Following God at a Crossroad [LIVE] - 06/07/2026

Grace Way is so good to see y'all! Happy Sunday! You all look absolutely amazing. That's right, that's right. Oh God, from whom all good proceeds, grant that by your inspiration, we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding, may do them through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness and kindness, and acts that you guide us today. We surrender to you, and we lift up your name as one voice. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Hello Grace Way, to all of you watching online, welcome. We are so glad that you joined us. We're going to declare that there is a new thing coming, so sing it out if you know it. There is revival, right here and now. There is a fresh wind, and I can hear the sound. Something truly wonderful is happening. There is a difference inside of me. It's more than a feeling, oh this is a prophecy. Something really powerful is happening. We're singing, darkness bow down to the day. Mountains get up out my way. Breaking out of yesterday. So tell this, tell this giant in my face. You're not greater than my faith. Best believe me when I say, I got a new thing coming. There's an anointing to destroy the yoke. So tell every stronghold, oh you've got to let me go. Something really powerful is happening. There is a freedom that I had never known. Oh out of the shadows, into the overflow. Something really powerful is happening. Oh it's happening, we're singing, darkness bow down to the day. Mountains get up out my way. Breaking out of yesterday. So tell this giant in my face. You're not greater than my faith. Best believe me when I say, I got a new thing coming. Do you hear the sound? Do you hear the sound? Oh I can see a cloud, it's heavy with rain. And it looks like revival, and it's headed our way. Oh I can see a cloud, it's heavy with rain. And it looks like salvation, and it's headed our way. Oh I can hear a sound, the abundance of rain. And it sounds like freedom, and it's headed our way. Oh I can hear a sound, the abundance of rain. And it sounds like freedom, and it's headed our way. Oh I can see a cloud, it's heavy with rain. And it looks like healing, and it's headed our way. Oh I can see a cloud, it's heavy with rain. And it looks like joy, and it's headed our way. It's headed our way, it's headed your way. It's coming, it's coming, it's coming, it's coming. It's coming, your joy, your healing, your breakthrough, it's coming, it's headed our way. Oh we're singing, darkness bow down to the day. Mountains get up out my way, breaking out of my way.

♪ I got a new thing coming, I got a new thing coming ♪ ♪ I got a new thing ♪ Now come on, put those hands together. Yeah! Come on, praise him. Yeah! Yeah! Come on! Thank you, Jesus. Come on, let's continue to worship King Jesus. Father, we ask that you would fill this place with your presence. More and more. More! Amen. Come on. More. Amen. We repent away With hearts like lamps that burn As light upon the earth We wait for his return Amen Come on. No fear of what to come Our hope's headed in the wine Who said that it is done? Amen Prepare the way The King is coming

King of glory, fill this place On praise, the King is coming The last, the first, the living word In glory shall return Oh, we prepare the way Jesus, we prepare the way Come on, with hands lifted all over the room Let's prepare the way for the King of glory to enter The trumpet soon shall sound He'll ride upon the clouds And every knee will bow Amen The honor and the fame Come on The glory, power, and praise Be unto Jesus' name Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Prepare the way The King is coming Will you be ready and bold On praise, the King is coming The last, the first, the living word In glory shall return We shall return The great I Am The Son of Man

The Lion and the Lamb The point of stone Will stand alone And God will lead us home We, we've led the way With our worship Jesus, we've prepared the way With hands lifted We surrender Jesus, we've prepared the way Come on, can you say that? Jesus, we've prepared the way We prepare our hearts Jesus, we've prepared the way We prepare our minds Jesus, we've prepared the way Oh, Jesus, Jesus, we've prepared the way Do you have five seconds of worship To prepare the way for our King who is coming soon To just celebrate what God has done in your life What God is doing around the world What God is doing right here in the church Praise God for that Man, welcome to church, Graceway It is good to see you guys If I haven't met you yet, I'm Pastor Jeremy I love getting to serve on our team here And when our service is over Would love to meet you in Guest Central As we get things wrapped up

So, looking forward to seeing you guys Hey, if you are new here to Graceway today In the seat back in front of you There's a QR code or one on the screen behind me Would love to have you hit that Just so we can begin to tell you What's going on in our church I just want to start by thanking you guys Over 340 of you yesterday Came out and served the community Come on, y'all give that up That was amazing Had an incredible opportunity to serve All over the city of Kansas City I even found like two animal carcasses Cleaning up this street up here Come on No worries when you walk on that sidewalk They're gone now, okay We took care of it But man, what an incredible job And thank you to Alex and her team For doing an amazing job Y'all give it up for Alex, yeah So, coming up this week Starting tomorrow morning We got Sky Kids Camp, y'all Yeah And it is not too late to get your kids Registered for that

You can do that at graceway.app It is really, really affordable 15 bucks per kid It's kind of a half-day camp for them The theme is Splash So hey, look, they're going to come home soaking wet It's going to be amazing For all involved And you can get them registered today You can do that on the app You can go to the Next Steps desk Or frankly, you can just show up tomorrow morning Between 8 and 9 And we're going to take good care of you And we're going to take good care of the kiddos For Sky Kids Camp It's an incredible opportunity for them To hear about Jesus The other thing coming up Next Sunday after church If you came in through the lobby You noticed a display set up by our Foster and Adoption Ministry And if you would like to get connected to that ministry Next week after our services On the 14th We will have kind of a vision layout Of what that ministry is And that is whether or not you or your family Or you would like to help other families that do Please stop by that table

And get some more information from our leadership team There It's an incredible ministry I'm going to invite our ushers to make their way down As they do I just want to remind us that when we give We're doing what Jesus tells us to do In Matthew chapter 6 At the Sermon on the Mount And that is to seek my kingdom first It's easy with our money to go I've got to take care of all these things But seek my kingdom first And all these things will be added to you So when you give Begin to think about that mindset What a joy it is to give What a joy it is to seek God's kingdom Through my finances Let's go to the Lord in prayer as we do that God we thank you For that you've called us to prepare the way That you've called us God To be lights in our communities Lights in our workplaces And in our schools So Father I thank you For that reminder this morning Of who you've called us to be And Lord as we worship you

Through song, through prayer And now through giving God would you just help us To see Lord That this is seeking your kingdom first That this is just us simply saying God these things aren't mine I wanna thank you for providing them for me. And Lord, as we give back to you, we say, Lord, bless this offering. We wanna see your future kingdom come right into the present. Thank you, God, that we can do things like we did yesterday in serving our community because of the generosity of this church and what a blessing it is to serve here. God, as we continue, Holy Spirit, I pray that you would speak to hearts, especially those of us that have walked in today a little hardened from the week. Maybe we've got some bad news we're wrestling with. Maybe there's some things coming up in our week that are a little scary. And so, Lord, today, we set those things aside and say, Holy Spirit, speak to us. Holy Spirit, I surrender all that I am to you and ask for you to move in my heart today and ask for you to speak encouragement over me. God, we believe today in the healing of marriages, today in the healing of bodies,

today in the healing of families that are broken. So, Lord, do an incredible work as we worship you. We wanna bring you the honor and the glory and it's in Jesus' name and all God's people said, amen. Let's continue to worship God this morning with our hands lifted high, with one voice. Come on, sing it out. ♪ Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine ♪ Come on. ♪ He's been my fourth man in the fire, time after time ♪ Come on. ♪ He's been my fourth man in the fire, time after time ♪ Come on. ♪ Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood ♪ ♪ And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough ♪ Come on, church, sing. ♪ I trust in God ♪ You sing it, come on. ♪ My Savior and my Lord forever and evermore ♪ ♪ I trust in God, my Savior and my Lord forever and evermore ♪ Come on. ♪ My Savior and my Lord forever and evermore ♪ Come on. ♪ Perfect submission, all is at rest ♪ ♪ I know the author of tomorrow is on my step ♪ ♪ The Lord of my steps ♪ ♪ So this is my story, this is my song ♪ ♪ I'm praising my risen King and Savior all the day, oh ♪ Come on, church, sing it out. ♪ I trust in God, my Savior and my Lord forever and evermore ♪

♪ He's the one who will never fail, He will never fail ♪ ♪ I trust in God, my Savior and my Lord forever and evermore ♪ ♪ He's the one who will never fail, He will never fail, oh ♪ Come on, put your trust in God this morning. Sing it out loud with one voice. Come on, church, I saw. ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He is, come on, sing. ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered. ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered. ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered. I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. That's why I love Him, that's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him. My Savior, the One who will never fail, He will never fail. That's why I love Him, that's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him. My Savior, the One who will never fail, He will never fail. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him. Come on sing! Come all over the room, hands lifted high, lift it up. You never failed, you never failed. Can you look at your neighbor and say, I trust in God. Come on look at your neighbor and tell Him. Come on testify.

Come on. Come on I want you to testify. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him. Come on sing it out. My Savior. Come on. Holy Father. Yes Lord. Give Him praise, give Him praise. Holy Father. Lord you hear the praises of your Savior. There are saints this morning. As a sweet sound to your ears, oh Lord. God, it is you who spoke and the world began. Lord, it is you that holds every one of your children in your hand, Lord. God, give everybody in this place a sense of peace, that you are in control, that you see what we cannot see, that you understand what we cannot understand, that the enemy has no authority over us, God, because you have set us free in Jesus Christ. And oh God, there are people saying, Lord, I need an answer. Lord, I need to hear. And let the Spirit speak peace to them, God. That just as the song says, if we seek the Lord,

he will answer. We need answers this morning, oh God. We need to hear your voice this morning. We need the comfort and peace that can come only from you. God, we need you to take our eyes off the landscape of anxiety and frustration and being lost and confused, Lord, and anchor us to the one who is unshakable, to the one who rescued us from the powers of darkness, to the one who will come back again in all glory and power, to the one that keeps us. Anchor us to Jesus this morning so that we would hear his Spirit, your beautiful and precious Holy Spirit. Father, that we would leave this place in peace, knowing that as we seek you, surely you shall answer. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen and amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, welcome everybody. It is so good to see you. Make sure you greet your neighbor before you have a seat. Say hello to somebody. Is it good to be in the house of the Lord? Yes. To come together with your brothers and sisters. How amazing is it that every Sunday we can come into this place as family?

Amen. Speaking of family, we want to welcome our brothers at Crossroads and Ozarks who are our family in Christ. My brothers at Crossroads, I'll be with you tonight. I can't wait to get there. If you look at your life, or I look at my life, we can almost break down life into a series of crossroads. We have to make decisions. Sometimes those decisions are very difficult. Before Christ, I don't know about you, but I made decisions at a crossroad without consideration for God, because we don't know him. But then we come to Jesus Christ and faith in him, and we begin to understand that we have to make decisions in our lives in obedience to God. So when we come to that same crossroads, the posture of our heart should be not my will, God, but yours. Which way do you want me to go? And we also realize that when we are not obedient, there's consequences for our disobedience. While God's love and grace never abandons us, when we make decisions that don't line up with obedience, there's often consequences in our lives, in the lives of others. In fact, we have certain crossroads in our life, whether we're deciding to go left or right, will have huge implications in our life, even ones of life and death.

As a new police officer, I ended up in a crossroad, not knowing which direction to go. And the direction I needed to go or not go was literally a matter of my life or my death. I had about a year on the police department, and I was working night shift, and I got in the car with my partner who had about 10 years on. And just a couple minutes before, we had heard two officers, because it's night shift and they would send two officers to every call for safety, sent to a barking dog neighbor complaint. Usually a call that's handled very easily, not too dangerous. But within a couple of minutes of arriving on scene, another rookie officer who was a brother of mine begins to call out, officer down. His partner had been shot and was calling. calling for help, the distress in his voice was so clear. And so my partner who has 10 years on says, looks at me and says, hold on. And we go flying across the city at over 100 miles an hour to get to aid our brothers that are in dire need. And we walk up to the scene. And I still remember seeing the officer that was down. He had been shot in the chest with a shotgun. And this was in the late 90s, and he was an old-timer, and some of the old-timers just wouldn't wear their vests. He didn't wear his vest. So he was an absolute mess.

And I looked at the guy that we had been on around the same amount of time, and he's rendering aid to his partner who looks like he's not going to make it. This is a serious problem. And he tells us that all day they walked up on scene and started to walk to the back to find the barking dog and connect with the neighbors. And a man came out from around the side of the house and just shot him in the chest with a shotgun. And then shot it, my friend, but missed. And then he took off into the wooded area. Well, my partner who had about 10 years on was experienced, because although I had seen quite a bit in the year that I had been on the police department, that was my first time seeing an officer shot. And he tells the rookie officer, continue to render aid, and the ambulance is coming. And he tells me, let's go, we've got to get this guy. Well, behind the house was a wooded area, and we knew where we were because we know the city. Behind the wooded area is an apartment complex, densely populated, and in fact, it was a low-income housing complex, multiple like 10-unit buildings just went on and on and on after the wooded area. And it was about 1030 at night, and it was the summer, so there were kids out there. There were children out there. There were people everywhere still on a summer night. And so, we take off through the backyards with our flashlights and our guns, and we only get a few feet before boom. And that's when I realized, you don't want to turn your flashlight on when you're pursuing a gunman in the dark. So I turned that off, and my partner turned that off. And we continue to press forward, and we get to a fence. And by now, the officers have showed up because we're calling for aid and calling it out the best we can.

So now we're like a five-man team, and we go over this privacy fence, and when we get to the top of it to go over the fence, boom, fires at us again. Another learning moment. Don't climb over a fence when you're chasing an armed gunman in the woods. So we break through the fence, and we're moving forward. And what we understand is this guy's serious. He's already shot one officer. He shot at us twice. And he's working his way towards an apartment complex full of women, children, and families. And we've got to do something. We've got to stop him. So we're moving forward in our team, and at this point, a sergeant showed up who had 30 years on, veteran guy, had seen it all. And so he's leading the team. And picture the wood line here, because now we're in the complex. This is the wooded area, and just buildings going down the wooded area, and then buildings all throughout. And we're yelling for people to get in their houses and all that. And we're at the point where either we need to press forward down the wood line to find this guy, because we're not sure where he's at, or we need to pivot into the complex. Both of them have consequences. And I'm overwhelmed at this point. I'm sitting there, and I can still remember my heart pounding, hearing my breath labored, and the feelings of anxiety, fear, anger, duty, all those things, just a mess of emotions. And I'm ready to press down the wood line, and there was another officer ready to do it. And the sergeant said, let's pause, wait. Don't move yet. And while I was listening to all the wrong things, he listened into the wood line, and he thought he heard something.

So he said, don't move. So there we are on the side of the building. It's a 10-unit complex, so maybe 50 yards long. We didn't know there were two officers on the other side of the building. So we pause. And out from the woods in that pause of maybe 30 seconds comes the man with the shotgun after those two officers. Had we pressed like I thought we should, we would have walked in front of him with his shotgun pointed at us, and we wouldn't have seen him. Could have cost me my life, the life of another. There's consequences to this decision, and I thank God for that sergeant who had the wisdom to pause and to listen in the right place. Our text today, if you have your... Bibles, Acts 15, 36 through 16, 10. And we're going to see that these men of God have a couple options. They can pivot, and they can press. And how do they know whether they should pivot or press? You're probably here today facing a crossroad that has serious implications, and you don't know if you should pivot or you should press forward. And the scary part about that is, is because we're sinners, we're probably more likely to pivot when we should press, and press when we should pivot. So what do we need to do? We have to pause, and we have to listen. So we're not passive in that pause. And when you look at this text, and if you're taking notes, and you said, what's the big idea of this sermon, what's the name of the sermon, here it is. Only dead men can follow Jesus at a crossroad. I'm going to say it again. Only dead men can follow Jesus at a crossroad. And I'm sure there's people here right now at a crossroad going, do I pivot, or do I

press? Well, as we look at this text that's ultimately the Holy Spirit guiding them, we know that from Acts, I want you to look at the characters, because they are men sold out for Christ, but what they are doing is, is they're trying to respond in obedience to God. And there's really only two options. When we look at Mark, he pivots. So as we look at Mark in this text, I want you to see how Mark pivots in obedience. And then the other option is to press. When we look at Timothy, he presses in. And then we're stuck with the dilemma, well how do I know whether to pivot or to press? And to see how we know whether to pivot or press, we'll look at Paul and how Paul pauses. And in that pause, we'll find whether we should press or pivot. Before I read the text, let me pray one more time. Father, people here need answers. They want to walk in obedience, Lord, and it's so easy, God, to be confused, to be anxious, to be fearful, Lord. For we know that when we're at a crossroads, we have to walk in obedience to You. And Lord, I thank You just as the song says, if we seek You, You shall answer. So Lord, I pray that You would answer people this morning as they're at a crossroad. What job to take? Should they get married? Where should they move? All these questions that are so hard to discern when we just look at the landscape, God. But I thank You that You will teach us as You were teaching me, Lord, how to pause, how to hear You and trust fully that You answer and have a sense of peace in the waiting to know how to respond in obedience to You. Amen. All right, so as I read the text today, I have something special planned. Usually I read from the ESV, but today I'm going to read from the DSV, Dan's Sensationalized Version.

So bear with me. So Paul goes, hey guys, let's revisit the places we've ministered to to strengthen the churches. Great plan, right? Of course, Paul says. I've already rented a van, and I've got the cities mapped out on Google, Apple Maps. So I know exactly where we're going and what we're going to do when we get there. All we need is a good team to get in the van and go with me. And Barnabas is like, I'm down. Silas is like, I'm down, Paul. In fact, let's take John Mark, because Barnabas, the son of encouragement, is like, we can overlook kind of that little thing he did, because I'll get him around me, and I'll encourage him, and we'll strengthen him in the ministry, and he's going to come powerful, and God's going to use him. And Paul's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, man. He failed us, and I can't take somebody that's going to fail us again. And he's like, Barnabas, you're just too much of an encourager. And Barnabas is like, Paul, you're just still like a Pharisee, man. Where's the grace? And Paul's like, Silas, what do you think? I'm out, man. I'm in the van. I don't even want to talk about it. And there's a sharp disagreement. And John Mark leaves with Barnabas, and they pivot. And then Paul comes to Derby and Lystra, and he's like, OK, got to replace John Mark. Look at this, my boy Timothy, God sent me a man that I can sow into. He provided. And Timothy's like, I'm down, Paul. What are we going to do?

Well, there's just a small issue, Timothy. There's going to be a lot of Jews there, and they just don't get the gospel of grace. We'll get them there, don't worry. But in the meantime, if you're not circumcised, you're not going to get the gospel of grace. they're just not even going to listen to you. So even though, you know, I said, you're saved by faith alone and never would we add anything to it. So you don't need to be circumcised to be saved. But Timothy, if you're not circumcised, you'll impede the ministry. Man. Okay, Paul, I'll press. It's going to be painful, literally, but I'll do it. Awesome. And then Paul's like, okay, I got my team. And John Mark's like, I pivoted and God used me to write a gospel. So I'm not worried about Paul anymore. God bless him. I love him. But now here we are, me and Timothy. And Paul goes, tries to go through one door, slam. Tries to go through another door, slam. God, what do you want me to do? You need to pause, Paul. So at night, Paul pauses. Okay. And he gets a dream

because he's saying, God, show me the way. And God shows him where to go. So let's look at Mark first because you're in a situation, you're in a crossroad. Do I pivot? Do I press? Well, one option is pivot. And we see Mark, he pivots. Can you imagine the frustration? Like Mark wants to go. He sold out for Christ. Paul won't let him go. Maybe feelings of rejection, feelings of failure, maybe even anger towards Paul. Yet the door is closed. And what does John Mark do? He pivots in obedience. And as I noted, God uses him in a powerful way. It was the right move to pivot. Even though it was frustrating, even though it was hard. Okay, I gotta pivot. I'll pivot, Lord. I'm following you. And you might be here today. And you're in that situation where, oh, I'm pressing. And God's saying, pivot. I'm pressing, but I need you to pivot. Maybe it's in your career. You're pressing forward. And God's like, I have something different for you.

I want you to pivot. Maybe he wants you to seek education. Maybe it's a long road to pivot. You might be here and you go, I love the single life. And I have this godly girl, but I'm just not ready to be married. I'm pressing into the single life. And God's like, no, no, it's time to pivot. It's time to step up. Maybe you're here and you're like, I'm doing this job, but I keep feeling God's calling me to the ministry. Maybe it's time to pivot for you. Maybe it's not a move in the external, but a move in the heart. God's calling you to stop pressing into your unforgiveness and pivot into the freedom of forgiveness. But see, there's sometimes a problem. We press because I don't feel like pivoting. I want to press into my frustration and my anger and my unforgiveness. I don't feel like pivoting. I can remember about 10 years into my Christian walk, not that I had a perfect walk, so don't think I'm saying that, but I had never purposely said, God, you're showing to me this and I'm not doing it. Although I fell many, many times and struggled with sin and still do. I never had said, God, you've made this clear to me and I'm just not doing it.

Because I understood how dangerous that is. But out of nowhere, someone hurt me in a way that I never thought I'd have to deal with. And I had forgiven people before and it necessarily wasn't a hard issue, but this struck me so deep and I was so angry and I knew God said, you have to forgive. And I said, no. And when I postured my heart towards Lord for the first time to say no, for the first time in 10 years, I couldn't feel him anymore. I couldn't hear him like I used to anymore. And I started to fear what would happen if I stayed like this. Thoughts that had been dead for so long in me started to rise up and I remembered that awful man that Christ had put to death because I was standing in my disobedience, refusing to pivot and instead pressing into it. And to be quite honest with you, I was terrified of that posture. If you're here today and you're doing something like that, you too should be terrified to defy a holy God who loves you, but is your Lord. And so God, I said, I'm in a bad, bad place. I need you to give me the feeling to go forgive. So, this is what I decided to do, and I'm not saying this is a good idea, but this is what I did. I went to the gym, and I said, I'm going to run on this treadmill until I feel like forgiving this person.

And I ran, and I ran, and I ran, and this is not an exaggeration. I looked like I jumped in a pool. I was soaking wet. And I said, God, give me the feeling to forgive. And I felt him say, no, you forgive. And then I realized I had to do it. And so, I got off the treadmill, and I walked into, because I'm cheap, I went to a low-level gym so the bathroom was filthy. And I get my face on the floor of that dirty bathroom floor, and I said, God, give me the strength to do what I don't feel like doing. Because that's what you're calling me to do. And I got up off that floor, and I said, I'm going to go home and get cleaned up. And I felt the Spirit say, no, go now like this. So I show up to that person looking ridiculous like I jumped in a pool, smelling like I jumped in something far worse. And I said, I'm so sorry that I didn't forgive you. I forgive you. And the feelings washed over me after I did it. Some of you are waiting for a feeling to pivot, and God's just saying, my word makes it clear. Just do it. And if you say, no, no, that sounds like legalism. Oh, no, no. It was God's grace that enabled me to get off that floor. It was God's grace that enabled me to walk in and say it. It was God's grace that flooded my emotions once I was obedient. So sometimes we have to pivot. Other times we need to press, and we see that in Timothy. Can you imagine, Paul, like Timothy, we're going to have to circumcise you. Say what? I've got a good reputation.

I've done well. You don't need to do this, Paul. This is crazy. It's the Jews got the problem, not me. It's going to be painful. It seems like too much. It seems like it's unfair. But Timothy, if you would sacrifice and you would press, God would meet you there. It's calling some of us to press, but it looks painful, and it looks like a sacrifice, because it is. Some of us come to the faith and we said everything's hunky-dory now that I'm in Christ, and all the senior saints go, wait, my friend, wait. But you thought that you wouldn't have to press, that it wouldn't be hard, but it is. And some of you, I need to speak to the men right now, just for a moment, ladies. For some of us have failed to press and learn discipline. And it's become a pattern in our life. It gets hard and we fall back. It's difficult to get up every morning and seek you, Lord, so I fall back to YouTube and social media. I won't press. It's difficult to be a godly husband so I'll stay home and make my wife drag me to church. It's difficult to get up every day and labor for my family so I'll quit another job. It's difficult, Lord, to be a man. Yeah, that's right. It's hard, God, and I've never learned discipline so I keep falling back. And there's such serious consequences for that. My girlfriend, my wife, is working full-time and getting a master's degree, and I'm an expert at YouTube, social media, and video games. I love you when I say this, but let me tell you what Paul said, stand firm in the faith. Be strong, act like men.

As men, we press. God made us that way. And if you wonder why you're anxious and you're depressed, it's because you're not walking in what God's made you to be. But that's hard. Yes, it's hard, but it's God's grace that strengthens us. As we press, He'll meet you there. But you can't build habits of falling back every time it gets hard. I want to talk to one more group. I wish that the church divorce rate was different than the world's, but it isn't, because marriage is hard. And let me, let me tell you where I was at. I'd love to say, man, I got saved at five, went to a private Christian school, I've been walking on water since I was seven. I've never been in that sinful life, but I'd have to just lie to your face. The reality is I was quite the wretched man. And I came from a background of brokenness. And I added to that brokenness with my own stupidity. And I walked in that. And my wife came from brokenness. And we got married, and there were two broken people who didn't have a clue of what it was to have a godly marriage. And so then we're saved. And it's like, yeah, but we're still a mess. And I wasn't a good husband, and we fought all the time. We could argue about anything, and we did. And I said, I'm quite miserable. My wife, I'm sure, said, I'm really quite miserable because of this fool. But we realized that that's not what God had called us to. And so we came together, and we said, we know we love each other.

And I know God has said that we're one flesh, so to walk away from you and pivot when He's telling me to press should be like hacking off my own arm. And so how about we come up with this conclusion of pressing? There's no plan B. And I go to the pastor, and I say, teach me to be a godly man, because I don't know how. You can go to D1 and find a mentor and say, teach me to be a godly man, because I don't know how. And then we went to counseling, and then we began to read books on how to be better at our marriage. And I was pressing in, and God began to change me and to change her. And then I realized, this is the most wonderful thing God's ever given us, this marriage. And 32 years later, I can sit in a chair with my wife in silence and just hold her hand, and there's no place I would rather be. Not a testimony of me, but of pressing in into God's grace for your marriage. If you're here today and you're like, I want to pivot, I'm miserable, I understand. Trust me. But do not rob yourself of the gift that God wants to give you through your marriage. If you would just press in, use the resources in this church, EQ, D1, Bible small groups, get counseling. Press forward, don't pivot. So here we are. I guarantee we're at crossroads. Do I pivot, or do I press? And the problem is, I want to press when it's time to pivot, and pivot when it's time to press. What do I do, God? How do I know if I should pivot or press? Because there's serious consequences if I don't. We pause. For that, we look at Paul.

So Paul, the text says, it was in the night. After Paul tries to press into a couple different directions and God goes, door slammed, door slammed, door slammed, Paul's like, let me pause. Let me listen. He sought the Lord, and the Lord answered. And he gives Paul a dream and shows him clearly what to do. Paul, should you pivot or press? Let me show you exactly. Now I know God speaks in dreams, and that's wonderful. But the problem with the dream today is, my dream could be God, a pepperoni pizza, my own sinful desires. But I know where God speaks so clearly. He speaks clearly in His Word. So how do we stop and listen? More importantly, why should we stop and listen? And the greatest example I can think of in the Bible is David. We know that David was a man after God. God's own heart. And we read the story of David. If you look at his heart, here's how I would describe it. This is the posture of David's heart. God, David. God glorified, David humbled. And from that heart posture, he says things like, who am I and what is my house? He steps up when soldiers won't be like, God, David, but Goliath, who is this uncircumcised Philistine? I'll step up with the power of God. He walks into a crossroad. Do I kill Saul or let him go?

God, David, who am I? And he makes the right decision in obedience. So how do we get to here? Because as much as I love the story of David, at one point it went, God, David. God's love never left David. God's grace never left David. But some serious consequences happened. Because he said, should I go to war, David, God? Nope, I'll stay home. Whereas if it would have been, God, David, should I go to war? Off I go. David, God, I'll stay home. Let me walk out on the rooftop. Who is that? That's Bathsheba, David, God, I'll bring her in. And it sets off a cataclysmic event of suffering and consequences. Because we're at a crossroad and we're not obedience. Don't mistake grace as consequences not coming. And I want you to hear David's voice. In 2 Samuel 18, 33, his infant dies. The kingdom's a mess. His son Absalom does horrific, horrible things in public before everybody. Rebels against his father in God. And then David and his army are forced to kill him. Listen to David's words as he laments what takes place at the death of his son Absalom.

And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, oh my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, don't miss this. Would I had died instead of you? Oh Absalom, my son, my son. David laments the death of Absalom, his son, because he didn't put himself to death daily. And instead of God, David, David God showed up. And David knew as he looked at the death of his son, although Absalom was responsible for his actions, he knew this is my fault. These are the consequences of my sin. Our sin doesn't stay stationary. It ripples into the lives of other people. Will you die today or will you lament the consequences of the death of another? See, we will lament and grieve the consequences of our decisions if we do not die to ourselves. For only dead men can follow Jesus. It's your choice. Surrender and put yourself to death, your selfishness, your desires, your anxiety, your fear, your greed, your desire to exalt yourself, or we find ourselves in circumstances where we will grieve would I have died instead of you. So how do we die? I need to show up at a crossroad, not like David, David God, but God me. We dig into the word daily.

We die to ourselves through the word of God. Why? Because here's what the scriptures will say to you over and over and over again. If you would get up and read them and press into them, it would tell you my life is not about me, but the glory of God. Boom. My life and joy can be found only in the lordship of Christ, God, me. I'm called to be a slave of Jesus Christ, me, God. I'm called to be a servant of people. I'm called to forgive. I'm a sinner incapable of living this way, and I need your grace. I'm completely dependent upon you. I need the Spirit to change me daily. I need to live in repentance continually. The Word of God reminds us that my life and purpose are not His, are His. My life and purpose are His, not mine, and you and I are here to glorify Him through a life of obedience. Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path when God is glorified and the man is put to death, and the path is so clear at a crossroad. But if I step in with Dan being glorified and God, then I go my own way, and the consequences come. Paul understood the scale. Here's a familiar scripture that we've heard so many times, but we kind of don't read it in context. It comes in the context of tension in the church and difficulty and how to walk faithfully in that tension. Listen to what Paul says in Philippians 4.4, rejoice in the Lord always.

But I have a hard decision and I'm at a crossroad, rejoice. But it's difficult and I'm worried and I'm anxious, again I say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone because the Lord's at hand. Be low, be comforted. Do not be anxious about anything because God is on the throne. And instead, go to Him in prayer and thanksgiving and supplication. It takes a humble man and woman to come to God. Come to Him. Lord, I need direction. I sought the Lord and He answered because I trust Him. If you trust Him, you spend time with Him. And what happens? In the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, pivot, press. Will guard your heart and your mind in Christ. We should not be anxious about decisions if we're seeking God because you will step into that crossroad, God, me, with the mind of Christ, in the heart of Christ, and then I know whether to pivot or to press. There's comfort and assurance when we seek Him because He will answer. There's danger if we show up Lord of our lives. We like to quote, and I love to quote, He will give you the desires of your heart. It's so true. If you look at the first part of the verse, delight in the Lord. Wake up and seek Him. Read the word hungry for transformation. Pray hungry for transformation. Pray hungry for direction. Delight in Him. And then there's no anxiety because He's going to shape you into exactly what you should be to know when you should press or when you should pivot. And you can walk in perfect obedience and faith in Him because He'll guide you.

There's many of you facing crossroads today, and I want to do two things. I want you to fear walking in disobedience, but more importantly, I want you to have peace and joy and no anxiety when you realize that if you seek God daily, He'll give you clarity in everything. Should I pivot? Should I press? Should I take the job? Should I what? He'll show you if you give Him your heart, and you can rest in that. I know there's people here at a crossroad, and they need an answer, and I just want to pray in the church if we'd bow our heads to pray for those that are at that crossroad and asking God, trusting Him, seeking Him so that He would answer, let me pray. Father, You have every one of Your children in Your hands, and we can never walk perfectly, but when we seek You every day, You shape our hearts in such a way that You protect us. You take away all anxiety. You show us the road. Father, we repent of making ourselves the Lord of our lives, and we ask. God, that you would to everybody in this room asking for direction, should I pivot? Should I press that they would pause and seek you? And in that pause, your peace that surpasses all understanding would flood their hearts and their minds. And they could wait patiently knowing that their loving father who is full of grace and mercy will answer them. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen.