Good News for the Outsider

Yes, shout out to my youth section over here. Youth owners, are there any youth owners in the room? I'd love to invite you all to say it. You might be sitting over in that section.

You got to stand up? Stand up? Yeah, give it up. You guys, they're married and they literally just did that action at the same exact time.

That was weird. That's awesome. Wow, no, not the kiss cam. We had a bunch of youth owners come in the first service as well.

And, what are we doing? And this fall, slash now we're into the winter. We've basically doubled our team. In this fall, we were at a conference that we go to called NYC.

And me and my wife, Bree, who leads the youth with me, we're just like, man, like every year is great, but there's something like so fun about this year. And it's like, we're like, it's our leaders. That's what owners are here. We call them owners.

So we don't have to own it. And that's our leaders. And we're just like, the reason that God is doing things in this youth ministry is so much because of the leaders that we have that are a part of our team. And they're not just trying to be a copycat of what they see, but are uniquely and individually wired and gifted in so many different ways.

And that's what our high school and middle school students are getting to experience. Not just on a Wednesday night, y'all. Like, there's so many people that are showing up to students games that are getting coffee with them, they're reading the word with them. It's crazy stuff.

But I do think this generation is worth it because they're hungry. And so I love that we have leaders that match that hunger. It's awesome. I also want to shout out any middle school and high school students.

And I want you to stand as well. I don't know how many will have in here, but we stand up. They're like, really? Stay standing.

Stay standing. Oh, this is awesome. We have so many. Let's go.

I just want to say it. I was telling my staff this past week. It takes a village to surround these young people with everything that's on the inside of them and everything that they're walking through day in and day out for you. Any of you that are well beyond these years, middle school, high school, I'm not going to point you out.

But it's different in these days and they're facing some wild things, but God's put something inside of them and in this generation. And so what I'd love to do is I'd love to just pray for them real quick. And so if you could just extend a hand wherever you see a student extend a hand towards them. And I just want to pray Jesus, we thank you for the privilege that it is to be able to have these young people in this house.

We pray for these young people for the ones that aren't a part of this church. God, we pray for this generation that they wouldn't feel any type of ceiling of belief for what is possible through you and your spirit. God, we thank you that you are walking with them, that you're going to come alongside of them. I pray for creativity.

I pray for wisdom that they wouldn't feel an ounce of having to wait, but realizing what you've put on the inside of them and that we as a community would continue to just champion and cheer them on as they follow you in your name. Amen. Amen. Love it.

As you can see, I'm preaching tonight on Good News for the outsider. We've been in a good new series so far. I don't know if you can remember them. I can.

Good news for the oppressed. Good news for the overwhelmed. Good news for the orphan. Good news for the good person and good news for the anxious was last week.

Let's go. And it's been an incredible time just to really dive into what what is God have good news for all these different types of people. It's not good to talk about good news for the outsider. You ready?

And I wonder when I when I said that good news for the outsider. I wonder who you thought about. You're like my neighbor because man they need Jesus. They might go worker really need some help.

But let's talk about it. Who is the outsider? I don't know. Maybe you came in today.

Maybe it's your first time here and you're you're you're looking around. You're going man these people seem to have it all together. Way there phrasing Jesus. You're feeling kind of on the outside.

Maybe you've you've come here and you've never been in here before. Like someone told you was a coffee shop. Happy Monday. Great cup of chills.

Also you're like a wearing church. I don't know. You're maybe you're here and you've been here for a minute. You're like man I've been a part of this community or I've been following Jesus for a little while.

But to be honest I don't fully feel like I belong. I don't fully feel apart. I feel kind of on the outside. Maybe you've been following Jesus and you've been doing it for a while or I don't know how long and you're just feeling like I just like I've settled a little bit.

Which makes sense. Like life happens so many things hit us. There's so many different responsibilities. So many different things that we're juggling.

We can kind of just kind of like get into that zone and it's like am I really living in like what all that God has for me. I don't know like where you're at where you're coming in today. But I think the question isn't are you an outsider but where in your life are you living on the outside outside of all that God's doing for us. So yes this is for your neighbor for your co-workers for your youth leader and it's for you and me.

So can we lean in and go God I just want Jesus to be able to speak to us and I wear am I living outside of anything that you have for me anything that you're good news wants to touch. In my life whatever it may be whether you know him or you've been walking with him for a long time. Because how many of you are grateful that God didn't wait for you to clean yourself up and get all ready and work your way towards him. But he met you right where you were at with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus so that we could follow him half his righteousness.

Yeah right on time. I want to I want to read a scripture that basically states that in way better words because it's packed with incredible promises. It comes from Romans 5, 6 through 11. There it is says this when we were utterly helpless Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

Now most people would be willing to die for an upright person though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ he will certainly save us from God's condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his son while we were still enemies.

My man is making a point. But sinners, enemies, utterly helpless. We will certainly be saved through the life of his son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

I don't ever want to get too familiar with a passage like that. I don't want to ever get too just casual with these scriptures that are packed full of really good news and really wild things. Like you and I were utterly helpless dead in our sin. Enemies like this isn't getting any better as I'm going along if you realize that.

Like you are an enemy of God. But God sends Jesus. You weren't doing decent. I just need you to know real quick.

We got to talk about it for a second. You weren't kind of okay kind of making it by dead enemies. A wreck. Okay.

Jesus didn't take you from like I was like a five out of 10 to like an eight out of 10. So then someday it's like I'm going to be a 10 out of 10 when we get to heaven. You were a wreck. You were a mess.

But God sent Jesus and by his blood. Now you're in. You didn't do a thing. Isn't that wild?

But if you're anything like me, I just think okay, utterly helpless dead in our sins. Jesus comes perfect sacrifice. Now we're friends of God. I'm like the next verse could basically say and then they lived happily ever after.

And I'd be like, yeah, like all right. I think we covered it all. It's time to go home like to heaven like we might as well do it. It seems like Jesus did the thing.

So then it begs the question. Why are we still sitting here working so hard to just try to be enough to be able to belong. When he's already done all this. Are you anything like me?

Let me ask you this way. Do you ever get overconfident in your ability to fix things like even specifically yourself? We're really good at it. We have a ton of good ideas.

You know what's made it worse? Chat GPT. Yeah, we got to talk about it. We got to talk about it.

And right away I do feel like there's a little bit of like some sides with chat GPT. It's either like hey, it's maybe like a robot AI computer system that's going to take over the world and ruin everything or it is making my life way better and I use it all the time. And honestly, I don't have any skin in the game on where we're at with it or anything like that. But I can tell you I am on this side.

And I'm using that thing all the time. And to tell you the truth, it's made me the handyman that I never thought I could be. I'm telling you stuff that I've walked past for like a year and a half. And I mean, there was a door that was the hinges were coming out y'all.

I'm looking at that thing and I'm just like, yeah, I mean, we'd probably have to pay someone thousands. I don't know. Like, how would you? I have no idea.

All of a sudden chat, put you. It's a little bit of toothpicks and some wood glue. Who knew? And I'm like, oh, okay.

We had like a crazy storm this summer and a tree like fell in half and landed on our gate. So our fence, the gate portion of it and demolished it. Guess who built the gate? This guy right here.

Okay. Exactly. Chat. Help me out here.

You know, Home Depot made the run. Build the gate. Okay. It like chat helped me, but I built the gate.

I thought you guys would be a little more proud. Thank you. If you know who I am, that's a big deal. And this is where admittedly I get a little bit overconfident, okay, because we started doing some work on our basement and I'm going, and I'm going, all right, first step, right?

You got a frame. You got a frame, the basement. And so I'm checking with chat. Maybe sprinkling in a little YouTube.

But with my friend who's a framer, so the expert, just to get a couple pointers, I don't need his help. And I'm like, hey, man, so I'm planning on framing my basement. We're going to, you know, renovate. So I'm planning on framing my basement.

And the smirk that he gave me was like, he knew something. I was like, right? He looked at me like that. Anyways, he gave me a couple pointers because I'm about to get the work.

Long story short, I didn't frame my basement. He did, okay? I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm not doing that. But I'll probably do the electrical.

Okay, y'all know something about electrical or something? Yeah. So a couple weeks later, I'm like, bro, do you know any electricians? Like they could just come give me a quote?

Like, but I promise I'm going to do the drywall. No. Like we get so overconfident and chat isn't helping anything. But that's a little bit of what we're like with Jesus.

We read a verse like that. We understand the good news at just the right time when I was dead, utterly helpless, had nothing to offer. Jesus came. And now I have his righteousness and right relationship with God.

But I think if we're being honest, we kind of be like, I don't know if he came at the right time. Because man, I was hoping I could clean myself up a little bit. And honestly, like if you don't know him yet, when I talk to people about Jesus, it is a lot of like, well, I mean, I just have to kind of change how I live and change the way I talk and start going back to church. And I'm like, stop.

I'm like, let me help you right now. It's not worth going through all that stuff before you realize who he is and what the offer is. You should just check in because it's beyond what you could ever imagine. You can't work yourself to him.

So you should just stop trying right there. And then some of us are following Jesus for a while, but life has problems. We got responsibilities. And all of a sudden it's like, well, I got to figure out this bill and the money side of things.

And so we just get to work. We're just like, well, it's got to be done. And it's like, OK, I have some ideas about it. I'm thinking about it.

We're like, yeah, Jesus, if you can just help me in this area. And you're back to work. Right? Just kind of throw up a low prayer.

If you're anything like me, throw up a low prayer and help me out if you can. But then it's like we just get to our planning and our working. And we're just figuring things out. And I think ultimately, if we're being real, if we can get real right away, I think it's because we just have a belief problem.

Because we have a whole lot of promises for who he wants to be and what he wants to do for us. But I'm not sure we fully believe that he came at the right time. Like, I got some ideas. You're not moving fast enough.

I'm going to clean myself up first. I'm going to figure it out. Then I'll show up. And it's like, that's not the point at all.

There's a reason that he said he came at the right time when you were in the middle of your anxiety that you're walking through. We were talking about it last week, Pastor Ben was, you can do all the techniques and listen to the podcast and read the books. And you should. And those are great things.

But without Jesus, it's just not going to get you to what you want to get to. There's no hope that those things can give you. Like Jesus can. You're walking in that fear.

And it's like you don't have a shot. Like, let's just call it like it is. You can't do it. The struggle that you're facing, that you continue to face, that you're in a cycle of, you need Jesus.

You can't fix you. If we need help. And that's good news. You're like, it doesn't feel like it right now.

Let me read a verse to you. Why that's good news. Matthew 1013, or Matthew 9, 10 through 13 says this. Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests.

Along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, why does your teacher eat with such scum? Geez. When Jesus heard this, he said, healthy people don't need a doctor.

Sick people do. Then he added, now go and learn the meaning of this scripture. I want to show you mercy, not offer sacrifices. For I have come to call, not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.

He's literally going, if you can't help yourself, you're right where I need you. You can't do it. He's not telling people, hey, go really embrace your sin because I came for the sinners. He's going, if you're aware of your need, that's where you can get all of this good news.

And watch it transform your entire life. So I came for the sick, for the people that were aware, for the people that realized they needed me. I got a couple of things that I want to share with us that I think will encourage us on how can we actually receive this good news wherever we're at and let it transform our lives. First thing that I got for us is good news, get ready to receive.

So good news to the outsider, get ready to receive. But we don't really like that. There's a whole lot of things and kind of like vines like, hey, you get in, what you put in is what you get out. And there's like 100 more of them.

That's true. I'm like, yeah, I love it. Self-discipline, goals, vision, all that. I'm into it.

It just doesn't line up with the gospel. So you better get ready to receive because I know you're really good at doing, you're going to figure it all out, you got a plan and you got a way that you're going to, but you got to get ready to receive. Christmas is coming up. Did you know?

I'm just going to let you know. That was just, yeah, yeah, there's an amazing tree. So you better know, okay, because that took work, but my team did it. So I don't want to take credit for it.

I'm sorry. I'm just too honest to say that we did it. I didn't help. I apologize.

Okay, whatever. Moving on. It's getting hot, awkward in here. Christmas is coming up and it doesn't take a whole lot to realize how we're wired.

Just look at a little kid opening up some Christmas presents, okay? I don't know if you got any parents in here with some kids or it's just you thinking back to your childhood, but man, my three-year-old will just tear through those things next, next, next. I'm like, I think you would be awesome. Where's more?

I'm like, that's it. You just got like 14. Could I get a hug? Like, like, innately God, the way God wired us is we know how to receive it.

I think this is really funny with Christmas when we're just like, it's not about the presents. It's like, okay, guys. Okay. I get it.

And I know what you're getting at, but I wonder if the joy that you feel when you receive a gift from someone was actually in you by the creator so that when he gave the perfect gift of Jesus, which you could never earn or anything like that, you'd be like, this is the best news I've ever heard. We were made to receive. We just, as we walk through life, as we experience life, I think we just more and more, we get in that mentality of like, nope, I gotta work for it, I gotta earn it. Some of us adults are like, it's not about the presents.

I just like watching my kids open them. It's like, that's because you bought everything for yourself already. Just literally walking around with a credit card whenever you want coffee, if you need to get the car, if you need to get the stuff, like, it's, you're not that great. Okay?

Like, you want things too. But I think we don't know how to receive. Have you, have you, had someone give you a present or a gift recently? Right?

They give you a gift and you're just like, thank you. If you don't have anything to give back, you're just kind of like, so much. Thank you so much. And you're like, I'm at a loss for words.

Because you're literally like, I don't, I have nothing else to give you. It's just hard for us. But I want, there's a verse that I want to read because I think it's so important that we actually understand how to receive everything that we're sitting here for, that we're worshiping about what Jesus has done in our lives is predicated on being able to actually receive what He did for us. You have to be able to receive an ordered transform.

You can't work your way into this one. I want to read the scripture from John 628 and 29. The context is this happens right after, this question happens right after. Jesus feeds the 5,000.

And they're like, whoa, our guy can do some stuff. And we want to know how to do it too. And they say this. They replied, we want to perform God works too.

So what should we do? Because we're all so focused on that. Jesus told them, this is the only work God wants from you. Believe in the one He has sent.

And you would be like, yeah, right. Because nothing works like that. Everything that I've gained, everything that I've earned, everything that I've done, I've had to put the work in so that I could get something out. So the fact that you say in order to do the stuff, it's like, okay man, where's the program?

Tell us the secret. I mean, I don't know about your social media. Mike's flooded with secrets on how to build a lot of money and wealth and all the course is and all the programs. So comment the word on the end of the reel.

You can have the secret. And that's what these guys are doing. Give us the secret. What do we need to do?

And he's like, all you need to do is believe in me. And you can have it all. You can have eternal life starting now. The right, my righteousness in you, right relationship with God.

Talk to him at any moment. And not like all of your sins forgiven. What? This is insane.

I want to read just a list of some of the people that we see Jesus going to in the scriptures. And I just basically paraphrased these moments. So I'm not using names, but you'll recognize a lot of the stories. Jesus met a young woman caught up in sexual sin that was ruining her life.

She was legally condemned and socially exposed with no way out. But Jesus showed up. Jesus met a man who wasn't even allowed in the city because of an incurable disease. Labeled untouchable.

And Jesus healed him. And many others. Jesus ate meals without cast that the religious looked down on and society pushed aside and invited them to follow. I'm just trying to get a snapshot of what was he up to.

Who was he bringing this to? Jesus met a religious person, bent on his own performance in a back alley late at night and explains the gospel, which is John 3 16. That's the verse. Like this verse that basically the whole world knows is said to a man in the back alley who had a genuine question for Jesus.

I know the religion. You're the son of God. How do I enter in? How do I become an insider?

Jesus met some fishermen whose society would have labeled as only that. They had no shot, y'all. They were just going to be fishermen. And nothing else.

No rabbi would have invited them into his fold that Jesus did. Jesus went to the house of a tax collector who was financially exploiting his own people, his own people for the government that were oppressing them. And he gave his life to Jesus. That man gave his life to Jesus.

I don't know where you're at. I know what you feel stuck in, but I know this. Jesus meets you right where you're at before you're ready for him, before you can do anything, before you can work your way to him and transform our lives. This is the gospel.

I want to talk a little bit more about the last guy, Zacchaeus, the tax collector, because I think it's just helpful for us. We're not going to turn there, but it's just crazy that he, this man Zacchaeus, who if you've been in church for a long time, you know who he is, you sung a song about him. Zacchaeus was a wee little man. A wee little man was a, I gave you one word.

You missed it. But it's like, we had songs about this dude. It's like this dude was a corrupt tax collector stealing money from his old people who were being oppressed by the people he's working for. We're in here singing Sunday school songs, little kids being like, I want to be Zacchaeus.

And it's like, no, you don't. Like this dude is terrible. Like he's literally stealing for people. You don't even want your kids around him.

You don't want to hang out with him at all. Yeah, we're like, he's us. And Jesus goes to be with him, which it just ruffles the feathers of all the religious people. Why are you hanging out with him?

And all those tax collectors and prostitutes and all those people? They're not righteous. I can't believe you hang out with them. What are you doing at those parties?

What's happening in those homes? This is what Jesus is up to. And we don't have a whole lot to go off of because it's like a couple of verses about this story, which I'm like, ah, could we just get a little insight? What'd you say at the dinner table?

Like, for what's about to happen? I'm like, I'd love to know. But we know this. His presence in that place, like transformed the life of this dude Zacchaeus.

He showed up and all of a sudden this dude's life has changed. I want to read a couple verses from it. It won't go up here, but I'll just read it right here. It says, but Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, look, Lord, which just so you know, when he says, look, Lord, he is making a statement.

He's going, I believe you are the Messiah. Like I believe in you. So it's like he's declaring like I want to follow you. He says here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, which basically is him saying, I'm out.

I'm done. I'm out of this. Like I was looking for something in all of this stuff and this whole scheme that I had going on and I'm trying to figure it out. And then you walked in my Lord and you're what I've been looking for all along.

I'm out. And he goes, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, which that's a little bit of Zacchaeus left over, like, you know, it's like, dude, you've been cheating us for like 10 years straight. You know, if I haven't cheated anybody out of anything, like it's like, still being sanctified. I will pay back four times the amount Jesus said to him today, salvation has come to this house because this man too is a son of Abraham for the son of man came to seek and save the lost.

Y'all, he was a mess. He wasn't getting anything right. And I just have to say, if it was me and you and we saw a dude that's been cheating us out of our money for a while, wouldn't we follow him out the door for a minute and just be like, do you need any help setting up like that fund? I'm like, how are you going to pay everybody back?

Like, how do we really know? Well, think about it this way. Have you ever said like boldly made a declaration of change you're going to make in your life, but then you didn't follow through on it? Got him.

It's like we all would have been suspicious. I don't know. This guy's been going around doing this for a while. He's just going to give all the money back now.

But Jesus says today is the day of salvation. Today, salvation has come to this house. Basically saying, you're in. You're in.

That was it. Just by receiving who I am. You're in. Nothing you can do.

There's one other person I'm thinking of that's helpful for us to just take like see a glimpse of his life when I'm talking about Jesus met fisherman. I'm thinking about Peter. And it's even like Peter's following Jesus. Like, he says like five verses in the chapter.

Peter is following Jesus for years called Peter other fishermen come follow me. I'll make you to become something you could never imagine was possible. You follow them. He sees Jesus do miracles.

Teach all of it. And yet still Peter, even before Jesus goes to the cross, like you'll know this moment. He is getting ready to wash his disciples feet. And Peter's like, no, not mine.

And Jesus goes, if you don't let me wash your feet, you can have no part of me. And he goes, oh, then all like I want all in, right? But what I want us to see is even as he's following Jesus and seeing everything that he's about as soon as Jesus wants to serve him, no, no way would I ever let you do that. And we're a little bit like that, y'all.

It's a lot easier for us to show up to God and go, what do you want me to do for you? I'll do anything. God, I promise. I'll do like I'm so all in this time, whatever you say, I'll do it.

Maybe I didn't get it right before. I've got it now. And I just feel like Jesus is going, I just, I would just love for you to receive just like you did when you received salvation, just like you did when you received me and you were dead in your sin and you were utterly helpless and you were enemies of God. And yet I still met you there and made a way.

I think it's so important and so vital for us to be able to receive what Jesus has for us. And I give you a practical takeaway. I literally put in my notes, you'll be mad at how simple this is. I just said, take intentional time to receive something from God this week, this week, this season, this year.

And then a question that you could ask him is, what do you want me to know, God? Because I don't know, maybe you came in and you don't know who he is or you're just in the beginning of that journey. But your propensity will be to do things for him or to clean yourself up or to work your way towards him in certain ways and think about, hey, how can I really get mature in this journey? And I would start by just going, what do you want?

Jesus, who are you? Like, what do you want to say to me? What have you done for me? And maybe you've been doing this for a minute, but just like I said before, life has a lot to it.

You don't need that reminder. And sometimes we can just get up to all our stuff and we've got all our responsibilities and we're feeling a little bit overwhelmed and I'm just inviting you. What if you just showed up to God this week whenever you get time with them? Whether it's early in the morning in your car on the way to work, I don't know, and just started from that place instead.

The place that saved you. What do you want me to know? What do you have for me? Do you know that he draws so near to that?

We get so polished about this stuff. But just remember, you didn't start from that place. He didn't need you to start there. What saved you will also sustain you, focus on Jesus.

The second thing that I have that I think can encourage us is good news, you belong even when you don't believe it. You belong even when you don't believe it. Have you ever been like a part of something but you still felt on the outside? You're in but you don't feel in.

You don't feel apart. You feel different. I mean look at these disciples. We're still trying to get it together as they're following the Son of God.

They're following him and they're still going, well you know, like who's going to sit at your right and who's going to sit at your sides and they're trying to like get their position in the crew because we're with the guy and we got it all right. We're just like so aware of just wanting to like make sure like we're in. Even the guys that were walking with him, I want to read this verse from Ephesians 2 19 through 20 that I think is just incredible. You're like of course you picked it.

Anyways, it's just like Ephesians 2 starts out in a very similar way that Romans us, which is basically you and I don't get to take a lot of credit because you were nothing dead and he's a God. Same thing in Ephesians 2. And then it goes on to say this. So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners.

If you're in this room and you're not Jewish, Gentiles is speaking to you. Just so you're aware. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family.

And the other we are his house built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets and the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. That's good news. You are now members of the family. You didn't just get in.

You're in the family. You belong. Like you are in. Son, daughter of God.

You are in. And it reminds me just this questions around just belonging. Have I done enough and do I fit in? And I feel different.

It reminds me of honestly my story here as a pastor. I've been here for five years and a little bit of my story is when I was in college, Jesus changed my life. I was a part of a Christian family, grew up in an amazing family, have amazing parents. But a lot of what I caught or picked up for myself was God wants me to get it right.

God wants me to do the right thing. And if I do the right thing more, then I'm in his favor and we're close. And if I'm not doing the right thing, then we got problems. And when I went to the U of M, the University of Minnesota, that was quickly exposed.

Because all of a sudden the world was at my doorstep. And I didn't really have the foundation in Jesus that I thought I had. So I just got into a lot of partying and just kind of lived life for myself. And towards the end of my time there is where I encountered the love of God that changed my life forever.

And it was like it hit me where I was like, oh my goodness, this is not just like a boring religion of trying to get the rights and the wrongs and all the things and appease this God. But this is a God that is personal that will show up when you call for Him and love you in a way that's like tangible and practical. And I'm like, what in the world? Like I was missing out and completely changed my life.

And a lot of the friends that I was like hanging with and partying alongside started to reach out to me. So they're like, yo, we should hang out. Like what's happening in your life? Right?

I'm meeting up with them and I'm loving it. And that's the first time in my life that I thought, man, I would maybe do this with my life. I would maybe do full-time ministry. And I never thought about it before that.

And I'll just say this real quick, like if you're new here, we're not like the people that are just like the pastors and the men of God and then the, you know, congregate, it's like at all. Like really exact opposite of that. We know that there's going to be like one to two percent of people are actually going to full-time ministry and that all of y'all are in full-time ministry all the time because you're living Paul and you're walking out following Jesus, reaching people 100% down. But just in my story, I just felt this pull.

Man, I feel like I want to actually like go into full-time ministry. Do this thing. So fast forward, I get on staff here and we're doing the thing. I'm part of the team and youth pastor and I'm showing up to like a gym.

I don't know anybody here who was a part of Elmwood before this thing, but I'll tell you right now, you got it good here. I love Elmwood though. No shame, no shame. But running youth ministry in a gym that was like a concrete floor, half of it was like a kitchen, okay?

This thing smelled like it had a potluck every day. I don't know if anybody went to like old school, old school church. It smelled like that. Because I did old school church in the city and it smelled like that.

I mean, I came in to being a pastor with so much vision and so many words from God. It happened in college that I felt like he put that in my heart and this whole time I'm going, God, where's the opportunity? I'm excited about this and I'm stepping in with words and vision and all these things. And then here I am in this old like rundown gym, showing up on a Wednesday night with a word.

I was ready, y'all. And here I am just standing on that concrete floor with like 14 other people in the room and I'm like trying to preach and I mean, if they whispered, I couldn't hear myself. So I was like, shut up. We're trying to run a youth ministry here.

I got a word for you. Don't you care? There's like, can we got a DQ? And I'm like, sure, everybody get in the car.

We're going to be cute. But for real, like it was some wild times. I'm like, God, I'm believing what you put inside of me. I'm believing the visions that you gave me, the promises that you had for me.

Like I was in. I was in the promises. I was in it. But I was like, this doesn't seem like I thought it was going to be.

And honestly, it just led to questions because I'm like, God, this, something's got to be off here. I just started thinking like, I don't know. Like, do I belong? Like, do I fit here?

Am I just different? Would this work better at a different church? Like would this work better in a different job? Maybe I shouldn't be in ministry.

I don't know. But it doesn't seem to be working. God, this isn't what I thought you had for me. Like, I want the stuff that I've been praying about that we've been talking about that we've been dreaming about.

I want to see that. And if I can just be straightforward, I need a God to just tell me who I was. And I know there's people. I know there's a lot of people in here that are in different groups who could be here today thinking it.

You could be at your work thinking it. You could be with your family thinking it. You could be with your friends thinking it. But you're just wondering if you fit in.

You're just wondering, am I a little bit different from like, you know, you just have to know like, this isn't a perfect place. Leaders have questions like these. They're running this stuff. Like Ben was saying at the end of last service, he was like, he was connecting with like a deacon who's a leader in this community.

He's like, is it okay? I don't feel like I fit in sometimes. And Ben was like, I feel like that sometimes. Right?

Like, we're looking like to belong. But what changed everything for me is God just telling me who I was. And honestly, that could be a whole other sermon in and of itself. But when God spoke to me about who I was, because I don't think there was any sort of like measurement or thing that was put on me from the outside that would have ever satisfied what was going on on the inside.

I was like, I have visions from God. And this does not line up. And I was like, that will never be okay until something changes. And I just started asking God about who I was and what he was up to.

He started speaking to me about who I was and then I lived from that place. And it changed my whole entire life. So my encouragement for us, for anybody that's feeling like those questions of, man, I just feel different. I feel like I don't belong.

I feel like I don't fit in. We need you. We need you here. We need you in the kingdom of God.

We need every person to actually be who you are. It would be weird if we all tried to be the same. Like you get really, really fast. It's what they call cults.

Just so you know. And this is not one. It's nothing like that. We need you to be who you are.

Isn't it interesting? Wouldn't it be such a strategy of the enemy to go, oh, they're saved. So they know who they are. They know they have the righteousness of Jesus.

But maybe I could just help them not understand what he's put inside of them. Like uniquely and individually. So they just ask questions about if they belong or not. And just start to live a little bit more isolated and think, nobody really gets me.

I mean, I'm different. And it's like, no, that's exactly what we're doing here. It's a community of people. It's a kingdom of people going, how did you get in?

Nothing. I didn't do anything. Like, how did you get in? Yeah, I got nothing either.

I was dead. I was utterly helpless, but Jesus. And that's the story of our lives. And some of the best conversations and even relationships that you'll have will be sitting down and understanding how someone thinks differently than you.

We need who you are. There was a couple of people in our church when they had different views on politics, right? It's like not that. Got together to talk about it.

And we're like telling the rest of us like, y'all really got to try this out. We just talked about our differences. It was incredible. It's like no one does that in these days.

But in the kingdom of God, it's what we do every day. You're different. That's incredible. I'd like to know your story.

I'd like to know what you carry. This is the kingdom of God. This is the place where people belong. It's not a question.

It's not a hope. It's not hopefully this can be a place where people belong. It's straight facts, y'all. We aren't the ones that came up with whether you're in or out.

Jesus did. And he did it for free. So you're in. We love who you are.

We need you in the kingdom. I think the second thing to just know from the same place is as you're following Jesus, obviously he's doing a lot in your life. That's what he does. Beyond what you could ask, think or imagine.

So I just like to encourage us to be intentional with multiplying our stories. We say it a lot in our services, just in our language here. But God loves to multiply stories. That's what he wants to do in our lives.

I want to read a scripture from Matthew 10, 7 and 8. Says this, go and announce to them that the kingdom of heaven is near. Kill the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have nailed it.

Give what you have. What has God done in your life? And how could you, if you have that, if that's a part of your story, which if you're sitting in here, what's y'all got that story? What is he doing you that he wants to do in someone else?

And what would it look like for you? Say you were just in a pit of shame that you couldn't get out of. All of a sudden you're just walking around going, is there anybody dealing with shame? Like I'm saying, what up to people and all that?

But I'm also just looking. If anybody's in shame, I got to let them know. You don't have to stay there. Because I got it.

God will redeem you for that when you do nothing to get out of it. And he'll beat you right where you're at and love you right where you're at before you do anything. Maybe there's somebody in this place going, man, where I used to be financially, kind of my mindset around money and finances and all that was just in a bad place. And now God has done something in me.

I've learned like kingdom, economy, like what God's kingdom is like, the abundance in his kingdom. There's more than enough. It's like, what if you just generously gave to someone, not just money, bottom of coffee, but then go, you know what? Can I just tell you a little bit about what God's done in my life?

I don't know if you need this or not. But right? We multiply our story and actually get intentional with it. Practical takeaway for this, basically what I'm saying right now.

But reach out to someone this week to help them understand they belong. Send them a text, send them a FaceTime, go out to lunch, come here early. Crazy for the 530. I'm kidding.

Like, why is it getting personal up here? Come here early and do it before service. Y'all, the kingdom of God should be the most welcoming place in the world. Like you should have people outside of Christianity talking about us being like, oh, those Christians, if you feel like different than them, you should just go talk to them.

They love that. They love when people are different than them. They love getting to know people. People that are interested in God are not the only ones that need to hear this.

People that don't know who Jesus is that are made in God's image needs. Somebody to tell them, hey, that thing about you is actually from God himself. He made you like that. You remind me of him.

Like this should be what things are like. So quick to call out the golden people, so quick to make people that feel on the outside or feel like they don't belong. Like, oh, I'm going to make sure you fit in because I've been there too. Right?

That's our story. The last thing I have for us is good news, simple. It's good news. Look to the cross.

Cross is a great equalizer. That's what I love about the gospel. We're all in here. So many different stories.

So many different struggles. So many different things that each and every one of us has walked through. And that is what the kingdom is like. It's in here and it's out there.

It's the kingdom. But yet all coming together, why? Because what I was saying before, you and I did nothing. But we met the one that did everything that we could never do on our own to restore relationship with us, to put his righteousness on the inside of us so we could have right relationship with God.

And I feel like honestly, there's probably a lot of ways that we feel different. But I think a lot of times it comes down to how we struggle or how we see the world or what we've walked through. We like to go. I feel like I'm different.

There's a time a while back where I was reaching out to an older pastor, which I'm just going to encourage you. Get some old people in your life. Okay. We love the old people.

You have wisdom and we are so grateful. And you need to talk to some people who are way ahead of you in wisdom and maturity. And I was walking through something and I just was not feeling proud of it. I was just kind of feeling like, man, I am not like a leader that I want to be.

And I'm feeling like a little bit like hesitant. But I hit him up. I was like, hey, can we get some time together? We love to hang with you.

And I had to hit him for a while. So then that same morning that I'm about to hang with someone. Hey, I love you. But I had to send him a text and just be like, hey, I kind of have something on my mind that I want to talk about.

And I just let him know in the text. I've been walking through something. And he texts me back and he's like, yeah, I like to say that we're all a lot more similar than we are different. And I was like, man, that's just so good to hear.