00:00 Introduction: The Confident Driver

00:25 The U-Turn Dilemma

00:51 Understanding Right of Way

01:42 Lessons from a Driving Mistake

01:58 Transition to Spiritual Lessons

02:18 Jesus Saves: A Study of Matthew 15

02:51 Geographical Context of Jesus' Teachings

05:11 Confrontation with the Pharisees

08:06 True Purity: Heart Over Actions

10:37 Self-Righteousness vs. Christ's Righteousness

15:05 The Wrapper and the Real Gift

18:28 Trusting in Jesus Alone

19:39 Jesus Challenges Traditions

19:47 The Canaanite Woman's Faith

23:15 Testing and Strengthening Faith

24:05 Food Challenges and Faith

27:43 Jesus Feeds the 4,000

31:25 Trusting in Jesus' Care

37:31 Final Reflections and Prayer

I fancy myself a really good driver.

2

If you ever have the privilege of driving

with me, I will show you several amazing

3

things about how you should drive.

4

But have you ever had the experience

where you think you know something

5

and you would die to be like, this

is the way it's supposed to be.

6

This is the way it is.

7

This only to be shown that you

are actually wrong about the thing

8

that you were so confident about.

9

Talking about things

that I never saw coming.

10

So here's my dilemma.

11

All right here's the situation.

12

I'm at a U-turn, and I know some

of you guys don't drive yet.

13

You're gonna get there soon enough.

14

I'm at a U-turn.

15

There's a flashing yellow light in

front of me, which means I can make

16

the U-turn, but I have to wait.

17

I have to yield to the oncoming traffic.

18

But what happens if there's a

person who's making a right turn

19

into the flow of traffic, right

where you're making the U-turn?

20

Who has the right of way?

21

Right turn.

22

Seems like all of you know

the correct answer to this.

23

I would have argued to my death

saying that the U-turn person

24

should go the U-turn person that

they're in the flow of traffic.

25

If that right turn person goes and

they get in my way, that's on them.

26

I found out after arguing with the

driver on the road that wasn't like

27

a, weren't fighting or nothing.

28

We exchanged a few gunshots, but besides

that, it was pretty normal conversation.

29

I was making a U-turn and the person in

the car was like, what are you doing?

30

You could see their face.

31

They were mad at me and I'm like,

I'm doing the right thing, homie.

32

So I got in front of them

and I brake checked them

33

with the compass sticker on my car.

34

Anyway, I went home that day

and I gotta figure this out.

35

I'm like 99.9%

36

sure that the U-turn person is supposed

to go, but I found out that's not true.

37

The U-turn has to yield the right

of way to the guy making the right

38

turn into the flow of traffic.

39

Sir, there's certain things that you

can get wrong and it's not a big deal.

40

This is, this is a big deal if you get

in an accident, not a massive deal,

41

but there are things that you can

get wrong about God and the Bible and

42

following Christ that if you get them

wrong, it's more than just an accident.

43

It's really a disaster.

44

Tonight we're gonna talk about

what you should not get wrong about

45

the way that Jesus saves, about

the way that you are a Christian.

46

Tonight, I want to be sure that

you understand what Matthew 15 is

47

gonna tell us is that Jesus saves

everyone who trusts in him, not just

48

those people who do the right thing.

49

In fact, Jesus doesn't say people who

think that they're doing the right thing.

50

Jesus doesn't say people

who trust in their works.

51

Jesus saves people who believe

and trust in Him and Him alone.

52

We're gonna jump into Matthew chapter 15.

53

We've got a lot of ground to cover, and

I plan on being fairly short tonight.

54

Normally I preach 55 minutes.

55

I'm probably gonna be closer

to 53 minutes tonight, so it's

56

gonna be a really short night.

57

Alright, let's jump into where we're at.

58

Let me first orient you as you guys open

up your Bibles at Matthew chapter 15.

59

Let me show you where we are in the world.

60

Israel is a real place.

61

Jesus is a real man.

62

He lives in a real city with real people.

63

And you'll notice as we enter into this

text here we're still back in Israel.

64

In fact, as we zoom in,

this is a modern map.

65

There we go.

66

I zoomed in too far.

67

This is a modern map of this

of this the state of Israel.

68

So you see, you have Amman here, you have

Israel down there, you've got Jerusalem.

69

There are some cities that has still exist

today that existed thousands of years ago.

70

So this is really cool.

71

Today we're looking

here a little up north.

72

Here we go.

73

I can't see from over here.

74

All right.

75

There's Jericho, the Jerusalem.

76

Now.

77

Okay, here we go.

78

Top of that, top of the screen

here, you'll see the Sea of Galilee.

79

The sea of Tiberius.

80

That's where Jesus is

spending most of his time.

81

It's still there today.

82

If you go to Israel, you can still

see the places where Jesus taught

83

and interacted with a lot of people.

84

It's really actually quite cool.

85

So this is the modern map.

86

Here's the old school map minus a

lot of the things that we have today.

87

So this is not Google Maps anymore.

88

This is what it looks like today.

89

You'll see the Sea of

Galilee right here now.

90

And you have Tiberius.

91

You have Razin, you have Beeta.

92

You have this place

called The Desolate Place.

93

We'll talk about that in

just a few moments here.

94

You've got Cana of Galilee,

of Nazareth down here.

95

This section over here is

often called the Decapolis.

96

It's a confederation of 10 cities.

97

They're a group of cities that say, Hey,

let's work together to do the same thing.

98

And way up here is Caesarea Philippi.

99

That's gonna become important in a minute.

100

And way over here to my

left is Tire and Sidon.

101

That's gonna be important too,

'cause that's not Jewish territory.

102

That's where the Gentiles live.

103

Now, Jesus is somewhere in this

region right here, and I'm not

104

entirely sure where he is, but when

we left, we last left off Jesus

105

inert, which is about right here.

106

So we're probably in this region here

right now in this particular text.

107

And if you zoom in just a little

further, here's again here.

108

Here's what it looks like today.

109

All this place is populated.

110

If you wanna fly to Israel, you could see

all the cool places that Jesus spent time.

111

We have a reasonable degree of confidence

of where he was and what he was doing.

112

Again, here's the zoom in of

what it looked like in the past.

113

Okay.

114

With that said, Matthew chapter

15, we're gonna look at what

115

Jesus says as he communicates.

116

Now in response to this group of people

that come to pick a fight with him, the

117

scribes and the Pharisees enter the scene.

118

They're sent from Jerusalem to Jesus.

119

Their official delegation of people.

120

They're coming to pick a fight with

Jesus, and here's what they say.

121

Essentially, look, your disciples are

not eating their food with washed hands.

122

Now when your mom and dad say, Hey,

wash your hands before you have dinner,

123

they're not talking about ceremony.

124

They're talking about cleanliness.

125

They don't want you to eat

food with germs in their hands.

126

These guys are saying you're

breaking the tradition of the elders.

127

That is the oral tradition saying

every time you eat a meal, you're

128

supposed to wash your hands so that

you could be ceremonially pure,

129

ceremonially clean ceremonially,

so they could be pure ritually.

130

No.

131

So that's what's happening here.

132

They say, Jesus, why do you

let your disciples do this?

133

And Jesus says, whoa, check yourself.

134

Because the real problem is not that

my disciples don't wash their hands.

135

The problem is that you are breaking God's

law in order to honor your traditions.

136

And he talks about one in particular.

137

He says, look, you guys say that it's okay

to dishonor your mother and your father

138

by not providing for them financially.

139

If you say about your money, my money is

dedicated to God, it would be like this.

140

Let's say your parents say, look,

you guys, you got a job now.

141

You're working at the Whataburger,

you're making two 50 an hour.

142

You're loaded with cash.

143

This coming Tuesday.

144

We want you to pay for dinner.

145

We want you to buy dinner

for the whole family.

146

And so you say, oh man, mom

and dad, sorry I would do that.

147

But I've actually dedicated all

of my money to God going forward.

148

And they might say that's really cool.

149

What do you mean by that?

150

What I mean is that you

can't touch my money.

151

You can.

152

You can look at my bank account, but

you can't actually do anything with it.

153

And what the Pharisees and the scribes are

doing is saying, look, my money belongs to

154

God, even though I haven't given it to God

and not planning on giving it to God, even

155

in my lifetime, it still belongs to God,

so you can't be supported by my money.

156

This was a big deal.

157

And so Jesus said, look, you're

breaking the law of God in

158

order to honor your tradition.

159

And then Jesus calls them in.

160

In verse seven, I have

verse 30, verse seven.

161

Jesus says something really.

162

Actually lemme go back here in

verse seven, Jesus says about them,

163

look, you guys are hypocrites.

164

He says, you hypocrites, you

guys are fakes and phonies.

165

You have the outward appearance of

looking really righteous and really holy.

166

You look like you're the right people.

167

He says, but in actuality,

the Bible says this about you.

168

You guys are actually liars and

hypocrites and he says this,

169

people honors me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

170

In vain do they worship me.

171

Teaching as doctrines,

the commandments of men.

172

There's a kind of religion

that someone can have where

173

they say all the right things.

174

They do all the right things, they go

to the right church, they have the right

175

Bible, they have the right study Bible.

176

They listen to the right teachers,

they podcast the right sermons.

177

They say all the right things, but

Jesus says there's a kind of person

178

who might say the right things and yet

still have a very wrong life because

179

of what's happening on the inside.

180

In fact.

181

He says, what actually makes

someone unclean and impure

182

before God is not what they eat.

183

It's not whether you eat with

wash hands or unwashed hands.

184

He says, what really matters is the heart.

185

He says, it's not what goes into

the mouth that defiles a person,

186

but what comes outta the mouth?

187

What you say that defiles you.

188

It's what you say that makes you unclean.

189

Then the disciples are like, Hey Jesus, we

just want you to know what you're saying.

190

Really offensive to the

Pharisees and the scribes.

191

Jesus is really you.

192

You gotta know that you're

being really offensive.

193

When you're saying these things

and he says, you know what,

194

they can dig their own grave.

195

If they're gonna have an issue

with this, let them have the issue.

196

He says, because every plant that

my father has not planted is gonna

197

be uprooted, which is to say, those

guys are on the way to judgment.

198

Even though they look like they have their

lives in order, their lives are in danger.

199

He goes on to say, do you not see that?

200

Whatever goes into the mouth, passes

into the stomach and is expelled?

201

Jesus is saying, when you eat the food,

you drop it in the toilet afterward.

202

That's it.

203

You, the food doesn't make you any

better with God or any worse with God.

204

He says What actually matters though

is what comes outta the mouth,

205

which perceives from the heart.

206

This is what defiles a person for.

207

Out of the hearts come evil thoughts,

murder, adultery, sexual immorality,

208

theft, false witness and slander.

209

Catch what Jesus is saying here.

210

What's really important to see.

211

He says that what your heart is doing

on the inside is what will produce

212

the words that you say on the outside.

213

Have you ever said to somebody,

oh, I didn't mean what I said.

214

You said something mean to them, and you

said, oh, I, I didn't mean what I said.

215

Jesus is saying, no, you did though.

216

You did, because what comes out of

your heart at, or what comes outta

217

your mouth is coming from your heart.

218

That is, it comes from who you are.

219

And if what you say scares you, you

said something to your mom like, oh, you

220

I remember when I was in high school.

221

I literally meant it to my mom.

222

We had this terrible fight

and I said, I hate you.

223

I remember that.

224

I remember.

225

'cause it's such a powerful word, right?

226

You don't say that to people

unless you really mean it.

227

And even then, it's

probably not a good thing.

228

I said it to my mom and I realized,

man, that's a powerful word.

229

But I was looking for any word I

could to stab her in the heart the

230

way I felt like she stabbed me.

231

Jesus says that when you hate, when

you have evil thoughts or murderous

232

thoughts or adulterous thoughts or any

kind of thoughts that are evil, they're

233

not coming from out there somewhere.

234

They're coming from within you.

235

Your heart is the problem.

236

And so Jesus is saying that their

issue is not whether you have

237

clean hands or not clean hands.

238

The issue is whether

you have a clean heart.

239

These are what defile a person, but to eat

with unwashed hands doesn't defile anyone.

240

Jesus is making a big distinction here.

241

There's a difference between

a good kid and God's kid.

242

There's a difference between

a church kid and Christ's kid.

243

There's a difference between a

kid who does all the right things

244

versus a kid who, because he loves

Jesus does all the right things.

245

There's a kid who does all the right

things on the outside, dresses the

246

right way, she says the right things.

247

Again, she prays the right prayers, but

doesn't have her heart dedicated to God.

248

Here's the big mistake against

Jesus, saves everyone who trusts in

249

him, not those who obey the rules.

250

Number one, you ought to be sure

that you trust in Jesus not in rules.

251

Don't put your trust in having

the right clothes or the right

252

words or the right attire.

253

Having the right church that you go

to, you can have all the right things.

254

You can even have the right parents.

255

You have great parents who train you well.

256

They teach you the right things.

257

You can have parents who, who

go out of their way to send

258

you to the right schools.

259

You get catechized with the

right words, and you have in

260

your mind all the advantages.

261

The Jewish people once came

to Jesus and said, Jesus, we

262

have Abraham as our father.

263

We're great.

264

We're good with you, aren't we?

265

And Jesus says, try again.

266

That's the wrong answer.

267

Your pedigree, your family affiliation

does not make you right with God.

268

Even if your family's the Godliest

family that goes to the church.

269

I want you to be sure that you trust

in Jesus and not in obeying the rules.

270

Obeying the rules is good.

271

You should obey the rules.

272

It's better than disobeying

the rules, that's for sure.

273

But if you're obeying the rules and

you think that doing the right thing

274

makes you right with God, you have to

think again, this is the critical error

275

that most youth group students make.

276

They think I must be right

with God because when I'm

277

in worship, I lift my hands.

278

I even feel the emotions sometimes.

279

We're singing some of those great songs.

280

The worship pastor picks some

of the best worship music I've

281

ever heard, and it's so moving.

282

Sometimes I just get really emotional.

283

That must mean that

I'm a Christian, right?

284

Jesus would say no.

285

Doesn't mean that you're a Christian.

286

Having the right emotions doesn't

mean that you're a Christian.

287

Having the right church doesn't

mean that you're a Christian.

288

Having the right Bible, again, if you

have a nice ESV Bible, you might feel

289

like, man, I feel pretty good about that.

290

I'm not one of those weird people

with an LSB or A CSB or an NIV.

291

No, I got the right Bible.

292

I got an ESV and I got an ESV

John MacArthur study Bible.

293

Be sure that you're not

trusting in anything.

294

Besides Jesus,

295

one of my favorite Christmas presents

that he ever got was wrapped in a

296

big box, something like this, and

it sat there for the whole month

297

of December and I just could not

wait to figure out what was inside.

298

My family has this weird tradition where

on Christmas Eve we stay up all the way up

299

to midnight and then my mom would let us

all open one present, and so we did that.

300

It was Christmas Eve.

301

The heater was on.

302

We were drinking some or chatta

and some chocolate milk, I think.

303

I forget what it was.

304

It was just one of those really sweet,

like the things that you imagine

305

in your memory, what Christmas is.

306

That's what it felt like.

307

And so Christmas Eve comes,

it turns to midnight.

308

It's now technically Christmas day.

309

And so she's like, all right,

you guys can open one present.

310

So I go for the big one.

311

I open it up, and at first

I'm surprised like this.

312

What am I looking at?

313

As I start taking pieces out of the box,

I realize, oh man, this is a boom box.

314

It's a stereo system.

315

You guys don't do that

today, I don't think.

316

But this thing played CDs and cassette

tapes, and it connected to the radio.

317

It was so cool.

318

And on top of that, I had

this Michael Jackson cd.

319

It was my introduction to Michael Jackson.

320

It was the best.

321

It was such a cool gift.

322

I loved it.

323

Now imagine it's Christmas to this year.

324

2025 is Christmas, which

is not too far away.

325

You have a gift just like

this wrapped under the tree.

326

It has your name on it, and it says to my

beloved daughter or son to my fluffy kins.

327

'cause that's what your parents call you.

328

They call you fluffy kins,

and they and you see it there.

329

And then comes Christmas day and

they're like, all right, fluffy kins.

330

You can now open this amazing

present we got for you.

331

And so Carson begins to unwrap it.

332

Carson Fluffy kins begins to unwrap it

only to find out that what's inside.

333

Is absolutely nothing.

334

What a terrible gift, right?

335

Nothing.

336

What a,

337

This is what Christianity is

like for someone who's only doing

338

the good things on the outside.

339

A great looking rapper, a great

presentation, but nothing on the inside.

340

There's no changed heart.

341

There's no changed life.

342

It's just someone who's just

going through the motions.

343

The difference here is self-righteousness,

saying that I can do enough good deeds.

344

I can have the right pedigree versus

saying I trust in Christ's righteousness.

345

Matthew 15 shows us that the

Pharisees were diluted thinking

346

I could be good enough if the

bar to go to heaven is this high.

347

I could do it.

348

They thought they were righteous

enough in their own works to do

349

what was right, but Jesus wants

you to know that your righteousness

350

is never gonna be good enough.

351

You are not good enough.

352

Contrary to most of the things

that you're hearing today, you're

353

not sufficient in yourself.

354

You don't have, you don't

have anything to offer.

355

God.

356

This is why the gospel is so

sweet, because Jesus says, even

357

though you don't have anything

to offer, God, I can give you all

358

that you need to be right with God.

359

I can forgive all of your sin,

and I can give you 100% of the

360

righteousness that you need with

one second of decision on your part.

361

You submit yourself to Christ,

trusting in him fully and completely,

362

and suddenly everything changes.

363

So don't get it twisted.

364

Bible reading is good, but don't

trust in your Bible reading.

365

Praying is good, but don't put

your trust in the act of praying.

366

Going to church is awesome, but don't

put your trust in church attendance.

367

Don't put your trust in the fact that you

come to True North on Wednesday nights.

368

These are all good things, but

these are much like a protein bar.

369

Just like a protein bar.

370

This is a terrible illustration,

but I'm gonna use it anyway.

371

Okay, here we go.

372

Let's say you are starving and you come

to me like, pastor Rod, I'm just starving.

373

Will you please feed me something?

374

And I go into my bag and I always

have, I always have something in there.

375

I have a protein bar, and so I say, oh,

here's a pre a pure protein bar for you.

376

And so I give you the protein bar

and you carefully unwrap it and

377

then you begin to eat the wrapper.

378

I say no.

379

No.

380

You're supposed to eat the bar.

381

No, but I really wanted the

wrapper though, so please just

382

let me be, I'm speaking my truth.

383

I was eating my, and you start eating

the wrapper and I'm concerned about you.

384

'cause now all those microplastics

are in your body and I just

385

read a report about that.

386

You're probably gonna get brain cancer.

387

Obviously the wrapper's not the point.

388

The wrapper is important.

389

Keeps the food fresh, protects the food,

shows you what's inside and how many

390

macros and there are, and all that stuff.

391

But the wrapper's not the point.

392

The wrapper leads you to

the stuff on the inside.

393

That's the idea.

394

It tells you what's inside.

395

It helps you to get to

the food that's inside.

396

So that's what that's what Bible reading

and prayer and church attendance is like.

397

It leads you to what's truly

nourishing on the inside.

398

All of those things are like the wrapper.

399

They're important, they're necessary,

but if you're doing them as an end

400

in themselves, you're totally mi

you're totally missing the point.

401

The wrapper is meant to say,

eat what's inside Bible Reading,

402

prayer, church attendance is

meant to say, feast on Jesus.

403

He's the sustenance that you need.

404

He's the one that you should trust.

405

Not in the church attendance, not in the

things that you do, but trusting in Jesus.

406

But don't put your trust in the rapper.

407

Let the, let all these things

point you to Jesus himself.

408

That's the idea there.

409

Scripture says things like this,

when you become a Christian,

410

Jesus becomes your righteousness.

411

That is your right.

412

Standing before God doesn't wax and wane,

it doesn't grow or shrink based on whether

413

you're having a good day or a bad day.

414

Not ultimately.

415

When you die and stand before God,

you're gonna, you're not gonna say, look.

416

God.

417

Here's what I did.

418

I went to Wednesday night youth ministry.

419

I went to Sunday morning,

heard pastor PJ preach.

420

I served, I helped.

421

None.

422

None of us are gonna say that.

423

What we're gonna say is Jesus

Christ is my righteousness.

424

I trust him and him alone

425

because of him.

426

You are in Christ Jesus who became

our righteousness, young person.

427

This is so critical.

428

It's so simple, but so critical.

429

You're trusting in anything else

in this life besides Jesus for your

430

salvation, you will go to hell for

that trust because it's a false trust.

431

If you're trusting in anything else

in the world besides Jesus for your

432

salvation, your trust is misplaced and

it's ultimately going to destroy you.

433

Heavy place to start,

but a very necessary one.

434

This is why Jesus said, look,

you guys got it all wrong.

435

You think that your traditions

make you right with God.

436

They don't.

437

What does make you right with God is a

new heart that Jesus alone can give you.

438

So Jesus now takes us into this next

section here where he interacts with

439

this gal that is so interesting.

440

It actually looks like Jesus is mean.

441

At first.

442

Jesus is gonna move northward

again to the region of tire and

443

seiden far up here to the left.

444

So this is.

445

This is the Sea of Galilee down here.

446

Jesus moves all the way up to this

region over here and he is gonna

447

meet a woman, and his interaction

with her is gonna challenge the

448

way that you understand Jesus.

449

But I need you to see something

really important because the way

450

he interacts with her, there's

more than what meets the eye.

451

Jesus went away from there and withdrew

to the district of Tyra inside.

452

And what I just pointed out to you,

behold they canon, that woman came from

453

that region and came out and was crying.

454

Have mercy on me.

455

Oh Lord, son of David.

456

Okay.

457

Canaanite woman.

458

Canaanite is a bad word.

459

It means she's an outsider.

460

She's not Jewish.

461

She's one of the people that Israel

was told to destroy when Israel went

462

to take their land that God gave them.

463

And so this Canaanite woman comes

to Jesus, and she doesn't just know

464

him as a teacher, she says, oh Lord.

465

Which is a, it could be a respectful

way of saying sir, or it could be Lord.

466

I think she's saying Lord as in Lord

Jesus because of how she calls him.

467

Son of David.

468

Think for a second.

469

What does the term Son of David mean?

470

It means that she recognizes that

he's Messianic, that he's the Messiah,

471

son of David, means the offspring of

David who would build the shore house.

472

So she calls him son of David.

473

She says, my daughter is

severely oppressed by a demon.

474

But Jesus, look at this,

did not answer her.

475

He didn't say a word to her.

476

He just gave her the cold shoulder.

477

This woman though, is undeterred.

478

His disciples came and begged him saying.

479

Jesus send her away for

she is crying out after us.

480

In other words, this

woman's not going away.

481

She's advocating for her daughter.

482

She's begging Jesus, son

of David to do something.

483

And then he answered to the

disciples, look, guys, I can't

484

do what you're asking me to do.

485

It seems like the disciples are saying

just heal her and send her away.

486

She's becoming super annoying.

487

Jesus says, I was sent only to the

lost sheep of the house of Israel.

488

Remember, she's a Canaanite girl.

489

She's actually Phoenician.

490

She's just from that region.

491

Not technically a Canaanite,

but she's an outsider.

492

And Jesus says that I'm

not sent to the outsider.

493

Not yet.

494

I'm sent to Israel.

495

But she came and knelt before him.

496

Now she's kneeling in front of

him and she says, Lord, help me.

497

She's now pleading with

Jesus on her knees.

498

And then Jesus says something shocking.

499

He says, it's not right.

500

It's not right for me to take the

children's bread that is Israel's

501

bread and throw it to the dogs.

502

That's kinda harsh, Jesus.

503

Still, the woman is undeterred.

504

She said, yes, Lord.

505

Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs

that fall from their master's table.

506

Jesus answered, oh woman,

great is your faith.

507

This is one of the few people

in the gospels that Jesus

508

says, your faith is awesome.

509

The disciples had little faith.

510

Oh, you of little faith.

511

He said to them and to many of the crowds,

but to her, she says, oh woman, great.

512

Is your faith, be it as be it

done for you as you desire.

513

And her daughter was healed instantly.

514

This woman who pleads before

Jesus is initially rejected

515

by Jesus at least so it seems.

516

But instead of Jesus actually sending her

away, he invites her closer to himself

517

and ultimately answers her prayer request.

518

You should expect Jesus to do the

same to you if you have real faith.

519

If you have a real faith in Jesus,

you should expect point number two for

520

Jesus to put your faith to the test.

521

He won't just let your

faith stay where it is.

522

Jesus is gonna call you to a deeper

and stronger and more robust faith.

523

And here's what that's gonna

mean for you short term.

524

If Jesus saves those who trust

in him and not on the rules, he's

525

gonna call you closer to himself

by causing you to trust him more.

526

Your faith does not have to be

large for it to be effective.

527

Lewis talked about that right?

528

The plane situation, right?

529

If you're a scared person in the plane,

you're still gonna get to the destination.

530

It's not the quality of your

faith that makes or breaks you,

531

it's where the faith is placed.

532

You need to expect Jesus to test

your faith, which means Jesus is

533

gonna put obstacles in your life.

534

He's gonna challenge you because

he wants you to trust him.

535

Speaking of challenges.

536

One of my favorite pastimes, I don't

have many hobbies, but I guess I would

537

call this one kind of a hobby, is I

love watching Food Challenge videos.

538

Eric The Electric is one of my favorites.

539

Matt Stoney always a character.

540

I like him too.

541

Randy Santel, one of my favorites as well.

542

He recently proposed to

Catina Katina, who eats carbs.

543

I forget her name, the

name of her channel.

544

She's another competitive eater.

545

Anyway, Randy Sanel.

546

I recently found out I.

547

What goes into a food challenge

that is these guys have massive

548

stomachs, but they don't just have

that, they actually train for that.

549

So I watched a video about how you

train to be a competitive eater, and

550

he said you, you prepare at least the

week ahead, but especially the 24 hours

551

before you have the challenge, he eats

at least a pound to a, to two pounds

552

more the night before for what he's

going to eat the day of the challenge.

553

That means if his challenge is eight

pounds, he's trying to eat 10 pounds

554

of food before the day before to make

sure that his stomach is stretched

555

out large enough, excuse me, so

that he can put more food down.

556

And of course the

training is uncomfortable.

557

You might think man, doesn't he

feel like he's gonna throw up?

558

And yes they learn, they train

to, to turn off that signal

559

for their stomach to throw up.

560

'cause if you throw up,

you're disqualified.

561

So he trains to eat tons of food.

562

As you might imagine, this guy,

he gave like a ton of weight.

563

But the training is uncomfortable

and painful, but it's not pointless.

564

So just like food competitors stretch

their stomachs with more than they

565

think that they need, Jesus will often

stretch our faith through trials that

566

we think are bigger than we can handle,

and the fact that usually is the case,

567

Jesus doesn't give you easy believism.

568

He's not just giving you a bar

that you could just walk over.

569

Jesus is giving you challenges that are

gonna, like Jesus, this is too much.

570

I can't handle this.

571

I can't eat all this food.

572

Jesus, I can't do this.

573

And Jesus is saying, you're right.

574

You can't.

575

But if you rely on me, if

you trusted me, you can't.

576

You could do it by faith in me.

577

And so one of the things that you need

to know is that Jesus is gonna test you.

578

It's gonna happen.

579

If you have real faith.

580

You need to remember that

the tests are coming.

581

So recognize that Jesus is in control.

582

You should trust his leadership.

583

If Jesus puts a challenge in front of

you and you say, Jesus, I can't do it.

584

He's saying, I know you can't by yourself,

but trust me and I'll take you through it.

585

The Canaanite woman the cyro Venetian

woman came to Jesus because she

586

knew he could handle her problems.

587

She knew who he was.

588

She knew what he was about, so she

said, I'm gonna take my issues to Jesus.

589

You ought to do that too.

590

You need to respond to the

challenges that Jesus takes to do

591

by pursuing him through prayer.

592

Remember, prayer is not

a means in and of itself.

593

It's not the rapper that you're going for.

594

Prayer is the rapper

that leads you to Jesus.

595

It leads you to say,

Jesus, I depend upon you.

596

Prayer is the means by which you

connect with the God who made you.

597

Tests are coming.

598

Your teachers tell you this at the

beginning of your semesters, right?

599

Hey, we're gonna have

tests here, and here.

600

You need to be ready for them.

601

Some of you're doing

star testing this week.

602

Tests are coming.

603

You know that they're there.

604

And so the Bible is giving you a heads up.

605

This is how he treats his people.

606

Jesus is a good leader.

607

He's also a good fa.

608

He is not the father.

609

The father's a good father, and any

father cares about you is going to

610

willingly put you in painful situations.

611

To grow you, not to heart, to

hurt you, and the way that he

612

grows you is through your faith.

613

Take a lesson from the Canaanite

woman and learn to put your

614

trust in Jesus going to him.

615

What made her so tenacious?

616

This Canaanite woman who didn't,

she didn't have the internet,

617

didn't have Twitter, didn't have

Facebook, didn't have any way of

618

following and no, no YouTube channel.

619

She knew something about him that I

wonder if some of you guys really know

620

and it's that Jesus actually cares.

621

Jesus isn't just testing us.

622

He's providing for us and that's

what this last section's about

623

Jesus is providing for our needs.

624

Take a look here.

625

He is gonna come back.

626

Now I think Jesus is probably up here

in the norther northern region of

627

the Sea Galilee in the Bea region.

628

I'm not sure if you could see

that, but Jesus is probably there.

629

He's in a largely gentile territory.

630

So what we're looking at is

probably a, a more Gentiles.

631

Here's what happens.

632

Jesus went on from there and walked

beside the Sea of Galilee and he went

633

up on the mountain and he sat down

there and great crowds came to him.

634

Bringing with them the lame, the blind,

the crippled, the mute, and many others.

635

And they put him at his feet and he

healed them so that the crowd wondered,

636

they were in awe of Jesus' healing power.

637

And when they saw the mute speaking,

the crippled, healthy, the lame,

638

walking in the blind, seeing

they glorified the God of Israel.

639

This doesn't guarantee that

this is a Gentile audience, but

640

it does give at least the hint

that's what's happening here.

641

In fact, if we're gonna

take Mark's account.

642

He's in the region of the De Capitalis.

643

That's right.

644

I forgot to mention that.

645

He's in the region of the de Capitalis,

which would make this a largely,

646

if not completely gentile audience.

647

And then what you have here is a miracle

that Lewis preached on just last week.

648

We're seeing it again, but

in a different audience.

649

Jesus calls his disciples to him and said,

look, I have compassion on the crowd.

650

And the word for compassion is

something that Jesus felt in his gut.

651

Have you ever seen a person or

maybe an animal suffering and you

652

feel something in your gut that

just says, man I care about that.

653

It feels like there's something in

your guts that makes you feel bad

654

or feel some something for somebody.

655

Jesus feels compassion

for people in his gut.

656

This is not just a oh,

I feel bad about that.

657

He feels in his gut, the compassion

for the crowd, and he says,

658

they've been with me now three

days and they have nothing to eat.

659

That's a problem.

660

There is no seven 11.

661

You can't go grab, a big cup, a big

slurp, a big whatever they're called.

662

You can't go to the qt.

663

You can't go to the local

Walmart and pick up some talkies.

664

You're in trouble if you have no

food and you're in a desolate place.

665

This is actually kinda

reckless of the people.

666

They're with Jesus and

they have nothing to eat.

667

What are they doing?

668

This shows you how powerful Jesus'

ministry was because people were willing

669

to say, look, we don't have any food,

but this is more important for us.

670

I'd that'd preach to you guys.

671

Jesus is more important than

your bellies most of the time.

672

So he says, look, I don't wanna send them

away unless they faint on the way back.

673

That's how little food they have.

674

They're going on empty.

675

The disciples said to him Jesus

where do you want us to get enough

676

bread in this desolate place?

677

Now you're thinking wait, didn't he

just multiply the fish and the loaves?

678

How do they not know?

679

There's a lot of things that could

be happening here, but probably

680

what's going on is that they're

saying, Jesus, these are gentiles.

681

Do you really are you gonna

multiply bread for them too?

682

That I, I, we get it for the

Israelites, but for these guys too

683

we don't think that's gonna happen.

684

So what do you propose that we do?

685

Jesus.

686

Jesus said to them,

how many loaves he got?

687

Seven and a few small fish.

688

And so then he did the same

thing that he did with the 5,000.

689

He distributes the fish and the loaves.

690

And here's the cool thing, verse 37.

691

All those people ate and here's

words that really stood out to me.

692

They were satisfied.

693

They feasted on bread and

their bellies were full.

694

Jesus was not a stingy giver.

695

He wasn't just Hey guys, we're

having Chick-fil-A tonight.

696

You only get one sandwich per person.

697

Jesus is the Chick-fil-A person

that's Hey, you can have as

698

many sandwiches as you want.

699

You'll be satisfied.

700

You want five sandwiches?

701

All of 'em spicy, fantastic.

702

Jesus is not stingy.

703

He gives and he gives until

their hearts are fully satisfied.

704

Their bellies actually.

705

So they took up seven baskets

full of broken pieces.

706

Those who ate were 4,000 men besides

women and children, which means

707

this could have been closer to about

10,000 people all accounted for.

708

Jesus does his great miracle.

709

Here's the point I think that you ought to

take home when you see things like this.

710

I want you to recognize that even

though Jesus is long gone from earth,

711

he's not long gone from heaven.

712

He's still around.

713

And here's the thing, you

might not believe this, but

714

Jesus actually cares about you.

715

He cares about Israelites, he

cares about Gentiles, which is

716

most of us in this room here.

717

Jesus cares about you.

718

You ought to point number three, never

doubt Jesus genuine care for you.

719

Jesus will save those who trust in

him, and one of the things that prevent

720

people from trusting in Him is that

they don't think that he really cares.

721

You might think Jesus is just a religious

vigor who stands over me and promises

722

to judge me if I don't do what he says.

723

That's partially true,

but that's not all of it.

724

Jesus genuinely cares for you.

725

The reason that you should become a

Christian and stay a Christian for the

726

rest of your life is because you're

not gonna find anybody else who will

727

care for you the way that Jesus does.

728

And all you have, sorry about that.

729

Excuse me.

730

All you have to do is look at

your life to this point and look

731

at how God has provided for you.

732

Look at how Jesus has taken care of

your needs, practically, physically,

733

emotionally Jesus has been there for you.

734

I want you to imagine that you have a dog.

735

If you do have one, you're blessed.

736

Imagine it's that dog and you, and

your dog is actually really sick,

737

and you finally take your dog to

the vet and the vet tells you that

738

your dog needs several painful shots

to bring about the healing process.

739

And so there's your dog.

740

He's sick, he's unhappy.

741

And so the vet says here the way that

this works, I'm gonna need you to

742

hold your dog close to your chest.

743

Not let him move.

744

And I'm gonna stick these really

big needles in his butt to heal him.

745

And there's gonna be several.

746

And so the doctor says, can you do this?

747

And you say, I think so.

748

What choice do I have?

749

I need to do this in order

to save my puppy, my dog.

750

And he says, yes.

751

It's exactly the way you need to do it.

752

So you're holding your dog.

753

And then he is jamming these bigs honking

needles in his, in your dog's butt.

754

And he is sticking the

good stuff inside of him.

755

Your dog.

756

If the dog could think,

what's your dog thinking?

757

When you're holding him down and this

guy's inflicting pain on his rear

758

end, what's your dog thinking like?

759

You hate me.

760

You no longer love me.

761

You're the worst master I've ever had.

762

I'm disowning you effective immediately.

763

Please take me to the pound.

764

We're no longer friends.

765

Your dog would honestly think

you're the problem, right?

766

You're the issue.

767

If your dog could talk, you

could reason with your dog.

768

You'd say, look fluffy kins, Patrick,

look, I'm doing this because I love you.

769

I'm taking care of you.

770

And in fact, if your dog could understand,

you would say, fluffy kins, we've

771

cared for you every day of your life.

772

Fresh food, fresh water, every day.

773

I picked up your poop in the backyard.

774

I've done everything for you.

775

Fluffy, kins, everything.

776

Why would we stop now?

777

Tru, trust us.

778

We're trying to help you.

779

That's what you would tell your

puppy who has to go to the vet

780

and get the shots in the rear end.

781

This is often.

782

How we interact with God.

783

We sometimes think because God's sending

us through painful situations, or life

784

is hard, there's another school shooting,

or my friend who I knew from this

785

other school got stabbed in the chest,

or other issues that we go through.

786

We think, oh, maybe God doesn't care.

787

Maybe God is forgotten about

me or something like that.

788

And the reality is, no, God is

doing what God needs to do in order

789

to strengthen you and to deepen

your faith and your trust in him.

790

That's his mo.

791

You ought to never doubt.

792

Jesus genuine care for you,

and all you have to do is just

793

look backward at your life.

794

Look at in, in order

to make to go forward.

795

Look backward.

796

Look at the way that Jesus has

taken care of you in the past.

797

Now, look at the way

that he's cared for you.

798

Look at the way that

he's answered prayers.

799

Look at the way that he's

cared for your family.

800

Look at the way that he's given

you guys food every night.

801

You never lack a meal

most of the time, right?

802

You have shoes on your feet,

you have clothes on your body.

803

What you know about Jesus ought

to carry you through when you're

804

not sure what to feel about him.

805

There are gonna be seasons where

you feel distant from God and you're

806

not sure that you can trust Jesus

because your heart doesn't feel it.

807

Trust what you know, not what you feel.

808

Lastly, you ought to feed

on what truly satisfies.

809

Jesus gave this gentile crowd

bread that satisfied their bellies.

810

Jesus is the living bread that promises

when you feast on Jesus, he will satisfy

811

your soul in ways that nothing else

can, and that really is the point.

812

Jesus is the bread of life.

813

Whoever comes to me, he

says, shall not hunger.

814

And whoever believes in

me shall never thirst.

815

Jesus wants you to feast on him.

816

He wants you to trust him because Jesus

will save everyone who trusts in him,

817

not those who trust in the rules, not

those who only look at the outside.

818

The religious leaders in Matthew

15 were shocked at Jesus' Word.

819

They were offended is what the disciples

said, because Jesus says, your rules,

820

your external tradition don't matter.

821

What does matter Is your relationship

with God, the heart Jesus exposed.

822

The real reality is that their

hearts were far from God.

823

They said all the right things.

824

They wore the right clothes.

825

They washed the right hands.

826

They did all the things that someone

would expect of a religious person.

827

Please don't talk while I'm preaching.

828

Okay.

829

Please focus.

830

Okay.

831

Thank you.

832

So he rejects the religious authorities,

but an outsider, a Canaanite woman

833

comes to him and she's accepted.

834

Only after she pursues him, Jesus

gives her the stiff arm until

835

she pushes hard enough to say,

that's exactly what I wanted.

836

Great is your faith.

837

Jesus says, everyone who trusts in

him, the gentile crowd comes to him.

838

They trust him so much that they're

willing to forego their food.

839

And Jesus answers swiftly by

saying, I'm gonna give them

840

all the food that they need.

841

I'm gonna satisfy their bellies.

842

They're gonna be stuffed with good food.

843

All of this points to the fact that

Jesus wants you to trust in him.

844

Not the rules, not the church.

845

I guess the true church, but all

those things are, again, the wrapper.

846

They lead you to Jesus.

847

So tonight, I'm gonna encourage

you to not let another night go by.

848

If you're unsure about where

you are with Christ, tonight's

849

a good night to figure it out.

850

It's a really good night.

851

If you're unsure about what's happening

in your heart with Christ, tonight's

852

a really good night to figure it out.

853

Don't let another night go by.

854

What do you gotta lose?

855

You have everything to

gain and nothing to lose.

856

Tonight is a great night for

you to figure some things out.

857

Jesus cares for you.

858

The fact that you're here is

evidence that Jesus cares.

859

I hope you see that.

860

I hope you see what they can't see.

861

Let's pray.

862

God, please help us as we

now go to our small groups.

863

Give us grace to spend good time

thinking and praying and talking.

864

Help us to have some

honest, real conversations.

865

Let other be transparency and

vulnerability appropriately help us

866

to have great small groups where we

walk away feeling great about our

867

interactions and deepened in our

understanding about who you are.

868

We ask this in Jesus name, amen.