All In 1 | Always Jesus

Thank you for listening to the Kelowna Christian Center Podcast.

Our desire is that today's message will be fresh and encouraging to you.

For more information on KCC and how to connect, visit us at KCC.net.

Welcome to October.

Hey, it's a new month, it's a new beginning.

For us, it's uh great to have every have everyone here in one place together.

It's so great when the community of uh believers come together and we begin to sing this song that uh demonstrates the truth of who he is.

How many of you God made a way when there was no other way?

Yes, eh?

The Bible says we were thinking and he pulled us up and he put our feet on a solid ground, a solid rock.

He he rescued us from the pit.

He rescued us, he put us in a place of salvation.

And uh, I'm just so grateful that he is not only the way maker, but he's the miracle worker.

He's the miracle worker.

He does things that we could never do on our own, we could never accomplish in our own strength, in our own ability, in our own capacity.

We were limited, but in our weakness, he became strong.

Amen.

And in our ignorance, he became he became wisdom to us, he enlightened us, gave us an understanding of who he was that brought us from death into life when we chose him today.

And so, how many of you are so grateful for who God is today?

And just that's a point of worship today.

Worship comes out of our heart, it's not a song, it's an expression that comes out of us.

I'm just thankful for who he is.

Um, I'm so grateful to be able to launch a new series today.

We're actually uh we closed our last series off last week, and I heard Pastor David preach the house down.

That's right, yeah.

And uh he spoke really well about the church and our story, retold the story of KCC.

And if you weren't here here and able to hear that story, you can know it's available online.

But what what started in the heart of God first, it was there before it was even in our heart, this community here.

What was in the heart of God first, it's going to overcome.

And that's a powerful message because we serve an overcoming God.

We serve a God when we put our trust in Him, no matter what mountain, you know, no matter what valley, we're gonna make it through.

Amen.

So this series today is called All In.

And it's a series designed to uh reinforce those key vision and values that we intend as a community to imbibe.

We want to be able to hold on to certain values, and so KCC has defined seven values of who we are that we believe every individual in the church here can really go all in and uh sink their teeth into.

There are certain values that you hold on to that shouldn't just be casually considered, they should be fully adopted.

When I when I mar when I got married, it was at this place and this altar.

I was standing right over here.

No.

I was standing right above, I made a vow that I was all in.

I was all in.

I was gonna love no matter what, right?

I was gonna protect, I was gonna support, I was going to be there in sickness and in and in health.

I was going to, I was going all in.

That was a moment of time.

It's it's a record.

And so we see this at points in culture, points in our own lives where we make decisions and make choices to go all in.

And sometimes it's a little concerning, it's a little intimidating, but it's worth it.

Like I saw yesterday we were at uh a soccer field, my son was having a the last of his tournament, and uh I saw this all-in attitude.

It wasn't on our team, it was actually on the opposing team.

You have six or seven-year-old kids who are just coming out onto the field, and I look at the other team, and their jerseys are orange.

They're from Lake Country.

And uh the lake, anyone here from Lake Country?

Yeah, that's right.

You got team spirit here.

So they come out and they're all in orange, the coach is in orange, their chairs are in orange, their parents are dressed in orange, the women are wearing like orange laces and in their shoes, and they're they're on the field and they're taking a knee, and our kids are like doing cartwheels and throwing grass in the air.

And it's it was just like they were the soccer squad.

They were like, oh, they took over the center half line.

They were yelling at the coach, like yelling, encouraging the coach and supporting the coach and coaching the kids and telling the ref where she went wrong, you know.

It was so, and where her, and these are six or seven-year-olds.

You ever watch them play soccer?

It's just like a cloud, like just, but these kids were ferocious, they were all in.

And I'm thinking, this is crazy, but even to the point that one of our kids, the coach's son, goes to the coach and goes, you know they're gonna win, right?

They had actually convinced our own team that they were going to win.

And so I thought, I was looking at it and I thought, this is this is a team that could do something.

Those kids all had like were a unit working together.

They were in in sync and they were they were determined to actually win that game.

When you come to church here at KCC, honestly, I want to set you at ease a little bit.

I believe you should be able to come here as you are.

If you're the kid who's doing cartwheels, just come.

Come on the field, right?

If you're the one picking dandelions and throwing them in the air and talking to your friend while the game's going on, you're welcome here.

We all came here at some point.

You need to come here, you need to come as you are and not come as you should be.

We don't come as we should be, we don't, because we're not there yet.

Like a church, our church, none of us entered these doors as we should be.

All of us needed a time where we could come in and and we weren't all in all at once.

We came all in in one area.

We came and we said, okay, we're gonna give this a shot, we're gonna come in for a moment, we're gonna submit a part of our heart, a part of our time, a part of our resource, we're gonna give a bit.

And because of this open-door policy, the church isn't a perfect place.

Because you're here.

But it should be a healthy place.

It should be a place where you can move the needle in your life.

If your generosity is low and you're just working on being generous and working on trying to be a generous person, we're we're gonna move the needle a bit.

If you're working on like unforgiveness and you're struggling, that's okay.

You're here.

But we're gonna help move the needle a bit.

Where you're all in, I'm gonna forgive and I'm gonna forgive fully and completely, and I'm not gonna hold on to offense or hold on to grudges or hold on to the things that are gonna hold me down.

We're gonna move forward.

And so we may not be all in to start, but we're moving the needle towards that point.

And I think that's God's purpose for the church.

You come in with questions, you come in with doubts, you come in with brokenness, but we're moving one step closer to the perfection of our faith.

The who we become in Christ, that we find in Christ.

So today I'm gonna lead you in a text uh out of John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

And uh the title of this text in your scripture, it says, Jesus comforts his disciples.

And uh I love it when Jesus comforts us in difficult times.

He says this don't let this throw you.

You trust God, don't you?

Trust me.

There's plenty of room for you in my father's home.

If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm I'm on my way to get a room ready for you?

And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live.

And you already know the road I'm taking.

And Thomas, of course it's Thomas, he says, Master, we have no idea where you're going.

How do you expect us to know the road?

And Jesus said to him, I am the road, I am also the truth, and I am also the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.

He is the road, he is the map, he is the way.

He's the way to the Father.

And so, in a universalistic society that we're living in, in a in a spiritualistic society where we're living in, where the belief is that all roads are gonna lead to heaven, that you do what's right for you, and I'll do what's right for me, and voila, we'll end up in the same place.

And we'll end up in a, we'll find this place of nirvana, this place of happiness, this place of contentment.

And in all those things, Jesus is, in all those different ways, Jesus is is removing any confusion that people might be having.

He's saying, uh-uh, I am the map, I am the way, I am the road, I am going to be the only way that you get to the Father.

And it's going to always and only be through me.

So the first value today that I would like to uh, it's the first in our value system, it's the first in our our list, is that Jesus is always and will only, only, always be first.

He needs to be first.

It's always going to be Jesus.

Perhaps you've come to the place where you said, Oh, I've been to church for a long time, I've walked this Christian walk a while, and at one point in time you look back at your life and you say, you know, Jesus at one point was always first.

He was the one who was leading.

And then as time goes on, you begin to add other things to your repertoire of your faith.

And it becomes slowly, Jesus drifts from center.

And you become less Jesus, Christ-centric, and more self-centered.

Perhaps.

I'm just saying, throwing it out there.

And the Holy Spirit's job is to actually pull us back to a place where Jesus is Christ is centered in our life.

And to remove and because there's a part in Romans 12 says very clearly it says that it's the self that tries to get back on the on the altar, or it tries to get back on the throne.

And we have to keep putting it back on the altar.

We have to say no to ourselves.

And we have to keep saying yes to Jesus.

Because we want to rule.

It's in our hearts, it's in our nature that we want to rule.

And I know that Jesus first needs to be the one thing and the only thing that we pursue and that we desire.

Um, I've I've gone places, I've done things where uh, you know, I've packed my bags and I've got everything ready.

And how many of you have ever forgotten that one thing?

You've you've gone to eat and you don't have your wallet.

You're like you've uh you've packed your gym bag and you forget your sneakers and you're wearing like boots or something.

Like it's just it's not gonna work.

And in life today, I think in our world, we're trying to accumulate all sorts of things.

We're trying to accumulate all these things.

We're packing and packing, and people are going on blogs, and they're reading websites, and they're following people online, and they're listening to sermons and audio, and they're they're doing all the right things.

They're finding mentors and coaches and pulling things to people together around them to support them, and they're searching high and low for stuff that matters, but are missing the one thing.

And when you ask them, you say, Where's Christ in your life?

What position, what role does he play?

Is he there?

That's the huge question, and I'm not sure about you, but I'm willing to miss out on the many things.

I'm willing to miss out on the many things so that I can have the one thing.

The one thing is what's really important.

When you have Jesus, you don't need a trophy to give you value.

You have Jesus.

He brings value to you.

When you have Jesus, you don't need a healer, you don't need uh a physician, you have him, he becomes your physician.

You need only Jesus when you're in challenge in a marriage, and I've seen people go from counselor to counselor to counselor to counselor, and they're stubborn and they're strong-willed, but when they have when they come and they encounter Jesus, everything falls apart, and they need Jesus, and Jesus brings healing to the marriage.

These these points of Jesus, we need to make sure that Jesus is the center, that it's always Jesus.

Jesus is saying the truth is this is that our church has got to be built on Jesus, our lives have got to be built on Jesus, because if it is, then we know the way.

We have the roadmap, we have the destination in point and to to and the journey in play, and we just need to follow him.

If we have Jesus, we have everything.

You can give me everything.

Minus Jesus, I have nothing.

But if I have Jesus, I have everything.

And it's the only thing, it's the only thing that matters.

Jesus matters.

So how do you get this one thing that matters?

And here's the the challenge to us all.

The only way to get this one thing that matters is is by revelation.

We need to have a personal revelation of who he is, a personal understanding of who he is.

And it's through personal commitment, it's through devotion, it's it's about knowing who he is.

And so revelation is really just a fancy word meaning that God spoke to you.

See, revelation is about what God says to you, information is what people say.

And there's a lot of information.

We're actually living in an information age where we find information everywhere.

But there's very few places where you can go to find revelation.

Information is cheap.

Revelation, something that moves you, your heart, creates an awakening in your thought.

That is precious.

Revelation is what matters.

The only way to get this thing that matters, revelation, is through personal relationship in knowing Jesus.

And knowing Jesus.

And if you want to grow, it's it's not, and this is kind of ironic today, but if you want to grow, honestly, it's not about coming to church to hear from Pastor Brody.

It's walking out this relationship that you have with Jesus.

It's about the other 166 and a half hours in the week where you'll grow in your faith, where your faith will explode.

You can come to church and you can say, this is not going to give you particular revelation.

It's going to start you on the right journey.

It's going to encourage you towards that destination.

But the rest of the week is what matters.

It's what happens when you leave here, it's what happens when you wake up, it's what happens when you're in your car on your own, when you're having coffee, when you put your head on your pillow at night.

That's what matters.

It matters what Jesus is saying to you, how he's speaking to you, how he's identifying with you, and what he's changing in you.

Jesus matters.

So this challenge today is so personal because I can't control your spiritual growth.

And what's so amazing is that I don't control your spiritual growth.

The fact of our faith that's so incredible and so unique is that you're in control of how how strong spiritually you want to grow.

So the question is, how strong do you want to grow?

How strong do you want to grow your faith?

What time do you want to invest?

What source of inclusion do you want to have in your life that that helps your spirit grow?

I love it when I hear about um Jesus and people having that personal relationship together.

One of my good friends, he made a decision to follow Christ after spending time at home alone, and he had a, you know, remember one of those Bibles?

My grandma used to have one.

It was like under the coffee table, it had a big foam cover on it with a big picture of Jesus in the center.

And he went home that night and he just opened the book and he started at the beginning, didn't quite understand, so he does what most guys do, just go to the last page, right?

He went to the last page and he started reading in Revelation.

What a place to start.

And it awakened him to who God was and who how God, Jesus is our King.

And it changed his heart, and he made a decision to follow Christ that day.

Revelation is what matters.

So let me encourage you today.

Matthew 11 says this.

It says, Are you tired?

Worn out?

Are you burned out on religion?

Come to me.

Get away with me.

You'll never, you and you'll recover your life.

I'll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me and work with me.

Watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythm of grace.

I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me, and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

Church is great when it's between you and Jesus.

That's the meaning of church.

That's the gathering that we are a part of.

It's between you and Jesus.

It's not between someone on a stage and you, or a worship leader and you, or an experience and you.

It's between you and Jesus.

When you're sitting, when you're standing at your seat and when you're you're standing there on your own, it's between when you come in here, you're one-on-one with Jesus.

It's not about the mass, it's not about the the community, it's about you and Jesus.

And so when you come in, the Bible says this.

It says, you need to walk with me.

I love those words in that scripture.

Walk with me.

Walk with me, walk with me.

Not like that, that implies so much to me.

It implies relationship.

It implies connection.

It implies intimacy and closeness.

Walk with me.

This means walk with me at church, walk with me at home, walk with me at school, walk with me at work.

Walk with me.

And I'll give you rest.

This world today really is defined.

And I was talking to Pastor Pat this week.

This the one of the trigger words today is like, How are you doing?

Oh, I'm busy.

What's life like?

Oh, it's super busy.

Busy, busy, busy, busy, busy.

And what you're really saying is, I've got important things to do, and only I can do it because I'm an important person, and so my busyness makes me valuable.

And the value really is based upon your busyness, where God wants to turn that on its head, and He wants to say, I want you to find rest.

Because busyness is all about doing, rest is all about being.

You ever ask someone, how are you, what's life like right now?

Oh, I'm so in rest.

Like, I am literally at peace.

Mentally, I'm at peace.

I'm so So clear, there's like clarity.

I feel like just happy.

It's just like elation, euphoria.

I'm just walking with my relationships, I'm at peace.

With God, I'm at peace.

Physically, spiritually, emotionally.

I'm just at peace.

I'm in complete rest.

How often do you hear that?

Never.

You'll never hear that.

I've yet to find someone.

Well, and I have now you're gonna say, How are you doing?

I'm resting, Pastor Brody.

If anyone knows how to rest, it's me, because I'm walking in that rest that God's provided for me.

This is the one thing, the one thing that we pursue, the one thing we're challenged at.

It says to find rest through walking with God, walking with Jesus, one-on-one, relationship that's where you grow.

And the problem is this is that religion, religion and relationship are so so similar and different.

Religion is when you show up and you talk to God and then you just leave.

Religion, uh, relationship is when it's about who you are, it's about walking with him.

And this dichotomy, it's like in the same place, someone can come in with a religious heart, and someone can come in with a heart that's just loving Jesus.

The same people, two people can come into the same place and have a different experience.

And it's a dichotomy because I think people have this idea that I'm gonna go on my way, and Jesus is, I want Jesus to be with me.

And he's behind me, he's walking with me.

And and the fact is Jesus will be with you, but if you're leading, you don't see that, but I'm gonna walk off the stage.

He's with you the whole way.

He's with you.

And you're like, okay, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do it on my own initiative, on my own strength.

I'm gonna walk and do my own thing.

But Jesus, you're with me, right?

And Jesus is like, I'm with you.

But relationship with him and a proper walk with Jesus is saying, Lord, you lead me beside still waters, you bring me beside green pastures, you restore my soul for your name's sake, because if I'm leading, guess who gets the glory?

And it'll never ever work that way.

It's not about Brody's glory, it's about Jesus.

You're walking with me, you're walking, and and you're leading me, and you're leading me into paths of righteousness where my heart is satisfied, where my soul is satisfied, where my soul is restored.

And I walk with I walk with Jesus that way.

See, religion to me is easy.

You come, you do the things that you need to do, and you check out.

And you're all in on Sunday.

But a relationship is tough tough.

Relationships are tough.

How many of you are in a relationship?

You know what I mean, right?

This isn't like a phone call.

This is you're living with the person.

This is not easy.

It requires like vulnerability and openness and a heart and a connection.

This relationship is what matters.

It's it's morning and night, it's 24-7.

It's it's not easy.

And I understand actually why people choose religion, because it's easy.

You it you don't have to, you there's no intimidation with it.

I just keep you at a distance, God.

But relationship is all about walking together and walking in intimacy.

So, how do we do this?

Because I think KCC is such a great church because people come to church not because it's it's made great because of the great leaders, but because each of you are living out your relationship with God at home, and then you come to church together already full.

If you're coming to church and you're looking for meat to fill you, good luck.

Just go, go, you know, go, you just better set your timer and put a good lunch on, right?

It's it's that's the way it's gonna work.

But if you're relying on me, you're gonna, I'm gonna fail you.

The music team's gonna fail you, our lighting, our chairs, our our environment is gonna fail you.

Our parking is gonna annoy you.

But if you're coming because of Jesus, it doesn't matter.

You come in and he gets the glory.

Because distance, this distance creates distortion.

Like the other day I was out hunting with my son, and he's like, Dad, there's a bear.

And I looked and we got closer and it was a black cow.

And I'm like, it's not a bear, it's a cow.

You're like, it's oh he said, Oh, there's a grouse on the road.

And we get closer and it's a stick and a rock or a rock, and so many sticks and rocks out there that look like grouse.

And they're oh, when we get closer, but distance creates distortion, but when you're close, and this is what happens: the closer you get to God, the farther away you are, you're gonna question him.

You're gonna say, Does God really love me?

Is he really out for me?

Is he does he really want me to prosper?

Does he really want to heal me?

But when you get close, that that distortion goes away and clarity comes in.

You're like, no, God really loves me.

He's for me.

I'm for him.

It's like this.

He wants me to be well, he wants me to prosper, he wants me to be in health, he wants me to mature in my faith, he wants me to be perfected, and that happens through communication.

So, how do you do this?

How do you do it?

Oh, yeah.

This let me tell you how.

This is how you do it.

Pray everywhere you go.

It's a rhythm of grace, and your rhythm's gonna be different than my rhythm.

Like you, I would never go to a personal trainer and them tell me what I need to do for my body, and then just say, here, just do this for you and expect the same results.

It's gonna be a personal rhythm, but I'm saying this.

Pray wherever you go.

Look for different ways to pray, different places to pray.

Take yourself out of the normal, take yourself out.

Don't pray.

This week, I challenge you, don't particularly pray at home or at the table or in your own space.

Go out and pray.

Pray at the coffee shop, pray when you're walking in the park, pray at pray at work, pray at your desk, pray in those places and realize the fact that that this relationship is more than just a select space.

It's more about a select space.

It's about a whole inclusive relationship that you can experience with God in every place.

Find that rest that way.

Number two, love people.

Love people, learn to love.

I'll tell you the reason why this is so important.

To find this rhythm of grace.

And you find it through prayer, you find it through loving people.

Because when you begin to realize how much God loves others, you begin to realize how much God loves you.

And it's hard to be mean to others when you realize what God has done for you, God can do for them.

It's like forgive because God has first forgiven you.

And don't look at the speck in another's eye when you come to realize, man, I have a whole log in my own eye.

And when you realize this, the heart of love, your sp your your the love in your heart begins to awaken.

So sometimes I think about this.

I think about 1 Corinthians, I say, Brody, just are you patient?

Love is patient.

Is Brody patient?

Is Brody kind?

Does Brody, does Brody come first?

Or do other people come first?

Does Brody fly off the handle or does Brody not fly off the handle?

Like it's literally, what about Brody?

What about Brody?

Is Brody loving well?

And there's no way for me to know love until I know the one who is love.

God is love.

And so the more I know him, the more I begin to love others.

And and it just rolls out of that that spirit, that whole heart.

And so we begin to love each other.

And lastly, realize that it's Jesus who gives you worth.

And uh only Jesus looks at people and says, You have worth because I just say so.

It's not because of what you can do or how you look or how educated you are or what kind of resume you have.

It's because of who you are, is why you have worth.

And I love reading this from John.

He said he's sitting with Jesus, and he puts his head on Jesus' you know shoulders, they're all sitting together, and Jesus is saying, you know, one of you is gonna betray me.

And one of them are like, John, ask him who.

And John's like, Who's who's gonna betray you?

Like, Jesus, Jesus, who's gonna betray you?

And and he begins to share it like this.

He says, one of them, the disciple who Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.

And what's really crazy about the scripture is this comes from the book of John, and John's writing about Jesus telling him that he's the one who Jesus loved.

It's like such an ironic piece of point of scripture, because it's it'd be like me saying, It's I'm the one who Jesus loves.

Like Paul, uh John says that I'm the one who Jesus loves.

I'm the one who's who's God's beloved.

And so he's saying this about himself and this confidence in us to realize that we have worth because of what Jesus has done for us, and to be able to see that worth and be able to communicate that worth is so important because so many other voices are out there, and so many other voices are gonna want to communicate that that to you, but uh it's his word that makes a difference.

So, Father, today we thank you for your word.

We thank you for this message that you have for us that that if we put our trust in you, we won't be put to shame, and that you become our strong tower, and when we run into you, we're safe.

And so today, Lord, I I just lean on you, and not on my own ability, not on my own capacity, not on my own strength, not on my own intelligence, but I lean on you today.

Teach me how to love well, teach me how to relate to you well, teach me how to uh submit and rest in times when all I feel like doing is just being busy.

But I want to learn from you, I want to grow from you.

And so today, Father, may this church realize the importance of having you at the center.

May you be our way, our truth, our life, Lord, so that we may be able to find the way to the Father.

And just before we open our eyes, if you're in prayer with me, with every head bowed and eye closed, if you're in this place today and you're just you're saying, Pastor Brody, the message you're sharing today, I want to have that way.

I want to have that truth and that life.

And I want to know the way.

I'm gonna say today is a day where you can be introduced to Jesus.

And the way we do that is just through a simple prayer of invitation.

And so would you just follow me as a church today?

And if you're praying today for the first time, I just want you just to center your heart and just make this as meaningful and direct as possible.

And just pray this prayer along with me.

Father, I invite Jesus into my heart to come into my life.

I ask you to forgive my sin and set me on a new path.

I repent of the wrongs in my life, and I ask for a new beginning.

Thank you for this new life.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's give the Lord a hand this morning.

God bless you.

Thank you for listening.

For more information on KCC and how to connect, visit us at KCC.net.