The Calling of Matthew

Well, good morning, everyone.

My name is Kyle Guerrero and I'm the missions pastor here at the

Well Community Church.

And so I've been working here for eight years.

It's been amazing.

I think in two days, actually, it will be eight years.

And so, yeah, crazy.

Longest job I ever had.

So that's great.

And I actually absolutely love my job.

I get to work with amazing organizations.

Well, amazing team, but also amazing organizations and people

that we get to work with locally as a church, domestically in the

United States, and around the world.

And so it is an awesome job and I love it to see and to participate

in what God's doing around the world.

And so if you have any questions about missions, please talk to me

afterwards.

I'd love to answer any questions.

I take anything.

So, and also I am married.

I've been married to Amy for 19 years in like about a week.

I know, it's crazy.

Like we're adults now.

Amy, we made it.

So it's incredible.

If you don't know the story, my last name is Guerrero.

So it's Spanish heritage.

My wife is from Korea, was adopted by the whitest family I've ever met.

Our family photo has a bunch of people with white hair, blue eyes.

They're all Scandinavian.

And then Amy and I are there in the middle just like, hey, it's our wedding

picture.

So it's great.

I don't speak any Spanish, but she speaks fluent Spanish.

I lived in Asia.

She doesn't want to go back and visit.

So that's, it's okay.

It's a great combo.

We really help each other out.

And so we have, well, we have three girls.

I'm going to try to get the ages right.

16, 15, and 13.

And then seven years after that, we had two twin boys, Liam and Bennett.

And so they, it's, we have a full house.

As I was told when we had the boys, your quiver is full.

And it is completely full.

And it's amazing.

So really thankful for that.

That God's blessed us with.

So, but before we jump into Luke 5, 27 through 32, I'd just like to take some

time to pray really quick.

So Father, we, we are so grateful for today.

We thank you that as a body of Christ, we get to come together with other

believers and just learn about you to worship, to pray, to come together and

glorify who you are and what you're doing in our life.

And so I just, we pray for the person next to us, that their heart will be

ready to receive to whatever you want to show us today, Lord.

If it's someone from our life group, our family or whoever, Lord, we pray for them.

We pray for ourselves that we will also be ready to receive the Lord.

I pray that our heart posture is open-handed and that we are ready to receive.

And Lord, I just pray for myself that as I pray that, that it makes sense and that

it's your Holy Spirit that's speaking to people and not just words.

And so we are grateful for everything you're doing today, Jesus, in your name.

Amen.

Well, like I said today, we're going to look at the Bible.

We're going to look at the Bible.

We're going to look at Luke 5, 27 through 32.

And I need to set the scene, though, just so that you know what's happening.

Because Luke 5, 27, it opens up with these two words, after that.

Like, isn't that supposed to come like later down the story?

Like, not in the beginning?

So imagine if you're at a party and there's a group of friends over here.

You're over here getting maybe some food and stuff.

And you walk up to this group of people and maybe this guy you never met before.

And he says, and that's how I invented the internet.

Like, whoa, I just missed everything.

Who is this guy?

What part of the internet did he invent?

Like, what did he do?

I got to know.

My FOMO, my fear of missing out, would be off the hook.

Because it's already pretty high.

But yeah, something like that, it would be pretty bad.

So what we're going to do is we're going to fill that in for you.

We're going to rewind a little bit back to Luke chapter 4 so you know and kind of give a little insight.

So let's check out the location first.

As any realtor would tell you, location, location, location.

And so same thing in the Bible.

It is so important to know the location and what is happening.

And so Capernaum is the location of this story.

It is on the northern part of the Sea of Galilee.

It's tucked in right there at the top.

And it's part of a strategic route of trade.

So north is Babylon.

The south is Egypt.

A lot of trade.

A lot of different people coming north and south, east and west.

It's inland from the Mediterranean.

But there's a trade.

There's a trade route there as well.

And so there's a lot of money in that area.

And there's a lot of money being made by the Roman Empire.

And so that's why the Romans have a military garrison there and in that town.

It's to protect their interest, right?

There's so much money being passed through that they want part of that money.

That's what makes the empire happen.

And so with all the different people, with all the different transactions, that is what Capernaum is like.

But lately in Capernaum,

there's been a lot going on.

Jesus has entered the scene in Capernaum and he's been stirring things up.

Jesus is here to seek and save the lost.

They just don't know it yet.

But he's in the midst of it.

So we need to look at Luke 4 to see what Jesus has done before we jump into Luke 5.

So Luke 4, Jesus has been teaching with authority in the synagogues.

Jesus heals a man of a demon.

Simon's mother-in-law is healed from a high fever.

Many others are healed.

We don't know how many or what it was, but it says they were all healed.

And Jesus proclaims to them that he must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well.

For I was sent for this purpose.

And then Jesus, in the beginning of Luke 5, he calls his first disciples.

Peter, James, and John, who are fishermen.

A leper is made clean.

This man who, because he was a leper, he was considered unclean.

People couldn't touch him.

They couldn't do anything.

And can you imagine going years without some type of touch, without a hug, without anything?

Even in close proximity, people weren't getting close to him.

In case he did touch them.

Or in case they got too close.

But Jesus made this man whole by cleansing him.

He had no more leprosy.

He was able to go back into the synagogue and worship.

Jesus heals a paralytic.

This man is brought to this small house by his friends.

And they try to get to the house.

And there's people packed.

All around.

Nowhere inside.

They can't get through the front door.

So his friends grab him.

Bring him up onto the top of the roof.

They're removing the dirt.

They're removing the leaves.

They're removing whatever is holding that roof up.

And they slowly lower him down.

And Jesus heals him.

Well, actually, what he says is, Jesus says, this man's sins are forgiven.

The Pharisees look at him and it's like, what authority does he have to do that?

And Jesus says, well, rise and walk.

You are healed.

And he gets up.

And walks out.

And we know from this passage that there's people from Galilee, which is local.

Judea, a little bit farther away.

And then Jerusalem, which was a 30-hour travel distance from there.

And so that is a long time.

That would have been days just to get from Jerusalem to that area.

But Jesus was doing something.

He was stirring things up in the people.

So nowadays, just to put it in perspective, it would take two and a half hours.

Right?

So amen to cars and all that fun stuff.

They get us places today.

So, but more importantly, the people were amazed by Jesus' words and what he was doing.

Because they'd never seen that before.

So you have our background.

So let's go ahead and jump into Luke 5, 27 through 32.

And just so you know that this same story is also in Matthew 9 and Mark 2.

So let's read Luke 5, 27 through 32.

And here's the words.

After that, he who is Jesus went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi.

Sitting in the tax booth.

And he said to him, follow me.

And he left everything behind.

And got up and began to follow him.

And Levi gave a big, huge reception for him in his house.

And there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.

The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at his disciples saying,

Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?

And Jesus answered and said to them,

It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.

For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Jesus just left the healing of this paralytic.

And he saw Levi.

Immediately it happened.

He left there and then saw Levi.

And so let's learn a little bit about Levi.

His name is Matthew.

And Luke and Mark, they refer to him as Levi in the book of Matthew.

His name is Matthew.

And Levi.

Levi's job was to be a tax collector.

He made tons of money.

This guy was loaded.

We just read that he had a big house.

And obviously he could afford to have a lot of people over.

And this guy was not short of money.

But he was short of relationships.

Right?

Because of his job, it separated him from other people.

So Levi's job was to collect taxes.

And the Romans used local people to collect taxes on trade.

So most of the time, it was a lot of people.

Most of them were ethnic Jews.

But they weren't practicing Jews.

Because they couldn't.

And we'll look into that right now.

They were despised and hated by the Jews, actually.

No one liked them.

And for the Jews, they were in the same category as thieves and murderers.

So no one wants to be associated with that.

No one wanted to have anything to do with them.

Prophets that tax collectors got were on top of what they owed Rome.

So what would happen is if an apple cart came through.

And these apples were $50.

And the tax collector could say, you know what?

I just want to charge $5.

I want to charge $20.

Nah, you know what?

We'll just do $100.

And so they would get that additional $100 on top of the $50 that Rome would get.

So one time, a long time ago, I used to live in China.

And a group of us, some of our friends and some local believers were like,

hey, we want to take you to this sightseeing place.

I'm like, great.

That's great.

So three hours on this bus, we get there.

And we're about ready to buy a ticket.

And I look up and it said,

Chinese price.

All right.

That's reasonable.

But I'm not Chinese, right?

And then I look over and it said,

Foreigner price.

I'm like, oh, that's not the same price.

That's a lot higher.

Foreigners had to pay a lot more money to go see the same thing.

But I was just in a bus for three hours.

I'm going to have to pay it.

Man, was I happy about that?

Absolutely not.

I felt ripped off.

I felt like, what is going on?

This is price gouging.

Right?

This is not fair.

And so I imagine that's just maybe a glimpse.

Of what the Jews felt when they were taxed for their stuff.

The Roman tax system depended on greed.

And so it attracted those people to collect those taxes.

And so this is how the tax collectors made so much money.

But what did this mean if you were a practicing Jew?

A Jew who became a tax collector was a disgrace to his family.

Kicked out outside the house.

We don't want you anymore.

We don't know you.

You're dead to us.

They were kicked out of the synagogue.

Now imagine.

This is where you grew up.

This is where you worship.

This is where your friends were at.

Kicked out.

All of a sudden, nothing.

You're not part of this anymore.

So family didn't care.

The synagogue didn't care.

You're out.

And Jews weren't able to take alms or collect taxes or collections from tax collectors.

So let's say we're having a tri-tip sandwich.

You know, you could buy one after church for $10.

And if a tax collector came up and said, I want to buy one for $100.

They would say, I want to buy one for $100.

They would say, nope, nope, we don't want that.

Because remember, taking that money would be taking like money from thieves and murderers.

When Jews walked down the street, they would quickly bundle up their robes.

So that didn't even come close to the tax collector.

They would move out of their way.

Because they were considered unclean, dirty people.

We don't want anything to do with them.

They are thieves.

They're stealing from us, the Jews.

But when Jesus came out, he saw Levi, this tax collector.

And Jesus wasn't just glancing around.

He like walked on to Levi.

So in my job, I get to meet with a lot of amazing people and organizations.

And it can be something like this.

When I walk in, you know, I know their name.

They sent me a picture.

If I look on their website, it shows a picture that's always younger than what they are.

And I know that because my picture here on the website is younger than what I am.

And so I walk in.

And, all right, blue shirt.

Okay, eye contact.

Nope.

Okay, not you.

That was awkward.

Keep looking.

Okay, great.

I'm meeting with Bob.

And so this is the same thing.

When Jesus was looking for Levi, it was intentional.

It wasn't just glancing around like, hey, you, Levi, come follow me.

No, he was looking for Levi.

And Jesus says to him simply, follow me.

Follow me.

And he just said this earlier when he called his first disciples who were fishermen.

He says to them.

Two words.

Follow me.

And when Jesus tells Levi this, Levi knows who Jesus is.

He's in the same town.

He lives in the same town that Jesus is doing these miracles in.

I mean, people from Jerusalem heard about it.

It's a trading town.

Word gets out quickly.

And so Levi knows that Jesus just healed the mother-in-law.

That he healed this person with leprosy.

That he's healing many others.

And that his words have authority.

He knows.

He knows without a doubt who Jesus is and what he's done.

During this time, which is really interesting, it was not necessarily the rabbi who sought

out the disciple, but it would always be the disciple who would seek out the rabbi and

say, can I follow you?

But Jesus is breaking cultural norms.

And he reaches out to Levi and says, follow me.

Other people had to hear that.

It wasn't a quiet conversation.

But he said, follow me.

Immediately.

Breaking down cultural things.

And so what an honor for Levi.

Like, man, he's choosing me.

When Levi says yes to following Jesus, he has a lot to lose.

A lot.

He's making tons of money.

He does have friends or other tax collectors and others.

But he couldn't just return to his job.

Because once he left his job, Rome needs money.

They want their taxes.

And so someone is slotted to just slip in there.

And there's no plan B.

Levi left everything to follow Jesus.

The great thing about Jesus is that when he calls you, you don't have to turn back.

Jesus does not make mistakes.

There's a great organization that we work with in Thailand called Crew.

And if you don't know that much about Thailand, it's only 1% Christian.

So if there's 300 people in here, only three of you would be considered Christian.

And that's why we're here.

And there's a saying that they have is to be Thai is to be Buddhist.

To be Buddhist is to be Thai.

And so that's one reason why the Christianity percentage is so low.

So when we go, we work with this girl, Kayo.

And when we sat down with her, she was telling us her story.

She was in university.

Her family was in poverty.

She was like the hope for her family.

She was going to become a lawyer and ultimately become a judge.

But when she was in college, she was like, I'm going to become a lawyer.

And she was like, I'm going to become a lawyer.

And then there, Crew reached out to her, and she became a Christian.

And what happened, just like Levi, she lost her parents.

She said, get out of here.

We don't want you.

You're a Christian.

Her friends that she grew up with, we don't want you.

You're a Christian now.

We're Buddhist.

She lost everything.

But she continued to follow Jesus.

She lost everything.

But here's the risk for Kayo and Levi.

Everything is out of their control.

But they trusted the one that called them and said, follow me.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

When Jesus called the fishermen as well, they did the same exact thing.

They followed him.

They just simply followed.

Quickly, the scene started to change.

The scene started to change.

And we're found in Jesus' and Levi's home.

And they are having a feast.

Can you imagine the excitement that Levi has?

This man who's doing these miracles, he's chosen me to follow him.

We're going to have a feast.

There was no finger foods.

No, I love the Super Bowl, but not a bunch of little finger foods and stuff like that.

They were going all out.

Like, let's roast.

Well, he couldn't roast a pig, but let's roast whatever.

And there's no desserts.

There's no little coffee.

They're having a feast.

They're celebrating that Jesus is there.

And he invites a large group of tax collectors and others.

Because Levi's other friends are tax collectors and other people who are unclean.

And he invites them into his house.

They're with Jesus and his disciples.

And they're having a party for Jesus.

He wants his friends to know who Jesus is.

He couldn't be quiet.

One commentary says,

A saved man does not want to go to heaven alone.

I want to see the people I love and the people that Jesus loves that maybe sometimes I don't know who they are.

I want to be in eternity with heaven with them.

1 Corinthians 9.16 says this,

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about.

For I am under compulsion.

For woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.

And what Levi was doing is he was bringing them to the gospel of Jesus right there in his house.

Come and know this man who said to me, follow me.

In verse 30, the Pharisees are also there in some way.

They're probably in the perimeter outside the house.

And their scribes are there as well.

And they're grumbling to the disciples.

And what this grumbling is, is when the Israelites left Egypt to go to the promised land, they went.

Because this is so hard.

We don't want to be here.

But when they're in the desert wandering around in the wilderness, they start complaining to God, to Moses, to Aaron.

Why are we here?

We had like fresh fruit.

We had a place to stay in Egypt.

Why are we out here?

They were just simply complaining because they were not trusting God.

And the Pharisees were too afraid to confront Jesus in this moment.

And that's why they were complaining.

But they were also not talking to Jesus.

They were talking to his disciples.

And the Pharisees asked Jesus' disciples, why do you eat with tax collectors and sinners?

We know how they felt about tax collectors.

But early on, we heard tax collectors and others.

And now the Pharisees are re-describing it as Pharisees and sinners.

And their definition of sinners is a little different.

Sinners to them were people who didn't follow the law or abide by the Old Testament commandments or their rules.

And verse 31, 32 goes on that Jesus hears this conversation.

I don't know if you remember the bionic man from the 70s and 80s.

But to be Steve Austin would have been so cool.

I don't know how Jesus heard it, but he heard them complaining to his disciples.

And Jesus answers them, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

And Jesus is redefining sinners differently to repentance.

Sinners are people who are sick.

Who don't know him.

Not people who think they feel good.

The Pharisees didn't want to acknowledge his sin and that they needed a doctor.

So we all probably have someone in our family who refuses to be sick.

Usually it's a guy, right?

Until they get guy sickness and they're really sick.

But there's someone in our family, if it's an aunt, an uncle, a dad.

Or they can be bleeding out of their nose or whatever.

And they're like, oh, no, no, it's fine.

It's a flesh wound.

And they're not sick.

Like, no, you really are sick.

Your temperature is 105.

No, it's wrong.

We all know someone like that.

So I have my own moment of when I was sick.

So before I got married to Amy, I was a roommate with two other guys, Eric and my brother.

And my buddy Eric said, hey, Trader Joe's has this new meal.

You got to try it.

He gave me two bow tie pastas out of a whole bag.

And we're all in college, so it was okay.

But he gave me these two bow tie pastas.

I ate it.

And I'm like, oh, man, there's something wrong with this.

Eric, what's in here?

And he's like, there's pesto.

And I'm like, dude, I'm allergic to pesto.

There's usually walnuts or pine nuts in it.

And he's like, well, let me check.

He's like, oh, yeah, there's walnuts in it.

I'm like, oh, shoot.

If you don't know me, I'm definitely allergic to nuts.

I've almost died multiple times from eating nuts.

And so I look at him.

I'm like, well, I think I'm fine.

I think I'm okay right now.

You know, it's just a little bit.

And my brother and Eric are looking at me.

And like, you should probably go to the hospital.

I'm like, I'm good.

I'm good.

I'm not feeling it.

It's a little tingling.

Tingling's okay.

You know, I'll just drink some Coke or whatever, coffee, and I'll be all right.

So finally they convinced me to get in the car.

And so the hospital was only 10 minutes away.

But we drove around for 30 minutes because I kept refusing.

I'm not going to the hospital.

I'm okay.

30 minutes in.

All right, we've got to go to the hospital.

Let's go.

And so my brother drops me off at the hospital.

I lay down on the bed.

I wake up.

And my brother's there.

And Amy, my fiancee, is there.

I'm like, well, what's going on?

They're like, you almost died.

The doctor told my brother, you better call his fiancee because I think he's going to die.

And so I wake up.

And there they are.

Praise God I didn't die.

They're going to be here to tell the story.

But I did not want to admit that I was.

I was sick.

That's something that's happened many times.

Well, unfortunately, many times before was happening again.

And so I do go to the hospital now.

But I was sick.

But I did not want to admit it.

A lot of times that's how sin is.

The Pharisees refused to see themselves as being sick.

They thought others were, but not them.

No, we're fine.

We're obeying our own rules.

Matthew 7.3 says,

Why do you see the speck that's in your brother's eye,

but do not notice a log that is in your own eye?

The Pharisees felt that they were the guardians of righteousness.

The Pharisees were pushing people away.

Jesus was pulling people in.

He was meeting them where they were at.

Because Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

So I think there's two things we can take away from this passage.

Number one, we need to acknowledge our own sin.

That we are sick.

Don't be like me, driving around forever and getting that close.

Because it might be too late.

Are we sick?

Do we acknowledge that we need a physician?

Do you need a physician?

I do.

A few years ago I did a program that we have at the well called Region.

And it's really just a self-discovery of,

for me it was, I need Jesus in my life.

I need a hope.

And during this program, the Holy Spirit showed me that I was struggling with a lot of things.

That was affecting my relationship with God.

Even with myself, how I saw myself.

With others, with my family, with my kids.

With friends.

That I was struggling with narcissism.

I was struggling with pride.

And I was struggling with anger.

And I said, Jesus, I need you.

Just not back when I was 13 I received him, but every day of my life.

I still struggle with these today.

I have to continue to bring them before Jesus.

I say, I need you.

I am sick.

First Timothy 115 says,

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Among whom I, Paul, and foremost of all.

There's a time when, a point in time when we know Jesus.

So maybe you've already been there.

When I was 13 or whatever age, that's when I chose to know Jesus.

Or maybe you haven't.

There's a point in time when you know who Jesus is because he says, follow me.

But there's a point over time.

There's a point in time where every morning I have to wake up and say, God, help me.

I am a horrible person.

I need to know you every day.

I need your grace.

I need your mercy.

I need your love.

I depend on you, Father.

There's a sign inside the Fresno Mission City Center.

That when you walk in through the double doors, you're first greeted by this amazing coffee shop.

You walk into the left.

There's this amazing seating area.

It looks like a really nice hotel.

And it's awesome.

You look back behind the right.

Or sometimes in that seating area, there's single mothers with their kids.

Or there's homeless people.

There's all different types of people there.

But they are being welcomed.

Back behind that, there's a grocery store where people can get groceries.

And it looks like this awesome grocery store.

And it gives people dignity just to go in.

And the sense of normality of going to the grocery store.

And getting food that they need.

And to the left of that, behind the wall, on the wall where City Church is,

there's a big sign that says, no perfect people.

Jesus does not want perfect people.

That's what the Pharisees wanted.

Do these things and then you can join us.

Jesus is saying, follow me.

I don't care your condition.

A thief.

Whatever it is.

Unclean.

I want you.

We are saved.

We are sick people.

In need of Jesus.

The ultimate physician.

1 John 1, 8-10 says,

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins.

And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

And so this takes us to number two.

We can look at Jesus' example and get our hands dirty.

And what I mean by that is, what Jesus did, it was not pretty.

This rabbi who was healing people, he could have easily secluded himself off and hang out with the Pharisees.

But he didn't.

He got his hands dirty and hung out and were with people that were unclean, that were dirty, that people moved out of the road for.

As they walked by.

He was like, no, those are my people.

Those are the ones I love.

Those are the people, he probably didn't say it yet, but I died on the cross for.

I love them and that's why I have come.

For the Pharisees, the first priority is obedience to regulations.

For Jesus, it's a mission to people.

A healer must get his hands dirty.

Jesus got his hands dirty.

So a while ago,

our church used to sponsor a family, the Jeff Coaches, who are medical missionaries in Ethiopia.

They've been back for about a year and a half now.

And they are a great family.

They're serving in Ethiopia.

There's Addis, the capital, which is in the eastern part of the country.

And they were in the far west of the country.

No big cities.

They're out there in the middle of nowhere.

And some of the things they worked with and did were horrific.

He's a church.

He's a trauma surgeon here locally.

And so he deals with a lot of violence.

People falling off cliffs in the Sierra Nevadas.

They'll fly him out and he'll operate on them.

And in Ethiopia, I had to call him to make sure that this story is right.

Because he told it to me once.

I was like, David, I don't know if this is.

Am I remembering this story correctly?

And he's like, yes, you are.

He would.

People would come in with.

Brain.

Skull fractures.

And they would have to go out.

Get fencing.

And sanitize it.

And then grab it.

And then cut the person open.

And then start mending that person together.

He had to get his hands dirty.

And he's like, Kyle, I got worse stories.

I'm like, I don't know.

We can save them for later.

But people getting mauled by wild animals.

Tribes fighting and cutting off appendages.

To many different things.

He's like, Kyle, we had to get our hands dirty.

Or these people were not going to make it.

They were going to die.

And so we had to get our hands dirty.

And Jesus was with people that were sick and sinners.

So my question for us is, how do we see others around us?

Do we see others through our lens?

Or do we see people through God's lens?

How do we see people?

I know every day.

Man, like I said, narcissism, pride, and anger.

That's not a good way to start the day, right?

I think we can agree with that.

And narcissism, man, it's so easy to see everything through my own eyes.

Like, everything is against me.

You know, victim mentality.

But through God's eyes, we don't know that person's story.

If we're walking by the road, there might be someone strung out on drugs.

There might be a homeless person.

Our neighbor in our wealthy neighborhood might be going through something.

And we don't know.

And so we have to pray, God, help me see that person through your eyes.

And my daughter.

My daughters and I, a lot of times, you know, we'll process things throughout the day.

And I'm like, girls, we don't know what that person's gone through.

They could have lost someone.

They could have lost their job.

Something else horrific could have happened.

We need to pray for them.

Every time an ambulance goes by, we don't know where they're going, but we pray for them.

So we need to see people through God's eyes.

When something happens, do we quickly circle our wagons to create safety, to feel safe for us or our families?

Or do we?

We need to widen our wagons up so that others can be invited in, to engage people around us, people that are different from us.

My wife, when she was in college, and, you know, we're dating and getting to know each other.

She's like, yeah, I used to pick homeless people up.

And my wife's an Asian, 5'2", really tiny.

And I'm like, honey, I don't think you should be doing that anymore.

The heart is amazing.

We still do stuff like that, but we're not picking up people and taking them.

It's like McDonald's, right, for food.

But do we engage people around us?

And I think one good sign of this is, like, when we meet something, when we meet someone, do they know our name?

Or do we know their name?

Do we know their prayer request?

But more importantly, do they know our name?

Do they know our prayer request?

Like, we're at the Fresno Mission interacting with people, or down the street, or our neighbor, whatever it is.

Jim and Doris Lloyd.

Who attend the Fig Garden, who attend here at the earlier gathering.

I was talking, Jim and I were meeting one day.

And he's like, yeah, we do this thing called neighboring.

And I'm like, well, tell me more.

What is this?

And he's like, well, in our neighborhood, it's a wealthier neighborhood.

But we are purposely trying to interact with people in our neighborhood so we can share Jesus with them.

And so they have turned their front yard into the backyard.

The fire pit's out in front.

They have a little pail with dog treats.

And he says when people walk by, or people with dogs walk by,

he just waves that treat.

And dogs already know what they are.

And so they get pulled.

It's like they get sucked in, you know, to that.

And so, but Jim's like, you know what?

We know all of our neighbors.

We know their needs.

We know how to pray for them.

And him and Doris and a few other people, they pray for their neighborhood every week.

In the hope that they know Jesus.

Because Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

So number one, we need to acknowledge our own sin.

Number two.

Number three.

Number four.

Number five.

All of us are perfect.

We need to acknowledge our sin at a point in time and over time.

Every day coming before Christ.

And we need, we can look at Jesus' example and get our hands dirty.

So in closing, you know, the last nine weeks we've been studying convivium,

which is meals with Jesus.

And who's the center of that?

It's Jesus.

Right?

It is not about us.

It is all about him.

And meals.

And meals is just a vehicle for people to know who Jesus is.

I have to tell my wife, man, you've got to stop having people over.

It's like, we'll have people over like four or five times a week.

And she's like, no, it's important.

It's discipleship.

It's community.

And I'm like, okay, all right.

And once they come over, I'm like, yeah, I'm all in.

But the hope is that as iron sharpens iron, so does one man to another.

And we want to be with people who know Jesus, but also people who don't know Jesus.

And so that's a focus.

Because Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

So let me pray for us today.

Father, we are grateful for the work that you are doing in our lives, Lord.

And if we don't know you, Lord, I pray that if it's in life group or even today up here with people,

with the prayer team, that we can know you.

And pray for overtime as well.

That it is every day we need you.

If we're Christ followers, we need you every day.

It's not one and done and all right, here we are.

And we're perfect.

But every day we have our struggles.

And so, Father, help us in those.

Help us to realize that we are sick.

And we are in need of a Savior who is so good.

Because you are the doctor that loves us.

You give us the hope that we need every day.

So wherever we're at, we open our hands to you and say, Father, we need you.

And so help us and show us to get our hands dirty.

In every garden, you have to get down and get your fingernails dirty and get your knees dirty.

And help us not to run from that or feel like we're too good for that.

Because we weren't too good for you.

You love us.

In Jesus' name, amen.