We've been going through Romans. We're now at Romans Uh 14. And listen. There are clearly Areas where you have to divide from other Christians. other individuals who claim to be Christians.
The Apostle Paul in Galatians and in Colossians. His tone is different than what I'm about to read here. In Galatians and Colossians, he comes at people hard who claim to be Christians, but they've messed with the fundamentals of the gospel. He said, that's one of those areas you divide.
Somebody messes with the gospel, the fundamentals of the gospel, you divide over that. The Apostle Paul makes it clear in the New Testament. That if someone claims to be a Christian, but they're living in unrepentant sexual immorality, you're to divide over that. In 1 Corinthians, there was a man involved in gross immorality that the church was tolerating. And Paul says, you don't tolerate that.
You remove him from the fellowship. He says, because it's like yeast. It just kind of works its way through the fellowship. In fact, he says this in 1 Corinthians 5:11. You are not to associate with anyone.
Who claims to be a believer. Yet indulges in sexual sin.
So We divide over the gospel.
Somebody misses with the gospel. We divide over unrepentant sexual immorality. We divide if somebody has a divisive spirit.
Somebody comes into a church and is trying to cause trouble and divide and mess up that church and disrupt the unity of the church. Titus 3.10 says this, you warn that divisive person once. Then warn them a second time, and then after that, you won't have anything else to do with them.
So here's my point. My point is there are some things we divide over. But what about those areas? That are secondary issues. Maybe they're not.
Mentioned specifically in scripture. What do you do about those issues? Because as a pastor, My experience has been it's these secondary issues that tend to divide churches. I don't know of many churches that have split over the gospel, sexual immorality, you know, people being tolerated who divide the church. Most.
Fellowships like ours. Divide over these secondary issues. What do you do about those? And that's why Paul is writing 1 Corinthians 14. Paul talks about these secondary issues, and depending on what translation you're using, the translation will call it different things.
The NIV calls it disputable matters. Things that aren't fundamental to the faith. Disputable matters. The ESV, if y'all use ESV or the New American Standard Bible, caused these issues. Opinions.
I got an opinion about this, got an opinion about that. New King James Version calls this category doubtful things.
So what do you do? About these issues that tend to divide the church, but they aren't fundamental issues, they are opinions or doubtful things.
Well, Paul talks about that here in Romans chapter 14.
Now, let me.
Alright, so let me give you Can I look my wife asked me this coming to church day. She's like How do you feel about the sermon today? She always asked everybody, how do you feel about the sermon today? I'm excited about this sermon because this is one of those rare sermons where I get to make both sides angry. I don't know if there's something wrong with me psychologically.
I just like getting people riled up.
So, when we talk about these secondary issues that tend to divide the church, what kind of things are we talking about? Let me give you a list here: quick list: vaccines. You young mothers, some mothers are like, absolutely not. You do not vaccinate your children. Are the young mothers are like?
I vaccinate my kids or the COVID vaccine. I will take the COVID vaccine or I will not take the COVID vaccine. That's not mentioned in scripture, and yet we tend to divide over those kinds of things. How about this alcohol? Is consuming alcohol a sin?
No.
Now, if you're a pastor, elder, deacon, across assembly, we do not allow you to consume alcohol. And I'll tell you why here in just a second. But If you tell me. I'm a Christian, I go to cross assembly. And every now and then I drink some wine.
I disagree with you, but I'm not going to divide fellowship over that. I'm not going to say you're not a Christian because you drink alcohol. That's another one of those issues. What about this one? Tattoos.
Well, Chad, the Old Testament talks against tattoos. The Old Testament also talks about barbecue. Don't eat barbecue and don't eat oysters.
So, what about tattoos? Will you divide over tattoos?
Somebody gets a tattoo, they're not a Christian. No, you don't deny.
Okay, obviously if it's a Skull with a snake coming out of the eye sockets that says, I love Satan. That might not be good, but you understand what I'm saying, okay? Um, how about this one? Who you voted for? I have You will not meet a person in Raleigh, at least a pastor in Raleigh, that has stronger feelings on the political thing going on, who you ought to vote for.
I have strong feelings about that.
However, We have people in this church that voted differently than I did in 2024. I'm not going to say because you voted for somebody different than I do, you're no longer a brother or sister, you're dead to me, let's divide over that. That's not something worth dividing over. And it's kind of interesting because I I actually had a whole group of people come in during, I think it was during the 20, whatever, the 2020 election, because Chad likes Trump. We're gonna go to that church because we like Trump.
Then, this group got a hold of some Instagram video that says, no, Trump is actually part of the Illuminati. And Trump set up his own assassination attempt. I said Trump said if a bullet to miss him by a millimeter, yep, he set it up. That's getting them pretty close, don't you think? But because I wouldn't agree with them on that, the same people who came in because I like Trump.
Now left because I like Trump. It's kind of interesting, isn't it? What about this? Christmas trees versus no Christmas trees. We actually have people in our church, friends of mine.
They don't have Christmas trees. They don't even celebrate Christmas because they feel it's pagan in origin. I disagree with them. But I'm not going to separate with them over that. I'm not going to say you're not a Christian because you don't put up a Christmas tree and I do.
That's another one of those issues. What about this? Where you shop versus what place you've boycotted. Y'all remember a couple years ago when Target went off the rails, all the pride stuff, and kids' pride stuff. Remember all that?
And I was like, man, I ain't never going to shop at that place again.
Well, Target got the message, and this past June, they backed way, way off of that. But if you went on the Walmart website They engaged in that. There was more pride stuff on the Walmart website than there was Target. Target is closed on Easter Sunday. Walmart is open.
I'm not saying one is better than the other. I'm just saying, what do you do with that?
So if God tells you don't go shop there, you don't go shop there. But you don't Judge a Christian who doesn't have that same conviction. You don't divide over that.
Okay.
Now, again, I'm not saying don't have strong convictions. I have very strong convictions. I'm just very careful about telling you you are born again or you're not born again based on where you go buy your groceries. What about this one? Home school versus public school?
Again. I have very strong opinions. about public education. Me and my family, we homeschooled our kids all the way through. If you don't share that conviction, you will not hear me say, you are lost and I'm saved just because of the educational choices we made with our kids.
You got to be real careful about that. How about this one? Here we go. Flat earth versus round earth. We got a lot of flat earthers that go to cross assembly.
Not as many as we used to. Because some of them, when they found out I'm not going to preach on that, they got angry and they disconnected. You don't disconnect over that. If you're a flat earther, be a flat earther. If you're a round earther, be a round earther.
Don't judge them. They don't need to judge you. That is not something worth dividing over. Let me give you one or two more. I wish I would preach this during COVID.
Masks or no masks? Chad, were you a mask guy? Absolutely not. I didn't believe in them. Do you think they worked?
I don't think they worked. Had a friend that was a physician that said if you studied the size of a virus versus the holes that are in a conventional mask. Putting up a mask to try to prevent viruses from spreading would be like putting a chain-linked fence in your backyard to try to keep the mosquitoes out. It doesn't work like that.
However, some of y'all came and you wore masks. I'm not going to say that you're not a brother or sister in Jesus. I'm not going to separate Fellowship from you based on that? You see these issues? How about this one?
Should you ride a motorcycle or not? Because of the connection of motorcycles to gangs. Yeah. I just know that we got a lot of motorcycle people visiting here today, so. A whole motorcycle group's visiting, so don't cut me.
I'm sorry. All right.
So, what, how do we handle these secondary issues?
Well, go to Romans chapter 14, if you would. Romans chapter 14.
Now, the church at Rome was probably started by Jews who lived at Rome. who went to Jerusalem for a Jewish feast called Passover. And while they were there at this Jewish feast of Passover, the Holy Spirit fell. Thousands of people got saved.
Some of these Jews from Rome get saved, they go back to Rome. And they start a church. These are Jewish Christians. But the gospel is growing so much. That Gentiles Start getting saved.
And now you have this great big church filled with Jews and Gentiles, and that created some problems. There were two cultural issues. It wasn't masks, it wasn't vaccines. The issues they were dealing with were: number one, which day do you worship on? See The Jewish Christians Say in Judaism we worship on Saturday.
So that's the day you worship. The Gentile Christians say no. We're going to worship on Sunday. That's the day Jesus rose from the grave, and now there's division in the church over that. Amazingly, the Apostle Paul, who is a former Jewish leader, a former Jewish scholar, says this.
It doesn't matter which day you worship on, as long as you worship the Lord Jesus Christ. He says that here in verse 5, in the same way, Some think one day is more holy than another day.
Well, others think every day is a life. You should each be fully convinced of whichever day you choose is acceptable. Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor Him. Incidentally, let me say this: Saturday worship. That was a covenant sign.
for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. You even ask a Jew today, they'll say, no, Saturday worship, that is a covenant sign for the Jewish people. In the Old Testament, God condemned the Gentile nations. For a lot of things. Do you know the one thing God never condemned the Gentile nations for doing was violating Sabbath?
Because that's a Jewish thing.
So we can perfectly, acceptably, according to that verse, worship on Sunday, and so we're still in the will of God. There is actually a denomination that teaches that Sunday worship is the mark of the beast. That's not biblical. Paul just said right there, I don't care which day you worship, just worship God.
So that was the first issue dividing the church. Again, this isn't stuff dealing with the gospel. This isn't stuff dealing with sexual morality. Paul says: the second thing y'all got to watch out for is the church at Rome was divided over meat sacrificed to idols.
So in Rome. And a lot of these uh Gentile pagan cities. You would take a bull. to the temple and sacrifice that bull to let's say Zeus. The boy would be sacrificed, and then to make some extra money, the priests would take that meat that had been sacrificed to Zeus, they would take it to the butcher's market, and they would sell it.
Some Christians are like, you don't touch that meat, you don't eat that meat, it's been sacrificed to an idol. Keep away from it. Other Christians in this church are like, it's no big deal. I mean, it all belongs to God. These altars aren't anything.
Don't worry about that. As a Christian, you can eat the meat sacrificed to the idol.
So you see the division in the church. You had the don't eat the meat sacrificed to idle people. And you had the, it's okay. To eat the meat sacrificed to the idol people. And interestingly, Paul says in verse 14: Look, here's a side I've come down on.
It's okay to eat the meat sacrificed to the idols. I know and I am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food. In and of itself. is wrong to eat. But he's going to go a little bit further in this.
We'll do a quick timeout. Do you see the issues I'm talking about? Not was Jesus Christ the only virgin-born Son of God that died for our sins. You divide over that. It's the secondary issues.
Now in the passage I'm about to read, There are two kinds of people. They are those who pauses are weak in the faith. and those who are not weak in the faith.
Now, weak in the faith, that sounds bad, doesn't it? They're immature, they're weak. That's not what he means. Here's what Paul means when he talks about brothers and sisters who are weak in the faith. These are the people that on this particular issue They got a problem with it.
On this particular issue, They got some concerns about it. For example, I am weak in the faith. I am. when it comes to alcohol. As a pastor, I've seen too many Families torn apart over this thing.
I don't drink. The leaders don't drink. I am weak in the faith when it comes to alcohol.
Some of y'all are not weak in the faith. You're like... I won't have a problem with it. I drink every now and then. Do you see those two divisions: weak in the faith and those who aren't?
It means some who have a problem, an issue with a particular subject. and those who don't.
So what are the guidelines? Honestly, I told you this. People all the time say we need to make the Bible relevant. We don't need to make the Bible anything. You know what I'm about to preach to you is as irrelevant today as it was 2,000 years ago.
This is relevant stuff, okay?
So How do we handle These secondary issues like vaccines, tattoos, alcohol. Do you shop at Target? Do you not? Homeschool, public school. How do you handle these issues?
Well, Paul gives us some guidelines in Romans 14. First guideline is this: don't argue about it. Look at verse 1. Except other believers who are weak in the faith. And don't argue about With them about what is right and wrong.
Now, today I'm using the New Living Translation. I'll either do the King James, New King James, or New Living Translation.
Sometimes it's a more challenging passage. I like the New Living Translation. Here's what Paul says: fundamentally. Don't split over this thing. You don't take these issues and make them big issues that you split over.
Don't. Argue about them. Again. My experience has been most church splits don't deal with the gospel or sexual immorality. Most church splits deal with preferential and opinion issues like this.
In fact, in 2012, a study was done of church splits. Listen to this. According to this study, 2% of churches split over doctrine. Two percent. 98% split because they can't get along over these kind of issues.
I read somewhere that 4,500 Protestant churches in America close their doors every single year. And most of them close their door over these issues. And Paul says, don't make these things big issues. You can have strong opinions. You can stand on truth.
But that doesn't mean you have to divide over this thing. Listen to this. According to that study, 2012 study, one church split over eight. Piano bench. One half the church liked one piano bench.
The other half of the church liked the other piano bench.
So, what they decided is: we'll bring this piano bench out first service, and then we'll bring the other piano bench out second service. You don't split over that kind of stuff. According to this study, one church split over the spelling of the word Emmanuel. Is it a manual with an E? Or Emmanuel with an eye.
Don't know, don't care, don't make a bit of a difference, but they split over that thing. One church split over whether or not to have. Flowers in the sanctuary. One church in Georgia split over whether or not to take up the offering before the sermon or after the sermon. That church split, they said, 47 times in 100 years over various issues.
And the final name of that church in Georgia they finally came up with after splitting so many times was: quote, the Third Westminster Trinity Covenant Presbyterian Reform Church. They proudly advertise that they are Reformed, Covenantal, Westminsterian, Sabbatarian, Regulative, Credo, Communionist, and Amillennial. Which tells me they have split over issue after issue after issue. And the Apostle Paul says. The fundamental thing I'm telling you about these issues is you don't split over that, you don't argue over that.
Have strong convictions. But don't split. Second little guideline here that Paul gives when it comes to these kinds of things is this: don't judge each other. Look at this. Verse 3.
Those who feel free to eat anything, you know, meat, sacrifice, idols, whatever. You must not look down on those who don't. And those who don't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do. For God has accepted them. Who are you?
I love this question right here. Who are you to condemn someone else's servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall, and with the Lord's help, they will stand and receive His approval. Do you see what he's saying? You don't go to a All right, imagine I have a staff meeting here at Cross Assembly.
And some pastor from another church comes in. meets my staff. And afterwards, I went, what'd you think? I don't know. Did you see that one staff member of yours?
You see how he's eating with his mouth open during lunch? That just disgusted me. And that lady in the front office Man, I didn't like that color coordination on her dress. I mean, she's a fall person, but she's wearing winter colors. And that Connel?
He's a Yankee. That guy talks fast. He thinks he's funny. He ain't funny. And they go person after person after person and judge the staff.
And I'm about to wait. You don't come into my church and start judging my team. That's what Paul's saying right there. You don't come into the house of God and start judging God's people. They're not your people, they're God's people.
That's what he's saying right there. Burst in.
So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Here's what he's saying. You people in this church that think it's okay to eat meat, sacrifice to the idol, you gorge yourself and eat all you want.
But you don't judge those who have a different conviction. You Saturday worshipers, go worship Jesus on Saturday. But don't condemn the Sunday worshipers. Listen, ladies, I'm glad we did not have social media. When we were trying to raise our kids, women can be brutal on social media.
Ma'am? I'm just trying to help these ladies not poison their kids with a vaccine. I'm with you. My heart's with you. I get you.
I'm with you on that. But you've said what you've had to say. You've let them know they're not your kids, they're their kids. You let them raise the kids the way they want to raise the kids, and you raise your kids the way you're going to raise your kids. I didn't think I'd get a whole lot of excitement here today, but I'm just telling you.
We're getting crazy with this stuff. Do you know there's a great, well here's a y'all into Bible memorization? Are you into Bible memorization? All right.
At the end of John, there's a great. Verse. Jesus has just told Um Peter. Peter, here's what's going to happen to you when you get old. I'm giving you my divine destiny for you.
And then Peter. Looks at John and he says, Jesus, what about him? You and Jesus said. What's that to you? You follow me.
That might be a good verse for us to start memorizing and applying. She goes to Target in the shop. What's that to you? You follow me. He sips some alcohol every now and then.
What's that to you? You follow me. Are you all with me on this thing?
Alright, so number one, don't argue. Number two, don't judge. And uh then number three. Don't be a jerk. I wish there's a bit of what I could say, but don't be a jerk.
Here's what he says in verse 14. I know And I'm convinced On the authority of the Lord Jesus, that no food in and of itself is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. And if another believer Is distressed by what you eat. You're not acting in love if you eat it.
Don't let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. Then you will not be criticized for doing something You believe is good. Verse 20. Don't tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble.
It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there's nothing wrong with what you're doing, but keep it between yourself. And God.
So here's what Paul's saying. You all who have freedom In areas like alcohol or meat sacrifice to idols, that's fine. But you be very careful about what your freedom is doing to a brother, sister, and Jesus. Yeah. That's the reason right there.
Just you don't let pastors, elders, deacons drink in their church? No.
Why, you think it's a sin? No, I don't think it's a sin. I just know this: we have lots of people in our church with substance abuse issues, and if they were to see us, Out drinking, it would make them stumble in their faith. Imagine you're going down the road and you drive, you're having a great time, just enjoying the day. You drive by the ABC store.
Pastor Chad's coming out. He's got one of the big kegs on his shoulder. With one of those, you know, those tubes kind of going to it, and I'm like, oh, this is great. Will that make you stumble in your faith?
Okay, so I restrict my freedoms, and our leaders restrict their freedoms because we don't want to make brothers or sisters stumble in the faith. And that's what the Apostle Paul is saying right there. You have freedom to do things, but don't be a jerk about it. In other words. in the church at Rome.
If they have a big church-wide potluck dinner. It would be wrong knowing there are people in this church that don't eat meat sacrificed to idols for you to bring this big old platter of delicious ribeye that has been sacrificed to idols and you put it down on the table and you just start eating in front of a brother or sister that you know has a problem with that. That's being a jerk. I was talking to a young guy a little while back, doesn't go to our church? This didn't take place in our cities.
Don't worry about it. But he's... He and I were talking. He said, man, I gotten serious about Jesus. It's on fire for the Lord.
Just don't fire for the Lord. And he said, I was a part of this small group, in a blowing, growing church. And then one day the small group said, you know, we're going to start meeting at the bar. We're going to get out there and be salt and light. Let's start meeting at the bar.
And he said to the group, he said, man, I'm not trying to be mean. I can't do that. Because of my history Because of what I've struggled with, Last place I need to go to is a bar. You know what they did? They laughed at him, called him a sissy, told him to suck it up, and you'd be all right.
That's being a jerk. You know, there's a brother that stumbles, that's weak in that area, and yet you're going to go to the lion's den and take him right there, even though he says, I'm struggling with this? I heard a man Went to our church. Mike still goes to our church. He was from South Carolina.
He got saved. Radically saved. He had been in prison, got radically saved. Joined a small church in South Carolina. And when he went to that church, it was like a Presbyterian church.
Will they serve alcohol at their communion? And the pastor noticed. That he wouldn't take communion. And the pastor said, Well, Why don't you take communion? You're a born-again believer now.
He said, Yeah, but here's my history, here's my past. I know me. If I take one sip of that, it's a trigger. I'm done. You know how that church did?
They changed their entire communion and said, We as a church are going to do grape juice instead of wine, because this brother right here has a struggle in that area. Isn't that great? Let me give you one more.
So let's go back through this. How do we deal with these secondary issues? Number one, you don't argue and fight over them. Number two, you don't judge people who have different convictions. Number three, you don't be a jerk.
And then, number four, look at this. Don't violate your conscience. If you think something is sinful, And it's not addressed in Scripture. But you still have a problem with it, well, then don't do it. Look what Paul says in verse 14.
But if someone believes it is wrong, Then for that person it's wrong. Verse 23. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you're sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.
So let me give you another one here. Smoking is not a sin. But for me it is. For me, it would be wrong to smoke. We've got people in our church that smoke.
Which you tell me that you let them into cross assembly, they're reprobates. They're going to split hell wide open when they die. No, they're not. That's not a sin. I know of Christians who smoke.
It's not a sin, but for me, it would be a sin. It's a personal conviction. According to that. According to that, if I have a personal conviction, don't do it.
Now, y'all gonna say, I know what you're gonna say.
Well, Trad, I believe it is the sin because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and you're violating the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Okay.
You loaded yourself up on butter, sugar, and carbs for 40 years. You got a cholesterol level of 500, and you're lecturing me about your body being a temple? Greens a little hollow. In fact, y uh y'all two of my favorite Um Heroes in church history. Charles Spurgeon.
Spurser was a great pastor. In London, pastor to megachurch in the 1800s, great man of God. He smokes cigars, he loves cigars. Dwight Moody? Great American evangelist.
And he was he was obese. He was way overweight. There's a story, I've seen this all over the internet. I'm trying to track it down just to validate it, but I'm going to share it with you anyway. That Moody has some revival services in London.
He went to England. And he just wanted to meet Spurgeon.
So he goes to Pastor Spurgeon's house, knocks on the door. Spurgeon opens up the door and he has a cigar. And Moody said. When are you going to get rid of that? And Spurgeon pointed to his belly and said, when you get rid of that.
So my point is this, church. If you feel like it's a personal issue, don't violate your conscience.
So, y'all with me on this? Listen to me. For every strength, there's a corresponding weakness. The strength of Cross Assembly is we are a church of strong convictions. led by a pastor of strong convictions.
I don't apologize for that. That's our strength. A corresponding weakness is this.
Sometimes we can draw those lines a little too tight. And we can be a little bit judgmental because other people don't share our strong convictions. And we've got to be careful of that. Don't back down. Don't wimp out.
But don't fight. I love this story. This man said, I was walking across a bridge recently. And I spied this man who looked like he was going to jump off the bridge and commit suicide.
So I thought I'd try to stall him until the authorities arrived. Don't kill yourself. Don't jump, I said. Why not? He said, nobody loves me.
God loves you, I said. You believe in God, don't you? Yes, I believe in God, he said. Good. Are you Christian or Jewish?
Christian, he said, Me too, I said. Protestant or Catholic? Protestant, he said. Me too. I said, what kind of Protestant?
Baptist, he said. Me too. Independent Baptist or Southern Baptist? Independent Baptist, he said. Me too.
Independ um uh Calvinistic Independent Baptist. Or Armenian. Independent Baptist. Calvinistic Independent Baptist, he said. Me too.
I said. Dispensational premillennial Calvinistic independent Baptist or historic premillennial Calvinistic Independent Baptist. Dispensational, premillennial, Calvinistic, independent Baptist, he said. Me too, I said. Against women in ministry, dispensational, premillennial, Calvinistic, independent, Baptist, or Four women in ministry, dispensational, premillennial, Calvinistic, independent Baptist.
Against women in ministry, dispensational, premillennial, Calvinistic, independent Baptist, he said. Me too! I said. King James Version only? Against women in ministry, dispensational, premillennial, Calvinistic, independent Baptist, or New international version against women in ministry, dispensational, premillennial, Calvinistic, independent Baptists.
New international against women in ministry, dispensational, premillennial, Calvinistic, independent Baptist, he said. New International Version I said you're a heretic and I pushed him off the bridge Let's have strong conviction. But let's stop pushing people off the bridge. And how do we do that? Let me give you just two things, real quickly, that will help us keep our focus and not get distracted by these secondary issues.
Number one is this: keep your focus on Jesus. I don't have time to go into this, but right now I told the worship team before I came out first service: I said, where Jesus now has me. Personally, Is doing a study on the centrality of Jesus and keeping your focus on Jesus. A lot of times we get sin conscious. I've sinned here, I've sinned there, I've sinned there, and you become sin conscious, you get sidetracked.
Sometimes I get feeling Uh, conscious, how am I feeling today? Why do I not have peace? Why do I have some anxiety? No, I need to not be feeling conscious, sin conscious. I need to be Jesus conscious.
And so part of this is if Hey, we have a singing across assembly. It's all About? Jesus. Let's keep our focus on Jesus. Second way.
That we can um Not get distracted by this. It's not only keep our focus on Jesus. Keep your focus on the mission as well. Hey, folks. There's a lost and dying world going to hell out there, and we're dividing over vaccines, masks, tattoos, and alcohol.
Now, I'm not saying those things aren't important. That's discipleship issues. But man, we've got to keep our focus on getting people saved. The time is short. Jesus is coming back.
We've got to keep our focus on the mission. And when you don't. See, we're an army. And when an army doesn't have a battle to fight, they turn on themselves. I was on a board several years ago, and one of the guys that was connected to that board, he was a business guru named Ken Blanchard.
And uh Kim Black Eight story. He said, my father was a World War II veteran. He loved Being a soldier, he was in the navy in World War II. He was the guy that stormed the beaches, he saw friends blown up. He was a soldier.
He loved the Navy. And after the war was over, he decided to stay in the Navy and be a career Navy guy. He loved it. And then one day, out of the blue, He called me up and said, Ken, I'm taking early retirement. I said, Dang, you're taking early retirement.
You love the Navy. Why would you want to retire early? His dad said something very interesting. He said, I'm taking early retirement because wartime Navy is different than peacetime Navy. He said, can there's nothing more exhilarating than storming?
Beaches with your fellow soldiers with bullets going all over the place, knowing that you're doing this so that your grandkids don't have to goose step in some Nazi army one day. That's exhilarating. But he said peacetime Navy is different. He said, when there's not an enemy to fight, The Navy becomes political. They turn in on themselves, and there's all kinds of infighting.
And he said, Ken, I'm quitting because there's not a war to fight, and the Navy I knew has now turned in on itself. And it's become political. And I can't take it anymore. That's not just for the Navy. That's for this army right here.
When there's not a battle to fight, an enemy named Satan to take down, when there's not a mission to keep our eyes on, we tend to turn in on ourselves and start fighting over all these issues. And I'm saying, keep your eyes on Jesus and keep your eyes on the mission and understand we are called to save as many souls as possible until Jesus Christ comes back. That's why we're called. For those of you who weren't here last week, God He smacked me around lovingly. Lovingly, but he smacked me around.
About two weeks ago. There's a horrific accident right in front of our church. And a man lost his life almost underneath our crosses. And when When I stood out there and looked at the site where that happened. I don't know.
Something happened to me. And I imagine that young man knew nothing about him. But I said, Lord, did he lay right here? In those final moments. look up at those crosses.
What was going through his mind in those final moments? And the Lord reminded me. Chad. People are not figuratively, they are literally dying. right outside your church.
Keep your focus on Jesus. Keep your focus on the mission. Save as many souls as possible till Jesus Christ comes back. And the people of God said, Amen. Aight.
So my sermon's done. That's the end of my sermon.
Okay, I want to shift gears real quickly here. Because I found this this week. I felt a little bit in the first service. I feel really strongly here today. All this past week, I'm getting testimony after testimony after testimony of miracles God is doing in y'all's life.
One miracle, a guy had a guy gal, somebody had clothes. Clogs in their heart. They're going to go in to do surgery to get rid of the clogs. The doctor looks and says, I don't know what happened. The clogs were there.
Y'all prayed about it. They're gone. There's no clogs there. People being healed of cancer in this church. I mean, it's amazing what God is doing.
And I want you to listen to me. where God has me right now. Is I've now come to the realization. That when I want Jesus, More than I want my healing. I get my healing.
When I want Jesus. More than I get my miracle. I want my miracle. I get my miracle. When I want Jesus more than deliverance, I get deliverance.
When I want Jesus more than that kid to come back home, the kid comes back home. It's all about Jesus. There's something powerful about lifting up the name of Jesus that releases power. Hey! That's how I got baptized in the Holy Spirit.
On that particular day, I wasn't seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I should seek in Jesus. And Jesus Christ became so real to me in that room that day that when I sought Jesus, I received an infilling of His Holy Spirit.
So here's what I want to say to you.
Some of you need healing. An addiction will be broken in this place today.
Some of you need a miracle. You need a financial breakthrough. You need that family to come back together. You've tried the lawyers and the doctors and the financial advisors and nothing has worked. And now you're where God wants you.
You've tried everything else and now you just need Jesus.
So here's what I want us to do. If you need a supernatural touch from God. In just a moment. I want to have everybody stand up and you come forward and don't kneel and don't start praying for your miracle. All want us to do They start praising the name of Jesus.
Do you understand that the name of Jesus is so powerful that when demons hear the name of Jesus, they put their finger in their ears and they run out of the room like scared little girls because Jesus has been brought into the room. If you need a touch from God, In just a moment, come forward. All we're going to do for a few minutes is just praise the name of Jesus. Release the name of Jesus. And then, after that, I'm going to lead us in a prayer, and I'm going to have.
Prayer team members, elders, deacons, pastors just put hands on you and agree with you in prayer. And we're gonna see Jesus do some mighty things in this place because we're gonna see Jesus first, and then Jesus will do what Jesus wants to do.
So stand with me right now. And if you need A physical Spiritual Touched from God, an addiction broken, a marriage brought back together, a breakthrough. I want you to come. Right now, and let's raise holy hands and let's just praise the name of Jesus. You come right now.
Team, lead us in just praising Jesus. Lead us to the throne right now. Yes, Jesus. I just want to. Big Next.
Jesus. Over ever. Every heart and every mind. Because I know there is peace within Your presence. I speak Jesus.
Just And I just want to speak the name of Jesus. To memory dark addition starts to break Declaring there is So There is freedom. I speak Jesus. Your name is power, your name is healing. Your name is love Break every storm Shine through the shadows Burn like a fire Your name is Power Let's sing that this morning Your name is Your name is healing.
Your name is love. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn light and fire. Lift your hands and lift your voices and just start praising the name of Jesus right now.
He said, I don't know what to say, then just say Jesus. Just say Jesus. There's power in the name of Jesus right now. Can you bless him? Bless the name of Jesus right now.
Bless you. Flesh yo radar ramasara, Jesus, Jesus. He's in this room right now. You sense him? He's here right now.
He's here. Jesus, bless you, Lord. Bless you. Blessed the one who walked out of the tomb. Bless the one who ascended to the right hand of the Father.
Blessed the one who is coming back again, and it could be today. Blessed the name of Jesus. Jesus Christ. Elders, deacons, pastors, prayer team members, their wives, go right now, person by person, and let's start praying over these people right now. Right now.
Right now, a 30-year addiction is being broken right now. It might be alcohol. Drugs, porn is now being broken in the name of Jesus. Just start praying. Team members, just start praying.
Right now, in the name of Jesus, a clogged artery is being cleared out right now, in the name of Jesus. Right now. A marriage is being brought back together. In the name of Jesus, because he's Jesus. He is King of kings.
He is Lord of Lords right now. Right now. Jesus. Jesus Oh our Jesus. Jesus God is moving right now.
Bless the name of Jesus. When you want Jesus more than your miracle, you'll get your miracle. When you want Jesus more than a healing, you'll get your healing. When you want Jesus more than that marriage to come back together, you'll get that marriage to come back together right now. I'm asking Deacons, elders, pastors, their wives, just come.
There's power in unity, power in agreement. When people come, they're going to be praying with you, and that's just in agreement right now in the name of Jesus. Jesus, Jesus' name. Jesus. Here's what we need to do.
If y'all need to leave, I'm gonna pray a prayer of benediction, and then if you wanna leave, you can leave. I'm gonna ask those of you down front. Don't don't just run out. I don't know if my spiritual antennas are just up or what's happening, but I'm sensing the presence of the Holy Spirit right down front here in a powerful way. Don't leave here with half a healing or a quarter of a healing.
You leave here with a full healing right now.
So, I'm going to pray, and you can be dismissed, and then we're going to keep having the team lead us in worship and the folks praying down here at the altar. The rest of you, raise your hands and receive this blessing from God.
Now to him. Who is able to do? Immeasurably all, more than all we ask or imagine. according to his power that is within it work within us. To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus.
throughout all generations. Forever and ever. Amen and amen. God bless you, beloved. Let's go change this world for Jesus Christ.
God bless you. Be yourself.
