Jesus People - Vision Weekend

0:21 Well, good morning, Jesus people. Who's happy to be in the house today? Oh, come on. You guys are alive. That 9 o'clock service, it felt like 8 o'clock. They were like drained and they were kind of tired. You guys are ready to be in church, amen? You guys ready to have some fun? Pull out your Bibles. Put your Bibles up in the air. If you brought a Bible, if you didn't, there should be one in front of the seat in front of you, or we're going to have the text on the screens. Turn your Bible to Acts 2. We're gonna be in verses 42 to 47 today for a message titled anyone wanna guess? Jesus people, see you're even quicker on the uptake. Some of you took a little bit longer. You're still like that hour of sleep still hitting you. Yeah, you guys got the hang of it. Jesus people, this weekend is Vision Weekend and we're so excited for our vision for this year. And it's not a new vision.

1:13 Really, it's the vision that God's given this church, Calvary Church, that we've had for four decades. It's the same vision that God has given us for this year in a new light. Our heart for this year is really simple. At Calvary Church, we want the world to look upon our church and we want to be known as Jesus' people. We want the world to look at the people within our church and say, like they said in Acts 4, they realized they had been with Jesus. What a beautiful description that is, isn't it? That the world would look upon our lives and they would realize that we have been with Jesus. They would see Jesus in us. And this is about going back to basics. This is about discovering the greatest call we have as Christians.

2:07 And you know the greatest call we have as Christians is in that very word Christian, means little Christ. The greatest call that we have upon our lives as Christians is that you and I would reflect Jesus Christ. That our lives would reflect his glory, would reflect his character, would reflect his desires. That our church would grow into the church that he wants us to be. That we would look like the church that Jesus sees. that we would be like Jesus. That as people encounter us, they would encounter Jesus. That as they experience our love, they would experience the love of Jesus. That the closer and closer that they get to us, the more in love with Jesus they would fall.

3:02 And I believe that most Americans right now are more hungry today for the spiritual than at any other time in my lifetime. Have you guys seen this? There is an openness. There is a hunger. There is a desire and a searching that is happening in the world for the things that are spiritual. It used to be there was a day and age in this country where if you tried to have conversations with people on the street or at Starbucks, if you talked to people in a drive-thru line and you wanted to talk about church or Jesus or the Bible, they'd shut you down so quick. Like that was a no-go. And now people wanna have these conversations. People are open. People are curious. They're questioning. They are searching for truth. They are asking, what is truth? And where can I find the things that my soul longs for? And possibly more than any other time in history, this is true today, apart from maybe our earliest days in the book of Acts.

4:02 Now, notice what I said. I did not say there were more Christians than ever before. I did not say there were more in our churches, but there is a tangible sense of searching going on all around us. USA Today ran an article on this very topic. It said this, people seem to want to talk about God. Religion is big news again. What has happened in this country is a slow but unmistakable shift from materialism to spirituality. As Americans have come to the end of their emotional resources. And then another article says this, they admit their need for God and are reaching out to each other. So clearly this is a defining moment for our church. And I believe this is a defining moment for the church. And one that I think is incredibly important because we have to recognize that we're in a unique time in history where the world is searching, where people want answers.

5:05 They want to know the truth. And we can either sit idly by and sleep through this opportunity for revival or we can recognize the opportunity that we have at hand. We can be bold voices for the gospel of Jesus Christ and we can see revival in our time and a move of God. Do you wanna see a move of God in our day and age? I know I do. but one thing I've noticed is that we are in this season where there's there's more interest in church than ever before and I really noticed this last year when I saw young people begin to desire Jesus when I saw what begin to be the ground roots of revival and have you guys seen what's happening around the world at college campuses at schools all across the country There is a mass return, a desire, especially among young people for the gospel, for truth, for the Bible.

6:04 And we are seeing these huge revivals happen at a scale that we haven't seen since the Jesus revolution in the 60s and the 70s. But this is what's interesting to me. The people that are getting saved have no faith background. They have no biblical framework. Let me frame this for you. I come from a generation, the millennial generation, that our parents were very, very church. My generation often was dragged to church by their parents. And something happened with my generation, the millennial generation, and the Gen X generation. So many of our generation left the church and became atheists and agnostics, even though they grew up in Christian homes. But in the present generation, you have kids who grew up with no biblical framework, no understanding of the Bible and no faith background. Their parents, the millennials and Gen Xers, are atheists and agnostics, and they are the ones who are getting saved. They're coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ. I just saw an account on TikTok the other day. This young girl from the Seattle, Washington area, she gave her life to Jesus two years ago. She grew up in an atheist home, and she's been begging her dad, who's an atheist, to come to church with her. And He said, no, no, no.

7:17 And finally, last week, he came to her and said, hey, you think I can go to church with you? I wanna see what it's all about. And we're seeing this weird paradigm shift. What's happening is people are getting saved and they're excited, they're passionate, they have so much joy, but they don't know what they don't know. Because they didn't grow up in a faith background, because they didn't grow up in the church, because they don't have a biblical framework, they're becoming a Christian, but they don't really know what it means to be a Christian. And our job is those of us who have grown up in the church, those of us who have a biblical framework, those of us who have sat under solid Bible teaching, these basic things that you and I know, this is what it means to be a Christian. Read your Bible, talk to God, worship, evangelize, give. These basic tenets of the Christian faith, It's our job to teach those who are coming into the church what it means to be a Christian.

8:19 They're falling in love with Jesus and asking, what do I do now? And so this year, we want to help you go back to the basics and remember what it's all about. Remember what a relationship with Jesus really means. And we want to help you discover or perhaps rediscover the simple joy of following Jesus. The simple joy. Christian, do you remember that simple joy? That peace, that feeling of joy that you got when you first accepted Christ? Because it really is simple. And what we tend to do is we overcomplicate it the longer we've been a Christian. When we first become a Christian, it's so simple. We just want to go to church. We just want to read our Bible. We just want to worship. We just want to tell our friends about Jesus. And it's such a simple joy.

9:12 But the longer we're a Christian, the more we want to add to it and say, well, you have to do this, and you need to do that, and you need to talk like this, and you need to dress like this, and you need to listen to this music, and you need to read this book, and actually you should read this book too and that book. And we add more and more and more to it. But the more we complicate it, the less joy we have in it. But when we get back to the basics, the simple tenets of the Christian faith, the simple joy of following Jesus, the things that drew us to him in the first place, the things that drew us to church in the first place, we realize it really is simple, simple.

9:54 And I find that when you discover the simple joy of following Jesus, you'll find what Jesus said to be true in Matthew 11. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

10:26 That is the simple joy of following Jesus. That is what an unbelieving world longs for. That is what people are searching for when it says that people are interested and curious in the spiritual. Do you know what they're looking for? It's like that USA Today article says they've come to an end of their emotional resources. They are burdened. They are weary. They are longing for something more. They're longing for a joy and a peace that doesn't come from a new sexual relationship or a new conquest or the last party that we're at the week before or some new chemical addiction. They're looking for something different, something that lasts, something that satisfies. They're looking for release from their weariness, release from their burdens to take the heavy yoke of this world and sin off of their shoulders and find the humility and grace of Jesus Christ.

11:29 they're looking for exactly what we have. They just don't know it. And our job is so easy. All we have to do is show them where the well is. All we have to do is bring them that cup of water and say, hey, what you've been looking for, what you've been asking for, you can find in the simple joy of following Jesus. It really is that simple. And our job as the church is to show them what being a Christian means. But many in this day and age in their search won't even show up to church in that search. And those who do show up are often disillusioned by what they experience here. We often hear the phrase, there's too many hypocrites. And therefore, they decide not to be a part of the church at all. Why? Because they came looking for Jesus. And instead of finding a group of Jesus people, they found a group of religious people. They found a group of church people. They found a group of political people. And it's easy and it's so tempting for us to retreat into our little Christian subculture, right? And it is. It's a little subculture.

12:34 And in fact, at times, the little Christian subculture can become somewhat incestuous, where we get this weird little community and this weird little group, and we don't want anything to do with the rest of the world. And we talk in our own little language, and we do our own little things. And whenever someone comes into our Christian country club that doesn't look like they belong, we give them the side eyes like, they don't belong here. What are they doing here? Why are they here? Almost like you're in your neighborhood and you see a car drive down the street that you know doesn't belong there. And you're like, what? Who is that person? Why are they in my neighborhood? What are they doing here? They're probably here to commit crime. Right? You do it. Admit it. When someone, you see a car, you don't recognize, your red flags go off. And we do the same thing in church. We have this little subculture and we retreat into it. And it's hard for us at times to recognize what the church is really supposed to be all about.

13:28 Yet as we read of the early church in the book of Acts, we see they had a profound effect on their culture. And it's because they were Jesus people. Not church people, not moral people, not nice people, but Jesus people. And because they were Jesus people, they had the power of Jesus behind them. And there are four character traits that stand out in our text that clearly define who Jesus' people are. Number one, Jesus' people grow through worship and by the word. Number two, Jesus' people gather with one another. Number three, Jesus' people give to those who are in need. And number four, Jesus' people go into the world. And by the way, this is where our vision statement originates from. Our vision statement has been for many years. we pursue the God who passionately pursues a lost world. We do this with one another, through worship, by the word, and to the world. And we didn't just come up with that because it sounded clever. We didn't make that up. No, we got that from scripture. It is rooted in God's plan for our church, for his people, Jesus' people. And I want to say this before we get into our points.

14:41 I know it's been a long intro, but I just want to say this. I'm going to be speaking very directly about some things that I see happening in the church and the world today. And I'm gonna have some critiques about the church and what I see today. But I want you to know that I believe these four characteristic traits are generally true of Calvary Church. I believe Calvary Church is a church rooted in these principles. So please understand my heart and tone in what I'm communicating. It is not to rebuke you. It is not to condemn you. It is to instruct you of the things that we should be aware of and look for in society today and what we should be protecting ourselves against. So know my heart in this. Now, having said that, if the Holy Spirit is speaking to you personally and rebuking or correcting you, don't push that off and push that aside and say, well, I'm part of a good church. Even if you are, there still might be areas in your life that the Holy Spirit wants to rebuke you and grow you in and correct you in. And the best thing we can do when the Holy Spirit is speaking to us is listen to his correction and allow him to change those things in our lives. Amen? Let's look at our first point. Jesus' people grow. Look at verse 42 of Acts chapter 2. Now context, this occurs right after they've just had an incredible evangelistic outreach. Just before this verse, there's a mighty move of God, and it says 3,000 people were added to the church that day. And right after that, it tells us what those 3,000 people and the rest of the church did.

16:12 It says, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Stop there. It says they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. That is to say that the early church in the book of Acts was a learning church. Jesus' people grow. We learn and we grow in our understanding and our knowledge of the scripture. And this is really important to understand because first of all, you need to understand that as a pastor, God has given me a very clear direction as to what I should be doing. As a matter of fact, he has given all pastors a very clear direction of what they should be doing, what their focus should be. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy chapter 4 as an admonishment to pastors, he said this, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season.

17:17 Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and all teaching. This is the charge to pastors. Now, why is this important? Well, he continues on and he tells us, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers who will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. Now, in the Greek, there is an urgency stressed in those words. Preach the word. It literally means to preach the word with alertness, with carefulness, with insistence, with urgency. And this is really important because in our day and age, some would say that the preaching of the word is not enough. That the preaching of the word is not enough to change lives. That it's not enough to transform hearts and opinions. That there has to be something more. As a matter of fact, a noted church growth leader said, if someone has been sexually molested, if someone grew up in the home of an alcoholic father, if someone has been beaten as a child, there are some deep psychological wounds that have to be carefully treated by trained Christian counselors before these wounded people can appreciate and appropriate the promises and precepts of scripture. Traditional preaching alone is not enough for many people.

18:54 So let me get this straight. These people, according to him, can't be touched by God's Holy Spirit through the preaching of the word. They first need to be carefully treated by trained Christian counselors before these people can appropriate the promises and precepts of scripture. Let's just put this in context. Could you imagine the Philippian jailer under conviction of the Holy Spirit when he came to Paul and said, what must I do to be saved? Could you imagine Paul responding, well, if you had an alcoholic father, you first need to be treated by some trained Christian counselors and then I can preach to you. But I can't really preach to you until then because you can't appropriate the promises of God.

19:38 Last I checked, unless something changed, 1 Corinthians 1 says, for since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God. It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. What is it that saves? It is Jesus Christ who saves. He is the one who we bring our burdens and our trauma and our experiences and what has happened in our life. And it says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Psalms tell us to cast our cares upon him for he cares for you. He is the one who heals and he is the only one who heals. He's the one who heals your past. He's the one who heals your trauma. Now I want to be clear. I believe in the power of Christian counseling and we offer that here at Calvary. We have an incredible group of trained counselors and therapists who offer counseling to those in our church free of charge. And I agree that some people need that to get over past trauma and experiences in their life. But this is my differentiating between what this guy says. This comes after the preaching and the acceptance of the word, not before. Jesus doesn't clean his fish before he catches them. He cleans his fish after he catches them. And the premise of the gospel is we come to the cross with all of our baggage, all of our past, all of our trauma, all of our experiences.

21:16 And Jesus accepts us as we are and we are washed white as snow. And then he cleans us and repairs that trauma. When Paul mentions the people will have itching ears, it was literally an itch for novelty, looking for interesting and spicy bits of information. If this is not a description of many in the church today, I don't know what is. Where we've combined a biblical worldview with this other worldview, this new age worldview, this worldview of the world. And we've attached this new age worldview to a Christian worldview because it's novel, because it's interesting, because we need something more than the word of God. So many today are willing to accept any teaching, no matter how aberrant, how kooky, how crazy it is, as long as someone on TikTok claims to be a theologian.

22:14 Oh, well, this person said that they're a Bible teacher and a theologian, so it must be true. Many people are willing to accept any experience, no matter how bizarre, as long as I felt something, right? And this is why it's important. You have, again, a young generation of people who have no faith background who are getting saved. And where are they turning to for their theology and truth? They're turning to social media. They're turning to Instagram. They're turning to podcasts. They're turning to YouTube. And because they don't know the truth, because they don't have a biblical framework or understand the word of God, anyone who claims to be a spokesperson of God, they're willing to listen to because they don't know better. and it's our job to teach them to know better. It's our job to teach them the word of God, to be as Bereans, testing all things and comparing it to what scripture says to know if it's true or not.

23:09 This is why it's important not only to listen to good Bible teaching and be in a church that has good Bible teaching, it's important for you as an individual to know your Bible, to read the word daily, to understand the word of God and what he has spoken and what he is speaking to you so that you and the people around you are not fooled by the lie because you know the truth. for people that open themselves to phenomenon like this, the rationale is often, because I experienced it, it is true, rather than what does the Bible say? If we cannot, like Peter on Pentecost, say, this is that which was spoken of, then we should neither seek nor desire it, and we should rid ourselves of it. If it's not in the word, it's not of the Lord, plain and simple.

24:03 But some will say, well, this is the new move of the Spirit. We want a new thing from the Lord. Hey, I want to let you know, if anyone gets on social media, if anyone's on YouTube and they say they discovered a new thing from the Lord and no one's talked about this for 4,000 years, it's probably because it's crazy. No one's been talking about it for 4,000 years because it's wrong. Because it's not doctrinal. Because it's not truth. because it's not in the scripture. And if you discovered something and you say the Lord revealed this to me, it probably wasn't the Lord, it was probably the devil. So make sure you go back to the basics, which is the word of God to see if it's there and test it. We need to use this as the bedrock for every doctrine and theology that we hold dear. This reminds me of the mentality of those people on Mars Hill that believed in just about anything and everything and would embrace anything remotely spiritual.

25:02 Acts 17, 21, speaking of them says, for all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Oh, I want a new thing. I want a new revelation. I want a new word. I want something fresh. The spirit of the Lord will reveal his precepts to you in a new and fresh way every time you read the word of God. I've been reading this book for almost 40 years, and every time I read it, God speaks to me in a new and fresh way. Why? Because his word is living, and it is sharper than any two-edged sword, and you don't need a new thing. You just need to know the old thing well enough to not be fooled by some new thing. You need to know what is in God's word before you try to go on some quest for a new thing. It seems to me like many in the church are like this today, looking for a new thing.

26:03 But Jeremiah 6, 16 tells us where the power is found. It says, thus says the Lord, stand in the ways and see and ask for the old paths where the good way is and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, we will not walk in it. Find the old paths. Man, if I'm going on a dangerous, treacherous hike, let's say it's Mount Everest, or let's say it's a hike by a heavily wooded area that there's a cliff that is not visible, you know which path I want to be on? The old one. The one that people have safely made it to the end of the hike. Don't put me on the new path, because who knows where the new person's going. They went off the cliff. I don't want to follow them. Put me on the old path where the way is good, that I might have rest for my soul. preach the word preach the word not politics not morality not psychology not social issues now we will deal with some of those in light of scriptural teaching but the text is always the foundation we build upon and god has not called me he has not called pastor skip he has not called caden or caleb or nick or taylor or nelson or matt parola or any of us he has not called us to be motivational speakers giving you little pep talks. He has not called us to be political activists or protesters. He has not called us to be psychologists. He has called us to be pastors and teachers. Paul said his own goal was to present every man mature in Christ. Ephesians 4.11, speaking of the church, says their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's son will be mature and full grown in the Lord.

28:01 And yet the slogan of one of the biggest fast food chains is alive and well in many churches today. Have it your way. Whatever you want. You don't want us to talk about sin. We won't talk about sin. We want you to feel good. You don't want a long sermon. We won't give you a long sermon. and we'll just give you a little bit and you can figure it out yourself. Have it your way. But our McChurches are producing McChristians. Our sermonettes are producing Christianettes. Programs have taken the place of power. Gimmicks have taken the place of the gospel. The preaching of the word is devalued. Well, drama and entertainment have taken center stage. And what we end up with is a high view of man and a low view of God. But we are Jesus people, not church people. We're Jesus people, and Jesus people grow in knowledge. They test things they hear based on scripture.

28:57 In many ways, it appears that the world is having more of an impact on the church than the church is having an impact on the world. Now, don't get me wrong. I believe in being culturally relevant. I believe in being in touch with what's around me as long as it's not at the cost of good Bible teaching. And this is what I love about Calvary. This is at the core of who we are. Since I've been a kid, I've heard my dad say, never let the movement become a monument. And I've heard him say, the methods will always change, but the message never will. We have always been dedicated to doctrine and the teaching of God's good word. And I'm so thankful, Calvary, that you are a learning church. I'm so thankful that you are a biblically literate church. I'm so thankful that you love good Bible teaching, that you know the Bible better than many pastors in the country do, especially those of you who attend our Wednesday night Bible studies and go deep, you know your Bible well. And if this is an area that you feel like you're lacking in, I want to give you a few things that you can do this year. Number one, start attending our Wednesday night Bible studies. It is an in-depth, verse by verse, through the entire Bible study that you will learn more of your Bible than you ever thought possible. Or binge watch our YouTube or our website, Pastor Skip has taught every verse of the Bible several times. Instead of watching some raunchy Netflix show, binge watch Good Bible Teaching and learn your Bible. There are many things you can do to grow in your understanding of his word. Number two and three, I'm just briefly going to touch on because these really are what we talked about several weeks ago for Jesus People connect. That is that Jesus' people gather and Jesus' people give. Look at verse 44.

30:38 In Acts 2, 44, we read, now all who believed were together. Jesus' people not only grow, Jesus' people also gather. We are to be a gathering. We take what we have learned, We take the ways that we are growing and we bring it to the body of Christ to encourage, exhort, reprove, correct, and to help grow into the full image of God's son. We spur one another on towards good works with the encouragement and what God is showing us. We need each other because there is strength in numbers. And I would suggest to you that if you really want to walk with the Lord and grow spiritually, involvement in the church is an absolute necessity. Hebrews 10, 23 says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful.

31:36 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching. it is not an option for us as believers to take or leave community within the church if we are true christians if we are jesus people we will want to be a vital part of all that god is doing today in and through his people and church doesn't have to be some kind of a miserable experience and maybe you grew up in a church context where it was maybe you grew up in a religion that was all rules and no relationship, and you got drug to church every Sunday, and you had to wear a tie, and you had to sit there quietly, and if you didn't, you'd get your hands slapped, and you never understood what the priest was saying, and it was all rules and no relationship. And so your context of church has always been, oh, church. That's not what church is meant to be. Church should be the one thing in your weekly schedule that you say, I can't live without church. Church should be the context of, I've had such a hard week, I can't wait for church.

32:54 Not, I've had such a hard week, I don't want to go to church. No, it should be the one thing you long for. It should be refreshing. It should revive you. It should equip you to go back into the world. It should be an oasis in a hot desert. We shouldn't dread it. We should look forward to it, even long for it. Psalm 122.1 says, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. I hope you're glad when you go to church. I hope it restores your soul. The problem is that many think of themselves as consumers instead of the congregation. The New Testament knows nothing of the trend among many today to shop for a new church as though they were looking for a new supermarket in their neighborhood, where one is on a quest to become more spiritual, wanting nothing to do with someone else. Many people sample churches at the same rate they sample samples in Costco, where it's like a little bit of this, a little bit of that, the next sample, the next sample, never getting nourished, never getting fed, never putting down roots or growing, just sampling. So we have a group who are consumers instead of servants, consuming instead of communing. Spectators instead of participators. Customers instead of disciples. I believe one should find a church where God is honored and his word is proclaimed and they should sink their roots down deep to grow and be a part of the body of Christ. Number three, Jesus' people give.

34:25 Look at verse 44 again, chapter 2, verse 44. It says, now all who believed were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need. So Jesus' people grow, Jesus' people gather, and Jesus' people give. The principle here is the koinonia principle. And we talked about this before, so I'm not gonna get super in-depth on this, but here's the premise. The early church looked out for one another. and God's desire for us as Jesus people is that we would look out for each other, that we would be here for each other. Again, the word that is used is the word koinonia. It means fellowship, communion, distribution, contribution, and partnership. And what the church did in having all things in common was implement this principle.

35:21 And it simply means God's people take care of each other. If I see my brother or sister struggling, if I see them in need, my response isn't, well, go to the government, get a welfare check from them. That's not my problem. No, their problem, their need becomes my need. And I'm willing to sacrifice the things that I have to help them get what they need. Now, needs are very different than wants. Keep that in mind. But if I see my brother or sister in need, I sacrifice my comfort in order to comfort them. That's the principle. Jesus' people give. We give to one another. We give to the church. We give to the people in our community who we see are struggling and who are in need. And then fourth and finally, and this is where we're gonna spend the bulk of our time as we close, Jesus' people go. Jesus' people grow as we learn and understand the Bible.

36:19 We gather as we use what we've learned to encourage and exhort one another to good works. We give to care for one another's needs. And then together, we go into the world to preach the gospel, to bring to them the relationship we have with Jesus as Jesus' people so they might see our lives, long for what we have, so we can share with them the gospel and make more Jesus' people. Look at verse 47. praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily those who are being saved so take the whole story in context there's a big evangelistic event 3,000 people get saved the church grows enormously from this huge altar call 3,000 people those 3,000 people get plugged into the church. They start reading the Bible. They understand what God is speaking to them. They're fellowshipping with other believers. They're giving to one another's needs.

37:26 And then they go back out. And those people who got saved are telling other people about this Jesus they serve. And God is adding to the church daily. This is the way God intended to build his church. This is why we do things like freedom celebration and Easter sunrise, to cast a big net, to see many come to know Christ so that they can get plugged into the church and fed and taught and discipled and grow so that they can go back out in the world and the Lord will add to the church daily those who are being saved. Jesus' people, go. We go back out. We were once fish that were lost in the stream and God caught us and now he's given us a pole and he's told us to go out and be fishers of men. Jesus told us in Mark 16 15 go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and it is such a dire time in our country to do this such an urgent time our country is in such bad shape in so many ways and the only hope is the message of the gospel that's it there will be no moral awakening that will sweep our country apart from a work of God. We must preach the gospel and pray for revival. All other attempts to change our society will fail. All other attempts run a distant second to those two objectives. Preach the gospel. And one thing is clear in the early church, and that is that the first century church dramatically impacted their world. They made a difference. They were a church on the move that touched those around them. It was said of them, and not in a complimentary way in Acts 17, 6, these who have turned the world upside down have come here too. A backhanded compliment. What a wonderful thing that could be said of us, right?

39:29 That our cities, our neighborhoods, our states, our country would see us coming and say, oh no it's the Jesus people. It's the Jesus people. Those who are turning the world upside down have come here too. That's right and we're not going anywhere. We have come with the message of Jesus Christ. The simple joy of following Jesus that those who repent of their sins and call upon the name of the Lord will be saved and forgiven of their sins and have an eternity set for them in heaven. The Jesus people have come and we're not going anywhere. We want to take you with us. We want you to go to heaven. We want you to experience the joy that we have. We want you to taste the peace that we've tasted. We want you to experience the refreshment and freedom from your sin and release of your burdens and release of your worries and release of your anxieties. We've come with good news. It's not bad news. We've come with good news.

40:37 I fear the opposite has happened today. Here we are as a church ready to enter into a new wave. Numbers have never been greater. Opportunities are unparalleled. We have the ability to harness technology and reach people that could never have been reached before. And what are we doing? well the world is going to hell in a handbasket we're arguing about israel or the latest trash that candace owens is spewing or lamenting on social media how dysfunctional and lacking in self-esteem we all are or whether or not christian artists should go to award shows are you serious do you think any of this matters the world's worse than it's ever been and what are we doing we're arguing about things that don't matter satan sure has done a good job distracting us, hasn't he? We're arguing if someone has been predestined or not to eternal life. When are we going to wake up? Some of us are getting more fired up about Bad Bunny playing at the Super Bowl halftime show than we are the gospel. Some of us spend more time defending Donald Trump than we do the Bible. And many times we cop out from our calling to share and say, well, I'm just going to live it and leave the preaching to others. I'm not called to preach the gospel. I'm called to lifestyle evangelism. Shut up. Actually, no, that's the wrong word.

41:59 Speak up. Stop shutting up and speak up. Your job is to tell people about Jesus. Your job is to evangelize and proclaim the gospel. First Corinthians 1.21, we read it before, says it please God by the foolishness of preaching. Literally, the preached thing, not the lived thing, the preached thing, Christ crucified to them that believe. See, the emphasis isn't on the preacher, it's on the preaching. Now, this doesn't mean you have to contort your voice and talk in some kind of a weird way. Hey, brother, let me tell you about Jesus Christ, like your Hulk Hogan doing a gospel ad. Doesn't mean you have to be weird. What it does mean is the love of Jesus that you have, the good news that's changed you, the joy that God's put in your heart, the peace that he's given you, the burdens that he saved you from, the simple joy of Jesus that you've discovered.

43:00 your job is to proclaim it, to share it, to communicate it, and yes, to verbalize it. Tell people. And though it's true that God has gifted some in his church with a specific gift of evangelism, it is equally true that God has called everyone in the church to evangelize. And though it's vital to live what we preach, it's essential that we verbalize it. Showing them and telling them. God has chosen the agency of the proclaimed word to bring people to salvation. And we really are mistaken when we think the way to reach a non-believer is through entertainment or some program in the church that could attract them. There are so many so-called seeker-sensitive churches today where the Bible will not be preached from the pulpit or brought in the pews. The message might allude to it in passing, but there's more of an emphasis placed on drama, music and entertainment designed to appeal to the seeker and make them feel good about themselves and what it really is is more like self-help with little to no trace of scripture it's all about you being a better you you having a better day tomorrow you declaring things you living in prosperity and wealth and health you being as happy as you can be since when was that the message of the gospel. The message of the gospel is die to yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. Repent of your sins. Call upon the name of the Lord, and you will be saved. And I call this the Joel syndrome. And a lot of people who suffer from Joel syndrome underestimate the raw power of the gospel. It's not about you making you a better you. It's not about you declaring that you're going to have a better tomorrow. Since when did Satan care what you declare? It's about what God declared.

44:50 It's about repenting of your sins and accepting Jesus Christ into your life, giving your life to him and letting Christ cover your sins so you can experience release from your burdens and your shame and your weariness. And you can find a joy and a peace that comes only from the name of Jesus Christ. That is the power of the gospel. And I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. but there's too many people today who are ashamed of the gospel. Did you know that it's estimated, a survey was taken among Christians, that 95% of Christians have never led another person to Jesus Christ, and yet God commanded us, go into all the world and make disciples of all men. Jesus is looking for laborers who will share this wonderful message with others. I heard this once, the holiest moment of the church service is when God's people go out the doors.

45:44 It's true. It's the opportunity, the time that we have to determine if we're gonna actually live the things that we've heard. If we're gonna actually put into practice and do what God has instructed us to do. And it's the holiest moment because you know what the word holy means? Set apart. So it's the time when we decide, are we gonna be set apart from the world? Are we gonna do things differently than the world does? Jesus' people go. We don't just stay here. Yes, Jesus' people grow. Yes, Jesus' people gather. Yes, we get together and we give together, but then we go together. We don't stay here. We take the message of the gospel to the world, and God's power still makes a difference in people's lives today. So what about you? Do you desire greater boldness in your witness for Christ? Do you feel like you're lacking something in your spiritual walk, that you need to get into his word and learn more about him? Is the world turning you upside down instead of you turning the world right side up? A question each and one of us should ask ourselves on a daily basis is what would my church be like if everyone else was exactly like me? What would happen to the church? Would it thrive or would it die?

47:04 The ineffectiveness of the church today is largely due to our neglect of the principles that set the first century church in motion. It began and was maintained by his power through his principles. It was the spirit of God working through the word of God in the hearts of the people of God that brought a mighty move of God. I wanna see a move of God again. So we need to rely on the same power that they did. Many years ago, A.W. Tozer said that if the Holy Spirit were taken away from the New Testament church, 90% of what they did would come to a halt because it was all done in the power of God. He says, but this, if the Holy Spirit were taken away from today's church, only 10% of what it does would cease. We're not seeing the same results as the early believers because we're not relying on the same power. We're operating by the same principles. So let's pray for the same power that the early church experienced in their lives. Let's ask God to make us Jesus people, that our lives would reflect the glory and the goodness of a God who loved humanity so much that he sent his son to die for their sins, to release them from their burdens, to let them live in freedom that they might experience a new way of life and a joy that never ceases and a peace that always satisfies. Let's pray that he will propel us into the world as representatives of him, that when the world sees us coming, they will say, here comes the Jesus people who are turning the world upside down. And now they're here too.

48:43 we're here with the good news of Jesus Christ I want to close by just saying one thing who wants to be Jesus people in this room in order to be Jesus people, you first need to accept Jesus. We started this weekend out saying, it's all about Jesus. It's always been all about Jesus. It's never been about us and saying, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna find the strength and I'm gonna grow. I'm gonna gather. I'm gonna give. I'm gonna go. No, it's about Jesus being alive in you and you doing it in his power. And all of this is predicated on a relationship with Jesus. If you don't have Jesus and you do all of these things, it's just gonna make you a religious person, not a Jesus person.

49:39 It will just make you church people, not Jesus people. And as a matter of fact, it will do more damage for the gospel than good because the world will look upon your life and realize that you're a hypocrite and it will drive them away, not draw them to Jesus. all of it is predicated on Jesus without Jesus none of it works religion is like putting incense on a casket while you rot inside doing these things without Jesus is like dressing up a corpse oh it's in a nice outfit but it's still dead still a corpse so stop trying to dress up a dead body and ask Jesus to raise you from the dead the only thing that can bring you back to life is a true relationship with Jesus and the only person who knows if you have a true, real relationship with Jesus is you. You're the only person who knows.

50:35 You're the only person who knows if it's real. You're the only one who knows if it's authentic and genuine and from your heart, who knows if there's joy and peace there, who knows if it's just something you do to check off something on your list, to say that you did, to say that you're a good person, to say that you go to church, to make your wife or your husband or your kids or your parents happy. You're the only one who knows if it's authentic. You're the only one who knows that if you were to stand before the Lord today, if you were to get in a car crash on the way home and you were to stand before Jesus and he was to say, what did you do with the name of my son? What did you do in my name? You're the only one who can really search your heart and know if Jesus would say, depart from me, I never knew you or well done, good and faithful servant. and the person next to you can't get you to heaven.

51:30 The people in this room can't make you a Jesus person. Only Jesus can do that. And so I wanna speak to you as we close. All of these things flow out of a relationship with Jesus. So are you ready to experience the simple joy of following Jesus? Maybe you've never prayed a prayer and asked the Lord to come into your life. I wanna invite you to do that today. I wanna invite you to leave here with the joy and peace that only Jesus can bring. Or maybe you once did. Maybe when you look back on your life, you can remember that day when you said yes to Jesus and the joy you felt and the peace you felt. But it's not there anymore. You've overcomplicated it. You've lost it. It's just religion now. It's not a relationship. And you recognize today you need to rededicate your life to him. You need to repent.

52:22 you need to ask him to restore within you the joy of your salvation. He'll do it. Come to me all you who are weary and burdened. Are you weary and burdened? Jesus will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. Does your soul need rest? For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Lord, we thank you that your yoke is easy, that your burden is light. Lord, we thank you for the simple joy, the peace we can experience when we follow you. Nothing else in this world will satisfy except for you.

53:14 Sin won't satisfy. Parties won't satisfy. Relationships and sex won't satisfy. Drugs and alcohol won't satisfy. Religion won't satisfy. Morality won't satisfy. Only you can bring rest for our weary souls and take our burdens away. As we're praying right now, if you came in here today and you feel burdened, you feel weary,

53:43 you recognize throughout this message that Jesus is the thing that's been missing from your life. maybe you've never prayed a prayer to accept Jesus Christ and you just came here today because you were searching. You didn't come here on your own. Jesus brought you to this place. He drew you to this place for this moment so that you could experience forgiveness from your sins, that you could experience eternal life, that you could have your name written in the Lamb's book of life and know that when you die, you're gonna go to heaven. And if you don't know that, leave here with that knowledge. Leave here knowing that you've been forgiven and that you're going to heaven.

54:22 If you need to rededicate your life to him, don't walk out this door and let it just be another Sunday like every other Sunday where you checked it off the box. Did it. Good for the week. Leave here with the joy of your salvation renewed. So if that's you and you want to give your life to Jesus, either for the first time or for the second time or the third time or the fourth time. Jesus is in the business of do-overs. Would you raise your hand up and say, I wanna give my life to Jesus today? Just raise it up, amen. In the back to my right, over here in the front to my left, raise it up, just like reaching out for a life preserver. You gotta reach out, grab onto it. In the back to my left, right over here in the front to my left, over here, several of you to my left. If God is speaking to you, you respond to him. the only sin that Jesus can't forgive you of is the sin you're unwilling to repent of he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins amen I see your hand over there in the back to my right if you're in the balcony of the family room you raise your hand up if you're in the amphitheater you raise it up right here in the front up in the balcony if God is speaking to you right now don't push him away if you feel him drawing your heart tugging on your soul and your spirit don't say no say yes. He wants to forgive you. He wants you to experience what you've been searching for. Amen.

55:50 Right over here in the middle towards the back. Reach out to him. Reach out to him. Maybe you're sitting there thinking, well, I'm embarrassed. The person that I'm here with thinks that I'm a Christian. They think I have it all together. No, they don't. They see what's really going on. They see the parts you try to hide. And guess what? Even if they didn't know, they can't get you to heaven. They didn't die for your sins. Jesus Christ did that. You're not on this earth to please them. You're on this earth to please Jesus. Stop worrying about them. Jesus died publicly on the cross for your sins. And he invites you publicly to reach out to him and be forgiven. Anyone else? Before we close, you want me to pray for you and you want to give your life to Jesus. Anyone else? Amen. Over here to my right. Over there in the back.

56:47 Well, Lord, I thank you for all these hands that have been raised acknowledging their need for you. Lord, I pray that you would now give them boldness. You'd give them courage. You'd give them strength. You'd help them put feet to their faith to stand for the name of Jesus Christ. And in a second, anyone who raised your hand, which there was a lot of you, a lot of you raised your hands. I'm gonna ask you to do something bold in a moment. I'm gonna ask you on the count of three to stand up in your seat and stand for the name of Jesus. And here's why it's important. This is why you need to do it. You're in a room full of people that are gonna be so encouraging as you make this decision of faith in Jesus Christ. They're gonna be excited for you. They're gonna encourage you. They're gonna exhort you. But after that, you're gonna go out those doors into a world that hates Jesus. And they're gonna ridicule you for your faith in Christ.

57:42 And standing in a room full of people that love him will give you the strength you need to stand for him out there in a world that hates him. Jesus hung for you publicly on a cross. And I'm gonna ask you now to stand for him publicly in this room full of people that love him and love you. So are you ready to put feet to your faith? On the count of three, if you raise your hand, I want you to stand up. You ready? One, two, three. Stand up. Come on, church. Let's give them some encouragement. You stand to your feet. Amen. Amen. Come on, you stand. If you're in the balcony, the amphitheater, the family room, you stand up. You proclaim the name of Jesus Christ. You stand. Come on. You have faith. Even if you didn't raise your hand up, but right now you want to stand for Jesus. You want to be counted with those who have said yes to him. You stand. Stay standing. Don't sit down. Come on. This isn't just a one-time thing. We're excited for you. Amen.

58:36 Amen. And now if you're standing, I want to ask you to do one more thing. I want you to get up from where you're standing. Come down here to the front and I'm going to lead you in a prayer to accept Jesus Christ. And as you do, everyone here is going to clap for you. You come right now. You come and I'm going to lead you in this final prayer. You're going to give your life to Jesus. You're going to know that your sins are forgiven. You're going to know that you're going to Heaven. you're gonna know that you have the peace and the joy and the assurity and the security that you've been looking for. If you're in the amphitheater, you're in the balcony, you're in the family room, we'll wait for you. You come now. You come. Amen.

59:27 We'll wait for you. You come. Will you stand to your feet, Calvary? We're going to worship. Make way for those who are coming. If God is still speaking to you, you respond to His call. there's always another opportunity he can forgive you today can be your day don't wait for tomorrow don't wait for next week don't wait for next month you've been allotted this time you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow you don't know what's going to happen to next month if this was your last opportunity don't miss it give your life to Jesus experience forgiveness experience joy.

1:00:09 You've been searching. You've been looking for it. You found it. Don't let it go. Turn to Jesus. Amen. Come on. This is what it's all about. Now is not the time to leave. Now is the time to get louder and cheer on those who are saying yes to Jesus. Amen. Amen.

1:00:43 Anyone else? Before we close in prayer, anyone else? Look at all these people who are saying yes to Jesus. Come on. I feel like there's at least one more person and you're holding on to the idea that you're a good person. Good people don't go to heaven. Forgiven people go to heaven.

1:01:14 Don't let this moment pass you by. If you have that doubt, you're not sure. I don't know. I don't know if I'm going to heaven or not. Be sure. Be sure that you're sealed in the Lamb's book of life. Be sure that you're forgiven of your sins. Amen. Amen. can anyone thank God that he saves black sheep that he seeks out the lost that he leaves the 99 to go after the one amen well I'm going to lead all of you who came forward in a prayer right now to accept Jesus Christ and this is the same prayer by the way if this is your first time or if this is a do-over if this is a recommitment for you it's the same prayer you're just asking Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sins give you a new way of thinking a new way of living and to help you to live for him and I remember when I prayed this prayer I remember what I thought would happen. I remember what I felt afterwards. I think I thought when I first prayed this prayer as a kid that something magical was going to happen. That like it was going to be like Star Wars that I'd get like force powers or something. And that didn't happen, but I'll tell you what did happen. I experienced peace. I felt peace in my heart. I felt joy in my heart knowing that my sins were forgiven. Knowing that it wasn't about anything that I had ever done.

1:02:58 it was about what he did on my behalf dying on the cross for my sins and so let's scoot in come on we're one big family you don't have to stand on the outskirts let's scoot in right now and we're gonna say this prayer together come on in guys I won't bite I'm a little sweaty but I don't stink I promise repeat after me say Lord I know that I'm a sinner I know that I've done many things that have hurt you but Lord, I believe you died on the cross for those things. and I believe you rose from the dead.

1:03:36 So, Lord, I ask you to come into my life. Forgive me of my sin. I turn from my old life, and I turn to you. fill me with your spirit and help me to live for you in Jesus name I pray amen come on Calvary Church