Embracing Grace: Dropping Stones in Community

1) "I really believe that God has each and every one of us here for a reason, and you may think, okay, well, I came here because L-Dog invited me, and he's such a good-looking dude, or maybe you're like, I'm here because I'm just here to hear Pastor Jimmy's jokes, because he's so funny, and, you know, people, a lot of people pay big money for stand-up comedians that not even, are half as funny as him, I mean, I don't know, I didn't hear anybody say that, but I know y'all are saying that, and, whatever it is that you think you're here for, because of a friend, because of a family member, because of, hey, it's close to the house, whatever, it's more than that, and God put us here to, to do life together, and do ministry together." [01:40] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "It's been a great ride. It's been a great ride. It's been a great ride. And just in our relationship, being together for nine years, reflecting on our own imperfections. And you guys may be surprised to know, we have imperfections. We do. Yeah, I know. It's surprising. And there's many times within our marriage that we've had to... We've had to put the stones down because something about... A lot of times, you throw stones at the person you're closest to. it's... And it's easy to do that without even knowing. Like, just to start accusing, or it's all your fault, or this or that, or... And so, you kind of see the good and the bad." [06:41] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "The Feast of Tabernacle was... The Jewish people celebrated the Feast of Tabernacle as a celebration of God leading them out of slavery in Egypt and through the wilderness to the Promised Land. It's a big deal. Now, the Feast of Tabernacle wasn't just one day. It wasn't just like a one-day harvest festival. You know, it wasn't just like a one-day trunk or treat type thing where you get a free candy until it runs out. No. This was a big deal because this was seven days long. Now, it wasn't just any old seven days because these seven days, you're not supposed to do any work. People would take from their harvest the wheat, the barley, the grain." [11:32] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "And we're talking about drop the stones. It's easy for us to start thinking about all the people that's thrown stones at us. How many of you have ever had stones thrown at you? You remember those, right? I'm not talking about literal stones. I'm talking about spiritual stones. I mean, I guess it could be literal, too. But then you get in this trap. You of where you're throwing the stones at other people. And it can happen. It's a slippery slope. You can get there without even realizing that that's what you're doing. You may be like, well, I'm just standing for truth. I'm just standing for what the word of God says. So were the Pharisees and the religious rulers." [29:12] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "He loves you so much to have a relationship with you. But he also loves you so much not to leave you the way that he found you. He loves you even though you're in a mess that you're in, but he loves you too much to leave you in that mess. do you think? Do you think she's sinning no more? If I told any one of you guys, hey, when y'all leave here today, don't sin anymore, do you think that's, is that something that any of y'all could actually do? Any of us could actually do? No, not as long as you live, like maybe if, like something happened between here and the parking lot." [30:33] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "I think you bring up a really good point, especially with social media, because, that's a whole different way that people now can throw stones. And, it's almost like, you have more boldness to throw those stones, because it's that, like, keyboard courage. And, I've been guilty of it. And, I think a lot of people, like, those subtle, passive-aggressive, like, throwing stones. And then, it's like, then the person, if they do come to you, and it's like, oh, what? Why makes you think I was talking about you? Because you, you put in quotation marks exactly what I said to you the other day." [34:39] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "If we constantly focus on ourselves, we're going to see less and less of the mistakes that other people make. And you can't. Here's the thing. We all get to this place where we, I think, we all struggle with control. And we see people in our lives, especially people that we love or that we're close to, and they keep doing this. Or they keep doing that. And it's like, they just will never get it. And we end up dwelling on and trying to figure out ways to control what they're doing, which then leads to manipulation." [44:37] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "May you drop the stones that you've been holding on to may you be the person that when thrown so thrown stones are being thrown at you you say hey it ends right here i'm not throwing stones back and may you my friend may you my family may we truly be the hands and feet of jesus and may we forever drop the stones grace and peace we love you" [50:32] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)