Faith that Echoes

Well, good morning. Would you please stand and join us as we worship this morning? Come on. ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ He's coming on the clouds ♪ ♪ Kings and kingdoms will bow down ♪ ♪ And every chain will break ♪ ♪ His broken hearts declare His praise ♪ ♪ For who can stop the Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ Our God is a lion, the lion of Judah ♪ ♪ He's roaring with power and fighting all battles ♪ ♪ Every knee will bow before Him ♪ ♪ Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain ♪ ♪ For the sins of the world, His blood breaks the chains ♪ ♪ And every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb ♪ ♪ Every knee will bow before Him ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ He's the movement of the gates ♪ ♪ Make way before the King of kings ♪ ♪ The God who comes to save is here to set the captives free ♪ ♪ For who can stop the Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah ♪ ♪ He's roaring with power and fighting all battles ♪ ♪ And every knee will bow before Him ♪ ♪ Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain ♪

♪ For the sins of the world, His blood brings the change ♪ ♪ And every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb ♪ ♪ Every knee will bow before Him ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah ♪ ♪ He's roaring with power and fighting all battles ♪ ♪ And every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb ♪ ♪ Our God is the Lamb, the Lion of Judah ♪ ♪ He's roaring with power and fighting all battles ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord ♪ ♪ Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah ♪ ♪ He's roaring with power and fighting all battles ♪ ♪ And every knee will bow before Him ♪ ♪ Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain ♪ ♪ For the sins of the world, His blood breaks the chains ♪ ♪ And every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb ♪ ♪ Oh, every knee will bow before Him ♪ ♪ Oh, every knee will bow before Him ♪ ♪ Oh, every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb ♪ And so it's time for us to come together and sing this together. Sing this together. ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah for the Lord God Almighty reigns ♪ Sing that again. Hallelujah. Alleluia, Alleluia, for the Lord God Almighty is with me. Alleluia, we sing.

Holy, that's your voice. Holy, are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the Name, Worthy is the Name. You are Holy, Holy. Are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the Name, Worthy is the Name. Amen. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, for the Lord God Almighty is with me. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, for the Lord God Almighty is with me. Alleluia, Holy, Holy, are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the Name, Worthy is the Name. You are Holy, Holy, are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the Name, Worthy is the Name. You are Holy, Holy, are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the Name, Worthy is the Name. Worthy is the Name, Worthy is the Name. Alleluia, Holy, Holy, are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the Name, Worthy is the Name. Worthy is the Name, Worthy is the Name. Amen. Every generation, every generation, every generation. Every nation, tribe, and tongue, let us sing glory to God. Thousands of generations, falling down in worship. To sing the song of ages to the Lamb. And all who've gone before us, and all who will believe. We'll sing the song of ages to the Lamb. Your Name is the highest, Your Name. It's the greatest, your name stands above them all. All clones and dominions, all powers and positions, your name stands above them all.

And the angels cry, holy, all creation cries, holy. You are lifted high, holy, holy forever. If you've been forgiven, if you've been redeemed, sing this song forever and to the world. If you walk in freedom, if you bear it in, sing this song forever and to the world. Sing this song forever and amen. And the angels cry, holy, all creation cries, holy. You are lifted high, holy, holy forever. Hear your people sing, holy, to the king of kings, holy. You will always be holy, holy forever. Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. Above all clones and dominions, all powers and positions, your name stands above them all. Jesus, your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. Above all clones and dominions, all powers and positions, your name stands above them all. And the angels cry, holy, all creation cries, holy. You are lifted high, holy, holy forever. If you walk, if you walk, hear your people sing, holy, to the king of kings, holy. You will always be holy, holy forever. You will always be holy, holy forever. Oh, yes, you will always be holy, holy forever. Amen. Let's continue to worship him and to sing.

This is a song that I used to sing when I was a kid, and it's one of my favorite songs ever written. Because it just really brings me to a place of worship and reflecting on how holy it is. It goes like this. And we fall down, we lay our crowns at the feet. ♪ Of Jesus, the greatness of His mercy and love ♪ ♪ At the feet of Jesus we fall down and we fall down ♪ ♪ And lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus ♪ ♪ Of Jesus, the greatness of His mercy and love ♪ ♪ At the feet of Jesus and we cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ We cry holy, holy, holy and we cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ We cry holy, holy, holy is the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ We fall down at His feet and sing, we fall down ♪ ♪ And we lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus ♪ ♪ Of Jesus, the greatness of His mercy and love ♪ ♪ At the feet of Jesus and we cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ And we cry holy, holy, holy and we cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ And we cry holy, holy, holy is the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, is the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ We cry holy, holy, holy and we cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ And we cry holy, holy, holy, holy are You Lord ♪ ♪ Is the name and we cry holy and we cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ We cry holy, holy, holy and we cry holy, holy, holy ♪ ♪ Is the name ♪ We sing this song a few weeks back. It's called We Crown Him. It's just about remembering the crucifixion of Jesus who laid down His life for us and for our sins. So let's sing this together.

To the Lord. ♪ To the one who bore ♪ ♪ A crown of thorns to the one who took ♪ ♪ A lash and scourge for the hands and feet ♪ ♪ That were pierced by nails for the sacrifice ♪ ♪ That has torn the veil and we crown You ♪ ♪ We fall face down and we worship You ♪ ♪ We all cry out You are worthy God, You are worthy God ♪ ♪ We crown You, we fall face down and we worship You ♪ ♪ We all cry out You are worthy God, You are worthy God ♪ ♪ You are worthy God, You are worthy God ♪ ♪ Yes You are Lord, You are, You always have been God ♪ ♪ You always will be ♪ ♪ To the one who gave his life away, to the one who lived ♪ ♪ His very life, a way to prove himself ♪ ♪ All our guilt and shame, in the honor of Christ ♪ ♪ Oh, for the one we love with his precious blood ♪ ♪ Oh, the blood of God, precious blood, for God we sing ♪ ♪ Oh, we cry, we fall face down, we worship God, we all cry out ♪ ♪ We worship God, we all cry out, you are worthy, we sing, you are worthy, you are worthy, God ♪ ♪ We cry, we fall face down, we worship God, we all cry out, you are worthy, God, you are worthy, God ♪ ♪ You are worthy, God ♪ ♪ Blessed Lord, all your blood poured out for us, we remember, we remember ♪ ♪ To the one who endured all the shame of the cross, to the one who endured all the shame of the cross ♪ ♪ Who was slain as atonement for us, to the Son who overcame all the power of death, we praise for the stripes, for the stripes, for the wounds, for the beating of the heart, for the tears, for the blood that was welled in the water, for the merciful, wonderful majesty of your love ♪ Come on, let's sing that again. ♪ To the one who endured all the shame of the cross, to the lamb who was slain as atonement for us, to the Son who overcame all the power of death, we praise for the stripes, for the wounds, for the beating of the heart, for the tears, for the blood that was welled in the water, for the merciful, wonderful majesty of your love, for the merciful we praise. ♪ We worship your holy God and we cry out, we fall face down, we worship your cry out, you are worthy God, you are worthy God. ♪ To the one who endured all the shame of the cross, to the lamb who was slain as atonement for us, to the Son who overcame all the power of death, we praise for the stripes, for the wounds, for the beating of the heart, for the tears, for the blood that was welled in the water, for the merciful, wonderful majesty of your love, for the merciful we praise. ♪ We worship your holy God and we cry out, we fall face down, we worship your cry out, you are worthy God, you are worthy God.

♪ We worship your holy God and we cry out, we fall face down, we worship your cry out, you are worthy God, you are worthy God. ♪ And turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory in grace And again we turn our eyes upon Jesus Look full in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory in grace Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, good morning, everyone. Again, my name is Jermaine. If I missed you a little bit ago. I'm the youth minister here. Happy and privileged to be able to bring God's word to you this morning. Again, it's a special Sunday. Specifically because we're recognizing our seniors. So some of this will be tailored to them. But it's all God's word is up for all of us, right? And so I just want to first off say that Ross, our lead pastor, Ross Sawyers, our lead pastor, is not here. He's away, locked in the basement. Just kidding. No. He's on sabbatical. He's gone for the next three months. And we've got a preaching team that will be in and out.

And then we have guest speakers. Like last week, we had Landon Lacey. And the week before that, we had Zach Cunningham. They did a fantastic job. Zach started us off in Acts chapter 17. To kind of set the tone for where we're going. In this series called Scent. Like where we're going to continue to go. And then Landon came in and unpacked 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. And we're going to continue in that chapter. If you have your Bibles and want to start turning there. We're going to be in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. And we're going to be picking up where he left off. He left off on verse 5. He talked about how the gospel came in power. And there was an explosion. And we saw the impact of that. And then I'll pick up in verse 6. And get us through verse 10 this morning. I'm going to be jumping around a little bit. But before I do. I want to make sure that I read the verses in order. And then pray. And then we'll get in to what God has in store for us. So we are in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Starting in verse 6. And just for context. Remember Paul in Acts chapter 17. It says that he started the church in Thessalonica. He was there for I think a year.

And then he went on to build a church in Jerusalem. And then he went on to build a church in Jerusalem. And then he went on to build a church in Jerusalem. And then he was in Thessalonica. He was there for I think it said three weekends. And was just powerfully and boldly preaching the word. And it was received. And there was an impact. And it was in the midst of persecution. They did not like the fact that Jesus was being proclaimed as king. And people were believing it. And therefore you know. Living their lives as if He is and was king. And so there were some people out there. Some haters out there. That really took offense to Jesus. To say that, Jesus was king. Some haters out there that really took offense to that. So there was persecution going on. But that didn't stop. The movement of God through the church. Thessalonica and so Paul is like man y'all are killing it. He's like I'm giving thanks to you guys like I'm I'm I had to go away because they kind of ran me off and Timothy sent word to me that y'all are killing it. And so that's some context behind it verse 6 starts with this you also Became imitators. They were mimicking the behavior of us meaning Paul And the people that were there to start the church and of the Lord and of Jesus Having received So they welcomed the word the word being the message of Jesus The good news of Jesus Christ having received the word in much

Tribulation or your translation might say affliction. Remember go back to Acts chapter 17. We talked about what that looked like With the joy of the Holy Spirit getting both. That's the paradox of the Christian life. We'll talk about that in a minute So that you became an example To all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia for the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you It's echo. There's a resounding effect not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth So that we have no need to say anything Paul's like I don't even have to stand up here and preach y'all are already doing it You're preaching the gospel in your life and in your actions verse 9 for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you and how you turn to God from Idols to serve a living and true God and to wait For a son from heaven whom he raised from the dead that is Jesus Christ who rescues us from the wrath to come Let's pray and then we'll dive in God. Thank you so much For your word. I pray that we would be like the Thessalonians that we would welcome your word and power in the Holy Spirit and That we would receive the gospel deeply into our hearts so much So that it makes us want to go out and imitate You and those who have come before us and then not just that but may our actions and words Resound with impact may there be an echo out of our lives and that we live for Jesus Help us be more like you today. Let this not just be another Sunday. Let it be an impactful Sunday Will we walk out of here more like you? It's in Jesus name. We pray. Amen All right. So the last time I was scheduled to speak was in January And I don't know if you remember and what was going on in January But I do and I'll let you know it was snow magedon, too so The last time I preached was in front of a camera So I'm fired up today because I get a live audience. I thrive in this. I love the the big crowd It was all hard in January. Okay Lord got me through that though. Then also too. I don't know. I'll just get it out the way I looked a little different in January. Okay, I cut my hair. Let's just get that out of the way. Thank you for noticing

A son said the high top is out. So I said get the scissors. Let's get it done And so we got that out of the way but when Ross let me know that I was gonna be speaking here and on this day, I kind of laughed because number one, it's May 3rd and You know I was at gymnastics with my daughter on May 1st and cue all the May Day jokes and It's gonna be May and all that stuff And then what tomorrow is May 4th, right? We're the Star Wars fans that you already you've been waiting for this for a whole year You already have your shirt out ready to go Right. May the 4th be with you, right all the restaurants. They're gonna be talking about it, too Let me have Cinco de Mayo as well. May is just jam-packed. We got Mother's Day Next week right next Sunday and two weeks after that. We have Memorial Day Where we you know, remember all the people that served this country, it's just full of holidays, man I feel like if you blink in the month of May you might miss all the different things that are that are going on Man, and you know what? I look forward to a lot is the warmer weather, right? Not not like the the heat in July not that one But like, you know the kind where you get to look forward to going out to the pool, right? Everyone's like Memorial Day. That's when you go out to the pool or the lake We talked about this seniors that are in here, you know when you jump into the pool It's like grace just overflowing you, you know, I can't wait, you know to get into the pool and not have to worry about that But it's also full of transitions Right families you have you might have students. I've got a Fifth grader who's going into sixth grade next year. So this is the last year of elementary school verse We have to deal with all of you know, do all that that stuff that happens. Eighth grade going to ninth, you're not in middle school, you're gonna be in high school, you gotta deal with all of that. You got seniors going off into college

or out just graduating high school in general, so deal with that. College students are wrapping up their senior year, you're getting your Aggie ring and all that stuff, you know, you're getting ready for a new stage of life. Lots of transitions happening. People are moving. I see in our neighborhood lots of for sale signs going on. This is typically the time of year where you move so you can get ready for the fall. There's all kinds of stuff. New jobs, adults, we have new jobs that we might be dealing with. Gosh, we haven't even started the celebrations. All the grad parties that are starting to go on have already happened. Some of y'all haven't had prom yet, you've got prom going on. So there's all kinds of stuff happening. This is a month where it's just like, it's just full, full of change. When I was on sabbatical for a few weeks in late March going into Easter time, on the way back, the last day back before I came, I texted Eric, my boss, and I said, is there something that you need to tell me that I'm about to walk into? And you know, sure enough, there's change. So this message here actually has really impacted me. Like reading the word right here

in these next several verses has really impacted me because our family has gone through a lot of change. Unexpected change. And the question is, what kind of faith will carry you forward in this season of life? How is it that you're gonna get through this season of life into that next stage of life? What kind of faith is actually going to carry you through this? Well, when we look at 1 Thessalonians, we're gonna see a young church, brand new believers, like I talked about, and they're living in a culture where following Jesus is not cool at all. I mean, they're killing people. It costs them everything. And get this, they didn't grow up in the church. Like some of you seniors, you've gone through creation land, 121 kids, 121 students. Like the Thessalonians, they didn't grow up in the church. They didn't have years and years of Bible studies and meeting on Sunday mornings. And yet their faith stood out so much that the word about them spread everywhere. Imagine that your life becomes a story people tell to reflect Jesus, not because you're perfect, of course, but because your faith is what? Because your faith is real.

Because you've received the gospel deeply and you reflect Jesus as a result of that. And not only that, your faith goes out like an echo. It resounds Jesus. Paul shows us what made their faith so powerful. It wasn't complicated or flashy. It was just three simple realities as we get into it that I want you to see. They received the gospel, they reflected Jesus, and their faith resounded. Man, the church at Thessalonica, they got it. They got it. Paul's like, you guys got it. And so this is not just a good word. This is an example for us to follow. So let's get into it. First thing I want you to see is that Paul says, man, you guys received the gospel. You received the word in verse six, and they received the gospel deeply. When you receive the gospel, when you welcome the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ into your heart, how do we know that your faith is real? Paul says in verse nine, like I said, we're gonna jump around, so jump around with me. He says in verse nine, it shows through conversion. Says, for they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you and how you, what? You turned to God from idols

to serve a living and true God. This is a perfect illustration of repentance. Perfect illustration of turning from sin, in their case, serving idols and trusting in Jesus. You guys know this if you've encountered the one true living God, that when you come in contact with him, changes happen, something happens. The scales fall from your eyes, like Paul says, and your whole life is transformed. You're not different, or you're not the same anymore. You're different. You're not perfect, but changes in your life do occur. You turn from what you knew was bad. The sin that you had, you recognize that. You're like Paul in Romans seven. Oh, wretched man that I am. You realize how deep and how dark your sin is, but how good and how great the grace of God is through Jesus Christ. and you change. Great illustration and a cool story. Just last weekend, a girl got baptized, a middle schooler got baptized. Well, I can tell you that when she first started coming to 121, she was not like that. She came through an invite of a friend and she basically was here, just here, and arms folded like this. Like she didn't want really anything to do with church.

That was like several months ago. Fast forward to last week, April 26th, getting baptized, and then I see her on every Wednesday. She is up at the stage always just praising the Lord. I don't even have to know much about her story other than seeing the difference in how she interacted here in church. She received the gospel deeply, and when you receive Jesus, you change. And the question is for you guys is have you truly received the gospel? Sometimes I think, especially for students, we get to a point, we get to a tipping point where it's like, is this faith really yours? Like, are you here because your parents told you to come here? Which sometimes that's needed. I'm a parent of four, I understand. You will obey, right? In this house, we serve the Lord, right? I understand that. But if we're talking about high schoolers launching out into the world, going into college, wherever it is that they're going, if their faith isn't real, if our faith isn't rooted in Jesus Christ, and it's rooted in our parents' faith or some sort of tradition, we all know this as adults, it's not gonna last. So is your faith real?

Have you received the gospel deeply? And let me tell you something, there is no greater joy than to see someone that receives the Lord and has changed their lives forever. It never, ever gets old to me to see somebody trust in Jesus Christ. It is the coolest thing ever, and I wanna encourage you all to celebrate it when things like that happen. Why? Because they're going to heaven, you know? That's amazing. And to be able to watch the changes that take place is incredible. So real faith receives the gospel, and there's real conversion, and also real faith receives and anticipates. So first, there's conversion, and then there's anticipation. Look at verse 10. They turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and what to wait for His Son from heaven and be raised from the dead, that is Jesus. One of the first marks of a converted person is they receive the gospel and they fall in love with Jesus, and they fall in love with Jesus more and more every day. And as you fall in love with Jesus more and more every day, you know what happens?

You cannot wait to see Him. The anticipation is greater and greater. It's like my two dogs at home, my two golden doodles, OJ and Maggie. There's a story behind OJ. OJ's name is not after OJ Simpson, okay? I had to explain that right off the bat. But you dog lovers out there, when you train a dog, they say, oh, is that your dog? OJ's my dog, I trained him. He follows me around everywhere. He's a Velcro dog. He loves his master. And every time I leave, I don't know if it's just because we have that bond, but I know he runs over to the side of my house and he pokes his head out the window and he looks out the window as if to say, when are you coming back? He can't wait. And those that have been in my house before, you know when you walk into the door, OJ is so excited to see us. So much so it's almost annoying, but it's okay. That's not the point. He can't wait, he's in love with his master. Can't wait, the anticipation is great. Are you in love with Jesus? When you receive the gospel, not only are you converted,

and your life is changed, but you cannot wait for him to come back. The third thing that happens when you truly receive the gospel is celebration. We're celebrating our seniors today and the weeks going forward. There's lots of celebration going on, so it's only appropriate to talk about that. Paul says in verse six, you became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word and as much tribulation with joy of the Holy Spirit. Notice affliction and joy or tribulation and joy are next to each other. You receive the word and tribulation and you have the joy of the Holy Spirit. I don't think Paul had an American audience in mind when he was writing this, because I think in our culture, you can't have joy unless you eliminate tribulation or affliction. That just doesn't make sense to a non-believer. But that's exactly what is true about being a Christian. That's a great paradox, right? We have lots of tribulation and affliction, and yet at the same time, we carry joy that's unending. So, side note, I've said this time and time again to students, if you're ever in church and some preacher's talking about how when you trust in Jesus, you'll never get sick

or nothing bad will ever happen to you, please note that that is not true. You will have tribulation. Jesus even says that. That flies in the face of scripture when people talk about how like, you'll never get sick or you will always have money and all these things like that. That's not true. You have both, you have joy and tribulation. A guy that I was meeting with, praise the Lord, he wants to get baptized later on this month and we were just talking and he just asked me that question. He was like, man, you've been a youth minister for so long, you must have to deal with a lot of hard stuff because everybody talks about how y'all's generation is like this doom and gloom, and that's what drives me nuts as a youth minister. Like every young person is just in this world that's just terrible and it's doom and gloom. And I'm like, so? We do live in a world that's doom and gloom, but man, I know my generation was crazy too. They probably said the same thing. But we still can have joy in the midst of all this. Do you know why? Because we have a king that has overcome it all. You know what I'm saying? Yes. And so that's what I told him. I was like, yeah, there is a lot of crazy stuff happening,

but at the same time, kids are wanting to get baptized, kids are wanting to proclaim the name of Jesus, they're wanting to have their own revival events led specifically by them. They're like, Unc, we don't want you around, we got this. You know what I'm saying? Y'all don't see that, but y'all need to know that this is happening. There is a celebration that is going on. And Paul is like, hey, I know y'all got it bad. Like, they do, because they're being persecuted. But at the same time, you have it good because you have the Holy Spirit who's produced in your lives. So there's joy. And let me just tell you something. One of the most joyful experiences of evangelism is to see the joy that is birthed in somebody who becomes born again. Even more reason to want to go out, be sent in obedience by the command of Jesus to share the good news. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to love the Lord. So go to the evangelism training today. 1230 to five. And I'm glad that they're feeding you and snacks, because that's a long time. Anyway, so the whole idea is that understanding what Jesus has done for you

and receiving that deeply into your heart, turning from idols, real repentance. And not just real repentance, but understanding he's coming back. He's coming back to you. Not just real repentance, but understanding he's coming back. For his Frank song, Jesus is Coming Back. I'm so tempted to sing it, but I'm not going to. If you don't know the song, you really need to listen to it. It's so uplifting. And not just anticipating, but celebrating when somebody becomes saved. That's the sign of real faith. So not only does real faith receive the gospel deeply, but it reflects Jesus. There's two things that Paul mentions that the Thessalonians are doing. They're being imitators of him and the Lord. And at the same time, they're setting an example. Go back to verse six. He says, you also became imitators. You mimic behavior of us and the Lord. Paul is like saying, follow me as I follow the Lord. He's saying, I'm going to mimic Jesus and then look at my life, not as a perfect life, but I'm mimicking him. and you mimic me. What's that old saying that parents say all the time?

Do as I say, not as I do. That's not what Paul's saying here. You know what I'm saying? Paul's like, hey, do everything that I do and everything that I say. Cause I'm following Jesus and I'm doing what he's doing. It reminds me of, we have a, there's a student that came through here a while ago. He was one of the first students. I'm looking at one right now who's helping us with media. He's part of the group. One of the first students to graduate when I was first here 11 years ago. I think he's a youth minister now in Arkansas. Man, he was here going through the ministry when he was an upperclassman. He's like, man, I really, really want to serve. I want to go and serve in our church, but I don't just wanna do it in other ministry areas. I wanna help the middle schoolers out. And so he went and helped assisted with some of our life group leaders and faithfully served every Sunday. Would go to camps. And boy, we had some fun times at those camps at Estes Park. We're not gonna talk about it, but it was a lot of fun. And he made an impact so much so that those guys that received him and his leadership, when they became upperclassmen, they came up to me and said,

hey, this particular student made a huge impact on us when we were middle schoolers. We wanna go back down and do the same thing for the middle schoolers that are here today. And you fast forward now, one of those students that's in high school or since graduated baptized one of the middle schoolers. Isn't that a cool example? They're mimicking the behavior that was just set before them. And that's just one of a ton of stories. The gospel comes to you, it works in you. And not only do you imitate what has been done before you, but now you are setting an example is what Paul says in verse seven, so that you became an example to all the believers. Paul's bragging on him. He's saying, this is what the Lord has done in you and is working in you. And you're an example now to others who are watching. I want to brag on this church, 121, as being an example, a living example. I constantly, I'm out in the community a lot. And I do not shy away one second from saying that I'm a part of 121 Community Church. And people say, oh, 121, man, you guys are so welcoming. I love the word. You guys are authentic. You are real. That's what I hear the most is that we are real.

And I just wanna thank God for what he's doing in this church, because we're not just coming here and soaking in the word and leaving it here. We're going out there and trying to be examples and following in the footsteps of our King. Let me give you an example. This morning, this is not in the manuscript. This morning, I'm at a coffee shop, grabbing coffee, interacting with someone that I always interact with. She goes to 121 and she's like, first off, she's like, you're all dressed up. What are you doing? I'm like, I'm teaching today. I gotta look prim and proper. And she's like, oh, okay. Hey, are you guys having the Mother's Day service? I'm like, what? Mother's Day? I thought I was like unprepared, you know? I'm like, no, no, it's May 10th. It's next Sunday. And she's like, oh, well, you know, I'm part of the Spanish ministry here. And we're gonna be doing like a Mother's Day thing in the afternoon. I'm like, oh, that's awesome. Well, we didn't know, but there was a couple that was within earshot of us and they overheard our conversation.

And they're like, oh, what church do you guys go to? And we're like, 121. And they go, oh, we've heard about them. They're awesome. We love that church. And we just moved here from out of state. And we're like, well, how the heck did you hear about us if you just moved here from out of state? And she's like, well, we moved just recently. And we realized that we didn't have enough help. So we posted on the Nextdoor app that we could use some help. And some high school boy and a friend who's trying to make a little extra money responded and came over and helped us finish moving. And they told us that we should go to 121 Community Church because they're serving our king. I'm like, what? That happened this morning, y'all. Talk about an example. You should have seen his face first service. He knows who he is. I'm like, I mentioned his name. He was like, how'd you? I'm like, hey man, this crazy stuff happens to me. It's wild. But there's just following the example that was being set and that's what happens in our church all the time. That's just one of so many stories. Following the example that was set.

We are good examples, but there is more. I gotta wrap it up here because we're running out of time. Real faith receives Jesus, it reflects Jesus, and it also resounds Jesus. Verse eight, for the word of the Lord has sounded forth. And then you go a little bit further down in that verse, it says, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth. Sounded forth, gone forth. That's what it's saying, it's an echo. It's like a trumpet at night just sounding off. And so not only do we receive Jesus or reflect Jesus, but it makes an impact, our actions make an impact. I love, Paul's just like, hey man, it's not just a preacher's job to herald the gospel. It's our job to go out there and live the gospel. It has sounded forth from you, like an echo. And it's like wave after wave of proclamation, not just through our actions, but through our mouths outside of the church. People are hearing about Jesus because we've received Jesus deeply in our hearts. And so Paul is saying like, hey, I love that, that's amazing. You see this in the early church, and honestly, I'm the type of guy, because I'm not gonna be biased because I'm a youth minister, I love this generation. Our generation is doing this. It is resounding, the gospel is resounding forth. They're going out, they're being sent,

and they've received the call, and they're going. There's all these kind of, there's Jesus Run Club. I mean, there's all kinds of things. Shoot, every time I go somewhere, people are wearing shirts with Jesus on. It's like cool to be a Christian now, I feel like, you know? I don't know if you could say that before COVID. And yeah, there's a battle out there. I know it's not like all rainbows and sunshine, but still, they're out there making an impact. I just wanna brag on a couple of guys that have been a part of our ministry, gone through the ministry of service. A guy named Chung, he's out there. He talked about making an impact, letting the gospel be received. He welcomed the gospel in high school. He reflected Jesus, and now he's out there baptizing in the name of Jesus. Cody Allen is another former student in our ministry. That's him in New York with some guys when we were on a mission trip in Brooklyn, New York at Sunset Park. The first time we met these guys, they were smoking. Afterwards, they were trusting in Jesus and going to the Borough Church in New York, making an impact. This is y'all's generation. They're doing it, y'all. They are making an impact.

I see some of you guys out there. Y'all are making an impact, and I wanna encourage you to continue to do so. I know it's not perfect. I know there's struggles, and the ministry is not always just like, ah, everything's perfect. It's not like that, but at the same time, their faith is real because it's been received. There's been conversion. There's been turning from sin. They've reflected Jesus. They've followed the pattern that's been set, and they're being examples, and their faith is resounding with impact. It's making a difference in the lives of people. They are understanding what it means to be sent, and while I am bragging on this generation, I do want to say something really quick to this generation and really to all of us before we break out. We're still called to grow spiritually. We're still called to get into God's word and let it literally, not literally, but metaphorically fillet us open a little bit and go, oh my gosh, I still have remaining sin, and I need Jesus even more every day. See, what happens sometimes with this young generation and even some of us as adults, if we're honest, we chase experiences. We want to go to churches that are bright

and just have all these amazing fireworks and pyrotechs and all that. That's not a bad thing, by the way. Passion, you know, has got, it's on, man, their worship is on steroids, y'all, if y'all have ever been to that. How can you not be impacted by that? There's churches out there that are hitting and meeting those young generations that they just, y'all, they'll love to go to, but be careful. If you're just trying to chase experiences, you're gonna always be left with nothing. You're going to be babes in Christ. In other words, you're gonna be a baby. When I was younger, I used to suck my thumb. I don't do that anymore, because I'm an adult now. I grew out of it. Y'all that are going off into college, it's time to grow up. You gotta learn how to feed yourself, not chase experiences and go in different churches and church hopping, because that'll just leave you empty. God has called us to get into the word and grow. That's for all of us, not just this generation, not just the seniors. And that's what'll also encourage us to be sent, to go forth, to get in, run. The battle's ensuing.

Let's jump in. Jesus calls us to be salt and light, and all of us that have Jesus in our heart, we're the salt shakers. And we gotta be turned upside down and let that salt out and point people to Jesus Christ in a flavorful way. It's no good if we're pointing people to Jesus and they hate us because we've been rude and mean. Their faith was real. It was received. It reflected and it resounded with impact. They gathered as a community of believers, just like we're doing right now. And then they became scattered community of believers because they've received the call to go. They're sent. That's us. Seniors, as you guys step into what's next, this is the kind of faith that will carry you, real faith. Not a borrowed faith, not a shallow faith. Adults, this is our calling too. There's no graduating from following Jesus, y'all. There's no graduating from following Jesus. Imagine a church where every person lives like the Church of Thessalonica. Imagine families shaped like this with real faith. Imagine a generation sent out with this kind of faith. That's what God did in Thessalonica, and I know that he's gonna do it here with you guys.

So as we reflect on some things, I wanna pose this question to you. I wanna pose this question to you. Do you have a real faith? Do you have a real faith? I hope it's not your parents' faith. It certainly better not be my faith. And if so, how can your faith carry you forward into this next season of life? Because if your faith is real, it should echo. It should echo Jesus with your life and your lips. Let me just say one more thing. Your faith should be modeled through your life. But if you're not talking about him, it's like saying you know somebody is sick and you have the cure and you don't let them know. On the flip side, you should be talking about Jesus, but if your life doesn't line up to what you're preaching, that is also a problem. It's both. We reflect Jesus with our life and with our lips, and that is something that we have to take into consideration. For you parents of seniors and seniors, with everything that's going on that's competing for your attention right now, you're thinking about school, you're thinking about all these grad parties, some of y'all got prom still, all the ceremonies, all the packing.

Please, please don't let all of that stuff get in the way of what we should be focusing on the most, and that's Jesus. Jesus needs to be at the center. Please don't let him be just an add-on to what all is going on in the season. Let Jesus be the focus. That's real faith. That's the kind of faith that will carry you through. Lord Jesus, thank you for blessing us today. You know, I forgot to talk about the last part of this section, that you rescue us from the wrath to come. The bad news is we deserve your wrath, and I would be a bad youth minister, a bad preacher of your word to not mention that that's what we deserve, actually, apart from you. Our sin earns death. Apart from you, our sin earns death. But thank you, Jesus, for rescuing us from that through your perfect life, death, and resurrection. And if all anybody heard was that in this prayer, I pray that they would receive it. You guys be still for one moment.