The Gospel

Morning. Would y'all stand? We want to welcome you this morning to Calvary Chapel.

We want to welcome all of those who have joined us online, Facebook, YouTube, all that kind of technology type stuff. Would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity this morning to gather, to worship in song, to study your word, Father. We ask that you would just prepare our hearts, Lord, just to come as we are by faith and worship you this morning.

May we just not be afraid to let go and sing, not worry about our voice. Your word says make a joyful noise. So we had asked that we would do that this morning, that we would pour our hearts out to you, Lord. You're worthy of our praise. Worship, worth-ness. You're worthy. Of our praise. We thank you, Jesus. Bless our time. Just fill us afresh with your Holy Spirit

this morning, Lord. Move upon us, and we'll give you all the praise. Where else would we go if we sought to leave the mess we were before we came to you, Lord? Only worse. Praise. Your mercy, your sovereignty, Lord. We're just going to let go and worship this morning. Amen. You're good to us, all the time. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Strengthen us to be your witnesses,

vessels. But in our weakness, you're made strong. Lord, that's our prayer. We give you praise. We thank you. Express our worship to you in song. And so now we worship you, Lord, as we continue, as we study your word, Lord, as Pastor Ryan comes up, continue to express in our hearts your worthiness. As your word comes forth, and as you do your work by the Holy Spirit in each of our hearts,

we will thank you and give you praise. Father, give us listening ears to hear this morning, eyes to see, hearts to perceive what you have, Lord. And I want to lift up the classes down at the other end of the hall that you'd bless those teachers as they teach those youngsters, too. By your Holy Spirit, move. Bless the nursery and those workers that look after

those little ones. Isn't it nice to have more and more of those little ones? Well, that's one way to grow the church, isn't it, huh? And we ask for your blessing on the little toddlers as they're being looked after, too. And so now, Lord, as we take this minute of our three-year fellowship, and Pastor Ryan comes up, be glorified. Just overflow us by the power of your Holy Spirit, and move in Jesus' name. Amen? Let's have some fellowship,

y'all. Good morning.

We'll get ready to go over some announcements. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you could be here this morning. Praise God. Over on the left-hand side of your bulletin are the things that go on throughout the week, different studies to get plugged into. So peruse through that and find one that you feel like fits you best. Over in the middle section of your bulletin, a couple

of things to pay attention to. Number one is that as we continue seeing more people showing up, it means we need more people serving. So if you've been here about six months or so and are interested in getting involved in serving in some way, I know some of the big ways that we need sound and video, I think can always use some buddies. Ushers can always use some friends. And then Sunday school teachers

can always use some friends and nursery workers as well. But I'm sure there's other places we could plug in, too. Just come talk to me afterwards if you're interested in that. And then, as many of you know, Rick Hawkins is doing that outreach this spring slash Sunday. Summer. And if you signed up to be one that's going to give your testimony at that, he's going to be meeting here at the church next Sunday afternoon at two. So take note of that

for you guys to kind of talk through what it's going to look like and help you organize your thoughts and things along those lines. So and then there's one last thing where it there is. I'm going to have Gary come up and share just a little bit about the study that he's been doing. My name is Gary Moore. And if you look in your bulletins, you'll see that there on Thursdays, which makes me nervous. But nonetheless, it's nonetheless, it's there.

We have a Bible study on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. They're at 7 p.m. at Jerry and Joy Fry's house. We've been studying First Timothy, which is part of what we call the prison epistles. There's First Timothy, Titus, and Second Timothy. Pastoral epistles. Pastoral epistles. And we're ready to start chapter two. The thought went through my head, we finished chapter one, but no, we haven't finished chapter one.

We're passing on to chapter two. I don't think you can ever finish chapter one. As a matter of fact, we spent two weeks in the last three verses of chapter one. So the Lord is leading I believe the study. We're taking it. We don't have an agenda as far as where we're going or how fast we're going, but we're just working our way through First Timothy. There are about 10 of us,

and I'm blessed. They are all erudite. Only big word I know. It means learned with much understanding of the scriptures. So I'm learning as much coordinating the study as the rest are, and I'm blessed by that. And my goal really for this study is to have it an open place, a place where we feel free with one another, a place for Christians to ask questions that we think Christians shouldn't have, a place to express feelings and thoughts that we think

Christians shouldn't have. Teresa and I went to bed early last night about 10 o'clock and 12.30 I woke up. And I'd had a dream and the dream was what I'm doing now is presenting this to you. And I said, okay Lord, I want to go back to sleep. But I was awake. I was awake. And I got up and I wrote this down. And I went back to bed and went to sleep. So I would encourage you

if this sounds interesting to you, if this type of format is interesting to you, if you're hesitant to ask questions because you don't think Christians should have those questions, then this would be a good place. This is a type of openness and love. Loving concern and compassion that I have found so far in this fellowship. And I've been blessed by it. And like I said,

we're beginning chapter two and that's where Paul is encouraging Timothy in intercessory prayer. This is not a prayer meeting. We pray, of course, but our main focus is study of God's word. So we're beginning chapter two. Verse one, talking about intercessory prayer. That being said, if you would like to come and would like to catch up on the first chapter,

I would be willing to meet with anybody to kind of bring you up to speed as to where we are and what we've gone through. One-on-one, if you would like, just call me and I will be available. But I want you to know that Joy has been so gracious in opening her house and has been a blessing for me and I hope for the others that have attended. So that's our meeting, second and fourth Thursdays of the month.

Thank you.

Thank you, Gary. Okay, those are the things that are going on. So if you'd make sure that your mobile device is silenced and for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 19. Psalm 19, looking at the new American standards so we sound the same. Should be a copy in a row, around you if you need it. And as you are turning to Psalm 19, if you are able,

please stand with us in the honor of the reading of God's word.

I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Lewis and the even verses. Psalm 19 for the choir director, a Psalm of David. The heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands. Day to day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is, there is no speech, nor are there words, their voice is not heard.

The line has gone out through all the earth and their utterances to the end of the world. In them, he has placed the tent for the sun. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. It is rising from one end of the heavens and its circuit to other end of them. And there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect,

restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true. They are righteous altogether. They are much more desirable than gold. Yes, than much fine gold.

Sweeter also, than a house, than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned. In keeping them, there is great reward. What can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also, keep back your servant from presumptuous sins. Let them not rule over me, then I will be blameless and I shall be acquitted of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. And Father, we come before you and I thank you so much, Lord, for who you are, and I thank you for your word that you have blessed us with. I thank you that you have made yourself known to us in so many ways. And so Father, I pray that as we take time

to talk about your word this morning, that you would move by the power of your Holy Spirit. Father, I lift up the hearts of each individual that's in this room this morning and the hearts of everyone that's watching online, and just ask that you would move, Lord, in us. Father, teach us, guide us, direct us, convict us, And Lord, may you do your work in us today, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.

And if you would, open up to Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1. After Paul introduced not only himself, but the recipients, as well as the subject of this book, which is Jesus, unlike Paul, he jumped straight into what they were doing wrong. Usually Paul takes time to say, I'm so thankful for who you are and what's going on. But the issue was serious

in Galatia, in the churches of Galatia. The issue was serious because it was tampering with the very heart of the gospel. So he jumped straight into the fact that he was amazed that they had departed so quickly from the gospel that he had preached. As a matter of fact, he said, if anyone preaches any other gospel other than the one that I have preached to you, let him be.

Let him be accursed. And we talked last week about what false gospels look like. And so as we move into verse 11, what he's going to do is begin to defend this message of grace, this gospel that he has given. And so as we look at verse 11 of chapter 1, this is what it says. It says, for I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. That's the farthest we're going to make it this morning

because what I really want to do is spend some time talking. I want to talk about the gospel. At the end of last week, I had to really kind of be almost kind of harsh with some of the false gospels that are out there. Those false, false gospels of subtraction that take away from God's word, those false gospels of addition that add to God's word and those false gospels of self that put us at the center of our lives instead of Jesus at the center of our lives. And so, um, as I finished last week and spent yesterday

or, uh, last Sunday afternoon, sort of thinking back on, uh, what I saw, what I saw in the Bible, what I spoke about and what we talked about, which by the way, every pastor does that on Sunday afternoons, we, we sit down and we think about everything that we said and we weigh out whether or not anybody's coming back next week. And so, um, so, so I was doing that part of it, kind of weighing those things out and thinking about it. I thought, you know, I spent a lot of time talking about what the gospel is not. I should probably spend some time talking about what the gospel is. Well, later that evening or the next day,

I don't remember which I was talking to somebody and they said, you know, what would probably be a really beneficial thing to do is really just take time to lay out and explain the gospel. And I thought, well, this must be the Lord that's doing this. When you couple that with what's gone on a little bit in our country this week, it's been kind of fascinating to watch. Has it not? The word revival has been thrown around quite a bit because of what's

taken place in Kentucky. And it's been a fascinating thing to watch. I'll be honest. I've not read as much about what's going on at Asbury as I should have, but I have heard some interviews and watched some video clips and from everything that I can tell. And by the way, I'm a very skeptical human being, but for everything that I can tell, it's a real move of the Holy

Spirit. That's going on there. You see, there's some things that you have to check off of boxes to say, is this a work of God or is this a work of the flesh? And so far they're checking the boxes. Uh, repentance seems to be at the heart of it. God's word seems to be at the forefront of it. The Holy Spirit seems to be the power behind it. And really it's just,

it's a, it's a movement that's not flashy. It's a movement that's just simply people coming forward, confessing their sins and repenting of their sins. And honestly, that's the heart of the gospel. And so I thought, what a perfect week for us to talk about the gospel, because I think that there's now this temptation for us to think that the Holy Spirit has located himself in Asbury and, and, uh, uh, Wilmington, Kentucky. He's, he's

located himself right there at Asbury university. And we all now need to go to Asbury university, but I'm here to tell you right now, the same Holy Spirit that's at work there. He wants to do something here in our city. And he, he wants to do something in, in Wichita and he wants to do something all over the country, right? Everywhere because brothers and sisters,

Jesus is coming back soon and we need to be. We need to be ready for that. We need to be ready for the things that are coming. And the only way to be ready is what I think God's doing right now. And that is preparing the hearts of people. He is giving one last push to get the message of the gospel out before he takes the church home and begins pouring out his wrath on an unbelieving world. And

so it's time right now, the time of our redemption draws near. So let's talk about this gospel this morning. The word gospel is a very interesting word. The word gospel literally means good news. As a matter of fact, in that famous announcement that took place there in the beginning of Luke and chapter two, when the angels come and announce to the shepherds that Jesus has

been born, they say, fear not for we bring you glad tidings of great joy. Literally that word glad tidings is gospel. We bring to you the gospel, the good news that Jesus has been born in Bethlehem. And so that's what I want to talk about this morning is the good news. The good news is going to take on three forms. Okay. We're going to talk about the bad news. We're going to talk about the good news, and then

we're going to talk about the response. I find it important that we start with the bad news because if I don't, first of all, tell you the bad news, then the good news turns out just to be news, right? It's just news. It's just, it's just information that you don't really need. Let me put it to you like this. If we were flying on an airplane today and the flight attendant came to you and they handed you a parachute and said, I think the

most comfortable way to do it is to fly on an airplane. And they handed you a parachute and they said, I think the most comfortable way for you to fly is for you to wear this parachute. As a matter of fact, I think it's really going to add to your entire flight experience. You're going to love it. It matches your clothing. And I think that this is really going to add a great deal of joy and fulfillment to your flight. You would go, well, that's

dumb. Thank you. And you'd stow that thing underneath the seat, right? Because nobody's told you the bad news yet. However, if the flight attendant comes out and says, I just heard from the pilot in the cockpit, the plane's going down. As a matter of fact, within 15 minutes, this plane will hit the ground. I have parachutes for everyone. Let me hand you a parachute because this is going to save your life. Well, the moment they handed it

to you, fasten that guy. And where's the ripcord? How do I work this thing? Right? Because you just heard the bad news that the plane's going to crash, but I have good news for you. Your life can still be saved. Well, in order for us to understand the good news of Jesus Christ, we have to understand there's bad news and brothers and sisters. What we tend to fight

against in our world right now is the bad news, but I'm going to give it to you anyway. The bad news is this. All have sinned. As a matter of fact, I won't have you turn a bunch of different places in scripture this morning. I just want you to listen, perhaps jot down the scripture references that I give you. But I think the best way that we can start is with a very

simple understanding of the bad news that's given to us in Romans chapter three, verse 23. And it says this, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There's a word presented to us that's important for us to pay attention to. The word that's presented to us is the word sin. The word sin literally means to miss the mark. It was an old archery term that they used in

olden times when someone was in the midst of an archery contest, someone would stand down near where the bullseye was and they would cry out either bullseye or sin because he's missed the mark. And that's exactly the issue that we all have. As a matter of fact, Paul in writing the book of Romans is sure to include the fact that who all has sinned? All. That word is an all encompassing word in the Greek. It means everyone at all times. All have

sinned. Well, you should ask yourself a question. If to sin means to miss the mark, then what was the mark? What mark did I miss? Well, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, the mark is given to us very clearly. In the Old Testament, after the law was given, Moses told the people, be perfect as God is perfect. The mark, perfection. And just so that we know that that's not just an Old Testament concept,

we move into the New Testament. In Jesus, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, after he had presented to them what the law really looked like for New Testament believers, he said, therefore be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. You see, we forget that what God demands is perfection. It's not just what he desires. It's actually his righteous demand on humanity.

He demands perfection. Well, Ryan, what's the rule book to look at perfection? Well, God was very good to us and he gave us what perfection looks like when he gave us the 10 commandments. Now, I want to go through a handful of these commandments with you to show you just how much all of us have sinned. The 10 commandments are broken up two different ways. The first four

have to do with man's relationship with God. The last six have to do with man's relationship to man. So let's just handle the last six and see how we do. So let's just handle the last six and see how we do with the 10 commandments. One of the commandments is you shall not bear false witness. We would call that lying. So I have a question for you that I don't expect you to answer out loud. Have you ever told a lie? Of course we have.

You know what? Usually people say, of course I have. I'm human. And then you can say, well, what would that make you? And they'd say, human. No, no. What do you call people that tell lies? You call them liars, right? That's what we call people that tell lies. We all struggle with the truth, don't we? Deception is sort of in our nature. Telling the truth is a hard thing for us to do. Matter of fact, I told myself

a lie this morning. When I looked in the mirror, I said, you look good, right? And I believed that lie. And so I left the house looking like this, right? And so we all tell these lies. Well, if I've told a lie, then I've already violated one of God's laws. And by the way, it says that if you violated one, you've violated them all, but I'm not done yet. Another commandment is to tell the truth.

Another commandment to look at is this. It says, you shall not take that which is not yours. You shall not steal. How many of you have ever stolen anything? I told this story to first service. I remember the first thing I ever stole in my entire life. Listen, I don't steal a whole lot of things, okay? But so you don't need to like hide your wallets when I come around, but we've all stolen

things, right? And so the first thing I ever stole was a pencil. I was about five years old. And there was a girl in school that had a pencil that I wanted. Her name was Jennifer Steele. And, um, uh, I saw her pencil and I was like, Ooh, I really liked that pencil. So I took that pencil and then somebody ratted me out and I was like, look, snitches get stitches. No, I didn't say that.

Somebody ratted me out and I was like, um, did you steal a pencil? Yeah. Well, you need to go confess to her that that's what happened. And so I had to go and and I cried and she gave me a hug and everything was okay. She forgave me. But even if it's small, we all have that. And in our heart, right? We've all stolen things. And if you tell me you've not stolen anything,

I'm not going to believe you because you've already told me you're a liar, right? So, so I don't believe anything you say anyway. But then we come to the next thing. Now this is most people's standard for righteousness, right? As you say, uh, have you killed anyone? Because the Bible says you shall not murder. And most people say, yeah, I'm a pretty good person. I've never

murdered anyone. It's an interesting yardstick that we use, but we all use it as if like, Hey, I'm a pretty good person because I didn't slit your throat. Therefore, Hey, I deserve getting into heaven. But here's the problem. Jesus goes into something with us. And he tells us, I tell you, if you've harbored anger in your heart towards somebody, that's the beginning of murder. And in my eyes, that means you've already committed murder.

I don't know about you, but this whole, all have sin thing is starting to really nail me pretty good because so far I'm a liar and I'm a thief. I'm a murderer. But then there's one more that I think really hits our culture very hard. The 10 commandments says you should not commit adultery. For the most part, I would say this, probably most of us can say we've never actually physically committed adultery.

Jesus went one step further and he said, I'll tell you this, whoever has looked with lust upon another has already committed adultery with her in his heart. I remember talking to a young man who was about my age. We were young at the time and early, 20s. And I told him this, and he just looked at me with the most shocked, dumbfounded look on his face ever. And he goes, then I've had sex with a lot of girls, right? And he felt terrible about

it. He's like, oh my gosh, I had no idea because that's who we are as human beings. We're all adulterers. We're all immoral in the way that we live our lives. And even if we've not done the action outwardly, it's been in the thoughts and intents of our hearts. I don't know how you're doing so far, but so far I'm pretty guilty before. God, which means I'm in really big trouble. So let me hit you with one more. This is one that

you can't see. It's something that only takes place on the inside. Do you know what the very last commandment is? You shall not covet. You shall not covet your neighbor's manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his donkey, nor his ox. I don't know who covets a donkey, right? Like we've got some friends in Dexter and they live next to somebody with a donkey. And all you hear all day

long from this donkey is hee haw, right? Like who covets that thing? Who's like, man, you know what I wish I had in my yard. I wish I had a blow horn in my yard that just went off. That would be amazing, right? But covetousness is a major problem. Our entire economy right now is built on covetousness, the desire for more worldly things. And knowing all these things,

I would have to agree with what the book of Romans says, all have sinned. But it says a second thing. The second thing that it says is, and all have fallen short of the glory of God. That phrase, to fall short, literally means to fall behind or to fail or to be inferior, listen, continually. Let me put it to you in today's language. You're not enough because you will always be inferior

to God's glory. You will always fail in God's glory. You will always fall behind of God's glory. That, brothers and sisters, is the continual state, that we live in. You see, it's bad news. That's who we are because of our fallen nature. That's who we are because of our sin nature. We are guilty sinners who will never be enough. You know, that sin takes its effect on our lives because, first of all, that sin brings death.

Matter of fact, Romans chapter 6, Verse 23, I don't remember if I had to put it up there or not. Romans chapter 6, oh, they're still good. Verse 23 says that the wages of sin is death. That death takes on two different forms in our life. Adam and Eve were given a promise. The promise that they were given was this. If you never eat of the fruit, you'll never taste death.

But the moment you eat of the fruit, the forbidden fruit, death will enter. That's the consequence. And while Adam and Eve didn't physically die at that point in time, it did usher in physical death. And now you and I deal with the knowledge of the fact that these bodies that we live in will eventually face physical death. But you know what's even worse than that?

Is that even if you're physically alive, apart from Jesus Christ, you are spiritually dead. And that spiritual death, that separation from God that you're experiencing right now, apart from the intervening work of Jesus Christ, you are dead. You will carry into eternity and you will live eternally separated from God. And there's only one place where those who live eternally separated from God can go.

And that's to hell.

Sin brings death. And the effect of that death is seen in our lives all the time. As a matter of fact, that the effect of that death is seen in two different ways in our lives. First of all, the effect of that death is seen with the guilt that we wear around, all over us. Brothers and sisters, there are so many people, sometimes even believers in Jesus Christ,

that are walking around with the guilt of their sin hanging around their neck like a noose. And it weighs them down. They're living with their eyes constantly focused on the ground. And it's because the guilt of their sin weighs so heavy upon them. And they're doing everything that they can to try to deal with the guilt of that sin. You're doing everything that you can to try to numb the feeling of the guilt of that sin.

You're buying more things because maybe the next pair of sneakers will make you feel better. You're drinking more because after all every time that you're drunk you don't feel the guilt of that sin You're smoking another joint because after all you feel pretty chill when you're when you're high like that when you're stoned like that You're sleeping with another girl having sex with another guy You've decided to become a different gender all because you want to silence the guilt that is destroying you You're using all of the sin that's brought the guilt to try to do away with the guilt and it won't do it and so many People are walking around right now with the guilt of sin hanging around their necks

As a matter of fact, I would venture to say that a good percentage of the mental illness that we see right now All can be traced back to guilt over sin But you know what? The effect of sin in our lives is not just the guilt over what we have done The effect of sin in our lives Is the destruction that the sin of someone else brought upon us We wear the scars Of what other people Have done to us My heart breaks for kids right now My heart breaks for kids Who have grown up in homes where they have not experienced the love of a father instead they've experienced the abuse of a father Where they've not experienced a tender touch of a mother they've instead Experienced the harsh words or even the hits of a mother

Where instead of mom and dad paying for their groceries instead of Mom and dad are buying drugs where instead of mom and dad taking them to school mom and dad are passed out or on a Three-day bender and can't seem to get up to take them to school So they get their rear end out of bed and they make their way to school and their lives are being destroyed because the scars of the sin of someone else and It hurts my heart to know that that's true It hurts my heart to know that there are young ladies probably in this room right now that have experienced sexual abuse That have experienced a man taking advantage of them and you're wearing the scars of that on you right now

There are men who are here this morning who have experienced the scars of sexual abuse in your life And those scars are weighing you down because of the sin of someone else And now you're trying to take part in sin to hopefully numb the feelings that you have It hurts my heart to know that there are men who have grown up without fathers Who have no idea what it looks like to be a godly man? Who have no idea what it looks like to know how to treat a woman and the scars that you wear on you You're now putting on to all of the other people around you

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god And those effects of the sin the guilt that we wear and the scars that we bear Are all a part of the bad news And if I only left you with that I would agree with paul We may as well eat drink and be merry Because we're never We're making it out of this thing alive. But see, that bad news is what makes the gospel so amazing. You see, the good news, at least in my opinion, takes on three different parts. Number one, God became man and dwelt among us.

It actually tells us that in John 1, verse 14. John 1, verse 14 says, And the word, which is another word that John uses to describe Jesus Christ, the word who is eternal and who is God, the word became flesh, put on the coat of a man, and he walked among us. You see, that's what makes the fact that Jesus gets us so amazing, is that he actually became a man. God, because of the great love that he had for us, looked at humanity and said, I can't let them keep going that way.

I can't let them continue to be destroyed by sin. I can't let their lives continue to be wrecked by sin. It hurts so bad, I just have to do something. The only thing I can do is become a man and live among them. And when he became a man and lived amongst us, he went through all the things that you and I did. All the things that you and I do. He experienced our pain.

He experienced our weakness. He experienced what other people would do to him. The only thing he didn't experience for us is the guilt of sin for himself. Because he did it all without sin. He lived the perfect life so that he could be the perfect sacrifice. God became man and lived among us. But the next thing that I point out is that he died for me. As a matter of fact, Romans chapter 5 verse 8,

there's a wonderful verse that explains it so clearly. Romans chapter 5 verse 8 says, but God demonstrates his own love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That word demonstrate literally means to continue to show. It means to continually prove. It is a continual proof of God's love for us. People ask all the time, and maybe you're one of the people that asks this all the time.

How can I know that this God loves me? Do you know what I've been through in my life? How can I know that this God loves me? Do you know what I've experienced in my life? How can I know that this God loves me because I can't even see him? How can I prove that God loves me? And for a long time, I was like, that's a great question. How can I prove that God loves you?

Well, he did it for us because he continually proves for us that he loves us when he went to a cross for us. It was a continual proof that we can always hold up to people and say, just in case you ever wonder, I love you. And I showed it with three nails and a spear. I wrote it out in blood. So that if you ever wonder, do I love you? You can look at the cross and go, of course he does.

Because he continually proves to us, that he loves us. He demonstrates his own love for us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Literally, while we were his enemies is when he chose to die for us. Now, I don't know about you, but when people do nice things for me, I have no problem doing something nice for them. As a matter of fact, there's a famous quote from the rapper Eminem.

And he says this, I don't care who you are. I don't care what your background is. I don't care who you sleep with. If you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. May I say that's the prevailing idea of the world right now. If you'll be nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Jesus blew that out of the water. Because when we were his enemies, when we were showing him the most hatred we possibly could,

when we were the ones spitting in his face, when we were the ones putting the nails in his hands, when we were the ones dragging a whip across, his back, when we were the ones pounding the thorns into his scalp, he died for us. While we were yet sinners, while we were his enemies. I want you to think about the lowest point of your life. And if you're here this morning and that's today, then I want you to think about right now, the sin that you know so identifies you right now.

And I want you to think about the fact that at your lowest point and your worst place of sin, that was when Jesus said, I want to die for them. I want to take their sin upon me. Because it was while we were yet sinners. That's what makes the proof of his love so amazing. It says that God demonstrates his love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

I always loved that verse in 1 Peter that says that he bore in his own body on the tree all of the sin of humanity. Paul put it like this when he said, he who knew no sin became sin for us. I've shared it before. And I'll keep sharing it because it's the most graphic picture I can think of. And that's the picture of the day of atonement. There was an Old Testament sacrifice.

And this Old Testament sacrifice was called the day of atonement. And so on that day when God would atone for the sins of the nation for another year, looking forward to the coming of Jesus, there were two goats, two goats that were chosen. One goat was the sacrificial goat. The other goat was the scapegoat, right? So the sacrificial goat was slain and his blood was poured over the mercy seat.

And God saw that blood and he said, your sins are forgiven for another year. But then there was something, fascinating that would happen. The other goat was called the scapegoat. So what they would do is the high priest would come out and he would lay his hands on the head of the scapegoat. By the way, the nation of Israel would have fasted and repented of sins ahead of time.

They would have confessed all of their sins. And so the high priest would take his hands and he would lay it on the head of the goat and he would begin to out loud confess all of the sins of the people from that year. And then they would take that goat that was bearing their sin and they would take it out to the wilderness and they would let that goat run as far as it could. As far as it could possibly run because it was a picture of something.

It was a picture of the sins of the nation of Israel being taken away for another year. Well, I want you to think about what Jesus did on the cross. When he bore that cross, what did he do with it? Put it up on those shoulders and he carried it outside of town. He bore all of our sin and carried it away. Listen, not just so that it would go away for another year,

so that it would go away for ever. Because God demonstrates his love for us and that while we were yet sinners, he died for us. But you see, if that was the end of the gospel message, that would be amazing, but it gets better because the third thing that's true of the gospel message is that Jesus is alive. Because on that third day, he rose again. And when he rose again, he overcame death.

Remember what we said the consequence for sin was? The punishment for sin, the wages of sin is death. And so when Jesus rose again, it's as if he said the consequences are dealt with. The penalty is taken care of because I overcame death. As a matter of fact, we're told that that's the very proof that he was who he said he was. It's the very proof that his sacrifice was accepted.

The last thing that he said on the cross before he gave up the ghost was to tell us die, paid in full, it is finished. And at that point in time, the veil of the temple was torn in two and everybody went, whoa, no, Jesus is gone. But when God raised him from the dead, he went paid in full. Receipt. Accepted. And because he lives, we know that the penalty is fully dealt with.

We no longer wear those sins any longer. And not only do we have hope for today, we have hope into eternity. Now, that brings us to the third part of the gospel message. We've heard the bad news. Everyone's a sinner. We've heard the good news that Jesus is a savior. But the third thing we want to see is now, how do we respond? Now, this time I'm going to make you turn somewhere.

So get those fingers loose. Go over to the book of Mark. You don't know where Mark is. It's okay. Just write it down. You can look it up later. Mark chapter one.

And I want you to start in verse 14.

This is what it says. Mark chapter one, verse 14. Now, after Jesus had been taken into, or excuse me, after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the, oh, that's a familiar word, the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. And as he was going along by the sea of Galilee,

he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. So how do we respond to the message of the gospel? Well, there's three words that Jesus just gave, to us in Mark chapter one, that tell us what our response to the gospel is to be. Number one, repent.

Repent. The word repent means a change of mind that results in a change of direction. I want you to understand something. Repentance is not what you have to do before you come to Jesus. Repentance is what you do when you come to Jesus. Okay? That's an important distinction to be made because repentance is literally turning around and walking the other direction.

If sin is over here where that sweet green plant is, and Jesus is over there where those sweet evergreen trees are, if I'm pursuing this wall, in order for me to go there, I have to turn around and go the other direction because that's where Jesus is. And brothers and sisters, we have to repent. If you're here this morning and you've never come to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then I need you to know something. You have to repent.

You have to turn away from sin. You have to turn away from the things that are bringing destruction into your life. You have to turn away from all of the things that, the scars that have held you down and you have to give them to Jesus. You have to take all of those things to the foot of the cross and give them to Jesus because you have to repent. If you're here this morning

and you're the one that's bearing the scars of what somebody else has given to you, of what somebody else has done to you, then today's the day to repent. Repent of that bitterness. Repent of all of the things that have happened and turn towards Jesus. Walk to Him and let Him be the one that heals you. If you're here this morning and you're the one that's giving other people scars

because of your sin, you're the one who is hanging the guilt of sin around your neck and it's weighing you down, then today is the day to repent and turn around and go the other direction because that is the first word of the gospel. The world wants to tell you, you can do what you want to do. You can live how you want to live and you can still follow Jesus. I'm here to tell you, you can't.

It's physically impossible. It's spiritually impossible. You can either choose to pursue death and guilt and destruction or you can choose life. Choose this day who you're going to serve. Choose this day who you're going to follow. But you can't do both. And if you're here this morning and you're a believer in Jesus Christ, I need you to know something. That word hasn't stopped being right for you.

Do you know where revivals always begin? Revivals don't always begin. Revivals don't begin in the world. Revivals begin in the church. There's three revivals that have been big that I've done some studying on in the United States of America. There was the first great awakening. There was the second great awakening. And there was the Jesus movement that took place back in the late 60s, early 70s.

Now there's been other revivals besides that. Those are the three big ones that I've studied. Do you know where those always began? Those always began in a church. I take that back. Some of them began, some of them began in Christian universities. But it always began among Christians. It always began among the churched of the nation at the time. Why? Because we are the salt of the earth

and we are the light of the world. But if our light isn't shining, then it's causing people to stumble. We're the salt of the earth, but if our salt isn't salty, it's only good to bring death. Therefore, revival has to start in the church. Revival has to start with Christians saying, I'm not going to keep pursuing the things of sin. While I'm also trying to pursue the things of God.

I'm going to repent of my apathy, my feeling of, it is what it is. I'll pursue God when I feel like it. We have to repent of that kind of stuff. We have to repent of the hypocrisy that we have. We have to repent of the judgmentalism that we have. We have to repent of the anger and the bitterness of that bad relationship that is causing bitterness and division in the church.

That's causing bitterness and division in your family. We have to repent of those things because if we don't repent, how can we expect? How can we expect the world to? And it always has to start in the church. And once it starts in the church, it flows out from there. Because once the people of the church get on fire for Jesus, and boy, it's a whole lot easier

to let it go everywhere else, right? Wildfires start with a spark, but they just need more fuel. And if they keep having more fuel, then they just keep spreading. We need to stop praying for revival in the world. Start praying for revival in the church. Let the Holy Spirit take care of the rest. So whether you're a believer or an unbeliever here this morning,

the first word I have for you is this. Repent. The second word that's given to us in the gospel is the word believe. The word believe means to put your trust in, to rely upon, or to cling to. Now, we need to define the difference between a couple of things here. This is not the belief that I simply have up here. This is the belief that takes over every portion of my being.

You see, Scripture says that even the demons believe and they shudder, but they're not saved. The belief that we're talking about here, the belief that Jesus is talking about here is like clinging to a life vest. If I was drowning in the ocean and somebody threw me a life vest, you know what I would do the minute that I saw that life vest? I would hold on for dear life.

I would cling to it like it was the only thing that was gonna save my life. You know why? Because that is the only thing that's gonna save my life. And that's what he's calling us to do. Don't just believe up here. The church is full of people that believe up here. The world is full of people that believe up here. Believe in here. Believe to a point where you say,

no one can change my mind because it's the very fiber of who I am and I will hold on for dear life until death because that's the kind of faith that I have. It always starts small. You believe to the best of your ability. But cling to it as tightly as you possibly can. And what are we clinging to? The knowledge that even though I'm a great sinner, he's a great savior.

Lord, your word says you died for me and that that's all it takes to cover my sin. And all I know is my sin is really big. So please cover my sin. He is so gracious to do it.

Repent. Repent. Repent. Believe. Number three, follow. Follow. That word follow literally means to take the same path as. To take the same path as Jesus. In other words, if he saved you, you may as well stick tight to him. I use this illustration in first service. I don't know if it's a good illustration or not, but it's all that I can think of. I don't know how many of you watched the Super Bowl.

It was a great game. Yes, it was a hold at the end. Let's not talk about that. It was a great game. But I want to talk about the post-game. I love post-game interviews. First of all, you take people who are so jacked up on adrenaline and apparently protein bars that they eat in the middle of the game. They're so jacked up on adrenaline and you want to put a microphone in their face

and expect them to say something normal, right? And so that's what they do. So they've got Travis Kelsey and Patrick Mahomes. Now, I don't know how much you know about those two, but I've never seen one football player love another quite like Travis Kelsey loves Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes, right? Love him or hate him, I don't care, but that's the way that it is.

And so they shove a microphone in Travis Kelsey's face, mainly because Travis Kelsey has one thing that he's good at. Well, two things, being a tight end, putting his foot in his mouth, right? So he's really good at both of those things. So they put a microphone in his face and I thought for a minute, son of a gun, is my sound on my TV not working? No, he's talked, they're bleeping him out right now.

That's the problem. I can't hear. Play on national TV, everything that he's saying. But when they could finally start playing what he was saying, he was talking about how Patrick Mahomes deserves the MVP and he'll follow this guy anywhere because he just loves him so much. He's the greatest. And I thought, isn't that amazing? First of all, you know who I think of

when I think of Travis Kelsey? I think of the apostle Peter. Like, I just wonder how many times Peter had to get bleeped, right? Because when he was still new at the whole thing, he was like geeked up about Jesus and every now and then let those expletives come out of his mouth. And Jesus, just like Patrick Mahomes, is like, shh, shh. That's not the time. Not the time to talk like that, right?

But I also thought about the fact that, man, that dude, Travis Kelsey would go to war for his quarterback, right? Because he loves him. He'll follow him anywhere. And all I can think is, dude, that's the way we're supposed to be with Jesus, right? He just, he's our everything. And so how can I not just follow him everywhere he goes? Am I going to let some words out sometimes

that Jesus doesn't like? Yep, and he'll say, shh. But I'm just going to follow him. I'm going to take the same, the same path that he takes because wherever he goes, I go. Brothers and sisters, that's getting saved. See, when I come to Jesus, I repent because I had to, because following sin was leading me to death. So I'm going to follow Jesus. And I'm going to believe,

I'm going to believe that he says, my blood is enough to cover all of your sins. And I'm like, perfect. I'll follow you anywhere you go. As a good friend of mine that serves in Hawaii once said, Lord, even if you send us to Kansas, we'll follow you. We'll follow you anywhere you go.

But brothers and sisters, that's the message of the gospel.

God became man and dwelt among us so that he could save us from our sins. Our sins that are destroying our lives and the lives of people around us. And knowing that, knowing that that's the case, it's time to repent, to believe, to follow. Amen. I'd like to invite the worship team to come on up. In just a minute, I'm going to pray and close this out. But I'm just going to be up here at the front

to pray with anybody that needs prayer. I know that there's folks that have physical things going on in their lives. Some of you have emotional things going on in your lives. Some of you have spiritual things going on in your lives. And I'm just going to be down front to pray. If it's time to repent of sin, then come talk to me about it. I don't need to know the details,

but just come talk to me and we'll pray about it. If you've never come to know me, know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then may I say today is your day of salvation. Today is your day to put your faith in the gospel. If you need emotional healing from the things other people have done to you, then I want you to come down and I just want to pray with you. You don't have to give me all the details.

I just want to pray for you. Because I think that that's what, that's what we need to be doing right now. Just giving all of these things to Jesus and letting Him do the work that only He can do. Amen. Would you all stand?

Father, we come before you and I thank you for the great grace that you have shown to us. Grace that is so much greater than all of our sin. And Lord, I want to lift up the hearts of everyone that's here. And I pray that your Holy Spirit would continue the work that hopefully you have begun. Lord, let all of the stupid things that I say go to the side. And Lord, may only the things

that glorify you stick around. Father, move as you see fit in this body. Move as you see fit in this community. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

Yes, Lord. Amen.

Come to you and ask now as we leave this place that you would go before an order and bless our time, Lord. May we look to you, trusting you, Lord. And as Brian shared, relying on you, clinging to you, Lord, the author and finisher of our faith. Oh, we thank you for your faithfulness, Lord. And oh, Lord, may we remember that you can use us. Amen. We are sinners saved by grace.

Amen. We are sinners saved by grace. We are sinners saved by grace. And if we are afraid, Lord, may we trust you. In our weakness, as we do feel weak, you're made strong. And so we praise you and thank you. And now go before, in Jesus' name. Amen. Lord, bless y'all. Have a great week.