WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:05.940 It's great to be back with everybody today. At 00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:10.460 the same time, it's a privilege and an honor 00:00:10.460 --> 00:00:17.699 to be asked to preach anytime. I'll have to say 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:21.780 that I have done good with my retirement. I've 00:00:21.780 --> 00:00:25.780 avoided any ministerial stuff as much as possible 00:00:25.780 --> 00:00:28.260 and have tried to be a good granddaddy and a 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:31.449 good husband. and a good hunter and a good fisherman. 00:00:32.210 --> 00:00:36.070 So I've enjoyed that very much. It's been great 00:00:36.070 --> 00:00:40.070 also to sit under the ministry, whether I've 00:00:40.070 --> 00:00:42.890 been sitting under Kenny or Jonathan or at my 00:00:42.890 --> 00:00:45.890 church, and it's been a great honor to just hear 00:00:45.890 --> 00:00:48.909 the word and just soak in stuff. I'm telling 00:00:48.909 --> 00:00:51.369 you, when you're a minister, you do this all 00:00:51.369 --> 00:00:53.969 your life, and every Sunday, if you're a senior 00:00:53.969 --> 00:00:56.509 minister, every Sunday you've got a sermon prepared. 00:00:57.159 --> 00:01:00.579 and you've got to present God's Word to his people 00:01:00.579 --> 00:01:03.039 and stand as it were between him and his people. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:06.560 And that's a daunting task. I don't care who 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:08.439 you are and I don't care how long you've been 00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:11.780 in the ministry. It never is something you're 00:01:11.780 --> 00:01:14.900 comfortable with. So it's great to be able to 00:01:14.900 --> 00:01:19.579 sit at this time in my life and receive and that's 00:01:19.579 --> 00:01:21.900 just been so good. Now I got one announcement 00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:24.400 and Kenny didn't say any, he'd probably say shut 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.819 up if he knew what I was going to say. He didn't 00:01:26.819 --> 00:01:31.239 say anything, but October is Pastor Appreciation 00:01:31.239 --> 00:01:35.739 Month. And the color of appreciation is green. 00:01:38.040 --> 00:01:43.040 Just to let you know that, that's Pastor Appreciation 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:47.659 Month. And that's just something that I won't 00:01:47.659 --> 00:02:00.989 say anything else. My journey has been, since 00:02:00.989 --> 00:02:06.650 I left Fairview, I spent four years in Virginia, 00:02:07.030 --> 00:02:18.069 five in West Virginia, 13 in Louisiana, and then 00:02:18.069 --> 00:02:21.550 nine more in Louisiana. The last nine years of 00:02:21.550 --> 00:02:25.509 my ministry has been an independent church. We 00:02:25.509 --> 00:02:29.349 started a church after the church got enough 00:02:29.349 --> 00:02:33.569 of me and said it was time for me to be on my 00:02:33.569 --> 00:02:36.069 way. Of course, I had other ideas about that, 00:02:36.069 --> 00:02:39.949 but God knew exactly what he was doing and taught 00:02:39.949 --> 00:02:43.810 me so much about his faithfulness through those 00:02:43.810 --> 00:02:48.050 times. And I'm standing before you now as somebody 00:02:48.050 --> 00:02:52.250 who has really been kind of gotten outside of 00:02:52.250 --> 00:02:54.370 the church, not that I left the church ever. 00:02:54.680 --> 00:03:00.379 but gotten outside of a framework of stuff that 00:03:00.379 --> 00:03:03.319 we're familiar with and examined things from 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:06.099 what the Word says and just gone back to the 00:03:06.099 --> 00:03:09.960 Bible. I've been enjoying this time so much because 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.659 I've just gone back to the scripture and let 00:03:12.659 --> 00:03:15.300 the Word of God speak to my heart and let it 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:18.419 speak through me instead of trying to conform 00:03:18.419 --> 00:03:23.319 to the ideals of men. And it's been absolutely 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:27.719 exhilarating. I mean, I preached for nine years 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:30.439 in blue jeans and tennis shoes and a t -shirt, 00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:34.939 and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. Now, I did 00:03:34.939 --> 00:03:38.319 wear a tie today. I'm trying to be thoughtful 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:41.580 of everybody, but I could be just as comfortable 00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:46.000 in a t -shirt and tennis shoes and blue jeans. 00:03:46.409 --> 00:03:49.490 And the pastor I sit under right now preaches 00:03:49.490 --> 00:03:51.469 at barefoot, so you know there's no help for 00:03:51.469 --> 00:03:57.210 me now. I do have my boots on. Let's pray. Father, 00:03:57.250 --> 00:04:03.509 we're about to open your word. It is life. It's 00:04:03.509 --> 00:04:07.409 about what living is for. And I pray, Father, 00:04:07.430 --> 00:04:11.650 that you would talk to us today. I know that 00:04:11.650 --> 00:04:15.360 there is so much in me that... is going to hinder 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.720 this. There's so much about me that's not right. 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:24.040 But there's nothing, nothing that's not right 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:27.220 about you. And there's nothing that's not right 00:04:27.220 --> 00:04:31.160 about your Holy Spirit and how he comes to us. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:34.500 And if there's one thing I ask today, Father, 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:39.420 is that you get a hold of our hearts. We get 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:45.000 so comfortable. And we get so in ruts. we want 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:48.759 you to be this great blade today and remove those 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:55.379 from our lives and bring us back to Jesus Christ 00:04:55.379 --> 00:05:01.180 and who we are in him and Help us to live that 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:09.439 way Speak Your servants are listening in Jesus 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:15.379 name The word of God comes to us today from the 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:19.000 book of Luke, Luke chapter 10, beginning with 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:22.899 verse 25. And behold, the lawyer stood up to 00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:26.740 put him to the test saying, teacher, what shall 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:30.600 I do to inherit eternal life? Now notice, first 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:34.160 of all, the lawyer comes up, and I'm not gonna 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:36.660 say any jokes about lawyers, there's plenty of 00:05:36.660 --> 00:05:40.139 that out there. The lawyer comes up, and in classic 00:05:40.139 --> 00:05:47.560 lawyer fashion, test. Jesus. You got to see this. 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:54.060 There's arrogance here. It's a question, but 00:05:54.060 --> 00:05:59.240 it's arrogance. And Jesus is about to show him 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:04.160 exactly what he means in his word. So that's 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:08.100 the preface here. He said to him, Jesus said 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:10.759 to him, what is written in the law? How do you 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:16.360 read it? And he answered, you shall love the 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:18.680 Lord your God with all your heart and with all 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:21.139 your soul and with all your strength and with 00:06:21.139 --> 00:06:24.220 all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:26.860 Can't you just hear him say that? And he said 00:06:26.860 --> 00:06:29.839 to him, you've answered correctly. Do this and 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:32.620 you will live. And Jesus is ready to drop it 00:06:32.620 --> 00:06:37.399 right there. This is what it means. But he desiring 00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:42.610 to justify himself, you know, in the ministry 00:06:42.610 --> 00:06:46.269 you meet all kinds of people and I remember one 00:06:46.269 --> 00:06:48.750 lady that had been married two or three times 00:06:48.750 --> 00:06:52.170 and she was on the third one I think and and 00:06:52.170 --> 00:06:55.149 we were have we were visiting one time and she 00:06:55.149 --> 00:06:56.990 and her husband good people live right behind 00:06:56.990 --> 00:07:01.569 the church loved them but she was giving all 00:07:01.569 --> 00:07:06.709 these excuses as to why she had divorced why 00:07:06.709 --> 00:07:08.790 she was in the position she was in and I'm not 00:07:08.790 --> 00:07:12.050 saying anything about divorce Both my kids have 00:07:12.050 --> 00:07:14.110 been divorced, okay? I'm not saying anything 00:07:14.110 --> 00:07:16.949 about divorced people, but I am saying this. 00:07:17.110 --> 00:07:19.790 She was justifying everything she had done. She 00:07:19.790 --> 00:07:23.170 is justifying why she had left, how intolerable 00:07:23.170 --> 00:07:25.589 her husband had been, and all this stuff, wishing 00:07:25.589 --> 00:07:29.050 to justify her actions. And I just stopped her 00:07:29.050 --> 00:07:32.189 and I said, look, repent. All you have to do 00:07:32.189 --> 00:07:38.170 is repent and say, Lord, help me. Don't try to 00:07:38.170 --> 00:07:42.279 justify what you've done. Listen to the Holy 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:47.240 Spirit speaking to you instead of coming up with 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:50.899 all these excuses. Admit that you're a sinner. 00:07:52.060 --> 00:07:55.579 That's all she had to do. And Jesus received 00:07:55.579 --> 00:08:03.279 sinners. Jesus came for sinners, like me. The 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:07.519 lawyer desiring to justify himself said to Jesus, 00:08:07.879 --> 00:08:12.850 and who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, a man 00:08:12.850 --> 00:08:15.329 was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and 00:08:15.329 --> 00:08:17.529 he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat 00:08:17.529 --> 00:08:24.310 him and departed. This is New Orleans. This is 00:08:24.310 --> 00:08:30.170 Chicago. This is Greenville. Now, thugs everywhere. 00:08:31.730 --> 00:08:34.029 This is why I have concealed carry permit. I'm 00:08:34.029 --> 00:08:41.309 not packing now, but that's why I have it. leaving 00:08:41.309 --> 00:08:47.389 him half dead. Now, by chance, a priest was going 00:08:47.389 --> 00:08:51.269 down that road and when he saw him, he passed 00:08:51.269 --> 00:08:57.690 by on the other side. Okay, by chance, Pastor 00:08:57.690 --> 00:09:01.570 Steve was driving down that road and he saw the 00:09:01.570 --> 00:09:06.509 guy and he passed by on the other side. Or Reverend 00:09:06.509 --> 00:09:09.330 Jones was going down that road and he saw the 00:09:09.330 --> 00:09:20.179 man and he passed by. So likewise, a Levite, 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:22.820 when he came to the place and saw him, passed 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:26.700 by on the other side. So we've got a pastor, 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:30.340 now we've got a theologian, a church worker, 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:34.460 an elder maybe, I don't know, saw the problem, 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:37.639 didn't want to involve himself in the problem. 00:09:38.730 --> 00:09:46.009 So he avoids the problem. How easy is it to close 00:09:46.009 --> 00:09:51.570 your eyes and not see the problem? How easy is 00:09:51.570 --> 00:09:55.490 it for you and I to cross by on the other side 00:09:55.490 --> 00:10:01.750 and not stop and help? How easy that becomes. 00:10:02.309 --> 00:10:06.269 In a world of cell phones, in a world where we 00:10:06.269 --> 00:10:10.279 can justify our actions, Now listen, I want to 00:10:10.279 --> 00:10:11.759 make something really clear because I want to 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:13.620 make a point today about helping people, but 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:16.159 I want to make something really clear. Ladies, 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:19.860 you're exempt from most of this. Point to your 00:10:19.860 --> 00:10:26.519 husband. But guys, you're not. Ladies, I don't 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:28.620 expect you and God doesn't expect you to put 00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:31.259 your life in danger by stopping and helping somebody 00:10:31.259 --> 00:10:34.440 that could take advantage of you in any way or 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:37.159 anything like that, okay? But you still need 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:40.120 to listen to the sermon. But guys, I'm speaking, 00:10:40.299 --> 00:10:42.059 I'm preaching to you, and the Holy Spirit is 00:10:42.059 --> 00:10:48.879 too, okay? So likewise a Levite when he came 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:52.600 by, passed on the other side. But a Samaritan, 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:55.360 as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when 00:10:55.360 --> 00:11:03.279 he saw him, he had compassion. I don't know if 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:07.600 we can get this analogy really. as good as it 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:10.840 was back then, but to the Jews, you've heard 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:14.240 this a dozen times. To the Jews, the Samaritans 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:16.759 were derped. You don't touch a Samaritan. You 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:19.360 don't have any dealings with a Samaritan. They 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:21.419 are the people, if you rub up against them, you 00:11:21.419 --> 00:11:23.519 might get a mark on you. You know what I mean? 00:11:23.820 --> 00:11:26.299 They're the kind of people that stink. They smell. 00:11:26.379 --> 00:11:28.980 They don't bathe right. They don't take care 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:31.320 of themselves. You don't want anything to do 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:33.379 with them, and you better not play with them 00:11:33.379 --> 00:11:35.960 or dance with them or anything like that with 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:39.559 them. there was a separateness there between 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:41.799 the Jews and the Samaritans and it was based 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:45.240 on ceremonial law and the fact that for centuries 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:49.120 there had been animosity between those who had 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:53.539 left and married intermarried with the pagan 00:11:53.539 --> 00:11:58.440 tribes and had this mixture of religion the Samaritans 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:06.860 versus the Jews who had been pure. Jesus comes 00:12:06.860 --> 00:12:14.879 in the middle of all this mess and uses us American 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:23.559 to shame the Jews. And you think about what he's 00:12:23.559 --> 00:12:26.840 saying. And you can fill the blanks in. I don't 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:29.159 have to say anything to you. You can fill the 00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:31.340 blanks in about who he's talking about here. 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:35.460 In every culture, there are cast, there are differences. 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:39.139 There are people who we don't want to be part 00:12:39.139 --> 00:12:43.100 of. We don't want to be around. But what if that 00:12:43.100 --> 00:12:47.159 person comes up and changes your time? And what 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:49.240 if that person comes up and gives you a cup of 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:56.759 cold water? How do you feel now? He went to him 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:00.340 and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:03.299 Then he set him on his own animal and brought, 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:05.759 put him in his pickup truck, took him in his 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:10.279 Mercedes or whatever he's driving and brought 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:15.980 him to an inn and took care of him. And the next 00:13:15.980 --> 00:13:18.460 day he took out two denarii and gave them to 00:13:18.460 --> 00:13:21.059 the innkeeper saying take care of him and whatever 00:13:21.059 --> 00:13:24.259 more you spend I will repay you when I come back. 00:13:25.460 --> 00:13:30.139 Now that's care, that's real care. that's personally 00:13:30.139 --> 00:13:35.399 involving yourself and somebody with need, that's 00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:42.200 love. That's neighborliness. You know, I love 00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:45.700 coming back to the South. I've been in the frozen 00:13:45.700 --> 00:13:49.700 North of West Virginia. I've been where there's 00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:51.759 a culture that's so much different from mine. 00:13:52.299 --> 00:13:57.259 I remember singing Dixie and crying. I was in 00:13:57.259 --> 00:13:59.519 West Virginia and it was so different up there 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:03.879 in Charleston. Oh my goodness. I longed for the 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:06.299 South where I could come back and you could put 00:14:06.299 --> 00:14:09.799 your finger up and just wave at people. My daddy 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:11.720 told me when we were growing up, you can wave 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:14.139 at men but you can't wave at women. That's the 00:14:14.139 --> 00:14:15.860 rule. Unless they wave at you first and then 00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:18.639 you can wave at them. And the rule is, you never 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:21.580 pass somebody in an older vehicle when you're 00:14:21.580 --> 00:14:23.340 driving down the road because you don't want 00:14:23.340 --> 00:14:26.059 to shame them. You want to stay behind them. 00:14:26.059 --> 00:14:29.059 I don't care if they're going 25 in a 45. You 00:14:29.059 --> 00:14:31.720 never pass them on a two lane road. That's just 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:35.639 the rules. That was how we were raised because 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:39.179 you know what that taught me then? That taught 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:42.559 me to care about people that didn't have the 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:45.039 V8 engine and the fancy car that I was driving. 00:14:46.220 --> 00:14:51.259 That taught a lot of stuff. And parents, I don't 00:14:51.259 --> 00:14:54.539 care how old your kids get, you're teaching them 00:14:54.539 --> 00:14:57.899 every day of your life because they want to please 00:14:57.899 --> 00:15:00.580 you more than they want to please anybody on 00:15:00.580 --> 00:15:05.320 this earth. And they'll always want that. There's 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:07.580 a lot to be said about what you teach your kids. 00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:12.700 So take care of him. I'll repay you. Which of 00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:17.059 these do you think proved to be a neighbor to 00:15:17.059 --> 00:15:22.259 the man who fell among the robbers? He said the 00:15:22.259 --> 00:15:26.259 one who showed him mercy Jesus said to him you 00:15:26.259 --> 00:15:37.519 go and do likewise Well folks I What what we 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:43.700 want to be about is first of all show this Jesus 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:53.080 cares. Jesus cares. He cares for you. And he 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:56.059 cares for you whether you're the rich man. It's 00:15:56.059 --> 00:15:58.059 harder to enter heaven than for a rich man to 00:15:58.059 --> 00:16:00.360 go. It's easier for a camel to go through the 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:02.320 eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:04.899 heaven. He cares about rich people. He cares 00:16:04.899 --> 00:16:08.440 about poor people. He cares about sinners. Jesus 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:14.960 cares. And Jesus says for us to go and do likewise. 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:21.740 And what I'm wanting to proclaim to you today 00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:26.299 is that God can take your heart and make you 00:16:26.299 --> 00:16:31.460 somebody who cares. Maybe you're a hard butt 00:16:31.460 --> 00:16:33.659 like I've been. My son, I remember when he was 00:16:33.659 --> 00:16:36.039 15, he said, I can be a hard butt. If you want 00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:38.620 to be a hard butt, I'll be a hard butt too. I 00:16:38.620 --> 00:16:40.740 don't want to be, and I thought myself, and that's 00:16:40.740 --> 00:16:43.360 not the words he used, but that's what he meant, 00:16:43.779 --> 00:16:48.980 okay? We're in church. But it's possible for 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:55.399 you to harden your heart. Sometimes we think 00:16:55.399 --> 00:17:00.500 it's probably easier for us to harden our heart, 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:03.460 because when our heart's not hard, that makes 00:17:03.460 --> 00:17:07.160 us vulnerable. And one of the things we fight, 00:17:07.339 --> 00:17:12.630 we hate. Men, especially eight, is to be vulnerable. 00:17:14.069 --> 00:17:18.549 Emotionally, with our spouse, or socially, with 00:17:18.549 --> 00:17:21.990 other people. It's hard to be vulnerable. It's 00:17:21.990 --> 00:17:25.589 hard to open yourself up and really listen to 00:17:25.589 --> 00:17:30.809 what the Holy Spirit is really telling you. I 00:17:30.809 --> 00:17:34.430 had an experience. I was driving up from Interree. 00:17:34.470 --> 00:17:36.569 We're staying down at their little place at Interree. 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:40.400 gets fixed. If anybody knows a good plumber, 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:44.539 I'm all, I'm in the market. Every plumber in 00:17:44.539 --> 00:17:47.180 the Piedmont of South Carolina has got six weeks 00:17:47.180 --> 00:17:50.940 worth of business ahead of him. So we're, we're, 00:17:50.940 --> 00:17:53.059 we're needing plumbers. But anyway, I think I 00:17:53.059 --> 00:17:56.799 got somebody I don't know. So we're down at Interree. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:58.859 We got a little double wide trailer. I always 00:17:58.859 --> 00:18:00.779 joke with Eunice when we first got married. The 00:18:00.779 --> 00:18:03.180 country song was out at that time. I'll make 00:18:03.180 --> 00:18:05.880 you the queen of my double wide trailer with 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:08.160 the polyester curtains and the red wood deck. 00:18:08.180 --> 00:18:10.180 I'd sing that to her just to mess with her because 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:11.660 that's where I wanted to live, you know, in a 00:18:11.660 --> 00:18:14.380 double wide trailer with all that good stuff. 00:18:14.579 --> 00:18:16.500 Well, now I'm living in a double wide trailer. 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:20.599 I love it. And I tell her all the time, it took 00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:23.819 45 years to get you in a double wide trailer. 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:27.720 And we're happy. But we're down at Ennery and 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:30.480 I was driving up to Spartanburg coming up 26 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:33.250 and I had I thought about preaching on another 00:18:33.250 --> 00:18:39.269 sermon. Kenny had asked me to preach. I go to 00:18:39.269 --> 00:18:43.630 Sam's every couple weeks to get our stocks and 00:18:43.630 --> 00:18:46.549 supplies. I was driving to Sam's and there's 00:18:46.549 --> 00:18:50.750 this guy that's at Sam's. I got off 26, come 00:18:50.750 --> 00:18:53.670 down 29, turned in there at Sam's and there's 00:18:53.670 --> 00:18:55.829 this guy that's right there. I don't know if 00:18:55.829 --> 00:18:58.140 you've been to Spartanburg Sam's. Just about 00:18:58.140 --> 00:19:00.099 every single time I've been there in the daylight, 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:02.799 this guy sits on the corner. He doesn't have 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:05.059 a sign or anything. He's sitting in a wheelchair. 00:19:05.059 --> 00:19:08.740 He's got one artificial leg. He's just sitting 00:19:08.740 --> 00:19:11.859 there. He's never said anything to anybody, never 00:19:11.859 --> 00:19:13.839 made eye contact with me or nothing. He just 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:16.220 sits there. So I go to Sam's and I'm thinking, 00:19:16.339 --> 00:19:19.740 you know, preacher, you're thinking about preaching 00:19:19.740 --> 00:19:22.960 on the Good Samaritan and about caring for people 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:26.400 and you're about to drive, right? by this guy 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:32.259 that's sitting on the corner. So I came back 00:19:32.259 --> 00:19:34.680 out of Sam's and I came back out the driveway 00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:40.099 and I pulled into the parking lot and I stopped 00:19:40.099 --> 00:19:42.799 and I got out and I crossed over the road and 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:46.299 I said, how you doing? My name's Steve. He said, 00:19:46.339 --> 00:19:49.460 I'm Wayne. I said, tell me about yourself, Wayne, 00:19:49.500 --> 00:19:53.000 what's going on? He said, oh, I'm just trying 00:19:53.000 --> 00:20:05.130 to get enough money to eat. He said, yeah, he 00:20:05.130 --> 00:20:07.210 said, the police let me sit out here if I don't 00:20:07.210 --> 00:20:09.589 have a sign. He said, McDonald's lets me store 00:20:09.589 --> 00:20:13.069 my wheelchair in their shelter. And he said, 00:20:13.210 --> 00:20:14.930 I said, where are you staying? He said, I sleep 00:20:14.930 --> 00:20:18.730 in a tent with another guy over a couple blocks 00:20:18.730 --> 00:20:21.849 away. And I said, OK. I said, what do you need, 00:20:22.049 --> 00:20:25.190 Wayne? And he looked at me and he said, you know 00:20:25.190 --> 00:20:29.849 what, I really, he said, Walmart has a policy 00:20:29.849 --> 00:20:32.069 that they'll let, he said, he told me, now this, 00:20:32.150 --> 00:20:34.349 I may be wrong, but this is what he told me, 00:20:34.470 --> 00:20:38.470 has a policy that if you just stay overnight, 00:20:38.509 --> 00:20:40.990 they'll let you sleep in the parking lot and 00:20:40.990 --> 00:20:42.869 leave then. He said, boy, I'd love to get a little 00:20:42.869 --> 00:20:44.750 minivan. I said, well, I don't have a little 00:20:44.750 --> 00:20:47.549 minivan. Wayne, I'd love to help you. He said, 00:20:47.569 --> 00:20:52.519 that's okay. He said, that's fine. I talked with 00:20:52.519 --> 00:20:56.599 him a while, and let me tell you, as a pastor, 00:20:56.819 --> 00:20:59.140 you'd meet all kinds of people with their hand 00:20:59.140 --> 00:21:02.180 out. And the churches that I've been part of 00:21:02.180 --> 00:21:06.279 have had a policy from right here on up. I mean, 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:08.900 we had two people drive in one time when Eunice 00:21:08.900 --> 00:21:11.440 and I were here, and they were in an old, old 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:15.920 beat up car, and I don't know, they were a mess. 00:21:16.460 --> 00:21:18.539 But anyway, we tried to help them out, get them 00:21:18.539 --> 00:21:27.410 on the road. the church did. So, there's a problem 00:21:27.410 --> 00:21:29.269 with getting old because if you get off on a 00:21:29.269 --> 00:21:31.430 subject, you're gonna forget where you were supposed 00:21:31.430 --> 00:21:35.329 to be, but I'm okay. I was singing in the, I 00:21:35.329 --> 00:21:36.910 know y 'all probably heard me, I was singing 00:21:36.910 --> 00:21:39.849 the second hymn there and I didn't realize there 00:21:39.849 --> 00:21:42.650 was a stanza, so I'm, you sing the first verse 00:21:42.650 --> 00:21:44.829 and I just jump right into the second verse and 00:21:44.829 --> 00:21:47.650 I'm singing loud and bold and everything and. 00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:50.000 doesn't sound right because the choir is singing 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:52.440 something different and I'm thinking, you idiot, 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:56.079 you need to read a little better and so I'm sorry 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:59.700 about messing everybody's singing up. But I finally 00:21:59.700 --> 00:22:05.740 got back on track. So anyway, Wayne, Wayne just 00:22:05.740 --> 00:22:08.579 needed help. That's all he did. He's homeless. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.859 And you know, you don't have to look past Fountain 00:22:11.859 --> 00:22:14.180 Inn. You don't have to look past Simpsonville. 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:16.970 You don't have homeless people. I remember when 00:22:16.970 --> 00:22:19.829 we were living in Charleston, Nathan and I would 00:22:19.829 --> 00:22:25.849 get up in January, the walleye and the sauger 00:22:25.849 --> 00:22:28.650 would start spawning and they would run real 00:22:28.650 --> 00:22:32.289 early and they were a night feeder. So there 00:22:32.289 --> 00:22:34.130 was this creek called Campbell's Creek that went 00:22:34.130 --> 00:22:36.950 into the canal river right across the road from 00:22:36.950 --> 00:22:40.470 where we lived. So we would drive and park on 00:22:40.470 --> 00:22:44.140 the interstate frontage road. we'd cross under 00:22:44.140 --> 00:22:46.440 the bridge and we'd walk out the sand bar and 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:48.400 we'd fish under the lights from the interstate 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:51.000 and there's four or five guys that would do that. 00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:54.079 We'd catch sauger and walleye but as you go under 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:56.319 that bridge there was always two or three people 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:58.940 that were sleeping under the bridge. That's where 00:22:58.940 --> 00:23:01.259 they slept. That's where they had. And I'm talking 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:03.420 about when I was going fishing out there I had 00:23:03.420 --> 00:23:08.019 five millimeter thick neoprene chest waders and 00:23:08.019 --> 00:23:11.619 I was cold. And the ice would form on the rod 00:23:11.619 --> 00:23:14.359 guides. And these people were sleeping on concrete 00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:17.339 under the bridge. The homeless are everywhere. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.779 And Jesus said they'll always be poor with you. 00:23:20.859 --> 00:23:23.900 There's always, always going to be the poor. 00:23:24.180 --> 00:23:27.420 And I know, I know, they made bad decisions, 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:30.319 didn't they? They drank a little bit too much 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:34.119 wine, didn't they? They got involved in drugs. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:37.099 They made terrible decisions and they're paying 00:23:37.099 --> 00:23:40.430 for it now. But you can't stop there, folks, 00:23:40.630 --> 00:23:43.170 because the same people back in Jesus' time, 00:23:43.369 --> 00:23:45.529 there was plenty of wine to drink back then, 00:23:45.750 --> 00:23:48.849 and plenty of people got sloppy -dog drunk drinking 00:23:48.849 --> 00:23:51.029 wine, and they lost their jobs, and they lost 00:23:51.029 --> 00:23:53.509 their families, and they became alcoholics, and 00:23:53.509 --> 00:23:55.650 they couldn't make a living, and they ended up 00:23:55.650 --> 00:23:58.509 on the street. And there was plenty of beggars 00:23:58.509 --> 00:24:01.650 that just were begging for some crumb to fall 00:24:01.650 --> 00:24:03.910 down so I could put something in my starving 00:24:03.910 --> 00:24:10.819 stomach. Just some place. And Jesus cared about 00:24:10.819 --> 00:24:16.740 the people that made bad decisions. I look at 00:24:16.740 --> 00:24:19.779 Steve Leonard's life, and I see a man who's made 00:24:19.779 --> 00:24:25.660 some bad decisions. Why on earth, Lord, have 00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:31.440 you loved me through those times? And I'll tell 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:36.480 you why. It's so I can show that love and that 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:40.990 compassion to the people that I live with today 00:24:40.990 --> 00:24:47.589 that have made some bad decisions. So the question 00:24:47.589 --> 00:24:52.829 before you today is, you see somebody on the 00:24:52.829 --> 00:24:56.369 side of the road. You see somebody homeless. 00:24:56.650 --> 00:25:02.430 You know a family that needs help. It's real 00:25:02.430 --> 00:25:06.720 safe. It's real easy. To say the church is gonna 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:10.440 do or the government is gonna do or this person 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:17.980 is gonna do You say to yourself I'm gonna get 00:25:17.980 --> 00:25:24.480 dirty That's where the change is going to occur 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:29.839 That's what Jesus Christ is all about because 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:32.940 when you have a personal relationship with the 00:25:32.940 --> 00:25:36.640 God of the universe through his son, Jesus Christ, 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:42.799 it changes you. It changes your heart. And it 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:50.140 smashes the stone that makes up our hearts. And 00:25:50.140 --> 00:25:53.279 that's what we need today in the church. That's 00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:58.519 what we need today. We need revival. And we need 00:25:58.519 --> 00:26:02.420 to be uncomfortable. And we need to ask Jesus 00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:08.140 what. would you have me do? What would you do?