Journey of Faith - A Lot of Compromise (North OC)

Daniel: Won't give a warm hand for the worship team worship and a B team.

Thank you so much guys.

They get here so early in the morning and the setup team as well.

They get here early to set up just so we can make this happen every Sunday morning.

Well, good morning.

My name is Daniel Sumoge along with my wife Savannah.

We help serve here in Orange County with the high school students here.

Uh, not many high school students.

Yeah.

High school students.

Youth ministry.

Yeah.

It's all good though.

Uh, but if it's your first time here, I'd like to say, you

know, welcome, extended welcome.

Once again, it's so great to have you guys out here.

I've been part of this, uh, fellowship group now for four years, and something

that I've seen is definitely the love.

Uh, thank you guys so much for that.

You know, I came in here as a, someone who was really lost, but

now I kind of found my way, thanks to the people here in this room.

Uh, so, yes, whoever said you're welcome.

Thank you.

But also, something I realized about this fellowship, not only here, but

really just Orange County in general, is you guys are a very giving city.

You know, I grew up in L.

A., and uh, not too long ago, last year, you guys gave us one of the best baseball

players to ever exist, Shohei Ohtani.

Oh yeah, Marcel looked up real fast.

But I want to thank you guys for that.

On the bottom of my heart, from L.

A., thank you guys for Shohei Ohtani.

We are continuing our Journey to the World series we are playing tonight.

I know, boo, but guess what?

No prof gets love in their hometown, right?

So I'm trying to, I'm trying to tell you guys, alright?

It's okay, though.

But speaking of which, oh, come on, Marcel, it's okay.

No?

Should I talk about U.

S.?

No, okay, I want to talk about USC also.

Alright, but anyways, anyways.

Speaking of the journey, you know, like, my dad just ran the

Journey to the World series.

We are also on our journey as well as individuals here in the church, right?

We are on the journey of faith, and that's the title of our sermon series

if you guys have been, uh, with us.

It's the journey, there it is, the journey of faith.

And we're going through the life of Abram, we're Abraham now.

And, uh, man, it's been great studying out Abraham, right?

Have you guys been enjoying that?

Yeah, I know for me, shout out to the Fullerton family group,

man, we've been having a lot of fruitful discussions about Abraham.

You know, we talked about, uh, in Genesis 18 this past Monday, man, it was just

so amazing how everyone just contributed and seeing things, uh, differently.

So I'm really excited about this sermon series, especially what

we're going to talk about today.

It's, uh, it's going to be in Genesis 19 and it's Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now, Raising Hand, if you guys heard of Sodom and Gomorrah, have

you guys read the story before?

Alright, many of us have, right?

You know, I have this daunting task to preach about.

There's so many things that, you know, I was just struggling with.

Because I was like, man, I can preach about this or this.

And I was just, it was so hard to funnel it down.

But somehow I managed to do so.

Amen?

Now, obviously, you know, with Sodom and Gomorrah, there's so

much to preach about, like I said.

We can talk about judgment, we can talk about mercy,

which we will towards the end.

But something I really wanted to talk to you guys about, I

feel like God put on my heart.

What's had to do with compromise, all right?

And the sermon of my, uh, lesson today, the sermon title is A Lot of Compromise.

There it is.

A Lot of Compromise.

You see there, because it has to do with Lot mostly.

I know we're studying out Abraham, but today something that really

stuck out to me was, was Lot's journey right here in Genesis 19.

Now I want to talk about how small compromises can

lead to bigger consequences.

So we're going to look in Genesis 19 here, right?

Let's jump right in.

Alright, we're gonna just start in verse 1 here in Genesis 3 it says, The two angels

arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city.

When he saw them, he got up to meet them, and bowed down

with his face to the ground.

My lords, he said, please turn aside to your servants house.

You can wash your feet and spend the night, and then go on

your way early in the morning.

No, they answered.

We will spend the night in the square.

But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him, and entered his house.

He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.

So going back, let's just go back to Phrygianus 18 real quick, you know, uh,

there were visitors to Abraham and Sarah, and they turned out to be angels, alright?

So they, you know, they, uh, they visited, and now they're on their

way to Sodom to, to destroy it.

And we get to see here that Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city.

How did we get here?

For those who don't know, when you sit at the gateway during that time, that

meant you have some prominence there.

That meant you were some sport form of a leader.

You know, a lot of things happen at the gateway, you know, outside

of just who enters a new comes, you know, if there was laws that need to

be passed, if there was anything that had to do with judgment, everything

will go through the gateway there.

And we see that lot was sitting there at the gateway.

But let's look back.

That's one of my first points, and we have to look back to

see, how did we get here today?

You know, for many of us in this room, you know, there was a time in our lives when

we were just down in the dumps, right?

And we're like, wow, there's no one here to save me, but somehow the Lord stretched

His arms out and you guys reached for it.

But here we see here that Lot was sitting at the gateway.

So we have to look back and see real quick.

Let's go to Genesis 13.

Verse 10 through 13, it says, Lot looked around and saw that the whole

plain of the Jordan toward Zor was well watered, like the garden of

the Lord, like the land of Egypt.

This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.

So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set toward the east.

The two men parted company.

Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the

plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.

You know, if you remember, Abram and Lot, their possessions were

so great that they had to split.

That they were like, you know what, we can't live here, our herders are

arguing, we're arguing, let's just go.

And Abram gave Lot, his nephew, the choice of, alright, which land do you want?

And it says here that he chose the plain of the Jordan towards Zoar.

It was like the Garden of the Lord, and it looked like the land of Egypt.

You know, I thought that's so incredible right there.

Because going back to even Genesis chapter 12, this is how much I love it.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

Going back to Genesis 12 there, remember when Abram and Sarai and Lot, they fleed

the land of Canaan for fear of famine.

So they fleed to Egypt, and Lot was with them on that journey.

And I believe for some reason, and I didn't really mention Lot in that story

there, but I believe that Lot caught a glimpse of what the city life was like.

You know what I mean?

I don't know who grew up in a small town, but I didn't.

But I picture when people from a small town come to visit L.

A.

or Orange County, they're like, wow, look at this city.

There's so much to do here.

I can do this, I can do that.

I picture Lot doing the same thing here as well.

You know, I don't think he, he simply stumbled upon where he was at,

uh, now just by, by looking at it.

I think that he, from the gateway, I think it was slow,

steady progression of compromise.

You know, we see here that Lot had a steady progression of compromise.

We see in Genesis 13, like I said, he looked and saw Sodom.

So he saw it with his eyes.

Then we see later on in that verse that he pitched his tent near Sodom.

Being like, you know what, I can live in this city.

I can live in the city of Sodom.

I know it was described as a wicked city where sin is going on, where

people turn their backs on the Lord.

But I can live here.

You know, I'm not going to live here, but I'll be in a distance.

You know, I'll be in arm's length.

Then in Genesis 14, Abram had to rescue his nephew, Lot, who was living in Sodom.

You know, you think after that, there's no way, Sodom would be

like, I'm never going back to Sodom.

Hey, Abram, let me get some of that blessing.

I know God didn't save his mind, but let me just be with you.

Wrong.

We see here that he's sitting at the gate of Sodom there.

You know, sometimes, you know, I imagine Lot telling himself that

as long as I don't participate in Sodom, then I'll be fine.

If I'm not participating in the sin, if I'm just seeing it from a distance, but

I'm not really in it, I will be okay.

You know, sometimes I think, I can be guilty of this church,

maybe we can be guilty of this.

You know, it may seem like an innocent compromise, but then suddenly it

turns into a lifestyle that God never had planned for us to begin with.

Maybe for us, maybe, I know when I was little, I would tell little

lies, I would tell small little lies.

And eventually later on, uh, I end up, I remember my mom's

like, man, you're just deceitful.

I can't trust anything you say at this point.

Maybe we're ignoring issues, maybe in our marriages or friendships

or relationships of any kind.

And next, you know, we're building resentment towards our significant other.

We're building resentment towards our brothers and sisters here.

Maybe we've been like having a long week and we're just like,

man, there's a lot going on.

I don't have time to read my word.

I don't have time to pray.

You know what?

I'll just do it later.

But yet we're over here saying, God, why aren't you close to me?

How come I don't feel you?

What if we make compromises of not coming to Sunday service?

Maybe we start making church a choice for us.

Oh, I had a long night the night before.

Oh, I just went out.

I had a fun time.

But it's okay.

I won't go this Sunday.

I'll be okay.

But then we'll say, how come the church doesn't love me?

How come the people don't love me here?

The small compromises we make can lead to bigger consequences.

We saw that in Genesis 14, when he lived there, obviously, there was war going

on and Lot lost all his possessions.

And that, once again, brings us back to Genesis 19 here,

where he's sitting at the gate.

You know, how did Lot end up sitting at the gate?

Well, look at these compromises here.

Lot got entangled into the city's sins and their lifestyle.

It's how, you know, having authority within the city.

We see that right there.

He went from arm's distance to now having authority.

And eventually, we see later on, that he's gonna raise a family

there in this environment.

You know, I don't think Lot had this planned out for him.

I don't think Abraham had that planned out for him.

I don't think, you know, God did.

You know, when we reflect on our own lives, we need to ask, How did

we end up right here, right now?

How do we end up in these seats right here?

You know, I'm not saying like, Oh, I got in my car, Woke, drove, and

all, No, no, I'm talking about How do we end up right here spiritually?

You know, how often have we chosen something That seemed appealing on the

surface, But didn't have time to ask God what, You know, He thought about it?

It might have been that job That offered more money, More opportunities, right?

But then later on, Down the line, It started taking you away from your

own family, Started taking you away from your times with God, With, with

serving the church, Hearing this fellowship, Being with one another,

You know, you didn't, you didn't think it was a problem at first.

You're like, wow, this is a great opportunity.

God opened doors.

But then next, you know, we're spiritually dry.

Maybe it's a relationship or friendship or whatever we have here that seemed

promising and harmless, but then we realize it's slowly pulling away

from your faith and pulling away from the purpose God has in your life.

You know, at times like these, these decisions, like I said, they seem small.

These small compromises, you know, it's, it's whatever, but

over time it's become so big.

You know, in church the same thing happens to us.

You know, we think that maybe we're still in control.

We think that we can manage, but we compromise even in the smallest areas.

And when we start choosing what's convenient and what's comfortable,

what looks good to us, it becomes into a bigger consequence that we face.

And often, we don't see it coming, right?

It kind of comes to us and you're like, How did this happen?

You know, in the moment it may seem like a lot, but then if you stop and

process and think, How did I end up here?

You can start walking your steps.

Oh, I looked at it.

I'm near it.

I'm in it.

I'm leading it.

But here's the good news.

And I'll touch on this later.

God is a merciful God.

And we're gonna see, you know, later on how he's gonna send angels

to rescue Lot and his family, even though Lot had compromised so much.

And to think that, man, even if Lot, who did all this, was, you

know, saved, was gaining mercy, man, we get that same mercy as well.

But first, we must recognize where we are and how we got here,

and be willing to turn back.

You know, are we gonna make decisions based on what looks good

on the surface, or will it look great according to God's will?

Because looking back, I'm not talking about looking back

and dwelling on the past.

I'm not talking about being nostalgic, but I'm talking about looking back, so

we can also look forward to what's ahead.

You know, once we ask ourselves that, and start making strides and changes,

then we have to look at what is near us.

You know, we have to look at the environment we surround ourselves.

You know, often, I think about, man, how do I end up here, God?

Well, let me go back.

Okay, that's what it was.

God told me to flee from this life, alright, now I'm gonna

return to the life God calls me to.

But first, in order to enjoy that, that blessing there, I have to look at what

I'm also surrounding myself with, right?

So we're gonna see here, let's go to Genesis 19, this is verses 4 through 6.

So, I encourage you to read this on your own time, we're not gonna read

the whole scripture, I'll be jumping around, uh, so we'll start here.

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom,

both young and old, surrounded the house.

They called to Lot, where are the men who came to you tonight?

Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them.

Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him.

Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man.

Let me bring them out to you and you can do what you like to them.

But don't do anything to these men for they have come under my roof, from,

uh, under the protection of my roof.

Get out of the way, they replied the mob did.

This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge.

We'll treat you worse than them.

They kept bringing pressure on La, and moved forward to break down the door.

Now after that, you know, they tried to break down the door, but the

angel struck the men with blindness.

So now stuff is going down here.

The angels tell him, the two men said to La, Do you have anyone else here?

Sons in law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you?

Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place.

The outcry to the Lord against its people was so great that

he sent us to destroy it.

When he hesitated, that's Lot, the men grasped his hand, and the hands

of his wife, and of his two daughters, and led them safely out of the city.

For the Lord was merciful to them.

You know, as we move closer and deeper into the story, we see Lot was

surrounded by wickedness here in Sodom.

Now, there's this disturbing image we see of Sodom, you know, they

really lost their moral compass to the point where they really don't

care about their sins being hidden.

Their sins are out there.

Their sins are even celebrated.

This wasn't just an isolated incident, but this was their lifestyle.

Now let's think about Lot here for a moment.

He had been living in Sodom for quite some time, I don't know how

long, but the environment he chose to settle in wasn't just wicked, it

was a place where they were openly hostile towards God's standards.

And think about Lot's response in the situation there.

You know, bring these men out, they said.

He's like, you know what?

No, no, I'm gonna protect my guests.

Amen.

I think we should do that during that time.

But then the way he responded saying, you know what?

Instead of being bold and convicted saying, no, get away.

He instead said, oh, take my daughters instead.

You can do whatever you want to them.

And the crazy thing about it is, too, he's saying, like,

they've never been with a man.

I think they were married, too, if you read later on.

They said, get your sons in laws, right?

So, right there, you see, Lot even responding with lies right

there, those small compromises.

You know, it's essential for us to look around at our own environment.

What are we surrounding ourselves with?

Are we immersing ourselves in a place and situation that uplift us to be

closer with God, or are we allowing ourselves to be influenced by the

environments that astray us from Him?

Because like Lot, we too can become desensitized to sin.

The things that once shocked us or made us uncomfortable are

now something that we tolerate.

We're like, you know what?

Oh yeah, it's normal.

You know, I think, it reminds me of the saying with, uh, I think it was, let

me make sure I don't get this wrong.

It's like, if you put a frog in boiling water, it will immediately jump out.

But if you put it in lukewarm water and slowly heat it, it

will stay until it's too late.

So we see how slow, gradual changes can lead to significant

consequences without being noticed.

Like I said, put a frog in it.

I just saw a video of it.

You put a frog in lukewarm water, you know, nothing's going to be fine.

But then when you start turning up the heat, it's going to start jumping out.

You know, when harmful changes happen slowly, we may not even

recognize the danger until the consequence is already set in.

Now maybe you've noticed that in your own life.

Maybe there was TV shows or music or whatever it was that you guys first were

like, you know what, I am getting rid of.

This makes me struggle when you guys are studying.

But then over time, you guys were like, you know what, I can

maybe pitch my tent near it.

I can, you know, maybe watch a few episodes.

I can listen to that new release right there.

It's not bad.

And the next, you know, we were back in it.

We're binge watching those shows.

We're immersed in those music right there with all those, those foul

languages that we like, or glorifies, you know, sex and all of that.

No, we come to the, you know, we become numb to the things that

we once were uncomfortable with.

It reminds me of what Paul says in Romans 12 verse nine.

He says that love must be sincere, hate what is evil and cling to what is good.

Now we see here that there's a calling for us.

We were to hate what is evil and what is evil sin.

We were called to hate that or to cling to what is good and

what is good or who is good.

God.

God is good.

But if I can be honest here, I want to wrestle with this

this morning with you guys.

I know it's something it's a hard truth, but I believe we've maybe

dripped it from this calling a calling that was says that hate what was evil.

Maybe it turned to for us.

Let's tolerate what's evil.

Maybe it's a cling on to what is good.

Maybe it really is to cling on what pleases us.

You know, we started to excuse behaviors that don't honor God,

telling ourselves, that's just the way things are, or everybody's doing it.

We laugh at jokes that, that tear each other down.

Gossip turns into normal conversations.

We let our anger, our lust, our pride really take root in our heart.

You know, let me ask you this.

This is something I had to reflect on too.

When was the last time you felt a real, deep, godly sorrow with the things

around you, with the evil around you?

Top of that, when was the last time you even grieved over the sin in your

life and what's going on in the world?

You know, for me, you know, it got to a point, you know, where the school

shootings, they're so tragic, seeing that.

You know, I remember growing up, I didn't have to worry about that.

But when I see it on the news, like almost every other month it

seems like, I became desensitized.

I'm almost like, oh yeah, that's the way life is.

But no!

That shouldn't be the way life is!

Church, we live in a world that normalizes sin and that makes evil

look so attractive and that tells us, if it feels good, then do it.

And if we're not careful, we'll start to absorb that message.

We'll start to compromise in small ways justified by saying, it's not

that bad or, you know, at least I'm not doing what they're doing over there.

There's no room for compromise.

We are to hate what is evil.

That means rejecting the world's standards and aligning

ourselves with God's standards.

Church, we need to look around at what we have near us.

Who are we surrounding ourselves with?

What kinds of conversations are we engaging in?

What are we allowing into our homes, into our hearts, into our minds?

Because if we immerse ourselves into environments that are in conflict

with God's values, the more sense of right and wrong, it gets blurred.

You know, Lot's judgment was so blurred that the angel said, Hey, we gotta

go, the city's getting destroyed.

And it said, he hesitated.

Lot had lived in Sodom for so long that the wickedness had seeped into his own

mind, thinking he wasn't just living near sin, now he's in it, and it changed him.

You know, have you, you know, maybe think about, have you ever been to a house

where you walk in, you're like, oh, it smells in here, it smells really bad?

If you haven't, come to a brother's household.

No, I'm just kidding.

Alright, I'm just kidding.

But I say this because I used to live in a brother's household for four years,

and those were the best days of my life.

And I want to say we repented of this, right guys?

Oh, Dallas said no.

Alright.

No, I'm just kidding.

No, we repented.

But something, I remember, we had our flaws.

You know, our biggest flaw is that we wouldn't clean.

And the house would smell bad.

But I remember that over time, I was just like, oh, I'm used to it.

What's that smell?

It wasn't until Savannah visited the house when she dropped off something.

This is when we were dating, and then, I just remember, she was there for

probably 30 minutes, she was like, I was like, what's wrong, Savannah?

She was like, I'm sorry, it just really smells in this house.

The real kicker is I think we clean and we lit a candle, so I don't

know, like, why it still smells.

But why do I bring this up?

Because if you stay in a situation long enough, you stop

noticing things altogether.

You get used to it.

You know, I and the brothers, we got accustomed to that smell.

But luckily, we repented.

But with Lot, he got accustomed to what was going on in Sodom.

You know, that's what sin can do to us if we're not careful.

Church, I want to encourage you today.

Take a look around at your life.

What kind of environment, what kind of people, at work, at home,

and you know, social circles.

What do we surround ourselves with?

Because if we're not intentional about surrounding ourselves with

godly influence, we can easily become desensitized to sin.

You know, there's a saying where, I think it was, uh, show me your five

friends and I'll tell you your future.

Or you are who you hang out with, meaning that, man, whoever you

are with, they really have a power to transform your lifestyle.

So we really, you know, I, I understand, you know, Jesus, I want to be clear,

Jesus hung out with the sinners.

That was great, but he also got his time with his disciples.

He also made sure that he was getting filled.

He took his time out to be with the Lord early in the morning.

Church, so I'm not saying, don't be with sinners.

I want to be clear.

We want to save them.

We want them to be here in this church with us.

But I also want us to be clear that, man, we also got to make sure that they're

not the one taking root in our life.

That, man, we have God who's really taking root in our lives.

Amen.

So now that we've looked back and we have to look around, let's move forward.

Let's move forward to our final point, which is don't look back.

Look towards what's ahead, because the most important part of moving forward

with God is not holding to the past.

And we're going to start here and, uh, once again, we'll be jumping around

here, but Genesis 19 verse 17, it says, As soon as they had brought them out,

Genesis 19:17

one of them said, Flee for your lives.

Don't look back and don't stop anywhere in the plane, flee to the

mountains, or you will be swept away.

You know, by the time that Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.

Then the Lord rained down the burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah.

From the Lord out of the heavens, thus He overthrew those cities, and the entire

plain, destroying all those living in the cities, and also the vegetation and land.

But Lot's wife looked back.

She became a pillar of salt.

You know, what do we see here?

The angels urged Lot.

Lot and his family go flee, you know?

And, and, and it, if you continue like reading it, you know, lot was

like, but I can't flee to that city.

Can I just go over here?

And the angels were like, you know what?

Yes.

Just, just go get your family and don't look back.

That's a simple direction.

Just go.

The message is straightforward.

Don't turn your heart or your eyes back to life.

You're leaving behind.

But, and his family were fleeing for their lives.

They were rescued from a city, immersed in wickedness, from a

place where sin had reached its peak, and the judgment was here.

But despite the clear warning, Lot's wife looked back.

You know, why would Lot's wife look back?

What drew her attention to the city, she was leaving behind.

Why would she want to do that?

The simple truth is, her heart was still tied to her old life.

You know, even though the physical command was not to turn around, Spiritually,

she never truly let go of Sodom.

You know, there is danger when you really just long for the past.

You know, Lot's wife didn't just look back and glance.

No, it was gaze and it was feel of what was longing for her.

She desired that what she was leaving behind, even though God

was calling her to move forward.

And church, we can often get stuck at looking back.

Now, when God calls us to something new, whether it's out of this lifestyle,

into Christ, or new behavior, new identity in Christ, we sometimes find

ourselves wanting to hold on to the old.

We look back at our past sins, at our past relationships, at our past

comforts, and our past lifestyles, and in doing so, we risk missing out on

the blessing we have in the future.

Now, when God calls us to do something new, we have to answer.

We have to just do it.

You know, Church, it reminds me of 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17 here.

2 Corinthians 5:17

It says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, a new creation has come.

The old is gone, and the new is here.

But here's the problem.

We often let our past anchor us down.

Instead of fully embracing what God has for us and the new identity that

we have in Him, we unfortunately just hold on to the past for whatever reason.

Maybe it's old habits, old thinking, old relationships, old addictions.

You know, obviously I said at the first point, we want to, we want to

look back because we want to look back at how far God has taken us.

But here are the dangers of looking back.

And why I'm telling you not to look back is because when we look back,

we can almost, you know, uh, become like, wow, I really missed this.

We become nostalgic of the past.

Church, do we really miss our past?

Think about it.

Think about where you guys were before you guys got reached out to, before

you made Jesus Christ your Lord.

Think about how your life was.

And to think about how, wow, do you really miss this?

Are you really, you know, still longing for these things?

Man, we shouldn't.

God has an incredible plan for your life, but you'll never fully

experience it if you keep looking back.

Think about the Israelites when they left Egypt, right?

Even after God freed them, they were still complaining because, oh, it's

uncomfortable here in the wilderness.

You know, they'd rather go back to be oppressed in Egypt than having their

freedom and being uncomfortable in it.

You know, it reminds me of Luke 9, verse 62, it says,

Luke 9:62

Jesus replied, No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit

for service in the kingdom of God.

You know, when we're constantly looking back, we lose our focus on God.

You know, it's like driving a car.

You know, if we want to get to our destination, we're not just going to

reverse all the way back to it, right?

You know, there's a saying where you want to live life through a windshield.

You If you're driving, because you want to get to your destination,

you've got to drive forward.

You've got to keep going straight.

But, something about these rear view mirrors though, I mean,

they're important, but you ever notice what's on those mirrors?

It says this, it has this saying on it here.

It says, objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

You know, it gives us warning that, hey, you don't really have that

much space as you think you do.

If you've got to merge over, man, you really might want to check.

And the same goes when we look back to our old lives of sin.

You know, if we have that lingering in the background, guess what?

They're closer than they appear.

We cannot be toying with the idea.

We cannot be getting our feet wet with the idea of our old lives being

like, Oh, maybe if I just did that this one time, it's gonna be okay.

Constantly staring at the rearview mirror, you're bound to crash.

But Jesus calls us to look forward.

Look forward to what's ahead, to the promises that he has for us.

Some of us are looking back at past relationships that God

has called us to leave behind.

Others are clinging to habits or sinful behaviors that God had

clearly told us to flee from.

But maybe it's a fear of comfort that keeps you anchored.

But church, the message is clear.

Don't look back.

God has a future full of promise and purpose and growth for you.

But you can't step into that future if you're longing for the past.

Just like Lot's wife.

If you keep looking back, guess what?

We would never stop looking back, and guess what?

We will ultimately lead to our death, to our spiritual death there.

Remember the Israelites, they were freed from slavery in Egypt, even though

God had miraculously delivered them.

They kept complaining, looking back, saying things like, oh,

at least we have food in Egypt.

They were willing to trade their freedom for comfort of their old life.

How often do we do the same things?

We are free in Christ.

But, looking back, thinking that, well, maybe, that, it wasn't as bad as I

thought, maybe I can do this old life.

Maybe that relationship wasn't so bad.

Maybe that sin, uh, you know, it wasn't really sin, you know, it wasn't

holy, but it's not sin, it's okay.

Church, God has so much for you.

You know, the consequence of looking back, she froze.

Lot's wife froze, not physically, but spiritually.

She was frozen in the past, and I want to encourage you, Church, God has

called you to leave behind your past.

Don't look back.

Don't be like Lot's wife.

Torn between the future and the past.

I mean, if you think about what Lot's wife She wasn't mentioned at all

in the Bible, really, after that.

She was just an example for us.

When you look back, this is what happened.

You know, I really want to encourage this church.

Do not look back.

I know there's compromises that will happen here and there, but,

man, we have to make amends with it.

We don't want to be like Lot, where, man, with these steady progression of

compromise leading us at the gate of sin.

You know, in Genesis 19, we see that there's judgment on the city, but

we also see God's incredible mercy.

You know, destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, I think serves as a great

reminder of the consequences of our sins when we're called to righteousness.

You know, in 24 through 25, it says, Then the Lord rained down burning

sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah.

From the Lord out of the heavens, thus he overthrew those cities, and the entire

plain, destroying all the living cities, and also the vegetations in the land.

We see that there is judgment for those who turn wickedly against the Lord.

We see that we deserve death.

However, in this narrative we see of judgment for Solomon

Gamora, we also see God's mercy.

Verse 16 it says, When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand, and the hands

of his wife, and of his daughters, and led them safely out of the city,

for the Lord was merciful to them.

Now before the destruction, like I said, the angels were sent

to rescue Lot and his family.

And I think it demonstrates to us, man, God is willing to rescue

us to give us his mercy for those who are really looking for it.

Who are seeking God.

You know, in verse 29 it says, So when God destroyed the cities of the flame,

he remembered Abraham and he, uh, brought Lot out of the catastrophe that

overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

You know, at this time, you know, we're going to be taking communion in a bit, but

we're reminded here of Sodom and Gomorrah, of the judgment and the mercy of God.

You know, Romans 6 verse 23, it says, for the, oh, do I not have it?

Romans 6:23

All right, I don't have it, but Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death.

Amen.

But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus Lord.

Our sins are, we, we deserve separation.

We are separated when we sin towards God, but it's also grace that is

highlighted through his son Jesus.

And I said in first Corinthians here, 11, 24, 25, in the same way after

supper, he took the cup saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.

And we had given things, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

Through Jesus, we're offered mercy for the judgment we deserve for our sins.

You know, I'm so grateful.

I hope you guys are grateful for, for Jesus in that way as well.

You know, I think about, like I said, with Sodom, Sodom and Gomorrah, you

know, Jesus or God reigning judgment onto the people that sinned against them.

And when I look around this room, we can fit that mold, right?

We can send towards the Lord.

Well, extremely grateful for God's mercy and grace that he sent

his son, Jesus, in to step in.

The things that were brought on to Sodom and Gomorrah are the

things that we deserve as well.

But it's through his son, Jesus, that we get to continue to live this life.

I hope that during this time as we are living in this life that we

remember that this is not our home.

You know, I believe this earth here, it kind of reminds me of what Abraham

does throughout the scripture.

It says he pitched his tent.

When you think about a tent, a tent's really not that comfortable.

You know, you have your maybe air mattress, maybe your cot,

maybe Abraham didn't but we do.

And we just think that, wow, this, this really isn't our home.

This place is just temporary.

So let's, as we take communion, let's really reflect on that.

Let's reflect on the judgment that we receive, but the mercy that

steps in for us through Jesus.

Amen?

Let's go to God in prayer.

Uh, Heavenly Father, thank you so much that we get to, to be here this morning,

God, to, to honor and worship you.

God, as we examine your scripture, God, God, I'm just so, so

grateful, God, for your son, Jesus.

God, we deserve the ultimate judgment.

We deserve death for our sins, God.

We deserve the same people as the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah.

But God, it's through your son, Jesus, him stepping on the cross for us, God,

that we get to To have this new life, God, that we could live this life for you.

God, I just pray that as we reflect on Sodom and Gomorrah,

God, that we can really think back and reflect on our lives.

God, I think about how we got here.

God, God, how you, God, have surely your ears not dull enough to hear

in your arms, not long enough to be stretched out to save us.

God, God, we're grateful for that.

God, I just pray that as we reflect on that, God, that we also just remember

to look what's for God, what's ahead that you have for us in our future.

Lord, as we take the, the community, take the bread that represents your

body, and the blood that represents, uh, Jesus blood, God, help us remember

and reflect, God, on how we ultimately deserve death, but God, through your

Son, Jesus, we get to live this life.

Lord, it's in your Son's name we pray, Amen.