Go The Second Mile || Pastor Adam Mesa

Well, praise God is good to see everybody on this

day in service.

Can we first give it up? This is a weekend.

We got all of our campuses joining us, so Pomona, Alameda,

here in Rancho, can we show them some love wherever

our family is at. Every once in a while, across

our campuses, we switch between live preaching and also video

teaching so that we stay united as a campus. We're

always preaching the same content. We have a preaching team

where we all study the Word of God together every Tuesday,

and we build our sermon with one another. Each person

comes with something that they've been studying on that text,

and we compile this certment together.

And then there are times where I get to share

it with all of our campuses, and.

There's other times where our teaching team rotates between our

campuses and shares live. So this is just one of

those weekends that we're all joined together because we're launching

a series that we're calling Red Letters. How many of you

guys have ever gotten a Bible before and you open

up your Bible and all the text was black except

for Matthew, Mark Luke, and John was read.

Have you ever noticed that before in your physical Bible.

I know many of you, maybe seasoned saints, may know

what that is, but there may be some newer people

to faith who go, why are certain letters in my

Bible read when others are black?

Well, those are what we call the words of Jesus.

Most modern day Bibles, when they're printed, anytime Jesus speaks

recorded in the Gospels, they make it read just so

you know right away this is something that Jesus has said.

And so throughout this series, we're gonna be looking at

some of the specific red letter moments in the Bible

for the next four weeks.

And what we're gonna do.

To aid us in just a few moments is I

don't know, have you ever seen that incredible series called

Chosen that depicts the life of Jesus. Well, what we're

gonna do is we're gonna allow the Bible for a

moment to also jump out of its pages, read the

passage of Scripture, and watch a short portion of Chosen,

so that we see the Bible come to life. And

then we're gonna dig into the message and so that

not only are we reading about the words of Jesus,

we're seeing it come to life, but also we're allowing

God to apply it in our hearts. But before we

do that, I just want to share a couple testimonies.

Just today, I've been in Huntington.

Beach all day because Baptized California has been going on,

and so over ten thousand people have already showed up

in Huntington Beach and thousands of people, over five thousand

people already baptized. It goes till nine pm tonight, but

it's been a move of God. There's been worships stirring

all day. I got to be there. A bunch of

our campus pastors showed up and was baptizing alongside of

all other churches in the southern California. Literally as almost

over I think fifty to sixty church pastors showed up

just together to be united and baptized together all those

that would hear the gospel and come.

And so if you haven't been.

Baptized yet, we as a church were joining all the

churches in America called Baptize America on June.

Eighth to be baptized.

So if you haven't done that yet, make sure you

go to our website Patriot Faith, and you could go

to any of the campuses there and lock which one.

But I also want to encourage you share your faith

with somebody. Our last baptisms that we baptized over seven

hundred and fifty people, there were a lot of people

that said, I've actually never been to a patrie before.

My coworkers shared their faith with me. They led me

to Jesus and then they invited me to be baptized.

That was actually the first step ever in our church.

Was a friend that said, oh, other people they've come

to faith through Instagram and YouTube, but they don't have

a local church to grow.

And so it's a.

Great opportunity for you to share the love of Jesus

with a friend. Guess what, a pastor doesn't have to

lead someone to the Lord. That may totally blow your mind,

but you can actually lead someone to the Lord as well.

And so there is an anointing and calling on your life.

God could speak.

Through you and to you, just like he can any

person on a stage. And so be bold over the

next thirty days to invite a friend not just to church,

but you share the love of Jesus with them, lead

them to Christ and say hey, I'll celebrate with you.

Come be baptized on June eighth across all of our campuses.

And so that's something really exciting that we have going

on as well. I'll say the second thing this and

this is more of a regional, a family statement, but

I'm gonna do it at all services over this weekend.

I know we have campuses from all over. You know,

we have Alameda in northern California and Pomona, and so

you may not be familiar with this church, but in

our local region, we have a legendary church that's like

Patria named Water of Life. And I know everyone here

you know who Water of Life is. Well, this weekend

they're announcing the succession between Pastor Danny Carroll to his

son Shane Carroll, who will be leading the church effective

this weekend, to pastor.

The church at Water of Life.

And so not only do we celebrate that, I want

for just a moment we as a church to pray

for Water of Life because here's the reality. I'm sharing

it with all of our campuses even this weekend. Because

there is no church in competition with one another. There

is no church that needs to compare ourselves with one another.

We don't need to compare our worships. We don't need

to compare our preaching, We don't need to compare our

children's ministries, youth ministries, because this is a Kingdom endeavor.

And so our family has already been praying for Pastor Shane.

I text them just this afternoon. I said, I know

this is a big weekend for you. Patria is on

your side. And we believe that the best days of

head are for Water of Life. And I think it's

important that we as believers, we never get gossipy or

we never get comparative. We get, Hey, every church that's

doing the Lord's work, we are same team, same jersey,

different last name on the back of the jersey, but

we same team on the front.

That's it. And so we as a community.

We lift up our church over here, Water of Life,

who we love so much and we've done so much

ministry with over the years. And me and Shane we're

just talking this afternoon and we said between Patreon, Water

of Life, our best days as a family are ahead

of us, not behind us. And so we're just so

excited about what God is doing. And this goes for

Pomona Alameda and any other campus we do in the future.

We are a united family. This is a kingdom work,

and there's only one name that matters.

It is not a church name. His name is Jesus.

And it's only by the power of the Holy Spirit

that we can do that. So would you join me

for just a moment as we uplift our family water

of Life over in Fontana. God, we thank you so much, Lord,

as thousands of churches this year will go through a transition.

I just thank you Lord that the spirit of God

is in the midst.

Lord.

I pray for Pastor Shame. I pray for his wife Amanda.

Father God, I pray for their family.

Lord. May you cover them. Lord. May you continue to

anoint them and call them Father. God. We pray for

the church at Water of Life. Lord.

We pray that it thrives. We pray the Spirit of

God dwells there more than ever.

Lord.

We pray that miracles, signs, and wonders continue to happen.

God.

We pray that you call people continually to repentance and

love in Jesus at Water of Life.

God.

And I pray more than anything, God, God, that you

continually manifest and use that church, Lord to make an

impact for the Kingdom of God. Lord, we thank you

for all the churches and all of our cities and

all of our regions who are reaching.

People for the love of Jesus Christ. Lord.

May their harvest be plentiful, and may their workers be

many in Jesus' name.

Amen and Amen, Praise God.

Well, hey, let's go to Matthew chapter five, verse thirty

eight to forty one.

I'm about to play this clip concerning Jesus. But here's

what's gonna happen.

I'm gonna play the clip first, then we're gonna stand

for the reading. This is a unique clip that we're

gonna share with you because when we understand the life

and ministry of Jesus, here's something that you'll begin to see.

Jesus often used physical things that were in front of

him to illustrate spiritual truths.

So there's a moment in.

The Bible where Jesus says that if you ever cause

a child or a little one to stumble, it's almost

equivalent to putting a millstone around your neck and throwing

yourself into a sea.

Well, what Jesus was doing was.

Where he was standing in this moment was next to

an olive press. And an olive press had a millstone,

and he was standing next to the Sea of Galilee.

So he used something that was right next to him

to create an illustration of the value that God finds

about protecting children.

And so there's a passage that we're going to read

in the Bible.

It's probably the most widely known non Christian passage in

the Bible because it's where we get terms like when

someone hits you, turn the other cheek, or if someone

asks you to go a mile, go an extra mile.

If you were to go out to the.

Mall and ask people how many people know that statement,

you probably would find eight and ten people know that statement.

And then if you ask them, did you know that

Jesus is the one who said those things? And probably

majority would say no. I just thought that was an

American saying that we created. But reality is it's a

saying that Jesus created. And what Jesus did was he

used something a yoke or a bondage that the Romans

had on the Israelites to create a powerful moment that

is meant to break the wall of retribution in someone's life.

I don't know if someone has ever had an unrealistic

expectation towards you, or maybe they've asked you to carry

a weight or burden, or maybe they've tried to control

you in a certain area. Well, Jesus does something radical.

He says that when something like that is happening, you

don't lash out, You actually lean into it, which is

quite absurd in the age that we live in today.

And so in the Chosen series, what they did was

they took a word of Jesus about the truth of Rome,

and then they made kind of a creative expression of

an encounter that Jesus could have had with Roman guards.

And so we're going to see this moment.

We're going to read the passage, and then we're going

to see how God applies it to our life.

Let's check it out.

Jewish citizens, disarm yourselves and leave your bags.

You're carry ours now.

Under Roman law, a soldier can force the you the

giddiest thing.

There is a legal limit, a maximum of one mile.

And Fidler.

Said, this is humili We will comply with dignity.

What must have been like walking.

Around all day with no metal, weighing your head down,

never have helmet hair.

You too?

I think I'm not made of straw I can carry. Master,

Let me take that, you know, which is no more

unshootable on my head than any of yours.

Both know that it's not true.

Thank you for your concerns. I never could have imagined

a moment like this, he said, to submit, So we

submit the painful irony of some of these teaching.

The cones. The sign is the mile marker in your

entire lives. I bet you've never been so grateful for

the enshrined Roman law. We know this has been an

honor for all of you.

Stop here, I said, stop.

The destination is that outpost a mile ahead? Yes it is,

but we're only permitted one mile.

Like coersion, there's no law against citizens assisting you the

rest of the way of.

Their own volition. Come, my friends.

But if anyone says anything, say that we offered.

Ray? Why what are we doing? Why would we just

have romans to this? Where did we meet.

At the sermon on the Currisine plane?

Good?

Whenever you are trumped in fact on my message.

Maybe uh, let us take back the helmets so there's

no confusion at the old host.

If you like, give me that, yeah, that I'll take you.

I've got it.

Hey, if anyone forces you to go, one may go

with him too.

Wow, let's see what the Bible has to say about

that moment. Honestly, just watching that clip to me convict me,

you know, deeply. And then when we see just how

deep that this moment is part of Jesus' sermon on

the Mount. So you may say, where's that exact interaction

in the Bible. Well, that's a creative expression to what

Jesus would have taught regularly to the Israelites. It was

really common that there was a law in Rome. Any

occupied place that they held, they would have a law

what they were called impressment. An impressment is a law

that says a government established system can impose to any

of its citizens or anyone under its control, to do

whatever it wants. And so when Rome came into Israel

to control it and to occupy it, it established impressment,

which was when we tell you to do something or

we ask you to do something.

But because they didn't want it.

To particularly be abused and create riots, the law was

limited to only one thousand Roman paces, which to us

would be a little under a mile.

And so Jesus makes this statement that we're going to see.

Which would have absolutely blown the children of Israel away

because they're hoping that Rome just gets out of here.

They want their problem's gone. And what Jesus does he

leans into their issues and says, the way that you

break someone's hard heart is not through necessary a liberated

place or a fighting stance. The way that you break

someone's heart is through love and service. It's through an

extreme love that shows people if you have hate in

your heart, I have love in my heart. I don't

fight hate for hate. I fight darkness with light. And

that's what Jesus challenges us to do as followers of Jesus,

and to be honest. There are times in our life

where that is a hard pill to swallow because who

Jesus is talking about is not your favorite people or

even your favorite moments. He's talking about difficult moments. He's

talking about people that you and I.

Can't stand.

Or in moments we may love them, but sure do

they annoy us. That's what Jesus is talking about. I

want you to see at Matthew five, verse thirty eight.

We're gonna watch read a few verses. If you like

to stand with me, you're more than welcome to will

show God the honor by just standing for just a

moment across all campuses.

Here's what Jesus says.

This is a powerful moment that has been recorded through

thousands of years. During the sermon on the Mount, Jesus

takes a step and he says this. You have heard

it that it was said an eye for an eye,

and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you,

do not risk the one who is evil. But if

anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him

to the other.

Also give him your left cheek. And if anyone would.

Sue you and take your tunic, let him have your

cloak as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile,

go with him two miles.

I mean you would have heard an audible.

Gasp at that moment if Jesus said that, because they

know it is only connected to the Romans. And he says,

give to the one who begs from you, and do

not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

You see, you may be seated.

Jesus makes a powerful statement that says that this is

during a sermon, and we think that sermons and messages

are very head driven, and it's about knowledge and intellect.

But what happens is when you read around the Sermon

on the Mount, Jesus is sharing knowledge to create action

from people. And Jesus makes it clear that following Jesus

is not about what you know. It's about how far

you're willing to go. That's what following Jesus is about. D. L. Moody,

the Great Preacher, said this, the Bible was not given

for our information, but for our transformation.

So what does Jesus encourage us.

To do in the moments that we just saw depicted

in just a short clip and also through his own words.

I just want to break it down with three very

simple thoughts that I think can transform our walk with

Jesus and honestly transform people's lives because we think that

sharing the message of Jesus and the Gospel is a

matter of saying the right things that will convince them

that Jesus's Lord. But oftentimes it is through our actions

on how we love when times are hard, and when

people are hard, and when things are difficult, people go.

I mean, Jesus has to be real because anyone else

in that circumstance would have reacted any other way. But

because that person has the light of Jesus, there may

be something to this man.

You see.

If you're taking notes, I want to share with you.

Jesus encourages us in this moment that we are called

to carry what others drop. God has called you and

I to carry what other people are unwilling to carry

and do what other people would think is crazy. Jesus said,

if anyone slaps you on the right treat cheek, turn

and give them the other. God calls us through a

standard that bears love when someone may bear hate in

your life. He calls you to carry a person's burden,

even a soldier's burden, when you feel.

Like it's not right.

This is wrong, this is abuse, this is taking advantage of.

Me, This is annoying me right now.

And Jesus says, give them the other cheek, carry their

things and go. If they ask you to go a

mile with them, give them two miles. No, we want

Jesus to say that you're a child of God and

you're better than walking with that person. That person's a sinner,

that person has hate in their heart. That prayer, you

shouldn't walk with them at all. Jesus says no, give

them another cheek, walk with them, another mile, them, another moment,

have another conversation. Because you see, love carries burdens that

don't belong to you, because Jesus carried our burdens.

I want to be a burden bearer.

If Jesus would carry my pain, if Jesus would carry

my brokenness, if Jesus would carry my embarrassing things, then

maybe God has called me to carry for others. Just this.

Just this past week, I met a Christian man at

a conference and he told me one of the things

that he enjoys to do, he loves golf, but he

also loves to talk about Jesus. And so what he

does from time to time is when he plays golf,

if he has time, kind of throughout the day after

he doesn't have to rush to anything or anything like that.

What he'll do is when he's done golfing, he'll go

to the clubhouse and he'll have lunch. And while he'll

have lunch, he'll look for men that are drinking too much.

If you didn't know that.

Oftentimes, not always, but oftentimes cigar smoking and drinking goes

hand in hand with golf.

It's a business. Thing that people do, and they drink

a lot, and they smoke a lot of cigars.

And they a lot of them don't even pay attention

to their golf game. They're just there to have a

good time. So what he likes to do is he

goes to the restaurant. He looks for men that are

drinking too much, and then he approaches them and says,

are you driving home after this? If they say yes,

he offers them and says, I don't mean to judge.

I haven't been watching how much you've been drinking, but

how many of you guys know when someone's drunk. You

can tell. You don't think we can tell, but we

can tell. You know, you get a little topsy, you

get a little stumbly.

We can see it.

So what he does is he says, I would love

to take you home so that you don't drive, If you're.

Okay with that.

Oftentimes people say yes, I would love you to do that.

And what he does is he takes.

Them home, and obviously in the moment, they're not coherent,

and so what he does is he put he says,

give me your soul phone number, and then while they're

in the seat drunk and the under the influence. The

next day he texts them and he says, I just

want to make sure that you're safe.

The person says, yeah, I'm good. And then what he

does is he says, I'd.

Love to take you out to coffee if you're ever interested,

and he talks to them about Jesus more times than not.

He shared with me how many people he's led to Christ.

Not because he expected them to.

Be fixed before they met Jesus.

But this man is willing to carry someone's burden that

you and I would actually look at as a nuisance

quite annoying. I don't want to be around a drunk person.

I don't want to be around someone that I don't

know what they're gonna do. And also you say I

don't want a stranger in my car, and maybe that's

not for everyone, but this man feels called to carry

someone's burden.

I just think that I thought to myself in that moment, like.

How are we missing opportunities to not carry what people

are going through? To go an extra mile? This man

has gone an extra ten, fifteen, twenty miles forts just

so he'll have one opportunity to talk to them about Jesus. Augustine,

the Great Church Father says, what does love look like?

It has a hand to help others. It's this.

You must be the one who bears the burden. That's

what Jesus called us to do. That's what Jesus called

us in our life because commonly what happens is common

for the Roman soldier, I have all of this armor,

and what they were able to do this was anywhere

between forty five to sixty pounds of armor. And any

Roman soldier could pass off whatever weight they had and

would say, you need to come. It is your duty,

or you will go to prison if you don't walk

this mile with me. And the average Jewish person would say, Jesus,

if you are king of kings and you are lord

of lords, tell them that.

They can kick rocks. Tell them that.

Your God is bigger than whatever armor they have. Jesus,

you could kill them with just one word. But Jesus says,

if they tell you to go one mile, go to

because what's gonna happen on the second mile. Their heart

is gonna begin to be broken because they're gonna notice

how they've taken advantage of you. You get asked to

stay one hour, maybe at work, maybe you give two huh.

They tell you to come in early at work, thirty

minutes early. Maybe you come an hour early at work.

Or maybe your spouse has been talking to you and

asking you to do something, and maybe they've been hurting

about something or going through something, and maybe they're just

asking you for a mile, and you know, you think

it's a burden or you think it's a nuisance, but

you're saying, you know what, I have a decision to make.

I can either lash out or I can go a

second mile. This isn't fun, This isn't joyful. Jesus's words

weren't something that had a promise at the end of it.

Its if you are a disciple of mine, this is

what I want you to do, if you want to

show love like I am showing love to the world,

he says, this is how you do it. You turn

the other cheek, you walk the extra mile. They sue you,

You give them what they want. Jesus, just stop, man,

this is too much. I don't want to play this

game anymore. I had this conviction just last week. My

wife's here, she doesn't even know. I don't always tell

her the things that I'm gonna share. But just this

last week, my wife was going through some things that

were stressing her out. Had nothing to do with me,

thank god, but it's stressing her out.

So she sits down.

We're at lunch with our boys, and she just starts

sharing what was stressing her out. And I looked up

and I said, please, babe, stop, I have so much

going on right now. I don't want to hear that

right now. And i'd ooh, you guys, you married men,

you know when your wife just locks up like see.

It was.

It was almost as if I took gorilla glue and

I put it on her lips and I held them

there for two minutes.

That thing was not going to open up.

And literally the moment, the moment it came out of

my mouth, I just I wanted I wanted to. I

wanted to, I wanted to grab it, and I wanted

to pull it back because I knew what the I

knew what the end result was, so and so, and

I took like a ten second breath. I realized how

dumb it was that I did, and then I looked

up and I said, I'm just so sorry. I just

I don't I lashed out I don't. I don't even

know why I did. I'm sorry. I just you know,

I'm stressed and that stuff it makes me more stress,

and you think it doesn't have anything to do with me,

But then I want to I want to help you

and I want to fix your problems too, and it

just but it shouldn't have said it. And how many

of you guys know it took a few hours. Now,

if I didn't say anything, I probably would have took

a few days or I maybe still.

Would be experiencing that. But it did.

It took a few hours to get the moment back

because what my wife did is she said, this is

a forty five pound workout bad. What my wife did

is she said this, She said, this is a weight

I have right now.

Would you just carry this with me?

And what I did is I said, there's nothing to.

Do with me.

This is your weight, phone a friend, call a prayer warrior,

do anything but give.

It to me.

And sure enough, I wasn't even preparing for this sermon yet.

And the moment I start writing, and the moment I

write that word carry the way, God was just like,

you know, you didn't do that with your wife, right,

And I went, oh, I didn't, and then I made excuses, said,

but I apologized. But what's gonna happen is do I

can show the next time she tries to give me this,

what am I gonna do? And then if she says, well,

you carry this with me, and then yeah, and then

I give her ten.

Minutes and she says, okay, I gave you ten minutes.

You're good.

You could go back to whatever you're doing. And I

say no, no, no, no, no, tell me more.

What else is going on? What else is happening? You

see what happens is what will happen is Jesus says, you.

Will set such a big example if you.

Go further carrying this for people. He says, you will

begin to.

Break walls and barriers and soften hearts.

If someone says, hey, this is yours and you go

like this, yes, give it to me, and then they say.

You could drop it right there, and you say no,

come on, let's keep going. See what happens people, world.

It may be rough because who does this in the

world today? Who loves like this in the world today? Man,

you listen, you slap me, I slap back, you slap

one cheek me your butt gonna get kicked. You'll be

another cheek. But you but if you slap and Jesus says,

you've heard it, I for an eye. But he goes,

not in my kingdom, not in my house. You I

fry in my house. You you break my message, you

pervert my words.

And so he said, someone slaps.

You go, hey, I got one right here. And you know,

if you invite someone most of the time to slap again,

they start thinking Number one, either you're crazy.

Or two, maybe they.

Can't hurt you like they thought they could, and maybe

they can't affect you the way that you thought that

you could affect them.

Here's the second thought is this is.

Not only uh, not only do we find that God

has called us to carry what others drop. Second thing

is God wants us to climb when it gets hard.

Jesus's words is a statement to climb. I'm higher than

what other people will climb. Love more than other people

will love, forgive deeper than other people would forgive.

Hands off. He talks about lawsuits in this.

He's saying this, He's saying, go bay resources. Don't worry

about resources. God has resources.

And so he's talking us.

To say, man, when you meet affliction, when you meet

a heel that you just cannot climb.

What he says, He says this. John Chrisostom says.

This, To love those who do us wrong is greater

than any miracle. To love those who do us wrong

is greater than any miracle. He says, Climb when it

gets hard, when you start feeling the burden, when you

start feeling the way, when you when you see that

person and you want to turn the other direction, or

you want to turn the other way, or when those

words feel like they cut deep, and they sure do.

Jesus says this. He says, climb, climb, go love him.

Don't show him that side, because that side at the beginning,

he says, that side is for the enemy. That side

reflects the enemy. That side is a child of darkness.

And God has called us through a better.

Standard of darkness. And it's hard.

And what the enemy will try to do is he

will try to have us come to retaliation so that

he can inhibit your ability to get closer with God.

And he will throw whatever it is that he can,

whatever he can, he will throw it at you. Whatever

is happening, he will throw it. He will throw at you.

Legal he will throw at you. Weights, he will throw

at you, government abuse, he will throw at you, boss abuse,

and job abuse he will buy you. Know, all these

things you just throw at you. And Jesus said, all

he wants you to do is break. And we know

according to the Book of Acts, that not by our

power and our spirit, is by the power of the

whole Holy Spirit that you can do all things, like

Philippian says, you can do all things through Jesus Christ,

who strengthens.

You through every affliction. That's God's strength, that's God's grace.

And the enemy would love for you to think that

this moment is about you and for you alone, and

you are by yourself, and you are isolated, because if

he can isolate you, as the Word of God says

in Peter, if he can find you like a lion,

roaring looking who he may devour, he is trying to

devour you. And by acting out on these things, Satan

looks at someone that's on the weaker side of things,

that's not strengthened by God's spirit. There was a moment

that I somewhat fell prey to that a few years ago.

It was around twenty one, twenty twenty two, Pastor Diego

went on a three month sabbatical. His health wasn't doing

too good, and so it was an emergency sabbatical, and

so the board said, Adam, we need you to jump

in and.

For the next twelve weeks, you got to preach every weekend.

And I said, okay.

Prior to that time, I had only preached about four

times a year, and so going from four times a

year to twelve weekends back to back, and that was

quite a lot for me. And so and so what

happened was, though, is prior to that, during COVID started

in twenty twenty, we had a transition of an employee

who ran all of our emails and social media, and

you know, twenty twenty was chaotic for all of us,

and so since we couldn't hire and replace that role,

I basically stepped into that role. And so basically, from

twenty twenty to twenty twenty one, I was the one

that responded to any person's DM in the church, anyone's

email in the church, anyone's question in the church, and

also anyone's concern in the church. During that time, I

calculated we had about six hundred to seven hundred inquiries

in twelve months. Probably about half of those were not

happy people because they wanted COVID to happen, you know,

our response to COVID happened this way or that way

or that way. And so I specifically remember one time

I emailed someone who was upset at our church about something,

and I emailed them back and they and they were

very nasty, you know, very nasty. And I thought to myself,

they maybe they just think I'm some you know, and

because I knew who the person was, and I thought,

maybe maybe they just think that I'm some ambiguous person

who's talking to them. So I tell them, this is

Pastor Adam, and we love you and we're so sorry

that you're upset. And he goes and he and he

go and he goes like this, just so you're aware,

you're a nobody and no one wants.

You in the role. I was crushed. I also got.

Really insecure, and so then what happened was really from

that time going to twenty twenty. About a few months later,

Pastor Diego goes on sabbatical and the board goes, you're

gonna preach every weekend, And I thought, I'll preach on

every weekend as long as I don't have to talk

to anybody, because when you're the person who's just getting

the heat every single weekend because you're the one tasked

to email and respond to everyone, and when they find

out it's you know, who's the son to the pastor,

then it's like, now, really tell you what how I'm feeling.

And so I got extremely insecure. And there was a moment.

I remember, you may have been coming to church this long.

What happened was for the first two weeks that I

stepped in for Pastor Diego, I never went outside to

the courtyard. I didn't go outside. I just closed service

and I went to the back. It wasn't because I

was being boogie or gaudy. I was scared of anyone

giving me negative feedback.

I was scared. I was afraid. I was insecure. People

slapped me enough, people.

Threw weight at me enough that I was like, I

don't want to carry anyone's anything because I don't think

I could handle it. And so then what happens is

on the second week, Dale Piper is on audio team.

He's not here today.

He sent me a word from God and he said,

God told me to tell you during service today, you

need not.

Be afraid to love the people, and that if you

continue to be afraid and let the enemy win.

Yes, people may say things, yes, you may have this,

but there are more people that are hungry for God.

There are more people excited for God.

What the enemy has done is elevated outside voices. And

so what happened was he said, I don't know if

anyone's told you, but I think you need to go

out and love people like your dad historically has done.

So I responded to him, I said, you're right, I'm

gonna do it this weekend. But when I reflected, I

reflected in that moment, I said, what the enemy wanted

me to do is to say I don't want to

carry anything. I don't want anything I want. I want

the blessing of God using me in a calling, but

I don't want the burden of other people's brokenness, or

I don't want the burden of what other people are

going through or how other people are wordy. But you

can't have the blessing without people's burdens.

You can't. You can't. You can't go.

Through the red Sea without experiencing a moment where Moses

is up in the mountain. It's in that moment that

we start to say, am I making idols?

Or am I staying committed to Lord?

Because what what happened is you can have a red

Sea moment where Jesus provides, but you can also have

a moment where someone throws words at you that you

weren't expecting. And what the enemy wants us to do

is he wants us to retaliate.

He wants us to respond.

And what happens if he gets us to retaliate and

to respond. And so nowadays what happens is someone it's

every once in a while still come to me and

they'll say, I'm upset with the church about something, but

I don't want to offend you, And I said, I

always tell him, I say, you couldn't offend me if.

You tried, because I went through that already.

I've heard pretty much almost anything you can imagine, and

I've made the decision that I'm unoffendable. And they go, okay,

well let me try, and then they try, and then

I go, I love you, I'm sorry, and then we.

Move on and I go to Chipotle after service. And

that's how it is. Here's the last thought.

Is this what God wants to do is what he

wants to cultivate something in you what other people ignore.

The reason why Jesus wants you to love and go

the extra mile and turn the other cheek and continue

to persist where others won't present because God wants to

build something.

In you that others don't want built in their life.

God wants to cultivate something in you and I, and

so what he calls us to do in verse forty two,

he says, give to the one who bites from you,

do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Because what Jesus is saying is if.

You recognize that God is your supplier, God is your resource,

God is your covering, then he says, then everything that

people need, God can give you more. God can increase.

God can cover and use you regardless of the moment.

You see Henry now and said, community is the fruit

of our capacity to make the interest of others more

important than our own. Cultivation is obedience without applause. You see,

you and I know that God is cultivating in something

in us when we do something out of love and

we don't look over our shoulder to see who saw it.

That's what obedience to Jesus is.

You see, obedience to Jesus is loving someone and when

you do it, you don't look over your shoulder to

see who saw it. That's what being obedient.

To Jesus is. But we live in a world.

That says, if I'm gonna love, it better be recorded

for TikTok, I better be able to monetize this.

If I give one hundred.

Dollars, I better be able to get one thousand dollars

back out of this.

I'm not talking about church. I'm just talking about in

life that we do this.

It's this view that says, if I do something I

it better be double, tripled, quadruple. But what Jesus says

is what we do for others is not about us.

It's about them.

It's about showing them that God has provided more worth

than their life than they thought they had. It's a

moment that says that God values and loves them regardless

of where their heart is at right there, it's what happens.

What the Holy Spirit will do is when you love

others where other people don't see it, the Holy Spirit

will begin to chip away at their brokenness, chip away

at their pain. That's what Jesus has called us to do.

So with closing thoughts as I then pray and close

all of our campuses. When someone is difficult, carry something

for them. When the task is hard, climb higher, and

when the work is hidden, cultivate that allow God to

call us to a higher standard than what others are

willing to go. That's what Jesus says on the Sermon

of the Mount that if someone slaps you, give them

the other cheek. If someone forces you to go a mile,

give them another mile. And if someone asks something of

you or borrows something from you.

He says, give without cause.

If you think about it, we could just spend the

next twelve months of our life on those three things,

and I would find reason every week that I still

fail at those three things, because I'm still human and

I still find difficulty in these things. But Jesus has

caused us to climb to a higher level.

But also the spirit of God.

Is the one driving you. Let's pray today, God, we

thank you for this word.

Lord. I pray that in this moment.

Across our campus is God, you would speak to us

and you would use us Lord, use us to be

examples of people that follow Jesus, not out of pride

or not out of significance of what that brings to us.

But we follow Jesus because You've transformed our life, and

there is power in our life today God, and we

want others to see the power of love that God

has shown us.

So, Jesus, as.

You have carried our burden, may you help us to

carry others. I pray through our love and our actions,

we may show people that though we know.

Jesus, we also follow Jesus. We walk like Jesus, and

we talk like Jesus, and we pursue Jesus in every

step of our way. Jesus's name.

Amen, We're all going to leave right here in a

matter of moments together. But I just want to make

an invitation of faith. If you don't know Jesus Christ

is your personal Lord and savior, I want to encourage

you today that there's no better day to follow Jesus

than the day that you hear the Gospel. Oftentimes people

will say what I want to do is I want

to get my life together and then I'll follow Jesus. Well,

we cannot do that on our own. It's only by

the power of God and the grace of God that

we can actually have a relationship with Jesus. The Bible

makes it clear that there is a moment when the

gospel of Jesus is shared, which is this that Jesus

died on the cross for your sins, and three days

later he resurrected from the grave to show us that

death has been defeated and he has saved all those

who would follow him, and anyone who would hear it

and believe in that would be saved. Here's the moment

that God begins to work on you and I it's

when that message is given. Jesus says that he knocks

on the door of your heart. He says, whoever would

open their heart and allow him to step in, then

he will dine with them.

Which means that you will be a new creation.

But he says, anyone who rejects that knock, he's not

going to force his way in. And so today, as

many people may be watching online or be in this room,

that you may find yourself at a place that says,

I feel God knocking right now. Now it's time for

your chance to respond to that. How do you respond

to that. You respond to that by simply saying this, Jesus,

I believe I repent to my sins.

I know I'm imperfect, I know I'm broken.

And I know I cannot attain a relationship with God

on my own. I believe that Jesus died on the

cross and he rose from my sins. When you make

that belief in that confession of faith, the Word of

God says that your name is written in a book

called the Lamb's Book of Life, and the Bible says

that for every person that would give their life to Christ, all.

Of Heaven would rejoice.

And so if you're here today and you're ready to

make that decision, I'm going to ask that right now.

In just a moment, we're going to say a prayer

of confession together. The prayer isn't the thing that saves us.

All we're doing is affirming what God is doing in

this moment. And so if you're here today and you

want to do that, we're all gonna say prayer together.

And at the end, I'm gonna count to three.

All I want you to do is raise your hand

so that we can welcome you into the family of God.

Can we all say this together.

Family, Can we say, Dear Lord Jesus, in this moment,

I confess you as my Lord and Savior. I believe

in my heart that you died on the cross and

you rose three days later. From this day forward, I

commit to follow you for the rest of my days

in Jesus' name. Amen, on the count of three, raise

your hand if you said that today, so we can

celebrate with you and welcome family. Hands are already going up, one, two, three,

Raise your hand up in the air. Hey, welcome to

the Family of God. So many hands going on, so

many commitments. Truly, welcome to the family of God. Our

church name is Patriot, which means family, but specifically family

who have made Jesus their Lord and savior. And so

when you say yes to Jesus, you join the family

and you become part of the Patriot. And we want

a journey alongside of you. Pastor Aaron's gonna close us out.

He's gonna tell you, if you raise your hand today,

what those next steps would be. Offer some prayer and

we'll leave here with church together. Pastor Aaron, would you

close us out.

Let's celebrate Jesus for what he accomplished to his word, carry, climb,

and cultivate.

I love it.

Hey, if you just raise your hand and said that prayer,

there's some information on the screens www.

Dot Grow dot Faith. When you go there on your phone.

We want to give you a book from our founding

pastor that just talks about next steps in your faith journey.

And speaking of next steps, we have a class every

Sunday at nine am called Growth Track that just teaches

you about our values and our vision, but most importantly

about you and how God has uniquely wired you to

be a blessing to your family and community.

Amen. So we invite you to do that. This all

stand to our feet.

If you need specific prayer, we'll have a prayer team

that'll pray for you. I'll pray generally and you'll be dismissed.

Heavenly Father, thank you so so much that you model love.

Give us the empowerment and the humility to model model.

It ourselves in Jesus. Now we pray. Hey, man, God

bless you. You're dismissed. Thank you