1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:03,520 What up, Crossing Nation? I am so glad that you came to 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,120 church today because today you're going to get the 3 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:10,160 opportunity to hear from my friend Nate Ross. 4 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,680 Nate Ross and I have known each other for over 20 years. 5 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:17,080 He has been twice named the lead pastor of one of the fastest 6 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:20,520 growing churches in America, but most recently, he redirected his 7 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,440 efforts and he founded an organization called Moments to 8 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,640 Movements. He's been here before. 9 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:27,800 You've loved it when he was here. 10 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,320 So would you please give a warm crossing welcome to our friend 11 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:38,960 and speaker for the day, Nate Ross Crossing Family. 12 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,000 It is an absolute honor and gift to be with you guys today. 13 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:45,440 Clayton lied. I haven't known him from 20 14 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:47,120 years. I've known him for 25 years 15 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,240 because we're officially getting old now. 16 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:51,280 We're a bunch of Uncle Ricos actually. 17 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,200 Actually at church camp was his counselor and he was my student. 18 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,720 So if you need some dirt on your pastor, I'll meet you in the 19 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,880 lobby after the service. Now, I tell you, Clayton has 20 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,160 been a good friend to me, and even though I'm a little bit 21 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,560 older than him, I've been a pastor for the last 18 years. 22 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:09,520 I've become the student and he's become the teacher. 23 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,520 And I just got to let you know you have one of the most 24 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,920 phenomenally gifted pastors, not just in America, but in the 25 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:18,680 world. God has raised him up. 26 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,160 I'm so grateful for him. I know there's no perfect 27 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:22,800 pastor. There's no perfect church, 28 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,240 right? But God gifts us and he calls us 29 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:27,800 and one is this. Not only is it just a treat to 30 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,080 be here because I love him and I love this church crossing 31 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,600 family. You guys are celebrating over 50 32 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,320 baptisms this weekend coming out of baptism, like, and I'm 33 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:42,680 talking like, like, it's not like, oh, that's neat, you know, 34 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:44,200 and I should probably get baptized. 35 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,960 I'm talking about radical stories. 36 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,640 Thursday night after I preached, we watched the stories and it 37 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,920 won. It was a wife who baptized her 38 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,880 husband who's been praying for and walking with her for a long 39 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,160 time. There was another moment right 40 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,400 after the first service. There was a baptism at the end 41 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:03,640 of the service, a guy by the name of Justin. 42 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,080 And a year ago, Justin was hired by the church to come and 43 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,479 replace the front of the baptistery. 44 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,840 Now here's what's so cool. Justin knew while he was 45 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,720 replacing the baptistery, the Lord was already speaking to his 46 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,360 heart. You need to get in there. 47 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:23,040 And a year later today we celebrated his baptism. 48 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,840 I'm telling you like you just can't, like you can't make this 49 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,120 stuff up. And This is why we're doing this 50 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,480 series called Some Assembly required because God is saying 51 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,640 I'm inviting you into this. That's why last week and we 52 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:39,760 talked about baptism, that Jesus was baptized and the Scriptures 53 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,560 say when Peter preached repent and be baptized that we would 54 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:46,120 walk in obedience, that we would get to partner with him. 55 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,000 And I'll be honest, when Clayton was telling me about the series 56 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,880 and what you guys are doing over the next couple weeks, I got a 57 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:55,480 little bit nervous, not theologically, but just 58 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,400 personally because I am relationally wired. 59 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,080 But I am not mechanically minded at all, right? 60 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,120 And my spiritual gift is holding the flashlight for somebody else 61 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,320 to fix what I broke, right? And my wife and I, we make a 62 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,840 good team. I break it, she fixes it. 63 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:12,640 That's kind of how it goes in my house. 64 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:15,360 Matter of fact, I'll try to fix something and she'll just kind 65 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,200 of stand there and smirk, like, isn't that cute, right? 66 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,360 And and then after a while, I can't fix anything. 67 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,240 And I'll get all frustrated and she'll just smile and she'll say 68 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,800 these words. You want me to call my dad and 69 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,240 I'm like, how long did it take? Yes, I want you to call your 70 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,080 dad. And now here's the only thing. 71 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:33,960 This is why I get nervous because when I heard that 72 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,640 phrase, some assembly required, what I was immediately reminded 73 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:41,680 of is everything that I lack and everything that I need and 74 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,680 everything that I do not possess. 75 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,240 The only thing with Jesus is this. 76 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,520 When he invites us into his story and to take steps of 77 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,680 faith, He already knows we don't have what it takes. 78 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,720 We don't have enough. And what he's saying is I'm not 79 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,600 here to shame you. I'm here to save you. 80 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:02,600 I'm here to lead you out of your life of sin. 81 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,880 I'm not asking you to get my attention. 82 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:10,080 What I'm asking you to do is allow me to own your heart and 83 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:12,360 your life and to save you and to draw you out. 84 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:14,800 Matter of fact, if you study the life of Jesus, this is what's 85 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,320 amazing. And every miracle that Jesus 86 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,640 did, sometimes we go, yeah, well, he's just Superman. 87 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:22,600 He's the one who can do it. If you study the life of Jesus, 88 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:27,240 every miracle he did, somebody had to participate in the 89 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:29,920 miracle. Jesus goes, Oh no, no, no. 90 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,600 I'm not just some magician and I'm not just going to show up 91 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,400 and kind of presto, change your life. 92 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,480 You're going to follow me. You're going to begin to step 93 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,000 into this life. I have the water in the wine. 94 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,520 You go, where did they participate in that? 95 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:47,640 Go fill the vats with water. See Jesus when he invites us, 96 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:49,560 when he comes into our life, He's going. 97 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,920 Come on, I need you to join me in the work. 98 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:54,560 And so here's what we're going to look at today. 99 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:58,040 Last week we looked at baptism, and today we're looking at this, 100 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:02,800 the gathering. Why is it that we gather some of 101 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,400 you like, I know because Nate, have you ever heard of this 102 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,280 thing called brunch? It is from heaven, right? 103 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:10,960 You know, and you're like, it'd be so much easier if we didn't 104 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,520 have to gather, right? Suck it, suck it, eat brunch. 105 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:15,400 That's why a lot of you go to Thursday night because you're 106 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:17,480 like, I want my Jesus and I want my brunch, right? 107 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:18,800 You know, I want best of both, right? 108 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,200 Or we say stuff like this. Well, can I just watch it 109 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,400 online? And and hey, I'm not against any 110 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:25,720 dating app stuff like that, right? 111 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:26,920 In the name of the Lord. But here's the thing. 112 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,640 If you meet somebody online, do you just keep dating online 113 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:31,760 forever? It's like, Nope, sometimes you 114 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,160 got to meet face to face, right? And here's the thing, so many 115 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,240 times for us in the gathering, here's what ends up happening. 116 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,080 We begin to reduce it down to just our attendance. 117 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:46,000 For the past 18 years, I've been a pastor, grew up as a pastor's 118 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:47,920 kid. I did some number calculating 119 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,200 when Clayton told me this. I've calculated I've gone to 120 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,680 over 3000 church services in my life. 121 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:56,960 And some of you are like, and that's all the spiritual you 122 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:58,600 are. I know I need to keep going, 123 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:00,240 right? You know, But here sometimes we 124 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,000 think the gathering is only about our attendance and that's 125 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,800 it. I, I loved when I was a lead 126 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,360 pastor, I would go to the grocery store and I would meet 127 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,440 people in the grocery store and I'd love just to hear their 128 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,720 story. And they would hey, nay, and 129 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:16,520 they'd know me from church and, and we would talk and then their 130 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,720 eyes would get real big and, and I knew what was coming next. 131 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,080 And it's because they hadn't been to church in like a year. 132 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,000 And they were like, I promise I'll be there this weekend, you 133 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,200 know? And I'm like, hey, OK, all 134 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,440 right, That that is fine. Like it's OK. 135 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:33,560 Like, hey. And then this was the question 136 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,360 I'd ask. But what what's got up to in 137 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:41,120 your life? Like really just does God have 138 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,560 your attention? See, too many times. 139 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,520 Here's the problem. We've made the gathering just 140 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,800 about attendance when the gathering has always been about 141 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:54,160 God having our attention. See, this is what Jesus is up to 142 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,280 when we come in here today. Often times this is the problem 143 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:00,520 that we face. So many other things will have 144 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:05,280 our attention other than God. John Tyson, one of my favorite 145 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:07,960 pastors to listen to out of New York City said this. 146 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:11,240 He said it's amazing when we come into church we expect to 147 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,920 experience anything else but the presence of God. 148 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:17,680 We expect to come into the church. 149 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,760 Music better be good. And you're sitting there and 150 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:23,200 you're like, oh, they messed up a note, they got work to do, 151 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,480 right? Or we come in and we go, this is 152 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,680 the free coffee you're putting out, right? 153 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:31,680 Or we go, hey, this check in line for my kids taking too long 154 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:33,680 or some of you already thinking they're like, how long is this 155 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:35,560 guy going to go? Don't worry, Clayton has me on a 156 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:37,960 clock and they'll pull me off stage if I go over time. 157 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:39,760 All right, don't worry, right? The preacher's going to go 158 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:41,520 short. But oftentimes what happens is 159 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:45,520 this, we come into this place and we expect to experience 160 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,720 anything other than the presence of God. 161 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,920 So why do we gather? Why is it that we're here and 162 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,320 why is it actually a big deal? What I want to invite you to do 163 00:07:57,320 --> 00:07:59,800 is if you have a Bible or a Bible app, I want to invite you 164 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,040 to open to Luke chapter 4. What we're going to do today is 165 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,800 we're going to look at Jesus's first sermon because Jesus 166 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:06,880 doesn't just preach an incredible sermon. 167 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:11,720 Jesus actually lays out why we gather, why the gathering 168 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,240 matters. Well, why if you're maybe 169 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,960 watching online, God's doing a good work even as you're online. 170 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,920 And we pray and hope that you would take a step to beginning 171 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:22,920 to be at one of our physical locations. 172 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:25,480 But if you have your Bible, I want to invite you to turn to 173 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,400 Luke chapter 4, Matthew, Mark, Luke. 174 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:30,600 It's in the New Testament. It'll be up on the screen. 175 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,600 But here's what happened. Jesus shows up to the synagogue, 176 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,000 which was basically like church for the Jews, and he preaches 177 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,280 his first sermon. And the only problem was this, 178 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:47,480 the people were in attendance, but they did not have their 179 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,720 attention on Jesus. Here's my prayer for our time 180 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:53,680 today and the rest of our time today and actually for the rest 181 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:54,560 of the week. It's this. 182 00:08:55,880 --> 00:09:00,760 It's a you and I would put our attention on Jesus this week, 183 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:02,960 this moment. May that be your prayer. 184 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:05,400 Jesus, where do you want to get my attention today? 185 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:08,280 Jesus right now is I'm about ready to go into work. 186 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:10,960 Where do you want me to focus my attention on? 187 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:13,280 Where do you want to lead me today? 188 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,040 In Luke chapter 4, Jesus shows up to the synagogue and he 189 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,880 preaches his first sermon. And listen what he says in verse 190 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,160 16. It says he went up to Nazareth 191 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,400 where he had been brought up, goes to his hometown, and on the 192 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:30,400 Sabbath day he went into the synagogue as was his custom. 193 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,320 Wait, Jesus went to church his whole life growing up. 194 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,200 Jesus went to church his whole life growing up, which means 195 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,000 this. If Jesus did it, guess what that 196 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,080 means for you and I? We better do it, right? 197 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,720 Turns out, if Jesus does it, we better participate in this, 198 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:43,880 right? And it's not just about 199 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,240 attendance, because this is what we know. 200 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,120 When Jesus faced temptation, if you remember this, he didn't 201 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:53,200 just quote some good thoughts, He quoted scripture back to 202 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:55,400 Satan. Where did he get that from? 203 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:59,280 From synagogue. The scripture in the church in 204 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,160 the gathering was a part of his life growing up. 205 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,840 It was his custom and he stood up to read in the scroll of the 206 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:07,480 prophet Isaiah was handed to him. 207 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,200 Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written and he 208 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,400 quotes Isaiah 61. He says the Spirit of the Lord 209 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,440 is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the 210 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:19,880 poor. So if you need good news today, 211 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:21,720 Jesus has come to give you good news. 212 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,600 He sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery 213 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:28,000 of sight for the blind. If you need to be set free 214 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:29,440 today, you are in the right place. 215 00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:32,360 And Jesus has said, I've come to set you free to release the 216 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,920 oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 217 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,200 And I'm telling you, you're going to experience this at the 218 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:40,480 end of the service today. You are going to see people set 219 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:43,680 free through baptism. And then Jesus rolled up the 220 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:45,200 scroll. He gave it back to the 221 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,720 attendant, and he sat down in the eyes of everyone in the 222 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:54,640 synagogue were fastened on him, and he began to say this to him. 223 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,720 Today the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. 224 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:03,080 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words 225 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,840 that came from his lips. But then somebody said, isn't 226 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:10,040 this Joseph's son? They asked, here's the tension, 227 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:16,840 are they going to put their attention on Jesus or not? 228 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:19,960 Jesus said I have fulfilled Scripture. 229 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,400 I am your hope, I am your deliverer. 230 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:24,800 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. 231 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,280 I'm the fulfillment of all Old Testament promise. 232 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,720 I am the true Israelite, but in that's Joseph's kid. 233 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:34,720 Then Jesus said to them, surely you will quote this proverb to 234 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:36,560 me. Physician, heal yourself. 235 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,600 Do here in your hometown what you've heard, what we've heard 236 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:42,520 you do in Capernaum. I tell you the truth, he 237 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,920 continued. No prophet is is accepted in his 238 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:49,440 hometown. I assure you that you were, that 239 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:53,240 there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time when the sky 240 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,160 was shut for 3 1/2 years and there was a severe famine 241 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,400 throughout the land. Jesus starts taking their 242 00:11:58,400 --> 00:11:59,800 attention elsewhere. He's like, I want to tell you 243 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,560 about God because you're obviously missing it, he said. 244 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:05,640 Yet he said what happened was this. 245 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:09,160 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in 246 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:11,400 Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 247 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,280 What Jesus was saying is this, hey, he came for you. 248 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:18,320 But good news is this. He didn't just come here for 249 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:25,200 you, He came here for the world. Do you see the world as God sees 250 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:27,360 the world? And you know how you and I see 251 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:30,240 the world? By first putting our attention 252 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,320 on Jesus. This is what he's doing. 253 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,240 He's going, oh, yeah, these people that you disregard, 254 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:41,000 actually God wants to save them. And then he goes on to say this. 255 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,120 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of 256 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:46,080 Elisha the prophet. Yet not one of them was 257 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,440 cleansed, only naming the Syrian. 258 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,680 He goes back to an outsider outside the Jewish race. 259 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,640 Now, here's kind of a rule as a pastor, this is often times in 260 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:56,960 churches, this is how you get the job. 261 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,520 The pastor, you come and you preach a trial sermon. 262 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,080 Typically it's the best sermon you have. 263 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,520 Everybody likes it, You get hired and then it kind of all 264 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:07,280 goes down from there, right? You know what I'm saying? 265 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:09,000 We're like, man, that was so good. 266 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:10,680 Where's the other sermons and stuff like that? 267 00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:12,400 You're like, well, that was the only one I got right. 268 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:14,760 And here's what happens. You come in and and you, you're 269 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:18,440 supposed to win the crowd over and get everybody's approval. 270 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,480 Well, listen, what Jesus does in this moment, He's shaking them 271 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:22,600 to their core because he's going. 272 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:27,480 You're in attendance, but you do not have your attention on me. 273 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:31,480 Listen, what the crowd says, says all the people in the 274 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:35,640 synagogue were furious when they heard this, meaning this, that 275 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:40,600 God actually cared about anybody outside the Jewish race because 276 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:47,560 they didn't care about it. Be careful when your God looks 277 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:52,800 only like you, because oftentimes who you're following 278 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:58,680 is not God, it's just you. They were furious and they got 279 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:02,040 up and they drove Jesus out of the town and they took him to 280 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:04,960 the to the brow of the hill on which the town was built in 281 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,120 order to throw him off the Cliff. 282 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:09,720 Heck of a trial sermon, Jesus, right? 283 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:11,440 How'd it go? Well, they tried to throw me off 284 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,360 a Cliff today, right? You know, we're like, whoa, 285 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:17,600 right? But he walked right through the 286 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:21,720 crowd and went on his way. Here's the good news for you and 287 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:23,600 I today. Jesus has a new way for you and 288 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:27,200 I to view the gathering. He has a new invitation, maybe 289 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,280 for you. You've asked this, Why do I come 290 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,400 to church? Why am I here? 291 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:33,440 Why do I, do I really have to be here? 292 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:36,400 And do we have to sing loud enough so we can get God's 293 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:38,240 attention? Is he like sleeping? 294 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:40,360 Did he hit the snooze button? Like where is God? 295 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:41,880 No, no, no. Here's the good news about 296 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:44,760 Jesus. We're not here singing hopefully 297 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,080 to get his attention. Here's the thing, whether you 298 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,760 know it or not, you've already had God's attention your whole 299 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:57,400 life. He made you, He knows you, He 300 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,240 loves you. Let's come to set you free. 301 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:02,960 See, this is the beauty of Jesus. 302 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:05,240 As we look at this, the reason why we have the gathering and 303 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,960 what he lined out is this. Just three things about why we 304 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,120 gather that we're going to look at today is simply this. 305 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:12,720 The gathering is simply about this. 306 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:16,360 It's about the presence of God, the people of God, and the 307 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:19,320 purposes of God. See, it's not just one thing 308 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,000 about why we gather here today. And if you're not a believer, 309 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,240 like Clayton talks about being on the faith spectrum, if you're 310 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:26,720 not a believer yet, man, we want you to keep coming. 311 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,400 We want you to keep asking questions today. 312 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,560 And here on the 48th Street campus during the service is our 313 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:35,280 outlet opportunity to get plugged in. 314 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,600 If you're at a different campus, we have places and opportunities 315 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,320 for you to get connected here. But the three things Jesus does 316 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:44,840 in this passage is this. He goes, here's why we gather. 317 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:48,040 We gather to experience the presence of God, the people of 318 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:50,720 God, and the purposes of God. The only thing is this, here's 319 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,520 what's going to get in our way. When we start valuing our 320 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:58,120 preferences over the presence of God, we will lose out on all 321 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,800 that God has for us. See, Jesus says I've come and 322 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:03,000 this is how he starts his sermon. 323 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,680 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. 324 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:08,720 He's anointed me to preach good news to you. 325 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:12,720 Do you believe and just be honest? 326 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:14,480 You don't say it out loud or even tell anybody around you, 327 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:18,440 but do you believe that God actually knows you, loves you 328 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:25,000 and knows every detail of your life and it's OK just in your 329 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,040 heart of hearts to go, I hear you. 330 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,360 But no, This is why you'll hear this over and over again at the 331 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,600 Crossing Church. Our whole goal here is simply 332 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:38,720 this, to help you start an intimate personal relationship 333 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:41,760 with Jesus Christ because everything that you want to 334 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,400 change in your life actually doesn't start with your 335 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:46,240 performance. It starts with the presence of 336 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:49,160 Jesus in your life. Everything that you want to 337 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:53,520 accomplish in your life actually will fail if it's built on your 338 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,000 power, not on the presence of Jesus. 339 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:58,920 This is why Jesus, he shows up and all throughout the Old 340 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,760 Testament, this is what you see God doing because Israel 341 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,200 basically, I'll just summarize the whole Old Testament is this 342 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:07,520 God saves them, pulls them out of Egypt, and then here it goes 343 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:08,760 back and forth. All they do is this. 344 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,119 They keep forgetting God and then they go, Oh God, would you 345 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:13,720 help us? And he's like, I will help you, 346 00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:16,280 right? And then they forget God and 347 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:18,040 they keep going back. And what they keep doing is 348 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,560 this, they keep ignoring the presence of God. 349 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:23,200 Even in Second Kings, what happened is this, there were 350 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,880 kings that rose up that would do what was right in God's eye. 351 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,400 The only thing is this, they would not give their lives over 352 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:31,920 to the presence of God. This is what it says in Second 353 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:37,360 Kings chapter 12 verse 2. It says Joash did what was right 354 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:39,960 in the eyes of the Lord. Awesome. 355 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:44,000 Joe Ash, this is so good. And he did it all the years of 356 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,680 yeah, ho yada. The priest has. 357 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:48,800 He instructed him. But then here it is. 358 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:53,080 You ready? But the high places, however, 359 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:56,160 were not removed. And the people continued to 360 00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:00,120 offer sacrifices and burnt incense there. 361 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:05,280 What it means is this. The people of God, Israel, they 362 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:08,600 were in attendance, but God didn't have their attention. 363 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:13,800 God wasn't their deepest desire of their heart. 364 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,640 They did what was right. They just didn't take down the 365 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,080 high places. They kept those to other gods. 366 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:24,040 They kept those to other idols. This is why I my favorite part 367 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,560 of the service that you guys do here at the crossing is the time 368 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:29,400 when you guys move to a time of decision. 369 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:31,120 And you know why it's so powerful? 370 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:32,640 It's because what you see is this. 371 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,840 You see people tearing down their high places and saying no 372 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,880 God, your presence above everything else in my life. 373 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:41,200 And I'm telling you, This is why we need the gathering. 374 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,920 Some of you, you came in here today, weary, worn out. 375 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,800 Some of you, you came in here today by yourself going, man, I 376 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,120 tell you what, if I walk into that place, that roof's going to 377 00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:53,480 fall in. I know it, right? 378 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,040 I know it. Like literally, that was just 379 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,000 your thought. Oh, man, this place is going to, 380 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,720 you know, if I walk in there. No, no, no. 381 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,960 This is why Jesus shows up. He says my spirit is upon me. 382 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,000 He's anointed me to preach good news to those who feel like they 383 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,760 do not belong, good news to those who feel like they've been 384 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:18,960 forgotten. God's presence is here, and 385 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,640 oftentimes we begin to settle for our preferences. 386 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:25,920 Matter of fact, this kind of, there's a buzzword that's 387 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,000 happened in Christianity called consumer Christianity, and it's 388 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,840 like, yeah, people just go to the church for the coffee and 389 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,000 they don't even go in. They just check their kids in 390 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:35,600 and then they just have coffee in the lobby. 391 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:36,680 They don't even go to the service. 392 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:38,600 Somebody like, I'm doing that next week. 393 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:39,880 Don't do that next week, all right? 394 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,200 You know what I'm saying? You know, all this other stuff. 395 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,680 And you're like, yeah, it really doesn't matter. 396 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,320 And it's, you know, Christians are just becoming consumer 397 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:49,280 Christianity, and we think that's something new. 398 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,800 Can I just let you know? Consumer Christianity began in 399 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,680 the garden when Adam and Eve began to consume anything other 400 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:58,400 than God's best for them. And what's happened is now we've 401 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,200 become that. And we've taken our attention 402 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:02,880 off of Jesus. Matter of fact, it happened in 403 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,640 the life of the early church in the church in Corinth. 404 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:07,960 Sometime we go, why don't we just be like the early church? 405 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:09,800 They had it all together. No, can I actually let you know 406 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,800 the early church was very immature and broken, just like 407 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:14,600 us. In First Corinthians chapter 3, 408 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,520 Paul has to write to the church because they start playing 409 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,800 favorites in the church saying stuff like this. 410 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,920 I like it better when John leads worship. 411 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:25,720 No, I like it when Corey leads the decision time. 412 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,680 No, I like it when Clayton. No, I liked it better with 413 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:30,560 Jerry. No, I like all this other stuff, 414 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,200 real spiritually mature stuff. Right in the church, of course, 415 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:34,960 right. And listen what it says in First 416 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,720 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul has to write a letter. 417 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,480 He's like church, grow up. Listen what he says. 418 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,200 He says what after all, is Apollos And what is Paul? 419 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:50,440 Only servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord had 420 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:55,440 us assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos 421 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:57,800 watered it, but God made it grow. 422 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,720 So neither he who planted nor he who waters is anything but only 423 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,680 God who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man 424 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,280 who waters has one purpose, and each will be rewarded according 425 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,120 to his own labor. For we here it is. 426 00:21:13,120 --> 00:21:15,720 You ready are God's fellow workers. 427 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:20,720 You're God's field. God's building. 428 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:27,360 Do you believe that? That you're God's fellow worker? 429 00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:31,120 That God actually wants to do his work through you in this 430 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:34,080 world? That you're not just his fellow 431 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:37,280 worker, you're his field? That God is producing his fruit 432 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,040 that blesses others through your life? 433 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:43,720 And not only that you are God's building that he resides in you 434 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:45,520 through the power of the Holy Spirit that he gives you his 435 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,480 power that he's going. It is my presence in your life 436 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,200 that if you notice he says these words, we are. 437 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,240 This is why Jesus prayed on the night he was being betrayed 438 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:56,880 going to the cross. He said, Father, would you make 439 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:58,680 him one because here's Satan's ploy. 440 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,760 You ready? He wants to divide every church 441 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,000 that he can. He wants to divide every campus 442 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,080 of the crossing. He wants to bring as much 443 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:09,760 turmoil. He wants you fighting on the way 444 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:11,920 here to church. So when you come in, all of your 445 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,560 attention is off of him. Somebody like, how did you know 446 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:16,600 that? I got three kids of my own, 447 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:18,920 right? And I already come in praying 448 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:20,800 more prayers. Help me Jesus, right? 449 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,480 You know, like there's a get them checked in, right? 450 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,080 You know, and everybody just say, OK, now let's sing, right? 451 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:28,720 And you come in here, man, you got all these things going on. 452 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:31,760 And that man, that is the way he wants to distract us. 453 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:36,800 He wants us to keep his eyes off his presence because this is 454 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:38,640 what Satan knows and this is what he won't do. 455 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:45,640 The demons say this. They acknowledge Jesus, they 456 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:46,920 just won't put their attention on Him. 457 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:56,520 Satan's deal was this. I will not worship you. 458 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,960 Why does the gathering matter? Because it's a soul issue. 459 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:08,600 It's a heart issue, it's a returning home to your heavenly 460 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:14,640 Father issue. Jesus is the Spirit of the Lord 461 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:16,480 is upon me. He's anointed me. 462 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:18,640 I'm here to pour out my presence on you. 463 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,160 Second thing though is this, not only does he give us his 464 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,680 presence, it's about being his people over a personality. 465 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,960 You don't have to wait to become like Clayton to experience God's 466 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:31,680 blessing in your life. Some of your like, great, 467 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,720 because I'm an introvert and I could never be that loud, right? 468 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,040 And here's the thing, we need Clayton. 469 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:40,160 And not only do we need Clayton, we need you. 470 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,480 We need the body, We need the people of God. 471 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:46,720 This is why I love watching folks. 472 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,080 And you'll see this at the end. You'll see folks who baptize 473 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,920 friends, some that they met at the gym at the last service, 474 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,000 some that they met from work, some in their own home. 475 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,120 One of the most powerful baptisms at the end of first 476 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:01,080 service was this. It was an older sister that 477 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:05,640 baptized her younger brother. And it's you and I accepting 478 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,200 that God has said, not only has he given us his presence, he's 479 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,880 going, you are my people. This is why when Jesus preaches 480 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,040 this, they were so furious because they wouldn't accept 481 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,200 that God wants to reach the World through them. 482 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:18,880 They just wanted to create their own world. 483 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,280 And that's what was so disruptive from Jesus. 484 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,360 He's going, no, I'm drawing your attention back on him. 485 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,640 Matter of fact, this is what God tells Israel in Exodus 19 before 486 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:30,080 he gives them the 10 commandments. 487 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,520 He's like, I want you to remember who you are. 488 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,040 It's about who you are as the people of God. 489 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:40,480 Listen what it says in Exodus 19 verse four, God says this to 490 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:42,080 him. He says you yourselves have seen 491 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,840 what I did to Egypt and how I carried you on the eagle's wings 492 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,360 and I brought you to myself. You didn't save yourself, I 493 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:50,680 saved you. You had no way out. 494 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:55,480 You were a slave for 400 years. And now if you obey me fully and 495 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,680 keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my 496 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:05,600 treasured possession. Is that how you think God thinks 497 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:09,080 about you? AW Tozer says it this way. 498 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:14,000 The most important thing about us is what we think about God. 499 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,200 Do you believe he sees you as his treasured possession? 500 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,040 He's come to rescue you. He's come to save you. 501 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:25,160 And then he goes on. He says this. 502 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,480 Not only will you be my treasured possession, he says 503 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,520 although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a 504 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:34,200 Kingdom of priest and a holy nation. 505 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,120 Well, what does a priest do? A Kingdom of priest and a holy 506 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:38,680 nation. Whoa, what in the world? 507 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:39,560 Hang on. Right. 508 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:41,520 I'm just getting baptized now. I'm a Kingdom of priest. 509 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:42,920 Here's what a Kingdom of priest does. 510 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,720 The people of God you serve. That's what a priest does. 511 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,640 You serve and you sacrifice. This is why the the beauty. 512 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,240 There's nothing like the church on the face of the earth. 513 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,880 You have CE OS in here, you have custodians in here, you have 514 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:57,560 people with checkered past in here. 515 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,000 You have Cubs fans in here, right. 516 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,440 You know what I'm saying? Like you're like, help us Jesus, 517 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:04,600 right? Only Jesus can bring Cubs and 518 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,840 cards fans together, right and to get along right, and this is 519 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,360 what he's doing. He brings people together and 520 00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:13,160 This is why he even says it in this order that you are my 521 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,720 treasured possession and now you'll be my Kingdom of priests. 522 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:20,800 You have my presence and now I want you to go be my people. 523 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,440 What he's saying is this, it's about your identity before your 524 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,400 activity, you better know who you are. 525 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:27,960 This is why we gather when we sing. 526 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,680 We remember there's a verse that often times gets misquoted that 527 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,800 Jesus says in Matthew chapter 18 and we and we refer to the 528 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,800 church service when it says verse 20, it says for where two 529 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:43,680 or three come together in my name, there I am also. 530 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:46,760 And we're like, see, that's why we need to gather because when 531 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,840 two or three come together, there's Jesus as well. 532 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:53,760 And when you read all of Matthew 18, it's actually about church 533 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,080 discipline. And the reason why Jesus says it 534 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,640 is this because when you get 2 Christians together, conflict is 535 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,560 going to break out. Help us Jesus, right? 536 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:07,040 And he says, hey, This is why you need this gathering. 537 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:14,000 This is why we need people all around us, because when we run 538 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,880 this race alone, that's when destruction hits. 539 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:23,280 I don't know about you, but the worst mistakes I've made in my 540 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:26,600 life are decisions that I made alone. 541 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:35,040 I don't know about you either, but every imaginary conversation 542 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,720 I've had with somebody else, I've always won and they've 543 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,080 always lost, right? And not only did they lost, I 544 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:43,840 gave them 15 reasons why they lost, right? 545 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,280 Oh, yeah. Well, Bah, Bah, Bah, Bah, right? 546 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:47,800 My wife will literally lean over. 547 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:49,440 She'll catch me. Like, I'm having this imaginary 548 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:51,160 conversation. She'll go, who you talking to? 549 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:53,200 Like, right, You saw that, right? 550 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:57,080 And here's what happens, right? By myself, man, everything makes 551 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:01,960 sense until I say it out loud. And then believers, specifically 552 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,480 people who are more mature than me, when they hear it, they go, 553 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:06,000 can I challenge you on something? 554 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:09,360 Can I point out a blind spot to you? 555 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,120 Can I help you with this? And I'm like, please. 556 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:16,520 So This is why we need the people of God because we don't 557 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,640 have it all figured out. Our point of view doesn't know 558 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:22,560 everything. First, Peter chapter 2 quotes 559 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,360 Exodus 19. He goes, God is continuing to do 560 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:26,600 this. He's continuing to pour out his 561 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,080 presence. He's continuing to make as his 562 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,040 people listen, what it says. Peter quotes Exodus 19. 563 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:34,560 He reminds us, he says you are a chosen people. 564 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,400 You're chosen by God. He has blessed us with Jesus. 565 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,440 He's chosen us. That you're a royal priesthood, 566 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:46,160 a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may 567 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:48,880 declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and 568 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:52,720 into his wonderful light. You are not a people, but now 569 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:56,360 you are the people of God. You once had not received mercy, 570 00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:00,360 but now you have received mercy. So this is what it means to be 571 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:05,680 the people of God that we walk into this place going I need 572 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,600 mercy. If you study all throughout the 573 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:11,000 Bible, you go, well, I want to find a family in the Bible so I 574 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,040 can model my family after that family. 575 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:17,960 You will not find it because here's why every family in all 576 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:21,280 of time is jacked up. So if your family is jacked up, 577 00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:25,240 you are in the right place. Some of you like thank you Jesus 578 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:31,880 right and this is what I love about the body of Christ got a 579 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:33,920 saying I want to pour out my spirit. 580 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:36,480 Well, I love the crossing family. 581 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,360 Is this Ben? I've got to know your executive 582 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,240 pastor here over the past couple years. 583 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:43,800 And what I love about it is this Ben used to be a principal. 584 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,640 Now he's an executive pastor, which is kind of, I guess like 585 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:48,600 the same thing, right? You know, you're just, you're 586 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:50,240 kind of keeping all things in order. 587 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:52,560 And then another guy here on staff that I've gotten to know 588 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:55,560 is Casey Grant. He's the Monmouth campus pastor. 589 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,640 And if you don't know Casey, he used to be a banker and now he's 590 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:00,560 a pastor. And here's what I love about 591 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:05,200 both those guys. Before they became pastors, they 592 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:08,160 were great people of God. Matter of fact, I just got to 593 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:12,080 mention this if you saw it in the video, Casey baptized his 594 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,480 dad last weekend during baptism weekend. 595 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,200 And how can we just celebrate that mom at campus? 596 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:20,480 And Casey, man, we're so proud of you guys and what God is 597 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,520 doing. But here's the thing, He gives 598 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,560 us his presence. We are his people, but he's 599 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:31,120 gathered us so we can scatter. Listen what Peter says right 600 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,840 after that he goes, you're his chosen people, right? 601 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:35,720 You're, you're, you belong to him. 602 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:37,320 And then listen what he says in verse 11. 603 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:44,720 So now, dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in this 604 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:49,280 world to abstain from sinful desires which war against your 605 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,880 soul. You know why we gather together? 606 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:58,200 Because we are in a war for our souls and we need the church 607 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:02,520 family. I need a church family. 608 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:08,440 He goes on to say this, not only do we need this, he says live 609 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:11,920 such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of 610 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,760 doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify your God 611 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:18,680 on the day he visits us. You know what he's saying? 612 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:23,160 It's about his purpose over a program. 613 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:26,880 See the church gathering. It's not just a program. 614 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:29,920 Do we have cue sheets here in a little bit we're going to sing. 615 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:31,760 People can come out or like, see, it's just a program. 616 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,400 No, it's not. When we gather, the reason why 617 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:37,320 we gather is because of the purposes of God. 618 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:44,400 Peter says this live such good lives where as Christians among 619 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:51,480 the pagans in your work, in your neighborhood, at your gym, on 620 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:58,680 the golf course, in the boardroom, everywhere live such 621 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:04,680 good lives because what ends up happening is this the presence 622 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:09,280 of God begins to break out. So here's why we need a purpose 623 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:12,280 because God made us for something bigger than ourselves. 624 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,920 Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 11 says this, that God has set 625 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,160 eternity in the hearts of mankind that none of us can 626 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:25,120 fathom his plan. God set eternity in your hearts 627 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,520 and he's waiting for you to put your attention on him. 628 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,280 He's waiting for you to say, Oh God, you have so much more for 629 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:34,640 me than I ever have for myself. Matter of fact, this is what 630 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:36,680 Jesus prayed as he was going to the cross. 631 00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,320 In John chapter 17, Jesus has this huddle moment with his 632 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:41,920 disciples. He knows he's about ready to be 633 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,080 arrested and to go die on the cross. 634 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:46,600 They've been trying to kill him from his first sermon. 635 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,800 Jesus knows this. Nobody takes my life, but I lay 636 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:53,640 my life down. He goes, I'm about ready to go 637 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:55,000 lay my life down and listen what he prays. 638 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:58,520 He gathers his guys like a football huddle. 639 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:02,360 He's like huddle up, huddle up, fellas crossing family, huddle 640 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:03,560 up. Jesus wants to speak to you. 641 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:09,320 Listen what he says. He says my prayer, God, my 642 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:13,000 prayer is not that you would take them out of the world, but 643 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:18,040 that you'd protect them from the evil. 1 Do you hear that prayer 644 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:20,880 over your life? God doesn't want to take you out 645 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:22,640 of the world. He wants to send you into this 646 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:26,400 world. My prayer is not for them alone. 647 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:31,600 I pray also for those who will believe in me through their 648 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:33,520 message. If you've if you're not a 649 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:36,280 Christian yet here today or watching online or any of these 650 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:37,720 campuses, here's what you need to know. 651 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:42,200 Jesus has been praying for you since John seventeen, 2000 years 652 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:43,640 ago. He's been praying over you. 653 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:49,800 Roman says right now Jesus is interceding for us in heaven and 654 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:52,960 then this is his prayer that all of them would be one Father, 655 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,720 just as you are in me and I and in you. 656 00:33:55,960 --> 00:34:01,360 May they also be in us so that the world may believe you have 657 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:10,159 sent me presents people purpose, crossing family. 658 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:14,120 Today. May your attention be on the 659 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:18,040 Savior who came, who died, and who rose. 660 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,960 Again, we're moving to a time of decision. 661 00:34:26,449 --> 00:34:29,850 So let that truth settle in right here in this moment for 662 00:34:29,850 --> 00:34:33,770 all of us in this room and online relish the fact that you 663 00:34:33,770 --> 00:34:35,969 are sitting right now in the presence of God. 664 00:34:37,290 --> 00:34:39,489 And if you want to take a look around you, you can. 665 00:34:39,850 --> 00:34:42,570 But no, you could probably feel you were surrounded by the 666 00:34:42,570 --> 00:34:46,810 people of God in a lot of you. You probably came into this room 667 00:34:46,810 --> 00:34:50,280 or you you stumbled upon the feed and you're just like, I 668 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:51,920 want to encounter God. I want to encounter his 669 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:53,360 presence. I want to be around people. 670 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,880 But really what you're after is you want to know what is your 671 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:59,440 purpose like God, what is my purpose here on this earth? 672 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:01,640 And you're trying to discover that. 673 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:04,160 But I got to just be real with you. 674 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:05,880 There's some of you are listening to my voice in this 675 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:10,880 room or online that you can't live out the purpose God has for 676 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,840 you when you do not have an intimate personal relationship 677 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,560 with him. You can't do it God's way if 678 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:21,000 you've not trusted in his way. And so here's here's just kind 679 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,000 of the the truth of the matter in this moment. 680 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,680 For those of you who are living outside that relationship, 681 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:30,160 you've probably been responding in one of three different ways. 682 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,400 You've been in fight or flight or a freeze moment. 683 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:38,360 Maybe today you're still in that fight mode where you kind of 684 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:41,080 have your arm up and you're, you're fighting against God. 685 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:44,400 You're fighting off starting that relationship with him. 686 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:47,280 You're you, you have in your mind saying there's no way he 687 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:49,120 would accept me. There's no way that's for me. 688 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,720 There's no way he would ever do or accept for me because of all 689 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:55,360 the things that I've done in my past, even the things I did last 690 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:57,320 night. And so you're just fighting him. 691 00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:00,840 Others of you, you've been in flight mode for I don't know how 692 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,480 long. Simply what you're doing is you 693 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,960 get really close to to trust in him and walking with him and 694 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:09,880 you're like, Nope, not for me. And so you run away, you turn 695 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:13,200 the other way and you go back to finding fulfillment and filling 696 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:16,640 your life with everything else except for trusting in his ways 697 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:20,480 and, and trusting in him. You're in this flight mode. 698 00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:25,200 So you've been fighting, you've been flighting others to be in 699 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:26,520 this room. You've been in freeze mode. 700 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:31,000 And simply what that means is you're really close. 701 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:34,560 You know that you want to take a step of trusting Jesus as Lord 702 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,000 and Savior. But for some reason, when we get 703 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,760 to this time of decision, when you stand up and, and the pastor 704 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:44,760 invites you to take a move and to respond, your feet are stuck. 705 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,320 You can't get that one foot in front of the other. 706 00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:51,200 You can't seem to to respond. You keep saying, well, maybe 707 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:53,400 next week. And, and So what you do is you 708 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:59,240 just stay frozen. You stay still, you don't 709 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:02,800 change, you don't move. But if I could encourage you 710 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:05,400 today, if that's your story, if you've been fighting or 711 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:07,680 flighting or freezing, not today. 712 00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:10,280 Today you start walking with Jesus. 713 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:14,200 You take that step, you put your arm down and you simply just 714 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:18,120 inverse those arms and put them out and just say I surrender. 715 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:20,160 I choose you. I believe in you. 716 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:23,000 You confess your love and allegiance to Him. 717 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:26,400 You turn away from the old life. You turn away from those things 718 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:28,480 that have been bringing you fulfillment. 719 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:33,640 And you say, today I choose you. In just a little bit, the song 720 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:35,520 is going to start playing and there's going to be an 721 00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:39,240 opportunity for you to respond, to lay your life down and give 722 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:41,920 it to Jesus to get out of that freeze moment. 723 00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:44,760 Just take a step, some bold steps in front of each each 724 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:47,080 other one by one. And then there's going to be a 725 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,880 pastor right by the baptistry that you could talk to about 726 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,720 what it looks like to start that intimate personal walk with him. 727 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:55,120 I encourage you to do that today. 728 00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:58,880 It's the best decision you could possibly make through the 729 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:00,240 matter. There's others of this in the 730 00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:03,800 room who are who are Christians. We've taken that step. 731 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,280 But you're trying to figure out, well, what is what is my 732 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,600 decision moment look like today? You're probably in a fight, 733 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:15,920 flight, or freeze moment too. You're trying to figure out what 734 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:19,360 purpose God has for your life. You're trying to figure out what 735 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:24,400 has my attention more than Jesus right now, today, in just a 736 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:26,560 little bit, when the music starts for us, we can do the 737 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:29,600 same thing. Stop fighting against God. 738 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,840 Stop running away from God. Stop freezing in a moment and 739 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:34,880 come up to these steps. Get down on our knees. 740 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:37,560 Each and every single week we humble ourselves and we say, 741 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:40,120 God, I'm here, you have my attention. 742 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:42,360 What is the purpose you have for me? 743 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:46,120 How, how can I shine better in my environments that you put me 744 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:48,200 in? How can I speak when you ask me 745 00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:50,560 to speak? How can I respond? 746 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:54,960 He's trying to get your attention today. 747 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:59,720 And the song that we're about to sing is there's some lyrics on 748 00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:04,520 there where we simply say, Lord Jesus, you are Lord of all in 749 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:06,600 this moment. You are our cornerstone. 750 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:10,640 I build my life upon you. You are the foundation on which 751 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,400 everything in my life is set upon. 752 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:16,640 And so during this song, don't fight him. 753 00:39:17,720 --> 00:39:20,400 Don't run away from him. Don't stay frozen. 754 00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:27,040 Respond, move, worship, adore, give them your attention. 755 00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:29,160 Would you stand with me? Let's let's pray and let's 756 00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:32,280 respond in this moment, Jesus, you are a cornerstone. 757 00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:35,080 You are a firm foundation. You are Lord of all, you're Lord 758 00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:38,280 of this moment, you're Lord of our life, You're Lord and 759 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,280 Savior. You have rescued us. 760 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:42,840 God in just a little bit. We're going to we're going to 761 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:47,040 celebrate 9 lives who have said yes to you, Who said yes to you, 762 00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:48,480 Jesus, who are going to follow you. 763 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:51,360 And but God, I pray for that person in this room or listening 764 00:39:51,360 --> 00:39:53,600 to my voice right now. They've been fighting you. 765 00:39:53,720 --> 00:39:55,160 They've been running away from you. 766 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:57,600 They've been freezing. God, I pray that you will give 767 00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:01,080 them the boldness, the energy to just put that foot in front of 768 00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:04,560 the other, to respond and to choose you and to declare Jesus. 769 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:07,040 You are their cornerstone. You are Lord of all. 770 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:09,800 And God, I pray for us as Christians that we would also 771 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:13,200 respond in a way whatever has our attention more than you, I 772 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:16,560 pray we lay those things down, we turn away from them, and we 773 00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:19,480 worship and adore you in this moment of decision. 774 00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:24,120 We love you and we praise you in Jesus name that I pray, Amen.