Do Better - Love Mercy

We'd like to welcome you to church today. Let's all stand. It's time to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He's worthy of all our praise, amen. God, we praise you. We praise you. ♪ Let all fears, all anxieties, let it rise ♪ ♪ Let praise arise ♪ ♪ We sing your name in the dark and it changes everything ♪ ♪ We sing with all we are and we claim your victory ♪ ♪ Let it rise, let praise arise ♪ ♪ We'll see you break down every wall ♪ ♪ We'll watch the giants fall ♪ ♪ But fear cannot survive when we praise you ♪ ♪ The God of breakthrough's on our side ♪ ♪ Forever lift him high with all creation cry ♪ ♪ God, we praise you, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, we praise you, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Let faith be the song that overcomes the raging sea ♪ ♪ Let faith be the song that calms the storm inside of me ♪ ♪ Let it rise, let faith arise, let it rise ♪ ♪ Let faith arise, let it rise ♪ ♪ We'll see you break down every wall ♪ ♪ We'll watch the giants fall ♪ ♪ But fear cannot survive when we praise you ♪ ♪ The God of breakthrough's on our side ♪ ♪ Forever lift him high with all creation cry ♪ ♪ God, we praise you, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ We praise you, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ This is what living looks like ♪ ♪ This is what freedom feels like ♪ ♪ This is what heaven sounds like ♪ ♪ We praise you, we praise you ♪ ♪ This is what living looks like ♪ ♪ This is what freedom feels like ♪ ♪ This is what heaven sounds like ♪ ♪ We praise you, we praise you ♪ ♪ This is what living looks like ♪ ♪ This is what freedom feels like ♪ ♪ This is what heaven sounds like ♪ ♪ We praise you, we pray you ♪ ♪ This is what living looks like ♪ ♪ This is what freedom feels like ♪ ♪ This is what heaven sounds like ♪ ♪ We praise you, we praise ♪ ♪ We'll see you break down every wall ♪ ♪ We'll watch the giants fall ♪ ♪ But fear cannot survive when we praise you ♪ ♪ The God of breakthrough's on our side ♪ ♪ Forever lift Him high ♪ ♪ With all creation cry God we praise you ♪ ♪ We'll see you break down every wall ♪ ♪ We'll watch the giants fall ♪ ♪ Fear cannot survive when we praise you ♪ ♪ The God of breakthrough's on our side ♪ ♪ Forever lift Him high ♪ ♪ With all creation cry God we praise you ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ We praise you, oh ♪

♪ We praise you, oh ♪ ♪ We praise you, oh ♪ ♪ We praise you, oh ♪ God just come, come with us to our spirits Lord whether we're sad or weary or happy come away with us God. ♪ As the spirit was moving over the water ♪ ♪ Spirit come move over us ♪ ♪ Come rest on us, come rest on us ♪ ♪ As the spirit was moving over the water ♪ Spirit come move over us. Come rest on us. Come rest on us. Come down. Spirit when you move you make my heart pound. When you fill the room. You're here and I know you are moving. I'm here and I know you will fill me. Come down. Spirit when you move you make my heart pound. When you fill the room. You're here and I know you are moving. I'm here and I know you will fill me. As the Spirit was moving over the water. Spirit come move over us. Come rest on us. Come rest on us. As the Spirit was moving over the water. Spirit come move over us. Come rest on us. Come rest on us. Fire and wind come and do it again. Open up the gates let heaven on in. Come rest on us. Come rest on us. Fire and wind come and do it again. Open up the gates let heaven on in. Come rest on us. Come rest on us. Come down. Spirit when you move you make my heart pound. When you fill the room. You're here and I know you are moving. I'm here and I know you will fill me. Come down. Spirit when you move you make my heart pound. When you fill the room. You're here and I know you are moving. I'm here and I know you will fill me. Oh. Holy Spirit come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want.

Holy Spirit come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Come down. Spirit when you move you make my heart pound. When you fill the room. You're here and I know you are moving. I'm here and I know you will fill me. Come down. Spirit when you move you make my heart pound. When you fill the room. You're here and I know you are moving. I'm here and I know you will fill me. Come down. Spirit when you move you make my heart pound. When you fill the room. You're here and I know you are moving. I'm here and I know you will fill me. Come down. Spirit when you move you make my heart pound. When you fill the room. You're here and I know you are moving. I'm here and I know you will fill me. Oh Spirit come. Jesus you're worthy. You're so worthy. We have a God who loves us. We have a God who wants to speak to us. We want a God, we we serve a God who is here present in this room. Can we lift our hands and just give him honor, glory, and praise. Thank you God, thank you God. I am an instrument of exaltation. And I was born to fill your name above all names. You hear the melody of all creation. There's a song of praise that only I can hear. Who else is worthy. Who else is worthy. There is no one, only you Jesus. Who else is worthy. Who else is worthy. There is no one, only you Jesus. You are the infinite, God of the ages. Yet you chose to make my heart your dwelling place. You healed my brokenness, showed me your glory. So I have songs of thanks, not even angels sing. Who else is worthy. Who else is worthy. There is no one, only you Jesus. Who else is worthy. No one else is worthy. There is no one, only you Jesus. Who else is worthy. Who else is worthy. There is no one, only you Jesus. Who else is worthy. No one else is worthy. There is no one, only you Jesus. Lamb of God, anointed one. Who was and is and is to come. Seated on the throne above. Holy, holy. Righteous one who shed his blood. Who proved to us that father's love. Jesus Christ be lifted up. Holy, holy. Lamb of God, anointed one. Who was and is and is to come. Seated on the throne above. Holy, holy. Righteous one who shed his blood. Who proved to us that father's love. Jesus Christ be lifted up. Holy, holy. Lamb of God, anointed one. Who was and is and is to come. Seated on the throne above. Holy, holy. Righteous one who shed his blood. Who proved to us that father's love. Jesus Christ be lifted up. Who else is worthy. Who else is worthy. There is no one, only you Jesus. Who else is worthy. Who else is worthy. There is no one, only you Jesus. There is no one, only you Jesus. There is no one, only you Jesus. ♪ Who else is worthy? There's no one. There is no one. Only you Jesus. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one. Only you Jesus. Come on, let's give him honor. Who else is worthy? We give you praise. Who else is worthy? There is no one. Only you Jesus. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one. Only you Jesus. Jesus, you're worthy. Jesus, you're worthy of all our praise, all the honor, and all the glory. We bless you today, God. Thank you for your presence in this place. Thank you that you're moving. Thank you that you're speaking. We just honor you today, God. And can we all say together amen? Amen.

Go ahead and have a seat as we transition to communion. If you would take your cup and get it ready. This is the weekend that we honor servicemen and women on Memorial Day for those who have sacrificed their lives. You know, it's such an honorable thing that someone would sign up to serve in the military because they're basically giving their life to serve, to protect. They're giving their skill. Their livelihood is dependent. They just give it freely so that we can live free. Not knowing us directly, but such a sacrifice, such an honorable thing. So if you've had a loved one who has passed on, we just want to bless you. But in a similar way, right? Jesus gave his life for us, sacrificially. Not even that we knew him at the time, but he knew that we would need a savior. He knew that we would need salvation. He knew that we would need freedom. He knew that we would need healing. And so he gave his life sacrificially out of love for us. So let's remember that sacrifice and ask God to just breathe new life in us. And if you need healing, ask for healing. If you need freedom, ask for freedom. If you just need more of his love, ask for that. So go ahead and take communion when you're ready, but pray and ask for those things. Go ahead. Amen. Amen. Being from, we believe church is more than just a service. It's a community where people can find hope, grow in faith, and do life together. If you're here on campus, stop by Next Steps after service. We'd love to meet you and help you find the best way to get connected at Pantano. Joining us online, you're a part of this community too. Be sure to visit Next Steps online and fill out a connect card so we can stay connected with you. And if you haven't already, follow Pantano on social media for encouragement, updates, events, and everything happening around our church throughout the week.

This week, during Military Appreciation Month, we want to take a moment to honor and thank all of our military members, both those who have served and those who are currently serving our country. We are incredibly grateful for your courage, sacrifice, and dedication, and we want to say thank you for all you do. We believe that radical generosity reshapes our world. And because of your generosity, lives are being changed throughout Tucson, Benson, and beyond. Thank you for being a part of that impact. If you feel led to give today, you can drop your gifts in the giving boxes, give online through our website, or text GIVE to 46356. The Global Leadership Summit is returning to Pantano this August. This year, we're going to be hosting this August. This two-day event is packed with powerful speakers and fresh insights to help you grow as a leader in your business, organization, church, and personal life. To register for early bird pricing or get more information, head over to Next Steps. We can't wait to see you there. Next week is Baptism Week. It's a way for us to celebrate you saying yes to Jesus and stepping into the amazing new life He has for you. If you've been thinking about taking that step, don't wait.

Visit Next Steps and sign up today. We can't wait to celebrate life change with you. Thanks again for joining us. We can't wait to see what God has in store for us today. Hello there, Pantano. How are we? We doing all right? Woo! It is really, really good to be with you. Thank you for being with us each and every week. Hey, we do have a bunch of people online with us. I want to welcome a few of you in. We've got all of our friends at the Santa Rita unit down at the Wilmot Prison. We've got all of our friends at the Gospel Rescue Mission and our Benson campus and all of our online campus with us. Do me a favor. Welcome all of them in. We're so glad you're with us. Thank you. Well, last week, Chris actually kicked off our brand new series called Do Better. And by the way, Chris may have given one of the best messages I've ever heard him communicate last week on what it means to literally do justice. So would you thank Chris again for an incredible message last week? And I love that we called this series Do Better. Now, some of you guys are like, what's with the shoe thing? Well, that's my closet.

No, I'm just kidding. My wife probably thinks that's true. But truthfully, a few years ago, Nike, I don't know if you've heard of them. I think they're going to stick. They came out with a slogan. I don't know if you remember it. It's when I was growing up and it was, does anybody know it? Oh, you've heard it too. I think it's going to catch. Just do it. And it was literally like, just do anything. But I think scripture actually flips that a little bit. And it's not just do it. It's actually do better. Do better. And like I said, Chris launched us in last week and talked about what it means to do this whole justice thing better. But the whole heartbeat of this series is not just to do more or to achieve more or to hustle more or prove more. That's not the point of the series. But God has called us to do better. Now, I want to take you back to the scripture that launches us into this entire series, Micah 6.8. Here's what it says. Now, I'm going to read it from the NLT. Chris read it from the NIV.

They may sound a little different. That's okay. All right, translations. But here's what it says. Know, O people, the Lord has told you what is what? What's he say? Good. If something's good, don't you want to know about it? It's like God tells you what is good. And this is what he requires of you to do what is right or to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. So there's this little word that shows up, requires. The word requires. And I love that word requires because it's not saying God suggests you do this. Not saying God recommends you do this. It's saying. God requires you do this. So last week we talked about doing justice, and today we're gonna talk about loving mercy. Now some of you in your head just quoted Elvis. Some of you quoted Uncle Jesse from Full House. I don't know who you quote when you hear mercy, but this word mercy, honestly I think this one is harder for most of us to admit that we need to love and do. Because justice feels good, like you can do something and justice feels good, especially when justice in our mind happens to someone else,

but mercy feels costly when it's something that has to come from us. It's different. I remember when I was younger I would hear people say, people get what they deserve. You ever heard that? You ever said that? I hope they get what they deserve. If you've driven in Tucson, you've said, I hope that guy gets what he deserves. And then the cop pulls out and you're like, justice. Have you ever said I'd write him a ticket as long as my arm if I were a cop? And if I'm honest, there's moments where people get what they deserve, sounds pretty good to me. Like somebody lies to you or betrays you, they talk about you, they walk out on you, they hurt your kids. Listen, I got two daughters. You hurt one of my girls, I will lay hands on you. Scripture tells me to. It doesn't say how hard. It says lay hands on and pray. I can pray, in the name of Jesus I can pray. Okay, that may not be the most biblical thing I've ever said from stage, but just go with me, all right? If somebody steals from you, somebody uses you, somebody does something that hurts you deeply, you say things like, I hope they get what's coming to them. By the way, that's human nature a little bit.

I remember one particular moment a few years ago when someone deeply hurt our family. They said some very untrue things, some very hurtful things. They actually threatened the life of my family. Like it was deep. And they caused unnecessary pain and unnecessary stress in our lives. And I remember laying awake in bed that first week and I was replaying conversations in my head. You ever do this? By the way, I can create better situations in my head than Hollywood can write scripts. Man, I can come up with the best one-liners laying there thinking I should have said, I should have done. You ever think of the comeback you should have had hours later? You're like, maybe I'll go back and give it to them. The response you wish you'd given? Honestly, if you're a Cobra Kai fan, anybody remember the slogan of Cobra Kai? Strike hard, strike fast, no mercy. I wanna go full Cobra Kai in this moment. Call me John Kreese. I'm not Karate Kid, I'm Cobra Kai. And if I'm honest, I wasn't praying blessing over this individual. I was praying justice and not the kind Chris was talking about. We should do justice.

Maybe even like Bruce Almighty said, smite them, oh great and mighty smiter. That's why God didn't make me God, because I would be smiting people. I'd be hitting the smite button. But then God began to press something into my spirit that I didn't wanna hear. Has God ever said something to you you didn't wanna hear? By the way, he says a lot of things to me I don't wanna hear, because I'm stubborn. This is what he said, Trevor, you want mercy for yourself, but you want justice for everyone else. I was like, I'm gonna need you to say that again, because I don't like it. He's like, okay, you want mercy for yourself, but you want everyone else to get what they deserve. I was like, I still don't like that, God, can we say it one more time? Because the truth is, every one of us wants mercy when we fail, but we want the strong hand of justice when other people do. That's why mercy is so hard. And yet the gospel of Jesus is built on mercy. Let me ask you, how many of you realize you've been given mercy by God? Just show of hands, anybody realize it? Great, that's a lot of us. If you don't, you probably will by the end of this. If you've experienced mercy, then you need to understand mercy changes people

because mercy changed us. By the way, if you don't catch that right now, I'm gonna say that like six more times, okay? So if you don't write it down now, I'm gonna give you plenty of opportunities. So let me ask you, what about you? Because some of you, you walked in these spaces today, and you're carrying wounds from people that have hurt you deeply. You've walked in here that way. And if you're really honest with yourself, you don't want mercy for them. You just don't. You want payback. You've been holding on to bitterness for years and you replay the conversation. You actually rehearse offenses. You carry resentment everywhere you go. Some of you, you were shown zero mercy as a kid. Maybe your parents were harsh. Actually, maybe you grew up in a church where people were harsh. You're like, church people can be harsh? Whatever do you mean? By the way, that's sarcasm. If you didn't grow up in church, good on you. You don't know that yet. Maybe every mistake became your identity and you've carried that your whole life. And now, because mercy was never modeled to you,

mercy is really difficult for you to give away because you've never really seen it. Now, others of you are on the opposite side of this message. You're the one who needs mercy. You're actually drowning in guilt and shame and you know what you did. It's very present in your mind every day. You know what happened. You know your failures. You even wonder if God could really still love someone like you. You've probably said that 100 times. Maybe you came in today believing God tolerates you, but he doesn't delight in you. Maybe that's you. But can I tell you something today? And I think you need to hear this if that's you. Mercy is not God lowering the standard. Mercy is God loving us despite the standard we failed to meet. Like, leave that up there for a second. I want this to kind of fall over you a little bit is mercy is not God lowering the standard. Mercy is God loving us despite the standard we failed to meet. Just so you know, none of us meet the standard. None of us. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. You know what the Greek word for all means? All.

You're like, thanks for that little lesson. That's why I preach, I don't teach. Okay, let's get back into this. And when you truly experience the mercy of Jesus, it changes how you treat everyone else. When you've really experienced it. The people that are the most merciful are the ones that have realized they've received the most mercy. Because mercy changes people because mercy changed us. So let's go to one of the most powerful mercy stories in all of scripture, Luke chapter seven. If you've got Bibles, Luke chapter seven. We're gonna be in verse 36 is where we're gonna kind of hang out. And Jesus is invited to a dinner party. Now, I like dinner parties. Anyone else like dinner parties? I went to a little dinner party last night. Celebrating my mom's almost 80th birthday. Everyone's like, she doesn't look 80. I know, she looks 90. It's unbelievable, it's fantastic. She's not in this service, that's why I can say that. And I know she doesn't know how to use the internet, so she'll never see this. Okay, that's great. Don't you send her the link either. I know some of y'all are gonna do it. I like a good dinner party.

Jesus gets invited to a dinner party. He's invited to a guy named Simon who's a Pharisee. Now, you need to understand something immediately. Pharisees are the religious elites. Like they're the top of the echelon of the religious. They knew the Bible, they knew the law, they knew theology. But here was the problem with Pharisees. They knew all of that, but they usually lack compassion. You ever met religious people like that? They can tell you where to look it up. The problem is, is they can't tell you how to look it up. There's no compassion. And so, they know all these things, and while Jesus is eating, he's at this dinner now. Jesus is Jesus, he knows what's going on. But as they're eating, you gotta understand, especially in Jewish culture, when they would have dinner parties, you would lounge on like these pillows, and there'd be tables, and you'd kinda lay and lounge and eat, which is my way of eating. And if you can lounge and eat, you've reached the epitome of eating. When you can lay and eat, that's fantastic. We should bring that back, by the way. Next week in our cafe, we're just gonna have a bunch of little pillows so y'all can lounge and eat. So it goes like, we'll never get out of there. We'll be there for the next six months. I know, it's great.

But they're lounging, and as they're lounging and eating, while Jesus is mid-meal, a woman walks into the room. Now, she wasn't invited to the party, but she knows Jesus is at the party, and Luke tells us she was a sinful woman. By the way, how would you like to walk in a room and be like, oh, the sinful woman's here? By the way, that's all of us, in case you're wondering. Everybody in town knew she had a reputation. She was that woman. She was known for getting around, do you know what I'm saying? Do I have to spell it out any deeper than church, y'all, or do you get it? Because this is gonna get real awkward real fast if I've got to spell it out for you, okay? And she walks into this house, and she's carrying this really expensive jar of perfume, like, a year's worth of wages to buy this perfume. And she kneels behind Jesus, and she's weeping in her bed. Tears are falling on his feet and she she wipes his feet with her hair, which we live in the desert Jesus lived in the desert. He didn't have modern pummeling plumbing in his house. So can you imagine how nasty those Messiah feet were? and She's washing them with her hair and her tears And then she pours the perfume on them and the room gets really uncomfortable really fast Like just put yourself at the party You're at the table this woman walks in you're like, oh that lady's here And then she's crying and she's kissing Jesus feet and wiping them with her hair and her tears and her perfume

And then Simon starts judging her in his mind not out loud Keep this in mind in his mind And this is what he says to himself if this man were a prophet talking about Jesus He would know what kind of woman is touching him By the way, Jesus is gonna respond to his thoughts in a minute Which tells me if you're ever at a party with Jesus just stand in the corner and be like nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing not right Welcome to my head You know what amazes me is religious people always seem shocked when sinners act like sinners Why are we shocked by that? Like Jesus responds I like how Jesus responds he responds with a story But they're all shocked that a sinner is acting like a sinner It's amazing me when church people are shocked when sinners show up to church and they're like they don't act right you're right Aren't you glad they're here? Yeah, but they they don't look right. How are you supposed to look? And then when you realize oh, I'm a sinner too Let me ask you how many of you guys have gotten this not sinning thing? Right recently anybody gone like the last 20 years with no sin in your life If you raise your hand, there's your first sin in 20 years because you just lied Like they're all sinners in this room and Jesus I love this Jesus does what Jesus does he's like, let me tell you a little story He says two men. Oh a lender a lot of money One owes a little one owes a lot Neither could repay the debt. So the lender forgives both debts The one with a lot the one with a little and then Jesus I love this. He asked Simon this question He was like, which one of them do you think will love the the guy more the lender more? And I like this Simon apparently not real smart. He answers correctly Well the one forgiven more he thinks he's being really smart and then Jesus like oh, I got you right where I want you He's like exactly and then Jesus points to the woman You think Simon had a oh, no, here we go Because Jesus looks at her and he goes don't you think that maybe she should be grateful. I Forgiven her debt big I

Love this moment because Jesus sees her differently than everyone else in the room Everybody else saw her sin. You know what Jesus saw her sorrow Everybody else saw her reputation. You know what Jesus saw her repentance Everybody else saw her passion Repentance Everybody else saw her past Jesus saw her potential That's why I love y'all at Pantano we have people from all walks of life walk in here and I love when people with a past walk in because we can see The potential of what Jesus is about to do in their life because mercy changes people because mercy's changed us That's what mercy does Now I know some of you guys are sitting here going but so you're talking about mercy But aren't grace and mercy pretty much the same thing. Nope Let me give you a working definition of these two. Here's what grace is grace is getting what you do not deserve So when you get grace, you don't deserve it Amazing grace how sweet the sound save to rest like me don't deserve it Here's what mercy is mercy is not getting what you do deserve You know what you and I deserve hell You're like that's not fun to talk about you're right, but it's true Mercy is that we don't get help Mercy is not getting what we actually deserve because the wages of sin How many sinners in the room show of hands? Okay, great the wages of all that death Separation from God judgment brokenness yet Jesus steps in and he says, you know, I'm I'll take that for you I'll be merciful towards you. I will take that and what's fascinating is in Micah 6 8 is that God does not say show mercy He says love mercy It's deeper Like the word in Hebrew actually carries this idea of covenant loyalty Like steadfast love unfailing kindness. It's not transactional kindness. It's deep relentless compassion So here's what God really means when he says it. I don't want you just to occasionally show mercy. I Want mercy to become a part of your DNA? I

Want you to love it in your soul And this is hard because everything in our flesh fights against mercy. Everything in us fights against mercy. Like our culture, our culture is not a mercy culture. You know how I know? Because we have phrases like cancel culture. That's not mercy. You make one mistake in culture, guess what? You're done. One wrong opinion, you're out. One failure, and you're labeled forever. But Jesus consistently moved towards broken people with mercy. The ones that have been discarded by society, Jesus is like, let me go hang out with them. Let me spend some time with them. Let me just give you a few. How about the woman caught in the act of adultery? Remember her? They bring her naked and throw her in the front of the temple at Jesus while he's teaching. What does he give her? Mercy. How about Zacchaeus, the wee little man, and the wee little man was he? The tax collector climbed up in a sycamore tree, see what he could see? If you grew up in church, you're like, that's gonna be in my head the rest of the day.

If you didn't, you're welcome. Welcome to the club, all right? Like this guy has cheated his people. He's ripped them off, and Jesus is like, I'm gonna come to your house for dinner, and I'm gonna show you mercy. How about Peter? He denies Jesus three times after walking with him for three years. What does Jesus give him? Mercy. How about the thief on the cross? Mercy. How about Paul, who was responsible for imprisoning and Christians being murdered? Mercy. Let's be honest. How about you and me? Mercy. See, the cross is the ultimate picture of mercy. It's the ultimate picture. At the cross, justice and mercy collide, and God doesn't ignore sin. Jesus paid for sin. He doesn't ignore it, he pays for it. This is why mercy is so powerful. Mercy is not pretending that sin does not matter, some of you hear this and are like, so I can just go on sinning, I've got all the mercy in the world.

No. Mercy is choosing redemption over revenge. That's what mercy is. And I think one of the reasons the church loses influence is because sometimes we become known for condemnation more than compassion. Everybody knows what we hate versus what we're for. Now hear me clearly, mercy is not compromise. It's not compromise. Jesus never watered down truth. Go read the words of Jesus. He told a lot of hard truth. A lot of it. But he delivered that truth through love. Actually, you know who he was the hardest on? The religious elite. Let me ask you this, how many of you guys have been in church longer than a decade? Show of hands. Oh, you religious elite, I'm so glad you're here. You know who he's talking to most of the time? Us. Let me ask this, how many of you guys have only been in church for like less than a year? Show of hands, anybody, is that you? Oh, I'm so glad y'all are here. Thanks for showing up. Not that he's not talking to you, but I'm gonna help you learn what not to have to undo later. Because see, we get stuck.

And John 1 says Jesus came full of grace and truth. Not grace without truth, not truth without grace. If all you are is truth, you know what you are? Sometimes you're a jerk. If all you are is grace, you know what you are? You're tolerant of everything. Grace and truth have to live together. The tension between those two things is love. Some churches have truth but no mercy. Others have mercy without truth. Jesus embodies both. And if we're gonna represent Jesus well in our culture, we become both for people. I think about the story Jesus tells in Matthew 18. If you got Bibles, flip over to Matthew 18, verse three. It's called The Unforgiving Servant. I just wanna read it to you. I think this is a case study for us. Here's what it says. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from himself. In the process, one of the debtors who was brought in owed him millions of dollars. He couldn't pay, so his master ordered that he be sold along with his wife and his children and everything he owned to pay the debt. But the man fell down before his master and he begged, please be patient with me, I will pay it all. Then his master was filled with pity and he released him

and forgave his debts. But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars and he grabbed him by the throat. Y'all seen where this is headed yet? And he demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him. He begged for a little more time. Be patient with me, I'll pay it. Does it sound like something he just said to the king? But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. So when some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king, told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and he said, you evil servant, I forgave this tremendous debt because you pleaded with me, shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant? Just as I had mercy on you. Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. Then verse 35, that's what my heavenly father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart. That last little sentence should be a little wake up call for those of us that love Jesus, shouldn't it? Like this servant owed this impossible debt and he's forgiven, millions of dollars.

And then he goes and won't forgive a guy a couple thousand dollars. See, the king is mad, why is he mad? Because forgiven people should be forgiving people. Mercy received should become mercy released. Because mercy changes people because mercy changed us. And honestly, some of us are emotionally exhausted because you're carrying a bitterness that God never intended for you to carry. You're carrying something you weren't meant to carry. And eventually, bitterness imprisons the person carrying it. Mercy frees people. Mercy frees people. And not just the person receiving it. Honestly, it's usually the person that gives the mercy. Now let me say something important because you need to hear this. Showing mercy does not always mean restoring access. Let me say it again. Showing mercy does not always mean restoring access. Forgiveness and trust are not always the same thing. You can forgive someone and still have boundaries. Like I know some of you have walked in and you're dealing with abuse from your past. Physical, sexual, emotional. You can forgive and not give access. You can forgive and still set boundaries. You can release bitterness without reentering abuse. Jesus showed mercy constantly, but he also had wisdom. He always set good boundaries.

See, understand this. Mercy is not enabling dysfunction. Mercy is refusing to let hatred own our hearts. And when the church truly becomes a place of mercy, broken people start running towards Jesus instead of away from him. That's why Pantano, we're gonna be a mercy place. This is a place where addicts can heal. This is a place where marriages can be restored, where prodigals can come home. Like if you've been a prodigal and you're like, I'm a hot mess, welcome to the club. All of us are hot messes in desperate need of a savior. This is a place where imperfect people can encounter a perfect savior. That's what mercy does. There's this incredible story of these two ladies in our church. Misty and Denise. Can I just tell you, you're gonna see their story here in a second. And when I tell you, I've had to wrap my head around the mercy involved in this story, but once you do, it will change your heart. So why don't you check out their story. Oh. Oh. Oh. Colton first started his addiction after my husband had passed away.

As a mom, that was really hard because I knew that he was struggling. And it's hard because I was struggling myself and I wasn't really sure how to help. A couple of years later, my mother and my grandmother passed away and my son-in-law all within three weeks. And so that took his addiction even deeper. It's heartbreaking because you don't know, you don't know what to do to fix it. You're a mom, you're supposed to fix everything. And addiction, you can't fix. Once I found out that he had given this pill and Chris had passed away, the first thing I thought about was Chris's mom because I couldn't imagine what she was going through. When Denise contacted me, I didn't really know who she was at that time. I thought that she was calling for the widow's group that I run. And when she said, no, my son is gone because of your son, I dropped to my knees and I lost it because I now have her on the other line and she found me. And I wanted to talk to her probably as much as she wanted to talk to me. He, you know, went to school to be a mechanic, had a lot of different degrees, good hearts. Struggled with a relationship, which really turned things around for him in 2011. He got into doing drugs and.

ended up in the prison system and spent three and three-quarter years in a prison. Coming out, he found out his father was sick and dying of cancer. So that made him turn to alcohol and became an alcoholic. He loved to make people laugh. All his friends and everybody that ever encountered would say he was one of the most funniest, you know, people that wanted just to make you laugh. He enjoyed that. If you could put a smile on your face, that made his day. We had just gotten him into his own apartment, but he was staying at my home, and he hadn't had the opportunity to stay in his place. He wanted to be around me and his siblings. I knew he was in recovery for his alcohol, but still was concerned that he'd sneak around and go get alcohol. So I decided to get up and go look for him and couldn't find him. Within 20 minutes, half hour, my younger son goes to the restroom. The door's locked. We open it and we find him. We began CPR, called 911. They came, the medics came, worked on him for, you know, 20 to 30 minutes and then pronounced him gone. At that point, you're just wondering what, what happened? You know, he was on medications. He was seeing a doctor. He was on Klonopin. Doing great. You know, knowing addiction and seeing the struggles, you know, that your children go through, and then going into the prison sentence as mother, you really live that prison sentence with them. And that was one of the hardest things to deal with. When he came out, he talked about it did not do anything for him, but make him angrier. You know, at that point, I started to think about things. I wanted to meet his mother. I wanted to know everything I possibly could about him. So that's where the thinking process came in. And, you know, just a lot of prayer and thinking about what was the next step. He was looking at 12 to 15 years in prison. And that was probably the scariest thing for me, because I don't know a lot about the prison system. I was afraid for him being there. You know, as a mom, you just, that's a scary thing to have your son in prison. It's a scary thing to think about your son having to go away. I've always been a firm believer that we're all sinners. And who are we to say which sin is greater than the other? So in the situation, after talking to meeting with Misty, listening to her story of how remorseful he was and crying and so forth, you take a step back and you try to put yourself in everybody's shoes and look at the situation. So when it came to having the mercy or compassion, it was really easy for me because I saw the struggle in my own son. And I saw that a prison center wasn't the answer. Our system fails us a lot in certain ways that when people come out of prison, they don't have anywhere to go. You know, so that's what really swayed me. And this

was not going to be the answer. And of course, meeting her and how much she loved her kid and hearing his story, I had to fight. I had to fight the system. Months later, I was reached out to by the prosecution. At this point, I started to think if I'm going to do anything, this is the time to speak up and try to turn things around. So I prepared a letter meeting with the prosecution. You know, of course, his position is he's looking at this many years. We're going after him. And I stopped him and said, no, you need to read a letter. That's not the route I want to go. So when he read it, he was really surprised. I've never met anyone like Denise. I mean, we're family now. We'll always be a part of each other's life. We go to Chris's grave. We've done that and we've cleaned it up. And so I just I just want people to know that there's hope out there. I think one of the biggest things that I've taken away from Pastor Trevor is when he says, you need to get so close to the fire that you come out smelling like smoke. And he said that. And that for me was huge, because, you know, as a mom, you don't know what to do. You had to have tough love. Do you help them? You know, what do you do? And at that point, when Trevor said that one Sunday, I was like, all right, I'm going to start smelling like smoke. I need to get this boy. I need to get him where he needs to be. And I think an important thing, too, is when I look at the situation, neither one intended that outcome. They both had a part in it. Then you have to say this guy, this kid is in his prime as well, you know, in his 30s and he's going to go spend this many years in prison. You know, what's that going to do for him? What's it going to do for his family? You know, and so all that mercy and compassion comes in there saying, why tear two families apart when one, there's a chance to heal somebody else in this? And I think that's the big, you know, thing to look at. really great. He was able to get into rehab and he is in a sober living program right now and he's doing amazing. He's been clean for eight months and he's just thriving every single day. He is. He's doing great. He is. How do you get there? How do you get to that place? Well, you heard it right there. Mercy is choosing redemption over revenge. Choosing redemption. I don't know if you've heard it yet, but mercy changes people because mercy changed us. How can a mom show mercy to another mom? Because mercy had changed her. So what does this mean for you? Well, some of you, you need to receive mercy today. You've literally spent your whole life trying to prove yourself, earn your

worth, hide your failures, and Jesus is inviting you, stop running. Like the woman in Luke 7, when she walked into that room, here's what she knew. Everyone else in that room was going to judge her, but she also knew that Jesus was going to receive her. Can I just tell you, if you walked in this room worried everyone's going to judge you, first of all, thanks for walking in the room. I'm going to just tell you, Jesus is ready to receive you. Some of you need that today. You need to stop letting shame define your identity. Your sin may explain part of your story, it just doesn't get the final word over your story. Jesus does. Others of you, you're on the other side. You need to actually give some mercy. Like there's someone in your life you need to forgive. There's a bitterness you need to release. There is an anger poisoning your spirit. And let me tell you something, holding on to unforgiveness never hurts the other person as much as it hurts you. Doesn't that sound like something your dad would tell you? Well, I'm a dad, so let me tell it to you again. That stuff you're carrying is not hurting them nearly as much as it hurts you. Mercy is not saying what happened is okay. Mercy is saying Jesus is bigger than what happens. That's where mercy is. Some of you, you need to stop weaponizing people's worst moments against them all the time. Like what if God treated us the way we treated others? Like what if every failure we've ever done was held over our heads by God? What if every mistake had to define us for all of eternity? But see, God doesn't deal with us that way. Listen to Psalm 103, one of my favorite scriptures. It says, he has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west. Does anybody know how far the east is from the west? Right when you figure it out, you find out you're going the other direction, you don't know how it happened? See, that's mercy. Maybe your next step today is you need to call somebody. Maybe you need to apologize to somebody. Maybe you need to forgive somebody. Maybe it's receiving forgiveness yourself. All I know is mercy changes people because mercy changed us. So what would happen if we became a church known for mercy? Not weak truth. We're always going to preach truth. Not watered down theology. We're always going to preach hard truth. Not compromise, but radical gospel-centered mercy. What if when people walked into Pantano, they said, I expected judgment, but I found grace. I expected rejection, I found hope. I expected shame, I found Jesus. What if homes became mercy places? What if marriages became mercy places? What if social media became mercy places? In fact, for the love of God, some of you, your social media needs to be a mercy place. I see what y'all post. Stop it, all right? Post

something good. What if our city encountered a church that actually looked like Jesus? Because let's be honest, Tucson doesn't need another angry church. Benson doesn't need another angry church. The prison, Gospel Rescue, those of you online, it needs a merciful church. It needs people who understand that we're all broken, we're all sinful, we're all lost, and Jesus still moves towards us. Because mercy changes people because mercy changed us. So maybe today you need mercy for the very first time. Maybe today's your prodigal moment, but it's time to come home. Maybe today's your fresh start. You heard next weekend is a baptism weekend. Maybe right now you need to sign up for baptism next week, and you need to come with the anticipation that you're going to receive mercy by dying to an old self and raising to new life in Jesus. It's one of the best moments you can have. is this, I'm gonna give you the gospel in one sentence, okay, you ready? It's not on the screen, but I'm gonna give it to you. Here it is, Jesus stepped into our mess, took our punishment, dies our death, and rose again so we could experience mercy instead of condemnation. That's the gospel of Jesus. Let me tell you one more time, Jesus stepped into our mess, took our punishment, died our death, and rose again so we could experience mercy instead of condemnation. That's the good news of Jesus. And that mercy can change your eternity. So I wanna do something a little different with you today. And I know some of you guys, I harp on you all the time for this. We get done, I pray, and you bolt for the parking lot. Man, we're just gonna start bolting the parking lot.

Let's see how that works for you. All right, that'd be hilarious, wouldn't it? Sorry, can't go anywhere. Actually, today I wanna do something different with you. It's gonna require movement on some of your parts. We're gonna have some of our staff and some of our elders and some of our difference makers down front, which they can start working their way down here. And if you need mercy or you need to give mercy, I want you to come down and just pray and talk with somebody and we're gonna have a song and we're gonna make it our prayer. But if you wanna talk with someone, pray with someone, ask for mercy, give mercy. And then if you're like, man, I don't wanna come down there, all these people are gonna see me. Okay, we've got a prayer room right across our courtyard. You can go over there too. But these individuals that are across the stage right now, they wanna walk with you, pray with you and help you become a person of mercy. Maybe for yourself, maybe for someone else. So I'm gonna ask you to stand where you are and just everybody get on your feet. And I wanna pray with you and then I'm gonna pray that you would have the courage to come release whatever that is or give whatever that is over to God. And start to live free, let's pray.

Father, today, God, in this moment, I know mercy is something sometimes hard to give or sometimes hard to receive. God, I pray that today, first and foremost, those of us that have never received it, or maybe we've been really hard on ourselves, maybe somebody else has been really hard on us. Maybe we've never felt good enough. Maybe we've never felt like we measure up. God, today, remind us that the goal is not measuring up. The goal is surrender to you. That we would be thankful that it's your mercy that restores and redeems and recovers our life. God, for those of us that have been hurt by others, that the pain is deep, the abuse was a lot, the scars are deep. God, I pray that today, that for the sake of the gospel, God, we would forgive and let mercy overwhelm our hearts. God, there's still boundaries, and this truth is still there's pain, but God, the mercy covers those things. That we receive your mercy at the cross. God, change our hearts today. Make us look more like you today, more merciful, more gracious. God, we love you. Thank you for your mercy in our lives. And it's in the powerful name of a merciful God, we pray, all God's people said, amen. Amen, love you, church.

♪ Thank you for your mercy, yeah ♪ ♪ I've carried a burden for too long on my own ♪ ♪ I wasn't created for you to hold me, yeah ♪ ♪ I've carried a burden for too long on my own ♪ ♪ I wasn't created for you to hold me, yeah ♪ ♪ I wasn't created to bear it all, oh ♪ ♪ I hear your invitation to let it all go ♪ ♪ And I see it now, laying it down ♪ ♪ And I know that I need you ♪ ♪ I run to the Father, I fall into grace ♪ ♪ I'm done with the hiding, no reason to wait ♪ ♪ My heart needs a surgeon, my soul needs a friend ♪ ♪ So I run to the Father again and again and again and again ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh ♪ You saw my condition, had a plan for disorder Your son for redemption, the price for my heart And I don't have the context of that kind of love I don't understand, I can't comprehend All I know that I need You I run to the Father, I fall into grace I'm done with the hiding, no reason to wait My heart needs a surgeon, my soul needs a friend So I run to the Father again and again and again and again Oh, oh, and again and again and again and again Oh, oh, oh My heart has been in Your sight Long before my first breath Running into Your arms Is running to life from death And I feel this rush deep in my chest Your mercy is calling out And just as I am, You pull me in And I know I need You now I run to the Father, I fall into grace I'm done with the hiding, no reason to wait My heart needs a surgeon, my soul needs a friend So I run to the Father again and again I run to the Father, I fall into grace I'm done with the hiding, no reason to wait My heart needs a surgeon, my soul needs a friend So I run to the Father again and again and again and again

Oh, oh, and again and again and again and again Oh, oh, oh This message is a powerful message about giving and receiving mercy. You see up front, there's still time to come get prayer. Don't leave. If God's touched your heart today, come get prayer. And if you'd like a more one-on-one as well, we do have the prayer room. Prayer partners are ready to walk you through this giving and receiving mercy. And if you want to get more information about Pantano, the things that are going on, how to get connected, or if you just have questions, Next Steps is also across the courtyard. Guys, have a great day today. We love you so much. Be blessed. you