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 enjoy this message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown: Hi, guys. Welcome to Sandals Church. We are in a series called different, and last week we began our 1st week of this series of the question, and I wanna have a question today for the start of the message. I wanna ask you don't say it out loud because you're probably gonna be wrong, and I don't wanna embarrass you. Okay?
I'm always the guy that throws out the answer, and they're like, no. You should be a Christian. You should you should have known that. But if I asked you what word and theme is repeatedly mentioned in almost every Christian book in the Bible and is missed by almost every Christian? What word?
Now let me help you out. What word would make Christians completely different from other people, listen to me, no matter how religious they are. What word? I wonder if I could just be a guest in your brain right now. Because some of you, you got the wrong word, amen?
Like, you got the wrong word. You're like truth, you know? Anger, righteousness, those are the wrong words. But some of us, right, we're close. Some of you, you say, well, love.
Love is what makes Christians different. Well, I gotta tell you, Muslim families have love. They have love. Buddhist families have love. All religions offer some kind of hope.
Like, that's another word. I think we'd say hope. All religions are ultimately about what's next, and so it offers hope. Some of you would have said truth and hopefully, you know, a more positive version of truth. But all religions claim truth.
I'm not saying they have it, I'm just saying they claim it. So so what makes us different? What word is God looking for you to understand? Here's the word, the word is grace. Grace is what makes Christianity different.
Okay? Muslims are trying to do everything right to please Allah. Jews are trying to do everything right to please the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, the God of Isaac. Christians sit in a position of grace because of Jesus. It's what makes us different.
If I asked you to tell me what the last verse in the Bible is about, I'm gonna guess most Christians have no idea. Let me give it to you. This is the last verse in the Christian Bible. Revelation 22/21. Listen to me.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with God's people. Why would God have that be the last verse? I think it's because it's the first thing we forget as Christians. If you look at the worst periods in Christian history, it's because we forgot the last verse in God's Bible. We forgot grace.
We forgot grace. And let me tell you something. We we live in a world without grace. That's why there's a cancel culture, because we've forgotten grace. Couple of weeks ago, the Queen of England died.
Do you guys remember that? Like, my wife was like, oh. I was like, you didn't see that coming? Like, like, she's old. Like, she was old, man.
You know? Like, when you're 96 and you die, we shouldn't say, oh, we should give you a fist bump, man. You did right on. Well done. But you know her death aroused all kinds of emotion.
K. I was surprised by all the tears, but I was surprised by some of the anger. You know, man, I'm Irish, man. And and you guys didn't notice but the Irish don't like the English. K?
One of my favorite movies says this, I'll fight in your army, William Wallace, if I can kill the English. That's all he cares about. He didn't care who's right, who's wrong. He just wants to kill the English. I watched a 1,000 Irish at a not football.
Soccer, they get offended because they lack grace. But a soccer game chanting, put her in a box. Put her in a box. Put her in a box. The world lacks grace.
Lacks grace. I watched a professor. I should say watch. I read a professor on Twitter who said, I hope she suffers deeply. She said, I don't wish death that's gonna happen.
She said, I hope she suffers. And here's what she said, for what the English have done to my people. Now, to be fair, the English have done some things to some people, to my people for a 1000 years, for some of you, for to your people for a couple 100 years. But here's what a lot of people don't know about English history. Do you know how they became the English?
They were conquered by the Romans. The Roman Caesar that conquered them was Severus Septimus. You've never heard of him. Right? Because all education is selective.
It's all selective. Severus Septimus is black. He's from Libya. And he had one of the longest dynasties in Roman history. He enslaved the English people for 100 of years.
You see, here's why our world lacks gay grace, because we all have a date. We all have a number. We all have a point where we are offended personally or our people are offended. And here's the thing you need to know. For thousands of human human history, years of human history, people have been terrible.
People have been awful. People are evil. That's why we need Jesus. Amen. That's why we need Jesus.
It's all ugly. It's all ugly. There isn't a people, there isn't a group anywhere who's risen to power that did it nicely. Yeah. No people came marching in.
We would really like to rule you. Pray about it. Think about it. You know? And the Romans weren't like, we have aqueducts, clean water.
You know, the Persians weren't like, we can count. We know math. And the Egyptians weren't like, check out this gold. I mean, have you seen it? It's amazing.
King Tut, awesome. Right? They came in with force, with murder, with rape, with all of the evil things that people do when they're in power. Grace is what make should make Christians different. It hasn't, like it hasn't.
We've done our own evil in the name of Jesus. Like and if you don't know about it, it's because you don't know your specific religious history. We've all been evil. We've we've all been sinful because we've forgotten grace. Grace is what makes Christianity different.
So in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 3, listen to what Paul says. He says, once you were dead because of your disobedience. He doesn't say you were bad. He says you were dead. He wants to paint the picture clearly.
You see, all other religions say, if I really try, I can live. Paul says, no. No. No. No.
You're you're dead in your sins. You can't try effort, can't make it happen, it can't. He says, you used to live in sin just like the rest of the world, and he includes his own people, the Jews. Just like the rest of the world. He doesn't believe that his people are more moral than the rest of the world because they're the ones, in his eyes, at least their leaders who crucified Christ, and they had the truth.
Right? Just like many Christians throughout. But listen to what he says. You were dead in your sins obeying the devil. You know?
So if you're wrestling with this message right now, it isn't this holy spirit, it's the devil. You know? He's like, not you. No. Not you.
Yeah. You. Us. And if you don't believe that people are evil, have some people, grow some people, raise some people. Amen?
Make your own people. I was at small group this week as some of the pastors invited me to small group to watch the 40 niners destroy the Rams. Pray for the Rams. Amen? And and and I'm sitting on the floor, and this 2 year old just comes up to me and he's just like and he just wants me to know, hey.
I may be the bottom with this group, but I'm on top of you. And he just he just leans on me. Yeah. Yeah. And he's looking at me in my eye.
Mhmm. That's the devil. That's the devil. And then he just ran off. You know?
He said my work is done. I didn't even know he's there. He just turned. I was like, woah. Listen to this.
The commander of the powers of the unseen world. He is the spirit that is in work that is at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. You wanna know what's wrong with the world? It's not people. It's the devil, And he is moving in the hearts of people.
Amen. He is the commander of the powers of this unseen world. You see in hell, they're cheering on what Putin's doing. Right. Kill them all.
Right. And and is it any wonder? Did you know that Russia is Christian and Ukraine is Christian? Same kind of Christian. Orthodox, Russian, Christian.
And yet they're killing each other. Killing each other. The English and the Irish, both Christian, now different types, different flavors, but still Christian killing each other for 1000 of years. Listen to what he says, all of us. Who?
All of us, you, your grandma, right, your grandpa, your auntie, all of us used to live that way following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. You see, the Bible says not everything that's organic is good. Your sin is organic, homegrown, pesticide free. Right? It's not wrapped in plastic.
It's wrapped in you. Listen to this. And the inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature, we were subject to God's anger. Right.
Listen to this, and don't forget it. Just like everyone else. Just like everyone else. I wanna talk today about a different grace. How about this?
An amazing grace. An amazing grace. If you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. Without God's grace without God's grace, I would be just like everyone else. Every time a pastor has a moral failing, every time a pastor is in the news, initially, I get angry.
What's wrong with them? And then I hear the spirit, but by the grace of God, there go you. Do you wanna know why I haven't had a moral failing? Do you wanna know why I haven't been in the news? Do you know why I haven't stolen money, haven't done all kinds of things?
By the grace of God. Amen. By the grace of God. Some of you have no idea how special I can be in moments. Right?
But praise God praise God, in moments of opportunity for the grace of God, I was strong. In the moments of weakness, there was not opportunity by the grace of God. Without God's grace, you would be just like everyone else but God. Ephesians 2 verse 4, but god. So rich in his mercy are you rich in in in his mercy or some of you are bankrupt.
Some of you need to go to your Christian ATM, and it says 0. Zero grace, 0 mercy. It says you are empty of the very thing that is to supply your strength. But God, so rich in his mercy, and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, even though he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. Amen.
Amen. Thank you, Jesus. It is only, Paul says, by God's grace that you have been saved. Do you know why you are as moral as you are, as good as you are? Because God gave you the parents you have, and that is God's grace.
God's grace. Man, it is grace if you had a parent that cared. It is grace if you had a parent that loved. It was grace that if you had a parent who taught you right from wrong. And when you watch the news and you judge those just realize they didn't get the grace you got.
And they don't know the Jesus you have. For he has raised you from the dead along with Christ. Listen to this. And he has seated us with him. Did you know you have VIP seats in heaven?
You're not in the nosebleeds. You're not in the nosebleeds. My friend was texting me this morning. Hey, I'm getting tickets. How much are you willing to spend?
Right? How much are you willing to spend? How much money are you willing to spend so you can get close? Right? I mean the truth is at most concerts, I don't even know if that's them.
It could be you for all I know. They're just playing a record. I mean, half the people are drunk and stoned anyways. Right? They don't know.
How much are you willing to spend is what he asked me. Here's the thing is, how much did God spend to give you the seats you have in heaven? He spent the blood of his one and only son. And and here's the thing. So many people today, they don't get that.
That's because they don't get how bad they are. Seated in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. Listen to this. So God can point to us. This is this is a bizarre verse.
So that God can point to us in all future ages as an example of his incredible wealth and grace and kindness toward us. Man, you know what you're an example of? Grace. Do you know what Sandals Church is an example of? Grace.
Grace. The wealth of his grace that he has freely shared with us and because we lack grace thousands of Irish chant, put her in a box, put her in a box, put her in a box. And I'm Irish. It's not like our hands are blood free. We've blown up children and mothers and parents and even fellow Irish that don't agree with us.
Did you know that? You see, we're all ready to lose it. That's what the U2 song is all about, Sunday Bloody Sunday. It's a 16 year old kid who's been given a loaded weapon and it accidentally goes off and all of a sudden Ireland and the UK are at war again because some kid made a mistake. Man, some of you are bankrupt of the wealth of his grace.
You have forgotten his kindness towards us. That doesn't mean we excuse evil. It doesn't mean we ignore evil, but we constantly remind ourselves, but but but by the grace of God, there go I. There go I. That could be me.
That's right. That could be me losing it. Years ago, man, there was this Christian leader I followed, this is about 20 years ago, man, and I envied him, I wanted to be him, and then I saw him on the news, butt naked on a street corner. Yeah. It was on the news.
And I was like, god, I'm so grateful that's not me. I appreciate, lord, that you've said no to every prayer I've ever uttered. Amen? And here's the thing I didn't know, man. There's a guy in the video that I didn't know at the time.
He's on the street corner and he's just yelling to this pastor, just get in. Get in the car. Get in the car. That guy's name is Bob Goff. Not judging, not condemning.
Just get in the car. I don't know what's happened. I don't know what's made you snap, but I know God's grace can fix it, and God's grace can put it back together. That's right. Man, I hope this message is your Bob Goff moment where God says, just get back in the car.
The world can't give grace because they haven't experienced grace. They don't have it. We need a different grace. Amen? A different grace.
See, here's what I want you to know. With God's grace, I can become just like Jesus. You see, without God's grace, I'm gonna be just like everybody else. Listen to me, parents. You don't want your kids to become like the world, give them the grace of Jesus.
Because it is only by the grace of Jesus that they can become like Jesus. That's what they need. Knowledge won't do it. Protecting them won't do it. Building a fort with a moat and no one else comes in or out, that won't do it.
Do you wanna know why sin isn't outside? It's inside. It's in them. It's in them. What makes them like Jesus is Jesus.
Jesus. See? To become more like him, here's the thing I need to know. I gotta make an effort. You see, this is where Christians get it twisted.
There's no amount of effort that can save you by God's grace. None. It is by grace that you have been saved. This is not of yourselves. You can't earn it, and your effort can't make it.
We cannot have enough effort, and this is why all religions are wrong. You can't work hard enough to be saved, but you have to go to work if you're gonna grow in grace. You're gonna have to go to work. Peter says this, you must you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. You must.
And so many Christians, man, the last time you experienced Jesus was when you gave your life to Jesus and you haven't talked to him since. And you wonder why your marriage is where it is. You wonder why your life is where it is. You wonder why your heart is where it is. You wonder why your mind is where it is.
Because you receive grace and then you walked away from grace. Listen to me, you don't just need grace to be saved. You need grace to live. To live. Right now the earth is floating and spinning in nothing, and scientists call it space.
Do you know why it does that? God's grace. God's grace. We are here today because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what?
We we all need to understand. We constantly need to work to grow in grace because it is so easy to lose. I I love to do weddings when there's all this grace. Right? I will love you forever.
I will listen. I will listen no matter what I'm doing. No matter what you've done, I'll forgive. Right? Until death to its part, until something comes in that parts us.
Amen? And then it's like, woah. Woah. Why is it that Christian marriages have the same divorce rate as non Christians? We lack grace.
We lack grace. Some of you have missed this your whole life. Jesus was asked to teach us how to pray and so he did. And here's the thing you need to know about Greek. We we we the the Christian Bible is written in Greek.
We don't always know where the period is. Right? So we have to decide and so when we read the Lord's Prayer, what if we put the period in the wrong place? Listen what Jesus says. This is how you should pray and forgive us of our sins as we forgive those who sin against us, period, maybe.
And what? Don't let us yield to temptation. What if there's not a period? What if the temptation is that we want grace, but we don't give it? What makes religion evil?
A lack of grace. You can have Jesus on a cross, but if there isn't grace in the church, you've lost. You've lost.
Morgan Teruel: Thanks for listening to the Sandals Church podcast. Our vision here is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. At Sandals Church, we wanna see a movement of authenticity take place all over the world, and donating to the work of Sandals Church helps make that happen. If you wanna support this movement here at Sandals Church, I wanna invite you to visit donate.sc. Thanks again for listening, and God bless.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown: I met this gal when I was doing my book tour last year and, she she had me on her podcast and I said, what church do you go to? She goes to church in in Dallas, Texas. And she told me the name of her church. It was Grace something. I'm not gonna say the whole name because, I don't wanna shame them.
But they should be shamed, right? You know? And I said, like like, let's just I'm gonna make up a name. Like, the church's name is Extravagant Grace or something like that. A really cool relevant grace or something like that.
And I asked her, I said, why don't you go to your church anymore? She said, we got kicked out because of gossip. I was like, yeah, we don't do that at Sandals. Yeah. Yeah.
Sandals is First Baptist Church Sodom and Gomorrah. You know, we just you know, if we didn't gossip, we didn't have anything to talk about. Amen? Right? I I I was like, you do realize the name of your church is Grace, and they kicked you out because they lacked grace.
She said, welcome to Texas. Right? Can you imagine? You're out. Why?
You've exceeded grace. You can't. If you exceed grace, it was never grace. Because grace is something you never earned, so you can't outrun it. Right?
God didn't save you because if you got a little clean up, a little bath, somehow you'd be better. He just declared you clean in His name. You are not righteous. He just declared you right. He just decided you're good.
Why? My son died for you and I'll accept that for you. You see, God's the judge. God decides. You see, the Ephesian church knew grace.
The Galatian church forgot grace. And Paul says this, you have fallen away from God's grace. You've fallen away. If the church at Galatian could do it and Peter could do it, the apostle Peter in the church had to be confronted to his face, so can you. My worst moments in my marriage are when I lack grace.
My worst moments with my kids are when I've fallen from grace. Like, if my kids knew what I did at their age, like, if if I was the kid that my kids are, my parents would be like, hallelujah. The Lord the Lord has spoken. You know? And my kids are irritating me.
My parents at their at their age thought I was going to hell in a handbasket. I don't know what that means, but a lot of people say it. Right? When I run into friends from high school and they find them a pastor, they're like, you. I'm like, grace.
God's God's grace, man. God's grace. Right. I mean, I'm so bad. Some people find out I'm a pastor.
They're like, I don't know if I believe in god anymore. This is I don't I don't know. And some of you are where I am. You're like, there's nothing that's ever gonna change me. My parents raised me this way.
You see, most of you were not raised with grace. You sang about it, but you never saw it. And you're like, I'm never gonna change. So many moms are so discouraged. I mean, so many moms, they tell me, like, I hate my children.
I'm like, I've been there. I've been there. Let's just sing together. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that will save a wretch like them.
Right now, it's not what it says, but that's what you think. Listen to me. Some of you don't need counseling for your marriage. You need grace in your marriage. And I and I got news for you.
Some of you are new. We have a lot of people in the church at Sandals that that don't know their Bibles, and that's okay. This is a good place for you to learn and grow, but you need to know this. Jesus says on judgment day, it is the measure of grace that you gave that will be used to you. So some of you better get good at this quick.
Right? Think about that. The grace you give to others is the grace that God is gonna give to you, and you are going to stand before God as a Christian. And the Bible says that judgment begins with the house of the Lord. You see, he's gonna start with people who knew better before he deals with those that didn't.
May God give you more and more grace and peace. Listen to this as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus, our lord. Here's the thing. You can pray for more grace, and he'll give it. You can you can ask.
Right? I mean, right now at the end of the service, you're gonna have an opportunity. God, I I need grace. Like, I'm I'm just I'm just too critical of my spouse. I'm too negative towards my friends.
I've I've become too negative with our culture. Everybody's gone nuts. Everybody's gone crazy. Everybody's become critical. But I want you to know this.
If you are truly growing in your relationship with God, then you will grow in your relationship with grace. You see, the distance between you and grace is the distance between you and Jesus. Amen. And if you wanna close that gap, you need to grow in grace. Amen.
You know, I went to church this last week and I was speaking live at Hunter Park, and there's a church member that was upset with me. And they saw me, I saw them, they didn't think I saw them, and they rolled their eyes when I walked into church to preach. Oh, I know. I know. I was walking in to preach and I saw them and they went like this.
I was like, oh. You know, I was like, man. Dude, I'm serious, man. I'm serious. And I was like, Lord Jesus, they did not just do that in my church.
No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. And I heard the Holy Spirit say, your church?
Oh. Oh. Right? And I was like, yeah. You got me.
But some of you, you know why there's no grace in your home? Because it's your home. You wanna know why there's no grace in your marriage? It's your marriage. No.
You wanna know those why there's no grace towards your kids? They're your kids. What if they were God's kids? What if it was God's marriage? What if it was God's house?
You wanna know why you don't have grace towards your friends? This person that rolled their their eyes at me, they used to be a friend. I'm like, lord, why don't they go to another church? Like, you guys know. Here's the thing.
We don't grow in grace without conflict. That's the only way you grow. You know, like, if I love you, I'm not giving grace to you. If I don't like you, that's when grace is growing. And apparently, the Lord thinks I need to grow in grace.
But think about that. Some of you do that. You come to church, you're like, why are they here? Because you don't need to hear a sermon about grace. You need to apply grace.
Amen. So here's I wanna challenge you, to become more like Jesus. Right? So so so without grace, I'm just like everybody else. With god's grace, I can become just like Jesus.
To become more like Jesus, listen to this, I must learn to forgive like Jesus. I don't know that I've ever been more disappointed in any point I've ever made. Right? Because I don't just need to preach this, I need to live this. You don't just need to hear this, you need to practice this.
If you're married and you get in a fight, like there's the fight that's with each other and then guys, amen, there's the postgame fight. Right? There's all the things you wanted to say, but you don't say. Man and you know why that is? You lack grace.
You lack grace. Ladies, you wanna know why you're so critical of your husband? You lack grace. This is an opportunity to give grace. Colossians 313, make an allowance for each other's faults.
Make an allowance. You know what you need to have a healthy marriage? An allowance. Yeah. That was stupid.
Here you go. You know? But if it was grace, you wouldn't have said what I just said. You just you just give it. You don't point grace out.
I'm giving you grace right now. Grace. Grace. Lots of grace. Listen to this.
Make an allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. You see, the reason why America lacks grace is Christians have fallen from grace. We've fallen from it. We've forgotten it. We have forgotten what makes us Christian.
It's grace. It's grace. It's grace. And forgive anyone who offends you. And if you don't if that doesn't convince you, he says, remember the lord Jesus.
Right? He forgave, so you must forgive others. It doesn't say pray about it. It doesn't say talk about it in your small group. You know, Susie, she really frustrates me.
You know, I know. Again, I'm just so much like Jesus. Pray for Susie. The first time you talk to somebody about something, it's a prayer request. The second time, it's gossip.
I'm gonna pray for pastor Matt. I know you've been doing that for a while. It's not working. Why? Just give me grace.
Just give me grace. So I'm gonna give you 3 things to think about, and I want you to pray about this all week long. Three things. Number 1, the first to apologize is the bravest. The first to apologize is the bravest.
The first to forgive is the strongest, and the first to forget is the happiest. I hope the holy spirit just spoke to some people. You see the reason so many of you won't give grace is you're waiting for the other person to go first. I wonder if if Jesus had that mentality where you'd be eternally. If he waited for you to make the first step, where would you be?
You see the first to apologize is the bravest. It's scary. Scary. If you're married, don't spend the night on the couch. Be the 1st to apologize.
I'm so sorry. Jesus said this, this is this is how you ought to conduct yourself in these matters. Listen to this, Christians. If you enter your place of worship, your church Some friends of mine were in the South last week. They told me they counted 19 churches in like 5 miles.
Do you know why there are 19 churches in the south over a 5 mile road? Because Christians did not practice this and they got in fight after fight after fight, and it created church after church after church. That's why there's so many churches, because there were so many disagreements that lacked grace. And if you wanna know why sandals doesn't have business meetings, it's because you lack grace. I lack grace.
If you enter your place of worship and you're about to make an offering and you suddenly remember a grudge, woah, a friend that has something against you. Listen to this. Abandon your offering. I mean, it's almost leave your offering. Just saying.
Leave immediately and go to his friend go to your friend, go to this friend and make things right. And then and only then come back and work things out with God. Listen to me. If you have never apologized to someone, then you have never met Jesus Because you you cannot be a Christian without an apology. It's called repentance.
I'm sorry, God. If you've never apologized, and I've heard Christians say this, I've never apologized, then you've never met Jesus. And let me say this if you're a Christian, if you haven't recently apologized, then you're not right with Jesus. Man, I can almost always find something to apologize for. My wife gets worked up and I just derail it.
Sorry. Do you know how hard she's I'm so sorry. I was like, that's just grace. It's Jesus magic. I carry a bag of saris everywhere I go.
Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. People don't know what to do. Nobody apologize anymore.
Everyone's offended. Nobody apologizes. I'm sorry. Look. You know when I'm right, which I know surprises you, but it happens quite often.
I still find something to apologize, how I said it, when I said it, why I said it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that the way I said that made you feel that way. That's that's not what I wanted you to do. Please forgive me.
You know? I mean, I don't wanna quote scripture, but Jesus says, you have to. You know? Just saying. So the first to apologize is the bravest.
Listen to me. If you can't learn this, you won't stay married, you won't have friends, and you won't last in this church, and your kids will not love you when you're old. They won't because you messed up. You know all that brokenness your parents trained you in? You've shared it.
Welcome to our dysfunction. Do you know what breaks generational curses? Grace. Grace. So the first to apologize is the bravest or excuse me, is the most courageous.
Do you know do you know why you don't apologize? You're afraid. Perfect love casts out all fear. Just apologize. And this is not an apology.
I'm sorry, but. If there's a but, it's not an apology. I'm just sorry. Next, the first to forgive is the strongest. It takes a lot of strength to forgive.
Timothy, my dear son, Paul says, be strong. Listen to this. Some of you have missed this your whole life. Be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. Right?
So if you're a Star Wars fans, Jedis live in the force. As Christians, we live in grace. Grace is what holds us together. Grace is what keeps us together. Grace is what saves us.
Grace is what sustains us. Grace is what will be there for us. And then let me say this, the first to forget is the happiest. One of the many things that God can do that you and I struggle with is forgetting. Like some of you, you say I read a book once and it said how to forgive what you can't forget.
They're actually married. You you can't forgive what you don't forget. Because when you still constantly remember it, it's still cutting at you. It's still wounding you. It's still hurting you and it's waiting for an opportunity to come out in you.
You see to become more like Jesus, I must learn to let go like Jesus. You know, Jesus on the cross. I've never had nails in my arms. Anybody? I've never had nails in my feet.
I've never been whipped, beaten, mocked. I I've never been betrayed by all my friends. Remember Peter, I'm gonna be there for you. Gone. Don't know him.
Betrayed with a kiss, accused by his own people, falsely accused, falsely imprisoned, murdered. Right? It's like the worst story of all time. Everyone bails on him. And what did he do?
Feed people, love people, heal people. What does Jesus say? On the cross, father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. You know what Jesus is saying?
He looks at you, he looks at me, and he says, you're so broken you don't know what you're doing. The old saying is hurt people hurt people. Jesus didn't come to condemn you. He came to save you. Here's what the Ephesians know.
They had been mistreated, falsely accused, and beaten. This week in your bibles, go go go to Acts chapter 19. It's horrific what happens. There's a riot in an amphitheater where Christians are pulled out of their homes, pulled out of their places of work and dragged before a crowd of 1,000 and mocked and made fun of and almost ripped apart. And then, they find out one of them's a Jew.
Oh, nothing like good old fashioned racism. Right? And they wanna kill him especially especially. But it all goes away. So what does the church do?
Protest, march, activate, run for election? I'm gonna be the mayor of Ephesus. No. Paul calls the church together in acts 20 verse 1. Listen to this.
When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. And then what? Then he said goodbye. Welcome to Christianity. Welcome.
He left for Macedonia. Look, I know I know this message is so hard and so challenging. And again, let let me say this. I'm not saying that the church should ignore evil. I'm not saying that the church should be silent.
I'm not saying that the church should never be politically active. I'm just saying we should do so with grace and do so very carefully because most politicians are snakes. They just are. Those are the people that tend to get elected. And if something I've said's rattled you or challenged you or you disagree with, I just wanna encourage you right now in your app.
Just scroll down on the bottom. You don't have to gossip about me. You can ask me a question and I'll try to answer it on the debrief. I don't know what's happened to you. I don't know what people have done to you.
But I know what Jesus wants to do for you. And if you can learn to apologize, if you can learn to forgive, and if you can learn to forget, you're gonna be a person that experiences grace. Do you know why so many of you don't have inner peace? Because you don't have heavenly grace. That's what you need.
It is grace that changes the worst center sinner. It was grace that took a slave trader who heard the moans of the people he was intentionally selling and trading beneath the ship. Some of you don't know this, but Amazing Grace, the tune is from the song that the slaves sang beneath the ship. And it haunted him. And he wrote these words to their pain, to the rhythm of their pain.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see. From slave trader to Jesus follower, that's what God's grace can do for you. Amen.
That's what God's grace can do for you. Some of you today, you need God's grace. I know you're angry. I know you're upset. I know you're hurt.
I know you feel wounded. Some of you feel violated. Some of you feel unseen. Some of you are hurt in this church, and I'm sorry. It's full of people.
It's gonna keep happening. But what you need is not perfect people. What you need is perfect grace. If you need God's grace right now, I'm gonna pray over you. Maybe you need it for your marriage.
Maybe you need it for your soul. Maybe you need it from Jesus. If you need more grace in your life, would you just stand? I'm gonna pray over you guys in this room. If you're if you're at a campus, would you just stand right now?
If you're watching from home, man, I just have this feeling that there's a married couple somewhere watching this online and and and you're not gonna make it without God's grace. Maybe just instead of standing up for how you feel, you need to stand up and say, I need your grace. I need grace. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved the wretch like me.
My prayer for you today is that the scales would fall from your eyes and the spirit would fill you with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let me pray over you. Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, it is only in his name that we stand. It is only in his name that we are saved.
We pray that his grace, that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ would be with us all. God, I pray for grace in our relationship with you. I pray for grace in our relationship with others. And I pray a special grace today, God, for our relationships with ourselves because oftentimes, I am the last person I want to forgive. Give us grace today, Lord.
Amazing grace. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.