Skip to content The Value of Character || Pastor Diego Mesa Aug 18 · 48 min ...more
August 18, 2024 · 48 min · Patria Sermons
...more Show the full description Show less Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
492K followers
Adam Mesa is Lead Pastor of Patria Church and speaks to a congregation of 12,000 about how the gospel of Jesus Christ brings purpose to every life. Patria
492K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
The Call to Christian Character 0:00 Alright. Well, good morning to everybody and, thank you for coming to church. And, thank you for coming to church on0:12 time. And thank you for inviting people to church today. All of us know somebody that needs Jesus or is lost or searching, so thank you for being0:23 considerate of that. You know, I I really now more than ever look forward to the privilege to preach. It just really is more special0:35 than ever before. You sometimes take it for granted, you know, the day to day stuff. And when you're you don't do it as often anymore, it just has a lot of value. So really appreciate you0:47 guys. And, so we're we're we're in a series and I just, you know, I heard the message by pastor Aaron and he talked about Christ. And then, last week pastor Nathan0:59 talked about community, and I'll talk about character today. You know, and then and then pastor, Adam, with what he's doing in his preaching, you know, they have so many1:11 great props and illustrations. I I feel like Henry Ford and I, I'm driving the model T and they're Enzo Ferrari now. So,1:23 but that that's really what it's that's really what it's all about and I really wanna commend, my son in in his pastoral leadership because, pretty much everything that you see that1:35 goes on is because of him now. And I have little and pastor Kenny can verify because he's in those meetings. He doesn't even see me in those meetings anymore. And, so this series that1:46 deals, with the vision, last month we were talking about walk it out. Those are all his creativity, getting before the Lord, laboring. Right now our trip, we have a team1:58 in Ghana right now on a missions trip, and all that is under his organization. And I just wanna commend and and thank God for the good job that's2:11 But but you gotta put up with me for today and and next week, and then you'll then that'll be it. So2:23 let let me preface this by saying again, we have a threefold vision. So you go to your house and your house has a vision. You go to your company, it has a vision. Wherever you go, there's a mission statement2:35 or a vision. There may be they may both both sell hamburgers, but they have a different mission statement. And it's taught the values to their employees. Right? Well, there's a lot of2:47 Christian churches and we honor those even in our community. But even though they worship Christ, every 1 of them has maybe a different focus. And what our job was, is to2:59 introduce people that are visitors, people that are young to coming to our church and possibly becoming members to reestablish with old members. What makes3:11 abundant, I was gonna say, what makes patriot amongst all the other churches outside of Jesus? And so we have a vision here and that is to seek the lost. We are serious3:24 about getting people saved. Because all of us are a whole bunch of X somethings in this place that have been delivered by God. And if our record be shown on that screen, you probably wouldn't wanna be sitting3:35 next to the person as close as you're sitting next to them. So we seek the lost. Number 2, we teach the found. We teach them how to be Christians now. How to renew their mind. How to3:47 change their behaviors. And then we send them out into their world, into their community to be great witnesses. From that, we have a what we're talking about,3:59 a a a vision of excuse me, values. We have values and those values are centered around Christ, so you're always gonna get Christ, when you come to this church. You're not gonna get philosophies,4:11 theories, ideals. You're gonna get Jesus. You're gonna get the Bible. If we can't prove it to you in the Bible, then go home. Don't come back. And I'm not using a book4:23 on theories to help you. Those have not stood the test of time. The Bible, Jesus's words, that's what we're gonna preach. Number 2, we're all about community. We're all4:35 about community and we're about relationships. And the third value that we're gonna talk about today is we're all about our Christian character which deals with how4:47 we treat 1 another. So I wanna prepare you. I wanna prepare you. I'm gonna encourage you, but I also am gonna challenge you big time today.4:59 Okay? But it'll always be back by the word of God. So father thank you so much for everybody coming to church today. We sit at your feet. We wanna learn more about how to be better people in our marriages, in our homes,5:10 in our job. We honor you in Jesus name, amen. Would you stand for the reading of God's word, just to reverence God's word in the scriptures today. I'm gonna read 1 scripture today, but 2 translations5:22 of it. Watch this. But if I tarry long, this is Timothy, I mean Paul talking to Timothy. But if I tarry long that thou mayest This is old King5:34 James. Knowest how thou oughtest. It's funny that people used to talk that way, But we're gonna read it. But, you know, mayest know how thou oughtest. But I wanted you to I kept it5:46 here because I want you to see this word, to behave. Say behave. Behave. Say it the the way Austin Powers says it. Oh, behave. Behave. Okay. So behave thyself5:58 where? He's saying, I wanna teach you how to behave in the church. Which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth. 1 other translation, this will be more6:10 contemporary now. At that moment of writing, I hope to be with you soon. But if there should be a considerable delay, then I want to have written I want to have written will show6:22 you the sort of character men of God, men of God's household ought to have. It is a remember that the church of the living God, the pillar, the foundation of the6:34 truth. You may be seated. He uses a strong terminology there about conduct, manners, behaviors that should exist6:46 within the church. You know what? When I grew up and many of you that went to school around the time or even before me, you had courses called home ec.6:59 Show social studies. Because of budget cuts, they're not popular. You know what? There they go again. It went out for a moment.7:11 They're they're not popular anymore. They're not interesting anymore. They've dropped them. But for those of you that don't understand what these courses once were in our public schools,7:24 they taught you lifestyle skills. They taught you how to behave. They taught you etiquette. They taught you manners. They taught you7:36 conduct. They taught you how to go to work, and how to work hard, and how to respect, and how to honor, and how to be accountable, and how to be a good steward. Now we've taken7:48 that out of our curriculums. So let's judge it today. Is our society better now that we've eliminated those courses? I believe they ought to go back into our7:59 schools. But the reality is Paul is addressing the issues 2000 years ago that still face today.8:11 That Christians don't know how to behave in the house of God. Look at somebody and tell him, he's not talking about you. Christians don't know how to8:23 behave in the kingdom of God. Christians don't know how to be Christians anymore. And that's what he was talking about and that's what defines this message today as we talk about character.8:35 We today, you would agree, we today live in a society that prizes itself on fame and fortune and looks and followers, and8:47 intelligence, and popularity, and abilities, and skills. More than character. Honesty, trust. You will be mocked if that is important to8:59 you. Honesty, trustworthiness, faithfulness, dependability, accountability. There's no prize for that in society. All we care about is your gifts and9:10 your skills and how much money you make. That's what matters often today in in our society. Today we live obviously in a world where people today are9:22 relationally deficient. They're relation They're they're socially inept. Stay with me. They're9:34 community inadequate. They're social, they're relational, and they're friendly skills they do not have. And yet we in the body of Christ9:46 are called family. Yet we in the body of Christ are called brothers and sisters. Yet you in the body of Christ, I, will spend eternity9:58 in a place called heaven. Yet we are relationally deficient. We don't know how to talk to each other. We don't know how to we don't know how to listen to each other. We don't know how to care for10:10 1 another. I'm too busy, I ain't got time. I come to church, I come to church late and I leave early. Don't be looking at me, don't mean asking me for anything. We're relationally10:22 deficient. We can't handle tough conversations, we can't be accountable to 1 another, we can't be corrected by But we are family. Hugs10:35 and kisses until you offend me, until you disappoint me. Because then I'll divorce you, I'll leave your church, and I'll say something about you on social media. Yet we are family.10:48 We are relationally deficient. Look at your children today. Why? Because in today's world, with everything being high-tech, robotic,11:01 AI, scan this, text this, email this, automatic this, it has taken away the ability to talk to people.11:13 I don't know about you, I'm fed up. I hate I love the but you know what? Let it not take the place of sitting down and say, how do you feel today? How are you today?11:25 Let me touch you. Let me talk to you. When I go into my restaurant today, or excuse me, when I go into a market today or Home Depot11:37 today, they're forcing me to not go to a register where there's a human being. You know what I'm doing? I'm in rebellion right now. I won't go to them.11:49 I will not go to them. Because that's somebody's job and somebody wants to get paid, and you're not gonna force me. So I'll stand in that long line and I'll complain to that people. I don't know if it'll ever get up, but12:01 I won't do it. Even I got 1 thing, I'm not going to sprouts and scan it. I'll stand in that line, and then I'll say, Don't you guys have any other people that can open these things? I'm in rebellion12:14 because I see the detriment of what's taking place through that. You talk to a young, they don't know how to talk to you. And let's not blame the young people because you don't know how to talk12:26 to them. All of this reflects oftentimes our character. So, you know, next year I'll be 40 years in full time12:37 ministry. So I wrote down a few of the misbehaviors that I've seen within the church in the body of Christ. And they'll be on the screen right now and I'll read them straight from there.12:50 People are in the church but they don't talk to each other. It's amazing. You could sit next to somebody on the left and right behind you in front of you and never talk to them. You could be in church, but never ever13:01 really see people and look into their hearts. You could be in the church and don't show no affection toward them, or touch them in any form or fashion. We come to13:13 church late and we leave early because we are just too You don't know who I am, I am a celebrity. And you folk come to church on time. I will walk through13:25 the parking lot 30 minutes late with my latte, but I will not do that tomorrow morning on my job. I will be on work on time.13:37 How to behave. Our character, all this reflects our character. Be in church, but not be known. I respectfully say this, it's amazing how many people come to me and say, pastor, I've been13:49 a member of this church for 15 years, I look at them and say, I don't know you. I do not know you. I don't know you because you don't serve because that's the only way I'll get to know you as you serve in this ministry.14:02 I I I I I don't know you because you're maybe not in a neighborhood group where we could build relationships together. So so there's a behavioral character14:14 flaw when somebody is a member of this church and it's and I'm not just saying to me, as long as somebody knows you. We can't be in the church body and leave14:26 without saying goodbye to a forwarding address. Oh, this is a huge pet peeve of mine. If we are Let's just say that, let's just say I've been Well I have. I've been14:38 living with this woman, my wife for 41 years. And tonight I'm deciding not to go home. And she won't ever know what happened. People do that every14:49 Sunday morning in this church, in every week in this church. They're a member of this church, but they never tell us they're leaving. They never tell us they're moving. Would you do that to your15:01 natural family and yet we're a spiritual family? See how we treat each other? That's why it's hard for us to get along with 1 another, be honest with 1 another, transparent with 1 another, because you hurt me too much.15:16 I've had friends that I've run running run with, miles with, only to find out they moved to Arizona. I'm thinking of a guy right now. He didn't even tell me in all the times I run with him, he15:28 was considering about moving. And then someone told me, Hey, you know your friend, he moved to Arizona. I said, You've got to be kidding. We give no forwarding address. We're here 1 day and then we don't know what15:40 happened. Because we're not a family. We don't know how to have Christian character. I don't care whatever you do. At least be respectful to 1 another and say, listen, I'm moving to Arizona, I've been relocated,15:52 I'm gonna be taking care of my mom in Hesperia, so you guys won't be But see, we're not a family. See how quiet it is in here? You preaching pastor, when are we getting Adam16:03 back? Let's move along. We can be in the church, sit, watch, observe and criticize and complain, but not contribute.16:17 I just, who can I talk to today that there's no more toilet paper in the bathroom? Who can I talk to today about that? Who could I talk to the parking lots? Who could I talk to about all that construction out16:29 there going on? That make it really difficult out here. We'll leave it at that. Let me give you a few quotes and then I'm gonna preach. Let me give you a few quotes. Here's here's the16:41 quote. Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip. How do you like that16:53 1? Do I have another 1? Can you show me another quote up there or is it not working? I guess we're Oh, there we go. What is required17:04 of us as Christ followers is called character. It is who you really are when no 1 is looking. It's what you do when no 1 is watching. And it's17:16 your inward voice that tells you what you can do and what you can't do. As you guys know, I'm a I'm a mountain biker, so this is17:28 this is a mountain bike helmet. Okay? And I've been mountain biking probably like about maybe, 14 years or something like that. And in those 14 years, I've17:40 taken a lot of falls. Some of them very seriously. I've cracked 4 ribs. I've cracked 2 ribs. I've separated my shoulder, and then other falls. Okay? But you wear this helmet. Okay? And this helmet protects you because17:52 you never know when you're gonna take a fall. So I have fallen and and hit this and come up and and obviously been perfect have been perfectly fine. Well, I was with my friend18:04 1 time many years ago, Ryan. And, Ryan knew that I had fallen, and he came out of the blue, and he said, how's your helmet? I thought to myself, what do you mean? He says, how's your helmet? I said, oh,18:15 it's perfectly fine. I didn't hurt it or damage it in any form or fashion. He said, did the helmet hit the ground with and I said, yes, it did. He said, throw away the helmet. I said, but there's nothing wrong with18:27 it. He said, You have compromised the materials and the character of the helmet now. It is now weakened, even though it still looks good, even though it still fits.18:40 You have weakened the character of it and it can't perform anymore. Throw it away. I wonder what happens when our character has18:52 been violated. Has it been weakened in our lives? Let me read a scripture and this is where we'll park it for the last 20 minutes here. Here's a great story19:04 here about character. Could you give me the story please? In Luke. In Luke. It says, Jesus took up the question and said,19:16 a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, they beat him up and fled, leaving him half dead. Pretty sad.19:29 A priest happened to be going by. Say pass on by. Pass on by. Okay. That row where he he saw this guy, but he went to the opposite side of the street. He turned his face19:40 in avoidance. He passed by on the other side saying, I'm too busy. I didn't finish reading please. In the same way, a Levite,19:52 a Levite when he arrived, a second guy at that place, he saw him too. But he passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan on his journey came to him,20:04 same scenario, 3 different people came to him. And when he saw him the same way, watch what he did. There are 9 traits he had, 9 characteristic traits. He had compassion on him.20:17 He went over to him and he bandaged his wounds. He poured olive oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal. Put him in his car and he brought him to the end, took him to the hospital,20:29 took him to his house, took him to a hotel and he took care of him all night. The next day he took out some dinero, some money, some casa runi and gave it to20:41 the innkeeper and said take care of him and when I come back I'll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend. Which Jesus says this, which of these20:53 3 do you think proved to be a neighbor or I'll say this, proved to have character to the man that fell among robbers. The 1 who showed mercy to him. And I love Jesus's word.21:05 Go and do the exact same thing that you just saw the Samaritan do. Not a lesser version, do the exact same thing. Wow. What character21:17 looks like. What character looks like. 3 things that I wanna point out in the Samaritan of what character is and what will challenge us. Number 1, he21:29 got involved. Character gets involved. Character doesn't watch, observe. Character gets involved. Character doesn't use excuses.21:41 This man has a busy life just like you. He was going somewhere. He wasn't prepared to do this. He wasn't looking for someone in need. He got involved. He got21:53 involved with his time. He got involved with his money. He got involved with his heart. He got involved with his resources. He got involved in not perfection, he got involved in a messy22:05 situation, a dirty situation, a bothersome situation, a problem, a plight. We get involved with things we like. We don't wanna get involved with messy22:16 people. We don't wanna get involved with dirty With people with issues and problems. You'd be too draining for me, I'd get too tired. We gotta get involved like this guy did. This is a messy22:28 situation. This guy is gonna deal with therapy, emotional. He been jacked up tore. I don't know if it was purposeful. I don't know if it was accidental. I don't I'm not He didn't go into it and22:40 start interviewing him and say, can you give me the details before I commit here right now? Are you a runaway right now? Did somebody tell you not to go down this road? Are you stupid?22:54 And we love lecturing people. Judging and critiquing, he doesn't do none of that. Just here's, here, here, we say this all the time, see the need and take the lead, that's all he23:06 did. He saw a need and he took the leap. And he just simply got involved, didn't put his hands in his pocket, didn't pass on by, he stopped. And that's it,23:18 stop. Look, and hear God on what I can do with my gifts, my talent, and my abilities. I do have something to23:30 offer. So God wants me deeply involved in his kingdom. He wants me deeply involved in relationships. He wants me involved in this church, and it'd be wrong for me to be a23:41 Christian and have character and not be involved. He challenges us. There's a couple, and they'll be on the screen,23:53 and you'll see them. Their name is Jeannie and Paul Briggs. They have 34 children, but they adopted 29 of them. They adopted them.24:05 From Ghana, from Mexico, and from Ukraine. And they're Christians that heard this call of God in church. The challenge24:17 is is that many of them are not healthy perfect kids. They've got disabilities. But they're committed, they got involved. And I think that's the problem really24:29 with our world today and our society. That's why politics is so crazy today. That's why the world is so, because everybody complains but nobody gets involved. Nobody gets involved.24:42 Nobody has skin in the game. Nobody has sweat equity in the gate. So for many years, well, I'll just say within the24:54 last year, last year, I became a chaplain. I'm a San Bernardino sheriff chaplain. Okay? So, that that's that's what I do. I'm a I'm a sheriff chaplain.25:09 So so I knew you would clap. Because you're just honoring or and and, you know, you you could think it's elite and its privileges, and it it does. I could do ride alongs. I can go25:21 wherever an employee does, wherever wherever virtually wherever an officer goes or where he doesn't want me to go. That's unsafe. But I I have a key and I have access and I have the uniform and whatever. But let me talk25:32 to you about it for a minute, okay? So the reality was is that I had to go through a background investigation, Okay? The second thing that I want you to want you to25:44 recognize is that it is required of me to log in a certain amount of hours monthly and yearly to be a sheriff. It it is required of me to wear the uniform when I am on25:55 duty to be a sheriff chaplain. It is required of me to pay monthly or yearly dues to be a chaplain. It is required of26:07 me to go through extensive training to be a chaplain. I gotta know how to use the gun, the AR, the shotgun, know how to disengage it. I know how I need to know how to drive the vehicle. I need to go know how to use the26:19 microphones. I need to know. I have to be trained. And then I have to go through ongoing training to be a chaplain. I have to show up at that station and be ready to perform26:31 as a chaplain. So I get a call and suicide, I go over there, a death, I go in there. Whatever it is, I have to perform a duty. Are you still tracking with me? Okay. Here's the here's the here's the26:43 drop kicker. I'm a volunteer. I don't get26:55 paid to do all that. And yet we don't want to be required as a Christian to do anything. Don't look at me, don't talk, don't approach, don't ask me27:07 for nothing. And yet we're not building a community naturally. We're not defending a city or a county. We are part of the kingdom of God.27:19 Light versus darkness, representing God wherever we go. And there should not be any requirements of us? Second thing. Don't worry, Pastor Adam's coming back.27:31 Second thing. He lives a life of integrity. Integrity. Here's what the bible says about integrity.27:43 The righteous who walks in his integrity, blessed are his children. Man, you want your children blessed? Walk in integrity.27:55 You want them to have difficulties? Do not be a person of integrity. This guy displays all kind of integrity, he has a conviction, he has a conscience.28:08 He knows the difference between right and wrong. What's required of me and what's not required of me. He has this moral compass within him. He has28:20 this inward voice, I'm trying to describe integrity to you. The integrity. He has ethics, he has standards, he has all that in his28:32 life, excellence in his life. The word integrity means wholeness. There is a wholeness in his life. Not purposely having holes in his life.28:43 There is a soundness to his life. He's trustworthy, he's absolutely dependable. He's integral. And that's the way God challenges us. He28:55 challenges us in our integrity. He challenges us to be integral with our eyes. Eyes that are not jealous or lustful. Or29:07 eyes that are not always in competition with 1 another. And we are to have integrity with our ears, not to listen to gossip or discord or junk. We have29:19 integrity with our mouths. How we talk, how we speak, profanity. All of that is integrity. Our heart, integrity of our heart to offer forgiveness29:32 and mercy towards somebody rather than retaliation and judgment towards somebody. God challenges us to not live a compromising life or a29:44 fraudulent lifestyle or a pretentious lifestyle or a hypocritical lifestyle. All of that revolves around our integrity.29:57 Let me read you a scripture here in Proverbs the first chapter and in verse number 10. I'm I'm sorry, Proverbs. In Philippians, Philippians 1 10. That you may approve the things that are30:08 excellent and that you may be sincere without offense till the day of Christ. The way I'm supposed to treat you is I am not to purposely offend30:20 you. I am not to purposely hurt you through my lifestyle. You and I are familiar with people that we30:32 tried to witness to or share our faith. And they looked at us and said get that Jesus you know what out of my face. Because I know a so called Christian that ripped me off, didn't pay their bills and did me wrong.30:45 What was that? Somebody that had no integrity. Somebody that's what we would call in the streets ain't straight. They ain't right man, they just ain't, they're dirty. How many remember that30:56 street talk like that? They ain't straight. They're crooked. Whatever it was. God's saying that to the best of my ability, I am not whether in church, outside of the church, my31:08 marriage, my personal life, my leisures, my pleasures, not to cause you hurt or harm or to offend you. He tells me that I'm to live a harmless and blameless life with my employer,31:21 with my bill collectors. Oh, you're preaching good past. Well, thank you. I thank you. He uses the word sincere, okay? So31:33 during Jesus's day as well as today, how many of you have ever been to a swap meet? Don't act like you ain't never been to a swap meet. How many of you been to a garage31:44 sale? Come on, when we started life, we bought all our furniture from those places. Now that you're all dignified, you go to Target and buy all your stuff. But your life started at garage31:56 sales and swap meets. Well that's what they would do. There'd be merchants lining the streets and they try to sell you something of imperfection. Something that was32:08 flawed. They try to jack you. Okay? Are you with me? Maybe you're familiar with that. Okay? So let's just say you were looking for a pot to cook with or to put a plant in or or whatever. You wanted32:20 a pot. So what what happened, this is where this word sincere comes from, or in the Greek, sinceiros. Okay? So what what a merchant would do32:32 is he say, oh, my grandma made this pot. This is made from the finest materials. We we probably got about 500 dollars into this. You are not gonna find a better pot in all of32:44 Israel than this 1 right here. And you know what? I like you. I'm gonna give you a special deal. I don't know what it is. I just like you. How many of you heard32:56 what I'm talking about today? Okay. And you know what? I have a Sunday sale going today. You just came you hardly ever have Sunday sales going but I'm gonna take care of you. You like it?33:08 Do you like it? I like it. Okay. And so you pick it up and this is what you would do to inspect it. You'd get the pot and you lift it up to the sun.33:20 And the beam of the sun would look through the pot and you would be able to see if there were any cracks in the pot. See because what the33:32 merchant would try to do is that where there were cracks, he put fillers called wax in. And then he'd color over it. And so you'd be ripped off and cheated because in your33:44 natural eye, you could not see that. But when you lift it up to the sun, the sun exposes the character. It's not sincere. And so33:56 today, if I'm living as a liar, a cheater, a conniver, the only thing that will heal you is to lift you up in the sun. The sun, Jesus Christ, will heal you of where you're trying to34:07 wax over. People in their lives, and here's the last 1. His life inspires. His life34:19 inspires. He's in the book. This man is in the book. Jesus uses him to say go and do. So34:31 your character will inspire others. It will say you know what, he is a template, she's a template. They're a model. They're an example of how to stay married 4134:43 years. And never have cheated on a man or cheated on a woman. They're an example of how to raise godly children and godly grandchildren.34:56 They're an example of coming off the streets and having that street in you, but God's delivering you and you're no representation of what you used to be. You're somebody that I can emulate. You're somebody35:08 that inspires me. You're somebody that provokes me. You're somebody that encourages me. You're somebody that challenges me. As opposed to, where are all the examples? We say God will35:20 do it, but then and we go to church at, well, where's the fruit of it? So I have a little list here that I wanna go through because Paul says this,35:32 let me read the scripture to you about Onesimus. Could I read the scripture? It says, the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus because he often, here's the word,35:45 refresh me. Do you refresh someone? Am I a refreshing to you? Or are you a refreshing to me? Wow. Who showed me35:56 kindness, comforting, and reviving me? Are are you fresh air to people or just like a stink to people? Good. That's right. And he was not ashamed of my change. So here's36:08 what I wanna share with you. Basically what you and I need to be to other people. You need to refresh people rather than tire people out. Don't look at your neighbor, but you and I know36:20 somebody, people that they just tire us out. You and I know people that replenish us, but we also know people that drain us. We also, we wanna be people that others36:32 will follow rather than I'm not gonna follow you. We want people that restore people rather than destroy people. And we want people that reconcile you rather than ridicule36:45 you. This is what you and I are called to be. You know pastor Nathan last week showed beautiful pictures of members and how they're building this church and what they're doing if36:57 you were you know volunteering and getting to know them. If you know a little history about our church more than 30 years ago, I started in my house in South Ridge, Fontana with 1237:08 people. But you know what, lovely Cindy, I was thinking about there there were 12 physical people, but they're literally, if you count me and her, there were 14. But we never count each37:20 other. But there were 12 guests or or visitors. So really, she's the longest member of abundant living right there. She is. And she's probably put up with more you know what37:32 than anyone else. And she still loves me and she still loves you. Okay? But I wanna introduce to you someone that So we had this wave that was in the37:44 house. Then we moved to the next wave, which is this The 30. The 12 and then you move to the 30 because a lot of the 12 aren't here anymore. They even transitioned. They're in glory. A lot of37:55 the the original they're not here anymore. But here is the longest active member of Abundant Living Family Church. Her name is Jonette. Jonette has38:07 served in all her in in her 30 years. And you don't even remember the donut ministry we used to have. We used to literally have a donut stand when you walked in to the church,38:19 you could have free donuts and coffee when you sat down. I know some of you want us to revive that ministry again. She was the coffee cart, children's check-in, prison38:31 ministry, Mexico mission, women's ministry, Christmas and Easter productions, caring for the goats and chickens. She's been a member of Abundant Living for more than38:43 30 years. That ought to inspire us. That's how this thing gets built. I wanna end with this story to just show the38:54 character of something. Pretend with me that this is my great great great grandfather's chair. It's a hundred and 25 years old.39:06 There's hardly no screws in it. There's no plastic in it. No lamination in it, not lamination. Wood. Laminate. There's no laminate in it. No plastic39:18 in it. It's made out of real wood craftsman. It took several hours of a man wielding with his hand. This is a chair that I got from IKEA.39:30 Anybody familiar with Ikea? Nothing wrong with Ikea. But there's a vast difference between an Ikea chair and a craftsman chair.39:43 Okay, stay with me. I can get a Kia at a reasonable price. A Kia is nice and you know what, it's gonna fill my house. But here's39:55 the difference, a Kia is not something you're gonna pass down to your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren. This is something that'sShow more In this video 0:00 The Call to Christian Character
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.