Pastoral Address on Charlie Kirk

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Almighty God, you welcome you. Hey there. [00:00:06] Speaker B: If you're new to Restored Church, we want to welcome you and thank you for tuning in. You're listening to a portion of our Sunday worship gathering. We believe the church is not an event, but a family you belong to, so we would love the opportunity to connect with you. If you want to learn more about our church or if we can help you in any way, please Visit our website, www.restoredtemecula.church and click on Contact. With all that said, we, we hope you enjoy the message. [00:00:42] Speaker C: Heavy week, huh? Yeah, this was a heavy week for me for several reasons. There's a lot of things going on in our church, in people's lives, and, like, it's one of the weird things about pastoring is, like, it's extremely difficult to differentiate yourself because, you know, church family is like, not just a slogan. When people you love are going through difficult things, it's just. It affects you, you know, And I think about, like, Kevin and Lisa and the Lachlan's and what they're going through, and they've been displaced from their home for eight months and just that, do you know, this situation, just the injustice that they're facing, it's just. It's just ridiculous. But I'm just. The support that they're getting from the church is just so beautiful, guys. Like, I want to honor you and that there's a slew of other things, but I don't want to rank. It's not about ranking any of these things, but I do. I wasn't going to preach this. I wasn't supposed to preach. This morning. Herrick prepared a really good message and he agreed to preach it next week. So honor you, dude. I felt a very significant burden that I needed to address the church based on because of what happened this week, specifically around the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It was horrifying. And I think what was more horrifying for me, I mean, bad things happen, right? Like, but I think what was especially horrifying for me was seeing people's reactions to it and not everybody's reactions to it. One of the things that you probably should know about me, like, I don't have a social. I have social media accounts from years ago, but I'm not like, on social media. I check it maybe once every couple. Not even that. Maybe like once a quarter. Maybe you've messaged me on there and been like, why does Tom hate me? Why doesn't he respond to my messages? I just. I can't do it. And. But even despite Me being off of social media, practically speaking, like, still being, like, the flood of responses and just seeing people, like, celebrating and laughing, something like that, it just, like. It, like, affected me. And I genuinely don't have any other word to describe it. That's not true. One of the things that I felt was just like, this is disgusting. And I know that there is, like, a slew of reactions to this. I want to be really, like, candid with you. I know that there's, like, some of you probably reacted with grief. I know that there is reactions of anger. I know there was reactions, maybe even of apathy, you know, like, just like, this doesn't really affect me. And I understand that there's mixed feelings, if we can be honest for some, and that's okay. I think one of the ones that struck me and just many of you reached out, which I'm glad that you did, Even speaking with colleagues and different pastors and friends and neighbors and family and just different things, as you can imagine, several conversations around this. But one of the things that came up quite a bit was just fear. And like I mentioned, it affected me in a unique way. And I spent some time trying to discern, like, okay, why is this affecting me the way that it is? I don't know Charlie Kirk personally or anything. There are things that I appreciate about his work. There are other things that I wish he would have done a little bit differently. But if I'm just honest with you, like, it really affected me. And I was like, why is this affecting me so deeply? [00:05:17] Speaker A: And there's, like, the obvious things, like. [00:05:18] Speaker C: Yeah, he was, you know, he's a. [00:05:20] Speaker A: Husband and he's a father, little kids. [00:05:22] Speaker C: And, you know, he's an outspoken Christian. He's a young guy. Like, I think he's 31. Like, it was tragic, right? [00:05:34] Speaker A: But there was, like, more than that. [00:05:35] Speaker C: Going on in me. And I was like, what? [00:05:38] Speaker A: Why is this affecting me the way that it is? [00:05:42] Speaker C: And I chatted with Andy and Brad this week. If you don't know any, Andy Leads, what was the first restored church in San Diego. Brad Leads, one of our sister churches in la. Some of my closest friends in the world. And after I spoke with Herrick and Mike about, I feel like I need to speak this morning, I reached out to them and I said the same thing. I was like, guys, I feel like I need to address this. We weren't planning on doing that, but I feel like I need to. And I was just processing with them, and I was like, gosh, I don't know. Why is this affecting me the way that it is? And. And I love Brad Sarian, man. He helped me understand why it affects me. And it is affecting me and has affected me the way that it did. Charlie Kirk was murdered doing what I do every Sunday. He was murdered speaking in front of people. Some who agree, no doubt, some who don't. Like, no doubt. There's a lot of people who would disagree with what I say outside of this room, maybe even in this room. I was like, yeah, that's it. I think that's why it's affecting me as deeply as it is. [00:07:15] Speaker A: Now. [00:07:15] Speaker C: There's another kind of common reaction that came up in several of the conversations that I have with people, and that was one of varying degrees of concern. [00:07:26] Speaker A: Worry, anxiety, fear around. Is this gonna, like, spark the next American civil War? [00:07:34] Speaker C: I mean, you guys, regardless of where you're at on the political spectrum, the country feels more divided than it ever has in my lifetime, at least. And that came up quite a bit this week. Various conversations and, you know, is it gonna. It might. I don't have a crystal ball. It might. And hear me. [00:08:00] Speaker A: Like, that would be. [00:08:02] Speaker C: That would be beyond devastating. I think we would all agree. That would be very, very, very, very, very, very awful. Terrible in many ways. And please understand, like, I don't want to downplay the potential of something as horrific as a civil war in our country. However, there's already a greater, higher cosmic war going on. [00:08:38] Speaker A: And it's a war. [00:08:39] Speaker C: That, I'm sorry to tell you, you actually don't have the option of opting out of. It's a war you can't even really escape. [00:08:51] Speaker A: It's a fight that you don't really. [00:08:53] Speaker C: Have a say whether or not you engage in. [00:08:57] Speaker A: It's sort of like if you're walking. [00:08:58] Speaker C: Down the street and someone just starts violently assaulting you. [00:09:02] Speaker A: Regardless of how you react, you just. [00:09:04] Speaker C: Found yourself in the middle of a fight. Friends, there is a cosmic war going on, and it is a much higher war, a much greater war. And again, I don't want to downplay how terrible the potential of a civil war would be, but it has much more drastic consequences for the souls of every human on the planet. You're in the middle of a war, whether you want to be or not. Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 11 and 12. You've heard this before, but I want to read it. Paul writes this. He says, put on the full armor of God. That's. I mean, it's armor. You put armor on when you go to battle in a War. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the. [00:09:58] Speaker A: Schemes of the devil for our struggle. That word struggle, what it literally means in the Greek is hand to hand combat. I love the csb. [00:10:13] Speaker C: It's the translation I'm reading out of. [00:10:15] Speaker A: I feel like that's not a great translation. Yes, it's struggle, absolutely. But it doesn't begin to illustrate the depth of the word that Paul is using here. The hand to hand battle, combat that whether you want to or not, you are in the middle of right now. [00:10:32] Speaker C: And you have been since the day you were born. [00:10:37] Speaker A: That struggle, that battle, that hand to. [00:10:41] Speaker C: Hand combat is not against flesh and. [00:10:43] Speaker A: Blood. [00:10:46] Speaker C: But against the rulers, against the. [00:10:48] Speaker A: Authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness. He says it's against evil spiritual forces in the heavens. [00:11:01] Speaker C: Now, I don't want to downplay the potential of, like, if man, if this escalates, if this is the catalytic moment. [00:11:09] Speaker A: That escalates things and retaliation and then. [00:11:12] Speaker C: Retaliation and then, you know, and now you have this. Just our country implodes and all these things. I'm not trying to downplay that, okay? That would be horrible, horrific and terrible. And just please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. But there's a much more significant war that you are in the middle of right now, and you don't have a choice of whether or not you're in it. Your battle is not against other people. Paul says, like, please hear me say that. [00:11:44] Speaker A: The battle that you are in. [00:11:45] Speaker C: Right now that's waging all around you. [00:11:49] Speaker A: In the unseen realm most of the. [00:11:51] Speaker C: Time is not a battle against other people. It's a battle against evil. It's a battle against evil. Listen, I don't have a sermon for you this morning. I do have an exhortation and it comes from Romans chapter 12. So if you have a Bible, would you please grab it? If you don't know sweatt, we'll have the words on the screen here for you. This is Paul writing to Christians in. [00:12:21] Speaker A: The city of Rome. Rome happened to be the superpower of the world at the time. [00:12:26] Speaker C: Now it's headquarters the city of Rome. And he writes this exhortation to them. And before I go through this with you, I want to pray. And so I'm going to ask you to pray alongside me. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your grace and your mercy and your love. I ask you to father us this morning. Every man, every woman, every young person. Holy Spirit, would you help us? Would you help us see things from your perspective? Would you Give us eyes, would you illuminate our hearts to the reality of what we face and the reality of our conquering King Jesus, and how wonderful he is. Jesus, we bless you. We honor you. There's nobody like you, filled rich in mercy, filled with compassion. We love you. It's in your name that we pray. Amen. All right, so here's Paul's exhortation to the Church in Rome, and it's my exhortation to you this morning, starting in verse nine. I'm going to go nine through 21. He says this. Let love be without hypocrisy. Do you realize that there can be a hypocritical love? What does that mean? That means love without action. [00:14:27] Speaker A: Let love be without hypocrisy. It's just a feeling. It's just an affection, and it kind of stops there. [00:14:33] Speaker C: And then he says this. [00:14:34] Speaker A: He says, detest evil. Cling to what is good. Detest evil. Now, biblically speaking, depending on who you talk to, you'll get. You talk to 12 different people, you get 12 different definitions for what evil. [00:14:48] Speaker C: Is and who evil is and all these different things. [00:14:51] Speaker A: Biblically speaking, evil is this. Evil is opposition to God and his will. [00:14:56] Speaker C: That's what evil is. [00:14:57] Speaker A: God's perfectly good. [00:14:58] Speaker C: The scriptures say so. [00:14:59] Speaker A: Anything in opposition to his perfect goodness is therefore evil. [00:15:05] Speaker C: And I just want to say this unequivocally. What happened to Charlie Kirk, whether you disagree with him or not, and that's okay if you do. What happened to Charlie Kirk, whether you disagree with him or not, was evil. Celebrating what happened to him is an act of evil. And please understand, evil is not something to ever be tolerated in any form. And it's certainly not something to celebrate. Paul here, he says evil is something to detest. [00:15:50] Speaker A: That means to be totally grossed out by that means to be, like, appalled by, like, ugh, gag reflex. Like, no. [00:16:03] Speaker C: It'S not something to minimize. Oh, that guy had it coming. It's not something to justify. And I think one of the things that's been grieving my heart as much as it has this week is I think whenever evil is, like, justified out of the mouths of people, I really believe it grieves the heart of God. So he says this. [00:16:35] Speaker A: He says, detest evil, Cling to what is good. He says, love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. He says, take the lead in honoring one another. Get this. Even if you disagree with them. [00:16:59] Speaker C: Verse. [00:17:00] Speaker A: 11 says, do not lack diligence and zeal. [00:17:03] Speaker C: Zeal's like passion. [00:17:04] Speaker A: He says, be fervent in the Spirit. Serve the Lord. Be about what God's about and do it passionately. He says, rejoice in hope. [00:17:14] Speaker C: Goodness. We have hope in Jesus. I'll get to that in a second. [00:17:17] Speaker A: He goes, rejoice in hope. He goes, be patient in affliction. Listen, if you live in this life. [00:17:22] Speaker C: You will experience affliction. He goes, be patient in affliction. And he says, be persistent in prayer. [00:17:32] Speaker A: Share with the saints. [00:17:33] Speaker C: That's fellow Christians, brothers and sisters. [00:17:34] Speaker A: He goes, share with the saints in their needs. He goes, pursue hospitality. When it talks about hospitality, it's not talking about baking cookies. As awesome as that is when he talks about hospitality. When the Bible speaks about hospitality, it's referencing the outsider. It's referencing someone different than you. The stranger you'd welcome them in. Hear me, even someone you disagree with. Why? Because the Bible is clear that every human being is made in the image of God. Their value does not come from their performance or their resume or their looks. It comes because they were made by Him. Ebony referenced the children's book a couple few weeks ago when she prayed, called, you are special. You're special not because of what you're doing. You're special because he made you and he loves you. That's the point. And every human being has value. The life of every human being has value. Whether it's someone you disagree with, whether it's a baby in a mommy's womb, every human being has value. And we ought to be hospitable to those who are a little different than us. [00:18:44] Speaker C: Verse 14. He gets gnarly here. He says, bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Many of you in the room, you know what it's like to feel the sting of something very painful in your life to the point where it brings. [00:19:19] Speaker A: You to tears that are overwhelming. [00:19:22] Speaker C: And you've been in that space and. [00:19:25] Speaker A: You'Ve had someone there with you to weep with you. I don't know. [00:19:34] Speaker C: I can't think of in this moment. [00:19:38] Speaker A: A more significant act of actual love than being with someone in that place. [00:19:45] Speaker C: I'm gonna weep with you. Cause you're weeping and I love you. And I know you're hurting bad. So therefore I'm hurting bad, too. Verse 16. He says, Live in harmony with one another. [00:20:00] Speaker A: Do not be proud. [00:20:03] Speaker C: Instead, associate with the humble, the lowly. [00:20:09] Speaker A: Do not be wise in your own estimation. [00:20:14] Speaker C: Listen to what he says in verse 17. This is critical. [00:20:19] Speaker A: Do not repay anyone evil for evil. [00:20:31] Speaker C: Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone's eyes. [00:20:35] Speaker A: If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. [00:20:41] Speaker C: I love his language here. He knows that not everybody's gonna be at peace with one another, but he. [00:20:48] Speaker A: Goes, as much as is up to you, as much as you can. Try to be at peace. [00:20:58] Speaker C: Verse 19. Friends, do not avenge yourselves. [00:21:06] Speaker A: Instead, leave room for God's wrath. [00:21:13] Speaker C: Because it is written, vengeance belongs to me. I will repay, says the Lord. [00:21:18] Speaker A: But. [00:21:20] Speaker C: If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in doing so, you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. And then verse 21 sums it all up. He says this. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil. Yes, that's my exhortation to you this morning. Please hear me. Do not be conquered by evil. Instead, conquer evil with good. What do I mean by that? I'm referencing the evil out there, and I'm also referencing the evil that can make its way in here. Do you hear what I'm saying to you? [00:22:17] Speaker A: Do not allow evil to infiltrate your heart, friend. [00:22:21] Speaker C: Do not allow evil to infiltrate your. [00:22:23] Speaker A: Heart or your mind. Hear me. That is the greatest war you will. [00:22:26] Speaker C: Ever face in your entire life. [00:22:30] Speaker A: If civil war breaks out, If World War 3 breaks out, if nuclear bombs start flying, as terrible and as tragic and as deadly as that would be, it pales in comparison to the war that you face every day. Evil, tempting to infiltrate your heart. [00:22:47] Speaker C: Do you hear me? And I think some of the weight that I feel this week is I'm like, it's this realization, and I know it, but I try to, I guess, deny it, maybe, like, it's not peace time. I want it to be. It's not peace time. It's war time. I wish it was peacetime. I was supposed to be on vacation this week. I need you to know, and I know most of you already know this, but maybe you just need to hear me say it. You are in the middle of a cosmic war every moment of your life. And regardless of how your reaction to this week was or your opinion on the matter and all that stuff, regardless, a huge battle just broke out, a big one. And I want to appeal to the Christians in the room. And I say this, like, with humility, and I say this as, like, a fellow brother. You better put your armor on right now, man. You better put your armor on, because the temptations are going to come at you big time. [00:24:21] Speaker A: Regardless of where you stand, regardless of your political views, regardless of your Background, your life experience, your hair color, your. I mean, literally, the temptations already have and are going to increase in this hour. [00:24:43] Speaker C: And the main temptation is this. Paul referenced it. The main temptation is to repay evil with evil. Like, think about it. And I'm not trying to be scary. I'm not trying to be like, oh. [00:24:58] Speaker A: My gosh, like doom and gloom. [00:25:02] Speaker C: But I want to respect the hour we find ourselves in as Christians, as followers of Jesus. Listen, if you're sitting here and you're like, Tom's kind of drifting into the political space right now. Everything I'm talking about is spiritual way before it has political implications, okay? You gotta get your armor on, because the temptations are gonna come at you. [00:25:27] Speaker A: As a Christian in unique ways in. [00:25:30] Speaker C: This season of life that we find ourselves in. And the main temptation is that you. [00:25:34] Speaker A: And I would repay evil with evil. [00:25:36] Speaker C: I want you to consider, what if things escalate from here? [00:25:44] Speaker A: What if there's, like, another tragic event, another violent evil outburst? And the response to that violent evil outburst is another violent evil outburst, and the response to that one is another evil outburst. And, like, I want you to consider this. What if another tragedy happens and then another. Hear me. The temptation for everyone, regardless of where you're at, the temptation for everyone is going to be to pick a side. Hear me. In the wrong war, in the wrong battle, in the lesser battle. [00:26:21] Speaker C: And here's the tricky part. Both sides are going to think that they're on the good side. I need you to hear me say that your true opponent is not flesh and blood. It's not any other person. [00:26:43] Speaker A: Your true opponent is evil infiltrating your. [00:26:47] Speaker C: Heart, your mind, your life. Do you hear me? Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good. [00:27:03] Speaker A: How? [00:27:06] Speaker C: How? The gospel of Jesus Christ, the good. [00:27:14] Speaker A: News of Jesus, that's like what we've built our whole lives on. That's what the church is built on. It's what we preach every Sunday. It's the things that we try. It's the reality of who God is and the reality of what he's done. And we do everything that we do in this church to try to get that truth deeper in our minds, deeper in our hearts, that it comes out of our life in meaningful ways. Hear me. In ways that are good. Because when that good comes, because we've been motivated by the gospel, what it does is it overcomes. Hear me. [00:27:40] Speaker C: It conquers evil. [00:27:46] Speaker A: In John 16, verse 33, Last night of Jesus life, he's about to go to the cross. He's there with his boys. He's trying. He's talking to them. He's sharing really important things with them. [00:27:56] Speaker C: And he says this. [00:27:58] Speaker A: He says, you will have suffering in this world. [00:28:04] Speaker C: You're gonna feel the effects of evil. Essentially, right? [00:28:08] Speaker A: You will have suffering in this world. You will feel the effects of evil. It's gonna happen. [00:28:14] Speaker C: What does he say? He says, be courageous. Courage is not the absence of fear. [00:28:22] Speaker A: It's doing the right thing despite the fear. And Jesus, with an exclamation point. Be courageous, boys. [00:28:29] Speaker C: What does he say? I have. What interesting word, huh? I've conquered the world. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good. And Jesus says, I've conquered the world, friends. [00:28:47] Speaker A: Do you understand? The cross and the resurrection of Jesus. The cross and the resurrection of Jesus is the defeat of evil. It is the defeat of evil, sin, Satan and death conquered. It happened. It's real. And hear me through Jesus Christ, you. [00:29:12] Speaker C: Can conquer evil too. [00:29:15] Speaker A: But here's what it requires. [00:29:17] Speaker C: It requires that you are on the actual good side. [00:29:22] Speaker A: It requires that you're in alignment with the king who's bringing about his kingdom, who opposes any and all kingdoms of darkness. Hear me. [00:29:30] Speaker C: Even the ones that exist in me. Sometimes. [00:29:36] Speaker A: Through Jesus Christ, you can conquer evil too. Romans, chapter 8. Mark. Mark started reading a portion of it right before this. Paul says, we are what? He says, we are more than. There's that word again. We are more than conquerors. How? Through him who loved us. [00:29:55] Speaker C: Your true opponent is not flesh and blood. [00:29:57] Speaker A: Your true opponent is evil infiltrating your heart. [00:30:03] Speaker C: That's the real war, the truest war, the greatest war. It's the war that actually informs all the other wars. One of the things I love about Jesus is that he promises that he's coming back. He fulfilled prophetic promises that he would come to defeat Satan's sin and death, to conquer evil. He says, I'm coming back. He makes another promise. I'm coming back. To completely get rid of evil once and for all. I don't know when Jesus is coming back. Good God, I want him to come back right now. I'm ready, dude. If I'm honest with you, I'm ready. Come, Lord Jesus. That's Maranatha. We did a series on that. [00:30:59] Speaker A: The Maranatha crying me right now is like, come, Jesus. Come and get rid of the evil once and for all. Come hear me. The reason I bring that up is because if you have not yet given. [00:31:12] Speaker C: Your life to Jesus, you have no idea what tomorrow holds. [00:31:21] Speaker A: I think one of the reasons why this week was so shocking, was you're. [00:31:25] Speaker C: Just like, whoa, I didn't see that coming. [00:31:29] Speaker A: Whoa. The responses, I didn't see that coming. Like, it just shocking. You don't know what tomorrow holds, friend. And I'm here to tell you, this is not the hour of time, this is not the hour of history to kind of just be flippant, like, okay, back to YouTube. It's just not. [00:31:49] Speaker C: I wish it was peacetime, but it's not. But Jesus promises that peacetime is coming. If you have not given your life to Jesus, if you have not. [00:32:00] Speaker A: I'm not talking about acknowledging that he exists. [00:32:03] Speaker C: That's not what biblical faith is. [00:32:05] Speaker A: I'm talking about you going, jesus, I. [00:32:06] Speaker C: Yield everything I am to your Lordship. [00:32:09] Speaker A: I receive your grace and your mercy. That covers all of my sins, all the acts of evil that I have done and thought and all that stuff. Jesus, your blood pays for it. I believe that you died for sins. And furthermore, I believe that you died for my sins, every single one of them, past, present, future. If you have not experienced. If you've not experienced the forgiveness of Jesus, the complete forgiveness of Jesus, if you have not yielded to his Lordship. [00:32:36] Speaker C: I'm urging you to do it now. [00:32:39] Speaker A: I'm urging you to today make a decision. [00:32:44] Speaker C: Because I have no idea what tomorrow holds. [00:32:46] Speaker A: And I'm not trying to be doom and gloom. [00:32:48] Speaker C: I'm trying to be faithful to the word of God that has promised that things are gonna go down a certain way. And I love you. I really do, man, unapologetically. And I can't. [00:33:04] Speaker A: I can't stand before God and say, I didn't warn you when I feel. [00:33:09] Speaker C: The spiritual temperature totally changing. You don't need to be afraid. You need to be courageous. But you need to be informed. All right. Ben, would you come up? This is a different Sunday if you're new with us. Sorry. Not sorry, but, like, welcome, different Sunday. So what's appropriate right now? I think that's a question that's at least going on in my mind. And I've been praying a lot the last few days. And here's what I feel. [00:34:02] Speaker A: Here's what I feel like is appropriate. [00:34:03] Speaker C: In this time and again. This is. [00:34:06] Speaker A: Wherever you are, on the spectrum of how you reacted to this, however it hits you, whatever you think of Charlie. [00:34:11] Speaker C: Kirk, I'm not even getting into that. This is a time for a few things. The first thing, this is a time for grief. The reason for that is because we. [00:34:24] Speaker A: As followers of Jesus, we detest evil. [00:34:28] Speaker C: In all of its forms. Pretty Evil act is shaking the country right now. I don't believe it's selective outrageous. [00:34:40] Speaker A: I think people talking about it being selective outrage. [00:34:42] Speaker C: I don't believe it is. [00:34:43] Speaker A: I think for Christians, at least, we can, should and always be, regardless of the circumstances. When we see evil, we go, that's evil. It's gross. [00:34:51] Speaker C: We detest it. I think this is a time for grief. I think this is a time for humility, man. A lot of people, a lot of hot takes right now. Can I beg you, get off the news, like, literally delete your social media, Give it a month. See if your life doesn't improve, you will get caught in the spin so quick. [00:35:12] Speaker A: I'm not on social media. [00:35:16] Speaker C: Somebody showed me something. [00:35:18] Speaker A: Somebody showed me Instagram for five minutes and my brain was like, it freaked out because there's so much darkness and evil and all this. And I was just like, oh, my goodness, if I give my brain over this for two more minutes, I'm going to explode. I'm a human being too, man. I'm tempted to be like, no. Like, you know, especially when I see it come out of the mouths of profession Christians, Christians with influence. [00:35:49] Speaker C: Oh, it gets me. It gets me. [00:35:52] Speaker A: I'm just as guilty now. [00:35:53] Speaker C: I'm frustrated with them. They're frustrated. See what I'm saying? I'm just as bad. But my point is this, this is a time for humility. Because hear me, all people, even Christians. [00:36:06] Speaker A: All people are tempted to give into evil. That's why Jesus came, man. Because all of us, we've given into evil. We've given into the temptation evil in some regard. And even if it's in a moment, has done some conquering in our heart. And that evil, it separates us from God and it separates us from one another. I'm tired of it. [00:36:30] Speaker C: And so was God. And so he did something. [00:36:32] Speaker A: He wasn't passive. He put on flesh in the person of Jesus and he bled and he died. Why? To conquer evil and to empower you and I to do the same. How did he do it? He did it with good. He never repaid evil with evil. [00:36:50] Speaker C: And he goes, join me. [00:36:51] Speaker A: Join me in the real fight. [00:36:55] Speaker C: Now's war time. Peace time's coming. Some of you older, more seasoned folk. [00:37:02] Speaker A: In the room, you know, the older I get the mic, money doesn't matter. [00:37:07] Speaker C: Possessions don't matter. [00:37:08] Speaker A: Time matters. Time's the most precious resource we have. The relationships that we have, that's what matters. [00:37:16] Speaker C: I don't know how much time I have. I don't know how much time you. [00:37:18] Speaker A: Have, but there's things like this, the grace and the things like this. It's evil, but there's grace in there. [00:37:24] Speaker C: And the grace is, it sobers us up to what really matters. People made in the image of God. It's a time for humility. Because all people are tempted to give in to evil. So hear me. Guard your heart. [00:37:45] Speaker A: Guard your heart. The reason I'm telling you to get. [00:37:48] Speaker C: Off the news and get off social. [00:37:49] Speaker A: Media isn't to try to be all. [00:37:50] Speaker C: Religious and dogmatic about trying to control your life. It's so that you can guard your heart. [00:37:54] Speaker A: Because there's a war going on. [00:37:56] Speaker C: Fiery arrows of the enemy tempting you. [00:37:59] Speaker A: To repay evil with evil. Even if it's in your own heart, nobody knows about it. You're not the moron who posts about. [00:38:06] Speaker C: It on social media. [00:38:07] Speaker A: You're not the person who takes like action. [00:38:09] Speaker C: But God cares deeply about what's in your heart. Because what happens in your heart makes its way to your hands. You remember how Jesus taught us to pray? What does he say at the end of the Lord's Prayer? Lead us not into temptation, but what deliver us from evil. [00:38:35] Speaker A: Because we need to be delivered. It's not just an out there problem. [00:38:41] Speaker C: Although good God it is, it's in here. And if we don't get serious about dealing with this, we are going to fall in hypocrisy. And the witness of Jesus is at stake. He's the only hope for the world. Guys, it's a time for grief. It's a time for humility. It's a time for repentance. We gotta get serious about getting rid of the sin in our heart and our life. Guys. [00:39:17] Speaker A: We need to humbly turn to. [00:39:18] Speaker C: Jesus and repent as necessary. Again, if you haven't accepted Jesus, I urge you, I beg you, I implore you. If there's people in your life that. [00:39:27] Speaker A: You know, they have not yielded and bent the knee to the lordship of Jesus and received his love and his grace and his mercy. Mercy and it's forgiveness. The unending well to drink from the living water. Like if they haven't received it, please share the gospel with them. If you're in a spot where you're like, I don't know what to say and it's awkward, I totally get it, but bring them here. At least let me share the gospel with them. I'm not trying to say you're. [00:39:51] Speaker C: I'm not throwing shade at you. [00:39:53] Speaker A: I'm just saying people really matter. [00:40:03] Speaker C: So it's a time for grief. It's a time for humility. It's a time to repent. And in goodness, it's a time for prayer. [00:40:08] Speaker A: Like Paul says, this persistent prayer. Not like an on off switch, like an abiding life. Jesus, be with me, teach me, lead me, guide me, speak to me, encourage me, comfort me. I need your spirit. We have a wonderful counselor. He's the best counselor. He's a way better counselor than. Than me. He's even a better counselor than Herrick Berga. He's the wonderful counselor. He wants to counsel you and guide you in everything that you face. The big stuff, the small stuff, the gross emotions, the justifiable emotions, everything in between. He wants to love you in every moment of your life. That's the kind of prayer I'm talking about. And as you are in that space, he shares more of his heart with you. You share more of your heart with him and the real condition of your heart. [00:40:56] Speaker C: Jesus, I feel hate in my heart. [00:40:57] Speaker A: For this or Jesus, I'm really struggling with this thing that I would never tell anybody else because I don't want them to judge me. [00:41:07] Speaker C: He's the safest person you'll ever speak to. Deliver us from evil. And guys, I'm talking bold prayers. We're gonna pray actually this morning. I don't think we've ever done this before, but we're gonna do it if you're new again, sorry. But here's what I want us to do. How much time do we have? Oh, yeah, perfect. Praise you. I want you to grab one other person, maybe two. So not big. Don't get into big groups here. Just people sitting. Wherever you're sitting, stay where you're sitting. You and one or two other people, max. And I want you to pray right now. And I want you to pray bold prayers. [00:42:05] Speaker A: Like your cat. That's sick matters. But I'm not talking about those kind of prayers. [00:42:10] Speaker C: I want you to pray. [00:42:12] Speaker A: This is not the hour to mess around, dude. I want you to pray bold prayers. I want you to beg God for revival. It's happening. The seeds of revival have been sown and they're starting to happen. Young people are starting to really want to know about Jesus. It's happening all over the country. More. Lord, pour your spirit out. Awaken people, the inner part of them. Awaken. Awaken them to the reality of the cosmic war that they're in. And empower them through your spirit to yield to Jesus lordship so that his guidance, his power can overcome the evil to can conquer the evil. How? With the same good that Jesus operated in godliness. I want you to pray for revival. I want you to pray for those who are blinded by evil, that they would embrace God's grace. That's my story. If you're a Christian, that's your story. Evil was conquering you to some degree and Jesus opened your eyes and you saw it and you turned from it and you experienced the greatest thing, his forgiveness and his love and his mercy. And then you've been experiencing it every day since, haven't you? It's the best. There are people right now. There are people in our city, there are people in our nation, there are people in our planet, a lot of. [00:43:29] Speaker C: Them, and they're blinded by evil. [00:43:40] Speaker A: Pray that God's grace would awaken, they would be awakened to his grace and they turn. I want you to pray for things like global repentance, like nobody, like flirting with evil anymore. [00:43:58] Speaker C: Hear me? I want you to pray for the trans community. I want you to pray for a. [00:44:04] Speaker A: Transition to holiness, a transformation, a brand new heart. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. That's what the church is known for. That's what it's always been known for. And that's why it will never be stopped. The gates of hell will not prevail. [00:44:22] Speaker C: Jesus said, because that's the kind of. [00:44:24] Speaker A: People that we are. Not because we have this like really great self help internal strength, but because his spirit indwells in us and empowers us to do supernatural things like love your enemy, to not repay evil with evil. [00:44:41] Speaker C: And I want you to pray for Jesus to return. He's the only hope. He's my only hope. [00:44:49] Speaker A: He's your only hope. [00:44:50] Speaker C: He's their only hope. [00:44:53] Speaker A: No politician, no ideology, no strategy of how to respond to evil. No, there's only one strategy of responding. [00:45:01] Speaker C: To evil that works. [00:45:02] Speaker A: It's the blood of Christ. [00:45:08] Speaker C: So what we're going to do is I'm just going to stay where you're at, but with you and one or two other people. I want you to begin to pray bold prayers out loud. And you might be hearing like, I feel uncomfortable right now. [00:45:20] Speaker A: I've never prayed out loud. [00:45:22] Speaker C: I hear you. I can't think of a better time for you to start. The hour is now. You're not performing. Don't listen to me. Please, please, please, please, please do not. [00:45:33] Speaker A: Now start to be thinking, what am I gonna say? [00:45:34] Speaker C: How am I gonna. Don't perform with the people you're praying with. [00:45:37] Speaker A: Just share the reality of your heart. [00:45:40] Speaker C: With your heavenly Father and you're doing. [00:45:42] Speaker A: It with somebody else. There's power in prayer. There's power in corporate prayer. And the reason I want you all to do this is because I don't want just, like, me to pray and a handful of you guys to join me spiritually in prayer. I want every single person in this room to pray. And if the person. If the person you're praying with, if you disagree with how they reacted to things, if you disagree with them in any way. [00:46:10] Speaker C: Don'T judge them. Instead, be united in crying out to. [00:46:17] Speaker A: God that his kingdom would come and. [00:46:20] Speaker C: His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. You with me? I want you to do that. I want you to do that now. We're gonna give it. I don't know, we'll give it probably. [00:46:31] Speaker A: 10 minutes out loud, bold prayers, family. [00:46:36] Speaker C: And then I'll come back up, I'll call us together and we're gonna fill this room with praise to the one who conquered evil once and for all. All right? Pray. Pray, Sam.