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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] my [Music] my name is [Music] Good morning, Trinity Life Center. It's time for church. Are you excited to be in the house of God today? I can hear you in your hearts and in your minds just saying yes. Will you stand up with me today as we prepare our hearts to worship? You know Pastor A's been talking on on this series called "Neighbor," and I personally have loved it, but I've also gotten really convicted because I'm not a really good neighbor. My husband, Steve, is like the best neighbor ever. He likes to have nice little conversations with you; he knows how many dogs you have, if you're moving in or moving out. I am the wife of the nice neighbor, and you know it's been convicting me, and I kind of felt bad about it. Jesus had been working in my heart, and you know one of the things that make us good neighbors is having a lot of Jesus in us, and what builds that is worship and time with people who love Jesus. And so if you are feeling like maybe not the best neighbor, you're in the right place, whether you're here in the sanctuary or you're at home, you're listening, you're tuning in. Let's get ready to worship and let's get our hearts filled up so that we can be the neighbors that God has called us to be. Amen. Let's worship.
I was buried beneath [Music] it was my tune [Music] [Music] All my failures are shining too high. It was my tune till I met you, yeah. [Music] Out of the darkness into your glorious day. [Music] Out of the darkness into your glorious day. [Music] Now your mercy has saved my soul. Now your freedom is old, but I know, come on, the old man. Jesus, when I met you, you called my name, come on, and die ran out of that grave. Out of the darkness into your glorious day. [Music] You called my name into your glorious day. Now you call me a citizen of heaven. When I was broken, you were my healing. Now your love is you call my name; the dye ran out of that gravel. Out of the darkness into your glorious day. You call my name is to your glorious day. [Music] Come on, give a shout to God today. You're worthy. [Music] Jesus, tears so sweet to trust in Jesus. Just to take humanity. [Music] And to know the same Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I proved Him. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, over grace to trust. [Music] To trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease, just from Jesus. [Music] Jesus, Jesus. [Music] Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, over grace to trust you. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how [Music] Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, to trust you more. Lord, we trust you, Lord. [Music] I am so glad that I've saved your friends. [Music] Jesus, Jesus, how I [Music] Jesus, Jesus. [Music] Christ, Lord, grace to trust Him more. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him. [Music] Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. [Music] Oh, for grace to trust Him more. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how [Music] Jesus, oh grace to trust Him more. [Music] Yesterday, Lord, oh we trust you, Lord. We put you at the center, Lord. [Music] All my life, everything I do, Lord, I put you at the center. [Music] Jesus at the center of it all. [Music] Jesus at the center. Oh, from beginning to the end, it will always be; it's always been you, Jesus. [Music] Jesus, nothing else matters, nothing in this world. Jesus, you're the center. Everything with us around you, Jesus, you [Music] Jesus, be the center of my life. [Music] Jesus, be the center of [Music] It's always been you, Jesus. Jesus, nothingness matters, nothing in this world will do. Oh yes, Jesus, you're the center. Everything revolves around you, Jesus, you. From my heart to the heavens, Jesus, be the sins. It's all about you. Yes, it's all about you. From my heart to the hair. Come on, church, let's put our focus on His today. Oh yes, sir. Yes, it's all about you. From my heart to the heavens. Jesus, be the center. It's all about you. Yes. [Music] It's all about you. Yes, it's all about you. Let's declare today, Jesus be the center of this church. Jesus be sent to all this church. [Music] And definitely will now dare to shall confess you, Jesus. Father, we thank you that we have the privilege of coming into your presence and declaring you're the center, not for the purpose of saying it's the first day of the week, not because it's some religious or or or just some habit. Lord, we're asking that you return to the very center today. If you're in this house and you would just simply say, "Hey, Pastor, I've had a week, and I'm in awe. I'm I'm just done. I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I'm just I'm at my limit, and I no longer want yesterday to be today's burden," and you just simply say, "I just want to let yesterday go so I can focus upon today," maybe even on the way here you were driving in and you had a fight in the car or the person cut you off and you're angry, and then that was worse because then they pulled into the same church, or any of that, right? Can I just encourage you? Let's say today, "I don't want it to be about yesterday or this last month or this last year or definitely not the last year that we just finished. Today, I just simply want to return to you." If you're here today and you say, "I have a need; I just forget what it is; I just have a need, and I want to come back to the center of it all," will you just say that's me? And as your hands are raised, can I just encourage you, we lift both hands with this attitude of expectancy, and as we worship, I want it to be our heart, our focus, where we just simply say, "You're at the center of it all." Jesus says then Jesus, Jesus, oh Jesus, nothing else on that's it, nothing in this world will do. Jesus or the center. [Music] Nothing else, nothing in this world will do. You're the center of it all. [Music] Jesus. [Music] [Music] When we put Him at the center, we get to trust Him to [Music] Father, we thank you this day for your hope. I thank you that in the midst of the difficulties, of everything that has distracted us around us leading up to this morning, we get to come to you and just simply declare your name, to declare your word. And, Lord, I pray against the issues of yesterday and ask that you will focus us solely upon the things that you have for us in this moment. Lord, I pray that you'll prepare us now in these next few moments as we prepare for your word. Lord, open up our hearts to receive, open up our ears to hear what you have for us, open up our eyes to see, in our minds to absorb, and eventually apply it to our day-to-day walk. We thank you and celebrate these things today in Jesus' name. And everyone said, "Come on." Will you thank Him this morning? It's good to be home. In a few moments, I'm going to ask you could get to before you sit. I'd like you just to greet people from a distance. While you're greeting, our students are going to be dismissed. Middle school, high school, you're gonna follow Pastor Nick for a youth service at this time. And as you are finding your seats here in the next few moments, it's our joy to go back to God's word. After you've greeted folks, you can go ahead and find a seat today. Let me just welcome you here today to Trinity Life Center. I want to just say a special welcome to any of you, especially any of our guests today. If you're joining us with uh joining us for the first time, whether online or in person today, I want to ask you to fill out a card, not so that we can stock you, but so that we can honor and connect and just begin relationships. There's a connect card; it's in the seat back pocket, right in front of you, or a digital version that you're able to click at this point. It's our joy to be able to make connection during this week, and it would be a wonderful chance for us to say welcome to Trinity. In addition to that, if you are part of our church family and you have had history or you have gone through each and every one of those things and you just want us to be connected to your uh to a prayer request or something that you're walking through, can I encourage you, turn the back of that very same connect card over and fill that out so that we have the chance to reach out and pray for you this week. We are in a series that I've simply titled "Neighbor." Will you say "Neighbor"? And we can't continue without one more tribute to it's just what we call our North Highlands neighborhood. Take a look at this. [Music] [Music] So it's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a North Highlands day. For a neighbor, would you be mine? Could you be mine? [Music] It's a neighborly date at the Quickity Quack, then over to Denny's to get you a stack. Would you be mine? Could you be mine? I've never dreamt my pizza would come from behind the bulletproof glass, or that I could get my Jack in the Box at the same place you actually pump gas. So [Music] let's make the most of the Scandia day. We'll stop at Brookfield; it's right on the way. Would you be mine? Turkeys are fine. Won't you be my neighbor? Unique indeed. Please don't speak. Please, won't you be my neighbor? Friends, I wanted you to know this is the closest I can look like to Mr. Rogers. I actually put a sweater on; I have shoes, and I looked in the uh in the mirror this morning and I laughed and I went, "I don't look like Mr. Rogers. I don't look like even Mr. Robinson. I look more like Mr. Raj or Raj." Anyway, yeah. Let me just say it's a good day to be in this neighborhood, and I'm blessed. Grab your Bibles; turn with me to the book of Matthew, chapter 7. You can also follow along in the YouVersion Bible app as you turn there today. Let me remind you of the vision of our church. We declare this on a consistent basis, not out of habit, but so that we can always be reminded of what God has called us as a church to accomplish. We declare it this way by saying, "The Trinity Life Center exists to build Christ followers." Will you say this part with me? "Who love, live, and lead as Jesus modeled." Today we're continuing the series that I've titled "Neighbor." Let me just pause and say, if you're newer to our church family and that song scared you a little bit, that doesn't happen every week, but we do have one more week and then we'll be done, and then you don't have to listen to me sing anything about neighbors ever again. It's our joy to be able to look at this through the lens of what God has called us as a church to do, but we can't look at at this theme of neighbors without talking about what I would call America's most beloved neighbor. His name is Mr. Rogers. Help me out with a quick reminder: how many of you have ever had Mr. Rogers on in your home at any point throughout history? Okay, the majority, if not all. The idea of this as a show that for over 30 years Mr. Rogers created a relationship with millions of children as well as adults, allowing them to feel as if they were revisiting their longtime friend. He would look directly into the camera, talk to children, sing as if there was a personal connection. He hosted all 895 episodes, composed more than 200 songs, was a puppeteer who created 14 characters, all spanning a 33-year career on this one show. I learned this last week that he personally replied to every piece of mail that he ever received, and that broke my heart when I realized I missed out on the opportunity of having a handwritten anything from him. He would begin his day at around 5 a.m., in which part of his daily morning routine was answering notes. His former assistant said that he never thought about throwing out a drawing or a letter; they were sacred to him, and he averaged between 50 to 100 pieces of mail per day. One additional fact about Mr. Rogers that some of us may know or may have forgotten was that he was an ordained minister. A six-year-old viewer once sent him a drawing about the hope that he would go to heaven. He wrote back to the viewer: "You told me that you have accepted Jesus as your savior, and it means a lot to me, and I appreciated the scripture that you scripture verse that you sent me. I'm an ordained Presbyterian minister, and I want you to know that Jesus is important to me too. I hope that God's love and peace come through my work on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood." As I read that this last week and then I watched video after video, I actually saw some video from individuals from other countries watching the show now. If you watch it from our context, you if you have that on at any point in your home ever, then it's going back in time; it's a nostalgic trip backwards, but for someone who didn't grow up or even understand the cultural connection of Mr. Rogers, they're meeting or being introduced to it for the first time. Many were filled with tears, felt warm inside is what they said. And as I looked at this particular letter, "I pray that God's love and peace comes through my work," and I realize that that was a understanding of the drawing of his presence into the homes of those that he was invited to impact. When I think about this word "neighbor," there's also a pop cultural context where we see a neighbor in media, in entertainment, movies and television that are connected, where it becomes the greatest sidekick, greatest way to focus or emphasize a main character or possible issues they are going to walk through. I've been showing you some different ones in media or throughout history from the 1960s. One of my favorite is this family right here; they're known as the Flintstones and the Rubbles. I love that. How many of you ever had that on in your house as well? When you look at this family, the Flintstones were a modern stone-aged family. Some of you got it, and they were from the town of Some of you know that, but you don't know our songs that we sang today; that's okay. In addition to working at a rock quarry, Fred enjoyed golf, bowling, and bullying his neighbor and best friend, Barney. And what I love most about their relationship is no matter what Fred said, Barney was always back; Barney always came back. And that's the kind of neighbor we all pray we have, and that's night and day in comparison to this guy from the 1980s into the '90s. His name is Show me no; that's well, I guess it doesn't really look that much different now that I think about it. His name is Steve Urkel. He is from a TV show in the 1980s coming into the '90s called Family Matters, in which the Winslow family would deal with various misadventures, most of them caused by their next-door neighbor. His name is Steve Urkel. Anytime something went wrong, he was known for his trademark catchphrase, "Help me, anyone. Did I do that?" I love that, and I don't know if you've had either side of that equation where you've got that pesky neighbor versus the neighbor that regardless of how you treat them, they're still there; they're still connected. So I began to pray about our series and where we're at and just even reflect upon neighbors. There are some of the neighbors that we no longer live by, and yet because of social media still have what I would call a lifetime connection with because of proximity for a brief period of time. I realize that God is calling us as the church to look at this word "neighbor" very differently. As I prayed about the future of our church, I believe that it comes back to the strategy that He gave us many years ago as we say, "Love, live, and lead," and that "lead" portion is found in Acts 1:8, where we say, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." And when I look at that passage, I realize that our calling as Christ's followers is to be His witness. There is some that say, "I just want to be filled with His Spirit so that I can get so that I can have power so that I can experience more of Him." That's fine, but if that's where it ends, we miss out on the empowering of what His Holy Spirit is. It's not so that we can get it so that we're empowered to be a witness. And the witness that I would look at you today and challenge you with is not just so that you can reach out, but so that you can be a good neighbor. Over the last few weeks, we've looked at this word "neighbor." We looked at it through the Good Samaritan's passage, in which a lawyer asked Jesus the question, "Who is my neighbor?" And we identified the "who" by asking Him to guide us to become a good neighbor who lives with our eyes open, who lives with our hearts open, who lives with our hands open, our wallets open, our schedules open, with the openness to point others to Jesus. Last week we challenged and added this theme of becoming an attractive neighbor, not based upon what you wear or how you look as you walk up and down your street, although again a quick premise: if you do dress oddly, please make sure it's not our Trinity merchandise that we have given you over the years. Please make sure you represent us well. But we declare that an attractive neighbor is one who draws people to Jesus based upon the life we live, and that's an attractive neighbor who's integris; that's the opposite of hypocrisy, who is honest and who is sincere, sincere, avoiding gossip. This last week I laughed a little and was frustrated and irritated all in the same breath. I learned that gossip had come and had impact in our own church, where a minister who was from out of the region, a part of the region originally and then out of the region, came back in conversation with their former church, learned of a member who had passed. Well, his name was very similar to the name Gary Woodard, of which that pastor then called another pastor who called another pastor who called another pastor who said our own senior pastor, Gary Woodard, had passed away. Pastor, will you just stand up really quick just to verify he's still with us? I just want you to know that. Thank you. And you see how fast he stood up; he he he's not just alive; he's got life. That rumor spread, of which a minister picked up the phone calling to console Pastor Judy only to have Pastor Gary answer the phone. When you think somebody's gone and then you have them on the other line, that's going to mess with everyone all the way. We're now helping with the counseling for that individual. Pastor Gary received the phone call that I asked for forgiveness from that minister, but then I said, "I'm going to use that on Sunday." And let me just say this: it's not gossip when you tell the pastor that you're going to talk about them on that Sunday. And so you know who you are, Scott; that's that's it. Okay, we'll keep going. That theme is so that we can break free from this world and what the stereotypes are: this is a group of people who are hypocrites, and they gossip, and this is who they are. We break from that so that the world can say, "There's something that separates that person from the rest of the world. I'm drawn to that." That's the attractive neighbor that we desire to be in Jesus' name. Today I want to continue our study with this simple and yet deep theme: "Love your neighbor." It's not a simple slogan; it's not a Christian catchphrase; it's from the text that Jesus gave us when He was asked about the Ten Commandments. Before we look at Matthew 7, let me tell you Matthew 22 says in verse 35: "And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him: 'Teacher, which is the great commandment?' And He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.'" Some see this list as a list of ten things that we're not allowed to do; I see this as a list of five major themes of worship, of honor, of care and value, and love that we've looked at over the years. We've said that these truths many times have have been labeled as commandments when in reality Jesus takes them and lists them not as ten but as two majors: love God and love others. The first four commandments are connected to loving God: You shall have no other gods, no idols, don't take His name in vain, remember the Sabbath day. And then the last six commandments are connected to loving others: Honor your father and mother, don't kill, no adultery, no stealing, no false witness, no coveting. I believe as we look at this, at the center is love. Scripture says we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Have you ever asked, "How do I love myself?" And as I asked the question this week, I was reminded of what scripture labels as the Golden Rule. Matthew 7:12 is where we plant today: "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets." If you're like me, you learned it very simply: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I grew up in a family that spoke very differently of the Golden Rule. It wasn't based just upon scripture or a nice cliché phrase; it was based upon the fact that my father was a manager, a general manager for a store called J.C. Penney's. And if you know anything about their history, and I think we have their original store in 1902, it was not known as the J.C. Penney Company. Mr. Penney named his store the Golden Rule. It was influenced based upon his father who was a minister and a farmer, and it established their standards in which they claimed to have allowed that to be the bedrock of how they've done this since 1902. I thought about that as that's how it's labeled on their website, and then I laughed thinking about the little sales associate that gave me a lot of heartache and grief when I tried to return something. She didn't get the memo of "Do unto others," but that's okay. We love; we forgive. Love, live, lead; that's what I say in my head often. I've learned this Golden Rule is probably one of the most misunderstood statements in scripture because it's not the total sum of Christian truth, nor is it God's plan for redemption. One theologian I read this week said, "We should no more build our theology on the Golden Rule than we should build our astronomy on the old song 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.'" That's how it's looked at. In fact, if we look at the Golden Rule, it's not even unique to Christianity any longer. Other false religions have used this and introduced it at different points in history. You can find its teaching in Judaism and Hinduism and Buddhism. You can see it in Confucianism. You can see it in Greek and Roman ethical teachings. But there's a difference between how they presented versus what Jesus spoke about. These false religions have a negative foundation as opposed to the positive foundation that Jesus established. For these false religions, the negative form is the appeal of law for the purpose of control, but on the opposite, we see it with Jesus as He teaches us. This positive form is the appeal of love for the purpose of growth. It's the difference between law versus control versus love for growth that separates us from the world. As I've referenced the Ten Commandments over the years, I've been in awe of the fact that people have found themselves offended by what I share, saying that that is the Old Testament; the New Testament is here; that doesn't apply; that equals law. Some have left a service frustrated; some left our church because we addressed it's seen as a rule or a return to the law when it's referenced. We look at it through the lens of what we cannot do, but when Jesus came, He promised a new covenant. It's a new covenant of grace, and He states that the law under...
This new covenant of grace is how it appears he does so in this positive context, saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and then you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is what fulfills the law. The difference is that by faith in Jesus—Jesus who changes our heart, our soul, our mind—the soul of man has changed so that it’s possible in grace to do what we could not do under the law.
Jesus’ teaching on this golden rule goes far beyond any other religion’s teaching on the same subject because, instead of trying to control negative behavior, it encourages behavior that’s motivated by love. Because Christianity works from the inside out—from Jesus changing our heart—instead of man’s system, which works from the outside in, trying to change first our appearance.
So I’ve been processing this question of how we’re to love our neighbor and began to realize that we find ourselves as Christ followers battling this more today than ever before. There was an era in which we could say, “I love you,” and then it would translate as we were loved. But today we can’t say “love” without demonstrating love. And that’s not wrong, but we see it warped in our culture today in some cases where people believe that if you don’t agree with me, it means you don’t love me.
As I process that question, often as I battled individuals who look and they take a stand where they form their own theology, they form their own opinions based upon how culture has influenced them as opposed to God’s word influencing their life, they began to battle more and more with us inside the church. Because the attitude is, “If you don’t agree, then you don’t love church.” Can I tell you that’s not love? That’s coercion; that’s actually—it’s a warped understanding of pressure and intimidation and many other words that prove it’s not right.
We as a church have a responsibility to take today that’s far greater than yesterday—to model love for our neighbors. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I believe we see this played out when our love for them—as we desire it, as we have received it—it will be shown as we begin to understand these two words: grace and truth. John 1:17 says, “As for the law was given through Moses”—that’s these Ten Commandments that we’ve addressed—“but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
I don’t believe that we can afford to see the law—the commandments alone—as a list of what we can do instead of the love that Jesus gave us as grace and truth. And as I reread this passage, I was reminded of how we need to model this kind of love for our neighbors. Let me express it to you in these two areas: Number one, loving our neighbors is modeling grace.
As Jesus is about to deliver this golden rule, he frames what he is about to say by stating this new rule applies to everything; it also demonstrates the law of grace because it has no exceptions to the rule. Grace is to operate through our lives in every way possible. What is grace though? First Corinthians 15 says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”
One definition found in the Greek for this word “grace” is the word “charis,” and it means the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life, including gratitude, acceptable benefit, it’s favor, it’s a gift, it’s joy. That’s what grace is. As I began to process this word “grace,” I find that it’s the undeserved, unearned, and unmerited favor of God that’s given to us as sinners. It’s God’s mercy and its kindness given to mankind. Webster’s dictionary says that grace is the free, unmerited love and favor of God and the divine influence in man to restrain him from sin. Another definition says grace is the divine influence upon the heart and its reflections in this life. An author, Bill Gothard, said, “Grace is an active force within us, giving us the desire and the power to do things God’s way.” Do you know what I find grace as? It’s the God-given desire and ability to accomplish His will. Grace is His work at work, His love at work in our lives.
This week I was reading up on history, and I like to find different things that I was reminded that in 1968, the USS Pueblo was captured by the North Koreans. Eighty-two surviving crew members were thrown into brutal captivity, and one of the many stories that emerged from that 11-month imprisonment recalls 13 men who were taken into a room, seated in the exact seats—numbered seats—and tortured for many hours. Every time a guard would come in, they would grab a soldier from seat number one, and it happened on day one where they beat him, brought him back to the room, and then left; no others were harmed. The second day, the same thing happened where the same man is placed in seat one, and he is removed, beaten, brought back in, and nothing again. Three consecutive days of the same kind of torture. On day four, when it came to it, these Americans knew that the same thing would happen every day, and their fellow sailor could not last if he was undergoing one more beating. Before the guard came in on day four, they all sat in their same chairs when American soldiers stood up and traded places with the man who had been beaten for three consecutive days. Only one man had to be beat—the one that was assigned to the first seat—but love moved him to accept being beat in order to save one another. For the next several consecutive days, each day a different soldier took the beating. Can I encourage you, as I read that this last week, that’s love in action; that’s grace. And when we understand it that way, it doesn’t make exception to when it expresses itself; it shows love even when it’s undeserved. It’s evident in what Christ did for us the moment he died on the cross. We see that in Romans 5:8, which simply says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus makes no exception to the rule of grace; he died for us all, and that’s why it’s so tragic when people refuse to allow Jesus to save them. He never turns away anyone who comes to him. Paul said it this way in Romans 5: “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” God grants his grace even when we don’t deserve it. I think all of us would agree that there are some people that don’t deserve grace. I’m not going to ask you to list those people out loud; we all have those thoughts, and that’s why it’s called grace. Grace, by its definition, is undeserved favor. Grace puts us at risk rather than the object of our grace.
What does that have to do with the golden rule or the idea of loving our neighbor? I believe that the golden rule is not just a wise saying; it’s a regular practice where God’s word makes its greatest impact on others when it’s seen in our lives. The Bible says that we as Christians, in 2 Corinthians 3, are the letters of recommendation written on our hearts to be known and read by all. As they look at our life and see grace at work, they will begin to understand who He is. That means that as the grace of God is in our life, it changes us. I’ve learned that it teaches us and even trains us in our own character. I’ve learned grace teaches us to reject ungodliness; grace teaches us to deny worldly lusts; grace teaches us to live self-control; grace teaches us to love righteously; grace teaches us to live godly lives in our neighborhoods. When this grace is at work in our lives, we see it have an impact upon our neighborhood in a way that helps others understand this is what it means to love others. When we fail in these areas, it’s His grace that gives us comfort. Number one today: Loving our neighbors is modeling grace.
But I’ve also learned this: Grace without truth never works, just as truth without grace cannot exist. And so if number one is modeling His grace, the number two: Loving our neighbors is modeling His truth. Someone wrote, “Grace without truth is meaningless, and truth without grace is just me.” I believe that there are a growing number of Christ followers who believe and feel that if grace is present, that’s all they need. But I’ll remind you again of what we said in John 1: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth—both grace and truth—came through Jesus.” It wasn’t grace alone that was present; truth is what appears as well. To have grace without truth and without grace is equivalent, in my eyes, of looking at an airplane, looking at both wings on the side, and trying to determine which of the two is the most important. If there was only one, none of us would board; both are required.
We’re living in a world today in which our neighbors need to be reminded that we as Christians are saved by His grace and we are living His truth that’s found in God’s word. In fact, when we look at the first piece of spiritual armor that Paul addresses in Ephesians 6, we learn that it’s connected to truth. That after everything that he’s talked about—that we’re going to fight and battle against the flesh and blood and the principalities and things that are around us—he then says this in Ephesians 6:14: “Standing therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.” You know, this week I went to multiple stores to help with the home project that we’re working on; contractors were all over the place. Do you know how many belts I was tempted to buy and hand out because they needed to keep their pants up? There’s something important about the value of placing a belt on. Do you know what it’s for? It’s for the purpose of preventing embarrassment. In high school, I remember there was a season where guys would walk a little differently, and one hand would be down, holding on for dear life. Those individuals, just one wrong step, and everything—everything—would fall, and that’s not what we wanted. I look at the idea in which the purpose of a belt would keep everything fastened; it keeps everything safe. Do you know how important it is for the church, especially today, to make sure that the belt is fastened so that we as the followers of Jesus can never cause embarrassment to the things of Christ? Here’s what I’ve learned: Truth protects us as Christians; truth empowers us as we communicate; truth frees us from the burden of all the cultural opinions that are coming at us; truth draws a line in the sand against today’s culture; truth rings out with greater clarity; truth cuts through clutter; truth stands up to scrutiny; truth penetrates and divides itself from lies. That means that truth does not fear to stand alone. And what I’m learning today is that our ability to speak truth and live it out loud is connected with our willingness to simply be transparent in our lives to a crowd. Truth is seen as cold and callous and uncaring, but truth in love is what separates us from the rest of the world. Truth is what we, the church, must model to as a value to another generation.
So I’ve watched my own transparency in life open up to neighbors around me that are surrounded; I realize they can become open to understand His truth in these moments. I believe that truth does not stand over us like a judge or a jury that’s seen as cold, callous, and uncaring. Instead, the truth of healing and provision and hope and faith and love begin to walk beside us, leading us into our deeper revelation of God. John chapter 16, verse 13 says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” You know, Jesus was always careful to give his disciples the exact amount of truth that they needed at the right moment. It’s a mark of an amazing teacher—none like Jesus. For us today, the Holy Spirit is our teacher, and he follows the same principle; he teaches us the truth that we need to know when we need them and when we’re ready to receive them. There’s that phrase, “He, the Spirit, shall not speak of himself.” That doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit does not refer to himself in scripture; instead, it means that he doesn’t speak apart from the Father and the Son. He doesn’t manufacture a different message. We have an entire Godhead that’s mentioned in John 16 because the Spirit of God does not ignore either the Father or the Son; they are together in perfect harmony. That’s what we’re named as—Trinity. And as the Spirit is at work, we begin to understand that it’s the ministry of the Spirit to enrich us with the treasures of God’s word—that’s truth—and he enlightens us with God’s truth and enriches us with these treasures. And as a true godly neighbor, there’s no way that truth can be present in our lives that portrays one message that’s contrary to the word of God.
And what I found over the years is that some Christians believe that the need for truth is not for the purpose of growth; it’s so—per—for the purpose of trying to win the argument. It was many years ago; my little boys were in preschool, and they were playing soccer on the team, and I’ll never forget going to the field, getting ready for the game. Our family was different; we’re the oddest family ever. When every other family was sitting there where every child’s a winner, we don’t believe that there’s a winner and there’s a loser; somebody’s going to win. And we were the only ones that were counting every goal these four-year-olds were making; it was awesome. Parents hated us. My children were scoring goal after goal; they’d run to the side and say, “It’s so easy; I can’t stop!” And parents are just hating. There was this one gentleman who came; he had formally attended the church that I was on staff with, and we were still attending, and I’ll never forget he came and he said, “Hey, do you still attend?” And we started talking, and then the conversation flipped where it was no longer a conversation; it was an accusation. And the accusation then is now throwing scripture in my face, and I’m sitting there arguing on the sideline of a four-year-old soccer game, being so frustrated. And it was that day that I learned he understood scripture not for the purpose of life change; he did so that he could try and prove he was right. I’m praying very differently that the church looks at this differently—that we don’t settle or look at God’s word with study and intent for the purpose of trying to win a religious argument. The church, for us, remember, God has not called us to be the judge or the jury; He’s called us to be the witness. There’s a significant difference between each of those roles in the courtroom. The judge and jury, they have their place; you and I are not called to be that; we are the witness. That’s what it means to be the neighbor. We don’t study to argue or prove our superiority or some self-proclaimed wisdom; we study God’s word; we search for His truths so that we can see Jesus; we study His word and truth so that we can know Him better; we study His word and this truth so that we can better glorify Him in our lives; we study His word and truth so that we can know Jesus. And we as Christians, with what we believe, through the lives that we live—not the argument that we cut—we can stir up.
As we close our time, can I encourage you? We witness in this hostile world; the Spirit uses the word as Jesus has taught us; it’s for the purpose of sharing His word with the lost. Our job is to witness, and it’s the Spirit’s job to convict. But I don’t believe that they will even seek the things of Christ without us living His truth out in our day-to-day lives. The world won’t look to Jesus without seeing us as products of His grace working this truth out daily. As we close, scripture says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The way I love myself is the way in which I get to serve others. “Do unto others as you would have others do to you.” And the way that we do this—the way that we love this world—is how we model His grace in our life and His truth. It’s not one without the other; it’s for the purpose of them beginning to see hope.
Do you know that we’re two weeks away from one of the greatest comebacks—not just a comeback based upon COVID and everything else we’ve gone through—but the day we get to celebrate the greatest comeback of all of mankind, the greatest miracle still to this day in scripture and in this—on this planet? It’s the day that Jesus rose from the grave. And as we come to this moment in time, I believe it’s the moment where we’re also seeing our church and the world open for this comeback in which we, the church, get to say, “There is grace that we get to receive, and we build our life on truth.” Does that mean that we’re perfect? No; thank God for His grace; I thank Him for that every day. But it’s His truth that gives us the foundation, and His grace that gives us this hope. And I have to try and figure it out on my own; His hope is for us. I’m praying very differently for the church today. Will you bow with me as we close?
Father, thank you for the joy of being able to worship You, study Your word, and to apply it to our day-to-day. Father, I pray right now for those that are in this house, ready for something different, something to change. We’re praying for a miraculous move. Deborah, head bowed, every eye closed. If you’re here today and you would just simply say, “Pastor, as you’ve been sharing this morning, I realize that there’s something about my life that’s missing today; I need to make a decision to follow Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior,” or maybe you’re here and you’ve prayed that dozens of times, maybe even hundreds of times, and you would say, “I know that my life does not line up; I know of His grace and His truth, but that doesn’t represent who I am or the life I live right now.” If you’re here today and you would say, “Would you please include me in your closing prayer, Pastor? I need Jesus; I need something to change in my life; I want You to do this,” will you raise your hand and just put it up, and then you can put it right back down? Amen.
Secondly, if you’re here and you would say, “Hey, as you’ve been sharing, I realize that there’s something about my life that’s causing me concern because when I hear about this word ‘grace,’ and then it next to this word ‘truth,’ some of us are guilty for the extremes associated. I’m grateful for His grace, but grace, which covers all my sins, doesn’t give me the liberty to continue to sin. Truth without grace becomes very overwhelming; becomes, in some cases, legalistic.” Can I just say, if you have found yourself at any point balancing the extremes of both sides of this, and you would just simply say, “Pastor, I don’t want one or the other; I need both; I need both represented in my life and my family,” I’m praying that this will be that kind of season. If that’s you, we’d be so bold and bravely just raise your hand and say, “That’s me, Pastor; pray.” I’ve got a few. Thanks for your honesty. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. We stand on your feet today as we close our time. Father, we thank You again for this day and this privilege that You’ve allowed us to gather and celebrate. We thank You, Lord, for the joy of being able to worship You together. Now I ask, Lord, that You will take what we have begun and allow it to be our foundation today for those that are accepting You as Lord and Savior. I pray that this will be a new start for those that are returning home, coming back to Your presence in this building or online today. We thank You for hope being restored for those that have said they battled with the extremes of—of both grace and truth. I pray today You will balance us out so that we can be an effective witness, a true neighbor, seeking all that You have in store for us to bless those that we come in contact with. We thank You today and celebrate these things and give You praise and honor in Jesus’ name, and all of God’s people said, “Amen.” We thank Him this morning for His bro… [Applause]
Can I just thank—say thank you? In a few moments you’re going to be dismissed from this house. As you’re preparing to leave this house, I need you to know that we are celebrating some amazing miracles this last week. Some of the ministry that we were able to engage in locally and globally is possible because of you. We say this consistently: You don’t give to Trinity; you give through Trinity. And in a few moments as you leave this place, you’ll have a chance—you’ll pass this little box. If you have a tithe offering, you’re able to take one of those envelopes and drop it in today. I just want to say thank you. Our board of directors met this last week, and we were celebrating and thanking the Lord for His faithfulness at work at Trinity. And so I just want to say thank you for the way that you financially give. I also want to say thank you. We are two weeks away from our amazing Easter weekend of celebrations. Thursday night prior to Easter, we’ll have our Trinity Christian School concert. It’s the first time in over a year that our students have—will gather, and we’ll get to celebrate what the Lord is doing in and through them. Our students are ranked in the top one percent in the nation, and I can’t think of a better way to declare the promise of what Easter truly means than allowing those students here. And so it’ll be Thursday night. The following day, Friday, is our Good Friday service—a one-hour service, also online. It’ll be a joy to be able to celebrate and receive from the Lord’s table together. And then on Saturday, we are praying—no exaggeration—for thousands to be impacted as they drive through on our property, as our helicopter won’t land on the property; still working on a helipad. We don’t need it, but I kind of want it. But the idea of it hovering over, throwing eggs—not real ones—but for the purpose of the excitement and momentum for this entire neighborhood, and then driving in their vehicles and receiving them as they slide somehow from the top of the roof into vehicles. Some have asked, “How is that going to happen?” I don’t know, but I need 10 more of you to volunteer, and once you do, you’ll know. And it’s going to be our greatest joy. It’s not so that they can just come and see something from a large campus; it’s not just so that they can get candy. And I want to say thank you for the way that you’ve already donated; some have given money, some have donated candy, and some have signed up; some have done all three. And we still need more candy; we still need more resources. But it’s so that at the end they have this message of hope, which is found in the cross and the empty tomb. That’s what we get to declare this Easter. And then Easter Sunday—the greatest day. We don’t celebrate Easter once a year; this is what we’ve done today as well. And so I want you to be in prayer about the neighbor that you’re going to bring, the family member that you’re going to bring. There’ll be plenty of space to church services, and we’re so excited in advance for what God’s going to do. Can I pray a final blessing over you today? Father, thank You again for the joy of being able to worship You. Now I pray that You’ll take the word that You have given us, seal it in our hearts, and prepare us as we see it lived out. Anoint our hands this week for the work that is ahead; anoint our feet so that swift to carry Your gospel message everywhere we go, and as we encounter others, so let them see grace and truth at work in our lives. We thank You and celebrate these things in Jesus’ name, and everyone said, “Amen.” Thank you one more time. Worship one more time before we leave this house. From my heart to the heavens, Jesus be the center; it’s all…
About you. Yes, it's all about you. From my heart to the heavens, Jesus be the center. It's all about you. Yes, it's all about you.
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Jesus be the center. It's all about you. Yes, it's all about you. From my [Music] Yes, it's all about you. From my heart, oh Jesus. Jesus be the center. It's all about you. Yes, it's all about you. Oh Jesus, be the center of this church.
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Jesus being the center of this church, Devon, he will bow.
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Davidson shall confess you, Jesus. Jesus, oh Jesus. Jesus, always say Thy name, Jesus. There's no other name.