Everyday Life
Transcript
All right, we are in the second week of our Extraordinary Series talking about a pretty simple concept. We're basically looking at the fact that God has designed and has purposed that our ordinary lives, all of the normal stuff we have to do, all the meals we have to eat, the work we have to do, the chores, the relationships, everything we have in our normal life, that he's designed to use that, to use our ordinary daily work, our ordinary daily tasks, the ordinary weight of existence for his extraordinary eternal purposes. That's what we're looking at. And I grew up in the church. I remember growing up in the church, and one of the things I began to kind of see was the church I grew up in, we had a Sunday morning.
We had an early service, which was for people who wanted to wake up early. So it was a handful of people, you know, 60 and above, I think, was pretty much who was there. I don't really know because I never was. Then we had Sunday school, and Sunday school happened after that. And then after that, we had the late service. The early service and the late service were the exact same thing.
And so we had early service, Sunday school, late service. Then we would go home. We would eat, maybe eat out, maybe go home and eat. We used to ride, my family would ride to Hardee's and get chicken a lot. That doesn't have much to do with this, just Hardee's used to have good chicken back in the day. And chocolate chip cookies is about that big.
And we used to get that, and then we would go home. We would eat. You would take a nap. Or, you know, sometimes we'd get like a pickup football game going. And then you had to be back at 6 if you were in choir, 7 if you were just going to be at the normal kind of gathering in the evening. And then we would do that.
And then we had Wednesday night stuff. There was some Tuesday night stuff. But overall, the gist I got growing up in church was that the goal was to be there. The overall goal of being a Christian was to be in that building. And that if you came on Sunday, the general thing was, cool, come back next Sunday. And if you came back the next Sunday and the next Sunday, eventually they might say, hey, you should get into the Sunday school class.
And you'd get into a Sunday school class, and that would kind of double the time you were there. And then it was, you should be at the Sunday night service. And then there should be, you should be at Wednesday night, prayer meeting or Bible study. And there's the ladies' meetings and the men's meetings. And overall, the goal was be here. And maybe they wouldn't have said that.
That was just the picture I picked up on was the people who were the most faithful, the most good, the most Christian-y were there the most times. And that was the goal. I know my dad growing up, his parents, his dad was a pastor. And he had to be there every time the doors were open for anything. And if he was sick, they would let him stay home. But he wasn't allowed to do anything.
And they would actually come home and check. The first thing they would do in walking the door after he had been home sick from a church meeting was they'd walk in and they would stick their hand behind the television to see if it was hot. And if it was hot, he got a whooping. That was how that worked. So he said when they would leave, as soon as he saw the car pull out, he would turn the television on and watch about 15 minutes and then turn it off and hope it had enough time to cool down.
He got it down to a silence. He could watch just the beginning of a show and then just kind of figure out later what happened in Lost in Space and ask his friends at school the next day or whatever. But the goal was to be there. You had to be there. We don't do a whole lot that involves you being here. We do this.
We gather on Sundays. That's it. That when we begin to read the Bible and begin to study it and we realize that the primary call for us is to not always be together, but to be Christians everywhere we are. To be sent out into the world, to be Christians everywhere we are. Now, we value gathering very highly. And we should gather.
It's normal and good and helpful and it builds into us holiness and it reminds us of God's goodness for us to gather every Sunday. We have people who show up here at 7 in the morning and begin to set all this up. We've got people that are going to stay to help us pack all of this up. We intentionally go out of our way to do things to be welcoming because we know we live in the South and people will show up to a church on Sundays and that we should. Some of us, our friendships, we should intentionally invite them to this first. That's the thing that makes the most sense for someone to come be around.
And hear the gospel proclaimed and study the Bible. But we also realize this is primarily for Christians. It's one of the reasons why we do it early in the morning. Wake up and then go spend the rest of your day getting to know your neighbors and getting to be around people. This matters, but it's not our primary main thing. It's not the overall goal for us.
We love this building. It's kind of a steal financially for us. It's not the prettiest building you've ever been in. But this isn't our main thing. If it were, I might be a little depressed sometimes. Like we talk about like we need to work on the lighting in this room to make it brighter.
And then usually in that conversation someone says, yes, but if we make it brighter, you'll be able to see the carpet better. And we're like, usually that just kind of ends it. We're like, good point. We'll just keep it the way it is. But we just, we want to gather.
But we want to gather to study the Bible, to be equipped and to be sent back out. We gather to go. We don't gather to gather. We gather to go. We don't gather just to gather. The point of this is not just let's get in a room and pat ourselves on the back and we're done.
No, we gather to remind ourselves about what matters and what's important and what's real and then to be sent out. It's that song we just sang. Who are we that Christ would save us? So we gather to celebrate that. And then it's who are we that Christ would send us? See, we gather to go.
This does matter. However, it is important that we're here and that we're here on a regular basis and that we remind ourselves consistently that we're not alone and that we are a family and that we are sent together. But it's important that we then go and live a life of ordinary things, intentionally seeing God work in extraordinary ways. And that's our goal. We started this last week. Grab your Bibles.
Go to Deuteronomy 6. You have one of these white Bibles. It'll be page 87. It's going to be pretty early on in everybody's Bible. It'll be Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus to Deuteronomy. And we're going to spend time studying this morning.
We're going to look at this. And here's what we said last week, that God intends to use our ordinary, normal lives for his eternal, extraordinary purposes. And one of the stories we told last week was about Dawn, who happens to be in my community group. She has short hair. She gets her hair cut every five weeks. So she had to go to her hairstylist every five weeks.
And Kelly Weed is her hairstylist as part of our church. And she just consistently kept saying, you've just moved here. You need to come be around. Our church family is great. They're so loving. They're so gracious.
You should be here. You should come. You should come. And Dawn kept saying, no, no, no, thank you. Dawn's polite. So, no, thank you.
Sounds good. Maybe she lied some. I'll see if I can fit that in. And then didn't show up. Eventually, though, she came because she ran out of excuses and she didn't want to get a new hairstylist, I guess, is my assumption. And so she showed up.
And God used that very ordinary hair cutting to bring her around. Eventually, she met Christ. We have story after story like that in our church family. Some of you, that's your story. It's just normal. Some of you have felt like I don't have a good testimony because your story was my neighbor became my friend.
He was a Christian. She was a Christian. This person I went to school with was a Christian. My parents were Christians. The lamest version ever. I grew up in a Christian house.
My parents told me about Jesus. And eventually, I believe this extraordinary gospel that the God of the universe saves sinners and wants to have a relationship with him. I know that's so boring. No. All of that is normal, ordinary things that God uses for extraordinary, eternal purposes. And that's what we're looking at today.
And today, we're actually, over the rest of the series, we're just talking about how do we do this? How do we join in using our normal, using our ordinary, using our mundane for God's spectacular purposes? So, Deuteronomy 6. Where we're about to pick up is Moses. They've led the Israelites out of Egypt. And he's saying, here's where we're about to go.
We're going to go into the promised land that God has provided. So, they've come out of Egypt, headed into the promised land. He's saying, here's what we're going to do. Here's what God's going to accomplish for us. And the overall picture here was, they were enslaved. They were rescued by miraculous means from slavery to be a people that belong to God.
To be a family and a nation that belong to God. And that God's going to give them a place to be a beacon for him. That they're going to go drive some people out, take over some land. And then God is going to use that land to say, here's what it's like to follow me. Here's my people. And begin to show the rest of the nations what it's like to belong to him.
And the truth is, that's the church. This is a picture of what Christ does with the church. That we were enslaved to sin. That by miraculous means, Christ dying on a cross vicariously for us. Being our Passover lamb. That they would practice sacrifices.
Where they would place their sin on an animal. And the animal would be sacrificed to pay the debt of their sin. That Christ becomes that for us. That he sacrificed to pay the debt of our sin. And that he rises from the grave. To offer free forgiveness and hope and grace to everyone.
And then he makes us into a people. And a family. And a nation. To show the rest of the world, here's what God is like. And to begin to welcome others in. So we're picking up in Deuteronomy.
Where we're seeing a picture of what ultimately God's going to do with the church. So he's talking to the nation of Israel. The people of Israel. But it also helps us as Christians to know how do we live this out? How do we walk in this? How do we understand this?
Because we're in a very similar place. Verse 4. Hear, O Israel. The Lord our God. The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.
With all your soul. With all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. And shall talk of them when you sit in your house. And when you walk by the way.
And when you lie down. And when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand. And they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house. And on your gates.
That first verse there. Hear, O Israel. The Lord our God. The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. With all your soul.
With all your might. That's the Shema. The Jewish people would repeat this over and over again. At one point a rabbi asked. A Pharisee asked Jesus. What's the most important law in the Bible.
In the Old Testament. And Jesus says this one. To love the Lord your God with all your heart. With all your soul. With all your mind. With all your strength.
With everything you have. To love God. So as we talk about how do we do this. How do we join him in the ordinary mission of life. The first thing that has to happen. Is we have to love him.
As Christians. You have to love Christ. In order to join him in his mission. I've. I have met people before. That were a part of the church.
But they loved the church. Maybe they loved the music. Maybe they loved the preaching. Maybe they loved the friendships they had there. Maybe they loved that. That it made them an upstanding citizen.
In the area. But I don't think they loved Christ. I don't think they enjoyed him. Rested in him. Saw the greatness of him. That's the first command.
And I want to give you some freedom here. It's a command to action. Here. The Lord your God. The Lord is one. Now you will love him with everything you have.
With all your strength. With all of your soul. With all of your might. With everything you have. With all of your heart. This is a command.
It's the same as when the Bible says. That husbands should love their wives. It does not mean. Husbands should have a passive. Receptive feeling. Towards their wife.
Sometimes we think about love. As just an emotion. So you either love. Or you don't. You either feel it. Or you don't.
Like watching a movie. You either enjoy it. Or you don't. So that it's based on the movie. Whether it's good or not. And like how you respond to it.
Now this is a command to action. The first thing we ought to do. Is work. To love him. To know him. To see him.
And the place that that begins. Is the gospel. We cannot effectively join him in mission. Unless we actually love. The outcome. Of the mission.
You see. The reason I want people to meet Jesus. Is because I've already met him. And he's worth meeting. That's how that works. The reason you should want your friends and neighbors.
To come to Christ. Is because you've already come to Christ. And you know what that's like. You know what that accomplishes. Some of you don't want to share the gospel. Don't want to tell people about Jesus.
And the reason is. You don't really like it. You're not captivated by it. You're not overwhelmed by it. It's been a long time. Since you laid on your face.
Thinking about the gravity. Of your sin. And the holiness of our God. And the fact that he loved you so much. That he would redeem you. It's been a long time since that happened.
So you. You're not stirred up by it. You're not overcome by it. So why would you tell other people about it. Some of you believe that the gospel. That what we're supposed to do as Christians.
Is work really hard. And be really moral. Some of you maybe grew up in a church like that. The goal was don't drink. Don't smoke. Don't watch R-rated movies.
And God will love you. Why would you tell your friends about that? You're looking at them thinking. Smoking. Drinking. And R-rated movies seem so great.
Maybe you weren't. You were. There's something about like. If the. I have good news for you. Get to work.
That doesn't sound like good news. But that's not the gospel. The gospel is I have good news for you. Jesus did all the work. You're free. You're loved.
You're redeemed. He offers you grace. Your sin. Had built up. A debt. Before God.
That you deserve to be destroyed for. But Christ. Died for you. Because he cares about you. And he cares for you. And he wants you.
That's good news. That's freedom. That's purpose. That's enjoyment. That's rest. And some of us don't.
Don't share this with our friends. Because we haven't really gotten there yet. We haven't really believed it yet. If you have no desire to tell other people about Jesus. I don't think you've met the Jesus I have. I don't think you've really met and interacted with the Christ that we find in scripture.
Because he is lovely and lovable and good and gracious and welcoming and merciful and compassionate. And he fixes us. Mends us. We believe. If you read the Bible. We believe that sin has wrecked the world.
That there's isolation and loneliness. That the people around us are held down by guilt and shame and depression. That they're doing everything they can to just build some comforts around their life. Thinking that the best thing they could possibly do is just have a nice couch and a good show on Netflix. The most troubling thing to them is when that season ends. And they can't find something else good.
So they watch The Office again. Like that's the biggest issue in their life right now. They have no purpose. They have no meaning. They feel adrift. They feel lost.
There's some people that you know put on a really brave face. But they are wracked by anxiety and fear as if a shadow was following them. They don't know what. They don't know how. But they know one day it's going to catch them.
And we believe that Christ is the cure for all of that. That he gives us a family. That he redeems us. That he died for our guilt and our shame. That he sets us free from fear and anxiety. That he is our hope.
We want everyone to know that. There's a song by the teddy bears. That came out in 1958. And one of the set of lyrics is to know, know, know him is to love, love, love him. And I do and I do. Do you know what song I'm talking about?
It's kind of catchy. That's true about Christ. To know Christ is to love Christ. And the place that this begins is a command to love him with everything you have. Now, before we can move on, you have to be there. It has to be real.
It has to be genuine love. It has to be heartfelt. He says this will be on your heart. But before we can move on, some of you may be saying, okay, I don't feel that. What do I do? How do I respond?
I don't know if I'm there. It's like when there are times in marriage when you just don't feel gushy about your spouse. You just don't. They're there. You like them. They're okay.
But you're not like overwhelmed by it. It's just not happening. And the response is not to wait until that just shows back up magically. The response is, what do I do? How do I begin to foster this? How do I get back around them?
I know that when I get kind of like that with my wife, Anna, I just got to hang out with her. She's a delight to be around. I just got to make time for it. Sometimes it's really hard to like her when there's a two-year-old in between us that we both have to work with. So it's like the best thing we can do is be business partners to keep this thing alive and help it not hit us with sticks, which he does.
But, you know, I made the sticks for him in the shape of a sword, so that's kind of on me. But you have to figure out a way to make it work. And so here he gives us some clues in the text that I want to show us here. There are ways to stir up our affections for Christ. So I want us to just look at the words here.
First, he starts with here. Oh, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. So he starts off by saying, listen to what he is like. One of the ways to stir up your affections is to be here and listen to sermons. Some of you, look, there are a lot of really good Bible teachers that exist in the world and put their words and their Bible studies on the Internet. Some of you are most have your affections stirred for Christ through listening to someone explain and teach his word.
And you need to be listening to podcasts of sermons to and from work. Some of you work in a job where you can have that in your head. I one of the most enjoyable, soul stirring, Jesus loving thing for me is when I cut the grass at my house and listen to sermons while I do it. One of the cool things about that is periodically I will be in a spot in my yard. And because that's where I was when I heard that point, I will be reminded of something about Christ just because that's where I happened to be when I heard it while I was cutting my grass. But here, what he's like is one of the things we get to do to stir our affections.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. That means to get to work to do this, to pour everything you have into it, to put energy towards it. It's all your might. He says these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. So that means memorize them, roll them around in there, think about them, have them affect you.
You shall teach them diligently to your children. One of the ways that some of you are most stirred in your affections for Christ is getting to explain something to someone else. You need to be around Christians who don't know as much as you. You need to be around people that you can say, hey, let's walk, let's study the Bible together. Let me show you some stuff. There's times where you're explaining something to someone and it's like it clicks in your own heart and you suddenly are like, hold on.
I got to repent, too. Like I love doing premarital counseling for that exact reason. I'm telling people how to communicate to their wives. There's not hasn't been a time I've gotten to do premarital counseling where I did not go home during one or two or five of the sessions and say, hey, and I need to repent for some stuff because I had forgotten how to do this. But I remind remember that Christ is good and this is how I'm supposed to act.
But you're to teach. You shall teach them diligently to children. You should talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise. Somebody's just to talk about God and his goodness and what he's done. You need to say it out loud. It says you shall bind them.
There's a sign on your hand. They should be frontlets between your eyes. We'll talk more about that in a minute. But you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Whatever it is. Some of you, it's journaling.
Here's what I have found as a rule for me. Whatever I find that is the most soul-stirring way for me to love Jesus then becomes really difficult for me to do. And it has to take might. It takes energy and effort for me to do it. Some of you, it's journaling and you know that. You know that sitting when you read and pray and writing out all of your prayers and writing about how God is good and how he's answered you.
That's the most you get out of. Some of you, it's memorizing scripture. Some of you, it's singing. There are certain things the Bible tells us we have to do. We've got to read the Bible. We have to be intaking his word because that's how he works on us.
For some of you, that's like going to the gym. It's not enjoyable. It's work. But you don't see the benefits of that until you've, it's been a month or two months. And you usually don't see the benefits of the gym in the gym. You see the benefits of the gym outside of the gym.
Like when you walk upstairs and can still breathe. Like, do you know what I'm talking about? You do something for a day and you're not sore the next day. The gym isn't great. Nobody wakes. I mean, some people do wake up in the morning like the gym.
Let's do this. Most of us don't. Most of us are like, all right, let me do this so that I'll not die doing normal tasks. Some of you, that's the Bible reading. It just takes effort. But ultimately, it builds into you something good.
But we're told some things we're supposed to do. Read the Bible. Be around church family. Be in community. Pray. Fast.
But then we've got to find things together. You've got to find things for yourself. What stirs up your affections? What helps you love Him? For me, that's woodworking. Walking in the woods.
Now, if I told you, I don't need to read the Bible. I walk in the woods. You should hit me. But if I say one of the best ways that I can meditate on the goodness of God is to walk in the woods and that's infused with my knowledge of Him from Scripture, that's great. Some of you, it's singing. Some of you, it's listening to music.
Find whatever it is. Some of you, it's making music or writing poems or drawing pictures. All of that's been gifted by God. And whatever it is that stirs your affections for Christ, you should be doing, even if it takes work and effort and planning. Because we've got to love Him to truly be able to share Him and to point people to Him. It's got to be real to us.
And then it's genuine and it's much easier to take from other people. I love Egg Roll Station, which is a Chinese restaurant in town. I usually have cash in my pocket just for Egg Roll Station. And I have to have $7.07 and then I can eat at Egg Roll Station. I eat there once a week. If I don't, my whole system is messed up.
Like a finely tuned machine. I have to eat an Egg Roll and like two and a half pounds of fried rice in order to just keep going. I tell everybody about Egg Roll. If somebody asks about Chinese food, I will tell you about Egg Roll. If you say that you've been there and it's not good, I will argue with you. And it's genuine.
It's real. I believe it. And it makes it easier to take. It makes it more real to other people. It comes out naturally. It's something I'm going to talk about.
I've gotten tons of people to go eat there. I take people with me on a regular basis to eat at Egg Roll Station because I believe in it. And it has to come from that place. Some of you, you're that way with music or you're that way with art. You're like, I've learned if someone wants to talk to me about music. Like if you're the type of person who wants to talk about music, you are going to be disappointed if you talk to me.
If you're like, hey, have you ever heard of them? I'm just like, stop. Just don't. You're going to be mad. I haven't heard of them. I don't know their songs.
I don't know who that guy is. Just please quit. Like, but when we naturally love something, we talk about it. It's real to us. It means something. And that's the place we have to start with Christ.
You have to know him. You have to love him. You have to rest in him. And then the rest begins to come out in a normal way. I will also say this. We've got to move on, but I'll say this.
Some of you feel like I don't, I don't know. I'm a Christian or I believe this stuff, but I just feel no desire to put forth this energy. I feel no desire for this. I think some of that works like this. Have you ever been really hungry so that everything you heard, thought about, sounded like it would be delicious? There was this moment when you could have eaten a taco or a pizza or sushi or a ham sandwich.
Everything sounded amazing. If you smelled any kind of food, it was the most amazing food ever. You just had to eat something. And then you miss that window, and all of a sudden, you're not hungry at all anymore. And people are like, well, you want to go eat at a Mexican restaurant? And you're like, well, you just want to go get some pizza?
And you know cognitively I really should be hungry because two hours ago I was. I just had to keep working. And now nothing sounds good. You just have to know I still need to eat something. And once I start, I'll be reminded why I was hungry in the first place, and it'll be fine. Maybe I'm the only person to experience this.
I think most of us had. I took a short poll with a handful of people to try to see if anybody understood what I was talking about. Walking with Christ is like that sometimes. Sometimes you get to the place where you're like, I just don't feel the hunger anymore. It's like, right, because you've gone so long without it, you've kind of forgotten how to do it. Just pick up your Bible.
Start listening to music. Start praying. Start asking for the hunger again. And then just start eating. Start intaking. And it'll build it back up in you.
But this is why we have to come from here to see people come to know Christ. It's got to be genuine. It's got to be real to us. We've got to actually know him. We've got to understand his benefits, the goodness of him for our soul and the joy that's found in him. This is why we've talked about this past week.
We said if we would intentionally invite one person into our lives, we would get to potentially see our church family double. That we'd get to see more people here. And that's useless. That's absolutely useless if the point is our church is good. That's useless. That's useless.
That's useless. If the point is Jesus is good, that's valuable. If that's the point, if we talk about our church growing and the best you have. This is why I think a lot of times churches, especially in the south, grow by people coming from other churches to this church. Because the sales pitch is come listen to the music. The music is really good.
Come hear the preaching. The preaching is really good. Come hang out with our groups. Our groups are really good. But we've lost the ability to say, come meet Jesus.
Jesus is really good. And so the only person we know how to pitch to are people who already kind of believe that. But we don't know how to actually tell somebody, here's how Christ has wrecked my soul. And you need to know him. It's got to start there. It's got to start knowing the goodness of Christ and seeing his gospel and seeing our sin and seeing his holiness and his love for us.
It's got to start there. So let's keep going. First step, love Jesus. Then it says, verse 7, you shall teach. Oh, no. I jumped ahead of myself here.
I've got to read 6. And these words that I command you today should be on your heart. For us, the primary command is to know Jesus, to love Jesus, to know his gospel, to be changed by that as we obey. That we are changed by the gospel and then we obey. So that's where we come from here, that we would put that in our heart.
That it would be real to us. Then he says, you shall teach them diligently to your children. I shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise. Don't miss this, parents. Primary first mission for you is your kids. First and primary mission for you is your kids.
I, I, I, it hurts my brain every time I hear a mom say, and this doesn't happen a lot in our church, but I've heard this before. Mom says, I want to be on mission, but I just got to stay home and watch my kids. And it's like, your kids need Jesus. We have to keep them in kid city. We can have people co-sign that. Your kids need Jesus.
They bite people. Do y'all know kids do that? Naturally. You don't have to teach them. They will bite another child. They need Jesus.
And we have to like, so parents don't miss that. The first mission you have, the first mission field you have is your children. And then he says this, teach them diligently the gospel. This should infuse. You should explain it to them. You should talk about Jesus.
You should sing and pray. And then he says, how? Talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise. That a love for Christ should saturate your day. Fill your day. That when you wake up, when you go to sleep, when you're walking, when you're eating, it's normal and natural for you to talk about Jesus.
What he does, who he is, what he's accomplished, how good he is, how he blesses, how he fixes, how he forgives. But you can't do that if you don't love him and know him. It'll feel forced. It'll feel weird. But if you love Christ and know Christ and it's already overwhelmed you how he forgives and how he loves and how he redeems, then it naturally will flow out.
It's natural for you to talk about it. It's natural for you to explain it. So this isn't just have a Bible study with your kids. It is that. Do that. But you know, your children are picking up everything, not just the stuff you want them to pick up.
I have a two-year-old. He's learning how to talk. And I feel like he is making fun of me with about half the things he says. He'll take some of his food, want me to eat it. I'll eat some. And he'll go, good, isn't it?
That's good, isn't it? Or he'll see something and go, that's pretty, isn't it? Because I say, isn't it? I didn't know I said, isn't it? Until I heard him start saying it. And I was like, what kind of word is that?
And then I realized I would give him a piece of food and go, it's good, isn't it? And he's mocking me. That's what it feels like. He got hurt this past week and he looked down at his own leg and went, oh, honey, hurt yourself. Because that's what his mom says to him every time he hurts himself. Oh, honey, you hurt yourself.
And so I was carrying him around in Lowe's. He was looking at his knee the entire time going, oh, honey, hurt yourself. He said it like 35 times. We had to keep my brother's dog. My brother and his wife bought a dog and then decided to travel so often that we get to share it. So we really appreciate it.
And so it was at our house. It was the first day it was dropped off. It was in our garage and it started barking. And my two-year-old was watching TV. The dog's name is Possum, by the way. That will make this story make more sense.
My two-year-old was watching TV and he goes, shut up, Possum. And we were like, we may have said that too much. And we don't say that to each other. We don't say that to him. We are willing to tell dogs to shut up. And now our son, my wife, one of the primary ways I fight with, fight, I play with my son is to fight him.
This makes more sense a little bit. Like we wrestle. Like it's one of the things we've been doing since he was little. We fight. I teach him how to throw punches. He hits me with sticks.
This is one of the primary ways that we play with each other. And that was fine at our house. But now he has to go up into Kid City. And I don't know if y'all know this. They can't come get me on Sundays. But we're pretty sure there are times where he's going to push someone and be like, shut up, Emmy.
And then like hit somebody. And it's going to be because we trained him poorly. Because he didn't just pick up the stuff we said to him. He picked up all the stuff we do. He picked up who we are. Some of you grew up in families where your parents made you go to church.
But you watched them the rest of the week. And it had no influence over their life. They told you you needed to love Jesus. But you never actually saw them love Jesus. And that messed with you. That's why he says this should so be real to you.
That the way you wake up when you go to sleep. The way you eat. The way you walk. That means walking the way. Means all the stuff you do. Looks like you know and belong to him.
And you love him. And he's changed you. Because I've heard this quote attributed to a bunch of people. Most recently to John Maxwell. But it says you can teach what you know.
But you'll reproduce who you are. You can teach what you know. But you'll reproduce who you are. And that's why he says love him. And then make sure that that plays out in every bit of your life. Parents don't miss the opportunity to disciple your children.
But I want you to see that he says. You shall teach them diligently to your children. And. So he says teach your children. Explain this to your children. Make this part of life.
And he explains kind of how you get to do that. But when he says and. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house. When you walk by the way. When you lie down. When you rise.
That not only affects your children. That means that it affects everyone you're around. He follows that up with this. Verse 8. You shall bind them. As a sign on your hand.
And they shall be as frontlets. Between your eyes. A frontlet. Is a decorative. Head. Dress.
Piece. Thing. And I know that. Because I've studied extensively. And have a computer. And I googled the word.
It's a decorative headpiece. They took this literally. Says that you'll bind them as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on your doorposts. And on your house. And on your gates.
The Jewish people took this literally. They took the little Torah scrolls. The law that he was giving. And the commandments that he gave. And they wore them on their wrists in a little box. And they wore them on their head in a little box.
Or at least the Shema. Which is here. Oh Israel. The Lord our God is one. And they put them on their doorposts. And on their gates.
I don't think that we have to take this literally. I think what he means is. For us as Christians. I think the call is. The way you work. Everything you do.
The way you see the world. That you can't look into the world. Without having to see past. The gospel. One of the things we talk about. Is so knowing the gospel.
That it's the lens by which we view the world. So that the way we handle money. And the way we interact with people. And the way we. And he says put it on your doorposts. Meaning that when you go in.
And when you go out. It's intentional. It's in obedience. On the gates. Which means this is how you interact with the world. This is the first thing they see about you.
You ever heard somebody say. Oh he really wears his faith on his sleeve. And what they mean is. It's just out there for everybody to see. It's just kind of out in the world there. For everybody to notice.
And they kind of say it negatively. And maybe you have thought like. God. Christianity is supposed to be private. And I'm supposed to enjoy it. And I'm supposed to love Christ.
But I don't want to bother people with it. And I don't want to be annoying. And we're not really supposed to talk about religion. It's kind of rude. I don't want to wear my Christianity on my sleeve. Moses says wear it on your face.
Put it on your forehead. That you are a Christian. That you know Christ. Love Christ. That you belong to him. Should be how you interact with the world.
Should be something people pick up from you quickly. And know that it is true and real about you. That's it. That's how to be a part of Jesus' mission in ordinary life. That's it. To so love Christ.
That it pours out. In every interaction. When you wake up. When you go to sleep. When you eat a meal. When you walk.
When you work. To have it be the way you interact with the world. So that if it's bound to your hand. It means that when you're interacting with the world. When you're doing stuff. There are things that you do intentionally.
Because you belong to him. Because you love him. So it affects how you work. It affects how you interact with others. To have it put on your face. Means it's how you see the world.
So that you can't just set a normal budget. Based off of what Dave Ramsey says. But the gospel affects your budget. That you can't just pick a major in school. Because of what your parents said. Or because of what field you want to go in.
But the gospel affects it. And your understanding of who he is. And what he's done. Your love for him. Empowers you to do what you're called to do. In the world.
That doesn't mean that everybody has to go be a missionary. It means that everybody already is a missionary. Wherever God sends them. Because it's how they interact with the world. That Christians wear the gospel on their face. And on their hands.
And it's in their heart. And it pours out everywhere. And it's on their doorposts. And their house is used for the gospel. It's on their gate. It's how they interact with the world.
That's the call. That's it. And that has to start with a love for Christ. And then. All we got to do. Is be around people who don't know Jesus.
Be a genuine Jesus loving. Real person. And intentionally. Go out of your way. To be around people who don't know Christ. And then.
When you. It's normal for you to talk about him. It's normal for you to. To point people to him. It's normal for you. And it makes sense.
Because you so love it. You so enjoy it. So. First. All we're going to do. For the rest of our time.
Is look at. Some practical ways. To be around people. Who don't know Christ. So. For you in the room.
If you're saying. Yeah. I love Jesus. I want to see people come to know him. This is the practical part. Where we just talk about.
How do we do that. For some of you in the room. You're going. I'm not sure. I actually love Jesus. The way you're talking about.
I'm not sure. I actually. Have him. In me. The way you're talking about. I want to tell you.
That you can. That we're called to faith. Which means that we. Say. Lord. I believe that the gospel is true.
That you died for my sin. And I want this. I want you to change me. I want you to infuse me. Some of you. You actually know.
No. I believe in him. I just don't feel it right now. I'm not empowered by him right now. And that's where it's. Yeah.
It's called for strength. For you to start. Putting some energy forth. To read. To study. To repent.
Some of you. Need to start. By taking a blank sheet of paper. And a pen. And saying. Lord.
Where do I need to repent? That's a dangerous question. But it is so good. Jesus loves to answer that one. And here's why. You repenting.
You turning from sin. You confessing. Is not punishment. It's a call into joy. You get more of Jesus. Obedience is not punishment.
It's a call to be free. From all the sin. That he's already set us free from. To walk in it. Okay. So here's what we got to do.
You need to take your schedule. You need to look at it. You actually lay out. How do I spend my time? What time do I get up? What do I do?
Where do I work? Who am I around? Where do I go to school? Who's there? When am I there? What time is that?
When does that happen? You just need to make your schedule. And then you get to ask a couple of questions about your schedule. There's really three primary questions. And then there's one follow-up that I want to show us. But the first one is where's a community opportunity?
It just means in my normal schedule, how can I invite church family to be around? Where can I invite someone from my community group? Where can another Christian come join me in this? This is one of the ways that we get to remind ourselves of what matters. So where can I bring somebody in?
This is one of the ways that we get to talk about God and teach each other and walk in that. And help other people know how to raise children and handle finances. So it's like what am I already doing? Where can someone else join me? The second one is where is there a mission opportunity? Which just means where am I around people who don't know Jesus yet?
Or where could I invite someone? What am I already doing that I could just invite someone in who doesn't know Jesus yet? So you've laid out your schedule. You ask where is there a community opportunity? Where is there a mission opportunity? The third question is where is there a gospel opportunity?
Where can I actually begin to show Christ? Where can I actually begin to share Christ? That's one of the things we're going to talk about in this coming week. Is how to explain the gospel. How to say it. Talk to people about it.
The fourth question. One. Which is kind of an underlying question. It's not one of the main ones. Is what needs to be cut? For some of you.
You say like in my evenings I watch some TV. And maybe there's a good community opportunity. You could invite some people to come watch The Walking Dead with you. Or Frasier reruns. Some of you it's. I could invite my neighbors.
I know that I found out that one of my neighbors is really into this show. So we're going to watch House of Cards together. I'm just saying popular shows. But something makes me think that one might have bad stuff in it. And I should have mentioned it. So I don't know.
That was not an endorsement. But maybe your neighbor really likes it. And you should watch it with him. I don't know. Some of you. It's.
I watch three hours of television every night. And therefore have no time to be around anyone else. And that needs to be cut. Some of you play video games like it's a part time Job. And with more intentionality than your part time Job. I have nothing against video games.
In and of themselves. Some of them aren't great. Some of that needs to be cut out. You need to invite a friend over. Play for a couple hours. And then go into the world and talk to humans.
Like you've got to look at your schedule and say. What do I need to cut? What doesn't work? Some of you treat your home like it's the escape from the world. So as soon as.
Introverts pay attention. As soon as you. Get off work. You run into your house. And the goal is to just have enough. Cushions around you.
That no one gets to talk to you. And that's fine. God designed you to be introverted. That's okay. One of the problems with the church. Is that extroverts stand up here.
And tell all the introverts. That they're wrong and sinful. And that's not true. But. You need to make friends. Like an introvert makes friends.
And you need to find ways to be around people. Because you can't just say. Oh I don't like that. Or it's hard. And never do it. And extroverted people.
Need to not say. I hung out with 30 people. That was mission. Did you have a real conversation with anybody? Do you remember their names? Did you just walk around and call everyone guy?
Maybe you need to build some real friendships. With people who don't know Jesus. And get around them. I've got a list of. Eight things I want to talk through quickly. Somebody.
This is just a list that was in the book. Everyday Church. It was written by pastors. Steve Timmis and Tim Chester. That Tim Chester guy sounds really smart. But.
Eight. A list of eight things. I want to. I want to just kind of share with us. As ways to intentionally be around people. Who don't know Jesus.
This is a list they give. That I think is helpful. First one is. Eat with non-Christians. Or eat with people who don't know Christ. You eat.
21 Meals a week. That's an average. Some of you. You're above average. I'm proud of you. You eat 28 meals a week.
That's well done. Some of you skip breakfast. You're at 14. You eat. You have to. God designed us to have to stop.
To eat food. To refuel. Eat with people who don't know Jesus. Invite them to lunch. Talk to your co-workers. Invite them to come eat with you.
Invite people in your neighborhood. To come over and eat. It's about to be summer. Go to your neighbors and say. Hey. After dinner this next week.
We're going to have a watermelon. But there's no way. The two of us. Are going to eat an entire watermelon. If we do. We will not feel good.
So we need you to come over. And help us eat this watermelon. We're going to be in our front yard. We just want to invite people to come. Find ways to get around people. Who don't know Jesus.
The second one they give is to walk. If you live in a walkable area. Of our city. Walk. For the majority of us. Because we live in Columbia.
And that doesn't really matter. We exist. Can't walk. In our city. Can't walk to the grocery store. Can't walk to.
So just walk around your neighborhood. Walk at the same time. Get to know the people. Who live in your neighborhood. One of the things. That we do intentionally.
Is we walk in our neighborhood. And we've gotten to meet. Our neighbors. Just walk around. Get to. Get to know people.
If you. Work at a place. Where you can walk. To get some food. Rather than ride in your car. Walk.
Be. Begin to care about the city. We live in. Begin to see people. Begin to. Start conversations that way.
To meet people. The third one they give. Is to be a regular. Go to the same place every week. Get coffee in the same place. Get breakfast in the same place.
Be around the same people. Go at the same time. This is for people who are saying. Look. I want to be a part of Jesus's mission. I just don't know anybody.
Who doesn't know Christ. And for Christians. That happens some. We become Christians. We start hanging out with the church. Eventually.
All of our friends are Christians. We have a lot in common with them. It's easy. We believe the same stuff. We're fighting for the same stuff. But he's called us.
To be out in the world. Using our ordinary lives. For extraordinary purposes. So be a regular. Get to know all of the wait staff. To have your community group.
Go eat at the same place. Every week. At the same time. And tip well. Even when the service is bad. Have the gospel affect your tipping.
You were terrible. Here's grace. Here's abundant grace. Above and beyond. Your. Worth.
At this. Today. Um. Hobby with people who don't know Christ. Is number four. Join a hunting club.
Join a gym. Join a local book club. Or start one in your neighborhood. Play tennis. Paint. Sew.
Join a local softball league. Little league. Parents. Little league. People will say. I can't.
I can't be part of the stuff. Our group's doing right now. Because our kids. Is playing t-ball. Some of you need to say. Parents.
We're not. We're not rotating off. I'm going to take this one. And I'm going to be there. At practice. And I'm going to get to know.
All the other parents. And I'm going to be a help coach. And we're going to hold a party. For the. For the kids. At the end of the season.
We're going to be the person. Who brings Gatorade. We're going to intentionally. Use t-ball. As an opportunity. To get to know people.
Love people. Serve people. And join Jesus. In his mission. Um. Number five.
They give us. To talk to your coworkers. I used to love it. When I worked. Uh. I used to work at Sears.
One of the things I loved. About working at Sears. Was my coworkers. Were stuck with me. My coworkers. Could not fire me.
Their only option. Was to quit. And I got to talk to them. I got to hang out with them. I got to share with them. I got to be their friend.
Go out of your way. To talk to your coworkers. Get to know the people. In the cubicles near you. Or that work on the same shift. Care about them.
Pray for them. Begin to pray for them. Before you go to work. When you leave. Get to know them. Be their friend.
A genuine. Actual friend. Number six. They give us. Volunteer with non-profits. Find a non-profit.
Serve once a month. Bring your family. Bring your group. Number seven. Participate in city events. Go to a fundraiser.
Or a clean up. Summer shows. Concerts. Talk to people. Get to know the city. Care about people.
Number eight. Serve your neighbors. Or get to know your neighbors. Some of you have lived in the same place for a while. You don't know your neighbors. Let me give you a couple of quick ways to do this.
We're going to talk more about how to use your house. And to be a good neighbor. But a couple of quick ways. If you move into a place. Go knock on everybody's door. And say.
Hey I just moved here. Here's one of the things that happens. Most people feel the obligation to be nice to the people they live around. They don't want to be rude. They will not naturally be rude to you. Go knock on their door.
And say. Hey I just moved here. I'm trying to meet people. And they will feel. Some sort of social pressure. To get to know you.
And talk to you. It's a great way to meet all your neighbors. To talk to them. To pray for them. If you see someone moving in. Go knock on their door.
Say. Hey Saul you just moved in. Wanted to get to know you. We live right down here. Talk to them. If you have a person.
If you have lived in the same place forever. And don't know any of your neighbors. You have a couple of options. You can. Make up. A neighborhood thing.
So that you have a reason to knock on their door. Hi. I'm a part of the neighborhood planning committee. Want to talk to you about the thing out front. Where we need to plant some plants. Hi.
Just talk to them. I'm a part of the neighborhood gathering group. It's a group you made. So you're part of it. You're not lying. Chairman.
Chairman. We're trying to do two cookouts a year. Would you be up for that? Maybe all of your neighbors say no. Maybe you find five that say yes. Have a cookout with them.
Some of you just need to knock on people's doors. And say. Hey. I've lived here for three years. And I've been a terrible neighbor. And I just wanted to get to know you.
Most of your neighbors will say. Yeah. Me too. Sorry. And you can talk to them. One of the things we do.
In our neighborhood. Is we walk. In the neighborhood. And. And. I will.
If I intentionally see my neighbors outside. Sometimes pretend to go get something from my mailbox. Or out of my toolbox. On my truck. So that I can say hey to them.
We walk. One of the things I do. When we're walking. And this. I break social norms. Just for the reason.
To be able to meet my neighbors. If I see a neighbor. And we make eye contact. But I can tell. That was it. They don't want to talk to me.
I will. While we're making eye contact. Do this. Hey. Way too early. But now they have to choose.
To not shake my hand. They have to be willing to break that. And most people aren't. So they. They'll go. And wait.
While I walk like 30 feet. So we can shake hands and talk. And I get to know my neighbors. And then the next time I see them. I can say hey. I already know them.
How's that thing? What's going on? Like. Just find ways to get to know your neighbors. Here's the thing. This isn't a trick.
We're called to be genuine Christians. Who really love Jesus. And then our goal. Is to be genuine friends. With people who don't. Let me explain something to you.
And if you're a Christian. This is true. And you believe this. We only have a certain amount of time here. This is temporary. There is an eternity to come.
And I believe 100%. That every person. Needs to meet Christ. Needs to hear the goodness of the gospel. Most of the people you live around. Think they know the gospel.
Think they know about Christianity. Think they know about Christ. And it's just that they've never really seen. Anybody truly living that out. In life. Christians.
True. True. Genuine gospel. Bible following believing Christians. Are the best people to be around. They should be gracious.
Generous. Forgiving. Loving. Serving. Sacrificial. Not condemning.
But joyous. And welcoming. And merciful. If your neighbors. Never come to know Christ. The best thing they'll ever get.
Is to live a life on earth. Around some Christians. Because it only gets worse from there. The goal is not. Just. See people meet Jesus.
That is the ultimate goal. Because if we truly believe what we say we believe. We want that for everybody. We just want to be friends with the people that are around us. Love them. Serve them.
Care for them. Pray for them. Fight for them. Be the person most likely to take them in. To give them some money. And to swap shifts with them.
Just to ease life a little bit. And show them somebody cares about them. Okay. Homework for this week. Look at your schedule. Pick a thing.
To do with intentionality. Some of you that means you need to cut something. You need to go for a walk. Some of that means you have. Coworkers that you've never really prayed for. Cared about.
Gotten to know. Some of that means you've got to go knock on the neighbor's door. But everybody. Who says they are Christian. Needs to do one thing this week. Everybody's in one of our community groups.
That's it. Just do one thing this week. To try to meet somebody. Get to know somebody. Begin to build a friendship with someone who does not yet know Christ. That's the goal.
Genuine friendship. With a genuine Christian. Let's pray. God my one prayer out of this. Is that we would all love you. With all our heart.
With all our soul. With all our mind. With all our strength. Because naturally. Out of that. We begin to love those around us.
I pray that we would be. Captivated by. The goodness of the gospel. And enamored. With your grace. So that we might begin to see the world as you see it.
And love those who are around us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.