The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 3: Tear off the Roof

Episode Date: April 23, 2023

One of the best ways to DEEPEN your relationship with Jesus is to help others DISCOVER theirs.

Amen and amen. How many to the church. Doing good. Aren't you glad you came to church today? I hope you are. Grab your Bibles. Mark Chapter 2 is where we're going to be. And as you turn to Mark chapter 2, we're in the third week of this series called Anything

It's Possible. And I want to ask you this question before we dive in, because all you that grew up in Sunday school and praise God for Sunday school, the moment I start teaching on this passage, you already know how it ends, okay? And so you can't assume anything upon this passage. Let me ask you this, okay? What would you do if you found yourself in a dead? desperate situation. I mean, a desperate situation. And you knew that you had potentially one opportunity,

one chance. I don't want to sound like him and him. But if you had one shot, what would you do? Because sometimes the most desperate situation is not when you need help, but when the people that you love the most need help, right? I mean, the moment somebody that you love deeply and dearly, something happens in your life, all of a sudden, salvation theology gets real clear, and you go, I would totally take their place. So what would you do if your mom or dad, I got diagnosed with something that was scary and you knew there was an opportunity for them to be healed what would you do if it was your spouse and they were they were locked up in chains of addiction but you knew you had one chance one opportunity to get them into the presence of

somebody that could do something or scariest one always is what if something was going on with your child your kid because there's no pain like kid pain what would you do in that desperate situation well if you love them the answer is simple you would do whatever it's takes, amen? You would do whatever it takes. A bunch of years ago, probably like 08 or 09, I got invited by the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. They called me up and said, Pastor, we would like to invite you to be our chaplain. And I was like, cool, what does that mean? And they were like, well, you're like a pastor to the police officers. If they need help, if they need anything, you're really just like a friend that can listen to them and point in

to Jesus and that kind of stuff. I was like, I'd be happy to do that. And then they said, and when we have bad news in the community, you're the one to deliver it. And I'm like, well, you know, no problem. I can do that too. And so what they didn't tell me is that you get a uniform, which was super cool, man. Not like the ride around in the car uniform, like the real fancy one with like the hat and the thing, man. And I would just put it on sometimes. Grasman was like, what are you doing?

I was like, you don't worry about me. That's what I do right now, okay? I'm into it, man. And what they also didn't tell me is they gave me a badge, like a real. I don't know if it's real. I don't know if it counts, but it looked real to me. a number on it, said Chaplin, and they give you this little flippy wallet thing so you can pull it out of your pocket, like pah, like show it, like Starsky and Hutch. Some of y'all don't

know who that is. They were traveling evangelists in the 1970s, okay, Google them. All right, so I was into it, and I loved it. I loved being able to do that stuff with those guys, and then about that same time, I was at Dick's sporting goods in the hunting section. I used to go there a lot when they sold guns, and they quit, and I quit going, but that's a different sermon. and anywho. So I was there back in the day, and I was at the hunting counter, and JP was however the old you are when you're about that big. And I'm looking at a scope, a rifle scope, like every good Christian ought to. And so there I am. And I turn around, and JP's wandering off. And I'm like, hold on a second. Hey, dude, come here. Listen to me. You stand right here. You don't

move. I looked away one time. I looked back. He's moving again. I'm going to look here, dude. If you can't hear what I'm saying because your ears are clogged up with wax, I can warm up the backside a little bit and we'll melt that away. Do we understand? Now I know some of you're like, we don't spank Timmy. It is painfully aware of all of us that is what's going on at your house. Different sermon. Okay, so, so then I get a little, you know, I talk to the guy for a second, one second, as later, that's how I told the story to Gretchen. But anyway, when I turn around, he's gone, man. Nothing but vapor. He's gone. And I just begin to think, oh, when I get you, when I find you, boy, I told you to stay right here.

I'm looking around and looking around. I look all through the hunting section. He's not there, so where do I go next? Fishing, because that's what we do when we're not hunting. I walk through the fishing section. I can't find him. I'm agitated. I'm aggravated.

JP, you better come here right now, that kind of thing. Then I began to look in the little clothes thing. Who is the person that hates parents that created the little clothes rack that go in a whole circle? You know what I'm talking about? Too tall for the little heads to sick out and the clothes go to the floor so you can't see feet. And we read CS Lewis at my house, right? chronicles of Narnia. And so I think he thinks he's going to Narnia so he'd like peek through there sometimes. So I can't find him anywhere. Now in this moment, the like, you wait till I find

you, begins to turn into like, uh-oh, I hope I find you. And my mind goes to like the worst place possible, man. My mind goes to like mom panic mode. You know what I'm talking about? You mom is he? Like, honey, we're at home. He just went to the bathroom. You know what I'm talking? Like just immediately. But that makes you good mom, so no problem. problem. And I, I seriously, my mind went to the place of somebody stole this beautiful little blonde boy and they got him in a duffel bag, taking them to a van. They're going to sell them on the internet, whatever, you know? And I begin to feel desperate. And what do you do? What do you do when you find yourself in a desperate situation? The answer is you do whatever it takes. So I walked up to the manager. I pulled out my wallet and I said, Jack's Beach, PD, we've got a missing child in this store, shut her down. just like that man do you know they have a protocol for these things they do in one second the manager picked up the phone and was like we got a code red code red and ooh the place stops

associates stand at the door elevator stop escalator stops nobody's coming in nobody's going out and i'm on the second floor looking down over down into the first floor seeing who i'm going to have to like repel down and arrest i don't think the chaplain can actually arrest people but they don't know that. So I go over to where the escalator is and there's JP. He's just standing there wondering where the stairs keep going as they go into the floor. And then I get him and I think, thank God I found it. And then I thought, uh-oh, I've created quite the scene. What am I going to do? So I go back to the manager with JP, show my badge one more time and say, crisis averted, the eagle has landed, resume. And then I hustled out to my car. Now later,

As I was telling Gretchen this, Gretchen is a rule follower. She's a law obeyer. You know what I'm saying? And she's like, was that illegal? I was like, I don't know. I don't know. And I don't care. I don't care.

I think we are past the statutes of limitations, so no problem there. Nobody's come up to me so far in the first two services. But here's the thing, man. I don't care. Why? Because when somebody you love is in a desperate situation, you do whatever it takes to get them hell. This is the kind of attitude you've got to bring to Mark chapter two to understand what's actually going on here and what's what the driving force is. Mark chapter two verse one starts out this way

and when he, that's Jesus, returned to Copernium after some days, it was reported that he was at home. He's probably at Peter's house. And here's the thing, man, these friends that we're going to find out and read about later, they've got a friend who's paralyzed and here's what they've heard. They've heard these rumors. They've heard stories. They've heard eyewitness accounts that this man named Jesus who is in their town right now, that he can heal people, that he tells the wind and the waves to stop and the storm obeys, that he can walk on water in the blind sea and the lame walk and dead little girl was brought back to life and they begin to think maybe he can do something for our friend. Verse two, and many were gathered together so that there was no more

room, not even at the door. Why? Because his ministry's blowing up. Because when you do miracles like this man, your ministry is going to blow out. When lives get changed like this, then people want to come and check it out. And look at what he's doing. And he was preaching the word to them. This is what he's doing. The point of his ministry was not the miracle itself, but the miracles always pointed to the message. That every time Jesus does a miracle, it's not just to flex his raw power, is to point to his redemptive purpose. That God loves people and God came to seek and save people. And so they came bringing to Jesus a paralytic carried by four men.

And when they could not get near him because of the crowd. Let me stop real quick right there. As the lead pastor of 1122, that verse makes me very, very nervous. That verse makes me very, very nervous. That this friend on a mat, the paralytic, could not get to Jesus. because the room was too full. There wasn't even room at the door. If you wonder why we launched campuses all over the place,

all over Jacksonville and in Jessup and keep going and keep going, and if you wonder why we ripped the roof off of this place to make room so that everybody would have a seat. And if you wonder why we are relentless about making sure that there's room for everybody, it's because we do not want to be the kind of place where anybody ever gets turned away. And this is very personal.

Gretchen and I had dinner with a couple on Friday night, a bunch of couples, but one of the couples that was there, she's a doctor and years ago almost 10 years ago her and her husband were on the verge of divorce they had a bunch of little kids and she wakes up one day and thinks nothing else working is working maybe i'll try church and so she gets up she gets all the babies ready she's got one is like eight months old and one of those little car carrier things she asked her husband how you want to go to church she's like nope which was part of the problem she shows up here i know it's supposed to

to start at 1122, but so many people, so many of you think it's like the movies. We've got like a 17-minute buffer. You don't, but whatever. We'll talk about that later. And at that point, we used to meet right over there, and there was no more seats. There was no more room. And she walks in the door, she goes face-to-face with our kids' ministry, and our kids' ministry says, we're full. We don't have any more room.

Can't take any more kids. And listen, man, there's no more room at the end. It's a cute line in a Christmas play. devastating to a mom with all those kids that thinks maybe if I can get to church, I can find help there. Thank God we got to know that couple. Now they both love Jesus. They're both covenant members. I mean, God has transformed their marriage, their lives, and all of that. But I wonder how many people would come back if there's no more room. And so they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men, and when they could not get near him because of the crowd,

they removed the roof above him. And when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. You see, I love these friends because they were willing to do whatever it takes. Now, I'm going to spend the majority of this sermon asking you the question, are you a friend like that to someone?

But before we get there, let me ask you this. Do you have four friends like that? If you found yourself in a place where you are paralyzed, It can be relationally, financially, spiritually. Do you have four friends in your life that would be willing to do whatever it takes to pick up a corner of your mat and take you to Jesus?

Now, many of you think, oh, of course I do. Okay, cool, write them down. Write them down those four names. Nobody even moved, thanks. Appreciate it, okay? That's why I preach for an hour. If you do what I say right when we got done, we'd be earliest to lunch, you understand?

Seriously, do you have four friends that love you more than they love what you think about them. You have four friends that would do whatever it takes, man, whatever it takes, drop whatever's going on on your behalf. Because there is coming a day where you're going to need somebody to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. And the problem is most of us are just, most of us just have buddies. You know who's the worst of this?

Married men. You know who's just as bad married women? Why? Because we just settle for buddies. You just think, well, I mean, I got some buddies, you know. I got a hunting buddy and I got a golf buddy and I got a surfing buddy and I got a drinking buddy and I got that one buddy at work. I don't really like him but, you know, I talk to him sometimes.

That's not what we're talking about here. We're not talking about casual acquaintances. Because what you and I need is a band of brothers that is willing to go to war on our behalf because we do have an enemy and the only thing he wants to do is steal, kill, and destroy. You got somebody that's praying for you. And I know you're like, my mom prays for me. Yeah, but you don't tell her to truth. I mean, you need some people.

in your life that don't mind making you uncomfortable for the sake of your relationship with the Lord. You need some brothers in your life to have refrigerator rights. You know what refrigerator rights are? People that don't knock on your door, they just walk in like Kramer. They're like, what's up? They know where the coffee is. They know where the refrigerator is, and they just help themselves. You better not be inappropriately dressed in my living room or Lars Peterson, one of our elders. He'll just show up, like Jesus resurrected. You just walks in. and listen, and he just goes straight to the coffee, straight to the refrigerator, he just gets what he wants, but the refrigerator is actually an analogy to my life.

He gets all up in my business, because here's what he knows. He's an elder at our church, and he loves me, and he also knows what usually takes out dudes like me. And so he asked very inappropriate questions. The two things that typically take out dudes in my spot are monies and honeies, right? He gets a copy of my tax return, knows every dime we spend, and he will ask questions. And he will ask questions. One time we're riding down the road, and he's like, Jobie, are you looking at porno?

I was like, porno. Who says porno? I don't even own a VCR, bro. In the 70s, that's what they called it. Now, just say pornography. You understand, you know? Here's the thing. It's because he cares about me.

Do you have people that are praying for you, and they know what to pray about? Or when's the last time you had a significantly spiritual conversation? My Bible says that we are to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another that we would be. be healed. That's what we need. Do you have friends like that? If you need some, you are in the right place. They're sitting around you right now. A prayer that God loves to answer is this, God, would you give me some godly friends? If you don't have four friends that you can write down

their name right now, you've got some serious work to do before you come back next weekend. Find those four friends. And then I want to ask you, are you a friend like this? Are you the kind of friend that is willing to pick up somebody's mat and carry them to Jesus. And what most of our culture teaches us the highest value is that we are just to tolerate one another. Tolerance is not a biblical value. We're supposed to love one another. There is a possum that lives in the ditch behind my house.

As long as he don't get my bird feeder, I shall allow him to live. That's called tolerance. That is not how we are to treat one another. We're supposed to love one another. Are you that kind of friend? and we must continuously be this kind of church. We've got to be the kind of church that is willing to do whatever it takes to rip the roof off so that one more person can get into the presence of Jesus and that their life can be changed.

Because when they start tearing the roof off, it's not like a hatch. It's not like a shingle. Like what they would do is the way they would build these roofs is there would be sticks and then they would lay mud and let the sun bake on it. It would become like tiles or bricks. And then they would lay vegetation. It would be, sometimes it was two feet feet. thick. And so it was hard to dig through the roof. And guess what? When the debris began to fall,

guess who it fell on? It fell on the people that got there on time and already had a seat in the front row. You see, Christians can get comfortable, man. I mean, I'm telling you, the modern-day church can get comfortable and worship at the altar of your own comfort and then give it some kind of Bible word to make you feel better about yourself. I mean, you create this little holy huddle. It's just us for and no more, and it's uncomfortable for anybody else who you. keep them out. If you play that game, you ain't playing on Team Jesus. Have you replaced the roof lately? Very expensive.

Imagine what? The owner of the house is like, we should just run multiple services. What are we doing? Very expensive. Doesn't bother Jesus at all. Every single time, when you bring, when you bring your ties and offerings to this place, a part of what you're doing is partnering with your church to make sure nobody ever is turned away and there's room for everybody. You see, the reason that this church exists is not for full rooms. That's not the point.

The reason that we exist is we are a movement for all people, all kind of people, to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. You realize this church ain't for you and this church ain't for me. This church is for him. This is why we gather for him. And you know what he's into? He's really into people that don't know him coming to knowing. and he's really into people that know him to know him deeper and better.

And if you're a believer, man, the best way for you to deepen your relationship with Jesus is you get real serious about helping somebody else discover theirs. And you watch what the Lord does in you. And so with that in mind, we're tearing a bunch of roofs off. We're launching more campuses all over the place. This fall, in 2023, this fall, we will be opening our next permanent campus in North Jacksonville. up by the airport. All right.

And if you want to be a part of that campus, then text the word North Jacks to 44, 1122. You'll get information about interest nights and all that sort of stuff. And so if you were, especially if you live north of here, then you should go and be a part of that campus. Also, by Easter of 2024, we're launching a mobile campus in St. Augustine.

So all you St. Augustine people, here we come, all right? And whenever we launch a mobile campus, it means that we are going to put a public campus, permanent one there. We just want to go ahead and get the disciple making started now and not wait for all the construction. Also, in addition to this, by August of 2024, we are going to launch a mobile campus up in Yuley next to the wildlife community that's being built. All right? All right. And then we're just going to keep going and keep going. And for those of you worshipping in St.

John's at our mobile campus now across the road from you, we are building a permanent campus there. And rumor is the trees are going to go down this week. So praise God for that. Now, you know, you know, who loves a growing church? You know who loves a church that's got room for you to bring your one more? The people that are praying for their one mores. The grandparents that just hope and pray that their grandchildren would come with them one day and wouldn't be turned away. The spouse that comes here faithfully, but right now your husband's out there doing whatever, but you're hoping and praying that there would come a day that he would show up with you and have a place to meet and hear about Jesus. That's who loves a growing church. And listen, and it's not. And it's not

not just happening right here at 1122 in Jacksonville to Jessup. No, man. We've never wanted to be a cul-de-sac of God's blessing. We always wanted to be a conduit of God's blessing. And you have been a part of planting 516 churches around the world. Since we've opened, we've planted 516 churches all over the place. In the United States, in Brazil, in Africa, in Poland, all over the place. And every single weekend, there are more people that attend those 516 churches. than attend the Church of 1122. Because it ain't about us, man. It's all about him.

And so we are going to continue to tear through barriers to get more people to Jesus. That's what we are all about. Verse 5. And so, the guys get there. There's no room. They're innovative. They're creative.

They do what it takes. They don't take no for an answer. They get up on the roof. They work very hard. They sweat like crazy. They make a mess. They make a bunch of people uncomfortable. Then eventually they get the whole.

there, they lower the man through the hole, and look at this, verse five, and when Jesus saw their faith, that faith is not a feeling, that faith produces action. Do you put your faith to action? Can people see your faith on display that Jesus sees their faith? Listen, man, there's two kind of people. Some people make excuses. Some people make a difference. You'll never do both. These guys did not stop with the excuse. It's hard. It's so full. No, man, because they were in a moment of desperation, so they were willing to do what it takes. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven. This is a really big deal.

This man's been, he's paralyzed. So in the first century, first century theology would say, if you have a physical ailment, it is punitive from God. Either you have done something to deserve this, or maybe your family did something to deserve this and you're being punished by God. We find out in John chapter 9, there's a man born blind, and the disciples say, Jesus, who sinned, this man or his family, that he would be born blind. He's like, nope, that's not how it works. He says, this man is born blind for the glory of God. Watch, and he heals him.

And so, think about all the things that this man has probably been called in his life. Outcast. He couldn't go to the temple. He couldn't go to the synagogue. He was on the outside of the community, and he comes eyeball to eyeball with Jesus, and the first thing that comes out of Jesus' mouth is not, what did you do wrong? the first thing that comes out of his mouth is this, son. Son.

Here's what Jesus wants this man to know. Here's what I want you to know. The world is going to try to label you. The world is going to try to slap a label on you because then it doesn't have to deal with you. It can just deal with the label that is given you. But only Jesus gets to tell you who you are. This means that you are not your past and you are not your failures

and you are not your illness and you are not your addiction and you're not the thing that you're ashamed of and you're not your divorce and you're not your abortion. You were not your sin. You're also not your success. You're not what your dad called you. You're not a dummy. You're not a failure.

You are not what this world tries to tell you you are. You were only who Jesus tells you you are. And what he wants to do is look in the eyeball of every single one of us and say, son or daughter. That's who you are in Christ, Jesus. So he says, he says, son, your sins are from. forgiven. To which the friends are like, cool, but that's not what we brought in here for.

I mean, they were thinking legs, not eternal life. But I hope you know this, man. Jesus is compassionate. He is going to heal this man, spoiler alert, but he ultimately wants to deal with what is most important. And that is this man's eternal life. Because the thing that we all have in common is that we need our sins to be forgiven. And so, verse 6, now some of the scribes, that's the religious people, some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts. This should make you a little bit nervous.

So they don't say this with their mouth out loud. They're just feeling this, thinking this in their hearts. Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Now, by the way, they are 100% right. You realize that? They are right.

Only God can forgive sin. And verse 8, and immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they does question within themselves said to them, why do you question these things in your heart? Look, Jesus knows your heart. Like even right now, if you're thinking, I wish this guy would hurry up, I'm hungry. You better, you better check yourself. You better start humming Jesus loves me or something, all right?

He knows, he knows. So here's why Jesus is going to deal with this, because they're thinking, who is he to forgive sin? Only God can forgive sin. And he's like, right, bingo, that's right. because it's only the person who has been sin against that has the authority and the ability to forgive the sin, right? I mean, it would be like if on the way to church, you two right here, you two had a fight, okay? The priest, their name's priest. How are they going to fight, okay?

They do, I'm sure. But just imagine, just pretend like you're driving to church today and you just get into it. One of you is out in the car, just honking them. We're going to be late, come on. And then you get into your car and you just, I mean, just one of those downright nasty. You ever have one of those on the way to church? None of you? God bless you.

All right. Some people get hysterical when they get mad. Some people get historical. Anybody get historical? Well, fine, I guess we'll just live like you out of work, alcoholic mom in it. And even during the worship, you're like, oh, you're hypocrites. You're really going to sing that? Okay, oh, cool, all right.

One of those, just a good one. And somehow I knew about it. If I knew about it from some way, and before I preached, if I just walked up to you and go, hey, hey, y'all, you two. I forgive you. He'd be like, what? You had nothing to do with this. How do you just step in and forgive?

It wouldn't make any sense at all, right? It doesn't make sense because I'm not involved in that. Well, Jesus looks at this man, and the only reason that he can say, your sins are forgiven is because he is God. And every single time we sin, we sin against the holy just and almighty God, and this is what he is claiming here. He's like, guys, you are right. Only God can forgive sin.

And so, just to prove my point, I am God, your sins are forgiven. And then he asked this question. All right, boys, which is easier to say to the paralytic? Your sins are forgiven, or to say, rise, take up your bed, and walk? Well, to say your sins are forgiven is way easier. Because how do you tell? Your sins are forgiven. Appreciate it.

We have to wait until the judgment day to find out if it actually worked. But if you say, you're going to stand up and walk in three, two, one, then everybody in the room knows if it works or not. So it's way easier to say your sins are forgiven. However, which is easier to do? Which one's easier to pull off? Well, if Jesus is who he says he is, and he is the second person of the Trinity, and spoke all things into existence,

and everything that is was made by him, for him, through him, and to him, and it's his power that holds all things together, if he is the one that came up with the idea of legs, I mean, think about this, we could be sliding around like a bunch of slugs, but then he thought, no, I'm going to do legs. If he spoke legs into existence,

then how hard is it for the almighty omnipotic God would be like, get up and walk? It ain't even hard. Like the lights in heaven don't even dimmed down a little bit on this one. But how hard is it to forgive sin? It took a lot to accomplish. That God the Son had to humble himself to God, the Father, and dress himself in flesh and be obedient

even to the point of being born in a manger, living a perfect life that every single time he was tempted and the Bible says that he was tempted in all the same ways that we were. He lived a perfect life and then he was put on trial for something he did not do. He was beaten, he was flogged, he went to the cross and became our sin to pay the price for us so that we, whoever would believe, could become the righteousness of God, have a right relationship with God, and then he was doornailed dead, they put him in the tomb,

and then Peter says some stuff that we don't even fully understand. that he went down into the deep, dark place to hell, snatched up the keys of death, put death to death, and then God the Father resurrected Jesus. The tomb, the stone was rolled away, and he walked out of this thing, and if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. That's what it took for the forgiveness of sin.

Then he says, but that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins. Here's what he said. There was this first century Jewish commentary that the rabbis would write what the Bible means. And one of the things it says is that God will not help a liar. And so he says, your sins are forgiven.

And they're like, only God can do that. Basically, he's like, all right, you want me to prove myself? No problem. So if I can heal his legs, then you'll believe that I also have the authority to forgive his sins. You see, because every time Jesus has a miracle, he's not just flexing his raw power. He's pointing to God's redemptive purpose. And so he said to the paralytic, I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home. Now, we're going to spend a ton of time on this.

We're going to see a paralytic, an invalid at the pool of Bethesda, and he's going to say, take up your mat and walk. And you may wonder, why in the world will we have this guy pick up his mat? That's a nasty mat. And I'll tell you this. Oftentimes your greatest mess may be the best platform for God's gospel message, amen? That God can take our past pain and use it as a platform for his gospel purposes. And so that's what he says.

Grab your bed and go home. And he rose and immediately picked up his bed, and he went out before them all. so that they were all amazed and glorified God. This is what worship is, by the way. That we see God do a thing, man, change the life. Somebody comes to Christ. And then what we do is we give glory to God and we're amazed. And here's what they said.

We never saw anything like this. Church, I've been doing this for 30 years. I've been on staff at church for 30 years. This last weekend or last week I was with 10 other pastors in New York City and we were just meeting about what God is doing in our churches and I'm telling you what, man. What's happening right here at 1122 is not normal. In the past three weeks, over 300 people have surrendered their life to the Lordship of Christ.

If that happened in the 1800s, they call it a revival and they write a book about it. I'm just telling you, I've never seen anything like this. And I don't know why people ask me all the time. What's the secret? We sing and talk like everybody else. I don't know what to tell you, man. All I know is this, is that we, Jesus said, if we lift him up, he will draw all men and women unto himself. So all we try to do, as a church, all we try to do is identify our one more and pray for our one more

because we love them, man, because we love them. And try to pick up the corner of that, Matt, and get them into the presence of Jesus and just watch him do what he has been doing for over 2,000 years. Amen? And so how can we as a church and how can you as an individual be this kind of friend? Like a corner-toting kind of friend? Well, there's four corners on this brother's mat. And so I want you to think about it this way. There's four things that we should be doing.

The corner number one is this, is for you to share your faith. For you to share your faith. In Acts 1-8, the resurrected Jesus says this, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. Notice a repeating phrase there. He doesn't say the pastor will receive power

when the Holy Spirit comes upon the pastor, and the pastor will be the witness. No, no, no, no, no, man. This is a U-game. This is something each of us individually are called to do. In Jerusalem, that's like right where you live. In Judea, that's where you're going. Samaria, that's to the people you don't even like.

You've got plenty of them, I'm sure. And to the very ends of the earth, and our job is to take the gospel everywhere. Now, listen, you don't have to be weird to share your faith. You don't. And if you hear the phrase share your faith, and the only experience you've ever seen is the guy with the bullhorn screaming, you're going to hell.

Hey, listen, if you have to go to hell ministry, I'd love to chat about that sometime offline, all right? Nah, man, you don't have to be a weirder. Unless you are a weirdo, then it's going to be weird when you share it. The good news is you don't even know I'm talking about you. That's what's great about weird people. They have no idea. So here's what this means. Could you just identify one person?

You're one more. Identify one person, and you commit to pray for them on a daily basis. Now, you don't have to put, you don't have to blast it. You don't have to put a poster up in your cubicle and be like, yep, there's Tammy. Tammy's like, why's my name on your board? Because you're going to hell, and I'm praying for you. I don't want you to. Good luck.

Nah, man. You're just praying. And you pray that God will give you the opportunity. Sometimes you share the gospel. Just share like, hey, you know, I know you, you asked me the question, is this it? And you go, no, no, no, this is it? You were created for so much more. And you share the fact that we're sinners in need of a Savior and Jesus died on the cross.

And if you'll just believe when Christ, you're just believe, when Christ, down on the cross, somehow that counted for you. Sometimes you'll be your own little Billy Graham and do the whole thing, okay? But sometimes you just share your story. You just share your story, especially those of you that have come to Christ in the past few years. People, if you are following in the footsteps of Jesus and displaying any fruit of the spirit at all, there are going to be people in your life to go, what's different about you? And it is a softball. All you got to do is just share what Jesus has done in your life. A great model of this is John chapter 9,

the blind guy. He just says this. Some religious leaders ask him what happened. He goes, here's what I know. I used to be blind. I'm at Jesus. Now I can see. And then they ask him theological questions. And he's like, I don't know. I have no idea. People ask you about dinosaurs and creation and what we're like, time out.

Here's what I know. I was blind. I'm at Jesus. Now I can see. Yeah, but what about this? Hold on. Let me do one more time. Okay. I used to be blind. Jesus made some spitty mud. my face and now, shah, now I can see. That's all I know, man. Because nobody can argue with your story. Sometimes you just share your story. Sometimes you share an invitation to church, an invitation. You know what an invite is? There's a difference between an invite and a non-vite.

Here's a non-vite. You come to my church sometime. They're never coming. Because there's no sometime on your calendar. And so what you have to do is share an invitation. Meet me at this brunch. And then we'll go to 1122. and I'll cover the brunch. That's an invitation. And let me just give this to you for free. Okay. For all of us that are from the South and live here,

when the Yankees move into your neighborhood. Because they're coming. You can't tonight. Everybody's moving to Florida. Why? Because of freedom in Jesus. Praise God. All right.

No problem. Now, hey, listen, if you're a Yankee, welcome. We love you. We're so glad you're here. Welcome from the Northeast and the, you know, Ohio. A couple things. Here's a couple of things you just want to point out to you.

Okay, we love you, we built this place for you, we are a movement for all people, no problem, okay? Now, if you try to turn here, there, we will cast you out like a demon. Let's don't do that, okay? There's a reason you left. So, don't mess it up. And so when they come, when they, and don't feed the seagulls, please don't feed our seagulls, you're ruining the beach for everybody, okay. And so when they're moving to your neighborhood and be like, oh, where are you guys from? And they're like, we're from Jersey. Be like, oh, okay, listen. We do you go to church. And if they're, well, we're not church. We're not, church people. It don't matter. You live in the South. Everybody in the South has a church, don't they? So why don't you come with me next week to my church, so at least you're not lying, and you can claim I'll get your bumper sticker, the whole thing, all right?

Another way that you can share an invitation, this is so easy, man, is tomorrow at work, go up to your one more and just simply go, what did you do this weekend? And they'll say things. And then they have to ask you, what did you do this weekend? And you'd be like, you know what, man, I went to this church. And I would like for you to come with me next weekend and give a specific time. Sometimes you share an invitation. Sometimes you just share a burden. You identify yourself at work as the prayer person. And you just simply say, hey man, I know you're going through it. I'm praying for you. Anything specific I could pray for? Because here's what's going to happen. Regardless of what that person believes, when the wheels start falling off of their life,

and it's coming one day. Guess who they're going to run to? It ain't the club friends. It's going to be to that praying person. And so sometimes you just share a burden. And then, And then sometimes you just share another cup of coffee. Because you're just continuing to build this relationship because regardless of what this person believes, you're going to be their friend, because these are people, not projects. We have a class that you can attend if you want to get better at sharing your faith. If you go to COE22.com slash classes, there's one called Share Your Faith workshops coming up. So that's one, share your faith.

Two, serve at your local church. Every time we open up a new campus, we open up hundreds of opportunities for you to. to serve. Here's what Paul says to the church in Ephesus. In Ephesians 4, 11 and 12, he says this, Paul says, and he, that's Jesus, gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and the teachers. That would be like the church staff. These are church positions. So he gave the church staff to equip the saints for the work of ministry for the building up of the body of Christ. Do you realize that I'm not actually in the ministry? You're in the ministry. When I went to work at a church, as a pastor, I got out of the frontline ministry. My job is to equip the

saints for the work of the ministry. You know who the saints are? You. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, you're a saint. You hear that Catholic? So you the grew up Catholic? We don't even have to meet about it or vote about it, but you could get a necklace with your own name on it. Look here, St. Ted, all right? Call your gran'all. My pastor said, I'm a saint. You're actually a priest, too, but that'll really mess you up. My job is to equip you, the saints, to do the work of the ministry for the building up of the body of Christ, which is another way to say the church. You should be serving at your local church. Do you know how many links in the chain it takes for the miracle of salvation every time somebody gets saved here?

Somebody had to be the kind of saint that was sharing an invitation. Hey, once you come to church will be next week. And then every time people bring their first and breasts, their ties and offerings, you're a saint investing into making sure we're the kind of place that has a seat for everybody. And there was a facilities team that makes sure the whole place is ready and the lights are on. And there was a bunch of saints getting all the chairs ready for you. A bunch of slabs at nine left their mess and we cleaned it all up for you. And we got saints in the parking lot. Why?

Because some of you drive like the devil. And we got saints greeting and saints that are checking our kids in and discipling our kids. And all of that comes together so that when the gospel is shared, then people aren't distracted by all that stuff that they get to meet Jesus. So, one, is you share your faith. Two, is you serve in your local church. If you're not serving, you should be text the word serve to 441122.

Serve to 44.11.22. Not only do we have opportunities and all the new campuses that we're starting, but every time we launch people out, we've got to fill those back up, so do that. Want to share your faith. Two, is serve at your local church. Three is we've got to continuously remove obstacles.

We've got to continuously remove obstacles. Like in this place, here at San Pablo. We used to be over there in that side of the Walmart. We ripped the roof off of this place that was Hobby Lobby. Why? So that we could have seats for one more. Sometimes we need seats. Sometimes it's distance.

Some of you crazy people drive like an hour to get here. Wonder why nobody will come with you? Because they've got a life, okay? So you got to let's know who you are so we can bring a campus to you. That's why we plant campuses all over the place. And sometimes it's just like the attitude of the church. By the time you get to like Acts chapter 10, God uses the apostles to begin to take the gospel beyond just Jerusalem where all the Jewish people live and take the gospel to the Gentiles, the rednecks, the dirty unwashed people, okay? And then what happens is all of these Gentiles begin to get saved and the church people begin to ask this question.

Do you have to be like us before you believe like us? Do you have to follow all of our traditions? Do you have to follow the law of Moses before you can receive the free gift of us? of grace of Jesus Christ. Primarily the question they're asking is this. Do you have to be circumcised in order to become a Christian? I know. So they had a church business meeting about it.

Listen, you think it's hard to become a covenant member at our church because we require a meeting. We do not require any surgery for you to join whatsoever. Understand? And so in this meeting, there's one group of people that are like, no, no, no, no, no. You've got to follow all of our traditions and customs before you can be a Jesus follower.

And James stands up and says this. He asks this question, Why would we make it difficult for those who are turning to the Lord? Why would we make it difficult? Why would we create obstacles for people that God is drawing them to himself? Because this is what church business meetings do. They usually get together to vote on whether God can do what he's already been doing. That's what people do.

And so we don't ever want to be the kind of place that creates obstacles. Why? Because we're a movement for all people to discover and deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ. And all means all. Regardless of who you are, what you've done, or whatever somebody else has told you, we want to be the kind of place where Jesus is drawing you to himself.

And that has to do, man. When I was in seminary, I went through an experience that changed the way I saw church, for sure. I told you this before. I was working in North Myrtle Beach at this little gym. I opened it. I made the smoothies. I was like that guy.

And right across the street from our gym was a strip club. And so the owner of the gym gave all the, the dancers a free membership because they would come in and then every dude in north in north mortal beach would show up shortly after okay it was a strategic plan and so our gym was full of dancers not like ballerina it's like strippers and so there they are well i'm a youth pastor and i had the morning shift and so i would take that time to write my youth talk write my little youth sermons and i was also like the smoothie guy and so all these girls would come and sit at the desk there and they did not have a category for me a 20 year old guy that wouldn't go see him at work but i was inviting them to

come see me at work. And I would just run my youth sermons by them and I thought, I don't know, if the strippers get it, then maybe my high school kids will get it. That's kind of where I was at, all right? And I began to learn many things. The first thing that happened is, immediately they went from like, those people to people I know. There are no those people. Every human being is an image bearer of God. I also began to realize they all had two names. They had like their name and then they had their other name. They all had their other name. They all had They all had children. Every one of them had kids.

And none of them wanted their kids to know what they did. So they had a little backstory on that. And every single one of them, this was not their plan. It was just not their plan. They thought they were just going to do this for a minute and then they were going to go figure something else out. But they made so much money in a short amount of time that they felt trapped because then they spent all that money

and then the cycle starts. And every single one of them had to take something or drink something before they went to work. And so I'm up there. sharing my little youth sermons with them. And then I would invite them to church. Y'all should come to church with me. And then one day, one of them said, I'll go to church with you.

And I thought, oh, crap. I was just like this little summer youth worker at this church. It was like 45 minutes inland, nothing but like tobacco fields. And it was like a fundamentalist Baptist church. They had a dress code. And I barely met it, like khakis and a blazer, and they didn't love it, that it wasn't like a full suit. And it was one of these churches, man, there were rules.

Like you had to act away before you came in. You know what I mean? You ever been one of those kind of churches? It was one of those churches that had the thrones on stage. Ever seen the one with the thrones? There was like a big old throne for like the senior pastor and then another throne for like the education guy. And then there was a music minister who had a throne.

And I had the itty-bitty little folding chair over there. So her name was Sunshine. And Sunshine said, yeah, I'll go to church with you. And I was like, okay, I don't know how you un-invite somebody to church. So I was like, all right, let's go. She said, I'll pick you up. I'm like, all right, I'll get there really early. I'm trying to give her every excuse.

And so she shows up for us to go to church together, and her daughter, she had a daughter, in a convertible white corvette. And I thought, sweet. We're just going to, like, slip right in the parking lot of our little Baptist church here. And her license plate said, Topless Fun, a little double entendre there, right?

Now, I have my little sport coat on, and macaques, you know, pleaded like you got to get into heaven with, to them and so we show up to church and we come walking in and listen man she like we don't have dress codes here but she just had on this tiny little like sundress kind of thing and she is very heavily invested into her career big old high heels and man the stairs and the whispers it was like tangible and you can tell she was super uncomfortable we dropped her kid off at Sunday school we go sit down in church and

We do church. I have no idea what the sermon was on. We get done and one of the deacons comes up to me in front of her and says, I need to meet with you. And now, deacon in that church meant power broker. In this church in the Bible, it means servant. And I said, all right, I'll meet you in a second. So I go to the pastor's office and there's like four or five deacons

and they say, why are you bringing a girl like that here? And I was like, well, and they said, listen, this place exists to protect our kids from people like that. And listen, church, and I failed, man. I was so afraid of what they would think. I was so afraid that I would get fired. I was just, I coward in fear and did not say a thing. I walk out to the car, we're the last one in the parking lot.

Her daughter is sitting in the front seat coloring a picture of Jesus that she got in Sunday school. Sunshine has tears rolling from under the Raybans. She said, that was about me, wasn't it? and I lied. I was like, no, no, no. It's a thing coming up. And we got in the car and we're heading home. And it's just quiet like it is now.

And so to break the awkward silence, I just said, so what did you think? What did you think of church? She says, I've never felt more devalued in my whole life. Think about this, man. Two days before this, she's dancing on a pole with no clothes on for a stranger for a dollar at a time.

And she walks into a place that has the banner of the love of Jesus. That's what this place is supposed to be, and she's felt more devalued in that kind of environment. And so I made a decision in that moment that if I ever had anything to do with the leadership of a church, it would be a movement for all people

to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And listen, and if that's you, if that's you, man, if that's what you do, you are welcome here. We love you like crazy. And I would love you to come and introduce yourself so we could introduce you to Jesus and help you take the same thing. steps, okay, because we love you and we would rip the roof all for you to have a spot here,

all right? And so you got to share your faith, and you've got to serve in the local church, and you've got to always remove the obstacles. And then if the fourth thing doesn't happen, nothing's ever going to happen. Only God can change your life. I don't care how big your buildings are, how good your sermons are, how sweet your kids' ministry is, how good the music is. If God does not reach into your chest and grab that heart of stone and rip it out and give you a new heart, his heart, nothing's ever going to change. You see, the end. You see, the end. The invitation of Jesus is this. I don't know what you think about Jesus, but here's what he says. In John 15, Jesus says this, greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life

for his friends. And then he says, you're my friends if you do what I command you. You know what he commands us, by the way, to believe in him? He says, no longer do I call you servants for a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends for all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you. Church, our job is to do whatever it takes, to take our friends, get them into the presence of Jesus, and hope that they have ears to see here and eyes to see Jesus saying to you, I would like to forgive your sin and for us to be friends. Every other religion offers a set of rules to obey or religious practices to participate in. Jesus offers himself as a friend. These things are fundamentally different.

started with a story about JP, I'm going to end with a story about JP. Now he's 17. And he ain't that tall. He's that tall. And he's a junior in high school. And about two or three weeks ago, he's going to school. And he takes Reagan, my 13-year-old daughter, they go to school together. They come out of our neighborhood, they take a right, they go about two or three lights, and they turn left, and then the school is about a mile down the road on that road. And so they're in like the pole position of the light about to take a left turn. There's nobody in front of him. His light's red. He's just chilling there. Doing whatever they're. They're doing whatever they. they do. And I can assure you that it ain't listening to worship music and sharing prayer request.

You know what I mean? 17 year old, 13 year old, just regular normal kids. And so they're sitting there. And then JP says, out of nowhere, somebody runs a stoplight and a truck teabones this little sedan. Boom. He hears it. It's right in front of it. The sedan flips over on the top and then it slides like 30 or 40 yards just all the way into the corner where the gas station is. and his instinct is he puts it in part, says Reagan stay right here, pops out, runs across this traffic and he runs to the car that's flipped over. He's like, Daddy, when I got there, it was just, it was, it was kind of mangled up, they're screaming. I look down in there, there's blood everywhere.

The people in the front were able to get themselves out, but the people in the back couldn't. They're just hanging from their seatbelts. And he said, so I tried to open the door, but it's upside down, and the door's kind of mangled up, so he couldn't quite get it. one other grown man runs over there to him and the two of them together and jp's kind of a strong kid he gets it and with about three or four lunges he's able to like push the door all the way open the other guy goes to the other side and he leans in here and it's four nurses on the way to maya lady's bleeding big gash in her head he says her her her legs broken it's just mangled at the end

it's turned up like a candy cane and so he gets her unbuckled she hits the ground he puts his arms under her armpit and as he's dragging her out she looks up at him and he's and look man this ain't his thing and blood's just pouring and she says thank you thank you thank you thank you and she's screaming because of the pain and he's dragging her out and then I said who else who else was happy what was everybody else doing and then his tone began to change and he said daddy what is wrong with people I said what do you mean dude he goes I'm a 17 year old kid I'm a junior in high school. There's one other person helping.

And when I get this lady out and through blood, she's like, thank you. I look up and he says there's a whole bunch of adults standing around in a circle and everybody's just got their phone out and everybody's just videoing it for you two. And he began to get a bit agitated. I mean, he's got some of me in him, right? You ever get that, like, he didn't cry, but you ever get that, like, sometimes I'll get emotional, but it's not because I'm sad. in fact.

In fact, we'll talk about it in a few weeks. In John chapter 11, that verse Jesus wept, it literally means to like snort like a bull because you're like, you know, you're upset, but you're also ticked, and I think he's ticked at death. And JP is looking around in this group, and he's asking me, he's like, what is wrong with people, man?

They're grown people, and I'm a junior, I'm a kid, I'm a junior in high school, and it's me and one other man doing the thing, and everybody else is just video, and he says, those people, there are a bunch of, and you could tell that he's trying to choose what word he's going to share with his preacher father. And he's like, those people, and I was like, just say it, dude.

And he said it. Yeah. Yeah. There was an adjective. Those people were a bunch of them. And it was the perfect adjective for that moment. My church wouldn't have liked it back that old one, okay? And then he uses, I can't say this word either right now, but it's like the Greek word for wimp.

Yeah, that one. You did it. Straight up, man. he was like, those people were a bunch of wimps. And I was like, you dang right they were, buddy. You're dang right. And while they were paralyzed in field, bro, good job playing the man. Good job playing the man.

Now listen to me, church. When I thought about that after reviewing it for a little while, by the way, when I got home that night, when I got home that night, I said, Reagan, what happened? Listen, my 13-year-old daughter is not in the habit of giving superlatives to her big brother. You know what I'm talking about? You got teenagers? I said, baby, what happened today?

And she said, Daddy, JP was a hero. Okay, let me tell you what. Church of 1122. We will always be the kind of church that when the car flipped over, we run to the blood, we turned to the screaming, we run to the loss, we run to the hurting, we run to the people

where everybody else may be making videos about them, but not us, man, we're going to run to them. So I was talking with him this week because I told him I was going to share the story, and he said, Daddy, oh, I could think. because if I was in that car, I sure would want somebody to come help me. And you know why we run in that direction?

Because we're not the heroes. Because you and I did run the red light. Life did teeble on us, and we find ourselves in a place where we can't get ourselves out of. I mean, just bleeding and broken and needing help. And Jesus Christ, the Son of God, at great expense to himself, comes on a rescue mission for you and me and drags us from death to life and calls us. a son. That's what drives us to do what we do and nothing else.

And we never even try to be a big church. We just want to make room for one more person because every single person that matters to you matters to God. So maybe you're not a believer. And maybe somebody invited you to be here today. You know why they invited you? Because they love you. They might not use those words because like your golf buddies and it would get weird. Hey, Ted. Nice chip. I love you. That ain't probably not going to say that. But all they were trying to to do is do what these friends were doing with this brother on the mat. All they were trying to do is do for you what JP did in that moment and run to somebody that needs help.

And could you imagine, would you just play a little game with me? Can you imagine that you were the guy on the mat? Imagine, man, you were paralyzed and you needed help and you didn't know where to go. And your friends picked you up and took you to a place. And even though it was hard, they didn't let hard stop them. They ripped the roof off and they began to lower you down. and you came eyeball to eyeball with Jesus. And he looked at you and said, son, daughter, your sins are forgiven.

And you couldn't explain it. You just couldn't deny it. In that moment, you felt, I believe. I got some really good news. We serve a resurrected Savior. We celebrate a living Savior. That's what we celebrated Easter just a few weeks ago. And he's in this place.

I promise he's in this place. in a way deeper than eyeballs can see eyeballs, he is looking right into your soul. He's looking right at you. And if you will believe, then you know he's saying to you, son, daughter, your sins are forgiven. All you do is know that you need it. And all you do is say, all right, I believe. I believe in Christ's died on the cross.

Somehow that counted for me. And your sins will be forgiven. You're adopted into the family of God. And everything changes forever. I'd like to give you the opportunity right now to put your faith in Jesus for the very first time. Would you bow your head? Would you close your eyes? And if you would say, yeah, that's me.

That's me. I need help. I am spiritually paralyzed. And in this moment right now, I hear somehow, I can't explain it, but I can't deny it. I hear Jesus saying to me, son, daughter, your sins are forgiven. And that's you. And in this moment now, you were ready to put your faith in Christ for the very first time. Would you lift your hand as high as you can in this place and say, Father, here I am?

I surrender my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Praise God, praise God. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything. And I thank you and I praise you for the men, the women, the students in this very moment who are meeting you as Savior and as friend. And Lord, I pray for all of the rest of us, Lord, that we would go out with great intention and purpose with our eyes wide open, doing whatever it takes for us to bring our friends. our neighbors into that right relationship with you. God, I thank you that you have accomplished it

all where there was no way where we were stuck in a car or stuck on a mat. You made a way because that's who you are. You're the waymaker. And we pray this in the matchless and undefeated name. The only name that matters when you pray. We pray this in the good, strong name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen. A church, we're going to respond. If you would stand to your feet, we're going to do what they did. They saw what happened, and I saw some people raise their hands, man, which is miraculous. That today there are some people that didn't know God, and now they know him as son or a daughter. And so it's a miracle. And so we are going to join our voices together and sing to him, sing to the waymaker, because he is at work, even when we can't see it. And we're going to pray. Any of you got

one more? Look, I pray for that dude right there for a full year, more than a year. And after about a year, year and a half. He came to Christ, okay? So if you got a one more, then I would invite you to come down here and pray for that one more, and we're going to bring our ties and offerings. And the reason that we live radically generous lives is so that we continue to make room for one more. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's respond.