The Church Jesus Builds - Pastor Greg Addison - March 10, 2024

Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.

You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.

Thank you for listening.

Glory to the name of Jesus.

Don't you love that last hymn right there, that last chorus?

Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 16, and we're going to pick up in a time when Jesus is trying to help his followers to understand exactly how that's going to work.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Here in Matthew chapter 16, we find a story that is told in some detail across the Gospels, but here we're going to choose this particular rendition of this moment in the life of Jesus and his disciples as he is training them about ministry.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

You ever wonder, like, how in the world are we still here doing what we're doing after all of these generations and decades and decades and generations?

It is an incredibly amazing thing to see our church full and doing all these things and all this stuff is happening so long ago after it was planted.

But just think a minute, for the people that were here in the time that they were here, who met together and started the first Baptist church of this ramshackle, rough western town that is the town of the hanging judge and Bass Reeves and everything else.

All the Bell Star and the criminals and all that business, and boy, in this rough place they need Jesus, and they plant First Baptist Church.

What do you think would happen if you could have transported them to this moment and they would have seen all of this?

I mean, they wouldn't have known how to process it, would they?

It's incredible to think what happens.

Like, how in the world does this keep happening and keep going?

I had a great moment this week during uh it's so fun to be the pastor because you just never know what you're gonna get and how all these things happen.

Somebody came in this week.

I got a chance to meet somebody who was a longtime member of the church years ago, and they brought me uh one of the church newsletters from May of 1964.

Now, just to put that in context, I wasn't even conceived yet.

I was born in January of 1965, almost a year later, right?

It's incredible.

And you know what they were doing?

In the pastor's notes in that letter in 1964?

They were building a building and they were doing long-range planning about where they were going to go in the future in 1964.

That's incredible, isn't it?

There probably has not been a generation in the history of church where those two things were not happening, right?

But you think, how in the world does that happen?

How in the world do we keep that same vein of the gospel and people getting saved and all of those things?

How does that happen?

Let me tell you how it happens.

Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, is why that happens.

It is who Jesus is and what he does and how he builds his church.

And in this passage of scripture right here, it is incredible to see that Jesus makes clear a statement that in our church life we should always keep in front of us, and we should never, never leave the truth of this passage of scripture.

So read with me here in Matthew chapter 16, verse 13.

Matthew 16:13

The Bible tells us that Jesus has been preaching, he's been healing, he's been doing this for well over a year.

Probably he has entered year three, even, because he's about to start moving towards preparing everyone for the crucifixion and the resurrection and all of that.

So he's been working with his disciples, he's been training them, he's even sent them out to tell people about him.

He's been doing all this, and when he gets into this area, he asks his disciples.

So picture this.

This is like a group conversation.

They're sitting around, in my mind, since we know Jesus was a Baptist, they were drinking coffee, having donuts.

Just work with me, right?

And he is trying to create a moment here to really prepare them moving forward.

Because Jesus understands as he projects down, he's going to build the church, and it's not going to be him that does this ministry, it's going to be his followers, and it's going to be him empowering him and all of that, and now he's trying to prepare them for that.

So he starts with this first question: Who do the people say that the Son of Man is?

And now he uses this term, Son of Man.

He's pulling an Old Testament prophecy out, and he's using this, and he's beginning to shape this conversation.

So they know that this is a prophetic word, and he is using this word.

It's not the most common that would be used.

For example, the Messiah would be a more common term, and he'll use that in a moment.

But here, he is trying to get their attention, he's trying to move them in this conversation.

Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

And they're having a conversation, so the Bible says, you know, one of them says, well, some say you're John the Baptist.

One of the other guys says, Well, I've heard people say you're Elijah.

Other people say, yeah, the prophet thing has some traction.

Others say you're Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.

So he's saying, that's who people out there are saying.

They are acknowledging that the greater community around in Israel do not yet understand fully who Jesus is.

They're still processing and learning.

And all of this miracle working and all this preaching and all this Pharisees are against him, and other people trusting him, and all this chaos going on, is the culture around all trying to still determine who Jesus is?

And then he asks this question, which is the most important question that anyone is ever asked.

And it's the most important question that anyone ever answers.

But you looks at his disciples and says, Who do you say that I am?

Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

And your version should have an exclamation point right there after that statement, which tells us that Peter stepped into the moment and on behalf of his brothers, who they were all in lockstep, he says affirmatively to Jesus, we believe that you are the Messiah.

And he uses the term that he knows and understands the most clear prophetic statement that Jesus is the anointed sacrifice that God has sent to pay the price for our sins.

Peter has now through this journey understood, and culture may not yet understand, but Peter understands, and John understands, and Andrew understands, and Bartholomew understands, and Nathaniel understands, and they say, You are the Messiah, and you are the Son of the Living God.

We are with you and we trust you and we know who you are.

And Jesus immediately affirms that revelation in his life, and he makes it clear to Peter this is a spiritual statement that you're making.

And he gets a hold of them in this moment because now he's about to teach them something that is vital.

It is vital to their understanding in their future.

Simon of Jonah, son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.

In other words, this is a spiritual revelation that you understand this moment.

And I say to you, and he changes, this is that whole discussion where Peter becomes Simon Peter and all of that, his given name and all that.

And he says, I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the forces of Hades and death and hell and Satan will not overpower it.

And Jesus makes the statement to help us understand and to help his apostles understand who would be starting the church, and all the way down through this line for the continuation of the gospel that we are now a part of, he wants us to understand that he is the Christ, he is the Savior, and He will build his church to advance that gospel message until he comes again to accomplish the rest of salvation and redemption and being in heaven with him and all of that.

And then look at the significance of this.

In verse 20, he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

Why?

Because he is not trying to confuse the masses and he is trying to make sure they understand, and he is working them towards this moment, and then you get more context.

From then on, Jesus began to point out to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chiefs, priests, and scribes, be killed and be raised the third day.

And so he is now moving his disciples and his followers into, I am preparing you to be the church.

Later on, he will tell them when he sits them down, greater things than I do, you will do.

The Holy Spirit will be with you, and the Holy Spirit will guide you and empower you and use you to spread the gospel.

And he begins to prepare them to understand.

And then even on that moment when Jesus ascended into heaven, he tells them in this moment, they're saying, Jesus, we understand you're going to heaven and you're going to send the Holy Spirit, but when are you coming back?

How's it all going to unfold?

How is all this apocalyptic stuff going to happen?

How are we going to get to heaven?

How of all that's going to happen?

And he says, Listen, don't worry about it.

You don't need to know when I'm coming back again.

What you need to understand your role is in Acts 1.8 is you wait where you are, and when the Holy Spirit is come, he is going to empower you, and you're going to go out and you're going to spread the gospel in dynamic power in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth.

That's what I need you to know.

You are going out to share the gospel under the power of the Holy Spirit.

And here's what he's teaching them: he is preparing them to become the pastors who are going to plant the churches, to send out the missionaries, to teach people to share their faith so that when they go around the world, they're going to share Jesus and the gospel is going to spread and it is going to become the church.

As you read through the book of Acts, we understand how Jesus builds and empowers the church and sends the church out just as he said he was going to do under the power of the Holy Spirit to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth.

And now you have the expansion of the church, and Jesus has built his church and used his body to spread the gospel around the world.

That's what he is preparing them and helping them understand to do.

Let's look at how this preparation goes.

Simon, son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.

He is grabbing a hold of their understanding to say, listen, this is a spiritual understanding I'm about to give you.

That I'm going to build a church.

This is different than the Old Testament world when he built the nation of Israel.

The church is different.

We are the church of the living God.

We are the redeemed saints.

And he's getting them, I need you to now understand.

God is at work.

This is a spiritual revelation.

And then he says, I am going to build my church.

The church's purpose is going to be under this Messiah gospel purpose that you've just pronounced, Peter, on behalf of your brothers.

And I'm going to tell you, it's going to take the message of life around the world, and there's not one thing that Satan, hell, or death can do to stop the advance of the gospel and the message of salvation in Jesus.

Is that incredible?

This is an incredible moment right here.

And so I want to grab three thoughts for you as we go through this.

Now here's what he says I will build my church.

So the first thing that Jesus says is he declares ownership over the church, and he says, It's my church.

It's my church.

It's Jesus' church.

He stakes his position as the actor and the owner in this process.

I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.

And so the first thing we know about church and about the church that Jesus builds is it's Jesus' church.

He owns the church.

All throughout Scripture, we understand, all throughout the book of Acts, you see that God is the one moving, God is the one acting, God is the one directing.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, things are happening.

As the church grows, it is because the gospel is being preached, which Paul says in Romans chapter 1 is the power of God unto salvation.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

It is the good mu it is the good news, the message that Jesus saves.

And so Jesus says, this is my church.

And so, Peter, when you guys get out there, day of Pentecost, and you start preaching and you start building churches and you start ministering to people, is what I need you to understand.

It's not your church, it's my church.

That's what Jesus says.

My church.

Now, we that word my for us, we a lot of ways we can say this.

You know.

We look at um my house, and I say, Well, that's my house.

The bank that owns my mortgage would probably quarrel with me, at least to some degree, as it relates to that, right?

I look at my wife and she'll say out in the parking lot, standing there, having her eye on that Mustang, let's go for a ride in our Mustang.

It's my Mustang.

It's my Mustang.

I own it.

I paid for it.

I have the job.

Husbands, don't say that to your wives.

Y'all are already, ooh, you're in trouble now.

I can say that stuff when Janet's in the nursery, right?

As we get ready for March Madness, my university is ranked number four.

My un my university should be a number one seed in the University of Tennessee.

But here's the illustration of that.

It's not my university, I don't own it.

I just identify with it as one of the many people who went to school there.

Right?

So I love the ownership that I have of that, my university, but it's not my university.

I don't have any sense of ownership whatsoever as it relates to that university.

I'm just a part because I enjoy it.

I'm apart because I'm invested in it.

I'm a part because that is the culture of where I've been and been engaged with, right?

So let's think about this.

I love inviting people to church.

Just a few days ago, I invited someone to my church.

Right?

Now it's interesting when you're the pastor and you say, Hey, I want you to come to my church, and then I start thinking these things in my head.

It is not my church the way it's my house or my car.

Now I love it.

I have some ownership and I'll defend and wear orange and do the whole thing for my university, but I'm not in charge of that.

I'm just a part of it.

And when I invite someone to my church, I don't have any ownership over the church.

It's not my church.

I do have ownership in the sense that these are my people because I love you and we're invested and we're doing ministry together, and I'm a part of it, but I don't have any ownership position in this church.

Jesus owns the church.

And so what we have to come to as people is understand that when churches come awry and things get difficult, it's because people begin to say it's my church.

And not recognize it's my church where I belong, but it's not my church that I own.

And praise the Lord, we have we have great unity.

We are doing that well here, and it's really good.

And so let me thank you for that heritage.

Again, one of the reasons we're here so long is because we have the DNA and understanding of that as a church, and we have from generation to generation, and we don't ever want to lose that.

And so that's why when we reach a passage like this, it is always important to remind ourselves it is not my church.

Now, don't stop saying my church, right?

You understand the illustration.

It's yours because you belong here, it's yours because it's your family, it's yours because you identify, it's yours because you're invested.

So invite people to your church because you're letting them know how much you love the church that you're a part of.

But we have to always remember it is not my church.

It is not my ownership, it is not how it goes.

You know, um, we are all coming together in the sense that Jesus is guiding our church, and nobody's gonna like everything about everything, but we all love that we are in the church that Jesus built.

And so I didn't want to gloss through that.

I didn't want to miss that.

I want to thank you for having that DNA, but it is something that we always have to be reminded of.

And churches often get on off track because they don't think through that process.

The second thing that Jesus says this I will, I will build my church.

And this is where we stop and we recognize that anything that is good that happens in the church, it happened because Jesus did it.

He is the actor, he is the power, he is the good news, he is the Messiah, he is the Son of the living God, He is the only one who has the name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

He is the only one to whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess, that he is Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is only Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father but by Him.

He is the bread of life, He is the living water, that when someone drinks from Him, they will never thirst.

Jesus is the only one through whom salvation happens.

Jesus is the only one who says, Let not your heart be troubled.

If you believe in God, believe in me.

In my Father's house are many mansions, and I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go to prepare a place for you, then I will come again to receive you unto myself.

Jesus is the actor in all that happens.

The Bible goes on to say, immediately he makes this turn, and because they've now understood that's who he is, he is going to tell them that I, Jesus, am going to go to the cross.

I, Jesus, am going to die there for the sins of the world.

I, Jesus, am going to be raised again for the third day.

I am the one that's acting in this moment.

I think that that has to be something that probably resonated in the mind of Peter.

When he takes up his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane, and they come and Judas betrays Jesus, and they're going to take him off to get into this process which Jesus has repeatedly taught them.

Right here is the story.

It tells us clearly he has been teaching them.

Verse 22, Peter takes Jesus aside after hearing this all the time.

He's had enough.

And he says, Lord, this is never going to happen to you.

As the Son of God, they're not going to be able to take you and lie about you and nail you on a cross and all that.

And he tells Peter, you get behind me, Satan, that you are still learning what I'm trying to teach you, and I'm going to have to go to the cross.

And then he even warns them as you move forward.

In another version of this story, Peter, you're going to deny me, and yet I'm still going to take care of you and walk you through that and use you in the future.

And so Peter, in this moment of confusion and all of this deal in the Garden of Gethsemane, he takes out his sword and he cuts off the guy's ear.

And if you know this story, if you've studied that, you understand.

He cuts off the servant of one of the priests, he cuts his ear off, and he's like ready to go to battle.

And Jesus says, Peter, put your sword up.

Picks up in the guy's ear and heals it.

And then allows them to take him, Jesus, off in the middle of this.

And in the middle of that, Peter at some point is grappling with realization is, is Jesus a captive?

Or is Jesus really in charge of this moment?

Jesus wasn't led to the cross.

Jesus went to the cross.

Jesus wasn't convicted.

Jesus chose the cross.

And so he is the actor in all of this.

And when you come to faith in Christ, you need to understand that you didn't fall on your head one day and get smart enough to realize that you needed salvation and go figure out how it happens.

God worked in your life, and the Holy Spirit convicted you, and Jesus showed up in your life, and he used this moment to explain to you how much he loves you, and that Jesus was the one who went to the cross and died for you in your place.

That he is the one that loved you more than anyone has ever loved you or ever will again.

And he took your sin on the cross and he died there in that place and he rose again so that you could be saved.

And in that moment, you give your life to Jesus.

You trust Jesus.

You surrender your life to him because he is the actor.

Listen, Pastor, where I grew up, Memphis, Dr.

Rogers, he'd tell us all the time, listen, I can't talk you into anything because anything I can talk you into, somebody else can talk you out of.

That when you get saved, it's Jesus who did that in your life.

Jesus is the one who saves.

And he is telling them, listen, I need you to know when I make the promise that the gates of hell cannot stand against the advance of the gospel, I need you to know that they can't because I'm bigger than they are.

And when Jesus says, I will build my church, he is saying, Listen, I am the force in this.

And when you come to that point where you are being opposed, they tell you to stop preaching the gospel.

You are in a culture where everyone is against the gospel.

Sound familiar?

He says, Listen, you keep preaching because I am the one building the church.

I, Jesus, and our strength is greater than anything or anyone you'll ever face.

When they pull Peter, James, and John aside in the book of Acts in chapter 4, and they tell them you got to quit preaching, and they threaten to beat them, they said, Listen, y'all got to do what you got to do.

I met Jesus.

I saw Jesus risen from the dead.

I saw Jesus raise other people from the dead.

I saw Jesus heal.

I heard him teach.

I know who he is, and I am not going to stop because I have seen Jesus.

They didn't talk about their belief in the message or anything else, and all that's true, and they believe and all that deal, but let me tell you what.

When they faced opposition, they turned to Jesus and they said, Jesus told us that because he is the actor and the power that the gates of hell cannot stop the advance of the gospel.

And he said, I'm the actor.

Now that's encouraging, y'all.

That's exciting.

We serve a risen Savior.

We are saved by the King of kings and the Lord of Lords, the creator, God of the universe, has stepped in and said, These are my people.

And for all these generations, Jesus has been greater than anything the culture would throw at it in that time.

Man, listen, you think stuff's bad now?

You should have ridden a horse up and down the muddy streets in the culture of Fort Smith when it was founded.

Man, if Jesus can save folks in that time, an election year in 2024 is no big deal for him.

I mean, we need to be reminded we serve Jesus and he is the actor, and when we serve him, he is greater than he who is in the world.

And that's what he says.

How does he do that?

Now he's trying to teach them and bring them to a point.

I will build my church.

I will build my church.

I'm going to act in this moment.

And now you begin to understand a little bit of what this conversation is.

He tells Peter, listen, Peter, you are a stone.

If you translate this into original language, Jesus is playing with his name here, and he is trying to make a point and teach them as he prepares them to be the church.

Jesus is in this moment building, beginning to build the church.

And here's what he says: Peter, that testimony and confession of the gospel is the spiritual power that I bring as the Messiah.

You are a stone.

And on this, and then the word there is a rock, is a huge, huge boulder that would be hewn out of a quarry or the side of a cliff to be a cornerstone of a major building.

And so what he's saying is, Peter, because you understand, and because God is revealing this to you, and you are now becoming the voice of sharing the gospel because you own it in your life, I am going to refer to you as a stone, and he's probably looking at the other guys, and you guys are going to be stones as well, and I'm going to take you as stones, and I am going to build you on myself as the Messiah, the cornerstone.

Listen how Peter later tries to teach this lesson in 1 Peter chapter 2.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

Just write that reference down on your margin.

You don't have to turn to it.

1 Peter chapter 2.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

Here's what he says.

Coming to him, a living stone, Jesus, a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen and valuable to God, you yourselves as living stones.

That's the word Peter.

You are a stone, Peter.

And on this cornerstone, I will build my church.

Look how Peter explains it.

You yourselves as living stones are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

And then he goes on to quote the Old Testament, where he uses the picture of the cornerstone.

Look, I lay a stone in Zion, and he's quoting from the Psalms, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in him, Jesus, the cornerstone, will never be put to shame.

He uses again a quote from Psalm 118, the stone that the builders rejected, this one has become the cornerstone, and a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over.

They stumble because they disobey the message.

But he quotes again: you, the church, the Christians, the people, are a chosen race.

You are a royal priesthood.

You are a holy nation.

You are a people for his possession for this purpose, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people.

You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

You see how Peter explains that.

Listen, I was standing there when Jesus said this.

We are the stones.

We have the testimony that he saved us.

We are pointing to him as the Savior.

He is the cornerstone, and he is taking us as his people, and he is building us as the church.

From the very beginning, Jesus is trying to teach that the way he is going to work is by building his people into the church.

That's incredible, isn't it?

Yesterday, Janet and I got a chance to go to uh Fayetteville and we saw the one-man show that was C.S.

Lewis.

It was him from his writings and speakings and all of that, and he sort of made this question.

He said, if God wanted to get something accomplished, why in the world would he use us to do it?

I mean, really?

I mean, he's up there thinking, I know in the middle of every sermon I preach, he's thinking, Greg, that's not what I told you to say.

What are you doing?

Greg, over here.

Don't get distracted.

I mean, all of that.

How many times have you witnessed to somebody or you've come to that moment and you think, I can't do this?

But yet God chose you to do that.

How many times do you get to that moment where somebody comes to you and they have a spiritual question and you think, well, I don't know the answer, I can't answer that.

But God is working in you and chosen you to do that.

When we go and recruit somebody to be a Sunday school teacher, come teach Sunday school.

Answer is always, I can't do that.

Yeah, you can.

Because that's what Jesus is building you to do.

You are one of the building blocks.

Last week we talked about spiritual gifts.

On the podcast, we unpacked some more of that for you and attached in the show notes a test to kind of help you pray through what is your spiritual gift and how do you use it?

Why do we do that?

Why did he give you a spiritual gift that you have and they don't have, and you got one and they don't have it, and y'all got one and they don't have one, and you got one and they don't have it?

Why did he do that?

Because he's attaching us all together, as we talked about last week.

He is weaving us all together, and he is taking this toe and this thumb and this finger and this eye and this nose and this rib and this spleen and this whatever, and he's making his body out of it.

He is building his church.

We are the body of Christ.

We are the church, and he is building us, and it is every one of us and a part of that.

It is exactly what he told Peter.

Peter, you're a stone, and I'm going to use all of these stones, and I'm gonna build it on myself and the confession of the gospel, and I am going to build a church that is going to advance the gospel around the world for generations until I come back.

That's what Jesus said.

I will build my church, and the gates of hell will never stand against it.

Isn't that awesome?

Man, when you go to share the gospel with somebody, don't you be afraid.

It is Jesus who is acting in that moment.

And you are sharing Jesus, and that Jesus saves.

And that he wants to save you.

And you cannot mess that up because you're not the one doing it.

I just close with a story.

I went on a mission trip a few years ago.

And to make a long story short, God started moving into the mission trip, and we go into this place, and uh and we get an opportunity to go share the gospel with leaders in the city.

And the pastor in that area, Hispanic pastor, we were in the country of Nicaragua.

He takes us into this place.

So I have a young guy who's a translator, who's a seminary student, and myself and the pastor.

And the pastor says, Listen, there's a leader in the community back in this restaurant.

We're going to go back here, and I have, I've tried to witness to him so many times I can't ever get, but God is moving in a unique way, and you're here, Pastor, and I want you to share the gospel with him.

I'm saying, okay, great.

So we head in this restaurant.

Pastor heads behind a back door into the back part of the restaurant, and the young guy that I've got stops.

And he's in terror as we walk into this restaurant.

He looks at me and he says, Do you know where we are?

And I said, No.

And he said, The Godfather of this city does his business in that room.

That's where we're headed.

Well, I'm glad heaven is real.

We head back into that room.

We were using a gospel tract that was written in Spanish that had one side of it.

Our heart is black with sin.

Jesus' salvation, cross in the middle.

Your sins are made whiter than snow, giving you a clean heart.

Long story.

We get into this.

I'm standing here in front of the Godfather.

There literally were all these people around.

They're all waiting for their turn to get his whatever instruction or blessing or whatever it is.

Couple guys sitting over here.

I think I'm the only guy in the room that speaks English.

And I look at this young guy and I say, okay, this is on you, bro.

I'm going to tell you what I want to say, but you got to translate it into Spanish and make it sound like whatever description I gave you to do was actually me sharing the gospel.

Are you with me?

And so literally, the worst gospel presentation in the history of the church.

Hey, listen, I need you to figure out a way to explain this to him.

Okay, and then Spanish.

And I'd say, How are we doing?

I mean, literally, this is what I'm saying out loud.

I'd say, I need you to explain this to him, and I need you to be careful about that when you say that.

And I'm thinking he doesn't know English, so I'm just coaching this guy on what to do.

We get to the end of that deal, and we share the track, and the Godfather looks at us and he begins to get emotional, and he opens up his shirt and he shows me this big nasty scar right down his sternum.

And he said, I am recovering from open heart surgery.

And the doctors can fix my heart, but they can't give me a new one.

And I want to trust your Jesus.

And as we are processing that moment, a guy sitting at this table over here who's been watching this nonsense from me the whole time says in English, can I get saved too?

Listen to me.

Church family.

You share Jesus.

It's not up to you.

In those moments, listen, I was not the actor in that moment, clearly from everyone who watched.

But Jesus saves.

Share your testimony.

Step into that ministry.

Give like you believe it is Jesus who has given to you.

Invite people to church.

My church because you know there is so much more than my church.

It's Jesus' church.

And because Jesus is there, he is working.

And because Jesus is there, he is the one who saves.

And you come to my church because it's not really my church.

It is the church of the living God.

It is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

It is the church of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

And let's watch what Jesus does when he builds his church.

I want you to bow your heads for a moment as we close.

And just as you're here, I want to invite you.

If you've never trusted Jesus to save you, not something that some preacher says, not something that your mama lived out in front of you, which is praise the Lord for our godly mamas to share Jesus, but they can't get saved for us.

If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior, I'm going to invite you in a moment to come.

I'm going to pray that God's people are going to stand up and they're going to sing, just as you have heard them, amen, and applause.

They believe this.

Our church believes this.

We know this is why we're still here.

Because Jesus works.

And they want you to know the same Jesus.

So in a moment I'm going to pray, we're going to stand and sing.

And if you need Jesus, you come.

If you're online, if you're watching on television and you need Jesus, listen, you don't have to be here in this building to give your life to the same Jesus that saved us.

Right there where you are.

You just talk to Jesus and tell him that you want to be saved.

And because he is the actor, he will deal with you in your life and save you.

If you just need to talk some more about it, listen, we're here to talk through things with you.

Just make an appointment with us.

Come down, grab one of the eyes.

I need to talk to somebody.

Find me out there after we'll talk to you.

The invitation does not end when the music does.

Because Jesus is always at work.

If you need a church home, you come.

If you need someone to pray with you, you come.

And together, as church family invested together, we will pray to our Savior together with you.

You come.

Lord, we love you and we thank you.

We thank you that after all these years right here in what started in a muddy street cowboy town, now is a key city in so many ways in our state and in the crossroads of major interstates and our nation and the opportunities that we have, we're here because of you.

We thank you and we praise you.

And now we ask you to guide us, empower us, and use us for your glory.

Lord, we come now and we ask that folks who need to do some work with you in their lives, you give them the freedom to respond because they've seen Jesus at work.

It is in his name we pray, and all God's people said.

Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.

Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.

Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.