Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, well, like I said, today is a special Sunday. It's about senior commissioning, and we have some amazing talent that is graduating and going to college. And, you know, one of the things I love about this church has so much to do with when I first came.
[00:00:20] You know, looking at Norris Ferry, the milestone map was kind of foreign to me before. Before I got here. And when I got here, I was like, wow, what level of intentionality it is to take time on all of these big life stage moments to go, hey, parents and students, we're gonna come together and we're gonna talk about these big things. I know, like, one of my favorite ones is, like, this idea of next steps. We're like, hey, parents, your kid, these next three years in middle school, sometimes it's gonna be like, they don't have a brain. It's. Cause it's growing, all right? And, kids, I know that your parents are gonna get rules. Those are good for you, okay?
[00:00:59] But it's a great time just to be able to come together, have honest conversations, but talk about the gospel, talk about what God has been doing in their life and how they can continue to grow in that.
[00:01:12] And so today is that capstone of this milestone map. And I know this milestone map has been around for a long time. And as I look at our seniors, like, they have been super faithful. This is a group that not only are Sunday mornings during our community group hour, but they're here on Wednesday nights, and they serve, and they go to all the different events that we've had. Like, this is a good core group of our seniors. And so it's a joy to be able to stand up here this morning and go, man, like, I'm excited to see what God does in you. I'm excited to see where he leads you. And when we think about this idea of commissioning, you know, I always look back to how God commissioned, right? Jesus commissioned his disciples.
[00:01:53] Like, he walked with them intentionally for years. He cared for them, he loved them, he partnered with them. And so there was so much intentionality that went into the time that he spent with his disciples now.
[00:02:07] You know, sometimes I feel this, like, just like Jesus walked through the disciples, sometimes whenever we are walking with somebody, what we're trying to teach goes right over our head, right? Like, the disciples missed a lot of what Jesus was teaching in the moment, but got it later. And so this group right here, I'm excited to say that that's not necessarily been the case, but this kind of idea of commissioning brings me to kind of this first Idea that I want to bring out today is that we can never commission these students with the gospel unless they have accepted the call of the gospel.
[00:02:41] And so they have to accept the call of the gospel to be ever have the opportunity to be commissioned by the gospel. And so when I think about this room and all the different generations we have in here, I'm not, I guess, shy to say that there's probably some in here that do not know Jesus personally. They don't have a relationship with Him. You may know a lot about Jesus, but do you know Jesus? And so before we move on like Jesus, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus has come down to earth as this perfect man, fully God and fully man. He lived this awesome life with his disciples, right?
[00:03:21] So much is recorded in scripture. But then he went to the cross and we just talked about a song, pleading the blood. He died on the cross, spilled his blood out for the sins of all mankind, past, present and future.
[00:03:35] And because of that, he calls us to repent and believe in Him.
[00:03:39] And when we do that, and we put our faith and trust in Jesus, he forgives us of our sins and. And then he redeems us and calls us to a life that is full of pursuing him with everything that we have.
[00:03:54] Many times when we get to putting our faith in Christ, we go, all right, what's next? What's next is a lifelong journey of going, God, where are you calling me? And what are you doing? And it's such a joy. And so if you're in the building before right now, and you have never put your faith and trust in Christ, like, this is a call on you to place your faith and your trust in Him. In him alone. There's no other name by which we must be saved but Jesus.
[00:04:22] And so if that's you, I want to have encouragement. If you're a kid, talk to mom and dad today. If you're an adult, we're going to have pastors here at the front of our stage at the end of our service. The whole thing here is that whether you have never put your faith and trust in Christ or you have, it's always a great reminder of what he's done in our life, and it should bring us back to a memory. Right? I know over the last few weeks, we've been pretty busy in baptizing some students and some adults in those moments. I always love to encourage our students to go, hey, look out into the congregation. I want you to remember this moment because later on in life, when things get hard or different trials come your way, there's gonna be doubts that creep into your mind. And when there's doubts that creep into your mind, I want you to remember what God has done. That you've done nothing to save yourself, but God has done everything to. And if you can go back to that moment, you can get through anything in life.
[00:05:17] And so when we think about this idea of commissioning, we can't be commissioned with the gospel unless we've been called by the gospel. And so I want to just take a minute and go through actually Matthew, chapter 18 or. Or 28, verse 18 through 20. It's the great commission. It's one that doesn't just apply to our seniors, but it applies to every one of those believers. And it says this. And Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven on earth, has been given to me. So go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
[00:05:57] So as an encouragement, this is a call for every one of us to be about the gospel, to be taking this good news and not only living it out, but sharing it with those that we come in contact with outside of these walls. It's not just meant for Sunday mornings or even Wednesday nights. It's meant across all areas of our life forever.
[00:06:21] And so, seniors, your main purpose is not just to go to college, to have a great career, to be successful, to maybe start a family, to have a home.
[00:06:35] All of those things are great and they are good things. Pursue those, but don't pursue those without remembering what God has called you to.
[00:06:45] He's called you to be his son and his daughter.
[00:06:48] He's called you to be this disciple who then goes and takes this good news to others.
[00:06:56] And if you think about it, the reason we've come to faith and even heard the gospel is because this message has been going on for years and years and years, like we are beneficiaries of this great commission that God gave the disciples 2,000 years ago.
[00:07:12] So with that, we're actually going to be in Luke, chapter nine, verse 23, today through 25. So let me pray for us, and then we'll dive into our passage.
[00:07:24] God, I am just asking this morning for your help. And I need you to guard my words, allow these things to be of you. But Lord, just give me confidence to share what you've laid on my heart and what we see in Your word, Lord, as we think about sending seniors off into, in some sense, the great abyss, Lord, we trust you with them. We're not sending them alone. We're not sending them without help.
[00:07:54] Lord, your Holy Spirit will be with them. So, God, would you help remind us of that this morning?
[00:08:00] So, Lord, we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:08:04] So the question for today that we're gonna be thinking on is that is your yes to God.
[00:08:12] Was it made out of convenience or out of permanence?
[00:08:17] The question we're gonna be looking at today is that when we put our faith in Christ and we said yes to him, was it because of a convenient moment in our life or convenient opportunity, or was it out of. No, this is permanent because I have truly surrendered. That's the question I think that we're gonna be looking at today. And we're gonna look at that through Luke, chapter nine. Now we're jumping in the middle of Luke. And so Jesus has been on the scene for a while. Like, right before this, we see him feed 5,000, right, with just a little bit of supplies. We see Jesus actually, for the first time get his disciples together and say, hey, guys, I just want to be clear that not long from now I am going to be crucified. I am going to be spat on and shamed. I am going to go and die on a cross and for your sins.
[00:09:09] And many of the disciples in this moment were thinking, like, well, how is that gonna happen if you're building this earthly kingdom, like this, like, group and where we're gonna be a part of this together? And he's like, no, we're here to establish our spiritual kingdom, the kingdom of God. But for that to be a part and to happen, I have to now sacrifice myself for you. And the disciples really struggled to get that. And then this is the verse right after that of when he's talking to them of just foretelling his death and his burial, resurrection and what's happening. Then he gets the disciples and then a few others that are around there, and he kind of gives this just familiar verse to us that I think is going to hopefully encourage us this morning. And it's this. Let's read it together, verse 23 through 25.
[00:09:57] And it says here that. And he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
[00:10:08] For whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
[00:10:22] I Love how this starts.
[00:10:25] If you go back to verse 23, it says this, if anyone would come after me, what Jesus is doing here when he's saying this to his disciples and those that are around, he's putting the question on the table for him.
[00:10:42] He's saying, you have a choice here, to follow me or not. But if you're going to follow me, there's gonna be some things that are gonna be required of you. And so when I read this, I thought about a story of growing up, you know, on holidays. And actually, I think every time that we were out of school, my parents would always take us back to where my grandparents lived in South Carolina, which was awesome. And so we would always go back there. But every time we'd go back there, I had some really great uncles. And every time we'd be in town, they're like, hey, do you want to go fishing with us today?
[00:11:16] And he goes, but I got two rules. One, there's no fighting.
[00:11:21] Two, there's no complaining, right? That's kind of what he said in the first part of it. I was like, so my brother and I, my brother's two years younger than I. We look at him be like, yeah, we can do that, we can do that. He goes, alright, awesome. So here's the deal. We are gonna wake up at 5am and be ready to go. You need to pack your lunch. Cause guess what, there's nothing on the water to eat. All right?
[00:11:44] We are gonna be fishing from sunup to sundown. And he meant it like we had flashlights getting the boat out, okay? Like it was wild. So sun up to sundown. And then the last one was, whatever we catch, we clean. I'm not doing it for you.
[00:12:04] And he goes, do you still wanna go?
[00:12:06] And my brother and I would look at each other and my brother was like, nah, sun up to sundown, you lost me. I'm done with that. But I was like, yeah, let's go do it. And so we would go do it and have a great time. But when I think about this very question, if you would come after me, like there's gonna be. Let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. There's gonna be qualifications that, that he's gonna require of you in order to follow him. And so I thought about that fishing story of going, well, if I wanted to go fishing with my uncles, it was gonna take some time. But like, not only did I have to agree to, not to fight or complain, but I had to then prepare and go, these are the Standards that we're gonna have as we go forth. And so the first one gets us to denying ourself.
[00:12:52] And so the question is, are we going to deny?
[00:12:57] So when it comes here, like, the first part of this is going, all right, if you're going to follow Christ, you're then going to be required to deny yourself. Well, let's look back at what the disciples had to deny when God called them, right? In Luke, chapter nine, verses 59 and 60. You can just flip over or not even flip. It should be right there, right? It says there were those who said that they would follow him wherever Jesus would go. And. And Jesus replied by basically saying that he doesn't have a place to rest his head, which leads him to say the following here. To another, he said, follow me. But he said, lord, let me go first and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.
[00:13:47] So when we think about how Jesus called his own people, like, there were gonna be requirements for him. He's like, look, you're to be about the kingdom of God, and I'm calling you to come, but you're gonna have to leave your family, you're gonna have to leave the situation. You're gonna have to deny some of the things that you wanted to do, the desires of our heart. And so, because when I thought about this idea of, like, what does it mean to deny ourself, Man, I struggled with this, I think, all week. A, because I think I need to deny myself more often, and B, because I was like, what is God really calling us to?
[00:14:23] What is he calling us to deny? Well, when he calls someone to follow him, like, sometimes our response sounds super reasonable, right in that story, hey, can I finish this? We're almost done. I just need to bury my dad and then I can follow you.
[00:14:40] But Christ, on the other hand, saying, no, if you're gonna do those things, you're choosing yourself or your own desires or what has been placed upon you over what he's called you to. And so I came up with some examples, man. I think these are probably more personal than anything that kind of helped us to think about how do we deny our own self. You know, our heart brings about our desires, and our desires are shown through our actions. And so I really leaned into, like, what desires do I have that I need to deny in order to follow God and to follow what he's called us to? And so, for example, when I get home from a long Day. And maybe you can relate to this.
[00:15:24] Like, I would love just to sit in a good comfy chair, take a deep breath and relax, right? Like, when I come home, I would love to have some comfort and convenience. But do you know who I come home to?
[00:15:41] I come home to an awesome wife and four little kids.
[00:15:46] And so one of the things that I believe God's calling me to when it comes to denying ourself, like, all of these things, are desires that hold us back from loving God and loving others. That's what I've kind of gotten to a place of loving God and loving others. And so I've worked a hard day. I deserve to decompress. That's what I would tell myself.
[00:16:05] But if I did that, you know what I would do?
[00:16:08] I would deny my wife and I would deny my kids for myself.
[00:16:15] Compared to going, all right, guys, you've called me to deny myself. That means I need to clock in for my second shift. And honestly, a really important one. I need to be present with my family. I need to be present with my wife. I need to be present with my children.
[00:16:31] So to do that, guess what? I've got to deny my own desires. I've got to deny myself so that I can love God, but also love my family. Well, so God, for us, when he calls them to, if you're gonna follow after me, guess what? You're gonna have to deny your own desires. And so comfort and convenience are some of the first ones that came to mind next, Right. Was this idea of having to be right all the time.
[00:16:58] I know some of us in here are right all the time, right?
[00:17:02] Yeah, you nodded and laughed, so.
[00:17:05] But this idea of going, man, I just need to win this argument. If I win this argument, we're gonna be good. Like, can you not just come to my side?
[00:17:14] Right.
[00:17:15] Well, a lot of times in those relationships, you know, that's that selfishness in me that's going, I just wanna win for winning's sake. I just wanna take this and have this. And for whatever reason, but God's sitting here going, how are you gonna love others? Whenever all you're worried about is winning this argument.
[00:17:34] Like, when we think about denying ourselves and our desires, we're either gonna deny ourselves or we're gonna deny others and our love for others, or we're gonna deny Christ and our love for him. That's what it's kind of put on the table for us. So the second one was being right at the time. Well, I need to win this argument.
[00:17:52] No, I don't that's not worth it, Right? Like, let's have honest conversation. Let's work through this.
[00:17:59] Another thing that he calls us, like, when we think about denying ourselves recognition and appreciation, Jesus makes it clear that we only serve one king and master.
[00:18:10] So it's either him or it's us.
[00:18:14] When we think about this, here's a phrase like, I need these people to notice what I do and that I do it well, the need for that.
[00:18:25] Like, we're striving for this affection.
[00:18:27] We're striving for this acceptance in Christian life pursuit. And so when we think about this of recognition and appreciation, God's saying, we're not here to build the kingdom of Patrick.
[00:18:44] And that one hit me pretty hard.
[00:18:46] Like, yeah, you're right.
[00:18:47] We're here to build the kingdom of God. And to do that, guess what?
[00:18:53] There's only going to be one master, and that has to be Jesus Christ. It can't be us.
[00:19:00] And so deny yourself, deny the recognition and appreciation and how it can go to our head.
[00:19:08] Another one.
[00:19:10] As I've thought through this right throughout this entire year and community group, it's been pretty amazing. As I look out here, I see some of my community group members and been a joy to be in our community group this year. But one topic that's come up when it comes to, like, God, this is what I need your help in is this idea of control.
[00:19:29] I feel like it's come up a few different times in our community groups, specifically with me of, like, God, I want to have control over this situation, or I thought I had control over this situation. But what has come to my, you know, what I've come to learn is that I really don't have any control over anything but God, I need you to help me in this.
[00:19:51] And so when we think about denying ourselves, like, us trying to control every part of our lives, like God's calling us to, hey, it's time to loosen the grip and give it to me.
[00:20:01] That's another part of what he's calling us to. And so, like, one last area as we've talked about these things, like, he's calling us to deny our desires that come from our heart. And so these things are comfort and convenience.
[00:20:13] It's the idea of, like, pride and ego recognition and appreciation.
[00:20:19] But this last one, yeah. Is our ego and pride.
[00:20:22] The fact that we think that we should be admired or respected for the things that we do, you know, we don't deserve these things.
[00:20:34] And so when we think about God calling us to deny ourselves One of the things that really helps us in this is that.
[00:20:50] Well, let me just say, I think some of the things that we naturally do is that we're like, okay, I can deny myself here, I can deny myself here, I can deny myself here.
[00:20:59] But I'm not sure I can give up this last one.
[00:21:02] I don't know if you can relate to that. It's basically, I use the analogy of having a room like a house and going, God, I do want to follow after you, and I want to give you everything I have.
[00:21:15] But I want to give you the living room. I want to give you the bedrooms. I want to give you, like, the garage.
[00:21:24] But, like, this closet.
[00:21:26] Not sure I'm ready to give that up.
[00:21:28] Like, this one little area, I think of, like, the whole friends analogy. Monica's closet, that had all the junk in it, right? Like, you can have everything else. It looks good. I'm good with denying all of those things. But this is gonna be like, I just need this one area to hold onto.
[00:21:45] And we negotiate with God. Like, we have any kind of say, right? Like, lord, I just wanna hold onto this. And you're like, you've done nothing to have any kind of salvation. Like, it's not about any kind of work. It's like we're negotiating with someone that we have no leverage with.
[00:22:02] Like, when we think about our relationship with him, it's because of the blood that we have any opportunity to have relationship with him.
[00:22:08] And so in this, seniors, as we think about kind of this first point, like, the first. These points that we're talking about today come directly from the text.
[00:22:20] God's calling us to deny ourself as we run after him.
[00:22:24] There's going to be mornings when you get up college and you're like, mmm, I would love another hour of sleep.
[00:22:30] I want to challenge you in those moments to go, I need the community of Christ in order for my heart to be filled.
[00:22:39] I need to go and sit under teaching. I need to be in community. I need to lean into these things. There's going to be faced with all different desires that you may have.
[00:22:47] So my encouragement and challenge is, would you deny yourself in order to choose Christ?
[00:22:52] Would you choose him over yourself? That's really the question.
[00:22:57] Second thing comes up is to take up our cross.
[00:23:01] When you hear this term, you know, a lot of times I went straight to going, oh, man, this is just because of the hard things we face in life. No, like, when we think about how Jesus carried his cross, like, there was a clear thing that happened well, one is that when Jesus carried his cross, people knew what he claimed to be.
[00:23:19] He claimed to be the Messiah. He claimed to be the Messiah. And because of that, they ridiculed him. They hated him. They were so frustrated at him.
[00:23:29] And so when Jesus calls us to take up a cross, like, our faith should be public, our faith in him. Like, we should be known as those who follow Christ, not just by our actions, but by our words and all the things that we do. And so, like, you're gonna walk into a season, and I remember times in college where you're gonna be in groups and partnerships where people truly don't like you because of your faith.
[00:23:59] The question is on this, on, like, carrying your cross is how are you gonna love them?
[00:24:06] How are you gonna care for them? How are you gonna show Christ to them in those moments?
[00:24:13] Because when it talks about carrying a cross, like, this is gonna be a heavy thing, like, the way of Christ is narrow, as we see in Matthew 6.
[00:24:21] It's narrow. It's not wide. Not many people are on it. And people that are on it are ridiculed because they are. Because they're not going with the rest of the flow of everybody else.
[00:24:32] And so when we think about carrying our cross and following him and going after him, taking up your cross, like, how are you going to, in those difficult moments, show Christ for who he is?
[00:24:44] How are you gonna sacrifice yourself in order to show them that?
[00:24:49] How are you going to do these things? Well, here's some of the things. One, like, if you're in a group together, well, you know, maybe get your work done on time. That's a big one. I don't know if y' all have ever been about team projects, but sometimes it comes down to one person, right?
[00:25:04] Well, how you can show your faith is diligence. Do everything to the excellence of God, right?
[00:25:09] Have those conversations with them. Show them how you don't necessarily. It's not that you hate everyone or these things, it's not the part of Christianity, but that you do love them and that Christ loves them.
[00:25:21] Be diligent.
[00:25:23] Be intentional. Don't flee from it. Run into it.
[00:25:26] Those are some of the encouragements, I would say, when it comes to colleges and when you talk about taking up your cross.
[00:25:32] So when you go from here, like, I hope that. And as I look at the seniors, I know that your faith has not just been public here, it's been public on your school campus.
[00:25:41] Continue that.
[00:25:42] Sometimes we segment our life of like, well, I will be this way at church. I'll be this way at school, I'll be this way at home. I'll be this way when I'm with this group of friends.
[00:25:53] You know, if you're in that spot. Teenagers, I know many of you struggle with this, especially in middle school.
[00:25:59] So we're hoping that Christ supersedes all of those relationships and that they know that you are a follower of his across the whole board compared to just in one area or another.
[00:26:09] So when Christ calls us to be faithful in the midst of sacrifice, take up your cross and follow Him. It's going to be hard. It's not going to be easy, but do it.
[00:26:19] And then lastly, before we kind of get into this concluding part is we are to follow Christ, we're to follow after Him.
[00:26:30] What does that mean?
[00:26:32] Well, this beautiful life that we have in pursuit of him from here to our death is full of a lot of amazing experiences.
[00:26:41] But this right here is God's special revelation to us for us, so that we can bring him glory.
[00:26:51] And so one of my favorite passages is in Colossians chapter three.
[00:26:55] And in Colossians chapter three, it gives you kind of an idea of, hey, these are some of the things that God is calling us to, like when we follow after Him. Here's some. Just if you don't know where to start, we'll start in Colossians chapter three. And in Colossians chapter three, like, he's gonna talk about Paul really specifically. He's gonna say, you are to put to death these things, and you're gonna be putting on these things because of what Christ has done in your heart.
[00:27:18] So put to death this idea of lust and greed, rage and deception, to be specific. He calls us to stop being sexually immoral. He calls us to stop being covetous. He's told us to stop sinning in our anger, to stop slandering, to stop lying. All of those things are things that God has called you to put to death as a follower of His. Here is some standards at which you are called to kill those things now.
[00:27:47] But then, because of what Christ has done, he's saying, hey, you got something to put on.
[00:27:52] And what this is, what is about to be put on you is nothing that you can do to achieve. It's something that the Holy Spirit helps you in.
[00:28:01] Being compassionate, being humble, being patient, forgiving, and above all, loving one another.
[00:28:08] These are things that Colossians 3 talks about.
[00:28:12] And I know so many of us try to be good.
[00:28:15] Like when I think about the fruit of the Spirit, and we go in Galatians 5 like the fruit of the Spirit's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
[00:28:27] You know, sometimes we stop at that verse.
[00:28:30] This second part is probably one of the most amazing parts. Against these things, there is no law.
[00:28:38] The reason that's important is because the Galatian people were trying to be like Christ without surrendering to Christ.
[00:28:45] They were trying to morally achieve what Christ had done compared to surrendering for what Christ has done. And so this idea that against these things, there's no law. There's no law that's gonna make you love your neighbor as Christ has called you to.
[00:29:02] There's no law that's going to make you patient, like with your kids.
[00:29:08] There's no law that's gonna make you humble.
[00:29:12] Right? There's no law that's gonna make you gentle. These are all character traits that because we have the Holy Spirit, we're able to actually show.
[00:29:21] And so in that following him, you gotta rely upon the Holy Spirit.
[00:29:26] And that's my favorite part about the Great Commission, is that surely I am with you always.
[00:29:31] Like, when you're being sent out from here, you're not alone, even though you might be going to the same college. And I know some of you are already rooming together and that's awesome. I love that. Right? That's a great sign. But the other part is, like, when you're in class and you feel like, man, I feel like I'm alone. Or maybe you're on campus or just in a new town and you're like, where do I start?
[00:29:55] Remember the Holy Spirit's with you and that he can help guide you and bring people into your life.
[00:30:01] Like, you don't have to face this alone.
[00:30:04] So in conclusion, for whatever, you know, these last couple verses, for whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses himself or forfeits himself?
[00:30:23] You know, for so many years, people have tried to save themselves.
[00:30:31] There's a reality. I love the three circles when it comes to the gospel, like God's perfection. Sin broke that part in ourselves. And so that led us to brokenness. And this idea of brokenness is that, like, we recognize there's a problem.
[00:30:47] You can look in our world and see a lot of brokenness pretty quickly, can't you?
[00:30:52] But this brokenness that's in the world, it's because of sin. And I don't know about you, but I can't solve my own sin.
[00:31:00] I can't forgive my own sin. I can't be redeemed for my own sin.
[00:31:05] Only God can.
[00:31:07] And so when it comes to whoever will save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. A lot of times I think we get into this kind of race of trying to solve our own problems that we were never made to solve.
[00:31:23] So in those times, we gotta remember it's the good news of Jesus that solved that problem of sin, not things that we do.
[00:31:32] So what are we striving for? Whoever loses his life for my sake was sake. Like, sometimes it doesn't make sense to lose in order to gain, but in this sense, it makes perfect sense.
[00:31:49] And then the last part there is that what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
[00:31:57] You know, we can take our lives and we can be about perfection.
[00:32:03] We can be about performance.
[00:32:06] We can be about this idea of, like, striving for affection.
[00:32:10] We can be about, hey, we're gonna have this. Like, I am right, and because I'm right, we're gonna do this and be successful and all these things.
[00:32:20] But the question is, is, like, in the midst of that, are you doing that to build your own kingdom? And if you are, what is it compromising in your character?
[00:32:28] Because our character matters more than the things that we do.
[00:32:32] And the challenge here is that, what if you gain this whole world but forfeit yourself?
[00:32:36] Don't compromise your character to try and get ahead in this world.
[00:32:42] Don't compromise the things that you grew up knowing that come from this scripture to get just a little bit ahead or to try and move in a certain direction that'll cost you way more than what it gains.
[00:32:59] So lastly, this is the last kind of point that we're talking about, really. We just talked about three things.
[00:33:07] To deny yourself, Take up your cross to follow him.
[00:33:12] Seniors, if you can remember that, and say yes to that. And say yes not out of just convenience, because 98% of Shreveport claims to be Christian. But you can say that out of permanence of going, no, I know what God has done in my life.
[00:33:27] He's going to use you, and it's going to be amazing because of what he does.
[00:33:32] We were at a conference this last Monday and Tuesday.
[00:33:35] And at the conference, there was a song that came on that just hit me hard in my own heart to the point where I really am horrible with quoting lyrics. So I had to write it down.
[00:33:49] But I think this is the perfect way to End our time here today.
[00:33:56] The song talks a lot about it's only by the blood of Jesus that we are saved, that we can do anything. So here's the lyrics that stuck out to me.
[00:34:10] And here's the challenge for you, for all of us.
[00:34:16] It's never been about performance, perfection or striving for acceptance.
[00:34:23] It's only by the blood.
[00:34:26] It's never been about deserving or earning. It's a gift that's freely given.
[00:34:32] Let me tell you, it's only by the blood.
[00:34:38] Here's the challenge part, and this is the part that hits.
[00:34:43] Does anybody want to be holy and righteous, purified and spotless?
[00:34:51] Let me tell you, it's only by the blood.
[00:34:55] Does anybody want to be worthy, forgiven, justified, really living?
[00:35:01] Let me tell you, it's only by the blood.
[00:35:09] Seniors, the world is going to tell you to strive for perfection, to perform, to be accepted.
[00:35:19] It's never been about that.
[00:35:22] My challenge to you is your desire to be holy, your desire to be righteous, to be purified and spotless.
[00:35:34] And the only way that happens is nothing by what you can do, but by the blood of Jesus, rely upon him for all days.
[00:35:44] Let's pray.
[00:35:47] Father, I thank you for this morning and for your word.
[00:35:52] God, it was really clear if we want to come after you, whether we're seniors or empty nesters, parents with kids, students, You're calling us to deny ourself, to take up our cross and to follow you?
[00:36:16] God, would you help us crucify our desires so that we can live for yours?
[00:36:24] God, as we carry our cross, Lord, would you help us in those tough moments?
[00:36:30] Would people know that we are followers of yours and God, would we live it out?
[00:36:39] And God, as we follow you, I know that sin is going to constantly pull us and tempt us away from you. God, would you help us put to death the things of old?
[00:36:52] God, and would you also help us put on the things you've given us?
[00:36:59] Lord, in these years to come? Would we strive for holiness and righteousness?
[00:37:08] God, would you help form our character to be made more into your image every day?
[00:37:16] God, protect these seniors, Lead them, stretch them, grow them.
[00:37:23] God, use them in mighty ways, but only a way that you can.
[00:37:29] Jesus, name we pray.
[00:37:31] Amen.
