good-new-culture-a-sinful-woman

That's not the full thing, but we're going to start talking about kingdom culture and

how we can walk in it.

To begin with, and I've said this a few times, culture is the collective thinking.

It's the collective thinking of a people, and it's evidenced in collective values and

collective behavior.

Culture is the collective thinking of a people.

Is the collective thinking of a people.

Once a people begin to think and believe a certain way, collective thinking and belief

of a people, once they begin to think and believe a certain way, you'll see it in their

values and you'll see it in their behavior.

It is made evident in their values and made evident in their behavior.

We don't realize it because much of it is invisible, till it becomes visible.

We don't realize how powerful a force it is.

It takes time for culture to develop.

It takes time for culture to develop.

That's why, and when it develops, it's almost like the yeast that you put in dough.

It leavens the lump and you do not see it happening, but it is insidious and it keeps

happening.

And so we don't realize it till suddenly it emerges.

And when it emerges, it either looks ugly or it looks godly.

And it applies to the world, it applies to churches, it applies to your families, it

applies to our lives.

And so it's a collective thinking.

So we actually have a collective thinking that has been shaped over the last many years.

And when we have a collective thinking, we have a collective way of believing.

When we have a collective way of believing, we have collective values and then it shows

in our behavior.

And so one of the things we need to do as a church is continuously examine our culture.

Because God's truth keeps unfolding and as it unfolds, culture must change.

So, and I know I've said this many times before, what we knew two years ago is incomplete.

We keep moving towards completion.

And so the truths we knew two years ago will be added on to by Jesus and when he does,

we need to examine our culture, improve on it and preserve it.

We fight for it, we examine it, we improve it, we fight for it, we preserve it.

And when we don't fight for it, either it becomes crusty and institutionalized or it

becomes something that Noah did or Moses did, but it isn't what God wants to do today.

And as we get older, as you get older, you've got to be careful of this, eh?

Because as we get older, we prefer the ways we know well.

As we get older, we prefer the ways we know well.

And we've got to literally fight against this.

Because every movement of God has been stopped because at some point, people stopped thinking

that truth keeps unfolding and more will be added.

And that's how culture becomes a monster.

We've got to guard against it.

One of my cries as I get older is, Father, could you show where truth needs to now be

reshaped or where my life needs to be reshaped by the new truths that God is showing us?

Because He'll continuously show it.

For those of you who are relatively new, one of the things that Paul's dad used to often

say is the simple question, if you went and asked Noah, what shall I do to be saved?

What would he say?

Get into the ark.

If you went and asked Moses, what shall I do to be saved?

He'd say, follow the Ten Commandments.

If you went and asked David, what shall I do to be saved?

David would probably say, worship before the Lord and the ark of the covenant.

You get to John the Baptist, what shall I do to be saved?

And the answer is, repent and be baptized.

You get to Jesus and you would think that it should stop with Jesus and you ask, what

shall I do to be saved?

And he says, unless you be born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

You think it would stop there and then you go and meet a guy who's learned under Gamaliel

and you ask him, what shall I do to be saved?

And he says, not by works, but by faith.

How can one truth keep unfolding?

What if we held on to what Noah said or Moses said?

What if we held on to denominational aspects of things?

What if we held on to what Acts 29 has taught two years ago?

This is how culture destroys us or stymies us or stops us.

And then God looks looking, God goes looking for a remnant.

That's how critical this is, guys.

Wow, those kids are noisy.

So, it's a powerful force that invisibly influences the way we think and live.

It invisibly influences the way we think and live.

And so what happens is over a period of time, the very atmosphere in a place or the zeitgeist

of a place begins to reflect the way culture is.

So, if you go to Vegas, there's a certain culture.

If you go to Saudi Arabia, there's a certain culture.

And it's so different from each other, eh?

It's so different from each other.

Vegas is so different from Saudi.

It begins to affect your language.

It begins to affect the way you dress.

It begins to affect the way you think.

It begins to affect the way you speak.

It begins to affect what is possible.

It begins to affect what is not possible.

It affects everything.

We are just not aware of it because it's all around us.

And it takes time.

And that's why you have to fight for it.

You have to fight against that which tries to erode.

And you have to fight for that which you need to preserve.

And what is scary is when you're in a place where culture is so powerful,

and what is scary is we begin to fight for things that are old

when God is bringing in the new.

Any questions on that?

Play, if you're getting older, play games with your mind.

Keep your mind sharp.

Do things that are out of the ordinary.

You've gotten used to a pattern, change the pattern.

Change the pattern.

Unfamiliarity is what breaks us into new places.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

Rephrase that question.

Yeah, I have a feeling whenever God wants to introduce something new,

he begins to process over a period of time.

He knows how change is not easy.

And so he begins to drop these hints.

Then there are breadcrumbs and it's being said.

Then you begin to notice it when you're reading scriptures.

And he said this in the Old Testament that before I want to do something,

I begin to announce it.

With a church like this where things are, where the prophetic is easy or flows easy,

he'll begin to give us hints that he's up to something.

And he begins to announce it so that he prepares us.

That's a strange thing.

Before Jesus had to come, there was preparation.

And the preparation began somewhere in First Kings and then wove its way into Malachi.

And then the last was Malachi.

And then you jump into the New Testament and there's Elijah, John, who's a type of Elijah.

And he begins to say the same thing.

Israel was being prepared for the one who was to come.

And their culture blinded them.

Because what did their culture teach them?

That a king cannot grow up in Nazareth.

What good can come out of?

And so hints will always be dropped.

It's just that why change when we have a good thing going?

That's the problem.

Why change when we have a good thing going?

Because a good thing ain't a God thing.

We change because we want a God thing going, not a good thing going.

If I...

Yeah.

Preferably use a sledgehammer.

But if you're scared of a sledgehammer, just try using water or something.

The other thing with regard to culture is that we have a lot of people who are afraid of water.

The other thing with regard to culture is that it is effortlessly, it is effortlessly,

once it's established, it's effortlessly and unconsciously passed on from generation to generation.

Effortlessly and unconsciously passed on from generation to generation.

From generation to generation.

It just becomes so normal for people to live in that.

In Jeremiah 32 or 36...

Sorry, in Jeremiah 35, you read about these guys called the recubites.

And Jeremiah kind of springs a trap for them.

He brings bowls full of wine and he places it before the recubites.

Because it's a parable that he wants Israel to notice.

And he calls these recubites and he says to the recubites,

listen, why don't you drink this wine?

But the recubites come from this clan that was started by a guy called Johnadab.

And Johnadab had given them this simple principle that was practiced over years.

You will not drink wine, you will not have houses, you will build tents, you will stay in tents.

And these guys had continued that for years.

And so even though Jeremiah, this great prophet, is offering them wine

and he was supposed to be the voice of God, these guys say no.

Once culture is established, filters are built, man.

One of the things Jesus wants to do amongst us is,

hey, can I introduce this idea of kingdom culture?

And I'll tell you how simple it is so that you can begin to operate in it.

Your mind will think like it.

And we'll just take a portion of it today.

And then over the next many weeks, I don't know when we'll exhaust it,

we'll just go from portion to portion to portion.

Yeah, he honored them.

It was almost like a test.

What I'm saying is these guys were so used to a certain way of functioning

that instead of giving into what Jeremiah was saying,

it was like, nope, this is what our dads taught us.

And then Jeremiah says, look Israel, they listen to their father.

How come you don't listen to the father?

Culture has changed through influencers.

I love, I mean, I've seen business cards with the title influencer now.

I find that freaky.

Yeah.

Who are you?

I'm an influencer.

So culture has changed through influencers.

And influencers use words.

Culture has changed through influencers.

And influencers use words.

Words affect thinking.

Thinking affects beliefs.

Values are then created.

Behavior is modified.

And you have to pay a price for the words you use.

What I'm finding difficult now is the world is willing to pay a price for the words they use.

We are not.

I keep referring to Harvey Milk, who used words to give life to LGBTQ being the norm.

But he paid a price for the words he spoke.

And he paid it.

They beat him up.

They did everything.

But today, look at the effect of his words.

And while he was using words, the church was not using words.

Influencers use words.

You must speak, guys.

This kingdom must have a voice.

And it's not God's voice.

It's not lightning.

It's not thunder.

It's not a rainbow.

It's you.

You must use words.

The world has always been framed for better or for worse by the spoken word or the written word.

Someone writes a book, changes everything, man.

Okay.

So before we talk about kingdom culture, just I know we've been over this before,

but just want to quickly say the church is not the kingdom.

The church is not the kingdom.

The church is not the kingdom.

We've gone over this before, but the kingdom is the rule of God.

The church is, simplifying it, the church is the fellowship of men and women

who have received the rule of God in their lives.

The church is not the kingdom.

The kingdom is the rule of God, the reign of God, like the presidency of Obama

or the presidency of Biden or the presidency of Trump.

That's a rule of Jesus, the presidency of Jesus Christ.

So that is what is afoot in the world, whether the world recognizes it or not.

The presidency of Jesus Christ is what prevails in the world right now.

So the kingdom is the rule of God.

It affects everything.

There's nothing that's free of the rule or the reign of Christ.

So that's the kingdom.

The church is the men and women who have received this rule into their lives.

And therefore, one of the things God does with the church is that

he uses the church to be a witness, an instrument, and a custodian of his rule.

That's one of his intents.

Okay, so you're my sons and daughters.

I know you understand now what it is to enter the kingdom of God,

because I said to you through my son that unless you be born again,

you cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Now that you're citizens of the kingdom,

I want you to be a witness to what the kingdom looks like.

We give people a taste of what it is.

So every time you pray and a prayer is answered,

people see what a future kingdom looks like in the present.

Every time someone is healed,

people taste of something that awaits them in the future,

but it is already present.

Every time you take away someone's sorrow and bring them joy,

bring them comfort, clothe someone,

you are bringing something in the future into Middle-earth,

and they get a taste of it.

For Jesus, this was super important.

Yes, he came to preach the kingdom,

but it was so necessary for him to make sure that his words were matched by work.

And so we are a witness to this, his rule.

We are an instrument of his rule.

Who does he use?

He can do this through angels.

He can do this without intervention, but my God, he uses people, man.

So a lady who walks down the steps in a red jacket

now gets affected by a bunch of guys who are instruments

and a witness to the rule of God, which wants to touch her life.

And it is impossible for her to escape it.

It begins like this, a little seed is thrown in.

How long did it take before you got saved?

I had people following me around for years on end

before one day things changed.

Who was responsible for it?

I don't know.

I think all of them.

We are custodians of his rule, as in...

If you go to Mecca,

the king of Saudi is called the custodian of the two mosques,

as in he is supposed to look after, make sure it is intact,

make sure it is presented properly.

We are custodians of the kingdom.

It should show in our lives.

It should show in our marriages.

It should show in our marriages, in the way we conduct church,

in the way we present Jesus.

Jesus is not a high God.

He is a really nice God, friendly God, low God.

I shudder when I think of God being a high God.

He was a high God as long as we didn't know him as Father.

The moment he became Father, things changed.

Sometimes that's how you judge the timber of a church, T-I-M-B-R-E.

Is he recognized as Father?

Because if he is not recognized as Father,

you do not have a Christian God.

When someone walks into a place,

if they don't see God as Father in that place,

you do not have a Christian God,

because every God can be God,

but only one God can be Father.

And if I don't get that right,

I don't get the Christian God right.

Because Jesus came to show us that.

Even the kingdom that Jesus has established is governed by culture.

It's governed by a certain culture.

In fact, I'd say that he gave the law so that he could create a culture.

The law was given so that he could create a culture.

What is a culture?

We hear about it in 1st Peter.

What is a culture?

We hear about it in 1st Peter where it says peculiar nation,

peculiar people, a holy nation,

a royal priesthood.

When Israel got the law,

part of God's reason was,

listen guys, I'm giving you a new way of living

so that the nations around will know that you belong to a different king

and you have a different culture.

It made them so distinct from the other nations around them.

So the kingdom has culture and it is really important to God that we live that way.

Paul's letters after the first chapter of greeting and the last chapter

where he tells you where he's going and says,

say hello to these and that,

Paul's letters, the middle is always about this is how we live.

It's behavior.

This is who you are, therefore this is how you must live.

I will pick on a few today.

So here's a question I have for you.

If you could use three or four words to sum up what kingdom culture is,

how would you phrase it?

Guys on the sound booth cannot say anything because they know the answer.

So how would you phrase kingdom culture if you had three or four words to express it?

How would you phrase it?

If you had three or four words to explain kingdom culture

in words that are more understandable, how would you phrase it?

Shall we just say hello to him anyways?

Hey Chad, I just want you to know that you're

not supposed to be here.

I'm just curious and you disturbed me.

Just so you know.

Don't say.

Nice salvage.

I'll call you back.

Bye.

Don't be surprised if my mom calls me next.

Okay, so how do you define kingdom culture?

Some simple words for kingdom culture.

Free.

Love.

Representing Christ on earth.

Representing Christ on earth.

You can't get this wrong.

God's heart.

Self sacrifice.

Joy.

I knew you would say that.

Paul's motto for life is let's have fun.

It's a good one though.

Peace.

Okay, you're all right, but I'm going to be a writer.

So what is kingdom culture?

Let's just go down the road of it is a good news culture.

So what is kingdom culture?

It's a good news culture.

So let's just go down the road of it is a good news culture.

And so the question then is what does good news look like?

Everything about this culture, kingdom culture, is a good news culture.

It's a good news culture.

In fact, in the book of Luke on many occasions you would hear Luke writing about

Jesus went and preached the good news of the kingdom.

Luke chapter four, Luke chapter eight, Luke chapter 12, good news of the kingdom.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

Acts chapter eight again talks about and so he went about preaching the good news of the kingdom.

This culture or this way of thinking is always good news.

We don't think so and not as the world think that of us.

And so everything you mentioned is part of this good news equation.

So we'll take stories, we'll take teachings of Jesus over the next few weeks

and look at the good news culture that Jesus wanted here on earth.

So it's a good news culture.

Luke 443, Luke 8 1, Luke 16 16, Acts 8 12.

You'll see that.

So we'll take the story today from Luke chapter seven, verse 36 to 50.

Luke seven, 36 to 50.

Just pull out some principles from that and then try to practice it this week.

Luke chapter seven, verse 36 to 50.

Okay, let me read from the NIV.

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him,

he went to the Pharisee's house and he reclined at the table.

A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house,

so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.

As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.

And she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisees who were invited him saw this, he said to himself,

if this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is, that she is a sinner.

Jesus answered him, Simon, I have something to tell you.

Tell me, teacher, he said.

Two people owed money to a certain money lender.

One owed him 500 denarii and the other 50.

Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both.

Now which of them will love him more?

Simon replied, I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.

You have judged correctly, Jesus said.

Then he leaves Simon alone, eh?

And he turns towards the woman and says to, and said to,

then he turned towards this woman and said to Simon,

Do you see this woman? I came into your house.

You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

You did not give me a kiss, but this woman from the time I entered has not stopped kissing my feet.

You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.

Therefore I tell you, how many sins have been forgiven as a great love has shown.

But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.

Then Jesus said to her, your sins are forgiven.

The other guests began to say among them, who is this who even forgives sins?

Jesus said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.

Guys, so here are the things we need to know about her.

What's her job? She's a prostitute.

Because sometimes when we read scriptures, we just make everything so romantic and so nice.

And there's this poor little woman sitting there and we sanitize it.

And it's not true. It's not true.

So what's her job? She's a prostitute.

Social status, a word we don't use too often, a word that carries a lot of strength in it.

She's a whore.

What about her purity?

She's absolutely impure, probably hangs around with gentile clients too.

And that kind of impurity in those days was contagious.

You couldn't have her come anywhere near you.

Was she successful at her business? Yep.

Because she could afford an alabaster flask of perfume.

So she probably was good at prostituting.

And then she has the audacity to be an intruder in someone's house uninvited.

Suddenly it doesn't look all that romantic and poetic, right?

There's a guy called Gary Smith who's a Jesuit priest who used to work the streets of Portland.

And he said that if you want to know the indignity that humans can visit on another, go speak to a woman on the streets.

You've got to destroy this image of some beautiful poor woman sitting at Jesus' feet.

She must have been messed around so badly.

But how come she has the audacity to intrude and come into a Pharisee's house?

I'd suggest to you it is perhaps because she knew that Jesus was a friend of sinners.

I don't know if someone can say that of me.

I don't know if someone can say that of you.

Sometimes when these stories happen, guys, we are so far from the one who we call Lord, it's scary.

There's almost no semblance.

That bothers me.

They would not say of me.

After, I've been a Christian for 32 years, they would not say of me that Jacob, oh yeah, he's a friend of sinners.

That gives her the audacity to walk into someone else's house.

And what she's doing there is erotic.

She goes there, and to begin with, untying her hair would be like a woman today wearing hardly anything.

It is as unashamed as today a woman not wearing much.

She unties her hair and then she goes, sits behind Jesus, and then she starts wiping his feet with her hair.

You have no idea what people around were thinking, eh?

This was what a prostitute would do as a sexual favor for a client, and she's doing that.

Only the intent is different.

This story seems so not Christian.

It doesn't fit in a church like this.

And you and I thought that we were cool.

This is the good news culture.

We'll talk about it some.

So our actions would have been erotic in the eyes of people.

It was almost like it was a sexual favor being done to a client.

And yet, Jesus allows this shame to be removed.

It was a sexual favor being done to a client.

And yet, Jesus allows this shameless act to continue.

And he does not stop her.

And he's losing his reputation in the bargain.

Man, you and I are so careful about our reputation.

The good news culture cannot go forward as long as I want to maintain my dignity.

These are some non-negotiables that Jesus has put in place.

There's nothing we can do about it.

I cannot progress the good news culture till I allow my dignity and my reputation to regress.

So he's in this man's house.

Please don't think Pharisees were evil.

You and I have bouts of Phariseism every week.

So they were not evil people, but you would be scandalized too, man.

If this was happening to me and you caught me sitting like this and a woman doing this, you would say,

you know, something's really wrong with Jacob.

If you were sitting there and I saw it, you'd be in probation the very next week.

So please be aware that we shouldn't...

You know, whenever we read stories like this, we think,

I can think of that church and if they went to that church, man, she'd be treated that way.

No, you would treat them that way.

We would treat them that way.

Any questions before we go on?

Any questions before we go on?

The guests are appalled that he's not censoring wickedness.

Because he's supposed to be someone who's a rabbi, a prophet, and he's not...

As a godly man, he shouldn't be allowing this.

So how do we deal with it?

We just go once a week now to Wally or we go once a year, but this is not how we think.

Culture is thinking. Culture is collective thinking.

We do not think like this.

I'm not saying that this means that everybody now must go and take care of the homeless, the drug addicts, and the prostitute.

I'm saying... We'll come to what I'm saying, but the thing is, this is not how I think.

You are not known as a friend of sinners.

What a cool title, eh?

Jacob, friend of sinners.

Any questions, guys?

Okay.

It's strange, but it is Jesus' acceptance.

It is Jesus' acceptance.

This is such a strange thing, man.

I wish I'd learned it.

It is Jesus' acceptance that begins the process of repentance.

It is Jesus' acceptance that begins the process of repentance.

Jesus' acceptance of what?

Of a woman who...

I don't know if the Holy Spirit told Jesus what she was up to.

Must have freaked Jesus out a little when this woman came and he's eating a meal and she comes and starts washing his feet with it.

Please understand, Jesus wasn't aware of everything.

He was aware of things that the Holy Spirit showed him.

What if the Spirit of God didn't show him what this woman was doing?

What if the Spirit of God didn't show him what this woman was up to?

And then he looks at her face and he begins to realize what's happening.

But initially...

But his acceptance of the person begins to lead to the process of repentance.

We want to have them repent and then accept them.

He accepts and then it leads to repentance.

Very strange switch he makes here, man.

This is the good news culture.

It's very different from the culture that we are cultivating.

We cultivate culture.

He's trying to cultivate good news culture.

And so in Jesus' acceptance, repentance begins.

And then he waits for the repentance to be expressed in action.

He waits for the repentance to be expressed in action.

And suddenly the erotic becomes extravagant.

Suddenly the erotic becomes extravagant.

Don't remember the last time I used the word erotic in a teaching.

Suddenly the erotic becomes extravagant.

Where normally you annoy someone's feet with oil.

You give a lot of oil in the back of your head.

where normally you anoint someone's feet with oil, she doesn't use oil, she uses expensive perfume.

Normally you take a towel to wipe someone's feet, she doesn't use a towel, she uses her hair.

Normally you use water, she uses tears. It must have been such an odd scene, eh?

Jacob, what was the repentance that you noticed that changed everything? At what point did that become repentance?

I don't know, I was thinking about that. What was it Jesus that made you realize what was happening?

Was it her tears? When she starts crying and she's...

I mean she would have come with an alabaster...

Flask, yeah.

...to... she wanted to present it to Jesus. When she got there, she would have been overcome with how inadequate she was and how amazing he was.

And that probably would have started her tears. She probably wasn't planning to come, and all he was crying at his feet.

I don't think these actions were planned by her.

I think one of the beautiful things about repentance is you can't script it.

As it evolves, Jesus is seeing it happen.

It is his kindness that leads us to be...

Yeah, his kindness and his acceptance of...

This is something we need to give, guys.

And then you don't need a prayer. You don't need to hear a prayer to release forgiveness.

One of the things Jesus says to his disciples is, if you retain it, it is retained. If you release it, it is released.

We must be able to see repentance a mile away, just like Jesus sees my repentance a mile away.

Before I can say words, his words are already...

You had me at... hello.

He doesn't say that. That's Tom Cruise.

But the point is... my God.

I was looking around and I thought someone thought that was scripture. No, it was a line from Tom Cruise.

Yeah.

It's been a long time since you've been in a church.

I don't know the fullness of the story, but there's something about it that we must learn.

We don't pause on these stories.

We don't pause on these stories.

I want to pause on these stories over the next little while so that we understand what good news culture looks like.

And the other strange thing is she's not kissing his cheek, his hands.

She's going for the lowest unclean part of the body because bond servants used to wash feet.

She's kissing his feet.

The other thing I want to destroy from your minds is some beautiful looking woman.

I've seen prostitutes who have been prostitutes on the streets here in Vancouver for about six years.

Usually by the time they've got cuts on their mouth.

They have become so grotesque because of what man has done to them.

So we need to perish this biblical poetic license we take with these stories.

And into this cesspool comes the good news culture.

And it does something to lives, man.

And I know some of us are going to Wally and I have a word for you who are going to Wally to do this.

Do not think that going to Wally makes it good news culture.

The good news culture is the good news culture.

Do not think that going to Wally makes it good news culture.

The good news culture has to be here.

What you're doing is phenomenal.

But I pray God that we will begin to think like this.

Then we don't have to go to Wally.

We can go anywhere. We will see.

I want my mind not to be blinded anymore.

Please don't think I'm diminishing the value of what you do in Wally.

Thank God you're doing it and setting an example for us.

But we're looking at more than an action. We're looking at a way of thinking.

Jesus says publicly, and this is the last point before we touch on some of the things we can take away as good news culture.

Jesus says publicly, your sins are forgiven. Your faith has made you whole. Go in peace.

He usually says that to people who are sick, if the woman with the issue of blood touched you,

he says, your sins are forgiven. Your faith has healed you. Go in peace.

To lepers, he'll say that. Your faith has made you whole. Go in peace.

He says that to a woman who is doing this to him.

And he turns to the rest of the crowd and says, what are the things that we don't do?

And I pray God that I change in this and you change in this.

Guys, we are looking to give people an understanding of the forgiveness of God.

We are looking to give people the divine assurance of heaven.

Jesus does that, but something that's so important to Jesus is,

can I now bring her back to be included in the community that she has been excluded from?

And that is super difficult.

The good news of the culture always brings people that are on the outside to the inside.

And that is where it's costly.

Leading a person in prayer is easy.

So let's assume that I lead him in prayer and I give him the divine assurance of being born again

and his sins are forgiven. Great. I can walk away now.

But there is nothing that I've done to bring Nick back into the community that he has been out of for years.

That is something that Jesus is so insistent on.

That is part of the reason he created the body.

He puts the solitary in families.

So Jacob, how do we go about this?

Let me begin by thinking like that so that I'll do something about it that will create safe spaces

because we don't create safe spaces.

We leave it to ministries.

We leave it to ministries.

This is not going to be a fun series.

It's going to be difficult.

Jesus' concern goes beyond forgiveness.

His intent is, can I restore this woman to the community?

Can I have her socially accepted?

Are you able to do that?

This is why I was fascinated when Prashanth Pawan and Mohini found that lady in Wall-E and brought her home.

They didn't even think about it.

Just brought her home.

Acceptance, inclusion.

Any thoughts?

Anything you want to say towards it?

Do you realize how difficult it is?

I'll have to visit your house next week.

He still can't get it figured.

One day I got up and I went, my office is empty because he traded it for guys.

And then he refused to admit it after that.

We'll talk about how do we deal when we are exploited another time.

There's good news culture with exploitation too.

You can't get exploited if you don't allow someone to exploit you.

There are boundaries that need to be set.

One sermon cannot cover everything.

But one of the things we need to realize is we are not as concerned about inclusive.

I remember May, maybe sat someone for a day and a half for hours.

Okay, just keep that in mind.

So here are the things that we can put down as good news culture.

And may you practice at least one of this this week every week.

Can you pick up one of the things we talk about?

So the good news culture, we'll call it GNC.

I think that's some vitamin, right?

Yeah, I've seen GNC on bottles.

Okay, that's what it is.

Vitamins for life.

So good news culture, invite the uninvited.

This is something, that's one.

I'll give you a set of six or seven.

You can pick one of them and practice it this week.

And then we can talk about it next week.

Invite the uninvited.

Accept.

And you'll have to define what accept looks like for you.

Accept the rejected.

Touch the untouchable.

I'm not talking about going all the way to India.

And I'm not talking about Dalit.

And I'm not talking about Dalits or untouchables.

I'm talking about the untouchables here.

I can't even believe that.

That's what they think of it.

Accept the rejected.

Touch the untouchable.

Acceptance can happen without touching.

I want to accept them in here and in here.

Then I want to be able to do something for them physically.

But they're very similar.

I can accept the rejected.

And not do anything that will embrace them or make them feel physically any closer.

I was sitting next to a guy in an airplane.

And he started coughing.

Like crazy.

And first I started praying, Father keep me safe.

But he wouldn't quit coughing. He really started coughing.

So now I'm not breathing.

I've inhaled, I'm not breathing and I'm still saying, Father keep me safe.

And then at some point I realized, okay, pray for him.

So start praying for him.

So I accept that this guy is coughing. Pray for him.

I'm glad you're praying, but do something a little more.

So then I let go of my breath because now I'm breathing normal while he's coughing.

And then I picked out lozenges, gave it to him.

I gave him a bag to throw into.

And then I started massaging his back because he was really coughing and nobody wanted to get near him.

So there's an acceptance and then there is a physical action.

And one may lead to the other.

But they are very similar.

I was appalled at how I held my breath, man.

It's just crazy what happens to you.

You know, many times these things, we don't go down this road because of either fear or because of the inconvenience.

See, the good news culture is highly inconvenient.

That is why preaching the good news is so much easier.

Just preach and leave.

Pastors have become experts at that.

And college professors.

I just thought I'll shoot one your way, Paul.

They want to take all the blame on myself.

Touch the untouchable.

Defend the victim.

Defend the victim.

I love this next one.

I pray, God, that I get to do this this week.

Honor the ashamed.

Here's another one that I want to see if it'll happen this week.

Make the...

Make first those who are last.

Last.

Give faith to the faithless.

You can pick one of these or two of these.

Ask God.

When I was driving here, I was saying, Father, this is your desire.

Make it...

Give us an opportunity.

Make whole what is broken.

They're very similar.

Some of these are overlaps.

Make whole what is broken.

And the last one is the toughest.

Receive back into the community.

And you are community.

You are the Samaritan.

Yeah.

Yeah, man.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Every person in society falls under this.

In fact, at some point, we talk about how do we deal with the oppressor?

The good news of the culture is also for the oppressor, for the ones in power,

for the ones who have victimized this woman.

Surely the good news culture is for them too.

As we go down this, we realize, oh, shucks.

Yes, we took a story that Jesus was sharing, and so we are highlighting this woman.

But there are people that are wanting to sleep with her, wanting to stone her, wanting to pay her.

What about the oppressor?

He needs a good news culture too.

So here are the...

Thanks, Heidi, for bringing it up.

So here's the thing.

This is not just for the ones who are being victimized.

Everyone needs this culture, man.

And they don't see it.

So the ones that I'm picking, and I'm hoping will happen to me this week, is five and six.

I want to be able to somehow honor the ashamed and make first someone who has gotten accustomed to being last.

Conferring worth is something Jesus delights in.

The parable of the lost coin is basically that.

Who would even look for a five-cent coin that goes under your sofa?

And yet there you go, looking for it.

And then when you find it, you make such a noise about it.

And the five-cent coin's thinking, oh my God, I didn't know I was so valuable.

There is something called conferring worth.

And this is the good news culture.

Any questions?

Yep.

Number seven.

Give faith to the faithless.

Jesus turns to this woman and says, hey, your faith has made you whole.

She had no idea.

She didn't even know what she was doing.

But there was something she recognized in Jesus.

And he immediately realized that, okay, she's trusting him to bring her wholeness.

She is trusting him to bring her wholeness.

She does not know how.

She doesn't do what she's doing.

But there's something inside of that that's beginning to clear.

Can I, in my interactions with a person, begin to have them have hope in someone who can put their lives back together?

Give faith to the faithless.

Give them a glimpse of this can happen.

For the guy yesterday who was on the 17th floor wanting to jump, you don't know how much faith and hope came into his life yesterday.

He's sitting there weeping.

And he's saying, you have no idea.

And he can see that it's come full circle.

I was planning to jump off this room.

And now I have come back to the same room.

What are the odds?

And you are saying to me that you will give me life and you will give life through me.

Suddenly there was this small tunnel that opened up through his pain.

And he's sobbing uncontrollably.

Faith to the faithless.

Just a little bit of hope, man.

It is brilliant light, eh?

A little bit of hope is brilliant light.

It's piercing.

Any other questions?

Okay, let's quickly pray.

Just if you know how to pray for this, pray.

And then I'll conclude.

I'm off to Bahrain and India on Tuesday and I'll be back on the 26th.

But let's just pray for this first.

And then if you need prayer, there will be four people out here who will pray for you.

So if you have a need for prayer, feel free to come up.

Are we meeting for prayer tomorrow evening?

Don't know.

But you'll get an email if you are.

Likely Tuesday and Derek will lead it or one of the other guys will lead it.

Sorry.

Let's pray.

Holy Spirit, this can't be.

This can't be just a sermon.

It has to be real.

We have to learn this.

It's our time to learn this.

Please help us how to put it into words so that we can pray your will for us and to you so that we can walk in it.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

I just prayed.

I prayed against inhibitions.

I prayed for.

I don't know.

We have to show it.

Let's share it.

Let's move together.

Let's move together.

Lord Jesus, please give us the heart of obedience to overcome the doubts that we have about this anxiety and the fear that we have when we go towards evil Christian groups.

Yes.

Give us obedience so that we listen to you and we go towards God.

Let our faith impact the obedience to go from this room to the church and to the street.

If not for that obedience, Father, that night would not have seen that beautiful thing that happened last night.

You like the heart of obedience?

So we're used to highlighting our lives, the lost ones.

But if you were, if you were a person who lived through the 1990s, you would be so comfortable and content in your 1999s that the ones you didn't see again.

But in this story that we talked about today, Father, he was surrounded by the culture that he was supposed to be living in.

But yet he knew that wasn't his culture.

And because of his awareness, his awareness of how he was supposed to walk, she knew that he was a friend of his.

So Father, may we start shifting, may the importance of the one become so critical, so important in every area of how we walk.

It's no longer about us, Father, but it's about those out there who you have been yearning and dying for.

Father, sometimes it can be so easy to be comfortable with where we are.

But your desire is for us to go out, your desire is for us to find our lost.

It's what you display that's what we display you to the world around us.

So may the one become so important, Father. May each person, each day, in each situation with, may they be so highly aware of you.

He's sitting at the table, maybe he didn't know. But all of a sudden he's very clear about it.

Hey, this is what's going on, this is how I need to respond. There's importance here, there's significance here.

Yeah.

Father, we can identify ourselves as a woman, a valid one, because we were a one-step woman.

And thereby we can pour everything that holds us back onto your feet, Father.

Pour everything out, Father. Every human, Father. Every people's, people's see things that we can't identify.

But we can just pour it out, Father, until you are. And then pour it onto the floor. That is your purpose.

One.

How does overcome convenient comfort and comparability?

We are able to overcome this. Open our eyes.

Open our eyes.

Open our eyes.

Open our eyes.

Open our eyes.

Yeah.

Jesus, I want to piggyback off what Prashanth said. We lay our hands on our eyes right now.

We want our eyes opened. To see how you see, to see what you see.

To know what is immediately urgent, to notice what is unnoticed.

Doesn't matter whether it's a homeless person or a person with a mansion.

I lay hands on my eyes right now.

And I say, open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open my eyes, my physical eyes, my heart eyes, my spiritual eyes, my mind's eyes.

Open my eyes so that I'm not blinded anymore.

And then during the week, help me to get one, two, three of these things that represent the Good News culture.

Let me be able to practice it. Open my eyes and I will see.

When I see I have the choice. But bring me to that place of choice.

Please ask for all of us.

Teach us Jesus. Teach us the Spirit of God.

You're the only one who can do this for us. We want to be like Jesus.

We want to be like Jesus.

So we thank you.

Amen.

Bless you guys.