WEBVTT 00:00:14.539 --> 00:00:17.719 It's a great privilege today to introduce to 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:22.359 you a friend of Jenny and ours. Last year we 00:00:22.359 --> 00:00:24.739 got to go up to Pastor Frank DiMazio. How many 00:00:24.739 --> 00:00:27.160 know Pastor Frank DiMazio in the house? Wonderful. 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:29.859 He was the senior pastor of Eugene Christian 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:32.259 Fellowship that started and founded that. Came 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:35.000 from Portland Bible Temple and then Brother Dick 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.740 from Bible Temple asked him to come take the 00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:41.060 church up there and he's done that. Fact is 1993 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:44.130 is when he... left to go up and take the reins 00:00:44.130 --> 00:00:47.270 up there that Eugenie and I got married and it's 00:00:47.270 --> 00:00:49.789 been a privilege to stay connected with him and 00:00:49.789 --> 00:00:52.109 we've got the opportunity to meet some of the 00:00:52.109 --> 00:00:55.950 great staff that he has brought, the Lord has 00:00:55.950 --> 00:00:58.740 brought to that. work up there and Frank has 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:01.200 taken that church from about 3 ,000 to about 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:03.939 6 ,000. It's been awesome to see the blessing 00:01:03.939 --> 00:01:06.540 of the Lord just breathe on the campuses and 00:01:06.540 --> 00:01:08.959 they've just they've gone to three major campuses 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:11.219 now starting their fourth in downtown Portland. 00:01:11.780 --> 00:01:15.319 Pastor Mark Estes is an evangelist in his own 00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:17.299 right. He worked with Christian equipers for 00:01:17.299 --> 00:01:21.019 years teaching the body of Christ how to assimilate 00:01:21.019 --> 00:01:23.540 Christians brand new baby Christians into the 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:26.060 fabric of the body of Christ and Frank met him 00:01:26.060 --> 00:01:28.890 and Their hearts connected and over the years 00:01:28.890 --> 00:01:31.730 we've got to get to know Mark Estes. We prophesied 00:01:31.730 --> 00:01:35.290 with him last year at their Presbytery at City 00:01:35.290 --> 00:01:37.430 Bible and just our hearts knit and I asked him 00:01:37.430 --> 00:01:39.510 to come down. It's taken a little bit to get 00:01:39.510 --> 00:01:41.609 him here but we are thrilled to hear the word 00:01:41.609 --> 00:01:43.790 of the Lord that he has for this church. Would 00:01:43.790 --> 00:01:46.150 you stand and welcome the man of God as he comes 00:01:46.150 --> 00:02:01.150 this morning to bring the word. Well, good morning. 00:02:03.450 --> 00:02:05.469 Boy, there is a sweet presence of the Holy Spirit 00:02:05.469 --> 00:02:12.150 here. You know, as we were worshiping, I felt 00:02:12.150 --> 00:02:16.650 the Holy Spirit asking me a simple question. 00:02:17.650 --> 00:02:22.189 Why are we here? When you're worshiping do you 00:02:22.189 --> 00:02:24.530 ever stop and just ask that question God why 00:02:24.530 --> 00:02:26.509 why am I even here this morning? You know the 00:02:26.509 --> 00:02:28.550 Bible says that one day in his house is better 00:02:28.550 --> 00:02:31.389 than a thousand elsewhere I'm a addicted to the 00:02:31.389 --> 00:02:33.629 church. I'm addicted to the body of Christ. I'm 00:02:33.629 --> 00:02:36.550 addicted to his presence. I love coming to church 00:02:36.550 --> 00:02:40.039 But I know that there's something more than just 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:42.840 coming to church to be encouraged and built up. 00:02:42.939 --> 00:02:45.060 And again, that's part of being a Christian that 00:02:45.060 --> 00:02:47.639 we would be encouraged and built up and strengthened 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:49.979 and we would come together and we would worship 00:02:49.979 --> 00:02:53.280 His name. But I wondered if you asked the Lord 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:56.939 this question. Lord, what's on your heart right 00:02:56.939 --> 00:03:00.560 now? What would He say? Now again, I'm being 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:03.400 speculative here, but I wonder what He would 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:07.520 say. Now some of you here maybe with a little 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:13.060 bit of a worship bent might say well my bag is 00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:16.240 worship and what the Lord really wants is us 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:19.520 to love the Lord your God with all your heart 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:22.500 soul mind and strength and so I think what the 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:24.599 Lord would say right now is that all of his people 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:28.300 should worship him and there's probably an element 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:33.199 of truth to that but I think that when you get 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:36.259 to heaven that's all that you will do is worship 00:03:36.259 --> 00:03:41.389 him You might be saying, well, you know, what's 00:03:41.389 --> 00:03:43.909 on the Lord's heart right now, what my bag is 00:03:43.909 --> 00:03:48.270 this morning, is the Word, man. I love the Word, 00:03:49.330 --> 00:03:52.129 the infallible Word of God. I gotta have the 00:03:52.129 --> 00:03:54.889 Word. But when you get to heaven, you'll be with 00:03:54.889 --> 00:04:04.610 the Word. I think if you were to ask the Lord 00:04:04.610 --> 00:04:10.979 this morning, really, What moves his heart? I 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:14.479 think it would be reaching lost people. And this 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:17.560 is why I think that. It's because when you get 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:23.540 to heaven, it'll be too late. It's the one thing 00:04:23.540 --> 00:04:27.220 that you won't be able to do when you get to 00:04:27.220 --> 00:04:31.899 heaven. There's a reason why Jesus said to his 00:04:31.899 --> 00:04:35.160 disciples that by the way missed an opportunity 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:38.720 to bring a city to Christ three times John 4 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:42.259 They missed the opportunity three times to bring 00:04:42.259 --> 00:04:45.019 an entire city to Christ because their eyes were 00:04:45.019 --> 00:04:50.709 focused elsewhere And in the context when these 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:53.290 three missed opportunities, as the disciples 00:04:53.290 --> 00:04:56.430 were sitting around the well, and as that city 00:04:56.430 --> 00:04:59.189 is running towards the well, the entire city 00:04:59.189 --> 00:05:02.569 came out it says, it's in that context that Jesus 00:05:02.569 --> 00:05:06.269 says to his disciples, do you not say that there 00:05:06.269 --> 00:05:08.629 are four months into the harvest? He says, lift 00:05:08.629 --> 00:05:10.290 up your eyes and look. He's saying, hey guys, 00:05:10.389 --> 00:05:14.250 turn around and look at what you missed. And 00:05:14.250 --> 00:05:17.319 as the city's running, he's saying, Lift up your 00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:20.779 eyes, the harvest is white, for harvest. The 00:05:20.779 --> 00:05:24.000 reason why Jesus said, don't say four months 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:26.819 into the harvest, because he knew you and I would 00:05:26.819 --> 00:05:31.240 say that. He knew that we would take this thing 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:33.759 that would be a little bit uncomfortable, the 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:37.689 E word, evangelism, and we would... push it off 00:05:37.689 --> 00:05:40.250 a little bit and maybe put it upon some other 00:05:40.250 --> 00:05:44.129 person, upon Pastor Brad, upon Pastor Anthony, 00:05:44.589 --> 00:05:47.370 upon the event. I'm not really gifted that way. 00:05:47.389 --> 00:05:49.709 I really don't like it. I'm kind of uncomfortable. 00:05:49.850 --> 00:05:51.910 It kind of freaks me out. I don't want to lose 00:05:51.910 --> 00:05:54.829 my reputation or my job or my friendship. All 00:05:54.829 --> 00:05:59.870 these other things that we begin to reason. And 00:05:59.870 --> 00:06:07.399 we say, maybe tomorrow. Do you know that every 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:11.379 time your heart beats, someone dies? When you 00:06:11.379 --> 00:06:15.180 look at global statistics, every time that your 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:19.839 heart beats, someone dies most unsaved. In fact, 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:22.819 since we started this service, 6 ,000 people 00:06:22.819 --> 00:06:27.259 have died most unsaved. By the time one day, 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:31.540 24 hours goes around, 144 ,000 people will die 00:06:31.540 --> 00:06:36.019 and most of them will go to hell. In one year's 00:06:36.019 --> 00:06:41.959 time, 52 ,600 ,000 people will die most unsaved. 00:06:42.100 --> 00:06:46.959 It's no wonder, he said, today is the day of 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:54.160 salvation. I believe God's in a hurry. I believe 00:06:54.160 --> 00:07:01.199 that the reason why we are here sucking air on 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:06.579 planet Earth is because there is a purpose for 00:07:06.579 --> 00:07:11.439 you to be here. You didn't save just to go to 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:16.439 heaven and be a cute Christian. If you were saved 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:21.500 to go to heaven, then go. We could probably work 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:24.660 it out. Could line you up here, do a little altar 00:07:24.660 --> 00:07:28.720 call, bam, bam, bam, go to heaven. You weren't 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:32.230 saved to go to heaven. You were saved and empowered 00:07:32.230 --> 00:07:34.449 and you come to church and you're the body of 00:07:34.449 --> 00:07:36.730 Christ that we might be a light to the world, 00:07:36.889 --> 00:07:41.269 a salt to the earth, to let people know that 00:07:41.269 --> 00:07:47.339 there's hope for their life. And I get concerned 00:07:47.339 --> 00:07:49.540 with the body of Christ. And again, I'm a local 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:51.879 church guy. I love the body of Christ. I think 00:07:51.879 --> 00:07:55.060 God's doing great things. I thank God for worship. 00:07:55.220 --> 00:07:57.759 I thank God for the word of God. I thank God 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:00.240 for serving and ministries and all that we're 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:02.939 doing. But sometimes I just kind of feel like 00:08:02.939 --> 00:08:05.399 we're rearranging lawn chairs on the Titanic. 00:08:08.509 --> 00:08:11.069 As we lift our hands and the presence of God 00:08:11.069 --> 00:08:14.149 comes down, I go through mixed emotions because 00:08:14.149 --> 00:08:17.329 I love his presence, but as my hands are raised, 00:08:17.509 --> 00:08:20.029 I get this thought that there are people driving 00:08:20.029 --> 00:08:22.750 by right now as my hands are raised that are 00:08:22.750 --> 00:08:27.199 dying and going to hell. And the longer that 00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:29.579 we become a Christian, the more that we begin 00:08:29.579 --> 00:08:33.299 to focus in on those things that Christianity 00:08:33.299 --> 00:08:36.480 presents. And if we're not careful, we can get 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:41.019 so busy doing church that we forget to be the 00:08:41.019 --> 00:08:46.460 church. The second half to the equation where 00:08:46.460 --> 00:08:49.899 Jesus said in Matthew 22 that we should love 00:08:49.899 --> 00:08:52.399 the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, 00:08:52.519 --> 00:08:54.200 mind and strength. He's talking about the two 00:08:54.200 --> 00:09:00.149 greatest commandments. He says, and love your 00:09:00.149 --> 00:09:07.970 neighbor as yourself. See what brought, the very 00:09:07.970 --> 00:09:10.330 fact that we're even here and created is because 00:09:10.330 --> 00:09:13.809 God's a God of love and he wanted relationship. 00:09:14.389 --> 00:09:16.970 And because the severing of that relationship 00:09:16.970 --> 00:09:20.250 in sin, he loved us so much that he sent his 00:09:20.250 --> 00:09:22.909 son to die. What drove Christ to the cross was 00:09:22.909 --> 00:09:27.809 love. And it's what should be in our heart and 00:09:27.809 --> 00:09:32.250 compel us to slow down long enough to realize 00:09:32.250 --> 00:09:35.549 that there's people around us that really, really 00:09:35.549 --> 00:09:42.049 need him. But whatever it is, we get this thing 00:09:42.049 --> 00:09:47.129 in our mind, which I believe to be demonic, that 00:09:47.129 --> 00:09:50.129 we can't share, we shouldn't share. Do you know 00:09:50.129 --> 00:09:52.330 every time that you begin to share and fear comes 00:09:52.330 --> 00:09:56.740 that that's a spirit? The Bible says that God's 00:09:56.740 --> 00:09:59.299 not given you that spirit of fear, but of power, 00:09:59.539 --> 00:10:05.000 love, and a sound mind. And every time that you 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:08.059 bow to a certain spirit, you actually give it 00:10:08.059 --> 00:10:11.019 opportunity to move and be strengthened in your 00:10:11.019 --> 00:10:14.840 life. And every time the Holy Spirit shows up 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:18.419 and says, share. and fear comes the more that 00:10:18.419 --> 00:10:21.559 you actually bow to a spirit more than you bow 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:24.779 to God because you succumb to it every time that 00:10:24.779 --> 00:10:30.500 it sticks its ugly head up in your life. But 00:10:30.500 --> 00:10:35.519 that's not God's desire plan. And I want to talk 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:39.980 to you this morning about a thought that I have 00:10:39.980 --> 00:10:44.179 that has been raging in my spirit about what 00:10:44.179 --> 00:10:46.899 we need to do to get back to reaching people. 00:10:46.940 --> 00:10:51.600 We've made it too complex. And I believe that 00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:54.679 we can reduce reaching people back to a simple 00:10:54.679 --> 00:10:58.720 thought. Now again, I'm not in saying this trying 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:03.320 to excuse or dismiss things such as equipping 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:06.740 or apologetics or strategy or training or prayer 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:09.860 or intercession or power or Holy Spirit. I think 00:11:09.860 --> 00:11:13.370 we need all those things. I think that the church 00:11:13.370 --> 00:11:15.750 is doing a good job in many of those areas, but 00:11:15.750 --> 00:11:18.730 I believe the central core in which we build 00:11:18.730 --> 00:11:23.450 all those things, as 1 Corinthians 13 so eloquently 00:11:23.450 --> 00:11:25.789 describes, you can have all the gifts in the 00:11:25.789 --> 00:11:31.789 world, but if you don't have love, they mean 00:11:31.789 --> 00:11:40.070 zip, nada, nothing, zero. And I wanted to start 00:11:40.070 --> 00:11:43.590 this morning by telling you a story about a man 00:11:43.590 --> 00:11:47.870 named Anthony Campallo, who's a psychiatrist, 00:11:48.190 --> 00:11:50.730 Christian psychiatrist, he's an author, he's 00:11:50.730 --> 00:11:54.669 a speaker, travels from New Jersey all the way 00:11:54.669 --> 00:11:58.450 over to Hawaii to speak at a conference. Six 00:11:58.450 --> 00:12:03.090 hour time difference, severe jet lag. About midnight, 00:12:03.169 --> 00:12:05.909 he's in his hotel room and realizes that he can't 00:12:05.909 --> 00:12:08.129 sleep because it's about 6 a .m. to his body. 00:12:08.509 --> 00:12:11.190 So he goes out into the town to get himself a 00:12:11.190 --> 00:12:14.870 piece of pie and a cup of coffee. We're driving 00:12:14.870 --> 00:12:18.090 around, he lands about 2, 2 .30 in this particular 00:12:18.090 --> 00:12:21.250 area of Hawaii. He didn't know it would be the 00:12:21.250 --> 00:12:23.450 red light district, but ends up at this little 00:12:23.450 --> 00:12:26.049 diner, orders himself a piece of pie and coffee. 00:12:26.750 --> 00:12:30.200 Just him and the diner. The door would fling 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:32.840 open at 3 a .m. And a group of prostitutes would 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:35.019 come in and settle down in the corner and begin 00:12:35.019 --> 00:12:39.080 their daily conversations about the evening. 00:12:39.740 --> 00:12:42.480 And one of the girls that was in the room, her 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.120 name was Agnes, and she stood up and said, Hey 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:49.940 girls, guess what? Tomorrow's my birthday. We 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:53.519 should throw me a birthday party. And all of 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:56.100 the girls just, you know, not out of bad intention, 00:12:56.179 --> 00:12:59.379 just begin to mock her and say, Agnes, Prostitutes 00:12:59.379 --> 00:13:01.700 don't get birthday parties. We're not gonna throw 00:13:01.700 --> 00:13:04.120 a birthday party. Look at you. What do you think, 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:07.179 a birthday party for you? And as they're kinda 00:13:07.179 --> 00:13:09.279 playing with her, she gets very upset, begins 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:13.799 to weep, and runs out the door. Anthony Campallo's 00:13:13.799 --> 00:13:15.860 sitting there and feels pretty weird about the 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:18.019 situation. He's just kinda staring at his plate. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.159 All the girls are quiet. The diner's kinda doing 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:23.659 his own thing. Very uncomfortable moment. And 00:13:23.659 --> 00:13:25.779 he leans over to the diner and says, excuse me, 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:31.580 sir. He says, I don't mean to to butt into anybody's 00:13:31.580 --> 00:13:34.299 business, but do do these ladies come in here 00:13:34.299 --> 00:13:37.240 often? He says every night 3 a .m. Just like 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:40.379 clockwork He says, you know, I got this crazy 00:13:40.379 --> 00:13:46.340 idea He says why don't we throw Agnes a birthday 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:50.799 party tomorrow? The diner says, that's the craziest 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:52.960 thing I've ever heard. But you know what? We'll 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:55.019 go ahead and do a birthday party. I'll make the 00:13:55.019 --> 00:13:57.100 cake. You get all the other stuff. So Anthony 00:13:57.100 --> 00:13:59.679 goes out and shops the next day after the conference 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:02.299 and he buys all the little balloons and hats 00:14:02.299 --> 00:14:05.039 and little happy birthday signs. And he shows 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:07.679 up about 2 a .m. and he puts the big happy birthday 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:10.360 Agnes sign up and wears his little beanie hat 00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:13.059 on his big bald head, and he's got his little 00:14:13.059 --> 00:14:15.980 kazoo blower thing, and 3 a .m., sure enough, 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:17.620 ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, girls come 00:14:17.620 --> 00:14:22.080 in and he jumps up, surprise, Agnes, happy birthday! 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:25.620 And they all just kind of stop and look at him. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:32.519 And Agnes begins to cry. It turns out she had 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:35.039 never had a birthday party in her life, 29 years 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:39.809 old, never had a birthday party. She was so moved 00:14:39.809 --> 00:14:43.809 by the fact that this stranger in this diner 00:14:43.809 --> 00:14:46.070 would throw a birthday party she runs over and 00:14:46.070 --> 00:14:48.929 asks if she could go home and wake up her two 00:14:48.929 --> 00:14:51.590 girls and bring them back so that they could 00:14:51.590 --> 00:14:55.049 celebrate this 3 a .m. First ever birthday party 00:14:55.049 --> 00:14:58.669 for Agnes So she runs home and gets the two kids 00:14:58.669 --> 00:15:00.950 and comes back and they're celebrating It's a 00:15:00.950 --> 00:15:03.529 wonderful time and they're singing happy birthday 00:15:03.529 --> 00:15:08.159 and blowing out candles and she comes over to 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:13.740 Anthony, this stranger. And she says, why would 00:15:13.740 --> 00:15:18.220 you do this for me? I'm a prostitute. You don't 00:15:18.220 --> 00:15:20.639 even know me. Why would you throw a birthday 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:24.220 party for me? And he said, well ma 'am, I just 00:15:24.220 --> 00:15:26.139 wanna let you know that I'm a Christian. And 00:15:26.139 --> 00:15:29.019 as he began to explain the reason why he was 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:32.320 moved in his heart with compassion for her, the 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:37.690 diner said, hey, wait a minute. You didn't tell 00:15:37.690 --> 00:15:41.889 me that you were a Christian. If I knew you were 00:15:41.889 --> 00:15:43.549 a Christian, I wouldn't be doing this thing. 00:15:43.590 --> 00:15:48.149 What kind of Christian are you anyways? He says, 00:15:48.309 --> 00:15:50.570 I'm the kind of Christian that throws birthday 00:15:50.570 --> 00:15:53.570 parties for prostitutes at three a .m. in the 00:15:53.570 --> 00:16:02.509 morning. What kind of Christian are you and I? 00:16:03.470 --> 00:16:06.470 I want you to be real honest with yourself right 00:16:06.470 --> 00:16:10.429 now and ask yourself this question. Would you 00:16:10.429 --> 00:16:14.950 throw a birthday party for a prostitute at 3 00:16:14.950 --> 00:16:23.269 a .m.? You see, something's happened today. I 00:16:23.269 --> 00:16:29.809 believe in the body of Christ. Where we... Feel 00:16:29.809 --> 00:16:34.389 an obligation and a responsibility to share and 00:16:34.389 --> 00:16:37.769 at best will throw out events or we compartmentalize 00:16:37.769 --> 00:16:40.950 evangelism into something that we do occasionally 00:16:40.950 --> 00:16:46.110 but not something that we are. 95 % of all Christians 00:16:46.110 --> 00:16:49.820 have never led one person to Christ. 50 % of 00:16:49.820 --> 00:16:52.379 all churches in America within the next 12 months, 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:56.039 that's 165 ,000 churches, they will not add one 00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:58.139 new convert to their church within the next 12 00:16:58.139 --> 00:17:02.019 months. And so I've got to come back to this 00:17:02.019 --> 00:17:04.660 question and say, are we the kind of people that 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:07.099 will throw birthday parties for prostitutes at 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:10.200 3M? And if not, what's wrong with our hearts? 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:12.759 Is there something there that we're missing? 00:17:15.529 --> 00:17:18.589 And I believe that God has allowed every single 00:17:18.589 --> 00:17:22.250 one of us, whether saved or unsaved, to be born 00:17:22.250 --> 00:17:27.549 with these holes in our hearts. The reason why 00:17:27.549 --> 00:17:30.569 these holes are in our hearts, spiritual holes, 00:17:30.769 --> 00:17:34.140 emotional holes, relational holes That hole might 00:17:34.140 --> 00:17:36.839 say joy on it, it might say peace, it might say 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:39.380 belonging, it might say significance, it might 00:17:39.380 --> 00:17:42.140 say happiness, it might say hope, it might say 00:17:42.140 --> 00:17:46.240 joy. All of us have the insatiable desire to 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:49.019 pursue those things outside of ourselves because 00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:51.339 we by ourselves can't fill them within our own. 00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:54.299 And the reason we were created that way is so 00:17:54.299 --> 00:17:56.619 that we would pursue something outside of our 00:17:56.619 --> 00:17:59.819 means, hopefully God, that could come and fill 00:17:59.819 --> 00:18:03.509 those holes. But we have a society today that 00:18:03.509 --> 00:18:06.809 is going around and grabbing other things to 00:18:06.809 --> 00:18:10.930 stick square pegs in round holes. And so we go 00:18:10.930 --> 00:18:14.470 out and we find people going and having sex and 00:18:14.470 --> 00:18:16.529 sleeping with other people because they're looking 00:18:16.529 --> 00:18:18.990 for something to fill the hole that says love. 00:18:20.269 --> 00:18:23.349 Or guys that are willing to sacrifice their family 00:18:23.349 --> 00:18:26.289 on the sake of the altar of their career because 00:18:26.289 --> 00:18:29.190 they're looking for this thing called significance. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:36.299 And I believe this one thought, that everyone 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:41.859 has a need and God can use me to fill it. I believe 00:18:41.859 --> 00:18:44.599 if we could reduce the whole thought this morning 00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:47.640 down to this one thing, it would be this. Every 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:50.660 person has a need and God can use you to fill 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:55.539 it. And I believe that as we look at scripture, 00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:59.400 we'll find that one of the greatest ways of touching 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:02.640 the hearts of people is by meeting their needs. 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:07.380 When you look at scripture, there's a scripture 00:19:07.380 --> 00:19:12.700 in 1 John 3, verses 16 through 18. And it's a 00:19:12.700 --> 00:19:15.319 scripture that talks about Jesus and it talks 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:19.099 about love. And in this particular scripture, 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:21.779 it's written by a man named John who walked with 00:19:21.779 --> 00:19:25.339 Jesus, had firsthand revelation in regards to 00:19:25.339 --> 00:19:28.240 what love really was and how Christ really went 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:30.839 out and shared with people. You wonder why the 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:35.140 multitudes flocked towards him? I believe that 00:19:35.140 --> 00:19:38.279 the anointing had something to do with it, but 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:40.759 I believe that there was something even greater. 00:19:40.859 --> 00:19:43.180 You know, the Bible says faith, hope, and love, 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:45.119 these are the great three, but the greatest of 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:52.220 these is love. I believe that there was a heartfelt 00:19:52.220 --> 00:19:57.000 love and compassion towards people that compelled 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:03.759 them to follow Christ. Christ loved us while 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:08.920 we were still yet sinners. But in 1 John 3 it 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:13.900 says this. It says, this is how we know what 00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:18.559 real love is. Pretty bold statement. It says 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:25.039 that Christ gave up his life for us. For you, 00:20:25.059 --> 00:20:29.480 for me. So this is love. Love is not a feeling. 00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:33.579 Love is an action. And really, love isn't love 00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:36.140 until you give it away. It's really when you 00:20:36.140 --> 00:20:39.200 give something of yourself for the sake of another 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:41.700 that it actually equates to the true meaning 00:20:41.700 --> 00:20:47.339 of love. The gospel would have meant nothing 00:20:47.339 --> 00:20:51.500 if Christ didn't go to the cross. He could have 00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:54.599 been out preaching for three and a half years 00:20:54.599 --> 00:20:57.680 that I love you and I'm gonna save you, but if 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.599 he didn't go to the cross then act out. what 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:05.700 he was proclaiming, it would have invalidated 00:21:05.700 --> 00:21:11.380 the gospel. What validated his proclamation was 00:21:11.380 --> 00:21:18.500 his demonstration. And I think it's one of the 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:20.880 things that we as Christians need to get back 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:23.519 to, that we're good at proclaiming, we're good 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:26.640 at sharing with people possibly, but when it 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:29.279 really comes down to bringing the validation, 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:31.779 the demonstration, the sacrifice, the willing 00:21:31.779 --> 00:21:34.799 to give ourselves for the sake of people, we 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.920 might just be a little bit too busy, running 00:21:36.920 --> 00:21:39.660 a little bit too fast, money's a little bit tight, 00:21:39.700 --> 00:21:42.160 got the kid, and we begin to say, well, I just 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:44.579 don't know if I can go that far, and so we privatize 00:21:44.579 --> 00:21:52.579 that piece. So Jesus showed his love by his actions. 00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:55.660 And it's what unlocked the hearts of people. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:58.920 But it's important, and this is where I want 00:21:58.920 --> 00:22:01.460 you to just kind of hone in this morning to get 00:22:01.460 --> 00:22:05.380 this one point. It wasn't just that he acted 00:22:05.380 --> 00:22:09.900 out. It wasn't necessarily what he did that was 00:22:09.900 --> 00:22:14.900 so important to the person. It was why he did 00:22:14.900 --> 00:22:19.700 it. You can go out and do something for someone 00:22:19.700 --> 00:22:23.940 out of obligation, and you have lack of appreciation 00:22:23.940 --> 00:22:27.119 because there was no heartfelt response behind 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:28.420 it. Oh yeah, here's some money, go on and go. 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:30.640 It's not like, wow, thank you for touching me, 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:36.259 that meant so much. But when the motive behind 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:41.200 what you do is because you love someone, it begins 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:47.059 to melt the heart. And that's what I want to 00:22:47.059 --> 00:22:50.859 talk about this morning is this area of compassion. 00:22:51.799 --> 00:22:54.599 How can we get the love of God back into our 00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:58.519 heart to begin to love people? Everyone has a 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:03.660 need and it's our responsibility to fill it. 00:23:05.380 --> 00:23:12.299 And boy is it windy. I was at a Safeway just 00:23:12.299 --> 00:23:14.220 a little while back and there was a lady behind 00:23:14.220 --> 00:23:17.930 the counter. She was just checking her groceries 00:23:17.930 --> 00:23:20.309 and as I went to the counter I felt the Holy 00:23:20.309 --> 00:23:22.589 Spirit speak to me give me a word for this lady 00:23:22.589 --> 00:23:25.829 and She's scanning the groceries and as they're 00:23:25.829 --> 00:23:29.430 going across. I said to her I said How's how 00:23:29.430 --> 00:23:31.130 are you doing? How's your day? And she says oh, 00:23:31.170 --> 00:23:32.990 it's just another day And this is the word that 00:23:32.990 --> 00:23:35.869 the Lord gave me says it doesn't have to be that 00:23:35.869 --> 00:23:39.279 way there is another way And I remember her stopping 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:41.599 and just looking at me and she just kind of stared 00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:44.339 at me for a second and we kind of caught eye 00:23:44.339 --> 00:23:46.799 contact and we are staring at each other. And 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:49.539 it wasn't definitely one of those moments. It 00:23:49.539 --> 00:23:52.539 was just, I mean. We could see that we were engaged 00:23:52.539 --> 00:23:55.119 and I could see tears welling up in her eyes 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:56.940 and she put her head down and began to scan her 00:23:56.940 --> 00:23:59.180 groceries and I left and walked out in the parking 00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:01.619 lot and I was about 50 yards from the building 00:24:01.619 --> 00:24:03.920 about ready to get into my car and I hear this 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:06.019 lady screaming running through the parking lot. 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:08.380 She's got her hands up and she's running in the 00:24:08.380 --> 00:24:10.759 rain. She's going, you've got to tell me what's 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:13.960 the other way. What's the other way? I'm just 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:17.650 going to. I mean, I wonder what she's doing, 00:24:17.670 --> 00:24:20.289 but she's running at me. She's crying and screaming. 00:24:20.450 --> 00:24:22.769 She had left the cash register. She had left 00:24:22.769 --> 00:24:25.390 all the money. She left all the different customers 00:24:25.390 --> 00:24:27.869 in line. And she rolled up her sleeves and she 00:24:27.869 --> 00:24:30.410 began to tell me how she's in a lesbian lifestyle. 00:24:30.890 --> 00:24:33.650 And that her partner's very abusive and every 00:24:33.650 --> 00:24:36.269 night she hears a voice telling her to kill herself. 00:24:36.490 --> 00:24:39.329 And she's got hundreds of cuts from razor blades 00:24:39.329 --> 00:24:41.950 and knives all up and down her arms. And she's 00:24:41.950 --> 00:24:44.829 saying, you've got to tell me what the other 00:24:44.829 --> 00:24:49.769 way is. world filled with needs What she was 00:24:49.769 --> 00:24:53.849 looking for was not a track Was not a church 00:24:53.849 --> 00:25:00.089 invite She was just simply looking for love She's 00:25:00.089 --> 00:25:06.829 looking for love When you think of the word compassion 00:25:06.829 --> 00:25:12.769 what comes to your mind When you look at this 00:25:12.769 --> 00:25:15.029 word compassion in the Greek when it said that 00:25:15.029 --> 00:25:18.210 Jesus had compassion on them You can see that 00:25:18.210 --> 00:25:22.490 multiple times in Scripture Where Jesus it said 00:25:22.490 --> 00:25:27.269 when he saw them he had compassion on them, and 00:25:27.269 --> 00:25:31.970 then he did something He he saw need he began 00:25:31.970 --> 00:25:37.130 to ask What that need was he began to personalize 00:25:37.130 --> 00:25:41.200 the need? As he felt their pain he would then 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:43.740 move and there's a couple scriptures that I want 00:25:43.740 --> 00:25:47.119 to read to you that just validate this thought 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:53.619 Matthew 9 36 and 37 says but when he saw the 00:25:53.619 --> 00:25:57.680 multitudes he was moved with compassion for them 00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:00.380 Because they were weary didn't scattered Matthew 00:26:00.380 --> 00:26:04.339 14 14 and 15 says this and when Jesus went out 00:26:04.339 --> 00:26:09.940 and saw the great multitude He was moved with 00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:14.519 compassion for them, and then he healed their 00:26:14.519 --> 00:26:19.920 sick. It's interesting, he sees the need, then 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:24.180 he is moved with compassion, and then he responds. 00:26:24.500 --> 00:26:30.420 He sees, he feels, and he responds. Most of us 00:26:30.420 --> 00:26:33.460 today, we see the needs, but we don't see the 00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:36.210 needs. They're all around us. You see it on the 00:26:36.210 --> 00:26:39.369 nightly news. You see it when you read the newspaper. 00:26:39.950 --> 00:26:42.769 People around, there are hundreds if not thousands 00:26:42.769 --> 00:26:46.210 of needs all around us every single day. We see 00:26:46.210 --> 00:26:50.009 them, but maybe because we're so busy or we don't 00:26:50.009 --> 00:26:53.190 ask, it's not personalized where it begins to 00:26:53.190 --> 00:26:55.269 affect our spirit, where it compels us then to 00:26:55.269 --> 00:26:57.490 move. So we see it and oh wow, that's a real 00:26:57.490 --> 00:27:04.089 bummer. But nothing really happens. But Jesus 00:27:04.089 --> 00:27:09.220 saw it. He was moved and then he responded. The 00:27:09.220 --> 00:27:12.920 word compassion in the Greek, the word sphagnaxoma, 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:17.059 he means a gut wrenching emotion. It means that 00:27:17.059 --> 00:27:21.680 you begin to see a person's need and through 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:24.400 the Holy Spirit working in you and through you, 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:27.700 you begin to personalize that person's experience 00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:32.019 or pain as if it was your own. and you begin 00:27:32.019 --> 00:27:36.640 to be moved with Holy Spirit emotion, not just 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:40.180 fleshly emotion, and you're compelled to do something 00:27:40.180 --> 00:27:44.200 because you feel something in your heart that 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:49.420 you're supposed to do. Really what compassion 00:27:49.420 --> 00:27:55.200 is, is it's passion personalized. It's impossible 00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:58.819 to have passion for the multitudes if we don't 00:27:58.819 --> 00:28:04.279 have compassion for the individual. Jesus would 00:28:04.279 --> 00:28:07.539 have passion for the multitudes, but do you notice 00:28:07.539 --> 00:28:11.319 how throughout scripture most of the encounters 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:15.900 with the multitudes was reduced down to him ministering 00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:19.440 to the woman in the crowd that tugs his garment? 00:28:20.669 --> 00:28:24.369 Leaving Jericho with multitudes following him 00:28:24.369 --> 00:28:27.069 and a guy on the side of the road called Blind 00:28:27.069 --> 00:28:29.589 Bartimaeus screams out and he ministers to the 00:28:29.589 --> 00:28:33.549 one or Zacchaeus in the tree. The little girl 00:28:33.549 --> 00:28:37.049 that's sick or the leper that's got a disease. 00:28:37.509 --> 00:28:39.930 There's always the multitudes but he reduces 00:28:39.930 --> 00:28:44.450 it down to touching the one because that's where 00:28:44.450 --> 00:28:50.140 true passion is birthed out. It's in the individual. 00:28:50.359 --> 00:28:54.059 It's in touching the life of the one. And I want 00:28:54.059 --> 00:28:56.960 this morning to talk about this whole area of 00:28:56.960 --> 00:28:59.460 compassion because I think it's an area that's 00:28:59.460 --> 00:29:03.720 missing greatly in the church today. There was 00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:05.680 a young lady who came to one of our services. 00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:08.220 She had been living on the streets since she 00:29:08.220 --> 00:29:11.619 was 13 years old. She was now 19 years old. She 00:29:11.619 --> 00:29:13.880 had been selling her body every day living under 00:29:13.880 --> 00:29:16.880 the bridge in Portland. There's a homeless girl 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:19.240 that came into our service and she had a tethered 00:29:19.240 --> 00:29:21.559 little piece of paper where she had written a 00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:23.680 poem that she had in her pocket or purse for 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:27.759 some time. It's very weathered, very tattered 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:30.960 and she felt like she was supposed to come to 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:35.160 our church to give a pastor this poem as a representation 00:29:35.160 --> 00:29:37.039 of the people that lived under the bridge and 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:38.680 what they thought about the people that lived 00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:41.299 on the hill. that went to the church and came 00:29:41.299 --> 00:29:44.000 in the nice rose -colored stained glass windows 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:46.660 and the nice car and cute outfits and everything 00:29:46.660 --> 00:29:48.799 that we kind of do which I'm not against as long 00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:51.619 as our hearts right. But here was her poem she 00:29:51.619 --> 00:29:53.920 had written and handed to me. The title of the 00:29:53.920 --> 00:29:57.619 poem was When the Heart is Broken. And here's 00:29:57.619 --> 00:30:00.319 the poem. She says, when the heart is breaking 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:04.740 and the spirit is deceased, you serving your 00:30:04.740 --> 00:30:08.849 God brings me no release. When money fails and 00:30:08.849 --> 00:30:12.529 teardrops fall someone will ask is this all? 00:30:13.809 --> 00:30:17.369 All to life living free when burdens daily shackle 00:30:17.369 --> 00:30:23.089 me Where is God on lonely streets with chilling 00:30:23.089 --> 00:30:27.549 wind and hurting feet? What we need is not your 00:30:27.549 --> 00:30:31.769 words while our hands reach for help So save 00:30:31.769 --> 00:30:35.069 your sermons and your muttered prayers and show 00:30:35.069 --> 00:30:39.130 us instead that you really care and give me answers 00:30:39.130 --> 00:30:43.029 while my heart bleeds that your God above cares 00:30:43.029 --> 00:30:49.269 as you fill my need." And she was basically saying, 00:30:49.309 --> 00:30:52.609 you know what? I appreciate all the tracks that 00:30:52.609 --> 00:30:54.990 people hand out and all the prayers and you got 00:30:54.990 --> 00:30:58.049 to get your life together and Jesus loves you. 00:30:58.329 --> 00:31:00.869 But at the end of the day, is there anybody here 00:31:00.869 --> 00:31:04.380 that will just stop and love me? Is there anybody 00:31:04.380 --> 00:31:06.519 here that will just kind of give me a meal or 00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:08.720 maybe say, hey, listen, I've got a home where 00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:11.200 you can stay or here's some money to get a hotel. 00:31:11.339 --> 00:31:13.720 She's saying, listen, really? And I think she 00:31:13.720 --> 00:31:16.319 really had revelation that she wasn't being cynical. 00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:19.420 She wasn't being arrogant. She wasn't vindictive. 00:31:19.460 --> 00:31:23.740 She said, I think that I perceive love to be 00:31:23.740 --> 00:31:26.380 something that's an action where you're willing 00:31:26.380 --> 00:31:29.420 to give something of yourself for the sake of 00:31:29.420 --> 00:31:32.339 someone in need. Is that what you guys believe? 00:31:36.110 --> 00:31:39.210 Obviously I was deeply convicted, this young 00:31:39.210 --> 00:31:43.630 lady, and just like you probably coming to church 00:31:43.630 --> 00:31:46.470 every Sunday and not even thinking about the 00:31:46.470 --> 00:31:48.789 fact that there could be a 19 year old girl that's 00:31:48.789 --> 00:31:51.190 surviving by selling her body in order to eat 00:31:51.190 --> 00:31:54.750 that lives under a bridge a few miles from our 00:31:54.750 --> 00:32:01.789 church. What she was basically saying is, I'm 00:32:01.789 --> 00:32:03.609 just wondering if there's any compassion left 00:32:03.609 --> 00:32:07.089 in the world. I wonder if any Christian has enough 00:32:07.089 --> 00:32:10.049 compassion maybe to help me with my situation. 00:32:11.690 --> 00:32:15.309 And so I just want to drop into your heart five 00:32:15.309 --> 00:32:17.769 thoughts. And again, I want you to personalize 00:32:17.769 --> 00:32:20.509 these this morning. And I really want you just 00:32:20.509 --> 00:32:22.950 to take some notes and think through these five 00:32:22.950 --> 00:32:26.230 areas of compassion. I call them the five signs 00:32:26.230 --> 00:32:28.990 of love for people. And I believe they're things 00:32:28.990 --> 00:32:33.809 that we need to have in our life as a Christian 00:32:33.960 --> 00:32:37.299 in order to make an impact or a difference in 00:32:37.299 --> 00:32:40.400 the world around us. So I want to talk about 00:32:40.400 --> 00:32:42.799 these five, and they come out of Luke chapter 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:46.480 10, verses 25 through 37, and it's the story 00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:50.259 of the good Samaritan. Jesus is in a discourse 00:32:50.259 --> 00:32:53.240 with a religious lawyer. The religious lawyer 00:32:53.240 --> 00:32:56.059 has come to Jesus and asked him the question, 00:32:56.440 --> 00:32:59.940 what must I do in order to inherit eternal life? 00:33:00.539 --> 00:33:03.400 And Jesus says to him, well, what does The laws 00:33:03.400 --> 00:33:05.519 say, what does Moses say? And he says, well, 00:33:05.579 --> 00:33:08.039 he says to love the Lord your God with all your 00:33:08.039 --> 00:33:09.859 heart, soul, mind and strength and love your 00:33:09.859 --> 00:33:12.079 neighbor as yourself. And Jesus goes, right, 00:33:12.619 --> 00:33:16.539 do this and you will live. And then the man replied 00:33:16.539 --> 00:33:18.900 again, trying to trick Jesus, it says, he says, 00:33:19.220 --> 00:33:22.660 and who is my neighbor? And Jesus begins to tell 00:33:22.660 --> 00:33:26.319 him the story of a man that was on his way leaving 00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:29.559 Jericho that gets beat up by some bandits and 00:33:29.559 --> 00:33:32.440 thrown in a ditch and left half dead. And he 00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:34.660 says that there was a Levite and a priest that 00:33:34.660 --> 00:33:36.799 came by and saw the man's condition and went 00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:39.420 to the other side, but there was a good Samaritan 00:33:39.420 --> 00:33:41.400 that saw the condition and when he saw it, he 00:33:41.400 --> 00:33:44.039 went to where he was. He helped the man out, 00:33:44.059 --> 00:33:46.519 put him on his animal, took him to an inn, took 00:33:46.519 --> 00:33:49.519 care of him, stabilized him, and paid his bill. 00:33:50.519 --> 00:33:52.880 And Jesus asked him the question, now who's your 00:33:52.880 --> 00:33:57.480 neighbor in this story? Obviously, Jesus was 00:33:57.480 --> 00:34:02.220 going after the heart because He realized that 00:34:02.220 --> 00:34:04.839 the religious lawyer was a lot like you and I. 00:34:05.259 --> 00:34:08.900 We had all the right answers. We probably loved 00:34:08.900 --> 00:34:12.420 God. We really care about our family. We give 00:34:12.420 --> 00:34:15.800 tithes and offerings and we love the word of 00:34:15.800 --> 00:34:19.360 God. But Jesus was going after this heart thing 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:22.639 in this guy. He realized that there was something 00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:27.619 about him that had calloused over his love for 00:34:27.619 --> 00:34:31.289 people. And I believe that there's five things 00:34:31.289 --> 00:34:33.690 in this story here that we can apply to our life 00:34:33.690 --> 00:34:37.010 this morning that will really help us. And the 00:34:37.010 --> 00:34:42.130 first principle is this, is that compassion goes 00:34:42.130 --> 00:34:48.449 to where the lost are. In Luke 10 33, in this 00:34:48.449 --> 00:34:52.449 particular story, in Luke 10 33 it says this. 00:34:53.510 --> 00:34:58.190 It says, but there was a certain Samaritan as 00:34:58.300 --> 00:35:05.260 He journeyed went to where he was. You see the 00:35:05.260 --> 00:35:09.699 Levite and the priest, it says, and when they 00:35:09.699 --> 00:35:14.780 saw his condition. So in other words, they saw, 00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:18.039 but because there was callousness of heart when 00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:21.360 they saw, they went to the other side. It's kind 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:23.559 of like driving down the road. You see the guy 00:35:23.559 --> 00:35:27.619 asking for money. We see. Wouldn't, wouldn't, 00:35:27.619 --> 00:35:35.159 wouldn't we go to the other side? We see the 00:35:35.159 --> 00:35:37.320 hurting person. There's so many needs around 00:35:37.320 --> 00:35:39.900 us. We have a calloused heart where we look and 00:35:39.900 --> 00:35:44.960 we see, but we don't see. And Jesus is beginning 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:47.739 to say, hey look, there was this Levite and priest 00:35:47.739 --> 00:35:52.059 that's kind of a lot like you. And you see the 00:35:52.059 --> 00:35:54.480 condition, but you don't do anything about it. 00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:58.039 He says, but there's this other guy that's a 00:35:58.039 --> 00:36:00.599 Samaritan, and by the way, he used the Samaritan 00:36:00.599 --> 00:36:03.119 because there was such conflict with the Jews 00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:05.239 in Samaritan. He's saying, there's even a guy 00:36:05.239 --> 00:36:07.800 that maybe even less in your eyes than you really 00:36:07.800 --> 00:36:10.679 think you are, this Samaritan, this half -breed 00:36:10.679 --> 00:36:13.780 that was willing to do what you wouldn't do. 00:36:14.380 --> 00:36:16.920 And it says, when he saw his condition, it says, 00:36:17.219 --> 00:36:24.409 he went to where he was at. Jesus preached a 00:36:24.409 --> 00:36:32.630 gospel of go, not just a gospel of come. Our 00:36:32.630 --> 00:36:35.789 thought, our perception is that we want people 00:36:35.789 --> 00:36:39.550 to come to Christ on our terms, in our world, 00:36:39.909 --> 00:36:43.530 in our environment, in our church, in our small 00:36:43.530 --> 00:36:45.510 group. Hey, come to my church, come to my small 00:36:45.510 --> 00:36:48.130 group, come to my house. We would never think 00:36:48.130 --> 00:36:50.750 about going to where they're at. I mean, we wouldn't 00:36:50.750 --> 00:36:54.269 go spend the night under the bridge with the 00:36:54.269 --> 00:36:57.690 girl. But you can definitely come to my beautiful 00:36:57.690 --> 00:37:01.130 house. Now, I'm not suggesting that everybody 00:37:01.130 --> 00:37:04.349 go and sleep under the bridge. But I am saying 00:37:04.349 --> 00:37:06.690 is that we have to at least go to where people 00:37:06.690 --> 00:37:12.050 are at emotionally, relationally, financially, 00:37:13.429 --> 00:37:17.789 spiritually. If we can identify the need and 00:37:17.789 --> 00:37:20.650 go at the need right where they're at, we can 00:37:20.650 --> 00:37:23.900 find that's the key to unlock their heart. Jesus, 00:37:23.900 --> 00:37:27.579 46 times in the New Testament, went and ministered 00:37:27.579 --> 00:37:30.380 to the need of the individual right where they're 00:37:30.380 --> 00:37:32.199 at, excuse me, I'm sorry to scare you there, 00:37:34.039 --> 00:37:37.559 before ever even opening his mouth with any gospel 00:37:37.559 --> 00:37:41.460 word. He found that there was a need, he went 00:37:41.460 --> 00:37:43.880 to where that need was at, whether it was healing, 00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:46.480 whether it was comfort, love, whether it was 00:37:46.480 --> 00:37:49.980 protection, and he met the need and then he brought 00:37:49.980 --> 00:37:53.469 the gospel message. And it was the key that unlocked 00:37:53.469 --> 00:37:57.949 their hearts. There was a young lady I met at 00:37:57.949 --> 00:38:02.150 a gas station. I pulled into the gas station 00:38:02.150 --> 00:38:06.630 at 82nd and Sunnyside, the Astro gas station. 00:38:07.070 --> 00:38:09.030 There was a lady pumping gas there, her name 00:38:09.030 --> 00:38:13.190 was Becky. Becky had a haircut much like mine. 00:38:13.530 --> 00:38:16.369 She had a lot of different pieces of jewelry 00:38:16.369 --> 00:38:20.429 in her eyebrows lids mouth nose tongue ears forehead 00:38:20.429 --> 00:38:24.449 eyebrows she was loaded down with lots of different 00:38:24.449 --> 00:38:29.329 artifacts and Becky looked like she was a fairly 00:38:29.329 --> 00:38:32.769 hardened individual her dress her demeanor her 00:38:32.769 --> 00:38:36.190 attitude she looked like a calloused hurt wounded 00:38:36.190 --> 00:38:39.969 young lady and I remember as she came to the 00:38:39.969 --> 00:38:44.179 car asking this question God, how did you see 00:38:44.179 --> 00:38:49.559 her? God, give me your heart for this young lady. 00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:53.219 And as I prayed that prayer, my whole perception 00:38:53.219 --> 00:38:56.239 of this young lady changed. I began to see a 00:38:56.239 --> 00:38:59.219 wounded, hurting little girl. She was the same 00:38:59.219 --> 00:39:02.320 age as my daughter. I'm thinking, who was her 00:39:02.320 --> 00:39:05.199 dad? What happened in her life? I was just moved 00:39:05.199 --> 00:39:07.940 with compassion. And I remember saying to her, 00:39:07.960 --> 00:39:11.179 I said, Becky, as we talked, I said, Becky, Just 00:39:11.179 --> 00:39:14.340 want to let you know God loves you so much She 00:39:14.340 --> 00:39:17.500 says thank you so much. I said, you know, I just 00:39:17.500 --> 00:39:20.820 want to let you know that And God really thinks 00:39:20.820 --> 00:39:23.099 that you're special I just begin to talk to her 00:39:23.099 --> 00:39:25.460 about the love of God and I could tell she was 00:39:25.460 --> 00:39:28.760 genuinely moved this was happening during measure 00:39:28.760 --> 00:39:32.139 36 which was the contention that was taking place 00:39:32.139 --> 00:39:35.639 with the church or with our state in regards 00:39:35.639 --> 00:39:38.219 to same -sex marriage and amending our Constitution 00:39:38.219 --> 00:39:42.199 and so Made this comment. I said well, and you 00:39:42.199 --> 00:39:44.739 know Becky I'd love to invite you to my church 00:39:44.739 --> 00:39:47.639 the come thing kind of the mistake of this conversation 00:39:47.639 --> 00:39:50.739 And she says oh really well what church do you 00:39:50.739 --> 00:39:56.360 go to? I said well I go to City Bible Church 00:39:56.360 --> 00:39:59.400 and she jumped back her whole demeanor changed 00:39:59.400 --> 00:40:03.159 and she started screaming blood curdling screams 00:40:03.159 --> 00:40:06.000 Screaming at me while I was sitting in the car 00:40:06.139 --> 00:40:09.380 She says, I'll never go to that church. You people 00:40:09.380 --> 00:40:12.340 don't like me for who I am. I'll never go to 00:40:12.340 --> 00:40:14.019 your church. And she walks off and I'm thinking, 00:40:14.159 --> 00:40:16.760 wow, I felt good. That just really ministered 00:40:16.760 --> 00:40:20.280 to me. I'm just kind of looking around. People 00:40:20.280 --> 00:40:22.119 are watching what's going on, wondering if I'm 00:40:22.119 --> 00:40:24.900 some weird freaked out person trying to attack 00:40:24.900 --> 00:40:29.739 this girl or something. And she had my credit 00:40:29.739 --> 00:40:32.769 card and had to come back to my car. And it was 00:40:32.769 --> 00:40:35.570 one of those turning points where I had at that 00:40:35.570 --> 00:40:39.929 moment the opportunity to tell her, hey Becky, 00:40:40.650 --> 00:40:44.449 by the way, fly or fry, you're going to hell 00:40:44.449 --> 00:40:49.690 on a grease pole or I could love her. And when 00:40:49.690 --> 00:40:52.170 she came back, I made this statement to her. 00:40:52.429 --> 00:40:55.070 I said, Becky, I don't know what happened to 00:40:55.070 --> 00:40:57.789 you. I don't know what's happened in your past. 00:40:58.170 --> 00:41:01.449 I don't know why you're hurting inside. But I 00:41:01.449 --> 00:41:04.989 want to let you know this one thing is that I 00:41:04.989 --> 00:41:12.989 love you unconditionally And she was so moved 00:41:12.989 --> 00:41:15.730 with that statement I probably the first time 00:41:15.730 --> 00:41:17.829 she'd ever heard something like that tears welled 00:41:17.829 --> 00:41:20.489 up in her eyes and she kind of gave me her card 00:41:20.489 --> 00:41:23.820 and took off and The rest of the week, I was 00:41:23.820 --> 00:41:26.900 just so overwhelmed with compassion for this 00:41:26.900 --> 00:41:29.400 young lady. I continued to pray for her every 00:41:29.400 --> 00:41:33.099 morning. I found myself crying and just asking 00:41:33.099 --> 00:41:34.940 God to touch her heart. And on Friday morning, 00:41:34.980 --> 00:41:36.739 that happened on Monday, a week later on Friday 00:41:36.739 --> 00:41:38.800 morning, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, 00:41:38.880 --> 00:41:43.320 take her a dozen roses. Now, I've never done 00:41:43.320 --> 00:41:47.360 that for a strange woman. And I realized that 00:41:47.360 --> 00:41:50.039 I was going to have to cough up this information 00:41:50.039 --> 00:41:53.440 to my wife when she woke up. My wife woke up 00:41:53.440 --> 00:41:55.320 and I just told her I said hey, babe, you know, 00:41:55.460 --> 00:42:03.760 I met this girl on Monday and I Told her I loved 00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:06.739 her and You know, she's really been on my heart 00:42:06.739 --> 00:42:08.599 and I've been praying and crying for her all 00:42:08.599 --> 00:42:10.780 week And I just feel like I'm supposed to take 00:42:10.780 --> 00:42:13.139 her these roses, you know my wife laughs She 00:42:13.139 --> 00:42:14.840 knows me well enough to know that something's 00:42:14.840 --> 00:42:17.179 going on and so I end up buying buying these 00:42:17.179 --> 00:42:21.400 roses and I drive back to this particular place 00:42:21.400 --> 00:42:24.010 and rolled the window down. Becky comes running 00:42:24.010 --> 00:42:26.369 at a full speed towards my car. She goes, hi, 00:42:26.429 --> 00:42:28.469 how you doing? And I'm thinking, man, do you 00:42:28.469 --> 00:42:31.090 remember who I am? You know, your forehead was 00:42:31.090 --> 00:42:33.150 splitting and a little lizard demon came out, 00:42:33.170 --> 00:42:42.690 you know. I said, Becky, I've been thinking about 00:42:42.690 --> 00:42:45.469 you all week, and I just want to let you know 00:42:45.469 --> 00:42:48.130 I really meant what I said. I love you unconditionally. 00:42:48.809 --> 00:42:50.630 You know what she said? She says, oh, I know 00:42:50.630 --> 00:42:54.550 that. She says there was something different 00:42:54.550 --> 00:42:58.650 about what you said That made me so excited. 00:42:58.650 --> 00:43:03.650 I went and told all my friends about you See 00:43:03.650 --> 00:43:07.710 it wasn't the track It was the fact that I just 00:43:07.710 --> 00:43:10.530 met her which I believe the Holy Spirit helped 00:43:10.530 --> 00:43:13.130 me met her at her point of need I said, Becky, 00:43:13.210 --> 00:43:14.710 these are for you. And I gave her the roses. 00:43:14.769 --> 00:43:16.909 She started crying. I started crying. We're just, 00:43:17.110 --> 00:43:20.090 I love you. I love you too. Oh, I love you. It 00:43:20.090 --> 00:43:23.289 was just this real emotional moment with this 00:43:23.289 --> 00:43:26.730 strange lady. I don't recommend that, guys. But 00:43:26.730 --> 00:43:29.710 it was just one of those things that I just obeyed 00:43:29.710 --> 00:43:33.250 the Holy Spirit and gave Becky these roses. Listen 00:43:33.250 --> 00:43:37.789 closely. There's a difference between acceptance 00:43:37.789 --> 00:43:44.920 and approval. Listen closely. Unfortunately, 00:43:45.139 --> 00:43:48.699 as Christians, when we look at someone's lifestyle 00:43:48.699 --> 00:43:53.619 and we don't approve of what they're doing, we 00:43:53.619 --> 00:43:56.719 tend not to accept them or want anything to do 00:43:56.719 --> 00:43:59.119 with them because we don't approve of them. It 00:43:59.119 --> 00:44:01.780 may be one of your children that have run away 00:44:01.780 --> 00:44:05.159 from God and so you've pulled yourself back from 00:44:05.159 --> 00:44:07.880 giving them love or what have you. I learned 00:44:07.880 --> 00:44:12.940 a long time ago That I am to love people unconditionally 00:44:12.940 --> 00:44:17.559 that acceptance is unconditional I Can still 00:44:17.559 --> 00:44:20.579 accept someone even though I don't approve of 00:44:20.579 --> 00:44:26.900 their lifestyle I Had a couple guys live right 00:44:26.900 --> 00:44:29.000 across the street from me for five years. They 00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:32.860 adopted five kids. They were both homosexuals 00:44:33.809 --> 00:44:36.349 And my staff used to always say, you know, what 00:44:36.349 --> 00:44:37.710 are you gonna do? I said, well, I'm inviting 00:44:37.710 --> 00:44:39.989 them over for Easter. Oh my gosh, you'd let their 00:44:39.989 --> 00:44:42.849 kids play with your kids? Yeah, they need Jesus. 00:44:45.329 --> 00:44:48.650 I mean, I love them unconditionally. I don't 00:44:48.650 --> 00:44:51.030 approve of their lifestyle, but how else are 00:44:51.030 --> 00:44:52.949 they gonna come to Christ if they don't see the 00:44:52.949 --> 00:44:57.150 love of Christ? And I remember the first time 00:44:57.150 --> 00:44:59.269 I met Al, he goes, oh, you're that preacher across 00:44:59.269 --> 00:45:01.730 the street, aren't you? He looked all freaked 00:45:01.730 --> 00:45:03.610 out and stuff. And I said, yeah, actually I am. 00:45:03.710 --> 00:45:07.190 I said, hey, I'd love to meet your partner. Really? 00:45:07.750 --> 00:45:09.190 He said, yeah, what's his name? His name's Russell. 00:45:09.250 --> 00:45:11.489 Yeah, go get him. And so Al and Russell come 00:45:11.489 --> 00:45:13.150 out. And I said, hey, listen, we're doing a big 00:45:13.150 --> 00:45:14.789 Easter egg hunt, which we weren't doing. I was 00:45:14.789 --> 00:45:16.630 just making it up real quick so I could get him 00:45:16.630 --> 00:45:19.039 to my house. I said, this Sunday we're doing 00:45:19.039 --> 00:45:20.980 a big Easter egg hunt. My wife's going to cook 00:45:20.980 --> 00:45:23.440 this big meal and you're invited. I went back 00:45:23.440 --> 00:45:24.920 and said, hey honey, guess what? We're having 00:45:24.920 --> 00:45:27.780 a big Easter egg hunt this Sunday. I get myself 00:45:27.780 --> 00:45:31.539 in trouble again. I wanted them to see that you 00:45:31.539 --> 00:45:37.920 know what? That God loved them. Remember, God 00:45:37.920 --> 00:45:41.500 loved you while you were still yet a sinner. 00:45:42.519 --> 00:45:46.019 The only difference between you and Al and Russell 00:45:46.019 --> 00:45:49.699 is the blood of Jesus When you stand before him, 00:45:49.739 --> 00:45:51.900 you're not gonna say look at all the wonderful 00:45:51.900 --> 00:45:56.260 things I've done He's just gonna look at you 00:45:56.260 --> 00:45:58.079 and the only thing that will matter is is there 00:45:58.079 --> 00:46:02.019 the blood Get blood. Okay, because the only thing 00:46:02.019 --> 00:46:05.800 that makes you right before God is his blood 00:46:05.800 --> 00:46:13.710 We need to go to where people are at The second 00:46:13.710 --> 00:46:18.090 point is this is that compassion Has to come 00:46:18.090 --> 00:46:22.190 from the heart. It's not an obligation It's a 00:46:22.190 --> 00:46:25.909 willing desire to go meet someone's need because 00:46:25.909 --> 00:46:29.610 you love them We don't do it because we're looking 00:46:29.610 --> 00:46:32.170 for a notch on our belt or a way to be able to 00:46:32.170 --> 00:46:34.769 share a great Testimonious because we're doing 00:46:34.769 --> 00:46:37.190 some kind of invite Sunday and the person that 00:46:37.190 --> 00:46:39.610 brings the most people gets a box of Twinkies 00:46:41.320 --> 00:46:46.000 We do it because we love people We do it because 00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:51.079 that person matters to God You know you look 00:46:51.079 --> 00:46:53.440 at some of the words that Jesus spoke. These 00:46:53.440 --> 00:46:56.599 are tough yet important heart words He says this 00:46:56.599 --> 00:47:01.019 he says greater love has no man Then he who lays 00:47:01.019 --> 00:47:04.059 down his life for a friend ha ha that feels so 00:47:04.059 --> 00:47:10.380 good Die for someone else awesome How about this 00:47:10.380 --> 00:47:15.809 one Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus made 00:47:15.809 --> 00:47:17.889 it clear who the neighbor was. It wasn't the 00:47:17.889 --> 00:47:20.510 guy with the white picket fence with the beautiful 00:47:20.510 --> 00:47:23.050 marriage and the two kids and the dog and the 00:47:23.050 --> 00:47:27.630 cat and driving a big 350 diesel truck. It could 00:47:27.630 --> 00:47:30.289 be someone that looks a little bit ugly or a 00:47:30.289 --> 00:47:34.949 little bit dirty or a little bit bad. And it 00:47:34.949 --> 00:47:37.650 says you're actually supposed to love them as 00:47:37.650 --> 00:47:44.559 you love yourself. Ouch. He who saves his life 00:47:44.559 --> 00:47:48.119 will lose it, and he who loses his life for my 00:47:48.119 --> 00:47:52.760 sake will save it. Compassion's gotta come from 00:47:52.760 --> 00:47:57.179 the heart. God, you've gotta help us to start 00:47:57.179 --> 00:48:00.800 really loving people, to slow down long enough, 00:48:01.119 --> 00:48:05.159 and to say, God, my heart is deceitfully wicked 00:48:05.159 --> 00:48:08.360 above all things, but your heart, God, is something 00:48:08.360 --> 00:48:12.500 I really, really need. For people around me, 00:48:12.500 --> 00:48:17.559 you know that irritating guy at work and That 00:48:17.559 --> 00:48:19.539 neighbor next door that just kind of ticks you 00:48:19.539 --> 00:48:27.360 off saying God give me your heart for them Number 00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:31.719 three is compassion leaves no room for condemnation 00:48:31.719 --> 00:48:35.980 In Luke 10 34 it says so he went to him and he 00:48:35.980 --> 00:48:38.860 bandaged his wounds pouring out all the oil and 00:48:38.860 --> 00:48:42.800 wine He didn't say that he poured salt on his 00:48:42.800 --> 00:48:46.980 wounds, it says that he poured bandage and oil 00:48:46.980 --> 00:48:49.739 on his wound. He saw the need and the first thing 00:48:49.739 --> 00:48:52.159 that he did is he met the need. He didn't try 00:48:52.159 --> 00:48:54.400 to say, well you deserve this, you deserve that 00:48:54.400 --> 00:48:58.079 pit. Serves your rights you're in that pit. If 00:48:58.079 --> 00:48:59.780 you're like me, you wouldn't be in that pit. 00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:01.300 If you wouldn't have spent the money the way 00:49:01.300 --> 00:49:03.260 you spent the money, you wouldn't be in the situation 00:49:03.260 --> 00:49:04.780 you're in. If you wouldn't have been sleeping 00:49:04.780 --> 00:49:06.679 around, you wouldn't have got that kind of disease. 00:49:06.820 --> 00:49:12.849 My God, how come you're not like me? It just 00:49:12.849 --> 00:49:17.969 says that He bandaged His wounds. And sometimes 00:49:17.969 --> 00:49:21.969 we can be so verbally or non -verbally so critical 00:49:21.969 --> 00:49:30.449 and judgmental as if we've arrived. The next 00:49:30.449 --> 00:49:33.809 point is this is that compassion yields its rights 00:49:33.809 --> 00:49:40.250 for the sake of others. Luke 10 34 it says that 00:49:40.250 --> 00:49:45.889 He set him on his own animal and brought him 00:49:45.889 --> 00:49:51.190 to an inn. The guy was going somewhere. The guy, 00:49:51.190 --> 00:49:53.489 it says that he got off his animal. It didn't 00:49:53.489 --> 00:49:55.489 say that he got on the animal and says, hey, 00:49:55.570 --> 00:50:00.150 let me take you somewhere. And took off flying 00:50:00.150 --> 00:50:02.250 and said, just follow me. He says, no, he got 00:50:02.250 --> 00:50:03.949 off and he took the guy and he put him on his 00:50:03.949 --> 00:50:06.559 animal and he, he. walked the animal to the end. 00:50:06.820 --> 00:50:08.840 He went the opposite direction. He took him. 00:50:09.119 --> 00:50:17.440 He settled him in. He stayed with that man. Wow. 00:50:22.960 --> 00:50:30.440 He yielded himself for the sake of others. Let 00:50:30.440 --> 00:50:31.940 me just tell you a quick story and then we're 00:50:31.940 --> 00:50:39.739 going to close. There was a Single mom that had 00:50:39.739 --> 00:50:43.679 a six -year -old boy dying of leukemia his nickname 00:50:43.679 --> 00:50:48.400 was Bopsy as He grew up the whole thing that 00:50:48.400 --> 00:50:51.059 he wanted in life was to be a fireman someday 00:50:51.059 --> 00:50:54.820 and As they admitted him into the hospital because 00:50:54.820 --> 00:50:58.260 he was struggling and dying fairly rapidly This 00:50:58.260 --> 00:51:00.480 single mom thought well, you know what somehow 00:51:00.480 --> 00:51:02.739 some way I've just got to try to make to the 00:51:02.739 --> 00:51:05.980 best of my ability his dream come true So she 00:51:05.980 --> 00:51:10.239 called the fire captain of one of the stations 00:51:10.239 --> 00:51:14.059 in Phoenix where she lived. And she said to this 00:51:14.059 --> 00:51:17.019 man, she said, you know, I've got a son that's 00:51:17.019 --> 00:51:18.860 dying of leukemia and he's always wanted to be 00:51:18.860 --> 00:51:22.159 a fireman. Do you think that you could send over 00:51:22.159 --> 00:51:24.960 one of your officers or one of your firefighters 00:51:24.960 --> 00:51:27.079 just to come in and maybe give him a badge and 00:51:27.079 --> 00:51:29.059 just tell him that he's going to be a firefighter 00:51:29.059 --> 00:51:32.079 someday? The man being a Christian says, you 00:51:32.079 --> 00:51:33.860 know what, ma 'am, I can do better than that. 00:51:34.670 --> 00:51:36.989 He began to cry on the phone understanding her 00:51:36.989 --> 00:51:39.610 dilemma and said you know what we're gonna do 00:51:39.610 --> 00:51:43.710 He says I want you to have him ready next Tuesday 00:51:43.710 --> 00:51:47.090 He's gonna be a fireman for a day, and he called 00:51:47.090 --> 00:51:49.010 the whole team together. They got him his own 00:51:49.010 --> 00:51:51.150 hat They made him his own outfit got his own 00:51:51.150 --> 00:51:53.750 boots They showed up picked him up took him out 00:51:53.750 --> 00:51:57.130 for the day whoo He got to sit in the truck and 00:51:57.130 --> 00:51:59.309 it moved him so well that actually it changed 00:51:59.309 --> 00:52:03.369 his condition because he had some hope And for 00:52:03.369 --> 00:52:05.329 about six months he did real well, but he took 00:52:05.329 --> 00:52:08.590 a turn for the worse and was in his last days 00:52:08.590 --> 00:52:12.989 of of life and was slipping into a coma and this 00:52:12.989 --> 00:52:15.550 lady had remembered what this man had done and 00:52:15.550 --> 00:52:17.369 so she called him up and said you know Bob see 00:52:17.369 --> 00:52:19.429 he's about ready to die he slipped into a coma 00:52:19.429 --> 00:52:22.269 and I'm wondering if there's any way that you 00:52:22.269 --> 00:52:24.889 know your team could come over and just be around 00:52:24.889 --> 00:52:29.500 him as he died and again that The firemen begin 00:52:29.500 --> 00:52:31.699 to weep and he says, no, you know what? He touched 00:52:31.699 --> 00:52:34.340 our hearts so much we can do better than that. 00:52:34.599 --> 00:52:36.579 He says, I want you to do something for me. I 00:52:36.579 --> 00:52:39.440 need you to go down and tell the people at the 00:52:39.440 --> 00:52:41.440 front desk that I'm going to call a three alarm 00:52:41.440 --> 00:52:44.780 fire. And he says, what I'm going to do is I 00:52:44.780 --> 00:52:47.559 want you to open up the window to his room and 00:52:47.559 --> 00:52:49.500 we're going to go ahead and call firemen from 00:52:49.500 --> 00:52:52.219 all over the city and we're going to put ladders 00:52:52.219 --> 00:52:54.119 up and we're going to come flooding in and I'm 00:52:54.119 --> 00:52:57.389 going to fill that room to let Bob see no. that 00:52:57.389 --> 00:53:00.090 he matters to God and he's the best fireman that 00:53:00.090 --> 00:53:03.309 ever existed and sure enough he called a three 00:53:03.309 --> 00:53:05.710 alarm fire and fire trucks from all over the 00:53:05.710 --> 00:53:08.050 city the ladders went up they went into this 00:53:08.050 --> 00:53:11.030 particular room and they stood around his bopsy 00:53:11.030 --> 00:53:14.510 went from this life to another life and I think 00:53:14.510 --> 00:53:18.369 that I think now that's Christianity that's saying 00:53:18.369 --> 00:53:22.050 you know I'm gonna yield my life for the sake 00:53:22.050 --> 00:53:23.429 of an hour you know when you do that where it 00:53:23.429 --> 00:53:25.469 just kind of feels good the reason it feels good 00:53:25.469 --> 00:53:29.519 is because God made us that way to do that. That's 00:53:29.519 --> 00:53:34.099 why it feels so good. I'd like you just to stand 00:53:34.099 --> 00:53:39.599 to your feet right now. I want to give the Holy 00:53:39.599 --> 00:53:41.480 Spirit just an opportunity. I know that we need 00:53:41.480 --> 00:53:45.579 to finish here. There's another service. But 00:53:45.579 --> 00:53:47.820 I want you just to close your eyes for a moment. 00:53:54.380 --> 00:53:58.139 Just ask the Holy Spirit to come and to touch 00:53:58.139 --> 00:54:01.039 your heart right now I believe that this is such 00:54:01.039 --> 00:54:03.179 an important word for the body of Christ today 00:54:03.179 --> 00:54:05.940 We just we need to get back to just loving people 00:54:05.940 --> 00:54:09.059 slow down long enough and say God Thank you for 00:54:09.059 --> 00:54:13.039 the way you've blessed me But God helped me to 00:54:13.039 --> 00:54:15.739 make a difference and those that around me that 00:54:15.739 --> 00:54:19.579 are hurting And if you're here this morning you're 00:54:19.579 --> 00:54:23.099 saying, you know mark I I've maybe got a little 00:54:23.099 --> 00:54:26.320 busy. Maybe my heart's got a little calloused 00:54:26.320 --> 00:54:29.000 or I've been a little preoccupied and you just 00:54:29.000 --> 00:54:31.099 feel like you want a fresh touch from the Holy 00:54:31.099 --> 00:54:37.239 Spirit to really just have a new heart for loving 00:54:37.239 --> 00:54:38.900 people. Would you just put your hand towards 00:54:38.900 --> 00:54:42.099 heaven? I just want to pray for you this morning. 00:54:43.219 --> 00:54:47.139 And I believe in impartation. I know your church 00:54:47.139 --> 00:54:49.260 does too. I believe we can pray a simple prayer 00:54:49.260 --> 00:54:51.059 and we can leave different than when we came 00:54:51.059 --> 00:54:54.380 in. just simply because we acknowledged our need, 00:54:54.599 --> 00:54:56.739 we acknowledged maybe some of our shortcomings, 00:54:57.159 --> 00:54:59.260 and we asked the Holy Spirit to help us. Now, 00:54:59.260 --> 00:55:02.420 Father, I thank you, Lord, for every hand raised 00:55:02.420 --> 00:55:06.019 towards heaven, Lord, and including my own. And 00:55:06.019 --> 00:55:08.519 Lord, we pray that you would send your Holy Spirit 00:55:08.519 --> 00:55:14.340 on this place. Lord, I just thank you that you 00:55:14.340 --> 00:55:18.239 loved us, you died for us. Lord, I thank you 00:55:18.239 --> 00:55:21.099 that every day, God, you supply all of our needs 00:55:21.099 --> 00:55:25.599 according to your riches and glory. Lord, you 00:55:25.599 --> 00:55:28.840 take care of us like you more so than just the 00:55:28.840 --> 00:55:30.739 birds of the air and the fish of the sea and 00:55:30.739 --> 00:55:32.800 the lilies of the field. Father, you take care 00:55:32.800 --> 00:55:37.139 of us, God. Lord, how much more should we, Lord, 00:55:37.159 --> 00:55:39.500 be a representation to those around us. So, Father, 00:55:39.619 --> 00:55:43.079 I pray right now. Lord, you come and you touch 00:55:43.079 --> 00:55:46.090 the heart of every hand raised right now. Lord, 00:55:46.130 --> 00:55:48.969 I pray that you come and you begin to massage 00:55:48.969 --> 00:55:52.150 with the fresh oil of the Holy Spirit. Lord, 00:55:52.250 --> 00:55:54.670 the heart of every person where they're dry, 00:55:54.710 --> 00:55:57.889 God, you anoint it where it's cracked, you fill 00:55:57.889 --> 00:56:01.110 it with the love of God. And Lord, I pray that 00:56:01.110 --> 00:56:04.210 the end result, Father, of this prayer, God, 00:56:04.610 --> 00:56:07.050 and our confession in need of you, God, would 00:56:07.050 --> 00:56:10.030 be that lost people would experience the love 00:56:10.030 --> 00:56:13.199 of God through our lives. Lord, let this building, 00:56:13.320 --> 00:56:15.940 Lord, let this church, let these services be 00:56:15.940 --> 00:56:18.679 filled with people that came because they were 00:56:18.679 --> 00:56:21.480 compelled to come because someone simply loved 00:56:21.480 --> 00:56:25.059 them. God, bring them from the east, the west, 00:56:25.179 --> 00:56:27.280 the north, and the south. God, put them in our 00:56:27.280 --> 00:56:30.079 path. Lord, today, even as we leave here, God, 00:56:30.119 --> 00:56:32.659 at the restaurants, Father, our neighbors, God, 00:56:32.780 --> 00:56:36.780 come on. Jesus' name, God, open our heart to 00:56:36.780 --> 00:56:41.940 see, feel, and respond in a new way. And God, 00:56:42.099 --> 00:56:45.300 we thank you for what you're going to do. We 00:56:45.300 --> 00:56:49.880 ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen, amen, 00:56:49.920 --> 00:56:50.500 amen.