Fresh from the hands of Jesus. The title is Fresh from the Hands of Jesus. Number eight in the Acts series. We're going through the book of Acts, and let's just read where we left off in chapter 2. And with many other words, Peter testified, he exhorted them, saying, be saved from this perverse generation. And we are still living in a very perverted generation right now. They call good evil and evil good. Then those who gladly received His word were baptized. And so when you gladly receive the Word of God, you want to get baptized. It's part of the commandment that Jesus gave us. In that day, about 3,000 souls were added to the church. Those are genuine converts. I can guarantee you that. The Bible would not say that wording if they were not genuine converts. And last week, I talked about the power of sound doctrine. The power of sound doctrine. And I'm still getting emails and things from people thanking our church for being bold in these areas. Because you guys see what the fight is about right now, correct? You're seeing that more and more. The battle for the truth. And I threw in a quote there. I didn't give the reference. I hate Him because He only prophesies harm against me. Anybody remember reading that in the Bible? a king by the name of Jehoshaphat and Ahab. So Jehoshaphat came to King Ahab and said, I'll help you win this battle. And King Ahab grabbed some lying prophets, and they told him what he wanted to hear. I think Jehoshaphat was a little wise to this and said, isn't there another prophet? I think his name was Micaiah. It wasn't Micah, it's spelled a little bit differently. Yeah, Micaiah. And he said, ah, there is one more, but I hate him because he only prophesies harm against me. Really, if you look at the prophecies, I don't know if there's any record of him, but the history of the kings will show you they didn't like to be confronted with the truth. Anytime you confront the king with the truth, they didn't like it. They hate to hear things that... Unless you're a cheerleader. Right? Go Biden, go Harris, go Trump. You know, you're just a cheerleader and you never tell people the truth? And so they will not like those people who speak the truth. And what we're seeing right now is there is a battle over truth. And let me just give you some cultural relevance. I think we have a picture. I just sent it yesterday. It's a side-by-side. Maybe you don't know, but that's our current Director of Health and Human Services, Rachel. And that's RFK that Trump has appointed to kind of oversee that department. I'm not going to get into all the different things. here just because I've challenged you know even on Twitter different things his stance on abortion is not not in alignment whatsoever with scripture but we're seeing like how is that okay but that's not And you see on CNN, they were talking about this, not him per se, but the man was saying, hey, this is why the country is shifting because a lot of them don't like men playing in women's sports. And the guy was, I've got to stop you right there. You're being a transphobe and this. They're not men. They're transgender. Like, no, they're men. Slap you. I don't know about you, but this is insane. This is absolutely insane. And so you are seeing the battle over truth taking place. And God will use imperfect people to accomplish His goals. And we can put that down. I think that's enough of just seeing the outright lunacy of what's going on. And the reason I talk about this a little bit is I believe we all have different callings. And I'm gonna talk about that tonight at the college age group. So if you're college age, make sure to talk to Gene and Sarah Folsom. Get more information about that. They live in Quartz Hill. And they meet on Sunday evenings. And I'm gonna actually talk to them with Morgan about different callings that God has given the body. Some are an ear, some are a nose, some are a loud mouth. and we're all supposed to be united. And that's why I talk about issues like this sometimes because that's my burden for our nation in this area. And separating and drawing the line of demarcation in the sand. And you'll see just so much misinformation is coming out. And that's why you have to be grounded in the Word. Correct? And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Incredible. Fear the Lord and live. Seek the Savior, not signs, and seek the gift-giver, not gifts. And so many times in our pursuit, we want gifts and the miracles, and we don't search for Jesus and get our lives lined up with Him. And think about this, John the Baptist, they said he didn't do any miracles. He didn't even raise the dead. But he did raise a dead nation. That call, that preaching of repentance And now all who believed were together, and they had all things in common, and they sold their possessions and their goods." All right, is this a proof text for communism? as many suggest, and they sold their possessions and their goods and divided them among everyone, as anyone that had a need." So basically, they were a community. That's where the word communism comes from a little bit of it. Community. And they gave, the new term really is socialism now. You're hearing AOC and all those people, socialism. They sold their possessions and they gave it to those in need. And that's where a lot of people believe that the Bible teaches socialism. In a minute, I will show you with certainty that it does not. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, so they were in a large gathering, and then they went house to house, small churches. So those who say that the small church is the only way, they say home churches is the only way. Well, you've got a problem here because they also met in large groups too in the temple. And any time you start to say, God only does this, you need to be really careful. All types of churches have their weak points and their strong points. And so they ate the food with gladness and simplicity of heart. They didn't get too complicated on things. Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. But let's talk about this for a minute because it's where I left off last week and I don't want to just gloss over it because our kids are being confronted with this now a lot. And especially they're on TikTok, you're not. They're seeing things about how evil capitalism is and how evil the government is and that, you know, the socialism is the new term. And I don't know if they were able to upload a clip I sent them. This will kind of set the stage. When I think about what those definitions are, capitalism isn't, to me, it's an ideology of capital. The most important thing is the concentration of capital and it means that we seek and prioritize profit and the accumulation of money above all else and we seek it at any human and environmental cost. That is what that means. No. Wrong. So wrong. It's exactly backwards. And I'll prove it to you. Been on Amazon lately? Each of the thousands of products Amazon offers represents the work of people who believe they have something you want or need. If they're right, they prosper. If they're wrong, they don't. That's how the free market works. It encourages people to improve their lives by satisfying the needs of others. No one starts a business making a thing or providing a service for themselves. They start a business to make things or provide services for others. When we talk about ideas, for example, like democratic socialism, it means putting democracy and society first instead of capital first. In a socialist economy, the government has the ultimate power. It decides what you get from a limited supply it decides should exist. Instead of millions of people making millions of decisions about what they want, a few people, government elites, decide what people should have and how much they should pay for it. Not surprisingly, they always get it wrong. And this is a big deal. The young generation and how it's framed is what's leading them astray. And I will say this, no system is perfect. Because in capitalism, whatever you want to call it, evil is there. So the evil of capitalism can be corporate greed, or even greed in individuals. But no matter what system you have, that you're going to have to fight evil. And so I gave my daughter, she'll remember a recent, well it wasn't recently now, it's probably a couple years. She did some chores, she worked hard, and instead of giving her $20, I gave her five and all my kids five. That's socialism. at its core. You need, I need to determine who gets that money. Versus they were giving freely of their own heart. Huge difference. That's the difference. The government says, I'll handle it and you'll be happy. And you've been seeing the clip that's been going out from the World Health Organization, or actually the World Economic Forum. You'll owe nothing and you'll be happy. But really, if you dig a little bit, this is about power. The government has the power. And I think socialism actually takes you closer to the mark of the beast that we talked about. Because you can't buy or sell based on what you believe and who you worship, and they'll cut that off because they have the power. And so it's a very important topic And socialism, I'm going to just quote the dictionary, has consistently referred to a system of social organization in which the ownership of property and the distribution of income are subject to social rather than private control. Basically, there's no private property. I'm not going to confuse you, I'm going to bring it home in just a minute. Communism is more strict and involves government control, but to me they're one in the same. How do you spread the wealth if someone's not in control of it via the government? So if you dig deep there's some, you know, socialism is more not as totalitarian right you think of North Korea and you think of you know these communist countries but socialism to work actually has government control involved so to me they're they're one in the same especially if you study it but one of the reasons I want to share this is I've been seeing more and more of this and I saw this on a social media feed from someone in their 20s I was actually on something called threads we can put up that quote socialism is not A dirty word. It's a mindset that says you care for your fellow human beings as you care for yourself. Does it remind you of anyone? Love your neighbor as yourself. Now, this is true if I'm willingly pulling out a savings, I'm willingly selling a car for a homeless, but this verse is out of context because it's not me allowing the government, because a lot of that money's gonna go to places that are not good, and when you start to spread the wealth, guess what? My daughter, the $20 was now deflated, doesn't wanna work anymore, what's the point? Now you just reward laziness. A biblical principle says, if you do not work, you actually do not eat. Now, we just prayed for the homeless ministry. We have a homeless ministry here. It goes out, and we need helpers. We're careful because you know a portion of them really need help. They need a hand up, or whatever they call that, and maybe somebody come alongside them and help them. No fault of their own. It's a genuine need. It's where the church shines the brightest. But then you have a group that are there because they don't want to work. They don't want people telling them what to do. I've talked to them. They're like, I just want to live off the grid, man. Well, that's not good. And how many times have you seen God work in your own life or someone else by getting them to rock bottom? So sometimes God could be breaking them and then we come along and enable. Enablers any enablers out there that enable your family and you're you're you know, you keep you know But then you have another group that is mentally challenged a true mental illness I think there's some demonic stuff going on as well. And they that's a whole different group So when they talk about how to help the homeless crisis in California, especially Los Angeles County. Well, it's not that easy because free housing well For who? I mean, you've got to have a vetting process here. Is it San Francisco? Let's give alcoholics free shots of vodka. And drug addicts, needles. Look it up. This is insane. Absolutely insane. And how much money did California just lose? They don't know where it went for dealing with the homeless. This number will stagger you. Come on, Roger, you know? Anybody remember? I think it's in the billions, wasn't it? Email us. Too many different... It was a lot of money. And they're like, we don't know where it went. And the homeless crisis is worse. That's why you can't just throw money at things. You have to have boots on the ground, grassroots approach, churches can vet them or some system to vet them, get them on their feet, rehab centers, and you have to say, hey, buddy, I can't keep bringing you food if you're not going to do something about this. You're not going to work. because then we enable. But it's such a difficult topic, but it fits right in here. Because that's how you love your neighbor. Actually, do you know you're not supposed to give and help if God is breaking that person? It's hard to find that balance, I'll tell you. But there are times where I know in benevolence, if you don't say no, people will let you keep making their house payment. And there's so many issues I've seen over the years where you know God is wanting them, and we'll say, hey, here's some applications. Here's this. Go knock on doors. And we'll come back a week later, oh, no, I haven't had time to do any of that. No, you have to make time now. And then we'll ask, is there anything you can sell? And like, oh, no. And then I look, you've got a $3,000 drum set. You've got motorcycles that are broken. You can sell stuff. The church is not the first resort. It's the last resort. And sometimes we need to help people and say, listen, we can't keep doing this. And God is using it sometimes to break them. Sometimes it's a genuine need. And it's hard to use discernment on that. But God will wake us up, often through financial need. Anybody get a better prayer life going when finances are difficult? Well, God, He takes that job. Man, I don't know why I said that. I feel like Biden. But we've seen people up at the altar. A lot of times, it's because they're in financial need. They lost their job, especially during COVID. or they're going to get layoffs. And see, that draws us to the cross. And sometimes the need can be a very good thing. So if we pull somebody out too quick, how many parents keep fueling their kids' addictions? So this topic, you need to be prayed up and let the Lord direct you. But socialism, in short, is give us everything to control and you'll be much happier. It's designed to fell from the get-go. And the big thing they use, you know, is corporate greed. AOC and others, they're, you know, the corporate greed and Trump wants to give these tax cuts. And remember, when the corporations make more money and they're tax less, the finance issue filters down and you get lower prices. I don't like some of it, but if it affects your bank account and your checkbook, corporations say we don't have to pay as much so we can lower the price down. Why is everybody, what happened when minimum wage went up in California? Prices went up. And I just like, they're in another world because you hear a year ago, even Biden and others saying like, we're not in a whatever, financial crisis. Things haven't really went up. Look, here's a chart. Have you went to the store? Have you bought eggs? Have you bought? Hello? And that's why the whole election was just a tidal wave, because people are not stupid. They see. Their checkbooks are affected. They say men can't be girls. Why are men playing in women's? It's just asinine, and people have had enough. Even in California, I was encouraged. What countries are communist? China, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, Russia. Even though it says the communist regime, obviously under Reagan, remember that famous speech? Gorbachev, tear down this wall. But the Soviet Union, many who lived there still say, Still got a lot of control. They'll say republic, but if Putin wants something done, it'll happen while he's in control. And so, it's important to know the difference, but with God on your side, everyone has equality to succeed. Because you'll hear that a lot. And I see where people are coming from. Because it was hard for me, not as hard as others, but growing up in a construction family and not graduating high school well, there's a lot of things stacked up against you. Correct? I mean, speaking wasn't my good, wasn't a forte of mine, if I grammar and like you know, it's gonna be hard for you buddy to make it a little bit more than the 4.0. I know my high school friends, a lot of them are doctors and you know, they're miserable but and alcoholics but at least they're making good money, right? And so, but there is, you know, with skin color or ethnicity or poverty, they can definitely play a role. But when God's on your side, you plus God is the majority. So it doesn't matter. I was raised in Harlem and I had this, you know, destined to be defeated and never had a dad around. God says, oh, that's okay. Let me elevate David, Joseph. All the people he elevated were least likely. Have you ever thought about that? David's dad didn't even go get him. When Samuel said, go get your sons, I'm going to see who's anointed king. His dad didn't even go get him. He's out tending sheep. Joseph? I mean, how many stories do we have in the Bible? You plus God is the majority. And I really want to get that in young adults' hearts because you don't have to be beat up by what the culture tells you. You'll never succeed. And that's why it's called equality. Now, what is it, diversity, equality? equity training, and it's just ridiculous. All the corporations are giving it up. The NFL is finally saying, no more LGBTQ night. We've had enough of this stuff. And you see, it's not healthy. It's not good. Because see, I can love the transgender. I can love the gay community. And I do. I'm telling you with all my heart. But I will not allow the perversion to go unchecked and unchallenged. And you try to push that in the schools and the different things, we will call it out. because we also love other kids too. Transgender community right now, Shane, is depressed and they're feeling bullied and they don't know what Trump's going to do. Hey, point them to the cross. Stop scaring them and giving them hope. Stop scaring them and giving them hope. There's nothing to worry about. Trust in God. Okay, that's your struggle. Here's this person's struggle. Here's this person's. Did you know that we all struggle with something? Hello? Like people think Christians just walk out with no problems, no issues, nothing. Never depressed. Always upbeat. Never deal with anxiety. Never deal with fear. Man, just like, I'm in heaven right now. No, sometimes life's a battle. You've got to push through. You've got to persevere. Why? Because your eyes are on Jesus. And you say, you know why you're depressed and suicidal? It's because you don't have a relationship with your Creator. Fix that. Fix that. You might still struggle. They still might want to dress up as women. I have no clue. I can't relate to that one. To me, it's like, I don't know. But you might still struggle, but now you're holding on to the Savior. And we had people here. I remember we were in Lancaster. I had a guy who did that and his wife. They came in for counseling after like six visits. I'm like, dude, I don't know what to tell you. Stop putting on your wife's lingerie. Like, it's like at some point, but I didn't see a genuine repentance either. I didn't see, and this is interesting, we have to deal with these issues, right? But there's hope for every single struggle. That's why I don't feel like it's beating people up. And if you're saying, you're going to hell, I can't believe you. Yeah, okay. But you can say, hey, listen, God's word says, Nobody who practices sin is going to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Even the adulterer who's cooked to pornography. Unrepentant. You call it out and you give people the answer to their problems. So with God on your side, everyone, everyone has equality to succeed. What's also happening while I'm on this topic of socialism based on acts, universities are flooded by professors who defraud students of the truth. And I was reminded of Luke 11.52. It says that religious leaders took away the keys of knowledge and hindered others. And it's just astonishing what is being taught to the kids and that they're taking it. They think it's gospel truth. Because a hippie who smokes marijuana teaches at Berkeley said it. It's sad to see. And how do you address the error? You bring the truth. You lovingly challenge. Pray about it, of course. Don't have the wrong heart. But I don't know if Christians are always supposed to just be quiet and passive. Somebody posts something, Challenge it in love. And I don't know if you've seen the new one, but there's a meme, did I say that right? That's showing how the United States would have voted if it was just college educated people who voted. And so I respond, it's like, you actually just put down yourself because you're for the killing of innocent babies. You're for men becoming women and having tampons in their restrooms and sex trafficking with our open borders and our cartels. You actually just told on yourself. And it's just ridiculous. So, let's get back on track here. Let's talk about this verse for a minute because it is important. So they sold their possessions and their goods, and they gave it to those who were in need. Context, when it comes to the Bible, is king. Context is king. How many of you know that you can make the Bible say pretty much anything you want? When our governor put up a verse by Jesus supporting abortion? Others have supported alternate lifestyles by saying, judge not. God is love. Hey, what do you say again? Man, they've got some good points there. Of course not. Context. So this verse in context, it probably wasn't all their possessions. Anybody have abundance and you can give? That's probably what it covered. It was a choice. It was their choice. They were not forced. That's the big difference. And it was a genuine need, right? These early Christians could vet What does that word mean? It means to do due diligence, to make sure this is a legitimate need. It's interesting too, the Bible says don't help widows under a certain age. Is it 50? 55? Oh, 60. Oh, we're getting close. 60, so a 50-year-old widow has to work. And the Bible would talk about that and give boundaries. Why? Because they discern between a genuine need and a need that is not genuine. And that's why everything is messed up. If you look and you study Section 8 housing, the goal was actually, if you research a little bit, was not a bad idea that you can help families in need. But then how many take advantage of that? I mean, it's just unbelievable how much our government spends on things. The food stamp idea when it came out, another good idea initially, to help families with food, government subsidies, right? And they could go into a store and they could buy things to help them. blown out of control by 1,000. So see, there's good ideas, but without feet on the ground, being able to vet the people. Now, how it works, I don't know. The Titanic's been hit. It's going down. Don't ask me to get the water out now. It's going to take a miracle from God. Or Elon Musk and Vivek cleaning out the government. I mean, it's like, wow! They were able to vet what was legitimate, what wasn't. And then they could make decisions based on those things. Side note, do you know the number one product that food stamps are used for today? Soda. If you want to do it right, have it cover meat, fresh vegetables, beans, God-given food. That's how you do it, right? I mean, I'm glad I'm not in charge, but I say, hey, this can't be used for alcohol, soda, garbage. It's going to hurt you and your kids. I know I'm getting Michelle Obama on you when she said no junk food in schools, which is actually not a bad idea, but we're killing people. We're killing people. We're giving, even it kind of breaks my heart sometimes with homeless people or this, why is it always the bad junk that's not getting rid of their diabetes? Again, I don't have the solution because I know all these things are very costly, but I think we need to look at these things. If we're going to help people, Section 8 housing. Is there a period? Can they be vetted? Is there any, hey, we'll help you for six months, but at some point, we need to see a little effort, show some applications that have been filled out. If you told somebody, we're going to help you for the rest of your life, even I would slip into lazy mode, wouldn't most of you? That's why it's called from cradle to grave entitlement. And this verse is so important here. The people were vetted. Number five, hard work was rewarded. See, when you get away from that, this entitlement now that we've built into our system, like I'm entitled to this, I deserve this, and we don't have to work to eat, we don't have to get our fingers dirty, God actually blesses that. God actually blesses that. If you're hurting financially, watch what God does with humility. Go out and work at the place you don't want to work. Oh, I can't work there. Oh, yes, you can. Maybe God's trying to humble you. It's humbling. But God will do a mighty work in your heart through that. I'm not saying this to everybody. Correct? There's exceptions. And I've shared this before. It was very humbling. I went from managing 24-hour fitness centers, Good living. And then God just completely broke all that out of me. And within a few months, now I'm digging ditches. And for a while, I fought it. Like no, I'm going to start a website. I'm going to do this. I'm not going to go do that. And then God will say, I've got all the time in the world. But that was a turning point for me, right? Because it breaks you. It breaks you, and God's breaking you in order to build you up. Then you can be more gentle to those who are going through situations. Then you're not going to be all high and mighty because you think you're special, and you've got this degree. God breaks those things out of us. But there is a caution. Caution. Be careful not to downplay giving because it hurts. What do I mean by that? As I'm giving all those points, people are like, yep, yep, that's right. That's why I don't have to give. Yep. It's not genuine. It's not a real need. It's not this. I don't want to. But actually, God loves a cheerful giver. A Christian, it should flow out. If God doesn't have our pocketbook, does He have our heart? And Christians should live in such a way that where they can, they can give and help those in need. And so be careful here. Don't downplay giving. Because it does hurt a little bit, doesn't it? First service you guys give her? I don't know. It hurts a little bit, and God tests us with that. If you want to find out, if you have the heart of a servant, you'll find out when you're treated like one. Elizabeth Elliot. If you want to find out if you have the heart of a servant, oh, yes, I do, I do. Well, you'll find out when you're treated like one. Did you know that's a true test? That is a true test. When you're treated a certain way, you won't get the limelight. You might not get your name up on the projector. You might not get the center stage attention. Oh, but we can use you, but in the capacity that God wants to use you. in the background and in the foreground, and not being recognized and not wanting to be noticed. It's a process. And if you have the heart of a servant, how do you handle the word no? A pin can drop. But isn't that true? When we hear, you know what, I don't think this is going to work right now. Or we lovingly confront certain issues. Or we lovingly challenge. How does a person handle that? Because that's where the rubber meets the road. All of us can come in on Sunday and speak Christianese and smile. Oh man, Pastor, did you get my application? I want to be the next men's director. Oh, okay, we're not really doing that right. Sorry Rick, you're out of a job. And well, you know, we're good, but thank you. What do you mean? See? It comes out. When you're told no, when you're challenged, when you don't get what you want, the little kick comes out inside of us. And if you want to find out your true heart of a certain, watch what happens to your heart when you're treated a certain way. With gladness and simplicity of heart, they praised God and they had favor with all people. The miracle of thankfulness. Can you just imagine bringing that back to the church? Gladness. Happy to be here. Happy to see one another. The enemy wants to steal that joy. And often it's because of offense. We get hurt. Or we hear something we don't want to hear. But they came with gladness. They were happy to be there. They didn't have to drag their kids to church. Maybe they did. I don't know. They didn't say that. The adults. And the Lord added to the church daily those who are being saved. The Lord grows the church as a result of faithfulness. The Lord will grow a ministry as a result of your faithfulness. And I came across this studying the book of Acts. It's fresh from the hands of Jesus. Marks of the early church by Dr. Steve Schell. So this chapter, what we've been talking about, and even beyond, or even back the last couple months and even going forward, what were the marks of the early church? Because when you know what the early church was, it's good to look in the mirror and compare. Becoming a Christian involved a dramatic change of lifestyle. And that's why we often say, if you haven't changed, has your heart changed? Because there is a dramatic change of lifestyle. You'll still have the same, sometimes the same disposition, the same work ethic and things like that. Not everything changes necessarily, but a person entered into a family-like community. This koinia, that word is Greek, I believe, fellowship, was not forced upon them based on rules. People were drawn together by love. People know that you are My disciples by your love for one another. An encouragement here for you, I have found that that doesn't come naturally. What comes naturally? Bitter. Anger. Grumpy Gary. I don't love that person. They didn't accept my friend request on Facebook. They didn't say hi to me. They walked straight by me. They didn't call me. Pastor Shane said something, I know he was talking about me. Let me assure you, 99% of the time, I'm not talking directly about someone. That's ridiculous. Things come to mind situations. But we get hurt by things. choices that are made, decisions that are made. And we come into church hurt instead of joyful. But the early church was drawn together by love. They put their differences aside, I'm sure they put personal offenses aside. And it has to come supernaturally. Because what you have to do, I believe you take those thoughts captive. Let's say I'm coming in, something happens today. I wasn't planning on that. I mean, it could be a whole bunch of things. And you say, you know what, Lord, that's not right. I don't want to let the fiery darts come into my heart. I'm sure their motives were good. If you say, you know what, I've been guilty of that myself, does that help anybody ever? You'll be a lot less judgmental when you look in the mirror. And you say, Lord, I'm just going to choose to love them, obey Your Scripture, forgive them, and guess what happens? Joy comes. The joy wasn't there initially. What was there initially? Bitterberry. It was tough. I don't feel it. I don't want to. I don't want to. Oh, I hate to be too transparent, but I just told Pastor Abram this morning, no matter where I go, I might as well say that now, I'll run into people that have left the church over 15 years. And nine times out of 10, thinking, guys, there's nothing to be offended about. But you can tell, right, when things are awkward, you ever use that word? Like, oh, hi, how's it awkward? It's like, it doesn't have to be that way. These are not big, mountainous problems. These are just things you work through. You have difficult conversations, or you don't maybe like the church is doing this, or we apologize, but you don't, nine times out of 10, if we walked in love, these things could be reconciled. and the relationship even stronger. But instead, we're walking around for the rest of our lives with an offense. And the sad reality is we'll take that to whatever church we go to. And I tell people sometimes when they're new here, boy, they've been hurt by another church. I encourage them, you need to work that out. Work that through. Work that through. Because in six months, we'll be on the hurt list. I know, I've seen this too many times to tell you. How many times have we seen it? People come, oh, man, pastor, I love your preaching the truth. I love the church. And then six months later, they're criticizing me about the truth I preach. Why do you bring this up here? Not an actual Bible. We need to open our Bibles. I love that idea, but I need big font. And Scripture's all over the place. Why don't you use the King James only? Why aren't you wearing a suit and tie? Why do you do communion this way? I can keep going. These people, six months ago, they were like so on fire. But now they come in, scent sniffers. You told everybody to park in the dirt, why are you parked in the back? It's the dirt. But we're all guilty of that, right? I go to visit a church, too, on vacation. I'm like, they don't have our worship team. I hope that lady does not get up with the flags. Yeah, she just did. And she's in my face with the flags. It's like, whoa. But see, that's not good. I'm just saying we come in and we've got to deal with those offenses. Anytime I seem to support God's sovereignty and Calvinism, the Armenians don't like me. Anytime I seem to support free will and man can choose, the Calvinists don't like me. It's like, guys, I think the Bible says there's a healthy tension for a reason. God is sovereign, but man has to make a choice. Man is held responsible for his actions. But God is sovereign. I don't know. I'll let the theologians worry about it. I think you think too much about it. When was the last time you led somebody to the Lord? 1981? But that was my point ten minutes ago was no matter where we go, we run into people at parties. Right? You get invited to a birthday thing. It's awkward. It doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to be. None of these things are worth... It's like, gosh, you killed their cat or something. Or their free dog lovers. But that's my point, people, we get so hurt. And I know I'm just preaching the truth because I get hurt too. But like I've shared with you, I have to be here. I have to keep coming. I can't stay home. The other church we went to, I think I've shared this before, but it was Calvary Chapel. He's not there anymore, but this guy, because I was traveling speaking, or the kids were sick, right? We'd stay home. He'd be like, I don't see you very much. I don't want to run into this guy. I don't want to go to church just so I didn't run into this guy. He's going to drill me about my attendance. And so nope, I'll show him. We're not going for a while. Like that's the smart thing to do? Right, so you have to humble yourself. I hope my stories are a blessing to you. They regularly met in one large group for teaching, evangelism, ministry, and then they went to small groups such as home churches to eat and pray together. Have you ever thought about that? Well, that's another criticism that home churches are the only way, the only truth, the only life. Nobody comes to Christ except through home churches. That's not biblical either. But see, all these judgmental... And that's what people told me. Your church is too big. You need to be home churches. I remember when we went to JetHawk Stadium, their people came against us for that. Oh, that's not... Home churches are the way to go. Guys, how do you live like that? Can you imagine being that critical of every little thing? What happens is it's the heart of the Pharisee. It's the heart of the Pharisee. And there's pride in there that they don't want to deal with. Because if 3,000 were added to the church, and one day, I have a feeling they didn't have that many home churches just yet. They would meet in the temple, inner court, outer court, right? The Holy of Holies outside for the Gentiles that couldn't go in. And then they would meet in small fellowships. So I love home churches. I love house churches. But there's not one way that God does things when He multiplies different ministries. They gave generously to the poor and at a sacrificial level that we might think unreasonable today. They prayed for the sick and those who were demonized. That was a normal part of life. Isn't it interesting how early church, if we try to resemble the early church, we're called fanatical. James, people aren't demonized today. Well, says who? And that's where the word King James translated possess. It's really not possess. The word in the Greek is to have a demon. To be demonized. So if a Christian opens their heart to porn, addiction of some sort, they've just given a pretty strong foothold to the enemy. And they can be tormented by that demonic element or a demon in their life. So we believe we can pray for people in this area because the Bible talks about it. In My name you will cast out Devils speak in other tongues. Oh, that verse isn't really... Guys, God allowed it for a reason. They lived with a healthy fear of God. They knew He was present and saw everything they did. There was a healthy fear of God that we have lost. Their gatherings were marked by joy, warmth, and praise. People were welcomed, not judged. And finally, they had a great reputation in the city, and people were drawn toward them. Here's the thing about Christians. Well, I thought the world hates us. They do, but we should have a good testimony, a character in the community. And that's challenging, isn't it, sometimes? Because the world wants to come out of you, the old self. wants to come out, but a good testimony. It was funny, I don't know if I was going to tell the story or not, but yesterday we got my son a car finally, and we were down there, I wish I could tell the story sometime maybe. But he's a younger guy, and he's like, okay, how much do you want me to put that you bought it for so you don't have to pay as much taxes? Like, well, just put what we paid for. I fear God. So it was a great opportunity. Long story short, he's agnostic, but wants to maybe come to church, talk, because they don't agree with maybe what we teach, certain things, but they understand, they'll see you're different. There's a distinction there. And so I'll close with this. His scars, fresh from the hands of Jesus. You know, maybe a confession. I don't know if I've always told somebody that when I bought a car. I do remember the days 20 years ago. You guys, for service, I'm going to have... You guys know, just say this amount, and then I pay less at the DMV. It's a process. You're growing and you're maturing in the Lord. His scars, fresh from the hands of Jesus. And how many of you listen to Erwin Lutzer on the radio? He's on a radio network. He gave an incredible example. He went to, I think, some type of event where it had all different kinds of religions. And he was walking around. He went to Buddhist. He went to Islam. He went to the different ones. And he said, I'm a sinner, and I'm looking for a sinless Savior. None of the religions could provide that. Did you know Islam even recognizes the sin in Muhammad? The prophet? Buddha? No, it's enlightenment. We can't recommend a sinless... We don't have a sinless Savior. Enlightenment. All these religions did not have the one thing that Christianity has. The sinless Savior. That's why this is the most important question a person can ask or even research. Let me put this verse up here that's probably not going to be put up on a lot of screens in churches because it is very challenging but very true. Listen to this and I will close. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. So we either fall into the hands of judgment, or you fall into the hands of salvation. talking to the unbeliever now who might be listening later, you do have to make that decision. You do have to make that decision. There is a fearful expectation of judgment. And I think most people know that. That's why they don't want to talk about God unless they can define God for you. Their God is a cosmic ball of love. God is love. But they know there's a... Even the demons believed and trembled because they knew what was coming. And so people know. Don't talk about... They'll tell you, I could go on Oprah, like Joel Steen and those other guys, if I didn't talk about anything like this. Tell us about the cozy God. That God. But you start talking about these things. Why? Because there's something in them that gets upset. They don't like to be challenged. They don't like that fearful expectation of the judgment of God. There's something that resonates with them in a negative way, but in a good sense. Have you ever noticed that? People are fine to talk about Jesus and all His nice sayings. But when you get to the judgment of God, that's where the rubber meets the road because they will know in a moment that they'll have to be accountable for their actions. And they will not be able to stand before a holy God.