Transcription
The sun comes up, the sun goes down. This crazy world just spins around. And we all woke up this morning on the ride of our lives. Through the sunshine, through the rain, a whole lot of joy and a little bit of pain. Oh, what a beautiful day is waiting right in front of our eyes.
Here we are, children of grace. We have made it this far by faith. Nothing can take the place of the hope in our hearts. Here we are, happy and free. This is the way the father meant it to be. God is love and he is good. So here we are. [Music]
We are here a little while. Let's make the most of every mile. Cuz this world is full of trouble. But it's only for now. Some days crawl and others fly. Some days leave us wondering why. Isn't it so good to know his faithfulness is never end?
Here we are, children of grace. We have made it this far by faith. Nothing can take the place of the hope in our hearts. Here we are, happy and free. This is the way the father meant it to be. God is love and he is good. So here we are. [Music]
Good evening.
Hey James.
How's everybody doing this evening?
Great.
Awesome response. Good times. Good times. As well. We want to welcome you to our midweek service where we hope you will be encouraged in the Lord and also we'll have a time of fellowship and worshiping together.
Um, I did want to go over a few announcements. Did want to tell you that um we had a great Judgment House season these past two weekends. We saw over 1,300 people walk through Judgment House, which is an awesome thing. So give the Lord a hand on that. Um, we had over 50 people that we know of that made first-time professions of faith to salvation, which is awesome. Um, and that's without knowing all the stuff that God did besides that. So, thank you all for um, helping, for participating, being a part of it.
Um, there is one last thing though, one last thing. There's one last thing we have to do and that is after this service when it is all said and done and we are dismissed. If I could have as many abled people, it doesn't it just have to be men but abled people to follow me over to the chapel. We got to set all those chairs out. And last year there was like three of us that did it. And it was a long time for the three of us to do it. Um, and it's one of those things. I have pictures of how to set them up and we have carts over there, all that fun stuff. So, after the service, if you can meet me over there, we can knock it out pretty quickly, I believe, and get it set up so that it's ready to go on Sunday. Um, we're almost done with all the cleanup, which is great. Um, so I believe there will be a reminder at the end of the service to let you know about that. Awesome opportunity to serve the Lord by moving chairs, which is one of the biggest ways that you serve the Lord. I found out in all my years of ministry, there should have been a seminary classes on setting out chairs and putting up tables and it would have been very beneficial.
So, also there are some grow classes that are starting this Sunday, this Sunday evening. There's a you can sign up online or you can also go to Grand Central and just want to kind of briefly go through those. I'm going to look at my notes to make sure I don't get this wrong. But for married couples, Darren and Margie Hughes are going to be leading a study in the um chapel um pres old preschool area. They're on the right, the first class on the right on the Song of Solomon, but it's not what you think. It's a simple, honest look at marriage and the beauty of God's design. So that's for married couples. And then women are invited to dive into Hines's feet on high places with Faith Renee Hutchkins and Tony Roller. And that's going to meet in Stephanie Wagner's Sunday school classroom there in the chapel hallway. It's an allegorical Bible study on fear, trust, and transformation. And then men can join um David Coburn on his series, the 33. This is volume 4. If you didn't come to volume 1, 2, or three, that's all right. You can still do it. That one's going to start at 4:30 instead of 5:30 like the rest. And it's going to be over in the barn. And then um I am going to be leading one on the church and the American Revolution and what role faith and religious liberties played in the founding of our country. And I'm going to be leading that over in the barn at 5:30. So if you have any questions, you can contact the church office. You can sign up again online or you can sign up in the back at Grand Central. And even if you don't sign up, you can still come to these classes. It's not like if you didn't sign up, you can't come. So be a part of those. Um um just kind of see which one maybe is for you and which one you might be interested.
With all that said, I'm going to pray and then we're going to continue on our service.
Dear heavenly father, Lord, we thank you for this opportunity to stop in the middle of a week and to just look at you, to worship you, to feel your presence, to worship you, Lord. Because no matter what we're dealing with, no matter what struggles we may be facing, we know Lord that you are the answer. And Lord, I pray that as we worship you, as we look to you, Lord, that your presence would be felt in this place and that we might grow closer to you. Please Lord, continue to be in the remainder of this service. And we ask this in the blessed name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. And amen.
Let's all stand together and sing. Men of sorrows. What a name for the son of God who came. Oh sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah. What a savior. [Music] Bearing shame and scoffing word in my place. [Music] Seal my heart with his blood. Hallelujah. [Music] What a save. [Music] Guilty by the helpless we spotless lamb of God was a can be. Hallelujah. A savior [Music] lifted up was he to die was his cry. So did I. Hallelujah. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. So we'll sing hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. What a savior. Hey y'all, take a few moments as the choir is coming up to shake a few hands around you and tell somebody what a great Savior we serve. Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] On my worst of days, what can wash away my sin? [Music] And I'll fall again with no here comes [Music] I'll stand living the life I could not dying the death that I deserve. Jesus in my place. Jesus in my place. This is home. This is grace. Jesus in my place. My way. that I [Music] Jesus in my Jesus in my Heat. Heat. Jesus. This is this is Jesus in my place. And on that final day when I stand and face my God [Music] for them confidence I will say for this is all I have living the life I could not dying the death that I deserve. [Music] Bearing my sin to pay the price. Rising again to give me life. Jesus in my face. Jesus in my name. This is this is Jesus. [Music] Mercy on this power. Don't you say this is this is Jesus in my name. This is this is grace. to Jesus in my place. This is hope. This is grace. Jesus in my place.
Amen. He knew us yet he loved us. You may be seated. [Music] I've been saved by grace. I'm nothing on my own. I make mistakes. I always live just with fresh and [Applause] but I'll prove someday just like I say my love was special for when he was on the cross. I was on his [Music] The look of love was on his face. Were on his head. [Music] The blood was on his far say the grace of his eyes were on the ground that day. He when he was on the cross, I was on is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] is [Applause] [Music] He died upon the cross. [Music] Then they carried him away. They laid him in the tomb and rolled the stone in place. Hope seemed to fade away. with Jesus in the grave. His friends just wondered how what do we do now? Though his flesh was pure to death, his spirit was alive. to proclaim salvation to God's truth. generations who had died. [Music] Mary, early sun in the morning came to the view. Wonders who could move the stor. Their hearts were filled with blue. [Music] Yeah. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Yeah. Heat. [Applause] One [Music] heat. Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Jesus [Music] is alive.
Amen. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Sing it with me. Because he lives, stand up. I can face tomorrow because [Music] all fear is gone. [Music] He calls I know. He holds the future. And life is worth living just because he lives. Because he lives. I can face tomorrow because [Music] all fear is gone. [Music] Because I know he holds the future [Music] and life is worth the living just because he is. [Music] Well, I know my redeemer lives. I know my redeemer. All of creation testifies to life within me. Christ I redeemer. [Music] Sing that chorus again. I know I know my redeemer. I know my redeemer. Let all creation testify of his life within me. Cry, I my redeemer. He lives to take away my shame and he lives forever. I'll proclaim that the pain of my sin was the precious life he gave. Now he's alive and there's an empty grave. That's why we sing. I know thy redeemer lives. I know thy redeemer lives. All creation testifies and this life within me cries. I know my redeemer lives.
All right, you can be seated. If you have your Bible, we're going to be in uh second Peter chapter 1. Almost the end of your Bible. Second Peter chapter 1. I'll just throw a pen down. Should be fine. Before we dig into God's word, let's pray together.
Dear heavenly father, thank you for loving us. Jesus, thank you for conquering death and the grave and our sin so we could be rescued and adopted into your family. God, will you help us see you well tonight? You help us hear from you. You help us leave this room different than uh we walked in. Fill this room with your spirit. In your name we pray. Amen.
I um remembering my childhood, if I'm honest, there was very little peace. You know, my uh parents got divorced. They split up when I was 10 years old, and I'm considerably older than that now. You shouldn't laugh at that. That's hurtful. But I still remember what it's like to lay in bed and listen to your parents fight. And not just, you know, Jeremy and Cheryl fight. You know, it's heavy and scary. Wondering if dad was going to be there tomorrow or if their marriage was going to end. I was also a horrible kid on my own, you know, without the chaos in my house. And I remember feeling like I was getting everything wrong. Uh, I have ADHD in case you didn't know that, but that wasn't a thing in the 80s. I was just a terrible kid, you know, frustrated teachers and failed tests and homework assignments that were never turned in. And I remember feeling like I can't do anything right. Also had a horrible temper. Just thinking back to my childhood and my teen years and even young adulthood chaos and never feeling like anybody who really knew all about me could completely love me. I'm not saying there was nobody in my life that cared about me. Um Cheryl and I were dating then and obviously she was madly in love with me. [Laughter] Why did he have to say amen? And not anyway. And I'm not saying, you know, I wasn't figuring some stuff out, but there was still just an element of no peace and no real unconditional love. At least I didn't know there was. And I remember finding out about a God who loved me. Even though I was imperfect and even though I'd failed him my whole life, even though I had chosen to be his enemy, he loved me. Even though he knew everything about me, every bad thought, every horrible action, stuff I would be ashamed to say in front of you, stuff nobody else knows, he loved me anyway. I remember trusting him as my savior. I didn't get saved. I understood the gospel for the first time over there. Uh those of you who were newer to Central in the chapel, our pews used to be pink. I don't know why. When I first came to church here, I almost left because of the pink pews, but remember sitting in those pews and understanding the gospel and going home and turning away from my sin and put my trust in Jesus and experiencing for the first time in my life complete grace. God loved me without any reason to love me when I was completely unlovable. He wasn't like Cheryl, mesmerized by my handsome face. He knew all the bad stuff I'd hidden from everybody else. But he loved me completely. And I experienced for the first time in my life, I wish I could help lost people understand this. That peace that I mean it it was it was supernatural, you know, and it was there and I'm his and he's mine and forever I have that grace and peace and no one can ever take that away from me. But did you know you can own something and not experience it? I was talking to my friend Gavin Neil. He's five. I said, "Gavin, you got any money?" Because I'm always looking to trick a kid out of their cash. I said, "Gavin, you got any money?" He said, "I got $20." I said, "Word." "Hey, Gavin, can I borrow $20?" He said, "No." [Music] I said, "Why not, Gavin?" He said, "Cuz I left it at home." Gavin had $20, but he had no way to experience the blessing of giving me that $20. Cheryl and I will be out and I'll say, "Baby, there's a coffee shop. we could stop and get $10 coffees. And she says, "We have coffee at home, but we're not at home. I cannot experience the coffee, even though I own the coffee. I need some coffee I can experience right now. I wish I had some coffee right now. Don't go. No, I'm good. I'm good. I just had a flashback to teen camp. You remember that? I just want a drink of water. Anyway, never mind. Sorry. That was for me and Tiffany. The rest of y'all just forgetting. What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. If I'm being honest, there are times in my life now as a child of God. I've been saved for 29 years, and I know him, and I love him, and I serve him. Sometimes I know I have his unconditional love, but I'm not feeling it. And I know there's perfect peace available to me, but I'm not there, you know, and sometimes it's the world around me. This is a chaotic, ugly, fallen world we live in. Sometimes it's the brain inside of me, the heart that's beating in my chest. But often, if I'm honest, I need more.
Second Peter chapter 1 verse one. Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our savior Jesus Christ. Peter writes this letter to Christians who were saved not because of their own righteousness because they turned away from their sin and trusted in Jesus and they were given his righteousness. And now God looks at them like they've never done anything wrong. They have perfect peace with the creator of the universe. Perfect peace knowing that they can be with him and will be with him forever. And nothing can change that. And he's theirs and they're his. He's writing this to Christians. Then he says verse two, "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, not added, multiplied, abundant, poured out. So much grace and peace multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." Peter says, "I wish upon you. I want you to experience more and more and more grace and peace." And here's how. By knowing Jesus. Now, I know what you're thinking. He's writing to people who know Jesus. That's how they became a child of God. But there's more. This word uh in verse two, the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, it means a deeper knowledge. It means more than just knowing the facts, but actually spending time with him and getting to know him. Uh Lynn Cloud is a friend of mine. I don't know if you met her. She's my boss's wife. She goes to church here. She's when I'm preaching, she sits further back. And I remember when I first heard of the clouds, I don't know, 14 years ago, heard about their church and um Pastor Cameron and his wife Miss Lynn. I knew they were people that existed. I remember the first time they came to Central and um Pastor Cameron preached and their family um presented in front of the church. I remember that. I learned her name then. I remember spending time with them before he became my boss and I thought I need to crack some really good jokes and get this lady to like me so her husband will like me and I won't get fired. And uh I remember when they came here uh full-time and I knew her. I was getting to know her more and more and more. But you know when I got to know Miss Lynn? When we served on a mission trip together. when you see uh Miss Lynn when she's exhausted from a day of serving Jesus or u running around Toronto and you see Miss Lynn the look on her face when she finds out our flight's been cancelled and we're considering driving home through the night and she still smiled but you could tell she was forcing that one. I got to know Miss Lynn as we spent time together. I heard her jokes. I heard her laugh. We rode in the car. She gasped when I was a little late stepping on the brakes. You know, I got to know Miss Lynn. That's how this kind of knowledge works. As we spend time with somebody and experience what it's like to be around them. So this verse, verse two, says, "You want abundant, deep grace and peace. The only real place to find it is knowing God more and more and more. Now listen, this is not reading a devotion and calling it good. This is not coming to church Sunday morning and listening to my favorite preacher in the entire universe, God's man, Cameron Cloud. He's probably listening to this right now. It's not just that. It's not just sitting under the teaching of a really good Sunday school teacher, listening to really good Christian music, coming on Wednesday night to hear the best children's pastor this church has ever had. I'm the only children's pastor this church has ever had. It's digging into his word for yourself. It's experiencing the Holy Spirit for yourself and it's living life the way he teaches us to live life in his power.
Verse three, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Look at it again. through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. You want peace multiplied, grace multiplied, know him. Spend time with him. Experience his power at work in your life as you live a life of godliness. Sometimes we think um hopefully you don't think this. I don't want to say we because I don't think this, but maybe sometimes hypothetically some people think. Getting saved is all we need. Faith is all that matters. Turn away from my sin and put my trust in Jesus. I'm adopted into his family and now I'm good. I get to spend forever with him. No one can ever take that away from me. And that is the most important thing. But it's not the end. In fact, your new birth was just the beginning of eternity. It's just the start. It's supposed to look like you getting to know Jesus and God more and more as you serve him and live for him.
Look at verse um four sorry verse five and beside this giving all diligence. Now this word means work and it means work right now not sitting around and waiting. Hurry up and get this done. Verse five. Besides this, give all diligence. Add to your faith virtue and to your verge and to your knowledge temperance. That means self-control. Temper. Temperance means not giving in. when you want to do the thing you know you shouldn't do and adding to your temperance patience that stung when I was studying for this sermon patience is not giving up and to your patience godliness that's those things that if we'll do it brings God glory and to godliness, brotherly kindness, love for brothers and sisters in Christ. And then here's the big one. And so brotherly kindness, charity. Now these six, seven um attributes. Don't get the idea that it's this and we add this on top and then once we master that, we add this on top. It's not like that at all. It's a recipe. We need all of this and all of this and all of this. But it's not really a recipe because we need more of this and more of this and more of this. And the more we can pile on top of all of it, the better. But the most important ingredient, the icing on the cake, which I think is the most important ingredient. Amen. Is charity. And we blow right by this word, but it's deep and it's powerful and it's love. But it's the kind of love that should blow our minds. Charity is the choice to love regardless of anything else. Charity is choosing to love a person, every person regardless of anything, no matter what their whatever is. Charity is God love. In fact, your favorite verse, John 3:16, God so loved the world. Same Greek word, agape. And I'm called to love everybody else the same way God loved me with no reservation. Even when I didn't deserve it, and honestly, I've never deserved it. And neither have you. Peter says, "You want grace and peace multiplied in your life, you need to know Jesus more. You need to know God more. You need to experience more of him. And it's not just listening to other people talk about him. It's not just reading your Bible, which is super uber important. It's serving him and living life his way, not your way. When we try to teach kids to understand the concept of sin, that's one of the definitions that Bill Jones taught me. When I live life my way instead of God's way, that's rebellion. That's sin. add to your faith. You want more peace, you're not fixing the world around you. You want more grace, you're not getting it from the world around you. God says you need more of me. So start following me, living life my way. And as you experience more of me, you'll have uh the experience of more of what you already have. Complete grace, complete peace. The more we know each other, the more you'll get it.
I stole this illustration from CS Lewis. Don't tell anybody. I actually read a book But as I read it, I I was going back to my childhood and I I don't remember a lot of my childhood. Um maybe I got a bad memory. Maybe there's stuff I don't want to remember, but I do remember some things. And I remember getting ready for kindergarten. And back in the 80s, you had to be able to write your name before they would even let you in. I don't know what would have happened. You had to be able to tie your shoes and write your name before you went to kindergarten. I don't know now if they got Velcro and iPads. I don't know. But I can remember being a kid and my mom taking my hand and helping me write my name. Holding my hand in hers, writing my name. And even then with her holding my hand, it was clumsy and ugly and scribbly. and the hat wasn't touching the capital J and the Y was way up higher than it was supposed to be and the M had three or four humps. It was rough, man. But she was like, "We got to get you out of this house. You are going to that school. You got to get this." Every day she's holding my hand. It's getting better. It's getting better. Now imagine if I snatched my hand away. I probably did. I just don't remember that part. Tried to do it on my own. It was even worse, even less um readable, legible, even more embarrassing. Mom takes my hand back, traces it with me. It's getting better and better and better until finally it's the kindergarten version of calligraphy. It was beautiful. I wrote Jeremy better than any kid in that class. Maybe. I don't know. This is the Christian wall. Except he never lets go. Never lets go. All this stuff that's so hard adding to my faith. Not giving up, not giving in. Loving my neighbor as myself is hard. Sometimes it looks really ugly and sometimes it's not even legible. He doesn't give up. When I'm not snatching away, he's helping. And it's getting better and better and better. This is sanctification. When I allow that to happen in my life, when I don't snatch control back, do things my way, rebel against him, I'm getting more and more to be like Jesus all the time. And not because the world around me is getting more beautiful, not because the street I live on is getting more safe. Not because uh my wife is finding me even more handsome. She is, but it's not because of that. But because I'm getting closer and closer and closer to Jesus, I get to experience more and more and more of what I already had.
Verse number nine. But he that lackth these things is blind, and cannot see a far off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. These are new glasses. Well, relatively new glasses. These are the first glasses that I ever had that I look through the top to see Miss Bonita. I look through the bottom to read my Bible. Now, if I was an old man, they would be bif focals, but I'm not an old man. They're progressive lenses. I'm nearsighted. If I take off my glasses, I see a bunch of round things where your faces used to be. I honestly cannot make out anything. You could be sticking your tongue out at me right now. I would never know. I can look down and I can read this Bible. No problem. If you come and stand right here, I can look you in the eye, see your face plainly. I'm nearsighted. Paul says, sorry, Peter says, if you're not experiencing these things in your life, if you have an attitude of faith, virtue and knowledge and temperance and patience and godliness and brotherly kindness and charity, you're like somebody who can only see up close. He's not talking about physical sight. He's talking about through time. You're like somebody who forgot where he rescued you from. Pastor Chuck and I talk about this a lot as we minister to kids and parents. The importance of not forgetting what it was like to be a kid. You know, sometimes we downplay what kids are going through because we don't remember what it was like to be them. That's dangerous. And I will tell you, it is dangerous to spend too much time focused on your sin and your past in the wrong way. But it's more dangerous, I think, to just forget it all together. As if God didn't have to rescue you from anything or as if he wasn't powerful enough to rescue you from anything. When I remember Jeremy before Jesus, the liar, the thief, the foulmouth, the brawler, the guy who did stuff I don't want you to know about. how I ran from God and how I cursed God. How I wouldn't be controlled and rebelled against him for years and years. He loved me. He rescued me and he brought peace to my chaotic life, my chaotic soul, my chaotic mind. I don't want to forget that. So, I'm his. If he wants all that stuff in me, I want all that stuff in me. If that seems impossible, all I have to do is remember that it's him working through me to do it. It's his power. He's the one holding my hand. It's not impossible anymore.
Jesus said it this way in the book of Matthew. Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden. Now what that meant was in 2025 Jeremy English was if it's just too much. Come to me and I will give you rest. I'll give you peace. You can experience grace. Then he said, "Learn of me. I'm meek and mild. Take my yoke upon you. It fits you well. The job I have for you is not too hard because I'll do it with you. And you can experience rest in your soul."
Would you stand and bow your head with me? I know I'm not alone because we all live in the same chaotic, scary, fallen, evil world. I dare say there's not a person here who couldn't use more grace and more peace. Even as a child of God who has all grace and all peace available, we need more. We need to experience more of it right now. There's only one real answer and it's more of him. Now you're all his and he's all yours, but you need to know him better. You need to spend more time with him. You need to say yes to him more and more and more. And the hard things that he's calling you to do and he puts in front of you. Stop rebelling. Give in. Choose to love the people who don't deserve it. cuz that's everybody. Choose to not give up and to not give in. And it's okay that it's hard. You don't have to do it on your own. He's there to do it with you. Maybe you want to come and talk to him right here in this altar. Maybe today's the day that you commit. Maybe right there in your standing at your seat. It's the day you ask him to forgive you for your rebellion. You commit to sp serving him, following him. Maybe there's a big area in your life that you haven't surrendered and it's time to do that now. Maybe it's just time to be honest with him about what you need, more of him.
Dear heavenly father, thank you for loving us. Thank you for choosing to cherish us when we didn't deserve it. Thank you for bringing peace into our chaos. God, those of us are who are your children. Thank you for adopting us and giving us an eternity with you. Father, your children need more of you. Will you show us that every day? Will you draw us close? Will you help us see every opportunity to obey you so we can be more like you, so we can have more of you? And we can experience more peace and more grace. God, if there's a person in this room that's not your child, would you draw them and save them? And those of us who are, help us to live for you. In your name we pray. Amen.
Good preaching, Jeremy. Thanks, Jeremy. Um, Pastor James said there's some chairs we need to move next door in the chapel. So, here's your chance. Go ahead and serve Jesus. Move some chairs around. You'll get some peace and grace from it. Maybe it'll be great. Hey, I love you guys. I hope you have a great week. We'll see you back here Sunday. [Music] [Applause]
Here we are. Happy. This is the way the father meant it to be. God is love and he is good.