The Rhythm of the Gospel by Abram DePrang

Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast.

Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

I'm excited this morning to kick off a new series that we're in called Pillars, the Foundations of Our Faith.

I've been given a tough assignment.

I'm gonna kick us off next week.

Pastor Lisa Harper will be in the building for week two.

And you cheering is the reason this is a tough assignment for me because I'm getting followed up by Lisa Harper.

But man, I really feel like the Lord gave me a word for our church this weekend.

And so let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you so much for your goodness for being with us this morning that you decide to meet with us here.

God, we just take a moment right now and we say thank you for our country.

Thank you for our freedom.

God, thank you that our country is returning back to you in Jesus' name.

God, we we say and we give this country to you and submit to your authority.

Lord, we pray today for our brothers and sisters in Kerrville, Texas.

Lord, all of those responding, the first responders, Lord, who are still looking for those who are missing.

God, we pray for your guidance and your direction, that they would find those who are missing, God, for the families who are receiving heartbreaking news, Lord.

We pray your peace that surpasses understanding would rest on them.

God, let us as the church, as their neighbors over here in South Lake, Texas, Lord, would you give us guidance on how we can respond?

Whether it's through prayer or finances, Lord, help us be the church and be your hands and feet.

God, we thank you for this weekend.

Lord, would you speak through the word in Jesus' name?

Amen.

Amen.

I'm a church kid.

I grew up a church kid.

My parents brought me to Baptist church growing up, Pentecostal church growing up.

I've been to everything.

I've been to churches where nobody raises their hands, and I've been to churches where people are passing out on the floor.

I've been to both.

And in church, it'll reveal a lot about us as a community.

It'll reveal a lot about you.

It can reveal beautiful things about your identity.

You can find friends, community join groups, all those things.

But one thing that the church does really well is it reveals who does and who doesn't have rhythm.

Very few communities in the world are gathering once a week to clap on beat.

And I was at a young adult service this past Tuesday night, and I was getting ready to speak, and there was a young lady who was worshiping to the Lord beautifully.

And I was really struggling because it was completely off of rhythm.

No rhythm?

And the Lord thought it was beautiful, and I was struggling.

But rhythm's a funny thing.

Rhythm, whether you know it or not, everything we do is in a rhythm.

I'm gonna show you a little girl named Everly who's got great rhythm.

She's my two and a half-year-old daughter.

Oh, if you didn't know there was a wheels on the bus techno version, there is.

And we're also extremely tired.

Rhythm.

Everything is in rhythm.

I don't know if you know this or not, but you today, this morning, were a part of an environmental rhythm: the sunrise and the sunfall, the moon, the tides, migration patterns, it's all rhythm, social rhythms, daily routines, mealtimes, work, school, family time.

Even if you were to lock yourself away in a dark room alone for the rest of your life, please don't.

But if you did, you would still be in rhythm because we all have a biological rhythm.

We have a circadian rhythm.

That's our 24-hour internal clock.

Our heart has a rhythm.

Our brain has electrical patterns, our brain has rhythms.

There's menstrual cycle rhythm.

I hear that's a tough one.

There's body temperature rhythm.

That's why you're colder in the morning and warmer in the evening.

Your motor skills have rhythm, how you walk, how you chew, how you swallow.

Even when you eat food, your digestive system moves food through your body in a rhythm.

Your sleep cycle has a rhythm.

Light sleep, deep sleep, rim sleep.

Shout out to all the young parents in the room who have kissed Rim sleep goodbye.

But the reason I want us to understand that this morning is because we need to understand that when God picked up dust in Genesis chapter 2 and breathed in it to form man, he didn't just set Adam in motion, he set Adam in rhythm.

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

In Genesis chapter 2, when God picks up dust from the earth and breathes into it, he sets Adam in rhythm.

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

We're gonna pick up today, if you've got your Bibles, in Genesis chapter 3, verse 7.

Genesis 3:7

We're gonna be in Genesis.

We're also gonna be in Matthew and John and all over the place.

But we're gonna start in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Some context here is God has created Adam and Eve, he's told them you can eat from any tree of the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve, they do it anyway, and sin at this point has entered the world.

Everything up to this moment has been Adam and Eve hand in hand, walking with God in the cool of the day, in unity, living life together.

And we resume in verse 7.

Then the eyes of both of them, that's Adam and Eve, were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you?

So he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself.

This is such an important passage of Scripture because this is the first time God, the creator of the universe, who already has all of the answers, asks a question.

Where are you?

Now we're a generational church.

We've got young people in here, and we've got not young people in here this morning.

I don't know if you know this, but it is a popular thing right now to share your location with one another.

Okay, I don't know if anybody, I'm actually don't raise your hand.

Um it's a popular thing, families.

There's an app called Life 360 where parents they know right here.

I see you shaking your head, Khalila.

Listen, Lafambros down here, Khalila might not even know this, but Kenneth and Irene know how fast she drives when she drives her car.

Tracking your location has become this thing.

Me and my wife do it.

We just share our location.

Friends do it, there's social media apps that do it.

That one's kind of scary.

But me and my wife, we share our location.

Now, on the day-to-day basis, week in and week out, I'll be at work.

My wife will be home with the kids, and then we will set a time, a meeting place in order to go meet somewhere.

It might be church, it could be the park, it can be several different things, and we'll say, hey, hey Hannah, I um we're gonna meet at this place, we're gonna meet here at 3.30 p.m.

See you there.

Now, if we come into an agreement at this is our particular location, one of the reasons we share our location is I would never expose her, but I get to places on time and she doesn't.

If I go to that certain location and I get there at 3.30, I don't call her first, I check her location.

And me, like many men in this room, I have learned that even if my wife has been given a set location at a certain time, and she's even told, your life depends on it.

You gotta get there.

If she gets in her car and she passes a coffee shop, that coffee shop will take my money.

If I get to that spot at 3.30 and she's not there, I will check her location.

She might be in traffic on 114, she might be doing something else and she's just running a little behind.

But I will I will get there and then I'll check her location and then I'll call her.

And when I call her, I don't say I know where you are, I say, where are you?

I say, where are you?

Not because I don't know where she is, I've already checked her location.

I say, where are you?

Because, hey, we had a set meeting time where we had an agreement that this is the place where we meet at this particular time and you're not here.

In Genesis chapter 3, God calls out to Adam and even says, Where are you?

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

He's God.

He already knows where they are.

But this is the first time since creation, since the earth was formed, that something was out of rhythm.

Before this moment, God and man walked hand in hand together, the rhythm of life in rel in rhythm with the relationship with God.

And all of a sudden, God shows up to the garden in the cool of the day.

And Adam and Eve, you are not where we agreed to be.

Where are you?

And in this moment, after they have lived in beautiful unity together before this moment, sin enters the world, and there is a chasm between God and man.

And then you read on in Scripture, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, all the way through the Old Testament, and you see the installment of animal sacrifices and guilt offerings and high priests and tabernacles and law and rule and steps and do this this particular way.

It'll be a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

All in an effort to bridge the gap that was created in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

And then Jesus shows up on the scene in Matthew.

A carpenter, but a king.

He didn't show up how every other king showed up before him, every other king showed up with a sword, this king showed up with an announcement.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

And Jesus, this carpenter, would lay down the tools of his trade and do three years of ministry, healing the blind and touching the sick.

And then he'd go to a cross, he'd die on the cross for our sins.

How humble a king he is, that the same tools he laid down as a carpenter would be the same tools, a hammer, nails, and wood that we would pick up to kill him.

What a humble king.

He dies on the cross for our sin.

The Bible says he goes down to the lower ends of the earth.

He takes the keys of death, hell, and the grave.

I don't know if you know this, but that's crazy.

That'll make you want to scream, America.

That's the most baller thing Jesus ever did.

He went down and he took the keys of death from Satan and he came back and he rose from the grave and he looked at his disciples and he said, Here's the holes in my hands and my feet.

I'm going to sit at the right hand of the Father.

But when I go, there is someone coming greater than I, the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit, he's coming not just to guide you, not just as a strategy.

The Holy Spirit is coming to live with you.

And the gap and the rhythm that was broken of being in relationship with God in Genesis chapter 3 has been mended.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Listen, we're in this series called Foundations, Pillar.

Pillars.

The foundations of our faith.

Look, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not just a strategy.

This is not a self-help gospel.

This is not a therapeutic gospel.

It's not a prosperity gospel.

It's not something that we look at and we're like, oh, look, our life, it's not a get out of hell free card.

The gospel is not just us being able to go to heaven.

The gospel is the redemption of a rhythm that God intended us to have in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

And in this rhythm, God says, Hey, you don't ask, you don't have to ask for me to show up anymore.

I showed up 2,000 years ago.

Sometimes I think we can come in church and beg God to show up.

Lord, please.

And God's saying, Hey, Abram, I already showed up.

Now it's time for you to show up.

And our responsibility is this.

What is our rhythm?

What is the rhythm of the gospel?

What is the rhythm of the gospel?

How were we intended to live?

What is God inviting us into?

I want to share with you some research that I found alarming.

The Pew Research Center, they came out with this statistic.

It says Christian affiliation has dropped from 78% in 2007 to 63% in 2021.

It says this if the current trend continues, Christians could be less than 50% of the U.S.

population within a few decades.

If the current trend continues, Christians could be less than 50% of the U.S.

population within a few decades.

Now that was alarming to me.

Here's what's more alarming is that Christianity is on a decline, but the good news hasn't gotten less good.

So if Christianity is on a decline, but the good news hasn't got less good, then this isn't on God, this is on me.

And my fear is that in this USA Western culture Christianity that we've created this feel-good gospel that loves him, but we may not be obsessed with the way of him.

And we have fallen in love with his words, but we have not fallen in love with his way.

That's why Doubting Thomas in John chapter 14 he says, Jesus, show us the way.

John 14 · chapter mention

And Jesus responds in John 14, verse 6, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

John 14:6

No one comes to the Father except through me.

May we not be Christians who love the truth of Jesus and want the life of Jesus, but don't know the way of Jesus.

Because the way is a rhythm that was broken in Genesis chapter 3 when God walked hand in hand with his creation every single day.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Then he showed up and they weren't there.

And he said, Where are you?

And then Jesus comes on the scene and he redeems the rhythm.

I um I like I said, I grew up in church, and I'm gonna tell you something about our worship teams that I hope doesn't uh ruin worship for you, okay?

Some of you know this, some of you don't, but I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you something.

All right.

First of all, where's Pastor Mark Harris?

Is he in here?

He's not in here.

Okay.

Is our worship is some of our worship team over here?

Yes.

Let's go.

Hey, give it up for our worship team this morning.

Um was not prepared for shout to the Lord.

Uh that brought me back.

Um But here's the thing about worship.

When Pastor Lorena comes up, now this is not just Gateway, this is every worship service you've ever sat in, anywhere, everywhere.

When Pastor Lorena comes up here and she says, Welcome to Gateway Church, and we start singing songs and we start singing, and some of you think that the worship team can hear you singing and they can't.

I've seen people hitting crazy solos down here.

Pastor Mark can't hear you.

Because everybody on the worship team has something in their ear called an in-ear.

And these in-ears, um, when we start powerful, amazing worship songs, and we're singing Waymaker, and we're Waymaker, miracle worker, and we're all singing together, and we're clapping on beat, and some of us are clapping off beat, and we're just going and we're singing this song.

Let me tell you what the worship team hears.

And then we go into the chorus and we're like, even when I don't see it, you're working.

And here's what they hear chorus.

And we're jumping up and down, and even when I don't see it, and they hear bridge.

It's called a click.

And the reason a click exists is because someone a long time ago learned something.

They learned that if you sing the right words on the wrong rhythm, the song's gonna be terrible.

Here's my fear with this gospel rhythm, this gospel, the good news that Jesus invites us into, is that some of us have the right words on the wrong rhythm.

We have accepted the truth and we want the life, but we have not submitted to the way.

Because the way is a response.

This rhythm requires something of us, and it's my first point today.

This rhythm requires a response.

It requires a response.

In Matthew chapter 4, it says this, and Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

Then he said to them, Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men.

And they immediately left their nets and followed him.

In Matthew 4, verse 21 through 22, right after that story, it says, Going on from there, he saw two brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.

Matthew 4:21–22

He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

In Matthew chapter 9, it says, As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

Matthew was a tax collector, this was his job, and he said to him, Follow me.

So he arose and he followed him.

So let's get this straight.

In this scripture, Peter and Andrew are called by Jesus and they left their boats.

James and John are called by Jesus and they left their nets.

Matthew is called by Jesus and he's left his job, and we're called by Jesus, and we will leave nothing.

That can't be the gospel.

That can't be the good news.

Because Jesus didn't just say, hear my words from afar.

He said, Hey, come follow me, get in step with me.

And the follow me is a tough term for us to understand because in order to follow something, we have to admit that we don't have all the answers.

Jesus says to the men, hey, this rhythm, your hobbies and your jobs, they don't determine your rhythm anymore.

I do.

Follow me.

Here's how you know that you might know his truth and not know his way is what determines your rhythm.

When you wake up every morning, when you interact with your children, does the interactions with your spouse and your children depend on how good your job is to you or how good your God is to you?

What is affecting our rhythm is God in the middle of it.

I did youth ministry for a long time, and I did youth ministry, and then I started doing young adult ministry, and people told me, young adult ministry, way different than youth ministry.

I was like, okay, and then I started doing young adult ministry.

I was like, this is exactly like youth ministry with a little bit older people.

And then I started preaching on the weekends, and I did first conference, and people told me, adults are a totally different ballgame.

It's just totally different.

And then I did start doing weekends, and I learned adult ministry is exactly like youth ministry with a little bit older people.

Because our kids sometimes have the same problem we do.

And it's this we love to be loved, but we don't love to be led.

We love to be loved.

Jesus, thank you for your grace.

Okay, follow me.

Thank you for your grace.

When he's not just inviting us into a strategy, a self help gospel, he's saying, come do this the way that I do it.

Jesus didn't just put all of his highlights in Scripture, he included something, or he got rejected.

In Matthew chapter 19, it says this Jesus said to him, This is a man.

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

The Bible calls him the rich young ruler.

He approaches Jesus and he says, Jesus, I've done everything you've told me to do.

I've followed all of your commandments.

What must I do to enter eternal life?

In Matthew chapter 19, it says this Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And the young man in this story believed a lie that sometimes we can believe too.

This young man believed that he had possessions, but the truth is that his possessions had him.

And because his possessions had him, he wanted to believe the words of Jesus, but he was not willing to lay down his life to go to the way of Jesus.

Do you know that this gospel is not just a Sunday service gospel?

Jesus says, take up your cross and follow him.

At the end of that scripture in Matthew chapter 19, it says that the rich young ruler he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

And it doesn't say this in scripture, it's just me and my characterization of who I think Jesus is.

I think he might have left a little sad too.

Because Jesus knew something about the thing he was returning to that the young man didn't.

He knew that life gets really tricky when you let things have you that were not designed to hold you.

Life gets tricky when you let things have you that were not designed to hold you.

He left sorrowful.

I wonder if Jesus did too, because Jesus knew this.

Hey, if you'll be invited into this rhythm, you would find out that life with me, with how I intended it to be in Genesis chapter 3, this rhythm redeems.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

This rhythm does something that your possessions could never do.

This rhythm redeems.

I about six months ago, um, I went to one of my favorite places on planet earth with a good friend of mine.

And this friend, he's one of my best friends.

I've known him for a long time.

He loves God with all of his heart, incredibly generous, a part of our church.

He's amazing, and we're both busy, so we don't hang out a ton, but we'll get together to give each other life updates.

So we went to one of my top five places of all time, Chili's.

I got an Amen to Chili's right there.

You download the app, free chips and salsa.

Good deal.

Sit down with this buddy.

Now, this is six months ago.

He knows exactly what I'm walking through.

Life is tough, job's not going great, stuff's hard at work.

Samuel's about to be here.

I'm stressed out about Samuel, and so we sit down and we start getting given our life updates.

And he says, Abram, I'm so excited to tell you.

I sat down the other day with my wife, and we looked at our finances, and I'm officially a millionaire.

And I thought, I hate you.

And I dapped him up like you're that's my let's go.

And internally, I'm like, this is the worst conversation I've ever had.

And he looked at me and he said, Hey, so what's your how's your life?

Tell me about your life.

And I said, Well, you might want to buckle up.

This might take you by surprise, but I'm not a millionaire.

And then about 25 minutes later, the waitress came out and she said, Is this check gonna be together or separate?

And I did a delay.

You know, one of us is a millionaire, one of us isn't and he said, This is gonna be separate, and I have not seen him ever since.

I'm kidding.

And I left dinner that night.

Me and my buddy both love God with all of our hearts, both trying to lead our families to the best of our ability, but both had two very different years.

And I've learned something about the last year of my life about this gospel, this rhythm of the gospel.

It's one of the best parts about it is that it isn't dependent on your circumstance.

It doesn't depend on your circumstance.

In Matthew 11, verse 28.

Matthew 11:28

I love how Eugene Peterson says it in the message.

He says this, Are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion?

Come to me.

Get away with me, and you'll recover your life.

I'll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me and work with me.

Watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me, and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

Here's what I learned about this gospel, this rhythm that Jesus came to redeem, that he invites us into is that a callous-handed carpenter showed up with an announcement.

The announcement was the good news of the gospel.

It's a pillar of this house.

It says this you're no longer bound by the old systems of shame, of status, and of striving.

You're not disqualified by your past or your performance.

You're not waiting for a someday salvation.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

It's within reach, it's offered freely.

It's not sin management, it's not social, it's not a prosperity gospel or a consumer gospel or a therapeutic gospel.

It is a kingdom gospel.

It is the arrival of God's reign.

It's pure, it's not in a rush, it's not performative, it's transformative.

It's not just a life for God, it's an invitation into a rhythm with God.

It's not just an invitation into reading words, it's an invitation back into a way.

It is us together, hand in hand, in rhythm.

One of the beautiful parts about this rhythm is that if you get out of it, it'll ask you a question.

It's the same question God asked Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

This rhythm, if you get out of it, will ask you, Where are you?

Where are you?

Because the Bible is clear in John chapter 12 that Jesus says, and I, if I am lifted up from earth, will draw all people to himself.

John 12 · chapter mention

Isn't it a humbling place to be that you can't even give yourself credit for being in church today?

Jesus is drawing you to himself.

And you're one of three people in this room.

Either one, you are a person in this room who you are living in this rhythm of the gospel, hand in hand with him.

You have learned the unforced rhythms of grace.

And as I'm talking, you're like, yeah, I did it.

That's me.

I'm in it.

It's better than he's even saying.

It's amazing.

Or you're number two, and you got saved a long time ago.

And you've just found yourself recently going through the motions, and life happened and it robbed your rhythm.

Same thing happened to me.

Samuel was born, and we're on a strict regimen, we're on a strict rhythm.

And I have often asked myself recently, God, where do you fit into this rhythm of my life?

And the other morning at 2 a.m.

I was sitting in a chair and I was about to, I was getting done feeding Samuel, and I just felt the Lord whisper to me, Abram, where are you?

Where are you?

Not in shame.

Not in a you're doing a bad job.

In a hey, we used to meet here.

This chair that you're sitting in, that's where we used to talk.

Where are you?

Where are you?

And maybe today you love Jesus.

But life has happened recently, and you've just lost your way.

And today God draws you back to Himself, not because you didn't lose your salvation, you just lost your rhythm.

And God's saying, Where are you?

Get back in step with me.

Get submitted to me again.

Follow me.

Watch how I work, watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

Or you're the third person.

And you're the third person in here, and you're like, man, this gospel that he's talking about, this lay your life down gospel for Jesus, I've never done it and I want to do it.

And God says to you today, come home.

Come home.

My daughter did this morning when we pulled up to church.

She pulled up in the parking lot and she said, She's two and a half.

She said, We're home.

We're home.

There's somebody in here.

It has nothing to do with this building.

It has to do with the kingdom.

You're home.

And you've got to make a decision today because disciples, discipleship that we've been invited into, disciples make decisions.

I'm going to ask you to bow your head and close your eyes.

And as you do, the lights are going to, they're going to go low and the worship team's going to come up here.

But I want to ask you very clearly to the first person, if you're in here and you're like, Abram, I found that rhythm.

I know exactly what you're talking about.

I wish everybody else knew.

If that's you, will you raise your hand?

It's amazing.

I've seen some of you raise your hands that I watched you as I preached smiling at me because you knew it.

Thank you, you can put your hands down.

If you're the second person in here and you do love Jesus and you've been saved, but you've just lost your way, will you raise your hand?

Thank you.

It's most of the room.

You're not alone.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You can put your hands down.

And if you're the third person in here who you need to experience this gospel, this invitation, this life-changing transformation gospel of Jesus Christ.

That doesn't always mean life's gonna be easy, but it does mean you're gonna do it with him.

If that's you, will you raise your hand?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, here's how we're gonna respond today.

We're gonna, I'm gonna pray for us.

And when I pray, when we're gonna say amen.

And when I say amen, the worship team is gonna lead us into a song.

This is not the end of our service.

We're gonna respond in worship and we're gonna respond in prayer.

And our altar ministry team, when I say amen, they're gonna come down here to the front.

These are volunteers and staff members who would love to partner with you in prayer.

They're not counselors, they're not here to give you a bunch of advice.

They're just here to say, I'm with you.

I'm with you.

If you need to get back in rhythm with him, when I say amen, and this room stands up, you come down to the front.

If you are a person who you need to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news that Jesus died a death that we deserved so that we could live with him now and forever.

If that's you, when I say amen and this room stands up, you come down here to the front.

If you're in the balcony, we'll have part, we'll have pastors and staff and volunteers at the exits.

You don't have to make your way all the way down here.

Find a volunteer up there.

We would love to pray with you, Jesus, today, as we go into worship, as we respond, God, I thank you that you have invited us back into a rhythm.

As we sing this song, God, as we shout to the Lord, Lord, we get back in step with you.

We don't just love you today, we follow you hand in hand, step by step.

We submit in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Stand with me.

Let's worship.

And if you need prayer, come down to the front and we would love to pray with you today.

Thanks for joining us today.

If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

We hope you have a great week.