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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 Moy Navarro, and I'm the campus pastor at Sandals Church Anaheim. We're so happy to have you join us as we listen to this incredible message. If 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 Justin McVey:I've got to start with a confession today. Turned 45 years old a couple weeks ago. Thank you. Thank you. But I just I feel old now.
Pastor Justin McVey:Alright? Some of you laughed because you're young and you're like, you are old. You're 45. Some of you laughed because you feel my pain. You know what's going on.
Pastor Justin McVey:And and what makes it worse is over the past year, I've spent a ton of time hanging out with teenagers, with Sandals youth. In fact, I got to go to Sandals youth summer camp and it was amazing. It was powerful. God showed up in just a mind blowing way. But I'm telling you, I had some real with self moments while I was there.
Pastor Justin McVey:I I realized that listen, camp food does not interact with my body the way it used to. I I also realized sleep at my age is not optional. I was talking with with some of the teens, I'm like, you guys getting a lot of sleep this week? And and they're like, yeah, we got six hours of sleep. I'm like, you slept for six hours last night?
Pastor Justin McVey:They're like, no, that's the whole week. Alright. Alright. And then I just realized that in general, I probably know more about dinosaurs than teen culture. Alright.
Pastor Justin McVey:Like like they have this whole other language that they speak that makes no sense that, you know, I've got my middle school daughter who's running around yelling six seven, six seven. I'm like, what is that all about? My son's talking about Riz and telling me it's not that deep. My daughter, my oldest started referring to me as as my king. My king.
Pastor Justin McVey:I'm like, okay. I'm I'm okay with that. I'm like, maybe you could get your mom to refer to me that way as well. I'm gonna get in trouble for that one y'all. Gonna get in trouble.
Pastor Justin McVey:But my favorite one that I've learned that they have taught me is is a phrase called aura farming. Alright. You guys heard that one, aura farming. Now here's what aura farming means. It it means cultivating a vibe.
Pastor Justin McVey:That's another word. That's why I put persona. So others will perceive you as effortlessly stylish, confident, superior in some way. Anyway, often now this is how this is this is how you or a farm. Often through carefully curated posts, poses, outfits, gestures, language, etcetera.
Pastor Justin McVey:Now be honest, y'all. You oral farm sometimes. Let's let's just we're all there. We're all oral farmers in this place. Right?
Pastor Justin McVey:Like, look, this morning, as I opened my closet door to pick what I was going to wear, I thought to myself, what can what can I wear that will be fashionable, trendy, yet make me seem approachable and knowledgeable knowledgeable, slightly mature? Like I was I was oral farming. I was worried about what you how you would perceive me, what you would see and and listen, we all do it. It's not just on social media. When we're when we're out with friends, when when we're hanging out with our family even.
Pastor Justin McVey:We we worry so much about what people think about us and we try to present ourselves in a way that they'll think we're something or someone we're not. And I'm sad to say that we do this in church too. It just breaks my heart that on the outside we do all the things so that so that people will look at us in a certain way. They'll think we're good people. We follow the rules.
Pastor Justin McVey:We check the boxes. In some ways it makes us feel good about ourselves. And while we might enjoy the the immediate results, makes us feel good for a little bit, people begin to notice us. Let's be honest, on the inside, it's exhausting. It's hard work being someone you're not.
Pastor Justin McVey:That's the reality of the situation and and it leaves us feeling isolated. It leaves us feeling lonely. We're we're a stranger in our own skin. And the saddest part is that if you keep it up long enough, you begin to lose who you really are. And instead, you just become who everyone else wants you to be.
Pastor Justin McVey:In today's passage in Matthew that we're going to dig into and look at, Jesus is going to challenge us to take a long hard look at what's what's really inside of us. He's going to force us to answer the question. Does does who I am on the inside match what everyone else sees on the outside? So if you've got your bibles, open them up, turn to Matthew chapter 15. We're gonna be starting in verse one and it says, some pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus.
Pastor Justin McVey:Now that phrase from Jerusalem is key because that tells us that the big dogs just showed up. Right? They've pulled into town. These are very very powerful people that Jesus is about to go toe to toe with. They were the influencers of the day.
Pastor Justin McVey:They they were religious, political, cultural leaders. The the honestly, the crowds, the people Jesus was teaching to, they looked up to these people. They wanted to hear what these people had to say. It was like when you get called into your boss's boss's boss office like it was serious business here. And so they come up and Jesus is teaching the crowds and and it says they ask him verse two, why do your disciples disobey our age old tradition for they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.
Pastor Justin McVey:Hand washing. We're talking about handwashing. They came all the way from Jerusalem to call out Jesus that his disciples were not washing their hands. Now, don't get me wrong. I got kids.
Pastor Justin McVey:And if if I hear that the door to the bathroom open before the toilet is finished flushing, I'm like, no. Get back in there. That's nasty. Go wash your hands. Don't get me wrong.
Pastor Justin McVey:Washing hands is important, but it seems kind of silly. Now in reality, this was actually a small piece of a much larger issue. You see with within the Mosaic code, within the law of Moses, there there's 613 individual laws. Laws that that God gave the nation of Israel to govern every part of their life, to to help them focus everything they were on him. Now, 613 sounds like more than enough to me.
Pastor Justin McVey:But what happened is over time, the religious leaders, the pharisees, the scribe, they came in and they begin to do what they called build a fence for the Torah. They said, alright, if if here's the line that we're not supposed to cross, let's come back and let's set up tradition. Let's set up rules and regulations right here so that no one can get through them. And here's the deal. Jesus, he liked to come in and kick those fences over because he says, didn't put them there.
Pastor Justin McVey:This isn't a part of my law. It's not a part of my truth. And so in verse three, Jesus replied, why do you? Jesus doesn't even answer their question. He's like, oh, really?
Pastor Justin McVey:Handwashing? Let's talk about you guys. Let's talk about what you guys do. And why do you by your traditions violate the direct commandments of God? For instance, God says now notice the difference here.
Pastor Justin McVey:He goes from you say to God says, honor your father and mother and anyone who speaks disrespectfully a father or mother must be put to death. He's quoting the law. But you say, that's what God says, but you say it's all right for people to say to their parents, sorry, I can't help you. For I have vowed to give God what I would have given to you. In this way, you say that they don't need to honor their parents.
Pastor Justin McVey:And then pay attention to this next line. This is mic drop, mind blown, no, he didn't preach at Jesus moment. He says, and so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. Whoo. Clock that.
Pastor Justin McVey:Okay. Jesus is calling them out for manipulating the system. Not only had they built a fence, but now they were using it to to disobey the law. This whole idea, what he what he's referring to is this idea of the Jewish principle of korbit, which there were things in life that you could say, this is set apart for God. It's holy.
Pastor Justin McVey:It's beautiful. It's dedicated to him. And I'm not giving it to anyone else. I'm not using it for anything else. This is just for the work of God.
Pastor Justin McVey:What the Pharisees were doing, they were taking money and property that rightfully should have gone to help care for their aging parents. But they didn't wanna support their parents, so they said, oh, this is this is Corbin. This is dedicated to God. This is set apart for him. And so sorry mom and dad, we can't help you out.
Pastor Justin McVey:Sorry, we don't have what it takes. Jesus is like, when you do that, you're directly violating the God, the the law. You've created a a culturally acceptable, religiously justifiable way to do what you want. And you've ignored the heart behind all of God's instructions to you. You see, the first thing I want us to realize today as we dig into this passage is that disciples of Jesus must choose God's truth over what is culturally acceptable.
Pastor Justin McVey:Listen, second Timothy four three and four. Paul writes to Timothy who's a young pastor and he says this, for a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. That's where we're living.
Pastor Justin McVey:That's the that is the world we're in and we we live in a culture where it's so easy to become focused on the the newest trend, the latest fad, the next political movement that we forget the timeless truth of God. Listen, whatever you want to believe nowadays, whoever you want to demonize, whoever you want to idolize, whatever problem needs to be fixed, let's be honest. You can find someone on TikTok who's going to reinforce your belief, your truth, tell you that this is right. They're gonna justify your decisions. You wanna only eat vegetables?
Pastor Justin McVey:Someone says that's the best way. You wanna only eat protein? There's someone out there. Yes. Just eat protein.
Pastor Justin McVey:You think president Trump is the antichrist? TikToker will tell you that. Oh, maybe it's governor Newsom. They'll tell you that. The the government controls the weather.
Pastor Justin McVey:Gender is fluid. Marriage doesn't matter. Jesus never existed. Truth is an illusion. I go on and on and on because there's no end.
Pastor Justin McVey:There's no end to all of these these views that have become culturally acceptable. So how? How in a world with so much noise do we know what truth is? Right here. This book.
Pastor Justin McVey:This book is more than just a book. It contains the very breath of God, his inspired words. It contains the truth about who God is, about who he has created us to be and everything we need. Any situation we could face, any question we could have, any truth we need to find is contained in this book. Listen.
Pastor Justin McVey:Come on. When I was a teenager trying to figure out what to do with my life, this book had truth for me. Now, I ignored it and I became a college student running from God, but guess what? This book had truth that drew me back in, that continued to convict me and show what God had for me. What the truth was.
Pastor Justin McVey:When I was a young man trying to decide, is this is this girl? Is she the one? Man, this book showed me how to determine that. Listen, when I left Colorado, my family, everything I had known to to move to to California, this crazy backward state with way too much traffic. When I made the decision to to let go of everything I knew, everything I had built and to take my family and move.
Pastor Justin McVey:Man, it was this book that said, yes, that's God's plan for your life. And even though it's hard, you need to do that. Listen, as an imperfect husband, as a dad of two and a half teenagers, this book, man, it gives me the strength to carry on. Yeah. All the parents.
Pastor Justin McVey:And in the midst of all of the brokenness that this world deals with, the addictions, the affairs, the anxiety, This book holds the key. This book holds the truth, not what's culturally acceptable, not what's easy, but what God has called us to. John eight thirty one and thirty two. So Jesus said to the Jews who has had believed in him, his followers. He says, if you abide in my in my word, if you if you plant yourself in this truth, you are truly my disciples.
Pastor Justin McVey:You wanna be my disciple, you have to play yourself in this. And notice, you will know the truth and the truth will what? Set you free. Listen, as a parent, as a parent, like I set rules in place. There's a certain truth that I try to teach my kids.
Pastor Justin McVey:Don't stick your finger in the light socket. Don't touch the hot stove. Don't eat dog food. Alright. Eat the dog food but make sure you chew it up good.
Pastor Justin McVey:Alright. You'll learn your lesson. Okay? Not toxic. There's nothing wrong there.
Pastor Justin McVey:Then they then they get older. Right? And then it begins to shift a little. I'm like, alright. You know, I've got I've got a teenage daughter.
Pastor Justin McVey:Just got just got her driver's license. I'm like, don't speed. Drive responsibly. Don't date jerks. Alright?
Pastor Justin McVey:Do your homework, do your chores. You want something? Get a job. Earn some money. Buy it.
Pastor Justin McVey:Right? I'm training them to become productive members of society Because one day, I want them to move out on their own so that both then and I can be free. That's that's the goal. Freedom. God's God's word, the truth of scripture was not meant to take away our fun.
Pastor Justin McVey:It's not these rules and regulations and God is waiting to strike us down with lightning when we miss them. It's designed to help us mature, to help us grow in our faith and experience freedom from our sin and our brokenness. Listen, it's not a tool designed to suppress our our desires or our creativity or our expression. In fact, it's just the opposite. The Bible is the key to unlocking the depths of human potential, creating a world where people thrive, where we belong together.
Pastor Justin McVey:It's designed to reveal the truth again of who God is and who he created all of us to be. And in the midst of of holding on to that truth, we become free to pursue all of that. But listen, guys, Jesus was just getting warmed up. He's like, oh, by the way, not only are are you trying to do what's culturally acceptable instead of follow the truth. He goes on.
Pastor Justin McVey:He says, you hypocrites. Pastor Matt likes to say that was Jesus's favorite curse word. You hypocrites. Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you. Now he's quoting scripture which they all would have known for he wrote, these people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.
Pastor Justin McVey:Their worship is a farce. It's fake. They teach man made ideas as commands from God. See Jesus saw right through the Pharisees religious performance. They put on a good show, but they did not care about God.
Pastor Justin McVey:They did not have a relationship with him. They went through the motions and they didn't even know who Jesus was. They missed it entirely. They were only doing it because it looked good. Because it was what they thought people wanted to see.
Pastor Justin McVey:It's what made them feel good about themselves or what got them what they wanted. In some ways, especially with the Pharisees. And let's be honest, sometimes as members of the church, we do it as an excuse to judge others who aren't as religious. Jesus says, you're hypocrites, pretenders, fakes, actors. You're not my disciples.
Pastor Justin McVey:That hurts. Now, how many how many of you grew up in church? How many of you out there? Me too. I grew up in church.
Pastor Justin McVey:Check out this picture. I brought this in from the archives. Look at that. Listen, that is a custom fitted hand sewn, grandma Mac original right there. My grandma sewed that suit, cut it out from the fabric, sewed it up for me.
Pastor Justin McVey:I was getting ready to go to church. I I grew up in church and it was a great experience. I don't want for one moment, but for those of you who grew up in church and you'll have to raise your hand, but how many of you got really good at playing church? Now what I mean by that is just like these Pharisees, you knew all the songs, you knew the hand motions to the songs. Right?
Pastor Justin McVey:You could you could be anyone in that sword drill, get into the scripture and read the scripture and stand up. You knew the bible. You you knew how to pray all all of the things. You showed up at church, you you wore the suit, you wore the bow tie, but did you mean it? What was what was going on when he became a teenager on Friday night looked very different than what was happening on Sunday morning.
Pastor Justin McVey:The person that the friends in the youth group saw was very different than the person the friends at school saw. I grew up not just in the church but with a dad who was a pastor. And I became really good at playing church So much so that when I left for college and went away, I just I lived this crazy double life. In high school there was there was enough fear that my dad would find out. Small town.
Pastor Justin McVey:Everyone knew everyone. I'm like, someone's gonna tell my dad. They know he's the preacher. They know me. But I went to college thousand miles away.
Pastor Justin McVey:No one knew me. No one knew my dad. So I began to check boxes. Now remember I came to the point where I was out all night long with the frat boys. We were hanging out.
Pastor Justin McVey:I went to school in New Orleans my first year of college. Yeah. If you're running from God, New Orleans is a great place to do it. I don't suggest it. But and we were out literally all night long.
Pastor Justin McVey:And I will never forget this day because I got back to my dorm room. I took a shower. I went and grabbed some breakfast. And then I got in the car with one of my other friends and drove to church and led worship for the young adult ministry. And as I sat there leading worship, I thought, you're that hypocrite.
Pastor Justin McVey:You're that Pharisee. You see, as disciples of Jesus, we have to pursue a relationship with Jesus, not just play church. Hosea six six says, I I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you. This is so important.
Pastor Justin McVey:Underline it in your notes. Mark it. Remember this. I want you to know me. Jesus is speaking.
Pastor Justin McVey:God is speaking. He says, I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. I want a relationship with you more than I want you to do all the things. Just pause for a moment and let that sink in. Just just feel the beauty of that.
Pastor Justin McVey:God, the creator of the world, the ruler of the universe, all knowing, all powerful. He isn't demanding submission. He's not calling for judgment. He wants a relationship. Now hold on to that because that may be one of the most beautiful verses in scripture.
Pastor Justin McVey:But what I'm going read next is probably one of the scariest. Matthew seven twenty two says, on judgment day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name. We cast out demons in your name. We performed miracles in your name. We did all the things.
Pastor Justin McVey:We checked all the boxes. We played church. But I, but Jesus will reply. This is the scary part. I never knew you.
Pastor Justin McVey:Get away from me. Church, your eternal destiny is based entirely on your relationship with Jesus. There are no fans allowed in heaven. It's not enough to know about Jesus. You have to know Jesus.
Pastor Justin McVey:You have to have a relationship with him. Now don't misunderstand me. This is this is not an excuse just to say, I love you Jesus. Oh, you're awesome. And then do whatever you want without consequences, without feeling guilty about it.
Pastor Justin McVey:Paul writes and says, should I continue sinning so that grace can abound? Paul's like, no, that's stupid. We don't do that. That's not how it works. But it's it's also doesn't mean that you can ignore all of the active elements in the Christian faith.
Pastor Justin McVey:I cringe every time I hear as a pastor, I get this a lot. People will just come up to me and they'll be like, you know, pastor Justin, I just, I don't need to be in a group because Jesus and me are good. Jesus and me are good. I don't I don't need to serve. I don't need to give.
Pastor Justin McVey:I don't need to be involved in any Jesus and me are good. Listen, let's clear it all up. You should go to church. You should read your Bible. You should pray.
Pastor Justin McVey:You should listen to worship music. You should serve, be in a group, give all of these things. You should honor your parents. You should be faithful to your spouse. You should resist temptation.
Pastor Justin McVey:You should fight addiction. We should do all of these things. But you don't do it to check a box. You don't do it to impress others. You don't do it to earn this this jewel in your crown, gold star mansion in heaven.
Pastor Justin McVey:No. You do it because it deepens your relationship with God. Every time you pray, every time you pray, you are speaking to the God of the universe and you are building a relationship with your heavenly father. Every time you go to church, you get to experience heaven on earth. A small piece of what eternity will be like as you gather together to worship God.
Pastor Justin McVey:Every time you read your Bible, it's not about rules and regulations, but in that moment you get to hear the words of your heavenly father spoken over you. Every time you're generous with your time and your talents and your treasures, in that moment, you get to model what Christ has done and you get to become a little bit more like him. The same is true every time you show love, forgiveness, mercy to someone who doesn't deserve it. You enter in, Paul tells us, to the suffering of Jesus and therefore into his power. It's a beautiful thing when you have a relationship with Jesus and just don't play church.
Pastor Justin McVey:Look at what Jesus says next. He's done with the Pharisees at this point. He's like, get out of here. Go back to Jerusalem. Verse 10 says, then Jesus called to the crowd to come in here.
Pastor Justin McVey:Listen, he said, try to understand. It's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you. You are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth. Then the disciples came to him and asked, do you realize you offended the pharisees by what you just said? I could like I don't know if Jesus did eye rolls or not.
Pastor Justin McVey:But at that moment he's just like, are you kidding me? Yes. I kicked down another fence. You're absolutely right. Jesus replied, every plant not planted by my heavenly father will be uprooted.
Pastor Justin McVey:So ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind. And if one blind person guides another, they'll both fall into a ditch. One of the hardest realities of being a follower of Jesus is that as we deepen our relationship with him, it will have a profound effect on our relationship with others. And sometimes, the hard truth is that as disciples of Jesus, we have to let go of people who refuse to see God's truth.
Pastor Justin McVey:Listen, we all have that one friend. Right? You know the person I'm talking about. You love them, but they are not good for you. Every time you get together, they have a way of encouraging you to do things you have no business doing.
Pastor Justin McVey:Like that was my college roommate. He was a nice guy. He was fun. He even called himself a Christian. But somehow he just knew how to like push my buttons and get me to do things I had no business doing.
Pastor Justin McVey:You see, when you're around these people, the truth seems to get a little blurry, a little complicated. All of a sudden there's compromise. Jesus says, listen, those people are blind guides. I just think about that picture, a blind guide and they have no idea where they're going. They have no idea where their actions are taking them.
Pastor Justin McVey:And eventually, if you continue to hang on to them, if you continue to follow them, you'll both end up in a ditch. And a ditch is no place you want to be. And he gives some very blunt advice on on what we have to do in that moment. He says, ignore them. Then in the Hebrew that word ignore literally means to release or let go.
Pastor Justin McVey:It's not talking about cutting them out of your life. It's not talking about absolutely ending the relationship. I can never talk to you again. I can never see you again. I love Jesus.
Pastor Justin McVey:I'm not playing church anymore and I can't be right now. But you do have to change the way you connect to them. You have to to let go of whatever hold it is they have on you. You have to release that control and and not allow them to continue dragging you places you shouldn't be. This is stop lying to yourself and telling yourself that you're the one leading them, that you're the one pulling them up.
Pastor Justin McVey:It's always easier to pull someone down than it is to pull someone up. And if it comes to the point where they refuse to embrace the truth, you have to let go. You have to let go and trust that God is going do something in their lives. Pray for them. Breach to them.
Pastor Justin McVey:Galatians one ten says, obviously I'm not trying to win the approval of people. Paul is talking about this as a disciple, But of God, if pleasing people were my goal, I wouldn't be Christ's servant. Listen, at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves the question, who are we living for? What is the most important relationship in our lives? And if the answer isn't God first and everyone else after that, what Jesus calls us to do next will basically be impossible.
Pastor Justin McVey:Because the last thing Jesus calls us to in this passage is to surrender our hearts, not just our behavior. Verse 15. Then Peter said to Jesus, explain to us the parable that says people aren't defiled by what they eat. I love this. Every time I hear about the disciples or read about the disciples asking Jesus, Jesus, what what exactly were you talking about?
Pastor Justin McVey:I'm like, okay. I don't feel so bad. I don't feel so bad that there's things I don't understand. We we get another Jesus eye roll here. Don't you understand yet?
Pastor Justin McVey:Jesus asked. And he explains, anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. Alright, Peter. Let's start with the basics. You eat, you poop.
Pastor Justin McVey:You eat, you poop. Pretty simple. Alright. Alright. Peter, you tracking?
Pastor Justin McVey:You got it. Alright, Peter. Okay. You got that. He says, but the words you speak, they come And if if you're in scripture, if you're in your notes, underline this.
Pastor Justin McVey:They come from the heart. That's what defiles you. That's what drags you down. That's what breaks you. Whoo.
Pastor Justin McVey:For here's that phrase again. From the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Not eating with unwashed hands. Jesus is like eating with unwashed hands.
Pastor Justin McVey:That's the least of your worries. Check your heart. You see, Jesus wants us to understand that our heart is more than just the center of our emotions and feelings. It's the core of our identity. What we believe, how we act, our choices between love and hate, courage and fear, who we are as a person, it comes from our heart.
Pastor Justin McVey:And Jesus, he he wants his disciples then and he wants us now to realize, to recognize that it's it's not the traditions we follow. It's not the rules we keep, but it's the condition of our heart that will determine the direction of our lives. Psalm 51, David writes. And understand David writes this in a bad place. He's hurting.
Pastor Justin McVey:He's made some mistakes and he says, you God do not desire a sacrifice. You don't desire penance. These actions are or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. He says, you just don't want me to go to church.
Pastor Justin McVey:You just don't want me to read my bible. You just don't want me to pray a little more. The sacrifice you desire is a broken, the word literally could be translated a surrendered spirit. Notice, you will not reject a broken, a surrendered and repentant heart, oh God. The world judges us by what's on the outside.
Pastor Justin McVey:They judge us by how we look, our clothes, our fitness. They they judge us by what we have, our our houses, our cars, our degrees, our bank accounts, what we do. Are we good at our job? Are we good at sports or dancing or do we go to church? God says, put that all away.
Pastor Justin McVey:I don't care about what's on the outside. I want your heart. That is what defines you. What is on the inside? You can do all the right things.
Pastor Justin McVey:You can you can have all the stuff. But if you haven't surrendered your heart to God, if you haven't given him the core of who you are, your very identity, it won't last. It won't matter. You'll never experience peace. There'll be no joy in your life because at the end of the day, your heart is still empty.
Pastor Justin McVey:And that's what you're gonna feel. You can you can listen to sermons and worship songs all day long, but you'll still cuss at the guy who cut you off in traffic. Right? You're gonna read the Bible all day long, every day, but still struggle with addiction. You can pray over and over and over again, but still constantly fight with your spouse, with your kids.
Pastor Justin McVey:You can go to church every single week. Come on Wednesdays for youth. Tuesdays for young adults. Like you could be involved in everything and still feel alone, unseen, and depressed because you haven't given God your heart. You haven't surrendered that to Him.
Pastor Justin McVey:But here's the good news, guys. Every thing in this passage, everything I've said, everything I've preached to get us here to this truth. This is the power of the gospel and if you don't remember anything else, take this with you. When we surrender our hearts, Jesus transforms our lives. When we surrender our hearts is when we begin to have victory over the things that have enslaved us.
Pastor Justin McVey:When we surrender our hearts is when we begin to experience a feeling of Jesus' very spirit, his power and presence at work in us. Ezekiel writes this, God speaks through him and he says, and I will give you a new heart. I will give you, I will put a new spirit in you. I will take away your stony stubborn heart and I'll give you a tender responsive heart. I love this.
Pastor Justin McVey:I will put my spirit. It's not the spirit of the world. It's not the spirit of fear. It's not the spirit of comparison. It is God's holy spirit in you.
Pastor Justin McVey:Notice, So that through the power of God's spirit, will follow my decrees. Be careful to obey my regulations. You will be able to not just understand the truth through the power of my spirit, but to actually live it. And when we live it, guys, when our life is transformed through Christ, everything changes. Paul writes in Romans two, don't copy the behavior and customs of this world.
Pastor Justin McVey:Church, we were called to be different. We are called to be holy. We are called to be set apart. Don't ever forget that. We are not called to blend in and be like everyone else.
Pastor Justin McVey:Do not copy the world, but let God, there it is, transform you into a new person. Every part of who you are, the way you think, the way you act, the way you relate to people, your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, let him create a new person. When you surrender your heart to God, the very the very core of who you are, something supernatural happens. It's a it's a divine transformation where you receive that new heart, that new spirit, where you become that new person. You know, a couple of weeks ago, Pastor Matt talked about revival and I I'll be honest, I got excited because it's something that I've been praying for for a long time.
Pastor Justin McVey:It's something that I had brought in many at our East Valley campus to begin praying for. It's something we long for. It's something we desire. And I don't know how much you know about revival, but but when people talk about revival, they talk about some crazy stuff happening. Like churches are packed and the bars are empty, Right?
Pastor Justin McVey:Like people are are experiencing supernatural healing. People just they don't want to leave church. They come and and they're there like all night praying and worshiping. People begin to repent. They begin to get real with themselves.
Pastor Justin McVey:All of this stuff begins to happen and we see all of these things. But I need you to understand these these divine miraculous supernatural spirit filled moments are are not where revival starts. They're the evidence of revival in many ways. But what I need you to understand is that revival starts right here. You see when you surrender your heart and Jesus in that moment transforms the very core of who you are.
Pastor Justin McVey:He brings back to life the real you, the true you, The masterpiece he created. The story he wrote before time began in that moment is restored. The beloved son or daughter that he has gone to great lengths to adopt, to forgive by his own life, with his own blood. He says, now that's who you are. It comes back to life.
Pastor Justin McVey:The Bible says we were once dead in sin, but now we're alive to Christ. We're filled with his spirit. This this is revival. The word literally means to live again. And when we surrender our heart and when we're transformed, we live again through Christ.
Pastor Justin McVey:And there is no way when you experience this transformation that you can you can keep living the same way. It radically changes everything about you and as it begins to radically change everything about you, it begins to radically change everything about your relationships, about your family, and it begins to radically change everything about the way you view church. It begins to radically change the way you interact with the Holy Spirit. And then all of a sudden, man, revival, the picture, the evidence of revival is is one person is transformed and then another person is transformed and then another person gets real and then another person surrenders their heart. All of a sudden, man, it begins to well up.
Pastor Justin McVey:And a church full of people whose lives have been transformed, understand, is the wellspring out of which revival flows. Here's my question for you today, wherever you are. If you're watching online, maybe this is the first time you're you're tuning into Sandals Church, maybe you're at a campus and even for those of you right here in the studio. Will you make the decision today to to take hold of the truth, to stop just playing games, to let go of everything and everyone other than Jesus? Will you surrender your heart, all that you are, and allow Jesus to transform you in such a powerful way that it brings revival not just to you, but to your your family, to Sandals Church, and to the whole world.
Pastor Justin McVey:Let's pray. Father, I just I pray in this moment that you would plant the seeds of revival in our hearts. That you would stir in us a desire, God, the truth. A hunger to stop pretending, but instead, God, to approach you in humility, to approach you in transparency, to give you all that we are and allow you to transform us, God. But I pray that shame and guilt would have no place.
Pastor Justin McVey:Would have no place in our hearts, but rather, God, we would know of your love for us, your desire for more for us, God. And we would seek that with all we are. God, we just we love you so much, and we want you more than any thing else. And right now, we just we lift you up. We give you all the honor and the glory and the praise.
Pastor Justin McVey:In Jesus' name, amen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Now what a beautiful word from pastor Justin today, and we pray and hope that God would bring revival in and through your heart, this week as you continue to surrender, as all of us continue to surrender more to him. I wanna encourage you wherever you might be watching, if this ministry, if Sandals Church has blessed you, has helped you as you become more like Jesus, would you pray about supporting the work that we are doing here? You can do that by going to sandalschurch.com/support. Grace and peace.