A Revival of Truth | September 28, 2025

Hey, there we go.

We're live.

Perfect.

Hey, great intro guys.

I appreciate that.

Russell said something really good.

He said, uh, dude, it's really fun, but I

don't think we know how to stop this song.

So great.

Stop, fellas.

That was, that was great.

And, uh, I was especially concerned

about, as I thought about this song intro.

Um, is this a good sermon,

sermon, like bumper invitation?

Like, Hey guys, let's take

a ride into the danger zone.

Right?

What does that say about

what's coming this morning?

Uh, and yet somehow, in some crazy

way, it feels so right for where, uh,

maybe we're gonna land this morning.

I gotta be honest, I feel,

uh, a little ranty today.

If, if you missed last Sunday, oh my gosh.

I mean, a, the sharing time was epic.

Probably spent 20 some minutes awesome

things that you guys shared together.

It was beautiful.

And then our teenagers

who led from the open.

Start, right.

Like from welcome and announcements

and offertory to the eight

guys who preached those sermons

like amazing, amazing Sunday.

If you didn't get a chance to

check in on that, it's online.

Definitely check it out.

Uh, it's probably gone

viral by now, I'm sure.

But, uh, make sure you check that out,

uh, because to hear what God is doing

in the lives of our teenagers and to

hear them share from their hearts the

things that God was stirring in them,

uh, dude, that was, that was beyond epic.

Um, it was like, it, the running joke

is that I'm like eighth string on the

drum cage because I play the drums.

But we keep getting better

people who come to church.

I was a little concerned yesterday

or last Sunday of moving back to

eighth string on the preaching list.

I'm just gonna say.

'cause that was, that

was some fantastic stuff.

So we'll see where we get to today.

Um.

I get a lot of my heart, a lot

of my head, but let's start where

we should always in God's word.

So we're gonna sneak over to the book

of Second Corinthians, specifically

in chapter five, verses 14 through 21

is where we're gonna kind of hang out.

I'm gonna change that font so

we can actually read it instead

of our classic rock vibe.

But, uh, if you're following along, you

can jump in over there at Corinthians

chapter five, verse 14 through 21.

Russell, I had my Bible back there

and then I got caught up trying

to get up here with that song.

We had a really neat talk yesterday

about, you know, Andy, I don't see

you carry your Bible up and use your

Bible when you're preaching as much.

And really great theological

question about, you know, like what

you know, is there some issues?

Is, you know, what, what are you

trying to make a statement about?

And uh, I guess I just, the

transparency, that's who I am, right?

I told Russell the truth, I

can't see hardly my Bible, right?

My eyes are getting old and bad.

And so for me, I'm like up here

doing this, trying to read my Bible

and I can't tell what's going on.

So I put it on the screen so that we

all can enjoy the visuals together.

Uh, but I also have some feelings

about translations that come into

play and I may weave those in.

But if you got your

hardbound Bible, read it.

It's important.

Keep it with you.

Know where it is, know how it feels,

and, uh, get yourself some good

reader glasses and you'll be good.

But don't tell your young friends that.

Okay, moving on.

Here we go.

Second Corinthians chapter five, verse

14, we're gonna pick up there, says this.

For Christ's love compels us because

we're convinced that one died

for all and therefore all died.

And he died for all that.

Those who live should no longer

live for themselves, but instead

for him who died for them.

And was raised to life.

So before we cruise any further

in this, uh, let's take a look

at this together a minute.

We've got this idea of one.

Who died for all.

He died for all.

Who are we talking about?

We're talking about Jesus, right?

Jesus Christ and his love for us that

drove him to be the sacrifice for our

sin that compelled him to love us.

That same love of Jesus is what

compels us, but he died for all of us.

Scripture says, therefore, all died.

And this is where maybe a translation

like the NLT can help us a little bit.

It uses the phrase, we have

all died to our old life.

See, those of us who are in Christ

have died to the old way of life.

Our old man scripture says, trades out

for the new man in Christ that those who

live and specifically now live in him

should no longer live for themselves.

I underline the things we're

supposed to do in this verse.

To die to the things of this life to die

to ourself and to live for him, right?

For him.

So let me jump off here a minute with,

uh, Andy Rants, just 'cause I can,

and I have a microphone that works.

Um, we're supposed to live for Christ

and this is really my first chance

to speak publicly, uh, since the

whole Charlie Kirk assassination and

all the things that have gone down.

We were gone the weekend, uh,

that, that all played out.

And then last week you guys had

far better preachers than I who

shared some pretty epic stuff.

Um, but I wanna take a few minutes

this morning and just share some

thoughts, specifically maybe

about the cost of discipleship.

I've been talking a lot in my

classes with this idea, right?

That the cost of discipleship is

something that we don't really pay

a lot of attention to or haven't.

Maybe until fairly recently.

Let me begin by saying this, um, Charlie

Kirk, I've heard this a lot online.

People say this, Charlie

Kirk was, was no saint.

Um, and here's where I would

agree with that statement.

He was not some pious, uh, deity,

uh, but he was a saint because

of his faith in Jesus Christ.

He was an aos like you and I are mentioned

throughout all the New Testament as the

saints, the holy ones, the set apart ones.

Um, if you don't know much about Charlie

Kirk, I want to just encourage you that,

uh, he's not, he's not a perfect person.

There's no way.

And, uh, he had very

strong, passionate opinions.

He had an organization Turning

Point USA, that was not a per

se Christian organization.

It was a political organization,

very intently trying to communicate

political values, but founded very

much in his faith in Jesus Christ.

And within our relationship

together as the body of Christ,

there's room for conversations

about immigration and taxation and

healthcare and economic things.

There's, there's a lot of room for us to

have dialogue and have various opinions

and perspectives and to try to figure

out how to navigate and talk together and

work together to try to create this more

perfect union that we have in America.

The freedom to try to craft government

in a way that can work well.

Hey, let me just total, total aside

here on government real quick.

When I was in college, I

was a huge socialist fan.

I just thought socialism made so much

sense because I was a Christian and I

was a follower of Jesus, and I watched

the early church in Acts, how they shared

everything in common and they lived

in community together, and I thought,

socialism, wow, that really makes great

sense, and I understand its appeal.

The problem is, is that socialism

always leads to communism and oppression

and suppression and suffering,

and here's the reason for that.

Because the Bible tells us clearly

that man is fallen and sinful.

Our people good.

And we say Yeah.

I mean, I think for the most part people

are good and socialism is awesome.

If you've got a whole bunch of people

who are really, really good, loving

them neighbors as themselves and

serving one another and giving and

sacrificing, that's a beautiful picture.

Beautiful.

The problem is we're sinful people

and sin always raises its ugly head.

We live in a free, capitalistic society

that has a representative republic.

We're not a pure democracy.

A. A democracy is one where the

majority rules, which means if the

majority of people hate others.

Those people get oppressed, right?

So a pure democracy is garbage too.

But a representative republic with

a bill of rights that protect the

vulnerable and the marginalized

and the minority are important.

It's why we have this form of government.

It's a great form of government

given the, the, the world we live in.

And I used to think one day we were

gonna go to heaven and we'd be in

this awesome socialistic environment

where everybody's loving each other.

And that's beautiful.

Except it's not biblical.

Because what's heaven?

It's a monarchy where we have

a king who is Lord overall.

And if you're follower, Jesus

Christ, currently you live

in a representative republic.

If you're a resident here,

and you are also a member of a

monarchy, a different kingdom,

scripture says, where God is king.

And I would encourage you that

biblically, as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Our loyalty is first and

foremost to his kingdom.

And our obedience is first

and foremost to his kingdom.

But we also live in this

representative republic where our

voice matters and our actions matter.

Our engagement matters.

And that's where Charlie Kirk found

himself trying to be impactful and

have dialogue and conversation.

And I would just tell you this, if

you're somebody who's kind of read

the, the headlines how Charlie Kirk

was a bigot or a racist, or all these

different random things, make sure

that you look in the full context.

I would encourage you to listen hour

after hour after hour of reels and

just watch his interaction and his

engagement with people who very clearly

were on the opposite side of where

he believed moral standards to be

and how he tried to speak truth and

engage with respect and gentleness

while also being firm on the truth.

'cause.

'cause here's the thing, guys.

Uh.

There's room for immigration talk, there's

room for, uh, economics right there.

There's room in the body of Christ for us

to not always agree on all those pieces.

But guys, there are some

things that are foundational.

To being a follower of Jesus Christ

that I think the church has gotten.

I mean, we've given up all the ground

that we possibly can and, and then some.

Listen, I don't get real political

all the time, hardly ever, but I

just wanna say a couple quick things.

'cause at some point in time it stops

mattering with the prices for people.

Right?

And if you don't like

it, that's totally okay.

And I'd love to talk to you, 'cause

I'm not trying to just shove stuff

down your throat, but, but listen,

abortion is murder biblically as

a follower of Jesus Christ to be

pro-abortion is very problematic.

And listen, I don't say that some

kinda light, cheesy, sort of like in

a, you know, in a, what do you call it?

A vacuum, right?

Like I've, I've dealt with the issue of

let my wife live or the baby live, right?

Abort the baby, save the

wife, like the, the mom.

I know that.

I don't know that from reading it.

I know that from living it and

watching my wife almost die and

navigate that space and pray and walk

through our conviction and our faith

in obedience to God and to trust him.

And we believe that life happens,

man, at the moment of conception,

there's a new DNA formed that's,

that's new, that's different.

Science tells us there's a spark

of light when the sperm hits

the egg, like a bang, right?

As though maybe the Holy Spirit

delivers the eternal into

the physical in that moment.

I don't know.

I can't prove that.

But man, that makes you go, huh?

Right?

So lemme just say as a follow of Jesus

Christ, where you stand on abortion,

it's a bigger deal than, than what

we've been taught to think it is.

Right?

And sexuality, I mean, we might as well

just get in trouble everywhere, right?

Listen, I talk to people

all the time, all the time.

Here's the deal with sexuality.

Let me just make it very simple for you.

Any sexual activity outside.

One man, one woman covenant marriage.

God has a very clear description for it.

Sin.

It's sin.

Premarital sex, sin, adultery, sin.

Homosexuality sin.

Like it's just, it's

simple and it's clear.

The Old Testament, the New

Testament, there's not confusion.

Part of the translation issue, Russell,

one of the reasons I do screens up

here, like with this, I, I spend time

with multiple translations in the

week to try to present to you what I

think is the clearest picture in our

language of what the scripture teaches.

But it's also why I dive back into

the Greek sometimes or the Hebrew,

and I butcher the pronunciation

and I bring Josiah's girlfriend

up to, to just make me look bad.

All those things, right?

Because I want you to understand

what God's word actually says.

And there are translations in our

language that keep changing things, right?

I did an exercise in one of my classes

about homosexuality in one of these verses

that people who are homosexual offenders

will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.

That's what the scripture says.

It says that back in the Greek, it

says it in almost every translation,

except as we get into some modern ones,

there's things like those who abuse sex.

That's a very interesting description

as a new term for homosexuality, right?

In the Bible, in the Old Testament.

Stupid clear, new Testament,

even stupid, clearer.

Those aren't really the right

words, but it's just there, right?

And listen, guys, God created in

the beginning, male and female.

And then he said that a man will

leave his father male in the original

language, and his mother female in the

original language and be united to his

wife, female in the original language.

There's no room.

There's no room unless, and I, I

encounter this all the time, unless

you're a Christian, a follower of

Jesus who thinks the Bible is just,

well, it doesn't really matter.

And I gotta be honest with you,

man, if that's how you feel.

What are you doing?

You don't believe in anything.

You just like to come to church

and sing and be miserable.

Like God is so clear.

Like, do you know why Jesus came and died?

'cause of what happened in Genesis, right?

And if we wanna say Genesis is

irrelevant and it's just allegory

and it's just beautiful poetry,

well then Jesus never had to die.

And I talk to people, I had a

friend recently who told me the

Old Testament is irrelevant, guys.

If the Old Testament is irrelevant, the

New Testament is completely irrelevant.

It's built upon all of it.

I mean, it's all important.

It's the whole story and it all matters.

And we've gotten to a

place in our culture.

I listen, I political party, independent,

whatever you, you feel we are seeing on

the far left of our political ideology,

people who have given up and said.

Male and female are just

whatever you want them to be.

We, we can't give up any more space than

that until, what, what are we even gonna,

what are we even gonna disagree on?

Right?

That's as fundamental and as

foundational as the biological

chromosomes that make us up in life.

It's just reality.

And yet we're arguing with people.

Who are so far beyond

the scope of reality.

And listen, as a follower of Jesus Christ,

I can appreciate wanting to be sensitive

to, uh, immigration and the foreigner.

I can appreciate trying to help with

universal healthcare ideas and concepts

to help people or to help the poor.

Jesus said, the poor you're always

gonna have with you, which means

that we're always gonna have to

figure out a way to deal with it.

And different parties have different

opinions on how our actions

and our policies actually help.

And there's room for conversation there.

But listen, as a follower of Jesus

Christ, if you think there's room

in the abortion conversation, if

you think there's room in the gender

conversation, if you think there's

room in the homosexuality conversation.

You can have your opinion, but

your opinion is not God's opinion.

God has made his opinion very clear, and

it's actually not what we call opinion.

It is moral truth for all eternity.

And every man, woman, and child

is gonna be judged before the

great throne of God on his moral

standard of what's right and wrong.

And it will not matter what society

told us, what our culture told

us, what we felt, it won't matter.

And he's given us that truth

and he's handed us that truth.

Charlie Kirk was, I'm

sure not a perfect guy.

He had a policy where he would write

every Saturday to his wife, A love letter,

probably stole it from Roger, right?

And, uh, at the end of the day

to, to ask her how he could be a

better husband and serve her better.

There was a lot of beautiful

stuff in how he engaged.

If you watch some of how he engaged

with people who were transgender.

People who were homosexual,

people who were very anti Jesus.

I love watching some

of the ways he engaged.

And if you're like me, I mean, I

didn't come on to some of that stuff

till just a couple years ago working

through some apologetics things in

some of my classes, I didn't stumble

across even more of his faith in Jesus

Christ and how much it permeated things.

But listen, there was a message that

he delivered over and over and over

again, and I wanna encourage us to be

really careful as followers of Jesus,

not to let this moment in history

become some partisan arguing nonsense.

And let's keep the cause and

the, the gospel forefront in

everything that's going on.

Something happened last Sunday.

Something happened that hasn't happened.

Well, long time.

The, the Colts went three

and oh or no, that's not it.

Sorry, that wasn't the one.

Um, that's happened.

Something happened last Sunday.

That hasn't happened in the history,

at least the recorded history that we

have of the United States of America.

We have never had a sitting vice president

and a sitting president attend a civilian

funeral together while in office.

It's never happened in the

history of the United States.

And it wasn't just the president and the

vice president who attended the ceremony.

It was the entire cabinet of the

executive branch of the United States.

And guys, listen, uh, you

can, you can right now in this

moment be like, oh, hate Trump.

Okay, whatever.

I, I don't even care.

But don't miss, don't miss

what happened on Sunday.

Five and a half hours of

televised worship service.

But hours before that, guys like Chris

Tomlin and Brandon Lake and Phil Wickham

and Carrie Joby leading worship for hours.

Elon Musk attended his

first worship service.

And I don't know if you noticed in some

of the videos, he went over and talked

to President Trump for a little bit

and they came out of that a little bit.

Reconnected.

Do you know why?

'cause the power of the Holy Spirit

breaks down walls and barriers.

And when you accidentally find yourself

in the presence of the Holy Spirit, all

of a sudden some things start to come

into focus that weren't in focus before.

And that was pretty cool to see.

And that was just a tiny

little, little tidbit.

Right?

But listen, the politicians on the,

on the, in this cabinet, man, they,

they committed something we call

political suicide, just so you know.

Okay.

Just so you know.

Marco Rubio State, right?

The Secretary of State, right?

He, he gave probably the most eloquent

two minute presentation of the gospel

that I've heard in a long time.

Stuff I don't even hear

preachers able to explain.

He walked through God creating us

and original sin and our need for

Jesus as savior and his sacrifice

and his resurrection and his return.

Do you know how many politicians

stand up and say to what's the number?

Over a hundred million live streamed

to that many people around the world?

I believe that God is the creator.

Just that alone divides you from 50%,

80% of Christians and churches in

America, and that Jesus died for our sin.

Beautiful.

But the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And I say this in my apologetic stuff

all the time at school, if you can

disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

All of Christianity is

just a, a hoax and a joke.

It was a nice guy who taught

some stuff and then he died.

But the resurrection is the

guarantee of what the message

and the gospel is all about.

That it's real and it's true.

And we had Marco Rubio stand in front

of the world and say, I believe in

the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And that he's coming again.

He's not a preacher.

He's a politician Sharing the gospel

with a hundred million people.

Remember the last time that happened?

Never try.

Never.

Never.

Pete.

He, the Department of War.

I tried to take out some

clips to show my class.

I couldn't.

I had to watch the whole thing because

he just rocked through the whole gospel

over and over and over and over again.

And he said something really cool.

He said something I've

been saying to my class.

This idea of the cost of discipleship

that it's gonna cost you because you're

no longer gonna live for yourself,

but you're gonna live for Christ.

These guys in the set, these guys in

the cabinet, these official, I mean

the whole executive branch, they,

they stood up not for God, not for God

bless America, not for a higher power.

They stood up for salvation

through Jesus Christ and his

atonement and his resurrection.

That's, that's earth shattering.

That's earth shattering, and the world

is gonna be changed because of it.

And the cost, you know, he's, or, uh, uh,

hegseth said this, I wanna save that one.

Sorry.

This is my rant part.

Sorry about that.

Um, the cost of following

Jesus has been, um, what like.

You don't get to watch the

Sunday pregame, you know, you

might miss part of the Masters.

Uh, or worse, geez, like four times

a month you have to go to church.

Killer.

Boy, the cost of being

a disciple, it's brutal.

Huh?

Part of what's happening right now

in America and around the world is

we are seeing something a lot of

people have been praying about for

a long time, but it's a revival.

There is a revival breaking out and

it's happening in the young people.

And I think it's tied exactly to

this idea of cost of discipleship.

'cause here's the deal.

Our kids have watched, our young people

have watched, we've watched what life

looks like when you live for nothing,

when you pay for nothing with what you

believe, and it doesn't mean anything.

Lip service.

This is the first time in our generation

that we watch somebody on American soil

who professed faith in Jesus Christ and

his principles be taken out by somebody

and lost their life because of it.

That reminds us there

is a price to be paid.

But guys, listen, Jesus said

it from the beginning, right?

Deny yourself.

Pick up your cross.

If you wanna find your

life, you're gonna lose it.

I love saying, pick up your cross, right?

Take your lethal injection and follow

me because it's gonna cost you.

And we've grown up in a world

where it doesn't cost us anything,

but maybe it's an inconvenience.

Maybe we lose a friend.

But guys, all of a sudden it matters

that you stand up for Jesus Christ.

And what we're seeing on the political

side, we're seeing on the political

side, are people willing to say,

okay, if this costs me my position,

Rubio wants to run for president.

There's no doubt.

But he may have just slid his

throat on that and be done.

It's okay.

'cause something more important came

along that was worth the price to pay.

The cost was way worth the price

to pay to be a disciple and a

follower Jesus in that moment.

And they rose to that occasion.

Listen, if you haven't had a

chance to spend some time, I would

encourage you to go watch some

of those speeches from last week.

It will inspire you.

It will encourage you.

Pete, he said this, um, I've been

telling my class that, uh, Satan

has these oops moments, right?

Just, oops.

Right?

Like he's standing back watching

Jesus bleed out on the cross, and

he's smiling with joy as he's dying.

And Jesus says, it is finished as

though he were in control the whole

time, and it was all part of his plan.

And you see the blood drain outta

Satan's face as he says, oops.

Right?

There are these oops moments for him

where he tries to snuff out the light.

It just gets brighter.

Pete, hes have said in his speech

that his pastor told him this, and I

think it's better than what I said.

He said, the devil overplayed his hand.

And I think that's a beautiful

statement because what's happening

is a sense of resolve and boldness.

It was pretty cool last Sunday

to listen to these teens talk.

You guys inspired me.

We did not put that together.

Even though a lot of, you're like,

I only got a week to prepare.

It was several weeks, but you

know, the communication, whatever.

But we put that in motion

long before uh, there was a

assassination in Charlie Kirk's life.

But to see the young people in our church

stand up for truth and to talk about

conviction and following Jesus for real.

I mean, guys, that's what's happening.

It's just a movement and it's

moving and it's rolling, and

the enemy is gonna do everything

he can to snuff it out.

And I wanna encourage you as

followers of Jesus Christ.

You're gonna, you're gonna get

in conversations with people,

you're gonna be on social media.

Be very careful not to tear

down the work of the Lord for

some kind of political angle.

You might disagree with something, you

might have a different opinion on an

immigration policy or on an economic

policy, and that's totally fine.

But be very careful that the enemy doesn't

use you to turn people off to the primary,

most important thing that's happening.

That the gospel of Jesus Christ is

being presented and that that is

getting out to hundreds of millions

of people, which is insanely amazing.

In the end times, man, God's

word is gonna go forth.

Sons and daughters are gonna prophesy.

Stuff's gonna happen.

And we may be watching that all unfold.

We'll see where that goes.

But now is not a time to shrink back and

be afraid, and now is not a time to be.

Angry and aggressive, not even close,

but to be assertive in grace, in

gentleness, but in truth, it's time

for the church of Jesus Christ to

stand and to speak boldly, and to live

boldly instead of just trying to live

in both worlds and get our cake and eat

it, and play with it and do our stuff.

God's called us for such a time as this.

So in your social media, in your

conversations at work, in the sports

arena, wherever you're at with grace,

with kindness, with gentleness,

keep pointing people to the truth.

Encourage people to take a deeper

look at what they're grabbing onto at

a surface level and see the depth of

what Charlie Kirk presented and see

what our national leaders are saying

and see if maybe the Holy Spirit might

begin to work on those people that

God's got us in relationship with.

That make sense?

It's important, super important.

No idea what those other slides look like.

Um, but I'm done ranting.

You guys put in a long day last

Sunday, like a two hour service.

A lot of people gone this morning

because they thought they got one,

they got two last week, so you

don't have to come back this week.

I'm not sure how that goes.

Um, hey, but I would encourage you this,

if you felt like this this morning was

helpful at all to think through this

stuff, I'd encourage you to send some

friends to check out the White Rock

website or the, the, what do we call it?

The YouTube channel.

Um, 'cause I'm happy to be a

person who you can use to create

a conversation and say, my pastor

said this and he's kind of an idiot.

And that can be awesome.

Um, I wanna help us be in conversations

that matter for all eternity.

'cause it's time for us to find our

voice as the church of Jesus Christ

and to speak boldly and to live

courageously 'cause at the end of the day.

There is nothing more valuable and

nothing that matters more than being

a disciple of Jesus Christ and where

people spend eternity is all we really

ought to put in our big assessment of

whether it's worth the risk or not.

Man, it is worth the

risk if people hate you.

What does it matter if you lose your life?

What does it matter?

If this stuff is really true?

Lord, thanks for letting me ramble

and just share from my heart

this morning here a little bit.

Thank you for the things that you're

doing and the way you're at work

in our nation and around the world.

And God, we recognize how hard the enemy

is coming against what you're doing.

And so God, I pray for boldness and

courage for young people to stand

and to speak and to live boldly.

I pray that, Lord, for parents

and grandparents and everyone

in between, Lord, that.

God, we would be a light shining

brightly and God give us grace

and kindness and gentleness as we

speak and engage and communicate.

Help us to love well.

But God, help us not to be tricked by

the enemy, to interpret loving as being

silent about the very deadly things

that can send people to eternal death.

Help us be bold in our love and

faithful to you in the moments.

Thank you, Lord for each other

and the privilege of just being

on this epic adventure with you.

Help us serve well this week

in all that you call us to.

In Jesus name, amen.