The Church The World Needs

Open your Bibles to John chapter 16 and meet me at verse 33.

John 16 · chapter mention

John chapter 16 and verse 33.

John 16 · chapter mention

These words are from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the head of the church.

He says, these things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace.

Somebody say peace.

In the world you will.

Have tribulation.

But, somebody say, but, be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world.

Now, notice in this passage of Scripture, Jesus says that in me,

if you are in Christ, then you are in him. If you've given your life to Christ, you're in him.

In me, you're going to have peace. That means you're going to have oneness with God.

You're going to have security. You're going to have safety This is peace And

you're also going to be undisturbed in your composure In me you're going to have peace Why?

Because in the world Not you may have Not

you might have But you will have tribulation You're going to have pressure You're

going to have downturns in the economic economy In the recessions You're going

to have inflation You're going to have people die sooner than they should.

You're going to have people get sick.

You're going to have bad things take place. In the world, there's going to be affliction.

There's going to be political environments that are divisive.

You're going to go through these things in the world.

But then he says, but. I love the word but because but simply means wipe out

everything I just said. The example that I used last week, I'll say it again

If Stacy comes to me with a nice dress on And I say, and she says, how do I look, Devon?

I say, you look good, but She ain't even heard anything about that she look

good What are you about to say after but?

If I say but, it kind of makes you look a little, you know, round Let's say

I say that, I ain't never said that though, by the way But let's say I said

that That's a great looking dress, but it makes you look round.

She's not going to wear that dress, right? Because whatever came after the but

is more important than what comes before the but.

And so here, but be of good cheer.

Rejoice. Get excited. Be glad. Why? I have overcome the world.

Jesus said, because you're in me, now you are an overcomer.

Greater is he that lives in you than he that lives in the world.

I have overcome. That word overcome means I have made you victorious over the world.

I have rendered the enemy useless in its operations against you because I have overcome the world.

The Amplified Classic translation says I have deprived the world of its ability to hurt you.

Notice when he says I have overcome the world, he's telling you you are the champion.

You are the victorious one many of

you know I had the honor I'm still good friends but

an honor of being and going

to a UFC heavyweight and light

heavyweight champions fight praying for him went to

seven or eight fights with him been able

to talk with him advise him mentor him praying with him and I asked him a lot

of questions about being the champion what does it mean to be the champion and

he begins to tell me that it means obviously I'm the best I got the belt but

there are people trying to come get it.

But the champion is already victorious. What he's doing is he is walking in

his victory and he's withstanding any opposition that's coming his way.

And the opposition could be hungry.

The opposition could be ready. But as the champion, I'm not letting nobody take

this title from me because I have already overcame.

And I'm going to make sure that they don't take it from me. You got to have

this attitude that I have peace.

I have undisturbed composure with him, and I'm not going to let anything take my peace.

I'm the champion, and I'm not going to let anything come and get me all riled

up and fouled up and acting crazy, cussing and fussing and acting silly and

trying to do stupid things. I'm the champion.

Say that. I'm the champion.

You're the champion and you stop any force or foe that's trying to come against

you because you are already an overcomer.

They're trying to take what's already yours.

And that's what the enemy wants to do. He's trying to steal and take your peace.

But you are an overcomer. Say this, I am more than a conqueror.

Say, I'm an overcomer. I'm an overcomer. Say greater is he that lives in me

than he that lives in the world.

So we've been talking over the last couple weeks about rejoicing in the Lord,

and Sunday after church, the Lord really started talking to me about Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And don't go there yet, guys, but I want to build this, Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And I begin to look at Romans chapter 12, and I'm going to go over it with you today.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

I didn't have any intention on speaking on this. We were going to continue talking

about rejoicing, but all week long, Romans chapter 12, that was in my heart,

Romans 12 · chapter mention

and I read it multiple times a day in multiple translations.

I encourage you, if the Lord places a particular scripture on your heart or

in your mind, read it in multiple translations and over and over and over again.

I began to just read it, read it, read it, and then I began to hear,

you know, my birthday was Tuesday, so I was, and I hadn't really been connected

to the news or anything like that.

I've just been disconnected, focused on what the Lord wants,

focused on our new facility and all that good stuff.

And I've been hearing about things going on in Charlotte and then the assassination

and then the school shooting and all these things that's going on.

I'm like, Lord, Romans chapter 12, you've had me think about this before this

Romans 12 · chapter mention

has taken place. Is there any particular reason?

And I heard him say, read it again. And so I began to just read it and read

it and read it again, and I want to share something with you that I saw in Romans

Romans 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12 that we're going to go through.

So I don't have like this prepared message for you today. We're just going to

talk the Word of God today, amen?

And we're going to share some insight in the Word today.

I want you to know this, though, that the church is the only entity with the

unique ability to address root issues.

Let me say it again. The church is the only entity with the unique ability to address root issues.

The Lord gave me that word back in 2016 about the church, the only entity with

the unique ability to address root issues.

Everything else is addressing perceived issues.

Everything else is addressing maybe felt needs, but the church can address root issues.

You can get down underneath the surface and address root issues that are taking place.

And the Lord began to talk to me about Roman 12, and the title of today's message

is The Church the World Needs.

The Church the World Needs.

And let's look at verse 1 in Romans chapter 12. we see the Apostle Paul tells

Romans 12 · chapter mention

us, and so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to

God because of all he's done for you.

Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable.

This is the way to worship him. Now notice, give your bodies to God.

I've noticed, well, let me say this. Let me slow down. You are a three-part being.

You are a spirit. Your spirit, that's who you are.

Your spirit, who you are, that's the real you, when you gave your life to Jesus,

became a new creation in Christ.

You are a new species of existence you had never existed before your newness

was your spirit becoming fresh.

Unused, original, unprecedented. You became a new person when you gave your life to Christ.

So you are a spirit. You have a soul.

Your soul consists of your mind, your will, your emotions, how you think,

where you meditate, how you make decisions, how you feel is all in that soulish realm.

And then you live in a body.

This body that we have on is an earth suit. We live in this body.

It's different shapes and different sizes and different colors.

Two genders, though, only two, male and female. There's not more than two,

male and female. That's it.

Two genders, and God placed your spirit inside of the body he wants you in,

male or female. You don't choose that.

And so you are a spirit. You have a soul.

You live in a body. And in Romans 12, 1, he says, I want you to present your body.

Now, I saw this as a living sacrifice. I saw this because I started thinking

if we're going to present our body as a sacrifice, most sacrifices are going to be dead.

You're going to bring a live animal without blemish, lay it on the altar before God, and kill it.

That's the sacrifice. But God says, I want you to bring your body as a living sacrifice.

So you're going to come lay yourself on the altar before God and live again.

You're not going to be dead. You're going to live again. And I noticed when

we bring our body and present it to God, I've noticed that our soul and our

spirit come right along with it.

It's like some people have I've given you know I've given my life to the Lord

but they haven't really given their body.

They're still doing whatever they want to do. Did you know that you don't own your body?

When you gave your life to the Lord and you became a new creation in Christ, you don't own the body.

Matter of fact, in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20, Paul tells us there under the

unction of the Holy Spirit that you have been bought with a price,

that you are the temple of the living God.

Your body's been purchased. You don't own it. you don't get to do what you want to do in your body.

If you're going to be a part of the kingdom and give your life to Jesus and

he be your Lord and Savior, you don't get to do what you want in your body.

You present it to God as a sacrifice.

Holy and accept it. He will accept it.

As you give him your body, he'll accept it. And let's look at Put 12-1 on the

screen one more time, guys, and we'll go to verse 2. I like this.

And let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable.

This is truly the way to worship him. Look at verse 2.

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world. Stop trying to be like the world.

But let God transform you into a new person. How?

By changing the way you think. for as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

So we are to think differently than the world. We're not to behave like the

world and we're not to think like the world.

Matter of fact, Isaiah 8, 11 in the New Living Translation, Isaiah 8,

11 in the New Living Translation says it this way.

I give you a strong warning not to think like everybody else thinks. That's the warning.

Don't think like everybody else thinks. And so here in Romans 12,

2, he says here, let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

So we can't act like the world. We can't behave like the world.

We can't think like the world. We're to think on another level,

and it will change us into a new person.

You know, you are, how can I say this?

Your life will go in the direction of your most dominant thoughts.

Did you know that? Your life is going to go in the direction of your most dominant thoughts.

Whatever you're thinking about is going to create how you feel.

And how you feel will determine your actions.

And if you keep acting that way, it will create habits.

And those habits will then determine your character.

And your character will lead you to a destination.

But if you want to change the course that you're on,

you're going to have to change your character,

and if you're going to change your character you're going to have to change

your actions if you're going to change your actions you're going to have to

change your habits if you're going to change your habits you're going to have

to change your feelings if you're going to change your feelings you're going

to have to change your thoughts,

I'm preaching better than y'all saying amen in here I'm glad I came with my

own amens I'm glad I'm going to depend on y'all to say amen and don't when Pastor

Sam comes don't y'all be shouting him down but don't shout me down when I'm preaching amen.

You're going to have to change your thoughts and you change the way you think,

will change you into a new person so number one I found out in Romans 12 the

church that changes the world is a church that is surrendered unto God.

Presenting our bodies, changing the way we think. This is how we worship him.

We got to surrender unto God. Look at verse three, Romans 12 and verse three.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you

this warning. Be aware, be cautious.

Listen to me. Don't think you are better than you really are. Woo-hoo-hoo.

Glory. I know some of y'all think you are the best thing since sliced bread.

I know you think everything revolves around you and everything's about you. But here's the warning.

Don't think you're better than you are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourself.

Measuring yourself by the faith God has given us. Y'all can take that down.

Watch this. Don't think you're better than you are.

No human being is better than another human being.

Let me come down here and say this. Let me say it like a, because I want y'all,

I ain't scared of y'all, you know.

No human being is better than another human being.

Did y'all get it? Let me say it again, because I don't think you got it,

because you think you're better than somebody.

No human being is better than another human being.

I don't care what they say. I don't care how they say it I don't care what they

believe You're not better than them And so you're going to have to mature.

And say, you know what? I'm not better than them.

I may have more experience. I may know a little more, but I'm not better than them.

Their life is valuable, just like my life is valuable.

Say amen to that. And you're going to have to come to a place of maturity to evaluate yourself.

It wasn't until I just turned 48. Amen. Glory to God. And it wasn't,

hey, man, I hear you back there. Amen.

And I feel like I'm 28, though. Watch out now. Don't get on the basketball court

with me. I'll give you one, two.

And it probably was around 40 that I really started really, truly evaluating myself.

Like, I'm not as good as I thought I was.

Stacey used to get into arguments and stuff, and she'd be like,

you do it. I don't do that. That's what you do. And I found out,

wait a minute. I guess I do do that. I do that as well.

I need to work in this area of my life. I'm not as patient, Jackie Carey,

as I was, maybe as I should be.

I need to get back. I start evaluating myself.

I encourage you. Maturity will cause you to evaluate yourself. And be honest.

Ask somebody that loves you, hey, how am I in this area? Yeah, you're pretty mean.

Okay? hey, let me evaluate myself.

This is what we ought to be doing. We're not better than other people,

but we need to evaluate ourselves.

We need to look at ourselves and say, okay, I'm really good at this. I need to pursue that.

I'm not good at this. Maybe I don't need to pursue this or that.

Evaluating yourself. In this area, I need to be more patient.

I need to be more kind in this area. I need to give more in this area. I need to trust God more.

Evaluate yourself. At some point, you're going to have to grow up and look at

yourself. You're not that great.

I know you think you are. I thought I was. But you're not that wonderful.

Say amen to that. And evaluate yourself and say, okay, Lord,

have I presented my body to you?

Is it a living sacrifice? Do I think I'm better than other people?

Do I think I deserve more than what others?

Or is it just your grace and your mercy?

And if you think you deserve something, you no longer are a candidate for God's grace.

Let me say it again. If you think you deserve something, you're no longer a

candidate for God's grace because God's grace means I'm going to give you what you don't deserve.

So, hey, I don't deserve. I'd be like, Lord, I don't deserve nothing.

I receive everything. Amen. Amen. And so let's look at verse 4, Romans 12, verse 4.

Romans 12:4

It says, just as our bodies have many parts, listen to this,

and each part has a special function, right? We know that to be true.

So it is with Christ's body.

That's us. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

Let's pause there. We are many parts of one body.

This body of Christ, you might be a big toe, but you are part of the body.

And stomp your big toe and see how that feels, right?

I have found out, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians, that the parts of the body

that are not seen are more important than the parts that are seen.

Y'all think I'm the most important thing.

Oh, a pastor, he's the most important, he's up here. I'm just the face.

You live with a beat-up face. What if you're the liver? You can't live without a liver.

You can't see your liver. Nobody has seen their liver unless you've been on x-ray and all that.

You ain't seen your liver, but you can't live without it.

And you can't see it. Listen, some of you feel incidentally.

I don't have to come to church. Nobody's going to miss me if I don't go to church.

You could be the church's liver.

Are you listening to me? And you don't know it. But we need you here because we need each other.

When the body comes together, we're healthy and we're functioning and we're strong.

But y'all are like, well, Pastor, I'm just a face, but I need a heart. I need lungs.

I need hands and feet. Amen.

Amen. Who knows what I'm talking about? All right, look at verse 4.

Let's put it back on. Or what verse? Whatever verse we're at.

6. Let's go to 6. Let's go back to five real quick. Go to five real quick.

I like this part. We all belong to each other. This is important.

We're a part of the body. The church is a part of Christ's body. He's the head.

And we all belong to each other.

Man, just consider that for a moment, that we belong to each other.

You're not more important to anybody, and your presence is necessary,

and your impact is necessary, and we belong to each other. Now let's go to verse 6.

It is in His grace God has given us different gifts.

So we all have different gifts for doing certain things well.

So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.

Verse 7, if your gift is serving others, serve them well.

If you are a teacher, teach well. Amen.

If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. You know,

you may have a gift of encouragement.

There's a good friend of mine. His name is Eddie. He is an encourager.

He texts and calls me and just encourages me.

Brother, I was praying for you this morning. Man, I'm telling you,

something good is about to happen to you today, right?

Encouraging, right? If it is giving, give generously.

If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.

And if you have the gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Look at verse 9.

Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them.

Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Let's pause right there.

So the first two verses, we got to surrender.

The next few verses we just read is we're going to now serve with the gifts

God has given us. each of us has different gifts.

How do I discover my gift? One way you can discover it is what frustrates you the most?

Ask yourself, what frustrates me the most?

You might be the solution to whatever's bothering you.

You know, asking other people, what do you think I'm good at?

What comes naturally to me?

What would you do that you would never get paid for? You don't even care about

getting paid or not. Would you still do it?

This is how you discover your gifts, and they're all vital to the body.

We've got to serve one another. We're talking about a church that the world needs.

The world needs to see a church serving one another.

The world needs to see a church exercising their gifts in the body and outside the body as well.

That's why in verse 9, let's guys put it on the screen if you don't mind.

I have the best team back there. Let's give them a hand real quick.

Give them a hand. They're the best.

I watch other churches. Ain't nobody better than them. Praise the Lord.

Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them. Stop faking it.

Really love them How can you really love someone You're going to have to really

be patient And really be kind Don't pretend Now you may start out.

Okay, ha, ha, ha, I'm pretending, but let the Holy Spirit convict you to really

love, really be patient, and really be kind to them. Hate what is wrong.

God hates what's wrong. Here's what we've done.

Here's what we've done. God says, I hate that. We say, well, it's okay.

I mean, it's a little bit okay. I mean, God says, that color is black.

We say, well, it looks a little gray to me.

That means we are not agreeing with him and we're not hating what he hates. Hate what is wrong.

Hate it. I hate that that's wrong. Well, it might be okay, you know.

You know, we're in this culture now and it seems like everybody's doing it.

It might be fine. No, it's wrong.

It's wrong. Hate it and hold tightly to what is good. Hold on to what's good. Let's look at verse 10.

Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other. Glory to God.

Watch this. Take delight means to enjoy. Never be lazy.

But work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.

If there's one thing I hate, it's laziness.

My children will not be lazy. If there's one thing I can guarantee you, they will not be lazy.

They will not be lazy. I can't stand slow moving around and lethargic behavior,

and I can't stand it. Somebody might get hit.

I can't deal with it you cannot be lazy you gotta you're gonna have to have

a work ethic up under you okay,

alright and if you got a problem with me somebody get hit I'll hit you too okay

no I'm just playing I won't do that but never be lazy say that never be lazy say it again,

one more time never be lazy Well, the Lord says, get up in the morning and pray. Never be lazy.

Lazy just means I don't have any activity.

You know, it's the opposite of hard work, right?

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.

We get to cheerfully serve the Lord.

Be excited. it. Don't allow coming to church or reading your Bible or worshiping

or listening to a sermon.

Don't just get so comfortable with that that it loses its effectiveness in your life.

Get enthusiastic. I woke up this morning enthusiastic about it.

I've been pastoring full-time now since 2010, and I was excited today as I was

the first time we ever started preaching. Amen.

I'm enthusiastic about this. Glory to God. Look at verse 12.

Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble.

Let me back up. Rejoice. What does that mean?

Celebrate in our confident hope. What is hope?

An intense, earnest expectation of something good happening,

rooted in the promises of God.

That's why we rejoice because it's rooted in His promise. I'm excited.

Something good's about to happen.

You got to rejoice in that. Celebrate that. I'm expecting something good.

I'm like a giraffe with its neck looking around the corner. What's around that

corner? Something good is about to happen. Say amen to that.

I'm looking for something good to happen. I'm expecting something good to happen.

That's why we should be rejoicing in our confident hope because something good

is going to happen. And I'm anticipating it's going to happen today.

Glory to God. Get excited about that. Be patient in trouble.

What is being patient in trouble? I mean, you're going through a difficult time.

Be consistent and constant. Remain the same.

There was one particular time, Zavin was, he's 14 now, but I think he was like.

I think he was like two or two, and we were skating.

And he had skates on, and I was holding his hand, and we were skating,

and he kept trying to pull away from me.

He kept trying to snatch his hand away and skate. And I knew he couldn't skate,

but he kept trying to do it. You know, I can do it. No, you can't, right?

And I kept holding his hand, I kept holding his hand. He kept trying to do it, I kept holding his hand.

And he kept trying to get away and I kept holding his hand and I heard the Lord

speak to me, right in the middle of the skating rink. He said,

this is called patience.

You just keep holding his hand. That's patience.

I'm going to keep holding his hand. I know he can't do it right now,

but I'm going to keep holding his hand.

That's what patience is, remaining the same, being consistent,

being constant. So when you're in trouble, remain the same.

Remain the same in the trouble. Don't be like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Remain the same.

Oh, Lord, Danica must be going through something because she is different now.

No, just remain the same.

Remain the same. I'm going to believe God. I'm going to trust God.

Tough times don't last, but tough people do. Glory to God.

And I'm a tough person. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying.

Never stop praying. Keep on talking and listening and communicating with God.

Keep on praying. This is a church the world needs to see.

Keep on praying. Look at verse 13. When God's people are in need, be ready to help them.

Always be eager to practice hospitality. Always be ready. They're in need. Hey, I am here to help.

We're always eager to practice hospitality. Look at verse 14.

Bless those who persecute you. Uh-oh.

Wait, am I supposed to bless them? Don't curse them. Wait, I want to curse, though.

Don't curse them. Pray that God will bless them. Woo.

Lord have mercy. I'm supposed to bless them.

Lord, I pray that you would bless them. Now, that is, that's by the Spirit of

God that we're able to, you can't do that in the natural.

That's by the Spirit of God, and that's really, really difficult,

that I'm supposed to bless them that persecute me.

I hate what you believe in. I'm supposed to bless them.

I can't believe you follow Jesus. I'm supposed to bless them.

I can't believe you believe in this word stuff that release faith and God's going to give it to you.

I'm supposed to bless them. I'm supposed to pray that God will bless them.

Wow. If we really operated in this type of love, you're talking about reaching the world?

They would see us operating like this and want to know how in the world can

you respond to me when I respond to you like that.

But instead, they cuss us, we cuss them. They want to fight, we want to fight.

There used to be this rap song. He said, you want to fight, we can fight.

You want to act, we can act. You want to kick, we can kick. I'm like,

no, no, no, that's not how we're supposed to act.

You know? We're supposed to respond differently. Why? Because we're to think differently.

We present our bodies as a living sacrifice. us.

We're to bless those who persecute you. Don't curse them, but pray that God will bless them.

Right now, and just lift up your hands right now. Lord, say this out to me.

Lord, bless anybody that's persecuting me in Jesus' name.

Wow. Wow. You did something abnormal.

Yeah, bless them that curse you. Look at verse 15.

Be happy with those who are happy and weep with those who weep.

We may talk about this next week. Be happy.

So the New King James says, rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with them that weep.

I'll go on more into that next week. Look at verse 16.

Live in harmony with each other.

That's hard right there. Live in harmony.

Don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people.

So it means you're not thinking you're better than someone and don't think you

know it all Lord have mercy let's pause right there don't think you know it all.

Some of y'all can't, we can't tell you nothing because you know it all.

I've come to the point, full disclosure, I've come to the point,

I told Stacey, I ain't giving no more unsolicited advice.

I'm done with that. No more unsolicited. If you don't want to hear what I got

to say, I ain't going to tell you what I think.

No more unsolicited advice. I'm done. I'm done. I'm done.

Hey, I want to jump off that heel. Okay. Well, I mean, you know.

And so I said, I'm done. I'm done with the unsolicited advice because all people

going to do is reject it anyway.

They didn't ask for it. I said, I'm done. She's like, well, wait a minute.

You know, you got friends that love you and they're telling you stuff and they

want to hear your advice. And I said, okay, maybe my friends. But that's it.

No more unsolicited advice.

Let's put the next verse on the screen. I don't even know why I said that.

All right. Never pay back evil with more evil.

We're talking about a church that the world needs. Never pay back evil with more evil.

Do things in such a way that everyone can see that you are honorable.

Wow, everybody is supposed to see. There's something different.

LaPortia, there's something different about LaPortia. She's not paying back evil for evil.

Something different. Do things in such a way that everyone can see that you are honorable.

What this sounds like is we're building weak people.

Oh, I'm supposed to just pray for people that misuse and abuse me and not pay back evil for evil?

No, no. That is meekness. That's actually the definition of meekness.

Strength under control.

Strength. You're meek. I'm not going to pay back evil for you.

Well, I can't believe you just let them run over you.

No, no, I'm just not paying back evil for evil.

Not going to do it. Amen.

This is a church the world needs to see. Do things in such a way that everyone

can see that you are full of integrity and honorable.

Don't be sneaking doing stuff and stealing stuff and all that kind of stuff.

Can I tell you this story? I got to tell you this story.

Y'all got time? All right. So this is, and I used to live with this guy a long

time ago. Used to live with this guy.

And we worked at the same company.

And he got accused of stealing $90,000 from this company.

And I live with him. And.

He started saying, now follow me in this, he started saying,

I'm the only black guy. They accuse me because I'm black.

I said, for real? He said, yeah, I'm the only black guy there, yeah.

They accuse me of doing this because I'm black. I said, well,

my friend's mom is the head of the NAACP. I can call my friend.

His mom would get up. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Don't do that. I said, wait a minute. You said they accused you because you

was black. He said, no, don't call.

Don't call that. I said, I don't understand.

Come to find out, he did. He didn't stole all that money. They started coming

after me because we lived together.

I was right out of college. We lived together. They started coming after me

like, do you have somebody? I had no idea.

Do you have the one thing I did notice one time that we run we like 21 and I

saw a statement a Statement in the house because we live together and he had

like $50,000 in his account and I said, dude.

How you get so much money We're 21 he said oh my grandma passed and she left me in a hair toss.

Oh, okay No, he didn't stole money from that company.

They started coming after me Like, you know police and all that you you know

you have something to do with this I saw I have nothing to do with this and

I had a manager that was saying Devon is honorable He's full of integrity.

I don't think anything I said y'all can research search me I got nothing to

do with that and I know I never got in trouble for anything about it,

but what stood out to me was Your reputation will precede you.

Make sure that if you want to be known as honorable or man or woman of integrity

and character, that you do things right every single time.

I'm not asking you to be perfect. I'm asking you to recognize that this may

be the time that I actually have lost my integrity if I lie about this.

So I got to be honest, even if it's to my heart.

I got to tell the truth Because I want to be known as a person of Integrity

and character And honorable Right?

Say amen to that Put that next verse on the screen there guys Do all that you

can To live in peace with everyone Let's pause there Do all you can,

Do all you can Now you can't do it all But you can do all you can,

To live at peace There are some people that don't like me.

I've done all I could to live at peace. They just don't like me.

That's fine. But I did everything I can to be at peace.

They don't want to be around me. I did everything I can to be at peace.

That's what the scriptures say. Do all you can to live at peace with everyone.

And now let the chips fall where they may. But you can say I did all I can to live at peace.

Say amen to that. Let's look at the next one.

Dear friends, never take revenge.

I'm going to get them back.

They did that to me. I'm going to do that to them. I got to get them.

I got to get them. One of my kids, one of my four kids used to do it all the

time. I mean, if you patted him on the back, he had to pat you on the back, too.

You hit me. I didn't hit you. That's a love tap. No, that's a hit. It's not a hit.

I'm just saying, hey, buddy, I got to hit you on the back. Whoa,

whoa, whoa. I got to get you back. We had to get that out of them.

You don't got to get nobody back. Forgive.

I just said that was easy. But we're talking about a church that the world needs to see.

Forgive. Never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God.

There is a righteous anger that God has.

Glory to God. For the scriptures say, I will take revenge.

I will pay them back, says the Lord.

Glory to God. I said glory to God.

I will take revenge. I will pay them back. You don't, I will.

This is what the Lord says.

You don't have to get anybody back. The Lord will do it.

He'll do it because there's righteous anger that he possesses. Look at verse 20.

Instead, if your enemies are hungry, oh Lord, feed them.

If they're thirsty, give them something to drink.

I'm supposed to treat them right. In doing this, you will heap burning coals

of shame on their head. How many of you have ever done that before?

You really, your enemy's done something and you were good to them.

I've done that. And they come back apologizing.

And even if they don't, that's between them and God. But, you know,

I shouldn't have treated you like that. I shouldn't have said that.

I shouldn't have done that.

Because we were taking the word and putting it into action, and it did.

Burning coals of shame came on their heads. Look at the next verse.

Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Let me say that again. Don't let evil conquer you.

There's a lot happening in our nation right now.

You got the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and there's a lot of anger,

and there's a lot of, I want to get people back, and I'm upset, I'm frustrated.

Or conversely, you got some other things going on where there's a lot of anger.

Dave and I were talking last night, crime is up across the board. Crime is up.

There's a lot of frustration and anger, but the church can't let evil conquer you.

You can't allow it to take root in your heart.

Yes, you're in the world, but you're not of this world.

And you can't allow it to overwhelm you.

The Lord will avenge. The Lord will revenge He said he has righteous anger Not

you Put 21 on the screen again guys One more time,

Don't let evil conquer you But watch this Conquer evil by doing good How do we conquer evil?

Can y'all read? Can y'all read this morning? No, let's keep on.

I just want to make sure everybody can read.

If not, we have a lot of teachers in here that can help us. How do we conquer evil?

By doing good. By doing good. How do we do good?

We go about and we just share the goodness of God.

And we do good and we conquer evil by just doing good.

This is a church that the world needs to see I want to encourage you,

before you go to bed tonight read Romans 12 again just the entire child I've

been in it all week like Lord praying Lord help me,

I want this to be a picture of my life,

I want the world to see I want my brothers and sisters in the body of Christ

to see this church that the world needs to see. Amen? Amen.

You can't do this in and of yourself. You're going to have to do this in and of the Spirit.

By and through the Spirit is how you allow Romans 12.

Number one, you're going to have to surrender to God. Number two,

you're going to have to serve one another.

Number three, you're going to have to show.

That was the verses 9 through 21 was showing the world what a believer looks

like, what the church looks like.

And when you put these together in your heart, I believe that people are going to be affected.

You may be the only Bible some people will ever read.

Think about that. You may be the only Bible that some people will ever read.

Your influence, EJ, your influence is having a greater impact than you even realize.

You, people are watching you. They will never tell you, but they're watching you.

And they're making changes in their life because they're watching you.

I know you think you're invisible, forgotten, forsaken. Nobody cares about you.

Mm-mm. They watching. They watching.

Here's how I know they watch, because if you ever slip up, they'll tell you.

I heard. I saw what you did. Oh, you watching. Okay, you care now,

right? No, they watching.

They're watching you. And now let's be the church. the man and woman of God

that the world needs to see.

This is how you experience true life.