Same Dirt | Rodrigo Vargas

I'm sweating already I haven't even begun to preach and I'm sweating some of y'all have been sitting out there because I swear the devil was out walking around Houston yesterday was so hot hey listen if this is your first time with us yes we like to have fun in church not just praise we want to welcome you want to tell you that you're not just our special guest you are an answered prayer and we want you to know that we exist that God planted this church to connect people to God back to him with the gospel of Jesus Christ and that gospel says that it doesn't matter what you've done what your past looks like what you're currently struggling with we're gonna talk about that today or what your doubts may be Jesus loves you right where you are that's why he went to the cross but he also loves you too much to leave you are that's why he rose from the dead amen and this includes every single one of you right now that are incarcerated and watching through your Pando apps Union can you help you welcome our Union prison campus we may not be able to see you but when you are always in our thoughts and in our hearts and we can't wait for the day that you join us in person you know presently we're in a sermon series called rooted it is all about becoming established in a relationship with Jesus Christ in order to be transformed in his likeness yet we live in a very broken world amen now I want to set the truth in the tone for today's sermon right away because we're all experiencing the same things what can I say this one we're all living in the same dirt now we if we've received if you've received Jesus Christ as Lord Savior and King and you're remaining rooted you're being built up that's what this series all about being built up being strengthened by faith to be able to overcome like scripture says every circumstance and so today what I want to focus on we focused a lot on how God works right we talked about unearthing last week today we're gonna talk about that same dirt that's what we're gonna talk about today the dirt and the truth of the matter is every single one of us in this room watch it online in our prison campus we are all living in the same dirt we all start the same before God every single one on no one is better there's no exemption we're all his

cherished creation we are all created equal and we've all failed him equally for all have fallen short of the glory of God and can I tell you I don't care what denominations say what preachers say no sinners greater every person needs Jesus Christ to have a relationship with God now this is not an inspiration sentiment I'm giving you it is not just to make you smile and be like that's a good way that's our theology here at our church and it shapes our culture at Union nobody will here's my promise especially to you men and women that will be released a man you're gonna make parole a man come on now and listen nobody will ever look down on you because we understand one thing we just didn't get caught no one will ever like you know what we say we welcome and we love all people always John 3 16 says the following for God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son Jesus so that the world may not perish but have eternal life now this is very important because the truth doesn't say good people the truth doesn't say those who have it together the truth that word doesn't say the truth of God doesn't say the Saints or the church it says the world and that word leaves nobody out John 3 16 now I want to take you to the very beginning I said we're cherished creation we got to start with Adam and the name Adam simply means human so anytime you say human even the scientists even the atheists even the evolutionists when they say human you know what they're saying Adam in that interesting and I'm going to show you something very very very profound even though scientists don't understand what they're saying every time they say human when they they're saying Adam that what they're saying is that the you see that the Adam comes from the word Adama which means dirt ground soil in fact would you like to guess the color of the soil it's red when God made us I love it when scriptural lines in the spirit of lines Petito said God reached down from heaven right when he made us he reached down he didn't reach up into the heavens he reached down into the dirt he grabbed a fistful of dirt and he breathed his life into us but there's a mystery hidden in this truth inside the very word you see Adam has the word Dom in it it's comprised of two words a left

and ah a left meaning spiritual life Dom means blood it's fascinating the same word that labels us dirt also labels us life we are lowly yet living we are fragile yet we carry the divine nature of God inside of us and after the fall you know what God told Adam he told him you will dwell with the ground you will wrestle with the same dirt you came from every single one of us no matter where you live what your neighborhood you grew up in what your heritage may be whatever heritage or background or ethnicity whatever age group whatever wreckage you have of your past you're still toiling with the same dirt we all toil with the same dirt but here's where the gospel plays a pivotal part we may begin as Adamah dirt but that we are deep redefined by the Dom the blood of Christ watch this we are made new brought back from the dirt by the lifeblood of Jesus Christ that's the gospel from the fistful of earth to the pouring out of his blood God never stopped reaching down to redeem his own and today we're going to dig deep in the next parable that follows what we did yet last week and it's the parable of the weeds would you stand with me as we read Matthew chapter 13 beginning at verse 24 we're continuing our journey through the parables I love parables I've been on a tangent with parables and it goes like this you remember this is following the last week's parable Jesus told them another parable do you know why he told them another parable because they weren't getting it and so sometimes we need to be retold things in different ways to hear the message that God has for us amen and here here you go Jesus told them another parable the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field but while everyone was sleeping his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away when the wheat sprouted and formed heads then the weeds also appeared the servants came to him and said sir didn't you sow good seed in your field where then did the weeds come from and he replied an enemy did this the servants asked him do you want us to go and pull them up and he said no because while you are pulling the weeds you may be uprooting the wheat with them as well let them both grow together until the harvest and at that time I will tell the harvester first collect the weeds and tie them in

bundles to be burned then gather the wheat and wheat and bring it into my barn let's pray father God we thank you Lord we're asking God that you send the the Spirit of the Living God the Holy Spirit the Holy Ghost to minister to us today to walk amongst us to Softened our calloused hearts, Teal the soil of our hearts. Lord, let us see with spiritual eyes, let us hear with spiritual ears, and let us receive that seed that you want to germinate and grow. Holy Spirit, touch those that are in need of peace, touch those that are in need of joy, touch those that are in need of strength, of faith, of hope. This is a time of ministry. This is a spiritual hospital, and you are the great physician, Jesus Christ. So send your spirit to minister and heal us today. Jesus, we love you, we lift high your name, we honor you, we gather only because of you. The only thing we want is more of you. We seek your face and we know that through your word, your face becomes clear. So Holy Spirit, help me be clear, be concise, definitive, and deliver this word just as you delivered it to me and convicted me. I pray this in Jesus' mighty name, and the people of God said, amen, amen. That's a Spanish amen.

That deserves an amen. Can I tell you, let me talk to the church folk real quick. It don't matter how anointed you are. It don't matter how gifted you are. It don't matter how much of the word you know. It don't matter how long you've been in church. It don't matter if you got the spirit. It don't matter if you can prophesy in other languages. We are all coming and toiling with the same dirt. Same dirt, the same insecurities. Yeah, okay, the new guy struggles with addiction. The new girl struggles with lust, but you struggle with gossiping. We all struggle with the same insecurities. You might walk around and think you got it together, but I bet you, you struggle with a little bit of doubt. We all struggling with the same temptations. We are all in the same fight to stay rooted so that when the pressure is applied, we will not crumble, same dirt. I want to tell you a story. There's this country music singer from Abbott, Texas. His story is unique because he was born in 1933 in the middle of the Great Depression. And you know what? He was dirt poor, like dirt poor. And I mean, literally the same dirt, the same ground, the same Adama I'm talking to that we just talked about, that's where he was born and raised into. Now, he was raised by his grandmother

who made sure he went to church every Sunday, no exceptions. That's a good grandma. How many of y'all wish you had a grandma like that? Amen? By the age of six, he was already playing music. His first performances weren't at dance halls, at concert halls, or even the recording studio. You know where they were? They were in church. He loved it. He loved God. He loved Jesus. He loved the Word of God. He loved it. And so much that as a young man singing in the Fort Worth area, he started teaching Sunday school, pouring into kids every week because he wanted to teach them investing in the next generation to come up like him. But he was dirt poor, remember? And the only way he could survive, the only way he could sustain it, the only way he could pay his bills and eat was to play music in the honky tonks in Fort Worth on Fridays and Saturdays. OK? Anybody ever been to a honky tonk? Ooh, they sketchy. They fun, though.

They sketchy. Sundays, he taught Jesus. Friday and Saturday, he played to rowdy crowds at bars. You know how the church is. Word got back to the eldership board at the, I'm going to name them, Metropolitan Baptist Church. And they all sat down, and the deacons with the toupees and the red jackets, some of y'all, some of y'all have been saved from Baptist Church. The pastor gave him an ultimatum. Look, you either stop playing in the honky tonks, or you stop teaching Sunday school. He couldn't stop playing. It was his only method of income. It was the only way he could live. It was his livelihood. So he made a choice that day. He walked away from church and never went back. He said, and I quote, from this day forward, God, it's just me and you. I don't need a church. Now, what if instead of drawing a line in the dirt? Right? Say you're a tear. You don't belong here. What if instead of drawing a line? They said we see the gift God and put in you. We see the field you're being called to. So let us invest in you. Let us equip you.

Let us send you into those honky-tonks with the gospel on your lips and the guitar in your head. Can I ask you something? Imagine the harvest that would have produced. The Saints are so busy praying for Revival. They often forget the most practical ways of stirring Revival. Now instead they pulled up what they thought was a weed but uprooted the weed along with it. That young man went on to become one of the greatest musicians and country music artist who ever lived. His name is Willie Nelson. He spent his entire career playing in the very fields. The church told him to abandon. Jesus knew this would happen to the church. He knew the disciples will struggle with this the impulse to separate the the the the the the urge to sort out the need to judge and to pull up what looks wrong before it's ready to be good in this parable. He drew a picture of a field. He's talking about the same dirt. Where are the tears sown? And where is the wheat sown in the same dirt wheat and tears grow alongside each other and when the servants come to the master says, hey, do you want us to pull this up? He gives a definitive no something that should cause us pause and stop us in our tracks. He says no, let them grow. Let me talk to the family that's already serving and leading in our church.

I know you got someone on your mind that continues to use drugs. I know so you got someone that continues to go porn. I know you got someone that still continues to have the same spiritual battles. Can I tell you no, let them grow? Because the field is not the church. The field is the world. The field is the world. And it's clear here that we are not the harvesters. We are the sowers. We are called to sow not to sort. I want you to remember. I want you to write this in your heart. I'm called to sow not to sort the instinct of the sermons in this parable is the very instincts we sometimes get they saw the tears growing alongside the wheat and they asked should we pull them up? We see the problem. And we want to fix it. We see the problem and we want to sort it out in their lives. I often hear someone going through something and I know what the problem is. But sometimes I let them go so that they can get to the place where they'll let me so good seed in their lives because I also don't want to apply what Jesus says. Don't give your pearls to pigs. The point of that is is don't give something valuable to someone that doesn't appreciate it and there's no one more appreciative than a person that's down at the bottom when

we see a problem. Your job is not to solve it. The solvers name is Jesus. You're supposed to sow Jesus the master says no. Now Jesus explains this parable. He defines every element precisely so that we may understand the role of the kingdom of God. He goes on to say the one who sows the good seed is the son of man Jesus the field is the world the word says and the good state the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. That's me and you. Okay, we carry the seed the weeds are the people of the evil one. And the enemy who sowed them is the devil Jesus didn't let the disciples go around thinking like. Oh, let me draw my own conclusions. Let me create my own denomination. Let me create my own theological thought. No, he's very clear. Like listen, bud, here's how it works. There's there's so much talk these days about who's chosen and not chosen. I'm telling you right here right now. This is what Jesus is saying. Hey, buddy, you're in the kingdom or not in the kingdom. Okay, and your job is to sow Jesus, right? Oh, we want to bless Israel. Okay, that's fine. Bless them by sowing Jesus. Okay, I got a novel idea. Hey, can you bless them by so by preaching Jesus?

That's what we got to do not bless them while they're killing Lebanese people not bless them while they're killing Palestinians not not bless them while they're tormenting their own population by the way. Bless them by praying and preaching Jesus. My God, we found ourselves the key to success here. When we dial it back down is really simple. This is an explanation of how the people of the kingdom of God are to live when they are rooted. See the problem with some of us. We're not rooted in the word. We're rooted in pastor. So and so that I found on YouTube. You're rooted in your favorite podcast, right? You're rooted in your own favorite form of religion. Yuck. The seed is the word the seed you carry. How are you going to carry the seed if you don't put the seed in you? The seed is living the seed. What is Hebrew say is active. It cuts through attitude heart spirit. It is unstoppable. It does not return void. It will not fail. It is eternal. It is everlasting. It isn't I feel like preaching today about the word. The seed carries Kingdom DNA inside of it. Jesus's brother James how I like to call him in Spanish Santiago.

Now, how you get James from Santiago or Santiago from James? I always thought it was Jaime. Wait a minute. Isn't it Jaime? Shriven we Spanish people just crazy. We just make up stuff. We I don't even know where we got Santiago for I'm gonna be honest with you. He says the implanted word able to save your soul. It's gotta be planted inside of you. That means when it gets inside of a person, it does not just add to what is already there. It organizes what's already inside of you. It takes your raw life your story your history your struggle and brings them under the order of the kingdom of God. We do not have to make it work. We just have to sew it to work. The field is the world. It is not the church. It is not the building. It is not the logo. It is not these lights. It is not the stage. It is not the music. It is just the disciples of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And I like I might start just using that title Jesus Christ of Nazareth because I've noticed in the West we have the Jesus Christ of the United States of America. He's not the same. He's not the same Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

I came I chose violence this morning. Y'all pray for me. I chose violence this morning. Jesus is explicitly saying it's the world. That's the field your neighborhood. Hear me out. This is a word for someone your neighborhood your call to it. Your job your call to it. Pastor. You don't know Willie sang in honky-tonks. Okay. You have been put in a field to sew it not sort it. Golly. That's a word right there. You've been putting your family. You've been putting your friend group. You've been putting that barbershop not to go in there. Be like I can't listen to Cardi B at all my sanctified ears. You've been put there. So you can spread, let's see, 30 to 45 minutes cutting your hair. Don't talk about the rockets. They're down three to zero. Okay. Talk about the kingdom of God. I told you I was taught. Hey, look, y'all. Some of y'all ran up on me talking all that noise last Sunday. I told you I'm a winner. I love Houston, but you know, I can't go get my Lakers. Okay. I told him they was, they was running it. Listen, you've been called to that barbershop. You've been called to that gym. You've been called to that kids. You've been called to that school. You've been called to that break room. You were called to that coffee shop. It's all the field. God has assigned you to to sow the good seed of God,

not sort out for God. Willie Nelson's field was the honky tonks in the bars and the concert halls and they were booming back in the forties and fifties. Okay. His church couldn't see it, but Jesus would have. And I want to be more like Jesus than some old little church. That room was full of people drowning in their sorrows. And that was his mission field in the place. People were drinking to forget the worries of that day was the place where they were supposed to receive the word that can transform their lives and the most influential voice in that room was a man of God with a guitar who loved God. That's what I see for us as a church, as a people that we are sowers, not sorters. Nowhere in scripture are we commissioned. Listen to win souls. I heard someone the other day, uh, last week on our trip, I'm just called to win souls. And I was like, you're not called to do that. You're called to preach the gospel, make disciples. I reminded him that you were told, go and make, go and witness, go be a witness, go and make disciples, go and baptize them. By the way, if you haven't been baptized next weekend, we will be baptisms. It's going to be amazing. I urge you if that's your next step, if you say yes to Jesus, you got to get baptized. He told them, go and teach them to obey all that I have taught you, which is what I'm doing now. We are told to go and so not to run and sort. And some of us want to run from that. You got to wait patiently for the fruit. That's where real faith lies. Waiting patiently for that fruit, not forcing it to happen, but believing for it to happen.

We aren't called to determine who is worthy of the gospel. We're just called to share it. Now, this is something interesting. I did a little research. I'm a nerd when it comes to that. I wanted to know more about tears. And did you know that tears just look, just like wheat when they are immature. See the reality of it is, is you, when you were immature and an evil person looked the same, you said yes to Jesus, but you haven't got that blunt smell off of you yet. You came up for prayer and you received the Holy ghost, but you're still wearing the new age crystals. Okay. You, you, you, you have received the gospel and you said yes, and you're coming to church and you got to connect group and you still follow a horror school, right? You've been praying every morning you've been worshiping to battle, but you still go to yoga class. Some of you have are a little bit further down the line, you know, that's demonic and that's demonic and this is demonic and this is demonic and this is demonic. But so is gossiping. So is slandering. So is looking down on people. Come on now. I came equally to share with y'all. It's impossible to discern one from the other, the roots, however are so intertwined that if you were to tear up the weeds, you would tear up the wheat. We aren't worthy of harvesting. We aren't qualified to sort because Jesus never gave us that assignment. Our mission is clear and simple. Go and so in every field in all kinds of fields, so into tears, so into wheat, so into dark places, so into light places,

so into people that you can't tell the difference and people that look just like you. We sow, he sorts, that's the order. I need you to get the order. We sow, he sorts, that's our order. Because I'm I'll tell you something, not everything that looks like weed is weed. We are about to get real good right now. Listen to what the word says. I'm excited. Hang on a second. While everyone was sleeping. Whoo. My God, that's a word. While y'all were sleeping. An enemy. Came and sowed weeds among the week and then he went away. notice when the enemy moved while we were sleeping. Sleep is the most vulnerable and indefensive physical state. You could possibly in being. Okay. If you don't believe me, trust me. I've been on a trip. I do men's trips and some of these guys. I don't know. My roomie over there. I pray for Chandra. Yeah, I pray for her. She needs it. Pray for her. Now, listen, Jesus is explicitly illustrating our spiritual lives. When not rooted.

We're not reading the word of God when you're not taking in and putting the seed inside when when your prayer is for when we drift when we're disconnected from our connect groups. Why took a season off pastor? Yeah, I bet you been real frustrated too. It's because you lost you're not rooted. And that's when the enemy you were sleeping. You were sleeping. Constantly consuming the world media money material things. That's when the enemy souls in your field. The enemy is Lufer Lucifer Satan the devil the father of lies. Guess what? Is the real name the deceiver and his greatest weapon the most effective weapon strategy what he uses all the time because he can't be everywhere at all times what they use it. It isn't loud. It isn't obvious. You know what it's called. It's called deception. Here's the thing you need to understand about deception. Deception is something that looks good, but ain't good. It tastes good, but it ain't good for you. It feels good, but it's no bueno for you in the original language. Jesus is describing the enemy sewing a very specific weed though. He uses a word called the bearded Darnel the juice called this the bastard weed. That's what they called it. Darnel is slightly poisonous. It's not all the way poisonous. Like if you eat it, it's not going to give you total right away.

You feel me my lucid your stool a little bit, but ain't gonna do that. Here's here's what the Darnel the Darnel does it causes dizziness and disorientation with a slightly narcotic effect. I've read this and I was like my God even and here's the deal even a small amount leaves behind a bitter and unpleasant taste in your mouth. But the only way to know what's Darnel and what's weed is you got to let it grow to know. You got to let it grow to know now. Here's the spiritual revelation anything you try to use to make your life better happier or whole that is not of God. That is not his word. That is not of the Spirit of God will look good at first. That's the deception giving you moment to watch this a momentary relief or a high only live leave behind a bitter and unpleasant taste in your soul. Oh, yeah, it feels good. Yeah, sure. I drank three beers. I felt good. It leaves a bitter and unpleasant taste in your soul with what does the deception of tears look like in the kingdom of God today? Well, I'm glad you asked it looks like your politics. When your politics is louder than your preaching you've got more tears than wheat in your life power. It looks like power. You want to be powerful. You want to have power over your spouse. You want to have power and to control the issue.

You want to have power over your schedule. You want to have power over your money. You want to have Have power! You want to have a position. You see yourself that the only way God can use you is if he elevates you and he puts you in a position to use you on platforms, possessions, if I have more, if I have another pair, if I have another thing, if I have another car, if I have another house, if I have more money. The love of money. It's not money. It's the love of money. How do you know if you have a love of money? By the way, God said that the love of money is the root of all evil. We're like literally become Satanist, Luciferians. We partake without ever going to a ritual of the Illuminati, of, you know, the Temple of Set, or sacrificing children. You're actually worshipping and doing the same things when you're in love with money. How do you know you're in love with money?

The first thing you do in the morning is check your stocks. You count your spreadsheets. You look at how much money you save. You look at how much money you make. Listen, I'm trying to give it to you real real. Jesus told the rich young ruler, sell everything and give it away and then follow me. And he walked away sad. He worshipped Satan instead of Jesus. Relevant today? That's what some of us do today. The tear of popularity. I want to be liked. This was my problem for a long time. I didn't say the hard things like I do today because I didn't want people, especially people that I love, to walk away. That's a tear. That's a problem. Desiring things not of the kingdom like the Pharisees who wanted to be honored without character. They wanted leadership without integrity. They wanted influence without accountability. Listen,

peace to avoid conflict instead of peace to face the conflict. They look like we but aren't. Don't ask for peace to avoid your problem. Ask for peace to take on the problem. Let me tell you, you can be in the kingdom of God. This is an important part of what he's teaching. Jesus in this parable. You can be in the kingdom of God but not of the kingdom of God. The wheat and the tares. The wheat was of the kingdom of God and in the kingdom of God. The tare was in the kingdom of God but not of the kingdom of God. This goes the same for all of us here. The goal is we must pursue is to be both in and of the kingdom of God. Matthew 13 41 says that the tares will be gathered out of his kingdom and that means that they are in his kingdom. Being in something is as much more superficial

than being of it. First John 2 19 John writes to the church the following. They went from us. Watch what he says. Listen to the words. But they did not really belong to us. In other words they came out of this church they wore the union t-shirt they served on teams they led on teams but when they left they left because they really didn't belong to us. For if they had belonged to us they would have remained with us. But their going showed that none of them belonged to us. They were in the room they were in the building, they were in that pew but they were not of the kingdom. We are called to go and sow not cut and run. And the key to this is we have to discern. Because remember

I told you deception but can I tell you what destroys deception? Discernment destroys deception. Discernment destroys deception. You need to write that down. You need to pray that. You need to ask God for discernment. We must be rooted enough to produce the fruit of discernment. Sowing good seed not feeding bad weeds. We are called to discern fruit not appearances. The same principle shows up in the fishnet parable. Just a few verses down in verses 47 through 50 you can read it on your own. He basically says the net gathers everything. The sorting happens at the shore. The fishermen. That's us. We cast the net. We don't sort the water before we cast. We just cast. We sow. Trusting Jesus at the end of age to do all the sorting. But you're going to have to discern the fruit because the fruit tells you whose soil you're growing in. Is this for you personally? The roots sown from the seed will always determine the fruit. You can't plant an orange tree and get apples out of it. You can't sow some mythology that

you've carried from your background or heritage, right? You can't. Hey, okay. You can't sow your indigenous roots. I know where you came from. Right? Like we don't. Okay, great. But now we're in the kingdom. You sow indigenous roots and try to grow it in the kingdom of God, you're not going to get the kingdom of God fruit, you're going to get something else. And let me tell you, every form of witchcraft, every form of witchcraft. I feel like a 50 people today. I don't care if you're a Cherokee, a Mayan, a Taino, a Mapuche, an Inca, a uh, uh, Kenneth and Elsie's tribe. By the way, they're from opposing tribes. Our African worship leaders, they buried there from opposing tribes. By the way, you get to know them a little bit. Kenneth is of the royal bloodline. So his nickname for us around here is Prince Haki. He came to America. But here's the truth, y'all. All those roots are witchcraft. It is Genesis six, the sons of God taught mankind secrets of the heavens without worshiping God Yahweh. It's witchcraft. You cannot genuinely produce what you're not rooted in. It's that simple. And it's quite serious. Now, here's what I've learned. Fruit is not an experience produced in the highs of our lives. Fruit is revealed in the lows of our life. This is a word for someone. What you have received on the mountaintop with God will be the evidence in the valley. When you are in conflict with the enemy of your soul. David showed the fruit when he was jumping from cave to cave and he wrote for I walk in the valley of the shadow of death. That's where but the mountaintop is the God's presence and it is in his presence that creates the fertile soil for the group to grow in our lives. See your fruit tells you what you're truly rooted in. Your problems are not going away. God's not

going to remove it. And he's not going to release you from it. Jesus said, bless are the peacemakers and that can only be achieved when someone has spent enough time in his presence because peace inside of you comes from only one place and that's his presence in his presence, not just in a church service, not just not just in your worship time, not just in the prayer meetings, it begins to grow in us and it cannot be manufactured anywhere else. You got to take God's presence with you. And what happens is when you've been in God's presence is you produce the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, gentleness, gentleness, gentleness, gentleness, and self control. That is not a list of behaviors to perform. You can't fake the funk. That is a harvest to produce. And it only happened in his presence. I can always tell when people are going through something. Oh, you ain't been in his presence. We produce this fruit by seeking his face because his face is just his face is righteous. His face is true. It is loving. It is graceful. It is merciful. It is holy. And when you spend time in the presence of someone, you, you begin to look like them. You begin to sound like you begin to carry what they care. You begin to carry the character and the integrity and the power and the authority and dominion. You begin to live the way God designed you. Let me remind you that Jesus taught us in John 15 to abide, to not strive, to remain, not to run forward. He who remains will bear much fruit, not who strives, not who performs. Not who hustles. He who remains. Remain when it's tough. Remain when it's hard. Remain when you're angry. Remain when you're angry. Let me encourage you that the reason you're frustrated is because he's cutting on you.

He's cutting off things you don't need. He's cutting off relationships you don't need. He's cutting off habits you don't need. He's cutting off language you speak to yourself and he's pruning your branches. Why? Not as punishment, but to produce more fruit. You will always be able to tell what you have been remaining in when the pressure is applied. When life squeezes you, what type of juice are you releasing? Fruit. That's your fruit. And your fruit will tell us everything we need to know about your roots. Patience matters more than judgment. And you will never know if that tear in time, patience, will inevitably become wheat. Stay rooted. Keep seeking his face. Keep producing his fruit and trust the same presence that's growing you as you work with the person next to you. Last thing you need to know is the tear you judge today might just be the wheat God harvests tomorrow. I love Willie Nelson, y'all. I have my wife stole my Willie, my favorite Willie Nelson t-shirt. I can't get it back from her. So I'm down to two t-shirts, Willie Nelson t-shirts. And I hide them from her because she's trying to steal those too. I always thought I loved them because my dad loved Willie Nelson. Then I thought, oh no, it's because he's a Texan. I mean, he's a Texan. You know what I'm saying? And then later on in life, one of the reasons I wear his t-shirt is this boy was rebellious in the industry. I mean, he was doing things. They made him wear a suit to hell. No, I'm going back to Texas and wear brazen t-shirts, smoking pot. The truth today is I still, I see a lot of myself in Willie Nelson. That's why I love him. I think back to when I first started attending church, like really taking God serious. And I began to get discipled. Your boy was rough around the edges, bro. I mean, I know I cuss a little bit these days, but back then it was, I cussed at my pastor one time and I thought, yeah, it was cool. Like we was boys. I did things and said things that were unbecoming of a man of God. I was in the field. I was in the dirt, but I wasn't of the dirt. If someone that would have looked at me from the outside, they might've called me a tear, but you know what? I love my pastor. Pastor Tom didn't give up on me. He never gave up. He was patient. And I'm telling you, he gave me time. He's so good seed. And I'm gonna tell you something. I made some mistakes. I mean, we got into it. And every time he took time, he took time. He listened to me. He reasoned with me. He sowed good seed. He didn't pull me up. He didn't say, no, you know what? Let's take you off a youth pastor.

He left me in the field and he continued to sow in me. And I grew at the measure that I sowed the wisdom he gave me. I cannot change you. I can only give you the spiritual revelation, the divine wisdom that I've garnered from God, from the Holy spirit, from spiritual leaders. I will be patient with you, but it's going to grow up as you apply that wisdom in your life. Listen, slowly, imperfectly. And eventually I grew. I wonder how Willie Nelson's life would have been different. Can you imagine? Can you imagine all the people he would have? I mean, he, I imagined he would have toured with Billy Graham all over the world. And instead of country music, he would have wrote songs about Jesus. As a matter of fact, he does have a gospel album and I played it. And my boy, Fabian said, can we just play something different? I'm tired of listening to Willie Nelson sing gospel. songs Jesus is calling us to sow we're not qualified to sort we're not called to sort we can't see what God's doing we can't see what's underneath we can't see what's germinating inside the dirt let them grow up together until the harvest at the time where the harvesters first collect the weeds and then bolden them and be burned then gather up the wheat and bring him into that that's that's what we got to do harvesters are the angels and the lord the time is at the end and Jesus is the only one giving orders the sorting belongs to Jesus not us not the church not the denomination but solely King Jesus if we spend all our energy trying to purge evil from the world from the church we will miss what actually is actually called us to do how many of you have ever gone somewhere and you see a pagan statue of Buddha and you're freaked out what if God took you there to sow good seed your job is to stay in that field and to sow to remain to be patient to invest in the tares who are rough around the ages like I was you're in the same field as the people who aren't aware you are that is by design Jesus didn't call you out of the dirt he called you to grow in it alongside the tares so there might be an abundant harvest go make disciples that's the mission not go and make perfect people not go find wheat and separate them go make disciples baptize them teach them walk with them in the process so I want to cast a vision for you today as we leave we will stay in the field we will sow we will water we will stay and we will trust we will tell every Willie Nelson that walks into that room that'll be released from prison that prison that we see treasure in you we recognize the field you're called to and we're going to invest in you we're going to equip you we're going to send you into

that field with the gospel on your lips but you're going to have to do the steps that we have provided for you go to meet the team if you've been to meet the team today's connectors 101 some of you in this room today you're in the same place I was rough around the edges that's okay you're doing things that don't look like wheat yet that's okay but at the proper time I want you to hear this from your pastor I'm not giving up on you I'll be back next week with another word just to inspire you and to move you along we're going to sow good seed into every conflict we're going to be patient we're going to give you time because the tear you judge today will be the wheat that harvest that God harvests at the end of age we grow in the same dirt we're called to the same dirt we grow together and we're called together and we trust the one who sits at the end of age waiting for us so that he can bring in the harvest same dirt different fruit one harvest that's it would you stand with me we have prayer partners up here at the front they're here to pray for you if you have prayer needs don't leave here without getting a touch of prayer now I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes for just a moment and I want to invite you to not just be planted in the kingdom of God