Where Did That Come From?

It's good to see all in church today and love for you to go ahead and grab your Bible as you're standing. We're going to read scripture together to get started to honor honor the Bible. It's why we stay standing to honor God's word. [clears throat] We stand for so many things in life. And if you happen to be newer with us, uh welcome. My name is Michael and my wife Megan and I are the senior pastors here of a life church. Want to say hi to everybody in downtown SuffK, Western Branch. to the minute at our God behind bars campus. Those watching online, it's good to see you today. Pastor Steven is preaching at our St. Louis campus today. You know, this morning I was I was reading um and I was reading a a book by Eugene Peterson and he was talking about the importance of not simply coming to the Bible to look for something, but coming to the Bible to listen to someone. And so I want to encourage us today that it's not just about grabbing something that might help our marriage or you know we're struggling with something so I want to be in church to I want to see something that'll help me but that every one of us would really listen to what God would say to us. I promise you that God wants to speak to you today like he has a word for you. You may have been in church your whole life or this might be your first time in church in a really long time. Maybe your first time ever. I want to promise you that our father in heaven is a good God who speaks to his sons and daughters and we just need to be open to listen. Luke chapter 6. Last week, Pastor Megan preached a great message in Luke 7. I'm going to backtrack uh because I wanted to preach this passage in Luke 6. So, so I set myself up so I could preach this message because I love this passage. verse 43-49. Luke chapter 6 verse 43-49 Jesus the the words of Jesus as recorded here by Luke who wrote this gospel. He says no good tree bears bad fruit nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People cannot pick figs from thorn bushes or grapes from briars. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart. And an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. Holy Spirit, I pray this morning that you would speak to every single one of us through your word. May may we understand and be open to this test of what is going on in our own hearts today. God, would you help us be open today to recognize what are we actually building our house on? What are we building our life on? And I thank you that you would help us all know how to build on you and your word. Make us better today. I pray by your spirit and by your word in Jesus name. Amen. And amen. and you can have a seat. Hey, we're only like a few weeks away from Easter before we get into this. So, I just want to make sure you know that. And here's why I'm so excited about that. Uh because this year specifically, we believe it's a harvest year. Part of what that means is we believe this is a year for us to see more people come into the kingdom. And that means that we are intentional to say God we want to reach more people that are not currently following you. More people who when we say lost meaning they haven't experienced and committed their life to follow Jesus yet. And so I want to encourage you make certain that you are ready to be a bringer on Easter weekend. Maybe somebody you work with, maybe somebody you go to school with that that you come on you know when you know people need Jesus. By the way, can we just be I mean we all here know we need Jesus, but sometimes some of us know some people in our life and you're like you need more of Jesus even than I do. I'm just saying I think that could happen. But I'm saying even that person bring even that person to church. Like believe that God would move in their life and that and that you would see them change. And that's why even with intentionality, uh, you're seeing this this little equation we we made last year, I think maybe it was the year before that, of just saying we want to make sure we understand that the empty tomb is freedom. >> That that resurrection life is something really true and powerful. And that a cross wouldn't have mattered if the love of God wasn't on it. And that the cross wouldn't have mattered and the love of God not being on it wouldn't have mattered if there wouldn't have resulted in an empty tomb. But it did. >> And that's why we want to see so many people walk in that for the first time. And I pray all of us would experience it fresh this year as well. So Easter weekend, be ready. Be a bringer. You're the You're uh you're going to you're going to I'm just I'm so excited. We're going to see a thousand people get saved. I can't wait. All right. So, [clears throat] how many of you have had that moment where you just wondered as soon as it came out of your mouth, where did that come from? >> Come on, let's just all let's do an all play. Where did that come from? I just, you know, and I I want to be as as honest as I can be. Uh what what what Jesus is teaching here is a test that we all can take on our own. And if we're willing to take this test on our own, the result I believe a lot of us would be is where we're maybe not where we wish we would be or where we often expect we would be. I've been following Jesus uh language we would use. I've been following Jesus all in for 20 years and I have moments when things come out of my mouth and I'm like that should ah a lot of times those moments are when I'm by myself and I'm angry or frustrated about something that happened. >> So I just so you didn't know that you know I'm not saying like even the stuff people hear. I'm saying by myself in that moment and then I'll be like, "Come on, Michael." And I want to say that it was just random. But what it reveals to me if I would allow myself is there are things going on in my heart in if you think about your mind, your emotions, your attitude, there are things going on inside that still need to be handled or healed or touched by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so Jesus comes to his his followers who you know he's he's given his first teachings of his time in earthly ministry and he wants to make sure that everybody knows you don't get a pass to just say something and go I didn't mean to say that cuz unfortunately Jesus says no you meant to say everything you say it came out of your hearts. Now there's a truth for all of us. A lot of times we say things that we didn't mean for other people to hear. Maybe some of us more than others, right, on that reality. So then how do we get to the how do we get to the place? How do we make sure that what's going on inside is what we would want? Because he goes, "Hey, listen. You're not going to be able to pull what's good from something that's bad. But likewise, you're not going to pull what's bad from something that's good. Whatever is going on inside is ultimately going to be revealed. Ultimately, there's going to be fruit to determine what is actually growing, what is actually happening. You know, I was thinking about about this example uh the other day. I don't know how many of you all ever um gone into your closet and and you look you look for something to wear and you this is I have nothing to wear in here. 150 black shirts lined up and I'm like, I have nothing to wear in here. Anybody ever go to your closet? Come on. I just And you're like, I have nothing to wear. And And here here's the thing that happens to me sometimes in my mind. Like in my mind, I can see what I want this thing to look like, this outfit, this clothing thing to look like. But no matter how hard I try, I can't pull something out of my closet that is not in there. I cannot pull the good things of God out of my life if they're not in there. cannot be a person who loves people if the love of God is not in my heart. I cannot be a person who is wise with the wisdom of above. If I haven't filled my heart with more of the wisdom of God than I have the wisdom of man. And so Jesus so articulately says we got to make sure we're focused on the roots. We've got to make sure that we don't think like other people because most of us we just visualize. We're we're visual people. We see what's on the outside. Most of us, we determine what's good or bad simply from what's on the outside. But it's only a reflection of what's actually going on in the root system. Some of my favorite also I think most important verses on this topic. Colossians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul talking to the church. He said, "So then just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught and overflowing with gratitude." So you start in this process of following God, but then you have got to get your roots to continue to grow deeper and deeper into the things of God. So often we come to Christ. This might be your story. This was my story for a few years certainly growing up in high school uh age. I I got to this part where you know the roots maybe maybe they got planted but they did not go any deeper. And then you end up with the shallow Christianity. That's what he's going to talk about in the second part of this passage that it doesn't have any strength. So the roots have to keep going deeper. It's why it's why we talk about growing as disciples of Jesus as our identity statement here at Life Church is because you aren't just like boom, I got saved or I prayed one time or I go to church once a week and now I'm good. No, we've got to grow our roots down. We've got to be growing as disciples because there's something that matters for our life. In the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 37, the Lord is talking about the remnant. He's talking about his followers and what's going to happen to them based on the different scenarios and the and the the way they've been away from their land, but what will one day come again. He says Isaiah 37:31, he said, "The surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward." In order to see something in your life, you have to actually get the roots going down. I know that you all know this. This is a very, very deep theological truth that you can write down today. Root determines fruit. What I love about Jesus is so much of his teaching when he was on the earth is it was simple, but it was not easy. There's not a single person here, if you go to the store and you buy a bag of apples today and you go home and you put those apples on a pine tree and you just hammer them right there on the pine tree in your yard, you're not going to go, "Check out my apple tree. Next year, this thing's going to have the most beautiful apples." Why? Because there's no apple root system. And I know, right? You're all like, "Come on, Pastor Michael." Like this. Yet, we ask ourselves this. I ask myself this question. Why are you still the way you are in this area? I know what it's supposed to look like. And Jesus would say, "It's the root system. What are you growing down into? What are you focused on? According to Jesus, in the kingdom of God, there's really not a fruit problem. There's only root issues. And if you get to the root issues, you will always solve the fruit problem. Now, the beauty so so much of of following God is I I I pray we continue to learn why it's awesome. But in the book of Galatians, it talks about fruit. So we know Jesus has has taught us or we see it in other places that fruit is always a result of a root system. In Galatians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul talks very simply there's two different ways that your life can be rooted. You can be rooted in what we would call the flesh or selfishness or you could be rooted in the spirit. And if you're rooted in the spirit, he says this is what will happen. Galatians chapter 5:22 and 23. The fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There's no law against these things. So, the Holy Spirit produces this fruit from the root system. Why does that matter? Because just as we can't go take an apple and put it on a pine tree, likewise, we can't just take the fruit of the spirit and put it on our life. It has to actually come from the root system of the Holy Spirit in us. Which is why a lot of us, we're like, "Come on, be more patient." And you're like, "I'm less patient." And somebody goes, "Be more loving." And you're like, "I can't stand anyone. It has to come from the root system. >> How is your root system? What do you feel like you pull out of your life? What do you pull out of your life? And there's an easy way to test it. Your mouth. Like I wanted to be way more complicated so that I could justify myself sometimes. Maybe anybody. No, no, just your mouth. I'm trying not to talk like that anymore. Stop worrying about talking like that and instead change the root system. change what you're change what you're feeding yourself because whatever whatever we're feeding ourselves is what is going to cause or create the root system that we're talking about today. So Jesus, you know, if if we really take him at his word here, it's like, okay, I can do this. And then verse 46, the way these passages work together, then Jesus, you know, I feel like he should give us a break after this part. Then he comes in. Luke chapter 6 verse 46 might be one of the most painful verses in the entire Bible. Jesus says, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" Why do you say that you're God? Why do you say that you're my savior, but then your actions reveal that you are your own God? Your actions I don't know why I wanted to preach this. It feels a little hard today. Your actions reveal that that maybe we're a little bit more rooted in in selfishness than we are in godliness. What Jesus is really going after is that, okay, we're going to get this part right and the root system and the mouth matters and and and what you say it's going to be the test and understand because I can tell because if you just try to say you're a Christian, if you just try to say that you're following God and you don't do it, I have a huge problem with that. Jesus goes, I'm not looking for people to wear a mask. I'm not looking for people to look the part. Come on. If you've been in church long enough, you know how to look the part on a Sunday just so we can demystify anything. Maybe you're here and you're wondering if you're doing the right thing or you know that that's that's a madeup thing. But we all think we're like this is way supposed to act. No, I would agree. Don't like walk in the door to church, start cussing people out. I would feel like that would not be appropriate. You know what I'm saying? But if this is where you are, we will love you and we will disciple you and we will get you in community with people who will help you in your journey of following Jesus. Don't just pretend and play a part because Jesus goes, I I can't do anything with pretenders. >> Why do you call me Lord and not do what I say? And and I think at least in a western culture, we be like, I Lord, that's not me. But that's because we know how to live. A term that was was coined a few years ago as [snorts] a practical atheist. For the most part in the United States of America, many people live as practical atheist. They profess to follow Jesus and then live as if he doesn't exist. Our churches have have people sitting in them of people who profess to follow Jesus and then Monday through Saturday live as if he does not exist. This is what Jesus is going after. It's not because it's not about playing a part. There's so much more. A lot of a lot of times even I think about you know the language we use as a church that that we're a live church our our our the local expression of the the big church the kingdom of God that we're a part of a live church. The language we use for our church is we believe our local expression of a community of believers that we are here to help as many people as possible live fully alive. Because in John 10:10 Jesus said the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But Jesus said that he came that we could have life and have it to the full. That can only happen to the real us, not the fake us. But it can happen to the real us. Which is why I we don't want people to feel like you have to play a part or pretend. Let's get in and let's be changed. And let's don't live our life as if we don't need God. Let's live our life as if we do need God because needing God is actually the best life possible. I read a book recently called The Insanity of God. And Megan [snorts] has been after me to read that book. I don't know. I think she read it in the fall. And I finally read it a couple weeks ago. And um couple things. One, I didn't I didn't I didn't love it as much as she did while I read it. I don't know if any husbands and wives here. One person says, "You're going to love this." And then you're like, "I didn't love it as much as you loved it." I don't think and and then you feel a little bit bad about yourself because you're like I feel like I'm supposed to love this as much as you love this but I didn't so I'm sorry and then just bringing you into the way my my anyway the more I think about the book now that I've completed it the more I love it and the more it keeps wrecking me. Here's the premise of this book. It's written by a guy who was a missionary in Somali land. he and his whole family um he was originally from somewhere in the Midwest but then he he lived I believe in Kenya uh and then they were they were missionaries in Somali land. That's the first half of the book talking about what he goes through. The second half of the book is him essentially going on a a tour of the world to interview and spend time with Christians who are living their life out for Jesus in nations where the church is persecuted. In nations where if you're found out to be following Jesus, you're tortured, killed, or thrown in prison. In nations where if you're caught with the Bible, you would immediately be be thrown in prison, killed, or tortured. That that's the premise of the book. And I read I read it and I'm I'm thinking about how right now as we're as we're sitting here, hundreds of people gathered in this service. I'm thinking about that right now there are gatherings happening in secret in different nations of the earth where if the government found out people were meeting around the Bible, they would be killed. I'm thinking about how we can become so comfortable in our life in America and other nations like America that we go the Bible. I mean, I could take it or leave it. And yet he tells stories of these nations where one person gets a Bible. They're able to get one smuggled in and they will gather at 2 am in the morning where one person it's like they'll hide the Bible to get it to where they are walking knowing that if somebody sees them walking with it they will be persecuted, killed, tortured and then other people will sneak out as well and like 10 people will then gather in the dark with just a candle and somebody will read the Bible out loud because they so badly they just want to hear what God said even though it could cost them their lives because they believe Jesus is the savior. >> And then I think about this verse and I think about our life and I'm like, Lord, why why am I not like that? This is this is not meant to and this is just and again I I I pray nobody feels condemnation on what I'm saying. I'm just sharing this as I'm I'm praying I'm processing and learning these things. It's like we we live in a in a in a culture that's like, well, I I don't go to, you know, I'll go to church this amount of times or or this is when it fits into my schedule because I've got, you know, I've got this activity or that other activity or, you know, sports or whatever different thing we've made into a God. And yet we would profess that it's all about God. >> And yet we essentially give it up. I mean these guys and some of these nations which they can't even in the book he can't even tell you what the real nations are in several of the places because if it was written down then right the government would go investigate there's no real names in the book they share their faith right they're going and talking to to people of other beliefs knowing that simply talking to them about Jesus if I just think about this. If the Holy Spirit doesn't move in their life and I don't I don't like this terminology, but I am not able to help them uh you know get get towards God. It's the kindness of God that leads people to repentance. We can't make somebody get saved. Only the Holy Spirit can save somebody. God works through us. But so just imagine, right? They're sharing their faith. If that person does not like get saved, they're going to go turn them in so they get killed and they still share their faith. And then we're here and we're like, I don't want people to think I'm weird. And I just think about this verse. I hope this isn't too much for us today. I just think about this verse. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say? Am I really do am I really convinced that Jesus is the way? Am I really convinced that without Jesus, I'm hopeless? But because of Jesus, I could never be without hope. I'll always have it. Here's the question that's asked in that book that that I can't get away from. It's a statement actually that that one of the missionaries makes to the guy who wrote the insanity of God. So, not one of the missionaries, one of the the Christians living in a persecuted nation says to him, "Don't give up in freedom what you wouldn't give up in persecution." All of us believe we would live a certain way >> for Jesus if we were persecuted. Yet, do we give up living that way in freedom? I would definitely stand for my faith if it was against the law. Well, yeah, but we're free to stand for our faith and it's not against the law, do we? We're free to be bold for Jesus now, are we? So, he says, "Don't give up in freedom." Well, we wouldn't give up in persecution. And and so, I'm thinking about all this. I'm thinking about this passage and and uh about 10 days ago, I was I was praying over this message. I was praying for our church. I I was sitting on the back deck praying um and I was thinking about how we pray. I was thinking about how I pray. And maybe maybe you're similar to me. I mean, I pray for a variety of things. I pray for my family. I pray for for y'all. I pray for specific things. I I pray for for miracles. I pray for big things. I pray for small things. By the way, not every day I don't pray for hours and hours a day. I probably should, but this isn't a prayer message, so we don't have to feel that conviction today, right? But but I just felt the Holy Spirit and and I I don't again, I was an audible voice of God. I just felt the Holy Spirit inside say just pray that you would obey me. >> How would you and I know that we pleased God today? If we obeyed him. >> So what do we need to pray? We need to pray that he would help us obey him. because everything in me wants to please Michael today. And without God's help, that's what I'm going to focus on. But with God's help, I'll focus more on obeying what God is telling me. And then I'll know I'm actually doing what God called me to do. And it matters a whole lot because where Jesus takes this passage down to the closing is he goes, "It's about what your life is going to be built on." So he does a comparison. And here's what's fascinating in this comparison that he does here at the end of Luke chapter 6. He says, "I'm going to tell you what what it's like. There's there's two different people and they build two different houses. One builds their house on a solid foundation. The other builds their house on a weak foundation. There's two different people that build on two different foundations, but there's only one storm. This again, if you study the Bible very often, you will discover that if we could be God and write the Bible, we would write it differently. Because how I would write this Bible verse right here, this passage, see, here's what it says. It says, "A flood came." I I'm going to read verse 48 uh and 49 again. It says, "They are like a man building a house." The people who put his word into practice or don't. They're like a man building a house who dug down deep and he laid the foundation on the rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built. But the one who hears his words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation and then the torrent uh the torrent struck and it and it destroyed his house. So, here's the thing. The first guy, I'm like, "Why does a storm have to hit his house? How I want the Bible to be written is that because I have decided to make God's word my foundation, no storm will hit my house." >> But Jesus said, "There's only one storm. >> It's going to hit all the houses. >> The factor is not the storm. The factor is how's the house built? >> That's right. >> What is our what is the foundation of our life? Because listen y'all, storms will come. Following Jesus is not about trying to keep the storm from coming. Following Jesus is about knowing there has never been a storm that has the power to take me out. No weapon formed against you will prosper. There's a reason there's promises in the scriptures. We declare, "Oh, the storms are going to come, but they don't win when I've made the word of God my foundation." Jesus said, "I've told you these things in John 16 so that in me you you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. The torrent struck the house but could not shake it. Could not shake it. Hebrews chapter 12 says, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire. We are receiving a kingdom. The kingdom of God is here and the kingdom of God is coming." What do we know about it? It cannot be shaken. The person who builds their life on the word of God cannot be shaken. >> But there's a lot of things that spin. There are there are a lot of things that if I could, you know, remove them with like that, I would. There's a lot of things if I could bring them into my life like that, I would. But that's not I'm not God. You're not God. We do get to choose what we build our life on. I think I've said it [snorts] probably hundreds of times. The word works when you work it. >> The word of God works when you work it as your foundation. There's nothing like it. Even just this morning in worship, I was I was thinking about just some different aspects of my life. And you know, I have a very full life. Was thinking about, oh man, I wish that was going better. And God, I really need I just I didn't think this would still be a thing. I mean, this is literally sometimes my my mind in worship is not, you know, anyway, now I just feel like I'm in a confessional moment. So, um, and I just was reminded There is one thing I know. I have built my life on God's word. I am super far from perfect. There's six other Bruce Keys in attendance at church today who can verify that. But I have built my life on God's word that it's true that I want to follow him. The Holy Spirit's working in me to help me. that just because it's not right doesn't mean it's final. That repentance is a gift from God. That the grace of God continues to do its work. And as long as we build on the word, nothing could take us out. So the question and how I want to pray, what are you going to do with the word? What are you going to do with God's word? Maybe for some of you, you need to know God's word, right? So the starting place is I should actually read my Bible. And it's not so you can check a box and it's not because your pastor or your parent said read your Bible. It's because you want to know the word so that you can have a strong foundation. It'll work. What are you going to do with the word? Because when I think about a storm, here's the thing. The best time to be ready is before you need to be ready. >> The best time to be ready is before you need to be ready. You know it's true. We get a hurricane in the forecast here in Southeast Virginia. You don't want to have to go to the store to get ready. Now, if you're like me, you go to the store and you don't need to buy anything. You just go to be entertained because it is pretty hilarious, right? That's my favorite joke. The amount of French toast that gets made. Eggs, bread, and milk. No, I want to be I want to build my life on the word so that I know I'm ready because I know God is I know he's working. I I don't have to be worried cuz even though it feels like a storm, even though it is a real storm, I know that I'm unshakable because the kingdom of God is unshakable and I've built my life on the truth of the kingdom of God. Therefore, no storm has the power to take me out. Let's pray. God, we love you. We thank you that that you are building what cannot ever be shaken. I pray right now that you would speak to us, Holy Spirit. Speak to everyone who hears my voice. Lord, would you reveal to us anywhere we've been building our life more on the words of man than the words of God? Lord, would you reveal to us anywhere we've been living as a practical atheist where we say that we follow you or we say that we love you, but then we live our life as if it's all up to us, not ultimately up to you. God, I thank you that that you help every one of us know that we know that we know we have built our life on you. May our roots grow down into you today. May our roots grow down deep into your truth, into your word, that we would know it, that we would love you. Just one more moment with everybody eyes closed. Just a way of removing distractions. I want to ask you to be real honest with yourself and real honest with God. You'd say, "Lord, I I don't like the word test. There's words that come out of my mouth and I wonder where did that come from? And I want you to change my heart today. I want you to know everybody in church that the Bible says God will take a a heart of stone and he will give us a heart of flesh. That that God has this ability to take a hard heart and soften it by his spirit. And so often it is a hard heart, a root of bitterness, the Bible calls it. that has set in and that that hard heart has got to be healed by the Lord in order for us to allow our roots to truly be what God called them to be. So I would I just I really feel right now to pray specifically for people who you know the word test would reveal your heart. There's some areas that need you need God to work your heart do a work in your heart right now even today. If that's you would you just raise your hand because I want to pray specifically for those of us in this category right now. God, I pray for everybody with their hand lifted right now. And Lord, you have a supernatural ability by your spirit, Lord, to heal us, to heal hard hearts, Lord, to remove bitterness. I just declare right now, bitterness gone in Jesus' name. Unforgiveness gone in Jesus' name. Anger and frustration, hate, Lord, we just pray it be removed right now in Jesus name. Holy Spirit, would you pour out yourself? Would you fill fresh every person with their hand lifted right now? We thank you that you purify hearts, Lord. Purify our hearts, Lord. That the words out of our mouths would reveal our hearts are filled with the fruit of our hearts are filled with the Holy Spirit. That our roots would go down deep into you. That it wouldn't be trying to fake anything, but the love of God would be the overflow from the inside out in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Come on, let's give God praise together one more time.