Backyard Behaviors | Pastor Chad Gilligan Sermon | One Church Columbus

Well, hello, one church.

It is such a privilege to be with you today.

I I have had the opportunity to pastor at Calvary in Toledo for 28 years.

So anytime you go somewhere different and you're you're speaking to a different group, it's it's it's sometimes just a little bit nerve-wracking.

So would it be okay if just kind of right out of the gate, if if I could take a little survey to make sure we're all on the same page?

Is that okay?

Like I'm gonna ask you just three quick questions and I'm gonna need you to make some noise if you agree with what I'm saying.

We all good?

Okay, so so help me out here.

Now the first question might seem a little silly, but you gotta remember I'm from Toledo.

Okay?

How many of you are Buckeye fans in the room?

My people, this is good.

Because I I live in Toledo, which is right up there on the border of that state up north.

So Sundays at Calvary, there's often a lot of disunity in the house, if you know what I'm talking about, right?

So it's good to be here with you, with real Christians.

Buckeye fans, this is good.

This is good.

Alright, are you ready for a second question?

I need you to make some noise if you know that you are part of an amazing church.

Like, I don't know how familiar you are with the church world, but what is happening at one church is truly special.

Like what God is doing here, the way He's working in your lives, the growth that you're seeing as a church.

Like this is not normal.

And this is special that we get to be a part of this.

Can I give you one last question, a third question before we move on?

You ready for number three?

Make some noise if you know you have an incredible pastor.

Right?

I'm not just asking Matt because Pastor Greg gave me a nice introduction.

I'm so glad for the stories he didn't tell in that video.

But your pastor is one of the most gifted, naturally gifted communicators I've ever known.

He works harder than most people I've ever met, and he is an anointed leader from God in a really special way.

And so it is it is a privilege to be here, to stand in his place today, and just so honored to be with you here.

Um, can I show you a quick picture of my family?

Let me just show you this real quick.

We'll pop that up on the screens.

Right there in the middle, uh, the young man with the glasses in the middle.

That is our youngest, that's our son Evan.

And just a couple of months ago in May, he graduated from the Ohio State University.

Yeah.

That's our Buckeye, and he just moved to Houston, Texas, to go to grad school.

On the left is our daughter Carissa and her husband Daniel and their two boys, and uh, we're so proud of them.

They live here in the Greater Columbus area.

On the right is our son Clayton and his wife Ariana, and uh they live in Springfield, Missouri, and uh serve a ministry called Convoy of Hope.

And in the middle is my wife Rhonda.

We are high school sweethearts who have been married for almost 33 years, and yes, I did marry out of my league.

You can see it, right?

And uh when when I left home to come down here for the weekend, I had a dilemma, right?

So, because our daughter lives here, we were able to come down Thursday night and hang out for a couple of days with her and her family.

My dilemma had nothing to do with the church.

Church is a good hands when I'm not there.

We have an amazing team, and one of our team members is preaching today, bringing a strong word to the church.

And my dilemma had nothing to do with my home, right?

We've got a neighbor, the kind of neighbor you pray for.

He gets the mail, takes care of the cats, like all that kind of stuff.

We have a great neighbor.

My dilemma was my grass, was my yard, because it needed mode.

It had needed mode for a few days, actually.

But it had rained and I'd been busy and there was all this stuff, and I got home and we were getting ready to leave.

I had to get all this stuff together, and I realized I still gotta mow the grass before I leave.

Because if I don't, then it's already long, it's gonna be too long.

Anybody know what I'm talking about?

We've we've got good neighbors, but some of them are a little judgy.

Right?

And they're gonna give that, ah, yeah, I didn't mow your grass.

The people that lived in the house before us, we've only lived there for a couple of years, they kept it immaculate.

And there are still people who drive and walk by and go, the new people don't keep it quite as nice.

Right?

And so I was like, I've I've got to mow the grass, but I've only got about an hour of sunlight left.

I don't know what to do.

And then it hit me, right?

I need to mow, I desperately need to mow the front yard and the backyard.

But people only see the front yard.

So I'm only gonna mow the front yard, because the backyard, nobody's gonna see it but my closest neighbor's family.

Nobody's gonna see the backyard.

They're only gonna see the front yard.

So that's the part I'm gonna mow.

Because there's a bit of a difference between your front yard and your backyard, true?

Like your front yard, that's what you want people to see.

That's oftentimes what you get judged by, that's what's out there.

The backyard's a little bit different.

The backyard is where you can keep stuff.

The backyard is where your broken stuff is.

The backyard is where you can actually yell at your kids.

Am I allowed to say dog doo-doo in church?

Can I say that?

That's backyard stuff, right?

A friend said to me recently, actually, a neighbor said to me recently, he said, Hey man, can you come over to my house for a minute?

I want to show you something that's in my backyard.

That's when I knew we were no longer neighbors, that we were friends.

Your front yard is what you want people to see.

But your backyard is where you really live.

Now, maybe you don't live in a house right now where you have a front yard and a backyard, but I guarantee you you have a closet you don't want anyone to open.

You might not have a backyard, but you have a back room.

At least there's something under your bed.

It's not what you want everybody to see, but it's actually where you really live.

And today I want to show you five things that we're gonna look at.

Let me tell you what they are, and then we'll unpack them and I'll tell you why we're looking at them.

Today I want to talk about five backyard behaviors that Jesus can bless.

Today we're gonna look at five backyard behaviors that Jesus can bless.

Here's where we're gonna look at this.

In Matthew chapter 23, the Gospel of Matthew, this is Jesus, and it's a it's kind of a strange chapter because in Matthew 23, Jesus is talking to the scribes, like the teachers of the law.

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

He's talking to the Pharisees, and he just gives it to them.

Like he just straight out calls them out, he puts them on warning, he lets them know how you're living is not right.

And here's what he says to them you want everyone to think that you've got it all together, but your life is really a mess.

What he's saying is you portray a certain kind of persona in the front yard.

But things are pretty messed up in the backyard.

And he calls them out for this.

And here's the point that he's trying to make.

What he wants them to know is that if you have front yard faith without backyard behaviors, that's hypocrisy.

Front yard faith without backyard behaviors is hypocrisy.

Because there's a difference between the two, but who you really are is the backyard.

The backyard tells the true story.

The backyard shows who you really are.

Now, look, I'm I'm not your pastor, and typically when you when you visit somewhere and you preach, you really want to bring just kind of a word of encouragement.

You want to talk about miracles, you want you want to you want to talk about people, what God can do in their lives.

But I couldn't shake that this was something that God wanted us to talk about today.

And I think it's because I want you to be blessed.

I want you to be blessed in your life, and I want you to be blessed in this church.

And if you want to be blessed, what Jesus says to these people in Matthew 23 is he says, you've got to make sure that the blessing comes, it's not because of who you say you are in the front yard, it's because of how you live in the backyard.

So today I just want to look at these five backyard behaviors.

To do that, we're just kind of gonna skim through Matthew 23.

Like you, you can go back and read the whole chapter for yourself, but let's jump in and look at this.

Matthew 23, beginning with verse 1.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.

Okay, time out real quick.

So who are we talking about here?

The teachers of the law were the experts in the Jewish scriptures, the Old Testament.

And so they would be the ones, as experts, who would tell people what the scriptures say.

The Pharisees were the theologians.

They would be the ones to say, this is how you're supposed to live.

And Jesus says that they would sit in Moses' seat.

Now that was like a figurative term to be used as a place of authority, but excavations have shown that literally in first century synagogues, there would have been a chair that was built into the wall where someone would come and they would sit and they would read the scriptures.

That was called Moses' seat.

So Jesus is acknowledging that the Pharisees, that the scribes, the teachers of the law, that they had authority in the lives of the people.

Here's what he says.

Jesus said, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.

So you must be careful to do everything they tell you, but do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

You ever heard that term before?

The power of practicing what we preach.

And this is so important for us to consider.

Jesus says, look, these people should have authority in your life.

You should hear what they say.

What they're saying to you is the truth, but don't live like them.

Because they don't live the way that they talk.

Their front yards are one thing, but their backyards are different.

They do not practice what they preach.

So if you want to be blessed, here's the first thing I want you to see.

Number one, practice what you preach.

Not just who you say you are in the front yard, but how you live in the backyard.

Number one, you've got to practice what you preach.

Here's why this is so important authority without integrity creates confusion and animosity.

Isn't this true?

God's giving you influence somehow.

So where you have authority, if you have authority without integrity, what it creates in you, and especially in the lives of the people around you, is confusion and animosity.

Like you know what I mean.

It's the athlete who smiles for the camera, but rumor has it they're a jerk in the locker room.

It's the TV host who has millions of adoring fans, but their staff says that they're a monster to work with.

In my world, there's far too many pastors who preach and then don't practice what they preach.

Now, look, don't get me wrong, none of us are perfect.

We're all human.

More often than not, I preach a sermon on Sunday, and then I have to preach it to myself on Tuesday.

Like we all need those moments to recognize that it's important for us to practice what we preach.

But when the disconnect is so great between who you say you are, who you want people to think you are, and who you actually are, there are disastrous consequences in your life, in your relationships, in your family, in your friends.

It's the boss who alienates and demeans employees.

It's the parent who's not consistent as a role model to their children.

It's the person who lies or cheats just one more time to do what they need to do.

Look at this, Proverbs chapter 12, verse 22.

Proverbs 12:22

Solomon writes, The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

Think about that.

It says the Lord detests, he hates, he does not like, he tries to stop lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

Quick poll.

How many of you would like to be detested by God?

Let me see a show of hands.

I did that, I did that in the first service today, and there was a guy, he was so dialed in.

He wanted to listen so much that when I said, raise your hand, he just shot his hand up.

And I said, Raise your hand if you want to be detested by God.

And he goes, No.

Right?

But you don't want to be.

How many of you want God to delight in you, to favor you?

Look, I want you to know this.

Your integrity is key to God's favor in your life.

If you want to have favor in your life, it comes back to who you are.

Not in the front yard, but in the backyard.

That's what matters.

I remember years ago I was at an event, got into an elevator with some friends.

We're standing in the back of the elevator, right?

And this elevator goes up a couple floors, doors open, and this guy comes in.

He's got kind of a little entourage with him.

They kind of come in, you know, they step there, they're smiling.

The door closes, and as soon as the door closes, he turns to people and he starts complaining.

He starts badmouthing some other people, he starts bossing these other people around.

Like the minute that door closed, his whole demeanor changed.

He was a totally different person when the elevator door closed than who he was when the door was open.

And I'm just some guy sitting in the back.

Now look, I know who he is.

He has no idea who I am, but I can tell you this every time since that I've either heard his name or seen him online, which guy do you think I think of?

The guy with the door open or the guy with the door closed?

Who you really are is when that elevator door closes.

And when it does, do you practice what you preach?

Instead of being so focused on our front yards, what if we say, God, would you help us to live out our lives truly with who we are when it really matters?

That's the first kind of backyard behavior that Jesus can bless.

Number one, practice what you preach.

Here's the second one.

Look at this Matthew chapter 23, verse 11.

Matthew 23:11

The greatest among you will be your servant, for those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

And Jesus is bringing a pretty significant challenge to them here in this moment.

He's saying to them, if you truly want to be great, here's what you need to do.

Number two, second backyard behavior, Jesus can bless.

Number two, be a servant.

Number two, Jesus says, be a servant.

This is essential, especially if you want to talk about how do we really live out who we say we are.

It comes when we serve other people.

And here's what Jesus says: true greatness is determined by servanthood.

True greatness in our lives is not determined by what other people think about us.

It's truly determined, Jesus says, by how we serve others, by how we treat others, by how our lives invest in the lives of others.

Here's an example of that.

Anybody remember Fred Rogers?

Do you remember Mr.

Rogers' neighborhood?

Anybody remember that show?

That's going way back.

How about this?

Daniel Tiger.

Anybody remember Daniel Tiger?

Mr.

Rogers, got a change of shoes and his sweater.

Are you with me?

Here's what they say about him: that he was the same person on screen as he was off-screen.

That the way he treated custodians and servers in restaurants is the same way that he treated puppets and trolleys.

That he was the same either way.

And that he chose to be a servant.

Because true greatness in our lives is determined by servanthood.

And Jesus tells us if you exalt yourself, you will be humbled.

That if you're always pushing yourself, raising yourself up over others.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's okay for you to want that promotion.

It's okay for you to get that education.

It's okay for you to say, I want to be the very best at what I do, I want to excel, I want to get better, I want to be better.

Those are all good things.

But if you are all focused on yourself instead of how to serve other people, that's a disastrous thing.

There's an old saying that says, humility is not thinking less of yourself.

Right?

That's sometimes how we define humility.

Ah, I think less of myself.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself.

Humility is thinking of yourself less.

That you're not the first thing that comes to your mind.

I think it's the great theologian Greg Ford.

You ever heard of him?

It's the great theologian Greg Ford who says, if you are too big to serve, then you're too small to lead.

Jesus says that we are to humble ourselves.

So what's it gonna mean for you to be a servant that in the front yard your life matches it in the backyard?

It's okay.

Some of you are looking for a promotion.

Some of you are desperate to excel in your work, in your school.

You're in a place and you're like, God, I want my life to matter.

I want to make a difference.

Can I tell you the number one thing that gets us on God's radar so that He can give us favor, it's humility at servanthood.

And parents in the backyard, your kids are gonna see that.

They're gonna pick that up.

I remember being probably, I don't know, 13, 14 years old, something like that.

There was an event at my home church.

I was privileged to grow up at a great church in Warren, Ohio, Warren First Assembly of God.

And there was a night when my dad said, Hey, we're we're gonna go to the church tonight.

And I said, Well, Dad, it doesn't make any sense for us to go to the church because there's a the only thing that's going on at the church tonight is this event for women.

And dad, that's not us.

My dad said, Well, your mom is helping to put on this event.

And at the end of the night, they're probably gonna need some assistance in cleaning up.

So you and I are gonna go help.

And I did not want to go.

But I have this picture, my dad passed away about 30 years ago.

I have this picture that has just burned in my mind of my dad in the kitchen of this church gym, bent over a sink and washing dishes from all of those dirty, filthy women.

No, I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding.

I'm just kidding.

But what I do have is this picture of my dad washing dishes in that sink, and I can remember looking at him and thinking to myself, that's what I want to be.

I want to be like my dad.

I want to be a servant.

When we serve, it changes things, and it opens up the opportunity for God to bless us.

Which takes us then to the third thing.

Look at this, Matthew 23, verse 13.

Matthew 23:13

Again, we're just kind of moving through this chapter.

Matthew 23, 13, Jesus says, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces, and you yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Look at those hard words.

You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces.

Those are some challenging words from Jesus.

But he says to the scribes, the teachers of the law, the Pharisees, he says to them, You look out for yourself, but you don't look out for other people.

You don't give grace to other people, you don't open doors for them or seek the best for them.

Here's the third backyard behavior that I would challenge you with.

If you want God's blessing in your life, number three, open doors.

Number three, open doors for other people.

Rhonda and I were out of town a while back in Big City.

When we parked, we had to park in this underground parking garage.

When we came up to street level, it was pouring.

Hadn't been raining, but during that little bit of time, it was just pouring.

So we're up at street level, we're we're looking at where we need to go, and we're under a canopy, and the building we have to get to is just one block down.

There's a building between us, right?

So we're at the parking garage, there's a building, and then we're trying to go is on the other side of that building, but we're trying to figure out we don't have an umbrella, the rain is coming down, what are we gonna do?

And my wife, who was very smart, said, I bet that if we could get through that door, we could walk through that building and stay dry the whole time to get to the other side.

And I said, That's a really good idea.

I says, but I bet that door's locked.

And she gave me the look that said, I bet you could check.

So I ran over, pulled on the door, I was right, it was locked.

And I turned to walk away, and as soon as I did, the door flung open.

And there was some lady who was walking by that door, and probably against security protocols, she opened the door for two random strangers who were out in the rain and said, Come on in.

And we were able to walk through that building and stay dry to get where we were going.

Isn't it great when someone opens doors for you?

Have you ever had a door shut in your face?

Maybe not literally, but you know the feeling where someone just slams it right in front of you.

Jesus says, look, part of what we're called to be are people who open doors for other people.

Now look, think about this.

When you're when you're in your backyard, those are the moments when you're tired, when you're vulnerable, when you're insecure, just plain grouchy.

And it can be hard for us, for our family, for those close to us, or even just in our own protective ways.

To be willing to open the doors for other people.

When your actions do not match your talk, that's when you slam the door of faith in the lives of those who know you best.

When your words tear others down, you slam the door of self-worth shut in their faces.

When you refuse to serve another person, you rob them of the blessing that God wants to bring to them.

But when your faith is lived out, not perfectly, look, none of us are perfect, but when you genuinely live out your faith, it opens up the doors for others to believe.

When your words are encouraging and affirming, sometimes even corrective, or you help to bring accountability to people's lives.

But when those words come to other people, you open doors for them.

When you look for ways to bring out the best in those around you, you are opening doors.

Solomon says it this way: Proverbs 11, verse 25, the generous will prosper, and those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25

Isn't that a good line?

The generous will prosper.

So here's my question.

Would other people say that you are generous?

I don't just mean with your cash, but what about your time?

Your energy, your influence, even just the words of encouragement that you speak.

Do you look for ways to make an investment in the lives of other people that might open some doors for them?

If you were to drive up to mommy and come visit us at Calvary Church, when you would come there, when I'm there, I carry around a lot of keys in my pocket.

Our church meets in an old movie theater, an old 18-screen movie theater.

So we got all these doors and closets and all these different things that are all these places, and I have to have lots of keys to open up those doors when we need to do things.

In fact, as the pastor, I have some keys that almost nobody else has.

So if you need to get into a door, I can help you because I hold those keys in my hand.

And there are keys that you hold in your hands that God has given to you, many of them only to you, that you can use to be a blessing in the lives of other people.

Does that make sense?

And sometimes we go, well, I don't have what it takes, or I'm just this, or I'm not that, or we do all those things.

But God has entrusted some things into your hands so that you can open doors for other people.

The question is, will I get beyond myself so that I'll be willing to let God use me to be a blessing in the lives of others?

Which takes me to the fourth thing that I want you to see.

Let's go back to the words of Jesus.

Matthew 23, verse 24.

Matthew 23:24

Jesus says, this is a crazy picture that he paints here.

He says, You blind guides, you strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel.

Isn't that an interesting picture?

I'll tell you the context of it here in just a moment, but here's his point.

He says, you keep getting so upset about little things and you miss the big things.

You get all worked up over stuff that really doesn't matter, and yet you ignore the things that are gonna make a difference for eternity.

Here's the fourth thing I want to challenge you with.

If you're gonna live in your backyard in a way Jesus can bless, number four, don't miss the point.

Number four, don't miss the point.

Don't be so focused on little things that you miss the big things that are going on around you.

In the first century, one of the things that the Pharisees taught was that if you were gonna drink wine, you should pour it through like a cloth that would filter the wine so that it would get little critters out of it.

Because if you swallowed a gnat, that was considered unclean.

And Jesus says, you will focus on the tiniest little bug, and you'll ignore this giant camel that's in front of you.

And sometimes you and I are prone to major on the minors.

We pick the wrong battles, and when we do, we find ourselves not only hurting ourselves, but alienating other people around us.

Does that make sense?

I just want to be careful as I live my life that I'm not so negative, that I'm not so focused on myself that I actually miss the point, that I miss the things that really matter.

And can I tell you, here's what matters it's not image, and it's not popularity, and it's not promotion.

People matter more than anything.

And investing in those that God has entrusted in your life.

Let's take this one more step.

Listen to the words of Jesus here.

Matthew 7, verse 3.

Matthew 7:3

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when all the time there's a plank in your own eye?

You hypocrite.

First, take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

If you any of you ever heard those verses before?

Yes?

Isn't that a crazy picture?

The picture Jesus paints is of a guy with a two by four sticking out of his head.

And he says, You've got this going on, and yet you keep focusing on the smallest thing.

And you and I can be so prone, I'm in this too, right?

You and I can be so prone to focus in on the negative things, and we miss the things that really matter, the things that God is really trying to do in our lives.

Here's what I want to tell you what you see is what you get.

Then if you want to focus it, you want to look, if what you want to see is always where you've been offended or what is wrong or what is negative, then that's exactly what you're gonna get back in your life.

The Bible says you're gonna reap what you sow.

You've heard that?

Now look, I'm not telling you that you don't pay attention to your problems.

I'm not saying you don't fix the things that are broken or that you realize that there's moments where things are critical or urgent.

What I'm saying is that if you let everything you see be negativity, then negativity is what you're gonna get in your life.

There is a negative power to negativity.

And in the same way, there's a pretty positive power to positivity.

When I say, God, I'm gonna trust you with this situation.

God, I'm gonna ask for your help in this situation.

God, I don't like this place that I'm in, but I need your help.

Here's why I'm stressing this: it's so easy to become negative.

It's hard to serve sometimes.

We don't always feel like opening doors for other people.

We it's easy to make a big deal out of little things and miss the point.

But it's our negativity that can bring negativity into our lives and the lives of others.

When you major on the minors, you throw things off.

When you pick the wrong battles, you unnecessarily alienate yourself.

When you sweat the small stuff, you miss on the things that God is trying to do in your life.

And the problem is, we will miss the blessing of God in our lives if we get too wrapped up in ourselves.

You will miss the blessing of God in your life if you get too wrapped up in yourself.

Now look, I'm I'm banking on the fact that Pastor Greg Ford is never gonna watch this video.

So can I tell you a Greg Ford story?

Is that alright?

I got lots I could tell.

I have lots I probably shouldn't tell, but so is he.

What I won't tell you today is the story about the time he brought a watermelon into staff meeting and just ate the whole watermelon in staff meeting.

I'm not gonna tell you that story.

And I'm not gonna tell you the story about the George Foreman grill.

Anybody remember the George Foreman grill?

I'm not gonna tell you the story about the George Foreman grill that Greg kept in his office and would just slap a chicken breast on there at lunchtime, and the whole office would then smell like Greg's lunch.

I'm also not gonna tell you the story about the time we did a road trip to Texas.

We left late at night, and Greg said, Boys, I know where I'm going, just trust me, I've driven this a bunch of times.

And when we kind of all woke back up, he said, Well, fellas, I we got lost about two hours ago, but we're gonna be okay.

I'm not gonna tell you any of those stories.

But I'm gonna tell you a story about a time.

We had a staff prayer time that we would have kind of repeatedly, and we would have it in our sanctuary, and I wasn't there that day, so this is just legend.

I've heard this.

But we had it, we had a staff prayer time, and we would all kind of pray, and then at the end of that time, we would gather at the front of the sanctuary, kind of up in a space like this, and we would kind of circle up and we would pray over requests, pray for one another, just kind of wrap up in prayer in that way.

And so whatever happened, we prayed, and our staff was all there, and every so often there were a couple ladies from the church who would join us.

And one day as they were wrapping up, and Pastor Greg's there, the rest of the team's there, the one lady goes, This has been this has been so special today.

I just I just think we should do something special.

And everybody's like, Oh, okay.

And she's like, I think we should all hold hands.

Well, I'm just gonna be honest with you, this is just me personally.

I love the Lord, but I really only want to hold hands with my wife.

Anyone else?

Right?

So I was kind of glad I wasn't there.

They're all holding hands.

And then she says, I think it'd be really special if we would, if we would have a cinnamon roll hug.

What's a cinnamon roll hug?

And she drops the hand of the person on one side of her, and then while holding the other person's hand, she turns into that person.

Do you see where this is going?

And then she continues to turn as the whole circle of people start wrapping themselves up.

Now, look, if you think this sounds like a good idea, you are in the minority.

Can I get an amen?

Right?

And so the whole, the whole team is just, and it's all happening so fast.

And then what is going on?

There was only one person in that group who was brave enough and clearly thinking enough to go, this is weird.

That was your pastor.

He literally goes, nope, like that.

He goes, nope, and he jumps over the first row of seats and lays on the ground between the first and second row until everybody unwrapped themselves.

Because Greg Ford had enough wisdom to say, it's never good when people get too wrapped up in themselves.

It is never good when people get too wrapped up in themselves.

I loved pulling on your property today.

There's nothing more exciting than a church in a construction project.

You got it going on, and you have been so patient, parking and inconveniences here and there and all the changes that are coming.

We're in a very similar season at Calvary right now, so I know kind of where this is.

Can I tell you something?

I am so excited to see what God is doing here because you are a church who is not wrapped up in themselves.

So many times that's the story of a church, but you're saying, what does God want to do through us to help reach a disconnected culture?

What are we gonna do to change not just Columbus but the world around us?

Like in God is working through you.

So can I encourage you with this?

Greg did not ask me to say this, I'm just saying it because I think it's important.

Don't you miss what God is doing right now through Next Is Now.

That's right.

Right?

You pray and you give and you support and you get involved because what God is doing in this church is special, and He's gonna use it to impact not just this community, but the world.

And I want you to live that way, not just so people see what's in the front yard, but that he'll bless you in the backyard.

Can I give you the fifth thing real quick?

Can I give you just a couple more minutes?

I mean, yeah, can you give me a couple more minutes?

Let's just give each other a few more minutes.

How's that sound?

Last passage, Matthew 23, verse 25.

Matthew 23:25

Woe to you, Jesus says, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Blind Pharisee.

First clean the inside of the cup and dish.

And then the outside will also be clean.

Here's the fifth thing Jesus wants to show us.

Number five, he wants us to live inside out.

It's not your front yard that matters, but it's the backyard.

It's what happens where you really leave, live.

He says, look, you can have a cup that's clean on the outside, but it's the inside where we get food poisoning.

True?

I mean, he goes on to say, if you read the rest of this passage, he says, you are like whitewash tombs, he says.

You look great on the outside, but inside you're just full of dead people's bones.

And here's what Jesus wants us to see and not miss is that it's so important that we pay attention to this.

What happens on the inside is more important than what happens on the outside.

And you can appear to be alive on the outside, but actually be dead on the inside.

And you and I have to pay attention.

What's really going on inside of me.

Your life is like a mullet.

Anyone remember a mullet?

The haircut?

Right?

You got business up front and party in the back.

That's right.

Some of you right now just felt all kinds of guilt and shame.

Because there was a moment in your life where you just had one.

You had a permed mullet.

Do you remember?

Anybody remember those?

Some of you just feel that shame of the permed mullet.

And I just want you to know Jesus can forgive you.

Right?

There's healing from that mullet.

Question is, what's your life really like in the back?

Not just the front yard.

But how do you live in the back?

If you were to come to my house and we were to spend some time together, you would see that the reality is, just like all of us, my backyard life is a little bit different from my front yard life.

Like how I live in the back, what I do in the back is a little bit unique.

Here's a little Mr.

Rogers moment.

You with me?

And you'd see that there's certain things that I do in the backyard that are a little bit different from how I live in the front yard.

Like when I mow my grass, I always wear the same t-shirt.

Anyone else?

Like wear the same t-shirt every time I mow the grass, and I don't wear that t-shirt for anything but mowing the grass.

Brother, I've I've there's a connection here right now.

And I have to say to my wife, don't you ever throw that shirt out.

And these right here, these are my backyard shoes.

These are my crocs that you will you will never see me wear these in public.

I very rarely wear them actually in the front yard.

These are my backyard shoes.

If I gotta run out to the car or I'm gonna take out the trash, or if I'm gonna go work in the flower beds with Rhonda, these are the shoes I put on.

I'm never gonna wear these shoes in public, except for right now, because these are my backyard shoes.

And my question to you is have you let Jesus change you when your crocs are on?

Not just what people see in the front yard, not just who you want them to be, not just Sunday morning, or not just social media, or not just when you're with your church friends, not just in the front yard.

Have you let Jesus change you in the backyard of your life?

Is he Lord of your life even when your crocs are on?

So can I ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes for just a moment?

I want to pray two ways before we wrap up.

Here's the first one God's word is always timeless.

Anytime we hear God's word, it speaks to our heart.

But sometimes God's word is timely.

And for some of you, the Holy Spirit illuminated something in these last few moments.

Spirit's challenging you to practice what you preach.

Spirit's challenging you to be a servant.

As you go through this next week, there's gonna be a moment when you're gonna hear the voice of the Holy Spirit just whisper to you, you can open a door for them.

Some of us have been so wrapped up in ourselves or our circumstances, the situations.

I'm not saying they're not heavy things.

I'm saying, what if we said, God, I trust you with this.

I don't want to miss the point of what you're doing.

And for some of you, maybe for the very first time, or maybe you've been in church all your life, but God's speaking to you right now and saying, I want to do a work on the inside so that I can bless your backyard and not just your front.

And so, Father, we thank you for your word.

I thank you for the way that it speaks to us.

We thank you for the way that you work in our lives.

And I pray right now that you would help us to not end this service without letting your spirit do something inside of us.

Lord, for some of us, you're shining a spotlight right in this moment into an area of our lives, and you're saying there's something you want to do there in our hearts.

Lord, would you change us from the inside out?

That even in our backyards, you would be Lord, even when our crocs are on.

Even when nobody's around.

Lord, because that's when we will have a church, that's when we will have a family, that's when we'll have a business, that's when we'll have a life that you can bless.

And so, Lord, we ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Hey, One Church, can I ask you to stand with me real quick before we wrap up?

And I'm gonna invite those that are part of our prayer team to come.

We've got friends that are gonna come and stand up here.

If you would like for someone to pray with you before you go, I would encourage you to come and invite them.

Before we leave, can I pray for you?

Father, I thank you for one church.

God, I thank you for what you're doing here in this place.

Lord, I pray your blessing on Pastor Greg and Shaylin on their family.

Lord, I pray your blessing on this staff.

Lord, I pray your blessing on the season that they're going into and the amazing things that you're gonna do through this church.

Lord, we ask that you would, in ways that go above and beyond what we could ask or imagine, live out, God, your plan for this church.

I pray that you would bless these people, Lord.

I pray that they would know your favor in their homes.

Lord, that they would walk in your special favor and your wonderful peace.

And we ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.