What Does God Want From Me - Part 2 — Shane Idleman

What Does God Want From Me?

What Does God Want From Me, Part Two. If you weren't here last week, definitely check out that message. I ended a series on hearing God's voice, and then it went right into Matthew 10. And I would also just encourage you sometimes, you know, it's hard in a gathering like this because I know some people are excited to hear from God, some people were dragged here, some people don't know why they're here, some people say, well, good people go to church, and that's why I'm here, and there's a whole list of different reasons why people are here, but I would just encourage you that look, ask God, and just say, Lord, would you speak to me tonight?

I need clarity on some things, I need direction. If you're confused, if you have questions, God says, good, come to me, come to me, and I will answer some of those questions. But many questions sometimes are not answered on this side of eternity, and I'm okay with that.

If God answered every one of my questions, I understood God completely, I would be fearful of that kind of God. I want a God that's high, and he'll lift it up. Holy is his name. And there are some things too wonderful for me.

I can't even grasp his nature. I can't even grasp the work of salvation. That's a good spot to be. And actually, my son just grabbed my wife tonight and asked, why are we singing God of Jacob? What does that mean?

So we're gonna explain that one, and then he's drilling me all day yesterday on is God inside of us, and how is he everywhere, and why is there Jesus, too? And so I was, oh, man, wow, that's good. But boy, they ask some questions.

How big is God? Where does he live at, exactly? So that's where you start to break down the trinity and the triune nature of God, and then I'll talk to him about eschatology, and theology, and pneumatology, and all those things.

No, you just bring it simple, right? You gotta do it. So anyway, getting a sidetrack there. Matthew 10. I'm gonna read from the NIV. I know that won't excite too many people, but it's not the nearly inspired version, so I'm choosing on this text.

So Matthew 10, verse five. These 12, these 12, Jesus chose 12 people, and he sent them out with the following instructions. Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

As you go, proclaim this message. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not get any gold, or silver, or copper to take with you in your belts.

No bag for the journey, or extra shirt, or sandals, or staff, for the worker is worthy of his keep. And I could keep reading there, but I wanna stop there. I'm gonna pick up next week on part three of what does God want from me?

God Can Use People at Any Age

And many times as Christians, I think we ask this question, or hopefully you ask, what does God want from me? Can he use me now at 75, or I'm only 17? What does he want from me at 17? Or the person who's older might say, well, God's done with me.

It's too late now, Shane. I've kind of lived my life. And let me just interrupt real quick and say, that's not true. We need some praying Calebs that say, God, give me that mountain. Let me intercede for the people.

Let me intercede for the nation. God can use you at 75 just as much as 17. But a lot of times what happens, especially as we get older, I'm even seeing this now, as I become more cynical, more negative, more, oh, the world's falling apart.

Look at, just look at, oh, Lord, what's going on? And you gotta be very careful, because if you don't repent from that negative, cynical attitude, it can actually really put you in a hard spot of just, you know God, and you like him, but you don't love him.

You're kind of mad at him. You're just cynical and negative. So we have to be careful with that. But a couple things I wanted to glean from Matthew 10 is, and we talked about this last week, but I didn't get through it all.

I wanna bring it up again, is we cannot look at the odds. Do not look at the odds. Jesus Christ turned the world upside down with 12 men. And one of them was a devil, right? He betrayed him. He didn't need 200 ,000.

He didn't need two million. He didn't need, God plus you equals a majority. So no matter what you're going through, and I hear this a lot. I sometimes think, Lord, this is too big for you. We won't say it, right?

But we're thinking it. It's just me. This is worthless. Why even try? Listen, God plus you is a majority. I'm not getting Joelstein on you. I'm just being serious. I mean, he can encourage you. You know, it's good to encourage sometimes.

God plus, I can see him saying that. But God plus you is a majority. And when you're filled with the spirit of God, even a minority is the majority. When you're filled with the spirit of God, and sometimes that's why I look at the state of our nation and when I'm going to speak there, and they've painted a very, you know, there's some of the, the guy who invited me is high up kind of in Washington, and he knows what's going on.

He said, Shane, the American people have no idea just how close we are to not existing as a nation anymore with, you look at Ebola, you look at Iraq, you look at Russia, you know, strong harming, and you look at the terrorism, and you look at our economy, and you look at the church rejecting God, you look at the churches throwing out truth, and you're like, oh my God.

But sometimes God says, good, now I've got you in a place where now you'll listen to me, now you'll look to me. And I believe when I was talking to John Bell about this, he actually made a good point, is we're not at the time anymore of walking on the fence, you know, of, well, let me play church, let me play the world.

You better choose sides pretty quick. You better choose sides pretty quick, because when you fully surrender to God, you have to grab onto that foundation. Because as things get shaky, shakiness isn't gonna cut it.

Double-minded isn't gonna cut it. I mean, you've seen on TV what the terrorists are doing to Christian children. I can't even say in this room with kids in here. If you don't think it might come to these shores someday, I don't know.

I hope not, I pray not. But this is not, I'm not trying to scare, I'm trying to awaken. That's the whole point. We're not scared and go coward, we're supposed to awaken the sleeping giant within, known as the blood-bought church of Jesus Christ.

God has called us to make a difference. And when we look at everything around us and say, but God. Oh yeah, it's falling apart, but God. He holds the world right here. Yeah, I got it. Yeah, I got it. You see Iraq?

Bye-bye. I mean, he could change everything, he's God. And we have to look at him and not get so worried and bound up in this, so look at him. Many times though people say, I'm useless, I'm hopeless, I'm unqualified.

And I often tell them, good, good. Now God can use you. Now you're humble and teachable and flexible. Now you say, Lord, without you, nothing's gonna happen. This ministry, this promotion, this job, trying to father, trying to be a wife, trying to be a spouse, trying to get through life.

Good, God says, now you need me, now I can work. Do you realize that? God is just looking for, like Gideon's army. Can you just, he got rid of thousands, thousands of people. Get rid of those and get rid of those and let me just go in and conquer an entire army of 300 men.

God, that's not gonna work. Well, if I'm in it, it's gonna work. That's God, that's who we serve. What happens though is we get thinking the other way, don't we? Negative, and we get pulled away and sometimes it's good to come back and remember how big this God is that we serve.

And he asked, if my people just humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I would heal a lot of their problems. I would heal their land. So God plus a minority is the majority.

Dependence on God Rather Than Presumption

And often, it was said this too before, God plus dependence on him equals success. Anytime you depend upon him and say, Lord, if you don't move in this place, we're not gonna succeed. Lord, if you don't infuse your power in this area, we're not gonna succeed.

That's one of the prayers we pray for this church. Lord, if you're not in Westside, we're not gonna make it. We might as well just shut the doors when we opened them four years ago. If you're not here, if you're not growing and sustaining and changing lives, we're just vessels that wanna be used by the creator.

So when God's in it, there is success. And this is where I didn't get to during the second service. I'm glad I was able to bring this up again. But there's a fine line between presumption and faith. You know what presumption is?

I'm presuming I'm gonna do this. I'm just gonna do it. And what I call it is the stamp of approval versus waiting for God. And what that looks like is, here's my agenda, God. Would you just give your stamp of approval?

Here's what I'm gonna do. Have you ever done that? Lord, here's what I'm gonna do. Come and give your stamp of approval. Now I can do it. I'm gonna go this direction. I'm gonna do whatever it is. Marriage, relational finances.

Lord, here's my plans. Would you please give me your stamp of approval? Ooh, don't do that. But what do we do? Orders from headquarters. We wait for this. Oh, here's my orders from headquarters. This is what I'm gonna do.

So there's a big difference between God giving my plans a stamp of approval and waiting on him. And I see a lot of people get caught between presumption and faith. And here's the difference. Presumption rushes ahead, faith waits.

Presumptuous people are fueled by pride where faith is fueled by humility. Presumptuous people always assume where faith is knowing that God is leading. And when we're presumptuous, that results in anger, anxiety, and confusion.

But faith offers peace in the midst of the storm. Be still and know that I am God. Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And a lot of people are presuming, that's the word presumption, it comes from, I presume that God is going to do this.

And we don't seek him, oh God of Jacob, seek him with all your heart. We don't seek him, we just presume. Why do we do that often? Well, because, and here I wrote it down, we assume without seeking God, without waiting on him, we rush ahead to get what we want.

Don't we? We rush ahead to get what we want, and then when we get it, we go, why did I get that? That's not what I wanted. That's the difference. And on this first point, don't look at the odds. A majority with God is, well, I'm getting a little sidetracked here.

But the first point is, don't look at the odds, right? But once we not look at the odds, sometimes we can become presumptuous and say, well, God's gonna bless it no matter what I do, and that's not faith.

That's sometimes a lack of wisdom. So we have to be careful in this area. So the takeaway is this, if you've been presumptuous and reckless, repent and turn back to God. There's safety in the center of his will.

And that's where we left off last week. That was that first point. I didn't get to more than that. So then that leads us into the second point on Matthew 10. We have a limited time to do God's will. We have a limited time to do God's will.

Numbering Our Days and Discerning God's Priorities

Jesus said, here's the priority. Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. See, God isn't saying, I don't know what you guys, what do you guys wanna do? What do you wanna do? My wife and I, we would do this on date night, right?

What do you wanna do? I don't know, what do you wanna do? Come on, what do you wanna do? We got a babysitter. We don't know what we're gonna do? Well, what do you wanna do? What do you wanna do? I don't know.

And we always say, next time, let's plan something. Let's not have this happen again. What do you want? See, we don't know what we wanna do. God isn't like that. God knows exactly what he wants us to do.

And there's a limited amount of time to do God's will. That's why the Bible says, commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established. Once you commit, how many people have ever committed?

Have you ever said the prayer like this? Lord, I commit my entire life to you. I give you my finances. I give you my career. I give you my marriage. If you're married, I give you my single life. If you're single, Lord, I give you everything.

I'm committing my financial decisions, my retirement. Lord, whatever it is, I commit those things to you. Lord, would you guide me? And the Bible says, commit your ways to the Lord and your thoughts will be established.

Because if you don't hand over the reins to your horse, God's not gonna control it. He's gonna allow you to do whatever you want. Of course, he's working sovereignly and working all things together, and he's still there.

But I believe that many times, he wants us to just turn over our lives and say, okay, Lord, let me just serve you how you want me to serve you. Lord, would you guide me? Would you direct me? And that's why we have a limited time to do God's will.

If everything is a priority, then nothing is. We need to tell the government that, too, right? Listen, if everything is a priority, then nothing is. Nothing is. So you have to factor in this in your life.

What is a priority? What is God calling you to do? Because we can't have 20 different priorities. What's Hilde saying? You know, you juggle too many plates, you drop them all. So everything cannot be a priority.

God says, do not go in that direction or spend your time with those people or in that situation. You're just spinning your wills. And I see so many people just spinning your wills. Jesus says, go to the lost sheep of Israel.

Go to those who I'm sending you. Go to the people I give you a burden for, but you're just spinning your wills. That's the definition of insanity, actually, is doing the same thing, expecting a different result.

And we get caught up in that, I think, as Christians, too. We're not making that a priority of knowing God's will. So what does God want from us in this area? He says, teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90, verse 12. Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. And that illustration there in the Hebrew language is almost like teaching us to number our days, that we number our days.

We get up and we say, okay, I have this many days left. I'm counting these, every hour is precious. Where did the time go? People say all the time, right? Where did the time go? The time flies. Well, teach us to number our days helps a great deal.

Imagine a big dry erase board up on the side of the wall. And as every day you get up, the days go by, and the weeks go by, and then the months, and the years go by, and a whole year, and you're like, Lord, what happened?

Teach us to number our days that we may be able to gain a heart of wisdom. A heart of wisdom. Do you know wisdom is your friend? Wisdom is your friend. Do you know the difference between knowing something and doing it?

That's wisdom. Knowledge is knowing what to do. Wisdom is doing it. And I just had lunch last week with a pastor who's been in ministry two or three times longer than I have, and I wrote this down. It was interesting.

He said, Shane, if people would just use wisdom, if they would just use wisdom, half their problems would be over. At first, I said, well, that doesn't make, you know, I mean, it makes sense, but practically, what's he talking about?

I started to think about it all week. On just every decisions we make financially, relationally, trying to get the last word in, or saying different things, you know, wisdom. Are we using wisdom in our daily lives with our choices, with our decisions?

Everything we can think of hinges on wisdom. The money we just spent, or the place we just went, or we didn't go. Wisdom, God gives us this for a reason. Come, let us reason together. Look at my word, and then use wisdom when you make your choices.

And I often tell couples, you know, if they just met, you know, a couple weeks, you know, they're two weeks, three weeks into dating, they're like, oh, we love each other, we're gonna get married. No, that's not wise.

Hold on. Breaks. Wisdom looks down the road, and it waits on God. It makes choices based on wisdom, not on our own understanding. There's a big difference there. Because our understanding looks at things temporarily, right?

Okay, how will this affect me right now? Wisdom looks down the road. So God says, teach us to number our days. And then the third point from this Matthew 10 is proclaim this message. Jesus said, proclaim this message.

The Gospel Is Primary, Not Worldly Success

Do you know that this is the message 2 ,000 years ago that's getting everybody in trouble now? People in Iraq, why are they getting forced out of their homes? This message, this message. Why are they trying to pass legislation to get rid of this message?

People are dying because of this message. They don't wanna hear this message. Nothing has changed from 2 ,000 years. Jesus said, go and preach this message. So that's the third point from this. The gospel is primary.

The gospel is primary. Life is gospel-centered, not worldly-centered. Your life must be gospel-centered, not worldly-centered. Don't worry, I'm gonna get to a little bit of practical application there.

Even though it sounds good, what does it look like practically? The power of the gospel, when truly embraced, is like dynamite that ignites a hunger for God so intense that every aspect of life is changed.

We become bold, not passive. Stable, not hysterical, and committed, not wavering. The gospel, gospel-centered. And you realize that ministry is not the gospel? When we minister to people or when you do something, that's not the gospel.

That's a byproduct of the gospel. So a lot of ministries, you know, we wanna reach out, they wanna paint houses, clean up neighborhoods. That's great, but that's not the gospel. Those are byproducts of the gospel, and sometimes people get focused on the byproducts and they never talk about the gospel.

Ministry is not the gospel, it's a byproduct. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. When ministry is our mistress, our relationship with God suffers. So many times we can get involved in ministry and we think that's the gospel, and that's not the gospel, it's a byproduct.

And if we're not gospel-centered, if the gospel is not the center of our life, that's the foundation that everything is built on. That's why Jesus said, when you go, go proclaim this message. And there's a famous quote, I think it's attributed to Francis Assisi.

Funny name, I know, but, you know, I didn't name him. He said something along the lines, if I can remember correctly, I said it the first service, I didn't write it down. If, preach the gospel, but only use words when necessary.

And that's true and that's a good point, but a lot of people use that to do this. No, I'm just gonna feed the poor. I'm not gonna tell them they're sinners. Come on, Shane. I'm just gonna live it out.

I'm never gonna tell them that. Well, you can't live out the gospel, what Jesus says to tell people. Yeah, you have to proclaim that. But they go together, I have to live it out and I have to proclaim it.

They must match. And I see a lot of, I mean, big churches. You know, you'll ask them, okay, do you ever tell people about sin and their need for a savior? Well, no, we get to know them for a year or so first.

Okay, well, what would Jesus say to that? He said, go and proclaim the gospel. Now, I'm not talking about going to your neighbor and say, hey, listen, you gotta build relationships, I got it, but at the same time, we've gotta proclaim the message, we've gotta tell people the hope because that's the only hope for our culture, that's the only hope for the church, that's the only hope for our nation is this message of redemption.

Gospel-Centered Living and the Exclusivity of Christ

So what does God want in this area? First, if you're a believer, misaligned priorities always result in frustration. Misaligned priorities always result in frustration. So let me first just talk about those who have genuinely repented of their sin and confessed Christ is Lord, the Holy Spirit is residing in them, they're filled with the Spirit of God, they know that they're believers, they know that they're Christians, but they've drifted away from the gospel of being the foundation.

There is a lot of frustration in that because we're not called to be worldly-centered, we're called to be gospel-centered. And that's where true peace and fulfillment, contentment comes from. So if you're a believer, God, I believe, wants us to realign our priorities to be more gospel-centered.

Well, what does gospel-centered mean? Well, first, gospel-centered is about everything. The gospel is everything. So if I'm single, it determines the way I date, where I go, who I associate with, how I conduct my life, holiness, purity, all those things.

If I'm dating, right, same thing, gospel-centered. How do we handle that relationship, that dating relationship? Is Christ at the center? And then if I'm married, gospel-centered, right? Is the gospel the center of my marriage?

Does it impact how I treat my spouse or vice versa? Gospel-centered. Now, am I employee at work? Gospel-centered, how do I treat other employees? Am I a person, man or woman of integrity? All these different things.

Or what about if you're an employer? Above the employee and you hire them, is your business practices gospel-centered? You see how this affects everything? When the gospel's at the center, everything else revolves around it, and that's healthy.

That's why Jesus said, make this a priority, proclaim this message. But if a person is an unbeliever, if they've only been playing church and they've only kind of thinking about God and they've never really truly repented, God is not willing that any people should perish.

That's why he sends people out to deliver the gospel message. The good news that Christ Jesus died, rose again, and all you have to do is confess him as Christ, as Savior and Lord, and repent of your sin and believe in the only name that saves.

That's good news. I don't know why people get so upset about it. That's good news. But the darkness doesn't like it. Do you know, I've noticed this over many, many years of preaching different settings.

I can talk about everything. Yeah, that's funny, that's good. He's a pretty good speaker, yeah, whatever. But when I talk about this message, when I talk about this part, man, shut his mouth. When is this gonna get over?

Everything else is fine, but when you talk about this, that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life, nobody can come to God, not through Buddha, not through Allah, not through Muhammad, not through Harry Krishna, not through Joseph Smith, not through Brigham Young, not through Charles Tows Russell and the Jove, not through all these different things, through Christ Jesus only.

I just offended some people saying that. The message of the gospel is offensive, and it's supposed to be. People say, do you know you offended me by saying that? Yes, I do, yes, I do, it's supposed to be offensive because it shows us our need for a savior.

That's the whole point of offensive. I don't like what he's saying. Uh-oh, do I need what he's saying? That's the point of offensive. So the gospel, remember this, the good news that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, it hurts in order to heal.

It penetrates in order to overcome. It penetrates the heart in order to overcome the darkness. It offends in order to humble. And it breaks the heart in order to convert it. That's what the gospel does.

And sometimes I prefer non-church audiences, believe it or not, because sometimes they're at the edge, even if they're upset, they're at the edge of their seats, like, what is this guy talking about?

In church, guess what it does right now? The people in this room right now that need to hear what I'm saying, guess what it's doing? What time's dinner? I've heard this before. Jesus on a cross and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

In the church. Think about it. We can say this so much and people say, yeah, yeah, yeah, but yeah, in one ear and out the next. And if you get to somebody who hasn't heard anything like this before, they're like, whoa.

I mean, they've heard about Jesus and this and that, but when you tell them exactly what the message is, they're like, they either run for cover or they fall down and worship God, falling down on their face, they will worship God.

Corinthians says, Paul says, they will come in, they will hear the true message of the gospel being proclaimed and they will fall down on their face and worship the one true and living God. Or they'll try to kill you, one or the other.

The Gospel in a Nutshell: Sin, Death, and Redemption

It's that offensive to people. So it begs the question, then, what is the gospel? I think it's okay to do a reminder of this, isn't it? Yes. I mean, a reminder of why we're here. And if you go on our website and you just type in Romans Road in the search, Romans Road, this article will come up if you need to give it to friends or whoever.

We've provided it on our website. But think about this, what is the gospel? Think about this for a minute. Jesus died for the gospel. He came to preach the gospel. See, people forget that. They think Jesus was a good teacher, he just came, turned the other cheek, he loved people.

Yeah. But he said, for this reason I have come, for this reason I have been sent to preach the good news about the gospel, that you must turn to God. That's what Jesus came for. Born to die, yes, but he also came to preach the gospel.

And then he told us to take the gospel. And then Paul tells us we are called to defend, to guard, and to live out the gospel. So why do we put it in the back pocket? Well, I'll get to it someday. I don't need it that often.

We're called to defend it. We're called to guard it. We're called to proclaim it. That's how important it is. So what exactly is the gospel? Well, in a nutshell, it boils down to this. Romans 3 .23 says this.

And I truly believe that there are some in this room that need to, just for tonight, say, you know what? I've probably heard some of these words before, but Lord, speak to me in a new way. Speak to me in a fresh way.

I don't wanna be in one ear and out the next if you're speaking me tonight. I might've been playing church half my life. I might've rode in on my parents' coattails because I was born in a Christian family and I own a Bible.

I might even went to a Christian school. And I'm a good person, doesn't that matter? No. You just offended me again. Yeah, I'm gonna offend you a lot more before the sermon's over. And the love, of course, right?

Romans 3 .23, for all have sinned. Here's the first offense. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. People tell me, but Shane, I'm a nice guy. I'm a good person. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

That's wonderful, you're good. Thank God for that. I wish that more people were good people. But that won't cut it. That will not cut it. For all have sinned. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Romans 3 .10 adds, there is none that are righteous. No, not one. There's none that understands. There's none who seeks after God. None. See, so that puts everything in perspective. Either a person is a believer or they're an unbeliever and they've either been playing in church or they've been rejecting God.

There's nothing they can do to earn salvation. Nothing. You're not gonna stand before God and give God a sales pitch. You're not gonna say, but, but, but, this, this, this, this, this. Think of an analogy.

If a trial, if a serial murderer, he's murdered 10 people, he gets in front of the judge. You think the judge, do you think they're gonna listen even if he brings a book of all his good deeds? Look, 1979, I gave back money.

1980, I helped the lady across the street. 1981, I helped this guy build that. 19, what are they gonna say? Oh yeah, let me consider all that evidence. No way. Why? Because there's gonna be a sentence for what he did.

And this is the part that I guess people, I guess a lot of times pastors cower away from. They're like, oh gosh, I don't wanna tell people this. But see, I wanna tell people the truth because then God can work in that proclamation of his truth to say, listen, there's no, none, and I'm gonna tell my kids this.

I love them more than anything. I'm gonna say, listen, there are none that do good. No, not one. All have fallen short of the glory of God. All have. That's why you need God. That's why you need Christ.

And then Romans 6, 23. For the wages of sin is death. This verse is not popular in many churches nor is it preached from many pulpits. Telling others that the punishment for sin is eternal separation from God is not pleasant, it's not marketable, and it's not palatable, but it is powerful.

Think about that. If I said, if I put it, and add in the paper, listen, this church next week is gonna talk about the wages of sin is death, I don't think anybody would show up except hardcore people.

You go tell them, Shane. Nobody would show up. We're not gonna put that on our next postcard. Wages of sin is death. That's it. Nobody wants to hear that, do they? Why? Because it's confirmation. Listen, this guy's confirming.

What the enemy loves to do is eat, drink, and party for tomorrow you die. Just keep you as long as you can go. He'll just keep you in that state of, and then when you get to the end of your life, if you're fortunate enough to be able to ponder that, some people, their lives have gone quickly, but if you're able to ponder that, and you look, you get to the end of your life, and you say, oh, Lord, the wages of sin is death.

Now I see, now I see. Because the enemy will keep you deceived in this area. But be encouraged. Romans 6 .23 does not end there. It says, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

See, the bad news, the good news. But how can you appreciate the good news if you don't hear the bad news? See, everybody wants to just, let's just focus on the good news. Churches, denominations are just focusing on the good news.

They don't want to talk about the bad news. But Jesus did. He spoke about the bad news. Paul spoke about the bad news. And that just makes me appreciate the good news even more. So that's the gospel in a nutshell.

Romans 6 .23 says, does not end there. But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 5 .8 declares, but God demonstrated his own love towards us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This is amazing. When they were taking their hit, doing their line of crystal meth, when they were getting drunk, when they were fornicating, all these things, Christ died for them. He died for them. He died for them while they were yet sinners.

Christ died. That's powerful. That's the message of the gospel. That's good news. And while in my sin, he had died for me already. He had hung on the cross. All I had to do was repent of that sin, acknowledge it, and turn to God.

That's good news. And people think, well Shane, that's just a bunch of made up stuff. Will you give me a better solution? Why is there a conviction of your heart knowing what I'm saying's right and you're just upset?

Why you can talk about any other religion, nobody gets upset. There's something that we've created to worship. We've been created to worship God. Our heart beats with God. We either accept him or we reject him.

This isn't a pie in the sky mess. It just penetrates the heart. That's why people want to remove him. Why do you think all this big legislation is to get the Christ out of everything? Get the Christ out of Christmas?