SPEAKER_00: This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_00: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProkway.org.
SPEAKER_01: Dear God, um, may we never lose sight of how explosive it is that you are the forgiver of sins.
SPEAKER_01: God, please, can you reawake for those of us, including myself, whose hearts are numb towards the gospel?
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: 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?
SPEAKER_01: Help me to get out of your way, and King Jesus, will you speak to us this morning from your scriptures?
SPEAKER_01: It's in your beautiful and holy name I pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: You can have your seat.
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you have your Bible, will you turn to Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 and 1 through 12?
SPEAKER_01: Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 through 12.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: I want all of us in this room to be looking at the words of King Jesus because it's of utmost importance.
SPEAKER_01: It's Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 through 12.
SPEAKER_01: My name is Leo Almeida.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a youth pastor over Cornerstone, over at Cornerstone Community Bible Church in Rosenberg.
SPEAKER_01: Um originally I grew up in the Katy area.
SPEAKER_01: I graduated um from Seven Lakes High School in 2011.
SPEAKER_01: And when I graduated, I migrated to this silly little place called Oklahoma.
SPEAKER_01: I went to Oklahoma State University.
SPEAKER_01: I got my degree from Oklahoma State.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: And now I live in the Rosenberg area.
SPEAKER_01: But originally, like originally, originally, I was born and raised in Angola, Africa.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, born and raised in Angola, Africa, and I'm actually of a rare breed of Africans.
SPEAKER_01: I'm actually of a very, very rare tribe of Africans who actually loves National Geographic.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I actually really, really enjoy, I really, really enjoy Nat Geo.
SPEAKER_01: Like I love Nat Geo.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: I love, love, love Nat Geo.
SPEAKER_01: But as an African, loving Nat Geo, I'm kind of in the minority in that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm in the minority in that.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Ignorance about Africa is very, very high.
SPEAKER_01: 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?
SPEAKER_01: As a seven-year-old, I could hear it in their voice and see it in their eyes, they were waiting for stories.
SPEAKER_01: Stories about lions and tigers and bears.
SPEAKER_01: But that because ignorance is very, very high.
SPEAKER_01: People would ask us all the time, hey, did you guys ride elephants to school?
SPEAKER_01: And they'd be like, no, no, no, just kidding.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't do it, just kidding.
SPEAKER_01: And you could tell they actually that was actually a question.
SPEAKER_01: 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?
SPEAKER_01: My brother and I, we used to get chased by cannibals.
SPEAKER_01: 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?
SPEAKER_01: So they'd be like, Leo, how are you so fast?
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: There are hardly any woods.
SPEAKER_01: And also, I was like six, I wasn't training anything.
SPEAKER_01: But people hear, Africa, woods, soccer?
SPEAKER_01: Keep going.
SPEAKER_01: This checks out, keep going.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: I heard this growling coming from behind the bush, and I looked back there.
SPEAKER_01: And there was a man who was foaming at the mouth.
SPEAKER_01: His eyes were bloodshot red.
SPEAKER_01: We didn't communicate to each other, but I knew what that was.
SPEAKER_01: I sprinted, he sprinted, and he chased after me.
SPEAKER_01: And because the adrenaline was pumping so hard, lo and behold, my leg got an extra muscle.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, that's why I'm so fast.
SPEAKER_01: That's actually why I am so, so fast.
SPEAKER_01: Again, we're laughing, but you have no idea what that story did to people.
SPEAKER_01: Invariably, someone would grab my arm and tell me, Hey Leo, you're safe with us, okay?
SPEAKER_01: You are you are safe with us.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I don't know, I don't know about cannibals, but in the reality, Angola is actually very, very shocking.
SPEAKER_01: Where I'm from, it is very, very shocking.
SPEAKER_01: It is very, very different from Crab River Road and Grand Parkway.
SPEAKER_01: It is very, very shocking.
SPEAKER_01: Every time I'm on my way back, I always tell myself, listen, prepare yourself.
SPEAKER_01: You're about to see some very, very bizarre things.
SPEAKER_01: One of the most shocking things about Angola is that there is no socioeconomic compartmentalization.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the other way around for the end of the other end of the spectrum as well.
SPEAKER_01: You can't, you're not gonna have like a park full of a lot of mobile homes and then a mansion right there.
SPEAKER_01: That's not gonna happen, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Because we have socioeconomic compartmentalization.
SPEAKER_01: In Angola, that's not true.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone is smushed together.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone is living in the same place.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and what you have there is a very, very poor neighborhood.
SPEAKER_01: We have tin roof, tin roof, tin roof, two tin roof, four million dollar mansion.
SPEAKER_01: Tin roof, tin roof.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it is the most bizarre thing in the world.
SPEAKER_01: And that is a common theme throughout the city I am from.
SPEAKER_01: What we have there, okay, you have people that are living so close.
SPEAKER_01: People that are living so close, but they're experiencing two radically different realities.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: They are living, they're occupying the same space, but their lives are taking place in two completely different worlds.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, you and I are called to that.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: You and I are called to that.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ's life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension was anything but smooth.
SPEAKER_01: It's actually very, very violent because what what God was doing in Christ, he was punching.
SPEAKER_01: God was punching a hole between the real world and the ideal world.
SPEAKER_01: He was punching a hole between the old kingdom and the new kingdom, and these two kingdoms are being smashed together.
SPEAKER_01: My favorite passages of the Bible is in John 18, 36, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Pontius Pilate is interviewing Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't realize Jesus is an actual king, okay, and he just says, Listen, my kingdom, my kingdom is not of this world.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, that sentence doesn't end with, and I'm just here to visit.
SPEAKER_01: Goodbye.
SPEAKER_01: No, but his kingdom is invading this world.
SPEAKER_01: So you have two kingdoms, the old kingdom and new kingdom, they are being smooshed together.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Colossians 1.13 says it this way, okay?
SPEAKER_01: God has delivered us from the domain of darkness, and he's transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son.
SPEAKER_01: He has delivered us.
SPEAKER_01: He has not, he will, or at the very end, if you're nice, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: He has delivered us.
SPEAKER_01: As soon as you said yes to Christ, your citizenship is transferred.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, Paul says it like this in Philippians 3.20.
SPEAKER_01: Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So we are citizens of the new kingdom living in the old kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: My friends, the plot thickens.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, this is where it gets very, very tricky.
SPEAKER_01: This old kingdom, this world, has a gravitational pull on our hearts.
SPEAKER_01: It has a gravitational pull on our flesh.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.
SPEAKER_01: This world that worships greed, status, exaltation, recognition, and self is attractive to our vampire nature that loves the darkness, hates the light.
SPEAKER_01: A gravitational pull.
SPEAKER_01: That's plot twist number one.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Your five senses can't confirm it.
SPEAKER_01: So when Jesus says things like, hey, rejoice and be glad when they curse you because of me, you and I are like, What?
unknown: Okay, what?
SPEAKER_01: That is it, because all we can feel are our feelings.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Our citizenship is in the ideal world.
SPEAKER_01: How do we do that?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, theologians call this the already not yet.
SPEAKER_01: This overlap right here.
SPEAKER_01: Think Venn diagram.
SPEAKER_01: Theologians call this the already not yet.
SPEAKER_01: What do citizens of the new kingdom look like as we live in this overlap?
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at the words of King Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: For they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
SPEAKER_01: That's the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: But this passage is actually answering a very, very important question for us in 2018.
SPEAKER_01: How do we shine?
SPEAKER_01: How do we shine as immigrants of this world?
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: You're not seen as cute and exotic right away.
SPEAKER_01: You're a weirdo who talks funny.
SPEAKER_01: So the name of the game is blending in as much as possible.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna say the least words as possible so they don't know it's my accent.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna try to blend into the culture so you don't see that I'm different.
SPEAKER_01: But if you keep reading this passage, Jesus Christ takes that off the table.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, Listen, every sh 100% of every chandelier you've ever seen wasn't under a chair.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Every lamp you ever seen, it wasn't under a desk.
SPEAKER_01: They were up.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the same thing with you.
SPEAKER_01: You need to be lights in this world, you need to be a city on a hill, you need to shine.
SPEAKER_01: So, how do we shine as immigrants of this world?
SPEAKER_01: How do we shine as immigrants of this world?
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think this text is telling us at least three things.
SPEAKER_01: So, first off, we need to be self-aware and not self-absorbed.
SPEAKER_01: Self-aware but not self-absorbed.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse three.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, consider verse three.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_01: That sounds cute.
SPEAKER_01: What does it actually mean?
SPEAKER_01: And I love this definition of poor in spirit, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Are though uh poor in spirit are individuals who recognize their natural unworthiness to stand in God's presence.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, they're natural unworthy in God's presence, and they reckon they depend utterly on God for his mercy and his grace.
SPEAKER_01: My last semester at Oklahoma State, I look at the air quotes, I got in trouble for cheating.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So it was two months before graduation.
SPEAKER_01: I had an assignment in one of my classes, I had read a two-page paper on ergonomics.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, sounds exciting, right?
SPEAKER_01: Two-page paper.
SPEAKER_01: So people were like, no, it doesn't.
SPEAKER_01: Um, two-page paper on ergonomics.
SPEAKER_01: Well, a few months before that, I wrote a 25-page paper on ergonomics.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, and I it was a research, extensive research paper on human factors and ergonomics, and I got a really good grade.
SPEAKER_01: So in my senior, not laziness, but my senior efficiency and my senior wisdom, it's efficient.
SPEAKER_01: I just thought, I'll just cut this paper down all the way to two and I'll turn it in for this class.
SPEAKER_01: Which, by the way, at Oklahoma State, you're allowed to do that.
SPEAKER_01: You're allowed to turn in one paper for a few classes.
SPEAKER_01: But the only stipulation is you have to let your professor know beforehand.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So I do one list down with two pages, I turn it in and I forget to tell them.
SPEAKER_01: I just turn it in.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm at the library working with some classmates on a project that we have.
SPEAKER_01: 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?
SPEAKER_01: And next to it, there's a dash that says, This is completely plagiarized.
SPEAKER_01: See me in my office immediately.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: I don't get in trouble very often.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so I freaked out.
SPEAKER_01: I shut my laptop, I shoved my laptop in my backpack, and I was walking.
SPEAKER_01: I needed to go prove to him that I am righteous.
SPEAKER_01: I needed to prove to him I am right in this situation.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: I deserve better.
SPEAKER_01: Now, even though I was right, even though, is that poor in spirit?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, no.
SPEAKER_01: Tragically and unfortunately, a lot of us waltz into God's presence exactly like that.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, this is one of those things that really petrifies me about doing youth ministry and the Bible belt.
SPEAKER_01: Because what will tend to happen, what will always happen, is I'll always keep getting professional good kids.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna get a lot of professional good kids.
SPEAKER_01: And these are good kids, kids are just really good at being good.
SPEAKER_01: They know how to say everything right.
SPEAKER_01: They know how to behave really well.
SPEAKER_01: They're just really, really good.
SPEAKER_01: They're talented at being good.
SPEAKER_01: Never mind God's grace, never mind God's mercy.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna focus on my behavior and be really good.
SPEAKER_01: What will happen is these students they go to college and heartbreak happens in college.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: I don't cuss.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: I do not cuss.
SPEAKER_01: I still have never been drunk.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: They were smoking cigarettes, I was learning how to spell Nebuchadnezzar, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I deserve better than this.
SPEAKER_01: I just you owe me.
SPEAKER_01: You owe me.
SPEAKER_01: And friends, the text saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the poor in spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Due to the events that happened in August of 2017, Houstonians should have a very, very fresh take on being poor in spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Let Hurricane Harvey be a reminder to all of us how small we are, how fragile we are, and how temporary stuff is.
SPEAKER_01: Um, same with the eclipse.
SPEAKER_01: Back it up a week.
SPEAKER_01: Same with the eclipse, right?
SPEAKER_01: We had to wear sunglasses lest our eyes be damaged.
SPEAKER_01: We had to wear sunglasses to look at a sun that was 92 million miles away.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: The scripture tells us in Psalm chapter 8 that those are the works of his fingers.
SPEAKER_01: Not his armies, not his hands, works of his fingers.
SPEAKER_01: And his holiness shines infinitely brighter than the sun.
SPEAKER_01: And we're planning on walking into his presence saying, Hey, you owe me?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the poor in spirit.
SPEAKER_01: The people who are poor in spirit are repetitive with the gospel of grace and mercy.
SPEAKER_01: These are people who recognize their spiritual poverty before the Lord, and they have nothing awesome to offer God.
SPEAKER_01: So we need to be self-aware.
SPEAKER_01: If you're gonna shine as an immigrant, we need to be very, very self-aware.
SPEAKER_01: But not self-absorbed.
SPEAKER_01: We cannot be self-absorbed.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 5.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
SPEAKER_01: Citizens of the new kingdom are meek.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, meekness is humility towards God and humility towards other people.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Now, humility and meekness is tricky.
SPEAKER_01: Like it is very, very tricky.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people can get jump into the trap and think of um humility um is basically the same thing as self-deprecation.
SPEAKER_01: Hear me loud and clear.
SPEAKER_01: Self-deprecation is not meekness.
SPEAKER_01: Self-deprecation is not humility.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: That's pride with different vocab.
SPEAKER_01: Because in the words of C.S.
SPEAKER_01: Lewis, humility is not thinking less of yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Humility is thinking of yourself less.
SPEAKER_01: Humility is not thinking less of yourself, as humility is thinking of yourself less.
SPEAKER_01: Now, whenever, Jesus aside, if I dare say that, um whenever you hear the words radical humility, who do you think of?
SPEAKER_01: And when you hear the words radical humility, who do you think of?
SPEAKER_01: Is there a person in your life right now who just models the words radical humility?
SPEAKER_01: 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?
SPEAKER_01: Friends, what are the chances your name comes up?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: What are the chances your face comes up?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, as followers of Jesus Christ, humility should be our life model.
SPEAKER_01: Our life needs to be mar uh marked by humility as we stare at the one that has the ultimate humility.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: He humbled himself.
SPEAKER_01: He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_01: That is radical humility.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, okay, if you're gonna shine as an immigrant in this world, you need to reconcile repeatedly.
SPEAKER_01: Reconcile repeatedly.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 7, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Reconcile repeatedly.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
SPEAKER_01: I did four and a half years at Oklahoma State.
SPEAKER_01: Um, I learned a lot from my labs, my teachers, my classmates.
SPEAKER_01: I learned a lot in the classroom.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: But one of the most incredible um lessons that I learned was actually um at Panera Bread.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, I learned an incredibly accurate picture at Panera Bread.
SPEAKER_01: I live with five other guys, and I can get kind of claustrophobic.
SPEAKER_01: So on Saturday mornings, I would go off by myself and I would read the word of God and spend time with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And on my way back one Saturday, I decided to stop by Panera Bread.
SPEAKER_01: They had this new thing called the drive-thru at Panera Bread that I wanted to debut.
SPEAKER_01: So I went to Panera Bread, I rolled into the drive-thru.
SPEAKER_01: I picked the what I always pick out.
SPEAKER_01: I picked out my drink and my my sandwich and my my little side item.
SPEAKER_01: I pulled up to the window to pay.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: So you don't owe us anything.
SPEAKER_01: Just take your food and you're free to go.
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Wow, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: I get my sandwich, I put it in my car, and I'm driving off, I have music blasting.
SPEAKER_01: This is shaping up to be an amazing Saturday.
SPEAKER_01: I get to my house, I rip open my food, my roommate Ryan Gooch walks in.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, Ryan Gooch looks at me eating, and I'm like, dude, this was free.
SPEAKER_01: The car in front of me paid.
SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_01: The car in front of me paid.
SPEAKER_01: And he looks at my food and he looks at me and he goes, So you paid for the car behind you, right?
SPEAKER_01: No, Gooch.
SPEAKER_01: I I didn't, I didn't pay for the car behind me.
SPEAKER_01: But that is such an accurate picture of you and I when it comes to the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_01: If his goodness is the living water, we were never meant to be buckets.
SPEAKER_01: We're meant to be pipes.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Mercy that comes from God was not just meant to be admired.
SPEAKER_01: It was meant to be experienced, and even further, it was meant to be extended.
SPEAKER_01: The mercy that comes from God was meant to be extended.
SPEAKER_01: You and I should be experts in mercy.
SPEAKER_01: We should get excited about forgiving someone.
SPEAKER_01: We should be experts in mercy.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the biggest keys to mercy is remembering how you were whenever you needed help.
SPEAKER_01: Remembering how you were whenever you needed mercy.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ spells out mercy and the and the transactional uh nature of mercy really well in one of my favorite parables.
SPEAKER_01: It's in Matthew chapter 18, it's about 12 verses.
SPEAKER_01: Just bear with me.
SPEAKER_01: This is one of the best, best accurate pictures of what mercy is and our tendency to let mercy terminate on ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: This is Matthew chapter 18.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to flip there, I'll talk about it right now.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: When he began to settle, there was one servant that was brought to him who owed, who owed him 10,000 talents.
SPEAKER_01: So 10,000, that's the highest form of Greek number, and talents is the highest form of money.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus Christ putting 10,000 and talents together is the equivalent saying, hey, uh he owed him a zillion dollars.
SPEAKER_01: He owed him a bajillion dollars.
SPEAKER_01: He owed him an insurmountable amount of money, 20 years' wages that you couldn't really pay back.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, have patience with me.
SPEAKER_01: I'll pay you everything.
SPEAKER_01: And out of pity for him, the king and the master, the master of that servant released him and forgave him his debts.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Pay me what you owe me.
SPEAKER_01: So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me, I'll pay you.
SPEAKER_01: He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Then his master summoned him and said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
SPEAKER_01: Should you not have the same servant, same mercy on your servant that I had with you?
SPEAKER_01: And in his anger he delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt.
SPEAKER_01: So also, my heavenly father would do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: What happened?
SPEAKER_01: He forgot.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, he forgot what it's like to be on his knees and begging.
SPEAKER_01: He forgot what it's like to be desperate.
SPEAKER_01: He forgot.
SPEAKER_01: He forgot what it's like to need mercy.
SPEAKER_01: And friends, you're at your most merciful whenever you remember.
SPEAKER_01: Memory is a great great vehicle to mercy.
SPEAKER_01: It's a great, great vehicle to mercy.
SPEAKER_01: And what this text is encouraging us is to treat others the same way that God is treating you, is treated you.
SPEAKER_01: Treat others the same way the Lord has treated you.
SPEAKER_01: Neil alluded to this last week when he hit on Ephesians 5 about being imitators of God.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: How you treat people you're in conflict with is the way the same way the Lord will treat few, you treat you.
SPEAKER_01: So we're called to have constant forgiveness and we're called to be experts, experts in mercy.
SPEAKER_01: 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.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you, whenever somebody wrongs you, whenever somebody sins against you, your natural tendency is not to yell back.
SPEAKER_01: You don't argue back, you don't raise your voice, you don't cuss.
SPEAKER_01: Your natural propensity is to step back and just withdraw.
SPEAKER_01: I'm withholding my awesomeness from you.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: You you withdraw.
SPEAKER_01: You passively, you passively, don't worry about it.
SPEAKER_01: You just passively, you passively just um let everything play itself out.
SPEAKER_01: You let everything play itself out.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, and and you make the mistake of calling that right there mercy and forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, that is not mercy or forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: That's called peacekeeping.
SPEAKER_01: For example, I am a peacekeeper.
SPEAKER_01: I would rather eat a glass sandwich than to confront anybody.
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't like confrontation at all.
SPEAKER_01: I really dislike arguing me arguing with people.
SPEAKER_01: I don't like upsetting people, I don't like making other people feel uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_01: Like my name is Leo, and I was helping somebody move.
SPEAKER_01: I was helping somebody move, and they called me Cleo for three hours.
SPEAKER_01: I let it slide for three hours.
SPEAKER_01: I was I rationalized it like I'm from Africa, Cleopatra was from Africa, so it kind of like it kind of makes it kind of makes sense.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm a peacekeeper.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a peacekeeper.
SPEAKER_01: That's a lot of pride in there.
SPEAKER_01: I am a peacekeeper.
SPEAKER_01: On the other hand, my brother Joel, not a peacekeeper, he's a peacemaker.
SPEAKER_01: He is a peacemaker.
SPEAKER_01: He's willing to step into uncomfortable situations and have confrontations in order to heal relationships.
SPEAKER_01: He's willing to say really hard things in order to heal.
SPEAKER_01: He's willing to pay the expensive price of an uncomfortable moment in order to make for reconciliation.
SPEAKER_01: Now I want you to look at verse 9 and read verse 9 to yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Read verse 9 to yourself.
SPEAKER_01: What does that say?
SPEAKER_01: Say, blessed are the passive?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, blessed are those who withdraw.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the peacekeepers?
SPEAKER_01: No, it says, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
SPEAKER_01: In Luke's account of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ starts his preaching by pronouncing woes on the people that are there.
SPEAKER_01: Uncomfortable room.
SPEAKER_01: He pronounces woes on the people that are there.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, woe to you who are worshiping power, woe to you who worship comfort, woe to you who worship success, woe to you who are worshiping recognition.
SPEAKER_01: And friends, as followers of Christ, you're called to that as well.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, if a loved one is sinning against you, or worse off sinning against God and operating out of the old kingdom way of things, you are called to woe as well.
SPEAKER_01: Not in a way that's judgmental.
SPEAKER_01: You don't get to judge or transfer people in between kingdoms, but you are called to be a peacemaker.
SPEAKER_01: You're called to enter into uncomfortable situations because that's what God did with us.
SPEAKER_01: He literally put on skin to enter in.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, the pre- the the we have peace with God because Jesus paid the ultimate price of that.
SPEAKER_01: He faced our sins head on.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, the beauty of judgment day is that one day everything will be made right.
SPEAKER_01: One day everything will be made right.
SPEAKER_01: Until then, conflicts are inevitable.
SPEAKER_01: Conflicts are inevitable.
SPEAKER_01: And you and I are called to reconcile repeatedly.
SPEAKER_01: We're called to reconcile repeatedly.
SPEAKER_01: We should be excited about forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: Now, lastly, how do we shine as immigrants of this world?
SPEAKER_01: We are self-aware, not self-absorbed.
SPEAKER_01: We reconcile repeatedly, and lastly, we make much of what God makes much of.
SPEAKER_01: We make a big deal about what God makes a big deal about.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 4.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, citizens of heaven make much of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, citizens of heaven make much of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Sin is not minor, sin is not small, sin is shocking.
SPEAKER_01: And verse 4 is referencing people who know how bad their sin is.
SPEAKER_01: They know their spirit, the reason this is so close to verse 3, they know that their spiritual poverty comes from their own sin.
SPEAKER_01: They know that they stand blame or uh have their they stand guilty uh because of their sin.
SPEAKER_01: And this word mourn is talking about the deepest levels of grief.
SPEAKER_01: Citizens of heaven don't have this kind of uh everybody does it mentality over their sin, but no, they lament over their sin.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: They know that Christ has paid the way, but they still lament over their sin and they don't like their sin.
SPEAKER_01: They have an understanding that there's parts of their lives that are negligible, popular, or even expected by the world, but they are grotesque to a holy God.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, they're grotesque to a holy God, and they are a move to godly grief.
SPEAKER_01: Now the scripture says that godly grief, it does not end there.
SPEAKER_01: Godly grief, it does not end.
SPEAKER_01: With citizens of heaven have grief, it is not end there.
SPEAKER_01: Because godly grief, according to 2 Corinthians 7:10, godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.
SPEAKER_01: Citizen of heaven make much of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at verse 4.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at what else we need to make much of.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 6.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, citizens living in the overlap, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Immigrants of this world make much of righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this is simple, but this is not easy at all.
SPEAKER_01: These are individuals who are fighting, who are really, really thirsty and really, really have a burning desire to be more like Jesus in their everyday life, in the way that they think, in the way that they talk, and the way that they walk, and the way that they forgive.
SPEAKER_01: They just desire, have a burning desire to be more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I love Romans chapter 7 because we get an MRI on Paul.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul is saying, Oh, I am a wretched, wretched man.
SPEAKER_01: I don't do what I want to do, and I end up doing what I don't want to do.
SPEAKER_01: And you can see with the way he's wrestling himself, he is hungering and he's thirsting for righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: Furthermore, the psalmist in Psalm 119, verse 20 says, Listen, my soul aches for your laws, O Lord.
SPEAKER_01: My soul aches for your laws.
SPEAKER_01: That's an individual who is thirsty and hungry for righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: What do you try your hardest at?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, in 1st Peter or 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter encourages his congregation to make every effort, make every effort, or try your very hardest to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, brotherly affection with love.
SPEAKER_01: Either you're doing that, either you're making every effort to do that, or you're proven to be unproductive.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, the people or citizens living in the overlap are starving to be more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And look, they will be.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, they eventually will be.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 8.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
SPEAKER_01: Now people see pure in heart and they immediately think perfection.
SPEAKER_01: But friends, being pure in heart or walking in the light, this has less to do with perfection and more to do with confession.
SPEAKER_01: This has more to do with transparency than it does have to do with being perfect.
SPEAKER_01: I love this definition, the short paragraph I found.
SPEAKER_01: Being pure in heart involves having a singleness of heart toward God.
SPEAKER_01: A pure heart has no hypocrisy, no craftiness, no hidden motives.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, a pure heart is marked by transparency and an uncom uncompromising desire to please God in all things.
SPEAKER_01: It is more than an external purity of behavior, it is an internal purity of the soul.
SPEAKER_01: So, friends, citizens living in the overlap, they make much of sin, they make much of righteousness, they make much of purity.
SPEAKER_01: So, how do we shine as immigrants of this world?
SPEAKER_01: We're self-aware, not self-absorbed.
SPEAKER_01: We reconcile repeatedly, and we make much of what God makes much of.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what I have for us this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to end with this illustration that I heard that was proven to be very, very helpful for me.
SPEAKER_01: Um, people, people in Wisconsin, they don't party about snow the way we do.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: People up north in Wisconsin, they don't they're not partying about snow the same way that you and I party about snow.
SPEAKER_01: I remember the best day of my life was December 25th, 2004.
SPEAKER_01: I walked outside on Christmas, and there were these tiny microscopic white crystals falling from the sky.
SPEAKER_01: Those are the best like four and a half minutes of my life.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, that was the best day of my life.
SPEAKER_01: That was the best day of my life.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the second best day of my life was December 4th, 2009.
SPEAKER_01: I'm walking out of basketball practice, and again, those same tiny white powders started falling from the sky, and I watched as my entire school went outside to party.
SPEAKER_01: People were rolling around in the snow, people were making like two-inch snowmen, people were like selfie.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was one of the best days of my life.
SPEAKER_01: That's not happening in Wisconsin.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: That's not happening in Wisconsin.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I've been told the people there there comes a time the people in Wisconsin start to get very, very annoyed of snow.
SPEAKER_01: Snow starts to get very, very annoying.
SPEAKER_01: Because uh it's like late March, um, mid to late April, the whole world is cannonballing inside pools, everyone is having a blast outside, people are changing colors, sunscreen before we go outside, but they're still plowing snow away from the driveway.
SPEAKER_01: They're still putting on five jackets and four hats and four gloves and boots and leggings and leg warmers.
SPEAKER_01: They're doing all these just to go outside to take the trash out.
SPEAKER_01: So snow starts to get uh very, very annoying.
SPEAKER_01: But up north, there's this flower.
SPEAKER_01: There's this purplish flower, okay, called the crocus flower.
SPEAKER_01: And this crocus flower signifies that spring is either here or spring is near.
SPEAKER_01: Spring is here or it's near.
SPEAKER_01: And what will inevitably happen is people start to think that snow is eternal, and they're going, like, man, winter will never end.
SPEAKER_01: And in the midst of the snow, they see something purple on the ground, and they look closer.
SPEAKER_01: Lo and behold, it's the crocus flower.
SPEAKER_01: In the midst of the snow, this the crocus flower.
SPEAKER_01: So out of that evidence, they realize spring is here slash spring is near.
SPEAKER_01: So they'll jump into action, they'll spring, they'll pun intend, they'll spring into action, they'll go inside, they'll take off their big puffy jackets, they take off their hats, they just go outside in just a t-shirt, they grab a frisbee and a football, and they just have a blast outside.
SPEAKER_01: And that's actually a lot of people's favorite day of winter, is the day that they spend pretending it's spring, right?
SPEAKER_01: They have a blast outside.
SPEAKER_01: Because of that evidence, it sprung them into action.
SPEAKER_01: And friends, that's what faith is.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: That's what faith is.
SPEAKER_01: It's going to be very, very difficult in this world that that's driven by pop culture to make much of what God makes much of.
SPEAKER_01: It's going to be very, very difficult in this world full of snowy conflict to reconcile repeatedly.
SPEAKER_01: In our selfie cultural culture, it's gonna be very, very difficult to be self-aware but not self-absorbed.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to encourage you in saying, listen, our crocus flower has bloomed.
SPEAKER_01: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the biggest crocus flower you need.
SPEAKER_01: Our crocus flower has bloomed.
SPEAKER_01: And because of that evidence, we ourselves, we should spring into action.
SPEAKER_01: Because whenever you spring into action, because of the evidence of that, whenever you spring into action, you start to catch a snippet of the second sentence, of the second half of these sentences.
SPEAKER_01: That's how I see faith playing out in the scriptures.
SPEAKER_01: It's people consider evidence, they spring into action, and because they sprung into action, they get to taste a preview of the hope that they're ultimately hoping in.
SPEAKER_01: So you're gonna get catch um a little bit of what it's like to um, if you spring into action, you're gonna catch a little bit of what it's like to have the kingdom of heaven and to be comforted and to inherit the earth and to be satisfied and to receive mercy and to see God and be called sons of God.
SPEAKER_01: That's when you spring into action, you start to taste snippets of what that's ultimately going to be like.
SPEAKER_01: That's what faith is.
SPEAKER_01: And our crocus flower in Christ has bloomed.
SPEAKER_01: So let's shine as immigrants of this world.
SPEAKER_01: Let me pray for us.
SPEAKER_01: God, thank you for uh thank you for who you are.
SPEAKER_01: Uh Lord, I just I just again, I thank you that you had you're saving us into something.
SPEAKER_01: You're you're redeeming us, but meanwhile, you're redeeming us, God, we can shine in this world.
SPEAKER_01: Romans 1.16, Lord, that we not be ashamed of the power of the gospel because for it we're being saved.
SPEAKER_01: God, I pray for these people here.
SPEAKER_01: This isn't go just as something we heard, but we can record, we can just chop at the bits to forgive other people.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, thank you for walking with us and having timeless words that are also timely in 2018.
SPEAKER_01: God, you are you are good.
SPEAKER_01: It's in your beautiful night, I pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Clyde's just gonna play.
SPEAKER_00: And just ask yourself, what do I walk away with today?
SPEAKER_00: What do I walk away with?
SPEAKER_00: For some of you, maybe you're a believer, you're a Christian, but it's been uh a while since you saw that purple in the snow.
SPEAKER_00: And you start to wonder, is it really under there?
SPEAKER_00: Am I really am I really a converted person?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's so hard, and I've made not the best choices.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, what do you walk away with?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to be self-aware and not self-absorbed in a culture that is so self-absorbed?
SPEAKER_00: So just take some time.
SPEAKER_00: You may want to bow your head, you may want to just sit and stare at the ceiling, but just take a just take a few seconds and just kind of ask yourself, what's my takeaway?
SPEAKER_00: Let's think digestively about what we've heard this morning, beloved.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we're mindful today that uh this passage begins with a repeated word over and over.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed, blessed are those who do these things.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed are those who live counter and who live in contrary to the culture around us.
SPEAKER_00: So we begin with the state of being blessed.
SPEAKER_00: So we are the blessed people of God.
SPEAKER_00: It is our privilege, Lord, that we assume and accept that today.
SPEAKER_00: It is our privilege to live the lives that you created us to live.
SPEAKER_00: You died to make this available and possible, and you dwell with and within us and empower us into these kind of realities.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Holy Spirit, uh, press in the truths of Scripture upon us and let everything else just kind of fall to the wayside.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: For those of us in this room, it's been a while since we've seen the little flower down there buried beneath under all the snow.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, let us take off all these layers that we've got on us.
SPEAKER_00: Let us lay aside, as Hebrews says, every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles.
SPEAKER_00: And let's get the football on the frisbee and get outside and remind ourselves that spring has sprung.
SPEAKER_00: Our great resurrected Savior has come.
SPEAKER_00: And he changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: For that we are grateful.
SPEAKER_00: So we say thank you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If you're our guest today, let me say thanks for being part of our service.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully you re you availed yourself to one of the guest cards that's on the back of the seats in your row there.
SPEAKER_00: If you fill that out, if you would just drop it one of these wooden boxes by the doors on your way out.
SPEAKER_00: You matter to God, so you matter to us.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's where you would do that.
SPEAKER_00: We just want to uh connect with you when you're ready for us to connect with you in a way that respects your privacy.
SPEAKER_00: Also, if today's for all of us, if day's the day you worship God through obedience or generosity, that's where you would do that as well.
SPEAKER_00: Let me make you aware of two things before I dismiss you by way of announcement.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, our women's retreat is coming up in early April.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the information about it.
SPEAKER_00: There'll be people in the lobby.
SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions about it, uh about the where it is, logistics and this, that, and the other.
SPEAKER_00: It's a great opportunity, ladies, to change, exchange pace for rhythm.
SPEAKER_00: And just kind of slow yourself down and connect and just kind of take a deep breath, physically and spiritually.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and so uh registration is open and uh Marcy, uh, will our women's pastor will be available in the lobby.
SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions, her and some of the other ladies on it on the team.
SPEAKER_00: Second thing I'll remind you of is about our community groups.
SPEAKER_00: Um, community groups in our church are small groups of people that gather in homes all over our city on the first and third Sunday nights.
SPEAKER_00: Typically, we have a few that meet on on alternate nights.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but community groups are tonight.
SPEAKER_00: Leo wrote questions around the sermon that we talked about.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a Jesus pop quiz, a community group.
SPEAKER_00: It's not who knows more about God in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: It's an opportunity to sit down and get to know other people and let yourself be known so that you don't wake up and you're 44 and you don't have any friends.
SPEAKER_00: You have a bunch of acquaintances.
SPEAKER_00: That's what community groups are for here at Grand Parkway.
SPEAKER_00: We think digestively about what we've heard.
SPEAKER_00: They're sermon-based.
SPEAKER_00: It's not, hey, here's another Bible study.
SPEAKER_00: Take on more information, it's sit, have snacks, dessert, whatever they have available, and you just kind of process and talk out loud.
SPEAKER_00: We believe that dialogue is an essential part of spiritual formation.
SPEAKER_00: And so you're going to dialogue in a safe environment with people that want to know you and that accept you just like you are, and we'll help you become who the Bible says you can be.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you have any questions about community group, Travis, our connections pastor, will be at another kiosk in the lobby with information, with a map, kind of let you know, hey, here's the ones that are close to your house.
SPEAKER_00: We would love for you to get involved in those because it's a safe place just to experience community.
SPEAKER_00: My last thing I want to remind you of is that our devotionals are in.
SPEAKER_00: Uh there it's a great opportunity, great way.
SPEAKER_00: It's this little booklet, a little blue and white booklet.
SPEAKER_00: It's at all the exits.
SPEAKER_00: Our ushers will have some in the lobby.
SPEAKER_00: It's a great way to start your days.
SPEAKER_00: It's just a little half-page reading, has a couple Bible verses.
SPEAKER_00: Just kind of tilt your mind, your affection, and your attention Godward as you begin your day or as you end your day.
SPEAKER_00: Uh that's totally up to you.
SPEAKER_00: But that's our gift to you.
SPEAKER_00: If you'd like one of those, just grab one on your way out and take it with you, okay?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna ask Leo and some of our other pastors to be available down front.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you have any questions, you may want to speak a word of encouragement and just say, just come by and say to him, Hey man, I got a lot out of that.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: That means a lot, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So stand your feet.
SPEAKER_00: Let me speak a blessing over you.
SPEAKER_00: Hold your hands out.
SPEAKER_00: What your father is inviting you into today is summed up in the Bible by that simple word blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall inherit the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed are the meek.
SPEAKER_00: So, what he calls you to is who he created you to be the blessed people of God.
SPEAKER_00: Depart now and live out these realities.
SPEAKER_00: In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Bless you or dismiss.