The Sermon on the Mount is the believer’s standard for living in today’s world. I have been thinking a lot about that lately.
 
How do I want my children and grandchildren to remember me?
How do I want God to judge me when Jesus comes again to establish His kingdom?
 
It is more important to me for Him to say, “Well done good and faithful servant…” (Matthew 25:23), than what friends, family and even fellow citizens say about my life. Don’t get me wrong. It is important what others think about me, but I am more focused these days on what God will say than any other person I know. To this end, Jesus holds up the standard of righteousness as a kingdom of God principle.
 
Is it possible to meet that standard in a world filled with so much animosity, greed and untruth?
How can a person ever be righteous enough to please God?
 
The truth is, we can’t. The Bible says, “There is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). Our righteousness is as “filthy rags” according to according to Isaiah 64:6. I am unrighteous due to my many sins and I need God’s help to ever hope to be righteous enough to meet His standard.
 
That’s why Jesus is so important to me. He is my righteousness. His blood covers my sins so that I am righteous through the blood of Jesus on the cross, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). I am declared righteous through the blood of Jesus. Being made righteous through the blood of Jesus describes my kingdom character by my faith in what He did for me on the cross. I didn’t earn it. I received it the moment Jesus entered by heart and became the Lord of my life. So, I am a righteous person to God through faith in Jesus and qualify for citizenship in His eternal kingdom.
 
Righteousness is incomplete if I only strive to be right before God and slack up in my determination to do right in my daily life. It simply does not work to say that you are righteous when your actions say you are not. Righteousness means that you trust Jesus to make you right before God and then you dedicate yourself to do right every day. The Beatitude says, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness…” Righteousness must be your purpose and goal in all the decisions you make and the lifestyle you choose.
 
That’s what the rest of the Sermon on the Mount teaches us. It tells us that it is not enough to simply not murder someone. It tells us that kingdom people do not lend themselves to hate or belittle other people because that assassinates their character and reputation. Jesus says kingdom people do not commit adultery because they don’t ever look upon other women with lust in their hearts. Kingdom people do not worry or strive for excessive wealth because God takes care of them like He does the birds of the air and flowers on the ground. Kingdom people live differently than worldly people. Kingdom people keep their eyes on Jesus and not on the kingdoms of this world.
 
Are you a kingdom person?
Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness?
 
Guess what. If you do what the Bible says, “You shall be filled…”

​God continues to bless our church by sending new people to worship with our fellowship every Sunday. This past Sunday, we welcomed 4 new families to the worship service. You know that God is at work when you see new faces at church. Of course, God blesses His church through faithful and increased tithes and offerings received from hearts overflowing with love and commitment to what God is doing among us.
 
Our church family has consistently given over and above the goal established through the church’s 2020 Budget. As of this past Sunday, the Budget goal amounted to $133,167,60. Gifts received have exceeding that number by $7,184.64 because total contributions amount to $140,352,24. In addition, our Building and Renovation account has grown to $290,449.68. Grace has been abundantly blessed by God as a church whose members practice good biblical stewardship.
 
Of course, God has blessed our fellowship with new members and recent salvations. When have seen Bradley Swanner and Aubrey Mendez walk the isle to express their faith in Jesus Christ and present themselves has candidates for baptism and membership into the Grace Church family? While attendance has leveled to around 90 to 100 each week due to the pandemic, God continues to demonstrate His blessing upon us through new faces, good stewardship and people coming to faith in Jesus and membership in the church.
 
There is another clear sign of God’s hand upon us. When young folks recognize that God has worked in their lives to call them into kingdom service, you know that He is done something wonderful within the church body. God has called three men to serve as Deacons within the Grace church family:

​Ken Grindle – Unexpired 2-year term
Josh Dixon – 3-year term
Weldon Rogers – 3-year term

 
Weldon was ordained to serve as a deacon by our church 4 years ago. Ken and Josh are newly elected deacons who will be ordained to serve. The Ordination Counsel will meet on Sunday afternoon, October 25th at 5:00 pm to pray with and consider the scriptural basis for ordination with these newly elected deacons. The Bible says, “Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience” (1 Timothy 3:8-9). The purpose of the Ordination Counsel is to understand better what Ken and Josh believe about the Bible, Jesus, Salvation, the Church and other great doctrines we hold dear. Once the Council approves, they will be presented to the church for ordination which will take place on Sunday morning, November 1st. The Deacon Body will lay hands on these men to encourage and pray for them. The church family will approve of the Ordination as recommended by the Ordination Council and set these three apart for deacon service within the church family.
 
Set these dates aside and plan to be a part of what God is doing in our church to show us His presence and power calling people to step up and step out as devoted followers of Jesus. We sincerely praise Him for every good gift that comes from His hand.

I am continuing my reading through the Bible like many others in our church. Yes, I am behind in the schedule, but nonetheless, I am pressing forward. This week I am reading the prophets and today my time was focused on the great and terrible DAY OF THE LORD. Listen to what Isaiah said about this fearful day, “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible…Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” (Isaiah 13:9-11, 13)
 
The Day of the Lord in this instance is a description of what God was about to do to Babylon for its disregard for God. Babylon was God’s instrument of judgement against Israel when it failed to follow God’s direction. Now judgement was coming back on them for the same sins Israel had committed 70 years earlier. Isaiah called the judgement of God on Babylon, “The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see” (Isaiah 13:1). Talking about “What-Goes-Around-Comes-Around.” This is a prime example.
 
God’s judgement is a recurring theme in scripture. Wherever and whenever people willfully sin and disobey God’s divine will as it is revealed in His word, judgement follows. Do you believe we are living in a period of God’s judgement? What we are seeing take place all around us is stark and catastrophic like what the Bible describes as the Day of the Lord. A pandemic has infected over 7 million people in our country claiming more than 211,000 dead. Even if you disagree with the exact numbers, you must accept the fact that this disease is extraordinary in its scope and severity. The Day of the Lord is anything but, “business as usual.” The size of this illness falls in the catastrophic category like what the Bible describes as covering the light in darkness and shaking the heavens and earth out of their normal steady paths. My goodness, even the President and those around him have been shaken and disrupted by testing positive.
 
Wildfires, hurricanes, racial unrest, and chaos in the streets this year have been unusually abnormal. The Day of the Lord is a time when what is normal disintegrates into the abnormal.  God’s judgement is disruptive. It causes people to wonder about things and question what they see. Can you tell that I believe we are looking at our world today in the light of God’s righteous judgement? I believe He is saying, “Be careful. Things could become a lot worse.” Truly, the Day of the Lord would be worse than anything we have seen so far.
 
But, don’t quit reading with chapter 13 in Isaiah. Keep on until you get to chapter 14. There, Isaiah says, “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob” (Isaiah 14:1). God’s judgement is progressive. He judges not to destroy, but to restore. Yes, Israel was judged by the way God used Babylon to attack their arrogance and pride. Now, after repenting and returning to God, the Babylonians themselves would be rescued by God’s restoration of Israel. Out of God’s judgement comes HOPE. God keeps His promises. God is not finished with us. He will restore if we will only repent. Pray for the repentance of America and for our restoration to faithfulness in God’s sovereign rule over our nation. The Bible says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12). God is not done with us yet. Keep on praying and keep on trusting.

Our church begins a new and exciting outreach ministry today designed to share the love of Jesus with people in our community who need to know Jesus and become a part of a church family. The question is, “How do you reach out to people when, because of the COVID 19 pandemic, you cannot visit or make personal contacts like you normally do?”

Listen to the advice of the apostle Paul, “To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are  without law as without law, though not being without the Law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:20-22). Paul is telling us that he did what he had to do to present the gospel to all people and win them to faith in Jesus.
 
Today, somewhere around 60% of people living around us say they have made a personal commitment of Jesus Christ as savior. If that is true, there are in all county approximately 80,000 lost people who have never asked God to forgive them of their sins nor invited Jesus to come into their lives to give them eternal life. Within our neighborhoods there are numbers of people who do not know Jesus. We all are acquainted with folks who do not belong to a church where Jesus is the center of attention. You probably have family members who need Jesus. You go to school and work with people who have no church relationship that is meaningful in their lives.
 
In order to reach these people during this period of prescribed separation and social distancing, we have been led by the Holy Spirit to create an outreach box called our “PROMISE BOX.” This box is a gift from our church family to people who need encouragement to receive Jesus as Savior and become involved in the fellowship of our church. We are making these gift boxes available to you so that you may give them to people in your circle of relationships, neighborhoods, work associations and close friendships to say, “Our church loves you and wants you to know that we care about your spiritual well-being.”

Give one of these boxes to someone you know who needs a spiritual boost.
Give one to someone who needs to hear about Jesus.
 
Listen to what the Bible says as you think about who you know that needs to hear about Jesus and receive a tangible example of the way our church cares for them, “…you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Each one of these boxes costs about $30 to fill with items designed to tell people that Jesus loves them, and we do too. Each box is a spiritual investment that is more powerful than anything money can buy. These boxes are filled with the Holy Spirit. They are power boxes. We have prayed over these boxes and every item inside them. If the Holy Spirit inside one of these boxes changes someone’s life, our investment will be worth everything it cost to put them together. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you who needs your personal witness through giving them a power box filled with the PROMISES OF GOD.

In January this year, God gave me a vision about making the year dedicated to the Bible in our church. Our Deacon Body approved the vision and the church adopted it as a guide for worship and ministry during the entire year. The vision included memorizing 12 passages of scripture, one per month, that every believer and follower of Jesus Christ should know and be able to quote. We have been consistent and faithful all year long repeating together and quoting scripture to begin every worship service up to the latest one, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
 
Could we have imagined back in January what this verse would mean to us after one of the greatest economic turndowns ever experienced since the Great Depression. God has not only supplied our needs, He has poured out His blessing upon our church through tithes and offerings that have exceeded budget expectations throughout the year.
 
Many within our church have chosen to read through the Bible this year using the chronological order of readings recommended by Brother Edward Grant. We are at various stages of the plan depending on where people are in their progress, but the worthy goal of completing our reading of the entire Bible continues throughout our membership. This has made the Bible not only the centerpiece of our worship as a church family, but it has placed a priority on Bible reading in our homes. I continue to hear testimonies of progress and new insights gained for those who continue their personal journey through the word of God. Bible preaching and Bible reading are central to the character and unity in fellowship of a Godly church.
 
I preached 5 sermons on the Bible, beginning with one entitled “My Family Bible” on January 12th. These sermons served to kick-off our emphasis on Bible preaching this year. On February 2nd, I began a new series of 24 sermons preaching through Psalm 119 which demonstrated the commitment and benefits of making the Bible the center of your life. Now, we are in the middle of a sermon series entitle, “I Believe in Jesus…” who embodied the word of God by embedding it in His life and work. In this series, we continue to see that there is no clearer understanding and no greater example of what living out the word of God day by day really means, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
 
This year we have encountered a health crisis as a nation, and economic slowdown, a racial challenge and a political divide greater than any I can remember in my lifetime. Through all the noise and uncertainty we have endured this year, we remain on course and the Bible is still out front in our church. Jesus said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” (John 12:32)
 
No matter what we face in the remaining months of the year. In spite of the challenges that continue to confront us. In the prospect of a hotly contested presidential race and a divided outcome, I am committed to remain faithful to the vision God gave us at the beginning of the year. I will preach Jesus and lift Him up as our Savior and complete fulfillment of what God’s word says. After all, He was the one who said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets, I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)
 
The best I can do right now is to remain faithful in fulfilling the vision to lift up God’s word.

On June 6, 1944, the United States landed 73,000 American troops on the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. Our men were part of a total invasion force of 156,000 allied forces that would eventually result in the total surrender of Nazi Germany and the end of the Second World War in Europe. On that morning, during the last year of President Roosevelt’s presidency, dressed in all white with hair silver grey, our leader led the nation in prayer during his radio broadcast:
 
“In this poignant moment I ask you to join with me in prayer; Almighty God: our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set on a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity… They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest—until the victory is won.”
 
On that day, 4,400 allied forces died and over 9,000 were wounded and missing in action. Before they gave up their lives in service to our country and freedom around the world, the President prayed for them and asked God to make their fighting and sacrifices count for good and for the preservation of our civilization on earth. Though my dad was not a part of the invasion of France, he was a part of 30,000 American troops in Iceland at that time who guarded the northern shipping lanes in the Atlantic Ocean. This mission preserved the vital transport of troops and supplies so important to the invasion effort. While President Roosevelt’s prayer focused on the invasion forces, I believe it included my dad and all others who served to defeat our bitter enemy.
 
Do you know that God’s will and purpose is immutable?
 
That means God has established the final outcome and the overall goal of everything He has created. While things change, kingdom’s rise and fall, and good and evil struggle within God’s plan. The end result is already determined by God Himself. Here is the way King David talked about God’s plan, “Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands, even they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end.” (Psalm 102: 25-27)
 
Listen to the apostle Paul’s trust in the direction of God’s unchanging will, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
 
President Roosevelt believed that God is in control of everything and that His will for all those who put their lives on the line that day would result in a mighty victory over a hard and determined enemy. He also believed in the ultimate TRIUMPH of God’s sovereign plan for His creation. It’s like that which Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)
 
In this day of COVID 19, economic uncertainty, racial unrest, and political division, choose to pray like Jesus taught and Roosevelt practiced. God’s “VICTORY WILL BE WON” as we pray and fight together with Him.
 
We can trust God because His plan never changes.

Fall is in the air. Days are getting dryer and cooler. Leaves are beginning to turn and fall to the ground. Kids have returned to school and football starts this week. I have not yet changed my short-sleeves into long-sleeves, but those days are coming soon. We are getting ready to begin our planning cycle for the coming church year by projecting the ministries and events God would have us do in 2021. Our Church Leadership Team will begin working soon to forecast the calendar of activities to guide our church forward. The Stewardship and Finance Team will start its work this Tuesday to study our financial status in order to project a workable church budget for the new church year. The church voted last Sunday to choose deacons to begin service in the coming year. The work of our church continues with God leading us to face today’s challenges in the strength of tomorrow’s promise.
 
The words of the Lord still apply, “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
 
God is not yet finished with this world. He is still working to accomplish His plan for planet earth, America, and Grace Baptist Church. Our future is as bright and hope filled as it has ever been. We must refrain from allowing the present circumstances to discourage us. We know that since “…God is for us…nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:31, 39)
 
As of this week, COVID-19 cases in Georgia stand at less than 2,000. Hall county reports 923 total cases. At the present time all of our membership is COVID free with our young people and children healthy after the first 2 weeks of school. We are truly blessed by God continuing to have socially distanced Sunday School and worship services in which most of our people faithfully wear their masks and practice safe interaction. The church is thoroughly scrubbed and sanitized each week which provides safe and clean facilities for our people. We are doing what is recommended by our medical and government leaders. Georgia considers Houses of Worship as essential services recommending that churches should continue as many of their functions as necessary while practicing the guidelines of mask wearing, social distancing and sanitary cleanliness. Our church remains in full compliance with all the recommended guidelines.
 
If someone had told me at this time last year, we would be facing the circumstances that have come to pass this year, I could not have believed it. We planned then like nothing unusual would occur. We were looking forward to another year of growth and advance in ministry without interruption. This year everything has changed, and our church still continues to thrive. Like the saying goes, “I know not what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.”
 
So, the fall season means planning, projecting, dreaming and hoping. That is what we do here at Grace. We continue to be the people of God who believe the best in the hope of God’s blessing. Let’s pledge ourselves this fall season to continue to:

1. LOOK AHEAD,
2. LOOK UP TO GOD WHO IS IN CONTROL, AND
3. LOOK OUT FOR ONE ANOTHER IN THE LOVE AND COMPASSION OF JESUS.

​Labor today is under a heavy load of stress. The pandemic has caused 18 million working people to lose their jobs. Almost 30 million have filed for unemployment insurance averaging about 1 million new unemployment claims filed every month since the pandemic started. More than 54 million people face hunger every day right now. Hunger is defined as taking in 1,800 calories per day or less. Of that number, 18 million are children. The health crisis caused by the pandemic has created a second-wave pandemic in joblessness and hunger. We come to Labor Day this year celebrating the dignity of work, but we also grieve for those who suffer because their work has been lost.
 
Here is a verse to remember during this time of difficulty:
​

​ 
Jesus never went a single day without meaningful work to do. The Bible says, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38)
 
Doing good was His job and He did it well. Work is good. Work is beneficial and therapeutic. Without meaningful work, none of us are as fulfilled and happy as we should be. During these days of lay-offs and furloughs, find something good to do. Help somebody in need. Extend a kind word or lend a hand to someone. Doing good for others does something really good for you.

​Do you know somebody who is hungry?
Have you seen somebody on the streets who may be hungry?

​Last week there was a young man on our church property who has been homeless since March. His name is James. I approached him and began a conversation. I learned that he had not eaten all day, so I gave him a $10 bill to go and find something to eat. When I gave him the money, I talked with him about Jesus who knows what hunger is all about. I told him that Jesus fed 5,000 people one day. I shared that Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness and was hungry at the end of it. I shared with him that Jesus knows what hunger feels like because he had been hungry himself.
 
Maybe this Labor Day you might want to feed somebody who is hungry. Ask God to put somebody in your path that you can help. Reach out and find a person who has lost their job or been laid off. Take them something to eat and pray with them. Give someone a job to do around your house or in your yard. Pay them well so they can use the money you provide to buy food or pay a bill. Celebrate the spirit of good work by helping someone do something good for you.

You will receive this morning a roster of those who qualify to serve as deacons for our church according to the guidelines outlined in the Constitution and By-Laws. A deacon is someone who serves the fellowship and ministry of our church in keeping with the Biblical principles given to us in God’s word:
 
“Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.” (I Timothy 3:8-10)
 
The ministry of serving as a deacon is certainly subject to a high biblical standard. It is the spiritual duty of every church member to pray for those who have been nominated. Each person on the list is precious to the life and work of our church. Each one represents the spirit of love and service that we desire and expect of those we choose. You will next Sunday morning, August 30th, during the worship service, be asked to select two names to serve three-year terms with a third choice to serve an unexpired two-year term. You will be choosing three names in all from the list to serve.
 
Ask God to lead you to select those whom you believe will be faithful in honoring this call to service. We praise God for the ones that the Holy Spirit will lead our congregation to appoint. We pledge ourselves to pray for and serve alongside those who are chosen by our church family.
​

You will also be given today an outline of the restated plan for completing the renovations of our upper and lower buildings. The original plan of hiring a general contractor and sub-contractors to complete the work has turned out to be cost prohibitive and beyond our means. Our church would have to incur significant debt that would significantly burden our church budget and hinder our ongoing ministries. The Renovation Dream Team has reconsidered our planning and has developed a new plan by which our church will do the work through volunteer labor much like we did to complete the upper facility. The Team is unanimous in its presentation of the new plan to the church congregation. The Team will present this revised plan to the church on Sunday morning, August 30th for approval.
 
The church family will have opportunity at that time to ask questions for clarification and to thoroughly discuss it before being called to vote. Please study the plan and pray for God’s leadership as we consider its merits. We know that God has led us to this place where we now worship and serve. We have seen God bless and grow our fellowship despite the difficulties we have faced in the present pandemic which has delayed the completion of the lower building renovations. Our church has not had one Sunday since we have moved to this location where we have not received significant contributions to apply to our Relocation and Renovation Fund. We now have on hand $170,000 to apply toward this new plan. God truly is working. We are ready to join Him in completing what was started when moved us to this place.

When John the Baptist first saw Jesus approaching, he immediately recognized who he was. He said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). John knew who Jesus was. John saw in Jesus, God’s plan of salvation wearing a robe and sandals walking toward Him like an old friend that he was eager to welcome and embrace.
 
Does Jesus seem distant to you?
Are you eager to welcome Jesus and embrace His goodness into your life?
 
Sometimes when people think about Jesus that think He is old fashioned and removed from their current situation. To them Jesus is past tense, somebody their grandparents used to talk about. 
 
Still other people think that Jesus is somewhere else. He’s up there, or out there, or anywhere but in here. I recently heard somebody say, “I believe in Jesus, but I still sin, get confused, discouraged and heart broken. I thought when you believed in Jesus things were supposed to get better.” That person speaks for a lot of people who believe that Jesus is AWOL. He is absentee when it comes to things that really matter.
 
Listen to what the popular Christian singing “Casting Crowns” group says about Jesus, “People aren’t confused by the Gospel. They’re confused by us. Jesus is the only way to God, but we are not the only way to Jesus. The world does not need my tie, my hoodie, my denomination or my interpretation of the Bible. They just need Jesus. We can be passionate about what we believe, but we can’t strap ourselves to the gospel, because we are slowing it down. Jesus is going to save the world, but maybe the best thing we can do is just get out of the way.”
 
I agree that people are confused about who Jesus is and what He is all about. I agree that sometimes we miss the mark and slow the gospel down to a snail’s pace. But, to detach and disengage and “get out of the way” is just contrary to what I believe about Jesus.
 
Jesus was anything but detached, He “…became flesh and lived among us.” (John 1:14)
 
Jesus used His robe to teach a lesson about God’s love when the father told his servants to put the family robe on the prodigal son. (Luke 15:22)
 
He walked everywhere he went in his sandals and great multitudes followed Him. (Matthew 4:25)
 
He identified Himself as a Jew and taught the scriptures in the Synagogues. (Luke 4:16)
 
Jesus was well known for His interpretation and teaching of the scripture. (Matthew 7:29)
 
Jesus, in fact, commanded that His people do anything but withdraw to get out of the way, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves…But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say.” (Matthew 10:16,19)
 
Casting Crowns sell millions of recordings and produce great contemporary Christian music. I love what they do, but when it comes to “…getting out of the way,” no thank you. Jesus got in the way so that I might get in the way too.

 
GET IN THE WAY!

BE THE FLY IN THE OINTMENT!

THROW A MONKEY WRENCH IN THE SOUP!

​When you do that, you are doing the gospel the Jesus way. Like John the Baptist, others will see Jesus in you.