Your Decisions Matter

So every time I preach a sermon, at the very top of the document

where I am writing the message, there are three questions that I

have to answer. And if I have done a good job

preaching at the end of the sermon, if I were to ask you

those three questions, your answers that you give should, If

I've done a good job, this is not about you.

If I've done a good job, should be very close to what I wrote at

the top of the page. I'm going to tell you what the

questions are. The first question is, what do I

want them to know? What do I want you to know?

It might be I want you to know that God's way is the best way

in every area of your life. It could be I want you to know

that a sin or a behavior is damaging your life and damaging

your future. It might be how to overcome a

temptation. Or I want you to know how God

views a marriage or how God sees you.

I want you to know what do I want you to know?

The second question is, what do I want you to feel?

What do I want you to feel? This is all about the emotions

that you experience during a message.

Is Clayton just some angry prophet who's screaming at us

about how bad we are? I try not to do that all too

often. Is Clayton just coming alongside

of us saying, hey guys, we can do this together?

What do I want you to feel? Do I want you to feel encouraged

or maybe a little remorseful? Do I want you to feel empowered?

I want to do this. Do I want you to feel inspired?

I can do this. Or do I want you to feel

equipped, like, let's go, let's get it done.

So much of this comes down to the tone of how I speak to you.

And what I try to do is I try to match my tone with the tone of

the text. I want to do my very best to try

to speak to you the way God is speaking in the text.

So there are times when you are reading a text and it's very

comforting. And I try to have a very

comforting tone. And there are times where it is

super clear and strong. And I try to have a clear and

strong tone. And I don't always get it right,

but there's at least some intentionality behind it that I

thought you should know. But the third question is the

most important question. What do I want them to do?

This is about revealing what God's Word says and doing what

it says. And this question is the most

important question. Hear me.

It is not what you know that makes the difference.

It is not what you feel that makes the difference.

It is what we do that makes the difference and it makes all the

difference. It is in the doing that

everything changes. The knowing and the feeling are

in service to the doing. If we get that reversed, if it

is all about knowledge, we become spiritually obese and

Kingdom useless. If it is all about how you feel,

we have made ourselves out to to be an idol and we are worshiping

ourselves. We are evaluating our church.

We're evaluating the worship. We're evaluating the sermon on

how did it make me feel? But when we focus our attention

on the doing, the only way for us to be a disciple of Jesus is

to do the things that Jesus calls us to do.

The reason I try to put humor in my messages for those of you

like I wish he would just settle down a little bit is because

when I was in Bible college, one of my professors did his

doctorate in the use of of humor during the presentation of

information. And here is what was found that

when people laugh, their defense mechanisms come down.

When we laugh, our mind and our heart re engage in the

information. When we laugh, our retention

goes up. So at the end of a sermon, when

people are talking all about blizzards and ice cream cakes or

how fat I am or whatever, I'm going.

Yeah, but I got you because you remember that I was talking.

Now, I rarely go into the office on Mondays.

I usually stay home and I work on the sermon.

And I work on the sermon until it's done.

And I don't feel it's like a woodpecker because Thursday's

coming. So it's like just get the sermon

done, get the sermon done. Jennifer's talking to me.

I'm like, get the sermon done, get the sermon done, phone call,

get the sermon done, get the sermon done.

All I can think is I got to get the sermon done.

And I don't have a sermon. I might have a speech, I might

have some points, I might have a little devo, but it is not a

sermon until I have answered those three questions and they

are crystal clear in my mind. I am building every message that

I've ever preached to you with the end goal of you doing what

God's Word says because a core belief that I have is God's way

is the best way. How serious are we at the

crossing? Well, every single week we have

a moment in the sermon. You all know what it is where we

say we are moving to a time of decision.

You guys pay attention. Implied in this statement is

that there is something for us to do and we must decide whether

or not we're going to do it. I want to welcome all of you

joining at all of our different locations, whether you're here

at our 48th Street campus or Macomb, Kirksville, 929 Pike

County, Hannibal, Lima, Mount Sterling, Keokuk, Monmouth,

Jacksonville, Weaver inside watching online.

We are so glad that you guys are here.

And today we are concluding a sermon series called Some

Assembly Required. Not all assembly required like a

grill or a smoker. If you've ever put one of those

things together, good grief, it is not no assembly required like

a printer or a trailer, but some turn to your neighbor and say

some, some assembly required. We have something that we are

supposed to do. This is not all on God.

There is a part for us to play, and this series has been part

what we believe is a church, part why we do what we do as a

church, but most importantly, it has been designed to help you

build a meaningful encounter with God.

That's why we've talked about baptism.

That's why we've talked about gathering.

That's why we've talked about communion.

That's why we've talked about worship.

And if you are new to the crossing, I would encourage you

to check out this entire series if you haven't watched it yet.

It will help you get a better understanding of who we are and

what we're inviting you to be a part of.

And you can grab that at all the different places.

I know where the crossing church.

I know where the crossing, but those were all taken.

So you just got to be smart to go here if you want to find

whatever we're whatever we're doing.

It's one crossing. Yeah.

There you go. All right, today we are going to

answer the question that is at the very heart of our church.

It is the thing that we do that when other pastors come and

visit, go. I wish my church did this.

If I had a magic wand, it would be that every church would do

what we do when we do this. Now, there might be some of you

and you might be going, I see you guys do this thing, but I

don't know why we do it. You picked a perfect week to

come to church. You like, man, some of you,

you've been coming here for a little while and you're like,

this is really stinking strange. Some of you have done it and you

don't know why you did it. You just did it.

Some of you have been here forever and you've never done

it, but you've always thought about it.

You might have been here a long time and you've wanted to do it.

You haven't done it, but maybe today will be the day that you

do do it. What are we talking about?

We're talking about coming to the steps to pray now.

So let's just answer the question, why do we have people

come to the steps to pray? It's a great question.

Like why out of all the things that we do, do we have a little

moment where we have people come up here and come to the steps

and pray? Well, I'll tell you in Second

Hesitations, chapter 4, verse 13, we find these words upon the

completion of the sermon. Have the heathens come forward

and bow at the steps. The steps are to be made of wood

and shall be covered in cheap carpet.

Thou shalt have Kleenex and boxes covered in cloth so that

the sinners may wipe their eyes over how bad they are, or more

often, how bad the sermon was. It's in there every like I OK,

now let's say Full disclosure. All right, one that was all

made-up. For those of you who didn't get

the joke, keep coming because we're going to teach you the

Bible. Some of you I said second

hesitations and you're like, that's got to be Old Testament

and I have I'm a New Testament Christian.

Like that's you know, you're you're in the back part of Jose.

You're like, it's in there. It's got to be there.

OK, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen.

This is this is so you got to know this, OK, because I'm

exposing a vulnerability. Having people come to the steps

is not in the Bible. I need you to know that I know

that it is not nowhere, nowhere in the Bible.

One of the favorite things that we do here at our church is not

in the Bible. So when you're talking to

somebody and they say that's not in the Bible, you're going to

say you're exactly thinking, right?

It's in Second hesitations, chapter 4, verse 13.

Coming to the steps is something that we do culturally.

So while the action is not in Scripture, the intentionality

about what happens at the steps is all over the Bible.

Recently at one of our elders meetings, our chairman gave a

devotion and when he was giving the devotion, I start, I flipped

my page over and I started writing all kinds of notes.

Now let me give you unpack this. So our elders are a group of men

who they, their job is to govern the crossing.

They are not paid. They don't get a check for doing

this. I'm the only person who gets a

check for, for doing this. Like they, they don't don't,

they don't get paid. It is a volunteer role.

They pick who's in charge and they oversee our church.

And as a staff, we are answerable to them.

And these guys are in charge of an awful lot.

They oversee making sure that our doctrine is in alignment

with the Scripture, that we're not saying things that aren't in

the Bible. They are the ones who dictate

our mission as a church. You don't get to pick the

mission of our church. I don't get to pick the mission

of our church. Our elders pick the mission of

our church. They are the ones who establish

our core values. They're the ones who say this is

the kind of church we're going to be.

They set and approve our finances.

They're the ones who are in charge of the budget.

They're the ones and what we say yes to and what we say no to.

And they make all of our key decisions.

And we gather once a month and our teams turn in big reports

and they read all 45 pages of all the different stuff that's

happening at our church. And they make the decisions.

And so when we gather before we start making all the decisions

as a church, we spend a little bit of time praying and a little

bit time focusing on the Lord, which would be a good thing to

do for people who, you know, are in charge of running a church.

And he opened his devotion with these words.

We tend to become the decisions we make.

If that statement is true, the more we choose something, the

more we become that something because with each decision we

make, we pick up momentum in the in the direction of that

decision. If we are making decisions to do

the things that move us forward in our relationship with Christ,

as opposed to the worldly things that will pull us away, there is

no way we won't grow spiritually into the person that God wants

us to be. Where we can get ourselves into

trouble. Where we slide backwards is we

want what is right and important, and we know that it's

a good thing, But at the exact same time, we do not commit to

doing the things that we know that will produce in us the type

of Christian life that we want to live and enjoy and that God

called us to be. Who we really want to become is

the result of daily choices that we make.

In other words, the decisions we make end up making us.

Recently I was talking to a guy in our church who had lost a ton

of weight. I was speaking to him from a

position of jealousy and I said, So what have you done to lose

this much weight? And this is what he said

recently or overall it implied a timeline.

Then he began to tell of a decision that he made over a

year ago and then the daily decisions that followed.

You can right now, by looking at me, tell whether or not I am

making daily decisions in the direction of weight loss.

If you have trouble seeing. I ate a Portillo's cake this

week, All right, I wasn't going to eat a piece.

I just brought it home for the family.

But then there were six that nobody took and I was like, I'm

here. Lord, send me, hear me.

One decision did not make that guy lose weight.

That one decision with another decision with another decision

with another decision made all the difference.

Talk to any person who has experienced financial success

and chances are there were a bunch of daily decisions that

led to their financial position. One of our pastors was talking

to one of the staff members we have here at our church, a

really young couple. And for a period of time they

worked a ton of jobs. Like I can't remember if it was

four or seven jobs, but their goal was they wanted to buy a

house debt free. And so there is a couple on

staff at our church in their late 20s, early 30s who have a

debt free home. Getting there required daily

decisions in the direction of their goal.

And people who have an intimate personal relationship with Jesus

would tell you that the depth of that relationship with Jesus did

not occur overnight, but through daily commitments to grow and

walk with Jesus. Knowledge is not the difference

maker. Obedience is.

If knowledge were enough, I would be looking at a room full

of skinny rich people. Don't look around.

Don't. Don't.

Don't be judgy. He's talking about you.

That's why I brought you this week.

You're fat and poor. OK?

I I'm fat and poor, but I'm tall.

OK, that helps. I mean, Can you imagine this

body if it was 5 three? I mean, I'd be around.

I'd roll everywhere I go. Jesus actually addressed this at

the end of his magnum opus, the Sermon on the Mount.

You've heard me teach this a ton of times.

It's one of my favorite verses in all of scripture because it's

also one of the most convicting. Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

This is what Jesus says. Why do you call me Lord, Lord

and do not do what I say? Jesus is looking at this crowd

and he is acknowledging the fact that this is a gigantic

oxymoron. Jesus is saying you call me

Lord, you call me King, you call me Master, you call me the one

in charge, but then you do not do what I say.

If I'm your Lord, if I'm your King, if I'm your master, if I'm

in charge, then you should be doing what I tell you to do.

So you call me Lord, Lord, and you do not do what I say, which

means you are not doing what I say, which means I am not your

Lord, your Master, your King, the one in charge.

Now Jesus, he's such a kind, kind man.

Jesus is such a kind, kind God that after he exposes this to

them, he teaches, he gives them a picture to understand what

happens. This is not hear me.

This is not just about following God.

This is about four our good because he goes on to talk about

two groups of people, those who hear and obey and those who hear

and do not obey. Let's look what happens.

As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them

into practice, I will show you what they are like.

They are like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid

the foundation on rock. When a flood came.

The torrent struck that house. But could you guys say the next

3 words could not shake it? How many of you would like a

life that cannot be shaken? If you didn't want that,

California is a great place to live.

OK, Because it was well built. Why was this house well built?

Why was this house something that could not be shaken?

Two things. They heard the word, they lived

out the word. Let's keep going.

But the one who hears my words and does not put them into

practice is like a man who built the house on the ground without

a foundation. The moment.

The torrent struck that house, it collapsed, and its

destruction was complete. In both examples, they hear the

word of God. Hearing is good.

Hearing is better than not hearing.

Hearing is good. Knowledge is good, but knowledge

without obedience is of little value.

It is what happens after the hearing that makes all the

difference in both examples. Let's first just a second.

I'm not taking, I'm not taking shots.

No emails for just a second. I'm not taking shots.

I just need a way to clarify it. If we were to call the people

who hear and obey Christians and the people who do not hear and

or who do hear and do not obey non Christians, do both groups

go through storms? Yes.

So for anybody who you listen to when you're scrolling, that is

like a health and wealth person that if you fall in love with

Jesus, if your whole life will be up and to the right, that is

a false prophet, an evil teacher, and they will be judged

by God for it. And do not listen to it.

Hear me. When you read the New Testament,

you find out there are all kinds of people who loved Jesus and

their life sucked. It's horrible, bad things

happened. Being a Christian keeps you out

of some storms. It keeps you out of some storms.

If you're a Christian and your spouse is a Christian and you're

both chasing after Jesus, you probably won't have to go

through the storm of divorce. If you are honoring God with

your purity, you probably won't have to go through the storm of

a sexually transmitted disease. There are certain storms that

you will be saved from, but you will not be saved from all

storms. Do Christians get cancer?

Yeah. Do non Christians get cancer?

Yeah. Do Christians have crazy kids?

Oh God. Yeah.

I've heard stories and I don't know any personally.

Do non Christians have trouble with their kids?

Do Christian kids get in fights at school?

Yeah, yeah. They've been listening to their

mom and she said hit them harder.

OK. Do do non Christian kids get in

fight at school? Do Christians lose their job?

Do non Christians lose their job?

Do Christians have to navigate inflation?

Do non Christians have to navigate inflation?

Hold on, hold on, hold on. What's the difference?

When the Christian goes through the storms of life, they've

built their life on a different foundation.

So blow wind, blow rain, come down, waters rise.

Because eventually it will stop raining.

Eventually the wind will stop blowing.

Eventually the waters will recede and I'll still be

standing is a promise for those who hear and obey.

After the storm, after the rain, after the wind, the destruction

is complete. One person hears and obeys and

they dig down deep. They do the work.

They lay their foundation on the rock.

One person hears and does not obey and puts their house on the

surface of the sand. And when the storm comes, one is

saved, one is destroyed. That is why every week at the

Crossing, we make time for people to make a decision.

And hear me not making a decision is making a decision.

Next question. So do you have to go to the

steps to make a decision? No, no, no.

But yeah, let me explain. I believe that there is

something special that happens when you come to the steps to

pray. This is not in the Bible.

This is me. I believe that something special

happens. Sometimes we think about going

to the steps and praying, and we're worried that if we come to

the steps, people, you know, are going to see us.

And we don't want other people to wonder, why are they going up

there? What are they going through?

What did he do this time? I know we have women here, judgy

little women. I know, I know, I know you're

here. I know it.

You guys might remember a long time ago, we did a sermon on

porn. Can you imagine trying to get

people to go to the steps on porn weekend?

Everybody was like, hey, those steps are saying, you know what?

It was one of the most full weekends we had because we asked

people to cover the people that needed it.

So for if you're ever wondering, like, do I go to the steps?

People are going to be looking at me.

Can I just tell you two things? One, nobody's watching.

They're focusing on them and what's going on in their own

life. They're not looking at you,

They're worried about themselves.

Number one, they are. You come to the steps, you get

down your knees, you do business with God.

They're not looking at you #2 they're looking at you.

They are. Let them watch.

You're going forward means that you care way more about what God

is doing in your heart than what other people are thinking.

You're going. I care more about me getting

right with God than what everybody else is wondering.

And if you're not going to cheer me on when I go to the steps,

forget you, because all I want is what God has for me.

If there's any place on planet earth that you should be able to

realize that you're not who you're supposed to be yet, it

should be at a church. If there's any party that's

going, my relationship with Jesus isn't where I wanted to be

yet, it should be OK to raise your hand and say, yeah, that's

kind of me. It should at least be out of

church. If there's any place where you

should be encouraged and cheered on as you try to get right with

God, it should be in the church. And when you move, you give

other people permission to move to.

When you chase after God, you give other people the

encouragement to do the exact same thing.

This is just me talking. When you walk to the steps, it

wages war on your pride. Because pride is what keeps us

from becoming who we are supposed to be in Christ.

Pride is what keeps us from surrendering to Christ.

Pride is what keeps us from repenting of our sins.

Pride is what keeps us from acknowledging our need for Him.

God can't do anything with a prideful heart.

He can't save a prideful person because a prideful person

doesn't need saved. God can't turn things around in

the life of a prideful person because a prideful person sees

themselves as having done nothing wrong.

But God can do anything with a humble heart.

He could do anything with a heart that's craving for him.

He can do anything with a heart that's saying I'm yours, do what

you want. And walking to the steps humbles

us. We are admitting a heavenly

need. We are owning that things are

not right. And there's a promise in

Scripture, James chapter 4, verse 10.

James 4:10

Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.

Sometimes the reason you don't feel lifted at church is because

you were never in a position to be humbled.

It's only when you humble yourself that God goes, all

right, I'll lift you up. If you want to stand on your own

with unbent knees and a straight back, no way to lift that person

up. But when a person gets down and

says, God, I'm chasing after you.

I'm sorry for the areas that I've failed you.

I'm sorry for the areas where I've let you down.

God, it's me again with the same request from last week, and I

still haven't got it all figured out.

You know what God says? I'll take a humble heart and I

will lift it up. In Deuteronomy chapter 30, Moses

Deuteronomy 30 · chapter mention

is giving his goodbye speech to the people of Israel, and his

final words are found in Deuteronomy chapter 30.

Deuteronomy 30 · chapter mention

Moses is in the plains of Moab. Turn to your neighbor and say

Moab, and this is what he says. Now what I'm commanding you

today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.

It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask who will ascend

to heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it.

Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask who will

cross the sea and get it and proclaim it to us so that we may

obey it. No, the word is very near you,

it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may see.

I sat before you today, life and prosperity, death and

destruction. For I command you today to love

the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, and to keep

His commands, decrees, and laws. Then you will live and increase,

and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering

to possess. But if your heart turns away and

you are not obedient, if you are drawn away to bow down to other

gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will

certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the

land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess this day.

I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I

have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.

Now choose life so that you and your children may live, and that

may that you may love the Lord your God.

Listen to his voice and hold fast to him, for the Lord is

your life. These steps are my Moab where I

proclaim to you life and death, blessing and destruction, and

with my whole heart I urge you, choose life.

Walk in obedience. God's way is the best way in

every area of your life. Later Joshua in his farewell

address said this in Shechem. Turn to your neighbor and say,

Shechem, you guys know this. You've all been to Hobby Lobby.

Some of you guys got two of these in your house.

Joshua chapter 24. But if serving the Lord seems

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you

will serve, whether the gods your ancestors serve beyond the

Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites and whose land you are

living. But As for me and my household,

we will serve the Lord. These steps, when you come to

them, they become your Shechem, your place where you choose on

this day that, As for me and my house, will serve the Lord.

Every time we gather together as a church, we get a chance to

choose, and the decisions that we make end up making us.

We're moving to a time of decision at all of our other

locations. I'm kind of excited that I get

this moment with you because it doesn't happen all that often.

Your campus pastors do such a great job, and I don't like

stepping on their air hose and having this moment.

But I really wanted to have this moment with you.

So I know it's less personal because you know I'm not there,

but would you please, would you please lean in?

Other people walk into this church and they see these steps,

but these steps, they're my Moab, they're my Shechem,

they're my Mount Carmel, where Elijah looks out at the people

and he says this in First Kings chapter 18.

1 Kings 18 · chapter mention

Elijah went before the people and said, how long will you

waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him.

But if Baal, if false gods are God, follow him.

This is where you and I get a choice.

Are we going to choose God or not?

Other people, they come to the crossing and they see these

junky steps at all of our locations.

But I see the plane of Dura. Where Shadrach, Meshach and

Abednego said, I'm not bowing to an idol.

I'm not worshiping anybody but Jehovah God.

I'm not worshiping anybody but Yahweh.

And they say, hey, if you don't bow down and you don't worship,

we're going to put you in the fire.

And they said, well, then put us in the fire.

And they said, well, we'll turn up the heat.

And they said turn up the heat. And then they put them in the

fire. They put Shadrach in, Meshach

in, Abednego in. And then they counted.

We put Shadrach in, Meshach in, Abedigo in, but there's four.

We put Shadrach in and Meshach in and Abednego in.

There's a fourth one in the fire.

This is where God meets me in my pain says I will be with you in

what you're going through. You see steps.

I see the plain of Dura. Other people come here to the

church and they see steps. I see Jericho, where I get down

on my knees and I walk around and around and around the

strongholds in my life, believing that one day they will

be victorious. And it's not going to be by my

might, it's not going to be by my strength, but by the power of

the Lord coming down into an area of my life that I cannot

defeat on my own. You see steps, I see Jericho,

you see steps. I see the valley of Eli where

David bends down on one knee and he picks up five smooth stones

and he says it's time to slay a giant.

I get down here on my knees and I go.

I'm tired of this sin. I'm tired.

I'm tired of this giant having control in my life.

I'm tired of him terrorizing my family.

I'm tired of him terrorizing the people I care about.

I get down on my knees here and I pick up my 5 smooth stones and

you and I both know that that's those stones did nothing to

defeat the giant. But boy when you pick up

whatever you got next to you and you give it to God, He could do

a mighty thing through. You see steps, I see the valley

of Elah, you see steps and I see Luke chapter 15 where I pray for

Luke 15 · chapter mention

all the prodigals in my life to come running home.

You see steps, I see the garden of Gethsemane where I get a

model. What my Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ did, He got down on his knees and he prayed God, not my

will, but your will be done. So I get it, steps aren't in the

Bible, but making decisions for him is.

And what is the point of us being here if we're not going to

make decisions in the direction of Jesus?

And so if you're here today and you've never started an intimate

personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if you have not been

obedient in the area of baptism, it is time for you to make a

decision. But remember, not making a

decision is a decision, and the decisions that you make end up

making us. So today, would you make a

decision in the direction of Jesus?

The world has had enough of you. It's time for them to get Christ

in. You give them Jesus.

And so just a few moments all across this region, people are

going to stand and pray. Some of them are going to sing.

Hopefully a lot of them this week are going to come to the

steps and pray. And while they're making their

move, would you make yours? Your campus pastor is going to

be up at some spot in the auditorium, and would you go and

talk to them and say it's time for me to get some things right

with God? To the rest of you, maybe today

will be your very first day where you make these steps, your

steps. Would you stand with me?

God? These people are not my people.

They're your people. I'm not the shepherd you are.

They belong to you. And so, God, I pray that you

would create in US a holy desperation for your presence.

Instill in us the desire to not just make a decision today, but

to make daily decisions in the direction of you.

We are fallen creatures. We're prone to wander.

We're accustomed to failure. And so the only way this happens

is if we have hearts that are turned in the direction of you

that yearn for you. But we can't change a heart God,

only you can. God, I keep aching for me and

this church to become the people that you want us to become.

I keep aching. For us to be able to realize

that this has become the hardest place on planet Earth to get the

hell from. But we are such a long way from

that. But God, with your help and our

obedience, there's no telling what could happen.

God, I know that right now there are people who are thinking all

kinds of things in their head. There's some who are going.

I can't wait to get to the steps.

God, I know there's other people who are going.

I feel like if I don't go to the steps, it's going to be really

weird, and I don't want that for them.

God, I just want our people to be desperate for you.

I just want them to choose you. In your name I pray.

Amen.