WEBVTT 00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:08.960 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:14.080 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProkway.org. 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:25.760 Dear God, um, may we never lose sight of how explosive it is that you are the forgiver of sins. 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:32.640 God, please, can you reawake for those of us, including myself, whose hearts are numb towards the gospel? 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:42.640 Will you please just reopen our eyes to the miracle that you are the forgiver of sins, not the excuser of sins, you are the forgiver of sins. 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:52.159 Holy Spirit, um, will you the meditations of my heart and then the and the proclamation of the word, would that be holy and acceptable to you, Jesus? 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:57.439 Help me to get out of your way, and King Jesus, will you speak to us this morning from your scriptures? 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:00.079 It's in your beautiful and holy name I pray. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:00.880 Amen. 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:01.679 Amen. 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:02.719 You can have your seat. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:07.840 Um, if you have your Bible, will you turn to Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 and 1 through 12? 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:11.200 Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 through 12. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:17.920 If you're sitting next to someone who doesn't have a Bible, I give you permission to just awkwardly and lovingly slide the Bible in between you guys. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:24.239 I want all of us in this room to be looking at the words of King Jesus because it's of utmost importance. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.840 It's Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 through 12. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:29.200 My name is Leo Almeida. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:34.079 I'm a youth pastor over Cornerstone, over at Cornerstone Community Bible Church in Rosenberg. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:37.439 Um originally I grew up in the Katy area. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:41.439 I graduated um from Seven Lakes High School in 2011. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:45.439 And when I graduated, I migrated to this silly little place called Oklahoma. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:47.439 I went to Oklahoma State University. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:49.280 I got my degree from Oklahoma State. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:56.879 I did engineering, and then right before I was about to graduate, God came and yanked me into doing ministry, and I'm glad he did. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:59.439 And now I live in the Rosenberg area. 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:06.319 But originally, like originally, originally, I was born and raised in Angola, Africa. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:10.400 Okay, born and raised in Angola, Africa, and I'm actually of a rare breed of Africans. 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:16.240 I'm actually of a very, very rare tribe of Africans who actually loves National Geographic. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:22.800 Okay, I actually really, really enjoy, I really, really enjoy Nat Geo. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:23.919 Like I love Nat Geo. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:32.719 I remember whenever Steve Irwin passed away, that was actually one of the first celebrity deaths to actually influence me and affected me because I love, love Nat Nat Geo. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:41.039 I oftentimes when I'm preparing to speak with sermons or talks, I'll have Nat Geo playing in the background just so I can catch glimpses of God's beautiful creation. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:43.120 I love, love, love Nat Geo. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:49.599 But as an African, loving Nat Geo, I'm kind of in the minority in that. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:51.039 I'm in the minority in that. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:03:05.840 A lot of Africans despise National Geographic because they think and they say, and they're right, that Nat Geo, with their hyper focus on the wildlife, they make Africa out to seem like a continent that's just a gigantic zoo. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:16.400 So a lot of if they think that um there's a lot of ignorance already about what Africa is, and they think that Nat Geo is just fueling the fire, and those people are actually right. 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:18.960 Ignorance about Africa is very, very high. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:27.199 When I was, I moved here in the United States when I was seven years old, it was in 2001, and people used to come up to me and ask me, hey, what's Africa like? 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:33.680 As a seven-year-old, I could hear it in their voice and see it in their eyes, they were waiting for stories. 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:37.199 Stories about lions and tigers and bears. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:39.599 But that because ignorance is very, very high. 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:44.000 People would ask us all the time, hey, did you guys ride elephants to school? 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:46.879 And they'd be like, no, no, no, just kidding. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:48.080 I didn't do it, just kidding. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:50.719 And you could tell they actually that was actually a question. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:04:10.319 They actually were curious as if we rode elephants to school because ignorance about Africa was very, very high, and so much so, so much so that as a manipulative fourth grader, a manipulative fourth grader, I decided to have some fun with it, and I made up this elaborate story about how I used to get chased by cannibals, right? 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:13.680 My brother and I, we used to get chased by cannibals. 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:28.480 Again, we're all laughing, and that sounds ridiculous, but you have no idea how many locker rooms, okay, how many classrooms, how many lunch tables I had at my mercy when I would tell my story about these, about these cannibals that chased us, right? 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:30.720 So they'd be like, Leo, how are you so fast? 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:41.199 And I'd be like, Well, in Africa, I was training my soccer skills in the woods, which by the way, I'm from a capital city, which is highly industrial, very, very urban. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:42.639 There are hardly any woods. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.519 And also, I was like six, I wasn't training anything. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:49.120 But people hear, Africa, woods, soccer? 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:50.160 Keep going. 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:52.319 This checks out, keep going. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:05:02.079 And I was like, Yeah, you know, I was training my soccer skills in the woods, and someone kicked the ball past this bush, and I went to go get it past this bush, and then I heard this growling. 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.920 I heard this growling coming from behind the bush, and I looked back there. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.560 And there was a man who was foaming at the mouth. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.720 His eyes were bloodshot red. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:13.759 We didn't communicate to each other, but I knew what that was. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:16.720 I sprinted, he sprinted, and he chased after me. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:21.839 And because the adrenaline was pumping so hard, lo and behold, my leg got an extra muscle. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:24.480 Therefore, that's why I'm so fast. 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.560 That's actually why I am so, so fast. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:32.399 Again, we're laughing, but you have no idea what that story did to people. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:36.959 Invariably, someone would grab my arm and tell me, Hey Leo, you're safe with us, okay? 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:40.639 You are you are safe with us. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:47.439 Now, I don't know, I don't know about cannibals, but in the reality, Angola is actually very, very shocking. 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:49.759 Where I'm from, it is very, very shocking. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:53.439 It is very, very different from Crab River Road and Grand Parkway. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:54.800 It is very, very shocking. 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:59.040 Every time I'm on my way back, I always tell myself, listen, prepare yourself. 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:00.959 You're about to see some very, very bizarre things. 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:07.360 One of the most shocking things about Angola is that there is no socioeconomic compartmentalization. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:20.639 What that means is here in the States, here in the United States, um, in order to live, in order to afford property inside of a gated community, you need to have a certain tax bracket. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:28.240 Okay, in order to own property in a gated community, you can't just work part-time at a fast food place and afford property inside of a gated community. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:31.680 And that's the other way around for the end of the other end of the spectrum as well. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:36.639 You can't, you're not gonna have like a park full of a lot of mobile homes and then a mansion right there. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:38.079 That's not gonna happen, okay? 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:40.959 Because we have socioeconomic compartmentalization. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:43.920 In Angola, that's not true. 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:46.560 Everyone is smushed together. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:48.319 Everyone is living in the same place. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:58.560 Matter of fact, one of the biggest spectacles I've ever seen, it took me growing up to actually notice it, one of the biggest spectacles I've ever seen was on my aunt street and on my aunt, or my aunt street. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:00.959 Um, and what you have there is a very, very poor neighborhood. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:06.319 We have tin roof, tin roof, tin roof, two tin roof, four million dollar mansion. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:08.000 Tin roof, tin roof. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:10.720 I mean, it is the most bizarre thing in the world. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:14.000 And that is a common theme throughout the city I am from. 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:17.839 What we have there, okay, you have people that are living so close. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:23.279 People that are living so close, but they're experiencing two radically different realities. 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:23.759 Okay? 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:32.240 They are living, they're occupying the same space, but their lives are taking place in two completely different worlds. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:35.920 Friends, you and I are called to that. 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:36.480 Okay? 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:38.720 You and I are called to that. 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:46.639 Jesus Christ's life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension was anything but smooth. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:52.319 It's actually very, very violent because what what God was doing in Christ, he was punching. 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:57.279 God was punching a hole between the real world and the ideal world. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:04.160 He was punching a hole between the old kingdom and the new kingdom, and these two kingdoms are being smashed together. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:08.160 My favorite passages of the Bible is in John 18, 36, okay. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:10.160 Pontius Pilate is interviewing Jesus. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:19.040 He doesn't realize Jesus is an actual king, okay, and he just says, Listen, my kingdom, my kingdom is not of this world. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:22.720 Friends, that sentence doesn't end with, and I'm just here to visit. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:23.839 Goodbye. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:28.000 No, but his kingdom is invading this world. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:32.399 So you have two kingdoms, the old kingdom and new kingdom, they are being smooshed together. 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:39.919 And if you're here right now and you can hear my voice and you've said yes to Jesus Christ, you are living in the overlap of two kingdoms. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:42.320 Colossians 1.13 says it this way, okay? 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:49.759 God has delivered us from the domain of darkness, and he's transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:52.399 He has delivered us. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:56.559 He has not, he will, or at the very end, if you're nice, no, no, no. 00:08:56.799 --> 00:08:57.919 He has delivered us. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:01.759 As soon as you said yes to Christ, your citizenship is transferred. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.639 Okay, Paul says it like this in Philippians 3.20. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:11.279 Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:16.639 So we are citizens of the new kingdom living in the old kingdom. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:18.240 My friends, the plot thickens. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:20.960 Okay, this is where it gets very, very tricky. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:27.200 This old kingdom, this world, has a gravitational pull on our hearts. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:30.559 It has a gravitational pull on our flesh. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:33.919 Okay, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:42.720 This world that worships greed, status, exaltation, recognition, and self is attractive to our vampire nature that loves the darkness, hates the light. 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:44.559 A gravitational pull. 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:46.080 That's plot twist number one. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:55.360 Plot twist number two is that the new kingdom, the one that we've been transferred to, the one that we are our citizenship is transferred to, that new kingdom is invisible. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:58.080 Your five senses can't confirm it. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:05.679 So when Jesus says things like, hey, rejoice and be glad when they curse you because of me, you and I are like, What? 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:07.120 Okay, what? 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:09.840 That is it, because all we can feel are our feelings. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:21.759 So the hard part is we're called to live in this kingdom, we're called to live in this world as foreigners and immigrants of this world, while our citizenship is in the new kingdom. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:24.399 Our citizenship is in the ideal world. 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:25.759 How do we do that? 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.600 Okay, theologians call this the already not yet. 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:30.559 This overlap right here. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:31.759 Think Venn diagram. 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:34.480 Theologians call this the already not yet. 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:38.399 What do citizens of the new kingdom look like as we live in this overlap? 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:41.600 Let's look at the words of King Jesus. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:43.840 Let's look at the words of King Jesus. 00:10:51.600 --> 00:11:05.440 Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and he taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:09.440 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:13.759 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:18.639 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:23.360 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:27.919 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:33.279 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:38.240 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:45.600 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:49.519 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:53.039 For they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 00:11:53.360 --> 00:11:54.320 That's the word of the Lord. 00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:07.279 Now, um, preaching a text like this is always difficult, especially to people who probably grown up in church, because your familiarity with these words can sometimes hijack the explosive nature of these words. 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:13.360 But this passage is actually answering a very, very important question for us in 2018. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:15.039 How do we shine? 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:18.320 How do we shine as immigrants of this world? 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.799 How do we shine as immigrants of this world? 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:29.039 As an immigrant, speaking from experience, whenever you're an immigrant of a different country, remember this country or a different country, okay, you usually try to keep a low profile. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:32.799 You're not seen as cute and exotic right away. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:34.559 You're a weirdo who talks funny. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:37.440 So the name of the game is blending in as much as possible. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:40.639 I'm gonna say the least words as possible so they don't know it's my accent. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:43.759 I'm gonna try to blend into the culture so you don't see that I'm different. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:47.679 But if you keep reading this passage, Jesus Christ takes that off the table. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:55.440 And he says, Listen, every sh 100% of every chandelier you've ever seen wasn't under a chair. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:56.080 Okay? 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:59.200 Every lamp you ever seen, it wasn't under a desk. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:00.159 They were up. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:01.919 And that's the same thing with you. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:06.960 You need to be lights in this world, you need to be a city on a hill, you need to shine. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:11.279 So, how do we shine as immigrants of this world? 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.000 How do we shine as immigrants of this world? 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.399 Well, I think this text is telling us at least three things. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.639 So, first off, we need to be self-aware and not self-absorbed. 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:23.120 Self-aware but not self-absorbed. 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:23.919 Look at verse three. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:25.519 Okay, consider verse three. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:26.799 Okay. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:32.879 Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:36.000 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:37.360 That sounds cute. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:39.200 What does it actually mean? 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:41.360 And I love this definition of poor in spirit, okay? 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:48.559 Are though uh poor in spirit are individuals who recognize their natural unworthiness to stand in God's presence. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:56.720 They recognize their natural unworthiness to stand in God's presence, and they depend utterly on God for God's mercy and God's grace. 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:03.600 Okay, they're natural unworthy in God's presence, and they reckon they depend utterly on God for his mercy and his grace. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:09.600 My last semester at Oklahoma State, I look at the air quotes, I got in trouble for cheating. 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:10.159 Right? 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:12.000 So it was two months before graduation. 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:16.399 I had an assignment in one of my classes, I had read a two-page paper on ergonomics. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:18.080 Okay, sounds exciting, right? 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:19.200 Two-page paper. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:20.639 So people were like, no, it doesn't. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:22.879 Um, two-page paper on ergonomics. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:28.240 Well, a few months before that, I wrote a 25-page paper on ergonomics. 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:34.320 Okay, and I it was a research, extensive research paper on human factors and ergonomics, and I got a really good grade. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:40.480 So in my senior, not laziness, but my senior efficiency and my senior wisdom, it's efficient. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:46.399 I just thought, I'll just cut this paper down all the way to two and I'll turn it in for this class. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:48.799 Which, by the way, at Oklahoma State, you're allowed to do that. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:51.600 You're allowed to turn in one paper for a few classes. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:55.840 But the only stipulation is you have to let your professor know beforehand. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:04.480 You have to let him know beforehand because what these professors do, they grab your pay they grab your paper and they turn it into turnitin.com to check it for plagiarism. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:04.960 Okay? 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:10.320 So I do one list down with two pages, I turn it in and I forget to tell them. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:11.440 I just turn it in. 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.480 And I'm at the library working with some classmates on a project that we have. 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:30.000 We take a break working from the project, and we start checking our grades, everyone starts checking their ergonomics paper grade, everyone's getting hundreds, ninety-fives, hundreds, ninety-five, and then I open up my laptop and I check the grade, and there's a black donut where my 100 belongs, right? 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:34.399 And next to it, there's a dash that says, This is completely plagiarized. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.639 See me in my office immediately. 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:37.200 Okay? 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:38.960 I don't get in trouble very often. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:41.200 Okay, so I freaked out. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:45.919 I shut my laptop, I shoved my laptop in my backpack, and I was walking. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:48.559 I needed to go prove to him that I am righteous. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.279 I needed to prove to him I am right in this situation. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:16:06.080 I stormed to his office, and I literally, every step I took to his office, I was coming up with different angles and way to argue because I needed to prove to him I had mountains of evidence to show him my righteousness and that I deserve better. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:07.679 I deserve better. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:13.120 Now, even though I was right, even though, is that poor in spirit? 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:14.799 Okay, no. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:21.120 Tragically and unfortunately, a lot of us waltz into God's presence exactly like that. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:26.559 Okay, this is one of those things that really petrifies me about doing youth ministry and the Bible belt. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:32.240 Because what will tend to happen, what will always happen, is I'll always keep getting professional good kids. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:34.879 I'm gonna get a lot of professional good kids. 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:39.039 And these are good kids, kids are just really good at being good. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:41.519 They know how to say everything right. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:43.679 They know how to behave really well. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:45.200 They're just really, really good. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:46.639 They're talented at being good. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:49.519 Never mind God's grace, never mind God's mercy. 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:52.240 I'm gonna focus on my behavior and be really good. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:57.039 What will happen is these students they go to college and heartbreak happens in college. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:10.160 Something tragic happens in college, whether it's mom and dad get divorced or grandma or grandpa, somebody gets cancer, they get dumped for the first time or rejected for the first time, or they fail their first class, something tragic happens in college. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:17.039 And these professional good kids, they look at their circumstances, look at their behavior, and they storm into God's presence, like, wait a second. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:18.559 I don't cuss. 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:19.599 Okay? 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:20.799 I do not cuss. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:22.799 I still have never been drunk. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:23.599 Okay? 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:28.240 They were smoking cigarettes, I was learning how to spell Nebuchadnezzar, okay? 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:31.759 I deserve better than this. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:33.599 I just you owe me. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:34.559 You owe me. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:38.079 And friends, the text saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:41.119 Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:50.079 Due to the events that happened in August of 2017, Houstonians should have a very, very fresh take on being poor in spirit. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:59.599 Let Hurricane Harvey be a reminder to all of us how small we are, how fragile we are, and how temporary stuff is. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.160 Um, same with the eclipse. 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:02.960 Back it up a week. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:04.640 Same with the eclipse, right? 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:09.759 We had to wear sunglasses lest our eyes be damaged. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:15.759 We had to wear sunglasses to look at a sun that was 92 million miles away. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:17.119 Right? 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:22.480 The scripture tells us in Psalm chapter 8 that those are the works of his fingers. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:25.839 Not his armies, not his hands, works of his fingers. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:29.359 And his holiness shines infinitely brighter than the sun. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:33.039 And we're planning on walking into his presence saying, Hey, you owe me? 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:34.240 No. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:36.559 Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:40.559 The people who are poor in spirit are repetitive with the gospel of grace and mercy. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:47.839 These are people who recognize their spiritual poverty before the Lord, and they have nothing awesome to offer God. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:50.480 So we need to be self-aware. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:54.400 If you're gonna shine as an immigrant, we need to be very, very self-aware. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:57.119 But not self-absorbed. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:18:59.039 We cannot be self-absorbed. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:18:59.920 Look at verse 5. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:00.880 Look at verse 5. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:01.440 Okay. 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:07.039 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:10.079 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:12.480 Citizens of the new kingdom are meek. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:17.119 Okay, meekness is humility towards God and humility towards other people. 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:26.960 Being uh meek is having the right to do something, having to power, having the power to do something, but refraining from doing so out of the benefit of someone else. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:27.519 Okay? 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:31.200 Now, humility and meekness is tricky. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.640 Like it is very, very tricky. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:39.359 A lot of people can get jump into the trap and think of um humility um is basically the same thing as self-deprecation. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:41.920 Hear me loud and clear. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.359 Self-deprecation is not meekness. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:48.240 Self-deprecation is not humility. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:20:01.599 Calling yourself ugly, calling yourself stupid, calling yourself unworthy, calling yourself old, calling yourself not good enough constantly, and discipling yourself into those thoughts, that's not humility. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:03.519 That's pride with different vocab. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:05.920 That's pride with different vocab. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:07.279 Because in the words of C.S. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:10.000 Lewis, humility is not thinking less of yourself. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:13.039 Humility is thinking of yourself less. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:18.160 Humility is not thinking less of yourself, as humility is thinking of yourself less. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:26.160 Now, whenever, Jesus aside, if I dare say that, um whenever you hear the words radical humility, who do you think of? 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:30.319 And when you hear the words radical humility, who do you think of? 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:35.599 Is there a person in your life right now who just models the words radical humility? 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:50.400 Furthermore, if I were to interview your co-workers, your friends, your neighbors, your family members, if I was to interview the people in your life and I asked them the same question, hey, who do you think of when you think of radical humility? 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:54.559 Friends, what are the chances your name comes up? 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:55.839 Right? 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.480 What are the chances your face comes up? 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:03.839 Okay, as followers of Jesus Christ, humility should be our life model. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:09.759 Our life needs to be mar uh marked by humility as we stare at the one that has the ultimate humility. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:18.400 In Philippians chapter 2, verses 6 through 8, uh the Bible says, Jesus was in the form of God, but did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:26.480 Rather, he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form. 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:27.759 He humbled himself. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:33.839 He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 00:21:34.720 --> 00:21:36.640 That is radical humility. 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:44.400 So if you're gonna be uh if you're gonna shine as an immigrant of this world, you need to be self aware but not self absorbed. 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:50.799 Secondly, okay, if you're gonna shine as an immigrant in this world, you need to reconcile repeatedly. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:52.480 Reconcile repeatedly. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:53.759 Look at verse 7, okay? 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:55.200 Reconcile repeatedly. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.359 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.599 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:06.079 I did four and a half years at Oklahoma State. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:09.920 Um, I learned a lot from my labs, my teachers, my classmates. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.599 I learned a lot in the classroom. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:17.119 And also on the side, I was going through kind of like a theological puberty, so I learned a lot from the church that I went to. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:23.119 But one of the most incredible um lessons that I learned was actually um at Panera Bread. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:27.119 Okay, I learned an incredibly accurate picture at Panera Bread. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:29.599 I live with five other guys, and I can get kind of claustrophobic. 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:34.480 So on Saturday mornings, I would go off by myself and I would read the word of God and spend time with Jesus. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:38.319 And on my way back one Saturday, I decided to stop by Panera Bread. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:42.160 They had this new thing called the drive-thru at Panera Bread that I wanted to debut. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:44.400 So I went to Panera Bread, I rolled into the drive-thru. 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:46.480 I picked the what I always pick out. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:51.599 I picked out my drink and my my sandwich and my my little side item. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:53.839 I pulled up to the window to pay. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:23:01.200 Okay, and just as I'm about to give them my big bag of cash, it's Panera bread, so it's like$600 for a sandwich and chips. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:10.880 But I'm about to give them my my tuition money, and the lady goes, actually, the car in front of you, the car in front of you already paid. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:12.160 So you don't owe us anything. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:13.759 Just take your food and you're free to go. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:16.480 And I was like, Wow, thank you. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:20.480 I get my sandwich, I put it in my car, and I'm driving off, I have music blasting. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:22.720 This is shaping up to be an amazing Saturday. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:27.839 I get to my house, I rip open my food, my roommate Ryan Gooch walks in. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:32.000 Okay, Ryan Gooch looks at me eating, and I'm like, dude, this was free. 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:33.680 The car in front of me paid. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:34.400 I'm so excited. 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:35.759 The car in front of me paid. 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:41.440 And he looks at my food and he looks at me and he goes, So you paid for the car behind you, right? 00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:47.599 No, Gooch. 00:23:47.920 --> 00:23:51.200 I I didn't, I didn't pay for the car behind me. 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:54.880 But that is such an accurate picture of you and I when it comes to the goodness of God. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:58.480 If his goodness is the living water, we were never meant to be buckets. 00:23:58.559 --> 00:23:59.599 We're meant to be pipes. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:08.000 We're meant to be pipes and not buckets, but we're constantly, constantly let God's goodness, God's grace, God's mercy just terminate on us. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:08.559 Okay? 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:12.559 Mercy that comes from God was not just meant to be admired. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:17.359 It was meant to be experienced, and even further, it was meant to be extended. 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:20.480 The mercy that comes from God was meant to be extended. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:24.079 You and I should be experts in mercy. 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:27.200 We should get excited about forgiving someone. 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:28.960 We should be experts in mercy. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:35.440 And one of the biggest keys to mercy is remembering how you were whenever you needed help. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:38.880 Remembering how you were whenever you needed mercy. 00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:45.599 Jesus Christ spells out mercy and the and the transactional uh nature of mercy really well in one of my favorite parables. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:48.240 It's in Matthew chapter 18, it's about 12 verses. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:48.960 Just bear with me. 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:55.839 This is one of the best, best accurate pictures of what mercy is and our tendency to let mercy terminate on ourselves. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:56.960 This is Matthew chapter 18. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:24:59.039 You don't have to flip there, I'll talk about it right now. 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:08.079 The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, may be compared to a king who wished to settle his account with his servants. 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:15.759 When he began to settle, there was one servant that was brought to him who owed, who owed him 10,000 talents. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:21.200 So 10,000, that's the highest form of Greek number, and talents is the highest form of money. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:28.400 So Jesus Christ putting 10,000 and talents together is the equivalent saying, hey, uh he owed him a zillion dollars. 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:30.160 He owed him a bajillion dollars. 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:35.039 He owed him an insurmountable amount of money, 20 years' wages that you couldn't really pay back. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:44.000 And since he could not pay, his masters ordered him, his master, the king ordered him to be sold with his wife, with his children, with all he had, because payment had to be made. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:48.400 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, have patience with me. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:50.079 I'll pay you everything. 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:59.039 And out of pity for him, the king and the master, the master of that servant released him and forgave him his debts. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:12.400 But when the servant left the king's presence, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, that's give or take twenty dollars, and seized him and began choking him, saying, Hey, pay me what you owe me. 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:13.839 Pay me what you owe me. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:19.440 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me, I'll pay you. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:24.240 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:31.599 When his fellow servants saw that what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported it to the master, everything that had taken place. 00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:40.799 Then his master summoned him and said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:45.119 Should you not have the same servant, same mercy on your servant that I had with you? 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:50.799 And in his anger he delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt. 00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:57.119 So also, my heavenly father would do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:26:58.000 Okay. 00:26:58.480 --> 00:26:59.519 What happened? 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:01.119 He forgot. 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:04.319 Okay, he forgot what it's like to be on his knees and begging. 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:05.759 He forgot what it's like to be desperate. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:06.480 He forgot. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:08.559 He forgot what it's like to need mercy. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:12.160 And friends, you're at your most merciful whenever you remember. 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:16.319 Memory is a great great vehicle to mercy. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:18.559 It's a great, great vehicle to mercy. 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:24.960 And what this text is encouraging us is to treat others the same way that God is treating you, is treated you. 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:27.599 Treat others the same way the Lord has treated you. 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:32.960 Neil alluded to this last week when he hit on Ephesians 5 about being imitators of God. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:40.559 So, aka, another way to say this is the mercy of God was not just to be looked at the same way you look at a shooting star. 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:50.640 Okay, you're called into that and you're called to extend that because how you treat people who are you who you are in conflict with is the same way the Lord will treat you. 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:56.000 How you treat people you're in conflict with is the way the same way the Lord will treat few, you treat you. 00:27:56.160 --> 00:28:01.839 So we're called to have constant forgiveness and we're called to be experts, experts in mercy. 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:15.759 Now, in the same way that being poor in spirit and being um uh being poor in spirit and being meek can swing to the extreme of self-deprecation, okay, so also being an expert in forgiveness can swing into the extreme of passivity. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:23.279 Some of you, whenever somebody wrongs you, whenever somebody sins against you, your natural tendency is not to yell back. 00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:27.119 You don't argue back, you don't raise your voice, you don't cuss. 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:31.759 Your natural propensity is to step back and just withdraw. 00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:34.480 I'm withholding my awesomeness from you. 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:35.039 Okay? 00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:36.400 You you withdraw. 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:38.720 You passively, you passively, don't worry about it. 00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:42.960