Beautiful Outlaw - Jesus in 4D

I am crazy excited about these next three weeks.

And let me tell you why.

I've just finished a book that challenged me to a different level in my walk and my relationship with Christ.

And to say that for years, let me just go ahead and throw out my weakness.

This is kind of for me, you know, a lot of people go to therapy one-on-one, lay on a couch, talk to somebody in private.

Therapy for me is standing in front of a thousand people and going, here's where I stink.

Okay, that's the way I work in therapy.

And for years, I mean years, I've been I've followed Christ for decades now.

And and this one little book that just kind of points to several passages we're going to look at today, just kind of drop the scales from my eyes of where I have been seeing incorrectly my relationship with Christ.

And I guess in the back of my mind, I always wanted to think, well, yeah, I know Christ is real, and yes, I've experienced him move in my life, but why don't I do it more?

Why can't I see it more?

Why can't I see it more clearly?

And uh the gentleman who wrote a book called Wild at Heart wrote a new book called The Beautiful Outlaw.

And I was asked to speak on a part of that in Ohio a few weeks ago, and they said, Why don't you just grab the book and here's a chapter, might help it out?

And this book literally blew me out of the water.

From that, these next three weeks will be based on what I am learning.

Now you've got to know here, um, we never say what you ought to do, we say what we are doing.

It's not that I'm the preacher, I don't preach, I speak, I share what's kind of God's sharing on my heart.

And if you want to follow along this morning, go ahead and open to the Gospels, which is the first few chapter books of the New Testament.

We're gonna look at several different stories.

But the best way I can describe what's been happening in my world for the past month or so is that I've always thought, you know what, if I just get enough truth in me, because God is truth and his word is truth, and if I get enough truth in me, then my life will change, and it does.

And then I realize that I have some perpetual failures and I sin and I get tired of some of them, and then I cling to some of them, and I just like, but God, I need your grace.

I need your grace, and I and he gives it.

And I bounce back and forth between this grace and truth, and I want both of those, but what I'm discovering is what I really need is Jesus Himself.

Himself, the real Jesus, like the Jesus in the Bible, but now.

And if Hebrews is true, in chapter 13, verse 8, it says simply that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

It's easy for me to believe, okay, yeah, I believe that, I believe that.

But really?

Is he the same Jesus that walked with the disciples physically, talked to them literally, and will he do that today and forever?

Will he do that in my life?

And as I had that premise, I thought, really?

And I begin to talk.

I begin to talk Jesus day to day.

And I'm like, okay, Jesus, I know you see it all, so I'm gonna take you into my greatest failures, I'm gonna take you into my biggest doubts, I'm gonna take you everywhere with me today, and I'm gonna talk to you as if you're right here physically.

And I begin to interact.

And for the first part, it's like, well, this is kind of crazy.

But here's what I've discovered.

The best way I can example that I can give for it, how many of you have ever, and this is gonna date us, how many of us have ever seen a black and white television?

Raise your hands, okay.

Now, how many of you have ever watched a show on a black and white television with the rabbit ears and you gotta do it right?

Okay, that's it.

Here's what I'm discovering in so much of my Christian life, my interaction with God has been watching that.

Now, what if it were that I plugged up my cable or my antenna or my satellite or whatever to that TV and I'm flipped on an HD channel, but I'm watching it through black and white.

That is what I feel like.

And it's like somebody just I woke up and I started to see, wow, this is possible.

Imagine, go back to the time where all we had was black and white TV, and imagine at that point if you woke up the next day and you walked in, and what we have what we have today, and there's this widescreen HD TV.

Would that not just blow your mind going from that to here?

That's where I'm living right now, in the sense of going, okay, I I guess I knew this was possible, but dang, he really is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And these next three weeks, my prayer is twofold.

One, for those of you who are maybe here, uh skeptical or seeking, or you've heard about God, or maybe even had an experience in church and it didn't go well, or maybe it went okay, but it was just flat.

That literally these next three weeks would do to you what it's done to me and my faith, and it blows your mind, that Christianity is not just another version of a religion.

It is literally God become a man and that he wants to invade our lives individually and personally.

For those of you who are in the same boat, I have been in M, where I've walked with the Lord and faithful and read his word and know him personally, I pray that it just blows your mind with what he really is.

And this morning we're going to look at three aspects of Jesus in his word, starting in Matthew chapter 15.

Matthew 15 · chapter mention

And what I want us to see is Jesus' personality, that he has personality.

Too often we see and we talk about God in the flesh, and he kind of becomes this two-dimensional being.

He's loving, compassionate, and holy, and that's Jesus.

And we picture him kind of pasty white, usually European, in a robe, and he's walking around and he's talking in flat tones of, let me say something smart to you, in a holy voice.

And that's Jesus.

And what I'm realizing is that's not Jesus.

He not only had a personality, he had one of the most genuine, amazing personalities possible.

And it comes out very clearly throughout Scripture, but here's one of my favorite parts where it does in chapter 15, starting in verse 22, we're gonna see that either Jesus and God in the flesh is either one of the most cruel, mean, sarcastic dogs, or he has a personality.

Look in verse 22.

I'm sorry, starting in verse 22, a Canaanite woman from the vicinity came to him, crying out, Lord, son of David, have mercy on me.

My daughter is suffering terrible from demon possession.

Jesus did not answer a word.

So his disciples came to him and urged him, send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.

Quick history and lesson.

Those Jews and Canaanites did not like each other.

And there's this divide, and they knew they didn't like each other, and it was this thing, well, you're that way, we're this way.

If you want to get a little bit of a taste of it, and we do not get political here, it's kind of the blue-red, yeah, we see it, but we don't like it.

It's this divide, and that's what they were, okay?

And that's as political as we'll ever get it.

But there's this divide there, and there's just, and then here it comes.

They're saying, Send her away, she's crying out, and he answered, don't you realize that now he's just playing into the stereotype?

I was sent only for the lost sheep of Israel.

Isn't that what you think?

We're on opposite sides.

And he, and then the woman came and knelt before him, and this is it.

This is the point.

See, because we we're gonna lose all the groups, all the stereotypes, and everything.

Look at what she says.

The woman came and knelt before him and said, Lord, help me.

Jesus is not about categories, denominations.

He's about people.

And look the way his personality explodes here.

Again, he's either mean and sarcastic, or he knows what he's doing.

He's cunning and shrewd, and he is wonderfully sarcastic.

He replied, it's not right to take the children's bread and throw it to dogs.

He's either calling this woman a dog, or he's being playful.

And I think he's playful because look at what she says.

She goes, Okay, I'll go down that road with you.

Yes, Lord, she said, but even the dogs get crumbs that fall from the master's table.

And Jesus, I believe, with a biggest smile on his face, said, Woman, you have great faith.

Your request is granted.

Bump it right here.

Pound, way to go.

Yeah.

See, Jesus is not about the divides, he's about the union.

He's not about the group, he's about the individual.

And he says, You know what?

His personality just explodes and says, Here, here it is.

Look at him in his personality there.

See, he's not this two-dimensional being.

He is one who says, This is who I am.

And his personality starts to go.

I would make this statement.

If we don't know Jesus with his personality, then we don't know him the way he wants to be known.

We have to see him for who he is.

That personality is critical.

And we get this concept.

I have, I could tell you I have two dogs.

One of them is a pug, okay?

And and I could say I have a pug dog.

And you know something.

If you've seen pictures, you know a pug, but you don't know my dog until you know the whole story.

You don't know the dog until you know his personality.

And if you ever met Skittles, which is his name, once you experience him, you'll realize this dog is overwhelmingly joyful.

He sees a person and he goes nuts.

And he does, he just he loses all inhibition and he just runs up and he'll put his paws on your legs, and then he literally turns sideways and is just like, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.

And I literally, he's so hyper when I get home.

This is the way I pet him.

I'm just like, hey, buddy, let me pet you.

And I'll hold my hand there.

And he will run underneath my hand to pet himself.

And if you try to pet him, he backs away.

But if you just hold it still, he runs and he pets himself.

It's the craziest thing.

And he just, he's just so excited to do anything.

Literally, he's one of those where after he gets over that initial excitement, he's just like, oh man, you're here.

You're here.

And he will look for anything he can pick up that you can throw.

And he'll run up to you and he's just and he'll drop it at your feet, and you go to pick it up, and he picks it up again, like, yeah, you're not getting it.

And then he just, and then he wrestles with it, and then once you get it away, you throw it and he'll go get it and he'll bring it back, drop it down until you try to pick it up, and then he'll pick it up.

Like, no, no, no, not that.

And he's just like, he's just so stoked that you're there.

To know Skittles as just, yeah, we have a dog.

A dog.

You you don't know him.

But once you experience his personality, that's what makes him who he is.

Now I know a lot of pugs that are chubby and they don't do anything, and they just kind of sit there and and and that's okay, that's their personality.

But if you remove the personality, you remove everything.

And send that dog to God and realize that until we know his personality, we don't know him.

But as we see his truth in this personality, we start to experience Jesus, not just in a way that we can experience, whoa, look at the depth of who he is.

But I call it Jesus in 4D.

I was on a flight once, and uh, this was really this is the 4D concept.

I'm sitting there and I was very fortunate.

Um, the flight wasn't too overcrowded, they bumped me up to first class, and I'm like, Yeah, I love this, seats are wider, and and they bring you more stuff.

And and the flight attendant came up and she said, uh, would you like something to drink?

I'm like, Yeah, I love a diet coke.

So he came back with a diet coke, and and I'm sitting there, she's going, and I'm like, what the heck?

And she goes, Looks like it's coming right at you, doesn't it?

I'm like, yeah.

I thought this lady has lost it.

And she finally hands it to me and she goes, Look where you're sitting.

And I'm like, what is she talking about?

And then I looked at my seat.

I was sitting in 3D.

Like, that's awesome.

I said, that was brilliant.

And the thing is, here's the 40.

3D is it looks like it's coming right at you.

4D is when it gets to you and it hits you.

And see, for so long I've spent my world seeing the depth of Jesus and how great he is and how awesome God is.

But he started to hit me and I've started to experience it.

Like him right here, tangibly, whispering in my heart through the mundane and normal parts of life, not like a God out there, but a God best friend right here within me.

And that's why even communion this morning was more special.

I'm like, Lord, I want you flowing through my veins.

And when Jesus said, I have to leave so that the comforter will come, he's saying, I'm coming to live in you.

But are you listening?

Are you gonna just continue to live a black and white TV life in relationship with me?

Or are you gonna tune in and see my personality in 3D?

And that's God.

I want to see one other quick part of his genuine personality.

If you flip over to Matthew chapter 8, so just go back a couple pages.

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

I want us to see something that's kind of popular if you've been around church for a while.

You may have even heard this preached on.

I'm not preaching on it, but just as an example.

In chapter 8, verse 25 through 27, they're in the boat.

This is the scene where they're in the boat, the storm comes, and the waves are literally, it says it's coming over the boat.

They're about to be swamped, they're about to drown, and they're freaking out.

Now, here's before I read this part and go into it, I want you and I to feel what they were feeling.

Have you ever been, and you don't have to raise your hands, but where you literally thought, this is it, it's over.

Maybe it was a physical condition, maybe it was a situation where you were totally uncomfortable thinking this is not safe, this is over, it's over.

And Jesus was with them, and he's asleep.

And they go wake him up.

Imagine how terrified you would be, and then how relieved you would be when this happens, but that's not even it.

In verse 25, the disciples went and woke him up, saying, Lord, save us, we're going to drown.

And he replied, You of little faith, why are you so afraid?

And then he got up, rebuked the wind and the waves, and it was completely calm.

And the men were amazed, and asked, What kind of man is this?

Even the wind and the waves, obey him.

I want you to notice this word in verse 27.

The men were amazed.

I want you to think about that.

What would happen?

And imagine the level of amazement if you were on that boat and there's a storm and we're about to drown, and Steve were here and he was with you, and he just stood up and he went, Quiet, and everything just went calm.

That would be amazing.

I mean, astonishing, like whoa.

I mean, think of the level of wow that would be, okay?

Think of that level of astonishment and amazement.

Hold that, let's put it in a jar here, real quick, okay?

Think about how amazed we would be if we experienced that, and then look at this.

Look in, go back earlier in that chapter, same chapter eight, verses five through ten.

Chapter eight, verses five through ten.

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him asking for help.

Lord, he said, My servant lies at home paralyzed and is terribly suffering.

Jesus said to him, I will go and heal him.

The centurion replied, Lord, I don't deserve to have you come under my roof.

Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

For I myself and a man under authority with soldiers and under me, I tell them this, go and he goes, and this one, come and he comes.

I I say to my servant, do this, and he does it.

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished.

Don't miss that word.

It's the same word as when the disciples were astonished at the wind and the waves stopping.

Picture Jesus in this situation.

He's healed a lot of people.

He's gone around, he's done a lot of great stuff, and this guy tells him that.

And imagine the disciples.

Let's open that jar a minute and pour out that personality on Jesus because that's exactly what happened.

And he says, You don't have to come under my roof, just say the word and he'll be healed.

I do this and I know you can do that.

And Jesus went, whoa.

Are you serious?

What would it be like to astonish God?

And yet that's what happened.

And yet we don't picture God in the flesh, Jesus ever being, well, it was we see this passage read as, and Jesus said, Whoa, I have never seen such great faith in a man.

Go and it will be done as you say it will be done.

That's the way we hear it too often.

That is not what it says.

What it says is Jesus literally had the same amount of astonishment that we would have if the wind and waves were calm.

He literally went, whoa.

Wow.

That's amazing.

Who is this that he would have that kind of faith?

Wow.

Pounded.

That was awesome.

That's Jesus in this situation.

That's his personality.

And when we begin to see him with his genuine personality, we begin to see who Jesus really is.

And then we go even further.

Another aspect of Jesus I want us to really just catch a glimpse of today, you're gonna have to flip over to the book of John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

Because in John chapter 2, we're gonna see another story.

John 2 · chapter mention

It's the first miracle.

But what we're gonna see is what he meant to show us through this story.

Not only does he have a genuine personality, another aspect of Jesus is he has this extravagant generosity.

Extravagant generosity.

And for too long we've we've, I'm gonna say we, not us, we, but kind of they, we, the theologians have blah.

Just read the verse with me.

Uh chapter 2, verses 1.

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.

Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also had also been invited.

When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother had said to him, They have no more wine.

Now I want to stop there for just a second because I know this feeling, all right?

And something's gonna happen here.

This is a wedding.

Something great or bad is gonna happen from this point forward.

It's a wedding day.

And she's thinking about the groom, and oh man, they're out of wine.

For the rest of his life, everybody's gonna go, oh, that's the wedding that ran out of wine.

Yeah, oh loser, no wine at your wedding.

We remember your wedding.

I know that feeling.

The first trip I ever took with Heather and her parents and her brother and sister-in-law was to New York City, and we had a great time, and we'd kind of gone out different places.

They bought her parents bought dinner, her brother bought lunch one day, and then it was kind of dinner, and we were going to this pizza place, and I thought, it's kind of my turn, so I'm buying dinner.

And we went to a pizza place, and we got the pizza, and it was great, it was big enough, plenty size, and everybody's getting drinks.

And we get to the end and they bring the bill.

I'm like, I got this.

And and it now, what I didn't realize was that in New York City they don't give free refills, okay?

That's one part.

So a pizza and drinks for six people came out.

One pizza, drinks for six people.

Now, I understand also that we nobody knew this, and Heather's brother would just they would say, Would you like anything else?

He goes, Yeah, uh, bring me another drink and keep them coming.

We're uh, you know, we're thirsty.

And uh, you know, every time,$3,$3,$3,$3, and it just added up to where one pizza and drinks for six people was$78.

Okay.

And after I got the suck, I'm like, whoa, you know, and I'm like, okay, I don't have the cash.

So I just pull out my credit card and and I pay it off every month.

So I just pull it out and I put it down there.

And she comes by and she goes, Oh, uh, we don't take credit cards.

Really?

First off, I never dreamed that dinner for one pizza and six people would be$78.

So I started, I go into my pocket and I start looking, I got 62 bucks.

And her dad being very um astute, he just goes, Hey, you need a little help?

And I'm just like, yeah.

Um and her brother-in-law said, Hey, let me see that.

And they both looked at them like, oh my goodness, oh, they charge us for every drink.

I can't believe that.

But there's and but it became the running joke for the rest of my life.

We cannot go to pizza without going, Hey, Ken, you got this one?

I mean, it's for the rest of my life.

I get this.

Like, you've got to be kidding me.

I had the money, I just didn't have.

To where now, literally, if we go out for pizza, I find the waitress, I say, hey, here's the car.

Just don't even bring the bill.

I don't even want to see a bill.

And I know that feeling, and I know this guy's gonna feel this way.

And Jesus' mom knows that he's gonna feel that way.

And she looks at Jesus and she says, You know what?

They have no more wine.

Now, I want to read it the way that we I've heard it for years.

Dear woman, why do you involve me?

My time has not yet come.

That's not it.

That's not it at all.

I believe with all my heart, with the words and the translation, Jesus is going, Mom, no, you you know this isn't it.

You know this isn't my time.

And as only a Jewish mom could do.

It's not in here, but you can see the look.

She obviously looked at him, she looks at the servants, and she goes, Hey, do whatever he tells you.

Don't over-spiritualize it.

I've done that for years.

I believe with all my heart.

I understand this feeling, and as I was praying through it, I believed that it really was Jesus' intention.

He goes, Hey, my time's not now.

And his mom says, do whatever he says.

In other words, I know you can figure out a way to do this, but you need to do this for him.

And and for those, and if you're single, forgive me for a second, but just for those who are married, has your wife never come to you and go, hey, we need to do this?

And you've, guys, you've thought, we can't do that right now.

We can't afford that now.

We can't do that.

And one of two things.

She either gives you a mean look or a, oh, please.

And you go, okay, I'll do it.

I don't know how, but I'll do it.

That is his personality here.

His personality is okay, but what the the whole point of this passage is what happens next.

In verse 6, nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used for the Jews for ceremonial washing, each one holding 20 to 30 gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water.

So they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, Draw out some and take it to the master of the banquet.

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.

He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants had drawn the water new.

Then he called the bridegroom aside and he said, Hey, everyone brings out the choice, the good stuff first, then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink.

But you have saved the best to last.

Now here's where religion takes this.

It becomes a story about do we drink or not?

Were they really drunk or not?

Was it grape juice or not?

How do you get drunk on grape juice?

I don't know, but they did, and that's the way they did it.

And then it becomes this huge theological debate.

Well, you're not supposed to get drunk, but they got drunk, so it couldn't have been, and then we go to the other parts of scripture and we get all this quagmire, and it's very true.

The truth says, don't be drunk with wine, be filled with the Spirit.

So there's that, but that's not the point of the story.

The point of the story is that Jesus is saying, I am personally interested and I am extravagantly generous.

That's the point of the story.

The point of the story is he is saying, hey, this guy invited me.

My mom wants me to do this.

You know what?

I'm gonna overwhelm them with this.

I did a little bit of math.

If you take the average of the six jars, look at how cool this is.

Average 25 gallons, 20 to 30, average that.

There's six of them.

Anybody want to do the math real quick?

How many gallons is that if you had 25 times six?

150, 150 gallons of wine.

If you put that in an average wine bottle, that's 757 bottles of wine.

That's extravagant.

And it was the good stuff.

And this is the same Jesus who said, I am the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And I don't know what your need is, but he's saying, I want to be extravagantly generous.

Not just so that you can brag to others, but so that you can know how much I love you and I'm with you.

In Isaiah 6, 3, it says, the world is filled with his glory.

Filled.

And if you can walk around at fall and not see his glory, extravagant.

There's this one road by my office, and there's a row of Bradford pears, and they change into so many colors you cannot count them.

And that's just trees on a street.

And God says, that's what I can do.

And I am just as interested in you.

Jesus walks with me, and he's my comforter.

For too long I have spent time learning his word, knowing him personally, but taking his map and not his guidance.

He longs to walk with me, not just show me a truth, give me a map, good luck, go get it.

But to take the truth, and I take the truth in, and then I say, okay, Lord, walk with me and show me what you mean by that.

And he does.

He is genuinely personality driven.

He is extravagantly generous.

And the last part I want us to really look at today is in the book of Luke.

Luke chapter 11 is where we'll look.

Luke 11 · chapter mention

Because we need to see that he is also disruptively honest, painfully honest at times.

But that's his personality.

We're gonna look at that next week.

But he has this ability to speak into people.

In Luke chapter 11, verses 37 through 39.

Luke 11:37–39

Look at that with me real quick.

When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him.

So he went in and reclined at the table.

But the Pharisees noticed Jesus did not wash before the meal and were surprised.

Now, imagine the faux pas.

I saw this a few years ago, a woman in England, a commoner, and the queen had come to this town, and she was so excited she greeted the queen.

And I guess there's some protocol of how you're supposed to greet the queen.

This lady did not get the memo.

And she was so excited, and the queen said hello, and she just took her hand and gave her a big hug.

Oh, nice to meet you.

And you're not supposed to touch the queen.

There was this big brew ha ha in England that someone had hugged the queen.

And there was this big gasp, and the whole time she was just being genuine.

That is kind of the washing part here.

If you come in, you wash, and you then sit down, and it's a ceremonial thing that had become a religious thing, and Jesus was like, Yeah, I'm gonna teach you something here.

But the Pharisees, they said he didn't wash, they were surprised, and he saw the shock.

Imagine the shock of he's supposed to be a teacher and he didn't wash.

And then Jesus says to them, This is the first thing he says when he sits down.

I love this.

Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of a cup and a dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

Apparently, he wasn't really concerned with getting invited back to dinner at all.

And here's the part we got to unpack.

This is his disruptive honesty.

Jesus is compassion, Jesus is love.

Everything he does is love.

You're wicked and greedy.

That doesn't sound loving, but it is.

Because Jesus will speak the truth to who it needs, how it needs every time.

Imagine, and I know there's some in here who have been a part of what's called interventions, where someone you love is destroying themselves, and in love, we get together and we make them face what it is that's killing them.

That's what Jesus is doing.

He's saying, You've got your your focus is so wrong.

You've got on all the religious garb.

You look so great on the outside.

See, I see your heart.

And uh just to be honest, because I love you, you're full of greed and wicked.

Let's eat.

What do you do with that?

You do one of two things.

You take one of two actions from there.

You either face the truth and go, you're right, help me.

Or you defend yourself.

And see, that's how disruptively honest Jesus is.

He's not worried about getting invited back, he's not worried about that.

But then in Luke 10, flip over to Luke 10, which is just back one, and in verses 38 and 40, we see another scenario.

And just see how he responds to this situation.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.

She had a sister named Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.

And there's a whole other talk on that.

But look at what happened.

She came to him and asked, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself?

Tell her to come help me.

And I think he says Martha twice.

In my mind, I see it this way.

Tell her to come help me.

Martha.

Martha.

You're worried and upset about so many things, but only one thing is needed.

Mary has chosen what is better.

And I'll not take that away from her.

Look how gracious he is there.

Because he knows that's what she needs.

She doesn't need to be hit in the head with a reality.

He goes, you know what?

You're getting ready for me to come.

I'm here.

Already here.

And your house looks great.

I want to spend time with you, not a clean house.

That's what I'm into, and that's what she wants, and that's what we're doing.

Come sit down.

Just come sit down.

See, he is literally disruptively honest with wherever we are.

And here's the bottom line: I can count on Jesus to tell me the truth in the best way possible for me to hear it.

Sometimes it's going to be bold and in my face and hit me between the eyes.

Sometimes it's going to be gentle.

One of my favorite verses is James 1, 5.

Because of the way, and if you can bring it up there, I want you to see one particular word.

If anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it'll be given to him.

I've experienced that.

When I say, Lord, help, it's never with a two by four between the eyes, unless I need it.

And then it's mostly gentle, and he never finds fault.

If Jesus is not these aspects, then Christianity is just an Islamic version of something else.

It's a Buddhist version with a few more words.

But see, it's not about the truth, it's about Jesus being real.

Jesus longs for us, and then probably one of the most, and I want to end with this one in John 14, 6.

Not only is his honesty disruptive, it is also exclusionary.

Jesus says, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

He says, Yes, there's truth, yes, there's grace.

And you want both of those, but what you need is me.

Me in reality.

That's what you need.

And I'm here and I'm available and I'm ready.

And what you saw at the beginning of our service with the dunking film in fast motion, it did that wasn't actual speed.

If you were here last week, that was not actual speed.

Was people who saying, I need Jesus.

They had confronted that reality and said, I need that.

And what we're saying is, I'm going to die to myself and be raised to live with him within me to guide and direct me in life.

With what I'm going through now, what I will go through, I need his forgiveness, I need his truth, I need his guidance, I need his wisdom, I need Jesus.

And he's becoming more and more real.

This morning, if you've never accepted him, let me just tell you it's a simple process of just getting real.

Just like that woman who said, Hey, I don't care about the Canaanites and the Israelites and the Jews.

Help me.

That's the first step.

For us to realize we need to be forgiven.

We need that help.

I prayed it this way when I was 13.

I got by myself and I said, God, I know you're real.

But Lord, I want you to forgive me.

And if you have a plan for my life, I want that.

Please come into my life.

I know Jesus walked with the disciples and came into their world, but you said you went away so that the comforter could come.

Lord, I opened my heart.

Come in to me.

So I can sense that if I close my eyes, I feel as if you are right next to me.

Because you are the same yesterday, today, and forever.

That's what I want.

So, Lord, I give up.

Come in.

That's that prayer.

Or maybe you're like I am that have been for years walking with Christ.

And my challenge to you is to just think about this personality.

And when you read scripture, I pray that you're never able to do it the same without seeing Jesus and his personality in it.

I want to pray, and the musicians are going to come, we're going to rap in a song.

I've got to buzz out this week, but next week I'm hanging out.

But I want to just tell you about next week after we pray.

Pray with me.

Father, thank you that you love us this way, but thank you that you were all God, but you were all man.

God, I thank you that for the first time I saw you literally astonished.

You have feelings we have, and you long to walk with us through life in that way.

So Lord, help us to see you in that way.

Break down our walls of religiosity.

Help us to see you in 4D, not just the depth of you, but the experience of you.

You didn't just come to die for us, you came to live with us.

So, Father, help us to experience that.

And Lord, and it's only through the gift that you gave us on the cross that we can pray and the power of the Spirit that lives within us.

And so we do that.

Amen.

Next week, there is another aspect of this.

One, if you're a man, I want to encourage you, commit to that hour, be here and help with the cool decorations part, sign up for that.

But next week, I'm going to answer the question Was Jesus funny?

You do not want to miss this.

I'm not going to tell you the answer.

I'll tell you next week.

God bless you guys.