SPEAKER_00: This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_00: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: If you can have a seat if you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Acts chapter 10.
SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter 10.
SPEAKER_01: If you're our guest, we're preaching books of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: We're preaching through the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_01: It's basically that it's called Acts because it's an Acts of the Apostles.
SPEAKER_01: It basically records under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, this is what happened when God went public and began to change the world.
SPEAKER_01: And so I want to talk to you this morning about gospel momentum.
SPEAKER_01: Gospel momentum.
SPEAKER_01: There's things that come from believing, the three things that we'll see in the text.
SPEAKER_01: And then what happens is what I call gospel momentum.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to create it.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to get pumped up.
SPEAKER_01: You just kind of go, oh, hey, hey, yeah, this is right here.
SPEAKER_01: This is what's happening.
SPEAKER_01: And so Acts chapter 10, I'll start reading in verse 24, okay?
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says this.
SPEAKER_01: It says that on the following day, they entered Caesarea and Cornelius.
SPEAKER_01: Let me stop right here.
SPEAKER_01: I forgot to give you a little context.
SPEAKER_01: I asked you to read chapter 10.
SPEAKER_01: This morning while I'm shaving, my wife's like, hey, I read chapter 10.
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot happening in there.
SPEAKER_01: It's been a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: So let me just give you the context.
SPEAKER_01: God appears to this man, uh, these two men, Peter and Cornelius.
SPEAKER_01: Peter is one of the apostles, he's a Christian, he's a Christ follower.
SPEAKER_01: Cornelius is not.
SPEAKER_01: Cornelius is a good man.
SPEAKER_01: You'll see in the text today that Cornelius is a good man.
SPEAKER_01: He believes in God, he prays to God, he gives money to those in need, but he's not a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: The church in America is full of a lot of Cornelius's, okay?
SPEAKER_01: You're good people, you believe in God, you even pray, and especially around Christmas time, you'll give money to people in need, but your heart has never been changed.
SPEAKER_01: This is the thing that happens right here in Cornelius.
SPEAKER_01: And so God orchestrates circumstances, as you'll see and hear here in just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: He orchestrates circumstances, and so this guy, Cornelius, has a Peter, excuse me, has a vision of a sheep coming down.
SPEAKER_01: Peter was a rule keeper, and okay.
SPEAKER_01: Peter was a devout Jew.
SPEAKER_01: They had dietary laws, but a sheet comes down in this vision that he has, and it's full of these unclean animals that they were forbidden to eat.
SPEAKER_01: And the voice uh in the in his vision says, Rise up, get up, kill, and eat.
SPEAKER_01: And he goes, Oh Lord, no, I would never do that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a good Jew.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't kosher.
SPEAKER_01: I'm getting out of here.
SPEAKER_01: Where's catches?
SPEAKER_01: I don't eat this stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And God says, Oh, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: It's all clean.
SPEAKER_01: Do not call anything common or unclean.
SPEAKER_01: It's all clean.
SPEAKER_01: Now, later, what we're gonna see in this part, Peter realizes that God's not just talking about food, he's talking about people.
SPEAKER_01: Because the Jews they prided themselves.
SPEAKER_01: They thought they were better than the Gentiles and these unclean people that didn't have the law, they didn't have the promises, they didn't have God.
SPEAKER_01: And the Jews loved it that way.
SPEAKER_01: They were pretty prejudice people, pretty arrogant and self-righteous.
SPEAKER_01: And so, what God's doing, this is what we're gonna read this morning, is known as the Gentile Pentecost because the gospel, we got a little sample in chapter 8 with this Ethiopian eunuch, but he lived at another country.
SPEAKER_01: God saying to the Jews, hey, I'm not just the God of the Jews, I'm God of everybody.
SPEAKER_01: I say it like this: God says, I'm not the God of people that can keep the rules.
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm also want to be the savior of those who can't keep the rules.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're here today and you've had a hard time keeping the rules, or if you're like, when you hear the rules, you're like, I can't, I can't wait to break that.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, I want to be your savior.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to just forgive you, I want to change you, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And so this guy, Peter, has a vision, but also Cordillus has a vision.
SPEAKER_01: See, God's orchestrating more than just one event.
SPEAKER_01: Cordius has a vision, and his is uh that this angel appears from his bedroom and says, Hey, go get this guy, Peter, and tell him to come because I I'm coming in response to your prayers and that you've been helping people.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when you give, you don't manipulate God, but God, what happens?
SPEAKER_01: You demonstrate to God that you're a person that can be trusted for something as small as money, and so God's gonna trust you with more.
SPEAKER_01: The reason God doesn't trust most of you in this room with more is because you can't be trusted with your money.
SPEAKER_01: More is better than money.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you don't believe that.
SPEAKER_01: You're kind of like, oh, let me think about that, preacher.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's great.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm gonna go on record.
SPEAKER_01: More is better than money, and nothing wrong with money.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not with people like money's of the devil.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, but it it more is better than money.
SPEAKER_01: And a lot of people never get trusted with more because they can't trust God with money.
SPEAKER_01: It's just a biblical fact.
SPEAKER_01: And so, rough summary right there, and now this this thing's already been set in motion.
SPEAKER_01: We drop in at halftime, Acts chapter 10, verse 23.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm and then these guys are on the way.
SPEAKER_01: They went and got because God said, Hey, told Cordius in a vision, go get this guy, Peter, and he's gonna come and he's gonna explain Christianity to you guys.
SPEAKER_01: You're good people.
SPEAKER_01: You pray to me, you believe in me, you give money to help a brother out that's riding the struggle bus all the way to Pity City, but your heart's never been changed.
SPEAKER_01: Many of you in this room relate to that.
SPEAKER_01: That's you.
SPEAKER_01: You believe, you pray, you give, but your heart has never been changed.
SPEAKER_01: Doing all the right things doesn't make you a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Your heart being changed by God makes you a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Acts 10, verse 24.
SPEAKER_01: And on the following day, they entered Caesarea.
SPEAKER_01: Cornegus was expecting him and had called together his relatives and close friends.
SPEAKER_01: When Peter entered, Cornegus met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.
SPEAKER_01: But Peter lifted him up, saying, Stand up, I too am a man.
SPEAKER_01: Now just put a little mark by that.
SPEAKER_01: We'll come back to that in three Sundays, because God does not like it when you let people think more highly of you than they ought.
SPEAKER_01: He just doesn't, okay?
SPEAKER_01: That's all I'm gonna say.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 27.
SPEAKER_01: And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered, and he said to them, You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or visit any one of another nation.
SPEAKER_01: But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.
SPEAKER_01: So when I was sent for, I came without objection.
SPEAKER_01: I asked then, why you sent for me?
SPEAKER_01: In other words, I'm here, I don't even know why I'm here.
SPEAKER_01: I have gone from Caesarea to Joppa, and now I'm here in your city.
SPEAKER_01: Why am I here?
SPEAKER_01: In verse 30, and Cornelius said, Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.
SPEAKER_01: Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter.
SPEAKER_01: He is lodged in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.
SPEAKER_01: So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come.
SPEAKER_01: Now, therefore, we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: You following so far?
SPEAKER_01: He says, Hey, God has orchestrated all of this just to get these people in the room.
SPEAKER_01: Who are the people?
SPEAKER_01: Is Cordillus, his friends, and family?
SPEAKER_01: You should ask yourself this morning if you could fill one room with people who needed to hear the gospel, who would you invite to that party?
SPEAKER_01: They're all there.
SPEAKER_01: God orchestrates everything, gets it to this point.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 34.
SPEAKER_01: So Peter opened his mouth and said, Truly, I understand that God shows no partiality in every nation.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
SPEAKER_01: As for the word he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all.
SPEAKER_01: You yourselves know what happened throughout all of Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.
SPEAKER_01: He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.
SPEAKER_01: For God was with him, and we are witnesses of all that he did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.
SPEAKER_01: But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear not to all people, but to us who have been chosen by God as witnesses who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_01: And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify, he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
SPEAKER_01: To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
SPEAKER_01: Now, while Peter was saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who interrupted the uh excuse me, who heard the word.
SPEAKER_01: Uh now, the Holy Spirit interrupts what Peter's doing.
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that a great thing?
SPEAKER_01: Peter's preaching away, the Holy Spirit goes, That's enough, I'll take it from here.
SPEAKER_01: This is why it's called Gentile Pentecost, because what happened in Acts chapter 2 to the disciples happens to these unclean people who don't think they deserve God or the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Peter is still saying these things.
SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit fell on those who heard the word, and the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out.
SPEAKER_01: Hear this even on the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_01: Oh trailer trash.
SPEAKER_01: For they were hearing them speak in tongues and extoling God.
SPEAKER_01: Then Peter declared, Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who've received the Holy Spirit just as we have?
SPEAKER_01: And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So they asked him to remain some days.
SPEAKER_01: Long passage.
SPEAKER_01: We never apologize for reading long part.
SPEAKER_01: We want you to get the flow and the movement of who God is and what God is doing, why he does it and who he does it to.
SPEAKER_01: What you see here is the gospel is not just limited to people that are goody, goody two shoes and don't have any problems.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel is for people who have problems.
SPEAKER_01: The native environment of the good news.
SPEAKER_01: That's what the gospel is.
SPEAKER_01: Good news of Christianity.
SPEAKER_01: It's native environment.
SPEAKER_01: Johnny Cash sang about it in that great, that great hymn, a boy called Sue.
SPEAKER_01: He says, you know, he talks about they were they got in a bar fight.
SPEAKER_01: He says they were kicking and a gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.
SPEAKER_01: That is the native environment for the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: It's not in this room, it's out there.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense to anybody besides me?
SPEAKER_01: And so you're here today to be equipped with the gospel, to hear the gospel, to respond to the gospel, and to take the gospel with you out there where people get in bar fights, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Like on North End and AM.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Don't you talk about AM.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, y'all paying your coach too much.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all gotta get a new coach.
SPEAKER_01: But anyway, is Jimbo gonna give some of that back?
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I feel kind of dirty.
SPEAKER_01: Take some back.
SPEAKER_01: No, he's not.
SPEAKER_01: Anyway, uh, gospel momentum.
SPEAKER_01: Where does it come from?
SPEAKER_01: Three things in the text.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, you have to believe and see these three things.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, you have to see and believe that God orchestrates all things.
SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's all of chapter 10, uh the first 33 verses.
SPEAKER_01: God orchestrates all things.
SPEAKER_01: Going back to the beginning of the chapter, you see that God is moving things and people into place so that these people who've been treated as if they were unclean and unworthy of God could actually get into a room where someone would speak a language they could understand, they could hear the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this orchestration takes place over four days, involves 10 people, two visions, two cities, uh, one angel, and Cornelius' friends and family, okay?
SPEAKER_01: It's a large group of people that are traveling with Peter, they go to get him, ends up being 10 men.
SPEAKER_01: They're just rolling down the road like a street gang, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And God is orchestrating all of this.
SPEAKER_01: You say, Why do you mean orchestration?
SPEAKER_01: Either you believe God orchestrates that life is connected or life is random.
SPEAKER_01: If you think life is random, then you may be in a circumstance right now where it doesn't make sense, you don't know what you're gonna do next.
SPEAKER_01: And if life feels random to you, it's pretty overwhelming and pretty sad, especially if you're a dude, you don't say that.
SPEAKER_01: Like, how you doing?
SPEAKER_01: Well, I feel pretty disconnected and like my life doesn't have any rhyme or reason or purpose to it.
SPEAKER_01: That's if you believe life is random.
SPEAKER_01: But if you believe God orchestrates all things, not just your biggest need, your your your loudest need, the thing you're most uncertain about, but he orchestrates all things, then you can say, Hey, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: I'm kind of doing what I know to do right now in this moment.
SPEAKER_01: But why I find comfort is I don't look around and compare myself to all my other everybody else my age.
SPEAKER_01: I look around and kind of go, you know what, God, I know that you're moving people and parts and places and things, because my God is a God of orchestration.
SPEAKER_01: This is why everybody in America loves Romans 8.28.
SPEAKER_01: But most of us get it wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Romans 8.28 says this that God causes all things to work together for the good.
SPEAKER_01: God causes, God exerts influence over all things and moves them as they ought to be.
SPEAKER_01: So if you're in the room right now and you're thinking, I'm kind of not in a good space, and my head space is kind of negative and not positive, you need to hear today that God is a God of orchestration.
SPEAKER_01: He's not just working on one thing, he's working on all things.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01: Say amen.
SPEAKER_01: He's not just working on one thing, he's not just like because some of y'all got one thing, you're like, hello, Jesus, would you do something about this?
SPEAKER_01: I'm 23 and I'm not married.
SPEAKER_01: Count yourself lucky, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Now I'm not I'm not saying marriage isn't good.
SPEAKER_01: Stop looking over there at my life, okay?
SPEAKER_01: 30 years.
SPEAKER_01: I'm happily married.
SPEAKER_01: I highly recommend marriage, but you're not married because you hadn't found the right person.
SPEAKER_01: If you have to compromise, then you shouldn't be in that.
SPEAKER_01: You shouldn't be in that, okay?
SPEAKER_01: See, God is a God of orchestration.
SPEAKER_01: So if you if you're just holding up, you know, well, hi, I'm 23, I'm 22, and I'm kind of knowing what I'm doing, what's going on here, then your life has a sound to it, okay?
SPEAKER_01: This is you just hear one instrument and it has a sound, and it sounds something like this.
SPEAKER_01: Just give this a listen.
SPEAKER_01: Recognize that song.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, some of you recognize it.
SPEAKER_01: If you're under 30, you're like, I got nothing, bro.
SPEAKER_01: If you're old, you're like, I think that's enough.
SPEAKER_01: That's enough.
SPEAKER_01: That's not, no, no one's gonna buy a CD of that.
SPEAKER_01: That, by the way, is a tuba.
SPEAKER_01: Boom, boom, boom, boom.
SPEAKER_01: But if you believe that God is the God of orchestration and that God orchestrates all things, your life doesn't sound like that.
SPEAKER_01: It sounds like this.
SPEAKER_01: A little bit of a difference.
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, baby, I'm gonna get on a horse and go save a woman.
SPEAKER_01: I need a slim gym and a Paps Blue ribbon.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
SPEAKER_01: Don't you want to go kill somebody right now?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: See?
SPEAKER_01: If you just believe life is random, your life sounds like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
SPEAKER_01: When your parents turn on your bedroom light in the morning, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, oh, God's good.
SPEAKER_01: Shut up, mother.
SPEAKER_01: You're a moron.
SPEAKER_01: But if you believe God's a god of orchestration, there's always a little sound coming.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just a sound, it's surround sound.
SPEAKER_01: You hear it in here before you hear it in here.
SPEAKER_01: And so what you see in the text, and this is what creates gospel momentum.
SPEAKER_01: You can be stuck, you can be like, I can't see a way forward.
SPEAKER_01: I never thought I'd be here at this stage, this age in my life.
SPEAKER_01: But hey, God's a God of orchestration.
SPEAKER_01: He orchestrates all things.
SPEAKER_01: This is the first thing that causes gospel momentum.
SPEAKER_01: The second thing is you got to see that what you do when no one is looking matters.
SPEAKER_01: What you do when no one is looking, you say, Well, where do you get that?
SPEAKER_01: Verse 30 and 31.
SPEAKER_01: And Cornelius said, Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.
SPEAKER_01: Now, listen very carefully.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want you to misquote me.
SPEAKER_01: I got ain't got the energy to fight all of you.
SPEAKER_01: I can get about half of you, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But don't walk out here day and go, can you believe the preacher said that?
SPEAKER_01: I never apologize for saying what the Bible says.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Look back at verse 4 of chapter 10, if you got a Bible.
SPEAKER_01: He says, and because it's he has the vision, and he says that uh go, he says, and he stared, this angel stared at him in terror, or he stared at the angel in terror and said, What is it, Lord?
SPEAKER_01: And he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.
SPEAKER_01: Your prayer and your alms.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, what you do when no one is looking.
SPEAKER_01: You say, What do you mean, alms?
SPEAKER_01: Alms is not a word we use nowadays.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, alms is different.
SPEAKER_01: Say, when I say what you do when no one is looking matters.
SPEAKER_01: What I'm saying is back, don't turn there, but in Matthew 6, there's three things Jesus assumes we do in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you like to run to the Old Testament, go, well, the Old Testament talked about this, it doesn't talk about this anymore.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, let me just kind of pull the curtain back and give us a little biblical framework for this whole this whole thing.
SPEAKER_01: There's three things Jesus assumes that you do, that we do as Christians in Matthew chapter six.
SPEAKER_01: And here's how you know you assumes, because it says, and when, and when, and when.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't say if.
SPEAKER_01: He says, and when you give alms, and when you pray, and when you fast.
SPEAKER_01: Give alms, to be clear, is different than because to give in alms is sexier than tithing, but it's totally different.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, to get to be clear, giving alms is giving to special needs, and it's different from the tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Tithe means 10%, and the Bible's very clear that if you'll be obedient with the tithe, that you'll be able to give to those in need.
SPEAKER_01: Now, a lot of people don't tithe, they just give to those in need because it makes them look really generous and magnanimous.
SPEAKER_01: That's why uh let me say here pretty consistently.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I stopped saying it because some of you would mock me, like I know what you're gonna say at the end.
SPEAKER_01: I used to say, hey, if today's the day you you you you you worship God through obedience or generosity, and people go, What do you mean obedience and generosity?
SPEAKER_01: Obedience is the tithe.
SPEAKER_01: No cookie for you, just being obedient, okay?
SPEAKER_01: That belongs to God.
SPEAKER_01: You say, How do you know?
SPEAKER_01: Well, the Bible says in Malachi chapter 3, if you don't give it to God, you're robbing God.
SPEAKER_01: How can you be robbing somebody if it didn't belong to them in the first place?
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense to anybody but me?
SPEAKER_01: I'm losing you more and more.
SPEAKER_01: Wonderful.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and so he says, Hey, yeah, and when you give alms, and when you pray, and when you fail, he just assumes you're gonna do these things.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what we we we we fail to recognize the way God is structured this, if God says, if you'll just trust me with the tithe, I will bless you such that you'll always be able to give to people as the Spirit prompts your heart.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people say, Well, I know what the Bible says about tithing.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody give is a purpose in their heart.
SPEAKER_01: That's not about the tithe, that's about an offering for the poor in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: It's in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, again, we we we don't have a biblical framework for this.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just read Malachi chapter 3, verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Bring the full tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house, and thereby put me to the test.
SPEAKER_01: Tithing is about testing, not testing you to see if you have enough faith, but testing God.
SPEAKER_01: God says, put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there's no more need.
SPEAKER_01: A guy walked up on me recently.
SPEAKER_01: I was at a gas station getting gas.
SPEAKER_01: He goes, Hey, brother.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, I doubt we're related, but come on, man.
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Oh, oh, oh, hey, brother, you you you you got some money you can give me?
SPEAKER_01: You know what?
SPEAKER_01: God's been so good to me, and I've been faithful to the tithe.
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, I do.
SPEAKER_01: What do you need?
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, now I was the crazy one.
SPEAKER_01: Pumping gas at him, just backing up slowly.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, No, come here, man.
SPEAKER_01: You're good, you're good.
SPEAKER_01: He goes, What'd you say?
SPEAKER_01: God's been so good to me.
SPEAKER_01: I said, I'm able to be generous and give to people in need because I tithe.
SPEAKER_01: And God says, Hey, I'm gonna take care of you so you'll be able to bless people as you feel prompted to.
SPEAKER_01: I don't have to give to everybody, but I want to give to you.
SPEAKER_01: What do you need?
SPEAKER_01: Just a couple dollars.
SPEAKER_01: Well, the smallest thing I have in my pocket is a 10.
SPEAKER_01: He goes, How do you know that?
SPEAKER_01: Because my wife gives me$50 a week to spend.
SPEAKER_01: It's two 20s and a 10.
SPEAKER_01: And you ain't getting a 20.
SPEAKER_01: He goes, Man, nobody gives me$10.
SPEAKER_01: I said, here's$10, man.
SPEAKER_01: There you go.
SPEAKER_01: Be blessed.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Now you need to understand the God that makes all this possible.
SPEAKER_01: I am not a generous person, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I am a blessed person because I'm obedient.
SPEAKER_01: I get to be generous.
SPEAKER_01: And he's just backing up, going, okay, okay, like some of you right now, that's enough.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for the$10.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go buy some mad dog anyway.
SPEAKER_01: If you know what mad dog is, say amen.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, what about Thunderbird?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, you know, bird like the Thunderbird.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I just want you to see this, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Look at the Bible, look at verse 32.
SPEAKER_01: When I say that what you do when no one's looking matters, look at verse 32.
SPEAKER_01: Very simple phrase in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: After he says, hey, he says to him, Your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 32.
SPEAKER_01: Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter.
SPEAKER_01: It's that word, therefore.
SPEAKER_01: Send therefore.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, what I'm fixing to do, I'm doing because of what you've been doing when no one was looking.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not talking about works or legalism, I'm just talking about an observation of what's in the text.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the third thing that creates gospel momentum.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Uh you you gotta understand this.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you gotta understand the third thing is that the gospel is sufficient.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel is sufficient.
SPEAKER_01: One of my concerns in the American church, one of my concerns in our church, this church, is that we we love communities so much that if we're not careful, we can lose the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Mac Brunson wrote a great little book years ago called Evangelism.
SPEAKER_01: And in the book, he talks about how we've lost the gospel from one generation to another.
SPEAKER_01: He says that first of all, the gospel in one generation, the gospel is believed, in the next generation it is assumed.
SPEAKER_01: Of course.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, I'm a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Live in Texas.
SPEAKER_01: Come on, man.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, so the gospel's believed, the next generation it's assumed, the next generation it's confused, and then the subsequent generation it's lost.
SPEAKER_01: We now live in the age of the generation that lost the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: We we don't you say, oh, that's kind of negative.
SPEAKER_01: Ask yourself this question: When's the last time someone stopped you and shared the gospel with you?
SPEAKER_01: And take it to the next level.
SPEAKER_01: When's the last time you shared the gospel with someone?
SPEAKER_01: See, we've lost the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: So I just want to I just want to say the gospel is sufficient.
SPEAKER_01: And when the church stops sharing the gospel, we stop growing and we obligate ourselves to the management of the status quo.
SPEAKER_01: We here at Grand Park Way, we don't want to succeed at community and fail at the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: You say, Well, I don't know what you mean.
SPEAKER_01: You know you're doing this if you're more mindful of who did or didn't talk to you than what you learned today.
SPEAKER_01: If you get to your minivan here a little bit and kind of go, ah, I walked by Susie, I thought we were friends, she didn't even say hi.
SPEAKER_01: And you don't walk out and go, Golly, I think I'm losing the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Before you crank this thing, let's just pray, because I ain't shared the gospel with anybody in years.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel is sufficient.
SPEAKER_01: You've been coming to church for two years, and all you have to show for is more friends, then we are failing you, and you're failing at the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: You are succeeding at community and you're failing and actually learning things that make you a consequential.
SPEAKER_01: Person.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to notice from the text what the gospel is, what it does, and what it is.
SPEAKER_01: The first thing it does is it establishes universal need.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 34.
SPEAKER_01: So Peter opened his mouth and said, Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone.
SPEAKER_01: Every nation, anyone.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel slays everybody, Jew and Gentile alike.
SPEAKER_01: Good person, bad person, rule keeper, rule breaker.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel slays all of that, establishes universal need.
SPEAKER_01: He says, God shows no partiality, but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is of great significance because the Jews had long believed they were special, they were even superior to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_01: That's why Peter, when he walked in the room, he said, Hey, it's against the law for me to even be in here.
SPEAKER_01: And but he's realizing because he had this vision, God says, Hey, you call these people unclean.
SPEAKER_01: I'm the God of these people.
SPEAKER_01: I make these people clean, not you and your religious rules.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's not just for rule keepers, it's for rule breakers.
SPEAKER_01: Currently in the Middle East, uh, I was talking to somebody.
SPEAKER_01: Y'all send me like, hey, is this the end of the world?
SPEAKER_01: It very well could be.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, the Bible predicts there's like 16 prophecies have to come true.
SPEAKER_01: 13 of them already have.
SPEAKER_01: Only three remain.
SPEAKER_01: One of the three that remains is that the nations are going to turn against Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all need to get your house in order.
SPEAKER_01: It talks about Gog and Magog, Russia, Iran, China.
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't watch Fox News to get that either.
SPEAKER_01: I read the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: There's a whole lot of people real nervous right now.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, what you're talking about, Willis.
SPEAKER_01: Uh but I just said somebody said to me this past week, somebody said, I'll tell you what, these Palestinians need Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, you don't think you think the Jews over there believe in Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: They need Jesus too.
SPEAKER_01: Don't be so, don't, don't be political when you need to be spiritual.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel establishes universal need.
SPEAKER_01: The Jews don't believe in Jesus over there in Jerusalem right now that are fighting.
SPEAKER_01: They don't believe in Jesus any more than the Palestinians.
SPEAKER_01: So you have universal need going on.
SPEAKER_01: The choice of Israel was an act by God, was an act of grace, not partiality to one and neglect of the other.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to draw your attention to verse 35 where he says, and anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.
SPEAKER_01: Acceptable, not accepted.
SPEAKER_01: It's important that you get this because people are always seeking to redefine salvation on their terms.
SPEAKER_01: So they can say, Well, I fear God and I try to do what's right.
SPEAKER_01: I read that in the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: That does not make you a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody is saved by their works, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Cornelius is a great example.
SPEAKER_01: He prayed to God, he believed in God, he gave money to the needy, but he wasn't a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: And some people go, Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: He he was a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: He's what's known as an unconscious Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's a quote.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, that's like being unconsciously pregnant.
SPEAKER_01: Well, Dad, I don't know what happened, but I'm just gaining weight right here.
SPEAKER_01: Really?
SPEAKER_01: You you don't, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01: No, you see, Cornelius was not a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, why would God send orchestrate these two visions and send Peter to his house to preach the gospel, not just to his family, but to him as well.
SPEAKER_01: Again, we're always trying to twist things so we can get salvation on our terms.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the second thing about the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Notice what the gospel is about.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it does, it establishes universal need.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but but the second thing I want you to see that what it's about, it's about the life of Jesus, first of all.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 36.
SPEAKER_01: Just look there in the text.
SPEAKER_01: He says, as for the good word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: He is Lord of all.
SPEAKER_01: Hear that again.
SPEAKER_01: He is Lord of all.
SPEAKER_01: You yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John proclaimed, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit with power.
SPEAKER_01: He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.
SPEAKER_01: Why is that important?
SPEAKER_01: Because he's demonstrated that Jesus has authority and power over the devil.
SPEAKER_01: Don't fear the devil, fear Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: For God was with him, and we are witnesses of all that he did in both the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: Now, why is this a big deal?
SPEAKER_01: The life of the gospel is about the life of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Notice that he doesn't start with their sin, but with the life of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: My concern is that sometimes, especially if you're very theologically oriented, that we get in a hurry to establish the depravity of man and you come off as mean.
SPEAKER_01: But they start with the life of Jesus, and it's kind of like, ooh, now wait a minute, I'm kind of drawn to this.
SPEAKER_01: Also, notice how Peter appeals to what they know.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to lower people's defensiveness, appeal to what they already know.
SPEAKER_01: Like I say to people all the time, I realize that they're like, hey, I don't believe what you believe.
SPEAKER_01: Well, tell me what you understand about the life of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: One guy told me, I think Jesus was a good dude.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, okay, anything else?
SPEAKER_01: Nah, he was a good dude.
SPEAKER_01: What makes him good?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, he just did good.
SPEAKER_01: Where did Jesus get the power to do good?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, bro.
SPEAKER_01: He was just a good dude.
SPEAKER_01: I'd be down with Jesus if he were alive today.
SPEAKER_01: So you think Jesus is dead?
SPEAKER_01: Well, they killed him, didn't he?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but you know he rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's what I hear.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not hating on this guy, I'm just kind of realizing you think Jesus was somebody who did some good, hacked off the wrong people, and got himself killed.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the end of that.
SPEAKER_01: See, that's how when you think life is random, nothing's cohesive, and for sure nothing's coordinated.
SPEAKER_01: It's every man for himself.
SPEAKER_01: It's dog eat dog.
SPEAKER_01: You got to get yours before somebody else gets theirs from you.
SPEAKER_01: The life of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel starts with the life of Jesus, not just with the sin of the people he's talking to.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the third thing I want you to see.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel is about the life of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, it's about the death of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 39, Peter says this.
SPEAKER_01: He says that when we we're witnesses of all that he did, both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_01: And then this last sentence, they put him to death by hanging him on a tree.
SPEAKER_01: One of the most consequential sentences in the whole passage.
SPEAKER_01: And they put him to death by hanging him on a tree.
SPEAKER_01: And by saying that, Peter is hinting that behind the historical event is a theological significance.
SPEAKER_01: Behind the human execution is a divine plan.
SPEAKER_01: You see this in the fact that this little phrase he says, they killed him by hanging him on a tree.
SPEAKER_01: By hanging him on a tree.
SPEAKER_01: And Peter says so much with so few words that it's easy to miss, but it is by design because saying so, he's indicating that Jesus was bearing in our place the curse of the judgment of God upon our sins, okay?
SPEAKER_01: By hanging him on a tree.
SPEAKER_01: Why is that a big deal?
SPEAKER_01: Because all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, they knew enough to know that way back in Deuteronomy, uh, the Bible talks about this.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul referenced it in Galatians chapter 3, by verse 13, when he says this, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.
SPEAKER_01: For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.
SPEAKER_01: And look at me, beloved.
SPEAKER_01: Peter's kind of winking at him, and he's like, hey, this isn't just historical nonsense.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't something you read in Texas history in the fourth grade.
SPEAKER_01: This is a verifiable fact.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus was cursed.
SPEAKER_01: He was hung on a tree.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because you and I were born cursed.
SPEAKER_01: And to remove the curse, he had to die in our place and for our sins.
SPEAKER_01: They hanged him on a tree.
SPEAKER_01: And everybody in the room kind of leans forward.
SPEAKER_01: They're like, Hello.
SPEAKER_01: Hello, what is happening here?
SPEAKER_01: See, the life of Jesus was no ordinary life, therefore, the death of Jesus was no ordinary death.
SPEAKER_01: The fourth component of the gospel is just the resurrection of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's the next verse right there, verse 40.
SPEAKER_01: But God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people, but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
SPEAKER_01: Why is that a big deal?
SPEAKER_01: He ate and drank because Jesus wasn't some metaphysical experience.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't a ghostly apparition that someone saw after a night of too much thunderbird.
SPEAKER_01: The resurrection of Jesus confirms God's acceptance of Jesus' death in our place and for our sins.
SPEAKER_01: Said differently, if the death of Jesus wasn't sufficient, then why would God raise him from the dead?
SPEAKER_01: Translation, but he does raise him from the dead, which translation means everything necessary for you to have someone to believe in has already been accomplished by that person.
SPEAKER_01: Now, pay careful attention because here's the next thing in the text.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel includes this, and we leave this out.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel includes this, then the fifth thing is the certainty of judgment.
SPEAKER_01: The certainty of judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 42.
SPEAKER_01: You still with me?
SPEAKER_01: Uh look at verse 42.
SPEAKER_01: It says, and he commanded us to preach to the people.
SPEAKER_01: Now, who is the he that commanded them to preach?
SPEAKER_01: It's Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Don't miss this.
SPEAKER_01: And he commanded us to preach to the people, and look what he commanded them to preach and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to judge, be the judge of the living and the dead.
SPEAKER_01: I had a grown adult say to me not long ago in a counseling session, Well, you're kind of you're coming off as kind of judgy.
SPEAKER_01: And I laughed and she said, That doesn't bother you.
SPEAKER_01: I said, No, what bothers me is you talk like a 14-year-old girl.
SPEAKER_01: You've listened to too much Taylor Swift and not read enough of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: You're kind of being judgy.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, bro, can you ease up on the judgy?
SPEAKER_01: I said, What's judgy?
SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, you sound like you're so opinionated, like you're so sure.
SPEAKER_01: I am sure.
SPEAKER_01: No one's helped by uncertainty.
SPEAKER_01: Your life is racked and ruined by uncertainty.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not judgy, I'm just very certain about what I say.
SPEAKER_01: And this is one of the reasons right here.
SPEAKER_01: See, some people think it's wrong.
SPEAKER_01: I would say most people in America think it's wrong to tell you that there's a certainty of this thing called judgment that is coming for everybody.
SPEAKER_01: But I would simply ask this: if this is what the Bible clearly teaches, then would it not be hate for me not to stand up here and tell you that, hey, there's going to come a day you're going to be judged by Jesus who died in your place, who was cursed for your sins and hung on a tree and you did nothing with that your whole life?
SPEAKER_01: You see, if believing in Jesus has consequences, look at me, we're about done, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Don't miss this.
SPEAKER_01: If believing in Jesus has consequences, then not believing in Jesus has to have consequences as well.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just, well, I didn't go to church.
SPEAKER_01: So what?
SPEAKER_01: If you think Christianity is just going to church, we have failed you.
SPEAKER_01: He will judge you.
SPEAKER_01: Look at me.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what makes that full of wonder he will judge you on that day.
SPEAKER_01: He's been appointed.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's going to tell some people in Acts 17 the very same thing in much sharker terms.
SPEAKER_01: But he will judge you.
SPEAKER_01: This is what makes the wonder of him being willing to forgive you so wonderful.
SPEAKER_01: He will judge you, but he's willing to forgive you, which is the next thing you see, and the last thing you see in the gospel according to the Bible is that people get an opportunity to believe.
SPEAKER_01: You want to learn something before we're done today?
SPEAKER_01: Say amen.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 43 and we'll be done.
SPEAKER_01: He says this.
SPEAKER_01: He says, uh, to him, after he says he's appointed by God to be a judge of the living and the dead, verse 43, to him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I want to draw your attention to that first part.
SPEAKER_01: To him, all the prophets bear witness.
SPEAKER_01: That's the line you underline in your Bible.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, even if you're thinking, why am I underlying this?
SPEAKER_01: To him, all the prophets bear witness.
SPEAKER_01: Uh now, if you talk to a Muslim, like I talk to, I have friends that are Muslims, acquaintances, I meet Muslims, I love Muslim people.
SPEAKER_01: In Islam, Muhammad is what's called a successor prophet.
SPEAKER_01: If you bring up the Bible to a very devout Muslim, they'll say, oh, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate the Bible, have respect for the Bible in Jim, but they call it, hey, even the Quran tells us we should read the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: But for them, uh, it's not like Muslims are like hard-headed, it's just that they believe uh that Muhammad was what's called a successor prophet, which means that the revelation given to Muhammad supersedes everything that came before.
SPEAKER_01: And so they'll just be like, no, no, no, no, they discount that.
SPEAKER_01: So he was a he was a successor prophet, which means what the revelation that Muhammad got supersedes everything that came before.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I said to my Muslim friend, Jesus is not a successor prophet in relation to what was written in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus didn't say that was good and everything, but I'm here now.
SPEAKER_01: Matter of fact, he said the exact opposite.
SPEAKER_01: He said, I didn't come to abolish the law, I came to fulfill it.
SPEAKER_01: He says, not one jot or tittle is going to pass from the law until it's all fulfilled.
SPEAKER_01: And my friend's like, so what exactly are you saying?
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: What I'm saying is that Jesus was not a successor prophet in relation to the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is a fulfillment prophet.
SPEAKER_01: Who he is and what he does fulfills and validates everything the Old Testament said.
SPEAKER_01: So what you have is a cohesive and authoritative biblical text, Old and New Testament.
SPEAKER_01: They don't cancel each other out.
SPEAKER_01: It's not like Old Testament, God was mean and killed people.
SPEAKER_01: New Testament, Jesus loved people.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus fills the Old Testament full.
SPEAKER_01: He is not a successor, like, hey, I got new revelations, forget everything you've ever been told.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: He validates and verifies everything that's ever been said because he fulfills it all.
SPEAKER_01: And my friend's like, oh, that's a good point.
SPEAKER_01: I said, one of those has a lot more at stake.
SPEAKER_01: It's easier to come in and go, hey, new rules.
SPEAKER_01: Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: Bill Maher?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: It's like, hey, thank you, the three people that watch that.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, no new rules.
SPEAKER_01: What's always been said is authoritative and cohesive because who I am and how I live and how I die was all foretold in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here's the big deal.
SPEAKER_01: You have a cohesive and authoritative text.
SPEAKER_01: What God wants us to see here is simple.
SPEAKER_01: The Old Testament and the New Testament point to this simple reality.
SPEAKER_01: Forgiveness is available to everyone who believes in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: This doesn't happen because you believe that there is a God, it happens because there was a moment where you heard the gospel and you believed on God.
SPEAKER_01: You responded to it in repentance and faith.
SPEAKER_01: To repent is to turn from, to have faith in means to turn to.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever repented?
SPEAKER_01: You turned from some things and had faith in Jesus because you turned to him in a relationship.
SPEAKER_01: Or are you like Cornelius?
SPEAKER_01: You're a good man, you're a good woman.
SPEAKER_01: You believe in God, you pray.
SPEAKER_01: Come Christmas, you'll hand a$10 bill out the window to a homeless guy at the red light, or the lady down here at 90 and 99 with her sign.
SPEAKER_01: Feels good.
SPEAKER_01: But has your heart ever been changed?
SPEAKER_01: Cornelius was a good person, prayed, did everything, but his heart had never been changed until Peter comes and preaches the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Now Peter and everyone else realizes that last section there.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, what do you think about them speaking in and them speaking in other tongues?
SPEAKER_01: You know, the Holy Spirit, this is what validates to the Jews that, hey, by the way, the same God that filled you all in Acts chapter 2 at Pentecost just filled them.
SPEAKER_01: They're having the same experience.
SPEAKER_01: And so this validates and verifies that God has come to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_01: He's not just the God of the Jews, He's the God of all people.
SPEAKER_01: And this is what Peter's like, hey man, why shouldn't we baptize these people?
SPEAKER_01: The same spirit that lives inside of us lives inside of them.
SPEAKER_01: And again, I would ask, have you ever had that experience?
SPEAKER_01: Has your life ever been changed like that?
SPEAKER_01: Or you just go to church?
SPEAKER_01: Last Sunday during communion, sweet lady in our church came to my mind, my wife's station right here, and she got emotional.
SPEAKER_01: She said, I've been coming to church my whole life, but I don't think I know Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Hey, well, why don't you come sit down with Marcia this week and talk about that?
SPEAKER_01: So they did.
SPEAKER_01: Lady, she's a young lady, she's only 70 years old.
SPEAKER_01: Gave her life to Christ in my wife's office.
SPEAKER_01: Walked out of the office.
SPEAKER_01: She couldn't, my wife said, You should have been here.
SPEAKER_01: She couldn't, she couldn't help but tell everybody.
SPEAKER_01: We ran into different staff people.
SPEAKER_01: She's like, I just became a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: This is incredible.
SPEAKER_01: And everybody was hugging and loving on her.
SPEAKER_01: She's just like 70 years old, just like Cornelius.
SPEAKER_01: Good woman, believed in God, went to church her whole life.
SPEAKER_01: Her heart had never been changed.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder how many in this room relate to that.
SPEAKER_01: You sit in that chair.
SPEAKER_01: You're the same way.
SPEAKER_01: You're like Cornelius.
SPEAKER_01: Your heart's never been changed.
SPEAKER_01: And I wonder if today God is prompting your heart and saying, today's your day.
SPEAKER_01: Today's your day.
SPEAKER_01: Today's the day you profess.
SPEAKER_01: Today's the day you out yourself.
SPEAKER_01: So let me just ask this.
SPEAKER_01: One of the things is an opportunity to believe.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just give you an opportunity to believe right now, right here in this room.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here in this room, look at me, listen to me, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I'm asking to do one thing.
SPEAKER_01: This is not, I want to rededicate my life, I want to try harder, I want to do good or I'm bad, I want to be good.
SPEAKER_01: This is, I realize that I'm like Cornelius.
SPEAKER_01: I've been doing a lot of good things, but my heart has never been changed by God.
SPEAKER_01: I want to have a relationship with this God.
SPEAKER_01: If that's you, would you just stand up right there at your chair?
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna ask you to come forward, I'm just gonna ask you to stand up.
SPEAKER_01: No music playing.
SPEAKER_01: Don't bow your head, just stand up.
SPEAKER_01: You know what the Holy Spirit's dealing with you.
SPEAKER_01: There's no pressure.
SPEAKER_01: He's not just the God of the rule keepers, he's the God of people who screwed it up and put it in the ditch.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody else?
SPEAKER_01: If you're standing right now, just stay standing.
SPEAKER_01: It's real simple.
SPEAKER_01: It's just you saying to God, not a bunch of ideas and thoughts and whatever.
SPEAKER_01: It's just you saying to God from your heart what you want him to know about you right now.
SPEAKER_01: Because here's what God wants you to know about him: that he loves you.
SPEAKER_01: Look at me.
SPEAKER_01: He hung himself on a tree in your place so you wouldn't be cursed.
SPEAKER_01: That's the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: That's Christianity.
SPEAKER_01: So I want you right now, don't sit down.
SPEAKER_01: Just in your heart of heart, just in your heart, just say to God what you want to say to God.
SPEAKER_01: You just you you just think it just say it to him right now as you're standing there.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what this God wants to say to you.
SPEAKER_01: He was cursed in your place.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to feel cursed.
SPEAKER_01: You're not cursed, you're not forgotten.
SPEAKER_01: He's orchestrated everything in your life to get you to this moment.
SPEAKER_01: Just for you to say, I believe.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_01: Just a minute, I'm gonna ask you to sit back down, and when we're done at the end, I want you to come meet me right here.
SPEAKER_01: I want to talk to all of you that are standing, okay?
SPEAKER_01: It'll just take a few minutes, all right?
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate your honesty.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you've never been stared at, today is your day.
SPEAKER_01: Because there's people all around you kind of going, what it, what, what?
SPEAKER_01: This is what God does, okay?
SPEAKER_01: So you guys go ahead and have a seat at the end of our service.
SPEAKER_01: I want to meet all of you right here.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I just have a few words for you.
SPEAKER_01: I want to get some information from you.
SPEAKER_01: I want to follow up with you, all right?
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is what it's about.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you may be thinking, dude, I wanted to stand up, but my butt was glued to this chair.
SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us will be available down front like we always saw.
SPEAKER_01: We'd love to talk to you.
SPEAKER_01: People say, You don't have an invitation.
SPEAKER_01: We have an invitation every Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's just, hey, we're here.
SPEAKER_01: We want to come talk to you.
SPEAKER_01: Here's why.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm done.
SPEAKER_01: Look at me.
SPEAKER_01: Because we believe that God speaks a language you understand.
SPEAKER_01: And God, we don't need more religious people.
SPEAKER_01: We need people to have a relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: We don't need more people like Cordillo said, Hey, I believe in God.
SPEAKER_01: I give money to help out, but their hearts never been changed.
SPEAKER_01: That's a miserable place to be.
SPEAKER_01: You, if you're stuck there, you don't have to stay there, okay?
SPEAKER_01: You can come join these people, they're gonna meet me here in a few minutes.
SPEAKER_01: I'd love to explain to you the gospel, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Let's be done for this one.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, thank you for the truth of your word, that it goes out and accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it.
SPEAKER_01: So, Holy Spirit, thank you for these men and women that stood just a minute ago to say that's never happened to me, and I want that to happen.
SPEAKER_01: It's a reminder to us, God, that you're not done.
SPEAKER_01: You're still at work in the church, you still honor the preaching of your word, as flawed and imperfect as that is because you love people, you were cursed so we wouldn't have to be.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Holy Spirit, just brood over this room.
SPEAKER_01: You're not done.
SPEAKER_01: There are people that are thinking, Man, wow, that's me.
SPEAKER_01: I relate to Cornelius.
SPEAKER_01: Holy Spirit, even now, show them what they need to do.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just take a moment and just be still.
SPEAKER_01: Lindsay may sing something over us, she may just play.
SPEAKER_01: Some questions come up on the screen for you to think about.
SPEAKER_01: Let's just be with the Lord for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, thank you that you're still in the business of rolling stones away.
SPEAKER_01: I pray for any obstacle that's in the way of anybody in this room that it'll just be rolled away in Jesus' name even now.
SPEAKER_01: Your punishment brought us peace so we can put down whatever we're punishing ourselves with, whether it be the pill or the bottle or the razor blade or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: We're done punishing ourselves because Jesus was hung on a tree.
SPEAKER_01: He was cursed so we wouldn't have to be.
SPEAKER_01: God, cause us to ask ourselves, what would change if I started treating myself like someone I loved?
SPEAKER_01: What if I stopped hating myself so much and punishing myself so much for things that I could easily be forgiven for?
SPEAKER_01: This is what makes the gospel good news, and it's what makes us glad.
SPEAKER_01: So we're thankful for that.
SPEAKER_01: So thank you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: And everyone said, Amen, amen.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a guest today, let me say thanks for being here.
SPEAKER_01: You're always welcome.
SPEAKER_01: If today's your first time, uh you say, Whoo, that was kind of thick there for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: Uh no, we don't always do that.
SPEAKER_01: I just sense in my spirit the Lord saying, There's people here right now that they're ready.
SPEAKER_01: And so give them the opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: Don't preach the gospel and not give the opportunity.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So typically at this point, what we do is we have an announcement video.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna kill that because I want you to leave and get to your classes on time, but I also want you to leave with this taste in your mouth.
SPEAKER_01: Now, to all of you that stood up earlier, I'm gonna meet you right over here.
SPEAKER_01: If you'll just come forward, I want to get your name and information.
SPEAKER_01: Just want to talk with you just briefly.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I may need a couple staff guys to help me uh get these people's information.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is why we do what we do.
SPEAKER_01: We want people not to be religious, we want people to have a relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: There's a big difference in those two.
SPEAKER_01: And look at me.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here in the room and you're like, I'm not quite there yet, that's okay.
SPEAKER_01: We're it's not our job to make you get there.
SPEAKER_01: We believe that God will continue.
SPEAKER_01: Keep coming, God will keep speaking a language you understand.
SPEAKER_01: And when your heart is full, it will overflow.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Stand to your feet.
SPEAKER_01: Let me speak a blessing over you.
SPEAKER_01: Hold your hands out.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel is for everyone.
SPEAKER_01: So stop excluding yourself from what you were created for.
SPEAKER_01: You've not sinned so much, done so much, or gone so far that God can't bring you back, clean you up, change you, forgive you, accept you, love you, make you who the Bible says you were created to be.
SPEAKER_01: That's available to you today.
SPEAKER_01: In the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Bless you.
SPEAKER_01: You're dismissed.