1 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,760 Well, hello. I'm glad 2 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,920 to be back in the house with you guys today. Thank you for 3 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,200 letting Shari and I take a few weeks out to rest 4 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:22,720 and be with family. And I came back to 5 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:26,640 700 emails, but I'll get to them at some point, 6 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,270 I'm sure. No, we are super excited to be back with you guys. 7 00:00:31,270 --> 00:00:34,910 I told the Thursday night crowd that it's. Man, it's just something. 8 00:00:34,910 --> 00:00:38,590 Whenever you're out, you know, you can come back one or two ways. You can 9 00:00:38,590 --> 00:00:42,510 come back and go, oh, I gotta go back to that place. Or you can 10 00:00:42,510 --> 00:00:46,190 say, I can't wait to get back to that place. And that's really where we 11 00:00:46,190 --> 00:00:49,990 were, you know, probably even around week two, we were thinking 12 00:00:50,150 --> 00:00:53,470 a little bit in that direction, so it's good to see your faces. Thanks for 13 00:00:53,470 --> 00:00:57,270 being here this morning. I have a couple of announcements before we get 14 00:00:57,270 --> 00:01:00,970 rolling this morning into the Word. The first thing is we have a big event 15 00:01:00,970 --> 00:01:04,610 coming up at the end of the month that we've been doing for several 16 00:01:04,690 --> 00:01:08,370 years, and it has drawn, like thousands of people here 17 00:01:09,250 --> 00:01:12,850 and it's just been kind of crazy. The Lord's just kind of covered it and 18 00:01:13,170 --> 00:01:16,130 blessed it and made it fruitful. And we need your help. 19 00:01:17,010 --> 00:01:20,930 If you have the capacity to greet people, to hand out candy, 20 00:01:20,930 --> 00:01:24,850 to work a booth, maybe some time on the 31st, we'd 21 00:01:24,850 --> 00:01:28,810 like to see you on the 26th, that Sunday, last Sunday this month, we're going 22 00:01:28,810 --> 00:01:32,280 to feed you and we'd like to invite you to be a part of service 23 00:01:32,750 --> 00:01:36,710 for our annual Fall Fest. And so if you'll sign up in 24 00:01:36,710 --> 00:01:40,030 the app, we'll make sure we have enough food for you. And like I said, 25 00:01:40,670 --> 00:01:44,630 this is Cross Ministries. All the ministries are gonna be represented and serving in 26 00:01:44,630 --> 00:01:48,549 this. And so we would just ask you to make, you 27 00:01:48,549 --> 00:01:52,510 know, consider having capacity to come and serve in that way the next week. 28 00:01:52,510 --> 00:01:55,950 If you're new to Springhouse or you're newer to Springhouse, we're gonna have a 29 00:01:55,950 --> 00:01:59,510 newcomer's lunch on Sunday, November 2nd. And this is an 30 00:01:59,510 --> 00:02:02,990 opportunity for you to really meet the leadership here at the church. Hear more about 31 00:02:02,990 --> 00:02:05,530 us, ask your how do you get involved? 32 00:02:07,370 --> 00:02:11,010 And just to learn about the different ministry options that we have. And so we 33 00:02:11,010 --> 00:02:14,610 don't have this up on the app yet. Oh, between services they put this on 34 00:02:14,610 --> 00:02:18,530 the app and so you can sign up. There's the QR code. Sign up for 35 00:02:18,530 --> 00:02:21,530 that. So we have enough food for everyone there. 36 00:02:22,330 --> 00:02:26,010 So we wanna go ahead and put that on your 37 00:02:26,010 --> 00:02:29,810 radar next. Yesterday I went and Visit. Boy, it's been an 38 00:02:29,810 --> 00:02:33,720 active weekend. It's been an active weekend, but yesterday I went to go our brother 39 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,560 Chris Mincy, who is in the hospital and got to spend some time with Chris. 40 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,000 And, man, what a precious soul with a testimony, just a 41 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,800 testimony of life. And I 42 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,320 told Chris that we would pray for him. And he's watching right now on 43 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,800 Livestream. And so what I'm gonna ask, can you do this for me, 44 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,760 cameraman up there? I can't. Is that Chuck? I can't see who's behind the 45 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,760 camera. Would everybody stand and would you face that camera? And I'm gonna let 46 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,720 you take that camera and pan across so Chris can see everybody. Y' all just 47 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,060 wave at. I'm going to start waving. I'm hoping we're going to be panning the 48 00:03:07,060 --> 00:03:10,820 camera real soon here. Are we panning it? We look in the right 49 00:03:10,820 --> 00:03:14,620 direction. Okay, let's pray. Father, thank you so much for Chris 50 00:03:14,620 --> 00:03:18,220 Mincy. Thank you for his life. I thank you, Lord, for the doctors that you've 51 00:03:18,220 --> 00:03:21,420 surrounded him with. I pray for Jeanne and Chris right now. I pray for peace. 52 00:03:21,740 --> 00:03:24,540 And I pray, Lord, that you would heal Chris, God, I pray that you would 53 00:03:24,540 --> 00:03:28,460 touch him and that his testimony would continue to unfold. Of your faithfulness, God, 54 00:03:28,460 --> 00:03:32,060 I thank you for his life, God, and what he means to this body. Touch 55 00:03:32,060 --> 00:03:34,380 him today in Jesus name. And everybody said, 56 00:03:35,730 --> 00:03:39,690 amen. Thank you. You may be seated. So we were 57 00:03:39,690 --> 00:03:43,490 at sabbatical and we were able to get out of town a little 58 00:03:43,490 --> 00:03:47,330 bit. And this is my family. And if you wonder kind of what you do, 59 00:03:47,330 --> 00:03:51,290 like, what did we do? You know, for the most part, we did nothing, which 60 00:03:51,290 --> 00:03:55,210 is very abnormal for the o' Day family. But mostly we did nothing and we 61 00:03:55,210 --> 00:03:57,810 played hide and seek. You know, I mean, you gotta have a good game of 62 00:03:57,810 --> 00:04:01,370 hide and seek in the house that you're in. And that's 63 00:04:01,370 --> 00:04:05,270 Ruby. And we found her, and that was. That was good. So we 64 00:04:05,270 --> 00:04:08,870 did bring back all four of the kids, and they are here today. 65 00:04:09,030 --> 00:04:12,710 We're going to continue our series, the Greatest Stories 66 00:04:12,870 --> 00:04:16,550 Ever Told. And I did get a chance to watch each of the week's 67 00:04:16,710 --> 00:04:20,470 messages when we were gone. And, man, what rich soil. We are so blessed. And 68 00:04:20,470 --> 00:04:24,270 I just want to thank Pastor Barbee and the leadership team here for holding down 69 00:04:24,270 --> 00:04:27,750 the fort. The church has not burned down. We've got. Everything 70 00:04:28,470 --> 00:04:32,470 is moving forward, and we are just a blessed people to have 71 00:04:32,470 --> 00:04:36,150 such an anointed team of teachers and minister. 72 00:04:36,850 --> 00:04:39,810 So just thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for Allowing Shari and 73 00:04:39,810 --> 00:04:43,730 I this space. So we are going to get into the 74 00:04:43,730 --> 00:04:47,690 scripture of a story that's really familiar, I think, to a lot of 75 00:04:47,690 --> 00:04:51,330 us. But before we do, I want to talk a little bit about the 76 00:04:51,330 --> 00:04:54,610 introduction of it. We're going to talk about a man named Zacchaeus today. Can you 77 00:04:54,610 --> 00:04:57,810 say Zacchaeus? Can you spell Zacchaeus? 78 00:04:58,530 --> 00:05:01,410 I learned to spell it. That was 79 00:05:02,220 --> 00:05:03,660 rhetorical. So 80 00:05:06,060 --> 00:05:09,420 when we start the passage, we're looking at Jesus, and Jesus is. 81 00:05:09,820 --> 00:05:13,180 He's about to enter this city named Jericho. Okay? Now, 82 00:05:13,180 --> 00:05:16,940 Jericho, the word Jericho, it literally translates into the word 83 00:05:16,940 --> 00:05:20,780 walls. If you remember Joshua and the army walking around the walls 84 00:05:20,940 --> 00:05:24,460 of Jericho. So Jericho translates through 85 00:05:24,620 --> 00:05:28,340 walls. Translates walls. And Jesus is 86 00:05:28,340 --> 00:05:32,300 walking through Jericho. And if you'll go with me, I believe that Jesus on 87 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,720 is about to walk through some walls. Metaphorically, he's gonna walk through 88 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,920 walls. And I believe that the same Jesus who walked through walls on that day 89 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,480 is the same Jesus who can walk through walls today in your life. And so 90 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,360 I believe today that Jesus wants to walk through some of the walls that we 91 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:52,520 put up. He wants to walk through some of the walls of the issues that 92 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:56,440 divide us. He wants to walk through some of the walls of politics, 93 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,920 the walls of pride, the walls of religion, the walls we built in our own 94 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:03,330 hearts. And when he passes through, he doesn't just want to get through to the 95 00:06:03,330 --> 00:06:07,130 city, he wants to get through to us. He wants to get through to us. 96 00:06:07,130 --> 00:06:11,090 And so if we would lay down for just a moment the distractions that 97 00:06:11,090 --> 00:06:14,770 we drug into this place, I believe that the Lord, the God of the universe, 98 00:06:14,770 --> 00:06:18,610 will minister to each of us today. Can we do that? Are we ready? Would 99 00:06:18,610 --> 00:06:22,610 you stand with me? We're going to read from Luke, chapter 19. Now, you 100 00:06:22,610 --> 00:06:24,890 probably were off the hook for a little while while I was gone, but I 101 00:06:24,890 --> 00:06:28,640 want you to read with some gusto today. Read like you mean it. Here we 102 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:32,360 go. Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 103 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,600 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus. He was the 104 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,520 chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see 105 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:44,320 who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not 106 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,320 see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and 107 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:52,200 climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him, since Jesus 108 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,390 was coming that way. When Jesus reached the 109 00:06:56,100 --> 00:06:59,940 he looked up and said to him, zacchaeus, come down 110 00:06:59,940 --> 00:07:03,220 immediately. I must stay at your house today. 111 00:07:03,860 --> 00:07:07,380 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 112 00:07:07,700 --> 00:07:11,339 All the people saw this and began to mutter, he is 113 00:07:11,339 --> 00:07:14,900 gone to be asked of a sinner. But 114 00:07:14,900 --> 00:07:18,420 Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, look, Lord, 115 00:07:18,660 --> 00:07:22,340 here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor. 116 00:07:22,820 --> 00:07:26,700 And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay 117 00:07:26,700 --> 00:07:30,660 back four times the amount. Jesus said to him. 118 00:07:30,980 --> 00:07:34,660 Today, salvation has come to this house because this 119 00:07:34,660 --> 00:07:38,540 man too is a son of Abraham. For the son of 120 00:07:38,540 --> 00:07:42,380 man came to seek and to save the lost. Can we read that last part 121 00:07:42,380 --> 00:07:46,380 again? For the son of man came to seek and to save the 122 00:07:46,380 --> 00:07:49,620 lost. Lord, I thank you for your word. I thank you that it brings life. 123 00:07:49,620 --> 00:07:53,580 I thank you that it's true. Transform us today through the power of 124 00:07:53,580 --> 00:07:57,340 your word and let everything that I have to say that comes from me 125 00:07:57,340 --> 00:08:00,700 fall in Jesus name. And everybody said, amen, 126 00:08:03,100 --> 00:08:06,220 boy. If there's anything I know to be true, it is that we are a 127 00:08:06,220 --> 00:08:09,940 culture full of distractions. We're a culture 128 00:08:09,940 --> 00:08:11,500 full of distractions. 129 00:08:13,660 --> 00:08:17,500 And in the midst of distractions, when anybody tries to actually say anything to you 130 00:08:17,500 --> 00:08:20,580 that is worth meaning, anything that you need to pay attention to, that would really 131 00:08:20,580 --> 00:08:24,240 be life changing. It's very hard to cut through, through all of the distractions because 132 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:27,800 you can't hear, you can't really see. It's very difficult to really tune into that. 133 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:34,520 If you'll stand, I'll give you your blessing. 134 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,680 We are a culture full of 135 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:45,280 distractions. We live in a world full 136 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,080 of noise, headlines, arguments, opinions. 137 00:08:50,170 --> 00:08:53,370 Everyone wants to debate what's right, who's wrong, 138 00:08:53,770 --> 00:08:57,690 who's really standing up for the truth. And 139 00:08:57,690 --> 00:09:01,210 I might suggest today that we start here, that the biggest 140 00:09:01,210 --> 00:09:05,010 distraction the enemy can use is to get us focused on anything other 141 00:09:05,010 --> 00:09:08,970 than Jesus. The biggest distraction the enemy can use 142 00:09:08,970 --> 00:09:12,810 to get us focused on anything other than 143 00:09:12,810 --> 00:09:16,690 Jesus. Last week in the message Pastor Ronnie brought, he 144 00:09:16,690 --> 00:09:20,570 was talking in a moment about how the issue, sometimes we put 145 00:09:20,570 --> 00:09:24,430 the in the center. We make that the focus. Other than Jesus. Well, 146 00:09:24,430 --> 00:09:28,230 I want to talk about something today that's a little bit closer to home, 147 00:09:28,710 --> 00:09:32,150 a little bit closer to home that every one of us deal with. And I'll 148 00:09:32,150 --> 00:09:36,030 get to exactly what that is in just a second. But this 149 00:09:36,030 --> 00:09:39,870 is why we gather here. It's not to take sides, but to take 150 00:09:39,870 --> 00:09:43,830 the time to lift the name of Jesus. And I 151 00:09:43,830 --> 00:09:47,710 believe that the biggest lie, Listen to me, the biggest lie that 152 00:09:47,710 --> 00:09:51,710 the enemy can render is that Jesus big 153 00:09:51,710 --> 00:09:55,550 enough or good enough to fix whatever's broken, 154 00:09:55,710 --> 00:09:59,470 heal whatever needs to be healed, and bring clarity where there's confusion. 155 00:10:00,190 --> 00:10:04,110 When we are distracted and we're looking at anything else but Jesus, we 156 00:10:04,110 --> 00:10:07,950 begin to believe the father of lies that Jesus is 157 00:10:07,950 --> 00:10:11,910 not enough. And so then we insert ourselves and we operate in our own 158 00:10:11,910 --> 00:10:15,910 opinions, our own ideas, our own limited understanding of Scripture, our 159 00:10:15,910 --> 00:10:19,740 own limited ideas, our own limited experience. Experiences. And we begin to assert 160 00:10:19,740 --> 00:10:23,220 them as truth. And that's very dangerous. It's very 161 00:10:23,220 --> 00:10:26,820 dangerous because we can walk as if there's truth where 162 00:10:27,220 --> 00:10:29,620 there's actually a lie. 163 00:10:31,380 --> 00:10:35,380 There's a lot of distraction out there today, and I want to be 164 00:10:35,380 --> 00:10:39,300 very clear at Springhouse that we believe in 165 00:10:39,380 --> 00:10:42,900 the Word of God. We believe in the whole 166 00:10:42,980 --> 00:10:46,980 truth, nothing but the truth. We believe in the 167 00:10:46,980 --> 00:10:50,980 Word of God. We believe it is the inspired word of God, and we 168 00:10:50,980 --> 00:10:54,660 believe that it is the transformative word of God in your life. When you pick 169 00:10:54,660 --> 00:10:58,500 it up and you open it, the Holy Spirit will engage you 170 00:10:58,500 --> 00:11:01,620 in the words that come up. The Word tells us that the Word of God 171 00:11:01,620 --> 00:11:05,380 is alive and active, and it is alive and active in your life 172 00:11:05,380 --> 00:11:09,340 when you engage it. It doesn't do much when it's sitting on a shelf 173 00:11:09,340 --> 00:11:13,200 collecting dust, but when you open the 174 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:17,080 Word of God and you begin to be saturated with the truth of words, 175 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:21,480 of the Word of God, it is transformative. It will change your life. 176 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:25,120 And here at Springhouse, we believe in the entirety of the truth of 177 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:28,840 God's Word. We believe in everything that it says, 178 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,560 everything that is in the Word. That's what we base our life. It is a 179 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:36,520 light unto our path, okay? And so we believe in the Word 180 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:40,110 of God, but the distractions are so thick 181 00:11:40,670 --> 00:11:44,270 around us that we tend to become more desperate for 182 00:11:44,350 --> 00:11:48,270 answers to issues and the need to feed into the cesspool 183 00:11:48,270 --> 00:11:51,670 of gossip and opinions that we have no or little 184 00:11:51,670 --> 00:11:55,390 desperation for Jesus. And I want to 185 00:11:55,390 --> 00:11:59,270 ask you today, church, where is your desperation for 186 00:11:59,270 --> 00:12:03,070 Jesus? What is your desperation level 187 00:12:03,150 --> 00:12:07,030 for Jesus? Where is your desperation for Jesus? We're talking about a 188 00:12:07,030 --> 00:12:10,900 man in scripture by the name of Zacchaeus who 189 00:12:10,900 --> 00:12:13,780 I believe was desperate to see Jesus. 190 00:12:14,340 --> 00:12:18,220 Desperate to see Jesus. What was going on with this Jesus 191 00:12:18,220 --> 00:12:21,940 that he had heard of? There are four. There are four 192 00:12:21,940 --> 00:12:25,300 characters in this story. There's Zacchaeus. 193 00:12:26,180 --> 00:12:29,300 There's the crowd. There's Jesus. 194 00:12:30,020 --> 00:12:33,700 And there's you. There's you. 195 00:12:35,230 --> 00:12:38,550 You see, here's the thing. I believe that the Word of God is alive and 196 00:12:38,550 --> 00:12:42,230 active, and sometimes we separate ourselves from the 197 00:12:42,230 --> 00:12:46,190 stories that we find in scripture. But they are there to teach us 198 00:12:46,190 --> 00:12:50,029 and to change us. And in order for them to change us, we must 199 00:12:50,029 --> 00:12:53,830 be willing to insert ourselves into the truths that come from 200 00:12:53,830 --> 00:12:57,630 God's Word. Zacchaeus is here, and he is desperate 201 00:12:58,030 --> 00:13:01,910 to see Jesus. How do we know he's desperate? Well, the. So the word tells 202 00:13:01,910 --> 00:13:05,470 us a little bit something about Zacchaeus that it doesn't tell us about some other 203 00:13:05,470 --> 00:13:08,110 people. Zacchaeus was a short little man. 204 00:13:09,550 --> 00:13:13,390 Zacchaeus was a wee little man. A wee little man. Was he right? 205 00:13:17,310 --> 00:13:21,310 We get a little bit more detail about Zacchaeus, but we also 206 00:13:21,310 --> 00:13:25,270 are told, based on what he does and based on the 207 00:13:25,270 --> 00:13:29,270 response of the crowd, we can infer Zacchaeus wasn't liked 208 00:13:29,270 --> 00:13:33,190 very much. He wasn't like. And I tend to, you know, I tend 209 00:13:33,190 --> 00:13:36,830 to. When I sit with scripture, I kind of imagine. Because, you know, when we 210 00:13:36,830 --> 00:13:40,750 talk about Zacchaeus, he's not a cartoon figure. Zacchaeus was 211 00:13:40,750 --> 00:13:44,670 a real man. He was a real man. And I put myself in 212 00:13:44,670 --> 00:13:48,390 his shoes. And I wonder because of his stature and what he ended up doing 213 00:13:48,390 --> 00:13:52,310 in his profession and how he cheated people out of their taxes. I wonder 214 00:13:52,310 --> 00:13:55,830 if as he was, as when he was growing up, if he was not an 215 00:13:55,830 --> 00:13:59,430 insecure man, if he was not someone who was made fun of and. 216 00:14:00,610 --> 00:14:04,050 And had to find ways to gratify himself 217 00:14:04,450 --> 00:14:08,250 or to bring some security to himself. I wonder what it would be. 218 00:14:08,250 --> 00:14:10,930 But it's very clear that the people hated him. 219 00:14:12,050 --> 00:14:15,970 It's very clear that the people hated him. But something was really 220 00:14:16,050 --> 00:14:19,090 interesting and strange about this particular day. 221 00:14:20,370 --> 00:14:24,330 I don't know about you, but when I go into a room and I find 222 00:14:24,330 --> 00:14:27,490 out that there's a lot of people who hate me, I'm not trying to bring 223 00:14:27,490 --> 00:14:31,340 a big spotlight to myself, trying to hide under a chair kind 224 00:14:31,340 --> 00:14:34,260 of behind a wall or get out of there. Because if I'm in a room 225 00:14:34,260 --> 00:14:37,220 full of people who hate me, I'm probably going to be subjected to their hate. 226 00:14:37,540 --> 00:14:41,100 Yes. But this particular day, 227 00:14:41,100 --> 00:14:44,740 Zacchaeus chooses to climb a tree. 228 00:14:45,620 --> 00:14:48,900 Now, I'm going to tell you, the people saw him climb this tree. 229 00:14:49,940 --> 00:14:53,460 The people saw this man who they hate climb this 230 00:14:53,460 --> 00:14:57,320 sycamore tree and say. Now, he didn't say anything. He was 231 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,160 looking for something. And let me tell you who he was not looking at. He 232 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:04,120 was not looking at the crowd. He was looking for 233 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:08,040 Jesus. Sometimes, in order to see above the crowd, you gotta 234 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:12,000 be willing to climb in a tree. Sometimes you gotta rise above the 235 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,760 crowd in order to see Jesus. So he 236 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:19,640 climbs this tree because he wants to see Jesus. His desperation 237 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:23,520 to see Jesus superseded the opinions of those around him. And 238 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:27,380 when Jesus stops and looks up, I can imagine that 239 00:15:27,380 --> 00:15:31,300 moment when Jesus comes up. Because here's the thing. I Believe Jesus had 240 00:15:31,540 --> 00:15:35,420 an encounter, a divine appointment for Zacchaeus on 241 00:15:35,420 --> 00:15:38,980 this particular day. And Jesus strolls up, passing through 242 00:15:38,980 --> 00:15:42,980 walls, all walls, supernaturally 243 00:15:42,980 --> 00:15:46,020 strolls up and he looks up in that moment and he looks up and he 244 00:15:46,020 --> 00:15:49,780 sees Zacchaeus. He doesn't see 245 00:15:49,780 --> 00:15:53,750 a thief, he doesn't see a sinner, he 246 00:15:53,750 --> 00:15:57,430 sees Zacchaeus. And he says to Zacchaeus, 247 00:15:57,670 --> 00:16:01,430 come down from that tree. I want to come 248 00:16:01,510 --> 00:16:04,390 and spend time with you. 249 00:16:06,629 --> 00:16:10,070 The people didn't see Zacchaeus. They saw a sinner, 250 00:16:11,190 --> 00:16:15,110 they saw a sinner. How do we know? Because their response 251 00:16:15,110 --> 00:16:18,640 was Jesus is going to spend time with a sinner. 252 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,920 I think that's the most idiotic statement that could be said from those people at 253 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,920 that time. Because that's like the pot calling the kettle 254 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:30,880 black. The sinners are upset that Jesus 255 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,680 is going to spend time with the sinner. And as 256 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,080 ludicrous as that sounds, some of us operate the exact same. 257 00:16:42,330 --> 00:16:45,890 Sometimes I wonder if we aren't more excited about someone's exposure and 258 00:16:45,890 --> 00:16:48,330 punishment than we are about their freedom and grace. 259 00:16:50,890 --> 00:16:54,810 Zacchaeus, hurry and come down. I must stay at 260 00:16:54,810 --> 00:16:58,490 your house today. Here's the 261 00:16:58,490 --> 00:17:01,970 foundational truth I want us to operate from today. Jesus doesn't start with 262 00:17:01,970 --> 00:17:05,850 condemnation. He starts with connection. In 263 00:17:05,850 --> 00:17:09,779 almost every encounter that we see Jesus in scripture, he does 264 00:17:09,779 --> 00:17:13,379 not start with a judging, condemning hand. He 265 00:17:13,379 --> 00:17:16,179 starts with a relational connect. 266 00:17:18,179 --> 00:17:22,179 But a lot of us forget that what brought us into the kingdom and what 267 00:17:22,179 --> 00:17:26,179 attracted us to Jesus and what saved our life was Jesus connection. 268 00:17:26,179 --> 00:17:28,699 And all of a sudden we turn it out and flip it on its head. 269 00:17:28,699 --> 00:17:32,499 When we're treating other people, when we're seeing other people 270 00:17:32,499 --> 00:17:36,059 live their life, we start with condemnation. And if they get their life right, then 271 00:17:36,059 --> 00:17:39,560 we'll go into connection. But that's not the order Jesus 272 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,240 modeled. You see? Do you understand as 273 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:47,200 Christians, we want to attempt to be like Christ. Do 274 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,840 you understand that? Is that a fundamental understanding? We're trying to be like Christ. 275 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,760 Even Paul, who was a wonderful man, an incredible, 276 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,040 incredible author of scripture and 277 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,880 writing letters to the church, even Paul, we are not called to 278 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,790 be like Paul. Paul says, emulate me as I emulate 279 00:18:06,790 --> 00:18:10,710 Christ. Our goal is to be like Jesus Christ, not to 280 00:18:10,710 --> 00:18:14,550 be like anybody else, to be like Christ. And so Christ 281 00:18:14,550 --> 00:18:18,030 is giving us these examples. I just watched the episode of the Chosen last night. 282 00:18:18,030 --> 00:18:21,870 It was the episode where he's washing the disciples feet. And I just 283 00:18:21,870 --> 00:18:25,670 sat there and wept. And I just thought, Lord, the example that 284 00:18:25,670 --> 00:18:29,630 you set in real time, the example that you set in 285 00:18:29,630 --> 00:18:32,860 real time you didn't just say it, you modeled it for us. 286 00:18:33,730 --> 00:18:37,730 What an excellent teacher Jesus is. He doesn't start 287 00:18:37,730 --> 00:18:41,650 with condemnation. He starts with connection. I was a Catholic, and then I 288 00:18:41,650 --> 00:18:45,170 was a Baptist, and then I was whatever we are, and 289 00:18:47,170 --> 00:18:51,170 I started as a Catholic. In Catholicism, where I was, 290 00:18:52,370 --> 00:18:56,370 Catholics predominantly believe that you go to the priest and you confess your sin to 291 00:18:56,370 --> 00:18:59,730 the priest, and the priest goes on your behalf to the Lord. And so I 292 00:18:59,730 --> 00:19:01,810 was eight years old, I told this story before. I was eight years old, I 293 00:19:01,810 --> 00:19:04,650 go into the priest's house and he sets me down. He says, hey, Kevin, tell 294 00:19:04,650 --> 00:19:07,890 me everything you've done wrong. So I'm like, okay, I stole a cookie from the 295 00:19:07,890 --> 00:19:11,570 cookie jar. I hit my brother in the face. I didn't do what my mom 296 00:19:11,570 --> 00:19:15,050 told me to do. And, man, he was so encouraging. It's like, good, tell me 297 00:19:15,050 --> 00:19:18,890 more. Good, tell me more. Tell me you sin there, too. 298 00:19:18,890 --> 00:19:22,370 Come here. Tell me more. He was so encouraging 299 00:19:23,010 --> 00:19:25,360 about my sin that I started to make things up. 300 00:19:27,110 --> 00:19:29,870 If there was gonna be a sinner in that house, I wanted to be the 301 00:19:29,870 --> 00:19:32,830 best one. And so I just started making up things to the point where he 302 00:19:32,830 --> 00:19:36,310 had to say, okay, that's enough. As if that's all Jesus could forgive today. 303 00:19:39,030 --> 00:19:42,990 And so there, under that teaching, I learned that I don't 304 00:19:42,990 --> 00:19:46,710 have a relationship with Jesus. I've gotta go through this man on this 305 00:19:46,710 --> 00:19:50,670 couch who's a priest to have a relationship with Jesus. Then 306 00:19:50,670 --> 00:19:54,300 I moved to the Baptist church. And this isn't 307 00:19:54,620 --> 00:19:58,540 a prod to put down Catholics or Baptists, I'm telling you my experience. But 308 00:19:58,540 --> 00:20:01,140 I went to the Baptist church and the Baptist. Man, when I got in there, 309 00:20:01,140 --> 00:20:04,380 let me tell you something, they came at me and they said, there is this 310 00:20:04,380 --> 00:20:07,660 place with fire, and you're going there. 311 00:20:08,700 --> 00:20:12,700 You are going to burn because you are a sinner and you're a bad person. 312 00:20:13,100 --> 00:20:17,100 Even so much so that I remember in third grade, they lit a candle and 313 00:20:17,100 --> 00:20:21,010 they had me put my hand into the candle flame to see how 314 00:20:21,010 --> 00:20:25,010 long I could keep my hand there. When I'd retracted it back, they 315 00:20:25,010 --> 00:20:28,810 said to me, if you don't want your soul to burn like that, you need 316 00:20:28,810 --> 00:20:32,530 to get saved. I got saved that day. I was so scared. 317 00:20:33,730 --> 00:20:37,730 My goodness. I said, jesus, whatever I gotta do, you 318 00:20:37,730 --> 00:20:40,770 know? And then they told me, you know what they told me, Barbie? They said, 319 00:20:40,770 --> 00:20:43,170 you better go tell everybody else that they're going to hell. You're going to hell. 320 00:20:43,170 --> 00:20:46,410 You're going to hell. You're going to hell. You're going to hell and scared me 321 00:20:46,410 --> 00:20:50,180 right into my salvation. So in that 322 00:20:50,180 --> 00:20:54,180 particular setting, I learned. Well, at first, I learned 323 00:20:54,180 --> 00:20:56,700 that I don't have a relationship with God. I got to go through some of 324 00:20:56,700 --> 00:21:00,540 us. The second setting, I learned to fear him, to 325 00:21:00,540 --> 00:21:01,260 run from Him. 326 00:21:04,300 --> 00:21:07,100 And if I don't get saved, I'm going to a place called Hell. I don't 327 00:21:07,100 --> 00:21:11,100 want to go there. Can I tell you that your salvation isn't about going 328 00:21:11,100 --> 00:21:14,140 to heaven or going to hell. It's about being with Jesus for eternity. 329 00:21:15,070 --> 00:21:18,190 Your salvation is about being with Jesus for eternity. But let me tell you why 330 00:21:18,190 --> 00:21:21,590 the distractions become so big in our lives. The 331 00:21:21,590 --> 00:21:25,390 distractions become so big in our lives because the luster towards 332 00:21:25,390 --> 00:21:29,230 spending eternity with Jesus is only as 333 00:21:29,230 --> 00:21:32,590 deep as your relationship with him is right now here on Earth. 334 00:21:34,990 --> 00:21:38,870 When we don't have a real, true relationship with Jesus right now, there's not 335 00:21:38,870 --> 00:21:42,790 really a luster to continue to lean into that relationship or the idea 336 00:21:42,790 --> 00:21:46,490 of we're going to spend eternity with Him. And so guess what? Gets 337 00:21:46,490 --> 00:21:50,410 boring. But it's more exciting, it's more exotic to talk about the issues 338 00:21:50,410 --> 00:21:54,170 and the sin and everything else I mentioned 339 00:21:54,170 --> 00:21:57,850 before. I wasn't going to necessarily talk about issues. I'm going to talk about something 340 00:21:57,850 --> 00:22:00,010 a little closer. And that's this issue of sin. 341 00:22:01,690 --> 00:22:03,050 It's the issue of sin. 342 00:22:07,690 --> 00:22:11,690 I want to start here. Jesus didn't come for those who think they are whole. 343 00:22:11,690 --> 00:22:15,610 He came for those who know they are broken. He 344 00:22:15,610 --> 00:22:18,850 didn't come for those who think they've got it all together and working out. In 345 00:22:18,850 --> 00:22:22,130 fact, I'll tell you, if you got somebody who's taken a glaring flashlight and pointing 346 00:22:22,130 --> 00:22:25,570 out all your flaws all the time. There's somebody who thinks that they're whole 347 00:22:26,210 --> 00:22:30,050 and are not in need of a savior. He came for 348 00:22:30,050 --> 00:22:34,010 those who know they are broken. Anybody here know 349 00:22:34,010 --> 00:22:36,370 that they're broken? Anybody in need of a Savior? 350 00:22:41,100 --> 00:22:44,860 I want to be clear. Sin is a real thing. If you have a ball, 351 00:22:45,020 --> 00:22:46,380 would you lift it in the air? 352 00:22:51,100 --> 00:22:53,420 If you don't have a ball, will you say, I don't have a ball? 353 00:22:54,700 --> 00:22:57,740 Okay, put your balls down for a second. Raise your hand if you don't have 354 00:22:57,740 --> 00:23:00,340 a ball and somebody's going to get you a ball. Quickly, we got some people 355 00:23:00,340 --> 00:23:04,140 in the back. Quickly, quickly, quickly. I need everybody to have one. 356 00:23:06,950 --> 00:23:09,350 All right, Got several down here. Come on down here. 357 00:23:17,190 --> 00:23:20,990 Thank you guys, for moving quickly. If anybody's about. We had several down 358 00:23:20,990 --> 00:23:24,550 here. We got anybody over here that needs one? Got some people over here. 359 00:23:29,270 --> 00:23:33,000 Loft you Guys, got your balls up there. Okay, everybody has one. We need several 360 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,840 more down here. Pastor Will, come on, let's bring him. John, 361 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:38,040 bring that down here. 362 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,280 Let me tell you something. If you come into this church and you see a 363 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,160 basket of balls out there, before you come into this place, you need to grab 364 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:47,879 one. Okay? 365 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:54,280 Has everybody got one? 366 00:23:58,770 --> 00:24:02,770 Logan and Kelsey need one over there. Need two, actually. 367 00:24:07,090 --> 00:24:11,010 All right, who does not have a ball? Everybody has a 368 00:24:11,010 --> 00:24:14,450 ball. Praise God. Raise your balls in there. Okay? 369 00:24:18,930 --> 00:24:22,580 If you have a ball in your hand, you are a center. 370 00:24:27,370 --> 00:24:28,010 Keep him up. 371 00:24:32,970 --> 00:24:34,970 You are led in worship by sinners. 372 00:24:37,690 --> 00:24:41,050 You are taught from the pulpit from sinners. 373 00:24:46,490 --> 00:24:50,390 No one is exempt from the curse of being in 374 00:24:50,390 --> 00:24:54,350 a world full of sin. The Bible does not say when you get 375 00:24:54,350 --> 00:24:58,270 saved that you stop being a sinner. It says that you stop being a slave 376 00:24:58,270 --> 00:25:02,110 to sin. And in that freedom, you don't have to 377 00:25:02,110 --> 00:25:06,110 engage in the sinful nature that you're a part of, but you are a 378 00:25:06,110 --> 00:25:09,190 sinner. Here's what the word says. Keep your balls up for just longer, and if 379 00:25:09,190 --> 00:25:13,070 your arm gets tired, just bring them right here. Okay? For all have sinned, say 380 00:25:13,070 --> 00:25:16,900 all. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Where it 381 00:25:16,900 --> 00:25:20,420 also says, if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth 382 00:25:20,420 --> 00:25:24,300 is not in us. All right, now put your balls down for a second. 383 00:25:24,300 --> 00:25:28,260 If you have a pink ball, would you raise it in the air? Okay. If 384 00:25:28,260 --> 00:25:32,100 you have a pink sin, that sin is okay, you're good. This is what 385 00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:34,740 most people struggle with. So you can make that loud and proud. You got it. 386 00:25:34,740 --> 00:25:38,420 You're carrying it in. Okay? But if you've got a green ball, would you raise 387 00:25:38,420 --> 00:25:42,270 that in the air? Okay, now. Now 388 00:25:43,150 --> 00:25:44,750 this sounds a little edgy. 389 00:25:48,510 --> 00:25:51,470 You probably want to be a little careful. 390 00:25:53,150 --> 00:25:56,470 If you've got a yellow ball, I need you to try to hide that real 391 00:25:56,470 --> 00:26:00,270 fast because those 392 00:26:00,270 --> 00:26:03,550 with the yellow sin, there are people here that would like to see you leave 393 00:26:03,550 --> 00:26:07,550 the church. You're not qualified to serve. You're not qualified to teach. You're not 394 00:26:07,550 --> 00:26:09,860 qualified to leave because you're dealing with that yellow ball. 395 00:26:22,090 --> 00:26:24,090 Don't get me started on the red balls. 396 00:26:27,290 --> 00:26:29,290 But, guys, this is exactly what we do. 397 00:26:32,410 --> 00:26:36,050 This is exactly what we do. We look at each other and we 398 00:26:36,050 --> 00:26:39,870 examine. Oh, guess what? I don't have a yellow balls in. So I 399 00:26:39,870 --> 00:26:43,510 can tell you everything. I've got my opinions. I can tell you everything 400 00:26:43,590 --> 00:26:47,110 about. I don't struggle with the same thing you struggle with. So, hey, 401 00:26:47,350 --> 00:26:51,150 I'm going to just blast you with it. And 402 00:26:51,150 --> 00:26:53,630 I'm going to send an email to the pastor to say, could you make sure 403 00:26:53,630 --> 00:26:57,470 you preach on this message? Don't talk about 404 00:26:57,470 --> 00:27:01,110 the red sins, though. Every 405 00:27:01,190 --> 00:27:05,030 one of us are sinners and every one of us need the blood 406 00:27:05,030 --> 00:27:07,270 of Jesus Christ to set us free. 407 00:27:10,290 --> 00:27:14,050 And when we focus on our sin, when we make this the 408 00:27:14,130 --> 00:27:17,810 issue, we say, jesus, you are not sufficient enough. 409 00:27:18,370 --> 00:27:21,770 We need to examine this so we know how to get out of it. But 410 00:27:21,770 --> 00:27:24,570 what we don't understand is the only way to get out of it is with 411 00:27:24,570 --> 00:27:27,250 him. Is with him. 412 00:27:28,610 --> 00:27:32,210 Everyone in this story was a sinner, 413 00:27:32,290 --> 00:27:36,140 save Jesus. Everyone was 414 00:27:36,140 --> 00:27:39,980 a sinner. And sin is not just breaking the rules. This is what sin does. 415 00:27:39,980 --> 00:27:43,100 Sin separates us from living God's best. 416 00:27:43,820 --> 00:27:47,820 That's essentially what sin does. When you engage in sin, you 417 00:27:47,820 --> 00:27:51,580 can actually not be a slave to sin and be engaging in 418 00:27:51,580 --> 00:27:55,340 sin and not get God's best. God 419 00:27:55,340 --> 00:27:59,020 wants his best for you. Well, what is sin? 420 00:27:59,750 --> 00:28:03,550 Well, get in the word of God and find out. It's listed in 421 00:28:03,550 --> 00:28:07,430 here. Basically, sin is anything that 422 00:28:07,430 --> 00:28:08,710 separates you from God, 423 00:28:11,030 --> 00:28:13,270 anything that comes between you and God. 424 00:28:15,750 --> 00:28:19,590 It separates us from peace, from joy, from purpose, from 425 00:28:19,590 --> 00:28:22,230 one another, and from the presence of God himself. 426 00:28:23,350 --> 00:28:26,990 That's why he didn't spend his ministry praising the Pharisees for rule 427 00:28:26,990 --> 00:28:30,840 keeping. Pharisees looked at everybody and said, you're sinning, 428 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:34,880 you're sinning, you're sinning. You need to straighten that out. You better 429 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,080 straighten that up. You better straighten that up. You better straighten that up. 430 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:43,160 Jesus didn't spend his time praising them. And they were getting, they were 431 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:47,000 checking things off the list, but they missed the heart 432 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:47,720 of God. 433 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:55,040 And so if we're going to talk about sin, we certainly can't exempt 434 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:58,640 ourselves from a hidden sin that creeps up, especially in such a 435 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,600 volatile and polarizing climate we live in. And that is the sin of hate. 436 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,560 A definition of hate is to separate, to sever, to turn away from in 437 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:12,520 rejection. You ever heard the phrase hate the sin but 438 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,640 love the sinner? A lot of us hate the sin and hate the sinner 439 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:20,760 because our response to what's going on in their life is this. We've separated, 440 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:22,820 we severed, and we turned away in rejection. 441 00:29:25,050 --> 00:29:28,170 And we walk around like the Pharisees 442 00:29:28,730 --> 00:29:32,410 in self righteousness because we 443 00:29:32,410 --> 00:29:35,850 forget that we too were saved from the thing that we're carrying. 444 00:29:40,010 --> 00:29:43,970 Jesus had a response to Zacchaeus that the crowd did not 445 00:29:43,970 --> 00:29:47,530 have. The crowd rejected Zacchaeus 446 00:29:48,330 --> 00:29:52,110 in the midst of sin. But Jesus 447 00:29:52,110 --> 00:29:54,070 loved Zacchaeus. And leaned in. 448 00:29:56,070 --> 00:29:59,430 Jesus gives us a command, a new command. And he says this. 449 00:29:59,830 --> 00:30:03,750 Love one another. As I've loved you, so you must love one another. 450 00:30:04,150 --> 00:30:07,510 Now, here's the thing. I hear so many people have walked in the faith for 451 00:30:07,510 --> 00:30:10,150 a while. They come, they say, well, we're supposed to be disciples of Christ. And 452 00:30:10,230 --> 00:30:13,470 so what that means is, I gotta walk with you, Barbie, and be a disciple, 453 00:30:13,470 --> 00:30:16,070 and I need to make sure you know what you're doing wrong. That's part of 454 00:30:16,070 --> 00:30:19,670 the discipleship process, is me making sure that you've got all your X's and O's 455 00:30:19,670 --> 00:30:23,570 together and all of those things. No, that's not it. He says, by this 456 00:30:24,130 --> 00:30:27,890 loving one another, then they will know that you're my disciples. 457 00:30:28,610 --> 00:30:32,330 Well, so what is love, then? If that is love, if we're supposed to look 458 00:30:32,330 --> 00:30:35,530 at people and sinners and let them know that we belong to Jesus, what does 459 00:30:35,530 --> 00:30:39,370 that look like? It is this. Love is patient. It's 460 00:30:39,370 --> 00:30:43,250 kind. It's selfless. It keeps no records of wrongs. It always 461 00:30:43,330 --> 00:30:47,170 protects. It always trusts. Here's what love does, and here's what we see 462 00:30:47,170 --> 00:30:50,460 Jesus do in the story. Love leans in closer. 463 00:30:52,930 --> 00:30:56,890 Love leans in closer. Can I tell you guys, love saved 464 00:30:56,890 --> 00:31:00,810 my life? It wasn't going to that Catholic priest. It wasn't 465 00:31:00,810 --> 00:31:04,450 in that Baptist church where I was scared because of hell. It was through people 466 00:31:04,450 --> 00:31:08,370 like Ronnie and Margaret Meek, who invited me into their home and showed me an 467 00:31:08,370 --> 00:31:12,050 extraordinary love, imperfect as they were, showed me an 468 00:31:12,050 --> 00:31:16,010 extraordinary love. The grace of Jesus Christ did not look at 469 00:31:16,010 --> 00:31:19,490 me for my flaws, but accepted me and said, come on in. Let me point 470 00:31:19,490 --> 00:31:23,400 you to him. Love saved my life. And guess what? If 471 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,480 you're honest with yourself, love saved your life, too. 472 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:31,040 Love saved your life, too. Why 473 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:34,920 will we not allow love to render that same power to other 474 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:35,240 people? 475 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:47,400 Love leans in closer. We lost our dog over the sabbatical. This is Koda. 476 00:31:48,510 --> 00:31:51,390 15 years of stories and fun, 477 00:31:52,350 --> 00:31:56,230 poop and pee. It was great. We lost 478 00:31:56,230 --> 00:32:00,150 him over the sabbatical. But one of the things that this conjured up was 479 00:32:00,150 --> 00:32:03,789 a memory about when Hadassah was about three years old, we lived over 480 00:32:03,790 --> 00:32:07,670 here, close to the church. And she would 481 00:32:07,670 --> 00:32:11,670 be playing with toys or she might be watching a show or whatever. And when 482 00:32:11,670 --> 00:32:15,280 I was on my way home, Shari would say to Hadassah and 483 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:19,280 Dakota, daddy's on the way home. And, you know, 484 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,840 it didn't matter what was going on. It didn't matter. The toy, 485 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,960 it didn't matter. The TV program, it didn't matter what they were eating, this 486 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:27,800 is what would happen. 487 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,640 You know why? Because they wanted to see their daddy. 488 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:41,120 Hadassah wanted to see her daddy. And there was nothing better 489 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,760 than me to pull up and see my child waiting there eagerly to see me. 490 00:32:45,870 --> 00:32:49,710 Oh, do you know that you have a father who loves you so much? Where 491 00:32:49,710 --> 00:32:53,390 is your eagerness to see him? Where is your eagerness and your 492 00:32:53,390 --> 00:32:57,310 desperation for this Jesus? Jesus says 493 00:32:57,310 --> 00:33:01,270 to Zacchaeus, he says, come down. I want to 494 00:33:01,270 --> 00:33:05,070 be with you. And he's saying to you 495 00:33:05,070 --> 00:33:08,750 today, I want to be with you. 496 00:33:09,470 --> 00:33:12,820 I'm not casting. He didn't look up and go, 497 00:33:12,820 --> 00:33:16,740 zacchaeus, you wretched sinner. You know what you've done. You know what 498 00:33:16,740 --> 00:33:20,460 you're hiding. You know it. Get out of that tree. No, he says, I 499 00:33:20,460 --> 00:33:22,940 want to come to your house today. 500 00:33:24,300 --> 00:33:27,900 I want to come to your house today. Come down here. 501 00:33:33,580 --> 00:33:36,220 Jonathan, earlier was referencing holiness, 502 00:33:38,230 --> 00:33:40,790 and that's a big buzzword in 503 00:33:42,070 --> 00:33:45,030 Christian circles is holiness. It's an important word. 504 00:33:47,670 --> 00:33:51,510 But if we're going to be like Christ, we cannot call distance, holiness, 505 00:33:54,230 --> 00:33:57,430 not separating from people. 506 00:33:58,550 --> 00:34:02,550 It's not being separated from people. It's being set apart to 507 00:34:02,550 --> 00:34:06,510 love people. That's holiness, being set apart to 508 00:34:06,510 --> 00:34:10,470 love people. Jesus says, come 509 00:34:10,470 --> 00:34:13,550 down. I want to be with you. He doesn't lecture. He invites. He doesn't accuse. 510 00:34:13,550 --> 00:34:17,190 He approaches. And I believe that's who he is. Still today, 511 00:34:17,989 --> 00:34:21,790 when everyone else pulls away, love says, I'm staying. When 512 00:34:21,790 --> 00:34:25,350 others walk out, love says, I'm coming in. When the world 513 00:34:25,350 --> 00:34:29,040 severs, love restores. And that kind of love 514 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:33,280 is the love that changed that kiosk. And it's the only kind that still changes 515 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:37,200 hearts today. And that's why it must be the focus. It's 516 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:41,080 why Jesus must be in the center. And this is 517 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:44,800 why here at Springhouse, we make every effort, every Sunday 518 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:49,000 to make sure that Jesus is at the center of what we are teaching and 519 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,800 what we are saying and who we are singing about. Every single week. 520 00:34:53,689 --> 00:34:57,609 When you walk out of here, you should be thinking about him. Good 521 00:34:57,609 --> 00:34:59,769 Lord, you got enough to think about the rest of the week. 522 00:35:02,169 --> 00:35:05,849 This is what love in action looks like. You got 523 00:35:05,849 --> 00:35:09,729 somebody dealing with sin. You see them, and here you 524 00:35:09,729 --> 00:35:13,569 are. You're a sinner, they're a sinner. Here you are, 525 00:35:13,569 --> 00:35:17,369 and you've got your eyes fixed on Jesus, and you understand that Jesus is the 526 00:35:17,369 --> 00:35:21,310 one who set you free from this. But 527 00:35:21,310 --> 00:35:25,310 this person has their focus in the wrong place. And what we 528 00:35:25,310 --> 00:35:29,190 want to do is turn them toward us and say, you need to put that 529 00:35:29,190 --> 00:35:32,270 down. You need to stop doing what you're doing. Don't you see that? This is 530 00:35:32,270 --> 00:35:34,949 the red ball. Now, if you had a pink ball, it would have been okay, 531 00:35:34,949 --> 00:35:38,630 Kurt, but you don't. You got a red ball. You understand how bad that is? 532 00:35:38,790 --> 00:35:41,510 That's what we like to do, all the while carrying our own. 533 00:35:43,990 --> 00:35:47,810 But here's love in action. Salvation. I'm a sinner. 534 00:35:48,210 --> 00:35:52,170 And my gaze and my focus is Christ. And I look over and 535 00:35:52,170 --> 00:35:56,130 I see someone whom I love struggling and looking at their 536 00:35:56,130 --> 00:35:58,050 sin. This is what love looks like 537 00:36:02,850 --> 00:36:06,850 when we look at Him. He gives us the power to lay that sin 538 00:36:06,850 --> 00:36:10,810 down. He gives us the power. He's 539 00:36:10,810 --> 00:36:14,540 the one. And because you love and you lean in, 540 00:36:14,700 --> 00:36:18,700 you show and model the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank 541 00:36:18,700 --> 00:36:22,700 you, Curt. You can sit down. And it renders people free 542 00:36:22,860 --> 00:36:26,700 to see the power in the love of Jesus, the 543 00:36:26,700 --> 00:36:30,540 grace in the love of Jesus. And that's what sets people free. 544 00:36:30,620 --> 00:36:34,300 That's the power that we are able to let go of what so 545 00:36:34,300 --> 00:36:35,420 entangles us. 546 00:36:38,710 --> 00:36:42,590 The church is not a museum for saints. It is a hospital for 547 00:36:42,590 --> 00:36:46,510 sinners. And if we're honest, most of us are more comfortable with our sin 548 00:36:46,510 --> 00:36:50,470 than we are with the cure. I was at the hospital about three years 549 00:36:50,470 --> 00:36:54,150 ago with a kidney stone. Do you know when they. When I went into that 550 00:36:54,150 --> 00:36:57,990 hospital, Tina, I walked in, there was no 551 00:36:57,990 --> 00:37:01,870 question about whether or not I was in pain. I did not need them to 552 00:37:01,870 --> 00:37:05,840 come up to me and say, you're in pain. I didn't 553 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:07,360 need them to come up to me and say, 554 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:13,240 you look like you're screaming. You sound like you're screaming. I didn't need them to 555 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:17,040 point out to me that I even had a kidney stone. Why was I 556 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:20,920 there? I was there because I needed a cure. And in 557 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:24,640 a hospital, you want them talking more about the cure than the 558 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:28,520 disease. Give me what I need so that I can be 559 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:32,520 healed. So why is it when we come into the church, it is a 560 00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:36,480 problem when we don't talk mostly about the cure and we want to talk 561 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:37,640 all about the disease? 562 00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:44,360 He is the perfecter of our faith. He is the one who 563 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:48,320 changes everything. I can't change a thing, Dustin. I don't want you 564 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:52,160 walking in sin. I think you won't have God's best with that yellow 565 00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:56,000 ball. But all I can do in your life is to point you and tell 566 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,590 you about the Jesus I've been looking at. And when you do that, you're going 567 00:37:59,590 --> 00:38:02,430 to see something from him. You're going to feel something you're going to know something 568 00:38:02,430 --> 00:38:06,230 about him that's going to cause you to go, this ain't worth it. This 569 00:38:06,230 --> 00:38:10,070 ain't worth it. And it might change your life. And when it changes your life, 570 00:38:10,070 --> 00:38:11,990 guess what? You're going to look at Tina and you're going to say the same 571 00:38:11,990 --> 00:38:15,830 thing. Look at Jesus, Kurt. Look at Jesus. And it goes on 572 00:38:15,990 --> 00:38:17,910 and on and on. 573 00:38:20,230 --> 00:38:23,350 The goal of church isn't to make bad people good. It's to bring dead people 574 00:38:23,350 --> 00:38:27,280 to life. John 12:32. When I, Jesus, am 575 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:31,280 lifted up, I, Jesus, will draw all people to myself. It's 576 00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:34,880 not when Kevin's lifted up, not when Kurt's lifted up. 577 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:39,040 It's not when Lisa's lifted up. It's when Jesus is lifted up. It's not when 578 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:42,920 your sin issue is lifted up. It's not when the politician is lifted 579 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:46,560 up. It's not whenever the teaching is lifted up. It is when Jesus is 580 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:50,330 lifted up, when the main thing is the main thing, he will draw 581 00:38:50,330 --> 00:38:51,770 all men to himself. 582 00:38:57,130 --> 00:38:59,890 When we lift Jesus up and make him the focus, not only are we no 583 00:38:59,890 --> 00:39:03,690 longer slaves to our sin, we are free to hope for and celebrate the freedom 584 00:39:03,690 --> 00:39:07,610 in others. Jesus calls Zacchaeus down because of his love for 585 00:39:07,610 --> 00:39:11,570 Zacchaeus. And Zacchaeus response to the love of 586 00:39:11,570 --> 00:39:15,210 Jesus, to the leaning in of his love is, look, Lord, 587 00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:19,840 here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I've 588 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,760 cheated anybody out of anything, I'll pay it back four times the amount. 589 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:28,120 Who is he talking to? He's not talking to the crowd, he's 590 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:32,000 talking to the Lord. Why is he talking to the Lord? Because Jesus 591 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:36,000 leaned in. And just the presence of Jesus will illuminate 592 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,880 all the darkness and cause everything that's not supposed to be there to 593 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:42,730 flee. Jesus changes everything. 594 00:39:45,050 --> 00:39:48,570 Jesus didn't have to say a word about the sin. Just his presence 595 00:39:49,210 --> 00:39:50,970 changed Zacchaeus heart. 596 00:39:57,770 --> 00:40:01,730 So I began today talking about distractions. There's a book that I love, children's book 597 00:40:01,730 --> 00:40:05,690 called you are Special. And there is a girl in it named Lucia. And 598 00:40:05,690 --> 00:40:09,680 the basic premise of this schedule, this story, is that there 599 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:13,560 are women, there are wooden people. And the wooden people go around and they put 600 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:17,240 stars on the ones who do good things, and they put dots on the ones 601 00:40:17,240 --> 00:40:20,120 who do bad things. So if you are talented and you can jump high, you 602 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:24,120 can ride the cycle, whatever it is, you get a star. But boy, if 603 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,000 you trip up and you mess up and you're a failure, you get a dot. 604 00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:30,800 So they go around and they put Stars, and they put dots. They put stars 605 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:34,800 and they put dots on each other all day long. Well, Punchinello, the small guy 606 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:38,080 here, he's one that gets dots a whole lot. And I don't know about you, 607 00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:40,320 there might be people in here. You feel like you would be one getting a 608 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:44,240 lot of dots. I know I would. She goes up to Punch. He goes up 609 00:40:44,240 --> 00:40:48,080 to Lucia, and he says, lucia, you don't have any 610 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,760 stars or dots on you. Why don't you have stars and dots? You're a 611 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:55,400 whimmick, just like me. And she says, oh, that's 612 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:59,040 easy. Because every day I go see 613 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:02,640 Eli. Pachenello said, eli? Who's Eli? 614 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:06,960 Eli's the one who made me. 615 00:41:10,240 --> 00:41:14,200 His voice matters most. And when 616 00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:17,120 you make Eli the focus and what he says, the focus, 617 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,760 none of the stickers stick. The stars and the dots, 618 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:26,200 they fall. She says, the stickers will only stick if you let 619 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:30,010 them. The stickers only stick if 620 00:41:30,090 --> 00:41:33,970 you let them. There are people under the sound of my 621 00:41:33,970 --> 00:41:37,690 voice who have a bunch of stars, who've got a bunch of dots. 622 00:41:38,170 --> 00:41:42,130 And you're wondering in comparison to other people, why you've got stars and 623 00:41:42,130 --> 00:41:46,090 they've got dots and they've got dots and you've got stars, all of these things. 624 00:41:48,250 --> 00:41:51,130 And you're listening to the voices around you. 625 00:41:52,090 --> 00:41:56,090 And Jesus says, listen to my voice. Listen to 626 00:41:56,090 --> 00:41:58,450 who I say you are. 627 00:42:00,930 --> 00:42:04,690 And so in that when we talk about distractions, guys, as a fellow 628 00:42:04,690 --> 00:42:08,530 believer, if Jesus truly is the way, 629 00:42:08,530 --> 00:42:11,770 you know that scripture in John that says, he is the way, the truth, and 630 00:42:11,770 --> 00:42:15,490 the life? If that is Jesus, it doesn't say, kevin is the truth, the way, 631 00:42:15,490 --> 00:42:19,250 the way, the truth, the life. It says, Jesus is the way, the 632 00:42:19,250 --> 00:42:23,200 truth. You need any of that. You need a way. You 633 00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:27,120 need some truth. You need life. It's him. And if Jesus is the way, I 634 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:28,760 don't want to be in his way. 635 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:35,400 I don't want my voice to be a distraction to you. I don't want my 636 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:39,200 presence to be a distraction to you. I don't want my actions to be 637 00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,920 a distraction to you. Jesus is the way. 638 00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:45,000 Jesus is the way. 639 00:42:48,290 --> 00:42:50,370 You can trust him to make the wrong thing right. 640 00:42:52,210 --> 00:42:54,690 You don't have to try to be somebody's holy Spirit, 641 00:42:55,970 --> 00:42:59,850 and you don't have to be someone's distraction. This 642 00:42:59,850 --> 00:43:03,770 is Merlin Henderson, and Merlin is sitting right 643 00:43:03,770 --> 00:43:05,410 here in front of us this morning. 644 00:43:09,170 --> 00:43:11,340 Merlin's gonna go see Jesus real soon. Soon. 645 00:43:13,180 --> 00:43:14,540 He's going to go see him real soon. 646 00:43:17,420 --> 00:43:21,340 And I got the pleasure of going over their House and spending a few 647 00:43:21,340 --> 00:43:25,340 hours with Merlin. And, you know, the family told me Merlin was talking a 648 00:43:25,340 --> 00:43:27,260 whole lot more than he usually does that night. 649 00:43:28,860 --> 00:43:31,100 Merlin, you were telling me all types of stories. 650 00:43:32,860 --> 00:43:36,460 Merlin's about to meet Jesus. And I'm. 651 00:43:36,950 --> 00:43:40,070 I'm a bit jealous, to be honest. 652 00:43:40,950 --> 00:43:44,790 He's about to meet Jesus. Can I tell you something? Three 653 00:43:44,790 --> 00:43:48,150 hours of conversation. Not one time did he mention the name Donald Trump, 654 00:43:48,470 --> 00:43:52,310 Joe Biden, Charlie Kirk. Not one time did he mention sin. 655 00:43:52,630 --> 00:43:56,230 Not one time did he mention what I'd done wrong or what. Guess what? Merlin's 656 00:43:56,230 --> 00:43:59,190 gonna. Merlin is taking to the grave with him his sin, 657 00:44:00,870 --> 00:44:04,870 and he's gonna be resurrected with Jesus. But here is 658 00:44:04,870 --> 00:44:08,270 where we fall short in our understanding. Here 659 00:44:08,510 --> 00:44:11,150 is every one of us could be that close as well. 660 00:44:14,590 --> 00:44:18,110 Yet we have these walls in our life that we allow to just build and 661 00:44:18,110 --> 00:44:21,790 be strong. I'm going to build this wall. I'm going to cement this issue. 662 00:44:21,950 --> 00:44:25,630 I'm going to cement this relationship. I'm going to cement this wall against 663 00:44:25,790 --> 00:44:29,630 you and me. And it'll wait till we get to a moment 664 00:44:29,630 --> 00:44:33,350 where there is a casket here to then allow the wall to come down. What 665 00:44:33,350 --> 00:44:34,270 are you talking about? 666 00:44:38,210 --> 00:44:42,090 The reason that happens is because we're distracted people. And when 667 00:44:42,090 --> 00:44:45,570 you look at Jesus, you have no choice but to look at him and say, 668 00:44:45,570 --> 00:44:49,530 I'm going to exude love. Because, man, the love you've lavished on me is so 669 00:44:49,530 --> 00:44:52,290 much greater and weightier than anything else I've ever had. 670 00:44:56,210 --> 00:45:00,130 Marlins is a life well lived. Telling me stories about 671 00:45:00,130 --> 00:45:04,040 how he saw the people who weren't seen. The memories that 672 00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:07,840 are coming up are. Is a man being utilized by the Holy Spirit to 673 00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:11,480 bless people. And brother, you're about to hear well done, good and 674 00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:12,520 faithful servant. 675 00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:21,240 I haven't even gotten to the most powerful part of the story of Zacchaeus. 676 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:26,600 Here's the most powerful part. When 677 00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:30,470 Jesus strolls up on that scene. I told you, it's a divine appointment. Jesus is 678 00:45:30,470 --> 00:45:34,430 walking through walls. He walks up and he sees Zacchaeus in the 679 00:45:34,430 --> 00:45:38,430 tree, and he calls out Zacchaeus name. He 680 00:45:38,430 --> 00:45:41,670 says, zacchaeus. Do you know what 681 00:45:41,670 --> 00:45:43,270 Zacchaeus name means? 682 00:45:46,390 --> 00:45:49,910 The purest one, the innocent one. 683 00:45:51,830 --> 00:45:55,170 Only Jesus can look at Zacchaeus 684 00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:59,720 amongst the crowd of sinners and look and see a pure one, 685 00:45:59,880 --> 00:46:03,560 an innocent one. And he's the only one who can look at you and call 686 00:46:03,560 --> 00:46:05,560 you by the name he's given you. 687 00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:12,040 So you in that tree today, 688 00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:17,480 you're contending with the sin issues of your life. 689 00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:22,530 Jesus wants to Lean in. And I 690 00:46:22,530 --> 00:46:25,970 apologize to you for those of you who have 691 00:46:25,970 --> 00:46:29,890 experienced hurt because Christians who were supposed to be acting like Christ 692 00:46:30,050 --> 00:46:33,890 decided to sever from you, decided to throw stones at 693 00:46:33,890 --> 00:46:36,969 you. Do you know that story about the woman in the stones? We love that 694 00:46:36,969 --> 00:46:40,850 story where they says they're all there throwing the stones and she's caught in adultery, 695 00:46:40,850 --> 00:46:43,490 right? Big sin, big time sin. That's probably a red ball. 696 00:46:47,740 --> 00:46:50,900 Our favorite part of that story is go and sin no more. We love to 697 00:46:50,900 --> 00:46:54,740 preach on that, make that the whole point. You know, the 698 00:46:54,740 --> 00:46:58,700 power of that story is not in that line. The power 699 00:46:58,860 --> 00:47:02,780 of that story is let he who is without sin cast 700 00:47:02,860 --> 00:47:06,580 the first stone. Let me tell you why. See, we forget that that 701 00:47:06,580 --> 00:47:10,580 woman had more life ahead of her. Now, I don't 702 00:47:10,580 --> 00:47:14,180 know if she tripped up in that same sin of adultery when Jesus said, go 703 00:47:14,180 --> 00:47:16,890 and sin no more, but I guarantee you she's tripped up in something else. 704 00:47:18,480 --> 00:47:22,480 And she needed that same grace that she had that day. On 705 00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:26,440 Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Thursday, on Friday. What 706 00:47:26,440 --> 00:47:29,680 she didn't need was a bunch of people holding up stones who are contending with 707 00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:31,360 the same things, ready to kill her. 708 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:37,720 Jesus says to you, go and sin no more. Why? Because the life you're 709 00:47:37,720 --> 00:47:40,800 living in that sin is not worth the life 710 00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:44,480 that you're living. I have so much better for you. 711 00:47:46,510 --> 00:47:50,350 Choose better. Choose better. You can't do it on your 712 00:47:50,350 --> 00:47:54,310 own. Guess what? Got my Holy Spirit. I 713 00:47:54,310 --> 00:47:57,470 got people who are going to come alongside you and love you and hold on 714 00:47:57,470 --> 00:47:59,550 to you and walk with you. 715 00:48:04,430 --> 00:48:08,150 He's saying, come down. I want to be with you. And guys, this is the 716 00:48:08,150 --> 00:48:12,150 gospel. It's the cure. Jesus is the cure. That's 717 00:48:12,150 --> 00:48:15,190 the love that leans in. That's my Jesus. 718 00:48:18,230 --> 00:48:21,430 I may be pastor one more week or five more years, 30 more years, I 719 00:48:21,430 --> 00:48:25,390 don't know. But as long as I'm pastor here, we're going to center in on 720 00:48:25,390 --> 00:48:28,870 Jesus every single week. We're going to center in on Jesus every single week. 721 00:48:29,910 --> 00:48:33,870 And I welcome you to be a part of the journey because he'll change your 722 00:48:33,870 --> 00:48:37,790 life. If you go with us with those who 723 00:48:37,790 --> 00:48:41,260 are going to serve the elements, come forward. Going to end today by 724 00:48:41,260 --> 00:48:43,060 remembering why we are here. 725 00:48:45,700 --> 00:48:49,700 It's the broken body and the blood of Jesus. And so what I 726 00:48:49,700 --> 00:48:53,620 want you to do today, every one of you got a ball. 727 00:48:55,459 --> 00:48:58,380 I want you to bring that ball and I want you to drop it in 728 00:48:58,380 --> 00:49:02,260 the tub and receive the grace of Jesus through his broken body 729 00:49:02,580 --> 00:49:04,820 and the blood that cleanses all sin. 730 00:49:06,670 --> 00:49:10,110 And once you receive the broken body and the blood. I would like you 731 00:49:10,510 --> 00:49:14,350 to go back to your seat. And if you're able. If you're able. 732 00:49:15,070 --> 00:49:18,190 We used to do something back in the old sanctuary with the pews, but we 733 00:49:18,190 --> 00:49:21,950 would make these our altar space. And if you're able 734 00:49:22,030 --> 00:49:25,390 to do this, I'd like you to. I just want to invite you to make 735 00:49:25,390 --> 00:49:29,150 this your altar space. You know, we do have prayer 736 00:49:29,150 --> 00:49:32,790 time. Pastor Barb. We have prayer time here where you need. If you need healing 737 00:49:32,790 --> 00:49:36,550 and we need. Your needs need to be. That's not what this is about. This 738 00:49:36,550 --> 00:49:39,830 time today, we're going to remember him. 739 00:49:40,550 --> 00:49:44,470 And if you came in here with a wall that just seems like you can't 740 00:49:44,470 --> 00:49:48,470 penetrate, this is a time to invite Jesus into that place to 741 00:49:48,470 --> 00:49:52,270 say, lord, I've not been able to penetrate this wall. This is a 742 00:49:52,270 --> 00:49:55,990 hard place in my life. I need you to penetrate it. And let me tell 743 00:49:55,990 --> 00:49:58,870 you, he may have you do some things that you don't even understand 744 00:50:01,600 --> 00:50:05,520 because he is so much bigger than the issue or the situation or whatever it 745 00:50:05,520 --> 00:50:09,440 is. And if that's not you and you don't have a wall, there's people in 746 00:50:09,440 --> 00:50:13,400 here that probably do. Go before him and ask him that. We would 747 00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:17,240 keep him. The main thing. Guys, stand with 748 00:50:17,240 --> 00:50:20,840 me. Father, thank you so much for the bread. Thank you for the juice, the 749 00:50:20,840 --> 00:50:24,560 blood that pays for our sins. Thank you for Jesus. 750 00:50:26,250 --> 00:50:27,050 Come receive.