Morgan Teruel: Thanks for tuning in to the Sandals Church podcast. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God and others. We're glad you're here and we hope you enjoyed this message.
Pastor Justin McVey: I want to ask you a question. Do you know how to dance? Can you hit the gritty? Can you pop and lock? Can you boot, scoot and boogie?
Can you cut a rug and jitterbug? I actually don't know what that means, but my grandpa used to ask that and then he'd like, do this thing. And it always made me laugh. So I'm like, shout out to grandpa, you made the sermon. You're here.
Now, when I said the word dance, there were a lot of feels going on in this place, right? Some of you, it was fear. Like my wife and kids right now are terrified because they're worried I may try to dance. And they're like, No, please not that. Because I have zero rhythm.
And some of you are with me. You have you have not been blessed with the gene that allows you to move in unison with music. And when you try, it just gets ugly. And so just the thought of things like prom or or a wedding or the club, Not the club because you all saves. But all of those things where dance may be involved.
You're just you're scared because it's awkward and you don't understand it and you're no good at it. Now some of you though, you got excited. You're like my friend Tim who like, he just loves to dance. The music starts and he's just moving. This dude actually used to challenge people to dance battles.
Right? You're just like, yes, let me add it. I love to move. Now, if you're here right now and you're thinking, you grew up in like maybe a conservative Baptist environment where dancing is discouraged. Don't worry, I'm not preaching on dance.
Now, if you're some of our brothers and sisters who grew up in Pentecostal charismatic background, where dancing is a part of your worship tradition, I'm sorry, you're going be disappointed. I'm not talking on dance. I actually have another question for you. Do you know how to pray? Now, when I said that, there were a lot of feels as well.
Because some of you, there's there's an excitement, there's a hope that comes with prayer. You've experienced the power and the closeness to God that comes as a result. But for some of you, man, it brought up fear. It brought up hesitation. It brought up doubt because you're not sure.
Today, we're going to take a look at a passage where Jesus teaches his disciples and ultimately us how to pray. And the reason I started by talking about dance is because I kind of want to reframe the way we look at prayer. You see, for too long as Christians, we've had this idea that prayer is an obligation. It's something that we do to be approved. It's something we have to do to get what we want.
But I believe Jesus wants to show us that prayer is an invitation. You see, think about it. Dance is an invitation to join together, to draw near to a person or a group of people. Right? To experience this closeness and this intimacy and this connection when you move as one.
And prayer? Prayer is an invitation from the God who created the universe, our heavenly Father, to draw near to Him. To experience an intimacy and a closeness, a depth of relationship that just, it's indescribable. It defies words. And in that moment to move with Him in His will, in His plan for our lives.
Let me tell you, when you experience that, there is just something that happens inside of you. The power of prayer is it's mind blowing. I just I can't even put it to words. And I believe that is why the disciples came to Jesus and they actually asked him, Jesus, teach us to pray. It's the only thing we have recorded in scripture where the disciples actually ask Jesus to teach them something.
Right? They never asked him to to teach them to cast out demons. That'd been powerful. They never asked Him to, to teach them to heal people. I mean, think about what what that would have done.
They never asked Him to teach them how to dance. Right? Jesus was perfect. If you don't think He knew how to dance, He did. He did.
Right? None of those things. They never ask him how to teach it. They only ask about prayer because I believe when they looked at his life that they said there's something different about the way he prays. You see, they would have seen prayer all over their culture.
They would have prayed three times a day from the youngest moment as kids. They were taught what it looked like to pray. They saw their religious leaders in the synagogues pray. But Jesus, there was, there was power in it. There was something different and they wanted that.
And I want you to experience that because God offers that to us. Man, it's huge. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to take a look at Matthew, chapter six. You can take out your Bibles now.
And what Jesus does in Matthew, chapter six, as he teaches us to pray, is he doesn't give us a formula. That's not what it's about. Listen, it's an invitation for what it looks like to move in unison with him. We're going to be starting in verse five, Matthew chapter six. Jesus tells us, When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites.
He starts off by telling us what not to do. He goes, let's just get this out of the way. Don't do this. He says, they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. That was their motivation to put on a show.
Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. He says, they're going get everything they want. They just want to be seen. They got it. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father who is unseen.
Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, don't keep on babbling like pagans. They think they'll be heard because of their many words. They just talk and talk and talk. And they think eventually they're going to wear wear the gods down.
He says, don't be like them. Your father knows what you need before you ask him. You see, from the very start, Jesus teaches me that prayer begins with authenticity, not appearance. We've got to get this. You see, when it comes to prayer, you don't have to worry if you're doing it right.
God just wants to spend time with you, the real you. He doesn't need you to put on a show and act a certain way. That was what the hypocrites did. The word hypocrite literally means actor. He goes, no, no, no.
I want you. I want the real you. Your brokenness, your mistakes, your failures. That's the authentic you. The He he says, I I don't I don't expect you to have the perfect words to say.
It's not like you have to have this amazing proposal. He goes, that's what the pagans did. They thought they could convince me with their words. He goes, I just want you. I love watching little kids dance.
Okay. Like, just they don't care who's watching, right?
They just start moving and they're all over the place. And half the time, they look like they're
a ninja turtle trying to attack Shredder. Like, I love it. The little ones are kicking and chopping. They're just moving. They're just moving to the rhythm and they're just engaged.
That's what God wants. So, just come to me as a little kid. Let's just have some fun here. Let's just talk. Let's just draw close.
Reason he says to to go into a room and close the door isn't because he has a problem with with public prayer. He says, I just I want to remove you from all of the distractions. I don't want you to feel pressured to to be something you're not. I don't want you to be hindered by shame and guilt that you're not enough. You see, when we pray from this place of authenticity, it helps us to develop this intimate connection with God.
It takes us deeper into to who he is because we're spending time with a heavenly father who knows us better than we know ourselves. That's how amazing he is. Now, here's the sad truth, though, is that in the midst of just experiencing this relationship, of stepping into the just the depth of God's love for us, our human nature tends towards self preservation. And so all of a sudden, like there's this urge and this shift and we we we try to make it about us. And our first instinct is to to begin to build this life that's focused on self.
And so we begin to ask God instantly, like how to meet all of our needs and to fulfill all of our desires. This is why Jesus, in the very next verse, He makes sure that the first words out of our mouth when we start to pray, then they put God in his rightful position in our lives. See, in the very next verse, verse nine, Jesus says, this then is how you should pray. He's like, alright, this is this is how I pray. This is your example.
Our father There it is. Our Father, someone who loves us, who knows us in heaven. Hallowed be your name. You see, Jesus teaches me to center my life on God's name, not my own. Now, this can be this can be so difficult because the world we live in, the society, the culture, they're all about men making myself known, making my name known.
Everyone nowadays wants to be an influencer. They want to build the brand. They want to be the next Mr. Beast. Right?
Start the YouTube channel. Get the followers. Start the next YouTube channel. Right? Get the candy bar.
Get the energy drink. Right? Start the reality TV show. Like, they're just like, this is how it works. Like, I want to make my name known.
It's just part of the human condition. Genesis eleven:four says this. Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heaven. They had big dreams. But why were they doing it?
So that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise, we'll be scattered over the face of the earth. There's that self preservation again. Right? This is why both of those phrases, they're so short, but they're so powerful in verse nine.
You see, when we pray and we say, our father in heaven, we're acknowledging that we have been accepted into the family of God, that we are sons and daughters of the king of the world, the creator of the universe who knows us and loves us. Then we don't need the approval of people because we have built our life on God. Our identity is as his children. But then we pray, hallowed be your name. That word hallowed literally means holy, to be set apart, to be made great, to be lifted up.
And we're declaring that in that moment, God, I want I want everything I say. I want everything I do. The very core of who I am. I want it to be focused on making God's name great. I want him to get the credit he deserves.
I want everyone to know who he is. I want him to be recognized for what he has done. Now, here's the difficult part. It just doesn't happen. We play a role.
It's actually a choice we make every single day to center our lives on God's name. It's a choice with our finances. Are we going to build our portfolio? Are we going to advance God's kingdom? Man, it's the decision we face in in parenting.
Are we going to advance the family name? Our dreams for our kids, our hopes for our kids, our expectations? Or are we going to advance God's plan for their life? His will. Man, teens, young adults, man, it's it's the way you live, the way you look, the choices you make.
Right? Like, are are you going to make choices based on people looking at you? Or are you going to make choices to help them look at God? Now, at this point in the message, Jesus, he he kind of shifts. And he started just very personal, us and him.
And now he's going to shift and he's going to turn outward. He's going to get a little bit more practical. Until now, it's been our relationship. But now he's saying, listen, I want you to think about your relationship with others. He's going turn us outward.
And as I looked at this, I thought of a conversation I had just this week with my my son who is in eighth grade, and they're getting ready here at the end of the month to have their eighth grade formal. And it's the big dance. It's like the prom of middle school. All right. And there's this girl who's his friend, but not his girlfriend.
And so like, this is this is his first opportunity to step into some things. Right. And so I'm just trying to be a good dad. And so I'm kind of asking questions and he's doing the teenage boy things. You know, they respond just in grunts and groans.
You don't really get words. And so we got him like a nice suit. It's like his first suit. He's he got some new shoes. And so we're driving to school the other day and I'm like, all right, bud, I just I need to know, like, do you know how to dance?
I'm like, listen, I'm not judging, and I don't know that I can help you much, but let's just be like, this is something you need to think about. Like, this is a dance.
He's like, dad, don't be weird.
I'm like, really? And he's like, dad, no one dances. I'm like, what do you mean? I'm like, this is like a formal dance, right? He goes, yeah, dad, but no one dances.
We just hang out. We're just there.
Pastor Fredo Ramos: At Sandals Church, we believe giving is a critical part of following Jesus. And so if any of our content has served you in your journey of following him, would you consider supporting us by going to sandalschurch.com/support. This is the case even if you attend and support another local church, would you consider making a second gift to us? Thank you so much. Grace and peace.
Pastor Justin McVey: I'm like, son, you have an opportunity. I know you're just in eighth grade, but to engage with a young lady in a healthy way, to dance, to experience this connection. Engage, boy. Come on. Get over the awkwardness.
Just make the ask. He's like, woah. It just turns. Conversation over. Unfortunately, a lot of us as Christians are the same way in our relationship with God and in our relationship with the people around us.
You see, Jesus teaches me to engage the world, not escape it. Middle school dance, all the boys go to the other side of the room to get away from the girls, to escape them. And sometimes we, as Christians, we come to the church to escape the world, to get away from it because it's awkward. It's weird. We don't want to talk about it.
Just let us be with Jesus. Just let us be with Jesus. But notice the very next verse, my favorite verse in the whole passage. Verse 10. Your kingdom come.
God's kingdom. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You see, at some point, what we experience with God in private prayer, it has to manifest itself in our public lives. This is so huge. God's kingdom, God's will come to life when for even the slightest moment we step in and our actions and our willingness to be God to others, then it creates a moment where where heaven comes to earth and all of a sudden we get to experience life as it was meant to be.
Life outside of the brokenness of sin. Because in that moment, the Holy Spirit enters into the the darkness and all of a sudden, the light of Jesus shines through. That's what we're praying for when we pray for God's kingdom to come, for his will to be done. We're praying to experience life as he intended for it to be in the beginning and as it will be one day in eternity. That's what he has for us.
That's why that's why we pray your kingdom come, not just for ourselves, but for others around us. We should be praying your kingdom come for the single mom struggling to raise kids alone. We want her to experience life as it's supposed to be. We should be praying, your kingdom come for the the young person fighting addiction. Freedom for the young person struggling with mental health.
Right? Then for families all over the world caught in the midst of war, dealing with starvation and famine. Man, we should we should be praying your kingdom come for for those who are men facing just physical uncertainty, who are struggling because maybe because they're a couple who who can't have a kid, maybe they've been diagnosed with an incurable disease. Maybe they're in an untreatable pain. Man, God's kingdom come.
We want them to be free from that. We want them to experience life as it should be. Man, for those just marginalized, rejected by society who feel unaccepted and unloved. And I would just want them to feel what God has for them, to experience that. But don't miss this.
Don't miss this. When you pray, your kingdom come, your will be done. You're inviting God to use you. That's what you're doing here. You're saying, God, use me to bring your kingdom from heaven to earth.
I want to be an ambassador for the miraculous. I want to be a vessel for the divine. I want you to use me. I want my life to show everyone around me what the way things are supposed to be. Now, I warn you, when we make that decision, when we step into that, when we pray that prayer, the enemy gets angry.
Because now all of a sudden, God's kingdom is advancing and he don't like that. And guess what? He's gonna come against you. And he's gonna he's gonna whisper lies in your ear. He's gonna say, you're not good enough.
The world's too broken. You can never make a difference. You can't change things. God would never use you. Man, let me tell you something.
It's a lie. I want you to see what Paul says in Romans. He says, do not be overcome by evil. Don't let it get to you. Don't listen to you.
Don't listen to it. But instead, overcome evil with good. You want to know how we bring God's kingdom and his will down? You want to know how we stand against evil? We do good.
It's that simple. Listen, pray with someone. Pray with someone. I have been following in Pastor Matt's footsteps, following his example because I have recently become the gym pastor. Like, I walk in and everyone's like, hey, what up, Rev?
Hey, what up, Rev? Like, I cannot even get a workout in anymore because people are always coming out, hey. Will you pray with me? Hey. What about this?
Like, there was a guy has never stepped foot on a Sandals Church, and this Easter, he was inviting everyone in the gym to Sandals Church. Like, okay. Whatever. Gym, barber shop. I walk in to get my haircut because I'm preaching.
Got to look good. And then I walk
Speaker 3: in and not even my barber, the next chair over. He's like, oh, there's the pastor. And the
Pastor Justin McVey: guy sitting in his chair, he goes, you need to pray for this man, pastor. You need to pray for this man. I'm like, bringing God's kingdom to the gym, bringing it to the barbershop. Listen, how about sharing the gospel? Oh, a little scary, a little awkward.
You may be like, I have no idea how to do that kid. That's No, no, that's not me. Listen, I'm telling you, Sandals has adopted this simple, easy way of sharing scripture called three circles. Man, we've got stickers all over the place. Look for the sticker with three circles and then ask any staff member, what is this about?
Teach me the three circles. Right? Now, every staff member is going be able to show you how to share the gospel with someone that God loves them to bring hope into their life. That simple things. Showing someone kindness.
You're on the freeway, bumper to bumper traffic, and that ding dong waits to the very end to merge lanes. You've known that lane was closed for three miles, bro. And you got all the way up to the front. You know what? Just let them in.
Just let them in. God bless you. Kingdom come. Will be done. Right?
That hey. You wanna talk about heaven on earth? That is heaven on earth right there. Right? Hey.
Go on a missions trip. Man, we have amazing global trips. This year, I believe I've got my numbers right. We've got over 20 trips and we're sending over 200 people to different countries all over the world to share the gospel. Let's bring God's kingdom.
Man, meet a need. Meet a need with someone around you, with someone close to you or someone far away. We have an opportunity at Sandals Church. We're engaging in an initiative called five twenty, where we are gonna be God's hands and feet to those who are suffering, to those who are being faced with starvation and famine and are so desperate to just survive that they're selling their kids into slavery. And we have an opportunity just to give over and above what we have been blessed with.
Like, $5.20 is the average cost that these these kids are being sold for so that parents can eat, so that other kids, their siblings can survive. Man, give me the need. That's God's kingdom come. Doesn't matter how you
Speaker 3: do it. Just do good, guys.
Pastor Justin McVey: Let's bring God's kingdom back. Now, as Jesus closes his teaching, he shifts now from the needs of others. And he finally here at the end says, all right, now let's pause and focus on your needs. Matthew six eleven through 13. Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Man, notice just the complete and total helplessness in these verses. God, I'm I'm hungry. I'm always hungry daily. But I know that only you can satisfy.
God, I've I've made mistakes and I keep making mistakes. I just can't get it right. And others, they hurt me and I can't forgive them because I can't forgive myself. God, I need you to forgive me. God, I'm lost.
I keep going down the wrong path. I keep making the wrong choices. God, can you can you protect me? Can you show me the way? There's there's a desperation in these verses that drives us, though.
It drives us to this place where we learn to completely depend on God. It's a place where Jesus teaches me to approach God with open hands, not clenched fists. Listen, clenched fists are always a sign of pride and fear. I can do this. I'm strong enough.
I have to do this. No one else can do this. I can't let go. This is too important. We're holding on.
But when we open our hands, we signal, I can't do this. It's a sign of helplessness. I have nothing. I am in desperate need, and there's nothing I can do in my own power. Here's the beautiful thing, though.
Open hands, they're also a sign of hope. I've let go. I've let go of everything that's holding me back. I've let go of everything else other than God and Christ and my identity as a child of God. And listen, I'm ready and waiting to receive.
To receive the goodness and the love and the mercy that God wants to pour out on me. I have hope. David writes this in Psalm one twenty one. This is beautiful. I lift my eyes up to the mountains.
Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. Not people, not my own strength. The Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He created it all.
It is all his. And I will turn to him in my time of need. You see, when we pray it, it lifts our eyes from the struggles of life that we face constantly, from everything that we're going through and what it does. It focuses our gaze on the only one who we can truly depend on. The only one who is there for us no matter what.
Man, it's so beautiful. My youngest daughter, unlike my son, loves to dance. Right? She's she's 11. But as soon as the music comes on, she is moving, she is dancing, she is all over the place And she just she loves it.
And she's constantly trying to get me to dance with her. As you know, that's that's not me. That's not who I am. And she always wants to come in at like when I'm tired. Like, I just got off work.
I've been prepping. I just came in from doing yard work. Like, I'm always tired. And I just I just want to do the man thing and sit on the couch and watch a game. Right?
That's all I want. And she's like, come on dad, dance with me dad, dance with me dad. I'm like, no, hon, I
Speaker 3: don't want to. I love you, but
Pastor Justin McVey: I don't want to. And and she'll she'll come up to me and she'll say, come on dad, give me your hand. Come on dad, give me your hand. And I'm like, all right. And she'll grab my hand and she'll pull me off the couch and the music is going.
And she'll just start swinging my hands around, making me move, and I'm just like, okay. Yep. I love you. Alright. But then it I'd start to smile because there's such joy.
There's such hope. There's such life right there. And start to smile. Alright. Okay.
And and that joy starts to flow through me. And I start to move and all of a sudden I I just I don't care anymore. I don't care who's watching. And we start we start to dance, we start to move and she starts to come on, dad, you got this. That's right, dad.
You know? And like all of a sudden my hands are in the air like I just don't care. You know, I'm moving like jagged. Like all of the things. I got the rhythm all of a sudden.
And like she just starts laughing. And we have this moment between a father and his child. And it's it's so deep and it's so rich. That's what God wants with each and every one of us. I love what Matthew 11 says.
This is in the message. It's so beautiful. It says, are you tired? Anyone tired? I'm tired, a lot.
Worn out? Oh, burned out on religion. What about burned by religion? Unfortunately, that is a reality in our culture and our society. Come to me.
Get away with me. Just get away from it all. And you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Man, that sounds like something I want.
I just want to rest. I just want to find peace. Walk with me. That just invites us to be near to him. Work with me.
Watch how I do it. That's what this this this whole passage on prayer has been about. Just watch how I do it. See what I do. And here it is.
This is the phrase. If you don't hear anything else today, hear this. Jesus says, learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.
You won't be burdened. You won't be weighted down. God is calling out to you right now. He is inviting you into something more, into something deeper, into something more powerful. He's he's saying, give me your hand.
Give me your hands. And if you will just reach out to him, he will draw you in. And like a father with his child, you will share an unbelievable, indescribable moment of closeness, of intimacy, of connection, of relationship, of joy, of hope, of peace. More than you could ever ask for or imagine as the two of you move together. This is the invitation from God to you today.
Will you accept it? Let's pray. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Morgan Teruel: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you want more content from this series, we have the YouTube playlist linked in the description. And if you want more information about who we are and what we do, you can go to sandalschurch.com.