You Are Forgiven And Free By Faith In Jesus Christ.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:00:55] It's interesting, you know, when thinking about Baylor and their victory yesterday, game of inches, right? I just was thinking about how, like some of the Baylor fans, Baylor Nation just partying, you know, like just having a good time celebrating, and I'm sure they celebrated into the wee hours of the morning. Knowing just the young folks that are out there, right?

Jermaine Arphul: [00:01:18] So it made me think about an article that I got from Navigators, it's a ministry that is really is just all about discipleship, disciplining Christians, and sending them out. I got an article from them about a guy named Abdul, and Abdul was at a party, and it was three a.m. at the party, which anybody knows anything about that, there's nothing good that's going to happen at three a.m... I'm sorry, there's no reason to be doing anything at three a.m. other than sleeping, or maybe changing a diaper or something. Shout out to the people like me that have four kids, so he's at a party at three a.m., and he's talking to a girl who he didn't know it, but she had a boyfriend. And he's sitting there talking to her, and he said out of know where the big bad boyfriend came up and just went up and just bam just cracked him right in the face, breaking his jaw. And he said he remembers, interestingly enough, as he was going down, he remembers hearing the voice of God, and God was telling him, how much longer are you going to not pursue me? I have rescued you from a war-torn country, I have been there for you when you didn't have a father, I pursued you. How long is it going to take for you to pursue me?

Jermaine Arphul: [00:02:52] So he goes down, goes to the hospital, his friends that were at the party went with him, and they're kind of laughing and joking, you know. Because, you know, when you're young, you don't realize some of the consequences are major, right? Like, they didn't realize, so they're just like ha-ha it happened at a party, and that was cool story to tell kind of deal. Well, the doctor comes out and says, Abdul, you do you understand? You need to understand something, if that guy were to hit you a couple of centimeters higher, he would have pushed in your brain, and you'd be dead. And it was in that moment where Abdul realized that he needed to get right with God.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:03:29] See, Abdul, several years ago had met Christians, and you know by all intents and purposes, said that he trusted in Jesus Christ. But he had Jesus over here, like so many of us might have, but he had his own life over here. So, yeah, Jesus, over here, but he was walking this way, with his life, his life wasn't fully committed to Jesus. But in that moment when the doctor said he could have died, he realized that he needed to get right with God.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:04:04] Isn't that interesting, sometimes we have to hit rock bottom, sometimes we've got to get punched in the face, sometimes we've got to get cut to the heart, before we realize the fullness that is found in Jesus Christ? Amen. Sometimes that has to happen for hardened and stubborn hearts, sometimes that has to happen, and sometimes we have to go through seasons of emptiness before we can experience the fullness of joy that's found in Christ. It's so interesting to see how how after all of that, gosh, it had to be painful to have a broken jaw and have realized that, oh my gosh, I could have died. To go through all that, but yet somehow find joy in the midst of that, like everlasting joy in the midst of that, being forgiven and free, is what Abdul would say.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:04:54] It's in those seasons of emptiness that are preparing some of us for true fulfillments and joy. I want us to think about that as we go into the passage today in Act chapter 2 verses 37-41. Peter, the Apostle Peter, is giving an amazing sermon. And while we've been on this topic of partying, do you guys, let's look really quickly at how Peter starts this sermon. Just kind of backtracking a little bit, I get a chuckle out of this. Maybe that's why I'm the youth minister or something, I just laugh at things like this. He starts off his sermon, this sermon, by the way, three thousand people got saved and baptized. What an amazing sermon to have that kind of response. Do you know how he started out that sermon? These men are not drunk. That's how you start an amazing sermon? I mean, I guess it got their attention, right? It's like it's only nine a.m., they're not partying, you know. I thought that was really funny. It resulted in at three thousand people getting saved.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:06:04] And then also, in my research, just looking through this chunk of scripture. You know, this sermon, if you look at it, I think one guy said he timed it, it was like three minutes or something like that. Like, OK, start off with the sermon, I get drunk, and then only talk for three minutes and three thousand get saved, what a return. Sorry, y'all, it's going to take longer than three minutes today. So, just saying, but yeah, I just thought those were interesting, to get a little off topic there.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:06:32] But Peter, the Apostle Peter, he just cut to the heart earlier, right? Do you guys remember him in Luke, when he was in the courtyard and they were like, hey, you were with that guy, that guy Jesus that got arrested, you were with him? No, I wasn't. And how many times did he deny Jesus three times? And on that third time, in Luke chapter 22 verses 61 and 62, he made eye contact with Jesus, and it was said that he was filled with deep anguish, he wept bitterly. He was filled with this pain inside of him, this great anguish, this resentfulness, this is pain that he was in, that he was cut to the heart. He felt that, he was cut to the heart. See, Peter had spent three years with Jesus, he experienced all this joy with him. I mean, he's watching him doing miracles, and praying with him, and doing all kinds of cool things. But yet when it came down to owning his faith, he turned away from Jesus and he felt pain over that, and he wept bitterly. He had a moment of emptiness, then he was cut to the heart.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:07:51] And then later on, in John chapter 21, after Jesus was crucified and then he appears to many. Peters with six other disciples and they're out fishing, he's a fisherman by trade, and he can't catch any fish. Does this story sound a little familiar? Going back to the beginning of the gospels, right? And they see a man, it was Jesus, but they don't know that yet. And he's like, hey, cast your net this way. Does that sound familiar? And they cast it that way, and they caught hundreds of fish. And then they realized, oh, that's that guy, that's Jesus, he's alive, they go after him, they jump in the water and go over to the shore, and Jesus is just chillin, cooking breakfast for them. And he doesn't bring condemnation on them, he just feeds them.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:08:44] And then also, he does it in a subtle way, he cuts to Peter's heart again. He asks Peter, do you love me? Three times he asked Peter, do you love me? Do you remember that he denied Jesus three times? This time, he says, yes, I love you. And the third time that he said that he said it with deep emotion because Peter knew what Jesus was doing. See, Peter had to get down to the bottom of his emptiness before he realized what God had in store for him. Peter was cut to the heart. He had to be stripped in order for Christ to say that I am all you need, now obey, and do life my way. How many of us aren't doing life God's way? We've got God over here, but we've got God over here. We got my way over here, does that cut you to the heart? It did Peter.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:09:57] And, you know, Timothy Keller said this, "I've learned that it's true, that we don't know that Jesus is all that we need until Jesus is all that we have." He wrote that in the book called Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, He said, "In my moments of emptiness, I learned that Jesus is all I need, but I had to get to a point that Jesus was all that I had, to realize that."

Jermaine Arphul: [00:10:30] Abdul was cut to the heart. Peter was cut to the heart. The three thousand people in this message that we're about to wrap up, they got to a place, I think, of realizing their own emptiness. They were cut to the heart. They were cut to the heart, and they realized, Peter showed them, how they could find that fullness that they are searching for In Jesus, in only Jesus Christ. And I think for us, too, it's the same, sometimes we have to hit the bottom of our emptiness to realize the fullness that's in Christ. It's true for them here in this passage, and it's true for you and me today.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:11:18] So, today, this message is just straight out of the Scripture, Cut to the Heart by the Gospel of Jesus. What do we do, we turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit that's promised? It isn't until you experience the depths of your own emptiness, and your own need for Jesus, and the way that he fills you up with His Spirit, that you can finally come to a place where you say, I want so badly to repent for my sin and turn towards Jesus and follow him all the days of my life. That's what Peter is getting at in this sermon, y'all, he's trying to move people from just knowing about God. How many have you all been coming to church for a long time? Oh, I know a lot of students coming through the ministry, they've been coming to church and know a lot about God, but they don't know him, like, truly know him, and where they stand in light of their sin.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:12:31] So Peter has said so far, hey, this is who Jesus is, this is what he did, this is him being prophesied about, this is being taught about his resurrection, he taught about man's iniquity involved in that, he talked about their responsibility and the accountability towards that. And the Jews were like, oh, you know, they were cut. Because the Jews, they were like, we've been waiting for this long-awaited Messiah, and you're telling me that we killed him. They were cut to the heart. Oh, and on top of that, he's alive. Like, OK, we killed him, he's alive, and it says in verse 35 that, "He makes enemies a footstool for your feet." Like, OK, we deserve wrath. So they were naturally like, what did we do? They were cut to the heart. What should we do?

Jermaine Arphul: [00:13:33] I love Peter's sermon because Peter's sermon involves the word of God, it involves the Son of God, and then the Holy Spirit is empowering that whole thing. And when those three come together, those three things come together, you can't help but have a response, you can't help but ask, what do I do? And Peter, I love Peter, just point blank makes this sermon real easy, he says repent and be baptized.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:14:08] Repent, what does that mean? Repent means to consider, or to have a change of heart, or have a change of heart and mind, the change of behavior, kind of abandoning your old ways and turning to a new way, being a new creation. It's not just being sorrowful about it, it's completely abandoning your old way and turning, or flipping, having a change. And that's all empowered and enabled by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, not just in action, but in motive and in thinking. When that happens, man, you realize that your sin is an affront to God. And so, yeah, you're afraid of some of the consequences like they were, you have this fear of hell, but that's only the beginning. True repentance is completely turning away from your old life, and going towards Jesus, following him as your Savior and as your Messiah, that is repentance.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:15:23] I was listening to a guy who, he's a biblical counselor, and one of the things that he does when he's working with people to help them kind of just get untangled from this sin that we all struggle with, you know, certain sin. He uses a deck of cards, and this might be a practical illustration for you to help you get untangled from whatever it is that you're struggling with. He uses a deck of cards, and it's 52 cards in a deck, obviously, so it's a 52-day reboot, right? And he gets with them, and he encourages them to get a deck of cards and each day, flip it over. Flipping over is kind of like symbolizing this change, right, this flipping over in your life, right?

Jermaine Arphul: [00:16:07] Get a deck of cards, flip over the first card, and if it's a heart, right, a heart is to symbolize, hey, pray and ask God what needs to change in my motives? Pray and ask God what needs to change in my motives, right? Because motives come from your heart, right? So pray and ask God what needs to change, pray the whole day about that, think about that, meditate on what needs to change in my heart.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:16:34] The next, if you turn it over, if it's a spade, right? If it's a spade, think of a spade as a shovel, right? What are some things that you need to uproot in your life? What are some things that you need to do differently, some habits that you need to change in your life? Meditate and think about that the whole day, what can I do differently the next?

Jermaine Arphul: [00:16:55] Next, if it's a club, right, sometimes we get so beat up over our sin, we club ourselves to death, mentally, about our sin, and we just get stuck in this rut where we just can't get out of it because we're constantly beating ourselves up in our brain. We're kind of clubbing ourselves. Sometimes we just need to change our thinking. Maybe write down some of the things that we're talking negatively about ourselves and change that,

Jermaine Arphul: [00:17:24] And then if it's a diamond, right, diamonds shine bright, right? Think of a diamond, think about the light of Jesus in your life. Think about the light of Jesus in your life. Think about scripture, and John chapter 1, talking about Jesus being the light, pushing out darkness. And then in First John, read passages like First John that talk about Jesus Christ as the light, and think about that the whole day.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:17:51] Do that for fifty-two days, until you've flipped over every single card, every single card in the deck. And he said that usually what happens is like on day like twenty or twenty-one, for me it'd probably be like day seven or something, you get tired of it. Right, come on, let's be honest. Like, so you know, like, you get tired of it. And he encourages them to keep going, because sin is not that easy to get rid of, you've got to keep going.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:18:22] Listen, I have four kids, and I'm the guy that makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for our two oldest ones that are going to grade school. And I don't like to waste food, and I am scraping out every last bit of peanut butter in that jar when I'm making those sandwiches. And he said you need to treat that the same way with your sin, you've got a nuke, that sucker. Like, you've got to go through all of these cars, get through it, don't let there be any remaining sin in there, so keep going.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:18:54] And he said after they got to the bottom of that, they called him on day fifty-three. And that thing that was so entangling to them, had been replaced. That thing that had power over them, after fifty-three days of meditating and thinking about Jesus, got replaced by the power of Jesus Christ. Talk about changing, what happened there, was it the cards? No, it wasn't the cards, it was positioning yourself to be under Christ and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do a change in you, to change your perspective, to have a right view of God. And when you have a right view of God, you can't help but be changed, your motives, your behavior will change. You'll be drawn to following him and walking obediently with him. So repent.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:19:55] The second thing he says is, be baptized. Baptism, that word baptized is to be immersed in water. And before I explain a little bit more about that, let me just say this is something you really need to underline, because this verse here especially, is kind of controversial with churches, like repent and be baptized. As if to say, you can't get saved unless you're baptized, right? And I'll unpack that in a second. But the next preposition there says, "In the name of Jesus Christ." "Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ." Baptism is to be immersed in water; it was normal to be baptized back then, but not in the name of Jesus. Baptism is to be immersed in water to symbolize a cleansing, a ceremonial act. But to be baptized in the name of Jesus, oh, that's a whole different ball game, especially for him who's crucified, right? So being baptized in the name of Jesus ties you with the Messiah, it ties you with Jesus. It's a public act of identifying with Jesus Christ. It's an outward expression of an inward change to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. That had to shake them up a little bit. Because, again, it wasn't cool to be a Christ-follower back then. You could die for saying, I'm putting my flag in the ground, and saying I'm all in for Jesus. You could lose your job, your whole family, your life, so you really had to count the cost. So be baptized in the name of Jesus.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:21:51] Can I ask you a question this morning? If you've trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you understand that he paid the debt for your sin and that by faith, you're in right standing with God because of Jesus. Have you been baptized? What's holding you back? Maybe that question cuts to the heart. I think as adults, especially if we've grown up in the church and maybe we're here, maybe in a different denomination than what we grew up in, and the view of baptism is different than maybe what our family history has been. It's been really hard, right, to kind of get out from that and get baptized because you don't want to offend your family. But you believe this, and you hear this clearly explained what baptism is, and you understand it, but it's hard, so you don't do it. Or maybe you've been coming to church for a long time, you've been serving, you've been doing all kinds of great things for the glory of God, you truly, wholeheartedly believe in him, but now you haven't been baptized. Yeah, I don't want anybody to know because it's kind of embarrassing. What, Jermaine, you haven't been baptized? I have been, by the way. But, right, like, you don't want to have to face that question, all this time, I thought you were...So you don't, because you're afraid of what people are going to say. Can I just encourage you this morning? If Jesus Christ is true to you, and you believe in him wholeheartedly, that he died for your sin, you believe that he is resurrected, you believe that you have eternal life with him through faith, you believe all that. Y'all don't fear, man, get baptized.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:24:21] And I said this first service, I'm going to say it this one too. I'm a youth minister, and like I do a lot of things on the fly. Some of y'all are youth leaders here, they're actually probably upstairs, but some of the high schoolers might be here. And you're like, yes, he does. And you're probably like, it's kind of annoying because I can't follow his plan. Well, if you are ready to get baptized, maybe we should do it after the service. Why do we need to waste time? Listen, I know Uncle Ray Ray and Aunt Lucy, they want to be here, I get it. But they can watch online, we could show them later, but don't let that be a reason not to get baptized. Come on, come on, let's just do it and get it done.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:25:15] Look, I mean, it's biblical, in Acts, we look all throughout Acts, and when people believe they were what? They were baptized. They didn't say hold up, I need to call Aunt Lucy and Uncle Ray Ray, so they can get here, they said, let's get it done. We're in, we're putting the flag in the ground. Back then, you could get killed, and in some places now, you can, too. But baptism is an act of obedience, and I think it's something we should all do. And I know what I'm saying, it might be cutting some people to the heart right now.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:25:57] Now, if you've got your eyes open and you're looking at this verse, 38, "Peter says repent and each of you be baptized." Where is a mention of faith? Just as an aside, I'll address this because I know this verse can be something that divides, you know, churches and stuff. Let me just say this, for salvation, genuine faith always involves repentance and vice versa. Repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus imply belief, imply trust. So faith is implied here, y'all, we must have faith. We see that in John 3:16 Romans 10:9-10, Ephesians 2:8-9, we must have faith, it's implied here. Faith in Jesus brings us to a place of repentance and security.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:26:55] There's a famous preacher named Kevin DeYoung, I don't know if some of you have heard of him before, he's an author. He illustrates the whole faith thing really well, in my opinion, and I'm going to quote him. He says, "Imagine walking out on the ice." I think he said, Lake Michigan. First of all, I don't do that, but whatever, that's what he said. "And our faith isn't holding us up when we're walking out on the ice, it's the ice, right, the thickness, the sturdiness of the ice that's holding us up. But we made a decision, at some point, we believed that we could walk out onto that ice and not fall through." And he says, "In the same way, when it comes to salvation, we have faith enough to believe that Jesus is holding us up, he's that sturdiness, he's that thickness, he's that ice that's holding us up. The truth of Jesus is what holds us up. We have faith in all that he is, and that's what's holding us up, he says. We may be saved by our action of faith, but faith on our behalf is not what saves us, it's the work of Jesus Christ that saves us, and it's our confidence in that work that brings us to true salvation."

Jermaine Arphul: [00:28:19] And Paul says that's a gift, in Ephesians 2:8-9, that is a gift of faith that we've been given. What shall we do? Repent and be baptized. What do we receive in Christ? This is my favorite part, I love to receive, true confession. I love to receive; I can't wait for December 25. I'm just saying, receive in Christ, what do we receive in Christ? Forgiveness, y'all, the forgiveness of our sins, turn to Jesus and receive forgiveness of your sin, past, present, and future.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:29:03] Think about this for a second, how hard is it for you to forgive somebody that's offended you? Come on now, don't play, it's hard. Now, put on top of that, forgiving a loved one that's offended you, that makes it that much more difficult, it's hard. And then think about needing forgiveness, that feeling that you have when you know you've messed up and you need forgiveness. Jesus Christ, when we talk about just forgiving one person how hard that is, and the feeling you get when you need forgiveness, Jesus Christ paid for the sins of the whole world. The man sweated blood before he went to the cross, that's how serious it is. And we get forgiveness by putting our faith in the work of Christ.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:30:05] Listen, y'all, I know a lot of y'all been coming to church and you've heard this whole deal about repentance, and turning, and what you get, and all that stuff, but it's still the best news ever, you are forgiven and freed by faith in Jesus Christ. Let's not get so worked up about things that don't matter, let's get worked up about what matters the most, and that is our life in heaven with Jesus, you are forgiven and freed when you put your faith and trust in Him, you get forgiveness.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:30:35] Speaking of gifts, on December 25th, you get the gift of the Holy Spirit. We saw earlier in Acts that the Holy Spirit empowers us to be on mission, but also empowers us to know when we have gone off course, this is one of the roles of the Holy Spirit. When we have gone off course, it empowers us to know we've gone off track and that we need to get back on course and live a repentant life. That's one of the roles of the Holy Spirit, it's to move us back on track.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:31:13] I've been driving a lot lately, I've got four kids, two of them are involved in sports. And I know looking out, you all know exactly what I'm talking about driving, you know, all over the Metroplex for sports games and stuff, split cars, all that good stuff. Then on top of that, you know, I've got family members that are in need, so driving all around. And true confession, again, I'm not a good nighttime driver, Ok? And sometimes I hit those rumble bars, those grooves in the road, do you know what I'm talking about? I need those bars to like, uh oh, OK, I'm awake. You know, like, sometimes you get a little off course, and you need something to jolt you awake, to wake you up. So you don't veer off track and hurt somebody, or even worse, get killed. The Holy Spirit jolts you awake, that your sin is against God, and it helps you realize that you are forgiven, and at the same time, we realize that it helps us refocus ourselves on Jesus, that's what you get, it's a gift.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:32:35] With that power, you can pursue Jesus and you can find freedom. Not only that, we're promised eternal life, we're promised everlasting joy. Yeah, we're in the advent season right now, where we've been looking at the hope that we get from Jesus, but we also get joy. Yes, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but we also look forward to his second coming, when everything's going to be made right. The Bible says in Luke chapter 15 verse 7, “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Come on, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”, Luke 15:10. I sometimes wonder if we quite understand the value behind the joy of the salvation that we get when we put our faith in Christ? We, as humanity, we love to value things, we put value on so many things. We talk about people's sports contracts, and shoes, and all these things that are worth things. There's nothing worth more than spending eternity with God, Jesus Christ, the everlasting joy we get, that is goodness.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:34:09] So, when we look at this passage, we need to ask ourselves, what should I do now? What should I do now? I've already said it, turn to Jesus. I said this earlier today, I'll say it again, I'm looking around in here, and I know a lot of you all, but I don't know if you've given your life to Christ. This is an opportunity for you to do that today, turn to Jesus, put your life down and turn to him so you can have forgiveness of sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and have everlasting joy. It's radical, I know, you might lose some things, but it's worth nothing compared to what you gain by turning to him. Turn to Jesus. And when you do, walk in the freedom that we get from that, you're forgiven and free, you don't have to keep going back. Walk in the light that's given to you by trusting in Jesus.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:35:31] Thirdly, be the church y'all. Over the last two years, I feel like I've just been beaten down by all these politics, and all these different crazy things that are happening, I see the church kind of being torn a little bit. I have students that don't want to come because they're afraid of feeling condemned and things like that. And I'm like this place should be the most welcoming place, if there's any place out there in the world, the church should be the place where people want to come to, because we have something that everybody wants. We need to be the church,

Jermaine Arphul: [00:36:10] And we look here in verse 41, look, "So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls." And it keeps going on about how they continually were encouraging one another, and exhorting one another, that's what we need to do as a church. We need to continue to exhort and encourage one another, we need to continue to do life together. And not be afraid, listen, not be afraid to stand on the truth of God. We've got to protect this, the doctrine, right, against all of the things, the assaults that people are trying to do, and misinterpret this. Yes, we need to protect doctrine.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:36:50] The church is like a tree, right, like we've got to kind of put guardrails around the tree when we're trying to grow it, see, we've got to guard this, we also we also need to nurture it as well. Sometimes there is some pruning that needs to go on, right, sometimes we've got to get admonished. But as a church, we need to nurture each other, we tell people about the hope and the joy that you get through Jesus Christ. The church is like a tree, rooted in Christ, and there are so many branches where we branch out to grow the church to where it becomes a big shade, that the world so desperately needs, we're hurting, and we're broken.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:36:50] And for the skeptics out there, the facts are there, the research has been done, it's true, this thing is true. It's not just what my mom and dad said, the research has been done, it's true. And for me, when I look out into the world and I see the brokenness of everything that's going on, and I read this Bible, it matches up and it speaks to that, and it pulls me in, and it makes me want to be the church for other people. Be the church.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:38:20] Listen, I said this to high schoolers is the other day, if I want it to be in the world's strongest man competition, I would go find a personal trainer. And I'd look around at the personal trainers, and I'm going to the one that looks like he's a personal trainer, right, I'm drawn to that person, I'm not going to the one that's not looking like a personal trainer, I'm sorry, I'm just not. I'm trusting in the one that looks like he knows what he's talking about, and he's actually practicing what he's preaching. The same is true for the church, do people see Jesus in you? Yes, or no? If they do, they should be drawn to you. Again, it might cause you to pause for a second, that might cut you to the heart. But that's a good thing, because that's the Spirit working in you, challenging you to grow and not be stagnant. Growth is a good thing, sometimes it hurts, but this is a good thing. Think about life, everything in life that we see that's living and active is growing, it's a problem when they don't grow. So are you growing in your faith? Are you growing and being more like Christ? Are you growing in your affection and desire for God's people? Are you the church? The church is living and active, so we must nurture it. Don't be afraid to give the whole truth about sending judgment, no, I'm not saying shy away from that. I'm not saying shy away from telling people that they have to repent, that's part of the gospel. Make sure people are counting the cost, absolutely, but there's grace involved in that as well.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:40:17] Abdul had to get hit in the face before he realized that he really needed Jesus. Peter had to get cut to the heart before he realized they really needed Jesus. The three thousand were cut to the heart before they turned to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Is that you today? We all need forgiveness; we all need it. Have you been baptized? What's holding you back? And are you being the church? It might cut you a little bit, but it's OK, it's called growth.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:41:09] So let's reflect on those things because when we read a passage like that, the way that we can really, really marinate on it and grow, is when we just reflect and be still. We're so busy in our lives, that sometimes we forget to do that, we hear a message, and we dash out the door. Let it sink in, let the Holy Spirit continue to do a work in you that he started. So let's be still, and think and pray on these things, then Eric will come up here and do announcements.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:41:43] Let me pray. God, thank you so much for today, and the attentive hearts and minds, I pray that you did a work in someone today, multiple people. I don't know if there's three thousand in here, there's probably not, but I know with people participating online, it'd be really cool if you just did a work in the thousands or hundreds are listening, do a work in them, whether it's bringing him to salvation, or bringing them more like you God. Let us not leave here unchanged, I pray and hope that this wasn't just another Sunday morning message that we had a check off the box to go and eat lunch now, instead, I pray that we would truly, truly reflect and let your spirit do a work in us so that we can be changed and say, OK, I'm ready to do that now. It's in Jesus' name. Let's be still.



Recorded in Grapevine, Texas.