What up Crossing family, It is so good to be with you.
I want to welcome those of you joining here at 48th St. and at
all of our different locations, those of you watching online,
and of course, those of you who are part of our Crossing Inside
family. For those of you who missed last
week, I've encouraged every single person who calls the
Crossing home all across this region to consider adding these
three prayers to your morning prayer time.
And I would just love it. If you want, you can pull out
your phone, take a picture of these.
But would you just be praying from now until the end of the
year that God would continue to bless and protect our church?
We are definitely in a very special season.
And anytime you're trying to take significant ground for the
Kingdom of God, you are taking enemy territory.
And anytime you are over enemy territory, the enemy is going to
fight back. And I would love it if you would
just continue to pray for God's blessing and protection over our
church. Second thing I would love for
you to pray for is that you would have the courage to share
your faith with people who are far from God but close to you.
The way the Kingdom of God expands, the way the Kingdom of
heaven grows, is when people who look just like you and me take a
bold step of faith and share our faith with the people around us.
And then the third thing is that you would have clarity on what
your next step of faith should be.
The way you move closer to God is in two areas, faith and
obedience, and those things are connected, which means that
anytime you're trying to grow your faith, it's going to
require a step of obedience, and anytime you want to take a step
of obedience, it's going to require a little extra faith.
This past week, I was on Thursday, I was with a group of
guys and we were going through First Corinthians chapter 8.
And at the end of it, we kind of just asked ourselves this
question in the DBS, What's something that you need to do?
Because we want to be people who don't just hear the word of God,
but actually live out the word of God.
And I was like, you know what? There's a guy in my life that I
think if I were to look at First Corinthians 8 and read that
again, that some of my actions may have caused that guy to
stumble. And so before I preached on
Thursday night, as I was going through getting myself some
food, I just called that guy up and said, Hey, God kind of put
this on my heart. I may have caused you to stumble
and I, if I owe you an apology, I'm calling to, to give you 1.
And anytime you do that, But you know, my heart was racing.
I kind of got a lump in my throat.
If you guys ever had one of those were like, you feel God
calling you to do something and you're like, oh boy, I just want
you to know that never goes away.
So I just, if you're thinking, Hey, one of these days I'll
graduate to like super spiritual and I won't have those.
No, the you will always have those.
But I can tell you what I have 0 regrets over all the times I've
had a lump in my throat and decided to be obedient anyway.
I have 0 regrets, but I have a ton of regrets over all the
times I felt like I was supposed to do something and I didn't do
it. And as a church, I just want us
to be people who live by the Spirit so we have as few of
regrets as humanly possible. And I guarantee you, if God is
doing what I believe he's doing and that is revealing himself to
us, that means that he is constantly going to be
revealing. A step you are supposed to take,
which means the lump in our throat should be a reoccurring
theme in our lives. And what I want you to do is
when you have those moments, I want you to step through them
anyway. Because Jesus was describing one
time what it's like to be in the Kingdom of heaven, and he
illustrates it by talking about two stories, and he's talking
about the Kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom of God.
And inside of these two stories, there's something very special
for us. Now, when I talk about the
Kingdom of heaven or the Kingdom of God, you can kind of break it
down into multiple parts. Here are at least two of them.
In one part of the Kingdom of God is that it is the spiritual
rule that God has over people who've begun an intimate
personal relationship with him. That when you become obedient in
the waters of baptism, you receive the power of the Holy
Spirit. You become part of the Kingdom
of God, you leave the Kingdom of darkness and you step into his
glorious light. And it is in the Kingdom of God
that we are supposed to operate and live and then grow the the
Kingdom of God. The second part of the Kingdom
of God is salvation. It is what it means to be saved.
It's what happens when we are saved because in the Kingdom of
heaven or in the Kingdom of God, God reigns.
Satan's claim over a soul is lost.
Sin is vanquished, shame is banished, guilt is destroyed,
death is defeated, grace is applied, mercy is given, hope is
available, and divine purpose is discovered.
That's what happens when you encounter the Kingdom of heaven
or the Kingdom of God. And Jesus describes this Kingdom
in these two stories. He says there was a man who was
walking along a road and he finds a treasure in a field.
The field doesn't belong to him, so he covers the treasure.
Back up he goes, and he sells everything he has so that he can
buy the field, because in that field is a treasure, and the
treasure is worth more than he ever had.
Then he tells a second story right after this.
Jesus goes. It's like a man who was looking
for a fine Pearl, and he kept looking, and he kept looking and
he kept looking, and then he found one.
And when he found that fine Pearl or that fine piece of
jewelry, he went and sold all he had so that way he could have
it, buy it, and make it His Jesus is describing, in a way,
two types of people. One would be the accidental
Finder. The guy's walking along the
road. He sees something a little out
of place. He goes and he investigates it a
little bit further. And while he's investigating, he
discovers something that is worth more than he has ever had,
and he wants it. So he sells everything to have
it. He is willing to give up
everything he has to lay hold of what he has discovered.
The second man was an intentional seeker.
This is a person who was looking for something.
He kept picking up the different pearls and going Nope, that's
not it, Nope, that's not it, Nope that's not it, that's it.
And he was so moved and intrigued and excited about what
he had found that he went and sold everything he had to
acquire it. Some of you, you would
definitely find yourself in the category of an accidental
Finder. You were not looking for Jesus.
You are not looking for the undefeated power of the cross.
But it came looking for you, others of you.
You were looking for something. You knew that something was
wrong. You knew that something wasn't
right. You knew that there was
something more. And you have found it in our
risen Lord. And you might be looking at
these two people and going, why would they sell everything they
have to take up the Pearl or to take up the treasure?
And I'll tell you, it's because they found something that was
more meaningful than what they had.
The value of what you have discovered will always determine
your behavior. And maybe the reason why we have
a hard time fully living out the Christian life and giving
everything we have to Jesus is we don't realize what we have
actually discovered. Our inability to have faith and
our inability to be our inability to be obedient might
be a sign that we don't realize what we actually have in Jesus.
Paul in First Corinthians Chapter 9 actually illustrates
the parables that Jesus told in his own life.
You see, in First Corinthians chapter 8, Paul teaches us to
limit our Christian liberty through love for Christ and love
for others. So even though Paul is saying
I'm free to do all kinds of things, I will limit what I do
out of respect for God and the people who are a part of the
Kingdom of heaven. So I'm going to put a question
in your lap that I just want you to kind of hold there for the
next 20 minutes and then hopefully I want that question
to stay with you for the rest of your life.
Here's the question, it's a heavy one.
What freedom would you release and what sacrifice would you
embrace for the Kingdom of heaven?
What freedom would you release? What sacrifice would you embrace
for the Kingdom of heaven? And right now some of your going
I'm not sure Paul says in First Corinthians Chapter 9 through 3
examples in his own life how he lives this out.
The first thing that Paul does is he says listen, I'm going to
lay down my right to receive compensation.
Look what he says in first Corinthians Chapter 9 verses one
through 18. Am I not free?
Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?
Even though I may not be in a possible apostle to others,
surely I am to you, for you are the seal or the proof of my
apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who
sit in judgement on me. Don't we have the right to food
and drink? Don't we have the right to take
a believing wife along with us as do the other apostles and the
Lord's brothers And Cephas, let me pause for a second.
Some of you guys have been reading through your First
Corinthians book, which I'm super proud of you for doing
that. And you're going, how come
Cephas keeps showing up? And who is this guy?
Cephas is, is Peter. And you might be like, well,
then why don't they call him Peter?
I don't know. I didn't write it, but here's
what I can tell you when you meet, when you meet a guy and he
has like multiple names in Scripture, he's introduced to us
as Simon. Some of you have heard of him as
Simon Peter. He gets the Peter because Jesus
looks at you and says I will call you Petras.
And upon this rock I will build my church.
And Petras is the Greek word for rock.
Well, when Paul is writing to the people in Corinth, he uses
the Aramaic word for rock, which is Cephas.
So now you know, and you're like, nerd time needs to be
over. OK, it's over.
I just don't want you getting confused.
Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a
living? Who serves as a soldier at his
own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does
not eat its grapes? Who tends A flock and does not
drink the milk? Do I say this merely on human
authority? Doesn't the Law say the same
thing? Law is the Old Testament, for it
is written in the Law of Moses. Do not muzzle an ox while it is
treading out the grain. Is it about oxen that God is
concerned? Surely He says this for us,
doesn't He? Yes, this was written for us,
because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so
in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we
reap a material harvest from you?
If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we
have it all the more? But we did not use this right.
On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the
gospel of Christ. Don't you know that those who
serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that
those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the
altar? In the same way, the Lord has
commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their
living from the gospel. But I have not used any of these
rights, and I'm not writing this in the hope that you will do
such a thing for me. For I would rather die than
allow anyone to deprive me of this boast.
For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am
compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the
gospel. If I preach voluntarily, I have
a reward. If not voluntarily, I am simply
discharging the trust committed to me.
What then is my reward? Just this, that in preaching the
gospel I may offer it free of charge and so not make full use
of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.
Paul looks at the church in Corinth and he says I'm going to
lay down my right for compensation for your good.
He gives 6 reasons why he has the right to be compensated. 5
that apply to all Christians, all missionaries, all church
staff for all of time. 1 doesn't the first one, he says he's an
apostle. Paul's an apostle you've never
met. 1 So Paul gets that one all by himself, but the remaining
five are for all people, all missionaries who are in part of
service to the Kingdom of God. The second reason is, is that
culture demands that workers get paid.
You guys know this, otherwise you wouldn't work where you
work. 3 It's commanded in God's law.
Four other leaders in that church in Corinth had
experienced that right. Five, it is the spiritual
pattern laid down by the Old Testament.
And number six is that Jesus ordained it.
Paul says I have all these rights to be compensated, but
I'm going to lay him down for you.
Paul was supported by the church in Philippi.
He was supported by the church in Thessalonica.
You can make the case that he was supported by the church in
Berea, but in two cities, Ephesus and Corinth, he chose to
abstain from financial support. There was something about these.
OK, just get it over with. Whatever is in my throat, be
gone. OK, That sounded like
witchcraft. I apologize.
Dang it. Hocus pocus.
Yeah. All right.
I'm not drinking water. I can tell you that much.
Those of you laughing, you were at church last week.
Those of you weren't. You should watch it.
OK. There was something about the
church in Ephesus and the church in Corinth that made Paul decide
that he was going to forego financial pay in the hope of
greater effectiveness. And there's a lot of reasons why
that might be, but Paul is illustrating that he was willing
to lay down rights for the sake of the people around him out of
Christian love. Second thing that Paul does is
he lays down his freedoms and his preferences.
So he's already laid down his rights.
Now he lays down his freedoms and his preferences.
Look what he does in verses 19 through 23.
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a
slave to everyone to win as many as possible.
To the Jews, I became like a Jew to win the Jews.
To those under the law, I became like one under the law.
Though I myself am not under the law, so as to win those under
the law to those who live are not having the law.
I became like 1 not having the law.
Though I am not free from God's law, but am under Christ's law
so as to win those not having the law.
He's making a distinction between Jewish people who are
living under the Old Testament law and Gentiles who are not
living under the Old Testament law at all, who are both coming
to faith. Watch this.
To the weak, I became weak. Why?
To win the weak. This is a great life verse if
you're looking for one. I have become all things to all
people, so that by all possible means I might save some.
I do all of this for the sake of the gospel that I might share or
may share in its blessings. Now, let me be clear.
Paul is not becoming a chameleon who's just trying to blend in
with absolutely everybody and try to figure out how to
navigate peer pressure and just blend in.
Paul is not a guy who blends in. Paul's a guy who's highly
respectful. He's purposeful, he's
considerate as he deals with different groups of people.
When he was with the Jews, even though he didn't have to live by
all their dietary restrictions and all their ceremonies and all
their rituals, if he was ministering to Jews, he would go
through all the ceremonies, all the rituals, and he would
embrace all of the dietary restrictions and traditions out
of love to reach as many Jews as possible for the Kingdom of
heaven. To those who were Gentiles,
people who are not under the law, you guys are Gentiles.
You didn't grow up under the law.
He would enjoy all the liberties of not being under the Old
Testament law. When he says to the weak, I have
become weak, so as to when those who are weak, what he's doing in
those moments is he is sympathizing with the weaker
brother, the one who stumbles. So that way, the person who is
new to their faith and weak in their faith, he identifies and
he sympathizes with them. Here's what this would look like
today if all of a sudden a bunch of Amish people started showing
up in your life and they were new to their faith in Christ as
we were experiencing it. Here's what Paul would do.
He would sell his car, He would forego electricity.
He'd buy one awesome mule, and he would go live it out.
He'd be like, let's go, let's do it, Amish for Jesus.
And he'd be all in if he was ministering to Mormons who had
just left the Mormon faith and we're coming to faith in Christ
and they were still kind of carrying some of their Mormon
baggage and we can't have any caffeine.
He would go, all right, sounds good.
I guess we're living life without caffeine, which sounds
super scary to me. And he'd be like, listen, no
coffee, no Starbucks, no energy drinks.
He would be like, listen, if that's what it means that I can
reach more Mormon people by not drinking, getting my Diet Coke,
he would lay that down. Why?
For this hope that he might save some, If you were ministering to
a bunch of Jewish people, he would go, all right, fine.
I'm never eating bacon again. And that's where some of you are
like, oh, this we're getting serious now.
Like, I don't know if I love somebody more than I love bacon.
Like I've been, I've been thinking it through.
I'm going to choose the bacon every time Paul goes no.
If I was going to go minister to a bunch of Jewish people who are
coming to faith in Jesus and when they saw bacon, it was just
hard for them to navigate that after spending years of not
eating pork. And Paul would be like, not a
problem, bro, when you're with me, no bacon.
He has the freedom in Christ to eat it, but he says no.
If he decided that he was going to minister to Cowboys, he'd be
like, OK, I'm not drinking any more Ipas.
I'm only drinking light beer for the rest of my life.
He would be all in. Some of you didn't get that
joke, but for the fellas, you know what I'm saying?
OK, Ipas became like the hipster drink.
He was willing to give up things that were his rights to minister
to those that Christ died for. Why?
For the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the Kingdom of
heaven. He found something so valuable.
That it was easy for him to lay down things and embrace
discipline. Third illustration that Paul
gives in his own life in First Corinthians Chapter 9 is that he
is willing to embrace a life of discipline in order to be an
example and to be useful. Turn to your neighbor and say
useful. First Corinthians Chapter 9,
verses 24 through 27. Do you not know that in a race
all the runners run but only one gets the prize?
Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.
They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to
get a crown that will last forever.
Therefore, do not run like someone running aimlessly.
Do not fight like a boxer beating the air.
No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that
after I have preached to others, I myself will not be
disqualified for the prize. Lots of people line up at the
track meet, but only one gets first place and wins the race.
Lots of people make it to the Olympics, but only one person in
the event gets the gold. And they do it for a crown that
will not last. But what you and I do for the
Kingdom of heaven gives us a crown that will last forever.
When Paul's using this illustration, he's talking to
Greeks, and Greeks had two major athletic competitions. 1 is the
Olympics, which we still do today.
The other one was the Ismian Games.
Now, the Ismian Games were actually held in Corinth, so the
illustration is close to home, and the competitors had to sign
up and go into 10 months of strict training in order to
compete. Then in the last month, they
would descend on Corinth and there they would spend a month
in supervised workouts and the winner of the event in the
Ismian Games would receive a crown out made out of pine
leaves. However, eventually that crown,
since it was made of pine leaves, would wither and fade,
and the influence of that person who at once wore that crown
would wither and fade. But Paul says the things we do
for the Kingdom of God will get us a crown that will last
forever. I've shown this to many of you
guys before, but a couple of years back I came across the
workout routine of Tom Brady, and it was super convicting for
me. Now, Tom Brady will go down more
than likely as the greatest champion in the NFL.
Now let me back that up for support, OK?
He has seven Super Bowl rings. Seven.
That is the same as Joe Montana and Patrick Mahomes combined.
That's the same as Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman
combined. He has the same number of Super
Bowl rings as Eli Manning, Peyton Manning and John Elway
combined. The dude was like what's it take
to win Super Bowls? Let's go look at his workout
routine. Let's walk through this.
OK, 5:30 wake up six AM 20 ounces of water.
Don't know what that is. 630 supplements. 7:00 AM Protein
shake, smoothies or protein smoothie, seeds and nuts.
OK, 730 AM pre workout pliability session 8 to 10
strength and conditioning workout 10 AM post workout
pliability session 10:30 AM protein shake 1045 prepares 64
ounces of electrolytes something 11 AM film study, 12 year lunch
with fishing. I don't know if that last word
that whatever those are two PM snack.
See this is where Tom and I start going.
OK, we're on the same page. I do a 2:00 PM snack.
I know what that is. 3:00 PM practice 515 post practice
recovery with protein shake. 530 post practice pliability
session. 6:00 PM dinner. Organic meat something and bone
broth 8:00 PM Recovery pliability session 830 Recovery
supplements 9:00 bedtime Bioceramic sleepwear 60 to 65°
No digital distraction 30 minutes before bed.
These are all the things that he put himself through in order to
put himself in the best possible situation to win football games.
That is the level of sacrifice he was willing to endure and
embrace for a game. And 25 years from now your
grandkids will be going to who's the weird guy in the gold
jacket? And 40 years from now he'll just
be a stat on a Wikipedia page. And 100 years from now, almost
no one will remember his name. All of that energy, all of that
effort, all of that discipline for a crown that will not last.
If you're a Christian, we believe that God is real, Jesus
is alive, the Bible is true, the debt has been paid, Hell is hot,
heaven is glorious, and eternity is a really long time.
So let me ask you. What freedom would you be
willing to give up and what sacrifice would you embrace for
the Kingdom of heaven? If what we believe, we really
believe it. So much so that when we find it,
we are willing to let go of all that we have and all that we
have been, so that way we can taste it.
Paul finds a relationship with Jesus.
He's radically transformed and saved.
And Paul gives up all the things that he's had, not just to
receive it, but to make sure that other people find what he
has found in Jesus. Can I step on your toes for a
little bit? Some of you've been saying that
you don't know enough to talk to people about Jesus, and you've
been saying that for a decade. It's time to change it.
Do what you need to do. What discipline do you need to
embrace what? What freedom do you need to
release? I think for you, it's time for
you to say, let's go. Some of you've been waiting to
get serious about your faith in Jesus.
But listen, the bottom line is you probably know enough to say
yes to Jesus. You're just not ready to
surrender to Jesus. But the good news is you can
surrender to Jesus today. Let's go.
Some of you have been wanting to be a part of what God is doing
and to be involved in the mission and start serving and
helping other people find what you have found in Jesus Christ.
And I want to tell you, you don't have to wait for the right
time because the right time is now for you to get involved.
I say it's time for you to say let's go.
Some of you, you've been allowing greed and selfishness
and fear to keep you from generously supporting the
advancement of the Kingdom of God.
What if today you just said let's go?
Some of you've been waiting for the right time to start leading
your family spiritually until you get everything figured out,
until you have the right schedule.
I want you to know that that is never going to come.
What you have to do is just decide that today is going to be
the day where I'm going to embrace a discipline or I'm
going to release a freedom so that other people can find and
experience what I found and experienced in Christ.
Some of you, you've been wanting to grow spiritually, but the
snooze button is winning every single morning.
Let's go. Some of you, you've been
allowing your social media posts to destroy your witness.
What would you be willing to give up and what discipline
would you be willing to embrace for the Kingdom of heaven?
Paul says I do not run aimlessly.
In other words, Paul is saying that I am running with purpose.
Can you say that if somebody were to watch the reel of your
life, if they were to put your schedule up on the day and we
were to evaluate how you spend your day, would they go that
that person is a person of purpose, They're on a mission.
Their priorities are clear, and if they were to put yours up and
say why are you living the way you're living?
Would they be able to come to the conclusion, just looking at
your schedule and your commitments, that you were
committed to helping other people find a relationship with
Jesus Christ? Are you running with purpose?
Are you running with purpose in your home?
Are you running with purpose in your mornings?
Are you running with purpose as you go into work?
Or are you just clocking in and clocking out and not realizing
that if you were to come on staff at church, you know the
number one thing that people who come on staff at church mess?
You ready for this? Being around all the people that
don't know Jesus? You know those people that
you're like, I can't stand these people because they're so far
from Jesus. Do you know if you have the
right heart, all you want is to be around jacked up, messed up
people. You tracking with me?
We want to be where the people are.
We're like Ariel, that reference.
Some of you get it. OK, that.
Oh, boy. Caffeine.
All right. Oh, this.
The whole song is going off in my head right now.
Like fireworks. What would you.
Oh, my goodness. It's still going.
Ursula. OK, now I'm serious.
When you are going into work, all the people that are driving
you nuts, do you realize that that's your mission field?
And when you go in there, are you going in with purpose?
Paul is saying I have found something in Jesus and I want
other people to have it. And so it filters everything
over here. And if you have found what I
have found in Jesus, and if you have found what Paul has found
in Jesus, there is no way that we can waste our lives with no
purpose and no ambition and no direction.
So I ask you, what freedom would you be willing to release and
what sacrifice would you be willing or discipline would you
be willing to embrace for the Kingdom of heaven crossing
family? I say let's go.
We're moving to a time of decision.
To those of you in here or watching online that do not have
an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
let me just tell you, there is no better time than today.
I really do believe everything that I just told you.
I believe that God is real. I believe that Jesus is alive.
I believe that the Bible is true.
I believe that heaven is glorious.
I believe that hell is hot, and I believe that eternity is a
really long time. And because of that, I owe it to
you to make sure that you know and understand that today you
can find a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
Your ability to get into heaven will not be based off of your
good deeds or your works. They are not enough.
Paul says, I have more good works and good deeds than any of
you and I consider them all rubbish.
But through the saving work of Jesus Christ on our behalf that
we lay hold of through faith, you can find and have what I
have found and have in Jesus. And so in just a few moments,
when the people around you stand and say, and some of the people
come to the steps and pray in a bold, courageous, purposeful act
of obedience, today could be the day that you respond to the call
of Jesus on your life. And right over there underneath
that screen, next to the baptistery, there will be people
there who would love to talk to you and answer some of the
questions that you have. Maybe you don't want to go and
talk to them. Talk to somebody who's in your
row. Don't put it off any longer.
To those of you who do have an intimate, personal relationship
with Jesus Christ, I want you. Whether you do it at the steps
or you do it in your seat. I want you to spend some time
asking what is a freedom you are willing to lay down and a
discipline you are willing to embrace so that other people can
find what you have found in Jesus.
The kind of church we want to be are people who are not waiting
for other people to get serious about their faith.
We want to be the people who are getting serious about their
faith. We don't want everybody else to
start acting right. We want to be people who start
acting right. We want to be people who lead by
example, who are willing to be the first people to respond, the
first people to stand up, the first people to be convicted,
first people to pray, the first people that say, yeah, let's go.
And this is your opportunity to be that.
Would you stand with me, Heavenly Father, in this moment?
There is nothing I can add that your spirit can't do infinitely
better. And so God in faith, I'm just
asking that right now you would drown out all the distractions
that Satan is planting in our minds, delete the grocery lists
and the to do lists that we have to figure out for the rest of
the day. And God, would you just create a
holy moment with you and give every single one of us divine
clarity on what it is that you want us to do?
And then, God, would you give us the strength to carry it out?
And God, we're not worried about whether or not we're going to be
still living this way a month from now or a week from now, or
even tomorrow. God, would you just give us the
strength and the courage to live it out today?
Your name I pray. Amen.