DeanSweetman.com » Grace Vs. Judgment http://deansweetman.com Sermons, Podcasts and Teachings to Live Your Best Life Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:46:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Dean Sweetman is Sr Pastor of the C3 Church with a campus in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He also serves as Executive Regional Overseer for C3 Americas. The Sweetmans moved to the USA in 1996 for the sole purpose of planting the Lawrenceville church. C3 Church currently serves the Atlanta community in a unique way through itís technology and charity work. Last year, Dean and Jill planted the C3 Church in Studio City, California. As Sr Pastors of both churches, they split their time between Atlanta and Studio City and have homes in both cities. Dean is a sought-after speaker in both church and business settings and an emerging author. His passionate and uncompromising preaching will inspire the most on-fire believer as challenge those who lack the fervor required to serve God. C3 Church in Lawrenceville, GA USA clean C3 Church in Lawrenceville, GA USA webmaster@christiancitychurch.com webmaster@christiancitychurch.com (C3 Church in Lawrenceville, GA USA) C3 Atlanta Online with Dean Sweetman DeanSweetman.com » Grace Vs. Judgment http://audio.thec3church.com/podcasticon.jpg http://deansweetman.com/category/grace-vs-judgment/ The Pool of Silom – or – Mud in Your Eye http://deansweetman.com/2010/05/02/the-pool-of-silom-or-mud-in-your-eye/ http://deansweetman.com/2010/05/02/the-pool-of-silom-or-mud-in-your-eye/#comments Sun, 02 May 2010 16:53:07 +0000 Dean http://deansweetman.com/?p=251 John 9: 1-38 (NLT): As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”
But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”
They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”
He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”
“Where is he now?” they asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.
Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”
The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”
The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”
His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”
“I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”
“But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?”
“Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”
Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”
“Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.”
“You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.
When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”
“You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”
“Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

There are seven miracles recorded in the Book of John set before the Crucifixtion. Each story is written with several layers. This story is no different. It is a story about an encounter with God that leads to a slowly unfolding revelation. The first hint is the word John uses to descibe this man’s blindness. It is not the usual word for “someone who cannot see.” It actually means general blindness.

Now, let’s start at the beginning. Jesus is walking along with His disciples when He sees a blind guy. His disciples see Him as well and begin to question the origin of the man’s blindness. It was the belief of the time that sin caused sickness. Jesus immediately refutes that belief with the truth: he is blind so the power of God can been seen through him. Jesus is about to shake up this young man’s life in the most radical way! He proceeds to spit on the ground, make clay from it, and then rubs it all over the man’s eyes. This guy has not met Jesus; Jesus and the disciples were talking about him without talking to him; and then, suddenly, he gets spit on. Then, Jesus tells him to go to the PUBLIC pool of Silom to wash. This guy can’t see. He’s probably never been to the pool of Silom. But, without any help, he does as he is told.

He find the pool, washes, and, BOOM, he can see! He walks out his miracle! Sometimes, we have an encounter with God that shakes up our world but requires us to go a step further. He requires us to walk out the miracle. Jesus has healed several people in several different ways. He is capable of the instant heal (which we all love and want for Him to do for us), but some times, He requires us to walk it out by faith. This is what this man had to do. He had to walk by faith to achieve his miracle. And he did! But the story does not end there.

He goes home. His friends immediately begin to question him about what happened. He says, “The man called Jesus…” Jesus, a man, healed him. That is his first understanding of who it was whom he encountered while begging. His friends don’t believe him. And soon, the Pharisees come in. They are perturbed by the fact that someone worked on the Sabbath. Jesus made clay! He isn’t supposed to do that on the Sabbath! They are so locked in their religious rules that they can’t see the miracle in front of them. Religion is a killer. It stops us from encountering God. The man’s parents could not even rejoice over the fact that their son was healed out of fear of being kicked out of their religious bubble.

The Pharisees interogate the man. They want to know who did this. The man then answers that it was Jesus, a prophet! The revelation is continuing to unfold. First, Jesus is a man. now, he is a prophet. The Pharisees protest that he is a sinner. The man counters with an understanding that he, himself, does not know what all the rules and regulations (religion) dictates concerning this event, but all he knows is that he was blind and now he can see. He had an encounter with God. Jesus came in and shook up his world. And now, he can see. Then, he goes the bold and decalres himself a disciple of this man/prophet Jesus whom he has not ever seen, but he heard the disicples call him Rabbi and decided that he, too, wants to follow him. Jesus, the man, the prophet, and now the rabbi; the revelation continues to unfold.

The Pharisees kick the man out. He is cut off from the social religious norm. He is left alone to wander. That is when Jesus finds him. In life, God intervenes and shakes up our world. He puts his finger on an area of our lives that we are blind to and wants to shake us out of it. He wants us to see it, to heal from it, to overcome the thing holding us back–fear, broken home, addiction, failing marriage, bankrupcy. He shakes up our world, and then He withdraws to watch and wait as we walk it out. he wants us to trust in Him. So, we walk it out. And then, the world turns against us. Our friends and even family want to pull us back into the box that is the safe social norm where no one upsets the status quo. Your stepping out in faith angers them, and they try to pull you back down. But, you push on; you make a stand for God. And then, Jesus finds you.

Jesus heard what had happened. Jesus knows what is going on in your world. When He finds you, He knows what is going on. Jesus heard what had happened to this man. He asks, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man answers, “Yes, I want to. Tell me where He is!” This man has declared himself a disciple. He wants to follow Jesus. Jesus replies, “How have seen Him. And He is speaking to you.” The man falls to his knees before Jesus, declaring, “Yes, Lord!” Capital “L.” And he worships Jesus publically. From man, to prophet, to rabbi, to Lord, to God. The revelation is complete. This man has had his life transformed by the real the living God.

God wants to do something radical in our worlds. He will come in and intervene; either through church or someone speaking into our worlds; He comes in and shakes us up. He does something radical, frightening, amazing, and completely against the social norm to motivate us out of the place holding us back. He pushes us to walk out the miracle. We take teh steps of faith, trusting in Him to do what it is He promised to do; and as we walk in faith, the revelation unfolds and the miracle happens. No more staying at the same level. Will you let God shake you up so you can experience Him?

]]> http://deansweetman.com/2010/05/02/the-pool-of-silom-or-mud-in-your-eye/feed/ 0 John 9: 1-38 (NLT): As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins? John 9: 1-38 (NLT): As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing! His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!” They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!” “Where is he now?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he replied. Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them. Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?” The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.” The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents. They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?” His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind, but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.” So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.” “I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” “But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?” “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.” “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from? We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will. Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.” “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue. When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.” C3 Church in Lawrenceville, GA USA clean 25:33 The Heart of God http://deansweetman.com/2008/11/05/the-heart-of-god/ http://deansweetman.com/2008/11/05/the-heart-of-god/#comments Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:42:55 +0000 Dean http://deanandjill.com/2008/11/05/the-heart-of-god/ Luke 7:36-50 (NLT): One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”

Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

“That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”

And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

In this story, Jesus addresses the issue of judgment. You can keep a smile on your face and still judge someone in your heart, and Jesus will know. He knows what is on your heart. The Pharisee in this tale, Simon, saw the woman and immediately judged her in his heart. Immediately, he closed the door of connection on her, for he felt he was higher than she was. You see, Pharisees were a political class. They were wealthy men who believed that, because they followed the law of God to the letter, they were better than the world. They looked down on the “sinners” and judged them. They wore righteousness like a robe to be flaunted. It was a false righteousness. This same mindset infects the churches today. The church speaks one thing and does another. The world is sick of the words of the church; the world is constantly judging the actions of the church. It is time the church stops speaking and begin acting.

Jesus did not judge the woman who came to Him. He loved her. The moment He saw her, He loved her and had compassion on her. He did not scold her for showing her love for Him. Jesus is all about the heart. He is about changing hearts. He saw that her heart was soft and ready to change; He accepted her with love. The Pharisees had hard hearts; they were not ready to change, thus Jesus had to be harder on them.

People with access to God’s presence don’t always get the heart change. There are things in the heart that, when left unattended, will cause damage to both you and others. There is judgment and anger and other such negative emotions that fester there if the heart remains hard to God’s grace. The longer you follow God, the more grace you require. The further you go in God, the more grace you need. It all comes down to the softness of the heart.

Now, Simon, the Pharisee, had an attitude. He invited Jesus to his home, but he was not ready to engage or to accept the message Jesus was bringing. He had a judgmental attitude; he was cynical. As a rich man, he had servants who would wash people’s feet when they arrived, but Jesus’ feet was not washed. Simon instructed his servants to not wash Jesus’ feet. He was giving Jesus the cold shoulder; he did not truly want Jesus there. He wanted to trap Jesus not accept Him.

The second character in this story is the woman. She was a prostitute. In that time, her dress and the way she carried herself identified her profession. She brings an alabaster box of perfume. This is not perfume that can simply be bought at the store. This perfume costs thousands of dollars. To get the perfume into the box required her to go to the perfumer. She is judged by the perfumer as she has the box filled. And she pours this expensive offering onto Jesus’ feet. The custom of the Middle East in concerns to touching and kissing someone’s feet is to say, “Thank you for saving my life.” She had an encounter with Jesus at some point in His ministry, but she still is of the world. She does not have all her things together. She goes home and takes her jar–a jar of perfume that she would bathe in in order to make the experience of having her body a pleasant one–to be filled once more. She goes to the house. The house is filled with many guests. Jesus is reclining at the table, legs stretched out. She comes up behind him, in complete humility, and anoints him. She unbraids her hair to wipe his feet; she touches his feet in an almost sensual manner as she cries so hard that it is like water washing His feet. She lays herself open before him in complete repentance and thankfulness for His saving grace.

The Pharisees are offended by what they see. She is touching Him! That is a no-no! And Jesus is letting her do it! He cannot be a prophet if He is letting such an unclean person touch Him! This has been the stance many times of the church. We thought we were too righteous for the world. Because we were touched by God’s presence, we were too good for those who were “unclean” out in the world. Time and again, Jesus says, “You got it wrong.” Jesus is a physician. He heals in the natural, and He heals the heart. When He draws near, and we draw near to Him, and He speaks, we are drawn to Him. He is called to draw all men to Him, yet the church is doing the opposite. We repel all men from God. We have lost sight of God’s heart, blinded by our own self-righteousness. If we do not allow ourselves to align with the heart of God and reach out to touch the unclean, the churches in our country will empty.

Thus, we do what we can to reach the unclean, the unchurched, and the pre-Christians. We do things to make it easy for them to come into the House. Our job, as followers of Christ, is to help them along so that they move from pre-Christians to connected to the heart of God. Jesus demonstrates time and again by letting the woman do what she did the true heart of God.

Now, in the midst of turmoil in our country, is the time for us to rise up in humility and in love and show the world where the answers are. Now is the time to view the world as Jesus viewed the world. Look at that woman who is in process of coming out of her lifestyle the same as Jesus saw her; without judgment, without hate, but with love and acceptance. Jesus received her and allowed her to touch Him in an almost forbidden way. The Holiness of God is not so holy that it can’t come in contact with someone who is broken. Our righteousness should never get in the way of our ability to empathize with those who are broken. This story is one way Jesus shows the true heart of God.

]]> http://deansweetman.com/2008/11/05/the-heart-of-god/feed/ 0 Who have you loved today? http://deansweetman.com/2008/02/14/who-have-you-loved-today/ http://deansweetman.com/2008/02/14/who-have-you-loved-today/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:50:07 +0000 Dean http://deanandjill.com/2008/02/14/who-have-you-loved-today/ Luke 10: 27-28

Who have you loved today? Even as great believers, we can fall into the habit of climbing the ladder in life – gaining the positions that we feel are improvements and that we think hold more esteem. People have the ideas of going somewhere big in life and they try to equate it with big names or trying to achieve something we see as “big”. None of us actually graduate through hierarchical structures that we try to attach ourselves to. God actually promotes us based on our hearts and how we treat others – based on who we have loved today.

In this scripture, Jesus answers a Pharisee (in response to the question “How do I get to Heaven?) and says “Love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Do this and live.” Notice that he says all four times. Even when we aren’t feeling like reaching out to or loving others, he says pull on your strength. Make the decision in your mind that you are going to love that person. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do this and you will live.

Jesus is telling us to love people and our neighbors. He doesn’t separate loving God and others into two commandments. He makes them one and the same. If you love God, you will love others. We can separate our love for God from our love for God. We cannot separate our servant-hood for God from how we serve other people. Jesus says that they are one.

What is ‘our neighbor’? After this passage, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. In Jesus’ times, Samaritans were looked down upon because they worshiped another God and had odd customs. They were the enemy of the Jews – they were the lowest of the low. Jesus replies that a neighbor is a total stranger – someone we may have nothing in common with! Jesus sees neighbors in a different way than we do. It goes against what our mind is trained to think about people. It doesn’t matter what the person may look like to us.

The Samaritan took twelve acts of mercy and deposited them on the Jewish man’s life to get him back to help. The heart of love does specific things – specific acts of love. The heart of love doesn’t wait to help, but jumps in when they see a need. The heart of love sees the deed through until completion, and loves with the best they have, not with leftovers. Our neighbor is anyone that we come in contact with everyday – those that actually cause us to step out of our comfort zone. We want to love our friends and family, but that doesn’t really challenge those. Reach out beyond our comfort zone is actually what allows the love of God to spread.

Two men walked by the victim and left him before the Samaritan came along – a priest and a temple assistant. But Jesus doesn’t talk about those first two men in judgment. We often tend to look at things with a heart of judgment instead of grace. We justify not helping people by focusing on what we think is wrong – “They did it to themselves.” But God didn’t call us to judge. Rather he called us to walk in grace. All Jesus says is who they were and that they “walked on”. But they thought they were doing the right thing. God sees their heart. We can’t possibly see people’s hearts or motivation. That is why we as believers are only called to love and have grace. Not to judge.

Love releases – not controls. Our hearts are to release people into the love of God. We are only called to trust and have faith in God – letting God take others on the journey and to their destiny in His time, not our time. God often goes against our common sense and how we think. That is why we can only love and sow into others – not judge. It’s not about what others do wrong – to God, it’s about what I do right. What you do may seem small or nonsensical to you – but God looks at your heart. He uses things and deeds and ways we can’t understand.

Our increase in God comes as we love God with all of our hearts and love the people with whom we come in contact. It has nothing to do with what we gain in the natural – nothing to do with the hierarchies we try to move up, nothing to do with our house or car, nothing to do with how much money we make or what kind of clothes we have. Where we go in life has nothing to do with the way the human mind works. What matters to God is who have you loved today? Who have you reached out to? How have you treated others? How have you tried to show the love of God to others?

]]> http://deansweetman.com/2008/02/14/who-have-you-loved-today/feed/ 1 The Kingdom of God – Part III – Judge Not http://deansweetman.com/2007/11/23/the-kingdom-of-god-part-iii-judge-not/ http://deansweetman.com/2007/11/23/the-kingdom-of-god-part-iii-judge-not/#comments Fri, 23 Nov 2007 16:10:41 +0000 Dean http://deanandjill.com/2007/11/23/the-kingdom-of-god-part-iii-judge-not/ Matthew 7 – A lot of people think that God is angry, judgmental and tired of humanity. But Jesus did not come to the Earth with a big stick. He brought grace, love, and compassion.

Obedience on the outside is RELIGION. Real obedience is about the heart. We cannot judge people by what we see on the outside – that is the mistake of religion. God wants us to choose to follow him. This is the point of a free will. This ensures that we are obedient on the inside…where it counts.

Verse 1 – Stop Judging Others! Start worrying about yourself. Don’t be critical of others, or God will hold you to His standard. Matthew threw a party so that he could get his tax collector friends and other people that the Bible called “notorious sinners” to meet Jesus. Jesus went to the party to teach these men and show them the true nature of God.

In the midst of this party, Jesus said, “Judge not.” We need to stop going to a sense of Judgment in our view of the world, and start defaulting to GRACE, as Jesus did. At some point, the Church thought it would be a good idea to let the World know that they weren’t living up to God’s standards. But, we cannot live up to our own standards, let alone God’s….this just makes us hypocrites.

The message in a judgmental attitude is that we are better than someone else. The Church has been judging the world. Now, they judge us back. This result is the OPPOSITE of what we need to do to change the world. Jesus brought GRACE, COMPASSION, and FORGIVENESS to the world.

The church needs to be more like Jesus and give grace. What does God think about homosexuals, drug dealers, prostitutes, etc.? He loves them and wants to see them healed of their pain. Jesus would not have told them that they were bad people and going to hell. The Bible is full of examples of Jesus showing these people a better life in him….through grace not judgmentalism.

So much of our society is based on some form of judgementalism and what is happening on the outside. How nice is your car? How big is your house? What do you do for a living? People should be measured by what they carry on the inside, integrity, character, honesty, love…. The Church cannot change the world unless we stop operating in Judgment. In order to change the world, we need them to stop judging us. This begins with us not judging them. We must break the cycle.

We are not better than the world. The ONLY thing that makes us great is the Spirit of God working through us. Without God, we are NOTHING. We are NOTHING without Jesus and the grace that he showed us by dying for our sins. We must reciprocate this grace. Jesus said that the world would know that we are different by our LOVE.

People can’t change people. Nothing that we can say or do can change someone’s heart. The only way to change someone’s heart is through the Spirit of God.

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