What I Learned

I knew before we started that May and June of this year would be a real challenge for me.

April 30th we left for 11 days to Israel.

Again thank you.

97% of the trip was paid for by your generous giving designated to the trip.

3% came from my expense reimbursable account (just over $500).

I can’t thank you enough - I pray you’ll one day agree that your money was well spent.

My family went on vacation May 21 - 27

That had some physical times - Cumberland Island and bike riding on Jekyll

We had Vacation Bible School June 5 - 8.

That was 4 days of 12 - 14 hour days for all of us that worked VBS - volunteers and staff

The Staff went to the Southern Baptist Convention from June 11 - 14th.

The Students went to Fuge camps from Monday, June 19th - Saturday June 24th

And finally the Kids went to Centrikid camp Monday, June 26th - Friday June 30th.

All in all 11 children and students trusted Jesus to save them and they committed their lives to following Jesus.

All in all - not a bad 9 weeks worth of work.

Thank you for funding everything.

Thank you for sending everyone

And Thank you for allowing us all to go.

We learned so very many things.

So, I thought today, we’d do something a little out of the ordinary.

I have a 4th of July message ready that we’ll do next week.

This week - since the 9 week marathon is over - I thought I’d share what we learned.

After all, you paid for it - you ought to know.

And maybe the Lord will use what we learned to draw you to learn it too.

I shouldn’t have been - but was - astounded that there was a common theme throughout our journeys.

The first day of Centrikid drove the point home.

You are the One I have been waiting for.

At Centrikid Kids Camp, they use a version of the Bible called the Easy-to-Read Version, the ERV.

Makes sense right - rising 3rd - finishing 5th graders.

Normal Sunday - ESV - listen - Psalm 25:4-5 “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”

But the ERV is kind of an “idea forward” translation - not word for word but idea for idea.

Listen to the difference.

“Lord, help me learn your ways. Show me how you want me to live. Guide me and teach me your truths. You are my God, my Savior. You are the one I have been waiting for.” Psalm 25:4-5 ERV

Movies - love story - “You are the one I have been waiting for.”

But no - the Lord is the one.

(talk about that)

Jesus is my life

Colossians 3:4 “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

We talked about this

Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

If I am in Christ how can I ever be in the wrong place?

Sure, I can answer to my flesh and go somewhere unholy

But I can’t go there without Jesus.

I can’t go anywhere without Jesus.

(talk about this)

Which brings us to number 3 - Trust the Holy Spirit in you.

Look up and follow along with me: John 16:8-15 “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

We’ll talk about the first part in a second, but look at the second part.

The Holy Spirit will “guide us into all truth.”

We will know right from wrong.

He will declare “things that are to come.”

Not a fortune teller but -

I knew 2 of our kids were going to be saved.

They were so heavy on my heart (Georgia/Chloe)

And a third one - the Lord let me see the moment she understood.

I’ve told you my life story.

Multiple times I “knew” that something major had changed - that new things were coming.

That’s the Holy Spirit declaring things to come

That is not your heart - your heart lies to you, your feelings lie to you.

Mark 7:21-23 “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.””

Jesus said that - your heart - your feelings - they tend to be guided by your fleshly desires - unholy desires.

But the Spirit - you can trust the Spirit - and you’ll know the difference.

And here’s a freebie - The Holy Spirit doesn’t give hypothetical grace - here’s what that means.

When you worry - you worry about the worst that can happen - right?

And you can’t control it - and guess what - when you worry you don’t even begin to consider God’s grace and the effect that will have.

And God doesn’t honor your worry

And God doesn’t give you hypothetical grace to fit in with your hypothetical situations.

So your worry is - truly - a waste of time an energy and - is us being unfaithful.

Jesus said this in so many words - Matthew 6:34 ““Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

Tomorrow will be anxious for itself - and God’s grace will be waiting for you then.

But He will not give you tomorrow’s grace for today’s worry.

Number 4 - Our job is not to convince people of the truth, it is to proclaim the truth.

Romans 1:19–23 ESV

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

President Biden and all of those who celebrated Pride Month - and Admiral Levine who declared a summer of Pride.

They don’t need to be convinced of the truth.

They are doing what the are doing because they know the truth - and they are fighting against it.

We don’t need to work to convince people of the truth.

The truth is the truth - it is plainly seen.

Choose the truth and live.

Fight the truth and watch the truth break you.

As we said last week, when you choose against God and it doesn’t go well - what did you think was going to happen?

Number 5 - Stand for something - even if and especially if it is unpopular.

The SBC stand for men as pastor/elder is an unpopular stance in this society.

But it’s based in truth.

Revelation 3:5-6 “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

The one who conquers - the one who stands - will be confessed before God the Father.

So let’s talk about pride.

If you are black, be proud you are black.

If you are Hispanic, be proud you are Hispanic.

If you are Asian, be proud you are Asian.

If you are white, be proud you are white.

We are created in God’s image - not God’s images.

Ephesians 4:4-5 “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism,”

We are a true rainbow of skin tones made into one race by the grace and mercy of God.

Those who are trying to separate us by race are guided by demons.

Their God is Satan.

They are unholy, ungodly and deserve hell if the Lord doesn’t save them.

And they sure as the dickens don’t need to hold office in our country, our state, our county or our city.

If you were born a man - be proud.

If you were born a woman - be proud.

If you feel like a man in a woman’s body or a woman in a man’s body - get Godly counsel.

You are created in God’s image just like everyone else and he didn’t create us all to act the same.

You might be a boy that enjoys cooking and interior design.

You might be a girl that enjoys auto mechanics and hvac.

That doesn’t mean you are in the wrong body.

It means the Lord created you for His purpose, find it and do it.

If your little girl wants a football, buy her one and leave her alone.

If your little boy wants a tea set, buy him one and get out of his way.

Thank God my parents gave me the tea set I wanted and left me alone.

Number 6 - Here are three things you can do for your children:

First, stay married.

Matthew 19:3-6 “And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.””

Jesus said you can divorce for infidelity - so two things.

First - be faithful - be someone your spouse can count on and,

Second - stay married.

If you are having issues, let me refer to you back to number 1 - The Lord is the one you have been waiting for.

Your spouse is not your joy, your fulfilment, your love, your satisfaction.

They are your complement - made that way by the Lord Himself.

If you are having issues, turn to the Lord and then get Godly help.

Stay married.

I know the experts say that kids are resilient and will get over it.

Let me tell you - that is a lie straight from the pits of hell and it smells like smoke.

Read the “In’s and Out’s of Rejection” by Charles Solomon and then come talk to me.

Which leads to number 2.

Second, forget the experts.

Dr. Benjamin Spock was not on the mark.

The guy that wrote the Kinsey report was a pervert.

The people who say your children need to learn about sex as early as kindergarten are idiots.

If you worry that you are going against the experts, remember this:

Prior to the 1960’s - there were no real experts and the human race did just fine thank you very much.

Do you know who knows the most about your child?

You - be their advocate.

Die fighting for your child.

Third, men - we’ve got to get involved in kid’s ministry.

Everywhere I look in Kids Ministry I see women.

But on the T-Ball field and Midget or whatever it’s called where they are barely out of diapers

There are men everywhere.

Do you know what that says men?

Church is sissy and ball is for men.

But they’ll be no baseball in hell for your little Buffy and Jody.

And Jesus ain’t sissy.

I’d like to see one of you single handedly change the world.

Man up gentlemen.

I know you don’t have time.

I didn’t and God forgive me.

Make time - they need you.

They need to see you dirt, sweat, stink and all.

They need to see a man be a godly man.

Finally, don’t kid yourself, God knows your heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.””

That was the Centrikid theme for the week - that’s the second half of 1 Samuel 16:7

God knows your heart.

He knows if you have a pure heart.

He knows if you have a humble heart.

He knows if you have a trusting heart.

He knows if you have a merciful heart.

He knows if you have a willing heart.

And He wants you to have all of those things.

That’s what the kids learned this week.

But most of all they learned, “You Lord, are the one I have been looking for.”

Do you know what I found out that’s funny?

Jesus has been trying to tell me this all of my life.

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Everything I have ever wanted started and ends with Jesus.