Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Welcome to the Sandals Church podcast. My name is Rocky. I'm the campus pastor at Sandals Church Menifee. We're so happy to have you join us today as we listen to this incredible message. If you've enjoyed our content, consider leaving us a rating to help this podcast reach more people.
Pastor Rocky Stone:But for now, let's get into this message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So I was at the gym this week, obviously. Right? Super humble pastor. I was at the gym this week and I got out of my car and I had an unexpected salesman. He offered me drugs.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He had it in a bag. He's like, you wanna buy this, bro? He's all it's good stuff. And I was like, it's not worth the risk. And he's like, you don't trust me?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was like, I don't know you. And if I was gonna do drugs, it wouldn't be with a total stranger. Amen? Some of you are like, well, don't know. No.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right? I mean, life is risky. Have you guys noticed this? Yes. It's it's risky.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And so today we're gonna talk about is Jesus worth the risk? See every single one of you guys, you you're making decisions based upon risk. Risk versus reward. So life is risky. So let's just talk about life.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:There's uncertainty all around. Like every morning I wake up, I'm like, who are we at war with? You know, did we bomb Venezuela? What did Canada do today? You know, I mean it just no Canadians in here.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I thought maybe that'd funny. But you know, life is uncertain. I mean I mean, you just don't know. Right? You you don't know what's gonna happen, what's gonna come at you, what is the stock market doing, what is your employer doing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Life is risky. There's uncertainty all around us. How about this? Anybody been in a relationship? Yeah.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Those are super fun. People are hard and they can break your heart. And if you're single, write that down. Write that down. I mean, things can be very, very difficult.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And if you don't believe me that relationships are difficult, have kids. Those are super fun. You know? I tell people that parenthood is like watching this sunset with your child, and you don't know whether they're gonna hug you or push you over the edge. You know what I'm saying?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That that's what it's like. How about this time? Time is risky. It's sneaky, isn't it? It's so sneaky.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Somebody said the other day that Sandals is coming up on its thirtieth anniversary. Do you know I wasn't even 30 years old when I started this church? Time is sneaky, and we never know when our time is up. And so we only have so much time to fix regrets. There's only so much time to forgive.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to this. There's only so much time to heal rifts or to chase dreams. And so we we we don't know, but life is risky. But here's the thing, Jesus calls his followers to a higher level of risk. So one of the things that's always exciting about my job is being in the lobby.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So when I go in the lobby at Hunter Park, I never know what I'm gonna get. I know never know if you're gonna cry, slap me, stab me. I don't know what it's gonna be, but I I wanna be a pastor that's present. I you know, I I don't wanna be divorced from relationships and people. So I was saying hi to people, and this guy double grabs me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So he grabs my hand and then he grabs my other hand and he pulls me in. And I'm like, security, like under my breath. I was like, secure security. And so apparently I didn't say it loud enough because no nobody came. They all left me alone.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I was having flashbacks to this one time a woman put me in a headlock. I kid you not. She put me in a headlock and nobody helped me at all. So so this guy pulls me in and he's very intense and I don't know if this can be good, bad, or ugly, but he's he's almost is crying. And he says this, thank you so much for your sacrifice.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He says, I can't imagine how hard it's been for you to serve God. And it actually listen to me. At first, it was very scary. Okay, we need to talk to him about appropriate grabbing. But you know what?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I realized his intensity was emotion. He's just saying, man, I can't imagine what it's been like. Thank you so much for what you've done. It was actually quite moving for me to have a fellow man just say, look, I get it. But I want you to know Jesus has called you to the same standard that he's called me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And so if you're new to Jesus, there's two calls. One is come and see. That's the first call. And so if you're new to Christianity, I want you to understand that. It's come and see.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:See who he is. See what he's about. See how he can bless you. But there's another call at some point in your life and it's come and die. Come and die.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And that's difficult. And many of us want the blessings of Jesus, but we don't wanna answer the call of Jesus. So let's open our bibles to Matthew sixteen twenty four through 25, and I'm super excited to preach this message to you today. So in Matthew sixteen twenty four, then Jesus said to his disciples, if any of you wants to be my follower, which is interesting. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If you're a disciple, what are you already? A follower. So he's telling the disciples, hey, if you really wanna be a follower, and so we all gotta ask ourselves that question. I'm a Christian, I'm a disciple, but I am my following. And so it's real easy to get confused.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So we we reference Christianity as our identity, but it has no influence at all in the direction of our life. And so he says, if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way. And then he says this phrase that doesn't mean a lot to us, but it was crazy talk back in the day. Jesus said to his disciples, if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way. Take up your cross and follow me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Now that doesn't mean a lot to us. But in the ancient world, a person that carried a cross had been condemned to death. And so they carried their cross, the Romans would make them carry their own cross to their crucifixion. And it was part of the humiliation. And so Jesus just says this, look, if you're truly gonna follow me, you're going to have to embrace suffering.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And a lot of us as Christians, we get so upset and we get so mad when our marriage doesn't go the way we want, when our finances don't go the way that we want, when our kids don't go the way that we want, when our job doesn't go the way that we want. I just wanna remind you that the symbol of our faith is a suffering savior. Okay? A suffering savior. He didn't come to earth and buy a mansion in Bel Air.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's not what he did. He died on a cross. And what he's saying is if you really wanna follow me, you gotta be willing to do what I do. And listen to what he says. If you try to hang on to your own life, you will lose it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And this is what many of us do as Christians. We try to add Jesus to our old life. Jesus wants to end your old life and give you a new life. And so many of us miss this. We think Christianity is an addition to a life that's already too busy.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And what Jesus is saying, no, no, no. If you're gonna add me, you've gotta subtract everything from your life. Now I realize this is scary language. This is intent language. But this is the ultimate call of Christianity.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:For all of us, we have to die for many of us to our sexuality. Many of us have to die to our our dreams about self preservation, our finances. I mean, that we have ultimately is a surrender to Jesus. And that's difficult for all of us. At some point, there's gonna be something in the road where we say, I don't wanna give this up.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't want to surrender this. And here's the thing that's often the very thing you need to give up so that you can experience the breakthrough you're asking for. But listen what he says. He says, so so if you wanna follow me, you gotta pick up your cross. You gotta follow me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If you try to keep your life or save your life, you'll lose it. But then Jesus says, but if you give up your life for my sake, you'll save it. And this is radical. You see, last weekend we preached one of my favorite passages when Jesus goes to Caesarea Philippi and he asked Peter, who do you say that I am? And Peter says, you're the Christ, the son of living God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And we're like, yes, this is awesome. And we end and we take the keys to kingdom and we all got pumped up. We all got fired up. But then in the very next verse, Jesus says, I gotta go to Jerusalem to die. And Peter says, I will never let that happen.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And Jesus says, get behind me, Satan. Leader literally Peter goes from the class a student to the class clown in one verse because we all want the glory, but none of us want the suffering. And Peter says, Jesus, I'll never let that happen. And so that's the thing is, for some of you, you gotta embrace the suffering so that you can truly embrace the following. And here's why you need to know this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some are like, well, all religions are the same. No. No. No. They're not.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They're not. You see Jesus uniquely, look at this, warns me what's really at stake. So there's a reason for this. There's a reason that Jesus is calling us to this higher level, this higher standard. Jesus says this in Matthew sixteen twenty six through 28.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He says, and what do you benefit if you gain the whole world? Now just think about that. We all have dreams, we all have desires, maybe it's a bigger house, maybe it's an RV, maybe it's to retire. Right? We have all of these things that we want.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But Jesus says, what if you get it all? And some of you today, you have dreams, but let me ask you, what if the dream is the very thing God's trying to deliver you from? God's trying to save you from? What if the very thing you're chasing is your own demise? You ever had a dog or known somebody that has a dog that chases cars?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like you ever wanna sit down with the dog and just talk? Like, here's what I wanna say to the dog. What are you gonna do if you catch the car? What happens when the dog finally catches the bumper and latches on? It's the death of the dog.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And for some of you, your dreams as a child, your dreams as young adult, your dreams for your own finances, those dreams are the death of you and it's the very thing that Jesus is trying to deliver you from. So be careful. I mean, part of Christianity is saying, give me new dreams, God. Give me new dreams. I mean, that's what acts chapter two says that when we receive the holy spirit, we get new dreams.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We get new visions. We got new desires. I was in college. I was a political science major. I was headed to law school.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You guys, I could have been a good lawyer. I'm telling you, I can talk. You know what I'm saying? I can talk. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If the glove doesn't fit, you must have quit. That could have been me. That could have been me. But Jesus radically changed my life and I realized, man, it it can't be about me because I'm the problem. I'm the problem.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So I've written a couple of books. One's a book called You. Another book is called Everyday a Miracle. But the first book I wanted to write was called Mehole. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You can tell why no Christian publisher would publish that. But my whole point was that was my problem. I was a me hole. I was all about myself. And literally, I was destroying my God given potential and calling because I was about me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:My problems early on in my marriage, I my Tammy would complain and talk and I I would tell people, I would literally be like, she's crazy. I married a crazy person. I literally remember the day she was complaining, and I was like, she might have a point. Like, I was like, for the first time, because I had to get out of my own way. Jesus wants to help you get out of your own way.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Now, no Christian company is ever gonna publish a book called Mihael. I'm telling you, I tried. I tried. But we all need to read that, and you don't have to read it, just look in the mirror because that's your biggest problem. And Jesus is trying to deliver you from your biggest problem.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So Jesus says, what if you gain the whole world? But look at this. What if you gain the whole world, but you lose your own soul? Think about that. What if you exchange your soul for your dreams?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Is it worth it? Is it worth it? Man, we gotta be so careful that we're not willing to exchange what matters most for what matters least. What what does a man gain if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? There was a famous Greek conqueror.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:His name is Alexander the Great. The reason the Bible originally is written in Greek is because of that dude. That's how powerful he was. He made Greek the language of the ancient world. He conquered all the known countries and died at the age of 32.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And here was his request on his deathbed that when they carried his casket, they put holes in both side of the casket with his arms sticking out and palms facing up. Do you know why he wanted that? He wanted people to know that even the most powerful man on earth died with nothing in his hands. Ain't that crazy? So you may not have Donald Trump money.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't have Donald Trump money. But Donald Trump will die the same way you do, the same way I do with nothing. You can't take it with you. You can't. Doesn't matter if you're Jeff Bezos.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It doesn't matter if you work at McDonald's. We all step into eternity with nothing but our soul. And Jesus says, man, don't exchange that. He says this, for the son of man will come and I want you to catch this. Because sometimes when we read our Bibles, know, we're doing it so fast we miss things.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:For the son of man Now let's stop there. Remember we talked about this last week. The son of man is this mystical being in the Old Testament, Daniel chapter seven that is divine. That is divine. And we see this throughout the Old Testament.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We have Yahweh in heaven and Yahweh on earth. And we see these manifestations of Yahweh in heaven giving commands and there's a physical Yahweh on earth. And so the Jews aren't exactly certain how to make sense of that. And that's why Jesus asked last week, who do people say that the son of man is? And they're like, I don't know.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And it's his favorite reference for himself. So he's this divine creature that every nation, every tribe, every tongue will worship and his kingdom will never end. And he calls himself this son of man, this character from Daniel seven. For the son of man will come, and I want you to underline this in your Bibles with whose angels? His.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some of you missed this subtlety. Jesus has angels. And whose are they? They are his in the glory of his father. Somehow, the connection of God, one being that is God who has multiple persons.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We don't understand it, but we've done the best that we can to describe it. For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father. Now listen to this. This is why Christianity matters. This is why you need to evaluate whether or not you need to change your life.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And He will judge how many people? Look at it. He will judge all people according to their deeds. All of human history is moving to one event, judgment day, where we all stand before God and we are held accountable for how we lived. Jesus says, I tell you the truth.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Now you can read all kinds of interpretations about what this means. Here's what I think the most obvious meaning is, the coming of Jesus Christ is imminent. It's imminent. He could come at any moment, any day.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Are you ready? We need to be ready. We've lost that sense of urgency. So if you need to get your life right with Jesus today, get it light, get it right today. Don't wait till tomorrow.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We don't know. The Bible says we don't have tomorrow guaranteed. We don't know. But we do know this, if we place our soul in the hands of Jesus, it's safe. Listen to me, it's saved.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's saved. That's the only guarantee that we have. Next, Jesus reveals his true nature to those, this is important, who are ready. You ever tried to share your faith with a family member or friend? Guy came up to me at the gym this week, he was looking super swole, I was a little intimidated.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was like, bro, why you gotta wear a tank? You know what I'm saying? I mean, really? It's obvious. You got big muscles.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We don't need to see all of them. But he said, he said, man, he said, do you have any wisdom for me sharing my faith with my father over Christmas break? I said, yeah. Is he ready? Is he ready?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see here's the thing, we share our faith with people who aren't ready and we ignore the ones who are. I've told this story many times when I first started Sandals Church, the second home we lived in, we lived in Corona and our next door neighbors were young like us, right? Same age, had bought a house starting off. I think our ages were like six months apart, the husband and the wife with Tammy and I. And I just knew that God had called us to minister to them.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We invited him over for dinner one time. I said, I'd like to have you guys over for dinner. And the guy said, we're busy. I never said what day. What what is he saying?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We are not interested bro. Meanwhile, our next door neighbors, 65, different ethnicity and he's dying of cancer. Never occurred to me to even go over there. Older, different, okay? We were kinda like this like, I don't know, emo nineteen nineties just depressed church.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Couldn't imagine that a 65 year old black guy would be interested in sandals. You know what I'm saying? You know, he just But his wife came over one day and she said, I've been praying for you to come over, but you didn't. So I just came over here to tell you that we need you to come over. Do you know I went over there and led him to Christ?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he was saved a week before he died. Amen? And his wife his wife Maria attended Sandals Church for ten years before she moved to Georgia. You see, are they ready? Are they ready?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And you could just ask people, look, if you could be convinced that Jesus Christ is the son of God, are you ready? So it's interesting. I wanna have this guy on the debrief, and he's like the leading atheist. He's like destroying pastors everywhere. When I told our debrief team, I wanna have this guy on their guy, really?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Because he could embarrass you. I'm like, thanks team. But this guy's a 26 year old graduate of of Oxford, obviously very smarter, know, more intelligent than I am. But I got a text from my friend in England this week. And he said, you're never gonna guess who came to church this weekend.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And it was that guy, Connor, that I want to Here's the thing, you know what? He might be ready. He might be ready. I'm never gonna lead him to Christ debating. He's a better debater than I am.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But man, if he's ready, I can share the gospel. And so here's what I want you to think about. Instead of judging all your relatives like, oh my gosh, I gotta see these guys every year. Start asking Lord, who's ready? Which one of my friends are ready?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Is my husband ready? Is this the appropriate time? You know, like when you're in a fight, ladies, that's not the time to evangelize. You know, if you gave your life to Jesus, you'd be a better man. That's not that that's not the moment.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know? At the end of service with the invitation, you just stare at him. Or you're poking your kid. It always cracks me up when I make a point preaching at Hunter Park and people still looking at me like, mhmm. Mhmm.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Are they ready? Are you ready? So Jesus last weekend takes the disciples to the gates of hell. And he says they will not prevail against it. And oh, by the way, I'm gonna build my church right here on these gates.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And some of you guys never noticed this, you've been a Christian your whole life. Look at Matthew seventeen one through five, six days later. Why is that important? Now we know this isn't precise because Luke says eight days. I think Matthew and Mark are trying to tell us something about the spiritual significance of this moment.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So in the book of Exodus, Moses goes up to the mountain and waits, guess how many days? Six days before he sees the Lord. So Jesus takes the disciples to the gates of hell and he says they will not prevail against us. And remember, this is ground zero for the spiritual rebellion where according to the book of Enoch chapter six, the counsel of God that rebelled fell down and rebelled against God. The sons of God had sex with the sons of women and all of this chaos broke out.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And there's this cosmic war, this spiritual war, and Jesus takes him to the very base of this mountain. He says, we're gonna win. Six days later, Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John. Why is that? He didn't take all 12.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Why not all 12 were ready? And this breaks my heart, Sandals Church. We got a church of thirty, forty thousand people depending upon the weekend. Not all of us are ready. Not all of us are ready to see God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some of us are still trapped in our own mind, in our own dreams, in our own life, and we're all worried about all this stuff that in the end, you know what? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Man, these people, these friendships that you're worried about, you're stressed about, you know what? Ten years from now, twenty years from now, you might not even be able to recall their name.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was talking to my son about this girl that broke my heart in high school. Does anybody remember that? People always tell you, you'll get over it. I'm telling you, if this girl comes to Sandals Church, I'm be like, go to harvest. You know what?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is not this is not for you, girl. Like, we can work this out in heaven. But here's the thing I was telling my son about how bad she broke my heart and he said, what was her name? And I was like, I couldn't remember it. Something that I thought was ending the very life I lived as a teenager.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Now I can't even recall her name. Oh, I can still remember the pain, but I can't remember her name. So much of the stuff that we worry about just won't matter. So there are 12 disciples, only three of them are ready. Peter, James, and John.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Look at this. And he led them up a high mountain. I love this to be alone. What if God was calling you for some alone time this week? He said, hey, let's get away.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Just me, you and your Bible. There's a new level I wanna take you in your life, in your marriage, with your kids, in your walk. Would you even notice if Jesus tapped you on your shoulder? He said, hey, let's get along. Six days later, he takes them up to a high mountain.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You say, what mountain? We don't know. We don't know. I think it's the mountain we talked about last week. I think it's Mount Herman.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I think it's the very place where the sons of God descended to destroy the earth. I think it's the very place Jesus ascends to save the earth. And this is important. Six days later, he took them. As the men watched, Jesus appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as light.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is divinity Sandals Church. Jesus is changing. He's showing them who he was in his pre incarnate state. They're getting a vision of who the word always was. The word that was always with the father.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He's no longer a sand filled dirty foot Palestinian guy walking the earth. He is who he's always been. He's transformed, he's changed and they get to see him for who he is. Listen to me, when you're ready, you will get to see Jesus for who he really is. And by the way, if you got family members and friends who aren't Christians, this is all you gotta say.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You gotta say, I love you so much. I just one day want you to know who Jesus really is. That's it. Don't argue, don't fight, don't blame. Just say I love you and I'm hoping for you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared. Now why is that important? Because both Moses and Elijah went to Mount Zion, went to Mount Horeb and met with God. Both of them. This is hugely important.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is gonna tell us who Jesus is. And they appeared and they began talking with Jesus. And Peter exclaimed, look at this verse, and Peter exclaimed. He says, Lord, it's wonderful. Now I love I love Mark's gospel.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Mark's just real. Okay. That's the sandals gospel. But Mark says, and Peter was afraid so he spoke. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How many of you guys ever said something stupid when you're afraid? Like all the time. That's like my spiritual gift. Peter said, Lord, if you want, I'll make three shelters as memorials. One for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But even as he spoke, a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, listen to this, this is my dearly loved son who brings me great joy. Now not only, listen to me, does Jesus reveal who he is, but Jesus reveals who his father is. And let me tell you something. There's this whole movement among church today to start calling God her and God she and let me tell you why he needs to be he. Because every single one of us needs a dad.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Every single one of us needs a father that loves us, protects us, and blesses us. We all need that. And so many of the issues in our culture today is because we didn't have dads. We didn't have men who loved us. We didn't have men who protected us.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We didn't have men who provided for us. We didn't have men who cared for us. And I want you to see in this moment, God's one and only son of all the men on earth who doesn't need a verbal compliment. If you're a wife, write this down. As men, we need this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Amen, guys? Amen. There's a reason men have cheerleaders in their sporting events. You never see this at girls sports. Girls do not want cheerleaders doing that.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Guys, we need it. Right? Do you think we can win? Do you think we can win? We're down by 50.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Do something cute. I need it right now. Of all the men on earth who didn't need a cheerleader, our father in heaven still cheerleaded Jesus. This is my son in whom I am well pleased. Man, when I was preparing the message this week, I just I just felt like there was just a bunch of people in our church that just needed to hear those words.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Ladies, some of you you've been destroyed by men and I'm sorry, but there's a safe man in heaven and he's your father and he loves you and he wants to bless you with masculinity that is healthy, beautiful, and safe. Amen? Safe. And guys, there's a father in heaven that wants to affirm you, that wants to see you, that wants to call you out. He doesn't wanna put you down.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He doesn't believe that your gender is toxic. He believes it's blessed and he sees you. Man, some of us need that today. We need to hear a word from our father that says, you're not a mistake. Think of all the young people today that don't know who they are.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Identity is the great crisis of our time. They need to be affirmed by God. You're a child of God. You're my son, you're my daughter, and your gender is not an accident. You are who I made you to be.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Zephaniah three seventeen, for the Lord your God is living among you. You know what that means? He's here, he's present, he's not distant, he hasn't forgot you. Who is he? He's a mighty savior and he will take delight in you with gladness.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:With his love. I love this. He will calm all your fears. This is one of the most beautiful passages of scripture and he will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Man, one of my favorite things to do is to put my grandson to bed at night.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I love it. I love it. When I was a parent, hated it. Bedtime bedtime was like where I was gonna like go to Vegas forever time. You know what I'm saying?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like, I'm out of here. But there's something about being a grandparent. You're more patient. You've learned. It's okay.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he fights me and he screams and he acts he acts like I'm the worst person on earth because he needs to sleep, because he's growing at a rate that's just extraordinary. And you know what I do when he's fighting me? When he's wrestling me? I sing to him. I sing to him.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I make up stuff. I literally sing this song. When you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to do, to not do, and you just don't know what to do. You brush your teeth, and he just stares at me. Now here's the thing you need to know.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I I'm extraordinarily intimidated by singing. I don't feel like I have a gift. Is anybody else in the like we're worshiping, I'm always turn the volume up so you don't hear me? Like my greatest fear is that one day the power goes out at church right when I just let it rip. You know, like the one moment I finally break free and I worship God without inhibition.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's a and everybody's like, oh yeah pastor Matt, he should just talk. He should he's a talker. But you know, listen to me, I love to sing over him. And he loves it when I sing over him. He just stares at me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And do you know why? He can't speak English yet. But he knows that he's safe, that he's held, and that he's loved. This can be okay. Papa's here.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Man, that's what some of you need to understand. Look, get it life is scary, life is terrifying. Here's what you need to know. Your father in heaven loves you so much that no matter how much you screw up this life, he sent Jesus to save your life. And then listen to this, Matthew seventeen five through nine.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I want you to circle these three words in your Bible. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to these three words. Listen to him. Do you know how much better your life would be if you just practice those three words?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to Jesus. And the disciples were terrified and they fell face down on the ground. I love this. Remember how your father in heaven sings over you, protects protects you, delivers you from all of your fears. Then Jesus came over, they're on the ground, he touched them.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Look at his words. Get up, he said, don't be what? Afraid. Don't be afraid. And when they looked up, Moses and Elijah were gone.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is super important. Underline this in your Bibles. And they saw only Jesus. Only Jesus. Here's what you need to know.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's not about Moses anymore. It's not about Elijah anymore. It's about God's one and only son. He and he alone has come down to earth to deliver you and to save you and to teach you how to have a real relationship with God. It's all about Jesus.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And this is so important. Last week, Jesus took them to Mount Hermon. He took them to the Temple Of Pan to the very gates of hell. And listen what he said, he said, we're gonna take this back. And we don't know for sure, we don't know which mountain it is, but I think it's most likely because of where they are.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is probably Mount Hermon and he takes them up and he says this is no longer the mountain that's the devil's. This is he says, this is mine now. This is mine. Think about that. If he can take Mount Herman back, why couldn't he take you back?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If he can change the gates of hell, why couldn't he change you and deliver you from hell? As they went back down the mountain, Jesus commanded them. He says, don't tell anyone what you have seen until the son of man has been raised from the dead. Look, they were told to be silent, you're told to share it with everybody who listen. This is your calling, this is your purpose.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We're gonna end with this verse in Luke ten twenty two. Jesus says, all things have been handed over to me by my father and no one knows who the son is except the father. Listen to this, or who the father is except the son and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him. Listen, it's not about people discovering who Jesus is, it's about Jesus revealing to people who he is. Remember last week, Jesus says, who is the Son of Man?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They're like, we don't know. And then he says, who is who am I? And Jesus says, you're the Christ, the son of living God. And Jesus said, you didn't learn this from anybody, but my father in heaven has revealed this to you. Here's the thing man, all of you, if you believe in Jesus right now, you should fall on your knees and thank God that he chose to reveal himself to you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Do you understand that? I want you to imagine yourself on a shipwreck, you took a cruise and the whole ship sank and you're just out there floating in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and there is no chance at all on you being saved. And yet, Jesus shows up. We need to be reminded of that each and every week when we worship. So what do we do?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We must respond with believing loyalty. To him above everything and everyone including Moses, including Elijah, including everything. This is the call. He alone is the central figure of history. He is the Son of God who came to save us.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What we're gonna do at our campuses is we're gonna end with an old hymn. And it literally is just all to Jesus I surrender. That's it. That's it. Let me ask you, what is it that you're holding on to today that Jesus would have you surrender?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Maybe the reason you're overwhelmed with anxiety is you think you're the one on the Mount Transfiguration. And you're trying to play God, and you're trying to be God, and you're trying to figure it out. You're trying to control all your kids. You're trying to control your marriage. You're trying to control your finances.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What if you just went here, Lord, here and you surrendered it? What is Jesus Christ calling you to surrender to today? Let's pray right now and let's prepare our hearts to worship Jesus as the son of God, as the one who is and was to come. Amen. Let's bow our heads.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Heavenly Father, we pray right now in the name of Jesus that you would open our eyes just like you open the eyes of James, Peter and John. God help us to see who you really are and help us to worship you as the Christ, the son of the living God. Right now in this moment, in this place, help us to surrender all. We pray this in Jesus name and all God's people said, amen. We were matching.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now what a word for all of us to receive today and yes, we are in matching brown jackets. But what a gift it is to be reminded of the invitation to surrender all. We pray that you would experience that through the power of the Holy Spirit this week. And listen, one of the ways that we do that as we follow Jesus is with our giving. And so even in a season like Christmas where we are pulled in so many different directions, I wanna encourage you to pray about how you can surrender in this simple small act of obedience.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:To support the work that God is doing here at Sandals Church, you can go to sandalschurch.com/support. Grace and peace.