WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.640 This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:06.000 For more information on our church, please visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:07.200 How are we doing today? 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:07.919 You good? 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:09.359 I want to talk to you. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:21.359 We're finishing a three-part series where we've been talking about our core values a couple weeks ago, which our core values are simply intimacy with God, community uh with others, and now today I'll talk about ministry that matters. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:22.399 Ministry that matters. 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:24.719 And you say, what do you mean when you say ministry that matters? 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:26.160 Well, let me just say it like this. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:30.079 The church can do a lot of things that really don't aren't going to matter in eternity. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:34.479 When you get to the promised land, you'll look back and you'll kind of go, why did we do that? 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:34.960 Okay? 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:36.399 And so we want to be a part of. 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:37.520 We're not a perfect church. 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:39.280 If we were, I couldn't be the pastor. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:40.000 Amen? 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:42.000 I heard that over there. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:43.759 Uh somebody went, uh-huh. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:47.840 Uh by the way, because I spilled coffee on myself between the services. 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:51.439 See, because I'm not, not only I'm not perfect, I'm not coordinated. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:57.439 You ever get you ever get your clothes in the cleaner and you think I'm gonna get two or three wearings out of that before I have to take it back? 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:02.799 Broke the little purple tab off of this morning, spilled coffee on it two hours later. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:05.439 Anyway, uh, we talk about ministry that matters. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:12.480 We just want to be a part of doing and being something that's gonna matter, not just in this life, but in the life to come. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.959 Jesus talks about that, and he gave us some kind of some fixed points to orient ourselves around. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:18.719 Luke chapter 10, verse 1. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:26.799 After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.879 And he said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:36.480 Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:37.359 Go your way. 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:40.959 Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:45.840 Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:02:02.079 Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house, and if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him, but if not, it will return to you, and remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:03.840 Do not go from house to house. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:12.080 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you, heal the sick in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you. 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:21.280 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we will wipe off against you. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:25.360 Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:30.879 I tell I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:41.120 Woe to you, Chlorizine, woe to you, Beth Seda, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:44.960 But it would be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:48.159 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.159 You shall be brought down to Hades. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:52.960 The one who hears you, hears me. 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:58.800 The one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:04.080 And the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:07.520 And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:14.080 Behold, I've given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:22.240 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:32.400 When we talk about ministry that matters, there's basically three things that Jesus kind of says, hey, it involves this, it involves evangelism, it involves the kingdom, and it involves joy. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:35.520 I want to talk to you briefly about those three things this morning. 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:37.120 Number one, evangelism. 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:39.120 What do we mean when we say evangelism? 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:44.479 For us here at Grand Parkway, evangelism is the works of Jesus and the words of Jesus. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:04:01.439 If all we do is tell people about Jesus, but we don't demonstrate, we don't do the things that Jesus would do, then our evangelism and our share in the gospel or our our whatever you call it, uh, it has no meaning in people's lives because they want to see that this has been affected. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:09.520 This has kind of somehow changed who we are and how we operate, how we spend money, how we spend our spare time and what we do. 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:13.759 There's three things I don't want you to miss that I think kind of you kind of hang flesh on. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:15.680 First thing is that they're sent. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:18.079 They're sent, you and I are sent. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:20.240 Look at verse 2, what Jesus says to them. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:25.360 He says, and he sent them, and he said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:30.639 Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:32.639 Then he says, Go your way. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:37.439 Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:38.720 Let me just stop right there. 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:42.399 When he says, Behold, what he's basically saying is, hey, don't miss this. 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:46.560 Look, I understand the context into which I am sending you. 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:48.240 He says, check it out, guys. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:49.199 Here's the deal. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:53.199 I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:58.480 And you've got to, those 72 people standing there, those 72 guys were probably like, no, wait a minute. 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:01.600 I didn't sign up for do you have dental insurance? 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:02.480 Hang on, what? 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:03.040 What? 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:03.600 Wait. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:10.879 See, see, here's what makes whatever circumstance you find yourself in bearable is that you're sent there. 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.120 He says, I'm sending you out. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:17.279 And by the way, I'm sending you out as lambs among the wolves. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:18.480 He understood that. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:23.199 Have you any idea in your mind what wolves do to lambs? 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:26.240 You say, well, why would he do that? 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:29.360 Because when he sends you, he goes with you. 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:31.199 That's why he would do that. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:33.120 And so here's the reality, beloved. 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:43.519 You're going to find yourself, and I'm going to find myself in circumstances that don't feel good, that don't feel stimulating, that aren't always kind of, uh, that doesn't mean that God's not there. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:48.720 Matter of fact, when I first became, well, I was a Christian, the first four or five years I was a Christian. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:52.319 I was trying to find a church that I thought just takes the Bible seriously. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:06:14.240 And it was so hard because the church growth thing had just started and everyone was just kind of going, hey, we're gonna, and I remember going to a church and and and the doors opened up back here, and like ten people, five from that side and five from that side, and they all had on black slacks and black skirts and jewel tone tops and microphones, and they say, Oh, and they had hand motions. 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:17.519 And it was choreographed. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:21.519 And then someone would back up and someone would step up and talk a little bit, and they'd do their little thing. 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:31.360 And they'd step back, and I was just kind of like, you know, listen, when the transmission dropped out of my car on the side of the road, no one was standing there going with hand motions. 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:36.079 And now you are up the creek without a paddle. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:38.800 You cannot afford this. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:46.879 And I remember having deep thoughts as a young Christian, like, why does the church not seem to understand what real life is like? 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:49.120 You guys are inviting me into that. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:50.560 That's not real. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.600 No one has it that all together. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:56.879 I can't even drink without spilling it on myself. 00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:59.839 This is like Ken and Barbie up here. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:04.639 And then it dawned on me, and I realized something this past week. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:11.199 I was reading and I read, a man named Richard Stearns, by the way, wrote a book called The Hole in Our Gospel that everyone should read. 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:12.480 Great book. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:18.480 But I read it, well, I wasn't reading this book, I was reading this article that he had written, and they were interviewing him. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:25.439 And by the way, Richard Stearns, he was a CEO of Linux China, and he left that to become the president of World Vision. 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:29.040 And so they were asking him about the church, and I thought he had a great quote. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:29.839 I want to share it with you. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:35.839 He said the predicament of the American church is that we live in a kind of magic kingdom, like going to Disneyland. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:40.319 You buy your ticket, and once you're inside the gates, everything you experience is controlled. 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:45.680 The rides, the food, the shows are all there to entertain and amuse you. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:48.800 All you have to do is be there and observe. 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.319 As Christians, we too are tempted to see our world that way. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:58.639 We start thinking that our job is to invite a few fortunate others into the theme park away from the troubles outside. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:07.839 But our job isn't to increase the attendance at Disneyland, it is to tear down the walls and transform the world outside. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:17.439 And Jesus so believed that he looked at these 72 and said, I'm sending you out because I do not believe your mission is to increase the attendance at Disneyland. 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.480 I'm sending you out as lambs among wolves. 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.720 And those wacko people were like, rock and roll. 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:26.800 Sign me up. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:33.600 See, being sent, knowing that you are somewhere and it's God's idea, is a great place to be. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:45.120 Here's the second reason why, because not only are you sent, see, see, evangelism, doing the gospel is not just I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm here and it's not my idea, but secondly, I'm provided for. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:46.799 Look at verse 4. 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:52.639 He says, carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:58.559 You ever read things in the Bible and think, I don't know what they mean, no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:04.159 I don't know what, and I could go into all that and tell you, well, the biblical background for that is blah, blah, blah. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:05.840 Here's what I'd rather do, men. 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:15.279 Men, it would be like you going home and telling your wife, we're going on a vacation next week, we're going to Cancun for a week, and I don't want you to pack anything. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.080 You don't need makeup, you don't need anything. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:20.240 Just come on, let's go. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:23.840 Now, I don't know what it's like in your house. 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:30.399 But if I told my kids, like right now, we go to my in-laws every December for a week after Christmas. 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:34.720 I hang out, I fix stuff, I joke around a lot about it, but it's so cathartic for me. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:35.519 I just love it. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:40.399 But if I'm, I mean, my wife and kids start packing three weeks before we leave. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:43.200 And my kids pack their whole, they pack stuffed animals. 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:46.639 I'm like, no, no, we don't need those. 00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:48.080 We don't need those. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:49.120 I've got to have these. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:50.559 Madison, you're 14. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:52.399 You don't need those anymore. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:57.360 But they just come up the hallway with wheeled suitcases. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.879 Okay, it takes a day to get there and a day to come back. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.519 We're there three days, and they got wheeled suitcases full of stuff. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:10.000 And I'm like, and my wife's like, oh babe, it's no big deal. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:11.679 You ain't gotta load it and unload it. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:13.120 It's a big deal. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:19.759 And so this next time we go out of town, I'm gonna tell them take nothing for your journey. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:22.240 No knapsack, no money bag, no. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:29.360 Can you imagine how much confidence your wife would not have in you if you start driving to the airport and she said, Where are the tickets? 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:30.000 Tickets? 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:32.080 We don't need those thinking tickets. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:34.879 I put the tickets where I keep the badges. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:36.320 That's where they are. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:38.320 She'd be like, Are you crazy? 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:39.360 Are we gonna drive? 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:39.759 No. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.000 Well, how much I mean, we need to fill up? 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:43.759 I ain't got no money. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:47.759 I mean, she would be on the side of the road beating you with an umbrella. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:54.960 I mean, if I just told my kid, hey, we're not packing anything, they'd be like, Dan, dude, we're not going. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:56.879 Here's what makes it bearable. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:57.600 Don't miss this. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:10:59.360 Jesus said, hey, don't pack anything. 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:01.600 Basically, what he's saying is, I got this. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.279 I'm Jehovah Jirah, the Lord God who provides. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:13.519 Unless you go where I tell you to do and do what I tell you to do when you get there, how else are you gonna know what I'm capable of? 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:21.759 See, there's a real sufficient Jesus just beyond the realm of what you think is possible. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:24.879 Real sufficient Jesus out there. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:27.279 Third thing, Jesus says to these people. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:31.360 See, evangelism is not just hanging stuff on people's door, giving them little bucklets. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:33.600 Third thing, he says, you're representatives. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:36.960 Look, look, just you say, Well, what do you mean? 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:38.080 Two things I want you to see. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:39.519 First of all, look at verse 2. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:42.480 He says the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:49.600 Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into circle this little word, his harvest. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:51.279 It's not my harvest. 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:53.440 I don't have to try to make something happen. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:12:00.159 I don't have to get in conversations with an agenda and think, okay, well, I'm gonna say this, and then they're gonna say that, and then I'm gonna just kind of. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:00.879 No. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:03.519 God's in charge of this whole enterprise. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:05.200 You say, Well, I don't know what you mean. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:06.639 Look at verse 16. 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:09.120 Sink your teeth into this. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:12.240 Verse 16, look at right there in the Bible in Luke 10. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.240 The one who hears you, hears me. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:15.679 No pressure there. 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:19.039 Is this in red in your Bible? 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:27.600 Jesus says, Listen, you I so trust you to represent me that whoever hears you, hears me. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:32.000 So use as much profanity as you think I would use. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:36.399 Uh-oh. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:37.840 Did you hear that? 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:40.080 We don't hit a speed bump up in here. 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:42.799 Please hold on to the bar. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:44.879 The ride is about to depart. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:50.320 Hey, tell as many off-color jokes tomorrow at work as you think Jesus would tell. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:53.039 Because when people hear you, they hear him. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:57.279 No pressure. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:06.480 When people, some of y'all are kind of like, do you just go around having awkward conversations with people? 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:07.039 No. 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:07.759 No. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:11.919 I had a conversation a while back with a girl at the Starbucks, not far from here. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:16.720 That way, next to a major highway, a couple doors down from Chile in an ATT store. 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:18.399 It's kind of in that general vicinity. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:33.759 And basically we got I I was reading or something in there, and she started asking me questions, the baristas, they're called, um, and and and we just got talking, and I just think, okay, God, I I don't I don't have like a like a glossary of terms. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:34.639 What am I gonna say? 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:37.679 Hey, if you come to the point and you know for sure if you died tonight, you'd go to heaven? 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:41.200 And if you did and you stood before God and God said, Why should I let you in? 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:42.639 What what would you tell him? 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.120 You really think God's that stupid? 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:47.759 It's like God, oh, you're here? 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:49.039 I wasn't expecting you. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:50.879 Uh, why should I let you in? 00:13:51.360 --> 00:13:53.840 You're gonna huff and puff and blow the door down? 00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:00.399 Well, my name is Benigamantoya, you killed my father, prepared to die. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:01.120 What? 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:02.480 Why? 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:10.000 I mean, we make it sound like it's that willy-nilly, like, well, if you snuck up on Jesus, but instead, look at this. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:11.759 Here, here's what here's the point I'm trying to make. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:13.039 Don't miss this, okay? 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:19.759 It's not, you and I have got to stop waiting for permission from the world to let the kingdom come out. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:21.679 You you you can't just wait. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:22.159 Why? 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:25.440 He says in verse 16, because look, hear this, beloved. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:27.759 You come from a long line of authority. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:31.120 You are descendants of authority, you're not people of permission. 00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:34.720 Verse 16, he says, the one who hears you hears me, and you think, wow. 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:37.279 And the one who rejects you rejects me. 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:40.960 So you can, because you represent him, you can be rejected. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:44.879 I mean, I've been told where to go in more languages than I'll ever speak. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:50.639 And the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me. 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:52.960 See, there's you, and then behind you, there's Jesus. 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.279 Behind Jesus is Father God. 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:56.320 That's a law. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:58.000 You're descendants of authority. 00:14:58.080 --> 00:14:59.279 Stop waiting on permission. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:14:59.679 Why? 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:01.039 Because you're his representatives. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:03.759 Jesus said, I'm sending you out as lambs among wolves. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:05.600 By the way, don't take anything for your journey. 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:09.840 We're going on a seven-day carnival cruise, so hopefully they won't hit rocks this time, okay? 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:11.360 But don't pack makeup. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:17.919 And by the way, tell your wife, we're gonna take a family portrait on the vacation, too, where you don't have any luggage or makeup. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:23.759 And just watch all the Here's the point. 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:28.399 There are things in the Bible that when you really understand them, they sound crazy. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:31.440 But what makes it possible? 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:33.200 He sent you. 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:36.480 So I'm standing up there in a Starbucks, and the ladies like, well, you don't know. 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:38.399 I mean, I just I just came on church a long time ago. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:41.759 I mean, I just and I just said, I hey, I don't want to hear all this. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:42.960 We ain't gotta get into this. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:43.919 Let me just tell you something. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:47.679 There's nothing that you've done that God cannot and will not forgive. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:49.279 That's all you need to know today. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:52.879 And all the other baristas, which is a great name. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:56.320 I want to change my title from lead pastor to lead barista. 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:00.639 It sounds sexy and exotic and Italian. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.039 So that's my new title. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:04.960 You call me the lead barista. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:12.000 She said, what some of the girls like, well, you don't know what she's done. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:13.120 I said, I don't know what she's done. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:14.240 I ain't gotta know what she's done. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:15.600 Y'all are all squawking about. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:17.360 You're judging her, you're judging her. 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:18.720 I can't judge her. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:21.200 I don't want to judge her, and I don't know what she's done. 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:21.840 That's why. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:26.240 So, how can you say that you know there's nothing she's done that God wouldn't forgive? 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:27.840 I don't have to know what she's done. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:29.120 I just have to know God. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:31.200 And good news today, I do. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:34.000 See, that's circumstantial. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:36.159 What I'm talking about is certain. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:42.720 Thank you. 00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:44.000 I gotta get the drive-through. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:44.799 I gotta get back to work. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:45.840 Oh, give me the headphone. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:47.120 Let me work the drive-thru. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:52.000 No. 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:54.559 Okay. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:56.799 I'm available. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:58.559 Just want you to know that. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:03.120 Second thing Jesus says, he says, number one, ministry that matters is about evangelism. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:06.559 By the way, uh don't turn to Galatians 5, 6. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:10.640 Paul says the only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:15.920 If your faith doesn't tangibly express itself in love, you don't have faith. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:17.519 You just have a bunch of tradition. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:21.039 You have the religious habit of doing the same thing every Sunday. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:22.400 That's our tradition. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:26.720 But faith that expresses itself through love, that's Christianity. 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:28.480 And that's the only thing that matters. 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:31.200 Second thing Jesus says, he says it's about the kingdom. 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:32.480 Look at verse 9. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:35.039 I told y'all, I didn't get to preach to you last week. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:36.720 You're gonna get it this week. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:38.480 Verse 9, look what he says. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.400 He says, this is wacko. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:44.640 He says, whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:50.319 Heal the sick in it, and say to them, the kingdom of God of God has come near to you. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:51.599 Look at me, beloved. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:55.759 Translation, Jesus says, here's the only thing that's gonna explain what just happened. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:57.039 You just healed the sick. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:02.400 Don't start selling green prosperity handkerchiefs on TV late at night. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:10.079 Don't sell some kooky miracle spring water like those goofballs on TV that make everybody think we're crazy. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:12.000 No, you just smile. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:13.200 Look, it's in quotes. 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:14.480 He expects you to say it. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:16.079 Is it not in quotes in your Bible? 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:21.359 After verse 9, he says, Heal the sick in it and say to them, quote, the kingdom of God has come to you. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:22.079 End quote. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:23.759 Is it not in quotes in your Bible? 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.839 Have you ever seen anybody get that excited about quotes in your life? 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:31.839 Y'all are like, please, Hammer, don't hurt us. 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:36.319 It's in quotes because he expects you to say it. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:45.920 He expects you to do and say some things that can only be explained by saying, Hey, heal the sick and it say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:48.559 But whenever you enter a town, they do not receive you. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:54.799 Go into its streets and say, Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:19:00.880 Nevertheless, when they don't receive you, guess what? 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:04.400 Nevertheless, know this that the kingdom of God is come near. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:08.079 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:09.599 Now, why does Jesus say that? 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:11.599 Jesus says be more bear for Sodom. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:12.880 Y'all, yeah, get them. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:16.240 By the way, Sodom wasn't destroyed because of homosexuality. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:18.720 They were destroyed because they were not hospitable. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:22.160 That's why, if you read it in the Bible, promise you it's in there. 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:24.400 That's why Jesus, then he lists all these other towns. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:27.039 You kind of want it's like Jesus goes like like Neil. 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:28.400 He just goes off on some rabbit trail. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:30.480 You're like, is he coming back to that Starbucks? 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:31.039 What happened? 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:32.559 I need closure. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:38.960 Jesus starts talking about all these cities because he says, verse 13, woe to you, Corusine, woe to you, Beth say. 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:46.240 What he's saying is, hey, hey, Sodom, it wasn't, I mean, homosexuality was a sin, and that was part, but hey, they were not hospitable. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.880 They didn't receive the kingdom when it came. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:50.160 Let me tell you something, beloved. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:55.599 It's only gonna get more and more and more costly to not receive the kingdom. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:20:01.359 So if they receive you, and if you you you you pray and you heal the sick, and you say, hey, no cookie for me. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:02.960 The kingdom of God has come near to you. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.720 If they don't receive you, say, okay, but the kingdom of God came near to you. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:10.720 And like these other Yahoos and these other towns, you didn't get it either. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.079 Then Jesus goes on. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:14.960 But let me just say two things you got to understand about the kingdom. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:23.039 Number one, you gotta notice that the kingdom of God is unaffected by, it's not determined by or limited because of people's response. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:28.000 The kingdom of God is so indestructible, Jesus let little kids play with it. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:30.559 He just, what are they gonna do? 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:32.720 Break it now. 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:36.240 You're probably thinking, uh, what is the kingdom? 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:37.200 Great question. 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:38.960 That's the second thing I want you to know. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:42.480 We need to understand what Jesus means when he talks about the kingdom. 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:44.880 And here's the definition we use for that. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:49.920 The kingdom of God is the realm within which what God wants done gets done. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:21:05.039 When we talk about the kingdom of God, it's not going outside and trying to catch clouds, it's just standing in the rain and getting soaking wet and living your life so as you've got to explain to somebody where you've been and how you got this way. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:05.599 Okay? 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:16.480 And by the way, let me give you some application that I want you to, because people, every once in a while, people say, Well, Pastor, I uh that was a great sermon, but I wish you would give me some application so I'd know what to do with it. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:20.000 I don't do application a whole lot because that's not my job. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:21.599 That's the Holy Spirit's job. 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:25.519 And I don't think the Holy Spirit tells 500 people to do the same thing every Sunday. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:32.160 Like sometimes when I'm preaching to you, the Holy Spirit says to me, Hey, fat head, you go home and mow your neighbor Jerry's yard. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:34.000 He's got throat cancer, okay? 00:21:34.160 --> 00:21:39.839 And he's gonna try to mow his yard this week, and you're not gonna go ask him, you're just gonna go do it because I told you. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.920 Well, Lord, I don't want to rob him of a privilege of mowing his yard. 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:49.359 Because the longer you're a Christian, the more you can justify doing nothing. 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:51.440 That's jacked up. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:55.200 And God's like, You want me to pull the world over and whip you right here? 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:57.519 No, please, Hammer, don't hurt me. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:58.319 I got it. 00:21:58.480 --> 00:21:58.960 I got it. 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:02.000 When I say the So here's the application, okay? 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:11.039 Do something between now and next Sunday that can only be explained by you saying to the person, you did it two or four, the kingdom of God has come near to you. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:13.119 Fair enough. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:15.839 And I want to introduce a friend of mine. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:16.559 I have a prayer request. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:18.400 So I'm gonna ask him, Isaac, would you come up here? 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:21.039 Because I want you to join me in praying for this prayer request. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:31.839 This is my friend Isaac, because by the way, at this point in the first service, my friend Alton, who some people call gator, we gave Alton uh a Ford Explorer sport track vehicle because he needed the vehicle. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:33.440 And my friend Isaac here needs a vehicle. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:35.279 Isaac, come up here just for a second. 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:37.119 Y'all say hi to Isaac. 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:37.519 Hi. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:39.200 Come here, buddy. 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:40.000 Here, this is yours. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:42.319 Hold up like you're eating an ice cream cone and talking to that. 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:44.720 Come over in the lie, you good-looking devil, you. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:47.759 Now, now, how long have you been coming to this church? 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:48.960 Since September. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:50.079 Since September. 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:56.559 And you don't know this about Isaac, but Isaac lives about 40 minutes from here, 45 minutes from here, something like that. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:59.359 And so some of you cry, baby, it's 15 minutes. 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:00.640 Suck it up. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:03.359 You've been in America too long. 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:05.759 But here's what you don't know. 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:10.640 Isaac has a job for working for a commercial air conditioning company, don't you, Isaac? 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:11.039 Yes. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:11.920 Yes, you do. 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:17.039 And so Isaac gets up every day and has to ride the bus because he doesn't have a vehicle. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:19.359 And how long do you ride the bus every day? 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:21.359 Round trip to work and back home. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:22.319 How long does it take? 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:24.799 Between four and six hours. 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:27.680 You've ridden a city bus lately. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:32.799 That's it has to make a bunch of stops to downtown and then you've got to catch it out to Northwest Houston. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:37.599