How Valuable Are You? // Judah Smith

it's obviously an unusual time in the state of California and yesterday we had the opportunity on our new application the technology that we've just kind of mentioned to many of you many of you I'm sure if not not heard about it but we got the chance to go live yesterday with two individuals a new friend by the name of JP and Ashley who's a part of our Bible College here Church home college and thank you Ashley and we got to tell at least two stories of the horrific tragedies and disasters that have happened recently with the shooting in Thousand Oaks and then literally the next day the evacuation of so many people in the same area and other areas as well by now I know you're all aware we were still fighting the one of if not the worst fire in our nation's history is affected tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of people and I want to say thank you for every single one of you that have participated even in the smallest of way of being a part of the solution we exist as a community not to listen to a talk on Wednesday and sing songs that make us feel good a good talk and good singing ain't nothing wrong with that but we exist to make a difference in this beautiful city and in this region and in this part of the world and we want to live and love and look like Jesus wherever we go and so I want to thank so many of you who I know who've been donating your time I've heard extraordinary stories of people here in community loving caring getting involved volunteering thank you every little bit makes a difference to each and every individual so far we have raised tens of thousands of dollars just from yesterday we received $20,000 from a church in Alabama and all of the money yeah incredible incredible and all the money is gonna go directly we are working with an organization I want to remember the name correctly the California I think it's the Calif what's that it's called save and it's in it's a it's an outreach a incredible extension of the California fire organization forgive me I think that's what it's called and here's the program it's extraordinary it immediately brings resource and relief to those who have been displaced you can imagine there's insurance for a lot of people for a lot of people there isn't but that takes a while and you can imagine the process is long and so what this organization is doing specifically is getting immediate care and resource to people such as my friend JP whose home was completely burned to the ground and he is a contractor a craftsman by trade and every single one of his tools were gone completely gone melted burned and so even his way of life his way of income he asked to literally get new tools and resources and so we were able to literally give money to JP last night by the way physically hand him resource and cash to help him you may you may remember but last last Wednesday when we talked about this new app we talked about one of the biggest parts what we're gonna do is called uplift we're gonna go where there are disasters and tragedies and we're gonna go on the ground we're gonna make a difference we had no idea that the next day one of the worst fires in American history would break out in our backyard this this continues we're gonna continue to raise funds you can literally go on the church home app and it says support uplift wild fires and you can click on that and can I just say one dollar just means a lot and all of that is gonna go directly to helping people this is why we exist to serve and help stand with and aid humanity certainly in our state our country beyond so thank you thank you so much for your sacrifice thank you for considering being a being a part of that you know I know it may sound strange but it's really our honor it's our honor to stand with people who are hurting in any way shape or form it's our privilege to do so so again thank you for considering that if you're not already involved every time we get together we go to this book this book is I'm referencing of course the Bible much has been made of this book over the course of its history in human history a lot of people have made it into material to categorize people marginalized people to terrorize people but this book stands alone for what it is it's been said to be a collection of morals Commandments principles standards but actually what it truly is is a love story it's a story of God and his love for you and for me and that is at its essence and so each time we gather as a community we go to this book and we discover get discover again God's extraordinary love for you and for me so if you've braced yourself tonight to find out how bad you are you can exhale and relax this community is not predicated upon or built upon telling people how bad they are we all know we got some work to do and we all know that we're working progress I'm gonna tell you tonight that there is a God who loves you and has an extraordinary plan for your life he is not mad at you he is crazy about you and you're always on his mind and for people believe that is true so that's good that's good that's good I'm gonna go to Luke chapter 15 and we're gonna read a parable that Jesus tells and we're gonna focus on the middle section of this parable as we approach this parable it is should be noted this is Jesus explanation for why he has the friends he has contrary to a lot of popular opinion over the years many people believe that Jesus was this floating angelic being who only hung out with church people who only hung out with people who smelled nice and look nice and talk nice but the Bible says that Jesus was actually criticized by church pastors preachers and teachers and pastors and church folk didn't like Jesus all the time because the friends he made didn't look like church people didn't look holy didn't wear the right clothes didn't have the right lifestyle it says now the tax collectors and sinners were all getting close to Jesus they were magnetically drawn to Jesus and they wanted to listen to what Jesus was saying because Jesus was so attractive and so magnetic and so loving and so caring that people who knew they were doing bad things with their life were attracted to Jesus now the teachers of the Torah the Pharisees of the scribes they they they blogged about Jesus they complained about Jesus they spread rumors about Jesus and they said this they said this man receives sinners or bad people and he even eats with them now to eat was someone in antiquity or ancient time was to align yourself relationally when you were to sit down with someone or recline with someone over a meal in Jesus day you are saying I accept you I I believe in you i love you i open my life to you and so it's very different today but in Jesus day to eat was someone was to completely and entirely accept someone so the teachers of the law were saying why does Jesus except fully accept bad people so Jesus tells us he explains through a parable or through a portrait or through a story and the first section is about a shepherd who has a hundred sheep and he loses one and goes after it finds it comes back and throws a party the second portion of Jesus explanation of why he has the friends he has is a woman with a coin collection that's what we're gonna spend our time tonight it says this in Luke chapter 15 and verse 8 it says what woman having ten silver coins if she loses one coin does not light a lamp sweep her house sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it going on and when she has found it she calls together her friends and neighbors saying rejoice with me for I have found the coin that I had lost Jesus says in red I tell you there is joy before the angels of God or in eternity in another realm over one person who has done wrong who changes their thinking about God in life a woman with ten coins who loses one what what could this mean tonight I want to speak to you and to me around the subject speak to myself to you and to myself about value about value how valuable are you how valuable is the person next to you how valuable are we as individuals I'd like to talk about the value of one life the value of your life or the value of another life what is the value based on God's perspective what is the value of a human life and I suppose my desire is that you would leave the subhan tonight feeling valuable because that would be true you are of infinite value before God so if you came in here and your value is connected to something temporary or something arbitrary I am praying that tonight you'll leave here feeling the value that you actually have before God that wouldn't be a bad thing would it to leave this of feeling valuable tonight will you pray with me Jesus we thank you for the moments we share as a community we recognize that without you this is just a talk this is just history this is just a lecture but because of you it turns into something supernatural that can actually begin to change our thinking and the trajectory of our life we love you we need you we thank you for these moments help the Hawks beat the Packers tomorrow night God were four and five lord I need faith how my faith helped our offensive line for the love of God Jesus name Amen did you know the Rams beat the Seahawks was that even on you was that even on your radar do you don't act like you care now don't act like you care now twice thanks bro I appreciate the reminder find another church man kidding come on everyone's welcome everyone's welcome do you well I think I'll say this I won't project on you I think socks are underrated I do by me personally I under I and I've had a little self talk recently socks are underrated and they've been actually an issue for me of late because I don't I don't pre-plan to have socks but when I need them I need them more than anything in the whole wide world you know talking about like your like and in and and of course when you need like dark socks you always have light socks and when you need light socks you always have dark socks and when you need long socks you always have ankle socks and I'm just like I'm me and in and I've been having some issues with my socks I'm not I'm this is this is this is this is true which brings me to something very real Chelsea and I have been robbed several times recently in the morning appreciate your somber response I think some of you believe me well you should because it's been happening on a regular basis I hear I'll be early in the morning and suddenly I will I will hear our bedroom door what I believe to be I believe I can't prove it coz I've never seen the perpetrator but the door slightly I could hear it hinging I can hear it opening and oftentimes out of a deep sleep I will say hello hello and there's never an answer and I swear I hear something happening in our closet and I say hello of course I don't have the energy to get up and check nor defend my wife I'm Way more scared than Chelsea just to be honest I really am I'm like babe did you hear that do you want to go check you think you think that's a joke it's actually real but anyways come to find out my two sons I have a 14 year old and a 12 year old pray for both of them they don't believe in God I can't go on they're great kids but they've been stealing my socks no youyou think I took a photo of my sock door this is today this is real time this is my sock drawer right now that's real I took that at 5:30 p.m. today what in the world I'm sick of it by the way the dark saga at the bottom it's just one this is what I deal with I have provided these children with everything they have and they come in to my closet but I want to draw your attention to what looks to be a dirty pair of neon socks okay those are clean but I've had them for several years now those this is true story those are my favorite socks there you heard the brand Oakley okay I'm not getting any money for this this segment okay just to be clear Oakley has not sponsored this evening but a friend of mine gave me he's sponsored by Oakley he gave me free Oakley socks and they have the old Oakley logi Logie logo and I love them they're my neon socks and it was probably about a year ago I went to my drawer and I obviously we got issues I couldn't find my neon socks and boy you should have seen me walking the hallways of my home I said boys where's my socks which sucks you know which sucks my neon old-school throwback ugly socks I warned them and I brought down the law that's a bet the person recently he was like you know what I've learned about parenting is you never raise your voices you get your kids never in fact I never once have raised my voice and I'm like I had a camera the last time I didn't raise my voice at my kids pray for my children they're gonna be scarred but they know as much as they have pillaged and robbed like what is this they won't touch those neon socks now I'm gonna lie to you there's a lot of things in my home worth more than those neon socks but when I couldn't find those neon socks I couldn't care that I owned a home I didn't want to talk about a jacket I had I don't care about the shoes I own or a watch I wanted my neon socks how much of those neon socks worth you know what I bet I couldn't give them to you I bet you like that's okay no no take them please no I don't want to we'd have a fight over the fact that I want you to have my precious neon socks and you'd say no and I'd say they're important to me and you'd saddle what bro these are garbage they're not garbage to me they're my favorite neon socks they also represent a very special time in the life of me and my friend and some things that he accomplished and I remember and so those neon socks are important to me what's hilarious is they might be the least expensive thing I own in my entire home like I said you wouldn't pay 25 cents for those neon socks and wouldn't sell them to you or give them deal those are my neon socks you could see those socks on the street and be like wow that's gross so I mean look look just look at the twinge of color in the bottom there of those socks in that amazing I remember walking around here's beautiful home beautiful family got food in the fridge feel really blessed but all I can think about is my neon socks the kids will take every socks but my boys no don't touch dad's neon Oakley socks why because they're valuable to me doesn't really make a lot of sense you can't mathematically figure this out you use economics you can't say Judith you your affinity and affection for these socks isn't consistent based on the expense and the worth of your other possessions you actually shouldn't care that much about your neon Oakley socks you would say to me I will buy you a whole new package of neon Oakley socks and I would say they are not those neon Oakley socks cuz those neon Oakley socks have been through some stuff so you can't buy me these socks well yeah dude what's the point what why are you talking about you literally have a picture of your sock drawer up at church what's the point well the message is about value tonight I don't know if you've noticed but in the three verses we read from Luke chapter 15 we have a very illogical approach to value notice the woman she's got ten coins she's got ten coins and she loses one of the ten coins now I don't mean to be the jerk but like if I roll over to her house and she's tearing up her house over one coin I'm definitely gonna be the guy in her life going hey newsflash hey let's get our perspective you've still got nine you still got nine nine is really close to ten like if you lost like half of your coin collection I get it but you're tearing up your house over one coin when you still got nine now it gets worse it gets worse this is not a good use of her energy or her effort it's like that by the way we think her coins each coin is worth a day's wage how long did she search in her home for one coin a whole day she could earned another coin by doing that if you think about it her her affection her affinity her action her effort is not consistent with the actual literal value why do you care so much about this coin and it gets crazier because then she finds the coin and notice what she does she calls friends the Bible says Jesus says and neighbors so she didn't just call people she liked she just called people that were close she's like I'm gonna call my friends and I'm gonna call people I don't even know very well but they just live in the vicinity and I'm gonna throw a party that costs more then the coin I found think about this like what is this you are worked up about what my neon sucks you have a house you have a car you have pants and a jacket why are you kissing my socks this doesn't make any sense what's the story and why is it relevant to why Jesus hangs out with who he hangs out with the message is very clear before we go any further tonight that the way God ascribes value is profoundly different than we do God sees things as valuable that we see as permissible just kind of did say dismissible not permissible things that we'll just dismiss well I still got nine nine out of ten is club this woman tears up her whole house looking for the one coin then she finds it throws a party that we can go ahead and just I mean you gotta feed all your friends and everybody who lives in the vicinity so you definitely spending more than a coin to celebrate a coin what's the point God's love for you is illogical you need to know that it will not add up you can't put it on a spreadsheet God's love for you is illogical this is good news by the way in other words God doesn't put you on a mathematical table God doesn't say okay one dumb decision I love you one gum decision less I love you okay one bad day I love you a little bit less because of your one bad day God God is extravagant God is illogical the woman is a portrait of God's love and we are a picture of the lost coin the coin obviously has intrinsic value but the coin also bears an image it bears an image and I'd like to make three observations for you tonight and for us tonight to consider how does God see value how will you and I understand further how much God values us well first of all my first observation which we've already started to dive into and lean into is that well this coin its value is illogical evidently its value is infinite says who hold on hold on says who know we by research and study we can prove that that coin does have an internship and the value is a day's wage a day's wage but the way this woman is acting is not consistent with that's worth the day's wage no she's acting like it's worth a lot more than that and I want to say this the worth of that coin is determined by its owner by its owner not what you can get for it but what its owner says it's worth or more specifically what its creator says it's worth tonight we're working from a premise in case you haven't noticed and the premise is this but there is a God he is a creator he's an intelligent being he has designed you with a plan and a purpose he loves you he has not removed himself from you but he is intimately involved with your everyday life and he cares about you and he wants to identify tonight with you how valuable he sees you as he will move heaven and earth for you your value is infinite I want you let that sink in for a second your value is infinite in other words only he understands infinity I've told you about Bible answer man growing up and I used to stutter as a kid that's a little baby boy so my dad was Bible answer man every night we put us to bed it was Bible answer man he said son you could ask anything you want about God anything and my favorite thing to ask my dad about was hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo was god's dad he say son son God doesn't have a dad know who who who who was this daddy son he didn't have a dad I have that he didn't have a dad what he's always been he'll always be he had no beginning he had no end and I would say what what does that mean and my dad would say I don't know son close your eyes let's pray go to bed right like ah it's called infinity it's called always is always will be always was it's never it's never it's in you you have eternal infinite value you have eternal infinite value it's crazy about this whole story what what can I can do on its own I mean what does the coin do think about what coins do coins just sit in your pocket sit in the cash register and coins don't do nothing until somebody takes them and uses them so the message is clear here from God that I know you don't understand my friends because see they're valuable to be not for what they can do because they're like coins they don't do nothing but they're valuable to me because I made them and I get to work with them and and what was true of these coins is true of us a coin in antiquity usually had thee if not always had the image of the ruler or the Emperor or the king in those days in fact it was one of the great honors of being a king an emperor is that you would put your mug you put your face on every coin and that coin was a declaration of your power that coin was a declaration of your authority that coin was a declaration of your presence that coin was a declaration of your rulership that coin had your image on it Jesus is saying you don't understand why I hang out with who I hang out with because you think I'll hang out with people because of what they do no no I hang out with people because people is who I made and I love them all because I'm the creator and I made them in my image they have my image do you know that time somebody asked Jesus about taxes so more like we're talking about taxes in church bear with me but some people said hey Jesus should we should we pay taxes to Caesar and of course if you were a Jew in those days Caesar represented idol worship he represented this this tier this tyrannical leader and they said Jesus should we really pay taxes to Caesar and he says do you have a coin somebody's like coin because the coin Jesus says whose image is on this coin by the way that's a really big coin [Laughter] whose image is on this coin and everybody's like you know Caesars and he goes give to Caesar what is Caesar's and then he says but give to God what is God's oh Jesus is great at answering politically-charged questions he says go ahead and give it to Caesar because I see him on the coin but don't forget wherever you see the image of God well that belongs to God and in the beginning of time Genesis chapter 1 the Bible starts off with God saying let us Father Son and spirit let us make man in our image Genesis 1:26 and 27 and it says then God said let us make man in our image after our likeness let them have dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds that they have over the livestock over all the earth or very creeping thing that creeps verse 20 I love that over all the creeps and then verse 27 so God listen to the redundancy so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created him now it says create own image and in the image but if you look it up in the original language the Hebrew there says he created man in his own image and and and and shared his nature we share his nature we share his nature we share his nature we share his nature we share his nature when we come up with all these stories we tell think about it it seems to always be a bad guy and it seems to always be a good guy it seems to always be a champion and there seems to always be somebody who wants to just ruin everything for everybody where do we get this it's in our nature in our nature we know good and evil in our nature we know bad we know wrong it's in our because we're in His image and we're unique from the other creatures on the earth though by the way it all belongs to God the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and some of the reasons that I love animals and I just want to remind you so does God he made them animals are beautiful to God and I think it's an amazing story to hear people in the midst of these horrific fires not only saving fellow human beings but also having a heart and saving animals it's a beautiful thing but unique amongst all the creatures is the human being for we shared the nature the imprint and the image of God and that and that alone ascribes infinite eternal value to you and to me now give to God what is God's now I know that sounds kind of rough in in in that passage but in mark chapter 12 when Jesus says that what he's saying is actually it's an affection he's saying you're mine in the same way that Caesar desires to have all the wealth so God desires to have all of his children he loves you you're his now if you've ever had babies or if you know somebody who's had babies or you loved somebody else's babies you know what it's like well it's like I can I can no more then I would rather deny myself than my babies that's flesh of my flesh that's bone of my bone that boy looks like me that's my guy that's my baby girl that is my child you are mine it is it is my honor when I walk around town talking about this is this my girls manga it's my girl grace it's my son l-dog this is I in he 14 he's 12 he's nine do you want to see photos when they were younger though would you want to see kind of their whole kind of kind of timeline it's beautiful they've all just what you liked it because those are my babies part of my honor is to remind them how valuable they are to their father and so it is with God you are you are his so tonight though it's hard to comprehend you are of you are loved illogically and your value is actually it cannot be quantified it cannot be quantified your value your value your value Oh God let us be proponents of the infinite value and dignity of every human being now if you want to tick god off I have a suggestion demean one of his kids but little one of his boys or girls I dare you to say something bad about my kids I will go to jail following our interaction and bins and then people will save now pastor do you or do you feel sorry for what you did I said no I'd do it again where is he you know like I mean she is your babies miss amazing how quickly we forget that each and every person bears his image another observation in the next few moments as we conclude in a few minutes the the band will join us and will sing a few songs about God in our story we see that the coin is not easily found but the search is relentless the coin notice what she says it says it and she lights a lamp which is to say she she lights a candle she gets out a broom and starts sweeping the dimly lit house and notice she seeks diligently this is interesting there's no and of course the story before the story before the shepherd it says he went out looking for the one sheep left ninety-nine we're not looking for the one sheep and he was out there on till dark no he was out there untell he was tired no out there on tail it was uncomfortable no he was out there until he found the sheep she was sweeping diligently until she heard the coin in the cracks of the uneven ancient floor she she she sought diligently what's what's the message people think that God gives up on them people think God gives up got God got the God doesn't know how to give up I don't even think God could be God if he gave up God does not get fatigued God does not get weary God is not mad at you no God here's the picture of the woman she's probably got stone floors that are uneven her home is dimly lit even in the day if she's got a traditional home in antiquity in Jesus time it's not a big home it might be just a one-room home and she's got stone and it's uneven and when you lose a coin you light some candles and what you do is you use a broom and you're not so much looking for the site of the coin because you're unlikely to see it but what she's doing with a hush she's listening for the sound of the coin against the stones see Jesus wants you to know he said man you guys won't understand who I hang out with because you don't understand my heart you don't understand my approach I understand that people are broken and hurting and I'm like a woman who is quietly delicately attentively listening while sweeping her floor hoping define and she's moved all the furniture everything she won't even eat she's not she just all she can think about is the coin and she will she will stay here until she finds it well I mean I I think I think God might be real but I think God gave up on me a long time ago I understand well if you knew can't see I grew up kind of knowing like that God but then I started you know doing stuff and I'm you know how it is you kind of want to get out there and experience life and kind of see what it has to offer you get it and so I guess like for me probably God is not you know me like it's probably not my thing so but I get it man I you know that's on me you know I kind of and the narrative gets out there that God is like you and me I mean I I've looked for stuff in the house and here's what I conclude but I can't find it I will turn up you don't talk about talk about socks I cannot find a matching partner ever tonight I am wearing two different dark socks that is a fact that's the truth because I couldn't find the proper partner I either turn up that's our nature it'll turn up you'll turn up God because of your value to him this is his posture God won't give up on you I just and I know that sounds really awesome and sensational but it also is gonna be really uncomfortable I'm here to tell you God won't give up on you some of you are here tonight because God won't give up on you some of you here tonight because God keeps interrupting your regularly scheduled program you're like God what are you doing I'm sleeping I'm sleeping I'm looking for you I've just I miss you all right well this is what just let me be I'm just one person yeah but your mind I you you look like me i i i i i love you I love you I love you I swore when I I mean I don't swear all the time but I swore that I wouldn't be that dad when my kids finally started playing sports and then I was like forget it and like the first soccer wait for it practice my kids at practice design gets a breakaway he's like four blond hair blowing in the wind and I just it was like a kind of a pseudo scrimmage you know basically it was just like a pack of kids around a ball and the ball like popped out on accident in Zion was like oh and it's like his head kind of leaned gave him momentum and I start running down the sideline so yeah Zion kick the ball kick the bottle kick the ball he kind of trips kicks it accidentally it trickles in the goalie is like you know playing with one of the posts and it trickles in I'm I go take it off my shirt and then it hits you and you look around and moms are sitting on their Yeti coolers going really and then you just got to own it that's my boy so my guy Ziya gets in the car what's it like son you scored a goal he goes daddy what does it go mean like never mind don't tell anyone that you don't know what a goal is I don't know how to tell you this but I can't give up on the boys I just can't it's not in me to give up on him I just can't I tell them at all the time I'm not saying this is like a great parenting tactic but a Mike hey look if you go to prison I'm still gonna love you like who says that to their kids you know like you preparing them for that kind of life but it's true though I just I can't can't deny those are my boys we felt it recognized that God is not just some removed deity he reminds us over and over and over in his love story that he is a father who is heavenly he says a few earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to your children how much more your heavenly father will give good gifts to those who ask the fact is he's crazy about you and he's running down the sideline of your life whether you like it or not and I know sometimes it's embarrassing inconvenient and uncomfortable and some of your wonder like man I just can't I just want to have a fun evening where I do whatever I want but then I do it and I feel like God somehow there and it sucks that's how my dad used to pray over me I'd be a bad sinner just bad at it maybe that worked I don't know but but God's crazy about you I mean this like if you came over to this lady's house you'd be like are you let's say her name is sue sue are you are you okay yeah what what you've been at this for hours right yeah yeah yeah I know it gets here somewhere maybe it's not maybe it's not sue and you still got nine coins that's most of your collection yeah I got to find the one let's see what let's get on with life no no no no this is I'm gonna keep doing this until I thought what if it never happens I'm gonna keep doing it that's what people fail to realize people believe that God is only relentlessly after those that he knows will respond to his love but that's where you misappropriate God's extraordinary illogical eternal extensive love God is running down the sidelines of people's lives who will never acknowledge him ever he can't help it we can't help it I've had moments my oldest son's like dad stop and I'm like you stop it I will be here till you're 48 it's my son dad it's a conference room I'm a businessman I'm 45 you know like sorry but not sorry that's God I'm sorry you've been told otherwise but that's God so come on give it a rest I can't I can't now the search is the search is relentless and lastly in conclusion it's apparent to me that the coin is it is lost we have to admit that it's definitely lost but the image isn't gone please hear me in conclusion the coin cannot be seen but the image is still on the coin though you can't see the coin the image is still there which is to say the value remains even though the coin is displaced that's why people can't understand that when these Pharisees and Sadducees in John chapter 8 bring a woman naked on the streets of the city and they say to Jesus we found this woman displaced in a bed that is not her own with a man she's not married to she's lost Jesus what are you saying let's be clear the men circling this woman who is maybe clothed that all she's clothed by a sheet in the middle of street they're surrounding her and what they're saying is she no longer has the value that we have and you know why because according to these men value is something that reflects what you do what you do maybe you can relate so we in our culture we value people based on what we do I'm not saying we don't honor people for great accomplishments I have no problem with that the problem I have is we devalue people who don't do things we believe are good or great or upstanding and we believe their value has been diminished so we conclude if a person is lost or broken or displaced they've lost their value that's why churches don't feel bad for opening up their doors to everybody because churches believe that if you're lost you're not as valuable as those who aren't but see the coin can't be found yet but it still bears the image which speaks to the fact that it still retains its value and that's why Jesus Jesus Jesus he he when the woman's in the street and they're saying we should kill her she should die because she's not valuable anymore Jesus gets down twice and puts his finger in the dirt and the last time we saw God's finger in the dirt was in Genesis when he made man in His image and Jesus has his finger in the dirt as a declaration to you and to me to say she still has my image she's still mine she may be lost she may be broken but she's still mine and I didn't make her for this but I also didn't make these men for this I didn't make you to hurt each other and oppose each other and berate each other and belittle each other I didn't I didn't I didn't that's not what I made you for so there's people here tonight you feel lost you feel displaced you feel discombobulated and you think somehow and maybe you feel less valuable but I'm here to say that you have retained your value before God you've retained your value before God he he loves you so much he loves you so much and I pray you know and I guess I just a dream of a church who joins the party and here's what I mean and I end with this the woman says to her friends and her neighbors she sends out an RSVP let's say and she says will you join me tomorrow I'm throwing a big old party now usually when you send out invitations you give the reason why it's so and so's birthday my son just came home this her RSVP says I found a coin now if I get that all right I mean if I get that invitation I'm like come celebrate with your neighbor sue occasion I found my coin please RSVP and regrets now what what is my brain tell me what is my brain tell me we will have a party over one coin we somebody call sue and tell her this just doesn't make sense and that's how a lot of communities like ours are wait we don't we go I mean we're gonna celebrate one purse yeah we go wait we spent the money on what we did wait how much that's right we gonna spend so much money on people we're gonna raise millions of billions of dollars and give it all away people we're gonna ask people to RSVP they're minute what what you did wait what yeah what if we were the kind of church that when someone said hey want to come to I do I'm throwing a massive party you're like oh yeah what's the occasion I found a coin awesome yes Wow Wow Ashley said yesterday as we were talking about the fires where she's growing up in Thousand Oaks as we started the interview a she said something so profound she's I believe Ashley's here tonight she said I first of all want to say thank you there you are Ashley there you are look right in the middle of the whole room of course you are right in the center of it all as she said this Ashley right there she said that first of all I want to say thank you because I feel seen feel sane would it be a part of a church where we see the individual where we see people and celebrate people that's awesome that's the God we're here celebrating so if you feel marginalized if you feel overlooked if you feel unheard if you feel unseen I'm here to remind you there is a God who is intimately attentively actively involved in every moment of your existence and your value before him and in this universe cannot be quantified you are more valuable than you could ever possibly imagine and I'm gonna tell you this world is not the same without you and God has named you he's identified you the Bible says before you were formed in your mother's womb he knew you he knows the hairs on your hand you are more valuable than a thousand lilies into Valley God chooses you he loves you you walk out of this auditorium tonight with your true value you hear me let us remind each other that my value does not come from what I do or don't do it comes from who made me and declared value in my life can I hear an amen we join me in prayer Jesus we thank you for your grace we thank you for your goodness we live in a in a time and age in a world where value has become so wonky and confusing and hard to grasp so we asked tonight that again you would Center us around what you say and the value you give us what for those of us that right now feel like we're on cloud nine and life is so good and we've accomplished so much and we feel so valuable I pray you would take these words and just put them in their soul for safekeeping and oh God for those who are here tonight who feel so low who feels so little who feels so unimportant because lately there hasn't been a lot of accomplishments there hasn't been a lot of successes oh god I pray that you would be with the broken in the hurting and those who feel disoriented feel like they don't understand where they fit or how much they're worth I ask right now that you'd be present to them more present than they are we breathe thank you for your bigness and your reality in this room if you're here tonight you say Judah I believe and I would like to accept Jesus as God but the Bible says God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever simply believes in Him receives the free gift of forgiveness that only Jesus offers he will live forever he will not perish but have everlasting life for the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of God's perfect standard all of us have erred and done wrong and the wages of sin is death the Bible says but Jesus moved into the neighborhood and he became sin so that you and I could become right with God it's as simple as that and by simply believing and receiving we're right with our Creator for ever and ever and we begin to experience true lasting fulfillment and meaning if you want that tonight there is absolutely no pressure please do not feel pressure this is simply an invitation for those who feel so compelled who are so convinced that God is real and only Jesus can forgive if that's you on the count of three I'm gonna ask you to slip up your hands and put it right back down and I'm gonna count to three the reason I ask people to raise their hand is I truly believe when you respond on the outside to what's happening on the inside it becomes all the more real to you you know who you are 1 God loves you to believe you'll never be the same 3 if that's you would you shoot your hand up all over the auditorium and say man I believe and I receive so God you see these hands and most importantly you see our hearts and we thank you that forgiveness flows freely in this space and in this place and in these moments God as we sing in these moments as we use music as a platform to connect with you we pray that you would sense your nearness your attention your attentiveness your love your care your concern and your value for each and every one of us thank you Jesus if you're physically able willing would you stand with us and let's join the band and let's sing together whoa buddy you guys see it's the subscribe button if you press on it you subscribe to our YouTube channel then you get to watch it and we get to have fun and we get to be friends I love you

Channel: Churchome

Views: 34,514

Rating: 4.9163761 out of 5

Keywords: Churchome, Judah, Judah smith, church, message, anxiety, depression, how to, elevation, Steven, Hillsong, oceans, sermon, the city church, church home, Chelsea smith, bobby Houston, td jakes, pastor, pastor preaching, carl lentz, Jesus, conference, guest speaker, sermon jam, worship, Justin Bieber, la Hillsong, Selena, preaching, Judah message, performance

Id: 4U6fJFn2Qmo

Length: 57min 9sec (3429 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 22 2018