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 Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_01: Uh God, we just confess that uh you're you're faithful when we're not always faithful.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and one of the ways you express your faithfulness is that every morning the Bible says your mercies are new.
SPEAKER_01: And so uh when we put it in the ditch, you got new mercy for us.
SPEAKER_01: And mercy teaches us, grace and mercy both teach us to say no to ungodliness, not just to take you for granted, but to learn from our mistakes and move away from that kind of behavior.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Lord, we're here to just extol your faithfulness, but also to embrace the responsibility to be faithful men and women.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Lord, nourish us from your word and by your spirit.
SPEAKER_01: We pray in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: And everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: You can have a seat if you've got a Bible.
SPEAKER_01: I invite you to take and open it up to Romans chapter 12.
SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter 12.
SPEAKER_01: If you didn't bring a Bible, you don't have a Bible, that's okay.
SPEAKER_01: There's one in your row.
SPEAKER_01: I'm on page 948.
SPEAKER_01: If you're our guest, let me just say welcome, uh, relax.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we're in a uh we're finishing today a four-part series on our core values.
SPEAKER_01: Our core values.
SPEAKER_01: These are the things that kind of direct and guide, inform, influence uh who we are as a church, how we do what we do, what we do, what we love, etc.
SPEAKER_01: And here are our four core values.
SPEAKER_01: They are gospel, community, mission, and blessing.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_01: They're gospel, community, mission, and blessing.
SPEAKER_01: We believe the gospel, the good news of Christianity, produces a community of people that live in love in relation to each other in such a way that other people see the way we treat each other and love each other, and they want to become a part of this.
SPEAKER_01: They want to understand it.
SPEAKER_01: It's what you saw in the baptism earlier.
SPEAKER_01: Geneva saying to Pat, hey, I kind of see something in you and I want this.
SPEAKER_01: Coming to a women's retreat and saying, My gosh, these people care about each other, okay?
SPEAKER_01: That's community.
SPEAKER_01: Uh the gospel produces this community of people on the shared mission, and central to that is to be a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: I want to talk about what I mean by blessing today.
SPEAKER_01: So let me begin before I read the text.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, let me begin with a definition so that we don't misunderstand what I mean by blessing.
SPEAKER_01: When I say blessing, what when we say is a church blessing, uh, to be a blessing is to apply biblical doctrine to my actual lived out life.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_01: To be a blessing is to apply biblical doctrine to my actual lived out life.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I want to draw your attention to that last part, last four or five words.
SPEAKER_01: My actual lived out life.
SPEAKER_01: Not the life I want to live, not the life I want you to think I live, but the life I actually live with two kids and a wife and a mortgage and a minivan.
SPEAKER_01: I saw a sticker on the back of a minivan yesterday, and it said, Awesome van, said nobody.
SPEAKER_01: And I was just reminded, I'm just here I am in Loserville.
SPEAKER_01: Uh but yeah, in my actual lived-out life, and here's why this is important, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh, to unleash good apart from the truth of God is to practice cultural activism, which helps nobody over the long haul.
SPEAKER_01: And what happens is we end up solving problems for people, uh, but we never represent God or the gospel with our activism.
SPEAKER_01: And what's even more tragic is our behavior becomes a statement about us or our church and never about God.
SPEAKER_01: And then here's the the last consequence of that is simply this is that people have no idea, or excuse me, people have an idea of what the church should be doing.
SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about people in the world that don't go to church ever.
SPEAKER_01: They all seem to have an idea of what the church should be doing, but they don't have an idea or understanding of who the church is.
SPEAKER_01: And that's because we think blessing is going to the mall and putting a$5 bill in a track and leaving it on people's windshield.
SPEAKER_01: That's not a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: That's desperation.
SPEAKER_01: That's that that's good intentions, not great execution.
SPEAKER_01: And so when I say it's to apply biblical doctrine to my actual lived out life, here's what I mean.
SPEAKER_01: It's taking the Bible, what the Bible says, and kind of trafficking that in your life.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna read a section of it, Romans chapter 12, starting verse 9.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is what it means to be a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: He says, let love be genuine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good, love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: Bless those who persecute you.
SPEAKER_01: Bless and do not curse them.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice with those that rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: Weep with those who weep.
SPEAKER_01: Live in harmony with one another.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
SPEAKER_01: Never be wise in your own sight.
SPEAKER_01: Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
SPEAKER_01: If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
SPEAKER_01: Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.
SPEAKER_01: For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.
SPEAKER_01: If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
SPEAKER_01: For for by so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.
SPEAKER_01: Do not over do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
SPEAKER_01: Look at that last verse again.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be overcome with evil.
SPEAKER_01: The longer you live in this world, the harder that will begin to feel.
SPEAKER_01: You look around and you think, does it matter?
SPEAKER_01: Is this making a difference?
SPEAKER_01: Is anybody paying attention?
SPEAKER_01: Blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.
SPEAKER_01: What does it mean to be a blessing?
SPEAKER_01: It means five things I'm gonna pull from the text that I think the Bible clearly says today.
SPEAKER_01: And the first one is this love authentically.
SPEAKER_01: Love authentically.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 9, let love be genuine.
SPEAKER_01: Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
SPEAKER_01: And it says, let love be genuine.
SPEAKER_01: That word genuine is that it means undisguised.
SPEAKER_01: It means people are gonna try to convince you that they love you, but they move towards you, and they want you to think, oh, you love me.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: They want to use you, they love themselves and they love their agenda.
SPEAKER_01: And so to love uh genuinely is to love without any pretense, any in any disguise.
SPEAKER_01: You're not hiding anything.
SPEAKER_01: Because he says this abhor what is evil and cling to what is good.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say this, beloved.
SPEAKER_01: Real love doesn't love everybody and everything.
SPEAKER_01: Let me stop just a second because some of y'all are like you're writing notes and you stop.
SPEAKER_01: When the Bible says love genuinely, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Abhor what is evil, that means to hate what is evil and cling to what is good.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the Bible never just if you're visiting today or you're you're like, hey, I'm not a Christian, I don't believe this.
SPEAKER_01: I just came with a friend because he said there was free shiner at the Super Bowl party.
SPEAKER_01: Stay with me.
SPEAKER_01: I'll get you to the party on time.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all are like, did you look in my garage fridge this morning?
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, hey, here's the thing.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when the Bible says, hey, love, let love be genuine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible doesn't turn you into that kind of person who's just against everything.
SPEAKER_01: I hate evil.
SPEAKER_01: Uh when it says cling or hold fast, it's a Greek word kaleo.
SPEAKER_01: It's where we get our English word glue.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says glue yourself to that which is good.
SPEAKER_01: Adhere yourself to that which is good.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, Well, what do you mean, abhor?
SPEAKER_01: Hate what is evil.
SPEAKER_01: When I say genuine love, real love doesn't love everybody or everything, I'll go first.
SPEAKER_01: For example, I hate the law that New York recently passed that says abortion is legal right up to the point of birth.
SPEAKER_01: I hate that.
SPEAKER_01: I hate that with the white hot passion of a thousand sons.
SPEAKER_01: Someone called me and said, Pastor, what do you think about that?
SPEAKER_01: Can you believe this?
SPEAKER_01: I said, I hate that in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: And the person's like, Oh, well, you're a pastor.
SPEAKER_01: You shouldn't be hating things.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you should.
SPEAKER_01: Now, by the way, I don't hate women that have had an abortion.
SPEAKER_01: I love the fact that they understand that there's forgiveness in Jesus for that.
SPEAKER_01: I have friends who've had an abortion.
SPEAKER_01: And they say to me, uh, man, I really appreciate you not looking down on me.
SPEAKER_01: And I say, I don't look down on you.
SPEAKER_01: My sin's just as black as your sin, okay?
SPEAKER_01: You are forgiven because what Jesus did on the cross, he paid the price for all sins, even the ones that you can't forgive yourself for.
SPEAKER_01: And I have one friend in particular, every time it comes up on what would be this, the baby's birthday, she gets really, really down.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just like, I she'll send me a text, hey, pray for me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm struggling today.
SPEAKER_01: And I write back, hey, you are forgiven?
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea what you're referring to.
SPEAKER_01: And she goes, You mean you've forgotten?
SPEAKER_01: I said, No, but I'm reminding you of a God who chooses to forget.
SPEAKER_01: She said, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_01: The Bible says God throws your sin into the sea and he remembers it no more.
SPEAKER_01: So if you hear anything today, you hear this that whatever you've done, God's not up there looking, kind of going, uh-huh.
SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, wait till I get you up here.
SPEAKER_01: No, no.
SPEAKER_01: There's forgiveness because of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: There's forgiveness that you get in Christ that you don't get in religion.
SPEAKER_01: So when the Bible says let love authentically, let love be genuine, it's saying, hey, real love doesn't love everybody and everything.
SPEAKER_01: I hate that.
SPEAKER_01: I love.
SPEAKER_01: I cling to what is good, though.
SPEAKER_01: I love when people understand.
SPEAKER_01: You mean I can be forgiven?
SPEAKER_01: And this is free.
SPEAKER_01: Religion doesn't, I mean, excuse me, forgiveness doesn't come because of religion.
SPEAKER_01: Forgiveness comes in a relationship.
SPEAKER_01: It comes in a relationship.
SPEAKER_01: And so you can't separate the forgiveness of God from a relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: And so, what does it mean to be a blessing?
SPEAKER_01: It means you love authentically.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, it means you live in the big picture.
SPEAKER_01: You live in the big picture.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 10 and 11.
SPEAKER_01: Love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you a question.
SPEAKER_01: You ever come to church and hear the preacher read things like that?
SPEAKER_01: You're kind of like, oh, well, each one, it's just like the religious to-do list is getting longer and longer and longer.
SPEAKER_01: And you think, there's no way I could do that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna give up and try to not feel guilty the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_01: They just because it goes on after this.
SPEAKER_01: There's just more commands, and you're like, okay, hang on a second.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay, fervent and who, and hear it again.
SPEAKER_01: Love one another with brotherly affection.
SPEAKER_01: You know some of the hardest people to love are sitting right around you right now.
SPEAKER_01: You know that, right?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody's been to church for a while.
SPEAKER_01: The rest of y'all are kind of like, oh, brother, not here.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: I'll introduce you to some of my after the service if come up to me.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, I want loving people, brotherly affection.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, and it's not that they're not loving, it's just this.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all are easier to love than others.
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all are in that EGR category.
SPEAKER_01: Extra grace required.
SPEAKER_01: And we love you, but we tell you, hey, come on, man, you're killing us here, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh what what what I mean?
SPEAKER_01: Live in the big picture.
SPEAKER_01: When I say live in the big picture, let me let me back up a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Life by nature is a series of little pictures.
SPEAKER_01: Like there was a couple of 18-year-old freshmen, college freshmen, came home with my daughter to work in Disciple Mal or Shooter Mistress this weekend.
SPEAKER_01: They're in my house on Friday.
SPEAKER_01: I sat in the living room for five minutes, and I just thought I'm losing my mind.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, not because it was bad.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think like an 18-year-old girl.
SPEAKER_01: Hang on a second.
SPEAKER_01: And they were talking about it, and I was just like, I'm gonna go in my room and watch a golf tournament.
SPEAKER_01: And I just got up and I said, Hey, girls, remember this.
SPEAKER_01: When it comes to these guys, the boy in them has to die so the man in them can get out, all right?
SPEAKER_01: And there ain't no men where you go to college.
SPEAKER_01: All that is is 14,000 ticks and no dog.
SPEAKER_01: And they were crazy, they were like, I thought I was being helpful.
SPEAKER_01: I thought these people are gonna tip me on the way out the door.
SPEAKER_01: My wife just shook her head.
SPEAKER_01: Go take a nap and watch golf.
SPEAKER_01: All right, all right.
SPEAKER_01: Please burma, don't throw me that prayer patch.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the thing: look at me.
SPEAKER_01: Life by nature is a series of small pictures.
SPEAKER_01: It's when you're in high school, it's me and my relationships, be there with with my with my friends, with my boyfriend, with my girlfriend, and then it's me and my education, me and my marriage, me and my house.
SPEAKER_01: I love my house until I watch Fixer Upper and I hate chipping Joanna and my house.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody said, Hey, you want to go to the house to the home show?
SPEAKER_01: No, just more reasons to hate my house, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I want to just get the little picture of me and my house, then the picture becomes me and my kids, and then it's me and my dog, and then it's me and my fears.
SPEAKER_01: And when I say live in the big picture, here's what I mean.
SPEAKER_01: He said, He lists off these things in verse 10 and 11.
SPEAKER_01: Love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're not careful, you're like, ah, those four things there just exhaust me.
SPEAKER_01: I don't even know what they mean.
SPEAKER_01: They make me tired.
SPEAKER_01: Then just hear these last three words at the end, because there's a comma.
SPEAKER_01: Then it says, serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what the Bible's saying.
SPEAKER_01: It's not these behaviors, these are these are small commands.
SPEAKER_01: The big picture is that you serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: What that looks like is that you and I should have people in our lives that they are so good to us that it almost makes you question their motives.
SPEAKER_01: It makes you kind of think, hey, why is he or she being this way?
SPEAKER_01: But what you should realize is that you're the benefactor, but you're not the motivation.
SPEAKER_01: Because the way they relate to you is the little picture.
SPEAKER_01: The big picture is I'm just serving the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I have a friend like this, it is very convicting, and he's been this way towards me for years.
SPEAKER_01: I would say probably 25 years.
SPEAKER_01: If he eats, if my friend John eats at a restaurant, that it's great, I get a gift card and a handwritten note.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, Kell and I were here, and man, the steak was incredible.
SPEAKER_01: And I thought about you.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a gift card, take Marcy.
SPEAKER_01: And I think first when he started doing it, I was like, uh what do you want?
SPEAKER_01: He was unnerving.
SPEAKER_01: And then I read Romans 12 one day, and the Holy Spirit said, Hey, John's that way because he's just serving the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: He's not serving you.
SPEAKER_01: And then, yeah, it got better because after that, the Holy Spirit said, Why aren't you this way?
SPEAKER_01: I saw him over, he he lives in McKinney.
SPEAKER_01: I saw him over Christmas.
SPEAKER_01: He was in town seeing his kids, and he said, Hey, Kellen, I'd like to get together with you.
SPEAKER_01: And I knew I got to go get a present because he's gonna have a present.
SPEAKER_01: And he did.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Hey, I got I got this coffee.
SPEAKER_01: And then somebody said, This is this organic, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_01: I know you love coffee, and I just want to bless you.
SPEAKER_01: He never says thank you.
SPEAKER_01: He always says bless you.
SPEAKER_01: I've been with him in restaurants and waiters are like, Oh, I know you, you're that bless you guy.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, uh he said, I just, I just, and I'm like, ah, oh now, if you're thinking, what would it be like when you get a group of people all living this way, what would that be called?
SPEAKER_01: It would be called the church.
SPEAKER_01: Let me show you what I mean.
SPEAKER_01: Right here in Romans chapter 12.
SPEAKER_01: Look up in verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: Romans chapter 12 for by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
SPEAKER_01: For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function.
SPEAKER_01: Glory to his name.
SPEAKER_01: Uh so, verse 5, so we, though many are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another, he's talking about the church.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.
SPEAKER_01: If prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness.
SPEAKER_01: You see, different people have different gifts, but when they all exercise these gifts and they serve the Lord, like I have another friend uh who calls me periodically on the phone, his gift, his spiritual gift is exhortation.
SPEAKER_01: It's not, it's beyond encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: He will call me on the phone and and spend 15 minutes just affirming me and complimenting me.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like the witch and the wizard of oz, like, what a world, what a world! Because here's the thing, and this isn't always healthy.
SPEAKER_01: I can handle adversity.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like the redneck in me is like, oh, bring it on, let's take our shirts off.
SPEAKER_01: Prosperity scares me.
SPEAKER_01: Acceptance, affirmation, because I'm like, what you getting at here?
SPEAKER_01: What's the real?
SPEAKER_01: What's the real deal?
SPEAKER_01: Because when you grow up the way I grew up, you don't trust people's goodness.
SPEAKER_01: Because you're used to dealing with badness.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying, be careful.
SPEAKER_01: Be careful when I say the big picture, that's what that's what the church is.
SPEAKER_01: You should have people in your life that are so different to you that it's unnerving and realize, hey, you're you you may be the benefactor, but you're not the motivation.
SPEAKER_01: They are serving the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The third thing the Bible says to be a blessing says, keep doing old things.
SPEAKER_01: Keep doing old things.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 12 and 13.
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice in hope.
SPEAKER_01: Be patient in tribulation.
SPEAKER_01: Be conbulation, be constant in prayer, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: Uh because it's so easy to start doing new things, we need to keep doing some old things.
SPEAKER_01: The tenses of these verbs refer to ongoing action.
SPEAKER_01: So when I say old things, I mean things, I'm referring to things like rejoicing, persevering, praying, contributing, and practicing.
SPEAKER_01: Uh just take the first one, verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: He says, rejoice in hope.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible was written in Greek originally, translated in different languages.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing was lost in the translation.
SPEAKER_01: But when it says rejoice in hope, that's not an event, that's an ongoing reality.
SPEAKER_01: And so the literal translation, the tense of the verb is rejoicing in hope.
SPEAKER_01: So I've come to ask you today, not do you have hope or are you hopeful?
SPEAKER_01: I came to ask you, do you feel still find joy in what you have hope in?
SPEAKER_01: Do you still find joy in what you have hope in?
SPEAKER_01: Because what you'll see, if the answer is no, then you have hope in the wrong thing.
SPEAKER_01: Like my hope is not, stay with me, my hope is not in the Houston Texans to win the Super Bowl.
SPEAKER_01: That would be great, but I'm not gonna hang my hat on that, okay?
SPEAKER_01: It's just not.
SPEAKER_01: And so there's a lot of things in this world that we have hope in.
SPEAKER_01: And you gotta ask yourself, hey, do I still find joy in what I have hope in?
SPEAKER_01: That's the great thing about the gospel, about Christianity.
SPEAKER_01: It's just all it's this consistent source of constant hope, which produces joy in us.
SPEAKER_01: That means people should see us just living our life and be like, man, there is something different about that person.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, he says in the latter part of verse 12, after he says, hey, uh, uh, rejoicing in hope, he says these words, uh, be patient in tribulation.
SPEAKER_01: Be patient in tribulation.
SPEAKER_01: The little rendering is patiently persevering.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just ask you this question.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever noticed how hurried you get in the midst of tribulation?
SPEAKER_01: When it gets kind of hard, and I don't mean just in the way you live life, but in your thoughts and in your emotions, how you go from zero to 60 in about 0.2 seconds.
SPEAKER_01: You go from, oh, I don't have a date, all of a sudden it's spooled out to where the world's ending.
SPEAKER_01: I'm never gonna get married, I'm gonna die with 27 cats, no friends, no money, I'm gonna be just covered in cat hair, which is glitter for lonely people.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody come and discover me.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you just kind of get away from it, and yet the Bible says, hey, patiently persevere.
SPEAKER_01: And when it says persevere, it's the Greek word hupomeno, which means come up under.
SPEAKER_01: Come up under there and stay put until God's done with you.
SPEAKER_01: Thirdly, he says, be constant in prayer or just praying constantly.
SPEAKER_01: Don't limit and teach your children this.
SPEAKER_01: Don't limit prayer to something you do at bedtime and before a meal.
SPEAKER_01: Just pray constantly.
SPEAKER_01: Just and sometimes you don't got to use words.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you can just think to the Lord, God, this is what I'm thinking about.
SPEAKER_01: God, would you do something about this?
SPEAKER_01: Act on this.
SPEAKER_01: I prayed with a woman this morning who this past week got a diagnosis of breast cancer.
SPEAKER_01: And I said in my prayer, God, you're our shield and you're our protector.
SPEAKER_01: That means that you go before us and you and you guard us against things we see, and and you got our sticks, you got our back, you protect us from things we can't see, like a diagnosis of cancer that we never saw coming.
SPEAKER_01: And it got done, and she's like, Oh.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: And I say, things catch us off guard, but they don't catch God off guard.
SPEAKER_01: They just don't.
SPEAKER_01: The the word, the big theological word for that is is sovereign.
SPEAKER_01: He says, contribute to the needs of the saint.
SPEAKER_01: Again, contributing to the needs of the saint.
SPEAKER_01: When you went to the saints, the church, we should treat each other in a way that we don't treat anybody else.
SPEAKER_01: And when you practice the biblical habit of giving or tithing is the Bible word, you're contributing to the needs of the saints.
SPEAKER_01: Lastly, he says, practice hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: Again, uh, it's just ongoing action, practicing hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: Now let me get at you for a minute.
SPEAKER_01: I want to distinguish between two words: hospitable and hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: Hospitable and hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: My wife has read this book and she's like passionate and it's great.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not making light of my wife.
SPEAKER_01: It's great.
SPEAKER_01: She's like, I'm having women over on this day, and there's gonna be like six to ten of us here.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, what day is that?
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm going to the golf course, play 36 holes, not come back till dark, okay?
SPEAKER_01: And she goes, that'd be great with me.
SPEAKER_01: Uh sometimes I'm like, I don't think you miss me enough.
SPEAKER_01: But anyway, they're getting together.
SPEAKER_01: They read a book called The Gospel Comes with a House Key, and it's about hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to make an appearance and say, hey, by the way, uh, make sure you don't confuse being hospitable with hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: Having your girlfriends over from the church to have like a Dixie Chick's luncheon, that's hospitable.
SPEAKER_01: Hospitality means love of stranger.
SPEAKER_01: And so let's be careful, church, so we don't convince ourselves, oh, we're practicing hospitality.
SPEAKER_01: If everybody eating at your table, you already know you're being hospitable.
SPEAKER_01: You should have some strangers every once in a while in your home.
SPEAKER_01: Now, can you feel it in here?
SPEAKER_01: Some of y'all are like, I don't like you anymore.
SPEAKER_01: I like you a minute ago when you were funny, but right now you're up in my business.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna stay up in your business.
SPEAKER_01: Because here's the thing Jesus said this.
SPEAKER_01: What credit is it to you if you love people who love you back?
SPEAKER_01: Translation, what do you want?
SPEAKER_01: A trophy?
SPEAKER_01: You know there's people in your life.
SPEAKER_01: It's just, hey, I can love these people, and it's easy.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the fourth thing the Bible says this involves being a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: Practice harmony.
SPEAKER_01: Bless you.
SPEAKER_01: Verses 14 to 16, look what it says.
SPEAKER_01: Bless those who persecute you.
SPEAKER_01: Bless and do not curse them.
SPEAKER_01: Now, when it says curse, it's not talking about profanity.
SPEAKER_01: You shouldn't do that either.
SPEAKER_01: But bless, to bless means to wish well, to wish God's favor upon this person.
SPEAKER_01: To curse means you want to call down the wrath of God on them.
SPEAKER_01: Have you had a desire to call down the wrath of God on somebody lately?
SPEAKER_01: There's an honest person.
SPEAKER_01: The rest of y'all are freed up.
SPEAKER_01: The rest of y'all are like, well, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody down here like, oh, yes, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: What time is it?
SPEAKER_01: About two hours ago on the way to church.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: Look what he says.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Rejoice with those that rejoice, weep with those that weep.
SPEAKER_01: You know what that means?
SPEAKER_01: Rejoice with those that rejoice.
SPEAKER_01: That means regardless of how good it gets for you, I'm not going to envy you.
SPEAKER_01: Weep with those that weep, that means regardless of how hard it gets, I'm not going to abandon you.
SPEAKER_01: The Australians have a great phrase that we need to, we we need to code, we need to claim this in America.
SPEAKER_01: When something good happens to one of their friends, they'll say, Good on you, mate.
SPEAKER_01: And I start saying to my friends, like I have a friend that bought a uh uh, this is back earlier this past year, he bought one of those Ford F 250 quad cab King Ranch, just fully loaded.
SPEAKER_01: Thing it's a diesel, sounds like a hovercraft coming.
SPEAKER_01: He was telling somebody about it.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Man, you need to come by, pick me up.
SPEAKER_01: Let's go lunch in that bad boy.
SPEAKER_01: And we're driving down the road.
SPEAKER_01: I walked up and saw it.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Surely your treasure's not in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And he laughed.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're visiting today, I ain't that guy.
SPEAKER_01: I don't go to my people's house and kind of go, oh, that must be nice.
SPEAKER_01: And then he said this.
SPEAKER_01: He is so freed up.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Yeah, I had to buy this to pull my fifth wheel.
SPEAKER_01: It's like, fifth wheel?
SPEAKER_01: You've got a trailer too.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, you're going to hell on a slipping slide.
SPEAKER_01: Do the two words hilarious Sunday mean anything to you?
SPEAKER_01: We were dying laughing at the restaurant because he knows what I was saying was good on you, mate.
SPEAKER_01: I hope God prospers you so much.
SPEAKER_01: You enjoy this truck, you enjoy your fifth wheel, hook it up and get out of here.
SPEAKER_01: I think you should skip some church on Sundays and go camping.
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, okay.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, man, that's gonna get crazy now.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, go enjoy yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Good on you, mate.
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm rejoicing with my friend who's rejoicing.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, if it ever gets hard, I'm gonna show up on his front doorstep and say, hey, I'm not abandoning you either.
SPEAKER_01: I don't think you got some bad juju on you.
SPEAKER_01: I ain't afraid to be around you.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it means to do those things.
SPEAKER_01: He says in verse 16, live in harmony with one another.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
SPEAKER_01: Never be wise in your own sight.
SPEAKER_01: When he says never be wise in your own sight, don't come to a conclusion based on just your opinion.
SPEAKER_01: Let me say that again.
SPEAKER_01: Don't come to a conclusion based on just your opinion.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it means to be wise in your own sight because that is easy.
SPEAKER_01: You need to get with some other people that have some wisdom and say, hey, this is what I'm thinking, so they can look at you in love and say, you got some stinking thinking going on here.
SPEAKER_01: You are in left field.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna have to get another round of mimosas for this brunch, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Because we've got to get you sorted.
SPEAKER_01: It's easy to be wise in your own sight.
SPEAKER_01: That's why you write some of the things you write on social media and you think, oh, can I get that back?
SPEAKER_01: It's easy.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what does he mean when he says practice harmony?
SPEAKER_01: Here's what it means: be around people who live a different note than you and don't stop living.
SPEAKER_01: Don't stop singing your note.
SPEAKER_01: This is practicing harmony.
SPEAKER_01: When you do this, when you get around these people, you're able to bless, rejoice, and weep and associate with others.
SPEAKER_01: When you're around people that are not like you, you walk away asking one of two questions.
SPEAKER_01: You walk away either asking, hey, hey, do they like me?
SPEAKER_01: Or you walk away asking, do I still like myself?
SPEAKER_01: You want to be asking the second question.
SPEAKER_01: You want to be around people who are fundamentally different from you.
SPEAKER_01: And you don't want to walk away because the temptation is to try to sing out of your range, to live out of your range, or live below your range.
SPEAKER_01: That's not harmony, that's compromise.
SPEAKER_01: There's a church in another city that they've all made a big decision that they're going to.
SPEAKER_01: Two men have come to them and said, Would you do our wedding ceremony?
SPEAKER_01: And the church said, Oh, we've got to gather and uh take a year to study this to kind of see what we think about this.
SPEAKER_01: And somebody this week said, What do you think about that?
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Hey, when you as a church put yourself above the clear teaching, what your church, what your church policy is, above the clear teaching of the Bible.
SPEAKER_01: You think too much of yourself and not enough of God.
SPEAKER_01: And this is free, beloved.
SPEAKER_01: When the thing that distinguishes us from all the other churches in our city is our willingness to compromise, we cease to be the church.
SPEAKER_01: And you have no gospel, you have no good news.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not I'm not mad at those two men that want to get married.
SPEAKER_01: My thought is who pastors them, who loves them, who lives in harmony with them and says, I fundamentally disagree with you, and I'd love to be your pastor and get to know you and just bring the gospel to bear on this relationship.
SPEAKER_01: See how different that is?
SPEAKER_01: Than going down there and screaming, you're going to hell.
SPEAKER_01: That's not blessing anybody.
SPEAKER_01: That's you cursing them and feeling better about yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Live in harmony.
SPEAKER_01: Practice harmony, beloved.
SPEAKER_01: Be around people that live a totally different note than you and be able to walk away and say, Hey, do I still like myself?
SPEAKER_01: Did I try to be somebody I did I compromise?
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't compromise, and look at me, I didn't condemn either.
SPEAKER_01: I I didn't, oh, whoa, oh, mm-mm.
SPEAKER_01: No.
SPEAKER_01: I just, I'm, I'm living in harmony.
SPEAKER_01: There's a great example of that right here before us today.
SPEAKER_01: We're in the book of Romans, okay?
SPEAKER_01: The New Testament begins with what's called the gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
SPEAKER_01: These are four people that hung out with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They write these eyewitness accounts.
SPEAKER_01: Luke then writes the book of Acts, records the book of Acts under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: The book of Acts is basically tells the history of the church.
SPEAKER_01: This is how the church got started.
SPEAKER_01: This is how Christianity spread, etc., etc.
SPEAKER_01: In the book of Acts, chapter 7, there's a guy named Stephen that preaches this sermon that makes people so mad they want to kill him.
SPEAKER_01: You never think that, do you?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you can read it before kickoff today.
SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter 7.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Stephen is laying it down and people are gnashing their teeth.
SPEAKER_01: They're like, and they pick up rocks and they stone him to death.
SPEAKER_01: They kill him.
SPEAKER_01: And right before he dies, he says, I saw heaven open and Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_01: This is free Bible trivia for you.
SPEAKER_01: It's one of the only times in the Bible that Jesus stands up.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible talks about Jesus being seated at the right hand of the Father.
SPEAKER_01: When he sees Stephen get ready to come into glory, Jesus stands up and is like, Come on, I'll stand up for this.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what Stephen says.
SPEAKER_01: Stick with me.
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about practicing harmony.
SPEAKER_01: He's talking to people who fundamentally disagree with him.
SPEAKER_01: The modern-day equivalent is that Stephen is preaching to the Taliban or Isis.
SPEAKER_01: And when he's done, they stone him.
SPEAKER_01: And right before he dies, he prays this prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Tell me if this sounds familiar.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, do not hold this sin against them.
SPEAKER_01: By the way, when Jesus dies on the cross, one of the last things he says is this Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
SPEAKER_01: Because Stephen didn't curse those who persecuted him, but he blessed them.
SPEAKER_01: It marked a man named Saul.
SPEAKER_01: Because Acts chapter 7 will tell you, and these cats, when they decided to stone Stephen, they took their coats off and they laid him at the feet of a man named Saul.
SPEAKER_01: Saul, two chapters later, after chapter 7 and chapter 9 of the book of Acts, God appears to him and he's converted.
SPEAKER_01: And God so changes his heart that he changes his name, and Saul becomes Paul.
SPEAKER_01: Paul wrote 13 books recorded under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 13 books of the New Testament, one of them being the book of Romans.
SPEAKER_01: What am I saying to you?
SPEAKER_01: That this so marked Saul, who later becomes Paul.
SPEAKER_01: The church historian Augustine said the church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen.
SPEAKER_01: The church owes Paul to the prayer of Stephen.
SPEAKER_01: This is what, this is the powerful consequence of practicing harmony.
SPEAKER_01: Lastly, the Bible says, think and do.
SPEAKER_01: Think and do.
SPEAKER_01: Are you still with me?
SPEAKER_01: Think and do.
SPEAKER_01: The Bible, Christianity is not a big emotion we try to sustain.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 17.
SPEAKER_01: This is what the Bible says: repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do.
SPEAKER_01: Hello.
SPEAKER_01: Give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
SPEAKER_01: Beloved, look at me.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you gotta think about it for a long time before you find the courage or the power.
SPEAKER_01: Or if you're like me, just the willingness to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes my wife's like, hey, have you done blah, blah, blah yet?
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I'm still praying about it.
SPEAKER_01: What's there to pray about?
SPEAKER_01: It's not that I'm not gonna do it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just like, oh, this is a pride-swallowing siege.
SPEAKER_01: Give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
SPEAKER_01: If possible, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just point to some things, because think and do sounds innocent until you think about it and try to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Like verse 18, if possible, so far if it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
SPEAKER_01: People come at you everyone in a while and say, Well, doesn't the Bible say live peaceably with all?
SPEAKER_01: Well, actually, it gives two conditions, two qualifiers to that.
SPEAKER_01: It says, number one, if possible.
SPEAKER_01: Some people it's not possible to be at peace with.
SPEAKER_01: It's just not.
SPEAKER_01: And I wish that weren't true.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, as far as it depends on you, you can only control your part of the relationship.
SPEAKER_01: But realize this: this is free.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, some people will seek to control you through conflict.
SPEAKER_01: Some of you women are like, uh, look at you like, that'd be your mom right there, he's talking about.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Calls your husband, obviously tell you what we talk about, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_01: And then your husband's like, huh, could you just stop with my mom?
SPEAKER_01: What with your mom?
SPEAKER_01: I didn't do anything.
SPEAKER_01: Your mom tries to control you through conflict.
SPEAKER_01: I got people in my family try to control me through conflict.
SPEAKER_01: And so I just say, if possible, well, yeah, I've done everything I can, it depends on me.
SPEAKER_01: And then he's like, it ain't possible then.
SPEAKER_01: If possible.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 19, beloved, never avenge yourselves.
SPEAKER_01: Are you as struck by that as you should be?
SPEAKER_01: Never avenge yourselves.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what makes this possible.
SPEAKER_01: In order to do this, you have to believe that God so values you that he will do it for you in ways that you never could, and with a higher motive and consequence than you and I could ever conceive.
SPEAKER_01: This and this alone is what allows us to leave it to the wrath of God.
SPEAKER_01: And then he closes in verse 20 and says this.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Uh, this is great.
SPEAKER_01: I love how visual and tactile the Bible is.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 20, to the contrary, uh, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.
SPEAKER_01: If he's thirsty, give him something to drink.
SPEAKER_01: For by so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.
SPEAKER_01: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're not careful, you the thought of burning coals on your enemy's head will bring you pleasure.
SPEAKER_01: You're kind of like, yeah, let's cue up the talking heads and burn down the house here.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01: When he says you'll heap burning coals on his head, it the Bible gets descriptive.
SPEAKER_01: It uses physical images to describe an emotional reaction.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you a question and we'll be done.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: You got two minutes left in you?
SPEAKER_01: Look at me.
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever been embarrassed?
SPEAKER_01: Humiliated.
SPEAKER_01: I mean like really embarrassed.
SPEAKER_01: Anybody?
SPEAKER_01: Did you feel hot when you were embarrassed?
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: And humiliation is worse.
SPEAKER_01: It's worse.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's just like, ugh.
SPEAKER_01: I have a friend of mine that she got pregnant when she was 16.
SPEAKER_01: And people just, they weren't gracious to her.
SPEAKER_01: And when I heard about the way they treated her, I wanted to go over there and punch those people in the face repeatedly.
SPEAKER_01: That ain't good.
SPEAKER_01: I'm a preacher.
SPEAKER_01: I shouldn't even think that.
SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're visiting today, I'm not a violent man.
SPEAKER_01: But look at me.
SPEAKER_01: I cannot stand when religious people try to humiliate non-religious people.
SPEAKER_01: It's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_01: It's just a it's the height of hypocrisy.
SPEAKER_01: And so I had to like just go outside and walk around and chop wood with an axe.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, ooh, like eating slim gems.
SPEAKER_01: But anyway, I'm better now.
SPEAKER_01: Now, why do I tell you that?
SPEAKER_01: Because to be humiliated, it's just like your body just feels hot.
SPEAKER_01: You're just like, ooh.
SPEAKER_01: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_01: When he says that this person, you heat burning coals on their head, here's what it means: this person is convicted by your kind goodness, and they feel remorse for the way they've treated you.
SPEAKER_01: They're convicted by your kind goodness, not by me showing up like Rambo.
SPEAKER_01: Which for us men, sometimes that's a natural response.
SPEAKER_01: Tell you what, you believe in the hereafter, then you know what I'm hereafter.
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_01: And you have to be able to laugh at yourself.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not celebrating violence.
SPEAKER_01: Please don't send me an email.
SPEAKER_01: You have to know yourself well enough.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the thing some of you have forgotten what you're capable of.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I show up with a 40 cal and a big eagle tattooed on my chest.
SPEAKER_01: Let's get out here in the front yard and get this on.
SPEAKER_01: And then there's, yes, I hear you, sister.
SPEAKER_01: And then there's this little voice that kind of says, Hey, have you given them the opportunity to be convicted by your kind goodness?
SPEAKER_01: It's like walking into a spider web.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, What in the world just happened to me?
SPEAKER_01: Kind goodness.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what they deserve.
SPEAKER_01: And then that voice of the Holy Spirit says, Oh, you want to talk about what you deserve?
SPEAKER_01: No, not what I deserve, what they deserve.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a question I want to give you to think about.
SPEAKER_01: Have you given your enemy, if you have an enemy today, have you given them opportunity to be convicted by your kind goodness?
SPEAKER_01: Now I told you earlier we like to teach the Bible, then we like to give you some space to think about it.
SPEAKER_01: And so some questions will come up on the screen just to say, hey, don't try to write them down.
SPEAKER_01: Get your phone, take a picture.
SPEAKER_01: I'll pray a brief prayer.
SPEAKER_01: Clyde will come and just play for about a minute.
SPEAKER_01: And just think about these questions.
SPEAKER_01: Just ask yourself, okay, what do I do with what we what I just heard?
SPEAKER_01: Because look at me.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody in this room, look at me.
SPEAKER_01: We don't want this to be an experience for you.
SPEAKER_01: Or you walk away and go, God, they've got anger issues.
SPEAKER_01: No, I don't.
SPEAKER_01: We want this to be formative for you.
SPEAKER_01: We want you to be thinking about this on Thursday when you're driving to work.
SPEAKER_01: So that's why sometimes we put up questions and say, let's think about this.
SPEAKER_01: Let me pray a brief prayer.
SPEAKER_01: God thanks for the Bible, thinks that it's true, thinks that it's real.
SPEAKER_01: And it gets down to the real, actual life that we really live.
SPEAKER_01: And it says, Hey, I have the grace to accept who you really are and the power to change you into who you want to be.
SPEAKER_01: That's why we keep coming to you because every day your mercies are new.
SPEAKER_01: That is good news today.
SPEAKER_01: And so, Lord, we want to just think for a moment before we head out of here to enjoy our afternoon.
SPEAKER_01: Because you created all the things we're going to enjoy today.
SPEAKER_01: So we're going to enjoy them responsibly and with gusto and gravity and gladness and in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: But right now, Lord, we enjoy thinking spiritually formative thoughts.
SPEAKER_01: So, Holy Spirit, lead us into that now in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_01: God, thank you that the Bible is heavy sometimes, but it's not overwhelming.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you let us feel the weight of who you are and the weight of who we're becoming because you know what we we've yet to realize that we're not going to like that person when we get there.
SPEAKER_01: And so rein us in, yank us back.
SPEAKER_01: We don't want to be like the horse or mule that has to be controlled with a bit or a bridle, or else it won't obey you.
SPEAKER_01: We want to be obedient, men and women.
SPEAKER_01: We want to be obedient young adults.
SPEAKER_01: We want to be obedient children.
SPEAKER_01: It just takes to just a whisper, and our life kind of turns the direction of your voice.
SPEAKER_01: And God, today we hear your voice saying to us, I want you to be a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: I bless you so you could be a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, some of us, most of us have a plan for enduring hardship, but we do not have a plan for just experiencing goodness.
SPEAKER_01: To those people, I pray God, they would just unclench their fist and be open to all the goodness that you have for them.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for the Bible, how it's thought-provoking and it stirs us in our emotions and it calls us to action.
SPEAKER_01: Show us what we do with this and what it looks like with our life wrapped around it this week.
SPEAKER_01: In Jesus' name, when everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks again for being here.
SPEAKER_01: If you're a guest, hopefully you had an opportunity to fill out one of those guest cards that's in your row.
SPEAKER_01: If you haven't, would you grab one and fill it out?
SPEAKER_01: It's on a little seat pocket holder and drop it in the little wooden box by the doors.
SPEAKER_01: We get asked two questions a lot around here.
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, you don't have an offering, you don't have an invitation.
SPEAKER_01: Actually, we do.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I mean, people, we believe stewardship is just a part of Christianity, so we don't have to beat our people over the head with it.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we receive our offering at these wooden boxes by the doors.
SPEAKER_01: People have their own free will as God leads them.
SPEAKER_01: Uh they give what they feel led to give.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, our invitation is at the end.
SPEAKER_01: Myself and some of our pastors and elders be down front.
SPEAKER_01: We just think that's a natural environment to have a spiritual conversation.
SPEAKER_01: If you're new to our church, this is your first, second, or third time, we just love to meet you and put a name with a face.
SPEAKER_01: So if you would come up and introduce yourself, all right?
SPEAKER_01: Uh, usually we have an announcement video uh that we show right now, but I want you to leave with this taste in your mouth.
SPEAKER_01: But promise me this we're gonna send you an email tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's about we don't want it to be a blessing here in our city, in our state, in our country.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to Romania this summer to be a blessing over there to a bunch of orphans and a bunch of people who haven't heard the good news of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: When you get the email, will you open it up and watch the video?
SPEAKER_01: Will you open it up and watch the video?
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Don't make me come out there.
SPEAKER_01: Stand to your feet, let me stick a blessing over you.
SPEAKER_01: Hold your hands out like you want it.
SPEAKER_01: Your God is the God of queso and couch.
SPEAKER_01: The flat screen, the big screen, and the phone screen.
SPEAKER_01: And all of that he dreamed up before you ever came along.
SPEAKER_01: So enjoy it today and every day and realize that God has blessed you.
SPEAKER_01: And you get to turn around and be like your God and be a blessing.
SPEAKER_01: Be a blessing in the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Bless you.