The Value of Character || Pastor Diego Mesa

All right, well, good morning to everybody, and thank you

for coming to church, and thank you for coming to

church on time, and thank you for inviting people to

church today. All of us know somebody that needs Jesus

or is lost or searching, so thank you for being

considered of that. You know, I really, now, more than ever,

look forward to the privilege to preach. It just really

is more special than ever before. You sometimes take it

for granted, you know, the day to day stuff and

when you're you don't do it as often anymore. Just

has a lot of value. So really appreciate you guys.

And so we're in a series and I just you know,

I heard the message by Pastor Aaron and he talked

about Christ, and then last week Pastor Nathan talked about community,

and I'll talk about character today, you know. And then

and then Pastor and Adam with what he's doing and

his preaching. You know, they have so many great props

and illustrations. I feel like Henry Ford and I'm driving

the Model T and there Enzo Ferrari now uh so uh,

but that that's really what it's that's really what it's

all about. And I really want to commend my son

in his pastorial leadership, because uh, pretty much everything that

you see that goes on is because of him now

and I have little and Pastor Kenny can verify it

because he's in those meetings. He didn't even see me

in those meetings anymore. And uh so this series that

deals with the vision last month we're talking about walking out,

those are all his creativity getting before the Lord laboring. Uh.

Right now, our trip, we have a team in Ghana

right now on a missions trip and all that is

under his organization.

And I just want to commend and thank God for.

The good job that's but you got to put up

with me for today and next week and then you'll

then that'll be it. So let me preface this by

saying again we have a three full vision. So you

go to your house, and your house has a vision.

You go to your company, it has a vision. Wherever

you go, there's a mission statement or a vision. There

may be they may both sell Hamburgers, but they have

a different mission statement and it's taught the values to

their employees.

Right.

Well, there's a lot of Christian churches and we honor

those even in our community. But even though they worship

Christ every one of them has maybe a different focus.

And what our job was is to introduce people that

are visitors, people that are young to coming to our

church and possibly becoming members, to re establish with old members.

What makes a bundant, I would say.

What makes Patria Patria amongst all the other churches outside

of Jesus. And so we have a vision here and

that is to seek the lost. We are serious about

getting people saved because all of us are a whole

bunch of ex somethings in this place that have been.

Delivered by God.

And if our record be be shown on that screen,

you probably want one wouldn't want to be sitting next

to the person as close as you're sitting next to them.

So we seek the lost. Number two, we teach the fount.

We teach them how to be Christians now, how to

renew their mind, how to change their behaviors, and then

we send them out into their world, into their community

to be great witnesses. From that, we have a what

we're talking about a a vision of asking me values.

We have values and those values are centered around Christ.

So you're always gonna get Christ when you come.

To this church.

You're not gonna get philosophies, theories, ideals, you're gonna get Jesus,

You're gonna get the Bible. If we if we can't

prove it to you in the Bible, then go home,

don't come back. And I'm not using a book on

theories to help you. Those have not stood the test

of time, the Bible, Jesus's words.

That's what we're gonna preach.

Number two, We're all about community. We're all about community,

and we're about relationships. And the third value that we're

gonna talk about today is we're all about our Christian character,

which deals with how we treat one another.

So I'm gonna prepare you. I want to prepare you.

I'm gonna encourage you, but I also I'm gonna challenge

you big time today. Okay, but always be back by

the word of God. So, Father, thank you so much

for everybody coming to church today.

We sit at your feet.

We want to learn more about how to be better

people and our marriages and our homes and our job.

We honor you in Jesus' name a man, which is

stand for the reading of God's word.

Just to reverence God's word and the scriptures.

Today I'm gonna read one scripture today, but two translations

of it. Wat says, but if I tarry long, this

is Timothy. I mean Paul talking to Timothy. But if

I tarry long, that thou mayest this is old King

James knowest how thou oughtest. It's funny that people used

to talk that way. But we're gonna read it. But

you know, mayut know how thou oddest. But I wanted

you to I kept it here because I wanted you

to see this word to behave, say, behave, say it

the way Austin Power says it. Oh, behave, okay, so

behave thyself. Where he's saying, I want to teach you

how to behave in the church, which is the Church

of the Living God, the pillar and ground of truth.

One other translation, this will be more contemporary now at

that moment of writing.

I hope to be with you soon.

But if there should be a considerable delay, then I

want to have written. I want to have written will

show you the sort of character men of God, men

of God's household ought to have. It is a remember

that the Church of the Living God, the pillar of

the foundation of the truth. You may be seated. He

uses a strong terminology there about conduct, manners, behaviors that

should exist within the church. You know what, when I

grew up, and many of you that went to school

around the time or even before me, you had courses

called home eck social studies. Because the budget cuts, they're

not popular. You know what, there they go again. It

went out for a moment. They're not popular anymore, they're

not interesting anymore.

They've dropped them.

But for those of you that don't understand what these

courses once were in our public schools, they taught you

lifestyle skills.

They taught you how to believe, behave.

They taught you etiquette, They taught you manners, They taught

you conduct. They taught you how to how to go

to work and how to work hard, and how to

respect and how to honor, and how to be accountable

and how to be a good steward. Now we've taken

that out of our curriculums. So let's judge it today.

Is our society better now that we've eliminated those courses.

I believe they ought to go back into our school rules.

But the reality is Paul is addressing the issues two

thousand years ago that still faced today. That Christians don't

know how to behave in the House of God. Look

at somebody, and look at somebody. Tell him he's not

talking about you. Christians don't know how to behave in

the Kingdom of God. Christians don't know how to be

Christians anymore. And that's what he was talking about. And

that's what defines this message today. As we talk about character,

we today, you would agree, we today live in a

society that prizes itself on fame and fortune and looks

and followers and intelligence and popularity and abilities and skills

more than character, honesty, trust.

You will be mocked if that is important to you.

Trustworthiness, faithfulness, dependability, accountability.

There's no price for that in society.

All we care about is your gifts and your skills

and how much money you make. That's that's what matters

often today in our society.

Today.

We live, obviously in a world where people today are

relationally deficient. Their relation there, they're socially inept. Stay with me,

their community inadequate. They're their social their relational and their

friendly skills they.

Do not have.

And yet we in the Body of Christ are called family.

Yet we in the Body of Christ are called brothers

and sisters.

Yet you and the.

Body of Christ, I will spend eternity in a place

called heaven. Yet we are relationally deficient. We don't know

how to talk to each other. We don't know how

to we don't know how to listen to each other.

We don't know how to care for one another. I'm

too busy, I ain't got time I come to church,

I come to church late and I leave early. Don't

be looking at me. Don't mean asking me for anything.

We're relationally deficient. We can't handle tough conversations. We can't

be accountable to one another. We can't be corrected by

But we are family. Hugs and kisses until you offend me,

until you disappoint me, because then I'll divorce you, I'll

leave your church, and I'll say something about you on

social media. Yet we are family. We are relationally deficient.

Look at your children today. Why Because in today's world,

with everything being high tech, robot AI scan this, text,

this email, this automatic this, it has taken away the

ability to talk to people. I don't know about you.

I'm fed up. I hate I love the community. But

you know what, let it not take the place of

sitting down and say, how do you feel today?

How are you today? Let me touch you, let me

talk to you.

When I go into my restaurant today, or excuse me,

when I go into a market today or home deepo today.

They're forcing me to not go to a register where

there's a human being. You know what I'm doing. I'm

in rebellion right now. I won't go to them. I

will not go to them because that's somebody's job and

somebody wants to get paid, and you're not going to

force me. So I'll stand in that long line. I'll

complain to that people. I don't know if it'll ever

get up, but I won't do it. Even I got

one thing, I'm not going to sprouts and scan it.

I'll stand in that line and then I'll say, don't

you guys have any other people that can open these things.

I'm in rebellion because I see the detriment of what's

taking place through that.

You talk to a young they don't know how to

talk to you.

And let's not blame the young people because you don't

know how to talk to them. All of this reflects

oftentimes our characters. So you know, next year, I'll be

forty years in full time ministry. So I wrote down

a few of the misbehaviors that I've seen within the

church in the body of Christ, and They'll be on

the screen right now and I'll read them straight from there.

People are in the church, but they don't talk to

each It's amazing. You could sit next to somebody on

the left and right behind you, in front of you

and never talk to them. You could be in church

but never ever really see people and look into their hearts.

You could be in the church and don't show no

affection toward them or touch them in any form or fashion.

We come to church late and we leave early because

we are just too.

You don't know who I am.

I am a celebrity, and you folks come to church

on time. I will walk through the parking lot thirty

minutes late with my latte, but I will not do

that tomorrow morning, on my job, I will be on

work on time. How to behave our character? All this

reflects our character. Be in church but not be known.

I respectfully say this. It's amazing how many people come

to me and say, Pastor, I've been a member of

this church for fifteen years.

I look at them and say I don't know you.

I do not know you.

I don't know you because you don't serve, because that's

the only way I'll get to know you. As in

this ministry, I don't know you because you're maybe not

in a neighborhood group where we could build relationships together.

So there's a behavioral character flaw when somebody is a

member of this church and I'm not just saying to

me as only as somebody knows you. We can't be

in the church body and leave without saying goodbye to

affording add Oh, this is a huge pet peeve of mine.

If we are let's just say that, Let's just say,

well I have I've been living with this woman, my

wife for forty one years, and decide tonight I'm deciding

not to go home, and she won't ever know what happened.

People do that every Sunday morning in this church, every

week in this church. They're a member of this church,

but they never tell us they're leaving. They never tell

us they're moving. Would you do that to your natural family?

And yet we're a spiritual fan. See how we treat

each other. That's why it's hard for us to get

along with one another, be honest with one another, transparent

with one another, because you hurt me too much. I've

had friends that I've run with miles with only to

find out they moved to Arizona.

I'm thinking of a guy right now.

He didn't even tell me, and all the times I

run with him, he was considering about moving, and then

someone told me, Hey, you know your friend he moved

to Arizona. I say, you got to be kidding. We

give no forwarding address. We're here one day and then

we don't know what happened. Because we're not a family,

we don't know how to have Christian character. I don't

care whatever you do, at least be respectful to one

another and say, listen, I'm moving to Arizona. I've been relocated.

I'm gonna be taking care of my mom in Hyspiia,

so you guys won't be See we're not a family.

See how quiet it is here? Yeah? You preaching passages?

When are we getting Adam back? Let's let's move along.

We can be in the church, sit, watch, observe, and

criticize and complain, but not contribute. I just, uh, who

can I talk to today that there's no more toilet paper

in the bathroom? Who can I talk to today about that?

Who could I talk to the parking lots?

Who can I talk to about all that construction out

there going on that makes it really difficult out here.

We'll leave it at that. Let me give you a

few quotes, and then I'm gonna preach. Let me give

you a few quotes. Here's here's the quote. Live in

such a way that you would not be ashamed to

sell your parrot to the town gossip.

How do you like that one?

Do I have another one? Can you show me another

quote up there? Or is it not working? I guess

we're Oh, there we go. What is required of us

as Christ followers is called character. It is who you

really are when no one is looking. It's what you

do when no one is watching. And it's your inward

voice that tells you what you can do and what

you can't do. As you guys know, I'm a mountain biker.

So this is a mountain bike helmet, okay, And I've

been mountain biking probably like about maybe fourteen years or

something like that. And in those fourteen years, I've taken

a lot of falls, some of them very seriously, I've

cracked four ribs, I've cracked two ribs, I've separated my

shoulder and then other falls. Okay, but you wear this helmet, okay,

and this helmet protects you because you never know when

you're going to take a fall.

So I have fallen and hit this.

And come up and I've been perfect been perfectly fine. Well,

I was with my friend one time, many years ago, Ryan,

and Ryan knew that I had fallen, and he came

out of the blue and he said, how's your helmet.

I thought to myself, what do you mean? He says,

how's your helmet? I said, oh, it's perfectly fine. I

didn't hurt it or damage it in any form or fashion.

He said, did the helmet hit the ground with And

I said, yes, it did. He said, throw away the helmet.

I said, but there's nothing wrong with it. He said,

you have compromised the materials and the character of the helmet.

Now it is now weakened.

Even though it still looks good, even though it still fits,

you have weakened the character of it and it can't

perform anymore.

Throw it away.

I wonder what happens when our character has been violated?

Has it been weakened in our lives? Let me read

a scripture and this is where park it for the

last twenty minutes. Here, here's a great story here about character.

Could you give me the story please?

In Luke.

In Luke, it says Jesus took up the question and said,

a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and

he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him,

They beat him up and fled, leaving him half dead,

pretty sad.

A priest happened to be going.

By, say, pass on by, okay, that road where he

saw this guy, but he went to the opposite side

of the street. He turned his face in avoidance. He

passed by on the other side, saying I'm too busy.

I didn't finish reading. Please. In the same way, a

levied a levi when he arrived a second guy at

that place, he saw him too, but he passed by

on the other But a Samaritan on his journey came

to him. Same scenario. Three different people came to him.

And when he saw him the same way, watch what

he did. There are nine traits. He had nine characteristic traits.

He had compassion on him. He went over to him,

and he bandaged his wounds. He poured olive oil and wine.

Then he put him on his own animal, put him

in his car, and he brought him to the end,

took him to the hospital, took him to his house,

took him to a hotel, and he took care of

him all night. The next day he took out some denaro,

some money, some cash rooney and gave it to the

innkeeper and said, take care of him, and when I

come back, I'll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.

Which Jesus says this, Which of these three do you

think proved to be a neighbor Or I'll say this

proved to have character to the man that fell among robbers,

the one who showed mercy to him.

And I love Jesus' word.

Go and do the exact same thing that you just

saw this Samaritan. Do not a lesser version. Do the

exact same thing. Wow, What character looks like? What character

looks like? Three things that I want to point out

in the Samaritan of what character is and what will

challenge us?

Number One, he got involved. Character gets involved.

Character doesn't watch observe, character gets in, character doesn't use excuses.

This man has a busy life, just like you. He

was going somewhere. He wasn't prepared to do this. He

wasn't looking for someone in need. He got involved. He

got involved with his time. He got involved with his money,

He got involved with his heart, He got involved with

his resources.

He got involved in not perfection.

He got involved in a messy situation, a dirty situation,

A bothersome in this situation, a problem, a plight. We

get involved with things we like. We don't want to

get involved with messy people. We don't want to get

involved with dirty with people with issues and problem You'd

be too training for me. I'd get too tired. We

gotta get involved like this guy did. This is a

messy situation. This guy is gonna deal with therapy, emotional.

He been jacked up, tor. I don't know if it

was purposeful. I don't know if it's accidental. I don't

I'm not he didn't go into it. Start interviewing him

and say, can you give me the details before I

commit here right now? Are you a runaway right now?

Did somebody tell you not to go down this road?

Are you stupid? And we love lecturing people judging and critique.

He doesn't do no that just here here, here, We

say this all the time. See the need and take

the lead. That's all he did. He saw a need

and he took the lead. And he just simply got

involved and put his hands in his pocket.

Didn't pass on by. He stopped and that's it.

Stop.

Look and hear God on what I can do with

my gifts, my talent and my abilities. I do have

something to offer. So God wants me deeply involved in

his kingdom. He wants me deeply involved in relationships. He

wants me involved in this church. And it'd be wrong

for me to be a Christian and have character and

not be involved, he challenges us. There's a couple and

they'll be on the screen and you'll see them. Their

name is Genie and Paul Briggs. They have thirty four children,

but they adopted twenty nine of them. They adopted them

from Ghana, from Mexico and from Ukraine. And they're Christians

that heard this call of God in church. The challenge

is is that many of them are not healthy, perfect kids.

They've got disabilities, but they're committed. They got involved, and

I think that's the problem really with our world today,

in our society. That's why politics is so crazy today.

So the world is so because everybody complained, but nobody

gets involved. Nobody gets involved. No, it has skin in

the gate. Nobody has sweat equity in the game. So

for many years, well I'll just say within the last year.

Last year, I became a chaplain. I'm a sand burned

you know, shariff chaplain.

Okay, so that's that's what I do. I'm a I'm

a sheriff chaplain. So see, I knew you would clap.

Because you're just honoring or you know, you could think

it's elite and its privileges, and it does. I could

do ride alongs. I can go wherever an employee does,

wherever virtually wherever an officer goes, or where he doesn't

want me to go. That's unsafe. But I have a key,

and I have access, and I have the uniform and whatever.

But let me talk to you about it for a minute.

Okay.

So the reality was is that I had to go

through a background investigation.

Okay.

The second thing that I want you to want you

to recognize is that it is required of me to

log in a certain amount of hours monthly and yearly

to be a sheriff. It is required of me to

wear the uniform when I am on duty.

To be a shriff chaplain, it is required of me

to pay monthly or yearly dues to be a chaplain.

It is required of me to go through extensive training

to be a chaplet. I gotta know how to use

the gun, the ar the shotgun, know how to disengage it.

I know how I need to know how to drive

the vehicle. I need to go know how to use

the microphones.

I need to know.

I have to be trained and then I have to

go through i'mgoing training to.

Be a chaplain.

I have to show up at that station and be

ready to perform as a chaplain. So I get a

call on a suicide, I go over there, a death,

I go in there.

Whatever it is, I have to perform a duty. Are

you still.

Tracking with me? Okay, here's here's the here's the drop kicker.

I'm a volunteer. I'm I don't get paid to do

all that, and yet we don't want to be required

as a Christian to do anything. Don't look at me,

don't talk, don't approach, don't ask me for nothing, and

yet we're not.

Building a community.

Naturally, we're not defending a city or a county. We

are part of the Kingdom of God, light versus darkness,

representing God wherever we go, and there should not be

any requirements of us. Second thing, don't worry, pastor Adam's

coming back. Second thing, he lives a life of integrity, integrity.

Here's what the Bible says about integrity. The righteous who

walks in his integrity, blessed.

Are his children.

Man, you want your children blessed, walk in integrity. You

want them to have difficulties. Do not be a person

of integrity. This guy just plays all kind of integrity,

has a conviction.

He has a conscience.

He knows the difference between right and wrong, what's required

of me and what's not required of me. He has

this moral compass within him, he has this inward voice.

I'm trying to describe integrity to you.

The integrity he has, ethics, he has standards, He has

all that in his life, excellence in his life.

The word integrity means wholeness.

There is a wholeness in his life, not purposely having

holes in his life.

There is a soundness to his life.

He's trustworthy, he's absolutely dependable. He's integral. And that's the

way God challenges us. He challenges us in our integrity.

He challenges us to be integral with our eyes, eyes

that are not jealous or lustful, or eyes that are

not always in competition with one another. And we are

to have integrity with our ears, not to listen to

gossip or discord or junk. We are have integrity with

our mouths, how we talk, how we speak profanity. All

of that is integrity our heart, integrity of our heart

to offer forgiveness and mercy towards somebody rather than retaliation

and judgment towards somebody. God challenges us to not live

a compromising life, or a fraudulent lifestyle, or pretentious lifestyle,

or a hypocritical lifestyle.

All of that revolves around our integrity.

Let me read your scripture here in Proverbs the first

chapter and in verse number ten. I'm sorry Proverbs in

Philippians Philippians one ten, that you may approve the things

that are excellent, and that you may be sincere.

Without offense to the day of Christ.

The way I'm supposed to treat you is I am

not to purposely offend you. I am not to purposely

hurt you through my lifestyle. You and I are familiar

with people that we tried to witness to or share

our faith, and they looked at us said, get that, Jesus,

you know what out of my face, because I know

a so called Christian that ripped me off, didn't pay

their bills and didn't be wrong.

What was that?

Somebody that had no integrity? Somebody that's what we would

call in the streets. Ain't straight, They ain't right, man,

they just ate, they're dirty. How many remember that street

talk like that? They ain't straight, crooked? Whatever it was.

God saying that, to the best of my ability, I

am not whether in church, outside of the church, my marriage,

my personal life, my leisures my pleasures not to cause

you hurt or harm or to offend you. He tells

me that I'm to live a harmless and blameless life

with my employer, with my bill collectors. Oh you're preaching

good past well, thank you, I thank you. He Us

is the word sincere. Okay, so during Jesus's day as

well as today. How many have you ever been to

how many have ever been to a swap meet? Don't

act like you ain't never been to a swap meet?

How many have you been to a garage sale? Come on,

when we started life, we bought all our furniture from

those places. Now that you're all dignified, you go to

tarja and buy all your stuff, But your life started

at garage sales and swap meets.

Well they would do. There'd be merchants lining the.

Streets and they try to sal you something of imperfection,

something that was flawed. They try to jack you. Okay,

are you with me or maybe you're familiar with that. Okay,

So let's just say you were looking for a pot

to cook with, or to put a plan in, or

whatever you wanted a pot. So what what happened? This

is where this word sincere comes from, or in the

Greek sinceros. Okay, So what a merchant would do is

he said, oh, my grandma made this pot. This is

made from the finest materials. We probably got about five

hundred dollars into this. You are not going to find

a better pot in all of Israel than this one

right here. And you know what, I like you, I'm

gonna give you a special deal. I don't know what

it is.

I just like you. How many have you heard what

I'm talking about today? Okay?

And you know what I I have a Sunday sale

going today. You just can't hardly ever have Sunday sales going.

But I'm won't take care of you.

I you like it? Do you like it? I like it? Okay?

And so you pick it up, and this is what

you would do to inspect it.

Okay.

You'd get the pot and you lift it up to

the sun, and the beam of the sun would look

through the pot and you would be able to see

if there were any cracks in the pot. See, because

what the merchant would try to do is that where

there were cracks, he'd put fillers called waxen, and then

he'd color over it. And so you'd be ripped off

and cheated because in your natural eye you could not

see that. But when you lift it up to the sun,

the sun exposes the character.

It's not sincere.

And so today, if I'm living as a liar, a cheater,

a conniver, the only thing that will heal you is

to lift you up in the sun. The sun Jesus

Christ will heal you of where you're trying to wax

over people in their lives. And here's the last one.

His life inspires, his life inspires. He's in the book.

This man is in the book. Jesus uses him to say,

go and do.

So.

Your character will inspire others. It will say, you.

Know what, he is a template, she's a template. They're

a model.

They're an example of how to stay married forty one

years and never have cheated on a man or cheated

on a woman. They're an example of how to raise

godly children and godly grandchildren. They're an example of coming

off the streets and having that street in you. But

God's delivering you, and you're no representation of what you.

Used to be.

You're somebody that I can emulate. Here's somebody that inspires me.

You're somebody that provokes me. You're somebody that encourages me.

Here're somebody that challenges me as opposed to where are

all the examples? We say God will do it? But

then and we go to church, Well, where's the fruit

of it? So I have a little list here that

I want to go through because Paul says this, let

me read the scripture to you about Onisimus. Could I

read the scripture? It says the Lord grant mercy to

the family of Onisifras because he often Here's the word

refresh me. Do you refresh someone? Am I a refreshing

to you? Or are you a refreshing to me? Who

showed me kindness, comforting and reviving me?

Are you fresh air to people or like a stink

to people?

And he was not ashamed of my change. So here's

what I want to share with you, basically what you

and I need to be to other people. You need

to refresh people rather than tire people out. Don't look

at your neighbor, but you and I know somebody people

that they just tire us out. You and I know

people that replenish us, but we also know people that

drain us. We also, we want to be people that

others will follow rather than I'm not going to follow you.

We want people that restore people rather than destroy people.

And we want people that reconcile you rather than ridicule you.

This is what you and I are called to be.

You know, Pastor Nathan last week showed beautiful pictures of

members and how they're building this church and what they're doing.

If you were, you know, volunteering and getting.

To know them, if you know a little history about

our church. More than thirty years ago. I started in

my house in South Ridge, Fontana, with twelve people. But

you know what, lovely Cindy, I was thinking about that

there were twelve physical people, but they're literally if you

count me and her, there were fourteen, but we never

count each other. But there were twelve guests or visitors.

So really, she's the longest member of Abundant Living right

there she is, and she's probably put up with more

than you know what, than anyone else, and she still

loves me and she still loves you. Okay, But I

want to introduce to you someone that. So we had

this wave that was in the house. Then we moved

to the next wave, which is this the thirty, the twelve,

and then you moved to the thirty because a lot

of the twelve aren't here anymore, they even transition there

in glory. A lot of the original they're not here anymore.

But here is the longest active member of Abundant Living

Family Church.

Her name is Johnette.

Johnette has served in all her and in her thirty years.

And you don't even remember the donut ministry we used

to have. We used to literally have a donut stand.

When you walked in to the church. You could have

free donuts and coffee when you sat down. I know

some of you want us to revive that ministry again.

She was the coffee cart, Children's check in Prison Ministry,

Mexico Mission, Women's Ministry, Christmas and Easter productions, caring for

the goats and chickens. She's been a member of Abundant

Living for more than thirty years. That ought to inspire us.

That's how this thing gets built. I want to end

with this story to just show the character of something.

Pretend with me that this is my great great great

grandfather's chair. It's one hundred and twenty five years old.

There's hardly no screws in it. There's no plastic in it,

no lamin lamination it not lamination would laminate. There's no

laminate in it, no plastic in it. It's made out

of real wood, craftsmen. It took several hours of a

man wielding with his hand. This is a chair that

I got from Akia. Anybody familiar with ikea, hmm, none

wrong with Ikia. But there's a vast difference between an

Akia chair and a craftsman chair. Stay with me, I

can get a Kia at a reasonable price. Akia is nice,

and you know what, it's gonna fill my house. But

here's the difference. Akia is not something you're gonna pass

down to your children and your grandchildren, your great grandchildren.

This is something that's going to be passed down.

You know what the difference in the two is is

the durability of them.

The durability of them.

Character is seen by the durability of what you can

handle and what you can handle.

None of us is born with character.

You develop character when you are tempted and you don't

give into that temptation, when you are tired and tried,

and you don't do what your flesh wants to do

when you're alone, hurt and offended. And I'm not going

to get even when I'm going through a crisis. Now

I feel like getting drunk, cheating on my mate, going

through a strip joint and doing something crazy. But you

pass the test that's durability, because here's the reality watch this, this.

Thing can't handle much good?

Gosh, are you?

Are you?

This?

Are you?

This?

Which one you want to be? How dependable are you?

How durable are you? How long are you going to

be around.

Can you be passed on to your children, children and

children and still be standing and a witness.

For Jesus Christ.

That's the character God needs from us to your world,

on your job and your friends, in your home, and

the kind of behavior and christian you need to be

in this church with your brothers and sisters. Father, I

thank you for the message today. I pray it spoke

to us all. God raise our level of character. God

help us to not be so selfish sometimes and immature sometimes.

And help us definitely not to be like that priest

and that levi God that won't stop but passes by

an avoidance and judgment and busyness. God help us. Help

us to be sensitive to the world that we're around,

not everyone, but somebody. We're not called to everybody what

we're called to somebody, and may we make that difference.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, thanks for listening today. I'm

gonna ask it you stay in your seat.

We're going to dismiss together, and I think passor Kenny

is going to come and dismiss us, and.

At that time we'll walk out together.

The Bible as well as secular historians, one of them

by the name of Josephus if for reference purposes, who

is not a Christian, he was just a secular historian

writes about the day that this man from Nazareth or

Galilee died. His name was Jesus, as the Romans killed

him on his Historians not the.

Bible, but I mean not just the Bible.

The Bible does say the same, but historians say there

were two thieves, one on the left hand and one

on the right. Of that day, three people died on

this mound called gal Galgatha. To one side was thief

who was so close to Jesus he could almost see

the breath out of his mouth, so close that the

blood from him almost spilled on him, so close that

he could see every scar and mar that he had

beaten with, So close, but not close enough that I'm

going to repent.

I don't believe in you, and I won't believe in you.

I don't believe you're the Messiah. I don't believe you're

the savior of the world. I surely not my God

and my Lord. So close.

Yet so far, with all the evidence in the world

right next to you, in how he died and what

he said when he was dying and what supernaturally took

place the earthquake from for three hours, it was darkness.

He never cussed, he never raised judgment.

It was all love. Forgive them, for they know not

what they do. On the other side was another thief.

See that's what thieves do. They steal, they rob, they'll

jack you, they'll tear you up. I don't know what

kind of records these guys had. I don't know the

mamas and daddy's are lack of that they had in

their home. I don't know how they ran the streets.

But they're two thieves, two ranked sinners.

But this one.

He recognizes who he's next, and he said, you know

what I need to be forgiven? I need to repent.

I ask you to remember me today in this place

called heaven or paradise. And I'm not so hardened in

my life that I don't recognize who you are. I

won't identify with that other guy that I'm close, but

I won't commit.

I'm close and I will commit.

Two different people that relate to different people, that encounter

Jesus with two.

Different outcomes in their lives.

You and I are the thieves, righteous thieves, moral thieves.

Or immoral. It doesn't matter.

We're just all thieves one way or another, because that's

the nature of sin. But the reality is you could

be close to Jesus and never not accept him and

believe in him today, So it doesn't matter. Just like

these thieves, it doesn't matter the years of what you've done,

it doesn't.

Matter the depth and the nastiness and the measure.

These thieves show us that they could be the worst

of the scum of society, nasty, filthy, perverted, and dirty.

One will die in his sin and be judgment the

other will be forgive of his sin and will never

be judged for his sin.

Who do you want to identify with today?

I'm going to challenge you if you've never accepted Jesus

Christ and you want to be like that thief on

his right that asks for forgiveness, or maybe you're a

Christian that was once that thief on the right, but

you've fallen away from God and you picked up the

ways of this world and you just want to get

right and rededicate your life on this Sunday morning, it's

no coincidence how you got here today?

Just think about it. How are you here today? How

did it happen? What made you? I think it's God.

When I count to three, you raise your hand like that,

be bold, just the way it was bold for Jesus

to dine across.

And we're going to pray for you.

Two one, two three, Raise your hand all across this

out of torn wherever you might be.

God, love you, God, bless you. Say this prayer with me.

Dear Jesus, forgive me of my sins.

I recognize outside of you I am a thief, but

in you I am forgiven.

Thank you today that your home is my home.

It's called heaven. I ask you to come and live

in my heart now in Jesus' name. I'll be outside.

If you'd like to say hello, passor Kenny, would you

dismiss us