Sermon
"Not Interested" | Liberty at Home
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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I'm not interested, but find out who is interested in our latest
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episode of Liberty at Home. Hello, Eastonite citizens of the
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Commonwealth and well, everyone else.
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Welcome to our latest edition of Liberty at Home.
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My name is Pastor Adam Rivero from the Liberty Baptist Church
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here in Easton over on Washington Street.
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And Speaking of Easton, today, as always, we're broadcasting
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from Easton, MA, where we reside, just minutes away from
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MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Stoughton and Mansfield.
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And I can tell you haven't lived until you stand on the Mansfield
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Station platform, as the Acela goes by 150 miles an hour.
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Well, this week I want to consider a phrase I hear quite
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often as a pastor. I'm not interested and give it a
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bit of A twist. But first, let's read today's
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text in Romans chapter 5, verses 7 through 9.
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For scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet per adventure.
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For a good man, some will even dare to die.
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But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we're
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yet sinners, Christ died for us much more than being now
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justified by His blood. We shall be saved from wrath
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through Him. Whenever I'm asked what our
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church's mission statement is, I always respond with Matthew 2819
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and 20. Go ye therefore, and teach all
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nations, baptizing Him in the name of the Father, and of the
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Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all
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things whatsoever I have commanded you.
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The mission of our church is the Great Commission which compels
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us to reach our community with the Gospel.
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Now, we do this on a regular basis through house to house
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visitation, gospel literature, and special days at our church,
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amongst many other things. We're not looking to start
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arguments on people's doorsteps as some groups are prone to do.
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Rather, we're simply wanting to express the love and truth of
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Christ and to let folks know they are always welcome at
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Liberty Baptist Church. Now, inevitably when I walk up
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to someone's house, every once in a while I'll get a curt not
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interested from the person at home.
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It's humorous to me that oftentimes folks will tell me
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they aren't interested not even knowing who I am or what I'm
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even doing. I could have been coming with a
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sweepstakes prize. They don't know.
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Of course, we always respect the wishes rather and privacy of
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anyone who asks us to leave, but that pithy phrase always sticks
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out in my mind. Not interested In my maybe
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overactive mind. I wonder, what's the person not
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interested in? Are they not interested in
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talking? Are they not interested in
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church? Are they not interested in God?
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The vague expression of not interested is actually pretty
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open-ended, leaving a lot to the imagination.
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Recently, after having someone informed me that they weren't
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interested as I was walking up their driveway, I had a random
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thought go through my head and I'm glad I didn't say it out
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loud because I don't know that it would have been received
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well, but the thought was true nonetheless.
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My thought was this. You may not be interested in
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God, but God is interested in you.
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The scriptures talk much about God's great love for us, even
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when that love isn't reciprocated.
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Remember Romans 5 verses 7 through 9 that we just read?
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And also first John chapter 4 verses 9 and 10 echoes the
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sentiment of that passage when it says in this was manifested
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the love of God toward us because that God sent his only
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begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him,
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hearing his love. Not that we loved God, but that
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He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
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sins. Few verses later, First John 4
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verse 19 puts it even more succinctly when it says we love
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Him because He first loved us. When we weren't interested in
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Him, He was still interested in us.
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That love is what makes John 316 so powerful.
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Christ came to earth to be, as it says in first John, the
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propitiation of our sins, meaning that His death on the
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cross settled our sin debt and saved us from the wrath to come.
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I'm so glad He was interested in me and still is today.
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So if you see me coming one day and you tell me you're not
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interested, listen, I will be offended, but you need to ask
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yourself this question. Just what exactly are you not
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interested in? I pray that the answer will lead
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you directly to the one who is very interested in you.
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Well, before I go, I need to do one more thing.
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I need to invite you to visit us at Liberty Baptist Church.
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You can find us online via podcast at
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[email protected], but you can also find us at 800
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Washington Street right here in Easton.
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Have questions? e-mail us at
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[email protected]. Time to go.
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So as I sign off from another episode of Liberty at Home, it's
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time to remind you that where the Spirit of the Lord is,
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there's Liberty. See you next week on Liberty at
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Home.