Lay Down Your Life: The Cost of Discipleship

Hey, happy Sunday everybody. It's there you go. Come on now. I heard a guy say one time he said dang, I can't remember how he said it. You receive at the level of your applause. If you're excited to receive from the Lord tonight, it will be noticeable in the level of your applause. How many of you guys are excited about Sunday night service tonight? You ready for the Word? Okay, good. That's great. Your hearts are ready to receive. That's cool. I butchered the phrase, but you got the idea., I want to I want to share the Word with you. Before I do, we have an announcement. I'm going to I got to I'm probably have to pull my phone out because I I had to ask Nina. I'm like, Nina, I need the details because I'm going to mess up the announcement if I don't none of them. So, ladies, Nenah is going to be going to, you guys are familiar with our home Church in Tulsa, Gut Church. I've heard of it. She, Pastor Sandy, is hosting a women's event on August 24th.

Nina would like for a lot of ladies whoever can go that wants to go to go. they will be leaving Saturday the 23rd at noon. Takes about four and a half hours to get there. the Church is going to take care of the travel and and take care of that part of it. and we've already got reservations, hotel rooms. The it would be $110 to you ladies. That's for both nights. It' be Saturday night, Sunday morning, go to Church at Guts Church that morning. And then that night, Pastor Sy's hosting a special guest, Lisa Bevere., if you've never heard of Lisa Bevere, her and her husband, John Bevere, have written like a bazillion books., they're very, very gifted communicators, very gifted authors. They've written some very powerful books., and they're tremendous communicators, tremendous speakers. And so that event, is a it's a ladies event that night. It'll be a packed house. Be very cool., and then get up Monday morning and be returning home on the 25th., I think most of you have communicated to Nina if you're interested in going or would like to go, just let her know. She doesn't need that money right away. She doesn't need anything other than trying to get that list together.

So, if you're thinking about, if you have any questions, I could probably answer some of them for you., but Nina will be back. She's in Texas tonight with her kids. A lot of people are traveling as July is what happens in July., but she's down there in Texas, with the kids, seeing her family, and then she's bringing her mother back, which I'm excited about. so that me and me and Momo can hang out together. last year I got to give her a ride in the Jeep with no top and she's if her, you can appreciate it. She's like she's scared of the wind most days, what I mean? So it's just who she is and she's own she owns it. She's at peace with it. She loves the Lord and she's like I don't need to go outside. It's fine., but we I Nah was gone and I she wanted to come to Church and so she had to ride with me and we got out there and it never clicked on her that she was going to ride the Jeep with no top and no doors and it just completely freaked her out and this was too good too cuz of all the times I helped her get in the Jeep, gave her a little Momo Boosty up in there and then I went to go pull the seat belt and it was locked and it wouldn't pull and I said, "Mom, just hang on tight. " She's like, "Oh Lord, no. " She was like I said, "It'll be fine. Just hang on. " but anyway, she's coming and she'll be here and she'll y'all love on her because she's awesome. I've been talking the last few weeks about the idea of a buy in and what it is to buy in. one thing I want to reiterate just to kind of preface and set up, we can only buy in and want to buy in and be resolved and have commitment to follow him because we see his heart. We know his heart, his character, who he is.

And so it's easy for us to want to buy in. It's easier for us to want to buy in because I say I can trust him with this mission. I trust his vision. And so we touched a little bit about that. We also recognize the fact that Jesus example to buy in. Man, Jesus accepted the mission. Jesus accepted leaving glory to come down and be with us and then he accepted the mission of dying on the cross for us. He was bought in completely all the way. And we've talked about the words follow me. There's 21 times that Jesus used the phrase follow me in 12 different conversations throughout the gospels. Okay. and when we talk about follow me, it's not this happy golucky skip through the park. Follow me. Let's take a little fun gander. But it is actually an imitate me. It is a repeat after me. It is a I can handle that. I I don't get shout down enough in Church. Okay? So don't worry about the baby.

Y'all just focus on me. You guys are grown folks. You can hear the Word. Okay? We want people in the room. I don't care if the babies. I don't care what's going on. We want people in the room., but the idea of follow me is not this happy golucky skip in the park. It is an actual imitate me, follow me, learn of me, mimic me, come with me, and follow me, right? And so Jesus comes to Peter and James. They didn't know who Jesus was. Maybe they had heard about who Jesus was. And he gets in Peter's boat and he preaches a message to the crowd. The crowd is starting to follow him. They're starting to listen to him teach. And so he gets in Peter's boat and they've been out all night fishing. And then Peter, he tells Peter, he says, "Get back in the boat and go back out and throw your nest down the other side. " And they pull up a boat sinking load of fish. And Peter recognizes who Jesus is and falls at his feet and he says, "Depart from me for I'm a sinful man.

" Okay, Peter recognized in that moment who Jesus was. But then there was an invitation to follow him. And I'm bringing that up because I think a lot of people, we stop with the recognition of who Jesus is. And there's got to be this buy in this follow me this commit to me imitate me right come with me follow me and Peter abandoned everything and followed him and Jesus said this follow me I will make you fishers of men I will make you how to I will teach you how to fish for people now I bring that up because it's very important to recognize because we can we can I get to the idea that he's a professional fisherman his job is to go out and catch fish and if he's going to go out and catch fish there's an intentionality to He's going to he's got to clean his nets. He's got to do boat repairs and boat maintenance. It's hot. I'd imagine some days he went fishing. He goes out and catches nothing. There's disappointing work days, right? There's all the things that go into the profession, but he's going out with the intention to catch fish, man. Let's get the best nets. Let's try the this location. There's strategy. There's thought, there's intent with the single sole purpose of c catching fish that we're going to sell or eat, help our economy, whatever we're going to do, feed ourselves, and then we're going have to go out and catch more fish again. And Jesus says, I want you to follow me. I want you to imitate me, and I will make you fishers of men. I will teach you how to fish for people. Now, take the same analogy and go, there's an intentionality to fishing for people. There is a strategy when it comes to fishing for people. There is a purposeful effort where you need tools like boats and nets.

There are things that we need, but the motivation now is a greater sense that we're not just going to catch fish, man. We're going to win souls for the kingdom. Jesus said, "Imitate me. Follow me and I will teach you how to fish for people. I will make you into a fish of men. " Now, the reason I'm telling you that is because there's a buy into that. There's a purpose for that. Everything about our life shifted when we gave our life to Jesus. Because let me ask you something. If this thing is real, if it is true, I said it last week. If I'm going to stand before the Creator of all things, deficient and substandard to his standard of holiness, and I am disqualified to be in his presence or receive the free gift of eternal life with him, but I can look and say that man, Jesus is my righteousness. If I get to be, can I can we camp here for a second? Can you please go with me with your imaginations and feel the emotions of this moment? The gravitas of the reality of God, the horn trumpet blowing moment when Jesus splits the sky and returns and everybody goes, "Oh, it's real. " Oh Lord, I did get saved, right? I did give you my life, right? Like, we're good. The moment has come. This joke is real. Oh my gosh.

And I can't go back and do it over. Either you have or you haven't. The moment has arrived. And now you're going to stand before God accountable for your life. And you deserve punishment. You deserve to be cast off. You do not meet the standard. and cast off into outer darkness where there's nashing of teeth and misery, separation from the life of God for eternity. But then Jesus says, "No, no, no, no. I got him. " Yeah. Cuz I didn't qualify. I didn't do enough. I wasn't good enough. I'm about to be punished. And he saved me. Y'all didn't feel that. You guys are like, "Well, that's a neat story. " No, no, no. Make it personal.

What's the What? Don't answer this, but what's the worst thing you can think of to happen to you? It's about to happen to you. And Jesus steps in and says, "No, no, no. I I saved him. His hope is with me. His faith was in me. You got rescued from eternal damnation. Are you starting to feel any sense of gratitude yet? You have been rescued and have been made right with God and you are now free because you have to fear death. You don't have to fear punishment because he has now qualified you. You do not have to qualify yourself. You are not qualified of yourself. That's why now in this moment when you recognize the real the reality, the gravity that I'm not qualified, but he qualifies me. Oh, so now if that's true, if that's true, how do I not want to embrace the invitation to follow him and want to follow and be like him? How do I not want to come on board to his mission of rescuing more people because that's his heart? He doesn't want to teach you to be fishers of men because that's a fun challenge for him. It's because he's passionate about all of his creation and you has he has caught your attention just like he caught the attention of Peter. Let me tell you something. Everybody in here, at some point in your life, I don't care how crappy your life could have been.

At some point, you have had a moment when you recognize a boat sinking load of fish brought into your boat. You have had a moment. My point being, you have recognized a touch from God, a moment of God, the the magnitude of God. You have had a moment when it was a real thing and you were humbled at least in your heart to go, "Man, this is amazing. " It might have been laying on your back looking at the stars. It might have been seen a solar eclipse a couple years ago. It might have been some degree of a of amazement when you go, "Man, I am like a grasshopper. I am a I am the Bible says I'm a vapor. I'm a I'm a puff in the wind, man. Dude, I'm I get 70 or 80 years and I'm out. This is nutso. I am so tiny. And this is a planet Earth and the sun's like a million times bigger or whatever it is. I don't know. I'm not science. don't get all of them business but it's perfectly proportioned from the sun and this is inside one galaxy and there's multiple galaxies and God is the Creator of the galaxies who am I God that you be mindful of me I am a but a vapor who why do you care about me but when the reality that he loves me and he cares about me the value you're so valuable you were made for more when that gets down in my core it's like oh my gosh I'm loved I'm celebrated ated. I'm championed. I'm handpicked. I say it every week because it cannot you can't hear it enough. You've been getting your teeth kicked in all week telling you that you're not qualified, telling you how you have messed up.

And I'm here to tell you that your hand selected by God and he's remarkably patient with you. He's remarkably faithful in every season of your life. When you were living with your middle finger of the sky, when you were completely ignorant to who he was, or maybe you're doing your best to follow him now, but you keep sticking your foot in your mouth. You keep messing up, man. I'm just telling you, he's still faithful. Why? What does that mean that he's faithful? Means he's not changing. He's not moved by your shortcomings. He's not reacting to your insufficiencies and inconsistencies. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's faithful and thankfully he's patient and he's generous and he has purchased your life so that you do not have to live with any kind of fear of torment or judgment. Not because you've earned it, not because you were born in the right stock, not because you've done enough good deeds. Your good deeds, the Bible says, are filthy rags to the standard of God's holiness. So don't think that, well, I've done some good deeds or I'm a good dude. It doesn't qualify you. Please, I'm I don't know why I'm harping on this other than I think I need us to catch this. This is what churns the appreciation in my heart. This is what churns the gratitude. Now, this gratitude is what drives me to want to serve him.

I'm so thankful for who you are and what you've done. Where are we going? I'm with you. I want to learn from you. I'm with you. Peter had these moments for three years. He's following Jesus. And I love to highlight the one where Jesus talks about he's got a bunch of disciples there that are practicing the disciplines of Jesus. This is what we do. We're disciples of Christ. We are not churchgoers, attenders. We are disciples of Christ who come together and rally and celebrate and champion the one who saved us from eternal damnation. We champion the one who created us. We give him his rightful place and glory in our hearts and among us as a community of people. We gather together. And I'm so thankful for this community right here. This one right here. I'm so thankful for the heart, the attitude, the generosity, the kindness, the talents, everything that is here. I'm telling you, there are places and communities, God bless them where they are, but they're not attractive to me. You are attractive to me.

This is fun for me. I'm so thankful that I get to come and champion the goodness of God with you. And I'm telling you, grab the thing by the horns and let's do something great. Don't wait. Don't sit back. Don't attend. Man, I'm all wound up right now about this. I'm telling you, this is yours for the taking. You were made for more. This is not my show. I'm taking those kids with them. I looked at them. I said, "They don't need me. You don't need me. You got the message. You got the Gospel. Stop disqualifying yourself. " And you said, "Well, I can't talk like you. I don't get wound up like you. I don't got veins popping on my head like you do, bro.

I don't spit and get all dried mouth. I got you. But here's what you do well, man. You serve people well. You you build things, man. You encourage people. You you're hospitable. You're administrative. You're good with money. You're good with business, man. And more than anything, you have the message of the Gospel anchored and centered in the core of your heart. So now your heart overflows with a good theme. And I have good news for you and good news for you and good news for you. And when we come together, we create an avenue for people to come to Christ. We are fishers of people of mankind and collectively we do that. But you are to go and do that when you leave here. You are a fisher of men now. So it gives purpose to your job differently. It gives purpose to how you spend your money differently. It gives purpose to your home life.

It gives purpose to your It gives purpose to everything. Now when everything else was empty without God, take God out of it. What is the point? It is so empty. But now things have s now there's motive. Now there's purpose. Why? because I've accepted the mission that he's invited me to. I've become fishers of men. So Jesus or the story I was going to tell is Peter has the example all the disciples are there practicing the disciplines and Jesus has given him a teaching and sometimes Jesus would give a teaching that was hard to understand. And sometimes you could be in Church and go I don't know if I really where I'm at with that man. I'm wrestling with that. Great wrestle. Wrestle all day long. It doesn't change the Truth of the Gospel but you can wrestle with stuff. Jesus talks about eating his body and drinking his blood. And they're like, "Whoa, bro, that's a lot. " And it says some of the disciples, think about it, some, not the 12, but some of the disciples, those who were following Jesus, those who were practicing the disciples of Jesus, said, "This is too hard for me. I'm out. " See, you get to get out whenever you want.

You're welcome to quit whenever you want. You're welcome to risk it for the biscuit whenever you want. But let me tell you, when that horn blows, you're going to be thinking, "Shoot, I wish id have stuck it out. " He turns to his 12 disciples. He says, "Would you like to leave, too? " And Peter, who said, "I'm a sinful man. Depart from me. " But accepted the invitation to follow. But did not understand this message. It was hard and complicated. And he's watch some of his probably friends leave. And he says, "Where else am I going to go? You alone have the words of life. You alone have the message. Your messaging is lifegiving. And nowhere else can I ever go that's going to have that kind of lifegiving message. I'm committed to you. I've bought into you. I'm all in with you. And now we get to John chapter 21.

And this is going to be on the TV. I want you to see this. I want you to see John chapter 21 because now Peter has stuck his foot in his mouth. Peter has messed up. Peter has denied Jesus and he was told that he would deny Jesus and there was this conviction in his life because it hurt him so bad that he had done this. Can I take a moment to offshoot something? Judas betrayed Jesus. Judas was a disciple for three years just like Peter was. Judas was told the night of the last supper that he was going to do go and do what you're going to do. Jesus knew and he told Peter that you're going to deny. Jesus knew what both of them were going to do. Can I please catch what I'm about to tell you? Please, please, please, please, please. Judas response when he recognized what he had done. When he saw that Jesus was going to be condemned, condemned to death, he he realized that that now that was not necessarily Judas intention that Jesus was going to get killed. He just was trying he had a different initiative, a different alternative. He didn't understand. And here he is gets killed. And he felt condemned for what he had done. And because he received, listen to me, received condemnation, the evil came upon and took upon him and took him the rest of the way and he ended up killing his life.

Peter felt the same remorse. He felt a conviction that drew him closer to God. What did Adam and Eve do? They went and hid himself from God. What did Judas do? He condemned himself. He disqualified himself. He separated himself. I am no longer worthy. I have done too much. Can I ask you a question? Was there enough grace for Judas? Have you ever done anything intentionally disobedient or offensive to God? Did he receive you back? Did he receive Peter back? Would he have received Judas back? I'm not bringing this up for a big debate or a big conversation. What I'm telling you is he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. But they responded differently to their failures. Everybody in here has got failures.

And how you respond after you failed dictates and determines everything about your life. He condemned himself. He isolated himself. The demonic spirits came upon him and took him the rest of the way until he killed himself. Peter got around the right people. Peter stayed around the right people. Peter was waiting for the opportunity and hopeful. They came to the where the disciples were. They said, "Jesus isn't in the tomb anymore. " He took off running with John to go see if it was true. He didn't see Jesus, but he saw an empty tomb. He's looking for Jesus again. Where is he? I want I want to I want to be restored. I want to be back. I want to make it right. I want to know where he's at. I'm looking for Jesus again. I'm coming back. I didn't isolate myself and go hide.

And then it says he was fishing with his boys. And this guy from the beach calls out, "Yo, throw your nest down the other side. " Sounded familiar to him, like Matthew chapter 4. They threw the net down. Here comes another boat sinking load of fish. John looks at Peter and says, "Yo, that's him. Remember that last time, this last time this happened? That's him. " Peter freaks out, puts his clothes on, and swims to the shore. Why? Because he can't wait to get to Jesus. He's with the right people doing the right things. Even though he's in limbo, even though not everything's been restored. And then he has this conversation with Jesus on the beach. And Jesus talks to him and says, "Do you love me? " "Yes. " "Feed my sheep. " "Do you love me? " "Yes, feed my lamb. " "Do you love me?

" "Yes, Lord. I love you. And if we can fast forward, I'm going to come back to this moment. But if we fast forward after Jesus ascended, he's still with the right people in the upper room where he was told to go wait. He stayed with the right people until this overwhelming commission of the Holy Spirit came on his life. And then he was the first one to preach the Gospel and 3,000 people got saved. But there was this moment where he was longing for the restoration to come back to Jesus. He had messed up and he knew he had messed up and it hurt his heart that he had done something so stupid. But he ran to Jesus. Now watch what happens with Peter. This is verse 18 in chapter 21. Jesus said this. He said, "I tell you the Truth. When you were young, you were able to do as you liked. You dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. You dressed yourself and you went wherever you want to go. " Nina sent me a picture of her and the kids and my little my little rockstar golden boy child. There's a picture of him with a big gold chain on his neck. He's as brown as this table biscuit cuz he got some Mexican in him. He's got some American flag shorts on with bleached hair and a rat tail.

He dresses himself. He asked for blue hair. I put the Nicks on the blue hair. You can have bleach hair, but we're not going blue hair. My point is he dresses himself. You have the liberty to dress yourself. This is not where we're going. But think about what he's saying here. When you were a kid, you dressed yourself. You went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go. Peter wants to be restored. And Jesus is telling him, "Yo, things are going to be different. If you want to buy in and you're going to follow me, it's going to be different. " See, when you were young and in the beginning, you got to do what you want to do a little bit. But if you're going to accept this invitation, man, let me tell you what's going to happen. They're going to hate you. They're going to kill you. You're going to give your life for this. They're going to stretch out your hands.

They're going to rip your clothes off that you picked out and they're going to put whatever they want to put on you. They're going to say whatever they want to say about you and they're going to kill you. And he this is what's amazing. For three years, he's been following Jesus. He stayed when he said, "Eat my blood. Drink my blood. Eat my body. " He cut off Malchus's ear when they tried to arrest Jesus. Peter was convicted to the max and he had the privilege. He jumped out of the boat and swam in his pants to get to Jesus. Man, he loves Jesus. The Bible says at the end of this chapter that there were so many things that Jesus did that there's probably not enough books in the world that could contain everything that they saw in three years. Peter was willing to walk away and follow him and say, "Okay, I'll give up my way of life. " And he experienced more than he could have ever thought he would experience. And there was more that could be that they saw in three years than could be contained probably in all the books. But now look at his response. He just got out of the boat and swam in his clothes so that he could be restored to Jesus because he was so in love with Jesus. Do you love me? Yes, I love you. Then feed my sheep.

I will. Do you love me, God? I love you. Then feed my lambs. Do you love me? It's killing me. It hurts my heart that you're questioning if I love you. I love you, Lord. Okay, it's going to get hard then. It's going to get hard. They're going to kill you. And look what he does. Jesus said to this Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, "Follow me. " Jesus told Peter, "Imitate me. Follow me. Lay your life down. Be allin. Do as I have done. " I can't think of the reference right now, but Jesus said that Paul wrote this about Jesus.

Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. See, who you are. who your mission is. That you can say it's not robbery to be equal with God. I'm not saying that you're equal with God. I'm saying he's granted you into his family. You're a joint heir with Jesus now. His blood flows in you. You're part of his family. That's why if we sing you're made for more, gosh dog it. You got to get it in your heart and your mind. You will never act and operate until you first know who you are. And he says, "Let this let this mind be in you that was also in him who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but he humbled himself and he died a criminal's death. " See, I was talking to a young lady that was working the other night and she had an issue and wanted to be vocal about something that was getting on her nerves and she was being very disciplined to not do it. And I wanted to encourage her with something. I said, ", it's pretty amazing because we all want to say what we want to say. We all want that vengeance and that wrath and that moment of getting even. We also want to put people in their place, don't we? And what's amazing about Jesus, who's the one that we follow and want to imitate and want to be like and want to grow after.

Let them kill him. Even though he was innocent and could have called a legion of angels, he said, "Father, forgive them because they don't know what they're doing. " He didn't say anything. He didn't rebuke them. He didn't correct them. He didn't do anything. He allowed them to take his life. Are you ready to allow somebody to take your life or take advantage of your life? Are you ready to sacrifice in such a way that you're willing to stop cussing? That you're willing to serve and come early and serve at Church that you're willing to help with kids ministry. Why? Because you're making me into a fisher of men. What does that mean? It means he's changing your heart. He's changing your priorities. He's repositioning your value system. It used to be about the fish. It's no longer about the fish. It's about the people. He comes into my heart.

It's not that we look like fishers of people. Now look at me. I have my cross necklace on and my hair cut short and I look I look I look the part. And the and the and the religious people looked the part. And Jesus called them whitewashed tombs. There was no fruit or evidence in their life. Man, we want that humility. I want to be bought in. I want I want God to do that great work in my life. He says, "Follow me. Be willing to sacrifice. Be willing to lay down something. Be willing to give that thing up. " And I told this young girl, I said, "Look, you are just like Jesus who was sitting there in the process of taking an offense from people. " And he opened not his mouth. He could have. Was Jesus right? Yes. And yet, why was he doing it? He was laying down his life.

He understood who he listen to me. He understood who he was and he understood his mission. That's the only way you're going to be able to fish for people. If you don't know who you are and you don't understand the mission, then there's no way you're going to be ready to lay your life down for the benefit of somebody else's gain. How would I ever do that? And you say, "Well, do I have to do that? I don't know. Do you want to follow Jesus? Do you want to imitate Jesus? " Then there's going to be this part of me that says, "Man, I want to do it this way, but I'm going to lay it down and stiff arm it and die to that. " so I can follow him. Peter turned around. Look at this. This is what we do. He says, "Follow me. " He just swam in the water. He just had this conversation. He's being restored. He's got this gratitude that Jesus re received him. He says, "It's going to get tough.

" In verse 20, Peter turned around and he saw John there. In verse 21, Peter asked Jesus, "What about him, Lord? This is a very common distraction that happens for all of us because I'm so concerned and caught up about what Alex is doing or not doing that God's asking me to do something. I'm going but what about him? I haven't found the Word fair in my Bible yet. Jesus says, "Follow me. " And we go, "I'm all in. Thanks for restoring me. Thanks for dying on the cross. Thanks for the salvation. Thanks for all the generosity. Thanks for the righteousness. " He says, "Follow me. and I need you to give your life for this. And they're like, yo, what about her? What about him? Why? Why me? Why not him? Why not me?

All the different things we ask. And it's like, no, no, no. Watch what Jesus says. Verse 22, Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me. " Can we get real personal for a minute? Can we get one on-one here again? Just like when you stand before God, it's just you and him and you recognize his holiness and your disqualifications. Can we make this real personal with Jesus saying, "What is that to you about somebody else? You follow me. " You got all these opinions about what everybody else should be doing or what they shouldn't be doing, what other churches should be doing or what they shouldn't be doing. You got all these opinions about what political figures should be doing or not doing. Listen, you follow me. you imitate me. You buy into this. Quit worrying and secondguessing and challenging and deciding what's fair and saying, "Well, what about him? Well, what's he going to have to do? Well, what about that one? " Get your attention off of that and say, "I'm locked in on you, and I want to follow you. " What is it to you if I want him to be alive forever?

That's not your decision. It's not your business. It's not your call. You follow me. That's your choice. That's your responsibility. That's what I'm challenging you with. And he says, "As for you, you follow me. " Verse 23, the rumor mill. This is John writing. He says, "So the rumor spread among the community of believers. " There were rumors back then, Dan. Did that? Amongst the disciples, there were rumors. The rumor spread among believers that this disciple wouldn't die. But that is not what Jesus said at all. He only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? " The rumors started happening because of something they heard Jesus say, which I just think is very interesting. It's just the reality of the moment. We would do the same thing.

If I heard Jesus say that to Brad or somebody else, you guys heard it and it's like, "Hey, Jesus said Brad's going to live forever. " That's not what he said. We focus on John. It pulled all our attention over here and we missed the moment where it's like, "No, no, no. He was calling me to say follow him. " And then we start making up rumors about something else that Jesus wasn't making the point about. I hope y'all caught that. The Devil's so sneaky and cunning and pulls our attention to silly stupid stuff and we start arguing about silly stupid stuff. It's very simple. Gina, follow me. And Elise, follow me. Alex, follow me. Eli, follow me. But what about what about him? What about Sam? Sam, follow me. You follow me. I need you to do this. What about him? Don't worry about him.

I need you to do this. And we get so worried about what everybody else is doing. Man, you lock in on Jesus. Say, "God, I'm all in. I'm following you. " Whatever it means, I'm ready and willing to lay my life down for this. I go back to the gravity of God's love. If it's real, if it's true, if it is, man, I hope when the when the moment rubber meets the road, as we would say, I hope I'm ready to give it all. I hope I'm ready to s sacrifice it all. I hope I'm there. I want to take y'all back to a verse from last week, and I want to highlight something. I get out of here. John chapter 17. We read it last week, but I want to reiterate it because it's so powerful, and it fits this moment of like, look, we God's making us fishers of men now. The motives have changed. The priorities have changed. The value system has changed. What we're trying to accomplish, man, we're not trying to build an empire so people see us. We want people to hear the message of the Gospel. We want people to be turned to God.

Jesus said this. Put this on the screen, Regina. I'm side. It's chapter 7 of John, I think it is. Jesus said this. He goes, "The message that I'm bringing to you is not about me. " I think it's John chapter 7. Jesus told them, "My message is not my own. " Watch how this reads. It comes from God who sent me. Next verse. Anyone who wants to do the will of God, does anybody here want to do the will of God? Anybody who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. Those who speak themselves want to glory only themselves. But a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks Truth, not lies. Jesus came and the attention was on Jesus because of the gift he was going to provide in his sacrifice. But everything that he was about was pointing to the Father. Everything about him was to bring glory to the Father. It was not for him to come build his thing. He humbled himself and pointed to the Father.

What you hear me say, what you hear me saying, I heard him saying. What me doing, I saw him doing. He would go to get away from the Father and everything pointed back to the Father. That's how we can know that he's legit and his message is different. It wasn't about him other than he's the vessel or the door to the Father. So this message changes. Everything comes in and changes. So we go to John chapter 17 back and it says, "I'm coming to you. I told them many things that while I was with them in this world, they would be filled with my joy. " Please recognize there's a distinction that the joy that you have the opportunity to live with is different than the joy that you can achieve here in the world. I told them many things while I was with them in this world that they would have my joy. Jesus is not from here. And we can embrace that idea, but it's hard for us to embrace the fact that we're not of this world either. Let's keep reading. Verse 14, I have given them your Word. I have given them the verse we just read. I have given them your message. Jesus message was to point to the Father. I have given them your message. I have given them your Word.

And the world, and when we say the world, we're not talking about the magnificence of God's creation. We're talking about the broken system and the world's mentality and the world's value system. The world hates them because they do not belong to the world. They don't think like the world. They don't talk like the world. They're not a bunch of blue frogs like everybody else's blue frogs. They don't identify with being the blue frog, man. They're a man of God. They're a woman of God. There's a different mission, a different purpose, a different outlook, a different way of going about it. They're not moved by the same disasters the way everybody else is. There's a joy about them that's different than what everybody else has. And he says they're not they're the world hates them because they don't belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. Jesus was not of the world system. He came into it to rescue us out of it. Verse 15, I'm not asking you to take them out of the world. That's a remarkable statement. Jesus says to the Father God, I'm not asking you, God. I'm not I'm I'm praying for them. I'm interceding for them.

I'm not asking you to take them out of the world. I'm asking that you keep them safe from the evil one. Do that Jesus came to Peter while we're talking about Peter? Jesus came to Peter Brad and he said, "Peter, Satan has asked to sift you. Satan is longing to sift you out. " Eli, Satan has asked to sift you, Sam. Satan has asked to sift you, Alex. Satan has asked to sift you. He wants to sift you out and pull you and condemn you and take you out like Judas until you hang yourself on a tree. He has asked to sift you out. The Enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy is what John 10:10 says. The Enemy has asked to sift you out. But Jesus told Peter, "But I have prayed that your faith would remain strong. " You're not hearing it. Jesus didn't say, "I told him no. " Jesus is saying, "But I've prayed that your faith would remain strong. " God told Joshua, "Be strong and courageous. I'll make walls fall down, but I can't be strong and courageous for you. I can't have strong faith for you. Satan is looking to sift you out.

But I've prayed for you that your sa that you that your faith would be strong. I didn't ask God. I didn't ask you. I'm not asking you to take him out of the world. I'm not asking you to remove them from the broken system. I'm asking you to protect them that broken system doesn't get in their heart. I'm asking you, God, to protect them from the evil one. Who is the God of this world? The Bible refers to him as the God of this world. The God of this world's way of thinking. the one who orchestrates this broken system, this broken thinking that has tried to set the standards for us and set the value system for us and everything that does. The God of this world is trying to sift you out with his strategies. And Jesus said, "I'm not asking you to take him out of it. I'm asking you to be with them, protect them, and let's be a light into it. " Watch what happens. Verse 16, they do not belong to this world any more than I do. Verse 17, make them Holy. Set apart. Purify them, God. Heal their hearts.

Get ring that stuff out that's not of you. David said this in Psalm 138. He said, "God, search my heart. Anything that's in me that's not of you, ring it out. I have to pray that on a regular basis. I get stuff in my heart that's the world's system, and I don't want it in there. Ring it out. You got to want to ring it out, God. Ring out the things in my heart that are not of you. " And he says, "Make Holy by your Truth. Teach them your Word. " He gave this. Listen, he gave us the Word and now he's praying that God would teach us the Word. I've given them your message. Now God, give them understanding. I've given them the Gospel. Now, God, make it come alive in their life. I've helped them. I've given them the new message. God, make that message become the centerline of how they live and think and do.

Protect them from the world's system and the world's way. And then he says this in verse 18, just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. So instead of fighting to get out of it or complaining about it, what if we recognize that we've been sent on mission into the world to be a light into the world to be the messenger, the messenger of the of the greatest news in the world that can rescue people from that broken system. That's why I'm going to sit up here and risk it for one more time to just take a moment. Even though, man, you could be going, "Oh, can we just move on to the next part of service? " Man, it might be an opportunity or moment for somebody to go, oh my gosh. And let some kind of release happen in their heart to go, I'm more valuable than that. Because if you've been sent to the world, we can't think like the world. God didn't send us into the world to become like the world. He sent us into the world that's broken because we've been restored and been healed so that we can help. He didn't say he said that you're not of it. You're not like it. Just like I'm not like it. You're a citizen of Heaven and I'm sending you into where the brokenness is so that you can help be a men one who mends and repairs, one who heals. Verse 19. And I give myself as a Holy sacrifice for them. Jesus was set apart. Jesus was on mission. Jesus was on purpose. And Jesus gave of himself.

Thereby he was Holy for them for us. Why? So they can be made Holy by your Truth. You can be made Holy. We were encouraged and challenged by Peter to be Holy as he is Holy. How is that possible unless he makes us Holy? How is he going to make us Holy? How does he sanctify us with his Word, with his Truth? So, if I don't come to him and say, God, teach me, watch, I'm going to go back to this. Jesus said, I gave them your Word. Then a couple verses later, he says, teach them your Word. I saw Jesus. He told me to go out and throw my net down. And I saw the results of my obedience and the boat sank with all the fish and I recognized who he was and I threw myself at his feet. But then he said, "Follow me. " And that's when I began to learn. I began to understand. And I wrestled with it for three years. I walked with Jesus and I watched other disciples walk away. But I stayed the course.

And then we got to the very end. And all I could think about was how it may not have been fair because he was asking me to die. And I didn't know what he was going to ask John to do. But he stayed with it. He didn't go anywhere. And then he received the power of the Holy Spirit. and he went on and preached for 3,000 people the first sermon and ended up getting crucified upside down because he didn't want to be crucified like his Lord. There was something that happened in him but it didn't happen the moment that boat sank. He walked with him for three years and then he received the ushering in of the authority and the power of the Holy Spirit in the Church and he went on and he pioneered something on behalf of the great commission, the great commissioner Jesus. And today my challenge to you is do you want some of that action? Do you want to in on that action? Do you want to be Holy as he's Holy? Do you want to be set apart? Or we've all tasted the world or do you want to go back into just embracing the world's system? Do you want to embrace the world's value system? Do you want to embrace the world's way? Do you want to go back to just existing? Or can we be of people that are on mission to say, man, let's invite people. At the very least, let's invite them into a room where the message is being preached. But you have the message in your heart.

Do not disqualify yourself to be able to take this message to people. Take it to your work. Take it to where you go. Take it to your phone calls. Take it to your cousins. Take it to wherever you do. Take it to the gym. Take it to the grocery store. And don't be weird about it. You don't have to let them see on the outside like whitewashed tombs. Let them see the fruit of your life. When he comes in and makes you a fish of men, your value system changed. Your heart changed. Everything changed in you. And now there's this gratitude because he's rescued me. He's saved me. And because of the gratitude, there's going to be evidence of change in my life. And people are going to see it. I don't have to perform for you. It's the overflow of my heart.

And you're going to benefit from the overflow of my heart. You're going to be impacted by the overflow of my heart. The Bible says in Psalm 45:1, "My heart overflows with a good theme. " Guess what you're going to get when I see you at the grocery store? Good themes. You're going to get good themes from me. And I have bad days, but my heart overflows with a good theme. I have nothing else to want to share with you. I mean, do you guys want to talk some more about the heat or have we addressed that? Do we want to talk more about the river? Have we addressed that? And let me tell you something. There's nothing wrong with talking about it. what I'm saying? It's just, yeah, let's talk about it. But I want to talk about the things of God. I want to talk about the life of God. And I want I want to be about things until Jesus returns to come get us. I want to stay focused on the real mission until he comes back. Are you with me?