If it isn't you Lord, my hope, if it isn't you Jesus, if it isn't you my life...
If it isn't you Lord, my strength, if it isn't you Lord, my hope, if it isn't you Lord, my strength...
And in you Lord my drink, and in you Lord my hope, and in you Lord for you my life.
In the use of my strength, in the use of my hope, in the use of the new day, I'll praise you with all of my life.
I'll praise you with all of my strength, with all of my love, with all of my strength, with all of my hope in the use of my strength.
In the use of my strength, in the use of my hope, in the use of the new day, I'll praise you with all of my life.
In the use of my strength, in the use of my hope, in the use of the new day, I'll praise you.
In the use of my strength, in the use of my hope, in the use of the new day, I'll praise you with all of my strength.
I'll praise you with all of my life. I'll praise you with all of my strength, with all of my love.
I'll praise you with all of my strength, with all of my hope in the use of my strength.
My faith, my passion, all of you in my life. My faith, my passion, all of you in my life.
I'll praise you with all of my life. I'll praise you with all of my life. I'll praise you with all of my life.
I'll praise you with all of my life.
Strength or rest, we wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord.
Our God, who is forever ours, our hope, our strong will, ever ours.
To our God, our Lord, our God, who is our faith, who is our hope, our strength, our strength.
You cannot defend the world from me. You cannot undo me. You cannot stop the one who is my hero.
Strength or rest, we wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord.
Our God, who is forever ours, our hope, our strong will, ever ours.
You are the everlasting God, the everlasting God. You do not fail to wander or feel free.
You are the different God of the week. He is more than God and me. He is just so more than my King God.
I know you wait forever. Our hope, our strong will, ever ours.
You wait forever. Our hope, our strong will, ever ours.
You are the everlasting God, the everlasting God. You do not fail to wander or feel free.
You are the different God of the week. He is more than God and me. He is just so more than my King God.
I didn't know that a brother of ours had a birthday yesterday.
He came and volunteered his time on his birthday to work and serve. He doesn't get paid. It's not his job.
I thought about that and I thought about how in the secular world a lot of times people want to quote take their birthday off.
A lot of companies give you a paid time off for your birthday. A lot of times you get that as a holiday.
Or you get a PTO day and the expectation is if you want to take your birthday off, you can.
And then I was thinking and I felt like the Lord was kind of touching my heart and I was thinking about how Christians really, I mean we really don't forget the day off.
Not out of seven days, not out of 365 days. You really don't get a day off. You don't get a day off from being a Christian.
In fact, if you ever took a day off from being a Christian you'd really regret it because it would be harder and you'd have to get back into it the next day if you take my meaning.
And I was thinking about that and Brother Larry and I were talking this morning and we were talking about illnesses like pneumonia and stuff like that.
How you get a fever or diarrhea or vomiting and the expectation is that you will isolate yourself and that you'll not give your sickness to anyone else.
And that is kind of, that's what you want. You don't want to spread that right. So if you're ever sick like that, no matter what age you are, you're sick like that.
Then you either have to not come to church, not come to worship that day. You can watch online, listen to podcasts, whatever like that.
Or you have to isolate. You have to literally stay away from everybody.
One time during the COVID pandemic I had COVID but I was basically over it by that time.
And I came to the building, I stayed away from everybody and I went and sat in my office at my desk and watched the Facebook stream and watched RTA Preach and everything like that.
And I felt like it was, you know, the guy would want me to be here but I don't want to take a risk of making anybody sick.
We talked about that and they were talking about the weather and he said I didn't know if he was going to come pick me up this morning.
And I said well why wouldn't I come pick you up? And he said well because of the rain.
And I thought well we never cancel church on account of rain. One time we had the sanctuary started leaking, the roof started leaking during the service but we didn't stop the service.
And I don't know if you know this or not but we don't cancel our services for a level three snow emergency even though it's technically illegal for you to be on the streets.
So we tell people, you know, use your best judgment, be wise, listen to the Lord and do. But if we only have four or five people who come to church that day, we still don't church.
And so you can see where my mind's going with all this. And I preached a sermon recently about having no quit in you.
And I was thinking about how the world has found all of these different ways to license quitting. I call something else vacation.
Taking a break, right? A sick day, all these different, we license quitting in all these different ways.
And the truth is even if you have a job that you're working, even if you take a sick day because you're sick because you don't want to make other people sick, even while you're laying, we all know what we do, right?
We're all laying home in bed or you're sitting in a chair or climbing, watching TV or whatever and your mind keeps drifting to how, you know, the next day you're going to feel better and the next day you got to go back to work and what you got to do.
And then you're, oh, I had that project due today at one and now it's not, nobody's going to do that while I'm off. So tomorrow I've got to do that, right?
Take a vacation, come back from vacation and there's more work to do than ever. So you pay for your vacation up until your vacation and then you pay for your vacation after your vacation.
But the world's got all these types and ways that it calls, it's like quitting. They don't call it that, but it's got all the different ways they call it. And there's no quit in us.
Christians show up first, they leave last, they go the distance, they run the mile and then if need be, they run another mile. Jesus actually used that terminology. Somebody asked you to go with them a mile, you go with them two.
And then there's no quit in us. We meet because we love the Lord because we want to serve like that. Last night we were, we're in the midst of a family dilemma, but we're pretty sure what the results are going to be, but we're still struggling because Ariana's December concert is coming up.
Which is on Thursday, but her following concert is on a Tuesday night. And Ariana was like, well I'm not going. And then we have a problem because we committed her to be there and not realize most of Tuesday nights and now we're figuring it out.
The world has all kinds of reasons not to do what it is they're called to do. You can't live that way, you just can't do it. When you start living, I know what I'm supposed to do and I'm not going to stop no matter what.
Then you'll feel whole and you won't feel like you're burdened down and you're always like, do you want to get out of bed? Do you really want to get out of bed every day and decide whether or not you're going to wear clothes?
Or whether or not you're going to eat food? No, those things are pretty well settled, right? You know you're going to wear clothes every day and they're going to eat food almost every day unless you're fasting or something.
So it's when we take things and we stop making decisions over and over again, we just say that's settled, that one's done, we know this, this is a fact, we don't quit. Not even under seven other names.
Right? Then you can live the way healthy, you can live strong, you can be who you're supposed to be.
Well that was my inspirational one about the Lord speaking to me and I want to be that kind of person and you join me in that.
I think that's what it means to be a Christian, certainly what it means to be a fanatic Christian.
Alright, who else has got something that if not we're going to break?
Thank you. Is it working? Yeah, alright. I would say it's not easy being cheesy. It just means corny, relatable, stuff like that.
But anybody can do this. G-spoken parables, which not, you've got to talk about sheep and stuff, but a life lesson that can come back to something that's not just a parable.
It's not like sheep and stuff, but a life lesson that can come back to something else.
And so I sit in this chair right now and I'm thinking in this chair, I didn't make this chair, I don't know who made this chair.
I'll never meet the person who made this chair. Whether they were friendly, unfriendly, doing it for a paycheck, whether they love God, don't care, saved, unsaved, I have no idea.
But I sit in this chair because that person made that chair. No matter lack of concern, care, respect, time restraints, none of that stuff.
I had no capability or power to make this chair because I didn't have the time. But someone made this chair.
And so I think about that in everyday life with people every day.
Is that we don't realize how God allows everybody to do what they do, whether they're safe, unsafe, friendly, unfriendly, whether they don't know what they're doing, why they do it, how they do it.
Yet every day we all work together, whether it's at work or school or family or church.
And then you've got your brothers and sisters in your family, you've got your Christ family, they're not perfect, they're broken as well.
But at the same time, we all do this for the same reason. We do this for Jesus.
And then, this is where you do what you call parallel, the Bible says, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus didn't die for anyone, whether they were friendly, unfriendly, loved us, cared about us, what we thought about Him, what we think about Him.
Even today, if you're not heading the course, you're not living the way you should be, you're not doing what you used to do, get back up and do it again.
Because here's the reason, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And He didn't say after He died for us, we're not sinners anymore.
By Christ's blood, by His mercy, we are no longer allowed to sin, continue to sin.
Sin isn't a part of us anymore. Death has no hold on us. The power of sin has no sting on us.
And so, that's the idea, while we were still sinners.
The cool thing about this, and I was thinking about this, is I've heard someone say it, and I never forget what people used to tell me.
Oh, I would die in the cross, I would die for anyone, and I couldn't take it no more. And I said, well, that would get you the hell faster.
Because you're not the Messiah. You're not the Savior, you're not the one that loved everyone, you're not the one that willingly stepped off His throne.
Even out of the throne, He was still God, but He didn't have to step out of the throne. He didn't have to die in the cross.
And you could say, well, that makes Him unloving. He could be a brutal, hating God all He wants to be, but He's not.
He loved us so much that He did get off that throne. He did come as a baby.
Said before, He dealt with diaper rash, and didn't give up. I mean, I can't stand for a second of any chafing or something that bothers me and ticks me off that I just want to quit.
And He died on that cross, willingly, blood on that cross, till He would actually die from the blood spilling.
And then He rose again in victory. Because He had the power and capability to do it.
So I just encourage all of us today, whether you're sitting on a chair, driving your car, putting gas in your vehicle, reading a book, whether you're at school looking at a book, you didn't do that.
Because God gave someone else the ability to do that for you.
So I recently started a devotional series on the Eversion Bible app called Living With Wisdom.
And I've only known the first day, so I don't know what the whole thing's going to look like, but the first day was really good.
And it starts with a testimony of an NFL player named Erwin Gray.
And he's a former defensive back for the Indianapolis Colts.
But I'm going to read an excerpt from his testimony. And the whole thing's really good, so I encourage you to read it if you get the time at some point.
So he says, Eventually I came to know Jesus on August 2, 1997 in a small dorm room in Anderson, Indiana during a fifth year NFL training camp.
It happened right after lunchtime when I was walking to my dorm room. I suddenly felt a giant chasm in my soul and I called my wife and said,
I want to be more committed to you and I want to be more committed to Jesus. And that was when I was born again.
He said, I felt divine love. He felt himself going from death to life.
He's sharing everything he shares. And this is kind of referencing a little bit the beginning of his testimony as well.
He says, Everything that I've shared is to say I never knew that there was a concept called the secular sacred divide, which obviously is not a good thing.
I never knew when I played football I was expected to leave Jesus in the church building.
I never knew I was supposed to go without him all week long except for Sunday.
I remember one game in particular where I brought Jesus on the field. We were playing the Buccaneers and I came in on defense for what's called the safety blitz.
He said, All you need to know is that my job was to sack the quarterback.
When the lineman saw me coming in, he hit me pretty hard to block me. And he started cussing me out.
At this point, I was recently saved. So as he's cussing me out, I'm running next to him saying,
Bro, Jesus loves you so much, Jesus will forgive your sins. Let me tell you how much Jesus loves you, bro.
On the cross, he took your place. And while I'm running next to him, he's cussing me out and kicks me in the butt.
And as funny as it was, the entire experience goes to show, I had no idea that there were Christians who believed that Sunday was for Jesus and the other six days of the week were for secular work.
The word secular means without God. And if I can reach inside my scholar bag, the idea that the secular sacred divide is a product of Western Enlightenment.
The Western Enlightenment was started by a Christian named Rene Descartes, who famously said, I think therefore I am.
He was trying to combat atheism, but what he did was make human beings the center of knowledge.
And before the Enlightenment, instead of I think therefore I am, the prevailing idea was because of the great I am, we are.
So as a result of the Enlightenment, a mindset rose to secular things were for the week and sacred things were for the weekend.
Unfortunately, many Christians have bought into that deception.
And the truth is, if you're a follower of Jesus, the Bible says you are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
I'm going to stop there. He does speak more.
He does go on to quote last year's key verse of EBS as well.
So I really enjoyed the devotional.
There are so many Christians, and I find myself falling into this in some days, that we go out in the world and we have a day where we don't pray, we don't read our Bible, we don't talk to anyone about Jesus.
And that's just not right. It's disrespectful to God and the gifts that he's given us.
So we need to cast aside that divide that we have in our lives on those days, those bad days, maybe it's one in a hundred days, but it's still too much.
That really inspired me to step up a little bit.
Sometimes I have that, I start to get a little emotional and start crying at points.
I used to get chased home. I used to get bullied until finally, I couldn't imagine what it was like.
And I started, you know, and every now and then, there's that part that ain't me.
I know it has to be him, because the little things that I'm doing are good, are not wrong to make me cry.
So I know that giving or doing something nice to somebody, taking care of Jack at home, me neither, is just being him and coming out of the way with no expectations.
I heard they were yesterday, and my friend, he was really bad-tempered. I'm going to the store, I'm getting internal flu, I'm getting some 4L of this and just bringing it to him.
And that's what I did yesterday, other than coming here and hoping I was in church. I love everybody in here.
I joined this church, and the person sitting here was talking and had time to sit there and just listen.
And everyone in here, everybody in here, the reason I joined it is because everybody in here acts like a family.
They all are together, they all do different things, they all have different jobs, so I want to help.
And sometimes the crying is good. I go up with my friends and stuff like that, and the love comes out, because I'm crying the same as he is.
Taking out my friend's mom, or taking out my friends, and that's okay. I'm not perfect.
Even 60%, I'm telling the truth, even 60% of what I'm doing is not me.
That other part is I'm going to slip for a minute, and I want to be telling the truth.
And they're a little bit, and I don't want to be that person. So I'm trying to be a better person.
I'll leave you at this, you second, I'm 22 years old, and to give back, that will help.
Like I said, I love every one of the people in here. Some people treat me better than my own family.
I respect this church, and I love everybody in here. Thank you.
Alright, so we're going to pray at this time, and then we'll transition.
Oh, I'm sorry, do you have a word real quick?
So like a few weeks ago at our house, we were doing this Bible study.
And as I was listening to some of it, some of it popped out because it talked about the armor of God.
And I didn't know what some of it was, because I didn't know the shield.
I didn't know what it is for and what it was meant for.
And then as I was reading it, it said, take the shield of faith so you can stop the firing arrows of the devil.
And if we didn't have the shield, the devil would be on us all the time with his arrows.
Alright, good word. Alright, let's pray and we'll jump back into worship.
Brother Tim, would you read some prayer? Alright, we'll pray along with Brother Tim. Let's do that.
Alright, I'm going to let my father continue to work with us for this week until we can meet again.
We stand with your kind hands, with a joy unto the waters of the stream.
We bow down as you worship Him now.
I pray our bonds will be sweet. Together we sing.
Everyone sing.
Oh yes, the Lord, God is almighty.
He is the only one who can teach me how to spill the wings of love.
Alright kids, we're going to walk away.
Oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His lonely name.
Sing like never before, oh my soul, worship your lonely name.
The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning. It's time to sing your song again.
Whatever faith has and whatever lies before me, let me be singing with the evening hours.
Oh yes, the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His lonely name.
Sing like never before, oh my soul, worship your lonely name.
You rich in love and you're slow to ache. Your name is grace and your heart is kind.
For all your goodness I will be unseeing.
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.
Oh yes, the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His lonely name.
Sing like never before, oh my soul, worship your lonely name.
On that day when my strength is failing, the end draws near and the time has come.
Still my soul will sing your praise unending.
Ten thousand reasons that forever more.
Oh yes, the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His lonely name.
Sing like never before, oh my soul, worship your lonely name.
Oh yes, the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship His lonely name.
Lord, I worship your lonely name.
Sing like never before, oh my soul, worship your lonely name.
Worship your lonely name.
Lord, I worship your lonely name.
I'm going to take us through this text I believe that the Lord led me to today. As you can see, it is fairly short.
I will reference a couple of other texts, but we will not go there and read them.
Then it gets hot and heavy up in here. I'm going to ask you to help me finish the series.
So I'm not going to do it all myself today. We're going to do it together.
And by that I mean when we get to our third point, we are going to be looking at what it looks like to walk as a Christian.
And then we will as a group, interactive handle a number of case studies, several for each one of the sermons.
I believe I have written this in such a way that it will not take us all day.
But I fair warn you, if we don't do it, it will take longer.
So be ready when that time comes to be participatory.
When I start asking those case study questions, it's not going to be a case where you're just going to sit back and wait for somebody else to answer.
If you immediately know the answer, you're going to chime in or help me finish.
Okay, so that's the plan. Now grab your Bibles if you would, if you're following along.
And I am going to read from Romans chapter one. Come on.
To be a fanatic might be in this place at this time to be excited about these three verses from God's word.
It just might include that. And I think we'll even see that before we're done today.
So let's try again. At least say amen. It is God's word. That means so let it be.
Or hallelujah. That means praise the Lord.
Or thank you Jesus. That means thank you Jesus.
As we go to Romans chapter one. Thank you Jesus.
Okay, about still about half of us actually participating.
But I appreciate all of those of you who realize here we go.
We're going in to God's word. Romans one fifteen.
This is a topic that will not come as a complete surprise to you.
Romans one fifteen. It says thus for my part. So my is Paul.
Paul is writing this. And he's talking to the church at Rome.
Hence the book is named the book of Romans.
Thus for my part I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Now we could stop right there and say that a fanatic for Jesus, at least in Paul's life, he set this model.
He set this design for us that a fanatic for Jesus is excited to preach the gospel.
Now Paul wanted to preach the gospel in Rome which was a large church.
Paul didn't found it. He didn't start the church of Rome.
He didn't send an apostle there or a disciple there to start the church of Rome.
And so probably believers came back from Pentecost.
Which is that moment in time the Holy Spirit settled on God's people.
And they probably started the church of Rome.
But we don't actually historically know who the first members of the church of Rome were.
Paul was excited to go there and preach the gospel to them.
They were Gentiles by and large. There were Jewish people in Rome.
But we know that there was a very strong Jewish presence.
And in AD 70 much later the two of them conflicted so badly that both the Jews and the Christians were kicked out of Rome.
They were forced to leave their homes and leave everything behind.
And so it gets pretty bad for a while.
Big strong presence of both the Jewish and the Christian church.
Jewish faith and the Christian church.
So he's eager to go there and preach the gospel to those Gentile Christians who are in the church in Rome.
Verse 16 says, for that's because it's for.
And this is a really common verse to memorize.
I would encourage you if you have not done so already to memorize this verse.
It's not even really hard.
It says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel.
For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
To the Jew first and also to the Greek.
So basically he's breaking it down.
Who it should have come to first was the Jewish people because that's God's people.
They should have been wanting to hear from God.
They were chosen by God.
And then to everyone else after them.
But it doesn't matter the order so much.
The phrase everyone who believes says it very clearly.
It is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes.
So if someone will believe the good news about Jesus they will be saved.
And Paul again sets the example that we should not be ashamed of the gospel for that very reason.
Because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.
It doesn't matter if they were a God hater a moment before.
Or if they lived their entire life as an atheist.
Or they proposed that they were a Christian when they were younger but walked away from the Lord.
And have become what some might call apostolate.
How do you say that word?
Apostolate.
Anyway walking away from the Lord.
Do you got it Josh?
Josh is my English guy.
And so even if they've become that now they can truly become born again if they can hear the gospel.
Okay?
And so everyone who believes no matter what their previous condition was verse 17.
For in the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written.
For in it the gospel the good news the thing that we're supposed to not be ashamed of.
In it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written.
But the righteous man shall live by faith.
And so basically if you're going to be right you're going to live by faith.
Now we get our righteousness from Christ.
Don't get too doctrine heavy on me here or theological right?
We know that we'll only truly be righteous in Jesus.
That's the only way to truly be right by God.
Because we have sinned.
And so you need forgiveness for that sin which is provided for by Jesus.
Paid for.
God is righteous so he delivers justice.
Because he delivers justice he must.
We'll get it one of these days.
Because he delivers justice he must deal punishment.
He must deal judgment to sin that he did on the cross.
Otherwise we would have to pay for it ourselves.
So Jesus' death becomes substitutionary for us.
Right we talked a little bit about that so I'm not going to go back on it.
These are the verses of the day.
The first point that's clear and obvious in there is that fanatics as we have been discussing them.
Want to share the good news.
Why do we want to share the good news?
Also very simple.
Very obvious.
It's good news.
If you have good news you just found out you're pregnant.
You just found out you got a new job.
You just found out you got a promotion.
You just found out you got a bonus check.
You just found out that there's a supplement to deal with the pain that you had.
Or the pain that your brother sister mother father cousin had.
You found out about it.
Of course you're going to jump right on the phone.
You're going to go right there and push.
You're going to do whatever is necessary and you're going to share that good news.
Now I also know that there are people in the world who like to share bad news.
I would not recommend being one of them.
Even though people might be interested in hearing all the bad news all the time.
And they have that kind of attitude that they want to know how bad the world is.
You want to be a person who wants to share good news.
And so we want to share the gospel because it's good news.
Also because it's powerful.
There's a lot of motivations that people have in the world these days.
They want to change the world to meet their own standards of what they are.
For example they want to do away with a sin that they think the world has.
And it could be anything from you think abortion is a sin.
To you think drinking to your drunk is a sin or whatever.
And the bible may speak to the sin or may not speak to the sin.
But because everybody feels like they want to make everyone around them adhere to their standard.
They're looking for ways to do that.
And your anger might be powerful.
You might trick other people.
You might force other people, manipulate other people to do what you want.
By being angry at them.
By using harsh words.
Your money may be powerful.
You pay somebody to do what it is that you want them to do.
You give them discounts until they're so attached to you that there's no one else who can do what you can do.
And then you can charge them whatever you want.
And that is the world's standard Josh.
And I just talked about this yesterday.
Bottom line is you can find power in a lot of places.
But the only power to truly change the world.
To truly set people free.
To truly overcome hearts of stone.
And give hearts of flesh.
To truly regenerate a person from the inside out.
Is the gospel.
It is the truth.
The good news about Jesus.
There is forgiveness available.
God's Holy Spirit will come and live in you.
If you are saved you can be born again today.
And it is sad news that if you are not born again.
You will go to hell for an eternity.
But that is not our message.
Albeit it's true.
Our message is that God loves you.
He made for your forgiveness and now wants to forgive you of your sins through his son Jesus Christ.
It is powerful.
And people accept that wherever they are.
Whatever they have done.
C.S. Lewis said this in one of those very same radio programs that I mentioned to you a couple weeks ago.
He said that it's impossible to look at a man and compare him to another man.
And determine which one is a Christian.
To say he's a Christian because he acts a certain way.
Or he's a Christian because he doesn't.
Or he's not a Christian because he doesn't act a certain way.
You can't do that. You can't judge that.
The Bible says we're not supposed to do that.
But it's impossible to do that because in order to do that you would have to judge that man who claims to be a Christian.
Not on the standards of how he is living.
But on who he would be and how he would be living if he were not saved.
And if he is saved you can't see that person anymore.
And if he's not saved you can't see the person that is.
And so there's no way to do that.
You cannot judge. A person could be the worst person you know.
But claiming to be a follower of Christ.
And they might actually be.
They're living in sin. They're subject to wrath.
They're facing all kinds of pain and difficulty in their life because they are not following the Lord the way that they promised to.
But the bottom line is they might actually be saved.
You look at another person who's the nicest person you know.
Treats you with great respect. Gives you things on a regular basis.
Always encouraging. Always kind words.
Never vulgar. Never nasty in an intimate way at all.
And yet they may be lost.
They're only doing it for other reasons.
The gospel is where the power lies.
And so when someone embraces the gospel.
If it is received. If it is believed.
And I'll mention believed it again in a second.
If it is received and believed it saves.
Now Jesus is really the one right that saves.
We understand it's really Jesus that does that.
But the gospel is the road.
It is the way. It is the understanding.
It is the breakdown. It's the PowerPoint presentation.
It's the song. It's the poem.
It's the seven point sermon.
To get people from not knowing to knowing.
And it's actually very simple.
It doesn't have seven points.
It basically has one. God loves you and wants to forgive you.
Through Jesus Christ his son and become Lord of your life.
That is the gospel.
Whether you feel like you're worth it. Capable. Able or not.
That is the gospel. That Jesus did what he did.
That you might be saved. That's the gospel.
And it's powerful.
Notice I said if they received it and believed it.
It saves.
Now in the world today.
And this is a little bit what Erin was kind of touching on.
In the world today there is a different understanding of what it means to believe something.
So you believe something. You compartmentalize it.
I believe it but it doesn't really affect who I am.
That is a lie. If you believe it it affects who you are.
If you believe you are a Christian but go out in the world and act as if you are not a Christian.
That will always cause a problem for you.
There's always going to be a rift between you and God.
There's a question as to whether or not you're even saved.
And you will find that question eventually.
You will live in doubt, struggle, regret, worry.
You will not be a fanatic for Christ because you will always have that wonder.
You will always be questioning yourself.
Because you say you believe but you're not living what you believe.
Because believing requires.
Nay. Is founded on.
Nay actually is the thing.
Of applying what you know.
It's one thing to know it and say you believe it.
It's another thing to know it and apply it in your life.
That's when you believe it. When you apply it.
It goes like this. I know it.
I believe it. It has started to change me.
Because I believe it.
I've developed a conviction.
I believe it so deep in my core.
That now it's affecting every other belief.
Every other knowledge that I have.
Convictions are deep down in your heart and your soul for your decision making process.
And that's what we're talking about in this series of becoming a fanatic.
Is taking our beliefs or our knowing and turning them into convictions.
What does that look like?
What has God empowered us to do?
So the gospel is like that.
If received and believed.
Meaning if it is a knowledge that is applied.
They take that knowledge and apply it to themselves.
It saves.
The question is why would Paul be ashamed?
Why does he have to mention I'm not ashamed?
Why would he be ashamed?
So the question we could answer first hand for ourselves.
If we look at why we didn't share the gospel.
And I'm going to submit to you.
And I'm not judging you in any way.
I can say to you with 100% certainty.
That I have and that you have missed an opportunity in your life to share Jesus with somebody who was ready had you shared it to be saved.
Now there are many reasons why it might be so.
It might be because you judged that person or whatever.
But it all wraps under this one umbrella.
And that is that you were somehow in that moment ashamed of the gospel.
If there was a person in front of you and they were professing to be an atheist.
But if you shared the gospel with them they would have gotten saved.
You might have said well I'm not going to share that because they're not going to receive it anyway.
I'm ashamed of what I have to offer.
And Paul was saying that there were many Christians in the world.
Or could be anyway.
Many Christians in the world who were ashamed to share the gospel.
But he was saying I am not.
As a fanatic for the Lord Jesus Christ I am not ashamed of sharing the gospel.
I submit to you that all of those other reasons that we might have when we say I don't think I'm good at it.
Or like Moses I'm not a good talker.
Or I'm kind of bashful or shy.
I'm just not I'm the behind the scenes person.
I don't know what I would do if they asked me certain questions.
All of those things are actually us being ashamed of the gospel.
Why didn't we do it.
Well to the world the gospel seems like foolishness.
In fact it smells bad to those who are dying.
Second Corinthians chapter two says that it smells bad to those who are dying.
So when you share the gospel with somebody and they don't get saved they're not going to like what you have to say.
That is the reality.
If you walk in the elevator after eating a big old bowl of beans and pass gas everybody in the elevator is going to not like that very much.
When the elevator door opens and you get out you're going to be like sorry about that.
I'm not really sure if you're a compassionate person.
The point is this.
People don't like bad fragrances aromas that stink or chase away and they don't like sharing them.
I imagine if you eat that great big bowl of beans and get in the elevator you're going to do everything you can not to pass gas until you get out of the elevator.
Why because you're ashamed of the smell of y'all and passing gas.
Right.
It's because you don't want that.
You don't want that feeling.
You don't want people to think about you as the person who stunk up the elevator.
And that's what we are.
We are human beings and we are concerned about what other people think about us.
And Jesus said knock that crap off.
You got to stop worrying about what other people think about you and start stinking like you're supposed to.
The gospel smells bad to those who are dying.
If we don't share it whatever our excuses may be we are not sharing it because we are ashamed.
We are belittling it not realizing that it is the sword that cuts to the quick.
It is the healing salve.
It is the prescription for the disease that ails the hearts of all human beings.
It is the gateway to filling the gap in the soul of a person who aches for everything.
I've got to have more of this that and the other because inside me there's an unfillable void.
And you have the solution.
And the only reason you would not share that with them is because of some reason you are ashamed of it.
We live in a world in 2024 where some people make certain garment choices.
There are girls that wear halter tops and they show their stomach or they'll wear bikinis in the airport or at Walmart.
They get tattoos on their face or the back of their arms.
And they'll go out in public and have those things.
And they're not ashamed of what they look like.
They're not ashamed of their stomach and probably they know that they're distracting.
They know that they're disrupting society.
They know that there are men who will look at them and think certain thoughts.
And they don't care because they're not ashamed of the way that they carry themselves.
Political preferences.
I was talking with a woman on the phone this week and she was not ashamed to tell me what candidate she had voted for in every election.
And that it was a personal thing that she voted for one person because she liked them.
She voted for another person because she liked them.
She didn't say that she knew what they stood for.
She didn't say that she prayed even though she was a professing Christian.
She simply said, I voted for this person, this person, this person right down the line.
I was able to tell me every person that they voted for and she was not ashamed.
Now my response was I prayed over every election.
I voted as the Lord led me to vote.
And guess how well that was received?
Not very well.
She had her own version of the good news and she shared it with me.
And when I shared my version back with her, she was not happy.
There are a lot of people out there who are not ashamed to do a lot of things that probably shouldn't be done.
But why?
Because they're not ashamed to do them.
It doesn't bother them.
I'm going to do what I want.
And Christian, you're alive today because Jesus Christ died on the cross for you.
Otherwise, you'd be dead in your trespasses and sins, never having been reborn.
How can you be ashamed of the one who died for you?
How can you be ashamed of the actions that he took to do it?
How can you be ashamed so that when you speak to somebody else, if they don't like what you have to say, you're going to go, well, I don't want to bring up that topic.
There's an old saying that is a mixed crowd, a party, whatever.
You never bring up politics or religion.
Guess what?
That's fine by me because I don't have much of an opinion about politics.
I think God is the one who's in charge and I just let him tell me what to do in that arena.
And I don't have much of an opinion about religion except that it ain't going to get you to God at all.
You're going to get to God through Jesus Christ.
It's a relationship with God through his son.
That's not religion.
It's trusting the Lord to do what the Lord has promised.
You know there's not a religion on the face of the earth where the Messiah, the God in the flesh came down and lived a life, died on the cross and rose again and now inhabits his people.
There isn't one other religion where that is true.
In fact, that means there is no religion because truthfully what we have is not per se a religion.
A religion is a set of rules or steps or methods by which you draw close to God.
And there is only one way to draw close to God and that is if Jesus draws you in.
And he wants to do so.
And the gospel is that message that he wants to draw people in.
It doesn't say it will make them perfect in this lifetime but it will begin to reform them.
And we can begin to reform people.
If you want to stop some crime, some sin, some violent thing, some nasty thing that's going on in the world, do so by sharing the gospel.
And if you don't share the gospel, then when you look at that violent nasty thing that's in the world or when your kid dies or your grandchild dies or your great grandchild dies not knowing Christ or knowing Christ but they're persecuted for their faith, then you can guarantee that you are 100% culpable.
Oh it's okay because Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins so you won't go to hell because you didn't share the gospel.
But you can guarantee that if you didn't share the gospel that when somebody kills somebody you're just as culpable because you could have led somebody to Christ, you led somebody to Christ, you led that person to Christ and they could have been at church instead of robbing that bank.
They could have been sharing the faith themselves instead of selling drugs on the street corner or through the drug house.
At one point in time we had tracked four possibly five previous drug dealers who had gotten saved through the ministry of the Southside Life Station or somebody who got saved at the Southside Life Station and they all stopped selling drugs.
You want drugs to stop being sold to your great grandchildren? Share the gospel. The gospel is the solution. In it is the power of salvation to those who will receive and believe it saves.
And here we are as Christians today wrestling with the same concern that Paul had and I'm asking you, are you ashamed of the gospel?
Because if you are you will have trouble living as a fanatic for Jesus Christ.
Fanatics know, then this is the second point, fanatics know that righteous people live or walk by the faith.
This is a transitional point because to walk by the faith will be to do all of the things that we've been talking about for the last seven weeks.
It is what Jesus did. It is how he walked and fanatics know that according to what it's written here and elsewhere in 1 John 2 5 that righteous people live or walk by faith.
The Mark 1 story about Jesus leaving the house early in the morning for everyone else woke up to go out and pray and the disciples can't find him and they go out looking for him and say everybody's looking for you but we've found you.
Now let's go back and heal all these people are waiting to be healed and Jesus said no let's go over there, wait for it and share the gospel because that's what I came for.
That's what I'm about. He did not go back and heal all their burdens. He did not go back.
And so Jesus walked and how does Jesus walk? He walked prioritizing the good news about God and Jesus and salvation that would be available about the kingdom come.
He prioritized that above helping people. He prioritized that above a job. He prioritized that above a house. He prioritized that above a family.
He prioritized that above everyone and everything.
The good news of God is the single most important thing on the face of the earth because as long as people have mouths and as long as people have ears one can speak to another who will listen and be saved.
How will they hear? Because someone will go and share with them and how will they hear if no one goes and shares with them? Well the answer will be they will not.
Jesus walked this way. Fanatics know that righteous people live and walk by faith. Faith in the gospel looks like an unashamed desire to share the truth about God and Jesus Christ.
It also looks like living according to the principles that we have been discussing for the last two months. Get your thinking caps on because here it comes.
It also looks like living according to the principles we have been discussing for the last two months in this series. To that end we will now look at each one of the seven sermons and we will have a case study or more than one case study for each of those.
And I will ask you as I do when I'm running role playing games under that circumstance what do you do?
In other words I want to know if the people in this room and I believe it's so that we collectively know what to do in every one of these circumstances based on the sermons that we've heard.
Now it's a problem if I didn't bring a list because I doubt very seriously that any of you could name more than three.
Now I could and I was surprised that I could because I have the same problem that all humans have and that is we get so into doing what we're doing right now and what we're heading into that we forget what happened to us last week and the week before and the week before.
But the sermons that we hear out of God's word they are meant to take up root as we heard about on Tuesday night we talked about how we have become the repository for the things that God has given us.
It is your job as a Christian to receive from the Lord and then be ready to disseminate the information you have received out to the next generation.
Your great grandchildren's lives their souls their eternity in heaven or hell are bound up in whether or not you will learn what God is teaching you and share it back out with anyone who will listen.
Years ago I was at a conference and then we're going to go into the case studies I was at a conference it was actually the annual meeting for the state convention of absent Ohio and it was here in Toledo and we went out there as messengers and we had this long row about 15 20 of us and we all sat there kids included and we listened to them speak and a speaker spoke and he said this is what we know he said that as we live today as the gospel is being shared it is being shared that the number of people that are Christians the percentage looks like this.
So in other words it's declining it is what it is now 10 years ago it was higher percentage 10 years before that it was a higher percentage and yes the world population is advancing and that's part of the problem but it shouldn't be a problem because any one Christian can share the gospel any number of times in any given day so it shouldn't be a problem but what's happened is Christians as we just talked about have become ashamed of sharing the gospel and so the percentage of people that are Christians is going down like this.
And he said what we need to do is we need to turn that around and we need to make it look like this so this is where we're at now we need to look like that if you're going to catch a ball you don't catch a ball like this.
Right here right here right between my fingers right you catch it like this.
The football is flying at you do like this because the tip would fit there with it like the tip of the ball would go in there and go I got it.
No that would look stupid you catch a ball and clutch it to your body because that's your greatest go ahead throw it.
Yeah perfect example.
Okay I'll try it again.
Okay I hit it in my head but all right whatever the point is the second way works better than the first way right it's a very good throw by the way.
Okay so what he said was we got to turn it around we got to open our arms we got to share the gospel we've got to make this this is what we want.
And by the way your grandchild your great grandchild your cousins kids they all live in that time the timeline goes like this and this is what it looks like what's the odds they're going to be in this ever decreasing.
So every generation of your family is getting more and more likely to be outside this because the numbers and percentage getting smaller and smaller so they're bored nobody shares the gospel and they live their life ignorant unsaved and go to hell.
And the problem is Christians who are ashamed of the gospel don't give a hoot that their descendants are all going to hell.
Because you think well I shared it but I shared it my brother my sister my mother my father none of them will listen.
But it might not be your brother your mother your sister your father whatever that shares it with your great grandchild.
It might be Sally Smith who works at the carry out and she shares it with her cousin shares it with her daughter who shares it with her son who shares it with your great great grandchild at school or at church or at an event right.
So the line is not direct you share I shared it with all my family I'm done I got discovered no you have to share it all the time because it is the power of salvation and then when we start doing that we'll turn this into this.
And now what's the likelihood that your descendants are inside much higher you can take it from being one in it right now as we stand here we have the best chance because we're living as Christians or as we sit here we have the best chance because we're living as Christians right.
So we are sharing it some by the way we live at least by inviting people to church or whatever but then people who don't do that at all they have the worst chance right the atheist of this generation their kids are.
Although it's funny because the atheist that sued the United States government to take prayer out of schools used to live down in Walbridge and then when her son who was not to be required to pray in school got older he became saved and now is a Baptist preacher.
So sometimes the atheist is their kids do get saved right but she didn't share it with him somebody else did.
So what I'm getting at is this we've got to turn it around by sharing the gospel we've got to turn it around by living as fanatics in this age and when you do that as we're about to talk about in these case studies then you walk as he walked and then we'll come to our conclusions all right.
So here's the first one the first Sunday which was September 22nd preach the sermon and it was on dying with Christ we talked about dying with Christ and I said that getting an enduring level of commitment is about realizing who you are now hint you died with Christ.
And I said that getting an enduring level of commitment is about realizing who you are now hint you died with Christ. Okay so here's the first case study there are threats of violence that are inhibiting the spread of the gospel so throughout America or wherever you live or wherever circumstances it starts to happen that there are threats of violence toward people who share Christ or who are Christians or who go to church or whatever threats of violence that are now inhibiting the threat of spread of the gospel.
What do you do? Continue spreading the gospel I would say up your game right. By the way how do we get to the point that there are threats of violence against spreading the gospel two things must happen.
First one spreading the gospel what's the other one? Somebody along the way failed to spread the gospel. That's how you get people who want to kill people who spread the gospel they have to be unsaved.
They have to be unsaved and they're unsaved by their own choice I understand that but if they had a grandmother or a brother or a friend who was saved they wouldn't be adamantly trying to kill anybody that shares the gospel so the further we get from this the more likely we are to get to this and now if you share the gospel you're under threat of being killed right.
So the answer is share the gospel and don't worry about the threats of violence and what happens if you get struck by the threats of violence that's a different case study. So the riches of this world become a priority over service to God and learning.
Be careful because this actually is happening right now. The riches of this world become a priority over service to God and learning so what do you do?
What if we do if it starts to be in our church we start to say well I can't serve I can't give I can't study my Bible because I got to make more money because my investments are coming in because so and so said if I skip church this Sunday they'll give me a hundred bucks. What do we do?
Say it.
Okay that's good.
Share the gospel with the person offering you a hundred dollars.
That'd be good. Go to church anyway. Good. Somebody else said something back here.
Your left hand is thanking you to say it.
So in other words you need to turn into a fanatic.
Amen.
Okay so we'll do one more on this sermon. You have stuff that you don't want to lose or stuff that you want to collect yet in this life.
What do you do?
Make sure that it's what God wants.
Okay good. Make sure that it's a godly thing. That would be good.
Pray about it.
Let's see if God puts a check on it and says you don't need that stuff. That desire to the Lord right. Go.
Ask yourself if that stuff is more valuable than God.
Ask yourself if that stuff is more valuable than God. Right.
And because we died with Christ the answer to those questions will be it cannot be.
If it starts to be it's got to go. Like I'm cut it off. It's done. It's got to go.
All right. So we have because we have died with Christ we know these things to be true. The second Sunday we did part two store up your treasures.
And I said as a lightning point our identity includes discovering whether our family storehouse.
I'm sorry where not whether.
Our identity includes discovering where our family storehouses are built. Hint not here.
The riches of this world become a priority over service to God and learning.
What do you do.
And we focus on.
Okay. He said repent and refocus on learning and drawing close to God and I agree 100 percent.
If it is another believer you hold them to account. If it's you you repent.
Okay.
By holding them to account I mean you go there and explain to them look our treasures are not here on this earth they're in heaven.
And so all this that you're you're doing to pursue that it's it's not going to work.
It's not going to yield anything you're going to when you go in the casket you're going to lose it all anyway.
Right. So you call them to account giving threatens your level of wealth or your lifestyle.
What do you do.
Change your lifestyle. That would be a good way to do it. What else.
Give anyway give more push it right. I think a lot of times we come up to the edge of the line and we start to get oh gosh can't give that because if I do I'll have to cancel my streaming service or I'll have to not have as new a car or I'll have to whatever.
And so we kind of just kind of walk that thin line always trying to say what we can still give without and in your storehouses are in heaven.
So every time you stop from giving to embrace and get something good in this lifetime you get something that is dying that is failing that will no longer exist at some point.
So you invest in it for this lifetime and 50 years goes by then you go to heaven and it's gone.
And guess what you got there for the 50 years that you invested in that thing.
Nothing.
Because our storehouses are in heaven.
Okay.
Last one persecution.
So persecution about being a Christian threatens prosperity.
Now you probably can come up with a couple Bible stories about this one.
She said don't be surprised when they hear you do the hidden first.
Okay. So what do you do.
You're going to lose your prosperity if you continue to be a Christian or becomes known to share the gospel. What do you do.
You should.
Suffer right.
That's what you do.
And God will take care of it ultimately even if you lose it.
And God will take care of it ultimately even if it's in heaven.
Now that these are we're talking about being a fanatic.
I understand that you may not be ready to embrace these action plans but the action plans that are being proposed are the ones that scripture teaches.
Okay.
Part three seek first the kingdom of God.
The lightning point was the kingdom is in us between us and among us as the gathered church.
So the kingdom of God is in you as a person and you need to seek that it is between you and other believers in relationship and also and especially in among us as the church.
Okay.
So here we go.
I apologize in advance if I'm stepping on anybody's toes but this is the way we're doing it today.
So external family members conflict with church relationships.
Your family says no.
Your family has a problem with somebody in the church as you can't go there.
You can't do that. You can't do.
You can't.
What do you do.
For those who are under the age they have no choice.
That's not true.
They have a choice.
They can still they can still believe in God.
They can still do their own studies.
So I said relationships not attendance.
Okay.
So in other words let me ask you this.
If a teenager is friends with another teenager and their parents are not keen on that relationship what does that teenager do.
Haley what do you do.
Are you still friends with that person.
Be honest.
Yeah.
See now they don't necessarily they can't necessarily spend the time with them that they would like to.
Right.
But they don't give up that friendship just because mom or dad don't like that person.
That's not what happens.
So then we say that's the standard that the church has to do.
So now the churches Christians have to give up their relationship with other Christians because their parents don't like them.
That's a double standard.
That's not fair.
Sometimes the family always corrects or in the right thing.
You've got to put your mind where you want to go.
Yeah.
Sometimes you just have to go you know if they don't like it or not they're going to see you when you have turned to the church.
I cannot tell you the number of times in the last 25 years that I have heard the story of somebody whose family was adamant against them serving God.
And the more they pushed the more they served God the more they stood up and acted exactly the way they were supposed to.
The more their family began to realize that it actually was a good thing that they were a Christian that they were doing what they said their hypocrisy was gone.
Their relationship with God was real.
And then eventually some of those people came over to their side and they say you know what it is good what I see in you this faith thing is good for you.
But let's be very realistic in the world.
Isn't it kind of freaky that somebody that your kid or your friend or your or your spouse wants to go follow Jesus.
I think about the movie case for Christ case for faith I think was first right.
Case for faith where Lee Strobel his wife becomes a Christian and he's totally freaked out.
He's like I don't want to do with that and he's like he's really shutting it down hard and he's like you can't do that.
I want you to do that because he was afraid that she was going to become a Bible thumping fanatic which she did.
But a Bible thumping fanatic is somebody that loves people and serves people and cares for people not somebody that hacks them down or attacks them.
Right. And so she did become exactly what he thought she would become.
But it was a good thing that she become that.
And then he went OK well I'm losing my marriage so I've got to really explore this and figure out what's true about this.
And then that's the story of a case for faith.
He found out as a professing atheist he found out that the reason really is there the evidences that really are there.
The story about.
He was actually an investigative reporter.
So external family members conflict with church relationships that you do not give up your church relationships you still do the things that the Bible calls you to do.
Now if your mom or dad for example is in the mix like are you saying you and they say you can't go then you don't go because you have to obey.
So that makes it very difficult on some young people.
But we don't want to limit this to young people what happens when you have an 18 year old or 20 year old or 25 year old and their family members are not into the whole Christian thing.
And they're supposed to have relationships with their church what do they do.
Say it again.
Do it anyway.
If every man be a liar.
God is still true.
If every man be anti God you still before God.
I can only tell you because when I first got saved I got basically pissed off by more than half of my family.
You are not the only one.
So personality next case study got to move on.
Personality conflicts interfere with commitment to one another.
In other words you've got somebody in the church you just can't quite see eye to eye.
It's kind of a problem but you know you're supposed to love them serve them be a brother in Christ.
So what do you do.
Personality conflict.
Interfering with.
Amen.
Brother.
Yes.
Absolutely.
Your heart has to be going the right way.
You should be loving that person even if they don't deserve it even if it's difficult.
R.J.
You have to read this sometimes.
Read that the better the better goal of what you're trying to do.
So if you have a dissuade one of the things that I always think of is that it was a story I heard about a church that had this huge division over the color of a carpet.
Yep.
And this thing everyone in the church was debating whether or not the carpet should be one color or the other.
Yep.
And it's like does it really matter.
What matters is what we are trying to do for Christ.
So that's the answer and that's what he was getting at too as you put your focus back on what you're supposed to be doing.
And the old saying is if you take your eyes off the shepherd they'll always land on the sheep.
Tim.
Disagreement.
Work it out.
Yeah I will say by the way that the world's definition of agree to disagree makes that saying actually one of my least favorite sayings because their definition is you go do what you want to do and I'll go do what I want to do because I'm right and you're right.
And that's not true.
Most of the time that's not true.
Somebody's in the wrong.
That is if it's sin not as a personal opinion it's like you have your opinion you like blue better.
I like green better.
We need to get back to serving Jesus.
Who cares whether it's blue or green.
So yeah.
OK. And then how about this one.
This is the last one under this topic.
We got to keep this moving professing believer in our church.
So this is at new heights in our church sins and you personally become aware of it.
What do you do.
Not you heard somebody say somebody but you know that they said what do you do.
With another believer conversation about.
You start with just just you then you go to another believer if if the conversation is not going in the right direction.
Right. So Matthew 18 is one person you go and privately conflict talk with them.
And then if they because they might repent and then it's all over starts there's it's over and they're protected.
You might be the only person that knows about it at that point.
Nobody's outed right.
But if they won't listen then you go with another one or two people.
You start by and that but you have to go.
And by the way what happens to a relationship when you go and you talk with somebody about a problem that you have and you work it out.
How is the relationship after that.
Better.
Always better and better and better.
So why does God let personality conflicts arise in the church or even some one personal sin and they need to be called to repentance.
Because we're being the church we're becoming the church more and more.
Or put it back in context of the sermon.
We're seeking first the kingdom of God.
OK.
Next one. Part four.
Worry not regret not.
God cares about you and he cares about your right now.
That was the lightning point.
So fear of an upcoming medical procedure grips your heart.
What do you do.
OK.
You pray about it right now.
Not later.
You pray about it now. So you had that fear.
You pray. That's a good step.
What else.
Right.
He's already there where you're in your sickness before you.
Right.
He's got you back.
All right. So you trust the Lord in that circumstance.
And when we did the sermon on that Sunday we talked about you live.
That's what you do.
Right. Because when fear grips your heart it feels like death doesn't it.
It feels like you're dying like I can't.
Oh no. Next month. Oh no. Wednesday.
Whatever. And you just can't function.
But God cares about you and he cares about you right now.
So you stop that. You don't do that.
You don't play that game. You remember God's got your back.
You remember that he's already was there before you got there.
He's already there. And then you live now.
Because if you.
This is the kind of worst case scenario.
You got a medical procedure next Wednesday at three o'clock.
And all the way through now and then you live in fret and worry and regret.
Then you go have the medical procedure and you die.
So your last three to four days on the earth instead of following Jesus.
You were in sin.
That's like the worst case scenario.
Now as I mean not going to go to heaven if you following Jesus then you're going to go to heaven.
But why would you waste those minutes that God paid so you can have them.
And the answer is you don't.
Angst over.
Mistakes like your past mistakes things that you've made in the past keeps coming up in your daily life or when you are resting.
So you keep thinking about how you did this bad you did that bad you made this mistake.
It keeps coming up in your daily life or when you're resting.
What do you do.
Say it again.
Yeah.
Good exactly.
So you live in this moment and when it keeps coming up as you're saying you don't dwell on it you release it you send it away you rebuke it could be an evil spirit maybe even that's doing that trying to keep you from living right now.
And you say no I'm going to do right now what it is that God wants me to do.
Most of the time that happens is because we're not actively doing what we're supposed to be doing.
Right.
OK.
Go.
There you go.
Yeah which fits also with some of the other points and I kind of got a little bit ahead of me but that's OK.
All right. So worry that someone that you trust will betray you causes you to play it safe.
You're always keeping an eye on them or you don't you know you don't put yourself out there.
You don't give them a lot of access maybe to money or to yourself or because you're worried that they're going to betray you and you start playing it safe.
What do you do.
OK.
Could you elaborate.
It could just be they may not have any kind of attention and you might just be seeing shadows right there.
OK.
Good.
Pray to God.
Yeah and I would emphasize that if worry is the what's going on in the moment that's more often true than not that you're making a mountain out of a molehill more often than not.
Because right now in this moment you can't actually do anything about it.
So you're you're sacrificing this moment on the possibility that in the future they'll betray you.
So I think you're right.
I think you check your heart and realize it most often you're making something out of nothing.
Now could they betray you if you don't play it safe.
They could.
And in whose hands is that decision actually God's right.
So when you when you are worrying about what someone else is doing and you feel like you're you're keeping them from betraying you by playing it safe.
Actually guess what you're actually doing.
You're playing God.
That's what happens.
You need to trust that God is going to be there when that person needs them.
God's going to call it especially if that person's a professing Christian.
And if they betray you this is what I found out a long time ago.
If somebody would betray you because you didn't play it safe and you kind of let them in then they were going to get around to it eventually anyway.
So if you play play it as safe as you want you just wind up with 10 years before that horrible betrayer.
And what does everybody say right after a horrible betrayal.
Oh but for 10 years right this person was I trusted them I let them in I whatever even if you were playing it safe and you think about all the time that you that you had with them and it fills them with regret.
So worry leads to regret.
So the thing to do is don't play God.
Live don't let go of the worry and regret and live in this moment.
If you're doing those things are you not betraying them too?
Yes I think you are.
Yes that's a good word.
Okay last one on this one.
Concern that someone will be mean to you makes you keep the gospel to yourself when they are around.
What do you do?
Share the gospel.
Stop it.
Right.
Repent.
Share the gospel anyway.
It's the power.
If they would be mean to you it's probably because they're not saved and they really need it.
Right.
So that's the case or they're saved and they're straying and continuing to share the gospel will lead them back onto the right path.
The power is there for them to receive it and be saved.
Good.
Okay.
Number five.
We're working our way through we're doing good.
Having an answer for everything.
That was the title of the sermon.
We were in first Peter three and the lightning point was your peace will often come as an insult to others but it's actually testimony to the hold of your anchor.
A very hard day quote unquote you have a very hard day and it makes you doubt your faith.
What do you do?
Read your mouth.
That would be good right.
So where does faith come from?
From hearing.
Hearing what?
The word of God.
That's a great answer.
Right.
Say that again.
Silence and solitude.
So you could probably extend that to most of the spiritual disciplines.
All I really like if faith is your actual issue.
I really like the word of God for that.
And you could do that with other believers because what are other believers they're repository of the word of God.
So you could go to another believer tell them that you're struggling.
They'll share with you what they know about God in that circumstance.
Okay good.
So you could do that.
Someone hurts your feelings seemingly on purpose and now you're angry.
What do you do?
Talk to them.
Okay.
Talk it out.
That's a good possible solution.
Preferably wait until you calm down and then talk to them.
Preferably when you calm down.
Okay.
That's a problem though because if it takes you an hour to calm down before you can talk to them you just wasted an hour.
There's no lasting repercussions.
Yeah I agree.
I think the first step you have to determine is do you have a right to be angry.
And you probably do if they if they clearly hurt you right.
It hurts your feelings and it says seemingly on purpose.
So you're going to go to them.
Well it wasn't on purpose.
You go and ask them.
Did you is this what you said and is it what you meant because this is what I'm feeling.
And they say yeah I don't even like you.
You're stupid.
You know where you are.
Okay.
It's not on purpose.
Now I have a right to be angry.
And then you say out of your anger what do you do.
Well I come back to you present the gospel you share the word you tell them why that kind of behavior is inappropriate.
Especially if it's a Christian and it's a lost person I'd go straight to share in the gospel if it's at all possible because that's the only way they're going to change.
They could change temporarily for you.
Otherwise it's not going to work.
Okay.
Last one on this one.
You can't seem to find a solution to a significant problem in your life.
What do you do.
Say again.
Turn to God.
Clutch on to Jesus with all that you are when a storm is blowing the anchor will hold when the worst is happening the anchor will hold.
And the worst is when there is a significant problem with no solution.
That is the worst.
Hold tight.
Right.
And the same as he's holding on to you tight you hold tight to him.
All right.
Part six we've only got two left part six wearing your insides on your outside and no quit in you.
The lightning point was we must be outwardly his just as we are inwardly his.
And the first action question is this you feel you can't be your Christian self around your friends or co group of coworkers.
You realize that you can't be your Christian self around your friends or your group or coworkers.
What do you do.
What's that.
Be yourself.
Good.
Yeah.
You feel so it's more what you think not not that you can't point to exactly why it's true.
It's a feeling it's really a question about what's going on in you not so much about what they're doing.
Go ahead Charlie.
Yeah.
Worst case scenario I think right.
But yes find new friends.
That is an option.
I think if they're your friends I told her out of this.
I think that if if they're your friends you can just ask them and say look this is how I feel.
I love Jesus and Jesus comes up in my every time when I'm by myself when I'm watching TV when I'm cleaning my house Jesus comes up every time.
But every time I'm around you I feel like I can't be my Christian self.
What do you think about that.
Oh do whatever you want.
I'm not going to become a Christian.
I don't love Jesus or anything but just be whoever you are and it's fine.
I'll let you know if it becomes a problem.
That's what a good friend is going to say it even an atheist friend.
Right.
That's what they've always said to me.
The worst worst one I ever had was going to say well just don't talk to me about Jesus.
You talk and say whatever you want but just don't talk to me about it because I don't want to accept Jesus.
And it took two and a half years and I wrote him a letter and then he did accept Jesus.
Right.
And I didn't have to get rid of him.
He was a pretty nice guy about it.
He said you do whatever you want.
But as for me in my house we don't want nothing to do with Jesus for example.
So you be yourself as the outer said and if your friends really comes right down to your friends really will not allow you then as Charlie said get new friends somewhere in between there.
OK.
You feel hypocritical because you live differently than what the Bible teaches.
We're under we must be outwardly his justice we are inwardly his.
And the question is if you feel hypocritical because you live differently than what the Bible teaches what do you do.
Well ideally but let's be realistic.
Right.
He said stop living differently what the Bible teaches and I agree with that.
That is the goal ultimately.
But who gets there like that.
There's got so.
So what do you do.
Try your hardest.
Say again.
Repent and do a little better each time.
That's all you do.
Just keep try your hardest.
Give your effort.
Right.
I want to submit to you as broken as this because I've been there.
Right.
If you know there is a sin in your life and you can't stop it then you're back to there's a significant problem in my life and I can't find a solution.
What do you do.
Clutch on to Jesus with all your heart.
Right.
You clutch on to him and then he's going to lead you to do a little better a little better.
And it might be just one area like you might have three areas when I was when I was about two years a Christian I was laying in the bathtub and I came up with three things about me that were sinful that I was having a hard time fighting.
And they were they were pretty private like people wouldn't necessarily know that I was doing those things.
And I was like but I don't know how I'm ever going to stop doing those things.
One of those was speaking vulgar language like using vulgarity.
And I had done that my whole life since I was a little kid and I couldn't imagine how I would ever stop doing that.
And I just began to pray about it and think it took a long time after that.
And finally I was able to mostly cut it out.
I just watched a show this week and there were like three cuss words in it.
And then like two hours later I was doing something and something happened I didn't expect.
And I went and I was going to cuss like I had it on my mouth like was literally going to come out.
So we're human beings right not human deal doings.
Who are you with?
Who are you in?
That's the key.
And then if you don't have an easy solution I won't say easy if you don't have a solution you clutch on to Jesus and let him do it.
And I'll say this if Jesus allows you to continue in a certain sin then you have to trust him because you continuing in that sin might actually take you to where he's trying to take you.
Now he doesn't want you to do that but he's not also not going to abandon you.
He wants you to repent of it.
You might have to repent 50 times and confess it openly before you can finally get over it.
But if you keep covering it up and saying well that's you know I'm going to be a different person on the inside than I am on the outside.
You keep doing that then you're not going to get that help that Jesus offers.
Okay.
You feel like the standards of your parents friends other family coworkers fellow students are forever changing.
And you're tired of trying to measure up to these ever changing standards.
What do you do?
You know this kind of comical but at the same time if that's it's a worst case scenario but that's not untrue.
Right.
If your parents were doing that and you get there's nothing you do you find new parents.
He's not I mean can't biologically obviously but it is humorous to say but what did Jesus say.
He doesn't hate his parents.
So you got to love Jesus more is the point not hate them but love Jesus more.
Okay so back on it.
What do you do if you feel like the standard is ever changing in the all those other areas.
What do you do.
So where do you get the standard.
That's powerful.
That's it right there.
The world's standards your friends your family members all those other standards.
They only matter if they are in line with God's standards.
If you spend time any moments that you spend trying to meet the other standards of other people if they're not in line with God's standard those moments are wasted.
Can't do that.
You're wasting your life trying to meet those standards and Joe you're a man.
What am I doing this we do you turn back to God.
What am I doing.
I don't want to measure up to ever changing standards.
By the way the world has ever changing standards and it's always going to and always it's just always will.
And so if you try to meet those standards you're always going to fail.
But if you try to meet God's standards Jesus is going to be there with you and even when you fail for example to repent of sin or suffer.
He's with you.
Last one focus and unstickable.
The lightning point was rebelling for Jesus and eyes on Jesus is about figuring out daily what it means to be born again into the royal family.
OK.
You found a sport or a game that you really enjoy but to get good at it or to make good progress is going to take a lot of work even interfering with church life study or service.
What do you do.
You don't want to interfere.
That's a very good answer.
I didn't say cut it out but you find a way to not let it interfere.
That's a very good answer.
Go Jason.
And that's a very disciplined way of doing it.
So that's also a good answer.
That's a way that you could carry out your dad's action point.
Go.
That would be very good.
If the thing can be about Jesus somehow then you get the best of both worlds.
The danger of course in anything is that it sucks the life out of you if you're not careful.
It's really really super hard to walk in any two worlds.
Jesus and something else.
OK.
So you've committed to do something but it turns out to be kind of boring.
So at some point you have access to your phone and could play games or scroll social media during the boring parts.
What do you do.
Tim said turn your phone off.
But what about the boring parts.
What's the boring parts.
Well that is a personal opinion isn't it.
But let's say there are boring parts from your point of view.
What do you do.
Is social media at that point acceptable.
Is the game on your phone acceptable.
You committed to do this.
So is the boring part waiting in the doctor's office.
If so.
I'm going to say no.
It might be while you're talking to the doctor for example.
Yeah.
That doesn't sound like a good idea does it.
OK.
Say again.
OK. So are there things that you can do that do not take you out of the moment.
That's the question.
There are right.
You can be there even in the boring moment.
Has anybody ever taken a class and you have 40 minutes in your math class and you're bored but you don't have a phone.
So what do you do.
Nothing.
Just.
OK.
I suggest you come up with some things.
Go ahead Haley.
What do you do.
OK.
So you could draw your ears are still working to hear everything you're watching.
You could draw.
But if you get on your phone we all know what happens.
You're not really there.
You're breaking your commitment.
You're losing your focus.
Remember this is about focus.
That's what the sermon was about.
I think it is an example of more gaming if you're not actively involved in the gaming and you have people doing different things and your character is not part of it then you find something that you can do to keep you active.