(This transcript was generated by AI. Apologies for any inacuracies)

We are in a teaching series that we have titled Bringing Up There, Down Here.

And this will be the final week in this teaching series.

We're gonna close it out with some practical application about how we, the people of God, can begin to bring heaven to earth.

You know, Jesus says, whenever we pray in Matthew chapter six, verse 10, he says, we need to pray, God, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Come on.

And so this whole entire seven weeks series has been all about how we as a church are called to permeate God's presence in the earth.

God created human beings in his likeness, in his image.

And I wanna go back to Genesis chapter one again, verse 27, the Bible says, so God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him.

Male and female, he created them, the Bible says.

God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply.

In other words, you know what?

Continue to build humans, make humans in this earth.

But something greater than just having another human or having a baby or having a family, God wanted his presence put in that baby, in that family, so his presence could continue to grow in the earth.

The Bible says that God says, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.

God's intention was never for one man and one woman to subdue the whole earth, but God intended for his people to begin to push back darkness and bring in the light of who he is in the world, permeate his presence, his authority in all the earth and not let the earth reign and rule over them.

The Bible says that God says, rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

However, the Bible teaches us, instead of exercising that authority that God gave them as a man and a woman, that they gave over to the voice of the enemy and they practically gave that authority away in the garden to the voice of the enemy, and now sin enters the world.

Sin literally means missing the mark of God's glorious standard.

Listening to the voice of the enemy will begin to make you miss the mark of what God has created you for.

The Bible says sin entered the world because the first man and the first woman gave away that authority.

But the Bible declares something else.

We live on the other side of the cross, the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus.

And before the ascension of Jesus, after the crucifixion and the resurrection, Jesus says something remarkable in Matthew 28.

He says, go into all the world, be fruitful and multiply, make disciples.

He says, because now all authority in the heavens and on the earth have been given to me.

And so Jesus came to take that authority back.

Come on, somebody.

And the Bible says in the book of Acts, he begins to pour out his spirit, the Holy Spirit of God on men and women alike.

Acts chapter two.

The Bible says God pours out his spirit on a people.

Jesus ascends, Jesus pours out his spirit and his spirit begins to give us gifts and a reason to live.

And we are to live underneath Christ's authority, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Come on, somebody.

And we're to bring up there, down here, permeating God's amazing presence into all the earth.

And so again, we're calling our church to step up to the plate, to not just be saved to go to heaven one day, but to begin to take that salvation that Christ Jesus has given us and come underneath his authority, submit to his authority and begin to live out a life of allegiance to him and pour out who God is in all of the earth.

And so today we're gonna learn again how we can do that practically.

If you have your Bibles, I'm gonna invite you to open it up to Mark chapter 14.

Mark chapter 14.

Now, this is a story that happened before Jesus was crucified.

It was towards the end of Jesus's earthly ministry and Jesus is encountering people because Jesus brought what?

Heaven to earth.

He is God in the flesh.

He is the perfect one.

And he begins to teach those around him about living by the power of God in their life and pushing back darkness, bringing light into the world.

You know, Jesus declared he was the light.

He says, I am the light of the world.

And then he told his disciples in Matthew chapter five, he says, now you're to go and basically be the light of the world.

And so Jesus was here, but he was transforming human beings back into the likeness that they were originally created for, bringing them back in communion with God, bringing them in a connection with God.

And the whole time he was teaching these people that this relationship they have with God is not just a religious exercise.

It is basically who God called them to be and who God created them to be.

And they need to live with allegiance towards this great God and be empowered to do great and mighty things.

And so now Jesus is sitting in the home of a man who had previously had leprosy.

In other words, maybe this man had been healed sometime earlier by Jesus, had been touched by Jesus.

Jesus is visiting his home with some of his closest followers.

And the Bible says here in this story, a lady enters in, and we're gonna learn some powerful lessons today from this lady that the Bible does not name, who entered into this particular scene of how to really bring up there, down here.

The Bible says it this way in Mark chapter 14, verse three.

Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy.

While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from the essence of nard.

She broke up in the jar and she poured the perfume over Jesus' head.

Some of those at the table were indignant.

Why waste such expensive perfume?

You're crazy as a bed bug, lady, they ask.

It could have been sold for a year's wages and the money given to the poor.

So they scolded her harshly.

However, Jesus, knowing the reason he came, knowing that he came to bring up there, down here, he came to advance the good news of the kingdom of God.

Jesus replied in verse six, leave her alone.

Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me?

You will always have the poor among you.

You'll be able to exercise bringing up there, down here, always, Jesus says.

And you can help them whenever you want to, but you will not always have me.

She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time.

Jesus says in verse nine, I tell you the truth, wherever the good news, everybody say good news.

That's what we're talking about today.

Wherever the good news is preached throughout the world, Jesus says, in this particular moment, he says this woman's deed will be remembered and discussed.

So I thought today would be an appropriate day to remember this woman's good deed and to discuss this woman's good deed as we're closing out this teaching series about bringing up there, down here.

Jesus says what this lady did was remarkable.

Jesus says what this lady did was incredible.

This lady, Jesus says what this lady did made a lot of sense, though it didn't make a lot of sense to those sitting around the table with him in the room, because Jesus says what this lady was doing was she was starting where she was.

And what this Bible passage can teach us is, you know what, God has given all of us the ability in Christ Jesus, if we've been saved by the blood of Christ Jesus, brought in a right relationship with God, God has given all of us the ability to start, you know what, begin to advance the good news of the kingdom right where we are.

Other words, you don't have to wait to get somewhere else to begin to help people understand who God is and what God has done in your life and what God is doing through your life.

Oftentimes we think, well, whenever I become a seasoned Christian, I can begin to share, you know what, some things about who God is.

No, if God has touched you in a moment, the reality of it is, and he's changed your life by the power of the good news, the power of the Holy Spirit has moved into your life.

You don't have to know everything that God wants to do in and through you for the rest of your life, but what you need to do is you need to start right where you are.

If you're 14 years old, if you're 17 years old, if you're 35 years old, if you're 80 years old, if you're 100 years old, if God touches your life, start where you are, pouring out the good news of the kingdom and what he's done in your life.

This is the power of a testimony.

And so many of us, you know what, are waiting for, I've gotta learn all of these Bible passages and all of these things.

No, no, no, if you learn a lesson from God's word, the truth of God's word, begin to teach what you know now, begin to share what you know now.

I remember whenever I first, you know what, gave my life over to the Lord and surrendered my life to the Lord and God moved in my life at the age of 32.

And I just started where I was.

I didn't really know a whole lot, but I just kind of started sharing the good news of what had happened in my life.

Started sharing with those around me, those at work.

You know, I was on a skidster on the back of a backhoe, all these kinds of things.

I had a landscape and a nursery, a retail garden center.

And when God touched my life, it was over a series of several weeks, but after God touched my life, invaded my life, moved into my life, all I knew to do was go back out to my job right where I was and began to share what God had done in my life.

I wasn't some religious holy roller.

Oh no, I was just a changed human being.

God was beginning to push some things out of my life, put some new things in my life.

Those around me began to take notice of what was going on in my life and begin to ask questions about the change that had happened in my life.

And so I began to share my testimony, share what God had done, share that, you know what, my wife had began to pray for me, share and build on that testimony all the days of my life.

I had no idea I would be standing right here in 2024 in the middle of an arena in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, preaching the good news of the kingdom to thousands and thousands of people.

I had no idea.

And nobody else did either because nobody would have never seen me holding a microphone and doing what I'm doing today, pastor in a local church, but I started where I was.

And I'm not saying God's going to call everybody in this room to pastor a local church.

But what I am communicating to you is there's always excuses and there's always reasons why not to leverage what you have right now and start where you are.

You'll never have enough.

This is the voice of the enemy.

Remember sin entered the world because of the voice of the enemy.

The enemy wants to take the authority God has given you away.

And so he'll always tell you, you're not good enough.

Everybody say, I'm not good enough.

And that's what people will begin to say.

And again, but God says we are good enough underneath the blood of Jesus, come on.

And so the enemy whispers these thoughts to all of us.

You're not good enough.

You can't speak well enough.

You can't do enough.

You can't give enough.

You can't share.

You should have done this with what you had instead of this.

And it's the voice of the enemy.

The enemy will always discourage you from sharing the good news of who Christ Jesus is, the good news of the kingdom.

The enemy will always continually to discourage us along life's journey.

Mark chapter 14, verse three, the Bible says this.

While they were eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made of the essence of nard.

She broke open the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

There was all kinds of excuses in the room of why she shouldn't do this.

There was all kinds of cultural reasons why she shouldn't do this.

But what's amazing about this lady is she didn't pay attention to the cultural reasons of why she shouldn't advance the good news of the kingdom.

She wasn't gonna be politically correct to appease everybody around her.

She stepped into the room with courage.

She wasn't condemning of people, but what she was was she was about advancing the good news of the kingdom and who Jesus is.

And she broke open this perfume jar and she started right where she was and didn't stop because of the voices, the naysayers in the room.

And what I wanna encourage you in today is if we're really gonna be a church that advances the good news of the kingdom, oftentimes there's gonna be naysayers.

There's gonna be those who just wanna drop out of the game on the journey because something was said, something was broken, something wasn't just right.

And they're gonna be like, I'm gonna quit.

No, no, no, we don't quit on our assignment because things aren't going our way today.

We don't quit on our assignment because you know what?

All the things around us don't just line up just like we think they should line up.

This lady walks in the room and she pours out this jar of perfume and she starts exactly where she is.

And this is the question I believe that all of us should ask.

God, how do you want to use me in this situation to express who you are and bring up there, down here?

That should be the prayer of each and every one of our hearts.

What would God do with me in this situation?

Whenever things are coming against you, what would God do with you in this situation?

And we're all human.

And what we want to do is not start where we are.

We're gonna start somewhere else because you know what?

This just must not be the place because I'm experiencing adversity.

I'm experiencing a challenge.

I'm experiencing this.

Lots of times the challenge and the adversity is a sure sign that you're probably doing what God has designed you to do.

And many people will be like, well, maybe God's wanting to move me somewhere else.

No, no, no.

Maybe God's wanting to work through you right where you are.

And you push through that adversity and see what God can do.

Remember, we're here to push back darkness and bring the light of Christ into the world.

Light don't retreat.

Light keeps penetrating and keeps moving forward in the face of darkness.

Yes.

Number two, don't only start where you are, but use what you have.

Use what you have.

Look what the Bible says in Mark 14, verses four and five.

Some of those at the table that day, and these were Jesus's closest friends, those disciples.

They were indignant at the lady who walked into the room.

Why waste such expensive perfume, they asked.

It could have been sold for a year's wages and the money given to the poor.

So they scolded her harshly.

And I was thinking about this.

What the lady had was a jar of perfume.

She had an expensive jar of perfume.

She breaks it open.

She pours it over Jesus's head.

And Jesus says what she's done is a good thing.

Why was it a good thing?

Because yes, she could have used, sold that jar of perfume, made a lot of money and fed a lot of poor people.

But Jesus was like, there's always an opportunity to do that, to advance the good news.

Jesus says, but right now in this moment, what she's done is she's basically prepared my body for burial.

And my body's gotta be buried so it can resurrect.

So the world can know the goodness of God, the forgiveness of God, the love of God.

And so why do you scold her for doing such a good thing?

I came into this earth to go to a cross, to pay the penalty of sin, to resurrect from a grave.

And she has prepared my body for that.

Yes, it could have been used for something different.

But the reality of it is she did what she could with what she had in her hand to advance the good news of why I came into this earth, was to reconnect people to their God, empower them with the spirit of the living God and them to could run after and begin to permeate my presence throughout the earth.

Why scold her for that?

She's used what she had.

Yes.

And we all have something.

We need to start where we are, use what we have.

I mean, I think back into the scripture.

You know, Moses had a stick and he began to change the world with a stick because God said, Moses, take that stick and point it towards that sea.

And I'm going to split the sea when you come underneath my authority with your stick.

And I'm going to do a great and mighty things.

Moses believed that God could do what he said he could do.

And so he took the stick and did what God said to do with the stick.

Come on, he misused the stick sometimes, but the reality of it is he had a stick in his hand.

He used the stick and did great and mighty and powerful things with a stick.

I think about David.

David had a rock, come on.

David had a rock and he did some amazing things.

He defeated the giant in the valley and the nation of Israel began to advance in what they were designed to do and permeate God's presence in the earth.

I think about Rahab.

Rahab had a string.

She advanced the good news of who God was by lifting a scarlet cord over a wall, dropping a string down the wall and God did great and powerful and amazing things through her life, come on.

I think about all these things.

I think about Peter.

Peter had a festival and he went to the Passover feast and he shared the good news and the Bible says at that festival when he shared the good news about who this resurrected Jesus was, 3,000 people that day were baptized to announce the good news of the kingdom, come on.

I think about Paul.

Think about him.

He had Greek statues.

Greek statues, idols that a culture worshiped and he was able to introduce a lot of people by using a statue to the unknown God and they surrendered their life to the unknown God, the God who they did not know yet and God poured into that community because he chose to use a statue.

Don't tell me you don't have anything to use for the greatness of God.

You've got what you need in your hand.

We have to use what we have in our hand but we have to remember the whole reason this lady busted open the alabaster jar was to advance the good news of the kingdom.

So every ministry we do, it always needs to be about advancing the cause of Christ.

Fall festival.

We're not just doing a fall festival to be cool.

We're doing a fall festival because you know what?

In the context of the world we live in, God can use a fall festival to show his love and his greatness to families in the community and maybe they're drawn to the same God who has changed our life and God gets a hold of their life and they become a part of the family and then together we can continue to permeate the light of Christ in the world.

Some people would say why waste your money on feeding these people coming in through our breakfast every morning.

It's a lot of hard work to cook all that breakfast every single week.

It's in our hands and maybe somebody's gonna come eat a donut or a cookie or whatever they cooked on that stove in there, a sausage biscuit and maybe God's gonna use that.

We're not just cooking sausage biscuit and being nice with the sausage biscuit.

Other words, there's a motive behind everything we do.

Come on.

And it's not so you just like me.

Look at good old Clay.

He gave us another sausage biscuit.

No, it's to show you the goodness of God and maybe God's gonna get a hold of your heart and he's gonna use what you have and together we can do great and mighty things for the Lord but oftentimes we don't pour out what we have in our hand because we're so worried about what everybody's gonna think in the room but if we're truly going to bring up there, down here and worship an all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere at one time God, I have to believe that he knows right where I am.

He knows exactly what I have.

He knows exactly what I need to do and I need to commune with him, step into it and use all I have.

In order to permeate his presence into the earth.

The Bible says in this same passage of scripture where it teaches us how to pray.

It says, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and then I will add all of these other things unto you as well.

All these other things listed up in that passage that people tend to worry about.

And I love that passage of scripture.

Almost taught on that passage today.

And here's the reason I love that passage of scripture because that word first, seek first, everybody say first.

It's a Greek word in English it says first but it's a Greek word known as protos.

And that word first means first in rank, first in order but it also has another meaning.

It means that which everything else revolves around.

The center of everything, like a hub on a tire.

And so what the scripture is saying is, put Christ, God's kingdom and God's righteousness in the center of everything.

Your work life, your family life, your play life, your school life, your marriage life, put everything else around Christ.

Let him be the hub and the center.

And then all these other things we tend to worry about, our clothes, our food, our shelter up in that passage.

God says, I will add those things to you as well.

But what we tend to do is we tend to worry oftentimes about all these other things instead of seeking first the kingdom and believing that God has given me everything I have and put him in the center of everything I have.

I don't hold my marriage together, God does.

Come on somebody.

And I'm seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness in that.

I don't hold my finances together, God does.

Come on somebody.

I'm not seeking after finances, but God tends to provide the finances and I honor him with the finances through what we call tithes and offerings.

Come on somebody, because I am seeking him first, his kingdom and his righteousness.

And he adds those things to me as well.

I'm not running around here trying to figure out where I need to live or where I need to stay every day.

God provides that.

And when God provides that, you know what?

I honor him with what he's put in my hands.

I just leverage it and try to use it for the kingdom.

God's provided this great and mighty 60 acre piece of property.

Seek him first and his righteousness.

But this property isn't here just so we can have a piece of property.

And everybody like, look at that big old church on the corner of Robert Edge and 31.

No, the reason we leverage what we have and do what we do on this campus is we want to shine the light of Christ in this world, be a city on a hill unto the nations.

Use all of what we have.

Now there's nuances in all of that because God calls you and I to be stewards with what we have.

Other words, we need to steward it and leverage it.

All the time, we have to use his wisdom and do what we can with what we have in the moments we have in order to advance the good news of God, but never make a mistake.

God has put what's in our hands to bring up there, down here.

And I honestly believe that you and I are only here for a just whisper of time.

It's just life as we know it now is fading fastly.

But the truth of the matter is we can leverage every moment we have with the eternal life we have in Christ Jesus and do good and push back evil with the moments we have in this earth by using what we have in our hand.

The last thing I wrote down is this lady doesn't only start where she is, use what she has, but she does what she can.

Look what Jesus says, Mark chapter 14, verses six through nine.

Jesus replied when everybody was fussing at her about busting open the jar and pouring the perfume over his head.

Jesus says, leave her alone.

Why criticize her for doing such a good thing?

You will always have the poor among you and you can help them whenever you want to, but you will not always have me.

So she has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time.

I tell you the truth, wherever the good news is preached throughout the world, this woman's deed will be remembered and it will be discussed.

So she did what she could and we must do what we can with what we have in our hands.

You see, God has created us to do great and marvelous things and he's gifted each and every one of us in this room in a various way.

And what the Bible teaches we learned last week is all the powers and principalities in the universe are looking down on what God is doing in his people and through his people.

And every time God plucks a human being, a family, a group of people in a community out of darkness and puts them in the wonderful light and gives them various gifts, every time God does that, the Bible says the heavens stand in awe of what God is doing.

Because the reality of it is, is Jesus put the enemy on his heels.

And the reality is the enemy right now is suffering because of the goodness of God in this world.

Have you ever heard the phrase hurt people hurt people?

The truth of the matter is the whole reason the enemy is attacking you, attacking me, attacking God's family is because he's hurting because of God's amazing goodness.

But he aimed to displease God.

He aimed to disorient God.

He tried to be God and God said, no, I'm gonna create human beings in my likeness and they're gonna push back darkness and they're gonna put light in this world.

And as the enemy challenged God, God put the enemy in his place and the enemy is on his heels.

Every single time God saves somebody through Christ Jesus, they step into the kingdom, receive the goodness of God, the spirit of God in their life and begin to exercise what God created them to do in this world.

Because that's God's plan for every single human being that's ever born.

Whether the baby is being created right now in the womb or you're 80 years old in this room, God's purpose and God's plan is simply to bring you into the earth and the time, the space and the place, the generation he has placed you in for such a time as this.

And it's to bring up there, down here.

And it's for you and me to operate together in unity with the gifts and the talents and the resources he has given us and make our aim and our purpose to bring up there, down here in all situations.

God's calling us to start where we are, use what we have and do what we can.

But the question is, is will you have the faith to trust Jesus's forgiveness, come in communion with God and begin to let God work through you in spite of your past.

This is what the gospel is.

God forgives, God heals and God uses if you would dare believe him and trust him by faith.

Let me pray for you today.

God, you're an amazing God.

I thank you for every person in this room.

And God, there's people here today that from a worldly standpoint, they have a lot.

But God, they feel empty inside because they don't believe you can use them to do great and mighty things.

God, I pray for those people today, those people who the enemy is blinded and they can't see the light of Christ and the goodness of you and the goodness of the gospel.

God, I pray for those who are deceived today by the lie of the enemy, feeling like God can't use them.

My friend, if that is you today, I hope you'll believe God's word and know the reason Jesus came was to forgive you of your sin and put you in right relationship with God and empower you to live with the presence of his spirit in your life and you begin to walk in it.

God calls us to have faith and that's what he wants to do with our life.

And the Bible says it's impossible to please your creator without that faith.

But the Bible also says if you have a mustard seed of faith, a little bit of faith and that this is what God's gonna do, he can begin to do great and mighty things.

And so today, if you need to put your faith in who Jesus is and what he came to do in your life, my prayer is today would be the start of a new journey in spite of where you've been.

Maybe you wanna say this, say, God, today I realize I have sinned and fallen short of your standard.

And I wanna receive the forgiveness that Jesus came to offer humanity on that cross when he gave his life's blood.

I wanna receive the power that he exhibited when he defeated death and rose from a grave.

And I wanna have this communion with you, God.

I wanna have this connection with you, God.

Tell God, thank you for that gift of Jesus that he sent Jesus into this world to put you in right relationship with him.

And tell God today, you wanna turn away from sin and turn towards this good news of the kingdom, this good news of who Jesus is.

And my friend, I invite you every day of your life to continue to put your faith in the work of Christ and the work that Christ wants to do through you.

And together, God's gonna do great and powerful things through his church.

If you said that prayer, just thank God for his goodness today.

And it's in Jesus' name.

Amen.