Hope Church LV Sermons
Guest Speaker :: Tom Richter
- What a great week and what a privilege to be a part of that week. It was actually my second chance to be the Camp Pastor for Hope Baptist Church's summer camp. I was here in '08 and what a privilege and what an honor to be back. And not just to be back at the student camp but also to be with you here on your weekend worship services. Thank you so much. What an honor and a privilege to Pastor Vance. Thank you and Travis and Jay and Mike and all of the members, really, what a privilege. My name is Travis and my name is Tom Richter and I'm a pastor in Queens, New York, which I always have to laugh 'cause I'm not originally from Queens, New York City. I'm originally from Kentucky and it's still weird wearing shoes up there. But I look up and I'm in the birthplace of 50% in Ja Rule and Run DMC in Pastor Tom. Like what am I doing? It's so good to go and to share it, different places from Queens all the way around the country and when I go and speak at places when Hope Baptist Church asked me to come and speak, it was a no brainer. I didn't even have to think about it and I'll tell you why. I get the sense, just what this video said, investing in the next generation. Look, I get the sense when I go to a lot of churches that they invest in the next generation, sure. But it's something like this. We invest in our youth group and we pour into our young people and our children because, and they'll even say, because they are the church of the future. At Hope I get the sense that it's different. At Hope I get the sense that you invest in the youth and you invest in your children, you invest in the next generation because they are the church, period. That you believe that they are every bit as powerful in the body of Christ, every bit as meaningful, every bit as valued, that the spirit of God can rest upon a seventh grader and he can go share his faith with his friends every bit as powerfully as Billy Graham. That the spirit of God can move and stir in the life of a sophomore girl and she can gather with her friends on her athletic team. She can share the gospel and explain the difference Jesus Christ has made in her life. It's not the church of the future that, man, we gotta take care of these children's ministry 'cause they're gonna support us when we're too old to tithe. You know what right? It's the, man, they're the church now. And we believe in them and I get that sense and so I'm delighted to be able to partner with you this week and to share with you students and now to share with you and what we shared with you students, look, just because you, now having said that, just because you grow up in church, I myself grew up in church. You may be like me now, you, you know, people come from all different kind of places in their journey with God and you may be new to the whole thing, you may be new to this whole journey. In fact, it may be your first time ever in a church, right? But it could be that you're like, man, you grew up in church just because you grow up in this stuff doesn't always make it easy. It doesn't make you a disciple of Jesus Christ. It doesn't automatically make you a sold out follower of Christ, right? In fact, sometimes, and when I say I grew up in church, you need to understand, I mean, I grew up in, like I was, I was in church nine months before I was born, man, I was a fetus, worshiping the Lord with my gills or whatever. You understand, like I grew up in this and I remember as a kid, even as an early on, seeing like the difficulties of knowing that I'm supposed to get this stuff, knowing that I'm supposed to be close to God and I'm not supposed to be clueless, I'm supposed to understand and the loneliness of feeling that maybe I wasn't getting it like I should. And it would show up in all kinds of different ways, little ways, like some of you know what I mean, we would pile into the minivan on the way to church, filled with rage. You know, on a Sunday morning and I had my two sisters, why do you always make us late? No, you always make us late. I can't stand either of you, right? Dad's doing the thing where he's driving with one hand and smacking us with the mother hand, right? You know, and you're dodging the go-go gadget dad in the back, Mom's trying to calm everybody down with Sandy Patty on the eight track. It's not cutting it. You know that feeling? Filled with murderous rage, we pull into the parking lot of the church of God who is peace and comfort. (congregation laughing) We open the door to the minivan, screaming at each other, we open the door to the minivan, and what happens? Bing! (congregation laughing) And people will come up to my mom, "How are you today, Mr. Richter?" And she'd be like, "We're blessed." (congregation laughing) I remember as a kid seeing that going, "We're not blessed, devil, woman, look around!" (congregation laughing) "What van are you riding in?" I remember getting that as a young guy, and I'd get to church, and it didn't get easier. It didn't get easier for me. I'm the Christian kid, I'm supposed to get this, and I'd get there, and the preacher would be like, "Turn to the book of Nehu." And I'm like, "Nehu?" (congregation laughing) It didn't help that I was always sitting next to a little Becky Bible drill who's like, "I have found it, and begun translating it from the Hebrew." (congregation laughing) I'm sitting in the front in the table of contents. I don't think it's in mine, right? (congregation laughing) And what a lonely feeling. (congregation laughing) Ultimately, I think I am a Jesus follower for this reason. When he was here on earth, he made people who felt like God was a million miles away from their understanding. He made him realize God is not and is never as far away as you think. The kingdom is here. And for everybody who feels that loneliness that man, the people next to me are getting this God thing. They seem to understand it, and their family doesn't look nearly as dysfunctional as my family, right? Everybody who sees that, right? When Jesus was here on earth, he made the people understand God was right there, that God is not as far as we think. He had a way of making the difficult understandable. He had a way of, you know, they had religious teachers in Jesus' days, sure, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, but it seems like all they did was make God even more difficult. It was like the Pharisees and Sadducees made everything about what can we do to appease God? What can we do to please him? Surely we must follow his laws, and surely we must follow his commandments perfectly, or else he will be angry with us. And many people still have this notion of God that we've got to figure out he's so far away and so high up there, we've got to figure out what to do to please him. And so they studied the law, they studied the commandments. Now, quick quiz to embarrass and hopefully encourage your pastor. Church, do not help them, Vance. Church, how many commandments are there? Yeah, okay, I don't ask hard questions, that's right. That's right, there's 10 commandments, but if you read the book of Leviticus, which no one ever has, it turns out there's more than 10 commandments, there's 613 commandments. Everything from don't kill? That's a good one. To don't boil a goat in its mother's milk. I don't know. There's one in there, don't wear a shirt woven of two types of material. Any cotton polypagans in here right now? Yeah, 50/50 blend, he then sure. And so obviously the Pharisees kind of figured this out on their own. The Pharisees realized, now wait a minute, if there's all these commandments, we need to decide which ones are really important and which ones can you kind of break? And surely God does not treat all of these things the same. I mean, surely he doesn't care about murder as much as he care about wearing a shirt woven of two types of material and so he kind of figured all that out and I mean, we kind of have that same notion today. I mean, I know every now and then a student will come up to me at camp and be like, well, Pastor Tom, I believe that all sin is equal. And I'm like, look Martin Luther, all sin, yes. It's equal in the sense that it's equally bad and breaks the heart of God, but all sin's not like equal, equal. And like, if you wake up one morning and you're like, I want to sin, but I don't know which one. I'm either gonna lie to Pastor Tom Richter or I'm gonna murder him. Lie, dude, lie. It ain't equal, it ain't equal to me by a lie. You understand? So the Pharisees got this and so they would debate what's the greatest command? Well, I think it's the one about Sabbath and somebody else would say, I think it's the one about, you know, thou shalt not steal and so forth and so on. And they loved to debate the commandments and the more they debated, the more complicated God got, the more religion felt so difficult. And then Jesus shows up with an entirely different approach. He tells stories, hey y'all, hey Jesus, stop me if you heard this one, say one of you has a hundred sheep. And the people were like, I have sheep, yes, as do I. He is relevant to our culture. (congregation laughing) Go on, sheep, man, with these stories. And Jesus says, so you're putting them to bed at night and you're counting them up 96, 97, 98, 99, uh-huh. And you're missing one, what do you do? Like, I don't know, go on, he says, you don't just leave them there, right? I mean, you don't just say, well, well, 99's good enough. No, no, no, the good shepherd goes out looking for that lost sheep, you know, he climbs high over the mountains and down into the valleys, through the brushes and the brambles, no matter what danger, at great personal cost to the shepherd, he goes seeking, he goes looking for that lost sheep and he yells out into the wilderness, he calls out into the desert, he screams out into the canyon until his voice grows hoarse and the name of that lost sheep that he screamed out was your name. And he kept looking until he found that missing sheep there and on the edge of danger and destruction, he takes that sheep, puts it on his shoulders, brings it home, and Jesus asks the people, you know that feeling when you lose something really valuable and you find it, they're like, yes, of course he goes, that's what heaven feels like. When somebody's far from God and God chases them down, when a sinner who's moving away from God, God overwhelms them with his love and brings them home. And suddenly everybody gets that. I mean, I get that, the good news of the gospel is not that I, one day decided I would come to God, like, hey God, here I am, I'm ready for salvation, let's do this, you're lucky to have me on your team now. The good news of the gospel is that I hated God and in my sin I hated every act of grace he tried to show me, I ran from God and the good news of the gospel is he outran me. And he found me and he brought me home, I would never interrupt people in my church to give testimony, it's funny, I mean, they have great heart, I know what they mean, but I sometimes laugh to myself when people are like, I'll never forget the day, I found Jesus. And I always wanna be like, Jesus wasn't lost. You know, like, where is that, under the couch? Jesus, silly rabbi, all right, yeah. The good news of the gospel is that, man, he found me. He found me, none of us would want to turn to God, that's what it means to be a sinner, but God demonstrates his own love toward us in this, while we were still sinners, what Christ died for us. He's so good. And so when the Pharisees and Sadducees, they couldn't stand him, I mean, he spoke his one with authority, and not just that story, but so many others. And the people got the notion that, man, this guy speaks with authority, he is the son of God, I believe him in the Pharisees, they couldn't take it. And so they said, we've gotta trick him. We've gotta trap him. And the way we're gonna do it is this, we've waited until the triumphal entry, and there he's gathered around all his followers, we need to make him look foolish in front of all his followers. And so in Matthew chapter 22, we see them form a little Pharisee huddle, and they get together to plan their trick question. Jesus is dealing with the Sadducees, and he's answering their trick question, 'cause they didn't really like him either, and they were trying to trick him, and the Pharisees got together, right? And they're saying, we've gotta come up with the perfect trick question. The question that will make him look stupid in front of all his followers, I've got it. Oh, that's good, I know, I thought of it, okay. So you're gonna ask him? Yeah, when he's done with the Sadducees, I'm gonna ask him. Okay, you ready? All right, let's get pumped up. Here we go, high V! Would've been five, but it's Roman numerals, so. (congregation laughing) In Matthew chapter 22, verse 34, here it is. This is a good question, ready? Okay, I'm gonna ask him. Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Bible says the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question. He walks up to Jesus, he straightens his toga. (congregation laughing) And he says this, teacher, what's the greatest commandment in the law? And if you look in the original Greek after that, everybody went, oh snap, why? You have to go to seminary to learn that, but. Why? Because that's a bomb question, that is a killer question. No matter what, it's one of those questions, no matter what Jesus answers, it's gonna be wrong. Teacher, what's the greatest commandment in the law? It's a trick question. Have you ever been asked a question that no matter what you answer, it's gonna be wrong? That's right, we call it algebra. A squared plus B squared equals failure squared, I understand. Right, it's a trick question. I mean think about it, if Jesus chooses one route, he could say, which commandment? I'm gonna say commandment number eight, what's that? Don't steal, fine, that's final answer, don't steal. Then they'll just say, oh, so the other nine commandments simply aren't important. You're a blasphemer and they got him. Or if he says, I don't know. I mean he's only alternative, I don't know, you got me, they're all important, I don't know. Well then you're not as smart as you said you are. How dare you have your followers worship you because you're a blasphemer. You can't even answer a simple question. They got him tricked, they have him trapped. The trouble is, you can't trick Jesus 'cause he like, made you. So he looks back at the Pharisees and says something amazing. He just answers him. Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. That's the first and greatest commandment. Oh, and the second one's just like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments, he said, hang all the law and the prophets. To which the Pharisees must have said. Well that's pretty good, all right. (congregation laughing) How are you? Can you put that verse back up there for a second? Did you guys notice that? Thou shalt love the Lord your God with the first one? Thou shalt love the Lord, there it is. Love the Lord your God with all, can you guys say that with me? All your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. It's the first and greatest commandment. In other words, he's saying, God is not about figuring out all these rules and regulations and trying to appease him. It's about a love relationship, but it's a very special kind of love relationship. This is not love like, hey, I really love Snickers bars. Thanks guys. This is God's, Jesus suffers no rivals. All your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind. This is counter to everything we do as modern Americans. What do you mean all? As in put all my eggs in the Jesus basket, as in everything I have. If the recession, if the economy has taught us anything, it's that you should diversify. All your heart, all your soul, all your mind. Does anybody love with that kind of commitment? That's not even wise. And yet Jesus says that's what discipleship looks like. I wrestle with that. And I have tried to encourage and challenge your students this week, and I want to do the same for you this morning. Can we just hang out there for a second? On the one hand, you got this word love. Who doesn't want that? Who doesn't want a love relationship with God? Who doesn't feel their heart burning every time they come to church and they sing those songs? Who doesn't get that bit? Man, there is joy here. This is awesome. Love. And every time I come to church, I'm like, yes, yes. And yet every time I come to church, and I hear the word of God faithfully preached, there's this other part to it, all, cost. There's tremendous cost to follow our Lord, right? There's joy, he's made my life better, right? I love him, and yet there's this cost. Are you holding something back? Is there a grudge that you need to surrender this morning? Is there a sin that you need to repent of? Not like two weeks from now, not like a month from now, but like today in this worship center, at the end, in our response time, is there something you need to get on your face before God and say it's done, it's over, there's a cost, right? So there's this joy, and there's this cost. Now let me tell you something, as preachers, we're the worst, because we tend to overemphasize one to the exclusion of the other if we're not careful. We basically think of Jesus as one dimensional, that it's joy, it's tremendous joy, and we preach all the blessings of Christ, or that it's just cost, you know, and that it costs everything, right? And if your fundamental understanding of Jesus is joy, that everything is peachy, rosy, following Jesus is great, then what happens is the first time trials and tribulations come in your life, you do what? You go, hey, whoa, I didn't sign up for this, and you're really thrown off. So it's crucial that you get both. On the other hand, if you're fundamental understanding, I don't want any cheap grace, man, to follow Jesus is to give it all. You forget that it's only joy that can pay the price of following Jesus, and you become kind of this grumpy, hardened, jaded Christian, you know, and you're sharing your faith, like, you should really come to Christ. It's done wonders for me, right? That's not, that's not it either. So which is it, is it great joy to follow Jesus, or great cost as preachers, right? It seems like we overemphasize one or the other, right? I grew up, as I said, in a West Kentucky, at a small Southern Baptist church, I'm still Southern Baptist, and we were like, you know, a ultra-conservative group, and I remember they didn't have youth camps, like you guys have youth camps, like, you know, fun and, you know, Mario Kart and all, you know, all this wonderful stuff. They had like youth revivals, and they would put us in the church sanctuary, and they would bring in the youth speaker was like 400 years old, and he would get up there, and this fossil would point like this bony finger out at us, right, and I can remember it like it was yesterday, and we were so scared. Fear was a big part of growing up, and he was a young people, do you wanna follow Jesus? Do you wanna follow Jesus? And of course, by the end of the revival, we were like, yes. Do you wanna follow, if you wanna follow Jesus, it's gonna cost you everything you have. Everything, white, that smile off your face, 'cause it's a lonely road to follow Jesus, right? Do you wanna follow him? It's gonna cost you your happiness, it's gonna cost you your comfort. You, no more of this frivolity, right? If you wanna follow Jesus, this is the worst part, it's a lonely road. The follower of Jesus, though none go with me, I still must follow, right? All your friends will bring you down to the pit of evil that they live in, right? And you're looking at your friends like, well, it's accurate, but I like 'em, right? They will bring you down so that worst of all, not only is there no joy and no happiness, but it's lonely road to follow Jesus, there is a cost. And I remember as a boy, look at it, my best friend Jeff, like, it's over Jeff, I'm sorry. And we're sitting there in church and he's like, but I'm a Christian too, man, are you sure? Like we can't, no, you heard Colonel Sanders, it's over? (audience laughs) You heard him. And Jeff was imaginary, and I think, (audience laughs) looking back, that guy got it right. I mean, in one sense, pastor, we should praise God for these guys. I mean, in a sense, they got it. And listen, they're few and far between now. Now the pendulum has gone over here. Now we don't hear those guys anymore. Now what do we hear? Come, follow Jesus. He'll make your life better. He'll make everything better. No more pain, no more trouble. He wants you rich, he wants you to prosper. You'll never get sick, a believer should not ever have troubles or illnesses, right? Just name it and claim it. Blab it and grab it, right? It can be, just place your hand in the nail-scarred hand of Jesus, and you and Jesus just frolic together in the meadows of happiness. As he leads you beside a babbling stream as an old, gnarled oak gives off its leaf to a light gingerly upon a babbling brook that ends in a horizon of azure bliss and wonder or whatever, right? And you go, this guy is not from earth, for he does not have teenagers. He does not have debt, right? So which is it? Great cost or great joy? Which of these preachers has it right? Which in your heart, when you come to church, do you come saying, I'm ready to surrender all to you? Or do you come saying, Lord, I love you with all my heart, but my actions don't have to change the answer. Of course, everybody in here knows where I'm going. The answer is yes, yes. I cannot mollify for you the cost. Some of you are about, listen, some of you are about to make a choice today. I believe you've come here to respond to God. I believe every human being, when they hear God speak, they want to respond to God. And I believe you've come here this morning, serious about responding to God when he speaks. And some of you are gonna take a step of obedience and you leave here, I cannot honestly deny that there will not be a cost. If somebody's hurt you and you walk out of here and you choose to forgive them, guess what? You must absorb the cost of their sin. I cannot deny that that's painful. If they stole $50 for you, you can let it go, but guess what you've just absorbed? The cost for you was what? $50. (congregation laughing) That's actually not true. Because if they stole it a year ago, it's $50, plus the opportunity cost of interest that you could have invested. You really have to absorb like $61.30. Every forgiveness, every active obedience, there's a cost. But I would also not be honest and truthful if I didn't say to you that there's tremendous joy in following Jesus. My favorite parable, Jesus must've been asked this very question. He must've, of course, he understood our heart. Why wouldn't he? He designed our hearts and so he gives us Matthew 1344 as a gift, as a treasure. Let me read it to you. It's my favorite parable and I'm gonna close with this. Listen, here, oh, hear the words of Jesus. How great is this? The Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven." Oh, it's perfect. "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. "When a man found it, he hid it again "and then in his joy went and sold all he had. "And bought that field." Jesus says it right there. Is there a great cost of following Jesus? He sold everything he had. But is there a great joy to following Jesus? He did it in his joy. Why? Because it's like treasure hidden in a field. Let me break it down for you guys. Walking through the field according to Jesus' story. And it's an expensive piece of property and he wants to make the right investment. Stocks have been so volatile lately in the ancient Near East that he thinks to himself, he thinks to himself, I should investigate an opportunity for land ownership. And as he's surveying this field, as he's looking around this field, what's that? He has stumbled upon something. At first, he thinks it's the root of a tree protruding from the ground. But then it occurs to him, it can't be the root of a tree for there are no trees for it is a field. Enjoying the little deeper and he uncovers a corner. Could it be a, I think it's a, could this be a, now we must leave him here, for there are some historical data that you must understand to fully appreciate the weight of this parable. Back in the day, they didn't have banks where you could keep your money safe. You remember in this country how we used to have banks that could keep your money safe. In this, in, ah ha ha, FDIC humor, ha ha, right. Oh, you understand? And people were always being overrun by foreign entities. There was always a war-like culture there by tribes and people groups. And so there was the Philistines and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Jebbites and the parasites and the stalactites and the stuff. Yet all these differentites, they were wiping each other out. And so this was your security. This was your plan. As a foreign entity was raiding, what you would do is load everything into a treasure chest. Dig a hole, bury it somewhere in your homeland. The Philistines are coming, no. Take the gold into the chest, take the diamonds, the rubies, the baby, not the baby, right. Everything would slam the treasure chest. Dig a hole, put it in there, covered up. And they would take you off into captivity, no. And the hope was this. Now, it may be a year, it may be 10 years, but somebody would eventually overrun your captors and you would be free to come home. And when you did, they're waiting for you, would be a nest egg. A chance to restart again, you understand? All your life savings, everything, everything of value. Your net worth was in that buried, in that treasure chest on the ground. Now, it was not common. In fact, it was more like an urban legend, but there were these rumors out there that every now and then there would be these treasures buried in a field, right? That either somebody had never come back for, maybe they died in captivity and their family died, or it could be that there's like some of us, you know. They like buried it and then totally forgot, like where have they been, right? You can't even find your car in Walmart. How would you ever, you know, I'm rich, somewhere in Dakota, right, right? And so there was this principle that whoever owned the field, whoever owned that property, guess what, they owned everything in it. It's kind of like buying a property and then discovering that there's a oil deposit in there or something, right? And so this guy gets that and he sees that and he understands that and he knows all that about these urban legends that exist, that there's these buried, right? And whoever owns the field owns it, now you know it too. So let's return. Oh man, it's treasure, right? And he thinks to himself this unbelievable, he lifts it up. Oh, and it's heavy, which is a good sign when dealing with treasure. So let's open it up, hmm, hmm, that's locked. (laughing) Sandals. Opens the thing up and there it is, gold, diamonds, doubloons, it takes him about a New York minute to add up all of his net worth, add up all the net worth in here and go, hmm, gazillion dollars, right? Worth more than treasure, he's shaking, he's literally shaking and what does Jesus say he does? Does he walk right to the owner of the field, knock on the door and say, excuse me sir, I was just surveying your field and I noticed a gazillion dollars of buried treasure. You as the rightful owner of the field should know about that. Time a nice day, is that what he does? He does what you and I would have done, man. Jesus says he digs a new hole, right? Burries it, covers it up, little sneaky, I like that, right? Runs to the owner of the field, bangs on the door, guy opens it, he says, "Stop in the field." Play it, cool man, why do you want the field? 'Cause there's trees, which is weird 'cause it's a field, why would they be true? The guy says, I don't know, he's like, actually, I do know, he's like, whoa, whoa, slow down buddy, we've got a set of closing date, we've got to talk to a mortgage broker, we've got, he says, no, no, no. I have taken the liberty of drawing up a deed right here and what I want you to do is just sign right here that you'll sell me the field and I think just to get rid of the guy, he takes the deed, takes the ink, takes the chisel, whatever they had and writes in there, okay, I'll sell you the field, just to get rid of the guy. Watch this honey, watch what I'm about to do this guy. Okay, here, let me just wear it says price, let me just put in all of your net worth, everything you own, yeah, I'll sell you the field for everything you have, thanks a lot buddy, have a nice day, so next time you don't do this right or whatever, slams the door in his face and the guy catches it, everything I have, yeah, deal. 'Cause what do you mean deal, didn't you just, you've got a signed contract that says you'll give me everything you have for this, yeah, deal, start right now, here's my wallet, here's my lunch, here's my sandal, here's my other sandal, here's a third backup sandal, it's how I roll, it's conservative, in case I have a blowout, but you can have it, here's my toga, the guy stops me, I'll be right back, runs to the streets of his town, who'll give me cash for my camel, oh, it's a good camel, I just got big 22 inch hooves put on a big chrome hooves, they spent, who'll give, I just need cash, all right, I'll give me cash for my house, give me cash for that, I need to cash out, liquid date, everything, cash, why man, 'cause I know what it is, right, and he goes back to the guy, lays all this cash, right, signs the deed done. Now let me tell you something, the whole point of the story is this, you walk out of your house that morning and you see some crazy lunatic run through the streets of the town, selling off everything he has, and you would say this, that guy is a fool, and you'd be right, except for one thing, that makes you very wrong, he's not a fool, he's found a richer treasure. There are people in this room right now that when you look at them, they have sold everything for Jesus Christ, when you look at their lives, everything in their life has Jesus' Lord stamped on it, Jesus' Lord, Jesus' Lord, their wallet, Jesus' Lord, and if they had to give to the poor, they would give it, why, 'cause they'd say, I don't own it, I'm just a steward, and if he wants it back, I'll give it. When they look at their children, and man, I've got dreams from my little girl, and I want her to be the best and the brightest, all this stuff, there are some people who have been able to surrender their children to God, and when they think about their children, they think Jesus is Lord, and they've even surrendered their own families, as if God owns their family, not themselves, there's nothing they've held back, and you look at them, and you'd say they're a fool, and you would be right, except for one thing that makes you very wrong, and you know what it is, in Jesus Christ, they have stumbled upon the treasure, a richer treasure, one that faded not away. The kingdom of God is like treasure, hidden in a field, and when a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy, he went and sold all he had, and bought that field, who of us do not get that, and there's some bargain hunters right here in this room, you know who you are, man, you know a bargain, right? Don't you see what he's saying, this is the greatest bargain in the history of the universe, all you have for all he is, and what do we do, we hold on to the foolish things of this world, we're like somebody who found the treasure hidden in the field, but we're not willing to go all in, not all my heart, not all my soul, I'll compartmentalize, I'll give you, you know what Lord, I'll give you my troubles at work, but I'd like to keep my finances to myself, I'll give you this college class, I'm failing, but when it comes to dating, I'm Lord of my life, Jesus says you'll never find great joy in that, because you've never experienced great cost, and you'll never overcome the great cost, because you never experienced the great joy, half, as the 12 step program says, half measures of valus nothing. Are you all in this morning for Jesus Christ, what are you holding back? You know, Pastor Vance has been kind enough to offer a response time where he's, you know, he's gonna have pastors and what do we have, prayer leaders that are gonna be stationed all around here, what if we just allowed this time right now for the Holy Spirit to speak to us about Lord Jesus, is there anything in my life that Jesus's Lord is not stamped on? Because if it is, you know, come on, there is such joy, such freedom when we discover the good news of the gospel that has freed us, that's it. It could be that you're lost this morning, when I say lost, I mean spiritually lost, that you're wondering where is Jesus and all this, I don't understand this stuff, and what this scripture's saying this morning is that understanding the gospel, man, it's like a treasure hidden in a field, you may have walked past this field a million times, but you've never understood the truth of the gospel, and we're gonna give you a chance to respond to that, you say, Tom, I'm a believer, but man, I gotta be honest, I don't know what Jesus wants from me, I'll tell you, he wants what he always wants. He wants the one thing you won't give him. It's what he always wants. For the rich young ruler, it was money, right? What is it for you? A week or so after Jesus told that story, he did something that forever changed the universe. In a way, I wonder if when Jesus told that story, he was thinking of himself. Here's what I mean, think about what he did, he stripped off his royal robes of glory, he stripped off all the riches of heaven, and what did he do? He gave everything to redeem the field called planet earth, didn't he? He gave everything to redeem the field called planet earth, do you know why? Because the most important thing in the universe to God, the one thing he treasures, is you, and you, and you, and me. Wait a minute, Jesus, you would sell everything for the treasure of a human soul. You would strip off your royal robes for the treasure of a human soul. You would be beaten and spit upon at the hands of sinful men like me. You would have a crown of thorns driven into your head for me. You would stretch out your arms on an old Roman cross. Hebrews says this, he endured the cross for the joy set before him. He said I would do it, and I would do it joyfully for the glory of God, why? Because that's how much love is in God for you. You said, wait a minute, Jesus, you would sell all that. He said, man, I would give up the universe, I would lose the universe before I lost anyone of you. Oh what love the Father has bestowed upon us in the personal work of Jesus Christ. What a treasure, that is a treasure that demands a response. You can walk out of here and you can say, I've sold half of everything, but I'm not ready to sell out. But that would be foolish, wouldn't it? The only proper response is like a man who's found a treasure hidden in a field who sold everything, the lay hold of the one who lay hold of us. Let's pray. Father, forgive us for being half. Sold out, I guess you could say. Well forgive those of us who've maybe surrendered some things to you, but we've never, or maybe we have in the past, but we've kind of put our little, our grip back on our things, our grip of control back on manipulating our life and our circumstances and our sense of running the show. God, this morning, will you peel back that grip that we may stand before you, open handed, empty handed, desiring simply to be filled with a treasure of your love. God, forgive us when we, it's like we have fought you for things, we fought you over things that in the end would destroy us instead of humbly taking what you give that we ultimately need. Father, I pray your spirit would move in this place, that there would be families who get on their face before you and repentance, that there would be people who've never taken a step of surrender, that they would sign that communication card, I wanna surrender my life today, or they would speak with a pastor or a prayer warrior that can help pray with them over these things. God, just have your way in this place right now. We love you and we thank you, and may you richly bless Hope Baptist Church, as I know there are so many who lead out in this, they're examples to us, God, they have such joy and yet they're paying such a price. Oh God, that that would be contagious to the rest of us, that we could see them for the examples they are, and we could pick up on that joy. God, do a great work in your people, in Jesus name, amen.