Celebrate life as Jesus celebrated it

What the young people have shared, for me, has been something spectacular, because it connects so well with what I want to share with you today. And what I want to talk to you has to do with the fact of being able to celebrate life as Jesus celebrated it.

Many times we get so caught up in the affairs of daily life, in the hustle and bustle of things, and there are times that we forget to be able to truly celebrate those most basic aspects, the coolest, coolest details of life that the Lord wants us to we celebrate

For example, today I celebrate precisely this, we laugh when we hear Gabriela speaking with her well-marked Dominican accent, but that she speaks it with a genuineness that is so hers, that is something that I celebrate. A girl who used to be very shy and didn't say anything, and now look at her with the courage to take up the microphone and to start sharing these things, is like that with all the other boys.

And in the same way, brothers, I celebrate what God does in each one of us. And we all have to accept the call and the challenge to live as Jesus lived and to be able to celebrate in the way that Jesus also lived.

I want you to go with me to the book of Ephesians, chapter 5. That will be, as they say, my base to get out of there. Hey Fernando, do you have the video ready? Just put it for a second because I want to give people a taste? How many are waiting for this? How many are waiting to see something like this right now? All. Ok, so remove it because I want you to watch the message now. Already. Already.

My brothers, there in Spain, we are praying for you, we rejoice for you and that God does as he wants in this game, so here we go.

But look, Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 1, how it says, I think we can all read it here in unison, with me, come on, it says:

"Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children"

Tell the person next to you, hey, you have to be a God impersonator. And of course, when he talks about imitating God, this is what he really means is imitating Jesus. In Jesus we have the perfect example that we can imitate. None of us can imitate God, it is difficult to imitate God. God is very big, too immeasurable to be able to imitate him. That is where we fall short. And in the nature of Jesus there is definitely the nature of God, but the way Jesus lived when he was here on earth left us an example for us to know how to live and imitate and emulate the example that he gave each of us. we.

And there are things that I would like to share with you today, my brothers, this morning I confess to you, this morning I was very attentive to my notes and I felt that I was lost at one point. I am more used to speaking like this, from my heart, so I am going to follow my heart now. I am not going to believe that I am in a Wednesday service and I am going to speak to you like this from my heart. I always speak from my heart, but do you understand where I'm going?

The thing is this, my brothers, when I think about our life as disciples of Jesus, a disciple is defined as knowing how to imitate his teacher, he knows how to imitate his leader, and he does everything possible to live up to what is that that teacher wants for them, as disciples. And in the life of Jesus certainly Jesus always maintained a well balanced life. He was very clear concerning his mission in life, in his life here on earth. He knew that his mission was to expand the Kingdom of God here on earth, preach the Gospel, restore the fallen, heal the sick, free the possessed. That was part of Jesus' purpose, but the other part also had to do with that one-on-one connection with people.

Jesus was always looking for time to share with people around him, people that perhaps he knew and shared with them, but Jesus also took his time and his opportunity to share with those people that he did not necessarily know. And today I understand that more than ever the Lord is calling us as a church to emulate that example of Jesus, to be able to take those moments where we can celebrate life, as he also celebrated it, celebrate what he is doing in us, individually, what he does in other people as well, and also to celebrate other things.

And this is where I want to direct you, my brothers. Look, in the Bible there are many examples of how Jesus celebrated, how Jesus celebrated with different people. Look, for example, this is going to make more reference to the book of Lucas, there are many references in the book of Lucas. But look, in Luke chapter 5 is the story of when Jesus meets Levi, the tax collector, who is also known as Matthew. When Jesus sees Matthew he tells him, I want you to follow me, and he followed him but what does the text say next? What the text says was:

“…a Levi went to his house and prepared a banquet for Jesus and all his friends and there Jesus went with all his disciples, and what did he do? He shared the bread with them. The problem was that he was in the presence of all the publicans and tax collectors, who at that time for the Pharisees, they were considered as sinful people. So what happened? They began to criticize Jesus. Come here, what do you think? You are here eating with this stream of sinners and you think you are a teacher, a rabbi, how can that be possible?

More yet, Jesus was there. Jesus decided, he took the time to intentionally share with those people and celebrate what was happening in their midst. If I give you another example, do you remember Jairo's daughter? I say this, because I believe that Jesus had a little bit of Latino in his heart too. Everything was wrapped with food and we solve everything with food too. But look, when Jesus resurrects the daughter of Jairus, everyone was telling the parents, no, look, don't bother the teacher anymore, the girl died, don't bother him. And what was Jesus saying? He's sleeping, and what happened? They mocked Jesus. Jesus entered the room, touches the girl, picks her up, and when he comes out, what is the first thing he says to the parents? Feed him Let's eat. There's hunger, she's hungry and so am I, so let's eat.

Another example that I can also mention, what happened to the 5,000 who were listening to Jesus while he was preaching on the mountain? Suddenly the disciples saw Jesus and said to him, Jesus, you have to send these people to leave, it is already getting late, there is nothing to offer them here. Or if? Look, what a great idea, we are going to have a barbecue here on this hill right now. And it occurred to him to make Jesus a barbecue with 5 loaves and two fish.

If I give you another example: I don't know how many of you know the term of being a cachetero. Some of you know what it is to be a cachetero? If I explain to you, a cheeky is that person that wherever they invite him to eat, that person goes. And another dimension of being a cheeky guy is that you don't necessarily have to invite him, the person invites himself to eat. That is what I did during my seminary years here when I started. I was a cheeky man and I confess it. They invited me and I, yes, I didn't say no, I did, here I go. And there were times that also... as they say in Dominican, lambón. What other group do I have here just in case? How do you say cheeket and lambón in Guatemala, how do you say that? Eater, that's what they say. okay then. I confess it I was a cheeky man, I was a lambón and I was a glutton. And there are times when I still have a little bit of that left, so be careful if you invite me to eat at your house.

But the thing is, my brothers, that Jesus, I think that Jesus had a little bit of that. What happened when he met Zacchaeus? What did he say to Zacchaeus when he saw him up the tree, what did he say to him? Zacchaeus, you know what? Come down from that tree because today I am going to eat at your house. He didn't even invite him and there he went to eat at Zacchaeus' house.

But you are more or less following the idea of what I am mentioning to you, my brothers. I believe that Jesus had this joviality, where he enjoyed and took advantage of any opportunity to connect with people, whether they had invited him, or whether he was inviting himself, there was something, and this is where I want, as if to say, right the point, there was something from each of those opportunities to celebrate with people, in each of those opportunities what ended up being lives transformed. Wherever Jesus went, whether they invited him or invited himself, he ended up in a transformation of life.

Zacchaeus, what did he end up doing? He was so touched by the spirit that he ended up giving everything he had, returning all the taxes that he had stolen, he ended up giving everything back. Mateo, who was another tax collector, what did he end up being? He became one of Jesus' disciples and followed him wherever he went.

With Jairus's daughter, obviously from death to life, total transformation, likewise with everyone who was there. I believe that God calls us to be able to do the same, my brothers. God wants, Jesus wants us to emulate that example. And you know what? I want to share with you some tips on how to do this. I'm going to give you my cheeky tips.

So follow me, it's pointing there, but it's based on the example of Jesus Christ, of course. Look, the first thing I'm going to tell you, for you to celebrate life, be spontaneous, be spontaneous. Spontaneity is key. It's one thing to plan an event to celebrate a wedding or a graduation with someone, or who got their license and now has a car, whatever, who bought a house. Those are things that you can plan, but when things are spontaneous, my brothers, that gives a totally different dimension, because here comes the sense of familiarity that one has with people.

Look, I'm going to give you an example, to make you laugh a little bit: two weeks ago, one Saturday I did the Saturday of the 4th of July, the weekend of the 4th of July, I did a barbecue at home with the Wednesday worship and prayer team, and we were while we were planning it we were exchanging opinions about what we were going to do, what food we were going to bring and things like that. and then suddenly, one of the boys thought of it, I had said that I was going to bring a small pool for the little children, with a trickle and all this, and someone said: ah, we can get into the pool too, and I said, it's too small, none of us can fit in it. Then one person comes out and says, how about we have a water balloon fight. Oh fantastic! That was the show of the day. My brothers, imagine this adult spurt, running all over the patio of my house, throwing water balloons at each other. I want you to imagine that, and I was the first one that I started. I started by throwing the first bomb. I want you to imagine this panorama of the type of celebration that was taking place in that place. I don't know if Enrique is around, but look, look at what happened with Enrique. Enrique, I told you that I was going to catch you, so look at this.

I wanted to give Enrique his own welcome from Mexico, I told you, I'm going to bomb you and I was there throwing water bombs at him, but what happened? In one he caught me unexpectedly, and do you know what he baptized me with? With a Pepsicola and not a can, he brought the whole godfather and emptied it on me. And anyone else would have said, wow, how disrespectful, pouring a soda on the pastor! But you know what? I started laughing so much and so much that I looked for a whole bucket of water and without him noticing, I baptized him, and that was the tell me and tell you of the whole afternoon, because then we looked for the hose, and already They weren't water pumps, now they were with a bucket. The children's pool emptied, because everyone started looking for buckets and throwing buckets at each other. That was the joke of the afternoon.

But in the midst of that, my brothers, such a beautiful friendship was formed, that by last Friday, my sister Vanessa, suddenly, on Thursday, she threw an email on Thursday and came out and said: hey, some of you Would you be available to come home on Friday afternoon? And suddenly, they started exchanging all these emails and look, I'm not going to deny you, for a minute, in my head, I said to myself, wow, but if we already shared last weekend, it's not enough. Now we have to share this weekend again, but in my spirit the Lord gave me such a strong conviction that I felt like the Lord had made me, pa…pa… this is your family, share yourself with them.

And look my brothers, I was one of the first to respond, I think, I'm going to take him to Lucas, because I was thinking, I'm alone with Lucas, who's going to take care of him? If I stay with him I have to play with him and no one will be able to take care of him, and suddenly the Lord tells me, you're going to have extra hands there to take care of Lucas, so don't worry.

And look, my brothers, it was such a nice thing, to suddenly get there on Friday afternoon, meet and relax, my brothers, make jokes with each other. Anthony, I don't know if you noticed the children, but even Anthony, we are one of those who, if they hit us like that, we fuck like that. Anthony was writing a… and suddenly, he wrote something with the letter x, instead of saying expressed, he wrote espresso, and that became the joke of all the children. Everyone when they wrote an email replaced all s's with x's. so imagine reading those emails, but we do everything in a spirit of love, because we know that there is a friendship that unites us, there is a brotherhood that unites us and that is something worth celebrating, that is something to celebrate, my brothers , and spontaneity in this is key, it is crucial.

And not only that, but the second point requires intentionality. You were very spontaneous, brother, definitely. …he threw a water balloon at my head that exploded and I felt him complete there. So, point number one would be to be spontaneous. There you go, a cheeky tip for the summer.

Point number two of the cheeky tip, be intentional, my brother and sister, you have to be intentional when you do this. If you are not intentional, if there is not a sense of genuineness in this, people are going to smell it, people know when you are wanting to do something like that, superficial, to fulfill something. But look, my brother, when you do it with all your heart, because you want to share with these people, that maybe you don't know them well, and you want to know them well and you foster that kind of camaraderie between one and the other, look, when the time comes to step on our calluses, it's going to hurt, but after stepping on our calluses we can laugh again. Because we know how to celebrate what God is doing in our lives.

So look, be spontaneous, be intentional, number two, celebrate what God is doing in other people. As small as that may be, as small as the achievement that person has managed to achieve, celebrate it. Aaah, I cut my hair. Look, celebrate that he cut his hair. Oooh, look they gave me my residency papers. Celebrate that with the person. I managed to buy a house. Celebrate that with the person.

We have to learn to foster that sense of celebration with each other, my brothers. I know that for some, you know what? I know that for some this is very difficult, because perhaps the circumstances of life have hit you so hard that it is difficult to celebrate, to be able to find something good to celebrate. But with even more reason I dare to say that this is where faith comes from, this is where faith comes from. Because if I let myself be carried away by all those things that I have in front of me, I will not be able to see what God is doing in the midst of all things. And when I rely on faith, when I completely depend on God, then I can find a reason to celebrate, not only what God is doing in you, but also celebrate what God is doing in me. Because I can't celebrate what he's doing in others if I can't celebrate what God is doing in me.

And look, there are times when one comes from backgrounds that are a little pessimistic, where that sense of celebration was not encouraged, where I could go home and show my exam, look, I got an A out of 100 points and the only thing they told me It was, ah, that's good, I'm leaving, I have to go to work. And that there were times when one was cut off, and it's not that I'm blaming the nucleus where I was born, but it's that that was not encouraged. And now I, in the context in which I find myself now, I have seen myself so many times that I can easily make myself fall into that, ah, they tell me, look, I managed to do this. Ah, look how cool and that's where I follow him.

But celebrating requires that I be able to say, look, this person is acknowledging something important and I have to acknowledge that too. And for me to be able to recognize that, I have to recognize what God is doing in me. And there are times when we have to give a little love to ourselves and be able to know and recognize, look, that despite the circumstances there is something that God is doing in us.

I don't know, this may sound very simplistic, but the mere fact that I can get up every day, that I can breathe, get dressed and get ahead and do things, undertake things, be with the family, be with the church, be with people I don't know, those are reasons to celebrate. Because it is the opportunity of life that God gives. And if you can't celebrate that, well, gosh, then I say to myself, look, well, we have to pay more attention to those simpler aspects of life, what God is doing in our midst. But it has to happen first in me and then later project it onto the other.

And that, you know what? I find it funny because this happens a lot in the dynamics of couples, of marriages as well. And I do this as a parenthesis, my brothers, you know what? As a couple we have to learn to affirm and to recognize and celebrate what God is doing in our spouse. I don't know if you can say amen to that, but we have to learn to do that and be intentional about it even more.

This past week I was listening to a marriage counseling podcast and I was listening to a preacher who said that for the man it was like, he was talking about a survey that was done, a survey that was done about what was more important to the man or to the woman and implies that for the man it is more important to be able to feel respected than loved by his wife. did you understand? For the man it is more important to feel respected than loved, and for the wife then it is the opposite, it is more important to be able to feel loved than respected.

It may sound ironic but ok, that's how God made the wires in our brains. But the mere fact of being able to recognize that then means that when one is in the marital relationship, one has to learn how to value those aspects of the spouse. It is very interesting because this preacher said why often the husband spends so much time at work and not at home, because when they are at work everyone is validating what he does. The boss tells him, very good work, you helped us earn so much income and they are there validating, his work colleagues say, wow, very good, tremendous work. So all they do is come home, aaah, boy, what if this, what if we have to wash dishes, what if we have to buy meat. And it's a whole list of things to do. And the validation is not there. And obviously it goes the other way too. Many times to the woman in her area of work, many professional women today are very well validated in their work, and when they come home, her husband is like a zero to the left who doesn't project that kind of validation and recognition and celebration of that person's life.

And when I hear these things, my brothers, I start to think, wow, this is very important and very revealing. Because then I have to discipline myself to be able to validate that person that God has allowed me to share my life with her, and she with me, and to be able to affirm each other in that aspect. The problem is that when one's hair stands on end, as they say, annoyed with the person, well, one doesn't want to make that kind of confirmation. But that's where the crux of it all is. That is where the core of being able to emulate, like Christ, of being able to celebrate emulating the example of Christ, of celebrating as Christ celebrated.

Jesus often failed to demonstrate the fact that celebrating depended on whether he was in the mood to do it or not. Jesus was always looking for an opportunity to do so. And this is where that sense is, my brothers, that we also have to seek to celebrate, recognize and affirm what God is doing in those most dear people who are close to us, that even if there was perhaps a dispute or something, but the mere fact that after that happened, we can apply the biblical context, look, in your anger, do not go to bed with that anger, that your anger does not last all day. Seek to reconcile with that person, seek to heal what happened with that person.

And I tell you, my brothers, I recognize the difficulty of this, but it is what God wants us to do, that we can celebrate all these things.

Lastly, when you celebrate, be very aware of anything that can be distracting, be very aware of what can function as a distraction in the midst of all that sense of spontaneity, in the midst of that celebration of sharing with another. Look why I say it: there is an example in the Bible with Jesus too, when the Pharisee Simon invited him to his house to eat again. Another meal, there it is, and in the middle of this meal is presented the story of a woman who came and began to wipe Jesus' feet with her tears, she began to clean them with her tears. The people who were there began to misunderstand what was happening, and they began to think of Jesus, wow, if this were a real prophet he would know what kind of woman she is, and he wouldn't be letting her touch him like that. However, since Jesus was in his right mind, he understood what was happening.

I remember that there was a time when Pastor Roberto was preaching about that passage and he was very particular to me because he at one point said that that same scene could have turned out to be something very sensual, for a woman to approach his feet of a man and began to wash them with her tears, touch them, kiss them. That could be a very sensual scene that can easily be misinterpreted by many. More however, the mere fact that Jesus knew what was happening, he did not let the misinterpretations continue to another level, because he knew the transformation that was taking place in that woman.

And you know what, my brothers? I use this as an example because many times, and this sometimes occurs in singles meetings, which occurs here in the church, but it also occurs in other contexts, even with married couples as well. Many times when one is sharing with other people of the opposite sex, if one is talking too much with someone, and someone who is watching from the outside does not understand, they will start to think like hey, she is talking a lot with this boy, but he is married. And one begins to think like that with a sense of malice may God rebuke him.

And look, I'm talking with my pants off here, my brothers, because I know that these are situations that arise. Even I, as a pastor, take great care of this. Every time I talk to a female I always try to keep my distance, my respect, because I know that many times the interactions that one may have can be misinterpreted, when one wants it to be that way. And that happens both from men to women and from women to men too.

And that is why I am saying, that in this sense of celebration when one is in that type of context, that things can be a little more, as one relaxes, as one who lowers one's defenses, that we do not necessarily have to to be there as a pastor with a tie, but I try to share more with people, one on one. I believe that one has to be very aware of this, because obviously there are people who are hurt and who can often misinterpret the actions that one has. But it is very important that one knows how to be in the right mindset and not let that kind of distraction go around avoiding the sense of celebration that God wants to do. Because when one affirms what God is doing in those other people, one never knows how God can touch and bless that other life, that other person in the deal that God is doing with each one of them.

What has been my cure with this, my brothers? I always apply what Paul says to Timothy in chapter 5. Paul in chapter 5 tells Timothy, look, do not rebuke the old man but exhort him as a father. Treat the youngest as your brothers, the old as if they were mothers, and the young as sisters with all purity.

That verse, my brothers, I take that medicine every day, every day. I come from a background where if there had been that scene with Jesus, that a woman would have come up and start kissing my feet and something like that, I come from a background where someone would have thought, wow, what that tigress wants is a song of mine or something like that, or vice versa, if it had been a man to a woman. And one often has to fight with that of not thinking with that twisted mentality, so to speak, but one being able to proceed with sanity, proceed with purity, to know that the women are here, look, I treat them as if they were my sisters. With your due respect, with your due category, we relax, we laugh, we make jokes, but that respect is always present because God wants it that way.

And I also treat men with their due respect. We laugh, relax, enjoy ourselves, make jokes, whether we write with an x or an s, but the point is that there is always that category, that respect, that moral ethic under which God wants us to proceed. And I believe, my brothers, that this is all part of that sense of celebration. God wants, God longs for us to be a church that celebrates, that celebrates life, that we do celebrate those moments of prayer, that we have to speak in tongues, that we have to jump in the spirit, that we have to laugh, that we have to enjoy in the Lord, that you have to fast, that you have to participate in the church, but look, also be spontaneous, let's play volleyball, throw the frisbee, get wet with water balloons if it's hot, don't throw a Pepsi godfather , please nobody, because afterwards one stays sticky. But you understand what I'm saying, my brothers, that idea of being able to be spontaneous with the family of faith, that God allows us to have.

I think that this is the most beautiful thing about us, that we have a family here, beyond our blood family, here we are in a family that unites us by the blood of Jesus Christ. And that is something worth celebrating. Now, in this summer time that maybe every weekend you will have a barbecue, look, don't forget your family of faith, share with your family of faith, invite or if you find some cheeky like me out there, Well look, I threw a lot of meat on the grill.

We are going to stand up and we are going to pray, my brothers. You know, I end with this thought, my brothers. I have people who… with other cacheteros. They changed the subject of my message completely. Look, brothers, look at this, without a doubt, I personally am seeking to imitate Jesus in all aspects, and it has been very difficult for me, my brothers, I cannot deny it. It is difficult many times because one's nature opposes the things that the Lord wants us to truly do and implement with others. But I cannot deny that the times that I have thrown myself into doing what the Lord Jesus asks of me, I have been able to enjoy the results of those actions. The me knowing that I have a family here that we can enjoy, that we can laugh, that even though we may not talk for two or three weeks but when we met it was, wow, we talked to each other yesterday, if you will, because there's that sense of unity. and familiarity. And that is something that is all permissible by the grace and mercy of God living in us.

If the Lord wants us to grow in our dynamic worship, in our fervor with the Lord, he wants us to grow in that, in our devotion to God, that we set aside time to pray alone, to study the word, that we set aside time to do that in our congregational meetings, but look, the Lord also wants us to break bread, we go, we go out, look, we are going to walk through a park or something like that and talk about Spain and the Netherlands today, or something like that, talk about another thing. That nourishes, that recharges.

How many times did Jesus not go away to a mountain to pray and kind of recharge his batteries, to focus again on what he has to do and then come and continue connecting with people. I really like that scene, I'll end with this, in the book of John, when Jesus for the last time appears to his disciples that they were fishing. When they reach the shore, Jesus already had, as they say, a barbecue with fish ready and then he asks them, hey, what did you catch? Bring it, we're going to throw it here and we're going to share the bread. Let's share a piece of fish. My time is up. 5 more minutes. We are going to share the bread, my brothers, God wants us to do that. God wants us to foster that sense of unity, of celebration, of celebrating what he is doing in each one of us. So I encourage you that when you leave here, you leave with that sense of 'I want to celebrate what God is doing in me', although perhaps I don't see it in all the details because of the different things that may be overwhelming me, but that I can celebrate what God is doing. Because when I know what God is doing in me, then I can celebrate what God is doing in others.

You can help others to take their eyes off the pressures around them and help them celebrate other things. Be spontaneous when you do that. Be intentional. Be genuine, be genuine. And look, the most important thing about all this is that in each of these interactions there will be an opportunity for transformation, transformation in your life and in the lives of others, because the Lord Jesus is the ingredient that unites us all.

So Father, I pray right now based on these words that I just shared, Lord, I ask that this church more and more every day, Lord, we can foster among us that sense of being able to celebrate your grace, your mercy, your goodness , your love in the midst of each of our lives. I give you thanks, Lord Jesus, for this family of faith with which you allow me to share. If there is someone here today, Lord, who perhaps has not managed to fit in, how to connect with people, my God, who can feel that familiarity, Father, I ask that you provide the opportunities, the tools, the means for those people to connect with this body in which you have allowed us to live.

Lord, those people who are good hosts, Lord Jesus, people who have that gift of motivation, encouragement, affirmation, use these people to infect others. And if there is someone, Lord, who finds it difficult to celebrate because of how hard life has been with them, I ask for your healing on their minds, their hearts and their spirit, Lord, so that they can open up to that gift of celebration that you want all of us to have.

Father, that our face of ogres can be changed into a face of happiness, of joy, that they transmit your energy to others, Lord Jesus. And that we learn to manage time well, Lord, our time apart with you, in our part, our time as a church, and our time to be able to celebrate, to be able to play, to be able to have fun, Lord, and celebrate life as you celebrate it .

I ask for your blessing on your sons and your daughters. As we go from here today, we will go with your grace and with the blessing of your spirit, Lord, and with your love in the midst of each one of our hearts. Thank you once again, Lord Jesus. To you we give all the glory and all the honor, in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.