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At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Hey, thanks so much for listening to Sandals Church. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. We hope you enjoy this message. Hi guys, welcome to Sandals Church. This is week three of Essentials, and what we're focusing on in this series is the essential things you need to know as a Christian. So if you're a Christian and these things are new, you need to know these. If you're just learning or just starting or you're considering becoming a Christian, these are the very basics of our faith. And so no matter where you are in the spectrum, in terms of your faith, we all need to know these or be reminded of these. And so we're talking today about how God helps me change. Last week, we said the love of God changes us. Remember, so the world talks a lot about love, like love is love, and God does love you, but not all love is love. And God loves you too much. Listen to me to let you stay the way you are. Okay, true love doesn't just let you rot and let you become a sinner for all eternity. True love wants you to change, wants you to be better. And the two primary ways that God does this for us is with the great commandment in the Great Commission. You're like, yeah, we've heard that two weeks in a row. You're going to hear it every single week in this series because we need to know these. You need to know not only, you know what these are, but where these verses are. So the first one is the great commandment, Matthew 22 through 36 and through 40. So if I see you in the hallway or something or at the gym, you're like great series pastor. I'm gonna say, what's the great commandment and what's the great commission you're gonna be like uh you're really funny and we'll camo pants one week okay that's not the goal of this series so what is the great commandment it's love the lord your god with our heart soul mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself all of the law hangs on these two verses okay that's the matt brown summarization but you you need to know it so what is the great commandment it's what guides me as a Christian. Okay, it's why I do what I do. So I want you to think of it as your North Star. It's how the ancients used to guide themselves when they would cross the oceans. You see, when they knew where the North Star was, they knew where they were. It's what guided them. So many people today are confused because they have no compass. Now here's what's broken. Here's what the world's telling you. You're your compass. No, you're gonna be broke. Okay, you're gonna be messed up. You are not your North Star You are not your God love your the Lord your God with our your heart soul mind and strength So what guides us in everything that we do we love God and we love people That's what guides us now There's another thing you need to know because churches that are just all about God are churches of us for and no More they reach no one and they do nothing. Look, it's great to have guidance, but what drives you? What gets you up in the morning? What impassions you? What inspires you? It's the Great Commission. Matthew 28, 18 through 20. Jesus said, all authority has been given unto me. Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Look, I'm not reading that. I know that verse and you should know that verse. And he says, and lo, if you're scared, I'm with you even to the end of the age. Look, he knows this is scary. What is the great commission? Listen, it's what drives me as a Christian. It's what drives me. And this is where most Christians are broken in their understanding of their faith. They love God, they love their neighbors, they wanna be a good person, they wanna help the world, those are great things. But let me tell you something. We can help a drug addict get off drugs, but if they don't know Jesus, they're still spending an eternity apart from Him. We can help people. That's a good thing. Sharing the gospel, that's a God thing. And that's what we need to do. Hey, thank you so much for joining us for service today. I want to take a moment and invite you to give to the work that God is doing in and through Sandals Church. You can do so by going to donate.sc. For now, let's get back into our message with Pastor Matt. And so, here's what I want you to know. God wants to change you. He wants to redirect you. And the way God changes you, the primary way He changes you, is He helps me change by teaching me Scripture. Last week, I found out an old friend from college attended Sandals Church. For some of you, you'd be like, yeah, I would never come again. But there was an old friend that I haven't seen in years. And I found out, and my other friend who invited him said, yeah, he's got a real problem going to a church where the Matt Brown he knew from college is the pastor. And I wasn't offended. This is what I said. I said, I would have a real hard time attending a church where the Matt Brown from college was leading that church. So what happened to me? I changed. But how did I change? And so here's the problem. You see, God will inspire you and he will fill you with this Holy Spirit. When you repent of your sins and you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, look, you're saved. But so many Christians never change after that point. You want to change? If you want to change, you need to learn scripture. The way I change is the same way that you're going to change. Number one, God helps me change by teaching me scripture. Now this is just for the adults in the room. If your, if your parents are with you, don't raise your hand. Anybody wish your parents had taught you some more things. Amen. Okay. Kids don't raise your hands. How about this adults? You wish your parents maybe would have talked to you a little bit more about money? Would that have been helpful? I mean, maybe you wouldn't have been as dumb when it comes to money. If they would have said, Hey, you need to actually know how to manage this. How about this? Anybody wish your parents would have talked to you about desires that you're going to have that you shouldn't act on? You know, you know what we call those people who act on every desire? They're prisoners. They're in prison. How about this one? Does anybody wish your parents would have talked to you more about relationships? Man, that'd be helpful. I mean, the two people that model relationships, wouldn't it be great if they just said, hey, here's what we're struggling and you might want to work on these things. How about this one? You wish your parents would have talked to you about people? Here's the thing, your heavenly father, he wants to teach you about all these things and more. He loves you. Don't ever say your heavenly father didn't teach you. He wrote a whole book, that's why it's as long as it is, to help you through life. In Matthew chapter 4, verses 1 through 11, Jesus is experiencing life just like you do and just like I do. He was tempted by the devil. Then Jesus, the Bible says, was led away by the Spirit into the wilderness. I want you to think about it. He's led outside of his comfort zone. He's out, he's led outside of what he's used to, of what he knows, and he's by himself. And why did the Holy Spirit lead him there? Listen to this, to be tempted by the devil. Some of you are going through something and you're asking God to take it away, but this is the thing that God has put in your life to get you to finally change. And so there he was. For 40 days and 40 nights he fasted. Some of you can't skip lunch without turning into a diva, okay? Right? I mean, you are a living, breathing Snickers commercial. I mean, that's what you are. He fasted for 40 days. I want you to imagine how hungry you are. Okay, if I fasted for 40 days, I'd probably fantasize about eating some of you. That's just... I'm not proud of that, I'm just guessing. I've never gone that long. He became... listen, the text says, very hungry. Can you imagine? As Americans, like, I'm starving. No, you're not. You're actually overeating. He was hungry. During that time, the devil came and said to him, if you are the Son of God tell these stones to become loaves of bread whoa If you really are a Christian right the devil loves to question our faith to question our identity If you really are the Son of God tell this rock to become a piece of bread I Wonder if you know, this is just a summary, I wonder if Satan just kind of manifested the smell of bread. Kind of like when you walk in the subway, that's not even real bread, but it smells like bread. Jesus told him, no, the scriptures say, people do not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is found in Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 3. Now here's the problem. Some of you, you are learning Christianity from disobedient Christians around you. And listen to me, they are not the standard Jesus is. Jesus is. But the devil's not done. The devil took him to the holy city. He took him out of the wilderness and he brought him into his hometown, to the highest point of the temple. This is over 200 feet, and he said, if you are the son of God, jump off. For the scriptures say, he will order his angels to protect you, and they will hold you up with their hands, so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone. Here's what the devil's saying, if God loves you, he's going to protect you even if you're stupid. You know how many Christians I meet that are stupid? I remember one time there's a guy at church. He rode up into church without his helmet on and his motorcycle. I said, where's your helmet? He said, I don't need a helmet. He said, God is with me. I said, yeah, but wisdom's not. And I had another Christian say, that guy loves the Lord. He's generous to God, God will never let him be hurt. I said, oh yes, he will. Yes, he will. Because listen to me, even when the son of God hung on a cross, he died. And you know what that means? If you get in an accident without a helmet, you could die. So many Christians live a flippant life because of their faith. That's not faith. That's stupidity He says is you won't even hurt your foot against his own you want to know what would happen if Jesus jumped off he had it died Because God created gravity when Jesus became the Son of God he submitted himself to the laws of physics And Jesus responded listen this the scriptures also say You must not test the Lord your God The Bible is. The Scriptures also say, you must not test the Lord your God. And this is where most of you are as Christians today. You're just testing God and testing God and testing God. And you know what happens? What that means is you're God and God is your servant. He quotes Deuteronomy 6.16. The next, next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory. I see this temptation trip up Christians all the time. He tempts you with fame. So many of our young people today are miserable. When I was a kid, boys wanted to be firefighters, police officers. Now kids just want to be famous. For what? They don't care. They don't care. They will even be a fool to be famous. And Satan says, look, he says, I'll give it all to you. If you just will kneel down and worship me. Listen, what Jesus says, get out of here, Satan. Jesus told him for the scriptures say, you must worship the Lord, your God and serve him only And then the devil went away and the angels came and took care of Jesus Now I love this story. I Love this story because it shows us that we have a Savior who understands us He gets us the book of Hebrews says we do not have a high priest that cannot relate to us He was tempted in every way that we are. Jesus knows you, knows your struggle, and he knows the secret to you overcoming that, and it's the Word of God. It's the Word of God. Jesus didn't just say, I say, he said the Word of God says. And let me just say this, if the Word of God who became flesh has to learn the Word of God, what's your excuse? Number two, the scriptures help to protect me when I face temptation. Anybody ever been tempted? OK, your hands on up your liar. I mean, right now I just tempted you to lie in church and most of you, you just said, I've never been tempted. I between studying and praying and giving pastor, I had a lot of time for temptation. Listen to me, parents, who are raising your kid in a little Christian bubble. Good luck with that. You don't want to raise them in a bubble. You want to raise them as a strong Christian so they can overcome temptation. How did God raise His Son? Did He put Him in a temple so no one could ever bother Him? No, He sent Him into the wilderness to be alone so that Jesus could stand on his own. Parents, you got to teach your kids how to stand with Jesus. The world's not going to get less crazy. It's not. You think you're going to wake up tomorrow and the news is going to be like, our bad. We were crazy. It's not happening. It's not happening. Temptation is all around. Scripture helps you to overcome temptation. When I first started off as your pastor, I was a little naive. Let's be honest, a lot naive. And I was a teacher at an elementary school. And this dude showed up. We would call him a homeless person now. In the 90s, this was more rare. Now it's just every Tuesday, but he showed up to our public school and he had a shirt on and he had no pants and no underwear on. I said, hey bro, hey, hey, you with the no pants. How can I help you? You know what he was? He was drunk, he was an alcoholic. I said, how can I help? I said, you're gonna get arrested. They're gonna call the police because you can't be around an elementary school dressed like this. And he started to cry He said I'm an alcoholic. I can't quit And so what I did was is I went in the principal's office I said hey I know a place that will take anyone into rehab It said it's about 45 minutes instead of calling the cops. Could I just take him there and my principles a believer. He said sure So I went and got a bunch of trash bags and covered my seats because I am smart the dude had the dude had no pants on I'm smart. The dude had no pants on. And I put him in my car. We went to the thrift store, got him some pants, and then I drove him 45 minutes. And here's the thing, on the way out of Riverside, you know what he pointed out to me over and over again? Every single place where he could buy alcohol. He pointed out places I was like, boy, I didn't even know what that was. And this is what he said to me. He said, how am I supposed to be sober with all this alcohol around me? And I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him. I said, you've got to find a different focus. Listen, Scripture doesn't make your temptation go away, but it teaches you there's always a way out. There's always a way out. Matthew 4, 1, when Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. Listen to this. Some of you feel like God is tempting you. I want you to read the text. God did not tempt Jesus. He allowed Jesus to be tempted. The devil tempts. God does not. Listen to what James 1.13 says. This is the half-brother of Jesus. He says, and remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, God is tempting me. This is Scripture. God is never tempted to do wrong, and He never tempts anyone else. James goes on to say that we are carried away by our own desires. What does the world say? Follow your heart. What does the scripture say? Your heart's the problem. God is the solution. James 1 12. Listen, if you're struggling today, you're battling addiction. You feel like you just keep losing this battle and there is no hope. Listen to me. Here's your verse. James 1 12. God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. I get it. I've been there. I've battled through a lot of things. Through a lot of things in my life as a Christian man, as a man who is a pastor, as a man who leads. I have watched men that I love and admire fall. Here's what I believe in. That there's a blessing when we endure temptation. And here's what I believe. There's a cursing when we give into it. And I have seen mighty men and women of God fall because they weren't honest about temptation. And then they blamed God for their failure in temptation. Don't do that. Number three. Bible verses stabilize me when I'm confused. And let me just tell you, older people, the older you get, the more confused you are, amen? It's just true. It's just true. My wife and I, we are college graduates, I'm proud to say. We have a master's degree in education. The other day, we got in our car, and Apple CarPlay wouldn't work. We looked like monkeys. It was ridiculous. You know what we needed? A first grader. Fixed it. The world is getting confusing. The world is changing. I remember laughing at my parents with the flashing 12 on the VCR. And now that's me. It's me. Listen to me. If you're under 30, all these changes, it's just the way things are. It's just, it's always been this way. No, it hasn't! If you're 30 to 50, you're trying to figure out, how do I make money in this new environment? And if you're my age and older, you're like, this is the devil. Life is confusing. And it just keeps getting more confused. Like when I was a kid, they told us technology is gonna help simplify our lives. I gotta Google Nest. You remember the good old days when your thermostat just flicked? Like, now I need a physics degree to fix it. Even the AC guy's like, I don't know, Pastor. I'm like, well, if you don't know, who does? Man. Matthew 4, 5-7. The devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem. To the highest point in the temple and he said, If you are the son of God, jump off, listen to this, for the scriptures say. I want you to hear me very carefully. The Holy Spirit, Jesus, and God the Father are not the only ones that quote scripture. Some of the most dangerous people in our world today are people that claim to be pastors and in the name of God tell you it's okay to sin. And here's what, listen to me, here's what Satan is tempting them with. You can live however you want and God will save you from it. Here's what the Word of God says, there are consequences for your choices. Satan is saying, you can behave however you want and God will order His angels to protect you. You'll be saved, Jesus. I mean, that's what some churches are teaching, everybody goes to heaven, even dogs now, right? I mean, nobody thinks cats do, but, right? Everybody goes to heaven, amen? I mean, no, that's not what the Bible says. He says, and they will hold you up with their hands so you... Listen, you're not even going to be a little bit hurt if you disobey God. And Jesus responded, listen to this, this is the beauty of Jesus. He doesn't refute the verse just quoted. What does he say? The Scriptures also say. Also say. Say. Also say. Some of you are stuck on a verse. Ask yourself this, are there any other verses that can provide clarity to what you're struggling with? Jesus said the Scriptures also say you must not test the Lord your God. Ephesians 4, 17 through 18, the Apostle Paul, he writes these words and he says, with the Lord's authority, he's talking about Jesus. He said, I say this, live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness and they have wandered, listen to this, from the life that God gives. You want to know what's wrong with our world? They are hopelessly confused and they have wandered from the life that God gives. The scriptures, not your desires, not what's popular, not what's current, the scriptures tell you what God thinks about life. And here's what Paul is saying to a church in Ephesus. He says, I know, I know that Ephesus is a cool church. Ephesus is the rich church. Ephesus is a port city, right? It'd be like Los Angeles. It'd be like Portland, okay? It'd be like Miami. He says, but they don't know how to live right. Listen to me if you're a Christian. Here's one of the first things you need to know. This is Christianity 101. God has not called you to live like everyone else. He's called you and he's called me to live like Jesus. Now inevitably whenever I challenge a group, there's just some of you that just feel like I'm never going to get this right. You already didn't want to come to church. You didn't want to listen to this message. You already feel beat down. And you feel like pastor. I'm just a total failure. Some of you might even say, I live worse than a Gentile because I know better. And you're going to be tempted by the devil and this is what he's going to say you don't belong in church You're never going to get this right? What are you doing here? These aren't your people And he's going to try to sift you away from the house of God Instead of listening to the enemy try to draw you out from church. Why not listen to Jesus? Matthew 9 36 when Jesus saw the crowds So if he saw you today sitting in church Jesus saw the crowds. So if he saw you today sitting in church, maybe sitting on your couch at home watching this, when he saw you, he had compassion on them. Why? Because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Man. Now that word shepherd is often times in our Bibles translated pastor. People that guide us, people that direct us, people that help us stay on the narrow road. Look if you're confused, church is the last place you want to run from, it's the first place you want to run to. God loves you. And He has an amazing plan for your life. But listen to me. We are a people of the book. We are a people of the book. You have no idea how the Bible has radically just changed the world. I was listening to a Joe Rogan podcast where he was interviewing a physicist from San Diego State. And you know, he said, you want to know why we have glasses? Because of the Gutenberg Bible. People are like, I can't read that. That's when they realized there was a problem. The Bible has changed the world in more ways than we know. There's nothing wrong with scripture. There's been plenty of things wrong with how Christians have applied scripture. But we need the word of God. And let me say this, if you feel under attack today, if you feel defeated today, if you feel like Satan himself is personally coming against you, I want you to know this. Number four, Bible verses are my best weapon against the devil. Now let me pause. I'm going to say this again. Bible verses are my best weapon against the devil, but they are not a weapon to win arguments against people Jesus isn't debating a person He's not on tick-tock split-screen, this is a moron and here's why He's not on Twitter you idiot that's not what it means you see Satan knows who the enemy is and the enemy is the devil. And some of you guys, you use scripture like a weapon and you say, well, it says it's a sword not to stab your neighbor. It's a weapon to drive away your enemy, the devil. Matthew 4, 10 through 11. What does Jesus say? Get out of here, Satan. Get out of here. Jesus told him for the scripture say, see where Jesus pivots? Right back to scripture. You must worship the Lord your God and serve him only. And here's the beauty of this text. What does the devil do? He went away. And then what did heaven do? They sent angels to come and take care of Jesus. When you are feeling tempted, when you are feeling overwhelmed, when you feel like you're at the breaking point. Listen to me, if you can get the devil to go away, heaven will send angels to minister to you. But listen to me, God will not decide for you. You have to make the decision. You have to make it. And some of you, you're like, that's why I got a Bible in my home. Listen, knowing that you have a Bible in your home, but not knowing scripture is like owning a gun in your home with no bullets. It doesn't work. You can't chase Satan away with a book. Get out of here. Jesus didn't open a scroll. There's some good stuff in here that you should read. What did Jesus do? He rapid fired the word of God. He was never intimidated by anything that the devil said are quoted. And he never said, well, let's get into a debate. He said, the scripture also says, the scripture also says, the scripture also says. And he said, now get out of here. Get out of here. You see, some of you, the reason, the reason your marriage isn't working, it's not because you need counseling, it's because you need the devil out of your marriage. And he's having a field day. Some of your battles with your kids are like, oh, I know it's Satan. Yeah, I know, I know. But listen to me, you need the word of God. Let me just tell you something, parents. It's empowering to say, this is not what I said, this is what God says. This is what the word of God says. But there's a bigger reason that you and I need to know scripture. It's not just so we can win arguments against the devil or be protected from evil in hell. Number five, the Bible connects me more deeply with God. That's its purpose. That's its point. God actually wants you to know him and love him. Remember what guides us? The love of God, the love of God, love the Lord, your God, your heart, soul, mind and strength. You cannot love what you do not know. You can't. Deuteronomy 6, 4-9. This is called the Shema in Hebrew, which means to hear or to listen. It says, Hear, O Israel. Some of you don't know this, but the word Israel means wrestlers with God. When you wrestle somebody, you get close. Amen? Anybody ever seen that? Two guys in spandex are getting close. Getting close. Hear, O Israel. Are you wrestling with God? Do you know Him? Does He know you? Are you guys battling with life? Hero, Israel, the Lord your God is one. There's only one God and it's not you. So love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul. Wait a minute, I thought that's what Jesus said. No, Jesus is quoting this. What is the greatest commandment of the Bible? Jesus takes us to Deuteronomy chapter 6. Lord, you got their heart, soul, mind and strength. Listen, these commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Now, most translations they teach here. I love how the NIV is translate this impressed because I think that's better. What does impress didn't learn. Okay? It's one thing to teach your children things. It's another thing to impress upon your children things. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you get up. Parents, is God a topic of conversation at the table? Is God a topic of conversation when you get up, when you go to sleep? Is God a part of your family at all? See most of us as Christians we do the church thing, check. Some of us are super spiritual so we go small group, check. Some of us are just like Jesus when we put a little money in the plate. Feeling good. Now by all means, please give. But here's what God says, I don't wanna just meet on Sundays, or if you attend Saturdays, or some of you watch online on your day off. He's saying, I don't just want to meet on this date. You see, God doesn't just want to date you. He's looking for a marriage. He's saying, I want to be with you forever. I want to be a part of your life. I want to be part of your mornings, your afternoons, your evenings. I want to be a part of you. He says, tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on your doorframes of your houses and on your gates. So when we read scripture, and I know I know some of you are like, Pastor, I can't read. And let me tell you something. I sympathize with those of you have ADD or you have comprehension issues. OK, I struggled. I struggled. And one of the reasons I learned to read was because I knew I needed to know Scripture. There was a man in our church a couple of months ago, he came up to me with tears in his eyes. And he was weeping because he heard me say that I struggled reading. He said, Pastor, I'm 65 years old. He said, I can't read. He said, is there someone in this church that would help me to read? He said, listen, he said, I was passed through school my whole life, because people thought they were helping me. He said, they haven't helped me. He said, what did you teach me to read? Listen, the Word of God needs to be one of the most important things in your life. And I know that reading is tough. But if I can do it, so can you. And if the Spirit of God wants you to be able to read His Word, what do you think the Spirit of God is going to do? I think He's going to empower you to learn to read. He's going to help you with your mental focus. I mean, maybe you have ADD horrible. I mean, yours might be worse than mine, but mine was pretty bad. But I surrendered that to the Lord. I said, Lord, I can't read. I can't comprehend. I can't focus. But the Holy Spirit said, I can. And He began to change my life. But I reoriented my life around reading Scripture. Because you know what I had to say? I had to say, I'm a Christian, whatever that means, and I've never read what I say I believe. So let me ask you this. When you read the Bible, we just read the Shema, the most important commandment, it's what Jews say every day when they wake up, here is the Lord, your God is one. What does it say? One of the reasons I struggle with comprehension is because I never actually asked myself what it said, and you want to know why? Because I didn't care. Now I'm not saying you don't have a legitimate issue. I'm not saying you're not dyslexic. I'm not saying you don't have a learning disability. I'm just asking you this. Do you care about what that text says? Does it matter to you? And so I changed. And I said, I care what this says and I got to know this. So what does the text say? It says that the Word of God is supposed to be on my heart. That I'm supposed to be on my heart. That I'm supposed to impress this onto my kids. I'm supposed to tie them on my hand and I'm supposed to bind them to my forehead. I'm to place them on my doorframe or some rental property or a gate, right? But let me ask you this, here's the next question. What does it mean? Because if you come to Israel with me, you know what you're gonna see? You're gonna see very, very faithful Jewish people who actually tie them on their hands. And actually, I'm not kidding you, put a little scripture box right on their head. And every single door in Israel has a mezuzah on every single doorframe. When you walk into the hotel, when you walk into your, you know what mezuzah means in Hebrew? It means doorpost. And they put a little scripture in there and guess what's in there? The Shema that I just read you. But here's what breaks my heart. That's not what it means. You see, you can be very literal and completely miss the point of scripture. What does it mean for me to have scripture on my heart? Does it mean that you guys just have the Bible and like football tackle with me and like shove it into my chest? What does it mean to impress upon your children, hold them down and like you will be obeyed it, shove it in their face. No, that's not what it means. So what does it mean to have this? Here's the thing I want you to see. Jesus doesn't just quote scripture. He interprets it. Whenever you read in the Bible, Jesus says something like this. You've heard it said unto you, but I say, you know what he's doing? He's reinterpreting the word of God. Not reinterpreting, but he's interpreting the way it was always supposed to be understood. So what does it mean to have it on your heart? God's word is how he connects with my heart. What does it mean to impress scripture upon your kids? My most important job as a parent is to help my kids connect with God. I get criticized and have been criticized for 30 years at Sandals Church because we try to be relevant and cool. Do you know why that is? I was trying to connect God with young people's hearts. It's mission critical. You see, some churches love their traditions more than they love the great commandment and the great commission. Traditions are great unless they're not allowing you to love God, love your neighbor and make a disciple. How about this? Should I tie the scriptures on my hands? No, no, no. What it means guys is when you go to work, God is with you. You see, the Bible should guide what I do with my hands. What am I doing with my hands? Everything I do as a Christian glorifies God or sins against God. What am I doing with my hands? What does it mean to bind the scriptures on your forehead? Literally, Jewish people, and you'll see them on the airplane when we go there, they're wrapping it around their head. This is what it means. The scriptures should always be a part of how I think. That's what it means. You see the mezuzah, God is not actually interested in the doorpost. Here's what he's saying. As important as the structure of your home is, so is the word of God to the structure of your home. You see, so many people are hypocrites. They're a Christian on Sunday, and the rest of the week, their kids see no God at all. You see, it's a part of everything I do. Last week, we had Hurricane Hillary. And so, you know, I was kind of panicking, freaking out. Somebody like, yeah, I was chill. Okay, well, so were people in the days of Noah. I feel great. I Know that was rough, but I was worried. I never been in a hurricane before so I was getting sandbags I got to tell you something. I love our church, but I was moved to tears I Went to the fire department Completely unhelpful my wife went is amazing. They were the most helpful Incredible servants of the community you know, but she got all the information, and so I had to go get the bags and go find sand. And do you know when I got there, it was chaos. Because government is chaotic. And there was one kid there working on a Saturday, and you had to have your own bags, your own shovels, and there wasn't even sand. People were upset. But you know what there was there? with shovels, helping neighbors put sand in bags. I was moved to tears. They helped me put sand in my bags. You don't want to know why? Because they were wrapping scripture around their hands. They went them for themselves, but they remembered the great commandment. Love God and love your neighbor. And they helped their neighbors. That's sandals, man. I was blown away at these two men. One of them was wearing flip flops. Here's the next question. How do I apply scripture to my life? This is why small groups are so it. Sermons inspire you. Relational discussion changes you. It's why Jesus in his small group says, who do you say that I am? And the disciples said, well, some people say that's not what Jesus asked. He said, who do you say that I am? You see, Scripture is how I connect my heart to God. So let me ask you today, when I'm speaking, when you're sitting in a small group, when you're reading your Bible, how connected is my heart with God? You see, you can have God in your heart and you can be saved by Jesus and you can be a mile from Him emotionally and spiritually. And every married person knows that, amen? Amen? You can go to bed together and be a mile apart. And you wanna know why that is? Because there's relational sin between you. So, it's not just about, is the word of God on my chest? The question is, is it in my heart? Am I connecting with God? Next, impress it upon your children. If you're a parent, am I leading my kids to put God first? Last week I went to a Dodgers game and I grew up in Northern California, Giants territory, and so many of our pastors are NorCal guys and they just, they don't understand why I love the Dodgers. They feel like I'm a traitor, okay? They just, they just, you know, they love me, they're pretty sure I'm right with Jesus, but when I put that blue on, they're just like, ah, I gotta go to another church. But listen to me, you wanna know why I love the Dodgers? There's only one reason. My dad loved the Dodgers. Some of my best memories are watching the game with my dad in blue. Listen to me, parents, you want to know what your kids love? What you love. All my friends were Giants fans. Some of them rooted for the Devils team, the A's. They did drugs, steroids, they're cheaters. Do you want to know why I love the Dodgers? Because my dad loved the Dodgers. And I loved being with my dad when he was doing things that he loved. Listen to me, parents. You want to know what your kids are going to do when they grow up? What they see and did with you when you loved doing it. So what's your attitude when you come to church? Is it a checklist? Or is this something that we get to do? Is this something that we get to do? Next, what am I doing with my hands? Is something that I'm doing with my hands that sins against God? Or is something that I'm doing with my hands serving God? Where's my head at? Is God a huge part of my thoughts? And then finally, the mezuzah, the doorpost. How can I make God a central part of my home life? And with all commands is God commanding you to do something today You know what a command is is command is not something that you pray about It's something that you obey And let me just say this. I believe God has commanded you to know scripture and If Jesus used scripture for his spiritual defense, what are you going to use? And let me say this to every Christian in this room. The devil will come for you. The book of Ephesians tells us to put on the whole armor of God. Listen to me. So then the day of testing, you will stand. And I have been your pastor long enough to watch well-meaning good Christians fall. Because Scripture is the sword of the Spirit. It's what protects us. It's what guides us. It's what directs us. Listen to me. It's what changes us. So let's start studying Scripture together. Let's get in a small group and discuss Scripture together. And let's never apologize for being people of the book. Amen? Because that's what guides us. Let's bow our heads, let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I know that there are people that are being so tempted and so overwhelmed by the enemy right now. I pray that you bind him in the name of Jesus, that you send him away from their marriage, their thought life, their personal life, their family life. God, and I pray that there is a revival today amongst Sandals, where we say we're a people of the book. Some of us don't have a Bible today, God, we need to go buy one. We need to make that decision. But a purchased Bible, Lord, is not a working Bible. We need to start studying it, we need to get in small group, and we need to start discussing what we say we believe, so that we can stand when the devil comes against us. Lord, bless us in the name of Jesus and guide us. I pray this in your name. Amen. Lord bless us in the name of Jesus and guide us. I pray this in your name. Amen We hope your summer holds a lot of restful opportunities and room for a nice break from the norm. We, at Sandals Church, want you to know that you can be a part of us from wherever you go and however your rhythms look different in this season. We'll continue releasing weekly sermons and content on all podcast platforms as well as on YouTube. You can also give to Sandals Church at any time by going to donate.sc. Thanks for being a part of this place. We hope you have a by going to donate.sc. Thanks for being a part of this place. We hope you have a great summer.
Transcribed with Cockatoo