← Lakepointe Church with Josh Howerton
Lakepointe Church with Josh Howerton
Why Religion Can’t Save You…But Jesus Can | There Is More | Pastor Carlos Erazo
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Hey, guys, thanks for checking out this Bible teaching. Every week we release a podcast that corresponds to the sermon. It's like a little bit of a deeper dive where we hit some things that didn't make it into the sermon, some theological concepts. We talk about things that are going on in our culture and how to think about them from a biblical perspective. We call that podcast Live Free. An episode releases every Monday that corresponds to the sermon. If you would like to check out Live Free, just go to the Lake Pointe YouTube channel and look for the podcast tab there. We'll see you at Live Free. Now enjoy this Bible teaching my eloquent family.
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It is so good to be here today, man. What a gift and what a joy. And I'm so grateful to Pastor Josh for the opportunity that we get to open up the Word of God together today. And hey, before we start, there is something that we must celebrate as a church. I don't know if you know this, but last weekend we actually had our preview services for our future campus, our Roy City campus, AKA our Bucket's campus. But before we clap, we had all the community trying to come together. Hey, let's come join our previous services. We had serve team members serve as well. And we invited everybody. And I want to. I'm excited to let you know that we had over a thousand people show up and over one person gave their life to Jesus. Go ahead and celebrate that right now. Man. That is amazing. Well, hey, if you got your Bibles, go to Acts, chapter 22. And while you go there, I want to ask you this question. What is one thing in your life that when you experienced it, it changed everything? So one thing that changed everything. This could be something in your life, maybe a relationship or a thing or anything that in some ways marked a before and an after. Let me give you a couple examples right now. How many of you guys remember what this is over here? Okay? If you were born in the 1900s, you know exactly what that is. If you were born in this millennial, you're a little confused right now. Let me explain it to you. This is a piece of paper with a map on it. And we use it to get to places. I actually used this in college my freshman year. And they're not user friendly, okay? They were very difficult to use. At some point, somebody decided to put satellites in space to help us navigate our way here. And now we have this. We have gps. We have a before and an after. Something happened that changed everything. So let me give you another example. Anybody here drinks co coffee, okay? I like that. So here. Here's what a lot of you would say, man, coffee changed my life. But what a lot of you don't know is coffee actually changes your life every single day. And I'm about to show you. This is you every single morning before your coffee, and then after your coffee. This is you. There's a before, and clearly there's an after after your coffee. Let me give you another one. Sometimes it's not a beverage that changes your life or perhaps a technology, but a place. Nine years ago, my wife and I, we moved from the very cold state of Michigan to the very hot state of Texas. And honestly, like, nine years later, I can just say I'm not the same person. Texas has changed me. You might see me with a cowboy hat at some point. It's just a matter of time. And every time I meet a family in the lobby that they are not from Texas, I'll ask them, hey, where are you from? And they'll say things like, well, we're from California. And in the back of my mind, I'm like, I knew that I could definitely tell, you know, that you look like you're from California. It's very easy to tell. And then I'll see them, and they just got here to Texas. And I'll be like, oh, you're gonna love Texas. It's gonna be great. Like, literally one week later, by the way, this is the family before. When I first meet them, this is how they look. And like, one week later, after moving to Texas, this is the same family. They're like, man, we used to go to in n out. Now we repentant. Now we go to Whataburger. And, you know, we're embracing Texas. There's a before and there's an after. Here's my favorite one. This is the last one. We're having fun here. My favorite one is that sometimes what changes you is not a piece of technology or a beverage or a place. Sometimes it's a vocation. Sometimes what changes you, that one thing that changes everything is something that you start doing a new mission or a new job or a new calling. And so I'm gonna give you an example. This right here is a photo of Pastor Josh before coming to Lake Point Church. And recently, I was like, man, this is the photo we have on the website. We need to update the photo. This feels a little outdated, in my humble opinion. And we had a photo shoot, and what I'm about to show you is exclusive footage, never seen before, of the latest photo shoot of Pastor Josh that's going on the website. And this is Pastor Josh, six years of after coming to Lake Point, become a pastor. They said it is not stressful is what they said. Man. In every single one of these examples there is a before and then there is an after and something happens in the middle that changes everything. And I start there because today we're going to read the book of Acts, chapter 22, and we're going to hear from the Apostle Paul. And what he's going to do do is he's going to tell us his story and he's going to say, hey listen, I'm going to tell you my story. But what you need to understand is that there was one thing in my life that changed everything. And there was a before and there was an after. And that one thing that changed everything is I met Jesus Christ. And so if you're here, what you need to know is Jesus Christ is the most life altering person in the history of humanity. History was literally so split when Jesus was born. And today even atheists will acknowledge that literally every event in human history is now defined by whether it happened before Christ or whether it happened the year of our Lord. That's why we say every event happened in BC or AD and today you will find out that people will mock Christianity or they want to get rid of Christianity. But what they don't realize is that we are already in an after Christ culture, which means that our current society and everything we value like human rights, compassion, freedom, progress, and all of those things are because of the pervasive influence of Jesus and his teaching in the history of Western civilization. There was a before and there was an after. And that one thing that changed everything is his name is Jesus. And listen, here's the important part. If he's changed history and if he's changed societies and if he's changed cultures, then this is also true. He can also change you. He can also change you. And so that's what we're going to read about today. So if you got your Bibles, go to Acts, chapter 22. Let me give you a little context. Here is the Apostle Paul. He's traveling from city to city preaching the Gospel, planting churches, and then he goes to Jerusalem. But then he finds out there's a false rumor about him. And people are saying that he's opposing the Jewish people. And also people are saying that he brought his gentile friend Trophimus into a forbidden area in the temple, which was not okay for the Jewish people. So I'm going to show you right now a photo of a Jewish temple at the time of Jesus. And the areas that are in red circles, those are the areas that Gentiles were allowed to be. And so if you were a Gentile, you cannot trespass those areas. You cannot keep going in and around the whole temple. There were signs that were warning signs for people that. This is, I'm going to show you right now, a photo of a sign. This is literally a photo of a sign. And this is what it said. I read that language. I'm going to translate it for you right now. It says this, no stranger. And by the way, by stranger, that means gentile. So non Jew is to enter this part of the temple. Whoever is caught will be himself responsible for ensuing death. So if you're a Gentile, you can't go in. And if you do, like it's guaranteed, we will kill you. And so the people are angry because they are saying that Paul brought his friend, who's a Gentile, into a temple, that he was forbidden at that part. And so Paul is falsely accused. And the people are literally saying, this man deserves death. And so what they do is they grab Paul and they drag him out of the temple. There is a mob, and then all of a sudden, they're about to kill Paul, But a Roman soldier grabs Paul and he says, wait, what? What's going on here? So he grabs him and he's going to take him. But before the Roman soldier takes Paul, Paul says, wait, before you take me, I need to speak to these people. I need to tell them who I am and I need to tell them more importantly who Jesus is. And so that's where we find ourselves today. Acts, chapter 22, verse 1 to 3. This is what it says. This is Paul speaking. Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you. And by the way, we go so much more in depth in the live free podcast. Verse two, it says, and when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said, I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel. And by the way, if you're like, Gamaliel, Cilicia, what's going on? This is Paul just saying, basically, I went to like the Harvard of religious studies. Like, think elite education, think Yale, Princeton, Texas A and M. You know, best of the best is what he's saying. And then he keeps going according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers being zealous for God as all of you are this day. We're going to stop right there. Here's the first lesson from this text. Paul is teaching us Jesus saves you from your religion and he also saves you from your rebellion. And so Paul starts his story. This is his before Christ. And he says, man, before Christ, I was actually very religious, but I wasn't saved. And there was a poll in the United States that said that over 48% of people believe today in our country that if a person is generally good or quote unquote religious enough, then they will earn a place in heaven. Which is interesting because when you look at scripture, what it teaches us is that oftentimes the biggest obstacle for somebody to have a real and authentic encounter with Jesus is their own works based religion. And here's why. Because when you think that your own works and your own good works actually earn you a place in heaven and makes you right with God, then you start thinking that you don't need Jesus anymore. And so Paul here is saying, listen, you think you're religious. I was actually more religious than you, but I wasn't saved. In other words, what he is saying, he's, hey, be careful if you think God is okay with me because I'm religious. And here's why. Because you can be religious but not be redeemed. Let me explain to you this way. Today every other major religion will teach you that for you to be saved, you have to do. That's what every religion will say you have to do. And so if you study Islam, you have to do the five pillars in Buddhism, you have to do the Eightfold path in moralism, basically any other religion, you have to do enough good works. But when it comes to salvation, Christianity does not say do. Christianity says done. Salvation in Christianity is not about trying, it's about trusting. You are not saved because of your works. You are saved because of the works of Jesus when he shed his blood on the cross and paid for all your sins, past, present and future. And so if you're here, man, you're very religious and you have not met Jesus. Let me say this, you, hey, Jesus loves you and he is able to save you. There is good news for you. Let's keep reading. Verse four, Paul keeps going. He says, I persecuted this way of Jesus to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women. Ironically, his religion led him to his rebellion as the high priest. And the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers and I journeyed toward Damascus to Take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. Paul, start. Let's stop right there. Paul starts by saying, I was very religious. But then he says, but I was also very rebellious. The Bible, when, when, when we open the Bible, the Bible calls everybody to repent. And so it says, man, if you're. If you're religious, you need to repent of your religion. If you're rebellious, you need to repent of your rebellion. But Paul here says, I was actually way more rebellious than all of you, but Jesus still saved me. And so the good news of the Gospel is that Jesus isn't for people who think that they're good. It's for people who know that they're bad and in desperate need of his grace. Which means. This is what it means, that if you are here and you're rebellious, hey, listen, Jesus loves you and he is able to save you. And so I know some of you maybe are here, and maybe you're saying, I actually already met Jesus, and if I'm honest, I still wrestle with a guilt or a shame or whether I'm actually saved. And maybe it's because the enemy keeps reminding you of sins God has already forgiven you for. And so if that's you, let me. Let me just gently ask you this to encourage you. Do you really believe that you are better at sinning than Jesus is at saving? Do you really believe that you are better at messing up all things than Jesus is at restoring all things? So if you are in Christ, this is what you need to know. What you did may deserve condemnation, but Jesus came to bear that condemnation so that now, like Romans chapter 8 says, There is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus. Why? Because there is more grace in him than sin in you. So everybody can be saved. Do you trust him? Do you trust in him? That's the question. Let's keep reading. Acts 22:6. As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus about noon, a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. Verse 7. This is important. Something's happening right now. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And I answered, who are you, Lord? This is the religious man asking Jesus, who are you? And so I need you to stop right there. I need you to visualize what is going on. There's something about to happen in the life of Paul that literally will mark A before and after. This is the one thing that changes everything. Paul says, man, I was on My way to Damascus and suddenly I fell to the ground. And so this is literally, I want to show you, this is literally what's going on with Paul. This is literally Paul's position right now after meeting Jesus. Let me ask you this, what direction is Paul looking at after he fell to the ground? He is only able to look up. He is not able to see to the right towards his religion. He is not able to see towards the left, towards his rebellion. He is only able to see. And he is looking up. And here's what we learn. Sometimes God knocks you flat on your back so you're finally looking in the right direction. That's what he's doing right now. And so this is Paul, and we'll keep reading. This is what he says. And Jesus said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting. Now. Those who were with me saw the light, but they didn't understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, what shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, rise. He's on the ground. Jesus is saying, get up, rise and go into Damascus. And there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do. And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and those who were with me and came into Damascus. And so Paul is on the ground. And, and I want to, I want to illustrate what this looks like for you, man. Some of you right now are here and you are in a situation where maybe, maybe you feel like that you feel that you've been knocked down into the ground and you're wondering, man, honestly, like, if God is good, how could this be happening to me? And may I submit to you that it is possible that it is not because God is against you, but that God is for you. That he has allowed you to go through what you're going through. When I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called lupus nephritis at age 30, I went from being very healthy, super normal, to extremely sick, man. All of a sudden I'm in the hospital. The doctor said I had a full blood clot in my whole left, like high inflammation. I lost like £30. All of a sudden I had a rheumatologist, a nephrologist, an oncologist. I'm having like a, a three month IV treatment with a medicine used for chemotherapy. My doctor said, hey, like this, I'm so sorry, but your body is just acting so weird and at any point, it could literally attack your own organs and destroy your own body. And I'm processing all this, and I'm like, God, what are you doing? Why are you trying to break my spirit? And what I eventually understood was God wasn't trying to break my spirit, but he was trying to break my will. And so sometimes God will allow you to go through something because he knows that perhaps the only way to get your attention, the only way to get you to wake up, the only way to he gets you to repent, the only way he gets you to finally surrender everything, is to let you go through what you're going through right now. And so I want to show you something over here, but before I show you, I want you to see it in the Scripture, because Paul is asking, why did that just happen? And he's about to find out why. Verse 12. This is what he says. And after that, one Ananias, a devout man, according to the law well spoken of by all the Jews who live there, came to me and standing by me, said to me, brother Saul, receive your sight. And at that very hour, I received my sight and saw him. And he said, the God of our fathers appointed you. That's an important word. Appointed you to know his will to see the righteous one and to hear a voice from his mouth. Listen to this. This is also for you. For you. You will be a witness for him to every one of what you have seen and heard. And now we. Why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on his name. Here's why God allowed Paul to fall flat on his back. God allowed this to happen to him because he wanted to do something in him. Because he wanted Paul to be a witness to everyone about what he has seen and heard. So I want to. I want to invite my friend over here to help me with this illustration, man. Some of you today, you're in a season maybe where, man, you. You relate to that. And I'm going to give you this over here. And maybe you're here, man. Honestly, this season, it feels like you've been taking some hits lately. It feels like. Like, literally what you're going through right now, man, it's just. That's how it feels. Maybe you're here and it's been a while since you've been to church, but it just. It seems like in the season, in the last two to three weeks, there's just several significant things happening in our culture, and it's shaking you to the core, and it's filled you with fear and uncertainty and insecurity. And it's made you question some things about your life. Or maybe you're here and what you're going through is years ago you stood at an altar and you said, till death do us part, and you meant it. But they didn't. And so now you're in a situation where you're just trying to figure out, man, how did I even get here? What really happened? Is this something I should have foreseen and you have no idea what to do now? Or maybe you're here and your relationship with your wayward child, it's more painful than ever. It just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. And it just seems like the more you pray for them and the more you try to reach out and share about your faith, the worse it gets. And now you're dreading because you're thinking, man, the holidays are coming up and how is this going to go? I'm not really sure. And if I'm honest, man, you're here, man. You say, man, yeah, that's me. I feel broken. I feel broken. And yet at the same time, man, you're here at the same time, man, you have received. You have to receive the grace of God over your life. And you've been exposed to truth that sets you free. You know that God has placed this inside of you. There's a purpose for your life that you have. And you have a life group that is praying over you. They're pouring over you. There is a special anointing over your life, and yet you can't see it. Just like Paul when he met Jesus, he was blinded. You can't see it. You can't see what God has ahead for you. And what you need to understand is that in those moments is that sometimes the biggest blessing you can get from God is when he allows you to hit rock bottom or when he allows you to break and fall flat on your back. And you're finally seeing in the right direction. Now you're not seeing left or right now you're seeing up. And then you're reminded, man, Psalm 51 actually says that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Oh, God you will not despise. And you said, God, I don't know why this is happening. But you know what? I trust you. Whatever work you are doing in my life, just actually I want to invite you. Go ahead. I trust you. Would you go ahead? And if there's any other breaking in me that you need to do, would you go ahead and do it. And what happens after that is what happens is that all of a sudden the anointing got poured inside of you. The promises of God, the power of God made perfect in your weakness. It starts to flow through you. Listen, oftentimes we feel that God is breaking us, but what he really is doing is he is building us and he is preparing us for a new identity, a new season, a new calling, a new anointing, and a new purpose. And this is exactly what Paul is going through in this very moment in Scripture. And see, what you need to understand is when God. This is what you see in Scripture literally every single time God anoints somebody and sent them on a new mission and gives them a new identity. When God wanted to make Moses a leader and a deliverer, he did not give him a throne, he gave him a wilderness. When God wanted to make David a king, he did not give him a crown, he gave him a Goliath. When God wanted to make Esther a queen, he did not give her comfort, he gave her a crisis. And so if you're going through today a wilderness or a crisis or maybe experiencing brokenness, whatever it is, the good news is Jesus will meet you there. And if you belong to Jesus, when something is happening to you, you can be certain it's because God is doing something in you and that he is preparing you to do something through you. That's the hope that we have today in Jesus Christ. Thank you. Verse 17. This is what it says. When I had returned to Jerusalem and I was praying in the temple, after that, I fell into a trance. And I saw Jesus saying to me, make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly because they will not accept your testimony about me. And I said, lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another, I imprison and beat those who believed you. And when the blood of Stephen, your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving, watching over the garments of those who killed him. And he said to me, go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles. Here's the third lesson that we get from the Apostle Paul. Jesus saved you for a kingdom purpose. Now go and tell your story. So, so God tells Paul, paul, I have a mission for you. The reason that happened, the reason this happened is because I am appointing you for a new mission. And what Paul does here is what a lot of us do. Paul starts making excuses. Paul's like, yeah, Lord, but I persecuted Christians. Christians don't like me as much like I have a reputation. I have done some things. And this is what you and I tend to do when we hear, man, God has sent you. Like you with your past and your background, God has sent you to tell your story, to tell other people about Jesus. And we say things like, God, but I feel inadequate. We grab our lives and we explain to God, lord, but I feel like I can't do it. And God says, good, because it won't be you. It will be me working through you. It'll be me working through you. Yeah, but God, I'm a broken person. And God says, good, because my power is made perfect in your weakness, in your brokenness. Yeah, but God, I have a past. And if I'm honest, I hate my past without you. I absolutely despise my life before I met you. And God says, and that's exactly what you're going to tell everybody. You see, Paul did not hide his brokenness as he told people about Jesus. He exposed it. And he said, listen, this was my life before I came to Christ. But then there was one thing that changed everything. And there was a before and there was an after. And so if you're here, you need to know this. If you have rebellion as part of your story, God wants to use you to reach people that are rebellious. If brokenness, if anxiety, depression, if trauma is part of your story, God wants to use you to pour over you his power so that you can bless people and reach people that are going through the same things. If religion is part of your story, and you're like, man, I grew up in a Christian home, but I thought it was because of my own capacity, my own righteousness. God wants to use you to reach religious people. And so we're called to step out in faith to tell your story. To go, man, there's a story that I stumbled upon this week. There's this man named Nikki Cruz, born in 1938 in Puerto Rico in a home filled with witchcraft and spiritism. And he came from a home where there was abuse. And his mother called him Son of Satan. And at some point, he was full of hate for his family, for the people around him. So he left his country. He moved to New York in the 1950s. And he was so talented, he became one of the most dangerous gang leaders of one of the most violent gangs in New York city in the 1950s. And he was arrested over and over for robbery, stabbing, assaults. He was a bad man. But then a young, skinny country preacher named David Wilkerson, he comes into the neighborhood in New York city in the 1950s because his goal and his mission, his appointment, was to reach troubled youth. And he meets the gangs and he meets Nikki Cruz. And he looks him in the eye, and with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit, he says to him, nikki, you can kill me, you can cut me into a thousand pieces, and every piece will still cry out that Jesus loves you. And Nikki saw this, and he's like, who is this person with such boldness and courage saying this to me? Does he even know who I am? And there was a moment that it just caused curiosity in him. So Nikki goes to this other event where David is preaching. And at that event, he heard again that Jesus loved him, that he's not too far gone. He. That he can restore all things, and that he died for him. And at that moment, at that event, at that gathering, Nikki surrenders his life to Jesus. And so here's a photo of Nikki on the left, handing David Wilkerson one of his old weapons in exchange for a Bible. And this is basically Nikki saying, jesus, I give you my past in exchange for a new life. That right there, that was the moment. That one thing that changed everything, that one thing that cost a before. And then after Nikki goes back to the gangs, he shares the gospel with everybody he knows. He trained for ministry. He preached the gospel. He founded evangelistic outreaches. He wrote a book telling his story, translated a dozen languages. For over 60 years, he preached to millions about Christ's power to transform the most hardened heart. He would say, if God can change Nikki Cruz, he can change anybody. He can change anybody. There was a before and after Christ. And so if you're here and maybe you've met Jesus and you have been changed, you have one thing that changed everything. You have a before and an after. Let me say this, man, my challenge for you, go tell your story. Go tell people about it. But if you are here and maybe you realize I don't. I'm not sure that I've had my one thing that changed everything. I'm not. I'm not sure I've had church. I've heard about some things, but I'm not sure I have a before and an after. I'm not sure I'm. I'm somebody different today than I was. I want to. I want to give you a chance to respond. So right now, would you go ahead and would you close your eyes and if that's you and today you're saying, I want it, I do want that one thing that will change everything. You need to know Jesus lived a life that you could not live. And then he died the death that you and I should have died to receive the gift of eternal life that we could not earn. And so if that's you, I just want to lead you into this prayer. Would you pray this with me right now? Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner and I have lived for other things beside you first, but I believe you died for my sins. I believe that somehow, in some way, the cross counted for me and that you rose from the dead and you lived to give life to anybody who would call upon your name. From this day forward, as best as I know how, I will live for you first. And today I receive the first free gift of forgiveness, of sin, apart from anything I've ever done. Thank you, God, for adopting me as a son and as a daughter. And right now I want to. Would you keep your eyes closed? And this is a moment between you and God and nobody else. And I want to invite you. If today you prayed that prayer and you're saying, man, today I'm giving my life to Jesus, and I'm crossing that line of faith once and for all. I want to invite you, if that's you at the count of three, I want to invite you to raise your hand. And the reason I do this is because I believe that something solidifies in you spiritually when you respond physically. And so if that's you and you're like, man, yeah, that's me. And today I'm unashamed about it. I want to. I'm giving my life to Jesus. It's my before and my afternoon after. If that's you, at the count of three, raise your hand. One, two, three. Raise your hand if that's you. I see your hand. I see your hand. Do not be ashamed. Go ahead. And you can lock that elbow. This is between you and God. Do not let anybody get in the way. And you're saying, lord Jesus, I am here for you. I want a new life, a before and an after. I trust that you are that one thing that will change everything I say. See hands all over the room. Thank you, Jesus, for your word. Thank you for your salvation. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen. Amen. Amen.