How The World Changes

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Pray to Kevin.

Lord, I that certainty that uh Christ is mine forevermore.

Let that certainty produce an authority in us that finds expression in our lives and in the in this week.

The way we love who we love, the way we spend our money.

Christ is mine forevermore.

We're not going out so that we're going out because of.

And so, Holy Spirit, say something today from your word and by your spirit that informs the way we love you and affects the way we love the person we see in the mirror in the morning.

This is our prayer, God.

Make it our experience, we pray in Christ's name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

If you have a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

We're preaching through the book of Acts.

It's called Expository Preaching, which makes you think about not just the cool topics of the cultural moment, but a lot of things you by nature wouldn't think about.

Like today, I want to talk about how the world changes.

How the world changes.

And it's going to come right out of the Bible.

This is why what we read this morning in Acts chapter 8, verses 1 to 13, or the reason you people are sitting in these seats this morning.

Acts 8:1–13

The world does not change because you get the right person in the White House.

It doesn't.

And the world does not change because you write checks to your favorite nonprofit.

It doesn't.

It pays the salaries of administrators and a bunch of overhead and stuff.

But at the end of the day, it does not bring change to the world.

So how does the world change?

You're going to see the seminal moment in the book of Acts.

And let me tell you what's happened up to this point.

I'll summarize the first seven chapters like this.

God came, a thing called Pentecost.

God said, I'm not going to, Jesus said, I'm not going to leave you as orphans.

He was getting ready.

He finished his mission on earth.

He's going back to heaven.

He said, I gotta go.

But the comforter, the Holy Spirit, is gonna come and he'll lead you into all truth.

That happened, the book of Acts kicks off the Holy Spirit being given.

People receive the Holy Spirit and they have a power, uh, they have this capacity to live uh uh the Christian life that they've never had before.

It's not taking something on the outside and trying to get it on the inside, it's letting what's on the inside get out.

And so they get persecuted, they get threatened, they get warned, they get beaten, and finally uh a guy named Stephen gets killed.

Uh the the the the persecution slowly kind of ramps up.

And so we ended back in June with Stephen being killed at the end of chapter seven.

They have their first martyr, and now in chapter eight, they have their first missionary.

And also there's a little shift that takes place.

It goes from the professional Christians to the common man in Acts chapter eight.

That's the other big thing.

This is how the world got changed, okay?

Uh, the world got changed not because of a bunch of preachers.

The world got changed because of plumbers and electricians and school teachers and housewives, uh, and people that just in the normal warp and woof of life, wherever they went, they shared the good news.

And they couldn't legislate that away.

They couldn't come along and say, no, we're gonna throw all of you in jail.

There are not enough prisons to hold all these people.

This is how the world got changed.

Acts chapter 8, verse 1.

Acts 8:1

And Saul approved of Stephen's execution, and there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles, devout men, buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him.

But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Verse 4.

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ, and the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him, and they saw signs that he did.

For unclean spirits crying out with a loud voice came out of many who had them.

And many who were paralyzed or lame were healed, so there was much joy in that city.

There was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city, and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great.

They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the power of God that is called great.

And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

But when they believed Philip, as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip and seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

The one that was amazing turns around.

Now he's amazed at the power of the gospel.

So how does the world change?

There's three things that you see in the text that you gotta embrace because the way the world changes today is the exact way the world changed back then.

There's nothing new under the sun.

So the first thing we see is that you have to train your eye to see that God is at work in all of life's circumstances.

It's the first section, verses one to four.

God is at work in all of life's circumstances.

It's important that we understand.

Now you may think, what's the circumstance?

The circumstance is persecution.

The church is be it is being persecuted.

People are rising up and they're making laws and legislation and they're threatening the church.

Does that sound familiar to anybody?

Uh uh the rich men north are rich men, they're coming after them here.

And so uh God, when I say God is at work in all circumstances, it's important you understand exactly what we mean by persecution.

This is not suffering because we live in a sinful world.

This is not a consequence of sin.

This is people not liking you because of what you stand for, what you believe, and how you live.

So persecution is a response to how they actually lived.

And so we should ask ourselves, what does it say about us that we nowadays don't experience that much persecution?

Uh we we just don't.

And when you do, just let me remind you, you're not doing something wrong.

You're probably just living right.

Now, you may be thinking, why would a good God let bad things happen to his followers?

One of the things for me that validates the truthfulness of the Bible is it doesn't shy away from the hard parts.

It doesn't kind of gloss over it and say, oh, well, it looks like this, but no, no.

No, no, no.

It includes the good, the bad, and the ugly.

And it says right here, hey, persecution, a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem.

So you may be thinking, okay, so where do you see God at work and then being persecuted?

There's three things I see right here in the text.

The first one's in verse one, and it's simply this that God's promise is being fulfilled.

Look at Acts 8, verse 1.

Acts 8:1

And Saul approved of the execution.

That's of Stephen, and there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem.

And what happened?

And they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea, Samaria, except the apostles.

Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation for him.

But Saul was ravaging the church and earring house after house, he dragged off men and committed them, men and women and committed them to prison.

Okay, how do you see God at work in that?

First of all, God's promise is being fulfilled.

What do you mean God's promise is being fulfilled?

The persecution breaks out and they're scattered to where?

Judea and Samaria.

Well, if you went back, if you take Acts 1 and just flipped it over, went back to Acts chapter 1, verse 8, the promise of God that God says right in the very beginning was this.

Acts 1:8

He said, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and where else?

Judea and Samaria.

And then he says this in verse in Acts 1, 8, and to the ends of the earth.

Now that's one of those episodes where the Bible kind of winks at you because we don't talk about that.

Judea and Samaria is spelled out.

But what you'll see in a couple Sundays in Acts chapter 8 is that this guy, Philip, that's fixing to show up here in the text.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

Philip, uh the Holy Spirit tells him to go run along, run alongside a chariot of this Ethiopian eunuch, this guy who's just coming back from worship.

Uh, Ethiopia is a is a nation in Africa.

And Ethiopia back then was considered the end of the earth.

I mean, it's kind of like nowadays, people when they make an excuse for themselves, they go, Well, you know, I I would believe in Christianity, but what about the guy in Africa?

Because even nowadays, that's the end of the earth.

No one says, What about the dude in Rosenberg?

We just, Africa's way out there.

And so here the Bible's kind of subtly winking at us, and God's kind of saying, Hey, my promise is being fulfilled.

Just like I said, it was going to be, it was going to be, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses.

And they've been sitting there for seven chapters in Jerusalem singing kumbaya and having fondu and just encouraging one another.

And God says, it's time that the gospel gets out of the religious center of everything, Jerusalem, and gets out to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Here's the second thing you see: God at work.

If you train your eye, you'll begin to see God at work in little little ways.

The second one is this God uses ordinary people.

Look at verse 1.

He says, The great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.

Uh, all that except the apostles.

Except the apostles.

What does that mean?

Uh, that means that the apostles stayed in Jerusalem.

They didn't go out to Judea and Samaria.

Like I said, just regular people did.

Uh, regular people that had identified as Christians and they were living out the gospel.

The professionals stayed behind.

It's this big shift that things now, because up to now it's been focused on people like Peter and John.

Peter and John, the professional Christians, the people that you hear and you see, and you think, oh, I could never be like that.

Remember, we talked a couple weeks ago about Peter says, Hey, you have a faith that's just as precious as ours.

And these people live that out.

Here's the third thing I see that God at work.

God uses not just ordinary people, but he uses broken people or people with a past.

It's verse three.

There's this reference to this guy named Saul, who in the next chapter he's gonna come to faith.

Is there anybody that you're around that you just look and you just think, there is no way that person would ever change?

Now you don't say it out loud, but you kind of infer that.

That's why you don't talk to them.

That's why you don't say, Hey man, what are you doing on Sunday?

I'd like to invite you to church.

I'll meet you at the lobby, then I'll buy you lunch afterwards.

Because you're afraid how they may look at you or something.

Saul was that guy.

He was a guy going house to house, door to door, before the Taliban of religious persecution, their soul.

Now, this guy's gonna get so changed in the next chapter, Acts chapter 9, three, four Sundays from now, that he goes on to record 13 books of the New Testament.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

Matter of fact, after the book of Acts is a book called Romans.

Who records Romans?

And then after that, there's first and second Corinthians.

Who records that?

Yeah.

So no one's beyond the pale.

None of you in this room have sinned so much, drank so much, smoked so much that God's like, you know what?

I'm done with you.

I'm sick of giving you second, third, and eighty-eighth chances.

You're on your own.

Now, God uses broken people with a checkered past.

Here's the way I say to people don't let your past keep you from the future God has for you.

Don't let your past keep you from the future that God has for you.

Because for some people, there were geographic boundaries about how people thought about God.

And for others, there's people boundaries in how they thought about God.

Those people are so bad they would never want to come to church.

Really?

Maybe they live like they do because they think there's no way they could ever be forgiven.

And maybe they're just waiting for somebody to come along and just say, hey, hey, I'd love to invite you to come to church and not just come to church and to have a religious experience, but to come and experience God.

See, the world changes because people begin to train their eye to see God at work in all circumstances.

Here's the second way the world changes: you got to get the gospel into its native environment.

You have to get the gospel into its native environment.

It's verses four to eight.

For too many of us, the gospel helps us make friends, but it does not help us make a difference.

The gospel helps us make friends.

We meet people at church, we make playdates with our kids.

We got good, safe people for our friends.

And we would choose safe over consequential every time.

The Bible says this in verse four.

Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

Philip went down to Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ, and the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they they heard him and saw the signs that he did.

Now, you say, Well, we got to get the gospel in its native environment.

The native environment for the gospel is around people who've never heard it.

Because if you're not careful, if you're just around Christians all the time, you will lose your edge.

Nothing will blunt you quicker, make you feel more ineffective than just always being around Christians.

Now, am I saying you shouldn't be around Christians?

No.

I think you should be around like-minded people, but you should also be putting the gospel into its native environment, which is not just Jerusalem, it's Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.

Now, these people that were scattered, the Bible says they went around preaching the word.

There's two things you got to understand.

First, these people did not allow their uh circumstances to alleviate their responsibility.

They didn't say, Oh, my boyfriend broke up with me.

I'm mad at God.

I'm not gonna pray for six months.

No, we're getting persecuted.

Our houses got looted and burned down, they repossessed all that the bank locked up all our money, and now we had to flee.

But wherever we go, we're gonna take the good news with us.

And that's simply that's the second thing that happened.

It says that you know, wherever they went, they preached the gospel.

That makes you think they got up like this and opened a Bible and said, Hear ye, hear.

No, they didn't.

What they do, that that word preacher, they shared the basically it's a Greek word you on Galizo.

You on Galizo.

There's a word you didn't say this week.

It basically means this to bring good news.

To bring good news.

It's like you're sitting there eating an incredible meal and you look over and there's a homeless man watching you.

What is your first impulse?

If your first impulse isn't, hey man, here, come get some of this.

You're not a human being.

This is what it was like.

These people, wherever they went, they just shared the good news.

Now, there are a few verses in the entire Bible that are more consequential than verse 5.

You should put a star by this in your Bible.

Let me read it again.

You'll probably go, wow.

Verse 5 says, Philip went down to the city of Samara, Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ.

This is one of the most radical shifts in the history of Christianity.

You're like, I I don't get it.

Uh, I've said this phrase before, and I purpose to say it as often as it's applicable, but before Christianity is personal, it is historical.

Okay?

Before it's personal, it's historical.

What does that mean?

That means a lot of stuff happened before you and I arrived on the scene.

That means this is not like your high school yearbook, and you should you should not open it up and look for your picture.

A lot of stuff happened.

So this is why this is such a controversial statement in verse 5 when it says, Hey, by the way, Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.

Uh, here's why that's a big deal.

Hatred has existed between the Jews and Samaritans for thousands of years.

And it started back in the Old Testament with the breakup of the monarchy in about the 10th century, because 10 tribes defected and they went and made Samaria their capital city, and only two tribes remained loyal to Jerusalem.

That was a big deal.

And then it got worse when Samaria was captured by Assyria in 722 BC, and its inhabitants were deporred, they were shipped out, and they brought in foreigners to inhabit the city.

And then in the 6th century, when the Jews returned to the land and they're going to rebuild the temple, and the Samaritans said, We'll help.

They said, We don't want your half-breed hands touching our temple.

Get out of here.

And so it got even worse in the fourth century.

Uh, when the Samaritans said, All right, you want you don't let us help with the temple, we'll build our own.

And so they built their own temple on top of Mount Gerizim.

Now, if you're totally confused right now, say amen.

Yes, yes.

See, I have to give you the historicity of your faith.

So you'll walk out and kind of go, that man needs cable.

All he does is read books.

Look at me, you'll recognize this.

In John chapter 4, Jesus is talking to a woman at the well.

John 4 · chapter mention

How many of you already know what I'm referring to?

Say amen.

Remember, most women, dutiful women, get out there at six in the morning, they get water and go back and get their family up and get going.

This woman staggers out.

It's noon, it's the middle of the day.

She smells like vodka and bad ideas.

And Jesus looks at her and says, Hey, would you give me a drink?

Remember what she said?

She said, Hey, why are you talking to me?

Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

And he says to her, If you knew who it was, they'd ask you.

You would ask me, and I would give you more than just a drink.

I would give you living water that would become in you a well springing up to eternal life.

And she's like, Whoa! And Jesus, give me some of this water.

And Jesus says, Go call your husband.

Remember that?

Go call your husband.

And she's like, Row.

And she says, I don't have a husband.

And Jesus says, That's right.

You don't have a husband.

You got five husbands.

You've had five husbands.

I mean, you've been around the block more than an ice cream truck, lady.

You've had five husbands, and this is the detail to which God knows you.

He says, The man you're living with right now ain't your husband either.

And then she goes, Sir, I can see you're a prophet.

I think Jesus is like, what was your first clue?

Hey, now look at me.

If you knew that God, by the way, God knows you as well as He knows that woman.

You think you're conning him today by like, hey, I cleaned myself up, put on some, I put on some Javon Musk oil and came to church.

A 1980s called, they want that back?

And your lame ideas.

You don't have to, you're not conning him.

He knows, he knows everything.

By the way, that woman who Jesus has a conversation with, she leaves her bucket there to wail, goes running into the city, and she says, This come meet a man who told me everything I've ever done.

Could this be the Messiah?

He stays, her city comes in here.

They come to faith in him.

And they said to her, Hey, we no longer believe just because of what you said.

We ourselves have seen it.

Yes.

And so, like Jesus in John chapter 4, Philip is stepping over a thousand years of religious and cultural and racial hatred.

John 4 · chapter mention

And he takes it's one of the biggest shifts in the history of Christianity.

We got to reclaim that and stop just thinking the gospel goes to people that are in your same socioeconomic status and standing.

Because he he he looks around and says, Who could use some good news?

When you look around today, who do you see that could use some good news?

Because there's two things I want you to notice in this section.

Uh, and and they're both right here in verses six, seven, and eight.

And it's simply this that it says the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did.

People pay attention when they see and hear.

The gospel has to be seen and it has to be heard.

When you're around people who are unfamiliar with the gospel and you want to share the good news, the first thing you should do is ask them, ask yourself, do they need to hear this or do they need to see it?

Do they need to hear this or do they need to see it?

Because a lot of people have just heard it their whole lives and they've never seen it.

That's why they say this.

Oh, the church is nothing but a bunch of hypocrites.

That person is telling you, I haven't really seen the gospel.

I've heard it a lot.

But the Bible says these people heard it and they saw the signs that he did.

And secondly, in the notes in verse 8, it says, so there was much joy in that city.

Can you imagine the city's response to the gospel is just joy?

Don't miss this.

Philip is fleeing persecution.

He goes to the hated enemies and they respond with joy.

Like, oh my gosh, thank you so much for coming.

Yes.

Yes.

Ask yourself a real practical question.

When's the last time you were surprised spiritually?

When's the last time something happened when you're like, I did not see that coming?

Now remember, it it's easy, you see right there, and it says it verse 7, for unclean spirits are crying out with a loud voice and coming out of many who had them, and many who are paralyzed or lame were healed.

Uh uh, you'd be like, Man, that'd be great if that happened.

That still happens today.

But in the book of Acts, the miraculous was a platform upon which people could preach the gospel.

It wasn't a dog and pony show.

It was validating to the gospel to say, hey, this is not just an idea, this is not just an option on the buffet of world religions.

This is the real thing.

So, how does the world change?

It changes because we kind of train our eye to see God at work in all circumstances.

It changes when you get the gospel into its native environment.

Its native environment is a place it has to be responded to instead of just talked about.

If you're always around Christians, you're just talking about it.

But when you're around unbelievers, they have to respond to it.

Here's the third and final thing.

You just keep it simple.

It's that last section, it's verses 9 to 13.

What do you mean, keep it simple?

Listen to how simple the Bible lays this out.

But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria saying that he himself was somebody great.

Stop right there.

Narcissism has been around a long time.

Hey, by the way, I'm somebody great.

Thank you for telling us.

Somebody yesterday came up to me at a funeral and said, You're gonna be so proud of me.

To which I responded, Yes, I'll join you in being proud of you.

Tell me why.

And her husband just died laughing.

She goes, Oh, shut up, Pastor.

And I was like, Oh, you just announced I'm gonna be so proud of you.

Go ahead.

Clearly, you're proud of you.

He thought he was somebody great.

They all paid attention to him.

From the least to the grave, he's saying, This man is the power of God that is called great.

Hey, look at me.

People want to have an experience with power.

And they'll look anywhere for it.

This man is the power of God that is called great.

Verse 11.

And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.

David Blaine, street magician, verse 12.

But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news about now, now look what the good news is.

When they believed Philip as he preached the good news, what's the good news?

It's about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus.

Jesus Christ.

They were baptized both men and women.

When I say keep it simple, this is what I mean.

Here is the good news.

It's focused on two things the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.

The kingdom of God, the name of Jesus Christ.

What if you walked out of here today and you just said, you know what?

I'm just going to keep it really simple.

I want to understand the ramifications of the kingdom of God and the ramifications of the name of Jesus Christ.

We'll just take them in order.

The kingdom of God.

This is a way of living that goes back to the Garden of Eden, okay?

When I say the kingdom of God, it is the realm within which what God wants done gets done.

Okay?

Every time you and I obey the gospel, we follow what God wants us to do, we're expanding the kingdom.

It goes all the way back to the garden.

You said, What do you mean?

Remember back in the Garden of Eden, what's the first thing God said to Adam and Eve?

It's not, don't, don't, don't, don't touch that.

It is this.

You are free to eat of any tree in the garden, but of this one tree, don't eat, because when you eat of that tree, you will surely die.

Remember that?

Say amen.

All right.

If you don't remember that, that's how this all got started.

God's first word to Adam and Eve was not no, it was yes.

The kingdom of God is not about no, it's about yes.

He says, You're free to eat of any tree in the garden, but of this one tree don't eat.

Now, here's what the kingdom is not, and the church produces a lot of people.

Matter of fact, the church has historically taught you to relate to God this way.

And you think this is the kingdom where you stand around this one forbidden tree and you're like, oh Lord, we're not touching that.

You become a Christian three months later, you're like, Lord, I haven't touched the tree.

I haven't done anything that you said not to do.

Just want you to know I'm still not doing anything.

So three months later, a year later, three years later, Lord, I want you to know I've increased my capacity to say no.

I used to not go to R-ready movies.

Now I don't even go to PG 13.

It's like, oh, oh, okay.

15 years later, Lord, I'm still not touching the tree.

I've got my eye on it, and I'm I'm not letting anybody else touch it.

Just want you to know.

And I'm just like, uh, here's the problem with that, okay?

You think that's Christianity, you think that's the kingdom of God.

And I want to say to you, the Bible teaches the exact opposite.

This is not the kingdom of God standing here doing nothing.

The kingdom of God is a way of life that is about where God said, Hey, you may eat of any tree in the garden.

When God says of any tree, that means there's more than one, true or false.

Okay, so, so, so the kingdom of God, the life of the kingdom is not standing here going, I'm not doing anything, I'm not supposed to.

It is foraging on the forest of the Father's goodness.

That's what the kingdom of God is like.

So if you hear anything today, hear this.

Christianity is not about no, no, no, no, no, obviously not.

Now, let me be clear because some of you are like, easy, what are you saying, Pastor?

Are you endorsing antinomianism?

Some of you are like, well, tell me what that is, and I'll tell you if you are or not.

Antinomianism is a belief that says anti-no mas, Latin word for law, no rules.

It doesn't matter.

Grace is so free, it doesn't matter what you do.

That's a lie.

Biblically speaking, grace teaches you to say no to ungodliness and to live upright moral lives in this present age.

So when I say you're saying no, yeah, you gotta say no to some things.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

I told somebody this last week in counseling, come to me about immorality.

And they said, Well, what do you think about immorality?

I said, For me, now listen very carefully, you're gonna get offended and see me, send me emails, you don't need to send.

I said, for me, immorality is lazy.

He goes, What do you mean?

I said, it's lazy for me to go, oh, I'm gonna go be the same person because if you're not careful men, you'll train yourself to run a great 20-yard dash, and you'll run that 20-yard dash with a bunch of different women on uh that you're on social media, you're texting and you're doing all this stuff with.

But that's that that's that's that's lazy.

It's lazy and it's easy.

I've been married to this woman for 30 years.

This is hard.

This is hard, it requires a lot of work.

She's not impressed anymore.

She's not, and that and and and she shouldn't be.

It's hard because sometimes she's crazy and she says crazy stuff like I can just say, hey, I love you, and she's like, tell me two reasons why.

Oh God, I don't know, I got nothing.

But yo, Jakey girlfriend at work, you can text her, I love you, meet you at the same hotel.

That's lazy.

And the guy says, Well, um, are you saying I'm lazy?

Um I'm here because I had an affair.

Yes, you're lazy.

Man up and love the same woman for a long time, even when she's done being impressed with you.

That's hard work.

Yes.

So yeah, you gotta say no to some things.

And you know why you say no to things?

Because you said yes to what's better over here.

Otherwise, you're just a 20-yard superstar flirting with every woman that comes along.

You're in Home Depot and a girl's name, a lady's nice to you, and you're like, oh, can I get your number?

Grow up.

Stop being lazy.

Go home to your wife and say, you know what?

This is hard and I'm lazy, and so I flirt a lot.

Yeah.

Yeah.

See, because immorality for me, now I'm not saying people that have affairs are lazy.

I'm saying for me, that's just lazy.

That's why I don't have affairs.

I'm not, I'm not slamming anybody else.

I'm just saying that I'm married to hard over here.

Yeah, some of you ladies are like, stop saying she's hard.

Yeah.

She says crazy things like, do you want to work in the yard together?

No.

No.

I just love working together.

No, no, I want to pay somebody to do that.

No, I don't.

I don't love gardening.

I hate it.

I might have lied when we were dating, but now I don't have to lie.

Oh yeah, I can't wait to garden with you.

No.

No.

You want to go for a walk?

No.

No.

Do you want to eat killed chips?

No.

No, I don't want Doritos.

Extra spicy nacho Doritos.

I grew up in a trailer and I'm white trash and I like to go back.

I don't uh it's hard.

Now, when I say it's hard, I don't mean it's difficult.

It's just it requires something of me.

And guess what?

It should.

It should.

Ladies, you don't get the man you want.

You get what you require of your man.

Yes.

Absolutely.

See, the kingdom of God.

Keep it simple.

The good news is about to it's about the kingdom of God.

Do you have to say no to some things?

Yes.

Why do you say no?

Because you've already said yes to that which is better.

And you're not done enjoying the forest over here.

Otherwise, you're just standing there guarding a tree.

You got this false standard of righteousness, and you got a false hope of righteousness.

So all you can do is be self-righteous.

And nobody enjoys that person.

He says the name, this this refers to everything the name invokes.

That's why no one names their kid Jesus anymore.

Because just that name and it just invokes so much.

It's kind of like wow.

You just said a lot there, bro.

Easy.

It's a big name right there.

You say, What do you mean?

It's not just a name, it's a life.

It's the compassion, the forgiveness, the love, the patience, the opportunity, the freedom, the zeal, the funniness, the dry sense of humor.

They bring up, they bring a blind guy to Jesus.

Hey, if you can heal him in Jesus, he goes, If I can.

Hello, what's my name, losers?

He says to his own disciples one time, they get it twisted, and he's like, Have I been with you so long and you still do not know who I am?

Answer, yes.

They've fallen asleep to the wonder of Jesus.

Remember the first time you realized there was something different about that name?

I remember for me, I didn't grow up going to church.

We went with my dad and stepmom had a bad fight.

We went to church the next Sunday.

And I just remember taking it, it just taught me to disregard the whole thing.

I was about seven years old.

We were standing in this church.

It's called Milligan Drive Baptist Church.

It's about as big as a postage stamp.

And they had a, they would just call out numbers out of the hymnal.

They used to sing out of this book called The Hymnal, long time ago.

And they would just call out numbers.

And there was this lady over there, I don't remember her name.

I remember what she looked like.

She had gray hair and she had a white shawl around her shoulders, and she would rub the back of the pew in front of her and close her eyes while she sang.

And she always requested this one song.

I didn't know what the name of it was until I was like in my 20s.

But the lyric said this there is a name I love to hear.

I love to sing its worth.

It sounds like music in my ears, the sweetest name on earth.

And I remember as a little boy just watching her, and tears were coming down.

And they would get to the course and they would sing, Oh, how I love Jesus.

Oh, how I love Jesus.

Oh, how I love Jesus because he first loved me.

And I was transfixed.

I was like, Why are you crying?

Not in a why are you crying, old lady, but what do you know that I don't know?

And everybody in the room knew the song, and I didn't because we we didn't go to church.

Well, I went to church enough to feel guilty every time I went.

I remember walking into Sunday school and they had a chart, and every time you came, you got a gold star.

These kids had lines of gold star.

I had one from last Easter.

And I remember walking in going, well, this is a little shame fest.

Neil, we haven't seen you in a year.

Now I wouldn't hold my breath.

It'd be probably another year.

Unless my parents get drunk and fight again.

We'll be back next Sunday.

But one thing I knew that there was something about this name that this lady loved to hear.

And it made me curious.

I said this at a funeral recently.

The Bible talks about the songs of Zion.

That sometimes in life you just get so, just so down, you're like, man, it just whew, you can't say, you have to sing.

And when that lady would sing, she would always request it.

I don't remember what the number was, but she'd call it out and they'd go, Oh yeah, and the old other lady, bank, bang, bang, bang, bang, and we start changing the piano.

There is a name I love to hear.

I love, I remember driving back in our green woody panel station wagon back to our farm, sitting in the very back rumble seat, and just thinking, why do you love to hear that name?

The name, anybody's name is not just a collection of letters, it's a representation of a character.

And here in Acts chapter 8, he says, Hey, just keep it simple.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

The good news is the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ.

Why is that a big deal?

Because nobody else has done what Jesus Christ has done in your place and for your sin.

Nobody has lived a life that represents as much as that name or invokes as much as that name.

So here's my question to you.

What if it's really that simple?

What if it just comes down to the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ?

And what if I said, walk out today?

And what I want you to focus on, think about, get better at talking about, get better at enjoying, stop standing here and going, oh, I don't do that.

No, I don't do that.

No, I'm a Christian.

No, no, no.

Be the man, be the woman, be the student over here who's got a watermelon hollowed out on your head like a like a helmet, and you're just foraging on the on this forest of goodness over here.

And people are like, hey man, hey, you, you, you really, you really live a, I don't know, you your life is just really interesting to me.

Oh man, I just want to enjoy all the goodness that God provides for me.

He told me I was free to eat of any tree in the garden, and I haven't, I don't stand around and focus on no.

I go over here and enjoy the yes.

Here's the question you got to ask, and I'm done.

Have you learned to enjoy the yes of the Father?

Are you just standing there bitterly just gritting your teeth and focused on the no?

That's not the kingdom.

Over here living in the yes, that's the kingdom.

That's what you were created for.

Let's pray together.

If you're our guest, just relax.

We'd like to teach the Bible and then give you some space to think about it.

And so I'll voice a prayer and some questions come up on the screen.

We believe that Christianity is not an emotion, it engages your intellect, it makes you feel some things, but it engages your intellect first and foremost.

And so we ask you to do that, to think to the glory of God.

So let me pray.

Holy Spirit, just be over us, brood over us, love on us.

Some of us find so much joy in the no because the yes scares us.

And yet we were created for the yes.

We were created to be enjoying all that the Father has provided.

Because we are free to eat of any tree in the garden.

We don't even think about this other tree because we trust you.

We don't want to be the people that determine right and wrong.

That's what the tree of the knowledge and good and evil is all about.

I get to decide what's good and what's evil.

I get to decide if I'm a man or a woman.

I get to decide.

We hadn't gotten very far out of the garden, God, and we think we're progressives.

No, we're not.

We're regressive.

But thank you that it comes down to the kingdom in the name of Jesus Christ.

That's why the Bible says there's no name given under heaven whereby which men shall be saved.

Why?

Because nobody has done what Jesus Christ has done.

That's why.

Period, hard stop.

And so, Holy Spirit, just kind of, just kind of wash over us.

Wash off whatever's necessary and remind us what is necessary.

We just think a little bit.

You loved us first.

And you loving us empowers us to love you back.

And so I pray that because of what we heard from your word and what's been pressed upon us by your spirit, that our capacity to love you and to enjoy you is increased today.

Our city will not be full of joy unless we're men and women of joy.

We'll find pleasure in the things of God.

That's why we preach your word and teach your word, Lord, is it increases our pleasure.

It doesn't increase our duty, our obligation.

It sets us free and it introduces us to pleasure.

I pray that we wouldn't be afraid of that.

Lord, we're tired of trying to make a meal out of no.

We want to feast on yes.

So, Holy Spirit, show us how to do that.

We pray in Christ's name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you're our guest today, let me say thank you for being here.

You're always welcome.

You're always welcome, okay?

Uh there's a number there you can text just to let just text welcome to that number.

Uh that just lets us know you're here.

We'll shoot you something back.

But if you have questions or uh about anything you saw or heard today, some of our pastors will be available down front.

We'd love to answer any questions you had.

Pray with you if you got something going on.

Uh, that's why we're standing down here, okay?

We've always got something going on in the life of our church, and so that we want you to be aware of, but also involved in.

So give your attention to the screens for our announcements this week.

Here's what's happening at Ground Parkway Baptist Church.

If you're new, text welcome to 281-626-5707.

This way we can know you're here and get you connected with the church.

Man's weekend is October 20th through the 21st.

Dr.

Sam Storms will be speaking to us about leadership and the dangers of setting into mediocrity.

You would not want to miss this.

For all adults 60 and over, join us for lunch and to connect on September 7th.

At Grand Parkway, we believe you are the most experienced people and that you are still in the game.

Come and invite friends.

For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at grandparkway.org.

If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

Now, I'm going to do something the preacher in a Baptist church never does.

Look at your watch.

You're welcome.

Miracles never cease.

That's on purpose.

We've been plowing hard and deep, and I want to give you some time.

Look at me.

I want you to look around.

I want you to check in and check on some people before you get out of here.

All right?

Just check in, check on.

Some people be like, hey, I hadn't seen you all summer.

Like, yeah, I was at my beach house feasting on the yes.

What other questions you got?

Don't be jealous.

All right.

We'd like to conclude our service with spoken blessings.

So stand to your feet if you would and hold your hands out if you're comfortable.

Even if you're not, hold your hands out.

Jesus Christ did not die on the cross for you to not do things.

He died on the cross for you to do certain things because you're a certain people.

You're the people of God.

You're the people of yes.

Depart now into the fullness of the yes of the Father and enjoy it in the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.