A WOW Moment with Vicki, Mercedes and Pastor Jeff

Whitten Baptist Church iconWhitten Baptist Church

3 views

0 comments

00:01
All right, we're live. We are? Hi, everybody. I was going to put it up for you.
00:12
Look, we did get it. Vicky. Look, it's a Vicky and it's a
00:17
Mercedes. And there's a baby Jordan. Look at them all. They're all my friends. And there you go.
00:30
Yeah, I love these things. Yeah, these are kind of cool. Hi. I guess
00:38
I've got to be a pastor now. No, you're the guest, so now you don't have to be a pastor. Oh, that's right.
00:44
I am the guest. So today you're not a pastor. Today, I said, so what are you going to talk about tonight?
00:50
What's your birthday? John 14. He texts me back, whatever you want to talk about. I said, no, sir, you're the guest.
00:56
You choose. Yeah, but you're the head of the women's ministry. I still don't pick for my guests.
01:02
You're a guest. That's true. What's up, Sadie's? Hey, we're about to have a wedding, guys.
01:09
Mercedes is, what do you call it again? The matron of honor. The matron of honor. She's a maid of honor, but I'm married, so it's matron of honor.
01:17
Ah, you're an old hag, so it's not maid. I am pushing 30. Yeah, she's pushing 30.
01:23
She's pushing 30, Vicky. She's pushing 30. Better get the cake now, right?
01:31
Just wait. Just wait. The aches and pains had even started.
01:37
Oh, you have no idea. Really? How old are you? You're 23, right?
01:45
But I broke my back. Yeah, so it hurt a lot. Sorry. You want me to get you a baby aspirin?
01:53
No. Whatever, pastor. She's so cute.
01:58
Whatever. All right. Well, welcome to our Bible study, everyone.
02:04
I'm Vicky. This is Mercedes with maroon hair. She changed it.
02:10
And tonight we have the lovely, usually I say lovely and talented, but tonight we have
02:17
Pastor Jeff with us. We'll just leave it at that. The most entertaining, shall I say. That's me.
02:23
Pastor Jeff. And Jordan is on the other side, so you will hear her voice probably.
02:30
You'll know who she is. She was on last week. Everybody met you last Thursday. Yeah, I was a nervous wreck.
02:36
I was late. It was great. So anyways, Pastor? Ma 'am?
02:42
We have asked you to pick either your go -to verse or your favorite verse or whatever you wanted to talk about.
02:49
And I believe you picked more than just a verse, which is completely fine because I was looking over it after you told me and I think it's marvelous.
03:00
Marvelous? Marvelous and fabulous. It's marvelous and fabulous put together. Oh, wow.
03:06
See, I just learned a new word. All right. Well, this is definitely not my favorite passage.
03:13
My favorite passage is Ephesians chapter 1. I was talking.
03:21
I don't remember who. I was talking about this with someone the other day and just been thinking on the last couple of days and I was actually going to turn it into a sermon, but when you said, hey, let's do this,
03:33
I thought I'd share it with you guys. It's really cool. You know, you had that first part of John 14.
03:41
Did you hear quoted so much? The mansions in heaven and Jesus is saying, you know, don't be worried.
03:48
And that's cool and everything. But, you know, I quote this all the time.
03:54
I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father but by me. So that's the context in which
03:59
Philip is about to insert his foot in his mouth. So Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and life.
04:05
No one comes to the Father but by me. And then John 14 .7 says, If you know me, you will also know my
04:11
Father. So Jesus is saying this right after he said that. If you know me, you will also know my Father.
04:17
From now on, you do know him and you have seen him. So let that sink in again.
04:23
Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. And that I am is really important because it's that Greek ego of me.
04:31
It's I am. It's that play off of, we'll get to this in a second, but it's that play off of when
04:38
God was speaking to Moses and Moses said, what's your name? And God simply said, I am. Okay, well let's do this before you get all up in your stuff.
04:47
Am I getting too fired up? You're hyped today. I am. I've had some really good meetings today.
04:54
Some really good counseling appointments. So I'm fired up. Alright.
05:01
And I got pizza waiting for me when I get home. Yeah, it looked good. Oh, you saw the pizza?
05:06
I saw it. I didn't have any, but Christian It's one of my, it's my kryptonite.
05:14
Pizza? Pizza. You have a certain town or a certain place? You know what's amazing?
05:21
Let me sidetrack here a minute. Back in my day, Pizza Hut and Domino's and yeah, those things, those were like, you know, you take a good girl out, high -stepping to the pizza joint, you know, instead of McDonald's on summer.
05:42
Oh yeah, McDonald's on summer, that was where you went. But anyways, I know you went and hung out at the
05:50
Super Shop. Oh yeah, the sports, the custom car. man,
05:59
Costco pizza? Costco pizza. I think that's better than any pizza joint pizza in the world.
06:06
But let me ask you, does pineapple belong on pizza? No. Wrong answer, get out.
06:13
Only if you the spawn of hell. No. I rebuke thee. Come out for my mom.
06:19
Hey look. There's a pineapple on pizza.
06:25
Pineapple goes on pizza. That's like sardines on pizza. Oh, that's disgusting. So is pineapple.
06:32
Pineapple does not, it belongs in a cake or a little dish or something like that.
06:38
Dipped in chocolate's really good. What? I've never done that one either. But what's that upside down?
06:45
Oh, pineapple upside down? Yeah, right. Pineapple upside down.
06:51
Pineapple upside down. No, no. No, I can't. I'm stressed.
07:04
Can we just take a minute? Can we restart? I'm already rolling.
07:11
I'm telling you, you're rolling. Anyway, so for all of you that are watching and going to be going along with this, we're going to be in John 14.
07:19
Eventually. In case you didn't catch that. And before we let him loose again, we're going to have
07:27
Mercedes read John 14. Oh, I jumped the gun, didn't I? Oh, God. Well, no, all you gotta do is read through verse 11.
07:41
7 -11. 7 -11. That's it. After the sports shop, you went to 7 -11, you got slurpy.
07:48
And the one saying, if you had the script to change off the floor, you bought one cigarette for a dime. Stop! Stop!
07:57
Alright, Mercedes, you're ready to go. Am I? Yes. I'll hold him still.
08:04
If you know me, you also know my Father. From now on, you do know Him and you have seen
08:10
Him. Lord, said Philip, show us the Father and that's enough for us. Jesus said to him,
08:15
I have been among you all this time without your knowing me. Wait, without your knowing me?
08:22
Philip, the one who has seen me has seen the Father. You can say, show us the Father.
08:29
How can you say, show us the Father? Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the
08:34
Father is in me? The words I speak to you, I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does
08:40
His works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.
08:48
It sounded like she was reading Green Eggs and Ham from Dr. Seuss. For just a second. Just like, wow.
08:57
Where did you go to high school? White Station. There you go, never mind. Where did you go to high school,
09:05
Giggles? Arlington. Little preppy girl, Arlington. I went to Raleigh, Egypt. I love how he just judges me in this room.
09:13
You? You're the one that apparently can't read so what do I say to you? You went to high school? Yeah, for a while.
09:20
You went where? I went there to the 12th grade. I just didn't graduate. You went where? ECS. You went to ECS?
09:28
Yes. You? I did. You did? Isn't it amazing what comes out of there?
09:36
Anyway, I love school. So, Pastor, why did you pick this chapter?
09:43
You started on a roll. No, that's good. You're building up a froth.
09:50
Slow down there, Skippy. Because I can get out in left field real quick. Really? Right? An oncoming truck?
09:59
Oh man, going, hello, squirrel. Like the dance on that beaver or something.
10:07
Did she just say beaver? Yeah, she saw a beaver. It happened. So, you picked...
10:16
I just read that Jeff Foxworthy story, go through my mom, the beaver bit the guy.
10:27
Alright, let's get serious here. Right! We're Baptists. This is very important.
10:33
This is important. So, why did you choose John chapter 14, 7 -11?
10:39
It's just where my Bible opened up when I opened it up. I was talking to this guy the other day.
10:46
No, for real, I was. He asked me about this. I just started thinking.
10:53
I'm writing a sermon on it. I just wanted to share a couple of things about it. I love this part.
11:01
Jesus said, if you know me, you also know my Father. So, Philip, one of the disciples, and this is so important Christians, one of the people
11:12
God picked is once again, God's selection of people is going to demonstrate how stupid they really are.
11:21
Please. Those are the late reaction. That's just the way it is. This is what
11:27
Philip says. Are you ready for it? Here's what he says. You want to read it again? Read it again.
11:33
Verse 8. He says, Lord, said Philip, show us the Father, and that is enough for us. Show us the
11:39
Father, and that is enough for us. You know what Philip is really wanting right here?
11:45
Philip is wanting proof. He wants that dazzle proof.
11:51
Some people, when they go to church and worship Sundays, they're not seeking
11:56
God. They're seeking that feeling. They're hoping that the music and the sermon will somehow come together and they'll have an emotional outpouring and somehow they'll equate that with the power of the presence of the
12:07
Holy Spirit. Let me tell you, if you're a child of God, you don't have to look for the Holy Spirit because He dwells with inside you.
12:14
That's what it says. Paul even says that in kind of a sarcastic way. No, you not.
12:19
The Holy Spirit of God dwells with inside you. Oh, please, Holy Spirit, show up. If you're in the room, the
12:25
Holy Spirit's there. You know what I'm saying? Say, Spirit of God, send me. Say, Spirit of God, send me.
12:32
That's correct. People always say, I don't feel like my prayers get further than the ceiling. Well, they ain't got to go to the ceiling, y 'all.
12:38
They don't got to go through. This isn't some sort of silly pan -worship thing. The Spirit of God dwells within us.
12:47
That's one thing. What Philip's really wanting, we're in John 14 now and we're in a place where the rubber's hitting the road.
12:57
Jesus' family, his own brothers, don't believe Jesus. In fact, if you go and read back a little bit, they actually pull
13:04
Jesus aside and say, I know this is a bad example. Jesus didn't have red hair.
13:10
I don't know. Maybe he did. I don't know. Jesus' own brothers pulled him aside and said, hey, can you tone it down just a little bit?
13:19
You embarrass us and the rest of the family. I mean, come on. Slow it down.
13:25
And so, this is where Philip's sitting here going, man, this is serious.
13:31
This is going to cost us, man. Now Jesus is sitting here and he's revealing this stuff to us and he's talking about he's going away and he's going to send us a comforter and all this other stuff.
13:43
Now I'm feeling very insecure. I'm feeling insecure with who I am in God. So I need a miracle.
13:48
I need something. Jesus, I know what will fix this. If you show us the
13:54
Father, that's enough for us. Now think about that for a second. It's like saying if you'll turn this light green,
14:00
I'll leave. Right, exactly. You're driving down the street and go, okay God, if this light turns green before I get there, then you're real.
14:08
This will be the sign for me. You know, listen to me for a second. These guys right here, they're just men just like us.
14:17
Anthropos, not gender. They're human beings just like us.
14:24
And so, they have doubts. Even in the presence of Jesus Christ, they have doubts.
14:30
It's not, you sit there and go, oh we just want to see something. We just want to see the presence of God and that's going to be enough.
14:37
No it isn't because let me tell you something, if you're a child of God, you get a taste of God, it's never going to be enough, man.
14:43
You're going to want more. Well at this time, they've already witnessed. Oh man, miracle after miracle.
14:48
Right. We've done so many things it's not even funny. I mean, Jesus has manifested himself.
14:56
He takes John and Peter goes up and is literally glorified in a transfigured state right in front of them.
15:04
And Peter sits there, remember what Peter did? You can find this in Matthew 17 in full.
15:09
But you know, here is Jesus Christ, here is Elijah and here is
15:15
Moses. And they're all sitting there talking and Peter walks up to them. What does Peter do? This is so awesome.
15:21
Here's what we're going to do. We're going to build a church for him. We're going to build a church for you Jesus and we're going to build a church for him.
15:28
And it's just going to be great. We're all going to stay here and it's going to be one big hippie commune. All of a sudden man,
15:34
God had been solid at this point. All of a sudden when he said that God said, boom!
15:40
And the only person standing there was Jesus and God said, this is my son. You listen to him.
15:45
Everybody else, all that religion, all them prophets all them preachers, all them pastors they don't matter unless you're listening to Jesus Christ.
15:53
You're messing up. But it's really also cool and we as believers need to remember this. As soon as that happened, man,
15:59
Peter fell on the ground. He was frightened. He was going to die to death. And it says
16:06
Jesus said, reached down and said, hey, don't be afraid. Stand up, son.
16:12
You know, we have learning lessons. It's all grace. But I just, you know, for Phillip to stand there and go okay, show us one more thing.
16:25
That's just like saying, well God, if you do this one more thing. If you give me this one more feeling, if I can feel you one more time.
16:35
One more thing. It'll wear you out spiritually, I'm telling you.
16:41
If you look for your emotions to be filled rather than your soul to be filled it will be, it's like eating icing and expecting to live.
16:50
It's going to taste good for a while, but you're going to die. You're going to look like me. I have a lot of cavities.
16:57
You'll have a lot of cavities. What's next Thursday? We're all waiting on you. Oh, where's the back order?
17:05
Jesus said to him have I been among you all this time without you knowing me,
17:11
Phillip. Okay, so let me put this to you in the Greek. Alright, you ready? I'm about to, ready, here we go.
17:18
Jesus is sitting there with his wonderfully religious painting pose with the sun shining and the halo.
17:26
He's got the white robe. Well, that's the blonde hair and the blue eyes.
17:32
Jesus is a white dude. Anyways, Jesus sits there and goes, if you've seen me you've seen my father.
17:41
You know, that's not how it happened. You know verse 9, you can hear it. Peter sits there and goes,
17:48
Jesus, if you'd show us the father. What did Jesus just say in verse 7? If you know me, you will also know my father.
17:57
Will you show us the father? Here's what really probably happened. Jesus went, Oh Lord.
18:09
It's kind of like when, you know, your kid does something again. Oh my gosh, really?
18:16
Jesus sits there and he says that. He goes, Phillip, son, what are you doing? Jesus said to him, have
18:22
I been among you all this time without you knowing me,
18:29
Phillip? Now just let that sit on you for a second. Show us
18:35
God. It's kind of like if you're just sitting there and you're not noticing and all of a sudden, hey baby, what's up?
18:45
I mean, that's literally, we want to see God and Jesus goes, you've known me all this time?
18:53
I'm standing here talking to you. I would probably have to duck.
18:59
I would probably just go hide. What's so awesome is, Phillip probably went, huh?
19:07
You know? Because look what Jesus kept saying. He said, the one who has seen me has seen the father.
19:14
How can you say show us the father? Don't you believe, oh I'm sorry, I'm reading. Go ahead, you can read.
19:20
No, no, no, I'm not ready yet to read. Okay, all right, here we go. Don't you believe that I am the father and the father is in me?
19:27
The words I speak to you, I do not speak them on my own. The father who lives in me does his work.
19:33
Believe me that I am in the father and the father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.
19:40
That's what you were saying earlier, you know? I was kind of like, dude, for real?
19:46
Come on, how many? You have seen me feed 5 ,000 people. Dude, you saw me walk on water.
19:53
Son, I raised someone from the dead. Remember that little wedding?
19:59
Remember we were over there, you know? We were over there with your mama and your daddy and Uncle George. We were all at the wedding and we were eating our wine.
20:06
I went up and said, one. And it was the best one you've ever had. You might have gotten a little bit toasty, you know?
20:13
I mean, what are you waiting for? Oh my gosh! Gives you a headache.
20:19
But you know what? Like, the sermon this Sunday, I'm going to be talking about Jacob and just, man, how stupid he is.
20:28
But it's so cool for us to look at that because they're no different than us. I mean, you know, let me tell you about the last time
20:36
I doubted. It was back in 19...oh, no. It was two days ago. I mean,
20:43
I do the same thing. Exactly! You know, and he says, Jeff, son, how many times do
20:50
I got to show you the glory of... How many times do I got to write... How many times do I have to... Well, just one more,
20:57
Lord. Sometimes doubting isn't like not believing he's real. Sometimes it's like doubting, like not even believing what he's saying or when you think grace doesn't extend to you, it doesn't always just go back to say, oh, is he real?
21:18
Sometimes people think that's the only doubt there is, but doubting can just be that you don't believe that you can be saved or something like that.
21:26
Yeah, I wasn't doubting at all the belief of God. What I was doubting was my lack of faith in believing by walking.
21:31
You know what I'm saying? I have this problem sometimes that I want
21:40
God to have a break. God, if you'll just let me be in control here,
21:46
I got this, you know? And I always screw it up, and I've been doing that since about 1988, and I've never won that.
21:56
I've always screwed up, but there's this stupid thing called pride in me. I got it this time,
22:03
God. I can do it this time. Take a break. No. But you know what?
22:12
Jesus sits there in this retort. I mean, it is an indictment. I mean, these are rhetorical questions, and there is a hint of sarcasm in them.
22:21
I mean, there is. Let's be real. But he goes down here to verse 12, and he says,
22:26
Jesus said, I assure you, one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the
22:36
Father. All right, let's just stop right there for a second. How many of y 'all out there in what's this called?
22:43
Facebook Live? Hulu? Facebook. Hey, all you out there in Facebook world, all you out there in Facebook world, do you do the works of Christ?
22:55
Do you do the works of Christ? I mean, that's the measurement. He's sitting here. I assure you, the one who believes in me will also do the works
23:04
I do. If your life does not look like the life of Christ, you might want to start answering a few questions.
23:13
You might actually probably want to start asking a few questions. And I'll be honest with you, yes,
23:20
Jesus went to synagogue. There's no doubt about it. He did. But that's not the total encapsulation of his life.
23:28
May I, just for a second, just get after it here. Listen to me for a second. I tell pastors that I teach, when
23:35
I go to pastor's conferences or even the young men that we're bringing up here at Witten, that preaching is not a ministry.
23:43
There are pastors today that all week long, all they do is prepare for one sermon.
23:49
And that's their ministry. That's not ministry. I'm sorry.
23:54
You're lazy. The same thing with people who sing in the choir. What's your ministry?
24:00
Well, I sing in the choir. Really? Wow. You've got to be proud.
24:05
Seriously. That's not ministry. That is not ministry. Ministry is going to an individual, meeting them where they are, and imparting to them the wisdom of God, which will enable the
24:19
Spirit of God. I got that backwards. Let the Spirit of God enable the Word of God to be placed in their heart.
24:25
You are to serve your brother and sister in Christ. You want to serve Christ? Serve his family.
24:31
And a lot of times that goes by bearing a lot of the scars that you have yourself to show them where you have been, what you've been through, and where the
24:42
Lord's brought you today. It's amazing. I was just recounting this story for a counseling appointment.
24:49
I did some counseling for a gentleman. He was a pastor. He actually had his doctorate from the
24:58
Southern Seminary. You have to say the, and then pause for a second. By President Albert Mueller.
25:06
Blessed be his name. You have to say blessed be his name every time you say it. Just kidding. Just kidding. But anyways, so this guy stepped out on his wife.
25:19
And his wife and three kids. He had three kids and it was kind of a mess.
25:25
And so he started coming and saying, man, we worked together for about a year and he got to a point where he just said,
25:36
I just don't believe this anymore. I don't believe it. I just he didn't believe anything anymore.
25:46
What's so horrible about that is that the reality is he never did believe.
25:53
See, he had been convincing himself rather than let the Holy Spirit convince.
26:00
I tell ya, the works of God that can manifest in your life are going to be above and beyond what you think you can do.
26:09
If the totality of your ministry is sitting in a church pew, well, wow.
26:16
I mean, congrats. Is that sarcasm coming through? Okay, I just want to be sure.
26:22
I didn't know if it was that or gas or what it was. But, guys, sitting in a church ain't being the church.
26:30
If you want to have your faith grow, then expand the reality of the efforts of the ministry that God's calling you to do.
26:39
Doing the same old thing every day and never growing? I mean, be like my son.
26:44
I was training him how to fight in the ring. If he had come and said, Daddy, I just bench -pressed five pounds.
26:51
I'm not going to say, oh, good job. And then six months later, I'm bench -pressing five pounds,
26:56
Daddy. Something ain't right. If you've got a 19 -year -old kid and he's still a foot tall, there's a problem.
27:03
Christian, in your life, if you're not growing spiritually, if the works that God has not manifested in your life greater than you simply showing up and sitting your rear end down in a pew, you've got to ask yourself some serious, hard questions.
27:19
And you're probably the individual that's looking at everybody else saying, well, they're not doing this right, they're not doing this right, because the bitterness and the conviction that's in your heart, you're trying to spread that out on other folks.
27:31
Is that too much truth for today? Is that too much truth, baby? I like your hair. It's kind of a nice...
27:39
That's why I wear my little hat. See, the reason I don't have any hair is because I shave.
27:45
If I didn't shave my head, I'd have a full head of hair. Anyways... That was a lie.
27:53
You're forgiven. But, um... And that's... All of that is hard core truth, and that's what people have tried to...
28:02
Actually, I had people telling me that years ago. Um...
28:09
And... I was trying to control everything, as you know. As you know.
28:15
That's why... I was in the place I was at. But it's just like I have told...
28:22
If I've told one person, I've told three dozen. That it wasn't in my marriage,
28:29
I was trying to fix my husband, when actually God had to fix me. I had to be broken first before I could even consider or even think about anything that he was doing wrong, because I was jacked up myself.
28:44
So, my prayer went from God, please give me my husband back to God, please show my husband who he needs to be in you.
28:58
And who you are in his life. And please let him live for your will, not mine.
29:07
Because it was always what I wanted God to do in my marriage, and not what
29:13
I was going to say, God of yours, do what you need to do. I actually heard a husband tell me one time, well, if my wife would submit,
29:21
I would lead her. So, okay. Here's the definition...
29:26
Was that my husband? No. No, no, no. I called him up,
29:32
I said, how are you doing? All he said to me about you was, oh God, please help me. Something like that. I don't remember.
29:38
But no, I mean, seriously, think about that for a second. Here's the definition of leadership. If somebody else does something, then
29:44
I'll do it. By default, how in the world is that even a basis of leadership? But here's the other thing. I have to be obedient to God only when someone else has to be obedient.
29:56
Makes sense. Right? Hey, did you ever tell your kids to do something, and your kid goes, well, what do they have to do?
30:03
Like, you know, it's kind of like, well, if I've got to suffer through this, someone else has got to suffer too, right?
30:08
They don't worry about you. Ain't no mouse in your pocket. Go do what I tell you to do before I smack you. Yeah, yeah.
30:17
Well, that's what I was getting to, because here I was, I mean, I started coming here, we started through counseling.
30:25
How many years ago has that been? Almost eight. Golly. I am old.
30:32
It's okay, I'm creeping with you, so it's fine. But, you know, and I told
30:37
Scott, this is what Scott tells me. I kid you not. He comes to me and he says,
30:42
I'm going to go to church, and if I think you like it, we'll go next week together.
30:49
And I said, okay. So he comes one Sunday, and he came home and he said, oh, you're going to like this place.
30:56
You're really going to like this pastor. And I was like, okay, well, I'll go. And he goes, well, the crazy thing about it is, this is the guy that I hung out with in high school.
31:05
And I was like, wait a minute. What? You want me to go to a church with the guy that you hung out with in high school?
31:16
We did a lot of Bible studies together. No, you didn't. And I said, do you want me to go when you're going to counseling with this guy?
31:27
Well, I hadn't talked to him about that yet, but I'm pretty sure because he does counseling. I was like, okay.
31:34
I'll go next Sunday, and we'll just see how things go. And I haven't left yet.
31:42
Well, not only that, we hired you as our women's minister. And then you hired her.
31:49
So that doesn't say a lot about you, but No, I'm just kidding. I love my little troll.
31:55
But, I mean, you know, back then I was the control freak, because I sat on your couch many a night.
32:02
And I was determined that I was going to be in control of that.
32:07
Right. Isn't it amazing how one simple word, obey, can be so reassuring and not get scarred.
32:18
I wish Jesus would have told us... Oh, read verse 15. What's it say?
32:24
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Oh, wow. I mean, done?
32:31
If you love me, we... Now, in the Greek, now for those of you out there in Hulu land, listen to me.
32:38
In the Greek, what that really means is this. If you tithe, now, today, if you call right now, 901 -386 -5444, if you call right now, and with a $10 ,000 donation,
32:57
I will send you a sweat rag of mine that you can pray over, and you'll receive that money back to you 10 ,000 times.
33:08
$10 ,000? It's not ringing. It's not ringing? Ain't nobody calling.
33:13
It's the wrong crowd. We're broke. You know, it's funny how pastors always talk about people need to obey when it comes to money, but then everything else has got to kind of slide a little bit, you know?
33:23
Listen. It's all about all. It's all of it. Listen. You want to obey God? You don't get to pick and choose what you obey in.
33:30
And I promise you, listen to me. If you're in a place where you're not a Christian, don't worry about money.
33:37
Okay? That's step number 465, right? First thing you need to do is submit.
33:44
And the way you submit is you obey. Your faith, okay?
33:50
Without works, you're never going to see faith. People say, well, I'm faithful. Well, okay. What are your works to prove it?
33:55
That's what James is talking about. Works, or the obedience of God, is the result of us
34:03
No way! No way! The answering service will get it to you.
34:11
That could be a $10 ,000 right now. Oh my gosh!
34:20
If you call the next three minutes, but no, seriously, what was
34:29
I saying? I don't know, but that works. Yeah, in other words, works are a representation of faith.
34:36
It's the result of faith. Faith isn't a feeling, y 'all. Faith is not a feeling.
34:42
It's an action. It's always going to be that, okay? Alright, so...
34:50
Oh my God, somebody's messing with us. It's one of our church members that is on here and they're like,
34:58
I'm gonna jack with the pastor. I guarantee that's what it is.
35:03
Sorry guys, the answering service is on. But just real quick, if you read here, if you can read verse 16,
35:22
I can't read, help me out. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another counselor to be with you forever.
35:29
Right, keep reading. He is the Spirit of Truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it just doesn't see
35:36
Him or know Him, but you do know Him. You do know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.
35:41
Alright, now this is really cool. How many of you out there believe in the
35:46
Trinity? Oh, it's true. I hear people all the time say, well,
35:54
I believe in the Trinity, or I believe in the Trinity. Well, the word Trinity never is found in Scripture. It's just not in there.
36:01
Well, no, but she's special. It's not found in Scripture anywhere, y 'all.
36:07
But it's found on every page of the Bible. Read that again. You have Jesus talking about God the Father and the
36:12
Holy Spirit. Those three working in concert and one to deliver our sinful rear ends from hell.
36:18
That's the triune nature of God. It's so beautiful. It's so, so beautiful. And then in that last part it says the world is unable to receive
36:28
Him because it does not see Him or know Him, but you do know Him because He remains with you.
36:34
And notice the future tense of this. And will be in you. Now, you have to understand that Pentecost had not happened yet.
36:43
Jesus had not gone to the cross, died and risen again, and the Holy Spirit had not ascended. Guys, that's really important because sometimes
36:50
I think we discount the power of the Holy Spirit within us. We really do. The gift of grace, the dispensation of grace that we're in now, the power of the church is that when we have 300 people gathered here together, that is 300 parts of the same
37:07
Holy Spirit gathered together in one accord. And I'll just say this, and I preached this last week a little bit.
37:13
Listen, if your church highlights them being multicultural, go sit down and talk to your pastor.
37:22
I understand that culturally there's a mindset that we have to be multicultural, but that is not really
37:29
Scripture, because how many times does it tell us to be of one heart, one mind, one accord, one thought?
37:36
Everything's one. It's okay to have diversity and ethnicity. I mean, we have a little bit of everything around here, but that is not what we need to be looking at.
37:45
We don't need to be looking at a church divided. We don't need to be looking if we're Methodist or black or white or Baptist.
37:51
What we need to be looking at is the unity that all can be found when we submit to Jesus Christ our
37:57
Lord. When we submit and obey, we come together. If we get that one standard of Christ, and I do this in marriage counseling all the time, here's the husband, here's the wife.
38:06
The world tries to tell you to do this, to come together, but I'm telling you, it won't work. The world today will never do this.
38:13
Oh, but if we take our eyes off of ourselves and each other, and we put them to Christ, and we all go to the same
38:19
Christ by default, we come together. The unity of Jesus Christ, the unity of His church, is where the power of God and the peace of God, it's where God can truly bless
38:29
America. Once we come to a place where we put down our silly divisiveness and pride and actually start serving the same
38:36
God and the same Word of God, we by default come together. Does that make sense?
38:42
Yeah. Does that make sense? If it made sense to her, then everybody got it. Everybody did. She's the lowest common denominator.
38:49
She lives under a bridge, y 'all. She's a little troll. She lives under a bridge. I'm looking at a road bridge right now.
38:55
It's clean. It's kind of clean. It's a nice part of town. It's well lit. Yeah, it is well lit. It's new.
39:01
Well, the one thing that I want you to remember when we're talking about John 14 is verse 18 where he says,
39:09
I will not leave you as orphans. Right. If you go back one chapter to John 6, he specifically tells us that this is the will of God the
39:22
Father and that all which he has given me, I will lose none. None of you will be orphans, but I will raise you up on the last day.
39:30
Man, that's... He also says, anyone who comes to me, I will in no way cast them out.
39:37
Man, that's good stuff. That's good stuff right there. Even trolls. He even takes trolls.
39:46
That's good stuff. That's good stuff. It's going to be a good day. Yeah, it is. It is.
39:53
So anyways, guys, if you're out there, I encourage you to listen.
39:59
Just come to a place in your life where you recognize the power of God and the obedience of God and being a minister for God.
40:09
Listen, being a minister is not a special little piece of paper or degree from a school.
40:15
It's nothing more than a submitted, broken heart of a child of God looking to be obedient to their
40:21
Father. That's what a minister is. So go and be that minister. Please go be that minister.
40:27
And I'll tell you why. Because it's going to give you a piece that you do not comprehend. When you minister, when you submit and you get to something bigger than yourselves and you serve something bigger than yourself, a piece will come over you that you can't comprehend.
40:42
That's what Philippians 4, 6, and 7 is talking about. That the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep in guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our
40:52
Lord. I think I'm about done. I'm ready for pizza. Pizza. Pizza's good.
40:57
Alright, well we're not going to get between the pastor and his pizza. So, Pastor, I want to thank you.
41:03
It's been a year since this one. I love doing this. Has it been a year? Well, June will be a year, but we've been doing this for a year and a month now.
41:13
Y 'all do a great job. You know the Women of Witten videos are some of the most watched of all the videos we did.
41:21
I think George reached, what was it? 540 something. See, you people, it's because y 'all are smoking hot chicks.
41:28
Thank you. That's what it is. And plus you're smart. I think it's just because we're regular people and we're just trying to share the love.
41:36
It's like a podcast. Like one of those podcast things where people, you know, get on there.
41:41
Isn't that what this is? The podcast? This is a video, but podcasts are done like, you can't see it and you can listen to them while you drive and stuff.
41:52
So, like, you don't have to get on there and watch a video. Like a radio program. Yeah, kind of like a radio. I have always said,
41:58
I mean, can you see Vicki and Mercedes and you as like the morning program?
42:05
Well, that's true. It'd be like your evening drive home with Vicki and the girls.
42:13
We're the girls. You know, I was told the other day by a member of the church that her husband said that I would be a great talk show host.
42:24
Yeah, you would. I told you that too a long time ago. You have that radio voice and it's kind of that, hey so.
42:33
It's just kind of like her. It was Paul Lewis. Well, Paul's a stud.
42:40
Because we've done Wow Moments at their house and he just sits on the side and just watches us.
42:46
Oh, I'm sorry. Hold on one second. This segment of the portion is brought to you by Lewis Small Engine Repair.
42:52
Lewis Small Engine Repair for all of your small engine needs. Cindy was on there.
42:58
Oh, and Boulder Design. Boulder Design. That's right.
43:03
I forgot about that one. But yeah, I was like a talk show host. She was like, yeah.
43:09
Because he says you just kind of just keep things. That was at the last one. I do remember him saying that. Yeah.
43:17
Your voice also has that resonance to it. When you talk and you're doing your little, so pastor.
43:24
You can just hear her radio. When she clears her throat. Yeah, so pastor. It's like she's doing an interview.
43:31
It's pretty cool. I have to say this and I'm not going to say anything that happens in our SADD group. But everybody in SADD has learned that I'm about to speak.
43:38
Yes. Seriously. By the way that I've repositioned myself. She sits up.
43:45
She goes, alright. She goes, alright. And if I don't say anything that everybody's looking at me,
43:52
I'm like, what? I'm just clearing my throat, guys. We're getting ready for what you're about to say. You know
43:57
Jordan passed her test in college? I saw. Smart Jordan. I still have
44:03
I have a lab report to on Sunday, which is my final lab for my physical science.
44:09
Then I have to do another exam on May 6th for my anatomy class.
44:15
Yes, that one's on May 7th. Yeah, May 7th. So that one's on Friday. She said I could take it and then someone can just bring me breakfast.
44:24
Cindy's in my room. Cindy takes pretty good care of me. But that's my physical science class exam.
44:32
Wrist. Shoulder. That's your carpals. We have the torsos.
44:40
Phalanges. Don't forget the phalanges. All I know is we have We have 55 women on those triangles.
44:48
And you're a major. Even better than that. There's only three that owe payments.
45:00
Some of them are saying they wish they could go. They have to go to a wedding.
45:09
I remember the conversation now. I know you don't. Yeah. She's bummed about it.
45:15
We have a wedding. It's somebody that wants to go. Anyways, thanks guys for pizza time.
45:26
Thanks a lot. We'll be back next Thursday with the new
45:33
Mr. and Mrs. Shipley. Oh really? The new Mr. and Mrs.
45:38
Shipley will be next Thursday. And it will be Mercedes' birthday. She's stealing my little boy.