Following Jesus | Ps. Keith Pittman

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Celebration Orlando 1030 service.

How are y'all doing?

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I'm gonna keep that energy.

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Um, we are we're truly so glad you're here.

And if you're ever in the Orlando area, looking at the screen here, um please come in and visit us in person.

I believe that that life transformation happens um through the God word of God, but also in community, we would love for you to come and visit us and be a part of our worship experience.

If you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to join me in the Gospel of Mark, chapter one.

The Gospel of Mark, chapter number one.

While you're turning there, I want to frame up the series that we're gonna be in for the next three weeks.

The title is really simple, it's just one word, but I think it's very provocative, and the word is reclaim.

Somebody say reclaim.

At its core, reclaim really just means to recover what has been lost and to restore to its rightful place.

We want to reclaim something.

And this series holds a special place in my heart because I truly believe, and you'll probably see that as we walk through this sermon and even through the upcoming weeks, is that I believe that the true identity of what it means to be a follower of Christ has been lost.

I believe that there's some essence of what it means to really be devoted to Jesus.

It's gotten lost, and our desire is to reclaim it.

But in order to understand where we're going, let me tell you why we are here.

If we go back to the very beginning, we see the very first instance of the word Christian used in the Bible found in Acts chapter 11, verse number 26.

Acts 11 · chapter mention

And I'm gonna give you some context after I read the verse first.

It says this and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch, and for a whole year they met in the church, taught in large numbers.

The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

That's the first time the word appears in Scripture.

In fact, you'll find that the word Christian only appears in the Bible three times, whereas disciple comes up hundreds of times.

And I want to give you some definition around that.

When that word Christian was used, it was a derogatory term.

It was a term that was meant to minimize the people who were followers of Christ.

But there was a reason for that.

The reason that they were called Christians or what they would call little Christ is because they were mocking their lifestyle.

So what they would often see and say when they would see Christians, they were like, oh, there go those Christians being nice to people.

Oh, there go those Christians turning the other cheek.

Oh, you must be one of those Christians.

You forgive people, don't you?

Oh, there go those Christians treating women with equality.

Imagine that.

Like this was literally the posture and the tone of the people when the word was originated.

It was a derogatory term that literally spoke about the genuineness, the love, and the way that the Christian believers were all united.

That was the term that was given to them.

But I suspect today that when we say the word Christian, it does invoke a reaction, but those aren't the things that come to mind.

What you'll often find, and I've had conversations and there's research on this, that when people think of Christian today, they think of political ideology.

They often are thinking that, hey, if you're a Christian, then that means you must think this way.

I I've reason I I recently saw, literally just on social media, I saw a pastor on platform, a person who's called by God, say, hey, it is impossible to be a Christian if you are a Democrat.

Just somebody say, so like, and and here's the thing land wherever you land politically, that's fine.

But the moment that we begin to allow our politics to face to shape our theology, we've completely missed a mark.

We've missed it completely.

He said it's impossible to be a believer and to be a person who is a Democrat, and we've missed it completely.

The other thing that we see when people hear the word Christian, a lot of times they think of Christian nationalism.

And that's the idea where you don't know where the American flag ends and the cross begins, and so somehow it becomes this morphed and intertwined thing where you believe that that the world should be governed by Christian views and laws the same way that Saudi Arabia has Muslim laws, like that's the way that we should govern ourselves, and and it creates this dynamic of what does it really mean to be a Christian?

You can know someone who may lean in the Christian nationalism perspective based off of what we saw last week.

We had a solar eclipse, didn't we, guys?

And anyone that has social media probably saw many people saying, the end is near.

Jesus is on his way back.

Repent and be baptized so that you can be saved.

But here's the fascinating thing about this.

There is literally an eclipse every 18 months.

But no one says anything when it's happening in another country.

But when it happens to America, it means it's the end of the world.

That's when you have a narcissistic theology that puts America at the center of it instead of Jesus.

This is often what comes into the mind of people when they hear the word Christian.

Or maybe you're on the other side, the other extreme, where you're rejecting that to the extent of that you've deconstructed God to the point that he requires nothing of you.

There's no such thing as sin, there's no such thing as godly standards, and now instead of us being made in the image of God, we reduce God down to being in our image.

What I believe this series is meant to do is for us to reclaim the essence of what it truly means to be a follower of Christ on God's standards, on the word of God's standards.

And I believe that if we lean in enough, we will all be equally offended by the end of today's message.

And that's a beautiful thing.

To make matters even better, we're bringing back our after the message podcast after popular demand, and by popular demand I mean by me.

Because I realize that over the next three weeks it's going to be impossible for me to unpack all the ideas and the things that God has been sharing with me.

And so our after the message podcast is a place where we can take the conversation a little bit further.

Can I get again, amen to that?

Because you won't be saying it later.

Okay.

Now, as we look at the gospel of Mark, chapter number one, the Bible shows us that Mark's gospel is literally the shortest of all of the gospels.

Mark, in fact, is the only one who skipped baby Jesus altogether.

He just jumps straight into adult Jesus.

He's like, I just want to get into the action.

And so from verses one through 15, Jesus has already been baptized, he's already in ministry, John the Baptist has been arrested, and he's already growing in influence.

So when we get to verse number 16, we enter to the text with that as our context.

The Bible says this.

It says, as he passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fisher of men.

Follow me, Jesus told them, and I will make you fish for people.

Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Going on a little further, he saw James, the son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat putting their nets in order.

Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Today, as we kick off this series and as we lay a foundation of where we're going, I want to talk to us about something that is so elementary but yet so complicated to implement into our lives.

And I have a very provocative message title that you've probably never heard, but it's going to challenge us and inspire us.

It's simply called Following Jesus.

Let's pray and let's get into it.

Lord, we thank you so much for this beautiful invitation for us to be your followers.

God, our desire is to reclaim what it really means to be a follower of you.

So, God, I just ask over the next few moments that you give us open eyes to see you, open ears to hear your truth, and open hearts to receive everything that you want to do in and through us in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And amen.

That I'll never forget.

My my dad is a hardworking blue-collar man, and so he would never call me in the middle of the day because the day is when grown men should be working.

So he would never call me during the daytime, but he called me on this one particular day, which was a little bit different.

So I answered the phone and I can immediately hear the heaviness in his voice as he shared with me that my mother had experienced an accident.

She was at home and she was on a ladder and she was reaching for something, lost her balance, fell and broke her femur bone.

When she fell, she was unable to move the way that the bone had broken, and she was in such excruciating pain, but she was unable to get to a phone, she was unable to move anywhere.

So she laid there in the floor by herself all day long until my father came home from work that night.

For hours.

It was gut-wrenching, and as he's telling me these things, tears are streaming down my eyes at that very idea of my mom being there broken and alone.

They called an ambulance and they get her to the hospital.

I dropped everything and I flew home to be with my mother.

When we got there, uh she had to undergo an extensive surgery that literally had to piece her bones back together.

The bone wasn't a clean break, it literally blew up.

So they had to have a very special orthopedic surgeon that could come in and that could reassemble the bones just enough so that way it wouldn't affect her walk.

At one moment they said that you won't be able to walk the same ever again.

But if you know my mom, my mom said the devil is a liar.

And so she said, I am gonna walk.

Um they were like, okay, but Lisa, let's go to therapy first.

Um but but that this the surgeon that they had, they had to call him in.

He was on call, and it just so happens that he had he was the top surgeon in this field in the entire region.

So he comes in, he's a he's a master surgeon, and he puts her bones back together, and then she begins the process.

And the process that was to follow was her to go through physical therapy.

And as you can imagine, physical therapy isn't fun, it's necessary, but they were talking to her about this as I was sitting next to her bed.

They're saying, it's gonna be uncomfortable.

You're not gonna like it, you're gonna hate your therapist, but here's what you have to do: you have to engage the pain so that way you can learn how to walk appropriately.

It's gonna be uncomfortable.

But I trust, but trust me, if you do this the right way, you will survive this.

Now let's let's put a pause on that.

It makes me think about our own condition because the fact of the matter is, all of us are broken.

We've all experienced brokenness.

We all have undergone things and we're born in a fallen and broken world, so we all are broken.

But the beautiful thing, there is a great physician who calls us and invites us into this surgical procedure called salvation in an effort to make us whole.

But the challenge is we then, after accepting the surgery from this great doctor, we then have to learn how to walk it out.

Sadly, what often happens for us as followers of Christ, we say yes to the surgery, but we say no to the therapy.

So we end up walking as Christians, but our walk is never good and we continue to limp.

But if we could be willing to recognize that when I say that I am going to be a follower of Jesus, that means I'm allowing him into the interior parts of my life, but I'm also gonna allow him to show me how to walk this out.

This is exactly what the premise is of when Jesus says these words of follow me.

This is not an invitation for a one-time transaction where we lift our hands to say yes to Jesus and that's it.

Or we show up on the weekends and occasionally every other week and maybe we'll give and maybe we'll serve a little bit, but at the end of the day, we live life on our own terms.

That is not what he had in mind when he said, I want you to follow me.

Following Jesus from his mindset and his culture, it meant adopting his ways, it meant walking in his footsteps, absorbing his method, and being a person who embodies his message.

So, so how do we do this?

It's it's three simple words, but these words will change your life, and as simply as this, you have to be with Jesus.

The only way that we can truly be people who can walk out what it means to be a follower of Christ, who can truly follow Jesus, is we have to be with Jesus.

He explains it to us in the Gospel of John, chapter 15, verse number four, where he says these words, Abide in me, and I in you.

John 15 · chapter mention

And as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in a vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

That word abide is so beautiful.

It's from the Greek word meno, and it literally means to stay, to remain, to dwell.

Another translation says it this way: to make yourself at home in my presence and never move out.

Just to be with me and to never leave.

In the Gospel of John 15, 10 times over and over again, we see this word, abide, make yourself at home, dwell with me, don't move away, don't make this a transaction.

I need this to be a lifestyle.

But being with Jesus is not about proximity, it's about intimacy.

And that intimacy can lead to transformation and it can lead to us to get on mission.

So I know at the surface, when we hear the definition of that, it could seem overwhelming.

Let's be honest.

Abiding in Jesus, making myself at home in him, never leaving, never moving out, what does that practically look like?

How can I be expected to do that?

That seems like something that would be reserved for monks.

That seems like something that would be preserved maybe for people who work at a church, but but I'm a mom, I'm a dad, I got my own business, I got school, I got a lot of things going on.

So how can I practically be a person who abides in Christ while simultaneously being a person who is integrated into every area of the world?

Well, I'm glad you asked.

Because here's the beautiful thing: Jesus never asks us to do something that we're not already doing.

He never asks us to give something that he knows that we don't already have.

So here's the reality of it.

We are all abiding in something.

The question is, what are you abiding in?

Because all of us have a source that we are rooted in, our default setting, the place that we call home.

Why is it so important?

Because this whatever we abide in will determine the fruit in our lives.

Set another way, as we are saying this year, whatever you're rooted in, you're going to rise in.

Whatever you're rooted in, that's what you're going to produce a harvest in.

John Mark Comer says in his book, Practicing the Way of Jesus, which largely influenced this series.

This is a long quote, but I want you to hear it because I think it's so meaningful.

He says this: he says, if we are rooted in the infinite scroll of social media, it will form us.

Likely into people who are angry, anxious, arrogant, simplistic, and very distracted.

If we are rooted in the endless cues of streaming platforms of choice, this will form us too.

Likely into people who are lustful, restless, bored, and never present with what is.

If we are rooted in the pursuit of hedonism, just one more drink.

This is too, I promise y'all.

Just one more drink, another toke, another hookup to take the edge off the pain, that maybe I'll find moments of peace, but that is swarming us as well.

Likely into people who are compulsive, addicted, running away from our pain, but also running away from our healing.

But he also says, but if we are rooted in the inner life of God, that will also form us, and it will slowly produce fruit inside of our lives that mimics the fruit of the Spirit.

A life that is filled with love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I suspect the question for all of us is if I stayed rooted in what I am rooted in for the next 10 years, what would be the fruit of my life?

These are the moments where we have a valley of decisions to make.

So how do we practically abide in him?

What are the steps that are necessary in order for me to abide in him?

What does it look like when Jesus invites us to become disciples?

I have three thoughts that I want to share with us, and I hope that these can be encouraging but challenging for us in a moment for self-examination as we begin to talk about what does it really mean to follow Jesus?

Here's the first one that I want you to write down make a decision.

When Jesus is inviting us into a relationship with him, the first thing that you have to do is make a decision.

I I think about that moment when Jesus is talking to Simon and Andrew.

Truth be told, many believe that at this point Jesus' ministry was already in motion, so they were likely already, at least loosely familiar with him.

It's not like he was a complete stranger, but they had an entire life that they were trying to sustain.

And it seems as if this man shows up out of nowhere, he looks them into the eyes and he says to them, Follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men.

This required them to make a decision.

Either I'm going to follow Jesus or I'm going to stay exactly where I am.

There was no metaphor, there was no analogy.

It was a very practical concept that when you said yes to following a rabbi, that you were letting go of some things so that you can orient your life around some new things.

It's not as complicated as it is for us, where we can follow Jesus from a distance, we can follow Jesus as it's convenient.

But back then, and I truly believe this is a principle for us now, the idea of following Jesus meant I'm going to orient my entire life around Jesus.

But it required them to drop their nets.

I love how it says they dropped their nets.

But let's take a moment to examine what those nets really do mean.

For a fisherman, traditionally, these nets were essential tools that were crafted with cords and intricately woven together in a way that the fish would even see it in the water.

So they would cast the nets into the water, the net would drop down, the fish can't see it, they would get trapped and they would get pulled ashore.

In many instances, the fish wouldn't even know that they were trapped in the net.

So for these men, not only were they walking away from their own lifestyle, but I believe metaphorically speaking, they were trapped in the net of the mundane and they didn't even realize they were there.

But in order for them to follow Jesus, they had to drop the net.

I think that same thing is true of us.

Fact of the matter is, I believe that every single one of us has a net that we're trapped in and we don't even recognize it.

That net could be our job routines, it could be our daily rhythms, it could be a relationship, it could be staying in our comfort zones, but these things that have woven us in in such a way that traps us in the mundane, in the routine to a spiritless, fruitless life.

We, like the fish, are swimming along, not realizing that we're trapped in the net that is ultimately leading us to our very own destruction.

The Apostle John says it in his writing, he says that we can be trapped in that net that he refers to as the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

This life that we're we're just pursuing materialism and things on our own terms and don't realize that they're dragging us away from Jesus.

But this imagery isn't just for reflection, but it's meant for action.

That the same way that Simon and Andrew had to make a decision to drop their nets, I believe the same thing is said of us.

But the question is, what are the nets that we're carrying right now?

What are the things that we're entrapped in?

What are the ideas that are so locked into us that we don't realize that it's actually pulling us away from being true disciples of Jesus?

I believe all of us have to make a decision on who I am going to follow.

I believe it's brilliantly said to us through Joshua chapter 24, verse number 15, where he says these words choose this day whom you will serve.

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

You can choose to serve the gods of your ancestors, the gods over in the Euphrates, you could serve these gods of the Ammonites, or you can choose to serve Yahweh.

But as for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord.

He was making a decision that I know that there's a lot of options out there, but for me, there's only one answer.

And I believe that for us as followers of Christ, we have got to get past the point that we're looking at life through multiple choice and see it as a fill-in-the-blank and recognize that Jesus will fill every blank area of our lives, but we got to make the decision.

The world that wants to present us with you can have it your way, you can have whatever options, that is not the gospel.

The gospel says that there's only one way by which men can be saved, and that is by the name of Jesus.

And I recognize that culture has a lot to say about it, but give me Jesus.

I'm gonna follow Jesus.

I've made my mind up and I've realized that Jesus is worth following, and I will not look to the left or to the right.

I'm going to follow Jesus.

It starts with a decision.

What are the nets that are keeping us from truly following Jesus?

The second thing that I believe that we have to do is we have to be committed.

Because with any decision, there should be a commitment that's attached to it.

Because I do believe that at some level, making a decision doesn't seem that difficult, but a decision means nothing if there's not a discipline attached to it.

With these men, that this wasn't just a decision that they made in the echo chamber.

They had to be committed to this decision.

They had to be willing to walk it out in a very practical way.

This was not a decision that was temporary or half hearted, but it was a full pivot into aligning their lives towards Jesus.

Jesus says some very provocative things that I know that we love to put on bumper stickers and that we love to quote.

When we want to feel good about ourselves, but let me give us another thing that Jesus says that's probably going to challenge us a little bit more.

In the Gospel of Luke chapter 9, verse 62, Jesus said to him, No one puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom.

Luke 9:62

That sounds a little bit different than the hippie Jesus we're used to hearing, right?

The version of Jesus that doesn't require anything from us.

The version of Jesus that says you can do whatever you want and have it your way.

No, Jesus also was saying, the invitation is very open, but understand it's going to require you to be committed to this if you're on to actually produce fruit.

Being committed means following Jesus with our eyes set on him.

It means fixing our eyes on Jesus and looking at where we're going instead of trying to be faithful to where we came from.

One of the things that I love about going on vacation, particularly whenever my family and I go on a cruise, is I love the moment when you begin to sail away.

And depending on what cruise ship you're on, I realize that we are a church that has all types.

So maybe you're maybe you're on the virgin ship.

Maybe you're on Norwegian, maybe you're on a carnival.

But whatever one you're on, there's a moment where they call it the sail away party.

And the sail away party is lit.

Y'all, y'all don't know nothing about uh y'all don't know nothing about breaking away until you get on the sail away party.

Because what it is is like you know that you're on the ship, and I know at least the way that I'm wired, that it takes me a lot to kind of like disconnect from from work and everything else and for me really to enjoy.

So I've implemented a new thing.

Here's a new thing.

Y'all can write this down and you can implement it, and you will recognize that I'm pastoring in all areas of your life.

I take vacation two days before I leave so that I can disentangle myself and be fully ready on day one.

I don't got any time to waste.

I paid money to get here.

So, but I learned that last year.

But but I remember last year when we went on this cruise, there was a moment where we were on a ship and we had a lot of things on our mind, and you're trying to get connected, but then we go up to the spot where they say it's the sail away party.

The DJ's playing all the dope songs.

It was gospel for those who need to hear that, but not really for those who don't care.

Okay, so they were having a good time, the party's going on, they blow the horn, and it begins to leave out of the dock.

And then there's a moment where the cruise director says these words, he says, Okay, wave goodbye to all the anxiety, wave goodbye to the stress that'll be back when you get back here in six days.

Now turn and look towards where you're going.

You need to begin to focus on where you're going and not obsessing about what you're leaving.

I've realized that for some of us, we've never had that sail away party.

So we're on this ship and we know that there's something beautiful on the horizon, but we keep finding ourselves looking back to a past that Jesus is trying to deliver us from.

But I believe that when we're committed, it's that moment when I say, I'm no longer paying attention to the past, but I'm focusing on the future because where I'm going is a place of joy, it's a place of peace, it's a place of wholeness, it's a place of breakthrough.

But we got to be committed to it.

We we can't we can't turn around just because there's a little bit of turbulence or we find some rocking in the ship a little bit.

See, what I love about the life of Peter is that we see this moment where Peter is invited to be a disciple.

It's a very beautiful moment.

We fast forward and we get to the book of Acts, and there's a moment where Peter is literally standing on a platform and he preaches the gospel, and over 3,000 people get saved.

But that didn't happen overnight.

The fact of the matter is, there was a lot of growth that had to take place between dropping his net and then preaching the gospel.

Peter wasn't perfect.

Peter fell often.

Peter was defined as being impulsive.

That when you look at him from a psychological profile, many people would say that Peter had ADHD.

Like that Peter was a person who was all over the place.

Did you know that Peter cut off a man's ear?

Peter, Peter denied Jesus, that when Jesus glorified himself, Peter made it about him.

Peter was not perfect.

That Peter stepped out of the boat, and as he walked, he began to look at the water and he began to sink.

But nonetheless, that same Peter, every time he fell, every time that Jesus corrected him, that Jesus literally said to him, Get behind me, Satan.

He received rebukes, but he never gave up.

He got corrected, but he never gave up.

Every time he fell down, he got back up, he never gave up.

In other words, Peter was committed through it all.

Sadly for us as Christians, the moment that something confronts us that makes us uncomfortable, we're willing to run away from the very thing that is meant to develop us.

But what if God is saying to you, this very feeling that you're feeling is meant for you to wrestle with it so that you can grow from it, you can become mature through it, and now you can be a disciple who can speak from a place of experience, but you gotta be committed and you can't give up.

Peter was a man who went through so many things, but what's so beautiful is he never gave up, even when he was restored back.

I can only imagine that after he denied Jesus, that he would have thought that I will never be a person who's who's worthy to declare the name of the Lord, but Jesus restored him and then he preached the gospel, and 3,000 people got saved.

I believe all of us have Peter on the inside of us.

All of us have those shortcomings, but I also all of us have a potential to do something incredible for the kingdom, but it requires us to be committed.

Here's a third and final thing I want to share.

We need to embrace the sacrifice because I want you to hear me from my heart to be a follower of Jesus, it requires sacrifice.

There is going to be something that you have to give of yourself.

This is not, this is not an endeavor that requires nothing of us.

That when we say yes to Jesus, though he paid the price, there is a surrender that we need to submit to him in order for us truly to grow and to dwell.

Do we have any we have any people that are gardeners in the building?

Anyone that loves the garden?

We got one person here.

She was excited about too.

She said, I'll stand up and show you right now.

I bought some seeds with me here.

What you want to do?

Okay.

We got a couple people.

So but but I think we all can appreciate this metaphor.

What I what I've learned about the whole gardening process, and when I say I learned it, I Googled it.

But what I've learned about the gardening process is that there's a moment when as it begins to grow and you begin to see things thriving, there's a moment when you have to do some pruning.

And pruning becomes challenging because you're seeing evidence of growth, you're seeing fruit, you're seeing life there, but when you understand plant life, you understand that there's limited resources.

And so if you don't prune it, even though everything can grow, it doesn't grow to its full potential.

So there's a moment when you're saying, hey, this isn't necessarily bad, but it's not good for me.

So I have to prune it off so that what's best can also flourish.

I believe that same thing is said of us as believers.

I believe that as we begin to draw closer to Jesus and as we really begin to follow him, there are going to be some moments that we have to prune some things out of our life.

And those things may be uncomfortable.

And those things may be a challenge to us, and we won't understand why we have to do it.

But God is saying it doesn't mean that it's bad, it just means it's not good for you.

I've been through seasons where God has challenged me to prune some things out of my life, to prune some people out of my life, to prune some music out of my life, to prune some TV shows out of my life.

Not that because they're sinful and that God's grace isn't in it, but it's not good for me.

And I believe that every one of us has those convictions that God would occasionally stir us with, and He's saying, This isn't good for you.

That relationship isn't good for you, and for you to grow in what I'm calling you to do, if you're going to really be my follower, you're going to have to prune it.

There's a sacrifice attached to it.

Paul tells us in Romans chapter 12, verse 1.

Romans 12:1

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in the view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, because this is true worship.

We don't even recognize the grace that's in this text.

Because even though we're hearing about the sacrifice, but we're also seeing that it's a living sacrifice, all sacrifices die.

But by the grace of God, he allows us to willingly and livingly go through these moments that require something from us, but guess what?

It's not going to kill you.

Let me say it this way: I've had to prune some people out of my life, and guess what?

It didn't kill me.

I've had to prune some bad behaviors out of my life, and guess what?

I'm still here.

A lot of times the enemy will make us to believe that if I stop doing this thing, what does that mean for me?

It means you're more righteous.

It means you're more holy.

It means you're drawing closer to God, and it's an expression of worship.

Sacrifice in this sense is not just giving up something, it's about giving your life over to something that is far greater than anything you could ever ask or think.

These sacrifices could be self-preservation, selfish ambitions, security, and even relational ties.

But believe me, friends, this is not a loss, but these are kingdom investments that will yield fruit beyond anything we can ask or think.

I remember when I first got radically saved, and for me, making a decision and being committed is not hard.

I'm just wired in a way that if you tell me what I need to do, if it if it resonates with me, then I'm I'm all in.

So I remember when I got radically saved, I began to immediately figure out okay, how do I walk this out?

I got connected with some men of the church.

I was connected really close to my pastor, and he just began to show me how to walk these things out, and he showed me what pruning looks like.

He he showed me what these things required of me, and I and I walked it out.

It wasn't comfortable, but I did.

But I remember there was this one moment where we're sitting in a service similar to this, and there was a moment where we're talking about worshiping God in the area of our giving.

And so, in the back of my mind, I was riddled with anxiety.

My mind was thinking a lot about my expenses, and truth be told, my family and I were living paycheck to paycheck at this point.

So the very notion of giving 10%, of giving an offering, that seemed like such an extreme expression considering my current financial position.

So I remember having this moment of like, man, like I want to.

So for me, I was just give God tips.

Like, okay, God, like, you know, like when you go to Starbucks, like, hey, you want to give a tip?

I'm like, I thought I paid for it.

Why do I gotta give you a tip?

You just put it in a cup.

But anyway, I like, okay, God, I'll just give you a little tip.

I'll give I'll I'll break off a little bit here and there, and that'll help me to feel good about it.

But this one service specifically, I'm there and I'm thinking about why I can't give, why I I'm unable to do it.

And then God brought me to Matthew 6, 33.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added unto you.

I was reminded of this because right before you get to that, it's literally talking about provision, all the anxiety, all the things, all the stress.

And what it was ultimately showing me that is that I can put God first, which is a sacrifice, the things that leave me anxious, they will actually fall into order.

That's the difference between kingdom and culture.

Kingdom is if I put God first, he provides order.

If I don't, I have to figure it out on my own terms.

From that moment forward, I decided that the area that I hadn't surrendered to God yet for me was my resources.

I made a decision.

Going forward, we're going to be people who tithe.

We're going to be people who give offering.

We're going to do our best to be generous.

And you know what I've begun to find in my mind is I began to find God rearrange our priorities.

I'm not saying that any imaginary checks showed up.

They didn't.

But through faithfulness and consistency, I learned that I'm no longer worried about money because I'm trusting God as my provider and my source.

There were high moments, there were low moments, but I don't have anxiety about those things because I trust God as my provider, but it requires sacrifice.

I believe every single one of us has something that God is challenging us to give.

When I was wrestling with this, God told me, Whatever you don't surrender to me, that is your God.

Sacrifice is saying the words of Jesus in the garden, not my will, your will be done.

I trust you with it all.

As we close, I want to I want to present some interesting information to you.

That when Jesus came, he didn't come to start a new religion called Christianity, he didn't come for that reason, he came to establish a relationship and to invite us into a new way of life that is called being a follower of Christ, that we place the label of Christian on.

You know, in America it is said that 63% of Americans identify as Christian.

63% of people in America identify as Christian.

But the survey, when it digs a little bit deeper and it does further exploration, that 63% actually goes down to 4% of people who are actually walking it out.

63% say that they're Christian.

Actually, 4% are the ones who are really walking it out.

I firmly believe that a lot of discussions about revival that we hear people talk about there's a revival coming.

We need a revival in America.

And so for many people, they're thinking the revival that needs to happen is mass conversions and a bunch of people all saying yes to Jesus and we're gonna have revival.

But I ascribe to a different line of thought.

I don't think revival is gonna be found when a bunch of people repent and come to Jesus.

I think revival is gonna be found when that 63% choose to become disciples.

That for that mass group that say that I am a cultural Christian, that I was raised in a Christian household, I I go to church occasionally, but I live life on my own terms.

That if that 63% actually chose to become a disciple.

Back um a few weeks ago on Palm Sunday, Vinny talked about crowds.

Y'all remember that?

The crowds, the crowds with the Pharisees, the crowds with disciples, and the and the crowds of people.

I want to I want to bring it down to just the two.

That when you look in the gospels, what you'll find is that there's primarily two groups of people: the crowds and the disciples.

The crowds were there for the big moments, the the the fish and loaves, the the the healings.

That's the crowd, the the consumer crowd.

But the disciples, they were there in the dark moments, they were there when there's tears, they were there when it's uncomfortable, they were there when it's challenging.

What I believe is that Jesus is inviting us who are part of the crowd to actually become more like disciples.

So the question becomes what is the net that we're holding on to?

Because the fact of the matter is, I think every single one of us has a net.

That that thing that we're holding on to, that while I want to say yes to Jesus in these areas of my life, I'm still entangled in other areas of my life, and I'm just not ready, not willing, not comfortable, don't know how to drop the net.

But I believe that the grace is here for us to enter into a time of worship where we can at least begin to surrender these things to Jesus.

So with every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to pose a question: what is your net?

What is the thing that you're holding on to that you're entangled in, that's very complicated for you to fully surrender?

Because I believe that's the very thing that Jesus wants to heal you from.

If you're in here with us and you will say, Keith, yes, I have an area of my life.

I have a net.

That net may be unforgiveness, that that net may be bitterness, that net may be my finances.

There could be a litany of things, but there's something that's in my life that is that is hard to fully surrender to Jesus.

Would you be bold enough to lift your hand on account of three so that we can pray together as a community, believing that that it's power in prayer?

If you know your net on account of three, lift your hand.

One, two, three.

I have my net.

Amen.

Amen.

All of us.

All of us have our nets.

You can go ahead and put those hands down.

We're gonna go into a time of worship, but before we do that, I want to pose uh another question just really quick.

If you're in here with us and you would say, Keith, my net is my life.

I have not surrendered my life to Jesus.

I'm a part of the crowd, but I have not yet become a disciple saying yes to Jesus.

Or if I did, I'm not walking it out, but I'm ready to change the crowd that I'm in.

So if that's you and you're in here and you're ready to commit or recommit your life to Christ, I want to celebrate with you.

We want to pray with you, and we want to worship with you as well.

So if it's you and you're ready to surrender your life to Christ, you're ready to drop that net and begin to move into being a disciple on account of three.

Would you boldly lift your hand?

One, two, three.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Hands up everywhere.

God bless you guys.

Amen.

Church, can we put our hands together and celebrate with every person that is saying yes to Jesus?

Here's what I want us to do.

I want us all to stand on our feet, and we're going to go into a time of worship.

And as we engage the presence of God, I want us to engage the presence of God knowing what's available to us.

That this life that we live, it's one of sacrifice, it's one of surrender, but it's also one of power and community.

So as we worship together, as we pray together, let's invite the Holy Spirit in to bring freedom and to free us from our nets.

With every hand lifted up, let me pray for us.

Lord, we thank you that as we go into this time of worship, that you are meeting us exactly where you are.

Lord, your word reminds us that you um that you inhabit the praises of your people.

So as we worship you, God, as we drop our nets, as we invite you in, and as we choose to follow you, we know that there's freedom, there's wholeness, and there's clarity that comes as a result of that.

So I pray that you meet us in this time of worship, that your spirit begins to hover and move and illuminate things and bring clarity and hope in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Let's worship together.

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