1 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:11,160 My name is John Whitaker and it seems like there's this new 2 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,680 tradition around here that the first Sunday of the year I end 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:20,400 up preaching. So I think like 3 out of the 4 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,880 last four first Sundays of January I have preached. 5 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:27,080 The one that I didn't preach, I had just had hip replacement 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,920 surgery and Tucker let me out of it, which I thought was very 7 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:32,000 nice of him to let me out. I'm not having to preach after 8 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:33,520 having hip replacement surgery. So. 9 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,600 So here we are, January 4th, 2026. 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,320 Welcome to the new year. And we're actually going to be 11 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:45,440 starting a new sermon series beginning today that I will talk 12 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,800 about in a little bit. But to set up that series as 13 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,760 well as this sermon, I wanted to reflect on a question with you. 14 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,200 I think it's a helpful question for us to think about what's 15 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,440 going on in the passage we're going to look at, as well as 16 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:00,120 this whole series and if we can put it on the screen. 17 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:06,040 Here's the question, can you be a Christian without being a 18 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:11,440 disciple? Can you be a Christian without 19 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,440 being a full on follower disciple of Jesus? 20 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:20,360 That's the question and the answer to that sort of like, 21 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:27,080 well, on one hand, I think you could say yes, you could walk 22 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:31,920 into a church building like this or maybe a fancy church 23 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,600 building. You could sing some songs, 24 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,680 right? You could believe in God and, 25 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,400 you know, occasionally go to church and be a decent person. 26 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,560 And to all appearances, people will think you're a Christian, 27 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,720 right? Maybe you're doing a survey and 28 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,280 they want to know what religion you are and they've got various 29 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,040 options and you could check the little box. 30 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,440 Well, not a Hindu, I'm not a Buddhist Christian. 31 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,600 That's who I am, right? I'm a Christian. 32 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,840 And you could. So you know, all right, I'm a 33 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:03,640 Christian. I had a friend when I was in 34 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,080 high school. We were pretty close. 35 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,039 We spent a lot of time together. I don't remember exactly which 36 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:12,320 class we were in, but his desk was right next to mine. 37 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:17,040 And we were taking a test. And as we were going through the 38 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:21,240 test, it it became clear that I knew some of the answers and he 39 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:24,080 didn't know some of the answers. And in the middle of the test, 40 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,720 he got my attention because he, he wanted me to kind of shift my 41 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,320 test to the edge of my desk and he wanted to look over and he 42 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,000 wanted me to help him out with his test. 43 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,520 He wanted to copy of my answers for his test. 44 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,160 I didn't want to do that. So I actually shifted the test 45 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,160 the other way and shifted my body so he wouldn't look at my 46 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,600 test. And we finished the test after 47 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:45,880 class. Here's what he said to me. 48 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,240 He said, John, you're too Christian. 49 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,600 You're too Christian. And that's because my friend 50 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:55,080 would have considered himself a Christian. 51 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,440 He he believed in God. He occasionally went to church. 52 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,400 He was a pretty decent kid. And in his mind, he was a 53 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:05,880 Christian. And probably to all appearances, 54 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,080 of all the other kids at school, he was a Christian. 55 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:11,280 He thought of himself as such. He just didn't want to be too 56 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,120 Christian. Right. 57 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,880 So can you be a Christian without being a disciple? 58 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:20,160 And on one hand, yeah, you can. You can. 59 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,320 You could be a Christian at least, at least a cultural 60 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:25,720 Christian without being a disciple. 61 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,800 On the other hand. On the other hand, I don't think 62 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,480 you can really be a Christian in the sense that Jesus intends for 63 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:36,640 you to be without being a disciple. 64 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:39,960 You, you can't really be a Christian in the sense that that 65 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,040 word originally meant. Like that word Christian is only 66 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,720 used like 3 or 4 times in the New Testament and when it first 67 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:50,400 shows up it was actually a word using from unbelievers towards 68 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,520 followers of Jesus. And it means Christ one like 69 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:56,680 little Christ. That's what Christian means. 70 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,320 Well, you can't be a little Christ without following Jesus 71 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,880 and being a disciple. And so on the other hand, 72 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:07,200 biblically, you can't really be a Christian without being a 73 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:11,840 disciple. And so we're starting a new 74 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,560 sermon series, message series beginning today, and it's going 75 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:18,640 to go from Luke Chapter 9 to about Luke 19. 76 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,520 It's going to take from now until a Good Friday and Easter. 77 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:27,200 And this new series is really titled Journey to the Cross. 78 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:30,400 And the reason we're we're picking up in Luke 9 and we're 79 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:35,080 going through Luke 19 is because beginning in Luke 9, the way the 80 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:40,600 story of the Gospel of Luke is told is Jesus now sets his face 81 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:44,600 towards Jerusalem. And he's on the way from Galilee 82 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:48,200 to Jerusalem, on his way specifically to his final week 83 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:49,480 where he's going to die on the cross. 84 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,840 And so the whole kind of story packaging from Luke 9 to Luke 19 85 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:55,600 is Jesus on the way to the cross. 86 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,600 So we're, we're going to follow that journey. 87 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,640 And what we're going to do is we're not going to take every 88 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,720 story out of Luke 9 to 19. We're going to focus on just 89 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:07,280 some maybe less familiar passages, maybe some more 90 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:12,400 challenging stories or demanding stories, ones that maybe we 91 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,680 don't know as well or aren't as easy for us out of this section 92 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,320 of the Gospel of Luke as we think about what it looks like 93 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:24,160 to actually follow Jesus, to actually be a real Christian, a 94 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,040 disciple of Jesus who's truly following him. 95 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:31,120 And we're going to start that today in Luke Chapter 9, picking 96 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,120 up in verse 57 right at the beginning, Jesus on his way 97 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,320 towards the cross. And here's the setup for Luke 98 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:42,160 Chapter 9, verse 57. Jesus on the road, He's on the 99 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:46,720 way to Jerusalem and three would be disciples come to him in 100 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:49,800 various ways and Jesus speaks to them. 101 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:54,280 And this passage is a challenging passage. 102 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,560 It's challenging in the sense that we have to listen really 103 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,840 closely to make sure we understand what Jesus is 104 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:05,040 actually saying, what he actually means by what he says, 105 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:06,840 and what's happening. So it's challenging just to try 106 00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:09,400 to maybe make sure we hear it rightly. 107 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:13,360 It's also challenging because this passage demands a response 108 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:18,960 demands a response from you and me as Christians, as followers, 109 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,560 as disciples of Jesus. So it's a challenging text. 110 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,120 So here's here's what it says we'll pick up and we'll take it 111 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,200 in three parts for each of the three would be disciples. 112 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:33,200 The first one picks up in Luke Chapter 9 verse 57, and it says 113 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,400 this as they were on the road. So they're that. 114 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:38,160 That's the picture right there on the road. 115 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,800 They're traveling from Galilee in the north through Samaria 116 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:43,760 down to Judea and Jerusalem in the South. 117 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:48,000 So as they're on the road, someone said to Jesus, I will 118 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:53,520 follow you wherever you go. This guy is like, I'm in Jesus. 119 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:56,760 I want to be a disciple. This is the kind of person that 120 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,200 if they were your friend, right, and they were like, Oh yeah, I 121 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,520 want to be a follower of Jesus. You'd be all excited. 122 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,360 You'd bring them to church. You'd introduce them to the 123 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,880 pastors, right? You'd maybe take them over and 124 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:07,560 have them get baptized. They're all in. 125 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:09,080 And we'd be so excited about that. 126 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:10,720 But that's not how Jesus responds. 127 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:13,960 What Jesus actually does is throw a little bit of cold water 128 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:16,600 on this would be disciple. So this guy's like, I will 129 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,800 follow you wherever you go. And here's how Jesus responds in 130 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,160 verse 58. And Jesus said to him, well, the 131 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:26,320 foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests. 132 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,200 But the Son of man, Jesus way of referring to himself, I, the Son 133 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:35,720 of man, I have nowhere to lay my head like this guy's like Jesus, 134 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:40,080 I'm in, I'll follow you. And Jesus response is not so 135 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:44,000 fast. Are you sure? 136 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,880 Do you really want to follow me? Do you know what you're in for? 137 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,600 Like the birds, they have nests to sleep in, they have nests to 138 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,240 call home. The foxes, they have dens. 139 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,880 Me, not so much. And in context, what has just 140 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:06,000 happened right before this is Jesus, he's travelling, has sent 141 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,880 a couple disciples ahead to a village in Samaria. 142 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:10,920 And the Samaritans and the Jews, right? 143 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,280 They're not on friendly terms. So they were like, hey, maybe it 144 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,320 was some places where he thought he had some connections, sends 145 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:20,160 them in and the people here, oh, it's Jesus and he's on his way 146 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,240 to Jerusalem. No, he's not welcome here. 147 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,680 And so they literally have no place to lay their head. 148 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,040 They're camping around a campfire and sleeping on the 149 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,320 ground. So Are you sure you want to sign 150 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:37,559 up for that? In other words, following Jesus, 151 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:44,039 being a disciple of Jesus, it it up ends our security and our 152 00:08:44,039 --> 00:08:47,040 comfort. Are you sure you want that? 153 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:51,560 Like it's going to upend the the things that we cling to and try 154 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:54,760 to manage so tightly to make sure OK we at least feel OK and 155 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:56,960 secure in life. Do you really want your life 156 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,960 completely destabilized? Like we we work really hard, 157 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,200 don't we, to manage our finances to, you know, to make sure we 158 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:08,480 have a place to live, to manage our careers, you know, anything 159 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,000 that we think, OK, I need that in order for my life to feel 160 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,600 safe and secure and stable. We're going to work really hard 161 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:16,320 to try to protect that. And Jesus, like, yeah, but if 162 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:21,240 you follow me, we're going to upend that that's going to be 163 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,400 unpredictable. You're going to have a little 164 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,320 more instability and insecurity. Are you sure you want that? 165 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:30,600 Are you sure you want that if you want to be my disciple? 166 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:35,320 And not only that, it upends, if you will, when we hand our life 167 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:36,880 over to Jesus. It upends, I think, our 168 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,400 expectations. This guy says, I'll follow you 169 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:41,200 wherever he goes. He's probably like, OK, I really 170 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,040 do think he's the Messiah, which in his mind means, so that means 171 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:49,960 he's king. That means he's he's he's going 172 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,840 to go to Jerusalem because that's where he's on the way to. 173 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:54,240 He's going to kick out the Romans. 174 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,320 He's going to ascend to power. And I want to be right there 175 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:59,400 with him when he does it. And she was like, yeah, but 176 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,600 that's not quite the way my kingdom's going to work. 177 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,840 I have no place to lay my head. I just got rejected from the 178 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,360 Samaritans. I've been being rejected by the 179 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,160 Jewish leaders. I'm in a lot of ways they 180 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,160 reject. Are you sure you want to sign up 181 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,840 to follow me? Do you do you like hanging out 182 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,800 with rejects? Because that's, that's who I am 183 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:24,920 literally right now. And and for us again that that 184 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,200 challenges us to think about, well, what if Jesus disappoints 185 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,880 my expectations? What if Jesus, Jesus doesn't 186 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:37,560 make all my dreams come true? What if Jesus doesn't answer 187 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:40,040 that prayer? We don't. 188 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:41,880 What if I don't get my best life now? 189 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,640 What if things turn sour and things go hard and Jesus seems 190 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,480 empty and not there for me? What if Jesus lets me down? 191 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:56,000 Do you want to follow him then, or just want him when he makes 192 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:57,800 your life actually turn out the way you want it to? 193 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:01,840 I will follow you, Lord, wherever you go. 194 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:04,440 And she's like, yeah, not so fast. 195 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:08,880 Following me is going to upend your security and your comfort 196 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,640 and your expectations. You sure you want that? 197 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,680 Are you in? That's the first guy. 198 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:21,440 Second guy is part of this entourage that's with Jesus as 199 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:23,080 he's travelling towards Jerusalem. 200 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,160 And Jesus actually calls this guy and says to him, verse 59, 201 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,640 he said to another, follow me. So Jesus is inviting this guy. 202 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,000 It's been hanging around with him, then showing up, then maybe 203 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,000 listening to some of the teachings and it's kind of on 204 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,600 the fringes of the group. He calls him to the center, like 205 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:43,040 follow me. But this guy responds like this. 206 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:47,280 Lord, permit me first to go bury my father. 207 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:50,040 It doesn't that seem like a reasonable request? 208 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:53,760 Lord, can I just go to my dad's funeral 1st and then after I'm 209 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:55,480 done with that, I'll come and follow you? 210 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:00,000 Seems reasonable, doesn't it? But look how Jesus responds. 211 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,760 Allow the dead to bury their own dead. 212 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,760 As for you, you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God everywhere 213 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:13,160 you go like that. That seems a little harsh, 214 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,120 doesn't it? Like, I thought Jesus was kind 215 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,040 of nice. This doesn't sound very nice, 216 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,800 does it? The guy just wants to go bury 217 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,280 his dad. And this is one of those places 218 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:26,880 where we have to slow down and make sure we hear what's 219 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:28,880 actually being said and what's actually going on. 220 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,800 We have to remember that the Bible wasn't originally written 221 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,160 to us, right? It wasn't written in our 222 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,840 culture, in our language, in our time and place. 223 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:41,640 Their world was different. And so when this guy says, well, 224 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:45,680 allow me to bury my father, permit me to go do that first, 225 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,520 what we need to realize is his dad's not dead yet. 226 00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:51,720 Like just think about it. If his dad was dead, why is he 227 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:55,320 with Jesus on the road anyhow? That's not what that phrase 228 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:56,880 means. Permit me to bury my father 229 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:00,000 means this. It means let me take care of my 230 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:04,160 social responsibilities and my social obligations to my family. 231 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:06,720 Take care of my family, my parents. 232 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:10,880 And when that's all done, then after I'm done with that, then 233 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:13,000 you can come, or then I'll come and I'll follow you. 234 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,480 But family comes first. That's what that means. 235 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:18,600 We don't know when his dad's going to die. 236 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:23,160 It may be five years, it may be 10 years, it may be 15 years. 237 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:25,560 We don't know. He's just saying, allow me to 238 00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:28,520 fulfill my social responsibilities to my my family 239 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,720 and my parents. After I'm done fulfilling them, 240 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:35,000 then I'll come and follow you. And to that Jesus says, let the 241 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,480 spiritually dead bury their own dead. 242 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,840 You go and you proclaim the Kingdom of God. 243 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,360 If you want to be my disciple, then what that means is your 244 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:48,800 whole life has to revolve around me and my kingship and my 245 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:51,480 Kingdom and my mission and my purpose. 246 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:55,400 That has to be the highest priority in your life and in 247 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:59,200 their culture, like taking care of your family responsibilities 248 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:01,920 and serving your aging parents up until they died. 249 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:05,440 That was the highest social obligation, the greatest social 250 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,200 responsibility anyone had. And for Jesus to say, yeah, I 251 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,800 come before that. I've heard a missionary in the 252 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:17,760 Middle East say that when he has read this text to people in 253 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,280 traditional Middle Eastern villages, their their response 254 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:22,120 is, well, no wonder he got killed. 255 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,800 No wonder he got killed because he's this 30 something year old 256 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:31,320 upstart rabbi thinking he's more important than my my family, my 257 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:32,680 parents. Yep. 258 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:35,560 That's what it means to be a disciple. 259 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,920 And you hand over your life to Jesus and he becomes the most 260 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,440 important relationship in your life. 261 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,360 He becomes the most important priority in your life. 262 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:48,880 If you want to be a disciple of Jesus, it's going to upend your 263 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:51,920 loyalties and your relationships. 264 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:57,040 It's going to upend what you live for and what's most 265 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:01,160 important to you. Jesus says no, it's not going 266 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,040 and serving your family, it's going and serving my Kingdom. 267 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,720 That's what matters most. Sure, you want that if you want 268 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,480 to be a disciple. To be a disciple of Jesus means 269 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:15,680 I hand over my life to Jesus and he says if you do that, I have 270 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:19,000 to be the most important responsibility, most important 271 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,520 social obligation in your life. All other loyalties go by the 272 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,400 wayside. Now, in our, in our cultural 273 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,760 context, it may not be, it may be family, maybe the the 274 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,560 greatest relationship with your family and your kids and you're, 275 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:35,760 you're super busy with club sports and, you know, and travel 276 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:39,800 sports and travel teams or, you know, music and, you know, 277 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,280 college and education. Maybe you're, and you're 278 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,840 pushing. And if so, Gia says, hold on. 279 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,800 If you're going to be a disciple, I'm more important 280 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:51,840 than all of that, even than your kids and your grandkids. 281 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,400 Maybe it's family, maybe it's career. 282 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,480 Maybe your whole dream in life has been to ascend to some high 283 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,920 point in a career and you've been pursuing that, giving all 284 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:02,240 your time and all your energy to that. 285 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,920 Again, what Jesus says to you is no, As for you, you go and you 286 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:07,960 live for and proclaim the Kingdom of God wherever you go. 287 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:09,800 The Kingdom of God has to come first. 288 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,120 Whatever it is that you're living for, if you're going to 289 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,560 be a disciple of Jesus, Jesus supersedes that. 290 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:22,520 He's king, He's in charge, and his Kingdom is what shapes your 291 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:27,120 entire life, how you raise your kids and how you conduct your 292 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:30,840 career and how you manage your finances and everything that's a 293 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:35,480 part of your life. You go everywhere and proclaim 294 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:37,840 the Kingdom of God. That's the second guy. 295 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:45,080 Third guy comes to Jesus verse 61 and he says to him, I will 296 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:49,480 follow you, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to 297 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,040 those at home. Once again, doesn't that seem 298 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:55,320 like a reasonable request? Like, OK, Lord, if I'm going to 299 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:57,400 follow you on the road to Jerusalem, great. 300 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,320 Can I just go pack a little go bag, say goodbye to mom and dad, 301 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:03,040 maybe my brothers and sisters and I could be back maybe in 302 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,079 like half an hour, 45 minutes. Jesus, that game seems like a 303 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:07,839 reasonable request to us. Doesn't like let me go say 304 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:11,760 goodbye to my family and Jesus response in verse 62 again, it's 305 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:16,319 harsh. It's he says no one after 306 00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:21,440 putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the 307 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:26,560 Kingdom of God. No one after saying yes to Jesus 308 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:30,280 and then looking back is worthy to be his disciple and fit for 309 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:32,480 the Kingdom of God. Now again, this is one of those 310 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:34,920 places where we have to make sure we hear what's actually 311 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,120 being said when, when this guy says, first, permit me to say 312 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:41,440 goodbye to those at home. It it's not just saying goodbye 313 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:49,520 in their culture, the way it worked was those like who are 314 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,800 leaving don't say goodbye. They request permission to take 315 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,280 leave of those staying are the ones that say goodbye. 316 00:17:57,280 --> 00:17:59,760 So what we're talking about is this idea of partying. 317 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,440 And it's the idea that, all right, so here's what's going to 318 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,440 happen in their culture. You would go to the family, you 319 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,600 might have a meal, you might have tea, you sit around, you 320 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:09,880 have an hour and a half conversation. 321 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,960 And then in the middle of that conversation, you say, father, I 322 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:16,360 have this opportunity to follow this rabbi named Jesus. 323 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,400 Might I have permission to take my leave of the family and my 324 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,080 family responsibilities and go follow him? 325 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:27,000 And your father would either say yay or nay. 326 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:31,320 Yes, my son, permission granted. Goodbye. 327 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:35,040 Go follow the rabbi. That's that's what that's the 328 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:39,200 picture being portrayed here. In other words, what he's saying 329 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:44,280 is he's saying that I need to get permission from my family 330 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:46,800 because their authority is higher than yours. 331 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:50,640 In fact, Kenneth Bailey, who grew up as a missionary's kid in 332 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,600 the Middle East in the Thirties, 40s and 50s, came to the States, 333 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:58,040 did school here, and they went back in the 60s and 70s and 334 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,080 early 80s and lived as a missionary. 335 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:04,040 He said even to this day, in the like the 70s and the 80s, even 336 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:06,720 the 90s, he said when I'm in a traditional Middle Eastern 337 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:10,680 village, he said I'll be there. And if they're there is a say, a 338 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,680 40 year old businessman living in the city who's working in a 339 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,360 corporation, some business, who, who's offered a promotion at 340 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:20,680 work, right. If he before he takes that, that 341 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,000 promotion, he'll get in his car, he'll drive out to the village, 342 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:27,320 he'll sit down with his dad. He'll have the traditional tea, 343 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:29,320 the traditional conversation. And in the middle of that 344 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,080 conversation, say, may I have your permission to take this 345 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:34,760 promotion? Even if it's ceremonial, he'll 346 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:36,280 always do it. Why? 347 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:38,440 Because family authority is first. 348 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:43,320 That's the way the culture work. So when this guy says permit me 349 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:46,520 to say goodbye, what he's really saying is permit me to take 350 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,200 leave of my family, permit me to go to my father, sit with him, 351 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,120 ask permission to come and follow you. 352 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,440 And Jesus response is that's not the way it works in my Kingdom. 353 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:57,880 You want to be a follower of mine? 354 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:01,000 Then. Then my kingship and my 355 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:05,240 authority supersedes every other authority figure in your life, 356 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:08,000 including the patriarch of the family. 357 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:12,800 And so again, if you're going to hand your life over to Jesus and 358 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,520 be his disciple, what that means is he's going to up in the 359 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,720 authorities and influences of your life. 360 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,840 He gets to call the shots, not you, not me. 361 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:30,040 He's in charge. And what he says goes, if you're 362 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:34,560 going to be a disciple of Jesus, then within what that means is 363 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:40,400 whoever you listen to for your ideas about life takes a back 364 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,480 seat, maybe a distant back seat to Jesus. 365 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,240 Whoever you listen to for what you think is most important and 366 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,480 the greatest priority and how your life should look like, 367 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,160 guess what? Jesus supersedes that. 368 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:58,000 His authority is in charge. Jesus calls the shots, not you, 369 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:00,640 not me. If I'm going to be a disciple of 370 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:04,840 Jesus, then Jesus is the ultimate authority of my life. 371 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,880 And what he says goes. I knew a guy years ago who split 372 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:13,520 time between California and Kuna, and he had a house in both 373 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,360 places. So when he was in California, 374 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:17,680 his house in Kuna sat empty and vacant. 375 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,400 Well, people began to realize that his house at times for 376 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,280 months of the year was vacant in Kuna. 377 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,760 So they began sort of parking in his driveway, loitering on his 378 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:27,480 property. And, you know, they didn't 379 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:29,720 always damage anything, but he just didn't want people, you 380 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:31,720 know, around his property. So he set up little cameras. 381 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,920 He put signs, you know, no test, trespassing, stay off, tried to 382 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,560 be nice about it and all that, but people kept doing it because 383 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:38,920 he was gone for months at a time. 384 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:43,240 And after a while he got so fed up with it and so frustrated 385 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:44,920 with it. He said, you know what? 386 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:47,480 I've tried to do it Jesus way, and it didn't work. 387 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:52,120 So now I'm doing it my way. If you're a disciple of Jesus, 388 00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:57,160 you don't have that option. It's Jesus Way or the highway. 389 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:02,720 It's Jesus Way or no way. What Jesus says goes. 390 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:07,120 That's what it means to say, all right, Lord, you're in charge. 391 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:11,800 And whatever authority I think is so important or whoever I 392 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:16,680 think I need to listen to, none of them hold a candle to you. 393 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,240 Jesus doesn't play second fiddle to anyone. 394 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,440 Jesus is in charge and he's the ultimate authority figure in our 395 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,160 life. I want to read an extended quote 396 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,880 from CS Lewis because I think it it says something similar to 397 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:32,400 what Jesus is saying in this passage. 398 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,320 And I think it kind of pulls the threads of this all together for 399 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:37,680 us to help us hear what Jesus is saying. 400 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,800 CS Lewis in this passage is talking about the same idea of 401 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,640 following Jesus, living as a disciple, being a real true 402 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,000 Christian. And this is what CS Lewis says. 403 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,400 He writes this. He says the Christian way is 404 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,960 different. It's both harder and easier. 405 00:22:54,640 --> 00:23:00,600 Christ says give me all I don't want so much of your time or so 406 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,200 much of your money or so much of your work. 407 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:08,240 I want you. I've not come to torment your 408 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,960 natural self, which which he means is your, your ordinary 409 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,920 self, your ordinary life, the the life that's just your life, 410 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:16,200 right? I haven't come to torment your 411 00:23:16,360 --> 00:23:19,080 natural self, your ordinary life, but to kill it. 412 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,040 No half measures are any good. I don't want to cut a branch off 413 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,400 here and a branch off there. I want to have the whole tree 414 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,200 down. I don't want to drill the the 415 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,320 tooth and crown it or stop it. I want to have the whole tooth 416 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:37,600 out. Hand over the natural self. 417 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,080 All the desires which you think innocent, right? 418 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:42,560 The parts of your life you're like, I'm fine with those. 419 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:43,960 I think those are good. Those are fine. 420 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:47,560 Hand over those desires as well as the ones you think wicked, 421 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:52,720 the whole outfit, and I will give you a new self instead. 422 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:59,240 In fact, I will give you myself. My own will shall become yours. 423 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,240 That's the very point that that Jesus is making in these 424 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,200 encounters with these three would be disciples. 425 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:07,640 You want to be a disciple of Jesus. 426 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,280 What it means is you hand over your whole life, the whole 427 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,880 thing, not the not you don't you don't keep parts of it that you 428 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:16,200 think this part of my life is fine. 429 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:17,840 I like this part. I'm going to keep this part you 430 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,840 hand over the whole thing. Jesus goal is, is not for you to 431 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,280 and maybe just to, you know, trim off a bad part of your life 432 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:28,040 or fix this part of your life. His, his goal is to actually 433 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,800 give you a whole new life to to put to death the old self and 434 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,240 give you a brand new self. I actually think in the wisdom 435 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,680 of God, this is one of the reasons he gave us the the gift 436 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:44,160 of baptism, because baptism is an objective, tangible 437 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:46,960 identifier marker that draws a line in the sand where you say, 438 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,680 you know what? I'm a disciple of Jesus and I've 439 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:53,160 crossed that line and I'm his. I belong to him. 440 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:59,200 He's in charge. What he says goes I no longer 441 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:04,280 rule me. My perspectives don't matter. 442 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:08,120 It's Jesus perspectives, my feelings, they're not in charge. 443 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:13,200 His truth is in charge. My my goals, my aims, my 444 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,040 ambitions, my dreams, they all take. 445 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:19,000 They all kind of become subsumed under Jesus. 446 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,760 Goals, dreams and ambitious. My life is his and I belong to 447 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:24,720 him. And what baptism does is it 448 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,120 draws that concrete line in the sand where we step across. 449 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:32,680 We say I'm no longer my own. He's in charge, He's the king. 450 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:38,600 He's the one who rules our life. That's what it means to be a 451 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,440 disciple. We hand over our whole life to 452 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,800 him. So when it comes to your career, 453 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:50,800 like, well, it's not really your career, it's his career through 454 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,960 you. So ultimately, what he wants you 455 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:57,280 to do with your career, how he wants you to manage your career, 456 00:25:57,360 --> 00:25:59,600 if he wants you to give up your career and do something else, 457 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:03,760 it's up to him, not up to you. My finances are no longer my 458 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,120 own, so I don't manage them the way I think fit. 459 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,320 I manage them the way Jesus tells me to. 460 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:10,960 And I do with him what Jesus says because it's ultimate my 461 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,920 kids. I raise my kids and I parent my 462 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:17,240 kids, not according to my ideas and my wisdoms and my ambitions 463 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,760 and my goals for them. But what does Jesus want? 464 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,600 For whatever it is, whatever part of your life you can think 465 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:27,120 of, you hand over the whole thing to him. 466 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:30,400 That's what it means to be a disciple. 467 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,160 And as I reflect on this text and think about that truth, 468 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,640 praying through that this week, if you're like me and I'm, I'm 469 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:41,280 guessing there's plenty of people in the room that are like 470 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:46,400 me, that, that when you signed up to, to be a Christian, you 471 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,040 really did sign up to be a disciple. 472 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:50,640 You, you didn't, you weren't signing up just to go to church 473 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:52,840 and be a cultural Christian. You really signed on to follow 474 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:54,640 Jesus. That, that was me. 475 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,320 And if that's you, when I read this text, it's been 40 years 476 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:03,240 since that was the case for me. When I read this text, I, I, I, 477 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:07,400 I think, I don't know exactly what it means at this stage of 478 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,560 my life, but Lord, I want it to be true still. 479 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,680 I want to surrender everything to you, Lord. 480 00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:17,320 If I've gotten too complacent and too comfortable in my 481 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:21,320 discipleship to you, then Lord, stir up my heart, make it new. 482 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,600 Show me new ways to serve you and hand over my life to you. 483 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:26,960 Lord, I know that's uncomfortable and scary, but 484 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:31,200 Lord, here's my life. Take it, do with it what you 485 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:33,480 want. May my life be about you and 486 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,560 your Kingdom. For some of you, maybe that's 487 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,720 you today where you're at. You've been following Jesus for 488 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:41,200 a long time. You really have been living as a 489 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:43,760 disciple. May this text challenge you to 490 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:47,920 continue to hold your life with an open hand before Jesus and 491 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:49,200 let him do with you what you want. 492 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,200 Maybe some of you are here and you've been more like that, that 493 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,080 cultural Christian. Everyone would have considered 494 00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:58,880 you a Christian. You you can talk to Christian 495 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:00,680 language, you know, some of the songs, right? 496 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:02,920 You're maybe a fairly decent person. 497 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:04,920 And you go to church occasionally and people look at 498 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:06,320 you and think, yeah, you're, you're, you're kind of a 499 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:07,520 Christian. You know, you don't want to be 500 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:08,920 too Christian, but you're kind of a Christian. 501 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,960 And maybe that's you. What this text says to you is do 502 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,320 you want to be a true Christian? Do you want to be the kind of 503 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,680 Christian that Jesus intends for you to be? 504 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:25,640 If so, hand over the whole outfit, hand over everything 505 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,520 about your life, all the parts of your life, all the facets of 506 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:31,400 your life. And yes, you don't know exactly 507 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:32,720 what that might mean. You don't know where it's 508 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,200 exactly going to lead, but Lord Jesus, you're in charge. 509 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,640 Here's my life. Do with it as you see fit. 510 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:44,320 Maybe you're here today and you just, you just wandered in 511 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:48,440 because 2025 was a hard year and you start looking in the mirror 512 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,040 and you're like, I got to make some changes to my life and you 513 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,280 thought I'm just going to go to church and you showed up and 514 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,280 you've never signed on to be a Christian. 515 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:56,840 You've never signed on to be a disciple. 516 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:58,840 Just know what you're signing up for. 517 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:01,040 This is what you're signing up for. 518 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,400 If that's you, then what you're signing up for is handing your 519 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,880 whole life over to Jesus, saying Jesus, you're you're king, 520 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:13,360 you're in charge. What you say goes, you are the 521 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:16,040 king of my life. That's what Jesus is inviting 522 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,080 you into. That's what he's calling you to. 523 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:20,640 That's what it means to be a disciple. 524 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:26,760 It means I hand over all of me. It's no longer I who live, but 525 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,080 Christ lives in me and through me. 526 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:39,160 And if, if thinking about that like maybe threatens you, scares 527 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:42,680 you, makes you feel like, I'm not sure about that. 528 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:46,280 Can I just remind you that what we're going to do right now is 529 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,920 we're going to sing another song here in just a second and and 530 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,160 we're going to take communion. Communion is this little piece 531 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,120 of bread. It's a little bit of juice. 532 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:58,360 It's a very simple, tangible act once again, to remind us of the 533 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:03,560 kind of King that Jesus is. If you're going to hand over 534 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,400 your whole life to him, can you trust him? 535 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:09,640 Well, just know that Jesus says I didn't come as king to be 536 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:15,240 served, but to serve and give my life a ransom for many. 537 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:19,040 What kind of king is Jesus? He's the kind of king who lays 538 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:22,680 down his life for you. Can you trust him with your 539 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:24,680 life? Indeed you can, because he's 540 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:26,920 already given up his life for you. 541 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:31,960 And so Jesus invites you and I into this moment where we're 542 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:34,520 going to take communion and we're going to say yes to Jesus 543 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,600 in a fresh, new way. And my hope, my prayer is that 544 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:41,920 wherever you're at that you'll say, Jesus your King, you're in 545 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,040 charge. I no longer rule me. 546 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:49,800 Jesus, it's all about you. So make my life completely and 547 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:53,840 fully for you. Thanks for joining us today. 548 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:56,880 If you would like to watch the full service, check out the link 549 00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:59,720 in the description. For next steps and to learn 550 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:01,960 more, visit calvaryboise.com.