Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.
This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.
We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear
the latest message.
Thanks for listening.
Good morning.
Glad that you guys are joining us, whether you're here on campus with us or you're joining
us online.
You got a lot of announcements there, a lot of things are going on in the life of our
church, and we're thankful that you guys are on that journey and participating with us.
One of the things that I want to draw us all to, to kind of make note of, so it doesn't
sneak up on you, right, is Easter is early this year.
Easter is April 4th, the first Sunday in April.
Usually it's a little bit later in April, so I don't want you to think, oh, we got a couple
more weeks, when actually it's right here on us.
So we're going to do something a little bit different for Easter here at Willow Ridge
Church.
I don't know about you, but I grew up in a tradition where we had a sunrise service.
And so kind of beginning to think through, as we've been doing for all year, how we do services,
looking at doing services differently.
What we've decided to do as more and more people are coming back to our face-to-face gatherings
here, is to provide a third service for Easter, all right?
And so what we're going to do is provide a 730, and we're calling it like sunrise service.
I know the sun's up before then, but that's as sunrise-y as Baptists get, right?
So a 730 service.
In that service, there will be a full family, everybody out there, no nursery provided.
We're going to have some scaled back worship, acoustic worship that we're going to have,
but just gathered outdoors, out on the patio to worship together.
And then our 930 and 11 services will gather in here.
We'll still stream the 11 o'clock services, but the 930 and 11 will gather.
It's going to be more of a family service, meaning that we will provide nursery that day,
but that is it.
We're going to bring everybody in here together.
So we are going to do Lord's Supper also for each of those three services.
So we'd love to have you.
So maybe you're joining us online because you're not comfortable with face-to-face and being
in a building, but you would like to be with us.
We would love to have you.
And so you can come to that 730.
Maybe you're like, I love face-to-face.
I've been here since we reopened, but I want to try something different as well.
Come join us for that early morning hour, right?
I promise we'll have coffee available, right?
Pastor Dave's going to have it waiting on us and ready to go.
So 730, 930, and 11.
Here's one favor that we need to ask so that we can make sure we have the right amount of
seating is we're going to ask that everyone register on the church website for whichever
service that you want to be a part of so that we can be ready and equipped for you to celebrate
the fact that Jesus is risen.
Well, it's been a year.
It's been a long year.
It's been a different year.
It's been a difficult year.
One year ago today, we gathered as Willow Ridge Church for our last time normally, right?
From that moment on, in that day, we had begun and had fully made the transition from two services
to one service, an important piece for us as a body of believers.
You know, when my family, when we eat a meal together, half of us don't stay upstairs while
the other half eat, and then we switch.
We believe in our family that we eat together as a family, if at all possible.
And we are strongly convicted that that's what God's family needs to do as well.
And so we've made the transition to one service.
It wasn't easy.
Many of you took on sacrifices in order for that to happen, and we're greatly thankful for
those sacrifices that you made during that season.
Our students and our kids were gathering on Sunday morning and then back together, gathering on Sunday
nights.
If you drove past Willow Ridge Church on a Sunday night, you would see the parking lot filled.
Our Hispanics had Bible studies going on.
Celebrate Recovery had step studies going on.
Student ministry was meeting.
Kids ministry was meeting.
It was a packed place where God was doing a lot of things.
We had plans.
I don't know about you, but I'd be willing to bet at least one of your plans this past year
was canceled, right?
We had plans as a church.
We were going to go overseas, continuing in the journey to take the gospel to the nations,
to see some of you take your first steps on the foreign soil, not because you were going
to a resort, but instead you were going to a persecuted people to share the hope of the
gospel.
One year ago, we had a picnic planned for today, for that day, March 15th.
It was going to be a picnic where all members of Willow Ridge Church were invited to be there,
the English speakers and the Spanish speakers.
We were going to gather together for one big picnic.
Our youth groups were coming together to prepare food, to serve, to raise money for each's mission
trips that they were going to be a part of, and we had celebrated that, and it was a remarkable
work of what God was doing.
But then at three o'clock that day, and this is not me casting a stone at our governor, Henry
McMaster.
If one thing is COVID is created, in me is a greater sense of grace for people who make
decisions.
Because oftentimes, and you know this in your own life, we only make decisions based off
of what we have to the best of our ability.
And on March 15th, I believe that that's what our governor did.
About three o'clock that day, he placed us on a lockdown.
I don't remember the exact numbers, but I think we were limited to groups no larger than 20.
And we were here, and we got youth all in this building preparing food for everybody.
I think most of them had gloves on.
And I remember walking around, and we were like, we got 24.
Uh-oh.
Like, what's going on?
Are the police going to show up and arrest us?
And so, like, we're intentionally like, this group work over here, this group work over
here.
You may need to hide, right, if they show up.
It's crazy.
You showed up, and you picked up your food.
We started our Chick-fil-A drive-thru out there, and you got it, and you went.
We're grateful for what you did and your understanding in that.
I went in my office about 3.30, 3.45 that day, and I cried.
If you know me, man, I cry a lot.
I'm a crier.
I think real men cry, and we're okay with admitting that, but I cried.
I was afraid.
I was frustrated.
I was disappointed.
I was hurt.
My wife came in.
I don't know, Erin, if you remember this conversation, but Erin came into my office.
She had been in here serving plates, and she came into my office, and she said, are you
okay?
And I said, no, I'm not.
And she listened to me.
As my insecurities and fears and concerns and frustrations began to come out, she listened,
and then gave the greatest, godliest advice.
She said, we're going to get through it.
We're going to get through it.
And for the last year, we, me, you, we got through it.
We got through the last year.
There's things we wish we'd have done differently.
There's things that we celebrate that we did, but we got through it.
God worked.
God worked because we, we adjusted.
You know, you adjusted.
You, you began to do things differently at your home, with your family.
You, you rethought how you do family vacation.
You rethought date nights.
You rethought how to have activities with your kids.
We bought bikes.
We went out on trails.
Instead of going to arcades.
We did more picnics together.
We adjusted.
We adjusted life.
We adjusted here.
We went online.
The most petrifying thing that I've ever done in ministry.
We started online services.
And it is rough.
We got through it.
We got better.
And you extended us the grace to do that.
We did online Bible studies.
Everybody in the course of a week got introduced to this thing called Zoom.
Which you didn't know would take on so much with schools.
But we got on and we did our Bible studies and we met differently and we adjusted.
We adjusted with resources.
Probably the most proud that I've been of, of, of any of the ministries at our, at our church
has been with our children's ministry.
Like there, there's more resources that they work on diligently to be able to provide for
you as a family, whether you show up here on Sunday morning or whether you're going through
at home.
And so if you, if you feel like they haven't done enough, I just want to be honest with
you, that's on you because there's stuff that's there.
We purchased right now media in the world of, of Netflix and streaming for everything.
We, we purchased right now media and in our church jumped in and embraced that and started
online Bible studies where we could study things online and, and meet together.
And it was fantastic.
One of the things I remember kind of my highlight for, for all of this, Don, Don shared with
me one day that we were going to do a Facebook live magic show for the kids in our kids ministry.
And I thought that is the craziest idea that I've ever heard, but we did it right.
And it was, the gospel was shared and families logged on and kids and myself were wowed and amazed because I
still can't figure out how some of those things happen, but right.
Thought outside of the box.
It's what we did.
It's what you did.
We adjusted, we adjusted, we got through it, we, we changed and are doing things differently.
We changed, we had standards and then we decided our standards aren't, aren't quite right.
So we need to, we need to go above and beyond.
You did that.
So many of you did that.
When there's so many churches that have depended on government loans in order to not just make
budget because some of them still didn't, but to make payroll or to be able to pay their bills.
We had the opportunity and were eligible for the same loan and God laid on our heart to say,
no, thank you.
Because we believed of what God was going to do in you and God did and you did and God worked in you
and through you and you gave and you gave not out of ease and not out of comfort, but you gave out
of sacrifice and you gave faithfully and from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
I know so many churches where during COVID pastors have laid off staff members, been laid off themselves,
taken massive pay cuts, that some of you have walked those same paths in your job.
We didn't.
I'm blessed.
And my family's grateful for you.
You went above and beyond.
We went above and beyond as a church.
We had a missions plan to go and we couldn't, but you gave to a missions plan, so we just gave it away.
We fulfilled every financial commitment that we said we would fulfill in 2020.
Every single one.
There was not a missionary who was denied a penny of what we had committed.
But then we were also, through your kindness and your generosity and your faithfulness with how God was working in you,
we were able to give above and beyond to some of our partners.
We were also able to give to churches and organizations that we weren't even partnered with,
but we heard about an opportunity.
One that I'll share with you is there's a church that we became aware of.
I'll say we're friends.
We're not partnering together, but we got a friendship with them.
And they're right outside, like literally two miles outside of downtown Atlanta.
And y'all know our state has been a little bit more lax on COVID restrictions, and that's for you to decide what you feel about that.
But Georgia and Atlanta especially was a little bit more restrictive during that time.
And as a result, men and women lost their jobs and didn't get paychecks.
And I don't know if you've ever tried to tithe off of zero, but that's hard.
And so this church was struggling.
In my conversation with the pastor, I said, where are you lacking?
What do you need?
And he said, it's not, we're not worried about anything else.
We're worried because we've spent all of our money.
We have no more money for benevolence.
And right now, I don't know if you've ever been to Atlanta in the summer,
but it is equally as hot as Columbia.
And he said, we have people who are making decisions.
Do I pay the power bill or do I buy groceries?
What do I do?
And so we gave to them, and they then in turn gave it away as well.
And so we're thankful for you guys.
We as a church tried to model your faith, and we went above and beyond.
Over the course of 2020, we've continued to see lives change through the power of the gospel.
What it's all about.
Celebrate Recovery embraced online.
They had bumps in the road like we had bumps in the road as you try to stream and go through all those type things.
But they rallied together, and they kept going on.
They kept going virtually before they could come back together as one of our groups that went back face to face.
And through the ministry of Celebrate Recovery, I don't know if you realize this,
but 2020 has been marked by a year of unprecedented depression, substance abuse.
And it's been marked by Celebrate Recovery stepping into a lot of those areas within the men and women and families in their ministry and meeting needs and providing a place of safety and a place of comfort where people can come through and work through their hurts, habits, and hangups through the power of the gospel.
So they continued, figured it out.
And we've seen families and individuals' lives changed and freed from the bondage that held them before.
We've seen parents engage in different ways.
One of the things I kind of laugh about, my wife has been a school teacher for a long time.
My mom retired as a school teacher.
I was a school teacher for three weeks.
And said, nah, I can't do this.
Went back into ministry, right?
That's tough.
I don't know how y'all do that.
But we as parents, we became teachers.
I didn't understand how complex middle school math was until my kids would say, could you help me with this?
And I would think, absolutely.
No, I can't.
I have no clue.
Call an eighth grader.
All right?
But we did, all right?
As parents, we engaged in things.
We dove in.
And one of the exciting things that I've seen through COVID is parents engaging in the discipleship process.
So many of you decided, I can't drop my kid off on Sunday night, so I'm just going to go forward with it.
And here's what I believe.
You're a better parent because of COVID.
Discipleship became not what you dropped them off at, but the discipleship became what you do in your home.
And so you did it in a different manner and places that you weren't comfortable with, but God worked.
And as a result, lives were changed through the gospel.
We started a baptism class that Pastor Dave had been working on, seeing individuals and families go through that to understand more about what life with Christ means and the Lord blessed during that season in different ways to baptize some.
People joined our family.
Never forget our first Sunday when we came back face-to-face.
There wasn't a whole lot of us.
It was easy to pick out who the visitors were because you ain't ever seen them before.
And then it was different because they had seen you before.
Because they had been watching online.
And you began to realize, wow, y'all went through that and you stuck around with us.
We appreciate you, you know?
And they joined and they became part of our family and they've grown with us.
And now they continue to meet with us face-to-face.
And we continue right now.
We got families that are joining online with us.
They're at home.
They've got their convictions of the reasons why they're not here with us.
And we're glad that they're here.
Some of those families we know and we can't wait for them to be able to meet back with us.
And some families we don't know.
And we long for the day that we can meet them for the first time face-to-face this side of eternity.
Knowing that we'll meet face-to-face that side.
One of the interesting...
I'm going to call her a church member because I want to.
My grandmother started watching online.
She'd get on Facebook.
She didn't have an account.
My aunt would log her in.
And before she passed, in January, she became a part of Willow Ridge.
And I'm grateful for that.
And I wouldn't have had that without COVID.
You don't get to say that in a positive manner very often.
God worked.
God moved.
God worked in your life and worked in my life.
And we celebrate those things.
And it's been phenomenal to see the growth that you've gone through and the growth that you've experienced.
2020 was hard.
We all lost someone, I'd be willing to bet, over the course of that year.
We had to make tough decisions financially.
We probably got into arguments at some point in time.
Maybe somebody fussed at us because we were five feet behind them in line and not six.
You know?
You forget.
But we got into arguments and we got over it.
It's crazy politically.
We got through it.
Right?
God worked.
For me, a big piece of what 2020 has been all about and how God works, I want to share a story with you.
We're going to have a message today.
We'll read scripture.
It'll be brief.
If you were in children's ministry last service, I apologize ahead of time.
This is why we went over.
A lot over.
But there's a guy whose life and whose story became real to me over 2020.
A guy who's been a church, been a part of our church for a decent amount of time.
Not a long time.
But who most of you probably don't know him.
You never met him.
You may have seen him.
Be willing to bet you haven't spoken with him.
He's pretty quiet.
I guarantee you, you know his son and you know his daughter-in-law.
And you definitely know their kids.
It's the McGrady's.
Scott sings up here from time to time.
Sarah runs the words.
And I love their precious kids.
They ain't never met a stranger.
And that always warms my heart when they come up and give me hugs or their drawings that they've done during service.
They have.
I love it.
But I met Jerry.
Jerry's the dad of Scott.
And he comes in with them.
And he's quiet.
And before COVID, they would slide in somewhere near the back and they would sit there together.
And then as they would leave and you find yourself being taken into the warmth and the love and the family of the McGrady's.
And Jerry's kind of hang back and drift on out.
And Jerry, I'm sorry, went through a powerful time during this.
And I wanted to share the story with you.
And I asked his son, Scott, if Scott would kind of help me tell the story.
And instead of Scott helping me, he did a beautiful thing.
He wrote a letter.
And I'm going to read Scott's words, word for word, to you this morning.
As Scott helps to tell the story of his dad.
He says this, I wasn't sure what exactly you wanted me to send, so use as much or as little of this as you want.
Well, Scott, I'm going to use it all.
He says, Dad has been a believer for as long as I can remember, but he was never a churchgoer.
He encouraged us to go to church, but never went himself.
I remember having a conversation with him as a young adult about getting saved.
And he told me that he had been saved, but struggles with the idea of submitting to God.
And that was kind of how things went for the longest time.
When we started going to Willow Ridge and decided that it was the church for us,
we invited him every week until he finally broke down and came with us.
Then a few weeks later, he came again.
And then before long, he was coming every week.
He told me that Willow Ridge was the first church he really felt comfortable in.
As the weeks passed and Dad continued to attend it, it was amazing to see the changes God was making in him.
When Sarah and I were baptized, he was there with us.
Shortly thereafter, he started asking questions about baptism and started showing interest in being baptized himself.
Unfortunately, COVID happened, and he hasn't been able to attend church since because of his condition.
Dad has advanced lung cancer, COPD, heart disease, and a host of other issues that make going to many places impossible for him.
At any rate, things reached a point where we realized that we needed to go ahead and get Dad baptized for his health,
kept him from being able to do it.
And that's when we reached out to Dave.
Dad sat down with Dave, and he talked him through it.
And again, it was like seeing a different person there.
The strength of faith was apparent.
And even though I knew Dad was struggling through the issues he is facing from cancer,
it was apparent that he has found peace through Christ.
Anyway, I know you said short, but I tend to get a little wordy.
I hope this helps.
Take care, sir.
Scott McGrady.
So a few weeks ago,
we gathered here
one night,
and Jerry McGrady and his family came,
and we got to baptize Jerry.
Y'all check out the video.
Well, it's a pleasure and an honor to continue to celebrate baptism this morning.
Right here we got Jerry McGrady,
who's professed his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior,
shared what God's been doing with him with Pastor Dave,
and we receive him for baptism
because he's been saved by Christ
and we'll spend eternity with him.
So, Mr. Jerry,
based off of your profession of faith
as Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior,
it's a privilege and an honor for me
to baptize you, my brother,
in the name of the Father,
the Son,
and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
So,
2020
COVID
government,
whatever you want to call it,
stopped a lot of things.
It stopped your vacation.
It stopped your plans.
It stopped school.
It stopped jobs.
It didn't stop God.
And God kept working
and God kept moving.
So, in this time where we've got everybody
kind of giving their one-year assessment
that's met with praise and skepticism
and really nowhere in between,
we want to look at our one year.
It's been tough.
It's been hard.
But it's been good
because God's kept going.
I'm going to read the Bible in just a minute.
We're going to have an abbreviated message.
Let's pray before we do.
Lord,
Lord, I thank you so much.
Lord, for what you've done.
Lord, we didn't do anything.
We didn't.
We just said yes and you went.
And Lord, I feel like we were just holding on
to the edge of your robe
as you led us.
And Lord, you led us down the path
of trying to figure out
online worship services
and live streaming.
And you led us down a financial path of faith
that we've never experienced before.
And you led families down a path of discipleship
and church down a path of discipleship.
And all the time this was happening, Lord,
you're changing lives.
You're drawing people to yourself.
And you're being glorified.
And so God, I thank you for this opportunity
that we have to just be a part of this.
That in the smallness, Lord,
that is my life.
Lord, you allowed me
in your sovereignty
and in your grace
and in your goodness
to experience this past year.
And so, Lord, I thank you for that.
I thank you for Jerry McGrady.
And I thank you for so many like him.
2020, COVID, shutdowns,
masks, quarantines,
social distancing,
Lord, didn't stop.
You from radically changing his life.
And so we praise you for it.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
If you've got your Bibles with you this morning,
open up to Luke chapter 11.
In just a minute,
we're going to start reading in verse 37.
And we're going to read about an encounter
that Jesus has
with a group of Pharisees.
Now, if you know about Pharisees,
or maybe you don't know about Pharisees,
commonly Pharisees are viewed as
the enemy of Jesus.
And so if Jesus is the superhero of the story,
then the Pharisees are the villain.
They're the ones who are attacking Jesus.
They're the ones who are trying to
shut down the work that Jesus is doing.
But I want us to look at Pharisees
a little bit different.
That they really,
just as COVID didn't really shut down anything,
Pharisees didn't really shut down anything.
They changed things.
They altered things.
They made things look different.
But Jesus kept going.
In fact,
Jesus would oftentimes use
interactions with the Pharisees
where they think,
I got him
to often leverage an opportunity
to declare the gospel
in a way that
wouldn't have been possible
if not for the Pharisee.
And so in a lot of ways,
like you and I need to be thankful
that the Pharisees were there
because we get moments like this
of what we're about to read
where Jesus says,
hey, watch this.
I know what you're trying to do,
but boom, here we go.
Right?
And that's what we see.
So let's start looking at verse 37.
It says,
While Jesus was speaking,
a Pharisee asked him
to dine with him,
so he went in
and reclined at the table.
And the Pharisee was astonished
to see that he did not first wash
before dinner.
And the Lord said to him,
Now you Pharisees
cleanse the outside of the cup
and of the dish,
but inside you are full of greed
and wickedness.
You fools!
Did not he who made the outside
make the inside also,
but give as alms
those things that are within
and behold,
everything is clean for you.
And so this encounter,
Jesus had been speaking
and teaching
and a Pharisee comes up to Jesus
and says,
Hey, come to my house.
Have dinner with me.
Now I don't know about you,
but that's not a common encounter
for two strangers to have.
But it is common
for you and I
to invite someone
into our house for dinner.
And it's a very vulnerable thing, right?
You come into my house,
you see who I am.
You come into my house,
you see how I live life.
We sit down at the table,
we break bread together,
we share stories together,
we share life together.
And so this Pharisee,
and I don't know the intention
of his heart at the time,
has an encounter with Jesus
and he says,
Hey, come to my house
wash and eat dinner with me.
And as Jesus does,
there's something that is said here
that Jesus didn't wash before dinner.
Now, growing up, right,
before you came to eat,
at least at the house
that I was growing up,
it was kind of like,
I don't know about y'all,
but breakfast and lunch
were kind of like fair game.
You know,
if you were dirty
after being outside and playing,
I feel like,
hey, here's a peanut butter
and jelly sandwich
and just go on with it, right?
My wife probably cringed,
but that's kind of how I've done things
and she does things differently.
But now for dinner,
ever since growing up, right,
it's that moment where it's like,
okay, wash up,
it's time to eat.
Wash your hands,
it's time to eat.
And that's,
it's not only acceptable,
it's the norm
and it's what's expected.
Now over this last year, right,
even more so,
right between the time
that you walk out these doors
and go out the other set of doors
to leave here,
there's multiple times
and places
where you can stop
and sanitize
and wash your hands.
If you walk into my home,
there's at least
four different places
from the time you enter
into the door
to you get to our table
in the kitchen
where you can wash your hands.
So what is going on here?
Like,
is Jesus being the gross guy
at the dinner table
who's like,
nah, I'm good,
you just gotta give
and accept
that I've got dirt
underneath my fingernails, right?
That's not what's happening
here at all.
This isn't a matter
of hygiene
of what's happening
and taking place here.
What the Pharisees
would do
during the time of Jesus
is there was
different times
where they would agree to,
would encourage,
and would teach
for a ceremonial washing
or a ceremonial cleansing.
And in order to eat
in the house
of a Pharisee,
what they wanted you to do
was ceremonially wash
so that you could partake
in life with them.
Now,
they weren't necessarily
worried about you
getting the germs
off of you
before they would
shake your hand,
before they would greet you,
before they'd pull up
a seat to their table.
What they were concerned with
is that you would
get rid of the sin
off of you
so that you could be worthy
to sit at their table,
so that you could be worthy
to dine with them.
Why?
Because they're good.
They've done it all right.
They followed
every in their mind,
every law
and every command
that God had told them to do.
But you have not.
So what do you need to do?
You need to go
and make yourself clean
before you can engage
in a relationship with me.
Now, here's the irony
of the situation.
There's only one person
who never needed
to be cleansed
from their sins.
It was Jesus.
So the whole point
of the conflict
of what we begin to see here
in this encounter
is you've got a sinful man
looking at perfect divinity
and saying,
hey, before you can
eat with me,
before you can fellowship
with me,
go and make
yourself clean.
Not because God's called
you to do that,
but because I've called you
to do that.
See, the irony
in this passage
of Scripture,
the hypocrisy
of what we find here,
but this was common
with the Pharisees.
The Pharisees
obsessed over
the external actions
of what they would do
and their goal
in doing that
and knowing that
their hearts
and their thoughts
were wicked,
but the goal
in making sure
that they observe
all of these
external actions
is so that people
would think
they're spiritually
more obedient
than they really were.
And that's why
Jesus says,
now you Pharisees
cleanse the outside
of the cup
and of the dish,
but inside
you are full
of greed
and wickedness.
Jesus says,
look,
the outside
doesn't really match
who you are.
And I love
his illustration
that he gives.
He gives the picture
of something
that you and I
can all understand.
A picture
of a dirty dish.
Now let's say
that after church
all of you
are going to go
and eat lunch
at our house.
Right?
And my wife
makes phenomenal,
absolutely wonderful,
out of this world,
best I've ever had,
lasagna.
I'm just going to tell you,
when you eat it,
you're going to be amazed.
All right?
So we're going to invite you
to our house
to eat lasagna.
And so you're pumped
because you love lasagna
and you show up
at our house
and we go
and she pulls out
that pan of lasagna
and she peels
that foil back
and the cheese
is just that ride
of toasted and gooey
and you can see
the bubbles on the side.
Y'all know
what I'm talking about?
It is getting close
to lunch, right?
And I open up
the cabinet
and there's no plates.
I don't know,
what do we do?
So all of a sudden
I realize
everything's dirty.
But it's okay.
So I'll go over
to the sink
and I reach down
into like the bottom
of the sink water.
Y'all know
what I'm talking about, right?
And I pull out
the plate
from the day before.
And on the top
of that plate
there's that
dried ketchup
and mustard
from where I ate
too many corn dogs
the day before.
And so it's alright,
I'll get it clean.
So I go
and I get a rag
and I get some warm water
going and I get some soap
and I create a lather
and I flip that plate
over to the bottom
of it.
and I wash
the bottom
of it
and I scrub
the outside
of that plate
and I rinse
it off
and then I turn
it over
and there's the ketchup
and the mustard.
And I go,
eh.
And I go over
and I go to that
wonderful dish
of lasagna
that she's made
for you
and I take
a big scoop out
and plop it
right on top
of that mustard
and then I hand
it to you.
What are you
going to do?
Somebody just said
nope.
I love that,
right?
Nope.
I ain't eating that.
That is not
happening,
right?
You're like,
but no one
would ever do that.
That's Jesus'
point.
That's his point.
No one
would ever say,
oh,
there's filth
and germs
and bacteria
in the inside
of this water bottle
but the outside
is good
so drink up.
No one
would ever
do that.
And for Jesus,
his point
is this.
Don't just focus
in on the outside.
The outside's important.
The outside matters.
Read James.
It's important
what we do.
But the inside
matters
and the inside
needs to be clean
because there's
danger
when it's just
the outside
that appears
to be clean
when the inside
is really filthy.
Later on
in chapter 11,
Jesus is talking
to the same group
of Pharisees
and he says this.
He says,
you're like
unmarked graves
which people
walk over
without knowing it.
And what he means
is this
during his time.
To be ceremonial
unclean,
you could do
certain things
which you would
become unclean.
And one of them
would be
to interact with
or touch
a dead body.
And they had
taken it to such
a degree
of making sure
that you didn't
interact with a dead
body or touch
a dead body
that all graves
must be marked.
And so
if a grave
is here
and there's
the marker
that's there
that you would
not walk
on top
of the grave
out of fear
that you might
become unclean.
So you would
walk around it
so that the ground
underneath you
had no death
that was in it
so that you could
be clean.
So look what
he says
to the Pharisees.
You're like
a dead person.
You're dead.
You don't get it.
You're not alive.
And in that
what is happening
in your life
is the death
and the decay
that is there
so that when
people walk
over you
or people
interact with you
or people
touch you
what you spread
is death
and what you
spread
is
filth
and destruction.
And so
chapter 12
verse 1
look down at this
it says
in the meantime
when so many
thousands of people
had gathered together
that they were
trampling one another
he began to say
to his disciples
first
beware
of the leaven
of the Pharisees
which is hypocrisy.
So Jesus
has interacted
with
the Pharisees
he's interacted
with the lawyers
and these are the
teachers of the law
right
and then people
begin to gather
and as the crowds
come
as people
were surrounding
them
Jesus
looks
at his
disciples
says
understand
this
beware
don't be like
the Pharisees
because what's
going to happen
is it can
take a hold
and it can
destroy
and what
destroys
is hypocrisy.
I don't know
if you've
ever baked
bread
or dealt
with yeast
but leaven
is yeast
and what
I know
about yeast
is this
number one
a little bit
of the yeast
goes a long way
it doesn't take
a lot of yeast
a little bit
of yeast
goes a long way
and then also
I know this
once you mix
a little bit
of yeast
in with your
other ingredients
do you know
what you can't do
you can't go
remove it
it's not like
putting pecans
in and then
deciding you
don't want that
so it's just
an inconvenience
let's pick
them out
once you mix
it
it becomes
a part
of what's
there
and a little
bit
goes a long
way
and Jesus
says that
hypocrisy
is the exact
same way
it spreads
and it moves
and it consumes
and it takes
over
I love this quote
that I found
this week
about hypocrisy
and it says
this
hypocrisy
puts the
bar
at an
impossible
height
and then
encourages
everyone
to pretend
that they're
jumping over
it
I love that
hypocrisy
says
let's put
the bar
at this
height
where we
know we
can't
clear it
and then
let's
don't even
try
but let's
let everybody
think that
we're jumping
over it
hypocrisy
says
that within
you
is the
realization
within
us
is the
realization
of
we're not
meeting that
we're not
conquering that
but we want
everybody else
to think that
we're doing
that
and that's
what hypocrisy
begins to
look like
oftentimes
you and I
and I'll be
honest with you
oftentimes
most people
in our
culture
they think
that hypocrisy
is when you
speak about
things that
are true
but then you
can't fulfill
them yourself
that's not
hypocrisy
isn't declaring
the truth
of God
and then not
being able
to fulfill
the fullness
of that
in yourself
if that
was the
case
Jesus
couldn't
tell us
to not
be a
hypocrite
because I
would be
a hypocrite
every Sunday
morning
as we declare
the truth
of God's
word
so Jesus
says that
in this
to beware
to live
our lives
in a way
that's not
a hypocrite
so what
does this
look like
what's the
warning signs
of hypocrisy
for you
and for me
so I want to
give you a few
of these
this morning
we'll move
through these
really quickly
the first one
is this
hypocrisy
is a lack
of confession
hypocrisy
is a lack
of confession
hypocrisy
is an unwillingness
to confess
sin
and ask
for help
hypocrisy
is you
and I
feeling
that within
ourselves
there are
areas
in our
life
which are
just
private
and they're
personal
and no one
has the right
or the authority
to step
into this
one of the
beautiful things
that I love
about our
CR program
the ministry
that's there
one of the
beautiful things
that I love
about our
small groups
and what we
have
it is
this
it's
okay
to go
there
and not
be okay
it's
okay
to go
there
and say
you know
I've never
really shared
this with
anyone
but here
we go
because we're
commanded in
scripture
God's word
tells us
that we repent
before him
but we confess
to one another
right
confession
is not
just
between us
and the
Lord
but if
you're
going to
walk
in the
fullness
of your
faith
and obedience
and growth
there's
got to be
someone that
you sit
across the
table from
that you
look at
eye to eye
and that you
can say
I'm not
okay
and that in
turn
they can do
the exact
same thing
so hypocrisy
is a lack
of confession
the second
thing
hypocrisy
is man-made
standards
man-made
standards
hypocrisy
is saying
man-made
rules
that become
the standard
for others
holiness
now remember
what we talked
about the
standard is
the bar
I can't
clear it
but for you
that's the
standard
I'm going to
tell you I
clear it
you go clear
it as well
and the dangers
and the pitfalls
of religion
that we find
and in that
it causes us
to completely
miss
who Jesus
is
it's a
man-made
standard
that you
would have
to wash
yourself
before you
could sit
at the table
with the
Pharisee
and in doing
that the
Pharisee missed
who Jesus
was
the third
thing
for hypocrisy
hypocrisy
is comfort
with sin
now hypocrisy
externally
hates sin
hypocrisy
externally
really hates
the sins
of other
people
when we're
falling into
a good line
of being
a hypocrite
it ain't
hard for us
to be able
to point out
the shortcomings
and failings
of those
around us
but when
we're a hypocrite
we become
comfortable
with our
own sin
for a hypocrite
sin is okay
as long as
it's private
as long as
no one knows
about them
as long as
we don't have
to be
outed
for them
a line
that a hypocrite
likes to make
when confronted
with their sin
is who made
you God
don't judge
me
right
and here's
the difference
in love
when a
Christian
confronts
the sin
of another
Christian
they're not
practicing
judgment
they're practicing
vision
this is what
I see
this is what
I know
this is where
you are
come with
me
you know
we're told
in scripture
right
that we're
to look
engage
each other
by fruit
right
so God's
word calls
us to
confrontation
God's word
calls us
to say
now you say
that that's
an apple
but I
know fruit
and that
ain't an
apple
and I
love you
too much
to pretend
that it's
not there
right
hypocrisy
loves
false
holiness
right
when we
pretend
to be
more holy
than we
are
when we
pretend
to have
everything
put together
when we're
not
willing
to let
our guard
down
here's
I want to
close with
but what's
the big deal
why does
it matter
why can't
I just
have my
secrets
why can't
I just
have my
stuff
they're
personal
I have
my rights
to those
no you
don't
for either
one of
them
but Jesus
tells us
the danger
of hypocrisy
is this
God knows
our hypocrisy
is our
worst
kept
secret
if we're
not careful
there are
things you
and I
will take
to the
grave
that we've
hidden from
our spouse
that we've
hidden from
our parents
that we've
hidden from
our kids
our friends
our loved
ones
our church
family
we've got
secrets that
we can
take to
the grave
with us
but here's
the thing
after the
grave
they're
exposed
the Bible
tells us
in Revelation
that the
righteous
and the
unrighteous
will both
be judged
we will
stand
before
God
and in
Luke 12
verse 2
here's what
Jesus says
nothing is
covered up
that will
not be
revealed
or hidden
that will
not be
known
therefore
whatever you
have said
in the dark
shall be
heard in
the light
and what
you have
whispered in
private rooms
shall be
proclaimed
on the
housetops
right
Jesus isn't
talking about
calling someone
out on
social media
right
posting
some nice
stuff
Jesus
is talking
about
gossiping
when we
find out
this
information
about
people
and then
making sure
that others
know under
the guise
of prayer
requests
right
that's not
what Jesus
is talking
about
what Jesus
is talking
about
is this
you got
things that
you want
to take
to the
grave
well here's
what you
got to
understand
when you
stand
before
God
what was
in dark
is going
to be
brought up
to light
right
what was
whispered
in the
privacy
of a
room
is going
to be
shouted
from the
rooftops
so how
do we
avoid
how do
we not
walk
through
that
well we
walk
through
just by
Jesus
what he
said
beware
of the
leaven
of the
Pharisee
don't
bring that
in
and here's
what I
tell you
we'll
wrap up
with this
this morning
what I want
you to take
away is
this
there's
freedom
in that
God
knows
God
knows
you know
why you
don't
confess
anything
to God
because
he already
knows
that's
why we
repent
to God
repenting
is saying
I'm sorry
confession
is declaring
what we've
done
we repent
to God
because
God
knows
and what
does God
do every
single
time
he brings
in
grace
he brings
in
forgiveness
he brings
in
freedom
and that's
what it
looks like
not being
a hypocrite
right
is found
when we
accept
the grace
of God
that God
gives us
I'm gonna pray
in just a
moment
but here's
what I
want to
say
Mark
and Jennifer
Babb
are here
and they
lead our
CR
ministry
some of
you guys
right now
2020
has been
a tough
year
it's been
a hard
year
it's been
a long
year
all right
and in
this year
you've been
taking some
of the
things in
your life
and you've
been hiding
them here
and hiding
them here
and hiding
them here
and hiding
them here
and what
you're doing
every single
time that you
do that
is you're
connecting
another weight
of sin
and struggle
onto you
that builds
you down
and builds
a layer
of destruction
around your
life
you know
with CR
with our
celebrate
recovery
with our
small groups
with the
different ones
that we
have meeting
one of the
greatest things
that we can
give you
an opportunity
to do
right
is find the
freedom in
confession
the freedom
in a safe
place to share
your hurts
your habits
your hangups
your struggles
right
so that we
can find the
freedom
that God
has for us
and live
in that
so Mark
and Jennifer
if y'all
wouldn't mind
after the
service is
over with
if y'all
might hand
back in
the back
with me
and if
anybody
has any
information
about CR
Pastor Dave
will be there
as well
if we've
got information
about small
groups to try
to connect
you with
because we
want you to
walk in
what God
has given
you
let's pray
Lord we
thank you so
much for this
time and this
opportunity that
we could be
here
Lord I
thank you for
the grace
extended to me
by our church
family as I've
gone a little
over this
morning
but I just
Lord I think
it's so important
for us to be
able to see
what you've
done
Lord where
you've worked
where you've
moved
Lord in a
culture of
negativity
in a culture
of being a
skeptic
in a culture
of conspiracy
Lord can we
be reminded
of the grace
of the goodness
of God
which covers
all of
these
Lord and
you've done
that
Lord and
now as
we're here
my fear
Lord
the burden
of my heart
is that there's
so many of us
who've walked
in here with
a facade
that everything's
okay
that everything's
good
that I'm
exactly who I
need to be
and where I
need to be
Lord
it's just not
true
and that deceit
that is in us
it's taking root
like cancer
and spreading
throughout
it's consuming
us
and what we
need Lord
we need to be
able to walk
in the joy
of our salvation
and that's
not found
in the depths
of our secrets
but it's found
in the freedom
of our confession
and so Lord
I pray that as
we respond
to your word
this morning
number one
that we would
embrace a heart
of repentance
to you
Lord
that we're
sorry
where we
faltered
we're sorry
where we
failed
Lord
we ask
for you
to take
our crooked
paths
and to
make them
straight
Lord
we ask
you
to work
and move
in our lives
to set us
free
from the
struggles
that we
face
but then
Lord
we invite
others
into that
journey
with us
to help
us
to see
the blind
spots
around the
corner
to see
the areas
of our
life
that we're
neglecting
to live
in a
posture
and an
attitude
of confession
where secrets
and lies
are exposed
and where
truth
and hope
is replaced
Lord may we
not live
in isolation
but may we
live in
community
the bond
of Christ
that joins
us
and it's
in Jesus
name we
pray
amen
I'll be
down front
during our
time of
worship
after the
service
be back
in the
back
if you
want to
talk
or pray
we're
here
if you
need to
come down
here
and lay
have a
time of
repentance
but don't
walk out
of here
the same
way that
you walked
in
don't
carry the
burden
that you
are never
intended to
carry
alone
would you
stand
as we
worship
thanks again
for listening
to the
Willow Ridge
Church
weekly
podcast
we hope
that you
enjoyed
listening
to this
week's
message
if you'd
like to
learn more
about who
we are
or explore
additional
resources
visit us
online at
www.willowridgechurch.com
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and I'll see you next time to see you next time.