Introduction:
Three Things Jesus-Followers Should Be Known For (Hebrews 13:1-6)
- Compassion : We look for people to Love . (Heb 13:1-3)
Five Reasons to Not Show Compassion:
- Maybe it's their own fault.
- Maybe they should suffer to teach them a lesson.
- Maybe they won't appreciate my help. (I've helped before and got burned!)
- Maybe they'll waste what I give them.
- Maybe I got my own problems to deal with.
One Reason to Show Compassion:
- Jesus
- Covenant : We believe Marriage is a great thing. (Heb 13:4)
- Contentment : We have all we Need . (Heb 13:5-6)
Ecclesiastes 5:19 - Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:49-00:53
Open up your Bibles with me, please, to Hebrews chapter 13.
00:55-00:57
And while you're turning, let's just pause for a moment.
00:57-01:03
And I would ask you pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's word.
01:03-01:18
And I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive it and to not just hear Bible things, but to actually hear the voice of Jesus through his word.
01:18-01:19
Let's pray.
01:22-01:32
Father, I pray that we would just have hearts that are just soil rich to receive the Word.
01:36-01:39
And that something supernatural would happen here.
01:42-01:53
Through the proclamation of your Word, through your Holy Spirit taking that Word and applying it, All glory and praise and honor and power be unto your name.
01:53-01:56
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
01:58-02:00
Hebrews chapter 13, are you there?
02:01-02:08
A couple of years ago, my family, we bought a product from a company called Unmask.
02:09-02:15
And Unmask, especially during this peak pandemic time, they make masks for people like us.
02:15-02:16
And this is mine.
02:16-02:22
I'm not gonna put it on now because I get this microphone on, but anybody else have an unmask?
02:23-02:23
Anybody else?
02:24-02:24
Okay, a few of you do.
02:25-02:34
Okay, well, you know, much of the pandemic paranoia has waned.
02:38-02:40
So I actually had to go looking for this.
02:40-02:47
It was in a winter coat pocket, but I still get emails from the Unmask company.
02:48-02:50
And this is the email that I got this past week.
02:52-02:55
We get the, okay, Unmask.
02:57-03:02
Now you see their little mission statement, purpose statement beside Unmask?
03:02-03:10
If you can't see it, it says, Unmask, elevating your drink and barware to the next level.
03:15-03:17
Let that sink in for a minute.
03:18-03:23
Unmask, elevating your drink and barware to the next level.
03:23-03:28
And then you see headline, we're selling yogis.
03:30-03:36
And I get these emails and every time I get them, I just think, man, that's weird.
03:38-03:39
I mean, think about it.
03:40-03:51
Imagine that you're an employee for the Unmask company and you meet somebody and they say to you, where do you work?
03:52-03:54
And you say, I work for Unmask.
03:55-03:57
And they say, what do you do there?
03:59-04:01
And you say, we make coffee cups.
04:06-04:06
What?
04:08-04:10
Somewhere they got off mission.
04:11-04:13
And listen, this is very important.
04:13-04:15
They started doing one thing.
04:17-04:23
And now what they do has nothing to do with why they started.
04:24-04:25
Are you tracking with me?
04:27-04:34
At some point, the people at Unmask realized that the thing that they do is no longer relevant.
04:39-04:41
Does that sound like churches today?
04:43-04:50
But there are a lot of churches that are saying, you know, the thing that we started out doing doesn't really seem relevant anymore.
04:51-04:59
And by the way, yeah, eventually Unmask was, they were, it was from day one, they had to have known they were gonna be irrelevant someday.
05:00-05:04
But you realize the church of Jesus Christ is never going to be irrelevant.
05:05-05:12
We're never gonna say, "Hey, you know what guys, "we're closing down, people stop sinning." Never gonna happen.
05:16-05:20
But the unmasked people figured their original thing was no longer relevant.
05:20-05:25
And like I said, every time I get those emails, I just think, man, that sounds like churches.
05:29-05:35
That we have this gospel that saves people from their sin.
05:35-05:40
We have this gospel that transforms people and churches are just like, I got an idea.
05:41-05:43
Let's do rock concerts and pep talks.
05:44-05:46
Like, why?
05:49-05:58
It's just so easy for churches to get off mission and become known for something that was never originally intended.
06:04-06:07
And I have to ask you, church, what are we known for?
06:09-06:11
And I don't just mean like the church in general.
06:11-06:12
I mean this church.
06:13-06:14
What are we known for?
06:20-06:22
I can tell you what we should be known for.
06:23-06:25
We should be known for being different from the world.
06:27-06:27
We should be.
06:28-06:30
Because we belong to a different kingdom.
06:33-06:35
We have different values.
06:36-06:39
We don't look at life the way the world looks at life.
06:40-06:43
We are called, church, we are called to be different.
06:47-06:59
I had a guy tell me one time, he said, "You know this guy that I've been working with "for the last five years, "he just found out I was a Christian." And he said, "Wow, I'm really surprised.
06:59-07:03
"I didn't know you were a Christian." And I'm like, "That's really not good."
07:05-07:05
(congregation laughing)
07:05-07:14
You worked with a guy for five years and you had not the whiff of Jesus Christ on you at all, that he was shocked when he found out.
07:15-07:19
Maybe you shouldn't tell that story, right?
07:19-07:30
People that have been transformed by Jesus should be obvious and churches, we get to this last stretch in Hebrews, that's where he starts us off.
07:30-07:33
Here's three things that you should be known for, church.
07:33-07:35
And when I say you, I mean church collectively.
07:36-07:38
These are things we should be known for.
07:38-07:43
And I mean, as a household, this is what your household should be known for.
07:43-07:46
And as an individual, this is what you should be known for.
07:47-07:52
So this message is like a check your rep kind of message, right?
07:52-07:57
Here's three things Jesus followers should be known for from this passage.
07:57-07:58
Number one, write this down.
07:59-08:00
We should be known for this.
08:01-08:05
And if we're not, we better do a serious self-check.
08:06-08:07
Number one is compassion.
08:08-08:09
We look for people to love.
08:10-08:11
Look at verse one.
08:11-08:22
It says, "Let brotherly love continue." Okay, brotherly love, that's Philadelphia, that's affection.
08:23-08:27
And it's important I remind you that love is not a feeling.
08:29-08:30
Love is a principle.
08:32-08:33
Love is self-sacrifice.
08:34-08:36
Love isn't a feeling, right?
08:36-08:38
'Cause feelings, they come and go, right?
08:39-08:43
Some days I really like something, some days I really dislike something.
08:43-08:46
Feelings come and go, but love is a principle.
08:47-08:47
It's a choice.
08:48-08:51
I am choosing to put you ahead of myself.
08:51-08:52
That's what love is.
08:54-08:58
And it's obvious here, he's talking to believers because he uses the word continue.
08:58-09:00
Let brotherly love continue.
09:01-09:02
He's saying it's already there.
09:02-09:04
You already have brotherly love.
09:04-09:09
He's like, "Hey, keep it up, keep it up." You're like, "Okay, great, on who?" Well, I'm glad you asked.
09:09-09:10
Look at verse two.
09:11-09:13
Here's the first call to compassion.
09:14-09:29
He says, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." The first call to compassion is hospitality to strangers.
09:30-09:37
And yes, yes, yes, we show hospitality to fellow believers, absolutely, for sure, but that's not what's in view here.
09:37-09:42
Specifically, he's talking about showing hospitality to strangers.
09:42-09:43
He's saying don't neglect that.
09:44-09:49
In other words, be intentional about showing love, showing hospitality to strangers.
09:55-09:56
What does that look like?
09:56-10:08
Well, you know, in the first century, you know, there were a lot of people traveling, missionaries, a lot of persecution, Jews being driven out when they come to faith in Christ and people needed places to stay.
10:08-10:13
You're like, well, how does that, how does the whole hospitality thing translate in our day?
10:13-10:14
Well, a lot of ways, actually.
10:16-10:18
You know, this church has a hospitality ministry.
10:20-10:24
We wanna make sure that everybody who comes through these doors feels welcomed and loved.
10:25-10:26
You should be part of that.
10:27-10:32
Everybody in this church is part of the hospitality ministry, right?
10:34-10:41
Some of you get this, even outside of the church, through things like foster care and adoption.
10:41-10:46
Those are ways that you can show extreme hospitality.
10:47-10:55
Whatever, whatever opportunity the Lord brings your way to show hospitality to strangers, the Hebrew writer says, don't neglect that.
10:56-10:57
Okay, don't neglect that.
11:00-11:04
But honestly, church, you know what our biggest obstacle with the whole hospitality thing is?
11:04-11:05
You know what the biggest obstacle is?
11:09-11:10
It's not that we don't want to.
11:11-11:13
It's not that we hate strangers or anything like that.
11:14-11:16
I think our biggest problem is busyness.
11:19-11:26
In our culture, we have packed our schedules so tight that there's no room for hospitality.
11:29-11:34
You couldn't welcome anyone into your home because when would you do it?
11:36-11:46
Everything from work to nine weeks of vacation, to camping, hobbies, sports.
11:47-11:47
Oh, that's the big one.
11:49-11:55
Some of y'all have elementary school kids that have a tighter sports schedule than Pittsburgh Pirates do.
11:57-11:59
They're like, "Man, Pastor Jeff, that's harsh." Listen to me.
12:00-12:02
I'm involved in all these things except camping.
12:02-12:02
I think camping's dumb.
12:03-12:04
But all these other things I do.
12:06-12:07
Do these other things.
12:07-12:09
I coach my son's hockey team.
12:10-12:14
So I'm not saying these things are bad and I'm not saying you shouldn't do them.
12:14-12:15
You absolutely should.
12:15-12:17
Here's what I am saying.
12:18-12:26
These things are great until they dictate your schedule to the point that you become a slave to your calendar.
12:26-12:27
That's the problem.
12:29-12:36
So yes, do these things, but church, and this isn't a new problem, but we suffocate ourselves.
12:41-12:47
It's not wise, and it doesn't give us opportunity to show any kind of hospitality.
12:50-12:57
We should be known, church, for compassion that results in real hospitality, even to strangers.
12:57-12:59
I love his reasoning here.
12:59-13:02
This is one of the most curious verses in the Bible, isn't it?
13:03-13:05
His reason, why should we show hospitality?
13:05-13:07
Why, why should I do that?
13:07-13:14
He says, "For thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Like, what?
13:15-13:16
I'm entertaining angels?
13:18-13:23
Well, to his Jewish audience, they would have known exactly right off the bat what he was talking about, right?
13:24-13:30
Abraham, Genesis 18, the Lord and two angels showed up and Abraham showed them hospitality.
13:30-13:32
You can check that story out later.
13:34-13:39
They just, they looked like men, but it was actually the Lord and two angels.
13:44-13:59
You know, back in high school, my wife and I went to the same high school and we had this gym teacher that was legendary.
14:00-14:06
Now that some of you know the legend that is Mr. Melsimenko, right Jay?
14:09-14:15
That's right, this guy was the most terrifying person I've ever met.
14:16-14:18
He was, he was just, he was scary.
14:18-14:24
He was like in the Canadian football league, once upon a time, he was like Canada's meanest man.
14:24-14:26
Look him up, he was terrifying.
14:27-14:31
Well, I'm hearing this story secondhand.
14:31-14:33
I wasn't there, but my wife was, okay?
14:33-14:36
She was a mackerel baby back at the time, right?
14:36-14:36
That's her maiden name.
14:37-14:47
So, but she told me one time in study hall, there was this new kid that came to the school and Samanka was the study hall, what do you call it?
14:48-14:50
Teachers, coaches, monitor, thank you.
14:52-14:57
But this kid comes in and plops down and just puts his head down on the desk and starts going to sleep.
14:58-15:15
And Mr. Simanko is reading his paper and he looks down over his paper and he says, "Hey, wake up, we're not sleeping here, "find something to do." And again, the kid, it was his first day, didn't know anybody, just got his stuff, right?
15:15-15:24
And the kid said, "I don't have anything to do, "it's my first day." So Simanko gets back to reading the paper, the kid puts his head back down and Simanko's like, "What did I tell you?
15:24-15:38
"We're not sleeping here." And the kid's like, "It's my first day, I don't have anything to do." Well, I'm not sure what happened next, but I know how the story ends.
15:39-15:49
As Samanka walked up to the kid, and Aaron can give you the details, she was there, I wasn't, but Samanka walked up to this kid and there was some kind of exchange between the kid and the gym teacher.
15:50-15:58
And the next thing you know, Mr. Samanka was holding the kid by his ankle upside down, a high school kid.
15:59-16:05
And he said, "Macaravy, go get the principal." So Aaron had to go get the principal.
16:05-16:08
And they never saw that kid after that, did they?
16:09-16:16
She says, "No." You're like, "Why are you telling us this horrible story?" Here's why.
16:17-16:19
You just never know who you're dealing with.
16:22-16:23
And that's what the Hebrew writer here is saying.
16:26-16:29
Obviously, he's not saying the angel is going to grab you and hold you upside down.
16:30-16:32
But I think you see the principles the same, right?
16:33-16:35
Sometimes you just don't know who you're dealing with.
16:36-16:41
And we show hospitality to strangers because we don't know the people that God is going to put in our lives.
16:41-16:49
We don't know the effect that that's going to have on them and the effect that that's going to have on other people and the effect that that's going to have in the kingdom of God.
16:49-16:53
We have no idea who we're dealing with sometimes.
16:55-16:57
So we show hospitality.
16:59-17:03
So get to know people, invite them into your home, invite them to your church, invite them to your small group.
17:07-17:10
Small groups are great opportunities to show hospitality, by the way.
17:10-17:11
Great opportunity.
17:12-17:20
Bringing people into your homes, sharing food together, laughing, swapping gym coach stories, and it's a great opportunity.
17:20-17:23
Getting into God's word, praying, great opportunity.
17:25-17:27
Church, your love for strangers reflects your love for God.
17:28-17:31
So more than anybody, we should be known for hospitality, right?
17:32-17:35
The second call for compassion is to remember the oppressed.
17:35-17:36
Look at verse three.
17:37-17:51
He says, "Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, "And those who are mistreated, "since you also are in the body." Prison, what's he talking about?
17:51-18:01
Again, in these days of intense persecution, a lot of Jewish Christians were in jail because of their faith.
18:03-18:12
And I think that that's specifically what he's talking about, clarifying by calling the mistreated people that were abused and oppressed.
18:14-18:22
His reasoning here to remember these oppressed people, he says, "You also are in the body." What's he saying?
18:22-18:25
He goes, "Hey, you're a physical body too, right?
18:27-18:29
Like you're flesh and blood like them, right?
18:30-18:39
You know, the pain that they're going through, you could go through that same pain, right?" Like what he's saying is like, how would you feel or what would you want people to do?
18:39-18:44
Like if you were the one in prison, Like, how would you want people to care for you?
18:45-18:46
You're a human body too, right?
18:51-18:52
Do you even care?
18:53-18:54
Really?
18:55-18:57
Some of you are like, no, I don't really care.
18:59-19:01
I'll just be honest with you, Jeff, I don't really care.
19:02-19:04
Well, then I got a sermon for you.
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Here we go.
19:06-19:08
Five reasons to not show compassion.
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This is for the people that don't care and don't wanna care.
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All right, for the rest of you, just tune out for a second.
19:15-19:17
I'm gonna give you five reasons to not show compassion.
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I'm gonna go through these quickly.
19:21-19:24
Here's why you shouldn't show compassion, okay?
19:25-19:27
Letter A, maybe it's their own fault.
19:28-19:30
Whatever they're going through, maybe it's their own fault.
19:31-19:32
So why should I give a rip?
19:33-19:34
They brought it on themselves.
19:36-19:36
Not my problem.
19:38-19:39
Why should I care, right?
19:40-19:41
Can I get an amen on that?
19:42-19:42
No?
19:43-19:44
All right, how about this one?
19:44-19:45
It goes right with it.
19:45-19:48
Letter B, maybe they should suffer to teach them a lesson.
19:49-19:51
Come on, somebody's gotta give me an amen on that one.
19:52-19:53
You know what?
19:53-19:54
Let them suffer, who cares?
19:55-19:56
Why show compassion?
19:57-20:00
Okay, if they got themselves into the mess, let them hurt a while.
20:01-20:02
Maybe they'll learn better next time.
20:05-20:07
Letter C, maybe they won't appreciate my help.
20:10-20:12
going with that is I've helped before and got burned, right?
20:13-20:18
I've helped people before and they're like, oh, I need your help so bad.
20:19-20:31
And then I help them and I spend time and money and they're just like, they're like Nancy going down in the baptistry, like, you know, deuces, stay fresh cheese bags.
20:31-20:33
I'm out of here, you'll never see me again.
20:33-20:37
And like, why should I help people if they're not gonna appreciate it?
20:38-20:39
Is anybody gonna amen this?
20:43-20:45
Letter D, five reasons to not show compassion.
20:45-20:47
Letter D, maybe they'll waste what I give them.
20:48-20:50
Oh, come on, somebody, somebody amen that.
20:52-20:52
Okay.
20:55-20:58
That was underwhelming, but I appreciate the effort.
20:59-21:00
Maybe they'll waste what I give them.
21:01-21:12
Right, what if I gave them money, and they just go, and they go spend it on, They go spend it on booze and scratchy lotteries.
21:12-21:15
And what if they just waste it?
21:19-21:22
Letter E, maybe I got my own problems to deal with.
21:26-21:29
Come on, I got a full plate.
21:31-21:33
I don't have time for other people's problems.
21:34-21:36
Those are five reasons to not show compassion.
21:37-21:43
And I suppose you could justify yourself that way.
21:45-21:46
But here's the real sermon.
21:46-21:48
Here's the real sermon, one reason to show compassion.
21:48-21:49
You ready for this?
21:49-21:50
One reason to show compassion.
21:51-21:53
Here it is, letter A, Jesus.
21:55-21:57
This is why we show compassion, church.
21:58-21:59
There you go.
22:00-22:02
Come on, this is why we show compassion, church.
22:02-22:03
Come on.
22:03-22:04
Amen.
22:05-22:06
It's because of Jesus.
22:08-22:21
Now, you know, when Jesus saved you, when he showed compassion for you, when he died for you, when he suffered on the cross for you, all those reasons to not show compassion, I guarantee you, he could have said those about you.
22:22-22:23
And he could have said them about me.
22:25-22:28
Jesus could have looked at me and said, "Jeff's problems are his own fault.
22:29-22:36
"Maybe Jeff should suffer for what he's done." Jesus could have said, Jeff's not always going to appreciate my help the way that I think he should.
22:36-22:37
He would have been right about that.
22:38-22:42
Jesus could have said, maybe I'll waste what he does for me or gives me.
22:44-22:47
Jesus certainly has a bigger fish to fry than me.
22:47-22:53
But Jesus didn't use any of those lame excuses to not show compassion and church.
22:53-22:56
Neither should we.
22:58-23:02
How can you understand everything that Jesus has done for us?
23:03-23:06
and not have compassion on others who are hurting.
23:08-23:15
You just can't turn your heads in the needy, in your church, in your neighborhood, in your workplace.
23:15-23:21
Look, this year in small groups, we are getting back into community outreach.
23:22-23:32
And I know COVID and all that pandemic nonsense that kept us going, doing the things that we used to do.
23:36-23:41
I really shut down our outreach for a while, but we're getting back into it harder than ever.
23:42-23:50
So get out there, find people and show them that we're known for having the compassion of Jesus.
23:50-23:50
All right?
23:52-23:54
Three things we should be known for.
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Number two is covenant.
23:58-23:59
Number two is covenant.
23:59-24:01
We believe marriage is a great thing.
24:04-24:05
Look at verse four.
24:07-24:14
He says, "Let marriage be held in honor among all." Marriage should be held in honor among all.
24:14-24:17
Marriage is sacred to God, okay?
24:18-24:18
He created it.
24:20-24:20
It's his idea.
24:21-24:23
And where did Jesus do his first miracle?
24:24-24:24
Anybody know?
24:25-24:26
At a wedding, right?
24:27-24:34
And the Holy Spirit uses marriage as the picture of the relationship between Jesus and the church.
24:35-24:36
Ephesians 5.
24:39-24:40
Marriage should be held in honor.
24:40-24:49
And I love this, it says, "Among all." That means even if your marriage isn't in a great place right now, you should still honor marriage.
24:49-24:56
Even if you had a bad marriage in the past, you should honor marriage.
24:57-25:02
Even if you're an unmarried person, you're like, well, how does an unmarried person honor marriage?
25:02-25:04
Well, Paul did it, he wasn't married.
25:04-25:05
Look at the stuff he wrote about marriage.
25:06-25:09
This should be a place where we honor marriage.
25:10-25:12
Marriage is not honored when it's redefined.
25:14-25:19
Marriage is not honored when a couple lives together like a married couple without getting married.
25:20-25:24
Marriage isn't honored when a husband and wife are neglecting each other.
25:27-25:33
On the way to work this week, I was listening to the sports radio and it was kind of like an in-between segment thing.
25:33-25:41
They were talking about calling, using the phone, getting dates and stuff when you were young, what that was like as a kid.
25:41-25:50
I know some of you don't understand the phone used to be attached with a cord to the wall and if the phone rang, you had no idea who it was.
25:50-25:52
and we lived like absolute barbarians.
25:54-25:59
But they were talking about that kind of stuff and the conversation sort of evolved into marriage.
25:59-26:23
And the one guy said, "Well, so-and-so has some advice about marriage." And the other guy who he was speaking about said, "Yeah, here's my marriage advice, don't do it." I'm like, well, that's the way the world views marriage.
26:24-26:27
It's this huge mistake.
26:28-26:39
It's this thing that you get into and then you regret it and then you lose half your stuff and it just results in so much bitterness and just don't do it.
26:39-26:40
It's not worth it.
26:44-26:46
And I would say, hey, not at this church.
26:47-26:49
This church should be known as a place that honors marriage.
26:51-27:00
Look, going on in verse four, he says, "And let the marriage bed be undefiled." The marriage bed undefiled.
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What's he saying?
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Husbands and wives, go for it.
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Go for what?
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You know what?
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God gave you this incredible gift, husbands and wives.
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God gave you this gift.
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Use it.
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Use it as much as you want.
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Use it as much as you can.
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Enjoy the heck out of each other.
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Just keep the gift in the marriage bed, right?
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That's what honors God.
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He goes on.
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He says, "For God will judge the sexually immoral "and the adulterous." God will judge.
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Unbelievers, for sure, facing the judgment of God.
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Society, facing God's judgment regarding perversion and sexuality.
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We're living in God's judgment right now.
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Consequences, God has built them right in.
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Yeah, maybe it won't be lightning and plagues, right?
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Maybe you won't commit adultery and get struck by locust lightning or whatever, but I would suggest to you that there's worse things that come through sexual immorality.
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Things like marriage collapse.
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Things like kids who are devastated and never get over that.
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Some of you know what I'm talking about.
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I talk to people as adults, as grown adults, people older than me that are still devastated by their parents' divorce when they were teenagers.
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venereal disease, financial issues, suicide.
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Keep the marriage bed undefiled.
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God gave this awesome gift and he said, "Here's the place you use it, right?
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Use it there and only there." And I know, I know, I know it's 2023.
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And right now there are people who are like, I hear what you're saying, Jeff.
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You're saying only sex and marriage, that's so square.
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And I'm like, first of all, nobody says square anymore.
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I think Huey Lewis and the news were the last people to say that.
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Like why only sex and marriage?
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I mean, isn't that old fashioned?
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Why is that?
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Why, why?
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I'm gonna tell you why.
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It's because marriage is a covenant.
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And intimacy belongs to those in the covenant.
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Forget about sexuality for a second.
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Let's talk about our covenant with God.
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God established this covenant through Jesus Christ that we enter through faith in Christ.
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And when we enter covenant with God, how intimate is the relationship between God and man?
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God comes and lives inside, right?
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That's the ultimate form of intimacy.
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God says, "I'm not some distant God that's far away." He's gonna live inside of us.
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There's no closer relationship.
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And in the same way, when a man and woman are in the covenant of marriage, the Bible says the two shall become one flesh.
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The physical form of intimacy takes place on the marriage bed.
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There is no closer physical intimacy than this.
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And that's why it's only for people that are in the covenant of marriage.
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You understand what I'm saying?
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Any further questions, ask your mom, okay?
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But this is the point.
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It's not square, it's not old-fashioned.
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It's using God's gift the way he intended it to be used.
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And when that's done, it's awesome.
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And when it's not done, it's destructive.
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So Jesus is always faithful to his bride.
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The church, his bride must respond by being faithful to only him.
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And that's the dynamic to be emulated in a marriage.
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So, despite all of the goofiness that the world is pitching about marriage and sexuality, we, we must be known as people who honor biblical marriage.
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Right?
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So three things we must be known for, Jesus followers.
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One is compassion, two is covenant.
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The third thing is contentment.
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Contentment, we have all we need.
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Look at verse five, it says, "Keep your life free from love of money." Free from love of money.
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One of the most misquoted verses in the Bible, people say, "Money's the root of all evil." Is that true?
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The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
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Money, listen, money in and of itself is not evil, but people think that.
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Money in and of itself is not evil.
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I have proof of that because I have some money.
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My wallet has never tried to kill me when I'm sleeping because it's not evil.
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My debit card has never slandered me because it's not evil.
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Money itself is not evil.
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Money's just a tool.
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It's the love of money.
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Money, and listen, it's money in any amount, by the way.
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We live in a day that if you have a lot of money, you're a horrible person, which isn't true.
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Money in and of itself is not evil.
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It's loving money.
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That is what God says to avoid, because when you love money, you never have enough.
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Look, he goes on in verse five, he says, and be content with what you have.
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We, church, should be known for being content people.
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We should be a people that say, I have all I need.
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Can you say that?
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I'm gonna give you a run at it.
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I'll give you a second, I'm gonna prepare you.
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But I want you to say that, I have all that I need.
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Say that.
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I have all that I need.
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Do you believe that?
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I have all that I need.
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I'm so happy, I'm so thankful with what I have.
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Like, you're like, man, that's so hard to do.
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How do I do that?
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If you can understand this one thing, you're not going to struggle with contentment and covetousness and greed.
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If you can understand this one principle, the principle is this, God is the one who gives you what you have.
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We studied this in Ecclesiastes last year, remember that?
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Ecclesiastes 5.19, I'm sure you all remember this.
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I'm just gonna give us a refresher.
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It says, "Everyone also to whom God has given wealth "and possessions and power to enjoy them "and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil, "this is the gift of God." So where does our stuff come from?
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It comes from God.
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The principles throughout, right?
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Deuteronomy 8, 18, 1 Chronicles 29, 12, Hosea 2, 8.
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Everything you have has been given to you by God.
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And if you can understand and accept that, You will be a content person just walking through life.
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Everything I have, everything I need, God's just gonna give me.
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I'm not worried about it.
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I'm not looking for more.
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I'm not crying because I don't have what somebody else has.
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God's just gonna give me everything that I need.
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So I'm not, I'm content.
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I'm happy.
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Are you there?
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You know, the Old Testament under Moses, when he led the Israelites out of Egypt, you know, to the promised land, we talked about that a lot through Hebrews.
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But on that trip, God provided Israel the most perfect food ever.
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It was called manna.
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If you know the story, where was the manna?
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They didn't go to sheets for it.
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Where was it?
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It was just on the ground.
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God provided the perfect food to every morning.
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All you had to do was roll out of your tent and your food was on the ground.
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And it was perfect in every way.
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And we have biblical evidence that speaks to how perfect it was.
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We'll talk about that another time.
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But just know that it was a perfect food that God's just like, here you go.
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I'll feed you.
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It's right there.
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You can't get any closer.
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You're standing on some.
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"Get up." Was Israel content?
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Was Israel content?
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No, in fact, they wanted to go back to Egypt, and one of their reasons was the food there.
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You remember that?
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They're like, "Do you remember back in Egypt, "there were like the pots of flesh?" Like, that's really gross.
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They just mean there's meat.
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It's a gross way to put it.
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And they were like, "We had the cucumbers and the leeks." And I'm like, "I call baloney.
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Nobody's ever gotten excited about a leek." But they were like, "Oh, we just wish we were back in Egypt." And Numbers chapter 11, they actually said this.
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They said, "All we have is this manna to look at." Wrap your brain around that statement for a second.
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God's like, "Here you go, perfect food every day.
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Just bend over and pick it up." life to all we have is this stupid man it'll look at.
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Excuse me?
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What, what?
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Winers.
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It's like a bunch of toddlers, right?
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But church, listen, when you're not content, you sound exactly like them.
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When you're not content with what God has given you, you are just like Israel.
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What you're saying, you might not be using these words, but this is what you're saying.
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Like, this is it, God?
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This is all you're gonna give me?
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I want more.
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I want different.
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Oh, this is a sermon for another time, but some of you know how that story ends.
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God gave them meat, by the way.
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God's like, "Oh, you want meat." God says, "I'll give you meat until it comes out of your noses." And the Bible says that while they were eating the quail that God provided while the meat was between their teeth before it was consumed, God struck them dead.
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And I don't think the Bible explicitly says, but I imagine after that event, everybody else in Israel that wasn't struck dead was like, "You know what I'm hungry for?
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"Mana.
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"Mana is my favorite thing ever.
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"I love mana.
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"Send me a mana sandwich with a side of mana soup "and a tall, cold glass of mana." Right?
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We should be known for being content.
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We have all that we need.
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Here's a couple of markers of content people.
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Content people, first of all, don't judge what other people have.
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That's a mark of content people.
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Content people don't judge what other people have.
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Did you see that car he was driving?
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How much does he make?
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Did you see that purse that she was carrying?
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What's a bougie purse company?
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Shout one out, I don't know.
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Gucci, Louis Vuitton, okay.
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Did you see that Louis Vuitton purse that she was carrying?
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Here's what content people say.
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Okay, God gave that to them.
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I drive the car that I have and I carry my Walmart purse.
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Well, I mean, I don't.
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(audience laughing)
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I don't carry the Walmart purse.
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But that's what content people say.
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Like, okay, so he drives that kind of car, good for him.
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I hope it's awesome.
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So she has a Louis Gucci purse or whatever, so she's good for her.
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I hope she has a closet full of them.
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I hope she loves that purse so much.
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Not like in an idolatry way, But I hope that she loves it in the Lord or whatever.
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Several months ago, I was at a funeral home for a visitation.
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And when I was walking out, there was a lady in the lobby just by herself.
41:45-42:00
And we got chatting and she's like, "How do you know the deceased?" And I said, "Well, I'm a pastor and I've known the family and da, da, da." She goes, "Oh, you're a pastor." She said, right out of the gate, she goes, "What do you think about how much money Joel Osteen makes?"
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(congregation laughing)
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And I gotta be honest with you, church, I am genuinely surprised at how many times over the course of my ministry, I've been asked my opinion on Joel Osteen's salary.
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And I told her, I said, What Joel Osteen makes isn't my business.
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Like, why should I care what Joel Osteen makes?
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Do I look like Mrs. Osteen?
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What's her name?
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Veronica or whatever?
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Victoria.
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Do I look like Victoria Osteen?
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And be careful how you answer that.
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But why should I care what he makes?
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I don't give to support his organization.
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And listen, I say this with all the love I can muster, you gotta grab hold of this.
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Look, what God gives somebody else is not your business.
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It is not your business.
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Your business, according to the Bible, is to be content with what you have.
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Do you see that?
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Here's another marker of contentment.
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We're wrapping up, I promise.
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I didn't preach for like five weeks, so I've had all this building up.
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Here's another one.
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Content people aren't afraid of not having what they need.
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That's another marker of contentment.
43:37-43:40
You don't have the anxiety of lacking.
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That's another marker of contentment.
43:45-43:46
How does that work?
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It's because content people have learned that contentment It doesn't come from having stuff.
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Contentment comes from having Jesus.
43:59-44:00
Look at verse 5.
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Again, he says, "Be content with what you have.
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Why should I do that?" Here's the reason, look.
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"For He has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" God said that.
44:18-44:19
Oh, he's not finished.
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He says, "So we, we can confidently say, "the Lord is my helper.
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"I will not fear.
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"What can man do to me?" He's quoting Joshua 1.5.
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Actually, Jesus said something very similar.
44:39-44:40
Right, Great Commission, I'm with you always.
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Right, he's quoting Psalm 118, verse six.
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But this, he will never leave you in the original language, that was the strongest negative.
44:51-44:55
Okay, so he will never leave you is sort of an understatement in translation.
44:55-45:04
What it's saying is, God is saying, I will never, ever, under any circumstances abandon you.
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I would never do that.
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He says, so we're not going to fear, right?
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You see that?
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He says, "I will not fear," verse six.
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Like, what, fear what?
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Fear lacking, fear being without.
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In chapter 10, verse 34, these people were being plundered for their faith, right?
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They were being robbed because they belonged to Jesus.
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And he says, "And our response should just simply be this, "that's okay, that's okay." because the Lord is my helper.
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My God has $6 trillion just in the cup holder of his Lamborghini.
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So if I have Jesus, I have everything.
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And I don't have anything to worry about because he promised that he'd never forsake me.
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You see, church, that's where contentment comes from.
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Contentment comes from real faith that says, "I believe that God is always with me.
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And I believe that he's going to give me everything that I need." Our worship team would make their way back to the platform here.
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You know, I think it was several months ago, maybe up to a year now, in a meeting.
46:48-46:54
Regarding hospitality, we were meeting with Mackenzie Blasco, and she has a question that, I was like, wow, I wasn't expecting that.
46:54-47:00
But she said, she asked me this, she says, "How close is this church to your original vision?" You remember asking that, Mackenzie?
47:01-47:14
She's, "How close is this church to your original vision?" And I said, "This is exactly what I wanted to see." This church isn't perfect.
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That's certainly not what I meant.
47:20-47:21
But this church is real.
47:22-47:24
And this church is sincere.
47:25-47:36
And this church is actively seeking to grow in our individual family and collective walks with Jesus Christ by his grace.
47:39-47:41
You know, I've thought about Mackenzie's question often.
47:45-47:49
What if I asked you, what kind of church do you want?
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We could get one of the handheld mics and walk around and get everyone's opinion.
47:55-47:58
I imagine we'd probably get dozens of different types of answers.
47:59-48:00
What kind of church do you want?
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But I guess we're asking the wrong question.
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I think the right question is, what kind of church does Jesus want?
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Isn't that a better question?
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Can I get an amen on that?
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Okay, that was better.
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What kind of church does Jesus want?
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Well, he tells us right here.
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"We should be a church known for compassion." We're looking for people to love.
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We're a church that's about covenant.
48:29-48:37
Our covenant with God through Jesus Christ, the covenant, the new covenant, through the blood of Jesus, but also the covenant of marriage.
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We believe, and this, when you come in here, we think marriage is a great thing here.
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The last thing we should be known for is contentment.
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We're just people, we walk around satisfied.
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Like, I have everything that I need.
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God's going to make sure of that.
48:58-48:59
You bow with me in prayer.
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Father in heaven, in a day of consumerism and competition and marketing and all that stuff.
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It's easy for the church to think, what do I need to do to compete?
49:17-49:19
What do I need to do to be flashy?
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What do I, what kind of gimmick do I need?
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But the reality is, Father, you haven't called us to gimmicks you've called us to faithfulness.
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And your word tells us right here kind of reputation we should have.
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So Father, I wanna pray for this church.
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Because it's only the decisions we make in our walks and for our homes, that's gonna determine the kind of people we are when we come together here.
49:54-49:58
Father, warm our hearts towards compassion.
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Father, let us repent of any negative attitudes or words that we've had towards marriage.
50:08-50:15
Father, let us be people who are truly satisfied, not because of the stuff we have, but because of the God that we have.
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I just pray, Father, that we are so focused on being the kind of people that you have called us to be, and that you give us the opportunity to just get out into our community and let them see the difference that Jesus Christ makes.
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Father, we do pray for the members of this church, the people of this church to grow.
50:43-51:04
We pray for this church itself to grow, but Father, only in a way that honors you, only in a way that's empowered by you, only in a way that people can look at us and say, God must be in their midst.
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Show up powerfully, Father.
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Not for our reputation, ultimately it's for yours.
51:14-51:17
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Hebrews 13:1-6
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What do you think HBC is known for?
What are some practical ways that you can show hospitality to strangers?
How would you answer this question: why is sex only for married people (Heb 13:4)?
In what areas do you struggle with contentment (Heb 13:5)?
Breakout
Pray for one another, and pray for HBC to be a church known for compassion, covenant, and contentment.