His Masterpiece || At the Movies Pt.1 || Pastor Adam Mesa

Welcome to the Lesse podcast. Here at ALEC we seek the loss, teach

the found, and send the disciples. We truly hope you're encouraged by this

week's message. You know, this weekend we launch at the movies together.

This is the time. For the next four weeks we're gonna survey movies and

how God's story tells a part in all types of movies, whether it's been

the survey of movies of silent films or big budget movies in four K and

CGI. The reality is we know about storytelling is this is that you can

have the biggest budget in the world, the greatest actors in the world,

but if you don't have a good story, nobody wants to watch the movie.

When the Oscar goes to Leonardo Dicato, this is the first Oscar and

seas the nomination for Leonardo Dicagrio. For those people out there whose voices have

been drowned out by the politics of greed, I thank you all for this

amazing award tonight. Let us not take this planet for granted. I do

not take tonight for granted. Thank you so very much. Mostly every year

people watch the Oscars not to see who spent the most, not to see

who had the greatest level of decadence in any way, But what we want

to know is who told the best story. The beauty about God is that

he tells the greatest story. He's the greatest writer and architect that we could

ever see in our life. And we're going to discover those things together for

the next four weeks. You know, in biblical days, people would often

tell stories in creative ways, whether they would stand on top of a rock

and teach out to everybody around them and tell a story, or they would

set up a campfire everybody would sit around and hear great stories. These were

always stories, whether it be around with God, humanity, and sometimes even

fictitious. The reality is every story always had a meaning and a purpose.

That's the beautiful thing about at the movies, We're gonna see the stories that

are found within movies and how God has a part to play in those truths

that we see. Many shows and movies help us understand God in a deeper

way, whether it's through television and movies. As we watch them, we

can encounter all the emotions and the great storytelling that is told. Some of

the greatest movies exist are biblical depictions. They're some of my favorites. I

love biblical movies that are told. Some of my favorite biblical movies are movies

like The Ten Commandments with Charleston Heston, or my favorite when I was younger,

the Disney One Prince of Egypt, or some great ones recently like Risen

or The Chosen series. You know, these are all great movies that tell

stories from the Bible and they come to life. Film gives us an opportunity

to expand on God's greatness in a creative medium. When we used to sit

around campfires and tell stories, now we get to watch movies that help us

expand on that. You know, even movies that aren't outrightly about God can

often tell truths concerning God's promises in his Bible. That's what we're gonna look

at over the next four weeks. I'd love to share a passage of scripture

with you, and it's about King Nebuchadnezzer. You know, a lot of

people know the famous story of the three Hebrew boys Mishak, Shadrack and a

Bendigo who were in the fiery furnace and God delivered them. What a lot

of us don't realize is after that the evil King Nebuchadnezzar really began to fall

in love with God because he saw God's story on display in front of his

eyes. You may not know that story. What happens in this story is

the three Hebrew boys would not sit down and worship King Nebuchadnezzar, and in

his anger, he threw them into a furnace. What there was was a

fourth person in the fire, and he protected them from being burned Alive.

Nebuchadnezzar was own away. Additionally, he began to have dreams about God,

and Daniel would begin to interpret those dreams for Nebuchadnezzar. At this time in

Nebuchadnezzar's life, he didn't know any scripture or he had never read the Old

Testament before. But it's regarding his life and his experience with God's story that

inspired him. I love to read you the passage of scripture where Nebuchadnezzar comes

to this realization. Thank you, Philip, it says in Daniel Chapter four

and verses one to three. It says, King Nebuchadnezzar to all of the

people's in the nations and languages that dwelt in all of the earth. Peace

be multiplied to you. It has seemed good to me to show the signs

and wonders that the Most High God has done for me. How great are

his signs, how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and his dominion endures from generation to generation. You know, King Nebu

Kennezzar realize something when he saw God move in the world. King nebu Keannezzar

made a statement and he said, let me tell you about the wonderful stories

that God has done on this earth. What also begins to happen is he

goes to Daniel and Daniel interprets a dream from him. Right after. What

Daniel tells him is, he says, Nebukennezzar, right now you've realized that

God is telling a story in humanity. But what God wants to do is

he wants to make himself real to you. And so when Nebukannezzar shares about

his dream, Daniel interprets him and he says, there's gonna be a season

where you go into a mental illness. You will be out in the fields

eating like cattle. And the only time that you'll come to the realization and

you'll become healthy again is when you realize God is the only God. What

never Kenezzar begin to do is he would take his gods of old and he

would mesh them with Yahweh. Daniel told him that's not God's story for humanity.

God doesn't want us to mesh other things. So Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar,

what God is trying to do is to help you realize that these stories and

these miracles that God is showing in your life is meant for you to make

a decision to realize that God's story is the greatest story that he has to

tell in our life. I remember when I was younger, my dad used

to tell stories all the time. One of the things he used to do

when I was a child that I love so much. My dad even does

it to my kids nowadays. My dad always would tell a story about a

little boy named Jimmy. But what my dad would do, and I didn't

realize until I was older, is the stories about Jimmy. All he was

doing was telling us stories of what we did that day, but replacing our

name for a boy Jimmy's name. So if we went to McDonald's and we

played with our dogs later and we went to the park, my dad would

sit by the bed and he would tell the story of a boy named Jimmy

who went to McDonald's and went to the park that day and had fun.

We would laugh because we would say, that's so coincidental that this little boy

named Jimmy did exactly what we did today. We loved the story because as

young boys, me and my brothers would see ourselves within the story. That's

the beauty about the Bible is the Bible wants us to see ourselves within the

story. And God wants to show him himself through the Word of God today

because God has a story. And so in the life of King Nebuchadnezzar,

he was excited because he realized that God had taken notice of him. That's

the beauty about God is God takes notice of us. That's a part of

God's story. You know. Nebuchadnezzar thought that God was just telling a story.

Well, he doesn't realize is he is in his story. That's just

like you and I. I love the passage of Scripture found in Ephesians,

chapter two, verse ten. It says, for we are his masterpiece,

created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should

walk in them. That's the great thing about God is you and I are

his masterpiece. But the story he wants to tell is the story of God's

love for us. That's the beauty about story. Look, God, eass

I've got you, You've got me. Who's got you? That's the beauty

about story is in order to create a masterpiece, a great story has to

be weaved throughout. You know, there's been some great masterpieces over the history

in film. It's always been debated, but everyone can agree a masterpiece is

a masterpiece. You know. Some of those masterpieces are movies like Lawrence of

Arabia, Avatar, Inception, Wizard of Oz, and Gladiator. My name

is Maximus Desmus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of

the Felix Legions, loyal sovereign to the true Emperor Marcus Aurelius, father to

a mooted son, husband to a mooted wife, and I would have my

vengeance. We can all agree. Whether you like the movie or not,

it tells a great story. It rides all the epic highs and lows.

It brings you closer. And the great things about stories is sometimes either you

see yourself inside the story or it reveals a dream inside of you. Whether

I watch Gladiator and I feel like I could take on the world, or

maybe I watch Avatar and I begin to have a spirit of adventure. The

great thing about you and I being God's masterpiece is the fact that through Jesus,

he has created a way that we can have relationship with Him. And

it's in relationship with him that God begins to do a work inside of our

life. Regardless of what's in the past or regardless of what lies in the

future, God is telling a story in your life. You know, recently

I was in Kentucky and I landed late at night at about eleven thirty pm.

There was only one restaurant open in the entire area that we were in.

I had my friend Phil with me, who's been on this adventure with

me right now, and me and Phil wint into this restaurant late at night

at about eleven thirty pm, and we sat down and we asked the lady

if she was still open, because they were closing at twelve, and she

had this really distinct Southern accent, and she said, as long as you

guys are eating, will be open. So we sat down and we began

to ask for a menu. When she gave us the menu, she said,

where are y'all from. We said that we were from Los Angeles area

in California. Her response was, I'm sorry, we don't have any salads

here or grilled chicken. We told her you could look at both of us

and we told her we're not interested in any grilled chicken or salad. She

laughed as she said, I'm sorry. I just thought they didn't sell anything

fried or greasy in California. I told her, you must have never been

to California. That's the great thing about telling a good story is when you

and I don't know the story that's being told, we begin to make assumptions,

as so many of us because of what our life looks like. We

begin to make assumption on whether God is in our story or not. But

the beautiful thing about God is God is in your story because you are a

masterpiece and you are His workmanship. And if you allow God to be involved

in your life, you can begin to see the story that he tells within

your faith and within your life. By order of the Commissioner of Police that

broke the province. I hear by place you under arrest for the murder of

Madame Selene Villaneva gauflin Texis. I knew there was something for she. We

never got the cause of death. She's been murdered. And do you think

I did it? Hey, regardless of where I'm from, or what past

I have, or maybe what's in the future, I'm a masterpiece and you're

a masterpiece. The great thing about God is the Bible says that He is

the potter and we are the clay. And that's what makes a great masterpiece.

And he's creating a masterpiece in you. You know, the beauty about

God is his story is a masterpiece. That's the beauty about God's word is

God is telling a story throughout the entire Bible. This is sixty six books

in one book, in two testaments, the Old and New Testament. What

makes every single story great is every story has a plot. There's no such

thing as a great story that you can't follow along with. You have to

understand what is the plot, Where is the beginning? Where's the middle and

where's the end. The great thing about God's Word is throughout humanity and history,

God is telling his masterpiece in the scriptures, and there's one plot.

It's the fact that Jesus Christ has came to Earth to redeem humanity. Everything

in the Old and New Testament helps us to realize the story for our life

is the fact that God loves us. There's great film out there, and

as you and I encounter and engage with film, there is always things within

it that tells truths concerning who God is. It's always revealed to us.

Whether you're looking at Superman and alien who comes from out of space to save

the world. Sounds really similar to me. Sounds a lot like Jesus.

Movies always have truths inside of them, and that's what God's Word revealed to

us. I'd love to tell you about the plot of the Word of God

and the fact that Jesus Christ is telling a story in our life through the

way that he redeems us. I want to show you what's said in the

Bible found in John three sixteen. Most of us stop at sixteen. I

want to read some verses with you to be able to help tell you the

story and the plot that God is telling within mine and nor life. Here's

what it says. In John three sixteen down to twenty one. It says

this, for God so love the world that he gave his only son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For

God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but

in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him

is not condemned. But whoever does not believe in him is condemned already because

he has not believed in the name of the only son of God. And

this is the judgment. The light has come into the world, and people

have loved darkness fin rather the light, because their works were evil. For

everyone who does wicked things hate the light and does not come to the light

lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does this is the plot.

Whoever does what is true, comes to the light, so that it may

be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. This is

the plot of the word of God. Is the fact that through Jesus Us

is love and mercy. The plot of God's forgiveness has been carried out to

us. So wherever you're in life, the beauty about the story of God

is found within these pages. Truly, the Word of God is the greatest

masterpiece that has ever existed in our life. And no matter what movie has

been told in past, present, or future, it will never compare to

the movie that God is playing in the story that God is saying in your

life. And if you want to discover more about that story that God is

telling, all you have to do is open the scripts and there you have

it, God's story for your life. You know, we wanted to do

something creative. Every once in a while it's important for Christians to be shook

up a little bit. That can sometimes be too comfortable in just coming to

church and doing everything, and there's nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we

need to be creative because Jesus was one of the most creative individuals on the

planet. And like Pastor Adam masterfully said that these next few weeks are for

you, but it's a tool for you to use to bring every friend,

coworker, neighbor, stranger that you know that's far from Christ and if we

can bate them with something they can relate to in the beginning. Then we

know that their lives will be forever changed as the message changed. You see,

here's the reality. It's his story that we're trying to promote. But

his story needs to become your story, and they're merged together. If you

don't know Jesus Christ, it remains his story. It's a Christmas story,

it's a it's an Easter story, it's a Sunday morning school story. It's

a story that my parents told me. But when you recognize I'm the one

like Nebbi Khanezer that Pastor Adam talked about, I'm the one that's full of

pride and arrogance and it's my kingdom that I'm building, and no one's greater

than me. There's so many people like that until you need someone bigger and

smarter and stronger than you to come in and say, I know how to

interpret You're messed up life. You don't know how to interpret your life.

You're just living your life. But he comes on and says, the end

of your life will bring a form of pain and judgment into your life.

And for Nebbi Khanezar, he went and ate with the grass of the cows

and he lost his mind until he repented it, and God began to restore

his mind, and he gave his life to God. It's a beautiful story,

but you got to find yourself in the midst of that story. And

no one is too far, no one is too out there, no one

is too lost that this beautiful savior called Jesus cannot redeem and save. For

the message that we read in John is that God came to save the world.

He didn't come to save white people and black people and Asian people and

Latin people. He didn't come to say it, save the rich, the

prominent, the educated, the prison the incarcerated, the hormoner, the childhood.

He came to save all the world. And in all the world is

all the races of people from every tongue and from every religion that's in this

world, from an atheist who does not want to believe in God, to

agnostic that believes in God but not sure what God there is, to somebody

that's religious like the fair heresies of Jesus's day that kept the law to the

t. But there they were white sepulchers full of dead men's bones. They

were hypocrites. And there's so many people that are caught in the midst of

that. I went to eight years of religious school. I did everything that

that religion told me to do, never missed church, was an altar,

boy, was confirmed, went to Latin Mass. But if I was to

die at that time, I'd split Hell wide open because I was basing my

life of not going to hell and going to heaven based upon works. And

there's so many people like me that believe that because they were raised in a

Christian home and because they could say Hallelujah and praise the Lord, and they

know who Jesus is and they're basically a good person. They don't cause they

don't drink, They cheated on their wife the right large sums of money away.

They're rich, they're famous, they got followers, they've achieved something educationally,

they're intelligent, they're good looking that you know what, if there's a

heaven, I'm going there, but I'm not going to hell. But I

would have split hell wide open. Even though I was very, very religious,

but I did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And there are

a lot of people that are good people, moral people, religious people,

but they don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so today I'm asking

you to consider where you are in the story today, and you're not too

far to make a You turn today and come to Jesus today. The Pacific

Ocean is the biggest water mass on this planet. You could put every you

could put every continent of the world in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and

there's still be water. That's how big it is. Some of it's known

depths because they don't know the complete depth of the Pacific, but they know

it's about thirty eight thousand feet deep. Thirty eight thousand feet deep, that's

what they know. There's a lot of places that are just off the radars,

off the censor. They just simply don't know how deep it is.

The reality is is from one length to the Pacific to the other length of

the Pacific is for you about it's about nine thousand, six hundred miles,

which is this from LA to London and back. How many of you are

good swimmers today? How many of you were high school swimmers? Any coalee

agent swimmers in here, any Olympic swimmers in here, any professional swimmers in

here. How many of you think that you can swim from LA to London

and back and be okay. If I was to drop you in those smack

dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and you were to swim from the

middle to a massive land that would be equal to you swimming from here to

the state of Missouri, you could put the greatest You could put the greatest

swimmer Michael Phelps right there. And let's just say we Michael Phelps was lost.

He had some kind of sensor and we came as the coast guard.

We located him, if that was even possible, and we said, Michael,

we're gonna throw you a savior, a life jacket. Grab hold of

it and one if Michael says, no, I don't need a savior.

I'm strong, world class swimmer. I'm the most decorated Olympian. I think

I can make it to sure. Tell me what you're gonna say to someone

like that. You're crazy, you're stupid, you're an idiot, you're a

fool. And there's a lot of people that think that because they're good looking

and they're strong, and they're educated, and that there's somebody that they're not

gonna drown in this sea of sin of this world because you don't know who

I am. I'm somebody. You need Jesus because you're weak. You need

Jesus because you're poor. You need Jesus because you need a miracle. You

need Jesus because you need a crush. I don't need Jesus. You don't

know who I am. You just called that person a fool, crazy,

stupid who would say that you see, this ocean is an ocean of sin,

and we'll pull you down. So what did Jesus for? God did

not send his son into this world to condemn the world, but that the

world through him might be saved. He's called the savior of the world.

And Paul says he came to say me, and whom I am the chiefest

of sinners. I'll be the first to raise my hand and say I was

the chiefest of sinners. And anybody who once was a sinner who was now

saved would also fight with me and say, no, I was the chiefest

of sinners, because my Christ bled and he died, and he was damned,

and he was punished for me, And I'm the chiefest of all sinners

that would have received his mercy and his grace, his loving kindness, and

not allowed me. So what is he to experience when I'm about ready to

talk about? What did he come to save you from? Number One?

He came to save you from yourself? How many of you can admit I'm

crazy? Sometimes I'm weird. Sometimes I'm jacked up, tore up, and

messed up. Sometimes I need to save my I need to be saved to

myself. I need to be saved from sin, this nature that pulls me

away from God and controls and dominates me to do wrong and delive wrong.

But he also came to save you from eternal damnation. Damnation means there's no

back door, there's no reincarnations, there's new no do overs. Once you

die, it's over. That's it. You're damned, that's it. There's

no hope, no more. He saved came to save you from eternal separation.

He came to save you over the fact, to be separated from good.

God never wanted you to be separated from Him and goodness and kindness and

generosity and love and faithfulness. He came to save you from being separated from

Him and from loved ones, and from that which is good. And he

came to save you from me eternal eternal torment, pain and anguish and suffering

more than I could ever dream or imagine. So today you're there. You're

in the middle of the ocean right now. Jesus said, I died on

the cross to save you today. Don't reject me, accept me today.

Doesn't matter what you've done today. Release the hardness of your heart, the

arrogance, and the pride, and believe that there's a Jesus that loves you

today, warts wrinkles, wrinkles, sins and stains. He loves you the

way you are. Don't stand there with your arrogance like Nebukaannezzar, and believe

that you don't need to be saved. Repent today and give your life to

him. So when I count to three, I'm gonna ask you to do

this. Why do I want you to do this? Because that's how Jesus

died on a cross, mard beaten and naked, suspended between Earth and Heaven,

and was unashamed to die for you like this. He didn't die in

a closet, norn and alley where no one could see him. He died

openly. Why do I want you to do this? Because the Bible says

if you acknowledge him before men. He will acknowledge you before his father in

heaven on judgment Day. But if you deny him, he will deny you

if you're ashamed of him. Why don't want you to do this? Because

this is a universal sign of surrender. One time I got arrested and they

asked me to put my hands up as a sign of surrender. That's a

sign of surrender. Why don't want you to do this because your flesh doesn't

want you to do this, And there's that fight to be in control that

says, I don't want to be embarrassed, And that's where it's gotten you

to where you are at today. I want to be in control, surrender,

surrendered like a little child who lifts his hands towards his mommy and daddy,

that says, lift me, comfort me, help me. Right now,

lift your hands when I count to three as a sign I want to

give my life for the very first time. Somewhere in that story on the

screen that Pastor Adam told, somewhere in the story of what you said,

I'm in the middle of it. Now, that's me, or he said,

without a shout of a doubt, I'm a Christian but I'm writing the

fence of compromise up and down and in and out, and I really need

to rededicate my life to the Lord. I need to resurrender my life to

the Lord and ask God to give me something that's meaningful and impactful to live

for him all the days of my life. It just doesn't seem to stick

with me. One two, Please raise your hand when I count to three.

One two, three, you raise your hand. All across this auditorium,

wherever you are, you could put your hand out on this very,

very unique month. I want to challenge you today to do something that you

probably are gonna feel very uncomfortable to do, but I believe it'll be something

that you will never ever forget. What you're about ready to do. If

you have the courage to raise your hand, then I'm asking you to have

the courage to walk out of the aisle and come forward to this altar and

surrender to Jesus publicly. Walk right now, Come on, We invite you,

come forward right now, give your life completely and totally to Jesus.

Surrender, surrender totally to him, holding nothing back, holding nothing back,

with holding nothing, You're not gonna stay in that seat of sin anymore.

You're not gonna stay in that seat of complacency anymore. You're not gonna stay

in that seat of darkness no more. You're coming out, and you're coming

out for Jesus today. If you were bold in this world, you're gonna

be bold for Christ. If you're unashamed in this world, You're gonna be

unashamed for Christ. Come, Come, Come, Come, Come, Lord,

is surrender. Come on, They're still coming. We'll wait, We'll

wait, We'll wait. No greater love than the love of Jesus. Now

what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna lead you in a prayer today. I

want you to just raise your hand towards Heaven like we said in a place

of surrender to God. I want you to have a moment to connect with

God right now. He's real, He's real. Say this with me,

Dear Lord Jesus, you know who I am. You've know me since I

was in my mother's womb. Somewhere along the line, I fell away.

I walked away. But today you've rescued me and you called me. You

called me out of the darkness that I was living in. I was lost,

and you came and found me. Today, I confess with my mouth

and I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of my

life. Only Jesus could have saved me. And so today, in front

of all these people, I will serve the Lord, and I will follow

the Lord, and I will love the Lord with all my might, with

all my soul, and with all my Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, you

are the Lord and savior of my life. Thank you for saving me and

rescuing me and healing me and deliver me. Right now, I'm forgiven and

I'm a child of God in Jesus name. Come on, let's thank the

Lord. Now everybody at this altar. Right now, Lord, I lift

them before you. Now, Satan, you can't have them anymore. They

are no longer your property in the name of Jesus, and their service to

you is now ended. Is now terminated in the name of Jesus. No

more bondages in their lives, no more addictions in their lives, no more

strongholds in their lives. They are severed from the root in the name of

Jesus. And you are free. You are liberated in whom the sun sets.

Free is free. Indeed, God wants you to live a life and

live it more abundantly with joy now and peace now, and love now,

and acceptance now and happiness now. Come out of darkness and walk in the

light as Christ to set you free in Jesus name. Amen. We really

hope you enjoyed the message, and if you said yes to Jesus, we

just want to say congratulations and give you a free devotional to help you walk

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