| Time | Text |
|---|---|
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Graceful Examples
00:03:18
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| You and Mama Lori have truly been, and the word is grace, truly been the most graceful Jesus type of example of grace I have ever met. | |
| And I'm being so serious when I say that. | |
| And you alluded to a story even of my first year. | |
| I did something stupid. | |
| And you probably remember what it was. | |
| Because I would have been just turned 19. | |
| Oh, that's what it was. | |
| Yeah. | |
| And I thought, you know, I'm going to get kicked out. | |
| I screwed up, and the call of God on my life is over. | |
| And I remember, and I really didn't think that. | |
| And Mama Lori came into the office I was sitting in. | |
| And I mean, I remember just feeling so much shame. | |
| And my head is just down. | |
| And I said, Mama Lori, I said, are you going to kick me out of the school? | |
| 19 years old, first year here. | |
| And with just a warm smile on her face, she just simply said, oh, absolutely not. | |
| And I remember just the grace that I felt in that moment. | |
| Because what 18-year-old, 19-year-old is going to be on fire for the Lord that wants to change the world, that's not going to fall flat on his face a few times. | |
| And most churches in this religious world would say, oh, you think you're a man of God? | |
| Get out of here. | |
| You're not called. | |
| You're not chosen. | |
| And you two created this place has been a safe atmosphere for me to fail and for me to fall. | |
| And every time, you guys were just like, no. | |
| I mean, it wasn't even, you were just like, nope, get back up. | |
| Get back up. | |
| Get back up. | |
| And I never felt condemned. | |
| I never felt judged. | |
| You guys created a safe grace place for me here at Morningside. | |
| And I've learned so many lessons. | |
| And over the years, I'm going to remember lessons. | |
| But right now, as I'm just, as my transition period has started, one of the greatest lessons I've learned is how to offer grace in such a not graceful world. | |
| Yeah. | |
| Because of your guys' example. | |
| Zach, just before we get into our message today. | |
| What have I challenged you with to do? | |
| We'll just throw one out because I can just. | |
| No, I don't know which one you're talking about, but the first one that comes to my mind is you, I remember whenever I first got here, actually, you told me, I was 18, and you looked at me and said, you're called to the top of the mountain. | |
| And then you said, but don't ever worry about how to get there. | |
| And I said, what do you mean? | |
| And you said, whenever God asks you to do something, simply say. | |
|
Realizing Your Power
00:00:37
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| And then you just got powerful. | |
| You said, say, yes, God. | |
| And he said over and over again. | |
| And then he said, and by the end, you're going to look around and you're going to realize, wow, I'm at the top of the mountain. | |
| And it's just because of obedience. | |
| And in the times where I didn't want to say, yes, God, your words were right there. | |