Valley Gospel
A Pentecostal church experience.
Valley Gospel
No Matter
What if the sharpest line in the church isn’t between denominations but between those who hear the word and those who let it take root? As Daniel Johnson brings this week's message, we walk through a frank, hope-filled journey across 1 John, the Gospels, Hebrews, Thessalonians, and Matthew 13 to name the quiet difference the cross makes. Judas and Peter both tried to steer Jesus away from suffering, and that contrast opens a bigger question for us: do we want a crown without a cross, or the King on his terms?
From there, we explore why trials don’t disprove faith—they refine it. Paul’s words to Thessalonica reveal the hinge of transformation: receiving Scripture as God’s word, not human advice. That single shift unlocks the parables of the Kingdom. The seed, the soils, the wheat and tares, the mustard seed, the leaven—each one shows how the gospel works from the inside out, how tiny truth can overturn a whole life, and why the enemy is busy planting counterfeits beside the real.
We trace that pattern into Acts 2, where Peter’s message cuts hearts and sparks repentance, baptism, and bold community. Along the way, a prison testimony and Paul’s own turnaround remind us that a single verse can break open a future. Finally, Ezekiel 33 calls us to be watchmen—clear, loving voices who warn, invite, and keep sowing. We don’t offer people our brand of Christianity; we offer Christ himself. If you’re ready to trade surface religion for a planted word that bears fruit, press play, lean in, and let the seed land. If this spoke to you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review to help others find the message.
Hello, welcome to Valley Gospel Church. We are a non-denominational Pentecostal church located in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Our sole mission is to present the living truth of a risen Lord, Jesus Christ, to a remnant church and a lost world. So let's go into the service recorded live at Valley Gospel Church.
SPEAKER_00:Alright. Happy Sunday. Good morning. Are you hungry this morning? Alright, that's good. That's good. I'll get uh, we'll pray and then we'll get rolling. Father, thank you so much for everything that you do. Father, thank you for being here and just hearing the cries of your children and all of our prayers that we lift up to you, Father. We thank you and we surrender to your will. Lord, you know I need your help to speak and everything that I say. I just ask that you take over, lead and guide me, Father. Use me for your kingdom and for your purposes. Help me deliver your word, Father. Um, you know, nothing's worth saying if you don't say it, Lord. So I pray that I just surrender to you, that you would use me. I pray that everyone hears your words, Father. Open our hearts that we can receive your word and hear what you're saying. And no matter what, Father, we surrender to you, to your will and your ways, Lord, no matter what it looks like to us, Father, no matter, we surrender to you. We trust you and we love you. We thank you for always showing up, Father. And I need you, Holy Spirit, to speak through me. We love you in Jesus' name. We pray. Amen. Amen. All right. I forgot my water real quick. I was gonna tell preach to stop there. He was preaching half the message, you know what I mean, when he was up there getting going, huh? So, but we um preach mentioned a week or two ago about not everyone claiming to be a Christian really is. And lately just listening and talking to some people who, if you ask them, they would say that they are Christians, but stepping back and just listening, hearing their stance on issues and watching them and seeing in this world to show where their hearts are at and if Christ is really king in their hearts. People's views after saying they're a Christian might shock you. I know it caused me to scratch my head, but what James said is a very good discernment tool that we can use. And he said, Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Just let people talk and you just listen. People claiming to be Christians who don't read the word, they don't go to church or Bible study, who aren't plugged in to fellowship, they're not being washed by the word. Their mind isn't being renewed to the mind of Christ. And I know some, like Donna said, when you're surrounded by that, I know from being one of the tares, I know from being one, when you say, looking at what they're saying and what they're doing, I used to I used to say that, and I used to do that. So I know what the power of the gospel can do, how it can change hearts and lives, and that's what this is all about. So I do look at them as fellow brothers and sisters in the world, they're just lost, they're on the wrong path, and that is our job and our calling to nudge them, get them, kick them back on the path, because they just don't know. You know what I mean? And I was the exact same way, so I got nothing to say about it, you know. These are the things, these are the things that make the difference between the two, those who say they're Christians and those who not, who are not. And we're gonna dive in and go on a journey through the Bible today and see what the word says, see what it means to be a Christian. But no matter what people may say or how they respond, we preach the gospel no matter, and that's the title for today, no matter. We're gonna start our opening scripture. When you get there, you can stand, is gonna be in uh 1 John 2 18 to 23. So when you get there, I'll ask you to stand for the reading of God's word, and then we'll go. 1 John 2, 18 to 23. And this whole journey is like uh we're gonna be in a full gospel the whole way through all kind of stuff. So hopefully uh with the Holy Spirit's help, I can help uh connect the dots for everybody because I know it's hard for me to understand and kind of get straight, so hopefully we can connect some dots and tie stuff together. All right, first John 2, 18 to 23, it says, Little children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either, and he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. And you just can be seated. I'm gonna dive into uh one passage, verse 19, that says, They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us. Not all those, not all those who say they're Christians are Christians. And Jesus said, not all those who say, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom. To believe in God, you have to believe in how he chooses to reveal himself to us. He chose for us in this time and since Jesus came to reveal himself to us by and through Jesus, the Son of God, who is fully God, and by faith in Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, not our own, not our own Jesus, and his death on the cross, that is how we are saved. Just like Judas didn't want to go along with God's plan, regardless of his motives, he didn't surrender to God's way, but wanted Jesus, he wanted God to do it a different way, his way, what he thought was best. And Judas didn't surrender to God's way, God's plan, knowing and trusting that God knows best. And even though the chosen painted Judas in a better light, the Bible says this in John 12, 1 to 8. Let me get there real quick. And there was too many, uh, too many scriptures, so I didn't have enough of the mustaches to put in all the spots, so I'm just gonna go through and we'll find it. We can all yeah, John 12. So John 12, 1 to 8. It says, then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom he had raised from the dead. There they made him a su a supper, and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of Spicenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him, said, Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and he had the money box and he used to take what was put in it. This describes what was in Judas's heart. And in John 13, it says that before the feast of Passover, when Jesus knew his time had come, loving all those God gave him after supper, the devil having already put the idea into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus. And as soon as Jesus agreed, as soon as Judas agreed in his heart to do this, the Bible says in verse 27 that after Jesus gave Judas a piece of bread, that Satan entered him. And Jesus said, What you do, do quickly. Jesus knew what Judas was going to do, and Satan himself tried to do the same thing to Jesus, tempting him in the wilderness, trying to get Jesus to go away from God's plan and God's way, which was the cross. Satan tried to bribe Jesus with what God already gave him, minus the cross. Satan tried to tempt Jesus with fleshly, earthly, natural things, but without the spiritual victory which was won at the cross. Satan offered Jesus in the natural by our eyes everything God offered Jesus, so it seemed. Everything God offered Jesus, so it seemed, minus the cross, minus the suffering. Trying to lead Jesus away from the spiritual victory at the cross. Jesus could have chosen to live like a king here on earth in the flesh and not go to the cross, but our Lord and King knew what was up. And Jesus knew that everything seen is affected by what is unseen, and that one day soon everything that is unseen to our eyes will manifest and we will see with our natural eyes. Jesus knew everything of importance was in the spiritual before him. And the suffering of the cross was for that victory. Every single one of us would have no victory, lost forever in sin and darkness if it wasn't for Jesus and his suffering and choosing to go to the cross. The Father's plan from the beginning. Satan's way was a cheap knockoff of the real thing. It was a cheap fleshly fleshly natural version of what God already decreed to his son. And you can check out Psalm 2 if you want to see that, verse 6 and 8. God already gave his son the ends of the earth. Satan's offer was all flesh and no spirit, all in the natural with no supernatural. And Jesus of all people, maker of everything, knows that what is being offered is a counterfeit. It's just temporary. But in the natural, it looked like something. It looked like the same thing. And Judas, while unknowingly trying to force or make Jesus go his way, fulfilled God's plan in leading Jesus to the cross. And that's how good our God is. And one thing that helped me a long time ago with the uh that I read with time and figuring out God, because a lot of people say, how does God know the end, the end from the beginning and his sovereignty and our what we're responsible for and all this stuff? If you, I seen uh someone said, we view everything in a timeline like a straight line with dots and the years on it, and we see what's behind, we know where we came from, but we can't see what's ahead. You know, it's a straight line. But if you draw that timeline in a circle and put God in the center, because God's outside of time, that's how he sees everything. So he can see the end from the beginning, he can see it all. So he, when you see that in your head, it helps you understand all the scriptures about God and time and all that. He can see all of it. You know what I mean? So he says what's gonna happen, not because he's making you do something. Judas's choice shows that we have free will right there. He said, Woe to the man who sends him to the cross, but Jesus knew he was going to the cross. And so now let's look at Peter. Right after Jesus said he's blessed for his divine insight on who Jesus is, and then Jesus changes his name from Simon to Peter, Peter also tries to keep Jesus from the cross, and Jesus calls Peter Satan to his face. And this is in Matthew 16, verse 23. Jesus says, Get behind me, Satan, you are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of man. Peter was trying unintentionally to keep Jesus from the Father's plan, God's will, the cross. We, us, always being in the flesh, try to avoid any kind of suffering for any reason. But I love what Hebrews 12 says, verse 1 to 4. And we'll look at that real quick because that's pretty good. Hebrews 12. 1 to 4. And this comes right after, you can read the whole thing if you want. This comes right after the writer of Hebrews, which most people think was Paul, talking about all the afflictions coming against the people for their faith. And uh verse 12, 1 to 4 says, Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. It says that we have so many witnesses before us to look to as an example of how to be and how to view our sufferings and the situations that we go through, and none greater than our Lord Jesus, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, meaning that Jesus could see the blessing of what was to come by looking past the suffering right in front of him, the cross, to the spiritual blessing that would come. Jesus fixed his eyes past the present suffering and saw what was to come and counted it as joy, knowing what the cross would accomplish. It accomplished something that just looking naturally or in the flesh you couldn't see. You would see just what the world sees foolishness to them who are perishing. We are to do the same as Jesus and all those who came before us, knowing that some of these things will come to us too, because the word says so. And that's what was going on when Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica. And we'll look at that. 1 Thessalonians 3 and see what Paul wrote to them and why he wrote it. Because this is good. They had a lot of stuff going on there, and Paul addresses it, but it's good. 1 Thessalonians 3, 1 to 4. And Paul says, Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are appointed to this, for in fact we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know that. Paul is checking in on this church to make sure they haven't fallen away from their faith because of persecution. Paul says, You know this was going to happen because when we were there with you, we told you this was happened. People fallen away from their faith for all kinds of reasons. And those who so-called fall away, were they really of the faith to begin with? And like preach said, do they believe this report? His sermon on this report, that's the difference. Do you believe this report, the gospel? It is, do you believe that it is from God or that it's from man? That's the question. Look what Paul told them, and we're still in 1 Thessalonians, but this is 2, 13 to 16, right before 3, same page. He said, For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. So you see that the word of God which effectively works in you who believe. For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us, and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved. He said, It is how we receive the Word of God. You received the Word of God from us, you welcomed it, not as the Word of man, but as it is in truth the Word of God, which works in you who believe. Now, what's this remind you of? Jesus' parables of the sower and the seed. And just like the parable of the sower and the wheat and the tares, the mustard seed and the leaven, all these parables Jesus gives us in a row in Matthew 13. And I used to think just like his Sermon on the Mount, that they were great teachings, but individual teachings, not that connected to all the teachings around each one of them. But why was I wrong? And how deep the connections go. So let's look at Matthew 13, and hopefully you can lay it out in your book and in your Bible, and we'll just uh we'll just do a brief overview of it. But uh if you see all this connection, it really stay with me, it's really good. And it shows the working of the gospel in you. That's what all this is. So look at Matthew 13, 38 and 39. This is uh the parable of the tares explained. Jesus said, the field is the world, and the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. Okay? So this is Jesus explaining the wheat and tares. Jesus said that he is sowing good seed, he's sowing the good seed, which produces the wheat, or those children of the kingdom, and then the devil sneaks in and sows bad seed, producing tares. So we have two kinds of seeds: good seed and bad seed, which produces wheat or tares. And what's the difference between the two? The seed, right? So Jesus says right before this that the seed is the word of God, and depending on how we receive the seed, the word of God determines our fruit or what kind of plant will be wheat or tares. And if, like Paul said in Thessalonians, if we receive this word of God, which we heard from, and think about it, from church, from a pastor, from a friend, from a TV show, a song on the radio, at work, whatever, however, or wherever, if we receive this word and welcomed it, not as the word of man, but as it is in truth the word of God, then it works in us who believe. And it has the power to change us from bad seed to good seed. And I know that seed doesn't change, but people do, only through receiving the good seed, the word of God, that works in us. We receive this good seed, the gospel, the word of God, which is Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and because of that we become good seed or sons of the kingdom, Jesus said. God took us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. And I've seen this in my life, and it's the testimony of millions of people of their walk and their life with the Lord. And we were the tares, the bad seed in the field, yielding our members to unrighteousness and following self, doing whatever we wanted, doing whatever was right in our own eyes. And think about Paul. He was running around, beating, thrown in prison, and participating in the death of Christians, persecuting anyone who named the name of Jesus. Now, before the Damascus Road, when Paul was doing this, would you say Paul was a good seed or a bad seed? You know what I mean? People saying that seed don't change, and that's true, but this is a parable, and people do. What happened? He met the living word on the Damascus Road. Paul met the living word, and it changed him completely. And the same is available to us. Just like Paul and millions of others, something wonderful happened. We heard the good news in our hearts, meaning our heart finally heard it, not our ears. We heard the word of the kingdom, we received the seed and became good seed, sons of the kingdom, the wheat, and it changed us. And just like it changed us, it can also change those other tares in the field. And that's why Jesus said, Leave them alone till the end. Because that's our job till then, no matter. We are workers in the field, and sometimes it's hard for us to tell between the wheat and the tares, between the real Christians who are trying to be like Jesus and the fake ones. Sometimes the difference is in the heart, which is hard to see for us sometimes. And look at the disciples. They didn't know who the tar was among them. Jesus said in John 6 and 70, Did I not choose you the twelve, and one of you is a devil? You would think that the disciples would be able to see the devil plainly, but they couldn't. Instead, the Bible says that they were all sorry for sorrowful, and asked Jesus, Lord, is it I? Even the disciples couldn't tell the wheat from the tares all the time. And that's why Jesus said, Let them grow together till the harvest, the end of the age, and then I'll send my angels into my kingdom, my field, the world, and they will separate the two. And that's Matthew 13, 40 to 43. And I'll read what Jesus says there real quick. He said, Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, and then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. See, you see what separates the two, the wheat and the tares, the good seed and the bad. It's the word of the kingdom, it's the message of Jesus Christ, and that's the only difference. The gospel. So now you see why the world and the wicked one, the devil, has been fighting since the beginning, trying everything to stop the gospel from going out. He's trying to stop us from receiving and spreading the seed. The devil knows what the truth is, the devil knows what the truth is, the living and what the living word can do. And that's why he tries to steal it. Even though the field is full of tares, just like we used to be, the word of God can change them, and that's why we need laborers in the field, sowing good seed, even the littlest seed. And look at the next parable of the mustard seed. The tiniest of the seeds, it says, and this parable is twofold. Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which is the tiniest seed, but when planted in good soil will grow into a tree. This tiniest seed has the power to change your entire life because it's not just any ordinary seed. It's the word of God. And how does the kingdom grow? By spreading the gospel. And when people hear it and believe it, it takes root in their heart and starts to work. It starts to grow and it changes us. And think about this: Jesus brought the kingdom, the message of the kingdom, one man, but not just any ordinary man, the promised seed. And look at the kingdom now. From one person to now, how many in the kingdom? How many are in the kingdom of heaven now since Jesus? And how did the kingdom grow? One person at a time, one sermon on the mount at a time, one synagogue meeting at a time, one church service at a time, one tent meeting at a time, one Bible study at a time, one normal work day at a time, which rolls right into the next parable of the leaven or the yeast. And leaven in the Bible can be used for good or bad depending on the context. But Jesus says here that the kingdom of heaven has grown and will grow today just like yeast hidden in some flour. Just a little leaven or God's. Word can change it all. Just a tiny seed changes it all. God's kingdom can spread like lemon through some meal or yeast through some flour. It can change us completely and those around us. And you can for the most part, and there's always an exception or two, but you can for the most part stand back and watch God's kingdom spread through families and friends, through people who work together, and just anyone who is around a true Christian. One person in the group hears the gospel and gets saved, then another and another. One person on the team is a Christian, then another, and another. That's the gospel spreading like leaven and changing everything. Think about this. Twelve disciples go out in the name of Jesus from a small town and city way over in Israel and look at Jesus being shared across the entire world now from a tiny town in Jerusalem. Just amazing. How many miles away is that? And yes, just like this, the devil also is sowing seeds. And he's trying to spread his lies and grow his kingdom. Both kingdoms are sowing seeds. It's just like preach a sermon. Do you believe this report? Do you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ? It's the same as way back in Deuteronomy in Deuteronomy 30, where God said, I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live, that you may love the Lord your God, that you may cling to him, for he is your life and the length of your days. God and his goodness reaching out to us. That's what the Bible is. Changing us if we would just believe and let him in. I know you have seen this too. When Jesus' goodness changed your heart and affected your life, and everything, and every time I read the parable of the mustard seed, I think of that girl I saw on TV somewhere giving her testimony. And she said she was at her lowest point and in a prison cell, and she found a scrap piece of paper with part of Psalm 51 on it. And she said, as as she read it, she felt the love of God on her, and the atmosphere around her in that cell changed. And she got a Bible and started reading God's word, and it changed her entire life. A scrap piece of paper with the word of God on it. Wow. There's just something about this living word and the good news of Jesus Christ. And that's why we share it. All those who are called out of darkness, that's why we share it. And I think that that's why I love listening to the kids downstairs sound out and learn to read with the word of God because it's different than just a book or something else, hearing them learn to read it. I don't remember what verse or verses were on that scrap piece of paper, but look at verse 12 and 13. It says, Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me by your generous spirit. Then I will teach transgressors, transgressors your ways, and sinners shall be converted to you. Wow. I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall be converted to you. All the parables show the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing else can change us. And when I step back and zoom out at these parables we've looked at today, I see, I see them in action in Peter's sermon at Pentecost in the book of Acts. And I'll skip through, just touch on a couple verses in the book of Acts. But uh this is right after the Holy Ghost comes and uh Peter stands up and preaches. And if you zoom out and look at this, it's exactly what the parables teach. Acts two. Start in fourteen to eighteen. It says, But Peter standing up with the eleven raised his voice and said to them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words, for these are not drunk as you supposed, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and on my maidservants and my on my men servants and maidservants, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. Men of Israel, and I'm jumping down to twenty-two, men of Israel hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, by him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands and have crucified and put to death, whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it. And now skip to thirty-six. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God had made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord God will call. And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. Amen. And this is exactly what Jesus' parables show. Peter sows the seed, he preaches Jesus Christ and him crucified, and when the unbelievers, the tares, heard this, they were cut to the heart. The word got to their heart, to their soil. And the seed, or just that little bit of leaven of the gospel got into their hearts, for they received it not as the words of man, but as it is in truth the word of God, and the word worked in them. And what happened? They believed, they repented, and they were baptized. The kingdom of heaven grew. That kingdom that started out small, even like a mustard seed, just the twelve or just the hundred and fifty just got bigger, it grew, and three thousand souls were taken from the kingdom of darkness that day to the kingdom of light, and it's still growing into that tree today. In Matthew 13, 11 to 13, the disciples ask Jesus, Why do you speak in parables? Jesus teaches them that his parables hide the truth for some of his listeners and those who are against him, but to the ones committed to following him, these parables paint a beautiful picture. And those who understand and seek these spiritual truths hidden in parables will then understand more and more. And those who don't care to understand or dive in that deep to find out will not grow in their spiritual walk with the Lord, but will go backwards. And like preach said, line upon line, precept upon precept, when we understand one truth, it opens up others in the Word for us, it connects other dots we've been working or we've been wondering about. And that's how it works. And the more you get, the more you will get. And think about us now. All the knowledge and understanding written in front of us, right in front of us at our fingertips. The secrets Jesus told his disciples that the crowd didn't get to see or get to hear, we have them all written down in front of us if we just take the time to read. So, how much has been given to us in Ezekiel 33? God speaks to Ezekiel about being a watchman and telling the children of Israel what God says. And I'll read from that real quick. Ezekiel 33. God said, Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of your people and say to them, When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman. When he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning, his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes away any person from among them, he is taken away for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. And just like Ezekiel for his time, and us for this time, we who heard the gospel, the good news, and were changed. We who are in Christ and know the truth, we can't not speak about what's to come or how we've been changed or how we've been saved. Being a watchman is not just seeing what's coming for ourselves, it's telling others. We are to share the good news with others so it can not only save them, but change them too. And first Peter two nineteen, so I like this. We were not a people, but are now the people of God, called out of darkness into the light, and most of us were the tares before. We were in darkness, and God saved us through his Son Jesus and laid it all out for us in this amazing gospel. Paul says that we have the gospel of reconciliation, and that's what this is the gospel of reconciliation. How can we not tell those who are still in darkness those tares in the field? We need to be the workers in the field proclaiming this gospel to them. It's the whole it's the only thing that saves. And just like the church in Thessalonica, no matter what, no matter what's going on around us, no matter what the world says, no matter who's fake or not fake, no matter in season or out, nothing changes. We preach the gospel in love. Jesus didn't force people to listen, and neither do we. And that's how we receive the word. We come wanting the word. So we proclaim the gospel regardless. And shake the dust off your feet and keep moving. We're called to this. If you heard the gospel and accepted it, you're called, no matter. And what makes the difference then? What makes the difference? Still in Ezekiel 33. In Ezekiel 33, look at 30 to 32. God says, As for you, Son of Man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses, and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord. So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. Indeed, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument. For they hear your words, but they do not do them. For they hear your words, but do not do them. There is the difference. We're called to do more than just hear these words. We are called to be doers of God's word, out of love and in love, with a pure heart, with pure motives. All these parables and all these stories, what do they all show? That the seed, the word, has to get into our hearts. We have to receive it. We have to want to hear it. We have to want to receive it. And remember to be a Christian means to be like Christ. Like Jesus. It doesn't mean to be like Christians. We're not offering people Christians. We're offering them Christ. As Christians, we fall short and we mess up every day. But Christ, but Jesus, he never messes up and he never falls. The message of Jesus is the only thing that saves. It's the only thing that changes us. Amen. Amen. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you for listening to this week's podcast. We pray it was an encouragement and a blessing to you. You can contact us at Valley Gospel Church at 1069 Butler Logan Road, Springdale, Pennsylvania, 15144. We invite you to listen to this week's worship service that follows and tune in for next week's podcast.
SPEAKER_02:When we say the phrase hallowed be thy name, we are saying that God's name is holy and it is set apart from all other names. And that name is sacred and is to be revered and honored. In this next song titled Hallowed Be Thy Name, we're going to be singing some of the beautiful names of God. And we know that God's names reveal his character. And when we come into his presence, we revere and honor those names and we tell him that he is worthy of our offering of praise. Amen.
SPEAKER_04:Oh come on, church, let's praise him.
SPEAKER_03:You are love, you are life, you are the Lord over everything. Alpha make a job over. Okay, of eight wonderful way to make the worthy of my honor. Hello with me.