Gospel: Getting The Order Right

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Let's pray together.

Lord, we've come to confess what we know to be true, that you're faithful.

You've always been faithful.

You will always be faithful.

You cannot deny yourself.

That's why the Bible says, since there was nothing greater to swear by, you swore by yourself.

And so you find yourself to be the most consistent, true, right thing in the world.

And so it sounds narcissistic and arrogant.

Who else would a perfect being swear by?

That's how faithful you are.

We have to put our hand on the Bible when we testify in a court of law because something is always more true than we are.

There's nothing that's more true than God is.

And so you're faithful, you're true, you're right, you're compassionate, you're kind, you're gracious, you're all those things.

Even when we're faithless, you stay faithful.

Our inconsistency doesn't alter your nature one bit.

And so, Lord, we find comfort and conviction in that.

Now, Holy Spirit, illuminate the word, feed our souls, provoke our minds to think thoughts, and believe things that inform what we say.

This is our prayer.

We pray in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

If you got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

2 Corinthians chapter 4.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

I'll start reading in verse 7.

And today we're starting a four-part series entitled on our core values, actually.

Our core values.

Those are the four, we have four core values as a church that guide everything we do.

There's a picture on the screen behind me here.

And some of you recognize that.

Some of you are like, I've had that job before.

You do not want to have that job, especially in the summer.

But I want I don't want to draw your attention to the concrete or the guy's orange vest or his cool hat.

I've got that hat, by the way.

What I want to draw your attention to are those metal rods that are in like a grid pattern.

That's called rebar.

If you knew what that was when the picture came up, say amen.

There you go.

All the men in the room and some of the women.

Now, rebar is the thing, it gets buried in the concrete.

They pour the concrete.

Rebar, you got to wire it together and they put it on these little pedestals about that high off the ground.

And it's in the center in the middle of the concrete.

It keeps it from cracking and it reinforces it, okay?

Core beliefs are like that.

So don't look at the concrete, look at the rebar.

Because what I'm gonna talk about today is getting the order right.

Paul's gonna say, in the middle of this really dense passage of scripture, Paul's gonna say, I believe, therefore I spoke.

I believe, therefore I spoke.

We reverse those and get to order wrong.

We hear something, we think, oh, that sounds good.

We go out and try to say it.

We try to speak without believing.

And what happens is we get into a conversation.

Hello?

Uh uh that was God saying, Keep going, Neil, that was awesome.

Say that again.

Uh if you're not careful, you'll you'll speak without believing.

And so you'll say a lot of things, but this will happen at a cocktail party or at a dinner or at work.

Somebody will confront you and you will not be able to defend what you just said, and that will begin to affect your saying anything at all.

And the issue is that you shouldn't have said it.

The issue is you should have believed something in the first place that informed what you said, okay?

And so, core beliefs.

We have four of them.

If you're visiting our churches, it's a great time to visit because in the next four Sundays, we'll unpack myself, Brent, and Leah, our teaching pastors, we'll unpack our core values: gospel, community, mission, and blessing.

We believe the gospel produces this community of people that are on this shared mission, and central to that mission is to be a blessing.

That's what you'll hear over the next four Sundays.

Today, I'll kick it off by talking about the gospel and getting the order right.

I'm gonna read from 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7.

2 Corinthians 4:7

Here's what I'm talking about when I say getting the order right.

Listen to this.

He says, but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

We're afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So that death is at work in us, but life is in you.

Now pause right there.

That's a pretty tough thing he's talking about.

I mean, listen to that kind of stuff.

He says we're afflicted, we're crushed, we're driven to we're not driven to despair, we're persecuted, we're struck down.

All these things, what sustains him in the midst of that?

Look at verse 13.

He says, Since we have the same spirit of faith, according to that which was written, I believed, and so I spoke, we also believe, and so we also speak.

Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

For it's all for your sake, so that his grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God.

So we do not lose heart.

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day, for this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comprehension, is who look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen.

For the things that are seen are transient, temporary, fleeting, not going to be forever.

But the things that are unseen are eternal.

Now I read all of that because it's not, it's not, I read all of that because none of you have a diamond in your pocket today.

Anybody that owns a diamond, that thing is in its proper setting.

It's either mounted on a ring or a necklace or in a nice pair of earrings.

And so there's a diamond in the middle of this, uh in the middle of this passage of scripture, right there in about verse 13.

And this is where I want to springboard off of this, uh, because this is getting the order right.

He says, since we have the same spirit of faith according to what was been written, I believed and so I spoke.

Paul says, We also believe, and so we also speak.

And so this is what I when I say the gospel, getting the order right.

So I I it's important we get to order right because what I don't want to do today is I I don't want to teach you things to say.

I want to labor this morning for a few minutes to get to order right because I I want to talk to you about things you should believe in relation to the gospel.

Because if you believe these things in the marrow of your bones at the core of your being, look at me.

You can have any conversation anywhere, anytime about any topic, from the LGBTQ plus to Joe Biden to Ron DeSantis to Donald Trump to 2024 to the economy to inflation to CNN to Fox News, any of that.

And you because you believe certain things, you can speak in such a way that's not only informative, it's enjoyable.

Christians rarely do Christians talk, and people around you go, that was enjoyable.

Thanks for sharing.

And you know why?

It's not because you said some the wrong things, although some of you did, it's because oftentimes we get to order wrong and we say things without really getting to the core of what we really believe.

I think we've taken things that should motivate us, inform us, and birth compassion in us, and we've turned them on people in an attempt to scare them into believing what we believe.

Look at me, fear is a it is a poor motivation to believe.

Now we read that text right there, and just from reading the text, you can get a sense of what Paul believes.

Let me ask you a question this morning.

If I listened to you talk for a week without you knowing it, what would I come to conclude that you really believe?

Because just from reading this text, you can tell Paul believes in the resurrection of Jesus, the bodily resurrection of Christians, life after death.

He has a perspective, an interesting perspective on suffering, and he tells us where we should look.

And it's in the same spirit I want to talk to you this morning with the time I have left about these four beliefs that should shape our speaking.

Getting the order right.

Here's four things you should believe in the core of your being as it relates to the gospel.

And the first one is this humanity was created by God to live in joyful submission to God.

Humanity.

All of us were created by God to live in joyful submission to God.

The Bible talks about it in the very beginning, Genesis chapter 2, verse 15.

Genesis 2:15

It says the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Work, by the way, is not a curse, it's a privilege, so get a job, okay?

Uh to work it and keep it.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

Now I want you to see two things because this the word surely, S-U-R-E-L-Y, is used twice.

And it means two totally different things.

He says in one part, he says, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden.

That word in the Greek means you may surely devour.

It means you have the freedom to devour.

Can you imagine today when you go to lunch just hearing the Holy Spirit say, you have the freedom to devour?

That's all go to Rudy's and just have the freedom to devour.

I need a table for 600.

Look at me.

This is what I'm telling you, okay?

If you want to understand the way God created you, God says, I created you free, and you have the freedom to devour, to taste deeply and see and savor everything I created for you to enjoy.

Because humanity was created by God to live in joyful submission to God.

You have this freedom to devour, but but joyful submission means that hey, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

There's that word again.

Shall surely die.

First one, may surely permission, shall surely consequence.

See, see, we have our creative purpose, but also a creative consequence.

God is never going to alter students the consequence for sin.

Your parents may get lax and loose as you get to be 16 and 17 because they don't have the emotional energy anymore to check on you, but God is not going to alter the consequence for sin.

We have a created purpose and there's a created consequence.

I want us to see this morning that God's plan for the world starts with good and it's coming back to good.

If you read in Genesis, it says, uh uh, you know, and God said, Let there be light, and there was light and it was good the first day.

And God said, Let there be this and it was that and it was good the second day.

And so the rhythm of creation is God said it was good, God said it was good.

Now you look around our world today, you wouldn't say it's good.

You would say it's pretty jacked up.

What happened?

What happened?

We'll get to that in just a minute.

But just for right now, I just want you to know God's plan for the world starts with good.

And because God's a God of reconciliation and redemption, he's bringing it back full circle back to good.

But in the meantime, the design of God for humanity is the freedom we see manifested in the garden.

And there's two reasons we gotta understand this today.

Uh, unless and until we see the way God created humanity to joyful submission and freedom.

Unless you see that, there's two things you got a problem with.

Number one, you have no frame of reference for how far we've fallen or how how to explain the state of the world.

You you have no frame of reference for, man, just how bad is it?

And here's the second thing you think we have a political problem, not a spiritual problem.

Your messiah is not coming in 2024.

Now, the problem for some of you is your messiah really is coming in 2024.

Now, I had a conversation recently with people that involved Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, CNN, Fox News, and there I was at the center of it.

Now, some of y'all, depending on what name you just heard, you're like, whoa.

People were lathered up all around me, veins poking out of their neck, and I'm just smiling.

I said, you know, here's the they said, Why aren't you bothered by this?

Did you hear what he just said?

Yes, yes, I think he's crazy, okay?

But I don't think we have a political problem.

I don't care who you put in the White House in 2024.

I think to some degree it matters, but the core issue of America is not political, it's spiritual.

And so all of a sudden they're like, Well, what do you mean?

And I'm like, Well, 47 minutes later, because look at me, look at me.

I believed, therefore I spoke.

Believe the right things, and you can have whatever conversation you need to have about politics or sex or the LGBTQ or cancel culture or whatever.

The problem is not that you don't know what to say, you've never taken the time to figure out what you really believe.

And the fact that you don't believe much means you don't speak much, and so the gospel's not getting out there.

Here's the second thing I want you to believe as it relates to the gospel is that secondly, all people are inherently sinful and therefore separated from God.

All people are inherently, in other words, they inherited it.

It didn't just come from them, they were born that way.

All people are inherently sinful and therefore separated from God.

This is the problem.

First one was the plan, this is the problem.

Romans chapter 5, verse 12 says this, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, that's Adam.

Romans 5:12

Just as sin came into the world.

Now let me tell you this.

I've had this conversation multiple times in the past six months.

I guess somebody wrote a blog or put something on Instagram or posted something somewhere or TikTok that's making the rounds, but there's not that many people think about this, but I've had so many people say to me recently, probably some famous person said it, we're like, oh yeah, that I'm gonna take what they said.

I don't have to figure out what I believe, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna mimic what somebody said.

But I've heard this a lot.

I don't think I how could I be responsible for something a man did way back in the very beginning in the Garden of Eden?

And so if somebody famous person said that, somebody please tell me, because I keep having the conversation and I point people to this.

I don't read it to them, but I use two big words I use just here in a minute, and people are like, huh.

I gotta think about that.

The Bible says this, therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned, and then notice there's a dash there.

No, see it's there because hey, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

And Paul puts a dash, like, you know what?

You ever say something to your kids and you can tell by the look on their face they do not understand what you just said?

They're kind of like clean my room.

Wait a minute.

Isn't that why you're here, mom?

Yeah, Paul, the Bible's compassionate, it was recorded by compassionate men, and so he realizes you know what?

That sounds real heady, and he pauses and he says, This for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

Now that last phrase, who was a type of the one who was to come, is one of the most hopeful passages in the entire Bible.

It's not even a whole sentence, it's just a little fragment on the end there.

Who is a type of the one who was to come?

Now go back and break it down.

Therefore, it's just a sin came into the world through one man.

This is why I say all people are inherently sinful and therefore separated from God.

You and I will never have a conversation with anybody that does not need to be redeemed and cannot redeem themselves.

Someone said to me recently, hey, Ben Shapiro put out a TikTok, and I'm like, okay, stop right there.

Ben Shapiro and TikTok.

This is where we're going?

Okay, come on.

And then, well, Ben Shapiro, who's Jewish by the way, he said, you know, I don't believe somebody else.

I think it's unchristian to believe that another person should be responsible for your sins.

He said, I'm gonna be responsible for my own sin.

And the guy said to me, Pastor, what do you think about that?

I said, I think it's pretty, pretty impressive if you can be sinner and savior at the same time.

How does a sinful being serve as the savior if the savior has to be sinless?

Tell Ben to get back to me on that.

Maybe post a TikTok and I'll watch it.

And he's like, So you disagree with Ben Shapiro?

Absolutely.

You know, he's really famous.

I don't care.

So is Kim Kardashian.

You want to go there?

Well, let me think about it and get back to you.

See, here's the thing: he says, death spread to all men because all sin.

Hear this part.

For sin was indeed in the world before the law was given.

That's a reference to Moses.

Moses is the one who received the law.

But sin is not counted where there is no law.

People hear that and go, oh man, that sounds great.

Because look at me, a little Old Testament history here.

Let's think a little bit.

A lot of people think from Adam to Moses, it doesn't matter how those people lived.

If it doesn't matter if there was no, if sin was not counted, that doesn't mean sin did not exist.

Like you're not going to count the number of times you breathe today, but you're going to breathe.

Because it's just a given.

You say, well, how do you know sin was a given?

Because people died.

Look at the next sentence.

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses.

The Bible says the wages of sin is what?

Death.

And so the Bible is just suddenly saying, hey, I don't have to make a big deal about this.

Death reigned from the time of Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like a transgression of Adam.

Let me ask you something.

This requires some honesty.

How many of you ever compare your sins to the sins of others?

Like some of you have done this before.

You're such wicked sinners.

Your friends have confessed something to you, and you've thought, man, that's terrible.

And then in your mind you thought, ain't that bad?

Whoa! Tomorrow somebody will come up to you at work and say, hey, Billy Bob, you don't guess what I did this weekend.

You'll be like, oh brother, I'm so sorry.

Let me pray for you.

And you'll walk away going, Thank you, God, I'm not wicked as that guy, man.

I did a few things, but he's off the reservation.

People like in the Old Testament were the same way.

They said, Hey, whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam?

And like, hey, we we didn't screw it up for everybody like Adam did.

But then the Bible has this hopeful fragment in the end of the sentence.

Who was a type of the one who was to come?

Who was a type of the one who was to come.

That's why I said to my friend, who's like, I don't know how I should be responsible uh for what somebody did years ago in the garden a long time ago.

And I said, Hey, the way original sin comes upon us, I said, there's two big words I want to give you representation and imputation.

He's like, I get the first, and what is the second one?

I said, Do you ever like how to you know what a turkey baster is?

Or you inject Cajun seasoning?

Yeah, I I inject Cajun seasoning to a turkey, and then I deep pry it.

I'm like, I think that violates like four Old Testament laws, but I'll get back to you.

And I said, by the same way, the Bible says that we got imputed is the big word, imputation.

Something got put into us that by nature wasn't there, okay?

And so he's like, Well, I don't, you kind of lose me on the big thing, on the big words, representation and imputation.

I said, Okay, let me break it down for you real simply.

Here's what Romans chapter 5, verses 12 to 14 says.

Romans 5:12–14

It talks about just as you know, sin came into the world and death reigned and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Everyone in this room, look and listen for the next 30 seconds.

You need to understand this.

If Adam did not represent you in the garden, and what he did in the garden didn't affect your standing before God, then on what basis can Jesus represent you on the cross and what he does on the cross affects your standing before God?

You can't have one without the other.

Because one makes the other one necessary.

So let me ask you again, you're smart people.

If Adam doesn't represent you in the garden, it's called the Federalist theory in theology.

He's a representative of all of humanity.

And when he sins, sin entered into the world.

It's called original sin.

We get a fallen nature, but we by choice sin.

So your biggest problem is not the deep, dark secret you don't want anybody to find out.

Your biggest problem that makes you a sinner is the sin of Adam.

It's not anything you've done.

You sin because you were born with a sin nature.

Because something got put into you, got imputed into you.

Somebody took a turkey baster and jabbed it in you and crammed in some Cajun seasoning, which is a horrible sin right there.

Unless, of course, you're a Cajun, then you're like, hey, dude, don't knock it till you try it.

Uh yes, there's one over here.

Amen.

And so you were not created.

God created you to be in perfect relationship with him.

But when Adam sinned, he represented you and I in the garden.

And so his sin affected our standing before God.

This is why it's hopeful when he says, hey, he was when it talks about Adam, and it has that little phrase, uh, he was a type of the one who was to come.

Again, if Adam cannot represent you and his behavior affect you in the garden, then Jesus cannot represent you on the cross and his behavior on the cross affect your status before God.

It's representation and imputation.

You're smart people.

You can't, and so the guy's like, so basically what Adam did just screwed it up for everybody.

I said, Yeah.

And you're responsible.

And I'm responsible.

And I say, God does not make us need something that God doesn't provide.

Ask yourself this question.

Uh another way, if it if it's right for God to save a man on the basis of another man's work, it's also right for God to punish us on the basis of another man's work.

Ask yourself this simple question.

If you actually believe this, how would you speak?

How would you talk?

He said, Paul says, I believe, therefore I spoke.

Here's the third thing I'm asking you to believe about the gospel.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only way to a relationship with God.

This is provision.

You have plan, you have problem, now you have provision.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only way to a relationship with God.

1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 5 says this for there is one God, and there's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

1 Timothy 2:5

Now that first part of that is the gospel in a nutshell.

But I want to focus on that last part where he says, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

A long time ago, man, we were in the old building over there, and a man came up to me and he said, Hey, you should yell at us more when you preach.

I thought, Am I being punked?

What?

And I said, I laughed.

He goes, No, seriously, I said, What, what, what?

He goes, Yeah, I don't feel like I Come to church unless I walk out feeling bad.

Oh, okay.

And I said lovingly, you should probably find another church.

Because you shouldn't come to church be made to feel bad.

Now, sometimes you'll feel convicted.

You should come to church to be equipped, to be to be deepened and broadened and stretched in what you what you believe.

So that when you have conversations again, get in the order right.

I believe, therefore I speak.

So in any situation, you can be sitting down with some moms for a brunch at La Madeline's, and something comes up, and you're like, oh, oh, I got that little tension.

Oh, what do I say?

What do I say?

No, no, what do I believe?

And how does what I believe, how do I bring that to bear on this conversation right here in a gracious way?

The Proverbs says a word that be spoken is like an apple of gold and a setting of silver.

How do I do that right here?

They see when I say, which is a testimony given at the proper time, here's why I don't yell at you and scream at you and tell scary stories and try to make you manipulate, emotionally manipulate you into doing something that the Holy Spirit's not doing in you.

It's because of this little phrase, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Let me just break it down.

Which is the testimony given?

That's verse five.

It is this is the gospel in a nutshell.

It's what we testify to.

What is that?

That there's one God, there's one mediator between God and man.

Have you ever been involved in a legal proceeding where you needed the mediator?

Say amen.

You needed a mediator because you were at odds with somebody.

We are born separated, alienated, far from God.

Matter of fact, the Bible says we're born his enemies, not his friends.

And we need a mediator.

There's one God, there's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given.

That's what he's talking about.

It's the gospel in a nutshell.

And then here's my favorite part these three words, at the proper.

At the proper.

The whole phrase is at the proper time, but just take the deal through at the proper.

Proper means one's own.

One's own.

In other words, your own time.

We believe this.

Look at me.

The Bible teaches that there will come a time.

It's kind of like this cup of coffee right here.

This cup only holds so much coffee.

Now I'm talking about cups of coffee.

Can I just ask this question?

Is it just me or the cups at the coffee bar shrinking, getting smaller, okay?

Tell Wade Burgess to stop being so stingy and break down and buy some bigger cups.

Next thing we're gonna be drinking coffee out of communion cups.

What are y'all tithe or something?

Break down, people and spend some money.

I brought this one from home.

This is John Norris compared to those little Dixie cups y'all drink out of.

I was there this morning.

Lady went, Where'd you get that?

None of your business, lady.

Well, why do you get a big cup?

I brought it from home, okay?

The bean counter burgers is wrenching us down out there.

But look at me.

Hey, this cup is like your heart.

When the Bible says at the proper time, it means one's own.

Uh it's important that you know, because here's the thing: you can hear the gospel a lot before you ever believe it.

Few people believe the gospel the first time they hear it.

And so some of you, you come to church, you come to church, some of you students have been coming to church your whole life, you're still not converted.

You learn the system, you got all the answers, but at the core of your being on Instagram, you are a freak on a leash that corn used to sing about.

Don't Google that.

I'm just a freak on a leash.

Your parents are like, no.

But here's what the Bible says.

I'll talk all the next section over there.

The students like, stop picking on us.

No, I'm not mad at you.

You've just never been converted.

You're trying to produce the overflow with no water.

Because your own time hadn't come.

Your mom and dad had a time that kind of hemmed you in and said, We're getting on the family plan.

No.

No.

This this cup only holds so much coffee.

And then eventually, if I keep poured, it overflows.

You keep coming, you keep listening.

And we believe this that eventually your heart will overflow, and you'll find yourself with a desire to become a Christian and be the most natural thing you can do.

The most natural thing that you can do.

Why?

At the proper one's own.

That's why we don't pressure or use gimmicks, but instead we trust that the that the Bible never goes out and comes back void, but it accomplishes the purpose for which God sent it.

Now, when it's your time, you'll know.

We don't have to tell you.

You'll know.

You just will.

Last week I met with a man who's been going to church about four years.

He said, I just want to come talk to you.

I had some questions, and and I said, sure, we're just talking.

And he said, Tell me a story.

He said, Yeah.

He said, after my first marriage, came the wheels came off.

I just went to my backyard, fell on my knees, and I said, Ah, forget it.

I give up.

And I was just like, Yeah.

That was his time.

He didn't need some preacher to come along and say, Have you come to the point in your life you'd over show if you died tonight, you'd go to heaven?

And if you did die, you step before God.

What?

That's math.

This beloved is music.

It's not math.

It's music.

And when you hear the music, all of a sudden, your life begins to move to the unforced rhythms of grace.

It just happens.

One's own, at the proper.

Then he uses the word time.

This is a testimony given at the proper time.

Time is a Greek word kairos.

It refers to a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, the decisive epoch waited for.

This is why we don't have to do some kind of high-pressure Jesus kind of thing.

We can't control that time.

We don't want to manipulate that time, but we believe in that time.

Does that make sense?

Say amen.

And for some of you, that time may be today.

That's why every Sunday we stand down here, we're like, hey, hey, if God stirs your heart, we want to help you take the next step spiritually.

Here's the last thing I want you to believe.

And then speak.

Get these things deep in the fiber of your being.

Here's the last one.

God is currently at work in the world to reconcile all things.

Purpose.

You got a plan.

We got a problem.

You got provision.

And now you got purpose.

God is currently at work in the world to reconcile all things.

If you don't believe this, you're going to escape the culture, go out in the country, buy you some land, put a wall around it, get your kids to get married, have babies, come join you on the compound where you raise your own vegetables and drill your own water well and survive the apocalypse.

That's just Christian escapism.

That's just fear.

Without this sense that God is at work to reconcile all things, you have no basis for hope beyond your last best idea or your next vacation.

But redemption means that God is moving history towards an ultimate goal, an ultimate good end, judging evil, restoring peace between men and between God and man.

The Bible talks about it in 2 Corinthians 5, starting in verse 18, with these words.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

Full stop right there.

If you're an accountant or you do any kind of bookkeeping, say amen.

How do you reconcile things without counting?

It says right there, you're smart people.

God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

Reconciling the world.

Not counting their sins against them.

Why?

Because your biggest sin problem is the sin of Adam.

God knows yours.

He didn't go around counting your sins like some guilty moralizer.

Oh, I oh, you drank a beer this weekend, that's 200 points off.

Oh, God, it was a light beer.

Okay, 150.

You really think God's that way?

No.

He's not counting your sins again.

Why?

Because he knows you by nature are a sinner.

He reconciles, he doesn't have to count and entrusted to us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ.

God making his appeal through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Now, people's first thought may be me be reconciled to God.

Dude, God is so mad at me.

How is that even possible?

The next sentence.

Because for our sake, he made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Working together with him.

Look at me.

Don't walk out these doors this morning and try to just try to do it on your own.

If God is not doing it, it's not your job to do it.

Working together with him, then we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

Jesus becomes something he's never been, so you could become something you could never be.

Two words I want to point you to, and we'll be done this morning.

Two things to notice the word world.

God was reconciling the world to himself.

It refers to any aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort.

Had a conversation with a guy one time at a wedding idea where they had the cocktail hour.

It was like two hours.

And hey, Mrs.

Free Brides, take your pictures as much as possible beforehand.

We don't want to wait that long to eat.

But I digress.

Anyway, my kids went this week.

I was like, let's go, let's go, let's go.

But they had two-hour cocktail hour, and one more boy was he was a little happy.

And they said, Hey, are you the efficient?

I said, Yeah, he goes, That's the guy looking for you.

You say ask some spiritual questions.

I was like, this'll be good.

And the only verse in the Bible he knew, he said, My granny told me, and he was standing like this.

You know you've had you got that wobble kind of like, I said, hey man, he had a shiner and a can.

I said, How many of those have you had?

He goes, This is my ninth one.

I said, Hey, let me hold it.

It looks a little heavy.

What do you mean it's heavy?

It's making making you wobble a little bit.

Let me hold it.

Uh and I said, What do you want to talk about?

He goes, Well, my granny said, God's reconciling the world.

That means we're all getting in, right?

And I said, Hang on a second.

No.

And he goes, What do you mean when I mean reconcile the world?

World's world.

I said, the world there is the word cosmos.

It's the Greek word cosmos with a K, cosmos.

He said, What does that mean?

It's this aggregate.

I brought you the original definition from the Greek.

It refers to any aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort.

What a great word that makes no sense to most of you.

Let me read it again.

It refers to any aggregate or general collection of particulars or any sort, a whole form by combining several different elements.

I'll give you two simple words.

The church.

Look around.

Look around.

This is the aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort.

Diverse, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Nigerian, African.

We got everything.

We got people from Iran here.

We got people from Kentucky here.

And other foreign countries.

I met the guy.

He may be in this room right now.

If you see me fighting after church, this is this guy.

He said, We're from Kentucky.

I said, Is this your cousin?

He goes, No, it's my wife.

I said, That's why I'm asking.

Yeah.

Look at me.

When the Bible says, stop laughing, you're at church.

Look at me.

When the Bible says God's reconciling the world, that doesn't mean universalism.

Everybody gets in.

That means anybody can get in.

And then the last word, he says, unless you believed.

Excuse me.

He said, We appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

If you grew up in church, you should hear this and be warned.

Vain means destitute of spiritual wealth.

A one who boasts of his faith as a transcendent possession, yet is without the fruits of faith in this life.

Let me hear it again.

Destitute of spiritual wealth.

Somebody that talks about their faith like it's pie in the sky, sweet by and by this transcendent possession.

When I get to heaven, you know, that's going to matter.

I prayed the prayer when I was 12.

And so it doesn't matter how I live, that person's without the fruits of faith in this life.

That's believing in vain.

Receiving the grace of God in vain.

You don't want to be that person.

So I said to you that hey, God is currently at work in the world to reconcile all things.

Just ask yourself this question.

Where do you sense and see God at work these days?

Where do you sense and see God at work these days?

Because unless you live with this constant and consistent sense that God is in the world, reconciling the world to himself, and he's given me the reconciliation, the ministry of reconciliation.

He's given all Christians that.

And so people should be around you and want to be like you.

They should look at you and go, hey, something about you I am drawn to like a moth to the flame.

What's going on here?

God is reconciling the world to himself.

Why?

Because God created the world to be good and the world is bad, and God in reconciliation is bringing it full circle back to being good again.

And you and I get to be a part of that process.

This is the gospel.

Let's pray together.

If you're a guest, just relax.

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

So some questions come up on the screen.

We process these in our community groups.

We meet in homes with our friends all over our city and talk about our lives and how they're lived and how the gospel applies to it.

So you can discreetly get your phone out, take a picture if you'd like, or you can just focus on one and put it in your pocket, take it home with you.

Let me voice a prayer.

God, thanks for the gospel that's thought-provoking, life-altering, and me changing all at the same time.

It's not just for smart people, it's for anybody.

That's why the Bible says, Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Because it's an eclectic mix and variety of people because we're all gonna reach different people, and that's the way you designed it to be.

So we're not here to conform people to our image, they're made in your image.

So Holy Spirit brood over us as we ponder what we believe and how it informs what we say.

God, our desire is to testify to the one thing you said is supreme over all things.

You said, If I speak of the tongue of men and angels that have not love, I'm a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal.

So let our testifying be to the to the existence and the reality of love.

Let us be loving people, not a bunch of religious know-it-alls that go around trying to win arguments, but loving, gracious, compassionate people who believe to the core of our being, things that are deeply consequential.

And therefore, whether we're in the boardroom negotiating a$250 billion contract or we're keeping our word on a$25 handshake deal, what we believe governs both of those environments.

Holy Spirit, thank you for working in our lives today.

Thank you for the Bible.

It's thought-provoking, and we're grateful for that.

Increase and deepen what we believe so that what we say has more consequence.

This is our prayer.

We pray in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen, amen.

If you're a guest, let me say thanks for being here today.

Okay, we purposely we pushed our service back and started a little bit later because it was raining.

Uh uh, but but we're glad you're here.

You're always welcome here.

You you say, I don't believe yet, that's okay.

You can belong here and and and and and and without believing.

We we think you'll come to that point.

We think your time will come, and when it comes, we want to be there and help you, like my little man Hudson that got baptized earlier, out yourself and say, I've been found.

And then we want you to get in this church and grow.

Understand what's in this book.

It's not a bunch of words and rules and regulations, it's a reminder that God created you to live in joyful submission to Him, okay?

And so if you're our guest today, if you'd pull out your phone, I would encourage you just to text.

Welcome to that number right there.

We would love to have a record of your visit.

We're not going to show up at your house unannounced.

Uh, we ask you to let us know you're here because you matter to God and because that you matter to us, okay?

And we want to help you take the next step spiritually.

There's lots going on.

Our fall programming is kicking off, and we make you aware of what's going on.

Look at me, okay?

Before the video starts.

Not just to say, here's what's going on, but so you can get involved and you can grow, okay?

Here's some great opportunities to grow.

Let's check this out together.

Thank you for joining us today.

Here's a few things we want you to know.

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.

For all adults 60 and over, our next varsity gathering is this Thursday, August 25th.

Join us for lunch and invite a friend.

Register today at grandparkway.org.

Men's Weekend is coming October 14th and 15th.

Men mark your calendars as registration will open soon.

Midweeks will soon begin for women, students, kids, and all adults.

We offer midweeks on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday evenings beginning September 13th and 14th.

We also look forward to the return of the midweek meal.

For more information and to register, visit grandparkway.org.

Here is a look at one of the mission opportunities at our church.

My name is Brent Wilton, and I'm a teaching pastor here at our church, and I want to tell you this morning a little bit about our ESL program here at our church.

On Tuesdays from 6 to 8.30 p.m.

And then also on Sunday mornings from 9 to 10 a.m., we have an ESL program.

There are students from all over the world that come here to Houston, and many of them they don't know English well.

And so our church steps in and we say, hey, we'll we'll teach you English.

And so we get to teach them English and we get to develop relationships with them, and it's it's a great time.

So if you have a heart, you maybe you're somebody you enjoy teaching, you like teaching other people things, this would be a great program for you to get involved with.

Maybe you're somebody you enjoy other cultures.

Man, it's one of the most culturally diverse programs we have at this church.

You could get to know people from all over the world.

And and I think the most important thing for us as a church is like we get to share the love of Jesus with them.

And we get to point them to Jesus and get them closer to Jesus.

That's really one of the main goals of this program.

So, my friend Joy Williams, she's one of the people that serves with our ESL.

I want you to hear a little bit of her story and how the ESL has impacted her.

Getting to share the gospel with ladies from all around the world with different cultural backgrounds and languages on a Sunday morning here has been such a blessing.

Watching their language improve is wonderful, but most importantly, getting to share the gospel where they may never hear it again.

And the relationships that we have built has just been such a blessing.

The relationships that we have built and the fun that we have on Sunday mornings and the impact that I really believe it's making on these ladies' eternal life makes me never want to miss a Sunday morning.

So on September 6th, we have a new quarter beginning here for ESL, and we could use some more volunteers to help us to teach the students English.

If you're interested in doing that, could you please go to the email address here listed on the screen?

Email me, and I can get you involved.

If you have any questions about what you heard today or would like someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

He's known as the guy in the addict back during COVID.

Uh, you know, he's been here before, got a long beard, kind of got crazy eyes.

Looks like either I love Jesus or I'm gonna kill all y'all.

First chance I get.

Uh he pastors house churches in Nashville.

Uh great guy, but he'll be here.

He'll be preaching that Sunday as well.

Uh and the varsity, our varsity lunches for people 60 and over.

Uh, is this coming Thursday?

Today's the deadline to register.

Uh tonight at midnight, the form will go dead, and we've got to turn in the order for a food from lasagna house.

We have lasagna, uh, salad, garlic, toast, all that good stuff, and little cheesecake bites for dessert.

Uh, I will speak for about 20 minutes uh uh on this simple topic, the most important thing you could be doing right now uh from 60 on.

And so I'd love for you to come join us.

Somebody said, Hey, can people that don't go to our church come?

Absolutely.

Invite your friends.

Invite your friends.

You can register on the website.

We just need to get registered so we can plan accordingly, okay?

If you have any questions about anything you heard, you got questions about midweeks.

Blake, the guy with the beard, will be down here, he's over that.

You got questions about ESL, Brent, and Joy Williams, who's right here in the front row where she always sets, with her husband, who's probably wearing short pants.

Amen.

In the Lord's house.

I'm gonna tell my Lutheran mother.

My mom watches and she said one time, she's Clyde was wearing jeans, and she said, Was that boy wearing dungarees in the Lord's house?

I said, Yes, mom, and he voted for Hillary Clinton.

He goes, Well, do your elders know?

By the way, God doesn't care if you wear short pants in the Lord's house because this is the Lord's house.

Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

This is the building the church meets in.

More sermons than you wanted in one day.

We'd like to conclude our service with a smoking blessing, so stand to your feet.

Hold your hands out.

It's not about being smart, it's about being willing.

Jesus doesn't just use smart people, He uses all people.

All you have to do is believe.

Believe, believe.

Deep in the marrow of your being, in the gray matter of your brain, believe.

And then speak what you believe in all situations, all circumstances, to all people.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.