Going Beyond What is Expected with Our Neighbors

♪ We're good morning church, let's see ♪ ♪ And worship the Lord together this morning ♪ ♪ We thank you ♪ ♪ One more time you'll see other He's coming on the clock ♪ ♪ He's coming on the clouds ♪ ♪ Kings and kingdoms will bow down ♪ ♪ Every shit won't break ♪ ♪ His broken hearts declare His grace ♪ ♪ For who can stop the Lord all mine will sink ♪ ♪ Our God is the lion, the lion of Judah ♪ ♪ He's roaring with power and fighting our vows ♪ ♪ In every new battle we've formed ♪ ♪ Our God is the lamb, the lamb of the slave ♪ ♪ For the sins of the world ♪ ♪ His blood breaks the chains ♪ ♪ And every new battle for the lion and lamb ♪ ♪ And every new battle before Him ♪ ♪ Oh God, we thank you for one step ♪ ♪ So come on the gate, make way before the king of the beast ♪ ♪ Oh God, we thank you for one step ♪ ♪ All the God who comes to say is here ♪ ♪ Instead of happy sleep ♪ ♪ For who can stop the Lord all mine will sink ♪ ♪ Our God is the lion, the lion of Judah ♪ ♪ He's roaring with power and fighting our vows ♪ ♪ And every new battle before Him ♪ ♪ Our God is the lamb, the lamb of the slave ♪ ♪ For the sins of the world ♪ ♪ His blood breaks the chains ♪ ♪ And every new battle for the lion and lamb ♪

♪ And every new battle before Him ♪ ♪ Oh we thank you Lord, who can stand against our king ♪ ♪ No one will see this together who can stop me ♪ ♪ And who can stop the Lord all mine ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord all mine will ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord all mine will ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord all ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord ♪ ♪ There's no one like you or who can stop the Lord all mine will ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord all mine ♪ ♪ There is no one, there is no one ♪ ♪ Our God is the lion, the lion of Judah ♪ ♪ He's rolling in the power ♪ ♪ He's finding our battles ♪ ♪ And every new battle before Him ♪ ♪ Our God is the lamb, the lamb of the slave ♪ ♪ For the sins of the world ♪ ♪ His blood breaks the chains ♪ ♪ And every new battle for the lion and lamb ♪ ♪ And every new battle before Him ♪ ♪ We thank you, Lord, we thank you, Lord ♪ ♪ Who can stop the Lord ♪ - Come on, can we give the Lord praise this morning for He is good and good always. Well, welcome to church, everyone. We're so excited to see you this morning. We're blessed to be gathering this morning together freely without restriction or restraint. And if you're joining us here in person,

we're so grateful to see you this morning. And if you're online, we're grateful to hear from you, maybe, and if you're in a prison cell, we're grateful for you. So this morning, as we worship the Lord together in spirit and in truth, I just ask every one of us, even myself included, to just be ready to receive what the Lord has for us this morning. Whether you're here, next to you, maybe someone behind you, greet them and then we'll continue. [Music] Morning guys, morning, morning ladies. [Music] My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest phrase, but holy trust in Jesus' name. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest phrase, but holy trust in Jesus' name. [Music] Cornerstone, weakly strong, and the Savior's love through the storm. He is Lord, Lord of all. [Music] And darkness seems to hide his face. Our hearts on his unchanging grace. Every high and stormy game, my anger holds within the day. My anger holds within the day. I surrender, cornerstone, weakness for the Savior's love through the storm. He is Lord, Lord of all. [Music] How could sound, hold me high then in him be fast.

Dressed in his righteousness alone. Father stand before the throne. [Music] Thank you, Lord of all. Deeply strong, and the Savior's love through the storm. He is Lord, Lord of all. [Music] (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (water splashing) (water splashing) (upbeat music) (water splashing) (upbeat music) (water splashing) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ And all the blessings ♪ ♪ All the blessings dance ♪ ♪ Oh I give my life ♪ ♪ I give my home ♪ ♪ 'Til the return ♪ ♪ Or calls me home ♪ ♪ Here in the power of Christ ♪ ♪ I'll stand ♪ ♪ Here in the power of Christ ♪ ♪ I'll stand ♪ ♪ And all the blessings ♪ ♪ And all the blessings ♪ ♪ And all the blessings ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ When you thank you Lord ♪ (upbeat music)

♪ This is our response to Jesus ♪ ♪ When you thank you Lord thank you ♪ ♪ Sing this together in front ♪ ♪ And through the glory ♪ ♪ Our Savior King ♪ ♪ Your loving kindness has welcomed me ♪ ♪ Though I'm worthy of majesty ♪ ♪ You wrap the lowly in royalty ♪ ♪ And I'll lay my crowns down at your feet ♪ ♪ You are holy, holy and I ♪ ♪ Give my life as an offer ♪ ♪ You are worthy, so worthy Lord ♪ ♪ Yes you are worthy, yes you are worthy ♪ ♪ You have your feet, your eyes ♪ ♪ To seek your face ♪ ♪ Broken for God without us ♪ ♪ And for Him ♪ ♪ Before my King ♪ ♪ You are surrender my everyday ♪ ♪ So I will lay my crowns down at your feet ♪ ♪ At your feet, thank you ♪ ♪ 'Cause you are holy, holy and I ♪ ♪ Give my life as an offer, yeah ♪ ♪ You are worthy, so worthy ♪ ♪ And I will lay my crowns down at your feet ♪ ♪ At your feet, Lord ♪ ♪ You are holy, so holy and I ♪ ♪ Give my life as an offer, yeah ♪ ♪ Thank you Lord, 'cause you are worthy ♪ ♪ So worthy of God ♪

♪ Yes, you are worthy of God ♪ ♪ We lay it all down at your feet, Lord ♪ ♪ This is our response to you ♪ ♪ This is our response, we'll sing this together ♪ ♪ And holy, holy, holy is the ramble from the throne ♪ ♪ We join without heaven and the everlasting song ♪ ♪ Come on, sing together ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, holy is the ramble from the throne ♪ ♪ And we join without heaven and the everlasting song ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, holy is the ramble from the throne ♪ ♪ We join without heaven and the everlasting song ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, holy, holy is the ramble from the throne ♪ ♪ We join without heaven and the everlasting song ♪ ♪ And I will lay my crowns down ♪ You are holding so holy and I will Give my life Oh, it's an offering to you Oh, yes, Lord You are home Come on, sing holy, holy, holy And holy, holy, holy From that I want my heart The joy of God, the heaven of heaven The everlasting, the holy world The holy, holy, holy The name upon the dawn The joy of God, the heaven of heaven The everlasting song The joy of the God, the heaven of heaven And the everlasting song

The singing holy is the Lord Yes Come on, we thank You, Jesus Oh, we thank You, Lord Now give me singing that chorus together one more time And I will lay my heart And I will lay my heart for every voice I yours with you 'Cause you are holding so holy and I will Give my life as an offering You are worthy, so worthy of it all Yes, you are worthy of it all, Lord We give you all the praise and all the glory and the honor That's due Your name God, we thank You that You're the same forever and always As You were yesterday, You will be tomorrow and today Lord, we love You, we don't take times like this for granted God, that we're two or three of us are gathered, Your spirit is there Lord, we love You, we honor You Your name, we pray, amen Thank You for worshiping this morning, maybe seated (Music) Abortion clinics in Texas are closed But they've really just moved to every home in America Because of the access of abortion pills online My name is Michelle Gregory and I'm the Executive Director of Mid Cities Women's Clinic This wonderful ministry has been in existence for 41 years And we've been reaching women with the hope

And the precious truth of when life begins We offer free medical services to the women in our community And our hope is to capture them online To bring them through our doors for our free services Where they can receive the love and care And the highly qualified medical services That will empower them in choosing life (Music) We're so grateful that we have the opportunity To partner with the number of different ministries Locally and globally in the U.S. as well And it's been our desire to expose you To those different partnerships over the course of the year But the hope that God will stir your heart To be a part of what God is doing in those ministries When you walk in our building, you'll see four beams And they have our four core values That have guided us for 27 years now And one of those core values is partnering in ministry And we believe that there are so many people That do things so well And that's their sole focus That what we can do is get in and partner And be a help in what God is doing through them And that's one of our key strategies As a church in ways to serve In the community and abroad And so we've been thinking about in these weeks Our cities and our neighborhoods Prior to this, we were thinking about church planting

And what global work looks like And then we've had this focus now on cities and neighborhoods And then in the midst of this, we also are now with our staff Making visits to different life groups And our hope is to hit every life group With someone from our staff And in that time To be able to just sit with you and say Hey, what are you hearing when we talk about being sent? What are you currently doing that partners with somebody Or a part of something that 121 is doing That you can partner with Is what we've found over time That we can talk about things from here all day long But it's usually when we sit across from you And have a conversation with you And try to understand how God's working with you That we can really help you connect to something That's meaningful and viable for you From a ministry perspective So we've been really excited as we've met with you and our life group staff is having a blast listening to what God is already doing and what he's stirred. We had one lady that heard about beach clubs, and those are on our elementary school campuses, and she's going to start a beach club on the campus that is near her. And then the life group is going to assist her in that effort. That's a big effort. Another person heard about young life,

and now they're a young life leader in the area. And when see it, the poll happened a couple of weeks ago. That person was out there with the kids, and was inviting kids to come to young life. And then we have another life group that has been working through Jen Wilkins' book "Dust to Dust," and at the same time, working through Ecclesiastes as a Bible study. Jen Wilkins' book, I'm about halfway through it. I've been reading it as well. And she does a fantastic job of describing a biblical view of aging. In a culture that she describes, this is an anti-aging culture. How can we age well and then look at every season of life in a biblical way? And what I love their life group is doing, they're not just reading the book. And sometimes I'll hear people, they read a book. And I'll say, well, tell me about the book. And I'll talk about the book. And I'll say, well, what are you doing with it? You've learned from the book. Well, nothing. Okay, well, to me, if you're gonna read a book where you can learn something, then do it. And so what I love about this group is they are, they're doing a shower for a mom from Mid-Cities Women's Clinic. I don't know if they've already done it

or are going to do it. So that's the front end of life. And now they're also going to do ministry in assisted living centers. And that's both ends of life where they're serving, which is what Jen Wilkins' book addresses. So that's something you could do as a group. And one of the visions that I've been casting since returning from sabbatical is just a heart for 60 and above, which includes me, by the way. And the shot clock is running out on 60s and above. Now, statistically, we're told, and we know that most people come to faith before they're 13 years old. That's a statistic. That is not biblical in the sense of, if it doesn't happen prior to 13, then we're out of luck because everybody else just then hardens their heart over time, not true. So what if we prayed that we had the same burst of awakening and revival in assisted living centers, in nursing homes, in retirement communities, people who have the resources to travel in their retirement years and have second homes? What if those became places where you saw an explosion of people coming to know Jesus? These are the ones on the shot clock 60 and above. Our time is running out and it's running out by the hour.

As I said to a podcast this week and it was so good, the guy was asked, he's a preacher. And he said, why do you always preach with such urgency? He said, because the time is running out, it is urgent. And people are going to heaven or they're going to hell. That's the end game. We don't have to yell about that. We can read from scripture and know that that's true. And then we'd want to respond to that. And someone's been gracious enough to bring the gospel to us when we want to bring the same to them. And so I just love that our groups are jumping in and we can just continue to pray and ask that God will move in that sixties and over. And then we'll see something happen there. We can read stories the same way we read about college campuses where students are coming in droves to Christ where it's happening with teenagers, which is awesome, by the way. But can we add to that other groupings of people? What if like 35 to 45 year old moms and dads? Well, there's a burst of salvation in that space and families are rocked and changed forever. So good news in what God is doing. Glad we can be a part of it and hope you'll continue to consider jumping in if you haven't already. So I want us to settle ourselves in the scripture for a few minutes and then we're going to work our way back to talking about Mid City's Women's Clinic

and what you just heard at the outset in the video. But I want us to think for a minute of why we settle ourselves in the scriptures. And the Psalmist is really helpful to us in Psalm 119. He said, how can a young man keep his way pure by keeping it according to your word? Your word I've treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The unfolding of your word gives wisdom, gives understanding to the simple. Establish my footsteps in your word. Your word is very pure, therefore I love it. We love God's word. He breathed it, He gave it to us. This is life for us from God Himself. So let's settle ourselves today in Luke chapter 10, verses 25 through 37. This is a story that's familiar to many. It may not be familiar to others. And I would say today there's always detail in the familiar stories that God uses in different seasons of life. I wonder if he might have something for us today as we move through this part of his word. And the way I'd like for us to wrap around a big idea is going beyond what is expected with our neighbors. Going beyond what is expected for our neighbors. I was studying, I ran across that phrase and thought that's a great way to think about this.

And I want to keep defining what a neighbor is so that we don't have a limited view of our neighbor, but our neighbor is where we live and all of us live somewhere. Our neighbor is where we work. So wherever we work, those are our neighbors. And our neighbors are where we play. And we play in a number of spots. And I think those three categories are good to help us think the vast number of neighbors that we actually have. So how do we go beyond what is expected with our neighbors? I use three questions or three ideas that flow from the passage of scripture itself. And so I just want to wrap it around three questions that are asked in this part of the scripture. And the first is a test question. And we begin in verse 25. And a lawyer stood up and put him to the test, saying teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? A lawyer in this particular reference is not how we think of an attorney today. A lawyer here would be a scribe or someone that was an expert in the law in the first five books of the Bible as we described them, the Torah. And this particular person would be an expert in these first five books. And there was a common debate in the day among religious leaders over eternal life.

And so he asked the question, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? But he's testing him. Now this is a great question to ask. It's one we all ought to ponder. And yet sometimes it could be a test for someone or it could be a genuine question like Luke 18 when there's this wealthy ruler and that ruler sees Jesus and he asks Jesus, he said, what do I have to do to inherit or to obtain eternal life? But he was genuinely asking the question. He was trying to make sure that he had eternal life. Now sadly, after Jesus answered, he walked away. But it was a genuine question. In this space, it is a test question. Another way to ask the question might be in Acts 1630, sirs, what must I do to be saved? The jailer said, after he saw this miraculous thing happen around him, he didn't look at that as a salvation. He said, what must I do to be saved? And that would be a question that hopefully all of us have grappled with a number of us have answered in Christ himself. And then still others, maybe you're wrestling with that. And I hope that could be a settled yes for you today of knowing Jesus as the way to eternal life. That we could all have the confidence of first John 5, 11 through 13. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life.

And this life is in his son. He who has the son has the life. He does not have the son of God does not have the life. These things I've written to you who believe in the name of the son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. You can know today, and it's only through Jesus Christ that we can have that life. But he asked the question, and then Jesus responds with a question. And Jesus was a master at the way he worked with people. Sometimes he would respond with a question back for them to think about it. And then oftentimes he would tell a story. In this passage, he does both. And here he asks a question, what is written in the law? How does it read to you? This lawyer or scribe was the expert in the law. Jesus just puts the question back on him to say, well, how do you read it? It's a good question. You know the law. You know what God's word says. It's the way we would say it today. So how would you answer that question? "with all your heart, and with all your soul, "and with all your strength, and with all your mind, "and your neighbor as yourself."

He takes Leviticus 1918 in Deuteronomy 6.5. He combines those two and takes from them for his answer. So he knew that portion of God's word, and that was his answer to the question. In our series sent all through the year, we launched it with Matthew 22, 37 to 40, which was the great command, "Love God, love your neighbor." And here we find ourselves in it again. Now the way I think about this, and the way we can think about loving God and loving our neighbor is with the ten commandments in Exodus 20. The first four commandments are vertical. They actually deal with our relationship with God. And these are practical ways we can love God by having no other gods, that God himself, as made known in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, now we know that is exclusively God. There's no other God. There's no other path to God. He is God. And then we love God by not trying to shape God to be like we want him to be, but instead to be shaped by him. We also love God by treating him with substance. We saying that God is holy, holy, and he is holy. Do we treat him that way in our language, our actions, our attitudes, all through we are?

Do we treat his name with substance? And then do we live in that work-rest rhythm that he's designed for us with the Sabbath? Then there's practical ways to love our neighbor. And I do note here that in this verse when you look at the breadth and the depth of it, just looking at it on a page, look how much there is to talk about that total devotion to God. Love God with your whole heart, your whole mind, your soul, your strength, all of who you are. It takes a lot of words. He's saying with your total devotion. And then by the way, if you do that, then love your neighbor as yourself. That's actually what will flow out as a love for our neighbor. So the love for our neighbor is those back six commandments. Honor your parents. And we do that whether our parents are alive or dead. We can still honor them. And we honor authority that God has placed. And then we can honor and love our neighbor by being sexually pure. And we can be protective of each other with a purity in sexuality. We love each other by not murdering each other or killing each other with our words, our actions or what physically happens in society. We love each other well when we are givers and not stealers. We love each other well when we are those who tell the truth and don't lie. We are lovers of our neighbor when we're not covetous of our neighbor, but instead we're content with who we are in Christ and what He's given to us. Those are some ways. I tend to think about the 10 commandments. When I pray them for you and for me,

I pray that we'd be a grace filled people, that we come under the grace of God, and that as we grow in that grace and our obedience, that this is what flows out of our life, what's in this space. So he answers well, Jesus said in verse 28. He said to him, you've answered correctly, do this and you will live. And that's part of what we think about, right? It's not just that we know the answer. This guy was well versed. He was well studied. He knew the answers. Jesus said, great, now do it. And he would have understood that Jesus was saying, do all of this and do this well. Do this and you'll live. You keep these two commands and the expressions of those and you'll live. So he says, hey, great, great job. And then I would say to our church today, great job this week for so many of you who did National Night Out, Courtney Chandler put that effort together for us. And so many of you participated and you had your neighbors over and you had 121 cards and you were handing them out to people and inviting people and neighbors you haven't met and new play groups were established. I understand with some moms who met some new moms and kids in the neighborhood. Great, great effort of loving neighbors this week in a national kind of night. And then I just want to remind us what I shared this summer about a friend. And as he came to the end of his life, he actually lived his whole life this way, And his desire was to collect as many friends as he could so that he could share the gospel with them. So they could hear the message of Jesus and he wasn't trying to shrink the number of his friends as his life came to a close. He was trying to increase the number of his friends.

And I would just say another way to say that is to collect as many neighbors as we can. And we continue to love that neighbor, whether they respond to the gospel or not. But what if we had the mentality of loving God in such a way that we were collecting as many neighbors as possible so that we could love them well at the hope that they might find Jesus, which leads to the second question. It's a justification question. So first, it's a test question. And we think about going beyond what's expected for our neighbor, Jesus is going to answer this particular question of justification with a story. Verse 29, "But wishing to justify himself, "he said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?'" What was he trying to do? He understood that when he answered Jesus' question on to his question about eternal life, when the lawyer answered his own question, he understood the implications of that. And now he needed to shrink his neighbors so that he could actually maybe have a shot at keeping what Jesus said. Are you trying to shrink down and get your tight three or four and that's it? And we're just playing an adult childhood game of TikTok, the game's locked? Or are we wide open to collect as many as possible?

Here's what Jesus said in response to his shrinking question. Jesus replied and said, "A man was going down "from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among robbers "and they stripped him and beat him "and went away, leaving him half dead." Now just for context, if we were to walk from the church to Fort Worth somewhere around downtown, that would be the approximate distance from Jerusalem to Jericho. Terrain would be different. It was a rocky kind of terrain. There were easy places to hide. So those who were committing crimes like these robbers, it'd be easy to hide and then attack someone. Verse 31, "And by chance a priest was going down "on the road and when he saw him, "he passed by on the other side." Remember Jesus is telling this story to a Jewish man who is a scribe. He's one of their religious leaders. And he's telling the story and you would expect the priest and a priest could only be a descendant of Aaron. And the priest's role was to serve in the temple and lead what would take place in the temple. So there would be an expectation that someone who was a priest would understand what God's word says and would know that when there's a person in need, that that person's need ought to be met. However, this particular priest passes by instead of stopping.

So the religious leader expectation is not what actually happens. Now, John has something to say about this in first John, chapter three, verses 16 and 17. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brethren need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? So if we have the resources and the ability to be able to help and we don't, what does that say about our own love for God? What does it say about the priest and his love for God? And then verse 32, likewise a Levite also when he came to the place and saw him passed by on the other side. A Levite was an assistant to the priest. Singers, the musicians, they did a number of things in the temple, again, there would be an expectation that that Levite would stop. Now the two religious people who are Jewish do not stop to help the man. Someone listening to the story would have expected one of those two to actually help. Now maybe they didn't have margin in their schedule and there wasn't time because they were too busy. Maybe there was a fear of uncleanness from the purity laws. Maybe there was fear of being attacked also and they didn't want to stick around. I don't know what the reasons were

but those can also be things we might say. how shocking this actually would have been to the one hearing it. But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him, and when he saw him, he felt compassion. Now, quick refresher, if you know what a Samaritan is, some do, some don't. But in 722, 721 B.C., somewhere in that time frame, Assyria attacked the northern part of Israel and conquered it. They deported a number of the Jews from Israel, and then the Assyrians populated the northern part. The Jews who remained would then, over time, intermarry with the Assyrians. That is who a Samaritan is. And because they're not pure in their race, the Jews hated the Samaritans. Their hatred was so great that it lasted for centuries. That was 722, 721 B.C. We see that same hatred carry over into the first century, A.D., and then the southern half of Israel was defeated by Babylon in 587, 586 B.C. They were in exile. And Israel was, for the next 70 years, Zerubbabel leads the charge back in when the exile is over. The Samaritans who were in Jerusalem offered to help rebuild the temple, and the Jews so hated them, even though the help could have been used, they refused it. There was a hatred there between them. And that is the shock in the story, that this Samaritan, when he saw him, he actually feels compassion for him. And we know earlier in Scripture that Jesus, when he looked out over Jerusalem and he saw the people, he saw they were like sheep without a shepherd, they were dispirited. And he felt compassion for them. And he said, "The laborers are few, but the harvest is plentiful." Kevin talked about this last week. And Jesus said, "There's all kinds of people that are wanting to come to Jesus, but there aren't laborers.

There aren't people out there telling them who Jesus is." So Jesus does something about, he feels compassion, and he says, "Pray that God would send laborers into the harvest." He does something about it. So when we have compassion or pity, we can't just stop with our feeling and say, "I feel bad for them." It's a feeling that moves to action. And so our prayer is that when we have some kind of feeling and emotion of compassion or mercy, that it moves to action for the person, verse 34, and it came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He put him on his own beast, brought him to an end, took care of him. On the next day, verse 35, he took out two denariye, that's two days' wages, and gave them to the innkeeper and said, "Take care of him, and whatever more you spend when I return, I'll repay you." So what does Samaritan do? He's the hated guy, and he's the one that comes in. He's willing to give his time, he's willing to give his money, he's willing to come back and make sure he squares up with the innkeeper. He gives everything he's got to be a help to this man in need. Not exactly what people would have expected, but barriers broken. It only makes sense that Jesus would tell this story, because he was breaking every barrier, barriers between women, barriers between Samaritans, barriers between religious people. Jesus interacted and he mixed it up with everybody, with a desire that they would know and follow him. Are there any barriers we put up? Are there people we wouldn't help? These are a certain ethnic group that if you saw them stuck on the side of the road, your decision would be, "No, I'm not stopping to help them, but if it was someone else, yes, I'll stop and help them." Where's our stories in this?

But here's the Samaritan, so at least to the last question, it's a clarifying question. Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robber's hands? Jesus changes the question. The question was from the lawyer, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus changes it. He's not concerned about that question. He's concerned about what kind of neighbor are you? Which of these three, what kind of neighbor do you prove to be? It's James 1.22, "But prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves." Are we doers of the word? are we ones that we've experienced a grace of. And the man answered correctly. He said, "The one who showed mercy toward him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same." So the question that we're really asking today is not, "Who is my neighbor?" We've answered that question. Everyone's my neighbor. The right question is, for ourselves, is what kind of neighbor am I? Am I collecting up neighbors for which to show mercy? I think if we don't understand first the mercy of God towards us, we won't be able to extend mercy to someone else. I've shared the gospel in this already. I wanna share one verse that I think is a great one verse. There's a number of verses that capture it in one.

First Peter, chapter one, verse three. "Bless be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, "who has caused us to be born again "to a living hope through the resurrection "of Jesus Christ from the dead." Our salvation comes not because we first chose God, but because he first chose us. He's the first cause. He's the one that chooses. He's the one that causes us to be born again. And we're born again to a living hope. We're born from being dead in our sin, to being alive in Christ. And that's his mercy. It's according to the mercy of God that he would extend that salvation to us and take our sin on the cross for us and then God raised him from the dead. He conquered it. Once I received that grace and mercy from Jesus and now there's salvation in my life, then the logical way and the thing that would just naturally almost flow out of us if we understand the mercy that's been extended, that we too would be merciful to other people. So it's a total devotion to love for God that starts by God loving us. And once we receive it, then it extends to a love for our neighbor. Now what I'd like to do in our last bit of time

is to talk with Michelle Gregory, who you saw in the video earlier. She is the executive director for the Mid Cities Women's Clinic. And this is a great opportunity for us. We've partnered with them for years. And I just wanted you to hear firsthand from her what is happening with Mid Cities Women's Clinic. So Michelle, if we could just kind of start with a little bit of your story and then how you landed in this role, it's really neat, there's so many people in our church when I hear them, they end up doing things and it really wasn't what they were aiming towards and God did something and moved them in it. So I'd love that piece of your story. - Thank you. Thank you guys so much for allowing me to be here. Mid Cities Women's Clinic was, has always been an important part of my life. Being a part of the church it was birthed from before, which was for Spadicillus back in 1984 where the Jimmy Draper preached a sermon called Death America. And that was a bold message. I didn't realize that Southern Baptist were not speaking out against abortion at the time. And it was about how critical it was for the church, not just to say they believe in life, but actually to do something about it,

to come alongside, to get in the trenches with a woman who's facing an unplanned pregnancy. And to give her the support and speak truth and love and love her right where she is. And so that's what Holy Spirit did. He started, he stirred in the hearts of some people who started this ministry. And here we are 42 years later and we've seen over 41,000 women choose life for their babies. And we've seen, that's, yes, that's huge. (audience applauds) My part wouldn't come until years later, just I've been the executive director of Men's Cities for about seven years. And God clearly called me there. I did experience an unplanned pregnancy myself back at the age of 19. My husband and I were dating, we were both, we were both just a mess and running from the Lord. And the Lord just ran us right into each other and started drawing us to himself in such a beautiful way. Thankfully, I understood when life began. You know, scripture tells us that the God of this world has blinded those today and that they don't understand truly what scripture says that life begins at conception. And that's so clear. And, but I did understand that and I had a great support group of people

We have four kids and eight grandkids and it's amazing. I'm so grateful. But that's why I believe God used that part of my life to help give me a compassion and a love for women. And when the board interviewed me, in fact, just recently Lisa Sawyers, y'all know who she is, right? She's your precious pastor's wife. She's on our board. And our board is a godly group of men and women that just helped govern this organization to make sure we stay on the path that God has for us. But when the board interviewed me back seven years ago, I remember saying I'm not one of those people with the signs outside the abortion clinics, right, with that you just, I was always so turned off by that. But it's because of the heart. I didn't understand the full heart of the mission, right, that God had really given me a heart for the women because I understood what it meant to be in their shoes. I understood how easy it could be to make a decision that you would regret for the rest of your life. So that's how I came to be at Mid City's Women's Clinic. And I'm so grateful for this church in allowing us to be an extension and be the hands and feet of Jesus here to our community. Thank you. One of the things I think's important is to think about biblically, why we are pro-life. What does the scripture actually say? That's where we anchor ourselves. And I say that because you might come to our church and think that, you know, this is probably a conservative group of people, probably everybody, and here's a Republican and probably everybody's pro-life. And one of the things I learned in our World View series a few years ago, that unless I directly ask you the question, I don't really know what you believe. And what I've found over time is when I talk to people, there are more people that would have exceptions with abortion. They might be for a life to an extent, but the circumstance, they might say, no, I think abortion will be okay in this circumstance. So I know we just have a number of ways that people think about it. And I just wanted this to be an opportunity for someone that's in this space to just share from scripture while we believe that life is of value, regardless of how that came about. Well, knowing, I mean, you could break down the scripture much better than I could, but I know in Psalm 139 it tells us that we were knit together in our mother's womb. We're also told that before the foundation of the world, the Lord knew me. He knew me. He knew all of my days because time, the great expanse of time is nothing for God. And I think how beautiful it is to sit with the women that we sit with and understand, like even in the most traumatic of circumstances, and the most excruciating pain that they may have endured to get them where they are, and to know that even in excruciating traumatic circumstance, God has planned and ordained that life. And it's

up to him to sustain that life. And that's so beautiful to sit with that woman and feel the attention of it and understand that it's not ours to decide whether that baby should live or die. And we know that life begins at conception. You know that scientifically, and we also know it biblically when we look at scriptures. And so understanding that is the most important thing and the foundation of standing up and affirming life. But many of the women we serve are not necessarily headed towards preserving the life of their baby. Many are considering abortion when they come to see us. In fact, 60% of our patients actually are abortion minded when they come to see us, which is a huge number. And that's our hope is that she's able to come and sit with us there and stop and pause for a moment before she makes a decision. Because our job is not to convince her, right? Our job is to love her. It's to love her and say you're not alone. We're going to give you factual information, information that is accurate medically. But we're also with permission because she's in control of the appointment. We're going to share the gospel and talk to her spiritually about her life. Many don't understand the value of their own life and how loved they are by Creator God. And even if a woman leaves us and decides for an abortion, we're able to share with With her even, if you 'cause you're gonna need us. You know why, because the same enemy that tells that woman in her ear, she needs to end the life of that baby, it's the only way out, is the same enemy that speaks shame into her heart for the rest of her life. And so we're able to come alongside those with post-awardive healing and professional counseling, all sorts of options that are completely free into our community. - Thank you. - Well, I also want us to talk politically about this. And sometimes people are uncomfortable with that, but the reality is that if you read the scriptures,

so much of what is in the scripture is wrapped in what is going on in the political parts of the day. So we would be less than genuine if we talk about issues and things of our day, if we don't also put them in a political context. In the same way that when I talk to people and I know there's different views of how they see abortion, I know there's different political views in our church. Again, you might think, well, this is probably just, you know, a bunch of Republicans in here. I've also discovered over time that's not true. And so we have people in the room and online that are President Trump is the best president ever. And you can almost see no wrong. We have people that have great disdain for President Trump and for the current administration. We have people that have tried to vote for him one time, couldn't do it a second time, just couldn't stomach the thought of it another time. And then we have people that are on different parts of their political thinking. So I'm aware of who is in our church body. And so Michelle, what I would ask you is just your personal opinion. You're in this space way more than anybody in here. And how do you think about it politically when you see what you see and you see the impact

the laws and so forth can have? - I think first, even just to be able to say, even in my own family with our four kids and our eight grandkids and some of you are in here and you could probably not at me and relate. There's differing opinions on, stand on each side. And to be able to sit at a table where you just love no matter what, like I'm gonna love you no matter what, but I am gonna speak truth as a believer, right? And standing, sitting with women on a regular basis and understanding what they face, knowing that those who are, they're going online and they're getting an abortion pill that one party says is as safe as Tylenol. One party celebrates and allows abortions outside of their convention. It is so clear, it's a morality vote is what it is. Do I truly believe that life begins a conception? Am I gonna be the voice that speaks up for the unborn and for the woman who is going to regret this decision for the rest of her life or even just pay the consequences of it? And that's why, how I decide what to vote. I pray, I look at what the Bible says, and God turns the hearts of kings. Sometimes I feel like I joked in the last service, like I feel like I need to take shower after I vote, right? 'Cause it's not affirming everything for that politician that I'm voting for.

It's saying this party has said they will affirm this life and I wanna stand with them. And allowing God to handle the hearts and the consequences of decisions that are made for those in authority. - Awesome, thank you for that. So a few years ago, Roe v. Wade was overturned at something that we'd prayed for for, you know, ever since it happened. I realized when I shared that, I did it without having compassion and sharing our love for the woman, our love for the man, our love for the baby. So you do that beautifully in your compassion. So I think when you talk about this from the other side, on the political side, it's out of love and compassion and doing something for someone. So I learned a lesson in that one to always make sure people know how we're gonna care and love, you know, in the midst of it. But what is something that we may not know since Roe v. Wade was overturned that's going on with abortion and in the pro-life world. - Yeah, most people are shocked to know that abortion is still happening in the state of Texas. You know, there was a 21% increase since from 2024 to 2025. And we don't know if some of those numbers are inflated. It was a pro-abortion and goop marker that actually reported that.

But we know, I know what is to be true from the people that we minister to, right? From the people that we offer services to. And I'm seeing that trending where abortion pill is available online, and so the abortion clinics may be closed down in Texas, but the abortion clinics have just moved from brick and mortar to our own backyard, our own homes. Because medications are being routed, and I know what you're thinking, well, it's illegal for it to come through the mail. Yes, it is illegal, but there are shield laws and other states that allow them to route that our way, right? And we see it every single day. And that has become detrimental because it's not health care, right? When you're getting a handful of pills that helps one of those pills, Miffapristone, actually stops the supply to the baby to keep it from developing. So it cuts off the supply to the baby. The second of those pills actually helps that baby to come out of the uterus, right? And so the abortions are happening in our own home, right? For the woman, and with a lot of consequences, hemorrhaging, and if that was an ectopic pregnancy, that's very, very dangerous for the life of the mother, and even her future fertility. So that's not health care. And that's a big shock to some people. And that's why we still need to be doing what we're doing.

We still need to be there to have licensed medical staff that can come alongside and say, hey, OK, I see you're considering abortion. Let me walk you through some of the things you can expect, right? Or tell me a little bit about what you think you will experience with that. And then helping her understand medically what to expect plus one in four pregnancies and a miscarriage, so that may not even be a viable pregnancy. Let's do a sonogram, and let's see. And so many women, when we give them that sonogram and they hear that heartbeat of the baby, they understand there's a life in there. I don't know how many times we said, there's a baby. That's actually a life. So it's beautiful to watch the Lord turn the lights on in the minds of the people that we serve and also those that we're getting to communicate with in our churches. Just to understand the fight is like we want to value women's health. We want to empower them in a way that really speaks truth and love, but also is a voice for them who weren't in the meantime. - Thanks. Well, what are some ways, so we hear all this. What are ways that we could get involved and serve? Well, what is like an entry level? I don't have much time, but I would love to get in on this. And here's ways that could spend quite a bit of time. - Yeah, there's several here who are involved already.

But I want to mention our men. We have some godly men in this church. I just ran into West Millston after this last service. And his wife is one of our nurses, but then he volunteers for the men. And you know, 'cause men so many times are told that they don't have a choice. It's her body, her choice. But 80% of women will actually choose life if the man will speak up and be in that baby's life. And that's a huge percentage. I think about just the value of his voice as a father saying, I'm going to stand in the gap. In fact, I'll share this before, but I'll share it really quickly. We did have a man who did that recently. In fact, he was in the sauna room. They were both abortion minded. He and his partner. And he had met with one of our men. And then when he saw that sauna, and he saw that baby's heartbeat, he was so moved with compassion for the life of his baby that he got on his knees beside the sauna table and he begged and pleaded for the life of his baby. And it was beautiful to watch. They called us months later and said, we're so grateful for you. Thank you, the mama chose life and their proud parents. And that's the joy and the power of that voice.

And I'm so thankful for that man volunteer who came in and met with him and just was there to pray with him, to educate him, to come alongside him. We have that both for men and women. Then we have medical volunteers. We need nurses and sonographers that actually serve our patients. We have some staff and some volunteers that work so beautifully together. We have something simple like a craft that you could do that puts those sauna cards together end of that, you pray over those sono cards. And there's so many stories of Holy Spirit really moving in the hearts of that mom and her choosing life. Just as a result of that scripture, that card that was right there in front of a retainable source of life. So many other ways administratively and different ways you can be involved. But my prayer for you is you just ask the Lord. I never saw myself in this role. And God called me and he showed me how he was moving in my life to be part. So what is your part? And he'll make it really clear. That was one of the advantages I have with Lisa being on the board. I see some things that come through. And the other day she is so excited because somebody sent a video of a salvation story. And it was just really cool watching the ladies share it. So can you tell us that story? I think I'll be encouraging for people. Donna Childress is our Haslett Clinic Director currently. And she is doing a phenomenal job. She goes to this church. And she was in the counseling rooms one day with a patient that had come in and was just so broken. And she was coming in for an STI test which is a sexually transmitted infection. Having to meet with one of our medical team. And she was just obviously broken. And her story was that her husband had cheated on her and he had just recently divulged that to her because he said she'd become quite boring in her grief. He said you just won't stop crying. And the grief had come from them miscaring just a few months prior. And she was at a place of almost hopelessness. And Donna got to share with her by permission, got to share the gospel with her about who Jesus is and him taking on our griefs and bearing our sins and our sicknesses and our burdens. And she laid all of that on Jesus and that counseling

room and received that new life and left a completely different person. That's so awesome. Thank you. So Francisco, you'll never sit on the front row again. I'm going to ask you to pray over Michelle. You good with that? Good night. I'm sorry. I did. I did. I called him Francisco. They're my fire. It's Gerardo. You're the best. All right. We want to pray for Michelle and for just for her personally, her leadership and then pray for the ministry itself. And then you can pray forgiveness for me. Not at all, Ross. I still love you. Heavenly Father, I just thank you so much for your goodness, for your love, for the mercy that you give us freely each and every day, Lord. I pray for Michelle and the ministry of Mid City's Women's Clinic, Lord. I pray for all the lost souls that are out there, Lord. I pray for all the women. I pray for all the men. I pray that you give the men courage to stand up for their kids, Lord. It's so heartbreaking every time you hear stories of women that choose to terminate a pregnancy simply because they feel lost, because they feel hopeless, because they have no other course, or at least that's how they feel. And instead of having the men on their corner that can support them and be their bedrock, as we're called to, we're called to be the head of our households. We're called to support our women to love our women as Jesus loved the church, Lord. It's so heartbreaking. I pray for strength, for courage, for Michelle, as she endeavors in this task that's been placed on her, Lord. I pray, I pray for guidance, for knowledge, for the sermon. I thank you so much, Lord. I thank you so much for your love. I pray for our congregation, Lord. I pray that you just light a fire in this, in all of us here, Lord, that we don't take for granted that just because Roe v. Wade was overturned, that the fight of life is over. I know how much more easier it has become simply taken appeal, especially when we're told each and every day that it's as simple as saying a Tylenol, a motrin, an aspirin, it makes no sense to me, Lord. I pray for all of our hearts, I pray for repentance, I pray for your love, Lord. I asked all this in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. - So I'm gonna have Michelle and her husband Russell. They're gonna go to the mission kiosk. And so if you'd like to speak with her more, she'd be available to do so.

We'll also have our prayer team here. If you'd like to talk with someone, you never know what these kind of things stir. And so we'd love to be able to walk with you in anything that's hard or difficult. We'll have staff in the hallway as well. So thank you for just being willing to be vulnerable if God puts out on you in this moment. If we could, let's just be quiet before the Lord. I'd like to do that at the end. And if there's specific things that God is saying to you or working in your own heart, that this will be a moment to solidify that before you leave and then to continue in it. So let's be quiet before the Lord. [BLANK_AUDIO]