Zacchaeus | Crossed Paths | Pastor Sam Mata | Shoreline Church | Message

Hello, beautiful people of Shoreline, how are you doing? Come on, give God praise for a moment. He woke us up, we are here today at church. My name is Pastor Sam Mata and I bring you greetings from our south campus. And we love you guys dearly every Sunday. If you know anybody that lives on the south side of the campus, we have a great opportunity to connect like you do here. I want to welcome everybody from our south campus, give them a big round of applause as well. Everybody watching online and God behind bars, thank you, you are part of our family, we love you dearly. We are glad we can connect this way. Pastor Rob and Laura will be back next week, make sure you make plans to be back over here. It's going to be a great opportunity. He has a great message planned for you guys, it's going to be a wonderful service. Why don't you stand to your feet for a moment. We are going to recite the Shoreline Creed. For all that are familiar, this is statements we put together to prepare our hearts to receive everything that God has for us here today. If you are visiting with us, you can read along, I think it will give you a good snapshot into the heart of our church. You all ready? Here we go. I am loved by God. I cannot earn it. I cannot lose it.

I am forgiven and made brand-new. In Christ I live with passion and purpose. I am empowered by the spirit to be the church in the world and to live this love revolution. Amen. Come on, give Jesus praise for a moment. You may be seated. Hope you all are doing well here today. I want to share something on this series that we started a few weeks ago on crossed paths. So this is an opportunity to hear stories from scripture of people that had an encounter with Jesus and they were never the same. We are still talking about them here today. How many of you know what I am talking about? You encountered a loving Savior, a gracious king and he loved you and changed your life and your life has never been the same. We are going to talk about another person that he had the same encounter with Jesus. His name is Zacchaeus. You remember Zacchaeus, big tall guy. I was a little guy. And we remember singing in Sunday school, Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. He climbed up a sycamore tree for the Savior and wanted to see or something like that. It's been a while since I was in Sunday school. I will stop singing right now, that's why I am not on the worship team, praise the Lord. God called me to do other things.

We are going to read in Luke 19. If you have your Bibles you can open up to that, it will be on the screen. It says here in Luke 19, the story of Zacchaeus, Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was. But because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. And the people saw this and began to mutter, he is going to be with a guest of a sinner. But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, look, Lord, here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. And Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house. Because this man too is a son of Abraham. For the son of man came to seek and save the lost. Amen. That's our story. He came to seek and save us. And so we're going to read about Zacchaeus and learn about his life.

And there are so many things we can learn and apply to our lives here today. First of all, Zacchaeus had a problem. How many of you had a problem? If they are sitting next to you, don't look at him right now. We have all had problems and challenges in our lives. He had a problem. But he also took the right action. How many of you have taken the right action to kind of resolve that problem? You trusted Jesus, right. So he had a problem. He took the right action. But then he received a reward. Jesus reward him and we will talk about that in a little bit. The key is that the Bible tells us he was a little guy. And scholars believe that he was five foot or shorter than that. But he wasn't a tall guy, he was a short little guy. Nothing against short people, I married one. Actually Kelly is the tallest person in her family. All I know is that beautiful things come in small packages. Amen. Praise the Lord Jesus. Amen. Shout out to all the short people in the crowd. There is a lot of you guys. That's awesome. I didn't know there was so many. But Zacchaeus was little, right. And he hears about Jesus.

That he's going through the town. And he wants to get to know Jesus. The Bible says he wanted to see who he was. So he runs ahead and he couldn't see. People were tall and he was a little guy and couldn't see. And he had to run up. He remembers the old sycamore tree. He runs up the tree and gets up there and sees Jesus. And Jesus sees him and notices him. And he says, come on down here. Hey, I want to go to your house today. He says, I must go to your house today. And they have, of course he's being criticized and going to Zacchaeus' house and he doesn't care. And he says, salvation has come to this house here today. But I notice that Jesus notices him. And what he did to get close to him. And his life is transformed forever. We're still talking about Zacchaeus even here today. So he had some limitations. He had a problem physically. He was little. He wasn't very tall. But then he also had a problem socially. He had a problem physically. But then socially as well. He didn't have very many friends. He actually was despised. Tax collectors back then were despised because they would charge over and above and pocket the difference.

And they were working for the Roman empire. And they were not liked very well. So that tells me he didn't have very many friends. They called him a sinner. Back then several times in scripture Jesus hung out with sinners and tax collectors. So there was a special category of sinner if you were a tax collector. If you work for the IRS, we love you dearly. We're not going to judge you, amen. It is tax season so we want to be on your good side. We love you. But he had a problem physically and socially. But also spiritually. Because he didn't know Jesus as his Savior yet. But the Bible says that he was very wealthy, had a lot of money. And how many of you know that you can be very, very wealthy but if you're missing two of the most important things in life, you're still very poor. You can have all the money in the world but if you don't have friends and a Savior, you're still lacking the most important thing. Friends and a Savior. Zacchaeus was in that situation. And Jesus said here this in Matthew 16.26. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul. He was saying there is more to making money. There is more to being wealthy.

You have to have these two things. You have to have friends in your life that believe in you, love you, pray for you. And you need a Savior. And Zacchaeus somehow did something about it and his life was transformed. Zacchaeus had stopped growing. He was short in stature. And he was challenged, like I said, physically and socially and spiritually. But there was one area of his life that was affecting every single area of his life. And how many of y'all know that you can have one area that is not right in your life that is a challenge or trouble where they're self-induced or something happened or whatever. And that one area of your life, it can influence all the other areas of your life. Maybe there is some addiction or a sin pattern or a habit that is limiting you from really being around people and kind of maybe living a little bit paranoid. Am I ever going to be found out? And you don't feel close to God. And that one area, maybe everything else is okay. But that one area is kind of starting to affect all the other areas of your life. Maybe there is an addiction or a sin pattern or a mistake or something like that. Or maybe there is some emotional health or spiritual health or maybe even mental health. Or maybe you're in trouble with your thoughts and it's starting

to affect your job performance and your relationships with other people. Maybe your marriage is in trouble and you don't feel close to your spouse. And you just don't feel good about where you are and it's starting to affect your performance at work and maybe your relationship with your spouse and relationship with your kids. One area, if it's not right, it can affect all the other areas of your life. Maybe your finances are not in order and you're starting to figure out, okay, this is kind of really messing with some other areas of my life. Maybe there is some offense. You have been carrying around some pain or some offense or something that somebody did to you and it's always gnawing at you and always in the forefront of your mind and it's kind of affecting your relationship with Christ. Because you haven't forgiven that person. And you are kind of having a hard time trusting people. Or maybe there is pride or anger. or something that's holding you back from really experiencing the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. And if we were honest, we were like, yeah, this is good, this is good. But you know what? This area right here is just not right. I haven't surrendered it to Jesus. I haven't seen God move in that area

and it's affecting other areas of my life. Maybe you're here today and you're struggling with something and it's affecting the other areas as well. God wants to deliver you from that. God wants to help you in every part of your life. One thing I love about God, and so many things I love about Him, but that He wants to be intimately involved in my finances, in my health, in my marriage, with my kids, with my grandbabies, with my friends as I pastor, as I friend. He wants to be involved in every part of your life because He's able to redeem every part of your life. He can redeem your past. He can make it all well. He can forgive people that offended you or some things that you made. He can take all the sins away and make you brand new because He wants you to experience the abundant life that He came to purchase for you and it gives us an opportunity to surrender every part of our life. Amen? See, God wants you to keep growing and keep developing and keep maturing, keep trusting Him every day of your life, even through difficult times. You know, the Bible tells in James chapter one,

it says this, it says, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance and let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. So the goal of going through a challenging time is not to like, well, I'm gonna have joy because the Bible says consider it a pure joy, right? We don't put that on our refrigerator because we don't like scriptures like that, right? But the goal is not to just kind of get through it with joy, but the goal is for God to get you over to the other side and you've been matured, you grow, you develop, you trust God, your faith is secure, your faith is more like an anchor, you know who Jesus is, you know who you are in Christ and God has brought you to another understanding of how good he is and you got through that, yes, with joy, but on the other side of that challenge, you got to know a lot more, you mature in your faith with Christ. That's the goal of God for all of us, that not just to get us through, he will, but on the other side, you feel more secure in your identity as a believer. You know who God is, how he provides, how you can pray, how he'll come through,

you'll know how to pray for other people, he'll get you to that place where you can trust him and you're full of faith and you're full of hope, you're full of understanding that if he did it before, he's gonna do it again and that's how God is and God wants us to keep growing and maturing and not have any limits on our life. Zacchaeus had limits on his life, he had a lot of money, but there were some limitations that were causing a problem in his life and I want to encourage you that nothing is too difficult for God. Your problems, your trouble, your limitations, wherever you lack, it does not intimidate God. God's going, ooh, okay, let me do something with this and he loves that we come up to him and say, Lord, I don't know how you're gonna do this, all I know is if you don't do it, I don't know how this is gonna happen in my life. I don't know how you're gonna restore this or how you're gonna have a breakthrough in my life here or how you're gonna provide here, but all I know is that I gotta get close to you like Zacchaeus did and if I do that, I can trust you that you're gonna come through for me because you love me, so if we do our very best to get close to Jesus, we can see change. The goal of Zacchaeus, he wanted to know who Jesus was. He's like, I gotta get close to this man. I've heard the stories, I've heard the testimonies, I've heard him preach and I've seen what he's done

and I gotta get close, but I can't get close because I'm limited in my ability because I can't see above the crowd, but then he does something about it and he runs to the tree and he climbs up and he doesn't say anything, but Jesus notices him. That tells me God is aware of your situation. He sees you and all he wants from you is to get close to him. Whatever it takes to get close to him and trust him maybe in a fresh new way. If we look at our pain, it can be a stepping stone into what God has for us. If we look at our sin, it can be a stepping stone to getting closer to Jesus. If we look where we're lacking in our lives, wherever we're troubled, wherever we're challenged, God doesn't want you to kind of sit in that and say, figure it out. Well, you're gonna be like this the rest of your life. No, that could be the very thing that you climb up to get closer to Jesus and if you get closer to Jesus, those things will pale in comparison to how good God is in your life. So our goal in life is not necessarily get through it in joy but to mature and to get closer to Jesus in every place of our lives, amen? So that disappointment you've been carrying around, you don't have to stay disappointed.

You can use that as a stepping stone to get closer to Jesus. That trouble that you found yourself in, that sin pattern, whatever it is going on in your life, don't let it limit you from getting close to your savior that has a good plan and purpose for your life and loves you enough to give his life for you. He loves you dearly so open up your heart. That opportunity is a great opportunity to open up your heart to him, maybe in a fresh new way to understand that, you know what, I don't have to stay the same. I don't have to be limited. my thinking, I don't have to be limited in the pain that I've been carrying around or the disappointment or I've been let down, but I can actually use that as a stepping stone to get closer to my Savior. And I believe that's what God wants for each of us here today, because the word of God says this, with God, all things are possible, in Matthew 19, 26. It's in Ephesians 3, 20, that he can do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask, think, or can imagine, so the greater is he that's in me than he that is in this world, in 1 John 4, 4, it says that you are more than a conquer in Romans 8, 37, that you're seated with Christ in heavenly places, according to Ephesians 2, 6, and that God can turn all things into good, as my wife shared earlier. So that tells me that God doesn't say, well, let me just kind of get you this far,

and then you say, we'll see how you do, and then I'll increase in your life. No, God wants to remove all the barriers of your life, all the limitations of your life, where you feel boxed in and paralyzed and you feel like you can't grow. God is saying, let me, give it to me, I'm gonna take it off of you so you can continue to grow but just get closer to me. If you get closer to me, those things will pale in comparison, as you trust me. God wants to break through in your life and break through the limitations, whatever has been put in your life, as you trust him. So what are some ways that we get limited? Well, sometimes, you know, the way we're brought up, we can limit us. You know, I grew up in South Texas, there was nine kids in my family. My mom and dad fought a lot and then made up a lot, you know what I'm talking about? So there was a lot of kids in my house and we didn't have a lot, we never lacked anything but we weren't, you know, we weren't poor but all I know is there were poor people would drive by my house and they would point at my house like that's where poor people live. That's what they would say. I realized at a young age that government cheese does not melt, you know what I'm talking about. So I didn't have a whole lot but I was always taken care of

but sometimes the way you grow up can kind of put limits on you. You know, maybe sometimes letting our mistakes define us, we fall short of the glory of God, we've made mistakes and then we identify with that mistake and we feel like that's how we're gonna be or who I am or I'm always gonna fall short and it kind of puts a limit on our life instead of breaking through that and knowing that God's grace is efficient for us and he forgives us of all of our sins. So never let your mistakes define you. Sometimes they can put a limit on you. Sin can kind of limit your life. It's real quiet in this place. Sin can kind of limit, sin can kind of limit your joy, right? It can limit your confidence, yeah. All the sinners are like, yeah, that's right. And we were honest, sometimes when we live in maybe secret sin or sin that we haven't confessed or sin that we haven't given up to Jesus, it can kind of mess up with our trust, with our confidence and it can put limits on our lives and then the devil comes and he puts guilt and shame and condemnation on our lives and then he puts us in this little box and he's like, oh, this is who you are. You're always gonna miss up and then he lies to us like, oh, you're not smart enough. Why do you think God wants to use you?

And like, well, you don't know the Bible enough. Why do you think God can use you? And you might say, you know what? Maybe I'm not that smart. Maybe I don't know the whole Bible but I know a God that has redeemed my life and transformed me and he's filled me with the Holy Spirit and he gave me a second chance at life and he's got a brand new identity for me. I serve a God that is mighty to save that doesn't put any limits on me. When you and God are a majority, you always are on the winning team. There's no limits to what God can do. Listen to David and Bathsheba, right? You guys know the story. David sends out all the warriors to fight and he stays back and then he has an affair with Bathsheba and his life becomes a mess and this is a man who loves God with all of his heart and he messes up. And in Psalm 32 verses four and five, he writes this during that season of his life. He says, day and night, your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover it up my iniquity and you forgave me and the guilt of my sin. He's saying I was feeling boxed in. I was feeling like depressed and sapped

and my strength was gone but then I got closer to you, God. I confess my sin to you and you removed not just the sin but the guilt and the shame and all the things associated with it and notice that he's still the king. His identity didn't change just because he messed up. What was important, he got closer to God. He was reminded, oh yeah, that's right, God forgives me. God is a good God. He still has a good plan for my life. My identity doesn't change. My sin doesn't define me. God defines me and he says, I'm more than a conqueror. That I'm a man of God, I'm a woman of God and you get closer to Jesus. You can see the beauty of our Savior in a fresh new way because sometimes we stay back and we stay limited like, oh, God is so far away and I'm like, no, no, I'm not. He would say, no, I'm not. I've drawn closer to you. The sin limits, as you know, one of my very first scriptures that I memorized because I... needed it desperately, is 1 John 1, 9, says, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

But the word starts with if, it's a choice. If you confess your sins, he's faithful and just to forgive you, and I love that, and to cleanse you. God doesn't just forgive us, but he cleanses us, like taking it all away because he doesn't want to have any limits on your life. Sometimes we confess our sin and we just kind of stay the same because we're not renewing our mind, not trusting Jesus, getting closer to him, and the word of God, and worshiping together, and being in his presence, but if we continue to do that, we will experience an amazing savior in a very special way, amen? Joy is limited, our confidence, our productivity, sometimes it's limited. Sometimes what other people say over us can limit us. People have spoken bad things over you or limited you. They say you never will amount to anything or you'll always be this way or you'll always be that way. And I remember one time I was about, I think fifth or sixth grade, and there was a couple of girls, sorry, honey, that I liked in school, but I was innocent back then. I don't know, so it was before I met you. But I was liking these two girls, and my sister, my youngest sister,

she had a lot of boyfriends. A lot of guys liked her, you know what I'm talking about. So she was very popular with the boys, and every week she had a new boyfriend. Oh, this is the one. Like, oh, I thought last week was the one. No, that was the one for that week. This is the one for this week. So she had a lot of boyfriends. I remember like, man, what can I do for these girls to like me? So I remember asking her, I was like, hey, what can I do to have these girls like me? I want them to like me. What can I do? And I remember she looked me up and down, and she went, mm, well, you're way too skinny. You gotta put on some weight. Girls don't like skinny guys. I don't have that problem anymore. I was a 28 waist when I got married, praise the Lord Jesus Christ. You know I'm living right when you gain a little weight after you're married, right? And she's like, no, you're too skinny. You gotta put on some weight. I'm like, ah. And so, you know, I did whatever I could. You know, I was eating extra. I was telling my mom, mom, make extra tortillas,

a little bit more lard in there, because I need to bulk up a little bit, whatever I need to do. And I was eating, that didn't work. You know, then the movie Rocky came out. I remember 1976, dun, dun, da, da, dun, da, da, dun. That was so inspiring. Even now when I hear it, I get so inspired. So I went and got the album, and I had a record player, and I got a workout bench, and a bench press, and I took a shirt, and I cut off the sleeve so my skinny little arms could get through it. And I got, I put on, you know, Rocky, and I started with, you know, pushing up the bar, and I'm like, I'm gonna get all buffed into girls. And eventually I put some weights on it, and I was pushing it, and I'm like, and it didn't work. And I'd go in front of the mirror, I'm like, ugh. Like, no, nothing's working. And for a long time, it kind of messed with me. Like, oh man, girls don't like skinny guys. Until I met somebody, a short little girl that loved me, and married 34 years now, and skinnier now, she is with me. And she loved me, but that kind of messed with me. Sometimes people have said things over your life that has messed with you, put a limit on you, has put you in a box. Sometimes having the wrong identity or a bad self-esteem could put limits on us, or maybe even passivity. You know, just kind of being complacent and being lazy,

and not being motivated can put limits on your life, or maybe even having no vision for your life. You don't have a really good plan for your life. You're not motivated to kind of step into a new season in your life and trust God, or maybe there's no desire to grow, or whatever it is that put a limit on your life. God can break through all that, amen? You know, sometimes even not being teachable, being prideful can limit you. You know, when I got married, somebody told me, like, listen, Sam, best advice is like, stay teachable. Okay, you're gonna learn a lot from your wife, and they told her, too, stay teachable. You're gonna learn a lot from each other, and you know what, it's true. Like, before I got married, I did not know how fast or how slow to drive. I did not know how to find a parking spot. I did not know when to brake when the car in front of me is braking. Praise God for marriage. I learned how to be a better driver. Now, guess what? I can find all kind of parking spots. I know when to brake. I know how fast to go. I know where to park. I know all the different things that work, you know, because I was teachable, praise the Lord.

And all the men said, amen. Praise God. But even relationships, having the wrong friends or no friends can put limits on you. We have a saying, like, show me your friends, I'll show you your future. If your friends are not encouraging you to get closer to Jesus, time to change those friends, amen? So don't let friends limit you back from what God has for you. No matter what limitations you have on your life today can be a breakthrough day for you. Today can be a day where God rips that lid off of you and say, no more limitations on your life. I want you to experience the fullness of what I have for you, the fullness. the fullness of grace, the fullness of my love, because I have so much in store for you. Don't let anything hold you back and put limits on you. We had a dude like Zacchaeus did. He probably thought, you know what? I don't care if I look crazy. It doesn't matter. I got to get close to this man. I got to get into the presence of Jesus. I got to remove every single barrier in my life. I'm going to run up this tree, and I might look like a crazy man, but it doesn't matter. I want to find out who this Jesus is. And when he did, he took that action,

and he came face-to-face with the Savior. And that's the same tenacity that we have to have. You know, it doesn't matter what I look like. I'm going to get on my knees, and I'm going to worship God, and I'm going to tell people about my dreams. I'm going to be inspired by the Word of God because I don't want any limitations on my life. And he climbed up a sycamore tree. A sycamore tree represented repentance and transformation. It represented resilience and growth. It's known in the Hebrew culture as a concept of growth and rehab. So it's not by accident that it was exactly what he needed to be in the exact spot where Jesus was walking by, and he climbed up that tree, and he came face-to-face with Jesus. And it's a beautiful thing we can still do today. You are not disqualified by your limitations. God doesn't put limits on you, so don't put limits on yourself. Dream big. Trust him. He's a big God. He's a mighty God. He's a majestic God. You can trust him to experience the fullness of what he has for you. I love what Romans 11, 29 says, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. That means that God wants to complete the work that he started in you until the completion of Jesus Christ. You know, he puts gifts and talents in each one of us, and he's not going to take them back. Those are for you to be used to serve other people, to serve humanity,

to come into a relationship with God and be productive. I'm a part of what God is doing in my community, in my family, in my church, in my city, in my school, because the gifts that he's given to me are irrevocable. Some of us have gifts in our life that we haven't even tapped into because of the limits that we've had on our lives. Like, no, I can't do that. I'm not gifted. Well, God has gifted every individual watching online, south, all of you guys here, God has gifted you with specific things to be able to make a difference in this world. You know, Paul told Timothy, Timothy, stir up the gifts that were laid in your heart. You know, stir up the gifts. Sometimes we just got to stir up the gifts because we have limits on our life. Like, I don't even have any gifts to stir. Like, stir it up. You know, encourage yourself in the Lord. Get around other people that will say, listen, I have this. I see this in you. I see this gold in you, this gift in you. The reason I'm standing here is somebody believed that the gifts that God had in me, I didn't even know were there, but they were there because God placed them in me, and somebody showed me through a relationship in my life. They say, Sam, do you think you can do this? Like, no. Like, oh, maybe I can. It's a miracle I'm even standing here in front of you. I was so shy growing up. Like, I couldn't even talk to my imaginary friends. I was so shy.

I wouldn't even talk to them. But God redeemed me. Amen. So God is good, and he has a great plan. You know, he even told Timothy later on, or in 1 Timothy 4, like, hey, Timothy, don't let anybody look down on you because you're young. But as a matter of fact, be an example. And he goes on in speech and conduct and love and faith and purity. He's like, don't let anybody limit you by your age. Age has no limitations how God wants to use people. Doesn't matter if you're young or old. Nobody ever ages out in the kingdom of God. Amen. God has a great purpose and plan for your life. That's why you got to tell your children, listen, God wants to use you. He's put special gifts in your life. He's got a special anointing upon your life to be able to be used for a great purpose in your life. God's love for you is never limited. His love, he loves you perfectly right now. He can't love you more or less. He loves you perfectly right now. His joy is not limited. His grace is not limited. His power and his wisdom and every single thing that he provides is not limited. He's an abundant God. We just read a bunch of scriptures that it doesn't say, well, let me give you just a little bit and see how we do. God is a big God.

And he wants you to experience a big life. Amen. Zacchaeus was not limited by his own thing. Maybe somebody told him, hey, you're not ever going to do anything. And maybe one day he had a dream. Maybe he had friends. But now he was limited in his life. But he took the right action. His biggest challenge was used to get him close to Jesus. He could have stayed a little guy like, well, okay, I guess, bye, Jesus. I didn't see you. So he didn't see me. But he's desperate enough to climb up a tree and get face-to-face with Jesus. Amen. Experience the same thing if you take the right action with Jesus. Do what Zacchaeus did. Don't let limitations limit your destiny or your purpose in your life. He used his challenge as a platform to get close to Jesus. And I don't know what you've been through or even what's going on in your life, but I know a God that can turn whatever limitations are in your life into a beautiful asset. And you can grow in your relationship with God. It might be the very thing that propels you into a relationship with God. Maybe for the first time, or maybe for a fresh new understanding of who he is. So your story is not over yet. Your story is still being written. And I'll tell you what, it's an amazing story of how he used you and saved you and redeemed you.

He's got a great plan and purpose for your life too. So don't let anything keep you the same. He ran ahead because he was desperate. And you know what I've learned? That desperate people do desperate things. And if we're desperate enough to get close to Jesus, he meets us at our point of need. And I wonder if Jesus would have seen Zacchaeus, if maybe Zacchaeus was 5'11". If he was like normal, like everybody else. If he was standing like, okay, well, yeah, everybody's like, no, there's everybody just cheering and stuff like, oh, wait a minute, Zacchaeus, come on down here. I gotta go to your house. He noticed there was something different about Zacchaeus. He was desperate enough to climb up a tree and looked at a little crazy and he's looking down and Jesus saw him face to face. Zacchaeus probably thought, listen, I better do something. I can't stay the same. I wanna know about this Jesus. And he goes and he said, I'm not gonna let my height, I'm not gonna let people push me around. I'm not gonna keep jumping up and down. I'm gonna do something about it. And God rewarded him. I'm gonna get into the presence of Jesus. And as he did that, his life was transformed. See, we're not here to impress people and look good.

We're here to get close to God and allow him to draw us closer to him, amen. I love what James 4, eight says, it says, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Draw near to God and he'll draw near to you. You know what I understand in scripture in Romans 5, eight? It says, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. In other words, while you were lost and blind and you couldn't see anything, but just your life was a mess and maybe you thought you were having fun. Maybe you were having fun, but you were far from God. Jesus already took the first step towards you. So at the right time, when you needed him, you would turn around like, and he was so close to us. He did that because he loves us. And Zacchaeus, when he got close to Jesus, Jesus had already taken a step towards him. He saw him. Notice it says that Zacchaeus didn't say anything. He didn't say, hey, Jesus, up here. The sycamore, no, over here, over here. He just climbed up a tree and Jesus noticed him. That tells me that Jesus sees you. He's aware of your situation. Nothing is hidden from him. It's not gonna be like, whoa, I didn't know your life was like that. He's gonna say, I know you, I see you, I notice you, I see what's going on in your life.

You don't even have to tell me. Zacchaeus didn't have to tell him, hey, I'm not tall enough, I'm short. He didn't say anything. Jesus responded with grace and love and he received him right away. We have to have the mindset of the lady with the issue of blood that we read in scripture. It's in three of the gospels. We see that it's a lady that had an issue with blood and the doctors didn't know what was wrong with her. For 12 years, she just bled and bled and bled and she spent all her money on doctors and nobody could cure her. Nobody had a healing for her. And she heard that Jesus was going through town. And I feel like that she said, you know, that's all I have. All I have is this anemic, weak hand and this all I'm gonna give to Jesus. So he said, if I could just push through the crowd and I believe she's on her hands and knees and the crowd is all around Jesus. And she said, if I could just get close to my healer and just grab the hem of his garment. And if I pull and if I touch it, he's gonna respond. And maybe I will be healed because she was desperate just like Zacchaeus was to get close to Jesus. And I believe when she grabbed the hem of his garment,

the Bible says that Jesus said, hey, whoa, who touched me? And the disciples say to him, well, there's a lot of people touching you. You, what do you mean? You're like, no, no. And then he says, somebody touched me with a desperate need to be healed. And he looks around, the Bible says he looked around and the woman, I can imagine she's cowering down because she just pulled the hem of this rabbi, this teacher, this savior. And that was her last resort because she was desperate enough to find a healer that would heal her. Everything else didn't work. And he looks at her and he says, daughter, your faith has made you whole. Your faith has healed you. And I love that Jesus said, no, no, you know when somebody touched me and the Bible says, I felt power leave me. He says, something happened. Somebody touched me with faith. Somebody touched me with desperation. He says, and I felt power leave me. It was not like everybody else. It was like Zacchaeus on the tree. He wasn't like everybody else. He was desperate enough to do something about it, to take the right action to get close to Jesus.

And he looks around and that tells me that the supernatural of Jesus responded before the natural. He says, power left me. Something happened here. There was an exchange because there was a desperation on the other side. There was faith on the other side that could believe that I could heal them and I'm healing them right now. And he says, daughter, your faith has healed you. That's the same faith that we can have in this God that we can close them. When we get close to him, he's not going to say, listen, I'm too busy or try something else. No, he's been waiting for us. Waiting for us to climb up that tree. Waiting for us to reach through the crowd and get close to him. That's the kind of God that we serve. And I see that Zacchaeus, he probably knew the law. He knew the word of God. Because he said this in verse 8, I will give half of my goods to the poor and I will restore fourfold to those that I have wrong. So he goes far beyond the Mosaic law that's found in Leviticus 6 and Numbers 5 that taught if you wrong somebody, you give them one-fifth of what you wronged and what you took from them. But Zacchaeus gives them fourfold. I'm going to give half of what I have to the poor. And if I wronged anybody, I'm going to give them fourfold.

Because that's what happens when God transforms your life. You can't stay the same. You want to do something about it. You want to bless other people. You want to serve. You want to love. You want others to experience the provision that you have in your life and the healing that you had in your life. And that's what Zacchaeus did. I don't care about the law, I will do over and above. Because Jesus, he's in my house. He saw me. He noticed me. He saved me. He believed in me. He drew closer to me. And he goes far beyond. Because that's what happens. That's when you get saved, you want to minister to the dog. You want to minister to the cat and get saved. And everybody you meet, you want to tell everybody about Jesus. Right. You start reading your Bible because you want to go over and above. Because you realize what God has done for you. Amen. See Jesus was broken and beaten and crucified and he was placed on a tree. So that we would be able to climb up that tree and find whole redemption in Jesus.

For every part of our life. Not just for spiritual things. My marriage could be good. My health could be good. My friends could be good. My finances could be good. My emotions could be good. My mental health could be good. Everything in my life could be accessible to the saving power of Jesus Christ. So Zacchaeus had a problem but he also took the right action and he received an amazing reward. He stepped into his purpose. And I wonder if Zacchaeus was created to be a giver or evangelist. But he was trapped as a chief tax collector. Maybe you lost some things in your life. God wants to reward every single thing. And here's the reward that he received. He had a problem. He took the right action. And the reward was Jesus himself. Can you imagine Jesus saying, hey, I want to come to your house. You want to come to my house? Yeah, I must go to your house. He said, today I want to come to your house. And notice that Zacchaeus said, I want to know who this is. He didn't say I want to see what he can do for me. I want to see who he is.

And that's where it starts. Who is this Jesus? And then we realize, oh, he loves me. Then he starts healing us and restoring us. But if we seek him for who he is, that was his reward. You know that Jesus wants to have fellowship with you, not just save you and forgive you of your sins. He wants to spend time with you. He wants to fellowship with you. He says, I must, he said, today I must stay at your house. He said, I need to spend time with you. And Jesus I believe is telling us here today, I want to spend time with you. I don't want to see you on Sunday at church like you worship and all the week you spend time by yourself. No, I want to spend every single moment with you and draw close to you. I must stay at your house. In Revelations 3.20, it says that Jesus stands at the door of our hearts and knocks, right. He says, I will come into your heart and have supper with you. In John chapter 21 after the resurrection, he appears to the disciples and says in John 21.12, come and have breakfast with me. Hours before he was betrayed, he's having dinner with his friends. Jesus loves to spend time with his children. With you. He wants you to tell him everything and spend time with him and learn from him.

That's the kind of God that we serve. A few verses later, you know Jesus is entering into Jerusalem as king on a donkey. And I imagine that Zacchaeus is no longer climbing trees but walking with the Savior as his friend. He's telling everybody, hey, he came to my house. He visited me. I climbed up a tree and he noticed me. This is my friend. He's my Savior. He changed my life. And he came to my house. And people didn't like it but I didn't care because he's my Savior now. And he came to my house. He spent time with me. Zacchaeus had a problem. He had limitations. But he took the right action and the reward was Jesus himself. And I love that Jesus uses this word twice in this story. The word today. Everybody say today. He said, today I must stay at your house, he says. And then he says, today. Reminds me of the story of the thief on the cross, one man on the right criticizing Jesus. And the guy on the left, hey, this man doesn't deserve what we are experiencing. And he looks to Jesus and says, Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And what does Jesus say to him? He said, today you will be with me in paradise. Today you will be with me in paradise. Reminds me of what he told Zacchaeus, today salvation has come to your house. Today I need to come to your house. In 2 Corinthians 6, I tell you today is the time of God's favor. Today is the day of salvation. You know what that tells me? Is that Jesus is so eager and available to spend time with you today. That he's never too busy to get to the next town or visit somebody else that he pauses. He's like, yeah, I want to spend time with you today. You know when he wants to save you? Today. You know when he wants to restore your identity, today. You know when he wants to heal your broken heart, today. You know when he wants to provide for you, today. You know when he wants to take away the pain from the past. Today. You know when he wants to forgive you of all your sins and mistakes. Today. You know when he wants to be your friend, today. Today. Today he wants you to draw close to him. So don't wait. He's already taken the step towards us.

He's just waiting for you with open arms. He says, my child, today is the day. Come on, let me love you. Let me heal you. Let me restore you. Let me redeem you. Let me make everything brand-new. So Zacchaeus had some limitations on his life. He took the right action and the reward was Jesus himself. Not just what Jesus could do for him. That's awesome. But can you imagine your reward being Jesus himself? Standing face-to-face with him and he's like, my child, I have been waiting for you. I drew close to you a long time ago. And I knew this day would come. And I'm glad that today you trusted me in a fresh new way. Would you please bow your heads and pray with me for a moment. Father God, we thank you. Lord, I pray that if there's anybody here today that is limited in their mindset or thoughts or in their life, God, that they feel like they're boxed in or has a lid on them, Lord God. Or maybe they feel like they don't measure up. Or there's something holding them back. Like would you just destroy that in our lives? Would you remove it and make everything brand-new? God, would you allow us to trust you in a fresh new way to climb up that tree and get close to you? You've already gotten close to us, God.

And we're so grateful for that. Would you just do a work in every heart here today? Thank you, Lord. And still with every head bowed and every eye closed, if you're here today and say, you know what, I don't know Jesus. Maybe I'm not living right. I'm not doing right. I don't know how to figure this out. Well, you can't. None of us can. You can't do it on your own. None of us can. We need Jesus. We need help. And he's been waiting for you to surrender your heart to him. So if you're here today and say, Pastor Sam, pray for me. I know I need Jesus. Maybe to rededicate your life to serving him. Maybe for the very first time I'd love to lead you in a very simple prayer. So with every head bowed and every eye closed, if that's you, pray for me. I know I need Jesus. I want to ask him to be my Savior. Would you raise your hand? Is there anybody like that here today? Just raise your hand real high. God bless you. Thank you so much. Thank you for your boldness, for your courage.

Thank you so much. God bless you. Thank you so much. Anybody else? Thank you so much. Okay, I want to ask everybody to just right where you are, just place your hand over your heart, especially those of you that raised your hand. We're all going to say this prayer together as a reaffirmation of our faith in Christ. Repeat after me. Say, Heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus to die on the cross for me. I receive you, Lord, as my Savior. Forgive me of my sins. Wash me clean. Make me brand new. And help me to live for you by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Come on, give everybody a big round of applause. Praise you, Jesus. Listen, if you prayed that prayer for the first time or you want more information, we have Pastor Oscar right over here. He's got a sign, it's made brand new. Go over there to him. We want to give you a Bible and information how you can grow in your relationship with God. Don't try to figure it out on your own. You can't do it. We all need each other.

We're going to have some prayer partners up here. If you need prayer for anything, they would be delighted to pray with you. Stand to your feet and I want to bless you with this blessing from scripture. Make sure you take yard signs and put them in your yard and tell everybody about Easter. Take invites. It's going to be a wonderful Easter season. Shoreline, the Lord bless you and keep you. Shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. God bless you. Go walk in victory. God bless you. See you Sunday.