WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:08.320 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:13.359 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandPway.org. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:24.480 But we just stand in awe of who you are and what you've done for us and who we are because of that. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:35.600 We stand humbled as your daughters and sons of the Most High God, and we ask that you would meet us here and do your work in us as we submit ourselves to your word. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:38.240 We pray that in your name, Jesus. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:39.039 Amen. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:39.679 Amen. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:40.799 You can have a seat. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:46.159 Welcome to Grand Parkway. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:47.119 I'm Rick. 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:49.679 The new guy, Rick, the newest Rick. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:59.679 If you saw an email that we sent out with some discussion questions for today's message, you can put a pen in that and use them next week. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:01.840 I mentioned in there that Neil would be speaking today. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:09.680 Neil is pretty sick this weekend, so I got a text from him yesterday afternoon saying he wasn't going to be able to be here. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:12.480 So you know how sick he is if he if he couldn't be here. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:23.439 So it's so good to be able to be with you, and we want to continue to pray and lift up Neil, our lead pastor, and we just trust that he's going to do, God's going to do the work he wants to do here among us this morning. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:26.079 So Neil is going to be preaching from Exodus 24. 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:43.040 I decided not to try and dive into that this morning, but to kind of hit the pause button a little bit in our time in Exodus and just zoom out a little bit and really ask a very pointed question about Exodus, which is why did God bother? 00:01:44.000 --> 00:02:00.319 Why did God bother to go raise up Moses to go in and do all these plagues and rescue a bunch of stiff-necked people by God's definition from slavery and then parade them around the wilderness for 40 years? 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:08.719 Which, by the way, the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, if you just look at the map, should have taken that many people 11 days to make. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:15.919 And yet God marched them around the same mountain for 40 years because he was up to something. 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:17.759 So why did God bother? 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:26.639 Why did God say, I'm gonna do all this upheaval to rescue this people and to do a work with them? 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:27.840 Why? 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:33.280 Well, as I began to think about that some yesterday afternoon and going, okay, God, what am I gonna do? 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:36.639 I don't want to, you know, I don't know exactly what Neil's gonna do. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:37.439 I can't do that. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:41.120 I don't want to take us down a road that has nothing to do with where we've been. 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:44.560 I looked at our mail and I saw a graduation announcement. 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:45.919 Anyone see those? 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:48.080 It's that time of year, isn't it? 00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:57.120 And in that graduation announcement, the thought came to my mind, that's this is why God did what he did in Exodus. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:59.919 And it's what he's something he's calling us to today. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:01.039 Let me explain why. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:10.400 Um, every year when we get graduation announcements, when people graduate, there is one book that's the number one choice whenever someone's graduating, isn't there? 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:14.960 It doesn't matter whether it's kindergarten or high school or college or grad school. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:18.080 I'm gonna read a little bit from it and see if you can guess who the author is. 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:18.879 Ready? 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:21.520 Congratulations, today is your day. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:23.840 You're off to great places, you're off and away. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.560 You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself any direction you choose. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:31.759 And when things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:32.879 Just go right along. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:34.240 You'll start happening too. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:35.840 Oh, the places you'll go. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:43.520 You'll be on your way up, you'll be seeing great sights, you'll see the high flyers who soared to high heights, except when you don't, because sometimes you won't. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:47.520 All alone, whether you like it or not, alone will be something you'll be quite a lot. 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:49.360 Kid, you'll move mountains. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:55.360 So be your name Bucksbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O'Shea, you're off to great places. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:56.159 Today's your day. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:57.439 Your mountain is waiting. 00:03:57.520 --> 00:03:58.879 So get on your way. 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:00.240 Anyone know the author? 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:00.639 Dr. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:01.039 Seuss. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:01.280 Right? 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:02.400 And what's the book, right? 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:04.479 All the places you go. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:07.759 It's it's kind of the the go-to graduation gift. 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:08.400 I have one. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:11.599 Someone gave it to me when I graduated from high school, and I still have it. 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:12.960 Um and I love Dr. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:13.599 Seuss. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:15.039 The problem for me is whenever I read Dr. 00:04:15.199 --> 00:04:16.480 Seuss, I start to talk like Dr. 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:19.040 Seuss, so I I apologize in advance. 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:26.399 Um I read an article a while back by John Ortberg, who kind of made this connection between Dr. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:30.560 Seuss's message and all the places you go with the mission of God. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:40.399 And I want to try and make that connection for us this morning to try and answer this question as to why God bothered to go through the hassle of the Exodus. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:45.600 See, God wasn't going to let 400 years of slavery derail his mission. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:51.120 God's mission is why he raised up Moses to deliver his people from slavery. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:54.720 God's mission is why he gave them the promised land. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:04.879 Exodus is about God's people being rescued and reformed to be a flourishing people for a very specific mission. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:08.000 So let's read that mission together in Genesis. 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:15.759 Go back one book ahead of Exodus, Genesis chapter 12, the first three verses, give us the mission. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:34.560 Now the Lord said to Abram, this is before he got the H go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that, underline that, so that you will be a what? 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:36.240 A blessing. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:48.959 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth, not just Israel, all the families of the earth will be blessed. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:58.879 So despite my urge to kind of drop a knowledge bomb on you and just blow you away with something you've never heard before, because I'm the new guy and I want you to think I'm awesome. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:13.920 This morning I'm gonna offer you just a very simple message that's built around two words that are found in this command that God gives Abraham and his descendants. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:19.199 See, God comes to Abraham out of the blue and declares, congratulations, today is your day. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:20.160 It's time to go. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:22.480 You're off to great places, you're off and away. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:24.319 And Abraham says, What places? 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:25.120 Who are you? 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:25.839 Right? 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:27.839 I mean, how will I know when I get there? 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:28.800 Is Sarah coming? 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:29.600 Is there a map? 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:32.000 All these kinds of things, and God says, No, no, no, no. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:36.079 That would take all the fun and the adventure and the faith out of it. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:38.560 Anyone catch the first word? 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:39.759 Go. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:41.439 Go. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:45.759 Go to the place that I will show you. 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:48.639 Go means you have to trust me. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:07:00.399 Go means you have to leave your familiar little comfort zone because my project, which by the way, Abraham begins with you, involves the entire world. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:06.319 All the families of the earth, all the nations of the earth will be blessed through you. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.160 Oh, can you imagine how that sounded to Abraham? 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:13.199 He didn't really even know God that well at this point. 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:16.240 And God says, I want to lead you to a place, and he says, Where? 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:18.480 He says, I'll show you when you get there. 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:22.879 That's a scary proposition. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:24.959 But one thing is clear. 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:28.560 God says, Abraham, you can't stay here. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:32.000 You can't stay here, you have to go there. 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:35.040 You can't stay in, you have to go out. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:38.319 Which, by the way, is kind of Jesus MO2. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:40.240 I've been around church a lot. 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:44.079 I've been uh a Christian for almost 35 years. 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:54.959 I've basically now been in church most of my life, I've been in church most of my life, and my experience is we meet Jesus more out there than we actually meet him in rooms like this. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:08:05.199 Not that he doesn't show up in rooms like this, but I think sometimes as church people, we just kind of want to retreat back to a little worship space and go, okay, my escape from the world. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:06.720 And Jesus is like, no, no, no, no. 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:09.839 You come here so that you can join me in going back out there. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:12.480 It's time to go. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:14.639 You can't stay in here, you have to go out. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:18.000 Then God gives a second command. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:24.959 God says, I will bless you, but my blessing is not just for you, it's to pass along. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:27.120 You are blessed to be a blessing. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:29.199 So the second word is bless. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.120 Go bless. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:40.480 Now to bless means to add to someone's life, to enhance it, to make something abundant, to make something better than it was when you got it. 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:45.679 And the first time we see the word bless in Scripture is in Genesis chapter 1. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:52.559 It says, God created the creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, and God blessed them. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:56.399 See, God said to the fish, be fruitful and increase in number. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:04.559 I want lots of you, and fill the water in the seas, and when I look at the water, I want to see fish everywhere. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:05.679 You get the picture? 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:09.200 God so loves blessing, he blesses fish. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:12.960 I mean, how many fish did God make? 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.679 One fish, two fish, redfish, blue fish, right? 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:17.919 Not one is like the other. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:18.480 I don't know why. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:20.000 Go ask your mother, right? 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:21.200 Sorry. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:29.120 See, God made so many things so that he could have so many things to bless. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.480 God is in the blessing business. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.000 God loves to bless. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:35.679 And then he creates human beings. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:47.519 He creates man and woman and says, prosper, reproduce, fill the earth, take charge, be responsible for the fish in the sea and the birds in the air and for everything that moves along the face of the earth. 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:48.799 Why did he do that? 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:58.559 Because you and I are made in the image of God, which means God made us not just to be recipients of blessing, but to be agents of blessing. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:00.960 We don't just receive blessing. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:02.720 At some point we have to get wrung out. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:06.480 Otherwise, we become the slimy, moldy sponge that stinks. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:15.279 God made us in his image, which means we reflect him to our world, so we are to be a blessing to the rest of creation. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:17.200 We're blessed to be a blessing. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:18.240 That's the mission. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:19.519 Go bless. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:21.360 Go bless. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:32.480 That's why God sent Moses in to rescue his people and reform them and march them around a mountain for 40 years so that they can get what it looks like to be a blessing to the world once again. 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:36.159 They could stop being victims and start being a blessing. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:41.360 God's mission is still go bless. 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:44.000 That's why he made a people for himself. 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:47.200 See, God's mission came before he had a people. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:51.679 Actually, God's mission came before he gave us this, a Bible. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:55.679 See, what God did was he gave his mission a Bible. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:58.000 And he gave his mission a people. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:07.039 At least five times in Genesis, God says to Abraham, I will bless you, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through you. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:23.120 See, being a blessing was the mission of the Hebrew people, and as followers of Jesus, who, as we sang about and heard already this morning, who've been adopted into God's family, therefore grafted into Abraham's family because of Jesus, that means go bless is our mission too. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:25.039 That's why you and I are on this planet. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:29.919 That's why we are to get out of bed every day to be a blessing. 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:31.919 So where do we go bless? 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:33.759 Oh, wherever we go. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:35.120 When should we go bless? 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:37.039 Well, congratulations, today is your day. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:39.360 You're off to great places, you're off and away. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.240 Now, people will say, wait a second. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:44.559 It's easier for you and someone like Neil. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:50.000 You guys always tell stories of how you ran into this person and you just began to talk about Jesus and the lights came on. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:52.559 But you guys are trained professionals. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:54.960 I could never do that. 00:11:55.679 --> 00:11:59.360 I don't ask you to raise your hand, but how many of kind of like, eh, I thought that. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:08.399 You may not feel like you're trained adequately enough, or skilled enough, or not articulate enough, or would know what to say. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.159 But that doesn't change the fact that it's Dr. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:13.679 Sue simple today. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:16.000 Go bless. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:18.320 It's not optional. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:21.519 And the reason is because that's what you were made to do. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:28.559 Until you join God in that mission of being a blessing to the world, there's always gonna feel like something's missing. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:38.399 See, if we don't do this, it doesn't matter how much money we make or how high we climb the corporate ladder, we've missed the reason we were put on this planet. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:13:07.440 I mean, could you imagine if just the people in this room, the people who call Grand Parkway home, if in if in our community we intentionally lived every moment of every due day, whatever we do, whether it's behind a desk or flying around the country covering a territory or driving a bus or teaching kids or calling on clients or treating patients, whatever as we do, our our primary thought is I want to be a blessing as I do this. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:11.039 I want to enhance someone's life. 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:14.879 I want to help their life to become better than it was before they met me. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:16.879 I want to be a blessing. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:18.960 That's the mission. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:20.240 Go bless. 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:26.080 So the next question then is for some of us like, well, that's easy for you to say, but how can I be a blessing to somebody? 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:27.840 I don't really have a whole lot. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:35.519 So to answer this question, I thought it might be helpful to do a really quick blessing inventory, if you will, all right? 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:38.639 How many heard the old song, Count Your Blessings, name them one by one? 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:41.759 Okay, the good news is I'm not going to sing that for you. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:42.480 All right? 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:45.519 But we are gonna do a quick little blessing inventory. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:50.480 Um, so if you have a pen and paper or a little um notes app on your phone, just think about this for a second. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:51.600 We're gonna count our blessings. 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:54.320 I'm gonna walk you through quickly eight different categories. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:55.919 The first one is finances. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:57.440 Why wouldn't I start there? 00:13:57.519 --> 00:13:58.639 Let's just go there. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:00.879 Has God blessed you financially? 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:03.600 And and some of us are like, yeah, man, it's really hard. 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:07.759 I'm gonna live paycheck to paycheck, and a lot of times that's not enough. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:12.080 But let's zoom out a little bit and say, are are we blessed financially? 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:17.519 Andy Stanley writes that one of the problems most rich people have is that they don't really know they're rich. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:24.960 Um most problems in our society are rich people problems that the rest of the world would love to have. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:28.399 I mean, we just moved here into our house a month ago. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:38.399 It's a beautiful home, it's four years old, and within the first two weeks, our refrigerator, which of course is six months out of warranty, broke. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:40.000 Right? 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:49.759 So we have to be slamming stuff into coolers and ice and all that stuff, and and um, I'm ranting and raving, and my wife looks at me and goes, first world problem. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:52.799 This is a first world problem. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:54.240 And we have all kinds of those. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:55.200 It's a rich person problem. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.799 You ever complain about not having enough good adequate cell phone coverage? 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:02.000 That's a rich person problem. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:07.679 How about I I don't know where we should go on vacation this year? 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:09.360 Rich person problem. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:13.440 My computer crashed, rich person problem. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:18.159 I have car trouble, or my flight has been delayed, rich person problem. 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:28.320 God has blessed you financially, not necessarily compared to your next door neighbor, but compared to the rest of the creation, we are abundantly blessed. 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:30.159 So just get that perspective. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:31.759 How about education? 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:38.879 Has God blessed you to have access to information and knowledge that other people haven't? 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.720 I mean, throughout history, the majority of the world has been illiterate. 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:44.879 They couldn't read or write. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:50.159 So as much as you complained about school, maybe that was a blessing. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:52.879 Or having a home, a place to live. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:55.200 Some people don't, some people do, but it's a hovel. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:56.000 Do I have one? 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:56.799 Or friends. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:00.240 Do you have someone who loves you who wants to be around you? 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:02.639 I mean, sometimes I think that's a miracle. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:04.639 People actually want to be around me. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:05.759 Right? 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:07.519 Or a spiritual gift. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:19.519 If you're a follower of Jesus, God has given you a spiritual gift or gifts, not so that you can just make more money and feel good about yourself, but so that you can be a blessing to the world around you. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:21.919 You can be an encouragement to the people around you. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:23.440 Or transportation. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:29.600 Does anyone have here have a car or a bike or the ability to get on a bus or a train? 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:32.240 Then God's blessed you with transportation. 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:34.879 Or forgiveness. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:37.840 We often take that for granted. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:44.080 Because of Jesus, I do not have to stand afraid or worried before God. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:50.320 I can be guilt-free, shame free, with nothing to hide. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:53.120 As a beloved son of the Most High God. 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:58.159 I never have to be alone. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:00.799 I never have to do things in my own strength. 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:03.360 I can have guidance and wisdom beyond myself. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:05.279 Those are just a few blessings. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:06.480 Eight, actually. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:07.680 So a quick show of hands. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:10.880 How many say you are blessed with at least four of those? 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:12.720 Right? 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:14.720 How many say probably all of us? 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:18.400 Count your blessings. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:26.880 Now, if you've been blessed, and we've all just admitted we have, it's not so that our life can be smooth and easy. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:29.440 We've been blessed to be a blessing. 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:32.480 Which begs the question: who then are we to bless? 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:35.599 And this is where I want to land this plane this morning. 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:43.920 See, a good practice when we wonder about the next step in our faith journey, what it looks like to be the people of God, is to always look at Jesus. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:47.119 You know, that's the old joke you probably heard. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:52.799 You know, the Sunday school teacher says, So, um, what's brown and furry and gathers nuts for the winter? 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:57.359 And a little kid says, Well, it sounds like a squirrel, but I know it's Jesus. 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:00.079 Right? 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.599 Because that's always the answer when you're in church, Jesus. 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:07.359 But in this case, it actually is Jesus. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:08.799 It actually is Jesus. 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:15.599 Because the Bible says that Jesus is the second Adam, meaning the first Adam didn't get it right, so Jesus came as a second Adam and he did. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:19.039 It also says that Jesus is the perfect image of God. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:23.279 You and I, Genesis 1.26 says we are made in the image of God. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.160 Jesus is the perfect one, he's the one that got it right. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:34.799 So whenever we're wondering what does it look like to be the people of God, what does it look like to be fully human, to be the people God created us to be in this world, we look to Jesus. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:35.200 Why? 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:37.599 Because He's done it, He got it right. 00:18:38.559 --> 00:18:58.000 And when we look at Jesus and say, okay, if if the mission of Abraham was to be a blessing to the world, and that therefore that that was Israel's mission was to be a blessing to the world, and Jesus came to fulfill that mission, not only through Israel, but to include us Gentiles in that mix too, then how did Jesus go about blessing? 00:18:58.160 --> 00:18:59.440 Who did he bless? 00:18:59.680 --> 00:19:04.400 Well, when you look at the Gospels, we see Jesus hangs out basically with two groups of people. 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:08.880 One group of people he got aggravated with, and there are two groups of people he loved hanging out with. 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:19.759 The first group we see at the beginning of Jesus' ministry when he announces in Luke 4, he says, the Spirit of the Lord is on me because he's anointed me to preach good news to the poor. 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:26.640 The first group of people Jesus loved to hang out with and to bless were those who were without. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:33.119 To people just existing on the margins, to those considered the unblessed, to the least. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:43.920 See, Jesus was constantly seeing the least and remembering the least and championing the least and serving the least and giving to the least and loving the least and blessing the least. 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:47.279 That is not how our world works, is it? 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:49.759 The least get the leftovers still. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:52.640 And Jesus says, that's not how it's to be in my kingdom. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:54.720 I want to bless the people on the margins. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:59.200 I want to bless the people that you think don't have a should have a seat at the table. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:02.079 I want to bless the people you'd rather forget about. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:08.240 I want to bless the people that you're trying to step on their back so you can get yours. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:16.559 And the theme of this all throughout the Old Testament is this triad of the lease that God says we've got to pay attention to as his people. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:20.640 He says, the the widows, the orphans, and the aliens. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:24.960 Now, as the church, we kind of get the widows and orphans part. 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:31.920 But as conservative Texans living in Fort Bend County, the aliens part makes us really nervous. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:33.680 Doesn't it? 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:37.200 Because they're here illegally and they'll steal our jobs. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:39.200 Can I say that? 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:47.759 I'm not here to meddle in politics, but I am here to say in the kingdom, we're here to bless the least. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:51.440 And we don't get to define who the least are. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:53.200 God does. 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:57.279 So how are we saying, God, I will go to the least and be your hands and feet. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:00.960 I will be a blessing to them in your name, Jesus. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:05.440 Now we're already doing this as a church in so many places around the world. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:07.920 We prayed for the Cardies this morning in Costa Rica. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:12.000 We're doing taking a trip to India with some orphanages we work there. 00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:15.519 We're trying to get to Romania and do, we're doing it to Romania this summer. 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:16.319 We're trying to get to India. 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:18.079 There's Visa Problems to make that happen. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:21.440 We partner with Jesus Said Love and Kids Hope and My Brother's Keeper. 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:24.640 And these are things that are just getting started around here. 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:36.720 And it's our hope that everyone who calls Grand Parkway home will just be compelled to be the hands and feet of Jesus to someone in their little sphere every day who's in need. 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:41.119 It's not a program we're trying to start, like come join. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:43.279 We say that's on all of us. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:45.440 You don't wait for us to do it. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:45.920 You see it. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.759 You're like, God, what do you want me to do? 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:49.279 Give me eyes to see. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:52.559 Give me wisdom how to step into this and be a part of this. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:55.039 See, we have four core values around here, right? 00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:57.839 Gospel, community, mission, blessing. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:21:59.759 Those all can be summed up in this command. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:01.039 Go bless. 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:06.720 We are called to be God's good news people who accept his mission to go bless. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:14.480 And we will never be the church God calls us to be if we resist going out to the least to bless them in Jesus' name. 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.279 And that's not just like doing this and praying a prayer over them. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.000 It's like, how can I make your life better? 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:24.640 How can I be someone who helps to right the injustice you're suffering under? 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:29.440 How can I be someone who brings beauty out of your of the ashes of your life? 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:31.279 Go bless. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.000 Then there's another go in Jesus' life. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:38.079 Jesus says, I come not just to call the righteous, but to call sinners. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:40.079 We've sung about that this morning, right? 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:44.799 Jesus was constantly going out and hanging out with people who were far from God. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:48.000 And this is what ticked off the people who thought they were close to God. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:50.319 He hung out with all the wrong people. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:56.160 He hung out with the people who were the spiritual rejects, the spiritual losers, the excluded, the outsiders, the lost. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:57.680 Jesus ate with the lost. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:58.799 He talked with the lost. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:22:59.680 He hung out with them. 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:00.559 He partied with them. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:01.200 He touched them. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:02.079 He included them. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:02.960 He healed them. 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:04.319 He forgave their sins. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:09.359 They found purpose for their lives and hope beyond death in Jesus. 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:11.519 That's what Jesus does. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:28.319 See, the greatest blessing we have is to share with anybody, we have to share with anybody is the reality that there is a better life to be had right here and right now, just not just in heaven someday, but right here and right now with Jesus. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:34.799 So the question for each of us is are we doing that? 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:39.200 Are we inviting people into the life we found in Jesus? 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:47.039 Are we proclaiming and demonstrating the good news, the great news of the kingdom of God has come to this earth in Jesus? 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:52.400 Not just in a general way, but am I praying specifically? 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:56.640 Who are the people that are on my radar that I'm going, God, how I'm available. 00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:59.039 Use me in whatever way you want to use me. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:02.720 There were a bunch of us at the secret church event Friday night out in the warehouse. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:03.279 It was really cool. 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:04.559 It was long, but it was really cool. 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:08.000 And by the way, if you think I talk fast, you should listen to David Pratt. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:12.880 But one of the things David said really stuck with me. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:16.640 He said, What we need to wrestle with is this question. 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:20.000 Am I going to be the person in whom the good news stops? 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.839 Or am I going to be the person through whom the good news spreads? 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:27.920 Am I going to be a person in whom the good news stops? 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:30.240 Or through whom the good news spreads? 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:33.440 And it's we can all do this. 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:40.480 You don't have to have an MDiv or be able to teach Bible studies to be able to share what Jesus has done in your life. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:54.079 Like Peter and John said in Acts chapter 4, 20, this is my prayer for you, it's my prayer for me, it's my prayer for my kids, is that my relationship with Jesus is so real and so vibrant, I just can't help but talk about what I've seen and heard. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:55.440 Can't help it. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:57.039 Just can't help it. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:00.160 I had this experience when I was a little league coach. 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:03.519 Um, I remember one of the guys I coached with. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:10.319 We ended up practicing at this church that he attended, and one of the other coaches said, This is cool, how did you get this? 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:12.960 He's like, Oh, I I know somebody here. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:14.319 He says, Do you go to this church? 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:14.880 Well, kind of. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:16.319 He says, What do you mean, kind of? 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:18.240 He says, Well, my wife goes here. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:20.720 Um, but he says, So you go here. 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:22.880 He says, Well, I go here just because I want to keep her happy. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:23.759 He's like, seriously? 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:26.960 He goes, dude, I would worship the devil if it kept her happy. 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:28.559 And he wasn't kidding. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:30.079 At that point, I was like, Oh, thank you. 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:32.000 He didn't ask me what I do for a living yet. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:42.240 Well, long story short, he and I had become really, really good friends because we had a lot of shared interest, our kids and baseball and all those sorts of things. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:44.559 But over time, we began to meet regularly. 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:46.720 Every week we'd meet for breakfast at this diner. 00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:52.319 And about two years in, he just looked at me and said, Dude, what is it that you have that I don't? 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:56.880 And that wasn't because I threw a knowledge bomb on him. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:26:05.119 It was because by God's grace, I was able to live in front of my friend John this reality that life with Jesus is like the best life going. 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:13.599 Not that everything was perfect, but I could have peace and joy beyond my circumstances because of Jesus. 00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:15.839 So you never know how God will show up. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:19.119 There's nothing like being a part of someone's journey to Jesus. 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:26.000 We want to be a church full of people who are introducing their friends and family and neighbors to Jesus all the time. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:30.880 Not just relying on the people with the microphone to do it, but that's your job. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:36.960 So will you ask God to make you a part of at least one person coming to know Jesus? 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:41.200 Go bless, that's your mission. 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:49.599 See, 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus called his disciples together one last time. 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:53.680 They'd been with him for over three years, and now it was graduation. 00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:57.200 But like all graduations, it was actually commencement. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:04.799 A new chapter was about to begin, so Jesus tells them, here's why we've been doing this these last three and a half years. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:08.319 It's not so that you can stay in this cozy, safe little place. 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:12.799 It's so that you can go bless the world just as I have blessed the world. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:15.519