The Parable Of The Good Samaritan | Dustin Woodward

I want to ask you a question today, though kicking off today. Have you ever encountered someone and they asked you a question? Now, hear me on this. They asked you a question. There was nothing technically wrong with the question, but the way they asked, the tone in which they asked the question, just got under your skin.

Yeah, I think all of us. Um, it happens all the time. Just a few weeks ago, I was out of town at a coffee shop, and uh, my go-to order, don't judge me. I'm not a black coffee person. My go-to order when I'm getting coffee is just like a mocha with oat milk. Don't, don't judge. I, I just, I don't like my coffee to taste like dirt. I like it to taste like good with a little bit of dirt. All right. Just good with a little bit of dirt.

And so I walked up to this uh, this coffee shop and um, I, I've always, always, always, always, forever, just ordered a mocha with oat milk, extra shot. That, that's, that's my drink. Standard drink. And so I walked up to the counter, barista's there, and and the person taking the order, and I just said, "Hey, can I get a hot mocha with oat milk and an extra shot?" The guy looked at me like I was an alien from outer space. He looks at me and goes, "Wait, can you repeat that?" You know, already a little bit like cocky, condescending, just with that question. And I went, "Yeah, I'll just get a a hot mocha with oat milk and an extra shot." And he goes, "A hot mocha with oat milk and an extra shot?" And I said, "Yes." And he goes, "Do you mean, do you mean you want a hot mocha latte with oat milk and an extra shot?" And I went, [laughter] "Yeah, no, I didn't, I didn't do it like that." I was nice. You never know who's watching the Lord. Okay, so I was like, I went, "Yes, 'cause technically he was right." But I've just never, ever, ever said mocha latte. Can I get a mocha?

And so he's typing in the register and he goes, "Okay, so you want a mocha, hot mocha latte with oat milk and an extra shot?" And I went, "Yes, I promise." Just like that. I went, "Yeah, that's, that's what I want." And I was like fuming walking to the end of the counter. You, you know, like your every bit of your, it's taking every ounce of your Christianity to keep it. You're like, and I, I handled it though. I was nice. I maintained. I'm saved. Everything's good. But it wasn't technically the question that bothered me. It was the tone, the condescending nature of the question. And that's what we're encountering in our story today. The parable today that we're looking at. Again, parables are stories that Jesus told, made-up stories to illustrate a very real truth. But before Jesus tells this very famous story, he's asked a question. But this parable we're looking at today, again, one of the most famous, if not the most famous, is the parable of the Good Samaritan, found in Luke 10:25-37.

So, in the same way, this man, this guy at the coffee shop was asking me a condescending question, there was a man asking Jesus a question. There was nothing technically wrong with the question, but it was in a way that was meant to trap Jesus. So, even if you've heard this story many times, I want you today to look at this again with a fresh lens today, looking at this story, to ask God, what do you want me to get out of it today? I'm also going to treat today not so much like a preaching sermon, but like a teaching Bible study. We're going to go through the sermon. We're going to analyze all facets of the parable and then apply it to our lives. So, I'm going to read it. You can read along with me. Luke 10, starting in verse 25.

"On one occasion, an expert of the law, or a lawyer, stood up to test Jesus. 'Teacher,' he asked, 'what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus says, 'What is written in the law?' He replied, 'How do you read it?' He answered, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.'" He's quoting here from the Old Testament. This lawyer is quoting the Old Testament law from Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19 combined.

"This is how Jesus answered. 'You have answered correctly,' Jesus replied. 'Do this and you will live.'" Here's the question. Verse 29. "But he wanted the man wanted to justify himself. So he asked, 'And who is my neighbor?'" That was the question meant to trap Jesus.

In reply, Jesus is a genius. This, this is the genius of Jesus. He doesn't even give him an answer. This is how he starts. "A man was going down from Jerusalem." He just starts telling a story. Captivates the entire audience. "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead."

Here's something very important you need to know about the story of the Good Samaritan. The man that was beaten and left for dead on the side of the road. We know nothing about him except that he was a man. We don't know what ethnicity he was, nationality, we don't know what race he was. We don't know what socioeconomic status he had. We, we know nothing. He's just a man.

Verse 31. "A priest, so a Jewish priest, happened to be going down the same road. And when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, so these are both Jewish leaders, right? A Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was. And when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine."

I want to pause right there just for a second. At this moment in the story, I feel like I say this every week with the parables, but it's true. At this moment in the story, there would have been audible gasps in the crowd. There was so much animosity between the Jewish listeners that Jesus was teaching and Samaritans. And I'm going to explain that in a second. But Jesus was challenging this audience like crazy. This was probably the moment in that church service where people may have gotten up and left because they were mad.

Let's continue. "Then he put on, he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave it to the inkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said. 'And when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'"

"Which of these?" So, this is Jesus now asking, he's coming out of the story asking the crowd, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" See how Jesus brings the trap right back? The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." I want you to notice there's so much animosity. He wouldn't even say the Samaritan. "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Guys, Jesus, he's a boss because he, he looked at this guy. Not only does he make the guy basically say the Samaritan, but then he says, "Hey, in order for you to be godly, go live like the Samaritan I just told you about in the story." The crowd would have been silent.

So, you, you know, if, if you've been here very long or you listen to very many sermons in, in this time period, you'll hear pastors or Bible commentators talk about the animosity between Jews and Samaritans. I want to take about a three-minute, um, just side note real quick and tell you why that was and where it came from. In 7:23 BC, the Assyrians conquered Jerusalem and they also captured many of the Jewish people and took them into Assyria. But then also, Assyria put many thousands of Assyrians into Jerusalem over and with the command to marry Jewish men and women. So when those couples got together, the Jewish, uh, men and women marrying the Assyrians, it started diluting the the Jewish, uh, bloodline. So many Jews abstained from everything Assyrian, but many Jews married and had children with the Assyrians. So the offspring of the Jews and Assyrians, that offspring, those offspring became Samaritans, what are known as Samaritans today.

But the Jewish people back then, and it's derogatory for sure, but they looked at the children of the Samaritans and Jews, those Samaritans as half-breeds because these children viewed themselves somewhat Jewish. They were raised to memorize and study the Torah, the first five books of the Jewish Bible, our Bible. Uh, they, the Pentateuch, they were raised to study those books. They were raised to worship the same God. But there were some pretty big differences. That's all of the Old Testament they believed in. And they didn't believe Jerusalem was the mountain to worship on with the Jewish temple that housed the presence of God. They believed it was on another mountain, among many other things, a lot of other things there. So the Jewish people despised them as basically tainting what God was trying to do through the Jewish people as a counterfeit mockery. And in the same way, the Samaritans despised them because of them despising the Samaritans. So there was a long-standing feud for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, even to the point where Jesus was telling this story. So that's where the feud comes from. That's where the animosity comes from. So now, you know, for Jesus to have the audacity to use a Samaritan as the primary hero in a story to a primarily Jewish audience, that was a big deal. A very big deal.

Also, this road, uh, is a very real road. It's a made-up story, but it's a very real road. So, everyone would have known the context and how treacherous this road was. It was a 20-mile stretch from Jerusalem to Jericho. It descended about 3,000 feet from Jerusalem to Jericho. There were rocks, desert formations everywhere. If you've been on, if you were on our first Israel trip, we went to this spot for a little while. You can see the exact road. This road, um, in our English language, the translation is the Way of Blood. And it still is called that today because back then there were so many robberies. Um, there were muggings, people were killed and left on the side of the road. So the audience would have known the context of this story and thought that there was a lot of validity to it.

So today, looking at the story of the Good Samaritan, there's the context for this, and it's very important for us to understand that. Today, we're just going to look at the story and I'm going to ask two questions, and then we're going to try to place ourselves in this story and see what Jesus is talking about. So the first question, if you're taking notes, is this: Who are you in the story? Who are you in the story? In other parables, Jesus assigns who we are in the story. This one, you have a little bit of an option to choose which one you're going to be in the story.

The first option is this: Are you the lawyer? So, even before the story begins, the man that challenges Jesus and tries to trap Jesus with this question. Remember in the story it says, "in order to justify himself, he asked the question, 'Who is my neighbor?'" This person has a heart that wants to justify itself. "Who is my neighbor?" Again, there's nothing technically wrong with that question. But the question was asked in a way to where this technically correct religious person, he wanted to know, "What's the bare minimum of how much I have to love in order to still be accepted by God? Tell me, Jesus, who exactly is my neighbor?" Because the Old Testament way of thinking, going all the way back to Leviticus, where this original command came from, there's some wording in chapter 19 of Leviticus that led Jewish people to believe that your neighbor was people that thought like you, your brothers and sisters. But what Jesus was saying in this story is, you guys have gotten that context wrong for a long time because there are no limits to who your neighbor is. But Jesus poses a bigger question. It's not so much technically, "Who's my neighbor?" Is it this: Are you being the neighbor you need to be to everyone? That's the challenge of the Good Samaritan.

So, who are you in this story? Are you the lawyer? You know the right answer, but you want to define the limits of our love. Now, you might be thinking, "I don't, I, I'm not that person. I don't have limits to my love." Well, let's, let's take a look at this. The next time there's an election, let's see if there's limits to our love. You're like, "No, I, I ain't going to love those Democrats. I ain't going to love those Republicans. Those independents, they can't even make up their mind." You know, whatever it is, we put limits. Well, I, I think, I think those people are evil. Well, you're putting limits. Every Jewish person there that day would have said, "We have justified reasons to have this anger toward the Samaritans because they're out to end our religion." And Jesus goes, "Oh, so there's limits to your love." Now, love doesn't mean acceptance. Love doesn't mean I have to believe what you believe. But they had put limits on their love. So here's the question. You guys still with me? All right. Am I looking for loopholes instead of opportunities to love? Am I looking for loopholes to get out of it, or am I looking for opportunities to get into it?

Here's the second option. So, firstly, are you the lawyer? Secondly, are you the robbers in the story? Hardly anyone puts themselves in that position. The robbers, though, this is the heart that uses people. None of us like the idea that we could use people, but everyone in here can think of at least a few people that use people. So, it begs the question, really, we should really look in the mirror ourselves and always ask ourselves, "Am I using people?" 'Cause that's what the robbers did. They saw a person as an opportunity. They took instead of gave. They left someone broken for the sake of their own benefit. These are the robbers in the story. And Jesus brings judgment into the people's lives that take advantage of other people as a stepping stone, as someone to step on in order to get where we want to go. That is a sinful way of thinking. It's the opposite of the challenge in the Good Samaritan.

So here's a question to ponder: Am I treating people as image-bearers, image-bearers of God to love, or as opportunities to advance myself? Guys, we are not the main character of our lives. Jesus is. The moment you start living like a main character, you're already living outside of the will of God. People don't exist for you. We exist to worship God. Jesus is the main character.

So, here, here's something too I want you to remember. Whenever people, this is a convicting thing to think about. Whenever people become a means to your success instead of someone to love, you're thinking like the robbers in the story. We cannot view people as a means to an end. We are removing their dignity. We are removing the fact that they are image-bearers of God. We cannot do it.

So, are you the lawyer? Are you the robbers? Or next, are you the priest or the Levite? The priest is a Jewish priest. The Levite is also a Jew, a Jewish leader in the temple. These are religious leaders. These are, um, long-standing Christians, if you will, if we want to place ourselves in the story. But this is the heart that sees, but does not stop. They saw the need. They knew what love was, but what love required, but they passed by anyway. This is why this is such a big deal and why Jesus says they went from Jerusalem to Jericho. It's very important because he didn't say they were going from Jericho to Jerusalem. Why? Because he's upping the ante. He's saying these two Jewish leaders, if they're leaving Jerusalem to go to Jericho, that means they came to Jerusalem to go worship in the temple. They're literally leaving church and walking by someone who desperately needs help and they pass by on the other side. That's also a deep challenge that Jesus gives in this story.

I want you to remember this: Compassion delayed often becomes compassion denied. Compassion delayed often becomes compassion denied. Did you know compassion is not a feeling? It's the beginning. A feeling is the beginning of compassion. Compassion is action. We can't walk around going, "I'm so compassionate." Because I just walk around going, "Oh, I have a heart for that person. Oh, I'm so empathetic. I feel that person's pain." Right? But what are you doing about their pain? What are you doing? We can't call ourselves compassionate if the compassion stays in here. That means we're living with good intention, but we're not living with appropriate action.

So, here's the question on this one: What need have I walked past because it was inconvenient, uncomfortable, or costly? That's the challenge of the priest and the Levite. Especially if you're a Christian here today or have been for a little while. This is a very strong challenge. We can't just always walk by needs. Meeting needs isn't always about money, but it's always about noticing and taking a step toward doing something, bringing dignity back to people's lives.

Next, or are you the Good Samaritan? The heart that extends mercy. The heart that extends mercy. So the Good Samaritan, he saw, he felt compassion, but then he crossed the road. The other two went away on the other side of the road. He crossed the road and came to him. He bandaged his wounds. He bore the cost of the inn. He made plans for restoration for the person. This is full wraparound care for a person who is desperately in need. Why? Because mercy isn't just something you feel. Like I said, it's something you do. Mercy has to be something we do. One of the biggest ways that the world will see us and what we believe in within our religion as something that's real, the entire world is waiting on Christians to have love and mercy for a world in a way that the rest of the world does not. We cannot let the systems and structures of government, society, and culture outmatch us with mercy, grace, and love. It has to be paramount and unbelievably important within the Christian life.

So, here's the question on this: Who is God calling me to cross the road for this week? Cross the road of forgiveness. Cross the road of someone you've been saying, "Well, just, I mean, you got to just pick yourself up. You've got to just do this." Again, there's, there's a little bit of balance here, but don't take this too far. It, it, it's not that we just are always giving handouts, handouts, handouts. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying this: with every encounter that we have with someone in need, are you treating them as just someone who wants to take, or are you treating them as someone that God knew before they were ever formed in their mother's womb? He gave a purpose and destiny for their lives. And somewhere they got off track. And only by the grace of God are you not where they are today. We have to offer and bring dignity again to every person we encounter.

So, here's a verse that is scary and at the same time really cool. Hebrews 13:2 says, "Don't forget to be kind to strangers, for some who have, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it." That's cool and scary because you can do a deep dive on this, and the truth of the matter is, this verse is actually telling us probably at some point in our lives we have encountered angels and the King James version says, "and we were unaware." Isn't that an interesting thought? Like, angels? Are you sure they come? Angels? That's so supernatural, guys. This, everything we believe is supernatural. And so it's like, I, it's so weird that people like, "Oh, I believe God placed every planet in the universe, perfectly placed every star, everything in the earth." But angels, are you serious? Yes, I'm serious. The other day I was, uh, getting out of my car at Uptown at, um, I was going into Nordstrom Rack for a couple of minutes. And I was getting out of my car and, um, Nordstrom Rack, 'cause I'm a pastor, not Nordstrom. I'm a pastor. Nordstrom Rack. Okay. So, I was, I was getting out of my car and there was a young lady in her upper teens, early 20s, and um, I knew she was going to ask for money. And I, I reached into my pockets and I literally didn't have any cash on me as I was getting out. And she was sweet and and kind, and I said, "I'm so sorry. I literally don't have anything." And then I went into the store and I'm walking around and the only thought in the back of my mind was this. And I was like, I knew it was God going, "But did you check your cup holders? Because I think you know, you might have some change in there. You might." And for whatever reason, that doesn't happen all the time, but I started studying for this sermon and I'm walking around in the store and I felt like, and this verse came to mind and I'm like, "Oh, I, ah." And so I immediately walk outside and I couldn't find the girl. And I look inside my car and sure enough, there's just like, there's tons of quarters. And I felt so unbelievably guilty to the point where I'd prayed and said, "God, if this was a test, I know I failed and I'm sorry. I, I just, I was in a hurry." And it's so weird because I had all the same stupid excuses as the priest and the Levite, and I failed. And, and I, again, it's not always about giving people money, but it's about treating people with dignity and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit saying, "This one, go further. This one, go further." And I think that's what we've got to become sensitive to.

Here's the next question, the next possible person, and then we'll move on. Are you the wounded man? Are you the wounded man? You know, it's interesting. I, I've listened to sermons on this my whole life. I've preached multiple sermons on this over the course of all these years, and I've never once thought about us placing ourselves possibly as the wounded man. But this is the heart that needs mercy. Now, there's always a call for us to show mercy. But some of us here today at our North campus, Maui campus, we might be here today saying, "Yes, I know I need to extend mercy, but I need help today. I've been the one that Christians have walked past over and over. I've been abandoned, abused, I've been dropped. I'm broken. I need help today." Sometimes in the moment, we're not the rescuer. Sometimes we're the ones lying in the ditch. And we've all been there. But the first step, this is what I want to encourage you with. The first step to extending mercy for many of us might be the healing we need and admitting to ourselves that we are the person on the side of the road and I need mercy today.

Here's a question to ponder: Have I allowed Jesus to do for me what I could never do for myself? So many times we're the ones on the side of the road trying to do everything ourselves and muscle through it and fix ourselves and fix ourselves. And I can't come to God. I can't fully go to church. I can't go all-in on on with Christ until I fix myself. I'm too broken. I'm too dirty. I'm too messed up. I'm too forgotten. I'm too abandoned. But here's the, here's the point. We can't fix ourselves. So, are you trying to do something that only Jesus can do in your life? Are we expecting someone else to come do something for us that only Jesus can do in our lives?

And that's exactly why I want to ask you the next question in the sermon today. Point two. And our final point is this: Who is Jesus in the story? Who's Jesus in the story? This is an interesting take on this story because if you've heard this sermon before, you have probably heard it in the way of leading up to what I just said. Everything I've just preached. It is a call to compassion. It's a call to go to the other side of the road. It's a call to reach people that don't look like us, talk like us, believe like us, is to go through racial barriers, ethnic barriers, nationality barriers, to go through political barriers. Yes, it is all of those things. But from the beginning of the Bible all the way to the very end, in every single story, every story points to Jesus and the gospel. And while Jesus is in this story, telling this story, he's also placing himself in the story and teaching us the perfect gospel. Here it is. It's hard for us to notice it, but it's in plain sight right in front of us. The gospel in the Good Samaritan.

What do I mean? Like the wounded man, we all spiritually before Christ are helpless on the side of the road. Romans 5:6 says, "We were utterly helpless with no way of escape. Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners who had no use for him." I, I love this part of the story because spiritually speaking, the first thing we have to understand if we're ever going to step into a life with Christ is, I can't fix myself. I am the helpless, wounded person on the side of the road. I couldn't stand spiritually. I can't heal my own wounds. Just like that man. I can't crawl my way out. I can't crawl my way to heaven. I can't crawl my way or fight my way to salvation. I had to wait on someone to come. But the good news is, Jesus did.

Which is the second part of the gospel story in the Good Samaritan. Christ came to us. The Samaritan, this man in the story, moved toward the wounded man. He entered into someone else's pain. He was in a different place, but he saw the need and stepped into the sphere of the wounded man. And it's exactly what Jesus did for us. Romans 5:8 says this, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Aren't you so grateful for that today? While I was on the side of the road in the midst of sin and brokenness, when I was betraying God, when I was living life in a way that God could not honor, he loved me so much that he sent his one and only Son not to Earth to say, "Crawl to me," but he sent him into this world so he could come to us and pick us up and heal us in a way that we could not heal ourselves spiritually.

Also, just like the man on the side of the road and the Good Samaritan, he came and he bound our wounds. He brought healing. And Jesus does the same. Jesus forgives. He restores. He heals every part of our lives that sin has broken. I love Psalm 147:3. It says, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Oh, come on. You know for a fact when Jesus was telling this story, he used the exact same wording in the original language. As he was telling the story to the crowd, they couldn't have known yet what he was about to do on the cross. But he was prophesying while he was telling the story of the Good Samaritan, saying the Samaritan went when the man could not do anything himself. And he went and he bound up his wounds. And Jesus was quoting Psalm 137, and they didn't even know.

Also, in the same way, ironically, Jesus, his own wounds would bring our healing. Isaiah 53:5 says, "By his wounds, we are healed." Are you grateful for that as well today? [applause]

Let's keep going, though. There's a couple more. And like the Good Samaritan in the story, Jesus paid our debt. The Good Samaritan didn't just pick the man up and heal his wounds. He put him on his own donkey, took him to the inn. He gave him to the inkeeper, gave him two denarii, which was way more than he needed. And he said, "This should cover everything. I'm paying the debt he will owe as the restoration is coming. I'm paying the debt." And in the same way, Jesus came to us to pay the debt that we owe that we could not pay because of our sin. Our sin makes us guilty, and we've racked up a debt to God because we've sinned against God. But Jesus, in his love, just like the Good Samaritan, came and he canceled our debt. Colossians 2:13-14 says, "Having forgiven us all our trespasses, cancelling the record of debt that stood against us, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross." I love this. He paid our debt. The Samaritan gave his money, but Jesus gave his life.

And lastly, with the gospel message, just like the Good Samaritan, Jesus promised [music] his return. In the story of the Good Samaritan, he looks at the inkeeper and he says, "Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay when I come back." I love this because it's a forgotten part of the gospel. Jesus didn't just come and live a perfect life, die on a cross, come out of the grave. He also, one of the main messages of every sermon of the apostles in the New Testament was this: He came, lived a perfect life. He died on the cross. He was raised from the from the dead on the third day. And he is coming back again. And Jesus says, "I will return." John 14:3 says, "And if I go," this is Jesus talking to his disciples, "and if I go prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself." We have a Savior that has not forgotten us. He hasn't left us or abandoned us. He never will. He is coming back.

So, the gospel isn't that we're the Good Samaritan just trying harder. The gospel in the story is that we're the wounded man until Jesus came looking for us. And only those who have received mercy can truly become people who extend mercy. You know, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said something very clear: "Those who give mercy will receive mercy." We give it, we receive it. But in order to give it, we also have to receive it. I'm asking you today, don't be the Christian. This works so well together. These, these dual meanings in this story because the whole story leading up to the gospel message is about Jesus saying, "Show mercy to everyone." There is no "but" to that. There is no "but, you don't understand." And Jesus would look at you and go, "No, show mercy to everyone." Why does Jesus take this so seriously? And why in the Sermon on the Mount did he say, did he say, "If you show mercy, I'll show you mercy"? Because in the lowest moment of our life, when we did not deserve mercy, Jesus gave it to us. We cannot be hypocrites and say, "Well, Jesus, I get to decide who gets it and who doesn't." And then Jesus would look at us and say, "Can you imagine if I had that mindset?" Everyone has mercy who calls on the name of Jesus. And we extend mercy to everyone. It doesn't mean we excuse bad behavior. It doesn't mean we do all those things. We just treat people and see people like God sees them. That's mercy.

And I know this is a big challenge. It's a challenge to me and it's a challenge to you because we all hold on to those pockets of people that we just feel like we should have righteous anger permission to go after [music] them. And Jesus says, there's no permission when you're, when you look at this story again. If you identified with the wounded man on the side of the story, I know multiple times in my life, I would have identified with him. Just looking at the people passing by and and wondering, "Where is God? Where is Jesus?" I want to encourage you today that he is right here in our midst. And I believe today he wants to bring healing to people's lives. And I prayed all week about how to end this message. And this is [clears throat] how I want to end: praying for people who identify as this wounded man. Why? Because Jesus in Matthew 11:28 said this: "Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you've been forced to carry. I will give you rest." That's the heart of Jesus. He says, "Come to me all you who are heavy burdened." [snorts] I know there are people in the room here at North, our Maui campus. There is a heavy burden of maybe brokenness, confusion, maybe lostness, of just, "I need healing." Maybe I need spiritual healing today. Maybe you've never fully gone all-in and said, "I want to be a Christ follower." Maybe you put pressed pause on that because you thought you had to fix yourself. But the good news is, you don't. Jesus is here today. He came to you. He came to you. And all we have to do is say, "Jesus, forgive me. Have mercy on me." And Jesus, in his infinite love, will wrap his spiritual arms around you and give you [music] rest. Rest for your soul, passion for life, healing in your spirit and mind, salvation and eternity forever with him. That is what he came to do.

So, with every head bowed and every eye closed today, I just want to end with this prayer. And if you would like to be included in this final prayer, I want to be very specific. This is a prayer today where you're saying, "I need full healing, spiritual healing in my life. I maybe have called myself a Christian, or maybe I haven't, but today is the day I realize I can't save myself. I [snorts] need Jesus. I want to make things right with Jesus today. I want to spend eternity with him, but I want the fullness of life today. I need healing. Life is heavy." If that's you today and you would like to be included in this final prayer, I don't want to delay anymore here at North or our Maui campus. On the count of three, [music] if you would just lift your hand right where you are. I'm not going to have you stand or come forward, but just on the count of three. One, two, [music] three. Just boldly lift your hand right where you are. Thank you. At North and his Maui as well. I just want to keep it up just for a second. I want to see who I'm praying for. Thank [music] you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amazing. Wow. You can put your hands right back down, guys.

As I pray today, I, I want this to be a, a moment, a special life-changing moment for you. And it can, but you can't just listen to my prayer. We, we've got to mean this from our own being. Everything in us, we've got to say, "Jesus, I'm placing my faith in you today. Save me." So, as I pray, I want you to make this prayer your own. And I'm also going to pray at the end for every person here. [music] Ask the Holy Spirit to challenge us this week to where there will be no limits to our love. To where we can take the real version of Christianity everywhere we go and be a light in the darkness. [music]

Pray with me today. Father, we thank you for every person here at our North campus, our Maui campus, all of those that raised their hands, even the ones I can't see at the other campuses. God, you saw those hands. And today, Jesus, we're asking you to come into our lives. You've met us in our pain. You've met us in our brokenness. We cannot heal ourselves. I can't fix myself. I can't fix my brokenness. Today, Jesus, you love me as I am. Forgive me of my sin. I need mercy today, Jesus. I'm calling on you to be my Lord and my Savior. Come into my life. Save me. Make me new. Make me a brand new creation today. The old is gone. The new has come. I believe what you did on the cross for me. You died for my sins. They are nailed to the cross. And because you came out of the grave, you are all-powerful, and I'm calling on you again to be my Lord and Savior. I want relationship [music] with you, Jesus. We thank you today. I give you my life and I want to spend eternity with you.

And God, I pray for every other person in the room, all of us today, [music] that you would challenge us, lovingly, challenge us to open our eyes and to see people the way you see them. It's one of the ultimate calls of being a Christian to see people as image-bearers with dignity because you created them. You breathed life into them. You have purpose and destiny. They're someone's daughter. They're someone's son. There's someone's mother. There's someone's father. God, there is a story with every person. And may we see people the way you see them and walk out this story like the Good Samaritan. We thank you today, God. We thank you, Jesus. And in your name we pray. Everyone said, "Amen." Amen.