Grace. Grit. Glory.

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help, you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen. Oh, thank you so much, everybody. Good morning. I'm so glad that you're here with us. Welcome to High Ridge Longview. If you're watching online, we're going to give you a big warm round of applause right now. Come on, everybody. We're so glad you could join us from wherever you're watching from. We're glad you could be here. God's got something special to speak to you, even from your home, even if you're watching this on your phone, God's going to speak to you today. I believe that Romans Chapter five is where we're going to spend all of our time. So if you've got a paper Bible, open up to the middle, take a right. Romans Chapter five is where we're going to get started. And as we're turning there, I want to say thank you so much. For all of you who are so generous, those of you who are standing behind us financially with tithes, with offerings, your financial support is making a difference not just here in Longview, but around the world. We're able to take part in an amazing ministry and partner up with Exodus 5:1 ministries that we were able to go into Pakistan at least a couple of weeks ago. And let me just tell you, the things that are happening there. It's difficult to process the things that a lot of people have to walk through every single day, completely foreign to our American eyes. But I want you to know that we were able to partner with Exodus 5:1, send a small team in there and start developing our partnership with them. And because of your financial generosity, because of you guys standing behind us, were able to look into what is happening there with the slavery situation, with those that are forced into generational slavery. Not just you being a slave, but your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren for some debt that they never know how much is owed. And so because of that, we were able to go in there and kind of be able to figure out, what do some of these people owe? And is there a possibility of us buying them out of slavery? And let me tell you, the answer is yes. And so not only were we able to deliver some people from slavery, we're able to set them up in a church community Give them places to stay. We're able to develop education, get them food, get them a completely different life because you are a generous people. Let me just tell you this. In one week, we were able to watch 108 people walk from slavery into freedom. Let me tell you, that is a big deal. 108 people living in freedom today because of that. And so that's just the beginning of our partnership with Exodus 5. 1 and what's happening there. And I want to just say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being a giving church. Thank you for being a generous church, and also thank you for letting me take a vacation. I've been out for a few weeks, but we've heard some fantastic messages, and it's been a joy to. To just take some time with my family and rest. And so I believe rest is an incredible part of church health. And if you're not taking time to rest, let me tell you, you're only as healthy as you are resting. And so it's a big deal that we able. That we're able to do that. So thank you for allowing me to take some time with my family. Just rest. I spent way too much time in the pool. We rented a house with a big pool. I tried to work on my tan and get more Mexican than I already am, and I ended up going past the point where it was safe into sunburned territory. So I'm glad I didn't have to preach two weeks ago, because I was appealing in more ways than one and it was bad. I'm thankful for aloe vera as well as the grace of God. It was a very, very present help in my sunburn situation. I didn't know that Mexicans could sunburn, but yes, we can, and I proved it. So, anyways, let me just say this. Thank you for letting me. Let me pastor this church. It's been a wonderful, wonderful, great honor. And it's a beautiful part of my life to be able to go and get some rest and then come back recharged and ready to bring God's word to you. So, Romans, chapter five is where we're going. I want to bring a message today called grace, grit and glory. Grace, grit and glory. I think far too often we use the word grace, and that leads us to a place where we just assume that because I. Because I have the grace of God, I can just live however I want. And we never develop real grit, real perseverance. But in all actuality, grace is given by God so that we can develop more than Just an attitude of I can do what I want. We develop some real perseverance. I was thinking back to a time where I was on vacation. My wife and I were spending time with my aunt and uncle who are actually watching today. And we were vacationing in the beautiful, beautiful Abilene, Texas. And, and I remember the. There's, there's a, there's a breakfast spot. I think it was a Shoney's. I'm not sure, but I think it was a Shoney's that, that has since closed. But it's one of those places where at 2 o' clock when all the bars close on Saturday night, everybody goes to Shoney's to eat pancakes and try to sober up a little bit before they go home. And I remember this is the greatest place in the world of people. Watch. The greatest place ever. And so we're sitting there and this place gets really, really packed after 2am and it's so packed that people have, have, have, have started sitting in the aisles just to try to seat large parties and get their breakfast. And, and I remember this place is like uncomfortably packed. And so there happened to be a little cowboy, maybe 110 pounds soaking wet. His belt buckles, like, takes up half of his chest, like his hat's bigger than he is. Just a small guy trying to maneuver his way through to the restroom. And as he's doing that, he accidentally bumps up against another guy that was seated kind of out into the aisle. And when he does that, it just sets off this guy who's obviously drunk, and he pushes back against him and they start to, you know, start to mouth back and forth. And I'm like, oh, yes, thank you Lord, for leading me here for such a time as this. This is going to be awesome. And I wish I had a cell phone to record that in that mom. You could tell tension was getting high. And the entire restaurant starts like, ooh, here we go. And of course, as soon as this happened, the guy that is getting a little angry, he presses up against this cowboy and then he stands up and starts turning around. And as soon as he does, like, he is towering over this little cowboy. And the cowboy, you can see the look on his face because he just goes like this. And all of a sudden he's like, oh, like I might have bumped into the wrong guy. And so that big guy turns around and he starts pushing this little cowboy up against the wal. There's just no way for this little guy to go. He has nothing to the right or to the left. And Big old Earl is standing in front of him, pushing. What are you gonna do about it? You gonna bump me? You're gonna bump me? He's like, dude, it was an accident. It was an accident. So he's got his hands up, trying to get out of the way, but he can tell that this is escalating pretty quickly. And of course, at this moment, like, Big Earl's wife is behind him. Earl, I told you, leave people alone. And she starts jawing and going back and forth like you tell them, big mama. And when this cowboy's back is up against the wall, he has no response but to either cower in fear or to take a shot. And he decides to go with the second of those options. He rears back his fist and draws back from, like, Kansas someplace and swings up and catches this big old cowboy right across the jaw. And the entire restaurant goes, ooh, it happens. And I was shocked in the next few moments that big old Earl took that shot right across the chin and then just crumples. Laid him out. One punch. And all of us were like, oh. I had never seen it in person. A person get knocked out in front of me. I've never seen that. Until that moment, Big Old just took a. Took a nap. And this little guy standing over the top of him, like, looking at his hand, like the. And of course, Big Earl's wife. I told you what would happen. I told you to leave him alone. I told him, like, leave him alone. He just took a nap, like, leave. He's already facing up humiliation. But I was shocked at what would come out of this little cowboy when his back was up against the wall. And actually, when we're reading In Romans chapter 5, this is exactly where we find the Roman believers. Their backs are against the wall. They're facing political persecution, religious persecution. They're facing suspicion by their neighbors because they don't worship the same way that everybody worships. In the middle of all of their trials and all their suffering, all their fear, the apostle Paul writes a letter and begins to break down the things that they need to know to be able to survive. [00:07:53] Speaker C: When their backs are up against the. [00:07:55] Speaker B: Wall, what do we do? Do we cower in fear? Do we look for a way out? Or do we respond with what the. [00:08:05] Speaker C: Lord has given us? [00:08:06] Speaker B: And so, In Romans chapter 5, he begins to break it down very, very clearly. He gives some theological insights that all of us still need to know today. [00:08:15] Speaker C: Things that are really important for us to understand. [00:08:18] Speaker B: And for anybody who's ever felt like their back was up Against a wall. For anyone who's ever felt like I'm walking through a difficult situation, where are you, God? [00:08:26] Speaker C: Romans 5 is for you. [00:08:28] Speaker B: To anyone who's ever had to face the moments in our lives where you think, I've messed up way too much, God is never going to forgive me. Romans 5 is for you. For those of us that ever believed, I've not messed up more than anybody else. I'm just a normal guy. Romans 5 is for you. For those of us that ever had to go through this process of thinking, well, I'm not as bad as somebody else. Romans 5 is for you. So Paul begins to break down in theological terms what it means. [00:08:55] Speaker C: To persevere. [00:08:56] Speaker B: What it means to develop real grit. And he says very clearly that daily, whole hearted, wholehearted walking with Jesus develops real grit. So let's pick it up, if you would, in chapter five. Look at verse one. We're going to read through the next 11 verses, and we're just going to spend all of our time right here. [00:09:14] Speaker C: It's such good stuff. [00:09:16] Speaker B: But Paul says, therefore, since we have been justified through faith, not our works, not how good we are, he said, through faith. Somebody say faith, we've been justified. Through faith, we have peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. If you've ever felt like God was out to get you, like God was just waiting for you to mess up, Paul says, no, no, no. We have peace with God. How? [00:09:44] Speaker C: Through Jesus Christ. He's given us peace between us and God. [00:09:50] Speaker B: Through Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of. [00:10:00] Speaker C: The glory of God. [00:10:02] Speaker B: Not only so, but we also glory. Look at this. In our sufferings, not just in the wins, he said, in the losses, in the times where it hurts, in the difficult moments, he said, we can glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character. And character. Hope. And hope doesn't put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. And I love this next part. He says, you see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, not when we were at our best, not when we were strong, he said, when we were powerless. Christ died for the ungodly. [00:10:49] Speaker C: That's me and that's you. [00:10:52] Speaker B: Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him? Him being Jesus, we're saved from God's wrath through Jesus, he says, for if while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life? Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. He uses some fantastic words that we don't use a lot in our culture. Justification. I don't. I don't know the last time I used that word outside of Christianity and Christian circles. And he uses reconciliation. We don't use that word a lot unless you're suing somebody, you know. But he uses some powerful terms that we need to know today. Things that the Romans would have understood when Paul writes this letter, but things. [00:12:05] Speaker C: That we don't understand as much. [00:12:08] Speaker B: We misunderstand grace. We misunderstand how to use that grace and what it's for, what it has done for us. And so Paul writes this letter to the Romans that are living under persecution, those that have uncertainty about the future. You see, Nero has just come into power of Rome and things are not going to go well for Christians and the Jews and the Gentiles, even though they're. They're both believers. There's still a big gap between those that have been born a Jew and those that have come to Christ that. [00:12:40] Speaker C: Were not born Jews. [00:12:42] Speaker B: They're facing class problems and economic problems, suspicion everywhere. And Paul writes this to the people whose backs were up against a wall. He's saying, we've got to take you. [00:12:51] Speaker C: Back to the beginning and make sure that your foundation is sure. [00:12:56] Speaker B: So Paul gives him three things, and I want to make sure that you see this. So we're going to talk about these three things. And the first thing I want to share with you today that is still so important for us to know is, is simply this faith in Jesus gives us access to God's grace. And Paul makes this point in multiple ways throughout the book of Romans and really through all of his letters. But he makes sure that we see this over and over. It's only faith in Jesus that gives us access to the grace of God. Why is that so important for us to still know today? Don't we know that? Well, of course we do. But we still live in a culture that thinks everybody that dies is. Gets to go to heaven. And Paul makes sure that, that we're very clear that that's not true. Not every celebrity gets to go to heaven. Not every rich person, not every poor person, not even every good person, not every meemaw and Pop Pop is going to be there. I'm sorry. Paul makes it very clear. The only people that are in heaven and only. The only people that are going to heaven are those that have believed in Jesus and what he did. [00:14:00] Speaker C: Those. [00:14:00] Speaker B: Those that have received the grace of God through the finished work of Christ on the cross. [00:14:05] Speaker C: That's different. All meemaws go to heaven and all. [00:14:11] Speaker B: Dogs go to heaven. I get it, I get it. It sounds good. It sounds nice, brings us a lot of comfort. It's just not true. God's word is very clear that faith, faith in Jesus is what gives us. [00:14:22] Speaker C: Access to the grace of God. It's not how bad I was. It's not how good I am. [00:14:34] Speaker B: Let me say it this way, because grace came through Jesus. It can never be linked to my performance. Jesus was good enough for me. [00:14:45] Speaker C: That's good news for us today. [00:14:47] Speaker B: That faith in Jesus gives us access. [00:14:49] Speaker C: To the grace of God, not how. [00:14:50] Speaker B: Good you are, not how much you give. I think for some of us, we treat grace like it's our. Like it's a credit report or something, like a. Like a credit score. And I didn't really understand how the credit score thing worked. And for the first time, when I was trying to buy a house and I looked at that credit score, I'm like, okay, I've got some problems. I got some things that I need to look at. I didn't realize that B and g, you know, 30, 30 CDs for 99 cents back in the 90s. I didn't realize that was a thing that was going to affect my credit score. And I probably should have paid off those school loans at some point. I realized very quickly, there is a great benefit into me marrying my white wife. My credit score went up 300 points the moment that we got married. I'm thankful because this Mexican wanted to own a house I didn't want to rent for the rest of my life. I'm very thankful for that. But here's the thing. When you, when you get into your credit report, you start looking at your credit score, you think, well, if I, if I pay this off, my credit score should go up. But I notice that sometimes when I pay stuff off my credit report, the score goes down. Like, how does that work? And then when I have something that I can't afford and I pay for it with credit. Like, my credit score goes up. Like that doesn't make any sense to me. But sometimes we treat grace like a credit score. Well, if I do this, if I pay my tithes, and that means that God's going to have to forgive me when I looked at porn last week, and if I do this really, really well and honor the Lord here, and that means God's going to forgive me when I cheat on my taxes. That means that I can do this and I can look at that, I can feel this way because I've done some good things over here and it kind of just evens out. And I've got a good credit report. Stop checking your spiritual credit score. [00:16:24] Speaker C: That's not a thing. It's the grace of God purchased through Jesus Christ when I couldn't be good enough. It's greater than my greatest sin. It's greater than my greatest wins. What about that wrath of God? Is that a real thing? It's a very real thing. The wrath of God is no joke. [00:16:51] Speaker B: But here's the good news. [00:16:52] Speaker C: God poured his wrath out on Jesus so that he could pour out his grace on us. That's good news for us today. And Paul makes this point over and. [00:17:01] Speaker B: Over and over to those that are living in Rome, those that are facing persecution, saying, is God mad at us? Did we do something wrong? No, no, no. God got mad at J for you. You're just walking through suffering. [00:17:15] Speaker C: You're not walking through the wrath of God. [00:17:17] Speaker B: So let's persevere together because your perseverance is producing something. Faith in Jesus gives us access to. [00:17:24] Speaker C: The grace of God. [00:17:26] Speaker B: And so he talks about words like. [00:17:28] Speaker C: Grace, and he talks about words like being justified. [00:17:34] Speaker B: And when Paul uses that word, justified, it would have been a little bit different to the Romans than it is to us today. We don't use the term justified very much. And so I think for many of us, when we hear the term justified, when Paul says, you've been justified with God, we think it just means, well, I was found not guilty. This is much more than that. Justified is more than just not guilty. It means full restoration. [00:18:00] Speaker C: It means just as if you'd never done anything wrong. He said, that's the kind of justification that I'm talking about. Grace that brings justification. They would have understood it much differently than us. [00:18:15] Speaker B: Here's the second key that I think is so important that Paul shares with the Romans that we still need to know today. He says this very clearly, that we can grow in hope through suffering. We can grow in hope through suffering. Now, the Roman culture would have understood, just like many of us understand today, that there are things that suffering will produce. There are things that you can grow in, things that you can learn when you're walking through difficult times. We know that as a matter of fact, a lot of the movies that you love, a lot of the. Even the songs that you love, have to deal with an emotional moment where things were bad. [00:18:53] Speaker C: And what I learned through it. [00:18:56] Speaker B: Some of the greatest movies ever have hardcore tension and difficult circumstances. But we rise above it. We learn and we grow, and we love movies like that. So we understand when he's talking about what it means to learn and to grow through your sufferings. But Paul takes it a step farther. He's not just saying that you're learning, you're growing. He's saying suffering can be spiritually transformative. It can completely change the way that you think it. It could completely change the way that you receive the grace of God. It could completely change the way that you process through difficult situations. So now we understand very clearly that Paul's not just talking about walking through and persevering through tough times. He's saying you can have joy in. [00:19:37] Speaker C: The middle of tough times. [00:19:39] Speaker B: You mean that I can find the joy of the Lord even in the middle of a divorce? Yes. You mean I can find the joy of the Lord even in the times where I've had to declare bankruptcy? Yes. When my money's crazy, when the family's crazy, when things are pushing my back up against the wall, I can still experience the joy of the Lord. Why? [00:19:58] Speaker C: Because of the grace of God, that he's with me in my suffering. [00:20:01] Speaker B: He sees me. He knows me. I love that. Paul makes it very, very clear to every believer, especially those that were living in Rome, that God doesn't postpone joy into heaven, but he even brings it. [00:20:13] Speaker C: Into the hardships where right now, when I've lost someone, I can still experience the joy of the Lord. I can still find the peace of. [00:20:22] Speaker B: God, that peace that passes all understanding, when it makes no sense, that I. [00:20:26] Speaker C: Can still have God's peace when my life is falling apart, when I'm kind of my back against the wall. Not just his joy and not just his peace, but I can find hope. [00:20:37] Speaker B: Hope. [00:20:41] Speaker C: It's good news that Paul doesn't just. [00:20:44] Speaker B: Say, well, you're going to have hope. [00:20:46] Speaker C: In heaven and you're going to have joy in heaven. [00:20:49] Speaker B: You're going to have peace in heaven. [00:20:50] Speaker C: No, he brings it into the hardships right now. And that reframes the way that we struggle. That reframes it in my mind when. [00:20:59] Speaker B: I'm walking through tough seasons, I don't start asking myself, God, how mad are you at me? I don't start asking, are you even there, God? I start asking questions like, what am. [00:21:09] Speaker C: I learning, Lord, what are you showing me? [00:21:12] Speaker B: What are you producing in my life? [00:21:13] Speaker C: What is it that I need to say yes to? [00:21:15] Speaker B: Not, are you mad at me? But what do you want me to learn? That changes everything because it starts producing. [00:21:22] Speaker C: Good things in my character. [00:21:24] Speaker B: It starts helping me to learn that. [00:21:26] Speaker C: I'm stronger than I think I was. [00:21:27] Speaker B: It starts helping me to see that greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world. And that takes suffering and turns it on its own head. And as Paul is writing this to the Romans that are suffering a lot. [00:21:37] Speaker C: They start recognizing, wait a minute. This is producing some stuff. [00:21:42] Speaker B: God's not mad at me. [00:21:44] Speaker C: He's working through this. [00:21:46] Speaker B: Let me speak it very, very clearly to those of us that need it broken down. Even more simple than that. Here it is as simple as possible. God doesn't waste pain. [00:21:55] Speaker C: God doesn't waste pain. People take it and use it for his glory and. And for your good, if you'll let him. [00:22:06] Speaker B: These people were walking through some difficult. [00:22:08] Speaker C: Circumstances, but it was producing great things in their life. [00:22:10] Speaker B: And that changes the way that we. [00:22:12] Speaker C: Should think about pain and struggles today. It helps us to find purpose in the middle of pain. [00:22:20] Speaker B: A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were working out in the gym, and I was just getting off. [00:22:23] Speaker C: A stationary bike and. [00:22:25] Speaker B: Don't laugh. It happens. And I work out a lot so I can eat what I want. That's why it is. And I remember walking over to her, and she said, are you done? I said, well, what are you doing? She said, I'm doing a leg workout. I'm like, that's fine. I'll do leg day. I ain't skipping leg day. And so we start doing her leg workout. And I'm like, this is simple. This is dumb. And so she's doing her lunges and all this stuff. I'm like, okay, whatever. So she's doing calf raises. 1 and 2. And I'm like, 1, 2, 3, 4. Like this, come on. She's like, you only have to do two sets. Let's do 12 sets. Like this. Come on. It's not even hurting. Until the next day, I realized it was. I was working out a lot of muscles I don't normally work out on the old exercise bike. And the next day I got up and stepped out of bed and I was, I started thinking words that I don't normally say. I remember walking out to my truck and getting ready to step up into my truck to come into the office. And I thought, I, I, I'm gonna need to call an Uber. Somebody's gonna need to come get me. And I finally get into work and there's three steps leading up into the office. And I'm like, somebody's gonna need to drag me up these steps. I can't, I can't walk up three steps. You take one step, you oh, oh. And the only thing in my mind was I chose this. This is not because I'm injured and it's not because someone was mad at me. I chose this to get stronger. And that reframes the way that the. [00:23:49] Speaker C: Apostle Paul is speaking to the Roman Church. He's saying, walk through suffering. Know that it's producing something. You're getting stronger, you're getting better, you're getting closer to the Lord. You're learning perseverance, you're learning character. And those things produce hope. Hope, real hope. [00:24:07] Speaker B: I want to make sure that we see that the hope that we think about is different than the hope that. [00:24:12] Speaker C: Paul is talking about. [00:24:13] Speaker B: The hope that belongs to, to believers. And so let me say it this way. Hope is not empty optimism. It's blood bought certainty, forged in suffering, sealed by the Holy Spirit and anchored in the love of God who died for us at our worst. That's the hope that Paul is talking about to the church. It's not some feel good optimism. [00:24:32] Speaker C: It's a blood bought certainty. So put your hope in God. It's working. [00:24:37] Speaker B: Suffer well. You can do this. [00:24:38] Speaker C: Persevere and push through God's doing something in your life. It's good for you. [00:24:43] Speaker B: Here's the third and final thing that the Apostle Paul is encouraging the believers that he's still speaking to us about today. Number three. He makes sure that we know we are reconciled to God forever. Somebody say forever? We are reconciled to God forever. Now, we don't use the term reconciliation a lot. As a matter of fact, as I was processing through how do I understand the word reconciliation? I was thinking back to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there. I'll tell you how became the prince of the town called Bel Air. And if you know the story, it's a wonderful comedy. Will Smith ends up living in Bel Air. And he gets to step out of Philadelphia and from the slums and from a lower class and into the high class riches. And so if you've ever seen it, it's an awesome show, great comedy. Until you get to the one episode where Will's dad comes back into the picture and there's the reconciliation between him and his father. He hadn't seen his dad since he was tiny. Tiny. His dad had abandoned them. And now his dad is coming back into his life and they're doing stuff together and he's just beaming. You know, my dad is here. And then the dad begins to make all these promises to him of the things that they're gonna go do and he's gonna pick him up the next morning, they're gonna have this great adventure together. And he's so excited to be reconciled to his dad. Except at the end of the episode, the dad doesn't show up. The dad abandons him once again. And it brings up all this trauma in Will's life. And he ends up at the final end of the episode, he's cr. Crying on Uncle Phil's chest of why. [00:26:12] Speaker C: Doesn'T my dad love me? [00:26:15] Speaker B: And I remember that episode thinking, this is the worst comedy of all time. Why am I watching this? I came here to check out and to get away, have a few laughs. And now I'm finding myself crying over a fictitious dad that doesn't even exist. But when we think about reconciliation, we can't think about it as a moment. We can't think about it as a time where two people agreed to put aside their differences and that maybe one of them is going to end up abandoning the other later. Like an episode of the Fresh Prince. That's not biblical reconciliation. Biblical reconciliation is God making friends of. [00:26:50] Speaker C: Enemies through the death of Jesus. God makes his enemies his friends through. [00:27:01] Speaker B: The death of Jesus. Now when, when, when the apostle Paul is talking about being justified, the Romans would have, would have, they would have dropped their jaws at him using these Greek terms because the concept of Rome ever having reconciliation with one of their enemies, that's a foreign concept. And Paul takes it even a step farther. He said, not only don't only think of it as a king having an enemy or a rebel become back into relationship with him. But he says, think about the king saying, we're going to become friends and the price that you owe me, I'm going to pay it myself by dying for you. [00:27:41] Speaker C: And that's the kind of reconciliation that Paul is talking about. He's saying, we're Reconciled to God forever. And that changes everything in our view of the Father and our relationship with Him. [00:27:58] Speaker B: For those of us that have ever. [00:27:59] Speaker C: Thought we've messed up beyond what God's grace can cover. [00:28:02] Speaker B: Those of us that ever thought, I'm. [00:28:03] Speaker C: Too far and God can never love. [00:28:05] Speaker B: Me, that those people over there are perfect and that's why God loves them. [00:28:08] Speaker C: But I've messed up. [00:28:10] Speaker B: Or even those that ever thought I've. [00:28:12] Speaker C: Never messed up, God must love me. [00:28:13] Speaker B: More than those people that have really messed up. No, no, no. [00:28:18] Speaker C: God has not only shown us his grace, not only justified us, but reconciled us to Himself in spite of our sin. [00:28:27] Speaker B: What about sin? Doesn't reconciliation just ignore the sin problem? No, reconciliation doesn't ignore any sin. [00:28:33] Speaker C: It placed it on Jesus. Everything that I owed being an enemy of God with my own sin was placed upon Christ for me, so that I could become. So that you could become a friend of God. That's good news, people. Reconciliation is God making friends from those that were his enemies through the death of his one and only son. That's good news for us. You see, Jesus is God's love expressed to people who didn't deserve his love, who didn't deserve his grace, didn't deserve his mercy. And Jesus is proof that God loved us enough to bring us into his family, to call us his own. In spite of my sin. In spite of your sin. That's the good news today. [00:29:23] Speaker B: Imagine if you would, if you committed capital murder. Some of you are like, I've thought about it this week. Honestly, these kids need to go back to school. But in the state of Texas, we believe in the death penalty and we use it more than anybody else. And here's the thing. If you were standing before a court and they caught you on video committing the murder, if they caught your DNA, if they had multiple witnesses that saw you do it, you're moving to the front of the line. And imagine if you would, if you had no excuse, you've confessed to it, they've got your DNA, there's no way out. And they take you down to Huntsville, they put you on death row, and the date is coming. You try to use up all your appeals, and your appeals become exhausted, and there is one date looming in front of you. The date where they put a needle in your arm. [00:30:15] Speaker C: That's your death date. [00:30:19] Speaker B: If you put yourself in that situation, then imagine if you would. If the warden comes in and says, you know what? You've been set free because someone else. [00:30:28] Speaker C: Has volunteered to come and take your. [00:30:29] Speaker B: Place. [00:30:33] Speaker C: That'S grace and to go a step farther than that. [00:30:37] Speaker B: What if the warden said, and as a matter of fact, you're not just. [00:30:40] Speaker C: Set free, but I'm going to invite you to come and be a part of my family. I want to adopt you as my son, as my daughter, to come and live with me and be a part of my family. That's reconciliation. And that's Romans, chapter five. So when the apostle Paul is speaking to a group of people that have their back up against the wall, that are confused, that are suffering, that are walking through difficult times, he reminds them of the grace of God. He reminds them of the calling that they have on their life. [00:31:04] Speaker B: He reminds them of what it means. [00:31:06] Speaker C: To be justified through faith and to be reconciled to God forever. And it helps them to endure even their darkest days. And I believe the same can still be true for me and you. [00:31:19] Speaker B: No matter what you may be walking. [00:31:20] Speaker C: Through, there's a God that loves you, that has given his own son, so that even those of us that are far away from God can come near because of the grace and the mercy and the blood of Jesus that was shed for me and shed for you. That's good news for us today. That should develop real grit, real spiritual perseverance. [00:31:41] Speaker B: Why? [00:31:41] Speaker C: Because he loved me enough to die for me. I'm gonna live for him. I'm gonna give the rest of my life to honor him because I had no hope without him, because there was no future for me outside of his mercy. That should cause us to want to persevere a little bit, to walk through things that are not easy to walk through and say, lord, even though I walk through the valley and the shadow of death, Lord, you're with me. You're with me. And your rod and your staff, they comfort me. [00:32:18] Speaker B: No matter if you're walking through a. [00:32:19] Speaker C: Good season, if you're walking through a bad season, if you're walking through the ups of life or the downs of life, I want you to remember that there's the grace of God that has brought you right here to this moment. And how you respond to everyday life matters, how you respond to the wins and the losses of tomorrow, they matter to your father. God's given you his grace. He's justified you. He's reconciled you to himself, to be his friend forever. [00:32:46] Speaker B: Would you take a moment? [00:32:46] Speaker C: Go ahead and bow your heads. [00:32:47] Speaker B: Put away your phones, put away your. [00:32:48] Speaker C: Bibles, set them next to you. [00:32:50] Speaker B: We're gonna take a moment to respond to the Lord. [00:32:54] Speaker C: I think if I've done my job. [00:32:55] Speaker B: Correctly, Today, there's a couple of responses. [00:32:57] Speaker C: That we ought to have to this text, and one of those might be repentance. [00:33:05] Speaker B: There may be some things that you've been walking through this week or the past couple of weeks, things that you've. [00:33:09] Speaker C: Thought about or looked at that you're like, you know what, Lord, I've messed up. I've done some things that are wrong. I want to make that right. You've been too good to me. You've been too gracious to me, too merciful to me for me to just live. Presuming upon your grace, Lord, I need your help. Another response that I think is appropriate is thanks. Thank you, Lord, for what you did for me. Thank you, Lord, for seeing me in the middle of my sin and my mess when I could not save myself and choosing to love me, to call me, to purpose me, to bless me with so much. Lord, we are grateful people today. Come on, is that you today? Are you grateful for what God has done for us? I'm grateful. Thank you, Lord. [00:34:07] Speaker B: Can we just say thank you to. [00:34:08] Speaker C: The Lord all across this place? Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for what you've done for me. You've been good to me. You've been good to my family. You're a good God and I trust you. And now with heads bowed and eyes closed, maybe you're here today or even. [00:34:25] Speaker B: Watching online and you would say, pastor. [00:34:26] Speaker C: If I'm going to be honest with you, I don't have that relationship with Jesus. I don't know if I've ever asked him to forgive me of my sins. [00:34:32] Speaker B: If I've ever asked him to come into my heart to be the Lord. [00:34:35] Speaker C: Of my life, if I've ever received that grace of God, I don't know if I've done that. [00:34:40] Speaker B: My friend, you're in the right place. [00:34:42] Speaker C: And this is your moment. It is time for you. It's time for you to make things right between you and the Lord, to accept what Jesus did for you. [00:34:54] Speaker B: So. [00:34:54] Speaker C: That you can receive his grace. Or maybe, like me, you grew up in church, but you know that. You've been away from God, you've been running, and it's time to come home. My friend, you're in the right place today, too. So with heads bowed and eyes closed, I want to invite you to say a simple prayer. [00:35:17] Speaker B: I even tell you the words to. [00:35:18] Speaker C: Say, to say a simple prayer to get things started between you and the Lord. [00:35:22] Speaker B: So right where you are, would you pray this prayer with me? [00:35:24] Speaker C: Just say, jesus, I believe that you're the Son of God, I believe that. [00:35:29] Speaker B: You came and died, and I believe that you rose from the grave so that I could have life. [00:35:39] Speaker C: Grace and forgiveness for all of my sins. Now say this with me, Jesus, I give you my life. I'm all in. Thank you for loving me. In Jesus name, I pray with heads bowed and eyes closed. [00:35:59] Speaker B: If you prayed that prayer and you meant it with no one else looking around, can you just slip up your hand all across this place and say, that was me, Pastor, I pray with you. [00:36:06] Speaker C: Yes, I see you, good sir. Good for you. Yes, ma'. [00:36:08] Speaker B: Am. [00:36:09] Speaker C: Good for you. [00:36:10] Speaker B: I'm so proud of you in the. [00:36:11] Speaker C: Decision that you just made. [00:36:12] Speaker B: For those of you that prayed that prayer, you might even be watching online. You say, pastor, I pray with you. I want you to know that there is a phone number that's just appeared on your screen and if you'll be so kind as to text the words. [00:36:22] Speaker C: I prayed to that number. [00:36:24] Speaker B: What's going to happen? I'm going to send you the link back to some things that will help you understand what just happened inside of your heart and what to do next. [00:36:30] Speaker C: And it's the greatest joy of my life to help people meet Jesus. Don't stop there. Let's keep going. It's good for you. I'm proud of you. Good for you. [00:36:40] Speaker B: How? Rich family, Go ahead and look up at me if you would. Then let's stand to our feet together as we finish up our service today. I'm going to invite our elders and their wives forward, and these guys will remain right here at the front of this platform as the service ends to be available to pray for you about whatever you might be walking through. If you're walking through a difficult season, if you need the prayer of your elders and your church family, let us do that for you. If you need some guidance from the. [00:37:01] Speaker C: Lord, let us do that for you. [00:37:03] Speaker B: We believe that God still hears prayers. If you're watching online and say I can't be there with you in person, type it in the chat. Would you please pray for me? We would love to pray for you. God still hears. God still heals. [00:37:15] Speaker C: God still answers prayer. [00:37:18] Speaker B: Want to remind you of a couple of things coming up. Number one, Unite is coming up. Unite 2025. That's happening September 11th at the Belcher center right there at Letourneau University. And so tickets are on sale right now. We're bringing in Tarn Wells. And so if you've never, never heard of Tarn Wells, you're going to really enjoy it. If you know who Tarn Wells is, you know it's a huge deal that he's coming. He's going to be leading us in some worship, singing some of his greatest songs and then sharing a little bit about his story of faith and what God is doing in his life. So I want you to be there. So please, please, please don't wait till the last minute. We want you to be a part of Unite 2025. Lots of other believers in East Texas are coming in to be a part of that night. It's going to be special and I want you to be there as well, represent as well, if you wouldn't mind. So tickets are on sale now for that. And then also, if you ever been kicking the tires around here and wondering, like how to become part of this church, that is happening at 12 o' clock in the building right behind us. It's our membership class, it's called Growth Track. And so my wife and some other volunteers will be there to help you walk through stuff like what do we believe and what do you expect of me if I'm going to be a part of this church? What are you asking of me? All your questions can be answered right there in the Growth Track class. That's happening at the 12 o' clock service right in the building right behind me. We'd love for you to be a. [00:38:27] Speaker C: Part of what God is doing next. [00:38:29] Speaker B: And also I want to share with you. In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of summer and our numbers are at the lowest, the attendance at church. Lots of people are out on vacations and lots of people are traveling. And we still have full services, which means in a few weeks when kids come back to school. This is going to be nuts. And so I want you to think about and pray about if you're in this service, think about, pray about being a part of either the first or the third service. There's still a little bit of room in the first service. There's still a little bit of room Left in the third service at 9 o' clock service or the 12 o' clock service. And so think about it, pray about it. Otherwise you're going to have a hard time getting in here, getting a parking space. We simply can't fit that many people into our building. So those numbers are coming. I want you to know, don't say I didn't tell you, but if you would think about it and pray about it, there are a little, a few spaces still left in first and third, maybe to make you a little bit more comfortable and make room for some friends that are coming as soon as school starts back up. Is that okay everybody? Awesome. Let me pray for you and send you out with a blessing. Father, I pray that you bless my friends with an incredible week following after your heart all week long. Would you bless them Lord? Get them real good. I pray in Jesus name and all of us said together. Amen. God bless you as you go. Have an awesome week. [00:39:36] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. If you want to be a part of our online community, connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv. Or you can check out our [email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.