Beacon Sunday Service: May 5th, 2024

Painting this picture. And look at how she paints. She has she can't, she's paralyzed from her neck down. So she can't move anything from her neck down. And so this week, Johnny Eric Ventata has a worldwide ministry. And she uh attends Grace Community Church, been involved in Grace for years. Her worldwide ministry is in Agora Hills. And if you ever have a chance to take your kids there for a tour, what they do is they try to teach kids how handicapped people have to function. And so some of the things they do is they put glasses on the kids that are all uh kind of blurry and stuff, and then say, Okay, now here's how you have to do this, or they put blindfold on them and they say, Okay, here's the picture, and here's a glass, want you to pour water in this glass as though you were blind, and they have um blinders on them, and then they put um you know, uh, like an uh when you're baking something in an oven and you have the gloves, the big gloves, they put those on and then say, We want you to uh uh do some activity uh like comb your hair with that on, and then they put regular gloves on and say, Okay, here's a piece of candy, open it up with these gloves on, and so they really work with them on that, and so Johnny has been this way.

She's 75 now, and she still does ministry every day of the week. She has Johnny and Friends broadcast uh every day, and her ministry is worldwide, so they provide wheelchairs and other things and have retreats, and then they have this center, the center was paid off before they felt and finished it. Their center is a 14 million dollar center where they bring retreats in and minister to people. So this past week, I told you about her about three months ago. I don't know if you remember that. She dove into the to Chipp uh to Hip, not had to actually be the Chesapeake Bay, uh, and it was too shallow, and she hit her neck and and broke this her spinal cord, and she was 17 years of age, she had just graduated from high school, she was gonna be 18 in that fall, and they said, You're gonna be paralyzed the rest of your life.

One other thing that they do with the kids if you go on a tour of this place, is they have them put a small little like golf pencil in their mouth and then write their name with it on a piece of paper that's taped down because that's how Johnny would sign her name, it's J-O-N I. Johnny Erickson was her name, and then she got married, and now she's 75. This was her this past week with our Natalie. So what had happened is they did a a um connect time. Um they were gonna give Natalie 10 minutes with Johnny, and it ended up that they had 30 minutes, and she just taught them so many things, and I don't know if you can see it, but in Natalie's left hand is one of the brushes, one of the paint brushes that Johnny used to do one of her original drawings, one of her original paintings, and this painting, oh, the the one I showed you that she was painting in the last picture, they made into uh uh Christmas card, and it just sold, you know, all every place, you know, because and she's been on the Today program, and so it's really been encouraging.

And then this is uh the Lewis family, Curtis, our our leadership, uh Curtis, you know Curtis from the conference. He was there, Phil, he you missed him, he was there in the daytime and had to be gone in the evening. He's our missions pastor at our church, and then Johnny in her wheelchair and Natalie and hers. So they they just had a good time this week and just sharing, and we just praise God for the opportunities to have our kids connect with people like that, and those are the kind of things where as your kids get older, you might just arrange for a day to take your kids up to that conference area and get them to know about this kind of ministry. Hey, I'm gonna ask you to stand and let's greet each other with uh grace and peace to you.

It's my joy to all again. Let me all you all right, good morning everyone. Uh, just before we start, um, I just wanted to recommend something for uh just everybody here. Um so worship team has been going through this book here called What Happens When We Worship, and it's been really just a blessing for us to be able to study through this book together, and it's something that um I think would also benefit everyone here as well, and so um just want to recommend this book to you guys, and uh if you can pick it up and read it, I think it'd be a real blessing to you, uh, especially just in your own uh worship of God as well.

So uh that's just something there. Uh let's all rise this morning. Uh, I'm gonna read from for us from Revelations five thirteen, and I just want to get our minds uh and hearts just attuned to God uh that we may give him all the glory, right? None of the glory should be for us, it is to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so Revelations five thirteen says this let every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them say to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. Amen. Uh that is what uh God created us to do. He created us to worship him and to give him the glory. And so may we fulfill that purpose just as the people of God.

Let's sing together.

The world behind, no turning back, raise a banner high. It's not for me, it's all for you. Let the heaven shake and split the sky, let the people clap their hands and cry. It's not for us, it's all for you not to us, to your name be the glory, not to us to your name, be the glory our hearts unfold our hearts unfold before your throne, the only place for those who know it's not for us, it's all for you.

Send your holy fire on this offering. Let our worship burn for the world to see it's not for us, it's all for you, not to us, not to us, but to your name, be the glory, not to us to your name, be the glory not to us, not to us, but to your name, be the glory not to us your name, be the glory, the earth, the earth is shaking, the mountain shouting, it's all for you the waves are crashing, the sun is raging, it's all for you the universe spinning and singing, it's all for you the children dancing, dancing, dancing, it's all for you not to us, but to your name, be the glory, not to us to your name, be the glory, not to us, not to us to your name, be the glory not to us to your name, be the glory to the cross I look to the cross I clean of its suffering.

I do dream of its work I do see my Savior, both bruised and crushed show that God is love, and God is just at the cross at the cross. You beckon me draw me gently to my knees, and I am lost for words, so lost in love. I am sweetly broken, holy surrender, what a priceless gift, and what a priceless gift.

Priceless given, undeserving life. Under life. Have I been given? Have I been given? Through Christ crucified. Do Christ crucify. You call me out of death. You call me into life.

I was under your eyes, under your eyes. Now through the cross, I'm reckoning at the cross. You beckon me. Draw me gently to my knees, and I am lost for words. So lost in love, I am sweetly broken, holy surrender at the cross. You beckon me.

Lost for words, so lost in love, I am sweetly broken, holy surrender in of the cross. I must confess.

You beckon me, draw me gently to my knees, and I am lost for words. So lost in love. I am sweetly broken, holy surrender at the cross. You beckon me, draw me gently to my knees, and I am lost for words. So lost in love, I am sweetly broken, holy surrender.

And here's the question. What is the proof of regeneration? And together, the proof of regeneration is a repentant faith which results in a whole life devoted to turning from sin and giving glory to God in all that we do. Amen. And that really is what God calls us to do to turn from our sin and to give him the glory. May we continue to do that this morning as we've sung in song.

Every sin each thought and seed and add it to kindness to the greatest and least that shows the path of peace and turn my strivings into works of grace, breath of God show Christ in all eye to Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit from creation's birth, giving life to all that God has made.

Cause your church to hunger for your ways. Yes, Lord. Let the fragrance of our prayers and lead us on the road of sacrifice that in unity the face of Christ will be clear for all the world to see. Cause your word and cause your word to come alive in me.

For what I can not see, give me passion for your holy spirit, breathe new life in me. Good morning, everyone. Today's confession of sin is a reminder that we will we will all we were all born into darkness. Um, and that there's still remnants of that in our life, but uh the shining light of Christ is redeeming us in this moment and through sanctification. So let's uh all of us uh do confession of sin corporately together and then have a private time immediately afterwards. So together God of all grace and truth in Jesus Christ, you came to us as light shining in the darkness.

Or trusted the good news to be good. Our hearts have been blinded to the supreme glory found in Jesus. Forgive our unbelief and pride by thinking abundant life is found outside of you. Restore our vision so we can behold your glorious salvation. Amen. Please be seated. Let's now take a time of private confession of since we're your assurance of pardon.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. Amen. Today is National Korean Children's Day, and it's not something that like we celebrate here in the church, but growing up in a Korean church, it was something that they recognize here or there at KPC. And they would give a gift, we would have a worship together, a joint worship, and the most important thing that they would do is pray over the children. So today, uh, just as a reminder for us is to pray over our children, and that the greatest gift that they could receive is Jesus Christ in their lives. Let's pray for their salvation, for their protection every day, knowing that the parents, all we do is worry about them because there's so much to worry over.

This world is so sinful, and we know that there's nothing that we can really control when we're not with them. So let's just pray that the Lord is blessing our kids and allowing them to grow in the spirit even while we're not there, and that the seeds that they're learning, or that the things that they're learning in Sunday school today are little seeds that will grow into true salvation as they get older. So let's pray over our kids this time.

Um Harris County, Texas. Uh, two hundred twenty or plus people are homeless now. Uh they had to be rescued in the flood, um, animals included. Um, and so there's still search and rescuing uh people who've lost their homes and property and all those things, and uh, not sure if there's any death toll, but let's pray for blessing upon them for comfort for for um provisions to be met for them. Uh and you know, in natural disasters, there's no control over the things that happen or even things that you can foresee, but um, ultimately, we ask that uh the Lord is present, um, the Lord is gracious and merciful to these people, and that his glory would be revealed even in times of trial and tribulation.

So let's pray. Father, we lift up our children to you. And knowing, Father, that their salvation is in your hands. There's only so much that we as our parents can teach them and help them to grow. But ultimately, is your work, your will for them. Father, we pray just that as they learn in Sunday school and the things that we teach them at home are planted in them, Father, that it would grow and be deeply rooted in our faith and true salvation, Father, and the foundation that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

And he died and resurrected to conquer death so that we may live with you again. So Lord, we pray, Father, for their blessing each day and protection when even when not with them, that they might be shrouded in the Holy Spirit and grow in faith and salvation. We also pray for the people of Harris County, Texas, knowing that there is a flood that damaged their homes and uh and and has uh taken away the comforts of their living and put them in dire situations. Uh Lord, we pray for the 220 plus that they've already found, that they would be cared for and taken care watched over, and the things that they have would be replenished and uh just that simple comforts would be returned to them. But even the ones that haven't been found, even for the for them, Father, we pray for the first responders to be able to find them and and and and take care of them, and even just for menial things like lost property, we just pray, Father, that um you just watch over them, that the things that they need will be given back to them.

Uh in the meantime, Lord, just watch over them and that ultimately, Lord, even in tough times, even in uh moments where we know that there are no explanations that they might understand that your glory would shine through, even in the toughest of moments, Father, that your will would be done, Lord. We thank you for today, and we ask that you bless our service. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Children, you're dismissed. Please follow teacher Stephen out for Sunday school. It's gonna be teacher Stephen and teacher John today. So uh a few announcements. Um there's gonna be a special uh kids' sketch night. Um Tiff, my wife has been uh kind of doing sketch nights, uh hosting them in LA as an opportunity to meet fellow artists like herself, but also as like a low-key outreach event, so that we can kind of meet people who may not be uh going to church and invite them to our ministry.

Um this one is geared more towards the kids because our children want to join us and draw and be a part of this community. So May 11th, 4 p.m. at the Ikea and Burbank, the large food court. Uh, we're welcoming anyone who would like to come, bring their children uh to come and draw and uh just uh fellowship with us. Uh Tiff has activities planned, so if you would like to come, please let her know so that she can do a head count for your child and have an activity planned for them. But ultimately, let's pray for relationships to be built because we are we've had some people who are not saved, who are not Christians come to these events, and uh we will hope to eventually have fruitful, meaningful, faithful conversations with them.

Uh so if you'd like to come, please contact Tiff. As we announced last week, uh the Dodgers are hosting a Korean Heritage Night, uh, which uh our brother Steven um is going through uh EJ's school, but he's leading, he's he's uh basically in charge of the tickets there. Uh you might have to buy your own ticket if you want to join us at this point, but it's May 2nd at 710 p.m. Uh please ask him or talk to him so just details on how to buy those tickets or where to sit so that we can sit together, and if you'd like to carpool, uh we can figure something out. Uh as parking is pretty expensive. Last announcement uh is just our offering options or uh per usual Zell Vemo Cash and check. Pastor Madison.

By the way, I really like the way you do the offerings here. You know, so many times in churches, you know, the offering plate gets passed, and then people either feel like they have to, or somebody else is watching, and and then you know, it do you give once a month? Do you give once a week? You know, do it's just it's so much nicer to just have it how you do it, and and then let you let the Lord lead your heart and and uh meet the needs uh of the church here on the uh screen. Let's see if I can get it there. Uh, we want to talk about, want to go into the second week of change. Changing changes in your life. I don't know of anybody that says that they like constant change.

Anybody? Here we go. I don't know anybody that likes constant change in their lives. Um as a matter of fact, uh there are times that if my wife wants to change something, uh I go, what? Why are we changing that? Or if I want to change something, she may say, why? We've uh we're married for 49 years, and it's been good this you know, why do we need to change anything? So people don't like change unless it's to their benefit. Let me uh let me tell you, there was a time in our lives, it was April 2nd, 2021, when Natalie, the picture that we had on earlier, when Natalie um went into cardiac arrest on the operating table, and I got a call. I was at home and I was praying, but I got a call, they perforated her heart, and uh man, things things really changed.

All of sudden we had a little girl who was pretty normal. The only the only thing that wasn't normal was her heart rate. Otherwise, she could talk, run, and have fun, and then all of a sudden, she couldn't do anything, she couldn't see, she couldn't talk, she couldn't eat, she was gonna be a body in the bed the rest of her life, and all of a sudden we didn't like that change. But what does God's word say? In everything, give what thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And you know something? A few years back, you know, for a long time, there are many, many pastors love quoting that passage. In everything give thanks. And you you learn, okay, I'm supposed to give thanks.

In everything give thanks. But for years I've heard pastors say, listen to me. They said, I doesn't say for everything, give thanks, but in everything, give thanks. But you know, that's not quite true because God's word uh also says in another passage, for everything, give thanks. Not only in everything, but for everything. And so, in the change that occurred in Natalie's life, we learned to begin to give thanks and to praise God. Because all things work together for good to them that love the Lord. So we kind of resist change. When it happened to Natalie, and we go, what? Oh no. And so you know what happened that really changed it right away? She was supposed to come home that night, have dinner with the rest of the family that night when she had surgery that morning, when she had the abolition done that morning.

But then for 107 days, she was in the pediatric unit right here at Jones Hospital. And for 107 days, my wife and I had the joy of three other grandchildren at our house for 107 days. And the youngest was about one. And so we went, oh my goodness, you know, we but we were praying for Natalie. But sometimes the change that occurs, you go, what? Change. But last week when we looked at James 1, 26 and 27, I started out with this verse in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. He's a new creature. He's a new person. She's a new person. If anyone's in Christ, and that change, I said, we resist change unless it's for our good.

If your boss said to you or to your spouse that has a job, if you're the boss said to them, Oh, by the way, you know something? We're not giving you enough vacation. We want to double it. But no, better yet, we want to triple it. You wouldn't go, oh no, oh, change? I don't I don't want that change. You'd say, wow, that's that'd be great. I get more time with my kids, I get more time with my spouse, I get more time to serve the Lord. You know, when change seems to benefit us, we don't resist it. But when we think it's gonna interrupt our schedule, we resist it. When it comes to our walk with the Lord, nobody trusts Christ because they think, wow, my life is gonna be, I want change. I want change.

And until they really see that they trust Christ as their Savior because they know they're a sinner and they need a savior, and then God begins to work in their lives, and all of a sudden they have a new appetite for the word of God, and they have a new appetite to worship. I mean, you don't win people to Christ by saying, hey, you can come to church the rest of your life. Every Sunday, you're tied up the rest of your life, you're gonna be a church. The people don't say, Oh, yeah, I want to do that. But once they come to know Christ, they say, hey, I want to know more about Christ. You know, when I was a little kid, I attended our Baptist church in New York. Little country town. The town had 500 people.

Our church would run 280 to 300 people in a town of 500. One Sunday morning, my dad wasn't very faithful at church when I was growing up. Later on, he really got committed to the Lord. But my mom was faithful. And so every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night, we were in church. Sunday morning, it was 11 o'clock in the morning. Sunday night, listen to me. It was eight o'clock at night. It started at 8 o'clock at night. The reason it started so late, all the farmers in the area had to milk the cows in the morning and in the evening. And so by the time they got done milking the cows at 6 o'clock at night, they could get to the service at 8 o'clock. And at 8 o'clock at night, man, little kids, we you want your kids in bed at what time.

Our grandkids get to bed at 7, 7 30. We started worship at 8 o'clock at night on Wednesday on Sunday night and Wednesday nights. My dad wasn't always there, I said. So one Sunday morning, I can tell you exactly where I was sitting. Where Gene is on the back row. I was sitting back there with my mom. Sunday morning. We'd been to Sunday school. I didn't want to stay for church. My brother didn't want to stay for church. I didn't want to stay for church. My dad wasn't at church. Why should I be at church? I was sitting in the back row. The service is getting ready to start. And I said to my mom, I don't want to be here. She said, You're going to be here. You're going to stay. I said, When I get older, I'm never going to church.

She said, Well, when you get older, that'll be your decision. But I thought, God in heaven must have just laughed. Because for years on Sunday morning, I'm preaching three services and I'm in church all the time. So be careful what you say you're never going to do. Because God might change your heart and change your desires. Because if any man is in Christ, if anyone is in Christ, they're a new creation. And so here's what change ought to take place in your life. You see, when someone becomes a believer, that person's life will change. If they're truly a believer. If they're not truly a believer, if they haven't truly repented and invited Christ into their lives, they may change for a temporary period of time, but not permanently.

But if you repented of your sins and trusted Christ, invited him in.

And Christ in you, when he tells you to do something, he not only tells you what to do, but he lives in you to do it. He doesn't say, I want you to do it. Come on, go ahead and do it. And then leave you.

Come on. And he is in you to do it. And the change is going to take place. And last week we looked at three areas where we'll have evidence. There should be some evidence of change in your life. If you see no evidence of change in your life, then you need to begin to say, okay, wait a minute, Lord, what I have must not be real. Because I don't desire this, and I don't desire to be with you, and I don't desire your word, and I don't desire to worship, and I don't desire to be compassionate with other people. And I don't desire to control my thoughts and my tongue. Three areas. The first area that we looked at last week was in your conversation. God's going to change how you talk. And this is how it's worded in James 1.26.

If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is what? Useless. So what did he say? There ought to be change in my life. My tongue ought to be controlled, not just backbiting or going after people or ungodly talk. The second area, the first area, God's going to change our conversation. The second area he's going to change happened to be last week we looked at it in our compassion. We're going to have a new compassion and a new love. And James 1, it's verse 27 says this way, pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this. To look after what? Orphans and widows in their distress. Most of the time we think, well, I don't have enough money to even do what I need to do.

And for some, there's a lot of months left at the end of your money. Can I say that? You know, and so you can hear it again. There's a lot of months left at the end of your money. The money's gone, but there's still days ahead. And God says, look, I'm going to meet your needs, and I want you to help orphans and widows in their distress. Let me show you this is a picture of a guy in our church in Palmdale. His name is Brian Mueller. And Brian is uh is uh a construction guy, a handyman. They do, he just does jobs, he's so busy. He said, you know, God just gets me so busy, I I can't, I have to put put work off. I have to say people, no, I can't, I can't get to you for I can't get to you for six months.

But you know what he has? Brian is uh is a godly guy, but he would say he's not, he would say, you know, I only graduated from high school. I but I I and I don't know a lot of scripture, he knows a lot of scripture. His dad said the same thing to me years back, and I said, wait a minute, his dad's name was Walter. I said, Walter, you know a lot of scripture. I said, Let me give you an example. And I said, um, and I gave him an example of if somebody came to you and said, What should I do if this and this and this happened? And he said, Well, you know, and he rattled off what they should do. I said, You just gave me scripture, what they should do. He said, Yeah, but I don't know where to find it.

I said, I tell you what, I can give you a strong concordance and you can find it. You know, you just you have to know it in order to find it, and you know it. And so keep passing it on to somebody else. So he passed it on to his son. And you know what his son did? Look on the screen. He made a widow's list. And he has a widow's list that he decided it's his responsibility. When a widow needs help, he puts her on his list, and he will go and volunteer to do stuff that she needs to have done around their house. And I'm thinking, wait a minute. He he thinks he's not very biblical at times, but when's the last time you did something for a widow? But God's word says we're to help orphans and widows in their distress.

And of course, we know biblically that the widow uh for the church to jump in and help, the widow has to be uh 60 or over and have no children who are supposed to be there to care for her. So when she's all alone, then the the reason again you help a widow that's 60 or over, if she's 59 or under, she's probably young enough that she might remarry. So that God's word is very precise in the age where you help somebody. So he made up a widow's list, but he didn't stop there. This is Brian, and he's just a fun guy to be around. He's one of our ushers uh at our third service on Sunday morning. And you know what he did? They they had one daughter. God gave them one daughter, they they wanted more children, but they got one daughter.

And when she was going to school, you know what he'd do? He'd say, hey, Pastor, call me up and he'd say, Hey, Pastor, how about Thursday? If I pick you up and I take you to Julia's school, and I'll I'll have lunch ready for you and her, and I want you to get time with my with me and my daughter. And so we would do that a couple of times a school year and have lunch with his daughter. And then during that time, we'd talk about things. She'd bring her back gammon game, and I'd play back gammon against her while she had something to do while we talked about the things of the Lord. But he had a widow's list, but that's not all he had. Look at this. This is him getting ready to leave on a missions trip to build homes for the homeless in Mexico.

And we would send, oh, a couple of times a year in the end of May and the beginning of September, we would take teams of 20 to 30 people down to Mexico to build homes. And Brian is there learning, setting a God at the example. Again, some of you know, my son-in-law is on the far left, and he leads these teams to different countries of the world to do missions. Brian's right there. Why? Because we're supposed to help orphans and widows. Because you know something. When I first started the church in Palmdale, Brian was never at church. He never attended. His mom and dad were there. He and his wife. She had even graduated from Masters University. But they were never in church. But when God brought Julia along, they said, well, we're going to come to church once we get a child.

And but they didn't. And the child got growing up and got going to a Christian school. And she said to them one week, uh, how come we don't go to church? The next Sunday, they were in church, and they've been there for ever since. Because what's God's word say? A little child shall what? Lead them. And that's exactly what happened to him. And so he serving the Lord, given of his time to help and to serve. Here's Brian with me. We met with some other guys at 6:30 every Thursday morning for discipleship and prayer. Because he was going to give his time to serve the Lord. He'll help in any way possible now. And he's just committed to the Lord. Because God changed his. Look, I already told you.

Did he go to church when I started the church? No. Did he go to church even after his child was born? Not right away. When he started coming to church, God changed his what? He had a new passion for the Lord. Because change occurs in these three areas. Your conversation and oh, your compassion. You're going to help others. The third area, and we started to look at this last week. Let's finish it up today. In your conduct.

There are some people that one way in church, this is how they act. And when they're out in the street and with the guys, and they're totally different. He said, I'm going to change your conduct. Here's the way it's worded in James 127. Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this to look after orphans and widows in their distress. And to keep on self unstained by the world. That's a difference in conduct. The world acts this way, you act this way.

You act for the Lord. Let me give you, here's the Greek word that's used in this text.

And we we get an English word from this.

Okay, I'm gonna separate it out because you have a prefix and then you have the root word. So I'm gonna separate it out like that. Now do you have any idea? I'll give you a hint. Sometimes, because our English language was built off the Latin and Greek languages. So sometimes our words are letter for letter, right out of the Greek into English. So now do you have any idea? Let me start with the root word. This is S spilas. This is a sigma. Becomes our letter S. Sigma in Greek can be this little circle with a little tail on it, this little squiggly thing. That's how they write it, if it's at the beginning or in the middle of the word. If it's at the end of the word, their sigma looks almost like our S.

So this sigma becomes our S. The next letter is a pi, you know, for pi r squared. We talked about this before. And so what letters the pie make in in English? P. Okay. The iota becomes our I. The lambda becomes our L. And we add another L to it. And what order we have? Spill. Okay. Now, this word has an A in front of it. An alpha. And we told you when an alpha gets thrown in front of a word, like if somebody is a theist, they believe in God. If we put the A in front of it, they're an A theist, they say there is what? No God. So what does that A say? That alpha say that Alpha says, ah, not happening.

So what does this word aspilas mean? It means to not spill. So when you go back to the text, what does he say? We're word to don't let the world spill over onto you. Don't become, you know, uh blotted and stained by the world so that it spills over onto you and your Christ likeness is no longer seen by people. Let me show you a couple of other passages that actually talk about this. First Timothy chapter 6, verses 12, 11 through 14 all the way. He says, But you, man of God, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the faith. Take hold of eternal life that you were called to and have made a confession about in the presence of many witnesses.

In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you to keep the command. And look at what he says. I want you to keep the command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. That verse, that word is the same Greek word that's used in James 127. That you live a blameless life, you know, without spot or blemish or failure. See, the nuances of that word can be interpreted as failure, you know, without failure, or without spot, or without blemish. And I put the new international, the new American standard down below that you keep the commandment without stain.

And that's why let me drop it in here. It's the same Greek word as James 127, aspilas. Without stain. What happens when something spills over on your carpet? And you're you have a lighter carpet. And the kids are eating blueberries. And they dropped on the floor, and you didn't notice it, and you get stepped on, and it goes. And it's spilled over and it's stained. And so what's interesting in that New American standard, it says without stain. With the uh CSB translation, it says without failure. Audrey, my wife's audit, my wife's name is Audrey. When we first got married, she was a school teacher. I was a youth pastor.

She was uh making some money. We said, let's try to, let's try to set your money aside, you know, so that well, maybe for you know, if God doesn't bring children along right away, we'll start putting money away on a home. And but God moved us uh almost uh right away where I became a pastor uh of a of a church in Indiana for a decade, and so Audrey couldn't teach in Indiana because her credentials weren't recognized there. So she got she started helping out at a Christian school, and at the Christian school, she just got paid a little bit. So I said to her what every wife would hope their husband would say, not always, but I said to her, look, let's just live on what I make. Let's not get used to living on what we both make, because if God brings children along, you know, we we want to be able to minister to them, and we don't want to have to have both of us have to work in order to make things meet.

So I said to her, I tell you what, you take your money, and since we're not gonna learn to rely on it, you you spend it any way you want, and that's kind of a generous husband, spend it any way you want. And so she was able to get things for us that uh we wouldn't have been able to get otherwise, so she saved up her money and bought uh a dining table and uh and uh chest uh you know for the um the dishes and stuff like that, and then she got this you know nice um dining cloth, you know, that goes over the table, and the first couple that we had over to our house was um this is why we're still I've still youth pastor, the senior pastor of our church, and his wife came over to our house. We're at the dining room table, you know, the the it's the nice brand new tablecloth and everything.

What happens when you start eating at a dining table and you have gravy and you have before we know it, the senior pastor had dropped some gravy right on that new dining room table, and he was so oh I'm so I'm so sorry, and interesting, his his name was Carl Lee L E E. That'll be a familiar name. So Carl Lee, and he was a godly guy, and and so he was really embarrassed by it, and we said, Ah, don't worry about it. But you know something for years when we got out that tablecloth, when we looked at that stain, and we remembered, because see, and what does stain do to our Christian lives? It's there. You want to warn your kids, look, don't don't live, live in such a way that your life won't have that stain that is gonna last a lifetime.

The wonderful thing about Jesus, when it comes to sin, we say, Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. You know, snow is snow is white, but what is snow built around? Dirt. You know, and and it has all the every one of them is a different pattern, just like us. And in our lives, we have sin our lives, and God forgives it. And he washes that that stain away. But there are some things that we do that stain us in a way while God washes the sin away, the stain of sin. The consequence might always be there. Somebody goes out and kills somebody, murders somebody, that that reputation, they're gonna be in prison, maybe for a lifetime, and even if they get out of prison, there's still going to be people that say, yeah, he killed a day.

Because the consequence is there. They can get forgiveness. God can forgive them. The stain is gone. Let me go on to another passage here. The Bible gives several warnings about our conduct. Remember, he's going to change our conduct? So he gives us several warnings about our conduct in relationship to the world. He's going to, I'm going to give you three of them, okay? One, don't become friends with the world. Secondly, don't fall in love with the world. Thirdly, don't be conformed to the world. Got it? So let me just deal with this one for a second. Don't become friends with the world. Here's what God's Word says in James 4.4. He's talked about keeping yourself unspotted from the world in James 1.27.

James 4.4, he says, don't you know that friendship with the world is what? Hostility towards God. Friendship with the world, hostility towards God. Let me put it on the screen this way. Friendship with the world equals what? Friendship with the world equals what? Hostility with God. So let me reverse it. And on the screen put it this way. Friendship with God equals what? Hostility towards the world. That's why when they want to talk about Bible believing evangelicals, what does what does the political system say about us? Oh, those are those right wing fundamentalists. You know, they don't against this, and they're against, they're against abortion, they're against LGBTQ.

You know, no, we're for God. And if I love God and I'm walking in the light, then I'm going to do what his word says. My conduct is going to come in line with the word. And it's going to make me hostile towards the world. Now I can be friendly with them as people, but that doesn't mean that I, that they are my best friends. They're not my best friends. Because what fellowship does light have with darkness. None.

However, because you are not of the world, but have been, have chosen, but I've chosen you out of it, the world does what? Do you understand? Let's make sure you understand that. You are not in the in the world become their friends. It's God or the world. And he's chosen us. This verse says he's chosen us out of the world. John 15, 16, just three verses earlier. It says, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. And ordained that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain. Romans chapter 8, verse 7 says it this way. For the mindset of the flesh is hostile to God. Did you catch that? Everything about our flesh can be hostile towards God. Because we know that the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

Philippians 3.18 says that this way. For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. When you trust Christ, though, you we were enemies with him. And while we were yet enemies with him, Christ died for us. That's the wonderful thing.

We were his enemies. And he said, I'm going to die for you. Remember, do you remember Lot? Abraham and Lot. In Genesis 13, 12, it says this. Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain. And what did he do? Pitched his tent toward Sodom. Do you remember what Sodom became? Sodom was the center of homosexual activity. What did God end up doing with Sodom and Gomorrah? He ended up destroying it. Totally the opposite of what God created man to do, they did.

Not with perishable things like silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. Without defect or blemish. Let me drop this on the screen. This is the same Greek word that's used in James 127. What's the word? Aspalas. None of the world spilled over on Jesus. He was without any defect, without any blemish. And when he comes to live in you and the power of God, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. 1 John 4. So Jesus became this spotless Lamb of God. So the Bible gives us some warnings about it.

Don't become friends with the world. You're friends with the world. You're going to be an enemy of God. The second thing, don't fall in love with the world. It's easy to fall in love with the world. You want, you know, when young kids date, they start out in the friend zone. Have you ever heard that term used? Oh, he kept me in the friend zone. She kept me in the friend zone. They want to move beyond the friend zone and to have that love relationship. The world wants you to do that too. They don't want you to. If you become a friend of the world, you're an enemy of God. And then they want you to fall in love with him. Here's what the text says in 1 John 2.15. Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Did you catch that last part? If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. If the love of the Father isn't in you, you're not a believer. And so he said, Don't become friends of the world. Which leads to falling in love with the world. You love your money, you love your home, you love your dog, you love your car, you love everything. But the question is, do you love the Lord? Verse 16 goes on. For everything that belongs to the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It's not of God.

And our tendency is to fall in love with the world. Titus chapter 2, verses 11 and 12 say it this way, for the grace of God has appeared with salvation for all people, instructing us to do what? Deny godlessness and worldly lust. Do you get that? When's the last time you denied your lust anything? When I was going to one school back in Chicago, the president of that school made it his goal to deny himself one thing, at least one thing a day that he could do or have. And it might be food, some of the food. And he said, you know, uh, he opened other virginity, oh wow, that looks oh. Okay. I'm gonna deny myself that today. Because if you can learn to deny your body its desires, then you can watch the spirit control other desires that you have as well.

They said, look, deny godlessness and worldly lust. Are you loving God? Are you loving the world? What's the third thing you said to do? Don't become friends with the world, don't fall in love with the world, don't be conformed to the world. You know this verse. Perhaps if you've memorized any verse in Romans, you've memorized this verse. You memorize this verse. Uh Romans 12, 1 and 2. I'll quote it in the King James first. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. He wants to be to transform you. Let me read it in the New American Standard here.

I urge you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies, a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Do you want to know why you don't know the will of God in some areas sometimes? Because he says, Hey, I want you to be conformed to the world. And I and you want to be transformed in the renewing of your mind. So you tell God, transform my mind, Lord. I want to think your thoughts. I want your thoughts to be my thoughts. So what did Lot do?

Remember Lot? First, he did what? He pitched his tent toward Sodom. What's the next thing he did? He moved into Sodom. You see, if you you want to warn your kids, you want to warn your own heart. Don't go pitch into your tent looking at Sodom, going, Wow, I'd love to live there someday. Wow, I'd love to have that someday. Don't pitch your tent where you're gonna constantly look at the sin.

When I when I get preaching up here, there are ideas that come through my mind, and I think, oh, that's gonna take a little longer, and I've already ended up my time here. Listen, before long, Sodom moved into Lot. Did you catch that? He pitched his tent towards Sodom, he moved into Sodom, and then Sodom began to move into him. How do we know that? Remember when he fled Sodom? Do you remember what he you know the sin that he got involved with his daughters? Here are the warnings. Don't become friends with the world, don't fall in love with the world, don't conform to the world. The world wants to press you into its mold. And it'll do it by peer pressure. You know what? A car, if you're gonna make a car and you heat up that steel and you put it into a mold and you press it to make a fender or to make a door, you heat it so hot, and then you put it under pressure.

That's the same thing the world wants to do to you. Wants to just push you, press you into its mold. I want to give you a fourth one. Otherwise you'll end up condemned with the world. Because see, if you are in love with the world, the love of God isn't in you. And so you'll end up condemned with the world. And here's what 1 Corinthians says in verse 11, chapter 11, verse 32. This is right in the passage when it's talking about communion. When we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, so that we may not be what? Condemned to the world. So you need to be watching and saying, judging your own heart before God. So that you live lives that are pure for him. What is James 127 say? Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

So as you go out this week into the world, the the thought that I would want you to say is, Lord, is my conduct, what is your conduct revealing about you? Is it revealing that you've been changed? Let me let me say it this way real quick. Like if I could take a pig and a cat, and I could put, what's what's the nature of a pig have it do it? It's constantly doing what? Wallowing in what? The mud. That's the nature of a pig. God gave it that nature, by the way, because it doesn't sweat. And when it gets really hot, it puts on some sunblock. It's called mud. And so it rolls in the mud because it's cooler, it's wet and cold, and then when the sun hits it, it doesn't get all sunburned and destroyed.

If I could take, what's the nature of a cat? When a cat's around your house, you ever watch a cat? Look at me, here's what they're doing. They're just cleaning and trying to, they're just flicking the fur and if if I could put a cat's nature in a pig, impossible, but if I could do that, they would have a new nature. We're the pigs. And the Lord is this wonderful new creation. And he's willing to come and live in you and give you a new creation, a new nature, and you'll desire that your conduct be pure before him. Let's ask him to do that this week. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come into your presence and we ask that people would see Jesus in us.

That our conduct would be glorifying to you. That people would see Jesus in us. Father, would you take our conversation and our compassion and our conduct, and let us see evidence that you have changed our lives and done it for your glory. May this week. We live in ways that would truly glorify you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Pastor Medicine. And Matthew it says that where our treasure is there, there our heart will be also. In our lives, what are we treasuring? Are we treasuring the things of this world or are we treasuring the things that God has called us to in salvation?

And so just as we respond in worship, let's all rise and sing together. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. As we sing this together, let's just worship him and acknowledge that the things that we do here on this earth are for him, are only because of what Christ has already done for us. So let's sing together.

Is Jesus my retail there is no more heaven now to give He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom, my steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace to this I hope my hope is only Jesus For my life is holy bound to his Oh strange and divine I can sing all his mind yet not I must through Christ in me the night is dark but I am not forsaken for by my side the Savior he will stay I labor on weakness and rejoice for in my need his power is display to this I hold my shepherd will defend me through the valley will leave Oh the night has been one and I shall overcome yet not I but through Christ in me no fate I dread no fate I dread I know I am forgiven the future sure the price it has been paid for Jesus bless and suffer for my pardon and he was raised to overthrow the grave amen to this I hole my sin has been defeated.

Jesus now and never is my plea. Oh, the change are released. I can sing. I am free. And not I but through Christ in me. With every breath, with every breath, I long to follow Jesus. For he has said that he will bring me home. And day by day, I know he will renew me until I send with joy before the throne.

To this I hope my hope is only Jesus.

When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat not I but through Christ. When the race when the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat not I but through Christ. Yet not I but through Christ. Amen. Hey, a couple of things just to have you think about for next week. We'll be moving away from the book of James. We finished chapter one. So we've been ten weeks in chapter one, but next week is Mother's Day. So we're gonna be looking at mothers, and the message will be just geared for that. So uh come back and and be ready to rejoice with the mom that God has given you and grow in that way.

And then uh can I ask you to do this? Um Natalie, our great granddaughter, um is uh Curtis is flying over to Phoenix with her tomorrow. Um every six months she's back over there for stem cell injections or plasma-rich injections. She doesn't know she's going back over again. They don't tell her when, because when you get injections into the spinal cord, it's not as easy on her. And so if you'll just be praying about that, um they take her stem cells out, spin it out, and inject um a little over four hundred million stem cells back in uh to the spine and use it to go into her into her brain. It's in a nasal spray, and that spray has a chemical that allows it to permeate the word I want uh between your brain and your nasal passage, there's a a covering so that you're when you're sick, it doesn't get into your brain.

But the chemical that's used in that spray allows the stem cells to permeate that layer and get in her brain and re-connect parts of her brain. So if you'll be praying for that, uh that would be an encouragement. Let's close in prayer, shall we? Oh Father, we've looked at your word today. We've learned that you want us to conduct our lives pleasing to you. But thank you, Lord, that you just you haven't just told us how to how to live, but you live in us and through us. And so we're asking that you live through us and that we'll live victoriously for you this week. We're asking that, Lord Jesus, you'd return. This week we invite it back. We invite you back. But help us to be faithful and to watch for you.

So whenever you come, we'll be ready. Watching and waiting. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Have a great week in the Lord.