The Cost Of Your Cross | Ps. John Wyatt

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Thanks again for the introduction.

My name is John Wyatt, one of the pastors at Celebration Church in Jacksonville.

I bring um uh greetings from our pastors, our senior pastors, Tim and Jen Timberlake, our whole staff, our whole church family, all of our serve teams.

We love you guys.

Um we pray for you.

We uh we have prayer uh meetings every Tuesday, and we pray for all of our celebration family.

That's you.

And uh I just want to bring greetings.

It's always great to be here with you.

I've been on staff at Celebration 17 years now.

You're like, no way.

Incredible.

What did you get hired when you're six?

Uh that's 17 years on staff at Celebration, and so of course the Pittmans have known them almost two decades.

So can we give them a shout out to your senior pastors, Keith and Megan?

We love you guys.

Maybe tuning in wherever they are today.

I'm not Keith Pittman, in case you're like, who is that Keith Pittman?

Is that him?

Uh no, uh John Wyatt.

But uh, I love the Pittmans, I love your pastors.

You're you're well uh shepherded here.

You have great senior pastors, but also the pastors on staff.

I think about uh Pastor Nate Capshaw and all the rest, uh, Pastor Lindsey Brenner, uh, Pastor Vinny.

Like you've got incredible people here to serve you and to be great role models of how to follow Christ and how to serve uh God's people and how to preach the gospel, to preach the paint off the walls.

Amen.

Uh I also want to give a shout out.

Hey, I got my uh my wife, she's down here.

Hi, this is my wife, Carrie.

Woo! 28 years married there.

Yeah, like uh you got married when you were six.

I get it.

You know, you know, man.

There it is, man.

So uh yeah, we uh we're celebrating uh the month of July.

We're celebrating 30 years together, so we just pulled out all the stops.

We've been having a great time.

Got my parents here with us.

They're actually uh from Orlando, so we were staying with them last night.

And a shout out to um my girls.

We we got two grown kids.

How about that?

23, 21.

We empty nesters, y'all.

What?

Come on, I think they're tuning in.

They're New Yorkers now, so they're tuning in online.

And uh just love you girls.

Oh yeah.

But um uh but yeah, that's a little bit about me and my family.

Uh I currently serve on our senior staff there in Jacksonville, and I get to oversee, I get to serve these different areas in missions and outreach and our next gen.

And we have incredible, incredible leaders in each of those different areas, just like you do here.

And uh man, it's so much fun to do life and ministry together.

But uh today, why don't you open up your Bibles, your phones, your apps?

I'll have it on the Bible in the sky.

The team's got it up here, it's gonna be on the screen to uh Luke chapter 9.

Luke 9 · chapter mention

And we're gonna uh I'm gonna read it to you in a moment here, verses 23 through 26.

And uh it's baptism Sunday.

Come on, baptism Sunday.

Who's excited about baptisms today?

Anyone getting baptized today?

Wave at me.

Hey, I see some hands.

All right, woo! I heard we had a couple people signed up.

You don't have to be pre-registered uh to participate today if the Lord moves on your heart, and this is something you've never been baptized before, and made a public declaration of your faith and your trust in Jesus and Jesus alone.

Today is your day.

We got a change of clothes for you.

It's awesome.

You don't have to be prepared.

We got towels, we got everything that you need to get baptized today.

So uh don't let um if if the spirit moves on you today, don't walk out of here and go to cracker barrel dry.

You know what I'm saying?

Get in the water, obey the Holy Spirit, and get in the water.

You will be glad you did.

Uh I'm gonna preach this message to you.

It's not necessarily like a teaching on baptism, but it really speaks to what our hearts should be when we get baptized.

And it speaks to what our hearts should be, I believe, as Christians, as followers of Jesus.

Um, you know, sometimes I think we can bait and switch people into following Jesus.

We're like, man, you should really give your life to Jesus.

It's so awesome and so fun.

People are finally like, I surrender, I give my life to Jesus, and then their life tanks, and the challenges and the pressure and everything really mounts on their lives.

They're like, I thought you said everything was gonna be easy when I got saved.

Well, Jesus didn't actually promise easy, he didn't promise that everything was gonna be this uh a cakewalk from here on out.

He actually promised us something different.

He promised, in this world you will have trouble.

But take heart, I've overcome the world.

He says things, many are the afflictions of the righteous.

But the Lord delivers them from them all.

That's what the Lord promises.

He promises to walk with us, be with us.

Even like this morning, I was thinking about Pastor Vinny, who knows what the Lord just did in our hearts?

I don't know.

He did something in each one of us, and I love the ability to stop and to hear what the Holy Spirit's doing and actually like deliver that message.

I know that that was timely this morning.

I believe that our scripture time is going to be timely as well, and I'm gonna keep us on time.

Two and a half hour exegesis coming forward here.

You guys got your notes, you brought your notepads ready to just kidding.

Brief message, uh, but hopefully it'll be powerful to speak to you.

Luke chapter 9, verse 23 through 26, Jesus speaking.

Luke 9:23–26

He says, He says to them all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

No bait and switch with Jesus, right?

He did not mince words here.

He says, forever who would for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Verse 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

I title this message, The Cost of Your Cross.

Nice and uplifting, inspirational, just a feel-good message this morning.

The cost of your cross.

Let's pray.

Father, we love you.

I thank you, Lord, by your spirit, open up your word to our souls, God.

We uh we're here to meet with you.

We're not here to check boxes off a list, we're here to experience your presence and have you speak into our hearts.

God, I thank you that everyone would hear the words that you're speaking to them.

Not my words, but the words you're speaking to them through the message, God.

And may the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight as I deliver your word in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

All right, so uh I always like to uh to exegete a little bit.

I want to teach you what the Bible actually says.

Let me frame it up.

I'm gonna spectrate my cards.

I'm gonna frame up what this passage actually says, right?

And then I'm gonna offer you like three different maybe points, application points, and then we're gonna pray.

And I'm my my hope in this is that every one of you will be challenged today.

It's a challenging word.

Uh you'll be encouraged, but you'll be challenged.

And whether you've been following Jesus 10 minutes or 10 years or your whole life, or maybe got born saved, I don't know.

You'll be challenged today to maybe go a little bit deeper.

Maybe there's some loyalties you need to let go of, or there's there's some things that you've been holding on to that Jesus is calling you to let go of so that you can follow Him more intimately and be in deeper walk with Him.

And if you're here today and you've not followed Jesus, it's all brand new to you, and you're like, I don't even know what is even going on.

I just found my way here.

It happens every week, friends.

There are people here today that you don't know Jesus, but you want to.

You're gonna have a chance to do that today and get baptized.

Amen.

Oh my gosh, today is the day, the first day of the rest of your life.

My goodness.

Okay, so Luke, here we go.

So the context of this.

So Luke is one of the three, it's called there's called synoptic gospels.

There's three that are similar: Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

They're very similar in the way that they present Jesus.

They present to different audiences.

One presents to a Jewish audience, one presents to a Gentile audience.

Luke actually presents to a Gentile and a very broad audience the things that Jesus did when he lived on earth.

It's an account of the life and the ministry and the miracles of Jesus.

And uh Luke was actually, he's a physician.

We know that he's a physician because Paul later on in the New Testament, Paul actually calls him the beloved physician.

But you know, we're not talking lab coats here and you know, degrees and stethoscopes and working down at uh Orlando Health or whatever.

Um we're talking, like, think about back in the day, we're talking 2,000 years ago, friend, there was no medical profession, but he was a healer.

How about that?

So he knew about how different herbal treatments and different medicines, different uh natural and things might help people.

They would know how to set broken bones.

Uh they could do like minor surgeries, like if you you know, like stitches and stuff like that.

Man, back in the day, how about that?

This is this is before you know you had an emergency room on every corner, right?

Uh I always think about this though.

Jesus' two primary ministries while he's on earth.

One of them was a healer.

How about that?

He was a healer, he healed the sick without herbal treatments.

His power in his word was enough to accomplish the work.

How about that?

Healer and an exorcist.

Jesus was a healer and an exorcist.

He healed those who are sick and he cast the demons out of those who were demon-possessed and oppressed.

How about that?

Welcome to Christianity.

We're gonna teach you how to be a healer and an exorcist.

Congratulations.

I thought all I had to do was like read the Bible every morning, say a few prayers, come to church on Sunday.

Nope.

Healer exorcism.

Let's go.

We're gonna follow Jesus.

I know that sounds like a lot, but man, the power of Jesus still works through his people in those ways.

We see the power of God move in Jacksonville.

I just got to testify to this, man.

We see the power of God.

We have altar ministry during services every Sunday morning, and we see people, we see demons come out of people in prayer at the altar.

We see people healed.

We've seen cancer healed at the altar when people come forward and we pray in that, like we're singing about that atmosphere of faith.

Imagine the with all the faith in the room, what the Lord can do.

We are seeing it in Jacksonville, y'all.

It has just been ridiculous.

And I just want to say it happens here every week, too.

It's the same God, amen.

Same God in Duval as it is right here in Orlando.

I digress back to the exegesis.

All right, so uh so Luke, uh, there's a little bit of his backstory.

He's the author here, and he's writing to an audience at the time of ancient Near Eastern people, but also this translates into our world as well.

You always want to read in context.

Remember, he's writing to a specific group of people that live back then.

He's not writing to Americans.

All right, he's writing to ancient Near Easterners.

The Bible's not written to you.

It's written, it has like people that it was written to, but it is written for you.

You and I can benefit from what was said and recorded in these words over the years.

Uh, American Christianity tends to be very individualistic.

Amen.

You might know this.

Like, very personal, my personal faith.

This is about me nurturing my personal faith in Jesus.

That's a very American concept.

What we need to know is that uh the majority of Christians in the world today are not in America.

Uh we're we are in the West here, like Europe and America are considered like the West.

Sixty percent of all the Christians in the world today are not in the West.

The the center of Christianity is not the buckle of the Bible belt in Alabama.

You know what I'm saying?

It's not it's not even Orlando or Jacksonville.

It's actually like Africa.

It's actually Latin America, and it's actually Asia, where the majority of Christians are now.

Isn't that crazy?

We think about places like China, which are communist and where it's illegal to be a Christian, the church is exploding in China like wildfire.

The church is spreading because of the persecution that they endure, and because it costs them something to follow Jesus in those countries.

As Americans, we can get very comfortable, amen, in our Christianity, very comfortable in our routines, our preferences, but that's not what Jesus calls us to.

Right?

We'll get we'll get back to that in just a second.

I just want to keep uh on time here, man, with the Holy Spirit.

But I'm coming back to that, and I'll put a pen in that and come right back to it.

So uh Luke writes this to us.

He's writing to his audience, and he writes, and we can take this and we can say Jesus is he's writing and he's speaking to his disciples in this moment.

You know, the feeding of the 5,000 is just having a miraculous supernatural feeding, and the crowds are just ministered to, the demons are coming out of them, they're they're experiencing the supernatural, and then he pulls away in prayer with his disciples, and then he uh they're at this place uh in northern Galilee, and and he he says those famous words, you know, who do the crowds say I am?

And they say, Well, you're this or you're that, but who do you say I am?

You know, and then we get that famous confession where uh Peter says that he says that you are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.

And Jesus in other gospels he says on this my church, I will build.

My church I will build.

And this is exactly what Father says, here's how he's gonna build his church.

If anyone, in Luke 23, he says to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

So we would tend to think of this uh, you know, through our lens, we think of uh, I mean, we don't see crucifixions.

Um, and and we tend to think of this as like Jesus in his crucifixion.

But remember, this hasn't happened yet.

But there is not a person that is hearing this that hadn't seen someone picking up their cross, escorted by Roman soldiers and taken from their area or villages on a one-way ticket.

They would see a convicted person, someone who was in trouble with the Roman authorities, leave and they would never see them again, and they would see them taking their cross, and you know what happens because you know about Jesus.

Um I remember when I it was with me and Carrie were in this church for like 10 years before we came to celebration.

And every time we had baptism, we would sing this song, and everybody kind of knew it.

I have decided to follow Jesus.

I have decided to follow Jesus.

I have decided to follow Jesus.

No turning back, right?

They come up out of the water and we all start singing that song.

It's awesome.

Friends, following Jesus is a one-way ticket.

There's no turning back from the decision that you make to follow Jesus.

It's not just, oh, test the water, man, feels good, and then you walk away.

Following Jesus is more like Jesus describes it.

You disappear with the cross on your back with the authority and you never come back.

Right?

When you decide to follow Jesus, just picture that image of you're actually dragging your cross.

And the authority is not the Roman authority, it's Jesus Himself.

And you've decided to follow Him and never come back the same.

I always find it interesting that uh that Paul writes that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has what?

The old has gone, the new has come.

I always think about it this way: when I got saved, I died.

The old John Wyatt, who lived for 23 years on earth, died that day in the baptism waters of the Atlantic Ocean where I got baptized.

The old John Wyatt's life ended that day, and from that day forward, a new John Wyatt emerged from the baptism water.

And he was never the same.

And from that moment forward, there was no turning back, no turning back, right?

There's nothing but forward because the old is gone, the new has come.

Amen.

I don't know how I grasped that.

I was so far from God and just, I don't know.

But in his grace and his mercy, he allowed me to see that.

I didn't hear it from a preacher like you are today.

I just knew it was true that if I made that decision, no turning back, no turning back.

And so I want to encourage you today.

I might have just talked y'all out of getting baptized.

You're like, huh, I'm good.

After you get in that water today, no turning back.

No turning back.

You're gonna carry your cross.

And here's the thing you're gonna carry the cross with Jesus, he's with you every step of the way.

And the funny thing I've found is that he actually helps, he carries the cross.

We're just along for the ride, amen.

Amen.

Verse 24 for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Jesus says this.

And he's talking about, think about this.

What did he do?

He gave up his life willingly, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

Like he gave up his life so that we could live.

Amen.

So it's the same thing he's calling his sons and daughters, us, to do.

Lay down our lives so that we can live a new life.

I always think about it this way: there's there can be no resurrection without a death, right?

You have to die to be resurrected.

So don't try to bring all your dirt out of the water with you when you come back up.

It's okay.

We're identifying with Jesus in his death and in his resurrection when we come up to new life.

Amen?

We're following Jesus.

If you desire to save your life, man, I wouldn't get in the water.

If you want to stick with where you are and who you are, and you're very happy with who you are, and you're good, and you don't want to follow Jesus and you don't want to pay the cost of the cross, don't get in the water just because you want to check a box.

Oh man, am I doing okay with you guys?

Man, I know this is a tough one, but you know, I know this is tough, but I'm telling you, there's something spectacular and supernatural about to be released in some of your lives today.

Supernatural power from heaven is gonna be released.

When Jesus got baptized, it's a moment where the heavens split and everyone there hears a voice.

This is my son in whom I am well pleased.

And the Holy Spirit descends like a dove onto Jesus.

The same thing is gonna happen to some of you today.

Amen.

So don't rush off the cracker barrel too quick and miss all the fun.

When we in in the in the again, in the context here in the first century, people weren't baptized into personal faith in Jesus.

They were baptized into the community of Christians.

And that's what's happening today.

People are gonna be baptized, they're becoming uh something new and fresh in their personal lives and in the journey with Jesus.

Uh, if you desire to save your life, don't get in the water.

If you desire to save your own life and you like your opinions and you like your preferences, don't get in the water.

But if you want a spectacular new supernatural life filled with power and authority over all the things that have held you back, the water's waiting.

And it feels good because it's a face melter outside.

It is hot, friends.

That water felt great.

Cassie's like, please splash more water on me.

Verse 25, for what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Don't stay in the world, man.

Jesus says that we are in the world but not of it as believers.

Isn't that funny?

He calls us a pu peculiar people.

We're in the world but not of it.

So you and I, we go to work, you know, we're um we're walking around, we're ambassadors of the kingdom of God.

We've got the presence of the Holy Spirit marking our lives and our actions and our speech and animating us from the inside out to do the things that Jesus did on this earth.

How about that?

Dude, take that with you when you go to work.

You know what I'm saying?

You take Jesus with you.

You are the ambassador of the kingdom of God where you go.

Don't exchange that for something that this world has to offer.

Jesus warns us of that.

And finally, he says, For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Remember this following Jesus is not a performance.

Okay?

You don't have to perform for Jesus to love you and to embrace you.

You just receive his love, right?

You receive it.

That's the hard part for most of us is to actually just receive the an unending, flowing, overwhelming, reckless love of God.

I just went to another song.

It's the biggest thing, right?

Anybody else have trouble like receiving the love of God that he just loves you no matter what, that you don't have to perform for him?

I've seen people that are more performance-based in their Christianity look at this and they're like, man, I need to do more, or I will stand before the Lord.

He'll be ashamed of me.

I'm here to tell you, friend, I can you can let that go.

If you are in Christ, his work on the cross is sufficient for you to stand in his presence when he returns with the Holy Father and the holy angels.

It's gonna be awesome.

We know where it's gonna be.

It's gonna be over Jerusalem.

He's gonna descend, he's gonna split the eastern sky.

Which way is east?

He's gonna split the eastern sky from here.

He's in it's gonna be in the east.

He's gonna descend upon the Mount of Olives, and somehow, supernaturally, all of us, along with everyone who's gone before, whose faith and trust is in Christ, we're all gonna be together on that glorious day when Jesus returns.

And this is the hope that we should have.

I think in America too, we don't think about this a whole lot that Jesus is coming back, right?

We're like, we're thinking about like, I gotta get through my day and I got all these issues, and Jesus help me with this.

Man, Jesus is gonna return, then the whole earth will bow its knee to Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior.

Come on, that's gonna happen one day.

That is real.

That is as real as his death, burial, and resurrection 2,000 years ago.

And that's what we proclaim when we take communion here in a few minutes as well.

We're proclaiming not only the work that he did, but also proclaiming his return, that Jesus is coming back.

And we as a people of God, we embrace that truth.

We know that that's as true as Jesus and his work on the cross.

Woo! I don't know where I was going with that.

Praise the Lord.

Man, fired up.

Just a couple things I want to share with you, man.

You want to write these things down.

Just three, just I think radical things that Jesus is calling us to that are practical, I think that you could apply in your life.

Number one, it's a radical trust.

He's calling you to trust him with a radical trust.

You can't see God.

He's a spirit.

So the only way to embrace him and have an ongoing relationship is to trust that his character and his nature is true.

We trust the word of God.

It tells us these things.

And so we trust God.

It's a radical trust to be able to leave behind your old life and the control that you think you have.

You know, the the um the uh you we order our lives in a certain way.

To leave all that behind and follow Jesus carrying your cross takes a radical trust in God, amen?

A radical trust in his word, radical trust in prayer, a radical trust in the Spirit of God who's leading and guiding you into all this.

It ain't the devil that leads you to do these things, man.

It is the Spirit of the living God that calls you to pick up your cross and follow him daily.

Amen?

Come on, it's a choice that we all have to make.

I always think about that in Deuteronomy 30.

I won't read the whole thing just for time, but Deuteronomy 30 verses 19 through 20.

Deuteronomy 30:19–20

It's that I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death.

He's talking to his people, the Israelites, at this point.

He says, I set before you life and death, therefore choose life.

It is a choice to leave behind your control and your order and all the other things that you're comfortable with and take up that cross.

You have to choose to do it.

No one can make you or force you.

You have to choose to do it.

And it takes a radical trust in God.

Amen.

The second thing it takes, I believe it takes a radical loyalty.

A radical loyalty.

You have to to get in the water and for it to work, you're renouncing your loyalties to all the things of this earth.

You're renouncing your loyalties to, I don't know.

What do you have, what are you loyal to?

Fraternity, sorority, you know, the masons.

I don't know.

What are people loyal to?

You know, I'm loyal to Starbucks.

You know what I'm saying?

I won't go to Dunkin' Donuts.

Loyal.

I don't know.

Um loyalties, things that you this is my preference.

I'm loyal to this, right?

It's really the heavier stuff, man.

Are you loyal to the spirit of mammon that uses money to manipulate and control you?

Jesus says mammon with a capital M is the spirit that's behind money.

It's not money, it's just paper.

But the spirit that controls people through money, that's it's got a name.

Its name is mammon.

And if you worship money, you're worshiping a false idol.

Enjoy cracker barrel.

I'm sorry for this heavy message on a beautiful face-melting Sunday morning.

But it's true.

You're saying, you know what, money's not my God?

Jesus is.

You're saying, you know what?

My career is not my God.

Jesus is.

You're saying the the gods we we talk about, you know, in history, you're like the gods of the Romans, the gods of the Ephesians.

Those are actual demonic spirits and forces and principalities and powers that Paul writes about that are over culture, and they're over your cities.

There's actual demonic forces at work, and people are loyal to those demonic forces.

When you're saying, when you're gonna get in the water, you're saying, I'm not gonna be true or loyal to false gods and false idols.

I'm gonna be true and loyal.

My life is gonna be found in Jesus Christ alone, a radical loyalty.

Paul writes about it, he uses this word.

You know, we we think about, you know, we're saved by faith, by grace through faith, right?

By grace through faith.

The word there, faith, that Paul uses quite a bit.

It's this word in the in the original language is pistis.

Pistis is the original word for faith, but it's not just like a mental ascent, like I'm um, I have faith in something, so I believe it in my brain.

It's actually demonstrated loyalty, is how the original word reads.

So it's like if you're loyal to, like I'm loyal to Starbucks, I don't go to Dunkin' Donuts, there's a loyalty there.

I am loyal to my wife, friends.

I am loyal to her, forsaking all others.

I took a vow at an altar to forsaking all others, rich or poor, sickness and health, till death do us part.

That's the kind of radical loyalty that Jesus is calling for from all of us.

Not just those who are getting baptized today, but maybe that's you today.

Maybe your loyalty has been kind of a little all over the place.

And today you want to just make a fresh commitment to Jesus and be true and loyal to Him alone.

I think about this in Micah.

I think about, you know, I like to pull different parts of the scripture.

Uh Old Testament prophet Micah, he said this, He's told you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk.

Everybody say, walk.

Walk humbly with your God.

There's one God, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Galatians 2.20, Paul writes this: says, I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

Woo! I don't live anymore.

Dead man walking, right?

And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

This is the kind of radical loyalty that Jesus requires of us.

And he doesn't do it in a bully, kind of pushy, you know, kind of hold it over your head kind of way.

He's inviting you into this.

He's calling you into deeper waters.

He's saying, Come, come, come out from those loyalties.

They won't serve you well, and especially they won't serve you in eternity.

So come and follow me.

I got you.

Take up your cross daily and follow me.

Last and third point I think he's calling us to in this passage is to be a radical witness, verse 26, to be a radical witness.

Our lives are meant to be a living, powerful uh testimony about the goodness and what God can do in our lives.

We're not just here to check boxes and make sure we get our devos in and show up church attendance and stuff like that.

Not even to like give or go on mission trips and some of the really cool stuff that we get to do as believers.

We're not here just for that.

We're here to live our lives in such a manner that people can't help but experience the power and the presence of God when they get around us.

How about that?

And that takes a radical loyalty, takes radical trust, a radical loyalty, and it creates a radical witness.

Amen.

That's what he's calling us to in this passage, and that's why we get in the water.

That's the heart change that should be happening before you get in the water today.

Romans 12:1.

Romans 12:1

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

Nobody in Christianity wants to hear the word sacrifice, but it is cornerstone to our faith.

How much nobody wants to hear about suffering for the cause of Christ.

It is cornerstone to our faith.

We were talking about the Chinese church earlier.

You know why?

The persecution is causing the power of God to move throughout that entire country.

Persecution, difficulty.

How about that?

It's a little harder when it's here and things are pretty easy.

Offering your body as a living sacrifice is harder when there's not pressure.

So embrace the sacrifice.

We have to.

I'm encouraging you to embrace the suffering for the sake of Christ.

It should, you should count it all joy to suffer.

You and I count it all joy to suffer for the cause of Christ.

My goodness.

Paul wrote that.

He said in Philippians 3:8, indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord.

Philippians 3:8

How about that?

He had just in the previous verses, he had just told about all the great things he had accomplished in his life.

He says, For Jesus' sake, I have suffered the loss of all those things.

And I count them as rubbish.

This is actually him cussing.

It's pretty funny.

Did Paul cuss in the Bible?

Is there cuss words in the Bible?

Yep.

This is actually Paul.

Like the word rubbish there is actually stuff you put in a toilet, is actually the word there.

Like I all these, all these accolades and achievements and everything else that I did in my life before Christ, I count it like putting in the toilet.

When you compare it to the cause of Christ, he says, I count them rubbish in order that I may gain Jesus.

The trade that you make today, the trade in the water, it's worth it.

It's worth it.

No matter what you have to leave, no matter what the cost of your cross might be, it is worth it.

It is worth it.

So I invite the band up.

I think what we're gonna do is just close with uh a chorus.

But uh as we do, why don't y'all just I want to invite you to close your eyes with me?

Just make a little quiet space there and uh just reflect.

I think sometimes we just go too fast on to the next thing.

Cracker barrel, waffle house don't get no nuts.

We'll just go to the next thing too quick and not reflect on what God's speaking to us right now.

Take a take a moment.

And with every head bowed, every eye closed, I just want to ask, if you're here and you're getting baptized, or you know you're convicted, and you know, man, I need to get baptized today.

I want to give my life to Jesus.

Everything you said, I believe it's true.

I'm ready.

I'm ready to take up my cross and follow him.

If you're getting baptized today, why don't you just wave at me just real quick?

I want to see your hands.

Yes, praise the Lord.

Yes, praise the Lord.

I want to invite all of us to respond.

If you really feel convicted, like we're in a room full of believers here, there's faith in the room.

If you if you feel convicted by this and you're like, man, I want to I want to take a look at some, a good heart look at some of the things I've been loyal to.

With every head bowed, every eye closed.

This is just between you and God, but I just want to invite you to raise a hand.

If you're like, man, I need to re-evaluate some things, and I'm gonna make some commitments here today.

Yeah, go ahead and throw a hand in the air to the Lord.

Yeah, amen, amen.

I'm proud of you.

Man, these are this is a response, just like we saw with Pastor Vinny earlier, it's responding to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

It should be the Holy Spirit speaking to you.

It's not me, it's not God with the microphone.

The Holy Spirit is speaking to you and you need to take up your cross and follow him today.

That's not me, that's God that's speaking to you.

Amen.

Father, we love you, and God, we worship you today.

Why we thank you, God.

I thank you for our hearts, Lord.

And the hearts of each person that responded today that's saying, God, yeah, that's me.

Lord, I hear you.

Lord, I thank you that you, by your sacrifice, your death, burial, your resurrection, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, God, you enable us to take up our cross and to follow you daily.

We couldn't do it without you.

You give us everything we need to accomplish everything you call us to.

So, God, we just thank you, Lord.

You're doing supernatural and awesome things here in our midst today.

We give you all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise in Jesus' name.

Thank you for joining us to learn more about Celebration Orlando, a church devoted to reaching the lost, equipping the found, and helping the hurting.

Follow us on social media using the handle at celebrationorl or visit our website, celebrationorl.org.