Do Pharisees Exist in the Modern Church? Part 5

Brother Jim: God the glory, but as well, taking the gifts, the talents

Brother Jim: God has given you.

Brother Jim: And sharing them.

Brother Jim: Thank you again, Steve.

Brother Jim: David, if you want to go ahead and pop the screen.

Brother Jim: We're almost there, my friends on the series.

Brother Jim: Next week we'll finish up.

Brother Jim: There was just too much information to go out today.

Brother Jim: As we continue continue this

Brother Jim: journey with the woes of the

Brother Jim: Pharisees from Matthew twenty

Brother Jim: three.

Brother Jim: Now, how many of us back in the day, and I know there's a lot of

Brother Jim: you, because when I go to visit me, TV is on ninety nine percent

Brother Jim: of the time.

Brother Jim: But how many of us love good old

Brother Jim: Andy Griffith or Barney Fife or

Brother Jim: John Wayne?

Brother Jim: Now I know if Jack Moreland was here, he'd probably be quick

Brother Jim: drawing me right now.

Brother Jim: We had Hoss Cartwright and Little Joe from Bonanza.

Brother Jim: Now, today, things have changed.

Brother Jim: We have Jason Momoa, the Rock, Dwayne Johnson, Brad Pitt, just

Brother Jim: to name a few.

Brother Jim: What are these people and what do they do for a living?

Brother Jim: Or what?

Brother Jim: They're actors.

Brother Jim: They are entertainers.

Brother Jim: Actors.

Brother Jim: Simple terms.

Brother Jim: They are pretenders.

Brother Jim: True.

Brother Jim: They set the stage, create the

Brother Jim: atmosphere for their

Brother Jim: performance.

Brother Jim: So in saying that, is that not what a hypocrite does?

Brother Jim: Think about that.

Brother Jim: They set the stage.

Brother Jim: They create the atmosphere.

Brother Jim: But better yet.

Brother Jim: Is that not what the devil does?

Brother Jim: Satan is a liar.

Brother Jim: Satan is a thief.

Brother Jim: Satan is a pretender.

Brother Jim: Satan is a hypocrite.

Brother Jim: And remember this Satan is a fallen angel.

Brother Jim: As we start to finish up this series, have we learned from

Brother Jim: Matthew twenty three?

Brother Jim: That is exactly what the scribes

Brother Jim: and the Pharisees, these

Brother Jim: religious leaders were these

Brother Jim: men.

Brother Jim: They were great actors, pretenders of their day.

Brother Jim: The Pharisees sought after what

Brother Jim: they taught, what they

Brother Jim: manufactured.

Brother Jim: Think of it as if they were wearing these stage masks with

Brother Jim: the whole attire.

Brother Jim: Performers for all of the people to see.

Brother Jim: Sound familiar today?

Brother Jim: Do we see that church in our modern world, including the

Brother Jim: church of today?

Brother Jim: From pastors to members of the

Brother Jim: congregation and everyone in

Brother Jim: between?

Brother Jim: How many pretenders actors are there out there in the world

Brother Jim: today, including church, with their shirts, their wristbands,

Brother Jim: worship music blaring in their cars, a cross around their neck?

Brother Jim: No different from the religious leaders we've been talking about

Brother Jim: or of the world.

Brother Jim: How many of these people,

Brother Jim: different walks of life, should

Brother Jim: receive an Oscar for their

Brother Jim: performance?

Brother Jim: When it comes to portraying a Christian?

Brother Jim: Now there's the first big question portraying a Christian

Brother Jim: they can wear all the bling.

Brother Jim: But remember last week we talked about a cup, right?

Brother Jim: Cup can be pretty on the outside, but what's inside?

Brother Jim: Either it's clean or it's got funk.

Brother Jim: So let me ask you for all that.

Brother Jim: Wear this cross and I'm not knocking you.

Brother Jim: But what does that cross really

Brother Jim: mean to you that you wear around

Brother Jim: your neck?

Brother Jim: What does that cross mean to you?

Brother Jim: And here's a million dollar question.

Brother Jim: Does that represent a Christ who is hanging on the cross shed?

Brother Jim: Or does that stand for a living Jesus, a living Jesus Christ,

Brother Jim: who came back from the dead for you and I?

Brother Jim: Now, church, I don't know about you, but my Jesus, he is alive.

Brother Jim: My Jesus is alive.

Brother Jim: Can you say that with me?

Brother Jim: My Jesus is alive.

Brother Jim: In revelations one eighteen, I am he who lives and was dead.

Brother Jim: And behold, I am alive forevermore.

Brother Jim: Amen.

Brother Jim: And I have the keys of Hades and of death.

Brother Jim: You know, I was told that there was a church up here in

Brother Jim: defiance, Ohio, that his congregation, it grew.

Brother Jim: So they needed a new church.

Brother Jim: So they sold their old church to another denomination.

Brother Jim: The first thing they did was

Brother Jim: remove the crosses in that

Brother Jim: church.

Brother Jim: Needless to say, that did not.

Brother Jim: Church did not last very long.

Brother Jim: Why, Brother Jim?

Brother Jim: Why?

Brother Jim: Because you cannot survive without Jesus Christ.

Brother Jim: Now, hearing from the testimonies today and previous

Brother Jim: Sundays, I say we could all agree with that.

Brother Jim: Oh, you can try to survive without Jesus.

Brother Jim: True.

Brother Jim: But what's going to happen?

Brother Jim: You're going to fall flat on your face.

Brother Jim: And if you are an enemy of the

Brother Jim: cross, then you sure do not have

Brother Jim: Jesus Christ living in your

Brother Jim: heart.

Brother Jim: Now, I know we've touched on

Brother Jim: this, but do you ever ask

Brother Jim: someone why they don't come to

Brother Jim: church?

Brother Jim: And probably one of the most popular answers, if not the most

Brother Jim: popular, that I have yet to find a church with a bunch of people

Brother Jim: in it that are nothing more than a big old group of hypocrites.

Brother Jim: true.

Brother Jim: So here's the response to that.

Brother Jim: Would you rather go and worship

Brother Jim: the Lord with a few or some

Brother Jim: hypocrites?

Brother Jim: Or rather, go to hell with all of them?

Brother Jim: How about that one?

Brother Jim: How about that one to start off?

Brother Jim: Now let me ask you something.

Brother Jim: Church.

Brother Jim: Do we not shop with hypocrites and they with us?

Brother Jim: How many of us just love to go to Walmart?

Brother Jim: You see all that money being spent?

Brother Jim: What we spend on groceries, toiletries and all that.

Brother Jim: They got no problem coming to

Brother Jim: Walmart with hypocrites, do

Brother Jim: they?

Brother Jim: Do we know?

Brother Jim: Don't we go out to eat with them and they eat with us?

Brother Jim: I mean, look around T County.

Brother Jim: My goodness.

Brother Jim: We've got chick fil A now.

Brother Jim: We've got Dunkin Donuts coming.

Brother Jim: Mexican places popping up everywhere.

Brother Jim: All the things, all the places you can go to have a meal with.

Brother Jim: Let me guarantee you, you're sitting with hypocrites and

Brother Jim: they're sitting with us from road House, El Sands and Chick

Brother Jim: fil A. Do you not think think hypocrites are there?

Brother Jim: But here's the big but is it just so terrible for them to

Brother Jim: come and worship in a pew or next to some hypocrites?

Brother Jim: To worship a living Jesus Christ.

Brother Jim: Hypocrites are everywhere.

Brother Jim: Let's be honest, not just in the church.

Brother Jim: So I'm trying.

Brother Jim: Riddle me this one as I like to say, you're okay doing all these

Brother Jim: things, the fun stuff.

Brother Jim: But you can't come and worship with a few hypocrites.

Brother Jim: Come on.

Brother Jim: In Matthew twenty three three, going back to that verse.

Brother Jim: Therefore, whatever they tell

Brother Jim: you to observe that, observe and

Brother Jim: do, but do not do according to

Brother Jim: their works, for they say and do

Brother Jim: not.

Brother Jim: That was Matthew twenty three three.

Brother Jim: The damage that religious

Brother Jim: leaders and followers can cause

Brother Jim: to others.

Brother Jim: And I think everybody here has a

Brother Jim: story, either personal or heard

Brother Jim: of somebody.

Brother Jim: The damage that has been done, especially by a pastor.

Brother Jim: So you see these religious leaders, they reject their own

Brother Jim: word, their own work.

Brother Jim: They want you to live it.

Brother Jim: But here's the big one.

Brother Jim: They can't live it.

Brother Jim: They want you.

Brother Jim: They want us to live it, but they can't live it themselves.

Brother Jim: And social or religious life.

Brother Jim: They are in love with power.

Brother Jim: Their position and their pride.

Brother Jim: All the praise.

Brother Jim: They are noticed.

Brother Jim: Do you ever encounter somebody like that?

Brother Jim: I mean good, godly, get on

Brother Jim: social media not picking on

Brother Jim: social media, but it's

Brother Jim: everywhere.

Brother Jim: In Matthew twenty three

Brother Jim: Throughout the verses we are

Brother Jim: told so many times of their form

Brother Jim: of godliness, but denying the

Brother Jim: power.

Brother Jim: How ironic Jesus's last

Brother Jim: condemnation was of these

Brother Jim: religious leaders of the

Brother Jim: Pharisees.

Brother Jim: This is Jesus's final and official rejection of these

Brother Jim: religious leaders at the temple.

Brother Jim: Now, hopefully, you have found you have seen their stronghold

Brother Jim: of influence in their world that was around them.

Brother Jim: This influence and admiration, along with everything else they

Brother Jim: did, was only to be seen by man.

Brother Jim: If we go back to verse two, says, they sit in Moses's seat.

Brother Jim: They sit in Moses's seat.

Brother Jim: That symbolized authority of their teachings.

Brother Jim: Church.

Brother Jim: A hypocrite demands respect as a teacher, do they not?

Brother Jim: They want to be called rabbi in Hebrew.

Brother Jim: Rabbi means my great one or my teacher.

Brother Jim: So who are our Pharisees, our scribes and Sadducees?

Brother Jim: They are here today without a doubt, just like they were here.

Brother Jim: They're in Jesus's time.

Brother Jim: Do you and I recognize them today?

Brother Jim: When you see them on TV or in public, or perhaps even sitting

Brother Jim: in the pews of a church.

Brother Jim: Jesus continues to confront hypocrisy, exposes.

Brother Jim: And here's a good one exposes hardened hearts and expresses.

Brother Jim: What does Jesus just express?

Brother Jim: He expresses deep sorrow over a city that rejected rejected

Brother Jim: God's word, his message.

Brother Jim: Yet even in judgment and hopefully we have learned.

Brother Jim: You and I can see.

Brother Jim: We can feel the heartbeat of God's love and his longing to

Brother Jim: gather his people.

Brother Jim: Jesus condemns their outward

Brother Jim: display of piety, which is the

Brother Jim: quality quality of being

Brother Jim: religious while neglecting

Brother Jim: justice, mercy and faithfulness,

Brother Jim: highlighting the importance of

Brother Jim: genuine faith.

Brother Jim: Mir over religious performance.

Brother Jim: If we start to look at Matthew twenty three nine twenty nine to

Brother Jim: thirty two, I'll give you a second to get there.

Brother Jim: Matthew twenty nine or Matthew

Brother Jim: twenty three twenty nine to

Brother Jim: thirty two.

Brother Jim: Woe to you, teachers of law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

Brother Jim: You build tombs for the prophets

Brother Jim: and decorate the graves of

Brother Jim: righteous.

Brother Jim: And you say, if we had lived in

Brother Jim: the days of our ancestors, we

Brother Jim: would not have taken part with

Brother Jim: them in shedding the blood of

Brother Jim: the prophets.

Brother Jim: So you testify against yourselves that you are the

Brother Jim: descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

Brother Jim: Go ahead then, and complete what your ancestors started.

Brother Jim: Honoring the prophets but rejecting their message.

Brother Jim: The religious leaders built

Brother Jim: tombs for the prophets and

Brother Jim: honored the righteous people of

Brother Jim: the past.

Brother Jim: And here's the thing.

Brother Jim: They claim that they would never, never, never, never have

Brother Jim: participated in the persecution of God's messengers.

Brother Jim: But once again, Jesus revealed the truth.

Brother Jim: These religious leaders honored

Brother Jim: their dead prophets, yet

Brother Jim: refused.

Brother Jim: And here we go.

Brother Jim: They refused the living truth

Brother Jim: that was standing right before

Brother Jim: him.

Brother Jim: Sound familiar today?

Brother Jim: Church?

Brother Jim: How many reject the living truth of today?

Brother Jim: Standing right before them.

Brother Jim: So let me ask you this morning,

Brother Jim: church, what can you and I take

Brother Jim: from this?

Brother Jim: It is easy to admire faith from the past, but resist God's voice

Brother Jim: in the present.

Brother Jim: How many people respect the heroes of faith?

Brother Jim: People like the prophets or the apostles?

Brother Jim: And for many here this morning we learned.

Brother Jim: We read about them from Sunday school to junior church, but

Brother Jim: struggle to obey the Word of God when it challenges.

Brother Jim: And there's a key word, it challenges their lives, our

Brother Jim: lives as adults today.

Brother Jim: Faith is not about honoring tradition alone.

Brother Jim: It is about obedience.

Brother Jim: And remember, we're not talking

Brother Jim: about what I said last week

Brother Jim: hollow obedience.

Brother Jim: Can that happen in our church today?

Brother Jim: Can that happen within our church here at Rockford Church?

Brother Jim: This church here has a very strong spiritual connection and

Brother Jim: a giving past.

Brother Jim: Let's be honest, our foundation is solid, I would say.

Brother Jim: But how often do we catch ourselves going back to the good

Brother Jim: old days of Rockford Church?

Brother Jim: And here's the key thing from this.

Brother Jim: Is there room for hindrance in growth?

Brother Jim: When we fall into that mindset now, chew on that for a moment.

Brother Jim: Does that hinder us moving

Brother Jim: forward because we're so caught

Brother Jim: up in the past and the good old

Brother Jim: days?

Brother Jim: Living in honoring the past but failing to see the importance.

Brother Jim: The importance of this very day and the next.

Brother Jim: The future of spreading the

Brother Jim: gospel to the lost and the

Brother Jim: broken.

Brother Jim: Setting an example for our children.

Brother Jim: Our grandchildren.

Brother Jim: Our great grandchildren.

Brother Jim: For the little ones who are just

Brother Jim: praying to have someone to look

Brother Jim: up to for God to put someone in

Brother Jim: their life.

Brother Jim: Stability.

Brother Jim: How many children out there

Brother Jim: today have no love, have no

Brother Jim: stability, and that's all they

Brother Jim: want.

Brother Jim: If you go to verse thirty three to thirty six, you snakes, you

Brother Jim: brood of vipers, how will you escape being condemned to hell?

Brother Jim: Therefore, I am sending your prophets and sages and teachers.

Brother Jim: Some of them you will kill and crucify, others you will flog in

Brother Jim: your synagogues and pursue from town to town, and so on and so

Brother Jim: upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been

Brother Jim: shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of

Brother Jim: Zechariah, son of Baracchi, whom you murdered between the temple

Brother Jim: and the altar.

Brother Jim: Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

Brother Jim: Now notice right off the bat Jesus calls them what serpents?

Brother Jim: You brood of vipers!

Brother Jim: Now, I don't know about you, but

Brother Jim: can we agree that those are some

Brother Jim: serious insults?

Brother Jim: If somebody called you that.

Brother Jim: How many would take offense to

Brother Jim: that one being called a snake, a

Brother Jim: viper, because that insults our

Brother Jim: character.

Brother Jim: Now think about what it does to

Brother Jim: these religious leaders at that

Brother Jim: time.

Brother Jim: But they reveal the seriousness of hypocrisy.

Brother Jim: Hypocrisy happens when our

Brother Jim: outward religion oh, it looks

Brother Jim: good, but our hearts remain

Brother Jim: unchanged.

Brother Jim: There's no transformation inside.

Brother Jim: Now, let me ask you.

Brother Jim: Remember last week I wore my good old bibs and I'm missing

Brother Jim: them right now.

Brother Jim: Now I got on a shirt and a tie and dress pants.

Brother Jim: Did this change in here?

Brother Jim: No. Outward appearance changed.

Brother Jim: But the inward is still the same and still growing.

Brother Jim: Still making mistakes, but still growing, still seeking.

Brother Jim: Jesus warns all people that God will.

Brother Jim: Oh, here we go.

Brother Jim: Jesus warns all people that God will hold people accountable.

Brother Jim: Accountable for rejecting his messengers and his truth.

Brother Jim: Throughout history, God sent prophets, wise men and teachers.

Brother Jim: Many were rejected, persecuted, or killed in this pattern.

Brother Jim: It shows something very relevant

Brother Jim: here how resistant the human

Brother Jim: heart can be to God's

Brother Jim: correction.

Brother Jim: Now, is there anybody here that likes to be corrected?

Brother Jim: Please raise your hand.

Brother Jim: God is showing correction.

Brother Jim: People of Rockford Church and Brother Jim, how resistant can

Brother Jim: our very own hearts be to God's correction in our own life?

Brother Jim: MM. Another one to chew on this week.

Brother Jim: AM I resistant to God's correction?

Brother Jim: To God calling me out for some things?

Brother Jim: Maybe I am not doing right in his eye.

Brother Jim: Maybe I'm not following some of his commands.

Brother Jim: Maybe I'm not showing the love that I need to show to give.

Brother Jim: And at the end of the day, look what these religious leaders did

Brother Jim: to Jesus, the Son of God.

Brother Jim: At the end, they crucified him on that old wooden cross.

Brother Jim: Now, I want you to think about this and think about hard.

Brother Jim: Here they have the Son of God, the living truth, right there.

Brother Jim: You could reach out and touch him.

Brother Jim: And what did they do?

Brother Jim: Because of their hypocrisy?

Brother Jim: Because of their fear.

Brother Jim: Afraid, which Jesus did.

Brother Jim: He showed them up.

Brother Jim: So what did they do?

Brother Jim: They put him on a cross.

Brother Jim: What has mankind done and

Brother Jim: continue to do to Jesus and

Brother Jim: God's Word?

Brother Jim: Or how about the Holy Spirit?

Brother Jim: Do we not, as a society so many

Brother Jim: times deny, ignored, and

Brother Jim: manipulate the whole system of

Brother Jim: God from his existence to his

Brother Jim: commands to His Son Jesus

Brother Jim: Christ?

Brother Jim: That's the battle going on now.

Brother Jim: Trying to manipulate the Word of

Brother Jim: God to change it to fit our

Brother Jim: lifestyle.

Brother Jim: Almost an a la carte menu, if you will.

Brother Jim: For individuals, you can pick and choose whatever you want to

Brother Jim: believe and obey.

Brother Jim: Today.

Brother Jim: And hey, tomorrow I'm going to pick something else.

Brother Jim: Prove me wrong on that one.

Brother Jim: My friends, do we not face that in our society today?

Brother Jim: Jesus criticizes the religious leaders for honoring past

Brother Jim: prophets by building tombs and decorating monuments, but yet

Brother Jim: failing to heed their messages.

Brother Jim: They're not paying attention to

Brother Jim: the same sins of their

Brother Jim: ancestors.

Brother Jim: Now, this serves as a stark reminder that true righteousness

Brother Jim: surpasses external appearance and requires what?

Brother Jim: A heart aligned with God's principles.

Brother Jim: So let me ask you something.

Brother Jim: Where's your heart right now?

Brother Jim: What happens when your car is

Brother Jim: out of line causes damage,

Brother Jim: right?

Brother Jim: Cost you some money with your tires.

Brother Jim: Don't you think that's the same thing with God?

Brother Jim: When we get out of alignment with God's will, God's love.

Brother Jim: God's command.

Brother Jim: What damage does it do to us?

Brother Jim: What eternal damage does that do to us?

Brother Jim: Wherever Jesus points out the

Brother Jim: scribes and Pharisees complicity

Brother Jim: in the sins of their

Brother Jim: forefathers, emphasizing the

Brother Jim: continuity of rebellion against

Brother Jim: God's messengers throughout

Brother Jim: history.

Brother Jim: Rebellion.

Brother Jim: I pray and ask that this series challenges you and I to reflect

Brother Jim: on the state of our heart, mind, and souls, and whether our

Brother Jim: actions align once again with the genuine pursuit of God.

Brother Jim: The message in this passage ultimately calls on us to search

Brother Jim: our own hearts, our own souls, along with a deep evaluation of

Brother Jim: our relationship with God.

Brother Jim: I can't do that for you.

Brother Jim: I can challenge you to check yourself.

Brother Jim: I can challenge me to check

Brother Jim: myself, but I cannot do it for

Brother Jim: you.

Brother Jim: Does anyone here and be honest this morning in your current

Brother Jim: life right now?

Brother Jim: Do you.

Brother Jim: Do I seek a genuine connection with him, rooted in love, faith,

Brother Jim: and a desire for true intimacy?

Brother Jim: Are you one who just keeps putting on cheap tires?

Brother Jim: Ten dollars twenty dollars tires to keep you going?

Brother Jim: Instead of getting it rotated,

Brother Jim: instead of getting aligned with

Brother Jim: God, I want you to think about

Brother Jim: that.

Brother Jim: We're cheap, aren't we?

Brother Jim: I think it's in our DNA.

Brother Jim: We always look for the easy way.

Brother Jim: So instead of spending the money, taking the time to get

Brother Jim: our cars aligned, we'll just throw on another set of twenty

Brother Jim: dollars tires to get us through a little bit longer.

Brother Jim: This is not the same with God and serving God.

Brother Jim: How many times do we take the cheap way versus getting it done

Brother Jim: and getting it done right?

Brother Jim: Maybe, just maybe, if we would

Brother Jim: strive to move beyond surface

Brother Jim: level allegiance and pursue a

Brother Jim: deep personal relationship with

Brother Jim: God.

Brother Jim: Think what would happen if we would actually align our hearts

Brother Jim: truly with his will?

Brother Jim: In Luke fourteen eleven.

Brother Jim: Out of the new King James Version.

Brother Jim: Luke fourteen eleven.

Brother Jim: For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles

Brother Jim: himself will be exalted.

Brother Jim: Now again, for honest this morning with ourselves.

Brother Jim: We don't have to try very hard to be a hypocrite, do we?

Brother Jim: Come on, we don't have to try that very hard.

Brother Jim: But more than ever, you and I need to be very careful.

Brother Jim: Society.

Brother Jim: The world is watching.

Brother Jim: The world is listening.

Brother Jim: Now the scribes, the Pharisees, they were not careful.

Brother Jim: They were out and about showing all their stuff.

Brother Jim: They were strutting around like the nacho man.

Brother Jim: Woo woo!

Brother Jim: That's right.

Brother Jim: I can see him now strutting their stuff with their fancy

Brother Jim: robes, headgear and all that.

Brother Jim: Look at me, look at me.

Brother Jim: I know it, but I don't live it.

Brother Jim: Truth.

Brother Jim: Let's be honest.

Brother Jim: This morning they didn't want to straighten up, did they?

Brother Jim: Did they really want to straighten up, or were they

Brother Jim: enjoying all the hype, all the bling bling that comes along

Brother Jim: with the job, the perks, the benefits they enjoy their

Brother Jim: position and their status.

Brother Jim: And these religious leaders, they wanted what so many people

Brother Jim: in the world want today.

Brother Jim: They want power.

Brother Jim: Power.

Brother Jim: But you know what I, however, is Brother Jim, or just plain old

Brother Jim: Jim man back here.

Brother Jim: I just want to make it to heaven, and I want to take as

Brother Jim: many people with me as I can.

Brother Jim: How does that sound to y'all?

Brother Jim: Wouldn't that be a great thing if we all had the same ambition?

Brother Jim: Yes, God, I want to make it to heaven.

Brother Jim: And I want to take all of you with me.

Brother Jim: I want to take everybody I encounter with me.

Brother Jim: I want to take all the people that I love to heaven with me.

Brother Jim: Let me be that one.

Brother Jim: What about you?

Brother Jim: Do you want to make it to heaven?

Brother Jim: Jesus gave you and I, as well as the world's instructions on how

Brother Jim: to make it to heaven.

Brother Jim: And from this series involving Matthew twenty three, Jesus has

Brother Jim: straight up telling us what not to do and how to act, what not

Brother Jim: to be like.

Brother Jim: My friends do not live out the characteristics of a hypocrite.

Brother Jim: Do not live out the woes.

Brother Jim: God's ward word warns you and I

Brother Jim: about be on guard for the false

Brother Jim: vows.

Brother Jim: Do not make an outward show.

Brother Jim: Don't pretend to be clean.

Brother Jim: Because again, eventually that funk is going to show its ugly

Brother Jim: head, is it not?

Brother Jim: And if we're wise and I believe this, the Holy Spirit will show

Brother Jim: us the funk.

Brother Jim: If you're genuinely aligned with

Brother Jim: God's heart, what would a good

Brother Jim: father do?

Brother Jim: Is he going to lead you astray?

Brother Jim: No, he is going to protect you.

Brother Jim: He is going to show you the way,

Brother Jim: including and this is what I

Brother Jim: believe.

Brother Jim: He will show you the funk that some people might be offering up

Brother Jim: what the world is offering up.

Brother Jim: Do not have self righteousness

Brother Jim: and don't have self conceit or

Brother Jim: boastings.

Brother Jim: Let me ask you this.

Brother Jim: Would it not be just good old common sense which seems to be

Brother Jim: lacking so much in today's world, but good old common sense

Brother Jim: just to stay prayed up?

Brother Jim: Wouldn't that be a good start?

Brother Jim: Starting today, tomorrow,

Brother Jim: Tuesday, Wednesday, throughout

Brother Jim: the whole week, just stay prayed

Brother Jim: up.

Brother Jim: Jesus's desire is not to condemn

Brother Jim: but to bring people into his

Brother Jim: loving care.

Brother Jim: Today, Christ still calls us to come under his wing.

Brother Jim: Next Sunday, we're going to finish this up and we're going

Brother Jim: to talk about an old mother hen from the scripture.

Brother Jim: What's a mother hen do?

Brother Jim: Brings the little ones in.

Brother Jim: I wish I had Todd and Kate here.

Brother Jim: They could probably come up and demonstrate.

Brother Jim: But think about that.

Brother Jim: It's what Jesus is here for.

Brother Jim: What any loving father does to protect, to bring in to shelter.

Brother Jim: But how many of us are such hard headed fools who are out running

Brother Jim: around in the lightning storms?

Brother Jim: We're out in the tornadoes, out in the windstorms.

Brother Jim: He still calls us today.

Brother Jim: My second favorite verse, John three seventeen.

Brother Jim: And please remember this.

Brother Jim: Let this soak in today,

Brother Jim: especially for the ones who are

Brother Jim: hurting, who are dealing with

Brother Jim: mountains, who are at that

Brother Jim: breaking point.

Brother Jim: For God did not send his son

Brother Jim: into the world to condemn the

Brother Jim: world, but to save the world

Brother Jim: through him.

Brother Jim: So I want you to think about

Brother Jim: that, that big old wide span to

Brother Jim: Jesus opening up to protect you,

Brother Jim: to shelter you because he loves

Brother Jim: you.

Brother Jim: So as we close out this morning, the question is, are you and I a

Brother Jim: performer, an entertainer for the fools of this world, or are

Brother Jim: you and I seeking and serving the kingdom through Jesus Christ

Brother Jim: and Jesus Christ alone?

Brother Jim: I pray I ask that we choose wisely, my friends.

Brother Jim: Amen.