Dangerous Love

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

Well, this morning, if you’re new around here, I’m Virgil Grant. I’m one of the leaders. And you’ve picked a great Sunday morning to come to attend worship. We’re going to give you an inside behind the curtains. Look at the heart and the soul of east side. And what we’re going to do is that we’re going to continue our sermon series and legacy makers that we started last week. And we’re going to look at a church from the Book of Revelation. Then we’re going to look at what God’s doing in at East Side, and then we’re going to talk about the dreams and the vision of the future. But we’ll look at this church in the Book of Revelation. And if you go to Revelation chapters two and three, Jesus writes to seven churches, seven different letters, and all these churches are in Asia Minor. And so today, we’re going to be looking at the church that is referenced to  Philly, Adelphia, and Philadelphia. Was this church that was planted there in Asia Minor. And when we talk about that, I’m not talking about the home of the Eagles, the home of the Phillies, or even the home of Fresh Prince of Bel Air. But does it mean the same thing as our Philadelphia, which is the city of brotherly love? Right. And so we’re going to be looking at this church. And it wasn’t always named Philadelphia. It went through one major earthquake and one major disaster after another. And every time there’s a natural disaster, they would rename the church. Well, Philadelphia was the latest name in the series of names. Now, one of the things that I was wondering about and thinking about Josh is that names are important names is a person’s identity.

You know, when you say the name, Virgil, there is kind of a concept of who I am. When you say that name, and so your name is important, and a lot of people, they change their names. A lot of celebrities will change their name for whatever reason. And I don’t know why that is. And so this morning, I thought I would play a game with you. Are you ready for a game? Yeah. So we’re going to call this game the name game. Okay. I’m going to give you the real name of this individual. Then you’re going to give me their name that they changed to as a celebrity. This makes sense. Let me give you a simple one. It is a Lew Alcindor. Who’s that? Mendoza. Okay. Yes. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. All right. Cassius Clay. That’s good. Just keep coming. Karen Johnson. Nobody knew this was the first service. Yeah. Whoopi Goldberg. All right. Thomas Mann through the fourth. Tom Cruise. Exactly. You got that? Good, Terry. Gene Bollea. The Hulk Hogan. Yeah. Yeah, That’s a wrestling fan over there. Curtis Jackson $0.50. Yeah, he’s in the house. Yep. Here’s a good one that most people don’t know. Reginald To what? Anybody. Elton John. Yep. And then Ron Artest, Metta Peace. I’m going to go to Metaverse just. Yeah, because you have to think about this, right? You know, when you think about the name Virgil, you have to understand I’ve been called every name that you can imagine. You know, Virgin, Virginia, Virgil. You know, there are other names I can’t even pronounce up here. But, you know, I’ve been called a lot of different names with the name Virgin. I mean, Virgil, you get it. So if you listen. But now some people are known by a single name, so.

Such as? You know. All right. Now, some people are known by something. For example, The Rock. Who’s that? Dwayne Johnson. Really good. Okay, good. The Duke. John Wayne. Yeah. And the Terminator was playing the king. I am so disappointed in this church. Elvis, Michael Jackson, LeBron James. I really, I mean, the king is. Oh, Jesus. Yeah, exactly. He’s the key. Oh, I guess I set you up for that one. But Jesus, the king, writes to this church in Philadelphia, and it’s in a bit of an identity crisis. And the reason why it’s an identity crisis is because it sits on a geographical fault line. And the earth is always shifting. It’s always moving. There’s always an earthquake. There’s always a volcano, volcano that creates this constant anxiety of force, evacuation, unexpected death, devastation, and constant rebuilding. And every time there’s a restart, there is a new name. And so Jesus writes to the followers; they have his followers. They’re in the church in Philadelphia. And he says to them, Yeah, I understand that you are having an existing ever-changing name in identity in your city. You’re living with constant anxiety because of the shifting earth. I understand that you’re being pursued in a relentless factor, been pursued because of your belief in me. And I just want you to understand something that I understand. And I’ve got some words of encouragement for you. And so in Revelation chapter three, verse 12, he says.

Revelation 3:12 (NIV) 

“I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.”

And it’s as if Jesus is saying there. Understand that you’re always dealing with the name change, but I’m going to change all that. And I will change your name to an unchanging name, one that will stand forever. You will be a citizen of the eternal city, a place that cannot be shaken again. And you will never have to move. You’ll never have to hide. You’ll never have to pack up and leave. You’ll never have to board up. You will never have to pick up. You’ll never have to rebuild again. I will make sure that it happens. And Jesus is saying to understand that life can be a little chaotic. I can understand that life has the propensity to shake the foundations of your life. But I just want you to know something is that you can trust in me. You can believe in me. I’m going to take care of this. And then I want you to go back with me to verse number seven, where the letter starts to the Church of Philadelphia and to the angel or to the pastor, The church in Philadelphia. Right.

Revelation 3:7 (NIV)

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”

And it’s as if Jesus is saying, I have the keys to the Kingdom of God. I have the keys to heaven and hell. I have the keys to life and to death. I have the keys to everything and whatever I choose to open. No one can close, and whatever I choose to close.

No one could pry it open in any form or any fashion. He’s saying that I’m the reliable God in an unreliable world. Now, it’s interesting when you go and read the seven letters to the seven churches and the Book of Revelation that the seven churches all received a letter, and five of the churches received a rebuke or correction. Two churches do not receive a rebuke or correction, but they are encouraged as the church in Smyrna and the church in Philadelphia. And I want you to notice what Jesus says to them in verse number eight. He gives them encouragement. He says.

Revelation 3:8 (NIV) 

“I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

Because I know that you have little strength, but the little strength that you have is made up and the fact that you have trust in me. I know that you’re not the biggest church. I know that you’re not the richest church. I know that you’re not the strongest church. But the thing that I understand is that when you’re weak, Jesus says, What? I am strong. When you are little, I am big. And Jesus says, You know, why is that? Your trust in me makes up for all of the things that you do not have because you’re completely dependent upon me. And folks, can I just say to you that this unconditional trust that the church at Philadelphia had in Jesus is the same unconditional trust that the men and women who launched Eastside in the fall of 1983 had as well.

There are four families that came together. They met for the very first time. None of them were preachers. None of them were Jewish or church planters. None of them really had any experience in leading a church. They just knew that God was calling them on the east end of Madison County to open a church to minister to young families. They had children. And so they reached out. They were like the Navy SEALs of this community is that they didn’t have a lot of expertise. They didn’t have any money, didn’t have any buildings, but they had unconditional trust in God. And as they stepped out in unconditional trust in God, I am absolutely for sure that the devil, Satan himself, whispered into their ears. And why do you think that Satan said to them, What do you think that Satan whispered into their ears? I think he said something like this. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but you’re small, you’re ineffective, you’re useless, you’re a loser, you are weak. God doesn’t love you. God can never use you. What significant thing could a puny, small church plan like you do? And look at each side now. Last weekend we had close to 1150 people who attended worship last weekend. And it all started with four families. And Jesus shouts to them. He shouts to us. I know that you have little strength, but that’s a great thing because you trust in me. Don’t let fear paralyze you. Understand that you’re called. Understand that you’re chosen. Understand that you’re empowered. Walk through the door that I’ve opened for you. And no one can close it. And aren’t you grateful that in 1983 that four families walked through and opened the door to plant the church that we’re sitting in today? I’m grateful for that.

Yeah. Give it up for them. Last weekend we declared by looking at the church at that emphasis that Jesus Christ would be our number one priority, that we would just tell him you’re busy and come back, okay? The Bible book is a number. Their number one passion will always be to love Jesus Christ. That was a declaration last week. And folks, listen to me. That is not a church thing. That is an individual thing. You have to individually say to yourself, you have to answer the question, is Jesus the number one passion in my life? It is the number one passion in my life. Is it the number one passion in your life? And the reason why this is important is because the second declaration for the Church of Philadelphia is this is the are will walk through open doors with unconditional trust. And that is what the founders of Eastside did, is that Their passion was Jesus Christ. And because Jesus was their passion, they walked through open door after open door, and they trusted Jesus with unconditional trust. And listen to me. You have to answer the question yourself. Am I going to walk through open doors with unconditional trust in Jesus? Now, let me just kind of give you a quick kind of summary of some of the doors that God opened for us. We were located at 1675, where Salvation Army. That’s the first building that we built was over there, and we did that in moved into it in the in the fall of 1989. The first worship service was on December 31st, 1989, and then we existed over there. We were landlocked. God opened the door for us to have this property. We moved into this property in 2002, and from 2002 all the way through 2012, the focus of our church was on building buildings.

And I was the person who focused on that because we had ran out of room over there. So we had two buildings, buildings and buildings. And let me just say something. This is the reason why, even today, that we don’t know what the new campus looks like. This is the reason why we don’t have plans out for the four-year end, or the atrium is because here’s the reason is that it focusing on buildings will kill and destroy a church quicker than anything is about stalled us out in 2012. We, as a congregation, we were stalled out. We allowed a mission. I allowed the mission to drift. We were just kind of floating around. Let me give you a picture of where we were in 2012. We had a budget of about 225,000 250,000 was their budget. We were averaging 250 on a really, really good day. Back then, we had less than 125 people in loft groups with five staff members. We didn’t like each other. They didn’t like me, I didn’t like them, but we all had a job, and we were happy, you know? And this is true. I’m not lying to you. And then, in 2012, we did a three-day retreat. True story. We did a three-day retreat. God changed our hearts. It started with the leadership of the church. He changed my heart. He changed Karla’s heart. He changed other staff members’ hearts. And we became crystal clear on what we were going to focus on moving forward. From 2012 until today is that we were going to help as many people as we can to live the all in life for Jesus. And I think that many of you that’s been around here, you can say that has been our mission from since 2012 is that we’ve been a laser-like focus on helping as many people as we can to live the all in life.

Now, let me give you a glimpse of where the church is today from 2012 to 2023. This is the difference between focusing on buildings and focusing on people in our budget. Today’s $2.2 million, we are averaging over 1100 people every single weekend. We have over 700 people in life groups. We have over 500 people who are serving in some capacity in the church from week to week. And then we have over 345 people who’re living there all in life for Jesus, the most in the history of our church. And that is where we’re at today. That’s what God does when you focus on people. And as a result of that is that we have seen God open one door after another. In fact, let’s just go back and read Revelation. Chapter three, verse eight, one more time. Would you reread it with me?

Revelation 3:8(NIV)

“I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. Now, friends, you might be asking, what is the next open door? Kind of gives me a short history of where the doors that God has opened. But where is the next open door and Nick’s open door? Is this it? I want you to read it with me. If you don’t mind pushing back the darkness, then center Turkey by helping 10,000 people to be on the journey of living in all in life for Jesus. Now, friends, listen to me. The only way this is a reality is for you to have Jesus as your number one passion. It is for you to go through the open doors with unconditional trust that God places before you. When you do that, when I do that, then we have the opportunity to push back the darkness in central Kentucky.

But it has to happen here. It has to happen right here in my heart and in your heart. And some of you may be asking the question, well, why push back the darkness? You all you have to do is look around and see that the short answer is what? Is it getting darker? Their world is getting darker, and how do we make a difference? This led to the light of Christ. Shaun, in my heart, is you letting the light of Christ shine in your heart. And when we shine brightly for Jesus, then we push back the darkness. Then we’re going to help 10,000 people. We’re going to continue the vision. The mission that we set out in 2012 is that we’re going to help as many people as we can to live the only life for Jesus. And why do we pick 10,000? Because there are 10,000 people this morning worshiping in Madison County. Only 10,000 people out of 100,000. Wouldn’t it be great if we could double the lot? And some of you are saying, well, why are we going to do a second campus? Well, we would do a second campus exit 95 because we need more seats. We need more worship services. We can’t do any more here. And so we want to be of close to proximity. We want to be in the communities that we’re serving. And why now is because God has answered our prayers. God has answered our prayers. But the challenge is for you to let God do something in your heart. Now, here’s the thing that you have to understand as we look at this. Some of you’re asking the question, why would we ever do something like this? Why are we committed to pushing back darkness? Why are we trying to get ten more thousand people to be on the all-in journey? Why do we want to help people to live all in life? And here’s the reason why is because we’re trying to make it hard for people to go to hell.

We’re trying to give them one speedbump after the next speedbump, the next roadblock. And the way that we do that is for you and I to be the light of this community, for you and I to be so passionate about Christ that when they are ready to find out and to ask questions about Christ, they know who to go to in deep in this concept of the legacy maker. There are three core characteristics. There are three strands of DNA, if you will, in a legacy maker. And this is how we’re going to fulfill the mission. This is how we’re going to fulfill the vision is by God doing a work in you and by God doing a work in me. C Legacy maker is not for them. It is for us. It’s about what God wants to do. And me. And in you. And the first thing that God wants to do, the first characteristic of a legacy maker, is dangerous love. Folks are to be dangerously in love with Jesus. It’s to make Jesus. Your passion is to be willing to worship your face off, as it says. It’s willing to lift your hands. It’s willing to be passionate. It’s willing to talk about Jesus to anyone and to everyone whenever you get the opportunity. It’s dangerous to love Jesus. But when you dangerously love Jesus, then the next thing that you love, Todd, is other people. You love that family member that you cannot stand. You love that coworker that gets underneath your skin that irritates the snot out of you. It’s you loving your next-door neighbor who’s always complaining to the homeowner’s association about something. I mean, it’s you loving the people that God has planted in your life. God has given you open doors with people in your realm of influence and with dangerous love from Jesus yet to step into their lives and to love them unconditionally.

This is the reason why Jesus gave us the parable of the shepherd, who had 100 sheep. He counted his flock. There are only 99. He goes after the one. He finds the one. He carries the one back to the flock. And here’s the thing, friends. As long as there’s one last person in this community that is our rescue mission is to find that one person and to bring him or her to Jesus. It is dangerous love, but it’s also a dangerous sacrifice. Now, folks, this church has always been built on men and women and families who have made financial sacrifices, people who emptied their bank accounts, and people who have stepped into generosity for the very first time. And here’s the reality is, is that for many of you, you’ve never stepped in the generosity. And you got an open door before you to step into generosity. And some of you, you’ve done that here recently, but some of you, the open doors always been there, and you just reluctantly will not go through that open door. And legacy maker is about you stepping into generosity, not generosity for the church’s sake, but generosity for your heart’s sake because God is committed to changing your heart. And for us, who’ve already stepped in generosity. People who have been faithful in tithing and giving you. You would agree with me that God does something in your heart when you give generously. You can explain it. You can’t logically explain it. It’s just something supernatural that happens. And here’s what my belief is. I believe that God wants everybody to participate and go to the door of generosity. Now, listen to me with me saying that I don’t think God cares about the amount. I know I don’t care about the amount; our elders don’t care about the amount.

I think what matters is whether you are walking through the open door that God has set before you? And here’s what I believe. I believe that God wants everyone to step into generosity. I think that God wants some of you to start your generosity journey. You know what? I don’t think God cares if you gave $1 a week. You went online, set up online giving, and put it at $1 a week. I think that would bring joy and a smile to God’s heart. It would, man Because you’ve walked through the door for people like my wife and me. We’ve been tithing ever since we’ve been married for 30. Four years, five, something like that. We’ve been tithing since 1988, whenever that is. You do the math. But you know what? God’s kept on asking us to increase our giving. Increase? You’re giving, Increase. You’re giving. For some, God’s asking you to make a sacrificial gift. And some of you, you go, But, Pastor, I’m already a legacy maker. Already walked through that door. Yeah. You’ve been a human reason for ten years. You’ve been given $20 every week. You haven’t grown. God wants you to increase your giving for whatever it’s worth to you. Rose and I wrote the largest church check that we ever wrote to the church for Legacy Maker a couple weeks ago. We’re fully invested in this and what we believe in, what we’re trusting that on your program there, on your program, there’s a QR code, and they will take you to a commitment form that you can make a commitment. And we’re looking and believing that be for our own. May the seventh that everybody associates with these will step through the door, the open door of generosity. Because by you making you walk through that door, you’re saying I want to be a legacy maker.

And with unconditional trust. I want to step through that open door. And again, it doesn’t matter what the amount is. And so there’s dangerous love, there are dangerous sacrifices. But the third characteristic of a legacy maker. It’s dangerous prayers. Dangerous prayers. Folks, on your seat. When you came in, you found this little note, and it says, I’m praying for. And then there’s a blank. To find hope through Jesus Christ this year. And there’s somebody in your life. That you would want to be sitting with you. In one in the seat next to you before the end of the year in weekly worship. And maybe as a former life group member, maybe as a former serve team member, maybe that person was involved in worship, and now they’re not. Maybe the person has never been to church. I don’t know who that person is in your life, but I just want you to know something that God wants you. As Wes said, it is to write down someone’s name and pray for them daily. And I know what some of you are thinking. You were. I’ve got a wayward child. I’ve got a wayward spouse. You don’t understand, pastor. My mother, my dad, my sister, and my brother. You don’t understand. My father-in-law. You don’t understand my boss. You don’t understand my coworker. You don’t understand, my friend. You don’t understand. You’re exactly right. I don’t understand any of that. But here’s what I do know. And here’s what I do understand. That we have seats that are full of men and women who others thought were so far away from God they could never be redeemed. But because of their persistence, its persistence, and their prayers, they are now regular attendees at Easter, and their lives have been changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And here’s the deal. There’s no one in your life that is too far gone for Jesus not to reach them. Here’s what some of you are saying, pastor. I’ve prayed for that person. I’ve prayed and prayed and prayed. And I’m just tired of praying. Prayer doesn’t work. You know what? Prayer does work. Here’s what God revealed to me this morning. In my quiet time, I know what you look like. You should write this down. This is worth the ticket price to be here this morning. Here’s what God revealed to me in my quiet time is that prayer does two things. Number one, it honors God. When I prayed for my buddy Scott and I prayed for his family, it honored God. Would you agree with me? The second thing that it does is when I pray for my buddy Scott and his family. It changes me. It may never change Scott and his family, but it honors God, and it changes me. It makes me more dependent on God. God, I am so madly in love with you that the people in my life I care about. I’m just going to keep on praying for them because it honors you, and it changes me. And what I’m going to ask you to do is I’m going to ask you to put their name, put their initial, whatever you want to do when you leave this morning. There’s the best, best view there. There’s a legacy wall. And you probably saw it when you came in, and you’re going to peel it off. It comes off the front. You’re going to pull it off. And you’re going to take this, and you’re going to slap it to the legacy wall, but out the doors here.

And we’re going to add to that in the days and weeks to come because what we’re believing and what we’re trusting is that God is going to answer our prayers, and many individuals are going to find hope in Jesus this year. Because why? We are legacy makers. Can I be honest with you? Is it okay for me? To be honest? It’s okay, David. Many of you. I’ve just been on the fringes. Many of you. Have just been spectators’. Many of you have just come and been consumers. And this is a reminder that God has placed before you an open door for you to join the other legacy makers and for you to become a legacy maker yourself. For you to walk through the door, for you to meet your number one passion. Jesus for you with unconditional trust. Walk through the door and say God changed my heart. Do a miracle, In my life first. Then let’s go out and reach the world for some of you. You’ve just been in a coma. You just had it on autopilot. You’ve been sleepwalking. You’ve been given $20, and you’ve been coming to worship. You go to the life group occasionally. You serve every once in a while, in a pinch. You really haven’t gone through the open door. I don’t think. I think maybe you just pray in church. And not to be judgmental, I’m just saying when you go through the open door, it’s a game changer. Your life is never the same. And for some of you, it’s time for you to get off of autopilot. And get into the game. It’s time for you to wake up. Stop sleepwalking. And get into the game. And I just want you to say this next phrase with me, and the next phrase is this. Maybe it’s time you say it with me again.

Maybe it’s time. 

Would you say it with me? Maybe it’s time. Maybe it’s time for you to walk through the open door. And let me tell you what happens when David and Veronica walks through the open door, Josh and Jaren walk through the open door, B.J. and his wife walked through the open door, and Sherry walks through the open door. When we walk through the doors individually that God has placed before us, then it makes the church stronger and better, and therefore we can push back the darkness. But it’s at the level of individual choice. And could you imagine? Five years, ten years, 20 years from now. There are churches that are planted all over central Kentucky that we’ve planted, that we’ve opened, and there are counseling centers in those churches, there are recovery centers in those churches, there are youth ministries, There are worship services. There’s even. Funerals and bereavement meals taking place is the center of life, giving hope and love to a world this desperately needs love. And we look back, and we go, You know what? We get to play a very small part of that, and that’s what we’re trying to do. And so my prayer is that you would go through the open door or the open doors that God has placed before you. That’s what I’m doing. It’s what the elders are doing and what the staff is doing, and we’re asking you to do the same. And would you join us in being a legacy maker?