The Best (Week 8)

The first church that I served, got to begin, got to start.

The Lord's had me be a beginner and a starter so many times.

The first church that I served, I started a young adult ministry.

This is many years ago, young in ministry.

And a young man came into the service one night, and he looked like he had some tattered clothes.

He was six and a half feet tall, big guy, was wearing these large overalls, jeans, and he came in with a bag and he sat close to the front row.

And that night I was preaching the word of God and asking for someone to be saved.

And at the end of the service, he indicated that he wanted to follow Jesus as his savior.

So after the service, we connected and taught, and I took him back into the foyer, and we were sitting down and talking about what was going on.

And he shared with me that at this point in his young life in his mid-20s, that he'd found himself homeless.

And so we talked and he introduced himself as red.

He had bright red hair, this big, tall guy.

So we talked together, we prayed together, and there was a couple other people who were in the conversation, and he was just overjoyed, overwhelmed with the joy of God, of the fact that he had found his salvation in Jesus and repentance.

And he talked about the difficult situations that he'd been in.

He'd been on the street and living under underpasses, and it's a dangerous situation.

And close to the end of the conversation, he said, Well, you know what?

Now that I'm following Jesus, and now that I'm trying to live my life in a different way, I think I need to probably give you something.

And he stood up and out of his overalls, this big long pocket, he pulled out a full-size hatchet and handed it to me.

He said, I don't need this anymore.

Now I didn't ask any questions of like, was this a weapon of some kind?

Was there some kind of criminal thing?

I don't know.

I just took the hatchet from the young man and uh, you know, we disposed of it.

And from then forward, he was affectionately known as Hatchet.

And over the next several weeks and months, Red Hatchet would come in and out of service, and we would talk with him about how we could help him and what things we could do for him.

And it eventually led to a conversation about the fact that he was addicted to drugs and in need of help.

And so at that time I just said, you know what, uh this young man is beginning to follow Jesus.

We want to see his life turn around.

Let's see what happened.

And so began to have some conversations with folks and found a rehab facility in Winchester that would uh take him, and not only that, that they had some scholarship available and figured out some scholarship for him.

And so me and Red got in my car and drove to Winchester, praying over him, took him into rehab, that was paid for.

He's so grateful, so grateful.

And the next day they called me and said that Red stormed out and left the rehab, and they didn't know where he went.

You know, around here we we say something around here, and it's it's this do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.

Now, not not everyone in my life, or somebody who comes in, am I gonna be able to find scholarship for them to go to rehab?

Every person who walks in that's in a situation where they're dealing with homelessness, are we gonna be able to figure that out and figure out housing for them?

But but we can do for one what we wish we could do for everybody.

And showing and sharing the love of God to be able to see people come to know Jesus and for us and for me in that situation with red, no matter what the outcome was, for me to do my very best.

For me to do my very best and trust God with the rest.

Today, as we talk about what it is to bring our best, and we've recentered over the last few weeks, hearkening back to the end of last year as we had our series of the best.

Today I want to kind of zero us in before we head into the next few weeks of Easter coming up, for to for us to frame in and for us to recenter in on what God has called us to do as a church and what it looks like for us to bring our best, not just for ourselves, but for somebody else.

And in doing so, share the love of Jesus and see people one to the cross.

You stepped into a church that the mark of spiritual maturity here is you showing the signs and you living out, being others focused like Jesus was, willing to serve, willing to care, willing to love someone beyond yourself, and in doing so, show yourself to be a disciple.

Jesus told us.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus didn't say, therefore, go and make church attenders.

He didn't say, go therefore and make good seminary pastors.

He said, go and make disciples.

And the function of the church is for us to make disciples, to do the equipping of the saints, is what the function of the church is.

And around here, when we think about what a disciple is, a student, a pupil that acts out, that is an apprentice of Jesus, what does that look like for us?

And it looks like Matthew 4.19, where Jesus went to the disciples and he invited them into an unbelievable life that these normal everyday fishermen and tax collectors and regular people would have never been able to do on their own.

But he said, Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

And in doing so, what he told them was, Come follow me.

And so when we talk about what it looks like to be a disciple here at Multiply Church, a first is that you're following Jesus.

Jesus says, Come follow me.

And then he looks at these new disciples that he's inviting in, and he says, And I will make you.

And so for those of us who are following Jesus and being his disciple, that we would then be changed by Jesus, transformed by Jesus continually.

And he said, and I'm gonna make you fishers of people, of men, so that you can see other people's lives transformed by the goodness and the glory of God.

And that you be on mission with Jesus.

Can I tell you this?

The church that I grew up in, if I were to go to each of the deacons and even even the staff, and I would have asked them, hey, can you tell me what the definition of a disciple is?

I would have gotten as many different answers as people I would have asked.

So the fact that we can even, as a church right now, say, you know what, what is a disciple?

Somebody who's following Jesus, being changed by Jesus, it's omission with Jesus, means that we are light years ahead when we're talking about what it looks like to be a disciple and follower of God.

Just the fact that we have a target on the board and say, okay, what does it look like for us to follow, to be spiritually mature?

And what it looks like is for us to be in relationship with Jesus, walking with him, not just for ourselves, but also to be on mission with him, to serve and share with other people.

Jesus illustrates this fact in the parable that we're about to read, but but before we read it, let me just ask you this.

Are you a disciple?

Are you a disciple?

Jesus tells us to go and make disciples, baptizing them, to make these followers of Jesus.

They're changed by him and on mission with him.

What is your asset?

What do you think about when you think about being a spiritually mature Christian or even thinking about being a Christian at all?

What does that look like for you?

What's the measurement in your mind?

And if you ask yourself the question, am I truly a disciple?

Or I'm someone who just knows about Jesus.

Look at how Jesus illustrates this point.

In Mark chapter 4, he tells a parable.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

Once again, Jesus began teaching by the lake shore.

A very large crowd soon gathered around him.

So he got into a boat, and then he sat in the boat while all people remained on the shore, and he taught them by telling them stories in the form of parables, which is a small story with a big truth, such as this one.

Verse 3.

Listen, a farmer went out to plant some seed, and as he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it.

The other seed fell on the shallow soil with underlying rock.

And the seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow, but the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn't have deep roots, it died.

Other seeds fell amongst so thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants, so they produced no grain.

Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted and grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted.

And then he said, Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.

Jesus tells this parable, this story of a farmer that's sowing seed.

And the seed falls on four different types of soil, and he's teaching the crowds, and later, after the fact, the disciples come to Jesus and they say, What did you mean by this parable?

And so, even this morning, uh, we are very fortunate by the fact that Jesus explains this parable to us, all of us, right now, in these next few verses.

It doesn't have to be a mystery.

You don't have to rely on me to do perfect as of Jesus for us to figure out what it is.

Jesus himself says, this is what it means, before he rose to the disciples a little bit, in verse 13.

He said, Then Jesus said to them, You can't understand the meaning of this parable.

How will you understand all of the other parables?

It's how important it was.

The farmer plants seed by taking God's word to others.

The seed that fell on the path represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.

The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy.

But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long.

They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word.

The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth and a desire for other things.

So no fruit is produced.

And the seed that fell on the good soil represents those who hear and accept God's word.

And it produces a harvest of thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as has been planted.

Jesus describes these different soils.

The first one, one that is thrown on the footpath, and when that happens, that the birds, Jesus explanation, Satan comes and steals the word of God right from the soil before it can even take any root.

And you know that Satan wants to steal the word of God out of your heart?

Do you know that the enemy wants to steal the word of God out of your mouth, your heart, your life, your family, your home, your children?

That Satan and his helpers, the demons, that they actively want to take the word of God from you that you won't be able to receive it.

How do they do it?

How does this demonic force, how does it work?

Well, I think it works in a lot of ways by distracting us.

Happens on Saturday night before you come on a Sunday morning to hear the Word of God, that all of a sudden, you know, that late night project that you have in the garage, the next Netflix show episode, feeling tired, being distracted, and feeling like those things are more important than hearing and receiving the word of God preached on a Sunday in a small group in relationship with other people.

The enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy you.

But we know the scripture says that greater is he that is within and us Jesus and he who is within the world, Satan.

The birds that come to steal this seed, the enemy wants to keep you distracted.

The enemy also wants to keep you disagreeable.

When you come in on a sunny morning and you already got things in your mind and you're thinking about something that I said that you're mad at me about, the preacher.

Are you mad about this song they played that I don't like that song?

Are you thinking about your boss who said, Hey, I want to have a meeting with you this next week?

And instead of being in a spirit of praise, you're in a spirit of planning right now in the preaching of God's word.

Do you see it?

The word of God trying to be stolen from you.

You can be distracted, you can be disagreeable, you can be darkened.

Sin that you have walking in the room that you feel unworthy, you feel downcast right now, you feel depressed and hurt in a state of not being able to receive God's word.

And in what Jesus says is that there's actively an enemy that wants to steal God's word from taking root in our hearts.

The next kind of soil is the soil that is rocky, is shallow, that the seed takes root, but it doesn't go down very deep, and then the sun scorches the seed.

Boy, there's times in life when we feel scorched, isn't there?

The joy that you once had in following Jesus because of a lack of death.

All of a sudden now problems in life are beginning to come against you, and you're wondering, God, where in the world are you?

I thought when I began to follow Jesus that everything was going to be good now.

That all these plans and enemy that God meant for what man and the enemy meant for evil, that God meant for good, and and now I have these problems.

Now I'm following Jesus and I'm losing some friends because they don't want to hear what I have to say and don't want to be around me anymore.

A girlfriend wants to break up with me now, and the shallow roots it scorches, and what the scripture says is that the plant is wilted, is burned up.

So oftentimes we can come out the gate excited, fired up.

But if we don't have the deep roots, if we don't have the deep roots, we can end up being uprooted, burned, and not understanding what it looks like to truly follow Jesus.

Yeah, because here's the thing.

Jesus never promises us that we begin to follow him that life is gonna get easier.

That it's always gonna be green pastures.

But what does the scripture say?

The scripture says that though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me.

Jesus promises us that in this world you will have trouble.

It's a promise, but take heart, for I have overcome the world, is what Jesus said.

That is when we walk with him, and when the sun is beating down on us and trying to bore trying to burn us, and we're trying to move forward, and we end up getting scorched, Jesus is standing right there with us in the fire.

In the fire.

We don't have deep roots, we throw up our hands.

We say, this isn't worth it.

I thought I was supposed to be happy all the time.

In this world, we will have trouble.

I can guarantee us that in a room this size, and it happens all the time, that one of our families is going through something very difficult, sometimes tragic.

Death, sickness, hardship, hurting, broken relationships.

But is that a reason for us to just throw in the towel?

For us to say, hey, this isn't even worth it?

Or is it for you to realize that Jesus is walking alongside you, helping you get through every single problem, difficulty, persecution on this side of heaven that you could walk into heaven with him one day.

And then there's this soil that the plant goes into, and there's these thorns, there's this thicket, this thistles that end up choking out the plant.

And what does Jesus say?

These are worries, the allure of wealth that leads to no fruit.

You're following Jesus for a while, for a while, but just the worries and the challenges of life, the allure of wealth.

You start thinking like, you know what, it's it's not a big deal if I go to church.

You know, let's just let's just take these weekend trips.

It's no big deal.

You know, you know, I've I found this new way to make money, and it happens on Sundays and on and smaller.

And so, you know what, you know what?

Right now I just need to make more money, God.

You can wait until later.

An allure of wealth.

Will God provide for our every need?

Absolutely, he will.

But you also can be in danger of pursuing and desiring and serving money instead of serving the Savior.

And in doing so, the word of God get choked out and produce no fruit.

What does it look like?

Here's some of the things that the scripture did mean.

What are some things that the scripture doesn't mean?

Does not mean that Jesus is a genie Jesus.

Just waiting to grant us every single thing that we want and ask, whether it's in accordance with Hill's will or not.

That Jesus is just at our beck and call.

Anything that we want, we can just go and use God like a cosmic coke machine.

If I put in the prayers, if I put in the time, if I put in the time, then whatever I want is gonna pop out.

You know, also the scripture doesn't mean it also doesn't mean that we got a guru Jesus, a self-help Jesus.

Because you know what self-help stuff does?

It helps you and nobody else.

Jesus isn't just this guru that's here to help us be healthy, wealthy, and happy all the time, to give us all these little tips and tweaks and talks.

Not just a guru, because it's not just meant for you.

It's meant for others.

Jesus then says that there's a good soil.

There's a fertile soil.

When you have a good soil, when you have a fertile soil, then it ends up reaping a harvest and fruit of thirty, sixty, or a hundred times.

What was planted.

When you're truly following Jesus with deep roots, you'll bear fruit.

You'll bear fruit.

Bear fruit of what?

Being a disciple.

Be in the disciple of Jesus.

And Jesus gives us this last commandment to go therefore and make disciples of all nations.

And this last commandment should be the first commanding in our lives.

That we would be disciples of Jesus walking with him, and in doing so, that it would be an outpouring and overflowing of Jesus in the life, and it's producing a fruit and producing uh this goodness that's all around us because it's it's rooted in the good soil, and in doing so have a 30, 60, or hundred times fold effect.

That when we're following Jesus with deep roots, that we bear fruits, and in doing so, we become multipliers.

We get to be multipliers.

What are we what are we even multiplying?

Well, the first thing we're multiplying is the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5, 22.

But the Holy Spirit Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

There is no law against these things.

The first ever sermon series, anything at Multiply Church was over in the treasury building office space, and we talk through the fruit of the Spirit.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

You want to know why?

Because that's not like values of our church.

That's what it means and looks like to be a follower of Jesus and a Christian.

Faithfulness being one of those.

And so this 100x life that we're leading, it's gonna pour out things like goodness and like joy and like peace.

That when the trials come against us, just like fruit, when you're squeezed, when you're squeezed by life, what's gonna come out?

It's gonna be joy, is it gonna be patience?

It's gonna be peace, it's gonna be faithfulness, faithfulness to God's word, faithfulness to your church, faithfulness to those that you're walking in relationship with, to be disciples of Jesus with, and in doing so, when we pour out that fruit of the Spirit, guess what?

Other people get saved.

Other people get saved.

It leads to a multiplier effect.

The people are experiencing God in you.

We said this a few weeks ago.

Sometimes you're the only Bible that someone will ever read.

Sometimes you're the only expression of Jesus that somebody will ever experience.

Scripture tells us that we're supposed to be ambassadors of Christ, representatives of him.

And what does he call us to and who was Jesus?

My reading plan this week put me past one of my favorite verses.

I don't know, it's getting up there to maybe be a favorite.

Mark 10, 45, for even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many.

Are you the good soil that's producing a hundred X?

When you do, when your life goes out and produces fruit, other people come to repentance and Jesus begin to follow him.

There's a multiplier effect that happens.

Then when you lead one person to Christ, and if those people, then they lead somebody to Christ, by the time you get to the eighth iteration of that, you're at a hundredfold.

In 1934, an evangelist named Mordecai Ham was in a tent rally.

Mordecai Ham, he was born here in Kentucky in Allen County.

He was had several generations of ministers in his family and was called to preach at a young age and kind of put it off and then finally accepted a call for him to preach.

He served in some churches and then began a ministry of going and having revivals.

He came and the first night he sat and knew that the preaching was for him, but he was ignoring it.

He came the second night, knew the preaching was for him, but ignored it again.

He felt like Mordecai Ham was just preaching right to him.

Like his eyes were locked with him, and so on the third night, he decided to, Billy decided to sing in the choir so he didn't have to look at the preacher, didn't have to look at Mordecai Ham while he was preaching.

So he got behind him in the choir, even though he couldn't sing.

Billy Graham gave his life to Jesus.

And y'all don't need me to tell you about the absolute multiplier effect for the kingdom of God, that faithfulness.

For a man you had never heard of, I never heard of, Mordecai Ham.

When Mordecai was 81 years old, Billy Graham brought him on stage, flew him from Kentucky, and brought him on stage in Israeli in San Francisco, in front of thousands and thousands of people.

Thanked him.

Thanked him for spreading the seed that fell on some good soil.

Now will you or I will we be spreading seed and will it fall on the next billigram?

I have no idea.

I have no idea.

But I know this if we're living a life that's not producing fruit because of the deep roots that we have, and the Savior Jesus Christ will never know.

Center in us back, we bring our best to God.

So we can walk in faithfulness as disciples of him and see other people come to know Jesus and then be disciples of him.

The enemy is at work.

He wants to steal, kill, and destroy you and your family.

Satan and his demons want to steal the word from taking root in your heart and your mind on a daily, weekly basis.

Will you, will you, will you, will you have a soft heart that's fertile, that's ready to receive God's word.

Let it take roots, be planted, and pour over for somebody else, multiplying the grace, peace, and love of God here in our church, in our community, and beyond here.

What do you need to do?

What do you need to do to be the good soil?

Are there problems, there are persecutions that you need to put behind you that you need to have the right perspective for?

Are there worries?

Are there desires and pursuits that you need to lay down to the Lord?

And say, God, I'm gonna make your last command for me a first priority in my life.

That I would be a disciple that makes other disciples.

And in doing so, see God do a hundredfold.

Can I pray over you, church?

God, I pray right now over each person who's in the room right now.

God, I pray over the houses and the homes that are represented here, the apartments and the families.

God, I pray against the work of the enemy, Satan and his demons.

They want to steal your word out of the hearts of our people.

God, I pray right now against the enemy.

Bind him.

Lord, that we can walk out the calling and the purpose that you have over our lives in our church.

God, we refuse to be a church that doesn't make disciples.

We refuse to be a church that isn't falling in the fruits of the Spirit.

We refuse to be a church that's not an expression of the multi-ethnic, multicolored kingdom of God.

But instead, Father, we pray, God, that your will would be done.

That we will walk in faithfulness and fruitfulness, love and care for everybody that's in our community.

God, I pray right now over the room, anybody who's in this place, who has heard about Jesus, what you did for them on the cross, and 2,000 years ago, you died in our place, in their place, so that they can receive forgiveness of their sins and walk in right relationship with you here in Sin in Heaven.

Father, I pray today, I pray today, God, that today their heart will be good soil to receive it.

God, that you would begin them on a journey to be changed.

As they follow you, God, in forgiveness and in love, they would be transformed and their children's children and their children's children and their children's children.

Multiplied into the future those who have eternities with you.

Father, I pray right now, Lord, if there's anybody in this room who's not accepted you as Savior, that they would pray, Jesus, save me.

I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, that you are the Son of God, and that you are alive.

Forgive me.

Wash me, Jesus.

So that I can be in heaven with you one day.

I give my life to you as you gave your life for mine.

Thank you for saving me.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Church, will you stand your feet as we respond and worship?