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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 McKay, and I'm a part of the online team here at Sandals Church. We are so happy to have you join us today as we listen to this message with pastor Matt, teaching from our series, the gospel of Matthew. If If you've enjoyed our content, consider leaving us a rating to help this podcast reach more people. Now, let's get into the message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Hi, and welcome to Sandals Church. Man, I have some great news this week. Super excited. Our last child has graduated from college. Amen?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So I'm officially rich now. It's exciting. But you know, we went to his graduation this week and, you that's a lifetime achievement. People have spent money, spent years practicing, learning, getting ready for the real world. And I just kept thinking about all the degrees as they went by and some of the degrees are like, what is that?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't even know what it was. But you know, my son graduated with a degree in Christian studies. So he's been preparing, he's been prepping to go into a life of ministry. And here's the thing is, everything he learned he now has to put into practice. And and and here's the thing, for many of us as Christians, all we do is learn.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We never put the anything that we learn into practice. And so what Jesus is doing, he's been teaching and teaching. And we've been in this series in Matthew for the entire year. And now we're in Matthew chapter 10 verse 16. And Jesus is gonna say, okay.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Now it's time to graduate. Now you gotta get out there. Now you gotta go out in the real world. Amen. Parents, get a job.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know what I'm saying? Get a job that makes some money. And he's saying get out there and Jesus is going to commission them. K. There's two commissionings.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:There's this one and there's one at the end of the book, but this is their first time they're getting their feet wet and actually doing ministry. They're gonna go out there on their own and he's sending them out. And what I wanna talk about today is living out my Christian faith in the real world. It's one thing to be a student, it's another thing to be a disciple. Disciples live in the real world.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We have real conversations with real people, real family, real situations and those are not nearly as easy as small group. Can I get an amen? I mean it's easy to sit in small group where everybody agrees, everybody thinks the same way, everybody heard the same sermon, but when you actually get out there and you try to share your faith, it is difficult. Okay? So to live out my faith, I want you to take notes today.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I need to I must look at this, develop moral clarity that guides my life. Okay. What what is the moral clarity that guides your life? So some of you you're like I'm a Christian. Great.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What does that mean? What does that mean? How does that impact your life? How does it impact your marriage? How does that impact your finances?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Great. You believe in God so does the devil. How does it impact your life? Now one of my favorite parts of graduation is the speeches. I love the speeches.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't know why but they got rid of the student speeches. Maybe that's because students have gone crazy. I don't know. But this year at my son's graduation, they had a very special speaker. I wanna show you the picture of the person that spoke.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:There it is right there. Look at that. Yes. Holy Harry Potter, amen. I mean it's like woah.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I married up gentlemen, married up. But she did a great job. And here's the thing about her speech, it was positive, It was uplifting. It was encouraging. You know, when graduates come together, we all lie.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You're gonna change the world. You're gonna make a difference. You know, some of them aren't even gonna get jobs. Amen. You know what I'm saying?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Jesus is not Tammy Brown. Jesus can do a lot of things. He can save your soul. He can teach you how to love God. He can teach you to know God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You do not want Jesus as a commencement speaker because he's not positive. He's not encouraging. So my wife's sermon excuse me, wife's commitment commencement message was amazing. Here is the Lord Jesus. Here's how he sends out his graduates Matthew ten sixteen through 18.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Behold, that's a that's a good start, right? Behold, I am sending you out a sheep amongst wolves. We what? You know, there's no like, we're gonna win. We've practiced.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We've trained hard. I'm sending you out a sheep amongst wolves. Wait a minute, Lord Jesus. What what what what is a sheep spiritual gift? Well, you have really sticky hair that's easily to grab.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You have no teeth. You're slow and blind and kinda dumb. Go get them. Okay. But what what does the other team have?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They're fast. They're hungry. They're mean. They have teeth and claws and they roam in packs. Go get them.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Right? I mean, oh my gosh, behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So here's the lesson. You're outmatched, you're outgunned, they're faster hungrier and they're meaner. So here's the speech.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So be wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. You could spend the rest of your life just praying and thinking about what does that mean? What it means is this, you gotta develop a moral clarity for how you live out your faith. You can't be stupid. Some of you are like, I'm just gonna trust God, then you're gonna get eaten.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You gotta actually think. You have to be as wise as a serpent. You gotta be wise. Now what does that mean? In the ancient world, serpents were considered wise.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They were a symbol of wisdom. They're also a symbol for evil. That's why he says be as wise as a serpent, but as innocent as a dove. Okay? Don't be as wise as a dove.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Doves are dumb. You ever seen a wedding where they let them loose and they get run over by a car? They're like, we're beautiful. So you need to be innocent, but you also need to exercise wisdom. Listen to me parents, if you protect your kids from everything then you're sending them out as stupid doves into the world.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They need to be innocent from sin but not innocent of sin. They gotta know what it is. You gotta be able to identify evil people. Oh, this nice man at the park wants to give me free ice cream if I get into his van. What could possibly go wrong?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You're a dove. So you need to be able to judge things. Listen to what Jesus said. Some of you, this is the number one issue that people have. Well, if God is so good, why is there evil in the world?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The problem is not God, problem is people. Listen to what Jesus says. Beware of what? Men. Okay, ladies?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And don't be like, yeah, that's what I thought. It's you too. Okay? Anybody met an evil woman? Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They're a little slicker. It's a little harder to figure it out. Beware of men for they will deliver you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues. Here's what Jesus is saying. People can hurt you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Be careful. Now, here's what I want you to see here. He actually says, watch out for religious people. Just because they wear God's uniform doesn't mean they're God's man. Be careful.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Just because somebody has the title pastor or the title priest or the title deacon doesn't mean they're safe. You have to learn to exercise wisdom. You need moral clarity for living. Okay? There is good, there is evil, there is right, there is wrong.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And parents, number one responsibility is to teach your kids how to navigate life, to prepare them for a world full of wolves. And Jesus is saying, not everybody's gonna make it. Do all sheep escape the wolves? No. Some of them get eaten.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So you have to have moral clarity. And I want you to think about, you know, what does this mean? So you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. Here's what Jesus is saying to the disciples. This is gonna be tough.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You're really gonna have to believe what you believe. You're gonna have to know who you are because you're gonna be tempted to abandon your faith because the world is gonna try to choke your faith out of you. You need moral clarity. So that was his message to them. What's his message to us?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I gotta decide what my moral values are. Now this is not an exhaustive list. So I don't want you to be like, I got these four down. You're perfect. Okay?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's not what I'm saying. These are just four areas to start with. I gotta have moral clarity in this area. Look at this one, my church life. Okay.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How many of you guys in here would say church is somewhat important? Please raise your hands. Okay. Unless you're visiting, you don't you don't have to believe that yet. We would all say church is important.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But let me ask you this, we have moral clarity over something. Like most people say, I'm gonna attend church as many times as possible. Here's moral clarity. How many times are you willing to miss church this year? That's moral clarity.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Because here's the thing. We live in Southern California and there's always something happening. There's always a birthday party. There's always a concert. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Monday's always coming. Work doesn't stop. Life doesn't stop. And here's the thing, we all miss more church than we know we should. And why is that?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We lack moral clarity on the purpose of church and the importance of gathering. So what you're saying is Jesus is sending me out as sheep amongst wolves. I'm just gonna be a lone sheep this week and see how it goes. What do the wolves focus on? There you are.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The slow fat dumb one. Amen? We'll see you all by himself. How about this? How many small groups will I miss?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Everybody that's in a small group, everybody's in a discipleship group, you know that it's easier to miss than to make group. It is. Stuff happens. We're all tired. We're all tired.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's one of the things I love about raising kids when they try to tell parents they're tired. I'm like, oh, you're tired. Oh. Oh, you're tired from the the the good night sleep you had in the bed that you didn't buy in the room that you don't pay rent for. You're tired, man.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Oh, my gosh. Tell me about that. Amen parents, we get tired. We get tired. We don't go into their bedrooms from our puking at night.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Can you imagine going into your eight year olds, I'm throwing up, help me. Can you imagine? They'd like you're on your own. We all get it. We're all tired.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How about serving? Listen, this this is this is gonna this is gonna sting but every single week when we recruit volunteers to work on the Sunday message or the Sunday services or the Saturday night services, we have to account for the people who say they're coming and don't. Those are Christians. Yep. Gonna be there.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Absolutely. And then they don't show. We we have to manage that. So next one, this one's even more difficult Sexuality The world has a version of sexuality of what they think that you should do, of what you think you should be able to do And here's the thing, this is not to shame or put anybody down but you have to decide am I going to live out my sexuality for myself or for God and those are two different things. You have to have moral clarity on this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This isn't to shame or beat anybody up. It's just to say look this body is not mine. I've had to make decisions. Okay. I've been married now.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:My wife and I will celebrate thirty years of marriage this next year. And this is what's sad. We've been married so long we both get confused as to the number of years. I'm like is it twenty seven? Is it twenty eight?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Is it twenty? You know we're like you know. We've been married a long time. Here's the thing. And I I have an amazing wife.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I mean, you saw her picture, She's holy Dumbledore. You know what saying? She's beautiful. I just offended all the homeschool parents. Sorry.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen. She's a beautiful woman. She's an amazing wife. As a man, I've not always been a 100% sexually satisfied in my marriage. So does that mean I give myself permission to look at porn, to go outside my marriage, to do what I want, to date around?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, have to have moral clarity. Moral clarity says I don't go based upon how I feel, I go based upon how my my convictions are. Okay? I I I'm not married today because it's always been great and there's been a lot that's great. I'm married today because I have a moral conviction about my sexuality and my commitments to her.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And that's easy, but none of us know what we're saying when we get married. We're like, yeah, absolutely always. I'm gonna listen to you and everything. That's gonna be so great. Moral convictions.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Why have I been sexually faithful for almost thirty years? Because God told me to Because God said I'm convicted I have moral clarity on that Moral clarity And if I've ever felt sexually weak or whatever, I I just walk away. I mean, mid conversation. If you're too attractive, I'm just like, okay. I'm gonna go.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't sit around and pray for strength. You know? So what some of you guys do in the strip club, Lord help me. No. Get out of there.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay. Let's look at this next one. How many of you know what that is? Money. Money.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Man, my TikTok feed is full of how megachurches are all about money. Now I don't know every megachurch out there but here's what I know. You know who's far more about money than megachurches are? People. You.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Not you guys but other people. You know what I'm saying? Tammy and I are morally convicted that the Lord gets the first 10% of everything that we own. No questions asked. Matter of fact, this last week I just turned in a tithe check from a property that we sold and I just informed Tammy.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I didn't ask her. I just said, hey, just wanted you to know we turned in our tithe from the sale of that property. You know what she said? Great. Great.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You wanna know why? Because we share a moral conviction on that. Our money is not our money, it's the Lord's. And here's the thing, the world is gonna get you with your time, that's why church is so hard. The world is gonna get you with its version of sexuality and saying you deserve this and it promises that that's all fun and then all of a sudden your life is destroyed and you've lost everything.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And the same thing with money. The world says more money will make you happy. No. No. No.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Putting money in its right place will make you happy. Letting it submit to the Lord. So these are some of the things that I just want you to work through. If you're married, man, should talk through these things. What what are my what what do I have moral clarity on?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And a lot of you guys that are dating, you're just like, oh, he's so cute. What could go wrong? You don't have moral clarity. You don't agree on anything. You got to talk about this when you're dating.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You got to talk about this when you're when you're married and say, here's what I'm feeling. Here's what I'm sensing. I just read this and because some of you as Christians, you're gonna read things and you're like, oh, you know, I'm convicted on this. I feel like we should change this, and you have to be able to have a relationship where you can talk about that. Look at this last one.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is kinda just a summary to guide you as you walk down this path, integrity. Do we need any more fake Christians? Do we need any more liars? Do we need any more hypocrites? I feel like we got enough.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Amen? Like how about some people whose word is their bond? That's one of my things. If I say it, I'm gonna do it. Even if I've changed my mind, I hold myself to my word.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If I give a promise, I'm gonna do it. And oftentimes, I don't know about you guys, but I commit to things way too soon. Anybody does that? Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'll go. And then I'm like, what was I thinking? And then what do you do as Christians? You lie. Oh, we couldn't make it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:My grandma, you know, she's sick. You don't even have a grandma. Stop lying. What you should say is, you know what, sometimes I promise before I think and I promised and I over committed and I can't make it. I can't do that.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay? So next, to live out my faith, look at this, to live out my faith in the real world, I must learn to recognize and listen to the Holy Spirit. Some of you think you hear the Holy Spirit and all you're hearing is what you wanna hear. You gotta learn to listen for the Holy Spirit. So listen to what Jesus says.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He says, look, I'm sending you out as sheep amongst wolves. K? It's scary. It's dark. We're slow.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We're fat. We're blind. We're probably gonna lose. So guess what? You need to listen to the coach.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You need to listen to the coach. You need to listen when you're directed. Matthew ten nineteen. Let's take a look at this. And 20, when they deliver you over, do not be anxious about how you are to speak.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:How many of you guys get afraid or get nervous when you speak publicly? Raise your hands. Okay. I watched my wife, she went up, she spoke in front of about four to 5,000 people at a graduation. A serious event.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:She's like, I'm nervous. I'm like, I get nervous every week. Okay. I don't look nervous right now, but you know what I am? I'm a duck on top of the water, looks super cool, super chill underneath it's just going like I literally woke up this morning.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:My first breath, I have to speak. That's how I woke up this morning. Here's this is why you guys don't share your faith. This is why you don't speak up for God because it's scary. Jesus says, do not be anxious about how you're to speak or what you're to say for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour if you're listening to God as he speaks.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Are you listening to God? Man, the next time that you're fighting, you're like, I'm not being heard. The Holy Spirit's like, I'm not being heard either. What is the Holy Spirit saying? What is he saying in your marriage?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What is he saying as you raise your kids? What is he what is he saying at work? What is he saying as you're having a crucial crucial conversation? What is the Holy Spirit saying? Here's what Jesus is saying.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen. If you listen to the if you listen for the Holy Spirit, check this out. For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Now that's not always true because sometimes you're full of hot air. Amen?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some of you are full of something else. Pray about what that is. Here's the thing. It's a beautiful thing to hear God's spirit speak through you. One of the most amazing things about being a preacher is sometimes I will preach to you and through my own words, the Holy Spirit will preach to me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I'm like, that's good. I I probably should live that. You know what I'm saying? Last weekend at the Hunter Park Campus at our 10:00 service, the Holy Spirit just started doing something. It was it was amazing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I'm not saying that the Holy Spirit doesn't speak every week because God cares about you and he wants to speak through me to you because he cares about your soul. But something happened And I walked away from that sermon and I didn't go, man, you know what? I was I was it's pretty good. I walked away from that and I went, man, God just did something. Something that was apart from me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Now He used me, but it was apart from me. So parents, when you're having that conversation with your kid, where you're dying inside. You're dying inside. Okay? If you don't have kids, here's what raising kids is like.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Someone that you love the most in the world and you're overlooking a beautiful ocean sunset on a cliff and you don't know if they're going to hug you or push you off. That's raising kids. You don't know. You just You love them so much it hurts. But here's the thing parents, you don't have the words.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Here's the thing I've learned. I speak a different language from my kids. I grew up different culture, in a different time. I I don't I don't understand. You know?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like I say words all the time and they're like, I don't know what you're meaning, dad. And I'm like, you know? And then they're like, when I preach my son, I'm like, dad, that was fire. I was like, what? Like it was it was trash?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What? No. No. It was fire. Dad, it was fire.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was like, oh, that's good. That's good. Okay. But I need the Holy Spirit. I need the Holy Spirit to be speaking when I speak to my kids.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Any husbands in here? Okay. You got a wife? That's that is something, you know. Here's the thing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to me ladies, I love you. I can offend my wife so badly. And here's the thing, I'm trying not to. That is scary. Do you know how many times in a, we're not gonna call it a fight because we're both, you know, we love the Lord.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:A conversation. I'll be like, I don't know what to say and she's like, why? And I'm like, I'm afraid. I don't I don't know. And the Holy Spirit's like, I know.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I know. Here's the thing, start asking the Holy Spirit to speak through you. The longer you've been a Christian, one of two things happen, it's gonna happen. You're going to become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit or you're gonna become calloused to the Holy Spirit. And my prayer for you is that as you age as a Christian, you become more and more sensitive, More and more sensitive.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay. Next, to live out my faith, I must not expect everyone to appreciate and understand my faith. Okay. The world is not all Christians. They don't all love Jesus.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Get over it. Get over it. Quit waiting for everybody to believe what you believe and think what you think. Jesus said the world is a bunch of wolves and they're coming for you and you're a slow, dumb, blind sheep. Now go get them.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen what he says, Matthew ten twenty one. He says, brother will deliver brother over to death. This is again, you you you thought I was making this up when he's not a great commencement speaker. He's like, not only are there wolves, but your own family is coming for you. He says, will deliver brother over to death and the father to his child and the children will rise against parents and have them put to death.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. If you're a young person and you want everyone in your life to celebrate your faith, then you may not have real faith yet because your faith is in Jesus, not in everybody celebrating you. We gotta have our faith, whether it's cool or not, whether it's popular or not, whether, you know, America's a Christian nation or not. We have to have our faith. It has to be your faith.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And it will not be easy. Jesus says this, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. Now, is a scary verse because in Western thought, we like to think of saved, not saved. We we think of salvation as this this point in time where we we said a prayer, we got baptized, we went forward at a harvest crusade. Right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So and I'm not saying that's all bad. I'm just saying, I want you to listen to what Jesus is saying. He's telling his 12 disciples. Right? These are his 12 disciples, handpicked, that he's discipled, that he's poured into, and he tells them, oh, the only ones that are saved are the ones that endure to the end.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Now, in context, remember last week, every single list of the 12 begins with Peter. Do you remember who every list ends with? Judas. Judas is listening. He's saying, hey, not not everybody here that's preaching in my name, doing miracles in my name is saved.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Only those who endure to the end. Did Judas make it to the end? No. And here's the sad thing. I've been your pastor now for almost thirty years.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We we've had people on staff that have abandoned their faith, have walked away. These are people that I I thought knew Jesus, loved Jesus, wanted to work for Jesus, give their lives for Jesus. My TikTok feed is full of ex pastors, ex ministers, ex worship leaders that have changed everything they believe about God. And now do they not only not love Jesus, they hate him. Here's what Jesus is saying.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Not everybody who says to me, Lord, Lord, remember a couple weeks ago, will enter into my kingdom. And what he's saying is, look, we we gotta be in this for the long haul. When Tammy and I got married almost thirty years ago, I told her I loved her. We will find out if that was real on the day one of us dies. Now I meant it, I believed it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But do you know when you meant until death do we part? Do you know when you meant that? When one of you dies, then you meant it. I mean, there are very few marriages that don't start off with good intentions, but there are very few that make it to the end. Amen?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And what Jesus is saying is your faith needs to be sincere. And here's the thing, you need to be ready that not everyone is gonna be excited about what you're doing. And and I've been blown away at the things we've done as a church that have offended people. I'll give you one example. About ten years ago, we did this thing called Our Real Family.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Does anybody remember that? And so what we would do is we would we would raise money to help out somebody in our community that was really really upset or in need. And so one of the cool things that we did is there was a woman in our city here in Riverside. She was escaping a very, very violent relationship with her husband. Her her dad was blind and they could not pay their bills.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And what we did as a church, we we literally went in, took over the whole house, rebuilt the whole house. They had they had a hole in the roof and a hole in the ceiling and none of the plumbing worked. And our church raised about a $150,000 and we poured it into their house for free. We invited the press. Everybody was there and we called it our real family.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And we had so many church members whose families were offended by that because of the language, our real family. Now I get it. We, you know, we we could have maybe changed that, but it was confusing to them. And they were upset by that. But I was like, who gets upset at building a house for a blind guy?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Sometimes our real family does. Like our bio family. You know what I'm saying? And here's the thing. People who don't get Jesus won't get you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And you have to be ready for that. Okay. To live out my faith, I must look at this. Work to remain flexible and agile throughout my life. I don't if if I had to say Christian's number one spiritual gift, it would be stuck.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's their gift. Stuck, not moving. Not moving. Man, the church that that launched me when I launched Sandals Church was an amazing church, an incredible church. They just had to give away their building.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They gave away their building. Multi million dollar property because they were stuck. They wouldn't change. They wanted the world to change around them and they would not change. This is a leading Baptist church in our state and they gave away their property because they got stuck and they wouldn't reach the community around them.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to what Jesus says, Matthew ten twenty three. When they persecute you in one town, hang in there and don't leave. No. That's not what he said. Flee to the next.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Flee to the next. Don't get stuck. Don't stay someplace that you're not supposed to stay. Don't get stuck in your ways. You know, and this is why the worship wars.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We gotta keep keep singing the same songs. We gotta we gotta read the same verses. You know, we gotta keep the same translation of the bible. Listen, you've got to remain agile in your faith because here's the thing, the world is gonna throw stuff at you. God doesn't change.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The bible doesn't change. Your faith doesn't change, but you better move. This is what he says. For when they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the son of man comes.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Here's what he's saying. You gotta be agile. You gotta be agile. Now how many of you ever thought of Christians as super agile? You know?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like you're watching the Olympics and you're like, you know who's agile? Christians. No, nobody ever thinks that. But I found this verse this week, I love this isn't Habakkuk. It's just a cool word to say Habakkuk.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I love this verse. God. You're like, who's that? The Lord. God the Lord is my strength.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He makes my feet like the deers. Does that describe old people in church? No. No. No.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know? I mean, most old people in church are like a sitting elephant. Amen? They got down, but they can't get up. Think about that.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is what a Christian is supposed to look like. I'm the Lord, man. I'm agile. I'm flexible. You're like, I've never seen that.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Exactly. Exactly. Do you know what Christians and denominations spend most of their time fighting over? Traditions. Nobody cares that the world is going to hell.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What they care about is that we're not doing what we've always done. And the Lord is like be a deer. Right? I didn't say that Habakkuk said that. God, the lord, he makes me like a deer.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And what does he do? He makes me tread on the high places. We're sure footed and flexible and we're able to scale the heights that god has called us to rather than being stuck in the mud and not moving. Remaining flexible means two things. Number one, look at this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The mission stays the same. That never changes. Reach people, share the gospel, make disciples, Go into the world. That never changes regardless of tech, you know, AI, robots, whatever. The mission.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:K? Even if there are aliens. We talked about aliens last week. If there are aliens, you guys gotta start giving more money because we gotta reach them. K?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I'm not didn't just say there are aliens. I'm just saying you need to get more. That's what I said. The mission stays the same. But look at this, my methods must always change.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I gotta be flexible. Man, think about Muhammad Ali. Fly like a butterfly, remember it? Sting like a bee. And he would knock out much bigger and much stronger combatants.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And that's the way we need to be as Christians. That is being, listen to me, wise like a serpent and innocent like a dove. Why do you have to be wise like a serpent according to Jesus? How many strikes does a snake get? The snake is most vulnerable after it strikes.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So you got to be very very careful. You got to be very very cautious. We got to be very, very agile. Some of you are stuck in your method and you got to change it up. It's okay to move.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's okay if things don't work out. Can I just share this, man? The best churches So Sandals Church has 14 campuses. The best ones, the easiest ones are the ones that God brought us. We didn't we didn't go for.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:People are like, would you take over our church? I'm like, let me pray about it. The Holy Spirit's like, yes. Yes. You see, it's amazing how much better our life is when we're just listening to the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But when we've gone out, we've we've tried to make this happen and we've got involved in things, it's just amazing. It just doesn't work out. We gotta be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. We gotta be nimble. We gotta be agile.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We've got to be like a deer. Because here's the thing, if you want your life to be successful, make sure you're always going in the direction that God has called you. Next, to live out my faith. This is tough one. Actually I actually wish we could do a whole series on this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I gotta stay resilient. Americans, we're a lot of things. Resilient is not one of them. Okay? Our kids in school are outpaced by almost every modern nation on earth.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We used to be number one, now I don't even know I don't even know where we are. It's so bad. And here's the thing, it's not that our kids are dumber, it's that our kids give up more quickly. We just give up. It's hard.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And that's how it is for a lot of us in our faith. I hear Christians say this all the time, well, I'm waiting for God to open the door. Well, what if God's waiting for you to knock one down? I don't know. Yeah.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm pretty sure the tomb was closed, amen, and God knocked it open. Jesus is in the tomb, I'd like to come out, but I'm waiting for an open door. Matthew ten twenty four and twenty five. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is not enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant like his master.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Listen to this. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, which by the way, know it's a confusing word. It means devil. How much more will they malign those of his household? So what does that mean, Matt?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What does that mean? People said horrible things about Jesus. They will say horrible things about you. My son came home the other day, he's like, dad. Dad, I gotta tell you something.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I was like, what? He's like, I was watching on TikTok, and this woman was going off on you, dad. She was like, you're a loser, and you're terrible, and you're awful. And I wanted to say something so bad to mature. What do we do, dad?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I was like, nothing. Do you know what would happen if I spent all my time listening to all the terrible things that people say about me? I would just crawl into a ball and die. And she actually had some points, know what I'm saying? I like, oh, that was good.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:If you're afraid for people to ever criticize you, then you are never gonna follow Christ. Man, you gotta let it go. You gotta let it go. People people said terrible things about Jesus. Do you understand that?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They called him Satan. If they called him Satan, what are they gonna call you? So people said bad things about Jesus, they're gonna say bad things about you if you're following Jesus. People did bad things to Jesus. They will do bad things to you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I've been ripped off three times since I've been your pastor. All three times, it was by members in our church. What do so do I just crumble into a ball and not believe in God anymore? Or do I just okay. You know what?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Bad things happen. People do bad things. Judas sold out Jesus for some coin. How many of you guys have had a bad day? Raise your hand.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Okay. Let me tell you about my bad day this week. I was pretty upset about it. I think we should do something about this, but I was driving and I had to go pee. Have you ever had this experience?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:No, just me? And so I asked Siri, where's the closest Starbucks? You know, because I wanna go to the restroom and luxury, you know what I'm saying? And so Siri got me a Starbucks in Riverside. I went into Starbucks and I have you ever like barely made it?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You know what I'm talking about? Like you're asking God for a miracle? I run into the Starbucks, I kid you not, and I'm like, where's your restroom? You know what she said? We don't have one.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was like, yeah, you do. It's right here on the floor. This poor gal. I don't hopefully, she doesn't go to our church because this is in Riverside. I said, you're kidding me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm in an absolute panic at this moment. I'm on my I'm on on my way to my son's graduation. I cannot show up with wet pants. You know what I'm saying? And you know what my first thought was?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:God, why are you allowing this to happen to me? Like, there was there was about thirty seconds where I convinced myself this is persecution. This this is like what Jesus went through. And she's like, the closest restroom is you know, and I'm just like, it it doesn't even matter anymore. But I was so mad.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I was so angry. You guys, it took me ten minutes in the car to chill. I was literally I was convinced Satan himself had attacked me. The Lord had abandoned me. I was all by myself.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Have you ever had one? You just lose your mind. You're like, I know what Jesus went through when he was on the cross. Listen to me. Jesus had really, really bad frustrating days, and we will have really, really bad frustrating days.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But that doesn't mean that we just get to give up our faith. You know what had to do in the car, I had talk to myself. I said, you know what, you gotta suck it up. You gotta be resilient. You could have gone to the bathroom before you left.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You could have done that. You know? It's not like I'm four. This isn't like a surprise. Is this?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I had to talk myself off the ledge. Okay. And I was I was like in my mind, I'm like, was there any Sandals member in that Starbucks as I was losing my mind. Because I think I said, are you kidding me? Like that.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I had to compose myself and I had to say this is just frustration. And I had I had to get myself together. But some of us, man, they get our order wrong, somebody cuts us off on the freeway, somebody flips us off, you know, you're number one and you're just like, oh, this is Satan. No. No.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Look. Look. You got a tough in your chin. You can't run around being constantly offended. You know, it wasn't her fault that their Starbucks didn't have a bathroom.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It wasn't. And I just I just had to deal with it. But a lot of us, we we give ourselves permission to lose our minds because something doesn't go our way. Okay. Last one.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:In order to live out my faith, I must not give into fear but surrender myself to Jesus. So Jesus says this, so have no fear of them for nothing is covered that will not be revealed. Look, if people malign me, people make fun of me, people put me down, look, it's all gonna come out. What whatever I am, there's no secrets on the day of judgment. It all comes out.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Jesus says nothing will be covered that is not revealed nor hidden that will not be known. Here's what he's saying, quit worrying about whatever everybody says and what everybody does. He says what I tell you in the dark, stay in the light, stay in the light. And what you hear whispered proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some of you have surrendered to fear in your life, you need to surrender to Jesus today. We have a culture of fear. Jesus says this, rather fear him who can destroy both the soul and body in hell. Some are like, oh man, this got this got negative. Okay.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is what Jesus says, are not two sparrows sold for a penny and not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father, but even the hairs on your head are numbered. Fear not therefore, you are more valuable than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my father who's in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my father is in heaven. Now this is amazing.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:According to the text, who is Jesus talking to? The 12. Do you know who just heard every word? Judas. And he didn't make it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:What happened? Judas is all about Jesus when he's popular, when it's convenient, when it's easy. And then people start criticizing him. Jesus' own mother and brothers think he thinks he's gone crazy. Things get tight, and Judas finds out a way to sell Jesus out and to make a profit of course.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I don't want that to be you. I want you to be the person that endures to the end and for that to happen, you need to stop surrendering to fear and you need to surrender to Jesus. So we're gonna end in prayer right now and I just wanna pray over us. We live in a culture of fear, a culture of anxiety. I mean, is an epidemic.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And we just need to release that up because here's what Jesus is saying, look, look, I got you. You're more valuable than a sparrow. I I know the very number of hairs on your head. Listen to me, I got you. Here's the question, do you have him?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Surrender to Jesus today. Let's bow our heads, let's close our eyes, and let's just say Jesus right now, just say Jesus, I wanna make it to the end. And then if there's an area of your life where you've surrendered to fear, just share that with him. Jesus, I don't wanna be afraid about this anymore. I wanna release this to you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Maybe it's your bills, your kids, your marriage, your health, and you just surrender that. Say Jesus, my life is in your hands. And then right here, right now, you surrender your life to Jesus and you say, Jesus, I'm gonna follow you. I'm gonna trust you. And I'm gonna live out this mission that you've called me to.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm gonna live out my faith in the real world. Let me pray for you. Father, I pray for our church. It's not an easy time to be a Christian, but it is the time that you have called us to be Christian. And so we pray for strength, we pray for endurance, Lord, we pray for resilience.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:God, we ask for your strength and we ask for your Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us as we live out this faith today. Lord bless us with resilience and strength and power and we pray this in Jesus name and all God's people said, amen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:We wanna take a moment to say thank you for joining us for our online service today here at Sandals Church and we pray that you would walk in faith this week, that you would experience resilience and that you would not live in fear. We wanna help you do that. We wanna understand your story. Reach out to us at sandalschurch.com/help. You can select online campus and we would love to follow-up with you.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:For those of you who are a part of our church who are watching from all around the world, we wanna encourage you to also support the mission that God is doing in and through our church. To do that, you can go to sandalschurch.com/support. Race in peace. Thank
Morgan Teruel:you so much for tuning in today. If you want more content from this series, we have a 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.