Skip to content A Place You Can Run | Joshua 20:1-9 | Pastor Fuego Padilla Oct 16 · 40 min ...more
A Place You Can Run | Joshua 20:1-9 | Pastor Fuego Padilla
October 16, 2025 · 40 min
Series Patria Sermons October 16, 2025 · 40 min · Patria Sermons
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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
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0:00 What's up, Patriot? How y'all doing? Good? Yeah. They don't let your crazy Puerto Rican relative back in. Won't you look at your neighbor and tell them, hi. Hi. Come on. That was kind of weak. That0:12 was kind of weak. Look at your other neighbor. Say, other neighbor. Other You know you're blessed. You you're blessed. And then tell them why. Because you're sitting next to all this. Come on. Let's know. Well, hey,0:24 my name is pastor Fuego. I have the honor and privilege alongside my gorgeous Tiffany of being the campus pastor of Alameda, Patriot Alameda. And it's an honor to be here. It's an honor to be here. Look, if you0:36 visited for the first time, I often tell people you can belong before you believe, you can belong before you behave. You can even come as you are, but you best believe our God loves you and I way too much not to keep us0:46 the way we are. Amen? We believe that Christianity is not about perfection, it's about progression. You don't have to be the best today, but you do need to get better today. So, won't you touch about 2, 3 people, tell0:56 them get better, get better, get better. Come on, especially if you're married, tell them, listen, that's why you're here. That's why you're here, get better. We're not trying to get bitter, we're trying to get better.1:06 We wanna make sure that Patriot is a home for the hungry. Some of y'all looking at me a little twisted like, did this brother say his name is Swaygo? No, it's not Swaygo. And if you don't speak Spanish, it's okay. Look,1:17 neither do I. Alright? Swaygo means fire in Spanish. Everybody yell fire. Fire. That's right. And it don't mean I think I'm a hot and handsome dude even though my wife tells me all the time, y'all do sob1:28 it. But it does come from Jeremiah 20 and 9. If I said I would never mention God or speak of his name, his word burns like a fire, a fuego shut up in my bones. I'm growing weary trying to hold it in. I can't do it.1:40 I gotta tell people about Jesus and what he has done in it through my life. If you love Jesus on 3, yell Jesus 1, 2, 3. Jesus. Man, he's in the building and anything can happen. Tell your neighbor anything can happen.1:52 Amen. Come on, anything can happen. That's right. Well, I'm grateful. Listen, I gotta find out right off top like a barber shout, hey, where my nosy people at? Raise your hand nosy people. Yeah. Because we know who the2:03 real nosy ones, the ones with their hand down looking around. Y'all the nosy ones. Uh-huh. But listen, it's okay. We're gonna redeem it. Everybody say redeem it. Redeem it. And Ray, we're gonna redeem it. It's you know,2:15 when nosy people do, they listen like this, what they say? Well, we're gonna redeem it by using it to lean in. Everybody say lean in. Lean in. And you're gonna lean in because I believe whatever you tune into, you turn2:26 into. And I want you to lean in and tune into the word of God so that you and I will turn into men and women of God, men of valor, women of virtue. Amen? So so let's do this since we're getting off to a right2:38 start. Let's do this. Let's put our hands over our heart like this. Amen? Have you noticed that your heart's on your left because it just ain't right? Amen? It just ain't right. So I want you to know that it is not2:50 my responsibility to get your heart right. That's up to you. According to Mark chapter number 4, we see that Jesus gives us a parable. He is telling us about a farmer who's sowing seed and he gives3:02 us 4 different soils. So that soil is your heart. Now, you gotta assess your own heart and do the proper assessment to say, hey Lord, am I ready to receive the word of God? Because the word of God is the seed that is3:14 potent and it will bear fruit that will be 30, 60, or even 100 times more than what was planted, but you gotta be ready to receive it. If you're ready, everybody say, I'm ready. I'm ready. Amen.3:26 Amen. Now, since we are at church, we like to stand for the reading of God's word. Amen. Would you do that? And if your neighbor's complaining about their feet hurting, tell them they chose to wear them shoes.3:39 Alright. They chose to wear them shoes. Alright. We are in Joshua chapter number 20. Joshua chapter number 20. And this is how it reads.3:51 We'll have it on the screen too just in case you don't have your bible. Then the Lord said, Joshua Everybody say Joshua. Joshua. Say to the people of Israel, appoint the cities of4:03 refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses. Everyone say Moses. Moses. That the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee4:14 there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. And he shall flee to 1 of these cities and shall stand at the4:26 entrance of the gates of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and4:38 he shall remain with him. And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give him up, the manslayer, into his hand because he struck4:50 his neighbor unknowingly and did not hate him in the past. And he shall remain in the city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until5:02 the death of he excuse me. Until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home and5:13 to the town from which he fled. I'm gonna jump down to verse 9 and it reads, these were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and for5:25 the stranger, sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand5:37 of the avenger of blood till he stood before the congregation. Let us pray. Spirit of the living God, I thank you. We honor you, Lord God. I pray that you would5:49 hide the preacher behind the cross, that you would hide the preacher behind the pulpit, that your word that is alive and active would do what only it can do. Lord God, I thank you that we are here standing in attention6:01 for your word to do what only it could do to bring transformation in our hearts. So, Lord, as we have ears to hear what you are saying, let us receive it and let us apply it because information, God, without6:13 application will not bring the transformation we need. So, Lord God, we want to honor you, not with just our lips, but with our lives. In Jesus' mighty name. And everyone said, amen. As you're having a seat, tell your6:24 neighbor that story was crazy. That story was crazy. Now, if you're new to Patria, we have been in the book of Joshua throughout the entirety of this6:36 year. We're almost done. There's only 24 chapters in Joshua. We're in chapter number 20. And now, if you've been with us, I'm so proud that you've been with us and following us and tracking with us. You6:48 got your journal, your Joshua journal. Some of y'all probably had kids during this time and named your kid Joshua. Right? Some of y'all moved on on Jericho Drive. You love Joshua so much. But7:00 what I really love is that the teaching that's been coming from this house about Joshua has been very rich with a lot of history in it and showing that there's been foreshadows of Christ. Pastor Heron, he preached7:12 a phenomenal message last Wednesday, and he brought the word that was so beautiful. When I was leaning in from home, I was like, brother, you were preaching and showing foreshadows of Christ of how Jesus and7:24 Joshua, how they're showing Jesus in Joshua. How about that? We see that Joshua, he has a last task before he goes home to see the Lord. And his last task was to7:36 rebuild. Was to rebuild. Everyone say rebuild. He's to rebuild. And Jesus, he says in his words in the New Testament, he says, I'm going to prepare a place7:47 for you. Pastor Herron was showing us those parallels. He showed us how Joshua, he took a hill victoriously and how Jesus took a hill victoriously called Calvary for you and I.8:00 He showed us that in the word. And today, we're actually showing that Jesus is our refuge. Can you say refuge? That's right. Jesus is our refuge. Now, in8:12 this story, it's kinda crazy. I was thinking, is this Hunger Games? Is this Purge? Is this the old school movie, The Running Man? I don't know if y'all know about that movie. The Running Man, old school movie, Running8:23 Man. This this refuge that is established ahead of time for people to run. Now, this is for people, of course, obviously, who did something unintentionally.8:35 They have a refuge to run to if they unintentionally killed someone. That's why it's called the manslayer. Right? A manslaughter. They would have a place where they can run. Now, this is8:47 something that is good that's established and set up because they had something called lex talionis. Lex talionis, that is a Latin word that means law of8:58 retaliation. Now, of retaliation is basically an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. They would have somebody If someone caused harm to someone, they would just retaliate. And, of course, it's9:10 not giving freedom for revenge. It's not doing that. It's actually setting a limitation. It's setting a limitation in this regard that if it's an eye for an eye, they're saying that the9:21 punishment should fit the crime. But you know us as people, we like to do extra. Somebody cut you off, you're to cut them off and hit the brakes. You know how we do, somebody says something9:33 to your kid, you're hit both their kids. Someone says, oh, I'm gonna hit you in the mouth, you're say, I'm gonna knock all your teeth out. Right? Yeah. We always go further than we should.9:46 And that's where Jesus even comes on the scene in the New Testament and he says, you've heard it said, right, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But I say, right, do not resist an evil person. If9:58 he hits you on the cheek, give him the other 1. If he tells you to carry something 1 mile, carry it 2 miles. Jesus is setting the tone and letting us know how we ought to use this thing called10:09 retaliation. Instead of retaliation, show forgiveness, mercy, and justice. And, this is really what the cities of refuge are about. Showing the proper justice10:21 and mercy for the people who would escape and go there. Now, these places are actually the cities are 6 cities. Can we put those 6 cities up? These 6 cities, there's 3 on the east10:33 side and 3 on the west side. These 6 cities, they were in a place where it was easy to get to. Some commentators would say that it would only be a day's journey10:44 away for you to get there. Just a day's journey for someone to get there. It was easily accessible. Some even say in commentaries, they would say that the roads were actually a lot10:56 wider. Instead of it just being a narrow road, there would be 2 or 4 feet wider so that people would have easy access to get to these cities of refuge. So that they would11:08 stand before the people and they would plead their case, and a person who was the avenger of the blood would not take this person's life without first having a case.11:20 Now, if you're taking notes, I want to introduce the very first point to you. If you're taking notes because note takers, they're the ones that rule the world. This is my very first point. God11:31 provides ahead of time. God provides ahead of time. Now, in verse 2 and 3, it says, say to the people of Israel, appoint11:43 the cities of refuge of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the man's slayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there, they11:55 shall be for you a refuge for from the avenger of the blood. So, the cities are not man's idea, they're God's design, and they were placed12:07 there ahead of time. I don't know if you can recall right now at this moment a time where God, he provided something for you ahead of time. I remember a friend of mine, him and I, we grew up together. We played12:19 baseball, football. We went on vacations together. This was my road dog, my homie. This was the guy that me and him were like chopsticks. We were together all the time. Now, when me and him were always hanging12:31 out, his mother became kind of like my mom. Anybody got some friends like that? Right? Came like my mom. Well, his mother ended up in the hospital, had a very bad stroke, ended up in the hospital. And I had12:43 just a year ago given my heart to Jesus. I surrendered my life to the Lord. I'm living for the Lord. And I came to them before her being hospitalized, and I shared the gospel with her, and she rejected it. Her son12:55 rejected it. Her husband rejected it. The whole household rejected it. I felt bad because I knew that eternity was real. And I said, man, I was so heartbroken. Now, she's in the hospital,13:06 and she was declining quickly. She ends up passing away. I get a phone call, my friend calls and he says, Fuego, my mom died. And, I was heartbroken. My heart was13:18 just grieved. I put my hands to my face and knees to the floor and I cried out, Lord, have mercy on her. My mom, she came to me, she said, Son, why have you been13:30 grieving for so many days? This isn't your mother, I'm your mother. I want to let you know, like, she is with the Lord. And I said, Mom, you're a Christian. How could you tell me that? See, you13:42 know the life that she lived and the life that we used to live all together. How could you say something like that? She said, Wait a minute, son. You're going 90 into 30. What's happening? I said, man, mom, she went home13:52 and she rejected she rejected the Lord. And she said, son, 3 days before she passed, the Lord placed on my heart to go to the hospital. And for me, I went and talked14:04 to her, and she received Jesus as her Lord and Savior. And she told me something that I never forget. She said, Son, the Lord provides ahead of time. The Lord provides ahead14:16 of time. And the Lord did that for you and I because this refuge is a foreshadowing of Christ being the refuge for us, being a provision to help us when we have a place that we can run to. You see,14:28 God provided Jesus Christ our Lord and savior ahead of time before we even sin. He is the 1. Look at first Peter chapter 1 verse 20. Look what it says. God chose him. Who is him?14:40 Jesus as the ransom long before the world began. Long before the world began, God had provided a way for us. Now, if you're taking notes, this14:52 is point number 2. The refuge was open to all. The refuge was open to all. Verse number 9, this is where we find it. These were the cities designated for all people of15:03 Israel and for the stranger, souljourning among them. Souljourning among them. Now, this is to me, this is exactly what the gospel is. It's for all people. Right?15:15 It doesn't reject anybody. It's actually for all people. And now, this place called the refuge, people could come whether they were Jew or Gentile. They could come from anywhere. They were open. It was actually15:27 open for all because it was open 24 7. It really was. The doors would not close. I'm originally from New York. You know what I'm saying, son? It was originally from New York. I'm originally from New York. And there are15:38 things that are open 24 hours a day. My mama used to say, son, New York is the best place to be pregnant. I was like, why you say that, mama? Cause you know when you're hungry, you get some anytime, anyway. I was like,15:49 you giving me too much information, girl. Too much information. But this refuge is open 24 7. That mean that anybody could come in at any time from anywhere, and they'd be able to see,16:01 receive mercy and grace. Now, this is the gospel. Open for all. For food people who are Jew or Gentile, near or far from God, they all could come and receive Jesus. They16:12 all can run to Jesus if they're willing to run to him as their refuge. Amen? Amen. Now, this is what Romans 10 13 says, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be16:24 saved. Shall be saved. That's why I love this place of refuge that is open to all. Now, the place of refuge is a beautiful place for this reason. The roads,16:36 some common Jewish commentators would say that the roads were so smooth and that there was no hill, there was no mound, it was smooth and it was wider as I said before. And the reason why16:48 is because they wanted it to be a smooth run for the person fleeing that they would not trip or stumble over something. They wanted them to make sure they don't break their stride, to keep their17:00 speed. Now, I started looking at this and I started to think about the church, started to think about my life, started to think about this journey of Christianity, and I wanted to ask you a question that I asked myself.17:11 Listen, are you a place of refuge for all or are you a stumbling block? Are you a refuge for all or a stumbling block? Oh, you know what a stumbling block is. Right? It's not just something you trip17:23 over. It's something like, oh, you know, you can't tame your tongue. Right? So, when people come to you to confess, it hits the press. Right? Everybody got to know. Everybody got to know. Or how about this, a person that17:35 is out loud talking about the things of God, but then they do dishonest business. These are things that are a stumbling block. Why? Because all the people that we deal with that are outside of Christ see17:47 that and it trips them up forever wanting to run into the presence of God. Now, we should be like that road to the road of refuge, the city of refuge that nobody trips or stumbles. This is what17:59 Jesus talked about. Matter of fact, it was so talked about in all 4 of the gospels. Now, usually some stories don't make it in all 4 of the gospels, but I think this was so important that it made all 4.18:11 Jesus, he comes to the temple and he sees that there are people selling and trading, and what they're doing is they're charging extra for all of the sacrifices that need to be purchased. And he18:23 makes a whip, and he drives them all out of the temple. Right? We see this in John 2. He drives them out of the temple, and he flips over the tables, and he says, get this out of my father's house. You're turning it into18:34 a mark a marketplace. You see, those things were stumbling blocks. It wasn't that, oh, you can't sell Patriot gear in here. No. It was talking about why are you making it harder for people to come to God?18:46 I am the sacrifice. I am the refuge. I am the 1 that will cover them. I am the 1 that is their hope, their joy. I am the 1, and you're making it harder for my people. So I wanna ask18:58 you, are you a refuge for all or for some? Or are you a refuge for just whom you want to be a refuge to? And are you a stumbling block or not? Now,19:10 when when I'm thinking about this refuge in a stumbling block, I started to think about this place that was a refuge for young men in Oakland. Now, I'm from the Bay Area, Northern Cali. Right? And we used to19:22 live wait, not it is hood. I was gonna say it was kind of hood. It was listen. It was Brookfield, California. Right? It was East Oakland, Brookfield. We lived in this house. It was 7 bedrooms, 4 4 bathrooms, and we're19:34 renting this spot out. And when the Lord blessed us with this spot, we opened the doors because I was like, Lord, this house is so big. My kids don't even wanna play hide and seek in it. What am I supposed to do? And it19:44 was like he slapped me on the back of the head and he said, when did my great commission become the great suggestion? He said, go and make disciples. So I opened up the doors and guess what he saw. Now, that's that's a19:56 wrap. But he he he I brought people in and I started to disciple them. And, they went off to be in churches, and now they're still there married and things, and it was great. It was a20:08 wonderful wonderful place for them to get restored. Now, this did not stop throughout my life. It started when I was not married, but now even when I am married to my lovely wife20:19 Tiffany, we actually, a couple of months ago, brought this young man into our home. His name is Manny. I want to introduce you to him. I think we got a picture of him, my man Manny. And if not, it's okay. You follow him20:30 on the gram. But Manny Manny, I saw him. He was in our church, and when he was in our church, he's our music director. Now, he's our music director, but he was at this place where everything20:42 was on a decline. His health was on a decline. I could just see him declining in his leadership, declining in community. It was just I just had him on my heart for 2 months. I was praying for him, I was fasting,20:54 and then I said I came to my wife and I said, sweetheart, my this gentleman has been on my heart for a couple of months now, and I'm thinking that God wants us to move him into our house. What you think? And she was21:05 like, the devil is a lie. No. I'm just kidding. She didn't do that. She didn't do that. She she she submitted. You know. She she she did though. She did though in a nice21:16 way, in a nice but but she did say to me, she said, you know what? You've never led our family wrong whenever you feel God was leading you to have a person move in the home with us. We've always seen God21:28 breathe on it and something great happened in that person's life, so we moved him in. Immediately, change started to happen in his life. I mean, he's only been with us a month, and we've already seen drastic change in21:40 everything in his life. Why am I telling you this? Well, because 1 day he did something that was out of pocket. My man was on the Nick Cannon show while and out, not literally, but he was doing things he shouldn't have21:51 been doing. So, we sat him down and when we sat him down, we talked with him, the whole family, we talked with him. And as we talked with him, he I said, hey, now I'm gonna give you an opportunity to speak. And, this is22:03 what comes out of his mouth. He said, pastor Fuego, I've never had this before. He said, You know what? I've always just been yelled at and never given an opportunity to talk. He22:15 said, Thank you for correcting me, and thank you for giving me a place where I could plead my case, and thank you for this family. I said, wow. That right22:27 there is a place of refuge. A place that someone can come to. So, that's why I'm asking my church family tonight, are you a place of refuge for all Or are you a place22:39 of refuge just for some? Can people come to you with some of their burdens and you be tested and trusted not to gossip? Or or you will be a person22:51 that can cherish it and take it to prayer? Could you be a person that says, you know what? They matter so much that God died for them. Okay. I'm a say this23:02 side. God died for them. For you. Listen, y'all, like, he died for you. Like, that's mind blowing to me. Like, he died for me and you.23:14 Why would we try to give earthly advice? Why would we try to give something clever? Why would we do that? Why would we chat GBT something to say to the person? Why?23:27 When we need heaven's resources to do heaven's work. That's what we need, and that's what a person will need. Now, when this city of refuge is23:39 this city of refuge, they had the roads, but 1 thing else that stood out to me that they have when you're going to this city of refuge. The cities of refuge, they had these posts that stood up, and on23:51 the post, they were on every turn. So, when the person was fleeing on the turns, on the post, it would say refuge, and it was a sign of hope to the man who24:03 was unhappy, who was fleeing. Will you and I be a post on every corner that a person in their life as they're fleeing, the 1 who is the avenger of the blood? I'm talking about Satan. You24:15 know the 1 that comes to steal, kill, and destroy? The 1 that don't want nothing for you to get that God has in your life. The 1 that wants to rob your purpose. The 1 that pulls up like a serpent, and he looks like he's24:26 supposed to be there in your life, but really he's not because he comes disguised as the angel of light. The 1 that pulls up like he's your friend, whispers in your ear deceit, but we can't even hear the slithering24:37 speech of a serpent because we have not been in the logos word of God. We haven't been in the word of God to know when God speaks, we can hear his voice. We recognize his voice because my sheep, they know my24:49 voice and they run to me. Will you be a post that says refuge? Then when somebody sees you, another guy that we got, he came to the conference. His name is Chris. There was a gentleman in our25:01 neighborhood group, and when we were in a neighborhood group, this guy was struggling with alcohol. And Chris was saying, man, you know what, I've been doing things and my my wife, she's come to to, you know, fall in25:11 love with the Lord more, and he was just boasting a whole lot about the what God has been doing. And, the gentleman sitting across said, he said, man, you talk about Jesus all the time, Chris, but like, I'm I'm25:23 struggling with alcohol addiction. How does this even how did how do I get delivered from that? And, my man leaned over and he said, bro, I want you to see the scars on my arms. I used to be addicted to25:34 heroin, and God delivered me. God is my refuge. He's my refuge. He's my refuge. My man chose to stand 10 toes down and say, I'm gonna be a post25:46 of refuge, letting these people know this is a sign of hope. Brother, if you're if you're strung out on drugs or if you're dealing with alcoholism, listen, this would be a sign of hope that Jesus, run to him. Run to him25:58 and you'll find rest. Because as Christians, we are to run to him, we are to rest in him, but we are also supposed to rise. Run,26:09 rest, and rise. Run, rest, and rise. I got to say that 1 more time, run, rest, and rise. The reason why I say run, rest, and rise is because26:21 we Do you remember when you were trapped when you were in your sin? Do you remember? Was it that far? Was it that distant? Listen, every day I wake up and I'm just I'm hitting the face with it like, look at what you26:33 saved me from. Now, I I don't know if it's been so distant from you that that you haven't had a problem. Maybe it's because you just been resting and you haven't rose up. When26:45 I say rest and rise, I'm talking about the church, we are a place of refuge. Great people will come, they come running, they can find rest here. But I'm hoping that you're not staying so26:56 comfortable that you're thinking that it's still all about you and that you're not on God's mission to go and seek the lost, teach the found and send the Are you a disciple or are you still being comforted?27:09 See, I kinda have like a little bit of a pet peeve because I love the house of God and I just know when we come to church, get all the coffees and we get the27:21 lattes and these be cracking. Look, we got people at the altar prayer team chewing mints now. Like, this is great. No more halitosis. It's hallelujah. Amen? Amen.27:33 And everything is just a blessing, but we could get real comfortable. We we get real comfortable. We just sit. We we take it in, and then we forget. That was a good word. Was it that good?27:45 That it moved you to rise up and go and be a comfort to somebody else who needed comforting just like you were? Because that's what the refuge is about. The refuge is for you to27:56 recognize. Matter of fact, thank you, Holy Spirit. Matter of fact, the refuge, when they come to the city gate and they stand at the city gate, You know who are the people who would be the elders? The Levites.28:08 Whoo. Didn't pastor Heron teach y'all about Simeon and Levi? They shouldn't have gotten nothing. They took out the people of Shechem. They shouldn't have gotten nothing. But yet, God showed them grace and28:20 mercy and put them over positions in cities instead of giving them land. And then look at what he does, he makes them the judges at the gate so that they would never forget the grace and mercy God showed to them.28:32 That when they're judging others, they too will be able to be merciful. Thank you, Holy Spirit. That's what you and I are to be for people. You've got to remember where28:44 you were from, remember what happened, Remember what happened. Take a drive down the old neighborhood you used to go to or something. Do whatever it takes, but don't let that be out of your grip so that you don't28:56 fall out of touch with saying, God, I don't remember what you did for me because we're always on to the next, on to the next. Now, this is my last point right here. My last point. Yeah. Yeah. My last point. Here29:08 we go. Here we go. Last point. Point number 3, the refuge was secured by the high priest. Now, verse 6 it says, he shall remain in the city until he has stood before the congregation29:20 for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Now, we're gonna just jump for the sake of time right to Hebrews because Jesus is our high priest. Jesus29:32 is our high priest. Even in John 2, when he flipped over the the tables, there were high priests that would come and check and see if there was a spot or blemish on the animal, and they would be like, no, you can't.29:42 Well, Jesus is the high priest. He's the 1 also the lamb for us as well. So, Jesus right here, here we go. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 11 to 12. Here it goes. But when Christ appeared as29:53 a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands that is that is not of this creation. He entered30:05 once for all into the holy place. Hallelujah. Not by means of blood of goats or calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.30:18 The eternal redemption. For this, I'm a I'm a end with this story family. I think that this story will be ministering to all of us. It ministered to my heart very much. So,30:30 there was a man and his son, they were lost in the snow, got away from their vehicle and ran out of gas and now, they're on this journey through the storm. It's snowing everywhere. There's30:42 like 3 feet of snow. It's getting really cold. Seems like no hope. I mean, his legs are weak, his toes are numb, and his son is looking at his dad and he says, dad, I'm I'm30:54 so cold. I don't know if I can make it. And his dad's like, I got you. He picks up his son and he starts walking with him. He's walking with his son and as he's walking with his son, he's getting cold. He sees his legs31:05 getting even weaker and he's shivering. And then, as he's squinting and he's looking through the snow and through the wind, he sees just like a flicker of light and it looks like it's a house. And so, he starts31:17 pressing forward looking like there's a glimpse of hope and then there's smoke coming out, like there's a chimney. He's like, yes, there may be a fireplace where we could get warm. Him and his son get closer, it's an31:28 orphanage and they bust in through the door falling on the ground, and the warmth that they feel on their body is like the warmth of just thawing out with mercy. It just felt like mercy washing right31:40 over them. They come into the place, the lady greets them and she says, hey, can we help you? She startled a little bit. He's like, yes, we're freezing. Do you have anything that warm that we can eat or warm that we31:52 could drink some hot chocolate or something? He's she says, yes, and she helps him. And as she helps him as she helps them at the helps the young man and his father, she brings it to32:04 him, they start getting warm and they're sitting down. And, they're kinda now, they're they're starting to get their feelings back in their fingers and they're talking a little bit, but the lady comes with tears in her32:14 her eyes and she says, hey, sir, I'm glad that you're warm and everything, but I don't know if you noticed that this is an orphanage and this is a place where children who have lost their parents,32:26 they stay here and we can't have any adults staying here. And so, you and your son are gonna have to leave. And he was like, wait wait a minute. Where are we gonna go? It's freezing up there. She was like, sir, I I32:38 understand, but these are the house rules. You can't stay here. And, he was like, well, at least let my son stay here. And, he was like she was like, no, no, he has a father. And, so, the father turns32:50 and he looks at his son, and he kisses his son on the forehead, and he's like, son, you know I love you so much. And then, turns around, he hands his hand to the lady, and then the father walks out the33:01 door. And as the father walks out the door, the lady said, hey, you have to take your son with him because he has living parents, and he says, no, it's been arranged. The man walked into the snow and he33:13 dies maybe hundreds of yards away with his arms stretched out towards where his son was. And, he passes away but lets his son live. Place33:25 of refuge. Isn't that story sound familiar? How Jesus, he brings you to a safe place and with his outstretched hands, he took a cross for you and me so that we would be able to have the freedom in him, The33:37 high priest, the 1 that took our sins and it was laid upon him and it was laid upon him. You know, I don't know how many people33:49 here could resonate with that story. I don't even know how any of the message is hitting home for you. But my mission tonight was just simple, get the people who who34:01 are uncomfortable comfortable, and those who are comfortable uncomfortable. Those who need refuge to be in the arms of Christ, and those who have been in the arms of Christ comforted by his34:13 love, grace, and his mercy now to rise. To say, hey, how come I haven't joined? And how come I haven't gone to growth track? How come I haven't been serving at the doors?34:25 How come I haven't been in the parking lot? How come I haven't been using my gift in the house of God? Why not? What have I been waiting for? The great commission for34:37 every Christian is to go and make disciples. It's simple. Discipleship is life on life. Have you opened your home for somebody? Have you opened up the word and taught34:48 already what you've been taught on Sunday to someone? You could start there. We have people in position as pastors and elders and people that pray for you, but you've got to take a35:00 step forward. You got to be able to be a place of refuge for others. That when you're at your job, at school, you're amongst your family, you actually are a post that stands saying35:12 a place of refuge. Now, just a moment, we're gonna bow our heads and we're gonna say a prayer. Now the there's no power in the prayer. The power is in the35:24 name above every name, which every name will bow and with tongue will confess and it's the name of Jesus. And 20 something years ago, I'll say 2035:36 yeah. 20 years ago when I'd I surrendered my life to Jesus, and I didn't have the opportunity of sitting in church and somebody telling me about a God35:47 that died for me, took my sin upon him, that all I have to do is receive this free gift of salvation and I can be saved. I didn't know that it was good news.35:59 I was met on the streets where I was almost murdered and left dead. And that night when Jesus, the God the God that I did not want, the 1 that I rejected36:11 walked into my situation, and when he walked into my situation, I was met with his word. The bible says in Proverbs 14 12, there's a path that looks right to a man, but it leads to36:23 death. And that night, I was introduced to Christ because as he knocked on the door of my heart that night, that was the scripture that I was met with. And I yelled36:35 Jesus, and when I yelled Jesus, the gunman that had the gun to my face put the gun down and my life was spared. Now, I'm here today to let you know that the God that we serve, his36:47 word is alive and is active. His word is real. His word is what saved me that night. His name is what saved me that night. Matter of fact, when36:58 Jesus was walking on water, he walked on his word because in Psalm 77 verse 19, it says that he walked on water and left no footprint. Psalms was pointing to Jesus.37:11 His word is alive. His word is real. The Lord that we serve is real. I wish I could download every single thing that I have in my heart so that you would be able to37:23 repent and turn to Jesus, but all we get is 35 minutes. Now tonight, if you do wanna receive Jesus into your heart as Lord Savior, we're all gonna37:35 bow our heads and we're gonna say a prayer. And if you would, let's all as a family say it together, would you? Would you say this and repeat after me? Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus. I believe that you're the son of37:46 God. I believe you died on the cross. Believe you died cross. On the third day. God the father. Father. Raised you from the grave. Opened my heart.37:59 And I receive you as my Lord and savior. Holy spirit, fill me from the top of my head to the soles of my feet.38:12 In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Come on clap it up for yourselves family. Now if you did say that prayer for the very first time or38:24 for the very last time as pastor Adam loves to say, I just want you to so boldly put your hand up if you would on the count of 3. Ready? 1, 2, 3. Go ahead and put your hand up. Yeah.38:36 Would you keep it up? I see hands here all over the place. There you go. Amen. Now, we have a resource for you. It's w w w dot grow dot faith. It's right here. Yeah. On the38:48 screen. It's it's it's a book that's you could just download it. It's gonna help you take some practical steps, especially in your walk. You don't want to just receive Christ as Lord and then not know what to do with38:59 your next steps. We do have growth track on Sundays. Man, I recommend you to go through that so you'll be able to find out your own divine design. And then, you'll be able to get mobilized what? 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