00:00:36.260 Good morning. Welcome, everyone, to Freedom Church.
00:00:39.260 I want to say thank you, everyone watching online.
00:00:41.540 Let's give everyone
00:00:43.100 a welcome for those watching online. We're here because of Jesus Christ. Amen.
00:00:47.420 We're not here for church necessarily.
00:00:49.790 We're not here for the organization or for me. We're here for Jesus.
00:00:52.960 We're here to lift up the name above every other name.
00:00:55.360 And our goal at Freedom Church is to point as many people as we can to
00:00:59.280 know Jesus, to know God in a real way, to find freedom in
00:01:03.140 him, discover their purpose, and make an impact in their own
00:01:06.640 world. And that's our prayer for you is that you will leave here today different
00:01:10.040 than the way you came in. If I haven't had the privilege of meeting you, I'm
00:01:13.960 Pastor Eric, lead pastor here. We launched Freedom Church just under
00:01:17.760 six months ago. So if you're new with us, we're all still kind of new.
00:01:21.240 We're all within that six-month range. But welcome.
00:01:23.860 Just want to say welcome to everyone watching online as well.
00:01:26.620 Before I jump into today's message, I want to share an opportunity that I'm really
00:01:30.500 excited about, because since launching, we've seen so much
00:01:34.360 growth, so many families, kids coming, and we realize we have an
00:01:38.360 amazing kids ministry team. We have a lot of volunteers, all
00:01:42.240 volunteers who are leading, who are praying for, who are ministering to the kids,
00:01:46.640 and we are actually at a place we need to hire somebody part-time to really put
00:01:50.700 adequate time and intention and effort, not just on Sunday
00:01:54.720 morning, but all that needs to take place Monday through Saturday.
00:01:58.000 There's a lot of administrative work with background checks, clearances,
00:02:02.400 scheduling, volunteer training, making sure all the things are put together,
00:02:06.300 curriculum and supplies. So we actually said we need to put somebody
00:02:10.220 in place who's available time-wise, but more than just the time and the
00:02:14.280 money that comes with it, we want somebody who has a passion and love for kids.
00:02:18.160 I don't want just somebody who says, "I want to make some extra money." I want you
00:02:21.200 to start with a place of I feel called to love on the kids and to help the
00:02:25.160 kids, and to help Freedom Kids Ministry grow to become all it can be for a
00:02:29.020 healthy, thriving kids ministry, because I believe there's a lot more kids.
00:02:32.340 I see a lot of babies on the way and babies that have just been born.
00:02:35.560 So we have more and more need for somebody to really own that director
00:02:39.400 role. So what that's going to be is a part-time role.
00:02:42.220 It's mostly administrative and some more business kind of things
00:02:46.320 than it is serving with kids every single Sunday. There should be some of that.
00:02:50.060 But really it's overseeing the team and the ministry as a whole.
00:02:53.560 So if you're interested in that and you have about 12 to 15 hours a week is what
00:02:57.160 we're looking to start it off at, you can scan that QR code.
00:03:00.600 You can go on our website. At the very bottom of the website, there's a link that
00:03:03.740 says Job Opportunities. You can click that, fill out the application, fill out the
00:03:07.740 information, and I'll be in touch with you.
00:03:10.040 But really excited that we are at a place we need to hire somebody, and I believe
00:03:13.540 the right person is listening, is watching, possibly sitting in this room to
00:03:17.520 really help us grow our Freedom Kids Ministry.
00:03:20.300 So with that, I'm going to pray, and then we'll jump into today's message.
00:03:23.630 Heavenly Father, thank you, God, for what you're doing in and through us.
00:03:26.840 God, thank you for this time of worshiping you, God, reminding, getting our
00:03:30.540 minds focused on you. God, that this is really all for you.
00:03:34.200 God, everything we do as a church, everything we do in our lives.
00:03:37.240 God, I pray should be laid down as an offering to you.
00:03:40.220 God, through the one who saved our lives, to the King of Kings and the
00:03:44.200 Lord of Lords, God, I pray that you'd speak through me today.
00:03:47.520 God, help me get out of the way and let your Spirit and your word speak to each and
00:03:51.320 every person sitting here and those listening and watching online as well.
00:03:55.360 God, I pray that we would become more like you as a result of everything that takes
00:03:58.300 place today, and God, that you would receive the praise, the honor, and
00:04:02.260 the glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
00:04:06.440 So I want you to start off by thinking about something beautiful.
00:04:11.140 Should be easy, right? If you're married, look at your spouse. That's a good spot.
00:04:14.040 Look at your kids. But think about something.
00:04:15.680 What's the most beautiful thing you can imagine you could see, something you
00:04:19.579 have seen? When I first thought about this this week, I couldn't
00:04:23.500 help but picture the day about 10 years ago when my wife walked through those doors
00:04:27.420 down this center of this room, and we got married right here in this very room.
00:04:31.120 The most beautiful image. I try to picture her as that day as she was a bride.
00:04:34.800 She's still my bride. She's still in my phone as my beloved.
00:04:37.580 I know I brag on her frequently, but that's okay.
00:04:39.490 I love my wife, and that's just the beauty of her. Or think about my kids.
00:04:43.520 The kids, when they took their first breath, and I'm holding them in my hands.
00:04:47.560 Just the beauty of creation, the beauty of new life that
00:04:51.340 comes, and just to be able to see our kids.
00:04:53.969 And then I think of the mountains of Guatemala, and I've traveled there many times on
00:04:57.240 mission trips. Just the vast beauty of God's creation.
00:05:00.500 There's so many beautiful things we could see on the planet and on
00:05:04.480 Earth and in our lives. But then imagine, what would it be like if we never could
00:05:08.100 see? What if we were blind? What if we didn't have our sight?
00:05:12.420 Because there's about 43 million people around the planet estimated that cannot
00:05:16.460 see, that are physically blind. They've never seen their spouse.
00:05:19.920 They've never seen their kids. They've never seen the beauty of God's creation.
00:05:24.100 But something that's far worse than being physically blind, I believe, is being
00:05:27.900 spiritually blind.
00:05:29.840 Being spiritually blind to the things of God.
00:05:31.860 Being spiritually blind is not knowing that you're going to spend eternity in
00:05:35.800 heaven because of what Jesus Christ has done, not because of good works, not
00:05:39.760 because of religion, not because of anything you have done, but only by
00:05:43.560 God's grace and his mercy can we be saved.
00:05:47.000 That's beautiful. That's not being spiritually blind, but being able
00:05:51.000 to see the eyes and see the good news of the gospel as we're continuing
00:05:54.940 in this series about sharing the good news.
00:05:57.700 And today we're going to look at a story of a man who was born blind
00:06:02.220 and then has a miraculous encounter with Jesus, and his
00:06:06.160 life is never the same. The story is found in John
00:06:09.932 chapter 9. And if you're new to the church, new to Christianity,
00:06:14.232 the Bible originally was not written with chapters and verses.
00:06:18.452 Chapters and verses came about the 13th to the 15th century in different
00:06:22.572 breakdowns. They put the chapters and verses there so we could quickly find
00:06:26.332 things. But really, the account, this book is his story.
00:06:29.692 It's God's story of history, of accounts of what took place,
00:06:33.652 of Jesus's life and miracles and all that we see.
00:06:36.512 So in John chapter 9, right before John chapter 9 is
00:06:40.512 John chapter—
00:06:42.512 Eight.
00:06:42.621 Eight. You guys are so smart. Good job.
00:06:44.852 If you had to wrestle with that, talk to your neighbor, they'll help you.
00:06:47.092 But John chapter 8 and then John chapter 9.
00:06:49.352 But the Bible was recorded, the events were recorded not in
00:06:53.192 chapter and verses, but just as this is what happened.
00:06:56.172 So on this day, in John chapter 9, events took place
00:07:00.192 just before this. In John chapter 8, what's happening is Jesus,
00:07:04.152 the Pharisees, the religious leaders at the time, they bring a woman caught
00:07:08.112 in adultery before Jesus. And basically, he says, "I don't condemn you, but go
00:07:12.032 and sin no more." He extends mercy and grace to this woman.
00:07:15.852 He's speaking to these Pharisees. They're trying to trap him.
00:07:19.412 Okay, so get this. Jesus comes on the scene.
00:07:21.652 There's all these religious people.
00:07:24.072 They're upset with Jesus because he's making them look foolish.
00:07:27.822 Not because he's trying to be a jerk, but Jesus is just speaking the truth.
00:07:31.892 Jesus spoke to the heart rather than the external behavior.
00:07:35.772 He wants to transform the internal.
00:07:37.812 He wants to transform our hearts, our minds, our spirits, to be more like
00:07:41.612 him, and not just looking good on the outside, but truly being good on the
00:07:45.432 inside by his grace. So Jesus and these Pharisees are
00:07:49.212 arguing, and it's pretty tense. When you read the story in John chapter
00:07:53.172 8, for time's sake, I'm trying to summarize it for you.
00:07:55.852 They're arguing with him, and Jesus says, "Anyone who believes in me, the
00:07:59.852 Son of Man, will be set free. If you believe in me, you will not
00:08:03.812 die." And they're like, "What are you talking about?
00:08:05.402 You're going to give eternal life?" They're like, "You're not even 50 years old
00:08:08.732 yet. How can you talk like this?" And Jesus says this in John
00:08:13.072 8:58. He goes, "I
00:08:16.772 tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I
00:08:20.632 am." They just said how they were followers of Abraham, descendants of
00:08:24.352 Abraham. For thousands of years, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
00:08:28.692 they were descendants of Abraham.
00:08:30.632 He says, "Guys, before Abraham, thousands of years ago, I
00:08:34.773 am." Present tense. That I am statement.
00:08:37.913 Jesus is saying, "I am God. I am outside of
00:08:42.012 time. I was there when Abraham was born."
00:08:45.992 And they're appalled at this. They're like, "You're saying you're greater than
00:08:49.772 Abraham? You are God?" So they pick up stones to throw at him
00:08:53.772 because they wanted to kill him. They wanted to put him to death because he
00:08:57.552 claimed to be God. Now, if anybody claimed to be God and wasn't, that's
00:09:01.392 blasphemous. That's deserving of death.
00:09:04.272 They didn't believe Jesus was God, so they pick up the stones to throw at him, and
00:09:08.092 it says, "He was hidden and left the temple." The very next verse,
00:09:11.972 John 9 verse 1, "As Jesus was walking along,
00:09:15.932 he saw a man who had been born blind from birth." Now, get this.
00:09:19.712 There's this high tension, very tense time where they're
00:09:23.592 about to kill Jesus. He leaves the temple, and on his
00:09:27.532 way, as he's walking, he sees a man who had been born
00:09:31.232 blind from birth.
00:09:33.392 He stopped and saw a man. He saw somebody who had something going
00:09:37.432 on in his life, even though he had a lot to be concerned with, with his own life.
00:09:41.412 The disciples say, "Rabbi,
00:09:43.552 why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins
00:09:47.452 or his parents' sins?" Now, to understand the Jewish culture,
00:09:51.752 they would have expected that there's a stigma with blindness, that it was probably
00:09:55.712 that person's sin or their parents' sin that caused him to be blind.
00:09:59.732 So it's a logical question, but they're asking this to Jesus.
00:10:04.012 And I think the point of this here is Jesus saw the blind man.
00:10:07.872 He saw the man. The disciples saw the problem.
00:10:11.062 They saw the blindness. They saw it and they wanted to know, who's to
00:10:14.472 blame, right? And we look around at the world and we say, there's so many problems.
00:10:18.412 There's so many challenges. Who's to blame?
00:10:21.392 Whose fault is it? Many times we blame God, right?
00:10:25.172 We get mad at God. We're angry at God for bad circumstances, for
00:10:28.932 loss of a loved one or some situation, something going on in the
00:10:32.712 world. But Jesus, he sees the man, not just the
00:10:36.392 problem. Now, to help you understand, blind people in the first century,
00:10:40.352 they didn't have much help. They were completely and totally
00:10:44.192 dependent on their family and friends to care for them, to
00:10:47.972 feed them, to help them get dressed, to get them along.
00:10:50.952 They didn't have a lot of in-home aides and nurses.
00:10:53.412 It was your family, had to take care of you. The terrain was rough.
00:10:57.372 It wasn't smooth, paved streets all the time that they could get around, so they
00:11:00.992 often needed help to get places. Really, the only job available was to
00:11:04.932 sit on the roadside or at a temple or at a gate and beg for food and
00:11:08.952 for money. That's how bad it was as a blind person,
00:11:11.912 especially in the first century,
00:11:15.312 to live. And this blind man, he has this rough life, but
00:11:19.052 Jesus notices him. Jesus, he sees him, and he actually
00:11:22.952 responds to the disciples in verse 3.
00:11:24.402 He says, "It was not because of his sins or his
00:11:28.352 parents' sins. This happened so the power of God could be
00:11:32.272 seen in him." In verse 4, he says, "We must quickly carry
00:11:36.172 out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.
00:11:39.772 The night is coming, and then no one can work.
00:11:42.912 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the
00:11:46.772 world."
00:11:48.492 Jesus answers them, talking about the light of the world.
00:11:51.492 You know what blindness really is?
00:11:53.372 It's a lack of light perception. It's an inability to
00:11:57.132 perceive light. You can't see, so you're living in total
00:12:00.852 darkness. And Jesus comes and he says, "I am the light of the
00:12:04.832 world. I am the one who was there before Abraham.
00:12:08.332 I am the one who extinguishes the darkness." Even
00:12:11.912 darkness is just an absence of light.
00:12:15.020 And he says, "I come to overcome darkness with light."
00:12:19.120 But the disciples' question is, "Hey, Jesus, was it his sins or
00:12:23.000 his parents' sins?" And how many of you have had a situation in life,
00:12:27.060 we go to God, maybe you have one right now, you go to God and you say, "God, is it
00:12:31.140 option A or is it option B?" And Jesus
00:12:34.700 says, "Neither." Anybody ever have that happen? Yeah.
00:12:38.560 You're like, "Okay, God, is it this job or is it this job?" And he says, "Neither.
00:12:41.760 It's option C." It's not even C or D, it's way down here.
00:12:46.220 God has such a higher view and higher thoughts than we do, so many times
00:12:50.120 we go to God and say, "God, which one is it?" He says, "Neither.
00:12:52.540 It's something greater." They say, "Was it his sins or his parents' sins?" He says,
00:12:56.250 "Neither. It was so that God's power could be demonstrated
00:13:00.000 through him." So instead of seeing people's problems, or instead of
00:13:03.960 seeing people's mess that they're in and wondering how did they get there, what if
00:13:07.720 we started asking the question, what could God do in that person?
00:13:11.660 What could God do in my life, in my difficulty, in my
00:13:15.300 situation? And whatever it is that you're going through, God can use
00:13:19.200 it. God can turn it for good. God even means sometimes bad
00:13:23.080 things for ultimate good. But it starts with us
00:13:26.540 seeing people, not just seeing people's problems.
00:13:31.040 Jesus had such a heart of care and compassion for this blind
00:13:34.980 man. He actually does something quite peculiar.
00:13:37.860 Says in verse six, "He spits on the ground."
00:13:41.680 Spits on the ground. "He makes mud with the saliva and he spread the mud
00:13:45.640 over the man's eyes. He told him, 'Go wash yourself
00:13:49.600 in the Pool of Siloam,' which means sent.
00:13:51.800 So the man went and washed and came back seeing."
00:13:56.280 I find so many interesting things here. First being, he didn't just heal the guy.
00:14:00.220 He actually did something and told the man he had to go somewhere else.
00:14:04.240 So he had to actually, from the temple to the Pool of Siloam, the ancient
00:14:08.020 ruins that they've uncovered in Jerusalem, it's about a half a mile distance,
00:14:12.120 down a steep terrain, to get to the Pool of Siloam.
00:14:15.360 Now, again, he just sent a blind man a half a mile walk down a
00:14:19.340 steep terrain to go get his healing.
00:14:21.740 You'd be like, "Can you just give me something easier?
00:14:23.319 Can you just snap your fingers?" God, he could have, and he did in many other
00:14:26.680 cases. He healed people by laying his hands on them.
00:14:29.320 He speaks words of, "Deaf ears be open, blind eyes be
00:14:33.060 open." But this man, he gave him a task to go do as
00:14:36.400 well. Now, this is very different from salvation.
00:14:40.100 Salvation is something that only God can do.
00:14:43.040 We don't have to do anything or earn it. We can't earn it.
00:14:46.300 It's only by his grace can we be saved.
00:14:48.840 But many times, God gives us things to do that are conditional.
00:14:52.940 If you go do this, then this will happen.
00:14:55.480 To this man, if he went to this Pool of Siloam and washed, you will be
00:14:59.180 healed. You will see. And I think many times we don't see healings, we don't see
00:15:03.200 miracles, because we don't say yes to the things that God is asking us to
00:15:06.980 do to get to those things. Make sense?
00:15:10.540 But the other thing that's fascinating with this to me is,
00:15:13.680 the man is blind, he's not deaf. I say that because
00:15:17.700 spitting usually has a distinct sound to it.
00:15:19.940 I'm not going to do it for
00:15:22.620 being cordial here. But Jesus spits. He's spitting on the ground.
00:15:25.940 He's making dirt and making mud. I don't
00:15:29.940 know about you, but I might've been like, "Hey Jesus, what are you doing?
00:15:33.280 I hear you. What's going on? What are you going to do with that?" And as he's
00:15:37.240 spitting and he's making this mud, he could've objected and been like, "Jesus,
00:15:40.580 whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. Let's talk about this." Isn't there some other way?
00:15:43.900 He could've negotiated with Jesus. He could've objected.
00:15:46.580 The Bible doesn't say he did that, and I don't believe he did. Why?
00:15:50.340 Because the man was desperate.
00:15:52.580 The man had been living in darkness his entire life, that he got to this
00:15:56.500 moment where he encounters Jesus, and Jesus is doing something he's never
00:15:59.700 experienced before, never seen before. Seemed crazy to him probably.
00:16:03.500 But he goes, "You know what? I'm so desperate.
00:16:05.300 I've already been blind my whole life. How much worse could it get?
00:16:09.240 I'll try anything to receive sight.
00:16:11.840 I'll do anything to have a touch from God that could change and
00:16:15.300 transform my life." Another reason why I don't believe we see as many miracles
00:16:19.260 in our lives is we're not desperate enough.
00:16:22.260 We're not hungry for God. We're not saying, "God, do whatever it is you want
00:16:26.160 to do. I don't care how ridiculous it is.
00:16:28.710 I don't care how embarrassed I may look. God, I want more of you.
00:16:32.640 Not the world, I want more of you." And if we are desperate enough,
00:16:36.560 we will see God move more miraculously in and
00:16:40.420 through our lives. You don't get to be too picky or preferential
00:16:44.460 when you're desperate for God. When you really want to see God move in your life,
00:16:48.860 you can't be picky and choosy.
00:16:52.280 So why did Jesus use dirt and spit? Some people and scholars say it was a
00:16:56.240 representation of how God formed the dirt into Adam.
00:16:59.840 It was creation. He created life from nothing.
00:17:03.440 He created life from something that had no life, and Jesus was doing the same by
00:17:07.220 creating life, healing, restorative work, through his spit and through the
00:17:11.141 dirt. The Bible doesn't explain that, but there is a connection there from
00:17:14.901 Genesis to here in John. So what happens?
00:17:17.381 The man comes back seeing. In verse eight says, "His neighbors
00:17:21.120 and others who knew him as a blind beggar." And that's his
00:17:24.620 identity. He's the blind beggar. That's how everybody
00:17:28.560 knew this man who doesn't have a name, that we don't have his name recorded.
00:17:32.360 But they ask each other, "Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?
00:17:36.760 Some said he was, others said, 'No, he just looks like him.'" But the
00:17:40.500 beggar kept saying, "Yes, I am the same
00:17:44.260 one." Now, it may be hard to understand or believe this, but many
00:17:48.100 times we see people in different contexts.
00:17:51.720 Like you see somebody at church, and then you see them at the gym, and you're like,
00:17:54.700 "That's not the same person." Right?
00:17:56.400 Because they don't have their hair done, their makeup on.
00:17:58.340 They're wearing their church clothes.
00:17:59.750 They're sweating, and they have their hair in a ponytail, whatever.
00:18:02.780 I see people at the gym from the church, and they're like, "Hey, Pastor Eric." I'm
00:18:05.240 like, "Who are you?" And I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I feel so bad." It's a different
00:18:08.640 context, right? It's a different place.
00:18:10.620 When you see me, sometimes you see me at Home Depot, and I'm like, I got paint and
00:18:13.340 stuff all over me. You're like, "Is that Pastor Eric?" I'm like, "Yes, it's me." I
00:18:17.020 do other things besides just here on church.
00:18:18.680 But we dress different, we act different in different parts of our lives.
00:18:22.620 And I think this man, it was a different context.
00:18:25.610 They saw him as the blind beggar
00:18:28.200 Be honest, they probably never really paid much attention to him.
00:18:31.240 They recognized him so much, but they probably walked by him every day on the way
00:18:34.900 to the temple, on the way home, and he just became obscure to them.
00:18:39.240 Just like many of the people on the corners of the streets in downtown or even in
00:18:43.260 Monroeville, and you see people begging, we usually don't pay much attention to
00:18:47.100 them. We just keep going. We just walk on by, and they become nothing.
00:18:51.160 So what happens is this man comes back, he's standing upright, he's seeing,
00:18:55.180 he's speaking, he has life in him now, and they're like, "He looks like that guy,
00:18:59.580 but he doesn't look like that guy." And that should be said about us.
00:19:03.780 The more we become followers of Jesus, and when you begin your
00:19:07.300 relationship with God, you begin to follow Jesus, people should say,
00:19:11.230 "You look like that person, but you don't look like that person.
00:19:14.760 You look similar but, man, there's something different about you. You have joy.
00:19:18.590 You used to never smile. You used to be negative and crotchety and all those
00:19:22.120 things, but now you're happy, and there's joy, and there's peace, and
00:19:26.020 you're talking different, you're acting different." That should be what everyone
00:19:29.680 says about us, and the more we walk with Jesus, the more
00:19:33.620 we should look different than the way we used to look in our past.
00:19:37.890 This man, he says, "Yes, I am the same
00:19:41.600 one." He doesn't hide his identity.
00:19:44.680 He says, "I got a new identity. I'm not the blind beggar anymore.
00:19:47.900 I'm the guy that Jesus healed." He wanted to talk about it.
00:19:51.220 He wanted to make sure people knew who he was, and that's what we're going to be
00:19:54.960 celebrating baptisms here in about 30 minutes or so.
00:19:57.700 People identifying with Jesus, saying, "Yes, I used to be
00:20:01.720 this way, but now I'm this way. I am the one who follows Jesus,"
00:20:05.980 and they're making a public declaration of the work that Jesus Christ has
00:20:09.880 done on the inside of them. That's what water baptism is all about, and it's going
00:20:13.000 to be a huge celebration, so I want to make sure you stick around for that
00:20:17.640 all the way through to the end of the service today.
00:20:19.700 So the neighbors and the people there, they're asking him, "Well, who healed you?
00:20:23.980 What happened?" Like, "Okay, you are the guy.
00:20:26.480 How did it happen?" In verse 11, he told them, "The man they call
00:20:30.200 Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, 'Go
00:20:34.160 to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.' So I went and washed, and
00:20:38.200 now I can see." Now, I find it interesting he left out the spit
00:20:42.060 part. But whatever, we'll keep going. He mentioned the mud, he mentioned the water.
00:20:45.780 He doesn't talk about the spit. "But where is he now?" They ask in verse 12.
00:20:49.980 "I don't know," he replied. Then they took the man who had been
00:20:53.340 blind to the Pharisees. Why did they take him to the Pharisees?
00:20:57.120 Well, the Pharisees were the spiritual authority of the time.
00:21:01.340 So the Levitical law, actually, anytime somebody was sick or had
00:21:05.260 an infection or disease, or somebody received a healing, they would take the
00:21:09.240 people to the Pharisees. The Pharisees are like the priests.
00:21:12.800 They're the religious leaders. They had to inspect them to make sure that they were
00:21:16.840 actually clean, to make sure that they actually were healed before they could be
00:21:20.800 reintegrated back into society. There's reasons for that.
00:21:24.140 So the custom was this man has been blind, now he's healed,
00:21:28.160 we take him to the Pharisees, the people who should know what to do with a guy
00:21:32.120 like this. The Bible actually tells us why they brought him there.
00:21:35.200 It says in verse 14, "Because it was on the
00:21:38.880 Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him.
00:21:42.600 The Pharisees asked the man all about it.
00:21:45.260 So he told them, 'He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it
00:21:49.240 away, I could see.'" So a second time, he has to explain.
00:21:52.740 He explains to his neighbors and friends and people who knew him, "Hey, why are you
00:21:56.000 different? How did this happen?" "Jesus did it." Then they go take him to the
00:22:00.040 Pharisees, and they say, "Hey, how did this happen?" He says, "Jesus did it.
00:22:03.100 He put mud on my eyes. I washed it away, and now I can see."
00:22:07.260 But some of the Pharisees, in verse 16, said, "This man
00:22:10.800 Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the
00:22:14.660 Sabbath." Now, the only accusation they really had at this point
00:22:18.660 against Jesus was that he made mud on the Sabbath.
00:22:22.380 The Sabbath was Saturday, the Shabbat, the holy day.
00:22:24.800 It's the day you weren't supposed to do any kind of work, like bare minimum,
00:22:28.560 absolutely nothing, and they considered that making that mud into clay and putting
00:22:32.220 it over his eyes was work. And to the letter of the law, it was.
00:22:36.720 But that's the only thing that could be said about Jesus, yet they don't
00:22:40.540 say, "Praise God, you can see. Wow, that's amazing
00:22:44.440 that now you can see. You've been born blind.
00:22:46.140 We should dig into this some more." This man, though, they
00:22:49.940 claimed he wasn't from God simply because he was working on the Sabbath.
00:22:53.380 But others said, "Well, how can an ordinary sinner do such
00:22:56.920 miraculous signs?" So there was a deep division of
00:23:00.760 opinion among them. Again, they don't praise God.
00:23:04.280 They don't give glory to God for this man who was living in
00:23:07.880 blindness and now can see. They just wanted to attack Jesus.
00:23:12.320 And Jesus is the person who's been the most attacked, I believe, over history,
00:23:16.420 especially the last 2,000 years, Christianity and Jesus have been
00:23:20.200 attacked more than any other religion. Why is that?
00:23:24.360 Because it's the truth.
00:23:27.200 Here's the newsflash. Not all religions lead to heaven.
00:23:31.060 There's a lie and a misinformation in our world that every
00:23:34.860 religion, all spirituality, leads you to God.
00:23:38.520 It may lead you to God, where God's going to judge you and separate you
00:23:42.340 from his people as not being followers of Jesus.
00:23:45.260 But ultimately, the only religion that points us to God to spend
00:23:48.880 eternity with him is Christianity.
00:23:51.580 True Christianity, following Jesus, his death, his
00:23:55.240 burial, his resurrection, is the only way we can be
00:23:58.600 saved. That's why Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.
00:24:02.920 No one
00:24:05.200 comes to the Father except through me." That all religions
00:24:09.100 cannot exist and be true at the same time.
00:24:13.020 All religions point to Jesus as a prophet, as a Messiah.
00:24:17.060 All major religions actually talk about Jesus, and Jesus only talks about
00:24:21.000 himself. I'm sticking with that guy.
00:24:23.660 I'm sticking with the guy who predicted his death, burial, and resurrection, and
00:24:27.460 then he pulled it off. I'm sticking with a guy who healed thousands and thousands
00:24:31.192 of people. He rose from the dead. He ascended to heaven.
00:24:34.772 I'm sticking with him. Not the dead guys who've talked about them being gods,
00:24:38.732 but the one who is God in the flesh. How about you?
00:24:43.812 Jesus consistently did things that violated the letter
00:24:47.732 of the law, the inklings of the law, but he never violated the heart
00:24:51.692 of the law. In fact, he kept the heart of the law where the Pharisees,
00:24:55.852 they were good at, like Jesus said, "You wash the outside of the cup.
00:24:59.092 You make yourself look good. You go through the motions.
00:25:01.512 You have good behavior, but on the inside, you're dead." He said, "You're like
00:25:05.572 tombstones on the inside. Whitewashed on the outside, but dead on the
00:25:09.332 inside." Jesus came to bring life and life abundantly,
00:25:13.452 not dead religion.
00:25:16.112 But the Pharisees, they again question this man who had been blind and demand.
00:25:20.092 This is the second time they're questioning him.
00:25:22.012 They don't believe the facts of what happened.
00:25:23.832 So then they say, "Well, what's your opinion about this man who healed you?" The
00:25:27.512 man replied, "I think he must be a prophet." The Jewish leaders
00:25:31.672 still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now
00:25:35.552 see. So they called in his parents.
00:25:38.132 They asked him, "Is this your son? Was he born blind?
00:25:41.892 If so, how can he see?" So they don't believe the
00:25:45.372 eyewitness account. They don't believe the facts. They don't believe his opinion.
00:25:49.692 Then they start to question, was he really blind to begin with?
00:25:53.312 So they call in his parents. You see how long, it's like a long trial.
00:25:57.132 It's like, come on, can't you guys just hear and believe?
00:26:01.412 So his parents come in. His parents reply, "We know this is our
00:26:05.192 son and that he was born blind." Great. Validity.
00:26:08.512 We prove this now. "But we don't know how he can see or
00:26:12.512 who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for
00:26:16.272 himself." Now the Bible doesn't tell us how old this man is, but because he's
00:26:20.232 old enough to speak for himself, he's at least 13 years, probably
00:26:24.132 over 20 years old, because that was the age of military, being able to
00:26:28.052 go into the military. He's probably in his adult years at some point.
00:26:31.712 We don't know how old, but he's old enough to answer for himself.
00:26:35.472 Now the parents, the Bible says the very next verse, "His
00:26:39.272 parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders."
00:26:44.252 And the reason I believe the Bible says this is because his parents believed in
00:26:48.072 Jesus, but they were afraid.
00:26:50.702 They believed Jesus, the man who could heal their son of blindness.
00:26:53.721 They knew their son for probably 20 plus years. They knew that he was blind.
00:26:58.112 Here before them is their son who can see.
00:27:00.732 What possible explanation is there?
00:27:03.312 He's saying Jesus did it. I'm going to go with him.
00:27:06.592 I'm going to stick with the guy who's speaking about this man who healed him.
00:27:11.052 His parents said this, they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced
00:27:14.732 that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be
00:27:17.862 expelled from the synagogue. That's why they said, "He is old
00:27:21.892 enough. Ask him." So they were afraid of being
00:27:25.312 excommunicated from the church. They were afraid to be kicked out of the
00:27:28.892 synagogue. They didn't want to be ostracized or looked down on.
00:27:31.932 Even if they really believed in Jesus and who Jesus was, they were still
00:27:35.472 afraid of man. They were afraid of the people.
00:27:38.472 They were afraid of being kicked out of the church.
00:27:41.382 And unfortunately, we have far too many people, probably many of you sitting in
00:27:45.112 this room, you've been excommunicated from a church.
00:27:48.232 You've been kicked out of a church. You've been asked to leave a church.
00:27:51.112 Or maybe your family member, somebody who's been, you've been told to leave.
00:27:54.252 I have people I personally know that they've been kicked out of a church for
00:27:57.082 something they didn't even do. It was for a family member, somebody they knew, and
00:28:00.732 they were asked to leave the church or kicked out.
00:28:03.552 Let me tell you, that's not the heart of God.
00:28:06.112 Now, if you were doing something, you were causing problems, that's a different
00:28:08.852 story. But many times, we put this religious standard so
00:28:12.832 high over what God's heart is for his church.
00:28:16.872 Yes, you may have been asked to leave or kicked out of a church or an organization,
00:28:21.012 but you're not kicked out of God's church. The church is the people.
00:28:24.632 The church is the believers. All followers of Jesus
00:28:28.212 together make up his church, and the heart of God is that you would
00:28:32.192 be a part of his church, part of the body of Christ.
00:28:36.682 So for the second time, they asked the man who had been blind and
00:28:40.572 told him, "God should get the glory for this because we know this man,
00:28:44.112 Jesus, is a sinner." So they hear the facts, they hear the
00:28:47.912 eyewitness account, they prove that he is actually born blind.
00:28:51.752 They have all the testimony. They even get his opinion on the matter.
00:28:55.042 They ask his parents, and they still can't believe, so then they say, "Well,
00:28:59.052 Jesus is a sinner." And the only accusation they had against
00:29:02.872 Jesus is that he made mud on the Sabbath.
00:29:05.872 That was the only thing they had against him at this point.
00:29:09.972 But it's fascinating, he says, "I don't know whether he is a sinner,"
00:29:13.902 the man replied, "but I know this. I was blind, and
00:29:17.432 now I can see." This is the peak, I believe, the
00:29:21.532 highlight verse of this entire chapter, that this man gets to a place
00:29:25.172 where he doesn't have a seminary degree, he doesn't have a PhD, he has a
00:29:28.992 testimony. I once was blind, and now I see.
00:29:33.232 I couldn't see. I've been born blind my entire life, and now here I am
00:29:36.992 looking at you and seeing, and you know what the thing in the middle was?
00:29:40.852 Jesus.
00:29:42.402 And he says, I love how many times throughout John it says, "The man who had
00:29:46.332 been blind." The man who was blind, the man who had a past
00:29:50.132 story, and every single one of us, you have a had been.
00:29:54.412 You had been one way. You used to be this way.
00:29:57.572 And hopefully, you're on the other side where now you can say, "I once was lost,
00:30:01.432 but now I'm found. I once was blind, but now I see.
00:30:05.292 I once was selfish and lived for me and money and
00:30:09.092 stuff, and now I live for the Kingdom of God and to give my life as an
00:30:13.032 offering to him." That's my testimony. I used to be a criminal.
00:30:17.292 I used to be a fornicator. I used to be a thief.
00:30:20.292 I used to be selfish. Now I live with integrity and honesty
00:30:24.412 and righteousness, and I want to serve the Kingdom of God above anything else in
00:30:28.372 this world. And you know what the difference is? Jesus.
00:30:32.552 Jesus did it. I didn't do it, he did.
00:30:36.788 And if you don't have that story, today could be that day where you meet
00:30:40.388 Jesus, you know God, you find freedom in Christ,
00:30:44.288 and you now can have a testimony moving into your future.
00:30:47.668 We all have a had been or a used to be.
00:30:50.608 Let's make sure it stays in the past and we walk forward with
00:30:54.188 Christ.
00:30:55.688 But then they get to this point in verse 26.
00:30:57.548 They say, "But what did he do?" They ask him again, "How did he
00:31:01.448 heal you?" "And look," the man said, "I told you once.
00:31:05.308 Don't you listen? Why do you want to hear it again?
00:31:08.668 Do you want to become his disciples, too?" Now, I read this like he had some
00:31:12.328 sarcasm. Like, "Didn't you listen?" I'm just reading word for
00:31:16.288 word. "Why do you want to hear it again?
00:31:17.968 Do you want to become his disciples, too?" Clearly, they don't.
00:31:21.548 But he adds a little tone to it. So they curse him and say,
00:31:25.508 "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
00:31:29.428 We know God spoke to Moses, but we don't even know where this man comes
00:31:33.228 from." Verse 30. "Why, that's very strange," the man replied.
00:31:37.148 "He healed my eyes, yet you don't know where he comes from.
00:31:40.668 We know that God doesn't listen to sinners, but he is ready to
00:31:44.488 hear those who worship him and do his will.
00:31:47.808 Ever since the world began, no one has been able
00:31:51.688 to open the eyes of someone born blind.
00:31:54.288 If this man were not from God, he couldn't have done it."
00:31:58.368 He couldn't have done it. Now, again, they brought this blind man to the Pharisees
00:32:02.208 because they were the spiritual authority.
00:32:04.108 They should have known the scriptures, the Old Testament. They would have known.
00:32:07.968 That's what they had up to this point, the Torah, the scrolls, the Old
00:32:11.668 Testament traditions of God, what God's been speaking for thousands of
00:32:15.488 years and pointing to Jesus, pointing to this Messiah that's
00:32:19.428 going to come. And there's actually, I picked four, there's many more
00:32:24.668 prophetic messages, verses from the Old Testament that speak
00:32:28.448 about when the Messiah comes, the one who's going to save the world,
00:32:32.588 he's going to redeem us of our sins.
00:32:34.628 When he comes, these are some of the indicators so you know it's him.
00:32:38.648 Because people would come and say, "I'm God, I'm from God," but there wasn't
00:32:42.108 evidence, there wasn't proof that they could do that.
00:32:44.568 Jesus came, in Isaiah, we see the first one here, I believe in 35:5, "Then will
00:32:48.548 the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf
00:32:52.648 unstopped." Jesus healed blind eyes and opened deaf ears.
00:32:57.128 Isaiah 42:7, "To open eyes that are blind, to free
00:33:00.748 captives from prison, to release from the dungeon those who sit
00:33:04.748 in darkness." Next one, Isaiah 29:18, "In
00:33:08.748 that day, the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and
00:33:12.488 darkness, the eyes of the blind will see." Over and
00:33:16.368 over and over again, the evidence of the Messiah was going to be
00:33:20.108 blind eyes opening. And this man said, from the beginning of time,
00:33:24.468 never has somebody born blind been able to receive their
00:33:28.328 sight. Imagine this. This isn't just a miracle.
00:33:31.248 This is a miracle of all miracles, because never had it happened before
00:33:35.128 in history. In Psalm 146:8, "The Lord opens the eyes
00:33:39.188 of the blind. The Lord lifts those who are weighed down."
00:33:43.128 Only God could heal eyesight. Only God could
00:33:47.048 restore sight to the blind. And here's Jesus, fully
00:33:50.788 God, fully man, performing this miracle that
00:33:54.208 proved he is the
00:33:56.308 Messiah. But they're still not receiving
00:34:00.248 him. They're still angry, and they say, "You were born a total
00:34:04.568 sinner." They call him a sinner. They're like, "And we're going to reject you.
00:34:08.748 You're speaking truth," and they reject truth.
00:34:12.368 They reject it. They would not receive this.
00:34:14.058 "Are you trying to teach us?" And they threw him out of the synagogue.
00:34:18.428 They probably physically picked him up and threw him out, pushed him out of the
00:34:21.569 synagogue.
00:34:23.288 How horrible, these men who should have known the truth.
00:34:26.428 They knew the scrolls, they knew the scripture better than anybody.
00:34:29.589 They would have been reading these verses in Isaiah and Psalms over and over again,
00:34:33.308 year after year, and yet they were missing it.
00:34:36.228 They were missing it completely
00:34:38.268 because they were stuck in their own ways.
00:34:39.808 They're stuck in seeing people as problems rather than seeing people as God
00:34:43.589 sees them.
00:34:44.908 At this point, just take a quick break.
00:34:46.948 If you're going to be being baptized or baptizing somebody and you need to go get
00:34:50.988 changed, I'm going to give you some time right now to go do that, a couple minutes.
00:34:54.268 You can head out to the back and get changed, but we're going to keep on going
00:34:58.248 with the next verse,
00:34:59.968 verse 35.
00:35:02.068 When Jesus heard what had happened,
00:35:05.628 he found the man and asked, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
00:35:10.968 The Pharisees treated this man so poorly.
00:35:13.848 They accused him, they questioned him again and again.
00:35:16.048 They bring his parents in, then they end up kicking him out of the synagogue.
00:35:19.108 They kicked him out, probably to never welcome him back in.
00:35:22.168 A man who could have been and should have been brought up on stage or before the
00:35:25.288 people and say, "Testify of what God did for you." Instead, they threw him
00:35:29.108 out.
00:35:31.008 Instead of letting him share what God has done inside of him.
00:35:33.308 But Jesus, he handles it very differently.
00:35:36.208 Jesus says sometime later, he found the man, and he asked him, "Do you
00:35:40.008 believe in the Son of Man?" The man answered, "Who is he,
00:35:43.708 sir? I want to believe in him."
00:35:47.648 See, up to this point, the Son of Man was a term that actually Jesus used to
00:35:51.068 reference himself more than any other term, especially here in the
00:35:54.748 Gospel of John. The Son of Man was the one who was bridging the
00:35:58.748 gap from humanity to the divinity.
00:36:02.048 That throughout the Old Testament, there was prophets like Ezekiel and different
00:36:05.088 prophets that were called references Son of Man because they took the words from
00:36:08.568 God, messages from God, and spoke it to the people.
00:36:11.568 They bridged the gap from God to mankind.
00:36:14.568 Jesus declared himself over and over again as the Son
00:36:18.568 of Man, the one who came, left heaven, came to Earth to bridge the
00:36:22.548 gap from where we are in our death and our sin and our humanity
00:36:26.528 and our flesh to be eternal with God, to divine with
00:36:30.548 God. Jesus was fully God and fully man.
00:36:33.848 The man answers, he goes, "Who is he, sir?
00:36:35.768 I want to believe in him." He's saying, "I want to believe in the one that bridges
00:36:39.508 God to humanity." And Jesus says, "You are looking at him.
00:36:42.768 You have seen him."
00:36:44.800 And he is speaking to you.
00:36:47.340 Jesus is clear as day, says, "I am
00:36:51.100 God.
00:36:52.360 The one — the Son of Man — is speaking to you. You've seen him.
00:36:55.420 You're looking at him right now. You can literally see him." And he says, "Yes,
00:36:59.160 Lord, I believe," and the man said, and he worshiped Jesus
00:37:03.160 as a result. In verse 39, Jesus told him, "I entered this
00:37:06.960 world to render judgment, to give sight to the blind, and to show
00:37:10.920 those who think they see that they are actually blind."
00:37:15.620 Jesus came not just for the religious types or the really good people.
00:37:19.900 He came for those who know they were blind.
00:37:22.460 If you think you're not blind, you may be deceived.
00:37:26.240 If you know, "I once was blind, and now I see," that's
00:37:29.960 who Jesus came for. He came for those who
00:37:33.660 know that they're blind. They know they're desperate for God.
00:37:36.640 They know they need God to save them, rather than the people who think they
00:37:40.600 have it all together.
00:37:42.320 So if you grew up or you're living here, you're living right now today, you think
00:37:45.440 you have it all together, and you don't need God, you're deceived.
00:37:49.839 But if you acknowledge, "I'm blind.
00:37:52.300 I'm spiritually in darkness," or you used to be, and you need Jesus
00:37:56.280 to be the light in your world, then that's who Jesus came for.
00:37:59.660 Jesus came for you to witness and see the light of the
00:38:03.500 world, to know him in a real way. John 8:12, the
00:38:07.520 last one I'm going to, before we close up here shortly.
00:38:10.920 It says, "Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world.
00:38:12.960 If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will
00:38:16.880 have the light that leads to life.'"
00:38:21.170 "I am the light of the world," Jesus says.
00:38:25.380 I used to be blind. I used to be selfish.
00:38:28.340 I used to see people as problems, but now I have a new way of looking, and
00:38:32.420 I know most of you do, too. He says, "If you follow me,
00:38:36.680 you won't have to walk in darkness." It's conditional.
00:38:39.560 If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness.
00:38:43.260 If you follow me, you can have the light that leads to life, and Jesus came to
00:38:47.100 give life and life abundantly.
00:38:50.200 Right? It's a conditional thing. He doesn't just give it to you.
00:38:53.260 He offers it. We have to receive it. We have to accept it.
00:38:57.440 We can reject God, but we must take the place of saying, "If you follow
00:39:01.540 me, then you will not have to walk in darkness." And let me
00:39:05.420 tell you, there's so many people walking and living in darkness all around us.
00:39:09.700 There's people spiritually blind, going through life hopeless,
00:39:13.460 without purpose, without meaning, with anxiety and depression and on
00:39:17.440 all kinds of mental illness medications.
00:39:19.740 There's so many people living in fear and torment.
00:39:23.480 And you know what I see when I look around the room?
00:39:26.000 I see all of you, but I also see all the empty chairs.
00:39:29.160 And I don't care about attendance, but those empty chairs represent people's
00:39:32.660 lives. They represent people that are living in spiritual
00:39:36.120 darkness, that they don't know Jesus.
00:39:38.740 There's tens of thousands of people right here in our community that need
00:39:42.600 Jesus. They're living hopeless and in despair, and they are
00:39:46.300 waiting for somebody to invite them to sit next to them.
00:39:50.120 They're inviting somebody to answer to them, "How do I
00:39:53.800 experience life in the light of Jesus?" They might not know how to
00:39:57.760 ask, but we're called to go. You're called to go share the
00:40:01.880 good news. It's, yes, it's a step to say, "Will you come sit with me?"
00:40:06.040 But also, go and be the light of the world.
00:40:09.440 Go and be a change agent in people's lives.
00:40:12.940 Go take Jesus, the light of the world, to as many people as you can,
00:40:17.180 loving them, seeing them, not just their problems, but seeing
00:40:20.800 them for who they are,
00:40:23.180 and love them into the kingdom of God.
00:40:25.920 If you're able to, would you please stand to your feet?
00:40:28.580 I want to lead us in a time of prayer.
00:40:35.460 If you just close your eyes, bow your head, just to eliminate some of the
00:40:38.540 distractions. If you're watching online, encourage you to just close your eyes if
00:40:41.980 you're not driving, and just join us as I pray.
00:40:44.440 Heavenly Father, we thank you, God, for your Son, Jesus.
00:40:48.180 We thank you that we have the light of the world that's available to us, that we
00:40:51.600 don't have to walk in darkness. We don't have to live in darkness anymore.
00:40:54.880 We don't have to live in anxiety and fear and depression and all the stuff of this
00:40:58.920 world. But we can have life and light eternally.
00:41:03.340 God, we thank you that, Jesus, you came and died. You rose again.
00:41:07.020 That you ascended to heaven. You came to set us free.
00:41:10.900 And whoever the Son sets free is free indeed, and we
00:41:14.540 declare that over each and every one of our lives.
00:41:17.500 God, I pray for every single person in this room, that, God, we would have a heart
00:41:21.480 and a spiritual eyesight to see people
00:41:25.680 as you see them, to love people as you love them.
00:41:29.360 God, to welcome people, to invite people to
00:41:32.900 join us
00:41:34.980 in the light of the world as we go and share you with people.
00:41:38.260 God, I pray that you would use us mightily.
00:41:40.400 God, break our heart for what breaks yours.
00:41:43.280 God, may we be bold and confident in you, that we don't boast in
00:41:47.220 our ability, but God, we boast in the truth that we once were,
00:41:51.120 and now we're different, and the thing that's different — that made it possible — is Jesus
00:41:55.080 Christ.
00:41:56.510 And God, I pray right now in this attitude of prayer with every head bowed and
00:41:59.640 every eye closed, if there's anybody in this room right now,
00:42:03.940 that you don't know what your story is.
00:42:06.600 Maybe you don't know if you have a used to be or a had been,
00:42:10.180 but you want that to be the case. You want to have that story of, I used to be this
00:42:13.940 way. I used to live this way. I used to act this way. I used to talk this way.
00:42:17.569 And now I'm going to live differently because of Jesus.
00:42:22.800 That you know that you have not been living right by God.
00:42:25.760 You know you've done bad things. You know you've been in sin, but you want to
00:42:28.620 repent of that lifestyle, and you want to walk with God from this day
00:42:32.400 forward. That you want to be a new creation,
00:42:35.660 and you say, "God, I ask for you to forgive me. I turn from my sins.
00:42:39.420 I turn from my past. And God, I want to now have that story.
00:42:43.280 Not for the story's sake, but God, to bring you glory.
00:42:46.200 God, that my life would be not my own.
00:42:47.920 My life would be changed and transformed because of your grace and
00:42:51.800 because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross."
00:42:55.470 If you're here today and you say, "I want to make that decision," that 'if' you
00:42:59.130 follow Jesus, you won't have to walk in darkness.
00:43:01.550 That 'if' moment comes right here, right now.
00:43:06.630 I want you to do something really bold and brave.
00:43:09.730 Just slip up your hand if that's you, say, "I want to follow Jesus."
00:43:13.830 You want to make that decision,
00:43:16.110 maybe you need to recommit your life to Jesus,
00:43:19.350 just slip up your hand. I'm going to pray for you right where you are.
00:43:23.390 Amen. Heavenly Father, I pray for every hand raised, every heart making that
00:43:26.670 decision right now to trust in you, to follow you, God.
00:43:29.670 Thank you that it's not by our good works that we are saved, but it's by your grace
00:43:33.510 that we are saved. God, I pray that their story would be a story of I once was
00:43:37.170 this, but now I'm this. I once was in bondage, but now I'm free.
00:43:41.110 I once was spiritually blind, but now I see with eyes that
00:43:45.090 God has given me. God, and I pray that they would continue to boast of the
00:43:49.010 goodness of God, the faithfulness of you, God, and God, they would point
00:43:53.090 people to you. Use each and every one of us to point people to you,
00:43:57.170 King Jesus, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, the only one
00:44:01.110 deserving of our praise,
00:44:03.590 worthy of our worship. God, we lift up your name and we
00:44:07.290 celebrate you today. In Jesus' name, amen.
00:44:09.870 Let's give God a great big hand. Every person who made that decision, welcome
00:44:13.710 home.
00:44:14.810 Amen. You guys can be seated. Carlos, take it away.
>> Carlos
00:44:22.150 Amen. And Pastor Eric, thank you for that word.
00:44:25.060 And what a powerful reminder, right?
00:44:27.770 To just shine the light of Jesus for everyone.
00:44:30.690 And really, one of the reasons that I love when we gather together as a church is
00:44:34.770 that we just don't come to hear God's word, but we come to
00:44:38.670 be inspired and be moved by the word of God. Amen.
00:44:41.830 And one of the things that we
00:44:45.850 can do that is an act
00:44:49.850 of worship in how we respond to God, and we can do that through
00:44:53.830 our generosity. By the way, worship isn't just the songs that
00:44:57.770 we sing in the service, like in the beginning of the service, and then we do
00:45:01.650 three or four songs. Worship is also how you live and
00:45:05.610 how you respond to the Lord. Amen. And we can
00:45:09.530 do that by our giving, through our generosity.
00:45:12.430 And here at Freedom Church, we have a couple opportunities that you can partner
00:45:16.470 with us.
00:45:18.070 There are different ways that you can do that.
00:45:20.030 But before I mention those
00:45:22.370 different ways to do it, I just want to remind us that everything that
00:45:26.360 happens here, the life change that you'd see,
00:45:30.410 how we do ministry, and even the people that are going to get baptized, all of
00:45:34.430 that is done because of your faithfulness, because of your giving,
00:45:38.230 because of your generosity. As I mentioned, there are different ways that you can
00:45:41.250 do that. You can do it through check, or you can do it through
00:45:45.930 cash. There are some boxes there located in the back of the
00:45:49.490 auditorium. You can do it digitally as well.
00:45:52.710 There's a QR code that you can see there on the screen right behind me.
00:45:56.270 You can scan that QR code. You can do it through the Church Center app as well, if
00:46:00.030 you prefer to do it. Or you can just visit the website as well.
00:46:03.910 Whichever
00:46:05.250 method, we're just grateful that you get to partner with us, and we just thank you
00:46:09.170 for your generosity and your faithfulness.
00:46:11.490 Speaking of getting connected and being generous, hey, we just want to
00:46:15.370 welcome everybody who is attending today for the first time.
00:46:18.690 If you're a first-time guest, we just want to welcome you.
00:46:21.570 Church, in fact, would you put your hands together today for our first-time guests?
00:46:27.380 Yes. That is for you. If you're visiting for the first time,
00:46:31.410 maybe you just received Jesus into your heart through that prayer that Pastor Eric
00:46:34.850 made with you. You are our special guest today, and we'd
00:46:38.770 just love to have an opportunity to connect with you, tell you a little bit, get
00:46:42.750 your name, of course, right, get to know you, hear about your story.
00:46:46.850 But we'd also love to have an opportunity to tell you a little bit more of what
00:46:50.170 Freedom is all about, Freedom Church is all about.
00:46:53.050 But also, we just want to get you connected in a way so
00:46:57.070 that we can help you find and discover your purpose, but
00:47:00.930 also you can make an impact right here at Freedom Church. There is a place for you.
00:47:05.010 God has blessed you in a way, and we would love to walk you
00:47:08.970 through that and get you connected and get you plugged in.
00:47:11.010 So
00:47:12.150 again, if this is your first time, just fill out that connect card.
00:47:15.510 You can tap the cards right there in the seat back in front of you, or you can
00:47:19.030 simply
00:47:20.090 scan the QR code. Again, give us that opportunity.
00:47:22.590 There's a gift that we have back there for you available as well.
00:47:26.530 We'd love to get to know you today. Amen.
00:47:29.330 So,
00:47:30.490 there are a couple things that are happening right now here at Freedom.
00:47:34.630 One of those is there's a women's event happening on September
00:47:38.310 12th at 9:00 a.m. It's going to be at breakfast time.
00:47:41.570 Yes, that's why it's in the morning, ladies.
00:47:43.830 But we'd love for the ladies to sign up.
00:47:45.930 It would be a great time for you to get connected.
00:47:49.770 If there's an opportunity, that's where it is.
00:47:52.310 So guys, if you're with your wife or with your spouse,
00:47:56.590 or with your partner or your girlfriend, go ahead and elbow them right
00:48:00.550 now and just tell them, "Hey, you need to sign up and you need to come." It's going
00:48:04.330 to be a great time for all the ladies to experience that.
00:48:07.140 And by the way, guys, don't worry. There's a time
00:48:10.930 also for us. That's going to be September the 14th at 6:00 p.m.
00:48:15.290 It's going to be a great time of fellowship and connecting with each other.
00:48:18.690 I believe we're going to have
00:48:20.870 pulled pork nachos or something like that.
00:48:23.270 So yes, guys, there's going to be food.
00:48:25.110 But what I would love to ask you though, for both the
00:48:29.110 ladies and the guys, that QR code that you see on the screen is
00:48:32.930 merely for you to sign up so that we can get enough food.
00:48:37.230 That's really it. Don't worry, we're not going to bombard you with information and
00:48:40.650 craziness or anything like that. We're not going to try to sell you a timeshare or
00:48:43.870 anything like that. We just simply would love to order enough food for
00:48:47.510 everybody so that we're all good. Amen.
00:48:49.910 And we'd love for you to get connected.
00:48:52.450 We'd love for you to just meet other people.
00:48:55.630 Sometimes we're longing for community.
00:48:57.310 We don't realize how much we need each other.
00:49:00.430 That's what the church is about
00:49:02.630 Amen? Amen. So yes, come on. Yes.
00:49:06.110 See? They're getting the message. You're getting the message.
00:49:07.950 You're starting to get it. But hey, we'd love for you to sign up.
00:49:11.090 We'd love for you to get connected. We'd love to see you in one of those events.
00:49:15.230 Hey, now,
00:49:16.990 are you guys ready for baptisms?
00:49:19.390 Anybody excited?
00:49:21.190 Yes. I'm excited. I'm so pumped. Hey,
00:49:25.650 I just want to ask us, as we move into this time, people
00:49:29.630 are going to get baptized. I just want to encourage us, as people come out of the
00:49:32.710 water, let's just make some noise, like wild noise in this
00:49:36.370 house today. You know why? Because they're going public with their faith, and
00:49:40.350 they're declaring that Jesus is Lord of their lives. Amen? Amen.
>> Pastor Eric
00:49:45.890 All right. It's time for baptisms, one of my favorite times here at Freedom
00:49:49.790 Church. We're so excited. So first one
00:49:53.490 up, come on up on stage. This is a time for them to
00:49:56.830 declare what has happened on the inside.
00:49:58.920 It's a public declaration of what Jesus Christ has done on the
00:50:02.630 inside of their hearts. And when they come up out of the water, as Carlos said,
00:50:06.370 we're going to have a big celebration.
00:50:07.809 So feel free to stand up, cheer, and shout as they come up out of this water.
00:50:11.830 The old life being gone, the new life resurrected in Christ.
00:50:15.610 Amen? Amen. So we're going to ask you a question, and then you get to get dunked in
00:50:19.190 the water. What is your name, and why do you want to be
00:50:22.410 baptized? Jack Fanning. Just
00:50:26.690 getting out of the way and letting...
00:50:29.070 It's His time, not my time, so... Amen.
00:50:42.270 Jack Fanning, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son,
00:50:46.070 and the Holy Spirit.
00:50:59.090 Praise God. We're going to keep it going here.
00:51:00.890 What's your name, and why do you want to be baptized?
00:51:03.570 My name is David Daley, and I want to further my relationship with
00:51:07.350 God.
00:51:08.550 Taking that next step. All right.
00:51:19.710 David Daley, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
00:51:23.370 Spirit.
00:51:34.460 All right. What's your name, and why do you want to be baptized?
00:51:36.730 My name is Camden Daley, and I just want to give my life to the Lord.
00:51:40.410 Amen.
00:51:41.790 Let's celebrate that.
00:51:50.670 Camden Daley, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
00:51:54.290 Spirit.
00:52:04.270 All right. I've known this little dude his whole life. I'm so excited.
00:52:06.970 What's your name, and why do you want to get baptized?
00:52:08.810 My name is Sully, and I want to be baptized because I want to be a child of
00:52:12.650 God.
00:52:13.290 Amen.
00:52:34.630 Sully McRae, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
00:52:50.600 It's so awesome to see the young ones getting baptized, giving their lives to Jesus
00:52:54.330 at such a young age. That is amazing. All right.
00:52:57.250 What's your name, and why do you want to be baptized?
00:52:59.790 My name is Natalie, and I want to be baptized because I'm ready to give my life to
00:53:03.430 God. Amen.
00:53:19.610 Natalie Armour, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
00:53:23.650 Spirit.
00:53:30.990 All right. Let's give God praise in this place.
00:53:35.190 He is so good, a God that redeems and restores and transforms
00:53:39.130 lives, and we get to celebrate that this morning.
00:53:43.330 Yep. There you go. Yep. We're so glad that you were here with us
00:53:47.190 today. Let me pray, and then we'll be dismissed. God, we thank you for life change.
00:53:50.790 We thank you for the celebration. We thank you for lives that have gone from
00:53:54.630 death to life, Lord Jesus. And we thank you that we are here to celebrate
00:53:58.610 and witness that.
00:54:00.330 Lord, help us to be changed and transformed out of this room to make a difference
00:54:03.950 in the lives of others this week. That we would truly see people this
00:54:07.850 week in our lives. We praise you, we thank you, and
00:54:11.790 give you all the praise and all the honor. It's in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
00:54:15.740 Amen. You're dismissed. Have a great week.