It Grows With Boldness | The Story Isn't Over

Welcome to Reach KC everybody, it's so great to have you guys with us, I just want to invite y'all to stand up and join in with us. I pray that you'll stand up and hear me out. All of your needs. I pray that you'll open my heart and mind. I hear bodies trying to run. You dance the daydream. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I complain, every weapon born against me. I pray, in the mighty name of Jesus. I draw the covenant down to earth. The enemy has no right to come near my family. No, no secret under God's wings. No matter the circumstance. Of course, it's in my destiny. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I complain, every weapon born against me. I pray, in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I complain, every weapon born against me. I pray, in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. Oh, I know all the power of fear and darkness. For my soul is every key to every victory. I hold in the mighty name of Jesus. I will not fear. I will not fear.

When the enemy comes near. On the doorframe of my life. The blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear. I will not fear. There's an army of angels here. I'll protect it on all sides. The blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear. I will not fear. When the enemy comes near. On the doorframe of my life. The blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear. I will not fear. There's an army of angels here. I'll protect it on all sides. The blood of Jesus Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray. Only for the power of heaven. I proclaim. Every weapon pointed against me. I pray. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. Yes, I know. All the power of fear and darkness. No obstacle. There's every key to every victory.

Oh, I hope. In the mighty name of Jesus. I will not fear. I will not fear. When the enemy comes near. On the doorframe of my life. The blood of Jesus Christ, I will not fear, I will not fear There's an army of angels here, I'm protected on all sides The blood of Jesus Christ, I will not fear, I will not fear When the enemy comes near, on the doorframe of my life The blood of Jesus Christ, I will not fear, I will not fear There's an army of angels here, I'm protected on all sides The blood of Jesus Christ, is the mighty name of Jesus I pray for the warlock power of heaven I will stay, everywhere they torture me I'll stay, it's the mighty name of Jesus It's the mighty name of Jesus Yes I know, all the power of fear and darkness I must go, there's every key to every victory Yes I know, it's the mighty name of Jesus It's the mighty name of Jesus It's the mighty name of Jesus Yeah! As the spirit was moving over the waters The spirit come over us Come rest on us Come rest on us As the spirit was moving over the waters The spirit come over us Come rest on us

Come rest on us Come down, still we can do it We can walk on, we can move You're here and I know you are moving I'm here and I know you are moving Won't you fill us Lord As the spirit was moving over the waters The spirit come over us Come rest on us Come rest on us As the spirit was moving over the waters The spirit come over us Come rest on us Come rest on us Come down, still we can do it We can walk on, we can move You're here and I know you are moving I'm here and I know you are moving Come down, still we can do it We can walk on, we can move I'm here and I know you are moving Won't you fill us Lord Fire and wind, come and do it again Open up the gates, let heaven on in Come rest on us Come rest on us Fire and wind, come and do it again Open up the gates, let heaven on in Come rest on us Come rest on us

Come down, still we can move We can walk on, we can move You're here and I know you are moving I'm here and I know you are moving Come down, still we can move We can walk on, we can move You're here and I know you are moving I'm here and I know you are moving We can walk on, we can move Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Calm down, Spirit, when you move, you make my heart pound. When you fill the room, get here and I know you are new to me. I'm here and I know you are new to me. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. You're all we want. Rest on us. Rest on us. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. You're all we want. Rest on us. Rest on us. Holy Spirit, come rest on us. You're all we want. You're all we want. You're all we want. You're all we want. You're all we want. You're all we want. You're all we want. You're all we want. This is my surrender. This is my surrender. Here is where I lay it down. Every lie and every doubt. This is my surrender. And I will make room for you. Do whatever you want to do. Do whatever you want to do. And I will make room for you, for you. Do whatever you want to do. ♪ Do whatever you want to do ♪ ♪ Here is where I lay it down ♪ ♪ Every burden and every crown ♪ ♪ This is my surrender, this is my surrender ♪ ♪ Here is where I lay it down ♪

♪ Every lie and every doubt ♪ ♪ This is my surrender ♪ ♪ And I will make room for you ♪ ♪ Do whatever you want to do ♪ ♪ Do whatever you want to do ♪ ♪ And I will make room for you, for you ♪ ♪ Do whatever you want to do ♪ ♪ Do whatever you want to do ♪ ♪ You're hiding away, hiding away ♪ ♪ Shake off the crowd before my redemption ♪ ♪ Break down the walls before my redemption ♪ ♪ You'll always better, you'll always better ♪ ♪ Shake off the crowd before my redemption ♪ ♪ Break down the walls before my redemption ♪ ♪ You'll always better, you'll always better ♪ ♪ Shake off the crowd before my redemption ♪ ♪ Break down the walls before my redemption ♪ ♪ You'll always better, you'll always better ♪ ♪ Shake off the crowd before my redemption ♪ ♪ Break down the walls before my redemption ♪ ♪ You'll always better, you'll always better ♪ ♪ So much better, so much better, so much better ♪ I think some of us would be so pushed off by a relationship where Jesus has me to experience nothing but religion. I grew up in the church, I grew up with people that were very judgmental. And one thing I wanna tell you guys is, that is not the Lord. He loves us and He takes us how we are.

And then He puts all the pieces we came with back together. We don't have to have it all together from the start. He's just like, give me your heart. I just want your heart. I just want who you are, whether you're a mess, whether you're broken, maybe you do have it all together, but I just want you. And then He walks out a relationship with us. Doesn't expect us to know everything or have it all together. He just expects us to be authentic with Him because He's an authentic God. ♪ Shake up the ground for my tradition ♪ ♪ Break down the walls for my religion ♪ ♪ You're always better, you're always better ♪ ♪ Shake up the ground for my tradition ♪ ♪ Break down the walls for my religion ♪ ♪ You're always better, you're always better ♪ ♪ Shake up the ground for my tradition ♪ ♪ Break down the walls for my religion ♪ ♪ You're always better, you're always better ♪ ♪ And I won't make room for you to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ To do whatever you want to, do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ And I won't make room for you, for you to do whatever you want to, do whatever you want to ♪ Thank you, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, your way is so much better than ours. God, I believe that there are people in this room this morning that have walked in, carrying burdens that they were never meant to carry, God, carrying hurts on their heart, walking around with insecurity, dragging their shoulders down, God, holding on to lies from the enemy

that they were never meant to hold on to in the first place, God, Lord, but your way is so much better. When we walk into the room and your presence surrounds us, God, Lord, it reminds us of who we are, God, that we are called, that we are chosen, that we are anointed, that we are redeemed, that we are restored, that we are a new creation in Christ, God. Lord, we are not what the world has told us that we are. God, we are what you have called us. You call us your beloved. You say we are fearfully and wonderfully made. God, you say that we are new in your sight. We are holy and righteous. We are part of the royal priesthood, God. Lord, we are not what the world has proclaimed over us, God. We are what you have said about us, God. Your ways are so much better than the world's ways. The world wants to condemn us. The world wants to tear us down. The world wants to tell us we're not good enough, God. But you say, you say that we are good. You say that we are clean. You say that we are healed. You say that we are redeemed, God. We will not hold on to the lies. We lay them at your feet, God. We say these burdens are not mine. We cast them at your feet this morning. We say your way is better, God. Your way is better, God. Your way is better, God. Shake up the ground for my tradition.

Break down the walls for my religion. Your way is better. Your way is better. Shake up the ground for my tradition. Break down the walls for my religion. Your way is better. Your way is better. Shake up the ground for my tradition. Break down the walls for my religion. Your way is better. Your way is better. So much better. So much better. So much better. So much better. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you that your way is so much better. God, you are so good. You are so good. We thank you for your presence this morning. We thank you for your Holy Spirit that is falling in this place. We thank you for what you're speaking over our hearts right now, here, in this moment, God. Whatever we brought in, we lay at your feet. We lay it at the altar. We say we will not pick this up again, God. It is yours. Have your way in this place this morning. We love you. We worship you.

We thank you, Jesus. And we say amen. Amen. Good morning, Reach KC. It is so good to see you in the house of the Lord this morning. As you have a seat, turn to your neighbor and say, I am so glad to see you. Well, good morning, Reach. It is so good to have you guys in the house this morning. If you're new around here, we just want to say welcome home. Welcome home. We believe that when you walk through the doors, it's not by accident, but the Lord is calling you deeper. He has something for you this morning. So, if you're new around here, open your ears to hear the word of the Lord today because Jesus is calling you home. And we're so thankful that you've joined us today. You know, over the past month, not only have we sent mission teams out, but we've welcomed mission teams in. And I've just been really reflective of what the Lord has done in our life over this past year. If you don't know, we are reaching our one year anniversary of moving from Texas to Kansas City to be a part of Reach KC. And as we get closer to that anniversary date, I've just been really reflective of God's goodness in our life, how faithful he has been, how he has moved and how he has called us here. And especially over this past month, just being with these missions teams and going out, I've just seen the faithfulness of God in our lives and the calling that he has placed on our lives. And I'm just so thankful. I'm thankful that we get to be a part of what's happening here at Reach KC.

You know, and a lot of this has started simply because our family decided 14 years ago that we were gonna give everything we had to the Lord, that we were gonna fully submit our lives to him, that we were gonna say, Lord, whatever you have for us, our answer is yes. I had a pastor that taught me years ago to always walk around with a yes on my heart, just ready to say, Lord, wherever you call me, if you say, I need somebody to go, here I am, send me. If you need someone to say, here I am, I'll stay here. Whatever you say, Lord, I am fully submitted to you. Second Chronicles 16.9 says that the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him, fully committed. The Lord is looking for those who say, I have a yes on my heart, God, whatever you want from me. Lord, you want my family, here's my family. God, you want my job, here's my job. God, you want my finances, here's my finances. God, you want my surrender, here is my surrender. All of it is yours. I can do nothing without you anyway, so God, I fully surrender to you. When we fully commit our hearts to the Lord, that means we walk around with open hands. We don't grasp anything too tightly. We hold our hands loosely and we say, Lord, if it's for me, give it to me. If it's not, take it away.

I want to be submitted to your will and your way. You know, and for us, we submitted and we said, Lord, we'll move across the country to go to a new place and come and be a part of what's happening here, but that wasn't our first yes. That was years and years and years of us saying, Lord, whatever you want from us, we will say yes to you because we are committed to the heart of God. Whatever he has, we want to be in his will at all times. And so 14 years ago, one of the first things that we submitted in was our tithe and our offering. The Lord said, hey, Jesse, Forrest, I want you to fully trust me with your finances and I want you to give me that first 10%. Now being real here, we were living paycheck to paycheck and that 10%, it was scary, right? To say, Lord, okay, I'm gonna give you my 10% and I'm gonna trust you that you're gonna provide through my 90% that I have left. Can I tell you that the Lord has proven himself faithful over and over and over again? We've been tithing for over 14 years and never have we gone without. God is Jehovah Jireh. He is our provider. So he takes care of all of our needs, every single one of them. You know, even moving across the country, that was a big decision. We gave up everything, but God has proven himself faithful

over and over and over again. I wanna challenge you this morning that when you give that 10%, I know it's scary because I know 14 years ago, I didn't think that we could even possibly give up 10% of our income, but yet God is faithful to his promises. And he says, test me in this. It's only area in the Bible. He says, test me in this and see that I will not open up the storehouses, the blessings of heaven over your life. He will prove himself faithful as we prove ourselves faithful to him and say, we trust you, Lord. So give of your tithe. If you haven't tithed before, I challenge you, give that 10% and see what the Lord will do with the remaining 90%. And then if you are a tither in the house today, maybe the Lord is calling you to go above and beyond in your generosity. I believe that there are people in the house this morning that have a spirit of generosity on him. And the Lord is calling you deeper. He's saying, hey, you've trusted me with your 10%. Do you trust me with more? Do you trust that I can do even more with your finances, that I can do even more with what you're giving? That's why we talk about the build 900, right? It's that above and beyond of our tithe.

It's not the first 10%, it's above that 10%. And we believe that with that build 900 that we are going to be able to move into our new facility Into our new building and that the doors are going to swing wide open and we are going to see more and more people Come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. There are so many lost people out there guys There are so many people that don't know the truth and we want to see more people come to heaven with us We want to see them welcomed redeemed restored and healed in Jesus name So maybe you're giving your tithe I'm gonna challenge you this morning to pray and see if the Lord lays it on your heart To go above and beyond in your generosity and make a commitment to build 900 as well As we're so thankful for your generosity in this house. We couldn't do it without you God is providing through you so that we can reach the lost in Kansas City This morning. There's multiple ways you can give you can give online you can give through the app You can simply put it into the buckets as our ushers come forward today. Let's pray together Heavenly Father Lord, I just thank you Lord, I thank you For the work that you've done in our personal lives God Lord how you have taken the little that we could bring God and you have multiplied it so that we can reach even more God Lord, I thank you that when we bring our 10% when we bring our tithe to you God Lord your word says That you will open up the storehouses for us God that you will provide for us Lord that you will take care of our needs And so I thank you for your word. Thank you that your promises are true God Lord, I pray over every giver this morning no matter how big or small God I pray Lord that they would trust you with their giving God and that you would show up in their lives God Lord that you would show up in blessings that they didn't even anticipate God Lord They would be reminded that you are the one that takes care of them Lord, I pray that you would bless this offering this morning and you would multiply it so that we can see the multitudes come to know You Jesus so that we can see the lost be found Lord. We love you. We praise you We give our offering to you this morning in Jesus name. Amen If You are

New around here or this is your first time coming to reach Casey We wanted to let you know that we have an amazing kids department Where your kids can go and learn all about Jesus on their level Our kids department is for newborns all the way up to fifth grade and we would love to help you get checked in You can simply go out to the lobby right now and go check in your kids We'll have a volunteer ready to help you get set up speaking of kids We are so excited to offer BBS right here at reach Casey this summer This is for our children ages kinder to fifth grade We're gonna have it right here at reach Casey July 6 through 8 from 9 a.m. To 11 a.m Bring your kids and get ready for victory in Christ at our BBS this summer If you want to stay up to date with everything happening at reach Casey We want to encourage you to download the reach Casey app so you can keep up to date With all the events that are happening throughout the year now as many of you know We not only have missions teams that are coming to reach Casey But we also send teams out check out this recap video from our latest missions trip to the LA Dream Center About 15 years ago before I ever moved to Kansas City. He told me he said I'm not done with you I'm gonna take you places and I'm gonna get your hands dirty in places that Christians won't go into Well, we're on a dream center. We're in the Watts project district. We're praying for these people. We're handing out food I remember I looked around at the neighborhood and I said God I love this And so I was standing in that moment and that was a deep revelation for me And while I was out there God really I guess the best way to sum it up would be that He finished taking my heart stone and turned it into a heart of flesh Received a phone call from my son-in-law because of our missions trip and some of the outreach that we've been doing That he felt led in his life to start doing homeless outreach himself the fact that we were able to walk through there and Be protected because the Lord was protecting us as we were Getting to minister to these people these broken people just seeing our group come together and Handle the tasks that were given to us out there and I highly encourage everybody Start saving money now because another one's coming up soon

Welcome home Amen how many of us are excited for that? I'm gonna bring my brother Tyson up here because how many of us know that by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony that things can happen, but we got something that we wanted to share with everybody. Is that microphone on? Okay. It's on. Check one. Mic check. Mic check. Mic check. Check one. Hello. There he is. Come on now. So many of you guys know me. I had an opportunity. So I was sitting in county for like nine months and I had an opportunity to fill out an application to go to Reach Homes. And on that app I put the reason why I wanted to go to Reach Homes is because I didn't know how to have a walk with Christ. I really didn't. I thought I knew. I thought I had everything figured out, but I didn't. Obviously I was in jail, right? So through that, I've been spending 11 months at the Reach Home and about to graduate next month. It's 23 days and a wake up. So that's where I'm at. So through that, I've had some brothers at the Reach Home just help guide me and strengthen

me and pour into me. And I thank God for people that actually surrender to Christ and what his will is because without this ministry, I don't know where I would be, honestly. And on top of that, I've got another thing that I would like to do and that is there's a woman that has been helping me grow and really without her, I wouldn't be able to do it. So in our living word, it talks about in 2 Corinthians 6.14, it says it's not to be unequal to yoke. And so with that, you know, you think of this ox and an ox can pull, say, a thousand pounds, right? And so you've got another ox, you tie a yoke upon it, and it can pull 2,500 pounds. So you can do double the weight and plus more. And so I get to serve with this lady and City Kids, and we've been doing an excellent job in uptown. And I want to ask her if she would marry me. Come on up here, Ashley. Come on, can we celebrate with them? Amen. God bless you guys. All right. Now we got to get down to business, amen? And y'all got to wait to get married before y'all get down to business. Glory, hallelujah. See, that's the great thing about Christian marriage is you get to... Anyways, we'll go into that in the relationship series later on. Amen, because we all know we need that, amen? The relationship series. Just for clarification, just so there's no muddy waters there. But hey, we are just so glad to be here, man. What a wonderful opportunity, amen, to just be able to see life and see things just transpire.

We're so happy for you guys, and I just believe the future is very bright. Well, hey, we are in a series that is titled It Grows With Boldness. Amen, and we're looking at this theme of church on the move. And when Christ left the earth and resurrected and ascended to heaven, he had this moment where he commissioned the church to go out and see people saved and disciples. and and so then he deploys the church on the move and it and it goes from the Gospels to the book of Acts and it kind of picks up the story and today I want to title my message the story Isn't over Amen, the story isn't Over how many of us has ever stopped watching a movie before it ever stopped? Amen, like like you was just I mean you was fed up. The movie just wasn't that good I mean the you know The it looked like all hope had been lost the villain was was winning the main character lost Everything. I mean the family was falling apart. Just the whole thing just looked hopeless I mean, it just wasn't very promising and if someone asked you it didn't matter if it was the last five minutes of the movie That you missed you would tell them that that Joker was trash That Movie was bonk. I mean it was it was terrible. But the truth is is that you really didn't even see the ending? Right and it's what you didn't know was the writer Wasn't finished The plot wasn't complete Literally the pain that you didn't even see the pain wasn't that you saw You didn't realize that it wasn't pointless You stopped watching the movie way too soon See you stopped watching it way too soon. And I wonder how many of us have done that with our own personal Lives, right? We've looked at a failed marriage. We've looked at some of these things that that are going on We've looked at an addiction. We've looked at a prison bid. We've looked at a Physical diagnosis or a broken relationship Or a season of regret and have come to the conclusion that that's just my life That that's just the way that it's gonna end my my my generations before me ended that way

Addiction was passed down broken marriages was passed down and I'm just going to have to deal with this Prognosis of whatever this is, but what if you're judging your life? From the middle of your story What if you're judging your life from the what if God is still writing and you didn't know it Maybe the greatest mistake that we make I think is assuming that God is finished because our life looks broken What looks broken doesn't always mean it's broken sometimes it's a figment of our Imagination it's this thing that we don't even know and realize but acts three reminds us that God has always been Writing one story and there's one story to it and that's it and that is the story of redemption And in that redemption there is moments and seasons of refreshing there is restoration There is things that is happening that we didn't even know could happen But we have to be able to see the end of the story and see it through so even if the story that you are in right now doesn't look like the season or the story that you want it to look like hang on because what if The story isn't over today. I want to show you three movements of God's grace that prove Amen that prove Underline that when you're taking notes. I want to show you three movements of God's grace that proves What the enemy intended for evil God is always able to redeem for good Every single time and so for the first moment movement in this passage We're going to be looking at Acts 3 17 through 21 but 17 through 18 for the first movement. It says God rewrites my past and God rewrites your past to Watch Acts 17 or 3 17 says this friends. I Realize he's talking to the people. He had just said that they had crucified the Messiah, right? I realized that you and your leaders what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance But God was fulfilling With all the prophets or what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah that he must suffer all these things

He said hey what you guys did it was in ignorance But God had a plan through it all see Peter had just accused them of crucifying the Messiah literally and Then he talks he goes on to start talking about ignorance. Why? because Peter is introducing them to the mercy of God. He's now all of the sudden taking them. See they were guilty. They knew they were guilty. They had blood on their hands. They knew they were guilty but they were also blind. See they were also ignorant. Peter isn't minimizing their sin in this situation. He's never reducing what they did. In fact he's calling it out for exactly what it is. He's never minimizing it but he's exposing their condition. He's exposing their condition. See they knew that Jesus had been crucified. They were the ones that shouted Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. We don't want that guy. Give us Barabbas and they stood in the crowd and they watched Jesus be crucified. But see they didn't truly understand who Jesus was. See they saw a carpenter while God saw a Savior. See they saw a criminal while God saw the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice. See they saw a problem but God saw the Messiah that he had promised all throughout these years and the tragedy wasn't merely that they killed Jesus although that is a tragedy. The tragedy was that they rejected what they could not even recognize. They rejected what they didn't even know and it's interesting because I love the way that scripture, this is why it's not enough to just read the verse of your day that pops up from YouVersion. Come on somebody. But you've got to actually dig into the Word of God and get a study Bible and check the references that it gives you so that you can go over here and read that because there might be a prophecy that's being fulfilled here in that or it talks about this and when he says to them about their sins that were done in ignorance, Peter is actually alluding to Numbers 15 where God distinguishes between two kinds of sin. He distinguishes between two kinds of sin. Sin committed in ignorance and sin committed with a high hand disobedience. High hand disobedience is open rebellion. It's defiant sin. It's this moment that isn't, it's knowing exactly what God said and

intentionally rejecting it. Hello church, rescue 911. It's knowing what God says in His Word not to do and intentionally rejecting it and according to Numbers 15, no sacrifice was provided for that kind of hardened rebellion. Knowing what the scripture says and blatantly just going right on through but for sins that were committed in ignorance, see God made a way for mercy. He made a way for mercy whenever it, see here's the beauty of this, the crowd deserved judgment. The crowd that Peter was talking to deserved judgment but instead Peter offers them mercy. Why? Because God recognized that they were blind. He recognized that why do you think that when Jesus was hanging on the cross he said forgive them for they know not what they do. See the sins were done in ignorance which meant according to the Old Testament law that there was remission for those sins and the very law that exposed their guilt also revealed God's heart. It revealed his heart even before the cross. God was making room for restoration. The greatest act of ignorance in human history also became the greatest act of redemption in all eternity. See they crucified the only innocent man who ever lived. They killed the Messiah but that they had literally, here's what's crazy is they had killed the Messiah that for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years they had literally been praying for. They knew that when the Messiah come that the restoration of the kingdom would take place and that's what they were believing that was going to happen and when Jesus came in a form of a baby in an unlikely situation they didn't think that it possibly could have been but yet God still used their rejection to accomplish salvation. See he used the greatest act of disobedience in order to accomplish the greatest thing that you and I have. Why? Because what they intended for evil God meant for good. See what looked like man's greatest failure actually became God's greatest victory. There are people that I believe are even actively in this room today that are still haunted by Decisions that you have made before you knew Christ Things that you have gripped Things before you knew the truth things before you understood God's purpose and listen The enemy will want to convince so many people that try to surrender their life to the Lord that you should have known better

Before you even knew better You should have known better before you even knew better. But see Peter's message today. It's God's mercy is greater than your ignorance Because the the father even on the cross said father forgive them for they know not what they do and that same Forgiveness would extend to everybody that is in the house today I believe and you may regret what you did, but listen God can redeem What you didn't even understand God can redeem because oftentimes we will move in ways that we don't even understand that there were that we were moving Before we ever come to know Christ before we ever came to do this thing before we ever actually heard the truth See, this is the thing that I love about the church The church is kind of a good thing and a bad thing It's a good thing Here let me read this passage to you It says you may regret what you did But God can redeem what you did not yet understand watch numbers 15, but those who brazenly violate the Lord's will Those who boldly walked through and violate the Lord's will whether native-born Israelite or foreigners have blasphemed the Lord See, I always wondered I always thought that like blasphemy in the Lord was like when you say GD You know, and I'm not talking about the gang. You know what I mean? I'm I'm talking about like, you know the the word or like when you say Jesus Christ when you stub your toe It's like don't don't use the Lord's name in vain. Don't blaspheme But this passage actually kind of blew my mind whenever I read this Because before all of this it talks about how if you commit sins and ignorance that there is a remission for sins for not only You but the whole community that was involved But then it goes into this and it says but those who brazenly violate the Lord's will whether native-born Israelites or foreigners so there is nobody in here that is excluded Have blasphemy in the Lord and they must be cut off from the community Since they have treated the Lord's Word with contempt and deliberately disobeyed his command They must be completely cut off and suffer the punishment of their guilt Now here's the good and bad thing, right? the good thing is

That the the church is the hope of the world It's the Bride of Christ We have the opportunity to come into a place like this and encounter the one true God We have the one opportunity to come in and surrender our life to the Lord and and just say God I'm willing to serve you. I'm willing to give you everything I'm willing to lead my family in the capacity that I'm ready I'm ready to lead you in or lead with I'm ready to do all of these things that you have called me to I'm ready to do all of this stuff and then you have the opportunity to fully surrender and lay it all down and not pick it back up and walk in unison with the Lord and you have All of that full opportunity and that is the greatest news in the world But here's the bad news Is that once you come to church and you hear the truth You're no longer ignorant I Don't know who y'all was thinking about over here, but they had somebody in mind a man But it's true That's the bad thing Because then once we come to the Lord or once we come to church then we have been made aware of those things and now It is our responsibility to walk in that now. It's our responsibility to say. Hey, I'm gonna be a faithful follower of Jesus Hey, I'm gonna walk this thing out Hey I'm gonna do this thing and here's the truth if God can take the hands that nailed Jesus to the cross and offer them forgiveness Trust me. He can take your mistakes and turn them into a testimony of his grace. I promise you But Don't you just love butts I Like big butts In scripture But, it requires you to take the second critical movement. And that is repentance renews my present. Repentance, see grace can rewrite your past, God can rewrite your past, but if you don't

allow repentance to renew your presence, then what are we even doing? Because there are these things in scripture that Tucker and I talk about as contingencies. It's the one thing that, that's why I say I like big butts, because there are big butts all over the Bible. You get this, if you do this, you have to do that, but you have to also do this. So if grace is going to rewrite your past, guess what? Repentance has to come before it, Acts 3 19, Peter's looking at the people, he's looking at them, and he's saying, hey, God can take away all of that stuff, because when you did it in your ignorance, they knew, Numbers 15, they automatically associated it, they knew exactly what it meant, because we did it in ignorance, wow, there was forgiveness for my sins, but now, repent, and turn to God, and your sins will be wiped away. They will be made clean, and after revealing God's mercy in verses 17 and 18, guess what happens? Peter all of the sudden reveals man's responsibility. So you mean God just don't take this from me? You mean he don't just clean me of all this stuff, and yes, he will clean you, but God has redeemed what they did in ignorance, but now Peter tells them, you have to respond. You've got a responsibility, why? Because mercy received without repentance changes absolutely nothing. If you take mercy, and you brazenly violate the word of God, and the Lord's will, you've blasphemed God. You've blasphemed, you have blasphemed the Holy Spirit, it's not when somebody says all of these words, I'm not saying you should say those, because I wouldn't disrespect God like that anyways, but I also would not take the mercy of God without repentance, because when you do, you are blaspheming the Lord. Notice what Peter doesn't say. He doesn't say, feel bad about your sins. When pastor gives the altar call, feel bad about them, and weep at the altar over them. No, no, no, no, no, that's not what he says. He doesn't say, carry guilt for your mistakes either.

That's not what he says. He doesn't even say, hey, maybe you should try harder next time, and you might actually get it right. No, he says, repent, and turn to God. Hear me church, repentance is more than just regret. It is way deeper than that. The crowd already felt bad. Acts 2 tells us that they were cut to the heart, which tells me that conviction isn't the destination. It's not enough to come into church on Sunday and feel convicted. That's not the destination. It's the invitation to repent. The conviction in your heart says, you shouldn't do that, and see, many people mistake conviction for repentance. Conviction says, I'm wrong, dang, I shouldn't have did that, but see, repentance says, I'm changing directions. I'm no longer going to do that. I'm going to go this way. That is no longer in my future because it was in my past. Grace rewrote my future or my past. He erased it. All things have been made new. My slate is clean. Old things have died, and behold, all things have become new, but I have to change my direction. See? I can't keep walking back into the same thing. Why? Because you cannot brazenly violate the Lord's will and expect the same grace that is given to somebody that did it in ignorance. See, that's why we can't compare our lives.

See, you can feel guilty and never repent. You can cry and never change. You can... hate the consequences of sin but still love the sin itself i love you guys if i didn't love you ask my wife i only talk greasy to people i love if i didn't love you i wouldn't be talking to you the way i am right now but i do it because i love you see see peter isn't calling them to an emotional moment it's not fabricating a presence so that people can be moved emotionally he's calling them to a transformational decision that will change the trajectory of not just their life but their family's life their kids life their grandkids life and they would literally be singing the blessing of a thousand generations and my children's grandchildren and their children i want you to look upon them see most people hear repentance and immediately think about what they're losing i'm not going to church because that means i gotta quit this they're just going to make me feel bad about the relationship i'm in they're going to make me feel bad about the addiction that i love to hold on to they're going to make me feel bad for looking at the stuff that i want to look at my phone they're my reels and i'm going to do what i want to yeah i know your algorithm says so and now you're wondering why you're still struggling with lust quit clicking on the bait i just don't understand why instagram just feeds me this because you are eating it i got instagram too and all i get is pastors motivational stuff and funny dad jokes that's what i click on do they try to bait you yeah but you keep scrolling see there there's a difference see we think repentance means what we're losing but peter actually emphasized that that repentance actually produces something see peter uses two words repent and turn repent means changing your mind turn means changing your direction see one is inward and one is outward one changes your thinking while one changes your living true repentance affects both you can't say that you have radically been impacted by god and yet still brazenly violate the lord's will and sadly this is where the church often gets stuck not just reach but the church as a whole in the world see many people want refreshing

without offering repentance see we want revival without surrendering our hearts without surrendering our hearts we want freedom without having confession we want restoration without turning directions in essence is what we're saying is we want god to heal what we're still holding on to we want god to heal what we won't release but see peter gives us this specific order repent first refreshing second see repentance isn't punishment it's a pathway the cross doesn't simply just make your stains less visible the cross completely removes them it completely see some people in the room are still carrying labels that jesus already erased you gave your life to jesus and you've been honoring the lord and you've been walking in it why are you still insecure about the things in your past jesus rewrote that that's part of the story it's a chapter in your book yes it happened why are you still dragging around guilt from a season that god has already forgiven why are we still identifying ourselves by what we did instead of what christ did and see peter says those sins can be wiped away church not just managed not put in a file so that we could remind you later they ain't your ex or your current that's not what they are it says that your sins would be completely wiped away and then and then peter goes on and says times of refreshing will come from the presence of the lord I love that because this time of refreshing actually gives the connotation of the Sabbath. The Jewish audience would have associated it with a Sabbath, which comes from God's presence, a rest that comes from dwelling in God's presence, a moment where everything else stops and you're actually able to just sit in the presence of God. And I believe that that's what we want when true repentance happens, because when I lay down my life and I say, God, I want more of you, I could sit at the altar of worship in my car, in my room, in the church, wherever I'm at, and just say, God, I just want to be in your presence. I don't want to get out of this. I just want to be here. It's literally Peter saying, refreshing flows from repentance. And the enemy has convinced people that repentance is lost, that if you surrender something to God, that you'll end up with less, you'll have less freedom, you'll have less joy, you'll have less fulfillment.

But scripture actually teaches the exact opposite. The reason that repentance feels painful at first for most of us is because we're letting go of things that we've actually been leaning on. You've been doing this for 40 years. You can't teach an old dog new tricks very easily. Well, you know, it's just, you know, I've always done it this way. I've trusted the things I've, I've always dealt with stuff like this. I've always had, I just have anger issues. I just have this. No, this is stuff that we've built our identity around that we actually need to let be stripped because we've been walking in the identity that we fabricated instead of leaning into the presence or identity that God had. But see is what we discover is God's presence is actually stronger than anything that we could possibly surrender. It's crazy to see what God could do in our life if we just let some of it go. Too many people spend years exhausting themselves, trying to manage guilt, trying to outrun shame, trying to fix themselves. You're just trying harder and, and the next time I fell, man, if I could just try harder next time and instead of doing this, then I'm going to get up and I'm going to quit doing that and I'm going to quit doing this and, and we think that if we could just do better, then we could do better and, and we make promises that we can't keep. And yet Peter says, turn to God. He doesn't say turn to, to, uh, self improvement. He doesn't say turn to behavior modification. He doesn't say turn to religious performance. He doesn't say turn to some program. He doesn't say turn to the, he said, repent and turn to God. See Peter isn't threatening them with judgment. He's inviting them to renewal. Saying, Hey, if you just lay it down, God doesn't promise just refreshing for today.

He promises restoration for tomorrow and for the life evermore. See point one was grace rewrites my past to his repentance, renews my present, which leads me to the third of restoration reclaims my future. Restoration reclaims my future. Why? Because if grace rewrites my past and repentance is going to change my present, then I need the restoration of God to reclaim my future. And Peter says this in verse 20, he says, then after you repent, not before you repent, but after you repent, then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord. Didn't say it was going to come from alcohol. He didn't say it was going to come from lust. He didn't say it was going to come from drugs. He didn't say it was going to come from money. He didn't say it was going to come. No, he said times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, but only after repentance. And then he will again, send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. You know, the one you kill. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. And now all of a sudden, Peter goes from this moment where he's saying what God wants to do in you to what God plans to do all throughout creation. Watch this progression. He says. Wipe sins away. Times of refreshing will come after repentance and then restoration of all things will happen. See, Peter is showing us that salvation is bigger than just forgiveness. There's way more to it. See, when sin entered the world, everything broke. Humanity broke. Relationships broke. Creation broke. Purpose broke. And death entered the world. And when death entered, pain entered. Shame entered. All of these other things entered. And everything that God created good was fractured by sin. From Genesis on, you can go back and watch.

God has been telling one story. I'm going to restore what sin destroyed. Every prophet in the Bible pointed to it. Every promise anticipated it. Every covenant moved towards it. And Peter says, this is what the prophets have been talking about all along. Hear me, church. God doesn't just forgive what's broken in your life. He restores it. He takes it and changes it and rewrite your story. Forgiveness is wonderful, but restoration is even bigger. Guess what? God didn't just forgive a man in prison when I surrendered my life in that prison cell. He restored a pastor. He restored a husband. He restored a father. He restored a leader. He restored a ministry that can sit on the front row and watch lives be changed by the presence of an almighty God that has grace so that people's lives could be changed and impacted and we get to see it. Because I said yes and I surrendered and I didn't brazenly keep going against the things that I knew when he convicted my heart. I changed it. It don't mean in a moment you get perfect. It means in a progress you change. God begins to shift you and change you in a way that your life will become noticeable to some of these things that is happening. Imagine driving through your neighborhood and you see this house that has just been abandoned for years. Come on somebody. It's like driving through the east side. And you see a house that has been abandoned for years and you can tell because the windows are boarded up. Come on the roof is sagging. You know it looks like the whole thing's got to be the paints peeling. I mean the weeds and the sapling trees have literally ate up and swallowed the yard and the house and some people would drive by that house and shake their head and say man that place is too far gone. They need to call somebody. Come on who's Karen? We need to find Karen in the neighborhood association and we need to have her down here at this house ASAP because this place has got to go. But then one day there's a crazy man like me that will pull into that driveway. I'm not that guy but I'm just saying I would be that guy and the new owner comes in and he pulls into the driveway and he gets out of the truck and he walks in and he walks up to the front door and he unlocks it and he begins to walk in through the room and instead of writing him off instead of seeing stuff for what it is he starts seeing vision and he starts seeing it for what it could be. It starts seeing it and for months even after he walked into that house it started looking worse. There was walls that was being torn down. There was rotten wood in the house that was being gutted out and thrown in the dumpster and there's this filled air with dust that is all

around the house. Dumpsters that have sat dumpster after dumpster after dumpster after dumpster and people drive by and they say see I knew it couldn't be saved. It's been too long and that dude still hasn't done anything to that property to make a difference but see what they don't understand is demolition isn't destruction when it's part of restoration. See the owner isn't tearing it apart because he hates it. He's tearing out everything that doesn't belong so he can rebuild what it was actually created to be and months later is what happens is when you drive by all of the boards are off. Guess what there's a fresh coat of paint on the outside and the inside. outside peanut butter, inside jelly, and you see lights coming back on, you see children playing in the yard, it looks like life has now returned to the house and now those same haters who said that it was too far gone now stop in front of the house and say there's no way that that's the same place, there's no way that that's the same person, there's no way that that's the same convict, there's no way that that's the same divorcee, there's no way that that's the same, there's no way, but guess what? That's the gospel church. That's what God does. When everyone else saw something to condemn, God saw something worth redeeming. When everybody else saw a prisoner, God saw a pastor. When everybody else saw a drug addict, God saw a worship leader. Amen. When everybody else saw a broken marriage, God saw a testimony that would get his grace and his word, and when everybody else saw a prodigal, guess what? God saw a son and a daughter that was coming home in the name of Jesus. See the enemy looked at your life and tried to say that it's too far gone, but Jesus looked at your life and said I know exactly what I have planned for them. I know this season that you're going through right now is hard. I know what you're dealing with right now is hard, but it's not the end of the story. It's not the end of the story. Don't allow this season and this moment to take you away. Don't allow yourself to walk out of the movie before it's over, especially in light of this week, of everything that has happened, and a lot of people in the room even know it. Hey, don't walk out of the movie because your current circumstance does not dictate the future of what God is still writing in your

story. That's not. See one day, restoration of all things is going to become, and guess what? There is no addiction in heaven. There is no abuse that is going to be there. There is no prisons. There is no cancer. There is no depression. There is no graves. There is no tears. There is no wheelchairs. There's no more funerals. Maybe, maybe today, your life feels like that abandoned house. When you're sitting all alone, you're thinking about everything that you have been through. All you see is the boards on the window. All you see is the interior that needs completely remodeled. All you see is the things that has gotten this house to the condition that it is in right now, and it and it it prevents you from seeing everything that God could do with you. Maybe that's you. Maybe you see yourself in this condition. Maybe you see yourself in this moment. Maybe you see yourself ashamed and broken, and you think all that God sees is a mess. Here's where Peter reminds them that God has always been writing one story all the way from Genesis to the prophets to the cross to the empty tomb from Acts 3 all the way to today, and it's this, is that there is a story of restoration, and God is in the business of rewriting the end of this story, and here's the truth that we must face today. The enemy, he can write a chapter in your book. Maybe you got two or three, but he don't get to write the ending. God gets to do that. God gets to do that. What could God do through you today if you would repent and turn? Listen, maybe you don't even know what that means. Well, hey, guess what? I'm glad that you're here because at Reach, our mission is to help you become a passionate follower of God. So we get to get you connected. We get to let you be a part of everything that God wants to do. in and through your life so you're right in the right place you're at a good place today but can i encourage you after today don't brazenly go through and violate let's surrender to the lord today if i can have everybody stand with me for just a moment nobody moving nobody i i i know i i know we're hungry i'm hungry too i haven't eaten all day i don't even eat on sundays before i preach so you can't be hungrier than me

here's what i know if you're in this room today and you say that's me pastor listen this is why i always say there's nothing else more important because what if the person that you walked in through was ready to surrender their life and you said hey let's go we got to get out of here what if but hey if you're in here today and you say hey today is the day i want to surrender my life to the lord for the very first time or maybe the very first time in a long time you haven't been walking with the lord and you say hey today is that day i want to do that right now in this moment i don't even know that that's what i wanted to do but since you've been talking i just feel like that's what i'm supposed to do i can't even hold my arm down i just want to put it up right now if that's you could i just get you to slide up your hand right now come on somebody i see that hand i see that hand anybody else come on i see that hand come on hey if that's you could would you be bold enough to just step out and come down right here so that we can pray with you we want to get you connected come on don't worry about what everybody else is thinking i know it can be embarrassing but but could you slide out of your seat hey if you raise your hand maybe you didn't raise your hand can we come down right over here with leon and and we just want to get you connected and be a part of a of a life giving church and breathe life into you and over you and pray with you and with you and through you and and and just believe that god is rewriting the story right now in jesus name come on there's still somebody else if you're in here and you just you you've been feeling it come on don't hesitate hey that's all right don't hesitate you couldn't make a better decision than right now than right now god is pulling on your heart right now in this moment come on there are more come on let's just say hey today right now i'm gonna surrender my life i'm gonna surrender my heart and i believe that god is changing me he's rewriting my story and he is doing what only he can do in jesus name god i will make room for you i will allow you to have all of me and everything in me god i just worship you could we spend the next two minutes and just say god i just want to make room for you i just want to give you all of me i don't want to hold on to anything else god i surrender my life right now in jesus name you hi i'm tim stalder reach homes director we just wanted to thank you for taking the time to watch today's sermon and we hope that the message spoke to your heart we understand that people who are in your situation often feel overlooked and pushed aside and we just want to let you know that we

do consider you as a part of our church family upon your release we look forward to you paying a visit to us while you're incarcerated take the time to reach out and write to us if you're looking for safe stable housing reach out to reach homes your ipo or your caseworker can help you navigate that process we look forward to seeing you again next week and have a great day