Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross -Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. Father, we thank you for bringing this
together. Once again, we thank you for another
opportunity to grow with you and get to know
your word better. You know, we ask that as much
as we want to learn that you open us up. As we
know, sometimes learning is hard. Sometimes there's
distractions going on in our lives. And so we
just need you to help us to open up to it, not
just to listen to it, but to hear it and see
how to apply it to our lives as we leave here
today. And we lift up those who cannot be here
with us today that are... that are healing from
surgery, such as our brother Dale, you know,
and those who are dealing with sicknesses and
other issues. We lift them all up to you and
your healing hands in Jesus name. Amen. So again,
everybody, good morning. Welcome to the Cross
66. There's our slide. There we go. All right.
This weekend, of course, just yesterday, we saw
Valentine's, right? It's kind of a big. deal
these days don't worry we're not going to be
talking about that a whole lot we're really not
don't let this slide fool you you know um matter
of fact my wife and i we really don't celebrate
valentine's as i know a lot of other people don't
because it's just it's become this commercialized
holiday right um So when we are looking at holidays,
I want to remind everybody, do your research
to see what the holiday is and why we celebrate
it. You know, the origin of Valentine's Day actually
goes back several centuries to Valentine, who
was a priest in Rome. And the reason why Valentine's
is celebrated is in his memory. It was a feast
that was designated to celebrate him as a person
for his work, as well as his martyrdom. He literally
lost his head. um to to be able to marry soldiers
because there's a decree that soldiers could
not be married because the the it was believed
that they'd be more efficient at their jobs and
he's like no that's nonsense and so he fought
so they could still be married and he would marry
them in secret and so he was imprisoned and later
uh put to death for it so that's really what
valentine's is all about and that's why there's
that connection um you know to love It's because
of these weddings that were done. There's also
a whole lot of folklore and legends and all that
kind of stuff that goes with it. If you're interested
in more information, I do recommend you go online,
do some research. There's actually some really
cool stuff surrounding him and his life. Just
be careful about the sources that you use because,
like I said, there's a whole lot of mysticism
and folklore that's placed around it as well
because it has been centuries and people like
to embellish things a bit. Today, though, we
are going to be talking about a different kind
of love. We're going to be talking about one
of the many ways in which God shows his love
for us. So we're going to be sticking a little
bit with the theme of love, right? You know,
we've all heard that the Bible... You know, it's
the ultimate love letter from God to his people.
You know, that's said a lot over the years. And
really, when you look at it, it's not just a
love letter, but it's a letter with many stories,
with many types of love and many other lessons
within it, right? There's a whole lot to it.
It's not just a love letter. You know, it's...
It really surpasses that. So, you know, as much
as it's like, yes, it is a love letter, I feel
like we kind of diminish it a little bit when
we just put it like in that little bracket because
there is so much to it, you know, there's so
much life to it. All right. So we're going to
be looking, like I said, at one of the ways that
kind of sticks out here and how he shows his
love for us. And really, it's a way that sometimes
we forget about, you know, or when we're reading
through the Bible, we don't necessarily even
see the way that we should, you know. And it's
the fact that God loves runaways. It's a little
hard to see on the screen back here. Yeah, you
can see it better behind me. It's right there.
It's titled God Loves Runaways because God does
love a runaway. You know, and if you think about
it, we see a lot of runaways in the Bible, right?
It goes all the way back to the beginning. Adam
and Eve tried to run away from God, right? So
after they partook of the fruit, they're in hiding.
I go, no, right? It's like, we done messed up,
you know? And then you go forward and we see
lots of other stories out there. Moses tried
to run after he committed murder, right? Tried
to hide. You know, what's that? Yeah, Jacob.
There's a lot out there. How about the disciples?
Has anybody ever thought of that? We don't tend
to, but even the disciples ran. Let me refresh
your memory. They're in the garden. Judas just
came up, betrayed Jesus, and sealed it with a
kiss because he used a kiss to identify him,
right? And what happened? Where did the disciples
go? They fled, right? They ran. They went into
hiding. So even the disciples who we hold up
so high and hold so dear because they've done
so much, yes, they did come back around eventually,
but they did run. And we've all run from God
at some point in our lives. But God loves a runaway.
So much so that he's given us various examples
of it and that it's okay. You can still come
home. Matter of fact, that's why he gave us the
story of the prodigal son, which we're not going
to dig too deep into. Matter of fact, if you
want to read that, turn to Luke 15, verses 11
through 32. Matter of fact, just go ahead and
go to Luke 15, because we're going to look at
a couple of verses here in just a moment. In
fact, we'll just go ahead and dive right into
it. Go to Luke 15, verse 20 specifically. All
right. So Luke 15 verse 20, Jesus said, and he
arose and came to his father. But when he was
still a great way off, his father saw him and
had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and
kissed him. Now to the whole story of the prodigal
son, which is a wonderful story. This itself
is probably the single most important verse of
the whole thing. I'm going to kind of paraphrase
a little bit, right? The son thought he knew
better. He demanded his inheritance. He took
off. He went off into the world, and he squandered
that inheritance. Later on, he decided, you know
what? You know what? Things are better back home,
but I'm not deserving, so I'm going to go home.
And basically, he's going to beg to be an indentured
servant, right? He's going to be a servant on
the land. He's going to go and live in the quarters
with the rest of the servants the whole bit.
Right. And typically when we read this, yes,
you know, a lot of the focus is on the son and
how his life reflects our lives. Right. And a
little bit of time is spent on the father, but
not a whole lot because we recognize, you know,
this is Jesus in the parable. This is God. Right.
Say, hey, it's OK. Come on home. But we look
at this and we recognize, you know, a father.
He sat and he watched for his son. He was patient.
He gave him time. He wasn't going to force anything
on him. He knew he was dealing with a human being
with free will. And like a lot of us, that will
was pretty wild, right? Because we all go through
these stages where we think we know better. And
even once we get through one stage, later on
another stage comes up, we think we know better
all over again, right? Part of free will. It's
also part of our battle with the flesh. And God
knew this. He knew he was dealing with a human
being with that will and that he needed to wait.
He needed to be patient. And because God is the
same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, he was constant.
He was very patient with this. He just kept waiting.
When the son realized the error of his way, he
came back around. He came home. And what we saw
is the father was welcoming. He still stayed
constant. Hey, it's okay. I love you. Welcome
home. It's good to see you. Right? Which is good.
We recognize that. He wasn't going to force his
child to see things his way. He wasn't going
to force his will upon him. Right? And there
are a lot of those out there that do try to use
force to get people to see their way. Doesn't
always work though, does it? God knows this.
He knew that this child needed to go out. He
needed to see the world. He needed to collect
the information, see it for what it really was,
and make the choice himself. But there's something
else here that's at play, something that we need
to realize that really makes this story and this
verse in particular so much more powerful. What
did the father do? He ran to his son. He ran
to him. He met him on the path. He threw his
arms around him. He embraced him and pulled him
in close, right? It's like he fell on his neck.
He's hugging him. He kissed him. This is a big
thing. He was excited. He's like, yes, my kid's
home. Okay, great. What makes this so important?
Well, we have to recognize what's at play, especially
in that society at that time, in this culture.
Because normally we would read this and we'd
be like, well, yeah, the dad ran to him and he
hugged him and kissed him. That's what any good
parent would do, isn't it? Well, no, it's not.
Because especially at this time and in this culture,
this is the opposite. It's kind of like what
we were just studying with the Beatitudes. They're
the opposite of what you expect. This is the
opposite of what the world tells you needs to
happen. Because in that culture at that time,
in that society, and what we see today because
of all the machismo, is the father wasn't supposed
to run. The father was supposed to stand his
ground. Very stoic. Oh, he's come home. It was
on the child to run to him. Not the other way
around. Here's the child. He's like, oh, man,
I hope. How's this going to go? The kid's like,
woohoo. The dad's like, woohoo. And he goes running
to him. This is totally opposite of the norm.
Not only that, but in this day, it was on the
child basically to kneel down and give reverence
to the father. Right? Go down, kiss the ring,
so to speak, like he would with royalty. You
know, go in there and just automatically just
submit. Father, I'm so sorry. You know, forgive
me. Begging for forgiveness and everything. And
the father just sits there and be like, okay,
I've had enough. Get up. Come on. No, he ran
up there and said, nope, come here. I love you,
man. Welcome home. He's excited. He wants to
throw a party. It's exactly the opposite of the
world. And the world still tells people, no,
that's not the way. You don't do that. You're
a man. You've got to be a man. You've got to
be macho. Make them come to you. You stand your
ground. You're the king of the house. Completely
the opposite though. It was a big deal to the
Father because it's a big deal to God. You are
a big deal to God. It's a challenge to the world.
It's a challenge to us as followers to see that
the world and what the world tells us isn't always
right. Most of the time it's wrong. We have to
challenge that and we have to see it. The old
adage, what would Jesus do, right? That's what
this is. And he's telling us that this is how
we would do it. It's a challenge. And he shows
us the right way to respond. And he shows us
the right way in his love. Every person has to
make that decision though, right? Just like this
child returning, we all have to make the decision.
Are we going to turn back to Jesus? Are we going
to come to Jesus? Are we going to trust him with
our very lives? And when it happens, it is a
very exciting thing. If we actually go back a
few verses to verse 10, Jesus said, Likewise,
I say to you, there is joy in the presence of
the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Just like this father was excited, right, that
his son was coming back to him, when a sinner
turns to Jesus, And as adopted back to the family,
when we repent and we accept Jesus as our Lord
and Savior, it's an exciting time. We are that
prodigal child returning and the Father rejoices.
All of heaven rejoices. The angels rejoice. There
is a party. Just like the Father said, hey, bring
out the finest robes, get the food going. The
same thing is happening in heaven. There's a
party waiting for every one of us when we go
back. It's a beautiful thing. And God is eagerly
being patient. Just like here, he is being patient.
He's giving time. He's being constant. And he's
waiting for every single person to make that
choice to come back to him. And the big thing
that we have to remember, though, is he loves
you so much that whatever choice you make, he
will honor it. You know, a lot of people say,
what kind of God condemns people to hell? He
doesn't. He waits and he gives us a choice. And
when we turn, we condemn ourselves. We walk away.
And as much as it hurts him, he loves us so much
that he allows us to make that choice because
he doesn't want to force it. He wants us to want
to be with him. It's a big love. It is a big
love. Which is actually going to bring us to
our main focus today. So I'm going to ask everybody
to open up to one of the shortest books in the
Bible. I believe it's the third shortest book
in the Bible. We're going to look at Philemon.
Sometimes it's pronounced as Philemon. There's
a few ways to pronounce it, but Philemon. And
I'm going to point out, this is so short. I could
say, open up to Philemon chapter 1. There are
no chapters. It is 25 verses. It is short. A
blink and you miss it. Depending on your Bible,
it might be on just one page. And specifically,
we're going to be looking at verses 8, through
21. So Philemon, skip down a few verses, pass
the intro and everything, and we're going to
go straight into verses 8 through 21. The word
says, Therefore, though I might be very bold
in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet
for love's sake I rather appeal to you, being
such a one as Paul, the aged. and now also a
prisoner of Jesus Christ. I appeal to you for
my son Onesimus, also sometimes pronounced Onesimus,
whom I have begotten while in my chains. He was
in prison. Who once was unprofitable to you,
but now is profitable to you and to me. I am
sending him back. You therefore receive him.
That is my own heart, whom I wish to keep with
me. that on your behalf he might minister to
me in my chains for the gospel. But without your
consent, I wanted to do nothing that your good
deed might not be by compulsion, as it were,
but voluntary. Or perhaps he departed for a while
for this purpose, that you might receive him
forever, no longer as a slave. but more than
a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me,
but how much more to you, both in the flesh and
in the Lord. If then you count me as a partner,
receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged
you or owes anything, put that on my account.
I, Paul, am writing. With my own hand, I will
repay, not to mention to you that you owe me
even your own self besides. Yes, brother, let
me have joy from you and the Lord refresh my
heart in the Lord. Having confidence in your
obedience, I write to you knowing that you will
do even more than I say. Now, when it comes to
Onesimus, we don't know much about him. We know
he was a slave. We know he ran away. The circumstances
of which, we don't know. It's not important.
That's why it's not recorded. It's the fact that
he did it. And along the way, he ran into Paul.
He made Paul's acquaintance, right? He was running
away from Philemon, though. Paul's writing, and
states that as an elder, as a man of authority,
he very would, or very could, reach out and just
demand that he be forgiven. Right? However, he's
not doing that. He's reaching out in Christian
love. He's reaching out in the love of God. And
he's saying, you know, hey, Yeah, there's some
wrongs that have been committed. Forgive him.
Forgive him. It's like, there's a lot at play
here. I would love to have him here. I'd love
to have him with me. I love him. You know, he's
come to me. He's now a fellow brother in Christ.
He's learned of Jesus. Accept him as a brother
in Christ. So he's appealing to him in love.
He's throwing it all out. He's basically, you
know, hey, one brother to another brother. This
is what's going on. This is what's up. See him
as such. Right? He's appealing to him. You know,
and it's a big thing because Paul, Onesimus,
Philemon, everybody there in that culture, especially
at that time, knows good and well that none of
that has to happen. The fact that this is a runaway
slave, Philemon would be 100 % within his right
to kill him as punishment. He could just kill
him and be done with it. He could beat him. He
could whip him. He could put him in chains. He
could do all this stuff. But ultimately, the
ultimate punishment at that time was up to or
including death. No wonder he's on the run. Who
wants to go back and face that? That's scary,
isn't it? And so we learn from this. Again, you
know, he's on the run. He comes in. To Paul's
presence, he makes that acquaintance. Paul's
imprisoned. And he goes and he helps him. And
in return, Paul tells him about Jesus. He shares
the gospel. And he himself accepts Jesus as Lord
and Savior and is saved as well. He's now gone
from just being a slave, a lost soul, to now
being a child of God. This is a big deal. Paul
is able to minister him, and he became a believer.
And this needed to be recognized. It needed to
be recognized. And Paul recognized, you know,
it's like, hey, you know, I can do this. And
I could just say, hey, forgive him and be done
with it. But that wasn't what would be the right
thing. That's not what God would want. He'd be
like, you know what? I'm going to be his advocate.
He's going to come back to you. He has my letter
in hand. This is what's going on. Stop seeing
him as a slave. Right? And a lot of people today,
you know, they hear the word slave and they think
of just property. At that time, yes, in some
cases, a slave was just property. But in many
cases, it wasn't. There were limitations. There
were laws. Slaves had rights as well, and they
weren't always going to be slaves. Right? In
this case, we don't know. Could have fallen in
either category. Either case, though, he's now
part of the family of God. And in doing this,
Paul shows us God's character. And he shows a
wonderful example of how to deal with disputes
amongst people. I myself can learn from this
sometimes. All of us can. Because when it comes
to dealing with disputes, this is a piece of
scripture that oftentimes kind of goes to the
wayside we forget about. There are five steps
in dealing with disputes. First, identify those
who are involved. And he does that. He calls
Philemon brother. And he calls Onesimus my son.
So he's showing relation. Right? He's already
calling out the parties. This is who you are.
This is who we are to each other. Second, make
a request. He makes a request. He doesn't order.
Even though he can, he doesn't do that. He makes
a request, and the request is simply, hey, do
the right thing for the right reason. And let's
accept facts for facts. Sometimes that's easier
said than done. Sometimes that's really hard
because it's not what the world wants. It's not
what the world expects, right? The world counters
with other stuff. Secondly, which is the most
important part, seek consent. Because he was
looking for Philemon's consent. He wanted him
to make the choice on his own without coercion.
This is why he didn't order him. Because much
like when we run away from God, we have to make
the choice to return to him. And here, Onesimus
is making that hard choice, knowing, hey, he
might be being put to death, but he's still going
to do the right thing anyway. He's writing and
saying, hey, Philemon, you need to do the same.
You need to do the right thing for the right
reason. You need to act in love, which takes
us into step four, right? Appeal to Christian
love. Do it in love. We have to remember love
isn't just this cushy, ooey -gooey feeling inside
makes you all warm and tingly. It's action. It's
how you treat others. We were just talking about
this over the last couple of weeks a little bit,
right? The golden rule, do unto others as you'd
have them do unto you, right? It's like, here
comes a brother in Christ. Yeah, maybe there's
some wrong there, but you know what? You need
to have them forgive you or you need to forgive
them because you'd want them to forgive you if
he did them wrong, right? So it's a place of
love. And then not only that, eat the cost. Step
five, eat the cost. Restoration is more important.
Paul said, you know what? If there's something
there, I don't care how much it costs. I don't
care how much it costs me. Put it on my tab.
I will pay it. I will take care of it. It's not
their responsibility anymore. I just absorbed
it. Give it to me. Because the restoration between
the two of you is more important. Not just as
master and slave, but as brother and brother.
Because now we're both brothers in Christ. All
three of us are brothers in Christ. We are family.
And restoration is needed. Restoration is more
important than anything else. Without that restoration,
how are you acting in love? How are you showing
God's love? How are you showing obedience to
the Lord and obeying his commandments to love
one another and to love your neighbor? How are
you loving yourself? Because without that forgiveness,
without that restoration, what are you doing?
You're being selfish. He could have taken him
out. He could have put him to death. And then
later on, you know what happens? It starts eating
away at him. So I don't care what the circumstance
is. Death eats away at you. It comes back and
it haunts you. And it would have come back and
haunted him. Even if he didn't physically do
it himself, he still gave the order. So he's
saying, hey, you know what? Restoration is more
important. Come back together. Don't worry about
the cost. And in the scheme of things, that is
not important. You know, stuff is just stuff.
We don't take it with us anyway. Let's focus
on the important stuff. Relationship. Right?
Not just with each other, but with God. Because
when we don't focus on our relationship with
each other, we're not focusing on our relationship
with God. So it's a great example of how we should
approach people, not just to deal with the dispute,
but to build a relationship. especially when
hurt's involved, because hurt stops a lot of
things. Hurt hinders things, right? It's a big
roadblock. We become resentful, even if we don't
necessarily realize it at first. And if somebody
says, hey, you know what? You sound kind of resentful.
Sound like you have an issue at play here that
you're not dealing with. And even then, we're
like, oh, no, no. But really, it's there, and
we need to deal with it, right? We have to recognize
the fact that this is also... How our relationship
with God is built. That's a big one right there.
We have to recognize the fact that because we
all hurt in our lives, at some point, we all
become hesitant. We have to recognize that the
world has lied to us. We went into the world
trusting. We accepted things that face value.
We accepted the things that we were told. sometimes
by people we shouldn't have listened to in the
first place. And so we harden our heart. It's
not supposed to work that way. And unfortunately,
when it comes to Jesus, when it comes to God,
we take that hurt with us and we use it as a
barrier. We use it as a shield, especially when
we don't really know him, when we don't have
that relationship with him. We're like, hey,
I've already been lied to. I've already been
hurt. Yeah, I hear that this guy's different,
but how do I know? And so we are on guard. We
hinder the relationship ourselves without even
recognizing it because we're waiting for that
other shoe to drop. We're testing that water
and seeing just how far we can trust Jesus. We're
testing that water to see just how far we can
trust the word of God and every word that's written
in that Bible. People don't just come and hear
about him and go, oh, you know what? He's the
one for me. I'm signing up. Let's do this. Let's
get baptized right now. There isn't a single
one of us that got all happy and giddy and did
that. Not one of us. We all came to a point where
we made that decision. Absolutely. But it wasn't
just an instant thing where it's like, that's
it. We had to hear about it first. Oh, looks
like something behind me just died. That's okay.
We'll keep going. But it takes time. Time and
space because we have to learn. We have to come
to that decision ourselves. We recognize that
we all have run away from God. We've all failed.
Just like Onesimus, we ran away, and the rightful
punishment is death. We've turned from God to
sin at that point. The Word tells us in Romans
6, verse 23, so in Romans 6, verse 23, we've
all heard this, the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God, is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord. So, just as Paul's pleading for the
power of love to do that which is right, it's
because of that example, the precedent that had
already been set by God and Jesus Christ taking
the Christ for us. God himself who has shown
his love and has forgiven all who repent and
come back to him through Jesus Christ. It's a
big deal. We're coming towards the end here,
I promise. Who in here knows what Romspringa
is? Romspringa. Yeah. I know my wife knows. Anybody
else in here? Never heard of it. That's okay.
A lot of people haven't. It comes from Pennsylvania
Dutch, which already tells you where I'm going
with it, right? This is an Amish rite of passage,
typically undertaken by teens around the age
of 16 or so, sometimes a little younger, sometimes
a little older, but right around that age group,
right? And this is a time when basically they're
allowed to leave their community. We know you're
here. We know this is what you're used to, but
you need to make the choice for yourself. We
want you to go out into the world and experience
it. You get to dress like everybody else. You
get to go and do all this stuff, right? We're
not going to ask questions. And they're given
a window, a period of time in which to make this
decision in. Now, for some, they go out right
away like, nope, this isn't for me. And they
go right back to that community. That's home.
Some people, they get all the way to the end
and they have to make that decision. And for
some, it's not a hard decision. For some of them,
yeah, you know what? I'm going back. You know
what? This is fun. This is dandy. I saw a bit.
My eyes have been opened up to the world. It's
not for me. I'm going back. For others, they
make that decision. No, I like this more. I'm
staying. But either way, once that decision is
made, that decision is made. They don't get to
change their mind. They don't get to go back.
If they decide they want to stay in the world,
matter of fact, if they try to go back to that
Amish community, they're going to be shunned.
Like, who are you? You're dead to us. Get out
of here. Decide they want to go back. It's like,
you know what? You got to go in the world for
something. You got to go pick up some supplies
or something. Okay, cool. Go for it. We'll see
you when you get home. But they're already back.
They're home, right? It's kind of a rough illustration,
but the underlying circumstance is the same.
We have limited time to make that decision for
Christ. Now, for those of us here in this room,
right, as believers, we didn't need all that
time. We already made that decision. We're growing.
We're building our relationship. We're learning,
right? This is family. This is our community.
For some people, unfortunately, you could tell
them and you could tell them and you could tell
them, you could give them a Bible, you could
give them another Bible, the whole bit. And unfortunately,
they'll take that time all the way up until about
the point that they take their last breath to
make that decision. Maybe they make the decision
for the better. Maybe they don't. We don't know.
Some people, they just outright deny it. You
know, this is one of those hard things. We all
know some people that just deny, deny, deny,
deny, deny. And this is where it gets hard, especially,
you know, for people like me, because somebody
dies and like right away, like, oh, they're in
a better place now. It's like, are they really?
Because I know some people, they say that about,
and I know for a fact it's not true. As much
as it hurts to say, I think of my father. I know
he's not going to be there. Because he didn't
believe in Jesus. He didn't believe in Christ.
He was very agnostic. Yeah, he believed that
there's a God, but then it's very much, who made
that God? Who made that God? Who made that God?
He was always looking for an answer he wasn't
going to find because he could not accept the
Bible at value. And that's how he died. We actually
had a conversation about that just weeks before
he died, that very thing. I showed him the paperwork
for my first ordination. He just kind of laughs
like, oh, that's cute. Didn't take it seriously
at all. And as much as that pains me, and that's
a hurtful point in my life, we all know people
just like that. Every single one of us. If we're
honest with ourselves, we know at least one person
who is just like that. If not more, most likely
more. Right? We were prodigals of a sort. They're
prodigals of a sort. We made that decision to
come back from the world. We're in it. We're
not of it. But other people are making that conscious
decision to go into the world and to stay there.
You know, yes, we're in the world. We experience
it just like everybody else. Just like these
young adults experiencing the world for a limited
time. Right? The difference, however, for us,
and the difference even for them, they make a
decision over a short period of time that's going
to impact their immediate life here. When it
comes to Jesus Christ, it's a decision that we
have to make that impacts our eternity. That's
a whole lot longer. This is a blink of an eye.
So we have to make that decision. And just like
these examples that have been set, when we go
out into the world and we talk to people about
Jesus, we need to be the same. We need to understand
that they're not always going to accept Jesus
right away. There might be one who does, but
for the most part, most of us are kind of like
Johnny Five, need more input, right? We need
more info. It wasn't that long ago, Brian and
I, we had a friend here who was a little upset.
He, you know, he was asking, hey, how do I get
this person to accept Jesus? Because he wanted
to force him on Jesus. And it was very much like,
aren't you afraid you're going to go to hell?
He's like, I went and I took him and I took him
down the Romans road and they're from India and
we got done. You know, I was asking him, it's
like, so do you believe this? Do you accept Jesus
Christ? And the person was like, I don't know.
And it was very upsetting to him. Unfortunately,
this is the honest truth. As much as, you know,
I want to say, yeah, I take people down the Roman's
road. Yes, we should tell them. We should share
the word with them. You know what? Expecting
someone to make an immediate decision just off
of a little glimpse right away is not realistic
in most cases. People need info. People need
time. They need to be able to come and see that
Jesus for who he is and who he is in their life
and what he will do for them. That he will forgive
them. Expecting anything. Beyond that is unrealistic
and we can't do that. We need to be like the
father. We need to let people go, let them experience
things for themselves and let them make that
decision for themselves, not try to force them
to make that decision and especially not try
to force them to make that decision, Johnny on
the spot. As much as we want to say, hey, time
is limited. You're not guaranteed tomorrow. You
know what? That's still pressure. And for some
people, that's enough for them to walk away.
Yeah, tell people they have time. But also reminding
that time is limited. They have up until they
take their last breath. For some people, that's
okay because that's going to be how much time
it's going to take. What you should be doing
is praying for them. Ask them, hey, can I pray
for you? Very rarely is somebody going to say
no. Will it happen? Yes, there will be people
who say no. There will be some people who laugh
at you and be like, take that away from me. But
other people will be perfectly okay with it.
Most people will be perfectly okay with it. Why?
Because they already feel the tug of the Holy
Spirit working and trying to pull them back.
That's a good thing. Just recognize that everybody
has their time and their way to process the information
that they've been given and make that choice
between God and His kingdom or the world which
will lead them all to hell and damnation. We
don't get to choose for them. We don't get to
force it upon them. If we try to force the issue,
we will chase them away. Don't chase them away.
For those of you who are still making the decision,
they're listening into the podcast right now
or watching on the live stream. God is still
waiting for you, arms wide open, just like the
Father. You have time to make that decision,
but don't take too long. This is the time to
get the information that you need. Ask somebody
if you have questions. Because God loves you.
He loves you so much that he sent his only son
to die for you, to forgive you, to redeem you,
and bring you back to the table. It is a free
gift. All you have to do is accept it. He loves
you so much that regardless of your decision,
he will accept the decision that you make, regardless
of how much it hurts him or how much it brings
him joy. But if you choose him, just remember,
he's not just going to meet you on the path.
He's going to run to you, arms wide open, and
he will embrace you, and he will love on you
as only he can. You just have to let him. It's
been said that love is pain and sacrifice, and
indeed it is. I agree with that wholeheartedly.
And through the work of Jesus Christ, the Father
has loved us just like that, through pain and
through sacrifice. And through it, He's been
able to show us his mercy and his grace. He's
done so much to demonstrate his love. What are
you willing to do to demonstrate your love for
him? Let us pray. Father, we thank you for your
love for each and every one of us, a love that
knows no bounds. We're grateful that it knows
no bounds because even though we know we don't
deserve it, you give it to us freely and willingly
anyway. We thank you for your patience with each
of us as we decided our own ways to turn back
to you, especially when we know that time runs
really fleetingly thin for some of us. We thank
you for taking us back and embracing us as your
own when we do decide to return to you, not only
return to you, but to come back to you in your
perfect ways. We love you and we recognize that
sometimes we don't show it the way that we should.
We don't do the things that we should. Sometimes
we recognize it, sometimes we don't. But please
forgive us for those missteps, for those sins.
We recognize the fact that we don't share your
love as we should. So please continue to teach
us and guide us on how to do that. Not only to
show your love, but to actually love just like
you do. Show us how to take your love to the
world so that the world can know not just of
you, but of your love. Build us in our relationship
with you and help us to build our relationship
with one another in the love of Christ. And all
of his people said, amen and amen. Remember,
as you leave here, you are loved and you are
blessed, so go and be the church. Thank you for
joining us at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
If this message spoke to you or if you would
like to help us reach more people, please like,
review and share our podcast. You can learn more
about our ministry or how you can support us
at www .thecross66 .org. Until next time, take
care and God bless.