Take Heart (Part 3) - Hospitality and the Greatest Story Ever Told

hi I met Chandler here pastor of the village church just want to thank you for streaming this sermon on your device I I wanted to just before we get going here just lay before you a deep conviction we have that this video sermon that we've prayed really stirs up your affections for Jesus and shapes you and mold you into the image of the son would just be supplemental to your relationship with the Lord and in no way would replace the church you should be plugged into or the pastor that God has put over your life to Shepherd and care for your soul and so please enjoy the next hour or so of this message we have prayed that God would use it in a profound way in your life blessings well good morning if you have your Bibles go ahead and grab them we're gonna be in Matthew chapter 28 if you've got a background in church you'll actually know this text it's a a wildly kind of popular well-known text if you do have a background in Church heck you might not even have a background in church and know this text and so we'll start here and then I want to go to a couple of places that I think what I'm teaching on this morning won't be unique to us if we've been around for a while but I do think it's one of those things we need to be refreshed in and so that's my goal in our time together today I want to finish up this small series we're doing on Christian courage and so in week 1 we talked about what the basis of our courage is and the basis of our courage is not that we have cultural and political favor that the majority culture backs what we believe but but our courage is rooted in who God is and and what God has done and how God has designed things to be and so we need not the applause of men to be courageous and in what God has called us to and then last week we started to look at and talk about really we looked at at one verse Exodus 15 verse 3 and in one sentence the Lord is a man of war the Lord is his name and we talked about really cosmic realities in that you and I as mankind humankind are not brains on a stick but there's really something behind all that we see in all that we know that must be right looked at it and we saw that God makes war against Satan and demons and against those who pledged their allegiance to those dark forces and so we we walked through that last week and we talked a lot about what we call or what Tremper Longman calls stage 4 warfare which is where Christ's life death and resurrection has triumphed over Satan and demonic forces and now the people of God filled with the Holy Spirit but by the blood of Christ make war against the darkness by doing good by showing compassion by sharing the gospel by being salt and light to the world around them so that God's stage for warfare is not violent but they're loving and kind long-suffering and patience so that's what we covered last week and so this week I wanted to end the series by getting a bit more practical I want to kind of pull it down to the ground and talk about what that looks like maybe in your life and in my life and then maybe if we have time in the life of the village church and so what I want to do is I want to look at the Great Commission that's what this text is called it's how God is going to accomplish this and then I want to talk about kind of how you and I fit into the Great Commission so I'll give you my outline here in a second for you type Aires but first let's look at Matthew 28 starting in verse 18 and Jesus came and said to them all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me so every time I've read that verse I like to stop right there and go okay it doesn't matter what he says next I like at that point doesn't matter what he says next we can be pretty confident that we're gonna be alright in it because if all authority in heaven and in earth and if you think back to week 1 when we talked about kind of God God's cosmic reach that God is not inside of time but he is outside of time so the future is not a place that he knows about it's a place that he is that that he is omniscient that he is Omni present that he knows everything and he is all-powerful like if we start thinking about that and now Jesus just says all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me then it doesn't matter what he says next so what does he say next go therefore and make disciples of all nations now let's talk about this little phrase right here in the Greek right now I don't need to say the phrase in Greek I just want to kind of explain it the one that there's a there's an argument about what's going on in this go therefore and and I think one of the things that's happening is is they're both arguing the same thing foolishly right they're saying if you're married you know exactly what I'm talking you're saying the same thing we're just kind of missing each other that that's what's happening in the argument because the argument is okay what this means is that you go right you you get all your stuff and you head out you go into all the nations so you pack up your stuff you leave your land and you go into a land where Christ is not known and you preach and teach the gospel there well I think that's exactly what he's saying here and many will write in fact we we have many families who have sold their practices who have resigned from their positions and they've moved their family to China and to India into parts of Africa all over the world to do just this to go and make disciples of all nations but but the other side of the argument is that really what's going on in the phrasing of this is more than as you go right so it's not that you would actually pack up and move like a missionary would but rather that all of us would be on mission and so both are present in the text and so it's not that and I'll clarify your knee this is something I don't even need to tackle a bit I just feel compelled I don't believe all Christians are missionaries I think missionaries are those who leave their lands and head to a different culture in a different place of the world to herald the good news of the gospel but I believe that all Christians are on mission you see the difference in that because there's a significant difference one packs up their stuff and leaves and one just understands that their entire life as they go is about the mission of God to push back what's dark and to seek and save the Lost and so both are present in this text it's not that all Christians always should pack up all their stuff and leave I mean that wouldn't even work right it's that many will go those who do not go send and they pray and they're on mission where they are so that the mission field yes is other places that don't know the gospel but the mission field also is your office than your neighborhood so he says all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit verse 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold I am with you always to the end of the age so here's what I want to talk about I don't want to talk about how God actually accomplishes this right so this is his big plan right cosmic realities cosmic warfare what's dark being pushed back in the world the light and victory of Christ being made more and more and more visible to the world around us how's he gonna accomplish these he's gonna accomplish it through his people the church the manifold wisdom of God remember last week Ephesians 3:10 that we are God's big plan just to remind you again take a look around go ahead glance around this is God's big solution to all the darkness and brokenness of the world doesn't seem like a good plan does it look around again really like this is it like we consider Isis and a billion dark wicked things in the world right now and this is God's big plan well remember back to last week CS Lewis says that we see the church differently than maybe spiritual principalities see it so we quoted CS Lewis's Screwtape Letters where one demon mentoring another demon says not the church as we see her not mighty as an army with banners no no he will not be able to see that show him instead the woman who sings off-key or the frumpy man with squeaky shoes he will then see how absurd these people are and think the whole thing is absurd right and so cosmic reality see the church as far more forceful than then we see it we see off-key singing frumpy people right that's what we see like we're looking around going this is not gonna do it but that's not how it's seen behind the veil and and so here's God's big plan in the Great Commission to push back what's dark to show the victory of Christ over dark powers and over the darkness of the world through his people but okay how does that actually look well well here's gonna be my argument today right that you and I have been uniquely wired and uniquely placed for unique opportunities right that that's the outline so if you're type-a there you go breathe out you got it uniquely wired uniquely placed for unique opportunities that that's our outline again this should not be new to many of you if you've got history here with us and so let's let's talk about being uniquely wired let's look at Psalm 139 so I'm 139 starting in verse 13 again this is this is a pretty well-known verse if you've got a background in church there's parts of this this text that that have been attached almost every woman's ministry in the world and and so here we go Psalm 139 starting in verse 13 for you formed my inward parts you knitted me together in my mother's womb I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well my frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret intricately woven in the depths of the earth your eye saw my unformed substance and in your book were written every one of them the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them so three things I want you to see out of this text as we consider being uniquely wired by God right the first thing is this that as we read about God leaving us together in our mother's womb and as we pull phrases and sentences out of this text and talk about what they mean we're not denying biological realities were pointing to what's behind those biological realities so what I'm saying is that we're not as Christians we're not deist we don't believe that God created the world with a biological design cranked up the engine and is now hands-off but that God is actually at work behind the biology to his good pleasure for our good joy so we're not do know we know where babies come from we're not morons we understand the biology we're just saying that God is at work behind the biology doing something working in ways that are beyond the mere biology of the person so here's what we see in the text if you look back at verse 15 my frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret intricately woven in the depths of the earth so so this idea of frame really throughout the Old Testament talks about our physical makeup how we're built and and the Bible's now saying that one of the divine activities behind the biology going on in our mother's womb is God putting us together you've already read the text with me for the days that he would build out for us and so I've oftentimes thought this about my own life I am a loud human being I just AM I'm just I don't really possess the ability to whisper but not a lot of secrets in my life simply because I can't really do it and and so one of the great ironies as I look back on my life as my life is filled with detention right in-school suspension right spankings at school spankings at home cuz that's where I grew up right I grew up where you got a whipping at school and then your dad would find out give you a whipping cause you got a whipping at school right he was the double Wham I just I I wonder how it turned out if I would've just got put in the corner to think about it right and yet this was the world I grew up in but but here's here's how I understand it now God knowing the days that he had for me in my mother's womb just made a little extra fold there or something I don't know so that my throat it can just go I mean I for years I did six services here on a weekend and my voice was just as strong at the sixth as it was at the first I am loud and God made me loud because of the days that he had for me right that our physical makeup is a part of God's divine plan for our lives and and so eight we can look at the genetics of it but I don't know who in my family is overtly loud I just kind of me is this weird anomaly screamer what I used to get D Hall for I now get paid for it's somewhat ironic someone ironic right in and yet this is how the Lord has worked in me and this is how the Lord is at work in you your physical makeup God's actively involved in that we're not deists but that's not the only argument here he argues not only that God's been involved in our frame but look at verse 616 your eyes saw my unformed substance and in I'll just stop there your eyes saw my unformed something so what's our unformed substance well now the unformed substance is speaking to our personality types what we're like see God is beginning to set and I'm noted journalist he's beginning kind of set courses for our lives for his glory and our joy so think about fight or flight or maybe you're in the middle maybe you're a slap and run guy right but but this is what he saw about our personality types if you're a parent of multiple kids you know this is true and strange like the same parents can have multiple kids love those kids the exact same way and see very different personality types in those children my oldest is completely fearless my middle child is nervous I threw them both in the air as high as I could angry my mother-in-law and yet one loved it and wanted more and the other one had a look of terror and ask dad to put him down right so what happened there now surely environment can help shape that raw material but all of us are born with a personality type we are aggressive we are extroverts we are introverts right this is part of how we were designed and the bottle saying no no no that that's yes biology genetics parts of the brain yes yes yes but there's a divine happening behind all of that and the reason that God has wired you physically like that and then why are you with that personality type as a harmonizer or an achiever or a persister or whatever you're a little graph or chart at work says you are you're miles brig profile says that you are God has been at work in that for what reason again I love when you ask questions that are what I'm answering next in my outline look there at the end of verse 16 your I saw my unformed substance and in your book were written every one of them the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them so God keep in mind who were talking about here who is outside of time that tomorrow is not something he knows about it's a place that he is knows all the days that he would have for you all of them and knowing those days that would be formed for you he uniquely wired you he wired you in stature he wired you physically but he also he wired you emotionally he wired you with personality your fight and flight syndrome your harmonizing your persisting you're achieving right right all of that built-in hardwired into you by God behind the biology of it all so we've been uniquely wired you are you this is why it's criminal for you to want to be someone else to want to be someone else as an accusation against God that God has done something poorly that God has made some sort of mistake with you that that as he was as he was at work in your mother's womb he got distracted by something and then gaffed you up but we know this isn't true because the Bible has just been cleared that you are fearfully and wonderfully made and it repeats itself wonderful are all your works right all that God has done is wonderful so that you have been uniquely wired for the days that God has for you and speaking of the days that God has for you you've also been uniquely placed and so now let's look at this this is Acts chapter 17 I love this text also this is gonna also help us understand how the Great Commission is fulfilled so we have us uniquely wired now and as I didn't say this one uniquely wired but but let's think about it for just a quick second before we read acts 17 II in your being uniquely wired specifically that unformed substance a big part of the trajectory of your life begins to unfold so let's say it this way I don't think you've ever met a math genius who also excels at poetry and painting have you no no they're prone to be what engineers prone to be controllers CFO's never met a guy that math is just the joy of their life that also likes to write some poetry nor do I think you've come across too many great poets who really love algebra or calculus right right what happens is is how we're bent begins to set a trajectory for the domain of society that we end up in right most most not all but most doctors tend to be a bit type-a right they tend to be tight they tend to they they need to know things and a linear kind of tell me how works right they they tend to be a bit more controlling right there are domains where certain personality types thrive and and other personality types would shrivel and die and and so this unformed substance this is God at work leading us into this act 17 texts so let's look at this now acts 17 starting verse 24 the God who made the world and everything in it being lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything now here's where we're gonna camp out 26 and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth having determined the allotted periods and boundaries of their dwelling place why that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way towards him though he is not far from each one of us and so not only have we been uniquely wired by God but now we've been uniquely placed by God so I don't know if you were really dialed in to that verse 26 but here's what it just said that the not only women uniquely wired but the boundaries and the times in which we would live have also been set by God so that now we've been uniquely wired but now we've also been uniquely placed and so if you're like wait a minute you what if I what if I pack up and move today then you pack up and move today again we're not determinist I'm saying wherever you are there you are and God is at work and and this is the cool thing about the will of God specifically in this arena you get up and move then you're actually kind of participating in maybe what God is up to thus the sovereign reign of God is so infuriating to those who would rather shake their fist at him I said that last week that no one has a choice on whether or not they'll glorify God no one it's what makes it so heartbreaking when hardened atheist with so much anger shake their fist at heaven because in their rage and in their blasphemy they seem only they're only simply glorifying God in their rebellion because all of us will be objects of His grace trophies of his mercy or objects of his long-suffering wrath towards those who have joined sides with his enemy so we should always weep for the angry atheist a heart should always break for them as even in their rebellion they will ultimately glorify God and so what we see in this text now is God's sovereign reign being such that where we live and the times in which we live actually determined by God for and and here's why the text says God has done this so that men might seek Him and find him though he is not far from any of us so let me start to put this together before we move to unique opportunities so what we see happening is God actively at work in our mother's womb building out our frame setting up our personality types knowing all the days that he has for us and then he uniquely places us in that from that unique wiring into certain domains of society and certain domains of society lead to certain neighborhoods in which we live right more often than not the carpenter and the neurosurgeon aren't in the same neighborhood correct I mean there are pretty stunning carpenter if they're in the same neighborhood as the neurosurgeon I mean like they they just built like a couch from a single tree or something like that I mean just say stunningly gifted carpenter right we live in certain neighborhoods based on aptitudes based on domains of society in which we work right and see that's talking that's amen I agree with you that was a good point now ain't in the middle of this here's why why so that men might seek him and find him though he is not far from any of us so here's here's the line that we're drawing here today that you have been uniquely wired by God given certain dispositions certain aptitude certain passions and that those aptitudes have put you in certain domains you're a teacher you are a welder you are a lawyer you are a doctor you are a coach you are you you feel you're in finances you're you whatever you are you are because of aptitudes because I've got to design you and now because of how God has placed you and in that domain you have now moved into specific neighborhoods and the argument Paul is making in acts 17 is this but all that has occurred so that men might seek Him and find him because he is not far from any of them now when he's saying he's not far from any of them he's not talking about his omnipresence he's not talking about the fact that God is everywhere in his fullness always and it wants that that's not what he's talking about he's saying here that God is not far from them because you are not far from them if you think about the ramifications of that that alone should be the eradication of boredom for all Christians always because that what what that means is that God has been at work behind everything setting me up as a herald of the good news of the gospel to everyone and he's also been at work in my neighbors and for whatever reason he has put me next to my neighbor and he has put me in the DFW area and it looks like I will be in the DFW area for the rest of my life it's what the Lord did Texans I'm not from here just got here as soon as I could and that what's your bumper sticker say and and so God here learned the mistakes that you learn when you move to Texas you know we're not a southern state or Texas not from the south we're like our own deal right so I had to pick up on that pride begin to operate in it by a truck those kind of things and and so now the Lord's uniquely whining unique new placed me here in the same way he's uniquely wired you and uniquely placed you here why because all around us he has put those who he longs to reveal himself to darkness he wants to push back in all sorts of domains and here we are the salt and light of the world to accomplish and do just and that leads me to our unique opportunity so I think we've got multiple I'm just gonna share two for times sake here's the first I think unique opportunity as believers in Christ uniquely wired in uniquely place one we have the opportunity to show hospitality to all now let's talk about hospitality because I think in some ways the idea of hospitality kind of got hijacked by Martha Stewart now so now it kind of means you know how you decorate for the seasons wait which man go get it I get it we my wife does that right come October there's pumpkins and gourds all over our house magically all right it looks beautiful I'm not against that I'm saying that's not what the Bible means when it talks about hospitality when the Bible talks about hospitality it almost always ties it to aliens and strangers so that this is a good working definition of hospitality hospitality is benevolence or good done to those outside one's normal circle of friends that's what hospitality is to do good to show benevolence to show kindness to those who are outside one's circle of friends hospitality is opening our lives to those who believe differently than we do and and the Bible is serious about hospitality let me give you two verses Hebrews 13 1 through 2 says let brotherly love continue do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares now I don't know what that looks like that sounds awesome thereby showing hospitality to strangers we have entertained angels unaware and then just to show you how serious God is about it if we look to first Timothy chapter 3 and we see the list of traits necessary for a man to be qualified for the office of elder in a local congregation you find this list there for an overseer must be above reproach the husband of one wife sober-minded self-controlled respectable what's the next word hospitable able to teach so the God is so serious a hospitality among his people that in order to be an elder an overseer a leader in a local congregation like the rest of these kind of makes sense right respectable I mean who's gonna say that guy that's not respectable he should lead us right that the guy that's kind of half in on his wife maybe he should be an elder no like the rest of the you know you the guy that can't teach the bottle all it has no idea what it says you don't make that guy an elder right but but hospitable he's got to be able to open his life and show kindness to those who believe differently than he does he has to open up his world to those who are outside of what he believes and what he senses right then this is this is Seager's no no why would the bible be so serious about it oh well I mean if I could just kind of boil it all down to its most simple truth it's because God has been so hospitable to us the God has extended hospitality to us it is God who invited us and God who came and rescued us God who opened the door and said come on in as God who has shown his kindness to us over and over and over again despite us being aliens and strangers us being outside the promises outside us being in rebellion against God and God showed hospitality to his enemies in saving us as sinners I love what John Piper says about this then I'll talk about what it actually looks like when we practice hospitality we become conduits of God's hospitality instead of self decane cul-de-sacs the joy of receiving God's hospitality decays and dies if it doesn't flourish in our own hospitality to others we should be thinking how can I draw the most people into a deep experience of God's hospitality by the use of my money by the use of my things by the use of my home and by the use of my church home who needs to be asked out who needs to be asked in John's argument and I think his right argument is that where we receive the hospitality of God's kindness and grace and do not extend it to others our own variants of that hospitality begins to shrivel and decay that our joy in the Lord can be cut off by not extending the hospitality that we have been shown by God now listen I've come to passionately believe this is true that you will not grow in a zeal for the Lord by continuing to learn more and more and more information outside of practice no no we grow in a joy of the Lord by extending hospitality that we have received that as God has invited us into the beauty of life in Christ we now extend that invitation to all and thereby experience the joy of the Lord now I'm not telling you not to read your Bible or read good sound theologically rich books please do that but I'm saying doing that alone will not fan the flames of your heart into an inferno like being obedient to invite others into the hospitality of God like I've just seen it a thousand times there's a joy that's found in sharing your life with others and having spiritual conversations about Jesus Christ that far Trump's any navel-gazing trying to do better nests I just keep telling you the least sexy version of our faith there is is moral and betterment it's exhausting and weak it's not even what God has for you know that stuff happens inside out well how do you get inside out churning you take the step of obedience to show hospitality to all this is your unique opportunity open up your life so what does that look like okay so let's talk about what it looks like to show hospitality these are just four quick ways I think they're they're mainly no-brainers and I think if you're an introvert you might struggle some of them but but we'll talk we'll talk through that one I I think that one of the easiest ways to show hospitality is just greet everyone you meet one of the things that that I teach my children and feel free to test them on this is if you see my children you in reduce themselves you introduce yourself to them they will shake your hand and look at you in your eyes my son it'll get weird he'll linger like I've had to go back off-road just about just glance and look away you can't just I mean that's how fights get started among men all right so just that's a sign of dominance you you're ten it's not time to try to show your dominance right now okay so just look in the eye in or just say your full-name and then remember their name say their name back in your head right we just want to greet everyone we see we want to be known as friendly open people that's an easy thing to do and don't think I don't know the introverts in here aren't in just stress right now all right what's number two cuz that ain't happening all right you just go to number two it's not I swear to you I I love the Lord I want to be hospitable that can't happen I'm sweating just thinking about it all right so number two is not gonna get better for you engage people engage people here's what I mean by engaged people we coded CS Lewis last week multiple times one of the things we quoted Lewis saying was that you have never met a mere mortal that everyone you have ever met is eternal in some sense that everyone you know will one day be a creature so lovely that if you saw it now you'd be tempted to worship it or or a creature so distorted and evil-looking that if you have ever seen such a thing it will only be in your nightmares and that all of us are headed to one of those two ends that we have never met a mere mortal well if that's true then engaging people as those made in the image of God who are eternal becomes significant in showing hospitality I don't think this is overly difficult I think this is asking open-ended questions letting your inner curiosity kind of out so what do you do I'm a controller okay what's a controller so what is what is the week of a controller look like like what are you doing on Monday I'm you give me control stuff how how does this work okay it's Tuesday any different you have a day that's very different that I mean this is just engaging right tell me about your life how long have you been married how did you guys me current pain points in your life you know that's really personal I I think you'll be surprised at how willing people are to engage you because in our know everyone and no no one world that we live in people are really hungry to be known and really hungry for conversation that goes deeper than how we think the Cowboys are gonna do this fall right this is just engaging people where they are I and I love si and Anna preached si for 13 years - you make dinner a priority the Bible over and over and over again talks about the holiness of eating together like long dinners with good conversation that center around what God has done who God is our fears our hopes that's a good dinner good food good drink good company the Bible says that's holy so keep in mind where we are we're talking about hospitality and hospitality showing benevolence showing good to those who are outside of our normal group of friends so yes and amen have these kind of meals these feasts with your home group with your good friends men we just have one a couple of nights ago some of our closest friends and it was amazing and so you need to do that but you also need to have those spaces in which there are people around that table who do not believe like you believe who do not know what you know about the God of the Bible and they're not projects they've been invited into your life so that you might know them engage them love them serve them walk alongside of them through a broken and shattered world right this is making meals a priority and then lastly a pay attention I think you'll find this to be true everywhere in every work environment every neighborhood there's people that for whatever reason are kind of outliers right they don't have a lot of friends they not a lot of people know them well if you're just paying attention you can spot this and those of you have lived a little longer like yeah I know and there's a reason every time I've engaged that there's a reason that they're outliers right they're socially awkward they like people's skills there life sucking leeches yes yeah and so I'd like to just lay before you that you were probably all of those things as Christ would you and are still several of those things as Christ continues to love you see we extend the hospitality that God has extended to us and I just impassionate about you understanding that and grabbing hold of that because I think your joy is tied to that like there's a joy that comes in memorizing my families memorizing a chapter of Scripture this summer it's one of the things we're doing this summer is memorizing a chapter of Scripture but there's a joy that's far greater than that and that's seeing someone sit around our table ask questions about Jesus have that conversation and then pray for that person either there and then after they leave as we're going to bed praying that God would open their heart open their minds and then by His mercy if they become a Christian think about the joy that that floods into our hearts and minds that that way surpasses Wright intellectual knowledge that God just took us to work with him how crazy is that I don't know if you ever got to go to work with your dad that's just kind of a cool day then and yet the heavenly father's like hey I'm I'm saving some folk you want to come we show hospitality but keep in mind what we're doing here in this being uniquely wired being uniquely placed is we've been through all of that and God's been involved in all that so that men might seek him and find him though he is not far from any of us and so not only do we have the unique opportunity to show hospitality to all but on top of that we have the unique opportunity to herald the good news that Christ has come not to condemn the world but to save the world from condemnation was in a fascinating and convicting conversation earlier this week many of you know who Russell Moore is you've you've probably read a lot of his stuff he's writing him time he's kind of all over the place right now I honestly don't know if he sleeps but one of the things he said that that mind generation did and and I think he's right in saying that is when when he was younger churches in fact if you've got a background in church churches did things like Christian witness training CWT or EE evangelism explosion and they trained their people how to share the gospel so what my generation did is we saw some of the silliness that was behind that and he even gave an illustration of something that happened when he was out doing door-to-door evangelism right which is so uncool these days but but he he was with a guy and the guy handed this woman a tract and the one was like hey I'm not really interested he's like well that's fine just if you will just turn around on the back and just read the back out loud and he had written the sinner's prayer on the back of the track right so she reads the sinner's prayer out loud God will you forgive my sins I just pray that you come into my life and be Lord of my life and when she finished reading there's like praise God sister welcome to the family we'll count that right I mean like that's the kind of stuff that's silly and and pathetic and I'll go farther evil evil to give false assurance of a reality that's not present that's evil and so guys like me saw that was like yeah we're not gonna do that so we tore down that house but we didn't build anything in its place and so now because nothing's been built in this place so many of us we know we should we we have a we have a longing to but we're just not quite sure what to do how do we share the gospel as we show hospitality and so what's happened is a lot of us we become really good friends with lost people who never gotten around to really sharing the gospel with them or all the pressures on me right you bring your loss for you like man I hope Chandler's there and I hope he's good I hope that dude is good today I brought my lost friend I've hyped you up Chandler don't let me down you guys do this to me all that I'll be in the foyer you're like hey men from my atheist friend you on today what are we talking about you feel good when you ready is that coffee what you drinking you ready go that salvation ain't on me it's not on me I don't feel that fresh you can't put that on me fightin no no a God is uniquely wired you uniquely placed you honestly Christian I'm here for you to build you up to help you see and savor Jesus Christ so that you might do the work of ministry my job is to herald the good news of the gospel to all who will hear in this room in my neighborhood at the gym I workout wherever I am I want to herald the good news of the gospel but God did not put me in your neighborhood he put you in your neighborhood and he didn't put me at your workplace he put you at your workplace so how do we share the gospel they give you just kind of some simple things and we're working on other things that I hope will help you in the long run that will come out in a few months so one one of the things that you have that no one can really take from you or call you a liar about your own story like how'd you become a Christian well where were you when Christ became real to you that's a great story to share or you'll find this too because I know several of our members that do this and it really has been a stunning thing and did that people are so open to this um just ask a friend or neighbor if they want to read the Bible with you go to the Gospel of John just read the Gospel of John with them Gospel of Mark to read a chapter and have a conversation about it if you'd be so bold you can throw out hey if you've got you know I'm a Christian if you have any questions about that I'd love to answer us where you got any questions these are some of the ways that we begin to share the gospel with others as we show hospitality this is a unique opportunity we have to help clarify what most people know only in part but it's also look at me why you're there it's why you're there that's not just interested in you pulling a big paycheck now I want you to support your family God God wants you to work hard but God's big plan for you and uniquely wiring you and uniquely placing you wasn't just the good life it was mission that feeling that there's something more is a legitimate feeling there is something more to be wrung out for the glory of God in the greatest story that has ever been the only story there's ever been and we've been invited to play to grab hold of this to walk into this this is what God has for you not yesterday but day before yesterday Friday was my 24th spiritual birthday 24 years ago Friday I became a Christian and as I think about what I'm saying today and tie it back to all that went on before the United States government decided that petty officer Steve Chandler needed to move from the Bay Area to the great nation of Texas and so they transferred us out of Hamilton Air Force Base in Alameda California down to Galveston and and so we were actually on the other side of the Galveston Bay Bridge Lamarque Texas City area joined the football team and that's all I'll say about that and as I joined the football team a guy on that football team shared the gospel with me in the most bold way imaginable right that he just walked up out loud didn't whisper it to me and said I need to tell you about Jesus when do you want to do that now I was not interested in Jesus I had kind of written Jesus off there were some things in my family dynamic that made me go Jesus is real I don't want anything to do with him but it's very much an agnostic I thought there was something more than than just what I could see but but if there was it couldn't been Jesus but Jeff's boldness and my cowardice attracted me to Jeff's boldness and what I mean by that is I'm one of the guys in the locker room lying about this girl lying about how hard we partied and I mean really I was at home by myself playing you know Nintendo but it's just what you do in a football locker room and anybody who says other than that's a liar and and then here's Jeff not concerned with that image at all just going I need to tell you about Jesus when you want to do that and so I started going to church with Jeff and I want to be really straight where there's most kitschy ridiculous awful thing ever the first thing he took me to is the thing called Jam it stood for Jesus in me they would spell words with their body right Jo I down in my heart do you deep down in my heart and like everything about it I thought this is absurd this is ridiculous and and I would get in Jeff's car and he would take me back home and I would just tell him that really really and then really things start to culminate I go to at the Houston Summit I went and saw Run DMC Beastie Boys on a Friday night and then on Saturday night I went with Jeff to see michael w smith and DC tall now c'mon I am a lost kid with lost lenses watching Michael Libby Smith and DC Talk and if you love the Lord I'm sure it was amazing I did not love the Lord and I thought it was a Saturday Night Live sketch and yet here's what was happening I didn't have this language back then I have it now as much as I thought it was all silly I couldn't stop coming as much as I disagreed with what was being said Jeff would go do you want to come back next week and I would say yes this is called the effectual call of God God was wooing me I just didn't know it I just felt like there's something here I need to get to the bottom of this and so every week when we take communion one of the things I say is that if you're not a believer but you're hearing you're trying to get to the bottom of it I say that because I was that for a year Sutton just tried to figure it out and then Jeff graduated and went and played football for Texas A&M don't whoop and I love you I'm a fan just don't loop not here all right and and then from from there he went off play ball 4 a.m. I was working at a place called Texas City fabricating as a summer job right I had an industrial sander and I was cleaning I beams and cutting rebar and a hundred degree weather 230 percent humidity and I one of the guys I met through Jeff Faircloth at First Baptist Church of Texas City said hey there's scholarships to youth camp do you want to go I'm going mom would let me do that that's better than this yes and and yet it was at that camp they got opened my eyes to believe in here mean I have never recovered I had a list of about 15 questions I was gonna need God to answer for I'd give my heart to him and then just a really sweet Devon way guy kind of patted me on my head so those questions are cute and then he opened my heart to believe in him and I nothing in my life has been the same 24 years later everything about the trajectory of my life changed has changed how well gosh I'm thinking about this I mean guy was at work in all sorts of ways right the the military move enos jeff Faircloth grandparents that his parents there was some situations there that caused him to move in with his grandparents that you would think might turn his heart away from the Lord but man he was just captivated by Jesus Christ in a way where he understood grace and not law loan he was able to provide some clarity to my confusion he put up with me for well over a year had me into his home invited me into his church answered my questions put up with my hot and cold in this where I'd go let's go let's go let's go tell me more tell me to I don't want to talk about this anymore I know and and then Christ saved me and then man before I knew much of anything real I just started sharing the gospel with others I didn't really know a lot other than God was awesome and that hell was real you don't want to go there you wanted to go with this guy not that guy you know you should consider and then I started using Chick tracts do you remember those little cartoon tracts some more awful but some of them were actually pretty good and and I use the one called this was your life and I just hand it out to people and they come and ask questions I mean and I love telling the story because if you drop your kid off in a little village let me let me tell you Carl Brower story the first young man I ever led to Lord was a guy by the name of Jimmy Hereford literally he's just a pot smoking thug my people and so I handed Jimmy Hereford this was your life track he read it he came out to me I was out in the hallway because I was having that conversation in class and I can't whisper and so I'm sitting out and then he comes out he throws that down he's like I would love to do that I can't do that man I smoke weed all the time I can't you know he just telling me why he can't give his life to Christ and this starts this weird cuz I don't know much this weird series of conversations where I've got like fired Jolly Ranchers in my pocket and he wants a Jolly Rancher I try to offer him one he's like oh I don't like fire and my comeback is we'll remember we talked about probably want to get to the bottom of that if you don't like fire I mean what a great evangelistic strategy that was don't don't do it this week don't go oh let me get some what do you say get some fire Jolly Ranchers it's not probably I'm gonna go well for you but Jimmy becomes a Christian at jam right and and then years later in college Jimmy is a waiter at Abuelo's and another waiter at Abuelo's named Carl Brower Jimmy walks up to and says hey I need to tell you about Jesus when you want to do that and Carl Brower becomes a Christian right this is what you and I are caught up in and and this is what we must embrace as God has called us to mission brother sisters you have not been called to boredom you have not been called to board a book great rich purpose don't be afraid Christ has died for those who will believe he has just called us to play a role in calling them to himself uniquely wired you uniquely placed you you have unique opportunities embrace them let's pray father I thank you for my brothers and sisters I do pray that even in this moment that you would put people on our hearts that faces and names would flash over our minds in our minds then we would begin to prayerfully consider how we might invite into our lives how we might open up our table how we might share our story how we might answer questions how we might get conversations around Jesus Christ for right now that every man and woman in this room would get a couple a man a co-worker a neighbor in our minds and then even now we pray that in your mercy you would make them receptive to the gospel message I pray that there would be those who are ultimately born again because of our service here today I pray for unbelievers that are here among us that they wouldn't be struck in weird ways by this sermon but rather if we believe what we believe that what I'm encouraging us to do is the most loving kind thing imaginable we make us bold you help us overcome our fears we thank you that you are mighty to save that your arms are not too short to save will you drive boredom out of our lives out of our homes out of our workplaces out of the places we play and let us see all through the lenses of your call on our life to live out on mission it's for your beautiful name that I play amen

Channel: The Village Church Resources

Views: 11,383

Rating: 4.6721311 out of 5

Keywords: Matt Chandler, The Village Church, Take Heart, 2016

Id: eWz3pxMcl0Y

Length: 52min 30sec (3150 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 21 2016