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Actions Matter: Is Your Faith More Than Words? · B1 Podcast

0:00
Mark: Welcome back to the B1 podcast.
0:02
Mark: My name is Mark Brown.
0:04
Mark: This is Luke Trojanic, and we're grateful for our time together today.
0:09
Luke: Absolutely.
0:09
Luke: What episode is this, Mark?
0:11
Mark: This is episode 11.
0:12
Luke: Come on.
0:13
Mark: I know.
0:13
Mark: Double digits.
0:14
Mark: Yeah.
0:14
Mark: Yeah.
0:14
Mark: Right.
0:15
Mark: Do you remember when you turned 11?
0:17
Luke: No.
0:18
Mark: Definitely no.
0:19
Luke: I mean, I maybe if I thought back.
0:20
Mark: Like what's what's the earliest memory you have?
0:23
Mark: Do you...
0:25
Luke: I remember I was probably like four years old and fell down the stairs at our house and woke up, like Pat got knocked out from falling down the stairs and woke up.
0:34
Luke: We have a friend who's a doctor who was like checking me out on the on the couch.
0:38
Luke: I remember that.
0:38
Luke: I feel like that's probably three or four.
0:40
Luke: Um Yeah, that's it's about what I remember.
0:43
Mark: Okay, that is something to remember.
0:45
Luke: Absolutely.
0:45
Mark: It's crazy.
0:46
Mark: We um when I lived in uh New Jersey, and I remember getting a new pair of shoes, and I felt like this new pair of shoes made me run faster.
0:57
Mark: And and then our so I remember running up the driveway, and I remember um thinking, I'm gonna trick God in like literally, like I'm gonna turn right, and then and um said, No, I'm gonna turn left.
1:12
Mark: And then I thought in my mind I was so frustrated because I thought he knew um that I was gonna do the double fake in that like that's so dumb.
1:21
Luke: Did the Did the shoes did they make you faster?
1:25
Mark: I'm pretty sure I was the fastest human on the planet.
1:27
Luke: Yeah, running uphill.
1:28
Mark: Up uphill, it was, I remember! And uh the driveway was probably like five feet long in my mind, you know, it was like a marathon, you know, that's right.
1:37
Mark: But
1:38
Luke: Speedster.
1:39
Mark: Um I also remember this is uh a little bit late, a couple years later, and this is bad, like I love animals, but um, and I had this cat that I loved um named Gizmo, and I always heard that cats land on their feet.
1:56
Mark: And so I took my cat to our second floor stairs balcony, and I dropped it and it looked at me the whole time.
2:07
Luke: It didn't land on its feet?
2:09
Mark: Oh man, I felt so bad.
2:10
Mark: And don't judge me on that.
2:13
Mark: Um I like that was terrible.
2:15
Mark: Like it was so I guess still uh um that was 40 years ago.
2:18
Mark: I feel terrible about that.
2:21
Speaker: That's okay.
2:21
Speaker: There's grace, Mark.
2:22
Speaker: There's grace.
2:23
Speaker: Yeah, your sins are forgiven.
2:24
Speaker: Um speaking of grace and you know, didn't making some bad decisions.
2:28
Speaker: Uh, a couple weeks ago, Pastor Blake um decided to to throw me under the bus for maybe my my stomach movement prior to when I preach.
2:37
Speaker: And so just want to make it clear that um Pastor Blake is starting a war.
2:42
Speaker: I don't know that he's ready for.
2:43
Speaker: Um if he wants to talk about poop stories, I've got um quite a few on that guy that I'm you know, we're in a series on the book of James, yeah.
2:51
Speaker: Um titled Words Matter.
2:52
Speaker: Yeah.
2:52
Speaker: And so I'm gonna choose not to, but I'm gonna hope that uh as Pastor Blake listens to this, he recognizes that I've got a lot more ammo than he does when it comes to these stories.
3:01
Speaker: And um I'm gonna restrain my tongue right now, but if you come ask me in person, I'll probably tell you.
3:06
Speaker: And just go ahead and ask me, uh ask me that.
3:10
Speaker: And.
3:10
Mark: Shots are fired.
3:11
Mark: I love this.
3:12
Mark: That's great, but I'm proud of you for restraining
3:14
Luke: Thank you.
3:14
Mark: and realizing that your words matter.
3:16
Mark: Yeah, that's it, man.
3:18
Mark: And I think another place where you restrained, you did a phenomenal job teaching this past weekend.
3:23
Luke: Thank you, Glory to God.
3:25
Mark: Amen for that.
3:26
Mark: Um but he really spoke through you.
3:28
Mark: It was really powerful.
3:29
Mark: Um and uh you you taught about James 2, um, and we're gonna dive into that here in just a moment.
3:35
Mark: Then the kind of the two main, I feel like the two main boulders in that uh passage is favoritism and actions.
3:43
Mark: Right.
3:44
Mark: Um but you you talked about favoritism in a personal story um this uh in that message about a TV personality who you helped on a helicopter, and I just wanted to give you the opportunity to reveal who that was.
3:59
Luke: Well, thank you for the opportunity.
4:02
Luke: I wanna I'm gonna restrain my words again and not throw this person under the bus.
4:06
Luke: Um it's a great story, but uh I'm not gonna do that.
4:09
Luke: Those things live on the internet forever.
4:11
Luke: Uh so you know gotta be careful.
4:13
Luke: But um we'll leave it at that.
4:16
Mark: I tried to get you, but you didn't you didn't fall for it.
4:19
Luke: And um before we dive into it, also just a quick uh we got these new t-shirts.
4:24
Mark: That's gonna say that!
4:25
Luke: like may they be one little dove on here.
4:28
Luke: Super cool.
4:28
Luke: Cool.
4:29
Luke: Um so if you are listening to the podcast, the um special treat we've got for you today is we're gonna give one of these away.
4:36
Luke: Okay.
4:36
Luke: Um so stick around to the end of the podcast, and we would love to uh tell you how you can get a free t-shirt.
4:43
Luke: And now what just happened, Mark, is somebody paused the episode and went to the transcript, or they like fast forwarded to the end.
4:50
Luke: Yeah.
4:51
Luke: Um and they won't even know that we're talking about though because all they heard was free t-shirt, end of the episode.
4:55
Luke: Um so if you make it to the end, first one.
4:58
Luke: Oh, I can't give anything away.
5:00
Luke: That's it.
5:01
Luke: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
5:06
Mark: We'll get you a podcast too.
5:08
Luke: Yeah, you can come be a guest.
5:11
Mark: This goes in in all um transparency.
5:15
Mark: Um we just shot a full episode and it was terrible.
5:20
Mark: And so we're reshooting right now.
5:24
Mark: Um and it's me and Luke and and Bryan in the back.
5:28
Mark: Uh Chris had to excuse himself to go to a dentist appointment.
5:32
Mark: We're praying for no cavities for him today.
5:34
Mark: Um, so we're we're doing this, we're bumping alone and trying to figure this out alone.
5:39
Mark: And thank you for trusting us today with your podcast uh adventures.
5:44
Mark: Yeah, yeah.
5:45
Luke: Absolutely.
5:45
Mark: And um, well, so this this week was uh James 2.
5:50
Mark: Um, what give me, if you could kind of recap that that chapter and that message.
5:55
Mark: What can you can you give us kind of a Cliff Notes version?
5:58
Luke: Yeah, absolutely.
5:59
Luke: Um title of the series of the book of James is Um Words Matter, right?
6:03
Luke: The things that we say, the words that we speak to others, the words we speak of ourselves, they really matter.
6:08
Luke: Um but James is really practical.
6:10
Luke: Uh Pastor Blake calls it the gospel in blue jeans um and says, Hey, like here's what you should do.
6:16
Luke: Put your stuff on and then go.
6:18
Luke: And um Yeah, so coming in.
6:21
Luke: Yeah, no life.
6:22
Luke: Uh so again, um James is is really practical.
6:28
Luke: And he says, um teaches us what to do.
6:31
Luke: And so my the title yesterday or this past Sunday was um "Actions Matter." Um our words are a part of it, but the things that we do uh to serve the Lord also really matter as well.
6:44
Luke: Um our actions either represent Christ well or they they don't.
6:49
Luke: And there's this tension that we kind of find ourselves walking of um talking a lot about God and proclaiming with our mouths that we believe him, um, but our hearts and our actions being far from him.
7:01
Luke: Um, or sometimes there's uh groups of people that try to earn their way towards God's love and they serve and they do and they do and they do, and they never even talk about God, or it may not even be based out of a belief, um, but rather what can I earn and prove?
7:17
Mark: Yeah.
7:17
Mark: And like this, it kind of reminds me of the five love languages um by Gary Chapman.
7:24
Luke: Yeah.
7:24
Mark: And uh so you know, you quizzed me earlier, um, you got words of affirmation, um, acts of service, uh, gifts, um, physical touch, and quality time.
7:35
Mark: Um so if you had to to say um what love language you uh received love in, what what would you say?
7:45
Speaker: Yeah, I would say more naturally, I feel loved by acts of service when people um do things and and show their love, whether it's making a cup of coffee or something like that, I feel feel loved by that.
7:56
Speaker: But Moriah, on the opposite hand, um I could wake up early, make a cup of coffee, clean the whole kitchen, um, serve her all day, get her car washed, do all everything uh possible.
8:10
Speaker: And at the end of the day, uh make dinner, do all the dishes, she look at me and go, Um, do you love me?
8:15
Mark: Yeah.
8:15
Luke: And I'm like, I just stink and spend all day showing you I love you.
8:19
Mark: Yeah.
8:19
Luke: Um so that would be
8:22
Mark: Becasue hers is..
8:22
Luke: Because hers is is physical touch.
8:23
Mark: Okay.
8:24
Luke: Um and that's how she feels loved.
8:25
Mark: Okay.
8:26
Mark: And I'm sure she probably felt loved just now with you declining her.
8:29
Luke: 100%.
8:30
Luke: Absolutely.
8:31
Luke: Yeah.
8:32
Mark: Sorry about that.
8:32
Mark: Sorry, Moriah.
8:33
Mark: Um, thanks for watching though.
8:35
Luke: Yeah.
8:36
Mark: Um, but uh so in your relationship with the Lord, do you feel like you lean one way or the other with like more words or more actions?
8:46
Luke: Yeah, I would say um that's a good kind of comparison, and it's not one-to-one, but it it is a good way.
8:51
Luke: I think naturally with humans, maybe we tend to try to show love the way we receive it.
8:57
Luke: Um, and so I am quick to jump in and to serve and to do um to try to show or to prove my love to the Lord.
9:07
Luke: Um, and that's like how what what can I do?
9:10
Luke: Where can I go?
9:11
Luke: Who can I, what can I, how can I earn it almost?
9:13
Luke: Um, and that's where that tension is.
9:15
Luke: And um when we look at Ephesians 2, and we can dive deeper into that later, the way we receive salvation is by grace through faith, um, not by works.
9:24
Luke: And so it's this constant tension of I'm not earning my salvation, but I am uh maturing in my faith that's causing me to take action.
9:33
Mark: Yeah.
9:33
Mark: I mean, I think that's good.
9:35
Mark: I think about a lot of times when um uh I've learned a lot about my relationship with the Lord um through my relationships here on earth and especially with my wife.
9:48
Mark: And if I only told Carla that I love her, but I never showed her that my marriage and my relationship with my wife would be out of balance.
9:58
Luke: Right
9:58
Mark: And if I only showed her love and I never told her, um, then that would be out of balance as well.
10:05
Mark: And so I feel like our relationship with the Lord is the same because we're in James 2, you know, you shared this this weekend, it it's not a suggestion to to show him, to serve him.
10:17
Mark: It's it's a command.
10:19
Mark: And but we're also commanded in scripture to sing songs of praise to the Lord.
10:25
Mark: And so we're commanded to communicate our love to um to our Father, to our Savior, um, through words as well as through actions.
10:34
Luke: Yeah, that's it.
10:34
Luke: And it's that again, that that balance and the theological wrestling of um faith is what saves us, right?
10:42
Luke: Um by grace through faith is how like that's it.
10:45
Luke: And no man can boast I can't earn my way to God's love.
10:49
Luke: Um, but after I've received it, I have no choice but to go and to serve and to act and to do.
10:55
Mark: Yeah, that's good.
10:56
Mark: That's really good.
10:57
Mark: Um in James uh 2 it's funny because he talks about favoritism and the scripture always like even as a kid, I remember thinking, um, okay, wow, that's not the the person that I would have included in um in the list of like heroes of the faith, you know.
11:21
Mark: But one of the people mentioned in this passage in this chapter is Rahab the prostitute and Abraham, um which Abraham, you know, uh they were both credited, James 2 says they were both credited um as righteous because of what they did.
11:40
Mark: Yeah, which is which is awesome.
11:43
Mark: But it it always struck me um, you know, growing up in church, hearing Bible stories and hearing about a prostitute or a murderer, you know, or or someone who did something really, really bad, in in my opinion, um, as being someone that God would elevate.
12:00
Mark: Yeah.
12:01
Luke: Yeah, it kind of is interesting because James, the beginning of chapter two is that, hey, don't show favoritism based on um people's status.
12:11
Luke: And when they show up at a meeting, um the people that James is writing to, if a prostitute were to walk into their meeting um and then a rich man, I am certain that they would have said, Hey, Mr.
12:22
Luke: Rich Man, here's a good seat for you.
12:24
Luke: And prostitute, you can go sit on the floor over there.
12:26
Luke: Um and so James kind of confronts that idea head on um as to, hey, don't give special treatment to people um, to their status because of their status, um, but we're gonna welcome all, right?
12:41
Luke: And that's um something that we say around here at One Church, is that everybody's welcome.
12:45
Luke: Um nobody's perfect, right?
12:47
Luke: And so just because you have more money or you've had a rougher past, it doesn't matter.
12:52
Luke: You you've got a seat here, um, and it's a great seat.
12:55
Luke: And we would love to invite you into it.
12:57
Luke: And so James kind of ties that.
12:59
Luke: Um, hey, he says it, but then at the end he puts it practically as like Rahab, if she were to walk in the church, would have been rejected, but she was accepted by God.
13:07
Luke: And then after that acceptance, her life changed, and then she put her faith into action.
13:14
Mark: That's good.
13:14
Mark: It was almost the response um you know, uh to the relationship was hey, I can't, like you said, I can't help like that my response is I'm gonna serve and and do obey you, you know.
13:29
Mark: Um I think about um just times in my life uh when um maybe I've I've experienced uh uh favoritism or maybe even someone um uh uh showing love and extending love to maybe people that aren't as easy to love.
13:49
Mark: Um and that's always moving um to me.
13:54
Mark: Um I remember in high school um I had a friend uh that had just transferred to the high school that I was attending in my my senior year.
14:04
Mark: And he it was a hard time.
14:06
Mark: He transferred in your senior year, it's a hard time to to make friends, you know.
14:10
Mark: Everybody already had their friend groups.
14:12
Mark: And I remember he was sitting by himself um during one of the our class meetings, and um someone went up to him and and just started talking to him, and then the rest of my friend group went over to him and um started talking to him as well.
14:27
Mark: His name was Mike Myers, um, like like the um uh like the horror movie.
14:33
Luke: Okay.
14:34
Luke: Nice.
14:34
Mark: He was super nice though.
14:36
Mark: He was not a serial killer, it turns out.
14:38
Mark: Um so uh but uh his name was Mike Myers, and um uh he he kind of dressed different than this was back in the 1900s.
14:48
Mark: I'd graduated in 1996 um from high school and he dressed a little different.
14:54
Mark: He dressed uh with clothes before it was cool.
14:57
Mark: He he was going to the thrift stores and um like buying leisure suits and stuff like that and wearing that to school.
15:03
Mark: Um and it it was such a cool story because the school year started out and he was sitting by himself in a meeting, and then just a couple months later, when people kind of gave him a chance and got to know him, um, it was Homecoming Week, and you know, yeah, there was kind of like a spirit day, you know, wear your favorite college sweatshirt, um, you know, uh dress like a teacher day.
15:27
Mark: And then one of the days was Mike Myers Day to dress like Mike Myers.
15:32
Mark: And it was really cool to see um kind of this person that went from um someone that was not showed favoritism, then given a chance and then kind of elevated and and kind of given a spot at the table.
15:46
Luke: Yeah, that's amazing.
15:47
Luke: And it just makes me think like that happened with your friend Mike, that happened with Rahab.
15:52
Luke: There's stories all throughout scripture of that happening, and it makes me wonder like, how many people have we as a church, not just ONE Church, but the global church, maybe missed where God wanted to speak or or God wanted to bring people in.
16:06
Luke: Um, and and God's sovereign, he can bring people in regardless of us.
16:09
Mark: Yeah.
16:10
Luke: But it just is a convicting thought as to where in my life have I maybe um been the one who is excluded or thought, ooh, that person, I don't know that that guy could ever be saved, you know.
16:20
Luke: Um I think about um maybe some people that I've worked out with in the past or things or conversations with though have just been like, man, there's no chance they would ever show up in the doors of a church.
16:30
Luke: They wouldn't have anything to do with God.
16:32
Luke: Um, but now they do.
16:33
Luke: And so the way that the Lord works um just as a is a convicting thought of hey, don't um I don't know, don't put limits on what God can do or who he can save.
16:42
Mark: Yeah.
16:42
Mark: I mean, I think that's really good.
16:43
Mark: I mean, I I know it's um it's something that you you mentioned that we say a lot.
16:49
Mark: Everyone's welcome.
16:51
Mark: Anything uh nobody's perfect, anything's possible.
16:54
Mark: Um and I would like to think that if Rahab walked into these doors, that I would treat her, uh a known prostitute, you know, as someone that, hey, you're welcome, you know.
17:08
Mark: Uh but just honestly, or even into our house, you know, like not just this church, but like into my life.
17:15
Mark: Like I would like to think that, okay, no judgment.
17:18
Mark: Hey, you're welcome at the table, you know.
17:20
Mark: Um, but uh that this even just that alone in this passage is convicting.
17:26
Luke: Yeah, yeah, and it spurs on action, right?
17:30
Luke: Like that's that's what James 2 is all about is is taking action.
17:33
Luke: And so it's spurring on action of like, where can I be more inclusive?
17:37
Luke: Where can I welcome?
17:38
Luke: Where can I love?
17:39
Luke: Um, knowing that as we welcome people that maybe the church has historically rejected, um, as they come in, as they are, God is the one who transforms lives and hearts.
17:50
Mark: That's good.
17:50
Mark: And mention James 2 mentions two specific names, Abraham and Rahab.
17:58
Mark: We just talked about Rahab, but um it kind of before Rahab mentions um Abraham and uh verse 18 says, But someone will say, You have faith, I have deeds.
18:13
Mark: Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
18:18
Mark: You believe that there is one God good.
18:20
Mark: Even the demons believe that and shudder.
18:23
Mark: And you mentioned that this week.
18:24
Mark: I mean, I think that's a powerful, like it, it's it's gotta be more than just belief.
18:29
Mark: You know, I mean, the demons believe that.
18:31
Mark: And may maybe even more than I do.
18:35
Mark: Um, because I there's something in the spiritual realm.
18:39
Mark: I mean, they they have seen the power of of um of God, and it says that they they shudder, you know.
18:47
Mark: I don't know.
18:52
Mark: There's sometimes where I feel like even we we read some scripture um over the last couple weeks where the demoniac um was able to identify um Jesus or followers of Jesus because they know what's going on in the spiritual realm.
19:07
Luke: Right.
19:07
Mark: Um but verse 20 says, You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
19:14
Mark: Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar, uh altar.
19:22
Mark: You see that uh that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
19:31
Mark: And the scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend.
19:42
Luke: Yeah.
19:42
Luke: What a what an awesome statement to be known as God's friend.
19:46
Luke: Yeah.
19:46
Luke: Um and I love the the verbiage that uh faith and actions are working together is what that says, right?
19:54
Luke: That they're they're hand in hand.
19:56
Luke: It's not one or the other that they they come together.
19:59
Luke: And um there's uh a couple of kind of theological terms and things that we can dive into, but um the justification, right?
20:07
Luke: We are are justified and saved by faith alone um in Christ, right?
20:12
Luke: By grace through faith is what Ephesians 2 says, not by works.
20:16
Luke: Um we cannot earn our way um to be justified and to receive salvation.
20:21
Luke: Um, but that faith then requires us to take action, right?
20:27
Luke: Um faith without action, I would argue, is really no faith at all.
20:31
Luke: If your faith doesn't challenge you to move, to do, then do you actually have faith in God or is it faith in yourself, right?
20:38
Luke: Um because God is the one who challenges us, um, not challenges us, commands us to take action, just like Abraham.
20:45
Luke: He said he believed God um with his son Isaac.
20:49
Luke: And then when it was time to put that to the test, he actually did what God asked him to do.
20:56
Luke: Um and that was a hey, I have this faith, and now my faith is taking action.
21:01
Luke: And so there's that those balances there.
21:04
Mark: That's really good.
21:05
Mark: Um I think about um just people every week uh here on staff on Tuesdays, we we spend an hour um talking about changed lives and people that display their faith, you know, that uh through serving or it might be through their words.
21:24
Mark: Um are there any stories that you can think of that you've heard recently um that people have shown their faith through action?
21:33
Luke: Yeah.
21:34
Luke: Um I mean I shared uh on Sunday of a guy who met a homeless man and um picked him up, brought him to the church, and I just got off the phone with him again today.
21:43
Luke: He's getting him um connected to a shelter in the places where um he could go and and get the help that he needs to get back on his feet.
21:51
Luke: Um I met a guy after the first service um who said, Hey, I don't want to brag, but I met um A girl at she was working security at an event I was at, um, ended up striking up a conversation with her and let her to the Lord.
22:06
Luke: I'm in from out of town, um, but I need a good church.
22:08
Luke: Can I recommend?
22:09
Luke: Yeah, can I get you her contact info?
22:11
Luke: And so there's just a a man who happens to meet his security guard and and walks her to salvation, right?
22:20
Luke: Talks her, talks to her about um the grace of God and the gift, and that only works if he's willing to stop and see the person, if he's willing to to then do the thing, um, which requires the words as well.
22:32
Mark: Yeah.
22:33
Mark: That's good.
22:33
Mark: Um I think about um even like Cassidy Shaw, you know, um we uh a phrase we use um often here is a a son or daughter of the house, and Cassidy grew up um here in this church, and um she's given her life to missions and lives in Africa.
22:53
Mark: Um and just if when you meet her, just someone that you would just I wouldn't personally I wouldn't assume, hey, I think she's she probably lives in Africa as a missionary, you know.
23:05
Mark: But I mean she's putting her faith into action.
23:08
Mark: Um I think about uh there's uh a a serving project service project that we did here recently um at the church, and uh there were a group of people here, and that one of the individuals that was here was um wasn't even a believer.
23:27
Mark: He um I don't know where he stands in his faith, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't a believer.
23:33
Mark: Um, but he was serving.
23:35
Mark: You know, there's something um that that happens when you when you put others people's needs in front of your own.
23:42
Luke: Yeah.
23:43
Luke: And I would um argue that there's a problem if non-believers are serving more than we are as a church.
23:51
Mark: Yeah.
23:51
Luke: Um uh uh if there's more humanitarian efforts from people who don't know Jesus,
23:57
Mark: yeah.
23:57
Luke: Um the church hasn't stepped up and done what God's called us to do.
24:01
Mark: Yeah.
24:01
Speaker: And so the the question on Sunday that we kind of closed with was, hey, what am I gonna do with what I've heard?
24:08
Speaker: Um God commands us to put our faith in action.
24:12
Speaker: And so what are the actions that I can do, the steps that I can take um to no longer just say with my mouth that I believe, but to say, I believe and I'm gonna prove it.
24:27
Mark: That's good.
24:28
Mark: What what are some if you could think of some practical ways, like how like you know what?
24:36
Mark: I want to show my faith in action.
24:39
Luke: Yeah.
24:39
Mark: Like if you could think of what are some ways that we could do that.
24:42
Luke: Yeah, I think um it takes the willingness to be interruptible, right?
24:47
Luke: Um, I think if you see somebody on the side of the road who who's got a flat tire, don't think somebody else is gonna take care of it, right?
24:54
Luke: If you know how to change a tire, like stop your car and go go help somebody change uh a tire and share the love of Jesus with them.
25:03
Luke: If you see somebody um on the side of the road who maybe is having a tougher season of life for their homeless, um, rather than you know, brush though by, maybe it is as simple as buying though a biscuit and sitting down and hearing their story.
25:17
Luke: Um maybe it's uh a neighbor whose grass is too long and rather than complain to the HOA, just go mow their yard, right?
25:25
Luke: Like um, I heard a story of um a middle school boy who baked cookies for uh for his neighbor to take though over there and just tell though, hey, um, God loves you.
25:36
Mark: Yeah,
25:36
Luke: you know, and so there's just some kind of practical ways, some things that we can do.
25:40
Luke: Um, there are events that the church puts on, and that's that's great.
25:44
Luke: But um, every day there are opportunities that are in front of us if we're willing to open our eyes and say, Lord, what is it that you would have me do?
25:52
Luke: Who is it that you would have me serve?
25:54
Luke: Um, sometimes we pray prayers and it feels like God doesn't answer, the answer is no.
25:59
Luke: If we pray the prayer, God give me the opportunity to serve and to bless others, that's a prayer that He's gonna answer.
26:04
Luke: Yeah, that's good.
26:05
Luke: Have you received any acts of service that you can remember that that kind of made an impact on you?
26:15
Luke: Oh absolutely, yeah.
26:16
Luke: Um we had uh um yeah, crazy.
26:21
Luke: Uh there's a a family who has blessed Moriah and I beyond measure.
26:26
Luke: We bought our house a couple years ago, and it was about an acre full of trees that we were dropping, and um, I got myself into way uh a bigger mess than I realized.
26:35
Luke: And somebody from our church kind of heard what was going on and what happened, and that I had a bunch of trees on the ground that I had taken down, didn't know what to do with.
26:43
Luke: And um he said, Hey, I can help and um got a crew over there and cleared out trees and then um just blessed us beyond measure and kept going and kept going.
26:51
Luke: And um it was a physical representation of the love of Christ, and that he said, Um, I'm I'm happy to help.
26:59
Luke: And so I've I've experienced that in my own life too.
27:02
Mark: Yeah, that's awesome, man.
27:03
Luke: Yeah.
27:04
Mark: That's good.
27:05
Mark: Um, I think it's uh it's a powerful reminder um that uh it's not just words and it's not just deeds, it's both coupled together.
27:18
Luke: Right.
27:18
Mark: Um I think you mentioned um was it Saint Francis of a CC's that that that's who I hear sometimes accredited with the quote I'd rather this the one about sermons and actions.
27:30
Luke: Oh yeah.
27:31
Luke: Um I think he's credited for saying preach the gospel at all times, um, and if necessary, use words.
27:38
Luke: Yeah.
27:38
Luke: Um and I would argue that the gospel needs words.
27:42
Luke: Yeah, for sure.
27:43
Luke: The book of Romans, it talks about how is somebody gonna know unless they hear, how are they gonna hear unless they've been told?
27:48
Luke: Um, and how isn't anyone gonna tell unless they've been sent.
27:51
Mark: Yeah.
27:51
Luke: And so people can't know the truth of the gospel only by our actions, right?
27:56
Luke: That can strike up a conversation.
27:58
Luke: Hey, why in the world would you stop on the side of the road and help me change a tire?
28:01
Luke: Well, because you're alone and I want you to know that God loves you and God sees you, right?
28:05
Luke: And the Son of God left heaven, and we can dive into that.
28:08
Luke: But um, we do need to preach a message with our words and our actions um combined.
28:14
Mark: Yeah, I think that's good.
28:16
Mark: I mean, it reminds me even, I think last week you went into uh a place that maybe not a lot of people go into um and shared the love, but I think before you even gave words, you shared a meal with though, right?
28:31
Mark: You want to tell what you did on Friday?
28:33
Luke: Yeah.
28:33
Luke: Um our our church has had the opportunity to um be a part of some uh Department of Corrections.
28:39
Luke: And so we've been in the Fayette County jail for a little while and got asked to go into the a youth detention center nearby.
28:45
Luke: And uh there are 65 young men there who um have made poor decisions and they're doing time for decisions that they've made and their consequences to those actions.
28:54
Luke: But we were asked, hey, will you guys come in here and will you um feed these guys a meal and then share the love of Jesus?
28:59
Luke: And so that's exactly what we got to do.
29:01
Luke: We broke bread and we laughed and we heard names and stories, and um, for the next month or so we get a 30-day pass to go in there and just connect with these kids um and share the love of Jesus with though, that they're not too far gone.
29:14
Luke: Um, people that maybe the rest of the world might forget um or push to the side, we uh we get the opportunity to love.
29:22
Mark: Yeah, that's good.
29:23
Mark: I mean, it kind of reminds me of uh I feel like the way Jesus operated in most of the the like times in accounts where where he healed someone, I feel like he healed and then he shared, yeah, you know.
29:40
Mark: Um and it was kind of like uh for the person, the recipient, it was like they were seen and then they received the message.
29:50
Mark: Um that's really good.
29:53
Mark: Um you have anything else you'd like to share?
29:57
Luke: I think that's it, man.
29:58
Luke: Thanks for for the opportunity to sit down and and share.
30:01
Mark: Yeah, man.
30:02
Mark: I'm grateful.
30:03
Mark: Um I'm I'm grateful for your restraint on your words that we didn't start a a war.
30:08
Mark: Yeah.
30:08
Mark: Well, the war has already been started.
30:10
Mark: Let's just be clear that you kind of restrained yourself there with Blake.
30:15
Luke: Words matter, but if you want to know, just come ask me.
30:17
Luke: And uh by the way, I mean we're gonna get in the end of the episode, talking about free t-shirts.
30:22
Luke: And um I almost spoiled it, so why don't you tell us how can we uh get the free t-shirt that's gonna be um hand delivered by Pastor Blake to your front door.
30:30
Luke: Which I'm just kidding.
30:31
Mark: Well, this is gonna be interesting because before we started shooting today, um Chris Wall, who uh he looks at all the analytics on the podcast and stuff like that.
30:41
Mark: And we have we have people listeners in Europe and Asia and Africa.
30:45
Luke: And in Oceana.
30:46
Mark: In Ocean, what is that?
30:48
Luke: Uh Australia and the islands.
30:50
Mark: Okay, I thought that was a hotel in Florida.
30:52
Mark: But um so but if if I mean if if someone from Africa uh is the first to do this in this contest,
31:00
Luke: we're gonna pack a t-shirt snail mail and get it there.
31:04
Mark: And it might get there in six months.
31:05
Mark: But
31:06
Luke: Should get a uh t-shirt.
31:07
Mark: You're gonna get it.
31:08
Luke: And how?
31:09
Mark: And okay, so here we go.
31:10
Mark: This is this is the assignment.
31:12
Mark: If you are the first person to email podcast @ beonechurch.com.
31:19
Luke: Oh spelled out B-E-O-N-E church.
31:21
Mark: That's right.
31:21
Mark: I mean, if we're really fancy, I don't know how fancy we're gonna get, but it might be like right right here, podcast@beonechurch.com.
31:29
Mark: Um and if you in the subject line, you put t-shirt and then just tell us what size you would like, and then we'll probably need your address unless you attend here.
31:39
Mark: If you attend here, then you can um
31:41
Luke: pick it up on Sunday.
31:42
Mark: Yeah.
31:43
Mark: Um, so this uh podcast is gonna live forever online, and so there might be someone that's listening in 2045.
31:52
Luke: Somebody probably claimed the t-shirt by then
31:55
Mark: right. Yeah, so if you're listening to this podcast 20 years from now, um, yeah, we probably gave this t-shirt away.
32:01
Luke: But if you're listening in 2045, the first one to email us in 2045, we'll get a new shirt.
32:06
Luke: It won't look like this, but we'll we'll make that promise.
32:09
Mark: 2045.
32:10
Luke: 19 years.
32:11
Mark: 19 years.
32:12
Mark: And let's say 20 years from now.
32:14
Mark: Like I'm I don't know if I'll still be here.
32:17
Luke: Neither of us could be at this church, but if they email and send a clip of this free t shirt in 2045.
32:23
Mark: Yeah, I mean, I hope, I pray that I am, but you know, I'm just saying like life is crazy.
32:28
Luke: Yeah.
32:29
Mark: Um, so anyway, thank you for joining us today um for this podcast.
32:33
Mark: We hope you have a blessed week and we'll see you next time.