Moving Forward | Pastor Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

And kind of like what Pastor Mike was saying earlier, I feel like there's a there's an atmosphere in here that God is already stirring up and doing something uh amongst his people.

I I found myself thinking a little bit about today and and what we would be sharing today and about the word that God has placed on our heart in the context of the series and even beyond that.

And and I found myself coming to Philippians chapter three.

I want to highlight a theme that I believe that's beginning to emerge today, and it was one that was very intentional for us uh as a as a staff, as a church, as we've prayed about it, but I also believe that there's a it's it's wonderful when you know that your plans have been saturated in the presence of God and God meets you there.

Because how many of us know it's possible to create your own plans and you're hoping God's there with you.

But it's another thing when you begin to pray and process through some things, and you believe that the presence of God is there and your plans have been saturated in Him.

And I believe that's been the case as we've been preparing for today.

Philippians chapter 3, verse number 13.

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

It says, It said, Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken a hold of it.

But one thing I do is forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to what is ahead.

Paul is is is explaining this idea of not having everything all figured out.

Everything is not super clear, but what I do know is the only way that we can move forward is by not focusing so much on what's behind us.

Paul is encouraging us that it's important for us to move forward.

See, to move forward is this idea that means that it means to have onward progress towards the future.

It's it's having movement to understand the direction that God is calling us to go in.

God is calling us all to be a people that moves forward.

You know, when I consider this time that we find ourselves in, that seems to be counter to where we find ourselves if we think about it.

There are moments when I think that we all could probably agree that we feel like life has come to a standstill.

We consider what this past year has been.

In fact, I reflect back on the past year, and and if I'm not mistaken, I believe that a year ago this would have been our last service before we went into quarantine.

And for us as a church, we we were in quarantine from March all the way until September, and it seemed as if everything came to a standstill.

Our momentum came to a standstill.

The way that we engage community came to a standstill.

Everything began to shift and became to a standstill.

So when we think about this idea of moving forward, it seems as if, yeah, we're beginning to see some progress, but I don't know if we can adequately define it as being able to say that we're no longer at a standstill.

But but I'm of the mindset that I believe that nothing is wasted when grace is involved.

I I'm I'm of the mindset that believes that there are moments that seem as if there's significant setbacks, but there are also moments where God is doing something, where he's setting some things up.

We we subscribe to a faith, in fact, that allows us to believe this very thing.

I often find myself thinking about the disciples, and when I think about the disciples, I think through the lens of these men who gave up everything that they knew, everything that they loved, everything that was comfortable for them to follow Jesus at this word of saying, follow me.

And as they forsook everything and they followed Jesus with this idea of how things were going to look, with this idea of the day when when Rome was going to be put in its proper place, this idea of that, and then I often think about that moment.

We refer to it as Good Friday, but in real time it wasn't a good Friday for the disciples.

That they saw their Lord, their savior, this man that they had been following and placing their faith in, die a very public and brutal death.

I can't imagine the doubt that was beginning to creep inside of their minds because they didn't have full understanding of the resurrection.

I can't imagine the people that were around their corners and saying, like, man, you gave up your fishing business to follow this guy and now this dude is buried.

What are you gonna do now?

Those moments where I think of day one of how they had to reconcile this idea that this man that they followed was no longer with them.

Day two, how they had to navigate through this reality of beginning to re-emerge back into community and find some sense of normalcy.

Day three, I believe they probably have recognized that they come to a complete standstill.

It looked as if nothing was happening, but but we subscribe to a faith that tells us something different was happening on the other side.

We subscribe to a faith that tells us that while Jesus was yet in the tomb in his physical form, that his spiritual form was handling business.

What the Bible defines is that Jesus was actually in death and in hell, and he was taking the authority away from death and hell in the grave, and that Bible says that he rose with all power and authority.

But I want you to understand there are moments that on the surface look like they've been bringing you to a standstill, but it's actually the Spirit of God doing some things that is setting some things up.

I believe that we serve a God, that it may not look good on the surface, but God is up to something in the supernatural.

And as I look around at community, as I look around at individuals that have that have had some significant setbacks, I've often heard testimonies of what God was doing behind the scenes.

I don't think any of us have escaped those moments where we had to evaluate what this past year has been, what this past year has looked like.

Our church included, all of us included.

We've seen businesses close, we've seen churches close their doors and not being able to reopen, and now we're all trying to figure out what moving forward look like.

Things look differently, but God is calling us to move forward.

You know, in September, when we decided to begin to gather again, taking in consideration, being an environment that's that's going to allow us to gather in community and worship God together, but also being mindful of the fact that we need to adhere to CDC guidelines, wanted to make sure that we adhere to mandates and doing our best to keep one another safe, but we also knew that God was calling us to move forward.

So our next step forward then was to begin to gather in this very place that we are right now.

Another thing that we did is we launched our online live stream, which we didn't have before.

So we we did these things to be able to serve our community, and that was our version of moving forward.

And so since September up until now, this has been the way that we have been moving forward.

Last week we launched our group's ministry, beginning to move forward with gathering together in community, still safely, but also understanding that as we've gathered here at an incredible venue, we've also been a little bit limited.

Because the heart of who we are as a church is that we've always wanted to have an environment that's safe, that allows people to engage in community, but also allows us to have a space where we can care for families as well.

And if you're here and if you are watching online and you've been to where we are, you know that this is an incredible venue, but we're not able to adequately serve our families with children's ministry.

So since we began to meet in September, we began to pray about our next location that would allow us to be able to once again serve our families.

It became very clear to us that God wasn't calling us to go back to where we were because we're moving forward, because he has something new for us, but we also knew that we couldn't stay where we are.

So as we've been praying and processing and thinking through the lens of what environment is going to allow us to best be able to move forward as a church while also sticking with the mandate that we know that God has given us to serve our families, and so we wanted to be patient with that process.

One thing I want you guys to know about me is I never want my ambition to outpace the grace of God.

Let me say that again.

I never want my ambition to outpace the grace of God.

And here's what I can tell you I have a lot of ambition.

I have a lot of it.

Our staff will tell us, Keith, slow down.

Like there's I'm always looking for the next thing that we can do.

But I also know what it feels like when you step into something that God has not blessed.

So I wanted to make sure that as we move forward, we want to be in environments that we know that God has called us to be in.

What is our best next step?

So today, I am happy to announce what our next home is going to be.

Starting on Easter Sunday, the Celebration Orlando new home is going to be the Orlando Museum of Arts.

Come on, let's give God some praise for giving us a new home that's going to allow us to serve families, that's going to allow us to have environments where we can engage in community, where once again our families are going to be able to come and their children are going to be prayed for and pastored and have hands laid upon them.

This is what God is doing with moving us forward.

A venue we never thought we could get, but God is moving us forward.

We could not be more excited.

We couldn't be more excited.

One, because you are no longer gonna have to park a mile and a half away to walk to get here.

You guys are the real ones.

Y'all are the real MVPs.

Those of you that are here with us, y'all know what it feels like to park a block and a half away, to walk down some steps that you may get murdered in, and yet you still find yourself coming to church every Sunday.

So I want to give y'all some love and some respect.

Y'all some real ones.

You know, the Bible says that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

And I believe that y'all have diligently sought God by coming to worship with us here at the balcony, and we're grateful for it.

But God is moving us forward.

And this new incredible venue is gonna allow us to expand the amount of folks that we can have here, but still allow us to adhere to social distancing, still allow us to be able to create environments for us to gather in community as we've been able to do on the balcony.

It's still gonna allow us to have amazing parking, which is gonna make it so much easier.

But the thing I'm excited about is gonna allow us to get back to doing something that is such a crucial step in our walk with God, and that is having baptisms again, being able to have places where we can actually help people take their next step together.

As a community, I couldn't be more excited about it.

But we're also gonna continue to be able to stream our services live for those who are part of our online community.

In fact, you're gonna see that we're gonna begin to expand that by creating spaces for you to virtually connect with us because we realize that that is a significant segment of our population, but God is moving us forward and we couldn't be more excited about it.

So, starting Easter, we're gonna have a whole new space, so stay connected to our service times and what that's gonna look like, but we could not be more excited about that.

But in addition to that, we have some other things that we know that God is calling us to do by way of moving forward.

Since Abegna and I got here almost two years ago, one of the things that was deep on my heart is making sure that we had a significant impact in our community.

I often point it this way that we know that we are called to reach the lost and equip the found.

That's our mandate, that's our assignment.

That in essence is the great commission, the words that Jesus had given to his disciples before he ascended to heaven.

This is our responsibility to reach people, but also equip the people that we reach.

So we've launched different things and an effort to help us equip folks, but but reaching people in our community is something that's really big on my heart.

And I remember that moment when it became very clear to me.

I remember driving in to work one day, and as we my wife and I got off at the exit, I saw I saw a homeless man on a corner.

And and I began to think, considering the environment we came from, with our our our three-car garage and our comfortable environment, and then not even 20 minutes away from where we are, we're seeing people whose lives are vastly different than mine.

I had this burden on my heart and saying, what can we do to help our community move forward?

Who can we partner with that's gonna help them to move forward?

We had a lot of plans and a lot of ideas, but as you can imagine, once COVID hits, we had to pivot.

Everything slowed down.

It seemed as if it came to a complete standstill.

So even while we were in the middle of a pandemic, I want to just let you guys know, because of your generosity, we still were able to provide over 10,000 meals right here in the Orlando area.

That's something we're celebrating.

That we still were able to reach people, but we also know that God was calling us to continue to move forward.

So as we begin to loosen up, I want to share a couple of things that you can expect to see as we begin to pivot into what does moving forward look like for us as we begin to re-engage our partnerships in the community.

First and foremost, we're gonna continue to have our local impact with our partnerships, and I'm gonna share that with you in just a moment, but also our global impact.

Did you guys know that organizations that we partner with globally, organizations like OCOA, where we're able to partner with our friends over in Africa, um, celebration Zimbabwe, even during this season of pandemic, we've still been able to continue our partnership with them, and because of your generosity, we've been able to continue to feed over 75,000 children per day.

That's the church that you guys are part of.

That's what God is calling us to do.

But here locally, we're gonna re-engage our partnership with Orlando's Children's Church, our partnership with Covenant House, with Foundation for Foster Children, with Nathaniel's Hope, with Fresh Start for those who are coming out of addiction, with idignity, for people who've lost their identity, but we want to help them to restore who they are, not only in society, but in the kingdom of God, partnering with daily bread where we can help feed those who are less fortunate, partner with organizations such as Salt.

I want to let you guys know that we have a heart to reach this community, and it's fired up more than it's ever been.

But I'm also happy to announce something new that we're gonna be bringing online, and you're gonna hear about this next month, and we're calling it Food Truck Fridays.

And here's what Food Truck Fridays are we're partnering with an incredible um company called Simply Divine Food Trucks.

And what we're gonna be doing is on these Fridays, we're gonna be giving out meals to the homeless community and for those who are less fortunate, and we have an opportunity to all partner with that.

That means that for those of us that not only want to be able to partner financially but physically be out and be the representation of the hands and feet of Jesus, there'll be opportunities for us still to be safe, for us still to be socially distanced, but to engage in community and look someone in the eye, let them know that you love them and provide them with a meal that can often send such a powerful message.

When you look at the methodology of Jesus, he would often engage their physical need before he met their spiritual need, and we're gonna be back to engaging in community.

So be on the lookout for Food Truck Fridays.

We're gonna be kicking that off.

And if you have any questions about any of our outreach things, Dan is around here, he's the one who oversees a lot of these partnerships, and we're so pumped about what God is calling us to do because we know that God is calling us to move forward.

You see, when I think about it, that's really that's really what this series has been about.

What was on my mind when we began to think about what was the message that God wanted us to share with our community in this season, and we began to think about this idea of pursuing the things of God, it was understanding that ultimately we need to move forward, but in order to move forward, we have to pursue it.

It's not something that just happens on its own, but we have to position ourselves and pursue things if we really want to move forward, which is why we strategically began to talk about if you want great relationships, you want to move forward in your relationships, you have to pursue it.

If you want to begin to experience true rest and resting in the things of God, you have to pursue it.

We we've intentionally been talking about this idea of pursuing things because we truly believe that our pursuit determines our experience.

That's what this series has really been all about.

And as we prepare to conclude the series, we're gonna be talking about another area that I believe we need to pursue if we really want to move forward as a society.

Second Corinthians chapter 5, 18, it kind of sets the premise of what we're talking about.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

Paul plants this church in this area called Corinth.

You may be relatively new to the faith, and you may hear us refer to people, and you may say, okay, what's so what's the big deal about Paul?

Paul's a person who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, this man who had this encounter with Jesus and had this revelation of who he was and and had given his life.

And he he wrote so much of the New Testament, he becomes the one that that shapes a lot of our doctrine, our understanding of the way that we engage one another.

So as Paul is out doing his missionary work, he goes to this area called Corinth.

He plants a church there, similar to the way that our church was planted here, in a community with people.

The context of that community is that it was very, very diverse.

It was a community that had people of varying backgrounds because of the trade routes.

So it was a bunch of people that were there.

And you have folks that had all types of different belief systems, people who had all types of different political perspectives, nationalities.

They were all at like this hotbed.

So Paul was going in, trying to establish what it looks like to worship the true God.

People had to undo the baggage of things that they believed and knew in the past.

So Paul is leading them on this journey.

So if you read 1 Corinthians, his first letter is one of instruction, but also one of correction and encouragement, because they were blending in cultural things into the kingdom of God that really didn't have any rightful place.

If you ever read Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians, when he's talking about this idea of communion, he's instructing them on communion because they were doing it all wrong.

Like communion was turning into a place where they were getting drunk and having orgies.

Real talk.

So Paul's like, hey guys, when we come together in church, let's do this.

Let's keep our clothes on, let's not get drunk.

That's what it means to be a part of the body.

Like he's literally having to walk them through what it means to be in Christ-centered community.

He's walking them through it.

His first letter was filled with encouragement, but also with correction because we know that the kingdom of God cannot shrink back from holding us accountable.

His second letter now, after he receives that, they didn't, they didn't, they felt some type of way about the first letter.

They were a little bit offended.

They felt like Paul should have came off a little bit differently.

So he hears that they were caught up in their feelings a little bit, so he he retorts back and he responds to them, but also he understands that the relationships may be strayed a little bit.

So you begin to see that Paul uses this word of reconciliation quite a bit.

He uses it in Romans, he uses it in 1 Corinthians, he uses it in 2 Corinthians.

You can see in his writings that no one talks about this idea of reconciliation more than the Apostle Paul.

And when we land here at 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 18, Paul talking to this very same diverse audience with all types of backgrounds and all types of offenses, he says this everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18

He's telling them that we have been reconciled to Christ, but now we have a responsibility to carry on that idea of reconciliation.

I want to look at a couple of words in here to help us to grasp what Paul is truly communicating at this time.

When he uses that word ministry, it's extracted from this root word called diokinia.

Diocania.

And if you listen to it, if I say it fast enough, it sounds like I'm saying the word deacon.

And if you've ever been in a church context where you've heard, like, oh, we have deacon so-and-so, that word deacon means servant.

It's a person who serves.

So he's saying that we all have this servant mentality, this servant mandate, this responsibility to serve one another.

But when you take it a little bit further, that word diokonia is often connected to people who row boats.

So the interesting thing is in Paul's mind, people who are in the body of Christ, our mission is to be part of helping people to move forward.

We're serving people in a way to row them or to help them move forward.

That is the mandate that's on the kingdom.

And when he uses this word reconciliation, he says it's it's ultimately the restoration of a harmonious relationship between two or more parties.

That practically what Paul is saying is that we have a responsibility to be people that are rowing or moving people forward in the area of being reconciled to God and to one another.

See, reconciliation is this powerful idea of us of understanding that though we may have differences, that though we may have may have moments of brokenness, that we as people that are ambassadors of the body of Christ have a responsibility.

Our assignment is to row people forward, is to help people move forward and understanding that we need to be reconciled together.

When I think about what this past year has been for our culture as a whole, that that standstill that I was referring to earlier, I think that it gave us all enough time to put everything under a magnifying glass.

Because when you're stuck at home and there's not a lot that you can do, your mind begins to just examine everything at the deepest level humanly possible.

So what we saw in this past season is that things that that may have already been there, that have always been there had just become magnified because we're standing still and we got time.

When you have time, you can really begin to focus in on some things.

When you're busy, you can bypass some things, you can you can overlook some things, but when you're at a standstill, you can begin to exalt and really pay attention to some things.

And honestly, that's what we really begin to see come to like almost a head in this season.

This past year, I have seen more friendships fractured than I've ever seen in one year span.

I've seen more people leave church in this season than I've ever seen in a one-year span.

I've seen more people struggling in their marriages ever in a one-year span.

Why?

Because typically when you're busy, you're running back and forth, you don't have to time, you don't really have to pay attention to the fact that you and your spouse may not be on the same page.

But when we're stuck in the house, solitary confinement, you'd be like, man, I don't even like the way you chew.

Like, this ain't gonna work.

Like, what I'm saying is like you, you when you have time to really, really vocus in and recognize, and then you add in the political stuff, and then you add in all the other things that's going on, and we find ourselves at a place where things just seem very fractured.

You know, the scripture tells us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, and that's so hard to believe sometimes because you're like, no, I know exactly who I'm wrestling with, I know his name.

But but the Bible says that we're not supposed to focus on that.

But this year has been a year where we've been able to zero in specifically on the names of people, on the name of ideas and things that have caused us to really struggle.

And sometimes with the things that we see make it so hard for us to move past it.

It can almost seem impossible.

But I believe that there's something more sinister at foot.

I believe that that while we're looking at one another and we're we're we're magnifying our differences and we're we're focusing on the areas of life that we don't have agreement, and we begin to magnify that.

I believe that we we are losing sight of the fact that there's a very real enemy who's thriving in this moment because he loves to cause division amongst God's people.

He loves to call confusion amongst the things.

That should be providing clarity.

See, we we've lost sight of the fact that there's a very real serpent who's thriving in these moments of division that's keeping us from being the true ambassadors that God has called us to be.

And while this past season has been messy, no doubt.

And while we've had some struggles, no doubt, God is asking us to be ministers of reconciliation.

Can we all find a space where we can begin to move forward?

I believe with us elevating the areas where we have differences, it leads us on this very dark journey that can lead us into a path that can almost be hard to come back from.

Because here's what I believe.

I believe that when we magnify our differences, what ends up happening is I can vilify our differences.

But then when I vilify our differences, I can now vilify the people who have those differences.

And then when I vilify those people, I can dehumanize them.

And when I dehumanize you, I can become indifferent about what you're talking about.

I believe that that progressively defines where we find ourselves in society.

Here's our differences.

Let's magnify those.

Here are the people who have those differences, let's dehumanize them.

Now that I've dehumanized you, I could be very indifferent about anything you're talking about.

So when you're talking about your struggles, I don't care.

When you're talking about your disappointments, I don't care.

Because I've dehumanized you to such a point I don't identify with anything that you're walking through.

And if I were to tell you, when I when I look at social media, it grieves my heart when I see the things that people who represent the kingdom of God say to one another.

It it has blown my mind when I when I look at folks that I have gone to church with for decades, plural, and seeing the things that we say with such indignation, with such conviction, and we completely lose sight of the fact that what you're saying is incredibly harmful.

The world is looking at it, and that is not compelling anyone to be a part of the kingdom of God that we complain that we say that there's unity there.

God has a higher standard for us.

We are called to be ministers of reconciliation.

And I believe the only way that we can truly begin to move forward is by first recognizing that that the kingdom of God is diverse.

That means there's gonna be a diversity of ideas, there's gonna be a diversity of perspectives, there's gonna be a diversity of upbringing, and if we can't, if we can't agree on that foundational thing, it's gonna be very difficult for us to move forward.

This is why I believe that scripture tries to help us to understand the distinctions that exist inside of the kingdom of God.

Acts chapter 17, verse 26.

Acts 17:26

The word of God says this that from one man, he being God, has made every nationality to live over the earth.

Think about that.

That God made every nationality.

Let's just pause for a second.

You would have some people to believe that God didn't make every nationality.

I'm gonna step on some toes right now.

You would you will have some people to believe that that God eons ago said, I'm going to create America and nothing else.

Can I be real in church for a moment?

You would have us to believe that this was the mindset of God, but the scripture says that God created every nationality.

In fact, we'll let's fast forward to the end of the book.

Revelation 7 says this.

After this, I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, language, which no one could number, standing before the throne before God, they were clothed in white robes, and branches were in their hands.

Imagine that, this glimpse of things in heaven, and you're seeing at the altar, in the throne room of heaven, there's room for every nationality.

My question is, but do we have room for every nationality in our heart?

On earth as it is in heaven.

We pray it, we say it, but in heaven, everybody's represented.

Is it like that in our world though?

Is it like that in our homes?

Is it like that in our conversations?

When you look at the people that you have texted, the last ten, does everyone look like you?

In heaven, there's this diversity of people that exist there.

See, what heaven does when you look at this passage, it says that heaven celebrates unity and distinction.

See, see, unity is not uniformity.

It doesn't mean that you have to conform to everything else.

It simply means that we're unified even in our differences.

This is why in Revelation 7, when it explains the different people groups there, it says that they're wearing one uniform.

They all have on the same white robes.

We all got on the same uniform, but there's different nationalities, which means there are different names on the back of the uniforms, and we can celebrate that.

See, the kingdom of God is the one that should be able to say that I can I can recognize the things that we have in common and I can celebrate our differences, not vilify one another because of them.

But when the world begins to creep its way in, it puts us in this place where we begin to think to ourselves, man, if I if I celebrate you, that means that I must be minimizing me.

How do we arrive at this place where if I acknowledge something in someone else, then that means that I'm ignoring something else?

Just a couple of weeks ago, my granddaughter had her third birthday.

Her big sister is four.

So they're at that age where they're competing for everything.

Like you say good morning to one first, it's a problem.

Like it's it's a it's a constant thing.

And so so when you buy gift for one, you're buying gift for the other one.

Just for the sake of keeping peace.

Like, we gotta make sure we keep everything the same.

But but my son and my daughter-in-law, they did something different this go around.

When when my youngest turned three, they said, we need to begin to teach them it's okay to celebrate Kaleia's birthday because Kyla, you're gonna have a birthday too.

So initially, Kyla wasn't feeling that.

She's four years old, she was full of attitude, like, look, where where my gift at?

Where are my stuffed animal at?

But they sat down with her and said, like, hey, just because we're celebrating her, it doesn't mean that we're not gonna celebrate you.

You're you're gonna have your day as well.

We're we're not ignoring you.

We just want to make sure that we give proper focus to her because this is her day.

Can I tell you that this season, we have been acting like toddlers, where when we draw attention to the suffering of some people, we can't help but to draw false equivalencies to draw attention to something else.

Y'all came to church, man.

I hope y'all come back next week.

Because I'm gonna show you what the Bible says.

The Bible says this in Romans 12, 15.

It says, Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

It's in the Bible.

So if you hear that somebody is going through something, you you don't have to draw an attention to somebody else.

I I just want to I just want to weep with you because I know that you're weeping through this season.

Real talk.

Real talk in this summer season, when we're dealing with all the racial tension, do you know every time I mention anything, anything about something, hey, what about abortions?

What what what about, yeah, you're right, man.

That's terrible.

But right now we're talking about we're talking about Brianna Taylor.

That we're we're talking about that right now.

Like, I agree, that's that's awful.

But but right now, because I have this radical idea that in the kingdom of God, it's possible to care about more than one thing at a time.

It's it's possible for me to care about more than one thing at a time, which means this I'm not gonna allow the world's constructs to work its way into my spiritual understanding.

We've allowed politics to be the grid in which we see everything.

So that means that if I make this statement that wow, I think black lives matter, oh my gosh, that means you don't care about cops.

Where did you get that from?

Whoever told you that?

Oh, your politics told you that.

Come on, church, we've got to do better.

And being able to recognize that we can say with confidence and with boldness that we've seen someone who was dealing with unjustice and we can speak out on it, but it doesn't in any way give a cosign to something completely different.

Who told us these things?

Do you think that's God?

Do you think that's kingdom?

See, we have to make sure that we actually get our filter from the word and the things of God.

But now let me flip the coin a little bit because let me talk a little bit about cancel culture.

Cancel culture is not kingdom culture.

Eight people are happy about that.

But I'm not moving yet.

Cancel culture is not kingdom culture.

Mike, we're gonna let this settle.

Because at some point, we're gonna get at least ten people to clap on this.

Cancel culture is not kingdom culture.

They say I got 10 minutes, but I'm gonna go a little bit longer than that.

Y'all just need to brace yourself.

It's not kingdom culture.

You know why?

Because imagine if Jesus canceled us.

Imagine when Peter, who had walked with Jesus, who was foretold, hey man, you're gonna deny me.

I will never deny you.

He still denied Jesus three times.

He was dealing with this incredible grief, and yet Jesus still restored him.

He could have canceled him, but he chose not to.

I think we have to understand that that cancel culture is not something that we actually see replicated in the kingdom of God in no shape or form.

But let's let's flip that coin.

The kingdom culture does hold us accountable though.

And there's a difference between canceling somebody and holding them accountable for the things that they say or do.

Case in point, I got Bible for it.

The Bible talks about how David had committed adultery, had Bathsheba's son, I mean husband, killed.

Nathan held him accountable for it.

Hey, bro, you way wrong, you out of bounds for that, and there's a consequence for that.

He held him accountable for it.

The Bible, the Bible talks about how, even when we look and at scripture, Peter, the same Peter who walked with Jesus, the one who had this revelation that everybody is supposed to be welcome in the kingdom of God.

You know what he started to do when he was around Gentile believers?

Hey man, I don't want my Jewish brothers to think I have anything to do with them.

So he began to distance himself from Gentiles.

You know what Paul did?

Paul confronted him.

Hey, hey, Peter, you're wrong, bro.

You know you're wrong.

You foul.

You need to get yourself together because what Jesus commands us to do is to love one another.

Cancel culture is not kingdom culture, but kingdom culture does hold us accountable.

And what that means is I'm not saying for you just to do better.

Kingdom culture says that you should be better.

You need to be better than this.

This is this is not a reflection of the kingdom of God because here's what I believe about kingdom culture that if you're a part of kingdom culture, you reflect the king of that culture.

And we ought to honestly ask ourselves when I look at society, is that reflecting the king that we are all submitted to?

And I gotta tell you, man, I've been reading some of these comments out there.

Jesus ain't nowhere in it.

But but we believe it with such deep conviction.

I want to help us to understand that we have to lean into this idea that there's difference, that there's gonna be diversity.

This is why as a church we're very intentional about making sure that we present something that looks like heaven.

This is not a church strategy, this is a kingdom mandate.

We believe that God has called us to be a church that looks like heaven.

Whenever we look to Jesus, we see that he is modeling this idea of true reconciliation.

And while his life exhibited this in everything that he touched, there's a narrative that's very familiar to us that I want to pull some thoughts from as we prepare to wrap up.

In John chapter 4, and I won't read it, but I want you to go and check it out from John chapter 4, verses 1 through 42.

John 4 · chapter mention John 4:1–42

It is a beautiful illustration of Jesus interacting with someone who's different from them on a multiplicity of levels.

Just to give you some background, there's incredible tension between the Jews and the Samaritans, racial tension.

There's history there, there's there's hatred there.

But this is the place that Jesus chose to use a backdrop to teach a very valuable lesson.

I want you to write down these thoughts because I think that they can be things that can help us to move forward.

Here's the first thing I want you to write down.

Reconciliation is God's idea.

It's God's idea.

I know right now it may seem like a very catchy buzzword.

We see it everywhere, and and and a lot of times when culture grabs a hold of something, it can it can lose its kingdom potency, so we think it is something that that millennials and woke people just came up with.

But it's God's idea.

It's literally in scripture.

Reconciliation begins with knowing that it's not just a good idea, but it's a God idea.

That that God had modeled to us the importance of people being unified in an effort for them to move forward.

It's such an important thing for Jesus that he is instructing his people that if you're not reconciled with somebody, it's going to put a lid on the way that you can worship.

Matthew chapter 5, verses 23 through 24, Jesus says this so if you're offering your gift at the altar and you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.

Matthew 5:23–24

Go first and be reconciled to that brother and sister, then come back and give.

That's a big statement.

That that Jesus is saying, instead of you offering something with your gifts, offering something with your resources, the best offering you can actually provide is being reconciled and being people who knows how to live in harmony and moving forward together.

That's a powerful idea.

And I think when we look at this text, it says that Jesus had to go through Samaria.

But geographically, he really didn't have to go through Samaria.

In fact, every other Jewish person avoided going through Samaria, making their trip longer.

But it says that there was something inside of Jesus that says, no, I I have to do this.

I have to go through this.

I have to go through this uncomfortable place.

This is an assignment on my life.

And because we have been given the mission and the message of reconciliation, we have to understand that we don't have the privilege of being able to avoid these uncomfortable conversations, that that this whole idea of reconciliation is a God-breathed component that we all have to walk in.

See, reconciliation is not the consequence of a woke culture.

Reconciliation is the oxygen of the kingdom of God, it's the very air that we breathe.

We've been reconciled to God, so now we have a responsibility to function and to be ministers of reconciliation with one another.

The other thing I want you guys to write down is that reconciliation requires recognizing needs.

We have to recognize that there's a need for one another.

When Jesus is in this place and he's about to meet with this woman at the well, Jesus has true, genuine needs.

Like he's really thirsty.

It's about 12 noon, it's incredibly hot outside.

He sends his disciples away.

He's sitting at the well and he's thirsty.

The woman, she comes up with her bucket, she needs to retrieve water.

They're at the same place because they both have needs.

I often wonder if the reason why we're not moving forward in this idea of being reconciled with one another is because we don't recognize that we actually need one another.

Because if I don't need you, then I can sidestep you and I never have to deal with what you're talking about because I don't I don't need you.

And so what we end up doing is we create social constructs and communities of people that reinforce what we already believe and what we already think because we don't think we need one another.

But the Bible paints a different story.

The Bible paints the story of how Paul said, I become all things to all men so that I may win some.

So Paul was very astute when it came to Judaism, he was very astute when it came to Roman culture, he was very astute when it came to Greek culture because he said, I don't want there to be a lid on my ability to reach people.

And when you're a kingdom citizen, God is not assigning you to exclusively to a specific people group, but I don't want there to be a lid on a people that God wants me to reach.

I recognize that I need you, I need my brothers and sisters, I need your perspective, I need your journey, I need your story because it's going to help me to understand where you're coming from.

And I can speak from a place of knowledge instead of a place of my limited feelings.

We need one another.

I need my Jewish brothers and sisters, I need my Latinos, I need you, I need you to be a part of my world, I need you to be in my circle because if you're not in my circle, how can I ever actually begin to grow?

We need each other.

It's understanding that the kingdom of God is compelling us to recognize that we need one another.

Here's the third thing that I want us to write down is reconciliation.

It requires risk.

There's a risk associated with it.

That as Jesus is sitting here in Samaria with this woman, having this conversation, it's tons of risks there.

One, because he's a Jewish man.

Secondly, because he's a man.

So you have Judaism and he's a man, and he's talking to this woman, and there's a lot of risks.

He was he was on her territory, having this conversation.

There's a lot of risks.

There, there's there's this risk of of him being rejected.

And the conversation started off that way.

When he says, like, hey, can can I get something to drink?

She's like, hey, like, what are you doing even talking to me?

We don't even, we don't even rock like that.

Like you, you guys have the way y'all do things, we have the way that we do things, man.

We're not even supposed to cross paths.

It was risky.

And what I realized is that for many of us, as well-intended as we are, it could be risky to really begin to open up ourselves to perspectives that aren't our own.

To be exposed to to people that that look differently than us, that think differently.

It can be very risky.

It can be very risky to step into these moments and to be and to be a person who's called to be an ambassador that brings about unity.

It's risky.

You know, it's it's risky when when you know that God has called you to be a church that that has this idea of on earth as it is in heaven.

It's risky.

It's risky when you begin to say that we want to we want to be a church environment where everybody can walk in and feel comfortable.

That's risky.

Because here's the truth of the matter.

It always comes with an asterisk mark.

You know, when I when I came to celebration the first time, I remember seeing other African Americans there, and it was great.

Man, I I see one on stage, I see a couple people sitting around, like I felt comfortable.

But I also recognize that there's this tension to manage because a lot of times when we begin to talk about inclusion, I want to include your face for Instagram, but I don't want to include your experiences for culture.

So please smile.

It looks really cool.

Man, people are gonna look at us and be like, man, that's a great church I want to be a part of.

But if I try to bring my true self, can my African-American background exist here, or do I have to check that at the door?

Does my Jewish brothers and sisters, does their history exist here, or do they have to check it at the door?

It's risky when you begin to say that we want to be a church that looks like heaven, so that means doing our best to open up and allow other cultures to breathe here as well.

You know that song that we sang, moving forward?

That would be considered a quote-unquote gospel song.

It's risky when a non-denominational, multicultural church engages in something that's a little bit different than what they're used to.

But when we talk about having an environment, an atmosphere, where everyone can feel that who they are is welcome and loved and needed, you become very intentional and you're willing to take that risk.

So as a church, we're willing to take that risk.

We're willing to take that risk and step out into some things that other folks may not understand, but we're going to step into it.

We're willing to take that risk when we begin to talk about this idea of wanting to have an environment where our Jewish brothers and sisters, who have a completely different context than us, but they can come in and feel like I don't have to check my Jewishness at the door because guess what, guys?

Jesus was Jewish.

He taught from a Jewish context.

So when we come in and reference those things, it helps our Jewish brothers and sisters know, hey, I could probably fit in here as well.

I don't have to check who I am at the door.

The kingdom shows that there's room for everybody at the altar, but it's but it's it's risky.

You know, it's risky every time we have a female preach on this platform.

Because no matter what you do, there are people that believe that you should do it, and there are people that you shouldn't do it.

And no matter what you do, it's never enough or you've done too little.

You speak out on racism, why'd it take you so long?

Somebody else is saying, man, keep it outside of the church.

There's nothing you it's risky when you find yourself truly doing kingdom work.

But I want to let you know that we're the type of church that's gonna take the risk because I don't believe that we can ever move anything forward by being safe.

That is who we are as a church.

Here's the next thought.

We're gonna we're gonna move through this one.

Reconciliation, it starts with it starts with this one.

One you see, Jesus, he he could have he could have gone on this journey of reconciliation a multitude of ways.

He he could have sparked a revival right there on the spot.

But instead of overwhelming himself by talking to the entire town, he had a conversation with one woman.

I think a lot of times when we see what we see in society, it compels us to want to act, it compels us to want to do something, at least it should.

But then it could be overwhelming because what what what do we do?

Like, who do I talk to?

Where do I go?

Do I do I put it on social media?

Do I what what do I need to do to let people know that I get it?

The best thing you can do is start with one conversation.

So so, real talk for many people.

In my sphere of influence, I am their black friend.

So you know what that meant?

Especially during the summertime, a lot of people reaching out to me wanting to have one-on-one conversation.

Hey man, listen.

I don't I don't I don't understand what's going on with all this stuff.

I'm looking at social media.

We all got opinions and feelings about things, man.

I I'll be honest, bro.

I I didn't even know that was really that big of a deal.

Can can you can we have a conversation?

And day after day, hours at a time, I became the spokesperson for the black experience.

It was exhausting, but here's what I know it was helpful.

So for my people that are in here, maybe you are the only friend of someone else of your ethnicity.

And as people begin to want to learn how to engage it, be patient.

Have the conversation because what I can tell you, I know countless pastors that I've talked to in this season, and they're trying their best to learn how to navigate through this.

How do you be sensitive to it, but not a hostage to it?

All the things that we all have been thinking and feeling, it starts with a single conversation.

It starts with a single moment and recognizing a perspective that's not exclusively your own.

Jesus sits down with this woman and he speaks to her like an equal.

This woman who was filled with sin, this woman who was just living a scandalous life, but he sits with her, speaks with her as an equal, and he gives her dignity and value.

I want to encourage all of us to be people that are willing to sit and have conversations with people that don't look like us, but not from a place of curiosity, but from a place of true understanding and a desire to grow.

We have to truly make sure that we don't confuse fellowship with reconciliation because I can be around a bunch of people.

But true reconciliation means that I'm growing from being around a bunch of people.

That is what the kingdom mandated is.

And here's my final point reconciliation.

It builds a bridge.

She was a bridge.

She used her experience to be a bridge.

And what scripture says is because she built that bridge, that that entire town came and heard from Jesus.

And what scripture says is they said, hey, we once believed because of what you said, but now we've had our own experience, and now we're believers because of what we've personally seen.

She built a bridge that allowed their minds and hearts to be open to a world that was vastly different than what they were brought up in.

Maybe you're in here and you're and you're you're already on this journey.

Maybe you're already an ambassador.

My question for you, my challenge for you is can you be a bridge?

Can you be a bridge and connecting with people that that that think differently and helping others to recognize that we're all better together?

That is what it means to be ministers of reconciliation.

When the Christian faith was moving forward, when it was being birthed, the thing that set them apart from all the other belief systems that existed was this crazy radical idea of unity.

Because there were tons of different belief systems, but they were all very segregated.

But when people learned about the way, as it was initially called, they were seeing men and women serving and leading together, they were seeing children who were valued, they were seeing Jews and Gentiles together.

I want you to understand that was completely unheard of.

So it wasn't their words that that persuaded people to become followers of Christ.

It wasn't their social media posts, it was that when the world was looking at the church, they were seeing unity, they were seeing reconciliation, they were seeing connectedness in spite of their differences.

And I often find myself wondering: if we were to look at things through that same lens now, the world is watching.

And when the world looks at the church, are we doing a great job at modeling and then demonstrating this is what it looks like when we all wear the same uniforms, even if we have different names on our jerseys, we can celebrate our differences instead of vilifying each other because of them.

That is what it means to be ministers of reconciliation.

But a crucial component of really walking in this is forgiveness.

It's impossible to be reconciled with one another if we haven't embraced the idea of learning how to forgive.

And I want you to understand, forgiveness doesn't mean that I ignore what was.

Forgiveness doesn't even necessarily mean that it goes back to the way that things were.

What it does mean is that they can't stay the way that they are because God wants us to move forward.

So I want to pray for some of us right now because I realize that when we have these conversations, and while we've talked a little bit about race, reconciliation is not exclusive to race.

It's it's connected to relationships, it's connected to fathers and sons, it's connected to mothers and daughters, it's connected to anywhere where there's relationship and there's been a fracture in that relationship.

That reconciliation is understanding and recognizing that we need to get our harmony back, that we we need to get back in sync with one another.

So wherever there's relationships, wherever there's brokenness, there's opportunities for reconciliation.

And as you begin to peruse through your mind right now, you're probably thinking of folks that you that you're not in step with right now.

It doesn't have to be the way that it was, but understand that they can't stay the way that they are.

I can't, I can't allow this unforgiveness, I can't allow this this anger, this bitterness to stay in my heart.

I've got to move forward.

And I want to pray for us.

So I want to ask every one of us to to bow our heads, to close our eyes, and to kind of just begin to meditate on where you are.

And and we're gonna be we're gonna be honest in this moment, we're gonna be vulnerable in this moment.

But if you're in here right now and you just want, you want to be able to walk in forgiveness.

It could be forgiving a parent, it could be forgiving a loved one.

Maybe there's been a violation that's happened to you.

We all go through seasons where we're just God, I I need your strength to help me to forgive.

In fact, the disciple said, Lord, increase our faith.

It was around the idea of forgiveness.

You got I'm gonna need a lot of faith in order to do this, but I believe that there's a grace here to help us to move forward.

So if that's you, and you know that your next step to moving forward is is beginning to walk in and experience forgiveness.

I believe there's a grace here that can help us to get freed up.

So on the count of three, I want you to boldly lift your hands up and saying, God, help me, help me to help me to function and operate through the lens of forgiveness.

One, two, three.

Hands up.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you, amen.

Thank you for your boldness, thank you for sharing, thank you for being vulnerable in this moment.

We have to pursue it.

Reconciliation requires pursuit.

We we have to get after it.

I want to I want to pray for us, Lord.

I pray in the name of Jesus for every hand that is lifted, both here, both those who are at home, those who are listening to this later.

God, you you know the violation, you know the offense, you know the thing that we've struggled with, you know the setback.

And I'm praying right now that your presence, that your power begins to soften hearts and allow us to begin to walk in forgiveness.

Father, I pray that that violation doesn't become bigger than who you are and what you've done on the cross.

God, we don't have a mandate to have to go back to the way that things were.

We need to function with boundaries, God, but we know that we can't move forward if we stay the way that they are.

So Lord, I pray.

I pray for forgiveness for every person that has experienced racism, God.

I pray for everyone that has dealt with with inequality, God.

I pray against injustice, Father.

I pray for for people who are struggling with moving forward after brokenness from a divorce, for those who have dealt with abuse, God.

I pray in the name of Jesus, Lord, that your forgiving grace begins to move upon all of us, Father, and we're able to forgive because we have been forgiven, Father.

Help us to function with adequate boundaries and with strength and building our lives on you, even as we've just got finished singing, God.

It's not by our own might, it's not by our strength, but it's by your spirit and it's by your presence, Father.

God, I pray against every voice right now that is telling them why they need to hold on to that offense, Father, that is alive from the pits of hell.

And we rebuke it right now.

In the name of Jesus, I command for us to begin to experience and to walk in forgiveness, Father.

Lord, I pray that every chain that has been keeping us from moving forward as it comes as it relates to relationships that has broken off of us in the name of Jesus, God, your word declares that the truth shall set us free.

The truth is, God, that you have reconciled us to one another.

You've reconciled us to you.

And I'm praying by the power of your word, God, that we can walk in that truth, that where your spirit is, that there is liberty, that there is freedom.

I pray for freedom for your people right now, in the name of Jesus, that every doubt, that every fear, that every barrier that's been established as a result of the pain, God, that you tear it down in the name of Jesus.

We will be free.

We will walk in humility, we will walk in strength.

This situation will not define us, God.

We will not continue to be people that can't move forward, God, but we're gonna walk in freedom and demonstrate what it looks like to be the kingdom of God's citizens that knows what it means to be reconciled.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

The next thing I want to do before we go back into worship is I recognize that in this room, and maybe those who are even watching at home, that that first part of 2 Corinthians, that God was in Christ reconciling us back to Him.

This idea that no matter what our brokenness, no matter what our struggle, no matter what our sin is, that God was in Christ allowing that barrier, that offense to be removed.

So now we have equal access to come before God.

You know, scripture tells us that when Jesus was in what was leading to his final moments, we refer to it as Good Friday or the Last Supper, as He's sitting there.

Scripture says that he's surrounded by people who look differently than him, that thought differently than him, different politics.

You could dig into it and just see the distinctions of people that were sitting there.

But what the Bible says is that Jesus, he died for them, even in spite of their differences, so that everyone can have a seat at the table.

And my question for some of us in this room is have you have you taken your seat yet?

The Bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, reconciling us, doing away with our sin, the things that separated us from God.

And now, because of that, we can sit at that seat in spite of our struggles and brokenness.

And I don't want to conclude today's services without giving you an opportunity to take your seat that Jesus has provided for you.

So if you're with us and you know that your next step is to surrender your life to Christ, to take, to take your rightful seat, we want to create a space for you to do that.

So on a count of three, I want you to boldly lift your hand and saying that today is the day of salvation.

Today is the day that I am going to take my seat.

Maybe you had your seat at one moment and you walked away from it, but we know that today is a day for you to take your rightful seat.

If that's you, you want to commit or recommit your life to Christ.

Now is your time.

Now is your moment.

Here's your seat.

On a count of three, would you would you join me in lifting your hand?

One, two, three.

Take your seat.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

I'm so, so proud of every single one of you guys.

I'm so proud of you who are at home.

Church, can we put our hands together and celebrate with every person in here that is taking their rightful seat?

Let's stand to our feet.

Let's really, really celebrate with those who are taking their rightful seat.

We're so, so proud of you.

In just a few moments, Mike's gonna come up and lead us in some next steps and what you could do with getting resources and support.

But as we go back into worship, I want to I want to lead you in a prayer.

And I'm gonna ask all of us to pray this prayer together as a family.

Then we're gonna go back into worship and then we're gonna wrap up.

I want all of us as a community to pray this prayer, helping along those who are possibly praying it for the first time.

Repeat after me.

The Bible says this that if we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus came, that he died, and he rose from the dead, that that anchors us in the family of faith.

So repeat this after me.

Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins.

I believe that you died on the cross and that you rose from the dead.

And now I'm a part of the family of faith.

Fill me with your spirit and order my steps in Jesus' name.

We are so proud of you, church.

Can we give it up once again for everyone that has made that decision?

We are so, so proud of you.

The best way we can take this thing out is for us all to worship together one more time.

So let's give God all we got and really dig into the presence of God.

Thanks again for listening.

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