Leftovers - Romans 8:31-37

Happy Monday. Welcome back into the ERC

Leftovers Take 3. Take 3.

Here we go again. Took us a little time to get off

the ground this morning. That's fine.

We're here. Pastor Matt's here.

And I get to say my name for a weird time for the third time

and. Chris.

Thank you because I just, I won't give it up.

Even if we have to record this six times, I'm doing it every

time. Thank you.

You're welcome. Because clearly the people are

calling for it. Clearly.

I mean, I've seen signs in yards like Pastor Chris, keep saying

your name weird, like people. I don't know, it's a thing.

People are clearly calling for it.

Spurring you on. They want it.

I don't know why. Who are these people?

I can't name them. That's a confidentiality issue.

You know, pastors keep confidence, so I'm going to do

that. I'm not going to name them, OK.

Great, but you're just going to keep saying your name?

Weird. I guess so.

As long as you acknowledge that it's weird.

Yeah, that's the first step, but that's the first step.

Great. Oh my goodness.

OK, ERC leftovers. Yeah, what do we got?

So this morning we have, we're going to try a new segment now

we're going to try our own spin on Change My Mind.

I have a topic for us and we're willing to hear your topic

submissions as well. I have a deeply seated opinion

about something that is ultimately trivial.

But I again, we'll plant my flag in there and change my mind.

You don't have to change my mind.

Maybe you'll agree with me. We'll see.

But we could have a funny discussion about it.

And someday we'll get to some deeply seated things that you

hold as well. Not like fringe.

We won't go like that deep. The fringe goes too hard for me.

I can't. It's like PTSD at this point.

I can't do it. Yeah.

So we've got that on tap. We're going to work through my

sermon from yesterday, Romans 831 through 37, and just

feedback from you, some things that I had to leave out or

didn't touch on as much you brought up earlier.

This is weird. It's like, Oh my gosh, first

time in a long time that is just the two of us.

Well, yeah, so over the past what, like 3 weeks, we've had

multiple other guests on the show and that's been actually

that was really fun because we did like 50 episodes of just you

and I and. Finally brought Kristen in

Brought. Kristen in that was great,

brought Diamond that was great and now it's just.

Weird. Yeah, it feels a little lonely

in here. I know.

A little bit, I know. That's right.

We're going to we're going to make it through, but I'm going

to go. Extra hard.

Yes. So much, I mean, it's just all

the enthusiasm is going to hit today because we're just, we're

just going to go. I don't think they're ready for

that. I don't think they're ready for

that in their ear holes. So you've been warned, Pastor.

Chris. Going hard today, Speaking of

that and and Dom too. I don't know what it was, man.

And it's just the the vanity of our personhood, I guess.

Like I actually felt I felt more nervous, like more pressure for

this week then I had then I can remember feeling in like a long

time actually, maybe maybe since like I preached the first Sunday

after Brandon left. And like that was again, doesn't

have to be the biggest deal in the world, but it was also like,

OK, this is the start of this next thing this this next

season. So it was a little like, I don't

know, I don't know how this is going to go and I want to make

sure it's good because this is how it's going to going to be.

Dom just Dom preached so well, like it was, yeah, it was almost

like a self. And I say that in an air of

surprise. I'm not actually surprised that

that he preached really well. I'm glad he did.

I'm, I'm proud of him that he that he did.

But it was like, I haven't preached in five weeks and Chris

has preached twice. And this guy who's still a

student has preached twice. Well, where's Matt?

Like where does Matt fall in? You know what in the handling of

God's word. So like I was amped up going

hard. Like I was amped up for this

week. I was more, I feel like even

more focused than usual. Like this is not going to be

terrible because that's what that's what we go for.

We try to we aim for not terrible, not terrible is the

goal. So.

You know what? But you're right.

Like you can't have a rookie come in and just like mop the

floor with you. Like this would not stand

anywhere. And Dom, Dom did do a very good

job. And it's like, I can't have this

rookie showing me up. You can't do it.

It felt like that a little bit and it was just a weird, it was

a weird feeling in my prep because I don't usually, I don't

usually consider that and. I well, no, no, I mean, it's not

a competition. But then again, when Dom came

in, it was like, dude, all right, here we go.

Yeah, so he did really, which is also actually really fun to have

one kind of more one more arrow in the quiver, as it were, of

just like keeping each of us sharp in that to like, OK, no,

but he's he's not dropping the ball either.

I I need to make sure that we're staying vigilant and rightly

handling the word of truth and all those all those things.

Even more so because he also did it really well.

So anyway, that was just. That's preacher talk.

It's preacher talk behind behind the curtain of how that came

out. So yeah, for right now before we

dive into the passage where in Romans 831 through 37 this week,

change my mind. An air fryer is just a miniature

oven. Change my mind.

It's magic how dumb it is. It is a magical gift from God

that turns fries crispy and tasty and fish instead of lame

and soggy. It's crispy like you put it in a

fryer. It's a beautiful invention.

Don't you dare, Matt Schweitzer. But it does the same things that

an oven does. Not as well.

It's. Just in a smaller, more

concentrated space. But the concentration is the key

to the awesomeness. Right, but it's still just a

miniature oven. Well, but it's, but it's great.

I I mean, OK, and here's the thing.

I I've actually gotten used to like the noise of an air fryer

and like the beeps. Well, and I think like the, it's

like the Pavlov's thing. Yeah.

So I think like what has happened is I hear the air fryer

now and like I start salivating like it's it's become a thing

for dog. Yes, well, yes, OK, there we

are. So therefore, even if nothing

else, your your oven is pretty much silent, but the air fryer

just gives us whoosh of awesomeness is coming your way.

And so therefore. Fuels your anticipation.

Yes, I am hungry just thinking about it.

And now I'm going to go home and I'm going to air fry something.

I don't know what that's going to be.

I'm going to air fry something and it will be glorious and

crispy and tasty. And so yeah, here we go with

that. Dude, come on.

How are you going to deny that the countertop mini oven AKA the

air fryer is not just the best invention and like.

OK. And sorry, I'm I maybe said this

the wrong way. I like, I like the air fryer

like I would prefer to use the air fryer, but it's not this

like revolutionary technology. We just miniaturized the oven,

it's all it is and put it on the countertop I love.

I use my air fryer everyday multiple times a day.

Try not to use my oven, I really do.

Sorry if that came out. I'm not hating on the air fryer,

I'm just saying it's a miniature oven.

Yeah, but the whooshy sound in the the movement of.

Air if you, So we have a convection oven, which I guess

it's more accurately it's a miniature convection oven is

what the air fryer is because if you turn the convection on and

that's the the whooshy, it's called a fan makes that whooshy

sound that circulates the air in your oven, essentially creating

the the air fry effect. OK.

Again, not a scientist, but. Let's let's hear something from

Britannica. Oh, great.

A very great source. Convection is a process of heat

transfer by the movement of fluids, liquids or gases.

It occurs when a heated fluid expands, becomes less dense and

rises while cooler fluids descend, creating a circulation

pattern. Oh.

That's what happens in a convection.

Island there is a fan. That circulates the gas being

air. But yeah, so anyway, yeah, I

don't know why I have that. We, I've had discussions with

people that just, they think they have air fryer for things

and oven for things and I just, I think you can do it all in

the, in the air fryer. And it sounds like could we then

make a really large air fryer? It's an oven, that's what I'm

saying. That's it already exists.

The giant air fryer is the oven that's in your kitchen.

OK, so then I'm now going to start calling the oven the

giant. The giant air fryer.

Liz, we're not using the air fryer.

We're going to use the giant air fryer tonight because I'm doing

like 30 nugs and I want them all hot at the same time.

Air fryer man. Do they make?

Well, they do make. Bigger fries their ovens.

Do they make their ovens? Yeah.

Oh, I just, I meant a bigger actual air like we have.

What are you rocking right now for the air fryer?

Just like this single, I don't know, it's I I can probably put

like like 10 nugs in it. What?

Yeah, it's, it's not super big. OK.

As because we're, I mean, five kids and everything, but I think

we have, we have a dual 10 cord basket air fryer.

This thing is a monster. Like each, each basket is 10.

I could probably put 30 nugs in each basket that I have.

Dude, yeah. I have a new goal.

Oh no. To make 60 nugs at once air.

Fryer basket of nugs all by yourself.

Yeah, I mean this. This feels like the way to go.

It feels like the next great purpose of my life.

You just got to find a. You haven't found a big enough

air fryer basket to challenge you, is what you're saying?

I think so, yeah. OK, Well, I need to go shopping.

Lissa put it on the list. We got to go shopping.

I need something where I can eat 30 to 60 nugs at a time.

Just got a new that that could be the podcast for next week.

It could be or the segment. It could be Life goals with

Pastor Chris. Absolutely, and we just named a

really important one today. Now I did once have a life goal

of eating 10,000 calories in one day.

That happened and I felt gross and I didn't even finish till

like 1157 that night. And I was like spreading peanut

butter on an apple pie like a Hostess apple pie just to get

the final callos to hit the 10K goal.

And then I gained like 5 lbs that day and I was like dude

this that was a lot. So, you know, maybe the 16 nugs

is a bad idea. Yes, I mean I think each nugget

at least the Nuggets that each nugget I get is 50 calories.

So you're that's 3001 sitting. But I like sauces too, so, And I

go hard on the sauce. Oh my goodness.

Just like I'm going hard on this podcast.

So therefore I would probably use it like an entire bottle of

like the Chick-fil-A sauce. Oh my God, an entire bottle.

Oh yeah dude, every nugget has to be like coated.

That's probably like another 2000 calories just in sauce.

Oh my goodness, I'll make a fundraiser out of it.

This is why, friends, I am going to meet Jesus before Matt does.

Oh my. God, This is why?

Because I am irresponsible. Lord help me.

Your picture of heaven is just a giant air fryer chicken Nuggets

in the lake next to a lake of Chick-fil-A sauce.

I'm definitely going to that beach with a shirt on though,

because by the time I'm done with those Nuggets, I'm like, oh

dude, I I can't take my shirt off now.

It's too much. It's too much and rocking the

dead bod too hard. Oh my goodness.

See how we've fallen off so well?

Already no one is listening anymore.

We gave it up, but we understand.

I understand if you're not listening anymore, it's fine.

It's fair. There's better things for you to

listen to in your life. What are we doing?

Should we? Should we talk about the Bible?

Only God's Word can save us from this.

Yes, there's. That's it.

There's no way. You see, but that's the thing

when I, when I said I was going to go hard today because it's

just you and me, I, I decided like, I committed, OK.

And when I commit like it's going to happen.

All in. So.

But we do need the Lord's Word to save us now.

So appreciate it. All right, we're going to read

through Romans 8, 31 through 37, and then we'll dive into some

some leftovers. What then shall we say in

response to these things? If God is for us, who can be

against us? He who did not spare his own

Son, but gave him up for us all, Will He not also, along with

him, graciously give us all things?

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has

chosen? It is God who justifies.

Who then is the one who condemns?

No one. Jesus Christ who died, who more

than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is

also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the

love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship, or

persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword,

as it is written for your sake? We face death all day long.

We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

Knowing all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him

who loved us. Amen.

Wow, by the way, that that text, I feel like I could and I, I

could just read that every day as like this, like, OK, I need

to be reminded. And I actually, I, I, so those

of you who don't know because you weren't probably standing

right there, I came up to Matt at the first service and I was

like, that was just like a 25 minute gospel bomb.

Like that was just fantastic to be reminded of all those things.

And so I, I love this text. Yeah.

It's, it's very rich. There's a lot of a lot of ways

to go and it's all but it's also connected to all the things,

which is why I felt like I needed to go back in the

service. I went back and read the

preceding 3 verses and I even I try not to take too much of the

punch line from what you have next week.

But like I, I dipped our toes into the conquerors more than

conquerors language. I try not to leave with like

that is the, that is the thing. We'll lean on that heavily for

Easter next week. But I, I was really just

captured with this courtroom visual and I brought it up at

our Bible study on Thursday too. And obviously I, I talked about

my cousin Vinny, but we, I, I had just never thought about it

that way before that we often picture God as the judge, but

even in a courtroom, like, even if you're innocent, you're not

like buddy buddy with that judge after the trial.

You're not best friends. Like you're not you're not part

of his family. And that's where the God is the

judge. God is the judge.

But like put him in a courtroom setting.

That's where that kind of breaks down.

It's he's for you as the judge. You are going out for wings with

the judge afterward, like after the trial is over and he did

have his son come and take your place on the accusers stand like

in that thing. And you wanted that because now

you're adopted into his family. Like that's, I don't know.

I had never really thought about it like in our human courtroom

terms. So I was, I was a little

captured by that idea. I do think that my cousin Vinny,

I started out kind of beating us up over our sin.

But I do in our categorization of, of sin and the legal system

and of it, like obviously everything is we have different

punishments for different levels of sin.

We, we do put different ranges and severities on different sins

because that's what makes sense for our penal system.

But by the Bible, by the word like that shoplifting is the

same as the killing in by sin, the wages of all sin.

There's not, it's not a flow chart because it's not up in

heaven with like it's just sin. It's just sin and it results and

it results in death. But I think we have that

attitude a little bit of, oh, it's just, it's just shoplifting

a can of tuna. I can handle that sin.

I, I, I know it's wrong. It's not going to corrupt me.

It's not, it's not going to sink its teeth into my life.

It's not going to mess me up that bad.

I can handle it. It's not murder.

So like, I can, I can handle it. And then we find out that the

penalty is the penalty is death for all the things.

And it's like, oh, no, I, I can't, I can't actually wait a

minute. I don't want to be on the hook

for this. Well, in the another deeper

layer to all of this that Jesus gets to in the sermon on the

Mount is the fact that even our thought life makes us guilty.

You know, So even if you never say a word, you know, you never

whistle the cat call thing that you know, whatever.

Gosh, if you look at a woman with lust, you've already

committed adultery with her in your heart.

And so I mean, like that's that is taking the law to such an

extent that the Jewish people of his time did not fully

appreciate before he said those things.

It's like, well, as long as I'm doing all the things right on

the outside, I guess my thought life is my own and that's

private. And so, but Jesus exposes the

thought life even to say man. So that's why we talk about

thoughts, words, actions, you know, those things.

It's kind of the trifecta of like, how then might we be

judged? Well, it comes all the way down

to the position of our hearts and our thoughts.

And God knows it all. And so I mean, like, that's I, I

was, I was, you know, that's just good law, gospel preaching,

to be honest, you know, to bring us forward and say, Hey, here's

where we are, but here's what Jesus has done for us.

And and this is how we know it. I just thought that was just

good log gospel preaching. So that that was great.

Cool. I'm glad, glad that came across.

Anything else that kind of struck you or your questions or

you wanted to like double check me on?

No, like I said, it was like a 25 minute gospel bomb.

So it was great, especially going into Easter next week and

stuff. And The thing is like you look

at like 832 he who did not, not my computer.

To spare his own son. Yeah, I'm sorry.

Spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.

OK, that statement alone. Do you need much more than that

to to recognize like how God has loved us at an infinite cost to

himself and then how will he not also with him graciously give us

all things? And so I mean that that whole

that whole verse. I mean that in itself is enough

to to draw us into a relationship with God and say

wow I can't believe this is how he treats me.

After my thoughts, words, deeds. I can't believe this is how I'm

treated. Yeah, or even that sometimes we

doubt. I think, I think part of it is

doubting the depth of, of the of the covering of his grace.

And I, I didn't use this, I didn't use this analogy, but I

came across it in my in my study this week of it's like, it's

like the neighbor who just. You borrowed, you borrowed their

car yesterday and then today you need to go over there to borrow

like a shovel. And you and you send your kid

over there to ask to ask him for a shovel.

And he's like, well, is he really going to give us the

shovel? And it's like, yeah, he, he gave

us his car yesterday. Like a shovel is way less than a

car. Of course he's going to give us

the shovel. So like that's the son's

already, he's already given you the greatest thing that he

absolutely can. All of this other stuff is way

less significant, way less impactful than the death that he

died, than the than the price that he paid, than the

resurrection that was of course you can handle it.

Of course, of course you will not also graciously freely give

us all things. So that's just that's kind of

another fighting the unbelief sort of thing.

Like, yeah, he's already gone to the reaches that he could.

It's we, we shouldn't doubt in his lack of sufficiency.

Well, I there was once a Tim Keller once said, do you ever

doubt your doubts? Do you do that?

Because when when I start doubting the grace of God

because I feel isolated and I feel like man, nobody else would

have failed God this badly and all these kind of things.

It's time for us to start doubting our doubts.

And that's, that's a powerful option for us that I don't think

we exercise nearly enough is when Satan gets his, his little

paws on us and he starts trying to infiltrate and like, Are you

sure? Are you sure?

But what about, but what about and he reminds you of all of

your sin because he's both first, he's the tempter and then

second, he's the accuser. He plays both sides of the

field. And and so when he's on that

other side of the field, we need to start doubting our doubts.

And that's a powerful tool that we need to activate often.

And and so even in all of those things, Paul goes through this

list of that shall tribulation or distress or persecution or

famine or nakedness or peril or sword, shall any of those things

separate us from the love of Christ?

It's an exhaustive list. It's all the things and even

even sword at the end implying implying death, implying

execution, implying not just not just like war and conflict, but

facing certain death. What shall separate us from from

the love of Christ? Paul hadn't yet personally

experienced that, but at this point he's he's probably

planning on that being the way that his life ends.

As terrible as that sounds like he he's expecting to meet the

ultimate severity of of persecution of that.

And he still is unflinching in in the face of all these things.

He certainly has endured specific things on the rest of

this list as well. And he's almost writing it as an

an encouragement of as as I have.

So you too can can endure these things.

We are more than conquerors amidst all of this.

Yep. And one of the things that you

can look at this list in Romans 835, you can look at the list so

that you've got tribulation. So you've got the normal

troubles of life. OK, you have distress.

So we're talking about anxiety and we're talking about fear and

we're talking about our own doubts and all those things.

We have persecution. So now we're talking about

outside forces that might try and harm us because of our

faith. Now you're talking about famine.

So now we're talking about the physical nature of suffering

nakedness. So now we're talking about where

the resources coming from and then, you know, dangerous sword

that we're talking about violence.

So I mean, he is covering every potential area of life that

could be harmed by either man or by a broken world or by Satan

himself. He's covering them all.

And none of them hold water, not compared to the grace of God.

None of them can do it. None of them can stop God from

His mission, which again in past tense, He is already finished.

Yeah, Amen. Yeah, where I didn't go this

week. I I think we had talked about a

parallel text and illustration being the prodigal son with with

some of these verses and in in the way that God is for us who

can stand against us there. There's plenty in the parable of

the prodigal son, the the father being God and the source of all

things, the father being the one even when I mean the the son who

asked the father for his inheritance is basically saying

you're dead to me. I I want I want all the things

that I would get after you die. I want them now.

And so he's he's ignoring the plenty, the blessing of his life

now already deciding I don't I don't need your way.

I'm going to go out in the world.

I'm going to find my way. I'm going to I'm going to do

that. And even as he endures all of

this list because he other than sword again, that son endured

pretty much all of the things he didn't find fulfillment and he

he was drawn back to the father right at at at some point it

clicked. Maybe not No, I mean, I've

sinned against heaven and against you like he did.

He did have repentance moments of I can't handle this.

I I I I screwed up and now I'm feel again because of

consequence. He was he was feeling the weight

of his consequence. I'm not what whatever that was,

it drove it drove him from his sin.

But then the father if they if they were in a community where

where it wasn't just like there would have there would have been

other elders. There would have been other

statesman that would have would have condemned the son returning

to their to their community. And that's why the father, which

it was also a very undignified thing.

He ran out of of their compound of their community to meet the

son. That wasn't just joy, that was

also like active protection. That that that would he he ran

out to him, covered him in his quite literally his coat.

Oh, and not and again, not just to clothe him, but but as a sign

of he is covered by me, the I I am for him.

I am on his this one. He hasn't wronged any of the

rest of you. He's wronged me right like and

and so it's the father as the as the advocate there for the

younger son, close him with his with his coat, gives him gives

him his ring, gives him his sandals all all of and throws A

feast rejoices for the one that has come back.

If that father in in that parable isn't isn't condemning

the son, it's it's the same as this passage.

Who now can condemn, right? Well, and you look at that's by

the way you do you explain that beautifully and wonderful.

But even Jesus pulls this into a very real life moment and it's

the only gospel that's recorded in.

But when Jesus saves the woman caught in adultery, who?

Now you know all the people go away and stuff because Jesus

really handles them. Who?

Who now who you who have sinned, cast you who have never sinned,

and cast the first stone, and they all scattered.

And he says. Yep, yeah, Who's there?

Who is left to condemn you? There's no one and he and he

says he looks at her knowing what it's going to cost him to

say this, but then neither do I. He doesn't condemn her either,

even though by the standard of the law of that moment, she and

her lover should have been killed, both of them.

And Jesus knew when he said neither do I condemn you.

He knew what that was going to cost him to say it and he said

it anyway. Those are big and heavy words.

And so we need to remember that in sometimes isolation, you

talked about that and I thought excellent, we become isolated

and we become shameful and we become all these things in our

sin and we want to hide. We need to hear Jesus's words to

that woman and the Father's words to the prodigal son and

Paul's words right here. You are not condemned.

You are a beloved child of God. And I've paid for all of it.

Yeah. And I think this, this prodigal

son story does really parallel and line up really well.

But I was already, I was already on that 2530 minute mark and it

would have been another 10 at least for me to go into one

more, yeah, one more illustration.

But a further way that I also think it really lines up is, is

with the older son, with with the other son.

And I in the way that I had kind of said, Jesus isn't just

punching your ticket to heaven. I like I, I like that a lot.

By the way, I caught that. That was really good.

That's that's how the older son was living his life in response

to the the father, like I've done everything you've ever said

ever. The father tells him everything

I have is yours. And from the father's

perspective, he's like you're, you're doing it.

You're doing all the things you're living in the way I would

have you go. You have all my blessing.

My, my abundance of of perfection and glory is yours.

But that son is living in a way where he's it, it's just a rite

of pass. It's it's just a punch in the

ticket to heaven. He missed Jesus like he also in

that moment, his father is dead to him, right?

He just wants the things he just want.

He just wants the paradise. He wants the heaven without the

Jesus, right? He's missed the point.

He's just going about it in a way that the rest of society

looks at and goes, oh, good job. I mean, you know, society looks

at the little brother and says, what a scoundrel.

And they look at the big. Brother, you didn't do that.

Good job. You didn't act like that.

Like that rapscallion? You know, he was a really good

person, all these kinds of things.

And it's unfortunate, but God has blessed us with Jesus's

telling of that story because we need to hear those things all

the time because we, we tend not to stay very well in the middle.

The pendulum swings too far one way or the other.

So you said it today, it was really good yesterday.

You know, should we, should we send more so that the grace pile

can get bigger? By no means it's great, it's

great moment in Romans 8, but I mean like I just I look at all

that and and we tend to swing too far the other like.

So think about it. If you're if you're struggling

with like a diet, well, gosh, I already blew my day, so I might

as well eat whatever I want. So I go away to the prodigal sun

side or no, I've maintained this diet to perfection and so

therefore I am owed this body weight or this image or

whatever. And it's like you've gone too

far both ways, and that's not grace.

Neither side is Grace. No.

And I closed a little bit with because I think a lot of this, a

lot of this fear, even all these things that that Paul lists off.

They aren't actually the thing they're they're a symptom or or

maybe they cause unbelief is is really what it is.

They're the the tribulation, the distress.

Even the death isn't the problem.

It shouldn't be a like to live is Christ to die is gay.

Death isn't a bad thing in in that line of thinking, right.

Like as as crazy as that sounds, it's it's, it's the unbelief

when those things, those burdens, those adversities,

those same problem when they become the thing, when they

replace the creator as what defines our hope as what

crumbles our faith, then it's really the the sin of unbelief.

We unfix our eyes on Jesus, right?

And that's the the passage of the father with the the demon

possessed son in, in Mark 9. I do believe help my unbelief.

Just I feel like that's almost the daily tension that we live

in. I, I do, I believe all these

things. I need to be reminded every

waking moment of how, because you can you remember?

I can remember very specific moments, just completely,

utterly all out, all right. Can it like it?

It's the spiritual high feeling, kind of like the camp high or or

or whatever of like, there is absolutely nothing else,

nowhere. I'd rather be like so connected

to Jesus in this moment, right? We don't always feel like that

though, right? Like we don't just have the

constant Jesus IV drip going if you're.

A pastor? Aren't you supposed to feel that

way all the time? Sounds weird saying that even

even even as a pastor, but so that's, yeah, that's where I

ended on the battle, the battle of unbelief this this week

because yeah, I've had, I don't know, a lot of the times I think

we're preaching to ourselves too.

And, and, and my, yeah, my weakest moments, I feel like are

the times that I, that I doubt that I, that I fight against

unbelief and and discouragement. So anyway, that's, I hope it

landed with a lot of you. Well, I didn't intend to beat up

the sin. I just, I do, I, I mean, I still

feel absolutely fine that I do think we think we hate the

consequences a lot more than we hate the actual sin.

There weren't consequences. We'd probably be just fine

sinning. I suspect so.

Two things really quick you as you were talking, it's

interesting to remember that it is not the quality or the size

of our faith that saves us, it's the object of our faith that

saves us. So that's an important concept

for all of us to remember when we feel like our faith is

smaller, our doubts are big, OK? Well, is that what your hopes

in? Though right is my hope in my

own faith, it ought not to be because it is going to fail

miserably over and over again. So it's not about the faith,

it's about the object of faith. Very, very important concept.

Oh my gosh, now I just what you were just saying.

I'm sorry, I totally lost the second thing I.

Was Oh no, the the the father unbelief doubting no, it's.

Gone. Poof, it's gone.

You know what though? It's fine.

It's fine. It's fine.

It'll come back at a weird time. So, yeah, hopefully receive that

message in in love and grace too.

I yeah, I've meant every word. I barely have regrets in a

message that I give. I don't, I don't know that

sounds, that sounds weird to say.

But like, yeah, I guess there's some sometimes some things that

you maybe think landed hard with the law that you maybe want to

walk back a little bit. But no, I felt a great deal of

conviction this morning in, in what we need to hear and what

we're called to. And we're going to, yeah, we're

going to continue to be a people of purpose.

Easter this week. Ask for, ask for help in your

unbelief, too. Don't, don't let your friends,

family, neighbors, like don't say no for them, however awkward

that might feel to have a conversation about coming to

church. Are you going to church on

Sunday? Would you like to come to church

with me on Sunday for Easter? All those things like don't,

don't decide for them. I would put it out there, have

have the spirit help you in your unbelief that the people in your

life would be open to, to coming and hearing this message.

If we really believe it that this is the most powerful, life

changing thing that we will ever encounter, we should.

We should want everyone to know that.

We should want everyone to experience it.

And the other thing that I was reminded of recently, despite

all of our flaws, the same Holy Spirit that moved through, you

know, about a dozen men when they replaced Judas, a dozen men

to change the world, many and women actually, because there

was a decent following for Jesus.

But that same spirit that dwelled in them, that that moved

the world that made Jesus the most.

Even from a secular perspective, you have to argue that Jesus is

the most influential figure that has ever existed.

And so that spirit that moved in them to create that fervor to

create a love of God through Jesus Christ, that same spirit

dwells in all of us. And he hasn't shrank back and he

hasn't made himself small in any way.

We still have that same spirit. We still have that same power

and ability to go and be disciples and into to make the

ask. And thank you for saying that,

by the way, because I, I think I've, I've done that too many

times with people. I say no for them before I've

ever even asked them. You know, I play these weird

scenarios in my head and Nope, they're going to say no.

So I'm not going to try baloney. Baloney.

You know when when God wants to move, let him do it and you will

be shocked and amazed. And you don't have to be pushy

or obnoxious about it, but like put in the light of eternity if

if you want to risk maybe not seeing them in your life again

on this life because you asked them a weird question about

going to church or knowing that you're not going to see them in

eternity because they don't know Jesus.

Like we, we probably just need to step up and be bold and and

act courageous. And you know what the great

thing is ERC, and, and This is why I don't have a problem

asking people is because when I walk into this building like,

you know, even when I was just a well, not just even when I was a

parishioner, sorry, but even when I was a parishioner.

Yeah. No, no.

Clip it. It's just my brain waves.

Making mistakes so good. Thanks for that though.

It's just funner because I'm the producer so I I get to clip it.

Or not. And add another round to the

chamber. What were you saying?

I don't even know. No, no, I do.

OK. OK.

I got this. I got this, Matt.

I got this. Sure you do.

It's going to work out. I don't got this.

No, it's gone now. You're talking about, yeah,

telling people about Jesus. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So anyway, my apologies. Even as a parishioner, yeah, I,

I always like, I always felt OK. I always felt comfortable

inviting people into this space at ERC because I had all these

doubts and wonders and these judgments about people judging

me if I walked into a church in my 20s.

And, you know, I don't, I don't belong here and all this kind of

stuff. And.

And I just found the complete opposite was true.

People were just honestly kind to me and my family and that

hasn't changed in the 20 years since I came to faith.

If the same thing is still true today about your church, that

man, it is welcoming and is inviting.

We are not creating cliques and dress the right way and say the

right words and do these things in order to be accepted.

No, that's not true at all. As as we have said 100 times, a

house for the broken, home for the healed right.

This is how we live this thing out in our space that God has

given us. So be bold because you're

inviting them to be in a community or or even experience

a community that is genuinely caring and loving and has your

back. And so I feel that week in and

week out and I did even as a parishioner.

And so cool place to invite your friends.

Yep. And yeah, the church is the

church is the people, not the building.

And we're trying our darndest to to encourage you and living this

out. Thanks for hanging with us and

taking in a little more of the conversation from Romans 8 this

week. Come back here.

The end of the chapter on Easter, Rejoice, celebrate with

us. We love each church.

It's a privilege to do what we do.

God and Christ, have a blessed week.