Christianity and your heart

Welcome to this week's message from the Church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

And turn with me this morning in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 16.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

If you do not have a worship guide, uh, would you raise your hand, please, so everyone can have a worship guide.

We want to make sure that you have the outline in the worship guide guide.

It's on the back.

And uh I I I love my my outlines.

Because one, it keeps me from rambling too much.

Now I said too much, not every once in a while I'll chase a rabbit if the rabbit needs chasing.

But uh so I do that every once in a while.

But listen, we are it, this is gonna be such an exciting quarter.

I don't want you to miss, I want you to put it down right now.

It's about a month ahead, so you won't miss it.

The last Sunday in February, I think that's the 26th, somebody got a calendar.

Uh, that's Sunday through Wednesday night, right here.

You'll be receiving soon if you get the how many of you get the um Chelsea Inc.

Did a lot of you get the all if you live in Chelsea, Westover, we get, we make sure we send out about 7,500 copies to 75 homes every other month.

You'll be getting the Chelsea Inc.

pretty soon.

Uh, and it will have what's going on in February here, and it's gonna be an exciting time.

The tabernacle.

It's gonna be an in-depth study of the tabernacle.

And I don't know about you, out of all the years I've been in ministry 35 years, I really never even preached on the tabernacle.

Uh I don't know why I haven't, but I just haven't.

Uh but I my best friend, one of my closest preacher friends, Dr.

Randy Spencer, you met him in the community wake up.

He preached that Sunday morning and Wednesday night.

He's coming in, he's done an in-depth study on the tabernacle, and he did this at his church, and he just recently retired.

Uh well, he didn't retire, but he resigned his church.

Uh, and now he's going around doing itinerant evangelism and Bibles uh conferences, really.

He's a tremendous man of God, very uh just unbelievable.

He and I worked together for about five and a half years at Liberty University.

He had uh God used him really to help me build the church ministry training center at Liberty University and through the seminary and undergrad there at Liberty.

So, and you you remember he and his wife Lynn, they're coming in, and here's the exciting thing.

When he did this at his church, he had some men in his church actually bill the furniture that goes in the tabernacle.

And they went for a week, and then they ended that week as, and it was tremendous, he said, and we're gonna do it here.

What we're gonna do Sunday through Wednesday is gonna be uh five or six, I think five messages, or maybe six uh messages on the tabernacle that he's done.

And then on Thursday, we're gonna come in here and need some of you men to come over that act that evening and help us.

We're gonna turn this area here, the sanctuary, into the tabernacle.

And then on Friday night, it'll be our prayer time for the month, like we did.

And we had about 70 plus folks come to our prayer Sunday night.

It's gonna be our prayer night.

Well, instead of doing that Sunday night, we're gonna do it on Friday night, and there'll be assigned times for us, and we will literally walk into the tabernacle, and we will have prayer time and the significance of each of the of the furniture pieces of furniture in the I get goosebumps thinking about it, and so you're literally gonna experience the tabernacle right here on that Friday night.

So it is going to be uh a week that you don't want to miss, and you'll be reading about, you can go to Exodus 24 and different passages there and start reading about the tabernacle, and it's gonna be an exciting time.

So you don't want to miss that.

I'm I'm telling you, it's gonna be when he told me, I got excited just uh looking at the picture of the tabernacle again.

So that's gonna be taking place at the end of February.

So you don't want to miss that.

Matthew chapter 16.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

We started this new year with a series called Living Out Your Christianity.

In fact, what we said was working out your Christianity.

And Sarah did a fantastic job.

The the label or the portrait of this series had had a like five or six hundred pounds there with weights, and and it had working out, working out your Christianity.

And we took those, uh, that really the passage in Philippians 2 where he says, work out your your salvation with fear and trembling in Philippians 2.12, and what we made sure that we what this find and distinguish right up front.

It's not talking about working to be saved, because in Philippians chapter 1, he already tells us and knows that the church at Philippi, the Christians, they were Christians and they were saved.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

So what it means though, once you see here, let me put it this way: you don't, hey, get better to get saved, you get saved to get better.

Can I get an amen?

And once you get saved, then you, hey, you have salvation.

Now you work out that salvation that's in you through the person of the Holy Spirit.

And so my whole purpose is, and what we've been looking at, is how do we work out that Christianity in everyday life, practically speaking?

And we've looked at Christianity and and hey, your life, Christianity and your faith.

And today we're going to be looking at Christianity and your heart.

Christianity and your heart.

And in Matthew chapter 16, verse 21, Jesus is, he's been really just uh, you know, teaching the disciples and training the disciples, and now he's about to tell them that he is going to the cross to be crucified and hey, die for their sins.

Matthew 16:21

Now you got to understand something.

He's been trying to tell them, he's been giving them principles about why he had come and what he had to do, but they have not understood it.

They have not, in fact, they hadn't even thought about it.

Because that was not what they wanted.

You know what the problem with a lot of us is?

When God's trying to tell us his will for our life, we don't hear him because that's not what we want.

O me?

O me?

And that's exactly what Peter did.

In fact, look at what Jesus says.

In this setting, teaching the disciples, he says, now, then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

He says, You can't tell him who I really am, because well, once he knew they weren't going to believe him anyway.

But he says, you can't tell them.

And then he says, and see, that that was kind of going against what they thought, because you've got to remember in their mind, they wanted him.

They thought he was the Messiah, he was the king, he was gonna come up.

Hey, he had come down from heaven, he was gonna set up an earthly kingdom, he was gonna be the ruler, they're gonna do away with the Roman tyranny, do away with all that kind of persecution, and then they were gonna rule with him and have high positions with him in his kingdom on earth.

That was their thinking.

That's what they were hoping for, that's what they were desiring.

They didn't have a clue or really didn't even care what God wanted for them.

And you see, but those are the disciples.

How can that be?

It's called the flesh.

Amen.

Amen.

How many of you know the flesh is pretty powerful?

Some of you didn't raise your hand, that means you're not listening.

I said, How many of you know that the flesh is powerful?

Let's get them all up twice.

Amen.

That's better.

So Jesus is saying, hey, you you don't understand, and then verse 21, he knocks, he just pulls them.

Bam.

And he says, from that time forth, in other words, after he said, All right, you can't tell anything, I'm fixed to tell you, I'm I'm fixing to tell you what I'm gonna do, and you can't tell anybody because this they wouldn't believe it, and they wouldn't understand it, but this is why I have come.

In other words, he said, This is really why I have come.

It's about two and a half years, almost three years he's been with the disciples.

This is kind of coming to the end before he goes to the cross, and here's what he says.

From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he, I want you to underline a little word if you underline your Bible or write it on your outline.

Must.

The little word must.

Most people read over it so quickly they don't understand how important the must is.

He must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed.

Uh-oh.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

And then, in fact, they never get past the must and the killed to hear the greatest part and the greatest benefit of why he came, and that's the end of the verse.

And be raised again the third day.

Can I get an amen?

The must, there are must divine statements in the Word of God.

In fact, remember when Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, he said, You must be born again.

You must be born again.

There are divine must statements in the Bible.

And this is definitely a divine must.

Jesus said, I must.

I must go to the cross.

Jesus told Nicodemus, you must be born again.

See, it is a terrible act of rebellion for us to ignore the must statements of God.

That's what it is.

And we see that in Peter.

Now look, watch Peter.

Instead of Peter getting excited, I meant almost three years.

I mean, he's been training them, teaching them to be like him, and this is what we do.

We're witnesses, and we're to share the good news to everyone.

I mean, they just totally let it go right over their heads.

Notice what Peter says next.

Then Peter says, This is pretty bad.

Then Peter took him.

In other words, grabbed him by the arm, brought him to the aside, and here's what he said.

And Peter took him and began to rebuke him.

Time out.

Let me advise you.

Let me advise us.

There's one thing we don't want to do, and that is to rebuke the Lord.

Amen.

Hey, you don't have the qualifications nor the authority to rebuke the master.

But he rebuked him.

And notice what he said.

Man, this is unbelievable.

Saying, be it far from thee, Lord.

This should not be unto thee.

In other words, he said, hey, hey, wait a minute, Lord.

No, you can't do that.

Don't you understand?

You're supposed to set up a kingdom.

You're supposed to get rid, hey, get rid of the Roman tyranny.

You're supposed to set up a kingdom and thus rule with you and make everything happy so that we can live happily ever after.

Wow.

Now, I don't know about you, but one, I'm not gonna grab the Lord and pull him to the side and then try to tell him what to do.

But how many of us have done that in our own way?

Come on, let's be honest.

How many of us, when we know God's told us to do something, and we don't pull him on the side and say, no, I'm not gonna do that because we're not that dumb.

But you know what?

We just ignore it.

We avoid it, we ignore it.

Or we say, we'll get around to it.

Same difference, folks.

Same thing.

When Jesus says, you must be born again, you've got to be saved.

When he says you must be a disciple, you've got to grow in the Lord.

You must share your faith, you need to share your faith.

You must be faithful to a church, you need to be faithful to a church.

These are things that he's told us that we must do.

And for us to ignore them is outright rebellion against God.

Now we don't like to hear that either.

But that is, and by the way, outright rebellion to God is rebuking God.

Can we all say oh me together?

Oh me.

Oh me.

I know, hmm.

So, with that said, that's the introduction.

What does it mean to be a Christian?

If we're gonna, and by the way, but what wait, look, look what he said.

This is good.

And then Jesus said unto the disciples, well, first of all, look at verse 23.

But he turned and said unto Peter, get thee behind me, Satan.

Thou art, hey, an offense unto me, for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those things that be of men.

In other words, he says, You're not thinking like God, you're not thinking like me, you're thinking like fleshly men, like the world.

You're doing what, hey, you're thinking what you want, not what I want.

Now, watch this.

Here, this is powerful, folks.

So, what he's saying is when we ignore and rebel against the must of God, his divine must, when he tells us to do something, we are, hey, allowing Satan to hinder what God wants.

Now, watch this.

That's Satan's purpose anyway, isn't it?

So you mean to tell me that me just being disobedient to what God asked me to do is hindering what God wants?

Absolutely.

It does.

Majorly.

I meant that the Lord nailed him.

Now watch what he does.

He never corrects someone in the Word without telling him, then, what he ought to do.

He corrects Peter, and then he says, and here's the heart of the message this morning in this one verse, verse 24.

Then said Jesus and his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

Luke says, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

So that's the heart of how to experience the heart of real Christianity is found right here in this one verse.

If you and I are gonna live out our Christianity, it's found right here.

He tells us.

It's really three little simple things.

It's so simple you we miss it.

But I want to start out by asking a question then what does it mean to be a Christian?

Most people really don't understand that.

Most people think if you join a church, you're a Christian.

Most people think if you're baptized, you're a Christian.

Most people think that if you tithe, you're a Christian.

Some think if you're confirmed or baby confirmation, you're a Christian.

I mean, they think that it's about doing something instead of being something.

That's the difference.

People think you must do something to be a Christian.

You don't do anything to be a Christian.

You live what your Christian, hey, what your Christian heart really is.

You don't do something, you live it.

Can I get an amen?

That's very important.

So many people fail and they get discouraged because they're trying to do it instead of doing it in the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

So, now with that said, but wait, not everyone who claims to be a Christian is one.

There's a lot of different religious organizations that have their criteria for you to be a Christian.

And they're all based on a work salvation, not a grace salvation.

Big difference.

And I'm not going to call names.

I could list them.

There's a lot of false religions out here.

And let me tell you how it's easy how to easily define a false religion.

Ask them two questions.

Two questions.

Who do they think Jesus is?

If they can't tell you that he's the Son of God, hey, stay away.

Secondly, what do they think the Word of God is?

Those two questions.

That's all I got to do.

Well, do you think it's inspired of God?

Do you think it was written by God?

Do you think it is God?

In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

If they say, well, it's a good book, stay away.

It's not a good book, it's the book.

Amen.

Hey, I can call them real quick.

What do you do?

Who's Jesus and what do you do with the book?

The B I B lee, that's the book for me.

Amen.

Because it's inspired of God.

So that's all you gotta do.

So the answer to the question, what does it mean to be a Christian?

Look, hey, let's look at one.

Well, first of all, let's look at the word Christian.

Go to Acts 11, 26.

That's where it's first mentioned.

The answer, the question of what does it mean to be a Christian, the word Christian itself explains itself.

This word literally means it's Christy, and let me make sure I it's Christianos.

Christionos.

And it literally means a follower of Christ.

Another way of putting it, and I like this one, it means the Christ one.

In other words, it literally means to be like Christ.

The Christ one or one who is like Jesus.

That's what it means.

That's what the word means.

Now, when they when the when the uh Jews used this term for the Christians at Antioch, they used it as a contempt term.

In other words, they were trying to make them feel uh unworthy.

They were trying to make them feel ashamed.

In other words, it was a belittlement for them to be called Christians.

But what they don't realize, what they used, the word, was exactly what Christ wanted, if it was lived out.

It means to live like Christ.

That's what it means.

And my first question I ask myself as I'm working on this message and I'm asking our church, how much of Christ do people see in you every day?

And not just in the good times, but especially in the bad times.

How much of Christ's likeness do they see in us?

Because that's exactly what they're talking about.

See, going to a church, joining a church cannot make you a Christian.

Calling your organization a Christian organization does not make it a Christian organization.

You living out Christ's likeness makes it a Christian organization.

You living like Christ makes you a Christian.

Amen.

So in this passage, Jesus is talking to his disciples about his impending death.

He is immediately rebuked by Peter, and then he uses this opportunity to teach him.

Teach Peter and the disciples about the heart of real Christianity.

Now let's look at it.

Let me just show you something about Peter, though.

Because I I wrote these little notes to me.

One, because I don't want to be the wrong Peter.

I want to be the right Peter.

Can I get an amen?

You know why I love Peter?

He's so much like me, it's scary.

My wife will tell you.

I mean, he is so, he's more opposite to the beloved John.

You got Peter and the beloved John.

They are entirely.

In fact, I sometimes I feel like that's me and Susan.

I'm Peter.

She's the beloved John.

Oh, really?

No, no doubt about it.

John's loving, kind, merciful, uh, thinks through, very analytical, very smart, just calm.

Peter's over here.

Ha! Yes! Charge! Grab the sword.

Cut off Malcolm's ear.

There's one against 500.

Those are not good eyes, the odds to be swinging a sword.

I meant, here's another illustration.

Peter.

There's a cliff.

Trying to get the other side.

What does Peter do?

Leaps and says, now where do I land?

The beloved John comes over.

Yes, I think that's where we need to jump, right over there.

Peter's in the air.

Uh-oh.

That's the difference.

So I love Peter.

You know why I love Peter?

Bless God.

If Peter can make it, I can make it.

Amen.

I look at John and all those guys and say, oh, I don't have jackets.

But when I go back to Peter, I say, man, I can make it.

I can make it.

Because listen, he refused God's will.

He thought he knew better than God.

Can I get a know me?

He insulted the Lord in a rebuke by rebuking him.

Third thing, Peter embraced a crossless mission.

He had a crossless theology.

Jesus said you're going to have to take up the cross.

He didn't want to take up any cross.

Hello?

And then look what else?

He had a man-made theology.

Number four, Peter was a stumbling block.

And then number five, Peter's thinking was of the flesh, not of the spirit.

Now that I wrote to me because I'm so much like him.

And those are the things that I don't want to be.

Can I get an amen?

And we don't have to be.

And Peter learned his lesson.

So, with that said, I want to leave us with three things this morning.

Three simple steps.

How to experience the heart of real Christianity.

I want to point out three simple steps.

Just it's so plain and simple we miss it.

That Jesus gives to us in this one verse, verse 24.

If we hear his voice and heed his words, then we can experience this dynamic Christian life that can be lived through us.

Amen?

Number three things we got to do.

Number one, we must find our hearts.

We must find our hearts.

Look at verse 24.

If any man will come after me, Jesus and Jesus alone is to be the heart of all we do and of who we are as believers.

Amen.

Number one, the heart of all we do and of who we are as believers has to be centered in on Jesus.

The Old Testament prophet put it this way: My eyes are fixed on thee, O God.

In thee is my trust.

It was all about Him.

Jeremiah 29, 13.

I think it's maybe it's listen for I know the thoughts they think toward me.

It's Jeremiah 29, 13.

And here's what he says: You shall seek me and find me when you shall search for me with all your heart.

It's not Jeremiah 29, 11, it's Jeremiah 29, 13.

And then he says in Psalms 139, 23, 24, Search me, O God, know my heart.

Try me, know my thoughts, see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting.

Do you get up in the mornings?

The first thing you ask the Lord is, oh Lord, search me.

Know my heart.

Know my thoughts.

Lord, give me right thoughts today.

Lord, give me compassion today.

Give me a good attitude.

I am tired of, I am tired and sick of stinking attitudes in Christians.

And that's including me.

Amen.

I mean, we ought to be the most vibrant, most dynamic, most shining people of all.

In this unbelievable political things that's going on, we ought to be showing the most love, being the kindest, and just letting people know, hey, that we're Christians.

And Christians don't act like that.

Amen?

They don't.

If we're going to experience, the second thing I see, if we're going to experience the power of real biblical Christianity in our lives and in our church, then we're going to have to find out our heart, and this simply means, B, that we've got to find out what makes us tick.

Amen.

What makes us tick?

And we can begin this process by asking a couple of questions.

This is good, folks.

Why are you here today?

That's question number one.

Why are you here?

Expectations.

What did you expect to get when you came here today?

Did you expect to come and to be, hey, taught the word of God?

Did you expect to come and as Benji and the praise team led us in worship, to worship God in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeketh, such to worship Him?

Did you come here saying, God, I need to be, I need to be encouraged, God?

I need to be taught.

God, I want to learn how to be more like you today so that when I leave, I can be a better Christian.

Or did you just come today because you're supposed to?

Or did you just come today to be seen?

Young people kind of bad about that.

Just thought.

I love guys.

I love you.

A lot of churches they go just to show off their new clothes and the new cars.

Ooh, I shouldn't have said that.

Hello.

Did you see so and so?

No, I didn't see so-and-so.

Did you see what they were driving?

No, I didn't see what they're driving.

You didn't see that?

No.

My eyes were fixed on him.

I didn't come to see who's got the latest, best new car, best dress, best.

I came to see Jesus.

Amen.

I know.

One thing about this church, we got, you can drive up in a Cadillac, you can drive up in a T-model.

We don't care.

Amen.

It's not about the ride.

It's about hey, it's about the relationship.

Amen?

And hey, did you come because it's your duty?

Did you come because it's a habit?

Or did you come because you love your church?

Woo! That's pretty good.

Psalms 26.8.

Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where thy honor dwelleth.

Woo! That's a good verse.

Write it down, Psalms 26.8.

I like Psalms 84.10.

Benji, there's a song we need to learn.

And it's, we used to sing this at Liberty University a lot.

Heather will remember this.

A day in thy courts is better than a thousand.

Hey, one day in your courts is better than a thousand in the world.

And I'd rather be a doorkeeper.

That's why I like to stand at the door.

I'm a doorkeeper.

Somebody said, What do you do at your?

I'm a doorkeeper.

Amen.

I'm a doorkeeper.

I'd rather be a doorkeeper at the house of God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

I'm warming up for my job.

Hey, I'm gonna be a doorkeeper in heaven, and I already know.

I'm gonna be the one you're gonna receive me first.

I'm gonna say, welcome to heaven where Jesus is awesome.

Our place isn't only place anywhere near our place like our place.

I'm glad you hear at our place.

Woo! Hello, baby.

I'm ready.

Come on in.

Amen.

Doorkeeper, baby.

Doorkeeper.

I'm ready.

I'm ready, baby.

I'm ready.

Amen.

Love the Lord and desire to worship him.

There's only one valid reason to attend church.

And you will always benefit from coming.

But we all need to reach the place where he is the sole reason we attend.

You come to CCW because you want to meet with him and hug my neck, second.

Amen.

That's it.

Second question.

Why does the church exist?

Good question.

Good question.

Churches exist for a lot of reasons.

Too often they exist for the wrong reasons.

And that's true.

But there's three valid reasons.

It's very simple.

A church exists.

Ready?

This is good.

The only reason why this church, CCW, was formed, God is my witness, God in my heart, when David and Christy and Susan and I started praying and thinking about this church.

And when we went through the class, and we're fixing to meet with five families here in a couple of weeks to take them through the process that we went through so that our association can approve them or not approve them.

We've gotten a little tighter on qualifications for us to support a church planner because we've seen so many fail.

And you know why?

You know why a lot of people fail?

They don't understand what the church is for.

Can I tell you something?

Starting a church is not, should not be started because your feelings got hurt in another church, so you're gonna go out and do them in another place.

Amen.

Too many churches like that.

Or we're gonna start a church so we can do it my way.

A lot of churches like that.

Are we gonna do it?

We're gonna start a church because this is my family.

Family churches.

Woo! Lord.

Don't get a family church.

You go in there and you don't understand which family's running that thing, you can get in trouble real quick.

In fact, I've had them tell some of my preacher boys, we were here before you got here, we'll be here when you pack.

Wrong reason, folks.

Wrong reason.

And that's what they are dead churches.

But why are we here?

Number one.

Three reasons.

Number one, to exalt our Savior, to exalt the sovereign Lord.

Look at John 4, 23, 24.

Here's why we're here.

But the hour has come, and now is when true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

We have come to worship God.

Amen.

We are here to worship him, to sing praises to him.

That's why it's important for you to sing and to participate.

We believe in participatory worship, praising him, singing praises on him.

And I love verse 24, for God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.

You have the spirit of worship, then you have the spirit of truth being taught through the word of God.

And those are who we are: vibrant worship and clear biblical truth.

Those are two of our key foundational pillars in this church.

Very important that you understand.

But that's why we come.

Hebrews 13, verse 15 and 16, he says, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.

Hebrews 13:15

That is the fruit of our lips.

And then, but to do good and to communicate, forget not, for, hey, forget not, for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased.

God is well pleased when we worship him.

Can I get an amen?

That's why.

Do you realize when you miss the opportunity during the week, whether it's on Wednesday night or Sunday morning, and we only do, we try to keep it simple, come together to worship him with your family and with your the congregation.

Do you realize you miss something special every Sunday you miss?

I got upset when I couldn't, when the thing started and I couldn't watch the rest of the service last week.

I wanted to worship with you, even though I was not here.

I made it, hey, hey, I made an appointment.

I wanted to be there.

See, you and I control our schedules.

Well, no, my schedule controls me.

Well, you got a problem.

Now I know there's exceptions sometimes, but not all the time.

You say, yeah, but I have to work all the time to make me work over time.

Most of the time it's because you want the money.

Hello.

I understand.

I understand.

Number two, to edify and equip the saints.

That's why the church is here.

Look at what he says in verse 11, Ephesians 4, 11 through 16.

Beautiful passage.

And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.

Why?

Verse 12.

For the perfecting, the maturing, the growing up of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for, hey, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Wow.

That's why we come together.

That's why we believe in, hey, in clear biblical truth.

We come to equip.

That's why you get involved in Sunday school.

You get involved in service.

Hey, hey, find a place to work, whether it's the kitchen, washing dishes, cooking, uh, working in a nursery.

Thank God we got a lot of adults down there right now doing the children's ministry, doing the nursery.

Thank God for them.

They're using their giftedness and their talents.

In other words, and sometimes, well, hey, it may not be a giftiness, but it's a need, and you're meeting the need.

There's a need to change the diapers.

I'm just not called to do that.

I have.

Not many, but I have.

So it's important that you understand that.

That's why we come.

You come to be, hey, taught and learn what your giftedness, your talents are, and use them.

Some of you can be involved in the ministry here.

You could be playing instruments, you could be singing, you could be doing something.

Set up, take down, and you do.

And there's nothing more sweet and precious when we set up and take down, and I'm watching y'all doing that.

Most of the time I'm counseling or talking to some people.

That's what I love about our fellowship.

And I get to meet more needs in an hour and 20 minutes during a lunch hour than any other time because I it's one-on-one time.

But I'm watching.

I'm always watching.

You'll never know when I'm watching, but I'm watching how God's using you as you take down uh chairs and put them up and put them down.

And and and and when the boys, uh the boys' homes here, Chuck and Dick and watch those young men, how they work and and orderly in the homes, they're helping us wash the dishes.

You don't know in my heart how I am just saying thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

But let me tell you, there's somebody else that's doing it a lot louder than Pastor Danny.

But I do care.

I do appreciate you, every one of you, but Jesus cares more.

Five seconds to put a chair up or help put a table.

But you're serving God and you're helping people.

It is.

That's what it is.

Intimate fellowship.

That's what it's all about.

That's one of our key core values.

So again, it's so important.

And then the third thing to evangelize sinners.

That's why we're here.

Look at what he says in Matthew 28, verse 19 and 20.

Matthew 28:19

Ye therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.

That's why we're here.

It's called the Great Commission to go out into the community with our life and death tracts and share the gospel.

I had so much fun yesterday.

I I was uh I shared the last couple of days, Friday and Saturday mornings, I was at the Y, and I always love the steam room for two reasons.

One, it really does help my sinuses, but I really get to preach in that steam room.

Especially if I preach on hell.

It's hot.

But I always start a conversation.

Always.

And most of the time they start it with me.

What do you do?

I'm a pastor.

Oh, where are your pastor?

CCW.

And then once they ask me that, it's over.

I'm gone.

Like, phew, I'm nil.

I'm in, boom, I'm coming.

But I they talk about all these young couples that are moving into our area.

It was a police officer in in uh Birmingham, and a young couple just moved into Chelsea Park.

We gotta do a we gotta do another blitz in Chelsea Park.

It's time with the ice cream truck.

Take a couple of siders all go out there and just knock on doors and say, here, go get a free ice cream.

That's all I gotta do.

Don't say a word, just knock on doors.

Say, hey, we're here from CCW to give you a free ice cream.

That's all free?

Hey, they don't hear, once they hear free ice cream, what?

It's it's over.

In fact, this this police officer, uh uh, it was so funny, his name's Zach.

He said, I I told him CCW, and he said, CCW, do y'all have an ice cream truck?

I said, yes, we do.

He said, Y'all are doing a great.

He talked about being at the at the school with ice cream and all.

He said, yeah, he said, I told my wife, we need to go visit that church because what they're doing.

Uh, and just tell what they're doing.

You shall receive power out the Holy Ghost has come upon you.

You shall be witnesses of me in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and to the other most parts of the world.

That's what it says, Acts 1.8.

Go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature.

Mark 16, 15.

Now, you can go to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

You know, I preached through that when we first started this church.

But you can see all three of those purposes spelled out in verses 38 through the end of the chapter in chapter 2.

You'll see the early church was to exalt the sovereign Lord, to edify and equip the saints, and to evangelize the lost.

That's it.

That's the purpose of the church.

Now listen.

If you're part of a church, if you're part of church where people aren't getting saved, something's wrong.

Amen.

Right.

Amen.

Something's wrong.

They're not doing their purpose.

If you are part of church and they're not trying to edify you and build you up and comfort you and to equip you, then something's wrong.

And why am I so excited about God to allowing SERPRO now to give us, to let us use the other part of this uh SERPO training center?

Man, we got a children's church we're building.

It's gonna be awesome.

We're gonna have uh study Bible study classes.

We're gonna have us talking to Keith and looking at a this week on a refrigerator.

We're gonna we're gonna be a place to help feed people, clothe people right here on the east side for our association.

I'm telling you, folks, it's getting excited of what we're gonna do, what we're gonna be able to do to this community.

That's why we're here.

That's why we're here to help people and bring them to Christ.

Listen, Jesus, you don't know how important this feeding people really is, folks.

I'm gonna tell you.

I had somebody tell me twice this week are you ready for this?

Two reasons why they first came to this church was they got a brochure and it saw that we feed.

Every week, and they said, Well, you know what?

Now listen, this is not funny.

They were about out of food.

And they came because they needed to eat.

And God got their hearts.

And they've been here ever since.

Can I get an amen?

Can we give God a clap offering?

That's why we do it.

That's why we do it, Jesse.

That's why we do it.

No other reason.

No other reason.

Everything we do.

When we get out there and kick that soccer ball, when we shoot that, and when we, when we, whatever we're gonna do, we're gonna do a lot.

But whatever we do, it's for the purpose of bringing people to Jesus.

That's why we do it.

No other reason.

That's why we do it.

All people that I might read some.

Why do you think I wear this Jesus awesome band?

It never comes off except to give it to somebody else.

And I put one right back on.

That's why we do it.

And then notice the third thing, see.

When the call said, come after me, is issued by Jesus, it registers differently depending upon the condition of the heart.

To the lost person underneath your see, it says, be saved.

Ezekiel 36, 26 says that God gives us a new heart.

Gives us a new heart, gives us a new spirit.

Wow, I love it.

I love it.

Romans 10 10, for with the heart man believes unto righteousness.

With the mouth, confessions made unto salvation.

To the saved person, it means to be sold out.

Sold out, radically sold out.

Jesus can refocus our hearts so many times.

In fact, I think I have it up there.

Jason.

Revelation is chapter 2.

Isaiah 2 · chapter mention

The church at Ephesus.

And by the way, let me say this.

To the lost person, it says, be saved.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, of some men count slackness, but is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance.

Amen.

But to the saved person, it means sold out.

Jesus, hey, hey, listen.

The church at Ephesus.

Unto the angel of the church at Ephesus, right?

These things saith that, hey, he, that's Jesus, holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.

Those are the seven churches.

And he's going up and I'll read it.

And then he goes on and he says, verse two, he says, I know thy works and thy labor, thy patience, and how thou cannot bear them which are evil, and how thou hast tried them which say they're apostles and are not, and has found them liars.

Okay.

Next verse.

And has borne and has patience, and for my name's sake has labored and has not fainted.

Alright?

And then he says, Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left their first love, verse 5.

Now here's the key.

Here's the verse I'm going to use.

Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I will come into thee quickly and remove the candlestick out of the place.

Now watch this right there on verse 5.

What happens?

He's talking about when you lose that first love, he's talking about honeymoon love.

Remember your honeymoon?

Two of us did.

Well, y'all had a real good honeymoon, didn't you?

You've been married too long.

Hey, remember the honeymoon?

Remember the honeymoon?

It's okay, okay.

You gotta work on it, Darren.

You gotta work on it, son.

Okay, okay.

But but that excitement, that, that, that, that joy, that you couldn't wait.

You couldn't be waiting to be with him.

You couldn't wait to talk to them.

You couldn't wait to text them.

You couldn't wait to message them.

You couldn't wait.

You couldn't wait.

Let me put it this way.

It doesn't mean now, like if you see it's your wife calling her to text, and you say, uh, I'll call her back.

That's not honeymoon love.

Hello.

Darren's over there.

You won't have to eat on out the door here in a minute.

But but but but think about it.

You know what I'm talking about?

Well, that happens with a Christian.

You've been saved so many years, and all of a sudden it gets it gets routine, it gets, you know, gets a little old or stubborn, well, maybe not old, but a little stale is a better word.

There's not that passion, that pathos.

And that pathos, hey, comes from ethos in God, from Logos, the word.

It subsides.

Well, he's saying, hey, hey, and they were doing everything right.

They were the outstanding church, if you read the first four verses.

But he said, whoa, I mean, they were against false teachers, they were doing good works, they had it all going, but there was no pathos, there was no fire.

And here's what he said.

He said, You better remember.

You better remember that honeymoon.

And then notice what he says.

Go back to verse 5 for me, Jason.

He says, remember.

Remember that first love.

From whence you've fallen, that first love.

Remember it.

Oh, how exciting it was, how joyful it was, how oh, encouraging it was.

And then remember three R's.

Repent! Repent of that sin, that nonchalant attitude, or or that, and really it's sin that causes that.

And do the first words or else, in other words, repent.

Hey, remember and then repeat.

Go back to that honeymoon and start doing the things you did in your honeymoon time.

Excited about it, reading your Bible every day, witnessing every day, being faithful to church and Sunday school, a wana, a youth, being faithful to your family devotions and praying together and reading the word together, being faithful.

That's what he's talking about.

Because he says, if you don't, I will remove the candlestick out of the place.

In other words, his power, his protection, his persevation.

Hey, everything that Christ is to you, now you've just quenched and grieved the Spirit, He's no longer obligated.

That's powerful.

Powerful.

Quickly.

Two other things.

Number two, we must focus our heart.

Jesus calls his disciples to come after him.

You know what that means?

Spiritual desire.

This this just really feeds what I just said about going back to your first love.

Hey, Jesus calls his disciples to come after.

That's that spiritual desire.

If we're really in love with him and he is the central love of our hearts, there will be a desire to be with him and to be, hey, where he is.

We need that hunger and that thirst.

I love what he says.

Oh, and he says it so powerfully in it uh, look at it.

Psalms 42, verse 1 and 2.

Psalms 42:1

This is it.

This is what he's asking us to have.

He says, Does your heart, what, pant after the deer in the water brook?

Does it pant?

Does it beat?

Does it thirst?

Does it hunger?

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled, Matthew 5, 6.

I hunger.

I can't wait to get to church.

Had a sweet lady called me yesterday.

She said, Pastor Danny, is the van coming?

I said, Well, I yes, I hope it's good.

I said, Well, and she, and I said, Well, just here, here's Slay's number.

You call him.

I said, because we got a little mix up here about whether we come or not come.

And I she said, but here's what she said.

It just has rung in my heart.

She said, because I need to be fed.

I'm hungry.

We got to be in church.

I thought to myself, is that not hunger?

Yes, that's what it's about.

That's why we do the van ministry.

A thirst, a spiritual desire.

Didn't notice what else he says.

For the disciples of Jesus, this he says, follow me.

He meant forsaking everything else.

Forsaking, that's what denying self means.

Forsaking everything else.

Remember, Jesus told, hey, the rich man, oh, the young rich ruler, not just the rich man, but the young rich ruler, he came after him.

He said, Oh, Father, what must have done?

I've done this.

He said, You gotta do that.

I've done that, da da da da.

I've done that, I've done that.

We went through the litmus list and he said, I've done all those things.

He said, This one thing you haven't done.

Go sell everything you got.

Come follow me.

He said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

What?

Why have I got to do that?

Because he knew that his sin was covetousness.

God knows our hearts.

God knows our hearts.

You can't, you can't, you can't deceive him.

You can deceive me, but you can't deceive him.

I can deceive you, but I can't deceive him.

And that's what he's talking about.

Your focus gotta be totally him.

It's Matthew 6, 33, seek ye first the kingdom of God, his righteousness.

Listen to what David said.

Psalms 108, verse 1.

Psalms 108:1

He said, Oh God, my heart is fixed.

Listen to what he said.

One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to, hey, inquire in his temple.

Paul put it this way: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which are before I pressed or the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in and through Christ Jesus.

You can you can just see that earning desire.

You've watched the Olympics and you've watched them doing those races, how they're doing everything they can, and they're doing out their chests as they go across that line for the champion.

You can see they're giving it everything they got.

That's exactly what he's talking about.

That's it.

That's it.

Single-minded devotion.

That's what it is.

That's B.

Well, B is forsaking everything else, and then C is single-minded devotion.

That's it.

So, what is your heart today?

Who's first in our lives today?

I asked myself this question.

Lord help me to come to the place where nothing in our lives means more to us than Jesus Christ and His Lordship.

May He become and remain the central focus of everything that we are.

Wow.

Which brings me to the last point.

We must find a heart.

We must focus our heart.

And number three, we must follow our heart.

If Jesus has a heart, and if we are in love with him more than anything else in this world, and if we are focused on his will for us and upon his lordship within our lives and our life, then we need to take whatever steps necessary to follow him.

Whatever.

Here's what we got to do, and I'm through.

Three things.

Number one, we're called to lay some things down.

Notice what he says.

Deny himself.

Parnaomi is the Greek word.

It means to forget oneself.

It means to lose sight of oneself or one's interest.

The phrase literally means to completely disown, to utterly separate oneself from someone.

It is the same, listen to this.

It is the same Greek word used to describe Peter's denial of Jesus outside the high priest's home.

Disciples to utterly disown himself, to refuse to acknowledge the self of the old man.

Wow.

That's awesome.

It's Galatians 2.20.

I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me in the life which I now live in the flesh.

I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved himself and gave himself for me.

That's what it is.

That's laying it down.

Paul's example was Jesus Himself in Philippians 2, 5 through 8.

What an example.

We're called to lay some things down, to put off the old man and put on the new man.

Can I get an amen?

To put off the fruits of the flesh and put on the fruits of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:20, 19 through 23.

Galatians 5:20

But notice the second thing we must do.

We're called to lift something up.

We're called to lay something down.

That's us.

To crucify our flesh.

But then we're, hey, to take up his cross.

When Jesus spoke of the cross, everyone in the audience knew exactly what he was talking about.

Because listen to me, during Jesus' time, there's been an estimation of over 30,000 Christians that were crucified.

During Jesus' time.

Literally.

So they knew what it meant when he said, take up the cross.

You know what they knew it was?

Listen, they knew it meant a death march.

Wow, did you hear me?

A death march.

Let me ask you.

Do you realize when you and I ask the Lord Jesus to come into our hearts, we are literally saying it's a death.

We're going to the cross, we're dying to self and lifting him up.

Jesus said, If I be lifted up, I'll draw men unto me.

John 12, 31.

Crucifying the flesh.

In other words, not my will, but thy will be done.

Not who I am, but who you are in me.

It's a death march.

Death to the flesh and yielding to the spirit.

That's what it is.

We see this throughout a death march.

Any man having put his hand to the plough looking back is not fit for the kingdom of God.

Jesus said, I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give my life a ransom for many.

Mark 10, 45.

To take up one cross means to carry the shame, the relic.

2 Timothy 3.12, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

It means taking up your cross means to willingly identify yourself with Christ, his death, his word, hey, his church, his suffering, his death.

Taking up your cross means that, hey, you may be, hey, may cost you personally, physically, financially, whatever.

It is not popular to talk about sacrifice, death, and suffering.

But that's what the cross is.

And then lastly, we're called to live something out.

Follow me.

We're called upon to take up that cross once for all and go after Jesus.

That's it.

That's it.

Look at what he said.

John 12, 26 sums it up.

If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be.

If any man serve me, him will my Father honor.

Wow, did you hear that?

He'll honor you.

He will honor you.

And let me give you a verse.

I know we've had some sick people.

I'm thinking about Kenneth and other people right now.

Let me tell you what God gave me this week.

I memorized it.

Powerful verse.

It's not, I didn't have time to put, yeah, I do.

Exodus 23, 25.

Here's a verse for you.

Living through, when we're talking about right here, we are called to live something out.

We're to live that Christ-likeness out.

Here's what it is: you shall serve the Lord your God, living for Christ.

And notice what he says he'll do.

Don't you miss this, church?

This is a word for some people right here.

He says, I'm gonna bless your bread.

I'm gonna bless your water.

In other words, I'm gonna bless everything you do, your job, your children, everything.

I'm gonna bless you.

And I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

Now, folks, that's powerful.

That's powerful.

You can claim that promise, Jehovah Rafi, the God that healeth.

Can I get an amen?

But it's gotta be a Christ-like person.

You gotta be Christ-like.

Hey, you gotta find your heart, you gotta focus your heart, and then you gotta follow it.

Amen.

And I close with this.

If you want to be saved, I wrote this out.

You can be, but there's only one way that you can be saved, and that's Jesus' way.

Can I get an amen?

Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, the life.

No man cometh unto the Father except by me.

And I wrote this right here, and I believe it with all my heart.

God is inflexible and firm on that point.

There's only one way.

And then the second thing: God is just as inflexible when it comes to this matter of being his disciple.

He wants you to experience that real Christianity.

He wants all of us to experience that together as a church.

But ladies and gentlemen, we've got to find our hearts.

We've got to focus our hearts.

And then we've got to follow our hearts.

We've got to follow Him.

Verse 24.

If any man come after me, let him deny himself.

Take up his cross and follow me.

The death march.

What must we do?

Remember.

If you're here this morning, you're lost.

Two things.

Hey, God wants you to be saved.

If you're lost, God wants you to be saved.

If you're here today and you're saved, this is very simple.

God wants you to be radically sold out.

Can I get an amen?

Saved, sold out.

You say, well, I hey, and it's even better.

Get saved today, get sold out.

And don't go back.

We can keep that honey.

You know what?

Susan and I have to work at keeping the honeymoon going.

We do.

Because we take each other for granted.

You know what's wrong with most of us as Christians?

We take God for granted.

I'm guilty.

Anyone else with me?

It becomes a routine.

I'm good at it.

I get up.

I have my quiet time.

Study.

Go to the wine, preach.

But every once in a while, it just, you know, it starts getting dull.

Why does that happen?

Because my heart is not focused.

I have to refocus.

I gotta remember.

Amen.

I gotta return.

And I gotta repent.

What about you this morning?

Where's your heart?

What makes you tick?

Listen to me this morning.

Listen to me, church.

Every one of us here this morning, something makes us tick.

Something makes you tick.

Something gets you out of bed every morning.

What is it?

Is it the Lord Jesus Christ?

Hallelujah.

Praise be to the Lamb.

But if not, it needs to be.

Because He's the only one that can take you through.

Can I get an Amen?

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

If you would like to find out more about us, visit us on our webpage at thechurch at CW.com.

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Send us an email at office at the church at CW.com.

We hope you have a wonderful day, and again, God bless you.