June 23, 2024

OK, thank you. Good morning, everyone. And this is from Acts 2028, and it's about attending church. Take careful attention to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church and God, which he obtained with his blood. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for blessing this church and its faithful servants. Please bless Pastor Nicole today as she shares and brings forth your holy words. We worship the God who was. We worship the God who is. We worship the God who nevermore will be. He opened the prison door. He watered the raging sea. My God, he holds the victory. There's joy in the house of the Lord. There's joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won't be quieted. We shout out your praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. My God is surely in his place. And we won't be quieted. We shout out your praise. Oh, we shout out your praise. We sing to the God who heals. We sing to the God who saves. We sing to the God who always makes a way. As he hung upon that cross, then he rose up from that grave. My God, still rolling stones away. There's joy in the house of the Lord. There's joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won't be quieted. We shout out your praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. My God is surely in his place. And we won't be quieted. We shout out your praise. We were the beggars. Now we're royalty. We were the prisoners. Now we're running free. We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by his grace. Let the house of the Lord sing praise. We were the beggars. Now we're royalty. We were the prisoners. Now we're running free. We are forgiven, accepted, redeemed by his grace. Let the house of the Lord sing praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. There's joy in the house of the Lord today. And we won't be quieted. We shout out your praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. My God is surely in his place. And we won't be quieted. We shout out your praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. My God is surely in his place. And we won't be quieted. We shout out your praise. There's joy in the house of the Lord. My God is surely in his place. And we won't be quieted. We shout out your praise. We shout out your praise. You rise above. My hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song. This soul is young. This soul is round. For through the fields it's shrouded in storm. What life of love, what depth of peace, when tears of truth it's finally seen. My comforter, my all in all. Here in the love of Christ I stand. Christ the Lord, the God blessed, fullness of God in heav'nly space. This gift of love and righteousness, borne by the ones he came to save. In all the cross and seas of time, the realm of hope and satisfaction. Everything he was made here in the depth of Christ I live. In the ground his body lay, light of the world by darkness slain. His mercy poured in glorious days, up from the grave he rose again. And as he sang his victory, his song of joy, his tribulation. I am his, he is mine, always the precious blood of Christ. I am his, he is mine, always the precious blood of Christ in me. I'm his child, I know best, he's just to make my destiny. The power of love, the strength of faith. The power of love, the strength of faith. Jesus, Lord, call me home. Here in the power of Christ I stand. I am his, he is mine, always the precious blood of Christ in me. I am his, he is mine, always the precious blood of Christ in me. I am his, he is mine, always the precious blood of Christ in me. I am his, he is mine, always the precious blood of Christ in me. I am his, he is mine, always the precious blood of Christ in me. I am his, he is mine, always the precious blood of Christ in me. The parents, the old rugged road. In my glory, that's where I lay down. And the parents, the old rugged road. They say I'm bound before the crown. On that old rugged road. Floating by, by the world. That's the one who felt the action for me. For the will of God, left his glory above. To bear it to the child of me. For the parents, the old rugged road. In my glory, that's where I lay down. I'm a sinner to the old rugged road. That is shame and something for a child. To the old rugged road, I will ever be true. It's shame and regret that leads me here. For the will of God, left his glory above. To impart it and sanctify me. For the parents, the old rugged road. In my glory, that's where I lay down. I'm a sinner to the old rugged road. That is shame and something for a child. Thank you. God says you have to give grace. You have to give grace. You have to give grace. You have to give grace. You have to give grace. You have to give grace. You have to give grace. I'm out of sadness. Oh, where are you, babe? I'm broken hearted. Said rescue begins. I'm fine, you must be. Oh, say, I don't mean. I have no sorrow that never can heal. I have no sorrow that never can heal. Lay down your broken. Lay down your shame. All who are broken. Lift up your face. Oh, wanderer, come home. You're not too far. Lay down your burden. Lay down your heart. Come as you are. There's a father's love to you. There's a father's love to you. There's a father's love to you. There's a father's love to you. There's a father's love to you. There's a father's love to you. There's a father's love to you. There's a father's love to you. There's a father's love to you. Lay down your burden. Lay down your shame. All who are broken. Lift up your face. Oh, wanderer, come home. You're not too far. Lay down your burden. Lay down your heart. Come as you are. Come as you are. Falling in love. Come as you are. There's joy for the morning. Oh, cannot be still. I've had the sorrow that never can heal. I've had the sorrow that never can heal. Lay down your burden. Lay down your heart. All who are broken. Lift up your face. Oh, wanderer, come home. You're not too far. Lay down your burden. Lay down your heart. Lay down your heart. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Come as you are. Okay. Well, this morning, you all know that I'm a pastor, but you might not know some other things about me. So I thought I'd share a little bit about who I am or what I do when I'm not a pastor or when I'm not discipling kids. And my husband and I, we own a photography business. So many of you might have seen me out in town taking photos with him. Our majority of photography is wedding photography. And so through the months of May through October, you'll see us every Saturday photographing a wedding and capturing memories. Now, my husband, he is the main talent, okay? This is him, not me. However, I do help him second shoot at weddings and I hold lights for him. There I am in that shadow. Do you see that little black thing right here? That's me. I get edited out real quick. And then I also stand in for him when he's getting his lighting ready before a bride and groom come into the photo. And that's that next one, Fred. It has a lot of rain. There I am with my umbrella. And he's making sure the lighting's just right. So I'm his model in that moment. And usually I have the weirdest face. Like, I can never smile right. We can't print those because I'm always like, for whatever reason. But in the wedding world, I have a nickname. And that nickname is HR. And the reason why they call me HR is because on the wedding day, you'll see me carrying around a clipboard with a spreadsheet. Because I know exactly where everybody needs to be at what time and I want to know what photos we need to take. And that's how I keep track for him to make sure we get all those must-have photos. But with that type of schedule, it's a lot of hurry up and wait. Hurry up and get to the bride, but she's taking too long for her dress. Because they're pretty crazy these days. So we wait. Hurry up, get to the groom, but he's decided to hop in the shower right before we're supposed to get ready photos. So we wait. Hurry up and get here. Hurry up and get there. And then we wait. We're always waiting. And so during this time, every once in a while, we'll take a quick break. We'll have a quick snack. Because those days are long. Usually we're going from 8 in the morning until sometimes midnight night. So we'll take a quick snack, drink some water, and take a little break. But the one thing we never do is we never put down our cameras. We always have our cameras ready because we don't want to miss out on special memories. And this photo right here was not on my spreadsheet. I didn't plan this photo. The bride didn't say, I want to set this up exactly like this with my daughter here and my aunt here. It was because her photographers were ready. She's in the audience. That's her photo. And we were able to capture this moment that she'll treasure forever. We were ready. We were prepared. So we didn't miss out. Now we've all heard those horrible stories of photographers forgetting to take the lens cap off their camera. We've heard the stories of photographers leaving the wedding too early and maybe missing the special dance at the reception. We've heard of photographers maybe back in the day forgetting to put their film in the camera. That's a bad one. Or the worst one of all, we've heard of photographers just not showing up at all and they miss all the memories. That's rough. That's a bad day. So today we're going to be talking about a parable in the Bible because Jesus shared a parable about a wedding. Ten bridesmaids. Five were foolish and five were wise. And these five bridesmaids who were wise were not only ready and prepared, but they didn't miss out. So if you want to open your Bibles to me, we're going to be in the book of Matthew. And you're going to turn to Matthew chapter 25. We're going to be in verses 1 through 13. In the book of Matthew, he writes his gospel to prove to his listeners that the kingdom of God has come to bring God's kingdom here. So the Messiah has come, he's come to bring God's kingdom here and to offer salvation. So it makes sense that Matthew would make sure to document this parable that Jesus is sharing because Jesus in this parable is going to compare these ten bridesmaids to the kingdom of God. So let's stand together as I read the word of God in Matthew chapter 25 verse 1 through 13. Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids. Ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, five of them were wise. The five who were foolish didn't take enough oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. And when the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. And at midnight, they were roused by the shout, look, the bridegroom is coming. Come out, come out and meet him. And all the bridesmaids got up, they prepared their lamps, and then the five foolish ones asked the others, please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out. But the other replied, we don't have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourself. But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. And then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast. And the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside calling, Lord, Lord, open the door for us. But he called back, believe me, I don't know you. So you too must keep watch, Jesus said, for you do not know the day or the hour of my return. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you for these words today, this scripture, this parable that we have today that we can take from the five foolish and the five wise. Let's break down your word today, allow us to see what you have for us today, and let's take it and struggle it with us this week. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You may be seated. So, verse 1 through 4, we're just going to get right into it. Jesus compares these five foolish bridesmaids and these five wise to the kingdom of God. These five foolish, they're not going to have enough oil, and they're not allowed into the banquet. While the wise brought extra. So, how are we looking at these five foolish bridesmaids? Maybe they talked a big game, but their actions didn't show that they were Christ followers. Or maybe their actions did, but their heart truly wasn't right with God, and they didn't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The five wise, they carried the extra oil. They knew Jesus, they imitated him, and they were hearers and doers of the word. In verse 5 through 7, we see that the bridegroom came late. He's taking a shower when he's supposed to be walking down the street, coming to his bride. So, they hear him cry late, and they fall asleep. And when they wake up, they all turn their oils. They all want to be prepared and ready. Interesting, both the wise and the foolish fall asleep. I'm just going to leave that with you just for a moment. If they all, they must be somewhat the same. Verse 8 through 9, the five foolish bridesmaids did not have enough oil. And this one's a tough one. We're going to break this down in a little bit. Salvation cannot be shared. We can't share our oil. We can't have the relationship with Jesus Christ and then give it to someone else. They have to do that on their own. That's a tough one. They had to go out and buy more because they didn't have enough. They weren't prepared, and they weren't ready, so they missed out. And in verse 10 through 12, we see that Jesus is saying, the day of the Lord is coming. I'll return, and Jesus is that bridegroom. And the five wise bridesmaids, they were invited into the banquet with the bridegroom. But the doors were shut behind them. Those five foolish bridesmaids couldn't wait to the last minute. The door was locked, and when they asked the Lord, he said, I don't know you. So verse 13, we see very clear that we need to be ready, we need to be prepared, so we don't miss out. Because we will not know the day or the hour. If you're not ready, and you're not prepared, you're going to be late to join the banquet, and the door will be locked. So what? What do we do with this? Where do we start with that? Okay, Jesus, you shared us this parable, we understand we need to be ready, we need to have the extra oil. Where do we start with that? Well, my first thought is, what do our actions look like? Do our actions match our faith? Are we just following Jesus to say we're following Jesus? Or are we truly living a life Christ has called us to? What do our actions look like? Are we living like the world, and we're saying we're a Christian? Or are we truly being hearers and doers of the word, ready and prepared for Christ's return? Now, here's where we go back to that part where the bridesmaids, both the wise and the foolish, fell asleep. And I think this is really interesting. Here in Matthew 25, 5, it says, When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. How can it get tired? It's taken a while for the bridegroom to get going here. They're both sleeping. But are they truly living and speaking the words God has called them to? Are they just attending church? Are they just writing the tithe check? Are they just checking off the boxes? I helped at the rummage sale. I helped the children. I did all the right things. I'm a good person. Hmm. Does that mean your oil is extra? I don't know. So how should we be ready? So how should we be ready? We want to carry the extra oil like the wise bridesmaids. We want to live a holy life as Christ has called us because that's what He's called us to. He created us to be in relationship with Him. He called us to be a holy people as He is holy. So how do we do that? How should we be ready? We have to be hearers and doers of the Word. So are we prepared? Well, the wedding tradition that Jesus is talking about here in His day, the bridegroom would get ready in his house and then the bridesmaids would take the bride to her house and the bridesmaids would get her ready and prepare her for her bridegroom to come and receive her. And then when she was totally ready, the bridesmaids would go, okay, your bridegroom's coming. They would walk outside into the street with their oil lamps and wait for the bridegroom to come down and hear the call of the bridegroom. A lot of hurry up and wait in that day too. Bridesmaids are up there getting ready, great, great, hurry, hurry, hurry, and then get down and now we got to wait. So same thing, hurry up and wait. So the bridegroom is going to make his way down, these bridesmaids are going to wait for his call, the cheering, and then as soon as they do, they're all going to trim their lamps because they want to be prepared. But then they find they're out of oil. How can we be prepared? We need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. We cannot just come to church, we can't just say we're reading our word, we can't just throw the tithe on the plate and say, well, God will take care of it. We have to spend time with Him in a real way. We have to know Him like He knows us. I heard someone say recently to me, if you know Jesus, you really know Him and you're not changing, do you really know Jesus? The Holy Spirit is constantly moving and directing us in our life and if we aren't changing with Him, do we really know Jesus like He knows us? So here's the tough part of that scripture that we get to get to here. This is the one that we probably, at least for me, I struggle with. Your oil is not enough for the people around you. You cannot share your salvation. You can't be bought or borrowed. You can share God's love that He's done in your life and you can share Jesus with all the people around you and you can love on them and you can tell them so you are blue in the face, but when the day comes, you don't have enough oil to share with someone else. You can't give your salvation to the person next to you. They have to make that choice on their own. And that's hard, especially as a parent, right? But your relationship with Jesus Christ is not your child's. They have to choose that on their own. They have to accept Jesus on their own. There's no spreadsheet or schedule that is going to save them from that. So HR cannot save them either. Only Jesus can do that. And when they finally come and they realize the door is locked, the bridesmaids who've had this relationship with God, this true relationship will already be in the banquet. And the time will come when they will try to borrow the oil and they will be knocking on that door. And they'll knock really loud. Matthew 25, 12 says that He called back, Believe me, I don't know you. I don't want to hear that. I want Jesus to know me. I don't want to be on the other side of the door. I want to be walking in. I want the door to shut behind me. I want the door to shut behind me. Because it's not just good enough to know who Jesus is. It's not good enough to attend church and sit in a special pew and talk to all your friends and fellows. It's not enough to write the check or volunteer for all the things. Because if that's why you're doing it, just to say that you are, you might as well walk out right now. Because that's not why we're here. You have to have a personal relationship with your Savior. You need to be working towards living a holy life and allowing God to move in you and through you. There's more to this thing than just coming to church on Sunday. It's not why we're here. We have to be ready. We have to be prepared. So we don't miss out. So carry the extra oil. Be ready. Be prepared. Don't miss out on the banquet. Be the wise bridesmaid with the really extra jar. And I don't know about you, but I want to go by the largest jar I can find to fill it up. I want to be the bridesmaid that has so much extra oil I can barely make it down the street. And when I fall asleep, I'll fall asleep over it. That's what I want. I want to be the wise bridesmaid that has all the oil. Give me it all, Jesus. I want all of you and more. Thirteen years ago, when I was pregnant with my daughter, I had a moment of feeling like I couldn't do everything on my own. I realized I'm kind of in the middle. I feel like I love Jesus. He's my Savior. But I'm still kind of living with the world, too, at the same time. I'm going to church every Sunday. I'm doing all the things. And God finally said, what are you doing? Make up your mind. What do you want to do? And I said, I want you. I'm done trying to carry all the plates on my own. I finally had to come to that realization that I want all of you. I don't want just a little bit. I want all of you, and I want you to have all of me. I'm ready to give you everything that I have. My marriage, my life, my children, my money. Everything that I have and everything that I am, my entire body, spirit, everything is yours. I'm done. I don't want it anymore. And at Nazarene's and the Church of the Nazarene, we believe that that is our second work of grace. That's stepping into that work of the entire sanctification, saying, I want all of you and more, and I want you to have everything. Amen. Do you have a moment like mine? Maybe you've accepted Jesus Christ your Savior, but you're sitting here feeling like, oh, I don't know, am I carrying the extra oil? I don't know. Because I want you to be ready and prepared so you don't miss out. I don't want you to sit here and think, I've got it all figured out, I'm here in church on Sunday. That's not enough. You need to have the relationship with your Heavenly Father. So where should you go? What should you do? We want to be hearers and doers of the words. We want to desire God like He desires to be with us. And we need to know Jesus in a personal way. Like He knows you. See, we can't show up to this banquet, this wedding, with only a little oil. We need to be ready. We need to be prepared so we don't miss out. And when that bridegroom comes, we're so ready that we're like, yeah, He's coming. Let's go, let's go. We all have oil. Let's just go. Let's fall into the banquet. Let's make it happen. Let's live a holiness life. Because that's what Christ has called us to. That's how He created us, to be with Him. To be a part of Him, to be in relationship with Him. He called us to be holy, as He is holy. Holy is to be set apart for God. And that's what He's called us to. To live the life that Christ has called us to. And this is the statement right here. This is what I want you to take with you this week. And I want you to struggle with it. I want you to wrestle with it. Because when we are ready, and we are prepared, we will not miss out. And the doors will close behind us. And not before us. I'm going to say that one more time. Because I want you to really keep this on the forefront this week. When we are ready, and we are prepared, we will not miss out. Because the door will close behind us. And not before us. So I'm going to ask you today. Are you ready? Are you ready to take that step in your faith that says, God, you have all of me. You have all my time, my money, my marriage, my kids, my talents, my gifts. Everything that I have is for you. That's that entire sanctification, that sanctifying grace. And then when we do that, we step into a sustaining grace that the Holy Spirit will continue to lead us, and guide us, and push us, and change us, and make us new, and continue to make us more holy like He is holy. And if you're ready to do that today, I want you to pray that way. You know, there are altars here that you can come and you can pray at. Or you can just pray at your seats. Whatever you feel comfortable. This is between you and God. I want you to find the most comfortable place. But if you're in a place today where you're saying, I don't think I have any extra oil. I'd accept Jesus as my Savior, but I don't know if I really have that personal relationship with Him, but I want it. And I want to give all of it to Him. You can do that today. So let's go ahead and bow our heads today. If you want to come here, these are open. If you want to sit in your seat, you can do that too. I'm just going to pray for us today. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for this place. That we can humbly come before you and just say, I want to give you everything. A place that we can come and fellowship with other people and love on other people who are coming in the church and our friends and our family. And the Holy Spirit that can continue to work on us in that sustaining grace that just allows us to keep doing more and better. We just want to be better for you every day because if we love you and we truly have that relationship with you, we've got to be changing all the time. Changing for the better. If we're not, maybe we've missed out on something. And maybe we're just sitting there trimming our oil lamps and don't have enough oil and we don't realize it until it's too late. We know you're coming, Jesus. You are the bridegroom that is coming and we're just waiting for that celebration call and we might fall asleep because we're tired, but we're here and we're ready. Lord Jesus, help us to be the people that you've called us to be, your holy people, Lord God. We want to be holy as you are holy. We want to have a relationship with you that is personal. We want to be able to be in your presence, to hear what you have for us, Lord Jesus. God, we just give you this week and we give you this afternoon, today as we leave here, may we struggle with these questions in your word. Are we ready? May we just ask that. Go home and ask that. Write in our journals, God, am I ready? Am I prepared? Do I have the relationship with you that you desire in me? Have I truly given you all that I am? Or am I just checking off the boxes? So God, I just pray that you settle our hearts on those questions this week. That we just come to a place in our relationship with you that we ask those hard questions. So we can struggle. Allow us to talk to you. Find where you want us to be. And become deeper in our relationship with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. He desires us to be who he has called us to be and created us to be. He created us to be a holy people. Holy as he is holy. So we must be ready. We must be prepared so we don't miss out. So God, so we don't miss out. Because our Heavenly Father he doesn't want us to miss out. He wants us in the banquet room with him. So leave here today knowing that Jesus loves you he wants to be with you and he wants that deep relationship with you like nothing else. Go in peace. Amen.