What Are We Doing? | Judah Smith

The title of my talk tonight is is is what are we doing? What are we doing? And here's the question I want us to consider. Have you ever wandered into or wondered the thought what are we doing? Not what do I do for work, not what do I do for hobbies, not what do I do in terms of errands, but like what are we doing?

What's the point? What's the purpose? What's the big idea? Why are we here? What's going on? One of my favorite philosophers, theologians said, "The whole of life is enjoying God, enjoying you." Oh, that's good. I like that. All right. I like that. But let's expound. What are we doing?

What are you doing here? What is life all about? Now, if you grew up like me, I grew up with around a lot of public speakers. my dad, we traveled the country and um he spoke in every single state in the union except North and South Dakota for obvious reasons.

And uh I'm kidding. I have nothing against the Dakotas. That joke doesn't work anymore. People used to laugh. That was the '9s. All right. Well, listen. Somebody like, "Oh, I like Dakotas. I've never been I've only the only states I've never been to is North and South Dakota."

Here's a thought. We just we merge the Dakotas and call it good. You know what I mean? All right. So anyways, grew up traveling and heard a lot of sermons, heard a lot of talks, uh, grew up going to motivational gatherings in arenas. And boy, I could tell you my favorite motivational speakers growing up.

Um, so I heard a lot of talks on the big idea. The big idea is to love and be loved. I'll tell you why you're here. You're here to create and innovate and ideulate. You're a creator. You have a creator and you partner with the creator and you create.

So, let's get out there and let's innovate. Let's design. Let's imagine. Let's dream. Let's live. Let's do it. Now's the time. You know, like I grew up with around that. So, I was like, "Yeah, let's get out there." And my dad did a seminar on vision and destiny and conquest and purpose. and he would call me up on stage at 6 7 8 9 10 years old and hand me the mic.

And my job at the conclusion of the seminar was to impress everyone in the room that a as a as a young little boy I could mimic my dad. And so we had this whole routine and I would get up and he'd say, "What do you want to be when you grow up, son?"

I'd say, "I want to be a preacher." And he'd say, "What kind of preacher?" I said, "A better one than you." And the crowd would go crazy, right? It was amazing. This is spent my whole life getting up telling people here's the big idea. Here's what's most important.

Here's what really matters. So allow yourself for a moment to answer the question in your own head. No judgment. Nobody can hear you. What are we doing here? What's the big idea? What is the point? What is the point? Because the truth is there's not a single one of us here.

Whether you were raised like me and around non-stop motivation, inspiration, it's my whole life. That's what we did. motivation, inspiration, believe, dream, have faith, speak. Words are powerful, dreams are powerful, visions, what do you want to do? Make a difference, serve people, love humanity, right? And this was my whole life.

So when I ask you, what are we doing? How do you answer that? How do you answer that? Because it occurs to all of us, doesn't it? like right now at the same time we don't spend all of our days doing the main thing. In fact, a lot of the stuff that stresses us out and gets us frustrated is not at all connected to the main thing.

We're just annoyed, agitated, frustrated. There are things you brought into this room that hopefully by the power of perspective, nothing will have changed when we leave this theater, but perhaps that thing that was truly bothering you will find scale. And maybe what came in as a big grizzly bear in your lap will leave as a little keychain teddy bear that you're like, I think I'll be fine.

Okay, we all have some of those things. So hopefully by unearthing together what really matters, maybe we can let go of some stuff that doesn't. Maybe we can spend more of our time on what we're actually truly doing here. So let's expound a little bit more. Are we here to create?

Are we here to ideulate? I've heard people say we're here as builders. You know, Bob the builder, we're all builders. We're the children of God. And if you look at history and if you look at all of the different uh uh uh uh incredible eras and times and and and and and and conquerors and leaders, they were always building building building.

Your life is about building building other people, building entities, building service, building building. And that's impressive that it convinced me I'm here to build. I'm a builder. Okay? I'm an innovator by nature. I'm a creative. So I would hear different speakers like me say, "You're here to create."

And I would be like, "Yes. Yes, I'm here to create." But none of those people when they spoke all those talks and messages and sermons lived in 2025. But we have the privilege of being alive today. And here's the biggest problem staring us in the face. It's a thing called chat GPT.

Now, I just want to say I'd like to rename chat GPT because PT doesn't flow. BT chat GBD GBT that flows. Chat G, you got to stop and go PT. I don't like it. So, if at some point during this message I refer to as chat GBT or GBD, relax.

Okay. I've had people confront me because I said chat GBD. grow up. Okay. Like saying that, you know, like I'm mad at you. Like, well, he's Anyways, here's the problem with chat GPT. It's annoying, isn't it? I think it is, too. Why' they name it that? That's on them.

Um, it can think better than you. It can build better than you. Okay, so here's the truth, and this is the truth. I thought chat GPT would take your job, but never take mine. I'm dead serious. I really did. In the deep recesses of my soul, I'd be like, "Oh, I feel bad for you.

It probably will design better shirts than you do." Okay, but like my line of work kind of puts a premium on the uniqueness of the personality. And then Wes on our team started asking Chat GPT to write sermons for me. They're unbelievable. They're the most gorgeous, stunning, extraordinary sermons I've ever read.

In 30 seconds, we get 40 pages. And I got to be honest with you, if I could just memorize them word for word, I would become the greatest ortor in the history of the world. I mean, I'm listen. I'm like, it it gets me. It knows me. It's better than me.

It's the best me I've ever met of me. I'm like, "How did you and Wes like I told Chat GBT about you and it knows about you and and then it comes out and like so the other day we're we're shooting like you know weekly services that you can get on our app and and I'll shoot like four or five of them in a day and I said turn the cameras on and we put on the teleprompter the conclusion, the summary that chat GPT wrote for me, but I didn't tell you that it wrote it.

I pretended like it was me and it felt great. I felt smart. I felt like a builder. I felt creative and innovative. And then it dawned on me, I'm losing my job. Like your AI can like you can literally ask for me and ask for a sermon from me and it will just create it for you and you can dress me in any clothes you'd like.

You know, like this is this is bizarre. Wait a minute. It's coming for my job. But seriously, so when chat GPT writes a sermon for me, is that worship? Because when I write a sermon, it's worship. Now, some of you think worship is only the music part. But that's just that's just what we call it.

But that's not true. The whole thing is worship, right? So when I'm communicating the story of God, this is my act of worship. But wait a second. When Chat GPT write is it worship? My friend asked CET GPT to write a prayer with based on their favorite theology, theologian, philosopher background and and honestly the prayer that came out.

I I mean I was like we got to get that on YouTube immediately, bro. And you could cry a little bit while you pray that prayer. The world will listen to that prayer. I mean, it's the most astounding, gorgeous, stunning prayer I've ever heard. But here's my question.

Is that prayer? Is that worship? Now, the reason I say no, now some of you'd say, "Well, if you get it from the machine and then you make it your own and you believe it, then maybe it could be fair, fair, fair." But the answer is no. Chat GPT doesn't write sermons that are worship.

Doesn't write prayers that are worship. Why? Because it's a machine. But why? Because it's a machine. Yeah. But why? Well, I It doesn't have a soul. Okay. It doesn't It doesn't feel anything. There we go. Now, we're getting somewhere. It doesn't feel anything. I'm going to make a proposal tonight that maybe you've never heard.

And And maybe that's an arrogant statement to make. Like, Judy, you think you have a proposal tonight that no one's ever heard? How about relax and grow up? Fair. But perhaps you've never heard a preacher like me tell you that maybe what we're actually doing here has to do with feeling.

Yeah, that might be. And I think we have an advantage in the age of the most intelligent machine in human history. We get an opportunity to go if building is what makes us uniquely who we are and what we're doing. A machine can do it better. Thinking machine can do it better. innovating, creating machine can do it better.

So all of a sudden you're like, "What can the machine not do?" Because well, I'm trying to preach, but you're doing it for me. All right. Not a problem. Not a problem. I love you. How about taking a guy's punchline? All right. Not a problem. I forgive you.

Okay. We've been doing this a long time and you've been stealing my punchline for 10 years. I forgive you for that as well. So feeling the machine can't I'm having I I'm It's all good guys. I'm It's clearly the machine can't feel it's a machine but but we can right.

So it's interesting at the beginning of time in the Torah it in in the book called the beginning Genesis it says that the man the shell of a man was made but it wasn't until God breathed the breath his breath into the shell. It says at that point the man became a living being or soul or a living healer, a seat for feeling God.

And so I would like to suggest tonight that what we're doing here, like the main point of what we're doing here is I know I know I know you're like you're a feeler. You love talking like this. Some of you like I'm a little more cerebral. I don't know.

I think thinking is what we're here doing. fair. Certainly a big part of it, but I think what you feel sets you apart from the machine. What you feel. And I think what you're doing here is feeling something in your soul that no other being on earth can feel.

Not even Louis, my multioo. I'm pretty sure I'm awakening his soul to feel God. But as far as we know, I think all the animals are good. We're going to It's Don't worry about the animals, okay? I love the animals. I really do. I'm so in love with animals now.

It's wild. Which is weird because when I was younger, I didn't have much appreciation for animals, which I think is very concerning and scary and I needed to grow. And I did grow and now I love animals. But now I got to make sure I don't love animals more than I love people because that's a challenge because that would be really counterproductive in my line of work.

But sometimes I like my dog a lot more than you. But that's beside the point. Let's keep moving. I think we're here to fail. To fail. So, here's the question I started to ask myself. This has been like a month of thinking these thoughts. What's the zenith feeling we're supposed to feel since when we feel we're most alive and we uncover maybe the essence for why we are here.

Now, we could digress, right? Think about all the things we do to keep us from feeling, which is a wild thought. And I tried to I went down that that kind of like that that water slide, that tube, that twister. And I started to go all the things we do to lessen our feels because we're overcome with all that we're feeling.

I woke up this morning feeling um agitated for no particular reason. You ever been there? You're just like something's going on, right? So I started texting friends. It's what I usually do. I'm like, "Hey, hey, you good? How you doing?" You know, and you know, no one like sometimes I'll do this and someone will be like, "Man, my my dad just died."

And I'm like, I'm telling you that's it. You know, like I'll I'll like something's going on. But today was like, no. Everyone's like, "Yeah, great. Good." And I'm like, and I'm just feeling something. Feelings can be deceiving. Feelings can be exhausting. So perhaps when I say you're here to feel, you're like, "Are you serious, bro?

I'm exhausted with my feelings. I don't want to feel anymore." more. And there's billiondoll industries that will help you not feel anything. What is the zenith feeling we feel? Some would argue it's love. I'd like to be more specific tonight because I think I've uncovered for you the feeling you're to feel to discover why you're here and experience being truly alive.

Because that's what I want for you. And that's what I want for me. And I think what I'm about to share with you is so simple. Perhaps it's been missed. That's the only reason it would be missed. Not because it's so deep, but it's just so simple. So, arguably Jesus is on a cross for six hours.

While he hangs there, he'll say seven things. These are famous statements. I once wrote a book that you didn't read or buy on the seven statements Jesus. Like, some of you are like, "You have books? Shut up." So, seven statements, six hours Jesus is on the cross. Potentially, we think perhaps the very first statement Jesus said while hanging on the cross is the one I'd like to highlight tonight that maybe will shed more light on what I have just communicated about chat GPT and your feelings.

Jesus says this, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. Now, I would argue this is the greatest collection of words ever put together and uttered by a human being. Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing.

Now, about this point, you're like, "Wow, that's very kind of Jesus." It's more than that. Jesus is experiencing ancient Roman crucifixion. Now, for those who are interested, thousands of men and women died by Roman crucifixion. This does not make Jesus unique. In fact, even the crosses that we wear, it's easier to wear a cross than an empty tomb.

It's kind of hard to develop over gold. But the cross has become an iconic symbol. But to be fair, it's the cross that does not make Jesus all that unique. Now, the fact that he was undeserving and he had no sin and he became sin starts to shape for us the uniqueness of his crucifixion.

But of course, it's not until 3 days later until he's resurrected that we realize this crucifixion is unlike any other crucifixion because he died then he undied. So that makes it really unique. But Jesus while hanging on the cross utters, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing."

Now, I'm not here to gross you out. Like I said, I was already offended by the two bloody gory movie I watched the other night with my son. He was offended as well, in case you're wondering. But by the time Jesus is hanging on the cross, it's beyond that which you can honestly comprehend.

And no recent productions have even come close. Jesus entire spine is exposed. It's rubbing up against the rugged cross. His intestines are hanging out. and he has been cut from his manhood up to his neck. He is split in two. And by all accounts, do your research and study, it was tough to tell if he was a human or an animal, male or female.

He is an absolute tattered mess, heaving in extreme agony as a six hours. Now, the idea behind Roman crucifixion is you take the perpetrator, you take the criminal to an edge of their life, an inch of their life, and then you pin them to a tree where they don't die from anything you've you've tortured them with, but they die as blood fills their lungs and they suffocate.

So when I say Jesus says seven things while six hours on the cross, every statement he utters is at a level of agony that is hard for me to adequately describe based limited time we have tonight. So when Jesus says, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing."

I would like to push back on that if you don't mind and say they certainly knew how to torture you. They certainly knew where to put the nails. They certainly knew where to put the crown, which by the way, by all accounts, even recently, we think the crown was more of a helmet, puncturing the hole of his head.

They they put a mock sign over your cross, Jesus. They they certainly seem to know what they're doing. So here's what I'd like to submit. In this cataclysmic moment where in a matter of hours the sun will go dark, the earth will shake, people will get out of the grave, rocks will split.

So even creation itself will groan and demonstrate its displeasure. The creation will say don't do this to the creator. It is historically, factually an unprecedented event wherever you fall on the spiritual spectrum with Jesus. And he says, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing." Here's how I hear and here's what I think he's saying.

I think locked within these beautiful, poetic, agonizing, gorgeous, stunning, compassionate words of Jesus lies the essence of why you and I are here. When he says they don't know what they're doing, I don't think he means to reference the details of the agonizing crucifixion. They knew what they were doing.

I don't think he means names and details and hours and days. I think he meant like we mean tonight. What are we doing? No. S. What are we doing? What are we doing to each other? What are we doing with our days? What are we doing with our hours?

What are we doing with our souls? What are we doing? Have you ever seen this little known Disney animation called Bolt? It's crazy. And in the Bolt, I think it's Bolt. Might be a different Disney. I don't know. I get them mixed up. But there's this successive group of people that just sit and watch.

Do you ever do you ever do you ever go on your TV and look at all the platforms we have now and all the content and do you ever scroll through like six different subscriptions you have and 2900 different shows and you're like nothing to watch? Does that ever scare you or is that just me?

Am I ever like terrified by me? Absolutely. What are we doing? What are we doing? What are we doing? Father, forgive They don't know what they're doing. That's what I think he means. They don't know what they're doing here. They don't know what this is all for. They don't know who I am, but they don't know who they are.

Father, forgive them so that they'll know what they're doing. That's how I hear it. I think you're here to feel forgiven. And I think that's where you discover everything that this life is all about. So I submit to you tonight that what we're doing, the zenith experience you can have as a human is to feel forgiven.

And so get your phones out, do your research, you can do it really quick. chat GPT will tell you there is no other dominant considerable world religion on this planet that espouses what I am about to tell you right now. In fact, I shudder to call it Christianity because oftent times even that title not given to us by Jesus but by onlookers to be a little Jesus or a Christian or Christianity its cultural cliches and notions now insinuate moral high ground and excellence of lifestyle and acting.

But that is not at all the message of Jesus. ((applause)) He did not say, "Father, forgive them when they ask for it. Forgive them when they act like it. Forgive them when they work for it." So unlike any other belief system, and that's why I am more inclined to call this the way of Jesus, I'm less inclined to call myself a Christian anymore.

Yeah, that's I don't mean that to sound controversial at all. Everybody relax. Okay, we are really in love. Are you a Christian? I mean, I'm into Jesus. But when you ask me, am I a Christian? Does that mean that I act like certain people in certain parts of the world who think that Christianity hangs its hat on limited ideas that are only relevant to 20 25 and they don't travel the test of time and they don't age well and it's all about here and the now and things we do and don't do.

No sir, that's not me. I like to stick with the stuff that's like transcendent, that's worked for every successive generation and that has worked for thousands of years. I respect everybody's ideologies and concepts today, but to make them synonymous with the way of Jesus pains me if I'm honest.

And I've done it and I do it. So I'm mad at me, not you. I've done it. I'm a Christian. So I So what I'm about to espouse is to tell you this. The way of Jesus is completely and utterly free and you have already been forgiven. Now when I say already forgiven, what that means is everything you have ever done wrong selfishly in your past, your present or your future has already been completely paid for and all your error and wrong has been absolved, absorbed into the body and person of Jesus. to accept Jesus is not to accept um a list of things you have to do.

No, no, no. That's new. That's new stuff we created. Now, what I love is that and and Paul did this when we start to argue holiness. We need to be holy. Well, I highly recommend holy over unholy, but it's all about Jesus. And my suggestion is if you fall in love with Jesus, your life will change in ways you never even wrote down on a paper and set as a goal and looked yourself in the mirror and said, "Today you're going to be holy, Judah."

You just start living, loving, and looking like Jesus. So, here's what I'm saying. If you would absorb how forgiven you are, your whole life would change. Your whole life would change. Think about all the things that guilt drives in our life. I'm serious. Think of all the things we do because of guilt.

Now, guilt doesn't always show up as like, I feel so bad about myself. No, guilt is sneaky and subtle and has many forms in our soul. We do things to compensate. We do things to prove ourself. We say things to let people know we matter. We're valuable. We're significant.

We're a big deal. People should notice us. People should see us. They should see me. Why? Because have you noticed you there's this deficit you're somehow working against? Isn't that odd? Somehow you know I got to get out there and let people know. Where's that coming from? Why Why is the message so apparent right now in our culture? like you're valuable, you matter, be present, relax, be kind, be okay, be you.

By the way, I love it when uber wealthy, famous people tell us this. I really, really do. And I and I recommend it and I high I I encourage I love those people. But it's also kind of ironic when you hear someone who's uber wealthy, successful, and well-known be like, "It's not about that.

Just be you." And you're like, or I could be you, you know, in their private jet. It's my favorite. I I want to be in the private jet with them. I'm not going to lie to you. Like, it's like and I'm down for private jets. I'm all down.

But it's like, here, I'm in my private jet right now. I'd like to tell you just be content where you are. And you're like, or I could be where you are. So, it's it's a weird thing in our culture. It just is. Like, I'm being honest with you, right? you just kind of like be content.

But like but then like there's also a message in our culture like if you can dream and believe and work and try get out there, you can do it. Last night I'm in my bathtub. All right, everybody relax. I always do my bathtub in my swimwear. I'm kidding.

Okay, so and I'm looking on Instagram because I'm new to Instagram, right? I haven't I haven't been to Instagram in 12 years. So, I'm back and and last night in one tub session, 45 minutes, sitting in my Epson salt. That's what you do when you're my age. And I had one guy say for 60, do the 60second challenge and it was 60 666 and then another clip 50 second challenge.

Then there was a 35 second challenge. This is now you know what my algorithm is. Then there was like uh uh uh uh workout you can do for a better jawline. I mean one was like one was like and they just kept feeding them to me and I'm like who's who's right?

I got to do all this I got to do 50 60 45 30 like what what what and then the other part of the algorithm is golf swings. Towel his elbow. This is the key. this is the secret, you know, and slowly but surely in 45 minutes sitting Epsom salt, I'm like, I give up.

I can't do it anymore. It's too much. Right? Like this just a proliferation of so insert this. Let's be honest. You come to the Sabon and you're like, this is a part of that. How am I not just a part of that? Like a lot of preachers are on my algorithm.

By the way, I haven't seen a lot of my friends for years. I'm like, why there are good preachers out there, you know? Like, who's this guy? Never even met him. And it's like, wait, everyone knows that. I I really feel like I've come back to the surface of like this big body of water.

But how is this not just in the managerie of things? Accept that. What I am espousing tonight is that you don't have to do this, this, this. You don't have to do the towel. You don't have to do this 60 times. Have you guys ever done 60 air squats?

All right. Some of you are like, "Every day." For the rest of us, dog, I'm 12 in. I'm like, "Oh, I can't keep doing that. I can't even walk now." Oh, squats are terrible. But how is this not any different? How am I not just added into the pile?

That's how I'd see it. Accept that. Try to find this. What I'm telling you is you don't earn it, deserve it, warrant it, or do anything. It's already done. Father, forgive them all. They don't know what they're doing. Father, I'm gonna do this so that you can forgive them all.

So that they'll know what they're doing. What if you could live the rest of your life knowing no matter what? Listen to me. I'm talking gritty, ugly, bad people doing bad things. I'm not saying they don't need to be locked up, but I got news for you. If they are so inclined and willing, that's right.

They too have their forgiveness already paid for. Yeah. What I'm giving out, what I'm giving out tonight, it's free. In fact, if it's not free, we have nothing. Tonight, the reason I'm still doing this is because it's free. And I can't find a better story or a better message.

Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. I think God wants you to know what you're doing. And I think you'll know what you're doing when you finally accept how fully forgiven you are. You are totally forgiven. I'm not going to lie to you. I sat back in my couch today, put on a little roll on Geralts and I just let my mind wander about how forgiving I truly am.

And I thought, this feels pretty nice. Oh, there's so many people that say stuff about you and me. They always will be. By the way, if people are saying stuff about you, be flattered. Most people don't think about you. I mean, we got to really turn the table here.

This is a good thing. I had one coach used to say, "Ain't nobody thinking about you. They're thinking about themselves. Grow up." And I was like, "That's a good point." So, when you hear people are thinking about you, good, bad, ugly, baby, you are moving the needle. Go get you a faux nut, put a candle on it, blow it out.

Like, you to relax. Yeah. But you're you're totally forgiven. Now, I've been married 25 years, and honestly, I've had to forgive Chelsea a lot. Shut up, bro. So, I've been there, okay? I've been in the moments where I'm like, I'm fully forgiven. And Chelsea's like, well, I have not forgiven you yet.

And it's like, okay, we have this is must this is a little bit more of a us problem. So listen, I'm listen, I understand you can be fully forgiven with Jesus, but some of your friends are still working through it. And that can add some layers. But what if even with the drama, you knew with the one who made you that you're fully loved, fully his, fully forgiven?

I would suspect you would be more patient with your knucklehead friends. I would suspect instead of getting a divorce, you would ask your wife to forgive you and ask her to help you so that you can change and you could save your marriage. Why? Because you're not working from the deficit anymore.

You know, the deficit that we all work from, the deficit that you walk into every party with trying to show everybody that I I'm matter too. I matter, too. Um, I remember one time I walked into a into a bathroom and my dad was combing his hair. And you know when your parents, you think they're so old they don't care how they look anymore.

Anybody know what I'm talking about? I'm dead serious. And I saw my dad. that he was combing his hair. He said, "Son," he said, "Son, is is is it is it receding a little bit?" And I thought, "You're so old. Why does this matter? Anybody know what I'm talking about?"

And I was I was dumbfounded. I really was. I was like, "Oh, people care about this stuff, too." And it kind of shook my whole world view cuz I was like, I thought you grew out of that. No, I'm being serious. I thought you would grow to a certain point where you're like, "You think I care anymore?"

Cuz that was the dream. I was like, "Well, I'm going to get out of this middle school soon and I'm going to be free." And then you realize the greatest metaphor for life is your high school cafeteria. And we never grow past that. And dad's like, "Does it look a little thin?"

And I'm like, I literally want to say, "Dad, you are sold. Nobody cares about your hairline anymore. How how long you been with mom?" And lady's looking at you. And now I am the age he was when I thought that. What I would say is, "Son, I still got it.

What are you talking about?" But we never we never age out. I thought we would too. I met with a young man one time. I had coffee with him and he was talking about his looks. He's like, "Man, I just, you know, I just feel like he's like, "You don't care about any of that stuff, huh?"

And now I'm stuck cuz I'm like, "I really want him to think that about me." So I could kind of play into it and be like, "Exactly. Come here, young man. At some point, God will do a work in your life. You will elevate beyond things like appearance."

And I was like, "Are you serious?" He's like, "What?" I was like, "Bro, every day he's like, "What?" And you could see he's just like, "What? Like we never age out? What if we only get forgiven out? What if forgiveness is the freedom you crave? Like that I can never be unright with God.

Preachers don't like this kind of message. Oh boy, this kind of changes the whole dynamic of the church. And you know what the preachers will tell you is like, you can't tell everybody they're free because then they'll start sinning. And my critique, Mr. preacher sir is people are already sinning and they going to keep sinning and we're broken but I think the path to healing and holiness or whatever you aspire to only goes through father forgive them then they'll know what they're doing and so I end with this perfect timing I love you so I started thinking, "How far can this forgiveness go?

How far can I take it?" And I'll say it plainly to you. I plan for as long as they'll let me have a mic and and talk to take this forgiveness as far as it'll possibly go. I really mean it. I really mean it. And I'm not going to stop.

I know too much now. It's not by might. It's not by power. It's not by morality. It's not by your deeds. is not by what you don't do or what you used to do or how you got set free and how I love testimonies cuz I grew up in church.

The testimony was always 22 years old. Nobody ever came in our church and said, "So last night I was doing cocaine and Jesus set me free." It was always like 22 years ago, if you know what I mean. But oh, Jesus set me free. And now I've been in the book of Psalms for seven years.

And all of me and my friends would be like, "Cool." Nobody had ever would ever tell the story about how Jesus met him that afternoon. It was always many, many years ago. And now I've evolved past that. I just I don't know if I'm taking all that anymore.

I think we're all work in progress. So I started to think to myself, what would happen to my life if I absorb and take in this forgiveness? Like every day I'm fully forgiven, completely right with God. The kingdom of God is rightness with God, which produces a peace and joy that's transcendent.

So, so, so if I absorb this forgiveness, I'll have wholeness, shalom, and I'll have joy, which means flatout happiness. So, evidently already I can tell from the scripture narrative is that if I will absorb this forgiveness, I will get a wholeness, a completeness. And and there's the deficit thing.

There's the incompleteness. There's the we're always trying to find something the next thing. Then I'll be happy. Then I'll shalom is I'm complete. Now, I've said this before and I'm coming to a close. The piano's playing. I'm coming to a close. This is done. I'm I'm basically done.

Nothing more attractive on this planet, to me at least, than a human being who is at peace with God and themsself. And they have a confident ease about them that allows them to be curious and invested in people other than themselves. These are the people at the party who go, "How are you doing?

Tell me your story. You look incredible tonight." And they're not weird. Do you know what I'm talking about? I didn't say they said, "You look incredible." That's not what I said. They look you in the eyes and say, "You look incredible tonight." And you feel loved by these people.

You ever hung out with these people and you feel like you got cared for and you were in LA at a party? Nobody cares for nobody. That party's in LA. And you get that tingling in your soul. Feel like you connected with somebody. Feel like you kind of shared your your real self with somebody and you're like, I don't know what that was, but I like that person.

It's more than that, friend. What if you could become the most attractive version of yourself? Listen, I'll do the neck exercises. I'll whiten my teeth. We'll go do all of the procedures, but nothing, baby, can make up for that thing that puts us at a deficit where we're trying to prove ourselves and make, well, you know, I have a friend who has a private jet.

That's a random fact, but thank you for that. You know, I I actually used to I I'm I I knew Jose Conco. That That's amazing. Bash Brothers. Yeah. Right. Why do we do these things? I do it. You do it. We do it. What if you became that person who was the confident, secure, giving, serving, loving, eye contact person that you encountered recently and you were like, "That's one of my favorite people I've ever met."

What if you became the favorite person people met? What if you got in conversations where you forgot about yourself and got preoccupied with others? Some of you like what is that? That's a way you can live. Actually, that's possible. Some like not possible. It is. But so I started to ask God, how forgiven can I be?

How far can I take this? And how will it affect my life? because I want to be that person. I want to be like Jesus. Do you guys find it a crazy thing to imagine if you were around Jesus, you never left Jesus talking about I feel kind of gross.

He just talked about himself the whole time. The way he was looking at me made me feel uncomfortable. Every time you're around Jesus, guys, you have to understand, bringing children for a 30year-old man to bless is unprecedented. Children were not even considered to be humans in Jesus day.

Women were so attracted to who Jesus was, they would bring their children like it's a Santa Claus line and he would just lay his hands on them and the moms and the dads, "Thank you. We just wanted you to just put your hand on on their head. Just bless them cuz we never met anybody like you.

Don't get it twisted. This person's unlike any person you've ever personed with before. The disciples like, "Hey, everybody take your kids out of here." Jesus said, "Oh no, let them bring the kids. I want to bless them." They never heard nobody talk like that. No grown man in Jesus' day was like, "I just want to bless, you know, and pray for children."

They'd be like, "Man, get the kids out of here." And Jesus just like, "He's he's he's he's he's so wonderful. He's so amazing. Could we be more like him?" I think so. What's the portal? What's the propulsion? What's the key? What's the principle? What's the habit? What's the detail?

It's more fully absorbing and accepting how forgiven you are. And here's how I'll prove it. So, by the time we get to Acts chapter 7, the first group of Jesus followers has grown significantly. Now, we have thousands of people following the way. At that time, they're called followers of the way, which is a bit of a mouthful.

I'll be honest. Christian is a little bit easier to kind of say, but followers of the way. The community is growing so fast, suddenly they got a problem. And the problem is the single moms aren't being taken care of. And so the leadership is like, "We got to we got to deal with this."

So they appoint like 10 leaders or something. They call them deacons. Not Wake Forest demon deacons, but just normal deacons. And one of them is this guy named Stephen. Stephen's not an apostle. He's not a leader of leaders. He's not a big-time preacher. He's just one of the volunteers within the community.

And he's a younger guy. But the Bible says something very interesting about Stephen. He has so absorbed Jesus that um he had a aura about him. He had a way about him. He had a in fact one story says he gets in trouble with the religious people. And this brings us to Acts chapter 7 in a moment.

I'll conclude my story with a scene that's going to change my life forever. Stephen is in front of the high council because they lied about Steven and they basically told the Jewish council that Stephen is condemning. He's basically saying Moses is a demon. Moses is a bad guy.

And that's heresy in the Jewish church. And so they bring him before the high council. And Stephen's standing in front of the high council. And the book of Acts says they looked at his face and it's like his face was glowing almost like an angel. Now listen, I don't know what your aspirations are.

I don't know what your goals are. I don't know if it's amount of money. I don't know if Can I just tell you whatever your goals are, most of them are as old as time, yo, I want more sex. Old as time, I want more money. Old as time, I want more renown.

Oldest time I want more solitude. I know, sad, but old is time. I want more alone time. Oldest time. I'm going to tell you what I want. I want to absorb the reality of my gracious, wonderful heavenly father so much that I glow. Sorry, that's what I want.

I'm dead serious. Why not? Why can't I be walking through LAX? People talking about what is your skin care routine that Oh, I'm a bad guy for wanting that. It says his face was glowy. He didn't do anything for that. He accepted something for that. I'm telling you.

So, as the story goes, he stands in front of the high council, this young man, and he says, "Here's who Jesus is." And he takes them through the Torah, and he's the fulfillment, and he's the goal, and he's the point. And they said, "No." And it says they raise their voice like, "Get this kid out of here.

He's a liar. He's a heretic." And the Bible says that Steven looks up. This is a very bizarre moment. this really happened. Stephen looks up in the sky and he goes, "I see the heavens open." They're like, "Oh, boy." And I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the father.

And they go, "No." And they scream and they pick him up and they carry him outside the city. And he knows what's happening. And they know what's happening. They're going to kill him with rocks. It's called stoning. They're going to pulverize his skull until it swells to the point of internal bleeding and he blacks out and dies.

They're going to stone him. Steven's being carried outside of the city because to do stoning within the city, laws and everything. So, they take him outside the city and he's there and by the way, they throw their jackets at the feet of a kid named Saul who will later become the Apostle Paul and have a credible conversion.

So, he's he's witnesses this and perhaps it impacted him dramatically. a man who wrote more than half of the New Testament is standing there and he's one of the gang members and he hates Stephen and Stephen is getting pulverized with rocks and you won't believe what happens. Stephen says, um, Lord Jesus, accept my spirit into your presence.

And then I don't know if we can put this on the screen because I want you to know. He says this, listen to Stephen. Oh Lord, don't hold this sin against them. What? And then what does it say? And then he died. H that reminds me of somebody.

Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. as rocks are hitting his skull and he's seconds from death. He says, "Um, God, forgive him. Don't hold this against him." Woo! Man, we could use some of this today, couldn't we? You won't talk to your mom because of who she voted for.

I'm not mad at you. I'm just telling you the truth. I got a book that tells me I got to love my enemies and bless those who curse me and I'm having a tough time forgiving people that live in my house. But the Bible says that this love and forgiveness goes so far in the depths of your soul that eventually you start forgiving and blessing the people that are out to harm you.

When are we going to love our enemies? When when do when does that ever happen in the church? When do we And so my question is this, and I'm serious, guys, and I'm done. I'm done. I'm done. My question is this. When does that happen? At what point does the church take that shape?

Because right now, if I walked into a lot of churches with this beanie, oh no, my teeny weeny beanie get me kicked out. That's where we're still at. And I got no problem if people need respect, take your hat off, whatever. That's not my point. My point is when are we going to start loving our enemies?

You read the you read the other books, other holy books, Book of Mormon, Quran. Have you read you read it? I have a little bit. They don't teach that. Buddha, they don't teach that. Only Jesus teaches that. Love your enemies. And at some point, this thing got so real for Stephen.

Listen to me, man. I know what exaggeration is. I know what lying is. I played so many church games, more than everybody in this room combined. I'm telling you, I've been to so many churches and I have pretended and played and all those things, but Steven's not playing.

Not now. Not here. Not he he's he This is life. He's dying. He What comes out of his soul is what he means. He says they don't know what they're doing. Forgive them. Last night I ended a TV show and it ends with revenge. And I'm watching the end of this episode and I'm thinking, "Yeah, the main character is like, I will avenge you."

And I'm like, "I'm down, bro. Let's go." And I'm like in the car with the character. Let's get up. Freely you have received. Now freely give. I think the problem is not the giving, it's the receiving. And the problem with receiving is it will never feed your ego, friend.

And preachers like me get listened to when we tell people all the stuff they can do to earn it because we like that. So I fear that my message might not be heard tonight because I'm not telling you to do anything. I'm telling you to receive everything. Okay.

Okay. It'll change you, man. It'll change. It'll change you. It'll change. It's the only thing that's gives me hope for this country. It's the only thing that gives me hope that we see each other as equals. Though we are different in ethnicity and background, we are brothers and we are sisters.

But my only hope is in receiving forgiveness and feeling forgiven. And I think healing rolls through the streets like rivers. I think families heal and cities heal and countries heal. I think you can heal, but there's nothing you can do about it. You just got to receive it.

And your brain's going to play tricks on you. It just is, man. It just is. It's going to play tricks on you. It's going to tell you you're not good enough. You're not doing enough. You think it's an accent that I started this whole talk out with saying, "I want you to be gentle with yourself.

I want I was setting you up, man. I was setting you up cuz you're the biggest. You're the biggest obstacle to you. I don't deserve this. You know, there was a disciple that told Jesus, "You got to leave me. I can't be with you, bro. You can't be giving me all this stuff like this.

I'm a bad guy." And Jesus wouldn't leave. And he won't leave you. I don't care what popular preaching is telling you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. You are his son and you are his daughter and he is pleased with you. And so I was done preaching several minutes ago.

This was just me digressing. So that doesn't count either. But I want to pray for you. Man, sometimes I sit in this chair and it's only once a month. Okay. So, give me a break. But sometimes I sit in this chair and um the amount of love I feel it like radiates my body and I don't it's hard for me to explain to you but it's been like a decade and it's like I sit in and I see you and I and I feel this city and you know I feel a bunch of stuff because I'm a weird creative feeler person but like it's so overwhelming.

And it's exhausting. Sometimes I go home and I just lay down. I'm like, "Oh, that was a lot of love that he has for you." And so my prayer is that we would um let him love us. Perhaps that's when we're most alive. And he wants to forgive you tonight.

It's already paid for. You might have to work out some stuff with your mom. You might have to work out some stuff with your roommate. In fact, some of you are like, "I don't want to go back to my condo because my roommate's there." But I'm telling you, this is the start.

You start to absorb his forgiveness. It's going to change everything. So, Father, forgive us so that we'll know what we're doing. I'm so tired of spending my days on things that don't matter. So, help me accept this forgiveness. so free. You don't have to close your eyes. I do it sometimes just to help me focus.

And so if you're doing that, so be it. But um if you're here and perhaps for the very first time you would like to accept the forgiveness of Jesus. If I knew something better, friend, I'd give it to you. I swear I'd give it to you. But there's nothing better on earth than the forgiveness of Jesus.

If you'd like that forgiveness, it's already headed your way. It's already yours. But I'm going to ask you to do something for you. Even under your breath, just say, "I receive your forgiveness, Jesus." Just say it. Maybe just above a whisper, maybe nobody else can hear, just you.

But I I receive your forgiveness, Jesus. But the Bible says if you if there's this belief that wells up in your heart, it'll come out of your mouth. And I think we sometimes need to hear ourselves say, "I receive your forgiveness, Jesus." Now, I don't know who I'm talking to.

Bear with me just for a moment. There are people in this room, there are some people you cannot forgive. And you have been trying to forgive, but you've been going about this with the wrong way. freely receive, then freely give. You got to receive the forgiveness before you give the forgiveness.

I'm telling you, boys, everything's about to change for you. So receive it right now. And then watch, I am telling you the truth. Your heart will melt. Your walls will tumble. And your soul will get soft. And you will exclaim out loud, "How can I not forgive my dad?

How can I not forgive my friend?" And so you will be free, friend. You will be free. You will be free for whom the son sets free. Is free indeed. And so I declare over these your sons and daughters, your children whom you love, that they're free. Why?

Because we're fully forgiven. Therefore, we're free. Help us to live from this forgiveness, not for this forgiveness. From from this forgiveness. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, God.