First And Ten : We Are All Thieves - Sam Kelly (Full Experience)

This is the day the Lord has made. We're gonna rejoice and be glad in it. No matter what season you're in, we can praise Him. Lift up a shout of praise because He's with us in this place. Come on, sing this out with us. ♪ There's a new day waking in the darkness ♪ ♪ There's a new song carrying the truth ♪ ♪ There's a new wind blowing down from heaven ♪ ♪ There's a new thing God's about to do ♪ You ready? Come on. ♪ This is the day that the Lord has made the day ♪ ♪ That salvation has come to this house ♪ ♪ The family of God is growing ♪ Yeah. ♪ This is the day when the lost come home the day ♪ ♪ When the heavens rejoice over one ♪ ♪ Who was dead but now is living ♪ Come on, shout it out. ♪ This is the day ♪ So rejoice and be glad. Come on, let's sing it. ♪ There's a new hope, the story isn't over ♪ ♪ There's a new dream to see His kingdom come ♪ ♪ There's a new fire waking in His people ♪ ♪ There's a new fight, there's a new fight to search and find the one ♪ Sing it out. ♪ This is the day that the Lord has made the day ♪ ♪ That salvation has come to this house ♪

♪ The family of God is growing ♪ ♪ This is the day when the lost come home the day ♪ ♪ When the heavens rejoice over one ♪ ♪ Who was dead but now is living ♪ ♪ This is the day, we believe this is the day ♪ This is the day we sing our freedom song. Come on, sing this out with us, second chances. ♪ Second chances, strongholds broken ♪ ♪ Freedom's calling, heaven's open ♪ ♪ Come running, come running, come running right now ♪ Yes, it's true. Sing mercy. ♪ Mercy, mercy, sin's what got it ♪ ♪ Grace is here if you want it, you got it ♪ ♪ So come running, come running, come running right now ♪ Come on, hey! ♪ This is the day, don't let it get away, this is the day ♪ ♪ Don't let it get away, this is the day ♪ ♪ Don't let it get away, don't let it get away ♪ Sing that out, decision! ♪ This is the day, don't let it get away, this is the day ♪ ♪ Don't let it get away, this is the day ♪ ♪ Don't let it get away, don't let it get away ♪ Say! ♪ This is the day that the Lord has made the day ♪ ♪ That salvation has come to this house ♪ ♪ The family of God is growing ♪ ♪ This is the day when the lost come home the day ♪ ♪ When the heavens rejoice over one who was dead but now is living ♪ Sing, this is the day!

♪ This is the day, don't let it get away, this is the day ♪ ♪ Don't let it get away, this is the day ♪ ♪ Don't let it get away, don't let it get away ♪ Come on, we can't let this day get away without praising God, without lifting up the name of Jesus. The King of Kings, we praise Him. ♪ In the darkness we were waiting ♪ ♪ Without hope, without light, till from heaven you came running ♪ ♪ There was mercy in your eyes to fulfill the law and prophets ♪ ♪ To a virgin came the Word, to a throne of endless glory ♪ ♪ To a cradle in the dirt, we thank you Jesus, we sing praise ♪ ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ Oh we praise you Jesus ♪ ♪ To reveal the kingdom coming ♪ ♪ And to reconcile the lost ♪ ♪ To redeem the whole creation ♪ ♪ You did not despise the cross ♪ ♪ For even in your suffering ♪ ♪ You saw to the other side ♪ ♪ Knowing this was our salvation ♪ ♪ Jesus for our sake you died ♪ ♪ Oh we sing praise ♪ ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ In the morning that you rose ♪

♪ All of heaven held its breath ♪ ♪ Till that song was moved for good ♪ ♪ For the Lamb had conquered death ♪ ♪ And the dead rose from their tombs ♪ ♪ And the angels stood in awe ♪ ♪ For the souls of all who come to the Father are restored ♪ ♪ And the church of Christ was born ♪ ♪ Then the Spirit of flame ♪ ♪ Was his gospel truth of all ♪ ♪ Oh it shall not kneel, it shall not faint ♪ ♪ By his blood and in his name, in his freedom I am free ♪ ♪ For the love of Jesus Christ who has resurrected me ♪ Oh, we sing praise. ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit ♪ ♪ Three in one, God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever, oh we sing praise ♪ ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit ♪ ♪ Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit ♪ ♪ Three in one, God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of kings, oh we praise you ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of kings, oh we praise you ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of kings, oh we praise you ♪ Come on, are you thankful that he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords this morning? Can we lift up his name and give him worship in this place? Thank you, Jesus. My name is Dave Clark. I serve as one of the pastors here at Fellowship Church, and on behalf of our pastors, Ed and Lisa Young, and our entire team, thank you so much

for choosing to be here this morning. We serve a great God who wants to meet with you this morning and he wants to meet you right where you're at. You know, it's easy to walk in a place like this and sometimes we feel like we sing songs and we talk about a great God and we feel like maybe he's a distant deity. But he's not, he's right here and he wants to meet with you. We've been at a series right now called First in 10. We're walking through the 10 commandments and God has been revealing in our hearts and in our lives through these 10 commandments how he wants to mold and to shape us. And we're gonna hear a powerful message in just a few moments from Pastor Sam Kelly Our students, The Mix, how many are fans who leads the series. of The Mix Student Ministry? Parents, I implore you to have your students, if you have a sixth through 12th grader, have them here on Wednesday nights. I'm telling you, God wants to do something special in their hearts and in their lives. You are the parent, get them here. Make them be a part of what God is doing here. I know my kids have benefited from it and so many others. But we wanna take some time this morning just to hit the reset button in our hearts, hit the reset button in our lives.

You know, we feel sometimes that God's distant, He's far away. But scripture tells us that that's not the case. We read in Philippians chapter two, verses six. It says, who being in the very nature, God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee would bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. That's a reminder. That's why we sing. That's why we celebrate. That's why we say he is the King of kings and he is the Lord of lords. He's not a distant deity. He came from heaven to earth and put on human flesh and lived a perfect life, took our place, our sin, our punishment and our shame so that we might have hope and we might have a promise of everlasting life.

In our world, it can feel like life is unraveling. Turn on the news, open social media, maybe just look at your community. It feels like everything is unraveling by a thread. And oftentimes things feel like they're coming crashing down but we know that as we sing, he's the King of kings and Lord of lords, he is in control. He's in control of what's happening in your life and in your family and in our communities and in our world. So we wanna take a moment just to pause, to pray. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Heavenly Father, we come to you right now. God, I lift up each and every person that's in this room that's hearing the sound of my voice. God, you know us each intimately. You know us each deeply. You know what's going on in our hearts and in our lives. God, you know what's happening in our relationships, in our marriages and in our families and with our children. God, we lift up those situations to you right now. We pray that the name of Jesus would rule and reign in those situations. God, for where there's pain, where there's heartache, God, we pray for peace. We pray for healing. We pray for restoration right now. God, we lift up what's happening in the Middle East. God, what's happening with the war. God, we pray for your wisdom to be upon all of the leaders

that are involved. We pray for those who have lost loved ones. We pray your peace would reign. God, where justice is needed, we pray you would bring justice. Where freedom is needed, we pray you would bring freedom. God, and in the midst of all the chaos that seems to be happening in our world, we pray that the light of Jesus would shine bright. It would rule and reign in the midst of the darkness. God, and you would use all of it to point more people towards the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We lift it all up to you. Scripture tells us that it's not perishable things such as silver or gold that redeem us, but it's the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And God, we lean into that right now. We claim that right now. We pray the precious blood of Jesus Christ be upon our lives, be upon our families, be upon our community, be upon our country. And we pray that you would order our steps. God, where we need convicting, I pray you would convict us this morning. God, where your Holy Spirit needs to come and do work in our lives, rid us of our sin and rid us of ourselves. And may we be better reflections of you. We love you and we praise you. And it's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray, amen.

♪ Everything changed ♪ ♪ It's getting harder to recognize the person I was ♪ ♪ Before I encountered Christ ♪ ♪ I don't walk like I used to and I don't talk like I used to ♪ ♪ I've been washed from the inside, I've been washed from the inside ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood, could only get the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood, could only get the blood ♪ ♪ Could only get the blood ♪ ♪♪ ♪ I cannot explain, but nothing's more real than this ♪ ♪ In the presence of God, oh what my heart experienced ♪ ♪ When my shame hit the wayside, and my sin met the most high ♪ ♪ I was washed from the inside, I was washed from the inside ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood, could only get the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood, could only get the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood, could only get the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood, could only be the blood ♪ ♪ It could only be the blood ♪ Alright, listen. ♪ It's never been about performance or perfection or striving for acceptance ♪ ♪ Let me tell you, it's only by the blood ♪ ♪ It's never been about deserving or earning, it's a gift that's freely given ♪ ♪ Let me tell you, it's only by the blood ♪ ♪ Does anybody wanna be holy and righteous and purified and spotless? ♪

♪ Let me tell you, it's only by the blood ♪ ♪ Does anybody wanna be worthy and forgiven and justified in the evening? ♪ ♪ Let me tell you, it's only by the blood ♪ Sing hallelujah! ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, I know it was the blood, could've only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, I know it was the blood, could've only been the blood ♪ Sing hallelujah! ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, I know it was the blood, could've only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, I know it was the blood ♪ ♪ And what can wash away my sin? My sin was the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ What can make me whole again? My sin was the blood of Jesus ♪ ♪ And what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ What can make me whole? ♪ What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ Come on, oh precious, lift it up ♪ Oh precious is the flow that flows through me ♪ ♪ That makes me white as snow ♪ ♪ No other fount I know ♪ ♪ You're nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ Sing it, yeah, sing. ♪ Oh, precious is the flow ♪ ♪ That makes me white as snow ♪ ♪ No other fount I know ♪ ♪ You're nothing but the blood of Jesus ♪ It's never been about performance or perfection or striving for acceptance. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. It's never been about desert. We can't, oh, we can't, if it's freely given. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood.

Does anybody wanna be holy and righteous? Purify this violence. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody wanna be worthy, forgiven, justified, redeemed? Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Sing hallelujah. ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it wasn't blood ♪ ♪ Could have only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it wasn't blood ♪ ♪ Could have only been the blood ♪ Come on, give Him praise today. Jesus, we love you, we praise you for coming down from heaven to earth, giving your life, overcoming sin, overcoming the grave. You're seated in glory, we worship you, Father. It's in your name we pray, you may be seated. Amen. Amen. Would you join me in prayer before we dive into the teaching of God's word? God, I pray that we wouldn't simply be here today to check off a Christian to-do list, but that we would meet with you because when we meet with you, things change. And that's what we want, we wanna change, we wanna become more like you. And so I pray that our awareness of your presence

in this space would elevate, that you would do what only you can do in the hearts of your people. We ask all these things in your Son's name, everybody said. Amen. Today, I'm gonna tell you about the most expensive apple I've ever had in my entire life. Interesting introduction, okay? This time last year, my wife and I had the opportunity to fly to New Zealand, because I was speaking at an amazing church down there, and for all the married couples, let me just give you a helpful tip on long international travel. It will test your marriage. And so we land after this 14-hour flight, and we were in a heightened discussion, not an argument or a fight, we're Christians, guys, come on, it was a heightened conversation. And so we were locked in. I don't know what the argument was about, I think it was probably about just me serving too much in our marriage and just being such a good husband, but that's besides the point. But we go into the corridor, and if you've flown internationally, you have to go through something called customs, and there's typically different rules in different nations of what you can and can't bring in. And so as we're walking down this corridor,

there are dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of signs that are like, if you have any food, throw it away. If you have any food, there's no food, you can't bring food, throw all the food away. And so we don't see any of those because we're so locked in love with each other just in this discussion. And so we get to the customs agent, give him our passports, and then we go through the scanner, we put our bags down, and as Laurie is putting her last bag down, which is her purse, she looks in it and sees a saran wrapped apple that she had brought from the plane. And she looks at me and is like, you don't think this will be an issue, do you? And in my wisdom, I'm like, no, we'll be fine. So it goes through the scanner, and the customs agent grabs Laurie's purse and looks at us and goes, hey mate, you know what's in this bag? And I'm like, oh, yeah, it's an apple from the plane. You know what, you can just throw it away. And he looks at me dead serious and is like, a little bit too late for that, mate. And Australians and New Zealanders, they have a big sense of humor, so I'm waiting for him to just break out. He'd be like, I'm just kidding, toss it away.

Instead, he looks at me, he goes, you too, come with me. Brings us over to the corner, takes our passports away from us. I feel like, I'm like, am I an international criminal right now for an apple? What is going on? He goes off, we're sitting there for five minutes, just like, what is actually about to happen? He comes back out, and he hands me and my wife a form, and he says, you're gonna be fined today, $400. And I'm like, ha ha ha ha ha. This joke is going a little too far. You're joking, right? He's like, no, this is serious. And I look at Lori, I'm like, this is a lot like the Garden of Eden, and now I know how Adam felt, because this is all your fault. I had nothing to do with this. And so I'm like, I'm like, like, genuinely, like, borderline arguing with the guy, like, surely you did not think that we were coming in here and we were like, you know what we're gonna do on this trip? We're gonna destroy New Zealand's ecosystem through a saran wrapped apple that we brought off the plane. He's like, look, you can try to get it waived. They typically don't allow it, but this is the fine. And so I'm here to tell you today

that the nation of New Zealand is $400 wealthier because of the Kelly family. And I tell you that story for three reasons. Number one, just to vent a little bit to you guys today, to be honest. Number two, spring break is approaching. If you have international travel, look at the signs that would be beneficial for you. And number three, and most importantly for today's purposes, Lori, before the scanner, looked down and saw something and said, is this gonna be an issue? And in my mind, I was like, no shot. It's too small to matter. And that sentence right there is what gets many of us in trouble when it comes to today's commandment. It's found in Exodus chapter 20, verse 15. And this is what it says, four words. You shall not steal. I joked this week that I feel like to a certain degree, like I could read that and be like, all right, let's close in prayer and just don't steal. And to a certain degree, some of you are like, honestly, I'm open to that. But that would be a big disservice to us all. And here's why, here's why, here's why. Because most of us read that and we think about the big stuff. We think about like the ski masks and the people who are robbing banks. We think about like the Bitcoin scammer.

We think about the corrupt CEO. We think about people breaking and entering into people's homes. And we're like, ah, that's not me. I'll be good. Very rarely do we pause to look at a commandment like this and go, Lord, are there spaces and places in my life that I might be living like a thief? We don't typically do that and here's why. Because we typically read scripture as a window into other people's sins and problems and not a mirror into our own. But more often than not, the Bible is not meant to be read as a window into like their problems. It's meant to be a mirror that reflects your own. And when we do that and we lift up the mirror of the eighth commandment, I'm here to tell you, we might not like what we see because it's not just the big stuff, it's the small stuff too. Jesus in Matthew five starts diving into some of the 10 commandments and this is what he reveals. It's not just about the outward behaviors. It's a posture of the heart. And so I'm here to tell you, before stealing ever takes place with your hands, it happens in your heart. And I think part of the problem we find ourselves in is we have far too narrow a definition

of what stealing or theft really is. And so for today's purposes, here's what I'd like for you to think about when it comes to stealing. Stealing is taking as much as you can while giving as little as you can. Now you look at that definition and all of a sudden you're like, okay, yeah, got me a little bit. Because there's people that are stealing in their marriages. They're trying to get all the benefits while serving their spouse as little as possible. Don't nudge your spouse. There's people stealing when it comes to church. I heard it said with a group of pastors this week that one of the biggest problems in the American church is most people treat it like a hotel rather than a home. In a hotel, you can go in and leave your bed messy and like the food and all the rest of it can just be hanging out and you know that like the cleaning service is gonna come and take care of all of it. But in your own home, you've got some jobs to do. You've got to make up your bed. You've got to participate. You've got some chores. And that's when we understand that within the church, I'm not meant to be a consumer, I'm meant to be a contributor.

Amen. And then you just look at other areas. As some of us are stealing time. You clock into work and you don't really work. Or you give a half effort. Some of us are stealing credit. We're taking credit from other people. Pretending like it was us who did it. Some of us are stealing trust. You're telling half-truths to your spouse. You keep making promises and breaking them. You keep bailing out of plans consistently, and some of us are stealing when it comes to money. Within our taxes, within your business, you cut corners, and yeah, it might be a little unethical, but everybody else is doing it. You're stealing. And some of us steal from God. First Corinthians 6.20 says that essentially, if you have put your faith and trust in the person of Jesus Christ, this is what it says of you. You have been bought with a price. So think about that language. Your life has literally been purchased from God, and yet how many of us are still sitting in the driver's seat of our life instead of allowing God to sit there? So when we find ourselves at a crossroad where our will and God's will are at war, I'm the one calling the shots.

You're stealing from God. Malachi 3 says if you're not bringing the tithe, the first 10% of what you earn back into God's house, you are robbing God. That's not me, that's Bible. I'll move on. And so some of us look at that stuff and we go, I mean, come on, stealing credits, stealing recognition. How big of a deal actually is it? How big of a deal? Well, I'm here to tell you that the small things matter because what we often don't realize is sin trains your soul. And so it's not always about the amount. It's not always about the object. It's often what it's shaping you to become. Jesus in John 10.10, think about this. When describing Satan, says the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. The enemy is a thief who wants to turn us into thieves. He did it in the Garden of Eden. God said, you can have it all, just don't eat from this tree. And Satan approaches them and makes them ask themselves questions. Did God really say? And all of a sudden they start taking something that was never meant to be theirs. It's not always the big things. Oftentimes it's the small things,

but the verse continues and says, but I, speaking of Jesus, have come that you might have life. Jesus is a giver. And that's where this commandment starts. We have to understand who God is first. And that's the beauty of the 10 commandments. The first four of the 10 commandments are all about our relationship with God. It's this, it's vertical. And if I can get that right, then the last six are horizontal, how I operate with other people. But if I don't get this right, then I cannot get this right. But that's not a popular thought in Western civilization. Just this week, I heard of a story. The Church of Scotland was gathering together. Pastors and theologians were talking and the mayor of Glasgow, a city in Scotland, got up to address all of the pastors and this is what he said. You guys sit here and you argue about whether God exists and if he does, what that means for us and the relationship that we have with humanity. The modern person doesn't care about that. If you wanna be of help to us today, help us learn how to love our neighbor. Teach us how to treat each other with dignity and respect. And that's not just a Scottish idea,

that is a Western idea. People are like, let people believe whatever they want. Let's just like, let's love each other well. And here's my rebuttal to that. On what basis should I love my neighbor? On what basis should I treat my neighbor with respect and dignity? Because if God doesn't exist, then you and I are a random collection of chemicals. So who's to say how one random collection of chemicals treats another random collection of chemicals? No friend, if I'm gonna love my neighbor, I must first and foremost understand who God is. And if I don't get that right, I can't get anything else right. And so the Western world doesn't like the idea of a God who's a judge, doesn't like the idea of a God who gives a moral framework for us. And so they throw him out and then they wonder why our world has gone mad. Because if you don't get this, then I can't get this. And so when it comes to commandment number eight, well, I don't steal just because it's like, I don't know, that's like something wrong to do. I don't steal. because if I were to, I'm taking something from another human who was made in the image of God. Not only that, but Psalm 24 says, the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof, meaning it's all his.

So you're not just stealing from someone else, you're stealing from God. Paul elevates the eighth commandment in Ephesians 4, 28. This is what he says, I love the simplicity of it. If you're a thief, quit stealing. He's like, hey, stop it. Instead, use your hands for good hard work and then give generously to others in need. I love how simple that is. It's like, stop stealing, start working, so you can start giving. That's what Paul's message is to you and I. Like, if you're stealing, stop it, cut that out, that's not good. And then you should work. And if we could just camp out here for a moment, I think it's important to understand, have you ever thought that your work is worship? You ever thought about that? When I was 16 years old, I worked for a landscaping company. It was called Nature's Edge. Do you wanna hear the slogan of this company? You ready for this? He was a Christian business owner and I loved it. The slogan was, the dedication to the beautification of the Lord's creation. Come on somebody, that'll preach. But I love that. I love that because he understands that his company is God's first, it's not his.

And then he understands that his work is worship. And so most of us think like coming into this morning and gathering together like this is our worship. And yes, you're right, it's a portion of your worship. But did you know that your Monday nine to five is just as much worship as this is? So how's your worship? And I'm a youth pastor and so I run into students sometimes who are like, man, I'll tell you what, I'd work hard if my boss wasn't such a jerk. And I'm like, hey, Colossians 3 says, if you're gonna do anything, do it as if unto the Lord. Your real boss isn't a man, your real boss is God. So I believe that Christians should be the best employees on the planet because we understand who we're really working for. But I remember one day in particular, I was 16, I was early to the job and we did something called grading, which is just absolutely miserable work. Shout out to all the landscapers. You're essentially just leveling land and you're raking dirt. And from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., we were raking dirt and the sun started to set. And I'm kind of thinking in the back of my mind like, okay, like it's time for things to wrap up, right? And one of my coworkers had the courage to say, hey, boss, it's getting awfully dark out here, kind of tough to see.

What do you say we call it and come back tomorrow? And I'll never forget, my boss comes over to this young man and puts his hand on his shoulder and says, let me tell you something, son. We don't work till the sun goes down. We work till the job is done. And I remember thinking, oh, no. Why? But I look back at those days and I realize that it taught me the power of a work ethic. It taught me the power of like raking dirt is a form of worship. And how would that shift things at your job if you realize like you're accounting for the Lord? Whatever you're doing, if you're a stay-at-home mom, that's a form of your worship. So how is your worship? And this is where things get really interesting to me in this passage because I would think it'd be like, hey, stealing, cut that out. Start working so you can make your own money so you don't have the temptation to steal from anybody else. It's not what Paul does. He says, stop stealing, start working so you can start giving. So the opposite of stealing isn't just stopping stealing, it's actually giving. And that's a really, really powerful and important understanding that we have to carry. I heard a story this week of a Christian CEO

who found out that a lot of his employees were dealing with some pretty serious crippling debt that they just were not able to get out of. And these employees were hard workers, they were great people. And so one by one, he called them into his office and they all think like they're getting fired. And he lets them know individually, hey, I just want you to know, I took care of your debt. It's no longer there. And these employees are breaking down, just absolutely blown away by the generosity of their boss. And he was asked, why did you do it? Why'd you do that? And his response was, I wanted others to experience what grace feels like. A debt they couldn't pay, but I could. So I took care of it for them. And that's what the gospel does. The gospel turns takers into givers. When you receive the greatest act of generosity in the world, the natural response is to extend it to others because the gospel turns takers into givers. I think a powerful story that unpacks this in scripture is found in Luke 19. We don't have time to turn there, but I'm gonna give us the cliff notes. It's the story of a man named Zacchaeus. And I'm sure many of us have heard the story, but...

We're back. That's someone in the back like, wrap this up. No. I've got 45 more minutes. I'm kidding. Somebody like, oh no. But he's a chief tax collector. And here's what tax collectors would do. They were hated back in the day because they were essentially extorting their own people. They would collect taxes for the Roman government and they would just pile on money for themselves. And so tax collectors were despised in this day. And here's what happens. Jesus is riding through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. Zacchaeus is a short little guy and all these people are coming out to see Jesus and he can't see him, so he climbs up a tree and Jesus does something wild. He looks up at the tree and says, today Zacchaeus, I must come to your house. It's interesting. And everybody around is like, oh, he's a thief. Come to my house. I'm a decent person. Don't go to the thief's house. But he does. And I imagine, this is Sam Kelly's version, but Zacchaeus is a rich and powerful person

and rich and powerful people, like having the opportunity to show off to other powerful people. So he's got this guy that everybody's talking about, Jesus, coming to his house. He's walking through his house like, yeah, you know, it's pretty big. We're gonna do a remodel over here. We're gonna have a big kitchen island right here. We're gonna do some stuff. It's gonna be cool. And we don't get anything on what was the conversation, on what Jesus said with Zacchaeus, on what Zacchaeus said to Jesus. We don't get any of it. It's just like, he went to his house. This is all we get. Zacchaeus at the end of the dinner is like, I've got an announcement to make. All my money, I'm gonna give half of it to the poor and anyone that I've cheated, I'm gonna pay them back four times of what I cheated. It's like, what? How did that just happen? And I imagine that there's people at the house that like their livelihood is based off of Zacchaeus like making this corrupt money. And so they're like, what, no, don't do that. Don't do that. But he does.

And I just read that text and I'm like, what did Jesus say? Like, why couldn't you just put that in there? And I think that's part of the point. Because if we were to know the language, we think like that's the formula, but here's the power of us not knowing. Zacchaeus, the definition of a taker, gets around Jesus for a few moments and something changes in his life. And he gets up and is like, what I found in this man right here is 10 times more valuable than all of the wealth that I have accumulated. So I'm gonna give half of it away. I'm gonna make my wrongs right. And all of the sudden, the very man who was like the most quintessential taker is turned into a giver. How? Because he got around the giver, the person of Jesus Christ. And so I'm gonna challenge you today to do something a little bold, to take a play out of Zacchaeus' playbook. I'm gonna challenge you at some point today to get alone with God. And for you to humbly and sincerely pray this prayer. God, would you reveal to me spaces and places in my life where I might be living like a thief?

And I promise you, if you pray that sincerely, the Word of God will highlight an area or areas. It might be small, it might be big. It might be that ladder that you long-term borrowed from your neighbor two years ago. And I'm gonna challenge you to do something else. I'm gonna challenge you to make it right. So like maybe you go to check out that ladder and you realize like it's broken. You're like, shoot. And most of us would be like, I'll get some screws, tighten that thing up and give it back. Like, I'm sorry. I don't know, maybe you like write a check for a better ladder and take it to your neighbor and say something like this. I'm going to this church called Fellowship Church, and I'm learning how to grow up in my faith. And I know this sounds crazy, but that ladder that I borrowed from you two years ago, I went to, it's broken now. So here's a check for a better one. Just want you to know I'm sorry, and I wanna make my wrong right. Now someone, most people would be like, dude, what are you, you don't have to do that. It's not for the other person, it's for you. You wanna know what that requires? Two things, a level of maturity and a level of humility

that I have found is rare in humanity. But like, if we're following the great giver, aren't our lives meant to look different? So I wanna challenge you today. Pray that prayer. Honestly, sincerely. God, would you highlight some areas for me where I'm living like a taker and not a giver? And then do the hard work to actually change. I find it no coincidence at all that Jesus was crucified between two thieves. One looks at him and mocks him. Says, if you're the guy, get down. If you have the ability, why you hanging here? The other one looks at him and goes, hey, would you remember me? And then Jesus says some wild words. He says, today, you'll be with me in paradise. And I need us to like soak this in. Jesus, the innocent one, was treated like a thief so that a thief could be treated like the innocent one. And that reminds us, all of us, that even thieves have hope when Jesus is near. And that's really good news for you. And it's really good news for me. Because by ourselves, we are takers. But by the grace of God, we can live out a life and become givers. Would you pray with me? Maybe you're here and you've never made that decision

to surrender the entirety of your life to Jesus Christ. He was treated like a thief so that you could be seen as innocent before God. I'd love to lead you in a prayer. You don't have to say it out loud. You can just say it in the confines of your heart. Say, Jesus, today, I admit that I have been living like a thief, been doing things my own way, and it's not working. So today, I surrender it all. I believe you are who you said you are. You died on a cross for my sin. And three days later, you rose again from the grave. Today, I choose to give you everything. Lord, I wanna be a giver, not a taker. And Lord, right now, I pray for all of us that we wouldn't just be hearers of your word, but give us the grace, the strength, the maturity, the humility to be doers. God, I pray that through the power of your Holy Spirit, that you would turn us from takers to living our lives as givers. We ask all these things in your son's name. Everybody say it, amen. Amen. Amen. And amen. Amen. Could we show our appreciation to Pastor Sam for that message one more time?

Amen. Amen. If you're here and you prayed that prayer to ask Jesus to be the Lord and savior of your life, that is the single greatest decision that you could ever make. That you could ever make. And church, can we celebrate all those who made that decision? We would encourage you to tell someone about that decision. We would love the opportunity to pray with you. If you prayed. that prayer. We have our prayer team on the sides of the room. They're waving at you. They got the lights on over there. Love the opportunity to pray with you. We have a Bible we would love to give you. You know, following Jesus is not a solo sport. It's meant to be done in community. The Bible commands us to encourage one another, to build each other up. And so I would encourage you to be a part, get plugged in. We wanna walk with you and help you as you live out this Christian life and following Christ. And so there's another great way that you can get connected in the seat back in front of you, you'll find one of these blue cards. Everybody take one of these cards, reach in that seat back, grab one of these.

Maybe you've never filled one out before you're here. You'll wave it at me. That's right, I see a few of you. But maybe you're here, you've never filled one of these cards out. One, I would encourage you to do so. This is how you get connected here at Fellowship Church. It's easy to walk in the doors, to sit in the seats, to come in and come out. But the church really becomes alive when you get connected, when you get in community and you get plugged in here. And so I encourage you to fill this out. Maybe you prayed today to receive Jesus. You can check that box. Maybe there's something you're going through in your life and you're dealing with something and we would be honored to stand with you and pray with you. You can fill that out there at the bottom as well. And then in just a few moments, the offering's gonna pass by and you can drop that in there. Our team would love to call you and connect with you and pray with you and answer any questions that you might have early this week. So encourage you, get connected and get plugged in. It's happening immediately following this experience. If you've never been to Newcomers before, this is a great way to find out how to join the church, how to get plugged in here, meet people, answer some questions that you might have.

We're serving a meal. If you've got children, we'll take care of your children. It's a great time. It's happening immediately after this service. Just follow the signs in the atrium. It's in our Source Cafe and Bookstore. We would love to have you there. We'd love to host you and it'll be a great time together. So right now we're gonna move into a time where we have an opportunity to continue in worship by bringing our tithes and offerings. So I would invite you to begin to prepare. For those of you who are visiting, you're kind of checking things out, sit back and relax. There's no pressure on you to participate in this time. But for those of us that call Fellowship Church home, this is our time to bring our tithes and our offerings. You'll see listed there on the screen, there's many different ways that you can participate. You can begin to do that now. And as Pastor Sam talks about it, the Bible commands us to bring a portion of what God has blessed us with in our lives, bring it back to the house, the church. And it says when we're obedient in that, our lives will be blessed, sometimes tangibly and sometimes intangibly. But when we're obedient in living that out, bringing our tithes and offerings to the house, God's blessing will show up in our lives.

And we believe that to be true in Scripture. And I know so many of you have seen that play out in your lives. So thank you so much for your commitment, your faithfulness, and your generosity. For those who have gone above and beyond their tithes and offerings to the Anchor Project, wanna thank you so much for committing to that. You may say, well, what is the Anchor Project? Well, here at Fellowship Church, over the last year and a half, we have been in a campaign to fund and build a student center like no other that will be dedicated to reaching children, dedicating to reaching young people and families with the hope and message of Jesus Christ. So we are so excited. So many have pledged commitments and been faithful in those, and I wanna encourage you to continue to be faithful in those. We are planning to break ground this summer. That's right, this summer. And may it continue to be in prayer as that project continues. We're praying over that land. We're praying over that space. We're praying over all the plans and everything that's going in front of the city that God would help continue to move us along

and to know He's gonna use that space in an incredible, incredible way. Well, our hosts are gonna come right now and they're gonna receive the offering. While they're doing that, I'm gonna take 60 seconds and I'm gonna fly through so many things that are gonna happen this spring at Fellowship Church. It's getting busy. You stay with me? I know, it's like daylight savings time and some of you are missing that second cup of coffee. So stay with me, stay locked in. 60 seconds, here we go. Marriage seminars. We got some incredible, creative marriage seminars. They kicked off this last Wednesday night. If you and your spouse are looking for connection, for community, want to be sharpened by other great marriages, show up. Be here on Wednesday nights. Be a part of those creative marriage seminars. FC sports, that's right. We're bringing back FC sports at Fellowship Church. Maybe you're into basketball or pickleball or volleyball or running clubs. We got all different kinds of activities for you to be a part of, competition and community. Be a part of FC sports. You can find out more information on our website. You can sign up to be a part.

All the guys in the house, guys, let me see a hand. All the fellas, let me see you, see you. We got an FC men's rally Saturday. March 28th, we're gonna be serving breakfast. We're gonna have monster trucks. Need I say more? We're gonna have a time of message, a time of worship. This is for fathers and sons, men of all ages. It's just bros hanging out, come on. You gotta be there. You with me? Come on, fellas, you can come. I'm gonna be a part of the men's route. It's gonna be a great time. Then, right after that, Palm Sunday, Pastor Ed's kicking off a brand new series called I'm Not Religious. You ever wondered what separates Christianity and following Jesus from all other major world religions? Pastor Ed is gonna unpack that. He's gonna educate us. He's gonna walk us through something. It's gonna be a powerful series. Then, the following weekend is Easter Sunday. That's right, we're gonna blink and Easter will be here. We've got invites on the way out. We've got yard signs. Man, Easter is the easiest invite. There are people in your life who don't know Jesus. There are people in your life that aren't going to church,

and Easter is the easiest time to invite them. People are open and receptive to the gospel. They're open and receptive to being invited to church. So, take advantage. Be praying now about, God, who do you want me to invite? Who are you laying on my heart that I can share Jesus with, that I can invite this Easter? So, be in prayer about that. And right after that, we have, all the ladies, our Sisterhood Conference happening. That's right, it's hosted by Pastor Lisa Young, Sadie Robertson-Huff. Maybe you've seen her podcast or her Duck Dynasty days, but she's gonna be here. It's gonna be an amazing event. Make sure you're signed up. Make sure you're registered. Space is limited, and we wanna make sure that we can count on you for being here for that conference. How'd I do? Are you guys still awake? All right, I know, and I threw a lot at you. For all that and more, you can tap the seat back in front of you. You can go on our website, fellowshipchurch.com, find out all the information. Everybody say, next Sunday. Come on, you can do better than that. Next Sunday. There we go, that's what I thought you said.

We're continuing the series first and 10. We're gonna be talking about Thou Shall Not Lie. We're gonna be hearing from Pastor Chris King. That's right, he's gonna be sharing a special message. So you wanna make sure to be here next Sunday. Invite a friend to be with you. Bring someone with you. Reminder, we got newcomers happening in our source. We love you guys. Thank you, Fellowship Church. We'll see you back next weekend. God bless.