Idols & Rivals | Mark S4E4 — The Suffering Servant

Aw man.

Well, what is up?

Hey, thank you, CBC.

Man, thank you guys so much.

You just gotta know though, like cheering before a sermon even starts is kind of like tipping your Uber driver before he even goes, all right?

Like, you don't know if there's gonna be a five-star review or if this is gonna give serial killer vibes.

Uh, but hopefully not that one.

Uh but man, I really am just so grateful to get to be with you guys and get to be here.

Like Casey said, my name is Taylor, and my wife Daily and I have three little girls.

Henley, who is five, Hayes, who is three, and Harper, who is one year old.

So we don't really sleep in our house.

All right.

Really, our house is like a frat house for Disney princesses.

Like there is glitter everywhere, princess dresses thrown on lampshades, and way more nudity than you would ever guess.

All right.

But man, we actually packed up those three little girls about a year ago, packed up all of our stuff into a U-Haul, and we drove across the country, moving from Southern California to Colorado on the east side of Denver to plant City Hope Church, a brand new church coming to the east side of Denver, just like Casey said.

Man, we are so excited and so grateful for what God is doing in this city and just grateful that we get to be a small part of it.

And so we are in this crazy, chaotic, discombobulating season of pre-launch.

And man, to have churches like you and stories like yours that we can point to and look at and get to experience uh with you, man, is just such an encouragement to myself and our whole team.

So thank you guys, man, for getting behind us.

It really means so, so much.

And I really have been so pumped to be with you guys.

We we kind of snuck in on your lunch launch Sunday uh last January, and we were here in the room.

Um man, it was just an incredible Sunday.

I then left real quickly to go to the Broncos game with our worship pastor, my friend TD.

And so we went to the Blizzard game where we lost against the Patriots, which was such a bummer.

I was wearing vans the whole time, so my California was showing, okay, because my toes were frozen.

But it is so crazy, like from that Sunday to now, what God has been up to here at CBC.

Um, how many of you guys were here on launch Sunday?

How many of you?

Okay, a decent amount of you, but a lot of you that weren't, which is awesome.

Like, man, God has just been doing such incredible things.

Uh, you might not know this, but you guys have actually had record attendance these past seven weeks.

140 people here at CBC have decided to take a risk to be known, to get in a group, and in just nine short months, you guys have baptized 37 people.

Like, y'all, that is crazy, okay?

Most churches don't even baptize five people in a year, and yet a couple Sundays ago, you guys baptized five people spontaneously.

Like, what in the world?

I mean, there is so much to be fired up about, and so much that is worth celebrating happening here at CBC.

But man, what excites me the most, honestly, is not the numbers.

It is not even the crazy baptisms, it's not even Casey's jawline, because he has the best jawline in church landing, okay?

I mean, the incredible thing that is happening here, and the incredible thing about CBC is you.

Like the people that make up CBC.

I mean, the way that you guys really are living out your vision to be the good news of Jesus in every place to every people is just incredible.

The way you bring good news with you to your workplace, to your campus, the way you bring hope to your hallways, the way that when you show up, the atmosphere changes because people see a difference in you.

Man, it is making a difference in our city.

I mean, so many of you guys, you are moving from the sidelines here at CBC and getting in the game to serve, to be on a crew team, to hold babies, to open doors, to brew coffee.

Some of y'all are getting up at 6 a.m.

to come help set up, all right?

And you guys are the heroes of CBC.

Like, can we give it up for our setup team?

Man, and if you have not gotten in the game, man, today is the day.

Like it is time to get off the sideline, to lace up your shoes, to head out of the locker room, and to jump on a team, to be a part of what God is doing.

Because, man, what I have experienced in my life is that when I take a risk to serve, like not only does my life change, not only do I benefit, not only do I get to use my gifts, my skills, my unique shape, but man, the entire church and the people around me benefit as well.

And so, man, if you have not jumped in, don't miss out on crew track happening here in just a couple weeks.

But man, I love that you guys are a place where you really are for every people.

Like I love that this is a place where everyone is welcome, where no one is perfect, where anything is possible through Jesus, because there really is hope for everyone.

Like the down and out in the broken, the up and to the right, the ogs, the wannabes, the heroes, the zeros, the moral failures, the moral elite, and even the moral police.

Like we can all come together, black, white, and brown, imperfect people that we are, to hear about the hope of Jesus.

Amen.

Today we are continuing in this series that you guys have been in called Real Jesus, where we are just walking through the book of Mark and we're looking at different encounters that Jesus had with people where they got an up-close, first-hand, personal, toe-to-toe encounter with living hope.

Amen.

After they got toe-to-toe with him, their lives were never the same.

And so today we're gonna take a look at an up-close encounter that Jesus has with a man in Mark chapter 10.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

And today we're gonna sort of like step into this young man's shoes because he had his life totally changed when he came face to face with Jesus.

And man, I have been praying that we would have our lives changed as well.

And have you ever noticed how you can tell a lot about somebody by their shoes?

You ever notice that?

Like by the kind of shoes that they're wearing, it tells a lot about a person.

You know, like if someone is wearing these shoes, like some new balances, you know that they are either a dad from Ohio or they are about to walk the catwalk as a supermodel in London, all right?

I mean, fellas, if you were trying to dress to impress on a hot date, you know, you might slip on a pair of Jordans, you know, just to flex a little bit, show her what's up.

Ladies, uh, you might rock, you know, some high heels if you're trying to make a good impression, just want to, you know, feel yourself a little bit, or if you're just trying to get some extra elevation above all the drama with your friend group, you know, whatever you gotta do.

Uh or you know, whenever you were a kid growing up, like somebody had money if they were rocking a pair of these, like, tell me you got money without telling me you got money, all right?

Today, if somebody wears uh either of these shoes, then you know I'm not gonna lie, you're a little basic, all right?

Okay, I just gotta say it.

But also look what I'm rocking, okay?

All right.

Basic white boy up here, just so we know.

Whenever I was in college, everyone was trying to decide which sandals were better, rainbows or chacos.

Anyone in here say rainbows?

Any Rainbows fans?

All right, a few of you, there we go.

Who says Chacos?

Who says neither?

Yeah, you're like, you know, someone who's rocking either of these, they think that socks, showers, and deodorant are all optional, which they are not, okay?

You're too granola for us.

I mean, if someone wears Crocs, you know that they care way more about comfort than fashion.

Like, if you wear a pair of these, then we get it.

You're a runner, okay?

Like you run places, all right?

Um, you know, I went to a wedding recently where the attire was black Thai Western, so everybody was rocking a pair of these cowboy boots, you know.

Um, I mean, someone might live on a farm, they might ride horses, maybe they listen to uh Zach Bryan if you wear some cowboy boots.

And I don't know if you've ever seen these ridiculous shoes.

These are the Jeremy Scott pink poodles, which come in at a whopping$580, or the Nike Cactus Plant Flea Market Overgrowns, which come in at$1,950.

And if someone's rocking either of those, you know they got way too much money and not enough friends because nobody is telling them the truth, okay?

But man, today what we're gonna do is we're gonna slip into the shoes of a guy who I think if he was around today, he would have worn a pair of these.

You know, he would have been rocking some nice leather loafers, they would have been like some Gucci slippers.

You know he's wearing them without socks because that's just what you do today.

Like this guy, his clothes, they would have been made of the finest silk.

Like his robes would have been Prada, and they would have been hot off of the first century runway.

Like this guy, he would have had chiseled abs, a nice smile, he would have been rolling in the latest Bugatti chariot.

You know, all of his horses in the first century would have been Mustang Mach E's because this guy, he was a man of wealth.

And this guy doesn't have like, I made it big on Robin Hood wealth.

No, this guy has like family money, you know, old money that consisted of a vast uh real estate portfolio that was passed down through generations just to be kept within his family.

If this young man were alive today, his last name would have given off an air of status and generational power.

He'd have a last name, you know, like Walton, Pinner, Rockefeller, or maybe even Coors, you know, just because he might be a little bit of a party boy, right?

Like this guy had it all.

He had never been without.

He was living the American dream, baby, before America was even a dream.

He was good enough, he was smart enough, and gosh darn it, people liked him.

I mean, by all standards in the first century, and even by our standards today, this guy was living the good life.

And yet, and yet I think this guy knew that something was missing missing.

I think that late at night, after he had spent nights out at the finest taverns, after another Michelin star meal, after attending another gala, another red carpet event, I think this guy laid down at night, surrounded by success, and he had this sinking feeling down deep in his gut that something was missing.

That if he were really honest with himself, as he dozed off to sleep, I think he wondered if there was more to life than success.

See, we meet this guy in Mark chapter 10, where it says that as Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

Good teacher, he asked, What must I do?

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

And I love how the author of this story, a guy named Mark, he writes this scene like it is an action-packed episode of reality TV.

Like Jesus is just walking along, minding his own business.

When this man runs up to him like Forrest Gump in a frenzy, I mean, for a wealthy man to run, he'd have to hike up his robes, he would tear down the street in broad daylight, and this would have been undignified and shameful for a guy of his status.

And yet, once he catches up to Jesus, he throws himself down at Jesus' feet, utterly collapsing in the dirt at the sight of the one that he's been looking for.

See, this story was originally written in the Greek language in the first century, and the Greek word here that translates into fell on his knees is actually this little word that implies the posture of a desperate beggar or a low-class subject who is petitioning a king.

And so here we have this guy, the successful, the wealthy, the rich young Rockefeller, the Mediterranean GQ model throwing himself at the dirt or in the dirt at the feet of this traveling peasant rabbi in total desperation.

He has this picture-perfect physical posture of surrender.

And then he looks up at Jesus from down in the dirt and through tear-stained eyes, he puts words to that nagging, gnawing ache that he has been feeling late at night when he says, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Which honestly, this is a pretty good question.

I mean, this guy, like a lot of us, he was used to achieving.

He was caught up in the quest for success.

He was someone who got stuff done.

He passed the test, got the A, he would move on.

This guy was a peak performer and a high achiever.

So he says, What must I do to get eternal life?

Which is a question that we all ask, we all wrestle with from time to time.

You know, I think a lot of us, we tend to think that our eternal destiny is a direct result of our earthly behavior.

You know, most of us think that like even our earthly destiny is a result of our earthly behavior.

That if we just do good, we're gonna get good.

I mean, when something bad happens in our lives, what do we normally say?

Like, ah, karma is a big bad thing.

Like, karma is the worst, all right?

See, we live in a world of cause and effect where we think that what we do impacts what does or does not happen.

And it is directly related to our actions, to our achievements, to our efforts, to our success.

But Jesus responds to this guy and he says, Why do you call me good?

Jesus answered, No one is good except for God alone.

Which guys, I just love Jesus.

Like I think sometimes he is the most funny, the most sarcastic guy around.

Like I think he's sitting here and he's like, Why do you call me good?

I mean, no one is good except for God alone.

Like wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

Because me, I'm him.

You know the commandments.

You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud.

Honor your father and mother.

And here Jesus is actually quoting the final six of the Ten Commandments that God had given his people in the Old Testament.

Like these were the ten big things that were like on the don't do list, and yet Jesus quotes the final six that all have to do with our horizontal relationship with others.

Like it's about how we treat others.

These are outward commands, but Jesus intentionally leaves off the first four commandments, which have to do with our personal relationship with God.

So after Jesus utters what the young man believes to be like the six part eternal destiny diagnostic tool, he is pumped and he looks at Jesus and says, Teacher, all of these I have kept since I was a boy.

Like this guy starts doing a touchdown dancer, right?

Like he's hitting the whip, rocking the nay nay.

He's like, I have done all of these.

I mean, I've checked all the boxes, I've done all the things.

I mean, once again, you know, my theme song for life, I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man.

Yes, I am, yes, I am, yes, I am.

I mean, he just starts to get pumped because this guy has bought to the lie that says that what I do earns God's love.

Which is actually this little thing called legalism.

See, legalism is the belief that right behavior plus wrong belief, that's what earns God's favor.

And that's what earns God's love.

That the right behavior plus the wrong belief that that's what gets me in, that where I do good things, so that way I am good, so that way God will see me as someone to love.

And that's just not the way it is.

See, the problem with legalism is that it puts us at the center, and it makes me the master of my own fate.

It makes me the master of my destiny, it puts me as the one who is in control.

And while this rich young guy is doing his touchdown dance because he thinks that he has passed the Bible bingo behavior quiz, it says that Jesus looked at him and loved him.

And man, I love that line.

Jesus looked at him and loved him.

And man, maybe you're here today and you just need to hear that.

That when Jesus looks at you, man, he loves you.

He is full of compassion for you, he is so for you.

He just wants to be with you, and he will stop at nothing to make a way for you to be in relationship with him.

See, he is looking at this guy with full of compassion.

He's like, You're a good guy, man, you've got so much good going on, but one thing you lack, he said, Go sell everything that you have and give it to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven.

Then come and follow me.

And at this the man's face fell.

He went away sad because he had great wealth.

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

See, Jesus right here says, One thing you lack.

One thing you lack.

And do you know what that is?

It's surrender.

See, this rich young man was the model student when it came to his physical posture of surrender.

He was the model student of when it came to interacting with others.

On the outside, it looked like he had given God his all.

Yet when Jesus asked for his internal posture to match his physical one, the man just couldn't do it.

You know, the first commandment in the Ten Commandments says, You shall have no other gods, no other idols, no other images before me.

And this rich man walks away sad because although he was bowing down at Jesus' feet, although he called him good teacher, although he knew the right things to say and the right things to do, we finally see that this story is a tragedy.

Because this rich young man wanted the life that Jesus was offering, but he wasn't willing to let go of what he was holding on to to receive the life that Jesus promises.

See, he had bowed his knee to Jesus, but he hadn't surrendered his heart.

See, one thing you lack.

You know, one of my good friends, his name is Morgan, and Morgan's mom growing up was an ER nurse.

And one day she had a construction worker walk into uh the ER, and he came in complaining about this fierce splitting headache, and he had just been, you know, taking aspirin time and time again, like it started showing up whenever he had gotten off work the day before and had left the job site, and so they quickly sent him in to get an X-ray.

And when they came back, what they saw on the x-ray uh was a picture that looked like this.

I don't know if you can see, but that's a nail in the middle of his skull right there, all right.

Apparently, this guy had been using a nail gun, and one of the nails had ricocheted off the concrete and it had gone straight into his skull, and he didn't even notice it.

This guy has been popping aspirin all night because he thought he just had a little headache.

When in fact, this guy actually had a splitting headache, like to quite the very definition of that, alright?

And man, this story of the rich young ruler, honestly, this story is a haunting story for us because it is like an x-ray for our heart.

Because this story shows us that it is possible to look the part, but to not be living in freedom.

This story shows us that it is so easy to look fully surrendered on the outside, but on the inside, we can actually be bowing down to something else, to some other image, to some other idol, whether it be money, stuff, success, self, comfort, pleasure, sex, food.

The question is, what has our heart?

See, this story is way less about money and way more about idolatry.

It has not too much to do about possessions, but everything to do with what is possessing us.

So what has your heart?

You know, I love the way uh Tim Keller, a former pastor in New York City, says that an idol is a good thing that we make into an ultimate thing, meaning that we can look to meaning and significance and purpose.

Anything we look to for those things becomes an idol.

And that word idol sounds a little funny in our ears today.

You know, most of us don't have little figurines in our living rooms that we bow down to, although some of you have a bobblehead of bonex that you are, you know, bowing down, but whatever.

You know, our idols today, they are not carved in stone, they're just carved on our heart.

You know, our idols aren't sitting in a temple.

For most of us, they are sitting on our calendars.

They don't take up space on our shelves.

Our idols are the things that take up space in our minds.

Like they are not shaped out of wax, they are shaped by our algorithms, and idols aren't always inherently bad.

I mean, money, stuff, success, a job, our kids, our careers, food, drinking, all of those are good things.

But when we make those good things into a God thing and start looking to To those to regulate our emotions for meaning, for purpose, for acceptance, for significance.

I mean, that is when we will start to break under the weight of those idols.

You know, back when I was in college, uh, I read a story about how during the eighth and ninth centuries, a time frame known as the early Middle Ages, kings would actually have their knights and their armies marched into rivers so that way they could be baptized as a way of trying to get God on their side.

But the peculiar thing was, whenever these mass groups of knights would actually go into the river and then they would go down, you know, dunking themselves in the waters of baptism, you know, apparently saying that they were fully surrendering to God, when these knights would be dunked down in the water, they would actually keep their dominant hand up out of the waters, holding on to their sword.

And it was a way of saying, God, you can have my everything, except this one thing.

God, you can have my all except for my sword.

God, you can have my life, except for what I'm gonna do with this.

And man, I think for so many of us, man, we have that one thing that we're like, not this, God.

I mean, if I can just be honest with you today, I mean, one of the biggest idols in my life is my wallet.

It is my money, it is my stuff.

And even the way I talk about it, I'm like, God, this is mine.

You know, my wife and I, uh, we got pregnant with our first daughter unexpectedly.

You know, I don't know how it happens.

Like just one day she was pregnant and the other day she wasn't, but whatever.

And man, whenever I found out I was a nervous wreck, and some of the first words out of my mouth were, I'm just devastated.

Which news flash to the fellows in the room.

If your newly pregnant wife tells you she's pregnant, maybe don't say, I'm just devastated, all right?

That is not not the best thing to say.

But man, honestly, I just started getting so nervous and so afraid.

I'm like, how in the heck are we gonna buy a house?

I mean, I'm a youth pastor in California.

Like, this girl's gonna be living on the streets, whoever this kid is, like she's never getting into college.

Like, I hope she loves cup of noodles because that's all she's gonna eat her whole life.

Like, she is probably, you know, gonna live on the streets one day.

She's gonna be addicted to drugs because I couldn't pull into a good house for her.

Like she is just not going to have a good life, all because I do not have enough.

Amen.

It was just another time when that idol of money was pulling on my heart, and it was whispering, you'll be a good dad if you provide, you'll be a good husband, if you can get enough.

You are what you have, and you never have enough.

You need just a little bit more.

If you have enough of me, I can keep you safe, I can keep you comfortable, I can make you the best dad, I can make you impressive, I can make you important, I can make you so much more if you just hold on to me.

But man, the truth is those are just lies.

That idol of money can never live up to.

You know, I love the way that one of my favorite preachers, a guy named Jonathan Moynihan, he says that idols are not a threat to God, but they are a threat to you.

See, I have spent so much of my life thinking that God was like a petty middle school girlfriend, you know, where he feels insecure about our relationship.

So he wants me to get rid of everything else and everyone else, to surrender it all so that way he can be my one and only, and there will be one less lonely girl, which is me.

But man, I have been learning that God ultimately wants my good.

See, sin, I heard someone say one time that sin is an unwillingness to trust, that what God wants for me is only my deepest happiness.

See, God is against anything else that I put on the throne of my life.

He is against anything else that I make an idol in my heart because he knows that anything else I put at the center will hurt me.

When my success is the ultimate thing, when my kids are the ultimate thing, when my wife or my stuff or my reputation or my job is at the center of my life, it only ends up hurting me and everyone around me.

And God is so good that He invites me to topple the idols of my heart, to surrender fully to him, because it is only through surrender that I experience real freedom.

Amen.

The true is the same for us.

And so can I just ask you today, like, what is it for you?

What has your heart?

Because we've all got something.

I mean, maybe if you're honest like me and like this rich young ruler, maybe it's your money and your possessions that are possessing you.

Man, maybe for some of us it's the idol of marriage, and we think, God, if I finally had someone to be with, then I would be worth something.

But it's a lie.

Man, maybe for some of us it's the idol of comfort.

Maybe for some of us it's the idol of safety.

Maybe it's the idol of control, the idol of sex, the idol of food, the idol of more.

Maybe it's the idol of the American dream.

Maybe for some of us today, our idol is our job and our family is wilting away after we while we are chasing after success and significance and climbing this corporate ladder, and we swear that we are doing it for them.

We're working the long hours for them, we are traveling for them, but maybe if we are honest, man, our work has become an idol.

Maybe it's our appearance, and we let numbers on a scale define our worth.

Man, I don't know what it is for you, but I know that we all have idols, and the invitation for all of us is to surrender them to Him.

See, after this rich young man walks away, you know, Jesus looks around and says to his disciples, How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.

And it says that the disciples were amazed at his words.

But Jesus said again, children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God.

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.

And the disciples are astonished, like they are mind-blown, jaw-dropping right now, because they thought that rich people were the hashtag blessed people.

Like these are the ones who are the most likely candidates for life with God, since obviously, I mean, God favored them.

I mean, obviously, if they can't make it, what hope is there for us?

And so the disciples were even more amazed and they said to each other, Who then can be saved?

And you know, this might feel like a little bit of a tangent for Jesus, talking about rich people and camels.

But in fact, Jesus is actually tightening the scene.

He's getting to the heart of the issue.

You know, the rich young ruler asks the question, What must I do?

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus finally answers.

See, he looks around at them standing in this circle, and he says, With man this is impossible, but not with God.

All things are possible with him.

See, Jesus shows us right here that the right beliefs plus a surrendered life is what leads to a fully alive faith in freedom.

See, I am not saved by what I do, but what has been done, which radically transforms the way that I live.

See, the rich young ruler kept asking that question, what must I do?

What must I do?

But a better question for us as we end today is what has been done?

See, just a few verses later, the story shifts and the question begins to change.

See, a few verses later in Mark 10, 32, it says that they were now on their way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them.

And do you know what's at Jerusalem?

Like what is awaiting Jesus at the end of this walk?

It's the cross.

And the tragedy of the rich young man is that he would not give up his temporary earthly idols.

He would not give his possessions to possess life with Jesus.

But Jesus, right here, he is walking resolutely straight towards Jerusalem to give up his eternal heavenly wealth to gain life with you.

The rich young man walked away from Jesus to save his stuff, but Jesus walked to the cross to save you and me.

You know, I love the way that Tim Keller says that to be loved but not known is comforting but superficial.

To be known and not loved is our greatest fear, but to be fully known and truly loved is a lot like being loved by God.

It is what we need more than anything.

It liberates us from pretense, it humbles us of our self-righteousness, and it fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.

See, this young man was hiding behind his resume.

He was hiding behind his Gucci robes and his good behavior.

And when Jesus pointed right at the idol of his heart, the man panicked and he thought, man, if he really sees my greed, if he really sees what I worship, there's no way he would love me.

So he walked away.

But see, he misses the best part.

Jesus saw the idol.

He saw the mess.

He saw the greed, and he loved him anyway, and he moved towards him.

And that is exactly what Jesus is doing as he walks this long road to Jerusalem.

As he walks to the cross, he sees the real you.

He sees every idol sitting on the throne of your heart.

He sees the things you use to numb the pain.

He sees the resume you use to hide behind.

He sees the jobs that will hide that we hide behind, and yet he keeps walking.

He doesn't turn around.

He goes to the cross because you are truly, fully, unconditionally loved.

And you do not have to earn it, but you do have to take hold of it.

And today he is inviting you and I to surrender whatever idol we are gripping onto, whatever has its grip on us, to invite him into it because the ultimate treasure has given himself for you and for me.

And comfort, pleasure, significance, meaning, whatever we are searching for in these idols, it will not live up.

It will not last.

It can only be found in his perfect love, and we could not earn it.

But it is a gift because of what he has done.

And because he loves you.

And it is only through surrender that we experience that true love.

You know, every night, whenever my girls go to bed, I always have them repeat these four phrases with me.

I have them say, God loves you, God is with you, God is for you, and God is coming after you.

And man, as we close today, I just want you to know that God loves you.

Like it does not matter what you've done, it doesn't matter who you are or where you're from.

God loves you.

And there is nothing you could do to make him love you more or love you less.

He just loves you.

And he is with you.

He has been with you the whole time.

He has been with you in the fights.

He has been with you when your dad walked out.

He has been with you in the waiting room.

He was with you when the diagnosis came back.

He was with you when they found the heartbeat and when they didn't.

He is with you in the valleys, in the low points, in the highs, in the good days, in the bad.

He is with you.

And he is for you.

He is for your good.

He is for your happiness.

He is for your holiness.

He is for your protection.

He is for your safety.

He is for your marriage.

He is for your future because he is for you.

And it does not matter what stands in his way.

Because he is coming after you.

It does not matter what idol you put between you and him, he will topple it.

He is after you.

He will bust down any door.

He will enter any darkness.

He will show up on the scene.

He will go to any height.

He will dive to any depth.

Nothing in all of creation will be able to separate you from the love of God, not even death itself, because he is coming for you.

And man, when you and I surrender to that love, I mean, that is when we experience real freedom.

So we pray with me real quick.

Oh God, we just thank you.

God, we thank you that you loved us so much.

That you would send your one and only Son.

That God, even when we had turned our backs on you and walked away, God, that you would send Jesus into our mets, into our mess, into our midst.

Just so that there could be made a way for us to be with you.

And man, God, I know some of us today, man, we feel like we have gone too far, like we have done too much.

Like there is no way, God, that you would want us.

And so, God, we just surrender that to you.

And God, whatever idol might have our heart, whatever has our attention, God, would you just help us to name it today?

To just be real with you.

God, you are not surprised by anything that we do.

God, you are not surprised by what we say.

And so, God, whether it's our job, whether it's our kids, whether it's our future, whether it's the bottle, God, whether it is money, whether it's our appearance, and God, we surrender that to you today.

God, would you help us to loosen our grip on this idol so that we can grasp fully the life and the freedom that you came to give through Jesus.

And God, we just thank you so much for Jesus, and it's His name we pray.

Amen.