Pastor Doug Reed | The Responsibility of the Gospel

Welcome to Rich Casey everybody, it's so great to have you with us, I just want to invite you all to stand up and join in with us. There can be no place like home. There can be no place like home. There can silence no place. I know one day, there can empty out a grave. I know one day, it's the only name that saves. And it's worthy of all praise. I call you Jesus. I call you, I call you healer. Risen in reign and power. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you, I call you savior. Worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call your name. I am a king. With dominion over death. Hold to peace. When it's falling, never stop it. Use the heal. Let us cross the serpent's head. Resurrected, great I am. I call you Jesus. I call you, I call you healer. Risen in reign and power. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you, I call you savior.

Worthy of glory forever. Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call your name, chains break. Dry bones break. Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake. Every time I call your name, chains break. Dry bones break. Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake. Every time I call your name. No pain is now your sin. When will you break your before me? No pain is now your sin. When will you break your before me? When will you break your before me? Did things come alive? Did things come alive? Did things come alive in the name of Jesus? Did things come alive? Did things come alive? Did things come alive in the name of Jesus? Did things come alive? Did things come alive in the name of Jesus? Did things come alive? Did things come alive? Yeah, they come alive in the name of I call you Jesus I call you, I call you Healer Risen in reign and power Something comes out of the grave Every time I call you Jesus

I call you, I call you Savior Worthy of glory forever Something comes out of the grave Every time I call you Jesus I call you, I call you Healer Risen in reign and power Something comes out of the grave Every time I call you Jesus I call you, I call you Savior Worthy of glory forever Something comes out of the grave Every time I call you Jesus You call the sun to rise You lay it down to rest You hold this heart of mine You hold my every breath Such an awesome God So mighty, so holy So wonderful, such an awesome God So selfless, so generous So faithful you are You sing in majesty Pray in holiness You hold this hand for me For you are the living grace Such an awesome God So mighty, so holy So wonderful, such an awesome God So selfless, so generous So faithful you are

Such an awesome God So mighty, so holy So wonderful, such an awesome God So selfless, so generous So faithful you are And nothing comes close to the Lord Almighty, nothing less sweet as His love And mercy, nothing comes close to you Lord Almighty, nothing less sweet as His love And mercy, nothing comes close to you Lord Almighty, nothing less sweet as His love And mercy Yeah Nothing comes close Jesus, you're holy, you're worthy Jesus, the Son of God No one would cross to die But one even did ♪ Itself holds you down ♪ ♪ You are so blessed, such an awesome God ♪ ♪ So mighty, so holy, so wonderful ♪ ♪ Such an awesome God, so selfless, so generous ♪ ♪ So faithful, you are such an awesome God ♪ ♪ So mighty, so holy, so wonderful ♪ ♪ Such an awesome God, so selfless, so generous ♪ ♪ So generous, so faithful, you are such an awesome God ♪ ♪ So mighty, so holy, so wonderful ♪ ♪ Such an awesome God, so selfless, so generous ♪ ♪ So generous, so faithful, you are ♪ ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

♪ Who thought I'd find you at the lowest place? ♪ ♪ Who thought you'd feel me in the crowd? ♪ ♪ Who knew you'd make good on my mistakes? ♪ ♪ You're nothing like I thought you were, you're better ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God. What a God, what a God. Oh. ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God. To you, what a God, what a God. ♪ ♪ To you a heart, what a God, what a God. Oh. Oh. Oh. ♪ ♪ I thought you'd show for perfection. ♪ ♪ Cause what kind of God lives for the lost? ♪ ♪ They say it's all for a sinner but, you said, no it isn't. It's just another sin. ♪ ♪ No it's not, no it's not. Sing it again. I thought you'd show for perfection. ♪ ♪ Cause what kind of God lives for the lost? They say it's all for a sinner but, you said, no it's not, no it's not. ♪ ♪ They say it's all for a sinner but, you said, no it's not, no it's not. And you say, no it's not, no it's not. What a God, what a God. What a God, what a God. What a God, what a God. ♪ ♪ What a God, what a God, what a God. Whoa. Oh. What a God, what a God. What a God, what a God. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ You are my everything. In the highest place I reach is at Your feet. And I've done it all. The best thing that I've seen is Your voice. And I've seen it all. Your love has saved my life.

Forever satisfied. You are my everything. In one word is the only thing You see. And I've heard it all. If I feel Your heart and never see Your face, I still have it all. Your treasure of design. Forever satisfied. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. What it's all, what it's all. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. You're the hottest place I've ever been to. And I've done it all. The best thing that I've seen is your glory. And I've seen it all. Your love has saved my life. Forever satisfied. You are my everything. You're the hottest place I've reached is at your feet. And I've done it all. The best thing that I've seen is your glory. And I've seen it all. Your love has saved my life.

Forever satisfied. You are my everything. If one word is the only thing you speak, then I've heard it all. If I feel your heart and never see your face, I still have it all. Your treasure of this life. Forever satisfied. You are my everything. If one word is the only thing you speak, then I've heard it all. If I feel your heart and never see your face, I still have it all. Your treasure of this life. Forever satisfied. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything. Ohhh. Ohhh. What about, what about? What about, what about? You are my everything. What about, what about?

You are my everything. What about, what about? You are my everything. What about, what about? You are my everything. What about, what about? You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my everything You are my everything You are my everything Oh, we bless your name, church Bless his name Bless his name You're the blood of the lamb We bless your name, Jesus You are our everything, God Oh, we bless your name God, we feel you ministering to your sons and daughters right now Because God, I thought that you would show up for perfection Because I asked myself what kind of God would look for the lost And they say that it's over for a sinner But you say Hallelujah Yeah, yeah Oh, we bless your name, Jesus Lord, we are so thankful for your presence here We stand in awe and amazement of the God that you are And when that tomb was rolled away, they see that that tomb was empty Hallelujah

Hallelujah God, thank you for the transformation power We stand in awe and amazement of who you are God, we are so thankful for you We love you, we adore you, we worship you And all of God's people in the church, they gave it mighty Can we give them some praise in the house today? Hallelujah, grab a seat, tell your neighbor, welcome, welcome, welcome home How many of us are excited this morning or afternoon? Hey, I was thinking about the first time guest and I was like, yeah, this ain't your grandma's church No shade on your grandma's church, but I'm just saying Because when we tell you welcome home, we mean that you are actually home And for you to feel that you are home, that means you need to feel that you belong And we're here to say that we believe that God is looking for unlikely people From overlooked places to do extraordinary things, amen And just the way that you walked into those doors, you belong To the first time guest, we say welcome home And it is not by happenstance that your invite for you to come here on this resurrection Sunday but you have been diligently prayed for by that person that has invited you it is not likely that that person that invited you did not pray for you so God is already moving and our prayer is that at some point in time during this service that it would not be just an experience that you couple with lunch Easter Sunday and lunch it wouldn't be a coupling of these checkbox rituals but rather it would be an experience with God and then at some point in time you would respond to the Holy Spirit that is inside of you and you would choose Christ and to the rest of us we say welcome home the ones that are out there up there on the balcony we say welcome okay hey I got some I got some of this on first service I got a lot of that I didn't want to see it out there I remember a year ago I had my little baby and me and my wife we decided we would sneak into service with

our little infant child and we thought we would just sit up there in the balcony and no one would see us right and I forgot it was Easter Sunday and they just started just forming around of us and here can I admit something to you I heard the first cough and I was gone I held my baby I texted pastor I said I'm gone bro but here we are and we are celebrating that had a the most monumental day in history hey has nothing to do with a bunny but a risen king that came about their grave the ones that are watching on Pando right now we say you are loved you are loved and you are cared for you are celebrated you are seen and now that we have your attention because whether you like it or not you're here and while you're here we come to give you good news news that is honestly and pure to hope change your life and in Matthew Jesus is praying he picks up in chapter 11 verse 27 he says my father hasn't trusted everything to me no one truly knows the son except the father and no one truly knows the father except the son and to those whom the son chooses to reveal him then Jesus said listen come to me all somebody say all all who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest and I don't know how many of us came in feeling heavy he says take my yoke upon you let me let me teach you because I am humble and gentle at heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you is light and I think very often we find ourselves coming to church coming to Christ starting to pray however it may be in our hands are gripped we are white knuckling our sobriety we are white knuckling parenthood we are white knuckling our job we are clinging very tightly to the things that God is saying put on my shoulders and when we start to let that pride go and we start to let that greed go and we start to let that selfishness go all of a sudden that yoke becomes light and all of that talk of I don't know man it's just heavy right now begins to become very light yoke together with Jesus only amen so we're gonna give up take up an offering I can get some ushers up as many ways to give and scan a QR code you can text you can drop it in the bucket but God we love you and we thank you Lord for everything that you are doing not only in our life or in our hearts God but in the world

around us Lord we pray for salvation to those that are lost and to those that are far from you God would you work on our hearts and minister to our hearts and let us allow us to be receptive to your teaching because you will set you will teach us so God thank you for the access that we have in relationship with you God help us give with a cheerful heart to do it gladly out of obedience out of acknowledgement and most importantly God help us to give out of mercy Love, love that we have for you, God. May I ask that you bless the gift, that you bless the giver, in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Date night. Treat yourself. Barbecue stuff. Treat yourself. New shoes. Treat yourself. Freshie. Treat yourself. It's the best raffle of the year. Hi, I'm Pastor Jessie. And I'm Ford. This summer, we are taking a missions trip to the LA Dream Center with a team of 17 people. Our heart is to go and plant seeds where God calls us to go, but also come back with a changed heart and affect where we are now. Throughout the month of April, our team will be hosting a missions fundraiser

in the Fellowship Hall every Sunday. During our fundraiser, we'll be selling coffee from Burundi, Texas Heat Salsa, and Reach Missions T-shirts. We're also going to be doing an incredible raffle throughout the month of April. So come buy your tickets this Sunday. Don't miss your chance to help us sow seeds where God has called us to go. Come on, let's give it up for the missions. Can we do that one time? How about Kingdom Builders? Anybody in the house? Did anybody stop down there and get some Burundi coffee or anything like that? We're going to start over one more time. Come on, how about Kingdom Builders, everybody? How about that? How many of y'all are going to stop by that station after service? Y'all bunk, it's all right. I'm just kidding. Yeah, it's all right. I'll just get all the tattoos. It's okay. Like, it's all right. Pastor Doug's going to go with me. We're going to go and get a new tattoo. And so, yeah, he's already got one. Oh, she said he's already got one booked.

And so, well, hey, we are just excited for today and everything that the Lord is doing in and through Reach and in and through every single one of your lives. When we say Reach, we are talking about everybody that is represented here. And so we are just thankful for all that God is doing. If you are new here today, or just hasn't been here a long time, you can see one of these in the back of the pews in front of you. You can fill that out and take it to the Connect Center after service. We would love to get connected with you. Here's some of that Reach merch that they said was here. Look at that. How many of you would like one of those? I got 20, do I? 20, 20, 20, do I? 20, 25, 25, 25, 25, 25, 25, 35, 35. Oh, sorry. Look at that. That arm is just something else, ain't it? And so they brought that up to me and asked me to do that. Well, hey, we are just so excited that you are here. We just wanna welcome you home. And we just believe that my house is your house. It's all the Lord's house, amen. And so mi casa, yo casa. We are just so glad that you are here. How many of us came to have church this morning?

Come on, let's say it louder for the ones in the back. How many of us came to have church this morning? Well, hey, we are just so thankful for every one of you and just what God is doing. We're just excited. It is an honor of mine. We have some dear friends here today. Pastor Doug is here, but not typical. Is his wife always with him? And so we've got his beautiful bride, Jeannie, with him today. And so, come on, can we give it up for his better half, amen? He'll agree with that statement probably, you know, and so if not, we'll talk about it later. And so, but maybe that's thunder. I'm not sure what's going on, but the house falling in or what? We got a new house building right now, so amen. But hey, no, we are just excited. It has been a honor to have just relationships the way that we have. Pastor Doug and Jeannie, we love you guys. You guys are more than friends. They are spiritual fathers. He serves on the board of our church and he is just a blessing to this house in so many different capacities. He blesses the men's homes with the books and anybody else that has gotten one of them.

And can we just give a warm, warm, warm welcome and honor the man of the house today, Pastor Doug Reed? Can we do that? Come on, let's give it up for him one time. Well, praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Hey, one more time, would you just give it up for your whole team here? What a great team they have here at Reserve. It's exciting to see what God is doing and we really do wanna be a part of it. And I really do, I've got a big reach tattoo right here in the middle of my chest. I, if I flex, my shirt. Would fly right off and it would be a whole thing and I mean, you know, maybe later for the right love offering I will show you amen Well, I it is it is really neat what God is doing I'm excited about the new building although my god We work so hard on this one and then they go and buy another one and they're just you know You know, so now we got to start over but but but it's amazing what the Lord is doing and and I'm just excited about it But for those of you that don't know me it is Easter Sunday. So probably quite a few of you don't my name is Doug Reed I head up a ministry called partnership international and we we take about four to five four to five hundred people a year on missions trips We go all over the world. We do a ton of building projects Basically, what I do is I speak at conferences and churches around the country I'm also the teaching pastor at three different churches and I'm a writer and I take all of that influence Influence and I use it to talk people into going to some of the world's poor places and doing meaningful missions work You guys have invested a lot in Burundi East Africa where your church actually gave $10,000 to help build a building for a feeding program and it's just been incredible My life versus Proverbs 31 8 speak for those that can't speak for themselves and ensure justice for those that are being crushed So I believe that God gives you a voice. I mean, you know, you all have a voice Amen, you you might think that I'm just nowhere you you know, somebody is dreaming to be as far along as you are

Amen, there's somebody behind you and you can be an influence and and thanks for what you guys are doing so excited about forcing Jesse moving here and You know what? You know It's really what I'm talking about today a passion for the gospel that is so real that they would move from suburb Texas to come on crazy reach church, and it's probably not thunder It's probably somebody, you know getting gang banged out there with a gun or something like that. That's what's going on My first time to ever preach here. There was a shooting right over here and it's a true story and And we didn't get to go to lunch because we had to hang out and give out the footage and stuff And by the way, those of you that are here on Easter Sunday, don't you know you're already messed up man The Baptist are at the restaurants and your roast is probably already burned. Amen. So we might as well just have church, right? Come on Well, well, you know, you know, I am so taken up this week with this idea of responsibility What a responsibility that our Lord and Savior took upon himself That he would hang on a cross even the father would turn his head while he took the sin of the whole world on his back and What God has really been dealing with me about is being a person that helps to take that responsibility Of the gospel message how many of you know that the tomb is empty so that we can have a full life Amen, and and maybe you know, maybe you're watching on the Pando app or you're here today and you say pastor Doug I am so far gone. You just don't understand. Listen, never say never to a God who raises the dead Amen, if he conquered death, I promise you he can conquer your habit. Amen. He can conquer your addiction. You can be saved Well, I want to share with you a message today that's really going to put it back on us for a minute the Responsibility of the gospel. We're going to talk about developing a committed heart that wants to do our part the last several years we have taken groups of 50 or more to Burundi East Africa poorest country in the world and The last three years there's been so much conflict right next door in the Congo literally just three four miles away From where we go they have been killing people and it's just been a really dangerous part of the world and Every year, you know, of course we use wisdom and we hire soldiers and all of that and we feel like we're safe enough But every year I kind of debate up until the last minute, you know, God should we go?

I'm willing to risk my life for the gospel, but how many you know, Jesus already died for the church, so I don't have to amen but but I'm really not willing to risk the lives of other people and Every year the Lord has been saying the same thing to me, you know, it's either worth it or it's not It's either important or it's not either people are going to hell without Christ or they're not Amen and so God has called us to do our part and I feel this way of the Responsibility of the gospel. There's actually a couple of verses that speak to this It's 1st Corinthians 4 1 and 2 and the Apostle writes He said this then is how you ought to regard us as servants of Christ as those entrusted everybody say entrusted With the mysteries God has revealed one version says we are managers of God's Secrets another one says we are stewards of the mysteries of God now, this is required that Those that have been given a trust. Everybody turn to your neighbor and say, you have been given a trust. You must prove faithful. So if you know the truth of the gospel, and what is the truth of the gospel? That we are all sinners in need of salvation, amen? That we cannot save ourselves, have you ever tried? Come on, it doesn't work. But that we need a savior, and we have been given one. Tim Keller says it like this, he said, we are far worse than we ever imagined, but we are more loved than we ever could have dreamed. This is the gospel, amen? They say that when the Titanic was built, that it was supposed to be the first ship ever that was virtually unsinkable.

And the reason why is that it had six compartments, and they said even if five were pierced, just one would keep the ship afloat. Having no idea that they would sideswipe an iceberg, and that all six would be pierced. How many of you know that we have been totally flooded with sin, amen? And that we are hopeless without the gospel. We cannot save ourselves, but sin has literally conquered every part of us. What we need is the cross, amen? You know, if you find yourself today, as the preacher might say, standing before a holy God. If tragedy of all tragedy happens, and you die in a car wreck or something today, and you find yourself standing before God, and he says to you, should I let you into heaven? How many of you know that if the answer you give starts with anything you have done, it is the wrong answer, amen? You say, well, I go to church. Well, I'm sorry, that's great, but that's the wrong answer. I gave in the offering, that's wonderful, but that's the wrong answer. I went on a mission trip and I served the poor. That's a wonderful thing, but that is not the right answer. No, the only answer is to point to Jesus, amen? And he will be standing right there, and you can say, it's not about what I have done, it's about what he has done.

The only reason why I should get into heaven is because he says through the cross, through the resurrection that I can be here, amen? See, religion is spelled do, but the gospel, my friend, is spelled done, amen? And you have been entrusted with this truth, and you are responsible now, amen, to carry the truth of the gospel. You know, responsibility is kind of a funny thing. I say that I'm on staff at several churches, but I don't work any office hours, amen? I really am kind of my own boss, and there are days that I wake up and I just feel like, you know, I'm not really responsible for much, and yet I have been given a great trust, just like you and I, you have been given. And really the best analogy I could probably use is the analogy of being a parent. My son right now, my oldest son, he's preaching at a church not far from here, and I remember when he was first born, back then the insurance companies were a little better, and they would let you stay in the hospital for a couple of days, and at the end of two days, they said, it's time for you to go. And I remember looking at my wife and saying, they are just gonna let us take him? You know, it just felt wrong. It felt like kidnapping, you know, or something. And sure enough, they walked us out to the parking lot,

buckled the little dude in, and then said bye, and I still remember driving away, looking behind me, expecting to see flashing lights, because I was stealing a child, you get what I'm saying? They let me take a human being away from the hospital, and we were both saying, man, we don't know what we're doing and in fact, about two weeks later, it was about eight o'clock at night, and we were not used to having kids, and I said to Jeannie, I said, do you wanna go to a movie, and she said yes, and so we got in the car, and we drove 10 blocks away from our house before we realized that we are the worst parents ever. My son was sleeping back in his crib, and we were like, oh my God, and we had to turn around and go back, and unless he listens to this sermon, he's still none the wiser, so nobody tell him, amen? But we were not used to the responsibility, and now we all that are parents, we know this feeling, right? Maybe men not as much as women, but when your wife comes to you with that stick that she peed on, come on, and you see the little plus sign or whatever it is? Everything has changed. There's been a confirmation of life. Can I tell you, my friend, you are pregnant with purpose today, and if you have the life of Christ,

then you are responsible. for the gospel. God is calling us to develop this heart. And can I say to you today, those of you that maybe expected to come and hear something that would help you out, can I tell you if you would get your eyes off of yourself and you would begin to focus on others, what you are wanting God to do for you, He would do it. Amen? If you would just begin to do it for others. I am so glad that somebody cared about me more than they cared about themselves. I'll never forget back in the 1980s, I was a 16 year old kid wasn't from a Christian home and I had never heard the gospel and I developed a deep depression and I tried to kill myself a couple of times and nobody really knew. And one day a lady that lived across the street from me, Pauline, she was in her 80s and she loved to give out Bibles and she gave me a King James Bible. What I didn't know was I had a best friend named Keith and Keith went to church but I didn't know what it meant and Keith put my name on a prayer list and some little ladies in his church began to pray for this Doug Reed character every single day. Now they didn't know where my life would go but they prayed for me and and I can actually track me beginning to read the Bible to those ladies beginning to pray for me and about a month later my friend Keith he said to me he said hey would you like to come to church with me now it was a Monday I'm like don't church you know happen on Sunday and he said no we're doing two weeks of what they call camp meeting and and he invited me to church he actually lied to me told me there'd be girls at church that would like me that's what he said. Eventually there was a girl but it but but that first there wasn't anybody yet but but what I didn't tell Keith was that I had tickets it was 1980 something I had tickets to a rock concert that night it was Sammy Hagar and Van Halen come on rock on I you got to be from the 80s to understand this but I still can't drive 55 not to this day amen and that night I had plans I was gonna get high I was gonna get drunk we were hoping to meet a couple of girls of loose reputation amen we were gonna do whatever we could do and something inside of me you can figure out the theology later I don't know if God talks to lost people or not

but something inside of me said if you go to the concert your life's not gonna be good but if you go to church things are gonna change so I said hey I'll go to church I gave up my tickets to the concert by the way I didn't tell this in the first service but the guy I was going to the concert with I led him to Christ a year later and he's a preacher now pastors of church I showed up that night and I heard the gospel for the first time and and it cut my heart and they gave an altar call but I wasn't brave enough to go up front and so I said hey could I come back tomorrow night and I came back and I can't tell you what he said I really wasn't listening all I was doing was waiting for the moment when he said come down front and ask Jesus in your heart and I knelt like right here and I prayed some prayer and I'm telling you it was like the weight of a billion sins was lifted off of me and I knew I was free I woke up the next morning I'd been high I'd been drunk I'd had sex all those things the next morning it was always depression but the next morning I woke up and I knew that I was saved amen the joy was still there the peace was still there and it's still there today my friend God saved me now my friend Keith who cared about my soul he now is an electrician at a steel mill to be honest with you we don't really have a whole lot in common even though we were texting this morning and I told Keith this years ago I said you can run but I will chase you I mean I love pastor Adam so much but my best friend slot has already been picked by the guy who led me to Christ and I told him I said listen I every soul I ever win goes on your account amen and we will be friends to the grave no matter what you don't have a choice in the matter amen why because somebody finally cared about my soul David would write this in Psalm 142 verse 4 what sad words he said look at my right hand and see for there is no one who acknowledges me nobody regard me nobody even thinks about me refuge has failed me no one cares for my soul I tell you if you're here today even if you You don't have a friend. There's somebody that cares about your soul.

And I can say to the church, those of you that have known Christ for a while, who do you have that kind of burden for? Who have you been praying for for the last month? Who do you care about so much that literally you'd rather see them go to heaven than you? Amen? What soul do you care for? Those of you that might be new to this, can I tell you the most basic theological assertion that the Bible makes is that you are a human soul. The part of you that gets saved is not your soul, it's your spirit. Your soul is a constant, eternal part of you. It's the part of you that will go to heaven with Christ or will go to hell without Christ. You are not a body with a soul. You are a soul with a body. 450 times in the Bible, it calls you a living soul. Jesus even said, what would it profit you to gain the whole world but to lose your soul? The problem is you keep addressing your life at a human level instead of a soul level. Our brokenness is deep, amen? It goes all the way to the human soul, and we've got to have healing at the soul level. This church, what I love about it so much, and the reason why I got my Reach tattoo, come on, or I'm going to get it, amen, if I win the auction. Everybody will say it's fixed, you know, because Pastor Doug wants it. I love that it's got this unique DNA of we don't just care about souls, we care about the most lost souls. If nobody else, you don't fit anywhere else, in fact, probably one of the dangers here is when somebody comes into the church and they look kind of put together, don't reject them either, amen? Because you're so used to reaching the down and outer, how many of you know we could use some people that aren't down and outers, right? They all have a soul. I prayed a prayer about 10 years ago, and I said to God, because I was doing 55, 60

churches a year, different churches, and speaking in conferences, and I said to the Lord one day, I said, I just can't be a professional guest speaker anymore, I just can't do it. I thank you that you've given me a gift, and I love speaking, but I said, God, I want to be in churches that are reaching lost people. So we developed like a partner church model, and my primary, my biggest partner is a mega church in Virginia. They just purchased the Macy's at the mall. They're building a church in the mall. It's amazing. The church is going to own the whole mall before it's done. There'll be a church of 10,000 before it's said and done. And I do six Sundays a year there. And about a year ago, I was speaking, and a man walked up to me in the service afterwards, and he immediately, he didn't even tell me his name, but he said, I've written six books. He told me what an accomplished Christian that he was. And then he said to me, he said, hey, he basically told me he should have been speaking that morning instead of me. And then he basically said to me, he said, hey, you did a pretty good job today, but your message was pretty worldly. He goes, you brought it home at the end, but it was very worldly. And I knew what he was talking about. He was talking about the stories, the illustration. By the way, Jesus used stories, so I'm in pretty good company, amen. And I looked at him, and I knew right away what he was saying. So I said to him this, and I wasn't trying to be a jerk or smart aleck, but I really meant it. And I said, hey, I'm just glad you were here today, because my messages are usually a lot more worldly than this. And he said, really? And I said, yeah.

He goes, well, the church was very loud today. I said, well, it's a good thing you came today, because it's usually way louder. And he goes, it was super crowded. I said, there's usually way more people here. And every answer I gave him was what he didn't want to hear. And finally, I looked at him, and I said, hey, we would love to have you here. We would love you to make this your church home, but I just want to warn you, this church was not built for people that have already written six books and have it together. This church was designed for lost people, amen? And we're not going to apologize for it. We're going to keep on doing the gospel in a way that can relate to the broken. Listen, if you say, well, come on, Pastor Adam, I just don't think you're worth it. You ever hear this? Like, it's just not deep enough. I want to go. Listen, you've got a Bible. You can go as deep as you want, amen? Sunday morning is designed, yes, for you to have a word, but ultimately for it to reach even the person at the bottom and all the way to the top. You know how you know a message is good? That a little kid can understand it, amen? The greatest compliments I ever get are, my son loves your message, and he's eight years old, amen? But then it also confounds the wise. I think that's how Jesus. Amen, the smartest person in the room is shaking their head and the little kid understands what he's saying This is the gospel message. Amen. And so we have this great Responsibility the church my friend. The church is not a cruise ship Anybody ever been on a cruise? Come on, baby. Come on head. Have you ever been on a cruise? Well a cruise is all about you, baby. Come on. You want the brisket and the steak you can have both

You want the lobster you can have both right your body probably can't just catch the check of the swimsuit you chose But you can you can wear it a man And we will get you a towel. We'll fluff your pillow. It's all about you Church is not all about you. No church is the fishing vessel a man And what do you do on a fishing vessel you catch fish a man? Sometimes you got dirty jobs with the job of every person on the boat is to help us catch more Fish a man. Let your life matter be about catching fish for the gospel of Christ. Amen. I Promise you I know what time it is All right, I do this for a living but I want to share with you just real quick real quick I want to share with you what I call three problems three problems That keep us away from the responsibility of the gospel. Number one is what I call the passion problem You know, we serve such a passionate God And he is just as passionate today as he was on passion week Amen, he is passionate for you If you don't realize that we have a passion problem in our world today Then you're just not paying attention as I travel all over the country I've spent the entire week here in Kansas City and everywhere I go people are Passionless the person waiting on me at the table the person that helps at the gas whatever It's just you can't find passion almost anywhere one author said it like this He said sin is so common in our society, but people don't even sin with much enthusiasm anymore And when I was in high school, I was a sinner, but baby I did it with some passion. Amen I might have been wrong, but I was enthusiastic about being wrong Come on, man But today the great sin of our society is we're just not passionate about much of anything Makes me think about our God in Luke chapter 15 Luke chapter 15. Jesus tells three parables where he uses Exaggeration hyperbole, they're not true stories, but he's using Exaggeration to tell you something about God and he talks about the lost coin the lost sheep and the lost son I mean you think if God says something three times we might want to pay attention. Amen. I Love this story of the lost sheep Luke 15

I'll just read you a few verses suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and you lost one wouldn't you go after the 99 to 99 represents like your job your Family when you leave all that behind And go after the lost one until you found it when you found it You could be sure that you would put it across your shoulders rejoicing And when you got home, you would call your friends and your neighbors celebrate with me. I found my lost sheep count on it There's more joy in heaven over a sinner's rescued life than 99 good people in no need of rescue This is our God. Amen. If you said to me today, hey, one of your kids is lost. We can't find them I'm sorry, baby, but you're gonna have to finish the sermon because I'm out of here. Yeah Passion would not be a problem. I would move heaven and earth to find my lost kid. This is our God You probably have seen this picture I love it so much it's it's been on the internet too much but And that is Jesus running through the muck in the mire After the lost sheep that you and I a man Another one of the parables that's there's the parable of the lost son and I I don't have time to preach it all but Recently God showed me something and I did a bunch of study on it And I've never seen this before but at the time of these parables there was a there was a practice a kind of an evil practice in their society and that was when a Gentile guy or girl would go off and spend their families money when a Jewish person would spend it in Gentile lands When they would come back home They would do something called the kazaz. Everybody say the kazaz The kazaz it was a ceremony where the villagers would gather on the outskirts of town when they heard that the young man like the prodigal son was coming back home and they would all grab a piece of pottery and Whenever he got close to the village, they would all I'm not gonna do it for the mess But they would all break the pottery for what they would say the relationship is broken You are cut off this is irreparable and they would reject him from their society Most scholars that I read this last week believe this that probably the father ran. How many of you know that noblemen don't normally run, amen? He hiked up his robe and he ran. Passion overrode proper, amen? Why? Because he was trying to get ahead of the kazazza. He wanted him to know you're not rejected, you're loved, you're welcome home. That's the reckless passionate love of our God, amen? I just

wonder where you're at today. If your primary passions are not loving God and reaching the lost, then our passions are misplaced and out of order. Listen, I don't know if I'll ever really break 80 in my golf game. I don't know if I'll ever catch that 10-pound bass I've been after, amen? Because my primary passions are reaching the lost, amen? And loving my God. Just recently we saw the launch of the space shuttle and you know what happened, right? They put that thing on the launch pad, gravity looks at it and says you're going nowhere. You weigh like a hundred thousand pounds, you're going nowhere, right? You've been eating too many Easter dinners, you're going nowhere. And then what happened? Ten, nine, they count it down and then comes the fire. Everybody say the fire, amen? And it's the fire that sends it not only into space but they're on the dark side of the moon, amen? They must be playing that Pink Floyd song all the time, right? They're on the dark. Listen, it takes passion to go to the dark places of the world, amen? It takes passion to say I'm going to pray for the lost like never before. I remember my father. I didn't grow up in a Christian home and I remember my mom was pretty easy. I prayed for her just a couple of days and she came to Christ. My dad, I prayed for two years and he kept getting worse. You ever pray for somebody and they get worse, amen? Dad had huge issues with the church. He'd really been hurt by the church but he had never been a Christian. And I remember about two years in I said, God I'm done. I'm just not gonna pray. I was too immature. I was about 19 and I came home from Bible college and my dad took me fishing and I'm in the back of the boat and dad's in the front and I'm really skinny back then and anyway dad fell out of the boat. I didn't see it happen but he fell out of the boat and he he's underneath this murky water and and I started to take my shirt off. I'm gonna jump in. I probably would have drowned us both and suddenly dad comes up out of the water and the look on his face, it wasn't fear, it was terror. I mean he was terrified. I don't know what had happened. Maybe a weed had got him. I don't know what happened but but he was terrified and immediately and I was just learning the voice of the Holy Spirit at that time. The Holy Spirit said to me that's what your father would look like

if he went to hell. That's what that's what God said. It's rough isn't it? I started crying and dad gets in the boat and he's like he's like I'm okay and I'm like you don't even understand. Take me home and he took me home and I got down on my knees in my bedroom and for six months I prayed passionate prayers. The Bible says when Jesus was on earth Hebrews 5 7 that he prayed with loud cries and with tears and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Don't tell me how you pray doesn't matter. Something about passion moves the heart of God and I would pray prayers like God you got to send somebody to hell send me instead of my dad. I would rather me go there than him go there. Amen? I said God you've got to save my dad. I begged God for six months. Six months later I watched my dad walk down in front of 800 people bow his knee and give his life to Christ. Listen, when are you going to get to the place where you just care about souls more than you care about yourself? Number two, what I call the pleasure problem. I don't really have time to develop this one but the truth is is that pleasurable distractions are so abundant in our society today. Jesus said in Luke 8 that literally the seed of the gospel could be choked out by the pleasures of this life. I wonder how many of us unlike Christ are choosing pleasure over a passion for the gospel. You know I'm going home to some time off. I didn't get I normally take the month of December off and I didn't get to this last year so we've planned some very specific time off. I'm not preaching until after Mother's Day and I will tell you we've just been going so hard and I have I have a little boat and there's a 17 acre lake right there where I live and I've just been I know I know the fish are biting I've just been wanting to get out but I've been so busy with the gospel that I can't and I'm finally gonna get a moment I'm finally gonna get some time But listen, I in a moment would choose the gospel over my own pleasure, amen? The Bible says that Moses chose to suffer with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season, amen?

I think the biggest issue when it comes to this is what I would call margin and distraction. Most of us, we spend all of our time, all of our energy, all of our money on ourselves. And no wonder we have no margin, therefore we have no mission. Listen, if you have no margin, how many of you know you'll never be on mission, amen? Pastor Jessie, what a great job she does promoting trips. But I just tell you, you don't have any time, you don't have any money, you don't have any energy. Man, I'm just, well, no wonder we never see you. No wonder because why? Because you can't experience the joy because you're so caught up with no margin. And then the distraction part. How many of you know the enemy knows that if he cannot get you to abandon Jesus, what he will do is to help you avoid Jesus by the many distractions that are in this world today. I love this quote from C.S. Lewis. I just can't believe he knew where we were like 50, 60 years ago when he wrote this. But he said this, he said, "'Avoiding God is extremely easy. "'Just avoid silence and solitude, "'concentrate on money, sex, status, health, "'and above all, focus on your own grievances. "'Keep the radio on.'" Wow, I mean, you know, we got way more than the radio.

"'Live in the crowd, use plenty of sedations.'" In other words, until we decide that our daily responsibility of the gospel will be front and center, we'll always choose distractions over our destiny. And then finally, the last one is what I call the prejudice problem. In chapter 10 of the book of Acts, there's an interesting moment. And in fact, it's a crisis moment in the church. And there's a leader named Peter that he is the leader of the church. And at that time, the gospel was only being preached for the most part to the Jews. Now, how many of you are not Jewish? Anybody not Jewish in the crowd? Now, we love the Jewish people, but I'm not Jewish. And so according to the Bible, you are a Gentile. And at that time, they were so afraid that if people like you and me heard the gospel, that we would mess everything up. And in fact, the few times they would preach it, they would require them to keep Judaism alongside of the gospel, even though they were not keeping Judaism alongside of the gospel. And Peter was one of these. How many know if God can't change the leader, then he can't change the church, amen? One day, Peter has a vision and it's a crazy vision.

It's Acts chapter 10, verse 11. And the Bible says there's like a sheep coming down and God actually gives them this vision three times. And on the sheet, there are like birds, reptiles, four footed animals. We're in Kansas City, so let me just say it in a way you would understand. There's like ribs and brisket and pulled pork, amen? All of that's right there on the sheet, baby. Come on, come on. And God's like, eat the barbecue, amen? And Peter's like, I'm Jewish. I've been eating kosher since I was a kid. And God's like, eat the barbecue, buddy. How many of you know God is for the barbecue, amen? Verse 14, surely not, Lord, Peter replied. I have never eaten anything unpure and clean. The voice came a second time. Do not call anything impure that God has made clean. Man, I am getting hungry, come on. This happened three times and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. Listen, Peter thinks this is about food, but it's actually about people. Peter thinks that God is trying to change his diet, but God is actually trying to explode his ministry, amen? There's a lot more to the story. Two days later, Peter finds himself in the city of Joppa, 30 miles away. Joppa's a beautiful port city.

It literally is the port of the world at that time. And Peter goes to the house of a Gentile believer named Cornelius. Cornelius has filled up his house with lost Gentile people, most of them influential. And Peter has a choice. He is standing at the threshold of Cornelius' door. He is literally on the hinge of history. And if he walks through that door, the gospel will be preached and it will spread from that port city to the entire world. People like you and me will get to hear the gospel, amen? We are literally on the line. And what is Peter? Threshold, it's prejudice. That's what it is Peter is so prejudice against the Gentiles that he doesn't know if he wants to preach but he crosses the door He preaches that not only do they get saved they get filled with the Holy Spirit, too Amen, and then a few chapters later in something called the Council of Jerusalem Peter Peter stands up and tells all the disciples that the gospel is going to the Gentile world you and I Just like it went to the Jewish people In fact, he even goes on to say James the brother of Jesus stands up and says hey We should not make it hard for the Gentiles to come to Christ. Amen How many of you know that reach Church is a church that doesn't make it hard For the Gentiles to come to Christ Now I I'm having a little bit of a hard time preaching this point to you Because to be honest with you out of all the churches I preach at This is probably the least prejudiced one that I know of But it's still in the room Because why because it's human nature, right? And how many of you know people could smell it. Amen People could smell it. It is funny

Like I make fun of the tattoo thing, but I mean took me a minute took me a minute just to go like, okay Well, I just don't care what people look like. Amen. I just don't care. I just I want the I doesn't matter to me Amen, but but you got to somehow shoot those prejudice in the head or you'll never get past it I'll just tell you one last story and then we'll pray. I I was a youth pastor in the state of Montana back in the 90s and We saw God do amazing things. We just had a church of like 400 We saw our youth group grow to well over 200 kids. I remember right around the hundred kid mark I took one of my youth leaders out to eat. His name was Jerry McDonough. Jerry was a rocker from the 60s he'd done a lot of drugs kind of messed up his head and Anyway, we I took him out because Tim, you know, I'm a big spinner. So I took him to McDonald's and And I was like, you know super-sized whatever man. It's on me. Amen and As we walked into McDonald's I noticed way back in the corner. There was these two guys Let me just describe them to you for a minute They had on like six layers of black clothing. The outer layer was like the silky robe they had these long pointy beards really long black haired a bunch of piercings and tattoos and stuff and We found out later they actually were the two leaders of the local satanic cult and But they looked like the devil I mean you didn't even have to know who they were to know something was up and as I walked in how many you know prejudice Works this way Subconsciously, I didn't even realize it was happening My thought process went like this stay away from the two devil worshipers in the back boot That's what I thought and I walked up to order my food and I'm like, yo Jerry What do you want? And I look and Jerry is sitting in the booth with the kids And so I'm like god, I've got to get some new youth leader So I walked over and I'm like, I'm like, yo Jerry. Come on. We got to go and he says to me He said pastor Doug. Can I introduce you to my good friends Dan and Joe? Well, I know what he's doing. I'm not stupid So I so I turned on the pastor charm and I'm like, hey, I'm pastor Doug I pastor the youth group up the road and we've got this big youth service Wednesday night. It's gonna be so cool We got lots of giveaways, whatever. I said, would you guys like to come and they came they came they walked in they still had on the same devil worshiping clothing and all that stuff and I had found out who they wore by then and I

Preached the gospel that night and they were not rude But they didn't respond and so I walked up to him and I said hey just two nights from now Friday night I'm taking two busloads of kids this giant youth convention It's a big service gonna be thousands of kids there and I said I will pay for you to go if you'll go And they showed up both of them sat down on the front row of the church bus. They immediately lit up cigarettes both of them I'm like, dude, you can't smoke on the church bus, you know, they're like, oh, we're sorry, man And so so we got to the convention center and I and I said to both of them I said hey, why don't you go out back and have a cigarette? You say come on pastor Doug smoking's wrong Well, I don't know if smoking's wrong or not, but you'll go to heaven faster. I do know that And so I You can't ask somebody to change until they have Jesus in their heart. Amen, and I wasn't gonna lose them over a cigarette So they went out back and smoked and then we went into the service Preacher did his thing Hundred kids responded and they were the first two They ran down front. Hold on a minute They ran down front and I went up in a pastor from the district a senior pastor kind of an older pastor Not that that's bad, but but he did a good job He led both of them to Christ and then and then he he immediately I don't know why he did it But he immediately started picking on the way they looked and he was like now you're gonna need to change this or that and I just But it in I said, hey, buddy Thanks so much mom gonna take over and and I looked at him and I said Jesus doesn't care how you look Now now here's the problem. Here's the problem. I cared how they looked But Jesus doesn't And I in any way they they had a great convention and then Wednesday night they showed up to my youth service They brought 20 friends 20 we counted 20 now now listen It's like they pulled a bus up to the cult. They said come on, you know, and because they all look that way So literally like I am leading the cult to Christ Because of these guys we are emptying out the local satanic cult because of these two guys And about half of those kids got saved that night the next week they brought 15 more the next week They brought 10 more and I walked up to him and I'm like dudes. I said what's going on?

Like why are you bring they said well you told us we could bring friends and I'm like I think I did say that man keep doing it And and so we counted in six months. They brought 200 friends 200 200 to my youth group Those dudes had the keys to the city. Literally. I saw over a hundred of them came to Christ I know of five of them that are in the ministry today because of those two guys And you know, it's funny about Dan, especially he had this long black hair went down to his stomach at his beard And so like we did a lot of drama. So like if you put a white robe on him He looked exactly like Jesus. It was incredible But but if you put a black robe on him, you make it go the other way So so you had to be you had to be careful He was very versatile They Ended up playing in our band. They ended up changing our church It was interesting to invite them on Sunday morning and watch our church struggle for a minute and then embrace them I'm not even doing this story justice. I could go another half hour to be honest with you It's the best salvation story of my entire youth ministry But if it was up to me, I would have stayed away from the weird devil worshipers in the back booth Listen, we got to get past our prejudice. Amen We got to get I know you think you're already there But some of you it might cut the other way you might be prejudiced against somebody that you know It's more put together than you are, you know And some of you you probably are prejudiced against color or something else like that. Listen people will smell it. Amen I'm telling you the greatest thing about reach church would just be that like Finally, there's a church where that just doesn't exist. Amen That just doesn't exist, but we've got to do it and we got to be intentional about it Come on, I want you to stand to your feet all throughout the church all throughout the church I think God is calling us to take up the responsibility of the gospel like never before. Amen And so I'm gonna ask I'm gonna ask a couple of questions one How many of you would just say come on pastor Doug I've I Struggle with passion. I struggle with pleasure and more than likely you start struggle with prejudice

How many you need God to change you in these areas? Amen. Anybody else? Come on. My hands are up. My toes are up I'm just like God keep doing it. Amen. Keep doing it because I so easily can be passionate about the wrong things. I So easily can get caught up in my pleasures because I'm super blessed and after a while I can love my stuff more than I love people. Amen. I So easily can get caught up in my prejudice because it's so subtle and yet yet it destroys Amen, so father remove that. Come on. Come on. Let's just just under your breath. Just God forgive me Change me Make me responsible for the gospel in Jesus name Now every head bowed every eye closed all throughout the building You're here today and you say to me pastor Doug I don't know that I know God the way that you described today truly if I was to stand before Christ I'm not sure that I have experienced the salvation that you described today I don't know that I've had a moment where my sins have been lifted or perhaps you had it But you've had such a bad week or a bad month or a bad year that you need to revisit Your relationship with God. So if you're here first time first time in a long time. I need Christ in my heart I need this salvation that you preached about today if that's you I'm gonna do one thing and I'm gonna ask you for a different Response as well. But this is the first one very simple I'm gonna go from my left to my right and all the way up in the balcony, too And I'm gonna ask that you make good eye contact with me if you want to pray this prayer. Amen. Thank you There are many. Thank you. I see every single one of them. Thank you so much. Thank you, bud Thank you in the back up there in the balcony. I can yeah, I can see those eyes a man here in the middle Amen, amen. Thank you so much. Thank you, sir. Thank you bud in the back over here to my right. Come on There's many I 75 at least that have responded. Come on, isn't Jesus good? Amen On an Easter so come on. Let's pray this prayer. Let's pray it out loud. Let's pray this together. Let's pray Dear Jesus, I believe you died on the cross, you rose from the dead, you did all the work, you are God, I accept that, I confess it with my mouth, I believe it in my heart, forgive me, I make no excuse for my sin, I throw myself on your mercy, heal me at the soul level, break my addictions, use me in Jesus' name.

Come on, give God a good hand clap, isn't he a good God? Well, I'm going to ask for something and then I'm going to invite Pastor Adam to double ask, amen? But something they do here that I think is so powerful is we ask people to come and receive just a little bit of counsel, a little bit of direction, especially those of you that have never prayed this prayer before. And so we're going to have people right over here and they're going to take you into just a side classroom, we promise you, you are not joining the cult, amen? This is a church, all you're doing is receiving some direction and some help and it's worth the five minutes, again, the Baptists already have your seat at the restaurant anyway, amen? And so just begin to come even now and then Pastor Adam, you can reinforce this. Come on, give it up for Pastor Adam. Amen, hey, if that is you and you raised your hand and you just want to join the gospel and you just say, hey, I want to surrender my life for the very first time or maybe the first time for a long time, if that was you, could we just, we just want to pray with you, get you connected. Come on over, don't worry about, come on, let's just celebrate for a moment. Can we do that? Celebrate with those. Hey, we're just going to spend the next couple of moments, if that was you as the worship team just begins to worship, just feel free to come down here. We just want to get you connected. Maybe you just fill out a connect card, give it to those in the connect center, let them know, hey, I made that decision today and we just want to get connected with you and reach out to you. And so if that is you, as they begin to just worship, let's just worship for just a moment. Can we do that church? Would it go, would it go? If you are my everything? Would it go, would it go?

If you are my everything? Would it go, would it go? If you are my everything? Would it go, would it go?