Jesus Meets Us Where We Are | Pr. Julian

You're listening to a message to go from acts church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

Jesus meets us where we are. Jesus meets us where

we are. And I'll start by saying that it's gonna

be a bit heavy, but let's let's let's just let's

just put it out there.

You know, in whatever situations that.

You are in right now, whatever you're going through right now,

we need Jesus.

Right. It can be.

Any situation, whatever you came from this week, we need

Jesus and he is here to meet us.

Right.

So today you could have come into this room with guilt,

you know, for doing something you know to do over

the last week.

Get me whatever right.

Maybe someone took some money from your mom's wallet this yesterday,

or you did something and it feels so guilty. I'm

saying to you today that Jesus meets you where you are.

Today.

If there could be unforgiveness in your life, in your heart,

that could be bitterness.

I'm saying to you, Jesus meets you where you are today.

If you have the weight of a bad report on

your shoulders, it wastes like a ton. Jesus meets you

where you are. You could also be coming off from

a winning week, like it's been great. God's been good

to me. I want to say to you today, Jesus

meets you where you are.

Today.

You could be questioning the genuineness of your faith, like

do I really believe what I believe in God? I'm

saying to you today, Jesus meets you where you are.

You could have been as to come here by someone,

maybe a friend, or you have to follow your parents

because your parents are Christians. I'm saying to you today,

Jesus meets you where you are. Whatever situation you're in today,

Jesus meets you where you are. I'm just thinking about

the prodigal son, you know, the prodigal son. When he

was you know, the prodigal son, right, he took his

share of inheritance, and then he he left and spent

it on himself, spent it on the pleasures of life,

and then realized that actually he wants to go back

to his father's house. And when he's you know, in scripture,

he says when his father, when his father saw him

from a distance, the dad actually ran towards.

Him as well. You know, if I was thinking like

one of my sons did it. I'm like, lock the doors.

Let's let's make him climb the walls to try and

get into the house, or let him pay for all

the this grace he has brought to my family.

But no, the dad actually ran towards.

The prodigal son as he was coming back in a

repentant heart. So today Jesus meets us where we are,

and when he meets us, it transforms our lives. It

transforms our lives. So today we are going to look

into just ten versus. It comes from Luke chapter nineteen

versus one to ten. Luke Chapter nineteen, verses one to ten.

All right, Levi's my partner today and Jacob, so you

guys gotta track along with me.

Okay, all right, we get them a hand. These guys

are awesome.

Goofy, goofy, goofy guy. So we are in family Sunday

and then it's mandatory to have a video. So I

want to show the video up front to give you

a summary of what this story is about. And it's

a story about Zachius Zacchius. Watch this, watch this video

and yes, gotta video ready, Okay, yeah, I played the video.

Stories of the Bible, the Chius this is the keys

say there who was a tax collector and very rich.

Tax collectors were hated because many people thought they were

liars and cheaters. Zakias lived in Jericho, and one day

Jesus was passing through Jericho. What's going on? Sakias wanted

to see who Jesus was.

Excuse me, watch where you're going.

But he was too short to see above the crowd.

Oh that's it.

So he ran ahead to a place where he knew

Jesus would come. He climbed to a sycamore tree so

he could see Jesus. When Jesus came to that place,

he looked up and saw Zakias in the tree.

Oh right, who me?

Yeah?

Are you? He said to him. Zakias, hurry and come down.

I must stay at your house today.

Oh all right.

Zachiaz came down quickly. He was pleased to have Jesus

in his house. All the people saw this and began

to complain a look at the kind of man Jesus

stays with. Zakias is a sinner. But Zakiaz said to Jesus,

I will give half my money to the poor. If

I have cheated anyone, I will pay that person back

four times more. Jesus said, Salvation has come to this

house today. This man truly belongs to the family of Abraham,

the son of Man, came to find lost people and

saved them all. Right.

Thanks.

How many of you know this story Zachias in the Bible,

come on union with Yeah? I think most of you. Okay,

how many people would say you identify with Zachieas means

like I I feel.

Like I'm zach Yus. No, I, oh, Jared, you are

my man? Yeah.

I think most of us here would not maybe not

identify with zach Yas right, or Zachieus because he was

a tax collector and he was rich. You're not rich here.

My son just told me I'm not rich. Yeah. So

this morning I want to make a case for Zachius

because I I think he's one of the I want

to call him a hero in a Bible. But he's

a true story of what it means to have genuine

repentance in our lives and genuine faith in God, and

true understanding of what it means to have Jesus in

our lives. Okay, So there's something we can learn from

him and if you know the rhyme. Zaccheus was a

really little man, and a weally little man was he

He climbed up a sycamore tree to see what he

could see with is the Lord Jesus. So I'm gonna

make a case for Zachieus this morning, and I want

to say that we can learn a lot from him,

and he he may be a text collector, he may

be a cheat. As you're watching the video just now,

a lot of the Jews didn't like tax collectors. In fact,

he was a chief tax collector, right he was rich.

He likely made a lot of his money taking advantage

of other people.

Who's like that in this place? No one, I hope not.

So he had some unscrupulous and bad past in his life.

He was kind of like a villain in the Bible,

like a villain, right, So why most of us like, ah,

we're gonna talk about Zachias.

That's not me. I'm gonna just zone off for a while.

But I'm telling you this morning, just keep your eyes

open and your ears open as we go into this scripture,

because really it's a true story of what repentance looks like. Okay,

And I want to also say that there is a

little bit of Zachias in all of us. So you

might not be someone who like steal money from other people,

or you might not be very rich, or all of

us here, I believe we are comfortable, but we all

have a little bit of zach Years in all of us,

and we all, we all need to come to a

place in our lives daily where we give God more

of ourselves, where we are willing to to Uh. Remember

remember when doctor Jill was here, she said, let God

touch every part of our lives. Right, there's nothing in

our lives that is that is an except to God.

Right.

It can be a holiday, it can be our money,

can be our children, it can be our hobbies or

our career. Every part of our lives should not come

above God and should not come become like an idol.

And and I feel like going through this word today

because you know that's that's a there's.

A move of God.

I feel along the last couple of weeks where we

are going into a time where I feel like his revival.

Jason spoke about persecution last Sunday. If you weren't here,

persecution is when we stand up for our faith. And

you know, despite of what standing out of our faith

can mean, which could mean hurt, or it could mean

being obedient even though it's not profitable to us, or

it can cause us harm. We still stand up for

our faith, and if we continue to do that, and

we have a true heart of repentance, then I believe

we're going to see God moving and moving now.

It needs more and more. Okay, So.

I'm the first person to say today that I probably

have a bit of zach years in me, and that's

why God has been saying to me, Okay, there are

parts of my life that I still need to repent off.

There are parts of my life where I still need

to come back to him. And He is not God

of everything yet, right some nine says, search me and

know my heart, Test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Point out in me anything that offends you.

So even the saumis can say that, right like, there

are still things in our lives where we still need

to be continuously and daily be repentant of and lead

me along the path everlasting. So we're gonna go through

Luke chapter nineteen, just verse five, verse today, and we've

really got a summary of what that story is like.

If you haven't heard that story before. And let's turn

to the first Oh, he's there. Good's turn to the

first verse. If you have a bible, he can turn there.

It's also on a screen. Luke, chapter nineteen, verses one,

to tell me take the tree of all versus first.

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jerich. Now, behold, there

was a man named Zachius. He was a wee little man.

A wee little man was he, who was a chief

tax collector, and he was rich, and he sought to

see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd,

for he was of short stature.

Anyone that's short in this place market on short? Oh man,

not short? Okay, he's of short statue.

So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore

tree to see him, which is Jesus, for he was

going to pass that way. So my first point this morning,

my first point this morning is this, And all the

points come the letter T. So back to alphabets again.

The first point is tree, yep, tree, and the question

is what are you climbing up? The first point is tree.

So let me explain a little bit and give a

bit of context. Zach Yas in this story, climbed up

a tree because he wanted to see Jesus.

And my thinking is.

All his past couple of years, maybe as an adult

or even younger, what kind of trees has been has

he been climbing up in his life? What kind of

trees has he been climbing up? So to give a

bit of contexts, he was a tax collector, and not

only a tax collector, but a chief tax collector. Right, So,

just for our understanding, the Jews hated men like him.

The Jews hated tax collectors. So in our current content

tax if you're an adult, I think most of us

pay tax, I hope, unless you're fully retired or on pension.

So that's the IRB right or lhdn. So we pay

text to them. So we don't really see who that

person is like. But back in the day, how they

collected tax is a person would go and collect money

from each person that is due to pay tax, right.

But they not only collect the amount of tax, but

often they will do something called.

Tax farming.

Tax farming, the collector would make his profit on whatever

extra he could get away with charging the victims. So

tax collectors were often very rich, not because they called

the text for the government, but because they would try

and collect more than what is required. And therefore all

the Jews that they will be like, man, these guys

are cheatings. These guys want to take my money and

steal my money.

Right. So not only that he was a tax collector,

but he was also rich. Right.

So it shows to me that you know, the earlier

parts of Zachiah's life, he pursued riches and power. So

he was probably climbing the tree of his career ladder,

and to him that means cheating people and getting more

money and trying to get more taxes.

Right, he was probably climbing the tree.

Of wealth, power and control, the tree of career growth.

And I can imagine that that is what he pursued

in his life when he was younger, before he repented.

So my first poet is this, what trees are we

climbing up today? What drives us? What are we passionate about?

What causes us to.

Wake up in the morning.

And I'm I'm excited for what trees are we climbing

up today? I've been asking myself these real questions. Do

I really run after the things of God? Do I

pursue what Jesus wants? Is my desires aligned with what

Jesus desires? Are my intentions pure? Is my faith genuine?

Will I be obedient to all he asked me to do?

Can God touch every part of my life? Or do

I have accepts? Which tree am I climbing up today?

Which tree am I climbing up today? Because the final

tree he climbed, the final tree that Zachias climbed before

he repented, was a sycamore tree, and why he climbed

that tree was to see Jesus. His intention, his heart

was to see Jesus that day, and that was a

point that turns his life around because the only one

thing that can truly fulfill us in this life is

a relationship with Jesus and obedience to him. So that's

my first point. What trees are we climbing up today?

What are we passionate about? What are we driving towards?

And it should be aligned with what God wants for

our lives?

Amen?

Matthew six twenty four. No one can serve two masters.

Either you will hate the one and love the other,

or you will be devoted to the one and despise

the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Our God.

Is God, and our God is not anything else right,

Not our career, not our families, not even our spouses.

Our God is God, and that is what we should

be pursuing with all our hearts. That's the point number one.

So point number one is.

Three.

What tree are you climbing up today?

Okay, let's go to verse three to six. Luke, Chapter nineteen,

Verse three and he sought to see who Jesus was,

because he was a really little man, but could not

because of the crowd, and he was shot in stature.

So he ran ahead and climb up into a sycamore tree.

We know that already to see him, for he was

going to pass that way verse five. And when Jesus

came to the place, he looked up and saw him.

He wanted to see Jesus, and Jesus saw him so

good and say to him, zach Is, make haste and

come down, for today I must stay at your house.

So he made haste and came down and received him worryfully.

My first point is what are you climbing up? My

second point is this. The second tea is tenacity. Tenacity.

What is hindering your encounter. Children, You guys know what

tenacity is. No, let me explain to you what tennacity is.

Tenacity is being very determined in something, being very determined

in something. It's almost like sometimes with Jaden, right, Jenen's

my younger son. Jena's right here. So kids, you know

you know how when you like try and take a

toy out of toddleer's hand, like your younger brother, and

they have the tenacity to just gripp to it as

fright as possible, doesn't matter whether you're going on a

boat or you're going on an aeroplane, or a doubt

that's thirty years older than you and much stronger than you,

try to pry that thing out of your hand. You

have the tenacity to hold on to it, hold on

to whatever it may be, despite what happens. That is tenacity, right, determination, perseverance,

that is tenacity. You know it's not easy to climb

a tree, right. I don't know if any of you

try climbing a tree before? Yes, how tall was the tree?

Jet taller than you? Okay, so jet to climb it

was easy Jet to climb a tree, Okay for jets easy,

it's not easy to climb a tree, okay, and it

takes a lot of effort, right, And what's more, that

gives was shot. So like the Allah, he's already disadvantage

in his physicalness. The odds were stacked against him, other

people ridiculed him. So this morning, I want to ask,

what are your obstacles with pursuing God?

Okay?

Because it's not always going to be very straightforward. And

just because there are things going against your pursuit of

doing the work of God or acting out in faith,

it doesn't mean that it's time to give up.

Right.

So let's take for example today or this week. God,

I want to I want to wake up every morning

to read my Bible and pray right, and I just

want to seek you. I want to see your face.

I'm so determined to do that. And then on Monday

you wake up like great seven am, the alarm rings

and you spend a great time we got And then

on Monday night you happen to sleep really late because

you're not for pickleball or something right.

And it can wake up in the morning alarm rings

an obstacle. What do you do?

It's like, oh, let my body tell me what to

do and just go back to bit. There will be

obstacles when we try and pursue a true heart of repentance,

but we need to have the tenacity to keep on going,

to be determined to keep on going.

You know, I was thinking about this.

Why did Jesus only point out and see zach Yeas

when there was so many people You watched the video

of there, right, it's like tons of people everywhere. He's

trying to get the attention of Jesus. All of them

are trying to get attention of Jesus. Jesus with the

center of that that sort of like commotion, right, But

Jesus only saw Zachias. Why is that out of all

the people that were surrounding Jesus that they're the only

person that caught the attention of Jesus was Zachius. And

it was because of his faith, his faith, his religion,

tenacious faith that caught the attention of Jesus. You know,

the lady with the issue of blood, very similar story.

Jesus was in the midst of a crowded area, everyone

surrounding him, and there was this lady who had the

issue of blood. She had a sickness that she carried

with her for so many years that no one could

help her with right and she was tenacious, she was persistent,

She was determined to touch Jesus, and she managed to

push through the crowd and touch the ham of Jesus's garment,

and the moment that happened, it was her faith that

caused her to be well. So this morning, we need

to first see and check our hearts. Are we really

pursuing what God wants us to do? And when we're

on the pursuit of that pursuit of repentance, we need

to remember that we need to be tenacious and determine

because there will be moments in our journey in aligning

our hearts with God that things may become difficult, and

we should persevere. A sign of genuine faith in Jesus

is our diligence in seeking him. So Zachias didn't let anything,

his weakness, his shortcomings, the crowd, the situation. He didn't

let any of this be blockers and obstacles for him

going to Jesus and meeting Jesus. And that's why Jesus

met him, That's why Jesus saw him. He Gros eleven six,

but without faith it is impossible to please God without faith.

It is impossible to please God.

He goes, want to say, for he who comes to

God must believe that He is, and that He is

a rewarder of those who diligiently seek him. God is

a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So Number one,

what trees are we coming up today?

Number two?

Do we have the tenacity and determination to keep pursuing

the things of God?

Let's go on, Luke chapter nineteen verse eight. Yeah.

Next, Luke chapter nineteen verse eight, when Zachi has stood

up and said to the Lord. Look, Lord, I give

half of my goods to the poor. And if I

have taken anything from anyone by false accus usation, I

restore for four. So the fourth point is this true repentance,

true repentance. We have a part to play in our repentance.

You know, in in today's in today's culture and today's

like society, we expect everything to be done for us.

We expect, you know, I want food, I just go

into my app I ask grab to send me food

and I just sit on my on my couch and

the food comes.

Right.

If I if I want something to be done. We

can just ask someone to do it right. But in

repentance we have a part to play. Yes, Jesus paid

the price for us on the cross. He saved us,

He gave us salvation. We are not saved by good works,

but we have a part to play after that to

walk in the ways of God and be truly repentant.

So we're not just to sit back and expect our

lives to change for the better. There is action on

our end if we truly want to repent. In Luke

chapter eighteen, there was another story which was told, and

it was the story about the rich young ruler. So

the rich young ruler also wanted God, wanted God's kingdom

to come in his life, but he had a very

different ending because he wasn't willing to give up his riches. Remember,

and in Luke chapter nineteen we see that this person,

a text collector, was willing to then put action to

his repentance and that led him along the right path.

So if you really want to see God, if you

really want to walk in his path, we need to

put action to true repentance. How many of you can

guess what Zaccheus name's name means? What does Zacchius means repentance,

Not really, but thanks for answering that.

Leoi.

Zacheus. Right, Yeah, that's why I wanna. I wanna, like,

I want to vouch for Zakias Zacchius. His name actually

means pure one, the pure, a pure person. Zaccius means

a pure, pure one, Okay, means he's pure, he doesn't

do anything wrong, he's right with God, right, and it's

so it's so funny because he's like anything but pure. Right,

we rescripture that he cheated people, and and uh, you know,

his past life before repenting was very opposite of puolah.

But this was the moment where he actually lives out

to his name. So you have another kid, you can

name your kid zach yis. Yeah. And remember Matt chapter five,

he read who shall see God, blessed at the pure

in heart, for they will see God.

So it all comes together. His name is pure one.

He wants to see Jesus that morning, and Matt five

says blessed at the pure in heart. So he must

have had a repentant heart, a change heart that is

cleansed and purified by God to be able to see

God that morning. Right, So when we are truly repentant,

cleansed by the blood of Jesus, pure in heart and intention,

we shall see God. True repentance causes us to see Jesus.

And that's the third point. So number one, what trees

are you climbing up? Number two, we need the tenacity

to pursue the things of God. Number three, then we

need true repentance, and it causes us to see God.

And then we go to number four, which comes from Luke,

chapter nineteen, verse nine. And Jesus said to him. Jesus

said to him, today today's salvation.

You go to the next lie.

Today salvation has come to his house because he also

is a son of Abraham. For the son of Man

has come to sick and safe that which was lost.

Again I read and Jesus said to him, today salvation

has come to his house because he also is the

son of Abraham. For the son of Man has come

to sick and safe that rich was lost. So that's

my last tea today today. And I want to declare

this morning and exclaim that today's salvation has come to

this house. Today's salvation has come to our families. Today's

salvation has come to our lives. Today's salvation is with us,

that we are living in the fullness of His goodness.

You know, do you believe that that? Do you believe

that things can that things can change in a moment

of encounter with God. Just like Zach years that one

moment of encounter with Jesus that very day when he

climbed that tree, completely change the trajectory of his life,

completely change who he was. He went on to say,

he will he will pay back whoever he has cheated

four times more. He will give half of his money

to the poor. He was completely changed, the trajectory of

his life completely changed in one moment. And I really

believe that for us today, like today, in this moment,

what God is doing in ex clang and all of

us are part of this, of this movement of God,

It's possible to receive salvation.

It's possible to receive salvation.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit as Church Org. We

are also active on Facebook and in the Graham. We're

believing that this week is going to be a good week,

a hit for you. God bless