WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOR

Good morning church, how are you guys doing today? I need everybody on their feet with their hands up like this. Come on. I can't hear you. Let's go Sing it out, say Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise, we say Come on, say Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia That's beautiful You get all the praise, always Again Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise, we say You get all the praise, we say Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise, always You get all the praise, always Keep those hands up All I've got, a God who is for me That's it And He's known for making the way And He fought the battle So I wouldn't have to All glory belongs to His name That's right All I've got, a God who's been faithful All I've got, a God who's been faithful Oh, far more than I could explain And through every season In spite of my weakness He gave me a song I could sing

I came to praise Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia I came to praise Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia That's right Oh, that's why I woke up today Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia I came to praise Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia We say Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise We say Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise Always Oh, I've got a King who is rich That's right And He put my shame in the grave Went to hell and back Now I wouldn't have to I wouldn't have to And He did it all in His hands I came to pray Hey, hey, hey I came to pray And that's why I woke up today I came to pray

I came to pray I came to pray We say Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise We say Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise Always I'm singing in the morning I'm singing at night I'm singing in the battle That's how I play I'm singing as holy I'm singing twice I'm singing as holy As the rest of my life I'm singing in the morning I'm singing at night I'm singing in the battle That's how I play I'm singing as holy I'm singing twice I'm singing as holy As the rest of my life I'm singing as holy As the rest of my life Alleluia, Alleluia

You get all the praise We say Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise We say Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise We say Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise Always I'm singing in the morning I'm singing at night I'm singing in the battle That's how I play I'm singing as holy I'm singing twice I'm singing as holy As the rest of my life Alleluia, Alleluia Alleluia, Alleluia You get all the praise Always I can't you praise I can't you praise I can't you praise Don't get out of my way

Don't get out of my way I can't you praise I can't you praise I can't you praise I can't you praise Gathered at the highest throne Welcome by a melody An anthem I have always known A song that's always been in me All glory and honor, dominion and power, to you A million angels fall, face down on the floor All to echo holy is the Lord My heart can't help but sing With all of hands in roar Forever echo holy is the Lord Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Forever echo holy is the Lord Memorized by every heart Ringing in eternity Every lifted voice of heart Joining in the symphony All glory and honor, dominion and power, to you Oh, oh, wisdom and wonder Belong to no other but you A million angels fall, face down on the floor All to echo holy is the Lord My heart can't help but sing With all of hands in roar Forever echo holy is the Lord Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Forever echo holy is the Lord Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Forever echo holy is the Lord Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Forever echo holy is the Lord Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Standing at the end of time There before the throne of grace Majesty before my eyes I let it take my breath away A million angels fall Face down on the floor All to echo holy is the Lord My heart can't help but sing With all the heavy heart Forever echo holy A million angels fall Face down on the floor All to echo holy is the Lord My heart can't help but sing With all the heavy heart Forever echo holy is the Lord Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Forever echo holy is the Lord Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Forever echo holy is the Lord Holy, holy, holy Holy, holy, holy Some praise this morning. Come on, give Him your highest praise.

Thank you, Jesus. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Come on, give Him praise. You guys can do better than that. Come on, your highest praise. Come on. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Man, it is so good to be in the presence of God this morning, isn't it? Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. So real quick, y'all. How many of you guys are excited about another weekend of Helping Hands? Man, I got to see some crazy stuff yesterday. crazy stories about what God did through your service yesterday so I just want to thank you church for coming dedicating your time dedicating your day to see the least of these receive amen amen well real quick we got we got one more weekend of helping hands it's at green back this Saturday and man you guys know that it takes money to do ministry did you know that it takes money to buy these shoes and so we're gonna have another helping hands offering this morning but what I'd like to do is mr. Adam Campbell can you come forward ma'am Adam experienced helping hands and he's coming to tell his testimony this morning it is powerful so thank you brother I'm gonna get real with you guys just a little bit if that's okay it's gonna be a little bit raw 18 years ago I was a participant in the open hands I received I got a boy sitting right here he's 18 years old he was five months old that day we pushed him on the parking lot in a stroller and I'm still here okay

that night before helping hands I was on one of the worst drunks I'd ever been on my life okay I should have died to be honest the next morning I woke up I still drunk hadn't drunk a drop my wife woke me up she knows me said we got to get ready to go I gotta go to helping hands I said no I'm not not going and she told me flat out and be out of my house when I get home crap okay so I got up got ready I didn't really get ready to have my clothes on from that before we pulled in parking lot and she jumped out of car got the baby and I didn't get ten steps from my car and pacer happily met me in the parking lot guys our pastor has got a heart of Jesus Christ I'll go ahead say that first off I know I know Jesus does the saving he does the Reformation he does everything but it takes people it takes me in of God to open up that path for folks that man right there opened up everything for me he showed me who Christ was he showed me his voice he showed me how Christ sees us he don't see the junk Jesus don't see the junk our pastor does not there's two people in his church that I would die for I'd lay my life down in a heartbeat it's that man right there and my wife right here sitting up here guys what we do is a church body every dime we give we serve affects someone just like me I'm a success story I'm mold in the making he continuously works on me but these these people here they need your help okay these kids I sit up here up front watching these children come through and get their shoes and you wouldn't believe the happiness the joy these parents are dumbfounded by the love and compassion that this church showed them and everything you guys do to help that changes a life like me from bottom of heart everybody in here this man right here makes a difference we're not supposed to honor and honor and glorify men but I'll serve him till the day I die nothing's ever gonna change that guys please help us help us reach more than we've ever reached before guys it's time to put your money where your mouth is I I can't say it any better I mean that was amazing thank you Adam just an incredible dude credible story hey I just want to say today that we we do need your help and and I'm gonna ask you would you help us financially would you pray about what God would have you give

some of you have the capacity to write a hundred thousand dollar check right now seriously and then some of you like me maybe two cents right and and that's okay we're not asking for extravagance we're asking for obedience two different things and so whatever your capacity is today whether that's a hundred thousand dollar check or two pennies we ask that that you consider stories like Adam and and and And think about these kids that are coming in will not always be kids. So you don't know it, but what you fund as a child will peak its head as an adult. And so the love of Jesus that you show these children, I'm talking about story, you guys are hearing these stories, but some of these stories, kids getting shoes for the first time in their life, you know what they're hearing? Listen to this. Jesus loves me enough to give me shoes when nobody else could. That's powerful. And so what you're planting now are called seeds. The Bible says, what you plant, you will reap, right? And so what are we going to reap with these children that are coming in our doors, that are needy, hungry? They need us. So I want to, I just want to ask you one more time, and Pacer says this, and I'm going to repeat him, we only beg for money one time a year, okay? And this is one of those times. So whatever God is putting on your heart, leading you to do, release it today. We have multiple ways to give. There's a tap tag on each of your seats. We have buckets in the back. We don't pass the plate, all right? And so we're just literally at the mercy of whatever you guys decide to give, and so are these children, and all the stuff we've got for them next weekend. So let's pray, consider your gift, and we'll move on with the service. Heavenly Father God, we thank you so much for your goodness. God, thank you for testimonies. God, thank you for just incredible moments in your presence. God, yesterday was amazing, and we're looking forward to the next Helping Hands this Saturday. God, we ask that you would shield the enemy from all of these events, and that your love would be on full display. God, we just ask right now that you would bless our offering, that you would convict the hearts of the people to give to these kids. And Lord, we just give you glory, we give you honor, and most importantly, we give you all the credit. In Jesus' name, amen. Good morning, everyone. My name is Sherri, and this is Amy, and we want to welcome you here today. We have a lot going on, Amy. We do have a lot going on. First, volunteers,

we could not do this without you, and we are so thankful for you. We want to celebrate with you. We want to have you join us for a pool party. You can visit our website to get registered for that. It'll be a lot of fun. Yes, it will be. We also have a grief share group starting on August 6th from 630 to 830. It's going to be a 13-week program. Please go to our website or to our church center app, and for more information on it, we're going to give you tools, guidance to help you through this Greek journey. That's right. Yes. Sherri, fall registration for soccer is open. This is always a good turnout, so we are so thankful for that ministry. You can visit our church website and our church app to register. Registration will close August 15th, Sherri, but we're also adding in a summer soccer camp this year, so you can also register on the church app for that. Fun. Yes, we have a lot going on. Church, we are so excited that you're here with us today. If you need prayer, we would love to pray with you. Our prayer team will be at the front after the service. Enjoy the rest of the service. Welcome to Revolution Church. Anybody glad to be in God's house today? I know you are. High-five your neighbor and say, I am glad to be here. Come on. Good to see everybody in the house today. So excited about what the Lord's doing. Before we dive in too deep today, I do have a prayer request. In 2017, some of you were probably here then, but there was a teenager that was lost in the Smokies. He had been gone 11 days. Some of you remember in that morning, we just felt led to pray and that afternoon, I think it was that afternoon or the next day, he walked out of the mountains and they found him. I had people calling the church saying, did you guys really pray that God would help us to find him? So in saying that, at 6.30 this morning, I got a phone call from one of the church members and he said that he's being called out on a search and rescue mission. It's Andrew Hanna, but there's two teenagers, 16, 17 year old, and they were kayaking from Abrams Creek campground. to Chihuahua Lake and have not showed up and I think that they've been gone a day but what I'd like to do right now is go to the Lord in prayer on behalf of these young men can we stand and just call out to the Lord for these two individuals listen let's pray father we just come to you today as a church as a corporate body Lord and we pray father that these two young men would be found now God we're believing and trusting God that they're going to be found safe and secure in the name of Jesus I pray God that you protect the rescue team as

they're in the water and as they're they're searching God and and I we're just believing God that you're gonna miraculously lead them to the exact place where those boys are in Jesus name and the church said amen amen thank you guys thank you for praying that prayer well man yesterday was absolutely incredible was it not helping hands was amazing thank you to everyone who gave everyone who volunteered who served regardless of whatever role you played we're just grateful for each one of you yesterday I toured channel 6 and channel 8 news around and they they checked out every single area of the the event and they were blown away both of these ladies they were blown away multiple times they said I just can't believe that there's this many people serving in volunteering at this event and I say with it's an incredible church they just love God amen and love people and so thank you for for doing that and you guys know that we're halfway there we're not there yet next weekend is Greenback and I think we had a maybe over a thousand kids over 1,100 kids signed up for Greenback next weekend so come on praise the Lord but we're just excited about what the Lord's doing and so let's go ahead and dive into the message today before I do pastor Chris man did he do a great job bringing the word last weekend that the armor of God finished up Ephesians chapter 6 and loved the message he just talked about the importance that we're fully dressed with the armor of God he said would wear that way that will be fully victorious amen and love that message but today I want to go ahead and dive in if you have your Bibles you can get them ready the title of the message today is who is my neighbor who is my neighbor I know some of you may live in apartments or in subdivisions I live in the country and so when I think of neighbors for me it may be down the road a piece for some of you it may be next door or an apartment next door but but I've read that there's at least five types of neighbors okay so listen and see if any of these make sense one top is the motivator and these are the people their lawn is pristine like I mean they manicure that lawn the landscaping is perfect and and they're the envy of the neighborhood they are the motivator the second one is the neighbor that you avoid it's the one you

sneak in the door and out the door it's like are they out there okay you make a dart to the car that's that's those those those individuals because you can't get away from them you know what I'm talking about and then there's the mystery neighbor you know the mystery neighbor you rarely see him you're not even sure if they live there there is as elusive as Bigfoot I mean they're they you know what I'm saying they're just we call them the mystery neighbor and then and then we all have the meteorologist they know the weather what it's going to do next week next year it's gonna snow if it's gonna rain if it's gonna storm you've got that neighbor and then my favorite and I made this name up my favorite is the grill master there are they're always grilling and well California they're barbecuing let's get that right here but but anyway it's you know they you're drawing that's the people you want to be friends with right yeah amen you you want to hang out with those guys but today the title of the message we're getting the title from a text in Luke chapter 10 Luke chapter 10 so let's go ahead and dive in start with verse 25 it's the parable of the Good Samaritan most of you a lot of you are probably familiar with this this parable I want to share it today I think it's fitting with helping hands and what you guys are doing verse 25 and behold a certain law you're stood up and tested him saying teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him what is written in the law? What is your reading of it? Now a couple things I want you to notice if you would leave that that passage up there for a second. A couple things I want you to notice his lawyer here was not lawyer in a modern sense. As a matter of fact the word lawyer refers to an expert in the Jewish law or the Torah. It's the first five books of the of the Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And so to be a lawyer you had to memorize large portions of the Torah. You had to be very familiar. You actually had to be able to debate the law in a public setting. So these guys they knew the law. The guys asking Jesus this question is very familiar with with the law. And so also a law student would study under a rabbi or a teacher. And so the Sopranus model was the primary path to becoming a lawyer. So when this lawyer

asked this rhetorical question he was testing Jesus. But the question that he asked is actually a good question. What must I do to inherit eternal life? As a matter of fact I think every single one of us should ask that question. And so and be able to answer that question. So we remember also the rich young ruler coming to Jesus. He had the exact same question. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Now notice here Jesus realizes that he's being tested. And and so as a result of that he answers this question with another question. And so this is wisdom. And his question that Jesus asked was well what does the law say? You're the expert. You've studied. You've memorized. You know the Torah. What what does it say? And what is your interpretation of that? Let's look at his response. It's found in verse 27. So he answered and said you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. So the lawyer here is actually quoting Deuteronomy 6 4. And and it's a passage from the Torah. Now let's listen to Jesus's response here. Verse 28 and 29. So he said to him you've answered correctly or you've answered rightly. Do this and you will live. But he being the lawyer wanting to justify himself said to Jesus and who is my neighbor? The first point that we can learn from Jesus here is when someone's asking you a question or maybe trying to test your faith this is point number one. Don't be quick to answer. Be careful to respond with what? Discernment. Okay. Don't be quick to answer. Be careful to respond with discernment. Because some may be looking for a way to justify the lifestyle they're living. Okay. I you know over the years been you know pastoring 19 years I've I've had a lot of different questions asked me. I've had statements delivered to me. And sometimes those statements or those questions are to justify a lifestyle that they're living. You know I I was thinking about year you know several years ago I was in my 20s I came to the Lord new Christian and I had a bad habit. My habit was I like to dip skull. And I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand how many of you dip skull because the last time I did that we had a lot more women than I would have expected. So some things you just don't ask. But I had I had a habit I I liked I

like my skull. I love my skull. I dipped it early morning, middle day, you know we're in my tree stand before bed. I just I dipped skull. Dipped a lot of it and I liked it. And and I always said this I think it was 30 or 40 cents a can when I was using skull. I said if it ever reaches a dollar I'm quitting. I'm gonna stop. Now that how much is a can of skull now? $5? $8? Where you guys buying your skull at? So so so here's what I did. I started feeling conviction. It's like okay this is this has a hold of me. I can't stop it. I tried it I'd And so I and I started feeling like the Holy Spirit was convicting me that I needed to to stop dipping But just trying to justify myself I started looking for Bible verses to justify if you ever done that anybody ever tried to find a Bible verse to justify Your action if you were honest every hand would probably go up So I found one. It's not what goeth into the body that defiles the man But what cometh out and I could quote that I could quote that I could quote that anybody ever quoted that one Come on, it's not what goes in. It's what comes out it's so But I Decided okay Here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go to someone that I respect. I'm gonna go to an elder in our church And so I did that as a young 20 some odd year old young man I went to an elder in our church. His name was Don Stevenson Don probably don't even remember this Because he probably had a lot of these questions, but I went to him to justify myself Here's the question. I asked him. I still remember the question. I asked I said this I said if Something is a sin for one person Then is it a sin for another person I Was asking because I knew other people that called themselves Christians that were dipping skull And so if it's okay for them, that's gonna be okay for me Well, he didn't give me the answer. I was looking for I left with a little more conviction and I finally got off that stuff and Connie said praise the Lord, amen, but but anyway

you know, so sometimes people may be having a conversation and It's could be to justify their their actions now Jesus was a master at spotting this He was an expert at he knew knew knowing all things And so what he did was he followed the question with a question to reveal the heart behind it are you guys with me and Jesus knew that I'm gonna ask a question. It's gonna show what's really inside of this lawyer So not all questions are seeking wisdom some are looking to vindicate their actions We learned just recently as we went through the the book of James We understood from from the verse there. He said everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak quick to listen slow to speak and So Proverbs 18 13 says this this is a powerful verse To answer before listening that is folly and shame You ever notice sometimes we have an answer before the questions even completed and That wasn't Jesus. He would use discernment. He would listen Use his third ear his spiritual ear to understand so back to the question The question ask is who who is my neighbor? Look at verse 30 Jesus gives him the parable and we want to go through that so then Jesus answered and said a certain man Went down from Jer from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves Who stripped him of the of his clothing wounded him and departed? Leaving him half-dead now one thing that I want to pick up on in this parable as he said a certain man He didn't name the nationality. He didn't name the race. He just said there's a man and We also understand that he's traveling on this road from Jerusalem to Jericho now I Understand this is a 17 mile journey It's a 17 mile road and the elevation drop here is

3,300 feet That's significant as a matter of fact I was trying to think of a comparison to put it in context how many of you guys have ever been downtown Gatlinburg let me see your hand downtown Gatlinburg look here most everybody's hands been raised you've been there, so If you travel from downtown Gatlinburg to Newfound Gap Up on the top the North Carolina line Then you you have traveled almost an identical distance that this was in this parable So this gives you an idea and then also I was looking at the elevation change between Gatlinburg and Newfound Gap, and it's 3,000 feet So you know that's a that's a steep. That's a steep journey of Newfound Gap So this is about in comparison to what Jesus is sharing with this this lawyer This road between Jerusalem and Jericho was steep It was curvy, and it was known for crime and robbery Bandits could could hang out there If you do the study and the research, there was cliffs, there was rocks, there was bluffs. So it was easy for them to hide and then attack the people that they were there to rob. So most people that traveled this route, they didn't travel alone. They would travel with someone just for protection. But Jesus said that this certain man was traveling alone. He found himself robbed, beaten, and left at the point of death. Now I want you to look at verse 31, 33. Jesus says this, now by chance, a certain priest, here's your pastor, here's your preacher, a certain priest came down the road and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Verse 32, likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, he came and looked and what did he do? Help me. He passed by on the other side. This leads to point number two today. Point number two is this, love refuses to walk past someone's pain. Love refuses to walk past someone's pain.

And we understand the importance of that. The role of the church is to help alleviate people's pain, spiritually, physically, and even mentally. In a spiritual way, it's to, we're to rescue the lost. We do that with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We share the gospel and hopefully we're able to rescue the lost physically. We do that when we care for those in their state of poverty, whatever their needs may be. And that's a good example of helping hands. Or those may be in addiction. And then mentally, we're there to heal the oppressed, to lift up the broken hearted and those who are down and out. So all of these things are important. This church right here, really one of our goals is to identify the needs in our community. And when we see pain, we see people in pain, it's what can we do to help? Let me give you an example of that. Celebrate Recovery. We have Ms. Kat Dees, come on, stand up if you would. Give her a hand. She does an amazing job leading, Steve, would you stand up as well? Yeah. Do an incredible job leading our Celebrate Recovery program and we appreciate you. But I wanted to say this is that several years ago, this church again, it's about what's the need in our community and how can we help? So I received a phone call from the current mayor, Ed Mitchell. He called me and we were having a discussion. We worked together to City of Maryville, so I know him well, but we're having a discussion and he's telling me about a need that they have in the community. And he said this, he said overdoses are absolutely just running rampant in Blount County. And he shared with me, he said one Saturday, and if I remember right, this has been several

years ago, but if I remember right, one Saturday, it was before four or five o'clock, and there had already been multiple, several overdoses, and he said I get a text every time there's an overdose in Blount County. He said my wife told me, he said you have got to stop getting these because it's having such an effect on him. So we're having this conversation and he's talking about a need. He's talking about pain in Blount County. That people are losing their sons and their daughters to drugs and overdoses and pills and it's crazy and we've got to do something, he's saying. This is where Celebrate Recovery was birthed. It's like what can we do as a church? I mean we see now, we see there's a need, but are we going to choose to walk by, pass by on the other side, and go about our business because we're busy doing church, or are we going to stop and try to help someone and meet a need? Celebrate Recovery was birthed. As a result of that, it's like there's way too many overdoses. Addiction's a problem and so Celebrate Recovery was birthed for that very thing and now hundreds and hundreds of people are ministered to and served because of your giving, as Pastor Chris was saying earlier, because of your giving. There's meals that are given every single week, not only at this campus, but at the 411 campus, and then there's people ministered to and it's powerful and the worship's incredible. If you've not had a chance, come out on a Tuesday night or Thursday night and check it out. It's awesome. Can I hear an amen? It really is. And so these things are important. It's a very similar way how Helping Hands was started, but back to the parable. I'm sure that the priest was busy. I'm sure he's on his way to Jericho. He's going he's going down to Jericho

And he maybe he has an appointment at the church or whatever. He's got but he's busy He saw the need but he chose to walk by Now I'm gonna tell you for 19 years. I've been I've been your pastor and it is a busy job It's not a 40 hour a week job. Can I hear an amen from all the staff? Come on It's it's not is it? It's you don't clock in and clock out Is that you guys with me? That's what that's what priest do. That's what staff does. That's what ministers do We're called to this. This is our calling and so we understand here Probably this priest was was busy, but busy listen closely busy doesn't justify walking past someone in pain Busy doesn't justify walking past someone When we see the pain that's when we We got to stop and guys listen to me. We've all been guilty every single one of us I'm sure have been guilty of walking past someone in pain I want to give you a quick Illustration or story and I gave this in the early service. So several years ago. It's been I don't know maybe 10-15 years ago Several of the seniors at church, we took a trip to the Grand Canyon and We I think it was a like a 10-day 11-day trip. We flew into Vegas rented a van and then One of our seniors had it all scheduled out where we're gonna stop. We're gonna stay and it was awesome. It was fun I mean, I loved it. If you've never seen the Grand Canyon, it's incredible You can't look at that and not realize there's a God. Amen, and so But anyway, we're coming back Trips over we're flat. We flew into Vegas. We're flying out of Vegas So we spent the last night in Vegas and I noticed on my phone That Delta was had messed up my flight Or our flight kind of and so I keep looking at and I'm trying to contact him on what's going on and everybody else is flying out tomorrow at a certain time and and we're not on that flight and I'm not happy

Okay, I'm just I'm just not a happy pastor Okay, you ever been there? Not justified, but I wasn't happy And so I'm calling Delta and I'm trying to fix it up and and after a long process there I finally got us on the flight They said okay, we're gonna be able to get you on the flight, but you're not gonna be able to sit together Well, I can live with that it's not what I prefer But we'll you know, I can live with it. So anyway, I'm not happy We all get on we all get to the airport. We get on the flight our team and and Connie knew I wasn't too happy because I've been fussing with Delta and We get on the flight. Well, here's the crazy thing Connie seat is up in the front My seat is back by the toilet in the back So it's like I know now who's got favor in this family So see you Connie and I head on back to my seat well, it's one of these big jets it has the aisle two aisles double aisles has have has the seats down the center and You guys that fly a lot, you know, it's not fun to have those center seats is it? Well, I've got a center seat right in the center and and in us and I sit down again I'm not I'm just I've got a little attitude. I'm just not happy Just not happy and I'm sitting there and and there's a lady that's wanting to talk to me She's she's probably 10 15 years older than me And she's just want to talk and and and it doesn't take me long to realize that she's just bragging about her money And all the places she's traveled around the world and all the gambling that she's done and how much fun She had in Vegas and it's like I'm just yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm just we I'm hoping that she'll just be quiet Just be quiet. I just want to get back to Knoxville McGee Tyson is my destination. That's where I want to go and I'm sitting there and And she's going on and her language is very colorful to say the least and and and so

And then I'm not being super friendly. I'm just telling you I'm not being mean not none of that But I'm just not being normally I'm gonna talk cuz I like people I'm gonna have a conversation I'm just it's just the way everything's happened, you know, like I'm just to find my day And so here we are and then she asked a question The question was what do you do for a living? I knew it was coming. So now I've got to put my smile on. I've got to have the pastor face, the Sunday morning. So I tell her I'm a pastor. And when I told her that, she immediately said, well, I don't believe in that religion stuff and da-da-da-da-da. I mean, she cut it down pretty quick. It's like, well, I didn't ask you. I just told you what I do for a living. I didn't say that. I'm thinking it. So anyway, but then she went on to tell me, she said that her husband had found God. She said, my husband found God before he passed. And she started telling me a story, and here's sort of how it went. She said, a few years ago, my husband had gotten cancer, and it got worse. And he was at the point of passing. And so we had a hospital bed there at our house in the bedroom, and we called hospice in. But she said, one day, my son and I were in the living room. And she said, my husband yelled for me to come in there, or yelled for us to come in there. And she said, but the thing that I know, she said it wasn't his voice. She said, it's the strangest thing. And then she threw out some more of those comfort words.

It wasn't his funky blank voice. It's like, okay, well, I'm listening now. It's like, what is going on here? Where's this going? And she said, she goes in, and she said, all he had to say with a different voice was that you have to get your own ticket. I've already gotten mine. And she said, I looked at my son, and I had no clue what he's talking about. And then I realized why I'd had problems with Delta. I'm sitting in the back where I don't want to sit. And now I realized that God had sent me there because he loves this lady and wants to make sure that she knows how to receive eternal life. You guys with me? So if I'd had my choice, I probably would have passed by. But God opened my eyes and showed me that, no, I've got you here on purpose. And so I shared with her this story. And I told her that the ticket was her ticket to heaven. Has nothing to do with a jet. Has nothing to do with Delta. Has nothing to do with your frequent flyer miles. It's all to do with your eternity with the Lord. And I shared the gospel, and the Holy Spirit just moved right there in that role. And I was able to do that. And I want you to listen. It's crazy how God works. As soon as I got through sharing with her, and our conversation, I felt like it had went where I needed it to go, the stewardess, the airline stewardess, comes over to my seat, out my aisle, and she said, Sir, there's a seat available next to your wife in the front. I promise you.

Didn't I, Connie? Now I'm really blown away. It's like, I'm sorry, God. How many times do we miss opportunities because we're frustrated with something, or it's a long line, or my car broke down, or this happened, or that happened? And God could be putting you in a place of intentionality so you can see the need and then meet the need. You know, this right here happened to me, and you'll never convince me that it was a coincidence. It was an act of God. So back to the priest here. I'm sure he's busy. His primary role, though, was to be the mediator between God and humanity. His position was to represent God's compassion to humanity. And I want you to hear this. I want you to really listen closely. Get your ears on for a second. It's possible to be in the right position and have the wrong response. Did you hear me? It's possible to be in the right position and respond wrong. See, that's what I was dealing with on this flight. God had me in the right position, but I wasn't responding correctly. Okay, and these things can happen in all of our lives. So I want you to also understand this. When it comes to ministry, ministry doesn't stop in these altars. Are you guys with me? People come forward. They accept Christ. They're healed. We see miracles.

We see God move, but I want you to understand they don't stop here Okay They they actually this prepares us for out there When we go to the road Where was this need at somebody help me was it in the altar at the at the temple? Where was the need at? the need was out on the road and This is what we get we have to learn and Jesus is teaching something right here So it's important that we we get it we get equipped here for what's on the road now the priest wasn't the only one to walk by the Levite walked by as well and The role of the Levite was to assist the priest his job was to make sure the doors are open in the temple Make sure the building is okay Make sure that everything is is right make sure that they we have all at the altars make that was that was the Levites job was to assist and They also were musicians singers and worship leaders So think about this the Levite comes by and he sees the need he sees the pain He sees someone who's dying and he walks by now Those expected didn't stop. Would you agree with me on that? Let's look at verse 33 But a certain Samaritan which the Jews hated Samaritan Samaritans and you a lot of you know that as He journeyed down this road. He came where he was and When he saw him, here's the difference what happened? he had compassion He had compassion. That was what was lacking in the other two People so he went to him he bandaged his wounds pouring on oil and wine He set him on his own animal brought him to an end and took care of him on the next day when he departed He took out two denarii gave them to the innkeeper and said to him take care of him and whatever more you spend

When I come again, I will repay you Got a question for you Why do you suppose that? Jesus used a Samaritan as the hero of the story Have you thought about that He could have used the priest or the Levite He could have used anyone be but he used the Samaritan was Jesus trying to make a point to this lawyer Was he trying to make a point on to the religious people? What About today if Jesus walked into our churches today or into our church right here today Would he still make that same point Would he still say those same things? The one that was least likely to stop Stopped and so this leads to the last point third point Compassion becomes the pathway through which God touches lives Compassion say compassion compassion becomes the pathway When I met Adam the first time The first impression was alcohol strong He shared that and I picked up on it immediately And it was obvious, but I want you to understand that's who God sent us to People who are struggling if the healthy people don't need a physician Are you guys with me now? And the healthy people aren't healthy. They just think they're healthy You got it so compassion becomes the pathway through which God touches lives See jaw when we look at Jesus the Bible says that Jesus saw the multitudes and he was moved with compassion The priest and the Levite had a title the Samaritan had compassion and There you can have a title without compassion. Can't hear an amen to that you can

So here we see the Samaritan had the compassion the Greek word for compassion is splod needs of me and the word emphasizes the deep emotional response from the gut That one experiences towards another person suffering and it demands action You can't do nothing That's compassion Compassion will not let you walk by compassion Refuses to walk by someone in need compassion always demands Action and that's really what this whole helping hands of Jesus is all about This whole helping hands event is about it's having compassion. Let's finish it up right here verse 36 and 37 So Jesus ends this conversation with a lawyer with this He said, so which one of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? And he said, he who showed mercy on him. Jesus said to him, go and do likewise. Go and do likewise. So the compassion of the Samaritan moved him to action. And Jesus tells the lawyer to do the same thing. Here's what I want you to understand. Helping hands is all about compassion. It started 19 years ago because there was a need in our community. There was parents that couldn't afford school supplies. That's how it started. It's just like, we need to do something. What can we do? And there was a seed planted. Pastor Chris was talking about earlier, a seed was planted. And then from that seed, it became more, and then we were able to have that first helping

hands event. But I want you to listen to something. If you've not heard anything else I've said today, I want you to hear this. Compassion is contagious. Compassion's contagious. You do it, and it brings so much fulfillment and so much joy that you want to do it again. You want to help again, and again, and again, and again. And we've seen that, and we've watched that. And so, I've saw that in Adam Campbell's life. Over the last 18 years, and Angela, I've seen that not only did the compassion this church shared toward you change the family, change the life. The young boy that was in the stroller is now 18 years old sitting here in the church today. That's not a coincidence. That's God. That's a move of God. But I want you to understand something. It is contagious. And so, Adam and Angela started this journey, and it wasn't super easy, but there was times where it was hard. And I want you to hear something. The Lord's already moving, and praise the Lord for that. If God moves on your heart, and you want to come and pray, come on. But I want you to hear this last story. Adam started growing. Angela started growing. They started, every Sunday, they're at church. They're involved. They're serving. I'm going on a mission trip to Haiti when the earthquake had happened, and over 200,000

people had died in that earthquake, and Adam went with me. We took one-man pup tents. Remember sleeping on top of that building that night? The wind blowing? Yeah, it was, but Adam was with me there. But that compassion's contagious. Here's what I saw happen. I'm going to share this story then. There was a lady in our church who was homeless. She had nothing. She didn't have a place to live. She had cancer, and the diagnosis was not good. The doctors have said, you're going to die from this. There was nowhere for her to stay, and she had a young daughter. There was nowhere for her to stay. So we started asking in the church, is there anyone that can help? We've got a need here, and so we're asking the entire church, and I want you to understand something. There was one person that saw the need and stopped, and his name was Adam Campbell. Adam Campbell took this lady into his house, he and Angela, and their daughter. They had a hospital bed right there in their home. I visited it multiple times. They cared for her. They loved on her until she took her last breath. They were there. This is what I'm talking about today. This is how it's contagious. It has that kind of impact. To be quite honest, Adam would have probably been the last one I would have thought of that would have said, here, sign me up.

I'm going to do it. I'm going to take care of it. But what about you and I? What's God called us to do? What is it He's wanting out of us? Listen, I believe that God's wanting some incredible things out of this church that we've not seen yet. And He's called us to more. He's called us to greater things. Can I hear an amen if you believe that? It's like, what's the next thing, God, you want us to do? I love and appreciate each one of you so much. I see you boxing the food up, packing 700 boxes. I got a picture of the family that boxed the last food, and they had little kids there with them. Their mother and their little kids were boxing that last 700 box of food. And it's just so good to see the church ministering and serving and giving. Thank you for that. But today I just wonder if there's someone listening that needs to be rescued. Maybe you're here today and to be quite honest with you, you don't have a relationship with Jesus. Maybe you're not walking with him. Maybe you feel like this this guy that was robbed and beaten and on the side of the road. I want you to know that Jesus is stopping. He sees you and he's stopping to rescue you and to minister to you. If you would, let's stand. Let's bow our heads. Father God, thank you so much, Lord, that you stopped. You saw me, 22 years old, and you stopped and rescued me. And God, all the members, all of our body, Lord, you've rescued us. And so now, God, you've called us to go after the others.

God, we're just going to go ahead and praise you, Lord, that many are coming in. If you're here right now, everyone praying, and you'd say, Pastor, I feel like that man left on the side of the road. Struggling in life, things are not going well. I feel like that is me today. If that's you right now, and you just say, Pastor, will you remember me in prayer? I want you to hold up your hand across this building, all across this building. Come on, hold them up high. There's a lot of hands going up right now. You're that person. God sees you. God loves you. Hold it up high. It's okay. Everybody praying right now. Father, I pray for these hands right now in the name of Jesus. God, that you minister to every single one of them, God, and that we're able to pause this Sunday morning and pray and lift up our brothers and sisters in prayer. In Jesus' name. I want to ask the prayer team if you guys would come forward, please. We're going to sing this last song. Would you please not leave until the song's over, because there's going to be people making eternal decisions. Eternal decisions. If you need Jesus today, man, what a better time than to come and receive Him. Hey, listen to me. There's no shame in it. Make sure that question's answered. What must I do to receive eternal life? God made it simple. He sent His Son, Jesus, who came to this world, who died for your sins and for mine, and the Bible says if we will believe that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Today, some of us need to make that decision. Amen? Leave different. Some of the 888 correctional facilities today, you need to make that decision and sign off different than you signed on. In Jesus' name. Let's worship the Lord with this last song. If we can pray with you, please come down. Christ, I am Blessed me Thou should die Prince of Peace Emmanuel Here with me Your name is great

And greatly to be praised Your name is great And greatly to be praised Adonai Elohim Great I Am Lives in me Yeshua El Shaddai You are Prince of Peace Emmanuel Here with me Your name is great It's great and great to be praised. Your name is great and great to be praised. Your name is great and great to be praised. Your name is great and great to be praised. Your name is great and great to be praised. I worship you Jesus. I worship you Jesus. I worship you Jesus. I worship you Jesus. Your name is great and great to be praised and glorified. Worthy you are. Worthy you will be forever your way. Worthy you are. Worthy you are. Worthy you will forever your way. Worthy you are. Worthy you are. Worthy you will be forever your way. Worthy you are.

Worthy you are. Worthy you will be forever your way. Worthy you are. Worthy you are. Worthy you will be forever your way. Your name is grace. And greatly to be praised. Your name is grace. And greatly to be praised. Your name is grace. And greatly to be praised. Your name is grace. And greatly to be praised. Worthy you are. Worthy you are. Worthy you will be forever your way. Worthy you are. Worthy you are. Worthy you will be forever your way. Your name is grace, and greatly to be praised. Worthy you will be forever your way. Worthy you are. So worthy you are. Worthy you will be forever your way. Your name is grace, and greatly to be praised. Never be a doubt, you are worthy, Jesus. You are worthy. You are eternal. Oh, let it set. Oh, let it set our lives on you.

You are eternal, Lord Yahweh. Oh, you are worthy. No one else. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? There is no one. Only you, Jesus. Who else is worthy? We won't find another one. Worthy you are. Worthy you are. Worthy you will be forever your way. Worthy you are. Worthy you are. Worthy You are. Worthy You will be forever Yahweh. Worthy You are. Worthy You are. Worthy You will be forever Yahweh. Worthy You are. Worthy You are. Worthy You will be forever Yahweh. There's no one like You Lord. No other one worthy to serve with everything. You are worth every day Lord. And so Lord I just pray that we would fix our eyes on eternity. We would fix our eyes on the things that are eternal Lord. And that's You Lord and Your ways. Lord I just pray that we would grow closer with You. That we would get in the secret place. That we would study Your word Lord. And that we would know You more. Because the more that we know You Lord the more that You are able to work through us.

Through Your Holy Spirit. And so Lord I just pray Father that You would continue to pour Yourself, pour Your love in us. So that Your Holy Spirit can move freely Lord. I pray that You would use Your people Lord to plant seeds. On good soul. That we would continue to speak the Gospel Lord. And that it would grow, that it would flourish. That it would bear fruit for the Kingdom of God. You didn't just want to live without us Lord. You created us and You sent Your Son. That He would die for us so that we could be with You Lord. Forever. And so I thank You Lord that You gave us the choice to choose You. And I pray that You would just use us to help others see who You are so that they can choose You too. I just thank You my Holy God. You are so kind, so generous. And there's no one better to be more like. And so I just praise You Holy One. I want to sing that forever and ever. And I pray that the world would want that too. So we love and we thank You today Lord. And we give You praise in Jesus name. Amen.