Mercy & Grace | Todd Jones

Let's go, church. Let's give it up for Jesus.

Amen, amen. You guys can go ahead and grab a

seat. Man, so excited to be with you guys this

morning, to be able to open God's Word with you.

I want to welcome you. If you've not been welcomed

yet, I want to welcome those of you online, those

of you out in Baghdad, those of you in Paulding

watching. We're so glad that you get to join

with us today. Let me ask you this. How many

of you like getting your picture taken? There's

like a very few of you. Some of you are like,

oh yeah, I look good, right? Like the rest of

you are like, I'm not sure, right? That's not

your thing. But I've noticed there's really like

three types of photos that can be taken of you.

The first is the candid photo, right? You have

no clue it's coming. It can happen at any time.

You have no idea. And some of you I'm really

jealous of because it doesn't matter who takes

it, when they take it, you look like you belong

in a magazine. You're just like, oh, perfect

pose. I don't know how you do it. Because when

people take pictures of me candidly, I'm like,

I have four chins in that picture. I don't know

how you even hit that angle. It doesn't make

sense. So there's candid photos. Then there's

posed photos. You know the picture's being taken.

You're ready. You're posing. You're getting in

the right place, which apparently my children

think this is the time for them to smile like

this. Right? Like picture day, we got their hair

perfect, and we're like, did you smile? They're

like, yeah. We get the picture back, and we're

like, no, you didn't. What is that? There's post

photos. And then there's selfies. All right,

then there's selfies where you get to find the

right angle. You got to hit it just right. You

got to be like, this is what I want them to see.

Like one chin, not four. You know what I mean?

Like you got to find the right angle. You got

to do it. You get to show people what you want

them to see. What you're like, hey, this is what

I want you to see. And it's estimated that there's

93 million selfies taken daily. And some of you

are the culprits. I've seen you. All right, I'm

just saying. I'm just saying. Well, as we've

been going through this collection of talks,

we've been walking through snapshots where we

get a snapshot of God's character. We get a picture

of God's character and we've seen multiple snapshots

to say this is what God's character is and we

see it through the snapshot. Today, we're gonna

look at a selfie that God gives us of his character.

I think of it as God's business card. All right,

you guys remember business cards? All right,

let me help. A LinkedIn profile, that's what

I mean, right? business card. You go, hey, this

is the information you need to know about me.

I'm giving you the information right here so

you can know what it is that I want you to know

about me. And as we're going to look at God's

business card today, because Moses has seen snapshots

of God and he's seen snapshots of God's character.

I remember the burning bush. He saw a snapshot

of God through the burning bush. He saw the burning

bush. He saw a snapshot of God through the plagues.

He saw a snapshot of God through every single

thing that he did, the giant pillar of fire,

a pillar of cloud. He saw a snapshot of God.

He saw a snapshot of God's protection, God's

provision, God's guidance. He saw God's love.

He's seen all of these things of God, but as

far as God telling him who he is, all he had

to go off of was I am, that's it. When he's like,

who should I say sent me? And he's like, say

I am. He's like, sweet, I got it. So God gives

us a little bit more here. And what's happening

is this, is the Israelites, they're going through

the desert. And as they're going through the

desert and they're on this journey, Moses stops

for a moment and he goes up to this mountain

to talk with God, to hear from God, to have some

time with God. And while he's gone, he's gone

for just a few moments. He's gone just for a

little bit, just a few days he goes up on this

mountain. All right, so any parents in here,

you ever left the room for just a few minutes?

You know what I'm talking about? Like everything's

clean perfectly. It's spotless. Everything's

great. There are no fishy crackers all over the

floor. And you leave for just a little bit. And

you come back in and you're like, who lit the

bomb? Like what happened? This is insane. This

is crazy, right? That's when I lose my mind.

I'm like, this is not what I left it like. That's

why I, listen, I used to have hair, but I pulled

it all out because of those situations. Just

like that. Moses leaves just for a couple moments.

And he comes back. And when he comes back, while

he was gone, what the Israelites did is they

melted down their jewelry and they made a calf

to worship because they're like, God must have

left us. And so they made a calf and they worshiped

this golden calf. And Moses, who just comes down

from talking with God, who received the 10 commandments

on these plates, and he comes down, he's like,

I'm gonna give these to them. This is gonna be

great. This is God's guidance for us. He loses

his mind. He pulled his hair out. And he throws

these tablets down and he breaks them. And he's

going, what did you guys do? I was gone for a

moment and you messed it all up. And so he goes,

God is gonna be angry and I need to go up and

I need to talk to God. And so he goes up in an

act of almost trying to atone for them. He goes

up and he goes, hey, don't kill these people.

Kill me instead. Take me instead, spare the people,

man. And if that's not a picture of what Jesus

did for us, If that's not a snapshot of Jesus

showing us what he's going to do on a cross for

us. But Moses goes up and he does this and this

sparks God to go, hey, let me tell you who I

am. Let me from my mouth tell you who I am. And

he says this in Exodus 34, verse six. It says,

the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, the

Lord, the Lord, a God merciful. and gracious.

That's what he says. This is on his business

card. The first thing listed is he says, man,

I am merciful. I am merciful. A lot of times

when we think of God, we would say, yeah, who's

God? God is love. And that's true. God is love.

But the only reason we're even able to experience

his love is because of his mercy. God is merciful.

God is merciful and gracious. What is mercy?

Mercy is you not getting what you deserve. It's

not getting what you, you deserve this punishment.

It's you not getting what you deserve. I don't

know how you grew up, but I grew up in a generation

where I got spanked. Okay, there was no nice,

kind conversation. I got whooped. That's what

happened. My parents are like, oh, no, you deserved

it. Let's go. And so anytime when I would do

something that deserved to get a whooping, here's

what would happen. I would ask for mercy. Please,

mercy. Come on, please. Don't give me what I

deserve. All right, what God does is you deserve

a punishment, but he said, no, I'm giving you

mercy. Why? Because I am merciful. That's who

I am. That's who God is. And so he's given us

his mercy by not giving us the punishment that

we deserve. But not only that, he gives us grace.

Grace is you getting what you don't deserve.

It's like my parents going, not only do you deserve

a whooping, but instead I'm gonna buy you ice

cream. That never happened, by the way. Never,

not once. I'm just saying, that's an example.

All right, what God did is he said, you don't

deserve this, but I'm giving you Jesus. I'm giving

you this because I am merciful, because I am

gracious. That's who he is because of his mercy

and his grace. All right, the whole verse, it

goes on. It says this, the Lord passed before

him, proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful

and gracious. It says slow to anger. How many

of you are gratefully slow to anger? All right,

some of you aren't grateful because you don't

know yourself. Come on now. I know me. I'm grateful

that he's slow to anger. He says, I'm abounding

in steadfast love and faithfulness. That is who

he is. He's given him his business card. He's

saying, this is it. This is a selfie. This is

a snapshot. I want you to understand this is

who I am. I am full of mercy. I am full of grace.

That is who he is. And if we're honest, we see

it everywhere. If you're taking notes, write

that down. That is who he is. And we see it everywhere.

It is consistent. It's consistent all throughout

scripture. All throughout scripture, we see his

mercy and his grace on display, but no more so

than in the New Testament. It is full of mercy,

full of grace on display. That is where we see

it the most throughout scripture. All right,

it reminds me of this. How many of you have ever

been to Great Wolf Lodge? Been to Great Wolf

Lodge? All right, they take this place and they

design it so that you feel like you are in a

different place. You don't need the outside world.

You are on your own planet in Great Wolf Lodge.

All right, and what they do is they design it

everywhere that the kid looks they want something.

They're like, oh, donuts, I want one of those.

And then they're like, oh my goodness, there's

candy over here. And you're like, close your

eyes right now. And they make it really easy.

They give you a wristband so all you can do is

just scan it. You're like, beep, beep, scan it.

You want a donut? Sweet. Right? Like, what does

that smell? I want fries. Let's get fries. And

you scan it. And then you check out and your

bill's like $5 million. And you're like, what

in the world just happened? But in the back,

they have their water park area and they have

like a wave pool over there and they have water

slides. And then they have the playground. And

my kids are at an age where they love the playground.

They'll play on this playground. And if you've

been to a water park playground, most of them

have this feature where there's just water everywhere.

But there's one thing. There's a giant bucket

up top. And it slowly fills up and you can play

and you can sit there and it fills up and it

fills up and it fills up and it finally gets

to a point where it dumps out. And all of that

water comes pouring out of this bucket. And as

I'm standing there with my kids and we're waiting

for this bucket, it's getting to the point where

it's starting to tip and you're like, oh, it's

going to happen. And then this moment I'm sitting

there and listen, I could be a good father. I

could be a good father. I would like pull my

kids out of the way so they don't just get smashed

by this water. Or I might even take it for them

and just be like, no, it hits me and you're good

and you just get a little bit. And I intend to

do that. But then when it's about to pour out,

something comes over me and I turn into like

a cartoon villain. I'm like, oh, right. Maybe

not just the villain. Maybe I'm like the bald

sidekick. You know what I mean? Why are they

always bald? Why do they do that to us? Hi, some

of you in here, you're standing with me. I see

you. And right as this thing dumps, I'm like,

no, no, no, you save yourself. And I throw them

right in the water. They get smashed and I'm

like, ah. Here's what the Bible says in Romans.

In Romans chapter two, verse five, it says that

God's righteous wrath is being stored up and

waiting to be poured out upon us. His righteous

wrath that we've been storing up will be poured

out, but in an act of extreme mercy and extreme

grace, when the bucket was full of wrath to be

poured out on you, Jesus stepped in and took

you out so that you do not get hit with what

you deserve. That is mercy. That is grace. Because

we've been storing it up, because everything

we've done is storing up this wrath that God

is going to pour out. But Jesus steps in and

that is who he is. He is full of mercy. He is

full of grace. And we see it everywhere. We see

it everywhere. If you're taking notes, write

this down. Because of his mercy and grace, we

can have salvation. Because of his mercy and

grace, we can have salvation. We have a problem

though. And the problem is sin. And every single

one of us have the problem of sin. Some of you

are like, I don't know if I have it. Yes, you

do. You have it. You know how I know? Have you

ever hung out with a two -year -old before? Right,

you ever hung out with, they're evil. They are.

God bless our two and three -year -old workers

that are in there right now. Right, nobody has

to sit a two -year -old down and go, okay, listen,

what I want you to do is I want you to yell no.

Okay, now louder, yell no. Say mine and then

hit them, right? Nobody has to say that. They

just know it. Nobody taught them how to do that.

That's the life they live. Why? Because we have

a sin nature. It's inside of us and it grows

in us. And each one of us have sin. And because

of our sin, because of the sin that you and I

have, we are separated from God. But check this

out. It says in Romans 5, 8, but God demonstrates,

he shows his love for us in what? In his mercy

and his grace. Because while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us. While you could not do it

on your own, while you were still sinners, Christ

died for you and said, here is my mercy. Here's

my grace. I'm going to step in on your behalf.

I'm gonna go to a cross and I'm going to die

for you. That is salvation. We have an opportunity

to be saved. Salvation is saying, God, I accept

your mercy. I accept your grace. And I think

the Holy Spirit is working on some of you in

here right now. Maybe the Holy Spirit is telling

you, hey, that's you and you need to accept my

mercy and grace. You need to step into my mercy

and grace. Because here's the thing, you can't

accept it. You can't be saved without his mercy

and his grace. Just because you come to church,

it doesn't make you a Christian. Just because

you're here, that's like saying because you stand

in a garage that you're a car. You're not a car,

you're just standing in a garage. You're not

a Christian because you come to church. It is

only because of Jesus. It is only through Jesus.

I grew up in San Diego, and growing up in San

Diego, every summer I was at the beach almost

every day. I was at the beach all the time, and

it never failed. Every single year we'd have

people come from out of town. They'd come in.

Most of them were Arizonans, I'm just saying.

And they'd come in and go to the beach. Every

time they go out and they're like, I wanna go

on the water. I wanna go swim in the ocean. I

wanna go out in the waves. And they don't realize

that it's not Great Wolf Lodge Waves Pool. You

know what I'm saying? They get a little bit too

far out. They get a little bit scared. They panic

a little bit and they get to a place where they

go, how did I even get here? I don't know what

I'm doing. I shouldn't be this far out. And they

get a little embarrassed in that moment because

they're so far out, because they're like, I don't

know how to do this. And they start kind of freaking

out from where they're at. And I always like

looking after the lifeguards because the lifeguards

are ready. And you know what the lifeguard says

when he looks out and sees someone out there?

He doesn't go, well, you're just not trying hard

enough. If you were trying a little harder, maybe

I'd care. If you just had a little bit more perfection,

then maybe I'd go after you. Just a little more

elegance. No, not a chance. As soon as that hand

goes up, the lifeguard dives in. Just like Jesus

says, listen, I'm not waiting for perfection.

I'm not waiting for anything that you can do.

There's no effort on your part to earn salvation.

As soon as you say, I am putting my hand up to

receive what you have done, you are given his

grace, you are given his mercy, and you were

given a seat at the right hand of the throne

of God next to Jesus in heaven. You are given

that because of Jesus. Not because anything you

have done. We get to worship God because of his

grace. It says this in Hebrews 4, 16, let us

then approach God's throne of grace with confidence

so that we may receive mercy and find grace to

help us in our time of need. Let's just approach

his throne of grace with confidence. Why? Because

he's gonna give you mercy. He's gonna give you

grace. And when you've accepted his mercy and

his grace in your life, when you've said, hey,

that's me. I need it. I can't do this. When you've

accepted his mercy and grace, you then get to

live in his mercy and grace. It's not a one and

done. You get to constantly live in his mercy

and grace. If you're taking notes, write this

down. Because of his mercy and grace, we get

to join him on kingdom mission. Because of his

mercy and grace, we get to join him on kingdom.

mission, right? We get to be the snapshots of

his mercy and grace to the world around us. It's

like this, my kids, man, if you know me and you

don't know my wife at all, when people see my

kids, they go, oh, they look just like you. And

then they see my wife and they don't know me.

If they don't know me, they know her. They go,

man, these kids look just like her. Like, yeah,

because they're the perfect mix of both of us.

They are a snapshot of us. They have more hair

than me, okay? But they're a snapshot of us.

And the hope is it's not just the way that they

look, it's the way that they act so that when

they go out in public and the way that they live,

people are going, that is a snapshot of the values

that you've instilled in your kids. That is a

snapshot of the way that you have loved them

and have raised them. And they are showing that

snapshot. And we see that in the way that they

live their lives. You and I, we get to be a snapshot

of our heavenly father to the world around us.

We get to be a representative of his grace and

of his mercy to the world around us so that when

they see the way that we live, they go, oh my

goodness, that is a snapshot of God and his character.

Because of the way that we carry ourself, we

get to be the hands and the feet of Jesus. When

you join him on kingdom mission, you get to be

his hands and feet. On Wednesday night here,

we have our youth and our kids programs. We have

people that serve diligently in those programs.

I was talking to Pastor Jordan this week and

we have people that have been serving. This is

their second year serving faithfully in the fourth

and fifth grade room. Every single week they're

there and they're pouring into these kids. And

the kids, when they graduate and they go into

sixth grade, they move on to the next program.

But he was telling me that every week they come

back and they go, hey, are they here? Are they

here? I wanna come and I wanna say hi to them.

I wanna talk to them. Why? Because they've made

an impact on their life. Why? Because they love

them. Why? Because they were the hands and feet

of Jesus by serving, by showing up in their life

and serving. We get to be the hands and feet

of Jesus. I was driving the other day and I was

driving down. Willow Creek here in Prescott.

And as I was going, I noticed off in the distance

that there was two people kind of on the sidewalk

on the side of the road. And as I got closer,

I'm wondering what is happening here. And from

appearance, what I could tell is the man looked

like maybe he was going through some rough times.

He was an older gentleman that maybe was experiencing

homelessness and he had some physical ailments

going on. And this woman is next to him and she

has her hand on his shoulder. And as I got closer,

What was happening is exactly what I thought.

She was just praying for this man. She had her

head bowed and her eyes are closed and she's

praying and I'm going, wow, this is incredible.

As the light stopped and I kind of slowed down,

I got a closer look and I was just filled with

joy as I recognized who it was because she goes

to Heights Church every week. And what I saw

is somebody living on kingdom mission in their

world. Listen, she didn't know her pastor was

driving by. She wasn't like, all right, let me

just do this real quick. Someone's gonna see

me. She was like, I am living on kingdom mission.

I have experienced grace. I've experienced mercy.

And I want to show it to the world around me

so that when I see someone who needs some prayer,

who needs someone to come alongside them, I'm

willing to do it wherever I'm at. Because that's

what the hands and feet of Jesus are. When you

live on kingdom mission, you are the hands and

feet of Jesus. When you live on kingdom mission,

you understand that you are a representative

of Jesus. You get to represent Jesus to the world

around you. Last week, I was talking to A gentleman

in our church that many of you know is very involved

here. He's been going through some health issues,

some very serious health issues. So much so that

he needs a new heart. And it's been a process

over the years. And recently he got a call to

say he had a new heart that was going to be given.

So he goes to the hospital down in Phoenix. And

as he's in the hospital, the doctors come up

and the doctors go, hey. The heart that we have

is corrupted. We cannot use it. And the doctors

are extremely upset by it. And the nurses are

upset by it as they've walked this journey with

him. And they're going, this is not okay. This

is not good. And as he looked back at them, he

said, it's okay. And the doctor's like, it's

not okay. And he goes, yeah, it's okay. You know

why? Because I trust God. And in that moment,

the doctors are going, why can you trust God

in this? And you know what he did? He shared

Jesus with them. Because it doesn't matter our

situation. It doesn't matter how hard it is and

the things that we're going through and what's

happening around us. If you are on kingdom mission,

you are a representative of Jesus to the world

around you. Whether you're laying in a hospital

bed or whether you're walking on a sidewalk,

you can represent Jesus. Last week, I was walking

into church and someone stopped me and they said,

hey, Pastor Todd, I gotta tell you this story.

Said I was having a conversation with someone

this week and they hadn't been to church in 10

years. And in 10 years, they hadn't come to church,

but they came last week and they came to Heights.

They said they felt more welcomed and loved than

they've ever felt before. So it was so welcoming.

It was so loving. And they tell them, they're

like, hey, and that bald guy that spoke, he did

a great job. And I was like, that's just the

bald guy. That's all I got. But you podcast people

know it's not bald guy. It's the bald eagle,

baby. Come on now. All right. Some of you, some

of you are with me. And if you don't know, unedited

podcast, you better listen to it. All right.

And so I'm talking to him. I'm going, man, this

is awesome. I'm glad. And he said, she just stayed

after the service and she cried. She was just

in tears because she's like, this is incredible.

And she had no idea that he was involved with

Heights. And I said, well, that's incredible.

How did she tell you this? And he goes, we were

having a banking conversation. And I was like,

how did that come up in a banking conversation?

And you know what he said? He said, how does

that not come up in a banking conversation? Because

when you've experienced Jesus's mercy and grace,

every conversation is an opportunity to talk

about Jesus, to be a representative of him in

the world that you're in. Every place that you

find yourself is an opportunity to put yourself

in a place where you can share Jesus, where you

can talk about Jesus, where you get to be his

representative to the world around you. His mercy

and grace, when you've experienced it, you can't

stop showing it. It's living on kingdom mission.

It's loving people. It's giving. It's serving.

It's inviting. It's sharing. It's doing these

things. This is what the mark of living on kingdom

mission looks like. And more than that, this

is the mark of a mature believer. This is the

mark of a mature believer. It's not how much

you know, it's what you do. I'm gonna get in

your grill a little bit right now, okay? Listen,

because a lot of people, when it comes to church,

you go, hey, I just need more. I just need you

to give me more. I need you to go deeper. How

come you don't go deep enough? And here's what

I would say. You don't need more until you've

used what you have. I think about my kids when

they have a good dinner. It's in their plate

and they take a couple good bites and they're

like, that's really good. Can I have more? And

I'm like, why don't you finish what's on your

plate first before I give you more? Some of you

guys haven't applied what you learned last week

or the week before, the week before, the week

before, and you're going, can I have more? I

just need to go deeper. And I'm like, no, do

what you already know. Because the mark of a

mature believer is not how deep you are. It's

how much you do. I think most Christians are

educated far beyond their level of obedience.

You know way more than you're willing to do.

That's not the mark of maturity. It's living

on kingdom mission. It's living a life that says

it's not about me. It's about giving away to

other people. It's about living the mission because

I've received grace, because I've received mercy.

I then wanna live in a way that shows grace and

mercy to other people. I'm telling you, Pastor

John and I could get up here and confuse the

heck out of you every week. So you leave and

go, oh, that was really deep, but it doesn't

change your life at all. And we failed because

you have been called to live on kingdom mission.

You've been called to be loving to the people

around you. What if you were just present with

the people around you long enough to see them?

Some of us, we move so fast that we can't be

loving. You can't stop to pray for someone on

the side of the road because you're moving too

fast. Being loving is just stopping to be present.

Being loving, if you're gonna live kingdom mission,

being loving is, some of you are gonna love this

one too, it's choosing kindness over being right.

Oh, we're good at being right though. I know

how to be right. I got to stand on this. What

if you were just loving enough to be kind instead

of being right? I wonder if we lived in a way

where we could just serve people around us. What

that means is going, hey, this isn't about just

my time because a lot of you don't have time

and I get that. But what if you joined a serve

team? Listen, a lot of you have come here for

a really long time and that's great. We're glad

you're here. But start getting involved. Join

a serve team. Say, man, I want to serve. Not

just here, but wherever you're at. Serving means

putting other people first. What if you were

like, hey, no, you go first. We live in a me

first society, but what if you just step back

and say, no, I'm gonna serve you by letting you

go first. What if in our life, we were able to

share with the people around us? Most of us are

scared to share with the people around us when

it comes to Jesus, because we're like, what if

they say no? And you need to know this. We are

living in a time where people are more open than

they have ever been. People are searching. People

are wanting. People are going, I need, I wanna

hear about this. And we're afraid to get rejected,

but I promise you 99 % of the time, if you say,

hey, can I just share with you about Jesus? People

are gonna say yes. If you just say, hey, can

I pray with you? People are gonna say yes. What

if we were giving? Living on kingdom missions,

it means you're living in a giving way. where

you understand that everything that you have

been given is not yours, it is God's anyway,

therefore you can give it to other people. I

was talking to a friend of mine last week who

had donated for a project that ended up not happening.

And I said, hey, I gotta give you that money

back. And he says, no, you don't. I gave it.

I said, no, no, I gotta give it back to you.

And he goes, if you give it back to me, I'm actually

gonna be mad because it's not mine, it's God's

and I gave it away. That's what living on kingdom

mission looks like, saying I'm giving it. All

right, it's inviting people to church. It's saying,

hey, come on, come check this out. All right,

you invite people to church and they go, I'm

just not really churchy. And you're like, yeah,

you should meet our pastors. They aren't either.

All right, there's no such thing as churchy,

there's Jesus people. And when you're a Jesus

person, you show mercy and you show grace and

you reflect him to the world around you. I was

talking to someone this last week who, is involved

with our church. They're actually on staff. And

they were telling me they went to In -N -Out.

And they went to In -N -Out because they love

Jesus and it's the Lord's restaurant, that's

why. Because Chick -fil -A's closed on Sunday,

so you gotta go to In -N -Out, you know what

I'm saying? And so they're walking to In -N -Out

and someone approached them in the parking lot

and they were, I don't know how to describe them,

they were sketchy, right? You know, you're sketchy

people. Some of you, you're sketchy people. You

know what it means, right? They were sketchy.

And they come up and said, hey, can I have some

money? They go, do you need food? What do you

need? I said, we just need money. He said, no,

hey, how about I buy you some dinner? So he took

them inside and they bought their dinner, but

they didn't just stop there. That's a good place

to just pat yourself on the back. Awesome, I

did a good deed. They said, hey, why don't you

sit with us? And they ate dinner with them. That's

also a good place to stop and pat yourself on

the back. But they said, no, no, no. Can I pray

for you? Again, they said, absolutely. So they

prayed for him. And these people, after they

prayed, just kind of sat there and goes, why

are you doing this? Why did you sacrifice to

pay for our food and then invite us to eat with

you and then ask if I could pray with you? And

they said, let me tell you why. Because of this

guy named Jesus. And they started sharing Jesus

with him. They started sharing Jesus, started

telling him about this guy named Jesus who is

full of mercy, who is full of grace. And they

said, because of him, this is why we live the

way that we do. That is who he is. And it's because

of his mercy and it's because of his grace that

we can live that way. That's who he is and it

is everywhere. It is all around us. We get to

be the snapshots in our world. But it's not just

here in our area. This is happening everywhere.

God is moving globally. And I'm so excited for

you guys over the next couple of weeks. This

is what we call Global Month at Heights Church

where we get to share stories of what God is

doing around the globe with our global partners.

You get to hear stories of people. whose lives

are being changed because of the gospel in other

countries around the globe. And what you get

to see is you get to see a snapshot of God's

character on display in our world today. It doesn't

just happen on the Old Testament and Exodus because

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And we get to experience what God is doing. We

get to see it when you understand the grace and

mercy you've been given. You live on kingdom

mission. Last is this, because of his grace,

because of his mercy and his grace, we get to

rest in him. Because of his mercy and grace,

we get to rest in him. I was gonna tell you a

story of my need for rest because I got 5 ,000

kids and my life is crazy and all that. But the

truth is, I think we're all in the same boat.

We live in a world that's hard. We live in a

world where we need rest. We got so much going

on. It's so difficult. We need rest. And here's

what God says. He was telling Moses. Moses was

like, I'm done leading these people, man. This

is too hard. I can't do this. And he tells them

this. He says, the Lord replied, my presence

will go with you and I will give you rest. Because

you find rest in God's presence. You find rest

in God's presence. And that's where we get rest

is by going in. We all need rest, but living

on mission in God's presence is where we find

true rest. Living on mission in God's presence.

Living the kingdom mission that he has set out

for us. All right, Jesus speaks to this. And

Jesus speaks to this in the New Testament. What

was happening in this in the book of Matthew.

is that people are getting burnt out on religion.

They're getting beat up by religion. They're

going, I've tried everything and I'm doing too

much and I need rest. And so Jesus says this

to them. It says in Matthew 11, verse 28, he

Matthew 11:28

says, come to me, all who are weary and burdened.

Does that describe some of you? He says, and

I will give you rest. He says, take my yoke upon

you. And learn from me, for I am gentle and humble

in heart. And you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And

man, we can preach that. We can preach that unless

you know what a yoke is. Because it's a device

that's used for ox to plow a field. It's a device

used for an incredible amount of work. And when

we think rest, we go, okay, yeah, rest is no

work whatsoever, can't do it. No, what true rest

is. is working for Jesus. He says, take my yoke

upon you. What he's saying is take my mission

on. Live on kingdom mission and you will find

true rest because you are in my presence, living

in my steps. And that's where true rest is found.

And we think it's all sacrifice. And we think

of people who go to In -N -Out, who pay for somebody,

who let them invade their mealtime. who step

out in faith and pray for them and share with

them. We go, that's all sacrifice, man. That's

a lot of sacrifice to give. I'm telling you,

when she shared that story with me this weekend,

I was in a room with a few different people and

as this story is being shared, the joy on her

face, the joy that came out from her mouth was...

And not only was it joy for her, the entire room

was so joyful listening to someone living on

kingdom mission because it is not a sacrifice.

It is not work. It is not painful. It is rest

when you step into what God has called you to

do, to live on kingdom mission, to say where

my feet are is where ministry happens. It's not

something you flip on and flip off. You don't

just flip on the switch and go, well, now I'm

in church. This is the time. When you live in

kingdom mission, That means that wherever God

has you is your mission field. To love, to give,

to serve, to share, to invite. It is all because

of his mercy and grace. And some of you today

need to accept his mercy and grace. Some of you

have lived your life and you're trying to do

it on your own. You're striving. All right, you

are out too deep and too deep of waters going,

I can't do this. And you need to accept his mercy.

You need to accept his grace by saying, Jesus,

I accept what you did for me on the cross to

pay the price for me. And some of you are feeling

the Holy Spirit right now push you to do that.

You're feeling that feeling inside of going,

that's me, that's me. I need to do that. Don't

let today pass. If you have questions or you

wanna talk to someone, there will be people up

front after this that wanna talk with you, that

wanna pray with you, just wanna help you accept

what Jesus has done for you and accept his mercy

and grace and step from death into life. For

those of us that have accepted that, my challenge

to you is this, because of his mercy, because

of his grace, live on kingdom mission. When you

came in today, you were given this. this cup.

And in the church world, we know this is communion

and we do it often. It's a tradition. It's very

tradition. It's very check off your list. We

did it in church kind of thing. But as we have

time right now to reflect, I would challenge

you to reflect on his mercy and his grace in

your life. Where have you seen his mercy and

grace that was poured out for you on the cross?

I would challenge you to think, man, where is

it in your life where you can go, I am weary

and I am burdened, but my true rest comes from

him. In a couple of moments, we'll take this

together. But right now, I want you to just spend

time reflecting on what Jesus did for you in

the cross.