Let's go, church. Let's give it up for Jesus.
Amen, amen. You guys can go ahead and grab a
seat. Man, so excited to be with you guys this
morning, to be able to open God's Word with you.
I want to welcome you. If you've not been welcomed
yet, I want to welcome those of you online, those
of you out in Baghdad, those of you in Paulding
watching. We're so glad that you get to join
with us today. Let me ask you this. How many
of you like getting your picture taken? There's
like a very few of you. Some of you are like,
oh yeah, I look good, right? Like the rest of
you are like, I'm not sure, right? That's not
your thing. But I've noticed there's really like
three types of photos that can be taken of you.
The first is the candid photo, right? You have
no clue it's coming. It can happen at any time.
You have no idea. And some of you I'm really
jealous of because it doesn't matter who takes
it, when they take it, you look like you belong
in a magazine. You're just like, oh, perfect
pose. I don't know how you do it. Because when
people take pictures of me candidly, I'm like,
I have four chins in that picture. I don't know
how you even hit that angle. It doesn't make
sense. So there's candid photos. Then there's
posed photos. You know the picture's being taken.
You're ready. You're posing. You're getting in
the right place, which apparently my children
think this is the time for them to smile like
this. Right? Like picture day, we got their hair
perfect, and we're like, did you smile? They're
like, yeah. We get the picture back, and we're
like, no, you didn't. What is that? There's post
photos. And then there's selfies. All right,
then there's selfies where you get to find the
right angle. You got to hit it just right. You
got to be like, this is what I want them to see.
Like one chin, not four. You know what I mean?
Like you got to find the right angle. You got
to do it. You get to show people what you want
them to see. What you're like, hey, this is what
I want you to see. And it's estimated that there's
93 million selfies taken daily. And some of you
are the culprits. I've seen you. All right, I'm
just saying. I'm just saying. Well, as we've
been going through this collection of talks,
we've been walking through snapshots where we
get a snapshot of God's character. We get a picture
of God's character and we've seen multiple snapshots
to say this is what God's character is and we
see it through the snapshot. Today, we're gonna
look at a selfie that God gives us of his character.
I think of it as God's business card. All right,
you guys remember business cards? All right,
let me help. A LinkedIn profile, that's what
I mean, right? business card. You go, hey, this
is the information you need to know about me.
I'm giving you the information right here so
you can know what it is that I want you to know
about me. And as we're going to look at God's
business card today, because Moses has seen snapshots
of God and he's seen snapshots of God's character.
I remember the burning bush. He saw a snapshot
of God through the burning bush. He saw the burning
bush. He saw a snapshot of God through the plagues.
He saw a snapshot of God through every single
thing that he did, the giant pillar of fire,
a pillar of cloud. He saw a snapshot of God.
He saw a snapshot of God's protection, God's
provision, God's guidance. He saw God's love.
He's seen all of these things of God, but as
far as God telling him who he is, all he had
to go off of was I am, that's it. When he's like,
who should I say sent me? And he's like, say
I am. He's like, sweet, I got it. So God gives
us a little bit more here. And what's happening
is this, is the Israelites, they're going through
the desert. And as they're going through the
desert and they're on this journey, Moses stops
for a moment and he goes up to this mountain
to talk with God, to hear from God, to have some
time with God. And while he's gone, he's gone
for just a few moments. He's gone just for a
little bit, just a few days he goes up on this
mountain. All right, so any parents in here,
you ever left the room for just a few minutes?
You know what I'm talking about? Like everything's
clean perfectly. It's spotless. Everything's
great. There are no fishy crackers all over the
floor. And you leave for just a little bit. And
you come back in and you're like, who lit the
bomb? Like what happened? This is insane. This
is crazy, right? That's when I lose my mind.
I'm like, this is not what I left it like. That's
why I, listen, I used to have hair, but I pulled
it all out because of those situations. Just
like that. Moses leaves just for a couple moments.
And he comes back. And when he comes back, while
he was gone, what the Israelites did is they
melted down their jewelry and they made a calf
to worship because they're like, God must have
left us. And so they made a calf and they worshiped
this golden calf. And Moses, who just comes down
from talking with God, who received the 10 commandments
on these plates, and he comes down, he's like,
I'm gonna give these to them. This is gonna be
great. This is God's guidance for us. He loses
his mind. He pulled his hair out. And he throws
these tablets down and he breaks them. And he's
going, what did you guys do? I was gone for a
moment and you messed it all up. And so he goes,
God is gonna be angry and I need to go up and
I need to talk to God. And so he goes up in an
act of almost trying to atone for them. He goes
up and he goes, hey, don't kill these people.
Kill me instead. Take me instead, spare the people,
man. And if that's not a picture of what Jesus
did for us, If that's not a snapshot of Jesus
showing us what he's going to do on a cross for
us. But Moses goes up and he does this and this
sparks God to go, hey, let me tell you who I
am. Let me from my mouth tell you who I am. And
he says this in Exodus 34, verse six. It says,
the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the
Lord, the Lord, a God merciful. and gracious.
That's what he says. This is on his business
card. The first thing listed is he says, man,
I am merciful. I am merciful. A lot of times
when we think of God, we would say, yeah, who's
God? God is love. And that's true. God is love.
But the only reason we're even able to experience
his love is because of his mercy. God is merciful.
God is merciful and gracious. What is mercy?
Mercy is you not getting what you deserve. It's
not getting what you, you deserve this punishment.
It's you not getting what you deserve. I don't
know how you grew up, but I grew up in a generation
where I got spanked. Okay, there was no nice,
kind conversation. I got whooped. That's what
happened. My parents are like, oh, no, you deserved
it. Let's go. And so anytime when I would do
something that deserved to get a whooping, here's
what would happen. I would ask for mercy. Please,
mercy. Come on, please. Don't give me what I
deserve. All right, what God does is you deserve
a punishment, but he said, no, I'm giving you
mercy. Why? Because I am merciful. That's who
I am. That's who God is. And so he's given us
his mercy by not giving us the punishment that
we deserve. But not only that, he gives us grace.
Grace is you getting what you don't deserve.
It's like my parents going, not only do you deserve
a whooping, but instead I'm gonna buy you ice
cream. That never happened, by the way. Never,
not once. I'm just saying, that's an example.
All right, what God did is he said, you don't
deserve this, but I'm giving you Jesus. I'm giving
you this because I am merciful, because I am
gracious. That's who he is because of his mercy
and his grace. All right, the whole verse, it
goes on. It says this, the Lord passed before
him, proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful
and gracious. It says slow to anger. How many
of you are gratefully slow to anger? All right,
some of you aren't grateful because you don't
know yourself. Come on now. I know me. I'm grateful
that he's slow to anger. He says, I'm abounding
in steadfast love and faithfulness. That is who
he is. He's given him his business card. He's
saying, this is it. This is a selfie. This is
a snapshot. I want you to understand this is
who I am. I am full of mercy. I am full of grace.
That is who he is. And if we're honest, we see
it everywhere. If you're taking notes, write
that down. That is who he is. And we see it everywhere.
It is consistent. It's consistent all throughout
scripture. All throughout scripture, we see his
mercy and his grace on display, but no more so
than in the New Testament. It is full of mercy,
full of grace on display. That is where we see
it the most throughout scripture. All right,
it reminds me of this. How many of you have ever
been to Great Wolf Lodge? Been to Great Wolf
Lodge? All right, they take this place and they
design it so that you feel like you are in a
different place. You don't need the outside world.
You are on your own planet in Great Wolf Lodge.
All right, and what they do is they design it
everywhere that the kid looks they want something.
They're like, oh, donuts, I want one of those.
And then they're like, oh my goodness, there's
candy over here. And you're like, close your
eyes right now. And they make it really easy.
They give you a wristband so all you can do is
just scan it. You're like, beep, beep, scan it.
You want a donut? Sweet. Right? Like, what does
that smell? I want fries. Let's get fries. And
you scan it. And then you check out and your
bill's like $5 million. And you're like, what
in the world just happened? But in the back,
they have their water park area and they have
like a wave pool over there and they have water
slides. And then they have the playground. And
my kids are at an age where they love the playground.
They'll play on this playground. And if you've
been to a water park playground, most of them
have this feature where there's just water everywhere.
But there's one thing. There's a giant bucket
up top. And it slowly fills up and you can play
and you can sit there and it fills up and it
fills up and it fills up and it finally gets
to a point where it dumps out. And all of that
water comes pouring out of this bucket. And as
I'm standing there with my kids and we're waiting
for this bucket, it's getting to the point where
it's starting to tip and you're like, oh, it's
going to happen. And then this moment I'm sitting
there and listen, I could be a good father. I
could be a good father. I would like pull my
kids out of the way so they don't just get smashed
by this water. Or I might even take it for them
and just be like, no, it hits me and you're good
and you just get a little bit. And I intend to
do that. But then when it's about to pour out,
something comes over me and I turn into like
a cartoon villain. I'm like, oh, right. Maybe
not just the villain. Maybe I'm like the bald
sidekick. You know what I mean? Why are they
always bald? Why do they do that to us? Hi, some
of you in here, you're standing with me. I see
you. And right as this thing dumps, I'm like,
no, no, no, you save yourself. And I throw them
right in the water. They get smashed and I'm
like, ah. Here's what the Bible says in Romans.
In Romans chapter two, verse five, it says that
God's righteous wrath is being stored up and
waiting to be poured out upon us. His righteous
wrath that we've been storing up will be poured
out, but in an act of extreme mercy and extreme
grace, when the bucket was full of wrath to be
poured out on you, Jesus stepped in and took
you out so that you do not get hit with what
you deserve. That is mercy. That is grace. Because
we've been storing it up, because everything
we've done is storing up this wrath that God
is going to pour out. But Jesus steps in and
that is who he is. He is full of mercy. He is
full of grace. And we see it everywhere. We see
it everywhere. If you're taking notes, write
this down. Because of his mercy and grace, we
can have salvation. Because of his mercy and
grace, we can have salvation. We have a problem
though. And the problem is sin. And every single
one of us have the problem of sin. Some of you
are like, I don't know if I have it. Yes, you
do. You have it. You know how I know? Have you
ever hung out with a two -year -old before? Right,
you ever hung out with, they're evil. They are.
God bless our two and three -year -old workers
that are in there right now. Right, nobody has
to sit a two -year -old down and go, okay, listen,
what I want you to do is I want you to yell no.
Okay, now louder, yell no. Say mine and then
hit them, right? Nobody has to say that. They
just know it. Nobody taught them how to do that.
That's the life they live. Why? Because we have
a sin nature. It's inside of us and it grows
in us. And each one of us have sin. And because
of our sin, because of the sin that you and I
have, we are separated from God. But check this
out. It says in Romans 5, 8, but God demonstrates,
he shows his love for us in what? In his mercy
and his grace. Because while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. While you could not do it
on your own, while you were still sinners, Christ
died for you and said, here is my mercy. Here's
my grace. I'm going to step in on your behalf.
I'm gonna go to a cross and I'm going to die
for you. That is salvation. We have an opportunity
to be saved. Salvation is saying, God, I accept
your mercy. I accept your grace. And I think
the Holy Spirit is working on some of you in
here right now. Maybe the Holy Spirit is telling
you, hey, that's you and you need to accept my
mercy and grace. You need to step into my mercy
and grace. Because here's the thing, you can't
accept it. You can't be saved without his mercy
and his grace. Just because you come to church,
it doesn't make you a Christian. Just because
you're here, that's like saying because you stand
in a garage that you're a car. You're not a car,
you're just standing in a garage. You're not
a Christian because you come to church. It is
only because of Jesus. It is only through Jesus.
I grew up in San Diego, and growing up in San
Diego, every summer I was at the beach almost
every day. I was at the beach all the time, and
it never failed. Every single year we'd have
people come from out of town. They'd come in.
Most of them were Arizonans, I'm just saying.
And they'd come in and go to the beach. Every
time they go out and they're like, I wanna go
on the water. I wanna go swim in the ocean. I
wanna go out in the waves. And they don't realize
that it's not Great Wolf Lodge Waves Pool. You
know what I'm saying? They get a little bit too
far out. They get a little bit scared. They panic
a little bit and they get to a place where they
go, how did I even get here? I don't know what
I'm doing. I shouldn't be this far out. And they
get a little embarrassed in that moment because
they're so far out, because they're like, I don't
know how to do this. And they start kind of freaking
out from where they're at. And I always like
looking after the lifeguards because the lifeguards
are ready. And you know what the lifeguard says
when he looks out and sees someone out there?
He doesn't go, well, you're just not trying hard
enough. If you were trying a little harder, maybe
I'd care. If you just had a little bit more perfection,
then maybe I'd go after you. Just a little more
elegance. No, not a chance. As soon as that hand
goes up, the lifeguard dives in. Just like Jesus
says, listen, I'm not waiting for perfection.
I'm not waiting for anything that you can do.
There's no effort on your part to earn salvation.
As soon as you say, I am putting my hand up to
receive what you have done, you are given his
grace, you are given his mercy, and you were
given a seat at the right hand of the throne
of God next to Jesus in heaven. You are given
that because of Jesus. Not because anything you
have done. We get to worship God because of his
grace. It says this in Hebrews 4, 16, let us
then approach God's throne of grace with confidence
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to
help us in our time of need. Let's just approach
his throne of grace with confidence. Why? Because
he's gonna give you mercy. He's gonna give you
grace. And when you've accepted his mercy and
his grace in your life, when you've said, hey,
that's me. I need it. I can't do this. When you've
accepted his mercy and grace, you then get to
live in his mercy and grace. It's not a one and
done. You get to constantly live in his mercy
and grace. If you're taking notes, write this
down. Because of his mercy and grace, we get
to join him on kingdom mission. Because of his
mercy and grace, we get to join him on kingdom.
mission, right? We get to be the snapshots of
his mercy and grace to the world around us. It's
like this, my kids, man, if you know me and you
don't know my wife at all, when people see my
kids, they go, oh, they look just like you. And
then they see my wife and they don't know me.
If they don't know me, they know her. They go,
man, these kids look just like her. Like, yeah,
because they're the perfect mix of both of us.
They are a snapshot of us. They have more hair
than me, okay? But they're a snapshot of us.
And the hope is it's not just the way that they
look, it's the way that they act so that when
they go out in public and the way that they live,
people are going, that is a snapshot of the values
that you've instilled in your kids. That is a
snapshot of the way that you have loved them
and have raised them. And they are showing that
snapshot. And we see that in the way that they
live their lives. You and I, we get to be a snapshot
of our heavenly father to the world around us.
We get to be a representative of his grace and
of his mercy to the world around us so that when
they see the way that we live, they go, oh my
goodness, that is a snapshot of God and his character.
Because of the way that we carry ourself, we
get to be the hands and the feet of Jesus. When
you join him on kingdom mission, you get to be
his hands and feet. On Wednesday night here,
we have our youth and our kids programs. We have
people that serve diligently in those programs.
I was talking to Pastor Jordan this week and
we have people that have been serving. This is
their second year serving faithfully in the fourth
and fifth grade room. Every single week they're
there and they're pouring into these kids. And
the kids, when they graduate and they go into
sixth grade, they move on to the next program.
But he was telling me that every week they come
back and they go, hey, are they here? Are they
here? I wanna come and I wanna say hi to them.
I wanna talk to them. Why? Because they've made
an impact on their life. Why? Because they love
them. Why? Because they were the hands and feet
of Jesus by serving, by showing up in their life
and serving. We get to be the hands and feet
of Jesus. I was driving the other day and I was
driving down. Willow Creek here in Prescott.
And as I was going, I noticed off in the distance
that there was two people kind of on the sidewalk
on the side of the road. And as I got closer,
I'm wondering what is happening here. And from
appearance, what I could tell is the man looked
like maybe he was going through some rough times.
He was an older gentleman that maybe was experiencing
homelessness and he had some physical ailments
going on. And this woman is next to him and she
has her hand on his shoulder. And as I got closer,
What was happening is exactly what I thought.
She was just praying for this man. She had her
head bowed and her eyes are closed and she's
praying and I'm going, wow, this is incredible.
As the light stopped and I kind of slowed down,
I got a closer look and I was just filled with
joy as I recognized who it was because she goes
to Heights Church every week. And what I saw
is somebody living on kingdom mission in their
world. Listen, she didn't know her pastor was
driving by. She wasn't like, all right, let me
just do this real quick. Someone's gonna see
me. She was like, I am living on kingdom mission.
I have experienced grace. I've experienced mercy.
And I want to show it to the world around me
so that when I see someone who needs some prayer,
who needs someone to come alongside them, I'm
willing to do it wherever I'm at. Because that's
what the hands and feet of Jesus are. When you
live on kingdom mission, you are the hands and
feet of Jesus. When you live on kingdom mission,
you understand that you are a representative
of Jesus. You get to represent Jesus to the world
around you. Last week, I was talking to A gentleman
in our church that many of you know is very involved
here. He's been going through some health issues,
some very serious health issues. So much so that
he needs a new heart. And it's been a process
over the years. And recently he got a call to
say he had a new heart that was going to be given.
So he goes to the hospital down in Phoenix. And
as he's in the hospital, the doctors come up
and the doctors go, hey. The heart that we have
is corrupted. We cannot use it. And the doctors
are extremely upset by it. And the nurses are
upset by it as they've walked this journey with
him. And they're going, this is not okay. This
is not good. And as he looked back at them, he
said, it's okay. And the doctor's like, it's
not okay. And he goes, yeah, it's okay. You know
why? Because I trust God. And in that moment,
the doctors are going, why can you trust God
in this? And you know what he did? He shared
Jesus with them. Because it doesn't matter our
situation. It doesn't matter how hard it is and
the things that we're going through and what's
happening around us. If you are on kingdom mission,
you are a representative of Jesus to the world
around you. Whether you're laying in a hospital
bed or whether you're walking on a sidewalk,
you can represent Jesus. Last week, I was walking
into church and someone stopped me and they said,
hey, Pastor Todd, I gotta tell you this story.
Said I was having a conversation with someone
this week and they hadn't been to church in 10
years. And in 10 years, they hadn't come to church,
but they came last week and they came to Heights.
They said they felt more welcomed and loved than
they've ever felt before. So it was so welcoming.
It was so loving. And they tell them, they're
like, hey, and that bald guy that spoke, he did
a great job. And I was like, that's just the
bald guy. That's all I got. But you podcast people
know it's not bald guy. It's the bald eagle,
baby. Come on now. All right. Some of you, some
of you are with me. And if you don't know, unedited
podcast, you better listen to it. All right.
And so I'm talking to him. I'm going, man, this
is awesome. I'm glad. And he said, she just stayed
after the service and she cried. She was just
in tears because she's like, this is incredible.
And she had no idea that he was involved with
Heights. And I said, well, that's incredible.
How did she tell you this? And he goes, we were
having a banking conversation. And I was like,
how did that come up in a banking conversation?
And you know what he said? He said, how does
that not come up in a banking conversation? Because
when you've experienced Jesus's mercy and grace,
every conversation is an opportunity to talk
about Jesus, to be a representative of him in
the world that you're in. Every place that you
find yourself is an opportunity to put yourself
in a place where you can share Jesus, where you
can talk about Jesus, where you get to be his
representative to the world around you. His mercy
and grace, when you've experienced it, you can't
stop showing it. It's living on kingdom mission.
It's loving people. It's giving. It's serving.
It's inviting. It's sharing. It's doing these
things. This is what the mark of living on kingdom
mission looks like. And more than that, this
is the mark of a mature believer. This is the
mark of a mature believer. It's not how much
you know, it's what you do. I'm gonna get in
your grill a little bit right now, okay? Listen,
because a lot of people, when it comes to church,
you go, hey, I just need more. I just need you
to give me more. I need you to go deeper. How
come you don't go deep enough? And here's what
I would say. You don't need more until you've
used what you have. I think about my kids when
they have a good dinner. It's in their plate
and they take a couple good bites and they're
like, that's really good. Can I have more? And
I'm like, why don't you finish what's on your
plate first before I give you more? Some of you
guys haven't applied what you learned last week
or the week before, the week before, the week
before, and you're going, can I have more? I
just need to go deeper. And I'm like, no, do
what you already know. Because the mark of a
mature believer is not how deep you are. It's
how much you do. I think most Christians are
educated far beyond their level of obedience.
You know way more than you're willing to do.
That's not the mark of maturity. It's living
on kingdom mission. It's living a life that says
it's not about me. It's about giving away to
other people. It's about living the mission because
I've received grace, because I've received mercy.
I then wanna live in a way that shows grace and
mercy to other people. I'm telling you, Pastor
John and I could get up here and confuse the
heck out of you every week. So you leave and
go, oh, that was really deep, but it doesn't
change your life at all. And we failed because
you have been called to live on kingdom mission.
You've been called to be loving to the people
around you. What if you were just present with
the people around you long enough to see them?
Some of us, we move so fast that we can't be
loving. You can't stop to pray for someone on
the side of the road because you're moving too
fast. Being loving is just stopping to be present.
Being loving, if you're gonna live kingdom mission,
being loving is, some of you are gonna love this
one too, it's choosing kindness over being right.
Oh, we're good at being right though. I know
how to be right. I got to stand on this. What
if you were just loving enough to be kind instead
of being right? I wonder if we lived in a way
where we could just serve people around us. What
that means is going, hey, this isn't about just
my time because a lot of you don't have time
and I get that. But what if you joined a serve
team? Listen, a lot of you have come here for
a really long time and that's great. We're glad
you're here. But start getting involved. Join
a serve team. Say, man, I want to serve. Not
just here, but wherever you're at. Serving means
putting other people first. What if you were
like, hey, no, you go first. We live in a me
first society, but what if you just step back
and say, no, I'm gonna serve you by letting you
go first. What if in our life, we were able to
share with the people around us? Most of us are
scared to share with the people around us when
it comes to Jesus, because we're like, what if
they say no? And you need to know this. We are
living in a time where people are more open than
they have ever been. People are searching. People
are wanting. People are going, I need, I wanna
hear about this. And we're afraid to get rejected,
but I promise you 99 % of the time, if you say,
hey, can I just share with you about Jesus? People
are gonna say yes. If you just say, hey, can
I pray with you? People are gonna say yes. What
if we were giving? Living on kingdom missions,
it means you're living in a giving way. where
you understand that everything that you have
been given is not yours, it is God's anyway,
therefore you can give it to other people. I
was talking to a friend of mine last week who
had donated for a project that ended up not happening.
And I said, hey, I gotta give you that money
back. And he says, no, you don't. I gave it.
I said, no, no, I gotta give it back to you.
And he goes, if you give it back to me, I'm actually
gonna be mad because it's not mine, it's God's
and I gave it away. That's what living on kingdom
mission looks like, saying I'm giving it. All
right, it's inviting people to church. It's saying,
hey, come on, come check this out. All right,
you invite people to church and they go, I'm
just not really churchy. And you're like, yeah,
you should meet our pastors. They aren't either.
All right, there's no such thing as churchy,
there's Jesus people. And when you're a Jesus
person, you show mercy and you show grace and
you reflect him to the world around you. I was
talking to someone this last week who, is involved
with our church. They're actually on staff. And
they were telling me they went to In -N -Out.
And they went to In -N -Out because they love
Jesus and it's the Lord's restaurant, that's
why. Because Chick -fil -A's closed on Sunday,
so you gotta go to In -N -Out, you know what
I'm saying? And so they're walking to In -N -Out
and someone approached them in the parking lot
and they were, I don't know how to describe them,
they were sketchy, right? You know, you're sketchy
people. Some of you, you're sketchy people. You
know what it means, right? They were sketchy.
And they come up and said, hey, can I have some
money? They go, do you need food? What do you
need? I said, we just need money. He said, no,
hey, how about I buy you some dinner? So he took
them inside and they bought their dinner, but
they didn't just stop there. That's a good place
to just pat yourself on the back. Awesome, I
did a good deed. They said, hey, why don't you
sit with us? And they ate dinner with them. That's
also a good place to stop and pat yourself on
the back. But they said, no, no, no. Can I pray
for you? Again, they said, absolutely. So they
prayed for him. And these people, after they
prayed, just kind of sat there and goes, why
are you doing this? Why did you sacrifice to
pay for our food and then invite us to eat with
you and then ask if I could pray with you? And
they said, let me tell you why. Because of this
guy named Jesus. And they started sharing Jesus
with him. They started sharing Jesus, started
telling him about this guy named Jesus who is
full of mercy, who is full of grace. And they
said, because of him, this is why we live the
way that we do. That is who he is. And it's because
of his mercy and it's because of his grace that
we can live that way. That's who he is and it
is everywhere. It is all around us. We get to
be the snapshots in our world. But it's not just
here in our area. This is happening everywhere.
God is moving globally. And I'm so excited for
you guys over the next couple of weeks. This
is what we call Global Month at Heights Church
where we get to share stories of what God is
doing around the globe with our global partners.
You get to hear stories of people. whose lives
are being changed because of the gospel in other
countries around the globe. And what you get
to see is you get to see a snapshot of God's
character on display in our world today. It doesn't
just happen on the Old Testament and Exodus because
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
And we get to experience what God is doing. We
get to see it when you understand the grace and
mercy you've been given. You live on kingdom
mission. Last is this, because of his grace,
because of his mercy and his grace, we get to
rest in him. Because of his mercy and grace,
we get to rest in him. I was gonna tell you a
story of my need for rest because I got 5 ,000
kids and my life is crazy and all that. But the
truth is, I think we're all in the same boat.
We live in a world that's hard. We live in a
world where we need rest. We got so much going
on. It's so difficult. We need rest. And here's
what God says. He was telling Moses. Moses was
like, I'm done leading these people, man. This
is too hard. I can't do this. And he tells them
this. He says, the Lord replied, my presence
will go with you and I will give you rest. Because
you find rest in God's presence. You find rest
in God's presence. And that's where we get rest
is by going in. We all need rest, but living
on mission in God's presence is where we find
true rest. Living on mission in God's presence.
Living the kingdom mission that he has set out
for us. All right, Jesus speaks to this. And
Jesus speaks to this in the New Testament. What
was happening in this in the book of Matthew.
is that people are getting burnt out on religion.
They're getting beat up by religion. They're
going, I've tried everything and I'm doing too
much and I need rest. And so Jesus says this
to them. It says in Matthew 11, verse 28, he
says, come to me, all who are weary and burdened.
Does that describe some of you? He says, and
I will give you rest. He says, take my yoke upon
you. And learn from me, for I am gentle and humble
in heart. And you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And
man, we can preach that. We can preach that unless
you know what a yoke is. Because it's a device
that's used for ox to plow a field. It's a device
used for an incredible amount of work. And when
we think rest, we go, okay, yeah, rest is no
work whatsoever, can't do it. No, what true rest
is. is working for Jesus. He says, take my yoke
upon you. What he's saying is take my mission
on. Live on kingdom mission and you will find
true rest because you are in my presence, living
in my steps. And that's where true rest is found.
And we think it's all sacrifice. And we think
of people who go to In -N -Out, who pay for somebody,
who let them invade their mealtime. who step
out in faith and pray for them and share with
them. We go, that's all sacrifice, man. That's
a lot of sacrifice to give. I'm telling you,
when she shared that story with me this weekend,
I was in a room with a few different people and
as this story is being shared, the joy on her
face, the joy that came out from her mouth was...
And not only was it joy for her, the entire room
was so joyful listening to someone living on
kingdom mission because it is not a sacrifice.
It is not work. It is not painful. It is rest
when you step into what God has called you to
do, to live on kingdom mission, to say where
my feet are is where ministry happens. It's not
something you flip on and flip off. You don't
just flip on the switch and go, well, now I'm
in church. This is the time. When you live in
kingdom mission, That means that wherever God
has you is your mission field. To love, to give,
to serve, to share, to invite. It is all because
of his mercy and grace. And some of you today
need to accept his mercy and grace. Some of you
have lived your life and you're trying to do
it on your own. You're striving. All right, you
are out too deep and too deep of waters going,
I can't do this. And you need to accept his mercy.
You need to accept his grace by saying, Jesus,
I accept what you did for me on the cross to
pay the price for me. And some of you are feeling
the Holy Spirit right now push you to do that.
You're feeling that feeling inside of going,
that's me, that's me. I need to do that. Don't
let today pass. If you have questions or you
wanna talk to someone, there will be people up
front after this that wanna talk with you, that
wanna pray with you, just wanna help you accept
what Jesus has done for you and accept his mercy
and grace and step from death into life. For
those of us that have accepted that, my challenge
to you is this, because of his mercy, because
of his grace, live on kingdom mission. When you
came in today, you were given this. this cup.
And in the church world, we know this is communion
and we do it often. It's a tradition. It's very
tradition. It's very check off your list. We
did it in church kind of thing. But as we have
time right now to reflect, I would challenge
you to reflect on his mercy and his grace in
your life. Where have you seen his mercy and
grace that was poured out for you on the cross?
I would challenge you to think, man, where is
it in your life where you can go, I am weary
and I am burdened, but my true rest comes from
him. In a couple of moments, we'll take this
together. But right now, I want you to just spend
time reflecting on what Jesus did for you in
the cross.