1 Corinthians: Lessons I've Learned About My Freedom in Jesus

Now, you have come into a service that is next generation Sunday. We want our church family to be someone that looks into the face of the next generation and say, we believe in you. We believe that God has called you, set you apart, and that you're not really the future of the church. You're the church of the Lord Jesus right now. Because, listen to me, our faith is only as good as it goes from generation to generation. Today is Senior Sunday, and we are the class of 2026. We just wanted to take a second and say thank you, Crossgates. Some of us just got here. And some of us have been here our whole lives. But we're really grateful for our church family. But the most important person in this room isn't us, it's Jesus. So we want to say that we're glad that you're here this morning and let's get ready to worship together as a family. All right, well, you heard him. Let's go ahead and stand up on our feet. We're excited to worship with you this morning. So let's put our hands together and declare that we've been made alive through Jesus this morning. I have decided to follow Jesus, the world behind the cross before and I won't turn back. I have decided to follow Jesus, the world behind the cross before and I won't turn back. I have decided to follow Jesus, the world behind the cross before and I won't turn back. I have decided to follow Jesus, the world behind the cross before and I won't turn back. I have decided to follow Jesus, the world behind the cross before and I won't turn back. I can't, I can't, I can't He rescued me out of the mess I was in He traded my sorrow for something to sing Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in Again and again, and again and again

He rescued me out of the mess I was in He traded my sorrow for something to sing Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in Praise the Lord, I'll be born again Praise the Lord, I'll be born again Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in Dancing on the grave that I once lived in Dancing on the grave that I once lived in Dancing on the grave that I once lived in Dancing on the grave Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in Dancing on the grave that I once lived in Dancing on the grave that I once lived in Praise the Lord, I've been born again Good morning, good morning Church family It is a great day to be here It is Next Generation Sunday And it is also Senior Sunday down front We have, yeah, let's give it up for them We have 36, 37, 36 seniors That have graduated here from our family We're sending them out And so we're so proud of them But also this is just a celebration for our church And thinking of some of them I've known forever They were born here So many of you served them when they were in bed babies

And then all the way up into kids And now they're becoming grown adults And so it's so awesome to see that today So today is a celebration of that But hey, my friend Daniel here Is one of our young adults here at this church He's also interning with our student ministry this summer So Daniel Yeah, man, it is just super sweet to be here today To worship the Lord but also to celebrate our seniors And that's really awesome But I also want to take a moment And just thank our guests who are here It is so easy with the busyness of summer to be anywhere But we are honored that you chose to be here with us this morning If you could do us a favor In the seat back in front of you We have a Connect card Really simple questions, nothing crazy We're not going to be weird about it We're not going to blow up your phone But we care about you And we want to walk alongside you in your faith journey Wherever the Lord is taking you And this is a really easy way for us to do that And then on the back side of it For everybody in the room We have a prayer place Where you can write down a prayer request Our staff will pray over it this week

So anything we can pray for you Or pray with you, alongside you We would love to You can drop those cards in the red buckets On your way out And that's also where you can drop your first fruits giving For sure Well, hey, this summer is already here It may not feel like it Because it was 65 degrees this morning But it's about to be 1000 degrees out there And you know, they always say It's the humidity that gets you Alright, it's on its way So enjoy the nice weather now But this summer here at CrossKate Means a lot of things For our kids ministry, student ministry On up to young adults So first week of June We have BBS And then I want to tell you about one word That will consume a lot of What we do here And that word is camp Alright, so we have Camp for first and second graders A day camp Third and fourth grade Kids camp

And then a 56 camp Middle school camp High school camp Alright, so camp, yeah, we're excited about that Camp is going to be a big thing But I want to tell you, especially Now is the time to sign up Yes, we do need you to sign up For those things And during the month of May is the best time to do that Especially if you have a high schooler Because that will be the first Camp on the books And so, hey, there's just so much going on here I want to thank you for how you Invest into the next generation And these opportunities Really through your faithful giving That you allow them to be a part of. And so we just love you in that. And so right now, I just want us to focus our hearts for worship. We're about to go back into that. So where you are, just go ahead and close your eyes, do what you need to do to focus on Him. Whether that's stretch out your hands, taking a knee, but focus your heart on Him for worship. And then Daniel's going to read a scripture that points to this next song that we're going to sing about the blood of Jesus. So Daniel. Ephesians 1.7 says, He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. And that's Ephesians 1.7. So Lord, this morning, out of an overflow of your richness of kindness and grace, would you meet us here in this moment? Lord, would you focus our hearts and our minds? Lord, set our eyes on you. God, we desire your presence. Lord, you are the reason that we are gathered here together. And so Lord, would you move in mighty, mighty ways? Come and dwell with us in this moment. In Jesus name. Amen.

Everything changed, it's getting harder to recognize the person I was before I encountered Christ. I don't walk like I used to, and I don't talk like I used to. I've been washed from the inside. I've been washed from the inside. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. I cannot explain, but nothing's more real than this, in the presence of God. Over my heart experience, when my shame hit the wayside, and my sin met the most high. I've been washed from the inside. I've been washed from the inside. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. It's only by His blood, it's never been about performance, perfection, striving for acceptance. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. It's never been about deserving or earning. It's a gift that's freely given. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody want to be holy and conscious, purified and spotless? Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody want to be worthy and forgiven, or justified with living? Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I know it was the blood. Could have only been the blood. ♪ I know they carried me home, home, home, home ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah, I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ Could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah, I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ Could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Oh, Hallelujah, and washed by your blood, Jesus ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah, and washed by your blood, Jesus ♪ ♪ I call you faithful for the promises you've kept ♪ ♪ And every need you've met, Lord, I'm so grateful ♪ ♪ You were with me every step, and I never will forget ♪ ♪ Cause when I think of how you've blessed me ♪ ♪ How your hand has never let me go, you never let me go ♪ ♪ You have been so good to me, God, I can't believe ♪ ♪ God, I can't believe how you love me ♪

♪ What a friend you have been, so good to me ♪ ♪ My God, I can't believe how you love me ♪ ♪ What a friend you have been ♪ ♪ I call you Savior for the blood that washed me clean ♪ ♪ For the wrongs that you've redeemed ♪ ♪ And I know you're able, and my eyes don't have to see ♪ ♪ One more reason to believe, one more reason to believe ♪ ♪ And when I think of how you've blessed me ♪ ♪ How your hand has never let me go, you never let me go ♪ ♪ You have been so good to me, God, I can't believe ♪ ♪ How you love me, what a friend you have been ♪ ♪ You're so good to me, God, I can't believe ♪ ♪ How you love me, what a friend you have been ♪ ♪ Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus, oh ♪ ♪ What a friend we have in Jesus, oh ♪ ♪ I've never known another like Him ♪ ♪ I've never known another like Him ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ For every morning, for every open door ♪ ♪ I call you faithful, yes, I just wanna thank you Lord ♪ ♪ For every mountain, for every time you brought me through ♪ ♪ I call you faithful, I just wanna thank you Lord ♪ ♪ For your forgiveness, for how you never turned away ♪ ♪ I call you faithful, and I just wanna thank you Lord ♪ ♪ For your salvation, you paid the price I couldn't pay ♪ ♪ I call you faithful, and I just wanna thank you Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ I just wanna thank you Lord ♪ ♪ Thank you Lord ♪ ♪ Cause you have been so good to me ♪

♪ God I can't believe how you love me ♪ ♪ What a friend you have been so good to me ♪ ♪ God I can't believe how you love me ♪ ♪ What a friend you have been ♪ Lord, what a friend. Lord, I thank you that, Lord, you've shown yourself to be faithful and true. Thank you for being my best friend. Lord, you've been so good to us. Far, far beyond what we really deserve. Lord, I pray that today, that we would have our hearts opened through this time we've been worshiping, focusing in on the blood, the victory that was won, the cleansing that has come, that you have chosen to be our friend. And so Lord, I pray that in this moment, your word would penetrate down into our spirit. It would permeate into our hearts and minds. And God, that you would speak to us today. We desperately need you to speak today. So we just come in that humble childlike faith of little Samuel in the Old Testament and say, speak Lord, for your servants are listening. And we give you the glory in advance for we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You can go ahead and be seated. If you have the Bible and you want to open it up to today's text,

we're in 1 Corinthians chapter five, and we're walking through the letter of 1 Corinthians. And as we come into this, I really have decided I don't think Kyle likes me a lot. Because I am preaching a passage today that first of all, I'll guarantee you there's two of these verses that you've never heard anybody preach. And so I say that, that just we're gonna step into it. But before we do, I wanna tell you a story about two guys. And this is Senior Sunday. And I know that I'm an old guy. But I want you to know that I sat right there. And I wanna tell you about two guys. They really were guys that in many ways, they had everything going for them at your age. They both had unbelievable potential. They were both really good athletes. They both went to play D1 ball. They both were confronted by the lures of sin in unbelievable ways. One escaped and went on to live an amazing blessed life. The other one fell into gross sin, wasted most of his life being out of God's blessings. I know both these guys very well, because one of them is me. And so as we come to this chapter today, and it's a hard chapter. This coming September, I will have been saved 45 years. And man, I rejoice in that.

But I wanna share with you some lessons that I learned from your age really until 25, that kind of timeframe that so radically changed my life that when you look at me now, you would have never dreamed that I would be this guy when I sat right there. So as we come into this, I wanna share these lessons out of 1 Corinthians chapter five. And so let's just go ahead and get started. Let's jump right in. Lesson number one, the lure of sin is a dangerous trap. It's just a truth. I know that we think we know that, and yet we play with it all the time. Let's just go ahead and start out because it's gonna, listen, this chapter. starts off weird. We already start off with a passage that most of us are going to kind of step back. Here it is. It says in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians chapter 5, it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans. For a man has his father's wife. Okay, if that doesn't weird you out. But let me try to clarify that a little bit, okay, because we look at this and go, oh my gosh, and we think of some older woman with some younger guy and more than likely it wasn't that. Let me also say this, that this man that Paul is talking about is a believer, this young man. And my question as I came to study this this week was, how did he get here? He didn't start here. How did he get here? We also know that because the apostle doesn't confront the woman nor his father that it's almost certain that neither one of them were believers. They weren't part of the church. They didn't go there. So this guy is the one that Paul confronts in this sin. Now let me just say a couple of other things that maybe you may not know or may not realize. But prior to 1935, so less than a hundred years ago, prior to 1935 and the introduction of antibiotics, we had about

5 to 10% of women who were in the child bearing years die giving birth. Now that doesn't mean they only had about 1% per birth, but a woman who had four or five children, the chances of her dying giving childbirth was somewhere between 5 and 10%. So just think about that in a room like this. If we had basically 400 women here, that would mean that in your lifetime 40 of you would have died giving childbirth. It's something that we don't recognize today, but it is something that has been common throughout the history of mankind. And so then we go back to the first century and back in the first century, especially in areas like Corinth, you had where because it was so male dominated, you had where when a wife died like that giving childbirth, that the husband would be established in a way he would have himself established and there would be an arranged marriage that would be set up ultimately where typically it would be a teenage girl that would then become his wife. So it is very possible that this guy was maybe his early teen. His dad married a girl that was maybe just a few years difference in age. So I say that to say, even though it's still evil, still sin, let's get out of the weirdness and just go into the sin part. Because when we come to this, that's what we begin to see as we look at this. In fact, it was true that the Roman law forbid a man having any kind of sexual relationships with his step mother. Even the law of Rome who was so immoral, so open to anything, rejected that. Now you have it here in this church. We're going to see about their response and what we need to look at. But let me tell you a lesson that I learned. This young man did not get here immediately. It was one bad decision after another over a period of time. That's how he got here. This is what the Bible says. It says it this way in James chapter 1 verses 14 through 15. It says this, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Just be honest. You think about Judas Iscariot, the one that literally betrayed the Messiah. I believe that if we would have asked him before that time, if we would have said, Hey man, do you think you would ever so betray Jesus that he would wind up being crucified? He would have fought you saying, I would never do that. I've given up everything to follow him. And yet he did. Or how about the apostle Peter? If you would have asked him even the night that he did it, man, do you think you'd ever come to a time where you would just deny Christ? He said, that'll never happen. Maybe everybody else, not me. And yet he did. A reality that

we need to all come to. We live in a world that is full of sin, but know this, that we must fight against it. And we're going to look how we can do it. One of the things that I have learned, and I have found this to be a truth that humans do not have and Christians are as bad as anybody. And that is, we do not fear ourselves enough. We just need to don't. I had to learn that lesson, that man, I don't trust me. I've learned never to let my guard down. I've just learned that. I just can't do it. I'm just not going to do it. Not because I'm afraid somebody's going to pull me into sin, it's because I don't trust me. One of the reasons, and I talk about it a lot and I don't mean it, it's not a religious thing to me, but the reason I spend every morning with the Lord, the reason I want to meet with him is because I don't trust David. I like the way Martin Luther said it. He said, we awaken every morning to self-worship. I want to be my own king, my own God, make my own decisions. And the reality is I have to kill that guy every day. And so the first lesson that I learned was that the lure of sin is a dangerous trap. I almost fell into it whenever I was in college, my freshman year. It was so unbelievable. I'm not even going to tell you all the stories, but the other one I told you about fell into it and lived over 40 years of his life in mess. I remember him telling me one time, David, if they would just show you what it's like on this side of sin, nobody would ever start on that side. But it's the truth. It's what happens. It's what sin does. And I've learned that. So the first thing is, first lesson I learned is that the lure of sin is a dangerous trap. Second lesson that I've learned is that godly friends are essential. Godly friends are essential. Now, let me just say that as we come into this, the apostle Paul is writing about this guy living in sin, but he's really upset at the church and the way the church is responding. And can I just say this? I think we all know this, but can I say that churches are filled with two basic types of people? One, I just call them the religious phonies and the other ones I call Christian friends. You got both. They're in every church. In fact, I'm going to just show you three different ways you can tell the difference by what Paul says in this passage. Let's just start in verse two. As we're looking at it, here's what he says. So they've got this guy living in sin and now he's talking to the church and you are arrogant. Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. This idea of arrogance means they're even

proud of the fact that their church is allowing this to happen. Let me just tell you the difference between religious phonies and Christian friends. Religious phonies call their acceptance of sinful lifestyles as being inclusive. However, godly friends care deeply about your spiritual condition. Some of you have friends right now that you know they're making decisions. You can see it. Does it break your heart? You see, godly friends, they mourn over the sins of others. When was the last time that you had a friend stepping into sin and it so overwhelmed you with pain in here that you just couldn't let it happen? You had to do something, even risk the relationship because you were broken hearted for them. Another thing we have, look what he says later after this in verse 6 of 1 Corinthians 5. He says, your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? In other words, they were not only arrogant about the fact that, hey, this guy's here. Now this means it's been going on a while. The fact that Paul's writing about it means it has become accepted in the church, that the church knows that you that the church knows that this is happening. And now they're saying, well, I guess this isn't, isn't God's grace just so big. And he's saying, you are being fooled. They were even boasting about it. It means they were kind of saying, man, look, and the church is able to reach anybody because we just accept you. And they use these times terms. Let me just kind of give you the way a religious phony acts. Religious phonies celebrate their inclusiveness of sinful lifestyles as being spiritual. That is not spiritual. It is not. Now look, we all have issues in our life. I'm not talking about sinless perfection. I'm talking about having a friend that you see is going down a wrong road. You know it, you may have even said something, but they're not changing. And now, you know, it's happening. What do you do? Godly friends are broken over sin and see the potential danger of. perfection and spread. They just see it. This isn't going to end here. Sin doesn't end in any place. It spreads. It always does. He goes on, verse 11 of 1 Corinthians 5, he says, But now I am writing to you, not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother, if he is guilty of sexual immorality, or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler, not even to eat with such a one. That sounds so harsh, and yet he's not. It's not legalism. It's love, and we're going to see that in just a minute. But just know, here's what happens, and this is what I've found to be true, that religious phonies use their sinful

lifestyle, the sinful lifestyle of others, to justify their own personal sin. They just do. Well, at least I'm not as bad as that one is. At least I'm not doing what they're doing, and it's a justification for our own sinful lifestyles. However, a godly friend, they refuse to associate with sinful lifestyles. Can I just tell you that I learned this? You need to choose your friends wisely. They are going to have an effect on you more than you know. They just are. I can tell you that I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. I didn't grow up in the South. I had zero Southern accent, and now you guys have infected me. I mean, I say y'all like y'all. I never said that. I mean, in fact, I just can't believe it. Now, why do I do it? It's guilt by association. We just rub off on each other. We can't help it. We do. It's just where we are, how we live. It's who we are. It's the way we work. So, know this. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33 says this, do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. That was a verse I told my boys when they were growing up. I said, verse I told my boys when they were growing up. I'd tell them every year from sixth grade, every year when school started, I would say, choose your friends wisely. You need to look and know that maybe somebody who was your friend this past year can't be your friend this year. That's not being mean. And so we had to learn that. That was a lesson we had to learn. Let me tell you about me. What happened with me? Well, I went to play ball at a big school and thought that that was what life was all about and ran into things that I was not ready for. And ultimately I wound up quitting and moving and ultimately transferred to Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. I'm not trying to push going to a Christian college. I just know what it did for me because I never grew up around anything like this. I mean, I had zero friends. Well, I had one friend that went to church. I had none of my other friends went to church, not one because none of them went to church. I played ball. None of the guys I played ball with went to church. The one that did was also dating a girl, one of the girls that went to church. And they were living in an immoral lifestyle all the time. I mean, that's what I grew up. So whenever I transferred to Union and I remember walking in there, it was my first time and it blew me away. My very first day, I met three guys and there were a lot of others. But these three, Steve, who'd played college ball and got saved and left that, transferred to Union. George, who was a high school quarterback. So he and I were able to, because that's what I played and we were able to connect and stuff.

Great, I mean, could play some ball. And then Mike, who played on the college basketball team. These three guys, cool guys, fun to be around, but they had something I didn't because they radically loved Jesus. And it affected me. I'd never seen that. I'd never been around that. And in fact, I wanted to be around that. And then in the next semester, I met a young girl named Kathy. And let me just tell you, when I saw her walking down the hall, I said, I want to know her. And then I got to meet her and get to know her. She had this radical walk with Jesus that I didn't know you could have. And I wanted it. I wanted it. I wanted to be around that. Now let me just tell you also, in Christian school you have this. There was also a bunch of religious phonies. Now let me tell you, whenever I got there and I just wasn't walking. I didn't know God. I didn't know anything. I knew religious stuff. But I'd been at a secular school and I knew how to live that life. And I understood those kinds of things and I could see it. been a mile away about what a religious phony he was. So whenever I got there, on every Sunday morning, I didn't go to church, sleep in. I mean, nobody's there to tell me to get up. So I got up when I wanted to. And then they would have, in the cafeteria, they would have lunch. And so I did what I would do. I'd get up, put on my blue jeans, T-shirt, ball cap, because I didn't want to wash my hair, because I was too lazy. And I'd walk in there, and I'd stagger in, you know, kind of tired still, you know. And there was all these faculty and administrators that would a lot of times come to the cafeteria to eat with us. And it was obvious who didn't go to church. And I didn't care.

Because also, there was a group of young guys that also didn't go to church, stayed out the night before partying. But they got up, took showers, put on their Sunday clothes, so they could go over, and all the faculty and administrators thought, wow, wow, what great young men. And I knew they were phonies. I didn't want to be around them. I knew that life. I wanted to be around Steve, and George, and Mike, and Kathy. Because I saw something they had I wanted. So you need to choose your friends wisely. That's lesson two. Let me go on to lesson three. Lesson three. This is a hard one. Let me just say, probably hadn't ever heard this one preached, but there we go. Godly confrontation springs out of humility and love. Now, up until about 20, it may be 30 years ago now. My age, it's just crazy how 20 years was, just to me seems like yesterday, but. In fact, by the way, we call it Senior Sunday. How many seniors here are going, man, I thought they were talking about me. That's kind of. I'm talking about them. But anyway.

And so, as we come to this, about 20 to 30 years ago, it was very common and normal for two people to have polar opposite beliefs and have arguments about their opinions and yet tolerate the other person. That was called toleration. That I could be totally in disagreement with another person and yet they could share with me. I say, you are wrong. That is wrong. And they can say, no, you're wrong. And that's wrong. And we would be fine because we, that was called toleration. But along the way, that's been changed. And now toleration has been shifted to where that your toleration means that you have to let me live however I want to. And who are you to tell me I can't live this way? In fact, you're being intolerant. And that is not the truth. And so sadly, because of that, we're afraid to confront. We're afraid to be loving enough to tell somebody, a friend, especially one who calls himself a believer, hey man, you're going down a wrong path. That is wrong. And you need to turn from that. Here's what it says. Let me give you the passages. All right, here we go.

I'm gonna have to, in fact, one of them, I'm gonna have to say it twice just because, for though absent in body, Paul's talking to them in his letter, I am present in spirit. And as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. And I'm gonna read this guy that's living in sin. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus, and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Okay, I just gotta read that verse five again. Just because everybody's cringing at this point, so let's just go on and let's lather in the cringe, I guess. I don't know what to say here. Let's go to verse five again. You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. That sounds anything but gentle and loving. And yet when you read what he's saying, what he's saying, and this is what the New Testament talks about all the time. Listen, the way you live your life here doesn't just affect here. It affects there. Do I love someone enough? Oh, how I wish that this other person

I started off telling you about, the mistakes he made, that somebody would have grabbed him, shook him, and said, stop. But they were unwilling to do it. They were letting it happen, boasting about it. Let me tell you about what happens when we start doing that. This is a natural response, a natural reality. An unwillingness to confront known sin is perceived by others as an acceptance of sin. When you don't confront it, it's just seen as an acceptance of sin. I remember when our oldest son, he was about 18 months old. They're just cute at that age, and then they turn two. Cute stops for a while. But anyway, he was 18 months. Back then, when he was little, we didn't have, you're going to really find out how old I am, we didn't have remote controls. In fact, my remote control was telling a kid to go turn the knob. That was the remote control. In fact, my mother was so good with that remote control, she would call us in from outside playing. It's honest truth. She's sitting there. She is 10 feet from the TV. David, come here. Go inside. What do you need? Could you change the channel? Anyway, we didn't have a remote control. My 18-month-old Kevin, he was a little kid, just cute. He walks over to it and he wants to push the buttons. I said, no, no, don't push those buttons. What does he do? Everything everybody else does, he looks me right in the eyes to push the button. Here's the thing. If I wouldn't have gotten on team and spanked that little hand, even as 18-month-old, I'd have never been able to watch TV because that button would have been pushed every time. I would say this also for all of us. When we as a church, when you as a believer accept other people, you accept them how they are and who they are and for where they are, but you love them too much to leave them there. Whenever we don't at least lovingly say, hey man, that's sin. This is your chance to get free. Ultimately, we're opening the door to bring it in a wider way. What do we do? Galatians chapter 6 tells us how we do it. It says this, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. In other words, when a person's living in sin, that becomes a burden on me that I need to say, I've got to say something out of love, out of care, out of concern.

In November of 2001, so my oldest son, Kevin, by this time was a senior in high school. Kathy and I had lived there for a long time, knew the kids. In fact, known them ever since they were little. There was two girls, Heather and Lindsey. Heather and Lindsey were cheerleaders, sweet, pretty girls. Heather was a senior as well. Lindsey was a junior. In our church, you know, were there, but they were living what I thought was on the edge, but it was actually over the edge. Just didn't know it. On a Wednesday afternoon in November, I was in my office when all of a sudden the spirit of God came on me with a fire. Out of nowhere, I hadn't even been thinking about him, says to me right in here, he said, David, warn them they need to repent. Well, it shook me. I'm like, Oh God, is this? And I mean, it was clear. So that night, Wednesday night church, I went to the student ministry because that's where I thought they might be. And Heather wasn't there. She didn't come that night, but Lindsey did. And I walked over to Lindsey and I said, Hey, can I talk to you a minute? She came over and I mean, I'm, I'm shook, but I, but I know this is the Lord. And I said, Lindsey, I need to talk to you. I don't know what's going on in your life, but this afternoon, God just shook me and told me to warn you and tell you, you need to repent of whatever's going on. You need to repent now. And her response was okay. So we walked on. I didn't ask anymore. I just walked on. I couldn't find Heather anywhere. So I called her house and, uh, ask her mom said, Hey, can you get Heather on the phone for a minute? This is David. So she did. And, uh, Heather got on the phone and she was just bubbly. She goes, hey! I said, hey, Heather, this is David. Yeah, hey, Brother David. And we talk a little bit and I said, hey, Heather, let me tell you why I'm calling. I said, this afternoon, God just put on me a warning to warn you. I don't know what you're doing. I don't know what you're in. I don't even wanna know.

I just know he put on me a burden to tell you you need to repent. And her response was, okay. It was just like that. I'll never forget that. About six months later, regarding Lindsey, I didn't know at the time, but she was dating a guy that was older than her. He was into drugs. She had never been, but she was starting to get into drugs and nobody knew until about five to six months later whenever she found out she was pregnant, wound up she was addicted to drugs and had to wind up going to a drug rehab. I didn't know that, but God did. Heather, it was in November whenever I said that, on February the 12th of 2002, of her senior year in high school, her and a friend of hers had gone. We were living in Birmingham. They'd gone over to Galleria Mall to get some stuff because of Valentine's Day. They were on their way back going north on I-65. As they were coming on north, they'd just gone through downtown going north when a car in the southbound lane of I-65 lost control, went across the median, hit them head on, and she died instantly right there. I'll never forget walking into UAB emergency room. I'd never seen a mom and dad scream like that.

I'm not saying God made that happen. What I'm saying is something was going on in her life and God just said, man, warn her. She needs to repent, and she didn't. And I don't know what all happened, but I can tell you this, that we need to lovingly confront each other. Not because out of hatred, not out of anger, but out of love. Let me go to lesson number four. Let's go back and let's think about it for just a minute. The lure of sin is a dangerous trap. Godly friendships are essential. Godly confrontation springs out of humility and love. And then number four, the Holy Spirit is our power source for overcoming sin. Not trying to be a good person. It's by depending upon the Holy Spirit. Listen to what he says here in verses seven through eight of chapter five. Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you already are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. He's saying, look, we don't celebrate the crucifixion by continuing in sin, but we ask the Holy Spirit to produce in us a purity that can only come through the work of God dwelling in us.

A passage I read, because I read through the Bible, I've read this twice a year. And every time I come to it, I just sit in it. Psalm 19, verses 12 through 13, it says this. How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins. Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin. Notice that the psalmist is calling out to God to do that. He's not saying, I gotta suck it up a little bit and act better, I've gotta try to do better. He's saying, God, I'm begging you, cleanse me from these hidden things. These things that you see, I don't. For me, this is the reason why I spend every morning with God. I don't do it because I wanna, you know, Mo, look what I'm doing. I do it because I need to, because I don't trust me, but I trust him. And I know that the enemy is always working. I know he's always working. So we need to all be able to understand that, man, these are some lessons I've learned. Let me go to lesson number five. Lesson number five. It's a big one. I am responsible for living like Jesus in the world. It's my responsibility to live like Jesus in the world.

Listen to what he says in verses nine and 10. So I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people, not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters. Since then, you would need to go out of the world. In other words, he's saying, we are there to be salt and light. We permeate the world. We cannot let them change us, but we have to be light and salt in their lives. Not beating them over the head, but loving them in Christ. I can tell you it was a lesson that I learned after I got saved at 22 years old. I jumped in both feet. You guys have heard me talk about that before. I didn't play on the sidelines. I jumped in with everything in me because I realized that, man, I got one life and I want to live it for God. This is what the Bible says in Colossians chapter 4, verse 5. It says, live wisely among those who are not believers and make the most of every opportunity. So I was working after I graduated from college, I graduated from college in mathematics and computer science stuff, and I went to work for the first company I went with. And then after that, I transferred to work for a company. Kathy and I were married by now, and we went as a young couple. We moved to Atlanta, 23 years old, started working for the company there. This is what I knew. I knew this, that I was radically in love with Jesus, but I needed to be the very best employee that company had. I knew that because they were watching. They knew me and they knew about me and they began to learn quickly that I loved the Lord. And so I had to watch everything.

And so guess what? I worked harder than all of them, except for one. Joe would beat me. I couldn't beat Joe. But I'd get to work an hour early every day. I would stay at least an hour late every day. Now one was because I didn't want to be in the traffic of Atlanta in those times. But the other one was I wanted to be the best employee they had there. I pushed hard at it. I worked hard at it. Now I loved the Lord and I was walking with God pretty intense. And at companies, and you guys at work, you know this. If you find another believer there, man, you just, I mean, it's like magnet. You go, Oh my gosh. You know? And so found about five or six in our, we were in corporate headquarters there in Atlanta and about five or six there that worked, you know, in our area. And so I said, Hey man, you guys want to have a Bible study? And they said, yeah. So we decided to do it on Friday mornings, an hour before work started. And we got in there just about, I guess it wound up being about seven of us that were in there. And whenever we got in there, you know, I said, now look, let me just go, I'm 24 at this time. I said, now look, um, I don't want you to hear this wrong, but I'm going to say this at five minutes before work time starts. I don't care. And I'm, this sounds awful, but please hear me. I don't care if Jesus is in here with us. We're walking out because I don't want to give the devil an excuse that we were meeting

with the Lord on company time. And we did. And we did that for the whole time I was there till I left. Now I wound up leaving to go work at a university in Oklahoma where I was over at computer stuff there. And so as I was leaving the company wanted to give me a gift. They didn't know that. And I listened. I worked with some, I mean, you guys know what I mean when I talk about pagans, you know what that is. Oh, I worked with a boatload of them. I mean, a bunch of New Yorkers and Chicago people that moved down to Atlanta, along with some Atlanta people too. But I mean, rough. I mean, I learned words I didn't even know were words. I mean, through some of them, some of the things they would say, but, um, but whenever I was leaving, they always want to give you a gift. And so they began to talk among themselves, what do we do? And they wound up asking one of them in our group that had met on Friday mornings. And so they got together. I will never forget Joe. I talked to you about the hardest worker I'd ever seen. He was as rough, I mean, godless as you could be, but he said, Dave, we've got a gift for you. And I walked up there and they gave me this, a Bible. And I wrote on the inside, a gift from employees of HBO and company on my going away, August 1984. What I'm saying is we're responsible for living like Jesus in the world. That's the call that's on our life. It doesn't mean we got to beat them over the head with the Bible.

It means we love them and we are the best employee they've seen. Let me go to the last one. We'll be done. Lesson six, I learned these things that have helped me through the years, that true repentance must be received with forgiveness and restoration. Paul sends this guy and says, I want to give him over. And he says this for the destruction of the body, but for the salvation of the soul. So I'm not doing it out of hatred or meanness or legalism. I'm doing it because I radically love him. and he's going to stand before God one day, and he's going to give an account, the Bible says, for every idle word that he says. And I don't want him to stand before God having lost everything. But apparently they did what he told them to do, and they sent him out. And apparently he repented. But they didn't know what to do next, because, I mean, they didn't know how to do it. And how do we know what happened? Well, because in 2 Corinthians Paul tells us what to do. He says this in 2 Corinthians 2, verses 5-7, he says, Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it too severely, to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. In other words, he's repented. So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. You see, the great thing about confronting someone, it's hard. I've lost some friends. I really have. But I can tell you, I've also watched a real repentance take place. And God bring back one, I just think of one in my head I'm not even going to talk about, that I had to confront in a similar way like those two girls. And I didn't want to. I was so nervous. I was shaken all over. In fact, whenever I confronted him, he said, You're betraying me. Because I knew things about him. And I said, No sir, I am not. I'm protecting you from the Lord. And he repented. And lived an amazing life. And is continuing to live just as a man of God. And he's one of my closest friends. But I'm saying to us, that as believers, we have a responsibility to one another and for one another. And as such, when we do that, God uses us as the body of Christ in the world out there. Jesus said it this way, so the world will know that he is the Christ. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you Father, that you are really

for us and not against us. That you see our life not as the 70 or 80 years we live on this earth, but you see our life as spreading out through eternity. And so Lord, I pray that we would see that as well. And Lord, I want to lift these seniors up to you especially because it's Senior Sunday. But also for others here that I know you're speaking to. Lord, I pray right now, that for anyone here that is living in some kind of sin that you know and they know. They would not hear condemnation today, but they would hear the hope of freedom through repentance. Hey listen, some of you, maybe today is your day. Maybe the Lord brought you here to turn to him and give him your life or to repent, come back home. Others of you are here and you've got a friend. The Lord just reminded you while I was preaching. He reminded you of a friend of yours that you really do love. And you know things that really you wish you didn't know. And you've not known what to do. We had several in the first service. I stood down here at the front with a weeping lady. Actually two weeping ladies in the first service, different times. Would you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you? Put the brokenness that's on his heart on yours for that person and love them too much to leave them there. Be nice, kind and loving. And if you don't know what to do, don't do it. If you don't know what to do, don't do it. If you don't know what to do, don't And I would say, especially to you seniors, be wise in the friends you choose. Run after those that run after God. You may say, well, I don't really run with God like that. Well, I didn't either. Not when I first met those guys, but God used them to change me. For others, maybe tomorrow is going to be a new day at work, at school, in your neighborhood, to live Jesus in a tangible way. So Father, just thank you for your word and thank you for how you speak to us. And Lord, I pray right now that in these next few moments that God, the stirring that you're doing in the hearts of your people and the stirring that you're doing in the hearts of those that don't yet know you, that God, that we would put tangible feet to our faith and that we would step out and do business with you today. Now, for some of you, that means coming to this altar and us praying with you, or maybe just coming to the altar and praying.

For others of you, maybe that means you make an altar out of where you are and just say, God, yeah, you're right. I get it. I'm down and I'm in. Maybe it has nothing to do with today's message. Prayed for one, come down, we're praying for healing. Maybe it's something else, but we'll pray. That's what we're here for. This is the moment. So Father, have your way. Have your way, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand together. You come as we sing. Jesus, the name above every other name. Jesus, the only one who could ever save. You're worthy, Lord. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you. Oh, we live for you. Sing holy, holy. There is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me. Oh, yes, I will build my life on you, Lord. And I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. And I will put my trust in you alone.

And I will not be shaken. I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. And I will put my trust in you alone. And I will not be shaken. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder. And show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me. And I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. It is a firm foundation, and I will put my trust in You alone, and I will not be shaken, saying, I will build my life upon Your love. It is a firm foundation, and I will put my trust in You alone, and I will not be shaken, yes, I will build my life upon Your love. It is a firm foundation, and I will put my trust in You alone, and I will not be shaken. Church family, if I could ask one favor from y'all, if you would just take a seat for just a second right where you're at, if you're still praying, I would encourage you to continue to do that. We don't wanna rush you out of a moment, but hey, it was said earlier that this morning is Next Generation Sunday, so when you walked in, you probably saw a whole bunch of younger people. We did not lose sight of where they were at, we placed them there strategically, so they were welcoming y'all, greeting y'all, and doing all the things, but not only is today Next Generation Sunday, it is also Senior Sunday, and so today is just a day where we celebrate and honor our seniors, and so we have 37 seniors here this morning that we are going to celebrate. So seniors, I would go ahead and ask y'all to go ahead and come to the front. Here in a second, I'm going to read off their names for y'all, but hey, when we release out of here, they have their senior boards set up in the fellowship hall, so I would even encourage y'all, when y'all leave here, swing by the fellowship hall, check out all their boards. Maybe you catch one of them, give them some words of encouragement, but again, we have 37 seniors this morning, so I want to read off their names, and then Mr. Gary is going to come up here in a second and give us a blessing. Case Farnham Maddie George Joseph Gray Meredith Heath Patrick Helms Audrey Hibbard

Zane Howard Zoe Hudson Avery Huffman Jamison Kellogg Ella King Malia Kewin Connor Loden Logan Malik Seth Murphy Trinity Pepper Swade Puckett Elizabeth Rowland Morgan Sierra Chloe Six Hannah Joyce Smierkak Avery Smith Kira Stultz Mallory Sykes Ava Turman and Kira Vance. Church family, this is your 2026 graduating seniors. Church family, this is your 2026 graduating seniors. Church family, this is your 2026 graduating seniors. Okay, Carlsgade family, would you extend your hand toward our high school students? Okay, Carlsgade family, would you extend your hand toward our high school students? As I pray this prayer blessing over them. As I pray this prayer blessing over them. Seniors, as you begin the new chapter of your lives, Seniors, as you begin the new chapter of your lives, as a church, we speak this blessing over your future.

As a church, we speak this blessing over your future. Be faithful. Trust the Lord in each of your steps and invest in the local church wherever you may go. Stay pure. Pursue a life of holiness and protect the gift of purity that God has given you. and protect the gift of purity that God has given you. Stand firm. Cling to the truths that you've been taught and let nothing sway you from them. and let nothing sway you from them. Follow the Spirit. Walk in step with the Spirit of the Lord. spirit and be sensitive to his guidance. Obey his voice. Listen to God's voice and be obedient to his word. Glorify his name. Live a life that elevates the name of Jesus. Crossgates is honored to be a part of your faith journey. We commit to pray for you, to support you, and always welcome you home. You will always have a place at our table. Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.