McKay Vandenberg: Welcome to the Sandals Church podcast. My name is McKay, and I'm a part of the online team here at Sandals Church. We are so happy to have you join us today as we listen to this message with pastor Matt, teaching from our series, the gospel of Matthew. If you've enjoyed our content, consider leaving us a rating to help this podcast reach more people. Now, let's get into the message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown: Have you ever read something in the bible and been confused? Raise your hands. Okay. If you've never been confused, you've never read the bible. There are things about God.
There are things about Jesus. There are truths in God's word that are very very difficult to understand. We are reading an ancient book and trying to understand it in modern times. And so today I wanna talk about three things. Three things.
There are many things, but today we're gonna talk about three things that many people, maybe you, maybe somebody you know, maybe somebody you love, three things that many people miss about Jesus and these are important things. Everything that Jesus says is important but but this is radical truth that we need to hear and understand. Years ago, it's been thirteen years since I experienced the most amazing miracle of my life. I was called into a doctor's office where they had performed a surgery on a young boy and the young boy had not been breathing for several hours. Matter of fact, when I walked into the Surgical Room, I scrubbed in like a doctor.
I heard one doctor cuss and say the effing boy is dead. Just call it. That's how I walked into the OR. And I prayed over this young boy about 18 old. He'd had a cleft palate surgery and there was a mistake that was made and the airway tube was too large and when they took the airway tube out his airway closed.
Now I'm not a medical professional, I'm not a doctor but everybody tells me that one of the things that they fear the most are breathing issues Because when the airway is closed, it's really really hard to do something about that. And so they had given up hope. And one of the doctors, doctor Viendon said, we're not gonna call him dead until pastor Matt prays. Now you guys are like, that's awesome. I was like, this is terrifying.
Because you know, I'm a Baptist just if you didn't know that. So we pray for you until you die and then if you die God spoke. Can I get an amen? You know, I'm pretty sure the Lord has spoken, know, God be with you. So I I prayed and I would love to tell you in faith but but I had very little faith.
But here's the thing, miracles are never about us, they're about God. Amen. And so I prayed over this little boy and and the moment I say amen, I I I just I don't want you to think I'm exaggerating at all here. The the second I said amen, he woke up, he was alive, he was well, he's fine, he was totally healed. Amen?
So that's the beautiful part of the story. Let me talk about the horrendous part of the story. Ten years later we were doing a documentary of all the people that were involved and all the people that were in the OR. And I got to interview the surgeon who performed the surgery that ultimately accidentally took this young boy's life. I thought it was gonna be awesome.
I thought we were gonna have a great time talking about what God had done. Matter of fact, I have a vivid memory of him being in the corner of the room weeping. This is a doctor on his own dime, took off time from work, flew halfway across the world, did surgery for free, came to help a little boy, but unfortunately, because we're all human, made a mistake and hurt a little boy. Matter of fact, took his life had God not intervened. I remember him crying in the corner of the room.
And I remember him saying this is just like the stories my mom told me. This is just like the things Jesus did. So I'm thinking, right, this is gonna be a great interview. What has God done with your life? How has God changed your life over the next ten years?
Do you know he was difficult? He was dismissive of what happened? And it was such a challenging interview I actually called it and said we can't we can't use any of this and there's some other words that I would like to use to describe this person but but it blew my mind. He and I both witnessed the same miracle. We were in the same room and our lives could not be more different.
I will have forever been changed by the miraculous power of Jesus and he is a cemented unbeliever today. Wow. Wow. And the reason for that is, listen to me, miracles don't always move people to repentance. They just don't.
And we can come up with all kinds of reasons that explain what we've just seen so that we don't have to repent and get right with God. So there's three things that I want you to see today that many people miss about Jesus. Number one, look at this. Jesus illustrates, listen very carefully, the importance of personal repentance. And so listen to what he says in the gospel of Matthew chapter 11 verse 20.
Then Jesus, look at this, he began to denounce towns. I mean, this last couple weeks has been some pretty harsh pictures of Jesus. He's not the friendly, lovable guy that many of you have believed in your whole life. Like he's walking around, he's like, Moreno Valley, you're terrible. You know, don't even get me started on Mentone, you Kuipa, I see you.
You know what I'm saying? Hey Riverside, you know clean up your air. You know what I'm saying? I mean Jesus is just kind of ranting on these towns but listen to the reason why. So this is his home neighborhood, this is where he grew up, these are the people that he loves, the people that he knows.
Listen to this, Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles. Would you underline that? So many of his miracles, the majority of his miracles took place in these towns. Why is Jesus mad? Listen to this.
He began to denounce them because they hadn't repented of their sins and turned to God. They came for the show but they didn't change. You see it's possible. Listen me, some of you would say, well if I saw a miracle I would believe. I'm telling you, I've seen it firsthand, not everybody does.
Not everybody does. And here's what's amazing to me, This surgeon was more cemented in his opposition to God than he was ten years prior. How is that possible? I experienced the I mean, how many of you guys would vote and say, yeah, raising somebody from the dead, big deal. Come on.
Right? I I think that's up there. I don't know what you think is higher than that. But when I pray in the name of Jesus, God bring this boy back and he wakes up, the second I say amen, I don't think it's coincidence. Can I get an amen?
Like that is that is as clear as you could possibly make it. Listen to what Jesus says. He says, what sorrow awaits you? And then he begins to name the towns by name. Chorazan, Bethsaida.
Okay. So so we're here in Riverside right now at the studio. So this is Moreno Valley. Okay. This is Redlands.
This is Colton. These these towns are super super close to his home base. They're like walking distance every day. He said, for if the miracles Look at this. For if the miracles I did in you had been done in the wicked Tyre and Sidon, these are bad.
These are like the towns where you go boo. K? This is this is this is bad. This is the you know, you just don't even wanna, you know, mention these towns. He said if I would have done these miracles there, their people would have repented of their sins long ago.
Man. Now listen to this language, clothing themselves in burlap. Now you're like what's burlap? Okay. If you ever wear it you won't wear it again.
Amen. Now this is probably not our version of burlap. This comes from camel hair. Can I get a ew? Okay.
Like you can brush your teeth with it but you don't wanna, you know what I'm saying, put it on your on your back. So Jewish people would take the coarsest part of a camel's hair. They would make an outfit for it, put it on themselves to intentionally inflict them. Like we all wear, you know, they're not wearing Viori. You know what I'm saying?
They're they're wearing this to make themselves uncomfortable. It's a visible sign of the fact that they're mourning. They would have been clothing clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. He says, I tell you Tyre and Sidon, listen to this, will be better off on judgment day than you. Now, if you're a Christian take a note here, judgment day is not equal.
Heaven is not equal. Listen to me, hell is not equal. It's personal. It's personal. Many Christians miss this.
And then he turns to his hometown. He says, and you people of Capernaum. He says, will you be honored in heaven? This is the place where Jesus did his his miracles. Like you can go to Capernaum today and you can see a church with a glass floor overlooking the house of Peter.
The place where Jesus healed his mother-in-law, brought her back from certain death. He says, no, you're not gonna be honored in heaven. This is no, you will go down to the place of the dead. This is another word for hell. This is for if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom.
Now that's the worst place on earth where God judged it with fire from heaven. He said it would still be here today. I tell you, listen to this, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you. Woah. So many of us, we believe in God.
Great. So does the devil. Every single demon, the devil, Satan, what are They all believe in God, but you know what they haven't done? Repent it. Turn from their wickedness.
They've never done that. Satan is stuck in his evil ways forever. And Jesus is saying this, I did all this for you and it didn't change you. You know pastor Fredo preached an amazing sermon last week and Jesus said this, you know, I sang you a song at your wedding and you did not dance. And then I sang you a dirge at a funeral and you did not mourn.
What is he saying? You're never happy no matter what I do. Yeah. Preach. Preach.
And if we're not careful, that's the way we're gonna be as Christians. And some of are like, well, if I saw somebody raised from the dead, then I'd be faithful. Here's the thing. How many miracles has God done in your life that you haven't even noticed? One time right here at Hunter Park, I was getting ready to leave.
I just preached Sunday services. I was the last person to leave and the light turned green at Hunter Park. So our Hunter Park Campus is on a main street. People like to drag race on the street. It is so long and so straight.
It's a very very dangerous place to drive sometimes. The light turned green and I was getting ready to press the accelerator but something told me to look down. I looked down, I took my foot off the accelerator and an SUV suburban blew by me at about 80 miles an hour. Had I obeyed the laws and followed the light, I'd be dead. All of our security team and everybody there was like, God you didn't go.
Amen. We need to thank God. Amen? Because what made me look down? What made me check?
I have to believe it was an angel in my car going, look over here. Look over here. Look over here. You know? And God's in heaven.
He's a little slow. You gotta do more. But how many times has that happened in your life? Every single one of you listening is alive today because God has intervened and saved you. We are all miracles.
Has it turned you to repentance? Romans two three through four, look at this verse. And do you think you will escape God's judgment? There's a lot of people that do. Everybody goes to heaven, dogs go to heaven, we know cats don't go.
Amen? Like I think if if in heaven there are cats you need to check where you are. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
I love your cat. Do you think you will escape God's judgment? In our society everyone goes to heaven. No one goes to hell anymore. Now I'm not saying biblically, I'm just saying in our culture.
Here's what the word of God says. Do you think you will escape God's judgment? You won't. Every single one of you one day will stand before God and be held accountable for how you lived, myself included. Or do you show contempt, listen to this language, for the riches of his kindness.
Forbearance and patience. Not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance. Man. Here's the reason why God does miracles to save your soul. Why does it matter to God if he does a miracle and you live an extra five years, an extra ten years, an extra twenty years?
What is that in comparison to infinity? Nothing. Nothing. God does miracles in your physical life to save your eternal soul. That's why he does things.
K? He didn't just run around because he wanted to be a doctor when he was a kid and he told Mary, you know what? I wanna be a doctor. That's not why he was doing it. He was a savior.
And so he did all of these miracles in his own hometowns to lead people to repentance. And we gotta be careful because some of you, you come to church and and here's the thing. Let's just be honest. You feel something you've never felt before. You sense something you've never sensed before.
And there's gonna be a part of you that wants to move towards it, but there's another part of you like, no. No. No. No. No.
No. And you walk away. And that's what happens over and over and over again. Every time we experience the wonder and the power of God, we have a choice to move towards it or run from it. Moving towards it is repenting.
Running from it is staying in your sin, staying in your stubbornness. Now there's a lot of Christians, good Christians, good people that Jesus is all about love and he loves everybody and you just gotta believe. Look at Jesus. These are the words of Jesus in Luke thirteen five. No, I tell you but unless you repent you will likewise what?
Perish. So there's so many people. Well, I said a prayer, I believe in God so I'm going to heaven. Here's the word repentance. Repentance is the complete changing of one's mind and actions.
One's mind and actions. Okay? Now there are Christian pastors, good pastors, they say, woah woah, the word metaneo is just changing the way that you think. Okay, that's true. But the word metaneo in the Greek is a translation, I love this word shove in Hebrew, you know, God wants to shove you, you know what I'm saying?
Which means turn. Turn. Turn around. Okay? Every single human being is marching straight to hell.
He wants you to turn around and walk back. Alright? Next, Jesus demonstrates who he really is. Now there's a billboard on 91 Freeway. My Instagram is inundated with great questions.
I I have a challenge for you. Ask this on the debrief. Amen? You know what I'm saying? Don't ask me on my Instagram.
Ask on the debrief so I can answer these questions for everyone. So what does the billboard on the 91 Freeway say? It says Jesus is not God. Okay? That's what it says and a lot of you are rattled by that.
You're like wait a minute, are we are we worshiping the false thing? And there's another one, you know, where it says the trinity is false and all of this stuff. And here's the thing, I don't know these people. I got on their website and I could not find any person. There's a radio show and there's a bunch of things that they believe and and and they have their own name for God, Yahuwah.
I'd never heard this. I don't know how they came up with that, but I think Yahweh is a better translation than however they got where wherever they were. But there's a lot of information and here's the thing, some of you know so little about Jesus, you believe whoever's the loudest. And let me ask you, are you gonna believe a billboard or the bible? What are you gonna believe?
So why does God do miracles? God does miracles to the person of Jesus not to provide answers but to force big questions. Yes. So in Matthew chapter eight, we covered this a couple of weeks ago or actually months ago. There was a great storm.
The disciples all thought they were gonna die. Right? They were freaking out just like you and I do every time there's a little bump. I'm gonna die. Lord Jesus, where are you?
And we have to wait eight to fourteen days until the hospital gets back to us to tell whether or not we're gonna die or lie. Isn't that the best? You know? So I'd like to tell the hospital, I'm gonna wait eight to fourteen days before I decide to pay you. But anyways, they think they're gonna die.
Right? They are freaking out. They wake Jesus and Jesus says, oh you have little faith. He speaks to the storm. Tammy and I got back to Riverside this week and some of our trees were bowing down.
And I was like, what happened in Riverside? Well, we had some winds. Weather is powerful. It's very powerful. And it frustrates us, but Jesus commands weather.
Like I wish I could do that. One time on an airplane, terrible turbulence, and I'm like, stop. That'd be awesome. I would do it every flight. I would actually create weather just to stop it, to freak people out.
Aren't you glad I'm not God? Okay. But here's the thing, Jesus spoke to the wind and the waves and they listened. Look at Matthew eight twenty seven. The disciples were amazed.
Who is this man? That even the winds and the waves obey him. So who is the person of Jesus? This is a great question that we have to wrestle with. So let's jump back into the text Matthew eleven twenty five to 27.
So this is a prayer of Jesus. This is a a personal moment with Jesus that's recorded by Matthew. Think about this. This is insight to his prayer. You ever wonder, oh, I wonder what Jesus prayed like?
Well, here it is. Matthew eleven twenty five. At that time Jesus prayed this prayer. Oh father, now listen to this, Lord of heaven and earth. What does that mean?
To the one who's in charge. Who's God? The one who's in charge. Oh father, Lord of heaven and earth, God of everything. I thank you, listen to this language, for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever.
Listen to me. Sometimes the smarter you are, the harder you are to save. So what's the difference between me and a surgeon? A surgeon's really smart. I'm really dumb.
So I came to faith. Amen? You know? I mean, I see a dead guy come back. I'm like, okay.
You know, I don't have 10,000 scientific reasons for why that wasn't a miracle. I just call it a miracle. Jesus says, oh father, God of everything, Lord of all, thank you for keeping this from those who think they are wise and clever and for revealing them to the childlike. Now listen, we're gonna unpack this as we go through the message but this is important. Who does God reveal who he is to?
To the child like, not to the wise and the clever. Well, why would God do that? Well, let's look what the text says. It says, yes father, it pleased you to do it this way. He's God, he can do it whatever way he wants.
This is God's plan. This is God's plan. Now here's the thing, part of the reason that it's difficult to ascertain exactly who Jesus is when you read the gospels is because God is revealing his mystery slowly. He's revealing it slowly. And so there are hints, there are points, and we're gonna walk through some of these where there's some clarity.
But here it's a little you're like, well, I don't know that he exactly says he's God. Listen to what Jesus says. My father has entrusted everything to me. He says no one truly knows the son except the father and no one truly knows the father except the son. What Jesus is saying here in kind of coded language is, look I know God in a way that you don't and God knows me in a way that you don't.
So he says, to the God of heaven and earth, the one who's in charge of everything, he has given everything in charge of me. Everything that's God is mine. And he says, and God has chosen to reveal this to whomever he wants and listen to this. He says, and the son to those whom the son chooses to reveal him. So God chooses who he reveals himself to and so does the son.
Now what's happening here? There's a game afoot. There's a war that's happening. A war in heaven and a war on earth. A war between the powers of evil and the powers of God.
And the apostle Paul gives us this beautiful little verse to try to clue us in on this game. Look at first Corinthians two eight. But the rulers of this world, now who is that? It's the physical rulers and it's the spiritual rulers. He's talking about all rulers.
First Corinthians two eight. But the rulers of this world would not have understood it or excuse me, would have not understood it. If they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. You see, the father in heaven is playing a little cat and mouse here because here's the thing, if they knew his plan, they never would have allowed Jesus to die. And so Jesus is being intentionally mysterious so he can get to the cross on Passover to be the Passover lamb for you and for me and to save the world.
K? And that's why we have wonderful beautiful people who you know get confused and they say, the bible doesn't exactly say he's God and if you believe that you're wrong. Well, let's jump into another book. The last gospel that's written by the apostle John and here's what he says in John one one through three. In the beginning was the word.
Now, the word is a is language that the Greeks used to describe the one who is behind everything. So we would say God created everything. God is the one behind everything. The Greeks would say it was the word. Their word for this is logos.
And the logos is the unseen mover of all that moves. And so John adopts that word and he says, in the beginning was the logos, that's the unseen mover. That's the God you can't see. And this unseen mover, the word was with God. Okay?
And and nobody has a problem with that. But look at what he look at what he says next. And the word was what? God. Let me read it again.
And the word was what? God. So why do Christians for two thousand years, why have we professed that Jesus is God? Because that's what John says. So what happens with Mormons and Jehovah Witness?
They translate it divine or little God or a God. And they do this to lower who Jesus was. The problem is those people, right, what have they just done? They've created multiple gods. There's one God and the one God is father, son, and holy spirit.
It doesn't matter whether you you say a or a little or whatever. What John is saying is whatever God is, Jesus is. And whatever Jesus is, God is. And this is very difficult for us to comprehend because the bible teaches there's only one God. And yet this one God exists in three persons.
Jesus is not the father, the father is not Jesus. The holy spirit is not Jesus. Jesus says you won't receive the holy spirit until I leave. And so Christians came up with this language to just try to describe something that is extraordinarily difficult to describe. And here's the thing, whenever you try to talk about the infinite eternal God, it's like trying to empty the Pacific Ocean with a coffee mug.
You can work your whole life and make lots of progress but at the end of the day, the ocean is bigger than your cup. And that's just the thing. Jesus is the unique son of God. No, I have one son. His name is Ethan.
I love him. He's my only son. There is no other. Would you ever anticipate that my son Ethan is anything but human? No.
That's what God's trying to tell you about Jesus. Whatever God is, Jesus is. Whatever Jesus is, God is. Jesus is divine. Let's take a look.
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Listen to this, through him all things were made. Who made the heavens and the earth? Jesus.
And without him, listen to this, nothing was made that has been made. Jesus is co creator with God the father. Now this is the word of God. It's not what the billboard says, but it is what the bible says. Colossians one fifteen, this is one of the most beautiful sentences ever written on paper.
Look at this. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. You wanna know how you see what you can't see? Jesus. He is the visible image of the invisible God.
Let's take a look at another beautiful passage. Philippians chapter two verses five through seven. Have this mind amongst yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped. Look at this next verse, but he emptied himself taking on the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. Jesus let go of everything so he could have you and save you.
Now these are just some of the verses that reveal why we believe what Christians believe. I said a couple weeks ago in church, anybody who does not believe that Jesus is God is not a Christian. And I had a bunch of wonderful people that came out of the Jehovah Witness Church and they came up to me and they just they just struggle with that. I I want you to know we do the best we can to translate and we put our scholars on paper and who we translate as. The Watchtower Society does not do that.
No other denomination uses their scriptures and no other organization agrees with what they write. They have their own bible because they have their own beliefs. And I would encourage you, Catholics, Orthodox, and all evangelicals testify to this. There is one God who exists in three persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
And when you go to the end of Matthew, Jesus commissions the church. All authority has been given unto me. Go ye therefore to make disciples amongst all the nations. Listen to this language. Baptizing them in the name of the father, in the name of the son, and in the name of the holy spirit.
That's the word of God. And that's what we're called to teach. It's not easy, but it's God. Amen? I know you're like, my gosh.
Oh my gosh. Okay? So when you drive by the billboard, pray for the people who wrote that and the people that believe it. Because they believe something false. And those are just a few of the scriptures I gave you.
Alright? We gotta go on because you're listening slow. Here we go. Jesus reveals the kind of person he's willing to save. This is one of the things that most Christians get wrong.
If you ask most Christians who did Jesus die for, they'd say everybody. But there's something subtle in here that you've got to pay attention to. So remember, the only people who know who Jesus is is the one who God reveals them to. And the only one, you know, that Jesus that Jesus saves is the one that he reveals himself to. So who then does he reveal himself to?
Matthew eleven twenty seven. And no one truly knows the father except the son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal. So who has Jesus chosen to save? This next passage of scripture are some of my favorite verses you will ever read. Who has Jesus chosen to save?
Let's look. Then Jesus said, come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Listen to this. And let me teach you because I am humble and gentle at heart and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy to bear. Listen to this. And the burden I give you is light. And I love it when Christians read this verse like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna be a Christian because it's easy. Have you been a Christian longer than a week?
He's not saying it's easy. He's speaking to a hyper religious audience who as a Jewish people have adopted 613 laws and they believe if they follow those perfectly, they will be saved. And what he's saying is there's a better way. There's a better way. I mean, there's there's laws in here you guys don't even know.
Can you imagine you're standing before God like, didn't I didn't know. I didn't know. You see, here's what humanity does. We try to create laws so we make ourselves better. Like America, we're the we're the country of laws.
K? And I don't know what you feel about Elon Musk, he's sicked AI on all of our laws. You know he found out that 60% of federal laws are actually illegal? That's helpful. You go like, knew that.
Yeah. I knew that. But what we do in our country is we just keep creating laws after laws after laws. The problem isn't the laws. The problem is the hearts of the people.
And what Jesus is saying is, look, there's a better way. There's a better way. You don't have to constantly worry about, do your fabrics go together? If you touch a dead person, do you have to what do you have to do? What he's saying is just come to me and I'll teach you.
I'll teach you a better way. I'll teach you a different way. And here's the thing, Moses went up to the mountain to receive the law of God from Yahweh. Listen to me. Yahweh is now standing on the earth and saying, I'm gonna teach you something different.
I'm gonna teach you a better way. Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest. So who are weary people? So I want you to work through this passage very carefully because he says that the father has not revealed himself to the wise and the clever. Who has he revealed himself to?
The broken and the weary. Take a look at this verse. You see this all throughout scripture. Who does God save? Psalms eighteen twenty seven.
For you save who? A humble people. But the haughty eyes you bring down. Let's take a look at what James, the half brother of Jesus says. James says this, he's a little James a little rough.
You know what I'm saying? Therefore it says God opposes the proud, but who does he give grace to? The humble. Listen to me very carefully. When you are full of yourself, you are completely empty of God.
Why does myself and a surgeon experience a miracle? An undoubtable miracle. And why did it have two different results? Sometimes, not all, but sometimes people in the medical profession, they're the smartest, let's be honest, that's why they have those positions because they did better in school, amen. C stands for Christian, that's what I got.
Look, I know I'm not the smartest. But sometimes when you think you're the smartest, listen to you're hard to save. So Jesus says, this has not been revealed to the brilliant and the clever. He says, this has been revealed to the humble. Look at Psalms twenty five nine.
He leads the humble in what is right and he teaches the humble his way. So what's he saying church? This is one of the things that most people miss. Who is Jesus willing to save? Those who are willing to humble themselves.
Because what's the contrast? The contrast and and if you're a Jewish person, I mean no offense by this. I love you. I love God's word. I am I am grateful for a Jewish savior.
But here's what the Jewish faith teaches. And maybe every rabbi won't agree with this, but here's what they believe, adherence to Torah is what saves you. Let me translate that. You save you. Here's what the Muslim believes.
A Muslim believes that if they are submitted enough to God, if they live a life worthy of Allah, they will be saved. That is not what we believe. There's a different way. Come to me all who are weary and carry heavy burdens. What is the heavy burden?
It's trying to be perfect. He says come to me. Listen this and I will give you rest for your souls. Let me teach you. Now listen to the language for I am humble.
I'm humble. You see the way of Jesus is a way of humility. And I gotta be honest with you, oh my gosh, I thought I was so good at humility. You know what I'm saying? Like I was gonna wear a shirt, this is like I'm the most humble and tell people and tell people somebody else gave it to me.
But I remember reading through Corinthians. I was really frustrated. I got my feelings really hurt. And I I I wouldn't have said I was a prideful person, but the Lord revealed a whole layer of pride that I didn't even think existed there. And I was reading through Corinthians and the apostle Paul says in second Corinthians, perhaps it is the Lord's will that I come to you again so that I may be once more humiliated.
Is there a better Christian on earth than Paul? I don't think so. But for us as Christians, the way of the cross, you can't be humble without being willing to be humiliated. What was Jesus? He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but he emptied himself and took on the form of a servant and listen to me, he was humiliated on a cross for you and for me.
And God did this because the devil never saw it coming. They never saw it coming. He fooled all the rulers, all the principalities. He fooled everyone to save you. So what do I do today?
I wanna challenge you today to begin your Christian journey. Okay? Now let's think about it in light of what we've learned. What's the first step? Repent of your sins.
I I love you. I I I mean no offense if you've never repented, you're not a Christian. That's where it starts. It starts with, God, I'm sorry. God, I'm sorry.
You know, that's what's wrong with some of your marriages. You're like, we just need to move forward. The past is the past. No, bro. Apologize.
Apologize. That's where it begins. God, I'm sorry. K? And you're like, well, I can't do that.
Well, you know what? You're not weary. You're not you're not ready. Come to me all who are weary and carry heavy burdens. You see, we repent because we realize we're carrying something we can't carry anymore.
Lord, I need you to take this. But if we don't give it to him, he doesn't receive it. Then here's what everybody thinks. Right? Number two.
So you repent of your sins and then you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. What do you believe? That he died on the cross for you and he rose from the dead for you and he's coming again for you. Amen? We can clap for that.
And then here's my challenge. You know what Sandals is great at? We're great at getting people to come forward. Man, we're we're really good at that. We are aisle athletes.
Can I get an amen? Like, man, we we get we got some messed up people. We're like, yeah, need prayer. But here's the thing is, how do we go from prayer to change? Here it is, number three.
You gotta connect with your church and start learning how to follow Jesus. I met a guy in the gym this week and he's like, oh my gosh, you got a mustache. I said, well, you haven't been in church in a while, you know. And he said, here's what he said, said, yeah, I'm meeting with some guys, we're going through the book of Ephesians. I said, great, you're in the discipleship group.
He didn't even know that's what he was in. Well done, good and faithful sandal servant. They didn't even know they're being discipled, you're like a Jesus ninja. But here's the thing is, you gotta start somewhere and you gotta start with saying, don't know what I believe. And that's why I'm so rattled when there's a billboard on the 91 Freeway.
We wanna teach this to you. We wanna teach you what the church is about. Remember the invitation, come to me all who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you give you rest for your souls. But listen to me, come learn from me, he says, and I will teach you a better way to live. So here's the invitation today.
At the end of service, I want you to come forward. If, you know, if if you're already involved in a part of SoundShirts, God bless. Go out and, you know, make room for the next group coming in. But here here's what I want. I want you to come forward and say, you know, we're not connected like we need to be.
We need get in a discipleship group. Yeah. And we actually have a class here called connect. Right? Why do we call it that?
So it tells you what you're doing. Connect. Where you can connect and figure out how to be a part of what God is doing here and you can actually repent, actually believe, and listen to me, actually change your life. That's the invitation. Simply move today from believing, yeah, think I think he's God, to actually living like he is God.
That's the invitation. Let's bow our heads, let's close our eyes, and let's pray together as a church. Lord, I I realized that the Bible sometimes is confusing, God, and and I thank you for all the pastors and teachers and just faithful servants for the last two thousand years that have helped me and helped us understand the truth of who you are. And God forgive me if I seemed, you know, judgmental of people who have a different interpretation, but God I believe that our souls are at stake and we need to believe the right things. And so God, would you just move in us today to believe in who your son really is, the son of God?
God, and would you help us to begin living for him today like you are God? So Lord, give us the confidence right now to move forward, to take that next step, and to connect. So Lord bless us as a church and help us all as we follow you. We pray this in Jesus name and all God's people said.
Pastor Fredo Ramos: Man, if you are one person who happened to just pray that prayer with pastor Matt today and you want to receive Christ and find rest for your soul, we wanna follow-up with you. As you said a moment ago, to move from belief to actually living a life as a Christian. You don't have to do it alone. Even if you watch Sandals Church online, go to sandalschurch.com/prayer and we will follow-up with you. Our team would love to connect with you, hear your story.
Hear your story, not your story. Made that up. Hear your story and help you begin your journey in following Jesus. We love you guys. Grace and peace.
Morgan Teruel: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you want more content from this 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.