Mercy Is On A Mission | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson

Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 18:35. And I've got a couple other scripture passages I'm going to read, but if we at least find the first one, I'll feel like we're together at least. Good to see everyone. Praise the Lord. And good to see you in the house of the Lord as Pastor Hammond has already done. Uh we welcome all of our guests that are here today and so thankful for you. And it would not be the same without you. I don't know about the rest of my church family, but I sure don't want to come to church and worship all alone. Amen. Isn't it awesome to have people that care enough to be here? I know we have friends from out of town and friends that are visiting uh in family members that are visiting in in the house with us. Thank you. Amen. Thank you for making this your place of worship. I I'm very burdened about the message that God has given me today and I'm I'm excited to share it with you and I believe God's going to do some great things. So follow with me in Luke 18:35. Bible says, "And it came to pass that as he," speaking of Jesus, was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging. And then we turn over to Luke chapter 19 verse1 very next chapter Bible says and Jesus entered and passed through Jericho and behold there was a man named Zakius which was the chief among the publicans. And then one more scripture in here in John 11. Gospel of John 11:1 says, "Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha." And I want you to I want you to watch carefully and closely at the relational uh verbiage that we're about to read through here. It says it was the Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Jesus heard that and said, "The sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." There was a purpose. Verse 5 says, "Now Jesus, watch this right here, loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. And when he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abodeed two days still in the same place where he was." Now, I realize this morning that there's a good chance that everyone under the sound of my voice is very familiar with both or really all three of these stories, but I I believe I've come to preach from a a different perspective than maybe we've ever heard preached on these three stories. And here is my title today. And I'm I'm I'm going to get right into it. My title is simply this. Mercy is on a mission. Mercy is on a mission. Let's put our Bibles down. Come on, let's lift up our hands. Come on, we just sang about the love of God. Come on, let's just continue that praise and prayer to him. Thank you for loving us, God. Just as you loved Martha and you you loved her sister Mary and you loved the brother Lazarus, God, I believe you truly love us this morning. God, I believe you see us and you know us and I believe your thoughts are toward us. That's what your word says. Your thoughts are toward us for an expected end. And I'm just believing in this house today, there's people, Lord God, they're going to receive what you've given me to preach. They're going to take it to heart. And Lord God, I believe this church is going to be turned upside down. Our city is going to be turned upside down, Lord, by this message that you're about to give, Lord God, today. Lord, I pray, Lord, you'd anoint me, God, help me, Lord, somehow, Lord God, to preach it like you've given it to me. In Jesus name we pray. And everyone shout, "Amen." Amen. Amen. You may be seated in the house of the Lord. Mercy is on a mission. Uh yesterday, um we had we had groups go out, our our our small groups, our missional small groups, uh came together and uh we went good oldfashioned door knockocking. We went into parks. We had a couple groups go into our our public city parks and just brought their kids and played in the playground and just hung out giving stuff away, inviting people to Easter. Uh matter of fact, if you're here today and and you were a part of that, uh maybe maybe you're at the park and somebody came up to you and invited you to church and you're here today, we welcome you. We're so glad you're at First Apostolic. If if you're in the subdivision that we uh that we canvas and knock doors and you're here today for the first time, thank you for being here. I hope you felt something you've never felt before. I I hope you feel something that makes you want to come back into this house of worship because we sure love having you here. Matter of fact, first apostolic one more time. Come on, let's welcome I I believe I I about guarantee somebody's here today that got invited yesterday. Um it was amazing. We we we talked to people uh had conversations. I had people tell me give me some testimonies of of conversations they had. I met a guy and we were uh just to give you just uh just an encounter that I had uh knocked on a door. My my daughter and I knocked on a door and we were giving out boxes uh this whole neighborhood within the last year. Um they're all uh brand new builds and so they've all just moved. All the people that have moved into the neighborhood have moved there within the last year. Uh and so we're giving out welcome boxes and welcome them into Blunk County into the area and uh not too far just a few miles from the church here. So we said, "Hey, hey, we're your local church. We're close by. We just love to have you be a part of us. Love to have you visit with us. Love you have you be our guest." Um and the man the man that I talked to, he said, "You're not going to believe this." He said, he said, "We just moved up from Florida." He said, "And the moving company told us that they would be here within one to eight days." I said, I said, "Are you sure it wasn't between 1 and 8:00?" He's like, "No, no, no." He said, "1 to 8 days they're going to show up." He said, "We made a pallet and we're just kind of in a beautiful house, brand new house." He said, "We're just kind of sleeping on a palette." I said, "I've got good news for you." I said, "In this box there is a blanket and there are two coffee mugs. So if if nothing else, you've got two cups to drink out of and you got a blanket for your pallet. But got to get a a great conversation and just met some amazing people. Just amazing. His name was Mike and he and his wife were were waiting waiting for the rest of their stuff to come up. But I I just I I just believe today I I I believe that that all happened and coincided for a reason for the message that God gave me this morning because I I want to preach about this this Mercy on a mission. I I I want to I want to talk about what Jesus was doing one week before we celebrate as Palm Sunday. So So let's go back a couple thousand years. What was Jesus in the act of doing one week before he had his great his great triumphal entry into Jerusalem? What what was he doing? Because you know, next week we're going to celebrate Palm Sunday. We're going to celebrate the triumphal entry. But but I wanted to I wanted to rewind a little bit and see what what is Jesus what is he in the middle of? What's he getting his hands dirty doing? Cuz we're at the end of his his three and a half year ministry. Um the cross is before him. He understands the crosses before him. But but he he's he's not just he's not just trying to get to Jerusalem. He's not just in a hurry. He's not just going from point A to point B. He's doing some amazing things on his way to Jerusalem. So, I I want to study I want to study and I want to preach about these amazing stories that I just referenced in in our in our scripture. Uh because he's finding people that maybe everybody else has overlooked. He's he's finding people that maybe everybody else has forgotten about. And and we see the very first story we read about is is a beggar. The second story we read about was a man who was a tax collector, who was a traitor to his own people, and he's stealing from his own people. And then, of course, we we read about Lazarus. But but I I like to see what Jesus in his mindset, what he's doing on the way to the cross. As a church, and this is what I believe God has given me. As a church, we've got to be careful not to reject the ones that Jesus is reaching for the closest. The these stories, they all they all took place one week before Palm Sunday. Matter of fact, look with me in Luke 18. I I want you to see in verse 35. I want to just kind of read through this account of blind Barameus. The Bible says, "And it came to pass that as Jesus was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man, and Mark gives his name as Barnameus sat by the wayside begging and hearing the multitude passed by." And he he asked what it meant. He heard the crowd and he asked, "What what is going on?" And and they told him that Jesus of Nazareth passes by. And he cried, saying, Jesus of thou son of David, have mercy. Mercy, have mercy on me. Son of David. And they went before and they rebuked him that that he should hold his he should hold his peace. They he should shut his mouth. Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost in this place. And he cried all the more. Thou son of David, have mercy on me. The Holy Ghost is going to be in this place because I believe there's people in this room and there's people in our community that are hurting, that are crying. And we could get so involved in Sunday morning church and choir singing and and preachers preaching with a microphone that we can sit back and not realize that there's people that are hurting that are crying. Come on, brother Fail. Mercy have mercy. Mercy mercy son. You may be see this. Some of you thought, "Hey, hey, what's going on? This this man's lost his mind." And that's what they thought about Barnameus, too. Why can't he just shut his mouth? Jesus is passing through the the prophet, the soon to be Messiah. He's coming through town. Why is this man Why is he crying out and disrupting this prophet, this this man of God? You can just keep on going. You're you're fine with me. And Jesus Jesus said, "Bring him. Bring him to me. Bring this one that's crying out to me. Bring him to me." As everyone else said, tell him to shut his mouth. Jesus said, "Hey, what wilt thou that I should do unto you?" And he said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight." And Jesus said unto me and him, "Receive thy sight. Thy faith hath saved thee." And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus and glorified God. And all of the people when they saw it, they gave God all the praise. Somebody ought to give God praise. uh miracles, signs and wonders uh would look like a disturbance uh would look like an interruption turned out to be a miracle. My God, you may be seated. I might need you again just a second, brother Fagler. Jesus nears Jericho, the city of Paul's. It's a trade hub where where Herod had rebuilt the city and it was it was a wealthy city. And here on the roadside, blind Barnameus, a beggar, a castaway, a cast aside. Listen, in that day, blindness was a stigma. It wasn't it wasn't just a disease that took your sight, but people thought that God was judging you for sin that you had committed. So, it was more than this man was was just blind. And it was more than he was just a on the side of the road. People looked at him and thought, "My God, what did he do to receive his blindness? What did he do?" But here he is. And when he cries, Jesus, thou son of David, uh, it's a messianic cry. It's risky under Roman rule, but he is simply saying, uh, Jesus, you are the Christ. He's saying, Jesus, you're the one we've been looking for. He's you're the one we've been anticipating and expecting. Your kingdom is about to come into full fruition. And they're simply saying, Jesus, thou son of David. But I like the next part because he said, "Have mercy." Have mercy. And I want you to know this morning, mercy is on a mission. Whether that mercy is looking for you or looking for your spouse or looking for a lost loved one or looking for your neighbor, mercy is on a mission and he's looking for somebody that's been overlooked. Hey, I feel the Holy Ghost in this place. Barnameus is blind and he's sick. Listen y'all. He's sick and tired of begging for bread on the side of the road. And he's obviously heard about this Jesus, this son of David, this healer. He's heard about the miracles that have taken place, but he's sitting among desperate people. And you find out that when you're sitting among desperate people, you start to hear things. And he's a part, he's on a trade route. People are coming. They're coming back and forth from Jerusalem. He's on a trade route. And there's some areas, there's some miracles, maybe the miracles of Galilee, he had probably never heard of because Galilee is some 80 miles from Jericho. But he had heard of the miracles in Jerusalem because Jerusalem's only 15 miles from from Jericho. He heard about the lame man at the pool of Bethesda. He heard about the lame man who every time the angel would trouble the water, the first person in the water would receive their healing. And he heard about Jesus walking up and seeing a man who for all his life he had been trying to get into the pool of healing. But he had no man to pick him up and to put him inside the pool. But one day Jesus came and I could just see blind Barameus hearing the story. One day Jesus came along woo and said, "Hey, I'm going to give you healing and you don't even have to get in the pool. Nobody even has to pick you up. Uh you got needs in your life." And Jesus said, "I'm well able to take care of every need that you have within you." Uh and he simply said, "Rise up and walk. Uh take up your bed and walk." Uh and I believe Blind Bottomas had heard the stories of a healer. He'd heard the stories of a deliverer, of a savior. Somebody shout yes. But I'll go I'll go a step further. You may be seated. He'd also heard about the young man who was born blind. And don't you know to somebody who has lost their sight. Don't you know that would mean so much to them? And they heard as Jesus had come up to him and he had made balls of mud and stuck those balls of mud into his eye sockets. And he had said, "Go wash." And when the young man came back, he had eyeballs and he had sight. And I could just see blind Barnameus saying, "I wish that could be me. One day that's going to be if I ever hear of Jesus coming by, I'm going to be that blind. Come on. We We've got to feed off of other people's miracles. We We've got to feed off of We got to allow those to give us faith and to give us hope. If you've got cancer in your body today, you're not hopeless. You're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who have had cancer and no longer have cancer. people who thought that all hope was lost and and oh they thought the doctor said I got stage four I got stage three uh he's only given me one year two years but you are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who who could raise their hand and say pastor Ericson uh that used to be meh but I've been delivered from the sickness I've been set free from the sickness those cancer cells they've dropped out of my cells out of my blood flow and I'm made whole you can testifying because you can testify. We can have hope today and feed off of your miracle. God, I want that to be me. I don't want to lose hope. I don't want to go through life unsure, wondering. I wonder if I'm going to make it to next year. I sure don't want to live that way. I choose to be like blind bought a miss. And he said, "Hey, woo. If Jesus can do it for one blind man, he can do it for another. If Jesus can do it for one person who suffer from diabetes, he could do it for another." Hey, if Jesus can heal one and pull him up out of a wheelchair, he can heal you today and you can rise up out of your wheelchair. If he's done it before, he can do it again. He's well aable. Come on. Some of you just looking at me like I What does pastor say? Like I'm me looking at a new friend. Some of y'all just looking at me like I'm crazy. I wish God could bring you through some stuff that you could raise up and testify and just at least wave your hand and say, "God's been so good to me. I cannot tell it all. If I began to tell it all, we wouldn't have enough time for a testimony service." Woo! My God. Hey, if you're desperate for a miracle, you might just get a little annoying sometimes. Oh, I I tell you what, if he walks down to the front during our prayer time, one more time. So help me God. Do you know how many times Kenneth Kirby walked down to the front and got anointed with oil? when he was blind. You know how many times it was countless times, every time he would come to church with his walking stick, his red and white striped walking stick. Sister Kirby, our late Sister Kirby would bring him in, would lead him in the doors. I remember in our gym, in our gym church, oh, I remember them coming. They come early. He'll come early with his wife. every prayer service. Come on, some of y'all remember this. Every prayer here comes brother Kirby. He He had his He had his own Listen, he had his own usher that automatically knew it's prayer time. I'm going to go find Brother Kirby and I'm going to lead him to the front. He had already I feel the Holy Ghost. I'm sorry. I'm emotional when I think of the healing power. But he he would listen, he was predetermined. He went and found an usher before church and said, "Hey, when it's prayer time, just give me to the front. Shut up. Lord, I feel the Holy Ghost in this place. I feel there's needs in this house. There's people there's Kenneth Kirpy's in this house and you're sick and tired of whatever condition you're in. I don't know. I don't know if it's a financial condition, if it's a health problem. If you're struggling with addiction, I don't know what it is. But there's got to be something inside you that says, "I don't care what anybody else thinks." Uh, I don't care what anybody else thinks. Mercy, mercy. Oh, thou son of David, have mercy on me, God. Everybody else has counted me off. Everybody else uh has forgotten about me. Everybody else just thinks I'm going to die blind. But Jesus, I need you to have mercy on me. The crowd, they said, "Hold thy peace. You deserve to be blind. We don't know what you did, but you deserve to be blind. I said, "Shut your mouth. You're irritating us. You're interrupting us. We came to see the great healer and you're causing us distraction." But oh my God, Jesus didn't overlooked. The one that had been overlooked. He saw me. He said, "Bring him to me." I've got an answer for his question. I've got an answer for his problem. I'm bringing mercy. I'm bringing mercy to Barnabas. Somebody clap your hands if you're thankful for the mercy of God that you did not deserve. He's healed. Everybody sees it. Everybody rejoices. But this is what I want to bring out because this is what really confused me at the time. I also began I began to study the gospels and I thought okay I see that one week before Palm Sunday I I see what's happening here and I I see what Jesus is doing. He's headed through Jericho and he's doing some mar marvelous things. But I also began to notice there's another story taking place and that's a story the popular story of Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, the one Jesus loved. Matter of fact, there's only only four people that the Bible actually says Jesus loved. Now, we know he loves all, but as far as the name people that were named, Martha, Mary, Lazarus, and then John, the writer of John, he would always say what? The one who Jesus loved. I don't know if that's fair that the author gets to say that, but those were the only four. research and look in your Bible. It doesn't it doesn't give any other name. Now, it talks about people that he loved and there's situations, but as far as a name, those are the only four names. And I think to myself, Jesus, so so you your friend and and maybe maybe I've read the back of the book and I've read the story and so I I know what Jesus was doing. We know what Jesus was doing. But what about the people that surrounded Jesus? Because at the very same moment that he's healing Barnameus, at the very same moment that he's about to meet Zakius, there are people that are running up to Jesus and saying, "Master Martha, you're Martha and Mary, the the sisters that you love, they sent me after you." Because their brother Lazarus, the one you love, he's dying. He's in Bethany. He's at home. He's about to die. He's got a terminal illness. He's sick unto death. And the sisters, your your friends Mary and Martha, they're calling you and they're bidding you to come because if you don't come, their brother's going to die. Jesus, can you imagine the confusion of the servants of the friends of Mary and Martha as they're telling Jesus, "Hey, hey, hey, we need you right. No, no, no, no, no. Don't worry about that guy. We need you right now." Like, we got to get on it. We We got to get on the road. We got to get on, Larry. He's going to die. Do you hear Jesus? Do you hear what I'm saying to you? Your best friend is going to die. Oh, come on. Come on. Carry on with me. Woo. Well, let let me go back. Cuz cuz here here's here's what I fear. Here's what I fear with the church. I fear that that we can have a God of mercy, a God of compassion, but we can be in this thing so long that we feel we forget what mercy really feels like. Come on, just just just just stay with me here. Listen, we we can't decide who's worthy of salvation. It's unacceptable to be irritated when it comes to somebody that's in need. Well, that might inconvenience me. Yeah. Yeah, it's going to inconvenience. Making disciples is going to inconvenience every time. It's going to cause a lot of time. It's going to cause money. It's going to cause distraction. It's going to cause irritation. It's going to cause disturbance. That That's what making disciples is all about. That's what having compassion on people is all about. We can't reject the people that Jesus wants to have mercy on. Mark 16:15. And he said unto them, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every rich person, every wellto-do person, every person that has the the the corner office up in the high-rise skyscraper downtown Knoxville in the First Tennessee building." Is that what it says? It says, "Preach the gospel to every." It doesn't even say person, creature. What's being said right here is simply this. Sometimes it's pretty. Sometimes it's ugly. But it's our responsibility to preach to every single person, the rich, the poor, every class of society, every color of skin, every nationality, every language. It's our responsibility. Every single creature, every person that walks the earth, good, bad, pretty, ugly. Luke 5:31 Jesus answered and said to them, "They are whole need not a physician. They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." He said, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Come on, you know this one. Romans 10:14. How then shall they call on him who they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him on whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Come on, that's us, y'all. How are they going to hear unless we get out there and say, "It's for you. It's for you. It's for you. Oh my God. It's for you. Young and old, teenager, adolescent, child, middleage, senior, adult, it's for you. Everybody ought to know." Come on, somebody remember that song. Everybody ought to know. Everybody ought to know. Everybody ought to know who Jesus is. Come on, God. It's our responsibility. It's our commission, everybody. So, let's go on. I'm moving quickly. Let's go on to Zakius because the very next we're we're still we're still we're coming through Jericho. Blind Barameus is first and Jesus keeps on walking. He's on the way. He's on his way to his triumphal entry. But we got a week to go. And as he's walking in Luke 19:11, it says, "And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, same place. And behold, there was a man named Zakius, which was the chief among the publicans." And that made it sound so nice. He was a dirty tax collector. I'm not talking about the IRS. I'm not calling the IRS dirty tax fuzz. I'm talking about he history if you if you if you begin to to research history tells us that if you wanted to be a tax collector in this time you would have to bid for the position with the Roman government I'm talking about a position right now brother Dean to tax your own people to take from your own people to steal from your own people you had to bid you had to use your own finances and you had to give into the Roman government, the their system in order for them to consider knowing full well that you would get your money back and then some. And so here he is. He's chief. He He's not just a publican. He's not just a tax collector. He's the chief of them all. He He's He's the head of them all. But look at this right here. And he was rich and he sought to see Jesus who he was. He he heard about this same Jesus. He wants to see, hey, hey, he's coming through Jericho. I got to check this out. And could not here's a problem for the press was a lot of people because he was small. He was litter little of stature. And he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place Jesus, watch this right here. J, he didn't call out to Jesus. Jared, Bible says Jesus looked up. Pr, you know, sometimes pride will cause us just to sit somewhere in silence when we're the chief among those that need Jesus. Jesus looks up, sees him, and says, "Zakius, make haste. Come down, for today I must abide in that house." Oh, Zakius made haste. He hurried, came down, received him joyfully, and when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner. Oh, shame on you, Jesus of Nazareth. Zakius stood and said unto the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. I have taken, if I've taken anything from any man by false accusations, I restore him fourfold." Jesus said unto him, "This day is salvation come to to your house." Zakius and not just you, your whole house right here. For as much as he also is the son of Abraham, for the son of man, Jesus. Woo! Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. You see this right here? Here we go. Jesus enters Jericho. He sees Zakius, the chief collector of taxes, the traitor to all his Jewish brethren. He is he is on the side of the Roman government. He is extorting his own his own family members. Oh, but here we go. Jesus sees him. Jesus recognizes the need and just like blind Barameus had a need to see. Zakius had a need to be delivered from sin and be delivered from doing things to his brothers that were unheard of and unthinkable and we ought not even speak of. He had need to be delivered. But I love it right here because Jesus saw him. Uh he took notice of the unnoticeable and he said, "Come on down out of this tree. I got to go. I must needs go to your house." I like that terminology because that's how he did the Samaritan woman. Uh, I must kne we got to go to your house. It's not good enough. Uh, it's not good enough that we just hang out here. He said, "Zakius, I want to come to your house. I want to sit under your table. I want you. I want your family. I know I know everybody hates you. I know everybody despises you. I know everybody around me is saying, "What in the world are you doing messing with this horrible sinner, this publican when your friend Lazarus, I believe, brother Dean, he still have people Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, do you hear what I'm saying to you? Lazarus? What? Lazarus? Come on, Jesus. It's your friend. I know you haven't forgot about your friend. Come on. Martha's the one that cooks for you. You know, you go there when you want a home-cooked meal. When you get sick and tired of eating fish at a fireside with your disciples, you know when you want somebody to bake you some bread and make you a good home-cooked meal. You know that place in Bethany, he's about to die. And Jesus said, I got to hang out at least two more days. People around, they're shaking their heads, man. He's going to he's going to eat with a sinner. He's going to a sinner publican's house. And and woo, he ought to be going he ought to be going to his best friend, Lazarus. We've heard of Lazarus. He's a good He's a good Jewish. He He's a scholar. He's a religious man. Uh he's a faithful man of God. Jesus, why are you why are you loving the unlovable? Why do you care about the unlovable? And I don't know if that ministers to you all, but that ministers to me. Cuz sometimes I look in the mirror and I don't know if I'm lovable, but Jesus loves and he cares. Oh my my shut up. Sister Wood, is that you I see back there. I'm so glad. Oh my God. So glad to see her in the house of the Lord this morning. He sees us sick. He sees us in a bed. He sees us in the hospital. He sees us when we feel unlovable. And he says, "Hey, I can take just a little time out because I've got two miracles in the making. I'm about to save a man in his whole househ. And I'm about to show up at a graveside of a man who's been dead for four days. Who rig a mortise has already set in, who already stinkketh. I'm about to perform two miracles. I'm about to show people that I'm also the resurrection and the life. They don't have to fear. I'm about to die on Calvary. I'm about to be buried in a tomb, but they don't have to fear because I am the resurrection and the life. Oh, but again, I want to bring it back to the church because if we're not careful, we can do the very same thing that these good these good religious people did in Jericho. Oh, Jesus. Do you know how many times she's come back to God? We can we could turn into the older brother of the prodigal. Because this is exactly who Jesus is talking to. You all realize this, right? We We're talking about the same religious leaders, the same people that Jesus had to share the parables, the lost parables with these same people. They're like, "What in the world?" And we could be the same way. We could be like the older brother who says, "Oh, are you are you even kidding me? Here, I've been faithful here, Father. I've served you all the days of my life. I haven't run off. I I haven't been with no harlots. I haven't wasted all the substance. I I haven't wasted all the inheritance that you've given me. He doesn't deserve for me even to speak to him. I'm not going to You want me to go in and and partake in the fatted calf and and have a feast? You want me to see that ring on his finger and the robe on his back? You want You want me to see those brand new shoes on his feet when I'm wearing these old these old pieces of leather on my feet? You really want me to walk into where they're singing and music is playing? Yes, that's exactly what the father is saying. The father is saying, "I don't care how many times uh she comes back. I don't care how many times uh she goes back to the world and comes back again and goes back to the world and comes back again." Come on, moms and dads. We can't give up on our lost children. Uh I know they keep on coming back. I know they keep on showing life. Uh and the next thing you know, they're back on drugs. And next thing you know, they're coming up pregnant again. I know. I see it. Uh I'm one of your pastors. I feel what you feel. I see what you see. But we're not going to give up on the prodals. Uh we're not going to give up on the lost. Uh younger brother, come on home. Uh I'll celebrate with you every time you come home. If you come home twice a month, I'll celebrate with you twice a month. Uh if you come home 15 times a year, I'll celebrate you every time you come home. Because there's one time, listen, yo, listen, saints of God, there's going to be one time when they stick. There's going to be one time when they come to themselves, uh, and they come to an understanding, it's so much better in my father's house. Uh, what am I doing? Why am I living this way? Why am I acting this way? Come on, somebody. I wish if you have a prodal in your family, you just lift up both hands to heaven right now and say, "Jesus, uh, have mercy on my daughter. Uh, Jesus, have mercy on my son. Uh, Jesus, have mercy on my brother. have mercy on my mother. Come on. Who is it? Come on. Who Who do you need to pray for right now? Who do you need to have mercy on right now? Who needs mercy in this place more than a prodal who's felt who we felt and felt and tasted what we've tasted? Come on, let's just take a moment and pray for produ. I believe this is the year of produ. Brother Woodward said it. I believe it. This is the year of prodical. They're coming home. They're coming home. Come on, somebody. I need a passionate father. I need a passionate mother who will say, "Come on, I'll I'll celebrate with you every time you come home. I won't be ashamed of you coming down the altar. I won't be ashamed of you giving up your life to God again. I won't be ashamed of you renewing yourself in the Holy Gh yes. Oh Jesus, son of David. Uh Jesus the Christ, have mercy on us. Jesus the Messiah, have mercy on my family member. I hope I hope I don't come across I know I'm lifting my voice in this mic, but I I hope I don't come across mad. I'm passionate. I'm passionate. I want passion to flow through my veins. I want compassion to flow through my veins to have mercy because my God has mercy. Woo! He and his whole house were saved and Lazarus dies. And if you want to know more about Lazarus, you can read it because I I don't have time to get any further into the story of Lazarus. But he did rise. He did come to life. Read the story if you're not familiar with the story. Jesus didn't make it there. You say, "Well, he didn't get there on time." Oh, yes, he did. Because the Bible says that he stayed two more days intentionally. He hung out. Woo! Zakius intentionally a little bit longer. Woo! Read that story about Lazarus cuz some of y'all need some stuff coming up out of the grave. Some of y'all have some stuff and it's dead. It's dormant, but it needs to come back to life again. But here we go. I'm rushing. I'm rushing cuz I want some time for us to really spend in the altar pleading for passion and compassion. But here we are one week before our Easter drive begins. And listen, I I've got no problem if you're a guest here today, if you brought a guest today, I I have no problem talking about our Easter drive because we want to see our whole community in this house. every every every person you work with, you you ought to have eyes full of faith that sees that person and says, "I I can see them sitting next to me on a pew. I can I can see them right here. I I can I can spiritually I can see them right here." So, listen, if you're here today and this is your first time, I'll just go ahead. I I'll just be very frank. We we we have an Easter drive coming up and we're trying to get people to come Palm Sunday next Sunday and the following Sunday which is Easter and the following Sunday after that. I told you this, there's a 35% chance if we can get somebody in the house three Sundays in a row. Statistics say there's a 35% chance that person will make this their house of worship. But we got to get him here. We got to look. We got We got to find him. I say, "Jesus, you got to open my heart and open my mind." Cuz sometimes there's people that are easily overlooked. People that are very easily overlooked. That quiet lady at work who doesn't talk much but but keeps to herself. invite her. That addicted friend that's battling drugs, alcohol, that's desperate for hope. Invite him. What about that depressed neighbor who hides behind closed curtains? You see the curtains move, you know they're there. What about that argumentative coworker? You know the guy that always wants to pick a argument with you, always looking to pick a fight, give him the house. That cashier at the store that looks tired and overworked. That cousin of yours who's drifted away and hasn't been to church in years. Come on. I I want us to open our mind. Open our our eyes. That anxious classmate who's awkward in your college class and they don't fit in. The bitter family member who's always joking but always seems to be so lost underneath. That grieving single parent at the school drop off that's just too worried. They're too weary to even chat with you. The lonely older gentleman at the park who sits by himself on the park bench. the the rebellious teenager with the tough attitude that hangs out on the street corner. The the ashamed soul who's made big mistakes and and carries the weight and the blame. The stressed out delivery driver who's in and out never stops to talk. The the isolated person in the coffee shop who's always reading alone in the corner. that doubtful family member who's skeptical, asks hard questions, hard to talk to about God. How do we reach those people? I'll tell you how. We first got to see him. Turn this Turn this up. Listen, this is a song a friend of mine wrote some 15 years ago. Some of you know it. If you've never heard it, oh God, turn it up real good and loud. I want them to hear the lyrics of this song. I'm the man on the street holding a sign. I know what it says, but look in my eyes. I need more than money. I am the single mother of three. I know how it looks, but please don't condemn me. I need you to reach me. Will you pray for me? Will you speak to me? Be moved by compassion for me. Help me. I'm falling. Does anybody hear me calling now? I'm calling out for help. I'm in too deep to save myself or I'd save myself for I need someone to help me. I'm the lawyer you met in the coffee shop. I know I seem fine, but really you're not. My life is crashing. I'm the city you drive through on your way to work. Can't you hear my streets crying full of pain and hurt? Send me a preacher. Will you reach to me? Please preach to me. There's not much time. Help me. I'm falling. Does anybody hear me calling now? I'm calling out for help. I'm in too deep to save myself for I save myself for I need someone to help me. Will you pray for me? Intercede for me. Reach down to me. Be God's hand for me. Preach it straight to me. Show God's word to me. Fight hell for me. Save my city streets. We need a hero. Help me. I'm falling. Does anybody hear me calling now? I'm calling out for help. I'm in choosing to save myself. Save myself. I need someone to help me. Help me. I'm falling. Does anybody hear me calling out? Oh, I'm calling out for help. to me to save myself. I save myself. Oh, I need someone to help me. Someone to pray for me, someone to reach for me. Help me. I'm falling. Does anybody hear me calling now? I'm calling out. Happy birthday. Glory. I am Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Amen. Come on. I believe we're feeling compassion right now. I Come on. This is more than just emotion. This is compassion. We're feeling we're feeling the mercy of God in our life. And come on. We're feeling the mercy, Lord, we have to have for other lives and other people in our community. Father, in Jesus name, put the same compassion upon every single one of us. God, if we're here today and we're not moved, oh God, I pray have mercy upon us. Maybe we're the ones that need mercy this morning, God. But Lord, if we feel the compassion, God, I pray that your mercy, Lord, would be upon every person. God, every person that's invited to Easter service, every person that's invited, Lord, in the next few weeks, God, I pray you'd have mercy upon them. Give them mercy, oh God. God. Come on. Keep on praying. Keep on praying. But I want I want to tell you something. I feel very strong in my spirit. I asked I asked Pastor Hammond to to tell you to hold your cards because I I I got a feeling today that we have names on our cards of friends and family members that that we we feel would fit real well in this place that would look like they would fit in this house. But but I wonder if there's somebody just just one of those people that I I mentioned a little bit earlier. Maybe somebody that you see in the coffee shop by themselves or you see at work in the break room all by themselves or I'm talking about people that everybody else have forgotten about. People that nobody else even notices. I I heard a preacher at Because of the times one year and he was preaching on compassion and he said in my church I I began to tell my people he said I felt it came from God. He said I told my people he said reach for the people that nobody wants and God will send you the people that everybody wants. And I I don't really know what that means because I I believe that just like there's no unwant unwanted child, I don't believe there's an unwanted there's such a thing as an unwanted child. I don't believe there's a such thing as an unwanted soul. But but maybe I I got to understanding this a little bit a little bit better because my wife mentioned we were talking to those that were going out to knock doors and go to the park yesterday and outreach and my wife said, "You know what? Sometimes we'll have a an outreach day that you just come up empty. You you you knock doors and you meet people and you invite people. Matter of fact, we had one of those year years ago. Matter of fact, I believe it was when we were in in the gym church side of the firewall. We took out a whole host of people. We're trying to sign kids up for the bus ministry. And I I remember I remember knocking on doors and listen y'all, we were going to some doors that I wasn't ready to see what I saw on the other side of those doors. They invited us in which which totally caught me by surprise when I when I walked through brother or I walked through the door and I saw what I saw. People that could live in the lifestyle that these people were living in. I you could even sit on the couch. There were empty pizza boxes and empty beer bottles and trash. Laundry had been done. and the kids just had laundry all over the lid. You You could I could hardly even walk in. I thought, "You know what, God? These are the very people here we're going to reach for. I'm not I'm not preaching against reaching for the lawyer, reaching for the political leader, the the mayor. We want we want all of them in the house. Every soul is equal. God is no respector of persons." But sometimes in our mind, we can we can go after those on on that side of the tracks and we can forget about the people who are living in absolute disarray. And we're there talking to them and while we're talking, they're screaming at their kids, "I told you to come. I told you to do." And we're standing there and going, "Oh, God, just please sign your kid up to Sunday school. We want to give your kid at least 2 hours of let them feel something they they can't feel in this house. But but I want you to know we were so disappointed. I don't know. I don't know if we got anybody signed up. If we had a few signed up, I don't know. But nobody showed up that Sunday. Not one person person over over the outreach was was communicating with me. And I thought for sure we'd have 7, 8, 10, at least children coming on the bus. Something would happen surely. I got a text message that said, "Unfortunately, we we don't have one guest from our outreach outreach yesterday." But wouldn't you know, that was a Sunday. And I looked back and I saw this beautiful young lady, probably 16, 17 year old. Her name then was was Emma Beriac. It's now Emma Star. She came I I don't I I think I remember in the gym church looking back. The doorway was in that corner there. I remember seeing her come in and I thought, "Well, I've never seen that young lady before. Who would have known? You go door knocking on a Saturday and that one person comes in. But God said, "I'll show. I'll show your faithfulness to me. You reach for the people that maybe nobody else wants, whether they come or not." He said, "I'll send you somebody that any church would love to see walking through their back doors." How many souls? My God. From Emma. Emma has a few brothers and sisters. Emma's mom and dad, Emma's aunt and uncle and her cousins. Before you know it, we've affected and infected with the gospel, if you will, the Romanian community, where now we're looking out and we've got a whole section, Emma, of Romanians. You say, "Well, how did that happen?" I'll tell you how that happened. Who witnessed to her? I don't know if anybody even witnessed to her. But what I know is God saw people with a burden. people with compassion for those that nobody else may have wanted. And God said, "You know what? Because of your compassion, because of your love for people, because you see blind bottom manus, because you see Zakius, because you see the people that nobody else notices, I'm going to send you people that are going to be world changers." Emma has a sister, Becca, her and her husband, who they're also doing great things. They remind me a lot of Seth and Emma. They're doing great things for God in the mission field in Mexico and we support them and they're reaching. We got people across this world. Why is it? It's not because we went to their door and knocked on their door, but I believe it's because we did knock on somebody's door. So, what I want you to do before you turn your cards in, just just come up with somebody cuz please understand the names that you have in the on the cards are not people you've already invited. Those are people you're planning on inviting. Just come up with somebody, somebody somebody that God is pricking your heart right here. Help me. I'm falling. Does anybody hear me crying now? I'm calling out for help cuz I am in too deep to save myself for I'd save myself or I need someone to help. Come on. What about that single mother you work with? Come on, tell tell her about the Sunday school program that you've got your children in. Tell her about the Kids Quest department you've got your children in. What about that manager that you work with? Oh, he's not going to be interested. He Oh, if you saw the house he lived in, the car he drives, you you know what the Bible says? Zakius was rich. I believe Zakius, out of all the Jewish men who were on the street that day, I believe Zakius lived in the nicest house out of all of them. And maybe nobody thought Zakius wouldn't be interested. He's rich. Oh, he said, "Help me. I'm falling." Does anybody hear me calling now? I'm calling out for help cuz I'm in too deep to save myself or I'd save myself. Oh, I need I need someone to help me. Someone to reach for me. I need you. I need you. Come on. Somebody's crying out to you right now. Somebody's coming. They're crying out right now. Come on. Holy Ghost filled. Come on, friend. Have mercy upon me. They may They may not be calling you thou son of David, but they're saying, "My Holy Ghost filled friend. My apostolic friend, have mercy on me. My Pentecostal friend, I don't know. I don't understand what you believe. I don't know why you do what you do. I don't know why you live what you live. But I need your help. Help me. I'm falling. Does anybody hear me calling now? I'm crying out for help. Come on, put somebody on your mind that says, "I am in too deep to help myself or out. Help myself." Oh, I need someone to reach me. Come on, pray right now in this very closing prayer. Father, I felt your Holy Ghost so strong and I felt the compassion of this church. God, if there's a church that loves all people, I don't know of a greater church than this church that loves all people. God, if there's a church that wants to see every soul saved, I don't know of another church like this church that wants to see every soul saved. Oh God, in our mind right now, I'm praying, Lord, lay a soul upon every heart, upon every mind that we will get busy. We're going to write names on our car. We're going to get busy inviting God. We might get rejected. We might have people talking about us in the break room at the water cooler. It's okay with us because God, they need you whether they know it or not. They've got to have you whether they know it or not. They're hurting and they do know it. And God, they need you, God, as we leave this place. God, just help us, God. Open our eyes. Open our eyes. Open our eyes. Open our eyes. God, help us to see what you see. Help us to see what you see. one week before Palm Sunday, God, help us to see what you see. Next week, we're going to celebrate your triumphal entry. But God, all week long, God, we're going to work hard inviting people into this house so they might be saved, they might be changed, might be rearranged in Jesus name. Clap your hands unto the Lord. Clap your hands on the Lord. Brother Hammond, if you'll come and dismiss us