A WOW Moment with Vicki, Mercedes and Jeremiah

Now that's too much oh my gosh, so I had it right the first That's your phone that's your job, okay, we'll hit the button what button this is a finish button

We'll just leave it This stomach just make a funny noise. Do you hear that?

Can you not pull down? Try it Okay, okay, sorry

It's not a do not disturb. It's just a silence. I got you The do not stirs in the settings

By the way, I want you to know this When I first got this

I said, I don't know what this is But uh, so I did this oh

It's an iPhone you work Android Last night because it hasn't rang or anything.

I got a spam call, but it was spam So last night I looked at Miranda and I said what am

I doing wrong? It says press home Miranda So isn't that what I'm doing?

She said oh mom See it doesn't work for me

What did I do wrong? It's like putting your finger on it. Yeah, like press it. It's like button. No, I press it

Press it just press it. Oh Just press

Amazing Good evening everybody and welcome to our

Bible study. Oh Vicki everybody knows Mercedes. She's about going out the green again

Next for the wedding Speaking of wedding. Yes, who's getting married?

Yes tonight. We have brother Jeremiah Shipley Which is our youth director minister pastor, whatever you want to call it director

Minister sure. Yeah, you just got licensed just got licensed. Let me write that down.

I was there I Did take pictures

By the way, I electrocuted myself today at work I said, ah

It was that calm of a reaction no Because it was a plug -in and the thing was falling off So I was fixing it and the whole thing fell off.

So I was putting it back on So I was making sure that the the brown part on the plug -in part that we plug this stuff in was really on there tight

Oh, there's wires back there. I Was like, oh that was fast

Use a screwdriver At least So if I'm a little off today

I got fried earlier Okay. Anyways, so we have our youth minister with us tonight, which is a soon -to -be a husband of Mrs.

Ayesha Howard, which is so lovely and pleasant and so much fun um,

I could say a lot more about her, but I won't because she'll blush so Anyways, so congratulations on the wedding coming up.

Thank you Everybody's so excited I'm you you're excited.

Yeah, you're moving this weekend. Yep moving this weekend Saturday Nemo's leaving the home

Well, that was he got lost Yeah, not a good metaphor, yeah, you're not gonna get lost honey,

I'm just saying you're a Nemo Leaving the home I'm done.

He was pretty pathetic in that movie. He was so cute. I am pathetic cute

Just like you sweetie. He's so cute. Anyways, um Anyway, so welcome to our state

We've we've had a lot of gentlemen on now. We've had some gentlemen on the show on the study

Um but tonight's Jeremiah's first night and and I'm really excited about it because Jeremiah's a

Shipley and when he gets pumped up and excited about something, it's just all in for him. So I've really been all day long

I've been waiting on this. I've been thinking about it all day. So I hope you'll enjoy tonight.

I know I'm going to it doesn't matter. It's just gonna be good I mean we're sitting here at the church, which we all love and I Love you guys to death.

I mean what better company can I be here? There is

Rachel, yeah Yes, she's good company, oh man, yes,

I could sit and talk to her for hours But anyways, you probably have Anyways, so, um,

I've asked Jeremiah because I'm sure that he has Several verses that he probably goes to in Scripture that that's his go -to verses

But I told him I said we will study in and Look over or read whatever you choose.

I mean you've got I just went blank

Yes Yes books to look into to choose one so Jeremiah honey, what have you chosen?

We're gonna do Luke 14 12 through 24. It's the parable of the

Great Banquet Every time it is fantastic Then when she's here

I call her Everybody does y 'all look so much. I'm so much like you're over.

Will you please read the scripture? You said 14? Luke 14 12 through 24

Okay Yeah He also said to the one who had invited him when you give a lunch or a dinner

Don't invite your friends your brothers your relatives or your rich neighbors because they might invite you back

Did I read that right? Yep. Okay, and when and you would read

Be repaid on the contrary when you host a banquet invite those who are poor Mamed lame or blind and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous

When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things He said to him the one who will eat bread in the in the kingdom of God is blessed

Then he told him a man was giving a large banquet and invited many at the time of the banquet

He sent his slave to tell those who were invited come because everything is not ready But without exception they all began to make excuses.

The first one said to him I have bought a field and I must go out and see it. I asked you to excuse me

Another said I have bought five yoke of oxen and I'm going to try them out. I asked you to excuse me

And another said I just got married and therefore I'm unable to come So the slave came back and reported these things to his master then in anger the master of the house told his slave go out

Quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and bring in bring in here the poor main blind blind and lame

Master the slave said what you ordered has been done and there's still room Then the master told the slave go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in So that my house may be filled for for I tell you not one of these men who were invited will enjoy my banquet

Yeah, okay, so I'm really eager to know why you think I think I know

Because I know you pretty well. Well, this is Actually a parable or passage that I did not know up until recently

Um But I quickly fell in love with it and the more

It was actually Christian. I who are studying it the more we were just looking it over and studying it Just the deeper and deeper it got

And it's really powerful. So the first part you asked if you read it wrong you did not He's saying here quit doing things so that you can get something in return, you know quick quit acting in a way

Where you know that you'll get something back You know when you do something kind and you do a good work.

We often do that with the expectation of a reward

You know, it's like okay. Well if we don't get it, that's fine, but we know we will He's saying hey, how about you give a blessing to someone who is incapable of paying it back?

who is incapable of Giving a blessing back to you and Your blessing will come at the resurrection

You know because if you do it the other way around well, then you have your blessing already you know one of my favorite sayings is

If you're a Christian, this is the worst you will ever have and if you are not a

Christian This is the best you will ever have so if you're not a believer if you do or even if you are and you do things and Get something in return

There is no reward for you from Christ. You get your reward here You get your reward now

But then the parable aspect of this when Jesus goes into that this is really the part super beautiful to me

So dude says hey, I'm having a banquet and sends out all the invitations And he tells his servant he says hey, it's time for the banquet go and tell everyone to come

But they keep on making excuses They constantly make excuses of why

So these are his friends. These are the people that he wanted to do this for correct. These are like This is the

Israel. These are his these are his friends. These are the Israelites. Okay that he's invited

Okay, because because there's a parallel here between the Israelites and the Gentiles Jesus says many times

I came first for the children of Abraham. I came first for the house of Israel But when they denied me

Then I went to the rest of the world into the Gentiles got the same correlation here. Gotcha. So he sent the invitation out first To Israel to the righteous ones quote -unquote

But they constantly made excuses. Oh Well, I got a new job Well, I just had a baby or I just get yeah, or you know,

I have this opportunity to go do this or that and that's why You know when

I first read this when the first thing I thought of was I don't care about your excuses He does not care

You know you you can fill in the blank here and then the children or the job opportunity is a big one

Pastor Chandler one time told me he was like, why is it that we pray for a job? And then when we get the job, we use it as an excuse of why we can't come to church

Yes, he he's we've discussed it We pray for a child and and we say every child's a blessing

So the Lord blessed with a child and then we use the child as an excuse of why we can't get the church on time

Right. We use the child as an excuse and a crutch to lean on for we can't do it

We know we need to do right and so we do this often we make excuses

But at the end of the day God does not care about your excuses And this is one of the things when when

People and I've heard it so many times to myself but more than myself to the pastor Jeff or to you or Well, they're just being mean

No, what they're doing is calling you out on your excuses Because God does not care about them and you continuing to rely on your excuses will lead you nowhere good.

No No, the other thing that now that you Said pastor

Chandler the other thing he used to say was they pray for this job And they can get to the job on time, but they can't get to church

And that's a truth just a priority yeah, that's a priority thing right and but again, you're right because it's like God doesn't

He could care less if you had a flat Good church uncle be a church or where you're supposed to be wherever if you were supposed to be heading up or attending a

Bible study or if you were supposed to be going and taking a Church member of food because they're sick or something

You still need to carry out what the Lord has sent you out to do because that's what his intention was for you

Yes, so you don't let anything get in the way because the excuse doesn't matter You know, I'll say this the older I get when

I'm the older it's not even that the more I learn To look at life through a biblical worldview the more

I learn to Look at life through a spiritual lens The more and more

I realize this stuff is not a coincidence it's it's I Was supposed to be at this gas station at this time

I was supposed to be here at that moment out and The way that God works his sovereign will within the fabric of our free will is

Amazing to me. Oh, it's amazing because you don't know how many times

You pull up to someone at the at the red light Or you just saw someone before they left the the gas station or the grocery store or whatever and it's like five seconds difference

Earlier or later five seconds. They would have been gone. I wouldn't have seen them. It's like that's not a coincidence

And it happens all the time, but we're just too blind to realize what's going on Just like with Mercedes living right down the street all these years.

All right by the church And then she ended up here and she loves it, correct, correct,

I mean, you know, but it had to be Yes, I'm correct What's this

This is an awesome passage though the next part that it goes that kills me

Where where is it? Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame

Check this out It says bring in the poor crippled blind and lame.

How does the blind man know where to go? He has to be guided yeah, how does the lame man get there?

Yes. Yes we carry. How do we come to Christ? Stop Same way same way

We are too blind to realize our need for God on our own

Yes, those all describe each one of exactly We're too lame and broken

Even if we realized our need for God, we're too lame and broken to get there the poor the main the blind and the lame

The Holy Spirit Had to open our eyes He had to carry us and show us this is the truth and not only that but I the author and Perfecter of our faith.

He had to give us the faith to even believe Yeah, and then he had to help sanctify it

Yeah, now we have a hand in that for sure and my hand can put a stop in my own sanctification but it's from the start from the origin from the word go and still today

My faith is dependent on him. I have to be carried to Christ. I have to be shown

I have to have my eyes opened because I'm too blind lame and poor to get there on my own.

I Servant You Tell you what,

I'm gonna give you on this one for you pro bono pro bono pro bono

You ain't get nothing to love no money tonight. No way. Check this out just time Same thing what we just said

The servants and the slave of God, where are we? This is his equal 34 The servants and the slaves of God are supposed to be the ones that bring in those people, right?

same thing here this specifically is a Condemnation to the shepherds and the priests of Israel Which is today the pastors and leaders, but also any believer who misguide someone else

All right, here we go, I'm gonna skip the first couple verses but it's really good I'm gonna hit right to it

Ezekiel 34 verse 4 The weak you have not strengthened The sick you have not healed the injured you have not bound up the strayed you have not brought back

The lost you have not sought and with force and harshness you have ruled over them So they were scattered because there was no shepherd and they became food for all the wild beasts my sheep were scattered

This is what we were to do. We were to heal the hurt bandage the wounded seek the lost and find the strays you know when

Many times people are hurt by churches and in my mind those are the strays

Yeah, we have many who have never heard the gospel never heard the truth to me. Those are the lost and And it is our job to say hey,

I know these people who claim Christ claim Christ I know they hurt you

But let me cut show you and lead you and guide you to actual healing and actual truth

Let me get help you find an experience with God and unexperienced with religion. I guess the blind would just be the knuckleheads

The ones that you just want to smack and be like get it right That's the blind

You have to get some sense knocked into you and notice the anger of the master.

Oh, yeah Yeah, that's that's what I noticed when she was first reading it I was like Oh, well when when when

I said earlier God doesn't care about your excuses He he does not like it He is angry

When we make excuses of why we can't serve of why we can't minister of why we can't do this or why we can't do

That save your excuses God's not listen to those.

He didn't even address these people here. He just said you're making excuses Alright in my anger.

Hey go get everybody else and you see what he said Go out quickly quickly

With an urgency. Yes, that's a word that and in youth. We've been talking about a lot urgency

Yes, that's something I think is very important and Jonah. I just finished a four -week series in Jonah when the

Assyrians These are the people who skinned people alive and impaled

So when you walked into a city on both sides of the road would be people alive and paled all the way down for miles

That was the Assyrians. Yeah, which I'm gonna be honest when you realize that you don't hate

Jonah so much for not wanting to go When the Assyrians realized

Their sin when Jonah obeyed God though. He had to be Coerced when he obeyed

God and said hey y 'all about to be destroyed There was no hesitation

They had an urgency and repentance They had an urgency. They said let us know everyone's fasting

Everyone tore their clothes and put aster on the head ever a king ordered He said don't even let the animals eat right and God may

Relent and be merciful, right? Yes, because they knew that God would be just in destroying them.

They realized that And the problem is that we don't have the same urgency We sin and we'll say well wait till Sunday to repent

I'll wait for a retreat. You better not I'll wait for This or that to get my life, right?

You better not be waiting There's no urgency with us and that's a problem we have to have urgency especially in repentance and especially

In seeking the loss. Yes Go out quickly. Yes, find them make them come in make them come in make them

Yeah, look you're not giving a sales pitch But people need to know why should

I come? Why should I believe? There's a convincing that needs to happen Because there is someone out there

Who is here to steal kill and destroy and doing everything he can could to convince them not to Well, and my thing too is as long as you're doing your part and what the

Lord is telling you to do Which is very simple right here as long as you do your part

And being his slave And getting them To the banquet

And the Holy Spirit is going to take care of the rest. He does his job Now check this next part out and the servant said sir what you have commanded has been done and yet there is still room and The master said to the servant go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in why?

So that my house may be filled God Wants his house full

He wants his banquet full Yeah, he doesn't want it to be scarce you know and I believe it's an

Ezekiel when it says God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and Timothy when he says

I wish that all men would come to repentance He wants his house to be full to the brim

Overflowing, but we are stubborn and we are prideful and God will not drag us

Kicking and straight kicking and screaming into heaven and that's

You know come out How does that sovereignty what we've ended that free will he will not drag us kicking and screaming to heaven?

you know when People I've heard many of you say I don't like God if he's real

I still want to believe if he's real I would Christopher Hitchens said I would rather be in hell

Than in heaven if that's where God is He said if God is real and he's in heaven

I would rather be in hell because that's not a God I believe in or would want to believe in and serve and so it's

God is not going to force you kicking and screaming at the house There has to be a heart change

There has to be a heart change, but he wants his house full You know and you talk about the heart change

And I have I have witnessed people where They are on fire for Christ, I mean on fire and And then it's just like somebody walks up to him and douses him with water and that fire is gone and they just wandered back into the wilderness and And to me that is so hard It's so hard for me to look at and understand because You know

Where the bread of life comes from you know where that water you know where that well is at You know what it takes you know what you need to do

You really do just quote a scripture without knowing it you paraphrase it look what check this out

The man walking along Throwing seed out. Yeah What was one of them it sprouted quickly, but then the

Sun hit it and it had no But you would I mean these are people that I really thought had some root

But I guess we really are they went out from among us so that we would know they were not of us

You know the ones that hurt me Aren't I mean they do but the ones that really hurt me aren't the quick sprouts

They're the people who I ministered with for years. Yeah, they're the ones who I I You know when scripture says laugh with those who laugh and mourn with those who mourn yeah the ones you take into your home

Yeah, you know the ones who? When they were in need you were there for them and knew your need you were there.

They were there for you. Yeah And now I know where to be seen.

Yeah, so which one of those things are they I? Have to go back and look

Those are the seeds that were Well Well, that's a yeah deck that's a possibility, but it's so hard to accept

Is it not do you not fit? I don't want to say that I feel betrayed or Anything like that.

I just I guess I hurt more pity Yeah, I mean there for me there is yeah

You know so much, but for me, it's less of that it's more pity cuz I'm like You're the one missing out

I'm so much. You know you're you're the one who is consumed with pain and hurt and anger

Yeah, and that causes you to act Irrationally yeah, it causes you to betray what you know to be true

So are they and are they are they one of these slaves are they are they one of these people were going out and picking?

We're picking them up or not what do we do? I'll say this though when someone denies the

Lord repeatedly You don't shove it down their throat no

But but One thing we should not do is Never close the line of communication

No, I don't always leave the door open. Yes, always leave it open

Yes, I wouldn't want the door shut on me No, if for some reason or another something happened, and I just went off my rocker

I would hope that I wouldn't have the door shut Let me give you something else last year the scripture

For the Lord says behold as I am holy Yeah, it hit me differently because now every time

I Read about a character of God or something that God does that verse applies

Because that is the character that I'm supposed to be representing. Yeah So when

I see the mercy of God I See behold as I'm holy When I see the justice of God I see behold as I'm holy when

I see the love of God I see behold as I'm holy But the mercy one is really what gets me because we don't want to leave that door open

We feel justified and shutting it and in some ways we could make an argument that we are

Like they betrayed they stabbed in the back they lied they this they that and you can be completely truthful and all of that and Then you still have to show mercy

You cannot turn your back on them. You cannot Close the door and refuse them the same grace that Christ has given us right you know when scripture says

Forgive as your Father in heaven has forgiven for you do not forgive either. I will forgive you

That wasn't a suggestion It's not a suggestion And we must forgive and In that forgiveness as a level of mercy where that door has to remain open

Yeah now Well, that's another rabbit hole

Well, it's just like because we now that we've gone from this let's just mosey on over 15, okay

Let's look at 15 verse 3 Yeah So, you know,

I can't see the little bitty letter I mean the little Three runs into four it's all one sentence.

Okay, just three and four So he told them this parable what man among you who has a hundred sheep?

And loses one of them does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds

Until he finds it When he has found it he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and coming home

He calls his friends and neighbors together saying to rejoice Saying to them rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep

There you go. Just so I tell you there will be more joy in heaven Over one sinner who repents and over 99 righteous people who enter who who need no repentance

And what are we to do go out pick them up pick them up and bring them back

And and here's the other thing It's not for us to decide whether the sheep is worthy enough to be sought out

And that's that's a big thing Because we want to determine

The worthiness of the sheep of how much effort we are to give

Based off their worthiness, right? Well, they're more worthy. So I will seek harder and More diligently for them, right wrong.

That's not for us to do. No, no Exactly That's because none of us are worthy

But there we go again We want to put a level on sin and say that your sin is worse than mine

That your sins makes you more unworthy of the grace of God than me and there is no level of sin so We're all dead in our trespasses

At some point all sin is equal and that it separates you from God, right?

But not all sin is equal and its consequences, right? That's where people get mixed up Because there were verse 7 that God says he hates and our abomination there were

There are sins where Jesus said it's better for you to tire a rock around your neck and throw yourself in the ocean

Yeah, you know then to make one of my children stumble and hurt, you know

And that goes back to Ezekiel 34. He is part of what?

Ministers and servants of God are to do is to protect the sheep Because when we don't as it says they are scattered to be devoured by the wolves

And I ain't gonna tell you neither one of you to this world. It's a nasty place This this world is a nasty place

Until my conversion and then I saw it And you really don't when you're living in the world you everything's just you have a bad day oh, well

Maybe tomorrow me, but I mean it just you just keep on flowing with traffic We have no hope

And you're too blind to see that there's something more Well, we're gonna end on this.

I Had dinner with the young lady when I said phone with traffic It had dinner with him lady that got a ticket and I'm not gonna say her name

She was she said let me see you guys are still I got it. I was just flowing with the traffic But you could look at it this way

You're flowing with the world And you get plucked out of the world

And then you start seeing things At that point you become the outsider looking in.

Yeah, you see it for what it's worth. Yeah It's not That no not not at all perspective is a powerful thing man

It gives me it's a whole new light the Sun's brighter The sky is bluer

When it rains, it feels awesome It's incredible. It doesn't matter it and to be honest with you when you when you sit back and you look at the creation in and how he created everything

When I get up in the mornings, it doesn't matter when I start to go to work It doesn't matter if it's raining or storming or sunny.

It's a beautiful morning period Well, thank you

I knew this would be great Yeah, I knew

I was excited for a reason I hope y 'all enjoyed it.

I did So again, thank you no problem so very much for coming tonight we'll have you again probably after You become mr.

Shipley But he's gonna be mr.

With a mrs. With a capital M, maybe

Capital M with a little R in period and the hand sign

Did you know you were gonna be a mistress Shipley mistress Anyways, I just hope y 'all have a great night.

I enjoyed this evening. I love Thursdays This Thursday was so excellent though.

I just love it. I love it. I love you So thanks for joining us tonight and I again have a great

Friday tomorrow I think Mercedes will be with me a couple more weeks and then you'll be out of town.

I'll be out of town I got one more week and I'm out of town for two weeks. Yeah Cuz my two co -hosts

Gonna be a surprise Anyways, so, uh, y 'all have a great night.