Get Real With God Part 3 | Draw a Line in Sand with Chris Schlotterbeck

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

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If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text

change me to 970-00.

Thank you and enjoy the message.

Thank you for welcoming us into your space.

If you're joining us online, I just want to start with a question for everyone and you

can just provide an answer.

Wouldn't it be nice if the devil took a vacation?

Wouldn't that be the greatest thing ever?

I just take some time off.

You know, go hang out and be hot somewhere else.

Right?

I just wish he would take a little time off, but he never does.

He doesn't take a year off, a month off, a week off, a day off.

He doesn't even take an hour off.

I mean, the Bible warns us that we are to stay alert and we are to watch out for our

great enemy, the devil, because he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to

devour.

And do you ever find yourself being held captive of a sin that kind of just shows up again

and again and again and again?

You wonder, man, am I ever going to get rid of this?

Am I ever going to stop struggling?

Am I ever going to stop being tempted?

Maybe this is my thorn in my flesh.

And my answer to you is yes, you can be.

You can be free.

But we first must realize that Jesus followers, see, we're in a war.

And though it's an invisible war and a spiritual battle, it's a war.

Ephesians chapter six says, we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against

evil rulers and authorities in an unseen world against mighty powers in this dark world and

against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Now some people just kind of fluff that off.

It's just made up.

I can't see it.

I can't feel it.

I can't touch it.

It's not real.

But here's the reality.

It is real.

And it's a battle that we're in every single day.

Author Victor Hugo writes, a good general must penetrate the brain of his enemy.

And Paul, when speaking and referring about Satan wrote these words, keep Satan from getting

the upper hand over you.

For we know what his plans are.

And some of you are thinking, okay, of course, well, what's his plans?

How do I know?

How do I get the upper hand?

Well, see, Satan attacks through accusation.

Revelation chapter 12 tells us, then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying the one who

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

stood before our God and accused believers day and night has been thrown out of heaven.

See, first he tempts you.

Then you give in and he condemns you.

Then he accuses you and he uses your sins in a hateful way to ultimately destroy you.

And for many of us, we simply need to learn to know the difference between Satan's accusations

and the Holy Spirit's conviction.

See, when a Jesus follower sins, and yes, we will all sin, the Holy Spirit will convict

us or convince us of that sin.

But it isn't because he wants to drive us into shame or condemn us, but he wants to

bring us back to Jesus.

And for those of you that don't know, for the month of September, we've been discussing

what it looks like to get real with God by focusing on Micah 6, 8, which reads, know,

O people, the Lord has told you what is good.

And this is what he requires of us, church.

To do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

I kicked this series off two weeks ago discussing what we do, what we love, and how we walk

matters each and every day.

Last week, we looked at the not so good Samaritan, and we were challenged to be innkeepers for

Jesus.

And this morning, we'll be discussing what it looks like to love mercy.

And when we look at loving mercy, we're going to focus on a particular moment in Jesus'

life in John chapter 8 that better helps us to understand Jesus in a way that many of

John 8 · chapter mention

us have never seen him before.

See, there are moments in our lives that will define who we are, choices that we will make

that will set the course of our entire life's journey.

There are those moments where we find ourselves literally at a crossroads, at an intersection

torn between options.

And the choice you make will define and reveal who you are to everyone around us.

And that is what this moment is with Jesus.

It's a moment where as if Jesus has literally been torn open and we can see inside of him

and understand who he really is, who God really is.

So let's open in prayer to prepare our hearts, God, for all that he has for us.

Holy Spirit come, we're just thankful.

We're thankful that we can gather.

We're thankful for each and every person that's here that's watching online.

God, just clear our minds, remove distractions, unplug our ears.

Jesus open our hearts to receive all that you have for us in Jesus name.

Amen.

So all of that leads us to our first thought.

You see Jesus, he draws a line in the sand.

Micah 6, 8 from the message paraphrased from Eugene Peterson puts it this way, but he's

already made it plain how to live, what to do church, what God is looking for in men

and women.

It's quite simple.

Do what is fair and just to your neighbor.

Be compassionate and loyal in your love.

And our Jesus encounter that we'll be focusing on today begins in John chapter 8 verses 1

John 8:1–6

through 6 and this is what we read.

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at

the temple, a crowd soon gathered and he sat down and talked them.

As he was speaking, now this is a normal everyday thing for Jesus, the teachers of religious

law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery.

They put her in front of the crowd.

Teacher, they said to Jesus, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

The law of Moses says to stone her.

What do you say?

They were trying to trap him into saying something that they could use against him, but Jesus

stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.

See this moment, once again, like last week was created by the religious leaders trying

to set a trap for Jesus to put him in an unthinkable situation in a dilemma, having to choose between

his reputation and his intentions.

So they did something that most of us cannot even imagine.

They plotted.

They found this woman who was in the sexual act of adultery.

They broke into a house.

They walked into a room and this was probably already planned.

Even with the man that was indulging in the sexual act.

They ripped her out of the room, dragged her down the street, not allowing her even to

clothe herself.

They go to the temple, which is considered the holiest of places where Jesus is teaching.

They throw this woman at the feet of Jesus in front of all the crowds gathered and they

ask Jesus a philosophical or theological question, what do we do with her?

In fact, they remind Jesus of a particular scripture they wanted to force him to address.

The law of Moses says to stone her.

What do you say?

One of the things that I want to say first is that we can know a lot about a person by

the particular verses in the Bible that they focus on.

What parts they want to distort and use as a weapon against the people they don't even

care about.

And see, John, who wrote this gospel, wants us to understand this scenario is completely

set up.

It's a setup.

They're using this woman, this question, if you will, to trap and accuse Jesus of saying

something heretical against God.

And in this moment, it's beautiful.

Jesus, he just draws the line in the sand.

And one of the interesting things about Jesus and the simple fact that we're still talking

about him 2000 plus years later is that he never wrote anything down.

Right?

If you want to be remembered, you have to write.

You have to write music.

You have to write memoirs.

You have to write something.

Jesus didn't write one song, one chapter of a book, one paragraph, one sentence.

But here we find one of the only times that he has ever described as writing something.

But I personally believe before he began writing in the sand, he drew a line in the sand.

And see, if God ever draws a line in the sand, it's in these moments.

It's in these scenarios where people try to use his name to coerce and control people

through guilt and shame, trying to hijack God's intentions.

But what I want to do this morning is unpack this moment because I believe it gives us

such a clear picture of who God is just in how Jesus responded.

And please realize what the opening question was.

Jesus, what do you say about this woman?

And I believe that many of us gathered in this room watching online would be incredibly

surprised about what God will say about us.

The religious leaders, what did they want?

They wanted Jesus to condemn her.

They wanted Jesus to stone her.

And they wanted and was hoping Jesus would highlight what was obvious.

She was an adulterer.

She was an adulterous woman.

And by the way, I don't know if this is accurate, but it seems to be true.

Adultery usually requires two people.

And it usually requires one person being married.

And in this instance, she wasn't even married.

She was clearly not actually the one responsible for the adultery.

But it was convenient that they forgot to bring along the guy, which again points to

the religious establishment coercing.

This is a setup because the religious establishment was all about right and wrong.

It was about self-righteousness and judgmentalism and condemnation.

So they asked Jesus a question.

What do you say?

And as the story plays out, I believe we have to pause here for a moment and realize Jesus

says nothing about her that they wanted him to say.

And it's amazing to me how many people for thousands of years have been mouthpieces for

God letting you know that God is mad at you.

That God is all about condemning you and judging you.

And if we keep hearing all these things being said about God from those in authority to

all of humanity, no wonder people are living in fear or have turned away from the possibility

that God could be before them.

If Jesus ever had a perfect opportunity to condemn someone, it was right here.

True or false?

She was guilty.

She was caught in adultery.

She was naked.

She was clothed in her guilt and shame.

And if God is all about condemnation and judgment, this was his moment right here.

See, we must realize as people, we tend to focus on others faults.

We tend to focus on others so that we make ourselves feel better.

How do I know this?

Well, there was this debate last Tuesday and I didn't even watch it.

Let me say that.

But I watched the highlights and all it was was finger pointing.

It's your fault.

It's your fault.

Oh, you suck.

You're terrible.

You're this.

You're that.

And I'm like, neither one of these jokers should be in the presidency of the United

States.

Neither one.

Fault finding, finger pointing.

It's all about someone else.

Right.

It can be a way for people to establish control.

It can be a way for people to improve their self image because they're comparing themselves

with others.

But here's the reality.

Fault finding is toxic and it comes from fear, selfishness and low mental intelligence.

Fault finding patterns can be rooted in childhood experiences.

For example, some of you struggle with your image of God because your religious upbringing

during your informative years.

You have a healthy fear of being judged and condemned by God because of how you were brought

up.

Of course, there's parental influence.

It's a very important factor as well.

If your parents were critical, guess what?

You're going to be critical.

I mean, it's very evident in marriages when couples are in an argument or disagreement,

it quickly what?

Points to a blow up where it's the other person's fault.

And then we quickly are pointing and making examples of how they're not living up to our

expectations and then it multiplies and it becomes aggressive.

I mean, just look at social media.

Our society is now on a mission to catch other people in their worst moments on video so

they can glorify themselves.

That's what it's become.

Oh, I'm going to get followers.

I'm going to have influence because of someone's bad choices.

I mean, even our culture enjoys pointing the finger and being the voice of telling other

people what is wrong.

And here's the issue.

So many people project that on the God and they believe that God hates them.

And in this moment, Jesus could have said the worst about a person and he does the exact

opposite.

I want you to know this morning, you will be surprised by what God is saying about you.

He is not saying what our enemy is saying.

He is not saying what everyone else is saying.

He is not saying what our inner voice is saying.

You know that voice that says you don't matter?

That voice that says you're insignificant, that voice that says you'll always be an addict,

you'll never live up to expectations.

That voice that tells you it's too late.

That voice disagrees with God because God never says that about you.

See, God always sees a future for you.

God always sees an opportunity for you to change.

He always sees the opportunity for you to grow.

God never lets the conversation stop at condemnation and judgment.

That's us.

That's not God.

And the reason we think God is the one condemning us is because we don't understand who God

is.

Which leads us to our next thought.

See, God doesn't condemn us.

He accepts us.

John 3, 17, which many people can't reference because they focus on 3, 16, which is an important

verse as well.

Every verse is important in the Bible.

It tells us, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to

save the world through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned

already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only son.

Did we hear that?

See we condemn ourselves and others when we don't believe.

We condemn ourselves and others when we lose faith.

We condemn ourselves and others when we're walking in our own strengths.

Not Jesus.

Let's continue in John 8, 6 through 9.

They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped

down and wrote in the dust with his finger.

Think about this.

The religious leaders were using the scriptures to try and trap the one who wrote the scriptures.

They didn't understand God's intentions because they didn't have God's heart.

Here we have Jesus in the middle of this crisis moment.

Think about this.

This woman was just dragged down the street, naked, ripped out of the home in an adulterous

affair thrown in front of the temple where Jesus is teaching.

And oh, by the way, when Jesus teaches, there are crowds of people gathered.

Jesus just calmly kneels down, starts writing in the sand.

In the middle of a crisis.

This had to be so confusing for the religious leaders because they're reading a scripture

that God wrote and they didn't realize that right in that moment, God was writing another

scripture.

Because everything that Jesus writes is scripture.

But see, this was a momentary scripture, not one that was passed on to us, but it was for

those religious leaders personally.

Let's continue.

They kept demanding an answer.

So you know now that they're at the boiling point.

They're frustrated.

They're aggravated.

Well, he's not paying attention to us.

He's not answering our question.

He's kneeling in the dirt.

They wanted to force Jesus to make a judgment.

They wanted to force Jesus to condemn her.

So he stood up again and said, now I love that other translations use the words straightened

up.

Oftentimes we miss this description from John.

We focus on Jesus writing in the sand, but we don't notice John wrote, no, he's straightened

up.

And I don't know what you think about Jesus, but I get really frustrated by the way he's

portrayed in movies and TV shows.

Because quite often, just being honest here, he's not very masculine or manly.

It's like, oh, that's Jesus.

Does he know how to do a push up?

Like, really?

He's not real aggressive.

He's just passive.

He's not very intimidating.

But I believe the scriptures leave us with enough evidence that when Jesus stood up in

this instance, he was intimidating.

How do I know that?

Think about it.

He goes into the temple with a whip and forces everyone to leave who was there using the

temple for their corruption, flipping tables.

And what did those people do?

They ran.

They ran.

This wasn't Jesus using his God powers.

This was Jesus using his manhood.

He stood up in the garden and answered the question of the Roman soldiers.

Oh, by the way, three or 400 of them.

And when he said, I am he, they fell backwards onto their knees.

See, when Jesus stands up in this instance, he's not standing up aggressively against

her.

He's standing up aggressively towards the accusers.

He straightens up.

He looks directly at them, tired of the questions, tired of them trying to force him to be a

God that he's not.

He says, all right, let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.

But the one who's never sinned throw the first stone.

Then notice what he does.

He stooped down and wrote again in the dust.

And when the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest

until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.

See what we find in this moment is that God is not saying the things against us that we

think he is saying.

I know God is saying to us this morning, you've been wonderfully made.

You were created in his image.

You're a masterpiece with unlimited value.

You matter more than you could ever imagine.

See, I believe God can't stop thinking about you in the most beautiful of ways.

See, God says things about us that we don't expect because he is not who we expect him

to be.

Yes, God is holy.

That is who God is.

But what is amazing to me is this, is that God can see everything about us.

He knows our thoughts.

He knows our hearts.

He knows our brokenness, our imperfections.

He knows our flaws.

He knows all the things that we hide from your neighbors that you're sitting beside.

He even knows the things that we hide from ourselves and believe he doesn't know.

Yet, are you ready for this?

He still absolutely longs to have a relationship with us.

He longs to have connection with us every single day.

God is not who you may think he is because God is the infinite source of forgiveness

and love.

And if we let him, he will silence our accusers.

All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.

What a question.

I mean, these men, they're in a hurry to condemn this woman.

And Jesus then flips the script and creates a filter for them to look at themselves.

And I believe some of these men were so arrogant that they believe they had no sin.

He said, well, Chris, how do you know that?

They didn't move.

Think about it.

Jesus makes that statement.

Let the one with no sin throw the first stone, right?

So he said, it didn't say they walked away.

It said that Jesus had to kneel down and start writing again.

And he begins to write in the sand.

And again, my imagination goes to, he first draws a line, right?

And on one side he writes sinless.

And on the other side, he begins to list the sins that those men were living in.

The older ones left first.

And why would the older religious leaders and teachers be the first to leave?

I mean, if you had something to do with what Jesus was writing, right?

He's listing their sins.

And if they've been in a relationship with Jesus for a long extent of time, I mean, excuse

me with God thinking that they're these religious elite, their sins add up.

And the older religious leaders, the older Pharisees, they were the most revered.

They were the holiest.

They were the ones that were supposed to reflect God, but they were the ones that what?

Dropped their stones first and left.

Because they saw themselves in the sand that was moved by the finger of God.

She could not defend herself.

These men were right.

She was an adulterous woman.

She was caught in the act and it was experiencing the worst moment of her life.

She had no defense.

And I think one of the most terrifying places to be in this life is when someone catches

you in your worst moment.

I mean, just think about it when someone says something about you or accuses you of something

that's not true.

You know how the gossip spreads and all this misinformation ends up in social media land?

Like we feel bad.

We defend ourselves.

But what is even worse is when the things that they're saying about you are true.

That you didn't want them to know.

That's when it's worse.

When people start talking about you and what they're saying is true.

And what is amazing about this encounter is we learn that this information stops being

discussed when it gets to God.

Does it matter what you've done in this life?

Does it matter how many voices you have in your head telling you you're not good enough?

That God can't change your life, that God can't do anything with you no matter how many

voices are always telling you that you're no good.

It always stops with Jesus.

Jesus will send away every accusation and God will silence the accusers in your life

if, if you let him.

I mean, I know I need it in my life.

I mean, think about it.

It's crazy.

No matter how long I live, I still hear voices in my head from when I was six years old.

Voices in my head that pop in from when I was 12.

Voices that are in your head from people that are no longer part of your life.

Voices in our head that makes us worse and brings out the worst in us.

I mean, all of us have these accusers inside of our minds, inside of our arts, but Jesus

has the power to silence them all.

We don't have to say, no, that's not true.

All we have to say is that is irrelevant.

That's not who I am now.

We don't have to change our past because by the way, it's impossible.

All we need to do is allow God to change our future.

One of the most liberating things in the world is when someone says to you and you're in

a discussion with it, with them, this is what I know about you.

And we can in turn say, friend, it's much worse than you thought.

If that is all you know about me, then you don't even know me.

It's much worse than you think.

But see, none of that matters.

None of that matters because just like a snake can shed its skin, we all can shed that part

of our life and say it's no longer part of me because I've stepped into a relationship

with Jesus and he forgives me.

He loves me and he accepts me.

And if you call that weak, I'm praying for you.

But see, people who don't like us, don't want us to be forgiven, they want us to pay for

our sins.

Humanity does not like to walk in forgiveness.

They want and desire people held accountable for their actions.

And I'm all about accountability.

I believe accountability is an important part of the change process.

But if we hold unforgiveness over others, it creates bitterness in us.

And you want the definition of bitterness?

It's an unwillingness to allow others to change.

And you hold them bondage.

God is never bitter towards us.

If there is anyone that we have ever hurt, it's God.

And he is always ready to silence the accusers so we can begin a new chapter in our life.

Which leads us to our final thought.

See, even at our worst, God sees us at our best.

When the accusers heard this, it slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest until

only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.

Now as I was reading this, you know, and diving into these verses, I began to wonder, why

is the woman still standing there?

I mean, I don't know about you, but if that were me, I'm out of there.

Right?

As soon as those accusers are walking away, I'm gone.

I would have run away.

Remember, this woman is naked, which is in and of itself is very uncomfortable.

And there she stands, and Jesus looks right in her eyes and asks her a simple question.

And it's funny again, I'm thinking in my head, well, you know, what would I ask her?

Because I've done this before.

If I was asking the question, I'd be like, what were you thinking?

Why?

Or have you learned your lesson?

I hope so.

How much pain do you need to experience to change?

Right?

That's human questions.

But notice Jesus doesn't ask any of those questions.

Let's continue.

Look, he stood up again.

Again, he stands up, looks at the woman and says, where are your accusers?

Can even one of them condemn you?

Who condemns you?

Where do they all go?

Wouldn't it be amazing to have all the people that don't believe in you suddenly just out

of your headspace?

Wouldn't it be amazing?

What if God could remove all those people who say you're nothing, you will never become,

you will always be the accusers, the one to define us by our worst moments.

But Jesus says, where are they?

And why does he say that?

Because Romans eight one tells us because there's no condemnation for those who belong

to Christ Jesus.

See God will look past their shame and see the beauty of who we can become if we let

him.

And again, going back to this exchange, it's like she's naked and Jesus is staring at her.

And I began to think, well, the disciples are there.

Like are they that worthless?

I mean, this woman's naked.

Why didn't one of them like run out and throw a coat over a blanket or something or cover

her?

And then I began to realize, you know, they probably didn't because they were agreeing

with the Pharisees.

Even they didn't know or understand how God looks at humanity.

This woman, she's standing there naked having a conversation with Jesus and there's no one

in the world available to condemn her.

And I have this sense and believe that she forgot she was naked in that moment.

Jesus did not see her shame or her guilt or her brokenness or her darkness or her sin.

He just saw this woman for her beauty.

He saw her freedom.

But notice Jesus makes her identify what had just happened.

Where are they who condemns you?

No one.

See, it's not enough for God to tell you, I don't condemn you.

It's not enough for the people you love to say, I don't condemn you.

We have to step into that place and own it.

Who condemns you?

No one.

So that all those voices are what silenced with God's love and forgiveness.

See, we need to hear Jesus speak into our hearts.

Church who condemns you?

We can now stand straight up and say, no one, no one condemns me.

Which leads us to our response.

You know, this talk is not about, hey, let me give you three action steps to freedom.

No, this talk requires a response.

If you want to walk free, it requires a response.

And Jesus tells us what to do.

He says, go and sin no more.

Look at John 8, 10 through 11.

Jesus straightened up and asked her, woman, where are they?

Because no one condemned you, no one, sir.

She said, then neither do I condemn you.

Jesus declared, go now and leave your life of sin.

See, Jesus wanted her to know that he knew who she was, what she had done, why she was

standing before him.

And he wasn't ignoring that brokenness of that sin.

He doesn't want her to remain in that place stuck with nowhere to go.

Don't go back to that destructive life.

Don't go back to that adulterous affair.

See, God refuses to leave us in our worst moments.

Sometimes we don't even love ourselves as much as God loves us.

Because we leave ourselves in the worst moments.

We leave ourselves in places to be tempted, to be sucked in and to be dragged down.

We leave ourselves in the worst version of ourselves.

I mean, I know you've looked in the mirror before and said, why can't I change?

Why can't I get it right?

And in that moment, I challenge you, stop listening to yourself and start listening

to Jesus.

Go and sin no more.

In other words, make choices that create a different life.

You've got to make choices that create a different life.

Jesus came to end judgment.

Jesus came to bring an end of condemnation and shame.

Jesus brought something new to all of humanity.

Forgiveness and love all in one action.

And I felt like this woman who stood before God in all her shame, in all her brokenness.

I felt the same way.

God, could I ever be different?

Could I become the type of person that you intend for me to be?

See, this is not a story about a person who got away with their worst moment.

This is a story about a woman who found a way to freedom from her worst self.

Do you think for one minute that she didn't think she deserved this?

This woman was literally dragged through the town, down the street, in front of all those

people completely naked in front of the temple.

See, I think in her heart, she believed that she deserved what was coming for her.

That God was going to bring judgment on her.

That the people were going to bring judgment on you.

And it's not you or me trying to convince God that we're worth the fight.

It's God trying to convince us that we're worth the sacrifice.

See, this story explains why Jesus chose to cross for you.

Why he chose the suffering, the pain, why he chose to give his life, his blood, his

last breath so that we can truly live.

Because when Jesus sees us at our worst, all he sees is the beauty of your life and its

intent and where it's going to become.

It's beautiful.

Jesus draws a line in his hand and he invites all of us to trust him, to cross that line,

to put our lives in his hands.

And again, this is a moment of reflection for all of us.

There is a God who sees us at our worst and yet still sees the best in us.

Jesus said, go now and leave your life of sin.

In other words, be free.

You've overcome it.

You're not in bondage anymore.

And it's crazy as I was reading these words, it's like, man, when I used to read it, it's

like when I read it, I was like, oh, Jesus was saying, I forgive you now.

Stop being bad, young lady.

Go now, stop being bad.

But now that I know the full character of Jesus, when I look into his eyes, he wasn't

saying that.

He looked at that woman and said, go now, you're free.

You don't have to go back there.

There is no condemnation.

You don't have to live with shame.

You don't have to go back to that life where you were living.

You don't have to live in condemnation.

Go now and be free.

And notice, notice he didn't say, hey, sweetheart, you're going to need six months of counseling

because you have daddy issues.

That's the reason you're sleeping around.

Daddy wasn't there for you.

You're finding love in all the wrong places.

You're going to need some counseling for that.

Did he say that?

What I'm trying to tell you is this.

There are some of you right now in this room, you think you're always going to be the way

you are because I've heard you say it out of your own mouth.

Well, I need that.

That's a part of me.

Helps me relax.

And you actually believe you can't be healed.

You believe that you cannot change.

And some of you, you're trapped in a sin that has held you hostage for years.

And when we read this story, I believe that one minute, 30 seconds in the presence of

Jesus can change everything for you.

When can it change?

Right now.

Church, when can it change?

Right now.

Then Jesus says these words in John 8-12.

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, I am the light of the world.

If you follow me, you won't walk in darkness because you will have the light that leads

to life.

So you never have to be in darkness again.

When Jesus looked at her and said, where are your condemners?

Neither do I condemn you.

At that moment, Jesus was not just the light of the world.

He became the light of her world.

And when he becomes the light of your world, you never walk in darkness again.

And some of you, I'm going to, it's going to get personal right now.

When Jesus is no longer just the light of the world, you know, some cheesy Christian

t-shirt that you used to wear as a kid.

Jesus, light of the world.

It does nothing for you.

But when he becomes your world, you don't have to walk in darkness ever again because

he overcame sin.

He defeated it.

There is no sin in your life more powerful than the grace of Jesus.

But Chris, it's that easy.

I've been held hostage all these years.

I have all these guilty feelings.

Romans 8.

So now there is no condemnation.

For those who belong to Christ Jesus and because you belong to him, the power of the Holy Spirit

is freeing you from the power of the sin that leads to death.

Stop making excuses, church.

You can be free right now and move forward in your life, but you got to make it personal.

You got to stop looking at everyone else, stop pointing fingers and make it personal.

Better yet, you need to drop this stone because for many of you, you know what you do with

this stone?

Not only do you beat others up with it, but you beat yourself up.

I'm no good.

I keep making mistakes.

Why do I always drink?

Why am I yelling at my kid?

I mean, just slam it, this can kill you.

And Jesus says, no more.

No and sin.