WEBVTT 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:16.565 This is the Sandals Church Podcast, a place for real people with real struggles learning to follow Jesus. Wherever you are right now, driving, working, or trying to make it through the day, we are really glad you're here. Let's get into today's message. 00:00:20.325 --> 00:00:28.645 Hi, welcome to Sandals Church. I'm pastor Matt. It's so good to be back with you guys. We are wrapping up the Holy Spirit series today. That doesn't mean we're done with the spirit. 00:00:28.645 --> 00:00:57.625 Hopefully some of you are just starting with the spirit, But we're gonna talk about one of the most important essences of the Holy Spirit, and that is the unity of the Spirit. It's so sad that the Holy Spirit, the very thing that is supposed to unify us oftentimes in the church is the very thing that has been used to rip us apart. And let me tell you, there's been a lot of forces over the last six years, a lot of things happening trying to snap us as a church. Can we just give God a shout out? It is an amen. 00:00:57.625 --> 00:01:08.690 Just incredible that Sandals Church is still here. Can we get an amen? Incredible. Right? We we have had politics left, right, everything screaming in between. 00:01:08.690 --> 00:01:18.585 Feel free to not text me. Amen? We've had racism, old wounds, new wounds. We've had economics, inflation. Anybody buy a burger lately? 00:01:18.745 --> 00:01:36.040 Yeah. Layoffs, man. People stretched thin. And then there's this beautiful wonderful tool of encouragement called social media. Social media where outrage is a business model and algorithms literally get profit from division. 00:01:36.040 --> 00:01:58.480 There's been the Russia Ukraine war, there's Gaza, now we have Iran. And we have all these cultural issues. And in California, we've had an exodus of family and friends and people literally, they used to come to California for a better life and now some people are fleeing it for a better life. Listen, any one of those alone is a stressor. All of them at once is overwhelming. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:15.375 So why are we still here? How did we survive? Man, I remember during COVID when literally the world shut down, I thought there's no way Sandals is gonna make it. I thought there's no way that we're gonna be here. And yet we're still here, amen. 00:02:15.375 --> 00:02:41.195 We're still here. And here's why, the Holy Spirit is God's glue that keeps us together. Matter of fact, one of the things I was really worried about during COVID when we shut down is I was worried that people would quit giving and supporting Sandals Church financially. Do you know the exact opposite is what happened? People gave more, they remembered their church, they cared for their church, They didn't just pray for the church, but they supported the church. 00:02:41.515 --> 00:02:54.320 So here's what I want you to write down. The Holy Spirit unifies us as a church family. Now, some of you are new to church and you don't know this. You have absolutely, you've never heard this in your life. Oh my gosh, I joined a cult. 00:02:54.320 --> 00:03:03.840 No, no, it's not a cult. It's the Bible. Okay? Now, some of you have been in church for a long time and you forgot this. You forgot this. 00:03:04.415 --> 00:03:19.500 So Tammy and I, we recently became grandparents and we love both of our grandsons so much. We have Mad Max and Wild West, that's their names. And we love them. And when our kids were little, it was all girls, girls rule, boys drool. And now we are an all boy household, man. 00:03:19.500 --> 00:03:39.005 It's all about boys and making sounds and gases. And you know the deal if you're raising boys. But our oldest grandson got to meet our youngest grandson in front of us. And he was so excited, he was so excited. And he's going, baby, baby, baby, baby. 00:03:39.005 --> 00:03:58.050 And what he was saying is, I wanna hold him. Which you know, that's cute, but he's almost two. So this could end up with a 911 call, amen? And so my middle daughter brings her newborn baby, not newborn, he's a couple months old over to West's lap and sets him in the lap. And we're all kinda like, what's gonna happen? 00:03:58.850 --> 00:04:24.080 And here's what happened. My two year old, almost two year old grandson who's learning English, he can speak English, the baby speaks in tongues, amen? So he speaks unto God, no one knows what he says, we need an interpreter. But here's what West did. Now think about this, at the time he was about 19, he has his little cousin in his lap and he does this. 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:51.540 He looks at him and he points to us and he says, Papa, Jima, Unk. Do you know what he was doing? He was introducing the new family member to our family. And I started crying, I will be 190 years old and I will never forget that moment. What he's saying is, listen to me, this 19 olds knows something that many of you forgot, we're family. 00:04:51.860 --> 00:05:03.655 We're family. This is your family, because that's papa, that's Jema, they're great. Now he always thinks we go together. He's really, really confused when it's just one of us. He thinks we're a team, which we should be. 00:05:03.655 --> 00:05:15.450 Amen? But here's the thing. Some of you guys break into a sweat when we're like, you know, say hi to somebody new at Sandals Church. It's your family. It's your Jima. 00:05:15.610 --> 00:05:25.450 It's your pa. It's your unc. This is your spiritual family. And here's the thing, some of you came from some messed up families and this is your second chance at a better one. Amen? 00:05:26.005 --> 00:05:35.925 This is your opportunity. We have to love you. Jesus said so. Jesus said so. Okay, let's take a look at Ephesians four:one-four. 00:05:36.245 --> 00:05:59.385 The Apostle Paul is writing this letter. And by the way, if you're in our discipleship group, I wanna encourage you to go through our discipleship study on Ephesians. It is fantastic. It will revolutionize your Christian faith as you understand what the Ephesians needed to know about how to live and follow Jesus. So the apostle Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus and he says, Therefore, I, a prisoner for serving the Lord. 00:05:59.385 --> 00:06:15.780 Now let's stop there. The guy who wrote half the New Testament spent much of his ministry in prison. Why was he in prison? It's not because he robbed seven eleven, it's because he followed Jesus. He was uncompromising. 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:35.270 He was thrown into prison because he was accused of causing riots. What he was doing was telling cities they were worshiping false gods. So he says, I Paul, as a prisoner, he's riding from prison. So I want you to think about that the next time you're having a bad day and you're like, God, they got my Starbucks order wrong. Satan, not today. 00:06:37.110 --> 00:06:54.895 Listen to what he's saying. He says, I beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling. Worthy of your calling. Man, I remember when my kids would go through it and I had good kids, okay? We didn't have any kids on the verge of going to prison. 00:06:54.895 --> 00:07:20.655 You know, we didn't have any kids committing major crimes, but they were kids, right? Kids struggle and they struggle trying to figure out who they are. And I remember having a conversation with one of my kids and I said, Listen, you're not doing anything irregular that a teenager would do. But I wanna ask you, are you called to be like every other teenager or has God called you to be something different? And here's what I told my kid. 00:07:21.215 --> 00:07:38.250 I said, I'll love you no matter who you choose to follow. I just wanna know who you're following. Are you called? He says, I beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling. So I want you to think about that the next time you go to Vegas, the next time you're at a bar, the next time you're watching a game. 00:07:38.250 --> 00:07:53.115 Are you leading a life worthy of your calling? For you have been called by God. Look, if you're a Christian, here's what it means, God called your name. Some of you think you found Jesus. No, no, no, he found you. 00:07:53.115 --> 00:08:05.370 He found you and he called your name. So listen to what he says, verse two. Occasionally be humble when you feel like it. No, that's not what it says. Always be humble. 00:08:05.370 --> 00:08:13.130 Always be gentle. Now, I've been good as your pastor on the gentle part. Can I just? Don't aim in this because it'll hurt my feelings. But I have struggled with the humble part. 00:08:14.255 --> 00:08:28.750 You know? I mean, has anybody else ever struggled with that? Like, last night I was in the In N Out Burger line for thirty five minutes and it was affecting my pride. Don't they know who I am? Thirty five minutes and I was trapped. 00:08:28.750 --> 00:08:33.150 I couldn't get out. But that burger was good. Can I get an amen? Amen. Amen. 00:08:33.710 --> 00:08:43.405 Always be humble and gentle. Listen this, be patient with each other. Why would we have to be patient with each other? Anybody have family? Yeah. 00:08:43.405 --> 00:08:55.620 This is what your church is forever. K? You make an allowance for each other's faults. Some of you, what you think is sin, it's just personality quirks. Yeah. 00:08:55.860 --> 00:09:18.415 One lady in here is laughing because she knows the rest of us. Make an allowance for each other's fault because of your love. Make every effort, he says, look at this, to keep yourselves united in the spirit. United in the spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. Man, do you guys remember COVID, ma'am? 00:09:18.415 --> 00:09:35.050 Everybody went crazy, and if you don't think you did, you forgot. But Sandals Church was one of the first churches to reopen. We were leading the charge, pressuring the governor of the state of California to open the churches. I openly called him for a meeting. I challenged him to let the church open again. 00:09:35.050 --> 00:09:49.315 We were one of the first to open. And then we had to close three weeks later. And a lot of people on the right were like, oh, he's gone woke and he's gone a liberal. Listen, here's what happened. Our whole staff got COVID and we couldn't feel the team. 00:09:50.930 --> 00:09:54.450 Yeah. We got together. We got overly excited. We sang. We broke the rules. 00:09:54.850 --> 00:10:03.970 A lot of our singers are little little slurs. And we got COVID. And this guy at our church was so mad. You know what I'm saying? He was so mad. 00:10:04.715 --> 00:10:14.635 And he confronted me in the lobby. He had a water bottle. I'll never forget it. He crunched the water bottle literally like a recycler while we were talking. And the whole time he was talking to me, was just looking at the water bottle. 00:10:14.635 --> 00:10:27.620 I was like, is that what you're gonna do to me? Is that what you're gonna do to me? And I said, are you angry? And he said, I don't know why you keep asking me that. I was like, well, the water bottle and I think you're angry. 00:10:29.060 --> 00:10:38.275 Listen. We have to make an allowance for each other's faults. I'm gonna make decisions that you don't agree with. I'm gonna say things that you don't agree with. I'm gonna say things I don't agree with. 00:10:38.835 --> 00:10:54.750 Sometimes I listen to my message. I'm like, yeah, that was bad. That was bad. Okay, my style of preaching is there's not a manuscript where I'm reading every carefully prepared word. One of the ways that I preach, I want to be in tune to what the Holy Spirit wants to say. 00:10:54.750 --> 00:11:08.175 And sometimes I'm as surprised as you guys are as what comes out of my mouth. Okay? It's the style that God has given me. Not every pastor has that style, but it's my style. And when I make a mistake, I'll say, I'm sorry. 00:11:08.175 --> 00:11:29.130 But here's the thing, you need to have grace. Why? Verse four, For there is one body and one spirit, just as you have been called into one glorious hope for the future. Some of you are following AI's algorithm more than you are God's spirit. Get off your phones and get in God's word. 00:11:29.130 --> 00:11:39.345 Get in the church. Here's the thing, man, people are hard. It's never going to change. People are difficult. I don't care who they are. 00:11:39.745 --> 00:11:49.520 It's going to be a difficult process. Tammy and I got an airplane, we flew to Madrid. We had a talker behind us. Anybody ever had that? Now let me tell you something. 00:11:49.520 --> 00:12:15.450 For me to identify someone as a talker, you just need to know this person was literally a gigantic talker. It was so bad, I could not find my noise canceling headphones enough. If there were three screaming babies on the plane, I would have gladly sat in between them. I could not stand it. In five minutes, a precious soul created by God in the image of Jesus sitting behind me. 00:12:15.450 --> 00:12:35.545 I'm like, Lord, throw her off the plane. We were only on the plane together for nine hours. Yeah. You're only. Listen in church, when you spend years in a church, years in a small group, years on a team, you're gonna get frustrated with people. 00:12:37.400 --> 00:12:52.275 And you know, the only reason I was able to not throw her off the plane is a, it's impossible, b, it was a crime. But you know what I kept telling myself, she's probably nervous. She's probably just nervous. And that's not my wife. I really need to be praying for him. 00:12:52.275 --> 00:12:59.555 Amen. Yeah. Whew. Alright. First Corinthians twelve thirteen. 00:13:00.435 --> 00:13:29.575 Paul says, some of us are Jews, some of us are Gentiles, some of us are slaves and some of us are free. We don't teach history the way that we should anymore. And we just take for granted this idea that all cultures matter, that everyone should be loved and everyone should be cared for. Listen to me, this is Christian invention. Religion, nowhere on earth was interested in reaching people of other ethnicities, reaching people of other socioeconomic status. 00:13:29.575 --> 00:13:53.275 Listen, when Jesus Christ came, you could go to church and for the first time in history, you could worship together, listen to me, men and women together. You could worship together, black and white together. You could worship together, free and slave together. Literally a slave owner and a slave would sit and listen to the word of God as equals. Why? 00:13:55.195 --> 00:14:11.690 Because we have all been baptized into one body, the church, listen to this, by one spirit. There are no super Christians. There are no special Christians. We're all special to God. And we all, he says, share the same spirit. 00:14:12.250 --> 00:14:22.595 Next, the Holy Spirit unifies us with genuine affection for each other. Genuine affection. I wish I could show you a picture. I'm not allowed to show pictures of my grandson's faces. That's barred. 00:14:22.675 --> 00:14:42.690 Can't do that. But I wish you could see his face when he saw his cousin, the joy. What does your face look like when you see somebody who needs a seat next to you? I'm so much like Jesus, I guess I'll scoot over. We should really care for each other because we're a family. 00:14:43.315 --> 00:15:02.980 We celebrated my mom's eightieth birthday a couple of weeks ago and I saw a great aunt. I haven't seen her in over fifteen years. I was so glad to see her, the sparkle in her eye. She's the last living of the generation of my grandfather. She's the last one of his siblings. 00:15:03.300 --> 00:15:15.585 And I see my grandfather in her eyes. And she's so sweet and so loving. It was so good to see her. I got to see my cousin from LA. I haven't seen him since pre COVID. 00:15:15.665 --> 00:15:24.785 And I was just so encouraged. Do you know why I genuinely love them? It was good to see them. This is how we should feel at church. It's so good to see you. 00:15:25.150 --> 00:15:34.910 I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad you could make it. I'm so glad you're back. You know, we don't want you to guilt people. Wow, it's been a while, hadn't it? 00:15:35.150 --> 00:16:01.420 You know, I always know when somebody hasn't been to church in a while and they're like, oh, you cut your hair. I'm like, yeah, fifteen years ago, welcome back, welcome back. Philippians two verses one through two. Paul writes this letter to a church and he says, is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? And he's challenging us, hey, is this or is this not all about Jesus? 00:16:02.300 --> 00:16:22.855 He says, is there any comfort from his love? Listen to this line, and I want you to underline this. Is there any fellowship together in the spirit? Look, it's great that you have a personal relationship with Jesus. Do you have personal relationships with his church? 00:16:24.750 --> 00:16:51.505 With the people in his church? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? He says, Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another and working together with one mind and purpose. This is what the church is supposed to do. We are supposed to see ourselves as a family and we are supposed to love one another with genuine affection. 00:16:53.080 --> 00:17:42.975 I was reminded this week just of the history of our faith. The church saw each other not as different ethnicities, not as different genders, not as different families, but one family. And the Roman empire was trying to come to grips with what this new cult was called Christianity, who worshiped a dead guy they killed, but claim he rose. And here's what the politician writes to the Roman Emperor and he says, he says, they love one another with genuine affection. He says their worship center is surrounded by a dead guy they believe rose, but they genuinely care for each other and the service is not over until every need has been met and everyone has eaten. 00:17:45.775 --> 00:18:03.565 Listen to what he tells the emperor of Rome. This is not something that they do in a service, but it is something they are. Ain't that incredible? It's not just Sunday from nine to ten or ten to eleven or Saturday nights from five to six. This is who they are 20 fourseven. 00:18:03.565 --> 00:18:30.265 They care for one another, they love one another, they meet one another's needs. And he says to the emperor, I find nothing threatening here. Ephesians five twenty five, Paul writes a letter to the church at Ephesus. And listen to what he says, Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her. 00:18:30.265 --> 00:18:56.505 Raise your hand if you're husband, okay? How are you supposed to love your wife? Like Jesus loved the church. But listen to me, this is not just a passage of scripture to be read at weddings. This is a passage of scripture written to a church who says, husbands love your wives, but there's another teaching that's very subtle here. 00:18:57.545 --> 00:19:15.960 The example of how you're supposed to love your bride is how Jesus loves his bride. And who is his bride? The church. So let me ask you husbands, you love your wife, you love your bride, do you love his? Do you love his? 00:19:17.560 --> 00:19:54.645 You see Jesus' affection, Jesus' love for the church is our example for our marriages, but the marriage that he is ultimately interested in is not just you and your union, but us and our union with him. In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit fell. Thousands were saved in a day. Thousands were saved in a day. People went from being cowards to the most courageous men and women the world had ever seen, declaring that Jesus was risen and they proclaimed the gospel and thousands got saved. 00:19:54.645 --> 00:20:11.170 Look at Acts two forty four-forty six. And all the believers, I want you to see this, how many of them? All of them, not some of them, all of them met together in one place. They met together, all of them together. This is what the Holy Spirit does. 00:20:11.170 --> 00:20:28.775 It gives us a desire to be together. Listen to me husbands, I love being with my wife. I love being with her. I enjoy being with her in the same way that we should enjoy being with our church. Loving it, longing for it, looking forward to it. 00:20:28.775 --> 00:21:03.205 We can't wait to see each other because we're family, rooting for each other, worshiping Jesus, changing the world one person at a time. Look at this, and all the believers met together in one place and they shared everything they had. Verse 45, they sold their property and possessions and shared all the money with those in need. Listen to me, think about what's happening in Paris. Do you know why communism is so attractive to the younger generation? 00:21:04.300 --> 00:21:23.635 Because they've never witnessed the church being her best self. Communism takes what you have, steals what you have, and gives it to someone else. Jesus doesn't wanna steal anything. He's not interested in taking anything from you. He's given everything to you and that is supposed to motivate you to do it freely. 00:21:24.515 --> 00:21:36.210 Amen? Freely. Jesus doesn't need a gun. Communism always does. Always, always. 00:21:36.930 --> 00:22:05.070 They worship together at the temple each day and they met in homes for the Lord's supper. And they shared meals, look at this, with great joy and generosity. Listen church, we gotta grow in this. We gotta grow in this. Now I know, I know times are tough, things are expensive. 00:22:05.070 --> 00:22:21.385 Listen to me, every time you feel the pinch at home, know the church feels the pinch at church. Listen to me, the economy is doing great, you know how we do as a church? Pretty good, pretty good. Because when you guys got money in your pocket, you know what you are? Pretty generous. 00:22:21.385 --> 00:22:47.115 When things get tight, guess what we get here? We get tight because the church is a part of our community. The church is a family and in the same way your family feels it, the church feels it. What we need to do is make sure that we trust God in season and out of season Because this is his family. In the same way, in the same way, my wife and I, we got in a fight, it was hilarious. 00:22:48.395 --> 00:23:05.810 You ever have one of those fights, husbands, where you're just laughing? I mean, you laugh later, but in the moment you wanna cry. But she's she's just like, she's just worried about what's gonna happen if I die. And I'm like, you're gonna be rich. And the next guy is gonna enjoy all my suffering for free, you know? 00:23:06.530 --> 00:23:25.665 And here here's here's what I was trying to tell her. I said, listen, I care for you in life and in death because you're my bride. I think of you always. Listen to me guys. And a lot of times it's the women in our church who wanna give and it's the guys who are like, I don't know. 00:23:26.570 --> 00:23:46.305 In the same way that you care for your bride, you need to remember his bride and care for her, care for the church. Next, the Holy Spirit unifies us with hope for a future. Do you know why all these kids are marching? They've been filled with doom and gloom. The world's ending, everything's being destroyed. 00:23:46.305 --> 00:23:58.050 And by the way, Christians have always, always fallen for this. The world's gonna end. Yes. Yes. Somebody text me this week or text me they DM me. 00:23:58.050 --> 00:24:16.395 Oh my gosh, pastor Matt, I'm following all of these Christians and they're talking about the world is ending and there's gonna be a black out and we get need to get ready. Listen to me. Listen, I beg you, please listen. Christians always find something to worry about rather than being obedient. Remember y two k old people? 00:24:17.915 --> 00:24:31.130 Oh, the computers, they can't count to double zero. It's all over. I remember I was preaching at a church and an old lady came up. I used to preach at Sandals on Sunday night and other churches to get paid on Sunday morning. I love you guys, but you didn't pay. 00:24:31.130 --> 00:24:40.755 So I would go to other churches on Sunday mornings and preach and she came forward. I thought this old lady's gonna give her life to Christ. And I said, how old are you sweetheart? She said, 108.5. I know. 00:24:40.755 --> 00:24:52.010 Woah. At that at that age, you're allowed to be in shock. I said, what's the matter? And she said, I'm just so worried about y two k. He says, really? 00:24:54.010 --> 00:25:03.050 I said, you you made it. I think you're good. You know? 100... And she told me, I've been following Jesus for eighty years. 00:25:03.445 --> 00:25:14.885 I said, well then trust him with the click. Zero. How'd that work out? It's all good. Listen to Romans fifteen thirteen. 00:25:15.525 --> 00:25:31.970 I pray that God, does he remember who he is? Notice it doesn't say Google. I pray that God, the source of hope, why are young people so depressed? They're separated from the God who's the source of hope. They go to their schools, they go to their universities, are professors full of hope? 00:25:33.555 --> 00:25:38.275 No. No. No. You would think it's never been worse. It's never been worse. 00:25:39.795 --> 00:25:52.200 You know, America's never been this divided. I'm pretty sure we were. It was called the civil war. You know, they weren't tweeting, you know, they were shooting. Some are like, I've never heard of this war. 00:25:53.560 --> 00:26:13.975 I pray that God, the source of hope will fill you completely with joy and peace. Why? Because life is always great. No, because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope. 00:26:15.450 --> 00:26:34.905 How? Through the power of the Holy Spirit. Man, the Holy Spirit gives us hope. How many of you guys have ever been in church, heard a sermon, had an encounter with God that was so incredibly positively overwhelming? Raise your hands. 00:26:34.985 --> 00:26:52.720 Okay, that is a taste of what is to come. It's just a taste. The Holy Spirit is just a deposit of your inheritance. You have no idea, the Bible says, what God has in store for those who love him. You have no idea. 00:26:53.120 --> 00:27:14.970 You have no idea. Ephesians four:four, For there is one body and one spirit, just as you've been called to what kind of hope? Do you see the word? To one glorious hope for the future. Glorious hope, not a little hope, not sort of hope, glorious hope for the future. 00:27:14.970 --> 00:27:24.515 Here's your future in Christ Jesus. It is glorious, quit freaking out. It's amazing. And the Holy Spirit unites us in that. We are glued to Jesus. 00:27:24.515 --> 00:27:34.275 His hope is our hope. His resurrection is our resurrection. His future is our future. Not because of what we did, but because of what he did. Amen? 00:27:35.330 --> 00:27:43.810 Amen. And I'm I'm getting ready to preach. Okay. Last point. You thought it was good so far. 00:27:43.810 --> 00:27:58.375 Here we go. The Holy Spirit unifies us with a mission to save the world. We have a mission. We have a mission to save the world. Tammy and I, almost thirty years ago, we have a mission to save Riverside. 00:27:58.695 --> 00:28:06.380 How are we gonna do this? Listen to me, no money, no money at all, no church sponsor. People laughed at the name Sandals. Can't afford real shoes. I was like, we can't. 00:28:09.340 --> 00:28:16.095 Acts one eight, how are we gonna do this? How am I gonna share my faith with my kids? How am I gonna share my faith with my friends? How am I gonna share my faith? How am I gonna trust God to give? 00:28:16.095 --> 00:28:32.200 How How am I gonna trust God to support the church on his mission? How am I gonna do this? It's all the spirit. Acts one eight, but you will receive power, power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses. Look at this. 00:28:32.520 --> 00:28:47.435 You will be my witnesses about me everywhere, everywhere. Tammy and I were in Barcelona last week, everywhere. By the way, the Apostle Paul said that Spain was the ends of the earth. That's what he said, it's the end. He didn't know about America. 00:28:47.435 --> 00:28:59.275 He didn't know about us. It was the end. And there I was in Spain and the waiter said, why are you here? I said, I'm here to preach at one hundred twenty one Church. He didn't even know what a pastor was. 00:29:00.315 --> 00:29:12.390 He had to Google it. Literally, we were eating dinner, went over to his computer and he googled sandals. He was like, oh, you talk for a living. I was like, yes. Yes. 00:29:13.750 --> 00:29:27.305 About Jesus. He said, why are you here? I said, because God loves Spain. God loves Spain and Spain has forgotten the love of God. You will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem. 00:29:27.305 --> 00:29:38.030 You wanna know where Sandals Church started? In my living room. Tammy, Madison, myself, and five others. That's it. And two of them didn't come back the next week. 00:29:38.030 --> 00:29:47.365 They didn't like it. I didn't like it either, but I was the pastor. I had to show. We started in our living room. That was our Jerusalem. 00:29:47.365 --> 00:29:51.925 Listen to me. You wanna know where God wants to move? In your home. Yes. In your home. 00:29:51.925 --> 00:30:02.450 That's right. Man, I was talking with this guy at the gym this week. He's so frustrated with his son. I said, Christianity is not math. Quit shouting scripture at him and love him. 00:30:04.530 --> 00:30:18.945 Love him. You tell your son who's fallen away, no matter what, I love you. I love you, son, in the way God loves you. Christianity has to start in the home. Next, Jerusalem, Judea. 00:30:19.585 --> 00:30:36.050 Sandals got bigger. We got a church. We met at Cal Baptist literally for ten years in a gymnasium that smelled like Barbie dolls. Because we'd roll out plastic, I kid you not, it smelled like a Barbie doll, was creepy. And then we came here to Hunter Park. 00:30:36.945 --> 00:30:53.740 And then we went multi site. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem in your own homes, in Judea, Riverside, and then Samaria. We started going multi site. Samaria, Fresno, Anaheim, Manifee, Banning. That's Samaria. 00:30:57.260 --> 00:31:21.115 Right? Who'd ever thought that something that started in a living room would grow so big? And this week, I I I woke up this morning and I got a text message from our mission pastor who said, I just came back from India and I can't wait to tell you what God is doing. Listen to this. You will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 00:31:21.780 --> 00:31:41.145 How do we do this? Zechariah four:six, Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord Almighty. I'm gonna tell you this story and we're gonna close with this. And if you're a young person, want you to listen up. His name was Maywin Sukkot. 00:31:41.945 --> 00:32:03.000 You want a bad name? Sukkot, that's a bad name. Maywin Sukkot was captured as a 16 year old boy and sold into slavery. He spent six years as a slave, six years being human trafficked before he escaped. His name means warrior, fighter or champion. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:20.455 That's how it's translated into English. When he escaped his captors, he came back ten years later, not as a warrior, but as a missionary. And he changed that nation. He changed that nation that enslaved him. And you know his story. 00:32:21.710 --> 00:32:32.590 Sinners, you know his story. Just you know him by a different name. We call him St. Patrick. And he converted an entire country to Christianity. 00:32:33.235 --> 00:32:55.050 Listen to me, there is still hope for California, amen? There is still hope for America. There is still hope for the world, not by might, not by power, but my spirit says the Lord Almighty. We've gotta be unified in our mission because if we forget our mission, we lose our power. Let's be united family. 00:32:55.050 --> 00:33:04.855 Let's be united in the spirit and let's change the world together. Amen? Let's pray. Heavenly Father God, we just come before you right now. Holy Spirit fall fresh upon us. 00:33:04.855 --> 00:33:18.490 Give us a fresh love for our church family. Give us a fresh love Lord for our mission. Give us a fresh hope for the future. And God, let us share that hope with the world. Bind us together, we pray, Lord Jesus. 00:33:18.490 --> 00:33:33.395 Unite us together, Lord Jesus, we pray, and help us to accomplish your mission on earth. We pray this in Jesus name and all God's people said, amen. Come on. 00:33:34.675 --> 00:33:49.460 Well, amen, what a word for us today. Thank you so much. And we wanna take a second just to say thank you for tuning in and joining us wherever you might be. It was a gift to have you be a part of Sandals Church even online. And listen, as we are united in our mission, we wanna invite you to be a part of that. 00:33:49.460 --> 00:34:01.179 We continue to pray and believe that God will use Sandals Church online to reach more people far, far away. And so would you support that work? To do that, you can go to sandalschurch.com/support. Grace and peace.