REWIND

God the Son ( August 31, 2025)

• Organic Church • Season 2 • Episode 44

Share episode

Send us a text

Have you ever wished you could see God face-to-face? In this powerful exploration of Jesus Christ as God the Son, we discover how Jesus makes the invisible God visible to humanity.

When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus replied with a statement that still challenges us today: "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." Through Christ's compassion for the marginalized, defense of the weak, and sacrificial love, we see exactly who God is. Jesus wasn't merely representing God—He was God in human form.

The eternal nature of Christ transforms our understanding of both history and our personal struggles. Jesus existed before creation itself, participated in creating everything we see, and will exist long after our earthly lives conclude. This eternal perspective helps us navigate life's valleys with confidence, knowing that our temporary struggles don't define our ultimate destiny.

Perhaps most profound is Christ's redemptive purpose. Like a judge who finds you guilty, then steps down from the bench to serve your sentence himself, Jesus took our punishment willingly. His resurrection stands as definitive proof that death doesn't win, offering hope that transcends our greatest fears.

But Jesus isn't just our Savior—He reigns as King. This lordship has practical implications for daily living. When we accept Christ as Savior but fail to submit to Him as Lord, we miss the fullness of relationship He offers. The question isn't merely "Who is Jesus?" in an abstract sense, but "Who is Jesus to you?" Your answer determines not just your eternal destiny, but the purpose and quality of your life right now.

Ready to experience the transformative power of knowing Christ as both Savior and Lord? Join us on this journey of discovery and surrender to the One who makes the invisible God visible in our lives.

Speaker 1:

Amen, amen, amen, thanks. Dave's not here today, so somebody has to watch out for me so I don't get a broken neck right. It is a guarantee that I will trip over that truck. Hey, how many of you know who John Crist is? Christian comedian? No, not many of you.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so he has this bit where he talks about the different styles of worship, and I've talked about this before. You know, you've got the little fish and then the big fish carry the big screen. Change the light bulb. You know what I mean? I've invented a new one. I caught myself the other day doing it and I was like do I do that regularly? I don't have my coffee cup. I've invented the Statue of Liberty. This is how I, if you catch me, that, this is how I, if you catch me, that's how I'm saying. So that's my new, that's my new word. That one's trademarked. By the way, you can't have it Anyhow.

Speaker 1:

We're on a journey, a four-week journey, to get through who is God and understanding the Holy Trinity. So if you weren't here last week, you missed God the Father, but today we're going to be in God the Son. So I wanted to just recap last week for a second and just remind you that God is the one whom we are praying to. He is the one who created all things, amen. Our desire is to serve the kingdom and to please the Father and to do all things unto God. Right Now. Here's the thing he knew that we were a sinful people. And see, adam and Eve man. They really messed it up for us because we could have been living in the land of milk and honey. Right, we could have had all of the blessings.

Speaker 1:

Jess, you're back there all by yourself. Like you got like this, like this, what's going on over here today? I don't know, everybody squeeze together, I don't know. No, I'm kidding, it's just really funny to me when I come in some Sundays and some of the spots are completely empty, right, so, like we've got a lot of people out today. There's some people out for family reunion. Unfortunately, we have a sick kid at home, so my wife is at home with him this morning. Dave is with family. So, like you start to notice there's little pockets missing.

Speaker 1:

But here's what I believe. I believe God has called each of you here today for this message, right, he didn't prepare it for no reason. He prepared it so that you might hear it, and so I want you to just let's center ourselves on that. Let's not worry about the things that are missing or the people who aren't here, or whatever we may have in our minds right now. Let's just let that go, because I really want to focus in on who Jesus is in our lives.

Speaker 1:

So our first passage of scripture this morning is going to be Colossians 1. I think that's right. Yes, colossians 1.15. And it says Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is the supreme over all of creation. Now, the first part of that tells us exactly who Jesus is. Right, christ is the visible image of the invisible God. Jesus was tangible, right. The disciples could touch him. The lady touched the hem of his garment. He was a physical being of an invisible God, a God that we cannot see, and because we cannot see him, we oftentimes don't understand him. Amen.

Speaker 1:

Now I want you to think back to some of the Old Testament stuff. You know we talk a lot about how vengeful God was in the Old Testament. God was. He was a jealous God. He didn't like it when the Israelites would run off and do things that he didn't want them to do because he was jealous over what he had created to be good and whole. Amen, you guys, good, everybody here this morning. We're awake, all right. I'm believing that you're reverent and not asleep. That's what I'm believing today. Amen, okay, what you do you, yeah, thanks. Thanks a lot, dale, thanks a lot, dale.

Speaker 1:

Our next passage of scripture that I wanna read with you today is John 14, nine. It says Jesus replied I have been with you all this time, philip, and yet you don't know who I am. Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so why are you asking me to show him to you? Amen. So what's happening is Philip is asking Jesus to reveal God to them, and Jesus' response is you're looking at him? Right, I am the embodiment of who God is.

Speaker 1:

Now, here's the thing. We as a culture would hear that phrase and say well, he's just gaslighting us, right? God's obviously not real. He is trying to make himself holy, amen, right. Have you ever had somebody tell you oh, you don't need to see the proof, you just need to trust me. How many times do we just trust them? Never is the correct answer. In most situations, never is the correct answer. Why is that? Because the world has conditioned us that the world, that people, cannot be trusted.

Speaker 1:

Right Now, there are some people I would trust with my life, right, pastor Roger, pastor Holly, if they said to me hey, I need you to do this, I'm probably going to do it Good, bad or indifferent, because I know that they've got my best interest at heart. And then there are some people who are like, well, pastor Michael, I'm your friend, why don't you do this? And I'm like I don't know if we're that close. Right, because the world has conditioned me that people will disappoint me. Every day, people will disappoint me. Now I'm gonna take a quick break from talking about Jesus to talk about me. Is that okay? Good, I'm gonna do it anyway. Here's the deal.

Speaker 1:

I realized that in my life I never sit still. My goal is to always go to the next thing. Anybody else like that. Roger's already like. He's thinking three projects ahead of me. I've already got other stuff that and he's losing his mind. Glue my feet to the floor because he doesn't want me moving anymore. Here's the thing. I've realized that God has called me to that path for a reason. It is to create greatness where there is not greatness. Amen. Now I'm not saying that I am great. I am saying that he is great and I am doing the work that he has called me to do, amen, listen, don't get me wrong. I know I can be dumber than a box of rocks, trust me, okay. So I want to tell you this and again, I'm not bragging, I'm telling you because I need you to understand that when we trust God and we believe in Jesus, great things will happen in our lives, right? Okay? So here's the deal. What has it been Over a month just over a month, something like that that I lost my job unexpectedly, right?

Speaker 1:

That was traumatizing, right, I hadn't done anything wrong. They're like, just, we were going a different direction. See, ya, right, pound the pavement. I was like I'm going home and I don't even know where to go. If I go home, I have to tell my wife what happened, right? Okay? So then, my wife, my wife, is so gracious. If you guys don't know her, you should meet her and you should love her, because she is the nicest woman you will ever meet. And she said to me it is not your fault. She said it's not your fault, I'm not upset with you, it's not your fault. But in all of that I said I don't know what to do. She said take some time, figure it out. And so I started applying for jobs. And if any of us have ever applied for jobs, sometimes you just spam, apply for work right, like one click, apply, done right, and you start getting calls and emails from people you don't even remember applying for jobs for Anybody ever been there. Yes, okay, thank you Jesus.

Speaker 1:

So I lost my car because I had a company car so I had to take it back. So we went to buy a car. While we're in the dealership I get a call from a lady who says that she's with the First National Bank of Denison and she would like me to come in for an interview the following day. And I thought, well, I applied for a teller position at the bank that ain't going to pay the bills, right, we know that. So I walk into the interview and they offer me a position that was never posted and I'm like great, wonderful, this could potentially work. I have been there for not quite four weeks yet. Not quite four weeks. Last Thursday Thursday, I ended up Wednesday, something like that, I don't remember what day it was I end up in the office with the bank president and they're offering me a promotion.

Speaker 1:

Can I tell you something? God is good In all things. God is good. See, I thought I was lost and I thought that my life had been upended. And really, what he was saying is I need you to trust me, Right? And in all of those, all of those times, we were continuing to believe that God was going to do something great in our lives, that God was going to move us from one season to. I can yell louder than you, I promise, that God was moving us from one season of life into another season of life, and I didn't understand that move. And I'll be honest with you, I still don't understand that move, but I trust what God had called me to, amen, and I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord over my life, and because I believe that he will continue to do great and mighty works. Here's the thing I had to go through a valley. Now, it was a short valley, but I had to go through it. Right, see, some of our valleys are longer, but why is our valley longer? Because we stopped trusting Jesus, right, see, we don't believe that he is, in fact, the Lord and Savior, that he is the creator and the doer of all things in our lives and instead what we do is we start to blame him for loss. We talked about this at the men's meeting.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes you get in your own way. Sometimes you start to wrestle with God and argue with God and you start to blame Jesus for the dysfunction in your life. But a lot of times those are our choices. We are the one to blame for that fault. Listen, the enemy's got a lot of stuff going on, right. He's got wars all over the place, right. He's got famine. He's got nations that are just destroyed. He's got things to focus on. He ain't worried about your Krispy Kreme donuts. Listen, that's your choice. You broke your diet. Don't blame the enemy. Get back on the horse, right? Amen, okay, all right, I'm sorry.

Speaker 1:

When Philip asked Jesus, show us the Father, and Jesus replied anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. We have to understand what that means. Jesus is the clearest picture of God we will ever see. Amen. Now understand what that means. We don't have a photograph of Jesus, right? We don't actually know what Jesus looks like. We have an interpretation of what Jesus looks like. Amen.

Speaker 1:

Anybody ever seen him? No, anybody get a selfie with him? No, if I do. I'm getting mine autographed. It doesn't be worth something.

Speaker 1:

But because we have never seen his face doesn't mean we haven't seen him. We've seen his goodness, and that's what matters. See, that's what we should be focused on. We've seen the goodness of God through the sacrifice of his son, jesus Christ. Right? So here's the thing. We look at God as a God who is jealous over us, but he is so jealous over our relationship with him that he would send his one and only begotten son to die on a cross so that you and I might have everlasting life. Salvation did not come for free. There was a cost. That cost was the life of Jesus Christ. Now the son is the one who reveals the father. Amen.

Speaker 1:

Jesus didn't just talk about who God was. He didn't talk about who God was. He showed us who God was through love and compassion. Think about all of the times that Jesus was defending the weak and the poor right. He was no respecter of persons. It didn't matter if you were a woman, it didn't matter if you were a Samaritan, it didn't matter who you were to Jesus, he wanted goodness in your life. There are people sitting in this sanctuary today and people sitting in our community who don't truly know just how good Jesus is, because they see us broken people trying to pour out Jesus into a broken community. Amen, jesus wasn't broken. He was perfect and so when he looked at a broken person, he gave them love and compassion.

Speaker 1:

Do we do the same thing? We try, or at least I hope we try right. We look at a broken people and we think, man, they did not decide that this would be their life. Something happened that was beyond our comprehension. Listen, I've never been an alcoholic. I've never been addicted to drugs. I can't look at somebody who's addicted to drugs and say that they're a loser. I have to look at them and say they are losing right now, but they will have victory. In the name of Jesus, amen. Listen, we have to change our outlook on the world so that the world can change its outlook on us. Right, if I want every person to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and to be able to inherit the kingdom of heaven, like I'm going to, I have to be willing to show love and mercy in all things. Thank you, I don't know how you can't get excited about that, listen. Well, maybe you're not excited because you can't show love and mercy. Maybe that's why you can't get excited.

Speaker 1:

I was thinking the other night. I told you guys this once and forgive me for sharing it again, but sometimes I sit around and I think about how I could ruin other people's lives. Right Like, I know things about people I probably shouldn't know. And one text message you just bring that house of cards to the ground. Amen. Any of you know that stuff about people, right, listen, last night I was sitting in my room and I was running through my sermon notes and I said Lord, just give me some direction with this. He's like, you know how you always say that. He's like stop saying that and bless those people. And I'm like but God, isn't it fun to have some of that power? And he says isn't it fun to be nice? And I say but God, isn't it fun? And he just kept and listen. Here's the problem that I have. Sometimes my flesh takes over, right, I've been. Listen.

Speaker 1:

We went to Steak and Shake last night. There is no worse place to eat than Steak and Shake. If I'm going to be honest with you, listen, I don't mind the food, but what happened to Steak and Shake? Steak and Shake you used to go in. Sit down at the table. The waitress would come over and take your order and then she'd bring you your food right. And at the end of my meal I could order my milkshake and they would bring it to me and then I could leave fat and sassy right. But here's the thing Now they've got kiosks and that's it. You don't even get to talk to a person anymore. At Steak and Shake, you walk in and they're like welcome to Steak and Shake from behind the grill. They don't care that you're there because they're collecting a paycheck regardless, right, guys?

Speaker 1:

The church is the same way. We're sitting in this seat hoping to collect a paycheck. The same way we're hoping to inherit the kingdom of God, but we don't care about the people who aren't with us, right? We aren't worried about the world. When they walk in, we're like, hey, welcome to church. And we don't hear it. We don't talk to them ever again, right? We don't concern ourselves with what are their needs. We don't concern ourselves with how do we show Christ in all things. Instead, we focus on what we want. Okay, we're gonna have a little game. You ready?

Speaker 1:

Imagine for a second that I were to tell you that the person that you thought was your father was not actually your father, and I started describing your father to you and I tell you all of the things about him and then when you finally meet him face to face, he's nothing like what I've described. That's disappointing, right? That would be incredibly disappointing. See, the problem is, is that's what the church is doing about god? Because we're not showing jesus, we're describing him in a way that is not attainable. What do I mean by that, pastor michael? What do you mean? That we are describing jesus as a way that's not attainable? You're making him sound not attainable. You're making him sound like a genie. You're making him sound like all of your cares will disappear when you accept him as your Lord and Savior. That's not how that works, right?

Speaker 1:

The closer you get to God, the more struggles you will experience. Why don't you experience struggles whenever you're distant from God? Enemy doesn't have, he doesn't have any need to work on you. You're already doing it, right, you're already living in the world, living for him. But when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the enemy says well, I don't really wanna let that one go. So here I come, and he comes in hot and he comes in strong, you know. So here I come and he comes in hot and he comes in strong.

Speaker 1:

You walk into the church and you say, hey, I'm gonna start giving 10% of my income to the church because that's what God has called me to do. Then, all of a sudden, you ain't got a job anymore. Right? I told you guys this. I'll tell you again, because I genuinely believe that this is why God is so faithful.

Speaker 1:

In my household, when I lost my job, we continued to tithe on what I should be making, not on what I am making. Right? Do you know how that hurts? That's a lot of money to just give away when you ain't got it coming in. But here's what I said God will bless us because of it. It may not be a financial blessing. It may just be good enough health to get up and go to work in the morning, right, amen. It may be enough money to just make the car the juice right out of it, hallelujah.

Speaker 1:

So whenever you guys go back and listen to this live stream, you're gonna be like what happened there, you'll know. You'll know Jesus needs to be introduced to people as our Lord and Savior, as the one who introduces us to the Father. Right? We need to understand that no man shall inherit the kingdom except through Jesus Christ. Right? Okay, the son is eternal. John 1, 1. Oh, I forgot, I'm doing slides up here. I forgot about that. I'm multitasking today.

Speaker 1:

In the beginning, the word already existed. The word was with God and the word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him and nothing, nothing was created except through him. Okay, through him. Him, he is Jesus. Right, jesus existed with the word, with God, before man was created. And when man was created, it was created through Jesus Christ. Right?

Speaker 1:

So now let's do that math backwards. Any of you guys good at like math that has like X's and Y's in it? I don't understand that stuff. Why'd they ever do that to us? I don't think I've ever used it once in my life, mainly because I have Google now and I just like hey, google, figure this out for me, right? Anyhow, let's do that math backwards. The only way to get back to God is through Jesus. It's simple math, right? Add it, subtract it.

Speaker 1:

Listen, the son existed before we existed and he will exist long after we don't exist. Amen, god is not going anywhere, only we will go somewhere. Now we also have to remember that God is omnipresent. That means he is everywhere all at the same time. So when he rests in this place, he also rests everywhere else. So when you go places that you ought not go, shall I remind you Jesus is there, and I only want to go into places that I can take Jesus with me, right? I don't want to go into bars and into nightclubs and places where, if Jesus were in there in the flesh, people would question why he's there. I only want to go to places that uplift and exalt and glorify Jesus Christ. Amen.

Speaker 1:

The son took on flesh. In John 1, 14, it said so the word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness and we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son. Hallelujah. So the word became flesh. Jesus came to the earth in order to sacrifice his life so that we might have everlasting life. Amen.

Speaker 1:

What does everlasting life mean to you? Forever and ever, this is something that is never going to not exist, amen. So when I go to heaven, I want to be well when I die, let's put it that way. I ain't looking to get there right away, but if I were to go. Right now, my hope is in heaven. Right, that is where my desire lays, but so many of us don't worry about what it takes to get there.

Speaker 1:

That relationship with the sun is what creates the opening into heaven. Right, you can do good things, you can be a nice person, you can talk kindly to one another, you can do all of the nice things, but that fruit does not get you into heaven. A relationship with Jesus Christ is the only thing that will get you into heaven. Believing that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, that he was born of a virgin, died on a cross, was buried for three days, rose again and that he is returning, is your only hope of salvation. Amen, that is it. That is it. Now. Here's the thing that gift is given freely. There is no requirement to receive. You can say a prayer, you can do all of those things. Those are for you. Those are for you to have confidence in what it is that you're accepting in your life.

Speaker 1:

Listen, I know a lot of, as a matter of fact, myself. When I got saved, nobody said a prayer with me. There wasn't some life change. The light bulb didn't come on. I stood in that chair. I sat right there and I just wept and I knew that I had to give my life to Jesus in order to be saved, right, in order to have everyone I knew. But that was through a relationship with Christ. That wasn't through a relationship with people. Right, I had a body of believers who were praying for me and believing that God would change my heart, and when he did, they were excited for me. Right, they were excited for me, but nobody was getting me there except for me. I had to know who Jesus was and accept him for who he was.

Speaker 1:

How many of you guys have seen Aladdin? That's one of my favorite Disney movies, right? Let's be honest with you. The 90s Disney movies are far superior than any other Disney series. Like, don't start with me, Dale, I'll fist fight you right now. The Lion King, the Little Mermaid, all of those movies were far superior than any of this new Pixar stuff. And here's the reason because the storylines were better. Right, listen, dale, we're going to square up buddy when I watch Aladdin.

Speaker 1:

When I watch Aladdin one of the scenes that I always am amazed by, and mainly because I think as a kid I didn't question it, but then as an adult, I'm like that didn't make any sense really, right. I think it's the beauty of being a child. It's that child like faith Jasmine the princess. She goes out into the marketplace because she's never been allowed to leave the palace walls right. So she changes her clothes, she puts on this old what do you call that thing that she put on? Yeah, you know what it is. Anyhow, you know what it is. Let's just say that she didn't look like a princess. So she goes out into the marketplace and she's talking to all of these people and somehow gets herself into trouble and Aladdin comes to her rescue and then they arrest Aladdin and she flips off the hat and she says, by order of the princess, release him.

Speaker 1:

Do you think that if we were to truly look around, jesus walks among us daily. Now, I'm not saying he's going to flip his top back and say, in the name, you know what I mean, but I'm saying that every interaction that we have with somebody, we should be Jesus right, because in the name of Jesus, you will be healed. By order of the princess, by order of King Jesus. You will be healed by order of King Jesus. You will be set free by order of King. Listen, you guys ain't getting excited. Can I tell you that if we truly believe that Jesus was a chain breaker, if Jesus could set us free, that we could get excited about it. Listen, listen, I'm going to tell you right now. If we believed it, we would have a much healthier community that we lived in right. If we truly believed that, we would be in nursing home ministries, we would be out in the street, we would be visiting the homeless and we would be proclaiming the name of Jesus over the lives of those people.

Speaker 1:

Don't get me wrong. Some of those people ain't gonna accept him, not the first time, maybe not the second time, maybe not the second time, maybe not the third time, maybe not the 10th time. But the only way for them to know who Jesus is is for us to show him and to walk out what Jesus lived for. Amen. Whoo the son is the one who redeemed us Romans 5, 8. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. We are still sinners today, many of us sitting in this room knowing that we are sinners, knowing that we actively partake in things that separate us from the will of God, and yet we don't quite understand. Why would we not want to accept that salvation, repent and turn from our sins and live solely for the kingdom of God? Why wouldn't we want to do that? Because we're selfish. We are selfish beings and having things that make us look good and feel good, and all of this, that's what we're focused on. Amen.

Speaker 1:

I don't know about you. I like the finer things in life. Steak and shake is not one of them. The only reason we ended up there yesterday was because that's where my son wanted to go for his 16th birthday dinner. I will take you anywhere you want to eat and you are picking steak and shake Now in his defense for his birthday. We've eaten at Denny's Jerry's. He just doesn't have very good taste. I guess I don't know, but I like the finer things in life. Right? I shouldn't pick on Jerry's because my oldest son's down here shaking his leg like he'll fist fight me over Jerry's. This boy loves some Jerry's.

Speaker 1:

I don't know, man, I like the finer things in life and so I have to balance that with my love for Jesus. Right, because I can chase riches in the world. I can store up all of those things here, right? Anybody know anybody with a storage shed full of stuff that they don't really need, that they don't really need. I said it on purpose. She's like I don't know anybody. I need all of that stuff. Everything in there is useful, right, everything is useful. We build up riches here on earth, but we don't build up riches in heaven Because, see, we don't. Pastor Holly, I know you build up riches in heaven, but not everybody does, right? We collect all of the things on earth.

Speaker 1:

I just watched a documentary about the ruby red slippers. Anybody seen that documentary yet? You should watch it. It's a lot of fun. The ruby red slippers that were stolen from a museum in Wisconsin or something like that, sold for $20 million.

Speaker 1:

What could you do with $20 million? A lot of stuff, right Now. Here's the thing Somebody had $20 million to spend on shoes. I'm not giving you any ideas. I'm not giving you any idea. What size do you wear? Oh, those were only a five and a half. They wouldn't have done you any good, darn. Next time they come up for auction, I'll bid on them for you. Okay, $20 million. Imagine what you can do in the kingdom of God for $20 million. Imagine the people that you can reach, the Bibles that you can hand out. Imagine what you can do for $20 million. That means somebody had that money to spend on a pair of shoes. And my question is are they building up riches on earth or are they building up riches in heaven? Amen.

Speaker 1:

There's nothing wrong with having nice things. There's nothing wrong with being able to pay your bills and doing all of the wonderful things. People love to vacation, that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with having a car payment. There's nothing wrong with having money.

Speaker 1:

The problem is is do you love that money more than you love your Lord and Savior, jesus Christ? That's the question that we have to ask, because we understand that Jesus came to redeem us right. So if I have something to focus on, it is not the cash in my bank account, it is my Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, because he has redeemed me. That money has done nothing for me, but buy me things right To try to fill a void somewhere in my life, but at the end of the day, the only thing filling that void is Jesus Christ, amen. So when he came to redeem me, he came to die on a cross. You know, jesus knew that that was going to happen to him, that was revealed to him, he shared it with the disciples and the disciples didn't understand and they said no, lord, he would speak to them and they didn't understand. We've read it, we know that it happened and yet we still don't accept it as our salvation, as the thing that has created us whole and new. Amen.

Speaker 1:

The resurrection is proof of one very important thing Death doesn't win. Death cannot win. It's impossible. I don't understand why we can't get excited about that. I know that, should the lord tarry, I will taste a physical death. Right, my body will die and go into the ground. That will happen.

Speaker 1:

My wife and I are arguing about life insurance right now. Right, right, because you buy whole life insurance, you buy term life insurance. Dave Ramsey says term is the only way to go right. But I've got a whole life policy. I've been paying on for so long that it's built cash value. But the problem is it's not nearly as much as a term life policy would be. I can get a million dollars in term life for the same price that I'm paying for $150,000 worth of whole life policy same price that I'm paying for $150,000 worth of whole life policy.

Speaker 1:

But the problem is the term life. Who said that? You're right, the term life wears out. It's a 30-year policy. Now my kids think I'm old, pastor Roger, how old are you? 75. That's old Anyhow. A 30-year policy will only take me to about 70 years old. Well, we know, pastor Roger can live to 75, right, so chances are.

Speaker 1:

So what happens if I die after that? Roger can live to 75, right, so chances are. So what happens if I die after that? There's nothing there, right? There's nothing there. And so the question becomes what is the right answer? Here's the right answer Believe in Jesus. Right, I need my house to be paid off, and that is it, because all I need to do is enough money to put me put this body in the ground, because I already know that I am better off dead than I am alive. Amen, quite frankly, if I get a term policy too big, I might be better off dead to my wife.

Speaker 1:

So, just trying to think this through and be a little logical, y'all. Anyhow, this is something this is as I was. I had to Google an illustration because I couldn't come up with something that would make me think of or make me explain to you what this is like. So imagine you've done something horrendous and you're in court and the judge finds you guilty. Right, he says you're guilty, you're going to jail, and after he says it, he steps off of the road or off of the platform, he takes off his robe and he serves the sentence for you. That's a real life situation that you can comprehend.

Speaker 1:

That's what Jesus did for us. Right, he was blameless. He wasn't the sinner at all, that was us. So he steps down from heaven to hang on the cross so that we could have everlasting life. He served a sentence that we would never be able to serve. I can promise you, not one of us would have been strong enough to hang on a cross and simply say it is finished. We would have been begging and pleading. Jesus went willingly. Amen, amen, amen. The son reigns as king.

Speaker 1:

If we look at Philippians 2, 9, it says, therefore, god elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name, above all other names, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. He is not just our Savior, but the Lord over our lives. He is not just our Savior. So when we are doing something in the world, we should be focused on what Jesus would have us do and not what we would want to do ourselves. Now here's the thing you have to understand and be able to discern that voice, that still small voice of Jesus speaking to you. Amen, because when Jesus speaks, you hear and then you say I don't think that was Jesus Right. Sometimes we hear Jesus say you probably shouldn't do that.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to tell you, was it last year? We were all going to that Brandon Lake concert. We were all were all going to that Brandon Lake concert. We were all supposed to go to a Brandon Lake concert. It was a huge group of us. I had bought some tickets for a group and then at the last minute, our babysitter canceled on us. The very last I'm talking very last minute. We scrambled, we looked, we tried, we hoped and we could not find anybody to keep the kids. And so my wife and I decided we're going to give our tickets away and we are going to stay home. And when we did that we thought, man, what a disappointment, right, it's like $120 in tickets. And we just like that was a real bummer.

Speaker 1:

I got a call the next day from the person I'd gifted the tickets to and they said I really needed that, my relationship with God just hasn't been the same and I really needed to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit. It wasn't about me, right, it wasn't about me, it was about the glory of the kingdom. And I was thankful that my wife and I were obedient to that still small voice that just said stay home, and to that still small voice that said hand over the tickets to this person. See, we didn't get blessed from that in any physical way, but somebody else got blessed through it and we accepted that blessing as our blessing as well, that God had given us the ability to purchase those tickets and to gift them. My wife and I have been looking forward to that for quite some time to just not get to go, but we knew God was doing something good.

Speaker 1:

Anyway, he is not just our savior, but he is our Lord. He is the still small voice, he is the beating of our heart. He should be all of the things that we feel inside. They should be good and whole, because that's where Jesus lives. Right, you know, there are a lot of our young kids if you ask them where Jesus lives in my heart. Right, as adults, we know that. We've been taught that in Sunday school, but we don't know how to live that right, because our heart posture is dark and dated and it's hard and it's just not positive and we have to be able to adjust that in order to show Jesus in the world every day.

Speaker 1:

Now, this is the important part Jesus's name, the name of Jesus, that's who we pray in. We pray in the name of Jesus to God, the Father. We understand that In the name of Jesus and we speak things in the name of Jesus, because he intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father, right, and I'm thankful every day that he intercedes and he accounts for my stupidity Fair way to say it. Right, because we all know we're going to fall short of the glory of God and oftentimes it's in a really dumb way. I'm the only one. That's fine. I'm okay with being the only dumb one in the room, y'all. God has done some big things in my life, but because I am stupid, he's like I'm going to stop you from doing that so that you can do this instead. And then he blesses me and then turns around and blesses somebody and listen. If he can work through this hot mess, he can certainly work through any of you. I promise you he is no respecter of persons.

Speaker 1:

There is nobody sitting in this room that is less than any person who ever stands in a pulpit. There have been unfoldings in churches in our area that I'll tell you this. I will tell you this there is no person less than those people. When God moves in your life, he is calling you to something great, amen. Now there are some of you who maybe haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Maybe there are some of you who've been sitting in this room that have known Jesus your entire life. Maybe there are some of you who are going.

Speaker 1:

I think I know who Jesus is, but I don't fully get it. Let's talk about it, because if you aren't confident in your relationship with Christ, then we have to ask what does heaven look like? I want each and every one of you there Now. I don't know how it's gonna work. I don't know if I'm gonna recognize you, some of you. I hope I don't. I'm kidding. Some of you are hoping that about me too. I'm sure At the end of the day, we should all get to the kingdom of heaven, amen. But we have to understand how we get there, and that is through Jesus and no other way.

Speaker 1:

Jesus is more than a teacher or a prophet. He is the eternal son of God, who stepped into humanity, died for our sins, rose in victory and reigns forever. He is your savior and your Lord. The question is not who is Jesus. The question is who is Jesus to you? The question is who is Jesus to you? So I want to have a call to action and I just want to say this that, as we continue to talk through this last portion of the sermon, dan, can you turn up that prayer music for me just a little bit? If you have never trusted Jesus as your savior, I want to encourage you to make today that day. If you have known him as your Lord and savior but you have stepped away from him, I want to encourage you today to retake that relationship. Amen.

Speaker 1:

If you're sitting in this room and you say I know who Jesus is, but I've never been able to find relationship with him, I've never been able to understand what Jesus can do in my life, I want you to just pray about that today and I wanna be able to pray with you. Let's just bow our heads and we're gonna pray together. Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, I thank you that every heart in this building is prepared to receive you. Lord, the hearts that have known you forever. Refresh them, give them a burning desire to seek you more frequently. Lord and Lord, for those who are sitting in this room who have never accepted you as their Lord and Savior, I pray that you stir them up today. Allow your warmth to fill their body, lord. Allow them to be able to feel you, to know you, to be able to touch you.

Speaker 1:

Lord, I believe that right now, as we're sitting in this place, that there are some of you who are saying this is something I've never experienced before. And if you are accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior right now, I want you to, just at the end of this service, just find Pastor Roger. Pastor Roger, I'm gonna have you of this service. Just find Pastor Roger. Pastor Roger, I'm gonna have you. Come up front. Just find Pastor Roger and tell him so that we can connect with you, because I want to be able to share how great Jesus is and how wonderful he will be in your life.

Speaker 1:

I know that there are people sitting here right now saying I think he's talking about me, but I don't know. Allow this to be your confirmation I am talking about you, lord. I thank you and I praise you for your anointing that rests here right now, in this moment. Lord, bless your people as they move from this place. From this place, allow them to pour out their love. Allow them to pour out your love in our community this coming week, father, lead them, guide them, direct them, lift up their spirits when they're down. Lord, we give you praise, honor and glory in the mighty name of Jesus. And the church says