Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up Free Church ?
Come on, you can do better thanthat.
What's up Free Church?
Oh, so good to see you, man.
What about that?
Fire worship right there?
Ethan sang his voice straightout.
Man, if you can't fall in lovewith what's happening in this
(00:22):
house, you need to maybe youneed to, I don't know.
Fall in love with what'shappening in this house.
You need to, maybe you need to,I don't know fall in love with
it Because it is something sospecial happening around here
and we always say there is noplace like this place near this
place.
So this must be the place, andit definitely feels that way
today.
So welcome everybody.
If you're a guest, welcome.
(00:43):
My name's Chuck Urshana and Ihave the privilege of pastoring
this incredible family and we'reso thankful to be with you
today.
In this holiday weekend, I hopeeverybody had a safe and
wonderful I mean you're here, soit must have been partly safe
and I hope you got your feel ofall the good things you can eat
and family time and, man, we hadbeautiful weather, so so glad
(01:05):
you're here today.
If you're a guest, I know youcould have been in a thousand
other places today, but youchose the right place and I'm
glad you're here.
Church family, let's welcomeour guest today and then those
of us, those of you watchingonline today, all over this
region and around the world.
We welcome you as you join usand I pray you feel the same
(01:29):
atmosphere that we'reexperiencing, because that's
what I love about the Lord.
He is omnipresent, meaning hecan be all places, at all times.
So the Lord is very much, justas much in your living room or
in your car where you'relistening, or wherever you might
find yourself connecting tothis service.
The lord is with you just asmuch as he is in this house.
(01:51):
And we have a special day today.
We're in the middle of oursummer shorts series and we're
getting sun soaked.
Come on somebody.
And our goal is at the end ofthis summer.
People say, man, you must havebeen with the sun, in the sun
this summer, and not just s-u-nbut because we like to have fun,
but s-o-n because we love Jesusand we have a treat for you.
(02:16):
We have three speakers todaythat are going to share with you
.
Three speakers for sevenminutes each.
They're going to just deposit agood gospel message into you
from one of their favoritegospels and one of their
favorite passages and what theLord has put upon their heart.
And first it'll be Noel Massey.
Noel is man, he is a blessingto this house and he helped us
(02:41):
lead Next Level LeadershipLuncheon.
It was his efforts and man.
He spoke incredibly.
He just released a book entitleduh, congrats.
You've Been Promoted and it isa powerful book written for
young leaders.
So every young adult, everyonewho feels young a powerful book
(03:05):
for you regarding your impactand your influence in your
workplace as you lead and as youdevelop new responsibilities
and increase your influence.
Write about this with someexpertise, a lot of expertise,
(03:26):
actually, because Noel served asthe vice president at UPS for
US operations and delivery, hadover 140,000 employees, 12,000
supervisors that he led, and heis a wealth of information.
Anytime we have lunch together,I go home so encouraged and so
challenged and thinking aboutnew areas and levels of
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leadership.
So you're going to love hearingfrom Noel.
Then you're going to hear fromRetta Robite.
I can't roll my R's like shedoes, but Retta is a graduate of
Savannah College of Art andDesign.
She helps lead.
She's on the leadership teamwith Tyler and Skyler, leading
(04:08):
monastery young adults.
She leads in worship and she isa powerhouse.
Get ready, fasten your seatbelt.
She's a powerhouse.
And then Julian Hernandez isgoing to close it out.
Julian Hernandez is going toclose it out.
Paid them.
(04:28):
Paid them to do that, paid themto do that.
Julian check this out is astudent at Concordia University.
He is studying to be a teacher.
He's going to teach in ourpublic school system by
assignment from the Lord.
He's one of our up-and-comingleaders.
He leads in witness and inmonastery.
(04:49):
He is a head football coach atMorton Park High School and
coaches softball as well.
So listen, we're going to leanin.
I want you to give your bestamens your best.
Come on now.
That's good.
Whatever you have to do tocheer them on as they speak.
Would you welcome Noel Massey?
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Thanks, pastor.
Hello Free Church.
So we were asked to choose ourfavorite parable, or what we
believe is an important parable,not just our favorite parable.
So I chose if you want tofollow along, luke, chapter 10.
(05:30):
You can see it.
Oh, I thought it was behind me.
I guess not.
Luke, chapter 10, verse 25.
It's the parable of the GoodSamaritan.
I'll give you a minute to findthat.
In these times, particularlynow, I think it's very, very
(05:51):
important to grab the message inthe parable of the good
Samaritan.
So I'm not just going to readthis to you before I say, I'm
going to challenge you to thinkabout how you are living this.
That's what it's about, verse25, the parable of the good
Samaritan.
(06:13):
So Jesus, as he was was chargedto do, was teaching and he was
teaching.
And in the middle of histeaching, an expert in religious
law stood up to test Jesus byasking him this question Teacher
(06:33):
, what should I do to inheriteternal life?
Jesus replied what does the lawof Moses say?
How do you read it?
What does the law of Moses say?
How do you read it?
The man answered you must lovethe Lord with all your heart,
(06:58):
all your soul, all your strength, all your mind and love your
neighbor as yourself, right?
Jesus told him Do this and youwill live.
The man wanted to justify hisactions, like so many do.
The man wanted to justify hisactions like so many do.
So he asked Jesus and who is myneighbor?
Jesus replied with a story.
(07:22):
A Jewish man was traveling fromJerusalem to Jericho.
He was attacked by bandits.
They stripped him of hisclothes, beat him up and left
him half dead beside the road.
By chance, a priest came alongand when he saw the man lying
there, he crossed to the otherside of the road and he passed
(07:44):
him by.
Later on, a Levite walked overand looked at him and he also
passed by the other side.
Then a despised Samaritan camealong.
When he saw the man, he feltcompassion for him.
Going over to him, theSamaritan soothed his wounds
with olive oil and wine andbanished them.
(08:05):
Then he put the man on his owndonkey and took him to an inn
where he took care of him.
The next day he handed theinnkeeper two silver coins,
telling him take care of thisman.
If his bill runs higher thanthis, I'll pay you the next time
I'm here.
Now.
(08:27):
Which of these three would yousay was the neighbor.
To this man, jesus asked, andhe replied the one who showed
him mercy.
And Jesus said yes, now go anddo the same and I'll let you
(08:50):
think on that.
I'm going to turn it over toRetta.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
All right, thanks, thanks, wow, wow, hi everybody,
wow, it feels so good to be here, to see all of you, all the
(09:29):
faces, all the family together.
Yeah, so I'm also gonna read aparable, but we're gonna jump to
Matthew, the book of Matthew,chapter five, and we're going to
start at verse 14.
So it reads you are the lightof the world.
(09:51):
A city set on a hill cannot behidden, nor do people light a
lamp and put it under a basket,but on a stand, and it gives
life to all those.
In the same way.
Let your light shine beforeothers so that they may see your
good works and give glory toyour Father, who is in heaven.
(10:13):
So the entire word of God islight.
Right, we can all agree thatit's the light that shines to
all the deepest and even darkestparts of our lives.
But I think there's thisunderestimated torch that all of
us have been given.
All of us have it individually,and it is the most, one of the
(10:37):
most powerful gifts that theLord has given us, which is our
testimony, because we know weare saved by the blood of the
Lamb and the word of ourtestimony, right?
And so today I'm here to sharemy testimony and also to
encourage you all to share yourtestimonies, as it is the light
(10:58):
to the world that Jesus istalking about Now.
You might be thinking sittinghere oh well, my testimony is
boring.
I grew up in church and Ifollow the Lord.
The Lord has always been myLord and I've never strayed away
from him.
And I'm here to say, wow, whata testimony that is.
(11:20):
Wow, every parent wishes thattestimony for their child Like.
That's so powerful and it makesfaith rise in the room.
When they hear a testimony likethat, do you agree with me?
Yes, and then let's say, you'reon the other side.
You're thinking, wow, mytestimony was nothing like that.
(11:42):
I strayed away from the Lord sofar that I almost feel the
shame and guilt talking about mypast, thinking, oh, I don't
relate with that anymore, Idon't want to.
I almost don't want to rememberit myself.
Um, but that exact testimonyhas the power to shine into
(12:04):
those deepest, darkest places ofour world, to go out into those
people that that have maybenever heard of the power of
jesus, and they see you as aliving, living testimony,
speaking of of all that Jesushas done in your life.
That's faith, that is it.
(12:28):
That is the power of the lightthat Jesus is giving to all of
us through our testimony, and somy testimony was not a very
smooth road.
It was full of ups and downs.
As Pastor Chuck said, I went toan art school and while I was in
art school I encountered Jesusfor the very first time in a
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worship set, and I rememberright then when I felt the love
of the Lord for the very firsttime, that's where the enemy
said hold on, wait a minute.
And then he Grabbed me in a waythat I've never experienced
before, and so I got into arelationship with a guy that was
(13:09):
an atheist and that, in and ofitself, was it invited a lot of
things in.
One of those things was therewas always drugs happening in
the group that we were in, fromalcohol to weed to even harder
drugs like acid and andmushrooms and stuff.
(13:32):
Although I didn't partake inthe hardest of the drugs, I was
very much experimenting withweed, overdosed one time, so bad
that I could not rememberanything past five seconds I was
.
I was just so just shaking in acorner thinking none of nothing
is real.
Nothing is real.
I thought literally I was gonnadie like it was.
(13:54):
It was the scariest experienceI've ever felt.
And, as you know, the enemydoesn't just walk in by itself
and on its own.
No, it brings in more things,opens the door to more things.
And so, through the group,there was also this rebellion
that was happening against justour school and all the money
(14:17):
that we needed to pay.
And so the the group decidedwe're gonna go to the art supply
store and we're gonna takewhatever it is we need for
classes.
And I remember well, if myfriends are doing it, well then
I'm not gonna pay the full price.
I was thinking, oh well, ifthis is that easy, well, why not
(14:37):
, why not?
And then, as soon as thathappened, I opened the door to
theft, just wide open, and ofcourse it brought in greed and
it brought in shame, becauseevery time I would go into a
store it didn't have to be anart supply store I would hear
voices in my head saying I cantake this, no one's going to see
(14:58):
it.
And then, as soon as I wouldleave, it would be why did you
take it?
Why, like?
Why did you do all this?
Look at you, who are you Like,all these shameful pointing
fingers?
And I didn't know that that wasa spirit.
I was convinced that was just me, and so it wasn't until my
senior year of college that myfriend reintroduced me to Jesus,
(15:19):
told me about the power of thename of Jesus.
What were we singing todayabout?
Call on the name of Jesus,right, jesus.
What were we singing todayabout?
Call on the name of Jesus,right.
And so she shared her testimonywith me of a radical salvation.
And then I felt urged to sharemy struggle with her.
I'd never opened up about it.
I was so ashamed and scaredbecause I thought, oh, that's
(15:42):
going to change people'sperceptions about me.
I don't want that.
But but as soon as I opened up,she said she called it out.
She called it out into thelight, called it out as a spirit
and said okay, we're going topray for it right now, but next
time that you hear that voicecome up in your head, you just
rebuke that in the name of Jesus.
(16:04):
And so the next time that I wentto a store and I was standing
at that self-checkout counter, Ithought, and I heard those
voice come back up again.
All of a sudden I identifiedthem Wait, that's that spirit
again.
And I said in the name of Jesus, I rebuke the spirit of theft
and the spirit of greed.
I just whispered it under mybreath, thinking, well, I'll
(16:28):
just do it, just in faith, justto see if it'll work.
And those voices went down.
They quieted down and I hadnever experienced a freedom like
that before.
So next time, every time Iwould go into a store, maybe
those voices would surface backup.
(16:49):
I would just rebuke them againin the name of Jesus.
Every time I would feel thatfreedom and another chain come
off and another chain.
And it was just until Icouldn't hear them anymore.
It was gone completely.
And so through this story, Iknow I was struggling, even at
the very beginning, to share mytestimony.
(17:09):
I thought, oh man, like whatare people going to think about
me?
And and all those things Ididn't know I had to set, get
set free from fear of man.
But that was.
That was later as well.
But it just shows how shame andguilt don't come along with you
sharing your testimony.
And Jesus is the one that is.
(17:29):
The light is being shown on,yes, it shines on your
imperfections.
But who is the main character ofthat story?
Not you, it isn't you, it's him, it's entirely him.
It's kind of like that woman atthe well, who was who was
encountering Jesus, and Jesus iscalling out all the bad things
(17:49):
about her life and she's justlike, with just shock, hearing
all the things he's saying,drops the water, goes all the
way to the village and screamshe told me everything I ever did
wrong.
And isn't that crazy?
That's a light that is notcovered.
That is a light that is shiningeverywhere.
(18:13):
She's not ashamed, she's justscreaming out.
That's the messiah, that's theone.
He's the one that we should allbe looking to.
So, to conclude, I just want toencourage you all.
You all have a testimony, nomatter how you think, oh, this
(18:34):
is big, this is small, god'sdoing a miracle in all of our
lives.
Maybe you're here sitting todayand you are thinking wow, I
think I'm in the midst of it.
I think I'm struggling withsomething right now that I had
never felt freedom before.
Well, well, I am here toencourage you that Jesus sets
free and that you can come tohim with all of those things and
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he will break off all thosechains.
So, with all of this, I justwant to ask that you all
surrender to the Lord, surrenderyour testimony to the Lord and
see all the miracles that he cando with this light.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Thank you, Well good morning Free Church.
(19:43):
Well, again, my name is julianhernandez.
I have the honor and privilegeon serving on our amazing
witness youth ministry, have yousee, right here?
Um, before I start, I just wantto say thank you, pastor shark,
for giving me this opportunityto come here up here and speak
to you all.
Um, without further ado, let'sdive right into the word.
So it's going to be up on thescreen, but, um, if you're
(20:06):
flipping it in your physicalbibles, we're're going to go to
Mark 11, 12 to 14.
At this time, just to give yousome context, this is when Jesus
is cursing the fig tree.
So here we go, verse 12.
The next day, when they wentout from Bethany, he was hungry,
seeing in the distance a figtree with leaves.
He went to find out if therewas anything on it.
When he came to it, he foundnothing but leaves, for it was
(20:34):
not the season for figs.
He said to it may no one evereat fruit from you again.
And his disciples heard it.
So to give it, just break down.
One big thing about that verse,right there is Jesus is cursing
his fig tree, not just becausehe's hungry and there's no fruit
to eat now.
Okay, jesus is cursing his figtree because it's giving the
pretense of fruit.
Okay, he's cursing it becauseit's giving the outward
appearance that there's fruitbearing on the tree.
Hey, can we put the fig tree upon the screen real quick?
(20:55):
So just imagine looking up atthis.
You're in a distance, you'rewalking, you're hungry.
You see the fig tree.
Let me give you a quick funfact Fig trees tend to bear
fruit before the leaves evenshow.
So now here's jesus coming upto this tree.
He sees leaves.
You're right to assume there'sfruit bearing on it.
If we go on walks in nature, wesee trees, we see plants.
We're right to assume there'ssomething growing on it.
(21:16):
So jesus is looking at it.
He sees it.
Okay, there's fruit, I'm hungry, let me go.
So he goes up to it and heshakes it, but then there's no
fruit at all.
You see, you may be asking okay, what do you mean by that?
I'm saying this If we applythis to our own lifestyle.
Sometimes, if we are notchecking our own spirit, we tend
to put on a facade that we areactually bearing spiritual fruit
(21:37):
, but in reality we're notbearing any spiritual fruit at
all.
That we tend to put on thatleaf show, but in reality
there's no spiritual fruit atall.
But let me tell you this itsays in the scripture that our
father, god, knows the heart.
So you may try to put on hisfacade, but your father, your
creator, knows that too, and wecan't put ourselves into the
situation.
(21:57):
Because let me tell you this Ifyou go down to verse 20, he
goes early in the morning, asthey were passing by, they saw
the fig tree withered from theroots up.
Then Peter remembered and saidto him Rabbi, look, the fig tree
that you cursed has withered.
So now, if you again you putyourself in that situation, us
as believers, if we are not, ifwe are putting on this facade,
(22:18):
you're going to wither.
And it says it in scripture toothat you must be able to put
yourself, if you're going to act, a part, actually show it in
part two.
I'm going to just give you guysa quick story.
So, like PC said, I'm the headfreshman football coach at
Morton High School.
I played football there.
Never played football a snap inmy life until my freshman year.
I sucked.
(22:39):
Just going to keep it at that.
Okay, at the freshman levelthere is an A team and a B team.
The A team tends to be yourmore talented competitive
players.
The B team be your moretalented competitive players.
Your b team not so much as youwould assume.
I was a b team player.
Okay, your 18 players in thehallways and I could attest to
this as I'm a coach now too.
They had the eye black, theygot the chains, the wristbands,
arm sleeves, everything.
They walk, talk the game, puttheir arm around their
(23:00):
girlfriend in the hallways.
You know they act, they try tolike, act, all that.
The b team players tend to keeptheir mouth shut because they
know they suck and I'm, and thatwas me too, you know.
So what ends up happening everysingle year at Morton is that
by the senior year of thosefreshmen speaking from my own
story those beat team playersend up starting over those 18
(23:21):
players by their senior year.
You may be asking how?
Because they endured theprocess and they trusted that
day in and day out.
If they gave their time, talentand effort, after those four
years in senior year they willreap everything that they've
been sowing.
They endured the process, theygave their time, talent and
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effort and you're like okay, sowhat are you trying to get by
that?
I'm going to jump down to John15.
It's going to be up on thescreen too, but verse 1, it goes
I am the true vine and myfather is the gardener.
Every branch in me that doesnot produce fruit, he removes
and he prunes every branch thatproduces fruit so that it would
(24:02):
produce even more fruit.
Go to verse 4.
Remain in me and I in you.
Just as a branch is unable toproduce fruit by itself unless
it remains undivine, neither canyou, unless you remain in me.
I am divine, you are thebranches.
The one who remains in me and Iin him produces much fruit
because you can do nothingwithout me.
(24:23):
So in other versions this isthe most famous verse where it
says abide in me and I in you.
And if you study the word abidein Greek, it means meno.
I may be mispronouncing that,but meno means I stay, to remain
, to endure.
He's saying right there that ifyou lay your life down at the
(24:44):
feet of Jesus and endure thisworld by staying on his word and
staying and trusting in him andlaying everything that you want
that you just seek for at hisfeet, but abiding in him and him
alone, you will grow, you willproduce much fruit.
What is that fruit that you'retalking about?
It's the spiritual fruit thelove, the joy, the peace, the
(25:06):
patience, the kindness, theself-control, the gent, the
peace, the patience, thekindness, the self-control, the
gentleness, the faithfulness.
That spiritual fruit allows youto endure this world so that,
regardless of the circumstancesthat you're in, when you're
struggling financially, you'restruggling at home, mentally
that you find peace in Christand Christ alone.
When you're struggling to feelloved, you are created by the
heavenly one who loves you likeno other.
(25:27):
When you're in a moment whereyou're getting persecuted and
mocked by non-believers, butbecause you stand ten toes down
on your word, you have theself-control to keep your mouth
shut and speak life to thosearound you.
That's the spiritual fruit thathe's talking about, and that's
(25:48):
only if you have yourself trulysurrendered to the holy spirit.
But if you don't, let's put upthe dead fig tree real quick.
It says in scripture if you gojohn 15, 6 if anyone does not
remain in me, he is thrown asidelike a branch and he withers.
They gather them, throw theminto the fire and they are
(26:08):
burned.
If we are dead, fig are burned.
If we are dead fig trees,that's because we are stuck in
our own arrogant and cocky,prideful ways that we say Lord,
I could do this world by myselfand I don't need you.
You think of a dead fig tree?
Put it back up real quick,please.
Think of a dead fig tree.
You walk by it.
It cuts you, it's dead.
It sticks out because it's inits own way.
It has no foundation, it has noroots.
The fig tree was withered fromthe roots up and if we don't
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have a life that's set on theword and the word alone, we will
wither like a dead fig tree.
We will wither, and that's thateternal separation from the
father.
I'm going to finish off withthis.
I saw this on social media.
Let's put up the graphic realquick.
Us on social media.
Let's put up the graphic realquick.
The branch that bears the mostfruit bows the lowest, the
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believers, those who want, eventhe non-believers, those who
truly lay their lives down atthe feet of Christ will bear the
most fruit, not just foryourself but for others to see
around you like how are youstill smiling at the end of the
day?
Because I have a savior wholeads me on, who has eternal
victory for myself, and I knowthat I'll get brought through
these trials.
(27:13):
The fruit, it says if you go inverse two, every branch that
does does not produce fruit.
He removes, but he prunes everybranch that produces fruit.
So produce even more fruit.
That the fruit is not just foryourself but for those around
you.
Like red has talked about beinga salt in the light, that's
that fruit for those around youto believe that when you truly
surrender to the lord, that heblesses you.
(27:35):
Fruit not just for yourself butfor those around you and for
your kids, over generations upongenerations, upon generations,
in abundance in favor.
So as I finish off church, Ijust want us to be able to lean
in.
We've been saying it from thebeginning of the year our best
year yet, best year yet if webelieve in the overflow from
(27:58):
christ, surrendering and knowingthat not only he sees you now,
he sees you where you werebeforehand and he sees you in
the future to come to?
Can you receive that word today?
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Come on, give it up for all three Powerful day.
What's up Free Church ?
Come on, you can do better thanthat.
What's up Free Church?
Oh, so good to see you, man.
What about that?
Fire worship right there?
Ethan sang his voice straightout.
Man, if you can't fall in lovewith what's happening in this
(00:22):
house, you need to maybe youneed to, I don't know.
Fall in love with what'shappening in this house.
You need to, maybe you need to,I don't know fall in love with
it Because it is something sospecial happening around here
and we always say there is noplace like this place near this
place.
So this must be the place, andit definitely feels that way
today.
So welcome everybody.
If you're a guest, welcome.
(00:43):
My name's Chuck Urshana and Ihave the privilege of pastoring
this incredible family and we'reso thankful to be with you
today.
In this holiday weekend, I hopeeverybody had a safe and
wonderful I mean you're here, soit must have been partly safe
and I hope you got your feel ofall the good things you can eat
and family time and, man, we hadbeautiful weather, so so glad
(01:05):
you're here today.
If you're a guest, I know youcould have been in a thousand
other places today, but youchose the right place and I'm
glad you're here.
Church family, let's welcomeour guest today and then those
of us, those of you watchingonline today, all over this
region and around the world.
We welcome you as you join usand I pray you feel the same
(01:29):
atmosphere that we'reexperiencing, because that's
what I love about the Lord.
He is omnipresent, meaning hecan be all places, at all times.
So the Lord is very much, justas much in your living room or
in your car where you'relistening, or wherever you might
find yourself connecting tothis service.
The lord is with you just asmuch as he is in this house.
(01:51):
And we have a special day today.
We're in the middle of oursummer shorts series and we're
getting sun soaked.
Come on somebody.
And our goal is at the end ofthis summer.
People say, man, you must havebeen with the sun, in the sun
this summer, and not just s-u-nbut because we like to have fun,
but s-o-n because we love Jesusand we have a treat for you.
(02:16):
We have three speakers todaythat are going to share with you
.
Three speakers for sevenminutes each.
They're going to just deposit agood gospel message into you
from one of their favoritegospels and one of their
favorite passages and what theLord has put upon their heart.
And first it'll be Noel Massey.
Noel is man, he is a blessingto this house and he helped us
(02:41):
lead Next Level LeadershipLuncheon.
It was his efforts and man.
He spoke incredibly.
He just released a book entitleduh, congrats.
You've Been Promoted and it isa powerful book written for
young leaders.
So every young adult, everyonewho feels young a powerful book
(03:05):
for you regarding your impactand your influence in your
workplace as you lead and as youdevelop new responsibilities
and increase your influence.
Write about this with someexpertise, a lot of expertise,
(03:26):
actually, because Noel served asthe vice president at UPS for
US operations and delivery, hadover 140,000 employees, 12,000
supervisors that he led, and heis a wealth of information.
Anytime we have lunch together,I go home so encouraged and so
challenged and thinking aboutnew areas and levels of
(03:48):
leadership.
So you're going to love hearingfrom Noel.
Then you're going to hear fromRetta Robite.
I can't roll my R's like shedoes, but Retta is a graduate of
Savannah College of Art andDesign.
She helps lead.
She's on the leadership teamwith Tyler and Skyler, leading
(04:08):
monastery young adults.
She leads in worship and she isa powerhouse.
Get ready, fasten your seatbelt.
She's a powerhouse.
And then Julian Hernandez isgoing to close it out.
Julian Hernandez is going toclose it out.
Paid them.
(04:28):
Paid them to do that, paid themto do that.
Julian check this out is astudent at Concordia University.
He is studying to be a teacher.
He's going to teach in ourpublic school system by
assignment from the Lord.
He's one of our up-and-comingleaders.
He leads in witness and inmonastery.
(04:49):
He is a head football coach atMorton Park High School and
coaches softball as well.
So listen, we're going to leanin.
I want you to give your bestamens your best.
Come on now.
That's good.
Whatever you have to do tocheer them on as they speak.
Would you welcome Noel Massey?
Speaker 4 (05:08):
Thanks, pastor.
Hello Free Church.
So we were asked to choose ourfavorite parable, or what we
believe is an important parable,not just our favorite parable.
So I chose if you want tofollow along, luke, chapter 10.
(05:30):
You can see it.
Oh, I thought it was behind me.
I guess not.
Luke, chapter 10, verse 25.
It's the parable of the GoodSamaritan.
I'll give you a minute to findthat.
In these times, particularlynow, I think it's very, very
(05:51):
important to grab the message inthe parable of the good
Samaritan.
So I'm not just going to readthis to you before I say, I'm
going to challenge you to thinkabout how you are living this.
That's what it's about, verse25, the parable of the good
Samaritan.
(06:13):
So Jesus, as he was was chargedto do, was teaching and he was
teaching.
And in the middle of histeaching, an expert in religious
law stood up to test Jesus byasking him this question Teacher
(06:33):
, what should I do to inheriteternal life?
Jesus replied what does the lawof Moses say?
How do you read it?
What does the law of Moses say?
How do you read it?
The man answered you must lovethe Lord with all your heart,
(06:58):
all your soul, all your strength, all your mind and love your
neighbor as yourself, right?
Jesus told him Do this and youwill live.
The man wanted to justify hisactions, like so many do.
The man wanted to justify hisactions like so many do.
So he asked Jesus and who is myneighbor?
Jesus replied with a story.
(07:22):
A Jewish man was traveling fromJerusalem to Jericho.
He was attacked by bandits.
They stripped him of hisclothes, beat him up and left
him half dead beside the road.
By chance, a priest came alongand when he saw the man lying
there, he crossed to the otherside of the road and he passed
(07:44):
him by.
Later on, a Levite walked overand looked at him and he also
passed by the other side.
Then a despised Samaritan camealong.
When he saw the man, he feltcompassion for him.
Going over to him, theSamaritan soothed his wounds
with olive oil and wine andbanished them.
(08:05):
Then he put the man on his owndonkey and took him to an inn
where he took care of him.
The next day he handed theinnkeeper two silver coins,
telling him take care of thisman.
If his bill runs higher thanthis, I'll pay you the next time
I'm here.
Now.
(08:27):
Which of these three would yousay was the neighbor.
To this man, jesus asked, andhe replied the one who showed
him mercy.
And Jesus said yes, now go anddo the same and I'll let you
(08:50):
think on that.
I'm going to turn it over toRetta.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
All right, thanks, thanks, wow, wow, hi everybody,
wow, it feels so good to be here, to see all of you, all the
(09:29):
faces, all the family together.
Yeah, so I'm also gonna read aparable, but we're gonna jump to
Matthew, the book of Matthew,chapter five, and we're going to
start at verse 14.
So it reads you are the lightof the world.
(09:51):
A city set on a hill cannot behidden, nor do people light a
lamp and put it under a basket,but on a stand, and it gives
life to all those.
In the same way.
Let your light shine beforeothers so that they may see your
good works and give glory toyour Father, who is in heaven.
(10:13):
So the entire word of God islight.
Right, we can all agree thatit's the light that shines to
all the deepest and even darkestparts of our lives.
But I think there's thisunderestimated torch that all of
us have been given.
All of us have it individually,and it is the most, one of the
(10:37):
most powerful gifts that theLord has given us, which is our
testimony, because we know weare saved by the blood of the
Lamb and the word of ourtestimony, right?
And so today I'm here to sharemy testimony and also to
encourage you all to share yourtestimonies, as it is the light
(10:58):
to the world that Jesus istalking about Now.
You might be thinking sittinghere oh well, my testimony is
boring.
I grew up in church and Ifollow the Lord.
The Lord has always been myLord and I've never strayed away
from him.
And I'm here to say, wow, whata testimony that is.
(11:20):
Wow, every parent wishes thattestimony for their child Like.
That's so powerful and it makesfaith rise in the room.
When they hear a testimony likethat, do you agree with me?
Yes, and then let's say, you'reon the other side.
You're thinking, wow, mytestimony was nothing like that.
(11:42):
I strayed away from the Lord sofar that I almost feel the
shame and guilt talking about mypast, thinking, oh, I don't
relate with that anymore, Idon't want to.
I almost don't want to rememberit myself.
Um, but that exact testimonyhas the power to shine into
(12:04):
those deepest, darkest places ofour world, to go out into those
people that that have maybenever heard of the power of
jesus, and they see you as aliving, living testimony,
speaking of of all that Jesushas done in your life.
That's faith, that is it.
(12:28):
That is the power of the lightthat Jesus is giving to all of
us through our testimony, and somy testimony was not a very
smooth road.
It was full of ups and downs.
As Pastor Chuck said, I went toan art school and while I was in
art school I encountered Jesusfor the very first time in a
(12:48):
worship set, and I rememberright then when I felt the love
of the Lord for the very firsttime, that's where the enemy
said hold on, wait a minute.
And then he Grabbed me in a waythat I've never experienced
before, and so I got into arelationship with a guy that was
(13:09):
an atheist and that, in and ofitself, was it invited a lot of
things in.
One of those things was therewas always drugs happening in
the group that we were in, fromalcohol to weed to even harder
drugs like acid and andmushrooms and stuff.
(13:32):
Although I didn't partake inthe hardest of the drugs, I was
very much experimenting withweed, overdosed one time, so bad
that I could not rememberanything past five seconds I was
.
I was just so just shaking in acorner thinking none of nothing
is real.
Nothing is real.
I thought literally I was gonnadie like it was.
(13:54):
It was the scariest experienceI've ever felt.
And, as you know, the enemydoesn't just walk in by itself
and on its own.
No, it brings in more things,opens the door to more things.
And so, through the group,there was also this rebellion
that was happening against justour school and all the money
(14:17):
that we needed to pay.
And so the the group decidedwe're gonna go to the art supply
store and we're gonna takewhatever it is we need for
classes.
And I remember well, if myfriends are doing it, well then
I'm not gonna pay the full price.
I was thinking, oh well, ifthis is that easy, well, why not
(14:37):
, why not?
And then, as soon as thathappened, I opened the door to
theft, just wide open, and ofcourse it brought in greed and
it brought in shame, becauseevery time I would go into a
store it didn't have to be anart supply store I would hear
voices in my head saying I cantake this, no one's going to see
(14:58):
it.
And then, as soon as I wouldleave, it would be why did you
take it?
Why, like?
Why did you do all this?
Look at you, who are you Like,all these shameful pointing
fingers?
And I didn't know that that wasa spirit.
I was convinced that was just me, and so it wasn't until my
senior year of college that myfriend reintroduced me to Jesus,
(15:19):
told me about the power of thename of Jesus.
What were we singing todayabout?
Call on the name of Jesus,right, jesus.
What were we singing todayabout?
Call on the name of Jesus,right.
And so she shared her testimonywith me of a radical salvation.
And then I felt urged to sharemy struggle with her.
I'd never opened up about it.
I was so ashamed and scaredbecause I thought, oh, that's
(15:42):
going to change people'sperceptions about me.
I don't want that.
But but as soon as I opened up,she said she called it out.
She called it out into thelight, called it out as a spirit
and said okay, we're going topray for it right now, but next
time that you hear that voicecome up in your head, you just
rebuke that in the name of Jesus.
(16:04):
And so the next time that I wentto a store and I was standing
at that self-checkout counter, Ithought, and I heard those
voice come back up again.
All of a sudden I identifiedthem Wait, that's that spirit
again.
And I said in the name of Jesus, I rebuke the spirit of theft
and the spirit of greed.
I just whispered it under mybreath, thinking, well, I'll
(16:28):
just do it, just in faith, justto see if it'll work.
And those voices went down.
They quieted down and I hadnever experienced a freedom like
that before.
So next time, every time Iwould go into a store, maybe
those voices would surface backup.
(16:49):
I would just rebuke them againin the name of Jesus.
Every time I would feel thatfreedom and another chain come
off and another chain.
And it was just until Icouldn't hear them anymore.
It was gone completely.
And so through this story, Iknow I was struggling, even at
the very beginning, to share mytestimony.
(17:09):
I thought, oh man, like whatare people going to think about
me?
And and all those things Ididn't know I had to set, get
set free from fear of man.
But that was.
That was later as well.
But it just shows how shame andguilt don't come along with you
sharing your testimony.
And Jesus is the one that is.
(17:29):
The light is being shown on,yes, it shines on your
imperfections.
But who is the main character ofthat story?
Not you, it isn't you, it's him, it's entirely him.
It's kind of like that woman atthe well, who was who was
encountering Jesus, and Jesus iscalling out all the bad things
(17:49):
about her life and she's justlike, with just shock, hearing
all the things he's saying,drops the water, goes all the
way to the village and screamshe told me everything I ever did
wrong.
And isn't that crazy?
That's a light that is notcovered.
That is a light that is shiningeverywhere.
(18:13):
She's not ashamed, she's justscreaming out.
That's the messiah, that's theone.
He's the one that we should allbe looking to.
So, to conclude, I just want toencourage you all.
You all have a testimony, nomatter how you think, oh, this
(18:34):
is big, this is small, god'sdoing a miracle in all of our
lives.
Maybe you're here sitting todayand you are thinking wow, I
think I'm in the midst of it.
I think I'm struggling withsomething right now that I had
never felt freedom before.
Well, well, I am here toencourage you that Jesus sets
free and that you can come tohim with all of those things and
(18:57):
he will break off all thosechains.
So, with all of this, I justwant to ask that you all
surrender to the Lord, surrenderyour testimony to the Lord and
see all the miracles that he cando with this light.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Thank you, Well good morning Free Church.
(19:43):
Well, again, my name is julianhernandez.
I have the honor and privilegeon serving on our amazing
witness youth ministry, have yousee, right here?
Um, before I start, I just wantto say thank you, pastor shark,
for giving me this opportunityto come here up here and speak
to you all.
Um, without further ado, let'sdive right into the word.
So it's going to be up on thescreen, but, um, if you're
(20:06):
flipping it in your physicalbibles, we're're going to go to
Mark 11, 12 to 14.
At this time, just to give yousome context, this is when Jesus
is cursing the fig tree.
So here we go, verse 12.
The next day, when they wentout from Bethany, he was hungry,
seeing in the distance a figtree with leaves.
He went to find out if therewas anything on it.
When he came to it, he foundnothing but leaves, for it was
(20:34):
not the season for figs.
He said to it may no one evereat fruit from you again.
And his disciples heard it.
So to give it, just break down.
One big thing about that verse,right there is Jesus is cursing
his fig tree, not just becausehe's hungry and there's no fruit
to eat now.
Okay, jesus is cursing his figtree because it's giving the
pretense of fruit.
Okay, he's cursing it becauseit's giving the outward
appearance that there's fruitbearing on the tree.
Hey, can we put the fig tree upon the screen real quick?
(20:55):
So just imagine looking up atthis.
You're in a distance, you'rewalking, you're hungry.
You see the fig tree.
Let me give you a quick funfact Fig trees tend to bear
fruit before the leaves evenshow.
So now here's jesus coming upto this tree.
He sees leaves.
You're right to assume there'sfruit bearing on it.
If we go on walks in nature, wesee trees, we see plants.
We're right to assume there'ssomething growing on it.
(21:16):
So jesus is looking at it.
He sees it.
Okay, there's fruit, I'm hungry, let me go.
So he goes up to it and heshakes it, but then there's no
fruit at all.
You see, you may be asking okay, what do you mean by that?
I'm saying this If we applythis to our own lifestyle.
Sometimes, if we are notchecking our own spirit, we tend
to put on a facade that we areactually bearing spiritual fruit
(21:37):
, but in reality we're notbearing any spiritual fruit at
all.
That we tend to put on thatleaf show, but in reality
there's no spiritual fruit atall.
But let me tell you this itsays in the scripture that our
father, god, knows the heart.
So you may try to put on hisfacade, but your father, your
creator, knows that too, and wecan't put ourselves into the
situation.
(21:57):
Because let me tell you this Ifyou go down to verse 20, he
goes early in the morning, asthey were passing by, they saw
the fig tree withered from theroots up.
Then Peter remembered and saidto him Rabbi, look, the fig tree
that you cursed has withered.
So now, if you again you putyourself in that situation, us
as believers, if we are not, ifwe are putting on this facade,
(22:18):
you're going to wither.
And it says it in scripture toothat you must be able to put
yourself, if you're going to act, a part, actually show it in
part two.
I'm going to just give you guysa quick story.
So, like PC said, I'm the headfreshman football coach at
Morton High School.
I played football there.
Never played football a snap inmy life until my freshman year.
I sucked.
(22:39):
Just going to keep it at that.
Okay, at the freshman levelthere is an A team and a B team.
The A team tends to be yourmore talented competitive
players.
The B team be your moretalented competitive players.
Your b team not so much as youwould assume.
I was a b team player.
Okay, your 18 players in thehallways and I could attest to
this as I'm a coach now too.
They had the eye black, theygot the chains, the wristbands,
arm sleeves, everything.
They walk, talk the game, puttheir arm around their
(23:00):
girlfriend in the hallways.
You know they act, they try tolike, act, all that.
The b team players tend to keeptheir mouth shut because they
know they suck and I'm, and thatwas me too, you know.
So what ends up happening everysingle year at Morton is that
by the senior year of thosefreshmen speaking from my own
story those beat team playersend up starting over those 18
(23:21):
players by their senior year.
You may be asking how?
Because they endured theprocess and they trusted that
day in and day out.
If they gave their time, talentand effort, after those four
years in senior year they willreap everything that they've
been sowing.
They endured the process, theygave their time, talent and
(23:42):
effort and you're like okay, sowhat are you trying to get by
that?
I'm going to jump down to John15.
It's going to be up on thescreen too, but verse 1, it goes
I am the true vine and myfather is the gardener.
Every branch in me that doesnot produce fruit, he removes
and he prunes every branch thatproduces fruit so that it would
(24:02):
produce even more fruit.
Go to verse 4.
Remain in me and I in you.
Just as a branch is unable toproduce fruit by itself unless
it remains undivine, neither canyou, unless you remain in me.
I am divine, you are thebranches.
The one who remains in me and Iin him produces much fruit
because you can do nothingwithout me.
(24:23):
So in other versions this isthe most famous verse where it
says abide in me and I in you.
And if you study the word abidein Greek, it means meno.
I may be mispronouncing that,but meno means I stay, to remain
, to endure.
He's saying right there that ifyou lay your life down at the
(24:44):
feet of Jesus and endure thisworld by staying on his word and
staying and trusting in him andlaying everything that you want
that you just seek for at hisfeet, but abiding in him and him
alone, you will grow, you willproduce much fruit.
What is that fruit that you'retalking about?
It's the spiritual fruit thelove, the joy, the peace, the
(25:06):
patience, the kindness, theself-control, the gent, the
peace, the patience, thekindness, the self-control, the
gentleness, the faithfulness.
That spiritual fruit allows youto endure this world so that,
regardless of the circumstancesthat you're in, when you're
struggling financially, you'restruggling at home, mentally
that you find peace in Christand Christ alone.
When you're struggling to feelloved, you are created by the
heavenly one who loves you likeno other.
(25:27):
When you're in a moment whereyou're getting persecuted and
mocked by non-believers, butbecause you stand ten toes down
on your word, you have theself-control to keep your mouth
shut and speak life to thosearound you.
That's the spiritual fruit thathe's talking about, and that's
(25:48):
only if you have yourself trulysurrendered to the holy spirit.
But if you don't, let's put upthe dead fig tree real quick.
It says in scripture if you gojohn 15, 6 if anyone does not
remain in me, he is thrown asidelike a branch and he withers.
They gather them, throw theminto the fire and they are
(26:08):
burned.
If we are dead, fig are burned.
If we are dead fig trees,that's because we are stuck in
our own arrogant and cocky,prideful ways that we say Lord,
I could do this world by myselfand I don't need you.
You think of a dead fig tree?
Put it back up real quick,please.
Think of a dead fig tree.
You walk by it.
It cuts you, it's dead.
It sticks out because it's inits own way.
It has no foundation, it has noroots.
The fig tree was withered fromthe roots up and if we don't
(26:31):
have a life that's set on theword and the word alone, we will
wither like a dead fig tree.
We will wither, and that's thateternal separation from the
father.
I'm going to finish off withthis.
I saw this on social media.
Let's put up the graphic realquick.
Us on social media.
Let's put up the graphic realquick.
The branch that bears the mostfruit bows the lowest, the
(26:53):
believers, those who want, eventhe non-believers, those who
truly lay their lives down atthe feet of Christ will bear the
most fruit, not just foryourself but for others to see
around you like how are youstill smiling at the end of the
day?
Because I have a savior wholeads me on, who has eternal
victory for myself, and I knowthat I'll get brought through
these trials.
(27:13):
The fruit, it says if you go inverse two, every branch that
does does not produce fruit.
He removes, but he prunes everybranch that produces fruit.
So produce even more fruit.
That the fruit is not just foryourself but for those around
you.
Like red has talked about beinga salt in the light, that's
that fruit for those around youto believe that when you truly
surrender to the lord, that heblesses you.
(27:35):
Fruit not just for yourself butfor those around you and for
your kids, over generations upongenerations, upon generations,
in abundance in favor.
So as I finish off church, Ijust want us to be able to lean
in.
We've been saying it from thebeginning of the year our best
year yet, best year yet if webelieve in the overflow from
(27:58):
christ, surrendering and knowingthat not only he sees you now,
he sees you where you werebeforehand and he sees you in
the future to come to?
Can you receive that word today?
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Come on, give it up for all three Powerful day.
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