Morgan Teruel: Hey. Thanks so much for listening to Sandals Church. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, God, and others. We hope you enjoy this message.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown: Hey, guys. Welcome to this series called The Power of Us. Man, Pastor Fredo's been doing an amazing job. We're in the book of Timothy, 1st Timothy, looking at this calling to see each other not just as friends, but as family, as brothers and sisters, moms and dads, right, cousins coming together better together than we are by ourselves, serving the king of kings and Lord of lords. And so today, I wanna talk to you not only about the power of us but the power of our words.
Not just your words, but our words. K? Number 1, write this down. Think about this. Words are powerful things, powerful things.
Many of you have been hurt by words. Matter of fact, I would say most of you from your childhood, the only words you remember are the bad ones, right? The harmful ones, the hurtful ones. You see, words can tear someone down. I want you to think about words like an escalator.
They can bring somebody up or they can deescalate and tear somebody down. And so we need to think about this with our words, especially in a day and age where instantaneously we can broadcast our words for all time to everyone. And what we found is even if you delete your Twitter account, those words are still there. People heard them, they saved them, and they will remind you of them for the rest of your life. So James, the half brother of Jesus, says this.
No human being can tame the tongue. Nobody can. Why? It is a restless evil, amen? Somebody tell my wife, that's why I struggle with my words.
It's not my fault. It's a restless evil. I'm managing the devil here, people. You guys are always like, I can't believe what he said. You would you you wouldn't believe what I didn't say.
Like, you you'd be so proud of me if you knew where I stopped. It's a restless evil full of deadly poison. I mean, think about that. Why is marriage so hard? You're full of deadly poison.
Why is it so hard to raise kids? Full of deadly poison. I went out to dinner this week with some staff members, and and one of our pastors is married to a teacher. And and and I asked her, I said, what what what's what's been the thing that's been the most difficult about being a teacher this year? She said, we can't get our kids to take their masks off.
Now regardless of where you are on the on the mask spectrum, I just lost lost 50% of you. Right? I said, why are they wearing the mask? I said, are they afraid of COVID? She said, no.
They're afraid of being made fun of. You see, what's happening in our schools is kids take their masks off, and other kids say, oh, you should put that back on, you're ugly. You see, it turns out kids aren't just homophobic and racist, they're sinners, and they're mean. They're mean, and one of the things we need to teach our kids is not to be mean, to be kind. But children are mean to each other, mean to each other, and there's this whole thing called mask fishing.
You're pretending you're prettier or or more handsome than you are, and when you take off the mask, right, the real you's uglier than you're supposed to be. You see, the tongue is a deadly poison, and your little kid might be cute, but they got the devil right here, and they're mean. Listen to what James says. With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it, we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Man, James is saying, why why do we talk the way that we do? Why do we say the things that we say? You see, words can tear somebody down. One of the things my wife is always reminding me, see we have this, we have these secret signals that none of you see.
When we're at dinner, my wife's hands are a nonverbal form of communication. And so when a hand comes across and touches my knee, that's not a romantic signal. Single guys. It is a signal to cease and assist what is coming out of my mouth. And if and if that doesn't do it, there's a squeeze.
And if that doesn't do it, there are nails. Right? There's levels of concern. You know this means okay, okay. This means stop, this means shut it, shut it.
And why is that? Because as a pastor my words are powerful. I need to be careful. And you say, well, I'm not a pastor. Yeah, but you are a person of authority.
And your words are hurting someone or something. And you gotta be careful. Parents, we gotta be careful. Right? When we're challenging our kids, when we're fed up with our kids, when we're tired, when we're angry, and when we're upset, we gotta watch our words, because words are powerful things.
So words can tear somebody down, but words can also build somebody up. Listen to this. This is the book of wisdom in the Bible, the book of Proverbs 16/24. Gracious words are like honeycomb. So think about this.
1000 of years ago when the Bible was written, there's no sugar. They don't know about sugar yet. Sugar won't be discovered for 1000 of years. So the sweetest thing they knew was honey. A kind word is like is like sugar.
It's like sweetness. It's sweet to the soul and it's health to the body. We need to understand that our words can tear somebody down or build somebody up. Paul writes this letter to the church at Ephesus, to a Christian church just like sandals. He says don't use foul or abusive language.
You see, a lot of Christians think it's just about cussing. It's not just about cussing, it's about who you're cursing. Remember, James says, how is it that you bless God and then you curse the one who's created in his image? You see, the biblical concern is not the language itself, it's the language that you label someone with. So listen to what Paul is saying.
Let everything you say be good and helpful. To who? So that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. You know, some of you guys, you know, you you you say a curse word when you smack your your your thumb with a hammer. Okay.
Maybe that's a sin. That's not what he's talking about. What he's talking about is when you use your words as a hammer to someone else. That's the sin. That's the sin.
I remember when I was a kid, I I went I went to a a zoo for the first time, and a guy was handling the snake. The snake got loose. I grew up in the church. The snake bit the guy, and he said a cuss word. I came home.
My mom said, how was your day at school? I said, I heard this guy cuss. I didn't care at all that he got bit by a snake. Sunday school failed me. I was like, mama, he's sinned.
He he he cussed. She told me later, she said, you didn't say that he got bit by a snake. I was, like, oh, yeah. I forgot that part of the story. So words, right, can tear somebody down.
They can build somebody up. But listen to me. This is why we go to church. Words can set somebody free. You see, so many of our friends, so many of our family members, they go to Vegas on the weekend.
They go to the beach on the weekend. They go to the river on the weekend. They go anywhere and everywhere but church. Do you know why? Because they're trying to escape the life they have.
We're not trying to escape at church on the weekends. We're not escaping the life we have. We're building the life we want. That's what we're doing. That's what we're doing.
The river doesn't build your life. Vegas doesn't build your life. The beach doesn't build your life. Jesus does. That's why we come here.
That's why we gather. We're building the lives we want, the lives we're called to. You see, there's something amazing about hearing the words of God. Jesus says this in John 15:3. This is one of the most bizarre texts in the Bible, and it's just amazing.
Some of you, you you come to church and you feel bad. That's because you didn't hear the good word from Jesus. Listen to what Jesus says to his his disciples in John 153. He says, you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. You see the words of God are like a carwash, and they clean us.
I was at pastor's retreat this weekend, and and one of our pastors was trying to explain Bitcoin to me. Right? Amen, old people. We're just like, okay. Wait a minute.
Say that again. You know? I mean, I think I think EFTs are gonna be an old person cuss word. What the EFT? Right?
You know, I mean, like, you know, actually it's ETF. Right? Whatever it is. Right? However it is, I'm old.
But here's what he was saying. He was saying, no no no no no. He said, you know that dollar in your wallet? He said, it has value because people have agreed it has value. It's just a piece of paper with a number on it, and it's green, but people have agreed it has value.
You see, what we learn in church, what we learn from Jesus is we have value. Not because I feel it, not because you say it, but because God said it. You have value and he's declared it so. You are clean. Why?
Because the word I've spoken to you. You see, the sum of your value isn't what you did last night. The sum of your value is not what you will do today. The sum of your value is not what you will accomplish in life. The sum of your value is that God has said you're valuable.
How valuable? Worth his only son. Come on, parents. What in this world is worth your only child? Like, I love you guys.
I'm not trading you for my kid. You're on your own. I'm a love you. But god looked at you, god looked at me, and he said, you are so valuable. I'm willing to trade the life of my one and only son for a relationship with you.
You are already clean because of the words I've spoken. But here's the thing we need to know as Christians, I know not everybody here today is a Christian, and that's okay. Sandals is a safe place to learn and figure out what it means to be a Christian, and if you wanna be 1. But for those of us who call ourselves Christians, for those of us who call upon the name of Christ, who say, he's King, I'm not. He's Lord, I'm not.
He's the boss, I'm not. You need to know this. The Lord Jesus is clear. Not only does he say words can build, words can tear, words can set free, he says you will be accountable for your words. In Matthew 22, Jesus says this.
But I say, even if you were angry with someone who's been angry? Amen? I mean, oh my gosh. That is my spiritual gift. He said even if you are angry, you will be subject subject to judgment.
If you call someone an idiot, listen to this, you are in danger of being brought before the court, and if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell. Why is that? Words are powerful. Your words can disrupt someone. If you tell someone you're dumb, what if they believe you?
What if you tell someone you're worthless? What if they believe you? You see, words stick. Words stick. I was at the grocery store.
This guy came up to me. He says, hey. That's never a good sign. Hey. Are you Matt Brown?
I was like, yes. He says, I owe you an apology. Okay. This got a little better. He said, I've been telling people for years you're an idiot.
He said, and he almost cried, but I just buried my sister this week, and she gave her life to Christ in your church. Thank you. Now, amen. Now, listen. Hold on.
I forgave him. I accepted his apology. It doesn't change all the people he's told for years that I'm an idiot. Wait for a second. What about the people who needed to come to church and that was the week they were gonna get saved?
Oh, but that guy's an idiot. You see just words, and we can make it right. But he's not just accountable to me. He's accountable to every person he spoke and the impact those words have. How do you fix that?
It's impossible to track down every single person. Right? It's impossible. That's why Jesus says you you have no idea the power of your words. You see before Hitler convinced Germany to murder Jews by the 1,000,000, he had to talk bad about them publicly.
You see, it started with his words, and that's where it goes. Words change minds and minds allow sin when we believe wrong things. We gotta be careful. We gotta be careful with what we say. So Jesus is gonna hold me accountable for my words, and let me tell you something.
I've spoken badly about people. I've sinned against people. I've done wrong. I've gossiped. I've slandered.
I've done all these things. I need to learn to control my tongue. And oh, by the way, the Bible says pastors and teachers, we will be held accountable tenfold. So pray for me. Pray for me.
On judgment day, that heat, it's probably me. Just be like, yeah, that's our pastor. It's gonna be a while. Everybody else relax. We're all gonna stand before the Lord and be judged.
Now I believe I'll be saved because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I still have to answer for what I did as a servant and so will you. So what do I do as a Christian? K? I'm talking to Christians.
As a Christian, I need to learn to speak carefully. If you Google my name, don't do it right now, you're going to find the worst things I've ever said in 25 years as a pastor. Those are the first things that are on Google. Do you wanna know why? I wasn't careful.
I wasn't careful with my words and even in communicating things I believe, I said them poorly. And those are the first things that come up. Listen to me. Christians, I love you. Your friends and your family will not remember your best words.
They will remember your worst. So So when you're at Thanksgiving dinner, listen to me, there's more at stake than whatever's happening politically. There's more at stake than whatever's happening publicly. What what what's happening for eternity is the most important thing, and you are not standing for Jesus by insulting someone with your political opinion. James says this.
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters. Understand this. Why? We don't understand it. You all pray about, if that's you, you all.
You're like, I don't know if it It's you. You all must be quick to listen. Do the math. God gave you 2 ears and one mouth. You must all be quick to listen and slow to speak.
Come on now, all my social justice warriors, my Instagrammers, my tweeters, I gotta get my opinion out there. Do you? Or could you step back? Could you pray? Could you relax?
Think about what's happening this week. Think about the social media storm because something's been leaked. We don't even know if it's true, and we're already on our side, your side, ready to kill each other over something that hasn't even been released. Interesting. While they're not following the Lord, let them speak.
We're commanded to be slow to speak, quick to listen, and slow to get angry. K? What do you need to do if you're angry? You need to calm yourself down. You need to calm yourself down.
There's gonna be enough anger on judgment day. The Lord's got it. He's good. He's good. And your anger is gonna do nothing good in your life.
And by the way, I think we're all getting played by both sides and every side just to get angry, so we watch their stupid channels. I honestly think our media wants this country to burn down just so they can get viewers. They don't care at all about our neighborhoods, our schools, our kids. They care about ratings. And we need to remember that.
Next, as a Christian, again, as a Christian, I need to learn to speak the truth lovingly. And somebody like, that's what I'm doing pastor, speaking the truth in love. Well, tell your face. Right? Your face does not spell love.
You know? You ever seen those marches in the name of love? They're all so angry. Like can you imagine, you ever seen these marches in the name of love? You're like, oh, if I go there, I'm getting beat up.
You know? It's like that's not the Okay. I just because you write love on your poster doesn't mean you have it in your heart. So Ephesians 4:15 says this. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ.
I was talking to one of our pastors this week, and he's This is what he said. He said, Matt, the public me doesn't need to change. He said, it's the private me. I was like, oh. We all have to be so careful.
We all have to be so careful. And some of you are like, well well, pastor, what's your view on Roe v. Wade? My view has always been the same. I care about the kids.
I think abortion's wrong. I I I I don't know how many times how many times I more I need to say that, but I also care about the moms. I care about the young women. I care about these these these these poor ladies that find themselves in a situation where they don't know what to do. I care about both, so I gotta be careful that I don't get caught up in a tennis match between 2 parties that just wanna be elected.
That's all they care about. So we gotta be really, really careful what we say. We gotta be really, really careful how we say it because our tone may win us an argument and lose a soul for all eternity. So pray about it. And I think it's always better to tweet it and delete it and pray about it to the next day.
Tweet whatever you want as long as you hit delete. Next, as a Christian, so think about this. I've got to learn to speak carefully. I have to learn. I have to learn to speak lovingly.
Those are You don't pray about those things. Those are commandments. Right? That's what you have to do. That's the bare minimum.
Be careful and be loving. But here's something I want you to pray about. As a Christian, I can ask God that I might be able to speak, listen to this, prophetically. You see, there's something more powerful than an opinion. It's called the Spirit of the living God.
The Spirit of the living God can move and speak through you, male or female, young or old. The Bible says the Holy Spirit has fallen upon all of us who believe, and we can speak the word of God. And some are like, I'm not sure, pastor. I know, I knew you would be here. So I'm gonna give you this verse.
1st Thessalonians 5 19 through 21, do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Hold on. Do not scoff at prophecies. You wanna know why young people aren't coming to church? They're not hearing God.
They're not hearing God. You know what they're seeing? They're seeing ritual. They're seeing ritual, age old rituals that care more about the ritual than people's relationships with God. When's the last time you heard from God?
That's a prophecy. That's the word of God speaking through you to someone else. And you say, well, pastor, I I I've never prophesied. Have you asked for it? Have you asked?
Holy Spirit, speak through me. I don't know what to say. That's when we pray. Holy Spirit, speak through me. I I I don't know what to say.
Holy Spirit, speak through me. I was talking with a a Muslim woman this week, and she was asking about my sermon. She said, you write them all out, and I said, no. No. No.
No. She said, why not? She said, aren't you afraid that you won't know what to say? I said, I'm actually afraid that I will know what to say, and I'll get in the way of the Holy Spirit. She said, you don't you don't write all that stuff down?
I said, no. I gotta leave room for God. I said, sometimes I'm just as surprised as you are at what comes out. That was good. I should live that.
Amen? Somewhere my wife's going, amen. Right? Writing that down. So do not scoff at prophecies.
Okay? But test everything that is said. Just because somebody said God said it doesn't mean he said it. People like to use God's name a lot. That's actually what I think the Ten Commandments means when it says don't take the Lord's name in vain.
Don't put God's stamp on it if he didn't approve it. But hold on to what is good. So we're in 1st Timothy. Do you ever wonder where we're gonna get to that book? Yeah, and some of you are like, yeah, I thought we were in a series.
1st Timothy. 1st Timothy 118 through 20, just 2 verses. Timothy, my son. Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you. Listen to this.
Here's my instructions for you. Based on what? The prophetic words spoken about you. The prophetic words spoken about you, May they help you fight well in the Lord's battles. Cling to your faith in Christ and keep your conscience clear.
For some people have deliberately violated their consciences, and as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked. Oh, man. And then the apostle Paul goes varsity. May calls these guys out by name forever. Hamias, unfortunate name.
You. Oh, and Alexander are my two examples. He said, I threw them out and handed them over to Satan. Whoo. I've never done that.
Think about that. So what? They might learn not to blaspheme God. What's he challenging him? Their words, the things they were saying.
You see prophetic words, listen to this, help people heal from their past. Some of you are living under the burden of what your dad or mom said 20, 30, or 40 years ago. Some of you are are living under the weight of what your ex said. You're ugly. You're no good.
You're crazy. And those words are controlling your life. And a prophetic word can heal you. It can heal you. You are not who the world says you are.
I am not who Google says I am. I'm who Jesus says I am. And a prophetic word can heal me, and it can heal you. A prophetic word isn't I love you. A prophetic word isn't you're beautiful.
A prophetic word is thus saith the lord, God has spoken, be free. You see, a prophetic word loosens the chains and the binds of Satan that are on us all. That's what a prophetic word does. It sets us free from the hurts of our past. Man, I don't know what's happened to you.
I don't know who's hurt you, but I know this. Jesus can heal you. And for some of you, listen to me, all my Christians sitting in this church, you might be sitting next to a person right now who's never heard the words you matter. You know how I usually end the service with I Love You Sandals Church? I'll never forget the day I was shopping, and this woman came up to me, and she had tears in her eyes.
And she said, thank you. And I said, for what? She said, you're the only person who's ever says they love me. What do we do with that? That's our world.
But here's the thing about prophetic words, man. They direct people in their present. Do you know what young people are starving for? A word from God. A word from God.
The world doesn't care about them. The world uses them. Prophetic words can warn people of the future. The apostle Paul says we went ashore. We found a local group of believers.
Who, pastor Matt, nobody important enough to name, like you, like me, Not big deals. And we stayed with him a week and, listen to this, and these believers, men, women, young and old, prophesied through the Holy Spirit. Think think about the apostle Paul just showed up and he needed a word from God. I don't care who you are, every single one of you needs a word from God. The apostle stinking Paul.
I know you're not supposed to say that. He wrote half of our bible. He needed a word from God. And so the believers, the small group, spoke over him that Paul should not go to Jerusalem. They said, Paul, we think you're gonna be hurt, thus saith the Lord.
And they were right. But here's the thing about prophetic words, man. Prophetic words launch people into their ministry. They don't just heal. They don't just give hope.
They launch you and I into our ministry. First Timothy 4 14, do not neglect the gift you have, which is what most of us do. Most of us are neglecting the gifts that are divinely given to you. He says, which was given to you by what? The prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
I don't know fully why I am who I am today, but I remember vividly when things changed. I was a youth pastor in Porterville, California. It's right in between Fresno and Bakersfield, which is not actually true, but those are the only two markers I can give you to for you to kinda figure out where Porterville is. People in Porterville don't even know where they are. And I got to preach at this church.
Almost everybody's white. Everybody's farmers. One black dude, Chris Nantz, played the piano. I preached my first sermon. What'd you preach on?
I have no idea. I hope it was the Bible. I hope I I hope I said something from scripture. I don't know what I preached on, I don't know what I said, but I will never forget what Chris Nantz said. He came up to me afterwards, tall, young, African American man, handsome, and just in in a special way that only Black people can, which I don't know why he was going to this church.
I don't know what he did wrong in life to end up in Portugal, but he was there. And he just said, woah. Woah. He said, I cannot wait to sit back and watch what the Lord Jesus Christ himself is gonna do through you. He said, people, people.
Yeah. Old, white, crotchety people, people. This man's anointed. I I I was like and he was like, you, thank you, Chris Nantz, for being the lord's voice for me. What if god wanted to use you to be the lord's voice for somebody else?
It changed my life. I was the preacher. I needed the word. Prophetic words are especially important to our kids. I I can I let me just say this?
What if instead of being a critic of the upcoming generation, we started being prophetic for the next generation? What if we spoke over them? Instead of putting them down, we lifted them up. First Timothy 118, this I charge and entrust to you, Timothy, listen to this, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you. About you.
Man, I don't know how many of you guys got to come to Easter service, but for those of you who missed it, you missed it. I've never seen God do anything like that in my life. We had 5,977 people across all our campuses and across all our services stand up and say, I repent of my sins, and I believe in the lord Jesus Christ. I don't know if you're familiar, but there's there's a number in the book of Acts that's numbers about 5,000. It was incredible, but it wasn't just the people who stood up and gave their lives to Christ.
I saw a young man in our church. His name is Luke. He's married. He goes to our church. And I said, Luke, you have no idea how much joy it brings to my heart to see you here today.
You see, when Luke was born, his mom and dad were divorcing. I knew it. I went to his house. His dad was one of my best friends. I knew that Luke's life was gonna be tough.
I knew that Luke was gonna be raised by a single mom. And I prayed over Luke. I told him, I said, I prayed over you. I prayed over you that you would be safe, that you would love the Lord, and that you would follow Jesus. And I claimed that in the Holy Spirit over a baby.
And here we are 20 something years later, and here you stand. He started crying. His wife's crying. I'm crying now. That's the power of the prophetic word.
He couldn't even speak English, but his little spirit heard that prayer. When we hold babies in the nurse nurseries, let's prophecy over them. Did you know that when your lord and savior was a baby and Mary held him, it says there were prophecy spoken about him and Mary pondered these things in her heart. Why is that, mamas? Because you don't see all the giftedness there is to your baby, but the church does.
You see, Chris Nance saw something that only the church sees. Man, let's prophecy over those babies. Let's hold those babies in Jesus' name. Think about how bad it is today. Think about the world they're gonna grow up in.
Let's pray over them in Jesus' name. Let's claim them now. Let's protect them now. Let's raise them up. Proverbs 22:6 says this, train up a child in the way that they should go.
And when they are old, they will not depart from it. You see, it is easier to build up a young person than it is to to repair a broken adult. We need to do this. Man, last week, I wasn't preaching. Pastor Fredo was preaching.
I I volunteered, worked into 4 year olds, man. I have never been more scared of ministry in my life. I I was full blown panic attack, man. I was like, these children are gonna eat me. Man, I went in there, I was scared I was scared to death.
My son asked me this week. He said, are you nervous to preach? I said, yes, not as nervous as I was in the 4 year old class. And I went in there. I don't know what to do, and I'm trying to act like I know what to do because I'm supposed to be the boss, right, being fake with myself, others, and God.
And this mom checks in her son. His name's Reuben. Little Reuben didn't want to come in the class. He said, What's wrong, Reuben? He said, I'm afraid of girls.
I looked around. Saw girls in the class. It's me and Ruben. I said, Ruben, I'm afraid of girls too. Let's stick together.
I was so nervous. I didn't know what to do. 10 minutes into the class, there's no social distancing, no masks, whatever disease they have, I have. 4 year olds, they talk right in your face. You can feel the breath.
Like it's like it's just like all over me, man. I'm playing with dinosaurs. It's story time. We had worship. I was sitting next to this young man.
He farted on my leg. I was like I was like, do you need to go to the bathroom? And he's all, no. I have allergies. I'm all he's 4.
You know, I guess your nose, buddy. Not but we got through it, and it was a great time. Listen to me. Then I started to hear the stories of some of the little kids in our class, the broken marriages that they come from, the custody battles their parents are in. That's the best hour of their week.
And you know what we learned? I sat there in class. We learned we watched the little video. We did the little worship song, and then we had questions. Then we had small group.
4 year old small group. Good week or bad week? 1 little girl's had a bad week. She got spanked. What happened?
She said, I yelled at my dad. I was like, well, maybe next week will be better. But here's the thing. All these kids, all they go through, all their hurt, all their pain, you know what we learned? God created the the day and the night on the 1st day and said it was good.
God created the sky and the water and he said it was good. And then we asked the kids, what'd you learn? They said, God's good. And god loves us. Man, how important is that?
So everyone who's critical of of of young people and and and I wanna speak to our old, crotchety Republicans. I love you. I love you. How can young people know what's right and wrong if we don't teach them? Maybe instead of being a critic, you can become prophetic.
Let me let me let me just ask you, who's teaching them right from wrong? You think our schools are teaching them God made the heavens and the earth? You think our our schools are teaching them God made them? You think our our our schools are teaching them that they have value because God said they are valuable? You think you think they're learning that?
And yet you criticize, criticize, criticize. Why don't you join kids ministry and help me prophesize? Why don't you why don't you come join me? Oh, I'm done with my kids. No.
No. No. What did Paul say? Timothy, my child. It ain't his child.
But Paul said, in the name of Jesus, you are. Instead of walking in a church and saying, these kids, you need to save my kids. That these are these are my kids. And I'm gonna pray over them and I'm gonna teach them and I'm gonna love them. I'm gonna hold them when they're a baby.
I'm gonna teach them the word of God when they're when they're little, I'm gonna teach them how to read the Word of God when they're in elementary school, and I'm gonna teach them how to live it when they're in junior high and high school ministry. And then, oh my gosh, I'm gonna come alongside them when they're a young adult, because, God, that's scary. Like, think about what our world does. Be a child. Be a child.
Be a child. Grow up. That's our world's world's plan. What if we came alongside them and say, I know what it means to be 18, to be 20, to be 25. I know what it means to hold a baby, and they don't come with instructions.
I looked everywhere. I was like, okay. I had no idea what to do as a dad. What if we actually got in groups? We invited young people, and you could be their babysitter so they could have 10 minutes alone.
Listen, this is what the Bible says, where there is no prophetic vision, people cast off restraint. You know what that means? When a generation quits hearing from god, they make it up on their own. And when they make it up on their own, they pay the consequences. Sandals Church, I beg you.
I beg you as your pastor. Let's invest in the next generation. Let's not criticize. Let's prophesize. Let's challenge them not to become like what we are or what we were in our generation, but to become who god's called them to be in their generation And to get out of the way to get out of the way and to make room for the next generation of leaders to hand this church off and just say, man, we're gonna we're gonna cheerlead you.
We're gonna we're gonna praise God for you. We're gonna celebrate you. Pastor Dan Zobardi is our executive pastor, and we spent 5 hours in the car yesterday. All we talked about all we talked about was how we're gonna transition this church to the next generation. I'm gonna be the lead cheerleader for whoever comes next.
I'm a be celebrating them, praying for them because I know how bad that job is gonna be. Yeah. You have no idea. Stop laughing. And I'm gonna be their best support and their best prayer warrior because this isn't my church.
It's his. It's his. So what I wanna do is I just wanna I wanna speak a word of prophecy over everybody today. We're gonna start with the men, and then we're gonna end with the ladies and the moms. Amen?
So if you're a man, would you just stand up? I wanna speak a word over you. Again, this is not this is not what the world says. This is what your lord and savior says. You are a man.
Do you hear me? You are a man, and this world does not see you or love you. It criticizes you and it tears you down, but the Lord made you a man, And you have no idea how strong you are, and the lord loves you, and the lord will support you. And if you're called to be a dad, the lord will help you be a dad. If you're called to be a husband, the lord's gonna help you be a husband.
Don't ever be ashamed of being a man. God created you this way. The world may hate you. The Lord loves you. This is the word of the Lord.
Amen? Ladies, please stand up. Ladies, I love you. I love you. The world says equality with men is your calling.
That's way too low of a ceiling. You are not called to be me. You are called to be a daughter of the king. God made you a woman, and that is awesome. And that is awesome.
Find pleasure and joy in being a woman and be the woman that God's called you to be. Just like I said, you can prophesy. The word of God says it you can. You can speak for the Lord. Those are his words, not mine.
You are beautiful, you are his daughter, and you are his beloved. Think about this, ladies. He calls his church his bride. When he thought of the relationship he wanted to love forever, he used something to refer to your femininity to choose what he wanted to be with forever. That's because he loves you.
He loves you. And I wanna pray for our moms. Even the Lord Jesus needed a mama, and your kids need you. Some of his last words were to take care of her. I think it's hard to be a mom today.
I love you. You are loved. Raise those kids in the way that they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it. And even if they are far away from God, those words still haunt them, and they know the truth. Let me pray over all of us.
Heavenly father, I just pray in Jesus' name that we would be a people that speak for you, that stand for you, that our words would be spoken carefully and lovingly, but always truthfully. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.