The Momentum of a Decision

0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:05.200 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:07.160 and this is our podcast and I wanted to thank 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.479 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.560 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:16.920 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.400 We welcome you right now. Please be sure to let 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.680 us know right now in the comments or the chat 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:26.360 where you're joining us from is significant, and then our 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.040 prayer teams can just start praying for you by name 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:32.440 that God's presence would reach you in a powerful way. 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.160 I also wanted to announce to you what they didn't 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:38.199 tell you on Fox News or CNN. This is the 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:45.280 year of the Lord's Favor. Breaking news. The Lord is 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:53.200 good and his love endures forever. So just to give 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:57.480 you a preview, we're gonna finish with favor. The Lord 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:00.800 spoke that to me. He said, finish with favor, and 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.440 I'll preach about that in coming weeks. But right there 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.400 in the chat, right there in the comments, say I 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:09.280 want to finish with favor, and that's what Jesus did. 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:12.440 He said that it's the year of the Lord's Favor. Yes, 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:14.880 there are blind eyes that need to be open. Yes, 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.039 they are a lame that need to walk. Yes, they're 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:19.200 a poor that need to be helped. It's always been 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.840 this way, but this is the year of the Lord's favor. 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:26.320 This is the year of the Lord's favor. Now everybody 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.080 has an opportunity to participate in this and believe with 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.240 this because we're receiving a year end offering. We set 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:34.760 the date for December thirteenth. You can give any time 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.560 up until then. You can go to Elevation Church dot org. 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.160 And the best thing to do if you really believe 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.960 that everything you have came from God, is to set 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:47.039 up a recurring gift of a tithe. That's our way 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:49.800 of saying to God, I trust you and I thank 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:56.360 you all at the same time. Listen, listen, I feel 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:57.920 I'm clicking off. They're going to watch an old Charles 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:00.760 Stanley sermon or something like that. Listen, listen, look at me. 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:03.880 You get to thank him and trust him with the 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:09.760 same act of obedience. And that's a powerful thing. Elijah, 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:12.880 I've been tied in since sixteen and so for every 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.880 fifty dollars on a beat you sell, five is God's 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:19.720 Really it's all his but we returned that top part 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.720 back to him. And if you do it, it'll make 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:25.480 room for him to prove himself in your life. I 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:28.440 promise you that. How many have experienced that? And you 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:32.680 can testify him? So I know it's like, well, this 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:34.440 has been a hard year, and yeah, it's been a 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:36.079 hard year. I'm not going to make it harder by 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:40.919 stopping trusting God. That would be that would be a 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.600 really weird thing to do. So We're just going to 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:48.200 move forward expand God's kingdom. The offering is centered around 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:49.960 the word favor, so I just call it the Favor 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:52.880 Offering twenty twenty. We always choose a word and you 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:54.800 can find out how to give there and give above 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:56.960 and beyond. Holly and I are going to give our 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.600 gift on December thirteenth, challenge you to do the same 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:01.640 all over the world. How many are grateful for the 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.680 givers that make it possible for these gospel messages to 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:09.400 go out? Thank God for you, Come on, say it 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:13.400 in a chat, Thank God for you, all of the givers. 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.200 God is doing great things through you, and God is 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:20.520 about to speak a great thing to you. How many 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:25.239 believe that? Say amen, You've got great faith to say 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:29.600 amen before you even hear my scripture. So today I 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.240 want to take one verse of scripture and I'll launch 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:36.280 from this verse. And it's a very powerful verse found 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:42.640 in Luke chapter five. Thank you God for this little message. 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:44.960 Help me to communicate it in a way that will 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:49.600 make a difference in somebody's life in Jesus' name, Luke 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:55.520 five eleven, one verse. I promise you that doesn't mean 0:03:55.560 --> 0:04:02.640 the sermon will be shorter, but this is the verse. 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:07.600 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:12.960 and followed him. You probably need to hear that another 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:16.920 time to let it sink in just the magnitude of 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:23.960 what they did. They pulled their boats up on shoreft. 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:28.200 I don't want to say it because I don't want 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.520 to do it. I don't want to leave everything. I mean, 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:35.520 I want to leave some things, the stuff that I'm 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:39.600 tired of. I want God to take that away. But 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:41.479 I guess I better preach how I said that in 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:47.920 the verse, left everything and followed him. I want to 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:51.400 speak to you today about the momentum of a decision. 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:58.560 The momentum of a decision. God, you're already doing such 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:00.560 an awesome work in this place can feel it. And 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:02.880 I believe it's happening everywhere that someone is connected to 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:06.320 this word, whether it's by a Wi Fi signal, or 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:10.960 whether it's in a campus with a building that says 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.400 church on it, or anywhere in between. Speak your word. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:19.160 We're listening, and our answer is a man in Jesus name. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:23.080 You may be seated. Oh, Holly, I forgot to tell you. 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:27.480 I had this interesting conversation with Jenny Losco. After Holly 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:30.680 did a reflect sermon. Some of her friends who were 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.719 here came over to the house and they were roasting 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:39.720 hot dogs by the campfire and s'mores and which I 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:43.120 don't eat this'mores. I'm a health food kind of guy, 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:46.719 so I eat hot dogs and sausages. It's low carb lifestyle. 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:52.159 You wouldn't understand. And Jenny wrote a book last year, 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:54.880 and I thought the title of the book was so great, 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:56.520 and I know the story behind it, so for me, 0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.919 there's even more power because I've watched her live it 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:02.880 and her husband Levi. They passed her church in Montana. 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.560 You've met them before, they've been here before. Her book 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:12.039 was called well now I forgot it Fight to Flourish. Yeah, 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:14.680 it's a great title. Don't think because I didn't remember 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:16.480 in that moment that it was bad time. It's a 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.880 great title. In fact, that's what I asked her. I said, Jenny, 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:20.880 how did you think of that title? Because I'm a 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:25.279 title guy. I spend just you can ask my family 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.680 notepads trying to get a title for each sermon, and 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:30.839 so I'm a title guy. I said, I feel like 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.640 that title, fight to Flourish is a whole sermon in itself. 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.359 I feel like you could charge fourteen ninety nine just 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:38.760 for the title and not even have to write the book. 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:41.919 And I said, when did you decide to call it? 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:52.839 That awkward silence, she goes, hmmm, I don't really remember. 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.000 I said, well, try to remember. I really like to know. 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:01.400 I'm really interested where he's sitting outside. Were sitting inside 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:04.000 where you, you know, with a group that somebody else 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:06.960 suggested to you to go through some other titles, and 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:09.760 you chose that one. Were you watching Rocky and there 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:11.520 was a flower on the table and you went fight 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:15.040 to Flourish? You know, like what happened? And is that 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.760 Iran or remember she went all the way back and 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:19.520 she went through the chain of events that led her 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:23.560 to write the book. Of course, the book was written 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.880 about how they lost their daughter, Lynda, who went to 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:31.960 heaven suddenly about eight years ago. And she never set 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.520 out to write a book, but somebody had suggested to 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.239 her that God could use what she had been through 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:39.520 and the way that she trusted God through it to 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.840 help them through what they're going through. And of course 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:45.240 you're resistant to something like that at first, and that 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.920 makes sense, but you know, she eventually did it, and 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:50.400 she walked through that, and she knew exactly where she 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:52.400 was when someone said that needs to be a book, 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:54.520 and she knew exactly where she was when she decided 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:57.080 to begin, and she went through all of that, and 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:59.640 she gave me the chain of events, but she couldn't 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:05.200 remember the moment of decision when she said I'm gonna 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:08.720 call it Fight to Flourish. She couldn't remember. She remembered 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:10.440 when she saw the cover and she thought, that's how 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:12.280 it needs to look on the cover, but she couldn't 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.760 remember when she made the decision that that's what it 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.200 was going to be called. And that was interesting to 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.360 me because she went back through all of these events, 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:26.200 but she couldn't remember the exact moment of decision. She remembered, well, 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:27.880 this led to that, and that led to that, and 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:29.600 that led to that, and this was painful, and this 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.679 was purposeful. Boom boom boom boom boom, And this I 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.880 knew in my heart, And this somebody else said. But 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.320 even though I can remember the events that led to 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:43.000 it with clarity, I don't really remember the moment of 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:49.680 decision specifically. I thought that was I thought that was 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:53.600 kind of interesting that there's a difference between an event 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:59.200 and the decision. So one thing I like to teach 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.959 since everybody now likes to be offended all the time. 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:10.160 It's our national addiction. We are addicted to being offended 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.960 as a nation. And if you're offended, I said, that, 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:25.280 wouldn't that just finish my point? I don't think you know. Okay, Well, 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.880 you know one thing I taught years ago and it 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:30.560 seemed to help people, so I thought i'd put it 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.959 in the sermon up front, is that offense is an event. 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:38.280 That's something that happens to you, and it's a real thing. 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:44.360 Offense is an event. But offend, dead offended, offendad how 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:49.440 do you pronounce it? Offended? That's a decision. So notice 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:53.160 what we just did. We just separated the event from 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:59.520 the decision. So somebody, you know, doing something to me 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.240 that they shouldn't have done might be something that I 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:07.920 didn't choose, but my response to that is a decision, 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:14.200 the momentum of a decision. Beginning to separate this out 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:20.160 is probably important if we're parenting teenagers, because unless you 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:26.120 understand what led to the decision, you will always try 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:30.960 to correct the behavior. I was praying for one of 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:33.400 my kids one day and I was like, why do 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:36.640 they keep doing that? And it was like the Lord 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:38.400 said back to me, I don't know. Why did you 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.240 do the same thing when you were their age? And 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:51.320 I was like, ah, right, it's called puberty. But isn't 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:58.960 it easy to explain somebody else's decision as unwise while 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:05.120 justify your own as completely warranted. I'm really good, and 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:08.000 I think I should get a professional job at breaking 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:11.679 down other people's decisions. You know, they shouldn't let their 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:15.760 kids do that, they shouldn't spend that, they can't afford that, 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:18.559 Why would they go there? Why would they say that? 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:23.240 Why would they think that? I am so good at 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:29.439 diagnosing your decisions? But I've got to be honest. There 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.960 are some things I do that if you press me 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:36.360 for it, I really can't tell you why or when. 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.480 For instance, I can't tell you when I became a 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.160 cynical person, but I just know that I am a 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:44.880 lot of that. I never woke up one day and 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:49.960 I was like, Thursday, March fourteenth, this is the day 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.719 I didn't make a declaration of cynicism. People don't make 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:57.040 a declaration of depression. I think today I'll go into 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.040 a deep state of depression. It's not a decision, and 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.480 you don't really remember exactly when you started feeling this way. 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:06.319 Maybe you could trace back some events, but it's a 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.560 different thing to understand the decision. And that's why we 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:11.800 have to be a student of how God works in 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:15.720 our lives to understand that every decision has a parent 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:20.920 called an emotion. Every emotion is a descendant of a thought. 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:24.880 If I don't deal with the thought that created the emotion, 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:27.560 I'll try to make a different decision, only to be 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:31.240 overpowered by something that is deeper than what I am 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:37.040 dealing with at the surface of my decisions. And then 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:39.480 I'll know why I bought a peloton and turned it 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:43.960 into a coat rack for my sweatshirts, because when I 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:47.360 decided to buy the Peloton, I was in a certain 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:51.000 state of mind. I was in a certain state of 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.360 guilt and condemnation. This is not a real illustration about me. 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:56.200 I'm just using it. I heard this from some people 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.680 that you make a decision, and you make the decision 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.880 in this certain state of mind, and then you encounter 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.560 a challenge and the decision that you made in the 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:10.240 state of mind where you saw clearly the decision that 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.600 you made, in the state of mind where that better 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:14.640 part of you, where the spirit of God lives in 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.839 rules and reigns and knows what's best for you, gives 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:26.040 into something deeper in you that pulls you back into stuff. Yeah, yeah, 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:35.920 you're getting real quiet. And every decision has momentum. Now 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.560 I am not a scientist, nor the son of a scientist. 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:41.520 So there are people in books that can tell you 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:45.760 the mechanics of decisions that you make. They can tell 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:48.280 you why you pick this over that, and they can 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:52.720 tell you about the neurology and I can't. But I 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.520 chose Luke five to eleven because where I live in 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.959 the scriptures, that seemed to me like a very dramatic 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:08.320 decision to leave everything and follow Jesus. What does it 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:13.080 mean to follow Jesus? For the people who did it 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.440 right here, I'll show you exactly what it meant. It 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:26.440 was simple. See, that's what they did. For us, it's abstract. 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:33.480 For them, it was physical. He's not describing a spiritual 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:37.080 decision here. It's just a physical one. They left everything. 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.600 That doesn't mean that they left their way of thinking. 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:42.640 That just means they left their boat, their nets, and 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:47.400 their fishing supplies. They left their bait, but they didn't 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:56.080 necessarily leave their beliefs. So at some point they set 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.800 out and they followed Jesus. I kind of wish it 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:03.480 was this clear for us, that following Jesus was as 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:07.800 simple as come here to be you be Jesus. Won't 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:10.800 that be fun? Just for a minute now, no pressure, 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:17.440 Just walk. That's all that's all you did. I think 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:19.960 I could do it better, follow Jesus if it was 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.160 that simple all I gotta do. I mean, this is 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:26.360 this is not so hard right now? And ship back 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:28.360 down and we'll make you Jesus again later in the sermon. 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:33.760 But following Jesus for me is not a physical decision right. 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:39.320 Physical decisions are sometimes easier, but to be a disciple. 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:42.240 This is a passage about the calling of the disciples. 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:45.560 You know them, you love them. They're famous, they're dysfunctional, 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:49.040 they're crazy, they're stupid. They blow it. They don't understand 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:50.880 that Jesus is going to the cross, so they try 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:52.840 to stop him from going there. That's who he chose 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:55.000 this as disciples. This is how he called them, and 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:57.920 this is this is what they did. They pulled their 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:06.640 boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. There's 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:08.640 a hymn we used to sing called I have decided 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:13.720 to follow Jesus. Will you sing it with me? Cherish Cherish? 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:16.640 I know you love to sing. I have decided. Do 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.240 you know it? I know you were not a church girl, 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:21.080 so this one might have passed you in your prime. 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.560 You were singing about different things back when I was 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.000 growing up in the church, and I know that. But 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:31.280 there came a point. I have decided to follow Jesus. 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:35.760 You'll know it. I have decided to follow Jesus. I 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:42.440 have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:53.040 It's great and singing it is one thing because for 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:56.440 most of us to sing that all it cost us 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:03.080 is breath. For the people who did it in this scripture, 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:07.720 it cost them their boats. And I want to show 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:10.879 you in this scripture this is really really insightful to me. 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:15.359 And I can't possibly show you everything that's in this 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:19.720 text because well, honestly, when they followed him, it led 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:22.200 to so much more than they could know in that moment, 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.240 like when they started following Jesus. And I want you 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:28.000 to think about it, because some of you have stopped 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.879 following Jesus, and some of you are just starting to 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.840 follow Jesus, and some of you are in stride trying 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:40.200 to decide, and so everybody needs this message. As they 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:44.520 followed him, Although it sounds very dramatic what they did 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.639 on the surface, there were a chain of events that 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:50.720 led up to the decision, and then there were a 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.800 chain of events that this decision set in motion that 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:58.080 would be very powerful. Think of all the amazing things 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:02.720 that they would see because of this decision to follow Jesus. 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:05.879 Think of what it must have felt like to be 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.760 there when blind Bartimaeus for the first time started to 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:13.959 describe colors and sights and objects and shapes. Think of 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:16.040 what it must have been like to see a man 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.840 come through the roof and you didn't even know what 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:20.920 Jesus was going to do, whether he was going to 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.520 fuss at him for destroying property or or surprise, he 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.720 healed him. That's what he wanted. He wanted the kind 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:28.800 of faith that would break through a barrier and do 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:32.960 whatever it takes to get to his presence. Think of 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.240 how amazing it would have been for them to see 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:37.520 a woman who was caught in the act of adultery, 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:39.920 but instead of stoning her, the only one who had 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:42.639 the right to punish her, instead center away with the 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.440 new reality of who she was. Think of all they 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:52.680 saw because of a decision to leave everything and follow him. 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.119 They didn't know when they left everything that they would 0:18:56.400 --> 0:19:05.520 gain everything in fact, by human calculations. And I know 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:08.440 this is going to be controversial and somebody's going to 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:11.320 get offended when I say it, but I studied it, 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:14.440 and if you get offended, you're the one that's for anyway, 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:18.639 Listen to this from a human perspective, this is a 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:26.399 dumb decision. I'll tell you why. Because the boats that 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:30.959 they left were full of fish, and fishing is what 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:38.280 they did for a living so Luke five eleven. From 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:41.480 a strategic standpoint, I'm not talking about a spiritual standpoint. 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:46.240 From a strategic standpoint, is the dumbest decision that Peter 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:48.560 James and John. That's who they are in the text, 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:51.440 that Peter James and John could have made to pull 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.320 their boats up on shore. This is their transportation, this 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.440 is their vehicle for their commercial activity, this is the 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:01.639 this is their life, this is their way of life, 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.840 and they walk away from it to follow somebody who 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:11.920 hasn't even proven that what he said is true yet. Wow. Wow, 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:21.040 By any rational decision making analysis, this is dumb. At 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:26.760 the very least. It's a little quick yeah yeah, where 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:28.600 you don't have to do it with no net, do you. 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:31.640 That's a phrase that means like you don't have any 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:35.840 safety net, any backup plan. They follow Jesus with no net. 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:43.800 They left everything. Somebody say that's dumb. It's not disrespectful 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:46.280 to the Bible. It's just a practical fact. That's a 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:50.000 dumb thing to do. It's a dumb thing to do. 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:58.199 But what gave them the confidence to make such a 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:03.800 bold decision? Now, in order to understand this decision or 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:07.720 your teenager's decision, or Jenny Lusko's decision, or the decisions 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:10.840 that you're making right now, the ones that are sabotaging 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.640 you and the ones that are causing you to succeed. 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:17.600 In order to understand those decisions, you kind of have 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:21.120 to work backward. And this is why we keep trying 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:23.880 to change. We can't change. Keep trying to pray, can't pray, 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:25.800 keep trying to get up at five am, can't get 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:27.720 up at five am, So then we try four thirty, 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:31.479 like that's gonna fix it. Just get more dramatic. You know, 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:34.560 I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna this is the time, 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:37.479 this is the And maybe that's just my personality. I 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.280 relate to Peter in the text because when I did 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:42.840 decide to do a low carb lifestyle, I just did it. 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:46.879 I didn't go shop, I didn't plan, I didn't stock 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:48.919 the pantry. I just turned to Holly and said, I'm 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:52.520 fat and I'm done. And I don't think I ate 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:55.639 a carbohydrate for eighteen months. And if I went to 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:58.800 preach somewhere where they were doing a barbecued chicken, I'd 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:01.120 sneak the chicken in the bathroom and wash the buffalo 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:07.520 sauce off the chicken because I have problems because something 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:09.960 is wrong with me, and I understand that about myself. 0:22:10.000 --> 0:22:14.080 Now that's not how you're supposed to do it, but 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:15.840 that's how I do it. That's how I do stuff. 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:19.240 I mean, the craziest things that I do, I just 0:22:19.560 --> 0:22:22.680 I just I just do it. Just just do the thing, 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:25.760 you know. Around the campfire with the ladies, they were 0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:28.040 I got to be honest, I hadn't talked to a 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:30.280 group of four ladies in a while until after Holly's 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:33.520 reflect the other day. And ladies talk about different stuff, 0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:35.680 and some of it is not mentionable on a worldwide 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:37.600 platform for the gospel, some of the things that they 0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:39.720 were talking about around the campfire. But I hung with them. 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:41.560 I sat around fire and I talked with them, and 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:45.879 we started telling marriage proposal stories. And mine's real embarrassing 0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:48.720 because I had an elaborate plan to do something really 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:51.359 special for Holly. But I wanted to do it so 0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:53.720 bad once I bought the ring, because I took all 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:55.879 my money, I mean, I left five dollars in the 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:58.639 bank account from the ATM and took it upstairs to 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:01.160 level three of this point on shop of a guy 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:03.000 that I could trust who was up there, and I 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:05.199 got her ring, and I asked her dad and I 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:07.400 and I wanted to propose that day. So I ended 0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:10.320 up taking her to Pizza Hut. I didn't propose a 0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:13.040 Pizza Hut. I didn't propose it Pizza Hut because I 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:16.080 feel a really really strong hatred from all of the 0:23:16.160 --> 0:23:19.639 ladies in this church right now. But but but I 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:21.880 took her to Pizza Hut. I proposed, I wrote a song. 0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:23.679 I did it. I had to do it once. I 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:25.000 had to do it. I had to do it once 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:26.560 I realized I could do it. I had to do it. 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:28.239 I didn't have time then to wait around. So I 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:31.399 relate to this this kind of decision that I just 0:23:31.480 --> 0:23:33.440 I just can't eat cheetos anymore. Look at me, Look 0:23:33.480 --> 0:23:35.560 how I look. I can't do this anymore. I've got 0:23:35.560 --> 0:23:37.480 to do something different. And how many of you are 0:23:37.520 --> 0:23:40.520 like that, like like just this, uh, just this ability 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:42.280 and and and I can feel the rest of you 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:53.000 judging us. There's there's wisdom, Pastor Steve. Pastor Steve is 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:55.760 the name I use when I'm making fun of somebody 0:23:55.800 --> 0:24:00.199 who there's wisdom. And I know there is wisdom, but 0:24:00.240 --> 0:24:04.120 there's also in here an impulse to make a decision. 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:07.359 And I think we'll understand more why they made the 0:24:07.400 --> 0:24:10.000 decision if we understand the events that led up to it. 0:24:11.320 --> 0:24:13.760 The events that led up to it, I think we'll 0:24:13.840 --> 0:24:18.080 understand more why they did something so dramatic if we 0:24:18.160 --> 0:24:20.520 understand the context. So I want to go all the 0:24:20.560 --> 0:24:22.800 way back to verse one, and I want to read 0:24:22.880 --> 0:24:27.520 this Bible story that is called Jesus calls his First Disciples. 0:24:27.520 --> 0:24:30.280 That's the headline of it. In my Bible, Jesus calls 0:24:30.320 --> 0:24:35.159 his first disciples. How did the disciples who decided to 0:24:35.240 --> 0:24:39.160 follow Jesus and leave everything that they knew before that, 0:24:39.160 --> 0:24:41.800 that they depended on before that, and everything that was 0:24:41.840 --> 0:24:44.359 familiar before that? How did they decide to do it? 0:24:44.480 --> 0:24:47.680 When you understand the events, you can understand the decision. 0:24:47.960 --> 0:24:50.680 When you understand the difference between the two, you can 0:24:50.760 --> 0:24:53.720 understand that an event doesn't have to define the rest 0:24:53.760 --> 0:24:58.440 of your life unless you allow it to. God gives 0:24:58.480 --> 0:25:01.680 you the power to make a different You don't have 0:25:01.760 --> 0:25:03.520 to be a drunk for the rest of your life. 0:25:04.119 --> 0:25:06.000 You don't have to be mean and hateful for the 0:25:06.040 --> 0:25:10.680 rest of your life. You don't have to be pessimistic 0:25:10.720 --> 0:25:14.399 the rest of your life. So how do they do it? 0:25:14.440 --> 0:25:16.360 Why did they do it? I want to understand the events, 0:25:17.040 --> 0:25:21.040 and then maybe I can understand the decision. It starts 0:25:21.080 --> 0:25:23.880 like this, the decision to be a disciple. I will 0:25:23.920 --> 0:25:27.159 say one more thing before I read this. Giving your 0:25:27.200 --> 0:25:29.840 life to Christ is one decision, and many have done 0:25:29.880 --> 0:25:32.119 that and many will do it today. I'm going to 0:25:32.119 --> 0:25:33.600 give you the opportunity to do that at the end 0:25:33.640 --> 0:25:38.119 of my message today. But deciding to receive God's grace 0:25:39.040 --> 0:25:43.560 and deciding to be his disciple, those are two different things. 0:25:45.760 --> 0:25:50.800 One is an event, it's something God does. It's by grace. 0:25:50.840 --> 0:25:55.359 You're saved through faith, not of works. That's not decisions 0:25:55.359 --> 0:25:58.240 that you make that earns God's grace. Then it's not 0:25:58.280 --> 0:26:05.720 grace that's what God does. But to follow him this 0:26:05.800 --> 0:26:09.800 is a decision. And the Bible says one day, as 0:26:09.880 --> 0:26:12.199 Jesus was standing by the lake of Ganessarah, you may 0:26:12.200 --> 0:26:14.240 have heard the Sea of Galilee, maybe more from ther 0:26:14.240 --> 0:26:16.360 same thing, same body of water. That's where Jesus ended 0:26:16.400 --> 0:26:18.159 up basing his ministry, and this is where it started. 0:26:19.960 --> 0:26:24.199 The people were crowding around him and listening to the 0:26:24.200 --> 0:26:28.480 word of God, so no social distancing going on. In Luke, 0:26:28.560 --> 0:26:32.959 chapter five, verse one, they're pressing in on him, and 0:26:33.000 --> 0:26:35.200 he needs a little space so his voice can amplify. 0:26:35.320 --> 0:26:37.719 So it's a very practical need. He saw at the 0:26:37.720 --> 0:26:40.560 water's edge two boats left there by the fishermen who 0:26:40.560 --> 0:26:43.320 were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, 0:26:43.320 --> 0:26:45.120 the one belonging to Simon, and asked them to put 0:26:45.119 --> 0:26:48.159 out a little from shore. Then he sat down and 0:26:48.200 --> 0:26:51.000 taught the people from the boat. When he finished speaking, 0:26:52.080 --> 0:26:54.960 listen to this, he said to Simon, put out into 0:26:55.280 --> 0:26:58.560 deep water. Everybody say deep water. Right there in the chat, 0:26:58.640 --> 0:27:02.720 say deep water, deep water, and let down the nets 0:27:02.760 --> 0:27:04.680 for a catch. So now I want you to put 0:27:04.760 --> 0:27:06.240 let down. You already put deep water, and now I 0:27:06.240 --> 0:27:07.760 want you to put let down. In the chat, everybody 0:27:07.760 --> 0:27:11.840 say let down. Say it again, say let down, let 0:27:11.880 --> 0:27:16.000 down the nets for a catch. And Simon, that's the 0:27:16.119 --> 0:27:19.040 name of Peter. Before he was called Peter, his name 0:27:19.080 --> 0:27:21.720 was Simon, and Jesus gave him the name Peter cephas 0:27:21.840 --> 0:27:28.800 petros rot. Simon answered, Master, we've worked hard all night 0:27:29.600 --> 0:27:33.240 and haven't caught anything. Besides, we're professional fisherman. And you're 0:27:33.240 --> 0:27:36.080 a good preacher, and you were doing good with that sermon. 0:27:37.560 --> 0:27:42.399 But the time to catch fish has already passed. And 0:27:43.440 --> 0:27:46.240 it's fine that you're using my boat to preach, but 0:27:46.359 --> 0:27:48.240 telling me how to fish is something different. You hear 0:27:48.240 --> 0:27:52.080 the attitude. We've fished all night but caught nothing. But 0:27:52.240 --> 0:27:55.840 because you say so, I will let down the nets. 0:27:56.440 --> 0:27:58.800 And when they had done so verse six, they caught 0:27:58.840 --> 0:28:01.359 such a large number of fish that their nets began 0:28:01.440 --> 0:28:04.480 to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat, 0:28:05.680 --> 0:28:09.399 this is so good to come and help them. And 0:28:09.440 --> 0:28:11.239 they came and filled both boats so full that they 0:28:11.240 --> 0:28:13.960 began to sing. When Simon Peters saw this, he fell 0:28:13.960 --> 0:28:17.639 at Jesus's knees and said, go away from me. Lord. 0:28:17.680 --> 0:28:20.800 I am a sinful man. For he and all his 0:28:20.880 --> 0:28:24.119 companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 0:28:24.440 --> 0:28:27.040 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, 0:28:27.160 --> 0:28:30.840 Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, don't be afraid. 0:28:31.080 --> 0:28:35.760 From now on you will fish for people. So verse eleven, 0:28:35.880 --> 0:28:39.719 right back where we started. They pulled their boats up 0:28:39.760 --> 0:28:46.960 on shore, left everything and followed him. Now that you've 0:28:47.000 --> 0:28:51.160 heard the chain of events, do you understand the decision 0:28:51.280 --> 0:28:55.479 a little bit better? I do. It helped me because 0:28:55.560 --> 0:29:00.920 as someone who is drawn to dramatic decisions. Day fast 0:29:01.560 --> 0:29:05.440 thirty day fast, I've done both of those. Haven't done 0:29:05.440 --> 0:29:08.120 it in a decade, but I did it one time. Okay, 0:29:08.160 --> 0:29:09.680 I just got to be honest about that. I haven't 0:29:09.720 --> 0:29:12.080 done it in a long time, but I'm down with that. 0:29:12.440 --> 0:29:15.680 And ask somebody who wants to go deeper in God. 0:29:16.000 --> 0:29:19.680 I want to go deep, God, do something deep. God 0:29:19.720 --> 0:29:22.960 has been speaking to me lately that the deepest things 0:29:23.040 --> 0:29:28.360 he will do in my life start shallow. I know 0:29:28.480 --> 0:29:31.960 it sounds like a contradiction of everything you would normally 0:29:32.040 --> 0:29:35.400 hear in a pulpit, because we want we want a 0:29:35.440 --> 0:29:40.600 deep sermon, a deep word from God, one that we 0:29:40.640 --> 0:29:43.080 can't understand, so then we don't have to obey it. 0:29:47.040 --> 0:29:49.720 But while I was reading the text, I was drawn 0:29:49.760 --> 0:29:52.880 to first eleven. I was like, Yes, Lord, I want 0:29:52.920 --> 0:29:56.600 to follow you wherever you leave, Do none go with me? 0:29:57.400 --> 0:29:59.040 That's the second verse of him. You didn't learn when 0:29:59.040 --> 0:30:00.400 you were a kid, cherishing one. You were at the 0:30:00.400 --> 0:30:02.440 club and they were singing in church. They said they'll 0:30:02.800 --> 0:30:06.280 go with me. I still will follow Yes, Lord, I 0:30:06.480 --> 0:30:10.040 just want to go into the unknown. I will follow you, Lord, 0:30:10.240 --> 0:30:13.160 I will follow you. Yay. Though I walked through the 0:30:13.240 --> 0:30:15.600 Valley of the Shadow of Death, and the Lord's like, 0:30:15.680 --> 0:30:19.720 can't you hadn't even read your version Bible plan start shallow. 0:30:24.000 --> 0:30:26.640 That's about the deepest thing that you could do. Leave 0:30:26.720 --> 0:30:30.040 everything and follow him. But notice in the verse. It's 0:30:30.080 --> 0:30:32.320 in the verse. It's in the Bible. It's in the Bible. 0:30:32.400 --> 0:30:35.120 I don't understand everything about decision making science, but I 0:30:35.240 --> 0:30:37.440 understand something about scripture, A little bit about scripture. I 0:30:37.480 --> 0:30:39.320 understand a little bit about scripture. And it said that 0:30:39.800 --> 0:30:42.840 the boats were at the water's edge, the crowds were 0:30:42.920 --> 0:30:45.360 coming around, and in verse three, he got in a 0:30:45.400 --> 0:30:49.640 boat and asked him to put out a little I 0:30:49.720 --> 0:30:54.040 stopped when I read the word little, and I realized 0:30:54.080 --> 0:30:58.480 that before they left everything, they did a little thing. 0:31:04.160 --> 0:31:08.479 So the reason that we keep on deciding to do 0:31:08.560 --> 0:31:16.640 stuff and then we go from deciding to disruption to denial. 0:31:17.800 --> 0:31:25.840 It's a cycle, deciding to disruption to denial. The reason 0:31:25.960 --> 0:31:33.520 sometimes is because we stay too deep. And I want 0:31:33.520 --> 0:31:35.040 to give you a story that I never had the 0:31:35.160 --> 0:31:38.120 guts to share before right now. But something about this 0:31:38.200 --> 0:31:40.720 year has made me a little bolder. I don't know 0:31:40.760 --> 0:31:42.600 if it's just that I think that Jesus is coming 0:31:42.640 --> 0:31:46.040 back next Thursday and it doesn't matter anyway, so get 0:31:46.080 --> 0:31:50.440 me out of here. Whatever. I feel a little conspiracy 0:31:50.480 --> 0:31:52.320 theorist rising up in me this year. I don't know. 0:31:53.960 --> 0:31:59.240 I never had all that before, but it's coming now. Anyway. 0:32:00.040 --> 0:32:03.000 When I was going through a period of criticism and 0:32:03.040 --> 0:32:04.840 I'm not going to live in it because God knows it, 0:32:04.840 --> 0:32:07.680 it's about this time in twenty thirteen, many were in 0:32:07.680 --> 0:32:10.920 the church and it was weird because it was more 0:32:11.200 --> 0:32:14.200 criticism than we had ever experienced as a church. It 0:32:14.280 --> 0:32:17.240 kept coming. That's all I want to say about that part. 0:32:18.560 --> 0:32:22.440 I lived in fear for six months, and to really 0:32:22.440 --> 0:32:24.120 tell you the extent of it, let me tell you 0:32:24.800 --> 0:32:27.280 the text that I sent to Chunks after about three 0:32:27.280 --> 0:32:30.240 months of it. I said, if anything happens to me 0:32:30.280 --> 0:32:33.240 and I don't make it, you got Holly and the kids. Right. 0:32:35.000 --> 0:32:38.360 I wasn't suicidal. I just didn't know if I could 0:32:38.400 --> 0:32:40.560 keep day after day after day. I was trying to 0:32:40.560 --> 0:32:43.000 preach through it, and I didn't know if I could 0:32:43.400 --> 0:32:45.160 or something bad would happen. I didn't know what bad 0:32:45.160 --> 0:32:50.880 would happen. But so during that time, that'll make you pray, 0:32:50.960 --> 0:32:55.640 and it'll make you pray deep things. Lord. I need 0:32:55.640 --> 0:33:00.760 your peace. I need your vindication of the things. Many 0:33:00.760 --> 0:33:03.120 of the things they're saying are not true and they're twisted, 0:33:03.240 --> 0:33:06.840 and I don't want to keep having to deal with this. 0:33:06.920 --> 0:33:12.480 So Lord, to deliver me. When I tell you what 0:33:12.640 --> 0:33:15.600 brought me peace, you are not going to be satisfied. 0:33:17.560 --> 0:33:22.920 Because while I was praying the deep prayers, you know, 0:33:23.400 --> 0:33:25.280 I found some prayers in the psalms where David was 0:33:25.320 --> 0:33:27.760 praying stuff like smash my enemies heads against a rock. 0:33:28.160 --> 0:33:30.040 I found some great scriptures during that time that I 0:33:30.080 --> 0:33:35.360 never saw before, very very meaningful to me. But now 0:33:36.400 --> 0:33:40.040 my answer wasn't on my Bible app. It was on 0:33:40.080 --> 0:33:50.640 my Twitter app. And when I decided to delete Twitter. 0:33:57.920 --> 0:34:03.040 I know that sounds shallow, but that little I don't 0:34:03.080 --> 0:34:04.880 even know if people use Twitter anymore because I haven't 0:34:04.880 --> 0:34:06.920 been on it really in seven years. They put stuff 0:34:06.920 --> 0:34:08.960 out that's not me, that's somebody on a computer somewhere 0:34:09.000 --> 0:34:11.759 putting Bible verses out in my name. I can't go 0:34:11.840 --> 0:34:16.080 on there. I can't go on there. And I was 0:34:16.120 --> 0:34:19.680 telling my friend, it's like when I deleted all this stuff. 0:34:20.360 --> 0:34:22.160 Now I'm gonna tell you what God's gonna speak to 0:34:22.160 --> 0:34:23.960 some of you through the sermon today. He's going to 0:34:24.040 --> 0:34:31.760 tell you to delete something that is defeating you because 0:34:31.800 --> 0:34:35.719 you think victory is so deep. The battle is the lord's, 0:34:36.360 --> 0:34:40.120 but the app is yours, the brain is yours, the 0:34:40.160 --> 0:34:45.040 decision is yours. And when I deleted Twitter, I told 0:34:45.040 --> 0:34:48.680 my friend, it's like I thought there were mountain lions 0:34:48.680 --> 0:34:51.719 in my yard waiting to attack me, and then I 0:34:51.760 --> 0:34:59.200 saw it was just squirrels. It was just squirrels, and 0:35:00.239 --> 0:35:03.560 I thought I can't survive it because I was surrounded 0:35:03.600 --> 0:35:07.439 by squirrels. I know it sounds so silly, I prayed. 0:35:07.480 --> 0:35:09.120 I said, God, I can't tell them to do that. 0:35:09.160 --> 0:35:11.040 I need to It's it's a lot of stuff going 0:35:11.080 --> 0:35:12.719 on in people's life. I need to go to the 0:35:12.760 --> 0:35:16.080 Book of Revelation, Book of Revelations. Put an s on it. 0:35:17.520 --> 0:35:19.120 Book God, I need a book, a revelation. I need 0:35:19.120 --> 0:35:20.600 to go into the beast, the market, a beast, the 0:35:20.600 --> 0:35:23.640 six six six, the number of the beast. God said 0:35:23.680 --> 0:35:26.120 some of the some of the some of the things 0:35:26.120 --> 0:35:28.520 that they're praying for me to deliver them from. I 0:35:28.640 --> 0:35:36.160 have given them the power to delete. Can I preach 0:35:36.200 --> 0:35:42.320 a shallow sermon? Jesus didn't call them to leave their boats. 0:35:43.280 --> 0:35:46.400 He called them to push out a little It's a 0:35:46.480 --> 0:35:50.320 little decision I was. I was talking to a friend 0:35:50.600 --> 0:35:53.799 about depression. They said, uh, uh, have you gone for 0:35:53.840 --> 0:35:57.719 a walk today? Like you don't hear me? Is spiritual warfare? 0:35:58.480 --> 0:36:02.560 They said? No? I said, wal not war. You're trying 0:36:02.560 --> 0:36:09.359 to be so deep you don't need God to give 0:36:09.360 --> 0:36:11.239 you the victory. You need to go get some vitamins. 0:36:13.840 --> 0:36:15.880 And I'm not saying that. I'm not saying that the 0:36:15.920 --> 0:36:20.400 problem isn't deep. I'm saying that sometimes the solution is 0:36:20.440 --> 0:36:28.759 so simple. Lord, give me a simple solution. Not just 0:36:28.800 --> 0:36:31.280 what they did. Put out a little bit from the shore. 0:36:32.360 --> 0:36:34.879 They put out a little bit from the shore. Hey 0:36:34.960 --> 0:36:38.560 leave a little bit of this space. What one thing 0:36:38.600 --> 0:36:42.680 are you willing to do different with this addiction that's 0:36:42.719 --> 0:36:44.839 so deep in your life that you don't think you'll 0:36:44.840 --> 0:36:47.399 ever be free from it. Will you do a little 0:36:47.400 --> 0:36:55.759 thing different? And that that little event, that little thing, 0:36:57.040 --> 0:37:01.200 let to something so massive. Peter would be the one 0:37:01.440 --> 0:37:03.560 who would preach the Holy Spirit into the earth. The 0:37:03.600 --> 0:37:08.080 next chapter two. If you Rediscernment and Acts two, you'll 0:37:08.120 --> 0:37:12.960 be like, this dude is deep. He didn't start deep, 0:37:12.960 --> 0:37:17.359 he started shallow. I just don't want you to think 0:37:17.400 --> 0:37:22.960 it's always that deep. It was a little decision. How 0:37:22.960 --> 0:37:24.880 many believe that's a little decision just to put your 0:37:24.880 --> 0:37:26.239 boat out a little bit and let me use it 0:37:26.239 --> 0:37:29.720 for a few minutes while I teach. That's a little decision. 0:37:31.640 --> 0:37:35.160 I think I'm gonna watch Church Elevation Church today. That 0:37:35.280 --> 0:37:39.359 was a little decision. But God can do a deep 0:37:39.360 --> 0:37:44.799 thing with the shallow star. Now. I think if I 0:37:44.840 --> 0:37:48.040 were the devil, I'd try to get you so overwhelmed 0:37:48.080 --> 0:37:52.239 with something that felt so deep that you wouldn't do 0:37:52.320 --> 0:37:59.560 something so simple. I think that's his strategy. But God's 0:37:59.560 --> 0:38:02.880 strategy was very simple. Remember, these are the ones that 0:38:02.960 --> 0:38:05.680 Jesus wants to use. It's a little bit of a 0:38:05.719 --> 0:38:09.799 trick because he's asking them to carry him in the boat, 0:38:09.840 --> 0:38:11.839 but he really wants them to become boats so that 0:38:11.840 --> 0:38:14.040 the Gospel can go out through them. And it's really 0:38:14.080 --> 0:38:17.279 a picture. It's really a picture of the purpose that 0:38:17.320 --> 0:38:22.319 he's given them. This helped me he put out a 0:38:22.360 --> 0:38:26.840 little bit, and then Jesus preached. And then verse four, 0:38:27.040 --> 0:38:31.120 when he had finished speaking, somebody say first the word. 0:38:32.080 --> 0:38:35.799 First the word, he said to Simon Peter put out 0:38:35.840 --> 0:38:38.040 into the deep water and let down the nets for 0:38:38.080 --> 0:38:44.239 a catch. Now let's go deeper. So put out a little, now, 0:38:44.280 --> 0:38:48.560 put down the nets. Put out a little. Now, put 0:38:48.560 --> 0:38:52.600 down the nets. Put out a little, put down the nets. 0:38:53.120 --> 0:38:56.680 Don't try to do too much at first. Don't leave 0:38:56.680 --> 0:39:00.560 the boat yet. I need it right now, I little 0:39:00.760 --> 0:39:03.640 put down the nets. I think this is really powerful. 0:39:03.920 --> 0:39:05.560 I don't think it's I don't think it's a small thing. 0:39:05.600 --> 0:39:08.040 I really don't. The more I study it, the more 0:39:08.080 --> 0:39:14.200 I realize that every decision that others see contains millions 0:39:14.200 --> 0:39:20.000 of little decisions that were invisible. So how could they 0:39:20.040 --> 0:39:23.240 do that? How could why would they make that decision? 0:39:23.440 --> 0:39:27.879 There were a million little decisions when they said I do. 0:39:28.200 --> 0:39:30.680 They never thought there would be a time when they didn't. 0:39:33.160 --> 0:39:35.600 And I remember, early in our marriage, getting in a 0:39:35.600 --> 0:39:38.359 fight with Holly on the phone and one of us 0:39:38.400 --> 0:39:40.000 hung up on the other one. I don't know which 0:39:40.040 --> 0:39:41.879 one hung up on the other one. I really don't 0:39:41.880 --> 0:39:45.280 remember the details of this. Maybe conveniently. But I remember 0:39:45.280 --> 0:39:47.640 one of us hanging up, and I remember talking about 0:39:47.640 --> 0:39:49.360 that and saying, we're never going to do that again. 0:39:50.719 --> 0:39:52.359 We're never going to hang up the phone on each 0:39:52.400 --> 0:39:55.760 other in the middle of a conversation again. Because nobody 0:39:55.960 --> 0:39:58.319 walks away from someone that they gave their heart to 0:39:58.600 --> 0:40:04.919 all at once. Decisions have momentum. So today I hang 0:40:05.040 --> 0:40:11.279 up on you. Five years later, I hate you because 0:40:11.320 --> 0:40:14.360 I put out a little See this works both ways. 0:40:16.440 --> 0:40:19.920 Nobody decides I would like to be straddled with an 0:40:19.960 --> 0:40:23.960 addiction that will follow me to the grave. Nobody decides that. 0:40:25.640 --> 0:40:27.960 What I do decide sometimes is I don't want to 0:40:27.960 --> 0:40:29.799 feel the way I feel, so if I do that, 0:40:30.000 --> 0:40:34.799 I won't have to feel this. The decision has momentum, 0:40:34.880 --> 0:40:38.440 and then in a horrible thing for somebody who's who's eleven, twelve, 0:40:38.520 --> 0:40:41.120 thirteen years old, that they can look at something on 0:40:41.160 --> 0:40:45.120 their phone and out of curiosity they can see something 0:40:45.760 --> 0:40:48.600 that will take them into a place that will wrap 0:40:48.640 --> 0:40:51.000 them with something that will limit them the rest of 0:40:51.040 --> 0:40:54.719 their life from being able to be free mentally. Nobody 0:40:54.800 --> 0:40:57.880 decides I want to have something that masters me the 0:40:57.920 --> 0:41:02.560 rest of my life. That's not the decision, but decisions 0:41:02.600 --> 0:41:10.279 have momentum. Because I was impressed by what they did. 0:41:10.760 --> 0:41:13.719 Push out the boat and let down the nets. These 0:41:13.760 --> 0:41:17.759 are the nets they just got done washing. These are 0:41:17.760 --> 0:41:20.799 the nets. These are big nets. One guy said that 0:41:20.840 --> 0:41:24.640 they were twenty five feet in diameter, so it takes 0:41:24.680 --> 0:41:27.240 a long time to clean them. And they're made of linen, 0:41:27.360 --> 0:41:29.120 so if you don't clean them, they're gonna rot and 0:41:29.120 --> 0:41:32.080 they're not gonna last very long. And I thought it 0:41:32.120 --> 0:41:36.319 was cool that they were just fishing. They didn't go 0:41:36.400 --> 0:41:38.839 out that day to decide to follow Jesus. They went 0:41:38.840 --> 0:41:44.240 out to catch fish. Can we talk about daily decisions 0:41:44.280 --> 0:41:49.080 for a moment. This is what they did every day. 0:41:49.160 --> 0:41:53.680 What do you do every day? What do you do 0:41:53.760 --> 0:41:57.280 every day? This is not what they did on Christmas 0:41:57.280 --> 0:42:00.600 and Eastern This is what they did every day. This 0:42:00.640 --> 0:42:03.640 is what that not what they did on New Year's Eve. 0:42:04.080 --> 0:42:07.080 Like the calendar is going to change your habits. I 0:42:07.120 --> 0:42:09.439 have no idea what this motion is. Don't even worry 0:42:09.440 --> 0:42:12.239 about it. The point of the illustrating, the point I 0:42:12.239 --> 0:42:13.880 don't know where that came from. The point of the 0:42:13.920 --> 0:42:19.000 illustration is this is what they did. What do you 0:42:19.200 --> 0:42:23.440 do just by being there. Now, I'm telling you that 0:42:23.600 --> 0:42:27.439 this is Bethsayeda. This is a fishing village. Bethsata means 0:42:27.480 --> 0:42:31.040 house of the hunt. But they fished, they were fishermen. 0:42:31.239 --> 0:42:34.360 They were from Bethseda. That's where Peter was from, Bethsata. 0:42:34.480 --> 0:42:35.799 So guess what you do when you grow up in 0:42:35.800 --> 0:42:40.719 a fishing village. You fish. It wasn't deep, it wasn't 0:42:40.760 --> 0:42:43.319 a decision. Peter didn't go to a job fair, taking 0:42:43.440 --> 0:42:45.640 Enny of Graham and the Myers Briggs a est n 0:42:45.760 --> 0:42:49.200 j elemento p a d d adhd, none of that. 0:42:51.200 --> 0:42:53.919 We wanted a deep God. I want a calling from 0:42:53.960 --> 0:42:58.359 you and a purpose of my life. And the deep 0:42:58.440 --> 0:43:03.640 goes the deep. He he went fishing and he caught nothing. 0:43:05.640 --> 0:43:08.880 Can you make a positive decision even after you've experienced 0:43:08.920 --> 0:43:14.279 a negative result. This is what amazed me. See, when 0:43:14.320 --> 0:43:16.880 I get on a roll, I can do amazing things. 0:43:17.320 --> 0:43:19.359 I can do amazing things. When I get on a roll, 0:43:19.480 --> 0:43:22.160 it's like boom, knock them down, Boom, there's another one. Boom, 0:43:22.200 --> 0:43:24.319 another one, Boom, another one. I don't mean to bring 0:43:24.400 --> 0:43:26.560 DJ call it up here with me on the stage, 0:43:26.600 --> 0:43:28.400 but I just I feel like sometimes I can get 0:43:28.440 --> 0:43:31.359 in a zone. This is not the situation, this is 0:43:31.400 --> 0:43:34.560 not the event. It was after the event of a 0:43:34.600 --> 0:43:37.239 failed night of fishing, at the point where they were 0:43:37.280 --> 0:43:41.120 vulnerable because they were exhausted, that they did what he 0:43:41.320 --> 0:43:44.640 said anyway. And twenty twenty has been a year for 0:43:44.800 --> 0:43:47.839 us to have to learn how to do what we 0:43:48.000 --> 0:43:58.840 know God has called us to do anyway, and to 0:43:58.920 --> 0:44:00.759 know that we can have a feeling and not act 0:44:00.800 --> 0:44:03.880 on it and make a different decision, have a temptation 0:44:04.920 --> 0:44:08.799 and not act on it. You know how. Grace is 0:44:08.840 --> 0:44:13.120 the power to cover your sin. It's also the power 0:44:13.120 --> 0:44:19.480 to change your decisions. And only because you're frustrated doesn't 0:44:19.520 --> 0:44:22.120 mean you have to make decisions that create more frustration. 0:44:25.440 --> 0:44:28.480 When they did what Jesus told them to do, when 0:44:28.480 --> 0:44:30.279 they obeyed the word of God, and that might mean 0:44:30.280 --> 0:44:32.040 a lot of different things for a lot of different people. 0:44:33.000 --> 0:44:35.520 That might not mean anything having to do with a 0:44:35.600 --> 0:44:37.680 fishing that, but it could. It could be a career thing. 0:44:37.840 --> 0:44:40.040 I always get scared when I preach like this that 0:44:40.080 --> 0:44:42.200 people are going to take Loop five to eleven, quit 0:44:42.239 --> 0:44:44.279 their jobs and leave their boats and follow him. I'm 0:44:44.280 --> 0:44:46.239 gonna take something. If you leave your boat without a 0:44:46.239 --> 0:44:48.879 backup plan. In this economy, it's gonna be a minute 0:44:48.880 --> 0:44:50.960 before you're gonna leave your apartment, leave your house too, 0:44:51.000 --> 0:44:52.880 because they are not going to take the message of 0:44:52.880 --> 0:44:55.040 the Lord as a mortgage payment. So you better be 0:44:55.400 --> 0:44:57.399 very careful that you put out a little bit from 0:44:57.400 --> 0:45:06.239 the shore. Praised him glory to his holy name, and 0:45:06.280 --> 0:45:16.319 the twenty four elders said, amen. But see, decisions have momentum, right, 0:45:16.560 --> 0:45:19.000 so put out a little bit from the shore. Put 0:45:19.040 --> 0:45:25.680 down the nets. Boom boom boom by bay bah, and 0:45:25.719 --> 0:45:27.680 their nets were breaking. But the nets were not the 0:45:27.680 --> 0:45:30.800 only thing that broke in that moment. When I obeyed 0:45:30.840 --> 0:45:36.239 the word of the Lord, it breaks the flow of frustration. 0:45:38.480 --> 0:45:43.879 We fished all night caught nothing frustration. When he put 0:45:43.960 --> 0:45:47.400 down the nets. Not only did the nets break because 0:45:47.760 --> 0:45:51.000 God blessed them so much, because they were just obedient. 0:45:51.960 --> 0:45:54.960 Not only did the nets break, but so did the 0:45:54.960 --> 0:45:59.440 flow of their frustration. So did the flow of their failure. 0:46:01.080 --> 0:46:03.200 So did the flow of their fear. You do not 0:46:03.400 --> 0:46:05.600 think your way out of the flow of fear, failure 0:46:05.640 --> 0:46:10.520 in frustration by thinking deeper about it. It broke the 0:46:10.600 --> 0:46:14.400 flow when they did something different. I'm gonna have to 0:46:14.480 --> 0:46:17.000 talk to people different. I'm gonna have to manage my 0:46:17.080 --> 0:46:19.680 thought life different. I'm gonna have to manage my time different. 0:46:19.800 --> 0:46:23.279 I'm gonna have to manage my money different. And we 0:46:23.360 --> 0:46:27.279 hear the truth, and we still won't tithe, And it 0:46:27.320 --> 0:46:30.080 would break the flow. It would break the flow of 0:46:30.160 --> 0:46:32.080 everything that comes to me is for me, and it 0:46:32.120 --> 0:46:35.560 would open me to receive the blessing of God. And 0:46:35.600 --> 0:46:37.840 we hear the truth, and the word of God speaks 0:46:37.840 --> 0:46:40.600 from our boat, Jesus gets done speaking, and we still 0:46:40.600 --> 0:46:44.920 won't drop the nets. I heard the Lord say, drop it. 0:46:46.880 --> 0:46:51.200 I heard the Lord say, drop it. That applies to 0:46:51.280 --> 0:46:55.720 every offense that you've been carrying. Drop it. That applies 0:46:55.760 --> 0:46:58.239 to every empty net that's in your life, where you've 0:46:58.280 --> 0:47:01.120 been failing and carrying the fail you're around a fishing 0:47:01.200 --> 0:47:03.959 all night and catching nothing, and what you did last week, 0:47:04.000 --> 0:47:06.080 and even the fight that you had before you clicked 0:47:06.120 --> 0:47:08.680 on this YouTube video, and even the stuff you looked 0:47:08.680 --> 0:47:11.840 at online before you came to online church today. I 0:47:11.920 --> 0:47:17.120 heard the Lord saying, drop that, drop that. Sometimes we 0:47:18.440 --> 0:47:21.600 don't drop the net because we're so busy, we're so 0:47:21.920 --> 0:47:24.680 we're so caught up in the discouragement. You know, it's 0:47:24.680 --> 0:47:28.879 really hard to drop the net when you're drowning in disappointment. 0:47:31.760 --> 0:47:33.799 I make good decisions when I'm in a good flow. 0:47:33.960 --> 0:47:36.919 Oh this worked, and that worked, and this did good 0:47:37.040 --> 0:47:39.160 and that did good. That is not the occasion in 0:47:39.239 --> 0:47:41.319 Luke five. That is not why they left everything and 0:47:41.320 --> 0:47:45.000 followed him. He got in their boat at a bad time. 0:47:47.520 --> 0:47:52.279 How annoying is this? He came in their boat as 0:47:52.320 --> 0:48:00.640 a distraction, you say, well, pastor Steve, Yeah, I'm back 0:48:00.640 --> 0:48:04.839 on it. The Lord is never a distraction. It was 0:48:04.880 --> 0:48:09.359 for Peter. He was trying to wash his nets. He 0:48:09.400 --> 0:48:13.000 was still dealing with a knight of coming up empty, 0:48:14.239 --> 0:48:16.800 and God was trying to fill him in that moment 0:48:16.840 --> 0:48:20.279 with not only fish but faith. Now, can I keep going? 0:48:21.120 --> 0:48:24.239 We can stop right now and I'll preach this again 0:48:24.280 --> 0:48:26.240 in the future. Or we can go a little deeper. 0:48:26.239 --> 0:48:27.279 We could go a little deeper. We can go a 0:48:27.320 --> 0:48:28.960 little deeper. If you want to go deeper, say it 0:48:28.960 --> 0:48:30.480 in the chat. I want to go deeper, say it 0:48:30.520 --> 0:48:37.200 in the comments. Because none of this was really my message. 0:48:37.840 --> 0:48:39.920 I'm so sorry that I tricked you into thinking that 0:48:39.960 --> 0:48:45.640 I was preaching about Peter's decision. It would be irresponsible 0:48:45.680 --> 0:48:49.600 for me to tell you Luke five eleven and not 0:48:49.680 --> 0:48:56.879 tell you Matthew twenty six. And when they followed him 0:48:56.960 --> 0:48:59.919 with the first step, they never knew what the next 0:49:00.080 --> 0:49:03.640 step would bring. They never really understood Jesus, even though 0:49:03.640 --> 0:49:06.640 they were attracted to him. They never really undersstood why 0:49:06.680 --> 0:49:09.120 he came, even though they were willing to follow him 0:49:09.160 --> 0:49:12.279 wherever he went until he went to the cross. And 0:49:12.640 --> 0:49:14.880 Kyph has put him on trial. And look at Matthew 0:49:14.920 --> 0:49:18.319 twenty six. Because they said they left everything and followed him, 0:49:18.320 --> 0:49:22.200 But there were some things they didn't leave. Their concept 0:49:22.200 --> 0:49:24.279 about what the Messiah would be, their concept about what 0:49:24.280 --> 0:49:26.319 the Christ would be, their concept of what it would 0:49:26.360 --> 0:49:30.520 mean to follow God. They left their nets and their boats. 0:49:30.520 --> 0:49:33.359 But look what the Bible says. It says that all 0:49:33.480 --> 0:49:36.640 this had taken place, that the writings of the prophets 0:49:36.680 --> 0:49:45.640 might be fulfilled. In all the disciples deserted him and 0:49:45.680 --> 0:49:55.080 fled receiving grace. Receiving grace is a one time decision. 0:49:55.960 --> 0:50:05.160 Following Jesus is a by moment. Am I following in 0:50:05.200 --> 0:50:10.400 this moment? Is this his thought? Am I walking in peace? Right? Now? 0:50:10.920 --> 0:50:15.680 That's what we mean to say. You're a disciple. There's 0:50:15.680 --> 0:50:19.319 a difference between the event of becoming a Christian and 0:50:19.400 --> 0:50:23.440 the decision of being a disciple. You don't make the 0:50:23.480 --> 0:50:29.520 decision of discipleship once you make it daily, daily, daily. 0:50:30.560 --> 0:50:35.880 And I'm preaching to somebody who stopped following, and I 0:50:35.920 --> 0:50:40.000 needed you to know that that decision doesn't mean God 0:50:40.040 --> 0:50:44.440 can't use you. I also wanted you to know that 0:50:44.480 --> 0:50:48.719 the disciples who started the movement of Christianity made the 0:50:48.760 --> 0:50:56.600 same decision you did. And since you're wondering why Jesus 0:50:57.200 --> 0:51:02.640 shows Peter, I think I'll tell you because he knew 0:51:02.640 --> 0:51:08.520 he would do something dumb. He knew Peter would cut 0:51:08.520 --> 0:51:12.680 off Malcus's ear in the garden. He knew Peter would 0:51:12.719 --> 0:51:16.360 do something dumb. He knew Peter would speak up and 0:51:16.360 --> 0:51:21.160 blurt out, you are the Christ. He knew Peter would 0:51:21.160 --> 0:51:24.400 do something dumb. He knew Peter would drop his nets 0:51:24.440 --> 0:51:26.279 after they were clean and put up for the night. 0:51:26.680 --> 0:51:30.759 He knew Peter would do something dumb. I know a 0:51:30.800 --> 0:51:33.560 preacher never told you this before, but do something dumb 0:51:33.600 --> 0:51:38.520 for God. I don't mean something that's contrary to wisdom. 0:51:38.560 --> 0:51:40.879 I don't mean burn down your life. I don't mean 0:51:40.920 --> 0:51:43.120 any of that. You know, I don't mean do something unbiblical. 0:51:43.160 --> 0:51:44.960 You know I don't mean that, I don't teach that. 0:51:45.360 --> 0:51:49.919 But do something that seems dumb, but really what God 0:51:50.000 --> 0:51:55.280 is using to take you deep. Because sometimes the dumbest 0:51:55.320 --> 0:51:58.640 stuff on the surface leads to the deepest stuff later. 0:52:00.520 --> 0:52:02.799 So it would be dumb for you to forgive them. 0:52:03.080 --> 0:52:06.960 Do it. It would be dumb for you to trust 0:52:07.000 --> 0:52:10.280 God and keep praising Him although your body is sick, 0:52:10.680 --> 0:52:14.800 But do it. Do something dumb. It would be dumb 0:52:14.840 --> 0:52:17.480 for you to sit and listen to a sermon for 0:52:17.600 --> 0:52:21.080 two hours on the weekend, But do something dumb. It 0:52:21.080 --> 0:52:23.839 would be dumb for you to believe that God is 0:52:23.880 --> 0:52:27.960 still good while you're going through hell. Do something dumb. 0:52:29.480 --> 0:52:32.680 That's why he chose Peter. He said, I need somebody 0:52:32.840 --> 0:52:36.279 who will be dub enough by the world standard to 0:52:36.480 --> 0:52:40.279 do what I say and not care what anybody think 0:52:40.360 --> 0:52:47.960 some about it, Are you dub enough? The message of 0:52:48.000 --> 0:52:52.120 the Cross is foolishness, foolishness to the world, but it 0:52:52.239 --> 0:53:00.480 is the wisdom of God, the power of God. Not yet. 0:53:01.320 --> 0:53:04.080 I want to tell you that the reason he picked Peter, 0:53:04.400 --> 0:53:06.960 and the reason he chose you, and the reason you 0:53:06.960 --> 0:53:10.080 can have confidence to know that there is no decision 0:53:10.320 --> 0:53:13.880 that you can make that will predate God's purpose for 0:53:14.000 --> 0:53:19.280 your life is because he knew you would do something dumb. 0:53:20.800 --> 0:53:26.200 You did something dumb. You did something dumb, and you 0:53:26.320 --> 0:53:30.120 learned from it and you grew from it. You did 0:53:30.160 --> 0:53:33.799 something dumb. There's no honest people in the building, but 0:53:33.880 --> 0:53:36.680 put in the chat. I did something dumb, and raise 0:53:36.719 --> 0:53:40.000 your hand on an emoji. Since all the plastic saints 0:53:40.040 --> 0:53:51.240 came to church today, I did something dumb. Peter denied 0:53:51.320 --> 0:53:55.080 Jesus just like the other disciples. The only one who 0:53:55.080 --> 0:54:02.560 stayed was John. Peter did something dumb. And now if 0:54:02.560 --> 0:54:07.520 God's purpose for Peter depends on Peter's decision is over, 0:54:10.040 --> 0:54:16.360 you feel like that I screwed it up. You know 0:54:16.400 --> 0:54:20.200 what we do. We go through things and they're painful, 0:54:20.239 --> 0:54:23.319 and we don't take the opportunities and we weren't there 0:54:23.320 --> 0:54:25.839 like we should have been there, and we go back 0:54:25.880 --> 0:54:28.960 and say things that make absolutely no sense, like if 0:54:29.000 --> 0:54:36.520 I move in, Well, I know now you didn't, but 0:54:36.600 --> 0:54:42.160 now you do, and now you've got different wisdom. Right now, 0:54:42.160 --> 0:54:46.360 in this moment, you've got wisdom from that painful experience. 0:54:46.400 --> 0:54:51.320 You've got wisdom from that dumb decision. So I was 0:54:51.360 --> 0:54:53.200 talking to one of my good friends the other day 0:54:54.280 --> 0:54:56.880 and he was beating the crap out of himself. Not you, 0:54:56.960 --> 0:54:58.560 It was somebody else. You were doing it too, But 0:54:58.600 --> 0:55:00.839 this was another conversation. I've noticed a lot of people 0:55:00.880 --> 0:55:09.520 are doing this lately. And he was saying, I should 0:55:09.600 --> 0:55:11.040 have done it different. I would have done it different. 0:55:11.040 --> 0:55:12.480 I could have done it different. I could have I 0:55:12.520 --> 0:55:15.279 would have I should have done it different. And I said, 0:55:15.280 --> 0:55:21.960 you would have and you will. But don't judge yesterday's 0:55:21.960 --> 0:55:34.920 decisions with today's wisdom. That's only going to paralyze you, 0:55:35.880 --> 0:55:38.759 and the momentum of shame will carry you to an 0:55:38.760 --> 0:55:41.320 even deeper place of the spirit. How many have experienced this, 0:55:42.440 --> 0:55:46.879 the momentum of saying I said, I said to my friend, 0:55:46.920 --> 0:55:49.919 I said, you are literally this was a deep pain. 0:55:50.239 --> 0:55:52.760 This was not what he wished. He would have bought 0:55:52.760 --> 0:55:55.360 two thousand dollars in a on of zoom stock at 0:55:55.400 --> 0:55:57.880 the beginning of the pandemic. This was much deeper than that. 0:55:58.960 --> 0:56:01.680 I said you, you would have done it different, and 0:56:01.719 --> 0:56:05.279 you will do it different. But you are using today's 0:56:05.320 --> 0:56:14.960 wisdom as a weapon to beat yourself up for yesterday's decisions. 0:56:15.360 --> 0:56:19.040 And God doesn't want you to do that, because in 0:56:19.080 --> 0:56:25.400 the wisdom of God he chose you, knowing that you 0:56:25.440 --> 0:56:31.319 would do something dumb. Do you believe that? I want 0:56:31.360 --> 0:56:34.560 to help you. Believe that? And I want to help you. 0:56:35.600 --> 0:56:40.480 From Luke chapter five, verse three, where the Bible says 0:56:41.480 --> 0:56:44.000 that Jesus saw at the water's edge. Isn't that a 0:56:44.040 --> 0:56:46.160 beautiful image? I'm on the edge. I could do it 0:56:46.239 --> 0:56:48.319 this way, I could do it that way. I'm making 0:56:48.400 --> 0:56:54.640 a decision. Jesus got into one of the boats, the 0:56:54.680 --> 0:57:00.640 one belonging to Simon. He hadn't even changed his name yet, 0:57:02.120 --> 0:57:10.359 but he chose his boat. That's his whole name. He 0:57:10.400 --> 0:57:14.600 hadn't even grown yet. He hadn't even done anything right yet. 0:57:15.520 --> 0:57:18.640 In fact, we find out later in this story that 0:57:18.680 --> 0:57:22.280 Peter said, I'm a sinful man. Go away from me, Lord, 0:57:22.440 --> 0:57:25.560 some of you been doing that. Not me, Lord, not me. 0:57:25.640 --> 0:57:27.400 I'm not a good person, not me. I'm not a 0:57:27.400 --> 0:57:31.120 good parent, not me. I'm dumb. I don't know what 0:57:31.160 --> 0:57:33.920 I'm doing, not me, anybody but me. That's what Peter said. 0:57:34.200 --> 0:57:36.200 But put the verse back up, because this was the 0:57:36.240 --> 0:57:42.160 revelation I got that Peter's destiny didn't begin with Peter's decision. 0:57:47.120 --> 0:57:51.560 It said that there were two boats. That means Jesus chose. 0:57:53.600 --> 0:57:57.560 You see, this is a fishing village. There's way more 0:57:57.600 --> 0:58:02.280 than one boat available. And how did he choose? I 0:58:02.440 --> 0:58:06.720 wonder did he go? Eenie meenie, miney moe. I'm picturing 0:58:06.840 --> 0:58:10.040 Jesus right, I'm picturing Jesus is choosing whose vote do 0:58:10.040 --> 0:58:12.680 I want to preach from. I'm launching a ministry. Not 0:58:12.720 --> 0:58:14.760 only am I launching a boat, I'm launching a movement. 0:58:14.840 --> 0:58:17.440 I'm launching the gospel. I'm launching the work. Whose vote? 0:58:17.560 --> 0:58:21.880 Here's a boat, there's a boat. Eenie meanie, miney moe. 0:58:22.360 --> 0:58:31.280 Catch a disciple, buy his vote. And I felt like 0:58:31.320 --> 0:58:35.919 God was saying, I knew what was in Peter when 0:58:35.920 --> 0:58:44.920 I got in his boat. He got in your boat, 0:58:46.880 --> 0:58:58.680 the one he knew where I was broken. When he 0:58:58.760 --> 0:59:03.320 got in my boat, he knew what I didn't know. 0:59:03.840 --> 0:59:08.200 When he got in my boat. He knew where I 0:59:08.240 --> 0:59:14.960 would fail when he called me to follow us. So 0:59:15.120 --> 0:59:21.120 it wasn't my decision that started this. He got in 0:59:21.200 --> 0:59:24.880 the boat. See, we thought it started when Peter let 0:59:24.920 --> 0:59:27.800 down the nets. No, we thought it started when Peter 0:59:28.160 --> 0:59:30.720 let out a little from the shore. No, you thought 0:59:30.760 --> 0:59:34.600 it started when you were born. No, he said, before 0:59:34.680 --> 0:59:38.160 you were born. I formed you. I knew you. I 0:59:38.240 --> 0:59:41.600 knew the good stuff, the funky stuff, the weird stuff, 0:59:41.720 --> 0:59:45.480 the perverted stuff, the twisted stuff, the genetic stuff. I 0:59:45.600 --> 0:59:48.480 knew your dumb stuff. And I got in your boat 0:59:49.360 --> 0:59:52.400 because it's you I called, and it's you like shows, 0:59:52.800 --> 1:00:02.000 and I know whose boat I'm stepping in. See, the 1:00:02.160 --> 1:00:06.320 momentum depends on who made the decision. And if you 1:00:06.480 --> 1:00:10.760 think you choset God, then it is dependent on you. 1:00:14.720 --> 1:00:18.680 But when you get a revelation to Peter God much 1:00:18.800 --> 1:00:21.720 later in his life, it took him years. Man he 1:00:21.800 --> 1:00:25.040 went back fishing in John twenty one and didn't catch 1:00:25.040 --> 1:00:27.960 fish again. He never really got it, but he still 1:00:28.040 --> 1:00:36.400 preached why because Jesus knew his condition before he called him. 1:00:36.680 --> 1:00:39.760 I don't think there's anything more important than this to 1:00:39.880 --> 1:00:45.000 teach you about the grace of God and the life 1:00:45.040 --> 1:00:57.160 of faith. Is that God's decision predated your dysfunction. He 1:00:57.240 --> 1:01:00.600 knew Peter was a cussing mess when he got in 1:01:00.680 --> 1:01:04.600 the boat. He knew he was an impulsive idiot when 1:01:04.600 --> 1:01:08.720 he got in the boat. He knew you were predisposed 1:01:08.720 --> 1:01:10.880 to these emotions when he got in your boat, when 1:01:10.880 --> 1:01:13.360 he came in your art, he saved you by graze. 1:01:13.800 --> 1:01:18.120 I just want you to know that, Gus, because where 1:01:18.120 --> 1:01:24.080 it starts determines where it stops. And if God's purpose 1:01:24.120 --> 1:01:26.360 for your life stopped with your last bad decision, it'd 1:01:26.400 --> 1:01:29.360 be over for all of us, for all of us. 1:01:32.200 --> 1:01:34.600 But Peter said something later in his life that I 1:01:34.640 --> 1:01:39.400 think he learned in that boat. And this scripture came 1:01:39.440 --> 1:01:41.040 to me right before I came out. It was the 1:01:41.080 --> 1:01:43.280 last thing God gave me, and it's the last thing 1:01:43.280 --> 1:01:46.400 I want to show you, he said. In second Peter, 1:01:46.480 --> 1:01:48.720 you know he went on to write some of the Bible. 1:01:50.720 --> 1:01:54.000 That's pretty cool that God picked him as an author 1:01:54.920 --> 1:01:59.920 of the Word of God. Well, he was cleaning empty nets. 1:02:01.480 --> 1:02:03.960 We get so arrogant and we get so crazy that 1:02:04.000 --> 1:02:07.280 we think something we brought to God drew him to us. No, No, 1:02:08.800 --> 1:02:11.800 he chose you before all that, before the achievement. Put 1:02:11.840 --> 1:02:15.360 all those trophies back in the basement. God doesn't need 1:02:15.400 --> 1:02:22.040 any of that. God doesn't need any of that. And 1:02:22.120 --> 1:02:25.080 I didn't even know where this scripture was. But it said. 1:02:25.120 --> 1:02:27.600 I had to look it up. It said, no prophecy 1:02:28.240 --> 1:02:33.360 ever had its origin in human will, but prophets, though human, 1:02:33.880 --> 1:02:37.720 spoke from God as they were carried along by the 1:02:37.760 --> 1:02:42.920 Holy Spirit. That's powerful all in itself. That no prophecy 1:02:43.400 --> 1:02:46.400 has ever had its origin. It doesn't start with the 1:02:46.480 --> 1:02:51.040 human will. It didn't start when they left their boats. 1:02:52.320 --> 1:02:57.240 It started when Jesus stepped in. And the momentum of 1:02:57.240 --> 1:02:59.560 that decision can carry you through any season of your life, 1:02:59.600 --> 1:03:03.600 any set back, any shame, I'm saying anything you can name. 1:03:04.080 --> 1:03:06.920 He took it all to the cross, buried it all 1:03:06.920 --> 1:03:10.440 in the grave, and there's a resurrection that can happen 1:03:11.200 --> 1:03:16.960 if you realize that no prophecy ever had its origin 1:03:17.040 --> 1:03:20.320 in the human will the way I saw it, and 1:03:20.360 --> 1:03:22.120 I had to set this up last minute, so you'll 1:03:22.120 --> 1:03:25.440 pray it works. Bring me that little road case. I 1:03:25.480 --> 1:03:28.280 asked him, Do you have anything that I can show 1:03:28.360 --> 1:03:30.760 the people? And I want you to get this. Wherever 1:03:30.840 --> 1:03:35.920 you are in the world, everybody say, momentum, momentum, momentum, momentum, momentum. 1:03:35.960 --> 1:03:37.800 You've been praying for that in your life. You have 1:03:37.840 --> 1:03:42.040 been very, very stuck and frustrated and disappointment and in 1:03:42.080 --> 1:03:43.880 a state of disappointment this year. And the truth is 1:03:44.000 --> 1:03:47.600 some of us are drowning in it. We're drowning in it. 1:03:47.800 --> 1:03:50.479 We fished all night, we fished all year, We've caught. 1:03:50.520 --> 1:03:54.280 Nothing's changing now. I just said, give me something heavy 1:03:54.280 --> 1:03:56.600 on the stage so I can leave them with an image, 1:03:56.720 --> 1:03:59.160 because I know how you are. You're luck I am, 1:03:59.240 --> 1:04:01.360 and we'll forget everything, but sometimes if we see it, 1:04:01.400 --> 1:04:05.760 we can get it. It hit me. I need somebody 1:04:05.800 --> 1:04:07.840 who's not very strong to come here real quick, and 1:04:08.040 --> 1:04:10.000 you'll have to identify yourself. I'm certainly not going to 1:04:10.080 --> 1:04:12.520 point at you, and I mean I need you to 1:04:12.560 --> 1:04:15.600 be real weak. I need you to be like you 1:04:15.680 --> 1:04:19.960 hadn't seen a gym since COVID start, You hadn't seen 1:04:20.000 --> 1:04:22.280 a gym since why two K. That's who I need 1:04:22.360 --> 1:04:24.480 right now, y'all remember why two K. I need like 1:04:24.520 --> 1:04:26.600 you have not seen it. I mean, like you really 1:04:26.680 --> 1:04:28.800 are strong? Is she really not strong? I mean I 1:04:28.840 --> 1:04:32.200 don't mean her character, I mean just yeah, just so, so, 1:04:32.240 --> 1:04:34.200 who is it who's the weakest person in this section? 1:04:36.160 --> 1:04:38.280 I mean I need the weakest. I wish you were 1:04:38.320 --> 1:04:40.280 all here so I could do a whole poll. Who 1:04:40.400 --> 1:04:43.280 is the weakest person in the room physically weakest person 1:04:43.320 --> 1:04:46.920 in the room? Is it you? Like? For real? Okay, 1:04:47.320 --> 1:04:49.040 come here overalls, and you got to hurry because this 1:04:49.120 --> 1:04:51.640 is winding down. Now, everybody in the room stand up. 1:04:51.760 --> 1:04:54.600 I'm gonna show you this and I need you to. 1:04:54.680 --> 1:04:57.120 I need you to just follow my instructions. Just follow, 1:04:57.160 --> 1:04:59.720 follow follow everybody say, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow, 1:05:00.080 --> 1:05:07.200 follow follow, So thank you for volunteering. I chose you 1:05:07.280 --> 1:05:17.360 because you said you were weak. I chose you because 1:05:17.360 --> 1:05:24.160 I said, eenie meanie, miney mo. Remember how it went, 1:05:24.600 --> 1:05:28.280 catch you talk about to if he hollers, I could change. 1:05:28.280 --> 1:05:29.840 I could make a whole Christian song out of it. 1:05:29.920 --> 1:05:32.840 You know, if he sends, I won't let go eeny 1:05:32.880 --> 1:05:35.000 meanie miney mo. I could do all this stuff. This 1:05:35.040 --> 1:05:37.920 is what I do. And remember how we'd say my 1:05:37.960 --> 1:05:40.280 mama told me to pick the very best one. And 1:05:40.320 --> 1:05:43.400 I know this is so simple and so silly, but 1:05:43.480 --> 1:05:46.680 sometimes it's the shallow stuff that sticks with us. It 1:05:46.800 --> 1:05:49.880 was like, how did he pick Peter? And I heard 1:05:49.960 --> 1:05:53.400 my father told me to pick the very worst one, 1:05:53.480 --> 1:05:56.000 the weakest one, the most impulsive one. And he got 1:05:56.000 --> 1:05:59.600 in that boat, and that gave me hope because I 1:05:59.680 --> 1:06:07.120 may dumb decisions. So it's not my decision and my 1:06:07.160 --> 1:06:10.800 good decisions that I'm putting my faith in, not as 1:06:10.800 --> 1:06:14.360 a pastor, not as a parent, not as a husband, 1:06:14.880 --> 1:06:21.960 not as a man. His decision. Give that one good push. 1:06:22.480 --> 1:06:24.040 All you're allowed to do is push it as hard 1:06:24.040 --> 1:06:25.760 as you can with one push. Don't keep your hands 1:06:25.760 --> 1:06:33.960 on it. Three two one. Who's the strongest person in 1:06:34.000 --> 1:06:38.680 the room. Who's the strongest person in the room. I 1:06:38.720 --> 1:06:42.520 mean the strongest person in the room. I mean the 1:06:42.720 --> 1:06:46.040 strongest person in the room. I mean, who's the strongest 1:06:46.040 --> 1:06:49.000 person in the chat? Somebody, somebody give me a fleximoj 1:06:49.120 --> 1:06:51.800 in the jack Hong Kong. Who's the strongest person I 1:06:51.800 --> 1:06:54.240 need the strongest person in the room. I'm gonna have 1:06:54.280 --> 1:06:56.160 to say, I'm gonna have to select somebody. If somebody 1:06:56.160 --> 1:07:01.000 done volunteer, in fact, get get me, give me, give me, 1:07:01.040 --> 1:07:04.400 give me three strong people. Notice I didn't just say men. 1:07:04.920 --> 1:07:07.640 I am very very politically correct, y'all. I don't know 1:07:07.680 --> 1:07:11.520 ifend anybody who's the strongest give me the three strongest people. 1:07:11.560 --> 1:07:14.600 You're coming. They're all pointing at you. You, They're all coming. 1:07:14.880 --> 1:07:16.560 I know you got flowers on your surf, but they 1:07:16.560 --> 1:07:18.680 said you're strong. Come on, man, let's go. Let's go. 1:07:18.840 --> 1:07:20.600 I need one more burnie or you coming. Who else 1:07:20.680 --> 1:07:22.880 is coming, strongest guy in the room, Yeah he is, 1:07:22.960 --> 1:07:24.600 he is. Come on, come on, all three of you, 1:07:24.600 --> 1:07:26.360 come on up, Come on up, Come on up. And 1:07:26.400 --> 1:07:28.800 I wanted to remind you of this. Y'all start clapping, 1:07:28.800 --> 1:07:30.240 because this is about to hit you. This is about 1:07:30.280 --> 1:07:33.160 to hit you. Line up, line up, line up, line up, 1:07:33.400 --> 1:07:36.680 line up, line up. When I say three all on 1:07:36.680 --> 1:07:39.520 one side, I want you to push it as hard 1:07:39.560 --> 1:07:42.040 as you can. With one push, you don't get the 1:07:42.080 --> 1:07:43.960 lock out, you don't get to do anything. But I 1:07:44.080 --> 1:07:46.240 just want them to realize you can be there for 1:07:46.280 --> 1:07:48.680 a backup in case we do it. But I heard 1:07:48.680 --> 1:07:51.439 the I heard the scripture say at the water's edge 1:07:51.560 --> 1:07:53.960 was a boat, and I was thinking about all my 1:07:54.080 --> 1:07:56.960 dumb decisions and how prophecy in the word of God 1:07:57.280 --> 1:07:59.959 over your life doesn't originate with the will of man. 1:08:00.040 --> 1:08:03.440 And I was thinking about the momentum of the decision. 1:08:03.760 --> 1:08:06.800 So what I thought about is how far it goes 1:08:07.360 --> 1:08:11.720 depends upon how strong you are when you started. So 1:08:11.960 --> 1:08:16.200 on three one two, three, push it. Look at that, 1:08:16.680 --> 1:08:21.559 ketta kata katad Oh, look at that. And it's all 1:08:21.680 --> 1:08:25.320 right because I wanted it to fall. And it's all 1:08:25.439 --> 1:08:29.080 right because I planned for it to crash. And it's 1:08:29.120 --> 1:08:33.000 all right because I set it up for the illustration, 1:08:33.760 --> 1:08:37.519 and I knew it would fall when I call them, 1:08:37.880 --> 1:08:41.400 and I knew it would break when I chose it, 1:08:41.760 --> 1:08:45.200 and I knew what was in it when they pushed it. 1:08:48.920 --> 1:08:57.880 So the question is who started this, Who brought you 1:08:57.920 --> 1:09:03.519 into the earth, Who chose who? I don't think you 1:09:03.680 --> 1:09:08.760 chose Jesus. I think he got in your boat a 1:09:09.000 --> 1:09:16.840 long time ago. If I'm the one pushing it, eh, 1:09:17.080 --> 1:09:23.439 no offense, Eh. If it's Peter's decision, If it's Peter's prophecy, 1:09:23.800 --> 1:09:29.680 if it's human will it stops when I sin. But 1:09:29.760 --> 1:09:34.439 if you understand that, no prophecy, no word God spoke 1:09:34.479 --> 1:09:36.559 over your lot, no simony gave you. Nothing. He puts 1:09:36.560 --> 1:09:42.759 you to do started with you. I hear the Lord saying, 1:09:43.800 --> 1:09:49.519 the momentum is not based in your decision, It's based 1:09:49.520 --> 1:09:53.920 in his. Clap your hands and give him praise. Thank you, 1:09:54.000 --> 1:09:57.280 thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Come on, 1:09:57.360 --> 1:10:00.320 given praise, give him praise. Give him praise all over 1:10:00.360 --> 1:10:04.439 the world. Give him praise. Come on a simple thing. 1:10:04.560 --> 1:10:13.720 Clap your hands, a deep praise, a simple thing, a 1:10:13.760 --> 1:10:20.800 simple illustration, a simple thing. If he started it, no 1:10:20.840 --> 1:10:26.400 one can stop it. So sometimes I tell God, it's 1:10:26.400 --> 1:10:34.880 your boat. You made me, You know me, you chose me. 1:10:36.520 --> 1:10:38.360 I guess you knew what was in my heart when 1:10:38.400 --> 1:10:42.880 you got in my boat. So use me. Lord. I 1:10:42.880 --> 1:10:46.840 want to go deeper in this season, but I want 1:10:46.840 --> 1:10:49.640 to call you right now to make a decision to 1:10:49.680 --> 1:10:53.200 receive his grace. So bow your head and close your eyes. 1:10:54.520 --> 1:10:57.360 The presence of the Lord is in this moment, and 1:10:57.400 --> 1:10:59.439 the presence of the Lord was in the moment before that. 1:11:00.600 --> 1:11:05.519 It'll be in the moment after this. But this is 1:11:05.560 --> 1:11:09.080 a moment of decision for someone to place your faith 1:11:09.120 --> 1:11:13.000 in Jesus Christ. The Lord spoke to me to do 1:11:13.040 --> 1:11:18.040 the invitation myself today, which I don't always do. But 1:11:18.120 --> 1:11:22.240 he said that there was someone who needed to stop 1:11:22.320 --> 1:11:26.080 trying to save themself and stop trying to earn his love, 1:11:26.120 --> 1:11:29.519 and stop trying to fix their life on their own, 1:11:32.160 --> 1:11:35.800 but to receive his grace. Let him in your heart. 1:11:38.680 --> 1:11:43.360 That's by grace through faith, right now I want to 1:11:43.400 --> 1:11:45.400 pray a prayer with you, and I'm going to close 1:11:45.439 --> 1:11:48.240 my eyes and bow my head, and I just want 1:11:48.320 --> 1:11:49.800 us to think like it's just me and you and 1:11:49.840 --> 1:11:56.160 God now, no distractions. And the Bible says that everyone 1:11:56.160 --> 1:11:58.360 who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 1:12:00.680 --> 1:12:03.679 Will you make this your day to leave your boat, 1:12:03.800 --> 1:12:07.120 your nets, your old way of life and be a 1:12:07.160 --> 1:12:10.679 follower of Christ. God has already decided what he thinks 1:12:10.680 --> 1:12:14.680 about you. He demonstrates his love toward us in this 1:12:14.760 --> 1:12:17.320 that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us 1:12:17.880 --> 1:12:21.040 and he wants to get in your life. He wants 1:12:21.040 --> 1:12:23.880 to come in take over. So right now, if you'll 1:12:23.880 --> 1:12:25.760 pray this prayer with me, I believe God will hear 1:12:26.680 --> 1:12:29.600 and he'll enter your heart take your sin away. The 1:12:29.600 --> 1:12:33.439 Bible says you will be born again from above. And 1:12:33.439 --> 1:12:35.439 I want you to repeat this prayer after me, everyone 1:12:35.520 --> 1:12:37.599 praying together for the benefit of those who are coming 1:12:37.600 --> 1:12:39.839 to God, are coming back to God, who have stopped 1:12:39.840 --> 1:12:42.519 following or who have never started following it all. This 1:12:42.600 --> 1:12:48.400 is your moment of decision, the moment of decision. Repeat 1:12:48.439 --> 1:12:53.120 after me, Heavenly Father, I am a sinner in need 1:12:53.160 --> 1:12:58.479 of a savior. And I believe that Jesus Christ is 1:12:58.520 --> 1:13:01.719 the Son of God and the savior of the world. 1:13:02.720 --> 1:13:06.719 And today I make Jesus the lord of my life. 1:13:07.640 --> 1:13:11.559 I believe he died that I would be forgiven and 1:13:11.720 --> 1:13:17.120 rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. 1:13:17.720 --> 1:13:21.240 This is my new beginning. On the count of three, 1:13:21.280 --> 1:13:24.280 if you prayed that prayer, raise your hand one, two, three. 1:13:24.479 --> 1:13:26.800 If you're watching online, put it in the chest. Say 1:13:26.960 --> 1:13:33.719 I receive Jesus. I receive Jesus. Say it in the chat, 1:13:33.760 --> 1:13:35.960 say it in the comics. Come on, we want to 1:13:36.040 --> 1:13:40.679 celebrate with the Acheles. That's the best decision of your life. 1:13:41.880 --> 1:13:45.240 And God made that decision a long time ago. You 1:13:45.280 --> 1:13:49.599 are accepted, you are chosen, you are predestined. You are 1:13:49.760 --> 1:13:52.479 his child. Come on, let's give him praise on every 1:13:52.479 --> 1:13:59.880 location all around the world. Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord. 1:14:01.800 --> 1:14:09.640 I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to 1:14:09.840 --> 1:14:18.320 follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, 1:14:19.800 --> 1:14:23.040 no turning back. Let's make it present tense. I am 1:14:23.120 --> 1:14:29.960 deciding to follow Jesus this moment. I am deciding to 1:14:30.200 --> 1:14:37.360 follow Jesus. I am deciding to follow Jesus every step, 1:14:38.000 --> 1:14:42.519 no turning back, push off a little, no turn So 1:14:42.560 --> 1:14:44.600 we're gonna even say simple things. So you know, I 1:14:45.160 --> 1:14:51.240 am deciding to stop complaining. That's what it looks like 1:14:51.320 --> 1:14:57.680 to follow Jesus. I am deciding to get off Facebook. 1:14:58.720 --> 1:15:04.040 I'm modernizing the helm. Come on, saints, I am deciding 1:15:05.479 --> 1:15:13.800 to follow Jesus. I am deciding to follow Jesus. I 1:15:13.840 --> 1:15:28.800 am deciding to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. Well, 1:15:28.840 --> 1:15:32.280 that's the end of my message's decision time. Now what 1:15:32.320 --> 1:15:33.600 are you going to do with the word that you 1:15:33.800 --> 1:15:35.960 just heard? I pray that you'll put it to work 1:15:35.960 --> 1:15:39.320 in your life, put it into practice, use it as 1:15:39.360 --> 1:15:42.559 a foundation to build your life on Christ. Know that 1:15:42.760 --> 1:15:45.760 nothing that you have done or will do is going 1:15:45.800 --> 1:15:49.240 to push His love away or earn it. He chose you. 1:15:49.800 --> 1:15:54.000 The scripture says in John fifteen sixteen that I chose you. 1:15:54.000 --> 1:15:57.160 You didn't choose me. But you know what, I'm really 1:15:57.200 --> 1:15:59.800 thankful for those of you who choose to connect with 1:15:59.800 --> 1:16:03.120 this ministry. You choose to pray, you choose to give, 1:16:03.439 --> 1:16:05.559 you choose to serve, you choose to watch, you choose 1:16:05.600 --> 1:16:09.480 to share the messages. That makes a big difference. And 1:16:09.520 --> 1:16:11.760 I just want to remind you again that as we 1:16:11.800 --> 1:16:14.200 get the word out together, like we don't have votes, 1:16:14.280 --> 1:16:17.240 but we have broadband and Wi Fi and all of 1:16:17.280 --> 1:16:20.799 these ways of sharing the gospel, that what you do matters. 1:16:20.840 --> 1:16:23.400 So I know that we're praying for you. Make sure 1:16:23.439 --> 1:16:26.200 you subscribe to the channel, and all of you who 1:16:26.240 --> 1:16:29.519 are giving to our favor twenty twenty offering thank you 1:16:29.600 --> 1:16:31.840 for all of you who are giving. Thank you. It's 1:16:31.920 --> 1:16:34.080 because of you that the Gospel and the Word of 1:16:34.120 --> 1:16:37.400 God goes out. And know that God chose you. You 1:16:37.479 --> 1:16:39.680 got in the right boat. We love you, See you 1:16:39.680 --> 1:16:40.120 next time.