Better Than Dreaming // Charles Metcalf

Hey friend, I got a question for you. Have you ever felt like there was more to life, that maybe you didn't feel completely fulfilled, like you still had questions, you were looking for joy, looking for peace, looking for hope? Jesus says in John 10, 10, that the reason he came to the earth is that you and I would have a full life. One translation says a life that we could only dream of. In just a moment, you're about to hear a sermon I preach called Better Than Dreaming. And the truth is God wants you to live a life that is better than your dreams and bigger than your dreams. But the truth is many of us never see it because we live a life where we've only accepted truth, but we don't act on truth. In this message, I'm gonna give you three easy ways that you can act on the truth of God's grace and how it will transform your life. I love you so much. And I'm gonna take a moment and pray for you as we go into the sermon. Lord God, I thank you for my friend. I pray that as they hear these words, it wouldn't just be words, but it'll be something that changes how they think and therefore changes how they act. Thank you, they would feel your love, your grace, and your power. It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. So we're gonna jump into the message today. If you got your Bibles, open up your Bibles to the book of John. The book of John, chapter number 10. The book of John, a little bit about John. He's one of Jesus' disciples and he's a little prideful. You won't catch this unless it's in the nuance of how he writes. But in one of his stories, he's talking about him and a friend were running to get somewhere and he'd talk about himself in the third person. He's like, but then the other disciple beat Peter to the tomb. But he's talking about himself. It's just random fact he'd be doing that. He calls himself the one Jesus loved. So he'd be in the joint and he'd be like, yeah, you know, James was there, Peter was there, the one Jesus loved was there. And it's like, bro, you can't do that writing your own letter. That's crazy. No, John's the best. But John, chapter number 10, verse 10 is gonna kind of be our starting point today. If you got it, say, I got it. If you don't, don't worry, we got you. All right, could you throw that up on the screen for me?

John 10, 10, it says this funny story. Actually, I grew up in a church. My dad was a pastor. It was called Abundant Life Church. Abundant Life Christian Church. I don't know, it had some more spiritual words in there. But this was the anchor verse. So John 10, 10 in the NIV, this is what it says. Can you throw it up there for me? It says this, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. But I have come that they may have life and have it to the fool. This is what Jesus is saying. He says there's a thief and he's here to steal stuff, to kill and destroy. But the reason I showed up, the reason I'm here, the reason I stepped out of heaven and into human history. He explains in these words, I came that they may have life and have it to the fool. Look at the message. Eugene Peterson was a professor. He kind of paraphrased it this way. He says a thief is only there to steal, kill and destroy. I have come so that they can have real and eternal life. Now look at this language. More and better life than they ever dreamed of. Jesus is setting some context here. If you want to know why I showed up on the scene, why I stepped out of perfection and gold streets

to relate to you, why I put on this flesh suit, why I had to deal with people that I was there when they were created, why I stepped out of heaven. The reason I'm here today is just to let everybody know he showed up so you could have more and better life than you've ever dreamed of. That's the point. Why is Jesus here? Jesus tells us himself in John 10 that I showed up so you could have a better life than your dreams. So you wouldn't escape life to dream, but you would live your dreams while you're awake. I gotta calm down. I'm not even supposed to be preaching yet. Okay, the title of my sermon today, I'm taking notes, write it down. Better than dreaming, better than dreaming, better than dreaming, better than dreaming. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are here. You are here with us in this moment and I pray that you would reveal yourself in a way that we cannot ignore, a way that changes us, a way that helps us see you differently, a way that changes how we see ourselves and Lord God, we love you. It's in your name we pray and everybody said. Amen. Amen. When we jump into John chapter number 10, Jesus is talking to a religious group of leaders

who are, in summary, super lame. They're just super lame. They think they're really cool. They've memorized a lot of the Old Testament, and they think because they know a lot about God that they know God. But these are two different things. You can know a lot about God and still not know God. How do we know this? Because they knew the most, quote unquote, and they killed him. They had the first five books in your Bible, they had that memorized. Since they were teenagers, and they still couldn't see God when he was walking around, healing people, doing miracles. So you can know about God and still not see God. But Jesus is talking to them, and the context of this scripture is Jesus heals a blind man, and the Pharisees, or these religious leaders, they go and they start interrogating the blind man. Why? Because they're not concerned with the miracle. They're more frustrated about Jesus's method of how he gets to miracles. This is something that still happens today, and I'm not gonna go on a whole rant with it, but people will be more frustrated with the method of how people get saved

than the actual fact that 524 people are getting saved. Still happens today. They frustrated because Jesus, you're not supposed to do it like that. That's not how people are supposed to get saved. And so Jesus goes on this whole rant as he normally does. He's kind of like talking to the crowd, but he's also taking direct shots at all the Pharisees. It's very gangster of Jesus. But he did this whole illustration about sheep, and he's like, there's a sheep gate, and I'm at the gate, and other people are trying to get in the gate, and if you come, and it's stuff that doesn't make sense now, but if you were a shepherd back then, and it made a lot of sense, and here's the connection. Have you ever, I don't know if you've heard the scripture, the 23rd Psalm. Some of y'all, if you played any type of sports in the 2000s, you probably have that tattooed on your ribs, or something like that, but it's like a very specific call, but somebody in here is like, dang it, I do. But one of the things that starts out, he says, the Lord is my shepherd. So when Jesus starts talking about he's the real shepherd, that he's the good shepherd, everybody in the crowd says,

is he saying what I think he's saying? Everybody knows there's a connection that's deeper that's happening right now. He is making a claim to be somebody who we've been looking for for hundreds of years. And he's saying, yeah, I know you've been looking for him, but it's me. And this makes the Pharisees very, very angry. But then he backs up and he uses this verse, verse number 10, and he says, the enemy, or the devil, or the adversary, he has three goals in your life, to steal, to kill, and destroy. Now, I'm not gonna spend much time on the devil because he don't need no time. And just a little bit of advice, don't give the devil any of your time. It's a waste of your time to give him your time. It's just, it don't make no sense. And some people love to be like, oh, the devil. Be quiet, the devil's defeated. He's dead, he has literally no powers at all. I don't give the devil the pleasure of even getting the opportunity to use my vocal cords to talk about him. He just ain't that important. But for two seconds, let me explain this scripture to you. Steal, kill, and destroy. Here's the easy illustration. I went down the whole rabbit hole of the original language

just to give it to you simply where you could understand. Steal, kill, and destroy is like these three steps. If I got the password to your phone, that was I stole your password, so now I have access. Nothing's changed, you don't know it, but I have an access point to something you desperately need. That's the steal. To kill would be like if I went into your phone and I deleted all your apps and all your contacts. So it's still a phone. It looks like it functions, it turns on the same way, but there's something that is missing that is primary to its immediate function and purpose it was created. Destroy, after he does all that, your phone is destroyed, not in the sense that it's crushed and it got ran over, but it can't be used for its intended purpose. This is what the devil tries to do to you. So he doesn't start off with trying to destroy you completely. He starts off by just trying to steal a little bit of your connection and communication in your marriage. Then he kills your intimacy so that y'all still technically married, but there's no life actually happening in the middle of your marriage. So then he can destroy the ultimate purpose, which is for you to be a picture of God on earth. You still married, you still fine,

you still look good on the outside, but he's stolen, he's killed, and he's destroyed. He's slow with it. He doesn't come out yelling at you in a red pitchfork and being like, I'm here to take your purpose. Give it over. That's why I be so interested. Christians be sometimes, man, just be giving me because we be missing the plot sometimes. Be like, oh man, you watching that show? You going to hell? There's demons and devils jumping off that TV. Into your soul maybe Maybe I'm not saying there's not But I'm saying when you when you stop being kind and you lose joy You don't realize the Bible says the joy of the Lord is your strength So if he can take your joy, you can't get stronger So I'm just saying you got to be you got to be aware of the enemy's tax. He still kills and destroys but then Jesus he summarizes his whole mission and He says the reason I am here is so you can have a better life than you've ever dreamed of Now it's interesting to me Jesus does I mean if I'm if I'm reading this scripture I don't know what it's about to say Jesus like this is what the enemy does now I'm about to tell you why I am here and I'm like, okay, here we go. He's here to beat up the devil He's here to make sure I go to heaven He's here to make sure I'm always healed. He's here to answer all my questions He's here to do what I need him to do when I need him to do it He's here to make me feel good. He's here to he doesn't say any of that I'm here so you can have a good life Now I know some of y'all are like that's not spiritual enough

That can't be that simple In today's time where there's no peace No clarity full of anxiety full of fear full of worry full of all these things I want to submit to you this morning the life that Jesus is presenting could be the most spiritual act ever You having a better life than you could dream of Now I get this because we are trained spiritually to want super deep like stuff where we go, oh my gosh So when you just say like Jesus here so you can have like a super fulfilling life You're like what? What does that mean? I'm about to walk you through it here, but here's my submission today when Jesus says I came that you might have life and life to the full the language that he's using is I am here So that you can have an exceeding and obnoxious Overflowing amount of fulfillment and satisfaction in your life The word picture is like it's just an exorbitant amount like it's so much you cannot contain it It's if you have a little cup and you just pour on it for 50 years and then another 50 It's it's so much life so much peace so much joy so much love so much Patience so much peace in your life. He says that's why I'm here so you can have a full and Satisfying life. Well, what kind of life? Well, let's just start off with the fruits of the Spirit what if he just said I want you to have an exceeding amount of love joy and peace and Overflowing obnoxious amount of love in your life That's why I showed up so you just have so much love You don't even know what to do with it People bump into you and they feel love people look at you and they just think I don't know what that is But I've never seen somebody that seemed to that present with me that God showed up so that you could have more joy Then you know what to do with not so you're scratching and clawing and fighting for these little moments where you kind of have peace He said I want you to have an abundance of peace I want the world to be falling apart and you not think nothing of it because you know who holds the future Now the question is if this is what Jesus is promising Here's the question. I've asked the time is my life and I know people in here are asking Why am I following Jesus and I still don't feel that way If his whole the whole reason

Like his whole reason is I can have a lot of love a lot of joy a lot of peace a lot of patience And I feel like I got a little bit here and there What's the distance what's the gap? What's the Delta? Why is it that the whole reason he showed up is something that we can barely seem to find? I want to present to you today That you can live this life and it's easier than you think Okay, let me let me let me let me get myself together here because I'm sometimes I have so much to say and it would Just be too much. Let me give you this point Here's kind of the anchor point of the sermon write this down the fulfillment we seek Is usually found in the action we avoid The fulfillment we seek is Found in the action we avoid here's here's the whole sermon I'm gonna give it to you and I'm gonna prove it to you for the next 20 minutes And then I'm gonna really prove it to you for the last like 10, okay There is a difference between Accepting grace and acting on grace and You can live your whole life having accepted the grace of God, but never acted on the grace of God. And I want to present to you this morning the reason John 10.10 feels like a such outlandish idea is because many of us live a significant amount of our life having accepted Jesus, but never acted on the grace he gave us. What do I mean? If I gave you $100 million, you could accept it and never spend it. And this is what you would do. You would walk around like, I got $100 million. And people would be like, how much money? Oh, you was checking your bank account? Siri, read to me my bank account number.

They have 28 cents. No, the other account, the other. What you would do is you would start to get prideful because you think that since you accepted it and it's in your account, you know how to use it. Oh, I'm about to get into it. This is how we get spiritually obese. Because, oh, I was listening to the sermon and it was so good. It really just spoke to my heart. And here, this happens all the time. And please, if this has ever happened to you, I love you, but here's what would be happening. Man, Pastor Charles, that was the best sermon you ever preached. Sometimes I'll be like, I don't know, but I appreciate it. I hear in the middle of church, we be saying, oh, that's so good. Man, I needed that. But just because you heard it and you felt it doesn't mean you did anything with it. I'm not, I'm not, I'm being super, man, I'm trying to keep it calm, kind, and collected, and confident. I'm going through my frame, Carl, come on, man, I'm locking in, man. But I'm saying it's very easy to be in church and thinking because you're hearing what Jesus does that you do what Jesus did. It's very easy to watch your favorite preacher and say, man, that was good, and you never do nothing with what they said. It's very easy, I'm saying it's very easy because I do it all the time. We'll be like, woo, man, I love that. And sometimes I'll be saying to myself, don't tell me you love it, show me you love it by changing something in your life. Oh, man, I really needed that. Tell me how much, show me how much you needed it by what you did differently on Monday because of what you heard on Sunday.

It's so easy because many times the fulfillment we seek is in the action we're avoiding. So we think that just hearing information and hearing people talk and hearing people pray is the same as actually doing it. But this is how you get this delta and this internal frustration because you feel like you should be further along because you got so many notes, and you got so many prophetic words, and you got so many revelations, and you have so much power written down in your phone. But then you look at your life and you barely got any peace, you barely got any joy, you barely got any love. And now you mad because it was like I was at church, and I wrote it down, and I felt the goosebumps, and they went to the chorus, and they said, just y'all sing it, and I sang it, and I did it, and I felt it. But I went to work and felt the same. Maybe there's an opportunity to close the distance between what you've accepted and what you're acting on. Because here's the deal, your life is not changed by the truths you accept and believe. They are changed by the truths you accept and then act like you believe them. There's a difference. Your life is not changed by just accepting. There's a transformational thing that happens, yes. But if you really want the full life here on earth, it's got to show up in your actions because here's the deal, accepting grace gets you into heaven. And let me just say this, if that's really you was all trying to get out of this, you good. You into heaven. Bam, you was going to hell, now you're going to heaven. But your life on earth, like the 70, 80, 90, however many years you got, accepting grace, it secures your eternity.

And so if you're just trying to live like a super mediocre life and just make sure you make it into heaven, I don't want to take that from you. So if you're just like, Charles, I'm really only in here to secure my past so that when I die, I'm in the line, that's the only reason I come to church, that's the only reason I read my Bible, that's the only reason I pray, that's the only reason I give, that's the only reason I do anything is because I just didn't want to go to hell. And so Jesus said that if I believed in him, then I'll go to heaven, and that's really all I want. I don't really want the peace. I don't want the joy he has I would actually like to believe in him and go to heaven but still be anxious like all My friends and be worried about the future and just try to control my kids because I'm afraid and I'd love to be terrified Politically and just use it to like control things and I'd love to fight with people in the comments and I'd love to tear people Down even Christian people I'd love to just keep tearing them down and and my friends look at my life and I say I go To church, but then they don't see anything and I'd love be trying to act like two different people So like at church on Sunday, I'd love to show up and actually my life is great but then I'd like the rest of my life just to do whatever the heck I want to because all I was really concerned about Was just getting into heaven But I don't I don't want to really do any of like the stuff, you know, cuz that's just it's a lot and I just I really only have what time will you be done preaching cuz I got a It's just I already got my card So I don't really know why I need to go to church if I got the card into heaven. What do I need you for? What do I need church for what do I need friends for what do I why should I why what does it matter who I have Sex with or how I talk to people or if I look my waiter in the eye Why does that really matter because I'm going to heaven and I got my card So I don't really know why you're telling me to read this book I don't really know why you talk about these tribes and I got a text tribe to 828282. I don't get it Because I got my pass and I'm good and that's all I wanted from him I'm not saying you say it like that, but I do know we all live it like that Because accepting grace changes your eternity but acting on grace changes your reality

Accepting grace will get you into heaven, but you got to act on grace if you want to get heaven into you Accepting grace will have you feeling good in a moment But acting on grace is how the early church started a movement There is a difference if you just here to come to church check your box and feel good. That's cool You can just accept the grace but if you are here to see blind eyes opened if you're here to see dead people walk out of tombs if you're here to See atheists say oh my gosh Holy holy Oh if you're here to find purpose that the world can't give you if you're here to walk on water if you are here to See something different friend You're gonna have to go from looking and observing and one day you're gonna have to act on the grace. He gave you And This is how we have different experiences in our Christian walk Because we have some people that look like how did it be happening for them? How they be hearing God so much how they be is because there's a step you can take to act on what you believe in So here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna give you three three ways That you can act on grace and I promise you it'll change your life Not because I said it but because the Bible says it but first let me read you this scripture Let me read you James James is the brother of Jesus and So he's got some stuff to say about his brother Which if if I was writing a book about my brother, I'd be just in there talking trash like yeah He is God and everything jump shot was broke Just throw some little jabs in there, okay James chapter number one in the 22nd verse I'm gonna read it to you out of the message. Could you throw that up there for me? This says don't fool yourselves into thinking you're a listener when you're anything, but Letting the word go in one ear and out the other Act on what you hear Go to the next one. What does it say? It says those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror

Walk away and two minutes later have no idea who they are or what they look like Now let me give you the go back to that one real quick So I'm gonna give you a little context on why that's important because mirrors weren't accessible like they are now if you go back in That time it was very rare for you to have a mirror It was polished bronze that someone had to work hard really really really intentional to get a little reflection So what this scripture is saying is if in this time if you looked at a mirror you had to stare at that thing for a long time You had to intently look you had to look at it. So and then you get a picture of yourself And it says you spend all that time Looking in the mirror and you walk away and forget. What does this tell me? It's not ignorance. It's unwillingness It's not you unaware it's just you're unwilling So it's not that you don't know you're unkind of people You just don't want to become kind because you looked in the mirror you saw it you saw Was there and you said, you know what? I'm good. I don't I'll be fine. Oh Goodness the next scripture. What does it say? but those who catch a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God the free life even out of the corner of his eye and Sticks with it. No distracted scatterbrain, but a man or woman of action Here's the here's the connection to John 10 10 that person will find delight in affirmation in the action What you're looking for it's in what you are avoiding doing right now So the piece you're looking for it's in the action that scares you the most It's in the thing that you won't do it's in the thing that you're worried about doing and it's so easy to get so much Information around a thing and still not do a thing But I'm gonna give you three ways to act on a grace because acting on grace works. Here's the first thing I'm the first thing that acting on grace does is it works in me It works in me. It changes how I think when you go from accepting grace to accepting and then Acting on it. It starts to work in you the scripture that this church is founded on Romans 12 It says don't conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind One translation says by changing the way you think So you can accept grace and still think crazy perverted thoughts

Crazy just wow, I'm going to heaven but everybody I see I'm thinking the most ratchet stuff about Everybody I see I'm thinking the most ratchet stuff about Because you haven't acted on the grace you've accepted when you act on it meaning you start saying, okay I don't want to just accept this but I want to align my life to this. What does God say? What does his word say think on these things that are pure and right and holy and upstairs? When I start to act on his grace, it changes the way I think And if you want to do something different, you're gonna have to think different You're gonna have to think because you're doing will always revert to your thinking So you can try to this is what we do because I know back in the day you got saved It was slam all your CDs throw all your bad stuff and come on So we all don't know about that, but I remember people they were smashing CDs at the altar And that's how we knew you were going to heaven. I'm never listening to Guns and Roses ever again Really that's okay. Maybe it's that simple But because what we do is we maximize on Doing something different and I'm not saying you shouldn't do something different But I'm saying if the grace hasn't acted in you and it's changed the way you think You being fake and what you're doing anyways Because you don't even really want to do it and you're thinking about doing what you don't want to do Why are you doing what you think you're supposed to be doing? And that's why you frustrated I'm trying to help you. This is why you be like, I mean, this is so dumb I don't even want to be doing this. Why am I here? What because you haven't changed how you thought about it? So when I accept grace It empowers me to live a new life when I act on grace It's me drawing on that power To saying God help me stop thinking about me the way I think about me. And what do you say about me? So I feel unqualified But you say that I am called a qualified and I have everything I need to live the life You've called me to live. Let me remind myself of that every single day. I Want to act on that. I want to live that way. I want to talk that way I want to see something different in my life when you start acting on grace

Changes the way you think And if you don't change the way you think I already said it, but I cannot stress it enough This is why it can be so demoralizing trying to make progress in your walk with Christ Because you haven't acted on it yet. You haven't moved into it yet The next thing that the scriptures say is that if you want to act on grace The way it works is it works in you and then it starts working on you This is what you do and how you live and how you treat people and how you talk and how you move and how you Move through the world and here's what I am saying I am saying you first say I want to accept the grace, but I want to act on the grace and I want that to work in me. And now I want to start changing how I live What do I mean? I mean if the scripture says that the fruit of Spirit the proof of the Spirit the proof that God is with you That you have surrendered your life to him is love When it starts working on you the proof that you love Jesus more, it's not that you pray loud It's not that you come to church It's not that you know worship songs The Bible says it's you're super loving. That's how you know you're acting on the grace he gave you, is you are super loving. You are super patient, super patient. Show up to get your food, it's late, it's wrong. Not even your order. And you're like, oh, don't even worry about it. I got time. Don't even, I'm so sorry, we just, we've had a busy day. Don't even worry about it. Don't even worry about it. Here's an extra tip. I didn't get your order right.

It doesn't matter, it's fine, don't. Hey, you're doing a great job. I see you, God loves you. Don't worry about it. Then you get in your car and it's traffic. Whew, good thing I don't live a hurried life. And I got plenty of time to wait here and listen to some music. I can listen to, good thing. That's the spiritual thing. That's what the Bible says. You're super joyful. So you all, you have a smile on your face and you're happy. People look forward to being around you because of how much joy you have. That's the most spiritual thing the Bible says. Peace, you're peaceful. Oh my gosh, did you see the news? My answer is first of all, no. No, I didn't see it. I didn't, so sorry. I was too busy wrestling a three-year-old and my friend's kid taught my son how to do a choke hold and so I'm waking up to a headlock and an arm bar by a seven-year-old, so no, I didn't see the news. Because the truth is, this is all the news I need to be concerned about. Now listen, please don't hear the reverse of that and be like, oh, you should just be ignorant and no, no, no. I'm saying, I know how much information I need

to act on and have peace in my life. And the truth is, some of y'all know a lot and it ain't doing nothing but making you anxious. You ain't doing nothing but getting more worried. It's not that you go to look at the news so you can intentionally pray and plan and pray, it's just so you can talk about it with your friends and then post about it and then fight somebody and then just be up late at night worried about, oh my God, we're all gonna die, what's happening? Oh my goodness, I wanna run because I'm trying to explain to all of us that the most spiritual thing, the thing that changed the world, the way this went from one guy and 12 of his friends to thousands of people was an actual power that separated them from everybody else. And as long as the church looks exactly like the world, what business do they have coming here? Why in the world? Why? You should come to church with me, why? You were just talking about how mad you are at your spouse and you hate them. You don't, why? What is your, what do you, you hate your spouse, you're rude to your family. I never see, you post all the time, I've never seen your wife, where are they? We don't see your family, your kids look at you and crouch, why in the world would I ever want

what you have? Oh, these people don't want God. No, they don't want your version of God because you've twisted it so bad and he thinks they're mad at them. They want God, let's be clear. But if you don't ever do anything with this grace, long suffering, you keep a good attitude at a job where they mistreat you, that's how they know you got something different. I'm faithful, I'm faithful, I do what I say. When I say I'm gonna do something, I do it because I'm a faithful person. This is the, I promise you, this is the life Jesus is talking about. You got a lot of love, you got a lot of joy, you got a lot of peace, patience, kindness. I can't tell you how many friends I have that their story of why they don't mess with God is because a Christian was unkind. They have no problem believing that Jesus was God. No problem being interested in a God who gives them grace, mercy, and power to become and live the life they're dreaming of. What they have problem with is people who say they believe that and are rude to them for how they look. That's what they got problems with. So if you are supposed to represent him, I can't get to him through you. You seem like an obstacle not helping me get there.

So I would rather just distance myself from your whole joint because y'all are so mean and so. Judgmental and you fight amongst yourself all the time. I don't want that This is part of the rise of why people love God and don't go to church This is a part of it because depending on what they wear you're gonna look at them weird No, I won't you look at me weird. Sometimes Get out of here. What is Charles got on? I'm I'm so serious right now I'm so serious because I have friends that I love so much and to be honest with you to be honest with you This is not this is a reflection of my own work, but I'd be nervous. I'd be trying to control who they meet first Because I know if you meet the right person so go good, but if you meet the wrong person it'll mess up all of this And why do we got to do that Why can't we trust that like how you could come in and you can be anybody I could never be here You could go to a different church. It'll be beautiful, but I don't be thinking that happy thinking Okay, just come on this day and I need you into this friend That's super kind and I need you into this other friend that I know will be patient with you And I need to make sure there's nobody around that's gonna look at you weird because you're still trying to figure some stuff out it's so just And that's because that's the story of the church for a long time It's because we've accepted all this grace, but we're not acting like the guy was supposed to represent I His name is Alec, and he's a cyclist and and He was in town this past week. He lives in Canada There was a race and when I got into cycling I immediately found like all the coolest racing teams in America And one thing they do is they They sell like their jerseys and so I immediately was like I'm buying all the dopest stuff So I got like I had no idea what I was doing But I showed up and the first ride I went to everybody thought I raced for this team and I was like, oh, no No, I just I just bought the jersey online

And so we had a race this past week and I had on one of these guys There's this team out of London and they're so sick and so dope and so I showed up I had the jersey on and my friend Alec was there and he's a Pro cyclist and so when I showed up all these people who Normally, don't ever talk to me. They like rolled up and they're like, yo, hey, bro Like and they were talking to my friend Alec and they're like, what are you doing here? And he was like, oh, I'm here for my boy Charles and blah blah and then they're like, oh, what a bro like And let me get out of here. But uh I've been here for six months. You never said nothing to me But but this is this is funny I'll promise it's gonna make sense I get I get in the race and it's like 40 or 50 guys and I'm locked in and then it like five Laps to go so maybe like 15 minutes We've been going 28 miles an hour in a mile loop for an hour and my heart rate I'm not lying to you was 202 my heart rate And literally another another guy attacked and went And I just didn't have it and at five laps to go I just gave up and pulled off the road and rode up to Alex and Alec and he was how he was like, bro What happened? I was like, man, I just didn't have it. I just didn't have it I just completely gave up and it here's here's the funny connection. I Got home and I took off the jersey And I thought this is why people don't be liking when you roll up in a jersey that you can't back up And I thought this is why people don't be liking when you roll up in a jersey that you can't back up No lie, I thought that because I showed up wearing this jersey and Here's the connection people thought that meant something about my heart Cycling is all about your heart rate because if your heart rate gets to a certain point It don't matter how strong you are. You just can't go with everybody else So they saw me on the outside and I look clean and I looked like I was about to win But the truth is when it came down to it, I didn't have anything to offer No lie, I told Alec I was like bro, I put him I took all the jerseys all my dope jerseys

I put them I put them away. I'm not wearing them until I get stronger. I felt so embarrassed There's none of those people literally at the end of the race they were like what happened man my leg really uh Just immediately started lying, you know cramp, you know, I got hit by a car actually in 2024 So my hip kind of acts up when I really get going It's always good to have that that really did happen to me so I can pull that up as an excuse at any moment What happened? Well, I got ran over by a reindeer. So It's kind of weird Here's here's my here's my clothes tonight today Acting on grace works in you works on you and then and then the most beautiful thing is it starts to work through you It starts to work through you, it starts to work through you, meaning the people around you start to realize there's something different about you. There's something, I don't know what it is, but there's something, they just seem like there's something different about them. It's just kind of how they, I don't know, but there's something in how they talk, there's something in how they look, they're always excited to see me. I know we be at work and the boss be yelling, but they don't seem to get worked up. There's something different because you accepted his grace, but now you're trying to act on his grace. You want it to show up in your life. And all I'm saying this morning is my most beautiful moments with Jesus have not happened in this church in a building. They've happened when I was outside of the church trying to act on what I've accepted. It was in the function of telling my friends about God and that I was anxious and depressed and he did something about it. They're like, really? I was like, yes. And you don't have to be, if you don't want to be anxious anymore, here's the cool thing. You don't got to be. They're like, well, what do I got to do?

All you got to do is you just talk to God and you, there's this thing called prayer. And when you pray, it's like you trade all your anxiety and it just gives you peace. Well, what do I got to do? Nothing really. You just, you just, every day you just got to learn how to keep giving it to him. Really? That's yes. That's the, oh my gosh, it's the best. And then when you get overwhelmed, you remind yourself that like he's in control anyways and you didn't get yourself there. And it's like when you get super pressurized, you remember like he's got a plan that's so much bigger than my plan and what in the world, this is so great. It's been an acting, it's an acting it out where it shows up around and it shows up through my life. We're about to get out of here. And my prayer is that if you have ever felt that way, you felt like, man, I'm following Jesus, but I don't feel fulfilled. My encouragement is to take one truth about Jesus that you've accepted. Maybe he's a healer. Maybe you've accepted that he gives second chances. Maybe you've accepted that he's a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Maybe you've accepted that he gives peace in the middle of the storm. Maybe you've accepted that he's a strong tower and those who run in are safe. Maybe you've accepted that the gospel can change your heart. I don't know what it is for you, but one truth you've accepted. And this week, I want you to spend the whole week acting on that one truth. So if God is a healer, what would I be doing in my week differently that I don't do right now? Oh, that's a dangerous, that's a dangerous, that's a dangerous, that's a dangerous Christian right there.

If I knew God healed, anybody, anybody sick in here? Anybody not feeling good? Is there anybody who doesn't? You're good. You're fine. Your hip is hurt. What is it? What's, what's hurting right there? What? Oh, you're left. Okay. You're left. This is, this is because that sounds crazy, but that's the thing you'd be shouting about in the book is that they walk past people and their shadows healed people. So if we trying to live like that, you can't just read and be like, wow, that's good. You got to walk out and be like, oh man, if I see somebody who ain't feeling good, I promise you I'm about to pray for them so fast because I'm trying to act on what I've accepted. If you knew that God could give peace in the middle of the storm, how would you be talking to your family that you ain't talking to him like right now? If you knew that God had the whole world in his hands and he had a plan for your child before you knew them, he knew them. How would you talk to your kid? If you knew God had them and they're okay and he's got a perfect plan for their life and he's going to protect them and he's going to keep them and he's got more than enough grace for every mistake they'll make and he's going to keep them and I'm going to raise them in the way they should go. But I trust my God. How would you raise your kids? If you were acting on what you said, you've accepted. How patient would you be?

If you knew that he's a God that gave mercies new every morning, how how would you talk to yourself differently? If you knew God was pleased with you. He's pleased with you. He's pleased with you. If you acted on that, how would you show up, what type of husband would you be, what type of wife would you be if you and this is where I'm saying that John 10 10 life, it's in that. It's in the action that we sometimes avoid. Every head bow, every eye closed. Two groups of people. If you're in here or under the sound of my voice, you're watching this, you're listening to this. And the idea of that super fulfilled life, like tons of joy, tons of peace and overwhelming sense of gratitude and love, if that feels really far away, it feels a distant, it feels like, I mean, I experienced that sometimes, but not all the time, but I, I want that life. If you're in here and you want to try to take the step of acting on grace, you want to see what this book talks about, show up in your real life. Every head bowed, every eye closed, you're saying, I want to act on grace more. If that's you, I'm gonna ask you just to slip up your hand. I won't say a pray for you. You want to act on grace more. God, you see our hands. And we don't want to be stuck saying we believe something that we haven't done. Help us to do what we have confessed to believe. Help us to be people who have faith that moves past just a moment and shows up in our action. God, would you change the way we think? Would you help us change the way we think? Would you help us change how we think about ourselves, think about our friends, think about our family? Would you help us to act on your grace? Every hand down, every head still bowed, every eye still closed. If you're in here, there's a beautiful first step you can take, and that is to accept the grace. And the good news is, that's really your only part in this puzzle, is to accept. You ain't gotta work, you ain't gotta strive, you ain't gotta pretend, you ain't gotta prove it. You accept the grace of God. Last weekend, we celebrated Easter, and the story of Easter is the good news of the gospel.

And here's the good news. The good news is, God has paid for all the mistakes you have ever made, will ever make, and have thought about making. He's already paid the price. Why does he have to pay the price? Because it's clear, when we sin, when we make a mistake, there's a cost associated with it. Just like if you make a mistake, or you lie in a relationship, it strains the relationship. That is a cost. And Jesus died on a cross to pay the ultimate price for our sin. So that we don't have to live in shame, that we don't have to live in guilt, that we don't have to live under pressure and performance. But we can live under His grace. And if you're in this room, or you're watching online, or you're listening to this, this is the moment where your life will change forever, if you want to accept Jesus. And I'm not talking about no fake get-into-heaven card. I'm talking about, I want my life to look radically different. I want peace, and I want an abundance of it. I want love, and I want an abundance of it. I want joy, and I want all of it. I'm not talking about settling for pretending and raising your hands and doing just the bare minimum. I'm talking about, you are sick of your old life, and you want a brand new start. Today, this is your moment. This is what Jesus is about. He's always loved you. He's always been there for you, and today is that day. If you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I'm about to count to three. And when I count to three, if you want to make that decision, I want you to raise your hand. Now, here's why you're going to raise your hand. You're not raising your hand for anybody else around you. You're raising your hand to let your mind, your soul, and your body know. I don't just feel this on the inside, but I'm going to act on it on the outside. Because I know that this is a faith about action.

So, if you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I'm going to count to three, and you're going to raise your hand. One, he loves you. Two, today is the day of salvation. Do not wait another day. Three, right now, in this room and online, lift your hand if you want to accept Jesus. I got you. I'm so proud of you. I see you, sister. So proud of you. So proud of you. together right here on the front row I see you so proud of everybody here online everybody out loud would you pray out loud together everybody repeat after me say dear God I love you thank you for loving me dear Jesus I admit I've made mistakes save me change me make me new and your name I pray amen hey can we celebrate people who just made that choice so proud of you hey listen here's a couple things before we get out of here in just a moment our worship team is gonna sing and we're gonna have some team members come up down to the front if you need prayer for anything nothing too big nothing too small you need prayer for anything in your life there's something powerful that happens when we pray some of you maybe you got a head out you're gonna grab your kiddos and have a maybe some of you're gonna stay our worship teams just gonna lead us in worship the Bible says that God inhabits the praises of his people something beautiful can happen there but I want to encourage you to join us for family dinner tonight if you have space and time and then the last thing if you gave your life to Christ let us know text the word saved to the number on the screen you can scan the QR code but we're so proud of you Lord God I thank you for today I thank you that this week we are acting on what we believe we thank you for your grace for your love and your mercy it's in the beautiful name of Jesus we pray and everybody said amen amen amen you can take over come on if you want him to have his way in your life come on say Oh

in the room my life Oh