WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.439 The name is changing. 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:03.120 The story is not. 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:07.360 Same mission, same heart, same Jesus. 00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:10.480 A clearer invitation for the future. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.359 We are one church. 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:15.119 We have an open door. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:19.120 An open door standing before us in this church. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:20.559 Last fall, the Lord spoke to me. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:24.079 He said, This Son is the year of open doors. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:37.119 This is a moment of opportunity to enter into a brand new future to envision what is possible when God can do the things that we thought were impossible. 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:48.320 We are becoming one church with one vision to see just one more person encounter God, experience belonging, and make a difference. 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:52.000 We are entirely ready and we are completely unready. 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:59.840 We are ready because each step of the way, we have said, Lord, we want to do what you want us to do. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:02.560 We don't want to come up with our own ideas. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:08.000 We want to follow where you, Lord Jesus, are leading us. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:10.560 And we're completely unready. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:28.560 Because despite how good we are, despite how amazing the band and the choir and the serve teams and the coffee and the kids' ministry and the Parker's Ushers greeters, none of that in itself can change the heart of a person. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.959 It's only the presence of the living God that can do that. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:44.400 And so as we cross this threshold, we do so with our heads bowed and our shoes off, like Moses encountering the burning bush. 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:51.359 Because the steps that lead us into the presence of God are holy ground. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:53.359 This is not a rebrand. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:56.079 This is not a clever marketing strategy. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:57.760 This is renewal. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:01.040 This is not about a name change. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:04.319 This is about receiving a new identity. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:28.159 And so we, as one church, as generations united, becoming one church with one vision to reach just one more, as we step into this new season, I want to offer you three images, three exemplars of the faith, three ideals that can guide us as we step through this open door as one church. 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:32.560 The first is Mary, the mother of Jesus. 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:35.759 I start with Mary for many reasons. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:40.719 One, because she's Jesus' mama, and that's pretty amazing. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:50.159 But two, many churches across the United States do not honor the role and leadership of one half of the image of God. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:03:00.560 They squelch the voice of women, they diminish their calling, they tell them they can't be leaders and pastors, they tell them they can't be prophets, they tell them that they can't teach and have authority in the church. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:03.759 And I say to that heresy, no, not in this house. 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:07.599 This is a house where we will honor the voice of women in God. 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:18.800 Because God did not just create them male, God created them men and women, male and female, to embody his image in the earth. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:23.439 The very first woman to preach the gospel was not a man, it was Mary Magdalene. 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:38.319 And so if Jesus saw fit to unleash a woman to preach to the men with the gospel of his word, then I'm going to say, yes, Lord, let this be a house where it's not just men who are raised up, where the women are also raised up to lead in God's house. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:39.439 Can you say amen? 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:44.639 Mary shows us what it means to encounter God. 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:47.680 Luke chapter 1, verses 26 to 38. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:49.120 Listen to the word of the Lord. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:58.960 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed or engaged to a man whose name was Joseph. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:00.639 He was of the house of David. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:06.879 And the virgin's name was Mary, and he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:11.680 But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:16.959 And the angel said to her, Don't be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:23.439 And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and you will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:24.879 He will be great. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:31.040 He'll be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:36.800 And he'll reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:41.120 And Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I'm a virgin? 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:47.360 And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:52.399 Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 00:04:52.560 --> 00:05:00.639 And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:03.199 For nothing will be impossible with God. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:06.160 And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. 00:05:06.319 --> 00:05:08.560 Let it be to me according to your word. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:11.680 And the angel departed from her. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:55.839 The God of our Father sins, the particular angel, Gabriel, in a particular month, the sixth month, to a particular city, Nazareth, to a particular man's house, Joseph, a particular line, the Davidic line, to a particular woman, to a particular virgin with a particular name, Mary. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:59.920 The activity of God is particular and personal. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:02.800 God does not deal in vague generalities. 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:04.079 God looks for one. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:11.920 God looks for one person in one city, one person in one house, one person in one classroom, one person on one team. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:16.240 God is looking for one who is open, one who can hear, one who is willing. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:26.480 God calls the one because God's eyes roam to and fro throughout the earth since times of old, the Bible says, looking for one heart that he can strengthen. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:33.199 Our God is a particular God who seeks the one and sees the one and who empowers the one to reach the one. 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:36.879 God sent one angel with one message to one woman. 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:41.519 You will bear in your womb the one who will save the world. 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:43.839 And Mary's trouble, she says, How can this be? 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.000 I'm just a little woman from a little village. 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:47.199 I'm nobody special. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:48.560 I'm nobody important. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:53.920 And while everybody else would look at Mary and say, What's the big deal? 00:06:54.240 --> 00:07:00.480 The Lord looks into the human heart and he sees one woman who can hear. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:03.279 This was one thing that was special about Mary. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:06.959 This was one thing that set her apart from all of the other Nazarite virgins. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:11.360 There were plenty of other women that God could have sent the Savior of the world through. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:18.800 But he chose one woman, and what was special about this woman was not that she was grand or powerful, but she could hear. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:23.360 When our God wanted to save the world, he didn't send an army through the streets. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:27.839 He sent a message into the ear of a woman that would pierce her heart. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:31.759 He said, Mary, the Lord is with you, and you shall conceive. 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:41.920 This is why in the ancient tradition they teach us that the organ through which the Christ was conceived was Mary's ear. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:58.240 When the Holy Spirit wanted to get a message into the earth, when the Holy Spirit wanted to save humanity, when the Father says we've got to do something to turn the tide, he doesn't send an army rolling with chariots through the streets. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.519 We might not be the most powerful church or the biggest church or the wealthiest church. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:14.319 I want us to be a church that can hear. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:19.839 And when we hear, we say, Lord Jesus, be it unto me according to your will. 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:24.000 I don't want to take my cues from big churches and the headlines. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:27.519 I don't want to mimic the great speakers of the world. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:30.639 I don't care what worship sounds like in somewhere else. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:32.080 I don't give a rip. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:40.799 What I want is to say, Holy Spirit, you can have my ear, you can have our ears, and you can conceive in us whatever you want to do. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:44.480 Because you can't download the power of God. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.240 You can't download somebody else's anointing. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:51.440 You can't download the favor that's on another church. 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:59.039 But if it's one church with one passion for one God, we will say, be it unto us according to your will. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:01.519 Conceive in us whatever you want. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:04.000 That's what set Mary apart. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:06.159 This is going to be a church like Mary. 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.000 It's going to be a church full of Marys. 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:08.960 Go ahead, guys. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:11.519 Put Mary on your name badge. 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:15.039 You can update it to Mark if you feel weird about that. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:16.080 I don't care. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:19.120 What I want to be is a church full of Marys. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:22.159 Lord Jesus, I want to encounter you. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:24.080 Be it unto me according to your will. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:29.519 The second image is the Acts community that shows us how to experience belonging. 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:31.679 Mary shows us how to encounter God. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:35.279 The Acts church shows us how to experience belonging. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:36.320 Listen to this. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:37.440 Acts 2. 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:42.720 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:44.879 And awe came upon every soul. 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:48.080 And many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:52.080 And all who believed were together and they had all things in common. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:57.919 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:08.080 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:13.039 And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:16.559 Daily, new people were coming into the fellowship. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:27.200 When the Spirit was poured out on the very first church, the sign that the Spirit was at work was there was unity and charity. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:30.320 There was unity and generosity. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:37.759 The primary sign when God moves in a church is not only manifestations. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.480 It's not that people would have experiences. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:48.480 The primary sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in the life of the church is that the people of God come closer together. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:57.919 God will move in the hearts of individuals, but when God moves in the hearts of individuals, it moves God's people closer together. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:00.000 How do you know the spirit is working? 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.759 Because people make room for others at the table. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:06.720 How do you know the spirit is working? 00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:12.080 People say, I will wait for you at the front door and you can sit with me. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:14.240 How do you know that the spirit is working? 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:17.679 Is people say, you can come over to my house on Thursday night. 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:19.039 How can I pray for you? 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:20.320 What can I do for you? 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:24.720 Whatever I have is not only mine, whatever I have is yours. 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:29.679 We live in a world that is very connected but very disconnected. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:37.039 This culture craves the type of connection that this church has to offer. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:46.799 You think about it, we can communicate with somebody on the other side of the world with our opposable thumb. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:56.480 We are more connected than we've ever been, and we have an epidemic of loneliness in our culture. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:02.320 So connected, so disconnected. 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:08.159 I've been asking the team, what can we do to become more analog? 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:16.480 What can we do in a digitized yet disconnected world to become real and tangible and physical? 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.240 After all, we say this is the body and blood of our Lord. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:38.000 If we believe in a savior that we're supposed to honor and we're supposed to model our lives after, if we believe he had a physical body and that he spilled actual blood, doesn't that mean that the body of Christ has to be one that is physically connected? 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:42.159 Doesn't it mean that we have to be willing to pour our guts out for each other? 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:50.320 In a world that is starving for connection, we can be the place to where they can find actual community. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:52.960 We are primed. 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:57.039 There are companies that are spending millions of dollars. 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:10.240 Just yesterday, I saw a Chase Bank commercial, and they were saying instead of having AI robotic tellers, we're gonna have actual humans that you could talk to. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:13.679 And I thought, praise the Lord. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:16.879 What a novel concept. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:22.399 Humans interacting with humans. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:39.120 But by God, if I can walk in and like look at somebody and smell their breath, I'll take that any day of the week. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:51.840 The Church of the Future is a slow church, the church of the future is a sticky church, the church of the future is an inconvenienced church. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.320 Community is not efficient. 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:56.799 Community does not happen in an instant. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:00.080 You can download anything, but you cannot download community. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:03.120 It's why I'm not worried about AI in the life of the church. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:03.919 Do you know why? 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:09.759 You can listen to a message anywhere you want, but you can't hold hands and pray together. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:14.879 What we have to offer is what the world needs. 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:19.600 Every person at one church should be in a small group. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:24.799 I rarely say should because in my house we say we don't should on ourselves. 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:35.600 But I'm telling you, every person at one church, S-H-O-U-L-D, should be in a small group. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:36.399 Why? 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:41.600 Because it's not just about what you can get out of it, it's about what you can give to it. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:44.799 You say I'm too busy to be a part of a small group. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:46.799 I'll tell you you're just too busy. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:52.480 You have to put community first, and if you put community first, it'll rearrange everything else. 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.120 You don't fit community in, you put it first. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:55.759 Why? 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:03.679 Because Jesus said that the type of religion he's looking for is one that loves God and loves neighbor, and you cannot love your neighbor from a distance. 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:07.759 You go, Pastor, I haven't found the group that I'm looking for yet. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:08.480 Perfect. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:10.799 You're gonna start the one you're looking for. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:15.279 Just great. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:16.879 Welcome to one church. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.679 It's highly inconvenient to be a Christian here. 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:35.440 I I promise you, I promise you, if you will obey the words of Jesus Christ and you will be in community with other believers, you will not recognize your life a year from now. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:46.320 If you will open up yourself and say, Jesus, you can have me, and I want to give my life away to other people, my friends, this is the church where we're gonna encounter God like Mary, where we're gonna experience belonging like the Church of Acts. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:49.440 And then finally, the third image is our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:50.799 My favorite, my favorite. 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:53.440 I love Mary, I love the church in the book of Acts. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:54.720 I love Jesus though. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:57.840 I think Jesus is the best thing the church has going. 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:06.879 Not fog machines and cool lights, not greeters in parking lots, not preachers, whatever this is, like me. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:13.279 I think the best thing the church has to offer is bearded Jesus. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:17.840 They say it wasn't much to look at. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:20.080 I'm like, there's hope for the rest of us. 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:31.440 They say it wasn't anything spectacular to look at, but you know what made Jesus Jesus is that he walked with the Father, and everywhere he went, he brought healing. 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:39.919 And if this is real, if Jesus is real, then isn't he worth giving my whole life for? 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:43.120 Isn't he worth surrendering my whole life for? 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:46.639 My whole life for your glory, my whole world for you only. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:48.559 Jesus, I just want you. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:52.320 If you will put Jesus first in your life, everything else changes. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:17:03.759 The problem is some of us have a nice, cute religious idea that we call Jesus, but we're not willing to do a daggum thing to actually reorient our lives to follow him. 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:08.799 I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus, and the Bible says that's cute. 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.839 Even the demons believe and they tremble. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:22.480 The kind of faith that God wants is the kind of faith that actually puts shoes to its belief and says, Jesus, I'm gonna follow you on Monday, like I talk about you on Sunday. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:25.200 Luke chapter 15, this is the third image. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:27.759 Jesus shows what it means to make a difference. 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:28.960 Luke 15. 00:17:29.279 --> 00:17:41.039 Now the tax collectors, and listen, if if you are a tax collector in the room, um you guys had a bad rap back then, and I'm I'm sorry that you had a bad rap back then. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:48.640 And frankly, some of you have a bad rap now, but nevertheless, there's hope if you become a tax collector who comes to Jesus. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:55.839 Now the tax collectors, and there are some good ones in the world, and the sinners were all drawing near to him. 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:59.039 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled. 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:03.279 They said, This man receives sinners and he eats with them. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:06.319 So Jesus told them a parable. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:16.880 Which one of you, if you had a hundred sheep, if he lost one of them, doesn't leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that's lost until he finds it. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:21.519 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:25.759 Now, in my mind, it's like feet here and feet here and head here. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:37.440 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, and he says to them, Y'all rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:45.519 Just show, so I tell you, that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:49.759 I love the fact that Luke tells why Jesus is telling his parable. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:50.640 He doesn't always do that. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:53.519 They often don't explain it almost never, except for behind the scenes. 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:56.799 And it often doesn't even say why he was telling the stories that he tells. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:01.359 Luke says Jesus told this story because everybody was upset with him. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:03.759 I like Jesus. 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:06.079 Jesus is like, y'all upset with me? 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:07.599 I want to tell you a story. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.000 Let's see if you can see yourself in this story. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:11.359 Here we go. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:18.160 They were upset because Jesus was welcoming the people that they were rejecting. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:23.119 Because Jesus was receiving the people that they were stiff arming. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:27.039 And Jesus is like, boy, have I got a story for y'all? 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:32.960 Jesus ruffled feathers because he received the people that the religious leaders rejected. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:40.000 Jesus opened his arms to the outsider, to the down and outer, to the up and outer, to the marginalized and to the ostracized. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:41.200 And what does he tell them? 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:42.960 What does he say to the religious leaders? 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:47.279 All right, suppose that you had a hundred sheep and one of them went wandering off. 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:49.920 Wouldn't you leave and go find the sheep? 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:53.119 And I honestly don't know if they would have. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:59.680 I mean, usually the story goes, they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, of course, who wouldn't? 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:04.240 But I don't know because I think some people prefer crowds. 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:09.680 I think some people just like the appearance of success. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:11.839 I've got 99. 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:14.880 What's the difference between 99 and 100? 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:18.400 After all, look at them, they're all right there. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:20.720 They're still with me, they're all right there. 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:26.640 But Jesus is like, which one of you wouldn't leave the 99 to go after the one? 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:28.480 And honestly, I don't know. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:33.200 But Jesus doesn't look at success the way that we look at success. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:41.039 Jesus isn't about creating crowds, but rather paying attention to very particular people who need him. 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:45.759 You see, these Pharisees were supposed to be the shepherds of Israel. 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:49.279 They were supposed to be the people who cared about the sheep. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:52.480 And yet the funniest thing was happening. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:21:01.839 The people who were supposed to care the most were the people who were blocking the hurting and the sick and the needy from coming to Jesus. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:08.960 It says they were drawing near to Jesus, tax collectors and sinners, and throw-in hookers and gamblers. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:16.160 They were all drawing near to Jesus, and the religious people are like, He eats with tax collectors and sinners. 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:20.880 I can't believe he does that. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:28.880 We live in a world where the church is known more for what it's against than what it's for. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:33.519 It's known more for the people that it's against than the people that it's for. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:40.799 What if the church that Jesus wants is not a church that's known for stiff arming the very people that he's trying to welcome in? 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:45.039 What if there was a church that was known for making a difference? 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:50.799 A church that told the truth, but a church that told the truth like this, holding hands to people who need help. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:54.000 Not holding them out there and pushing them away. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:58.160 Not a church that's yelling at them, but a church that's saying, You can sit down with me. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.839 I don't care who you are or what you're doing. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:04.000 Orientation is or where you've come from, there is a place at the table. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:10.079 I'm gonna accept you as you are, and we're gonna walk toward Jesus as we both become more like Him. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:19.920 We have an opportunity if we're not afraid, not to baptize every cultural ideology. 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:25.279 Listen, friends, you have to be intolerant sometimes because some things are just stupid. 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:32.000 But I think what the church gets wrong more than anything else is not its message, but its tone. 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:40.480 You can only speak truth at the volume of the strength of your relationship. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:46.000 I used to tell youth leaders, you cannot go up to a kid that's misbehaving and just start griping at them. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:51.759 You can only be as intense as the strength of your relationship. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:54.799 It takes trust to be able to bring truth. 00:22:55.039 --> 00:23:01.839 My mentor Kevin Frack told me one time, he said, you can tell who the shepherds are because the shepherds smell like sheep. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:04.640 You ever smelled a sheep? 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:06.799 I've honestly never smelled a sheep. 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:13.279 But I can tell you if a sheep was out doing sheep stuff all day long, sheep probably smell like sheep. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:15.839 I said, sheep. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:20.079 What does Jesus do when he finds the sheep? 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:24.480 He takes and he puts his over his shoulder. 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:28.880 And he walks back home. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:32.720 Imagine him like Jesus, the Son of God. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:33.839 That's crazy. 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:37.839 Brother takes a sheep, throws his butt up over his shoulders. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:40.240 One, so he ain't gonna run away anymore. 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.640 But two, can you imagine the whole way back home? 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:48.720 That sheep is in Jesus' ear. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:50.480 And Jesus is like, I got you. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:52.079 I got you, just stay with me. 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:52.880 Just stay with me. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:54.000 You ain't gonna run off anymore. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:54.559 I got you. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:56.000 You're just gonna stay with me. 00:23:56.240 --> 00:24:00.960 And then Jesus gets back and he says, Look, look, look what I found. 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:03.039 And they're like, You found the lost sheep. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:05.759 He's like, I know, I went after the lost sheep. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:09.920 And Jesus is like, who wants to party? 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:12.640 Any of y'all want to party? 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:15.839 He says, Matthew, drop a beat. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:22.799 He says, He said, Hey, who's gonna fire up the grill? 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:23.920 And he's like, I got you. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:26.079 Now there's smoke going. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:28.559 And now there's mmm mmm. 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:30.960 Now there's a party happening. 00:24:31.359 --> 00:24:35.599 And meanwhile, all of the religious people are standing outside of the party. 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:37.200 They're going, huh. 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:38.880 Now he's partying again. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:40.880 All that brother does is party. 00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:45.759 Party's about this, parties about that, eats with tax collectors and sinners. 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:47.200 All the dude does is party. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:51.359 He's a glutton and a drunkard, and meanwhile, Jesus is inside the house. 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:53.680 And he's partying. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:25:04.319 It's funny to me that the very people that the religious leaders were trying to keep out of the party were the very people that Jesus was like, I got you. 00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:09.119 And he's walking out. 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:11.359 He's like, Where'd you go? 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:13.599 Where are you at? 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:17.279 Y'all wonder how far this microphone goes, ain't you? 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:28.640 Because what if Jesus' invitation for us is just to not stay huddled up inside of the church all day, but to go, hey, hey, y'all didn't know the preacher was coming out here, did you? 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:37.279 What if the invitation for the church is to say, Jesus, I'm gonna go to the people that nobody else wants to go to? 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:40.799 Jesus, I'm gonna welcome in the unlovables. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:43.920 Jesus, I'm gonna make a difference with my life. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:46.960 Jesus, I don't care who else rejects them. 00:25:47.200 --> 00:25:49.759 I'm going after the leased and the lost. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:53.839 I want this to be a house to where my kids can bring their friends. 00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:58.319 I want this to be a place to where your teenagers come and feel comfortable. 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:05.440 This is gonna be a church as long as I'm the pastor here, as long as God gives me. 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:13.440 This is gonna be a church to where we're not going to be so focused on reputation and who we are and getting it all right. 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:17.599 We're gonna be a church that says, Jesus, I've got an ear like Mary. 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:21.200 I want to do whatever you want me to do. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:31.359 This is gonna be a church to where we say, and when we hear what you want us to do, we're gonna come together in community and we're going to celebrate what God's doing and we're gonna hold each other accountable. 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:41.279 And this is gonna be a church once we encounter belonging, encounter God and experience belonging, this is gonna be a church to where we say, now, Jesus, this isn't just a holy club. 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:46.000 We're not here just for ourselves, we're here to make a difference. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:54.880 So if you put it all together, if we have ears to hear like Mary, and the spirit is moving, it ought to bring us closer together. 00:26:56.160 --> 00:27:02.319 But the only reason Jesus could leave the 99 and go after the one is because the 99 knew how to behave themselves. 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:12.880 The only reason Jesus could leave the 99 to go after the one is because the 99 knew how to stick together. 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:20.240 The secret to the success of a church that can make a difference is that we have a unity that cannot be disrupted. 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:23.759 The story is that one more can come to know you.