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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
Welcome to the Samples Church podcast. My name is Chris, and I am a part of the online team here at Samples Church. We are so happy to have you join us today as we listen to this message with pastor Fredo teaching from the gospel of Matthew. If you've enjoyed our content, consider leaving us a rating to help this podcast reach more people. But for now, let's get into the message.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The warmth of the sun is shining on your face. Familiar music begins to ring in your ears. Your eyes look around and all you see are Mickey ears and balloons, and you're reminded that you are walking down a street affectionately known as Main Street USA. You're at the Magic Kingdom. You're at Disneyland where churros are $11.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And, this magical kingdom is the place where, you know, kids dreams go to live and parental bank accounts go to die because it is that magical. And so much of that magic kingdom now, listen, is owed to the vision of a kingdom that Walt Disney had. Years ago, he had a vision and through his imaginative creative power brought this kingdom to life. He thought about this place that he wanted people to go and what Walt wanted, Walt got. This was his magical kingdom that he built.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now zoom out for a moment and realize that you also have a kingdom and a queendom for some of you. A place every day where in this realm your will is exercised. What you want, you get in your kingdom. For example, today when you woke up, you got dressed. We thank you for that.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You exercised your will. You made a decision on what you were gonna wear, what you were gonna eat for breakfast. You have a kingdom. We all have one whether you realize it or not. And if you don't think you do, just get married.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And realize that in marriage, two very different kingdoms are now merging, which some refer to as war. But out of that chaos and beauty and love and commitment come little baby kingdoms, where these little creatures run around trying to get what they want as well. We all live in a kingdom. You zoom out past the magical one, you zoom out past your personal one, and you realize that throughout all of human history, we have witnessed from the very beginning of time the rise and fall of kings, queens, and their kingdoms, and unfortunately, the brutality that they bring with them. You see, the truth that we all have to wrestle with right now is that whether you follow Jesus in here or not today, we all long to rule, but we are all very bad at it.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In fact, some of the personal issues you're dealing with right now financially or relationally or in your family are the direct result of you not ruling your kingdom well. The truth is today we need a new kingdom. Enter in Jesus of Nazareth, who surprisingly talked about a kingdom all the time. In fact, I would tell you today that as you read through the gospel of Matthew or any gospel account, Jesus talked about the kingdom more than he talked about sex, more than he talked about money, more than he talked about sin even. He talked about the kingdom of God, which is you know for me unfortunate because what Jesus talked about the most, we actually realize and understand the least as Christians.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because if I were to ask you what's the kingdom, some of us would, you know, maybe stumble, and that is okay. And enough for us to consider that today out of Matthew four, we're going to hear a word from God that we desperately need. Because as you come to the realization that your little mini kingdoms are all falling apart, there is one that we can live in. There is one that we can live into. And so with that in mind, let's stand together and read from Matthew chapter four starting in verse 23, and then I'll pray for us.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Matthew writes, Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed, or epileptic, or paralyzed, he healed them all. Say it with that.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He healed them all. Large crowds followed him wherever he went, people from Galilee, the 10 towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from East Of The Jordan River. This is God's word. Let's pray together. Heavenly father, we take a moment in our gathering now to realize that you have gathered with us too.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so we ask now that from your word, you would speak to us. And that as Jesus said, you would give us ears to hear and eyes to see all that you desire us to become in him. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Amen. Thank you so much. You could be seated. I would imagine at some point in your life you were told by someone who cared a little bit about you that first impressions are a big deal. When you go on a date, a first impression can make or break that date and who ends up paying for that bill.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:When you interview with a boss, right, first impression can mean a lot. The reason why I say that is because Matthew chapter four is Jesus' first impression of the world. The previous chapters told us that he was baptized by John the Baptist, this crazy religious dude out in the wilderness to fulfill the law, to be obedient to what God has said. We're then told that the spirit of God drives out this unique person, Jesus, into the wilderness to be tempted and tried forty days and forty nights where he also fasts. We see Jesus victoriously come out of that.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Last week, we thought about what that means for our own lives as we wrestle through sin and temptation. And now Jesus, after being tested in the wilderness, is making his first impression. He's on the scene. And he's moving quickly. And we see that in his first impression, he's wasting no time.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He's doing a few specific things in what many call his public ministry. These three things, if you're just taking note real simply, he's preaching, he's teaching, and he's healing. Notice there in verse 23, we're told that she, Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee teaching in the synagogues. Now pause. A synagogue in that day was like a three in one combo in which you had, in a synagogue, a church, a community center, and a school all wrapped in one.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It was a popular spot. And it was common in Jesus' day that a visiting rabbi, which Jesus was, would go into the synagogue, be welcomed in to teach. And we're told now when he goes in there, what is he doing? He's announcing the good news about the kingdom. Let's pause there for a second.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The good news about the kingdom. Jesus is preaching. Imagine for a moment what it what it would have been like to listen to Jesus preach. He was brilliant. In fact, one thing you come to hear throughout the gospels is that people were amazed at the authority in which Jesus taught with.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:No one taught quite like Jesus. But notice specifically what Matthew says he's doing. He's announcing good news about the kingdom. News, not advice. In other words, if in your life right now, you are, you know, kind of coming to church, you're curious about Jesus, and you're hoping that Jesus is here just to give you advice on life, he doesn't desire to do that.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He has zero desire to just be a personal guru for you. He has much more than just advice for your life, He's got news for your life. Why? Because advice is something you go and do. News is about something that's already been done on your behalf.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so now Jesus is here announcing good news of what? We're told the kingdom. The kingdom. Like Walt's kingdom. What's the big deal about the kingdom?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And the reason why I wanna spend time on this is just because, you know, when you hear the word gospel, you might think of a lot of things, you know, when we share the gospel today. Because I don't imagine Jesus, in sharing the gospel, went in and said, hey, in about three years, though some of you like me, you're gonna betray me. And then the Romans are gonna crucify me. And then guess what? I'm gonna beat death and rise.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That's not the good news he brought, even though that's the good news we tend to share. Jesus had a different message, a message of the kingdom. So his gospel is different. And you need to sit with this because it is common in our day today, especially for those of you who were either raised in the church or you're, you know, kinda new to the church and you've heard people talk about the gospel, you might have heard a few messages. One message that I think is lacking is called the gospel of souls.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And this is a good news presentation in which Jesus is about saving your soul. And salvation really starts when you die and go to heaven. That's when things get really good. Now there's some truth in that gospel presentation. Number one, and namely, Jesus cares about your soul.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And you have one, you are more than just a biological makeup, you have a soul. And you will live forever some way and somehow. But there's more than just the gospel of souls. You might have also heard a gospel presentation like the gospel of the church. In other words, your Christianity is primarily about what you do within these four walls.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And we follow Jesus, you know, together. We've got like this holy huddle going on. Why? Because while the world's falling apart, it's going to hell, there's not much we can do. So the gospel is primarily about Christianity is primarily about what you and I do within these walls as a church.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Again, there is some truth to that. We are called to be a new family, the new family of God, and the church is a representation of what God is doing in the world, but the kingdom is so much bigger than just one church. It's not just about us. Secondly, you have the gospel of religion, and this is the one that I think everyone hates. This gospel essentially says, you're not great.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:God's pissed, so try harder. That's the gospel of religion. And you're essentially told a part of the truth. Yes. There is something deeply broken with all of us, but your best efforts will not change that.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Lastly, we have the gospel of what some people refer to as justice or social justice, which is this idea that the good news is that system, social change needs to happen so that everyone's life is elevated and lifted up. And again, there's some truth here. God deeply cares about justice. Jesus is a king who reigns with righteousness. We believe in that as Christians.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But again, that only gets at half of the truth. The good news of the kingdom that Jesus brought would have startled his original hearers. Why? Because first of all, his original audience in these synagogues would have thought to themselves, oh my gosh, I remember my old testament in this weird strange book called Daniel, where at the end of Daniel, we're told that there will be a king known as the son of man, which is, by the way, Jesus' favorite way to describe himself, and he will bring a kingdom.
McKay Vandenberg:Hey, Sandals Church. Thank you so much for joining us today for pastor Fredo's message. I wanted to take a brief moment to invite you to partner with Sandals Church and the work that we are doing. One way you can do that is by going to give.sc. Now let's get back to our message.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Then you have other hearers who would have thought, oh my gosh, I remember my old testament too, where David was our greatest king, And there was a promise given to him that one day someone will come and reign in the same way that David did. But yet, unlike David, this kingdom will never end. So his original audience, as they hear the announcement of the good news of the kingdom, are wrestling with the implications that what Jesus is saying is that the King is here. The good news of your life is that God is here. The King is here and you can learn to live under His rule and reign.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so when Jesus arrives, he is saying, the king has come, and the kingdom of God is here. Everything is different. Change your ways. Give up your many kingdoms. Surrender to me your small attempts to try to rule and govern your own life, and learn to experience what real life looks like under this kingdom.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I am the king, and I'm bringing with me the kingdom of God. Why? Because what God wants, he gets when I'm here. The kingdom of God is here. And so real simply, what is this kingdom?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:If you're taking note, I would simply say it like this, the kingdom of God is anywhere God's will is being done. The kingdom of God is anywhere where his will is being done. So let's bring this all the way home for a moment. In my house, I got a thing called dad tax. Some of y'all might also have dad tax.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But in my little mini kingdom, dad tax is regularly enforced primarily around meal time, where I remind my kids that at any given moment, I could enforce dad tax and get a portion of what's on their plate. It's their plate. It's their meal. But I'm the king. No.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And they live under my rule and reign. Right. And if they don't like it, if my sweet 11 year old and seven year old don't like it, they could find another kingdom. Right? Because this is where I live and where I rule.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's debt tax. Let's take this all the way home to you. Anytime you make a decision to forgive someone who has wronged you, the kingdom of God is present. Anytime you make a decision to show compassion to someone who is in need, God's kingdom is present. It's coming.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's it's His will is being done. What God wants, God is getting through you, through your decision. Anytime you make a decision that you're gonna walk in the truth and you're gonna resist the temptation to lie, you you are bringing God's kingdom. You're bringing his light. Anytime you make a decision with your sexuality to not give in to desires, but rather to submit yourself to the king who has better desires for you, you know what's happening?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:God's will is being done in and through your body. The kingdom of God is coming when you make decisions to take your power, your authority, your will, and align it with his. This is precisely how Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew six, just a few pages over where he says, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Every day he taught us to pray this, your kingdom come. In other words, father in heaven, what you want God, you always get in heaven.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:So would the same be true that on earth, God, what you want, would you get out of me? Would you get out of my career? Would you get out of my relationships? Would you get out of everything that I say and do with my life? The kingdom of God is anywhere his will is being done by his people.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And the way that he proves this, notice now in verse 24, this is how Jesus makes this happen. It says that news spread about him as far as Syria, and notice what the news is. People soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sicknesses or disease, if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed, he healed them all. So here is the proof that the kingdom is coming through healing power.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Through healing power. And notice what people are doing. They're just observing what Jesus is doing and it's changing them, like they're blown away so much so that they're going back to where they live. Syria is far away. This is now a picture of the nations coming to Jesus.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's a beautiful picture of what we see for the rest of eternity. The nations coming to Jesus for what? For healing. And so he's proving the fact that the kingdom has come not through military power. Where is the army in this passage?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He's he's proving his kingdom is coming not through political power. Where is his campaign speech? Where is the propaganda? His kingdom is coming not through celebrity power. In fact, he avoided fame.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He avoided all of that. He dismissed himself from the platform. He regularly liked to withdraw from the crowds. No. This is what makes his kingdom so beautiful.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He comes not with, you know, military power, political power, or celebrity power, he comes with divine power and healing love. In other words, what makes Jesus so different as a king is that unlike other rulers who will use their power over people, Jesus uses his power up and under people. In In other words, he is exercising his authority in a way that actually lifts you up and restores you. This is healing power. And so if you're wondering why you should submit to Jesus today, if you're wondering if, you know, should I really follow him, is he really a worthy king?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The answer is yes. Yes, surrender to him, and allow his healing power to make right what you can't make right in your little mini kingdom. Compared to him, you are like Mickey Mouse. You might feel like you've got something good going on, the ride might be great, but at some point the day will end and you've got to go home. There is a different kingdom you are invited to live into, and he proves it in this passage through healing.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now let me just go slow here for a second as we as we think about healing. Why healing? Why would it be healing? Think for a second. Why, like, why is healing a thing in the Bible to begin with?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Out of all the things that Jesus could have first done, he proves his kingdoms here through healing. Why? Now some of you have been raised in churches to believe that the reason why he did this is so that he could preach the good news. And I think that's partly true, but I gotta be honest. As a preacher, I would imagine another preacher came up with that truth.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Why? Because we like to think that what we do is very important. And it's also kind of true. You see that in scripture. I will not deny that.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:There are times where a healing miracle creates an opportunity to preach the gospel. This has happened in some of your lives. Like, you know people who believe the good news. Why? Because they saw the miraculous act of God in their life.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Right? That definitely happens. But if Jesus just wanted an audience for them to listen to, he could have like levitated, shot fireballs out of his eyes, and then did like a mid air back flip, and then said listen up. He probably would have got my attention at that point. Right?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Why the healing? Consider for a second that a healing miracle is taking what God has promised in the future, A future moment where all things will be made right, you're fully alive, and you're made whole, and he's bringing that into the present. Right? A healing miracle is God taking the future, breaking it into the moment of the present, and giving you a glimpse of it, giving you a taste of it. You get something from the future in the present, and it gives you power now.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:This is a beautiful thing to think about. A healing miracle is a future promise that you get to have today. But I say that because I want us all to wrestle with this. Because whenever healing is talked about, there always raises the questions, well, how does it happen? How do we do it?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Do I pray the right way? Am I praying the wrong way? Am I sick because it's my fault? Do I lack faith? Right?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:All of these things come up. Why didn't God heal me? But here's what you need to understand. Every single person who was healed in this passage at some point in their life got sick again and died. Everyone who is healed today by the miraculous power of Jesus' healing kingdom will get sick again and die.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And I don't say that to be like morbid or sad. Like, it just that's what happens. Right? Like, let me be a bobbler just for a second, lean in with me, and think about this. In John 10, we're told that a friend of Jesus dies.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:His name is Lazarus. Jesus gets there late to the scene. The whole family is sad and grieving, and then we're told that Jesus goes in and says, Lazarus, get out. And to everyone's surprise, Lazarus walks out. Now a part of me thinks back, okay, how long do you think Lazarus lived?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Was it a day? Was it a month? Was it a year? Like imagine we're all celebrating there with Lazarus, like dude, you're back, man. I mean you stink, but you're back because you're unraveling these clothes.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It wasn't like a time machine where he came back as a 25 year old. He came back but then maybe Jesus leaves and then you know we're sitting there and Lazarus is eating and then all of a sudden he's like oh I don't feel so good. And we're like oh no Lazarus. He's like, I'm gonna go lay down. I'm like, no, dude.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Don't go die again. Right? But eventually he died. And then you get that other weird passage in the gospels where it says when Jesus died and rose, righteous people came out of the graves. You ever read that passage?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:I don't know how to explain it. But righteous people walked around. So think about Lazarus for a second. Lazarus died, rose, then he died again, and then he rose again. I mean, at some point I would imagine Lazarus is just like, dude, I'm done with this.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Like, please don't lay hands on me anymore. Stop praying for me. Like I'm over this process. Right? The and and again, I'm not trying to be morbid about healing, but I'm just simply saying, every healing is a future promise coming into the present for a moment.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Right? So here's the point. Why healing? Why healing approve the kingdom? Because a healing miracle of Jesus is a sign that's pointing to him and his kingdom and its power.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That's the point. And I offer that to you today because I would imagine that many of us as Christians are more infatuated with the sign than with the healer. And you want signs, you won't follow till you get a sign. What is the sign pointing to? Do you know how it was artist to walk into someone's garage and see they collect signs?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Like, some of you know people like this. Some of us do that as Christians. We're only focused on collecting signs, missing the point of to whom the sign is pointing to. Jesus and his kingdom, he's here. He's here.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so why should you trust him? Why is his kingdom that much better than your own? Because it's it's time for you to experience his healing power as it relates to your finances, your relationships, the problems you have going on. Give up your right to be king and learn to surrender to him, and watch his transformation do a work in your life. Notice too in this passage, it said that he healed them all.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He healed them all. He proved his power over demonic activity. The forces of darkness, the forces of the evil one pushed back in their life. Those who had epilepsy, which in that day, believe it or not, they believed that was a disease tied to the moon. Meaning your psychological state was held captive by the power of the moon.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:He pushes back that lie and that understanding. He says, no, you're you're set free. The captives are set free. We will no longer be bound to lies like that. He also heals people who are paralyzed.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In a day and age where you have to walk to get anywhere, that's a debilitating disease. He heals that. He healed them all. And I wanna focus on that for just a moment because I would imagine some of you are still not convinced that Jesus can heal you, but he can. So what area of your life are you still ruling and hoping that you can bring the healing you need?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Surrender it to him. Surrender it to him. Learn to live under his rule. As we close, there's three things for us that I want us to consider as to what it looks like to live under the rule and the reign of Jesus. In other words, to be a disciple of Jesus, to follow him and his kingdom, I must do a few things.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Number one, awareness. Secondly, agenda. Thirdly, announcement. Let's cover those things. Awareness, agenda, announcement.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:First, to follow Jesus in his kingdom, I must become aware of his active rule in the world today. Here's what I mean by that. God in human form came in Jesus, and most of the world missed him. Where in your life right now are you missing the active rule of God? You need to become aware.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:There's a kind of humbling and for me, haunting passage from Matthew 13, where in Jesus teaching people about the kingdom ironically, he has this to say. Listen to these words. For they look, but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really understand. In other words, you have ears to hear, but you can't hear.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You have eyes to see but you can't see. In other words, the problem when it comes to embracing Jesus and His kingdom is that we are not aware of it in our everyday ordinary life. And so I think the encouragement for me, even before I get to you guys, is I need to spiritually wake up and understand that God is present and active in the world right now and in my life. When he talks about the kingdom, he describes it as small. It's small like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, and then it grows into a tree.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:All the birds of the air come to nest in it. When he talks about the kingdom, it's a hidden treasure. In other words, it's off the beaten path. Right? In other words, Jesus oftentimes describes his rule in the world as mysterious and difficult to grasp at times.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In other words, you don't always see it. So our first invitation to living under it is just to become aware that he's here. In the midst of your ordinary mundane lives, God is doing extraordinary things. Some of you need to wake up. You need to wake up to the reality and become aware that he is actively doing something in your life.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:The kingdom of God is here. It is here. And and pastor Adam Atchison wrote this just this beautiful prayer as a way to maybe spiritually wake us up on a regular basis. He wrote these words, Lord, you are always at work. Give me eyes to see how you are working in me, through me, and around me.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Amen. Some of you need to receive that and pray that every day. Lord, you are always at work. And so maybe there's an area of your life where you have given up on the fact that God is very present there. He's active and he's working, and he desires to do something.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so your first invitation is just to become aware of it. Secondly, agenda. I need if I'm gonna follow Jesus, I must surrender my agenda in order to follow his. Surrender your agenda. In the beginning of Matthew four, talking about first impressions, The first words out of Jesus' mouth according to Matthew are repent.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Repent. Why? The kingdom of God is near. In other words, he's saying give up your right to rule. Turn away.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Change directions. You're not the king. The king is here, and he invites you to follow him. Surrendering my agenda. Repent of your sins and turn because the kingdom of God is near.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Give up all of the false notions you have that you can control your life and embrace his agenda for your life. Now here's why this is deeply problematic, because this is not about denying your true self. This is about denying the false version of you that lives inside of you that still tries to convince you every day that you're the ruler. You crucify that version of you so that the true version of who you actually are can come live and thrive. This is what he says there in Matthew six thirty three, seek first the kingdom of God.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In other words, this is an invitation of priorities. Change all of your priorities. Seek first the kingdom. Everything else becomes secondary under this reality. And I say this specifically for those of you who are young in here today.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Listen, God has placed a dream in your heart and He wants it to come out, but he wants it to come out under the priority that the kingdom is first. So follow your dreams, your ambitions, lay them before the king and let him explode them, let him blow them up in a way that you would never possibly imagine. Surrender your agenda young people and watch him take the dream that you have, and you come to realize it's just a Mickey Mouse one. He wants to take you so much further. So this is not about you denying everything.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:This is about you denying the false versions that you're the king or you're the queen. Kill that song and let a new one play and watch what God does. Now for those of you who are older, maybe like my age, old millennial, 30 eight years old, here's where the agenda becomes really problematic. Because I find myself living in a season of my life where my expectations of God have just shrunk. Why?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Because I've been doing the same thing for nearly twenty years. And so it's hard for me to get excited about the kingdom because I've been just seeing the same routine thing. And so this is this is the tension I wanna invite all of us in to live, because this is the tension I'm living in. So selfishly, I just want you here with me. It is the tension of embracing expectations without agenda.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Here's what I mean by that. Jesus is the King. We should expect everything from this King. He owns it all. Your expectations of God should be through the roof.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But because He's the King, it's His agenda, not yours. Elevate your expectations, minimize your agenda. Expect amazing things from God, surrender your agenda. Because if he's the king, he will do it in his timing, in his wisdom, in his power. And so 38 year old Fredo's gotta realize, man, maybe this core part of my life is maturing through the process of growing expectations while submitting and surrendering my agenda.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's gotta die. Yeah. And the roots of my sadness as a bored 38 year old just going through the routine is because my agenda isn't being met. Oh, me. My agenda, god.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Expect amazing things from him, but he's the king. So give him the respect as one. That's right. Surrender the agenda. That's the that's the invitation.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Lastly, after there's an awareness and an agenda that surrendered, there's an announcement to be made. Verse 25 of our passage and 24 speak to both large crowds following Jesus and the fact that news spread about him everywhere he went. Notice that large crowds came, news spread. This is a good word for our church to be, you know, freeing ourselves from the tricks and the tactics to get more people to come to church. Large crowds will come.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Why? Because news spread of the healer. Large crowds didn't come because we say fancy stuff. We got cool lights. We got amazing programs.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:No. People come. Why? Because we start to simply share the news that a healer is here. The healer has come.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so you announce in word and deed that Jesus the healer is available to all. In your everyday life, the words you speak, the actions that you live in are an announcement of the healer. And our job is to do so in a way that make room, that makes room for people in their lives to experience his healing power. I I liken it to this. My son Eli plays a lot of soccer, almost too much soccer.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:My my god, club soccer. This is this is a religion, honestly y'all. And so I find myself on the field just way too much. I'm a basketball player. The field is cold.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Right? There's no gym. So I'm out there all the time, and one thing I regularly see happen when they're playing in games is when a kid gets hurt, a player gets hurt, you know, he goes down, and then everyone surrounds him. You ever seen kids do this? They, what happened?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:What happened? And they get around him. And I think to myself, this is a lot like the church, isn't it? People fall. They need healing.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And we get around, oh my gosh, what do they need? Oh, they need a program. Oh, they need small group. Oh, they need this. And it's like, no, no, no, no, no.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You know what happens after the kid falls? The coach comes out and says, everyone back away. Back away. That's what we need to do. In in in our words and our deeds, we back away and we create room for someone who knows what they're doing to get in there and work on them.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:That's what needs to happen. In in your actions and in your deeds, you speak and live in a way by just simply sharing the healer's news that you've seen him do with other people, and you create space for people to imagine the healer in their life. And this looks real practical. You Someone's got a problem at church, that's fine. We're big, okay.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Let me tell you about the healer. Oh, you got an issue with Christianity, the bible feels outdated, oppressive, you know, someone on TikTok shared a story with you and now you're convinced, okay, let me tell you about the healer. Right? All is you're simply doing that we saw from this passage, they were just bearing witness to what they saw the healer do in their life. Beginning to share good news can simply begin with you sharing honestly how the healer has healed you, how he's transformed you, how his power has been manifested in your life and working in you.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:This is a wonderful way to open the door into sharing out of your words and out of your deeds. Because the the crazy thing about this whole passage is that Jesus is inviting his disciples to also go with him. He says, you're gonna become fishers of men. Follow me. Turn from your old wife, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:In other words, what he's saying is the same things that I'm doing as announcing the kingdom, you will do too. You're going to go and announce the kingdom too, and people will follow you in the way that they are following me. Which means then, today in this moment, wherever you live, wherever you work, wherever you play, you take God's kingdom authority with you. Everywhere you go, his kingdom authority is with you. Yes.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's with you. You may not realize it, like, but you speak and act with the very authority of God in your life. And this is embodied in your simple ordinary actions. The ordinary moments of your life are charged with extraordinary power from God. If you would just become aware of the ways that he wants to speak and act through you.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:And so if you want to see the kingdom of God come in city council, run for city council. You want to see the kingdom of God come in our education, become a teacher. You want to see, see the the kingdom of God come in your neighborhood? Get out and mow your lawn. Walk your dog.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Yeah. Play with people. Have a conversation for crying out loud with someone. That's a word for me. But just do things, and in doing them you realize authority goes with you.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Kingdom authority goes with you. And and as I and I want us just to be open to the reality that God is inviting every single one of us into this kind of commissioning, where you realize that the very things that would disqualify you from the kingdom are the very things God wants to use you. He only uses fools and people who are willing to look foolish for the name of Jesus. Why? Because that is the only reason why it could happen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:People will see that and be like, well that's a fool, but that must be the glory of God at work. That is how it works. And I've been I've been just struck and meditating on a passage from Acts three. You don't need to turn there. Let's go about a Bible.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:By the sound of bibles turning, I'm the only one in here. But Acts chapter three, Jesus is risen, ascended. He's commissioned his disciples to take the kingdom out, and we see this astounding healing miracle where a man begging, paralyzed, reaches up and and asks for something. Peter, Peter for all of that he is, says silver and gold I have none. But what I have in the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:We're told that he lifts them up. Verse nine, Acts chapter three, all the people saw him walking, praising God. When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the beautiful gate, they were absolutely astounded. They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon's colonnade where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John. Here's the question that just struck me.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:This is the layman outside of the temple, and he had been there for years, which means Jesus walked by this guy also. I wonder if Jesus left him so that this would be the work that his disciples would begin to do. Consider that. And this is this is what's insane. Verse 12, Peter saw his opportunity, addressed the crowd, and he's like, people of Israel, he said, what's so surprising about this?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness? That that's what I just sat with. What would make you think that it's because of your own power or your own godliness that God will use you? He is ready. You feel like a fool today?
Pastor Fredo Ramos:You feel like a failure today? You feel inadequate? God can't wait to use you. Because it was never about your godliness. It was never about your power.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's always been about his kingdom coming through you. That's what it's been about from the very beginning. And so learn to live in this kingdom. Learn to be eyes wide open to how God is going to work. Wherever you go, his kingdom goes to.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Let's pray together. Heavenly father, we, god, we confess the ways that we have been spiritually sleeping and ask that you would wake us up to become aware of all the beautiful ways that your kingdom is here and it's coming. Oh, god, we ask that you would empower us now by your holy spirit to learn to find freedom in living under your rule. You are the king and so we follow you. We expect amazing things, but it's your agenda, God.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:It's your agenda. We surrender it to you. Would you do this great work in us now? We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Morgan Teruel:Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you want more content from this series, we have a YouTube playlist linked in the description.
Morgan Teruel:And, if
Morgan Teruel:you want more information about who we are and what we do, you can go to sandalschurch.com.