlasting life, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Jesus doesn't say clean up your life first and then come. He says come as you are, but he also tells us to never leave the same. Do you have John 8, 11? Do you have John 8, 11? No, lord, she said. And Jesus said neither do I Go and sin no more. Go and sin no more. He's telling you. You don't get to walk away and continue to sin. I don't condemn you Now. Go and sin no more.
Speaker 1:There is, in fact, a line in the sand and we have to choose which side we want to stand on. You don't get to stand on both sides. You know there's a place where you can stand in four states all at one time. That's a pretty cool idea, right? Sin's not like that. Salvation's not like that. You don't get to stand on the line. You don't get to straddle the line. You're picking a side, because if one foot is on the side of sin, then your entire side is on sin. It doesn't matter the side that's standing on.
Speaker 1:Grace means nothing, because your heart is revealed to God in that moment and he realizes that there's nothing I can do in this moment. You have to repent and turn to God. Galatians 5 24. It says those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. You don't need to be perfect to repent, you just need to be willing to turn away. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to be willing to turn. Repent from your sins. Repent and turn to Jesus. Don't repent and turn to the world. Do not repent and turn to the world, because where will the world put you? Right back in sin.
Speaker 1:We talk a lot about in the Old Testament. The Jewish people would come out of slavery and live for seven years on a high, and then, guess what? We get bored, we go right back into it. I think about when Moses went up on the mountain to get the 10 commandments. He comes back down and they're all down here worshiping all of these golden idols and he snaps the tablets. He's like seriously, seriously, I went to seek the face of God on your behalf and this is what you chose. Can I ask a question? How many times do you go and seek the face of God and when you walk out of there, you go right back into living in the world? Listen, those golden idols.
Speaker 1:It's not the same as it used to be. It's not something that you look at, something that you see. Typically, it's what we carry in our pocket. Right, it's technology, it's our cell phones, it's maybe our iPads, maybe it's our money. Whatever it is that we have, it's those tangible goods, it's the things that we can collect and have.
Speaker 1:Listen, I've got this really bad bug. It is terrible. I have to collect everything. If it is collectible, I want to collect it. Right, mcdonald's. I'm a sucker for all, like you know. Whenever they, you guys see those cups they just brought out with all the like, the nostalgic cups, I was like, do you remember when they brought out maybe it was Burger King, I don't remember but the little Disney cups that had, like, pocahontas and all of the? You guys remember that stuff? It wasn't that terrible because somebody like me, I had to go every week because I had to get one. I had to have the whole set, right? Ninja Turtle bowls Nick, I think you and I have talked about this the cereal bowls that had the Ninja Turtle heads on them. I had to have them all right, it's not healthy, because this desire to constantly have more, what does it get me in heaven? Nothing, nothing. I'm building up riches on earth. That means I lose all of the riches in heaven. Listen, I don't want to do that, right? Do you guys know how many jumpsuits Elvis had? It was like 126. It was a lot. Right, I'm nowhere close, mel, I think I'm at six or seven right now. But this is it's funny, but it's a realization.
Speaker 1:I was looking through my closet and I was like mm. Man, I got enough money to buy another one. Which one do I want? And I start shopping and I'm looking and I'm like I really like that one, I really like that one. And I go back to the closet and I'm looking because you know you got to decide on color based on what you've already got. Like, what's my color palette currently? Like I don't need to buy another black one or another red one or another white one. I need to get something new and fresh. Right, amen, it's like shoes, ladies. Right, you don't need six gray sweaters. You need a gray sweater, a yellow sweater, a pink sweater, a blue sweater. Right, okay, we can agree on that.
Speaker 1:Pastor Holly sent me a picture of a pair of beautiful stiletto heels she was going to buy. They laced like all the way up to her calf. I mean, those were whoo whoo. And I was looking in my closet and I was like man, I haven't wore that one in two years. I haven't wore that one in probably three years. Why do I need another one? I don't, but the world tells me I do right Now, not my wife. Now, when I say the world, I don't mean my wife because she says no, you don't. But when I watch other Elvis tribute artists and they've got these racks full of jumpsuits and belts and boots they got six, seven pairs of boots, I got two. Doesn't seem fair, right, listen, I don't want to build up riches on earth. I want to save those rewards for heaven. Amen, I want to save those rewards for heaven. Now I want to say this Repentance is asking for forgiveness.
Speaker 1:Repentance is making change in your life. So when I talk about it, I want to think about our daily lives too right, want to think about our daily lives too right. When we ask somebody for forgiveness, when we say I'm sorry that I've done that to you, I'm sorry that I created that stress, I'm sorry that I, whatever. Right, we need to mean it and we need to turn away from it. It doesn't mean you get to say I'm sorry and go back and do it again. It doesn't mean you get to say I'm sorry and then go tell all of your friends. Well, get to say I'm sorry. And then go tell all of your friends, well, I said I'm sorry. But Right, I told him I was sorry because I'm just sick of listening to it. Right, I said I'm sorry because I don't want them to.
Speaker 1:To listen when we repent of our sins is saying sorry to God. With a change of attitude, with a change of lifestyle, treat your life the same way. For those of you who are married, that is the best piece of advice that I can give you. When you say I'm sorry, mean it, change your life. Don't just pretend right, because when you just say it and it's just lip service, you're going to do it again. You're going to do it again. And what happens when you do it again? The trust is broken. And when we continue to break trust, relationships become unbendable. When we continue to break trust, hope is gone. It is our responsibility as spouses, as friends, as Christians, to live a life worthy of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Repent and turn from your sin. Repent and turn to Jesus. Do not repent and turn to the world. Let's pray together and then we're going to do communion.
Speaker 1:Father, I thank you for the word that was delivered this morning. Lord, I thank you for the anointing that rested upon it. Lord, allow that word to penetrate the hearts and the minds of those who have heard it. Lord, there is just so much to understand about grace and mercy. I thank you for giving us clarity and for giving us desire to truly repent in turn of our sin. Father, I thank you for the blessings that rest upon this house. Continue to lead us, guide us and direct us. We pray all of this in your precious son, jesus' name, and the church says amen.
Speaker 1:Pastor Holly and Pastor Dave, or? Oh, I spoke it. I spoke it into existence. I spoke it into existence. Will you guys deliver communion? And then, can I Blaine, will you take deliver to Joe and Ruth? Miss Vicki, do you want us to bring your communion to you? We'll bring it to you. If you want us to bring your communion to you, just raise your hand and we'll bring it to you. That way, you don't have to try to carry it. We'll get you to Dan. You're on the list. You're already on the list. And then also take care of the classroom workers for me, please. This one right here is for the classroom workers. Thank you All right, we'll go ahead and start on this side if you want to work your way up. Thank you, thank you um. Thank you.