Morgan Teruel: Thanks for tuning in to the Sandals Church podcast. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. We're glad you're here, and we hope you enjoyed this message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown: How many of you guys have ever bought something on Amazon, and when it arrived, you forgot you bought it? Raise your hands. Come on. Our vision's being real. This week something showed up, a package, and I gotta be honest, I was like, okay, what did Tammy order now?
Sometimes I feel like our house is a distribution center for Amazon. And so as I was judging her, I opened the the package, and I realized I had ordered something that I had completely forgotten about. And so some of you have heard of this, some of you have not heard of this, but this is Meraki Blue. Anybody heard of this? It's it's kind of taking the internet by storm.
I was listening to Joe Rogan interview, just an amazingly famous, actor, and the asker the actor whispered, it was Mel Gibson, he whispered, he said, I'm taking Meraki Blue. And then amazing parents, if you want your kids to like vegetables, just whisper at the dinner table, this is so good. Don't tell them. Because, right, all kids, like, when you talk out loud, they can't hear. But if you whisper, their ears go up, and they're like, like, what what what is this that is being held from me?
And so in the interview, you know, Mel Gibson, under his breath, like, into a microphone said, you know, a lot of people are taking this. And so instantly, out of curiosity, I started doing some research and I found out that supposedly, this is good for memory. Now, let me tell you why that matters to me. Because my great grandmother died of Alzheimer's, my grandfather died of Alzheimer's, my dad is battling Alzheimer's. So at some point, right, according to genetics, this is probably an issue that I'll face.
So now before you run out and Google this and buy it for yourself, I haven't tried it, it's blue dye. K? So if you're wearing blue clothing, it has this in it. So I don't know if it works or not, so before you go swallow dye, k? You might die.
I'm not I'm not saying this. I'm just saying, isn't it interesting that we're all desperate for a cure? Come on. Come on. Like it was merely whispered underneath somebody's breath and I went, I need that.
I I want you to know that your your family, your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers, they're desperate for a cure. They're looking for something to fix their emotions, their anxieties, their health, their mental well-being. The world is not okay. And here's the thing is, I don't know if this will work or not. I don't even know if I'm gonna try it or not.
I don't know if I'm gonna swallow dye. Okay? It turns your tongue blue because it's dye. It's a fabric dye, and supposedly it has some benefits. But here's the thing, I don't know if that works, but I want you to know that in 1992, we talked about this week 1, I tried Jesus.
And when I say I tried Jesus, I went all in. I was like, okay, I'm done, and I'm gonna stop living for myself, and I'm gonna start living for Jesus. Here's the thing is, I don't know what the latest, you know, craze is, and I don't know if it works or not, but I can tell you this. Jesus in my life is tried and true for 30 plus years, and he has changed the very fabric, not like a guy, the very fabric of my life. And that's what we're doing in this series is we're learning how to become disciples.
Okay? Not just like I think about God or I sort of believe in God, but I'm following God. And so we're gonna look at the birth narrative, the story that many of you have heard over Christmas, and we're gonna look at it through the lens of a disciple. So point number 1 is if you open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 2, a disciple, this is a tough word, we don't like this word, submits I lost half of you, submits to the authority of Jesus. There's just something about our culture that we hear that word submit and we automatically say no.
And if that's your reaction, I just wanna ask, have you then said yes to Jesus? Because if submission in any way and every form offends you, maybe Jesus Christ is not inside you. A disciple submits to the authority of Jesus. Okay? So in Matthew 2 verses 1 through 6, we have a king.
He's not the king, but he's sitting on the throne, and he refuses to submit to the authority of Jesus. Let's take a look at Matthew 2 verses 1 through 6. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king see, there's a king on his throne. Behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, this is a problem, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? You know?
Can you imagine? Yes. Like, you're the king and somebody's saying, hey, we wanna know where the king is. We heard he was born. You're like, wait a minute.
I'm born. I'm here. I'm sitting on the throne. And then they say something that rattles them. Look at this.
For we saw see if we can get this up here. For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. Now, in in modern day, we don't pay any attention to the sky. When's the last time you looked up at the sky? And if you're in SoCal, it doesn't matter, you see nothing, amen?
Unless Elon Musk has launched something into the sky. But for most of human history, it was dark out at night, and the light was illuminated by the sky. And so human history has been fascinated by signs in the heavens. And this is important for us as Christians because the Bible says that right before Christ returns, there will be signs in the heaven. Amen.
And some of you didn't even know this, that this week, there's an extraordinary sign in heaven. 6 of the planets in our solar system are all aligned in a straight line. Wow. That's right. And you can see that this week if you look out.
They're in a straight line. So the ancient world looked to the sky. They looked to heaven for God. And many of us, we we forget to do that. So the wise men are paying attention to the sky.
They said, hey, we've seen something spectacular, something unusual, something that according to our tradition and our teachings says the Messiah has been born. Amen. Right? Praise God. Celebrate.
That's not what Herod does. Look at this. When Herod, the king, heard this, he was troubled. Now, this Greek word is shaken. Think about earthquake.
Now, I don't wanna speak that into existence. Amen? We got enough trouble in SoCal. We're already on fire. We don't need to be shaken.
But the entire city of Jerusalem was shaken. It says he was troubled, think shaken, and all Jerusalem with him. We're gonna get into this when we get into John the Baptist, but here's the thing you need to know. At the precise moment when the Messiah comes, the Israelites, the Jewish people, at least the clergy, the priests, the wealthy, and the famous, their hearts were hardened. At the exact right moment, when God sends his messiah, their hearts are calloused, and they are no longer interested in God.
They're interested in their religion.
Dani Crowley: Thank you so much for joining us today. If this message has served you in any way, I wanna invite you to give today to the work that we are doing here at Sandals Church. You can do that by going to give.sc@anytime. But for right now, let's get back into the message with pastor Matt.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown: And I I I see this all the time nowadays. You're more Presbyterian than you are a follower of Jesus. You're more Catholic than you are a follower of Christ. My tradition, you're more Baptist than you are interested in being baptized in the spirit. And we we find this all over the place that we're like, well, this is who I am and this is how I've been raised, and I want you to know the Jewish people of their time felt this way and they missed Jesus.
What they should have done is thrown a parade. What they did is they built a wall. We gotta protect the status quo. We gotta protect the way things are. We cannot submit to Jesus.
Isn't that interesting? The very people who were to receive him, received him not. They rejected him. Look at this. An assembling of all the chief priests and the scribes and of the people.
They inquired, where is Christ to be born? And they told him in Bethlehem. So they got their bibles, right, but they missed Jesus. They knew where he was supposed to be born, but they were not ready to embrace him when in fact he was born. In Bethlehem of Judea, so it is written by the prophet, and you, oh Bethlehem, in the land of Judah.
Listen to me, some of you have grown up in church, you know a lot about Jesus, but you don't know Jesus. It says, And by no means are the least among the rulers of Judah. And from you shall come a ruler, listen to this, who will shepherd my people of Israel. But what's the problem? The king says you have a shepherd.
You have a king. And I want you to know as Christians in America, we're like, we don't have a king, we're Americans. You're right, we have 3 40,000,000 kings. And we're all offended when we don't get our way. Right?
Everybody loves democracy until your team loses. And then you're like, not my president. And it's either way, we're all we're all this way. Right. Right.
And just think about us as Americans. Right? Every president, if we didn't vote for him, is a little legitimate because we didn't get our way. King Herod's the same way. Wait a minute, we got a king.
Right? We got a king? We got a king? Everybody, we got a king? And And they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because if they say no, they get their heads cut off. They get their heads cut off. You you couldn't speak truth to the king. Right? One of the worst movies that's come out in the last 15 years is the latest Robin Hood.
It's it's it's terrible. Don't watch it. But there's one there's one appealing scene where Robin Hood is asked by the king to be real, and he says, be real. Tell me the truth. And right as the camera pans on the king, who's in is trying to inspire Robin Hood to be honest, it immediately goes to the right to the counselor, and the counselor's like and Robin Hood is honest, and the next scene, he's in the gallows.
Shouldn't have been real. Like even when the king says, be real, share with me how you feel. You don't, you lie to survive, that's how you do it. And so they were all like, oh yeah yeah yeah, you're the best king ever. He was terrifying.
Murdered his own wife, Killed some of his own kids. Was paranoid. Like if you go to Israel, you go to Masada. He built Masada because he was terrified. He built an old on his own fortress to escape.
But here's the thing you know, if you're a Christian, we are called to submit to Jesus. Look at this verse in Philippians 2 verse 10 through 11. At the name of Jesus, the mere name, every knee should bow. On heaven and on earth and under the earth. Come on.
And every tongue should acknowledge that Jesus Christ is lord. Yes, sir. Like when we're truly a disciple, we are moved at the mere mention of the name of Jesus. And we're ready to to submit. In the Christmas story, they weren't ready to submit.
They were terrified because they knew there was someone else on the throne. I wonder if the Holy Spirit would communicate to you, hey, there's somebody sitting on the throne of Jesus and it's not Him. And so much of our dissatisfaction with our Christian walk is the fact that we wanna sit on the throne, and we won't allow Jesus to sit on the throne. Here's my next challenge. And and I know a lot of people, you're not in the singing, like, just give me the word.
Okay. I'm gonna give you the word. K? A disciple worships the person of Jesus. This is part of what we do.
It's why we gather together as a church. You think I just want to spend all this money on sound equipment? You just you think we're just in a room where, like, we got piles of cash we don't know what to do with? Oh, no. Let's get electric guitars.
No. No. No. No. We're worshiping God with contemporary instruments to worship the ancient one.
Come on. The one who was, who is, and is to come. And we worship. Yep. And some of us are more like Herod than we are like the wise men.
You see, look at Matthew 2:7 when it comes to worship. Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly. Right? Hey, let's just talk. Just us girls.
Right? Herod summoned the wise men secretly, and he ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. He didn't get the vision, did you catch that? No one in Bethlehem saw the star. Pagans did, but Jewish rabbis and scribes missed it.
He summoned them secretly and he ascertained from them what time the star had appeared, and then he sent them to Bethlehem saying, listen to this. Go and search diligently for the child. And when you have found him, bring me word, listen to this, that I may come and worship him as well. Amen. Man, some of us say, yeah.
Yeah. I'm ready to worship, but we're not. We're like Herod. Now, if you're new to Christianity, I get it. Church is weird.
You come in, it's all dark, people are singing, some people are crying. Hands are up, hands are down, people are bowing, people are shaking. Christians are weird. But worship is not about looking at weird people. Worship is about looking to Jesus.
That's right. Amen. So guys, your worship should reflect the way you watch the Rams. No, I'm just I'm just not I am just not a passionate person. Well, let's talk to your kids.
I used to make my daughters cry when they were little, yelling at the TV. Like, I'd preach I can't get an amen. I would be yelling this to the TV, come on. Come on. And my daughters are like, daddy's angry.
Daddy's angry. But the the same guys that will root for a team that does not know us, that does not care for us. When it comes to the one who died for us, we're like, come on. Wow. Come on.
Wow. Right? When your team makes a basket, scores a goal, or gets a touchdown. Your hands are up, but in church, they're in your pockets. Oh, it's wow.
Yes. I'm worshiping. It's all God, this I'm giving you everything right now. This is everything. You're not faithful, you're not even a good fan.
Right? I mean, come on, tell me, give me a little, like, one of these. You know? Rock baby Jesus, you know, just, right? Come on.
And if you're not ready for this, just just give me one of these, you know, just something. Something to let God know this moment isn't about you. Right? The wise men saw something in the heavens. When's the last time you looked up?
When's the last time you thanked God for something? When's the last time? After listening to the king, they went on their way. Man, this is amazing. They went on their way and behold, the star that they had seen isn't it interesting?
They they can still see the star. Pagans from the east can see the star, but nobody in Jerusalem can see it. They're blind in the city. The star that they had seen when it rose before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. Yeah.
Let me just say this. I don't know who this is for, but we tend to see what we're looking for. And some of you are like, well, I don't believe in God. You've not looked for him. And if you have, it's a small god, it's a little god, it's a god that you can control.
It's a god that will allow you to sit on the throne. When's the last time you looked for the real god? The God who's in control. When they saw the star the star, they rejoiced. Yes.
That's why worship should be exciting. We don't we're depressed Monday through Saturday. We don't have to be depressed on the Lord's day. He rose. They rejoiced exceedingly.
Amen? They got excited. Like every single Sunday, it's a touchdown. That's right. Her team is winning again.
Right? We're like the Patriots and the Chiefs combined. We win. We win. I know I've offended every other team.
When they saw when they saw the story, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. The church should be a positive place, an encouraging place, an uplifting place. And going to the house, they saw the child, look at this, with his merry mother. Now, listen, this is not offensive. Some of you are learning to be disciples.
Many of you come out of Catholic backgrounds. I want you to notice something. Going into the house, they saw the child with whom? Mary. Mary.
His mother. Listen to me, my Catholic friends. And they fell down and worshiped who? Him. I heard this from somebody who's been attending our church recently.
Why are you always about Jesus? It's Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I was like, praise God, we're doing something right. Like, praise God. Like, that's a criticism I can live with.
Why is it Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus? Because he is the son of God who came to save us from our sins. And Mary, God bless her. God bless her. She was obedient and faithful, and God used her faithfulness to save our souls.
But who did the wise men worship? Jesus. Jesus. I was talking with some Catholic friends of mine this week who lost a loved one and they're praying the rosary for 21 days over their friend who was lost. Look, I think God can use any prayer that's sincere.
But instead of talking to the mother of Jesus, why not talk to the son of God? Because He listen to me, He, my Catholic friends, is the resurrection and the life. He is. Come on. He is.
That's right. And and and so much of Catholicism has been distorted. This is the year of jubilee where all of the Catholics are going for a special blessing, and and some of them and I realize there's there's all kinds of misunderstandings among that, so don't send me clarifications of what Catholics truly believe. Listen, let's talk about what they practice. They're going there because they believe the pope has somehow some unique relationship to forgive them.
Only Jesus has that. I don't have it. The pope doesn't have it. Billy Graham didn't have it. Mother Teresa didn't have it.
The Lord Jesus has it. That's right. K? That's Christianity. A disciple bows not to tradition, not to their denomination, not to their church, not to their spiritual leader, but to Jesus.
Our loyalty is to Jesus. And some of you, you believe in Jesus, but you've never worshiped Jesus. Look at John 938. Yes, lord. I believe.
That's where some of you are. You believe. You believe in God. You believe in Jesus. And listen.
And then what did he do? And he worshiped Jesus. Yes. Belief is the first step. Worship is the next step.
So some of you, listen, I know it's hard to get to church. I know your children turn into the devil every Sunday morning or Saturday night. I get it, I had children. Satan uses them, I know. I know.
Well let me say this parents, you can get your kids on time to practice. You can get them on time to school. I want you to get them on time for Jesus. Okay? You gotta decide what's more important.
What's more important? That's right. That's right. And we gotta get them here. And here's why, you gotta tell them, kids you're interrupting mommy and daddy's worship time.
That's right. And here's why worship is important. It is spiritual warfare to prepare you for the message you don't wanna hear. And you just gotta be honest. You're not looking for a word.
You're looking for a check. Check, did it. This is what all of us do as human beings. Went to church at swing. Good person.
Listen. Even as I prep this message, I know my heart has to be ready because God may use my words, my sermon to convict my heart. I can't tell you how many times I've said something, I'm like, I I should do that. That was that was a good idea. That's good.
That's good. I like it. And here's what I hear, well, my my worship is is private. Okay. Worship can be personal, but it must also be public.
This is why, listen to me, this is why baptism is a public statement. It's not a private statement. Yeah. It's a public statement. Look, you can invite Jesus to be the Lord of your life privately, but you cannot worship him without it being public.
That's right. Okay? Now, this is huge. Being a disciple of Jesus is not always easy. Sometimes there are very, very difficult things that he asks us to do.
Remember point number 1, a disciple submits to the authority of Jesus. And you have to decide, is it your life or his life? And next, you have to decide, is it your money or his money? So a disciple gives generously to the mission of Jesus. Amen.
The wise men traveled from the east. They came to worship, but that's not all that they did. Look at this. Matthew, it says, then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. This is why offering time is so important.
It's not just a blue bucket that's passed. It's an opportunity to worship. A disciple, listen to me, opens their treasures to the mission of God. Amen. You can pray for me because I'm really struggling with college sports right now.
Just really struggling. The reason I used to love college sports is because they played for free. Now I know it really wasn't for free, but in my heart, it was for free. You know what I'm saying? And and this NIL money, right, that they're all making 1,000,000 of dollars because nothing helps a 19 year old more than 1,000,000 of dollars.
Can you imagine? Like, if you were 19, I'm like, here's $20,000,000 and attention. You're probably going to hell immediately. So pray for these kids. But it's really bothered me, and but here's the thing that blows my mind.
It's amazing to me how the world will open up their treasures for their team. That's right. Come on. Did you know this? That when you give NIL money, you don't get a tax write off.
They give it anyways because they love their team. That's right. Do you love your team? Wow. Do you love your team?
Come on. I go on I go to all these colleges, they got names on the building. I'd love to put your name on these buildings. Fred Herbert, man, I'd put it right on there. Isn't it amazing that at a church, we we don't have those kind of gifts, but you go to a university, everywhere.
Everywhere. And you go, woah, academia is important. Yeah, and they lost God there and look what happened. Look what happened. Right.
Because we have Christians that will fund anything and everything, their hobbies, their passions, their teams, but not their God. And we forget. And you say, well, God doesn't need my money. Well, Jesus did. He needed gold, frankincense, and myrrh and you're gonna figure out why in just a few sentences.
We can only do ministry with what you give. That's it. And so here's the thing is, at some point in your walk, you have to decide, is it my money or God's money? You decide. Okay?
We don't send bills at Sandals Church, although that would be helpful. You know? Like the gas company in sandals, Hey, you know, you're a little late. Yeah. I'd love to make that call.
You know, you've been sucking power for 14 years. You know? We're light bulbs work, but we have to turn ours off. Okay. I'm joking, kinda.
2nd Corinthians 96-7. Remember this. Why why why is giving so important? This is the apostle Paul. A farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop.
Let's stop there. Especially our young people. Oh, I know rent is ridiculous. I know that California is insane. I understand it.
We we pay a premium. We live in the best state, we pay a premium. Come on. It just is. And if you don't believe me, look at the news.
It's snowing in Florida. Not here. Not here. Remember this, a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a what? Small crop.
You wanna know why your income's small? Your planting is small. Now if you were God, if you were god, you sit on the throne, who would you bless? The people who give or the people who don't? I know what I would do.
This is what the word of god says. But the one who plants generously will get a what? A generous crop. Now, why don't we force people to give? A, because it wouldn't work and sandals would be small.
But the word of God says you, as a disciple, must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. K? We are about the movement of God, not manipulation. Why?
That's the right thing to do. But look at this, for God loves a person who what? Gives cheerfully. So this week, I I got to hold my grandson for the first time. Let me just tell you.
It was it was the the only word I can use to describe it was wonder. Wonder. And, for every woman out there that's struggling with a choice, I I want you to experience the wonder. And your church will come alongside you and help you raise that kid. Choose life.
Choose life. Amen? But here's here's here's the thing. As I held him in my arms, here's what I thought, how can I change my financial resources to ensure his success? What changed?
My heart changed. I didn't think for a minute, Wow, I bet this kid's gonna be really expensive. I was ready to lay down my gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And here's why, because I love him. I love him.
And here's the thing, listen to me, I don't love my house, I just don't. I appreciate it. I also appreciate electricity. Anybody else? Thank you, Edison.
But, you know, I love him and so I'm willing to give to him. I really want you to wrestle with this. If you love the Lord, do what the wise men did. Open up your treasures and give. Amen.
And it and if you're not there yet, that's okay. Because Samuels is a place for 2 people. People who are a disciple and on that path and people who are wrestling with it. K? And let me say this, we don't expect non disciples to support our church.
That's right. We expect church members to support our church. And not because you have to, but because you want to. Yeah. Amen?
You want to. Yeah. Alright. That was the sermon. Okay.
Next, a disciple is aware of those who would harm their relationship with Jesus. Not everybody is for you. Be very, very careful. What did Herod do? He said, Hey, once you guys find him, you tell me.
You tell me where he is so that I can worship him too. Look at this, Matthew 2:12. Being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Some of you need to hear that today. That's a that's a that's a word from the Lord right now.
You are on the wrong path. You need to head another way today. Amen. Some of you, ladies, are dating a Herod. And he will kill your relationship with Jesus.
Some of you are working for a Herod, and he's gonna suck all the life and joy out of you. Some of you are friends with a bunch of Herods, and you need to change. You need to get out of there. Not everyone is good. That's right.
Some people are evil, and that's hard for us to say. So what did they do? They listened. So now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you.
For Herod is about to search for the child to worship him, to destroy him. Amen. Look what Joseph did. Listen to me, disciples. It's the same thing the wise men did.
And he rose, and he took the child and his mother by night, And he departed to Egypt, and he remained there until the death of Herod. Wow. And look at this. And this was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet out of Egypt, I called my son. Isn't that amazing?
Sometimes God's plan for your life is running from somebody. Let me say that. There's a time to stay and fight, and there's a time to flee. And you need the Holy Spirit and healthy community to help you figure out which is which. I get this question all the time on the debrief and in my DMs.
Lord, how do I or Lord. They don't say that. How do I know when the Lord is telling me to leave a relationship? And let me just let me just tell you, here's the truth. A podcast isn't a pastor, and a sermon isn't a pastor.
You need to sit down with a pastor and work it out because you need a lot of informations in a lot of information in order to make that choice. Yep. Yep. You don't need a talk show. You need to talk with a pastor or a minister or soul care, somebody that can come alongside you and say, okay, let's get all the information.
And then let's make a decision. Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became furious. That's his spiritual gift. And he sent and he killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in the region who were 2 years old or under. Wow.
This is one of the saddest passages in the New Testament. I want you to understand this, and listen to me. If you go to school and your professor uniquely picks on Christ, there's a reason. They they they don't pick on Buddhism the same way. They don't critique Islam the same way.
They don't critique any other philosophy the way they attack Jesus, and that's because Satan is in an all out war to destroy anything and everything against Jesus. Amen. They ascertain the time with the wise men. And then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet of Jeremiah. A voice was heard at Ramah, weeping and a loud lamentation.
That's grieving. Rachel weeping for her children. And she refused to be comforted because they were no more. Should say were no more. Man, if I could if I could say anything to you today, it's this, a disciple of God must not just believe in the reality of God, listen to me, but in the very reality of evil, the presence of evil.
One of the greatest weapons of Satan today is he has camouflaged evil. Right? Every evil character has a backstory. They weren't always this way. Listen to me.
And I'm not saying all people are evil, but I'm telling you some people are. And Herod was evil. Evil. And you gotta run from evil people. Scriptures actually say this, Lord, deliver us from evil men.
Evil men. Alright. Last point. A disciple is constantly tracking with the movement of Jesus. Man, don't ever get stuck.
I see this all the time. Christians get stuck, couples get stuck, churches get stuck, movements get stuck. Jesus is on the move. We follow a wild god and he's always moving. Amen.
And check this out, Jesus is on the move, man. Right. I mean, Jesus is a traveler, right? In the womb, he's going from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Now he's going Bethlehem to Egypt.
Now he's going gonna go Egypt to Nazareth, man. Jesus is all over the place. Right? It's like he was in Uber, you know, when he was little. He was everywhere.
Matthew 2 19 through 23. When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. Get up, the angel said. Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel because those who were trying to kill the child are dead. Look at those words, get up.
Some of you guys just gotta get up and move. I've seen this with too many people during COVID. We got sedentary. We stopped moving. You gotta get up.
Some of you, you need to get up and come back to church. Each and every week, I run into people. I haven't been to church in 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years. If the Holy Spirit tells you to get up and get to church, get up and get to church. You don't need to pray about it, you need to get up and move.
So what did Joseph do? He prayed about it. He put it out on Facebook. Hey guys, I'm thinking about being obedient. What do you think?
So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel. You don't think that was scary? Dude, they had a good life in Egypt. A little money, Amen? A little coin, right?
A little frankincense, a little myrrh. Joseph was doing well. So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that there was a new ruler of Judea, it was Herod's son, Archulus, who was just as bad, you know? Some families are just funky, you know what I'm saying?
He was afraid to go there, so check out what he does. Then after being warned in a dream, he left the region of Galilee. And so the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. And this fulfilled what the prophets had said, He will be called a Nazarene. Listen, God has a plan.
God has a plan and it's about movement. We began this sermon talking about this little blue dye that I bought. And I don't know if it worked or not, I don't even know if I'm going to try it or not. Maybe I'll ask one of the pastors to go first. Take this and eat.
But here's the thing, there's there's a better ink, it's the blood of Jesus. And here's the thing, some of you guys today, God is calling you to get up and move. God is calling you to come to faith. God is calling you to submit and give your life to Jesus. Because there are all kinds of gimmicks in life, but there's one God.
And it's tried and true. It's tested for 2000 years. God is in the business of saving souls and changing lives. And He wants to change your life today. So I'm gonna ask you to do 2 things if you're ready to become a disciple.
You're ready to believe in Lord Jesus Christ. You're ready to repent of your sins and place your faith and trust in him. I'm gonna ask you to do 2 things today. In just a second, we're gonna pray, and I'm gonna ask you to raise your hand. And if your hand goes up, thank you for that.
But at the end of service, the pastors are given an opportunity for you to come forward. You gotta get up. You gotta move. God's calling you out of Egypt to follow Jesus. He's calling you to follow the Nazarene.
He's calling you to become a disciple. Look, you can study this book and be as smart as the scribes in Jerusalem and still miss Jesus. Amen. You gotta repent. You gotta believe.
You gotta prepare your heart to worship. And then I'm gonna ask you to come forward and just connect with the church because here's the thing. Jesus calls us as individuals but he's not called us to live an individual life. He's called us to the family of God. Amen.
And we are the church of God. We're the church of Jesus Christ. This is the place where we gather. This is the place where we do His work. This is the place where we work for His mission.
So if Jesus is calling you to Himself, He's also calling you to His people. And so I want you to know that if you give your life to Christ, you don't just have a home in heaven, you have a home here. And we will come alongside you, and we will help you live out this faith. So let's just bow our heads, let's close our eyes. And I just want you to ask God right now, God, do are you calling me to give my life to you?
Are you calling me to repent of my sins and place my faith and trust in Jesus? Are you calling me? In the same way you called the wise men from the East, in the same way you called Joseph to Egypt, and then from Egypt to Galilee, and then from Galilee to Nazareth. Are you calling me, God? If God's calling you, all I want you to do is just raise your hand and say, I'm here, I'm ready to follow.
I'm ready to follow. I'm gonna pray over you right now, and when I say amen, the campus pastors and and online are gonna tell you what what what to do next. But I want you to know that God sees you, God loves you, and God sent His son for you. Let's pray. Father, we pray in the name of Jesus, Lord, that you would just bless every hand that's raised.
Lord, as their hand goes up, I pray that they would feel your hand coming down from heaven. Lord, and that you would just make a bond there that they would never forget. Lord, you love them. You died for them. And, Lord, you've come to save them.
So just fill them with your spirit right now in your presence, and help them as they choose to become a follower of Christ. Lord, for those of us who are disciples of Christ, let us all be disciples that do the very things we see in Matthew chapter 2. Bless us, father. Be with us as a church and help us to become the disciples you have called us to be. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Morgan Teruel: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you want more content from the series, we have the YouTube playlist linked in the description. And if you want more information about who we are and what we do, you can go to sandalschurch.com.