Good Ground, Good News | Sent To Bless - Pastor Scott Silcox

We celebrate a powerful healing testimony and let it rebuild hope for anyone stuck in discouragement or the in-between. We walk through Luke 10 and the Good Samaritan, then take the challenge personally: stop asking who deserves love and start becoming a neighbor. 

• Giving God the glory instead of chasing credit 
• A testimony of healing that strengthens faith 
• The lawyer’s question and Jesus’ reframe toward becoming a neighbor 
• Compassion as action instead of distance 
• The danger of passing by and ignoring the Holy Spirit 
• Busyness as a spiritual distraction that looks like obedience 
• James 2 and practical faith that meets real needs 
• The kingdom advancing when we move toward wounds 
• Honduras stories that clarify mission and mercy 
• Matthew 25 as a mirror for how we treat people 
• Kindness as evangelism and a simple next step through invitations 

Transcript

Welcome And Giving God Glory

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Rock Family Sermon of the Week. For more information about our church, please visit therockfamily.tv. Now join us for a message from Pastor Scott Zilcox.

A Healing Testimony Restores Hope

Good News And The Neighbor Call

Luke 10 Read And Unpacked

A Better Question Than Deserve

The Danger Of Passing By

The Kingdom Moves Toward Need

Honduras Stories That Reframe Mission

SPEAKER_02 0:20

I'm excited to be with you. I'm excited to jump in and kind of catch up on the series. Can I just start also by saying this? How awesome is Pastor Tim Reyes? Just crushed it last week. Absolutely smashed it last week. And I got a chance to listen to it on the plane, and I'm just telling you, it was fantastic. And there was this one thought that you I it was good. I took notes. I'm looking at it. And this one that I loved, it says, when you can get over getting credit, God can get the credit, God can get the glory. And I was just like, and I could hear it in the room when he said it. Everyone's like, oh, right? I could hear Nate coming through the microphone on the airplane, uh, just yelling, you know, oh, he got us, you know, and uh, and but it's true. How many know how many know when we get out of the way, he can get glory? Amen? And how many know it's just better when he gets what he deserves? This is why you hear this morning in worship than pushing us to just give God the glory. We do not want to miss an opportunity to just lift him up. That's why we came here. We're not here for any other reason other than to make him known, just to worship him, to gather as believers under one big banner of salvation. And uh, I'm just telling you, God is good this morning. And I want to just encourage you. I I got a text message from one of my pastors just before I came up, and uh, she was saying, she said, she said, you know what? I feel like there are people who are just stuck in the in-between. And there are people who are who are discouraged, they're losing hope because they feel like there's no way out, there's no way to move beyond that. Now, now, if you don't know this, guest, it's an honor to have you here today. Uh, we will just go off script, just like that. Uh that moment is happening right now. Um and so uh, and and it's just a a point of of reference that if you're here today, you don't have to wait to the end of service to find center, you don't have to wait till the end of service to find the Prince of Peace who is already here to give you what it is that you're looking for. And I want to encourage you today. I want to encourage you because if you are here and you lack hope, or you are here and your faith is beginning to wane. If you are here and you're discouraged, I want to encourage you with a testimony today. A few weeks ago, we were praying for a young man who was fighting for his life. Fighting for his life. It was not good, very bismal. It was just the news from the doctors. How many know uh the doctors are doing everything they can, but how many know sometimes the news is not good news. But what series are we in right now? Good news. So I've got good news for you today. I've come to herald good news in the sanctuary today that Dean McClain is not only alive and well. I love it, man. I love it. Look at gum. Oh my little Peterscott, he doesn't heal. Oh my little Petcher Scott, he don't do that thing anymore. You showed up, you showed up to the wrong service to get disappointed today. And what you thought he couldn't do, he is still doing today. And and I want to say, I'm so grateful for you, Dee. I love you, man. I'm so proud of you. I'm so glad you're in this room today. Man, I'm telling you, God is good. God is good for Sarah, for the kids, God is good. He can be trusted. You can depend on him. This isn't not, this isn't the effort of one human. This isn't the effort of even the collective of just, oh, the three or four. Guys, this this was this is ongoing prayer. I'm talking about men marching around the hospital seven times. Again and again and again. I'm talking about people walking into the bedroom and just laying hands, and and then we might as well pray for everybody. We'll put hands on everybody around that. That's the doctors, the nurses, everything. There ain't nothing safe when the rock gets up there at the church. I mean, up at the see, I called it the church. It might as well be. We we we're doing work up there. Um God is good. If you came discouraged, you can leave today full of hope. If he'll do it for him, he'll do it for every single person in here. There's no respecter of persons. His desire is to, his desire is to make himself real and known to you. And you say, Well, I'm discouraged because it didn't happen for me. Listen, I I have I I can testify, I can tell you of prayers that weren't answered. But when I hear the testimony of the Lord, it just it it do I have questions? Yeah, but when I get to heaven, I'm gonna ask all those questions. But I'm gonna get to heaven, I'm gonna get to heaven. I'm not gonna let the disappointment of my lack of an answer keep me out of to detour me. Amen. Come on, somebody. You have to confront yourself, you have to confront yourself. The enemy wants you to stay locked up, but he's bringing the word of the Lord to you in testimonies to people all around you. Don't give up, lean in, he's got something for you. And today is no different. Today is like every day walking with the Lord. Anything is possible. Anything can happen. You gotta live this way. Come on, we gotta trust it again. Where are the believers at? Can I hear a good amen? Yes. Man, you guys are. You know what I'm terrible at? Preaching with an interpreter. But I'm gonna tell you what. There isn't anyone worse at communicating if they have to go through an interpreter than me. I'd I turn into nothingness. I just couldn't, I would get like like one-word sentences out. We are glad to be with you. You sound like a robot the whole time, and then I can't get out of my head like, you know, you sound like an idiot. So I'm glad to be preaching today without an interpreter. Although there's probably people in here that will need to interpret my English to somebody here today. So uh stay tuned, be close, all of my faithful ones, be ready to help your neighbor. Listen, uh, Easter Sunday is coming. Make sure you go by and grab these. These are really great. Great invitation card, great conversation starter. I'm gonna talk a little bit about that today uh as a whole because today we're talking about uh good news. Talking about good news. We talked about good ground and we're talking about good news today. And we'll start with this slide here. I think I have an opening slide. Yeah, see, things are still the same since I left and came back. Uh now we're at okay, sure. We'll start wherever y'all want to start. I'm gonna try one more time to go back one. It doesn't matter, we'll start here. This is great. Hey, uh Robbie or whoever's in the back, I'm gonna point. You just click. Um when I did. Okay, I have power again. Somebody give me a thumbs up that I got it, alright? Um so we're starting in good news today. Good news, good news. Good news is awesome. We're gonna start with the parable of what? The Good Samaritan, right? Everybody knows this story. Everybody knows the story when Jesus is confronted by the lawyer and and he has to basically give an account for what he knows. This is not like a lawyer like like like the one representing you in the courtroom. This is the lawyer that is uh he is um he has been tasked to to keep the validity of of the Torah. He is managing and keeping and approving what is really uh the word of the Lord and what is being made up. Do you understand what I'm saying? He's he's like an authority in scripture. And so what's uh I mean just silly to me is this guy tries to take Jesus to task in front of everybody, which is to me is the worst mistake you can do. Uh and and yet we do it all the time. All the time. We will find ourselves trying to take Jesus to task. But I can tell you, that's that's not uh uh that's not uh something you ought to get used to doing. Uh because if you like defeat, you can continue to do that. Uh Jesus knows what he's doing, he has a plan, and he wants us to understand it. And the way Jesus did that, like any good rabbi, he would tell a story, he would say a parable, he would attach some like scene around what what was happening in the day and try to apply the scripture and apply the teaching to you so that you get a better, clearer image. And so we're gonna read through that today, and I'm gonna do my best to kind of break some of that down. Why does it matter? Because we're gonna find out today that we have a responsibility to be a neighbor. Yeah, we have a responsibility to that. It's it's an invitation for each of us to step up and be who we're supposed to be, and and and what I mean by that is simply this is that Christ, in his character and who he is, invites us into his nature. And his nature cares about others. Alright? So today we're putting an emphasis on on how do we care for our neighbor? What does that look like? Dee, you're coming fresh off of an experience where where it's important uh that that what was neighborly was lived out around you in a very real way, in a very tangible way. I would also like to say that there are there's thousands upon thousands of opportunities just represented in this room for you to be a good neighbor. And we have a good neighbor initiative here where we go into neighborhoods and we teach people what it is to be a good neighbor when you own your first home. What does that mean? It means like, you know, don't park 19 cars in in your yard. You can only drive one, and you got 18 of those bad boys don't work. You don't need 18 projects. Get you a project or two and then find somewhere to store the other 17. It's cut your grass, it's look out for your neighbor. You know, these are all practical skills that we talk about, just ways to be neighborly, how to keep watch, how to take care for, how to be neighborly and kind. You know, we could do a whole series, we won't, but we could, on just what it means to be kind. You know what's sad is that that we are getting a reputation in the church and not just being kind anymore. We we have a we have a stronger reputation of being judgmental. That that's that's actually the the the the testimony of the church right now for many is that they're judgmental and they're they're arrogant. And how many know we know that's not true? That's not the core of who we are because that's not who Christ was. He's invited us by He's inviting us to something different. So, alright, let's try this. Here we go. Um, next slide. Perfect. If you got your Bibles, open up to Luke 10. We're gonna just read through the whole story, and I'm gonna start with the first few here. If you don't have your Bibles, you can follow along with me. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said to him, What is written in the law? What is your reading of it? And so he answered and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your strength, and with all of your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Come on. Everyone say neighbor. Neighbor as your ne as yourself. Verse 28. And he said to him, You have answered rightly. Do this and you will live. Seemed like a pretty straightforward answer. Just do what's written in the Torah. If you'll do what's written in the commandments, you'll just live. Next slide. But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Now this is where he got, he get he took, he should have just left with his first question. You understand what I'm saying? He should have just took in that, take that answer. Hey, well done. You read the Torah well, you're good. That's the law, and let's move on, sir. But no, sir wouldn't keep that mouth shut. Sir, sir just went ahead and inserted that foot all the way in this time. Well, let me just get clear. Who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? I want to justify my inaction. My inaction. I want to justify it. This is what it said. Then Jesus answered and said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Verse 31. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Everyone say the other side. Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by where? On the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. Compassion. I want you to go to the next slide. I want to talk about this. Who is my neighbor? This is what the lawyer's trying to get across. He says, Who is my neighbor? What's the big idea? Here's Jesus. Here's his reframing of it. Will you become a neighbor? The question for you and the question for us, and the question for our community, the question for our city is really comes down to this. Will you choose to be a neighbor? Will you choose to bear the marks of Christ, the character of Christ, the know-how of Christ, and to live it out in a neighborly way? Or are we going to sit around and keep wondering who's our neighbor? How do we determine that? Because the very first thing that's baked inside of that question is, who deserves my love? Now someone might say, hey, that's a fair question. Here's the thing. John 3.16 said, For God so loved the world that he gave his what? And who did he give that son for? Let me ask you a question. If you're saved in this room, were you saved from anything? Did he find you saved, or did he find you dead? Did he find you longing, hoping, needing something, or did he find you all cleaned up? How many people went fishing, or might be you're going fishing over spring break? How many are expecting to just fish and then pull out a fish that's already cleaned up and fried up and ready to go? Huh? Come on. No one's walking out there expecting that, yet we walk around all the time withholding what he's empowered us to give. We do that because we want to be in control of who gets this. I'm here to tell you, not one of us, not one of us in this room or listening to me by online or at one of our campuses. Whoever's tuning in today, not one of us got here because we earned it or we deserved it. We received his love willingly, like against all odds. What else is baked in? Who qualifies, who doesn't? See, I I wrote it like this because I think it's important. I'm gonna bring a little bit more clarity to this, but this often comes into who if we view it a little bit more like this. They don't look like me, they don't act like me, I don't think they deserve. I know that got personal fast. I'm sorry. But I'm not sorry, because you have to be confronted with this, right? Because this this is a hang-up, this is what keeps us in the reputation of withholding love that that Christ has empowered us to give, but we're keep we keep trying to be our own judge over it. So we treat the idea that Christ is in us, which means I'm I'm ruling from from from uh righteousness and and and and justice. Justice. But there therein lies where Christ is ruling from is got two parts. He's inviting us to it. Why? Because you can get down to this and says, is is there is this really my problem? Is this even my problem? When I'm confronted with something that's happening in the world that is an injustice, the question comes to most of us, is like, hey, that's not mine. Uh okay, let me say it like this. Uh you've heard this language. I'm just gonna stay in my lane. Well done. You stayed in your lane. But God gave you authority to bring change. But you pride yourself in staying in your lane. How many know you can still speak truth and still keep the line of authority that needs to be there? And I think oftentimes we excuse that because we don't like the tension, but this is the lawyer is putting us out here, this teaching, and Christ is trying to teach us something. He's like, hey, I've actually done something that's supernatural, I've done it in you, through you. I want to get it through you. This is how he reframed it. He says, Who needs my help? This is a better question to ask. When you come across something at work or at home or maybe in our community that is an injustice, maybe just before you disregard it, maybe ask the Lord, how can I help in that? What about this? What can I do? Not just how can I help, but that I want to put action to it. Not just a prayer to say, God, show me. That first one's about show me, Lord. It's about getting his heart for whatever is going on. The second thing is now how do I put action to it? What is my responsibility? What do I do with that? When I see injustice in my community, what do I do with that? It can't just be a silent, like, I hope it all gets right. No, we have to use our voice, we have to use action. We may have to step up and do something. Come on, somebody. This is the Lord. I'm not teaching this, this is Him. I'm just repeating what He said. How about this? If I see it, I'm invited. If I see it, I'm not saying things that you don't see, you should just try to pull down supernaturally. I'm saying if you are seeing it, if you recognize it, God is asking you, if that's the case, I'm inviting you into a solution. I'll tell them over here. He's inviting you to make make it a priority. He's inviting you to be a solution to the things he puts in front of you. Right? We were just talking about this at your work the other day. Right? That's what we're doing. You got a glimpse of it, and the invitation is now I get to step in and do something. And and you might say, well, that's too much pressure, and that's I don't want to, I don't want to this and I don't want to that, but I'm telling you, on the back side of your obedience, if you knew that it meant freedom for this person, or it meant an open door for this group, every one of us would take the faithful step forward. But see, it wouldn't be faith then. Come on, touch your neighbor and say, you have faith. Come on, you have faith. You have a measure of faith that's been given to you. Every person in this room. He wants to activate that. Amen? All right, check this out. Next slide. Let's see what Dr. Martin Luther King said about it. I don't know if you've ever gone back and listened to any of his speeches, but you may recognize this when I've been to the mountaintop. He gave this speech in Memphis. This is the speech that he gave the day before he died. He uses this exact passage to explain the responsibility that we have to re to respond when things show up in our world. And look, check this out. He says, once said that the priest and the Levite asked, if I stop to help this man, what will happen to me? But the Samaritan asked, if I don't stop to help this man, what will happen to him? This is the question that we are oftentimes get into. We're more worried about how much effort it's going to take from me, how much time, how much money, how will I lose my reputation? If if I partner with this, then oh now all of a sudden I'm in jeopardy and I work too hard to be here. And yet the Lord invites us to think about it a little differently. As Dr. Martin Luther King did, he says, think about it. What's going to happen to this man if I don't actually turn and make a difference? What's going to happen here? I think this is a great framework for this one truth that I want to give to you. And I did these all kind of obnoxiously large for a reason. Alright, go to the next one. I want you to get it. You're going to see the slides I want you to get today. Please get these. Right? I did it on purpose. And that is this. The issue isn't who deserves love, the issue is what kind of person we are becoming. It's not who deserves it. The question is, who are you becoming? Because the truth is, if you will lean into who you're becoming in that pursuit to be like Christ, there's no way you have to, you will, you will not have to worry about stepping over who deserves it because everyone is in need. Do you understand? So the real question is if you lead or have ever led, or you have a tendency to lead, with a like, I don't know who deserves my time, I don't know who deserves my effort, I don't know who deserves this love, I don't know who deserves this gospel message. I don't know. If you are so busy worrying about, like, like I hear this in the church world. Well, I don't want to uh uh throw my pearl uh uh amongst before swine. Well, we, we, we, all the way home. Come on, somebody. I mean, what are we doing here? This is not the three little pigs, man. We're talking about the love of Christ should compel me into caring about what he cares about. It's you, it's people. It's people. Amen. He's called me to be a neighbor, right? He's calling us into something, right? Who are you becoming today? Alright, let's pick up in the passage uh 29 again. Uh and and I read this, but I'll read 31.2. It says, now by chance a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by. On the other side, likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at that place, came and looked and passed by on the other side as well. Now, I I just want to stop right here, and I want to talk about this. There is a danger in passing by. I want to warn you today that there is a danger in passing by. Let me tell you one of the things that I think is really critical for us as believers, that when we see something that needs our attention, if we see someone who's hurting, and we see someone who needs a word, who see we know someone needs compassion, and we just choose to turn to the other side, I'm I'm warning you that there will come a day where the Holy Spirit is harder to hear because you have gotten into a habit of pushing him off. As he is prompting you to move forward, you're rejecting, and over time, the heavens will become like brass. If you, in fact, I'm just gonna say this because it has to be said, I'm your pastor. Right? If you have felt like everything you said just keeps clanging against this brass ceiling, I'm gonna encourage you to go back and say, Holy Spirit, what have I been ignoring? You you I want to do this, but you've prompted me to do this. And by me, by me avoiding this thing that I don't want to do, by staying busy on things that I think you want me to do, doesn't excuse the fact that you're just in flat-out disobedience. And what happens is we can get it. I'm talking, hey, do you hear what I'm saying? I'm preaching to Scott Silcox today. He he is guilty as charged, man. I have been there. I have been there where I know he was he was leading me in a thing, and I was just like, I so uncomfortable, Lord. How many know the Lord don't ever ask you to do things that are comfortable? I mean, am I right, Cam? Just last week you just hosted your first event here. It wasn't comfortable, but he told you do it. It's just not a comfortable feeling for him to push you out there, right? So I would just be very clear about this. Like, like if you're waiting for God to give you the comfortable thing to do, I would argue you're not listening to God. All right, let's say it like this. Like when it comes time to give or to invest into something, or hey, we're doing a special offering, and and hey, not too long from now, I'm gonna be sharing some things we're doing in Honduras. I can't wait. But there's gonna be an opportunity for us to invest and to be a part of it. There's gonna be some people who pull out that one dollar bill and be like, pow, done the done column. You're gonna spend four dollars on a drink today, and every day for here until eternity, but that one dollar, I'm gonna let just let that thing ride. That one dollar, go get them souls. Come on, somebody. Knowing good and well the Lord's impressed upon you to do something else, but because it's the same action, but not in the same heart. It looks like obedience, but it's not. Come on, somebody. This is what we're talking about today. Can y'all hear it? Can you hear it? Oh, I gotta hurry too. Let me let me just go through some of this right here. Uh yeah, yeah, right here, right here, right here. Here's some things that are to be noticed. The priest and the Levite, they saw the need, but they what? Chose distance. They saw the need, they chose the distance. You see, Jesus is smart the way he's laying this parable out, right? He's getting the religious folks to understand something, is that they are really comfortable at noticing when things are a problem. But they don't have the courage, the grace, the ability to actually move towards the need. They just want to make it known that they saw it. These are those people who always say they predict the future, you know? Like, like, like they don't say anything in prayer, they don't come to prayer, they don't do anything at the church, but then when something goes wrong, they're like, I could have told you that was happening. Oh, could you? Could you now? Oh, I could tell, I could tell exactly. I could have told you I saw that coming a mile away. Did you? Did you? Did you just sit on your prophetic voice? What is it? Come on, this is what the religious people were able to do. They knew all the needs, but didn't want to do anything about it. They knew what was happening in Jerusalem, they knew what's happening to the church, they know what's happening in the way of persecution, and instead they keep turning their back. Come on, this is real. And Jesus is trying to low-key pull everyone into the center and say, Let me just show you something. And this is what he does. How about this one? They weren't evil people, they were busy religious people. They weren't evil. They know the law. They don't only know the law, they are living by the letter of the law. Have you ever tried? Have you ever just read that and tried to live by every single thing that's written in the law? No, you haven't. No, you haven't. You've read it and you've been like, oh no, player, I'm not doing that. No, no, there's grace. There's a grace. I'm a New Testament believer, right? I have no responsibility to that anymore. Thank you for the blood, Jesus. Freedom. You're not living that way. But but the reason you're not is because uh it isn't our problem is that we don't know and that we don't have faith. Our problem is really that we're too busy. And and in our Western context, and I can tell you this after being in Honduras for a week, uh, we live like this here. We're on on we I gotta get here, I gotta get here, I gotta get here. I have 20 things I have to do today. Don't get in my way. I got a punch list. This is my wife. Right here. I got I got punch list, I got marks, I gotta hit. Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. And then when they're done, this is amazing. It's time to go to bed. Get up in the morning, get out of my way, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch. What a productive day. Let's go to bed. This is our life. This is our life. It's we are too busy to even stop and consider that he might want to reroute us. When's the last time you got in your car and knowing you had stuff to do, but still could get this prayer out, Lord? I'm open to whatever you want to do today. I know I have a job. I know I have the things I need to do, but here's what I'm asking. Holy Spirit, I want you to make me aware of my surroundings. Help me to be sensitive to what's happening around me. When I walk into this store, Lord, I am looking for these shoes. That's what I'm here for. You know that, Lord. That petition has been put before you. But I'm also asking, what's happening in here? What atmosphere am I here to transform? We've got to get back to that kind of active belief that the believer, that the child of God walks into scenarios and can change an atmosphere based off of how they preach or how they talk or how just what they carry, just the testimony of the Lord in your life. Do you know that you are equipped with the testimony, the power to break off bondage? See, most of you either I would say sometimes we can get in this place where we don't even believe the testimony we have and we think it doesn't have power. But it's got supernatural power on it. Not because you did anything, but because it testifies of God's faithfulness in your broke down life. And when that comes through, people respond, not because of you, but because if he'll do it for you, then he'll do it for us. Hope rises when we share. I took the belt out of my my dad's hands one time. And I'm here to live to tell you. Like that, what is that, right? I think Pastor uh Rusty talks about that with Pastor Mom, right? He talks about you being the first rap artist. I told you not to do do. That was still, hey, look, that ain't even my story. It's got a lot of life on it still, bro. I love it. He ain't even here to defend himself, but I'm telling you, I'm gonna tell you what. Greg will tell you, his brother's here, he deserved it, didn't he? Didn't he? He deserved it. He deserved that whooping that he got. Yeah, that's a lesson he needed. Just saying, God is inviting us to something, right? And this one, this one I like at the end. The third thing that that comes in that idea is that their faith was correct, but their compassion was absent. They knew who they were, but but had not activated compassion in their heart. What is Jesus? Put yourself in his shoes. What is he trying to do? What's Jesus trying to get their attention? He's saying, look, you came to put me to task today about my knowledge of the word. I'm here to put you to task on where's your compassion for the lost. You you keep constantly bringing me back to this place where it's like, if you miss one letter of the law, then then I'm not uh validated in what I do. That's what Jesus is contending against. And yet Jesus never falls for it, he just simply calls them to a higher mark. It's the law and compassion. The law should have produced compassion in you, and instead it produced a legalistic mindset. We can't be anymore. We've been set free from the law and given the freedom to operate in the compassion that Christ actually, that's why he got on the cross. It's that compassion for us that he gives to us through the Son, through the blood of Christ being applied to the doorposts of our heart, so that I can be compassionate. It's just not hard. And yet we are constantly crippled by this. Alright, so let's let's let's talk about this. James talks about it. If you go and check him out, James 2, 15 and 16 says, if a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled. Without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? I love James right here. James just practical. This is just him putting it out in front of us, saying, like, listen, I know you don't want it to be about works, but it's about works too. It is about. It is. There is action that is required. Can't just be slippery grace to cover all of our sins. We love that part, but there is an actionable piece that James is trying to get our attention. He's waving, he's saying, Hey, if you see the need and all you do is high five and say, You got this. And then you go to the the the app tracker and be like, I encouraged a brother in Christ. Click, click. How about encourage your brother and then buy a coat? Or give them the one that's on your back, you know you've got ten of them. It's a it's a it's a it's a it's a allowing the Holy Spirit, listen, we can't meet every need individually, but we can meet a lot of needs collectively. I'm not saying every need that comes your way is is the thing you have to do. I'm asking you to be in tune with the Holy Spirit. Don't miss that. You have to stay in tune with the Holy Spirit. What do you want me to do? Remember the question. God, what is my responsibility? And give me the grace to do it. Give me the courage to do it. You know what I found out? There has never been a time where the Lord either moved me, took me, or used me in any way that I look back and be like, well, that was a waste of time. I never at the end of being derailed in a conversation or maybe at the gas station, filling up somebody's tank because they needed it. I never walked away from that being like, well, that was inconvenient. No, because in the moment when we obey, not only is there a grace to do it, but there is a joy unspeakable because I'm living in purpose. Come on, say living in purpose. When you're living in purpose, do you know that you can live in purpose every single day when you go to work? Some of you are like, I am. I'm making that money. And I'm glad you are. That's amazing. But what I'm talking about is living in purpose, is being present while doing work, but being present and available for what might be happening in the cubicle next to you. You know, you know this friend's going through a nasty divorce. You know it. And instead, you just sort of like, everything good? Alright. And then it's like, good, I checked in today. Maybe just say, hey, can I take you to lunch this afternoon? You know, I I can't even imagine what you're going through. In fact, I I don't ever want to know what that feels like. But can I tell you something that's encouraged me today and this week and the weeks ahead? Can I just share this with you? That there are gonna be nights where you're really frustrated, you're really angry, and you probably have every right to be. But there is there's a passage of scripture I want to share with you that will help bring life to you. If you just read this before you go to bed, try to re rethink some things and let the Lord do something in you because honestly, in your situation, it might just only be the Lord that can get it done. Do you know how easy that is? And and you know what's funny? Is we're so afraid of rejection. We're so terrified to be rejected in that moment. But I can get just a quick show of hands. Anyone's ever been able to be on the giving side of that kind of encouragement at work or at anywhere else. Anybody ever is there to raise it up high? Come on. Can we give it up? Give it up, up, up, up, up. Yes? Yeah, because some of y'all are down here, which makes you think you did, you just, you're you're lying. Okay, so that's not good. But if you have, raise your hand up, right? Like I've been, God's used me to encourage the brothers and go, keep them up. I need you to keep them up. This is why. Because all those who have not ever experienced that need to look around. And I'm gonna ask you a question. Keep your hands up, keep your hands up. This is not worship, so don't freak out. Like uh, I don't worship with my hands lifted. You're not this is just a question. Okay, listen, at any point after the fact, right? Would everyone agree that that you felt like I was on mission, on purpose, and that the person on the other end of it was actually receiving it. They didn't reject me, but they were actually thankful. Is that everybody's hand still lifted? Alright, you can put it down. That's two times today doubters have been defeated. Come on, in healing and in testimony. Because it's possible. We just gotta do it. Just gotta do it. Okay, okay. Oh my gosh. What time? Oh. Um, yeah. I mean, there's just no way I'm getting through all this, but we'll give it a go. Alright, so, okay, I'm gonna move forward to the big to the big deal here. Get it, get it. I want you to get it. The kingdom moves forward every time faith moves towards someone in need. The kingdom moves forward every time someone moves towards need. You probably have picked up a theme here at our church. We're kingdom people here. We got kingdom heights. Probably the the message I I lean into more than anything is the message of the kingdom. How many know that we we we're we're I know that we're in this this this amazing nation and and we have all of the free but can I tell you, I am I am trying to live a life submitted to the lordship of Christ, who is the king of kings over this kingdom that he's creating. Come on, somebody. This is this I am I am presently in America, but I am under the lordship of Christ. Do you hear what I'm saying? First and foremost. And for some of you that makes people nervous, but it shouldn't because it's the most secure place you can be. And the creator of the universe, under his care. And and the thing is, is that when we talk about this, I'm always looking for ways to continue to advance what he's doing on the earth. And in order for us to really get a vision for what it is to be neighbor today, is simply this is that the kingdom advances when I move towards the need. Not when I stay in my lane. No, I'll just stay in my lane, it's not my thing. No, I'm just saying, Jesus uses a parable about two dudes that stayed in their lane. And and they weren't the right answer. I'm just I'm gonna blow the story. Right? They weren't the right answer, they stayed in their lane. The invitation is to get involved, get connected. Alright, all right, so last passage of scripture, I'll read this one to you. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two dinari, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you. So, which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? And he said, the lawyer, he who showed mercy on him. Then Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise. Now I just want to make a quick Point of reference here. If you see the scripture, you probably should underline 37, the first part. It says, and he said, He who showed mercy on him. Now, anybody think it interesting that he didn't say the Samaritan? He doesn't even own the fact that he is he's referring to a Samaritan. Now that matters because at this time, a Samaritan is a natural enemy to the Jew. They would have been at odds with each other. If you go just a few chapters before this, the disciples are ready to call down fire on the Samaritans. Right? Do you remember that? Lord, shall we call down fire? And the Lord's like, just relax. Okay? Just relax. And you just got to love their zeal in that moment, right? They want to bring the justice. And God's saying, I'm teeing something up. Just give me a minute. And he gets to this point, but the lawyer actually never uses Samaritan at all, which I think is fascinating to me. A couple of things that I want to just mention to you. I told you we just got back from this trip. This is a couple pictures from our kids. I was with my wife and my family. We're with the Kingdom Heights kids, the team that came from the school, and we went to Honduras and spent a week. And I just want to tell you, I want to testify just for a lot of things, but I want to say this for our kids and for our parents. Thank you for the investment. For those who invested in sending these kids, I'm going to tell you, well worth it. I'm so proud of these kids, and I hope they're all at home sleeping right now because they got in. We were all at the airport at two this morning. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Matt, are you I think Matt put those tickets together? Don't make me have to use another group, please. Like, we don't want to in the morning anymore. Okay. I had needed to get that out. Um it was personal. I'm just gonna stand in there just like get in the car. My son's like, are we where are we going? I was like, we gotta go to church. It's too early. We're gonna meet them there. Anyway, so but I got a chance to be with these guys. This is Joey Ballard, who shared his testimony, did a fantastic work this week. Every single kid got up and just shared their life story. Every single kid got an opportunity to minister. There's all kinds of videos and stuff. I'm not gonna get, I'm not gonna steal that shine. I want them to be able to tell that story. We're gonna come up with some ways to do that over the next few weeks because I think it's real important for them to get the practice of sharing. But can I tell you in every one of the settings we ended up with, and we were busy, man, we were hitting all the different care sites, all the different churches. And can I tell you, man, even just like one of the last church services we were in, is probably the roughest area that I have personally been in, and I've gone to Honduras for years. Uh very difficult place. This is uh known for an area where you go to die. Uh the the literally the entire neighborhood is you go here, and this is the end. This is where you go to die. This is where you you you're forgotten about here. This is where drugs, uh, prostitution, um uh and and just um it's funny. It's like you ever go to a place where you feel like almost every other person's maimed in some way, it's really rough. Um, I mean, it just you get there and you realize this is where they're pushing all of the the things that that that need to be out of view. Uh this would be equivalent to like um uh uh in LA, um Skid Row. If you guys remember Skid Row, this like seven or eight blocks down there that's kind of kind of quarantined. This would have been the exact same thing. But I remember we were sitting in this service, and I was so proud of our kids just engaging in worship and with the people. And there were people in the church gathering people off the streets to come into the service, and Dean Jackson did arguably one of the best messages I have ever heard uh overseas uh ever. Uh was so clear, so crystal clear, so amazing uh that it just started to draw people in, and it was just fantastic what God was doing in that moment, to the point there was a lady after. We had already prayed, we had some deliverance over here, we got a couple down over here, we got we got one happening back in the back corner, and then this lady kind of comes, responds to the Lord, and then afterwards, basically it's just like we're trying to feed them some food, which I think is fantastic. Uh they always figure out a way to do ministry and feed people. There's some ways we're alike in America in there, amen. Uh, we we do ministry around the table, amen. We've been doing a lot of ministry, uh, some of us. Uh and so we we were doing that, and the lady was just like, hey, I'll take my plate. But you could tell there's a visible difference for this lady, so so transformed. And come to find out, she was actually called in off the streets. She's been living a life of prostitution. She said, I I feel clean, I'm saved, and and and and actually, I'm I'm just going home. I'm I'm not even going back into the streets. I'm just I'm going home. And and and this is a kind of cool, this is kind of a cool. This is this is the model. We were talking with the pastors afterwards, and we're just like, oh, it's amazing. And then in our Western world, listen to how how listen to me. This is how I make myself look like foolish sometimes. I'm like, I'm like, man, I I'm just excited because she'll be discipled in this, and and and the pastor's like, nah. And I was like, wait, what? He's like, you don't understand. He said, people get saved and they go home. We hope we never see them again. And it was like, oh, this is that church. Like, you don't, you're not asking people to stay. What it is is we connect them with churches where their families are at. We won't actually ever disciple. What we're gonna do is create an environment where people respond to the healing, to the touch of Jesus, and then we get them back to their families to get them back out of this community, give them a chance to go again. Amen. Our kids got to see that eyewitness of that. So watching our kids lay hands. It was so good. It was so good. We even had a couple of our own kids get baptized. I just can't even tell you the stories, but I'm telling you this is that what compels us to go to Honduras is no different than what should compel you to help your neighbor. And that is where there is need and where we see a perceived need, our responsibility is only to go forward towards the need to be a blessing towards it. Right? This that why is it so easy for us to do that overseas, but we we struggle to do it in our own neighborhood? There are people in your neighborhood who need what you have. And instead, we pull back and we're just like, well, this is just my little palace and my little world, and this is where I draw peace and comfort. Or maybe God gave you that to be a hospital for your neighborhood. Maybe he placed you there because your testimony is so powerful that it has life-giving, life-saving potential on it. Not to take anything away with what we're doing here because this, man, we can find people to serve and love here. And it's important for our kids to see a different perspective, which is why we did it.

SPEAKER_01 51:41

Right?

Matthew 25 Kindness As Evangelism

Easter Invitations And The Challenge

Prayer For Compassion And Courage

SPEAKER_02 51:41

And they came back different. They came back different. And for the good. I can't wait to see God do what he's gonna do in our school because this little remnant just has a vision that God can do anything. So, what's the big takeaway on this one? It begins with how we see people, not as interruptions, but as opportunities. For the kingdom of God, compassion moves you toward the wound. Compassion moves you, compels us towards the wound. Where is the wound? How do I get there? And how do we advance the kingdom by doing it? You don't do it by sitting on your hands and praying about it. You gotta actually step towards what he's trying to do. Greg, please come help these people. Come help them, please. Come play, come do something. I mean, don't dance or something out here. I mean, just because you have to be clear, you don't never know. Alright. Let me um let me go to let me go by this real quick. Talk about the parable of the Good Samaritan and the connection between Matthew 25. I think this is an important comparison here. Many of you are familiar with Matthew 25. You remember this. This is that judgment day conversation. What's gonna happen when the goats and the sheep are split up? Do you remember that? And then he's gonna say well done, but like well done for what? And that well done that Jesus is talking about is hey, when you clothed and fed me, you gave me a drink. Do you guys remember this? Alright, so I just want to be clear. So I just want to make sure that you guys are all tracked in the same passage of scripture. But when you did all these things, you did it what? Unto me. You did it unto me. Now, this is interesting. It's like when we know that that we're going to face Christ and there's going to be a judgment, we don't know how that's all gonna go, even though there are people that will tell you they know exactly how it's gonna go. Uh just be careful around those people, right? This is exactly what he's gonna do, this is when he's gonna come, this is the plot of grass he's gonna show up on, this is exactly how he's gonna say it. You don't know, because he didn't give you any of that. He said it would be a mystery, it would be something. He didn't he didn't do that so that we didn't manufacture all of his coming again and again and again. Right? So trust. But here's what we do know that he says, I'm actually gonna ask this question. I'm actually gonna say, hey, when you did this, you did it unto me. Now he did give us that. Now, if we know that, it should compel us into asking Holy Spirit to continue to make me sensitive to what's happening around me, shouldn't it? That's why we're we're we're we're we're doing this series and why we're pushing us in this direction, because we didn't just put that app together so you could sit in the congregation and just play punching numbers. We did it because we expect us to walk out of this room looking for people who need to hear the message and looking for opportunities to be his hand extended. That's why it exists. It's an invitation to do more with what he's done for you. That's what we're doing today. And so this is the parallel here. It says in the parable of the Good Samaritan, what happened? They he stopped. What did the Samaritan do? He treated the wounds. What else? Transported him, he paid for the care. I'm gonna just tell you what, that's a lot of steps and a lot of things and a lot of time and a lot of effort. And I know we're talking about a parable, but you got to think about this. Like he probably had somewhere to go himself. The point is, is he pulled out to be intentional. Feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick. This is this is what he said. This is what I've called you to do. Two passages, two totally different areas talking about what his nature is. The invitation is what are you doing with it? Now, if you haven't picked up on this already, you probably should have. But isn't it interesting that Christ uses his own self as a picture? He embodies, and what he's trying to say is, I am the Samaritan. The one you hate, the one you're frustrated with, the one, the one you think you know everything about. How do we know that? What did Christ do for you? He stopped, treated the wounds, what else? He brought you out and in to a different life, and he bought you. Paid for the care. He bought you. Why is it so hard for me to give myself away to this when this is what he modeled for me so clearly? This is the invitation to be a part of it. Blessing people is not separate from evangelism, it is part of evangelism. For many people, kindness is the first sermon they ever hear. Kindness is the first sermon. Could you stand with me? Kindness is the first sermon. Tim said this, I thought it was interesting. Uh, in his sermon, he talked about like there the the the point of conversion, when someone gives their life to Christ, usually comes after six to eight touch points, something like that. I've even read it's more than that. I have. I've read that it's it's even more than that. Here's the question. I think it's very similar. It's like, at what point you don't have to close the full gap. You just have to be obedient to one of those steps. Did you know the invitation this morning is for every single one of us to walk out of this room on mission? Is that what you talked about last week? On mission. Purpose-driven life. It's not just a book. It's not a book that we shelved years ago. It's a lifestyle that Christ paid for. And today I'm asking for a new and fresh anointing on my life to be sensitive to what he's doing around me. Because I believe this. Over the next week or two, we're going to be intentional about our time, our money, our effort, and we're going to go after people. Come on. We're going after folks. We're going to make a difference. We're not going to just like, oh, chalk it up. The kids went to Honduras. Now our church is in the good. What are y'all talking about? We went to Honduras to come back to go to work. We went to Honduras just to get inspired, that there are things that are needed from us today. We went to Honduras to come back and reprioritize the way we lived our life. Because there's a better way. And God's inviting every single one of us into it today. The invitation to let Him use you to make a difference with the people around you. I'm gonna just say it. I gotta say it. You're not exempt. You're not exempt. But I'm old. So who cares? Why are you so hung up about your age? Just stop already. Stop making excuses. You're not you're not too old to use your mouth. Come on. Share something. Your wisdom is not, don't take your wisdom to the grave. Don't do that and call it stewardship. Don't do it. That's irresponsible. Well, here's I love this one. Oh, we'll we'll we're giving the young ones a chance. Right, right, right. That's what we're doing. Stop. Just stop. Stop and let the Holy Spirit awaken in you a passion to share the gospel message again. Have the Holy Spirit awaken in you a compassion for the broken. Pastor Scott, they deserve it. They made bad decisions to get there. Okay, okay. Miss Mr. I made all the right decisions. Now come on down off that high horse. Dismount. Dismount and get in reality. There are people dying and going to hell, and God has raised you up to be an answer for this. Oh, but all my problems. That's your problem. That's your problem. You've got your eyes on your problems. Not on the solution. Not on the, oh, uh, but I I don't have enough money to invest. Invest your time. Yeah, but I'm spending all my time making money. I can't. You spend all your time making excuses. And that's costing you some money too. I'm just saying, we gotta shake ourselves. I want to walk into life today, head up, shoulders back, and saying, I got answers. Who wants them? Who wants them? You need something today. I can't meet every need, but boy, I can I can introduce you to the one who can change your life. And it's an invitation to do it. Who wants to accept the challenge today? Who wants to accept the challenge? Yeah. Great way for you to do it. Just start by inviting it. Use this as a touch point. Hey, I don't know what you're doing this weekend. Easter. Come on. You got kids? Come hunt some eggs with us. Come hang out with us. Come do something. We got a worship thing happening. Come be a part of that. You see what I'm saying? Like invite, use it. Hey, hey, can I encourage you today? Oh, you need this. Oh, I've been sitting next to you. Oh, you're sour all the time. Oh, you know it? I'm gonna take you to lunch. I'm gonna get you happy. I'd love you to hang out with you at Easter. Come eat Easter dinner with us. Well, Pastor Scott, that's a sacred meal. Man, get a vision. Get a vision. Could you imagine if only 500 of us decided today that we would spend this week being intentional about sharing the gospel? Do you know what kind of advancement in the kingdom we can do? And just a handful of us decide to do it. One last question. Does anyone have anything to be thankful for? I do. I do. Man. Oh a wretched sinner. Saved by grace. Man, oh man, I live, I live for the pleasure of the Lord. I want to make him known. I want to spend my life. And I mean spend it. I mean ring it out. I want my life wrung out for the kingdom. Well, you need to save a little. Get that energy. Man, what energy? Man, God gives it. I want to wring it out for his purpose's sake. I'm telling you, I'm giving my life away to it. I'm inviting you to be a part of it because I think it will transform you. And here's what I do know: it will absolutely transform the world around you. This is what God's called us to be a part of. Will you be a neighbor? Or will you step across the road, pretend like you didn't see what you saw, and live that comfortable life that you've been praying for? And I'm gonna tell you, there's a better prayer, better questions, better fulfillment, better joy, and it's all available to you. All you have to do is ask. Amen. Heavenly Father, would you just lift your hands and receive this today? Heavenly Father, we do. We ask today for a fresh anointing. See what you see. Give us a compassion for the lost, for the broken. Give us a compassion for those that are hungry, for those who are without food and without clothes. Forgive us for stepping over opportunities that we know you you aligned us, but we were busy. Forgive our busyness. We want to say again to you, we're not too busy to be on mission with you, Lord. We're not too busy. You don't have to raise up another generation because we're we're we're gonna say yes again. You don't have to just keep raising up people and hoping for people. No, no, no. We we hear you today and we we say we're stepping back into the game. We're not using excuses anymore. We're not leading with our problems, we're not leading with our incapabilities, we're not leading with our our reasons for thousands of reasons of why we shouldn't do it, but none of them are greater than the one reason, and that is that you gave your Life for this message. And we take a step into being neighborly today. To see what you see, to hurt when it hurts you. And now, God, we're asking for a grace and courage to say yes when you speak. A grace to hear you clearly and a courage to say yes when you speak. God, we thank you for this. And so, so, so much more. In Jesus' name, everybody said. Amen, amen, amen.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:37

We hope and pray this message was encouraging and impactful. Join us live on our website or Facebook on Sundays at 9 and 11 a.m. You can stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at the Rock Family. Have a Jesus filled week.