Be n St sh Hey good morning everybody good morning he it’s so good to see all of you here hey we’re actually going to start this morning with a time of some extended worship and uh we’re going to start with that song that we introduced last weekend called that’s my king um that
Allison LED for us last weekend and I think this is such a great song to ascribe the Worth to God that he deserves cuz that’s what worship is this is for Jesus there’s a line in the song that says all of this is for you all of
This this morning all of this the worship of Our Lives is for Jesus so I’d love to would you would you stand with us and uh I’m going to do the same challenge that Allison gave last week which is there’s a part of the song that ask the question who we talking about
And the answer is that’s my king so when we get to that part I want every single person in here to say that’s my king and at the end we’re going to keep asking a question who we talking about that’s my king all right let’s sing this out Together I wish I could tell you wish I could describe it but I can contain it can’t keep it to myself there aren’t enough to paint the whole picture not enough words to ever say what I [Applause] found wonderful and beautiful and glorious and holy he is merciful and
Powerful who we talking about that’s my king we declare the glory give him all the honor all together worthy who we talking about that’s my there’s no one before you only will adore you all of this is for you who we talking about that’s my King Jesus you’re my
Kingy I’m not letting the rocks cry without joining the chorus there AR enough notes to make the Harmony it’s the song of the angels for all of the ages it’s all of the Earth and Heaven Syph wonderful and beautiful and glorious and holy is merciful and Powerful who we talking about that’s my king we declare the glory give him all the honor Al together worthy who we talking about that’s my king there’s no one before you yes we will adore you all of
This is for you who we talking about that’s my KY that’s my KY that’s my king that’s my God that’s my shepherd my protector that’s my king that’s my rock that’s my anchor my Defector that’s my king that’s my God that’s my sheer my protector that’s my king that’s my rock that’s my anchor my Defender who we talking about that’s marking we declare the
Glory give him all the honor all together worthy who we talking about that’s Maring we declare the glory give him all the honor all together worthy who we’re talking about that’s there’s no one before you yes we will adore you all this morning who we talking about
That’s my king who we talking about that’s my king who we talking about that’s my king who we talking about that’s my king who we talking about that’s my king who we talking about that’s my king who we talking about that’s my king who we talking about
That’s my king who we talking about [Applause] [Applause] that’s [Applause] Christ is my firm foundation The Rock on which I st everything around me shaking I’ve never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus cuz he’s never let me down it’s faithful through Generations so why would he feel now he w I still got joy I still got joy in chaos I got peace that makes no sense so I won’t be going [Applause] under I’m not H by my own cuz I build my life on Jesus he’s never let me down faithful in every season so why would he fa he W he W he won’t he willon fail he Won he will he will fail he willon fa he willon fa Christ is my third Foundation The Rock on which I stand everything around me shaking I never more than land I put my face in Jesus Never B me down St through so while he now He you will he will F he f Never came away through the my I’m safe with you I’m going to make it through we came blue M was built on you now save with you I’m going to make it through came through my Sa you I’m going to make it I’m going to make it through our is strong on you I going to make it through cuz my house is built on Christ is my thir Foundation you I come I stand everything around me Shen I never more I put my Fai in Jesus CU he’s
Never me now to generation so so I he W he W you are you are he F he won On every voice lift that up he won never fa he won’t fail he won’t fail he Won’t How great the CM that lay between us how high the mountain I could not climb in Desperation I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night then through the darkness your loving kindness tore through the shadows of my soul the work is finished the end is written Jesus Christ my Living who could Im so great a mercy what heart could fa such bowless race the God of angels step down from glory to where my sin and bear my shame the cross is spoken I am forgiv the king of kings calls me his own beautiful savior I’m yours forever Jesus Christ my living
Home oh hallelujah praise the one who set me free Hallelujah death has lost it STP on me you have broken Every Chain there salvation in your name Jesus Christ the living Home and came the morning that sealed the promise your buried body began to breathe and out of the silence the roaring lion declared the grave as no claim on me then bring the morning that seal the prise your very Bri begin to bring it out of the silence the Roaring
Li declare the great has no clim on me oh Jesus yours is the victory hallelujah praise the one who s me free Hallelujah death has losted SP on me you have broken and there salvation in your name Jesus Christ my Living World hallelujah praise the Lord who set me free
Hallelujah death has lost his G for me you have broken every day there salvation in in our name Jesus Christ my living Jesus Christ my [Applause] living thank You all that wonderful sing and then there’s me good morning good morning and welcome welcome to all of you here in person and to those of you joining us online my name is Eva Gomez and I am the Early Childhood coordinator here at Clinton Township so we have something very
Exciting that’s happening actually this Saturday our K Kids team has been putting together behind the scenes an amazing Easter breakfast once again this year and it’s going to be a ton of fun there’s going to be interactive things for your children for from crafts to a Petting Farm there will be the Easter
Bunny that you could take pictures with there’ll be me if you want to take pictures with and there’s going to be a Easter egg hunt and you know some bunny told me like that like that some bunny told me that there’s going to be some golden eggs right so there’s limited
Spots available and tonight is the ending of our registration so make sure you register tonight because we don’t want to have to turn you away if you don’t register okay so make sure you do that tonight for our Easter breakfast that is happening this Saturday okay so
Can you believe like in two weeks it’s going to be Easter like I feel the older I get the faster time is moving but this is a time where we don’t want to just rush through to the finale of Easter we want to take the time to actually sit
And reflect on how Jesus voluntarily died for us and how his death was not only just a profound Act of love but it was a bridge for us to God and with that death you know we are reconciled so it’s so important that we you know share some
Time in that sacred moment and with that we would love for you to join join us at our Good Friday service this is a service that you do not need to have any tickets just come and we can reflect on that moment of the biggest sacrifice
That Jesus made for us okay so I am ready for spring I don’t know about you but I’m ready ready for spring I’m ready for the sunshine I’m ready to work at my garden I’m ready for everything spring related but one thing about Easter Easter is spring for our souls okay it’s
A time where the cold season of death has ended and we have this great restoration because of Jesus’s resurrection during that time so we would love for you to celebrate Easter with us we will have multiple Services we want you to invite as many people as you can your friends neighbors whoever
God puts on your heart to invite to our services please do so we have these lovely cards that you can get out in the lobby take a few share them with all your friends and family so we can just have a great time celebrating Easter here at Clinton Township okay and
Remember you got to reserve your tickets and they’re free 99 so don’t worry about any cost okay so that’s Easter make sure you do that and just go online to reserve your tickets so on April 17th a Wednesday Wednesday we are going to be having our Kensington Vision night now
This is a very important night where Brian Mari our senior pastor along with the lead pastors of each campus will come together we will honor the history we’ll celebrate the present and we’ll share the dreams for the future for us as a church this is a very important
Night it’s very important night where they get to share this Vision to let us know what the future looks like when it comes to Kensington and so it’s great because all you know like I said the senior pastor along with the lead pastors would be there and it’s a
Churchwide event so every campus will be there and it’s going to be happening at our T location so it’s important that you RSVP since it’s such a huge event there will be appetizers and desserts and even child care so this is something very important that I think that you all
Should join us Wednesday April 17th at our Troy location for our Kensington Vision night okay so I know I shared a lot and if you have any questions about what I Shar or if you would like to learn about anything Kensington related you could head on out to the center of
The lobby at the Hub where my favorite people such as Terry are rocking this Springs orange and they would love to connect with you and if this is your first time or if it’s your first time of many we say go on out there we have a
Little something special as our way of saying thank you for joining us today okay so today we’ll be hearing from Sam and he’ll be continuing on the Ares with living with G living living the Jesus way but before we hear from s take the time to stand up and greet your Neighbors sometimes in our faith Journey we feel burdened by religious expectations our spiritual to-do lists or maybe other people’s opinions of our limits in Luke 10 Jesus steps into the home of Mary and Martha and in verse 41 makes an incredible invitation to both women you are worried and upset about many things
But few things are needed or indeed only one Jesus’s invitation to experience his teaching broke many expectations of others in the home Jesus didn’t limit access above all Jesus invited them to experience a relationship to step into a journey with him Jesus broke the limitations to invite them into a great
Story of possibility can we live the Jesus way and choose invitation over limitation good morning listen I just want to Echo a little bit about what Eva said about Good Friday in Easter this is an awesome opportunity for you in for you to invite your friends your neighbors your weird
Uncles that that vote funny and love to talk about it or you know it’s a great opportunity for you to invite somebody we have some awesome awesome teams of people people who have been working for a really really long time to prepare for this weekend and this is a time of year
When people who don’t typically go to church are a little more sensitive and open to that invitation we got two main points for that we got Easter and we have Christmas that people are more receptive to an invitation so I want to encourage you to invite somebody to join
You I know you’re making plans to be here because you’re here on St Patrick’s Day okay you’re the real you’re the real ones okay you’re the real ones so I know you plan to be here but take the opportunity to invite someone with you on Good Friday we have Becca mauy who is
Our senior pastor’s wife she’s going to be speaking and if you haven’t heard her speak man she’s Dynamite okay so it’s going to be incredible and then on Easter for our Saturday and Sunday services our senior pastor Brian mauy and Adam our lead Pastor here at at Clinton Township they’re going to be
Splitting the message right so every other word of the message they’re going to go back and forth I’m just kidding I’m just kidding but wouldn’t that be interesting that’d be something to invite people to um but no they’re going to be they’re going to be sharing the
Load so it’s going to be absolutely an incredible weekend um I’m actually doing the Saturday services at Oran and then my wife and I are inviting three or four families from our neighborhood to come here with us and so this is an incredible like I’m saying I’m not just
Saying hey do this you know whatever no this is something we’re doing too and so it’s important to invite people man one of the main reasons people don’t attend church is because they’ve never been asked they haven’t been invited okay and so we’ll hold up our end of the bargain
Okay we won’t make it awkward weird or cringy you just bring them okay all right we won’t make it weird you won’t have to have some really weird conversations after church like listen I’m so sorry I don’t it’s not normally like that I promise you know we won’t we
Won’t pull that on you okay it’s G to be good so invite invite your friends I would encourage you to do that so uh my name is Sam I’m one of the teaching pastors here at Kensington and I’m excited to talk today and continue our series like said living the Jesus way
And today I want to talk about invitation over limitation and so to start out I want to give you a little bit of background story on me because if you’ve heard me speak before I I share this quite quite frequently because I feel like we are kind of the sum total
Of our experiences right and so my church upbringing is important for how I approach scripture and for how and and how I sort of interpret scripture and and live my life and so I was raised in a hyper charismatic incredibly um you know conservative Pentecostal Faith tradition okay some of
Your eyes went crossed as I said that you were like go was above you know math um and so essentially you know hyper charismatic meaning you know running the aisles all the things you see on the internet twirling the suit coats over the head the speaking in tongues the
Slain in the spirit like all the things right that was that was sort of the faith tradition I was hyper conservative meaning pretty much everyone was was going to hell but us and then um you know and then and then this kind of Pentecostal fi tradition and listen I’m
Not making fun poking fun discounting it it it was it was set a great foundation in my life but it did give me a certain perspective and it did give me a certain sort of worldview you see most of my faith Journey as a result of the lane of
Christianity that I was raised in I viewed relationship with God by its parameters I viewed God in a box essentially and the parameters that made up the box that God lived in were the things that CCH people either in or out right and so the people that were in those were the
People that thought like me that voted like me that dressed like me that believed like me that lived like me you know we were all sort of this Echo chamber of Holiness and that’s who was inside the parameters and then the people who were different the people who
Had a different perspective a different worldview drove in a different Lane than us they were outside of the box and the perimeters of the box now that I talk about them some like 20 30 years later it it is it’s a little comical but like in outside of the box like these
Parameters were like I don’t know your situation with like alcohol and smoking cigarettes and all that but for me when I was raised it was like if we saw like a police officer smoking a cigarette we were like o that’s a bad person how are they allowed to be a police officer
Right I mean that that was the perspective that if you had a sip of alcohol you go St to hell do not pass go do not collect $200 right like it was it was it was that sort of idea secular music hold on secular music were the
Parameters that God lived inside of and so you know I’m sitting here trying to listen to Collective Soul in the late 90s anybody you know and I’m like oo I just feel like there’s sin in my heart because I’m listening to these Canadian boys sing and it’s just you know whatever you know
Second dancing was not allowed in my faith tradition these are one of the parameters in which God lived inside of and if you were into this you were outside of those parameters now we could do group choreographed movement to music I’m not kidding but we couldn’t dance right so if it was choreographed
It was okay so we were like right uh our rated movies were part of these parameters right Disney was part of these parameters right like we boycotted Disney and all the just it was crazy we built all these parameters in which kept people away from God or
People with God and so it was like God was in this box and we created this box for him to live in and it was held up by all the parameters that I was just jokingly talking about but I believe and I’m sure many of you believe this too
That there’s a better way that there’s a better way to engage with God rather than just putting him in a box like this there’s a better way to do this and the way it the way it goes down is this it and it I think it only the only way that
You can kind of arrive at this different perspective is actually getting closer to God right because if you think about it God is huge God is massive right and so the closer you get to God he shouldn’t get smaller the closer you get to God the
Bigger he should get and the bigger that he gets the more you realize he shatters all these boxes that we build for him right and so this was a crazy Journey that I sort of had to travel and so rather than viewing God inside of a box
Defined by his parameters of what’s okay and what’s not okay who fits in and who doesn’t fit in for whatever reason an alternative perspective is to put Jesus at the center and have everything chase after that so rather than God in a box it would look something more like
This you put Jesus right at the center of everything and according to his word god is perfect he is Holy he is you know Perfect Light in him no Darkness can exist whatsoever so then rather than focusing on the parameters in which people need to get in shape before they
Can interact and be in relationship with Jesus instead of that let’s say put Jesus at the very center let’s chase after him and since in him there is no Darkness as we get closer the darkness will handle itself the darkness will fade away you know what that did that’ll leave you
Ated me from being the morality police of other people it alleviated me from being the judger of other people it alleviated me from trying to work out everybody else’s salvation for them and then judging them when they didn’t do it the way I thought they should because it shifted my role to say
I’m no longer The Keeper of the boundaries now I’m like yo I’m a raller I’m like let’s let’s go Jesus is at come on with me I’m going this way come with me come with me it’s a totally different perspective it’s a totally different way to view God it’s a totally different way
To live this life it’s a totally different way to engage our culture and so I think that there’s a passage in Luke chapter 10 that illustrates this this sort of seismic shift from limitation which is parameters and boundaries around God to invitation which is Jesus at the center
And let’s chase after that together and my stuff will work itself out and your stuff will work itself out it’s actually called the power and work of the Holy Spirit that’s the work itself out piece but I think there’s a seismic shift from this vision of limitation to
Invitation outlined in Luke chapter 10 so let me pray and then we’re going to look at the story of Mary and Martha this morning where Jesus comes to visit and one sits at his feet and one checks all the cultural boxes that she needs to check so we’ll spend some time in that
But let’s pray together to kind of prepare our hearts God I thank you so much for today I thank you for this awesome group of musicians up here man these talented and gifted people who led us in praise and Adoration of you I thank you for all the volunteers
And all the teams of people that make this happen the people that are running the cameras and the slides and hanging out with the kids in the back and the greeters at the doors the people in the lobby just everybody who comes together to create this atmosphere where we can experience
You God I pray this morning as we open your word that you would allow it to speak truth to us that you would reveal yourself to us through these Pages God I pray this morning you’d remove me from the equation but that you’d use me as an effective mouthpiece for your
Truth I pray this morning that you’d soften our hearts you’d open our minds you’d make us Str receptive to what you have for us today that we would leave challenged encouraged edified ultimately changed God we love you we praise you we adore you in Jesus name everybody said amen amen awesome so
Uh I’m going to read from Luke chapter 10 if you have your Bible you can turn there if you have your Bible app you can turn there if you’re not going to do any of those things it’ll be on the screen too okay but Luke chapter 10 uh starting in verse
38 it says this now as they went on their way Jesus entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house and she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching but Martha was distracted with much serving and she
Went up to him and said Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone tell her then to help me but the Lord answered her Martha Martha you were anxious and troubled about many things but one thing is necessary Mary has chosen the good
Portion which will not be taken away from her and so you have Jesus and his disciples and his sort of posy traveling and Martha invites them over to her house and so she’s doing all the duties doing all the things right like you think you get stressed out when like
Your family comes over imagine like Jesus coming over right it’s big deal and so she’s running around like a chicken with her head cut off trying to do all the stuff and check all the boxes and do all the things and the whole time Mary’s just sitting at the feet of
Jesus and so Martha gets frustrated and goes Jesus dude come on you you see me sweating and and struggling and going hard here and Mary’s just sitting there like back me up here Jesus what’s up and Jesus is like Martha chill right he’s like Mary has chosen
What’s better and so I think for us to have an adequate understanding of what’s going on here and how big of a deal this story is I think we got to look at a little bit of the context first and foremost for Martha to invite Jesus and
The disciples over to her house would mean that she would need a pretty big house and for her to have a pretty big house means she’s probably someone of wealth and stature right to have a big enough house to welcome in I mean this is not like modern day where we have
Like two car garages and everybody’s driving multiple vehicles and no no this is more tan out to living like in an apartment in New York City right that would be more realistic and so for her to have a space big enough to host Jesus his disciples and his Entourage right
Because he had 12 Apostles but there were there were crowds traveling with Jesus for her to host these people means she had to be somewhat of wealth and Scholars think that she was and so Jesus goes into her house and if you go into a house like this they have different
Rooms one where you kind of come in and you wash your feet and do all the things and you come in and you get to this like lounging area this relaxation area where there would be chairs and benches and places to recline and sort of gather and so I always pictured this
Story coming up before digging into the context of all the things of like oh well they were just crowd crammed in there and so someone just happened to be sitting at the feet of Jesus but many scholars believe that that’s not NE necessarily the case they think that
This had to be a big enough space for all of them to be hosted and all of this but to sit at the feet of Jesus what this is indicating is that this is taking the posture of a disciple sitting at the feet of a rabbi
Was an intentional position to be it was a specific special place to be it was the position of a disciple now why this is such a big deal deal is because Mary was a female females were not permitted to be Disciples of rabbis they were not allowed to hear the
Teaching of the Torah by the rabbi now the males they went through this whole Jewish like catechism if you will this whole Jewish schooling that started with the BET Safar where they had to memorize you know the penit which is the first five books of the Old Testament memorize memorize the first
Five books of to the Old Testament and then the best of the best from that could then go to the BET talmud which the BET talmud was the entire Old Testament you memorize the whole thing the law the prophets the wisdom literature the whole deal and they were
Trained by a rabbi and they it was said to be an honor to be covered by the dust of your Rabbi that you are so close to him that you’re doing everything that he’s doing all the time and so for you to sit at a rabbi’s feet meant that you
Were a disciple of this Rabbi you had been accepted into following the teachings of this Rabbi and it was very special not all not even all the boys got to do this only the best of the best of the best and then after bmud you got
To go to be a tel medine which was like um you know an an apprentice of the rabbi so was this all like whole system in the Jewish educational system and the religious system females were not allowed females could hear the teaching of the Torah in the synagogue but they
Weren’t allowed to sit under the teachings of a rabbi they were sequestered to domestic responsibilities to homing to having children to those sorts of things remember this is First Century Middle East and so for Mary to sit at the feet of Jesus and for Jesus to welcome her to do
That that had some major cultural implications that was a big deal it wasn’t just you know hey everybody sit down we’re going to play duck duck goose and Jesus Happ to sit right here right it wasn’t this like random situation Mary sitting there is a really really big deal and so Martha’s response
To Jesus coming the one that’s running around and doing all the things and you know checking all the boxes this fit the cultural norm this is what was expected of the female of the house to be running around and preparing and she walked out with
Like a shaku board and set it down you know like all the things that was the cultural norm that is what was to be expected of her but then Mary’s Behavior violates all the cultural norms and so you can understand why Martha’s so frustrated she’s like Jesus
You know and I know she shouldn’t be doing that that’s not okay back me up Jesus tell her tell her and Jesus is like hold on a second and this is where Jesus flips the paradigm this is where Jesus sort of shifts the thinking because Martha is saying hey
The parameters dictate that Martha that Mary can’t do that point it out Jesus there’s lines that are being crossed here there are things that she’s doing that she should not be doing and Jesus says hey whoa it’s it’s as almost if he says Hey listen you it’s not about limitation it’s about invitation
He says Mary’s chosen what’s better Mary’s chosen what’s better stop worrying about all that other stuff Mary’s seeking Jesus see that’s a big deal like I said to sit at the feet of a rabbi is a huge honor and essentially what it’s saying is it’s saying you
Belong you belong here you belong with me because when the like I said the bet the bet far the BET TAMU the taline all these schooling things they were rigorous and they were Dogg eat dog and many of the boys didn’t even make it because they would get to a certain
Point be like all right you’re not the best of the best go learn the trade of your father you’re a carpenter you’re a fisherman you’re this you’re that you’re whatever but to sit at the feet of the rabbi that you were a disciple of the
Rabbi that you were the best of the best of the best of the best me you belonged you were somebody you were welcomed in and so Jesus sitting there with Mary at his feet he’s saying hey you’re welcomed you’re invited you’re accepted you belong here and so the way of Jesus
Is this it’s this invitation but somewhere along the way I feel like we got it twisted I feel like somewhere along the way we sort of lost sight of this because I think if we talked to a lot of people who are outside of Christianity and had conversations with our neighbors had conversations
With our estranged family that don’t go to church that don’t want anything to do with church we said hey is this the picture of the church is this the picture of Christianity this invitation over limitation is this the vibe we’re putting out to the world is this the
Message that we’re sending to everyone around us yikes I think if we get honest with ourselves I don’t know that it is I don’t know that this is the messaging we’re sending somewhere the wires got crossed because I think a lot of people thinking through Christianity think oh well you got to
Look like them and you got to vote like them you got to think like them you got to act like them you got to believe like them before you can belong with them somewhere along the way I feel like we got it twisted like there’s some kind
Of line that we got to cross and then you’re in see when I was in college um I decided to join a fraternity anyone in here do something like that for no okay that’s right you’re the real Christians here on St Patty’s Day I forgot my bad my bad where where was my
Head so I decided to join a fraternity right so the way that works is an interesting thing because you’re hanging out with these guys and like you’re all homies you’re all friends you know you’re like playing cards and hanging out and you know whatever right whatever you’re
Doing and then you decide hey I think I want to join your fraternity and all of a sudden that friendship kind of like goes away instantly when you’re like a pledge and you got to go through induction I failed an entire semester of college because of this okay it was I
Know you laugh and my parents did not laugh but like you go through this induction process and during this induction process like you’re the grunt you’re the little guy you’re the nobody and they just you know you’re washing their car you’re doing their laundry you’re getting them coffee and they
Spill the coffee and then you got to go get them another one like it’s all that kind of stuff right you’re doing all kinds of you’re I’m like but I thought we were homies they’re like we’re not homies right this whole process until the end of the induction and you cross
This Finish Line and then as soon as you cross the finish line it’s like a Brotherhood and like we’re tighter than we’ve ever been in our lives I’m like but what what just what was that over there you know and then there’s just like Brotherhood moving forward for the
Rest of your life like I can hit any of those guys up and it’s like we just picked up yesterday you know know what I mean and it could have been 10 15 20 years and see I feel like that’s kind of the way that people feel when we invite
Them to church that’s kind of the way people feel when we invite them into Christianity we’re like hey you should come to my church hey come on Easter services it’s going to be great and we’re like but you got to get your life together and then once they do you’re
Like hey you’re invited over for lunch after church let’s hang out right I’m your brother for life it’s like whoa wait wait a second it’s not a fraternity okay like and the thing is I I think that Jesus invites us to a better way I Think Jesus invites us
Into a better way of doing this he invites Martha who’s full of limitation to join Mary who’s full of invitation he invites them both into this different way in verses 41 and 42 he says but the Lord answered her Martha Martha you were anxious and troubled about many things but one thing is
Necessary Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken from her Jesus invites these women to belong to sit at the feet of the rabbi the place of a disciple with this sense of belonging and this position is reserved for a disciple and now a disciple they’re in the process of
Becoming they go from belonging to becoming and so he invites them to belong come sit at my feet come learn but in the process you need to be growing and you need to be moving forward and you need to be becoming like the disciple the tal medine is taught to
Be covered by the dust of the rabbi because they’re to imitate their every movement their every syncopation their every interpretation of the Torah they guided to learn to be just like them it’s a process of becoming just like the rabbi that they’re following and so as a disciple as
Welcoming these women in he’s saying yes I want you to become I want you to belong but I also want you to become and so cult where culture says and history says and tradition says limitation limitation limitation Jesus says invitation an invitation to belonging shattering the boundaries that exclude and welcoming people
In Jesus says he gives an invitation from belonging to becoming that’s the Jesus at the center go ahead and put that graphic back up there that’s Jesus at the center with all the arrows pointing to him full pursuit of Jesus that’s the invitation this belonging to be coming
It’s not that you work all your stuff out and then you can be part of the club part of the fraternity part of the the body of Christ right that’s not it you’re you’re you’re welcomed in to belong and then you’re invited on a journey to
Become and it’s ugly and it’s messy and it’s hard and it’s uncomfortable it’s not clean with straight lines and neat little boxes and I can hear the grumblings now right I mean Martha was just the first one that was complaining about this I can hear the grumblings now yeah but but
Mary’s gonna vote for Biden but Mary’s gonna vote for Trump how can we be in the same place together how can we be in pursuit of Jesus with one another right but Mary thinks different than I do but Mary believes different than I do Mary lives different
Than I do Mary acts different than I do how can we be in pursuit of Jesus together they need to get that figured out they need to get that worked out they’re not me I’m not them verse 41 and 42 hey Martha Martha hey you’re anxious and troubled about many things
You’re getting bogged down and tripped up and worried on all the things he says but one thing is necessary one thing is necessary Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken from her one thing is necessary this belonging into becoming that’s what’s necessary that’s what’s
Important it’s not if you look like me dress like me think like me believe like me vote like me all the things like me that’s not it that’s looking at the parameters it’s saying let’s put Jesus at the center and let’s not only belong but let’s become just like
Him and so I believe that everybody in here on the stream in the room everybody approaches Jesus and God and Faith with one of these two perspectives either the Mary perspective or the Martha perspective the Martha perspective perspective is God in a box it’s limitation it’s saying I approach faith
I approach God man if they just get their act together they could come to church they’d stop living with their boyfriend they’d be right with God you know they stop swearing they’d be okay they stop posting those half naked pictures on Instagram they’d be all right you know we have all these things
That we’re like they got to do all this stuff and we got this perspective of limitation God would bless you if you did this God would show up if you did that right we got this perspective of limitation or we got this this merry perspective of
Invitation hey I know I know oh I know your life is messed up I’ve seen your Instagram but come on come on let’s let’s do this Jesus is over come with me my life’s messed up too I just don’t put it on Instagram right but but come on you’re
Invited that’s that’s where I’m headed I’m not there you’re not there but we can go together I think there’s two different perspectives at play here and so maybe you’re in here this morning and you’ve been met with nothing but limitation people have come at you your entire life with
Limitation hey get this together hey you’re not good enough because of that hey you can’t be here because of this hey you’re not welcome in because of that hey you need to step it up here or else God’s not not this God’s not that listen may I be as bold to say that
That’s not the way of Jesus and if that’s your experience of Jesus I’m sorry because that’s not it maybe you’ve been met with this limitation but you need to hear this morning that that’s not that’s not the way of Jesus in Matthew chap 11 verse
28 it says this is Jesus talking he says come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your
Souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light that is Jesus and so maybe this morning as the band leads us in this next song you just need to deconstruct some of that limitation that’s been placed on you your entire way you need to open yourself up and say
God I’m here and know that Jesus is there saying I’m here too let’s go with his arms wide open ready to embrace you and to travel alongside of you in this journey maybe that’s you this morning maybe you’re in here this morning and you’ve accepted the invitation yeah me and Jesus we’re
Good but you have a perspective of limitation for everybody else you think you’re good if everybody else could be like you then the world would be a better place you’ve you you’ve got the the the invitation received but you’re a master at putting limitation on other people
You’re a master of dreaming up ways of why this person that person and the other are not welcome they don’t fit inside the parameters because you’ve had a bounded set sort of perspective and mentality that you’re focing focusing on the parameters rather than the center and if that’s you this morning
Again you know you’re thinking my shortcomings are okay the things that I struggled with are okay because I take them to Jesus Glory Hallelujah you think that your stuff’s okay but their stuff’s not okay and if that’s you this morning I don’t want to be offensive but may I be as
Bold to say that that’s not the way of Jesus that’s not Jesus Jesus doesn’t throw out limitation after limitation after limitation he’s a person of invitation he says come on all you who are weary burdened heavy ladened tired my yoke is easy my burden is light
I want to give you rest for for your soul so if you’re the one out there that’s putting that on other people man hey take some business with God this morning take some time to do some business with God as the as the band leads us in this next
Song say God give me a heart give me a posture of invitation it’s exhausting having a posture of limitation worrying about what everybody else is doing if they’re good enough and all this it’s it’s exhausting it’s so liberating to say there’s Jesus that’s where I’m going
Come with me it’s so much easier and it’s the way of Jesus it’s how he’s crafted created and designed us to be and we spend all this effort and energy sideways doing all these other things trying to be all these things that were not the way of Jesus is invitation over
Limitation every single time the way of Jesus Jesus is invitation over limitation every single time let’s pray together God I thank you so much for your word thank you for this story of Mary and Martha and just sort of the different Frameworks that it offers us
And God for those of us in here who have felt like there are all these all this red tape all these boundaries that have kept us from you Lord I pray that you’d send your Holy Spirit now to just obliterate that to disintegrate that that we would feel in our hearts
And our souls the invitation from you that you are drawing us to you and Lord help us to run in that direction God for those of us who our boundary Keepers or Gatekeepers trying to impose boundaries on everyone around us God I pray you give us Grace I pray you show us
Mercy I pray that we would encounter you in a real way that would change our hearts help us to receive your grace and to reflect your grace to the world around us God I thank you for what you’re doing in this room and on this stream I thank
You that your posture is invitation over limitation we love you we praise you we adore you in Jesus name everybody said amen go ahead and stand and worship with us just like the prayer that Sam gave there’s a bold prayer in this song that we’re going to sing it says you can have
All of this world but give me Jesus and so that would be my invitation this morning to you is really consider what a life like that would look like all the things of this world anything that would come your way that you can push it to the side and have Jesus
Instead to have this way of Jesus instead of limitations I think when we’re singing today you can have all the things of this world think you can have the limitations but give me Jesus because he is inviting you right now in this moment to just be to just be with
Him because there is nothing that can separate you from his Love In the morning when I in the morning when I rise in the morning when I Rise Give Me Jesus when I am Alone oh when I am Alone when I am alone Give Me Jesus Give Me Jesus Give Me Jesus you can this world give me Jes I’m afraid when I am afraid oh when I I am afraid when I am afraid Give Me Jesus Give Me Jesus Give Me Jesus you can hold this one Give Me Jesus Give Me Jesus J when I come to die oh when I come to die when I come to die Give Me Jesus Give Me Jesus Give Me Jesus you can never this the world you can this world you can oh this world for give me give me [Applause] Jesus Give Me Jesus Oh Jes you can help me you can help me all oh me Jesus let’s say that again give me Jesus Give Me Jesus you can have all this world you can help all this world you can this world give me Jes and so so that’s our hope and our prayer that you would put Jesus right at the Center of everything and Chase hard after that and invite everybody to come with you now listen in my excitement to get into this today I forgot to receive the offering okay I mean typical right
Like that’s kind of my Mo around here so there will be ways to give up on the screen we’re not going to pass the magic bags but there are boxes in the back if you’d like to give that way we just like to honor those of you who partner with
Us with your giving we appreciate you we thank you and uh listen go and be blessed and invite somebody to join you for Good Friday and Easter all right all right you Guys [Applause] E e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
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