Follow Through

Good morning church, we're happy to see you here. Why don't y'all come on in. I am healed by your stripes. Your blood declares that I am free. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim, every weapon formed against me. Must break, in the mighty name of Jesus. I draw a permanent boundary line. The enemy has no right to come near my family. No sin could ever undo God's plan. No matter the circumstance, the cross has sealed my destiny. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim, every weapon formed against me. Must break, in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. I know, all the power of fear and darkness. It must hold, every key to every victory. I hope, in the mighty name of Jesus. Let's sing it. I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near. On the door frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ. Come on. I will not fear, I will not fear. There's an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides. The promise. Yeah. I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near.

No, on the door frame of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear. There's an army of angels here. I'm protected on all sides. By the blood of Jesus Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus. Oh. I pray, calling on the power of heaven, Lord. I proclaim, for the blessing, must break. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of. Oh, I know, I know, I know. All the power of fear and darkness. In my soul. Cause every key to every victory. Oh, I know. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. It's not in my strength, oh God, for yours. I don't ever have to lift a finger, Lord. I know you are on my side, God. You're on our side, Jesus. Cause you have all authority. I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near, on the door frame of your life is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here, I'm protected on all side. Come on, some of y'all need to sing that this morning. You need to sing it.

I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near, on the door frame of my life is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here, yes, I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near, no, on the door frame of my whole life has been the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here, I'm protected on all sides by the blood of Jesus Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus, oh, I pray, calling on the power of heaven, I proclaim, every weapon born against me, I declare, must fail. In the mighty name, your mighty name, Jesus, in the mighty name, oh, I pray, I know, I know, I know, I know, oh, the power of fear and darkness, you must know, every key to every victory, thank you, God. It's in the mighty name of Jesus, in the mighty name of Jesus, it's in the mighty name of Jesus, praise his name this morning, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, God. Jesus, we know who we are, we glorify your name. The more I see, the more I find to love, the more I know, the more I can't withhold my heart, I'm still amazed by who you are. Jesus, who are you? Somehow it never gets old, tell me who you are, somehow it never gets old, tell me who you are. Somehow it never gets old, tell me who you are, for as long as I live, I'll never get tired of giving you praise. With every day, another reason why, with every breath, another chance to give my heart, I'm still amazed by who you are. Somehow it never gets old, tell me who you are, for as long as I live, I'll never get tired. If for as long as I live Oh, I'll never get tired of hearing you say

Somehow, you don't mind coming here Cause somehow, you'll never get old Because you're a lovely man Somehow, he never gets old Telling you your worth with everything you've got For as long as I live We'll make that commitment, listen to that We'll give you praise Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh Say And I could die for you more But you've already been so good, yes And I could die for you more But you've already been so kind What else can I say? There's nothing else to say Oh, I'm still amazed by your Lift up your voice and say And I could die for you more If you think I'd show you Lift up your voice and say I could die for you more But you've already been so kind What else can I say? Oh, Jesus, there's nothing else to say I'm still amazed by your What else can I say? There's nothing, Jesus, you can't be Oh, I'm still amazed by your Somehow it never gets old

To feel your heart, yes Somehow it never gets old Telling you your love, everything you've ever done Somehow it never gets old To feel your heart And for as long as I live Oh, I'll never get tired Of hearing the praise of your name, God It's your holy name You're worthy of all the praise, Lord Holy, holy, holy is your name The Lord God Almighty It's your holy name It's your holy, holy, holy Oh, Lord God Almighty And early in the morning I praise your name It's your holy name What else can I say? Oh, there's nothing else to say I'm still amazed by your What else can I say? Oh, there's nothing else to say Oh, I'm still amazed by your What else can I say? Oh, I'm still amazed by your What else can I say? Oh, I'm still amazed by your Oh, I'm still amazed by your Are you still amazed by Jesus?

Do you still love Jesus with all your heart? Come on, we can do better than that Let's give Him some real praise Let's shout to the Lord, amen? Let's raise the rooftop Give Him praise right now Give Him praise right now, come on He's worthy Father, you're worthy of all praise You're worthy of all glory We honor you, Lord We're so grateful for each one of you coming to worship with us today Man, God is good Look over at your neighbor and say, God is good You guys can be seated It's so good to see you in the house of the Lord today How many of you appreciate our worship team leading us into worship? I want to take just a second and welcome our first-time guests. Can we give it up for all of our first-time visitors, Revolution Church? Thank you. Each one of you are visiting today, whether you're in person or online. We're so grateful for all of you. And I would like to say that we have a Connect card. It'll be in the seat back right in front of you. It looks like this. And if you would, just grab that Connect card, fill it out sometime during the service. We have buckets back here in the back as you're exiting, and they're actually sitting on the table. If you would, drop those in there.

We'd just like to know you're here. We'd love to pray over you, connect with you. If you have special prayer requests, also you can fill that out. We have a team that'll be praying over those as well. If you make the best decision of your entire life, which is inviting Jesus into your heart, today we want to celebrate that with you. We also have a gift. So as you're leaving, go back to the left corner back here in the back, and we have a new Bible. Also, next steps will be in there. We'd love to put that in your hand and just give that to you as a gift from Revolution Church. And we, again, we believe that it's the greatest thing that you'll ever do. Amen? Inviting Jesus as Lord of your life. I want to read to you real quick a verse. It's found in the book of Mark. It's chapter 12, 41 through 44. Listen to these words. It says, Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put, and he watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts, but a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples together, Jesus said, truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. You've probably read that and you've heard that. Today I wanted to share that verse with you because two things I gather from this passage. Number one, the Bible says that Jesus sat down and was watching. He was watching every gift that came into the house, every gift that came into the temple. And so this tells me that the Lord is actually observing what we do.

Amen? He knows what we give. He knows every tithe that you bring into the house of the Lord. He knows that. He watches that. And so we see that in the passage. Also, we also see here that Jesus took this as an opportunity to teach his disciples. So we know that Jesus taught, and he taught the importance of sacrificial giving. Not just giving, but the importance of sacrificial giving. And so what I want to say today is to all of you that are generous and that support the church with your tithes and your offerings and your gifts, thank you. As the pastor of the church, it allows the church to continue being the church that God has planted here in Blount County, Tennessee, and allows us to do the ministry that we do. So very grateful for each one of you. Some of you today, maybe you've never really caught a hold of this concept of tithing. You know, some say, well, maybe that's an Old Testament tradition that we don't need to do today. But I'm going to tell you that you cannot out-give God. When you give to God, I promise you, every single time, he returns way more than we can give. Amen? It may not always be in a monetary way, but he'll bring peace, he'll bring joy, he'll bring blessings in ways that we can't even count. And so here at Revolution, we have multiple ways that you can give. You can give in person, there's envelopes there in the seat back, you can drop those off in the baskets as you're leaving. Also, you can give online. You can do that through the website, you can do it through our church app, it makes it easy. Connie and I, that's the way we choose to give, is online.

But also, maybe you have a phone, a smartphone, there's a tap tag on the back of your chair. And so you can take your phone and just lay it up against that tap tag, and it will download the platform for you to give. And so there's a lot of different options, we just want you to know that those are available to you. Another thing that I wanted to share is this weekend, there's a group of people, a group of Christians gathering at the Washington Mall. And the reason for that is prayer for our nation. It's called Rededicate 250, it's the 250th anniversary, birthday of our country. And we're just rededicating our nation, one nation, under God. And I love that, amen? Praise the Lord. So grateful for that. So we celebrate that. And the final prayer that we do before we move into the Word today, I would like for us to pray that prayer as well. And then the last thing, how many of you would like some good news today? No, I'm talking about how many of you would like some great news right now? Okay, I have some great news I can't wait to share. But listen to me. Chris Craig, Pastor Chris Craig, is coming back home to Revolution Church. Come on, somebody! Amen! We're so excited. He's been gone 11 months, almost a year now. I've been in contact with him all along the way. God has blessed his church, it's grown. But he knew all along that this was home. And so he's excited, they're coming back in July. And he's basically going to be, you know, my assistant. He's going to take care of all the day-to-day operations here at the church and the school. He's going to give oversight and leadership to that and support to that.

So I can't wait to have him back. They'll be here in July and it's going to be awesome. And praise the Lord for that. He's sharing that with his church this morning. They are two hours behind us, so don't post anything until two hours later. Okay? How's that sound? But we're excited for them. Right now, I would like to ask the entire church if you would stand. And let's pray a prayer of unity over our nation. Let's ask God to bless our nation. We are one nation under God. Amen? We are, and God has blessed us tremendously. But I pray in the next 250 years, if the Lord don't come back, that we'll see even greater blessings come as a result of that. Let's all pray together. Father, we're just so grateful for a day of worship, a day of corporate worship. Father, we want to come together right now. Come on, everybody pray. We want to gather together today to pray, Father, over our nation, Lord. Over the United States of America. God, we're grateful to live in a country where we can freely worship you. God, where we can freely honor you, Father. And we love you, and we appreciate you, and we appreciate the blessings on our nation. God, today we want to rededicate our country back to you. Father, we want to declare, God, that your blessings are on our nation. And we invite your blessings, Lord. Forgive us of our sins. Forgive us of our trespasses, Lord. We humble ourselves before you. And ask you to continue blessing the United States of America.

In Jesus' name, and everybody say it. Come on, help me now. Amen, amen, amen. Good morning, Revolution Family. We're so excited you're in our service today. And we're excited that the Lord is moving in our services, Lisa. It's been powerful. And if you're a new, first-time visitor to our church today, we want to connect with you. So please, after the service today, go to the connect table in the back. We want to connect there with you, answer any questions you have, and we have a gift for you as well. Also, our prayer warriors are ready. After each service today, they'll be ready to pray with you. And if you decide to make Jesus the Lord of your life today, we want to celebrate that with you, pray with you, and walk with you on that journey. If you do that, we want to know about it. So please, after the service, go to the New Believers table. We have a Bible there for you that we'll hand to you. It's going to be your sword and shield along the way on this best adventure of your life. So we want to celebrate that with everyone that does that as well, Lisa. Also, anything that we talk about today will be on the church center app, the QR code below, and our website. If you're joining us on social, and you need a prayer request, please put it in the chat below. If you're here in person today, you can put your prayer request on the connect card. We'd love to pray with you. Please let us know what you need, and we want to pray with you. And Charlie, speaking of needs, FAM is going to be hosting an informational meeting in room I on June the 1st at 6 p.m. This is a program that is near and dear to our hearts. It is for fostering and adoptive parents. Also for people who might be interested in starting that journey, or might be interested in just helping others and supporting others who are going through that. Please check that out. If you're interested, again, go to the church center app for more information. Lisa, you and I have been doing that for about six years now, fostering.

So there are lots of things to do in support of those. Even if you don't want to foster an adult, go check it out. That's going to be an amazing informational event there. We also have Connect One and Connect Two going on. Connect One is always on the last Sunday of the month. That is going to be in the pavilion during the third service, as is Connect Two. Connect Two is the value of membership. The gifts that you have, you can use to help build the kingdom. So check that out. Again, Connect Two membership, first Sunday of every month in the pavilion during the third service. Check that out. Again, check out the church center app, website, QR code below if you miss anything at all. Absolutely. And you said something about gifts and using gifts. and gifts, Vacation Bible School, June 15th through the 19th. Please register to volunteer. Kids registration will close on May the 31st. Get those kiddos signed up. Awesome, we also get to register for the Life Group and Discipleship Group Leader Luncheon. So register for that. Church Center app, website, QR code below. You can do that as well. That's gonna be a great event. You will learn about how to lead those groups and how to follow your calling there. We highly encourage you to take a chance and do that. Sometimes that's scary to lead those things, but you'll learn a lot. You'll get a lot of blessing from that as well. So Lisa, we're excited about that. Absolutely, we have so much going on here at Revolution.

Now just take a deep breath, relax, enjoy the service. We are so glad that you are here. Oh, good morning. Who's glad to be in the house of the Lord today? Come on, you glad to be here? Thank you so much for joining us at Revolution Church. My name is Grant. I have the privilege of being the youth pastor here. And behind me are high school graduates. Can we give it up for our high school graduates right here? That's what I'm talking about. Great young people. Today we're recognizing them in their respective schools. And in this class of 2026, we have students who have above a 4.0 GPA. We have students who are leaders in the band and in groups and clubs and teams and Bible studies and plays and more. We have students who have worked hard and have different kinds of jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities. Students who are going to be college athletes, students who are going into music, into sciences, technology, business, education, and ministry. But most importantly, church, students who believe in Jesus and are a part of this church body. Can we show them our love today? We love y'all so much. So glad you guys are a part of this church.

We're proud of them, proud to know them and serve them and have you as a part of this church body. You're always welcome here. You have our contacts. Always reach out to us if you need anything. This is not the end. This is just the beginning, right? How many of us would say this is just the beginning of their life, right? A graduating high school, right? It's the end of something big, but it's just the beginning. So we hope that if you're here locally that you join the young adults group, right? Pastor Alec, Miss Hannah, join the young adults group that meets on Monday nights, seven o'clock, right? Okay. Or if you're not here, anytime you come back, please say hey to us. Please join with us. We love y'all so much. So we're gonna call their names and we're gonna give them, we've written down some words of wisdom in these awesome jars we're gonna take home. And then just some encouraging words for 99 thoughts for a college age person, okay? So we're gonna start with the ladies first because I was told if you want to live a long life, you go with ladies first, okay? All right.

So we have, give it up for Miss Addison Cooper. If I can give her one. And Miss Brayden Pickens. Congratulations. Miss Lily Carmack. All right, now the gentlemen. You ready, boys? Y'all ready? They're looking nice. Look at them, look at them. We got Mr. Dylan Burgess. Mr. Logan Powell. Mr. Noah Barger. And another Noah, Noah Walker. Mr. Carson Telfer. From dad, dad to son, love it. And Mr. Jordan Whitaker. So inside those jars are words of wisdom from church staff and from our youth leaders here at the church. So take those, read them, put it somewhere in your bedroom, somewhere special and take and read those books. So my challenge to you as you go into this next phase of life is something that Steve Hepperly actually told me when I was in high school and I've never forgot it. Matthew 6, 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and he will give you everything that you need.

God be first and he'll give you what you need in these next chapters that you don't know, that you're stepping into. We're excited, but we got some questions, we don't know what's happening next. Seek the Lord first. Part of my message today is geared toward you guys. I'm getting ready to speak here in just a moment. It's geared towards you all as graduates, but everybody here in the building. So I'm gonna change it up a little bit from what I actually thought I was going to do at this point in the recognition. I'm going to ask the families if you guys would come up on stage and join your graduate. Can you guys do that? Come on, families. Come on. Give them a round of applause. We love families. Graduates, you guys love your families that are here today, awesome. And Pastor and Miss Connie, would you join us as well? That would be great up on stage here. We want to pray over these graduates and their families because it doesn't just affect the graduates. It affects the family. I've never seen my mama cry as hard as when she dropped me off at college. It's still to this day, I've never seen her cry that much. I'm the oldest, so I was the first one out of the house. But we want to pray over you and your families as you guys all enter into this next phase of your life.

So I want to read a scripture over you, and then we're going to pray over each one. This is a blessing from Numbers chapter six, verses 24 through 26. May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you peace. Church, would you stand with me? We're going to ask you to stand one more time, if you would, please, just in this moment. Would you stretch your hand? Would you join with me? Remember all those times in your young adult life and all the things that you went through and you learned. And we want to pray over these students and their families. Jesus, thank you so much for Addison. Thank you for bringing her here, Lord. Thank you for her family. What a story that you've brought the family here, Jesus. And we don't know the next chapter, but we know who the one that is writing the chapter. Lord, wherever she goes and whatever she does, Lord, that she would trust you and know that you are her God, that she can talk to you, that she can reach out to you, Lord, and you will give her what she needs no matter where she goes, Father. She would continue in her faith. Thank you so much, Jesus, for the Pickens family. Thank you, Jesus, for Braden, Lord, that she steps into this next chapter of serving other people and doing what she believes that she is called to do, Lord, that you will guide her hands and that the conversations that she has with people in the chair, Lord, that they would continue to change lives. Help the Pickens family, Lord, to support her in every single day, every single area of where she goes and whatever she does, Lord, build their bond stronger, that it doesn't stop when she's leaving the house, that you're going to build a bond stronger in these next years of their lives, Lord.

Jesus, thank you so much for Awesome Lily, that she serves you, Lord, that she performs in front of people. You've given her gifts and talents, Lord, of singing and acting, and I've seen her serve the children of this church, Lord. As she steps into this next chapter of a young adult life, Father, that she would carefully take each step knowing that there's going to be hills, there's going to be curves, there's going to be questions, but she knows that her God is with her and her family no matter what is going on, no matter what the past has looked like, no matter what the present looks like, we surrender it to you and know that you're going to lead her to great things for your kingdom, Lord. Jesus, thank you so much for Logan. Thank you for a young man that has your word planted in his heart, God, and we believe that it has been planted in good soil. As your word says, Father, that it will bring the fruit, thank you for family that prays around him at home and that prays around him when he works. This is a young man that's not scared to work. He's not scared to get his hands dirty. He's not scared to serve other people. God, I believe you're going to lead him to greater things than he's ever even imagined, God, that he's going to look back and say, wow, thank you, Lord, for how you were with me and how you provide for me. God, that his eyes is going to be focused on you and that what he sees is not the physical things, but he sees the spiritual things, Lord, led by you, Holy Spirit. Thank you so much, Father. Thank you, Jesus, for Dylan. Thank you for a young man that even though he may sometimes be in the background, God, I've seen that he's willing to push through. He's willing to push through things, Lord. Thank you that he's here. Thank you for the opportunities you're going to give him in this next chapter of his life,

God. You've given him the smarts. God, I believe to do something in business. I believe a businessman that's going to lead others and continue to advance your kingdom in business, Lord. As he studies and as he works, Lord, he would do it your way, not his way, Lord, but you will open doors for him that he didn't see coming and that he knows you're calling him through that door, Father. Thank you for his family. Lord, that you bless his mom and his dad, Lord, and his sister. Lord, that you're going to help them in these next chapters that they will see God and go, wow, look at what you do, Lord, through the generations. Thank you, Father, for Dylan. Thank you, Jesus, for Noah, a young man that likes to think, a young man that you've given a brain. Thank you, Father. Nobody else has and God and I pray that he would be the one that sets up the church for success Thank you, Jesus. That sets up the church for gospel spreading opportunities God that nobody else is like him You've given him a specific opportunity in this world And in this time of technology in this time of music that this will be Somebody with a sharp sword that fights for you that defends the faith that defends against anything coming against his family And against his mind Lord you're gonna use Noah I believe in the name of Jesus and his family Lord to continue to grow the kingdom of God Thank you that you brought him into this family when he didn't know and his extended family didn't know you knew where he was gonna be Thank you father so much Jesus thank you for Noah Walker Lord a young man that is gifted and you've given the talents and the desire He has a desire Lord I believe to do things behind the scenes that will advance the kingdom of God and that Lord you give him opportunities bring to him thoughts

He didn't know he didn't understand before as he studies your word and as he serves the church Lord and as he serves his family That the name of Jesus just as he was baptized Just a few weeks ago as he come into the faith Lord and declaring his belief in Jesus that it will spread Lord To his family and to those around him you're going to use know what we believe in the name of Jesus Thank you father. Thank you for Carson That I believe has got a joy Unlike anybody in his family that there's a laugh that there's a smile That there's a willingness to serve and to lift others up like nobody else Lord that he would just be like the disciple the son of encouragement that Carson would be the one that shares encouraging words that Carson would be the one that brings joy in the darkness that is the light in his family a Light to those around him wherever he works Whatever he does that he is the joy that somebody says there's something different about that young man that Jesus is being shown Through him. Thank you Lord for the Telfer family continue to move in him father And thank you Jesus for Jordan Thank you Lord for the Whitaker family that you've brought here Lord that they would continue no matter what they do where they go to Be a staple in Townsend a staple in this area Lord that Jordan knows No matter what he's been through up to this point that God's with me that God has shown through my family God has shown through my extended work that he's going to continue to provide what I need Not just what I want, but what I need Lord God, I pray that Jordan would trust That's my prayer for Jordan that he would trust you and that this family would trust you no matter what Lord We surrender everything to you father. We give you all the praise and opportunities We thank you for them Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Come on church Can we show him love one more time over these families and graduates? We love you all Thank you so much. Thank you so much. You guys can be seated. Love you guys Thank you. Thank you Awesome. What a squad what a squad of young people and family in this church Man You Well church I want to share with you that you have an opportunity to continue to impact these young people amen The Fuller Institute shared this about young people that the reason

Their faith these graduates faith will continue beyond these years is because of what they call intergenerational relationships And what does that mean? That means their parents that means youth leaders That means people that are older than them have reached out to them and showed them about Jesus Showed them about life. How many of you had somebody older than you show you about Jesus? Let me see your hand How many of you? We get to be that for these young people. Amen We get to be that and we get to stamp up into this opportunity. All right, are you ready for the word? I'll come on you ready for the word. Oh You get to hear from the youth pastor today on graduation Sunday, and I'm gonna start out with an illustration It wasn't just that I got you know Excited because of what pastor Pacer did a few weeks ago with the car right and and and the and the seat and the steering Wheel, which was great But I was given this opportunity to share a few months back I knew almost immediately what I wanted to talk about and I'm a basketball guy. Okay ball is life as they say Okay, I've got some amazing young ladies up here with me today. These are the McCoy sisters. Can we give them a round of applause? They're amazing young ladies the family has been a part of the church for a long time and Bailey is playing college basketball right now at Milligan scored over 800 points in high school was district MVP region MVP and then Chloe's at North Greenville playing college basketball she had over 600 points in high school all district all region and here here's the really good one here's a really good one their mom scored almost as much as they did combined when she was in high school miss Tracy scored 1,300 points in high school so the McCoy family knows a little bit about basketball and I've had the chance to coach basketball for over a decade I love it and my favorite thing is when a kid goes to the free throw line they get fouled they have a chance to shoot right a chance to score the last thing that I say to them is hey follow through because I don't want them to focus on anything else but that that last part of the shot so what is the

most important part of a basketball shooting form Bailey so Chloe why why is it important to follow through that's a good word that's simple it's not gonna go in if you follow through right all right so we're gonna have an example here of what a follow-through looks like all right so Chloe's gonna go first this time all right let's see that form oh that's all right hey follow through you got it girl got it follow through oh it's okay if you take a step back you got it there it is no you're okay you're all right Chloe we got it follow through follow through there we go good job give a round of applause that's good folks on that follow through all right Bailey let's see it oh it's okay it's all right hold that follow through girl you got it see the middle oh it's okay we see it hold it up there oh it's all right we got it we got it now let's go make some noise for Bay let's make it like a game make some noise knock it down Bailey there we go good job girls thank you so much they're awesome give it up one more time for the McCoy sisters so holding your follow-through is the most important part right you can just toss the ball up there but in the end when you follow through it's a good feeling and I'm kind of glad they missed some shots I know they're nervous in front of hundreds of people and cameras and lights and all that but it shows you you got to focus on the finish you got to focus on the follow-through so my challenge for us today as Christians are you willing to follow through are you willing to follow Jesus through all the things of life because here's the truth church there's a lot of people that want to get started nowadays there's a lot of people that want to start businesses there's a lot of people that want to start relationships there's a lot of people that there's four and a half million podcasts in the world if you didn't know that people want to start but we struggle to follow through people want to follow Jesus they want to come up to the altar they want to get the forgiveness of their sin but weeks later months later years later decades later are they still following through let's look at some statistics I'm going to show up on the screen about the follow-through problem that we have as humans 70% of kids quit playing sports by age 13 70% of businesses fail within

ten years 45% of marriages end in divorce 63% of students complete their college degree 68% of people that smoke desire to quit but only 9% successfully quit smoking you might say well pastor Grant that's not really for me well let's talk about the church let's go to the next one let's talk about us all right faith in America 18 to 35 year olds only one in three come to church only one in three like we just saw these young people right here come to church 55% of Christians have shared their faith and the gospel with someone only 40% of the church gives money in tithe imagine what we could do if everybody gave it's 45% of people read their Bible regularly but only 17% of this country has read the whole Bible 45% of the country attends church on Easter that's not bad but the scary part is only 15% return after Easter the definitive mark of true discipleship church is perseverance is that it's keep on going it's not just something we've thrown if you've ever thrown gasoline on a fire like in the mission trip last year we had to use a leaf blower right BJ to get a fire going on a big brush pile coming to Jesus is not just a you come up and you shook Pastor Pacer's hand and that's it. It's discipleship, it's following through, it's keep on and growing and going no matter what you go through. So I wanna look at a story that I believe is the perfect example in the Bible of following through. And that's the story of Peter. We're gonna start in Luke 5, verses one through eight. One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water's edge for the fishermen had left them

and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, who is Peter, now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish. Master, Simon replied, we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing. Everybody say, but if you say so. But if you say so. I'll let down the nets again. And this time their nets were so full of fish, they began to tear. A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat. And soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, oh Lord, please leave me. I'm such a sinful man. And that response is the correct response. I think of what a lot of us would do, right? If we were to meet Jesus face to face or if he was to do a miracle in our lives, Lord, leave me. I'm such a sinful man. I don't deserve to be in your presence unless Jesus is looking for a sinful person like Peter and looking for a sinful person like you and I.

Because the beauty of the gospel is that God uses broken things, broken people to do godly things. Is anybody a testimony of that today, that God can use broken people to do godly things? So the question that challenges if we will follow through just like Jesus did to Peter is would you be willing to let him interrupt your world by doing a little thing that he asks? See, it wasn't a big thing for Jesus to ask him, hey, can I just borrow your boat and just kind of have a better stage and get a little bit away from the crowd? Can you just push your boat out just a little bit? Because that didn't really interrupt Peter. He's like, okay, that's fine. Sure, yeah, push the boat out, keep the anchor down. But then Jesus saw that he responded to that and he said, let's go out deeper. Turn to your neighbor and say, let's go out deeper. And let's see if we can catch some fish because that is more challenging. The net that they had during that day is not like the nets we have now where you would just pull it out of the water, kind of shake it, put it back in the boat. These nets were woven through different kinds of cloth that had to be cleaned off of all the junk that they had pulling out of the water, okay? I've been to the Sea of Galilee.

I've seen it. It's not the most clean thing in the world. Probably wouldn't go swimming in it. If you've been to Fort Loudon, look where I grew up, it's not the best thing to do. I hear Chilhowee's the best around maybe. But they had to do work to clean these nets. They were done. Peter was done for the day. They had to let these nets dry to get ready for the next time that they went out. They had to be clean. How many of you think that I'm kind of done with this portion right now, Jesus? I don't know if you call me out deeper, what I say, but if you say so, I'll do it. Is Jesus calling you out to more than just letting him use your boat? Is Jesus calling you out to say, I got something deeper for you? I've got something more you don't even understand yet. I've got something great. And so Peter responds to that. And then after the Holy Spirit comes, we see Peter standing up being a leader of the church, right? In Acts chapter two, he stands in front of thousands, shares the gospel. 3,000 people get saved saying, what must we do? Repent and be baptized.

And Peter helps start the church. What about in chapter three in the book of Acts when he heals the lame beggar that had been lame since birth. And one of my favorite scriptures, he says, silver and gold have I none, but what I give to you, I give to you in the name of Jesus. Stand up and walk. Isn't that powerful? What about, is so much happening with the spirit of God that people are bringing sick people, people that were filled with demons to Jerusalem just for the chance that Peter's shadow might fall on them so they would be healed. That's wild. We talk about bringing people up to the altar to be laid hands on. They just wanted Peter's shadow to touch them. There was so much power happening in his life. And then in Acts chapter nine, Peter heals a paralyzed man, and then he raises a woman from the dead back to life. Two books in your Bible are from Peter, 1 and 2 Peter. He is one of the foundational pieces of the church. But what about all the things where Peter missed it? All the things where Jesus called him out? All the moments where he probably questioned, am I really a follower? Am I really doing right? Let's go through that list.

Peter took his eyes off of Jesus due to the waves, literally walking on water that only two people that we know of have done in the history of the world. Takes his eyes off Jesus. Help me, Lord, save me. And Jesus, what does he say? Does he say, it's okay? Does he say, I still love you? He says, no, where is your faith? Trust me. What about when Jesus takes him to pray and then they see Elijah and Moses glowing with Jesus? And Peter, it said he didn't know what to say, so he just kind of blurted out, Jesus, this is great that we're here. Maybe we should build some statues and some monuments for you. And in my own mind, this is how I hear God responding, like this is the GRV, like the Grant Redmond version. Peter, shh. This is my son, be quiet. Listen to him. And then imagine the audacity of Peter. It said he literally, when Jesus said that he was gonna die and then rise in three days, it said he took Jesus aside and had the boldness enough to say, God forbid that this should happen to you, Jesus.

Imagine you thinking you knew better than Jesus. But how many of us think we know better than God's plan for our life? God, I don't like this. This is not right, surely. And Jesus, what did he tell him? Imagine Jesus looking you in the eye like he did Peter and he said, get behind me, Satan. You think you're doing right at that moment? Not wanting Jesus to wash his feet, he's going around the beautiful moment that we all love where Jesus puts on the towel and he gets down and he's going around and he's serving and he's washing the disciples' feet. And what does Peter say? Peter says, no, you don't wash my feet, Lord. I'm supposed to be doing this for you. This is not right. And Jesus says, Peter, unless I wash you, you can't receive my kingdom. And then Peter, like most of us, he said, well, then wash my whole body, not just my feet, but every single part of me. How about in Jesus's moment of need, at the end, he takes him with him, he takes Peter with him to the garden. He says, watch and pray, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is what? Weak. Peter falls asleep. Imagine you fell asleep.

You're supposed to be praying and watching with Jesus and you fall asleep. What about when he gets so excited and wanting to defend Jesus that when they come to take him, he gets the sword and he cuts off the ear of the soldier? Jesus tell him, no, that's not the way. And then the last interaction that Jesus has with Peter before Jesus dies, is him denying him three times. And he told him, you're going to deny me. He said, no, I would never, never deny you. How many of us thought we would never get in that situation in our life? How many of us never thought I would never do that sin? I would never be caught up in that thing. That wouldn't happen to me in life because I'm protected. I know better, but then we mess up anyway. Our life happens to us. Here's the most powerful verse, I believe, and the most powerful statement that Jesus made to Peter and he's making to you and I today about how we can follow through. This is before he even told Peter that he would deny him in Luke 22, verse 32. Listen to these words, it's so powerful. It says, but I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. Did he say that your faith won't be tested? No, that's not what he said. He said, I'm praying for you.

Imagine Jesus saying that he's praying for you. That's so powerful for him to say, I'm praying for you so that your faith won't fail. So when you have repented and turn to me again. going to mess up church. We're all going to have life happen. If nobody's told you up until this point, I'm telling you today, you're going to mess up. Life is going to happen. How many of you can testify that I'm going to mess up and life is going to happen to me. But look at the last phrase that Jesus gave Peter. Does he say, then you'll understand my love or then you will be complete or then it will all be revealed to you. No, when you have repented and turn to me again, strengthen your brothers. Jesus had a call on Peter. He was turning Peter from focusing inward to focusing on other people. He knew he was going to be a leader. And he said, Peter, it's not about just me and you. It's about the others that you're going to have the opportunity to lead. So for the graduates today, for everybody in the house, you mess up. Jesus has prayed for you. You're not a failure. You're not disqualified. If all the things that Peter did wrong, Jesus still had a call for him and can still use him. He can still use you and he can still help you follow through. Amen. So in this last interaction, I want to read, this is in John 21 after Jesus rises from the dead. This is Jesus's, that was kind of Jesus's love in that, in that Luke 22. But this is Jesus's call to Peter in John 21. Anybody like the beach? Anybody like being at the beach? Oh yeah. Come on now. I see those hands. What about breakfast on the beach? What? I don't know if I've ever had breakfast on the beach. I don't know. That's different. But Jesus rises from the dead and he's cooking

breakfast. What a meal. Like I think we would all want to eat that, right? I think if Jesus is cooking us some breakfast, it would be good. But Peter is there with him. It says, after breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord, Peter replied. You know, I love you. Did he stop there? Did Jesus stop there? Checking to see if you love him? No. He says, then feed my lambs. Jesus repeated the question. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes, Lord. Peter said, you know, I love you. Then take care of my sheep. And like I've told you, teenagers need to be told at least three times and most of us humans gotta be told things at least three times. But here's what I believe. I believe Jesus did this three times to extinguish the three denials. I think Jesus used these three opportunities to go against those three times that he denied him. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said, feed my sheep. And I love this next part. We kind of stop a lot of times at that. But this next part I believe is so important talking about following through. He says, I tell you the truth. When you were young, you were able to do as you liked. You dressed yourself. You went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go. How many of us in the room can say life is different now than when I was young? Let me see those. Yup. Everybody. Everybody. You have all these thoughts, these ambitions, these desires when you're seventeen, eighteen years old and life is different. So, listen to what Jesus, why he said that to Peter. Jesus said

this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, follow me. No matter what turns and twists and things happen in your life, the most important thing, Peter, is that you follow me, that you follow through, that you trust it. And then Peter, like us, he wants to compare, right? He immediately in verse twenty, turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved which is John. John and Peter have a fun relationship. The one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, Lord, who will betray you? Peter asked Jesus and how many of us have done this in our lives? What about him, Lord? What about him? Their social media, everything is great. How come God is moving so well in their marriage? They're not the ones that show up and serve on Sundays. They don't know how much I give in tithes and offerings. God, why aren't you blessing my kids? Why are my kids acting a fool and then these other people, they don't follow you and their kids are doing great things. Look at what Jesus says to Peter. Jesus replied, if I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, Follow me It don't matter about anybody else Jesus is looking at you and I today just like when I say I coach basketball and he's saying hey Follow through Follow me Because potential is common Everybody in this room has potential every graduate in all of Blount County the hundreds of graduates. We had this year all have potential, right? Commitment is rare Especially in this day and age because the duty is ours and that should be our focus But the results belong to God if you stay committed to that follow-through that I'm going to finish it I'm gonna read your word. I'm gonna keep coming back even when it's hard

He'll bring the results we read earlier from Matthew 633 in that Jesus knew that Peter was like us. He would stumble in his old in his own ways How many of us have had bold intentions for God God, I'm gonna do this with you God I believe you called me to do this and you've called me to do that and then cancer comes in your family and then you have a financial struggle and Then you have questions You have people like in my life that said grant, you know what you're going into doesn't mean you're gonna make a lot of money right Divorce happening around you Crying in bed at night saying Jesus. We just love you We don't have a clue how to get through this situation, but we're just saying we love you and we trust you I'm telling you church. He is Faithful I've been through all those things that I mentioned I've been through in my family and my extended family been through bankruptcy divorce Cancer death questions people leaving the faith in Jesus Christ People hurting us not understanding things But I promise you You follow through you keep coming back The Holy Spirit will be with you just as he was with Peter. That was the difference once Peter got filled with the Holy Spirit He was able then to stand up and say listen to about Jesus Christ repent and be baptized And Imagine all the disciples saying you remember what Peter got called Satan by Jesus You remember back when that guy used to act like that back when that girl used to dress like that. Can you believe that? Jesus is using her now He can do it church. Come on. He can do it I Here's my challenge for us today Godly people do not bow to circumstance. I Don't care your circumstances do not bow to them We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers

But we have the Spirit of Jesus Christ living inside of us We don't understand that church. I think we forget and I'm guilty too It says the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives inside of you follow through Keep praying mama Don't you stop praying? Dad, you keep showing your son the ways of the Lord My dad used to walk. I told you last time I was up here My dad used to walk into the back of the woods on our property When nobody else was watching and he would pray over us and our family every morning Do you think those prayers did something? You think those prayers did something to a drummer that's now on stage playing for thousands to a youth pastor and to a daughter-in-law daughter-in-law's grandkids That are now seeing the Lord. It's worth it to follow through I promise it's worth it Everybody stand in the room, please. I Got a couple things I want to share before we have prayer time You know in basketball and I think I saw somebody in the In the sanctuary doing the basketball shooting for me I was talking about it and the McCoy girls can tell you in Basketball, there's an acronym a lot of us like acronyms It helps you remember a lot of things right because we're not real smart sometimes but in basketball There's an acronym called beef. Okay, and B is for balance E for eyes second E for your elbow and F for follow-through That's just something to help you remember. You've got to have all those things. But the last thing you finish with is following through So today I've got four things. This is a Christian follow-through challenge

Number one, no matter what season of life you're going through if you're a graduate if you're an adult doesn't matter Listen more than you talk Because what does John say in the book of Revelation? He that has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. Not just go out and do it, not just stand up and talk, not just serve the people, listen. As I was praying last night, I told Pastor Pacer and the deacons this morning, I felt the Holy Spirit say, this is a readiness word for an end time army. And I'd never heard that before in my prayer time when I was getting ready to speak. Somebody needs to hear today, as you're a part of the army of Jesus Christ, to be ready for what's happening, you need to listen. Number two, gather with those who walk it out. Like I said earlier, the number one reason that young people follow their faith through the next part of their life is because they had somebody older than them take them by the arm and say, this is the way we go. Because my daughter, if it was up to her, she would eat Skittles and Doritos all day, every day. Sometimes I got to have that tough love to say, no, we got to do this. Sometimes I couldn't understand why my dad took me to a men's conference when I was 12 years old in Charlotte, North Carolina. But I remember those moments and what happened at that conference. I didn't have a clue. I didn't really want to go. I was just told I'm going. Get together with people who are walking out their faith. Number three, remember what you are taught. Don't just hear what Pacer says or in your life group or whatever. Just listen to the radio. That's great. Remember it. Take notes.

Talk about it to other people. What did Moses tell the people of God in Deuteronomy, Pastor Don? Talk about it when you're walking on the road. Put it in front of your house. Remind your children daily. I've got 1,089 notes in my phone in the notes app. Most of it is because I remember what my wife tells me to do. If I don't write it down, it's going to get forgot. Remember what you're taught in the Lord. And lastly, number four, act like you have been bought. Because here's what I'm here to tell you, church. The greatest follow through in the history of the world didn't end looking like this. The greatest follow through in the history of the world ended looking like this. That's the greatest follow through. When Jesus said it is finished, in the Greek, it was tetelestai, meaning it was paid in full. The time was served. The debt was paid and the battle was won. He followed through for you and I so that we can step up like Peter and follow through and be leaders in this world. So today, I'm going to have the prayer team come up. Praise team is here. Please don't leave the house yet. Please stay here in this moment. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you that even through all of my failings, even through all of our failings, just like Peter, we might have had questions, we might have felt completely ashamed. There might be somebody in the room today that feels shame that you say to us, like you said to Peter, I have prayed for you that when you return and you repent to me and your faith does not fail, I'm going to give you an opportunity to lead.

So today, the altar call is twofold. If you say firstly, Pastor Grant, I just simply need to follow Jesus. I've been living my own way. I feel like Peter in that first moment. Away from me, Lord. I'm a sinner. I don't deserve. Church, I've literally had two people tell me this week they don't come up to altar call, number one, because they think about what their family's going to think about them. And the second person told me, I don't want to possibly interrupt what God's going to do for somebody else. No, church, Jesus is calling you to say, follow me. I'm not worried about everybody else. You follow me. So that's you today. You need to follow Jesus. We're going to ask you to come when they start playing. And secondly, if you say, Pastor Grant, I've been going through it, man. I've been going through it. In first service, we had a call for marriages that needed to be restored and follow through with their faith and follow through with their commitment till to death do us part. If you need to follow through with Jesus today, you've been, you gave your life to Jesus years ago, but you say, I need help to continue to follow through. The Holy Spirit is here for you, just like he filled Peter and changed his life. life so Lord we love you today this is all for you it's all about you and thank you that you use people like Peter sinful missing the mark wrong and you even called him he was acting like Satan one time but Jesus you knew you saw him and you called him to more and you're looking at each of us today and you say hey follow through in Jesus name you

as true from the way Your Spirit broken as my baby every piece I hear you call I am available I say yes, Lord I am available Here I am with open hands Counting on Your grace again Less of me and more of You I just wanna see You move I hear you call I am available I say yes, Lord I am available I hear you call I am available I say yes, Lord I am available By Your grace, Jesus we can walk in freedom Here I am You can have it all Here I am You can have it all Here I am You can have it all Here I am You can have it all

Here I am You can have it all Here I am You can have it all You can have it all Oh, everything my life can bring Gonna be enough for me, for you, Jesus For the one who gave me life Nothing is a sacrifice Oh, use me how you want to, God Have your throne within my heart I hear you, I hear you call I am available I say, yes Lord I am available I am yours, Lord I am yours, you are mine You are Jesus Holy Lord, I just thank you for who you are Lord, I just thank you for grace It is by your grace, Lord, that we can do all things We can walk in holiness We can walk in integrity And we can walk in obedience Because you have given us something that we can never earn It is undeserved And so we thank you, Lord, that you bless us with favor That you bless us with strength and wisdom And I thank you, Lord, that you are in this place today I pray we would continue to seek your face

We would continue to get in your word and follow your ways Because I believe the more that we pour ourselves out And the more that we surrender our lives in total freedom, Lord We can just walk in a freedom alongside you With the grace that just flows freely from you You want nothing to hold us back, nothing Your church, you want us to continue to move forward, Lord And so I pray that we would continue to build your kingdom That we would walk alongside you And trust that you know every step ahead And that you are for us And that as long as we're beside you, Lord There is nothing that will stop what you are going to complete We just thank you for that this morning We love you and bless your name Amen