Core Values 2023 - Week 5: Reaching

We're in our last week of our our core value series, and today we're

going to talk about reaching our fifth core value. Reaching. The Lord has

put each and every one of us here to reach, not to not to

hug ourselves, not to pat ourselves on the back, but to reach.

That's our responsibility as believers to reach. If you've missed any of these uh,

if you've missed any of these messages, please go back and listen to

them over the last five weeks as we've gone through those core values, and

it'll let you know the heartbeat. It lets you know what we really value

and and what we put emphasis on here, and I believe it will give

you a better understanding of Cornerstone Tabernacle and the way we do ministry and the

philosophy of ministry that we have, and not just that philosophy, but what

powers that the DNA behind that. Come on, somebody. We don't just

write our core values on stickers. We actually lived those things out. They

became core values because we sat down and we said, hey, what do

we value. We didn't decide what looks good on paper and then say that.

We just did a deep dive and said, hey, these are the

things we value, so these must be our core values. Come on,

somebody, If you ever stopped and taking a self inventory of your life and

really look at the things that fuel you, the things that make you go,

those are your core values. And what you may find in that self

inventory is you don't like some of your core values. Uh oh, is

it greed that fuels you. That's not a healthy core value. Come on,

somebody, So that's when we pray for transformation. Amen, Let's let

me we believe that selfless acts of love like bringing spaghetti sauce for paying for

somebody's meal in the drive through, or maybe getting behind somebody in the line

at the grocery store and paying for their groceries, or maybe saying hello to

somebody that's always ignored, looks broken down and beaten down. Or maybe you

know those people that are on the side of the road that are holding up

the signs will work for food, and the first thought in your mind is

they probably make more year than I do. Come on, somebody, you

stop and give them a five, but you tell them I just want you

to know that Jesus wanted you to have this today, selfless acts of love,

not expecting anything in return, but selfless acts of love are the outpouring

of our thriving relationship with the Lord. Listen, if you have a thriving

relationship with the Lord, love and selflessness, will you cannot be selfish and

love the Lord? Let me say that again. So I think I felt

that just bounced back at me off of a few people. So let me

say that again. You cannot have a thriving relationship with Jesus and be selfish.

It's impossible. We will relentlessly re rea out to our community to bridge

the gap between hurting, broken humanity and Jesus. Everything else we do leads

to this point. The reason we want you to go live with purpose is

because purpose equals life, and life reaches. Everything we do is about reaching.

You got a Bible. Go to Matthew chapter nineteen. Matthew chapter nineteen,

We're gonna read. Starting in verse sixteen, it says, now,

behold, one came and said to him, good teacher, what good things

shall I do that I may have eternal life? So he said to him,

why do you call me good? No one is good but one that

is God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.

He said to him which ones. Jesus said, you shall not murder,

you shall not commit adultery, you shall not still, you shall not

bear faults, witness, honor your father and mother, and you shall love

your neighbors yourself. The young man said to him, all these things I've

kept from my youth, what do I still lack? Jesus said to him,

if you want to be perfect, I want you to raise your hand.

If you think you're a perfectionist, I don't have one in the whole

place, no wonder. It feels like we just throw things together around here.

Am I gotta listen? I want you all to go find a perfectionist

and evangelizem. Come on, somebody. We need at least one. But

we all want to be perfect. Oh well there was one. She wasn't

listening, but now she is. So now yeah, we do, in

the eyes of Jesus, want to be perfect. And Jesus said, hey,

listen, this is this is the entry level. This is the entry

level to life is keep the commandments, don't do things you shouldn't. Listen

to that. The entry level to faith is don't do things that you shouldn't.

Most of us spend our entire faith life trying to try to not do

things that we shouldn't. But Jesus said, if you want to, if

you want to take it up a notch, if you want me to look

and see you as perfect, go sell what you have and give it to

the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful,

for he had great possessions. Let's pray, Father, we thank you for

your word. See only change agent on the face of the planet. And

I pray that today of all days, this day more than any other day,

that you change. But Lord, if we don't get anything else,

let us get this principle of reaching. Plant those seeds at the very fabric

of our being, that they would bring life and life more abundantly. In

Jesus' name. Amen. So Jesus said, if you want to live a

cut above, I want you to go do something. I want you to

take the stuff that you have and not treasure the stuff you have, but

go and reach those that can't pay you back. Go and reach out to

those that are in a hurting, broken state. Go and do things that

other people are not willing to do. And come follow me. I want

you to reach. I want you to do. If you want to be

perfect, it's not enough just to not do the things you shouldn't. You

got to do the things you should And the biggest thing you should do is

look for opportunities to reach into people's lives and help people. In Mark,

chapter sixteen, verse fourteen, it says later he appeared to the eleven as

they sat at the table, and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart

because they did not believe those who had seen who had seen him after he

had risen, let me just want to let's talk about that for a second.

He's about to give the most important commandment he gives to the church,

and he goes in, and this is the state he finds them in.

They were in a place where they did not even believe everything that they should

have believed. There is this cinema, there is this thought process, especially

in the modern church, that we have to arrive at a certain level of

knowledge, that we have to have a certain an amount of sermons under our

belt, or chapters read or prayers prayed, or whatever it is, whatever

criteria that you falsely place on yourself that we have to come to this place

before we can share, before we can lead someone to Christ, before we

can disciple someone, before we can have intentional conversations about the Kingdom. We

got to reach a certain level of discipleship. I want to tell you what

that is. I'm going to solve that offer you right now. So everybody

write this down, tweet this if you want to. If you're saved,

you're ready. You have reached the level of discipleship necessary to give away what

the Lord has given you. If you got saved during that last song,

you're ready. If you got saved during my prayer over scripture, you are

ready. Ready. These were people that walked with Jesus in the flesh.

They did life with him. They came and they said, oh, listen,

he's been resurrected. And they didn't believe. Now Jesus has gotten together

with them in the midst of their unbelief. They didn't have it all together.

Listen, they didn't have it all together. I know y'all, y'all

don't have it all together. So it's a perfect match made in heaven.

And this is what he says. And he said to them, go into

all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes in

his baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.

He said, listen, you just go and speak the truth. I

just want you to go tell your story, speak the truth, and then

I'll handle the rest. I will. I'm going away that a helper would

be sent that will be with you at all times. And if you will

speak the truth, I'm going to draw people and if they respond, they'll

be saved. If they don't, they'll be condemned. But that's not on

you, that's on them. Do you know that our society has perpetrated one

of the greatest evils throughout all of the history of mankind, and that is

the evil of vanity, to the point that we fear rejection so badly that

we will not do anything that we're not assured of success, even sharing our

faith. Most of you don't share your faith. It's not because you don't

know how. It's not even because you don't want to. It's because you're

afraid whoever you're sharing your faith with is going to say no. It's because

the people you work with, you think, what will they think of me

if they know I'm one of those Holy rollers. Let me tell you something.

They don't think much of you now. They probably talk about you behind

your back because you don't go to the club with them anyway. Come on,

they just think you're weird. Tell them you're a Christian. At least

they'll know the source of your weirdness. Amen, we cower down in those

great opportunities where listen. I know you've all got people in your workplace that

they roll in on Monday morning and they look three years older than they did

last week because they just partied all weekend. Come on, somebody, and

then they start having those strange conversations, Oh, man, I got I

threw up so bad it was amazing. I don't even remember what happened.

And then they look at you and they say, what did you do?

And instead of saying, oh, I went to church, and man,

the Holy Spirit moved and people got saved and three people got healed. And

instead of saying that, we just say not much. What if you got

I'm talking about? And when that person came in, eyes bloodshot, forgot

to brush there? Can you know who I'm talking about? And you walked

up to him and saying, Oh, my gosh, I had the greatest

weekend ever. You're never gonna believe. Oh listen, we went to church

and the music was just right. I was dancing. I never danced like

that before. I broke a sweat. And then they made an altar call,

and I said, and I ran down to the front and I lifted

my hands and they prayed for me, and I got peace. Like you,

listen, all those worries that you try to drink away, they disappeared

in a moment in an altar because Jesus just showed up and did something right

in here. And I don't know exactly what it was. But and then

you look them in the eye and you say, what did you do this

weekend? And they're gonna say nothing, just quite not home. God has

put you here to be an instrument of change and to reach into the hurting,

broken lives that we have influence with every single day of our lives.

That is the principle of reaching. That we no longer simply walk into a

room and act as a thermometer where we just gauge the spiritual temperature, but

we become a thermostat where we control the spiritual temperature, and we set the

environment rather than just talking about the environment. He says, listen, I

know y'all didn't believe, but I got a job for you. I want

you to go into all the world. Now listen. I know those guys.

I read about those guys. We have a lot of insight into their

mind. And I know there was some conversations that probably are not recorded here.

Amen. Thomas said I doubt we can do that, and she just

said, no, you're gonna do it. Uh, you're you're, you're,

you're, you're going to do it to Thomas, so just get over

it. You're gonna do it. Peter probably said, I'm gonna win them

all. Jesus man, I'm ready. I'm just turn me loose. When

Jesus said let's talk more action, and there was John. You know,

John was snuggling up to Jesus like he always did. What about me,

I know You've got something special, special for me. He's like, yeah,

John, this is this is what's gonna happening. Uh, you're you're

gonna do it, and uh, unlike all these other guys, you're gonna

die of old age. And he's like, I knew I was your face

saying yeah. But before that, they're gonna gauge your eyes out with a

spoon. They're gonna stolen you, they're gonna boil you an oil up to

your waist, and you're gonna be sent to live by yourself on the island

of Patmos, and you're just gonna be able to just but you're gonna make

it, and you're gonna die of old age. Huh? Are you sure?

You don't mean, Peter? But the reality is the world already hates

you. The world has a hate for you that is not measured by any

hatred known on the face of the earth. That there is a heated,

passionate hatred that is brewing in the Middle East right now, and the world's

hate for you is more than equivalent to that, because you stand in opposition

to everything that the devil is. And if they already hate you, why

are you worried about being rejected by them. They already have rejected you,

and they already hate you. You might as well offer a chance for them

to get on the same team as you. That's what reaching is. It's

about positioning ourselves and meeting felt needs and building relationship so that we have the

right to speak into those people's lives and have them listen. See here's the

thing that I think that we can come to the conclusion of together as a

people in this room right now. If we were going to solve the problems

of the world from a microphone and a platform, the problems of the world

would already be solved. If we were going to be able to preach and

hate a way, it would already be done. If we were going to

be able to preach world harmony, it would already be done. But the

reality is, those things don't happen from the stage in the world in which

we live in right now. Those things happen in living rooms and in restaurants

where people come together and build relationship, and we earn the right to speak

into people's lives because we have shown that we love them. We are living

in a new error of the Church, one in which the marketplace evangelists,

people working jobs out there in the world will be more effective in evangelism than

preachers like me with a microphone on a stage could ever be. As a

matter of fact, it is the New Testament way to do it. In

the New Testament, people got saved every day of the week, and then

they came together for celebration battery charging moments in big corporate gatherings. Jesus changed

the entire world with twelve, actually eleven because one of them was a crook

and never really did anything. So those eleven literally changed the face of the

planet. What could we do if we got serious about reaching What could this

gathering of people? I could if twelve, if eleven turned the world upside

down? Do you think, I don't know, a couple of hundred,

maybe more than that, I don't know, could change Oakwood. Mathematically it

seems probable, right, maybe even I'm just we dream big man. We

might even put flowery branch in there too. But the reality is we have

to point ourselves in a different way and understand our faith with a new paradigm,

because for a long time our faith has been about you make me feel

good, pastor rather than me going and doing something in the world that challenges

people. So they respond to the gospel, and they either receive or reject.

In John chapter four, Verse one, Therefore, when the Lord knew

that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,

though Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples. Let me chase this

rabbit for one second. You know, it is incredible to be in a

church where I'm not expected to do everything. Just a little while ago,

we had our ministry moment, and yeah I did, I prayed for somebody.

But then I got up here and I got to drink of water,

gathered my thoughts, and I watched amazingly anointed people pray for other people and

see miracles done right here in this altar. Because they're better at that than

I am. I want you to think about that for just a moment,

that there are people that are uniquely designed better for the things they do in

ministry than I am. Let me tell you something. Walker is ten times

better at pastoring people than I am. I don't even know if that hurt

or was encouraging. I mean, that came so fast and so decisively.

Listen, Gary Dodson is uniquely designed to feed people through our food ministry.

I'm not designed to do that. I would just pile it up in the

parking lot and leave and let people come get it if they wanted it.

There are people that have those unique gifts that are designed to do things.

It says that they said that Jesus was baptizing, but Jesus himself did not

baptize, but his disciples. That's the way ministry is supposed to be done.

He left you dead and departed again to Galilee. But he needed to

go through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria, which is

called Sekar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied from his

journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman of Siberia came to draw water, and Jesus said to her,

give me a drink, for his disciples had gone away into the city to

buy food. So Jesus needed to go through Samaria because there was one woman.

There was one woman who was broken and busted, and she needed to

hear good news. So Jesus went. Now, I'm sure the creator of

the universe. Look at the creator of the universe, moon, everything,

elephants, rhinos, everything. He got some stuff to do. His job

is not a nine to five. But he went and sat at the well,

and he waited if the creator of the universe, can find time to

go and sit and wait for someone who needs to hear the good news.

Can't you carve just a little time out of your life to go out of

your way to that side of the break room where that person always sits by

their selves and never talks to anybody, and they got tears in their eyes

all the time. Couldn't you maybe just carve out five minutes every day to

go over there and sit and just start having a conversation that will intentionally lead

to an encounter with you, Jesus. And it wasn't someone who was like

Jesus. It was someone who would have, naturally, by design, fear

and hated Jesus. A woman of Samaria, who Jesus himself called the Samarians

half breeds there there, that they're not like him. But he went and

he waited because it doesn't matter what we look like, smell like, talk

like, we all have a soul that needs redemption. And he waited on

this woman, and he looked at her and listen to how he started the

conversation. He didn't look at her and say, if you die right now,

do you have the assurance of knowing you would go to Heaven. He

started the conversation in a very natural way. He was sitting by a well

in the desert, and he looked at her and he said, hey,

give me a drink. Do you know how to win people to Jesus?

Start having normal conversations. If you work with a bunch of football fans,

check the scores before you go to work on Monday so that you can get

involved in the conversations they're having. Walk up and say, hey, I

saw that the that the first college playoff football rankings came out and they had

Georgia number one, And you know it's probably not right. I'm really think

that Florida station should be number one. But hey, I'm just here to

learn, you know, I'm using this whole football Say what do you think?

Oh, yeah, you know, brock Bauer is hurt. Say they're

not the same ball team that they used to be. And you're like,

yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't know who brock Byers is. You

didn't know he was hurt. You don't even know what a football it looks

like. But you just jumped in the ring and you started having a conversation.

He's not asking you to be an evangelist. He's asking you to be

a witness, to tell your story and get involved in people's lives with the

intention of leading them to Jesus. And then you just keep having those conversations

until you hear one of the notts, I'm not from here. Things are

not going very well. I'm not comfortable with the way. And you hear

one of the knots, and that's when you jump in and you begin to

talk about Jesus because Jesus unties the knights, those are the magic ones.

You listen for those things and you say, oh, you're not from here,

Well listen, let me tell you a great way to meet people.

I go to small group every single week and it's filled with great people.

Listen to the person that leads that one to Walker, she's amazing. Barries

group on Wednesday. I mean, he's not quite as cool as Wanda,

but he's friendly and he don't wear shoes, so you're gonna fit in good.

Amen. I'm so sorry you're not doing well, you're not feeling well.

I'm I'm so sorry, but hey, would it be okay? I

tell you what. Every Sunday in our in our church service, we have

this thing called ministry moment, and it's completely it's completely unthreatening. The lights

are down low and the music's playing, and nobody really notice this. And

you can come down and you can pray. Because we've seen people healed,

we've seen people, we see miracles happen every single week. So why don't

you come and give that a shot. Since the doctors can't seem to figure

it out. Just listen for the notts and start talking. That is reaching,

that's reaching. I'm not doing well. I'm depressed. Listen, you

come listen to my pastor. He don't teach us very much, but boy,

he makes us laugh every week. Mark chapter one, Clay, you

guys could come and get ready if you want to. Mark chapter one,

verse forty. Now, a leper came to him, imploring him, kneeling

down to him and saying to him, if you willing listen to that.

This leper looks at Jesus and he says, if you're willing, we know

Jesus is always willing to meet someone at their point of need. To fully

understand the full picture is you have to also understand that leprosy in scripture is

always symbolic of sin. It's a natural picture of the spiritual condition of sin.

This leper comes to Jesus, if you're willing, you can make me

clean. Then Jesus moved with compassion, stretched out his hand and touched him

and said to him, I am willing be cleansed. As soon as he

had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. Jesus encounters

this man unclean, with a unclean with a disease transmitted by touch, skin

condition. The man knew he had leprosy. The world knows something's missing.

They know they can't find content, but and for that, they know that

they're always searching for something else that they're looking for, answers that they never

quite seemed to be able to grab. And they asked the question every day,

if you're willing, if you're willing, take this emptiness, this brokenness,

this hurt, and do something with it. Here's the interesting thing is

that Jesus was standing there and the leper was saying these things. He said,

listen, if you're willing, you can cleanse me. All Jesus had

to do will say be clean. How do we know that because he had

done it before. We literally have a recording of Jesus speaking to lepers and

cleansing happening. But this time Jesus was not speaking to this leper. He

was speaking to cornerstone Tibernacle. And he says, I'm going to show you

how it works. He says, if you're willing, you can cleanse me.

And it says that Jesus stretched out his hand, he reached. Jesus

reached and he touched the leper. Because Jesus is not afraid of sin.

He's not afraid of being contaminated. He's not afraid of the things we're afraid

of. He's able to stand above those things and through those things because he's

the son of God. And he is expecting you to be the arm that

reaches, that reaches down and doesn't just talk about the sin, but reaches

down and touches it right where it is, and it's not afraid about contamination,

but reaches out because that disease needs to be cleansed. The disease of

sin needs to be cleansed. And Jesus said, you're my arms, you're

my hands, you're my body. Where are you church, Why aren't you

reaching? Because I'm willing Now I made my compassion known on Calvary's Cross,

Just waiting for you to roll your sleeves up, Pastor, how do I

roll my sleeves up? I'm ready, I'm gonna, I'm gonna. We're

gonna find out in just a second. You need to go ahead and be

deciding if you're gonna say you're ready or not. Because I'm about to ask

you, give you some time to think about it. How do I reach

mean? Hit the share button? When we post something on social media,

hit the share button now, listen, Not just to that group of friends

at the church, they're already getting it too. Share it to all your

friends on Facebook. Friends. I love y'all, but none of y'all really

got seventeen thousand friends. Hit shar It's the easiest way to share your faith.

Invite them to group. I'll tell you what. We got an event

this afternoon. Right, got something happening this afternoon, right, Pastor,

clay trunks of treats just built for kids. Listen, are the jumpies already

set up outside? Do we know that? Let's don't run over the jumpies

if they're set up in the front of the church. Just go the other

way. Invite people to trunks of treats and let them just experience the love

and kindness of Cornerstone Tabernacle. Bring lots of candy with you and bring a

smile and just love people as they come from the community. Tell them about

the food pantry, invite them to come and hard times like this, we

can save you that money that you're gonna spend this week on groceries. Come

to the food pantry and let them see some of the most loving people in

the world. How do our reach as people if they're doing okay, go

out of your way to to sit close to the broken, the hurting,

h pray the hearts and lives would be open. But do something. Everybody

staying with me all over the building. M Back when Pastor Clay was in

the youth department here long time ago, we always did these extra things to

incentivize bringing friends. Yet we bribed students to bring their friends because Jesus told

me I was a fisher of men. I fish will bait And as adults,

you're thinking, well, you know what, if somebody can pick me

up in a limbo and ball my dinner, I'd bring friends too. How

about this, Jesus says, I'm coming back with my reward in my hand,

because he knows you, he knows you want something out of it.

Come on now, we say, be selfless, and you be selfless now,

because Jesus is coming back with his reward in his hand, and he

will reward those who diligently and earnestly seek him and their obedient to him.

My question to you right now is are you ready to start reaching? Maybe

you already do. My question is will you keep reaching? Because I'm afraid

days are getting short. It's possible that Jesus is no longer seated at the

right hand of the Father. He may already be standing at the right hand

of the Father, and very soon that eastern sky may break open, and

with a shout at a trumpet, the dead in Christ will rise and listen

to me. When the first particle of sand moves on the first grave.

It's too late for your uncle, it's too late from that lady that fixes

you coffee at the convenience stool. It's all over. Then You're never gonna

have an opportunity to tell them about Jesus again. So you better reach today.

You better get busy and start reaching right now, because we're getting close.

But our job is to get the bride ready. So if you're here

right now, you say, Pastor, I'm gonna start reaching. I'm gonna.

I'm gonna do everything I can to start reaching. I'm gonna I'm gonna

start having conversations. I'm gonna start building relationships. I'm gonna start making those

those invitations to come back that i've stopped making. Infess you're Siberian, says

has to be Pastor, and I'm I'm gonna get busy. I'm gonna start reaching