Pastor Erik West: [00:00:00] Let's give him praise. Father, we just bless you this morning. Bless. Your word. Let me remind you before. The word comes forth. I hear this very strongly to say to you. Preface what you will hear, which I don't know have any direction. Which Brother Kim is going to minister to us. I heard it this morning when I woke up. I heard it on the drive. I heard it all during the worship. He said, tell the people before he comes. You know, Luke eight, I think it's verse 11 says the seed. Seed is the Word of God, or the Word of God is seed. Well, we know what seed. You can be seated. You know what seed is, right? If you're going to plant a garden, flowers, whatever you're going to do seed. Is for intended purpose. It's intended. It's intentional. You do it intentional. Although otherwise you're just very bored and don't have much going on in your life. Are you thinking we're just going to dig holes in the ground and throw this stuff in here? I don't have nothing to do, and I hate to clean up the garage. So no, it's for an intended purpose. I just want to remind you this morning. That you have a future and you have a good future, and you have a good life. Because you're. I'm just speaking by the Holy Spirit. It's not who. You have a future. You have a good future. You have a good life. You'll have your answer today. Because this is what I heard all morning. Tell the people. Remind the people.
Pastor Erik West: [00:01:45] I am not a man. I do not lie. Glory. As it shall be spoken, so it shall be. God is not a man, that he shall lie. The seed coming to you. Is the proof of the harvest that is before you. Now we don't. You can be one of those people in Mark chapter four. You can be you know, you can get 25%. You can get the whole thing. You can go by the wayside, get absolutely nothing. It's interesting that the seed is cast forth. And we see in that story that, you know, nothing here, no roots, uh, shallow ground. But there was someone who heard the same word. We're all sitting in the same building. We're all going to hear the same person speak. We're all going to look at the same scripture, and we're all going to. We're all going. We all have the possibility of having the harvest because God is not a man, that he should lie. And as long as the earth remains. And we may have different beliefs about different things, but I hope we all agree this morning. Well, the show of hands. How many believe we're this is Earth? Amen. I, I see most of those hands. Amen. Well, we welcome you from your planet. We're glad that you're here. But, you know, brother Kevin said for years they would say to him, said, do you believe there's life on other planets? He said, I don't know, but if I know if there is another need of believers convention. So take this back to your planet and share it with your people.
Pastor Erik West: [00:03:38] Amen. These two men. I never thought about this before, but, uh, they've been here more consistent than we've had a lot. Lots of people come in through the years, you know, but I don't think anyone has come more consistently than these two men right here. You probably know exactly, but I think we met somewhere like 1998 or 1999. So that's a that's a quarter of a century. We met 1995. And when you use pastor knights perished in Clanton. But consistently think about someone being in your life and speaking into your life and speaking to to the body here, a family for a quarter of a century. Glory. I believe God rewards faithfulness. I believe relationships are more important than what we know. That's right. Boy, that's true. One time years ago, many years ago, Brother Kim came and I don't know what happened, but the offering was. It was. Uh, I have a general rule that if you I mean, this was this was years ago. So, I mean, this is not my real day, but years ago, when I first got started, I said, I'll never ask someone if they have to get in their car and drive two hours. This is just me. I don't know where I got it from. I says, no one will come to this church. You had to drive two hours to leave with less than $1,000, because that is probably their livelihood that in today's economy that that'll get you money through Wednesday or Tuesday. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know what to get.
Pastor Erik West: [00:05:11] So. And uh, but it was one of those things. It was, it was, it was not much more than that. And I looked, uh, I looked in the checkbook to see what I could do about it. And so I threw my my salary in there that week on top of that. And there wasn't anything else in there, and it still didn't. It still didn't look like much. And I was apologizing to to Brother Kim while I was giving him his offering, and he just smiled at me and was like, I gave $1 million. He said, you know, it really doesn't matter. And I says, well, it does matter. He says, no, it's okay. He said, because, you know, it'd be up to you. He said, but if I'm invited, I, I plan to be here my entire lifetime. He said, it's about a relationship, he says. So, you know, it's something if you're in a relationship with someone, husband, wife, friends, whatever for 30 years, you're going to know some good times and some bad times with them. This just wasn't the best time. But next year is going to be awesome, right? Love is a choice. So that's not just a guest minister who flies in and flies out. You say, well, that was okay. Next. So we are honored that both of you here in this morning. Thank you for the word that you're going to bring. Would you come? Would you give them a big God bless you. We love you. Appreciate you using that...
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:06:29] I love you.I love you, I love you. Amen. Glory to God. Say this with me. Love is a choice. You know, if you're in a relationship, uh, how many of you here are married? Raise your hand if you're married. So I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. How many of you guys here raise your hand? Married man? How many of you remember the first time you saw your wife? A good time to raise both hands, perhaps. Uh, I couldn't help but notice she looked at you. Do you remember? That's right. You know, I remember. And. And, you know, the first time you saw her. I mean, the first time I saw my wife, I was in Atlanta. I played music back there for a living. And she came walking in the back doors of the place I was playing. It was a very large room. All the lights were off. The only light on was a exit sign over the door. She came walking in, but I saw her when she walked in, and I remember looking back in there and saying, in the name of Jesus, I received that. I'm totally. If you know me well, you know, that's exactly what I said. I said, I don't even have to fast and pray. I know that cranks my tractor right there. That'll work. And that was. Yeah, that's 45 years ago. And I saw and I knew and I knew and I still know today. But how many of you know, my knowing that she's the one today is different than my knowing that she was that night? Because in 45 years, as you said, there's been good, there's been bad, there's been ugly.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:07:54] We've faced, you know, that's the wonderful thing about marriage is that it makes going through hard things easier and it makes going through wonderful things more wonderful. It's it's the most wonderful relationship you can be in. But above all, it's a choice. Love is a decision. It goes far deeper than a feeling. You know, our culture celebrates feeling feelings. We're all about feelings. But how many of you know feelings are all over the page? How many of you know somebody that's really emotional? Because, I mean, clearly it's none of you, but how many of you know someone that their life is all over? You know they love you today, honey, I love our life together. I love our family. And then you snore that night, and she gets up in the morning and she says, I was going to hit you with a rock. I heard a voice saying, just kill him. Just kill him. If you go by emotion, it's up and it's down. Say it with me. Love is a decision. It's it's a choice. You make a decision and choice. I grew up in the 60s. How many anybody here grew up in the 60s? Y'all remember this free love? Now, how many of you know that's the biggest lie there's ever been told? Free love.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:09:02] How many of you have learned that love's the most expensive thing in your life? Uncomfortable giggling. It's true. It is absolutely true. And that's the wonderful thing. I appreciate what Matthew is saying. You know, love makes a choice to invest and it continues to invest. If you love your mate, whether you're ten years in, 20 years in, or 40 years in, I encourage you, you're still investing. And like any seed that you. So it'll always bring back a multiple of what you sow. Isn't that good? Say it. That's good. So I'm so glad to be here. Where have I ever brought Susan here? I'm trying to remember if I came in the 90s because she came off the road. We've been doing this 45 years, but she came off the road in the mid 90s, and so I didn't know if she'd been here before. How many of you here get her newsletter? Okay. A lot of you do and some of you don't. And some of you are going, what is that? Some of you? And I said, Susan, you're going, who is that? So my wife's name is Susan and she does ministry using horses and she does a newsletter. We call it a newsletter because we don't really know a better word. It doesn't really describe fully what it is, but what she does is she uses horses to teach the Bible. I call them mirror truths. Uh, there are principles in the partnership that you can have if you're a writer and a horse.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:10:21] How many of you know, if you're a writer and you've got a horse, you're looking for something more than a relationship. How many of you know your marriage is not a relationship, it's a partnership. You have a relationship with lots of people. You only have a partnership with one. Partners are have a full intent to do the same thing. They got the same goals, same purposes. And so that's the way a successful writer is. They develop from relationship to partnership with the writer. Well, it's remarkable how there are mirrored truths of that in your relationship with God. He wants more than a relationship with you. He wants a partnership. He's known you from the time you were. You were, you know, sown in your mother's womb. He knew you and knew the plans and purposes he has for you. But those things are only going to be accomplished if you get an agreement with God. And so she uses horses to illustrate that. I'm getting ready to say something to you. You've maybe never heard a preacher say in church. Now I'm going to pause for a minute because you all know I've said some crazy stuff, but I'm getting ready to say something. I bet you've never heard a preacher say, take out your cell phone. That's right, I said it. Take out your cell phone. What preacher would say that? Hey, y'all are looking uncomfortable. You know you've got one.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:11:31] Go ahead and reach back there and get it. And here's what I want you to do. Go to Google and type in Susan Clout. Funny last name k l a u d t k l a t if you just type in Susan clout horse. I bet if you just put those three words in her website will come up. And if you get her website, scroll down about halfway down and there's a section that says contact us. If you just put your email address in there, you'll start getting her newsletter. She sends it out about twice a month. I'm using word promise here. I promise what she does is good. It'll bless you. Totally free. We don't ask you for anything. All we ask is that you read it because it's another way of illustrating biblical principles. How many of you know if the object lesson, if the idiom that you're ministering in weighs £1,200, it's easier to connect the dots. And so how many of you here like horses? Some of you don't have your hands up. How many of you know Jesus is coming back on one? How many of you like horses now? Right? Tend to get full commitment on that. Well, the horse is already mentioned in Scripture more than any other animal. Interesting piece of Bible knowledge. And Jesus is coming back on one. So that's is a good endorsement as I can think of. So if you put your email address there, you'll start getting it.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:12:51] And like I said, I promise it'll be a blessing to you. I got a good word for you today. Look at your neighbor and say, this is going to be a good one. It's going to be a good one. Here's what I want to do as a person. I've been in ministry for 45 years. I've early part of my life, I made a living playing music. I still do that. It's not my main livelihood now. I basically make a living with my mouth. Talking. As a consequence, I love words, I love to communicate, and I love the study of words. The study of words is called. Etymology. Etymology is the study of the origins of words and phrases. And so I love the idea of etymology and I like to laugh. How many of you here like to laugh? I don't know about you, but if I meet somebody and they tell me they're a Christian and they're not easily made to laugh, I don't trust anything about them because I believe I'm serious. I believe you got Jesus on the inside. It ought to show on the outside, the joy of the Lord ought to be all over you. It ought to just drip off of you. And so I love the etymology of funny things, like, how many of you have ever heard? Did you see that Alabama Alabama game? It was a doozy. How many of you ever heard the phrase it's a doozy? I one day I thought, where does that come from? Well, it comes from two brothers who lived in Indiana, the Duesenberg brothers, in the 1920s, when the automobile was only 10 or 12 years old.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:14:15] It occurred to the Duesenberg brothers that unlike Edsel Ford or somebody who wanted to just build, Henry Ford wanted to build something that was practical. You know, for years, Henry Ford only built the Ford automobile in one color black. You couldn't get it any other color because he was like, no, people aren't looking for a style statement. You know, they just want something to get him point A to point B, he'd only make his car in black. Well, the Duesenberg brothers were kind of like the other extreme of that. In a time when the typical automobile cost 6 to $800, the Duesenberg said, we're going to build the most powerful, the most beautiful, the most exotic, the highest performing, most incredible automobile in the world. In a time when every car costs $6,800, their car cost $20,000. Their car was 20 times more powerful than the next car on the road. They built an all wheel drive car in the 1920s that had 400 horsepower and would run 150 mile an hour. That sounds like a car. The majority of manufacturers today can't build that car. They did it in 1920. And to wit, the most expensive American automobile ever sold was a 1925 Duesenberg that sold a couple of years ago that Gary Cooper once owned, and it sold for $25 million.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:15:50] That's a doozy. So that's where the phrase came from. Anything that was incredible, anything that was overwhelming, anything that was beyond the normal is a doozy. How about this? My mother in law came over last night, and so my wife pulled out all the stops. How many of you have ever heard that phrase pulling out all the stops? Where does that come from? I'm a guitar player, but my second favorite instrument besides guitar is a Hammond B-3 organ. And if you know anything about the Hammond B-3 organ, it has two keyboards, and above each of them it has little drawbars they call slides and above each keyboard. Anybody here play the organ? I don't know, but I'm going to say there's 20 slides probably up there. And every and by the way they have infinite adjustment. In other words there's not notches. It's just the more you slide each one out, the more it changes the sound. And if you've got 20 of them, if you pull some in and push some out, you change the sound. Now how many of you know if you wanted the biggest possible sound, what would you do? You pull out all the stops. That's where the phrase comes from. That's the etymology of it. So to give you there an example of two cases of etymology, today I want to talk to you about the etymology of what I hope are the two most important words in your life.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:17:03] Christianity and church. What is the etymology of Christianity? The word and what is the etymology of the word church? How many of you know like every word? They haven't always been. Every word there is in our language or others has an etymology. You can go back and trace it to its origins and find where it actually began. And so today we're going to look at the origin of Christianity and church. And I'll just tell you with some foreshadowing, those two words manifested came into being within seconds, literal seconds of one another. Stroke your beard. Go ahead, ladies, do it by faith. Just stroke your beer. That's right. Stroke yours, ma'am. He's stroking it. There you go. I want you to see brother. She was down here on hers. Right here. She said this is how I roll. Now, how many of you know if you're going to talk about Christianity in church? How many of you can agree with me? That has to start with Jesus. Not just in a figurative sense. It literally starts with Jesus. That's what we're going to see today. And so kind of as a precursor to getting into this, I just want to talk to you a little bit and make a few establish a few ground rules about Jesus in his life. Can we agree that the life of Jesus was unlike any other life that has ever been on this planet? Yes, surely we can. How many of you know it was unlike any other life from its inception? I mean, literally, literally.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:18:39] He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Yeah. No one else. Uh, no doubt there have been some teenage girls in Alabama who have gotten pregnant. They said, I don't know how this happened, but. But they do. Mary is the only teenage girl who has ever been able to say, I don't know how this happens. You don't know. I don't know how it happened. The Holy Ghost did that. We know that. And you still can't explain it. There's no charts and graphs. You can't say, everybody take a syllabus and let's look. It doesn't matter. You can't even say how it happened yet. It did. And so from the beginning, his life was unlike any other. Literally from its inception, his life was a miracle. Say it a miracle. He was literally the Scripture says in John, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Now we we know all about his birth. I remember one time I was working with him. I was telling this morning, uh, about teaching children's church, and one time I was there talking to it happened to be, you know, Christmas Sunday. And I said, can anybody tell me, uh, who was there when Jesus was born? 000000. You remember when you were six years old? 000, Mr. Cameron. And one of them said, well, Mary was there. I said, good, that's true. No one could mount an opposite opposition to that thought.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:20:03] Mary was there. And another one said, well, Joseph is there, right. I had another one say, well, some cows were there. It was a manger. I said, well, you know, we don't know for certain, but but that makes sense to me. Another a donkey, you know, and somebody else says a goat. No. One of them said it was crowded. I love that. And so from the beginning, his life we know a lot about his birth. But how many of you know we don't have much other than the remarkable story when he's a little boy and his mom can't find him, you know, and she's incredulous. And of course he is, too. And she finds him because he was like, what do you mean you couldn't find me? Where did you think I'd be? Where was he? He was in the synagogue. He said, I'm in my father's house. I'm doing my father's business. Other than that, there's virtual biblical silence about the life of Jesus until he's approximately 30 years old and John the Baptist is baptizing, and he looks up on the bank and Jesus is coming, and the Spirit of God reveals to him, and he says, behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. From that moment on, everybody looked at me, because I want you to get this. How many of you know that from that moment forward, everything on this planet changed? Everything. Everything on this planet changed the minute Jesus stepped forward.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:21:28] And someone able to acknowledge that's the Lamb of God. He. No more sacrifices need to be made because of what's coming in that figure right there. And from that moment, things changed. You say, well, how can you say that, Kim? Well, because from that moment, how many of you know, he started saying things no one had ever said? He. I'm not meaning this figuratively. He literally said things no one on the planet had ever said before. How many of you know if you say things no one's ever said? You're going to get people's attention, right? How many of you know if you say things? Nobody. Everybody on this side of the room. Let me hear you all say. He said things no one had ever said. He said things no one ever said. That's going to be your line. The rest of this message. Okay. Whenever just to test, you know. That's right. He said things no one ever said. How many of you know if he said things no one ever said? How many of you know people are going to talk about you, right? Aren't they? But let's be real. Some of y'all said stuff everybody says and people talked about you. You know, I'm not the only one that said yes, but you said it. I heard you said it. You said it out loud. Jesus said things no one had ever said. You said. Well. Like what? Well, he said, no man comes to the father unless he goes through me.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:22:49] That's radical. He said. I'm the only gate that'll get you in. You know, he had a relationship with Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus, which tells me Martha could cook. Come on now, any traveling preacher knows you're not going to spend much time at a house where the woman can't cook, right? If she cooks, you'll drop your anchor right there. I believe I can stay away. Yes, I believe you. I believe I can be here for dinner. That's right. Uh, and and the Bible tells us he loved them. He loved Lazarus. And so it's a big deal. When Lazarus gets sick to the point of death, Martha realizes it. Martha's an organizer. You know, Mary gets a lot of credit for being a Praiser say, every time, every time Mary is mentioned in the Bible, what is she doing? She's doing the same thing at the same place. She's at the feet of Jesus worshiping him right every time. She's a praiser. But how many of you know Martha had gifts as well? Talking about marriage earlier. How many of you here are different than one another? If you're different than your mate, raise your hand. I mean, other than your genetics and your biology, y'all do understand there's a difference, right? Okay, I don't know how remedial I need to get, but how many of you realize you're not alike in your personality either? Now, sometimes that's that's when love has been a decision for you.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:24:11] Because she don't think like you think. She doesn't feel like you feel she doesn't look. I'm talking about look at things like you look at them. But that's by God's design. You know, he didn't just find a woman for you. He found that woman for you. And she's different than you for a purpose. What good would marriage be if everybody married themselves? Right? I mean, you're supposed to be. You're not just different physiologically. God made you different. So you complement one another. You didn't go out there and find somebody exactly like you. You went out and found somebody that can do things you can't do. When you're weak, they're strong, and when they're weak, you're strong. Right. And so, you know, God's design and everything has has plans and purposes for it. And so when we when we realize about the life of Jesus, he's different than anybody else. He says things nobody ever says. But how many of you know he didn't just say things, he did things. Come on. And here's the story. Now. Martha says, look, Lazarus is sick. And she calls for one of her servants, married man again, raise your hand if you're a brother in the struggle. Right. Uh, now, all of you men here, how many of you here are familiar with the look? You all are. Because let's be real, estrogen. They are the masters, the mistresses of nonverbal communication in women can speak volumes without ever opening their mouths.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:25:41] And my experience with my wife is the only time she leaves me confused is when she intends for me to be. Otherwise. She is crystal clear about her expectations, her hopes or dreams, etc.. That's right. And so I see Martha, this isn't in the Bible, but I'm connecting the dots for you here. I can see her. Remember now he's a servant. She's the head of the household. And so she says, come here, look at me, look at me. And so he looks at her and she says, listen, as you can see, Lars is sick. So I want you to go tell. Look at me. Go tell Jesus Lars is sick. You need to come now. Okay? What are you going to tell him? Well, let me know. Look at me. What are you going to tell him? So he. He goes through his lines and she says, go. He goes now. He goes. He finds Jesus. He tells him, uh, Miss Martha said Lazarus. He tells him the whole thing. Does Jesus come? No, no. By and large, acts like he never heard what he said. Jesus goes on with his stuff. Now imagine again, this isn't in the Bible, but you can connect the dots here. Imagine being that servant walking back and you know, she's standing over there at the blinds. Is he come back yet? Has anybody said, where is he at? She's looking. Where are you? She didn't have a cell phone to ask him.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:27:00] What are you doing? But that's what she's thinking. And so sure enough, she comes down the road, he sees him, blinds open, and he goes, oh, God. And he's thinking what every man thinks at a time like that. Ladies, you want to know what every man's thinking at a time like that? I'm going to tell you. Sorry, guys. I'm going to reveal this secret. Don't make eye contact. Just don't make eye. She's looking. Yes, she's still looking. Don't make eye contact. Sometimes that's the only defense we have. Don't make eye contact. And he's thinking, man, aren't there some roses I need to prune or I need to. I need to fix that gate. Anything to keep him from having to walk there. But she comes out on the porch, and of course, she wants to know where is Jesus? Did I not tell you? What did you tell? Yes. Well, what did you tell him? Well, you know, like I say. Well, where is he? Why didn't he come? We don't know. But I can imagine life was hard for him. But it gets harder for lasers because what happens? He dies and has been dead for days. When Jesus looks at the disciples and says, our brother Lazarus is sleeping. Well, they had heard that he wasn't feeling good. Right. They heard the messenger, too, and they said, well, he's going to get better. He's sleeping. And Jesus said, no, he's sleeping.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:28:16] Sleeping. How many of y'all know? How many of y'all understand sleeping and sleeping, right? And so they come. I don't know why it's funny to y'all, but it's funny to me too. And so they come and Martha goes out there, you know, she's like, didn't you get my text? I mean, I know four times I put on Instagram, Lars is sick. Come quick. And Jesus said, it's not a problem. She said, well, it's not a problem now. She said, he's dead. And Jesus said, no, he's just sleeping. And she said, sleeping. You remember what she said? She said, surely he stinketh. Look it up. That's the King James. Surely he stinketh. Estrogen can sum it up and go straight to the point. And Jesus said, well, he's going to rise again. And she says, well, I know he'll rise at the what? The resurrection. And then what? Jesus say, I am what no one had ever said. I am the resurrection. How many of you know talk is cheap? You're lying again, is he said things no one ever said. He said things no one said. Y'all can do better. Let's get let's get on the same page here. Okay. On three, one, two, three. Never say never said that. He did this side of the room. Don't want y'all to think I forgot about you. How many of you know he didn't just say things no one ever said? How many of you know he backed it up by doing things no one had ever done? That's right. Say that.
Church Members: [00:29:56] No things no one had ever done.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:29:58] He did things no one had ever done.
Church Members: [00:30:00] He did things no one has ever done.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:30:02] So if you've ever wondered, what's the big deal about Jesus? I mean, why is Jesus? Why do we have a holiday? For Jesus. Why are we out of school for Jesus? Well, it can be summed up in two sentences. The first one is he said things no one ever says. And then he did things.
Church Members: [00:30:19] No one has ever done.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:30:20] That's true. To me, that tells the whole story. Jesus is unique in the history of mankind because he alone said things no one had ever said, and then did things no one had ever done. Well, we know the things he said. You know, I'm the gate. I'm a no man come to the father. But how many know he did things nobody had ever done, the things he said. Had people talking. People who were there to hear him were aghast, particularly the church leadership. They wanted to stone him every time he said stuff. And people who weren't even there when they heard about it. You're kidding. No, that's what he said. But as far as the things he did, can you imagine if you were there? It was one thing. But then, you know, you went and ran and told somebody. He did what I'm telling you. He put mud on a blind man's eyes. He didn't. He did. And now he can see. When you do things nobody had ever done. People are talking about you. That was the story. That was the environment of this scripture. We're getting ready to look at the whole season. The whole place was abuzz because there was someone who was saying things over and over, said, and then doing the most radical things that nobody had ever done. Give us Matthew 16, verse 33, brother. And we're going to look at this passage of Scripture. And I just want you to understand the story thus far.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:31:44] We're in a place where people are saying things. Jesus is saying things nobody ever said, and he's doing things nobody ever done. And then we look at Matthew 16, verse 33, brother NIV. Yes, I see that hand. He said momentarily. Theme from jeopardy! Yes, whatever I said, ignore that, brother. I meant what I said when I came back there to the booth. I'm just talking big right now. There it is. I don't know why I said 33, I knew 13. So it says, when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, uh, I'm sure a poignant question. Who do the people say the Son of Man is? Because remember now he's been saying things nobody ever said. People who were there heard it. People who were there saw it, but people who weren't there have heard it by now. People who weren't there to see it, have seen it by now through the words of other people. And so he says, look, I know the people are talking. Who do the people say the Son of Man is? Now, how many of you noticed? That is a rhetorical question. What is a rhetorical question? A rhetorical question is a question that has the answer in the question. They're the great kind of questions on a test. I think we could all ace rhetorical questions if that's all that was on the test.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:33:13] Because Jesus says, who do the people say? Who is he? He's the Son of Man. How many of you know inherent in this is that he knows who he is? I told you earlier, I grew up in the 60s and 70s. How many of you remember in the 60s and 70s, people were trying to find out who they were? Do y'all remember that? I got to take some time off. I'm trying to find myself. Y'all ever heard that? You know, I've got to get away and find myself. And I was wanting to ask some people, out of curiosity, where are you going to look first? I mean, what's your hunch? Where do you think you'll find yourself? Because that's where I look first. He was in the last place I looked. Well, as Jeff Foxworthy said, I hope it was. I hope he didn't keep looking after you found yourself. But people were trying to find themselves. People were trying to get in touch with themselves. How many know it hasn't gotten better? It's gotten worse. I mean, the 60s and 70s, we want to know who we are today. They got to know what they are. How has that become confusing? Come on, quit being church people for a minute. I feel the uncomfortableness in the room here. Y'all are going. He's not going there, is he? Well, sort of, because understand how many of you know God has the patent on creation.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:34:33] Have you noticed if you go to a movie, they've got disclaimers afterwards. And, you know, and back in the days of renting a DVD or whatever you remember before it would play, there was anti-piracy stuff would come up there and all the you will slap your hands, the RAK Chinese water torture, all the stuff that'll be done to you if you video that thing because people are big time and they should be about intellectual property. In other words, if I wrote this song, I wrote this movie. I don't want you going and saying I wrote Let It Be. In fact, I wrote Hey Jude and She Loves You. Yeah, yeah, no you didn't. Lennon and McCartney wrote that, right? How many of you understand what I'm saying? Well, how many of you know God has the patent on humanity? The scripture says he made them male and female. I said earlier, you're different than your wife. Not just conceptually, but physically. And I said a while ago, kind of jokingly, how remedial? Well, how many of you know that is it remedial today? Because being a man is a moving target in this culture. I appreciated what what Matthew was saying about this is for me. We're going to talk about men's guy stuff. But today people don't know. And it's not the women don't know. It's the men who don't know. Right? I mean, I'm wearing a woman's bathing suit. I must be a woman.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:36:00] No you're not. That's the problem you've got on a woman's bathing suit. How many of you know there's not any confusion about this? They want you to think there's. It's funny. For a long time, we fought and fought and fought the women's movement fought to identify the fact that you're different than a man. Right. And now it's kind of gone the other way. Well, no, no, no, listen, I don't care what they tell you. I don't care how many injections you get or how many scaffolds they used on you. Roosters can't lay eggs. I mean, I know that's funny, but that's shockingly true. And today people are like, well, you know, you never know. You just can't tell. Yeah. You can. How many of y'all remember the epiphany moment in your life when you went Shazam? Yeah, I mean, I've heard and now I've seen. There's a difference. Come on, raise your wave your hand. Like this. Of course there's a difference. And so when Jesus said, who do the people say I am? He knows who he is. And how many of you know, for those people out there trying to identify their gender fluidity, as they say today? You know, and I hope I'm not offending anybody. Well, actually, I don't care, because, you know, there's no such thing as gender fluidity. It's an imaginary thing. We've made it up. And the fact is, you'll never know who or what you are if you don't know who he is.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:37:35] That's the whole problem today. People's GPS has no north. Their compass has no direction. They just spin the wheel. Well, this is north today. If you don't have Jesus in your life, if you don't have an absolute in your life, if you don't recognize God has the patent on all of creation, well, no wonder you're all over the page. Come on, I'm preaching. Good, y'all. Even it's funny. It's true. So he says, who do the people say the Son of Man is? Verse 14 the disciples said, well, some of them say You're John the Baptist. I mean, others say you're Elijah. Still others have seen you cry. Just a bit of humor there for you, Matthew. Uh, others think you're Jeremiah. And by the way, I cry too. I cry, I cry when I'm happy. I cry when I'm sad. Uh, you want to know the truth? When I play a really good guitar solo, sometimes I'll weep. I mean, I just feel it. So, brother, don't ever dumb that down. God made you that way. The problem is people who can't feel. That's right. And so he said, some of them say you're John the Baptist. Some of them say you're Elijah. Still others say you're Jeremiah one the prophets. In other words, they're all over the page, but they can recognize that you. And that you do things that no one ever does that they get.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:38:58] They just can't put their finger on who you are. And to Jesus. He was like, well, that's understandable because some of them didn't see it first hand. Some of them just heard right and some of them didn't didn't hear it firsthand. They just heard from somebody else. Then look at the next verse. But. But what about you? See how many of you know he said things. Only for the disciples ears. He said things no one else ever heard him say but them. He did things that no one else ever saw him do but the disciples. So they knew what others didn't know. They saw what others didn't see. They heard what others didn't hear. So Jesus said, well, I understand and it's it's understandable that they're all over the page. But he said, now you. Who do you say I am? How many know? That is the most important question you will ever be asked in your lifetime? Can we agree on that? And how many of you can also agree with me that life is full of questions? I mean, it starts almost from the moment you can talk. What's your name, little boy? What do you want to be when you grow up? Right? I mean, life is questions after question. After what? You know, when were you born? When's your birthday? Let me see your eyes. What color are your eyes? And the. The power of the questions increases the older you get.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:40:35] Because eventually they want to know. Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? I mean, that's a big time. What is your Pin? What is your password? Do you know the answers to these security questions? Right? Seriously, think about it. If you couldn't answer questions, you'd be paralyzed today. My life. My wife rather likes to make points to me by asking questions. Are these your socks? Huh? Yeah. Are these your socks? And I'm always like, if they're not, I have some questions of my own. You're not the only one who can ask questions. I have a few questions of my own. Yes, those are my socks. We both know that. You knew that before you asked. Did you mean to leave the refrigerator open? Think about it. Questions. But with all the questions you've heard in your lifetime. Questions that make you squirm, that questions that make you uncomfortable, look at the one on the screen. That is the most serious question you will ever be asked. Now look at me. You're asked that question and have been asked that question every day. You're asked that question every day by the events that have transpired in your life. But when I said earlier the good things and the bad things in your life, the hard things. They ask you that question every day. Bad stuff happens to everybody. Can we agree? How many of you here have been hurt? Raise your hand if you've been hurt.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:42:27] How many of you here have never been accused of being Jeremiah? But you've cried when you hurt. Maybe physically hurt, maybe emotionally hurt. Maybe both. Raise your hand if you've cried because you got hurt. Everybody in here has cried over that. Right. But how many know that only defines you? If you allow it to. It doesn't mean you weren't victimized, but it only defines you as a victim. Based on how you respond to it and how you respond to every question in your life, is a function of how you answer that question in your life. How you answer that question determines how you respond when you're told, I'm sorry, we're going to have to let you go. We just don't have enough in the budget. Are you aware that you're overdrawn? I just want to be forthright with you. I'm seeing someone else. I don't love you anymore. Are you my real daddy? I mean, all the questions were asked over our lifetime. How you answer that one determines how you answer every question. Wave your hands. I know, that's right. Wave. If you're not waving your hand, you're out of the will of God. Wave your hand. Back row people. Don't you love back row people? They're like, I'm untouchable. I'm on the back row. Not when I come to town, brother. Everybody here has to participate. It's participation Sunday. No trophies, you understand? But everybody here has to participate.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:43:55] But what about you? He asked. Who do you say that I am? And then Peter, tempestuous Peter, always quick to respond. How many of you are quick to respond? Sometimes without thinking. If you had to think about it, then it's proof that you're one of those people. So I'm like, do I do that? Yes you do. Look how Peter responds in verse 16. He says you are the Messiah. The son of the living God. Point up there at the screen right now. Everybody point. Yeah. She knew I'd look at you, sir. Everybody point. And everybody say right here, right now. This is literally where the word Christianity began. This is the first time in the mankind's history. It is the literal origin, the end of the road. The beginning. The etymology of Christianity, when Peter rightly looks at him and says, you are the Messiah, you're the Christ, you are the son of the living God. Look how Jesus responds in the next verse. He says, blessed are you, Simon of Son of Jonah, because we didn't cover that in our Men of Valor meeting last month. We never went over that in the men's retreat. It wasn't on the syllabus, right? He said, I never told you this. He said, flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you. But who was it that revealed this to you? My father. The same one that was able to manifest a life in Mary's belly.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:45:37] The Spirit of God revealed to Peter that you are the Christ, the son of the living God. He never studied this. You ever been preaching and something comes to you. You've never studied. Of course, man, that's the Spirit of God that brings these things up. It's called revelation. Peter got a revelation. He said, this was revealed to you not by flesh and blood, but by my father which is in heaven. Look at the next verse. And he says, I'm going to tell you what, Peter. Often referred to as Petra. Actual name was Petra. Which means what? Rock? He said, I'm going to tell you this, Peter. On this rock, I'll build my. What? His synagogue? No, that's what had been happening up to this point. Point at the screen again, say right here, right now. This is the etymology of the word church. One sentence after Christianity morphs into the lexicon of human language. Church manifest in the lexicon. To me, that's cool. I've been in ministry for 45 years. I grew up in church. My dad preached 63 years. My grandfather preached 78 years. I'm not saying anyone else hasn't ministered on this, I'm just saying I've never heard anybody talk about the etymology of Christianity and Church. And when the Spirit of God revealed to me it happened in back to back sentences, it happened literal seconds apart. But of course, that makes sense, because how many of you know Jesus is the cornerstone? You know, if you know anything about biblical times.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:47:15] Whenever they built a building, they had a lot of pomp and circumstance. When they put that first stone of the foundation in the ground, they called it a cornerstone. It was the center stone of the foundation. Parenthetically, I'll tell you at the end of building, when they had a big pomp and circumstance ceremony to put the last stone in place. Anybody know what they call the last stone they put in place? The capstone, and they said many times the same hand that laid the cornerstone laid the capstone. Jesus is the cornerstone and the capstone for Christianity and church. It all starts and ends with him. Amen. And so he says to Peter, he says, I never taught you that. That was revealed to you of my father, which is in heaven. And it's upon that confession I'm going to build my church. Notice the word my the possessive, my church. This had never been before until this moment. It isn't. It's just a concept. Right now they are the early church. Those 12 are the church. And now it's their job to go out and build the church. How many of you know? In fact, that's your job. That in the Bible. How many of you know everything God created? He blessed it and said, what? Get busy. Multiply, reproduce. Everything reproduces after its own kind. Right.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:48:36] We were talking earlier about seed. Anybody here grow up on a farm? Raise your hand if you grew up on a farm. You did, young man. What'd you grow on your farm that we could eat? Corn. Excellent. How many of you here like corn? I'm using word love here, I love corn. What's your name? Trey. How many of you glad Trey family was on the job? I, for 1 a.m., sir. Because I'm going to tell you something. Trey, there's nothing you can do to corn to keep me from liking it. That's the truth. I know an orphanage for corn. I give it all a warm home. You can boil it, fry it, you can cream it. I don't even know what they do when they cream corn. But I like it. I don't know that I want to know, but I like it. How many of you can pop it? Wouldn't you like to be the guy that discovered that this ear is not any good throwing the fire. Oh, look. It don't matter what you do to corn. You can make bread out of it, and I'm gonna like it, right? How many you like? Cornbread. Come on, y'all, if you don't like cornbread, I'll have a healing line for you up here after service. So let me ask you something, Trey. I'm not trying to be a smart aleck. If I want to have an entire crop of corn, like a whole field of corn, what do I have to plant? Oh.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:49:58] He said that with enthusiasm. I believe he's right. A little disdain for me and enthusiasm. He's like, you don't know corn, right? So. So just to show for illustrative purposes, which is your dad that would go and put the seed out or was that you? Who? Your grandfather. What was your grandfather's name? Louis. Now, how many of you know when Louis is putting seed out? When he got done, he didn't go around to y'all's neighbors and go, would y'all be in agreement with us? We're rebuke and squash and tomatoes. We're believing God for corn. I mean, no, that isn't necessary, is it, Trey? Because if you plant corn, what are you going to get? Trey. You're going to get corn. You're going to get corn. Well, how many of you know everything God created? He created it to reproduce after its own kind, right after. And so that's why as Christians, our responsibility. It's not your pastor's job. He's not the only one in here that should reproduce. All of you should. Some of y'all left. Drive safely. Every one of you here should be reproducing. I was saying before service to your wife. I was saying. And maybe you. I can't remember if you were standing. I was saying you would think somebody who's been. Yeah, it was you and I. If somebody who's been in your church for 25 years, for a quarter of a century besides me, you would think if they've heard all these messages, been to all the seminars, bought all the CD series, got all the brother Hagan's books, uh, everybody else's books series on being a soul winner and all that.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:51:35] They got, all that they're on. You're on your third copy of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and your second copy of Vine's Expository Dictionary of Greek Words. But you've never let anybody to Jesus. That's the only thing Jesus ever cursed. A fig tree. I can hear all the tree huggers. All. Oh! How insensitive. Why would he curse a tree? Well, why did he curse it? Well, what can you. What? Did he go to the fig tree, expecting figs. Without being remedial because his tray broken down for us when it comes to corn. Well, that's when it comes to figs. You go to fig trees to get figs. And what's up when he goes to that fig tree? No fig. It's fig leaves. How many of you here have known someone in your life that was faithless? You're faithless. Maybe you've been faithless at a time. Today's crazy. I don't know why. Faithless. So what did he do to the tree? He curses it. If you know the story. They come back past that same tree days later. And all of them went godly. Because what had happened to the tree? It withered and died. Jesus cursed it for them all to see.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:53:09] He brought them back that way so they all could see it had withered and died. And he used it as a teaching moment, as he had said to him clearly, look, I'm the vine. You're the branches apart from me. If you're not hooked to me, you bear no fruit. And he said, what happens? How many of you here have ever had a storm come to your house and it blows branches down. What do you do with the branches? You gather them up and burn them. Why? Because your wife told you to. You need to go out and get them branches and burn them. And so you did. And Jesus was like, hey, that's how I roll too. Things that don't produce. Remember in Genesis one he blessed everything and said, be fruitful and multiply. So how many of you can see that in this life? What really is crucial isn't what you've got printed on your business card. That's part of who you are. But that's not the real you. The real you is not what, on Instagram or, uh, I have never. I'm using the word never here. Never five seconds. Been on any social media in my lifetime. I'm a dinosaur, I know that. But I've had people say to me, you mean you're not on Facebook? You don't tweet? Not that I'm aware of. And I said, well, why not? And I said, it's easy. I don't need another way to disappoint people.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:54:33] I'm serious. I'm already pretty slow responding to emails and voicemails and texts. I don't need another thing to have to keep up with. And from what I can tell, my wife says, I don't know what's with these people. Yesterday we went to the dog park for a few minutes to watch dogs. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm an animal lover, I love dogs and so we went and we have a dog park in Cleveland and there was about 60. They have one for little tiny dogs. They got one for larger dogs. And I said, baby, this is like three times as many as we'd ever seen. It was a beautiful day and they were just going wild. It was wonderful. And amidst the watching all them dogs, there's a walking park around this big fence and she goes, Kim, look, I said, I know. I said, he's a case hand. She goes, no, I'm not talking about the dog. She said, look at those people over there. And it was six people walking together on a walking path. This is what all six of them were doing. Wow. Beautiful day, gorgeous day. Dogs having fun, dogs spending time on their fellowshipping. That's why they're jumping up and down. Ah, he's got four legs. Two. You know, they do other stuff too, but we'll leave it at that. They were doing that too. But what were the people doing. Right. And you think, you know, people are like, well people need to know who they are.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:56:02] Right. Y'all seen him?
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:56:08] That isn't who you are. When you pick out the selfie, that's like going to be on your home page, cover page, whatever, that isn't who you are. Can we agree on that? Can we agree? The real you is the fruit your life produces. The real you isn't what's on your business card or your website. These are my ways. No, those aren't all your ways. The thing that is the proof of the totality of your ways is the fruit your life produces. God judges everything by the fruit of producers because everything he created, he blessed it and said, reproduce, reproduce. And so he rightfully cursed a fig tree that was not reproducing. And then to teach his disciples, he said, do you see this, guys? It isn't bearing fruit. And he said, What I'm going to do to it may seem cruel, but he said, it's what you would do in your yard, and it's what will happen on the day of judgment. When any branch doesn't bear fruit, it gets thrown into a fire and is consumed. That's a pretty sobering thought, isn't it, boy? Just when things are going good. But how many know that's the power of having the right answer to who do you say I am? Who do you say I am? Because in the same way, Jesus has built a church now for 2000 years on that man's confession. How many of you know he was not building the church on Peter? He was building the church on what Peter's confession was. In the same way, look at your neighbor and say in the same way. Say it and nod your head knowingly in the same way. You build your life on your confession.
Church Members: [00:58:04] On your confession.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:58:06] I asked you earlier if you're married. Many of you raise your hands. I mean, you got the marriage you got because of the way you speak to one another.
Church Members: [00:58:17] Yeah.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:58:18] He'll take that off the tape. I'm sure that'll that'll never make it on there. They'll edit that off.
The Guy Who Edits: [00:58:23] NO I WON'T :)
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [00:58:23] Am I telling the truth? Test it. When you get in the car. You want to change the atmosphere. You know how to do that and you know how to fix it. You know, one of the things I've learned about my phone, I had to cut it off because it was just too indicting. I found my phone had something called predictive text, meaning that if there's something that I tend to text a lot, if you start to text it, it'll go. And I found whenever I typed I'm it would go, sorry. I was like, no, that doesn't I'm not taking that off. But I found that tends to be my I find lots of times in 45 years. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I mean, even if. How many of you here have ever made a mess in your marriage because of something you've said. I love how the men always go and the ladies are like. But it was awful what he said. And how many of you know I'm sorry is a powerful phrase. It can assuage. It can soothe. It's like oil. It's like lotion. It's like a warm blanket. It's like giving a massage, rubbing lotion, and then putting a warm blanket over him with a heating pad underneath them. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You build your life with your mouth. God created the world with his mouth, and you create yours.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:00:10] And if you don't like the world you've built, if you don't like the marriage you've created, if you don't like the kids that you've got, you don't need another husband. Right. You're going. I don't, because how many of their women out there that that's their go to? I just need another husband. Well, it won't be no time. You'll be complaining about the new one like you did the other three, right? And a lot of men think I need a younger model. Uh, I ain't going to work. I ain't going to work. But we lie to ourselves. And why do we do that? It's one thing to lie to other people. It's another when you lie to yourself. What's because you've forgotten the answer to the question? Who do you say I am? See, answering that question correctly puts you on course to answering every other question. If you don't have the right answer to that question, if it vacillates, if he's. If he's the King of Kings in your life today, but not when you leave here and you go to work tomorrow. See, when I was a kid growing up, that was one of the things I have no excuse for my rebellion. I was rebellious, I just was. How many of you here were of a rebellious? In a couple of years. Still ours. Well that's fine. I'm just telling you, I was rebellious. But I will tell you, the seed of that was when I saw people do one thing in church, and they do something else outside of church.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:01:43] I assumed everybody was like my parents. I thought they were all real. It's not that my parents didn't ever do wrong. They certainly did. And that was one of the most profound things in my life, was the first time I realized my dad could be wrong. Made me love him more, not less. Because I realize he's just a guy. But it's when I saw people who I assumed because they were in church, or they were on the platform, that they were real and they weren't. And I was like, who wants that? And I'm not going to do that. And it's like that song we were singing. He made me feel that's what I. Isn't it funny that that's what everybody's looking for is freedom? And ain't it funny that if you don't have the right answer to that question, everything appears to be freedom? Turns out to be bondage. All the stuff. I couldn't wait to get out of my parents house so I could be free. That's funny. You know, I thought freedom was when you don't have anybody to tell you what to do. Well, I know that's a lie. There'd never be a time in your life you won't have. I'm free. A lot of man. That's their problem. I'm facing my house. That's my truck out there.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:02:55] A lot of them say it over and over, because they realized that's about as far as it goes, you know? Then they took my truck out there. Sometimes one of the kids that go here. Daddy. The remote. Everybody knows your remote is yours. Daddy can be asleep and you change it down. Put that back on there. I was watching that. The right answer to who do you say I am? Put you in position to have the right answer to every other question life's going to ask you. And whether you got up today. Everybody look at me. Let's make our eyes meet. Whether you got up today with a smile on your face. Or hang in your head. Is a function. Of whether you have the right answer for that one question, you got the right answer to that question. You'll have the right answer to every question. It don't matter what hardship comes your way. You realize, you know what? I may have been hurt, but I'm not a victim. This doesn't define me because I'm more than a conqueror. I'm an overcomer in this life. I'm the head and not the tail. I'm above and not beneath. Amen. Bow your heads. Close your eyes. There's more, but that's enough. Life does ask us questions all the time. Some of you have been asked some tough questions this week. You may have some apprehension about questions you've got to answer later this week, next month.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:04:28] But you don't have to squirm. You don't have to be fearful. You don't have to procrastinate answering. If you can get the answer to that one question, what about you? Who do you say I am? So you've been answering that question all along. But if you can get the right answer to that question. You're the Messiah. You're my king. You're my savior. You're the Lord of my life. The other answers come a lot easier. And the fruit of your life will prove it. Irrespective of what your website says, irrespective of your business card, irrespective of what your resume says. Everyone will know who you are. The Lord said you'll know them by their fruit. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed. It doesn't matter where I go or what I minister on. The end game. Is realization that there may be somebody sitting in this room that's just like I was nearly 50 years ago when, although I was in church, I was lost. I was in rebellion. And a man came to our meeting and our church and of course, being lost, I was on the back row. I remember he looked back there and he said, there's a young man here this morning that needs deliverance. He said, I want anybody in the room to pray for him. I kind of did what a lot of people do, I looked around, I wonder who it is. And I just about gave in.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:06:09] And inside I heard a voice and said, you know, you've weathered tougher storms in him because I grew up in church, man. I mean, I went to church sometimes every day. My family used to do tent revivals. We had service Sunday morning or in the morning at 10 a.m. and at night, 7 p.m., seven days a week. I mean, I heard preaching all the time. And so inside I thought, you've dealt with tougher guys. Him you can handle this. And I didn't go forward. I came back that night as a favor to my mom. She said. If you'll go to church with us tonight, we'll go out to eat. And my stomach said, she's got a point there. And so I went no deeper in my mind was my decision making in that what I did not know, when I walked back in the room with that preacher was up there again and our pastor said, I know you're shocked to see brother so and so up here. He said, but this morning went so well. I asked him if he'd stay over and minister again tonight. Part of my flesh said, you need to get ready. You're going to have to deal. You're going to have to deal with this guy. They gave an altar call, and every person in the church, every person in the church, came forward. The entire church was at the altar, 300 people, but more on the back row, I never moved.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:07:29] They all came back and set back in their pews. He was at the point of dismissing. When he said, we've had a wonderful service today and tonight. But he said. I still feel there's someone here that needs Jesus. And I remember. I opened my eyes. I looked at him and I started to walk. I couldn't believe it. I was walking down that middle aisle. I have acquaintances, people that I knew back then that maybe I haven't seen in 50 years. But I've heard different people have told me they're still going through rehab, their fourth or fifth time, and their addiction wasn't as bad as mine, but they're still dealing with it five decades later. And it dawned on me I never went to a ten step program, a 12 step program. It was like 60 steps to the altar. And God changed me forever. Set me free. What I've been looking for all along. So you may be here this morning and you've come to church for years, like I did. But you've yet to be free. Freedom is simple. It only comes one way. It's when you get a new heart and a new daddy. No matter how much you've changed in your life, your hairstyle, your clothes, where you live, where you work. Only God can change your heart. It starts with the right answer that question. Who do you say I am? If you're here today and you've never answered that question correctly, if you've never let your ears hear your mouth say you're the King of kings, you're the Lord of lords and you're my savior, then today is your opportunity.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:09:27] Today is your opportunity. This is going to be the international dateline of your life. You're going to evaluate everything in your life based off this last Sunday in February, because today is when everything is going to change the same way. The world changed when John the Baptist said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And the same way the landscape of humanity changed. The landscape of your life can change today if you say yes to Jesus. And so with your heads bowed and your eyes closed, I'm not going to embarrass you. I'm not going to make you come to the front. I'm going to do something really simple. Everybody's head is bowed and their eyes are closed. I'm the only one looking around here. But if you're here today and you realize this was for you. You want to acknowledge. You know the answer. He's the Christ. He's the son of the living God. He's your savior. He loves you, and he's forgiven you. And you want to make him the Lord of your life. If that's you and you've never done that before. Or maybe you did years ago and you've been in rebellion, and you know, today you want to rededicate your life.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:10:32] It doesn't matter to me either way. If that's you, I want you to do something simple where you're seated right now. Just raise your hand briefly where I can see it. I just want to pray with you. Do it right now. Right now I'm only going to wait a minute because, you know, if this was for you or not. But if it was, obey God. Raise your hand where I can see it. Do it now. Well, that means you're the perfect audience for what I ministered on today, because every one of you've experienced it. Every one of you here have stepped through that door where you said, you know what? I acknowledge you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And so I want to challenge you. What I said before is absolutely true. Everything God created, he intended for it to reproduce. I want you to do something. I want everybody in this room to point at an empty chair in this room. Now I want you to say this. God is using me and the fruit of my life to fill this chair. They should be. Listen. They should be standing in line to get in here. When you leave here, they'll be standing in line at Cracker Barrel or wherever. I've seen people standing in line at restaurants. And. Weren't he good? I mean, that used to be the prevailing thought. If there's a line, it must be good. Well, I've waited an hour to get terrible food.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:12:02] But they ought to be standing in line. Every time he comes in here, it's like he's handing out gold to every one of you here that you couldn't buy, no matter how much money you had. And though you know that and realize that. Everybody look at me. Every one of you here knows somebody who doesn't know that. They're desperate to hear. Their life is falling apart because they don't know what you know. And you're thinking, well, it's not a secret. Well, it is to them. And God wants to use you to reproduce in their life. Point at another chair, not the one you just pointed at and say it again. God is using me and the fruit of my life to fill this chair. In Jesus name, Amen. I'm so thankful for getting to meet you 25 years ago. That's craziness. I may have had hair back then and I told Ronald. He said, well, you've put on a few pounds since then. I said, I'm growing in the Lord. But he will tell you, every time I've come, I come the same way I come knowing that God doesn't have a short arm. See, in the beginning, when we first started ministering 45 years and travel places, there was times I went and they'd give me the offering. I loved where they'd go. I wish you could be more. And I remember looking and going, me too.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:13:36] Boy, we're in agreement on that, yeah.
Rev. Kim Klaudt: [01:13:38] A couple times I thought I'd endorse this and give it back. I think they need this worse than I do. But you know what the Lord said to me the night he revealed his call on my life? He said, you're to be my mouthpiece to my people. He said, don't ever tell them what you think. Tell them what I said. I've done my best to do that, not only today, but every time I've come to point to you what he said. Because what he said is what will change your life. And the Lord said, if you'll tell them what I said, he said in turn, I'll speak to them, and they will bless you. Because he said, I'll never write you a check. He told me that. He said, I'll never give you $100 bill. He said, that's what my people are for. How many know God don't print money? It'd be cool if he did, though, wouldn't it, brother? I'd be saying, Jeremiah, let's go with 50s and hundreds. I think we could all cry over that. Come on. But God, don't print money. Governments do. Right? God just shakes it loose where it already is. So all I've ever asked in 25 years is all I'm asking today. Put your hand up to your ear. Everybody. If you'll just listen, he's going to tell you what to do. Here's what I'm saying. Don't do what you've always done. Do what he tells you to do. Amen.
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