Together We Build

And I thought, "What would be the best way to just kind of wrap it all up and put it?" Well, some of you are like, "Put it to bed." I'm tired of this series, but the strength of our church, in fact, the strength of the Kingdom of God is in our togetherness. It was the last prayer of Jesus that they would be one, that they would be together, so that the world would be leave. And if we're not together, our worlds can't come together. The church is the church. In fact, the church of the living God makes history. We're not just watching history, it's the church in its togetherness that makes history and changes the future. So, with that being said, the video, in fact, the testimony that you're about to watch of Kirsten, I think it really does bring together everything that we're believing God for in our togetherness so that we can all be healed and so that we can all arrive safely at home in every way. Take a look at Kirsten's testimony. It's one thing to be told to have perspective, like, when you think and you're like, "Man, life is so short. It's another thing when you're faced with that." When you're like, "Wow, I actually don't know how many more days I'm going to be given." You could say that about any day, but something like that, it really obviously shook us. We just spent that weekend processing and just really kind of coming to terms with chemo with the next six months at least of our life would look like. I'm Kirsten. I am 30 and I've been going to a celebration for eight years. I moved here in 2018 when me and my husband, Matt, got married. We have two toddlers, Shepherd, who's four and Everett, who's two and a half. When we got married, something that was really important to us was starting a small group. That was something that we always felt like was a priority for us. We started it at what I would consider as an inconvenient time of life.

Our first son was nine months old and I got pregnant two months after we started a group. We just knew God was calling us to do it. We didn't know how it was going to work. We didn't know what it was going to look like. Once people started getting into the season of life where they were starting to get pregnant and have kids and we were starting to get into that. We just made it a thing where we were like, "You know what? When somebody leaves for the hospital, we're going to clean the house. We're going to do the laundry. We're going to wash the sheets, all of that." That's one thing that we've built into the culture of our little village has been when you're postpartum or showing up, you will have food in the fridge. Your bathroom's really clean. The whole thing. At the very beginning of 2025, God woke me up in the night and told me, "You have cancer. We need to go get checked." This is something that has happened to me before where God has woken me up and given me a word. I knew to take that seriously. The next morning, I made, I think, three or five appointments. One of my typical OB appointments, they found a lump in my right breast. I went and got it ultrasounded. They were very confident that it was a fibroid. I told my husband and I said, "They're saying this, but I just have this feeling." A week later, they called me and they told me I had stage 2B, triple negative breast cancer, and I would have to start chemo because I said, "So, when am I going to have to start anything?" They said, "We're going to start you ASAP. If you're going to go on a family trip or anything like that, you better go tomorrow." We packed up our rags and we took a weekend to the beach and that was a really crazy feeling.

I feel like we stepped out of our world for a minute and we're able to just kind of look at the big picture of our life. We booked a hotel that night. I messaged two photographers in the Port A area and was like, "Are you available?" I was just diagnosed. I know this is literally tomorrow night, but we're really trying to get a family photo shoot done before I lose my hair. So, this one girl ends up being like, "Oh my gosh, yes." And so we show up and we do it. They were such sweet photos and she told us she was like, "What's crazy is? I was offered a wedding for this day, but I felt like I was supposed to stay now." And I said no and didn't know why, and I had no plans today. And now it's very apparent to me that I'm here with you. I mean, she was the only one available too. I mean, it really was such a god thing. When we came home, there was just like a sense of gratitude and already just this relief. We walked in the doors, the house had been, you know, as scrubbed. All of our laundry was done, the beds were made, there were notes written, little snacks, all the things. I remember that week after that, I said, "I don't know." [MUSIC PLAYING] At the beginning of the process, I feel like one of the things that really, like, hit me was the concept of me losing my hair and my lashes, my eyebrows. But really, when you're in that position, it really is so much more than hair. Like, to me, it was a physical representation of, like, the lack of control you have, and then... Being physically, visibly sick, being, like, feeling like, you know, you don't have any say in this. On the flip side, like I said, there's a part of me that it was really hard to accept and help. And so, something that I really had to learn was to ask for that help. You know, that is the whole point of the body of Christ, is everybody playing their different parts and helping each other through to the other side. And the girls made me this sweet book. So sweet. They all wrote me a letter. You know, these are the people who helped me through. So sweet.

Like, they really just were the church, you know. In Isaiah, God talks about finding streams in the desert. And so, during the season of this last year, I really feel like my small group, the girls, they really were that stream in the desert for me. For us, as our whole family going through this time. And so, I would encourage you if you have any fear of putting yourself out there or questioning where to find that. Look in the room, you know. People want to be in community. I think, like, so many times we want the answer. We want to know why we want to know all these things. And, at the end of the day, we just have to trust them with it. So, have where God wants to use the story. I am his or his son. Awesome. And the best news is that she is cancer free and remission. Can we just thank God for that story? Yeah. When it comes to what God wants to do in the church, when it comes to what God wants to do in the earth and the church, there is no big sea without a little sea. People often say to me, "Pastor Joe, I'm into the big sea capital church." Which usually means I'm not involved in any local church. Which means you're kind of undercover. You're invisible. I had a guy a couple years ago say, "Pastor Joe, I'm kind of an undercover Christian missionary." And I'm invisible. I said, "Well, I have invisible money." Because he was coming and asking for money. He was coming and asking for support. I said, "Here, billions of dollars." And a lot of us, when it comes down to it, we kind of live an invisible life. Because we kind of say, "Well, I don't do the little thing, the local church. I'm into the kingdom of God." And God has given local church expression to bring to the earth his good news. When you read the Bible, you're reading predominantly messages and as you will, these letters to the Corinthians, to the Thessalonians. When you're reading, it's Paul dealing with people in locations, and he specifically speaks to them according to the location, according to the local church. And if there be no local church, the reality is there's probably not going to be much of the gospel. Much of the world does not have an accurate adequate expression of God's good news because there's not a local church. Just speaking to one of our members whose family's from Croatia,

and as they spent 15 days there in Croatia, there's not a local church within miles. No one knows God. That's why we're in Mozambique because of the local church need. We were told that there's nothing in that shy, shy region. Jackson was talking about those meals in our school now, in the campuses. That's five hours north of Maputo. And there was no local church, which meant there was no gospel. And so when you and I come down to it, when it gets down to it, who does God want to use when it comes to the building of the church? That's you and me. Now, when he talked to Peter, and I'm going to just kind of deal with this a little bit because this ultimately comes down to you and me, Peter is having a conversation with the Lord, and Jesus is asking Peter and asking the disciples, who am I? And they're giving their responses. And then he says, Peter, well, who do you say that I am? And notice on the screen it says, and Peter responds, well, you, And Jesus basically says, "Peter, you're not that smart. In fact, you have proven over and over flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. This came from God Himself. Heaven opened your eyes. You had an awakening. You had, frankly, your eyes that were blind and the Bible says, "You and I are born blind." Until we turn to Christ. When you turn to Christ, your eyes are open. The Bible says, "Satan blinds the minds of the unbelieving to keep you from having the knowledge of the Son of God, having the knowledge of salvation, the knowledge of relationship to Christ." And Peter, even though he had been a disciple, even though Peter had been, if you will, a follower of Christ, but there came this moment when all of a sudden his eyes are open. And then on the heels of what Peter says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said, "Blessed are you. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father. Heaven opened the heavens over you." That's why it means to be born again. You have a new spirit.

You have a new revelation. You have, for the first time in your life, the understanding that it is not by your spirit that you're saved is by the Spirit of God. And then he goes, "And I also say to you, Peter, upon this rock, that rock, not being Peter as the rock, but the rock of this revelation. This is the foundation of all Christianity, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and I will build my church." It's interesting that Peter, as he confesses Christ and says what it means to be a Christian, a Christ follower, he then says, "Now Peter, I'm going to use you to be a builder." There are two kinds of people in this world. There are builders and there are destroyers. God is a builder. God builds. God throughout the Scriptures, old and New Testament, he told Adam and Eve, build a testimony, build a life, be fruitful, and what, multiply, build it, expand it. Don't just stay in the garden, don't just stay in this Eden that I've given you. I want you to take territory, I want you to grow, I want you to expand, I want you to move, and of course that's what God has given to all of us, a call, a command to be builders, be it, build our own homes, building our own families, building our own lives, and this ultimately should always come back to this, a true builder is a builder who builds God's church. Now he is the architect. In fact, Jesus said, "I will build my church." He didn't say, "We will build it." He will build it, but guess what? You are his material, Peter, the same Peter who we just read about, wrote two letters. The first, second Peter, having a very brilliant, creative degree. He said, "Jesus is our living stone which has been rejected by men." He was the stone, he was the very foundation. He is everything, he's the revelation of truth, but he was rejected, and they hated

him and they despised him and they crucified him, but he was still God's choice. He was precious in the sight of God. You also, as a result, are living stones. He is the stone, the chief stone, the ultimate, if you will, the chief cornerstone, but you are also living stones. You are the building material and you are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Ultimately, what he's saying is, you are also called to build. You are called to build on the planet, his local church, where you locally live, where God has placed you and where he has placed you, he calls you to bloom, he calls you to plant, he calls you to take territory. And so I want to go to a picture, in fact, I want to go to this story in the book of Mark chapter 12 that's going to give us a little indication as to what kind of building material God uses. Who are the builders? And there's a cool little story in the book of Mark chapter 12. Jesus is, of course, he's walking, he's teaching, he's preaching, he's mentoring his disciples, and as he was teaching, he comes to this place in his teaching, I think, watching in the church, if you will, the temple. He says, "Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long roads." And they like respectful greetings in market places. And they also like having the best seats in the synagogue, the temples, the places, of course, that are supposed to be sacred. in places of honor at banquets." Verse 40, and that's not enough. He says they devour widows, houses, and for appearance sake offer long prayers, thinking that they are going to be, of course, regarded as someone special. And he says, in fact, these will receive greater condemnation.

Who would like this kind of word over your life? That Jesus looks at him and he goes, "There's nothing I can build with here." What he's saying is, I can't build with people who make it all about themselves. Because the cross itself to you and for you to say, "I'm a cross-carrying, or I am a disciple of Christ who I pick up my cross every day." It just simply means it's not about you. In fact, that's the day that we, of course, we find life, but we also find death. We find death to ourselves. And you really don't know how dead you really are until you're rejected, until you're dismissed, until you might not be received. This happened to me the other day. After last Sunday, I get on a plane. I fly to Lexington, Kentucky. So I'm grabbing this flight, this American flight, from Austin to Charlotte, which means you got about a two and a half hour flight, and anything over two hours usually includes a meal. So I'm waiting on my meal. I'm flying, I've been given this first-class ticket by this church, praise God. And as I'm watching her take people's orders, in other words, she's going from seat to seat. Would you like the chicken, would you like the pasta? Would you like the chicken, would you like the pasta? Would you like the chicken, would you like the pasta?

Would you like the chicken, would you like the pasta? And I'm waiting. I really don't want the chicken. I don't want the pasta. I just want anything that's free that comes with the flight. Because I just ate at Salt Lake. I just had a bad piece of chicken. I just had food, but I just want more. Who gets a spirit of gluttony when you get on an airplane? You just, can I have more peanuts? Can I have more pretzels? Give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. You drink things that you've never drank in your life, like tomato juice, all of a sudden. I want some tomato juice. It's like, this goes with air travel, for some crazy reason. We just start, in our mind, I have ginger. I've never had ginger in my life, you have ginger in my life. We just start wanting things on an airplane. Half of that is, we're bored, right? And so I am waiting for her. And as she comes to our row, she asks the gentleman next to me, who doesn't want to talk to me? Because I've been trying to talk to him. And so he's lost in his little stupid show. And he takes off the one side of his earphones. And she takes his order, he wants the chicken. And then she doesn't even ask me. She goes across to the other side. Do you want a chicken?

Do you want a pasta? Do you want a salad? Do you want a chicken? And she goes through everyone. And I finally, I just grabbed this beautiful little young lady. And I just said, I have to ask you a question. Am I on a fast? Because if this church has asked me to come preach for, maybe they said, put him in first class, but we're not going to feed him. Or did my wife call ahead? I don't know. And this is a true story. She says, well, I tried to get your attention, but you were sleeping. And I don't have any more food. And I'm thinking to myself, well, thank God I didn't show up. I thank God I didn't take the meal, because that meant somebody else would have had no food. She goes, well, I waved my hand in front of your eye, and you didn't say anything. It was so weird that it was spiritual. How do you know some things are spiritual? How do you know that it might be God doing something? It's unexplainable. Because as we fly a lot, I've never had this. Or even if you are napping, or even if you did not grip her attention or she grabs you, they usually come back around and go, hey, I didn't get your order. Can I get what you want?

It wasn't even that. It was like, you're not getting anything. And so I'm offended. I'm not happy. And I know that there are moments in their fact it's very applicable and very normal for you if you paid for something. You should get-- I get-- I get up. But I began to discern this was something above and beyond. This was a test. Because I said to her, I said, I saw-- in fact, I can tell you what everybody ordered. He ordered chicken. He ordered-- he ordered some. He ordered the pasta. And I'm going through the whole-- and she goes, well, I don't have any. And the more I thought about it, the matter I got. And I was very aware sitting about four rows behind me. Mike and DuWanda, Jadlow, on their way to Ireland. And I was not happy about that either. (audience laughing) Not that they were on the flight, but that I had to behave. (audience laughing) And it was so rude. It was just like, out of bounds. I began to think, I can get online right now with my mileage number and letting America, and American airlines know.

Who are they messing with? I am a precious child of God. I'm on my way to preach the gospel. Precious, holy, set apart, sanctified, God's mighty man. And then I began to think about the story of the scribes. And that there is something that you can put in those categories. There's something that you can probably, as Jesus is describing them, basically being very self-centered. And again, I'm not saying that if you've paid for something and you don't get it that you should just walk away. I'm not saying that, I'm just, but I am saying that you have to watch yourself. It's not if you're gonna have days like this. It's not if you're gonna have moments like this. It's not if you're gonna sense or have this feeling that you're being, generally speaking, mistreated, but then I begin to realize I'm on a first-class flight to Charlotte, to Lexington. I'm getting there in this very comfortable, convenient way where people used to die between here and Lexington because they were in a covered wagon. I begin to think, it's still pretty good. But at the same time, I flush. And I literally did this because I know how God, when you are put into these often or these moments that is very weird, it's spiritual.

And what I want to be able to bring to you and convey to this is that Jesus comes to the temple and he's talking to these scribes. He's talking about these scribes. And then let's go a little bit further. And so then he sits down opposite of the treasury. Now, it's interesting that he sits opposite of the treasury. Nothing tells God more about you. Nothing says more about you to God than how you handle the treasury. How you handle your money, how you handle your offering, how you handle your gifts, nothing. Because where your heart is, there are your treasures. And where your treasures, there are your heart. I think that they can be interconnected. Nothing reveals more about you than your money, your possessions and your things. That's just what God says over and over. Many will say, in fact many rich people came to Jesus. And so as Jesus is of course watching this treasury, it's interesting, he sits down and he began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury. Jesus is a people watcher. We go to the airport, Lori and I, we like to watch people. Who likes to watch people walking by? And you're not critical, you're not judging them, but you're saying, how did she marry that guy? That's not her kid. Those children, they're a second marriage.

I mean, you're just going through all sorts of, how do they put that on? How can they wear those shoes? You know, it's just like, you can't help it. That's the joy of watching people. It's just part of life. But Jesus is studying, he's studying for us. Why did Jesus go into the temple? Having just addressed the scribes, which are these religious leaders, these are religious people without relationship, obviously. And now he goes and he's sitting and he's watching, he's studying, he's observing, because that's what God does, all great leaders. Can I just tell you something like Jesus is a leader? You know all great leaders study people. You watch people, you learn from people. And as he's sitting down opposite the treasury, observing how the people watch this, he was watching how people were putting their money into the treasury. And as he was watching people give, he saw many rich people putting into the basket, there's 13 baskets there in this particular part of the temple complex. And they were shaped in the form of a trumpet. So he's watching people, they're dropping large sums of money. Now, most preachers would stop right here and go chaching. Yes, that's all we need, all we need is money. We could, in fact, how many we could use a few more dollars in your bank account?

Can I see your hand? Don't, all of a sudden, don't, no, not me! No, I'm a holy man, no, you just know, you know. We would all like a little bit more. Nothing wrong with that. But they come to the house of God, and they're coming to the temple, they're coming to the treasury, and the Bible says these that have been blessed, and these that have been given abundance, it says they just kind of drop a lot of money. But then it says verse 42, but then there came a poor widow. And as this widow began to come, she put in her two small copper coins, which amounted to a cent, putting your two cents worth in. That's the phrase, just kind of, but she watched this. And putting in what was extremely small compared to the large offering, Jesus called His disciples, and He said concerning her. You see this poor widow? She outgave everybody else. For this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury, for they put in out of their surplus. They had plenty left over. But this woman, she gave out of her poverty, out of her destitution. It says, and she put in everything that she owned, and she had nothing to live on. Who was he bragging over? Who was he boasting over? Who in one way was saying, and I think ultimately, yes, number one, we can say Jesus was observing, he was studying the offering and watching how people relate to their money. No question. God watches you how you relate to money. In other words, sometimes we'll come to the house of God and we're like, "Yeah, we approach God, Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh." And then if somebody says, "You just want a million dollars, Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh,

Yahweh." "Zippity, duh, zippity, yeah." We're holy when we're rich. When God says, actually, no, that's not the sign that you're wealthy. The sign that you're wealthy truly or rich truly is rich and good works. And the Bible says as they came and they dropped, but they had no need of God. In other words, when Jesus said they gave and they still had so much left over, simply what they were saying and what Jesus was declaring is that they really, frankly, are still self-centered in the sense that they don't need to trust me. You see, this woman walks in, gives her whole self into the offering, spiritually speaking, and all she has is me. She doesn't know where her lunch is coming from. She doesn't know where her next meal is coming from. She doesn't know how she's going to make it. And what Jesus is saying, and I think, yes, He's giving us a great teaching on our money, our possessions and things, what's important. And that if you're money and if your investments or if your savings or checking account gives you security, I think that that's a false security. Oh, it doesn't mean we don't save, it doesn't mean that God doesn't want to bless us. It just means when Paul wrote to Timothy, instructing the rich how to possess, how to make sure that their possessions don't possess them, that's proper. There's nothing wrong with having money, it's just making sure money doesn't have you. And all that to say, now He goes, but guys, that's not, I think, here as much for our teaching today. Here's, I think, the second reason why Jesus was watching and Jesus was showing and inevitably He was going to go to the disciples to talk about building church. Who do you think I can use to build? Who's the builder here? The people that drop and go, the people that grab and go, the people that just come and go, and yes, they might give their presence, they might give their paycheck, they might

give a tithe, they might give an offering, but they just drop and they go. But what they never put into the house of God was their heart. I get that we do church in a way that you can come and you can go. I get, in fact, I don't think we're grieving God when we put a service together much like He did with the disciples in feeding the multitudes. He would take the bread and He would take the fish. You know, He took pieces of fish and pieces of bread and the Bible told us, as He put the fish and he multiplied. Have you read the feeding of the multitudes? Up to 5,000 people. And so the Bible would tell us that Jesus very clearly was very generous and very kind but very accommodating to the physical needs of people and feeding them bread and feeding them fish and multitudes, 20,000 people in total would follow Jesus. And if you will, would gather together because Jesus said it, you want the bread. And he did that. In our context, we could say we have a 3,000 seed all the time and we have 22,000 people that attend our church. And in a way, we do give bread and give fish. We do give people and accommodate to people. However they're coming, for whatever they're coming, we come to give them what I do believe in that moment they need, whatever that is. And then Jesus goes on one particular feeding, if you will, one particular Sunday. He goes, "Today you're going to drink my blood and eat my flesh." And he went, "We have a time out." If you're old enough you'd go, "What are you talking about with us?" I came for the fried catfish. I came for the cornbread, the hush puppies. I came for the collard grains. Listen, I'm from Natchez, Mississippi. If you're from the Mississippi region, there's a famous restaurant that was started by the

Iraic family who are very close, personal friends of ours, called Cock of a Walk. Has anybody ever had that kind of catfish? They have a couple still around Jackson, maybe down in Biloxi. And to be honest with you, I like fried catfish here in Texas, but it's not Mississippi. He's not Louisiana. It's a different world. It's okay. It's okay. And Jesus is, of course, very rare, because he's speaking to southern Jerusalem people. He's giving catfish, he's giving not catfish, but he's feeding fish, and he's giving them their food. But then he goes, "But I know why most of you are here. It's not for me. You want the fish. You want the bread." "I gave you fish. I gave you bread. I met your natural means." And then he goes, "But today I am the menu. Today I'm the object. Today, can you just want me? Am I enough for you?" And what does the Bible say? One by one, ten by ten, hundreds by hundreds, thousands by thousands, they leave. They walked out on Christ because they didn't want Christ. They wanted what Christ could do for them. They didn't want to build His kingdom. They wanted to benefit from His kingdom. And what we have to, at some point in our life, what if Jesus, like He did in this book of Mark, watched you walk in today?

What would He see? How many know He was watching you? That means He saw me yell at them in the car. Yes, He did. That means He saw me today, rude, and the passage I had has slapped that flat attendant across the face if she didn't give me my mail. In fact, I did something worse on the Southwest Airlines. They didn't give me my peanuts and I slapped her in the bank. I think all of us have probably fed these tests. Who has passed every single test in which you felt that you were not properly recognized or honored or seen? Who has passed every sink? Can I see what delusion looks like? Or can I also see what you're about to go into because you will be tested? Jesus, though He was King and Lord and Master, though He was God and created all humans, those same human beings, nailed into that cross. And He opened not His mouth because He knew that was going to mean salvation. Had He said from the cross, "Kill them. I'm done with them." In fact, had He come off that cross. In fact, He was asked, "You come off that cross, I'll give my life to you." There are some miracles Jesus would not perform because He could have come off that cross. He could have come off it and He could have jumped back on it. But it would have not satisfied nor could He have been the Lamb of God that takes away the future of your and me. of God. Though he was God of flesh, he was accurate, he was perfect. He never sinned, though he could have, he never sinned. Why did he do that? Because he had to be sinless when he died on the cross for you.

What I'm saying is that God would then build his church. And what I'm saying here is that there's another story, and I think what God ultimately saying to the disciples is, "Guys, guess who I can use. I can use people like this." And before we go, I want to give you, because I know that there's a cowboy football game coming on, which means nothing. I heard the coughing, I hear you, "Yes, may you be healed. May you be as blessed as the LSU Tigers were last night." I'm a cowboy fan for the record. Bible says in the book of Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 through 6, "I, President or Paul, a prisoner of the Lord, I implore you. I beseech you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called." Who can say you've heard the calling of God to receive Christ as Lord and Savior? Let me see your hand. Let me ask you, who has not heard the calling of God, which means if you haven't heard them call you, if you haven't responded to the call, you're not saved. It's just the reality the Bible says, "Whomsoever I will, I'll call them." If He calls to you, don't harden your heart, but respond, say, "Yes, Jesus, I receive you." So when you have received this call, the Bible says then walk in a manner of the one who's called you with what? Humility, gentleness, patience. Can you see the widow here? Showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. One body, one spirit. There's just one. There's one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father over all who is, of course, over all and through all and in all. Here's my points to give you today before we go. Number one, together as a church, let's watch our walk.

Let's watch our walk. See the Bible says they like to walk in with flowing robes. Their walk was really more like a peacock, it was more like a strut. It was more like a, "Look at me." Let me ask you a question. Are you more worried about what people see or what God sees? Do you dress to impress people? In fact, is it just about attracting a man, attracting a woman? The reality is, is maybe we live in such a way that we attract God. The Scripture about that, the Bible says adorning ourselves in such a way for His glory, for His, well, for His message. See what I did not want to do on that airplane, having been rejected, interestingly finished the story. She comes back around. As soon as I bit my finger and I went, "I'm not going to be anything other than a man, I'm going to be a good witness." She comes back and she goes, "Hey, I want to say I'm sorry. I got plenty of food." That's what you want, you can have extra, it's almost like Satan, get behind me. It really was a different girl. I am not exaggerating when I say this. It was so weird that it was spiritual. It was a test. The Bible says walk in a manner. Here's what it says. The one who says he abides in Christ, the one who says he's a Christian, ought himself to walk like a Christian, walk like Christ in the same way that he walked. The first group of people, or that group of people that Jesus in the scribes and the Pharisees is addressing, he goes, "Man, they just love to be about themselves." Number two, together as a church because we're building the church, let us watch our talk.

They love these great grandiose conversations. They love to be able to impress people with their long, boring, but they think they're being heard, dissertation of prayer, and he goes, "Watch their talk." In fact, be aware of what comes out of your mouth. Let your speech, your speech, always be with grace as though it's seasoned with salt in other words. You are gracious, but you're also speaking truth so that you will know how you should respond to each person. You see, great church builders watch how they walk, they watch how they talk. Number three, together as a church, let's watch our service. how we serve. the people that I can't build with walk in, it's more about them than about somebody else. They don't notice the people that need to be noticed. James talks about this, having preference for people. Are you a good notice, sir, of people? And I think we can all be better at noticing people. Slow your walk down so you can see. How many are thankful for Jesus who walks slowly through us? He doesn't notice that first group that he talks about. They just, they drop and go. They don't stick around long enough to hear the needs. Pastor Joe, what are you saying to me? If you just come and you go and you haven't walked slowly in and slowly out, that chance is there, you haven't made an value to any person. Yeah, but I've got enough problems with myself. Yeah, but your problems will probably get smaller when you start taking care of other people. When you start building the journey. See, this is why God has gifted you the way that he's gifted you so you can give that gift away. In other words, let's watch how we are serving people. The Bible tells us in Thessalonians, and really, the heart of service is this. And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, for all people, just as we also do for you. I had a great compliment for my wife this week. As you know, two weeks ago she was in a very, very serious crash in vehicle crash with our daughter-in-law Kendall. And she said something to me that caught my attention. She says you're being very attentive to me this time. Yeah. You see, men, I don't know if you're like me or like most men and maybe wives you can help me raise their hand. But when the wife and the often the life behind

all good families gets sick or gets unhealthy, you know what men do? We disappear. I'm kind of like, hey, yes? Do you mind coming and just checking on me? We kind of just get away. And we think, well, you know what? If I'm around, I might say something I'm not supposed to say. And Laurie goes, you're not disappearing this time. Yes. I can eat tonight. Basically is this. How's your service? This woman was serving. This woman was serving God, and God says, that's who I can build with. Here's another one. Together as a church, let's watch our giving. And of course, how would God watch? What would God see in your giving? How does He see out of you coming a response to His blessing you financially? Because God has much to say about this, that every good and precious, if God's come from heaven. And then the way that we honor Him is with the first of our fruits. What would God say? Because whether you like it or not, He's watching. He's observing. He's studying. What would He say about your giving? Each one must do as has been purposed in his heart, not grudgingly but under, or under compulsion, but God wants the heart of gratefulness. It's a heart of cheer. God, you've been good to me. I'll be good to you. And it's not anything to draw anybody's attention to. It's just gratefulness. And then lastly, together as a church, let's watch our motivation. Motivation, here it is. They were not worried nor were they concerned about the salvation of people. Their motivation in the house that God was about their own pageantry, their own seeds, their own world, their own attention. And God says they don't care for the loss. It's not about reaching new people. This woman is the kind of person I can build on because she's given and she's letting everything go for the expansion of the kingdom of God. How many know what we do here at Celebration Church? Yes, it is for the body of Christ. It is though that we first and foremost, we minister to Him. But secondly, we have a concern about people's eternal life. Where will you spend eternity? And if you come to Celebration here, you're never asked. Jesus, the Lord of your life. Are you born again? Have you met God? Do you know that your name is written in the last book of life? Can you say that if you died today, that without any hesitation, you know you would go to heaven? Or do you know where you would go? And the Bible says you can know. We know that we have eternal life because we've met Christ to know Christ is to know eternal life. It is not It's not just receiving a plan to know Christ is to have life.

Is He in your heart? Do you know? And before we go today, can I just tell you, God's looking for builders. And interestingly, the ones that He couldn't build with, He says, well, He says greater condemnation. What He basically says is, there's no involvement in my life in your life. How many want God's involvement in your life? I want God talking to me. I want God speaking to me. I want God talking to my sons and my daughter-in-law's. And I really want God to be talking to my grandbabies in the name of Jesus. I want God to concern Himself with my wife and concern with what I'm concerned with. I want the activity of God. God says, I do. I want to be involved, but I want to see. What about my house? What about my church? And as we partake in His church, can I tell you, He partakes in our family. With every head bad and every eye closed before we go today, who would say, Pastor Joe? I don't have that assurance to return on that. In fact, I know right now, if I died, I have a big question mark. I have a big question mark over eternity.

I know I'm not forgiven. I know I'm not clean. I know I'm not holy. I know I'm not a child of God. I know I'm not His son. I know I'm not His daughter. I don't have that concept. And maybe you're religious and maybe you've been raised in a religious context, but you can't truly honestly say, nor can even your family say, if you were to die today, we don't know where He went. Because the Bible says as a faithful witness, your family should know that you are a child of God. And if you're here today and you'd say, Pastor Joe, I want that assurance. In fact, I want relationship. If that's you, would you just say by the lifting of your hand, Pastor Joe, include me in that prayer. Let me see your hand all over this place, yeah. A lot of hands, it's awesome. This is the motivation of God to seek and to save that which is lost. Jesus came, the Son of Man came to save you. It's not if, but when you will meet Him. And the question, what did you do with Jesus? It's the ultimate question. He's not a religious figure.

He's not a system. He's not a plan. He's a person. And He watches you today. He's been watching, observing. What will He say about you? Can we say this out loud, Lord? Say it with more boldness, Lord. I want you to see that my life is about you. And today, I ask for your grace. Your mercy. You died for me to take away my sin. To make me a new person. A new creation. I give it all to you. Like the widow, my life, my past, my present, the good, the bad, the evil, it's all yours. I believe through Jesus Christ, I am saved forever. And I will be in heaven with you, Lord, and those who love you, beginning right now. Use me to build your church as a living stone. And all of God's people said, come on, can we just thank Christ, same man for His goodness and thank you. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)