Chosen
Jim Clements · Tidal Church Moncton · September 20, 2026
Jim Clements centres on Matthew 25, where Jesus says serving the hungry, strangers and vulnerable is serving Him. Drawing on his trip to Kenya and Sierra Leone, he shows how genuine faith becomes love in action, and invites the church to sponsor a child through Chosen.
Topics: Money & Generosity, Mission & Outreach, Discipleship
Transcript
[0:00] For us today, it's an incredible day, and we're going to talk about a genuine faith that leads to genuine love, and the expression of that lives out in. Back in January, February of this year, I got a chance to go to Sierra Leone and to Kenya and have a life-changing experience for me and to see things firsthand about what will be shared with you even today as I share with you. And one of the most impressionable things that happened to me early on was I got to go to a gathering where children were coming and young students, and I watched this young boy come. He had a backpack, and when it got to lunch, they brought the food to share with everyone.
[0:45] And not understanding our culture, where we have so much choices, we'll get into, and this little boy, when the food was placed in front of him, he took his backpack off, and he unzipped it, and he took out this well-used container. Let's just call it that. And immediately when he opened it, he took half of the food that he was given, and he put it in that container, and he closed it, and he put it in his backpack. And I said to the people that were there with me, I said, "Is he saving that for later?" And she said, "No, no, no. He's taking that back for his mom." Because his mom, who sacrifices so that he can eat, he recognizes that genuine faith and love that she's living out as a follower of Christ and wants to make sure that he shows that back to her. And so, as he was given in abundance, he took back for his mom. And it's one incredible story after another like that when you get to see these things happen. And for us today, we're going to go on a journey.
[1:46] A lot of things you're going to think about is, why do we have global initiatives? There's lots of stuff here in our community and our region, and yes, that is true. But as a church, we're called to do kingdom work. And kingdom work isn't always just where we're at. There's a kingdom responsibility that God has blessed us with to be able to go beyond our community, to be able to go beyond our region and have an impact globally. Because that's what we're called to as a church, is take the word to the ends of the earth. And part of that, so if you think of it like a chair, there's times that we'll take our chair, and we'll pull up to the table of community, and we're involved in partnering our community to be effective and impact what's happening in the lives of people there. And then sometimes we'll take that chair, and we'll sit up to the table that's our region, and when we think about New Brunswick and the southeastern area, and we'll impact with our partnerships that we have there.
[2:41] And then we'll take our chair, and we'll pull it up to the global table. And we say, "How can we make an impact in the global kingdom work that God is doing?" Because we're so blessed that we get to take what He's blessed us with and have that impact. And when we think about that, that's us living our faith, like a genuine faith is then revealed because we love Jesus. It happens out of who we are, by how we look at things, that God has given us and blessed us with choices. And choices aren't just... The average North American makes 30,000 choices a day. And that's not like you're stopping and thinking.
[3:26] That's like you just do it out of habit, out of nature, out of everything. But we get down to about 200 choices a day when we think about it. You think about when you get up this morning. I was going to try and track how many choices I made until I got here this morning, and I was like, "There's no way I can do that. I'd be recording stuff every time." You wake up in the morning, and your alarm goes off. Well, your first choice is, "Do I hit the snooze button?" Right? "Do I get up?" You're making your first choice right away. Don't make me open my eyes. If I keep my eyes closed, it'll go back an hour, right? Well, you know what? In a couple of weeks, it's going to go back an hour anyway, whether your eyes are open or closed. And then we get up, and we think, "Well, what do I want to wear?" And we get up, and we think about, "Do I want to shower today or not?" There might be some other people got an opinion of that for you.
[4:17] But then we think about, "Okay, what do I want to eat?" And we go through, and then the choice for somebody doesn't even get the choice. It's not about what do I want to eat? Am I going to be able to eat today? And we have so many choices that we make. But the choice we're going to make today is for others. It's for people that don't have those choices, that through poverty has been stripped away, and through the genuine faith that we have, we're going to serve them and help restore choice in their life and the dignity that they can have in their life. The sacred gift that we've been given is choice. We have so much to choose from. But there's also a spiritual choice, a reality of a spiritual choice that we must choose, that God has given us, and He tells us in Deuteronomy that it's a free will choice.
[5:13] He tells us exactly what's going to happen, and He lays it out, and He doesn't try to force us. He doesn't try to make, like, you got to do this one way or the other. It's a sacred spiritual choice. In Deuteronomy 30 it says, "This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life." He gives us the choice. But in a poverty situation where people are living that we can help impact, choice is not in abundance. And like I said, it's been torn away in some cases. For us, we think about what we're going to choose to eat.
[6:02] They get to choose whether they can or can't eat. There's a time when I was over there, and we have the drivers driving you around because if you've ever been to some foreign countries, it can get a little crazy navigating. And for me, it probably just wouldn't be good at all because I'm really distracted because I pay attention to everything, and we'd probably end up down a cliff somewhere if I was driving. So, and we had these drivers that were driving us around to keep us safe on the roads. And I had beef jerky with me for snacks that my wife Gisèle put in my backpack for me. And obviously, she went to a place that has the word cost in it. And because there was more beef jerky, I think she thought I was going to be gone for six months by the amount of beef jerky that was put into my backpack.
[6:48] And when I got there, I was like, "Well, I'm not going to eat all this." And I started giving it to the drivers. And the first time I did, when I gave it to the drivers, these beef jerky sticks, I turned and gave them away. They were happy, and I turned to walk away, and I could hear them say, "What is it?" And the other guy said, "I don't know, but he's eating it, so it must be food." Right? And I'm like, "Oh, wow. That's kind of crazy to think about." But that's what happens, is these things happen when they get the choice. When we get choice, they don't get choice. A child gets to choose whether they don't... Like here, they go to school. There, they get to choose school, which is not really a choice because they've got to choose to survive, which means they've got to walk five, six kilometers to get fresh water to bring back home.
[7:42] Or they got to care for a sibling, and so they can't go to school. Whereas for us, school is, like, it's a right. We got a right to go to school. For them, it's a privilege. And I've been in a classroom. I told Pastor Willie when we came back, so nobody was confused. Pastor Willie did not go to Kenya with me because we had that confusion in the first service. But when I went, I said, "I've got all your classroom ratio thing figured out." I said, "I've been to Nairobi." And one classroom I went to had 218 kids in it, one teacher. You could have heard a pin drop in that room because they know the way out is through education. And that's part of what you can do today, is when we get going on here, you'll get more and more details about that. But there was this one little guy sitting in the front row, and when I say front row, the desks go from wall to wall and front to back. And I watched a kid one time raise his hand to answer a question, and he had to take his shoes off so he could walk on the tops of the rows of the desk to get to the front, put his shoes back on to answer the question on the chalkboard, then reverse it all back. And sitting next to this little guy in the front row is a littler guy.
[8:49] And I'm like, "What's the story?" The oldest one looks to be about seven or eight years old, but the little guy next to him looks like two or three years old. And I'm like, "What's the deal there?" And they tell me that, well, his mom has to go and find work in order to buy food for them to survive. And so she put the older boy in charge of the younger boy, like, "You need to watch him while I go." And so he wanted to go to school. Well, guess what? The only way he can go to school is to bring his little brother with him. And so sitting next to him really quietly while he's learning is his little brother. You don't always get to choose. Survival replaces purpose and preference and leaves people wandering and seeking. And so we have to figure this out.
[9:39] The key question is: how does our faith shape the way we exercise the choices on behalf of those who have none? So how do we exercise that on behalf of them? The King, Jesus, set a standard for us, an ultimate standard that we find in Matthew 25. It says: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on a glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will put the sheep on the right and the goats on the left.
[10:25] Then the King will say to those on His right, "Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me." Then the righteous will answer Him, "Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You as a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and go to visit You?" And the King will reply, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me."
[11:16] Returning King Jesus, when He comes, will judge us. We'll stand and we'll have judgment placed on us as He's on His throne, of how did we live? How do we work things out? He'll look at us, and we'll have the answer for how we've lived our lives. And it may be sheep and goat, is what He's going to tell us. The separation of that is for all of us, because He is the Good Shepherd, and He will decide that as it goes out. Who are the sheep? The sheep are the people who belong to Christ, those who follow His ways, those who follow His teachings, do that, they do as Jesus does, that we would do that in return. Goats are those who rejected Him, who've turned away and said, "This is not the life for me. This is not my Savior.
[12:13] This is not what I want to do," and have turned away in that way. Matthew 25 challenges us to move beyond asking, do I believe the right things? Or do we need to ask, does my faith actually change the way I treat people? The evidence of genuine faith and living it out the way that Christ would live it out is more than a feeling. It's more than an emotion. It's actually in actions. It's moving in action that makes that happen. Because just caring is not enough. We have to act on behalf of those that don't have choices. And today, we'll have that chance with Chosen to make a decision if we want to act on that behalf. There are times I know, because it's happened to me, and God had to check me one time.
[13:03] I was at a grocery store, and I was picking up a few things. And as I walked out to my car, this gentleman approached me. And the thing about the Holy Spirit is He moves like that. Because you can be walking out. I don't know about you, but I don't walk out from the grocery store like this. I walk out like this, you're looking around, right? And this is how you notice when someone's coming towards you, and this gentleman's coming towards me, and as he approached me, I begin to judge. And that's not my job. And as he comes up to me, he asks me, "Do you have any money?" Well, what are you saying when you've got two handfuls of groceries? Obviously, you've got money.
[13:50] But see, the scripture doesn't tell us about money. It tells us about their need: clothing, food, water, filling the need. And so some of us will stop, and I'm one. I've done it, and the Lord's had to check me, and I go, "Well, I give him money. What's he going to do with that money? He might take that and use it for things that won't help him, and he'll just make it worse." And in that moment, I've stepped into what scripture tells us is Jesus' role. It's His role to judge. What He calls us to is to be obedient, which is to love people that are vulnerable, that are hurting, that are in need, and meet the need. And I was about to get in my car and go, "No, bro, I'm good." And the Holy Spirit just met me right there, right? And I said, "What's your need?
[14:41] What's the need you have?" And he goes, "I'm hungry. I want food." And I'm like, "Okay, I'll get you some food." I said, "What would you like?" He goes, "Pepsi, bag of chips, and a chocolate bar." Our definition of food has slipped a little, right? And being the good Newfoundlander that I am, I said, "You know what I'm going to get you? I'm going to get you bread and a stick of bologna, and a jug of water," right? And I got him a little snack, too, because bologna, if you eat that, that'll last a nuclear war, right? That'll still be good to eat after that. But you got to think, because I've learned from previous people listening, guess what? Not everybody's got refrigeration.
[15:26] Got to figure that out. What do you get to help someone in that spot? I actually came out with a jug with a handle on it, like the little handle that you can click onto something. He was so appreciative that I thought of that instead of a six-pack of small water because now he can refill the jug. And I'm like, "Oh, never thought of that." But what is the need that we're called into to meet? Because it's not our job to judge, it's our job to be obedient, and the outcome is God's job. God calls us to step into a situation, no matter what that is. Don't elevate your position. Just live in obedience. The outcome is for God to determine in someone's life, and who knows where that leads to. What are some easy kind of indicators that we're sheep that are just practical in love? Is feeding the hungry and giving the thirsty something to drink.
[16:23] Welcoming a stranger, clothing the needy. These are simple things. Caring for the sick and visiting people that are shut in or maybe even in prison. There are things that just are crazy easy, and we step back from it, but Jesus is asking us to step into it. We pick up in Matthew 25:40, it says, "I tell you the truth, when you did this to the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me." Jesus identifies Himself with the vulnerable, the needy, and the powerless, and that's where He wants us to step into. And when we step into those moments into people's lives, we are directly serving the Christ that we call our Lord and Savior because that's where we step into.
[17:21] There's a tragedy that happens for those of us that don't step into that. Scriptures, we live based on the truth of what's in here, and the scripture continues to tell us as we continue in Matthew: Then the King will turn to those on the left, the goats, "Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry and you didn't feed Me, I was thirsty and you didn't give Me drink, I was a stranger and you didn't invite Me into your home, I was naked and you didn't give Me clothing, I was sick and in prison and you didn't visit Me." Then they will reply, "Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or as a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help You?" And He will answer, "I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of My brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help Me."
[18:13] There's nothing that's kind of like a tragic evil sin that's in amongst us that's given to us as judgment. It's just being condemned because we didn't help those that had need, and we did nothing. And what it comes down to is a heart issue. It's a heart issue for us if we'll step into the spaces in our community, in our region, or today, globally, if we're willing to step into those spaces to actually move beyond the saying that, "Hey, I'm the hands and feet of Jesus," to actually being the hands and feet of Jesus in a global setting.
[19:02] Genuine faith naturally produces genuine love, the love for people, the love of all people, the love of people that are in vulnerable situations. We got to have eyes that see like Jesus that transforms us and brings value to those that have no choices, those who live in poverty, those who struggle each and every day. Because as much as we are, they are also part of God's creation, and in that, we live. What poverty also does, it not only robs the choices of people, but it robs their dignity.
[19:47] It robs their pride. It robs their hope, and we have a chance to restore that. We can return their agency. And you may go, "What's agency?" And agency means helping them to regain the power of meaningful choices, to trust themselves and control their own lives. And that's why Chosen is so important for us today, globally. One of the great things that I had the experience when I visited one of the other schools was they wanted to play soccer. And so we walked down through the slums, and I know that you may hear that word slums, and you think that's offensive.
[20:32] I mean, that's actually what it is, and that's how they refer to it, and it's nothing of beauty. And we'll hear a little bit more about how that looks and the experience that you have. And we walk down through the streets, dirt streets, and we end up at this big open dirt field, a soccer pitch. The nets are two tractor-trailer tires half buried in the ground, and that's how it marks the nets. And we did warm-up, and I'm like, okay, it's already 30 degrees, and this big old boy got to run around now chase a soccer ball. This isn't going to end well, right? And we set pylons up in a circle to warm up and take turns in the center, and you kick a ball towards the cone, and it tips it over. And under it is questions. Questions like being in school or not being in school, and the kids yell out, "Being in school," right?
[21:26] And another one gets in, knocks the cone over. Drugs are good or bad? Drugs are bad. And it begins to teach them how to make choices. It seems elementary to us, but for them, it restores. No one's telling them. They're showing it by example, by loving them like Jesus would, and truly being the hands and feet. And then after that time together, you watch young people come to life because everything that's a struggle, everything that was a decision they didn't get to make, or the school that they missed that day because they had to go get fresh water, they become open, exciting, joy-filled people.
[22:14] And to watch them run with such happiness and make fun of me was worth every minute of it. I'm not a great, as they would say, football player. But to watch them come alive and to know that who Jesus is in their life, a lot of them profess Him to be their Lord and Savior. And what we get to do today is a chance to step into that space to create a partnership with a child somewhere in Nairobi, in the Mathare slums, and say, "Yes, I will serve like Jesus expects me to serve.
[23:03] I will make sure I find myself on the right side when He returns and not on the left side as He separates us out." Chosen is something that was shown to me, and we've typically had child sponsorship programs, and you come in, and it's all laid out and that kind of stuff, and you pick. And some of you, I know we've had conversations, have one or two or multiple children that you do it. But today, guess what? You lose the choice. And I'm going to invite you to step into a space to be vulnerable. And we've got a few more things in service we want to share with you, but I want you to already be thinking, are you willing to do this? Are you willing to take your choice and give it to a child somewhere in Nairobi to choose you instead of the other way around?
[24:02] When we got into this flipping the choice thing, I was like, "Oh, man, I'm all over that." To give power back to children, to show that there are people that are willing to give them dignity, to give them power, to give them choice, and to help them to move from where they are to the next stage of what God has planned for them. And before I invite my friend Chris from World Vision to come up and share, I want us to just pray. Just take a moment, and in this moment, just be obedient to what God's saying in your heart. And be willing to surrender and be vulnerable for all things that He would direct you to. Father, we come before You this morning, and we want our faith to be a genuine faith.
[24:56] And we want it to live out like Matthew 25 tells us that when You come to judge, that we will find ourselves on the right side, that we are sheep of the Good Shepherd, that we are following what You called us to do, that as we serve others, may we see that being You as You've aligned Yourself with the vulnerable, the needy, and those that just are struggling. For You are the Good Shepherd, and You have blessed us with many choices in many ways. We don't live, as we talked about last week, a life of scarcity. We live a kingdom life of abundance.
[25:41] And so as You call us today, as You stir in each one of our hearts, may the love that You show us pour out, and we just say, "I surrender to this. For someone I'm even yet to know their name or see their face, I release control to You, God. And may You receive the glory in all that we do in our lives, in our words, and our actions, may You be honored by it all." In Jesus' name, amen.