Sunday Morning Worship Service

you can start making your way back to your seats and grab your bibles your devices as you're doing that we'll go to mark chapter number 10 and as you're turning and scrolling there we are so glad to have guests that are here with us i know pastor has greeted them already but i'm so glad to have uh taylor and kaylee here with us all the way from home from home in colorado we welcome them again today we're so glad that they are here amen we're so glad to have michael maupin's family here tara and her family who welcomed them today we're so glad that they are here with us today evangelist michael maupin will be with us december 19th we're going to have a christmas revival with him so make sure you add that to your calendar be following all the updates on social media we're excited about that december 19th i'm so glad to have my friend here today all the way from west texas we're so glad to have adrian gamble here with us can we welcome adrian today we're so glad that he is here adrian's a good friend of mine he lived and worked in potts camp mississippi uh so we've we've come under the same mentorship of pastor john vasquez and so it's always nice to see a friendly face and god moved him out from the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere pots camp mississippi is in the middle of nowhere you have to be going there to get there and god seemed fit to move him out into the desert of west texas uh so we're praying for you adrian and praying for you that the lord will bless you and all your endeavors there but we're so glad that you're here today and i want to say we we we thanked brother nick gray and the derrick daniel and brother justin massager for this great setup with our led wall but they had a helper i'm not sure if he's in the room he might be in sunday school but we call him the boy genius here at acs [name redacted] helped with that as well can we give [name redacted] a great big hand he uh we have one of our computers that we use for the music team uh shut down a couple of weeks ago when we needed this little device of trying to figure out we ordered the device well before the device even got here [name redacted] had taken the computer apart and found a way to get the information off of it i i don't know how to do it he's like 13 years old and like we're going to be working for him one of these days so i'm glad god has given us some great great young men and little boy geniuses and they're going to grow into men listen we need to train these kids up to not be the church of the future but to be the church of the present and i'm thankful for that here at apostolic christian school and first apostolic church you don't want to miss code orange revival that we're going to kick off next sunday james wilson will be here it's going to be out of this world and so keep that in mind go with me to mark chapter number 10. mark chapter number 10 we're going to read begin reading at verse number 17 a familiar story [Music] mark 10 beginning at verse number 17. [Music] speaking of jesus it says and when he was gone forth and to the way there came one running someone say running it's important we noticed that he came running and kneeled to him and asked him good master what shall i do that i may inherit eternal life jesus said unto him why call us thou me good there is none good but one that is god thou knowest the commandments do not commit adultery do not kill do not steal do not bear false witness defraud not honor thy father and mother and the young man answered and said unto him master all these i have observed from my youth look at verse number 21 mark made sure to add the right details jesus beholding him loved him loved him and said unto him one thing thou lackest go thy way sell whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come take up the cross and follow me [Music] remember how he came running verse 22 and he was sad at that saying and went away grieved for he had great possessions this morning i would like to preach to you just for a few moments lovely but lacking lovely but lacking let's pray the lord would speak to us through his word today father we thank you for your spirit that we have experienced already through praise and worship times of giving but i pray now that the word of god would become like seed and be buried into the hearts of those who are in this room and those who are listening online and god let there come forth a harvest of eternal rewards in our spirit realizing that we could be lovely but yet be lacking and i pray father that she would help us to see that and realize that in jesus name we pray and everyone send him in won't you clap your hands again today oh come on somebody clap your hands real loud unto the lord [Applause] [Music] lovely but lacking here's a rather vivid picture painted for us by three of the four gospel writers we have come to call this character the rich young ruler matthew and his account of this calls him young his possessions and his position gave him his name what has been revealed to us in this story is the young man's possibility and potential there is something amazing about this rich young ruler and his falling at the feet of a penniless prophet who had no place to even lay his head at night this rich young ruler did not approach jesus with apathy and skepticism instead mark writes that he ran he came running to jesus and fell at his feet what emotion in zeal this young man had in this moment i can see him running with great energy as he approached jesus the dust from his sandals kicked up as he barely has enough room to stop and fall at the feet of jesus as he falls to his knees he gasps for air as he says good master what shall i do to inherit eternal life jesus stops him and ask him why do you call me good there's a lesson here before we even begin to dig into this text this morning it is clear that this young man came to jesus swept up in a moment of overflowing emotion i have seen many people come to jesus with such enthusiasm they have all the intentions to seek eternal life from the good master but jesus stops him from going any further i had a friend of mine several years ago he said this in uh relation to a young man we were talking about in his church who seemed so enthusiastic so overwhelmed with joy to serve the lord this pastor has told me this in the in the car ride ashley was there he said this he said the higher they jump the harder they fall he realizes that there are moments of overflowing emotion that just because somebody is willing to give their life to christ when the real price tag is revealed they come crashing down to the earth no man in the gospel accounts had more potential and possibility than the rich young ruler for this man to become like the other disciples would be saying something in the israel community he was young rich popular he had zeal energy and drive what he wanted what he wanted he worked for this man would give jesus and his ragtag team of fishermen and prostitutes and outcasts some street cred but how mournful his life turned out luke wrote that this young man was a ruler bible commentators and scholars agree that this young man was perhaps a ruler in one of the local synagogues not only was this young man a ruler but he also had great convictions about the law of moses for this young man to be a ruler in the synagogue and to know the law of moses and still come running to jesus shows us quite a bit of his moral makeup and his faith what speaks to me the most in this story is that he is young not just rich but young and rich he is dedicated to the law of moses at the morning of his life please listen to me young people i know i've you've heard me say this a million times at apostolic christian school and you've even heard me talk about it here at fac but can i tell you don't wait until you are older to live for god do it now don't wait until you have a spouse and children the prime of your life is right now in your youth it is vital to give all of your being to serving jesus this day make the choice to have jesus be lord in your life during your teenage years and your 20s and your 30s or as we call it here adultest years give your life devote and commit your life now to christ before you commit your life to a career into a family and two and into your life commit your soul and your being to jesus christ do it now do it now this young man's found working in the synagogue do it now give your life to the law of god now god's word is for all ages it could be understood by anyone but what you have to do is be dedicated to it now not only was he a young rule in the synagogue the bible says that he was rich the word rich in the greek is defined as a great degree of abundance the rich young ruler is earnest and enthusiastic he ran to jesus everybody likes enthusiasm everybody likes earnestness he sought out jesus in the crowds what zeal and enthusiasm the rich young ruler ran to jesus when his own peers from the synagogues wanted to kill christ think about that for a minute he didn't just run to jesus he didn't run with the crowd those who will walk to the beat of a different drummer are like this rich young ruler they just don't want to blend in with the crowd and fall into the pressures of their peers instead they're willing to to forsake ruin they're willing to forsake their reputation it's easy to run with the crowd it's easy to fit in it's easy to blend in and to conform to the ideals of carnality the rich young ruler has courage to seek jesus when the popular opinion of the cold religious crowd wants to kill christ it's easy to stand with the crowd but it's not easy to stand out and stand alone there are some in this room who you need to make up your mind if i'm the only one living for the lord so be it as for me and my house we will serve the lord i don't care what the crowds say i don't care what the culture says i have made up my mind i am come i wish somebody who believed that would clap their hands today jesus had public and sinners fishermen prostitutes he even had former dead people uh the sick the lame the blind the deaf the leprous all following him what he didn't have was somebody who was rich he didn't have somebody who was popular even this rich young rulers peers like nicodemus who were pharisees and keepers of the law would only come to jesus at night but not the rich young ruler he he comes running he comes it's i'm ready now he comes running now i don't care what everybody else does i've made up my mind i'm going to do something about what i feel he comes and he runs and then he falls at his feet this is a sign of reverence reverence brothers and sisters is a mark of moral quality somebody taught him how to be reverent and respectable this is a quality young man this is the type of person who has easy conversion written all over them you know what i'm talking about oh they're going to get it oh they're going to get it oh they're going to they're going to receive it easy conversion this is going to be the easiest one yet he's reverent young rich zealous enthusiastic smart religious and courageous then he tells jesus that he's morally clean when jesus asks him about keeping the law he tells jesus that he has never committed murder never committed adultery never has committed petty theft never has lied about his neighbor hasn't committed fraud and he has also honored his father and his mother and jesus looks at him and loves him he says good teacher what must i do to inherit eternal life oh lord have mercy in spite of all of this man's characteristics attributes and accomplishments he is lacking he's lovely but he's lacking jesus looking at him loved him and said you lack one thing what do you mean i lack one thing i have everything i have everything that you're looking for i have everything that your disciples are looking for i have everything what could i possibly be lacking he's reverent but he's lacking he's morally clean but he's lacking he was rich but lacking he was young but he's lacking he was zealous but lacking he was courageous but he's lacking if anybody could can be could be converted it's this young man and jesus looks at him just as he had looked at the prostitutes just as he had looked at the thieves just as he had looked at those who had rejected him and who have been rejected from society jesus looks at this man and the bible says loved him he loved him jesus loved him as much as he loved the leper and the prostitute jesus's love reaches to all walks of life what could he possibly lack it seems as if he has all things going his way any one of us here would love to be in his rich lord i'd like to be a millionaire trust me trust me with that and then you know you feel well i couldn't uh you know i someone said well you can never have you can never be a millionaire a billionaire why is that just try me can i just try i mean i'd like to like have a little sample of it wouldn't you can i just maybe try for a day wouldn't that be kind of cool you know i mean well you know i'm not opposed to it i like to try you couldn't handle all of it well can you at least give me a test you know can you just give me a sample size of that you know i'd like to be rich he's young who wouldn't want to go back and be young again who wouldn't like to get up and not have any aches and pains in their knees oh my goodness i've had more back aches in my 40s than i had in the first 40 years of my life i don't know what happens all of a sudden you turn 40. your eyes i've got to wear my glasses all the time now i go to a restaurant i got to do this oh wouldn't you like to go back when you're young and and you've got your energy and you've got your vitality and you got your enthusiasm oh i'd like to go back when i was young i'd like to feel what i felt then didn't need coffee to have energy i don't know how my little girl does it six years old and i'm like when do you ever slow down let me show you this flip let me show you this back hand i can do all this i can run i can talk i'm not a million miles an hour not one drip of coffee and i'm going here's my third cup this morning keeping up with you what's it like it's like all of a sudden you turn forward and all of your energy's gone and you're relying upon coffee and energy drinks and just please have some enthusiasm sometimes i feel like we we got a little coffee out here i think some of us might need two cups we might need something out there he might need some up here in a little while you know just got to get i got to get him get my energy back go back to be young and enthusiastic have a little energy everybody would like to be in this rich young man's shoes what in the world is he lacking the problem for him was his head told him he was fulfilled but his heart told him he was empty because he ran to jesus and said what must i do everything he has everything he's done all the qualities that he possesses even his heart told him you're empty there's got to be something beyond what i feel you could be looking in this room right now and you could be looking across this room and across that way and say surely they have everything it'd be nice to be in their shoes they would i wish i could have what they have but you don't know what their heart is telling them it might look like they have it all together but on the inside they're empty he lacked something and he even knew what it was what can i do to get eternal life i've got money i've got wealth i've got popularity i've got a head full of knowledge i've got fame everybody knows me everybody likes me i'm young i'm enthusiastic i've got zeal but i don't have eternal life i'm missing something there is a debit in my heart there is emptiness here what must i do what could and some of us brothers and sisters we're looking at people we're looking at celebrities we're looking at we're looking at uh people who are popular in pop culture even us pastors and preachers we can look at mega church pastors and celebrity pastors like oh it must be so nice to have that but can i tell you something you can have all the riches and popularity in the world and still be lacking [Applause] [Music] it is not your bank account it is not your possessions it is not your popularity it is not your fame it is your soul it is the condition of your soul that might be lacking today he lacked something he knew he lacked eternal life keeping the law keeping the commandments working in the synagogue or even in a modern church does not give you eternal life you lack one thing he's got everything and he lacks one thing how could he earn it how could he work for it jesus says you lack one thing and here it is go and sell i didn't ask what i needed to give away i needed to ask what i could get some of us have looked at church and christianity in the wrong way we are always looking about how we can get something when christ is calling us to give something this is not a place where you come in and say what can i get christ compels us come and give come and give sell all that you have give give give when we start listen to me now when we start making church about what we can get out of it we are one step towards backsliding i hope they can sing my favorite song today i hope we can get out at 11 30 today i hope they don't have everything so loud today i hope they don't have everything so bright today [Music] instead we should enter into his gates with thanksgiving it's what can i give oh somebody the church is not for you to get the church is for you to give and to give your worship to give your prayer i wish somebody would do it right now i wish somebody would give him praise right now i wish somebody would give him it's not what you can get it's what you can give go and sell go and sell go and give you are to not end you are you brought nothing into this world and you cannot take anything with you you come into this world empty and you will leave this world empty-handed you can't take your bank you can't take your finances you can't take your 401k you can't take any of that with you you come empty and you leave oh go and sell and give to the poor and then you will have treasure not in your bank account but in heaven i'm afraid brothers and sisters i'm afraid we have made this life our heaven we work so hard for this world we work so hard for possessions and riches here but are you willing to give for treasures that you can't even see treasures that you will never hold into your hand treasures that cannot be counted you can't count the blessings of god these are treasures in heaven when he tells him this he came running he came enthusiastically he came with zeal had jesus tells him go and sell everything you have and it says disheartened by the saying he went away sorrowful why for he had great possessions can i tell you this christ's command of this young man was for him jesus didn't tell this to everybody not everybody is going to have to give all of their possessions to the poor but he will ask you of something he will ask you to give something and that something brothers and sisters is an idol that something is a god in your life are you hearing me because when he tells you to do the thing and your first response is not sure about that that is an idol that is the thing you kneel and bow and submit yourself to that thing has authority over you and i can't get rid of it if i get rid of it you know what i'm gonna you know what i'm gonna not have if i if i get rid of it you know what they'll say if i get rid of it jesus says go and sell what you have because it's an idol in your life he gave him this command because he knew his treasure was in his possessions he loved what he owned he loved the power he loved the position he loved the title he loved the law keeping but he couldn't sell all the things he possessed didn't listen to me you don't hear any anything else that i said they hear this the things he possessed didn't love him back his possessions can't love him back money will never love you it just changes hands possessions houses boats cars will never love you they'll never reciprocate affection they'll never love you on your worst day or even on your best day they'll never give you what you need power won't love you prestige won't love you titles won't love you possessions will never love you but scripture says jesus looking at him loved him even though you are possessed by your possessions i love you i can give you the one thing that your possessions cannot give you and that's love it will never reciprocate but christ says i will love you and jesus is not telling him this please listen to me he's not telling him this out of legalism sometimes we look at god's commands and what he asks of us as legalism as if god is going to put you in bondage really the issue is he's already in bondage he's in bondage to religion and to his possessions and jesus has come to release him of what binds him and he would rather leave shackled then be liberated in lacking the one thing he lacked all musicians and singers get ready what did he lack spiritual life now listen to me there's a difference between being spiritual and being religious this young man is religious but he's not spiritual you can do listen to me i'm gonna i'm about to kick in the shins okay get ready you can keep all of the commands you want and still be lost i don't do this i don't do this i don't do that i don't do this i don't do that i don't go there i don't do i don't do i don't do i don't do i don't do but do you know him oh no i know law keeping i don't want to make bishop mad i don't want to disappoint pastor i want to stay up in the choir are you hearing me now you can keep all the commands that you want it's not going to get you into heaven because if you're still holding on to idols i don't i'm going to pastor right now you you may not cut your hair but you can have a tongue as long as i 40. one does not negate the other that's right i would never murder my brother but i'm going to talk bad about them behind their back i don't do this i don't do this i don't do this but i'll put a knife in your back when you're not around but hey i'm dressing their part i don't do this on sundays i don't do that on wednesdays but i'm going to do it the rest of the week you see you're religious you're not spiritual because the spiritual man says i want to do this out of love to christ not out of i'm doing this out of love and commitment i'm submitted listen well jesus help me right now jesus help me right now oh god help us not to be religious and to in try to replace spirituality with law keeping he says you're all your law keeping listen i know you didn't kill i know you didn't steal i know you've done all that but do you have eternal life no i'm missing something something is missing all of his law keeping all of his religion never convicted him of the idol of his heart religion will never convict you of true idols but jesus will something as trifle as his possessions kept him from obtaining the one thing that he needs jesus knows what's in our hearts and keeps us from honest devotion to him it could be possessions it could be watching and playing sports it could be watching television scrolling mindlessly through social media it could be that boyfriend or that girlfriend it could be that certain type of wardrobe he knows where your idols are but do you [Music] stand with me there are some people who won't come to an altar because they're afraid of what he'll ask had a young man ask me one time he was i was evangelizing he was he was asking me something about this girl and should i break up with her should i do this should i i don't know i said well have you prayed about it he said no because i know what he'll say i said then why are you asking me i'm going to tell you what jesus would say break up with her [Music] stop doing what you're doing god help us not to be afraid of what the master tells us to get rid of going away sorrowful what a fatal refusal i'm closing he missed out on the greatest of treasures thinking that he had treasure jesus said this in matthew 13 44-46 i didn't give this to our team the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden a field the witch when a man hath founded he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he has and buys the field you see some of us want the treasure but we don't want the field i want jesus but i don't want the church but you can't have jesus unless you buy the field with it [Applause] again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man seeking goodly pearls who when he has found one pearl of great price went and sold all he had and bought it [Music] one of the greatest athletes of our generation [Music] tom brady the most decorated quarterback in nfl history in june 2005 in a 60 minutes interview correspondent steve cross spoke with the new england patriots quarterback at that time asking him about a success on and off the field what tom brady said about being satisfied in life surprised everyone in the room and i quote tom brady there's times when i'm not the person that i want to be why do i have three super bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me i mean maybe a lot of people would say hey man this is what it is i reach my goal my dream my life me i think god it's got to be more than this i mean this can't be what it's all cracked up to be i mean i've done it i'm 27. and what else is there for me [Music] the reporter asked what's the answer [Music] tom brady answered i wish i knew i wish i knew we've got what he's looking for you think i wish i could marry a supermodel i wish i could win six super bowl rings i wish i could make millions of dollars i wish i could be on advertisements i wish it seems like he's been drinking from the well of youth he's getting younger every day he's still playing i wish i had that and you know what he's thinking deep down aside there's got to be more than this [Music] and you know what he's looking for dom you've got it you've got what he's looking for i don't have all the accolades i don't have the possessions i don't have the money i don't have the fame but i've got christ and with christ comes eternal life i wish somebody would lift up their hands right now oh you've got what the world is looking for it's treasure it's the pearl of great price it's the treasure head in the field [Music] will you give all so you could get all i want you lift up your hands and i want you to pray i want you to pray lord let the you you got to be the center of my life it's not money it's not possessions it's not fame in a material world right now that just were pursuing materialism with god let me lay aside the idols of my heart i wonder if somebody would leave their pew right now leave their seat i know the holy ghost dealing with you right now it's that thing you got to get rid of it's that thing you got to get rid of and lay down on the altar abraham put isaac on the altar i know it's what you've always wanted but i've got something greater if you'll put it on the altar he'll meet you he'll be the ram and the thicket he'll be the treasure of the field he'll be the pearl of great price oh i wonder if somebody would pray do you need eternal life come on