What's going on Mission Grove? Hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up. So I'm, I'm a little bit of a charismatic pray for me. I like to call myself a closet charismatic. So let me ask you this question and then to determine how you feel today, how many people came excited about Jesus this morning. Let's go again as Pastor Johnson, my name is Brit. It's such an honor, such a privilege, such a blessing to be here before I say anything else y'all, we've got to celebrate and the reason why we've got to celebrate because come October Mission Grove will be turning four years old y'all. That is a big deal. I'm talking about you. And here's the reason why I want to celebrate because I am uh familiar with the journey of this church and I know it has been filled with so many highs and a, a few lows and a whole bunch of twists and turns. But here's one of the things that I could say about your pastor and his team, despite how many changes and they've had to endure, man, they have not quit. And what's been so beautiful is the I'm of what Jesus says upon this rock. I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. And I'm just so grateful and so thankful for what Pastor John and his team has done. And y'all you need to know that pastors get discouraged every single Monday. So while it's Sunday, could you do me a favor and just show some crazy love to your lead pastor, Pastor John and the entire team here? Well, man, it, it's an honor. I'm excited to get ready to share the word just to let you know a little bit about myself again. Uh Pastor John told you, I've been married, my wife and I have been married for 10.5 years. Uh she coaches track and field at Arizona State University. If you were to see her, she is very in shape. Uh and a very attractive woman. Uh I only have been able to marry her because of God's grace y'all. That's it. This this brother with a bit just been God's grace. We've also got two wonderful kids. I've got an eight year old son named LB who's over in the children's ministry today and then a 17 month, excuse me, 18 month year old daughter. So we're in a young family phase and my wife and I we have mastered the art of being highly caffeinated. It works wonders. So, hey, um I'm excited again though to get ready to jump into the word. Anybody excited for the word this morning? Let's go. Just so you know, oh I, I love it when you talk back. I love it. When you get excited, the more energy you give, the more energy I give and it is awesome. So with that being said in just a moment, we're gonna look at Galatians chapter one, I'm gonna read verses one through 10. I'll start at verse number six. But before I jump into the text, I do wanna address the question that Pastor John mentioned. And the question is simply why am I a Christian? This is without question. The uh best question that was posed to me several years ago. And the reason why this is one of the best questions that was posed to me because it led me down a path that discovered a truth, a truth that has held me so tight to the faith that we believe in the truth of the matter is, is you ask most people while they're a Christian, many people will tell you I'm a Christian because I grew up in a Christian home. But the truth of the matter is growing up in a Christian home is not gonna be the thing that sustains you when life gets difficult, you've gotta have your own relationship with Jesus. So, uh this morning, we're gonna unpack this question. Why am I a Christian? And here's the answer that I discovered y'all and it's the big idea you can write it down. The reason why I Brent Hatchett am a Christian is because I figured out big idea that the gospel equals freedom. Say it again. The reason why I am a Christian is because the gospel, the story of jesus' death, burial and resurrection, it equals freedom. I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment and lean in and ask the Holy Spirit to help me say what it is that He wants me to say. So, would you do me a favor and just join me in a word of prayer. Holy Spirit. We thank you so much for your goodness. We thank you so much for your guidance. We ask right now that you would just speak to us Holy Spirit. I'm asking that you would open up our minds and open up our hearts to be ready to receive what it is that you want us to hear, hide me behind the cross. God, let them not see me, let them only see you, give me preaching power that only comes from you and God, I'll be careful to give you all the glory, all the honor and all the praise and it's in Jesus name, we pray and give thanks. And everybody said, amen again. Big idea. The Gospel equals freedom. So I have the privilege y'all of walking with two young men uh and their walk with Jesus and one of these individuals, they just gave their life to Jesus. Less than a year. It's been super exciting. Uh We meet every other Tuesday. We have a small group and we just go over uh some things that are happening in their lives. One of the things that I've learned about discipleship, there's a portion of it that's taught, but then there's another per portion of it that's caught. So we'll sit there and we'll go through scriptures. But we'll also talk about what is it like to uh in your home with your wife and your kids? And how are you living that out? But on this one particular Tuesday as we were getting ready to meet, I noticed that one of my friends within this group, um I'm not gonna tell you his name, but I could tell you that that morning, his disposition was a little off. I could tell that something was bothering him. So I look at my friend and I say, hey, man, what's going on? And he looks back at me and he says, Pastor Brent, I don't know if it's worth it. A little confused. I look back at my friend and say, well, could you elaborate and tell me what you mean by? You don't know if it's worth it. My friend looks back at me and he says, man, I, I don't know if being a Christian, it's worth it. Now, I'm super confused because I've been walking with this dude for like three or four months and I'm starting to question whether or not God's anointed me. How are you gonna come up to me and tell me you don't know if it's worth it. But anyways, I look at my friend and I say, could you do me a favor and could you elaborate and unpack that for me a little bit? My friend looks back at me and he says, here's the thing, Pastor Brent, before I became a Christian, I could go to places I could say some things I could do some things, these things that I would say, these places that I would go, these things that I would do, I knew they weren't Godly. I knew they didn't line up with scripture. But when I would do those things, I wouldn't feel bad about it. He says now that I become a Christian, I go to the same places I could do those same things and I feel horrible. And then my friend looks back at me and I'll never forget what he says. He says, I don't know if I wanna follow a faith that makes me feel bad. So as I'm sitting here and I'm processing what my friend is saying. I'm realizing that he has no idea how amazing the gospel really is. I had a professor in seminary tell me he said you guys could go to any university in the country seminary or secular. And the truth of the matter is, is everybody will tell you that the basic definition of theology as the study of God. He says, but here's why you decided to come to this seminary because I wanna give you beyond the basic definition of theology. He says, this is the real definition of theology. It is faith seeking, understanding what he was trying to teach us was is that we all have this faith that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. We all have this faith and believe in his death, his burial, and his resurrection. But now you're at the place to where you need to understand this faith that you believe. And I recognize that this was the place that my friend hasn't visited yet. He had this faith to where he believed that Jesus Christ was Lord and Savior. But he didn't have a clear picture on why he believed what it was. He believed so for my friend. But what happened is, is he would read God's word and he would see nothing but rules and regulations. He hear the preacher preach from the pulpit and all he would do was process behavior modification. And what my friend failed to realize is that Christianity. And this walk with Jesus is not about behavior modification, but it's all about spiritual transformation. And here's what would happen because he didn't realize this. My friend had this feeling of being trapped. I know the truth so I can't walk away, but I don't feel good walking the road that I'm on give you practical examples. Hey, I know Pastor Brent, that I'm not supposed to have sex outside of marriage. But at the same time, there is no spouse in sight. I feel trapped. Hey, I know Pastor Brent, that I'm always supposed to be honest. But the problem is Pastor Brent. If I tell the truth, there's gonna be some negative ramifications for what I've said and what has taken place I feel trapped And here's what my friend failed to realize is that the gospel was never designed to trap you. The gospel was designed to allow you to live in freedom in Christ. And when he read this book, he put so much emphasis on what the book was asking him to do and missed the whole fact that the book isn't necessarily about what the book is asking him to do. He missed the fact that the book is about what Jesus has already done files in a Charismatic church. They would have said amen right there. But that's all right. Y'all gonna catch it. Y'all gonna catch it before it's over. So here it is. I want us now to draw our attention to Galatians chapter one. I'm gonna begin at verse six and I want you to see what Paul writes to these new believers, believers like my friend. Here's what he says in verses six and seven. He says, I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. He goes on to say you are following a different way that pretends to be the good news but is not the good news at all. He says you are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ to give you some background of what's taking place in the text. Here it is you have these new believers in the church of Galatia, But you've got another group in the picture called Juda. Juda Juda ISR, excuse me. So these Judaize are men who quote unquote claim to be Christian, but they still wanna force upon everybody, the mosaic law. So now Paul is writing this letter to the church of Galatians saying, listen to you new believers. Here's what you need to know those Judaize. Those men who are trying to get you to follow the mosaic law. They are not teaching you the truth, they are not teaching you the gospel. They are teaching you something that's completely and totally contrary to what myself and the other apostles are already teaching. You see what they were doing was they were saying to people, hey, you can put your faith in the gospel and you need to follow the mosaic law and here's what you and I need to know when it comes to the gospel. There are no ends. So they would sit here and say, hey, put your faith in Jesus and be circumcised. That's not the gospel. If we were to put it in our modern day context, hey, put your faith in Jesus. And if you're part of the Catholic church, make sure that you go to confession and sit before a priest, so you could receive salvation. That's not the gospel. Here's what you and I need to know the gospel is simply this Romans 10 and nine. If I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart, thou will be saved. So the gospel is put your faith in Jesus period. There are no ends in the gospel. And unfortunately, we live in a culture to where people try to twist and try to turn and they try to add this and move this and shift that. But can I tell you there are no ends in the gospel? There should never be put your faith in Jesus and you can't go to the movies and you can't listen to secular music and you can't have a tattoo and you can't do this and you can't do that. If you could tell the church I got saved in was a little Charismatic and a little Pentecostal later, I had a whole lot of rules. So I felt like I couldn't do nothing when I got saved y'all. That's not the gospel. The gospel is simply this. Put your faith in Jesus period. What these people are teaching in here is put your faith in Jesus and do a little bit of work. But can I tell you the good news, the reason why I figured out why I wanted to be a Christian. Why I love this good news message so much is because I realized that our faith is not based on works, but our faith is based on grace. You see if I were to take a poll right now and look at all of the major religions in the world and I'm not trying to bash anybody. But if I were to look at Mormonism, if I were to look at Catholicism, if I were to look at Hinduism, if I were to look at Buddhism, if I were to look at all of the other major faiths in our world, I would come to the conclusion that every single faith makes you and I work for our salvation. And the problem with having to work for your salvation is there is no guarantee of a paradise on the other side. How would you feel if you went to work for the next 30 years? From 9 to 5? You put in works and put in towards retirement by the time the time clicked and you were supposed to retire, they said, oh, you didn't work hard enough, no retirement for you. That's pretty much what's taking place with most other faiths. But here's what Jesus says. Jesus says, listen, I know you can't work hard enough to earn your salvation. So here's what I'll do instead of giving you this faith where it's about work. So I'm gonna give you this faith where it's all about grace. You see grace y'all is when God gives you and I something that we don't deserve for all of my Bible readers in the room. You already know that the Bible says that the wages of sin is and the gift of God is. So here it is. If the wages of sin is death, the truth of the matter is, is without Jesus, it should have been you. And I who was crucified in a cross should have been you and I who had nails go through our hands should have been you and I who had nails go through our feet should have been you and I who received 39 lashes. But the reason why I'm a Christian is because the Gospel equals freedom because the Gospel tells me this, Jesus says, I'm gonna trade your life with my life. So instead of you having to go on the cross instead of you having to endure your punishment of your sins. I'm gonna take that punishment for you because I have to crazy radical, unconditional love for you. That's the gospel message. It's faith alone in Christ alone, not by works, but by grace that you and I are saved. Why am I a Christian? Because the Gospel equals freedom. Now watch this. There are some of you who are saying and this is what happened with my friend. He was like, all right, Pastor Brent. I'm so grateful that the gospel equals freedom. But now what do I do with this sin issue that I have? Because the truth of the matter is I'm grateful for Jesus and I'm grateful for his death of the cross, but I'm still struggling y'all. Here's the beautiful part. The beautiful part is that Jesus didn't leave us alone. He has left us fully equipped to overcome our sin. Struggle with a couple of things. The first thing that he left us with is a reminder of the cross, Paul. Let's you. And I know in Galatians chapter five, for those of us who are struggling with sin, we can crucify our flesh to the cross and we can live in freedom in Christ. But here's the second thing that He's given you an eye. The second thing he's given you an eye is the Holy Spirit. It's the third part of the Triune God who lives and dwells on the inside of us and changes us from the inside out. But then here's the third thing he's given you an eye. The third thing he's giving you an eye and this is one that I really love is his word. Remember I told you my friend would look in the Bible and he would be frustrated because he would see all of these dues and all of these don't and not realizing that the Bible isn't about the D's and the don't, the Bible is all about what Jesus has already done for you. My friend thrilled to realize that I had to come to this conclusion, y'all that the Bible, excuse me, that the world cannot tell us about this Bible. The world cannot explain this Bible, but this Bible can explain the world. And here's what I had to tell my friend. I said, bro, you're looking at it the wrong way. You need to stop looking at the Bible as a bunch of do s and don't and you need to realize that God's Word is actually a mirror. It's a mirror that shows you a better way. I think the ladies in the room can uh relate to this illustration. Again, I've been married for 10.5 years and here's what I can tell you. There has never been a single moment in my 10.5 years of being married where my wife hasn't stopped and looked in the mirror before she walked outside the house. I don't care if she was going to the gas station, she's gonna stop and she's gonna look in the mirror and here's why she's gonna stop and look in the mirror because the mirror allows her to do a self assessment. She, she's gonna be able to look in the mirror and say, uh I don't know if I really like this shirt with those shoes. I don't know if I really like these earrings with this blouse or whatever it is. And here's my wife's gonna do, she's gonna step away from the mirror. She's gonna go into the closet. She's gonna pick out another combination of things and she's gonna put it on and come back to the mirror and she's gonna look in the mirror and be like, girl, you did that and she gonna walk out the house and go where she's supposed to go. Why? Because the mirror showed her a better way. Here's what you and I need to know for those of us who have been a little concerned about. Uh Do I really wanna take God's word as full authority? Here's what I can promise you. This word will show you and I a better way that will show you and I a better way to live a better way to think a better way to act again. What God is trying to do in my life and your life is not behavior modification. But what he's trying to do is spiritual transformation. He's trying to change you and I from the inside out. Hence the reason why my favorite prayer that I pray every single day before I read my Bible is simply this God. Would you let the words that are written in your word be written on my heart so that I may live them out. Say it again. The prayer is simple, God, would you let the words that are written in your word, be written on my heart so that I may live them out y'all. Here's the truth of the matter. As a Christian, I don't wanna be one of those people who know God's Word. I wanna be one of those people who lives God's Word because God has called me and he's called you and I to be salt and light in a dark world. And the only way that you and I could be salt in life is if we have a radical relationship with Jesus to where we fall deeply in love with Jesus and deeply in love with his word. Would you be willing to look at God's word as the mirror that will show you a better way? Now watch this. I want you to see what Paul goes on to say in the next couple of verses eight and nine, we're almost done because I'm sweating like a hog just so you guys know uh the reason why I'm wearing this jacket is not because I'm trying to look cute. It's because I'm just trying to hide my love hands. Amen. Alright. So verses eight and nine, here's what the text says. Paul goes on to say, let God's curse fall on anyone including us or even an angel from heaven who preaches a different kind of good news than the one we preach to you. Verse nine, he repeats himself. He says, I say again that we have said before. If anyone preaches any other good news than the one you welcomed. Let that person be cursed. Here's basically what Paul is trying to say in this particular passage. If anyone adds to the gospel shift, some things puts an end in the gospel. He says, let that man, let that woman be cursed. When I was in college. I used to always struggle with that passage in Matthew. I think it's Matthew chapter seven where Jesus would say, um there will be many who will come on to me and say, Lord, have we not cast out demons in your name and have we not performed many miracles in your name? And Jesus would look back and say, get away from me. You workers of iniquity, you evil doers for, I never knew you the people that Jesus is addressing in that text. Y'all are people who have put the ends in the gospel. And one of the things that I cannot stand is when pastors and preachers and teachers or whoever, whatever title they wanna give themselves when they put a burden on people that Jesus already died. For truth of the matter is again, there are no ends in the gospel and my hope for me and for you was that we would be quick to correct people who try to add something in there that's not included in the formula for salvation. Watch this verse 10 Paul goes on to say this. He says, obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people but of God. He says, if pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ servant. Here's what you and I need to know y'all. Paul did not have to preach the gospel. Paul was successful as a pharisee. He was a pharisee of Pharisees. He knew the mosaic law which was over 630 laws. He knew those bad boys backwards and forwards. Paul had influence. Paul had authority and he's letting them know. Listen, I, I don't have to do this, but he says I am laying down my life to do this because I know it's the truth and it's the truth that will set men and women free. I talked a lot about Paul and I talked a lot about the text. But now let me just give you a little insight into my world. Here's the truth of the matter. This gospel message has completely and totally changed my life. I stay here today with my legal name being Brent Anthony Hatchett. What you don't know about me is I was actually born into this world as Brent Anthony Davis Junior. My mother and my father, my birth father got together. They had me and I before the age of 25 I can tell you right now that I only spoke to my biological dad maybe 10 times. I was raised by my stepfather and I love him so much that he went from being my stepfather to me just calling him dad and I took on his last name. But here's the thing that you need to know while he was a remarkable, remarkable, remarkable dad. He was not the best husband. At 14 years old, my parents ended up getting a divorce and they completely and totally shattered my world. And even now, there are moments when I sit back and I could hear a song or see something that remind me of the moments when my parents were together and a little, little tear might come out my eye, right? But here's what you need to know. I decided that I did not want to have that same life for me. So at 16 years old, I made a deal with God. I said, God, if you let me pass my driver's license test, I promise you, I'll start taking myself to church. So here it is. Now, the truth of the matter is I really only wanted to pass my driver's license test because I had a car and I was trying to get a date. But the Holy Spirit used that I kept my promise and I started taking myself to church and y'all when I started taking myself to church, I fell radically in love with this man named Jesus and I started to unpack the gospel a little bit more once I got to my college years. And here's what I can tell you this gospel has completely and totally changed my life. That same biological father who I didn't talk to for more than 10 times in my entire life. When I turned 25 we reconciled and now I speak with him every 2 to 3 weeks. Can I tell you that? It's the gospel that did that for me? Because it was the gospel that taught me how to forgive. Here's the thing. Remember I told you my parents got a divorce after being married for 10 years, my wife and I almost called the quits at year four. But now we've been at 10.5 and we got a lifetime to go. And it's the gospel that helped me reconcile and be a better husband. There are days as a grown man where I would weep and be sad because why did my biological dad not want to be in my life? But I'm also grateful that he gave me a step dad to show me what a dad should look like. And here's the thing. I had a conversation with my eight year old the other day, we were sitting on the couch because I'm trying to have some mature conversations with him. And I look at my eight year old son and I say, hey son, quick question. How am I doing as your dad? My eight year old son looks back at me and he says, daddy, you're the best daddy in the world. All of those things in my life is because of the role the gospel has played in my life. And I can even get personal and say one of the things that I struggled with for years, y'all was sexual sin. At 12 years old, I was exposed to some movies and these movies weren't rated G, these movies weren't rated PGA. Matter of fact, these movies are rated with some letters on the back end of the alphabet. But I realized that there was a freedom that was found in Christ. And once I started to unpack the gospel, I was able to now take the things that my flesh want and I would crucify it to the cross. Lean into the Holy Spirit, let the word of God be written in my heart so that I can live it out. And I can tell you right now I am five years clean of looking at anything that goes against God's will for my life. That's what the gospel has done for me. So this brings me back to this big idea. Why am I a Christian? I'm a Christian because the Gospel equals freedom. Look at what Paul says in verses one through five, we're almost done here. It is, it says this, this letter is from Paul an apostle. He says I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ, the savior of the world himself and by God, the father who raised Jesus from the dead. Verse two, he says, all the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia. May God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ, give you grace and peace. But watch. Verse four. It says this Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God. Our father planned in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live all glory to God forever and ever. Amen. Here's what you and I need to know. And I'll close with this, Jesus loved you and I so much and I'm just going back to the elementary things of the gospel. But these are things that we cannot let go of and have to remind ourselves of He loved you. And I so much that he stepped out of eternity into time, he emptied himself of all of his divinity took on the form of humanity, took on the form of a servant, walked in obedience to the Father, went to this cross on Calvary was crucified and died so that you and I, they have eternal life. Here's the best part. He did not stay dead. He got up three days later with all power in his hands so that you and I can experience a freedom in Christ. And oh, by the way, he also kept his promise before he died. He said, I'm gonna send you a helper and that helper is the Holy Spirit and I need you to know that, that helper lives on the inside of us. And scripture teaches us that greater is He that is in us than he, that is in the world. And that's the Holy Spirit. If you're here today and you're struggling with sin, I want you to know that the Gospel equals freedom if you're here today and you're struggling with your marriage. I want you to know that the Gospel teaches about reconciliation and what God has put together. Let no man put us under. I need you to know that the freedom that you're looking for now, it's not gonna be found in the things of the world, but it is found in the Gospel. And the reason why I'm a Christian is because I realized that the Gospel equals freedom. Holy Spirit. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share your word. And my prayer is this is that God, you would continue to do a transformation on our hearts and on our minds and that we would come to this place to fully understand that you have not called us to be bound by the ways of the law. But you have already fulfilled the law with your death on the cross. And because you have already fulfilled the law that as men and women who live in this, dying in the king world, we can still live in peace and enjoy and in gratitude and experience of freedom that is found in you. Lastly, God, I wanna pray for every person here right now that has a need. Maybe their marriage is going through it. Hey, God, would you be the God that reconciles God? There's people here who have relationships with um parents or relatives or friends that have been broken off because of negative circumstances. God would you um be the God that can reconcile those situations as well. But lastly God, we just wanna take a moment as a church and just thank you for the gospel message, the gospel that equals freedom. And it's in Jesus name, we pray and give thanks. And everybody said, amen.