Pastor Dale: Hello, I'm Pastor Dale with Atlin Family Church. Thank you once again for joining me. Hey, I've got a question. Have you ever noticed the bumper sticker on a vehicle in front of you that reads, Jesus loves you, or God is my copilot Both let the world know you're a Christian. Or typically it does. you know, on one hand, it's good to market your confession of faith, but do you live it? remember there's also vehicle stickers that say, How is my driving? And if their driving was bad, you can be assured people called the one eight hundred number, right? The point is, the public is watching us. They're searching for what they're missing, and they're all too willing to call us on it when we miss it. That's a reality, right? I was praying about today's message. I was just feeling, so thankful to Jesus and all that my wife and I have learned over the years, and it really helps me to begin to understand what it means to be born again. To have Jesus a living God working within me and through me 24-7 of every day. Like we cannot wrap our brain around that. we can learn bits and pieces, we can increase our knowledge, or our faith can increase by reading the word and hearing the word, absolutely. But you know, it it's going to take a lifetime to get. even a portion of what that means to have Jesus in her life. And so as I was quietly waiting on God to share his message, which I do before I, you know, have a video, and I was thinking, and just pondering or meditating, however you want to put it, of all the wonderful teachers that we've been introduced to over the years, and how collectively each one of them has given us different pieces. They've helped to fill the gaps, as the word says. they've helped us to understand the word of God in a deeper way and not just in our heads. Helped us to get it into our hearts, to understand it in a more full, mature way. And I am so thankful for that. I it's kind of kind of funny again, but the title I was going to use today for today's message was I'm not ashamed. And then the Lord prompted me. To change the title to Jesus, more than a bumper sticker. Okay, and also change the theme from what you started with. Okay again. So, really, what does it mean to you? you know, when you see that bumper sticker, Jesus loves you or God is my co pilot, When I asked you that question, what does it mean to you? You probably started to think about what you know about Jesus. Maybe a favorite song or a memory. It's all good. it's all part of building your knowledge base. It's all part of building what you have in your heart that creates your belief system. Absolutely. But Today I really want to bring out as a Christian, we'll never really experience the life Jesus wants for each of us if we only keep him on a bumper sticker. Right? Or we use him as a bumper sticker. I'm gonna explain what I mean by that is when life hurts us, you know, we all face battles in this life. and if we apply A superficial bumper sticker type Jesus to our bumps, our hurts, you know, our owies. And then we try to recover on our own. We're missing so much that he would have for us. it's really, Jesus on the outside. And if we're not allowing him on the inside in our hearts, you know, in this world we're gonna have. bumps, we're gonna have bruises, we're gonna have hurts, as I mentioned. And we need to allow Jesus to take his place in our hearts and our lives. It's I'm gonna say it, it's time to engage our faith. To speak our faith, to speak his word to those around us. this may not be a surprise but the world has many hurting people let's show them more. Let's be more than a bumper sticker to them. You know what I mean? and today I'm going to start with just putting it out there. Jesus is more than a bumper sticker to me. He has been for many years. I will admit at some point that's all he was. being very superficial on the outside. And that's how I was. I knew a little bit about what, church had taught me, but I hadn't got to a place that Jesus was in my heart, that Jesus was alive to me. I knew about him, but I didn't know him. Big difference. And so today, as I was meditating about this message, I'm not ashamed of my faith or the Christian message that I teach. in Atlan Family Church. I'm not ashamed of the Association of Faith Churches and Ministries, which was the Word of Faith Bible training that my wife and I attended years ago. I'm not ashamed of the teaching that we've grown from all of the Word of Faith teachers over the years. that we've been connected with one Rhema Bible training center, Kenneth Hagan and his family. Like, wow. Again, I'm not ashamed of the teaching we've received from Kenneth Copeland Ministries. I'm putting it out there. if you've wondered where some of the teaching we've gained from, here it is. and Kenneth Copeland has multiple connected ministries that partner with them and that they support. in some cases, they would not be in existence as a ministry if it wasn't for Kenneth Copeland Ministries. and his heart to share and to help wherever he can. So again, I'm not ashamed to be connected with Kenneth Copeland Ministries, to have learned so much and matured so much from Kenneth Kagan, Kenneth Copeland, all the connected ministries. And then more recently Andrew Wommack Ministries is another one. It's a great ministry that puts faith and grace together. It really helped fill the gaps in my faith and in my wife's faith. if we're honest we have gaps in our faith. We will never know All there is to know about God and his plan for humanity. So we need others to show us where we're missing it in the Word. fill in, like I said, fill in those spaces that we we don't have proper understanding or correct understanding. Maybe we've been to a church that's taught religion. you know, not gonna go there too far, but We will never know all there is to know about God and his plan for humanity. it's just that simple. But the ministries that I've mentioned and and really more like them, for instance, John Bevere is is one that we've learned so much from over the years. Joyce Myers is another one. And I'm probably forgetting some because there's been so many, but they've all helped us to recognize religious teaching and man's tradition. And what it was doing is we were going down a road that we we were replacing the true word of God in our lives with, like I mentioned, religion and man's tradition. And that's not The heart of Christ. That's not what Jesus would want for us. It's taking Him out of our life and replacing it with man's ideas and a very dangerous, deceptive road to go down. So I'm so thankful to God for connecting us with such great Bible teachers over the years. My heartfelt thank you goes out to them. it just helped us to recognize and fill the gaps like I'd mentioned that we didn't even know we had really. I remember one of the first faith messages, and my wife will know which one I'm talking about. I had heard and I was still farming at the time and putting tapes in. yes, I'm dating myself, but putting a cassette tape in and listening, and it was Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Copeland's wife, and it was titled Have Faith in Two Places. And it was referring to having faith in my heart and on my lips, which meant we need to grow our faith in our heart, yes, but we need to speak it to the world around us. There is power As we speak his word in faith, miracles happen. And once I started to get that into my understanding and I renewed my mind with it, our spiritual walk just it just grew so quickly. and because it was all connected, went from that teaching to another teaching to another teaching. I remember a teaching that Jerry Seville taught many, years ago. He's he's now passed. But it was the illustration was canoeing upstream and it was really it's similar to engaging our faith, really, but he was explaining how, if we apply our faith and we're speaking the right words and we're, rowing upstream, we're we're gonna be meeting all kinds of people that are just going with the flow of the world. And it takes effort to apply faith. It takes effort to receive the promises of God. But So worth it. And, he went through the whole story and if you know Jerry Seville, it was it was really comical. but, if we don't paddle or we forget to paddle, we're gonna just go with the world. We're gonna flow with the world. It take you know, we need to all of a sudden realize, we've got to get back into this and start actually engaging our faith. And it really, again, it set us free in so many areas. that message, one of many, set me on the path really that God had for me as He called me into ministry. And Today I want to take you on a word trip. So are you ready? I just want to remind us, myself included, What our foundation truly is, and I've said it before, it's but it's worth repeating, it's not the church we attend. Let's get that. our Christian foundation is our faith in Jesus Christ, our living God and Father. We can't earn salvation, nor did we deserve it. It's a gift from an all-loving father to all humanity. Unfortunately, only those who believe will receive it. that gift of eternal life is Jesus. It's with Jesus. I really encourage anyone who applies the I love Jesus bumper sticker to their vehicle that you really think about what that means. your driving, your life actions, they may speak louder than the bumper sticker message. If it's only up here and not in here. I I'll just leave it at that for now. As a message that Gloria Copeland taught years ago, I believe that we need to have faith in multiple places. I'm adding to it, I know. and it messes with her title bit. It needs to be in our heart, it needs to be on our lips, we need to speak it, needs to be on our bumper stickers, absolutely, why not? But we need to speak it out to the world around us. there is power in our words as we speak the word in faith. And it changes our life, it changes the lives of those around us. We may be the only Jesus that our neighbors see, that our family sees, and they may be desperately crying out for help, not knowing. what that looks like or how to how to receive it. But we do have the word of God and we need to be sharing that with those around us. it could be life and death for them. and that message that I'd referred to it really you know helped me to grasp okay it's one thing having it inside. It's one thing being all excited about that. It's one thing actually really believing and solidifying what I believe, but it was another whole level to speak that out. at first it it didn't feel comfortable. It was different. those around me started hearing and seeing a different dale I had pastors come against me simply for speaking what I believe and speaking the word of God. Yeah, it surprised me. Even pastors. But if you stick around us for very long you'll hear why we warn others that you really need to know the word so that you can judge whether the pastor's teaching the truth or not, us included, always judge us by the word. if you have any questions, reach out to us at Atlin Family Church And so for the remaining time that we have together today, I'm just gonna let God speak to you directly from his word. these are some favorite scriptures, some foundational scriptures that I've grown to love and I want to share them with you. and it was part of the message that I'd started with and then God tweaked it a little bit. and that's all good. It's we love it or I love it when God does speak to me just before a message and goes, Hey, let's do this, let's go this way. He cares. He cares about what I speak, He cares about what you hear. let's jump into it. Jesus is more than a bumper sticker to me. Let's read Romans 1 16 through 17. For I'm not ashamed of this good news. About Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes, the Jew first, and also the Gentile. This good news tells us how God makes us right in his sight. And this is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the scriptures say, it is through faith that a righteous person has life. Romans chapter 10, verse 17. And this is what's going to happen today is as I read these scriptures. Faith comes by hearing. That is hearing the good news about Christ. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6. It's impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. love it. John chapter 1, 1 through 5. In the beginning, the word already existed. The word was with God, and the word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him. Nothing was created except through him. the word gave life to everything that was created. And his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. So as I'm reading these scriptures, just if you have to stop the video and read it, great, just slow it down. You may have heard them before, but slow it down, read each word, get it deep inside, plant it into your heart. It's not just words from a book, it's Jesus speaking to you of his original position, in the beginning he was the word. we're gonna read more on that that aspect, but he came to the world for us to save us, to give us a way back. we can't just read over these words and just say, yeah, okay, yeah. let's get into our heart. Let's really understand who Jesus is his plan for humanity, why he came, the fact that he wants us to come back to him, even as a Christian we can waver. And his mercy and his grace is always available. let's read first John one, this is a little longer, one through eighteen. We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we've seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then He was revealed to us. We proclaim to you that we ourselves have actually seen and and heard so that you may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We're writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light. He was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He came into the very world he created, but the world didn't recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who have believed him and accepted him, he gave them the right to become children of God. Praise God. They are reading on in 13, they are reborn not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan. But from a birth that comes from God. So the word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness, and we've seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son. John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, This is the one I was talking about when I said, Someone's coming after me who is far greater than I am. For he existed long before me. From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, But the unique one who is himself God is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 through 10. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this. It's a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Are you ready? I am. Romans chapter five verses six through eleven. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good, but God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And that's the same for every born-again believer. He died while you were a sinner. and he through his death and resurrection, he has now made a way for each of us to come back to him. And so reading on in verse nine, and since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God, because our Lord Jesus has made us friends of God. Do see yourself as a friend of God? that one took a little while to really get it inside. A friend of the creator of the universe. Wow, right? but it's in the word. when we see it in the word, that's Jesus speaking to us, the Holy Spirit revealing his will to us, his promises to us. If the word says we're friends with God, we are friends with God, and that's why we need to renew our mind if we can't comprehend that. to begin to believe it, receive it, and walk it out. Yeah, it's good. Let's read Mark 16, 9 through 20. After Jesus rose from the dead, early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. He went to the disciples who were grieving and weeping and told them what had happened. But when she told him that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn't believe her. Afterward he appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were walking from Jerusalem into the country. They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them Still, later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead. And then he told them, Go into all the world, preach the good news to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe. They will cast out demons in my name, they will speak new languages, they'll be able to handle snakes with safety. If they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They'll be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed. When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven, and he sat down in the place of honor at God's right hand. And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs. I'm going to stop right there. That's the church back then. That's the church today, and that's the church tomorrow. For as long as you know, before Jesus comes back, He wants to continue his ministry through each and every one of us. we can see the the disciples of the early church did believe. They did engage. And Holy Spirit brought miracles because of what they believed in their heart, what they taught, what they preached, faith in two places, faith in their heart, faith on their lips. and it really did change. the lives of those that believed. I'm going to read out of the amplified classic version. So Romans 10 8 through 10. The word God's message in Christ is near you. on your lips and in your heart. That is the word, the message, the basis and object of faith which we preach. Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and in your heart believe, adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes, adheres to, trusts in. And relies on Christ, and so is justified, declared righteous, acceptable to God. And with the mouth he confesses, declares openly, and speaks out freely his faith, and confirms his salvation. Wow, the Amplified really brings it out. I hadn't read that for a few years, but It's worth pausing the video, reading it again, and maybe even putting it on your fridge or I don't think it'd fit on a bumper sticker, but so to close today, I wanna remind you We are saved by engaging our faith in Jesus. His life, his death on the cross, his resurrection was all for us. It was his way of reconciling, making a way back to him. we receive God's grace and mercy when we choose to believe his word. It's that simple. It's a gift, as I said. I've heard different teachers put it this way. Mercy is not getting the bad we deserve, and grace is getting the good we don't deserve. That really helps me to to grasp the mercy and the grace of our Lord. the word also says his mercy is renewed every morning. So, when we miss it, morning's coming. So with that I do appreciate you joining me today. I do pray that you have a blessed week and we'll see you in the next video.