Transcription
I've got a very, very good one of my best friends on the planet. Um, uh, we are very close. Our families are close. Pastor Josh Bingle from Spokane, Washington, Genesis Church. Um, he is not a guest. This is his sixth year. I messed up in the last service. Sixth year. Is it fifth? You counted. Did we get six or five?
>> Five years. Six times.
>> Five years. Six times.
>> Wow. Thank you, Pastor Howie. Yes. All right. Five years, six times.
[laughter] Yes. Um, so five years, sixth time. Um, and uh, Pastor Josh came in for the very first time. I think this is an important story to tell because it kind of, it, it highlights our relationship and the importance that this man, um, has in my life. Uh, five years ago, my brother passed away in a car accident. It was due to love by our congregation. We were a smaller church then. Rocked our family. Um, and uh, how many of you know there are friends that you call when you need encouragement, and then there are friends that you call when you need help?
>> Sometimes they're the same friend, but often times they're they're not. And uh, Pastor Josh is both, encouragement and help. But he came in for the first time, preached one of the best messages I've ever heard on forgiveness. And I do not say that with platitude. Like, um, I, I take serious scripture. And, um, and this message on forgiveness that he did that weekend was one of the best I've, I've ever heard. Um, when we first met, we became fast friends, and uh, we're the, the closeness of not just our friendship, but our families. We vacationed together just a couple weeks ago. Um, and so I've seen this man up close and personal. We're not just friends from a distance, but we're in each other's lives. And uh, so that's why I know he's a man of character, man of integrity, a man of consistency, loves God's word, loves Jesus, loves his family, his wife, and his kids. And so I know that you're going to be blessed to receive the word from him today. So, would you do me a massive favor, church? Will you give honor where honor is due? Will you welcome my friend, Pastor Josh Mingle?
[music] Let's go.
[music] Well, well, well. The well. Come on. Can we keep it going for Jesus in this room this morning, this afternoon? Come on. Give him some praise. If you love him, if you're thankful, if you're grateful, come on. If he lifted you up out of the muck and the mire and he set your feet on the solid rock, saved you, healed you, sanctifying you. Come on. We're grateful for Jesus, the undefeated champion of the universe, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I love you, church. It is. That's how math works. Five years, six times.
>> Cuz the first time was year zero, I guess.
>> Yeah, that's how I measure time. This is the sixth year of my life since I preached here the first time. No, I'm kidding. I should think we first met when you just said it. We first met. We were on a panel together in Canada, 2017, 2018. And I resolved that day, I will never sit on a panel with Jason Parish because he just preaches even a panel, and it was awesome. Um, but I love how seriously you take, um, your calling. I love how seriously you take the mantle that is obviously on your life and the people around you. Um, it goes beyond just your study. The way you, I mean, I get to see up close and personal the way you care for your body, what you put into it, the way you care for it, you work it out, you sleep well. My family got your whole family sick on vacation.
>> [laughter]
>> And you were the only one who didn't get sick. Here's Jay walking around with Clorox wipes. Okay. Okay. And just cleaning everything. I'm like, "Bro, calm down." He's like, "This is why I don't get sick." I'm like, "Okay, well, praise God." He's the only one out of all 11 of us that didn't get sick. But I love you. And it's a privilege. Absolute honor. Anytime, um, you get to open God's word, it's a privilege and an honor. And especially at a house like this, other than my own church, this is my favorite place to preach on planet Earth. And love you. Um, I come from Spokane, Washington. Shout out PNW. Um, Genesis Church. We've been pastoring, it'll be 16 years in September.
[applause] Yeah. Which just means we found like 10,000 ways to run a church into the ground. And God hasn't let us do it yet, cuz he's faithful and gracious. And I have my wife Carly. We have four kids together and, uh, can't wait to see them tomorrow night. Um, remain standing if you would for the reading of God's word. We're going to be in Ephesians today. Is that a surprise to you? Ephesians chapter 4. Bible says, "I," this is the Apostle Paul, "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called." CEO with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. Eager. Somebody say eager.
>> Eager.
>> I like that word. Eager. I'm eager for a lot of things. I'm eager for the Sonics to come back. Praise God. I'm eager for a Seahawks repeat.
>> I'm eager for a pizza after this for lunch. Praise God.
Paul says, "Eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." And we're going to spend most of our time today together in Mark chapter 6 where, uh, Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household." And the Bible says in verse 5, "He could do no mighty work there." Somebody say there.
>> There.
>> Yeah. Okay, we're going. Say there with some conviction. There.
>> There.
>> You're like, why? Because there. I love to speak to us today about our homes, our relationships, close relationships for you. It might be a marriage for you, might be a friendship for you, might be a roommate. But I would love it by way of introduction if everyone in the room, you're joining us online, if you could do this with us. Why don't you just close your eyes for a moment? Everybody, let's just close our eyes and I want you to imagine your living room. See the couch, the coffee table, smell the air, listen for the sounds of life. My assignment from the Holy Spirit this morning is to tell you this, that there is something beautiful that God wants to build there, right in your living room. Paul tells us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling that we've received. And we can tend to think of our calling exclusively as somewhere outside of that room. But your greatest calling is going to be to the people who occupy that room. It's not just the boardroom. It's not the business that you've been called to start, the people that you've been called to reach, the dreams in your heart. We tend to think of calling like that. But your greatest calling is going to be to the people who occupy that room. And Paul's exhortation to us means that our living rooms, check this, can and should become a place that heaven loves to fill. Not just this sanctuary, not just your prayer closet, not just in the cars you're driving and worshiping, but your living room. The very room where your ordinary everyday life happens. Can you imagine your living room being a place where God himself loves to live? Not just you, it's not just your safe space. It's not just your comfortable place, not just the place you put your feet up, but your living room as a place where God loves to live. Your living room, if you'll let me, as an upper room.
>> So today I've got a message of hopefully encouragement in practical application for you called your living room as an upper room in Jesus name. Can we pray together? Father, thank you for your word. We ask that you would minister to our hearts this morning. Holy Spirit, we need you to do what only you can do. You say about yourself that you lead us into all wisdom, that you grant us all understanding. Your word says in James that any of us that lack wisdom, we can ask for it. And the God who gives liberally will pour it out upon us. And so God, we ask for your wisdom for our future, wisdom for our homes, wisdom for our mind. God, I pray that we would be sanctified by the washing of the water of your word this morning. That Jesus, we would leave here looking more like you than we did when we walked in. And most of all, God, we pray that you're glorified in everything that we say and do in Jesus name. All God's people said,
>> "Amen."
Why don't you high five three or four people as you're grabbing your seat? Tell them, "I'm glad you're in church today. It's 1511 degrees outside. We got AC in the house of God." Praise God. Praise God, baby. We played some golf yesterday. We got in the truck when we were done and Jay turns the truck on and the little thermometer in the truck said 118 degrees and I said, "Why in the world does it get this hot anywhere?" I didn't actually say that, but Ephesians chapter 4. Shut up, Josh. Get to the Bible. Okay. "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord," Paul says, "urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called." You may be wondering, man, what is my calling? Maybe you've thought about it. Calling, what am I supposed to do? Well, it may be any number of things, but one thing is certain in scripture that there is a calling in your life to represent Jesus to the people closest to you. Amen.
So I want to talk to us about those people, those beautiful people, those wonderful people, those infuriating people, those annoying people, those lifegiving people, those draining people, the people closest to you. And I want to use Mark chapter 6 to give us some practical handles to build what Paul urges us to build. We use scripture to interpret scripture and we use scripture to understand scripture. And when scripture seems to be a little bit confusing, we don't run to our own understanding or a guru or a podcast. We run straight back to God's word. And so God's word explains God's word. And so we're going to use God's word to explain God's word from Mark chapter 6. The Bible says in Mark 6, "He," that being Jesus, "he went away from there and came to his hometown and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue. And many who heard him were astonished, saying, 'Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?'" And then they continue and they say, "Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? And aren't his sisters with us?" Like right in the thank you cards in the corner to give to everybody after the party? Like, we know him. We know him. We know his family. And the Bible says they took offense at Jesus. Now, I like to think when I see stuff like that, I read the Bible, they took offense at Jesus. So, I'm like, I would never, but we probably would have. They took offense at Jesus. So Jesus, not willing to back down from it, says to them, to the crowd, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household. And he could do no mighty work there." Somebody say there.
>> There.
>> There. That that little word there has been messing with me. He could do no mighty work there. Not in general. There. In Nazareth, in his hometown, among his own relatives, in his household, you could say in his living room. Jesus even names it when he says a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown among his relatives and in his household. So the problem here in Mark 6 is not that Jesus suddenly ran out of power. It's not like he has a finite amount of power units and if he didn't eat his vegetables the night before, then he ran out of power. He's like, I'm tired and need sleep and I'll recharge and meet you in the morning. The problem is not that Jesus ran out of power. The problem was the atmosphere there. The problem in the text was the climate in that place. You see, Nazareth, as we know from the text, was a place where honor was low and unbelief was high. Nazareth was a place where they knew Jesus according to the natural, according to the flesh. They say, "Is this not the carpenter?" They know his family. They know his history. They're like, "We saw him playing like, uh, pony baseball games with John the Baptist, his cousin. Like, we've been knowing him since he was this high." They knew him according to the flesh, his family, his history. But they could see with their eyes. And because they were so overly familiar with his humanity, they could not receive from his divinity. The problem was not that Jesus lacked power. The problem was that the, the, the power that he had, the ability for it to move in their life was limited because of how they saw him, how they spoke to him, how they heard him. The problem was the atmosphere there. Now let's juxtapose that against another room in Acts chapter 2 called the upper room. Acts chapter 1 verse 14 says, "All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers." And Acts chapter 2 verse 1 and 4 says, "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit." And I cannot shake this picture in the text of these two rooms. Nazareth as ground floor and the upper room as elevated. Nazareth is low-level living. Everything is interpreted at street level. Everything is interpreted and processed according to the flesh. Everything is about what is familiar, what is irritating, and what is common. Shout out families. What is familiar and what is irritating and what is common. Apparently your families are better than mine because nobody said amen. But shout out families, what is familiar, cuz you're sitting with your spouse, she's like, "You better not." But what is familiar and what is irritating and what is common.
The upper room on the other hand is elevated. And it's not about the location. It's not about the address. It's about the posture of the hearts of the people in that room. You see, in that room, hearts were raised, hands were raised, expectation was raised. The people of God went up in that room. And when the people of God are elevated in that way, we see over and over in scripture that the Holy Spirit descends, watch this, there.
>> Okay, cool. Cool lesson, bro. Thank you.
No, no, no. Here's why this matters. Because every home represented in this room has a there. Your marriage has a there. Your parenting has a there. Your household has an atmosphere. The question is not, is there a climate in my home? Because there is. The question is, what kind of climate is it?
You might be sitting in here, young adults, students, maybe you're in the room and you're single. You're like, "Wow, this is really cool. Thank you. I'm not married and this is for the future." You have two options. You can check out or you can grab some wisdom from God's word and start to build good, healthy patterns and habits and mindsets so that when you step into relationships like this, you can save yourself 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 25 years worth of having to unwind things. Can you imagine being the kind of person that people wanted in every room?
I'm talking to this section here. Instead of being like, "Man, I don't get invited to stuff." Can you imagine being the kind of person that everybody wants to invite into the room? I promise you, if you grab the posture of honor that we're going to see here in this place, every room into which you walk can become an upper room. Not because you're so awesome, but because you've been bought with blood and baptized by fire, and the power of the Holy Spirit is on the inside of you. And you shift rooms when you walk in. You won't be able to stop the invites. So, like, I ain't married yet. Get this in you and watch how God uses you in every room that you walk into. The question is not, does your home have a climate? It does. The question is, what kind of climate is it? Is your home Nazareth? Some of you are like, "Dude, just calm down. We just met. You're being aggressive." I feel like family here. This is my sixth time in five years. We did the sixth time in, I can't even do it. Sixth time in five years. Maybe like you're being a bit aggressive. But here's my question. Is your home Nazareth, ground floor, familiar, cynical, offended, or is your home becoming an upper room, full of humility and gentleness, as Paul says, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace? You see, Paul in Ephesians 4 is using climate-shaping language that is conspicuously absent from the hearts of those in Nazareth. By way of encouragement, I would note to you in both texts, it's the same people in both of those rooms. Jesus' mother and his brothers were there in Nazareth when all the dishonor and he could do no mighty works. Then we see in the text in Acts chapter 2, who else was who was still in the room? Same people, very different rooms, very different experiences. Why would I say that? Because you're not born knowing how to do this. And the good news is the same people were in both rooms. Which means you can make a decision today based on how I see, how I speak, how I hear, that you can start to build upper rooms in every room. And honor is a huge part of the difference between these two rooms. I'm a big honor guy. Part of my life mission is to help restore honor to the world.
And honor is a huge part of the difference between these two rooms. And so for our purposes today, I'll define honor to you like this. To honor something is simply to treat it as if it were uncommon.
That's it. You might be like, "Honor means like when my wife gets home, I got to like, like a trumpet play and some, you know, palm leaves and we're like, 'How was your day?'" Like that would be awesome. Do that. You'll get some points. But it's much simpler than that. To honor something, someone, is simply to treat it or them as if they were uncommon. And that follows to say that dishonor is treating something uncommon as if it were common.
We see in the text that's what Nazareth does. They look at the very Son of God, altogether uncommon, God in flesh, the Lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world, who in a few short years would shed his blood for the sins of mankind, and they collapse him into the common by saying, "Isn't this just the carpenter?" What are they doing? They're collapsing the altogether uncommon into the common. They're treating what is uncommon as if it was ordinary. And when you and I treat what God has given us as ordinary, we start to miss the gift that is standing right in front of us. It doesn't matter if it's my wife, my husband, my friend, my kids. If they could do it to Jesus, you can definitely do it to somebody in your living room.
In fact, that's what I think is happening in a lot of homes. It's a slow drift that husbands have just become common to their wives and wives have become common to their husbands and parents and children have become common to each other. So, we just, we say things like, "That's just how he is," as this norm. "This is how she is," or "That's just our teenager." Too few of us are seeing the people in our homes as the uncommon gifts of God that they are.
[applause] So, if we're going to build upper room homes, we have to get very practical about honor. So this text in Mark 6, we're going to use it to illustrate what Paul is, uh, uh, begging us to live. How he's begging us to live. And the text in Mark 6 illustrates honor with three components. I'm going to use the rest of my time to talk to us about how we see, how we speak, and how we hear. How we see, how we speak, and how we hear. Let's start with how we see each other. How do you see him? Not Him with a capital H. We're not talking about God. No, no, no. How do you see him? How do you see her? You see, Nazareth saw Jesus through old categories. "Is this not the carpenter?" They said. They locked him into who he had been in the flesh and as such, they were unable to see who he had grown into. And dishonor does that. It freezes people in your old experience of them. It says, "I already know how this conversation is going to go. I already know who you are. I already know where this ends." But honor refuses to do that. Honor says, "I may know your history, but I refuse to limit your future to what I've seen so far." Honor says, "I am not going to reduce you to your worst habit or your loudest flaw. I'm going to relate to you according to the grace of God on your life and in your life." Now, listen to me. If you're sitting there listening, you would have the same question I have. Preacher, are you saying I just pretend everybody's perfect? No. I'm not advocating for pretending everybody in your home is perfect and flawless. That's not spiritual. We have a word for that. It's called denial. Don't do that. I'm not talking about pretending. I'm talking about posture in your heart. I'm talking about positioning your heart before the Lord such that you refuse to reduce people into fleshly categories. And something crazy happens when you do that. When you choose to see them the way God sees them, here's what happens. You begin to actually see them the way that Jesus does, which is not in denial of their very real faults, but in an elevated recognition of who they were created to become by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And you know what? A second crazy thing happens when you do that is that they actually want to become the person that you see. You ever seen that meme that it's like, "I endeavor to be the person that my dog thinks I am"?
[laughter] What if that was you in your home? Husband, what if your wife was telling her friends like, "I just, I endeavor to be the woman of God that my husband sees me, how my husband sees me." Wives, what if that was you in your home that your husband said, "I endeavor to be the man of God that my wife thinks that I am." Parents, what if that's what your kids say? "I endeavor to be the kind of spirit-filled, Bible-believing, Jesus-loving teenager that my parent sees me as."
How do you see them? Honor starts that. How do you see him? Some homes, the chaos that you experience in your home is not because there's no love left. It's just because there's no honor left. It's not a lack of love. It's just we tend to see over time just what irritates us and what disappoints us and we stop seeing each other through the lens of calling and we only see each other through the lens of frustration. That's Nazareth. Low-level, fleshly. It's not a lack of love. It's a lack of honor. And listen, honor is just love with its work boots on. Like, honor is how love goes to work. Love wakes up and puts its boots on. Says, "I'm going to work today." And that's honor. Honor is how you show that you love. An upper room home sounds different. It sounds like, "Listen, I might be frustrated with you right now. Like, I might be frustrated with you right now, but I still believe that you're an uncommon gift from God in my life."
It says, "Hey, listen. We may not agree about this yet or right now, but I'm not going to speak to you like you're common." How do you see them? I do this thing when I get home from work because I can't always give my family the most of my time, but I can give them the best of my time. So, I do this thing when I go home. You guys remember Michael Jordan?
The greatest to ever do it. Go status forever. Miss me with LeBron. This is a really good tactic on how to divide a church right down the middle is say that Michael Jordan is the greatest to ever do it. And here's the thing is that Michael Jordan walked so that LeBron James could limp his way into Philadelphia and try and grab another one. Okay. Call now. See, THAT'S THE MOST ENGAGED WE'VE BEEN. I'M KIDDING. We love you, LeBron. You're amazing. Space Jam 2 was way worse, but you're still awesome. We love you. Thank you, Jesus. We're doing, uh, we're doing the first episode of season two of Analog Podcast tomorrow. And part of it was like, bring your top five albums of the '90s. I'm like, well, number one's the Space Jam soundtrack. Easy. But when the Bulls were playing in the '90s, there was, if you remember the starting lineups, there was this song that would come on. It's a song called "Serious" by the Alan Parsons Project. And the song just goes, and the lights go down, you know, and the hits boom. And they're like, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOUR CHICAGO BULLS." WE'RE ALL LOSING OUR MIND. LIKE THE 66 SHOOTING GUARD FROM NORTH CAROLINA, MICHAEL GEORGE. Like, I put that song on when I drive up to my house. I'm not kidding. Why? Because I'm going to get jacked up for the best 10 minutes of my day.
I'm like, tearing off my tearways. I'M LIKE, "LET'S GO." GETTING OUT OF THE FRONT SEAT. Kids are like, "Dad,"
[laughter] "my two youngest kids are still young enough." Our kids are 9, 7, 3, and 1. That my two youngest kids are still young enough that they wait by the window and they run out of the house when I get home. "Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy." And the proper response is not for me. It was like, "Dude, let me breathe for like four seconds. I just got home from work because I'm fleshly and I'm fallen and I'm irritable and I'm broken." And one day I was like, "What in the world? Why am I responding? These are the most uncommon gifts of God in my life. It's not the platform. It's not the accolades. It's not the accomplishments. It's not the books. It's them. They're the prize. They're the purpose. They're the calling. They're the priority." You know what's crazy? It was that simple. It changed how I saw them. They weren't just an interruption to Daddy's 10-minute Diet Coke break after work. It shifted how I saw them. They're the calling. They are the purpose. They are the prize. So then when they come up, they go, "Dad, dad, dad." I'm like, "Calm down." I'm like, "What do you want to tell me? What do you want to say? You want to play cards?" Here's what I found. If I give them the best 10 minutes of my day right there, they're good for probably the rest of the night. Not that we don't hang out more than that 10 minutes, but they're set. It's all they need. How do you see them?
How do you see him? How do you see her? It's not just how we see, it's how we speak. You want to build an upper room type home. How do you speak? We shape the environment of the rooms we're in by how we speak. In Nazareth, watch this. Their conversation turned amazement into offense. It was their conversation that did it. That's bizarre. When Jesus starts speaking, the text says they are astonished. They were amazed. Remember when you were dating? Oh my God, I love him. He's amazing. He's the best. Like he, like, dresses trendy, but he, like, doesn't think he's too cool. Like it's like awesome. Like it's not like the only thing he thinks about. Like it's like a great job, but he still has time for me. Like, why? That's amazing.
[laughter] And the guys were like, "Dude, she's like one of the fellas, man. She's like one of the bros. Like she can hang, she can kick it. Like she's pretty and she's funny. She's like not weird. And she made these amazing chicken carbonara the other night, but also like she could just like kick it like she's one of the guys, you know? It's like a, like, remember your dating? Check this. Here's how dishonor happened in Nazareth. As they kept talking, they talked themselves out of amazement into offense. That's what the text says. They were offended at him. They went from, "Oh my God, he's amazing," to, "Who does he think he is?"
That happened as they talked. The same thing happens in our homes. The way we talk to each other, how about this? The way we talk about each other builds a ceiling over my home. The question is, how high do I want that ceiling to be? Hey fellas, when you go out for a round of golf with the boys and you're chopping it up on the 16th green, how are you talking about your wife and your family?
Because that conversation can turn amazement into offense really quick. Hey, when you're out with the ladies hanging out, just letting your hair down, how are you talking about your husband, your family, your kids? Because amazement can turn, or pardon me, conversation can turn amazement into offense. How are you speaking about one another? I was helping some people with their, some marriage stuff a couple months ago. "Pastor, can you help us?" And so I just had them talking and I realized something. I was like, "Oh, wait a second. You think your job in each other's lives is to keep each other humble?" Got it. Listen, that's the Holy Spirit's job.
Your job is to gas each other up at every opportunity that you get. Amen. I don't mean puff each other up in pride. I mean call each other up into your God-given identity. Listen, the Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of dealing with my spouse's pride.
[laughter] He's fully capable of convicting my children. He does not need me to volunteer as the fourth in the Trinity. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and Josh, here I come to save the day. Like, in fact, according to Romans 12:10, one of my main roles and privileges in my home, the Bible says, "Outdo one another in showing honor." Which means that my assignment, in part, according to scripture, is to build one another up, to strengthen the hearts of the people in my home. Husbands, imagine how different the atmosphere of your room would be if honoring your wife was normal. You spoke what was uncommon in her in front of the kids. Wives, husbands, parents to kids, kids to parents, parents, how different would your home be if your children heard about more, more about what was uncommon in them than what's wrong with them? Hey, uh, students, people who are still living at home in the room, imagine how much different your life in the room would be if when your parents said, "Hey, you need to be home by 10 p.m.," it wasn't met with an eye roll and you weren't like, "But Sarah gets to stay out till 11," but instead you saw them as the uncommon gifts of God that they are in your life because they know that nothing good happens after 10:00 p.m. So they're setting good boundaries for you because they love you and they believe in the call of God that's in you, the grace of God that's on you, the future that God has for you. So instead of an eye roll and a stomp, it's, "Thank you for loving me enough to set healthy." Can you imagine?
You might just get to stay out till 10:15 next time and get you ice cream. Okay. Finally, and as we close, how we hear, learn to listen for God's voice in one another. Nazareth had already decided who Jesus was, and because of that, nothing new could get through. Eller, they already decided who Jesus was, and because of that, nothing new could get through. Listen, dishonor always makes your ears dull. If you've already decided that your spouse is a certain way, you stop listening. If you already decided your teenager has nothing to offer, you stop listening. If you already decided your parents are out of touch and don't understand the world, then you stop listening. But honor keeps your ears and your heart open. Honor says, "Lord, if you want to speak to me through this person, I don't want to miss it." Listen, what if the wisdom you've been begging God for is sitting across from your kitchen table? Nazareth couldn't receive it because they already decided who he was, so they couldn't hear.
What if the warning that you need is wrapped in your wife's concern? What if the courage your family needs is wrapped up in your husband's conviction about a particular issue? If you treat the people in your home as uncommon, you will miss the uncommon voice of God coming through them. But if you keep your eyes, your mouths, and your ears tuned to honor, God can move powerfully through the people closest to you. So, let me ask this question in closing. When Jesus walks through the front door of your home, what's he going to find there? Is he going to find Nazareth, ground floor, where everyone is common, everyone's overfamiliar, everyone is offended, and the ceiling is lower? Is he going to find an upper room home where hearts are elevated, ears are elevated, eyes are elevated, speech is elevated, a place where the Holy Spirit loves to descend and do mighty works there? Listen, if dishonor has been normal, here's what I know that a lot of people, we speak this way, we see this way because it's the way that we learned to navigate the world. It was like maybe at your dinner table or at the conversation, it was whoever said the most biting thing is the one who got the attention. And so you learned that it was a sharp tongue that got you noticed. You learned that unless you said it in a particular way, they didn't really take it seriously. But now you've had long enough to see the consequences of a life built on words like that. And I think that you have a hunch in you that there's got to be a better way, but you just don't know how. And you don't love it. And you wish it wasn't part of who you are. But you've resigned yourself to, "I guess this is just how I am and I have to mitigate it and I have to do extra stuff over here to make up for this." I'll tell you, if dishonor has been normal, the way out is repentance and blessing.
Repentance and blessing. Repentance is how you close the gap between Nazareth and the upper room. You don't explain away your biting sarcasm. You repent of it. You don't excuse your contempt. You repent. You don't justify your sharp tongue with, "That's just how I am." You bring it to the Lord and you say, "God, there's so much Nazareth in my mouth and I don't want it in my home anymore." And then you begin to bless and you ask the Holy Spirit, come on, to fill your mouth with life. And you start speaking out loud what's uncommon in your spouse and in your children and in your parents. And listen, over time, those repeated blessings begin to rebuild a new atmosphere. Listen there.
And I believe the Holy Spirit is inviting some of us to say, you know what, no more Nazareth in my home. Instead, let this be our prayer. Lord, make my home an upper room.
Can I give you some very simple and practical homework? Thank you for saying yes. I was going to do it anyway. I preached this months ago at my church and the people who actually were doers of the word and not hearers only, this homework manifested in their life in incredible ways. So sometime this week, it's your spouse. If you're not married, might be a roommate for you, a friend, and just ask one simple question. "Where have I treated you as common?" And then just listen. Don't defend. Don't explain. Don't turn it back on them. Just listen. Repent where you need to repent. Apologize where you need to be to apologize. And then speak blessing where blessing might be long overdue. And that simple conversation could be the moment where your home starts to move from Nazareth to the upper room. And I don't want it to be said over your address that he could do no mighty work there. I want your address to be known in heaven as an upper room home. A home where the presence of God is welcome. A home where the spirit can descend. A home where honor is normal. A home where mighty works can happen there in Jesus name. Can we stand together? The spirit of God is moving in hearts and minds. And the good news in all of this is not that you and your family just need to try harder to honor. You've tried that. The good news is that there is a savior who stepped into a completely dishonoring world and loved us anyway. Scripture says that Christ suffered and rose on the third day so that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations. Jesus came announcing, "The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel." That means that right now, because of his death and resurrection, you do not have to stay stuck in the patterns, the words, the sins, the atmospheres that have marked your life. Because on the cross, he took the shame, the dishonor, and the guilt of our sin. And in the empty tomb, he opened a new way of life, new hearts, new atmospheres, and yes, even new homes. So the invitation is not just, "Go home and do better." The invitation is, "Come to Jesus and repent and believe the gospel."
So I'm going to pray today. I'm going to lead us in a prayer. And maybe you're in here and you would say, "Pastor, I've never made Jesus the Lord of my life. I've never prayed a prayer of salvation, a prayer of new beginnings. I've never been born again." Whatever you want to call it. The Bible says that today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow, once I got it figured out. Not once my home feels a little bit more like, today is the day of salvation. He says, "If you believe in your heart, confess with your mouth that Jesus was raised from the dead, then you will be saved." And so I'd love to lead us in a prayer. And if you're saying, "Pastor, would you include me in this prayer?" I'd say, absolutely. Maybe today for you represents returning to the things of God. Maybe you knew Jesus at one point, but your heart just, he just kind of wasn't really relevant to your world. Kind of just grew indifferent toward him. Not that you hate God, or you just haven't really been walking with him. Well, come back to the house of God and the people of God today. So, I'm going to lead us in a prayer and I'm going to ask everybody in the room to pray it out loud. We're going to join our faith with the faith of those who are praying for the first time or for the first time again, if that's you today. And if that is you, I'd love for you to incline your heart to the Father. I know there's a lot of people in this room. Just incline your heart to the Lord and pray in sincerity. So, can we pray together? Say,
"Father, thank you for sending Jesus to die for me. I know that I've sinned and that I need you. So, would you come into my world? Be my leader. Be my Lord. Make me brand new. Give me a fresh start. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. And use my life to build your kingdom in Jesus name. Amen."
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[music] Amen. Oh, come on church. You can celebrate new life in Jesus name. Hey, if you prayed that for the first time, let me be the first to say, "Welcome to the family of God and the house of God and the kingdom of God. Your life will never be the same. And we want to equip you. We want to get some resources in your hand. We want to celebrate you." The Bible says that heaven is throwing a party with your name on it right now. They're going, "Roger, Roger,"
[screaming] "Roger."
And so we want to celebrate with heaven as heaven celebrates your name being written in the Lamb's Book of Life. So I'm going to count to three in just a moment. And when I get to three, if you prayed that for the first time or the first time again, on when I say three, I want you to shoot your hand as high in the air as you can so we can come alongside you and celebrate you and resource you and walk with you. So on the count of three, would you just shoot your hand in the air? One. Thank you Jesus that you are still saving and redeeming and you are giving us new life. Two. Thank you Jesus for working in me. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for making me new. Thank you for starting a work in me. Three. If that was you, would you shoot your hand in there? Say, Jesus. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Never the same. Never the same. Come on. Never the same. Never the same.