The Harvest

Robert: Let's pray.

God in heaven, thank you so much for allowing us to be your people, God.

Thank you for your love.

Thank you for your mercy, your goodness, your kindness.

Thank you for bringing us together as your people, Father.

And we pray, Father, as we gather and sing to you and worship you, that you will

fill our hearts with your spirit, God.

Be with all those visiting us, whether they are Christians

and just want to be encouraged.

or visitors seeking and searching for you.

God, we pray that they will see you in us experience you and that the word will help

them find you God and guide them along.

Thank you so much God for all that you do for each of us.

And as we prepare to take communion after this sermon, we pray God that

we will take it in a manner that's worthy and respectable and honors you.

We're so grateful for Jesus.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Okay, we're working on it.

We're working on it here.

So, the harvest.

That's today.

We're celebrating the harvest.

This is Harvest Sunday.

Yeah, go ahead.

We can cheer for Harvest Sunday.

That's actually a big deal in the Bible.

It's a big deal in Scriptures.

To celebrate harvest.

God commands it.

God calls us to do that.

And when I think of harvest, I think of harvest.

I think of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Raise your hand if you've had a Krispy Kreme doughnut.

Okay, so you know what I'm talking about.

There's just, there's nothing like Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

They are unique.

They are special.

They're extra order.

They're not like any other doughnut.

They don't have yeast.

You know, they're actually the healthiest donut out there, you know, and now I

know that's a sliding scale, right?

That's, that's, but, but, but they're, they're the better donut.

If you're going to have a donut, you want to have a Krispy Kreme donut.

That's the one.

Unfortunately, I can't have them anymore, but you know, you can have them.

And I remember how good they were.

They were extraordinary.

I want to read this to you about a story about Krispy Kreme donuts.

Oh, here we go.

Here we go.

We got slides.

We got slides here.

Let's see.

Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Now you see them and your mouth is starting to salivate.

And now listen to my story.

When you step out of your car in a Krispy Kreme parking lot, the

aroma beckons you inside the shop.

At the big ones actually making doughnuts.

That is not the small stores that fake you out with their curbside

appearance, but only import doughnuts three or four times a day.

And when you do step inside the green and white doors, the fragrance of hot dough

meets you and sugar envelops you in warmth and then guides you over to the room

making the machines making the doughnuts.

Where you can look through the length wall length window to watch

the wonderful crispy doughnuts chain make making a series of doughnuts, a

machine busily at work and gradually watching those doughnuts grow and pop

up to become full size doughnut rings.

Then suddenly they dive into hot oil and their transformation

from dough to Krispy Kremes.

takes place like swimmers in a backyard pool.

They ease down their lanes of hot oil, then quickly flip over to the

Brown, to Brown their undersides.

They trundle up a conveyor, trundle mind you.

They trundle up a conveyor and finally parade through a

grand sugar glazing waterfall.

The taste is beyond compare.

it.

A donut so airy and amazingly light that at a mere finger touch leaves a dent.

You know what I'm talking about.

But few fingerprints remain when a dozen disappear in a blink.

And no matter how many times a person has eaten a Krispy Kreme donut, they

still have that same joyful response.

Biting into a new hot one.

Something along the lines of howdy, or wow, or good god.

It all translates to the same wonderful, magical, scrumptious thing.

The extraordinary Krispy Kreme Donuts.

You know what I'm talking about, right?

Did I get you hungry now?

Why does Krispy Kreme Donuts remind me of the harvest?

Because we We are the harvest of God and because we are an

extraordinary people to God.

Not a normal donut, we're an extraordinary donut.

We are unique before God.

The Bible tells us that we are different.

The Bible tells us, which means the Holy Spirit wrote this through Peter.

He says you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people

belonging to God that you may declare the praises of him who called you out

of darkness into his wonderful light.

You're not just any people.

You're not just ordinary people.

You are extraordinary people.

You realize that?

Before God, you are extraordinary.

You are special.

You're his chosen people.

He chose you.

He chose you.

He picked you to be here, to know him, to live your life with him, to be filled with

his love, to be filled with his spirit.

He called you.

You're not here by accident.

The universe is not an accident.

The universe has a creator.

A designer who wanted you here to know him, to be with him.

You were chosen and that's always really special to be chosen, right?

I mean, all the way back to childhood, when you were on the playground

and the kids picked the teams, the worst thing was to be picked

last or to not be picked at all.

And somebody just had to take somebody, right?

That was traumatizing.

We're still working on getting over that one.

But yes, not you.

God picked you.

He chose you.

He said, I want you on my team.

I want you to be one of my people.

One of those extraordinary people.

You're a royal priesthood.

You're not just a priesthood of what's a priesthood.

These are the people that connect that were specially

chosen to connect people to God.

You're a royal priesthood.

You're the priesthood of Jesus, who is the king.

You're the one that Jesus picked to go reach out to everybody.

To show them how good he is.

To show the world that God is love.

You're chosen.

You're a royal priesthood.

You are specially commissioned.

You are specially given orders to go and do this.

Because God wants you to fulfill that role.

He says a holy nation.

Not just any people.

A people that He would form a group, a nation out of.

That would be in every nation.

That would be in every country.

That would be on every continent.

And show the world who God is.

How good He is.

The truth of God.

The love of God.

A people belonging to God.

Remember those old t shirts?

People used to wear property of?

That's us.

Property of God.

We belong to Him.

We're His people.

And I gladly say I belong to God.

I belong to Jesus.

I turned myself in, April 6, 1983.

I said, I give myself to God.

You remember that day that you were baptized?

And if you haven't had it, get to it as soon as possible.

Cause it's a day you will never forget where you turn yourself in and you said,

Jesus is Lord, meaning I belong to him.

Now I'm one of his people, his holy nation.

And he, and we're given a job.

He says to declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness

into his wonderful light, he gave us a very special role in this world.

To show the world the light.

To show the world what it means to love each other.

In a world that is in darkness, full of hate and fear, and all these issues, to

be the people who show people how to love.

How to overcome differences.

How to forgive each other.

How to be a light.

How to give everyone hope.

That's our job.

He said, You, that's who you are.

You're extraordinary.

You're extraordinary.

You're not like any other nation.

You're not like any other people.

You're God's people.

And that is extraordinary.

Do you feel that this morning?

Do you see that?

Do you know that?

You need to.

Because it is the truth.

Before God it's the truth.

It's how God sees you.

And I know we have all kinds of issues with identity, and how we

see ourselves, and who we think we are, but this is the truth.

This is how God sees you.

And we have to accept that, because it's good.

And it's so inspiring, and it's so encouraging, how much God loves you.

And how he chose you and pulled you onto his team.

This is how God works.

Since the very beginning, he says, the Lord did not set his affection

on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other people.

For you were the fewest of all peoples, but it was because the

Lord loved you and kept the oath.

He swore to your forefathers that he brought you out of a mighty,

with a mighty hand, redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the

power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is God.

He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand

generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.

And I know this is Old Testament, this is when God was calling the Jews out

of Egypt, but it's recorded for us.

Because we're the thousand generations afterwards.

We're the people who still love God.

Raise your hand if you love God.

That's us then!

That's us!

That he's talking about.

He chose us.

Not because you're the most numerous.

Not because you're the best looking.

Not because you're the most educated.

Not because you got the best dance moves on the floor.

Not because you got the most money.

He chose you because he loves you.

He knows you.

Better than anybody.

Better than you do!

You do.

He knows me better than I know me.

And yet, he loves me.

And chose me.

We are his harvest.

We are his harvest.

We are the fruit of the labor that has happened.

We are what has been produced out of thousands of years of labor.

to bring about a special people, a holy nation.

That is so awesome.

And we're to celebrate that in Exodus 34.

God told him said celebrate the festival of weeks with the first fruits of

the wheat harvest and festival of in gathering at the turn of the year.

God loves to party.

God loves to celebrate.

God doesn't want a bunch of religious people hanging their

heads, feeling bad about themselves all the time, guilt ridden.

That's not how God operates.

That's not who He is.

Jesus came to set us free.

The fruit of the Spirit.

Love.

Joy.

Joy.

To be happy, to rejoice, to enjoy this life that God has given us.

He commanded them to celebrate.

He said, get out there and party.

Get out there and rejoice.

Get out there and have fun with each other.

Enjoy these, look at these people around you.

I know they're, they're problematic.

But he wants you to enjoy them.

Have fun with them.

Give somebody a high five.

Go ahead, give somebody a high five.

Tell them how glad you are they're here.

You see, sometimes, sometimes we forget, sometimes we forget how

special it is to be a Christian.

Sometimes we forget how special it is to be God's people.

We get all caught up in the problems of the world, or we get all caught

up in the problems of the church, or the problems of our family, or the

problems of our kids, or the problems of our parents, or the problems of our

cousin, or the problems of the neighbor.

We just get all caught up in problems.

And so he would command them, take a time to celebrate the fruit of the labor.

The fruit of all you've done.

And that's what a harvest is.

It's where you celebrate the fruit of all that we have done.

A lot of us, man, we've been Christians for, we've been

Christians longer than God.

I mean, we've been around forever.

We've been to church more times than Jesus.

I mean, we've just, all those years of sacrifice and self denial and giving

admissions and showing up and getting up early and having quiet times.

When somebody else is sleeping in and getting another half hour of sleep.

All those times of self denial and saying no to sin.

There's a harvest that comes from that.

And he wants us to celebrate that harvest.

Not everybody gets it.

He says, Sluggards do not plow in season.

So at harvest time, they look and find nothing.

Nothing.

Because they didn't do this.

They didn't give their hearts to God.

They didn't deny themselves.

God says in the, one of the many parables Jesus tells about sowing and harvesting.

He told a lot of those.

He also said this is what the kingdom of God is like.

A man scatters seed on the ground night and day whether he sleeps or

gets up, the seed sprouts and grows.

Who makes things grow?

God makes things grow.

And God is always working and God is always moving and he's working.

He's working before you get there.

He's working while you're there.

He's working after you leave.

He's working in ways we don't see him in ways that we don't even know, but

God is always working for us night and day, whether he sleeps or gets

up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how all by itself.

The soil produces grain, first the stock and then the head,

then the full kernel in the head.

As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it because the harvest has come.

You are his harvest.

God has worked so hard to get us to where we are now.

To get us so that we would know him.

To get us so that we would be with him.

That we would walk with him.

That we would realize the extraordinary gift he has given us

of making us an extraordinary people.

A people that belong to him.

Jesus told lots of parables about harvesting.

He said, then he told them many things in parables saying, A

farmer went out to sow a seed.

As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path and

birds came and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil.

It's sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.

But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they

withered because they had no root.

Other seed fell among thorns which grew up and choked the plants.

Still other seeds fell on good soil where it produced a crop a hundred

sixty or thirty times what was sown.

Whoever has ears, let them hear.

This is actually a parable of the harvest.

He said there's four hearts.

It's the last one who has a harvest.

It's the last one that is different, that's distinct.

It's not like anything else.

In all, in the whole universe, I mean, everything God sets up, there's sowing,

there's watering, there's working it, and then there's harvesting.

And it's the same thing with Him.

God is sowing His Word into your hearts.

He's doing it right now as we read this scripture.

That heart is, that's, that Word of God is either entering us and changing

us or it's bouncing off, right?

It's, it's doing something and he goes on, he says, he says, as he explains

it, he says, because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven

has been given to you, but not to them.

Whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance.

Whoever does not have even what they have will be taken from them.

I never understood this scripture.

I thought that's not fair.

The guy who's only got a little bit is going to get it taken away from him.

That doesn't seem fair, but I realize that we have as much as we want from God.

Because it all depends on us sowing into the Lord.

It all depends on us giving him our hearts.

And God will bless us with so much.

And he says that the knowledge of the kingdom, most people just don't get it.

Most people don't understand it.

And he goes on to keep that.

We're still in Matthew 13.

Jesus!

Though seeing they do not see, though hearing they do not hear or understand.

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah.

You will be ever hearing but never understanding.

You will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

For this people's heart has become callous.

They hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with

their hearts, and turn, and I would hear.

God always knew we need healing.

We need to be healed.

We're a broken people.

We're hurting people.

We're suffering people.

How do I know that?

Because it's true of every human being on this planet.

In different ways, but all of us need to be healed.

But blessed are your eyes.

Because they see and your ears because they hear they hear and they understand

they get it though seeing they do not see though hearing they do not hear

or understand in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah you will be ever

hearing but never understand bottom line is most people don't get it they

don't Most people will not get no man.

You can explain it until you turn blue.

They're not going to get it because it takes a level of honesty.

It takes a level of humility to recognize where I'm at to see my

needs, to see my errors, to see my weakness requires a scary level of

honesty and most people won't go there.

And many people can't go there.

Because they see God as a judgmental, harsh God.

They don't want to get open and honest.

They're afraid He'll just, He'll just condemn them.

It's why people need to know who God really is.

That He is the God of, He is love.

He's not very loving.

The Bible says He is love.

And this is why it's so important that we share our faith and I don't mean invite

people to church That's a good thing.

But sharing our faith is sharing what we know about God That he is

good That he is love that he is mercy that he is forgiving no matter what

you've done God will forgive it repent Change okay, that's you know, repent.

That's one of those scary words I used to always think when you say

repent, you have to say repent.

You have to say it with a southern accent, southern preacher accent.

You can be bro, I think you just need to repent.

It's a big scary word.

All it means, all it means is change.

It means come back to God, literally.

You guys all know the Greek word metanoia means change, but how about the Hebrew

word from which the Greek word came.

It just means come back.

Turn around.

Turn around.

That song we, we sang is such a beautiful song.

My favorite song.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

And He leads me in my quiet waters.

He restores my soul.

Guess what that word is in Hebrew?

He turns me around.

He shoves me.

He brings me back to Him.

He This is what people don't get.

God is so good.

God is so good.

And so they see, but do not see.

They hear, but do not, they listen, but they do not hear.

They have shut him out.

Ever hearing, but never getting it.

But he said, but blessed are your eyes.

Blessed are your ears.

Because you heard, And you responded.

You listened and you understood.

And you responded to God.

Extraordinary.

Not like everyone else.

Most people, they don't understand what the kingdom of God is.

They don't understand the church.

They expect to be some perfect group of people that do

everything right all the time.

And nobody can live up to that pressure.

And it certainly doesn't happen.

You only have to be here more than about 15 minutes.

And you begin to realize that there are problems.

Most people don't understand what it means to be a Christian.

They think it, it means you belong to a church or you belong to a group

or, or, or you celebrate Christmas, or you don't say happy holidays.

You say Merry Christmas.

They think things that, yeah, okay.

They apply, but so much deeper than that.

What it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

The word, the Bible uses that you make the choice to follow Jesus in

everything, including mind and heart, not allowing myself to be like the world,

but following Jesus eyes fixed on him heart set on things of above and

the things that God has said, what it means to have a spiritual life.

That you walk with your creator, that you listen to the Holy Spirit, that

you are empowered by him to overcome fear and anger and temptation,

that you live in the Holy Spirit.

Most people don't understand what it means to follow Jesus.

What does that mean to fix your eyes on him?

What does it mean in the morning when you get up?

What does it mean in the afternoon when somebody insults you?

What does it mean when somebody hurts your feelings, when somebody

disappoints you, when somebody says something that's judgmental

and mean to you, to follow Jesus.

What does it mean to live your life with God?

Though hearing, they do not understand.

Though seeing, they do not perceive what God has done.

The fourth heart in that parable.

It's the heart that got it.

It says, but the seed falling on the good soil refers to someone who

hears the word and understands it.

Understand that understanding it takes effort, right?

Remember the first time you opened your Bible and started reading?

What in the world?

And most everybody starts in Revelation.

Are you kidding me?

My hardest book in the Bible to understand.

That's where everybody wants to start.

What are the seven beasts, you know?

Don't worry about that.

You focus on Jesus

but here's the incredible thing is You don't have to have Bible education.

Yeah, I said that You don't have to have a degree in theology.

You don't need to read Greek or Hebrew You know what love is You know what it means

to have faith You know, these are basic concepts that he teaches us And anybody

can understand it if they put the effort.

But if they don't, we won't the fourth heart.

I'm sure the first heart, you guys know, it didn't even listen and said, that's

the one that seeds bounced off and you can say, well, isn't that the non Christian?

Cause we always use this for Bible talks to reach out to

people who aren't Christians, but it wasn't written for them.

It was written for us.

It wasn't spoken for them.

It was spoken for you and me.

To check our hearts To make sure that when I hear the Word of God, is it

penetrating or is it bouncing off?

And people it can bounce off for a lot of different reasons.

Maybe somebody had a bad experience Maybe somebody got hurt.

Maybe somebody got disillusioned.

Maybe somebody prayed for something and it didn't happen The heart can harden

for many reasons And here's the thing is, it's probably not the person who refuses

to come to church or go to a Bible talk.

Because this person is where the seed is being scattered.

This is the person at church who doesn't let it penetrate anymore.

And it could be because they think they know it already.

Oh come on bro, parable of the sower, I've done that Bible talk 30 times.

It could be that they've been hurt and they're angry.

It could be.

It could be that they're in sin and their heart is hardened.

They're living a double life.

There's a lot of reasons, but it's not the person outside.

It's the person in the church that isn't letting the Word of

God open their heart anymore.

That isn't being changed by it.

And the second one, that one just didn't pay attention.

That one, it says he accepted it with glee.

In the early days, this person was fired up, using our language.

This person was excited, but they dug no roots.

They got too busy.

They didn't have time for quiet times.

They didn't have time to read Bible study books.

They didn't have time to get in there.

They cut short their prayer life.

They were always on the go, always wishing they had more time and

therefore became shallow in their faith.

And you know what?

When you're not digging into scripture, when you're not praying, when you're

not fighting for your quiet time.

They slip away and it doesn't, and it isn't like, I always wish, I

thought, I wish that there was some way that spirituality was physical.

Like we'd all get taller or green or blue or something.

You know, . So you could tell with somebody walking, bro, you

haven't had quiet time in days.

Let me help you.

But they don't look any different.

However, they do act different.

When they get hurt, they get mad.

Well, everybody gets mad, but they get overcome with their anger.

They can't overcome it.

When they get tempted, they get drug away and re enslaved.

Not an obvious difference.

But time reveals it.

How they act shows it.

No roots.

No time.

Too distracted.

The third one, of course, this is the tragic one.

Cause they were doing great at one time.

They let the word sink in and change their lives.

They were out there serving God.

They were busy for the Lord.

They were serving and sacrifice.

They were doing awesome,

but their faith got choked out.

And he says the deceitfulness of wealth.

In the worries of life.

This is a tragic one.

Once upon a time they had great impact.

Once upon a time they were rejoicing in the Lord.

Once upon a time they were having a great time as Christians.

But the worries of life, which is what?

Fear.

Consumed them.

And there's a lot of things to be afraid of in this world.

In our world right now, we're in scary times.

It's scary out there.

And if you're not rooted in the word of God, you will get

chewed up and spit out by fear.

We get destroyed.

This one got destroyed.

Because he didn't have the roots.

And roots, you know how roots are.

You got to keep watering them.

You got to keep feeding them or the roots die.

You got to keep expanding or you become root bound and the plant die.

You got to keep growing and this is the one that once upon a time they were

growing But they don't grow anymore.

It's the saddest one to me Because they were so close and then of course

the last one Unlike this one's unique.

This one's extraordinary Unlike the first heart they kept their heart soft Unlike

the second heart they kept guarding their quiet times their Bible study

their prayer their meditation on the Word of God They kept in there with God

Unlike the third heart when stuff came up when the rocks in the and this junk

came in their heart They got rid of it.

They confessed their sin.

They dealt with their sin they were open and honest so all this junk that

kills a Christian was removed and They kept growing And the one thing he

says is, therefore, they understood.

They got it.

They got it.

Even in hard times, even in difficulties, even in dangerous times, they were okay.

Because they had the roots.

They had the strength.

They understood.

Understanding is huge.

Jesus said to the crowds, away from me, you evildoers.

I never knew you.

Understanding Jesus, understanding what he's looking for.

They got it.

They got it.

They're special.

They're unique.

Their choice.

They're not for the record, not more talented, not more educated,

not prettier, not handsomer.

I know some of us think we are, but no, no, no.

There's always somebody out there prettier.

There's always somebody out there more handsome.

Somebody out there richer, somebody out there poorer,

somebody out there more religious.

They're not even the most religious people.

There's a lot of religious people that don't get it.

Don't get it.

They demand righteousness in a very unrighteous way.

With hearts given over to anger and bitterness.

Instead of having compassion and mercy.

The things Jesus was looking for.

That's extraordinary.

There aren't a lot of people in the world like this.

There aren't a lot of people who care this much.

They do fine in the harvest laws.

You know, harvest has laws.

There are laws in the harvest.

2nd Corinthians 9 says, remember this, whoever sows

sparingly also reaps sparingly.

Whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

If we put the time into our relationship with God, we harvest.

From a great relationship with God.

If we put the priority to pray and walk with God, we reap a harvest from God.

If we give God our hearts generously, God, I'm all in.

I'm yours.

We reap from God and no matter what, this world dishes out and lemme tell

you something that you already know.

The world is harsh.

The world is ugly and I'm not a negative downer person.

I just know what's going on out there.

I know what's happening.

It's not good.

This week is going to be a scary week for a lot of people.

There's a lot of bad stuff happening.

There's a lot of bad stuff being said.

We are extraordinary.

We love.

We give, we serve, we love everybody.

Amen.

Law of the harvest, you get what you put in.

Do not be deceived.

God cannot be mocked.

Nobody's gonna fool God.

There's no shortcuts.

God knows what we're putting into our relationship with him.

God knows whether we're prior to somebody can say, Oh baby, I love you.

But you know if he loves you or not.

We're not stupid and God isn't stupid We say Jesus is Lord,

but he knows if he's Lord or not

Do not be deceived.

God cannot be mocked a man reaps what he sows Whoever sows to please their flesh

the from the flesh will reap destruction Whoever sows to please the spirit From

the spirit will reap eternal life Let us not become weary in doing good for at

the proper time We will reap a harvest if we do not Don't give up, don't quit,

don't quit, not even a little bit.

Sometimes we don't, we don't do the big dramatic quit.

I'm out of here.

Sometimes we do the little quit.

I'm just not saying anything.

I'm just not giving my heart anymore.

I'm just not going to love anymore.

I'm just not going to serve because I know those people got problems and

they're probably going to hurt me or disappoint me or do something stupid.

And I'm not contributing to stupidity.

Very much like the world.

Thank God Jesus didn't have that attitude.

Jesus was, I know they're evil, but I'm going to die for them anyways.

I know they're messed up and they're weak, but I'm going to go

to the cross for them to save them.

Why?

Because his actions weren't based on our goodness.

His actions.

We're based on God's goodness.

That's what makes Christians extraordinary.

Extraordinary.

What we sow, we reap.

We sow hate, we reap hate.

We sow love, we will reap love.

We sow anger, we will reap anger.

We sow mercy, we will reap mercy.

We sow fear and we will reap fear.

And the challenging part of this is it doesn't happen right away.

Sometimes you sow love and nobody loves back.

And you're like, man, what the heck?

Hang in there.

Don't quit.

You're planting seeds.

Judge each day by not by the fruit it bears, but by the seeds you plant.

What am I planting?

Because that's what I'm going to harvest down the road.

The world Sows hate, prejudice, fear, panic, lies, deceit, anger,

bitterness, apathy, unbelief.

You don't believe me?

You think I'm being negative?

Turn on the news.

This is the world.

You want it?

You can have it.

I don't want it.

I want the kingdom of God.

And I know we struggle.

I know all weaknesses.

I know my own.

But God is good.

And if I keep sowing love.

It's what I'm reaping already.

The Krispy Kreme people,

they sow love, they sow kindness, even, even when they get hurt or

disappointed or disillusioned or they get left behind or they get forgotten,

they keep sowing love and it works.

Maybe not the first week, maybe not the first year, but I guarantee you they will.

God is not a liar.

God will not be mocked.

It's so peace in goodness, bro.

Chill out.

It's okay.

We'll get there.

We'll be all right.

Sister.

Don't worry.

Trust God that people are evil.

Yeah, they are, but God is good.

God is good.

So truth and honesty.

Yeah, you messed up, but the truth is I messed up too.

So I'm nobody to judge you.

I want you to change, but I know I need to change.

So maybe I should deal with the plank in my own eye before I

worry about the one in yours.

They sow truth.

They sow honesty.

They sow forgiveness.

It's easy to forgive when you know you're a sinner.

When you know you've messed up, but when you think you're better than

other people, it's hard to forgive.

It's easy to sow faith and trust when we know God.

That's what the Krispy Kreme people do.

They sow joy and goodness.

This is awesome.

Say, but Robert, you don't know my Bible talk.

There's so many messed up people.

They're uncommitted, they're sinful, they're weak.

Yeah, I know, but it's still awesome.

Because every one of them was made in God's image.

And as long as they're coming and listening to God's word, there's hope.

There's hope for me.

There's hope for you.

There's hope.

Whoever sows to please the spirit, what do they reap?

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness, and self control.

That's a life.

I want to close out with this story.

There was a very wealthy man who was very talented, very smart, had the

best education, started a business that just thrived, made lots of money.

He was doing really well, loved his business.

But then he met this young lady and he fell in love head

over heels, totally in love.

And she became his love.

And they got married.

They had a home together.

They were living life, a very good life together in love.

She got pregnant.

She gave birth to a beautiful little boy.

But unfortunately, she passed away in the birth.

And the dad, the father, the husband, was grief stricken.

He was broken hearted, but he poured all his love into his

son, whom he loved so much.

But unfortunately, when he was still a child, his son got sick and also died.

And the man was left alone, in his beautiful mansion with all his, he

was an art collector, he had beautiful art collections, and cars, and things

that every man envies and wants.

And he lived the rest of his life alone.

And when he passed, because he had no children, his entire

estate went up for auction.

And on the day of the auction, they had a huge auction, and hundreds of people came.

They wanted the artworks, the cars, the furniture, all the stuff he had.

And the first thing they put on the block was this painting of the little boy.

And they said, who would start the bidding at 500?

Nobody.

Put their hand up.

He said, okay, 400, nobody.

300, nobody.

200, nobody.

It's the painting of his son.

100, nobody.

And the little old guy in the back of the room raised his hand.

He was the gardener.

And the gardener loved this little boy.

He taught him how to plant seeds, and how to grow plants, and how

to harvest his little garden.

He loved the little boy, and he wanted the painting.

He couldn't afford it, but he went ahead and spent a hundred dollars.

And so the auctioneer asked anybody else anybody, you know, and they said

nobody raised a hand He said sold to the man in the back for 100 And then

he took the book that had all the items listed And he closed the book.

He said that concludes the auction And everybody's like whoa.

Whoa.

Whoa, everybody was upset He said the man left it clearly stated

in his will that whoever got the boy painting got everything

Let me tell you something.

If you get it, if you get Jesus, if you get the kingdom

of God, you get everything.

God bless you.

A prayer for communion.

Sorry.

I got excited.

Father God,

God, we get it.

We get how loving you are.

How wonderful you are.

Amen.

How good you are.

We get the value of your son.

And by having your son, we get everything.

Help us, God, in our weakness.

Help us in our sin.

Forgive us our sins.

Help us to love, to serve, to give, to sacrifice, to be a light first

in our homes, With our families and our children and our parents.

Help us to be a light in the church and to love and to give and to

serve and to to be like Jesus.

Help us to be a light to the whole world.

God.

To know who we are to know that we are a royal priesthood.

A chosen people a holy nation.

Help us.

To shine brightly, especially in our world right now that is so in trouble.

Help us to show them the extraordinary faith we have.

Help us to be extraordinary.

We know God that Jesus was extraordinary for each of us.

He died that we could live that we could be set free, that we could

live this life you've We thank you for his body as we eat this bread.

We thank you for his blood as we drink this cup.

We thank you for the forgiveness it represents and the power

to overcome that it grants us.

In his name, we pray.

Amen.