No One Left Behind

Scripture declares in 2 Corinthians 4 and 7,

but we have this treasure in earthen vessels

that the excellency of the power may be of God

and not of us. The Lord dropped that verse in

my spirit as we were worshiping and it reminded

me that are undeserving. We are unqualified to

be the vessel, the earthen, flawed, broken, imperfect

vessel to house, to inhabit the presence of God.

But yet God would tell all the angels of heaven,

hallelujah, to hush. At the sound of your praise

and your worship. Because God chose to dwell

within us so that he could get all the glory

and that the power, hallelujah, and the excellency

would be of him. I don't know about you today.

that it's not us. Hallelujah. It's not us. It's

not what we can offer so much as what he has

already given to us. It's not our talent. It's

not our ability. It's not our skill. It's none

of those things. It's not our wealth. It's not

our status, our position, our name in this world.

None of those things. It's the excellency of

the power of God. Resting in us. And that's why

today we can rejoice. Hallelujah. We can thank

him. We can glorify him. I wonder if there's

somebody right now, if you would join me in putting

your hands together for the King of Kings and

the Lord. Praise him, you may dismiss that. God,

I feel something. I feel something. God is working

right now. Oh, hallelujah. You see, oh, hallelujah.

Something is happening. The church is coming.

than just an average Sunday service. Anybody

here want more? I said, is anybody here want

more? I want more. I want more of God. I want

more of His presence. Oh, Jesus. Get ready, church.

Get ready, because God... God's about to deposit

more into our life. But I want you to understand

that more, when we say more, I want more of God.

I want more. That is an open -ended request.

And it puts God in a place where he will decide

what more looks like and what we need more of.

It's not always more glory, more anointing. Sometimes

it's... You know, it's more grace, and sometimes

it's more correction. Sometimes it's more love.

Sometimes it's more forgiveness. But I want more,

God. I want more today. Thank you, Jesus. Just

thank God for his presence one more time. I just,

oh, thank you, Jesus. going to kind of hasten

the time today I feel something in my spirit

we're going to progress in our service and move

beyond our normal routine at this hour because

God has placed a mission in me today not simply

to preach a message but to transfer a burden

to whomever is willing to catch it and I want

to invite you Open up your hearts to the word

of the Lord today. Samuel, 1 Samuel chapter 30.

1 Samuel 30 · chapter mention

I feel to just go right into the word right now.

I just, hallelujah, hallelujah. Samuel, amen.

1 Samuel chapter 30, amen. We're going to pray

1 Samuel 30 · chapter mention

after I read the scripture again. I want to read

for you something the Lord has been working in

my spirit and speaking to me about. Amen. Challenging

me about. And I want us to read now verse 11.

Then they found an Egyptian in the field and

brought him to David. And they gave him bread

and he ate. And they gave him water to drink.

They gave him a piece of cake of figs and two

clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his

strength came back to him. For he had eaten no

bread. for three days and three nights. Then

David said to him, to whom do you belong? And

where are you from? And he said, I am a young

man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite. And

my master, has left me behind. My master has

left me behind. Because three days ago I fell

sick. Verse 15, then David said to him, can you

take me down to this troop? Going to, with the

help of the Lord today, Deliver this word into

your hearts and spirits that I'm entitling, No

One Left Behind. No one left behind. Let's pray.

Father, I thank you for your spirit that is here.

God, we are at an impasse, at a crossroad in

the spirit today. another Sunday worship service.

But God, you've appointed this time especially

to speak, to challenge, to share with us your

heart. And I pray that that's what would happen,

God, that every one of our hearts would feel

what you feel. That what makes you weep would

make us weep. That what excites you would excite

us. I pray God for a special unction of the Holy

Ghost, not just upon my lips, God, but upon every

ear that has an ear to hear in this place. Lord,

speak to your church and be glorified, God, at

this moment. God, and we will not hold back.

to respond to the word, God. We're going to go

beyond what we normally do. If you call us to

an altar, God, we're going to an altar today.

If you speak to us, God, we're not just going

to be hearers of the word, but doers also. Father,

in the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Somebody

with faith today, say amen. Clap your hands unto

the Lord one more time. Before you are seated

in the presence of God. Amen. I feel something

so profound in my spirit today. I would invite

you for the moments that we have, church, to

just allow God to speak directly into your spirit.

There is a deeply held ethos within. military

culture that says no man left behind. And some

of you who have in the past or currently serving

in the armed forces have probably have heard

this spoken in one way or another. This unofficial

creed embraced by soldiers and servicemen alike

means that no member of their unit will be abandoned.

even if wounded or killed in battle. It's an

unshakable commitment to bring every comrade

home, even if it means risking your own life

to do it. I am inspired by that today. I know

that it is a military ethos, but I also believe

it's a spiritual ethos as well. In many ways,

life is its own battlefield. Amen, somebody.

Everyday souls are fighting battles that we can't

see. Battles in their minds. in their homes,

in their hearts. The world that promised happiness

and pleasure has left them behind to fend for

themselves. So I want to introduce you to what

I call, respectfully, the left -behinds. The

left behinds. Someone say the left behinds. The

lost and unsaved souls who live among us but

feel unseen. They are the ones that we pass by

at the grocery store, sit next to at work. Walk

paths on the street. Sometimes the ones we cut

off on the freeway. Or even see at family functions.

These are the left -behinds. They are the single

mom and dad working two jobs to hold their family

together. whose pain and stress goes undetected

in our casual and brief conversations. Meanwhile,

they hug their pillow at night, cry themselves

to sleep, trying to figure out how they're going

to make ends meet at the end of the month. They

are the teenager scrolling through a... landmine

of social media accounts comparing themselves

to what they see portrayed on their reels. And

instead of being inspired or motivated, actually

feel worse about themselves as they compare themselves

to what they see in front of them. And with nowhere

to go, No real connection that exists anymore

in this world. They're left behind. Trying to

release the pressure of what they said. Now,

you may not see it on the outside, but it's the

neighbor watering the lawn, walking their dog,

crossing the street. These are the left behinds.

The man sitting alone in his car. With a serious

medical diagnosis. Doesn't know how he's going

to tell his family. Doesn't know how he's going

to face another day. This boss coming down on

him. His co -workers trying to replace him. Meanwhile,

he's got a hidden diagnosis. Which causes him

to think, if you only knew what I was going through,

you might treat me a little different. It's the

professional with a big salary driving a fancy

car and got stock options and a growing 401k.

Company paid trips and whatnot, but sinking deep

in depression. Secretly addicted to pain meds

that were given to him or her. to treat an illness,

but now they are using to numb their depression,

fentanyl, oxycodone, whatever form of pain meds,

addiction, alcohol, pornography. These are the

left -behinds, hidden in plain sight. I tell

you, they're right there. They're the neighbor.

That looks happy. You know the one I'm talking

about. The one that waves at you when you drive

by. Maybe you say, well, my neighbor hasn't waved

at me in a long time. Well, maybe they did at

once. That one. That neighbor that looks happy

on the outside. You think, man, the so -and -sos

got it all together. Look at how happy they are.

Behind closed doors, they're talking about divorce.

Behind closed doors, they can't connect with

their children, can't find a purpose for life.

They are lonely, hurting, and forgotten, left

in the fields of despair. Amen. And they wonder,

does anybody see me? Does anybody care? And the

man in our story was like them in that he was

wrestling with his own questions, his own very

questions about his left -behind state when just

when all hope seemed to be gone, hope arrived

in the form of a victorious and benevolent king.

His name was David. On David's way back to taking

back what the enemy had stolen from him, you

could, if you'd like, read the context there.

That's a whole other story in of itself. He encountered

this dying slave who had been left behind by

his master. The Bible says his critical state.

He was sick, starving, terrified. And he was

expecting judgment. He served the very people

that David was hunting. So this man could have

very much been treated like a means to an end.

Collateral damage. Just... Somebody that he could

get information out of and then kill him moments

after. But instead of condemnation, judgment

or bloodshed, David extended love. Somebody say

love. And this story, church, paints for us a

picture of Christ. The king of kings who stops

for the one. The shepherd who leaves the 99 for

the one. The God who came for the least of these.

It represents the heart of God to seek and to

save that which was lost. Last Sunday, if you

weren't here or if you remember, you could recall

how I preached about being lost in the house.

That's one kind of lostness, to be in the house,

in the family and lost. But today, we're looking

at those on the outside who are lost. The slave.

I couldn't shake these words from my mind. touched

me to the core. It messed me up so bad when I

really not just read it, but when I digested

it, when I put myself in his place, when I thought

of how difficult, treacherous it must have been

for him to say these words, my master has left

me. I thought about those words. My master has

left me. In those five words, behind those five

words are a broken life, a lonely life, a life

that has been discarded, a life that has been

overlooked, a life that has fallen to the wayside,

and it is today, church, the cry of every lost

and unsaved soul that's been left behind. Say,

well, I don't hear him saying anything. No, no,

no, no. You may not ever hear it with your natural

ears. You may not ever hear it by cupping your

hand behind your ear, and you may not ever hear

it in conversation, but if you have spiritual

hearing and discernment, if you're paying attention

to other things besides your own life and your

own needs and your own affairs, have you ever

stopped for a moment to consider? what your neighbor,

what your loved one, or what that soul might

be going through, you might just hear a whisper.

You might just hear in between the lines, this

cry, my master has left me. They may not articulate

it that way, may not use that word, but when

they talk about what's going on in their life

and they refer or imply. both directly and indirectly,

what is happening with their kids and among their

family and in their health or at the job or wherever

life has them. You might hear that cry, my master

has left. The world, let me tell you, souls are

crying out, my master has left me. This world

that promised riches and fame and success and

life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and

all of those things, world, dangled in front

of their eyes if they would just give themselves

over to their lust and their desires and their

sin and live for whatever they wanted to live,

that they would ultimately achieve euphoria,

utopia, or nirvana in their life, that they would

ultimately, if they were just a good person,

then good things would happen to them. If they

were just kind, kind things, they believe in

karma, they believe that if they're just... This

is what God wants to do. Can I preach this from

my heart? Amen. Can I do this today? I know you

didn't come to church just for a religious experience.

Something in your heart was saying, I need to

get to the house of the Lord. God needs to speak

to me today. And this is what the Lord told me

to tell you today. That the church must be a

place where left behind can be loved back to

life. Where those whose society, culture, and

the world has left behind. That there is a church

in Mountain View, California. That there is a

church on 1425 North Spring Road, South Spring

Road. That there is a church, there is an apostasy.

calling one God, one God, one faith, and one

baptism church. There is a loving church. There

is a kind church. There is a church that's been

planted here for 12 years now where somebody

who has been left behind can discover that there

is a love. My point today, number one, is love

heals what the world hurts. Someone say love

heals. It's love. The slave was from Egypt, a

place that represents bondage, sin, and the world

system. It represents everything opposite to

what the kingdom of God represents. It's where

everything is backwards. How many of you know

that this world's got it all backwards? The system

is backwards. And though he had left Egypt physically,

he still carried Egypt in his mind and in his

spirit. He was still, even at this point, living

under the shadow of oppression. Still trying

to escape the ghost of his past. Still trying

to find meaning to his life. Still trying to

make it for himself. We don't know all the back

story. But we know enough that he was from Egypt.

And that's what the world, what spiritual Egypt

does to people, friend and church, hallelujah.

It doesn't want to let them go very easily. You

may recall how when God delivered his people

from Egyptian slavery, how even after Pharaoh

let them go, he regretted it, did he not? Did

he not gather his horsemen and his chariots and

go, I'll second thought. I think I'd rather have

you guys back. Because the devil and the world

doesn't let go that easy. It's not willing to

just give up that easily. It plays for keeps.

And this is what the enemy does. The thief cometh

but to steal. To kill and to destroy. I'm reminded

of the man in Jesus' parable traveling down from

Jerusalem to Jericho and how that he had been

robbed, taken advantage of, stripped of his clothes,

beaten beyond recognition, left behind to die.

You know the story. The priest. Came and said,

ooh, that's too dirty for me. I need to keep

going about my business. I've got real religious

work to do. The Levite did the same. Well, if

I touch him, that makes me impure. And so I'm

going to just love him from a distance. I'm going

to just send my prayers. Maybe I'll send him

an offering one day. But I can't get my hands

dirty. But then Jesus told of a Samaritan, the

least qualified, the ones who were considered

among the Jews a half -breed, lower class, unspiritual,

unreligious. It was he, not the religious, not

the knowledgeable, not the wise in their own

eyes, but it was the least qualified that says,

wants to stop, roll up their sleeves and get

their hands dirty in the life of a sinner and

a broken person, well, I will be the one to do

it. And so he goes and he nurses and nurtures

this man back to life and provides what he needs

to get back on his feet. Now if that stings our

hearts, imagine what it did to the Pharisees

who thought that. They had the corner market

on the religious system who thought that they

were above reproach. Oh, imagine what that would

have done to them when they heard that. But if

we are honest with ourselves, how often have

we been like the priests and the Levite? I wonder

how many other people when they saw this. David

couldn't have been the first one to see this

Egyptian slave hurting, broken. But somebody

else may have saw him. I'm speculating here.

It's quite possible that somebody else saw him

and said, well, what can I do? I mean, it's just

me. I don't have very much to offer. I don't

have a lot to give, you know. I just hope that

he has a peaceful ending. I hope he doesn't go

out in pain. I hope he closes his, I hope he

dies in his sleep, you know. And they think maybe

that was compassion. But that's not really what

compassion and love is. Love. wants to heal what

the world has hurt. And this is not something

that can be done from a distance. You can't just

send thoughts and prayers or send money and just

hope to fix a problem. This is not why God has

it where he has it in our context. What does

your context look like? In your world, among

your friends and among your counterparts and

among people that God has placed in your life,

those that you know and those that you don't

know, but regardless, God has placed people around

all of us who are crying like this man, my master

has left me. My master has left me. And is there

somebody in the kingdom? Let me just show you

very briefly what David gave him. I'm not going

to expound on this very much, but I just want

to give you a picture. If you want to capture

it, if you want to make a note of it, please

do. But I'm not going to dwell on it very long.

I just want to show you what David gave him.

The Bible says he gave him bread, water, figs,

and raisins. Now, every one of these sources

of nourishment represents something in the spirit.

The bread. It's the word of God that feeds the

soul. Man shall not live by bread alone, but

by every word that proceeds out of the mouth

of God. God. The water is of the spirit of God.

Refreshes the soul. If you believe upon me as

the scripture has said, out of your belly will

flow rivers of living water. The figs represent

the blessings of God. When Israel prospered,

the Bible says that every man sat under his own

fig tree. So figs represent prosperity. It represents

sweetness and stability. The blessings of God.

And then the raisins. Raisins are but dried grapes.

And when Joshua and Caleb came back from the

land of promise. What did they have with them

as a symbol of God's goodness in the promise?

They had clusters of grapes. And so what are

we to feed a hungry, dying, broken, sick world?

We are not to feed them vain philosophy from

man. We are not to feed them religion. We are

not to feed them what we think they need. They

need a steady diet of the things of God. What

they need is the word. Come on, somebody. What

they need is the water. And so every time we

gather together, in the house of God, every time

we gather in our city groups, every time we gather

for fellowship, every time we gather with our

families, every time we invite a soul, we're

reaching an unsaved, a lost person. Every time

we're reaching these people, we can't just give

them ourselves. We can't just give them the latest

pop psychology information out there. We got

to give them the bread and the water and then

share with them the blessings of Almighty God.

God has blessed us. How many of you, do you know

how many has God blessed you today? Amen. Say

amen if God has blessed you. Come on, say amen

if God has blessed you. God has blessed us so

that we can be a blessing. Hallelujah. And the

promises of God have been given to us to give

to others. Now let me move on because David asked

a very important question. Upon hearing this

man's state, he said, to whom? To whom do you

belong? My gosh. Beneath that question, brother

and sister, beneath that question lies the deepest

human need. It reveals the deepest human need,

which is the need to belong. Someone say belong.

For 12 years, this church has had the motto of

belong, believe, and become. And more than ever,

church, we need to reclaim. We need to pray and

let it saturate and grain every aspect of who

we are, that we are a place and we are a people,

and I am a believer of belonging. The next thing

love does is that love gives the gift of belonging.

Everyone. Everyone needs somewhere to belong.

Amen, somebody. I said amen. Everybody needs

somewhere to belong. But this man had no one.

His master had abandoned him. He was cut off.

Cut from the payroll. Cut from the group that

he was a part of. His own people had forsaken

him. He was a man without a home, without a name,

and without a place, without a people. But in

David, he found belonging again. And if there

is one thing that people are desperate for, it's

a place to belong. They want to know that regardless

of what's going on in their life, regardless

of what they've gotten themselves into, regardless

of what, that they are accepted as they are.

Accepted as I am. That I am welcomed. That I

am included. Jesus. Loneliness. Some of us may

wink at that or, well, I don't know. That sounds

like a fairy tale thing to me. No, loneliness

is real. And it's an epidemic. And it's not just

emotional. It's spiritual. It's spiritual. It's

at the core of who we are. Even before the fall

of man, you might remember how God said, it is

not good. for man to be alone. God said that

before sin entered the world. How much more after

sin has entered the world? In other words, church,

Bible student, in a perfect, sinless, unbroken

world, God said, you know, it's not good for

you to be by yourself. How much more when sin

hurt? brokenness and pain and sickness has entered.

That much more do we need belonging. Recent studies

show that one in six American adults say they

feel lonely or isolated from those around them

all or most of the time. You say, well, one in

six? That doesn't sound like a lot. That's a

lot. Across the landscape. Among adults under

50, so younger, that number rises to 22%. So

what social scientists and experts have found

is that among young people under 50 years old,

rates of depression and loneliness have skyrocketed.

It's worse among them. And there's other factors

as to why that might be. Culture that we live

in, the ways in which technology Drives people

apart. There's a lot to consider there. But of

course, there's a spiritual dark reality there

that the enemy is working. Among men, it gets

worse. Ages 15 to 34, nearly one in four admit

to feeling lonely. Now or at some point. And

you can do your own search and discover many

other staggering statistics about the state.

Of this epidemic of loneliness in our world.

And there are all sorts of remedies that are

being cooked up. In labs. In medicine to fix.

And what it does most times is just make matters

worse. But I want you to understand something

today church. That these statistics are not about

people who are on the other side of the world.

They're about the left behind. That are living

among us. That's who it's about. It's a mistake

to think that just loners are lonely. You see

a lonely person. Man, that person must be lonely.

Sometimes they're not. Sometimes it's those that

are the most outgoing. Successful. Surrounded

by people who are suffering from loneliness.

Amen. These are our neighbors, our coworkers,

our classmates, our subjects, those that are

working beneath us or above us, our family members

even. And we live in a world that provides false

belonging through social media, through disposable

relationships. Where people really don't know

who they can trust. Who is really a friend. We

live in a world where someone can have 500 or

even 1 ,000 followers on Instagram. But not have

any real friends. Hello somebody. Have people

all around them. Be the center of attention even.

And have no one beside them. I'm talking about

lost. Left behinds who are waiting for somebody

to hear that cry. My master has left me. And

I want you to know today that the Holy Ghost.

The church is the antidote. I said the church

is the antidote. Paul said that God in 2 Corinthians

5 .18 has given us, amen, the ministry of reconciliation.

Every one of you is a reconciler. You don't even,

I don't know what my ministry is. Nothing against

taking a course or there's things that you can

do. I don't know what my calling is. Friend,

you can take a 20 -page survey with assessments

and questions and everything that spits out the

result of that. This is what you are. You can

do that, but let also you hear this. Your ministry

has been spelled out for you right here in the

Word of God. Reconciliation. To reconcile. To

mediate. To be the go -between. The gap filler

for somebody and say, I know where the answer

is. Hallelujah. Let me, through works of grace,

love, compassion, mercy, through inconveniencing

my own time, priorities, schedules, and whatnot,

and be a blessing to you to encourage you to

sit with us at our family dinner. Hallelujah.

I shook somebody to the core when I said that.

Or invite them out for coffee. Or extend love

and grace to them and be a blessing to them.

He said, well, can I just write? No, don't just

write them a check. Take them and bring them

to where you are and be like Jesus who sat where

they sat. He ate with sinners. And he was criticized

for it. But he ate with tax collectors and prostitutes

and sinners. breakers of the law, and he ate

with them and he dined with them and he feasted

with them. Let me tell you what the world is

hungry for. I'm going to be just a few more moments.

But this is not just like a regular three -point

mess, even though I got three points. You know

I'm going to have them. But God's trying to transfer

something into our spirits today. So what am

I doing? What am I doing with what I know, with

what I have? So many times we look, well, what's

the church going to do? Hello, you are the church.

Someone say, I'm the church. Come on, say it

like you mean it. Say, I'm the church. Never

ask the church to write a check for something

you're not willing to go do yourself. You say,

well, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Away with

all that. It's my personal responsibility. You

take someone out for coffee. It cost you five

bucks. Don't send in a reimbursement request

to the church. You say, Pastor, that's messed

up. Why would you do that? Because when is it

going to cost you something? I know I hurt somebody's

feelings when I said that. I'm sorry. You can

start an anonymous profile on Instagram and criticize

me if you want. They don't want religion. They

want relationship. They want to know that when

I come, someone's already set the table. Somebody

is there. Somebody is welcoming. Do they need

forgiveness of their sins? Yes, they do. They

need the blood. of Jesus to wash away their sins.

But they also need a family that's going to welcome

them in and say, hey, I know you look different

than us. I know that you walk different. You

talk different. But you're one of us. I know

you've got, you know, and I'm going to say this

respectfully because, you know, you don't quite

look apostolic, you know. You've got all those

things on your body and your life you don't quite

look. But you're going to be one of us. We're

going to love you like you're one of us. I know

you don't quite have it all. figuring out you

don't know the lyrics of the song. Hello, they

don't listen to K -Love and Air One, and they

don't know all that stuff yet. But we're going

to welcome them in anyways, and we want to love

them. Come on, am I talking to somebody? And

I need to remind you as a piano player gets ready

that such were some of us when God extended mercy

to our lives. Oh, come on, why don't we just

worship the Lord for a moment right now. Thank

you, Jesus. God, I praise you, Lord. Is it not

what God did for us? As I bring this to a close,

there's something I want to share with you that

touched my heart. And something that I believe

is a key, a key. It's a burden. It's a burden.

It's a burden. You know, someone once said that

when it comes to the truth, that some things

are taught and some things are caught. You know,

I could teach these things till I'm blue in the

face. But if you don't catch it. The problem

is, and I'm not going to dwell on this, but the

problem is some of us, the reason why we're struggling,

because we're struggling with our own yes being

yes. We haven't yet decided. Some of you, you

haven't even decided if you want to be in this

church. How are you going to save, how are you

going to bring somebody to the hospital when

you yourself are not part of the nursing? Some

of us, God, is dealing with us, you know, we

want to love these people. We need to get our

hearts right. We need to make sure that we're

all in. God, I want to reach for these people,

God. But I need also, Lord, to get my... To get

myself in order, God, I need to. I say this in

the Holy Ghost. God, I need. I need to. It's

not going to work any other way. It's not going

to work. There was a story that touched me some

time ago. I know I'm going over time. That's

okay. But listen, there's a story that touched

me. True story. During World War II, there was

a. A young army medic named Desmond Doss who

served in the battle, the infamous battle of

Okinawa. And he refused. Go back to there. There

he is. He refused. to carry a weapon because

of his faith. So he was what they call a conscientious

objector. But he still, he went. And he ran straight

into enemy fire to rescue the wounded. While

others took cover, Doss stayed on the battlefield.

Alone, unarmed, and under relentless attack.

One by one, he carried his fallen comrades to

safety. By lowering them down this cliff right

here, with a rope, with his bare hands, he was

lowering them down to safety. whispered over

and over in his mind these words. Now the next

slide shows that he prayed. He said this. He

said, Lord, help me get just one more. Help me

get just one more. And by the time this...