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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 Morgan Terrell, and I'm the online campus manager here at Sandals Church. We're so happy to have you join us today as we listen to this message with pastor Matt teaching from our home series. If you've enjoyed our content, consider leaving us a rating to help this podcast reach more people. But for now, let's get into the message.
Pastor Matt Brown:Hi, and welcome to Sandals Church man. I am so glad that you are joining us today. There's been a few series lately where I've been this excited to talk about and preach on. It's the issue of home. Last week, we talked about the fact that this isn't our eternal home.
Pastor Matt Brown:Let's just give an amen for that. Right? Things get better. Man, I am so grateful that this isn't the end. And so know what, no matter what's going on in your home, no matter what's happening in your life, just know there's something better that's coming when Jesus returns.
Pastor Matt Brown:But here's the fact. We don't live in heaven, we live on earth. And we have to pay attention to our home life. Like some of you are so heavenly focused, you're not any earthly good. And so what I wanna do today is last week we talked about heaven.
Pastor Matt Brown:This week, I wanna talk about your life, your home life, your personal life, and I'm gonna jump in your kitchen, amen, with your permission or without it as long as you listen, and I'm gonna challenge you. The next 2 weeks are gonna be challenging. But this week, I wanna challenge you to build your home on the teachings of Jesus. And and we're gonna talk about one of the most famous passages in scripture that Jesus talked about. He talked about building your house.
Pastor Matt Brown:Now how many of you live in a house? Raise your hands. Okay. Look around. Unless you're homeless, your hand is up.
Pastor Matt Brown:Okay. And if you're homeless, we love you. Welcome. But listen, the Lord has something better for you. K?
Pastor Matt Brown:We all live in houses, but very few of us think about where our house is built, how it was built until it breaks down. Amen? And then you're like, what happened? So Jesus talks about how to build a house. And some of you are like, well, I'm single.
Pastor Matt Brown:That doesn't matter. Let me tell you, you need to start thinking now before you screw it up. Amen, married people? Right? You need to think about this.
Pastor Matt Brown:You need to be thinking about this in terms of who you date, you know, who you marry. Well, how many kid not only how many kids you're you wanna have, but how are you gonna raise those kids? So Jesus says this in Matthew 724. Anyone who listens to my teaching, k, we're all listening, we're gonna all listen to his teaching, Listen to this, and follows it is wise. Some people go, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, and don't do it.
Pastor Matt Brown:Anybody got kids like that? Did you take out the trash? Uh-huh. Well, that's funny because it's right here. It's right here.
Pastor Matt Brown:When I, when my kids were little, they would say, dad, are you listening or are you listening listening? And you know what that meant? You know, like, can we go outside and play with drugs and knives? I'm like, uh-huh, yes, uh-huh. My wife's like, no, no, that's not that's not what dad meant.
Pastor Matt Brown:Because I wasn't listening. So sometimes in church we get so much in the rhythm, we're listening but we're not listening. He says anyone who listens it and follows it is wise. What does that mean if you listen and don't follow? You pick the word for the opposite of wise.
Pastor Matt Brown:I'm not gonna insult you, insult yourself. It's like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Now, if you live in California and you live near the coast, none of those houses are on solid rock. All of those houses, those $1,000,000 houses that you're lusting after, coveting after, they're all sliding into the ocean, some slowly and some quickly. All of our California mountains are not on solid anything.
Pastor Matt Brown:It's mashed up sand. And some of you go there like, Lord, why won't you bless me with this house built on sand? I got a rich friend who owns a house right on the beach. And whenever there's a storm, I just joyfully call him. Is it still there?
Pastor Matt Brown:Is it still there? Secretly kind of hoping it's destroyed, amen? I'm just kidding because he lets me stay there from time to time. So here's what he says. Build your house upon the rock.
Pastor Matt Brown:Though the rain comes, listen to this word, and the torrents You know, we don't get torrents in California. We have storm watch, but there's no torrents. Torrents of rain, sheets of rain, rain where you can't drive, rain where you can't see, and the floodwaters rise, and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse. Why? Because it's built on bedrock.
Pastor Matt Brown:And some of you Californians, not only do you like the beach, but you built your house on the beach, and you need to change that. But Jesus says, Anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey Remember what the opposite of wise is? Is a fool. There are translations that say stupid. Okay?
Pastor Matt Brown:Those aren't my words. Some modern translations say stupid people build their houses upon the sand. So people that build their house upon the sand are not wise. And when the rains and the floods come, and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash. Let me ask you, where are you building your house?
Pastor Matt Brown:Where are you building your house? There's 2 places I don't wanna live right now. The Middle East, anyone? Amen? And Oklahoma.
Pastor Matt Brown:Okay? The Middle East and Oklahoma. Let me tell you why. I know you can buy a house for $4 in Oklahoma, but I went and saw Twister. Anybody see Twister?
Pastor Matt Brown:Look, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm not an idiot. I'm not moving there. K? I don't wanna live somewhere where my house becomes an airplane. Amen?
Pastor Matt Brown:And it was gone. It was gone. Like these people, man, like, oh, we can get such an affordable house. There's a reason. There's a reason that land is so affordable because houses fly.
Morgan Teruel:Hey, guys. Thank you so much for being a part of Sandals Church online today. I do wanna pause and just take a moment to give you an opportunity. If you'd like to be a part of the work that God is doing here at Sandals Church, you can go now to give.sc. For now, let's hop into the message with Pastor Matt.
Pastor Matt Brown:But think about where you're building your house. And so many of us say stupid things like, well, it'll work out. Maybe. Maybe. 56% of marriages end in divorce.
Pastor Matt Brown:Not everybody's building their house upon the rock. There's a lot of people trying to live on the sand, rushing to get to the sand, fighting to get to the sand, paying more money to live next to an ocean that will destroy their house. And then they're on the news, oh, I didn't see this coming. And I have a hard time praying for people in Malibu. Anybody else?
Pastor Matt Brown:It's like, whoever else is destroyed. I'm like, welcome to my life. I know. Pray for me. Pray for me.
Pastor Matt Brown:I'm working on being a Christian. Listen to this. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed. They were amazed. Jesus is different from every teacher who's ever lived.
Pastor Matt Brown:Listen to this, they were amazed at his teaching for he taught with real authority, not like the other teachers and their religious law. He wasn't like everybody else. Let me tell you something, man. A couple weeks ago, we found out that we were gonna be grandparents, man. I was super excited.
Pastor Matt Brown:Yeah, we can celebrate that. You know, and people feel like they're making fun of me. They're like, hey, grandpa. I'm like, hey. You know, whatever.
Pastor Matt Brown:You know, I tell my wife, I'm 50 3. I'm Herbie the love bug. Anybody remember the seventies? Come on, baby. Yeah.
Pastor Matt Brown:I'm a little beetle with some love, man. Let's go. But, man, I'm super excited. I'm super excited. And I was so excited, I kid you not.
Pastor Matt Brown:When when Madison told us, she she gave a gift to her mom and her mom, my wife unwrapped it. And there was a little outfit in there. And when I realized that we were gonna be grandparents do you guys know what I did? Some of you know what I did. We were at a restaurant.
Pastor Matt Brown:I just stood up and I said, hey. Hey. I need everyone's attention, which could've gone really bad. But I was so excited. I I don't I don't care.
Pastor Matt Brown:This is who I am. Like, you think you are. Are you always like this? Quite often. Not always, because sometimes I need to sleep.
Pastor Matt Brown:But I just said, hey. Hey. I need everyone's attention. I'm gonna be a grandpa. And people were like, yay.
Pastor Matt Brown:You know? And then one day, he was like, you don't look old enough to be a grandpa. I was like, thank you. Thank you. But you wanna know why I'm so excited that I don't have to raise a kid now?
Pastor Matt Brown:Because when Tammy and I raised Madison, and Madison's our daughter who's pregnant, we didn't know what we were doing. We didn't know what we were doing. And now young people, young moms, are surrounded with 1,000 upon 1,000 of ideas on how to be a mom. You know what the teachings of Jesus do? Listen to me, young moms.
Pastor Matt Brown:They save you from everybody else's opinions. I'm gonna be a grandpa, and I'm so glad when Tammy and I were parents, we had no information. You wanna know how you got information? You went to the library. Young people have never heard of these things.
Pastor Matt Brown:But they're buildings, they're buildings and you go inside and you have a little card and you can check out a book. So Tammy and I, I think we had 1, 2, maybe 3 books and Tammy read all 3. I, you know, looked through them. But now, moms with their cell phones, they have 1, 2, 3000 opinions on how to be a mom. Put your baby this way.
Pastor Matt Brown:Don't do this. You know, do this. Don't do this. Do this. It will save their life.
Pastor Matt Brown:Do that, and it will kill their life. And it is literally bombarding and robbing young moms. Listen to me, young moms. Of the basic instincts that the Lord has already placed inside you to know how to be a mom. You know what a little gorilla in Africa's doing?
Pastor Matt Brown:It's not saying, I need to Google this. God's already put the information in there. That that little monkey already knows. The lion already knows. The zebra already knows.
Pastor Matt Brown:Listen to me, moms. You know a lot more than you think. Because God has wired you to be a mom. Listen to your instincts and stop listening to everybody else. Man, Jesus can just save you from opinions.
Pastor Matt Brown:We live in a world where we are drowning Drowning in information. Next, the teachings of Jesus will prepare me for the storms of life. I want you to notice and and work through this passage in small group this week. The storm hits the wise person and the fool. So many Christians are shocked when the storm comes, you've never built your life in the teachings of Jesus.
Pastor Matt Brown:Jesus said, storm's coming, the torrent's coming, The rain's coming. The flood's coming. He doesn't promise to save you from the storm, he's promising to prepare you for the storm. And so many young people today get married. We're gonna be in love.
Pastor Matt Brown:And this is why I hate weddings. It's like, I'm always gonna listen to you. I'm always going to follow you. I'm always going to trust you. And I'm like, Lie, lie, liar.
Pastor Matt Brown:What are you gonna do when you don't trust? What are you gonna do when you don't love? What are you gonna do when you don't feel like it? A lot of young people are tapping out because they think love will never be hard. Well, ask Jesus on the cross how hard love is.
Pastor Matt Brown:Ask him. Marriage is hard. Any married people in here? Okay. Adulting.
Pastor Matt Brown:Anybody trying to do that? My kids should be raising their hands. Adulting is hard. Oh my gosh, the bills just keep piling up. Yeah, welcome to my life.
Pastor Matt Brown:Being single, it's hard. It's hard. Working, anybody have a job? Working, don't raise your hand if you work for me. If your hand just went up, the Lord saw that.
Pastor Matt Brown:But working is hard. I mean, is your job Santa Claus every day? You just get a raise, take another vacation. Why don't you sit down, I'll get you coffee. That's not the way the world works.
Pastor Matt Brown:You know what's harder than work? Not working, getting fired. Listen to me. Life is hard. If you're raising kids, don't save them from hard things.
Pastor Matt Brown:Let them figure it out. So many parents are solving all of their kids' problems, and then when their kids are adults, they don't know how to solve any problems. They don't have they don't know how to solve anything. You gotta let them struggle a bit because life is a struggle. And let me tell you something for the parents in this room who have means.
Pastor Matt Brown:The more means you have, the harder it is to not save your kids. Like, when you're poor, God bless you. You're just like, you know what? I'd love to help, but we can't. We're struggling too.
Pastor Matt Brown:But when you have some means, you're gonna be tempted to save them. You're gonna be tempted to run-in there. And it's really, really hard to step back. And I've watched Madison and her husband struggle a bit. And I wanna jump in and help them, but you know what?
Pastor Matt Brown:They need to struggle so they're ready to parent. Because you know what infants like to do? Wake up at 2 in the morning and poop. They don't care. They're not like, your 6 month old isn't like, you know what, father?
Pastor Matt Brown:I know you have work in the morning and so I'm gonna sleep through the night. They don't care. They don't care. They will keep you up all night just so they can fart. I'm serious.
Pastor Matt Brown:They'll scream for hours and then and then it's fine because you're like, that was it. That was it. Listen to me, single people. Listen to me, young people. The teachings of Jesus will save me from a lot of relational suffering.
Pastor Matt Brown:I did some counseling with a young gal in our church years ago. She was in her early twenties. Beautiful, talented. Life was before her. The world was at her feet, but she was tempted.
Pastor Matt Brown:And I challenged her. I counseled her. I went to her, and I said, this is not the way to go. This is not how you want to live. But she followed her desires and walked away from God's desires for her life.
Pastor Matt Brown:I talked with her this summer. She's in her early thirties now. It's been 10 years, And life has not been good. She doesn't look good. She doesn't look like what she looked in her early twenties.
Pastor Matt Brown:And you know why that is? Sin does not age well. You wanna sin? You're gonna age in dog years. And you wanna know why that is?
Pastor Matt Brown:When you live like an animal, you'll start looking like 1. And so many of you are so convinced, God's just trying to keep me from the party. No, God's trying to save you for the party. Go back to last week. There's something better.
Pastor Matt Brown:There's a dessert that you're gonna miss out on. So I want you to think about this. Who am I dating? Why am I dating them? And so many Christian people say, Well, I'm not attracted to this.
Pastor Matt Brown:Well, let's let's stop for a second. I hear what you're attracted to. What's God attracted to? Because does he understand relationships? Does he understand committed, lifelong relationships?
Pastor Matt Brown:I think so. Does he know about love? The Bible says, God is love. So why don't you ask love how to fall in love, stay in love, and remain in love? Psalms 127:1, unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.
Pastor Matt Brown:It doesn't matter if you're Martha Stewart, you can still screw up your home life. So here's what I wanna say to you. If you're single, I can't change the past, but we can we can change the present, and then we can change the future. Start every new relationship with Jesus as the foundation. K?
Pastor Matt Brown:Okay, come on. Now if you're if you're a lady, you're I mean, this is this is gonna feel rough, but I lose my mind when I talk to some of you single people, the women in in particular. And you introduce me to your boyfriend and I'm like, is he a Christian? And here's what I hear. Well, he's open to Jesus.
Pastor Matt Brown:Okay. Okay. Okay. That's like saying, well, I'm open to building my house upon the rock but this sand is really cute. And the sand is open to becoming a rock.
Pastor Matt Brown:Listen to me. If he's open to Jesus, he's also open to Satan. So choose Jesus. Choose Jesus. And you're like, well, I'm gonna go with my heart on this one.
Pastor Matt Brown:And the Bible says, don't do that. Build your house upon the rock. There's nothing flimsier than your heart. There's nothing flimsier. Your heart is sand.
Pastor Matt Brown:It's sand. And when the storm comes, I don't care how you glued it together, it falls apart. So build your house upon the teachings of Jesus. Do that. Next, think about what you allow in your home.
Pastor Matt Brown:So many of you, you're worried about what I say in church. I'm worried about what you watch in your home. Come on now. Can you believe pastor Matt said the things you say every day, The things you watch every day. The vision of Sandals Church is to be real, and I'm trying to talk to your real life about real issues.
Pastor Matt Brown:Proverbs 24:3 through 4, a house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. You know what's not common anymore? Common sense. It's uncommon. Through knowledge, its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables.
Pastor Matt Brown:I wonder if I walked through your house, what it would be full of. Couple of weeks ago, I I ran into some old friends. Sandals Church is is a big church. We we got 14 campuses, and I don't get to see everybody that I know. And I ran into one of my friends and her husband wasn't there.
Pastor Matt Brown:And we saw each other again couple weeks later, and she just said, hey. She said, I wanna tell you why my husband wasn't there. She said, we're divorced. These were solid friends. These were solid people at Sandals Church.
Pastor Matt Brown:These were good people. And I'll tell you what happened. My friend started filling his life with things that were ungodly. And here's the thing. What you let into your home, you let into your life.
Pastor Matt Brown:And what you let into your life can destroy your life. So what are you letting in? What are you letting in? Proverbs 333. The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous.
Pastor Matt Brown:I had to have this conversation with my son a couple months ago. I said one day, you'll have your house. This is my house. And these are things that I don't want brought into my house. Do you wanna know why?
Pastor Matt Brown:Because his sin, anyone's sin in my house affects my house. I don't want that in here. I love you. I don't want that in here. And it's hard to be a young man.
Pastor Matt Brown:It's difficult. It's challenging. I get it. I was there. I know it's hard because I look like Gandalf.
Pastor Matt Brown:But one day, I was young. I understand it. And here's the thing you need to know about me. There are cameras all around my house, so you come to my house, we're gonna see you. We're gonna see you.
Pastor Matt Brown:I watch, listen to me, I watch everything that comes in my house. Are you watching everything that comes in your house? What are you watching? Jesus says this. Remember how the teachings of Jesus prepare you for life?
Pastor Matt Brown:The the teachings of Jesus prepare you for the storm? The teachings of Jesus can help you go around a storm. Here's what Jesus says. Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. Anybody ever seen something that you say, I shouldn't have seen that.
Pastor Matt Brown:I shouldn't have seen that. When your eye is healthy, listen to this, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. What are you watching? What are you viewing?
Pastor Matt Brown:Now here's the thing. You say it's just entertainment. I think it's funny. I enjoy this. Listen to this.
Pastor Matt Brown:Here's what you're doing. What you're saying is, the darkness I watch is actually light. Listen to Jesus. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is. You have no idea your personal capacity for deception.
Pastor Matt Brown:When you're watching something, just ask this question, would Jesus want me watching this? Like, if he just sat down and said, can I have some popcorn? And you're like, woah, we're changing the channel. Couple years ago, Tammy and I went to watch a movie with Russell Brand in it, and we shouldn't have been there. It was a terrible movie, it was an awful movie.
Pastor Matt Brown:I literally told her on judgment day, the Lord is talking to us about this. But do you know that Russell Brand's become a Christian? Like, that just tells you, whatever relative you're like, Yeah, they're going to hell. No, they Jesus can save them. Jesus saved Russell Brand.
Pastor Matt Brown:And he has this podcast and he's talking and he's always beginning like this. Today is my 27th day being a Christ follower. He's been a Christian for 27 days and he is more serious about following Jesus than some of you who've been a Christian for 27 years. He's evaluating himself. He's questioning himself.
Pastor Matt Brown:He's looking at himself. He understands he has a problem. He's addicted to sin. So would Jesus want me doing this? Now, here's a huge one.
Pastor Matt Brown:Would Jesus want me listening to this? Now, I was a kid in the '70s '80s. They had a thing called satanic panic And Christians, Christians were like so afraid. They were so afraid of like, country music is the devil. I kid you not, Christians went insane.
Pastor Matt Brown:This is how bad it was. Young people are gonna think I'm making this up, but literally, pastors would say this, If you played the music backwards. And so what do you think every kid in the church did? We went home and we play it backwards. Like, I think that's what it said.
Pastor Matt Brown:And you just kept doing it. And then you like Let me tell you something. We are way past playing music backwards. It's right there on the front page. Listen to me, parents.
Pastor Matt Brown:If you don't like your kids' music, here's what I want you to do. Sit down with them and write down the lyrics. Because I I anybody from the eighties, like, you're singing a song, you're like, Oh, this is my favorite song. And then you look at the lyrics, like, Oh, we're not we're not listening to that. There are so many songs I listen to, I had no idea.
Pastor Matt Brown:No idea. Just sit down with your kids and say, Well, let's write down this music. Because listen to me, it's not just your eyes that the devil can come into, it's your ears. Right? See no evil, hear no evil.
Pastor Matt Brown:What are you listening to? What are you watching? Now I get it. It's hard to have conversations, hard conversations with your kids. It's hard.
Pastor Matt Brown:And you gotta you gotta be careful, parents, that you don't just get rid of all music, because it's not all the devil. But talk about this, and we're gonna get into this next week, how to have a hard conversation with your kids. It's not easy and it's extraordinarily difficult. And you love your kids. And it's hard as parents.
Pastor Matt Brown:Let's be honest. It's hard to disappoint our kids. And it's hard to be the parent that's the only parent that says no. No. Now it was harder for my wife because I honestly don't care about my kids' friends' parents.
Pastor Matt Brown:They were all idiots. I'm like, man, I don't I don't care. You know? And my daughter would be like, every other parent says I'm like, every other parent's a moron. You know?
Pastor Matt Brown:You know? That's what like, let your mother can hold you while you cry, and I just would walk out of there. And you know what other parents were? Chickens. You know what they would do?
Pastor Matt Brown:They would call me. Thank you so much for saying no. I You know? Get a spine. Good Lord.
Pastor Matt Brown:K? And that's the other thing, parents. You know what the teachings of Jesus does? He says you're in charge. Jesus isn't gonna hold you accountable for what every other parent was doing, he's gonna hold you accountable for what you did.
Pastor Matt Brown:So sit down and talk about it. What are we watching? What are we listening to? And parents, be ready, because your kids might come at you with some of the stuff you're watching. And they might challenge you, and you might need to be accountable.
Pastor Matt Brown:I remember when, my daughter was little, we used to have prayer requests, and she turned into prayer requests. And she said, please help my parents. They'll watch adult films. And we used to say, this is an adult movie. Our poor teachers in in in kids ministry were like, pastor's watching adult films.
Pastor Matt Brown:Oh, man. Don't you love your kids? But you gotta explain to them why some things are appropriate for adults and not appropriate for kids. And oftentimes, you know what it was, it's just scary. It's like, I don't want you to have nightmares all night because then I'm not sleeping at night.
Pastor Matt Brown:So watch that. And and and if you've made mistakes, come on. I I made mistakes. I made mistakes. I I messed up.
Pastor Matt Brown:I let my kids see things they shouldn't have seen. You know? My kids still get a twitch when you say the word golem. They're like, bop bop bop. I was like, well, it's it's a it's written by a Christian, so it's okay.
Pastor Matt Brown:I was an idiot. Alright. Next, dedicate your home to the service of God. Amen. Listen to me.
Pastor Matt Brown:So many Christians say this and it drives me crazy. Well, it's all in God's hands. Okay. Okay. Okay.
Pastor Matt Brown:But what, for the love of Jesus and all that is holy, has he put in your hands? Listen to me. If it's all in God's hands, I want you to erase every time in the Bible it says choose, listen, obey. If it's all God, why would he put those words in there? You know why those words are in there?
Pastor Matt Brown:Because your choices matter. Your decisions matter. And some of you are going through life like you're just on a river, out of control, and God's word says, don't jump in the river. You're like, oh, I didn't see that. Joshua 2415.
Pastor Matt Brown:But if serving the Lord seems undesirable for you, you don't wanna know why people don't like church? You wanna know why people don't like God? They don't wanna serve him. They want to serve themselves. They wanna serve themselves.
Pastor Matt Brown:We have this issue with staff now. They're, like, well, I just feel like I shouldn't have to work on Sundays. I'm, like, you know. They're like, Sunday's for the boys. I'm like, no, it's for the Lord.
Pastor Matt Brown:It's for the Lord. He says, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods of your ancestors, you know what that means? Whatever mom and dad did. Or whether it was new and cool, that beyond the Euphrates, the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living, Joshua says this, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Pastor Matt Brown:Amen. And let me say this, every house serves something. Every house is a servant to something. So what are you serving? You can't say you're building your house on the teachings of Jesus and you're serving the Lord when you're not serving his church.
Pastor Matt Brown:You cannot say it. And I know what TikTok says. I I I know what Instagram says. Tammy shows me every single one of these idiots that are no longer a pastor. And let me tell you something, when you're deconstructing your faith, you've walked away from your faith.
Pastor Matt Brown:So here's where I wanna challenge you. Where do you start? Attend church as a family. Attend church as a family. Listen to me, dads.
Pastor Matt Brown:The greatest gift you can give to your children is to attend church. Your golf game cannot be more important than your children's spiritual game. It cannot be. Proverbs 22:6 says this, direct your children onto the right path. And when they are older, they will not leave it.
Pastor Matt Brown:Man, I'm telling you, I I've raised kids in this world. It is not easy. But I've told my kids over and over again, you gotta decide who you're gonna serve. It's either you or the Lord. You gotta decide.
Pastor Matt Brown:You gotta decide. And I tell my kids, listen to me parents. I love you no matter who you serve. You being an idiot doesn't give me permission to not be your parent. You know who made me their parent?
Pastor Matt Brown:God did. And that's my job until I die. I don't disavow my children because they walk away from the Lord. I love my my children no matter what, just like God loves me. But I challenge my kids to love the Lord because I believe that's what's right.
Pastor Matt Brown:I believe that's what's true. And I know they got all their friends who are saying, well, this verse and that verse and this person says, and I'm telling you something. Listen, if it's something new, it's probably not for you. Be careful. Be careful.
Pastor Matt Brown:You gotta teach your kids. And so many parents are like, well, I'm gonna let my kids choose for themselves. You know what you're doing? You're throwing your child into the ocean without teaching them to swim. And that's not love.
Pastor Matt Brown:That's not love. You gotta teach your kids everything. And you're like, well, you know what? They're picking up my Jesus vibes. They're not picking up anything.
Pastor Matt Brown:I taught all 3 of my kids how to drive. You know my kids have been in a car since the day they were born. We brought all of our children home in a car. Did anybody else maybe you brought your kid home in a kite. We brought our kid home in a car.
Pastor Matt Brown:They have been in vehicles since before they could walk, talk, think, or look. 16 years in a car driving around. All of those years in the same town. And then when it was their opportunity to try, they don't know how to get anywhere. I'm, like, where where have you been?
Pastor Matt Brown:Well, you've been in the car with me. You've gone everywhere with me. You know what happened? I didn't teach them. My kids are lost in their own town.
Pastor Matt Brown:I had to teach them how to pump gas. They've been watching me do this for years. And you're like, dad, father, I don't know how to do that. Well, you put the card in here. You press this button.
Pastor Matt Brown:Don't press the green button. If you press the green button, daddy's gonna see red. If you don't know what the green button is, it's diesel. It'll ruin your car. Don't press it.
Pastor Matt Brown:Oh my gosh. Why do they put that button there? How to teach him how to do everything. Everything. Some of your parents are like, do I have to teach him everything?
Pastor Matt Brown:Yes. Yes. Don't have kids if you're not ready to raise kids. And here's why you gotta direct your kids. One of the things I'm most excited about being a grandparent is to help my kids raise them to love Jesus, to point them in the right direction.
Pastor Matt Brown:K? Amen? Come on. That's what I'm excited for. And some of you grandparents, oh, I wanna get an RV and go to Florida.
Pastor Matt Brown:Go. I wanna be with my grandkids and I wanna be pointing to them. Hey, here's the way. The goal is not Florida. It's hot there, so is hell.
Pastor Matt Brown:They're everywhere. We wanna we wanna go see Jesus. And some of you are like, well, we don't have grandparents yet. Well, we got a lot of kids in this church that need a grandparent. They need somebody that loves them, that cares for them, that ministers to them, that comes alongside them.
Pastor Matt Brown:And here's the thing you need to know about parenting. You are outnumbered and outweighed and outgunned. Listen to what Jesus says. You can enter God's kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad.
Pastor Matt Brown:Broad. And its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. You know what that means? Most of your kids' friends are gonna choose that path. Most of your neighborhood kids are gonna choose that path.
Pastor Matt Brown:Most of their teachers are gonna choose that path. Most of their employers, their friends, everybody on social media, this is the way. In the eighties, ACDC talked about it, sang about it, and celebrated it. I'm on the highway to hell. I was like, well, at least they're honest.
Pastor Matt Brown:Now people are on the highway to hell thinking they're going to heaven. But Jesus says, but the gateway to life is very narrow. Listen to me, Christians, and the road is difficult. We gotta stop selling an easy Christianity. That's why people are bailing, oh, it got hard.
Pastor Matt Brown:Yeah. It is. And Jesus says only a few ever find it. Direct your family to church. Next, serve as a church.
Pastor Matt Brown:Serve at church as a family. Listen to what Joshua says. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. He didn't just say, as for me and my house, we will go to synagogue once a week, unless there's something else going on. He said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Pastor Matt Brown:And this is the thing that drives me crazy. Some of you are like, well, I don't know where to serve. Just ask where we need help. How about that? Well, I wanna use my spiritual gifts.
Pastor Matt Brown:I want your spiritual gift to be serving. How about that? Do you think the Lord Jesus is like, you know, I'm really good at washing feet. So no. That's what needed to be done.
Pastor Matt Brown:So that's what he did. Do you think the Lord Jesus had a major in college in suffering on a cross? No, but that's what needed to be done. So that's what he did. When my wife says, will you take out the trash out?
Pastor Matt Brown:I don't say, that's not really my gift. It's not my gifting. Ask your local campus where to serve. And by the way, parents, you wanna know why you got selfish children? You haven't taught them to serve.
Pastor Matt Brown:You wanna see me lose my mind? Let me find a parent in the parking lot listening to the radio while their kid's at church serving. We are gonna have a conversation. I'm gonna help you attend another church. What are you doing?
Pastor Matt Brown:Adults know they should they should serve. You know you should serve. I'm so tired, pastor. I've worked too hard all week. I know.
Pastor Matt Brown:I know. That's why God gave you 6 days to do your stuff and one day to do his stuff. He only asked for one day. Next, support your church as a family. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people.
Pastor Matt Brown:You are members of God's family. I got to come back from vacation and spend some time with my mom and my dad. And part of the reason I'm so passionate about serving the local church is my parents raised me to serve the church. My mom and dad are retired. They're not traveling the world.
Pastor Matt Brown:They're they're here. You wanna know what they do? They serve. My mom and dad lead, lead 55 plussers, which is weird because I can almost attend their class. But you know what my dad does?
Pastor Matt Brown:My dad has dementia. Do you know what my dad does? He does hospital visits for us at Hunter Park. And he may not even know your name. He may not remember your name.
Pastor Matt Brown:He's like, I went to the hospital. I'm like, who'd you visit? He's like, I don't know, but it was good. But you know what my dad does? He loves ministering with people and praying with people.
Pastor Matt Brown:And you know what he told me? Here's what he told me. He said, Matt, I retired and I stopped serving. I stopped serving. He said, I forgot my purpose.
Pastor Matt Brown:He's crying. He said, the Lord's called me back, man. The Lord's called me back and I'm gonna serve the Lord. I'm gonna serve the Lord. And I'm so grateful that I have parents that serve the Lord.
Pastor Matt Brown:They don't just attend church, they serve at church. And even when they're tired, even when they're sick, they serve the Lord. They're almost 80, 1 with dementia. What's your excuse? Come on now.
Pastor Matt Brown:What's your excuse? Galatians 6:10, Therefore, whenever we have opportunity whenever we have opportunity, we should do good to everyone. And I always love Christians. I just love everyone. Okay.
Pastor Matt Brown:Tell me who. Listen to this. Especially to those in the family of faith. Especially to those in the family of faith. Let me tell you something at Samuels Church.
Pastor Matt Brown:I love Jesus, I love my family, and I love my church. I will never say yes to someone else and say no to the people of Sandals Church. God has called me here. This is my church. This is my spiritual family, and you are my priority.
Pastor Matt Brown:And this is what drives me crazy. I want you to imagine, families, your mom or your dad taking care of the kids down the street and neglecting the kids in their house. And that's what a lot of Christians do. They're concerned about everybody everywhere else and they neglect the children in God's home. They neglect the people in God's house.
Pastor Matt Brown:They neglect the people in God's house. They neglect the people in God's house. They neglect the children in God's home. They neglect the people in God's house. You really wanna serve God?
Pastor Matt Brown:Start serving here. Start serving here. Like last week, we gave you the invitation and I got nervous at the 11:45 service at Hunter Park. That's when the sinners come. And I was like you know, I got done with the message.
Pastor Matt Brown:I'm like, who wants to give their life to Christ? And hands went up everywhere. And you're like, that's great. And I'm panicking because I'm like, Do we have enough people to pray with all these people? Do we have enough people serving?
Pastor Matt Brown:We just had a 150 babies born and we got one nurse. Because everybody else has gotta make its In N Out Burger. What are we doing? What are we doing? So here's the thing.
Pastor Matt Brown:Last week we talked about, behold, I'm going to prepare a place for you. He got down, he watched the disciples' feet, he said, one of you is gonna betray me. Listen to me, Christians are hard. One of you is gonna stab me in the back. And they're like, who?
Pastor Matt Brown:And you wanna know what's interesting? No one knew it was Judas. Like, if I was Lord Jesus, I'd be like aren't you glad I'm not Jesus? I love all of you guys. You know?
Pastor Matt Brown:Listen to this. He said, So now I'm giving you a new commandment. Some of you are like, Well, I don't I don't know how to be a Christian. I don't know where to start. Right here.
Pastor Matt Brown:I'm giving you a new commandment. Listen, Love each other. Oh, my gosh. It's so great. I love everybody.
Pastor Matt Brown:That's not who he's talking about. He says, just as I have loved you, he's talking to the disciples, even Judas. Listen to this. He says, and you should love each other. If you don't have a special love for the church, you don't have any love for Jesus.
Pastor Matt Brown:You're like, well, pastor Matt, show me where that is in the Bible. Okay. Let's keep reading. Your love for one another. He's not talking about their love for their wives.
Pastor Matt Brown:He's not talking about their love for their children. He's not talking about their love for their careers. He's talking about their love for each other as fellow Christians. He says, your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. Listen to me and never forget this.
Pastor Matt Brown:We serve what we love, and we love what we serve. And you need to do that. Look, I wanna change the world. I wanna make a difference in our communities. I wanna make a difference in your community.
Pastor Matt Brown:But we can't do that if we can't feel the team. If we can't feel the team. And some of you, you have no idea what you could do if you just stepped up. My favorite moment in the Olympics this week, and it may be my favorite moment ever in the Olympics, was the young woman who won a gold medal for the US cycling team. You know what happened?
Pastor Matt Brown:Some one of the US cycling gals said, I'm not gonna race. And she stepped up and won. She wasn't even on the team. Can you imagine telling your family, I'm going to the Olympics, sort of. Like, you may not see me there but someone stepped out and she had to fill in and she won gold.
Pastor Matt Brown:Some of you are sitting on the bench and you have no idea that the Lord has a gold medal for you. Come on now. And when you start serving, you're gonna discover your purpose. And you're gonna discover what it means to fall in love with Jesus and serve him. So let's bow our heads, let's pray, and let's all just confess, all of us, whether we're on Sandals staff, whether we're a brand new Christian, or we've been a Christian, you know, 27 years, you know, longer than Russell Brand.
Pastor Matt Brown:We all need to serve the Lord. We need to have a better attitude about this. Let's just pray and ask the Lord to inspire us to serve our local churches, to serve our local church. Even if you watch online, how can you serve your local church? Let's pray.
Pastor Matt Brown:Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, help us not just to worship a servant, but to become servants. Help us to build our families upon the rock through service. Protect our marriages, protect our families, protect our children as we point the way, and the way is to serve you, Lord, and not our selves. Holy Spirit, fill us with this truth this week. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Pastor Matt Brown:Amen.
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.