FBCPS
Sermons, teachings, and podcasts from First Baptist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.
FBCPS
Earthly Stories with Heavenly Meanings | Matthew 22:1-14
Ever wondered how mastering the art of invitation could transform your spiritual journey? Join us as we celebrate the vibrant community at First Baptist Church, Powder Springs, exploring the theme of invitation—a recurring motif in Jesus' teachings. We dive into personal stories and teachings from our "Red Letters" series, shedding light on how parables reveal profound truths. Pastor Christian Henry and his wife, Laura, have spearheaded a remarkable rise in Next Gen ministries, and we prepare to honor Pastor Dave Berryhill's impressive 27-year legacy.
Discover how the power of a simple invite can reshape both the inviter and the invited, as illustrated by the parable of the wedding feast from Matthew 22. Drawing from engaging anecdotes, including the unexpected parallels of Spartan races and spiritual quests, this episode emphasizes the universal language of storytelling. By addressing common reservations about attending church, such as perceived hypocrisy, we encourage embracing imperfections and fostering authentic connections grounded in forgiveness and understanding.
As Easter approaches, we offer practical advice on building relationships and extending heartfelt invitations to church events. Highlighting the importance of personal connections over digital outreach, we underscore how genuine life changes can inspire others to join our community. Celebrate new believers, relish in the support of our community, and reflect on how we can all extend God's love and promises to those around us. Let's commit to cultivating a culture of invitation, enriched by gratitude, prayer, and worship, as we continue to share the transformative message of Jesus.
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Well, good morning, put your hands together, as we are so excited to be here this morning at First Baptist Church, powder Springs, and again, as we said earlier, just so thankful for all that God is doing, thankful that you are here. Your presence matters, but most of all, we know that it is God's presence, his presence matters, and he has promised to be with us. So therefore, we know that he is with us because he always he's a good God, he always keeps his promises and I always love to tell you, every Sunday, new things that God is doing in our church, ways that he's working in us, ways that he is working through us. Last week we had a baptism. This morning we had a baptism and I just did a little math over the past week and all the way from preschool, from our preschool ministry, to our high school ministry, including the kids and the volunteers we had 195 in our Next Gen ministries just last Sunday. Put your hands together for all that God is doing as he is raising up the next generation, and I even noticed that as children's ministry has been growing so much, just kind of did the math and noticed that our student ministry is up 30% on Sundays the last month and our student ministry is up 20% on Wednesdays just the past month. We are so thankful for Pastor Christian Henry, his wife Laura. Can we just thank God for them one more time? As God is using them in such a great way, and many of you, as you know, as our next generation ministries are growing, that means that our volunteer base needs to continue to grow.
Speaker 1:Here's a couple of ways. One there is a needed volunteer in our one-year-old class at 11 am during this hour, and so if God might be calling you, I would encourage you just to respond to the call and you answer the Lord and you let the kids' ministry that you want in. But also, as you can imagine, with so many volunteers we need in our children's ministry, there are a lot of call-outs that can happen on a Sunday morning, and so we want to build our sub list. So maybe you're not able to be there every Sunday, but you could be there to replace someone that can't be there regularly, and so you can just let Miss Cindy, or you can let Evan and Anna know, or call us at the church office and you can just say, hey, I'd love to be on the sub list and just sub in the children's ministry anytime I'm needed, and we would love to make that happen.
Speaker 1:I want you to know that on March 16, sunday, march 16, we're going to be celebrating, with the reception together, pastor Dave Berryhill's retirement. He is our associate pastor of operations and we are so thankful for his 27 plus years of pastoral ministry here at First Baptist Church, powder Springs, and so we're going to celebrate that together on that Sunday. And I also want you to know that the Lord has raised up an interim for that position, and Alan Martin. Alan, would you please stand for us. Alan Martin has accepted the call to be our interim operation director, so we are so thankful for you. Brother Alan, would you please stand for us? Alan Martin has accepted the call to be our interim operation director, so we are so thankful for you. Brother Alan, thank you so much, and I think you're going back out to the parking lot. He's digging into the week this week, so work in the parking lots as well. I don't know what he doesn't do, but, man, we're just so thankful for the way that God uses everyone here.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together. Other Heavenly Father, we love you and God, we're just so thankful for you. God, thank you for all that you're doing, god. We do not deserve it, god, we have not earned it. God, it is all out of your grace and all out of your love and all out of your mercy. And so, god, we just give you the glory, all for it. And we want to proclaim that we are your church, god. We don't want what we want, god, we want what you want, god. This is your word, we are your people and God, we pray. So therefore, father, for your work, god, may your spirit do your work this morning for the glory of your son. We love you in Jesus' name, and all God's people said amen. You can open up your Bible with me to Matthew, chapter 22. Matthew 22 this morning is we're going to dive into God's Word and this morning we're going to talk about the power of the invite. Everybody say invite, the power of the invite. Jesus shares with us a story in the Word of God that he talks about how he wants to empower you for a very special invitation the power of an invite.
Speaker 1:I can remember I have a brother-in-law His name is Joey, and Joey would back in 2018, 2019, he would always invite me to go to these Spartan races that he was going to right and he would run these Spartan races. He would run a race of three miles, six miles, 12 miles, and then he had a 30 miler that he was running and this 30 mile race had 80 different obstacles. And these 80 different obstacles for this race, if you failed an obstacle, you'd have to do 30 burpees every failed obstacle. It was nuts. I'm like why are you running these races? Who's chasing you? Joey? What is going on? And he would always invite me to come and I never wanted to go. And he said well, I've got to do this 30 miler. How about you just come and pick me up and drive me home after I run this 30 miles, because he's probably going to collapse, right? So I told him all right, I'll come pick you up. And so when I came and picked him up, I think it's gonna be on the big screen, if you can see it, and this is kind of what I saw, maybe the side screens, but you'll see like mud they're running through mud pits, they're climbing cargo A-frames Over here. There's like a slippery wall kind of thing. You see him going up the ropes of the slippery wall and I get there to the Spartan race. I'm like in, let's go right, I am in.
Speaker 1:And so 2019, I ran three Spartan races. I ran the three miler like a little baby race and I ran the seven, eight miler and then I did a 12 to 13 miler by myself and all the obstacles and all the miles and stuff, and I never thought I would do anything like that. But it was all because of the power of the invite and he invited me and once I saw it I wanted to be a part of it and I want you to know that God is including you in on this power of the invite, that he is empowering you to be a part of his invitation. So, before we get there, I just want to remind us this morning that we are in our series called Red Letters. Everybody said Red Letters. The red letters in your Bible are all of the words of Jesus. We're talking this month about the teachings of Jesus. We started with Jesus just simply saying follow me, the most two powerful words that could ever be said follow me. Last week we talked about the seven I am statements of Jesus. This morning we're going to talk about, with these red letters, what Jesus really said.
Speaker 1:We're going to talk about the parables. Everybody say parables. Parables are the stories of Jesus. I've heard it put that parables are earthly stories with heavenly meanings, and so we see throughout Scripture, through the Gospels, that Jesus loved to tell stories. In fact, I've learned that as Jesus. There's a few facts here that you'll have to see. But in Matthew, chapter 22, verse 1, it says again Jesus spoke to them in parables or in stories.
Speaker 1:Jesus loved to preach, jesus loved to teach, jesus loved to do it while telling stories, parables. Here's some interesting facts about parables. Did you know that Jesus told around 40 parables throughout his ministry that are recorded in scripture? About one third of his teachings were parables. In other words, jesus used stories. Jesus used parables more so than any other form or method of teaching whenever he was teaching the word of God.
Speaker 1:Also, I want you to understand that the disciples did not always understand the parables that Jesus was saying. Right, you ever read your Bible like I don't even know what I just read. You're not alone. That's how I feel at times. That's how you feel at times. Everybody feels that way at times, and even the disciples who follow Jesus. Jesus would always have to explain those parables to his listeners, even to his disciples. So we're all in good company.
Speaker 1:And number four, I think the most important part, the most important question you can ask yourself when you come across a parable in the Bible is which person in the story am I? Which person in the story am I? And the same is true today. Researchers and scientists and psychologists tell us that we remember stories some 20 times more than we remember any fact, figure or stat. Do you realize that the Bible is actually a book of stories that's interpreted by truths? Within the Bible, there are some 300 different stories all coming together and all making up one story, the gospel of Jesus Christ. And did you realize that one of the most powerful ways for you to witness to somebody about the gospel is for you? The Bible says for you to share your story, to share your story, for you to share your testimony, and then you share the story of Jesus so that Jesus can save them, just like he saved you.
Speaker 1:I remember being in the Amazon jungle in Brazil a mission trip years ago, and I remember meeting a young man. I've told you a little bit about him and this young man. He came out of the jungle, someone shared the gospel with him, he got saved, he married a Christian woman and when I met him he had just memorized, word for word, 150 different stories of the Bible, because it was illegal to tell his family, his people, his tribe, his village and anybody else that he could witness to, so that he could share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. So there's 40 different parables of scripture. I looked through all 40 different parables this week. I wanted to preach every one of them and I would still love to preach every one of them, but you don't wanna stay here that long. I get it. I get it.
Speaker 1:So I asked the Lord, lord, which one do you want me to teach this Sunday? And this is the one that he gave me from Matthew 22, the parable of the wedding feast. And the point of the parable of the wedding feast is you aren't just the invited, you're also the inviter. You aren't just the invited, you're also the inviter. So here we go, we're gonna dive into this parable, and the first section of the parable is salvation. Everyone say salvation, salvation. Let's read together it says in Matthew, chapter 22, verse two it says the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. In other words, jesus would tell all of these stories because he was always trying to use these earthly stories to teach heavenly meanings or heavenly truths. He wanted to teach them about the kingdom of heaven. He wanted to teach them about the kingdom of heaven. He wanted to teach them about the kingdom of God. So in this story he's comparing it to a wedding feast by a king for a son.
Speaker 1:I don't know about you, but we all love a good wedding, right? I have literally officiated weddings in the woods. I've officiated a lot of weddings in barns. People love to get married in barns today. It's crazy. I've officiated a lot of weddings in barns. People love to get married in barns today. It's crazy. I've officiated a wedding at a mansion by a pool overlooking a lake. I have officiated a wedding on the side of a mountain and the reception was in a cave and it was under 40 degrees. I was wearing full under armor under my suit and my tie on that wedding. I have even officiated a wedding in a church before. Believe it or not, they don't do that anymore, but used to.
Speaker 1:I remember when Michelle and I got married and we had picked out all of our favorite foods right for the reception. And so we get married and we walk into the reception and there's all of our favorite foods that we picked out and we never got to eat one bite. Because she was a sixth grade teacher and a basketball coach at the time high school basketball coach and I was a youth pastor and she had a line of teenagers on her side and I had a line of teenagers on my side. Because what do they want? They just wanted selfies with the couple that just got married. We took selfies for two hours. We never even. I think the only wedding cake we ate was me, and it's because you shoved it in my mouth at one point, right, you never got to try the cake and so we didn't even get to enjoy our own feast. I think the best wedding feast I've been a part of, I remember officiating a wedding and the food was they had brought in a brick oven, pizza truck and an ice cream truck. I wanted to get married every weekend. It was just awesome.
Speaker 1:And so we see here that Jesus is telling the story, and he's telling the story and he's comparing it to imagine Jesus saying go with me, imagine that there is a king of a kingdom and he is throwing this massive party this wedding feast for his son. In fact, they would understand exactly what he's talking about because of the culture of Jewish wedding back then. So the way that they would do Jewish wedding, first of all, the groom, whenever they would get engaged or betrothed, the groom would actually leave for about a year, wouldn't see the bride for a year, and what would he do? He would go back and he would build onto his parents' house so that they would have a place to live. He would call it going and preparing a place for his bride. The Bible says he was gone for about a year. Number three the groom's return to the bride would be a surprise and it said he would often come back at night and there would be a shout and there would probably be a trumpet and the entire place would erupt because the groom had come back and so the bride had to remain ready and the wedding procession would lead the bride back to the home of the groom and the wedding feast would last up to seven days. Isn't that exactly what Jesus is doing for us? Hadn't Jesus? Didn't he say that he went away to prepare a place for you? Doesn't the Bible tell us to remain ready for Jesus? Doesn't the Bible say that he's gonna come back with a shout and with a blast of a trumpet and then he's gonna take us to heaven to be with him? Put your hands together right now just to see the gospel of Jesus Christ, even within the word of God.
Speaker 1:So the Bible talks about the marriage supper of the lamb Revelation, chapter 19 and 20. The marriage supper of the lamb is this wedding feast that inaugurates all of eternity that you are invited to and that I am invited to that. If you believe in Jesus, if you've given your life to the gospel, you get to go. But the beauty of your life is that you're not just the invited, you're also the inviter. Isaiah 25, verse 6 says there's gonna be rich food full of marrow, which means it's gonna be like a steak buffet. To be rich food full of marrow, which means it's going to be like a steak buffet.
Speaker 1:Zephaniah 3.17 says that God will exalt over us with his love, meaning on earth, we're singing to him, we're singing to him. We're singing to him. But in the marriage supper of the lamb, the beginning of all of eternity, god's going to step up and he's going to sing over you and he's going to sing over us and he's going to exalt over us with his love and this is what we get to invite people to. And so here in this passage we see invitation. Everyone say invitation. This is the point of the passage. It says in Matthew Jesus said in verse three he said and that king sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast. And so he is. What Jesus is saying is that you, that I, that we are the inviters. In other words, the king was so proud of his son, he loved his son so much that he wanted to invite his kingdom. So they went out and they started to invite.
Speaker 1:And this is our opportunity that we're not just inviting people to be a part of a quote religion. No, we're inviting people to something far greater and far bigger than that. We're inviting people to heaven. We're inviting people to have a relationship with the God of the universe. We're inviting people to be forgiven of their sin. We're inviting people to have a relationship with the God of the universe. We're inviting people to be forgiven of their sin. We're inviting people for them to get to experience real, true, abundant life. We're inviting people that they get to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We're inviting people that they get to be a part of this wedding feast that God has planned for us and God has planned for them. We are inviting our friends, we're inviting our families, we're inviting our neighbors, we're inviting our community, we're inviting our coworkers, we're inviting our classmates, we're inviting our acquaintances.
Speaker 1:First Timothy, chapter two, verse four, says that God desires that all people would be saved, because salvation is the heart of God. Invitation is the heartbeat of the believer. Because salvation is the heartbeat of God, invitation must be the heartbeat of the believer. Did you know? Today, professionals tell us that 82% of unchurched people have admitted that they are likely to come to church if someone just invited them. The problem is, only 2% of church members invite the unchurched. 82% said that they would come, only 2% said that they have actually invited, and we even see today that 57% of Americans seldom or never attend religious services.
Speaker 1:I do want to tell you that First Baptist Church, powder Springs, that this is not meant to be a guilt trip whatsoever. I believe that we are different. I believe that God is using you. I believe that you are inviting people because someone has invited you. How many of y'all are here because someone invited you here, even if that was years ago. Raise your hand right now. Raise your hand. Someone invited you at some point in time. Keep your hand up. Keep your hand up to First Baptist Church, patterson Springs. Look around the room to be invited. My hands up. The pastor search team invited me here, man, I'm so thankful that they called my family and I to be here.
Speaker 1:I heard a question this past week that really convicted me, and the question was if everybody came, who I invited, who would be here this Sunday morning? If everybody came that I invited, who would be here this Sunday morning? If everybody came that I invited, who would be here this Sunday morning? I think I would rather put it this way If everybody came next Sunday, who we invite this week, who will be here next Sunday? Right, we need to be people. Jesus is telling the story. We need to be people that we are inviting them to be a part of.
Speaker 1:We believe that church is the glimpse of heaven that God is giving us on earth. We believe that God is giving his children the opportunity to have more fun going to heaven than the world is going to hell. Can I get an amen? We believe that church ought to be fun, that we ought to laugh and have a good time in church. That's why we gather together. That's why we time in church. That's why we gather together. That's why we hug each other, that's why we come early, that's why we stay late. That's why we play music. That's why we sing songs together. That's why we worship Jesus. That's why we hear from God. We hear from the words of Jesus Christ. That's why we love to get in groups together. That's why we love to serve together. That's why we freak out when we see each other out in the town, right when we go out to eat and we see our other church brothers and sisters. Why? Because God has called us to be a part of something that he wants others to be a part of too, and it's not because it's a part of our church. Our church is just a representation of the kingdom of God. This is not about me and it's not about you and it's not about us. It's all about Jesus. Can I get an amen? It's all about Jesus, and he's the one that we're ultimately inviting people to and he's the one that we're ultimately celebrating here on a Sunday morning.
Speaker 1:So in invitation we also see rejection. Everybody say rejection. Who's ever been rejected before? You ever invited someone to church and they didn't come? Raise your hand. I want y'all to see you're not alone. You're not alone. Have you invited someone to church? I've invited people to church. I've invited people to our church and I'm a pastor here, and they still don't come. My goodness, what's wrong with these people? And it's so interesting, right, it's interesting how this happens. But Jesus actually shares with us that this is very common.
Speaker 1:It says in Matthew, chapter 22, the end of verse 3,. But they would not come. And again the king sent other servants saying tell those who are invited. See, I have prepared my dinner, my ox and my fat calves and I have been slaughtered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm and another to his business. Could you imagine if you were throwing a wedding for your child and no one came to the wedding? Could you imagine if no one came to the wedding? Could you imagine if no one came to your wedding? Could you imagine if, if your fiance did not show up to your wedding, it just keeps getting worse? Could you imagine you're invited and in fact, you and I, we're the bride, but we don't go to Jesus's wedding, which is actually a wedding party for us as well. That's the whole point of this story. We see that the king sends his servants out a second time, for us as well. That's the whole point of this story. We see that the king sends his servants out a second time. Everything is set, everything is ready, but the people didn't come.
Speaker 1:One person said this farm isn't gonna take care of itself. Another person said I've got business to take care of. I have more important things to deal with. But remember, jesus is talking about the kingdom of God. This is the way my sin works. This is the way your sin works. This is the way the sin of the world works. We tend to think that other things are more important than the things of God. One this farmer said that cows and crops are more important than Jesus Christ. A businessman might say that money is more important than the Messiah, or success is more important than the Savior. And that's not just on them, that's on me and that's on you. This is what sin wants to do in us.
Speaker 1:In fact, there are five common excuses or reasons why people don't go to church. Number one they have a perception of hypocrisy. They think that we think that we're perfect, but yet they know that we're sinners. So they think we're hypocrite because we're not perfect. We're sinners. But guess what? We're not perfect. We're sinners, and we're just sinners that are saved by the perfect one, by the Savior, and he is the one that is working in our life to forgive us. Can I get an amen? So we know we're not perfect. So when we go out there, we can't be afraid of admitting our mistakes, we can't be afraid of even confessing our sin. They don't need to think that we think that we're perfect. They need to think that we know that we're sinners and that our sinners are saved by Jesus, who's the only perfect one, who forgave us on the cross. Number two maybe they have a negative past experience in church, or maybe they disagree with church beliefs, or maybe their perception is irreverence. What does the church have to do with me? Or maybe they are too busy, or maybe Sunday morning is just a bad time for them. Whatever it is, whatever excuse they might give, whatever it is that you might hear, I would encourage you take it one step deeper. Take it one step deeper and ask them another question. Well, this is what God is doing in my life. This is what I've learned about these. Have you ever considered this? Because here's the deal you have been rejected, I have been rejected, but rejection does not mean that we stop inviting them or stop inviting others.
Speaker 1:Many years ago, alabama University of Alabama, had a quarterback. Some of y'all remember him because he was terrible and y'all probably beat him, and his name was Freddy Kitchens. Right so Freddy Kitchens? He actually ended up being an NFL never was an NFL quarterback, I don't think but he ended up being an NFL coach for the Cleveland Browns. Then he got fired. But Freddy Kitchens I remember when he was at the University of Alabama I was living in Tuscaloosa at the time and I heard a story about him Said Freddie was in a restaurant.
Speaker 1:He tapped a girl on the shoulder. He said hey, I want you to go out with me. She looked at him. She turned around the other way. He completely ignored him. He tapped her on the shoulder again hey, I wanna take you out on a date. She looked at him, turned the other direction, ignored direction, ignored him again. He tapped her on the shoulder a third time and he said my name is Freddie Kitchens. I am the quarterback of the University of Alabama. I want to know what are the chances you're going to go out with me. She said about the chances you're going to be an NFL quarterback. And she turned back around and completely ignored him.
Speaker 1:He was rejected. He was rejected, but I looked up online this week and Freddie's, married with kids, was rejected. But I looked up online this week and Fred he's married with kids, right, like he didn't let the rejection stop him. In other words, as we minister to people's lives, sometimes what Satan wants to do is he wants to use the rejection as to think I'm not a good inviter, so I'm not gonna try anymore, I'm gonna leave it to somebody else. And Jesus says that there is rejection. Check this out. He says that there is rejection.
Speaker 1:And in Isaiah, chapter 53, it's not gonna be on the screen, but verse three says that Jesus was despised and rejected by others who esteemed him. Not Luke six. Jesus said blessed are you when people hate you, when people reject you. Rejoice in that day, leap for joy, for great is your reward in heaven. And here's what's interesting. Rejection in this passage led to persecution.
Speaker 1:Everyone say persecution, it says in verse 6, while the rest of the people that were invited, seized those servants and treated them shamefully and killed them. I've been through persecution in my life for my faith to some degree. You may have been through persecution in your life to some degree. Jesus uses passages like these to encourage us and to empower us. Different types of persecution that you might experience as a believer in Jesus. You might be mocked or made fun of because of your faith. You might be ignored or isolated because of your faith in Jesus. In other parts of the world, people are being taken to court, they're being arrested, they're being physically beaten. They're even being martyred for their faith in Jesus. Did you know that 70 million Christians have been martyred for their faith throughout history? Over 380 million Christians are being persecuted today for their faith. And did you know that two in five Christians in Asia face persecution daily?
Speaker 1:We see in the Bible how the disciples, the early church, responded when they went through persecution. There's a story in Acts, chapter four. You won't see on the screen, but there's a story where the disciples went through this persecution In Acts 4.29,. They were persecuted for their faith and they get back together and they pray. And just when you think, they get back together and pray and they ask God, god, may that never happen again. God, may we never be persecuted again.
Speaker 1:God, that was awful. God, that was terrible. God, that was terrible. God, would you protect us? God, would you please let us not be persecuted. That's not what they prayed in verse 29. It says, and now they prayed Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. In other words, the disciples said God, thank you, thank you that we are found worthy to even be persecuted for your name. And, god, we're gonna go back out and we're gonna share the gospel and we're gonna minister in your name and we're gonna witness the people of Jesus. And so, god, we pray that we would not back down, we would not shy away, we would not shrink, but, god, that we would be bold in the way that we witness with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Did you know that we're seeing that with our church right now? With our church right now, god is doing such a great work? We are seeing more spiritual warfare in our church than I've seen the entire time I've been here and God's just been speaking to me personally and God's just been telling me Chip watch. He says the more I work Satan, the more that Satan's going to attack. And then God says watch what happens next. And the more that Satan attacks, god says, the more that I'm going to work.
Speaker 1:In other words, we have got to take our eyes off the persecution. We've got to take our eyes off of the attack. We've got to take our eyes off of the warfare. You have to take your eyes off of the suffering in your life. You have to take your eyes off of the difficulty in your life. You've got to take your eyes off the pain and off the hurt in your life. And we've got to put our eyes on Jesus and what Jesus wants to do in the pain, through the hurt, during the suffering, because he wants to use it in your life, in someone else's life, for his glory. Put your hands together this morning for the way that Jesus works and the way that he uses all of our lives. So we see in this persecution and we see judgment. This is so interesting.
Speaker 1:Just very quickly, in verse 7 it says the king was angry and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned those cities. In other words, here's what we see is that God takes care of the persecution. We don't have to retaliate right? The Bible says in Romans 12, 19, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. What do we need to focus on? We need to focus on the ministry. We need to focus on the ministry. Second, corinthians 5, 11 says, even just seeing, knowing the terror of the Lord, that we need to persuade others. We need to remember that God takes care of the persecution and one day God's going to set everything right. One day. The Bible says that God's going to repay, but until then, we keep our eyes on Jesus.
Speaker 1:I heard just a story this past week of David Livingston. David Livingston was one of the major missionaries that first took the gospel to Africa. And as he took the gospel to Africa, god was doing such a work and all the African tribes and all to be honest with you all the African gods, the demonic gods, were getting so upset because of this ministry that God was using David Livingston to do with the gospel that one night there was a tribe that came to kill David Livingston, his family and their missionary friends in their compound. And the tribe gets to their compound and the story goes that they see 39 giant warriors surrounding the compound. So the tribe escapes, they flee and David Livingston learns of it. Someone tells him the whole story and he wrote it back home to his church. It was a day back then and he just sent letters. Months went by and a letter came back and they said you're not gonna believe this, but the night that the tribe came to kill you, your family and the missionaries with you, we were praying that night and there were 39 people in our prayer service and we were praying for you, that God would protect you. And those tribes saw 39 warriors. In other words, god is watching over you, god is your protector. Jesus says vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.
Speaker 1:So what do we focus on? We focus on invitation. Watch this. After there was invitation and rejection and persecution and judgment, the king sends them back out. Then the king said to his servants again the wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go, therefore, to the main roads, invite to the wedding feast as many as you find. And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Speaker 1:Jesus is saying keep sharing the gospel. Jesus is saying keep inviting them to your church. Jesus is saying keep sharing my name. Jesus is saying if you're the invited, then you're also the inviter. So what do the main roads mean? The main roads, that is where everyone would travel through. It was typically intersections in the cities and the towns. It would be the highest concentration of people. Jesus is saying I want you to be open, I want you to be public, I want you to invite even the outcast and the poor. I want you to be urgent, because Jesus is saying you don't know when I'm coming back. We need to invite people of different countries. We need to invite people of different ethnicities. We need to invite people of different religious backgrounds. Why? Because everyone is invited to the wedding feast of Jesus. Everyone is invited to believe in Jesus and be saved. Everyone is invited to be a part of his church and everyone is invited to be a part of his family, his worship, his people and his mission. And here's what's interesting They've done the research and all the different ways that we invite people to church.
Speaker 1:Social media, the website, could be churches that have digital signs, could be churches that have billboards, churches that have magazine ads or newspaper ads or signs on baseball fields or whatever it is. Do you know what the most powerful invite out of all of them is? It's you. It's you. It's the personal invite. People aren't looking for a sign. People aren't looking for an ad. People want to see someone's life that has been changed and someone that God is continuing to work within them, because that's what people want God to do in their life too. So how do you invite? Number one is just pray. You just pray. You pray for the person that. Who is it that you would love to see God bring here?
Speaker 1:We have a lady that started a run club here at our church, wasn't even attending our church. She started a run club here and someone asked her how they can pray for her. They put her on the church prayer list. She learned that the entire church was praying for her and she said I'm gonna start coming to that church because I did not know that a church could love me like that and pray for me like that. And you may be here this morning, that might be you, but we pray. We pray for people. Why? Because we love people, because God loves people, and we want God to do the work and we believe God.
Speaker 1:I believe that you can use me, god. I believe that you wanna work in their life and we be relational. Don't just be religious. Religious is just walking up to somebody and telling them all about their sin and how wrong they are and about how wrong they are about all of life, and you shame them and you guilt them and then you invite them to church. They're never gonna come.
Speaker 1:But being relational is asking them questions. How are you doing? How can I pray for you? Do you have any spiritual beliefs in your life? And it's listening. It's not shaking your head if they're saying something that doesn't match up with scripture. You're listening to them with loving eyes. You're asking them questions. You're building a relationship. You are winning the right to share your spiritual beliefs in Jesus with them.
Speaker 1:And then you might ask them do you go to church anywhere? And so many people in the South say yes. My favorite question and response is what's your pastor's name? Then they don't know. If you don't know your pastor's name, you don't go to church there. And then you get to share with them your story and what God's been teaching you and how God's been changing you and how God's been working in you, because that's what people want. They don't want some cold, dead religion. They want to be a part of a place that is alive, that they can experience God for themselves. I would encourage you.
Speaker 1:Invite them to Sunday mornings. Invite young families to kids, because families are always looking for a safe, clean, fun, loving environment that their kids can experience, that the parents get to be hands-free and enjoy a worship service for themselves. Invite teenagers to student ministry. Invite people to our groups. So many people today won't come to a worship service, but they will come and check out your group. Invite them to events. We've got Easter coming up Perfect Sunday. Invite them to any Sunday, but if there's a special Sunday that people will come to church, it's often Easter Sunday. It's going to be on April 20th. We've got a service at 9, 30, and 11, just like every Sunday. But before that, on the Friday before, we're going to have a Good Friday service. On the 18th it's gonna be at 5.30 in the sanctuary and at 7 o'clock in here. We're gonna talk about the death of Jesus in the Good Friday service and the resurrection of Jesus in the Easter service.
Speaker 1:But here's where the passage ends is impersonation. Very quickly, jesus ends the story in a very interesting way. But when the king came in to look at the guest, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment and he said to him friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And he, the friend, was speechless. Back then, culturally, not only would you give someone an invitation, but especially if you were wealthy, you would give someone the wedding garment you would want them to wear to the wedding that you were inviting them to. So there was one man out of all of these people and he wasn't wearing the wedding garment. In other words, he wasn't honoring the king, he was just trying to be a wedding crasher. And the king. He was just trying to be a wedding crasher. And the king said you don't belong here, you're not coming for the purpose that I designed this wedding.
Speaker 1:The king said to the attendants bind him hand and foot, cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called but few are chosen. It sounds very harsh, but this is actually a very gracious part of the story of Jesus, because Jesus is saying we don't want to get caught, having died and enter into eternity and we don't have the proper wedding garment, hear me, which isn't a piece of clothing. The wedding garment is the. The Bible calls it being clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. See, when we believe in Jesus, when we believe that he died for our sin, when we believe that he rose from the dead and we give our life to him, calling on him to be the Lord of our life, the Bible says then that he clothes us with his righteousness and we are saved. So the Bible is saying Jesus is saying don't get caught passing into eternity without the wedding garment, without the righteousness of Jesus. When you give him your sin and he forgives you of your sin, he gives you his righteousness, he clothes you with his righteousness and then you are worthy, not because of you but because of him, and you are welcome and you're invited. And today you're the inviter. So I just wanna ask you the question which person are you in the story? I wanna ask every head to be bowed, every eye to be closed.
Speaker 1:Maybe in the story you are the person that you know, the king. You know that God himself has called you out. He's called you out to invite people to be a part of the kingdom, and maybe, just this entire time you are thinking of a person, or you're thinking of people, you're thinking of family members. You're thinking of people. You're thinking of family members, you're thinking of friends, you're thinking of neighbors, you're thinking of people that you see often and God has laid them on your heart. I wanna encourage you right here, right now. Just ask God, god, would you give me the opportunity? God, would you give me the boldness? God, would you give me the opportunity? God, would you give me the boldness? God, would you give me the words to say in the moment God, would you cross our paths again so I can tell them about what you're doing in my life and what you can do in their life.
Speaker 1:And maybe you're here this morning and you're like that, one friend of the crowd and you haven't been clothed with the righteousness of Jesus yet, you haven't been forgiven of your sin, you haven't given your life to him. I wanna encourage you right here, right now. I can't pray that for you, I can't save you, but right here, right now, you can pray that prayer and you can pray right now to Jesus and you can be saved. You can say Jesus, I need you, I believe in you. You can tell him, jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sin and I'm asking you to forgive me of all of my sin. Jesus, I believe that you rose from the dead and, jesus, I've given my life to you because you're alive, you're real. You can tell him. Jesus, I'm calling on you to be the Lord of my life.
Speaker 1:The Bible says in Romans 10, nine if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Call on Jesus right now. Jesus, save me, be my God, be my Savior. Jesus, we thank you for that truth. We thank you for your death and resurrection. We thank you for your salvation. Jesus, we love you and we pray these things in your name.
Speaker 1:And all God's people said put your hands together for anybody that gave their life to Jesus. This morning, we just wanna say that we love you. Welcome to the family. We're here to help you and I just wanna encourage you. God wants to work in your life this week. Who is it that God wants to use? Who is it that God used in your life to invite you to Jesus, and who is it that God wants to use? Who is it that God used in your life to invite you to Jesus, and who is it that God wants to use you to invite others to him as well? Let's all stand together and I just wanna pray one more time before we worship. But we'll all stand. Let's just ask God's blessing on these last moments together.
Speaker 1:Heavenly Father, god, I just thank you so much that you have so much in store for us. You have eternity in store for us, and God, we just we can't wait. God, we give you all the praise, the honor and the glory. And, father, thank you that we're invited, thank you that we're included. Jesus, thank you for making it possible through your death and your resurrection. So, god, we just pray that you would just ignite a culture of invite within us, within our church, god, that the beat of our heart would be invitation, because your heart is salvation. Lord, we love you, we worship you, we worship you. We give you all of ourselves. Thank you for giving us all of you. In Jesus' name, we pray and all God's people said let's sing one more worship song to Jesus.