Honest Expectations

Well, let me catch you up really quick if you're if you're new.

We're doing something this year called following Jesus.

We are going through the entire book of Matthew.

In fact, all of our kids in first grade, all the way through high school, are also going through the book of Matthew this year.

So if you have kids in those ages, they're learning the same stories that you're learning each Sunday, which is really cool.

And so we're going through the book of Matthew, and our goal is really simple.

We want to better understand Jesus.

We want Jesus to become more clear in our understanding.

We want to know him better.

We want to be able to follow him better.

And if you're new to Jesus or you're just thinking about Jesus, you haven't necessarily committed your life to Jesus, I can tell you from experience, there is no one more worth following than Jesus Christ.

And so we're learning how to follow Jesus, and we're just basically trying to put ourselves in the shoes of those who followed him first.

And so we've been literally just tracking along.

Wherever they are, we've tried to be, we've tried to learn a lot about the culture, what's happening around him, so that we can understand the context of everything that Jesus does and that Jesus says, because again, we just want our picture of Jesus to become more clear.

And so to help us do that, we've leaned into a lot of maps, and so I've done this almost every week.

I'm sure there'll be a compilation video that the staff will put together, uh, making fun of how many times I've said the same things over and over again.

They do that sometimes.

It's fun.

I like to be made fun of.

It's great.

Uh, but here's our map.

Um, there we go.

We've got Israel there in the top right corner, as you can see, and so Mediterranean Sea, we've got the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea, and then we'll overlay the regions that we see in the time of Jesus as he's traveling around.

These are some of the words that you will see uh in terms of where he is and who he's talking to.

Most of his ministry so far has been up in the top part of Israel, a place called Galilee.

Um, and we're at a really interesting moment in the story where Jesus has drawn a number of disciples to himself, and he's beginning to teach them.

And here in just a moment, we're gonna see that he's gonna set them out.

We're calling this series and this section of Matthew New Roads.

Because Jesus is basically telling his disciples, hey, I want you guys to go out and build new roads.

I want you to be trailblazers.

I want you to say things that no one's ever said before and go about things in a way that no one's ever gone about things before.

This is not Jesus telling his followers to just walk the same paths that those before them have walked.

He's asking them to do things in new ways.

It's gonna be revolutionary and it's gonna be difficult because building new roads is a challenging experience.

And here we are, 2,000 years later, and we're still building new roads.

There are still people and places who do not know Jesus.

There are still things in this world that need to change when they come into the light of who Jesus is and what Jesus is all about.

And so, even though this is something that started thousands of years ago, here we are as Jesus' followers, and we're still called, like these original disciples, to go out and be trailblazers and build new roads and do things differently and be different at work and different at home and different at school and show people what Jesus is really like and what God is really like, because they're one and the same.

Building new roads is difficult.

And we see as we get to Matthew chapter 10, Jesus sends out the twelve.

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 10, verses 5 through 42, it says, Jesus sent out the 12 apostles with these instructions.

Matthew 10:5–42

Don't go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only the people of Israel, God's lost sheep.

Go and announce to them that the kingdom of heaven is near, heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons.

Give as freely as you have received.

And, guys, in the back, I'm going a little off script, sorry, so uh we'll come back to that in a minute.

Jesus sends them out.

He sends them out.

And he tells them, I want you to start with the people of Israel.

We can bring the map back up.

Jesus sends out his disciples.

He tells them to avoid some of the places where the Jewish people don't really live in large numbers, and he wants to begin by calling all of the people who have grown up hearing about God in church, in their synagogues.

He's calling them to be part of this new movement.

Jesus, for the first time, stays put and he sends out his disciples to do the work.

They're the ones that are going and giving the news for the very first time.

It's a really interesting moment in his ministry.

And what we're going to read next is one of the most challenging things that Jesus ever says.

We're going to read most of the rest of Matthew chapter 10.

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

We're just going to read it all in one chunk here in just a second.

And it's Jesus telling these disciples what they should expect.

And we're going to see a side of Jesus that is so refreshing.

It is so different than what we see in this world because Jesus is upfront and honest.

He's just upfront and honest.

He says it like it is.

That is something that is so rare in the world that we live in, if we're honest.

Like people, especially people in leadership, they rarely just tell you like it is.

There's so much marketing, there's so much sales.

I've always joked that like the worst job you could have had would be to be the publicist of Jesus.

That would have been a terrible job.

Jesus didn't have one.

That person would have quit, I promise.

Because Jesus, anytime you're supposed to like hold back a little bit, Jesus would take another step.

Right?

Every time that Jesus would have a swell of momentum and all these people are following him because he did something really cool, he would say something really challenging and a bunch of people would leave.

It would have been a disaster to have to work and be Jesus' PR team because it almost felt like he didn't care whether or not he was popular.

It's because he didn't.

He told things as they were.

He told the truth.

He was upfront and honest.

And sometimes the truth is hard to hear.

Sometimes the truth is not exciting.

Sometimes the truth is not something that stirs us.

Sometimes the truth is actually sobering.

But the question I want us to ask on the front end of what we're about to read, Jesus say is do we want to be told the truth?

Do we appreciate honesty?

Like, I don't know about you, I do so much.

I hate being lied to.

Does anyone else like hate being lied to?

Yeah, like we get lied to all the time.

I have four kids, I get lied to all the time at home.

And uh and it's amazing like the small things my kids will lie about.

Things that don't even matter.

I'm not gonna say which child it is because it wouldn't be right.

But one of my three boys, when they were around five or six years old, for whatever reason just didn't, they just didn't believe underwear was a necessary part of a wardrobe, right?

They'd wake up in the morning and they just put their shorts on or their jeans on, no underwear.

And so, you know, I had to teach this child, hey, look, I I know that it's just another layer and it's another thing to have to do, but it's it's good, it's good to wear underwear as a general rule.

And uh for whatever reason, this child just was like, I don't think so.

But I got to the point where I would I would see them in the morning if they ever got up before me and I wasn't the one in charge of of what they were wearing, I would look at this child and just say, Hey, are you wearing underwear?

These are the conversations you have with five-year-olds if you have children.

It's great.

Uh and you know, if if you've had kids, you know that look that a kid has when they they like nod yes, but you know it's a no.

Right?

You know what I'm talking about?

Like if it's just it's too careful.

Like if if they're wearing underwear and you say, Are you wearing underwear?

They go, Oh yeah, wearing underwear, of course.

Why would I not be wearing underwear?

But if they're not wearing underwear and you say, Are you wearing underwear?

they go.

Like that.

And so I would just remember these moments where I would ask them, hey, are you wearing underwear?

And I would get that nod, and I just have to be like, dude.

Honestly.

And it's it's odd to tell a five-year-old, prove it, right?

You don't want to say that.

So you just say, I mean, hey, look me in the eye.

Are you wearing underwear?

And then they would kind of break down and go, I'm sorry, you know, and I'm like, I don't just go upstairs and put underwear on.

That's all I care about right now.

Why are you lying to me about underwear?

We get lied to all the time about little stuff, about big stuff.

And unfortunately, the older we get, the it's not that we get better at telling the truth.

Usually, naturally, we just become better liars.

Much more subtle, much more crafty.

And we see that in our world ad nauseum, especially in leadership, especially in those people that we're supposed to trust, and the people that are supposed to guide us, and the people who we we really need to be honest, are oftentimes the most dishonest.

And so when we have someone like Jesus who shows up, who has authority, as we've established in the last few weeks, as we've taught, and he just tells it like it is, it is so refreshing.

And so Jesus today is going to give us honest expectations of what following Jesus might look like at times.

Not all the time, but at times.

Are we good?

All right, let's listen to Jesus as he's up front and honest.

I'm going to go back to verse 9 in Matthew chapter 10.

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

He's just told them to give as freely as they have received.

And he says, Don't take any money in your money belts, no gold, silver, or even copper coins.

Don't carry a traveler's bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking stick.

Don't hesitate to accept hospitality because those who work deserve to be fed.

Whenever you enter a city or village, search for a worthy person, stay in his home until you leave town.

When you enter the home, give it your blessing.

If it turns out uh to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand.

If it's not, take back the blessing.

If it turns out, uh if any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave.

I tell you the truth.

Look, I'm sending you out as sheep among wolves, so be shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.

But beware, for you will be handed over to the courts, you'll be flogged with whips in the synagogues, you'll stand trial before governors and kings because you're my followers.

But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.

When you're arrested, don't worry about how to respond or what to say.

God will give you the right words at the right time.

For it is not you who will be speaking, it will be the Holy Spirit of your father speaking through you.

A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed, and all nations will hate you because you're my followers.

But everyone who endures to the end will be saved.

When you're persecuted in one town, flee to the next.

I tell you the truth: the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.

Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master.

Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master.

And since I, the master of the household, have been called the Prince of Dons, the members of my household will be called even worse names.

But don't be afraid of those who threaten you.

For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.

What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes.

What I whisper in your ear, shout from the house tops for all to hear.

Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body.

They cannot touch your soul.

Fear only God who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

What is the price of two sparrows, one copper coin?

But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your father knowing it.

And the very hairs on your head are all numbered, so don't be afraid.

You are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my father in heaven.

But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my father in heaven.

Don't imagine that I come to bring peace to the earth.

I came not to bring peace but a sword.

I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

Your enemies will be right in your own household.

If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you're not worthy of being mine, or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you're not worthy of being mine.

If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you're not worthy of being mine.

If you cling to your life, you will lose it, but if you give up your life for me, you'll find it.

Anyone who receives you receives me.

Anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me.

And if you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you'll be given the same reward as a prophet.

If you receive a righteous person because of their righteousness, you'll be given a reward like theirs.

And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.

Like I said, being Jesus' PR team, not a good job.

That's tough, right?

That's tough.

That's challenging.

And we're gonna make our way through that.

Like when we commit to go through scripture, this is what I love about how we do things.

When we go through scripture, we don't skip the hard stuff.

Right?

Like this is if I was just gonna go through the book of Matthew and like play the hits, I'd have skipped this part.

I'd have been like, we'll just we'll go on to the next.

What's the next miracle that Jesus performs?

When he's gonna heal a blind person again.

Let's go there.

But this is tough.

Jesus says a lot of things here.

They're very challenging, very difficult.

But like I said, the setup for this, let's understand, he is sending his disciples out.

We just kind of watch that on the map.

He's sending them out into enemy territory.

He knows they will face stark opposition, and he's being honest with them.

Here's what you should expect.

It's going to be hard, it's going to be difficult, people will hate you.

There will be division caused because of what you say.

That division might actually happen in your own homes.

He's being upfront and honest, and we have to appreciate that.

And he's setting expectations for what in many seasons of life it actually can look like and be like to be a Jesus follower.

And I want to just hit on a few themes.

We could talk about this for months, honestly.

There's so much here, but I want to hit on a few themes that we see.

Number one, following Jesus is hard.

It's not easy to follow Jesus.

It's not easy.

We are very susceptible to lies about how easy something can be.

And I'm just gonna ask for a little bit of corporate confession.

Number one, I think we need to lighten the mood a little bit.

I just feel that.

Uh, and so it'll be nice.

We'll laugh at ourselves, we'll have some fun.

Um, has anyone here, if you don't mind, let's just be honest.

Let's let's get things off our chest.

Sometimes it feels good.

Um, have you ever purchased a an as seen on TV fitness uh piece of equipment?

Anyone ever done that?

Like, just be honest.

At any point in time, I'm with you.

Like, you know what I'm talking about?

If you've been watching television for the last 30 or 40 years, there have been a constant stream of these products that promise you unbelievable results.

And it's easy.

Right?

It's it's just it's so easy.

That's what the ads make it look like.

It's so easy.

You don't have to work that hard.

You get six pack, it's great.

Like, there have been several throughout the years, this might date some of us.

Did anyone here ever buy a Thymaster?

And he was being honest, anyone here ever buy a Thymaster?

All right.

A couple Thymasters back in the day.

How about this is like the most embarrassing, maybe.

Shake weight?

Do you guys remember the Shakeweight?

Did anyone did anyone anyone want to own that?

Like I bought a Shakeweight?

Oh, okay.

You bought two?

Someone raised both hands.

Yeah, that's the that might be the most awkward commercial of all time.

Um let's go big.

Anyone go all out and buy a BoFlex back in like the night.

Any Boflex owners?

Oh, I saw one.

You're like, alright, I'm serious.

20 minutes a day, you look like that guy.

That's what the the it's not true, it's not possible.

So I bought one, and it wasn't a Thymaster, that'd be that'd be weird.

Uh I bought, I can't remember what it was called, but it was it was in the late 90s, early 2000s.

There was this belt, and you wrapped it around your abs, and it just shocked your abs into contracting.

And the idea was that it would give you like a six-pack, and you just kind of like sit there.

And by applying these electrical pulses to your abs, like it made sense to my brain.

I was like, yeah, that's the same thing.

Your abs contract.

That's so I just watch TV and get it.

That's what the ads said.

Did anyone else buy that?

The ab shocker.

Anyone, a couple of those?

Oh.

How'd it work for you?

No.

Same.

Same.

It hurt.

I'll tell you that.

That part worked really, really well.

You had to put this like gel on.

That's when I knew this is, I didn't, I'm in trouble.

Like you had to put this gel on to conduct the electricity, and if there were any spots the gel wasn't, it just burned you.

Um I'm pretty sure those have been recalled.

I'm pretty sure the the president of that company got arrested.

He's probably in prison.

I don't know.

But I bought an ab shocker.

Because there's something, if we're honest, there's something so appealing about the promise of ease.

It'll be easy.

It'll be easy.

Come on, just just take this, do this.

You won't have to work hard.

We are so compelled by promises of ease.

And yet, deep down inside, we know that they don't work.

Because easy isn't always good.

In fact, often the things that are most important, the things that are best, aren't aren't easy.

Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

This was part of his Sermon on the Mount.

He said, You can enter God's kingdom only through the narrow gate.

And he's talking about himself.

The highway to hell is broad and the gate is wide for the many who choose that way, but the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult.

And only a few ever find it.

Some translations or paraphrases of this have said that, you know, the the path to hell is wide and the path is easy.

It's contrasting what Jesus says.

The way is wide and it's easy.

It's almost like Satan figured out a long time ago the easiest way to get people off track is just to make sure that road looks really smooth and simple.

We should be very careful when anyone promises us something will be easy, especially something important, something good.

Jesus isn't really concerned with easy.

What he is concerned with is what is right and what is true and what is good.

And he's upfront and he's honest and he tells us listen, following me is not always going to be easy.

Sometimes it is.

Sometimes it is, but there are times when being a Jesus follower is an incredibly difficult thing to do.

And that leads us to our next point.

It's not easy following Jesus, but there's also a cost.

Following Jesus will cost you something.

It'll cost you something.

Now, this can be a little bit challenging to think about, right?

Because we're taught, and if you've grown up in church, hopefully you were taught this, that salvation is a gift.

It's free.

Romans tells us this very clearly, Romans chapter 5, verses 12 through 17.

Romans 5:12–17

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world.

Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Yes, people sinned even before the law was given, but it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.

Still, everyone died, from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God as Adam did.

Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ who is yet to come.

But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift.

For the sin of this one man Adam brought death to many, but even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.

And the result of God's gracious gift is very different than the result of that one man's sin.

For Adam's sin led to condemnation.

But God's free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.

For the sin of this one man, Adam, cause death to rule over many, but even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man Jesus Christ.

So we see it over and over again.

Salvation is a gift.

So how can a gift that's free cost you something?

Which is it?

It feels a little bit like a little bit like it's a contradiction.

And what you have to be so careful about when it comes to scripture is how easy it is for someone to take and twist things and teach a different version of the gospel, a different version of the message of Jesus than the message that Jesus himself preached.

A lot of false teaching is just taking things out of context and applying too broad of a brush, so to speak, to uh concepts that are actually much more nuanced.

If we're gonna follow Jesus, we want to have mature faith.

We want to be people who understand the nuances of our faith, not just the broad strokes, right?

Salvation is a gift.

It is absolutely free.

You don't have to do anything to be a Jesus follower.

That part's easy.

Jesus did the hard part.

Like he died on the cross, he paid that price.

That was the hard part.

So when it comes to being saved, to being forgiven, all of your sins being taken care of, that is done.

That is a gift.

But once you receive the gift, there's a cost.

And you're like, what does that mean?

Imagine this.

By the way, all analogies break down pretty quickly.

So just don't try to think this too through too carefully, right?

This is just an analogy.

Uh let's say I gave you a free dog.

Would anyone take a free dog, by the way, if I happen to have one?

I don't.

Okay.

A couple of you are like, yes.

My kid, just so you guys know, my kids want a dog so bad.

They want one so bad.

They ask us every year, please, please, please get us a dog.

And we say, nope.

We're not doing it.

And we might look like cruel, horrible parents.

We're not.

Thank you.

That's my guy.

Uh we're not.

We're not.

We just have four small creatures in our home, and we don't need five.

So it's really about how much we love our kids.

But but imagine.

I gave you a dog and it's free.

You don't have to do anything.

Here's the dog.

Before you do that, you should count the cost.

It's a free gift, but it will cost you something.

It'll cost you time, right?

You'll have to reorganize your schedule.

There's gonna be a lot of energy that you're gonna have to spend on that.

Even let's take something kind of bigger, let's say.

Let's say I gave you a free house.

Like you get a free house.

Is there anyone who would not receive that?

I don't know if you've seen housing prices right now.

They're they're pretty high.

Like, hey, this house, it's totally free.

And yes, you could receive that house, but there would still be a cost.

There's maintenance, there's work, there's upkeep, right?

There's taxes, there's property taxes, maybe there's an HOA fee.

I don't know.

There's other things that go along with it.

So sometimes we have things in life that are given to us for free and they're wonderful and they're amazing, but once they're part of our lives, they will cost us something.

And Jesus tells his followers listen, there is a cost to being a disciple of Jesus.

Now, we happen to live at a time and in a place where if we are, if we're honest, the cost of following Jesus is about as small as it has ever been in history.

And if you don't know the history of Jesus followers, that's something you should know.

Because the reason we're able to be here today, the reason that I can stand on this stage and talk about Jesus openly, is not the norm.

In fact, on Friday night, we were uh we had a really cool event here for an amazing ministry in India.

And in India, for example, in the northern part of India, if you were to give your life to Jesus, here's what would happen.

You decide to follow Jesus, you are immediately ostracized from your family.

You are immediately ostracized in your village up to the point where you are cut off from the well.

Like in these remote villages where they depend on clean water.

If you're a Jesus follower, you leave Hinduism to follow Jesus, you are no longer welcome at the well.

You can't get water.

Like so to say yes to Jesus and to receive the free gift of salvation and forgiveness and mercy from God also means, yeah, you're gonna have to find another place to get water.

Your family might kick you out and throw you out.

There are places where following Jesus gets you killed.

If you look and do the research, there are martyrs dying for their faith in Jesus Christ all over the world right now.

I'm not just talking about at some point back in the day.

The early followers of Jesus, what they went through is unthinkable.

The torture, the death, the persecution.

But there are places all over the world where following Jesus is taking one of the biggest risks you could take.

And what's amazing is actually in the nations where our faith is persecuted the most, those happen to be the nations where it grows the fastest.

The fastest growing church in the world in the last few years has been in Iran.

It's a completely underground church, but it's growing faster in terms of percentage of the population and percentage of growth than any anywhere else in the world.

And there's no one in Iran doing this.

Standing on a stage and talking about Jesus with a group of other people.

It's risky.

But here we are in the United States and even in Georgia, and following Jesus doesn't tend to cost us much.

But we should be prepared that if it if it ever did, we would pay that price.

And I think where we start is we ask ourselves, well, well, what could following Jesus cost me?

And am I willing to risk that?

Am I willing to risk people having a negative opinion of me?

Like that sometimes is the biggest risk we have, if we're honest, like in America, is that if people know that I'm a passionate Jesus follower, they might have a lower opinion of me.

They might kind of lump me in with things that they don't really understand, and I might have people, you know, say things behind my back.

Can I handle that for the sake of Jesus?

What about maybe risking offense?

Like sometimes if we're gonna follow Jesus, we're gonna have certain values that line up with Jesus.

They don't line up with the world, right?

We can't try to play this game where we we have like one foot here with Jesus, the other foot in the world, and we just sort of pick and choose what we believe based on who we're around.

We should, if we're gonna follow Jesus, we should follow him.

We should let Jesus' voice be the voice that guides us.

We should let the opinions that God gives us in Scripture about what is right and what is good be those that shape us.

And if that's what we live by, there's gonna be opinions that we have that aren't popular.

And and living as a Jesus follower might mean risking offending someone.

Can we risk that?

Are we willing to pay that price to follow Jesus?

We have to be.

I don't know if you're answering for everyone, but we we we have to be, and here's why.

How how could I, how could I, living in America, being so blessed with so much freedom, not be willing to pay the small price of risking offending someone or risking someone having a negative opinion of me because they happen to know that I'm a passionate Jesus follower?

How could I live with myself being afraid of that and unwilling to pay that price, knowing that I have brothers and sisters in the world right now who are being viciously persecuted for following Jesus, who are who are risking everything to follow Jesus.

That doesn't track.

And so we should be grateful to God that where we live, the cost isn't that much, but prepared that if it ever became like that, we would still pay it.

Following Jesus, it cost us something.

And Jesus is upfront and he's honest about that.

But let's keep going.

Even when it gets hard, even when following Jesus is difficult, God sees us.

There are so many moments in the in what Jesus said that he reminds us that God sees you, that he's paying attention.

You know, he said that, hey, look, when you're going through something difficult, just remember that God the Father cares about birds, right?

He cares about sparrows, and they're worthless.

Like sparrows were like the cheapest thing you could buy in the culture at that time.

They were so cheap, and God's saying, look, God cares about that.

Jesus says in Matthew, he says, why worry about what you're gonna wear or what you're gonna eat?

Like, don't worry about those things.

He said, Look, God the Father, he cares about everything.

And look at the flowers in the field.

They're they're beautiful.

God cares about you so much more than those.

So every time we go through something difficult, Jesus reminds us that yes, you might be paying a price.

This might be difficult.

Following Jesus might have a cost and it might be painful at times, but God sees you.

He's with you.

And that's the fourth.

Not only does he see you, he's with you.

I've joked about this before because I think it's one of the most crazy pieces of advice someone could ever give.

But Jesus told his disciples, hey, when you get arrested, I love that by the way, like when you get arrested.

Not if, but when.

I think that's hilarious and awesome.

Every time I read this, I think about it.

Who says that?

Oh, by the way, when you get arrested.

Like just imagine if I'm telling you to do things, hey, live live life this way.

And by the way, um, when you get arrested, because it's gonna happen.

That's crazy.

Jesus says, when you get arrested, don't worry about what you're gonna say.

Like, what?

That's guys, come on.

Because in that moment, he says, your heavenly Father will give you the words, the Holy Spirit will give you the words that you need to speak.

So that's a big promise.

Jesus is being upfront and honest, right?

He's saying, when you go through something difficult, I not only see you, I'm with you.

I'm with you.

I don't know if you've ever experienced that.

What it's like to know that God's presence is with you.

That in a situation that you are unqualified for, you are unprepared for, you are in way over your head, the Spirit of God who lives inside of you is with you and will give you what you need.

Do we believe that?

I have to ask myself, do I believe that?

Because I face things all the time, like silly, stupid things that show me how much room I have to grow in my faith.

Like little things can cause me to panic.

Little things can cause me to freak out a little bit and start treating my problems and my issues as if they're much bigger than the God that I serve.

Is anyone else like that at all?

Is it just me?

I'll give you a small one.

Um I was getting my hair cut a few months ago.

It's the first time I've ever heard this happen.

My uh the the hair person, I don't know their their title, uh I go to Supercuts, so I don't know if they have titles, supercuts.

But they just went, ooh.

It's always interesting when you hear someone cutting your hair say, ooh.

Starting to thin out back here.

I haven't had a haircut since then, by the way.

Um hold on.

But it's so funny because, like, in a moment, I I just went in to get my hair cut, I had errands to run, I was doing fine.

Three months ago, I was riding high.

And then all it took was this lady with a pair of scissors saying, ooh, starting to thin out back there.

And I looked in the mirror and I thought, I'm going to die.

It's like it, oh, it's like mortality hit me.

I'm just, I'm being honest.

I had a crisis, like for a brief moment.

I'm like, I'm in my 40s, my hair's thinning, uh, my blood pressure's a little high.

That's not good.

Like, I got all this stuff going on, and just pray for Megan, like my poor wife, for these last few months.

She's like, oh my god, you might need to die.

Like, that might need to happen.

You know, she hasn't said that.

She didn't say that.

But then I worry maybe she does think that because I've been just constantly walking around the house, like, I feel like I'm I'm getting old.

I'm tired.

I'm just all I'm tired all the time.

And she's like, Yeah, yes, Justin, you're getting older.

What do you want me to tell you?

I want you to tell me that I'm young and I'm fit and I'm perfectly healthy and everything's fine.

She hasn't told me that.

Because it's not true.

It's just a small thing created this panic inside of me, and I start focusing on all the things in life that could go wrong.

And we do that.

Because a lot of things can go wrong, but there is nothing that can ever happen to you, even the big stuff, that's bigger than God.

I know that's cliched sometimes to say God is bigger than our problems, but like, but he is.

He's bigger than everything.

And there's no situation you could ever find yourself in that God does not have the answer for or is not the answer for.

Even by the way, if that answer, it's simply to endure, and he will give you strength.

And we have to be people that live with faith in that.

Yes, following Jesus is challenging.

He asks us to do things that are different than the way the world does things, and that is going to lead to collisions and all kinds of interesting situations, and sometimes it leads to us being judged and called out, and sometimes it might mean division and anger and and you name it, but he's with us.

He sees us, and he's with us.

And no matter what you go through, his presence is there.

And I know people, like I'm joking, I'm joking about, I haven't been that freaked out about the hair.

I haven't had a haircut since then.

That is true.

Um I'm gonna get one this week, I think.

It's getting silly.

Okay.

But I'm just I'm the joke is that it small things can cause us to panic and to feel like like maybe we're not winning at life.

But we're not the ones that are supposed to win.

Jesus has already won.

And we live in his victory, and that should give us peace.

And what he's telling his disciples here is hey, you're gonna go out, you're gonna say things, they're gonna say things about you, you're gonna get thrown in prison, things are gonna happen to you, but it's okay.

The Spirit will be with you, and you can go through anything if you have the Spirit of God working within you.

And that's true of all of us.

Doesn't matter what's happening in your home, in your relationships, with your health, with your finances, doesn't matter what's happening around you, the Spirit of God is inside of you.

If you've given your life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit's with you, there is nothing that you are unprepared for.

Let's move on to the final point.

It's that what you gain is so much more than whatever cost you pay.

You know, Jesus makes promises.

Hey, listen, if you endure, no matter what comes your way, if you acknowledge me before the world, I will acknowledge you before the Father.

Can you imagine how awesome that would be?

Like those of you who love Jesus and the idea of just standing in front of God the Father is like something that blows your mind.

Just imagine what Jesus is saying.

I will acknowledge you in front of the Father.

That's like you standing before God the Father on the throne, and Jesus Christ is like, oh, this guy's with me.

Like that.

That's incredible to think about.

Jesus tells us that if we if we endure, if we follow him, if we pay whatever price it costs to be one of his followers, that there is a reward that is far greater than any cost that we could pay.

Far greater.

Matthew 10, he says, verse 39, we read this if you cling to your life, you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

If you cling to your life, you'll lose it.

There's a there's a really interesting uh story that I heard years ago.

You may have heard this before, it's it's pretty well known, but if not, it's really cool.

Um they have a really interesting method in in Africa for catching a certain type of monkey.

And it's really simple.

They they just get this jar, it's a very heavy jar, and they put something in the jar that the monkey wants.

And the way that the jar is, the hole at the top is such that when the monkey reaches in with their hand relaxed, it goes in, but you couldn't pull your hand out if you're making a fist.

And so the monkey will reach into the jar and grab the thing that they want, and then they'll come to catch the monkey, and all the monkey would have to do would be to let go and pull its arm out and run away, but it won't do it.

It tries to hold on, and in doing so, it's attached to that jar and it slows the monkey down, it can't get away.

And all it would have to do would be let go.

It's the same idea.

Jesus says, look, if you live life trying to cling to control and trying to cling to the comforts of life, and whatever else you think you need, you actually lose your life in that process.

You think you're gaining something, you're not, you're losing something.

But if you live your life and you say, Lord, my life is yours, it's it's yours.

However many days I have, they're yours.

However many years I have, they're yours.

My talent, my energy, my time, my treasure, all of it, it belongs to you.

I lay it at your feet, I give it to you, use it for whatever purpose you want to use it for.

If you give your life to the Lord, you gain it.

Even when you're going through something really hard, you're never gonna have a day, I promise, where we're on the other side of this life, you say, Man, I wish I would have held on tighter.

I wish I wouldn't have given as much to God.

I wish I wouldn't have trusted him as much.

Listen to what the apostle Paul says in Romans.

He says, You've not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.

Instead, you received God's spirit when he adopted you as his own children.

Now we call him Abba Father.

For his spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children, and since we are his children, we are his heirs.

In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God's glory.

But if we're to share in his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he'll reveal to us later.

For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.

Against its will, all creation was subjected to God's curse, but with eager hope.

The creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay.

For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.

We too wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies that he's promised us.

We're given this hope when we were saved.

If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it.

But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.

He says, what we suffer now is nothing compared to what God's going to give us.

All the promises that God has made to us, all the promises of life with him.

We're not supposed to live as Christians, just like hoping for heaven, but that's that's the future.

And we shouldn't lose sight of that either.

Sometimes you can over-emphasize heaven, but you can also under-emphasize heaven.

I know that because I've given my life to Jesus, no matter what I face, no matter what I have to go through, no matter how hard life gets, I have a future that is secure.

I have a future ahead of me that is eternal with God.

Where I get to spend eternity in the presence of God, and I don't know what that looks like.

I don't know what that's gonna be like, but it's gonna be awesome.

And Paul and the earliest followers of Jesus, by the way, the ones who endured unbelievable things so that we could be here right now, they kept that in their focus.

And so we're gonna wrap up.

We're gonna wrap up.

We're gonna take Lord's Supper.

Again, this is one of those teachings that if we were just trying to pick the hits, we would have skipped.

It's kind of a heavy message.

But every time we encounter something in Scripture, as we go through the word, I want to make sure that our first priority is always, as we teach, to actually teach what it's teaching.

Does that make sense?

To not make light of it and say, ooh, we're gonna kind of take this and hang on there.

This is a heavy thing that Jesus is saying.

We're not trying to take it and put a spin on it that makes it fun and this is great.

What Jesus is saying here is really intense.

He's saying, following me is hard.

Following Jesus is hard.

It may not have been hard for you in life up to this point, and that's awesome.

We should be blessed by that.

But but we should have honest expectations set for us by Jesus that sometimes following him is gonna be tough.

And I'm not a naysayer, I'm not someone who looks at the world and hyperfocuses and all the negative, but but it is true that our culture as a whole is not moving in a direction that seems like it's more friendly to our faith.

So what?

I think the early church could have said the exact same thing.

It didn't look like Rome was moving in a direction that was very friendly to the teachings of Jesus.

And yet within a few hundred years of Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection, Christianity was the official religion of Rome.

You never know what God's gonna do.

But what we're reminded by Jesus today is that if following Jesus is difficult, it's worth it.

And if following Jesus has a price, it's worth it.

Because he sees us, he's with us, and whatever we gain following him is so much more than what we might lose.

And so I just want, as we wrap up, we're gonna take Lord's Supper if you're new.

We do this every Sunday.

You're welcome to join us in this.

There's cups uh at the back tables in the room.

I want us to just think through it this way as we take Lord's Supper together.

What if Jesus had held on to his life?

Because everything Jesus is telling us, by the way, is something he's lived out.

That's one of the other things about Jesus that's amazing is that he doesn't ask us to do anything that he hasn't already done himself.

Like whoever clings to his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will gain it.

Like, imagine if Jesus had clung to life.

Imagine if Jesus had counted the cost as he tells us to do and decided that you know what?

Paying the price for their sin, it's not worth it.

It's not worth torture, it's not worth the humiliation of the cross, it's not worth a death like that.

If Jesus had looked at us and said, you know what, it's just it's not worth it.

But he didn't do that.

He didn't cling to his life.

He gave it up for each of us.

And when we take Lord's Supper, that's something that we celebrate every Sunday.

That Jesus poured out his life for us.

That's what this meal represents, if you don't know.

The bread is his body, the juice is his blood, and it's a reminder to us every Sunday that we are sitting here, we're standing here, we're talking, we're thinking, we're worshiping.

And all of that is in response to this man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to this earth, who left the comfort of heaven, who gave up more than we could imagine before he ever breathed the breath, and he lived for us and he died for us, and he gave everything for each of us so that we could be restored, so that we could be forgiven, so we could know God and be known by God.

And as I was thinking through it this morning, I'm just thinking, man, what if Jesus would have counted the cost and decided no?

We would have no hope.

But he looked at you, and he still does, and you are worth everything that he went through.

You're worth all of it.

He gave up everything.

And so let's do this.

Let's let's take the bread, and we're gonna pray.

Father God, we thank you for this bread.

We thank you for what it represents.

This represents the body of your Son Jesus Christ.

Perfect and blameless, powerful, holy, divine.

You looked at us and you decided we were worth the cost.

That the forgiveness of our sins and our iniquities and our shortcomings was worth the humiliation, the pain, and the death of your son on the cross.

Lord, thank you.

Jesus, thank you that you didn't take the easy way out, that you endured for our behalf.

Let's take the bread.

Let's thank him for the juice.

Lord, we thank you for this cup of juice.

We thank you for what it represents.

This is the blood of your Son.

Jesus, this is your blood poured out for us.

There's nothing that you ask us to do that you've not already done, that you're not willing to do.

When you tell us that following you might cost us something, remind us, Lord, that it cost you everything.

But you gave willingly, lovingly, generously, and graciously, Lord.

So help us have the courage to live the same, to live in light of you.

We thank you for all that you've done for us.

Amen.