Matthew's Story - Pastor Preston Morrison

it is absolutely awesome to be back with you I was just back for our Gateway generate night of worship how many of you were at the generate night of worship I just put up your hand wasn't it incredible having been here for 12 years or so the night of worship was one of the coolest things one of the neatest experiences that I have been a part of here at Gateway Church and I think there's another one coming up in June so you can jump on the web but I'm telling you right now if you love Jesus and you love to worship I promise you you won't be disappointed going to the night of worship it is absolutely phenomenal phenomenal what Pastor David and Elena have done with generate so that's just a little plug I didn't get paid for that or anything it's just it's such a neat night Scottsdale is going great I brought a few pictures from in our River weird church plant so you look around okay I want you to all to look around okay now I want you to close your eyes and that's not what Scottsdale looks like all right so I brought a few pictures just to show you we actually last weekend had our six-month anniversary so we're really excited about that we're kind of like that that cheesy nerdy high-school couple that celebrates every anniversary weekly so things are going great I've brought a few pictures you can you can see here aha that's my son right there that was an accident he got a cool new haircut you can go to the next one oh that's my other son shameless plugs right here baby shameless plugs this is one of our children's areas we're in a temporary facility we actually rent out the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts which is basically Scottsdale's version of bass hall and we rent rent out all of the rooms and this is one of our younger children's areas you go to the next picture this is the other side of the younger kids area then you go to the next one and see what our auditorium looks like I believe maybe yeah there you go now some of you might look at that and you'd go it looks like two thirds of the room is empty just an FYI three months ago 90% of the room was empty so we celebrate that stuff and I think there's one more from the top you can see pastor Cody leading worship we're having a blast things are going very very well we're so grateful but I will say this I am grateful that Pastor Robert let me watch how he navigated these waters from day one because I'd have gone bananas had I not seen someone do it and as we all know there are very few people who have done it as well as Sam and I want you to know as a part of Gateway Church other than my own mother and father no human being has taken better care of me than Robert Morris and and I know many of you know how he plays there isn't anybody on the face of the earth that plays like he does he's more generous and more gracious than you could ever imagine in your wildest dream and it is our privilege he will always be my senior pastor and it is our privilege to call him our senior pastor so I just want want you to know appreciate appreciate all of your prayers so so grateful we're having a great time people ask you know describe Scottsdale here's how I would describe Scottsdale if Beverly Hills in Las Vegas had a lovechild boom that Scottsdale otherwise known as one of the darkest places I've ever been spiritually in my life but you know what don't stick me in a dark place because my flashlight works way too well for it to stay dark very long amen well pastor Roberts been in this series called face to face talking about face to face encounters with Jesus divine encounters with Jesus and last week he talked he gave us a great method for leading people to Christ it was phenomenal if you were here last week get online watch last week's message really great message on how to lead people to Christ this week I want to talk about the mentality that goes with the method and if you have a Bible I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 9 and second Corinthians chapter 5 Matthew chapter 9 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 in this series on face to face encounters one of the things that we've learned is that face to face encounters were never meant to be something that you hog face-to-face encounters with Jesus we're always meant to be something that we share and today we're gonna talk about someone who did just that we're gonna talk about a man named Matthew we're gonna read a little bit about his story in Matthew chapter 9 so if you're there you can read along with me I'm reading out the New Living Translation and if you don't have that translation you can follow along in yours or follow along with me on the screen Matthew chapter 9 verse 9 as Jesus was walking along he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collectors booth follow me and be my disciple Jesus said to him so Matthew got up and followed in later Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners but when the Pharisees saw this they asked his disciples why does your teacher eat with such scum when Jesus heard this he said healthy people don't need a doctor sick people do then he added now go and learn the meaning of this scripture I want you to show mercy not offer sacrifices for I have come to call not those who think they are righteous but those who know they are sinners now I'm gonna tell you from the onset of this message the last couple messages I've preached here gateway are all about you messages obviously they're about Jesus but you know we didn't know was crazy talking about if you feel God's called you to something bigger we did why the wilderness for people who are in the wilderness and and people love those kind of messages but here's one thing I know about church if we're not careful we can show up sit down in that seat and look in the direction of the preacher and say what are you going to say to me about me as opposed to looking to God and saying what is it you want to say to me that's the reason every single message pastor Robert ends with what is the Holy Spirit saying to you and this message I'm telling you right now is not a message for you here's who it's for every lost person you know this will be the most important message I ever preached to every lost friend or person you know so I don't want to check out just because it's not about you it is about you but it's more about them so as we walk through Matthews story here I want you to listen with the heart of Jesus for those around you that are lost alright here's the first thing I want to point out about Matthews story number one Jesus saw Matthew profound huh Jesus saw Matthew verse nine as Jesus was walking along he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collectors booth most of us are convinced that God is watching us but if he's watching us he's probably doing so to keep a list of all the bad things that we do some of us fall asleep at night not even sure whether or not God sees us I assure you God sees you he's watching you he's not just watching to keep a list of the wrong things that you do he's watching you because he's enamored with you Jesus sees you reminds me of a story pastor Robert told years ago when the church was much smaller there was a man who broke into someone's house in the middle of the night and he was stealing as much stuff as he could and pitch-black he had his little flashlight no one was home he or so he thought and all of a sudden out of nowhere he hears this voice Jesus is watching and it startles him Jesus is watching he hits the deck he crawls to the door then he hears it again Jesus is watching and the voice sounds a little familiar so he gets up off of his feet and quietly goes into the room where the voice was coming from Jesus is watching and he pops up his flashlight and they sees a bird he starts chuckling and he says yeah this birds name is probably Jesus so he says is your name Jesus and the bird says nope he says well then what is your name bird my name is Clarence the burglar says what kind of a fool would name his parrot Clarence and without hesitation the parrot said the same fool who named his Rottweiler Jesus Jesus is watching now I know it's a bad joke but some of us honestly think that God is the Rottweiler in the corner waiting to attack us for doing wrong let me tell you Jesus isn't keeping a list of your wrongdoings the law did that for you Jesus came to erase that list and drop your name from every charge the loss stuck on you I'll prove it to you John chapter 3 verse 17 for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him Colossians chapter 2 verse 13 and 14 you were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away then God made you alive with Christ for he forgave all our sins he cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross is that good news that is good news Jesus saw Matthew same way Jesus sees you in a crowd full of people that were desperately trying to get Jesus attention how did Jesus see Matthew why did Jesus see Matthew more than anyone else the answer is simple it wasn't because he stumbled upon Matthew it's because he was searching for him Jesus saw Matthew because he was looking for him that brings us to the second thing that we're gonna point out here in Matthew story not on see Matthew Matthew responds to being seen by Jesus and that's the second point Matthew follows Jesus Matthew follows Jesus follow me verse 9 says and be my disciple jesus said to him so Matthew got up and followed him now the fact that Jesus called Matthew is huge Matthew Mark and Luke scoffs polls tell us to this point there were four other disciples that had been chosen Simon Peter Andrew James and John and we know that those four men shared at least one thing in common here's what it was they were fishermen they were all fishermen now in that day and time fishermen were the lowest of the low socially if you couldn't do anything if you had no trade whatsoever at least you could fish now it shows how much has changed since then because now the most godly people on the planet fish and all the best fisherman said hallelujah but in this day and time the the fishermen were the lowest of the lows and so the first four disciples it's Jesus making the statement I go after the socially inept everyone else runs from them watch me I run to them and then Jesus calls Matthew Matthew being a tax collector an absolute outright Heavin Jesus calling of Matthew is significant for this reason it was Jesus making the statement not only do I go after the socially inept I go after the morally bankrupt there's no one who has done so much that I won't pursue them Matthew come follow me now Matthew didn't have to follow Jesus he got to understand something Matthew was the fifth disciple most likely and by the fifth one you need to know that everybody started to figure that every once in a while Jesus was calling disciples and there were all of these people that were hoping they were gonna win the lottery and become one of the twelve Matthew wasn't obligated to follow Jesus he got to follow Jesus can I ask you a question why is it why is it that so many people look at following Jesus as a religious obligation I wonder if it would change anything if we stop seeing following Jesus as a religious obligation and started seeing it as the relational opportunity of all time I wonder what that would do in our relationships with God listen to me Jesus didn't come to earth just so he could get you to do good things and change your behavior Jesus came to her to earth to hold your hand for eternity and listen to me some of you might be saying well I don't see following Jesus as a religious obligation let me give you a little test do you have any romance in your relationship with Jesus Christ romance is another word for intimacy raw intimacy here's why I ask because if you don't have romance in your relationship with Jesus Christ all you have is a religious obligation to Jesus Christ he wants to hold us by the hand and he comes to Matthew and he says follow me and Matthew drops everything literally listen if this whole disciple of Jesus thing doesn't work out Simon Peter Andrew James and John could go back and fish Matthew couldn't go back and be a tax collector and make money the way they made money was to overcharge and in good conscience matthew couldn't go back and do it he was dropping everything to follow Jesus and here's my question why would a man drop everything to follow Jesus I'll tell you what I believe was the reason because when Jesus walked up to Matthew and he looked at Matthew in the eyes I believe Matthew saw more love in the eyes of Jesus than he had ever seen in his entire life in any other human being at any other point he saw so much love that he knew there was enough to go around to the point that Matthew knew I've got to share this thing right here called love with Jesus that brings us to the third point and we're gonna kind of camp out here for a little bit Matthew's friends met Jesus Matthew's friends met Jesus verse 10 later Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners now I want to talk to you a moment about Matthew strategy because we see a strategy for reaching lost people through Matthew's story in Matthew chapter 9 but I believe is a very very good strategy as someone to give you three things because that's what preachers do we always preach in three so I'm gonna give you three things that we see in Matthew strategy that I think if we all use to reach the people around us it would be a game-changer here's the first part of Matthew strategy he refused to be a Pharisee he refused to be a Pharisee listen to verse 11 but when the Pharisees saw this the people that were sitting with Jesus they asked his disciples why does your teacher eat with such scum awfully friendly tell me why your teacher eat with such scumbags like these people fYI for any church planters just taking a note out of this this chapter probably not the best way to try and build your church by calling everybody scumbags why does your teacher eat with these scumbags now the Pharisees were a confused group of people they had begun to think that you were filthy if you came in contact with the filthy so the Pharisees created this thing that I like to call relate religious isolationism it's actually become a very popular philosophy in the church today and here's what it is it's a works based philosophy that says as long as I don't touch what's dirty I'll remain clean let me give you a newsflash the only reason we're clean is because of the blood of the Lamb not because we don't come into contact with sin the Pharisees thought if I touch the filthy I become filthy the Pharisee stood outside of this party that Matthew throws for his lost friends in Jesus they're shaking their heads I can't believe you're sitting down with this filth now you need to know that in this day and time sitting down for a meal with someone didn't just mean you associate with them it meant you endorsed them it was absolutely scandalous that Jesus would sit down with these disreputable sinners and he knew it let me tell you something it was absolutely scandalous that Jesus looked me in the eye and said follow me I'll take care of all your junk and I'm grateful he did the Pharisees separated themselves because they thought we'd get dirty if we touch the dirt the Pharisee stood outside the door and all they could think about was how dirty everyone was going to dinner whereas Jesus was sitting at the table with them all giddy as a school girl cuz all he could think about was how clean everybody was going to be by the end of the meal the Pharisees stood outside the door waiting for chains changed Jesus came from heaven to earth to bring about change and our day and time there is a reason that some of us have a little bit of Pharisee in us there are two reasons that I think mainly that's the case if you have any Pharisee in you at all there's two good reasons the first misinterpreted Scripture the second misunderstood wisdom misinterpreted scripture and misunderstood wisdom we hear things like first John chapter 2 verse 15 do not love the world or the things in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him listen to me it doesn't say do not love the people of the world it says don't love the world and the things in the world how about this one 1st Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33 bad company corrupts good character how many of us heard this growing up or a variation of this phrase bad company corrupts good character I'm gonna read you this in context but listen some of us have misinterpreted 1st Corinthians 15 and instead of it saying bad company corrupts good character here's what we have said it means good people don't hang out with bad people good people don't hang out with bad people now let me read you verse 32 Paul's talking to people who were arguing about the resurrection of the Dead and there's a group of people going hey forget about it doesn't even matter and he quotes them they say let's feast and drink for tomorrow we die don't be fooled by those who say such things for bad company corrupts good character Paul quotes a group of people and says this is bad company and the quote is this let's it starts with let's let us we make this simple for you bad people are not people who do bad things we are all people who do bad things from time to time bad people are people who try to get you to do bad things there's a big difference a big difference listen Jesus wasn't saying stay away from people who were doing bad things because they're lost pastor Robert this is one of my favorite pastor Robert quotes runners run golfers golf swimmers swim and can any of you finish sinners sin why is it that when we get around sinners and they sin we get shocked and our jaws dropped to the floor it's kind of hard to convince sinners lost people that Jesus loves them and is not holding their charges against them when they do something that is not good and our jaws hit the floor and we look at them like what in the world are you doing how can we convince them God isn't judging them and isn't hating them if we look them in the face and were disgusted by their bad behavior listen to me don't be at all surprised when a sinner sentence Paul even says he got frustrated at one point in chapter 5 of 1st Corinthians and he said when I wrote you before I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin but I wasn't talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin or are greedy or cheap people or worship idols you would have to leave this world to avoid people like that I meant that you're not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin or is greedy or worships idols or is abusive or as a drunkard or cheats people don't even eat with such people Jesus wasn't saying get away from these people and that that's the the here's what gets me if we're not careful we can turn Christianity into something that is all about what we stay away from rather than who we stay close to that brings us to the second thing that's so great about Matthew strategy Matthew was a champ at filling the lobby with sick people he filled the lobby with sick people verse 12 when Jesus heard this he said healthy people don't need a doctor sick people do have you ever felt guilty and I want you to be honest at all of our campuses have you ever felt guilty for being around too many lost people I want you just put your hand up just be honest my hand is up I have felt guilty from time to time because I go ahead put it up high put it up high listen many of us have been there when I moved out to Scottsdale people would ask you know when I left here hey do you know a lot of people since you went to college out there do you know a lot of people that that will help you build the church here's the answer I know more people that are the reason I'm going to build the church than people who can help me build the church it's 21 when I go to my children's games I'm surrounded by lost people and I started to get a little scared that as people were finding out what I did for a living that they were judging me because I was surrounded by lost people but listen Jesus slapped my hand told me get over it and said Preston as long as they're sick people going to hell get over what everyone else thinks listen Matthew filled the lobby with sick people there are too many people sickened by diseases that should never touch them spiritually speaking listen to me we know the best doctor of all time I hope every game I visit and stand on the sideline I hope that it looks like the lobby of a hospital listen to me very very carefully and this is a strong statement if all of the people I love love Jesus I don't love enough people let me say it again if all of the people I love love Jesus I don't love enough people and I don't understand the love of Christ I imagine Matthew going to Jesus and he's so excited he can hardly contain it and he says Jesus I got this great idea I was messed up Jesus yes Matthew you were messed up the message translation Jesus probably would have said Matthew you were jacked up Jesus I was messed up but but I know this is gonna surprise you but I have some friends who are even more messed up than I was and Jesus I've sat with them in a drunken stupor because they were going through a divorce I've sat with them when they've had stolen from their workplace i sat with them in the midst of an affair Jesus these people are messed up but I've got a great idea what would you say Jesus if I threw a party I don't know if you know this but Jesus liked to party here's how you know he was the life of the party Jesus what if I throw a party at my house and I invite you as the guest of honor well that sounds great Matthew and I'll bring the disciples too you know even though I don't like all of them but Jesus what about this what if I invite all of my messed-up friends would you sit down with all of my messed-up friends because Jesus here's all I want I just want them to look into your eyes I imagine Jesus he might have even quoted Luke 19 Matthew welcome to the club I came to seek and save the Lost throw the party son and Matthew did he threw the party that brings us to the last part of his strategy he led them to more than a decision when I was growing up I grew up in a denomination that was very evangelistic and and I loved evangelism obviously and then I've given my life to the gospel and the cause of Christ but as I was growing up this denomination taught me that evangelism is all about the decision when we evangelize get people to the decision get them to the decision here's what I've learned as I've grown up evangelism is not about a decision it's about a savior yes we make a decision to follow Christ but listen to me if we focus too much on the decision it's the equivalent of saying the key to marriage is a good wedding ladies how would that be for you if your husband just said it I am going to be the best husband ever and you know what I'm gonna do I'm gonna give you the best wedding ever and then I'm gonna check out for the rest of our marriage we can't focus so much on the decision that we remove the relational component listen Matthew knew if I can just get him to the table across from Jesus a decision is inevitable but see I grew up and they taught me the first time I witness to someone I went to a park they were teaching us how to do cold turkey evangelism I don't even know why we called it that well you just walk up to people and you talk to him about Jesus so I was in the ninth grade and I was an extremely overconfident ninth grader and so I I attacked the oldest couple I could find I went right up to him and I said excuse me can I speak with you for a moment sure would be all right if I talk to you about Jesus for a minute okay and I started going down the road and here's what I did I watered it down i watered it down and as he asked me questions now if I give my life to Jesus can I still do some of these things and I said and I would say things like well you know I think it's okay and you know it was not okay I was watering it down here's why all I wanted him to do was make a decision and I wanted to make it as easy as possible so I get to the end of my spiel answering the guy's questions horrifically and the man says can I say something to you said sure you want to make a decision no I've already made a decision I'm the senior pastor of the church right down the street he said can I give you a piece of advice you need to meet Jesus before you try and introduce someone to him yes sir I'm sorry sir but here was the problem all I was focused on was a decision listen to me carefully yes Jesus wants a decision you know what he wants the decision to be that you'll hold his hand for the rest of your life and for all eternity not just say yes and give him your heart in a moment at an altar at some point in your life Matthew led them to more than a decision now I want you to see something because you need to understand that God's heart is to reach the people around you that don't know him and I want to say something kind of strong because if your Lobby isn't full of sick people that's a problem let me say it like this if all of the people I love love Jesus I don't love enough people if all the people I love love Jesus I don't love enough people and I don't understand the love of Christ second Corinthians chapter 5 if you turn there we'll end with that I want you to see we talked about Matthews strategy for reaching the loss I want you to see God's strategy said Corinthians chapter 5 verse 18 and all of this is a gift from God who brought us back to himself through Christ and God has given us this task of reconciling people to him for God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself no longer counting people's sins against them and he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation so we are Christ's ambassadors God is making his appeal through us we speak for Christ when we plead come back to God God wants to reach the world and he wants to do it through us now at the end of this party imagine Jesus leaving Matthews house and throngs of people are standing outside the door waiting for Jesus to come out and as Jesus comes out he heads towards his next destination and many of these people follow Jesus but some of them hang around Matthews house because they want to talk to people who have a first-hand account of sitting at the table with Jesus and Matthews friends walk out the door there are a couple of really excited people right there at the door they say something like this what was it like what was it like I mean that's my dream come true you got to sit at the table with Jesus I'd give anything just to have dinner with them one time what was it like better yet how in the world did you get to meet Jesus and I imagine Matthews friends all kind of looking at each other thinking the exact same thing and they respond saying this matthew introduced us I imagine heaven to be a little bit like that I wonder if there will be a day in heaven where we're all standing around and there are some excited people even more excited than we are walking around going how did you get here isn't this awesome how in the world did you get here here's what I hope more than a few say I got here because of Jesus but I meant Jesus because of you Matthew's story was full of loving on the Lost and leading them to Jesus here's my question well your story be full of that too I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes and in a moment we're gonna go back into worship and when we do I'm gonna have you stand and when we stand there gonna be some people who come forward to this altar and if you're here today and you've never met Jesus before I want you to know you've met him today anytime we come into the presence of Jesus we get to meet him you saw Jesus today and if you want to do more than just meet Jesus if you want to do more than just see Jesus if you want to get up and follow Jesus well everybody else stands up after I'm done praying I'm gonna ask you to leave your seat and come forward and pray with someone here I want you to follow Jesus all the way down to this altar I want you to give your life to him maybe there's some of you that would say I have a little bit too much fair seeing me related to reaching the lost I need to wash that out I'm gonna ask you to come forward and leave that mess here at this altar and maybe some of you are like me you have some people in your life that you've been leading to Jesus for 15 30 50 years and they've never made the decision to follow him and during the message you felt you needed to stand in the gap for that person just like Matthew did I'm gonna ask you to leave your seat come forward and lift that person or those people up in prayer so after I pray don't hesitate and if you need ministry for anything at all we'd love to pray for you Holy Spirit I ask you give every person here who needs a ministry give every person who needs to come forward for prayer the boldness and the courage to do in Jesus name Amen I was 19 years old when I gave my life to the Lord and everything changed I didn't have any desire to go back to that old life I wanted to walk with the Lord and learn more about him and some people helped me to learn the Bible and to learn how to pray and to learn about my new life in Christ and that's what we want to do for you I am so excited that you've given your life to the Lord he's forgiven all of your sins and you're on your way to heaven but we need to learn some things now about the Bible about prayer about some basics of the Christian life so that you can be victorious and live for the Lord like I know you want to so we've designed a class called fresh start and I want to encourage you to sign up for this class because we want to help you grow in your walk with the Lord now I love you and I'm so proud of you

Channel: gatewaychurchtv

Views: 17,621

Rating: 4.845304 out of 5

Keywords: Robert, Morris, Gateway, Church, miracle, Christianity (Religion), Religion (Literary Genre), Church (building), Face to Face, Jesus, sermon, Southlake, DFW, Texas, Matthew, Matthew's Story, Story

Id: LcPTUBzDbKg

Length: 38min 30sec (2310 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 20 2013