Skip to content Stand Alone Messages: Churches God Champions Feb 4 · 52 min ...more
Stand Alone Messages: Churches God Champions
February 4, 2024 · 52 min
Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
Series BRAVE Church February 4, 2024 · 52 min · BRAVE Church
Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub ...more Show the full description Show less Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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0:00 Our father in heaven, we give you all glory, honor, and praise. Lord, we always do because regardless of what's going on in the world, you are worthy of that. Lord, we thank you for a great men's warrior summit, an0:11 incredible 24 hours we had, and all the work that you did, we give you thanks and praise for that. And Lord, we thank you for your living and active word because we as a people believe that every time it is faithfully0:22 and accurately proclaimed that you speak. So our prayer this morning is, Lord, speak to me. And now for all those who have gathered who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ speak directly to you, who will believe what0:34 he tells you, and who will by faith put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word amen. Amen. We had a terrific0:45 weekend. Battle Ready was a massive success as the Lord showed up in power and did very incredible things among us. I've been to men's conferences since I became a believer.0:57 So for the last 34 years, I've been to several of them, and I was buzzing so much last night when I went home from ours because it was by far the best men's conference I have ever been a part of. I've ever been part of.1:12 And there were several reasons for that, but as I was kind of buzzing last night, kind of putting final touches on my notes, I know how I think. I began to think about, okay, I gave that an a or an a plus. How can we do1:23 that next year and make it an a or an a plus? And I tend to be very highly critical of myself and what do you what do I need to change and what do we need to change programmatically? I started thinking about all those1:31 things and we weren't even done with it, but I wanted to do that because there's something about keeping a scorecard that lets us know where we're at. I mean, teachers hand out grading reports or scorecards to let you1:42 know, here's how you're doing. When people play golf, some of you, you keep score. Right? I've learned not to do that because it doesn't make me feel very good. Right? But we've had to train ourselves over the time to1:54 get feedback because our natural inclination is when somebody tells us something and they're not telling us it's absolutely perfect, we can be offended. But actually, if we'll lean into that feedback, we can grow and2:05 become better. And the older I get, the more I want feedback. You gotta understand in my teens and twenties, I knew everything so I didn't need any, but I find that the older I get, the more I want people to speak into2:16 my life. Matter of fact, in this past year, I've been working on getting my pilot's license, and I have somebody sitting in the cockpit next to me, and he talks me through every maneuver that I'm making, and I want him2:27 to. And because there's pretty soon I'm gonna solo, and when I'm coming into the airport by myself and I don't have anybody helping, I wanna know that I can land that thing all by myself. I want that kind of feedback2:40 and we individually need that kind of feedback, but we as a church also need that kind of feedback. We want to be the kind of church that God would give a good grade to because for me personally, your pastor,2:52 1 day I'll give an account for how well I led the people of God into the throne of God and how well I shepherded you. But we as a church too, collectively, we're gonna be graded on how3:03 well did we respond to what the Lord required of us. So wouldn't it be good to know about the kind of church that God champions? Well, wouldn't it be good to know on this side of heaven, God, are we doing what you want3:15 us to do? Are we aligning ourselves with you? Because I'm pretty clear on this, and I I am all the time. Brave is a local church. It's not the local church. There are several3:27 churches that God champions, but we wanna go by what the word of God says that he champions and then reorient and realign our lives so that we're the kind of church that when God looks down from heaven,3:39 he says, that's the kind of church I can be a part of. Because we want more of the manifest presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. We want more of his holy spirit unleashed. We want more of what he can do. And if you wanna3:50 be a church like that, like I wanna be a church like that, then we need to let God set the standard for what that church needs to be. And if you ever wondered what that looks like, God gives some of those those answers4:01 in first Timothy chapter 2 verses 1 through 8. In first Tim Timothy chapter 2, Paul has begun writing a letter to his young protege, Timothy, who's pastoring a church4:12 in Ephesus, and he begins by telling him how he needs to pastor and what it needs to look like and why Paul of all sinners who is the worst has the ability to do this because of all that Christ4:24 has done in him. And then he begins to give instructions to his young protege, Timothy, as he's pastoring the church as to what needs to be primary in his ministry to be a church that God champions,4:36 to be a church that God blesses. So let me read through these 8 verses, and then we're gonna highlight 4 specific areas that God champions in his church. And then we can ask ourselves the question, are we aligning4:48 ourselves with what God wants? First Timothy chapter 2, he says, first of all then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf5:00 of all men. For kings and all who are in authority so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior5:12 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is 1 God and 1 mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom5:24 for all the testimony given at the proper time. For this, I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I am telling the truth. I am not lying as a teacher of the5:35 Gentiles in faith and truth. Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension.5:48 And here in those short 8 verses, we get some insight into the type of church that God blesses, into the churches that God champions and how we can align ourselves with what God would want.6:01 And first he tells us this, that a church that God champions is a church that champions prayer as the primary ministry to seeing God's work accomplished.6:14 A church that champions prayer as the primary ministry to seeing God's work accomplished. And notice what he says. He introduces himself in the letter. He tells Timothy what the law is for and leading people to Christ.6:25 He tells them about the grace of God in his life. He sets up the whole letter, and then he says these words. First of all, primarily, if the if the church is gonna be known for anything, Timothy, as you6:37 as you pastor it, here's what you need to see. First of all, then I urge that in entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men. What does he say6:49 is priority 1? Prayer. Have you ever heard me say that before? It's not just Jesus that said it, it's the apostles that followed it. And if there's any ministry that should7:01 be taking place in the church primarily, it's prayer. Before any programming, prayer. Before any strategy, prayer. Before the selecting of elders, prayer. Before deciding what we're gonna do, prayer. Before deciding7:13 are we gonna do a school, prayer. Before deciding how we're gonna expand our scope of ministry, prayer. Everything is primarily focused on prayer. Why? Because when we pray, we're declaring our dependence upon7:25 the Lord. We're asking him to change us. We're asking him to show us his priorities. We're asking him to guide and lead. We're asking him to do what only he can do. We're saying we can't get7:37 it done, and we don't have what it takes, and we don't necessarily know what to do, but we're going to the 1 who does. And by the way, this is your church. You're the 1 who's building it. We know we're answering to you,7:48 so help us make sure that what we're doing, you're pleased with. And I hate to say it, but in our day and age, that's not how most churches are run.8:00 Eugene Peterson wrote a book several years ago. I saw it before I went into the ministry. It's called working the angles where he basically argued he could take a seminary graduate and put them in about 90 percent of the8:11 churches even if they weren't really walking with the Lord and no church would recognize the difference. As long as he was a good speaker, as long as he was a good administrator and a good strategist, he could probably8:20 get along pretty well in most churches. May it never be. May it never be. The heart of a church should be depending upon the Lord Jesus Christ for everything.8:32 And there's something about praying that changes our heart, isn't it? There's something about praying that brings humility. It's hard to be in the presence of a holy, perfect, almighty God who wants8:44 to speak into your life and then not change. Because oftentimes, I find that when I'm speaking to the Lord about what he wants to do at the church and praying for all of you, you know what he's talking to me about? My8:56 attitudes and my behaviors and my beliefs and what I need to change. And if he can't get through to me, then he'll use my wife who will tell me exactly what he was trying to say.9:08 Right? Because God wants us to be open hearted enough to hear what he wants from us. And too often, we're too busy planning strategy and doing different things and9:19 developing elaborate visions and doing all this stuff. And then when we put it all together and we make it all real and we think this is awesome, what do we do? We ask God to bless that. And here's what we're really9:31 doing. God, here's my design. Here's what I want the church to be. Here's what I want it to look like. Here's what's comfortable for me. Here's what I want. God bless me. And we wonder why we don't see9:43 the same things that we see when we read our bible about the numbers of salvations and the numbers of healings and the number of people being set free and delivered. Why is that? Because we don't prioritize Jesus.9:55 The way we know we're prioritizing Jesus more than anything else is not just talking about it. It's depending upon him for prayer. Why do we as a church start the year with 21 days of prayer and fasting? And why do we10:06 gather every single day to do that? Why do we spend 21 days in August and September praying before the launch of our year? Why have we now added Saturday starting next week at 8 in the morning to gather10:18 together and pray every single week? Why do we gather on the first Tuesday of every month, which by the way is this coming Tuesday, and gather as a church to worship and seek his pray face in prayer? Not because, well,10:30 that's what God said to do, so we'll do it. Because we're so dependent upon him for every single thing we need individually and collectively. Prayer is primary.10:42 Jesus said, my house shall be called a house of say it with me. Prayer. If there's anything that God champions is when he looks down from heaven and says, that's a church I can use. And by the way, church is not a10:53 building. It's not where we gather. Church is the called out saints that are gathering, and when we're gathering, what is going on? Primarily, when we gather,11:05 we're praying. We're depending. We're we're seeking. We're listening. We're declaring we need you, Jesus. That's primary in a church. That's a church that God11:17 can look down from heaven and say, say, I can do something with that group of people because you know what? They don't think they have it figured out. They believe they really need me to do a work. They11:28 believe that I need to show up and do what I can do. They want me to actually show up in power and might and strength. I'll bless that church. I'll champion that church. I'll get behind that church. And I can tell you11:40 this, we always wanna be a church that prioritizes prayer. Not just because I, as your pastor, say it's important because the word of God declares it, that that's most important in any church. And I'm telling you that11:49 because you may not always live in Denver or you may be from out of town and you may need to find another gathering of Christians at someday. Prioritize when you walk into that church, ask the senior leadership, how do11:59 you pray? When are we gonna pray as a church? How important is prayer to you? And if the senior leadership is not doing it, go find another place that does because they're out there. May prayer be the12:11 centrality of everything we want to be as a church. I continue to ask the Lord, how can we get better at this? And he talks about requests and prayers and intercessions. It's just a way of talking about all different12:23 kinds of prayers. Sometimes we're praying to connect with God. Sometimes we're interceding for other people. Sometimes we're asking God for direction in our life, but he, he says this special word in there too. He says,12:33 and thanksgivings, thanksgivings. Sometimes we think of prayer as me telling God what I want God to do. Sometimes it's just, God, thank you for who you are and all that you're doing. And even if you do nothing else for12:44 me, I just thank you that you are who you say you are. I thank you for your mercy. I thank you for your grace. Thank you for your faithfulness. I thank you for your holiness. I thank you for your truth. I12:56 thank you that you love me. I thank you that you accept me. Lord, I thank you that I know that every good and perfect gift comes from you. So any blessing I have in my life, whether it's my spouse or my children or a13:06 relationship that I have or my job or any financial means that I have whatsoever, any material good, Lord, I know all of that's from you. Just thank you for that. I mean, even if you don't know how to pray, just start by13:18 giving thanks Write down everything you're thankful for, if you actually do that and in order to retain everything that God's given you, you had to write down what you're thankful13:30 for. Like, for instance, Lord, I'm thankful for oxygen, and I'm thanking you that you designed my lungs that know how to take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Lord, I thank you for that. Imagine if you had to13:40 thank God for everything you have, and if you didn't thank him, you wouldn't have it anymore. Do we have things to be thankful for? I mean, sometimes we're like, well, what would I thank him for? Everything. Everything.13:52 Just thank him. And then he tells us who to pray for too. Notice what he says. He says, and may prayers be made on behalf of how many men? All. Pray for everybody.14:05 But specifically, he says for kings and all who are in authority. That's governmental leaders, our president, our vice president, our governor, our14:16 mayors, our school board leaders, our first responders, our police officers, our firemen, our emergency response teams. Pray for them. Who else is in authority?14:28 Parents, pray for them. Teachers, pray for them. Coaches, pray for them. So that what? So that we may live a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. You know, sometimes what I find14:40 is if we're not praying for those in authority, we'll complain about those in authority instead. If you're not praying, you're complaining. God tells us to pray for those in authority. I14:51 can always tell who's praying for those in authority because it's hard to go before the throne of God when he's created every single person and loves every single person and you're praying for God to move on that15:00 person's heart when you hear other people talk bad about that person. Now there's a lot of people in authority, I know you would agree with me that we just don't agree with. I don't agree with the decisions they make. I15:10 don't agree with how they're coming to those decisions. I don't have to agree with their decision, but I do have to pray for them. And here's the reality. We can't change a heart. You can't make15:22 somebody even if you can change behavior, you can only change it for a while. What we need radically going on in our leadership is for God to consume the heart of the leaders and God to consume the heart of15:33 parents and God to consume the heart of teachers so that they live according to what he wants. Well, how can that happen unless we pray? Here's the answer. It can't. And if Christians would spend more15:45 time praying than complaining, who knows what God would do in our world? Amen? So of all things we're doing as a church, God's looking down saying, can I trust these people to get my work done?15:58 Because if our churches would bow their knee to the Lord and humble ourselves before the Lord and turn from our wicked ways and seek him, you know what he would do? He would do mind blowing things in16:10 our culture. It's not too dark and it's not too late, and there's great hope if the church will engage in prayer. Amen? So rhetorical question.16:23 Do you pray for governor Polis? Do you pray for president Biden? Do you pray for vice president Kamala Harris? Do you pray for all these people? Do you pray for God to move in their hearts in such a way that they would16:34 be changed? When you see things instead of criticizing, pray. Instead of complaining, pray. Seek the face of the Lord and pray. Children, your parents are not16:46 perfect. They know they're not perfect. Pray for them. Pray that they'd be more godly. Pray that they respond to the things of the Lord. Your teachers may not be who God wants to be. Pray for them. So God asked16:58 us to do. So what? So that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives or tranquil and quiet lives. Why does he say that? Because in the first century, Nero was the emperor, and he treated Christians in the first century the17:09 same way that Adolf Hitler treated Jews in the twentieth century. He blamed the Christians for the fire that took place in Rome in 64 a d even though they didn't start it. Nero would take Christians and dip them in wax17:21 and use them as candles at his parties. He would turn wild animals loose on them just because they claim the name of Christ and wouldn't bow their knee to him as the emperor. He was brutal to them. And so what was he17:31 telling the church? Hey, pray for those in authority. Pray for the ones that are persecuting you so that we can live tranquil, peaceful, and quiet lives and still be about living and sharing the gospel.17:43 Now listen, I I appreciate your boldness and sometimes when I hear some of you talking, I I hope if it ever came to it, I would be willing to give my life for Christ. I hope if it ever came to it, God will give you the17:53 grace to do that, but don't stand around and wait for that. Don't don't watch the world getting darker and darker and say, well, 1 day I'll stand up and die for Christ. Nobody will even know about that. Get on your knees18:04 and pray that we'll never have to do that. Get on your knees and ask God to move in the heart of our nation and in the heart of our nation's leaders and that he would raise up others that would guide our nation into all18:14 truth so that we can can be about our work to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Let's pray. Amen? Those are the kind of churches that God18:26 champions, a church that champions prayer as the primary ministry. Number 2 is this, a church Here's what God's looking for. A church that champions18:38 a compassion that yearns for all people to be saved. A compassion that yearns for all people to be saved. Notice what he says. Coming out of that prayer where we pray for18:49 leaders, we're constantly praying when instead of complaining or criticizing or whining, we're praying for all those in leadership. It says, this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our savior.19:01 What what kind of prayers does God answer? Those kind of prayers. Praying for leaders hearts to be moved. God answers those prayers. Praying for hearts to change that are aligned with him. God answers those prayers. This19:12 is good. It's an acceptable prayer. And we know according to first John 5 that if God hears us and we're praying according to his will, that what we're praying, he's actually going to answer. So these are good prayers.19:22 But notice this about our God. What does God desire? He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. How many people does19:34 God want saved? All. Say it really loud with me. All. He wants all people to be saved. If you bought into the phony theology that God created, some people for heaven and some people for hell and he just wants some people19:46 not according to my bible. God wants all people to be saved. The people that you're praying for, the people that you're frustrated with, the people that are persecuting you, the people that are living in wickedness, the19:58 people that are unrighteous, he wants every single 1 of those people to be saved. You say, how do you know that? Well, number 1, my bible says it, and number 2, my lord demonstrated it. That God so loved the world that20:09 he sent his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish or die, but would have eternal life. Jesus came for 1 group of people and 1 group of people only. Sinners.20:22 That's who he's died for. Which sinners? Any sinner. All sinners that would be willing to repent of their sin and put it aside and turn to him by faith can be saved and saved20:34 to the full. The bible says anyone that comes to him, he will not turn away. If you know you're in sin and you know you're gonna face the justice of God and you turn from your sin and you come to Jesus no matter how20:44 grievous your sin may be, he'll say this, welcome. I died for you. I demonstrated my love for you 2000 years ago before you were even created, before you even knew who20:56 I was. I love you like that. And here's the problem. If we don't pray, what happens sometimes is as we grow in righteousness, holiness, and truth, our heart on the outside begins to21:08 get callous towards those who aren't. And we begin to think about us versus those people. There's a blessing that we have in the church. I I love being around people that are righteous. I love being around21:20 people that are holy. I love being around people that value truth. Not perfectly, but increasingly. I I love being around that. And the longer I'm around that, the more I crave that. And when I'm worshiping during the21:30 week and seeking the Lord during the week, I love being part of a church that comes together with a bunch of people that are doing the same thing. It's incredible. But I gotta be careful that I continue to pray for all21:41 those in authority and all the loss and remind myself that God loves all people or my heart will get callous and I'll begin to think, well, I'm saved, but man, they're they're wicked. They're going to hell. They're gonna21:52 get what's theirs. Even in the old testament, Ezekiel 18, it says this, and hear me, God takes no delight in the death of the wicked.22:06 There's never been 1 wicked person who's died where the Lord has said, yeah, you got what you deserved. Mm-mm. No. It breaks God's heart that when he's saying,22:18 depart from me, you worker of iniquity, I never knew you because he came to demonstrate his love for the world. He loved that person, he created that person, he died for that person, he shed his blood for that person, he22:28 rose from the dead for that person, and that person rejected him. And because he's so holy and because he's so righteous, he can't bring them into his presence and he has to punish them, but it doesn't22:39 thrill his heart. And you know who the most wicked person in the world is? I mean, think about who the most wicked person in the world is. It's you. Paul even declares it in this book of22:51 all sinners of whom I'm the worst. I mean, you really look and know your life and know what God's done in you, you wouldn't look at anybody else and say, oh, they're horrible. 1 pastor used to say23:03 a generation ago, if I if I knew everything about your sin patterns, I wouldn't even want you to be part of my church. And if you knew anything about me, you would never even show up. Right? I mean, all of us, if23:15 we truly look in our spiritual mirror and see all that God's forgiven, we recognize, man, look at how abundant his grace is. I love the way Charles Spurgeon said it. He said,23:27 if any man thinks ill of you, don't be upset. You are far worse than he thinks you to be. And prayer23:39 puts us in that posture. You're not better than nonbelievers. You were once dead and you've been made alive. Spite of being dead, God23:50 resurrected you and it should throw your heart to see other people resurrected. I love baptism Sundays, whether we've done it here from the beginning where we've had 3 or 4 or whether we've had hundreds on a weekend get24:01 baptized, it throws my heart every time because every single story is about someone dead that's been resurrected. I never get tired of seeing that and nobody's too far gone for God to rescue. Nobody's too24:13 far gone for God to say my love doesn't stretch. I mean, where sin increases, grace increases all the more. That's who our God is. It it it's what he wants. Notice what he says in second Peter24:24 chapter 3 in verse 9 because I look forward to the day that Christ returns. I'm looking forward to it. There's nothing I have planned. There's nothing I'm looking forward to more than that. I mean, I I there's things I'd24:34 love to see in this life, but if they get interrupted by the return of Jesus, I'm great with that. But here's why he hasn't come. Second Peter 3 9 says, the Lord is not slow about his promise. Well, you guys have24:46 been saying Jesus is coming soon for 2000 years. Where's he at? He's not slow in his promises. Some people count slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wishing for any24:58 to perish, but for all to come to repentance. He wants everybody to come. Well, what's compassion? Compassion in the New Testament word could be compassion. It25:10 could be pity. It's when you see a need and you meet that need. Jesus, when he was ready to feed the 5000, his disciples just wanted to be him, be with him alone. But he sees this crowd of 20 plus25:21 thousand people and he has compassion on them. He's moved by them because they're like a sheep without a shepherd. They don't have leadership. They don't realize they're facing a crisis eternity without God. He he he25:32 wants to minister them. He wants to be with them. When Jesus sees the Samaritans coming across the plain, he says, I have food to eat. You do not know anything about it. My heart is for the lost. I came to seek and save25:43 the lost. May our heart never grow callous towards the lost. May we be praying for the lost and being intentional with the lost and sharing the gospel with the lost. It doesn't mean we have to agree with the lost. It25:53 doesn't mean we have to have the same opinions as the lost. But let me just tell you a truth. Lost people act like lost people. Enemies of Christ speak like enemies of Christ.26:05 That's the target that God is going after. And why did he commission you to go get them? Because you're his plan a to share the gospel with people like that. Because his desire is that no 1 would die in their sin, but26:16 that all would have the opportunity and all would respond by repentance. And here's the truth of the gospel. Romans 1 20 says that all men will be without excuse for people that wind up in hell. It's because that's26:27 exactly where they want to be. It's not an accident. They're choosing a life apart from God. God loves them. God26:39 loves everybody. God's desires that all will come to the knowledge of him, and we never lose sight of that. Yes. We wanna put Jesus Christ on display. Yes. We wanna worship his name. Yes. We wanna hear his word. Yes. We26:48 wanna grow in his grace. But part of the way we grow is having the heart of God, which is for the world and for the lost. And being the church that God champions is having that kind of compassion, the compassion of the26:59 good Samaritan that sees the need and goes and fills it. They yearns for all people to be saved. Don't buy the lie that the enemy tells you when you think about your friend or you think about your coworker or you think27:10 about a family member and you're like, they're never gonna come to Christ. I would tell you apart from the grace of God, they won't. But God's grace is bigger than your never.27:21 Amen? That's why we pray and don't give up. That's why people that are hostile to God, we pray and don't give up because God's desire is that all27:33 would come to the knowledge of him. And I realize it's sometimes tough to love people that don't love God. I mean, I was on I 25 this week.27:45 End of story. And there was there was a car accident. I was about 10 minutes away from home. It took me 2 hours to get home. It was that bad of an accident. And I was I was looking at my car and I realized my27:57 gas had come close to empty and right as I was thinking that, the fuel light went on. And I'm looking at my phone and I'm a mile and a half from an exit where I know there's a gas station and there's nobody moving. I28:08 mean, we're parked. And I began thinking, I wonder how long that light will stay on with my car running before it turns off. Now there are people coming up the shoulder of the road flying by, you know the kind. If you're28:20 1 of them, don't do that. But I began to think if I stall, I don't wanna stall in the middle of the road, have to walk a mile and a half. At least if I have to walk a mile and a half each way, I can be off to the28:31 shoulder. So I kindly pull off and I'm not flying by, I'm just slowly poking along and it was warm that day. I had my window down and the guy next to me had his window down. So I thought I would explain what I was doing.28:44 But before I had my opportunity, he asked me some of the most vulgar questions I've ever been asked in my life. And even then, I was like, well, let me explain what I'm doing. And he told me he didn't give up. And so we28:56 went on. And in that moment, I can tell you that I wasn't thinking Christ died for you. But I rebounded quickly29:08 and I began to think if that guy's that upset that I'm this much further ahead of him on a highway than he is in parked traffic, that guy's got way bigger problems than I got. And I prayed for29:20 him. Right? That's what it's like. The people that you're sharing the gospel with are enemies of the cross of Christ. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being29:31 saved, it's become the power of God. That's why I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it's the power of God unto salvation for everyone who would believe. That anybody anywhere at any time can turn their heart to God and29:42 that when we see people even that are hurtful to us, rude to us, mean to us, That's exactly how we treated Christ, and he saved us in spite of ourselves, and he's willing to do it the same in other people's lives. That's29:54 the gathering. That's the church that Jesus Christ champions. A church that will pray as a primary ministry and a church that has compassion for the lost. And a third church Third element of30:06 a church that Christ champions is this, a church that champions the exclusivity of the Lord Jesus Christ, making access to the father possible. A church that champions the30:18 exclusivity of the Lord Jesus Christ making access to the father possible. It's the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. Notice what he says next in the next 2 verses. Not only does he want all people to30:30 be saved, but then he says, for there is 1 God. How many gods are there out there? There's 1. The Bible describes him as the Godhead is made up of father, son, and spirit. The father is not the30:42 son or the spirit. The son is not the father or the spirit. The spirit is not the father or the son, but it it's 1 essence with 3 persons. And you'll say, Jeff, explain that to me. I don't even understand how that's30:53 possible. Here's my explanation. Ready? Glory. There there is no explanation for an infinite God. There are not only no English words to describe his glory. There's no words in all of humanity to describe his31:05 glory. We'll spend an eternity talking about the Godhead, and that there's 1 way to God. Cause he tells us this in his word. There's 1 God and 1 mediator also between God and men, the31:16 man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all the testimony given at the proper time. If you want access to God, there's only 1 way to God, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. There31:28 are no other roads. There's wide roads, wide roads that everybody is on, but there's a narrow gate and a narrow road, and the only access point is the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, how do I31:40 know that? Because Jesus said that. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no 1, that's nobody comes to the father except through me. It's exclusive.31:52 There's no other way. But pastor Jeff, I know some people that are of a different faith, and they're totally sincere and they're really loving. And here's what I would say, they're totally sincerely wrong and they don't32:03 even know love if they don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't. If they don't have Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the God man, they have no access to God. That's it.32:15 It's it's exclusive. And if that troubles your heart and says, well, what about the migrant farmer in Africa? What about this? And what about that? What about my boss? Then go tell him about Jesus. Like, if we don't32:27 believe in the exclusivity of the gospel, there's no need for missions. There's not 1 scripture in the bible that shows that there's anybody that arrives in heaven that's welcome that hasn't repented of their sin and32:37 trusted Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. Not 1. And if that's the truth, you need to understand which it is. You need to repent and believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and invite him into your life.32:47 And you need to realize everybody that you talk to, that's also true of every single person regarding regardless of their ethnicity, background, or where they grew up. They needed Jesus. Amen? And33:01 talking to God and having access to God is only through the God man Jesus Christ. You do not have to pray through your pastor. You if you're a believer, you have the same access through Jesus. You definitely don't have33:12 to pray through a priest. For sure, you don't have to pray through Mary. For sure, you don't have to pray through ancestors. For sure, you don't have to pray through friends of yours who have died. There's 1 way to God.33:22 It's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. It's an exclusive road. You say, how do you say that? Because that's what the Bible says. That's what Jesus says. And if you align yourself with the word of God, we're gonna be a33:33 church that champions the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. We will not waiver 1 iota on that. Not 1. But let me also tell you, there's also33:45 an inclusivity in the Lord Jesus Christ, which is this. While it's an exclusive road and only those that choose Jesus can walk down it, everybody anywhere is invited down that road.33:58 You can come. There's an invitation to come home through the cross on that road for anyone, anywhere, anytime that recognizes I'm going the wrong way. Jesus would say, turn around34:09 and come back, and I'll meet you right where you're at. And we wanna champion both at Brave. The exclusivity of the gospel, there's only 1 way to God, and the inclusivity of the gospel that34:21 anyone anywhere at any time is welcome to come down that exclusive road. And both those truths need to be held up. Because when churches start saying, well, you know what? Don't worry about your sin and, you34:33 know, Jesus is a way or there could be some other ways or maybe he's not as holy and I just wanna be nice to you. That's not the gospel. It's also not the gospel when you say, you know what?34:45 Only a certain ones of you could possibly be saved. That's not the gospel either. It's exclusive and that it's only through Jesus and it's inclusive than anybody that wants it can have it. Do you want it? That's the34:56 church God champions. That's the messaging he wants to get out from his body to the world. Ephesians 2 says, it's by grace we've been saved through faith. It's not our own doing. It's a gift of God. So that35:08 what? So you can't boast. You didn't do anything to earn it. You didn't go find in Jesus. He found you. He called you his friend. He gave you his grace. He gave you35:20 the faith to believe. He did all the work in salvation. How do you know? Because you were dead. Dead people don't participate. I've been made alive. That's right. Jesus made you35:32 alive. Praise God. And now that you're alive, let's go tell other people about how great Jesus is. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us that in him we might become the righteousness of God.35:43 Christ died once for all the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God. I mean, even the early apostles had this down who were distinctly Jewish in their traditions and after spending time with Jesus35:55 were zealous for this good news of the gospel that wasn't about a denomination or a religious preference anymore, but was all about Jesus. And when they were being questioned about this new faith in Christ that they were36:07 proclaiming to the world. Here's what they told the leaders of the religious community in their day as they were facing prison imprisonment and beatings and even death. Here's what they36:19 told them, And there is salvation in no 1 else for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.36:32 Jesus is the only way. Jesus Christ is the only way. It says in acts 4 13, the very next verse. Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they36:44 were amazed and begin to recognize them as having been with Jesus. Right? We wanna be a church that champions the exclusivity of the Lord Jesus Christ, making access to the father36:55 possible. Friend, I'm here to tell you, no matter who you are, if you were to die today and you've never repented of your sin and trusted Jesus as much as it would break God's heart, you will spend a crisis eternity in37:07 hell. And that should break your heart. Because when the bible talks about hell, it's not talking about you're gonna go to a really bad place for a really long period of time. It's talking about you're gonna be in outer37:17 darkness all by yourself where there's gonna be weeping and gnashing of teeth, where there's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual torment forever and ever. Why? Because you offended an eternal holy God that did37:29 everything he could to bring you into his family and you said, I don't want that. It should break your heart for your family members that don't know Christ. It should37:40 break your heart for your boss and other employees that don't know Christ. It should break your heart for your neighbors that don't know Christ. Whether they know it or not, their biggest problem is they're gonna stand37:48 before a perfect holy God. And the 1 that's going to judge them is the Lord Jesus Christ. And whatever they've done with him, that's gonna determine their eternity. And the moment they die, that is set forever38:00 and you can't choose again. Only time and space. If you're here to listen to my voice or you're listening online or you're at another campus in Colorado Springs, Westminster, I'm telling you, today is the day of38:10 salvation. You hear the Lord, don't harden your heart. Just say, I want I want nothing to do with this sin. I want everything to do with Christ. Come into my life. That's the kind of church that got champions. All of youShow more
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