All right. When it's conquered, it all goes back to the beginning of the chorus. Put it up on the screen.
See, I want us to understand something this morning as we declare this. Why are we declaring this? You know, we've all heard the story of David and Goliath at one point in time or another.
When people would line up in battle arrays, as opposed to having everybody fight, that's what was happening at that moment. Goliath would come out on behalf of the Philistines. He was the champion, and he would call out the champion of Israel. Israel didn't have a champion that felt worthy of going. Everybody, the Bible says, was afraid until David said, "I'll go."
What was the declaration being made by the Philistines? If our giant wins, you serve us. If your champion wins, we'll serve you.
Here's what happens: some of us are sending out the wrong champion. We're not letting God fight our battle. We're trying to do it on our own strength. We're trying to do it on our own ability.
As we're declaring this song, what we're saying is, "It is you, God. You go before me. You fight my battle." It is a surrender of ourselves as we declare, "God, you go."
See, when we get into fights that we're not supposed to fight, we're going to lose. Sometimes that's what we do. We get into battles that are not ours to fight.
So this morning, right there where you are, can you declare, "God, you are our champion. God, you fight the battles for me." Come on, let's just lift...
And Father, we thank you this morning, and we declare it. We trust in you. We wait on you. And we thank you, God, for the victory. We thank you, God, for the victories in our lives. We thank you, God, for the victories in our marriage, for the victories in our health, the victories in our children, the victories in our grandchildren. We thank you, God, for the victories.
And Father, we thank you for the battles that are won. And we thank you, God, for you are faithful. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.
Come on, can you give God a shout of praise all around this room, amen?
Turn to your neighbor. Bless somebody that's next to you this morning. Tell them, "Good morning. God bless you. It's great to see you." Tell them, "It's so good to see you in the house of the Lord." Amen.
God is faithful, and God is good, and God is awesome, man. He never, ever, ever lets go of us. And we go through stuff, but God is still on the throne.
If you're here for the first time this morning, we want to welcome you to 3W Church. It is our honor to have you here with us this morning.
As a matter of fact, if you're here for the first time today, there's going to be a little QR code that'll pop up on the screen. It's also on the back of the pews. Thank you, sir. If you could scan it, we've got a little gift for you that we want to give you afterwards.
And we say it every week. This is our why. We exist to get people to a place where they will acknowledge, trust, and lean on God. We need God daily. I don't know about you. I can be honest and say I need God every day.
So as we wake up in the morning, we should say, "God, I acknowledge you. I trust you. I lean on you today."
Proverbs 3, verses 5 and 6, they say this: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your path."
You and I need direction. You know, here on earth, we used to... Sorry, some of you young people don't know what this is. There are these things called maps once upon a time, atlases. If you were going on a road trip, you had to actually get one.
Or when the internet started, we would go to a place called MapQuest. We would type in our address and the address of the place we were going. You know what you do on your phone right now? And it gives you step-by-step right on your phone. You print it out. It's 17 sheets of paper, and you took it with you on the road trip.
Anybody do that before? Listen, we need direction. If we're honest, many of us in this room, even if we know where we're going, we pop it into the GPS, don't we? Because the GPS will tell you if there's a road closure. It'll tell you if there's some traffic.
We need direction. How much more do we not need direction in our life? God will give us that direction when we trust in him, we acknowledge him, and we lean on him. Amen.
I want to jump into the message. We're in a series that's called Room for Growth. And I'm going to be honest. I want us to think it and say it because we know it's true.
I have not attained it. I've got room for growth. Can you say that with me? I have not attained it. I have room for growth. One more time. I have not attained it. I have room for growth.
If you're watching online campus, put it in the comment box. I have not attained it. I have room for growth. Some of you type faster than others. I haven't attained it. I've got room for growth.
That's something that we need to understand. I'm going to be very honest. I'm 44 years old. I came to Jesus when I was eight. So for 36 years, I've been following Jesus. And I can tell you, I still have room for growth.
Until the day that I die, I'm going to have room for growth in my life. When we give our lives to Jesus, we call ourselves what? Thank you for those three. All right. We'll try it one more time. When we give our lives to Jesus, we call ourselves...
And what does it mean to be a Christian? It means to be Christ-like, a follower of Christ. And the truth is that we need to strive to be more like him. Strive to be more like Christ.
Ephesians chapter 5, verse number 1, says this: "Be imitators of God as dear children." Any parents in the house? You know, like if you're a mom and you've got a daughter and she tries to put her feet in your heels and they go around the house with their heels, right? Like they're trying to follow you or your son, your daughter. They're following you around. They're trying to imitate you.
They're trying to do what you do. They're imitating. They're imitating. They're imitating. They are called to imitate God. Paul actually writes in the book of Corinthians, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ."
That is the reality. You and I need to every day strive to be more like him. Now, what's the truth and what's the reality? We will never be sinless. But every day you and I can strive to sin less.
We'll never be sinless. I mean, you've probably seen t-shirts that say that, mugs, you know, Instagram posts. We'll never be sinless. But every day we strive to sin less.
The closer we get to God, the more time we spend with him, the better we should be getting. And I can tell you honestly, I've got room to grow. So do you.
So I want you to go with me to Romans 12. This is the main passage. This is where this message or this series was birthed from. And I'm going to let the word of God preach this morning.
Watch Romans chapter 12. That's what we should do. We should do it every day, right? Let the word of God speak to us. Romans chapter 12, verse number nine. Romans 12, verse nine. Buckle up, buttercup. It's going to be tough.
Watch. Chapter 12, verse number nine. We read it last week. We're going to read it again. Then we're going to break it down.
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, but fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to what is honorable in the sight of all.
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, "Vengeance is mine. I will repay," says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy's hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. For by doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Verse number nine, one more time. It started, "Let love be genuine." We talked about love last week. We've got room to grow in the area of love. Let love be genuine.
And then look at the next sentence. Abhor what is evil. If you're taking notes, write it down. Let's abhor evil.
So here's the question. What does abhor mean? I mean, if we're honest, we've read that verse. I actually looked it up in multiple translations, and it says it. But I had to look up abhor in the dictionary.
First time I read this. Do you know what abhor means? Watch, it's going to come up right behind you. It means to regard with disgust and hatred.
You know, like when you see something that's disgusting and you're like, you know, like when you're eating and your kids bring up something gross and you're like, "We don't talk about that at the dinner table." Because it makes you a little bit repulsive. You don't, oh, it takes away your appetite. Oh, I don't want to talk about that.
You don't want to talk about that. It's a hate evil. Pastor, we talked about love. What do you mean hate? I thought we're not supposed to hate.
Oh, yes, the Bible actually does say to hate. It actually says there's a time to love and a time to hate. But this is what it's saying right here. Hate evil.
Let me show you two more verses. Look at Psalm chapter 34, verses 13 and 14. Psalm 34, verses 13 and 14. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.
Go to Psalm chapter 97. Write it down. Psalm 97, verse number 10. Look what it says. "Oh, you who love the Lord, hate evil."
If you and I love Jesus and are striving to be more like him, when we see something evil, we should feel disgusted. Disgusted.
But man, do we tolerate evil in our lives sometimes. We... I got room for growth. Oh, that's not that bad. Oh, it's better than I used to do. No, no, no, no. Pablo, hate evil. Hate evil. Be disgusted by it.
As humans, we tend to measure our sins and the sins of others. Oh, that's a white lie. It didn't hurt anybody. How about the fact that it hurt God that we spoke deceitfully and without truth? That's what the verse said.
Go back to Psalm 34 one more time. 34, 13, and 14. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
And then as parents, we teach our kids to lie. I mean, nobody has phones in their houses anymore. But you know when, you know, now it's easy. You just hit the red button or ignore.
But you remember when, like, your phone would ring, and somebody would pick it up, and they would say, "Oh, put on so-and-so." And you're like, "Hello, mom, not here." My mom says, "She's not here."
Yeah, I know what I'm talking about, right? I remember when I was a classroom teacher. I was teaching fifth grade. And this little girl comes in. One day she was absent, and she brings me a note.
The note says, "Please excuse so-and-so, for she wasn't feeling well and was sick," and gives me the note. And this little girl gives it to me and looks up to me and says, "Mr. Perez, I can't lie to you. It was my birthday, and we went to Disney for the weekend."
I said, "Happy birthday, excused." She couldn't lie. She told me, "I can't lie to you." But what do we do? We teach our kids to lie.
Are we truly being like Christ? Well, it got quiet. I'll pass on that. You're going to talk about the big sins. There is no such thing. Sin is sin. And we all sin.
And we all fall short of the glory of God. But every day, as we spend time with God, we should strive to sin. We should strive to sin less and be repulsed by evil, be repulsed by wickedness, and hate it in our lives.
I mean, I'm going to be honest. I said it when we started this series. I'm preaching to myself. Please don't take it personal. I'm not preaching to you. I'm declaring what the word of God says to myself.
This series was birthed out of sitting at my desk, in my house, reading the Bible like I do every day, my daily Bible reading time. And I'm reading this, and it was like gut punch, uppercut, left hook. I mean, God was just smacking me.
Here I am, believer, 36 years, senior pastoring for 12 years, had youth pastors, done all these different things. And God's like, "You're not walking in love all the time. You tolerate evil. You measure it."
Felt like Drago was hitting Rocky. Some of y'all have never seen Rocky. You don't know what I'm talking about. But it's all right. Go watch Rocky. No, okay, sorry.
All right, guys, we need to abhor evil. Abhor evil. Hate evil. Some of y'all are going to go watch Rocky for the first time today. It is Rocky 4 or 5. I don't know. But whatever.
Let's just get back to abhor what is evil. If something's evil, hate it. Don't tolerate it. Don't ignore it. Hate it.
Look in the mirror of the word of God and say, "I got room to grow. God, help me." I mean, I'm just reading to you. I'm not... I'm reading to you what the Bible says.
Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Watch. I'm going to continue to say, "Love one another with brotherly affection."
And then look at the next sentence. Outdo one another in showing honor. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Y'all okay if I'm real for a moment? It's a big pet peeve of mine. It's one of the reasons I try not to go on social media.
Because I see brothers and sisters in Christ, some of them even ministers, pastors, evangelists, prophets, whatever. And they are full of dishonor.
They don't honor. What do I mean by that? Someone who's in a position of honor, for example, the president, whether you like him or not, falls down, and we make fun, and we make fun, and we repost every meme of him falling downstairs.
That is the president of our country. Honor the position. And even if he wasn't the president, he is an elderly gentleman. Honor your elders.
But here we are. Love one... Ha ha ha! Post, post. That's dishonoring. That's dishonoring.
But the Bible says, if you're going to walk like a Christian and behave like a Christian, you should outdo each other in showing honor and being respectful.
Again, whether you like the person or don't, voted for them or not, we should show honor to people. We should show honor to our colleagues, to our supervisor, to our boss, to our teacher, to our parents.
But as believers, we struggle with honoring people sometimes. As believers, we're walking around.
And can I tell you something? I firmly believe we grieve God, and the Bible talks about grieving the Holy Spirit when we sin, every time that we call ourselves a Christian and walk around dishonoring others.
Well, that one hurt. I know, it hurt me too. I have a young man that I disciple. And I remember last year when President Biden fell down those stairs.
And it became a meme. And I saw a bunch of people post it, but this one particular young man that I'm discipling one-on-one posted it, and I picked up the phone immediately and I called him and said, "Take that down right now. That is the president of our country. And you're making fun of him. That's not the mark of a Christian."
Are we living it or are we not? We wonder why people that don't know Jesus don't want to go to church with us. Don't want to hear about God. We're the representation.
And we're showing the world. But strive to be better. Because Jesus lives in us. And we're striving to be like him.
Don't get offended at me. I'm just reading the Bible, guys. I'm just reading what it says, right?
Watch, and then we'll keep reading. Do not be slothful in zeal, but fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
Don't be lazy in your pursuit of God and things that are of the Spirit. That's what it's basically telling you. What does it look like to be lazy in your pursuit of God?
Watch, I mean, we all wake up tired. The Bible says to seek God early. It's not because I'm just, I'm a morning person. I can wake up and as soon as my eyes open, I can go.
But I wake up tired. This summer has been rough for our family, physically and different things or whatever. And you wake up a little tired sometimes, and it's like, "Oh, God will just understand. I just need 10 more minutes," which becomes 20.
And then you're late for everything. And what did we skip? Our time with God. And that's usually what we end up giving up. We give up our time with God.
He'll understand. It's still not right. Let's not be slothful in it. Let's wake up and give God the day.
As a matter of fact, wake up and say, "God, I acknowledge you today. I trust in you today. I lean on you today."
Let's not be lazy when it comes to the growth of our spirit. Let's serve. Look what it continues to say. Look at verse number 12.
Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer.
Can we talk about that middle one for a minute? Be patient in tribulation. Can you raise your hand if you've gone through stuff?
You know, I'm reminded of several passages. Isaiah tells us this: "I waited patiently for the Lord."
"Lord, and renewed my strength. Mounted up with wings like eagles." Those who wait on the Lord, sorry, I mixed two verses. Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.
"Mounted up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint." Psalm chapter 40, verse number one, David writes, "I waited patiently for the Lord, and he heard my cry."
And Jesus, in John 16, says, "I'm telling you all of this, because in the world you will have tribulation. But be of good heart, have peace, I've overcome the world."
So sometimes we come and we're like, "Oh, why am I going through this? If God was real, there wouldn't be hungry people. If God was real, there wouldn't be this."
No, no, God is real, and he tells you there's going to be tribulation. But I'll never leave you alone. I'll always be with you.
My wife and I, whenever we are faced with a circumstance, and we've been through them, and we've been through the ringer on different occasions, I'll look at her, she'll look at me, and we'll remind each other of this: God is still good.
God is still on the way. God is still on the throne, and he won't let go. God is still good. God is still on the throne.
We go through stuff. It doesn't stop him from being good. Come on, parents. We're good parents to our children, but they still go through something. It doesn't stop us from being good.
I remember last year, I talk about my kids all the time. I talk about my wife. I talk about our family and the things. I put it all out there.
And you all see me with my mug, my favorite mug says, "Caution, anything you say or do can be used in a sermon." I was using it today. Some of you all saw me drinking my coffee.
Anything you say or do can be used in a sermon. So last year, Abigail starts middle school, and the second day of school, tryouts for volleyball.
All summer long, she'd been going to the volleyball camp that the school did. Open gym, better said. And she would go every week. She loves volleyball, and she's tall, and she's like, "I want to be a two-sport Olympic athlete. I'm going to do one Olympics as a volleyball player and one Olympics as a basketball player."
All right, mom, let's do it. Let's go. And she tries out for volleyball, and she got cut on day one. 60 kids tried out. 60 girls tried out for an 18-spot roster, and she gets cut on day one.
She runs to mom's office. And she's hurting. She's hurting. I'm hurting. I'm crying. Patty calls me right away, tells me, and I'm hurting because she's hurting. She's going through tribulation.
Why don't you get a picture of it? So we're like, "Well, mama, you still got to play a sport. You still got to do something. You got to be active. So let's check out cross-country."
So she goes to cross-country. And guess what? Finds out that she likes it, is built for it, excels to the point of varsity lettering as a sixth grader.
But she went through tribulation. And sometimes we go through something, and because God is still good, and God is still God, and he's still on the throne, he takes the pain and brings you in.
Be patient in your tribulation. I don't get it. Why? I don't understand. But you're still good. You're still God. And you're still on the throne.
I got room to grow. Because sometimes I want to give up. Sometimes when it gets hard, and the trials, and the tribulation, it's like, "36 years I've been a Christian, God, come on."
I'm with you, David. You're not alone. That's why I picked Patty for you. That's why I gave you three beautiful girls. That's why you got those people around you.
Every time that they're with you, I'm there with you. Be patient in tribulation. Because God will see us through.
And that's what he says. There is the mark of a true Christian. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation.
So the thought, I wrote it down this way. Trials come our way. Let's be patient in the Lord. Trials come our way. Let's be patient in the Lord.
Yes, we go through stuff. But God is still God. He's still good, and he's still on the throne.
And then this next part of that same sentence was this: Be constant in prayer. We need to have a consistent life of prayer. Our prayer life has to have consistency.
We're all excellent at praying when we're going through the trial. We're good at praying when we're going through stuff. But we got to be constant in prayer.
1 Thessalonians 5:17, write it down. It's going to come up on the screen. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says this: "Pray without ceasing."
Second shortest verse of the Bible. Shortest verse of the Bible, "Jesus wept." Second shortest verse of the Bible, "Pray without ceasing."
We've all heard that song, "Don't stop believing." Yeah, we should change it. "Don't stop praying." Constant.
I've said this quote so many different times. Smith Wigglesworth, a man of God that I admire and respect. He was an amazing man of God, preacher of the word, and used by God in a mighty way.
And he would say it this way: "I rarely go more than half an hour in prayer, but I never go more than half an hour without praying."
I'll say it one more time. "I rarely go more than half an hour in prayer, but I never go more than half an hour without praying."
We got to be connected to God. The same way you and I are connected to Instagram, and every 12 minutes we get a notification and check it.
Or your fantasy football league, or fantasy baseball league. Or your email, your text message. We got to have the same connection with God. Constant connection.
Church, I got room to grow. Let our prayer life have consistency. Consistency.
Then look at verse number 13. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Let me put it to you in layman terms. If you see a need, fill the need. This is what we do a lot of times. We see a need, we see something, and we then pray.
"God, send someone." And then God smacks up something, you know, "I sent you." Like, why do you think God let you see it if it wasn't to do something?
Show hospitality. Welcome. Be welcoming. Let's get out of our comfort zone. We are a new creation in Christ.
Oh, no, that's this. Is this who I am? It's who you were. And as a believer, I want to be a believer.
I want to be a believer. I want to be a believer. I want to be a believer. I want to be a believer.
Because I'm becoming more like Christ. Then it continues to say in verse number 14, "Bless those who persecute you, bless them and do not curse them."
We can talk about, go back and listen to last week's preaching. We hit on that one last week.
"Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them." And then verse 15, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep."
Watch. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. As Christians, we have room to grow, and let's walk in empathy.
You and I need to walk in empathy. What does it mean to rejoice with those who rejoice? Man, you got the new job. You got the promotion.
Man, I'm so proud of you, Tony. I'm happy for you, man. Praise God. Honestly meaning it. Not, "Man, that's so awesome. God, when am I getting my promotion? Why do you always bless him? Why do you take care of him? What about me, God?"
That's not legit. That's how a lot of us, that's how we're wired as selfish individuals. No, no, no, no. You rejoice, I rejoice.
And here's the other one. If you're hurting, I'll hurt with you. You know what we do many times as Christians? What do you mean?
Yeah, I don't know, but remember, the joy of the Lord is your strength. Get up. And the person is grieving the loss of a family member.
No, no, no, no. And I'm sorry. This hurts. I'm with you. How do we take care of it? Because if you're hurting, I'm hurting. Because we're the same body.
We're the body of Christ. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Rejoice. Hurt with he who hurts. Weep with he who weeps.
Someone experienced loss, the right answer isn't "Get up." The right answer is "How can I go through this with you?"
Don't just show up at the funeral. Call them next week. Text them. Pray with them. How are you doing?
That should be our mark as Christians, as followers of Jesus. Got very quiet in this church today because this is the word of God.
Please don't get offended at me. This is the word of God. You're going through something. You're not going to do it alone with you. I'm fighting with you. Let's go.
Too many times. God sent someone. No, no, no, no, no. Let's walk in empathy. Let's feel it.
Rejoice with he who rejoices. Celebrate. One of our values at 3W Church is celebrate. We say honor the moment.
It's why if it's somebody's birthday, somebody graduates, something, I'm going to mention it. I'm going to say it because we're going to honor the moment and we're going to celebrate you.
But if you're hurting, we're also going to hurt with you. But if you're hurting, we're also going to ensure that you heal in a healthy fashion.
If y'all had seen my spirit, man, after I read this passage a few weeks ago, I probably looked black and blue.
But that's what the word of God does. Convicts us. Doesn't condemn us. It's not about condemnation. Oh, I can't believe I did this.
And I don't want you to receive it that way. I want you to receive it this way. God, I can still grow. Help me grow, God. Help me rejoice with he who rejoices. Help me weep with he who weeps.
Then verse 16 continues to say it this way. Watch. Live in harmony with one another. Live in harmony with one another. Try to get along.
Find the common ground, people. Just because that guy's a Jet fan and I'm a Dolphin fan, we can still be friends. Let's live in harmony.
Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Haughty is another one of those words we read in the Bible. It's like, what does haughty mean? It's arrogant.
Don't be arrogant. Don't be prideful. Oh, I don't know. I'm in a different place right now. I cannot associate. Not bristly too.
I don't know what happened. I had to go drop off something at the school with Patty, and we had to walk from one place to the other, and all of a sudden, I got sweaty, and then I was running late into a meeting, and I got here, and I did whatever, and then I finished, and Pastor Jose walks into my office.
I was like, "Man, I feel like I smell," and he laughed, and I was like, "Legit. I showered this morning. This is clean clothes. I wore deodorant, but man, going from one campus to the other in this heat, I got sweaty. I got stinky."
Here's the reality. You and I smell, so let's not be haughty. Let's not be arrogant. Let's put aside and recognize we're all sinners in need of a Savior.
We're all under construction, and we all got room to grow. Pastor, I was coming to church today to feel good about myself. You're going to be feeling great, feel no pain when you and I grow in Jesus.
Associate with the lowly. Watch. Somebody's by themselves. Sit with them. Go out of your way.
So proud of, I'm proud of all my kids, always, and I remind them all the time. I'm proud of you. At the end of last school year, I went to Alexandra's award ceremony in her classroom, and she's brilliant.
I mean, she's smart. She got different awards, different things, one of the highest AR point totals, and the things, and all this different stuff, and all of a sudden, the teacher says, "This is my favorite award, and let me read to you what other kids said about this student."
This is voted on by the kids, and it started talking about, "This student, when they see somebody by themselves, they'll go sit with them and ask them if they're okay. If they see people having an argument, they'll sit there and try to bring peace," and started talking about all these different things, and I'm listening to it.
I wasn't even filming it, right? I'm just listening to the thing, and all of a sudden, she says, "The outstanding Christian testimony goes to Alexandra Perez," and I got there, and I cried, and I cried, and I reminded her, "Keep it," right?
Because this is what happens. We do that, especially as baby Christians or younger, but then we get cynical, because we go through trials, and instead of being patient in the Lord, they're going through the trials without patience, for this is cynical, cynicism, and then somebody's on their own, so whatever, it's like, "I got enough stuff to deal with to go out of my way and help that person."
I've thought it too, okay? I've thought it too. If this person only knew what I'm going through right now, but God, you've called me. All right, let's go.
Let's not be arrogant. Let's not be haughty. Let's be wise in our own sight, and then verse 12, I mean, 17, 12, 17, watch.
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. Verse 18, this should be memorized. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
The part that I highlighted there, over and over, so far as it depends on you. I've heard this, I don't know how many times in my life. From my mom, she'll always say this, translate that, let it not be your fault.
Let it not be that you didn't try. Let it not be that it was you. But I've called 10 times, call 12. But I'll do it again.
Can I get up with you? There was this, we were having a text message conversation, and I had been asking this individual for a few months, just trying to work on something and do something.
And about three months had passed, and the person says to me, "Hey, Pastor David, we're just an X, Y, or Z," right? And I kind of lost my cool.
And I wrote back on text, "If you had been honest with me three months ago, I would have stopped bothering you with it." It was a true statement.
Like when I ask you for something and you tell me, "Hey, it was not, you know, whatever," okay, fine, I'm done. So after that day, the person stopped returning my phone calls and answering my texts, text messages.
I've sent emails, I've sent texts. I call once a week because I want to get right with this brother. I wrote him a letter.
The last thing I'm going to try is I'm going to send them a certified letter to their house that says, "I was rude and I was wrong, and I'm sorry." Que no quede por mi. Now it's on them.
That's what the Bible says. But what do we do as Christians? Oh, he looked at me wrong. I'm... Come on, Hispanics. You know what I'm talking about.
That's it. You're dead to me. Like Mr. Wonderful in Shark Tank. You're dead to me. That's what we do as Christians to other Christians. Forget about two people of the world, to other Christians.
They didn't look at me the right way. No, no, let's go back to the empathy. Let's go back about, what about if that person was having a bad day?
So on Father's Day, I took all of our family to eat for Father's Day. And we went to a restaurant, and my dad and I order our meat very differently.
I like my meat well done. He likes it to scream when he cuts it. So the waiter comes up, he's taking everybody's order. And he gets to my dad.
And my dad looks at him the way that my dad does. And looks at him and says, "Look at me. I want my steak, listen to me, look at me, medium rare. Did you get that? I want it to moo."
He says it multiple times and says it to him multiple times, okay? And I'm like, "Oh my God. All right. Oh man. All right."
Y'all know what happens, right? Y'all know what's coming next. Here comes the plate. Here comes the steak. And here comes the cut.
And there ain't no red. There ain't no pink. Ain't nothing. I said, "Here is the steak," as my dad would say, right?
He's like, "You know," and I'm like, "Oh God." All right. The waiter sees it. He's a young man, nice guy, right? I've gone to this restaurant a bunch of times.
And so he's like, comes in and he sees like, like I make eye contact with him. He's like, "What's wrong? Did they make the steak wrong?"
He's like, "Oh my gosh, I put it in." Like your dad looked at me in the eyes and said to me, he made me repeat it to him, medium rare, you know?
And I'm like, "Papa, I know you're not the one back there cooking. I get it. Like you put the order in right. Get it."
And they made him a new steak, whatever. But here's the, here's what I want to get to. What do we do many times? Say we lose it. We blow a gasket.
We don't live at peace with people. We don't walk in empathy. We walk in fear. We want everybody to have grace with us when we have a bad day.
I mean, how many of you like grace when you have a bad day? When you were in school, have you forgotten assignment? You want a grace? You want a mercy?
Oh, but do we love to withhold it from others? My friends, that is not of God. And we have room to grow. All of us.
Until the day that we meet our maker, when we close our eyes on earth, we need to understand we've got room to grow.
This guy right here should make a t-shirt with like thumbs and say, "This guy has room to grow."
And as we spend time with God, worship team, if you can start making your way to the altar. As we spend time with God, we begin to smell like God.
We begin to be like him. We'll never become sinless, but every day we can sin a little less.
And when you and I strive to grow in him, when you and I can acknowledge I'm a sinner in need of a savior and I've got room to grow.
And we start treating each other that way. And we start praying constantly. And we start to walk with empathy towards others.
When we start to put ourselves in other people's shoes that they might've been having a bad day. When we start hurting with he who's hurting and rejoicing with he who rejoices.
When we start to act like Jesus, can I tell you what's going to happen? The world will recognize our God and they'll want him too.
The way that we live our lives and conduct ourselves as believers, guys, it's preaching Jesus or it's...
Help me see the areas in my life that need to be stretched. Can we stand to our feet this morning?
Can that be our prayer? To God this morning. God, can you help me grow? God, can you help me be more like you? God, can you point...
Father, this morning, that is our prayer. God, would you help us grow and be more like you?
Father, would you help us to see that no matter the trials or the tribulations, you're still good. You're still God. And you're still on the throne.
With every head bowed, with every eye closed, I don't want to continue on without giving everyone the opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of their life.
Perhaps you are sitting here, you're hearing this message. And what the Lord convicted you with, what the Holy Spirit tugged on your heart, is that you've never surrendered your life to God.
See, I was talking about the marks of a Christian. And we have room to grow as Christians. But the first step in the life of any person that calls himself a Christian is to become one.
And we do that by making Jesus the Lord of our life. The Bible says, we've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
The Bible says, that for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life.
And I want all of us to ask ourselves this question this morning. Do I believe that Jesus is the son of God? Yes or no?
And if you can say yes, you're halfway there. The other half is what Romans chapter 10 teaches us, that if you confess with your mouth what you believe in your heart, you shall be saved.
It's not the prayer that we're going to pray that saves you. It is the belief in what you are declaring or confessing.
And so if today you want to make Jesus the Lord of your life, or perhaps today you just need to get right with God and rededicate your life to him.
If that's you, every head bowed, every eye closed, today you say, "I want to get right with God. Today I want to give my life to God." Can you just raise your hand right where you are?
And I want you to pray this with me, and we're going to pray it with you and say, "God, I give you my life. You are mine. In Jesus' name."
If you did that today for the first time, truly believing what you were saying, the Bible says there's a party going on in heaven for a sinner that repents and gives their life to God.
And Father, we thank you this morning for your faithfulness and goodness. We thank you for your faithfulness and goodness.
We thank you this morning for the change that you're doing in our lives. And God, we thank you this morning for our lives will not be the same as we recognize we have room to grow.
Can you just take another 30 seconds, another minute right there, just allowing God to show us some things in our lives that need some growth?
We're going to dismiss very quickly in just a minute, just a minute. Just right there where you are.
Pride to kick in and think that we're there. Father, that we would not succumb to being who we were before Jesus.
But Father, that we may understand what you teach us through scripture, that in you we are a new creation. The old has passed away and all things are made new.
God, that we would walk in love. God, that we would walk in empathy. God, that we would help those in need.
Father, that we will hurt with those who hurt and rejoice with those who rejoice. God, that we will love our enemies, that we will bless and not curse.
Father, that we will not allow it to be because of us, but that as far as it depends on us, we will live at peace with all.
God, I pray, help us to grow. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.
Come on, church, can you give God a hand of praise? You can have a seat, just a quick announcement before we dismiss.
School started this past week. How many of you got some extra traffic on Thursday and Friday? Anybody here get some extra traffic? Extra traffic, yeah.
But can we continue to pray for our students and can we continue to pray for our teachers that are at every school?
And I know college campuses, some started last week, some start this week. And so let's just continue to pray for our students, continue to pray for boldness upon our young people to proclaim Jesus in their schools and to stand for him, amen.
But we also do want to remind any football fans in the audience, if you have any questions, I believe when I checked before service started, there were two spots left for our fantasy football, men's fantasy football league.
And so if anybody wants to be a part of that, you can sign up on the church center app. There's two spots left. We do it just for fun.
We'll have a draft party and we'll just have some wings to eat, just hang out. And it's a way to rejoice and interact with each other.
And so that's coming up and that's taking place soon. And then I can't remember what else. Oh, small groups.
Small groups launch the week of September 10th. And so a couple of things on that. If you are one of our small group leaders, it's going to be launching a small group and you have not submitted to Pastor Ebi yet, the curriculum that you're going to be teaching the day of the week and those things, please fill out that form that she emailed so that we can get those things put into the church center so that everybody can see what's going to be available and they can register for that.
And we encourage everybody to be a part of a group. We'll have a group for men. We'll have groups for women. We're going to have a group for young adults this term.
I'm excited about that. And we're going to have just different groups available. And so we want everybody to do life with someone.
And it's important because we can't do life alone. It's hard to do things on our own. And we tend to many times in our humanity just shelter back to go on our own.
I can do this, right? We become stubborn two-year-olds. I can do it. And we need someone to come alongside us and help us.
So we're going to have a group for men. Small groups are coming out and just stay tuned. I believe if everybody turns it in by next Sunday, we'll start announcing which are the small groups that are going to be taking place.
And they'll be starting the week of September 10th, amen. If there's any other announcement, I can't remember. So just stay tuned to the church center app.
So let's go and stand to our feet so that we can close in prayer. If you were ready today with your tithe or your offering, you can do it also through the church center app or you can drop it off in the mailbox on your way out.
But God, we thank you. We thank you once again for your faithfulness and we thank you for your goodness. Holy Spirit, have your way.
And Lord, I pray that each and every one of us, Lord, we be reminded daily that we have room to grow. Father, I pray that each and every one of us would be reminded every day to acknowledge you, to trust you, and to lean on you.
And Father, I thank you for we leave this building but never your presence and that we have access to you everywhere we go.
Lord, I pray that we would live a consistent life of prayer. Connected to you. And we thank you, God, for what you're doing.
We thank you once again for our students. We pray, Father, for every school within our city, God. We pray for every college campus within our city.
Lord, we pray for your protection. We pray, Father, for our students to walk in boldness. We thank you, God, for you are in control of our lives.
We thank you, God, for you are still on the throne. You are still God. And Lord, we wait patiently for you and on you.
In Jesus' name, amen and amen. God bless you guys. Love you.
on Dec 31, 2024
