Losing It But Not Losing Him | Tim Dilena

i want to just say something to you really important before we pray i want you to listen to these words from devotional writer oswald chambers who said these powerful words listen to this he said leave the broken irreversible past in god's hands and step out into the invincible future with him listen to those words again that broken irreversible past that you can't fix that you can't have enough of regret and guilt and even condemnation effects he said step out and that's what we're going to begin to go into today into the invincible future with him always remember you are not defined by your past but you can be prepared by your past that past can prepare you for what god is wanting to do inside of your life and for what he has in your future and i want to believe for that because the issue is this keep this in mind we are not we are not products although we are maybe products of our past but with jesus we're never prisoners of our past let me say that again we may be products but when we have jesus we're never a prisoner he sets us free let's pray father thank you for what you're going to do today god we live in a world that wants to hold us and even define us by our past but i thank you today that whom the son sets free it's free indeed so god would you today with all of us with with really in a sense with broken irreversible past mistakes things that we can't go back and correct god i just ask you right now that you today would bring hope to people as we see through your scripture what you do when we blow it when we feel like we've messed up and god i'm going to ask you today that you would just become real right right right through technology become real those that are listening in the uk those that are listening right now in the philippines those that are listening right now in ghana and nigeria those that are right now in colombia right now god i'm believing for those in mexico you're going to set people free today from their past though a product never a prisoner in jesus name amen and amen let's believe for god to do something really special today do you know before covid made us all wear protective masks there was a place that was starting to gain notoriety and even attention um asking all of the people that would enter in for the next 45 minutes wear protective masks not only protective mask but even gloves and even chest protectors it's very interesting it was called you ready for this the rage room and it was becoming the rage around the united states what literally they would do is take angry people give them bats and golf clubs say you have 45 minutes just to start hitting things in a room with your protective mask protective gear for 20 for 45 minutes they would just put things in there in fact they would even let you bring stuff from that you wanted just to bust up they said they would have office people coming in with laptops and telephones and cell phones and just start crushing it feeling like this will be the release this will be the place that they can begin to get rid of the anger that re that begins to literally just kind of um is is inside of them it's amazing i was reading today what we're facing with anger from every standpoint there's not only road rage but they talk about parking rage and even boat rage fishing rage pedestrian race there's jogger rage bike rage cell phone rage trucker rate i was reading this grocery cart rage they just added a new one called um church pew rage when somebody sits well that's done with because you can't sit in the church pew today unless you're six feet apart but we are living in a time where this whole country seems to be in a rage room today it just seems that there's anger that's brewing all around us in every major city it seems that anger is the number one emotion of the day last night i was praying for you and praying for our service and around eight o'clock last night i just felt that i was to walk the city and just to pray over new york city which is the epicenter of the of the pandemic and and from the from the protests and and some of the uh uh really the deaths that we have we have seen here during covet 19 there is this rage that seems to be here and i'm telling you as i walked the city last night and started to pray i saw it i saw it in people i was walking by one store and i watched the store to come over and speak to a homeless man and literally threatened his life and said if i catch you here one more time i mean i watched it in his eyes he says i will kill you so he said i will kill you i thought where where is this coming from this anger this rage that seems to be brewing in our country what makes anger so elusive and so incredibly dangerous is that it flares up suddenly it's powerfully and even irrationally it it takes no counsel for the future and it takes no consideration of even personal safety or even repercussions let me just say this listen to this anger manages everything badly anger manages everything badly in fact anger is never many times without a reason but seldom with a good reason and this is what makes it incredible c.s lewis was so right when he says anger makes you smaller while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were see this is this is such an important word for us even as a country and even for us as christians anger does make us smaller but it's christian but as christians especially believers it is forgiveness that is pushing us beyond the bounds i think this is so important when emily was leading us in that final song called cornerstone and reminding us that christ is that anchor within the veil listen listen to what hebrews 6 8 6 19 says because it speaks about that that that anchor within the veil it says this in hebrews 6 19 we have this certain hope like a strong unbreakable anchor holding our souls to god himself our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat which sits in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold and where jesus our forerunner has gone in before us and where he is now and forever do you know what the the apostle was saying there he says when god is your anchor we find ourselves connected to someone immovable immovable if god if we are connected to god there is nothing that can begin to detach us from he was is immovable see we have to remember that our movement is based on his movement and if he's not going anywhere then hallelujah neither are you that's why we have to be connected to him when we're connected to circumstance when we're connected to emotion when we're connected to society politically um or or what's happening even pandemically we will find ourselves moving all over the map but when we're connected inside that veil when we're anchored to jesus because he's immovable we find ourselves becoming immovable and there may be some moments where there is some give on the line a little slack on the line but you're not going anywhere if you're connected to him and that's why one of the one of those things that can get us drifting and you heard it from pastor patrick that that anger is one of those things frustration is one of those things that can try to put tension on the line and we have to remember that we're anchored to him but here's the part i want you to remember think about that anger issue we may lose it but we will not lose him because we are anchored to him there be moments that we may lose it but we won't lose him because we are anchored to him you know i was reading the story of the classical maestro uh toscanini who was well known for his ferocious temper in fact um he was he was he was so he was such he was so precise in guiding his the the the orchestra that when members of the orchestra played badly he would pick up anything in sight and hurl it to the floor in fact it said that during one of the rehearsals a flat note caused the genius to grab his valuable watch right off his wrist pulled it off and smashed it on the floor shortly afterwards he received from his devoted musicians a luxurious velvet box um with two watches in it a beautiful expensive watch and a very cheap one and on the cheap one was inscribed for rehearsals only is what he put in there see see rage rooms and extra watches don't fix something that's on the inside let me say that again you can spend the twenty dollars for a rage room or buy two watches but it can't fix what's literally on the inside and really uh if i thought it through we don't need an outlet to release it we need a drain to get rid of it we don't just need an outlet we need a drain we need god to even step in let me ask you a question today have you have you ever just lost it as a born-again christian have you ever just it just you just couldn't hold it in anymore i mean your temper words come out that you didn't intend maybe words that you haven't used for a very long time have come out faces red hands flailing eyes piercing my my italian father born and raised in brooklyn new york um who eventually became and uh worked for the nypd he had a saying um i don't know if he got it from his father from italy but he had a saying whenever we as his uh the children were pushing it around when i say pushing it um where he was about to lose it um because of our behavior he would always use the same phrase he would always say these words the bag is getting full the bag is getting full we knew at that point um that our dad could lose it at that point and it was at that moment we knew when we heard those words we were to bring it down a notch but have you ever just got so full that you couldn't take it anymore that you lost it words came out maybe even maybe even like i said words that you've never used things being said that no one would know that if they didn't know you they wouldn't even know that you're a christian if they heard you it reminds you of what used to be uh what of what you used to be and you all of a sudden became scared and going where did that residue come from what was what was it that brought that out of me i've heard stories this last week of people angry i i've from from angry with with authorities angry with each other even people are that that i've been praying for that have been angry with god i want you to listen to me for a second because listening to those stories from injustices around the country to people even angry with a governor of your state because he won't change the phase number for you or jim won't be opened up to people that have lost someone or something and have been angry with god i want you to listen just as a side note for a second because i think this is important let me tell you when people get angry with god people get angry with god jot this down when either we don't get something we want or we get something we don't expect so many times i've watched people get angry with god when we get something we don't want we get don't get something we want i've been asking for this or we get something we don't expect and all of a sudden that becomes a moment i've watched people lose it lose it against god against people against authorities and all of a sudden it becomes a rage room in our country i mean think of it this kind of stuff would seem to happen maybe in non-christians or even maybe a new christian but can a mature christian can the bag get so full with some of us that we actually lose it i mean think of pastor patrick's story today of riding behind somebody and all of a sudden this get getting frustrated maybe even angry i mean it can hit a mature it could hit us as pastors let me let me take it one step further what about a super christian can a super christian absolutely lose it big time believers how about even paul the apostle and i want to just tell you absolutely and the book of acts shows it the book of acts when i saw paul lose it and what god did after that i realized you may lose it but you don't lose him that we may fail but god never fails and never fails us i want to read this passage to you this is so powerful and so encouraged me let me read this to you it said when the paul was standing before the council the sanhedrin he is speaking to them while he's in custody and says brethren i have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before god up to this day paul is paul is on a roll speaking he sounds like a preacher and then the high priest ananias commanded those standing beside him listen to this to strike him on the mouth i think the bag is about to get full here it is then paul said god is going to strike you your white-washed wall that's the apostle paul this what happened to the book of romans and philippians and all this other white-washed wall i'll explain that in a second talk talk about losing it something popped out that he didn't expect you sit here try and try to try me according to the law and in violation of the law order me to be struck but the bystanders doesn't even have a name said do you revile god's high priest and all of a sudden the conviction of the holy spirit and paul said i was not aware brethren that he was the high priest and then he goes right to the word for it is written you shall not speak evil this is this is his failure you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people parentheses even when you get struck in the mouse you shouldn't call people names think for just a moment it it may not read whitewashed wall as bad as it sounds but can i just tell you today it was bad it was really bad paul gets hit in the face for something that is that that he says that his conscience is clear before god and it seemed to have a sense when he said that a sense of sarcasm at least the people standing around him and as he's standing before the sanhedrin he is struck in the mouth and paul loses it he calls them a name it wouldn't it wouldn't seem like that big of a deal to us but when you called someone a white washed wall you're saying something that you look good on the outside but on the inside it really stinks that something is dying on the inside he says you dressed up the outside with your robes but inside it's gross inside there they all knew what paul meant they all knew what he what he meant when he said those words it was it was a common insult it was like a curse word to call someone and they all knew what it was literally you were saying to them you stink this stinks you're a white-washed wall where did that come from paul apostle paul where did that come from well jesus told us see the intense situation didn't create it the intense situation revealed it let me say that again what he was involved with didn't create that it just revealed it in fact matthew 15 18 says it like this what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart it's from the heart that we that that that it says we vomit up evil arguments murders adulteries fornications thefts lies and even cursing can even come out you know i loved this picture that c.s lewis begins to tell us of where that stuff comes from and he he said he said it so prolifically when he said these words he said listen to this he says surely what a man does when he has taken off his guard is the best evidence of what sort of man he is now follow through with this thought he said surely what pops out before the man has time to put a disguise on a disguise is the truth and then he gives this illustration he said that there are rats in a cellar you're most likely to see them if you go in suddenly but the suddenness he says doesn't create the rats it only prevents them from hiding and in the same way the suddenness of the provocation doesn't make me an ill-tempered man it only shows me what an ill-tempered man i already am listen the rats are always there in the cellar apparently the rats of resentment and the vindictiveness are always in the cellar of my soul what happened in acts 23 the rats got got exposed the lights went on suddenly a slap across the face revealed something that was in his heart it could happen to any one of us it can happen whether it's a homeless man parked outside an establishment a slow car in front of us it could be it could be the attitude of a co-worker and something there in every one of us starting with me there could be rats in the cellar that that that aren't created by the suddenness just exposed by the suddenness in fact how did it happen did did that moment just literally expose that and paul let me tell you about paul's week before we go hard on him and it's not an excuse but i i want to just show you what even a week can do one week can happen in paul's life and i want to read three through what what went on that leads us to the situation in acts 23 listen to this so far this week paul has been beaten by ahmad acts 21 27-32 he's been bound in chains 21 33 had his death demanded by a group of zealous jews in 22 1-22 then came with the hare's breath of being scourged 22 through 23 23-29 now he wants to know for certain why had been accused by the jews having little sleep food or physical care he stands weary bruised before the highest jewish court the sanhedrin and then all of a sudden the dam opens up the week that paul faced from accusation and beating from not knowing if he was gonna live the man that's standing before you isn't dressed in a suit this is a man that's had a difficult week this is the last two chapters that literally drove him to the brink but something was there that god was wanting to get at and then we're gonna see not only paul losing it but you're gonna see that paul didn't lose him didn't lose jesus in the midst of it controlling himself no longer paul suddenly pulls out pours out this scalding stream of contempt directly at the accusers and the and the sanhedrin in effect when paul calls the judge and the sanhedrin stinking hypocrites this was definitely more flesh than spirit or correction it was all flesh it just came out the rats showed up he realized his mistake when a an a bystander in verses 4 and 5 starts to reveal it to him and and and that can happen to anyone and paul after this takes place is thrown into jail and something happens let me let me say this um god has opened up doors for cindy and i in different places um at times to preach and to share the gospel and i've said this publicly and i'll and i'll say it again um cindy my wife always always has a veto power before i'll go anyplace before i'll i'll i'll say yes to any place and even if she says i feel good but before that plane door closed if i'm sitting on that plane and she calls me on my cell phone says i i just feel i'm not sure you're supposed to be there i will i will walk off that plane she's only done it a couple times in the 20 25 years we've been married that she just didn't feel good um and the first time that it ever happened i was supposed to speak at a conference in chicago and she said she goes i don't i don't feel like you're supposed to go she says because i want you to do something else and i said and we were only married um it may have been a year at that time and she goes and she said this she says i don't want you to go to that conference she says i want you to go to my 10-year high school reunion i'm going what i almost lost it what a high school re and then i realized why she wanted she said you know i want you to go she says when i was in high school all those all the students that i knew played played sports with and student government all those things she said they never knew me as a christian i want them to see me as a believer i want them to see i mean how can that's a good that was a good veto that was a good veto um and and we went and i watched as cindy and just show jesus to to to those students ten years later that she wanted to go back and do that this was really the same thing that was happening to the apostle paul and he blew it i want you to think about this because i want to i want to make it even worse right now not only did he say it say what he did and lost it it almost seems like he lost this opportunity let me let me say something about paul and the sanhedrin do you understand that paul and the sanhedrin that paul served on that sanhedrin for almost 20 years these are the most religious leaders in town and paul was speaking in front of the men he knew before he was a christian before the road to damascus and lost it after he became a christian this was in a sense paul's 10-year high school reunion i get to see the men that i was part of sanctioning the death of stephen in acts chapter 7. and now they're going to see a man who's on the other side of the road of damascus and the man and instead of seeing a changed man they're seeing a man that lost it calling people names can you imagine paul in his cell that night leaning back whipping himself thinking this i had a once in a lifetime chance to preach the gospel not only to the highest jewish court in the land but to the people that i served with the people that knew me before christ and i blew it how stupid it was for me to lose my temper how stupid it was for me to show anger the great apostle paul more like the great failure can you imagine paul in his jail that night paul i could just think going i made a fool of myself before my peers i've lost that opportunity to tell them how jesus changed my life think think what was going on in paul's mind that night god has to be mad he has to be in a sense really angry with me in fact he needs let me hit get hit by them god needs to join the hitting party and hit me slap me in the face think about it for a second surely god put me here uh to touch the jewish elite and what do i do i call them names this is my chance my 10-year like cindy's 10-year high school reunion and i blow it and that night in a prison cell listen listen carefully now everyone that's listening listen carefully that night in a prison cell all throughout the book of acts angels were opening up prison cells angels were getting people up like like peter and opening up doors like in acts 4 and and in acts uh chapter chapter 16 the apostle paul experienced earthquakes and and doors opening up but that night listen there was no angel no angel showed up he didn't deserve one i could think that was going on in his mind he didn't deserve an angel but i want to just say this to you god is a god of mercy he is such a good god and no angel shows up that night who shows up that night you ready for this the lord showed up that night paul didn't need an angel paul needed a friend that sticks closer than any brother folks this is one of the most remarkable moments paul loses it but doesn't lose him god doesn't send an angel but the lord stands with him listen to verse 11 on the night immediately following following what losing it the lord stood at his side hallelujah i i i'm just going god you're amazing the lord stood at his side and folks read letters in the book of acts these are one of the rare moments after the gospels where these red letters show up take courage this is jesus speaking because you have solemnly witnessed to my cause at jerusalem so you're going to witness at rome for me also you know what's amazing to me is the lord says nothing to him about the name-calling i would i would imagine jesus going like seriously white-washed wall i i'm giving you like books of the bible and you can't come up with any doesn't even say that doesn't talk to about his failure but did you see that verse he talks to him about his future remember those oswald chambers words leave the broken irreversible past in god's hands and step into the invincible future hallelujah with god paul hears invincible future words from jesus himself god stands at his side after he fails god speaks about rome not what just happened in verses one through five on that night immediately following the lord not an angel not gabriel not michael the lord jesus the master stood at his side now that is one incredible god that we serve god stands closest when we blow it worst let me say that again god stands closest when we blow it the worst i i don't have plans to lose it but i know it can happen i know there are in all of us starting with me rats in the cellar that suddenly it comes up and here's what i realize though my actions can be unpredictable i'm thankful for a god who's very predictable a god of mercy what do you mean by that pastor tim he's merciful and kind he's gracious and loving he's an anchor when my actions are trying to drift me away that anchor that emily and the team sang that emily and grant's like my anchor holds within the veil this this is the anchor verse listen to these words this is why this is why paul has jesus stand with him at night i want you to see how important this is listen to these words second timothy 2 13 says this if we are unfaithful he remains faithful because he cannot deny who he is do you understand if we are unfaithful lose it get angry blow it in front of the sanhedrin he is still faithful and shows up even at our worst moment that's how amazing god is i know there will be days that i'm going to need the lord to stand i'm not going to need an angel i'm going to need a friend that sticks closer than a brother and this is not just about anger it's about any flesh area that we can lose it on but i need to use what's before me in this passage and realize that he's there even at my worst i you parents know what this is i i remember just before kovid shut down schools that i remember in the morning as we were trying to get all of our kids out of the house and my son was at university of three teenage girls that already told you about losing it three teenage girls trying to get them out on time so there's so they're not late for class and i just remember one of them just moving slow or just really not listening and i remember that moment over correcting one of them and i snapped in a sense i lost it and and i knew it i lost and then i knew i was gonna have to i was going back to my time in the word right after they left and i knew at that moment god just that was right next to me and said just call her call her and tell you're sorry i know she had her phone i remember calling that precious girl of mine up and just said dad sorry i shouldn't have done that please forgive me it wasn't it was just one of those moments where the rats seemed to come up and just showed up at that at that at that time i i was reading a book by the san diego pastor david jeremiah who says this about anger he says remember this about anger he said these four things these are worth just jotting down he says one don't nurse your anger he says think of all these angry speeches you devised and laid tossing and turning in your bed wishing you would say it um he says we take it in we build this nest and we begin fantasizing these speeches by nursing this anger and and really what what the challenge was just stop it don't nurse this anger number two he says don't rehearse your anger not only don't nurse it don't rehearse it people love to tell their hurt story to each other to people that can't even fix it and we're reminded in psalm 142 2 says i spill out david says i spill out my complaints before him and spell out my troubles in detail before god not to people but to god if you have to complain get angry with god just just talk to him about it but he says don't nurse it don't rehearse it and he says don't even converse about your anger usually angry people can become sarcastic people they just there's a sarcasm that seems to come out of them venting in sarcasm their anger to situations they dress up their frustrations with a smirk and a smile a joke that gets really close to the line when you start conversing he says this he says don't nurse it don't rehearse it don't converse it and he says and don't disperse your anger making other people around you angry with other people that never even touched them and never even hurt them because when you disperse it then you have people getting offended for you and now they're taking on your offense and then he just throws in this last thing he says but you need to reverse your anger reverse it and that's what i want to just close with today i i want to talk to you how to reverse it because here's here's what i want you to do i want you to jot down these couple things i think are so important number one when stuff comes out of me take notice and start the right fight when i see those rats in the cellar when i see something pop out like the apostle paul take notice but let's make sure we fight the right fight what do you mean pastor tim let me say it like this i am responsible for my response not others responses i'm responsible for what's in my heart not what's in other people's hearts i've got to start here it's a fallacy it is a fallacy to say that person makes me angry it's a foul if we become angry listen if we become angry it's because we had anger already in us if we become angry it's already been there and we allowed somebody to pull it out but no one makes us angry angry is not a person angry is some anger is something that resides in us it's in the soul we don't blame a moment of time we see it as it what it is it's something in me and this is what provoked it out of me paul's sarcasm in him paul's anger in him was provoked by a slap was provoked out when someone slapped him across and then boom whitewashed wall you think this stinks all of a sudden something comes out of him it's it's it's like it's like a water bottles it's it's it's what's in there is is fine but all you have to do is get bumped a little bit and that that comes out was it was it the bump that brought it no no no no it was already in there it was just the so paul's anger's there the slap is what began to make it even spill out how do you fight those moments when you lose it of anger and raise let me just say this call it for what it is anger's a form of immediate revenge that's what it is you choose you choose to retaliate now instead of trusting god to set it right on his times on his time basis on his calendar you choose to set it right you choose to step in and go i'll fix this instead of trusting it over to god see anger is impatient and wants retribution now it wants the other person to feel your wrath but that's not what jesus did when jesus was being slapped when jesus was being was was being just like the apostle paul when jesus was facing his acts 23 moment you remember what jesus did peter reminds us this is what he said when he was verbally abused first peter 2 23 when he he jesus was verbally abused he didn't return with an insult when he suffered he would not threaten retaliation jesus faithfully entrusted himself into the hands of god who judges righteously one paraphrase says it like this they called him every name in the book and he said nothing back he suffered in silence content to let god set things right i put it in god's hands right now i let god take care of it and let me let me tell you something from experience god will use the same provokers to expose and also to refine us it's like getting the test over and over again god going i'm getting at something i'm going deep you're going like why is this thing happening it's it's because he's getting at something we don't like it when it comes out we don't like it when we get bumped and something comes out we're going okay all right let's not see that again god goes no no it'll keep coming until that thing gets let's dealt with remember what oswald chambers said in the very beginning he says this he continued on to say god never never makes us whine if we object to the fingers he uses to crush us with if god would only this is what he said if god would only use his own fingers and make us broken bread and poured out wine in a special way then it's all good but when he uses someone who we dislike as the crusher that's when we object we want god to make us remember when pastor patrick talked about not just romans 8 28 but romans 8 29 about how we get conformed to his image we want jesus to conform us to his image we don't want people to do that especially people we don't like why these are the sanhedrin i'm the i'm the apostle paul i'm the born-again one i'm the road to damascus i'm the i'm the author of a good portion of the new testament you should be listening to me and all of a sudden boom rats come up loses it at that moment and god's going paul i'm i'm refining you i'm getting something at you that's why can i just help you with something you ready for this don't say that person bothers me see that person sanctifies me don't say they bother no no they're sanctifying me we just don't like the hands that god is using to make us into the wine that he wants to use he wants you to pass the test and sometimes we'll leave you the same roommate the same work associate the same neighbor he'll leave all those folks until you graduate until you pass the the the slap test impulse incident see let me finish with this but if and when you do blow it god doesn't distance himself god gets closer that's what we see here losing it doesn't mean losing him remember acts 23 11 that night the master appeared to paul hallelujah hallelujah 10th high school reunion and couldn't hold it together that was his moment that was his moment to tell them how to be born again that was the moment to tell the damascus right he told the damascus road experience at all different places in the book of acts but that was his moment those were his those were his um his old workmates sanhedrin that night the master appeared to paul it's gonna be all right it said everything's gonna turn out for the best you've been a good witness you've been a good witness for me seriously jesus from me here in jerusalem i lost it it's invincible future talk now you're going to be my witness in rome folks if you have a bible and you read that passage and you're reading out of paper and ink in your bible it's one of the greatest red letter parts i think of the new testament from acts to revelation it's one of the you have just once in a while you get a moment in in the in acts you'll get a moment in corinthians you'll get a moment in revelation all of a sudden black letters black letters black letters and then a red letter jesus shows up jesus wants this jesus interrupts the writing and says something and this was one of those special moments it's one of the greatest read letters part of the new testament where god interrupts [Music] and starts to speak the great puritan writer thomas watson said it like this satan doesn't tempt god's children because they have sin in them but because they have grace in them had they no grace he wouldn't disturb them he says does a thief assault an empty house but he goes after the house where he thinks a treasure is why does the enemy seem to keep coming why does the enemy see me because he sees the grace of god inside of you and god goes let it come because i'm just refining my house i'm just doing something special in there always remember you may lose it but you won't lose him that's why let me say it to you like this my past is the reason that i presently know that i don't want a future without god let me say those words again my past whether it happened a few verses earlier is the reason that i presently know now that i don't want a future without god listen listen to the cry of david help god this is psalm 130 one through four out of the message the bottom has fallen out of my life master hear my cry for help listen hard open your ears listen to my cries for mercy if you god kept records on wrongdoings who would stand a chance but as it turns out i love this forgiveness is your habit and that's why we worship you god god had every right with this lost and broken world to distance himself and retaliate because men and women humanity wouldn't serve him god had every right from adam and evan from the fall of man men building idols and building towers and cursing god from not only from the beginning of time but even to right now god has every reason to back off and retaliate hallelujah but he does the opposite he loves us instead of deserting us he draws closer to humanity instead of distancing himself far away from humanity you may have listen you may have moved away from god but god is so amazing he's even moving closer to you today he loves you and you may say i lost it but i want to tell you you haven't lost him he loves you he loves you and some of you feel like my past my irreversible past why would god even draw close we see it right here that night the lord stood with them and right now i want to believe the lord to stand with you you feel like your past has distanced you has made it harder for god and brought you but always remember this god's not like us even when we're unfaithful he's still faithful can't deny who he is whoever you are wherever you are it doesn't matter what you've done in your past you may say i've used his name in vain i said i hated god i'm angry with god for those that are a christian you may have had your moment during this pandemic during the civil unrest and the injustices that are happening all around that you've lost it you didn't lose him if you're a christian and maybe you're listening and going would god actually love me for what i've done would god actually want me would he want me and his family would he forgive me can i even go to heaven with all that i've done and i want to just tell you he didn't distance himself he didn't retaliate he got closer what do you mean pastor tim 2000 years ago god said i'm going to get so close that you're i'm coming to this planet we'll celebrate it and it's called christmas and so when god came from heaven to earth and said i'm coming i'm getting closer to you why does he do that because he wants to bring us to heaven pastor tim i want to be forgiven i want an invincible future how but how do i have a future of forgiveness and even when when life is over that i know i'm going to live eternally with god it's probably the most important question you can ever be asked in life is have you been born again pastor tim what what is that it's not it's not a times square church word it's not a religious word it's a jesus word jesus tells the story in john chapter 3 he says just as you've had a first birth you need a second birth this is you have a birth date you need a born again a second birth date that's what jesus is talking about the first time you were born physically but it's the second time that you need to be born spiritually well i thought i was forgiven and going to heaven because i've been water baptized that's good but that's not what jesus said well i've i've been a good person i i i commend you but that's not what jesus said well i pay all the bills and i haven't hurt anyone those are great things i have a label i'm i'm a i'm jewish i'm a presbyterian i'm a muslim all those you can use all those terminologies that's not what jesus said he said in john 3 5 you must be born again in fact he said no one no one man or woman can never enter the kingdom of heaven unless they're born again well pastor tim how does that happen it's as simple as abc remember he's getting close now he's coming close to you right now it's a admitting i'm a sinner those those each of those letters a b and c represent a word a admitting i'm a sinner realizing it's when i get honest with god that all of us have a condition inside of us called sin it's it can't be fixed with promises to god can't be fixed with a program by by man is that a pastor that can fix it is that a book that you can read to fix what's going on inside of us we need help to fix it i'm broken inside and that brokenness the diagnosis is sin and i have to admit a i'm a sinner we're not mistakers in need of correction we're sinners in need of a savior we don't need a second chance we need a second birth that's what jesus is talking about well pastor tim how does that happen that's the b word believe believing that god sent his son god came close like he did in a prison for the apostle paul but now he comes close to humanity to the planet by sending his own son jesus his son jesus the son to fix our sinful condition because i couldn't fix myself if if we could if i could fix myself then why would god put his son through the suffering that he did why would god say just try better be a good person that will get you to heaven if that was the case then why would god have to even send his son down here i couldn't get myself to heaven by being good jesus would have to come and die on the cross for me and be a sin bearer take the penalty that i deserved see he died the death that i was supposed to die he lived a life that i had no shot at living and gave us a reward that i didn't deserve and finally it's confessing him to confess not to a man but confessing out loud jesus is lord that that's a romans 10 9-10 paul wrote about this that word means boss that means you're in charge now you're you're the one you're the one i want part of my life god god didn't send jesus to die on the cross to get you to to church jesus died on the cross not to get you for a sunday one day a week that's religion religion is one day a week relationship is he gets every day of the week relationship means this that that christianity is coming to a person and not coming to a place because this pandemic has taken away the place but right where you're at you can come to a person you can be born again right where you're at right now pastor tim i want to do that i've got so much junk going on in my life and i want to just tell you today i want to let you know today you may have lost it but you didn't lose him he's coming close right where you're at right now he's there well pastor tim i i i'd like to be born again i'd like to take that to to start that journey today but but i've got so much junk i'm not perfect exactly you don't need to be perfect you just need to be forgiven and today it could start the journey could start if that's you and you say pastor tim i want i want to i want to pray that prayer wherever you're at if you're sitting in a living room a kitchen a car you're by yourself with a family maybe your father goes we need to do this as a family i'm going to ask you wherever you're at to pray a prayer with me to start this journey god's there god's close right now he's close and if you're there right now if you're able to i want you to say these words out loud with me as soon as we say amen don't just click off the phone or the laptop or the turn off the tv as soon as we say amen pastor david is going to come up and give you a great next step for this brand new journey this brand new relationship with jesus but if you're say if you're there and say i want to be born again i want my life to start i want i want to be brand new today it doesn't matter if you lost it you don't have to lose him god's faithful would you close your eyes and say these prayers with this prayer with me right now come on say it say it with me dear jesus i believe you're the son of god i believe that on the cross you took my sin my shame and my guilt and you died for it you faced hell for me so i wouldn't have to go you rose from the dead to give me a place in heaven purpose on earth and a relationship with your father today lord jesus i turn from my sin to be born again come on say with me god is my father jesus is my savior the holy spirit is my helper and heaven is my home in jesus name amen amen

Channel: Times Square Church

Views: 8,714

Rating: 4.8407078 out of 5

Keywords: Tim Dilena, Sermon, Times Square Church

Id: dVe-9-qewOI

Length: 52min 31sec (3151 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 30 2020