The Net and the Sorting

How much junk have you collected?

A lot, right?

How much is in your storage shed, your garage, storage closets, under the bed storage, attic storage.

! We were just in Wisconsin where they have basements.

That seems to collect storage.

How many of y'all think we need more storage around the church, maybe?

How much junk do we collect, man?

We collect a lot, don't we?

We do indeed.

Anybody know the name Marie Kondo?

Yeah.

Can you guys pull up the picture we've got of her?

Marie Kondo.

She had a question that she would tell people to ask when they're looking into their junk,

their valuables that they've collected through the years.

Does anybody know what that question is?

Can we say it together?

Does it spark joy?

That was like an ice water bath down my back when I first heard that.

Like, that's what's wrong with America today.

We're looking at all this excess that we've collected over the years, and we're like, does this spark joy to me?

I don't know.

Do you need it?

That's probably a better question in my mind.

But Marie Kondo got real famous.

She got a Netflix special called Tidying Up, and the whole idea of it was kind of capitalizing on all of our excess,

and she challenged people to sort through it and just go through stuff and clean it out, right?

Does it spark joy?

Anyway, probably a real nice, shiny way of asking, do you really need this in your life?

Now, this was not a new concept.

People have been going through, trying to sort through their stuff for generations.

But somehow, generations keep passing down their junk to the next generations.

And then what happens?

You have estate sales, and people try to sell off the junk from their parents and grandparents, etc.

Now, look, sometimes there are family heirlooms that you get to hold on to, and those are cherished for generations,

and that's always pretty cool to see.

But let's not be crazy, because often the sorting process reveals that it's not all treasure.

A lot of it's trash.

You say, what in the world does this have to do with the parables of Jesus?

Well, this is exactly the kind of sorting process that Jesus is talking about in Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Would you go with me to Matthew chapter 13, verses 47 through 50.

Matthew 13:47–50

While you're turning there, I'm going to give you a piece of really good news.

This is our 12th and final week in the Stories of the Kingdom series about the parables of Jesus.

Can we get an amen on that?

There you go.

I've enjoyed it.

I'm glad to move on to another section of Scripture.

However, I've really enjoyed this, and I hope that we can close it out well today.

We haven't covered every parable that Jesus told, but we've gone through the book of Matthew.

By the way, we were not just doing a study of the parables of Jesus.

I was also on the sly taking you through a study of the gospel of Matthew.

And we've done that all throughout it, and we have kind of covered the themes that Matthew wrote about

from his time walking with Jesus and recording what he had to say.

So Matthew chapter 13, let's look down at verse 47.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea.

It collected every kind of fish.

When it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers,

but threw out the worthless ones.

So it will be at the end of the age.

The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,

and throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Have you noticed that Jesus' parables always ended like that?

Maybe not always, but frequently.

Weeping and gnashing of teeth.

It's like he was warning you of something to come, right?

Let's look at that.

Let's take it seriously.

Y'all, a pastor can get up, and he can talk about any number of things.

But I don't think it's ever wrong to talk about what Jesus himself talked about.

So that's what we've been doing in these last 12 weeks.

And I pray that we're able to get a good understanding of what he was warning us about and teaching us in this passage.

Let's pray together.

God, I pray right now that you would use this story of the net, the sorting,

this process separating the trash from the treasure, separating the good from the evil.

How does this apply to us?

What can we learn from this?

I pray that by your spirit, you would teach each one of us something that would change us, transform us from the inside out.

We'll give you all the glory for it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

All right.

So what are they talking about?

He paints a very picturesque story here where you've got these people using what is called a dragnet.

All right.

So here's the idea.

They have this dragnet, and they would stand.

They would stretch it out.

You see the net, the after results, the catch that they brought in from the fish.

It would bring in all sorts of fish.

But what they would do is they would stand on either side, and there would be a row of people, probably 8 to 12 people,

or maybe even more depending on the size of the dragnet.

It was also called a send net.

I don't know if that's from the river Sen.

I don't know.

That's a whole different thing.

Let's just call it a dragnet, all right?

So the dragnet would be out there in the shallow water, and they would have it stretched out to its full capacity.

And they would have these weights on the bottom of the dragnet to keep it underwater,

and they would have these floats or bobbers attached to the top to keep it afloat on the top.

And so they have this net just perfectly like creating this wall in the ocean, of course, in the shallow waters near the beach.

So as they would, fish would come in, there would be kind of a pocket at the bottom that the fish would get trapped in.

And eventually, when they felt like the net was full enough, they would all start retreating back toward the shore,

and they would lay it out, and there would be thousands of fish caught in this dragnet.

Now, normally, all these references would be about the Sea of Galilee,

and there would be over 20 different kinds of fish, probably, in the Sea of Galilee.

Many of those fish would be inedible, useless, not really good for much of anything.

You need to throw them back in.

So the sorting process would happen.

And everybody would gather along the beach, and you'd have all those people that were out there fishing,

and maybe some others who weren't strong enough to go out and manage the dragnet in the waters,

but they could sort fish.

So they'd be sitting there, going through, finding all these different varieties of fish,

throwing some back in, and keeping the ones that were good and useful.

So Jesus is referencing something that these people understood, many of them had partaken of,

certainly all of them had seen, had experienced at some level.

But what's he really trying to teach here?

He's not teaching fishing methods, although it does sound fun to catch fish with a dragnet, right?

For those of you who have sat in a rowboat, or sat on a dock, or sat on a shore,

with your line in the water for hour after hour, and nothing seems to bite, right?

It's maddening.

Be kind of cool to go out there and spend a few minutes with a big dragnet,

and have thousands of fish come in, even if you couldn't use most of them.

Still be fun.

But that's not what he's talking about here.

He's talking about the sorting process.

That's where the focus is.

So there are two different emphases.

First, the idea of the catch.

The idea is the sorting doesn't happen at first, okay?

So in your bulletins, if you're taking notes, and there should be a pen in front of you,

point number one is God's invitation is inclusive.

What do we mean by that?

It includes everybody.

It includes anybody and everybody who wants to come into the net.

God holds the net wide open for all to come.

Boy, we can be excited about that, right?

We can love that.

Very excited about that.

1 Timothy 2 and verse 4 sheds a little light on that.

It says, God our Savior wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

That is a wide open net.

I want them all.

I want everybody, says the Lord.

Lord, I'm inviting all, everyone.

The Bible teaches very clearly Jesus died not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world.

God so loved the what?

World.

Let's say that together.

Y'all know that.

Verse John 3, 16.

Ready?

For God so loved the world.

There you go.

I watched the sermon last week, and he really got y'all talking, okay?

So I'm going to try to get y'all talking a little bit, too.

Y'all did great.

I was so proud of you.

He did a wonderful...

How many of y'all were glad that Jordan came and preached to us last Sunday?

Wasn't that awesome?

I never even met the guy.

We've had phone conversations, but we had a very trusted mutual friend, and he talked a little bit about that last week.

I'm glad he came and did a wonderful job here.

So we're going to talk a little bit today, but this idea that God's invitation is inclusive.

The sorting process doesn't happen at first.

Everyone is invited.

The invitation is extended.

There's a truth here.

God's net, so to speak, is wide open for everyone to experience his love and salvation.

He created everyone, and everyone has equal opportunity.

I believe God's an equal opportunity creator.

I believe God has given each one of us an equal opportunity to respond to him in faith.

The sad truth is, we're not all gonna.

Not everyone that God created will respond to him in faith.

Many will reject.

Some will seem to accept.

But the truth is, in their heart, they never did.

God knows how all that's gonna shake out in the end.

He's gonna be in charge of the sorting process.

But what we have to worry about is, God's invitation extends to all.

So what we then take away, we don't go and discriminate who we invite into the net.

We'll take any fish who wanna swim in, right?

Do you know any fishermen who would say, no, no, no, I don't want that fish.

I don't want that fish.

We'll take it, man.

Now, we might throw them back in once we get them on the boat,

but we'll take anything that wants to bite.

I say that like I'm a fisherman.

I'm not a fisherman.

But I can imagine.

Revelation 22, 17.

You don't have to turn there.

I've got it on the screen unless you'd like to.

But Revelation 22, 17.

The spirit and the bride say, what does that say?

Come.

We can do better.

Ready?

The spirit and the bride say?

Come.

Let anyone who hears this say?

Come.

Let anyone who is thirsty?

Come.

Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.

What is God's invitation to man?

Come.

Come to him.

Come to me, he says.

Come to me.

I'm the answer.

Whatever stage of life you're in,

if there's still breath in your lungs,

the answer is come to him.

Come to him for salvation.

Come to him for rest.

Come for him for peace.

Come to him for mercy.

Come to him for forgiveness.

Come to Jesus.

That is always and forever the invitation.

So, question.

Do we cast our nets as widely as Jesus casts his?

Or do we create barriers for certain people?

That's the hard thing.

Do we cast nets or do we create barriers?

Do we allow any fish to come in or are we selective?

Look, we might say that anyone can come.

Anyone can come and be a part of our fellowship of believers.

Anyone can come and experience the goodness of God

and the blessings of Christian community.

The problem is,

sometimes not as much with our words,

but with our actions,

we create barriers for those very people

that we're inviting in.

We say, no, no, no.

You're not the kind of fish that belongs here.

You're not the kind of fish that we're interested in.

We're going to throw you out.

The problem is, that's not our job.

Our job is to do what the master commanded

and go be fishers of what?

Men and women too, by the way.

Go be fishers of people.

That's who God came to seek and to save.

He'll work out the sorting process at the end.

So, do we cast nets or do we create barriers?

Number two.

Before we get there, I want to share a quote with you.

Martin Luther was one of the great fathers

of the Protestant Reformation

that kind of split off from the Catholic Church

and from that grew Baptists and Methodists

and all these evangelical Christian churches

that you see around.

Martin Luther was a key father in that movement.

Read about him in history if you haven't already.

And he said this,

it is the nature of all hypocrites and false prophets.

We got any of those in the room by uplifted hand?

You're a hypocrite or a false prophet.

Anybody?

Look, I try not to be a false prophet.

Thank you, Candy.

But I will raise my hand on hypocrite

because the truth is I am a hypocrite sometimes.

And all y'all can be too, all right?

So we're not alone.

It is the nature of all hypocrites and false prophets

to create a conscience where there is none.

Y'all, this is getting a little bit deep,

but we're going to try to break it down, all right?

Create a conscience where there is none.

And then, after they've done that,

to cause conscience to disappear

where it actually does exist.

What's he saying?

Hypocritical Christians are real good

at making rules that God never made

and ignoring rules that God did make.

You know what his rule is?

Love people like I love them.

Love me like I've told you to

with all your heart, with all your mind,

with all your soul, with all your strength.

And love your neighbor as yourself.

God's rules are pretty simple,

but man, are they hard.

So instead of obeying that,

we go back to Old Testament laws

that don't apply to us under grace anymore,

or we'll just go create our own

like we saw the Pharisees do

in the Jewish system.

Sorry.

And Jesus kept butting heads with it.

And they're saying,

well, Jesus, you're not walking

according to our laws and systems and traditions.

They say, listen, you missed the point.

You're creating a conscience

where I never created one.

But you're ignoring the conscience

or even causing it to disappear

that I did give you.

That's hypocritical.

And often, it can even get into being

a false prophet.

Why?

Because you're painting a different picture

of Jesus for people.

Even without trying to,

you're showing people

that Jesus is someone different

than who he actually is

and who he revealed himself to be.

That's being a false prophet.

I don't want to be that.

I don't want to do that.

I want to stick closely to what he said,

to what he did,

to how he lived.

So I think Martin Luther's quote

is very appropriate

for those of us,

especially those of us in the room.

I'm not going to make you lift your hands,

but those of us in the room

who have been Christians

for most of our lives,

grew up in church most of our lives,

it's pretty easy

for us to start to

equate the traditions

that we grew up with

with Bible truth.

Y'all, the Bible never says

that we have to sit in pews

in a church building.

The Bible never says

you have to have both

an organ and a piano.

The Bible never says

that you have to use a podium.

The Bible never says lots of,

now, doesn't mean

those things are wrong.

Those things can serve

their purpose in their season.

The Bible never says

that you have to

wear a clown suit to church, right?

The Bible never says

you have to wear

a big red nose to church.

Thankfully, that'd be weird.

But I guarantee you

some people who didn't grow up

how we grew up

might come into church

and think some of the things

that we do are weird.

Okay, fine.

Are we leading people

closer to Jesus

by our traditions

that we have latched onto

or are we forcing people

to get over them

to get to Jesus?

Does that make sense?

Are we forcing people

to climb over

all these extra obstacles

or barriers

that we've created

just to get to Jesus

who is who we want them

to get to after all, right?

All right, that's the point.

We're going to move on

to number two now.

God's net is inclusive.

God's invitation is inclusive.

But heaven's entry

is exclusive.

You could take this

as the bad news

if you wanted to.

The truth is

it's justice.

It's justice in God's eyes.

And who are we to say no?

To all those

who reject his son,

they are excluded.

They're thrown back.

That's the picture

he paints for us.

He paints this picture

of all these different fish

being in the net.

Look back at Matthew 13.

When the net was full,

they dragged it ashore,

they sat down,

and they gathered

the good fish

into containers,

but they threw out

the worthless ones.

We have any idea

what that is?

It's just a speaker.

All right.

It's just the speaker

likes what we're talking

about in here.

All right.

It wants to have a part.

All right.

Don't worry about it.

Just a little white noise,

background noise,

no big deal.

Heaven's entry

is exclusive.

Unfortunately,

there are going to be

some fish thrown back.

That's kind of

Jesus' point here, right?

There's going to be

some fish

not allowed in.

There's going to be

people excluded.

Guess what?

Not everybody

made it on the ark.

Remember Noah and the ark

and the flooding

of the earth?

Not everybody

made it on.

Actually,

very few

made it on.

Well,

the Bible teaches that.

Narrow is the gate

that leads to life,

but wide is the path

that leads to destruction.

More will choose destruction

rather than life.

Hey,

let's go to Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Back up a few chapters,

would you?

Matthew chapter 7

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

before we end up

back in Matthew 13.

So,

just a couple of pages,

probably Matthew 7

and let's look at

verse 13.

Matthew 7, 13.

Enter through

the narrow gate,

for the gate is wide

and the road is broad

that leads to destruction.

There are many

who go through it.

How narrow is the gate

and difficult is the road

that leads to life

and few that find it.

Matt's a hero.

Let's give him a clap.

Thank you, Matt.

I don't know if everybody

in the back of the room

could hear it,

but it was pretty loud up here,

so thank you, sir.

Narrow is the gate.

Difficult is the road

that leads to life.

How many of you

have been on the road

to life for a while

and you'd say,

yeah, it is difficult sometimes?

Anybody?

Is it just me?

I think some of y'all

not raising your hand

also believe the road

to life can be difficult

at times, right?

It's not just me.

Look,

let's keep reading.

Verse 15.

Be on your guard

against false prophets

who come to you

in sheep's clothing

but inwardly

are ravaging wolves.

Hey,

there's some of those

false prophets

we were talking about

just a minute ago.

We like to think

of false prophets

always as those

who are preaching

something totally different

than the Bible.

It's not hidden at all.

It's just like,

man,

Jesus isn't God.

Joe Schmo is God,

be it Mohammed

or Confucius

or whoever,

Buddha.

Usually those

aren't the false prophets

who lead God's people astray.

Usually it's the ones

who disguise themselves

in sheep's clothing

and they'll preach something

that's very similar

to what Jesus taught

and what Jesus lived.

But they'll throw

extra obstacles in there.

They'll say,

yeah,

but you also gotta do this.

Yeah,

but you also gotta give me money

and buy me my second jet.

Or,

yeah,

but you gotta go

say 40 Hail Marys

or go confess

and light this many candles

and do all these

extra things

to have right standing

before God

and forgiveness

with God.

And I'm sorry,

look,

some of these people

are well-meaning.

But that's preaching

a different gospel

than Jesus brought us.

That's not the good news.

So be careful of that.

And then jump down,

would you,

to verse 21.

There are all kinds of things

that might lead people

onto that wide,

broad,

more easy path

away from the narrow,

more difficult path,

but you don't wanna end up

where that wide path

takes you.

Verse 21,

not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord,

will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Only the one

who does the will

of my Father in heaven.

What is the will

of the Father in heaven?

That all would be saved.

That all would turn to Him.

So if you turn to Him,

then you're doing the will

of His Father in heaven.

And you will be saved.

He will keep you

on that narrow path.

But if you don't,

then you're stuck

on that wide path

until you do the will

of the Father in heaven.

On that day,

many will say to me,

Lord, Lord,

didn't we prophesy

in your name?

Yes,

but you were a false prophet.

Didn't we drive out

demons in your name?

Didn't we do many miracles

in your name?

Didn't we do all this stuff

that we thought

you would have liked?

Seemed like a Christian

kind of thing.

Seemed like a religious

type deal.

Seemed like a church

kind of thing.

Seemed like a Jesus

type thing.

We did all this stuff

for you for all these years.

I was a good,

upstanding citizen.

I was a member

of First Baptist Church

for how many years?

What do you mean

I can't get into heaven?

Because you never

humbled yourself

and repented

of your sin

and said,

God,

be merciful to me,

a sinner.

Save me.

I can't save myself.

Verse 23,

then I will announce

to them,

I never knew you.

depart from me,

you lawbreakers.

You lawbreakers.

Well, that's rude.

You're comparing me

to those fish

that I was throwing

out of the net?

You're saying

I don't belong

with the upstanding citizens?

You're saying

I don't belong

with the good people?

Are you telling me

I'm a bad person,

Jesus?

Yes.

You're a lawbreaker.

And you were never

cleansed.

You're still

a lawbreaker.

Do you understand

that without Christ,

every single person,

man,

woman,

child,

is a lawbreaker.

All of us

in this room

are lawbreakers.

We've all broken

God's law.

The only way

you can be

not a lawbreaker

anymore

is if Jesus

washes you,

if Jesus

cleanses you.

You have to invite

him to do that.

He's not just

going to do it.

You have to say

God,

cleanse me,

forgive me,

wash me clean

with your blood.

Then he says

now you're not

a lawbreaker anymore.

You were

but I made you new.

Now you're

my child.

A lot of people

call themselves

God's children

and they're going

to get to heaven

and he's going to say

I never knew you.

You can't come in.

You're out.

It's a terrible

picture.

It's a terrible

illustration

but it's one

that is most

important,

most essential

and that's why

Jesus repeats

this theme

throughout the

parables.

We've hit on

similar topics

to this

in our study

of the parables

over the last

12 weeks.

Heaven's entry

is exclusive.

George Barna

runs a research

firm,

probably the

foremost

faith-based

Christian

research firm

in America.

It does a lot

of valuable

research on

churches,

on religious

trends in

America.

Back in 2020

released through

the Arizona

Christian University

Cultural Research

Center,

he released

this information

that says

that nearly

half,

I want to make

sure I get this

right,

nearly half,

you ready for

this,

of evangelical

Christians.

Christians.

Let me break

that down for

you.

I referenced

it a minute

ago.

That's like

the Baptists,

the people that

go to churches

that talk about

Jesus and preach

the real gospel

of Jesus,

salvation by

God's grace

through our

faith.

We believe

the correct

salvation.

People that go

to those kinds

of churches,

they're called

evangelical,

nearly half,

I believe it was

around 46%

of people

who attend

evangelical

gospel preaching

churches in

America

believe that

good works

are necessary

to get into

heaven.

Now look,

I'm not trying

to make you feel

singled out

if you are one

of the nearly

half of

evangelicals

that believe

that good works

are necessary

to get into

heaven.

but I'm

sorry to have

to tell you

that you're

wrong.

Actually,

I'm thankful

to get to

tell you

that you're

wrong.

Because look,

you're never

going to be

good enough.

How much

good can you

do that

will wipe

away the

bad you've

already done?

If I go

out and

murder somebody,

I can do

good works

for the rest

of my life,

but it will

not bring

that innocent

person back

to life.

I can't

undo

what I've

done.

Now folks,

I might be

crazy,

but the data

would suggest

that there are

people in this

room still

believing

that good works

in your life

are going to

get you to

heaven.

That they're

going to get

you right

standing with

God.

Let's see

what God

actually has

to say

about that.

Let's go

to the

Bible.

Titus

Titus 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

and verse

5.

He saved

us,

not because

of the

righteous

things we

had done,

but because

of his

what?

Let's do

it again.

Not because

of the

righteous

things we

had done,

but because

of his

that's it.

He was

merciful,

not because

we earned

it.

Romans 10

and verse

9 makes

it very

clear on

how to be

saved.

If you

openly

declare that

Jesus is

Lord and

believe in

your heart

that God

raised him

from the

dead,

you will

be saved.

Say,

Jesus,

you're my

Lord now.

You're in

charge.

I'm not.

I believe you

rose from the

dead.

You didn't

just die

like all

of us

die.

You proved

you were

God by

rising from

the dead.

I put

all my

faith in

you.

That's what

saves you,

not anything

you can do.

So the

question is,

are you

caught up in

the net,

or have

you truly

decided to

follow Jesus?

Are you

really a

Jesus

follower?

Or have

you been

hanging around

the good

fish?

Maybe

your whole

life you've

been hanging

around the

good fish.

I don't want

God to throw

you out.

I don't want

God to throw

me out.

God,

that's why

I've got to

constantly verify

in my heart,

yes, I do

believe in

Jesus.

I have

confessed all

my sins,

past,

present,

and future

to him.

Say,

God, I

know I'm

a sinner.

I'm always

going to be

a sinner

while I'm

in this

flesh.

Please

forgive me.

Make me

your child.

I don't want

to be

lawbreaker

Sam anymore.

Are you

still

lawbreaker

Doyle and

Molly?

Felt like

the least

lawbreaker

people I

know.

Are you

still

lawbreaker,

Jared?

That makes

way more

sense.

I'm

messing

with you.

Are you

still the

lawbreaker

version of

you, or

have you

been redeemed

by Jesus?

Have you

been made

new by

Jesus, or

have you

just been

hanging out

with those

who have?

That's the

takeaway from

the sermon

today.

Am I

really a

disciple?

I told you

we'd go back

to Matthew

13.

Look at

verse 52.

We're nearly

finished.

And y'all,

this time we're

not just

finishing a

sermon, we're

finishing a

12-week

series.

It's a big

day.

I'm excited.

Matthew

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

chapter 13

and down in

verse 52,

Jesus says,

he gets done

telling them

this whole

story.

There's going

to be weeping

and gnashing

of teeth for

the bad fish

that are thrown

back, that are

separated the

evil people from

the righteous.

Man, that's

hard, right?

Am I really

evil?

Yes, we are.

Without Christ

and his forgiveness,

we are evil.

So Jesus then

turns to them

and says,

have you understood

all these things?

And his

disciples said,

yes.

Therefore, he

said to them,

watch this,

every teacher of

the law who has

become a disciple

in the kingdom

of heaven.

Did you catch

that?

not every teacher

of the Bible

is a disciple.

Not every teacher

of the Bible

is a follower

of Jesus.

I can promise

you, you can

get up here,

not have a

strong relationship

with God,

be at a really

far off from God

point in your

life, and you

can get up here

and teach the

Bible.

There's not

going to be a

whole lot of

God's power

behind it.

God might use

something just

from the Bible

that's quoted

to stir something

in someone's

heart, but

something's going

to be missing.

He said,

you have to be

a disciple.

So even you,

my disciples,

who have been

walking with me,

I want you to

be teachers of

the law.

That was the

whole point.

Remember,

Jesus was a

rabbi.

He wasn't just

a rabbi.

He was a rabbi

with Shmiha.

Remember that

whole thing?

He had

authority to

teach, to

uncover new

truth.

Yeah, you

think so?

He is the

truth, the

way, the

truth, and

the life,

right?

And so

Jesus has

these guys

following him.

Man, I

can't believe

we get to

go with this

famous rabbi

everywhere he

goes and

learn from

him.

He's going

to make

us rabbis

too.

No, boys,

listen, I'm

going to make

you better

than rabbis.

I'm going

to make

you not

just teachers

of the law,

I'm going

to make

you disciples.

So he

says,

every teacher

of the law

of a house

who brings

out of his

old storeroom

treasures both

new and

old.

We're all

the way back

to Marie

Kondo again.

We're all

the way back

to the

storeroom,

the store

closet, the

garage, the

attic.

It's like you

go into

that and you

bring out

the good

stuff.

God's going

to use his

disciples

disciples to

bring out

the good

treasures.

Is God

doing that

in your

life?

Is he

using you

as a

disciple to

bring out

the good

treasures,

the good

fish?

Is he

using you

to reproduce

another

disciple?

Maybe in

your children,

maybe in

your neighbor,

maybe in

your co-worker,

maybe in

your friend,

maybe in

your parents,

a sibling?

Is he

using you

to be a

disciple

that he

can use

to make

another

disciple?

It's a

powerful truth

he's teaching

his followers.

So,

we have to

ask ourselves,

we got to

do a gut

check,

heart check,

gut check,

mind check,

soul check,

whatever.

We got to

check it all

and we got to

ask this

question.

Is my

faith a

dull

routine?

Is my

faith a

dull

routine

or a

dynamic

relationship?

Would you

bow your

heads with

me?

Is my

faith a

dull

routine

or a

dynamic

relationship?

I'm not

going to ask

you to

raise your

hand,

but would

you ask

yourself

right now

and be

completely

honest?

Look at

your faith

in God.

Is it

more

honestly

described

as a

dull

routine

or a

dynamic

relationship?

You know

what dynamic

means?

It changes.

It doesn't

stay the

same.

Sometimes it

might feel

closer.

Sometimes you

might feel

further away.

That's the

nature of a

dynamic

relationship.

But it

keeps

changing.

And over

time it

grows.

And you

don't stay

in the

same place

with God

as you've

been.

He keeps

sending you

back into

the storeroom

for new

treasures,

new nuggets.

He keeps

using you

to make

new disciples.

That's what

it's like

to follow

Jesus.

Go back

in the

Gospels.

We've

gone through

Matthew.

Go back

to Matthew.

Go to

Mark.

Go to

Luke.

Go to

John.

See what

Jesus did

with his

disciples.

And then

look at

your life.

Is he

doing that

with you?

Has he

been doing

that with

you over

the last

five years?

Ten years?

Twenty years?

Thirty years?

I'm going to

stop there

to not

offend you.

But look,

is our

relationship

with him

dynamic?

Or has it

become dull?

people?

So our

takeaway this

morning, if

you'll look

up at the

screen one

more time,

don't settle

for proximity

to God.

What do

I mean by

proximity?

Just being

close to

him.

Being

physically

close.

Don't just

settle for

proximity to

God.

Let him

change you.

Don't just

be around

God.

Don't just

be around

Christians.

Be a

Christian.

Don't just

be around

disciples.

Jump in.

Be one.

Say, man,

I'm not ready

for all that.

I'm not going

to do it

very well.

Right.

None of us

do it very

well.

He wants

us to,

though.

He's inviting

us to.

And if you

don't want to

get thrown

out of the

net, you

got to take

the plunge.

You got to

become a

disciple.

You got to

say, God,

change me.

Our series

can be summed

up in

Matthew 6

33.

We didn't

actually cover

this in a

parable.

This is kind

of the whole

theme verse of

the series.

It says,

seek the

kingdom of

God above

all else.

Live

righteously,

and he will

give you

everything you

need.

what a

life verse.

What a

verse to

make the

theme of

your life.

I'm going

to seek

God's

kingdom above

the kingdom

of my

world.

I'm going

to seek

God's

kingdom above

any other

kingdom on

this earth.

Y'all,

everybody's got

their own

kingdom, and

usually they're

the king of

it.

And all

these other

kingdoms are

going to vie

for your

allegiance.

They're going

to come try

to steal your

allegiance away

and make you

pledge allegiance

to their

kingdom.

And you know

who's going to

do that more

than anybody?

You.

I try to get

myself to swear

allegiance to

my kingdom more

than anybody else

does.

I'm my own

biggest enemy.

But if I'm

swearing allegiance

to God's

kingdom, what

is the last

part of that

verse promise?

Do we believe

the promises

of God?

Do we believe

the promises

of God?

So he says

he will give

you everything

you need.

You seek

his kingdom,

he'll give

you everything

you need,

and nothing

you don't

need.

What a

promise.

What a

powerful promise

from God,

from Jesus.

Seek the

kingdom.

Are we a

kingdom-seeking

church, and

is it God's

kingdom?

Or have we

created our

own?

God, let

our castle

become so

big that

it's blotting

out God's

kingdom.

God, let

your kingdom

work be

done.

Let your

will be

done in

this earth,

in this

church, in

this town, in

my family, in

my heart, in

my life.

Let your

kingdom come.

Would you

pray with me

now?

God, that's

what we go to

you with.

God, you

want our

hearts more

than anything

else.

We can

swear allegiance

to you with

our lips.

We can hang

around you for

years.

We can show

up.

We can sit in

the pews.

We can sing

the songs.

We can clap

for the choir.

We can do

all the things

that look like

we're a follower

of Jesus, but

when the great

sorting comes,

I don't want

to get sorted

out.

to get sorted

out.

I don't want

to get thrown

out.

This net

catches all

kinds.

Sometimes we

think we've

got a pretty

good idea who

belongs and

who doesn't,

but the truth

is some of

us are

hypocrites.

Some of us

have even

become false

prophets.

We've been

preaching a

different Jesus

than the one

that you

actually were.

Forgive us,

God, where

we failed you.

touch our

hearts, break

our hearts

for what

breaks yours.

If there's

somebody here

today who

needs to

finally take

the plunge

and say,

I'm not going

to settle for

just being around

God.

I want God.

I want him to

change me.

I want him to

start on the

inside.

I want to

follow Jesus.

Let him make

that decision

today.

Church, with

your heads

bowed and

your eyes

closed, I'm

going to lead

with that

question.

Nearly half

of churches

like ours

across America

don't believe

the true way

of salvation

that Jesus

taught.

They think

they can earn

it.

Jesus said,

no, you

can't.

I paid for

your sin on

the cross.

You can't

pay for it

yourself.

How many of

you would say

by uplifted

hand, I've

had the wrong

picture of

salvation, or

maybe I've

just put it

off, whatever

it is, I

need to come

to Jesus

today?

Would you

be bold enough

to slip

your hand

up and say

that's me?

I need to

be bold enough

right now to

turn to Jesus.

Slip your hand

up and I'll

pray for you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Let me ask

this follow-up

question.

How many of

you would say,

I have not

been seeking

God's kingdom

above all else?

And maybe

that's why I

don't have

everything I

need.

Because I've

been focused

on my

kingdom.

I've been

focused on

some other

kingdom, but

I have not

been seeking

God's kingdom

with my whole

heart.

Y'all, this

whole thing

has been about

the heart.

God wants

your heart

more than

anything else.

Would you

slip your hand

up and just

say pray for

me?

And I'll

pray for

you, I

promise you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

God, you see

the hands.

I don't know

what's going

on across the

room, but

God, you know

exactly what we

need in our

hearts, and I

pray that you

would cut through.

That you would

pierce our

hearts, that you

would not give

us rest.

Don't allow us to

go to sleep

peacefully at night

when we are not

settled on your

kingdom.

That doesn't mean

we're going to be

perfect.

That doesn't mean

we're not going to

trip up.

But God, we're

going to keep

coming back to

your kingdom and

say, your kingdom

over mine.

Your will be done,

not mine.

Teach us, God.

Grow us.

We'll give you the

glory for it.

We'll thank you for

it.

Church, Jared's

going to lead us

in just a verse of

a song.

You can keep your

seats.

If you'd like to

meet me down front

and pray, we're

happy to do that

with you.

If you'd like to

come down and pray

by yourself at

this altar, come

do that.

But if you respond

to the Holy Spirit

however he's guiding

you right now.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.