Sermon
Light of the World
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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All right. Welcome to Sunday at First Baptist Henrietta. We like to see people get around here.
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Like to lift up the name of the Lord in worship and thank God for that. Thank God for that last
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hymn. That was incredible. Sometimes it's good just to go back to the basics. Y'all know how
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many original verses there were to Amazing Grace? Anybody know? Twelve. That's right. Twelve.
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Twelve verses. Have y'all ever sung them all here? I did that once when I was a minister of music at a
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church. The pastor who showed me all twelve verses, I wasn't even aware there were that many,
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and he said, would you lead all these on Sunday? And we did, and it was a lot of fun.
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Um, so maybe, maybe at some point we'll do that here. We are finishing up our series on salt and
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light here, and this is taken directly from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' most, I guess you could
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call it famous sermon, so to speak, that he preached during his 33 years here on earth,
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found in Matthew chapter 5. Just by way of review, um, a couple Sundays ago we talked about
Matthew 5 chapter mention
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salt. Salt. We began with two Sundays talking about salt, and the first takeaway was, are we worth our
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salt? We looked at the inherent value that salt had back in ancient times. Still very valuable today,
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of course, and scientists have discovered literally over a thousand uses for salt, uh, in our culture and
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communities, but salt back then was absolutely, you couldn't live without it. It kept your meat fresh,
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et cetera. Roman soldiers were often paid in salt instead of money, and so we ask the question, are we
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worth our salt? If Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth, are we living as the salt of the earth,
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or has it been wasted on us in our time here on earth? Let that not be said of God's people.
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And then a couple Sundays ago, we talked about the takeaway, uh, from the next Sunday on salt, which was,
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have we lost our flavor? Jesus said, if the salt has lost its flavor, how can it be good for anything
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except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet? And that is what the world does around us to
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everyone, is trample them under their feet. We see that, this heartless, cruel world around us.
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Jesus came to bring something different. He came to bring life. He came to bring hope. He came to bring
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grace, forgiveness, love. And now that he is back in heaven, he's left us, his church, his people,
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to be that life, that hope, that love, and to bring the truth of the salt. That is what brings the flavor
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that this world so desperately needs. So have we lost our flavor? Have we gotten away from the source
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of our flavor? And then last week, we talked about light. Jesus said, you are the light of the world.
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You are like a city on a hill. And we learned a couple things about that. A city on a hill attracts
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attention. Whether we like it or not, as the people of God, we will attract attention. What are we doing
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with the attention that we attract? And then after that, we talked about, kind of harking back to Gideon,
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the story of Gideon, back in the Old Testament, and how God commanded his people to take their lights
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and their lamps and put them inside a jar, and then at the right moment, break the jars, and then the light
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would shine, blow the trumpets, and God won a mighty victory that day through his way of doing things.
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Certainly not any military strategy that any of us would have come up with. And so the question was,
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does God want to break a jar in your life so the light can shine? We looked at Paul's writings,
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how he said, we are like a treasure hidden in a clay jar, an earthen vessel.
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And God wants that treasure to shine through our bodies, our lives, so he can do something through us. See,
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folks, we're all basically about the same. We're all run-of-the-mill people. We all have problems.
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We all have inconsistencies. We all have issues. And God has to have so much grace to work with a group
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people that looks like us. And he does this all around the world. He is using his people
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to shine his light into this dark, dark world. So what jar does God want to break in your life,
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in your life, so his light can shine through? Maybe it's a jar you've been holding on to,
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and that was the question ultimately we came to was, how bright is our light? Are we hiding it
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under a bushel basket? Are we hiding it inside a jar? Or is God's light shining through us? Are the
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family members, the co-workers, the neighbors, the people in our lives impacted by the light of Jesus
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Christ shining through us? So let's go to Matthew chapter 5 now. If you're not already there, turn to
Matthew 5 chapter mention
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Matthew chapter 5. If you're able to join me in standing, would you do that in honor of God's
Matthew 5 chapter mention
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word? And let's read it together. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 13. You, Jesus says, are the salt of the
Matthew 5 chapter mention
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earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It's no longer good for
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anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city
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situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one puts a light, lights a lamp and puts it under a basket,
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but rather on a lamp stand, obviously. And it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way,
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let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father
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in heaven. Would you pray with me? God, I pray that you would give us wisdom and understanding from the
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reading of your word today, from the preaching of your word today. Let it be your words and not mine,
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God. I sit and I prepare these sermons and sometimes I'm confident in what I have to say.
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And then other times it's like, man, God, you're going to have to take this one over.
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And I ask you to do that today, God. You leave us with something that you have for us. It's in
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Jesus' name we ask it. Amen. You may be seated. Thanks for standing. All right, we're going to do a
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little test of your Texan-ness, if that's all right. How many are native Texans here? You were born in
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this great state. How many of you are naturalized? You were born somewhere else, but you moved here.
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Good. Welcome. Thank you. Holly, your hands should be up. What's that? Imported? Yeah, imported goods.
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There's like extra taxes you have to pay on imported goods. Yeah, let's not get into all that right now.
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We don't need to. Listen, when I married my wife, I gave her a certificate that said you are now an
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honorary citizen of the great nation of Texas. It was great. Just by marriage, you know. So let me go
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ahead and give you your test real quick and then we'll move on. The stars at night are big and bright.
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Good. All right. We're in good company here. So there they are. There's the bright night stars
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in the sky in Texas. It's great. We love it, right? I was standing out in my backyard looking up
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and you know, normally I was mostly raised in cities. Now I was born in Fort Worth, but spent my first year
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of life in Mejia, Texas. Anybody know where Mejia is? Anybody know how to spell it? M-E-X-I-A. There's
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your real Texans right there, man. If you know how to spell Mejia. And by the way, it's not just Mejia,
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it's Mejia. If you're from there, it's Mejia. Mejia. But then we quickly moved to Corsicana and
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Corsicana is a little bigger now. I still wouldn't call it a big city by any stretch, but back then it
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was a lot like Henrietta. So it was smaller, you know. But mostly I lived in cities and when you're
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living in cities, you can't see as many stars at night up in the sky. But last night I looked up
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and did anybody else see? It was a pretty clear night. The sky was full of stars out there. It was
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really, really neat to see. And I just sat out there with a dog for a minute and found what I
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thought was the Milky Way. I'm convinced it was. And that's the only galaxy or constellation.
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Yeah, I'm not into astronomy at all. But that's the only one I know. So anyway, may I introduce
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a singular truth to you all that you probably didn't know until you showed up here at church
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this morning? Stars are made to shine. I see the shocked looks on your faces. Stars are made to shine.
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Of course we all knew that. It's what they do, right? What's our star in our solar system? The sun,
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right? It's a big old star. Provides heat, provides light. We're grateful for it. God certainly set it up
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the right way. If you look at the solar system that we live in and then you realize how small it is
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in just the vast space that's out there. I mean, space is seemingly unlimited by any study that science
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has done. They have not yet found the limits or boundaries of space out there. Why? Because
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there's no limit and boundary to our God. So our God has created something that is so much bigger than
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us. He's put us in our galaxy. But there are so many other galaxies out there that likely humankind
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will never even have an opportunity to explore.
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It's so much bigger than you and I.
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One time I got to go and see this IMAX presentation on space and the constellations and galaxies and
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and they talked about that and they zoomed out the camera to show just how small and seemingly
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insignificant our planet is in the vast created space. And it's easy in those moments to think,
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man, me as one little person on this planet that is our whole world, right? But really our whole world
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is so small and we're so dependent on our sun and we think it's the biggest, brightest thing anywhere,
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but really it's just a medium-sized star. There's far bigger stars out there.
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I want to show you what the book of Proverbs has to say.
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The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
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which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. Read that again, would you? The way of the
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righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.
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Do you realize that God is comparing us and our lives, the way we walk, the way we live,
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earth. He's comparing it to what the sun does for our planet. He's saying you are the key.
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You are the essence of what it takes to live this life how God intended us to live. Why? Because we are
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God's representatives on this earth. You know, the Bible actually uses another word. It says we are
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ambassadors for Christ. We are emissaries. We are his hands and feet. We are his face. We are his
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mouth. We are his ears to listen. We are God's representatives on this earth.
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So when we live our lives, it is meant to be like the first gleam of dawn,
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shining ever brighter until the full light of day. What's it talking about when it says the full
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light of day that's coming? We're shining ever more brightly until that day when the full light
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of day comes. What is that? What's it talking about? He's thinking. Yes, sir. It's when Jesus comes back.
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That's when the full light of day will come. That's a prophecy of Jesus coming back. We can never shine
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as brightly as brightly as Jesus, but our commandment, our commission is to shine more brightly, reflecting
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people back to the sun, S-U-N, which in reality is the sun, S-O-N, of God, Jesus. Daniel chapter 12 is a,
Daniel 12 chapter mention
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Daniel is a book full of prophecy that talks about the end times. You want to tie Daniel and Revelation
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together? They're intricately tied together in prophecy and fulfillment of prophecy, and it sheds
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a little more light in what we're talking about. Daniel 12 and verse 3 says, those who are wise
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will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars
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forever. You want to know how to be a star for God? What do stars do? Stars were made too?
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Shine. Y'all pick up fast, man. You're a smart bunch. Stars were made to shine. So if you want to be a star
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for God that shines as bright as the stars in the sky, the big sky at night deep in the heart of Texas,
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then you lead many to righteousness. Because if you lead many to righteousness, you'll shine like the stars
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forever. What's it talking about when it says those who lead many to righteousness? Anybody want to
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boil that down, summarize it? What's it talking about?
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Sharing the gospel. That's it. Telling people about Jesus, about a way to find forgiveness and hope in
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Jesus Christ. That's how you turn people to righteousness. If you, the more people you lead
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to righteousness, the more brightly you shine in God's kingdom forever. Forever. Now you can shine
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here on earth for a temporary amount of time. You can shine brightly. You can get famous. You can get on
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TV. You can get a fat bank account. You can get all kinds of people who think you're important,
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but until you turn many to righteousness, your star does not shine brightly in God's kingdom.
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That's what it means when it says those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky. What animal or
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bird do you think of when you think of wisdom and being wise? An owl. All of you read the same kids' books
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that I did. Yes, we think of a wise old owl, right? But listen, true wisdom, let's look at what the
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word of God has to say about true wisdom. Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 30. The fruit of the righteous
Proverbs 11 chapter mention
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is a tree of life. We'll come back to that in just a second. Whoever captures souls is wise.
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What does it mean by that? Well, you got to tie these two things together. A tree of life. A tree that has
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the fruit of life. What's it talking about? It's talking about going and reproducing yourself
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as a follower of Jesus. Allowing God to work through you to share this life-changing message
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of the saving grace of Jesus. And then when somebody else hears that message because you allowed
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yourself to be the mouthpiece and allowed God to speak through you, then real change can start to
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happen. That person's life can be transformed. First of all, they can be brought from death to life.
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They can be rescued from a destination of spending forever in hell and paying for their sins,
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which all of us deserve. But according to God's gospel message, none of us have to experience if
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we will turn to him and say, Jesus, I accept your payment on the cross for my sin. I believe that you
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rose from the dead and you are God. And if I place my faith in you, then I will be saved from that terrible
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punishment for my sin. So that can happen, which completely changes the course of that person's life.
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And if enough of that happens, many are turned to righteousness, then you know what else can change?
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The culture can change. I've seen it happen. Revival can start to happen. God can change anything
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if many are turned to him. So that's that tree of life that all of a sudden, it's not just one little
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plant. It grows into a great tree that bears fruit with many, many, many turning to Jesus.
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Not because you took on this great job, this great mission that you can't handle on your own.
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Trust me, I can't handle it on my own either. We can't save this whole world. We can't turn this
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whole world. We can barely get ourselves right, you know? Only with God's help. But together,
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as the church, we can't. God empowered us to. He equipped us to, to bear this tree of life. That is our fruit.
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That is the fruit of the righteousness. So how much fruit is on our tree? How much fruit is on your branch?
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How many have we turned to righteousness? Through prayer? Through fasting? Through falling down our
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knees before God and say, God, save my brother. God, save my spouse. God, save my grandson.
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save my aunt. Save my neighbor. Save my coworker. And then not just taking them to God, but taking God
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to them. Saying, I want you to know what happened to me. I care so deeply for you, for your soul,
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that I can't help but share what God has done for me, and I hope he can make the same kind of difference
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in your life. That's capturing a soul for Christ. And when we do it as a church, we can capture a city
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for Christ. We can capture a county for Christ. There is no limit to what God can do with somebody who
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won't tell him no. There's no limit to what God can do through somebody like you or me, who just says,
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I'm not going to tell God no. That's what wisdom is. When you capture souls for Jesus, you are wise.
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And those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky because they're leading many to righteousness,
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and they'll shine like stars forever. So that's our question here. Does your tree have any fruit on it?
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Does my tree have any fruit on it? I can tell you this answer. My tree has some fruit on it,
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but not nearly as much as it should. I've gone for months at a time. I hesitate to tell you this because
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I'm the pastor of this church and God's appointed me as the shepherd of this ministry,
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but I've gone for years sometimes without leading a single person to faith in Jesus Christ. I can't
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save them. I can't forgive their sins. If I died on a cross, it wouldn't mean anything except a tragic
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death. But when Jesus died on the cross, it made all the difference. When he rose from the dead, he showed
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he was God, and I can introduce them to him. I can't do the saving, but I can do the introducing. I can make
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an introduction, you know. Let me introduce you to someone who can really help you. You know, in
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churches, sometimes people come to you with needs. Sometimes they're emotional needs, and you say, man,
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I'm having enough emotional problems on my own. I can't really have the bandwidth to help you and
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yours, you know. But you know who does? God does. So oftentimes, I will make an introduction and tell
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them what he has to say. And sometimes then God takes over and transforms that situation. Sometimes
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people bring physical needs. Say, man, I need help with this. You say, man, you look at my bank account,
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you're going to see I don't really have the bandwidth to help you in this physical need that you have.
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Church doesn't have the ability to fix all the poverty in our city, our town, or in Wichita Falls,
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or in our county, or in our region. We don't have the ability to fix every problem that exists in
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humanity. But we can make an introduction to the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
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the one who hung the stars in the sky, the one who has unlimited resources, and oftentimes he will step
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in and do things that are so much better than anything that we could have conjured up to do,
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any solution that we could have come up with. I've gotten to go on so many trips to do mission
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work in other countries. My wife and I actually served as career missionaries for a time down
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in Central America and Panama, and we got to see very poor areas and places over in India and Thailand
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and Russia and just third world areas where they can only dream of having the basic, what we would
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call necessities of life here in middle-class America.
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And you wish you could just fix all their problems.
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You wish you could just get them a cell phone or give them a thousand dollars and that would just go
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so far, but you realize that's not really gonna fix anything. It's gonna run out.
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None of us can do everything that needs to be done to fix all the problems that sin has caused in this
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world. But you know who knows the solution to the problems that sin causes is Jesus Christ.
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He is the solution. So when we got to introduce Jesus to those people in third world countries
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in different parts of the world, you know what was real interesting? On future trips when you go back,
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all of a sudden they've got wells built in their town. All of a sudden everyone looks a little
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different. All of a sudden they're even dressing a little more nicely and that's kind of a weird
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road to go off on. Like what does a Christian dress like? I don't know. But you know, probably different
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depending on where you are in the world. But you know, you just see oftentimes the overall quality
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of life start to improve because God stepped into the picture and he can do so much more than the best
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humanitarian efforts can. Now oftentimes he'll use people that share the gospel to then go meet
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physical needs and we should. We're commanded to do that in scripture. But we've got to start at the
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beginning. We've got to start with the number one problem that those people have and it's not what
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they're lacking physically, it's what they're lacking inside. They're lacking a savior. They're lacking a
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father, a good, good father. So does your tree have any fruit on it? Or have you mostly been living
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concerned with yourself? That's where most of us live day to day. I'm not exempt from that.
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Most days we are more concerned with ourselves than we are anybody else. Let's look at Philippians
Philippians 2 chapter mention
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chapter 2. When God does a work in us, Philippians chapter 2, Paul wrote this, he shows the fruit of
Philippians 2 chapter mention
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it. He shows the results of it. When we are saved, the Holy Spirit of God moves in. He takes up residence
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and he wants to take over. And to the amount that we allow him to take over, then we show the results
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of our salvation. And so Paul commands us to work hard to show the results of your salvation. What
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does that look like? Obeying God with deep reverence and fear. Because God is working in you. And he's
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working in me. And he's giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Why? Because we don't
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come naturally with that desire. We come naturally from the factory standard equipped with the desire and
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the power to please ourselves. And that never lasts long, does it? We please ourselves one day and
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we're displeased the next. Maybe we should call it by the hour because it can change that quickly or even
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faster. We are so wishy-washy. Sometimes we think we know what we want and we get it and we find out it
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wasn't as good as we thought it would be. We don't know really how to please ourselves, much less anybody
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else. And so God wants to replace that sin nature that we came standard issue with, with now a new
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nature. We are a new creation. And so we can show the results of our salvation by letting God work in us
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to give us that new desire to please him and the power to please him. So he spells that out. Do everything
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without complaining and arguing. Talked about this a little bit last Sunday. That's hard to do, isn't it?
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We're natural complainers. We love to complain. We love to argue. But we do this without complaining
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and arguing. We let God work through us without fighting him on it so that we don't open ourselves
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up for criticism. So that no one can criticize us for how we've gotten in the way of God working.
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If we just let God work through us perfectly, then everything would be just as it should be.
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Now God knows that we're never going to let him work through us perfectly because we're not perfect.
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But the more we live clean and innocent lives as children of God, then we shine like bright lights
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in this world like bright stars in the Texas sky in a world full of crooked and perverse people.
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Now we can get on board with that part, can't we? We talked about it last time. Would you describe this
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world around us as crooked and perverse? You're either crooked or perverse, especially if you're in
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politics, right? Sometimes both, unfortunately. And I thank God there are some good men and women
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trying to represent well our nation. But it's no accident that politicians have earned a reputation
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as being either crooked or perverse. We have an opportunity to shine differently, to shine brightly
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if we do everything without complaining and arguing, if we allow God to work through us
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and answer that desire to do what pleases Him. Then nobody can criticize us. They may not like it.
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They may not like the truth. They may not like the fact that Jesus says, I'm the only way to heaven.
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Any other religion that points you towards something else is wrong. That's intolerant in today's world,
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isn't it? But it's the truth. So we must hold fast to that. But we do it with the same love that Jesus
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showed toward us, full of grace and truth. Not just the hard truth, smacking people in the face with it,
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but doing it with grace. That's how Jesus approached us. That's how we must approach others. And that's how
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we shine as bright lights in this world. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 5.
2 Corinthians 4 chapter mention 2 Corinthians 4 chapter mention
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You see, we don't go around preaching ourselves. If you ever show up to a church that's just preached,
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the pastor's preaching himself, walk out of that church. We preach Jesus Christ. We preach that He is
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Lord. We preach ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. I have a debt to you. My debt to you is
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the one that God gave to me. He said, you have the responsibility to preach the truth to this flock
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of my sheep. We're all His sheep. He is all of our shepherd. And then He has appointed under shepherds
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to be His representatives in churches all around this world. And He's given us a holy responsibility
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to preach the truth. And guess what? We all share that to a certain extent. You are the shepherd of
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the people in your circle. You're the shepherd of the people in your life. You are the representative
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of Jesus to those people. You can shine brightly. So Paul says, don't make it about you. It's about
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Jesus. And then in verse 6, because God who said, let there be light in the darkness. Remember back in
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creation, He said, let there be light. And there was light. Yeah. That same God who can create light
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from nothing because He is the light has made this light shine in our hearts so that you and I could
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know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus. That Jesus hanging on the cross.
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That Jesus healing people. That Jesus showing kindness when the world around Him was showing
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hatred to Him. That is the face of the glory of God. You want to know what God looks like?
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It's Jesus. Read about Him. Read what He did. Read what He said. The face of Jesus Christ reveals
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the glory of God. This is why we glorify God. This is why He's worth all the praise. This is why we sing
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the songs. Because we see who He really is in the person of Jesus. He's given us this realization.
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He's given us this understanding. He's given us this light to shine like lighthouses in this dark world.
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And we now have this light shining in our hearts. But have we hidden it in a jar?
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Have we hidden it in a basket? God wants you to shine your light so brightly. That's what He made you to do.
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That's what He's left you here to do. God's stars shine brightly. And you know the other side of that?
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God's stars shine forever. Forever. This is the last thought I'll leave you with here today.
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just a moment ago. Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky. And those who lead many to
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righteousness will shine like the stars. What's that last word? Forever. How long? How long, church?
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How long will God's stars shine? Forever. Guess what? Those are the only kinds of stars that will shine
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forever. The only kind. Running out of time and I want to share a couple things with you but
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sometimes you got to make hard decisions. And that's okay.
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Anybody know who this fella is?
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Anybody know who this fella is?
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A shining star?
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Not so much.
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Anybody know what this is?
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That's a car. I'm glad you figured that out.
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Yes, it's an old automobile.
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It's one of the first ones ever made.
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Anybody know what this is?
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Yes.
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It was one of the first semi-trucks ever made.
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Conceivably the first.
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But I'm not for sure.
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How would you like to get stuck behind that going down 287?
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Anybody know what this is?
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It was a race that happened between two cars.
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Do you know who's in one of them?
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Ooh.
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Look at you, Cadran.
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Yes, it was Henry Ford.
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Do you know who won that race?
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Henry Ford.
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Do you know who the other guy was?
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This was the only race that Henry Ford ever raced in.
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He raced his Model T against...
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I don't remember what the name of the other car was.
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That's kind of the point.
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It was a Winton.
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Yes, you know that huge auto manufacturer Winton out there.
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Anybody got a Winton on their property somewhere?
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In the barn?
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Just preserved and glistening.
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Listen.
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Alexander Winton created the first semi-truck.
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His Winton Roadster right here was the most popular car of his era.
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And this was Alexander Winton.
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But none of y'all knew that.
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Not a soul in this room knew who that was.
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Even though he was the most famous person in the early era of automobiles before Henry Ford came along.
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But you know what happened?
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He lost this race to Henry Ford.
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And his fame was quickly gone.
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He ended up selling his company.
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They merged with, I believe, General Motors.
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I'll have to double check that again.
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And it was over.
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But he was one of the most famous men in America for a time.
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How many of y'all follow high school football?
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Who won the state championship five years ago?
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Ours.
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Duncanville.
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How about ten years ago?
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Henry Ford.
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That was good.
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Look.
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I don't even know.
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Maybe I should have prepared that ahead of time.
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But truth is, these things move on quickly.
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Could you name any players from a recent state championship team?
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Could you name who won the Super Bowl ten years ago?
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Could you name who the most valuable player was?
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Could you name who lost the presidential election in 1980 whatever?
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Maybe some of you could.
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But listen.
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The point is, our 15 minutes of fame on this earth goes by so fast.
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You're a flash in the pan and then you're gone.
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You can work your whole life and succeed in whatever you're doing.
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And reach the top of the mountain until the next guy comes along and beats you in a race.
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And then your fame is gone.
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And then no one will remember you.
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And there's people out there that think Henry Ford invented the automobile.
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And he didn't.
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He invented the, or popularized the assembly line.
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Yeah, that made it so easy to mass produce.
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I did lose in a race to Caleb Wilson.
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You're right.
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I did.
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I did.
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See, my fame is not over because you still remember that.
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So that's good.
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But listen, y'all.
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If you want to shine forever, lead many to righteousness.
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Because this world will come and go.
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And the stars of this world will have their moment and then that moment will be gone.
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Sometimes the stars turn into villains.
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But if you want to shine forever, invest in God's kingdom.
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Let him shine through you.
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We said this a few weeks ago.
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John Stott, great theologian, one of my favorite authors out there, said we should not ask what's wrong with the world.
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That diagnosis has already been given.
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It's called sin.
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That's what's wrong with the world.
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Instead, we should ask, what has happened to the salt and light?
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What's happened to my salt and my light?
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Has my salt lost its flavor?
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Have I hidden my light?
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Am I shining brightly like the stars in the Texas sky at night for Jesus?
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What difference am I making for God's kingdom?
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What difference are you making for God's kingdom?
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Would you bow your heads with me?
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God, I pray right now that we would make a difference.
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That we would make an impact.
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That every man, woman, and child would leave this building today and go home.
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And at some point, you would bring that question back.
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What impact am I making?
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How brightly do I shine?
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Or have I allowed my star to dim?
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Do the people around me know that I'm a follower of Jesus?
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Do the people around me know that I love them?
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And why I love them?
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Because Jesus first loved me.
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Do I treat the people around me like Jesus would?
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But most importantly, God, do I share the truth with them?
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Do I share the gospel message with them?
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Do I get the truth with them?
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Do I get the truth with them?
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Do I get the truth with them?
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That Jesus died for them?
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That he loves them even though they're sinners, just like we all are.
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That he rose from the dead for them so he could live
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to be salvation for them.
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how much fruit is on our trees, God.
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Impact us. Convict me.
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Let it start with me.
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Let it start with this church.
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And let it spread like wildfire
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throughout our town, throughout our county.
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Let us capture our area for Christ.
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We'll give you the glory for it.
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In Jesus' name we pray.