In this sermon, guest speaker Osvaldo Castro shares his faith journey and the inspiration behind his book, 'The Second Violin.' Converted to Christianity in 1996, Osvaldo emphasizes the significance of harmony, service, and embracing roles that may seem secondary but are crucial for the community's overall functioning. He reflects on his personal struggles with feeling undervalued and finding purpose, relating these experiences to lesser-known biblical characters who played vital roles. Osvaldo encourages the congregation to find joy and fulfillment in serving God and others, regardless of recognition, and to maintain harmony and faith in their spiritual and everyday lives.

00:00 Introduction of Guest Speaker Osvaldo Castro

00:13 Osvaldo Castro's Background and Achievements

04:40 The Concept of Harmony in Life and Music

07:03 The Second Violin: Embracing Our Roles

08:05 Personal Struggles and Triumphs

09:40 Exploring Biblical Characters

14:47 The Importance of Every Role in the Church

16:04 Dealing with Feelings of Underappreciation

20:39 Maintaining Harmony in the Church

25:35 The Dual Nature of Radioactivity

26:38 Personal Reflections on Leadership

28:43 The Importance of Humility and Service

31:35 The Value of a Pure Heart

37:27 Leaving a Legacy for Future Generations

40:33 Biblical Examples of Redemption

42:51 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

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OC Church of Christ

We're excited today because we are going to have a guest

2

speaker, uh, for our service.

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And so some of you might have seen it on

the newsletter, but I want to introduce

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here our guest speaker Osvaldo Castro

will be preaching God's word here today.

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And so Osvaldo was converted,

uh, into Christ in the campus

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ministry in Mexico city in 1996.

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That's a long time ago.

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Some of y'all weren't born.

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Some of y'all, you were veterans in 1996.

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And so he's been married to

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twin girls who are 11 years old.

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They moved to Los Angeles in 2006.

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They've led different ministries

here in the Los Angeles

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church as well in Mexico City.

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They actually started the Spanish

ministry in the west region of

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the Los Angeles church in 2009.

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And recently Osvaldo is an author and he

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It's available not only in English

but in Spanish and in French.

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Yeah, that's big time right there when you

get to French, you know what I'm saying?

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And so it also has the audio

version available as well.

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He'll be able to talk about that.

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And they currently lead a portion of

the Spanish ministry over in our Lifeway

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region of our Los Angeles churches.

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So we're in for a real treat

today to hear from Oswaldo.

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He's become a friend of mine over

the last couple of years and really

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appreciate his heart, his faith, and not

only his heart for God and his faith,

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but it's hard for all of God's people.

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And so that's one thing that comes

across is that he has a love for

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all of God's people, whether they're

local, whether he knows them or not,

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he has a deep love for all of you.

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And as I mentioned even to me

before, uh, how much he praises

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also for us here in Orange County.

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And so right now we're going to

have a little quick video that's

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going to segue into Osvaldo.

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Please, as soon as he gets up,

please give Osvaldo a huge round of

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applause to welcome him here to OC.

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Amen.

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Hey, man, let's go ahead

and play the video.

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Good morning, good morning, everyone.

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Uh, well, my name is Osvaldo Castro.

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Thank you so much, Marcel.

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It's a pleasure.

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And what you saw is, uh, one of the

amazing pieces in classical music.

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I am not a musician, so

this is not about music.

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I I cannot distinguish, uh, Do from a Fa.

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I have no idea.

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I don't know.

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But I just know that I love music.

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And that portion is, uh, for all of you

who know a little bit about classical

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music, that's, uh, a portion of the,

uh, Four Seasons from Antonio Vivaldi.

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And it's the piece called Summer,

the third movement, and it's amazing.

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And that gentleman is Nigel Kennedy.

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It's a great, great, great violinist and

musician, and it's with a small orchestra.

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But I don't know if you noticed

something, uh, but the energy,

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the passion, the coordination.

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Every time, I've seen that video, and

I have preached this lesson dozens of

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times, and I've seen that video hundreds

of times, and every time when I, when he

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goes like, I want to jump, and I want to

go like this, and, uh, the guy who's You

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know, playing and then goes like this, uh,

like everybody masters whatever they are

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doing and it's something called harmony.

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Harmony refers to the positive inner state

of peace, calmness, and balance, as well

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as the feeling of being in tune with the

world, in this case with the orchestra.

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And, uh, my name is Osvaldo.

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I wrote this little book based on many,

many, many frustrations, many experiences.

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And in this world, in this society that

we live, uh, there is something that is

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very particular, especially in the U.

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S.

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You know, we just had the Olympics.

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And the U.

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S.

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won pretty much everything.

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A lot.

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A lot.

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So, have you heard the phrase,

Altius, Fultius, Siltius?

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Yeah.

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It's what they use in the Olympics

to describe the highest, the

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strongest, and the fastest.

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And in the U.

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S., that's what they want to do.

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Have you ever heard the phrase, or the

end of the phrase, win is everything?

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That's something that for

most of the mentality of the

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people, and it also translates.

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When we talk about church,

it comes to our minds.

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You have to be the first.

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You have to be the,

the, the one in charge.

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You have to be the person that

everybody's looking after.

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And many years ago, this idea of the

second violin came with an interview

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that they made to one of the great,

uh, conductors, uh, Leonhard Bernstein,

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who recently, they did a movie, but I

thought about this in probably, probably,

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2005, that's how long this idea had

been incubating in my heart, in my mind.

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And then in an interview, they asked

to, uh, the maestro, Bernstein, what is

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the most difficult instrument to feel

in a symphony, or in your symphony?

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And the immediate response

was the second violin.

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I can always find formidable

first violins, but finding

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someone who is willing to play

second is the most difficult.

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And if nobody plays second,

there is simply no harmony.

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And it talks about the importance

of understanding our role and

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the place where we are at.

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Many times, I don't know if that's,

uh, the same feeling that you have had,

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but many times I have felt left out.

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This is my beautiful family, Isabel,

my twin daughters, Ariadna and

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Liliana, 11 years old, But for five

years, before they came to this

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world, we were battling infertility.

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And, you know, in the Mexican

culture, not having kids is not easy.

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It's like, what?

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You know, you just see a

Latina and she gets pregnant.

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So what's wrong with you?

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And it was hard.

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It was so difficult.

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And after many, many, many, many, uh,

nights praying and crying, um, you

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know, God, uh, gave me the wonderful and

incredible miracle of, uh, now having my

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daughters 11 years old, going to 6th grade

and, um, having, you know, So many things

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that I never dreamed about, and that

inspired me to, uh, you know, continue

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writing and continue expressing my

feelings, my emotions in a different way.

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I've always, uh, I'm

the second one of six.

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Three brothers, well, we're

three brothers, three sisters.

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And, um, you know, it's not always

easy when you're the second one.

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Who's the middle child here?

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Raise your hand.

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Okay, who's the oldest child?

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You have to be the example.

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Isn't that the, the, the thing

that they tell you all the time?

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You have to be the example!

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Because everybody's told me.

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You know, the middle

one kind of get a pass.

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And the little one is who?

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The favorite.

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Somebody say he's the favorite.

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Probably.

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Well, what I want to talk about this,

uh, this morning, and again, thank you so

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much, is about, uh, what is in this book.

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This book is not about me.

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This book is about a lot of characters,

uh, to be specific, uh, nine chapters,

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eight specific characters that, um, you

know, talk about, uh, situations and

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characters that are not exactly the main.

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Um, characters in the Bible.

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So I'm going to do this

experiment that I do every time.

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Just think about your favorite

character in the Bible.

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Who's your favorite

character in the Bible?

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Who's the one that inspires you the most?

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And, and, and just say it loud.

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I want to hear you.

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David.

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David.

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Paul.

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Paul.

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Paul.

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Jesus.

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Jesus.

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Of course.

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Who else?

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Deborah.

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Deborah.

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Who else?

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Esther.

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Esther.

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You know, rude.

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Amazing.

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Fantastic.

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You see, all these main characters,

uh, and you can talk about David,

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Paul, Timothy, and I have done this

experiment a lot, and everybody

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talks about these main characters.

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You know, when you hear a preacher

talking about Moses, talking about

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Elijah, talking about, um, you know,

Paul, Peter, even, even many of my

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friends sometimes they feel, oh, you

know what, somebody told me that I

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probably have the convictions or the

character of Peter, you know, so strong.

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Emotional sometimes, but

you know, I feel like Peter.

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Well, have you ever heard, uh, about

the things that these guys did?

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And I'm gonna talk just really,

really, really fast about these

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guys, but the book is based on the

life of these, these characters.

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That, normally, you hear them, but

they are not the main focus of,

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for example, a sermon like today.

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You talk about Aaron.

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Who was Aaron?

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He was the older brother of?

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Moses.

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But, in the ancient culture, the older

brother had the responsibility to

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guide, to lead, and he was overseen.

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And he was passed by his brother Moses,

who, by the way, was living like a prince.

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Run away.

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He never had to suffer anything.

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He never had to go through anything.

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And God decided that Moses

was the one who was going to

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lead the exodus of his people.

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And Aaron, according to God, he

was well spoken, pretty much he was

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strong, but he was not the chosen one.

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Talking about Leah, do

you know who Leah was?

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He was the second wife, but

was the first sister of Rachel.

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And she was overseen.

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And she was given, uh, in

a deceitful way by Laban.

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Because, you know.

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We say it in Mexico, hermana

saltada, hermana quedada.

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So we say if you, you know, kind of

pass the oldest, she's going to stay

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there, so we need to give her away.

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And that's what Levan did.

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So can you imagine in her heart?

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Feeling the sadness of not being

loved, but being, just giving

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away because otherwise she's

not going to be the chosen one.

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Caleb.

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Caleb was the, the second in command

with Joshua, but he was the only one

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of all the other twelve, along with

Joshua, who, you know, were strong,

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and God made a promise to Caleb.

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We are going to receive all this land

in inheritance, and he had to wait

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years and years and years, and you

don't hear anything else about Caleb.

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Rahab.

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Do you know who Rahab was?

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He was a prostitute.

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Have you ever heard a sermon

about Rahab being inspiring?

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Have you ever, has anyone told you,

hey, you have a fate like Rahab?

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You don't hear those things.

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Oh, you know what?

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Your life reminds me, or your fate

reminds me, uh, the fate of Rahab.

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What?

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Probably you're feeling insulted.

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Maybe.

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Hannah, you know, the mother of

Samuel, a woman who was destined to

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be infertile, not having kids, and

that crying, and her crying was so

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deep, So, so, so painful that, uh,

even Eli thought that she was drunk.

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Jonathan.

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Jonathan.

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We see Jonathan as the friend of David.

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But you know, Jonathan was the prince.

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Jonathan was the second in

command of the whole kingdom.

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Lawfully, he was the righteous,

uh, successor of the king.

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He could have fought for,

for, for his, uh, right to be

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the, the second, the prince.

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But he decided to give that up.

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John the Baptist, the one who knew

Jesus since they were babies in the

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womb, and he died in a way that, you

know, pretty much started the ministry.

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He was famous, and then

he was decapitated.

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And many of us just see John like,

ah, yeah, the Christ in the desert.

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John Mark.

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Who?

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Who's this guy?

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Who's this guy, John Mark?

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Well, according to many, many,

many guys, he was one of the many

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who went on the first missionary

trip with Paul and Barnabas.

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And he was a relative of Barnabas,

but he abandoned the mission.

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And you don't hear a lot of things

about him, but we're going to

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hear a lot about what he did.

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So, uh, What is this book about?

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Why am I presenting this to you?

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And I'm very, very, again, very thankful.

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You know, as an orchestra, each member,

each one of you, you have a very

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unique and a very, uh, important role,

and you're indispensable to create,

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uh, rhythm, harmony, and melody.

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Without you, we don't have an orchestra.

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Without you, we don't have a church.

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Without you, we don't have this ministry.

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So, each one of us plays a unique and

essential role, whether you decide to

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be, uh, you know, a greeter, or, or,

uh, usher, or someone who comes here.

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The guys in the sound are pretty much,

many times are the forgotten ones,

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but when anything goes wrong here,

the first ones to be blamed, probably.

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Um, but everybody and everything

is essential for your role.

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Even you as a father, as a mother,

you're so essential for your family.

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The things you do, the things you provide.

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So the second violin in my book,

it's a call to renewal of the spirit

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of surrender, love and selfless

service, only for the glory of God.

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Sounds good, huh?

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However, however, many times,

it's not easy to accept either the

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place or the role where we have

to serve or play in the orchestra.

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Have you ever felt like

you're underappreciated?

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Raise your hand with me.

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I have felt that.

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And if I could do this.

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Have you felt like, oh

man, I'm wasting my talent?

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All these years, I became

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I was 20 years old.

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So you can guess how many,

how many years I'm now.

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So, 1996, 20 years old.

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I've been married for 24 years.

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I'm going to 25.

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And sometimes, even with all

those blessings, I feel like,

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uh, Why has God forsaken me?

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Why I'm not in a different place?

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Why I'm not shining?

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Why I'm not doing better financially?

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Why I'm not doing better spiritually?

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Why I'm not in charge of this or that?

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Why I'm not more important?

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And that, for many years, caused

a lot of pain in my heart.

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And I don't know where you are at right

now, but I'm pretty sure that at one

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point everybody has felt the same.

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Like, are you feeling

underappreciated, disrespected?

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Like, uh, nobody, uh, takes you seriously?

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Like, they are wasting your talent?

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Everything we do here, our relationships,

the interactions, have a profound impact

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in the short, medium, and long term.

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The way we react when, um, we

are not the main actors affects

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completely the way we serve others.

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Have you ever been in the position

where you say something, Hey, hello, how

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are you, and the other person probably

didn't see you, didn't respond, didn't

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greet you the way you were expecting?

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What's the feeling?

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You know, in the Latino culture,

it's like, What do you think?

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I'll talk to you later.

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And that's, that's pretty common.

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So those feelings are there.

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How to maintain the desire to give

ourselves wholeheartedly and keep the

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confidence that God is in control of

everything when things don't go on,

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don't, do not turn out as we hope.

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How do you do that?

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How do you do that?

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Probably many of you have dreams.

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Maybe, uh, you know, uh, what, what,

uh, Jean was sharing was fantastic.

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I felt like, uh, you know, we need

to close this, what she did in the

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communion was fantastic surrendering.

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She, she, she was surrendered to God's

will, uh, hopes, dreams, and coming

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from a, probably a destroyed background

and now having hope and now sharing

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her feelings probably without God.

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I'm probably, I'm sure without

God, she wouldn't be here.

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She wouldn't have what she has.

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And you are a miracle.

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You are special.

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God chose you for a reason.

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Whether you're a visitor,

whether you've been a long

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time member, God has a purpose.

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But sometimes, it's not

easy to find our purpose.

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Now, by my accent, you can tell I

am not, I was not born in the USA.

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I was nuts.

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I learned English when I was 18 years old.

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So that's why it's so thick sometimes.

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That's why I have problems with words.

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And that's why many, many, many

years ago I felt so insecure.

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Like, they're laughing at me

because I couldn't distinguish the

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Y from the J, because I couldn't

pronounce this or that word.

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Made me so insecure.

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And many times thinking about coming to

the English ministry and do something

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like this or writing was a crazy dream.

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But you know what?

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I found that God is a

God that never forgets.

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He's an amazing God, and in

Hebrews chapter 6, verse 10 to

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11, it says, God is not unjust.

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He will not forget your work and the love

you have shown Him, as you have helped

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His people and continue to help them.

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We want each of you to show this

same diligence to the very end,

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in order to make your hope sure.

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Do you feel like nobody thinks about you?

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That no one cares about you?

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Guess what?

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God cares about you.

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And God never and will never

forget what you're doing and

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what you have done for others.

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Just for His glory.

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That's the power of God.

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And He's hoping that we can

understand that, embrace it,

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go and fight for His glory.

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Amen.

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But what happens when there's no harmony?

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You know, our churches all

around the world have gone

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through a lot of transitions.

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A lot of problems.

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Sometimes it's not easy

to be in a ministry.

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Sometimes it's not easy to be a minister.

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I am not a full time minister,

but I'm a full time disciple.

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And what I decided many

years ago is, I don't care.

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I'm just gonna serve, I'm gonna

love, I'm gonna give my best.

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And I'm gonna hope that one day

I can see Jesus face to face.

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And he will say, well done.

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That's all I want.

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But what happened when there's no harmony?

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What happened when the musician, can

you imagine for a moment, Dallas?

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I saw Dallas and I met Dallas in life way.

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He was so small and now

he has this deep voice.

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So it gets scared.

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Like, wow, what happened?

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We changed.

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I didn't recognize him, but can

you imagine if in this beautiful

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setting, there was no harmony.

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A brother from the, from the drums

just decided to go, I don't know,

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Ringo Starr and doing his thing.

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And then the other one on

the bass, he goes all Foo

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Fighters and that, that, that.

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I don't know.

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It will be crazy.

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He decides to be Mr.

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Paul McCartney just out of nowhere.

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It will be crazy.

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And, you know, what do you do when the

orchestra, this beautiful Orange County

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Ministry, and Which you are part of is not

what you expected or what you dream of.

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Oh man, I remember those years, wow.

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Have you ever said that?

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Oh, I remember when we were.

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Oh, man, the old school, the OGs, oh man.

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I remember.

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What is your attitude when you

face differences of opinion?

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Something that I love about our

churches, even with their imperfections,

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is that it doesn't matter if you are

black, if you are white, if you are

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yellow, if you are red, if you are

brown, if you are blue, if you are

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red, if you vote this, you vote that.

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What matters is Christ.

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And that's the center of everything.

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But what do you do in your heart?

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What decisions do you make

when you feel undervalued,

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overshadowed, or just ignored?

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That's the point.

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How do you react when those who are

supposed to take care of you, help

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you, and guide you to Christ, hurt you?

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Oh, that brother, that sister,

that thing he or she said.

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Even in the family.

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You know one of the most difficult places

to be at peace many times is the family.

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The resentfulness.

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Being bitter like he or she did that.

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And many of us carry that all over

the way, all over these years.

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Let me show you something that I'm

pretty sure you're going to find funny.

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Look at the back.

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And the orchestra continues playing.

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Do you see what happened?

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Poor guy, he doesn't know what to do.

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Do I, do I say sorry?

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Do, do, do, do.

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And you know what?

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Many times, life and this

orchestra is like that.

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The guys in the front,

they didn't even notice.

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They were watching who?

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They were looking at the,

at the, uh, director.

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And the director saw that, but

they have a piece to complete.

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So that made me understand something.

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The world is not gonna stop for our pain.

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The world moves.

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But God does.

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And many times, we can come to this

place and be all smiles, but sad inner.

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An inner sad that maybe you

have a bad morning, you have

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a bad week, you feel resentful

towards someone, you feel bitter.

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You feel underappreciated, but you

come to church, open the door, brother.

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How are you?

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You are probably, you come late

and you leave early because you

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don't want to be seen by anyone.

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You're just fulfilling your duty of

becoming here a presence, a person who's

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sitting here, but you can be so bitter

and so detached from everyone else.

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Many times I've been like that.

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My worst scene probably being radioactive.

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And it's not the Imagine Dragons song.

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It's being radioactive.

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You know that radioactivity

is good, under control.

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That's why we have x rays.

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That's why we can see and doctors

can detect cancer and some other

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diseases because of x rays.

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So, under control,

radioactivity is revealing.

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It's wonderful.

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It's very helpful.

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But, when it's out of

control, it becomes Chernobyl.

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A Hiroshima.

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A place of devastation.

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And many times, I cannot tell

you how many I was like that.

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And I've been like that.

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I want to tell the truth.

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I don't care.

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I'm going to tell that

person exactly what I think.

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And he's going to have a piece of my mind.

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Because I say what I think.

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And sometimes we don't have filters.

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And I cannot tell you

how many times I have.

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hurt people just thinking that way.

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And I think this is one of my

biggest and most terrible sins.

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You know, I grew up in Mexico City.

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I became a disciple there.

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From the first moment I thought when I

became a Christian, I'm gonna be a leader.

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I'm gonna be the man in charge.

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And I think that many of the mistakes

of the church at that time is that

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they made you believe that you have

to be in a top position to be someone.

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Oh, he's the leader of so so so.

463

Oh, wow.

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Welcome.

465

Who are you?

466

What do you lead?

467

Was the first thing that they used to ask.

468

And I thought, well, I need

to be a man of conviction.

469

Tell everyone what I feel.

470

What wrong they're doing.

471

And if they tell me something, I'm

going to tell them, your faith is weak.

472

And I became like, uh, this,

uh, horrible figure of someone

473

who could not understand them.

474

And I realized, you know,

how I grew up in my house?

475

You know?

476

With a figure like that.

477

My father used to say, you

do it because I said so.

478

And it's not wrong to say that.

479

But I didn't have the

opportunity to appeal.

480

Because immediately, PAPA!

481

And spiritually speaking, I was like that.

482

Someone was trying to tell me

something with the Bible, oh yeah?

483

Let me show you another one.

484

BOOM!

485

Take that, huh?

486

How do you like me now?

487

And it was horrible.

488

BOOM!

489

And many of the dreams that I

apparently was not fulfilling in my

490

view made me someone radioactive.

491

And it wasn't until I decided

I need to surrender and to

492

find healing and to be open.

493

Whether accidentally, intentionally

I hurt someone, I have had the

494

opportunity to make peace, to apologize.

495

I have twin daughters, and they

have been an amazing gift from God,

496

because they put me in my place.

497

Like, Daddy, don't yell at me.

498

Don't raise your voice.

499

Just tell me what you need and I'll do it.

500

Oh my gosh.

501

And they do a lot of things

that I never thought I would

502

be able to react in a way I do.

503

Just for love, for care.

504

Somebody the other day asked me, um,

How are you doing with your book?

505

And I said, well, you know, now it's

in English, Spanish, and French.

506

I had an interview with, uh,

with the editor yesterday.

507

And he said, oh man, you must

be selling thousands of books.

508

And I said, no.

509

I'm not a well known, I'm not

a recognized voice or writer.

510

Nobody cares about me.

511

They don't know my name, and that's fine.

512

You know what?

513

Because if only one person

reads a book and feels like it

514

makes a difference, that's fine.

515

And he told me, Are you sure?

516

I said, Yeah, I'm sure.

517

Oh, man, I don't know if I will be able

to do that because, hey, it's time.

518

Time is money.

519

You know, when we have that mentality

that we need to get something for

520

everything we do, I feel that we

miss the spiritual perspective.

521

That's my feeling.

522

And you know what?

523

I have learned to be more is

more important than to do.

524

To be is more important than just to do.

525

Philippians 2, 14, 15 says, Do everything

without grumbling or arguing so that

526

you may become blameless and pure

children of God without fault in a

527

world, in a world and croc generation.

528

Then you will shine among

them like stars in the sky.

529

I used to think, oh, I

need to do a lot of things.

530

If I do a lot of things, I'm

in charge of this or that.

531

I was in charge of five,

six, seven ministries.

532

Singing, greeting, a communion,

preaching, uh, hope, bah, bah, bah.

533

And it's not that you

don't have to be involved.

534

It's just that I was feeling like

the more I do, the better I become.

535

The more I do, the more important,

the more I'm going to shine.

536

And I was getting bitter.

537

Yeah.

538

Because I had no recognition.

539

Because it was a selfish desire.

540

And he says, do everything

without grumbling and arguing.

541

That's how we do things.

542

What about home?

543

What do you tell your kids?

544

Go and wash the dishes.

545

Yes, father.

546

Yes, mother.

547

Clean your room.

548

Oh, father, thank you

for reminding me that.

549

The first thing that you hear is what?

550

Why?

551

And now when God is telling you,

forgive, forget, be unselfish.

552

Yes, father, that's what I'm going to do.

553

Why don't you see the preacher?

554

Don't you see that guy?

555

Don't you see this person?

556

And we try to shine with our own light

instead of the light of the Holy Spirit.

557

Because we have a selfish ambition.

558

Be careful.

559

Matthew 6, 1 says, Be careful not

to do acts of righteousness in

560

front of others, to be seen by them.

561

If you do, you will have no

reward from your Father in Heaven.

562

Our true value is being one

with God in private, rather than

563

in doing in the sight of all.

564

And I'm not saying that you

don't have to do anything.

565

I'm saying that your expectation

of receiving an applause, or your

566

satisfaction, personally, shouldn't

come from the people, but from a God.

567

Whatever He gives you as

an extra, is an extra.

568

But that's not the meaning of what we do.

569

But when you do things just because

you want to be the man or the woman

570

in charge, that's really, really,

really difficult and really hard.

571

And talking about hard, I have learned,

and through these examples in the

572

book, that it's better to have a heart.

573

before a position.

574

And by that I mean, I mean the

heart is very important for God.

575

Around 830 times, 830 times

the word or the phrase heart

576

is mentioned in the Bible.

577

That tells you how important.

578

In the heart is the intellect, the

will, the appetites, the senses, the

579

emotions, passions, and everything

harmonized and blended together.

580

So if you don't have your heart in the

right position, Everything around you

581

is going to be very, very messed up.

582

And the reminder of this is this

beautiful, beautiful interaction

583

of Jesus with the disciples.

584

Yeah, because they also had problems

understanding what was the heart

585

or what was the right heart.

586

It says in Mark 9, 33 35, they came

to Capernaum when he was in the house.

587

He asked them, Jesus asked them, What

are you arguing about on the road?

588

And you know, I can

imagine them like kids,

589

but they kept quiet because on the

way they had argued about who was

590

the greatest, sitting down, Jesus

called the twelve and said, anyone

591

who wants to be the first must be

the very last and servant of all.

592

What were you arguing about?

593

What are we arguing about?

594

Who's first?

595

Who's more important?

596

And these questions

597

were so revealing to me, and

I hope that you can take the

598

time to think about those.

599

But, do you feel more

important than others?

600

This is not just about Christianity,

this is about our lives.

601

Do you see others with disdain?

602

Oh, these guys.

603

Oh, that guy drives like a lunatic.

604

And there's no better driver than

you, when you're in your car.

605

Have you felt like that?

606

I have, and it's horrible.

607

It's horrible.

608

Do you only serve when

it's convenient for you?

609

Now, I know Marcel talked about,

uh, you know, being ushers.

610

I know this is a great region that serves.

611

But, oh, Friday, no, it's not

that convenient, you know.

612

NFL is about to start,

so I need to get ready.

613

Um, I don't know, La Vuelta a

España is also, you know, cycling.

614

Are you a cyclist?

615

No, but I like to watch.

616

I don't know, so many things.

617

But do you serve when

it's only convenient?

618

Do you leave?

619

I don't know.

620

With bitterness or resentment

for not being acknowledged

621

by the things you do or did?

622

All this region, I have done so much

and they don't even know my name.

623

They don't even recognize me.

624

Where is my recognition?

625

Have you felt like that?

626

I felt like that.

627

You know, Marcel talked a little

bit, my wife and I, we helped to

628

build the El Mensaje, the Spanish

ministry that now is El Mensaje.

629

And we did it.

630

And when it was, you know,

growing and everything, they

631

decided, oh we, you know what?

632

This ministry needs a full-time

couple, you know, we've been working.

633

Yeah, we're gonna bring

someone from other region.

634

What I wish I could tell you, I

took it so well, I took it so bad,

635

. But I was like, eh, okay.

636

And it was horrible.

637

Horrible.

638

I was like smoking the ice.

639

Like, really bad.

640

Like, he said something, oh, that's

not the right word in Spanish.

641

Ah, I don't know why he pronounced that.

642

I don't know why he's teaching that.

643

I don't know.

644

I know that when we were

there, we were growing.

645

So now what?

646

It was so horrible, horrible,

horrible, that I have to apologize.

647

To ask for forgiveness.

648

So many times my wife told

me, Hey, you need to give up.

649

You need to, you need to calm down.

650

You're so bitter.

651

And I remember a couple from

Mexico that they love me so much.

652

We were there and it

was like, you know what?

653

It's unfair.

654

We've been working.

655

Bam, bam, bam.

656

And this brother, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah.

657

And she told me, you know what?

658

Do you know the story of job?

659

When he comes and he's having all these

issues and then God says, Oh, look, job.

660

He's, he's, he's amazing.

661

He's a fantastic man.

662

And then Satan pretty much comes

and says, Oh yeah, he has everything

663

because you have given him everything.

664

Just take away that.

665

And then he's going to blame you.

666

He's going to curse you.

667

And she said, you have nothing

good to say about others.

668

You're being like that serpent.

669

How dare you?

670

But that was true.

671

I was so bitter.

672

I was so bad.

673

And I have to understand, do I want

to be useful or just being important?

674

What do I want to do?

675

What do you want to do in your house?

676

Do you want to be useful or

do you want to be important?

677

I'm the man of the house,

so just respect me!

678

Are you loving?

679

Are you caring?

680

Well, I'm providing for the

food and everything else,

681

so they need to respect me.

682

I don't wash dishes.

683

Because I'm the man.

684

I don't know.

685

I'm the man.

686

Maybe it's not like that.

687

Who knows?

688

But are you giving your whole

heart in kindness, in love,

689

in tenderness, communication?

690

When what we do may not seem, and

this is very deep for me, because

691

right now, you might be thinking,

what I'm doing, it doesn't matter.

692

No, what you do, it matters.

693

Because it might not seem to have

an immediate impact, but you need

694

to remember that you are leaving

a legacy for future generations.

695

For these little kids, for the teens that

now are in another room receiving lessons.

696

You are setting the tone for them.

697

You are planting for them.

698

You are seeding for them.

699

You are doing everything for

them because in 20 years probably

700

we are not going to be here.

701

I hope we are, but we might not.

702

I'm not getting any younger.

703

Probably 30 more years.

704

I hope 40.

705

I don't know.

706

But what type of church do I want to see?

707

Do I always want to be the man in charge?

708

No, what I'm doing right

now makes a big impact.

709

One of my daughters told me

the other day and made me cry.

710

She said, Oh, dad, your book.

711

I'm going to keep one copy in

English, French, and Spanish.

712

They, they, they are

fluent in three languages.

713

And she said, uh, because you know,

one day when I have kids, I'm going

714

to show them what his grandpa did.

715

And I started crying, crying.

716

And I just give her a hug.

717

And I was thinking, what I'm

doing right now, they see that.

718

And that's the type of man

that they are gonna fall in

719

love, and that's what I pray.

720

The type of man that you are gonna build

so he can marry someone else's daughter.

721

Mentoring, serving, loving, giving.

722

You're doing that for future generations.

723

It's not about you, it's not

about me, it's about others.

724

And when we do that, we grow

it as a church, we grow it as a

725

society, we do something different.

726

Every stumble, every setback,

every problem is an opportunity

727

to learn, to grow, to mature.

728

Don't waste your pain!

729

This is an amazing phrase that

our late Gloria Bird used to say.

730

You feel sad, you've been

mistreated, you have this pain, you

731

have this issue, don't waste it!

732

Use it!

733

Because what you are going

through, someone else is going

734

to go through in the future.

735

And you are going to

be there to help them.

736

To show them how God helped you.

737

Don't waste your pain.

738

Don't waste it.

739

Embrace it.

740

Learn.

741

Forgive.

742

Forget.

743

Learn to enjoy being a second violin.

744

I know not many of you are going

to be able to preach here ever.

745

And you know what?

746

That's okay.

747

I know I'm not going to be able

to preach in all the regions.

748

And that's okay.

749

Because, when we do this, when we

think, when we feel, or what we think,

750

what we feel, what we say, and what

we do, is in total harmony with the

751

Word of God, it's gonna flourish.

752

You can think one thing and say other.

753

Have you ever done that?

754

You can think and say the

right thing, but do the wrong.

755

So it has to be like a, like a, like

an equilibrium, a perfect harmony.

756

So do you want to know what happened

with those guys who were nowhere, or

757

sometimes are nowhere seen in the Bible?

758

Well Aaron became the first priest.

759

So the second brother in

command became the first priest.

760

Leah became the mother of Judah, the

tribe of the Messiah, the unloved one.

761

The one that, that, that was given as a,

okay, consolation prize, because otherwise

762

she's not going to get married here.

763

She raised, uh, she gave birth

to six kids, and one of them was

764

Judah, the tribe of the Messiah.

765

Caleb, do you feel like you have waited

for, uh, rewards or to see things?

766

Caleb had to wait 40 years to see the

promise, and he went and fought for that.

767

He didn't receive it just, Oh, here it is.

768

No, he went and he fought.

769

You're going to see in the book,

if you, if you take the time to

770

read it, Rahab, she was the great,

great, great grandmother of King

771

David, a prostitute, a woman with no

future, a woman with no expectations.

772

Hannah became the mother of the

prophet Samuel, the last judge.

773

Isn't that amazing?

774

Jonathan, he surrendered his

royalty in favor of the chosen king.

775

Yeah.

776

He was the first one to give

up his rights for someone else.

777

Are you willing to give up your

rights for someone else's glory?

778

John the Baptist, he prepared

the path for the Messiah.

779

And John Mark, John who?

780

John Mark, from quitter to writer

of the first gospel, the gospel of

781

Mark, many, many, many of the scholars

agreed that was written by Mark.

782

As inscribed for Peter.

783

And do you know what Peter

and Mark have in common?

784

They both betrayed someone.

785

And that shows you how God acts.

786

In an amazing way, even when you

feel empty, even when you feel

787

unworthy, even when you have failed,

even when you have made mistakes,

788

even when you have sins that you

feel like, oh, this is unforgiving.

789

God has the power to redeem you, to heal

you, and to use you in a powerful way.

790

And that's the God we serve.

791

And finally, one of the chapters at

the end is that the last will be first.

792

And it's an amazing example of

how God sees you and sees me

793

and gives us opportunities that

we never thought we could have.

794

So for all of you, my brothers and

sisters, my friends, 1 says, Therefore,

795

my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.

796

Let nothing move you.

797

Always give yourself fully to the work of

the Lord because you know that your labor

798

is the law in the Lord is not in vain.

799

It's not in vain what you do.

800

God sees that.

801

God takes that into consideration and he

values you more than you can think about.

802

As I said, you know, at the beginning,

I have the privilege to have

803

these three versions of my book.

804

An audio book, it's an e book, a printed.

805

I'm going to have some copies on

the outside if you want to take one.

806

If not, just take a look later.

807

If you have Hoopla, like it's

a system for public libraries,

808

just sign in, look for it.

809

It's free for 21 days.

810

You don't have to wait.

811

I just want you to read it, and I'm

pretty sure it's going to make an impact.

812

And finally, I want to close

with this phrase, this quote

813

that says, Do not shine, or don't

shine so others can see you.

814

Shine so that through

you, others can see Him.

815

It's for the glory of God.

816

It's not for ourselves.

817

It's for Him.

818

And the more we understand

that, the more we do.

819

The happier and, uh, the more

alive that we are going to feel.

820

I want to just thank you so

much for this opportunity.

821

Thank you, Marcella, and

thank you for listening to me.

822

I hope you feel moving your heart,

inspired to understand that God

823

has a purpose for you, and that

you are amazing, and that God sees

824

everything you do for his glory.

825

Amen.