Encounters : That's Not Fair - Sam Kelly (Full Experience)

Sing, Fellowship Church, will you stand to your feet as we worship together? It's time to worship the one who saves, the one who heals, the one who rescues. Jesus, we pour out our praise to you in gratitude. We praise you and you alone today. We thank you for all you've done in our lives and what you're gonna continue to do today. Oh, we thank you, Jesus. Sing, it's time for the sleeper to wake. It's time for the sleeper to wake. It's time for the old ways to change. I hear the Spirit say, it's time. Yes, it's time. It's time, it's time for the dead man to rise. It's time for the great light to shine. I hear the Spirit say, it's time. Oh, fling wide, fling wide. Heavenly gaze, let the King of glory in. Let the King of glory in. Come riding on your people's praise. Let the King of glory in. Let the King of glory in. Yes, we let you in. Sing, it's time. It's time for the sleeper to wake. It's time for the old ways to change. I hear the Spirit say, it's time. It's time for the dead man to rise. It's time for the great light to shine.

I hear the Spirit say, it's time. It's time, oh. Fling wide, heavenly gaze. Let the King of glory in. Let the King of glory in. Come riding on your people's praise. Let the King of glory in. Let the King of glory in. Fling wide, heavenly gaze. Let the King of glory in. Let the King of glory in. Come riding on your people's praise. Let the King of glory in. Let the King of glory in. We let you in, we let you in, lord. Come on, will you lift your voice of praise today. Sing open up the windows. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Let the light in. Let His light in. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Open up the windows.

Let the light in. Let the light in. Let the light in. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Let the light in. Let the light in. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Open up the windows. Let the light in. Let the light in. Let the light in. Cleanse your heart, you heavenly gates. Let the kingdom go in. Let the kingdom go in. Come right in on your people's face. Let the kingdom go in. ♪ Let the King of glory in, let the King of glory in ♪ ♪ Clean water, heavenly gains ♪ ♪ Let the King of glory in, let the King of glory in ♪ ♪ Come riding on your people's praise ♪ ♪ Let the King of glory in, let the King of glory in ♪ ♪ Come riding on your people's praise ♪

Would you leave a shout of praise today? He's worthy of our worship today and every day. The beautiful thing is that today in heaven, Jesus is seated on the throne in victory. Scripture says that all blessing, honor, glory, and power belong to Him who purchased salvation for us. Jesus is not far off, seated on the throne, but He is also here. He's in this room. He's worthy of our attention, our worship, every part of us. And the beautiful thing is that He's not just the King, He is also a Father, a Father who gives love and grace and forgiveness freely. So wherever you are at today, know that you have a King who cares for you. Let me sing this together. ♪ I wanna be close, close to your side ♪ ♪ So heaven is real and death is a lie ♪ ♪ I wanna hear voices of angels above singing as one ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, sing holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Our God Almighty, the great I Am ♪ ♪ Who is worthy, there's none beside me ♪ ♪ Your God Almighty, the great I Am ♪ ♪ I wanna be near, close to your heart ♪ ♪ But the world would hate in the dark ♪ ♪ I wanna see dry bones living again ♪ ♪ Oh we're singing as one, give Him glory, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Sing holy, holy, your God Almighty, the great I Am ♪ Fix your eyes on heaven today.

There's no one worthy but Him. Oh your God Almighty, the great I Am. He's the great I Am. He's worthy. He's the great I Am. He's the great I Am. Oh, we're singing. ♪ The mountains shake before Him, the demons run and flee ♪ ♪ At the mention of your name, King of majesty ♪ ♪ There is no power in hell, nor any who can stand ♪ ♪ Before the power and the presence of the great I Am ♪ ♪ The great I Am, you're the great I Am, the great I Am ♪ ♪ He's worthy of our praise, the great I Am, the great I Am ♪ ♪ The great I Am, sing hallelujah, and holy, holy, your God Almighty, the great I Am ♪ ♪ The great I Am, oh who is worthy, there's none beside thee, oh God Almighty, the great I Am ♪ ♪ He's the great I Am, worthy of every part of your life, He is the great I Am ♪ ♪ The great I Am, fix your eyes on Him, the great I Am, the great I Am ♪ The mountains shake before him, the demons run and flee, say what dimension of your name? King Jesus! There is no power in hell, nor any who can stand, against the power and the presence of the great I Am. Behold your king, he's the king of glory, seated in power. He's the great I Am, the great I Am, the great I Am. Let's sing this in one voice together church. Hallelujah, holy, holy, God Almighty, the great I Am. Who is worthy, none besides you, God Almighty, the great I Am. Hallelujah, holy, holy, God Almighty, the great I Am. Who is worthy, none besides you, God Almighty, the great I Am. The great I Am, worthy of all worship you are, you are the great I Am. We fix our eyes to you, the great I Am.

Your name is the highest, your name is the greatest, your name stands above them all. Lift it up say, all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions, your name stands above them all. Your name is the highest, your name is the greatest, your name stands above them all. Lift it up say, all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions, your name stands above them all. Holy, all creation cries, holy, you are lifted high, holy, holy forever. Your people sing, you are the king, you are the king, you are the king. You will always be, holy, holy forever. You will always be, holy, holy forever. You will always be, holy, holy forever. You will always be, holy, holy forever. You will always be, holy, holy forever. You will always be, holy, holy forever. You will always be, holy, holy forever. I know you saw that rain outside you thought you know what I think I'm just gonna stay inside today in my PJs But you said no no no no no no I'm going to church give yourselves a round of applause Hello to everybody in our online community hey can we do something right now Next weekend is Father's Day. Can we just make a little noise for the dads? We love you dads Next weekend we're rolling out the red carpet for you all right make sure you're back But I don't know if you know this Pastor Ed our pastor has his own clothing line Did you know that? Bet you didn't know that and he designed some really cool pieces And we've got a Father's Day bundle in the Source Cafe because some of you have not bought your dad's a Father's Day gift I know who you are all right Be a good son be a good daughter. I'm speaking specifically to my kids as well We got some great items check this one out. I love this. I thought it was a golfer, but actually He's hitting a fly like a fishing fly. That's cool So check it out. These are available in the source a really cool bundle any any dads want a free shirt right now I? Mean you gotta want it. Let me look for somebody who has a bald head because

This has a hoodie, and it will protect your scalp, so I need somebody with a bald head your heads extra shiny sir All right, so this is for that guy right there if anybody takes this shirt that has hair the Lord will judge you here we go Oh Let's go And no discrimination there were other people that had beautiful bald heads, but his was just extra shiny had to hook him up Hey, welcome to church We're having a good time. My name is Derek Bono I'm one of our pastors and on behalf of Pastor Ed and Lisa We just want you to know how thrilled we are that you chose to be here today We know you might be going through all sorts of things in your life, and it takes a while to develop trust Especially with the church, and so we hope you feel at home today. We hope we can earn your trust I've been a part of this church for 27 years It's carried me through some highs and lows And and we're here for you and and to help you find community because you might be like man There's so many people how do I get connected check it out? We want to make it so Incredibly simple for you all you got to do Thank you, Bobby Is right in front of you and the seat back in front of you? There's this blue card. It's called the connect card, and if you'll take it right now. We've got pins available We'll give you like 60 seconds. You can write your information on here We'll follow up with you myself or somebody cooler than me will call you And we'll just get to know you kind of hear what's going on in your life What you're looking for in a church, and we'll help you find your people because there's so many different opportunities To find your people at fellowship also if you have a prayer request No, we believe in the power of prayer. We will pray for you all week all month long Just write that down, and then you can drop it in the offering as it passes in just a moment speaking of that We're gonna continue worshiping right now through our generosity, so if you're a guest chill out no pressure to participate This is for those that call fellowship church home where we get to pour back into God's house For all he's blessed us with and there's so many things we could celebrate as a church that our

Generosity is helping make possible, but I want to highlight our incredible camp and retreat center a lasso ranch out in East, Texas Because we just kicked off week one of FC kids camp all right and God is on the move He did so many incredible things we heard story after story in fact I'm gonna show you some baptism footage Let's put our hands together for all these kids who made the decision to give their lives to Jesus We heard story after story of children Who are battling through things? Guys that will break your heart Things no child should have to go through But it was so beautiful hearing all of these kids as they heard the gospel Heard how much God loves them and they made the decision to put their faith in Jesus build their life and their future on Jesus so we're excited what God's gonna do and I want to share a story One of these kids who gave their lives to Jesus his family's from our Frisco campus several years ago He was he was battling cancer his name is Lincoln and this is a I know a very hard photo to look at but imagine you're his parents He was fighting for his life he had a severe form of cancer Doctors gave him a couple weeks left to live and so we as a church came together We were in the trenches with this family. That's what we do at Fellowship Church so when I say, you know get involved it's it's so that when you go through something like this, you know who to call and They're there. And so we're in the trenches with this family. We're praying with this family. The doctor is saying two weeks maybe and we're like okay but we're gonna believe that God can do miracles and this past week some four or five years later Lincoln's now cancer-free and this week he made the decision to give his life to Jesus so if that doesn't make you a little emotional we got a check on your heart but that's why we do what we do it's it's about life's one life at a time reaching people reaching families loving on them showing them that God loves them God's with them and we want to thank you Church for making this possible and let me tell you the next chapter at Fellowship Church to reach the next generation and to have stories like Lincoln's it's called the Anchor Center

and it's our brand new Student Center that we're gonna break ground on this summer right here at our Grapevine campus look at this thing this is unlike anything I've ever seen to reach students to help them discover their purpose to reach their friends to grow their faith and I say we're breaking ground in faith because we don't have all the money yet we just know God's gonna provide and so we're breaking ground but I challenge you if you've not got it involved there is no greater thrill in life than saying God will you use me I'm stepping out in faith we're only able to build this because of people who are going above and beyond their ties and offerings so thank you guys so much who are doing that and for everybody else man we encourage you get on board be a part of what God's doing here at Fellowship Church to reach the next generation because the hope of the family is not more government it's not more sports it's not more education it is the local church because it's the only institution that will point people to Jesus and Jesus is the answer speaking of the next generation pastor Sam Kelly who leads our mixed youth movement is here getting ready to give an incredible message we're talking about having encounters with Jesus how many of you would love an encounter with Jesus right now in your life yeah hopefully that's every one of us well that's what we're gonna pray for right now so if you bow your head let's pray together Jesus we come today carrying all sorts of things in our lives we thank you that your word teaches us we can come to you just as we are thank you that you see us and you care about us thank you that you came from heaven to earth you lived a perfect life died a sacrificial death on a cross and rose again also that we could be given the opportunity by your mercy and your grace to have a second chance and to be born again into a living hope a hope that is unshakable that gives us a peace no matter what pain we might be walking through today Lord we lay our lives before you and we want to hear from you we want to meet with you we want to have an encounter with you we want to leave this place different so we ask Holy Spirit have your way moving our lives open up our hearts bless this offering to impact lives and it's in Jesus name

that we pray amen let's remain seated as the offering passes we're just going to keep worshipping God how great the chasm that lay between us how high the mountain I could not climb in desperation I turned to heaven and spoke your name unto the night and through the darkness your loving kindness tore through shouts of my soul the work is finished the end is written Jesus Christ my living who could imagine so great a mercy what heart could fathom such bounteous grace the God of ages stepped down from glory to wear my sin and bear my come on let's stand to our feet and sing this together the cross is spoken I am forgiven the key King of kings calls me his own Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forever Jesus Christ, my living Come on, sing Hallelujah Oh, Hallelujah Praise the one who set me free Hallelujah Death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my living Oh Come on, this is the promise This is why we have hope This is the part of the story That changes everything Then came the morning That sealed the promise

Your buried body Began to breathe And out of the silence A roaring loud Come on, declare it, shout it Declared the grave Has no claim on me Come on, lift your voice in victory this morning Then came the morning That sealed the promise Your buried body Began to breathe And out of the silence A roaring loud Declared the grave Has no claim on me Jesus, oh Jesus Yours is the victory Sing Hallelujah Oh, Hallelujah Praise the one who set me free Hallelujah Death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my living Come on, lift your voice and sing it again Say Hallelujah Praise the one who set me free Hallelujah

Death has lost its grip on me You have broken every chain There's salvation in your name Jesus Christ, my living Oh, Jesus Christ, my living Oh, Jesus, thank you for the hope And the life and the freedom that we have because of you Open up our hearts right now Church, let's get ready for what he wants to do You may be seated Hallelujah Would you join me in prayer As we get ready to conclude this series Jesus, the prayer of this morning is simple I pray for divine interruptions to take place in the hearts of your people God, I pray that we would have a real encounter with you Or not a concept, not an idea, not just a sermon The living God, our living hope God, I pray that you would draw to mind The gift that you have given us through your son We ask all these things in your son's name Everybody said Oh, come on, everybody said Amen I wanna start out this morning by confessing something A moment in my life that I'm not exactly proud of It was Easter of 2006, I was 12 years old We were getting ready for the Kelly family egg hunt And the egg hunt in the Kelly family Was not like this beautiful family moment

Where you take photos after It was an all out battle Because my parents in their infinite wisdom Didn't just stick chocolate in there They put cash money in some of these eggs So this was not Try to find as much chocolate as you can This is make as much money as you possibly can And 2006 got off to a rough start When I saw my sister's boyfriend Walk through the front door And I found out that he was invited To the family egg hunt Now on a normal occasion That's fine, you can have some chocolate But there's money at stake here And this means that this guy Could take some of my money So I'm thinking in my mind Like, who let this guy in? He's not even a part of the family This is not okay And then I just gathered myself I said, Sam, it's okay It's okay, lock in, this is gonna be all right. You just, you need to focus on the task at hand, and if you just get all the eggs, everything's gonna work out just fine. And so we line up, the countdown goes three, two, one, and I start sprinting faster than Usain Bolt

in the 2012 Olympics. It's not true, but in my mind I was. And I am gathering eggs. I mean, you should have seen it. It was a sight to see. It was special. Just every egg is going in the basket, and I'm feeling pretty good about myself, and then all the eggs have been collected, and it's time to count the money that I've received. I start going through the eggs. Snickers, Reese's, M&M's. Never been more disappointed to see chocolate in my life. And I end up with like $7. And to my shock and horror, I look over my shoulder. My sister's boyfriend is like, oh, another 20? You guys are so generous. And I'm like, are you kidding me? He ends up with over $100. I wish I could tell you on the stage today that I got up and shook his hand and said, congratulations, I didn't. Was 12 years old, handling my emotions. Wasn't my strong suit. Waterworks out of the eyes, and I'm pointing at him, saying, you're not even a part of this family! Then I'm pointing at my parents. This is not fair! And let's be honest, we've all been there. Chances are, probably not in an Easter egg hunt

in the backyard. But one of the common cries of the human condition is the cry for fairness. My three kids cry for it constantly. And there are places and spaces where fairness is absolutely necessary. You get into the court system, yeah, you want a fair court. You get into the World Cup, you want fair refs. Shout out to the United States of America, 4-1 over Paraguay, what a strong start. I see we've got some patriots in the house, I see we've got some patriots in the house of God today. So there's areas where fairness is warranted, but here's where things get really interesting. I run into people who want fairness from God. Now that sounds normal and common, but here's where things get really interesting. There's a group of people who largely decide not to believe or trust in God because they're planting their flag under the umbrella of he's not fair. Look at the suffering in the world, look at the state of the world in general, he's just not fair. And funnily enough, my pastoral response to those individuals is, you're right, just not in the way that you think. If God was actually fair and gave every single individual what they deserved, every single soul sitting in every single seat

at every one of our locations, including the preacher on the stage with the microphone, would be in a great, great trouble. God isn't fair, he offers something way better than fairness, it's something called grace. Grace by its very definition is unfair. Grace is not just not getting the punishment that you do deserve. Grace is getting the gift that you absolutely do not deserve. If there is anyone, thank you for the one clap on the third row, I appreciate it and I will take it. If there is anyone that could say this isn't fair, it's Jesus who took the punishment that you and I deserve so that we could experience the life that he deserved. The whole gospel story and message is predicated and built on this one wildly unfair word called grace. And so this morning, I wanna take us to a section of scripture that is undoubtedly one of the most unfair stories in all of the Bible, and because of that, it's also one of the most grace-filled stories in all the Bible. My goal is simple, for us to see how wildly unfair this story is, and for us to also see how wildly amazing this story is. Because if you are a follower of Jesus, the story that we're gonna turn to

isn't just about a short guy who climbs the tree to see Jesus, this is your story and my story. If you got your Bibles, you can turn to Luke chapter 19, we're gonna turn there in a second, but we are wrapping up this series with a story that we have called encounters, the power of a divine interruption. And as you look through the gospel stories, you'll see that these divine interruptions are actually divine invitations. And our prayer has been that we would encounter Christ on our own, and we would see the divine interruption be a divine invitation into an eternal story, and we would accept and receive that invitation. So week one, we looked at two sisters in a tiny living room in ancient Israel, Mary and Martha. We learned that being around Jesus is different than being with Jesus, that proximity doesn't always equate to intimacy, and that one of the most important things that we can do as Christ followers is intentionally position ourselves at the feet of Jesus. Last week, we looked at one of the saddest stories in all of history. Scripture, story of the rich young ruler. It's the only individual to my knowledge that walks up to Jesus and leaves worse off than he was.

Here's why, he wanted a savior without any surrender. And this week, the goal, the thesis statement, the sermon in a sentence is simply this. When you have a real encounter with a real God, there is real transformation that takes place. When you have a real encounter with a real God, there is real transformation that takes place. But before we dive into the text, in order to see the beauty of today and this week, we have to see the tragedy of last week. We are coming off the heels of the rich young ruler, which was found in Luke chapter 18. Today, we're gonna read Luke chapter 19. These stories are side-by-side on purpose. If you remember, I don't have too much time to describe it. If you missed last week, go back and watch it. But last week ended with this wild, wild thing where Jesus is like, it's harder for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than it is for the rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven. And it's like, whoa. And we all found out last week that we're all rich. And what Jesus is saying is it's impossible for every single person in this room and in our other locations to step into a relationship with Jesus in our own strength. And so the disciples hear this and they're like, what? Well, then who gets saved? Who gets in?

And Jesus makes this amazing statement. What is impossible with man is possible with God. Luke is trying to show us off the heels of the rich young ruler in Luke chapter 18. He's gonna show you and I the impossible made possible in the very next chapter. Luke chapter 19, verses one through 10 says this. Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and he was wealthy. So let's take note. He was wealthy and corrupt. And remember last week, it's impossible for rich men to enter the kingdom of heaven. Verse number three, he wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. I found out my research this week that in the Middle East, the average height of a male was 5'5". So he was probably under five feet tall. And I just can't help but think, man, I was born at the wrong time. I would have been a giant back then. That would have been great. I'll keep going. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

And all the people who saw this began to mutter, what is going on? He's going to be the guest of a sinner. Verse eight, but Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, listen to this term, this is crazy, a wealthy, corrupt guy. Look, Lord, here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I've cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay them back four times the amount. Verse nine, Jesus said to him, how crazy is this? Off the back of Luke 18. Today, salvation has come to this house because this man too is a son of Abraham. Verse 10, Jesus' mission statement for why he came to planet Earth, for the son of man came to seek and save the lost. This story is not an unfamiliar one. Most of us, if you grew up in Sunday school, you know the song. I'm not gonna sing it, but you know it. And I would argue that the felt boards in Sunday school have maybe done a little bit of a disservice when it comes to this story. Because if you're anything like me, you kind of picture this story and you kind of picture like a little oompa loompa shimmying up a tree. And you're like, how adorable is that? That is so cool.

But in ancient Israel, they would have seen Zacchaeus as anything but adorable. He was a sellout and a traitor to the Jewish people. Here's why, because he wasn't just a tax collector, which was a corrupt business and people that would essentially take money from their own people to get themselves rich and fund the regime that is oppressing their friends, their siblings, and their family. Not only that, he's a chief tax collector. That language is only used one time in all of Scripture. So this is saying, he's not just the little guy at the little booth collecting the money, he's at the top of the pyramid of hatred. In order for us to see it maybe a little bit more personally, imagine this, imagine a nation came in and took over the United States of America. And they are oppressing Americans. And your neighbor goes, well, you know, if you can't beat them, join them. I'm gonna sign up to take taxes and get rich in the process. And they show up to your door tomorrow and they knock on the door and go, hey, property taxes for this year, $50,000. You're like, $50,000? What is, I can't pay that, it's 10 acres. That's what it's been, $50,000. And if you don't pay it by August 1st,

I'm gonna come with the government and some soldiers, we're gonna pull you out on the street and we're gonna beat you to show everybody else what happens if you don't pay your taxes. And chances are, Zacchaeus would do this to individuals and the government, let's say, only needed $25,000 and Zacchaeus is saying 50 so he can pocket 25 for himself. He's not adorable, he's hated. And if that was your neighbor, you'd probably have some similar feelings. He's despised in this culture. His friends and family probably despise him. And somewhere deep down, he probably despises himself too. And yet here's where the gospel steps in. There is one man who did not despise him. His name is Jesus of Nazareth. And here's where this gets personal because I would venture to bet that there are people sitting in the seats today and you are ashamed of the decisions that you have made in your past. There's a piece of you that you despise yourself for what you've done. I've got good news. The King of Kings does not despise you. He steps in and offers you grace. So Zacchaeus, he's short in stature, it tells us, which is a reminder that every single one of us is short in stature spiritually before a perfect and holy God.

None of us are tall enough. None of us can climb the climb to get to Jesus. And so he runs, which is an embarrassment in that culture, lifting up his tunic to expose his legs. Nobody does that. He climbs a tree. Only children do that. That's embarrassing too. He sheds every ounce of dignity and respect that he has to get a sight of this man that everybody's talking about. Zacchaeus went up the tree looking for Jesus only to find out that Jesus came looking for him. And maybe you're here today at one of our locations and you came seeking, you came open to the idea of God. Like maybe I'll check this out. Do you wanna know what the true story is? This whole thing is a divine setup from the creator of the world. God is searching for you. That is the beauty of the gospel. Scholars believe this interaction with Zacchaeus, seven to 10 days before Jesus is hanging on the cross. Soak that in for a second. What is Jesus doing in the most hectic week of his entire life? He's not hiding somewhere. He is sitting at a table with sinners. So I've got a question for those of us who consider ourselves Christ followers. Are you too busy to do what Jesus did?

When's the last time you sat down and had a meal with someone who's far away from God and shared the gospel story? And I'm aware of the stuff that happens here. Like, oh, Sam, yeah, you know, I'm not much of an evangelist. I don't really know how to. And you know what I found? Everybody on planet earth are amazing evangelists. We just evangelize over the things that we love. Dude, you gotta try this sushi restaurant, the California roll, blow your mind. You see the game last night? The Knicks, oh my goodness, the drought is over. Oh, we're amazing evangelists. But for some reason, when it comes to the most important aspect of our lives, we get quiet. Why is that? Why is that? Imagine for a moment, you went to the doctor and to your shock, you got word that you got cancer. But it's untreatable. Doctors say two months at best. You are in the final weeks of your life. Go to a beach somewhere and enjoy the rest of your short life. You get home, you share the news with family, you're devastated. Someone approaches you and says, hey, it's gonna sound wild,

but I've actually got the cure for your cancer. If you take this medication, if you take this medication, it will not be partial remission. It will be as if the cancer was never there. So I mean, what do you have to lose, right? You take it, you go back to the doctor. You say, hey, doc, sounds kind of weird, but could you do another scan? Doctor does a scan. Imagine he says to you, whoa, never seen anything like this in my life. This isn't partial removal. It's as if the cancer was not in your body. Could you imagine the emotion you would feel? The life that you get to now live? Could you imagine the appreciation you'd have to the individual that gave you the cure? And imagine you go back and. You say, thank you. I mean, well, and truly you've given me life. Now imagine that individual said, hey, I'm not gonna be here for much longer. I've got an unlimited supply of the cure. All I ask is that you get it to everyone that has this disease. Now imagine you get the cure and you tuck it away in a drawer and say nothing. It's not just unwise, it's unthinkable. Think about the pain that could have been prevented,

the funerals that wouldn't have had to have happened. And yet you and I, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, have the cure to the world's worst disease, the disease called sin. And many of us, for one reason or another, tuck it away in a drawer rather than sharing it with other people. Oh, but Sam, it just gets kind of weird. And all my coworkers, they just give me the stiff arm when I talk about my faith. Hey, just a reminder, your job's not to make them take the cure, it's to make them aware that the cure is available. So what would it look like? Sincerely, what would it look like if our church was filled with people who understood we've got the cure and we are not going to keep it to ourselves? So Jesus approaches the tree, calls him by name Zacchaeus. Here's why that's powerful. His name means righteous one. What? He hasn't lived up to that his entire life. Jesus calls him by his name and is essentially saying, hey, the thing that you've never lived up to and you couldn't live up to even if you tried, I can give to you as a gift my righteousness to you. Zacchaeus hops down gladly and welcomes Jesus in. I just kind of imagine like him giving the tour of his house. We're renovating over here, marble, you know, granite.

Got four camels over there, just thought it'd be cool to have them. Disciples are like, this guy's never getting saved. Takes him to the master, queen bed, but feels like a king to me, kind of short, you know, so. Thanks for the delayed laugh. Thanks for the delayed laugh. And then verse seven. The crowd, look at Jesus and where he's going and what he's doing. And they're like, how dare he? He's going to the guest, be a guest of a sinner. And you wanna know one of the things that Jesus got more accused of than anything else? Being friends of sinners. Sinners were drawn to him and Jesus was drawn to sinners and that is good news for you and it's great news for me too. So he's there and the crowd's muttering. That's not fair. He doesn't belong. Jesus shouldn't be hanging out with him. Remember, seven to 10 days later, Jesus would be hanging from a cross and as he's hanging on that cross, he says seven statements. The first of seven is one of the most powerful. What does he say? Father, forgive them because they don't know what they're doing.

So let's ask the question, who's they? Who's them? Father, forgive them for they know not what they're doing. Is it the soldiers that have pierced his hands and his feet? Is it the guy who pierced his side? Is it the people that are gambling over his clothes? Sure, yeah, it is. But this is where the gospel story ends being a cute little story and starts to do spiritual surgery on your heart. You are they, I am they. The crowd at Jericho saying he shouldn't be doing that is a part of the they. One of the most dangerous places you can be is where you forget that you are just as much in need of the grace of God as anybody else. The gospel takes you off your pedestal of self-righteousness because the ground is level at the foot of the cross. None of us deserve it. None of us could earn it. And may we never forget that reality. But here is the wildest part of this story. It's the white space between verse seven and verse eight. Because in verse seven, they're like, hey, he didn't belong there. And this is verse eight. Ding, ding, ding, ding, Zacchaeus. Hey, Jesus, you wanna know what I'm about to do? Half my money, I'm giving it away. Anybody who I've wronged, I'll pay them back four times.

Now, I don't know about you, but I'm like, what did they talk about? like how does the most corrupt guy in the area turn into Mother Teresa like could you give us some details on the conversation and here's what we have to understand Luke the gospel writer here he's a doctor he's literally the details guy like he's got more details in his gospel than anybody else and I kind of want to like talk to Luke and be like come on what was the conversation but here's what here's what I believe I believe under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Luke left out the conversation on purpose why because you and I might think it was the conversation and the words it wasn't you want to know what it was Zacchaeus had a real encounter with a real living God Jesus Christ and he ends he ends by saying what I have found in this man is infinitely more valuable than any of the wealth that I've gotten from my corruption I am a changed man that is the power of the gospel and Zacchaeus did not purchase his salvation by giving stuff away it is the evidence of the transformation that has taken place my gosh what a story verse 9 Jesus steps in today salvation has come to this house not only that but let's listen he is a son of Abraham let's take a trip back 2006 the Kelly family Easter egg hunt you're not a part of this family that's the crowd in Jericho he's not even a Jew anymore he's a traitor he's not a brother he does not belong and Jesus goes oh you want to know what grace does he's adopted as a son he's a part of the family verse 10 why did Jesus come to planet earth why did he put on skin and bone and walk the round ball that he created to seek and save the lost the Son of Man came you're wondering why he showed up one reason to seek and to save the lost a couple of years ago I was preaching at the mix on a Wednesday night and if you're a parent and you have a student from sixth 12th grade they should be here on a Wednesday night shameless plug I was preaching here and unbeknownst to me my wife has our three kiddos or I think at that time may have just been two our two boys and through a unique set of circumstances our oldest got lost in the building and parents you know like at first it's like

ah we're gonna find him but then ten minutes went by and it's like panic starts to settle right and you start going to the worst conclusions it's a Laurie Laurie has gotten a team together of people that are searching for our son and my wife is literally sprinting throughout the building screaming my son's name trying to find him we're like there's a lake out back he can't swim did he go to the highway what's what's going on we got people with flashlights outside looking for our boy and I finished the message and I walk off stage and someone meets me and goes hey um just want to let you know everything's okay we found your son but he was missing for about 20 minutes it got scary and I'll never forget I turned the corner and I saw my wife and my son and I saw the emotion on my wife's face and and parents again you know if you've been in a similar circumstance it was that look of like Sam I didn't know if I was gonna see him again and I'll never forget just coming up to my boy wrapping my arms around him and giving him the biggest hug on planet Earth imagine someone came up to me and goes you got other kids what's what's the loss of one parents you know you look back and say excuse me let me tell you what I would do for my boy I would spend every penny I have and I would find my son or I would die trying there's not one parent in this room that wouldn't do the same and here is the beauty of the gospel you are not an acceptable or replaceable law was to the God of the universe. And he did not say, I will find you or die trying. He died so that you could be found. That is the gospel story. That the one who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God. The guy who didn't deserve to be punished took the punishment that we deserve so that we could have the life that he deserved. Friends, that's not fair. And that is grace.

Not just not getting the punishment you do deserve, getting the very gift you least deserve. The story in the story of a short guy in a tree. This is your story, and it's my story. In just a moment, as a church family, we're gonna participate in taking the Lord's Supper. This is meant for believers. And so before we step into it, I would love to give people the opportunity to go from lost to found. Because I'm here to tell you, you may have come in looking for God, but the reality is, God has been looking for you. Would you bow your heads with me? If that's you, if you want to encounter the amazing unfair grace of God and put your trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ, I'd just love to lead you in a prayer. You don't have to say it out loud, and there's nothing special about it. You don't have to say it out loud, and there's nothing special about this prayer. It's just a way to articulate what God is doing in your heart. To say, Jesus, today I admit that I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, and I believe that that Savior is you. I believe that you died on the cross for my sin, and three days later, you rose again from the grave. And this morning, I choose to follow you.

God, right now, I lift up every person under the sound of my voice. I pray that we would remember the price that you paid so that we could be found. Everybody can look back up at me at our locations as well, and here's what we're gonna do this morning. We're gonna begin to pass the elements, and I'm gonna ask that you hold onto those elements while the team sings a song. And as we sing this song, I want you to reflect and remember the amazing grace of our God. Team, would you sing? ♪ Who could imagine so great a mercy ♪ ♪ What heart could fathom such boundless grace ♪ ♪ The God of ages stepped down from glory to where we are ♪ ♪ To forgive my sin and bear my shame ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ How grateful we are for Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ And the cross has spoken, I am forgiven ♪ ♪ The King of kings calls me his own ♪ ♪ Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forever ♪ ♪ Oh, thank you, Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪ ♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise ♪ ♪ Your very body began to breathe out of the silence ♪ ♪ Out of the silence, the roaring lion declared ♪ ♪ The grave has no claim on me ♪ ♪ Because Jesus, yours, is the victory, oh ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah, praise the one who's risen today ♪ ♪ Set me free ♪

♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain ♪ ♪ There's salvation in Your name ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my Leader, He holds the way ♪ ♪ Say hallelujah, praise the One who set me free ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You have broken every chain ♪ ♪ There's salvation in Your name ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my Leader, He holds the way ♪ 1 Corinthians 11, 23 through 24. 11, 23 through 24, said the Lord Jesus on the night He was betrayed, took bread. And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Church, let's take the bread and eat it together. 1 Corinthians 11, 25. In the same way, after supper, He took the cup, saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me. Let's drink the cup together. Would you join me in prayer? Thank you, God, for the greatest gift on planet earth, on planet earth, that unfair, unfailing, amazing gift called grace. I pray that we would live and lead different lives out of a reality of that gift, that transformation would continue to take place in all of our lives because of what you've done for us. The price that you paid for me.

We ask all these things in your Son's name, everybody said, amen. Amen, come on, can we put our hands together for all God is doing? Before we go, if you made that decision just now with Sam, welcome to a new life. If you made that decision to surrender your life to Jesus, what you think you may have just given up, you just gained so much more in return. Welcome to a new life with Jesus. And we wanna come alongside you and help you begin to grow as a man, as a woman of God. And so there's a couple things I wanna invite you to do and we dismiss. First is we wanna put a Bible in your hands. So if you made that decision, we dismiss, come over to our tables on the side of the room, we're gonna give you a Bible and a book that Pastor Ed wrote called, What's Your Next Step? That's our gift to you. We'd love to connect with you, follow up with you. Second thing is if you're here today and you're like, man, I'm going through something and I would love for somebody to pray for me, pray for my family. I want you to know each and every Sunday, this team is available to pray with you. They'll add you to our prayer list, we'll pray over you all week, all month long.

So if you need prayer, make sure to stop by as well. And one last thing, our newcomers luncheon. It's happening right after this experience in the Source Cafe and maybe you're like, man, I've been coming to church, I've been coming to fellowship but I haven't really yet got involved. I haven't really started meeting people. I haven't started maybe going deeper and growing my faith. We wanna help you today, come to newcomers luncheon. We'll feed you a free meal, we'll take care of your kids and we will help you begin growing your faith, growing your community today. You guys, one more time, let's put our hands together for all of those who made that decision. Praise God. Everybody say next Sunday. I'm glad you were here today but next Sunday is a can't miss Sunday because Pastor Ed is gonna be kicking off a brand new series. We're gonna be hearing stories, powerful, powerful testimonies of people who have gone through pain, people who have experienced things like you can't imagine, stories that are raw, stories that are real, stories that are filled with hope and a brand new series called Before and After. Check this out. The Bible says that God is a father to the fatherless.

There were times when I just wanted my dad. I literally thought I was dying. I thought this is my last day. I just wanted to find a way to not have to be sober. There's nothing the doctors can do. There's nothing we can do. I had forgiven him years ago. Doesn't mean the pain went away or the hurt went away. There wasn't a spot anywhere that I felt like this is where I belong. No matter what the doctor would say, we were going to choose to pray. After a thousand prayers of desperation, everything changed. Before and after, let me tell you what we're going to do over the next several weeks. Because you need to be back and you need to invite somebody to come with you. Pastor Ed's going to be on this stage interviewing some people who have gone through things such as the loss of a loved one. Anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts. Growing up without a parent in your life. And addiction. Maybe you're going through something like that right now. Let me tell you, this is going to be a series of hope. Maybe you know somebody who's going through somebody. Bring them with you. It's going to be such a powerful series and we're so excited for what God's going to do through these testimonies and through these services. So bring somebody back with you. We can't wait. And of course, next weekend's Father's Day, so don't worry dads, we got you covered. We're going to be celebrating you too. But let's stand to our feet. We're so glad you were with us today. Let's declare these truths over our lives before we go out. Say this with me. Jesus, thank you that in you I am loved, forgiven, and blessed. For you I will reach up and worship, reach out to share my faith, and reach in to become more like you.

And because of you, I know the best is yet to come. Guys, we love you. We'll see you back next weekend. Have a blessed day and blessed week.