Greater & Greater | Rodrigo Vargas

What's good, Houston, Texas? Let me hear you out there. Yes, sir. Welcome to week two of greater. If you're here for the first time, I need you to know something that you aren't here by accident. You aren't here just as a visitor. You're an answered prayer. As a matter of fact, this very morning we prayed for your entrance. So we're glad you're here. We want you to know that Union Houston exists to connect people to God with the life given message of the gospel of Jesus. And that gospel says that it doesn't matter what your past looks like. It doesn't matter what your present struggles may be or what your doubts may be. Jesus loves you right where you are. And he also loves you too much to leave you where you are. And I believe today he's going to speak a word over your life. Amen. As always, this includes, this promise includes every person that's incarcerated and watching through the Pando app. Can you, we welcome our brothers and sisters at the Union prison campus. We love you. You may be out of sight, never out of our hearts. And we can't wait for the day that you walk in through those doors. Every January, we walk into this room with vision. Every January, every year, every new year, we walk into this room with a vision for a greater year than we had the year before. Are you with me? Who else? Just me? Come on now. Greater money, greater career, greater physique, but you can't have a greater life while maintaining a lesser soul. This series is it is an encouragement. It's an invitation. I'm inviting you not to live greater by the world's standards, but by becoming better according to God's standards, fully surrendered, obedient and formed in Christ likeness. That's what we're talking about. And today I want to introduce you to the person who shapes today's message for us. One of the greatest prophets of all in all of scripture. How many of you do you know who that is? Who's the greatest prophet in all of scripture? What Elijah, all the prophets are always going to quote the old Testament prophets. They're always going to do that. John the Baptist is the greatest prophet in all of scripture. He was the voice crying out in the wilderness. This is fascinating because this was prophesied in great detail by another prophet that John would prepare the way Isaiah said in chapter 40 verse three, a voice, a voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the desert, a highway for our God. He was preparing a way he was a voice in the way he wasn't. John wasn't pointing at himself. He, John wasn't promoting himself. He was preaching. What was he preaching? Behold, here comes the lamb of God. And what's fascinating is that John and John, uh, chapter one, verse 37,

it says that his own disciples didn't stay with him. They went and followed Jesus. John understood something. Most people struggle with his purpose was never to build his own platform. He lived a life to point people to Jesus. And that's exactly what we should be doing. And if we're not doing that, we're missing the mark. Some sermons are full of revelation and wow. Oh my God. Right. And some sermons are just straightforward. This is going to be one of them. It's straightforward in this message. We will look at what is right in front of us, but often overlook today. John will encourage us to live greater and greater after baptizing Jesus in fulfillment of scripture, his disciples began to follow Jesus and they went away, but they come back sometime later to inform John that Jesus was in fact, baptizing. Hey bro, his church is bigger than yours. That's what it was like. You know, he's baptizing more people. Hey, more people are coming to him than people were. And by the way, John had a lot of people coming to him and at the river Jordan, but he, here he is being challenged. saying hey g's got more than you and in john's response is where we'll spend our time today because i love it how he responds to when his pride is provoked john chapter three beginning at verse 27 and would you stand for with me for the reading of the word of god to this provoking john says no one can receive anything unless god gives it from heaven you yourselves know how plainly i told you i am not the messiah i am only here to prepare the way for him it is the bridegroom who marries the bride and the bridegroom's friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows i love that therefore i am filled with joy at his success he must become greater and greater and i must become less and less he has come from above and is greater than anyone else we are of the earth and we speak of earthly things but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else he testifies about what he has seen and heard but how few believe what he tells them anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that god is true for he is sent by god he speaks god's words for god gives him the spirit without limit the father loves his son and has put everything into his hands and anyone who believes in god's son has eternal life anyone who doesn't obey the son will never experience eternal life but will remain under god's angry judgment let's pray father god we thank you for these words and we thank you for the life of john the baptist of humility meekness obedience and surrender lord let let his life be an example for us today for us to receive the impartation from heaven

so that we may walk out of here living a greater and greater life in the kingdom of god lord jesus holy spirit be with us open our eyes to see our ears to hear and our hearts soften so that the seed of the gospel may be deposited and may flourish to greater place with greater fruit this year holy spirit help me deliver this message that you have imparted into me as i do the very best to honor your mighty name and i pray this in jesus name and the people of god gave me a big old loud man i love that while you may be seated john the baptist makes one of the most powerful discipleship statements in all of scripture he must become greater and greater and i must become less and less in other words jesus must increase and i got to decrease i got to take a back seat now this isn't false humility this isn't self-hatred or self-deprecation this is the call of true discipleship this is the goal the goal of every disciple isn't self-promotion self-expression or self-fulfillment it isn't for you to go around bragging about how many books on discipleship you've read it's about you showing how much discipleship you're imparting into your life it's not about how you speak christianese or church and ease but how you are the church no matter where you are the goal of a disciple is christ exaltation even if it hurts us hear me out you got to hear my heart on this one even if it hurts you even if you lose family even if you lose friends even if you lose your job and today you'll see even if you lose your life christ must be exalted exalted i can't give you this truth without it being unfiltered and true to what it says jesus becoming greater and greater i'm becoming lesser and lesser and this is a lifelong journey called discipleship the question we're gonna all have to answer a question we gotta ask and answer with humility and honesty is does my life point to jesus Or does that only point to Jesus when I am in church, when I'm at Tuesday night prayer, when I'm at my connect group, or when I'm at my fellow sites? Does your life point to Jesus when you're in the bar, at the gas station, at the coffee shop, at work with all them heathens? I am fully convinced and deeply persuaded that as long as Jesus becomes greater and greater and I become lesser and lesser, everything connected to my life becomes greater. That's why this message is called greater. If I become lesser and lesser, I'm actually becoming greater and greater. Listen, if Christ becomes greater and greater in my life, my family becomes better.

My relationships become better. I'm going to tell you this. If you have relationship issues, there's some things you've got to address, but I'm going to give you the simple answer. Jesus is not the greatest in your life. A little pin drop. My calling becomes greater, becomes clear. Our church becomes greater. When Jesus is magnified, we are sanctified. God forbid we use a word like sanctified. We need to be sanctified. Let me be clear. This does not mean denying your personality, okay? Or pretending to be someone else. That's fake. I don't do fake. Most people won't receive from fake. You get what you get. However, having said that, and in conjunction to, much of who we think we are has been shaped by culture, has been shaped by the wounds that other people gave us, has been influenced by the world. The more you scroll, right? The more you read, the more you listen to them politicians flapping their lips, the more you begin to believe a lie, even when truth is presented in front of you. Most of our lives have been shaped by broken systems around us. Yet according to Jeremiah 1.5 and Psalms 139, the only one who truly knows you is the one who created you. Truth rooted in the word of God, by the way. So when Jesus becomes greater and the world system in me or the world's version of me becomes less, life doesn't shrink, my life gets greater.

We must remember that we are predominantly spiritual beings, made, created and formed in the likeness of God and in the image of God, according to Genesis 1.26. Are you with me? And the spirit will live on forever while the earthly will pass away. This is why I'm telling you the eternal is greater than the earthly. I'm working so hard to get that bigger house and my family is falling apart. I'm working overtime to make more money and I haven't had a date night with my wife. I've got a promotion and I'm doing all these things and I got no time for my kids. And don't get me started on you work too much and you don't have time for your connect group to learn more about Jesus and becoming greater and greater. This is crucial for us to understand your spirit is eternal. And so much of what you think, what you feel, reason, imagine and foresee comes from the spirit. Watch, I'm taking you somewhere in the Old Testament. Okay. The Hebrew word for heart is live it to them. It's not just an organ. It's a concept of the place where a person thinks, feels, reasons, imagines, creates and makes decisions. The spirit of God is what moves the heart. Okay. So but here's the problem is if you're being only shaped by the word, by the world and not the word of God, the world will move your heart and the world is not going to move your heart towards the kingdom of God and the holy things. Now David knew this. David is known as a man after God's own heart. There's a reason for that. He knew that lab was important to God. He wanted to have a live like God's live to decide like that, to think like that, to feel like God.

And because he understood that he lived a greater life. This is why this is why the gospel is not just important. It's urgent without faith in Jesus. Your spirit will live on in eternity. Let me get this straight. Let me understand. Let me get you to understand the word of God. When you don't believe in Jesus, you don't die. And the lights are out. Your spirit will continue to live on just away from the presence of God. And you know what that's called? Hell. That's what it's called. Hell. No, Jesus. I was a good person. He fed the poor. He saved human trafficking. He saved the whales. Did he know Jesus? Did he live for Jesus? Did he proclaim Jesus? Because if he didn't, he's away from the presence of God. I am the door. I am the gate. No one comes to me, to my father, except through me. This is the word of God. This is why it's urgent. This is why I preach. This is why I disciple. This is why I live my life for to building God's people and the church of God. This is why now we must live with an eternal perspective. I've come to that terms a long time ago, but I also have to accept that I live in an earthly reality. Okay. Live with an eternal perspective in earthly reality. We must understand that the eternal is greater. And all of this is what I'm trying to say. John the Baptist understood something we often forget. Humans approve. Heaven's approval matters more than earth's approval. Okay. It's easy to get caught up in doing your ideas, your planes, right? Some of you, there are many of you that say, Oh, I've received a vision because you want to do your idea, your plans in the name of Jesus,

but not actually doing it for the glory of Jesus. Just because you sprinkle some verses on there, just because you name it something Christian ease or a Bible verse, or you put alpha and Omega doesn't mean that you're doing it for the glory of Jesus. Can I tell you what the glory of Jesus is to make disciples of all people, of all people, baptize them and teach them to obey everything I've taught you. That's the mission. That's the glory. Sometimes we do it to be seen though. And we put the name of Jesus on there. You know how many MLM companies exist that say they're Christian. Listen, I've been around, Oh, they're a Christian company. We do it for Christ and they read Bible studies and they do all that, but they're not doing it for the glory. They doing it for the glory of their own pocketbooks. You feel me? You're doing it to be seen, to be recognized for fame, for money. And sometimes they do it for church, like the church building, the church brand, the church name, the church pastor. Some, some cultures are like, they do everything for the church pastor. All of that is temporary. The word of God is clear here. James one, verse 12, blessed is the one who endures. He will receive the crown of life. Paul tells us in Colossians chapter three, verses 23 and 24, whatever you do, do as unto the Lord and you will receive an inheritance. Revelations chapter two, verse 10, be faithful and you will, you, and I will give you the crown of life. Here's what I'm trying to tell you. The eternal outlasts the temporary. The kingdom of God outlives every culture. If you chase earthly greatness, it will inevitably disappoint you.

But if you seek eternal greatness, it'll anchor you. You don't look back at Jesus says, if you seek the kingdom of God first, a great life will be added onto you first. That means priority. It comes first living for eternity shifts our priorities. What was important becomes insignificant. What used to feel urgent becomes useless. Worry what problems may, you may have become the praise in your worship. What everything begins to change. This is why we do 21 days of prayer because I want these things to happen in your life. We do prayer and fasting because twice a year as an intention, Don't weigh as a whole church as the body of Christ. We try to draw closer to God together during this season. We deprive our flesh of things. We like food, entertainment, right? Unnecessary spending, eating out coffee and the things that we naturally enjoy so that our spirit becomes more sensitive to the presence of God. When we quiet the flesh, the Holy Spirit becomes louder, clear and becomes primary. We're reminded we aren't meant to live an earthly perspective, but with a kingdom perspective. So I want to challenge you, commit fully the 21 days. God is doing something greater in our lives right now, but we have to be positioned to receive it. Okay, fasting is simply moving out of the way so that Jesus can move more powerfully in our lives. Because if we're honest, the very thing standing in the way of God moving is often us. I'm so worried. Oh my God, I woke up and I'm so frustrated, Pastor Rob. I'm so angry they did that to me. I'm so anxious and too many times pride. I get in the way of what Jesus wants to do, but if I get out the way, Jesus can move. See, I have to move out the way for Jesus to move.

I gotta get, John got out the way. John got out the way so that Jesus can begin his ministry so he can move. He says, I'm not even worthy to be a slave. Can you imagine? I'm not even worthy to be a slave. What a powerful statement. I wonder if our relationship with the Lord sometimes is like that. I'm not even worthy to be your servant, Lord. John did not see what he was doing. He did not see what he was doing for God as greater than what God was doing through him. That's the right posture. So he moved aside and let Jesus step in. He let him take over, take my disciples. Doesn't matter, you're here. So when comparison came to challenge his pride, he said, I gotta, I must decrease so he can increase. I gotta get it out the way so he can move now. It's a hard truth that sometimes the greatest obstacle of God moving in us is us. You prayed for that job. Hear me out. Hard truth right here. Ready? A big bat is coming across your heart. It's gonna whoop it. You pray for that job, didn't you? Didn't you? You pray for that baby. You prayed for that wife, that husband. You prayed for that. You prayed for that promotion.

You prayed for that home. You prayed for your family to be restored, to be redeemed, for them all to come to Christ. You prayed for that healing, for cancer to be removed. You prayed for that tumor to be dissolved. You prayed for that anxiety to go away, that depression. But when it comes time to honor him with your tithe, with your service and your faithfulness, do you? The church is filled with prideful people. Filled. According to the Bible, pride is the original sin. Y'all know that? And y'all are thinking that it's Eve, Adam and Eve. But no, the original sin was Lucifer and Isaiah 14. He wanted to ascend to God's throne. Essentially, pride is self-exaltation. My needs are more important than God's wants. It's viewing yourself as something and saying, I'm not like them. I'm more important. Well, I'm not there yet. I don't know about the Word of God yet. So what's the point of coming to church? What's the point of worshiping the Lord, right? When we're not activating the Word of God in our lives? It's saying, I'm grown. I'm grown. I'm a grown man. I ain't no bee. Shh. Watch. Watch her. I'm-a tell her like it is. Y'all know all that. Girl, let me tell you something.

Where's Chloe at? Chloe hiding from me. Chloe hiding from me. And you know what the problem with those attitudes are? You know what the problem? It may work. It may get you somewhere in the world out there, you know? It might get you promoted. You know, district manager. Yan chingo naive. Mira. All promoted, right? Yeah. The problem is you're limited. Only God is all-powerful. Only God is all-knowing. Only God is ever-present. If I need God, I gotta get out the way. I love you too much not to tell you this. I love you too much not to bring this to your attention because some of us are carrying problems. Some of you are carrying burdens. Some of you are experiencing pain. Some of you are under extreme pressure. The bills, the job, the business, the economy, the tension in your home, your family, the legal battle. And the more you give these things your attention, the less God can move in there. Your problem is yours because you won't move out the way. Let me say that again because I don't think you got that.

Your problem is yours because you won't move out the way. Your problem, your pain, or pressure can easily become God's problem, pain, or pressure if you just get out of the way. The problem is is that we do the reverse of what John the Baptist did. We wanna be the Savior. You wanna be the Savior in your marriage. Ooh, it's quiet. You wanna be the Savior in your family. You wanna be the Savior at your job, with your friends. You wanna be the one that always has all the answers, that's always praying, that's always. And you know what? You ain't got holes in your hands. You ain't nobody's Savior. What maybe you need to do is what John did is, I gotta get out the way, but you don't understand they're gonna hurt themselves. Maybe that's what they gotta go through. Maybe they got, hey, my sisters and my brothers are in there, they're realizing I had to be locked up or else I wouldn't have ran into this crazy pastor named Pastor Rod and heard the gospel and got myself saved so when I get out, I'm gonna be all right because I'm gonna live for the kingdom. Do you see how this works? If you hand them your issues, they become his issues. And can I tell you, he's a lot better at resolving issues than we are. You might say, Pastor, you don't understand. You don't know what I feel.

What you feel is your decision. You decided that. When I was at my lowest, facing prison, suicidal addict, broke, messed up marriage and family, I called on God and God handed my entire life to the Lord. My problems, my pain became his and here I am today. If you don't move out of the way, he won't move in. If you don't move out of the way, the problem pain pressure becomes greater than God in our minds and you know what we begin to do? What every single one of you like to do, blame the devil. When we've been our own enemy, not the enemy. You see, pride is also self-worship and self-worship is way more dangerous than the devil's warfare. It ain't always the devil. It ain't always a spiritual attack. Sometimes it's self-dependence, self-protection, self-centeredness. The devil isn't even present in this passage, but John's pride was being provoked to which he respond, a man coming after me is far greater than I am. That's your response. Just because we're. Hey, it doesn't mean we aren't prideful. That's what I've been trying to tell you. What is prideful? We're unable to accept that we missed the mark. That we made some poor decisions in our lives. That the reason you have financial problems

is not because the devil's out to get you, it's because you made some poor decisions. And you spent all your Christmas gifts on credit cards that are 27%. Or you're driving a truck, right? That is way above your pay grade. It's okay to drive a 10-year-old car. You ain't gotta drive the new Tundra. You ain't gotta drive the new GMC. You ain't gotta drive a new Ford. You can drive a cash car. The church is filled with people who have unhealthy theology attached to this. And often this theology is not formed from scripture. It's formed from religious places. But this religion comes from a place that we need to blame someone. We need to blame someone else, the devil. Be surely, I can't be wrong. That's what religious people, I can't be wrong. I told you earlier that much of our lives is shaped by culture. Well, here's what culture teaches. You know what culture did? Never admit you're wrong. Never admit you're wrong. We defend our truth, even when it stands in direct opposition to actual truth. And we're not immune to this. The church is not immune.

We dig our heels in, refusing to recognize our faults because we're too fixated on the faults in other people, in our spouse, in our children, in our neighbors, in our friends. And Jesus knew this about us. So this is why he told us, why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank, the blog in your own eye? He knew pride would be one of our greatest struggles. So what do we do? We find someone to blame. And oftentimes, it's the devil. It's not always the devil. It's not always a spiritual attack. Although sometimes it is clear that there are, you will face spiritual attacks. But we have to be honest and discernment, which is a gift of the spirit, because we often use it so that we don't own our own poor decisions. It's self-deception so that we can self-preserve ourselves. Self-deception for self-preservation. Because I don't want to be wrong. I can't be wrong. I won't be wrong. We don't want to be seen as people struggling with temptation. Here we go, men. We don't want to be seen as men struggling with temptation.

Yet the greatest apostle in the New Testament, Paul, wrote about this often, openly. Okay? We don't want to be seen as failures. We couldn't, I don't want to tell nobody I cheated on my wife. I did this. I got fired from work because I was stealing 20 bucks. Like all this, like petty. It's all, to God, it's all like petty stuff. We don't want to be seen as failures. And we forget, we totally forget that Peter failed repeatedly. Right? That David, we forget David failed. We forget that Moses failed. We forget that Abraham failed. We forget that Noah failed. My God. There is no greater mark to a disciple as a person who has humility, being vulnerable and open and honest about failure. My bad is not going to be sufficing in this situation. You've heard me say this as one of my saying, Jesus ain't going to heal what you won't reveal. Jesus doesn't expose your problem to shame you though. He wants to heal you. He wants to free you. He wants to redeem you.

You will never receive wise counsel if you aren't honest with the person that's counseling you. If you got a mentor, don't go into your meeting, tell them all the wonderful things you're doing in your life. He already knows your life is wonderful. Okay? Your Instagram tells him so. Tell him what you're struggling with. Tell him where you failed. Tell him how you came home and you kicked the dog and cussed out the wife. I'm telling you, that's what I want to hear. I mean, if you come to my meeting and you got a plan already in place, you don't need me. You just want to have lunch with me. You won't receive a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge from the Holy Spirit. If you're hiding the real truth about the real issue, go up, go find out what happened to David for height, his problems from the Lord. Let me tell you something in 2026. No, it ain't going to be a new diet. It ain't going to be a new diet. Look, it ain't look, hear me, look at me. It ain't a new diet. You know, keto is no longer a fad. Carnivore was so 2025 that's out the window. Vegan is for weird leftists. If you're a vegan, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to insult you like that. There might be some health reasons why people are vegan, my bad, but that was pretty funny. We like the joy of the Lord in the house. Amen. Can we read about it? Hey, I wasn't,

my daughter was vegan for a little while. It's not a new program you're on. It's not, it's not a new seminar. There's not yet another book you found on Amazon that he just asked me about a book last night. You know what I'm saying, brother? What, what, what the Lord is requiring of you is humility. This is what John the Baptist has understood and is showing us y'all. He knew he wasn't there to compete with Jesus. He wasn't even there to complete Jesus. He was there to prepare the way for Jesus. John was influential. He had his own disciples. He had momentum. He had, he had a platform, yet he did not cling to any of it. He stepped aside and let Jesus step in. That's the goal of fasting. We don't fast to get God to bless us. That won't work. That's not what fast is for. We fast so that God can reveal what he wants to do in us. We fast as an act of faith saying less of me creates more space for him and hear me. Less of me is in a loss. Less of me is space space for the Holy Spirit to move more freely, to saturate my thoughts, to impregnate my feelings and my emotions so that I make better decisions. And that's what makes us greater. If we're not busy blaming the devil for everything that goes wrong, we're often busy worshiping ourselves. And here's something we don't say enough. The devil doesn't need you to worship him. He just needs you to worship yourself. He don't need you. The devil tried to get my microphone. It was my thumb. Y'all you see live illustration. I did it myself. Yeah. Listen, the devil ain't trying to get you to go to a coven, a satanic meeting.

He just needs you to worry about yourself. It's me, me, myself and I self worship. What shows up in the obvious ways, how we present ourselves, what we post, what we praise, what we protect. It shows up in our generosity or lack of it. It shows up in how often we choose ourselves over the people we say we love. Sometimes self-worship disguises itself as self-victimization. We worship our trauma. We worship our pain. We worship our path. We worship our problems. We make it our identity. We find identity in these things and we label ourselves these things. Sometimes we make our problems bigger than God. And we say, you don't understand how big this is. What we're really saying is my problem is bigger than your God. We remove God from the equation. We elevate our feelings and thoughts above his truth. That's simply self-worship. I'm self-made. I don't need anyone. I'll figure it out on my own. This is just self-rule, self-truth, self-sufficiency, different names for the same problem. Self-worship just like Lucifer. The original temptation in Genesis is you will be like God. We still fall for it. You just dress it up differently. We've got to, we need, we put self on the throne and if self is on the throne, Jesus can't be. When we step down, Jesus can step into that place. So we got to decrease and he's got to increase. That's how we become greater. Lastly, my testimony should magnify him, not me. What does your testimony magnify? Your problem, your pain, or does it magnify the great?

Jesus. Because John had followers, John had influence, John had momentum, John had a platform. Yet, when the spotlight shifted, he didn't fight for relevance, he faded into obscurity and he rejoiced. John said it this way, I baptize you with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you don't recognize. Though his ministry follows mine, that's when he said, I am not even worthy to be a slave or untie the straps of his sandals. That statement tells us everything about John's heart. John understood his role, he understood his assignment, and he knew his limits. He didn't confuse his calling with his identity. That's a big problem in ministry. My calling doesn't change that I'm a child of God. That's my identity. He didn't confuse influence with importance. You know, where we just went to a conference and all the important pastors sit at a different table. They sit out front, they're important. They get a different meal. They get a T-bone and I got a chicken wrap. But you know what? I didn't even pay attention to that, my wife's the one that pointed that out yesterday. Because all I was worried about is I need this impartation so that I can influence more people to point to follow Jesus. That's all I care about. I don't care about the special seats. I don't care about the, you know, the last thing I need is another group of pastors to go hang out with and talk shop with. That's the last thing I need. John didn't confuse ministry with who the Messiah is. His testimony was, I am not the Christ. You need to follow him. And in a culture obsessed with building our name, our brand, our platform, John reminds us that the goal of discipleship is not to make much of ourselves. But to make much of Jesus in our lives. Our testimony isn't about how strong we are, how gifted we are, how smart we are, how far we've come. Our testimony is simply summarized in one sentence, look at what Jesus has done in me. That's it.

If my story makes me famous and him secondary, can I tell you, I don't want it. I don't want it. But if my testimony makes Jesus greater, even if I have to become smaller, then I've lived a great life like John. Because real disciples don't compete with Jesus. They point to him. And when Jesus becomes greater in our story, our story begins to have true meaning. Watch this. When John was arrested and staring death in the face, by the way, I want to say this because it's important. John wasn't martyred for saying anything biblical. He was martyred because he attacked the political leader of his region for the wrong that man was doing. So he was arrested. And he's staring death in the face. You know what John doesn't do? He doesn't reach for his own influence and leverage the platform he used to save himself. He didn't send word to Jesus and say, hey, come save me. Hey, bro, you already know I prepared the way, you know, you need to get me out of this cell. They about to cut my head off. You know what I'm saying? Get me out. He didn't do that. He said, hey, go and ask him. Is he the Messiah? Is he the Messiah? And Jesus understood what he was asking. Hey, is everything I did. Was it done properly? Because if you're it, I ain't got to worry about they can cut this head. I'm gonna see you on the other side. He surrendered his life completely. And you know what he did?

He put it in Jesus's hands. Jesus didn't save him. But because of that. Jesus said this about John. I tell you the truth. Of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. I've been trying to tell you, you live a greater and greater life. But watch this, when you live this way, Jesus finished a declaration with an impartation. Something we need to take with us today that I want you to remind yourselves all week long. Yet even the least person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is. My God, that's for us. Greater and greater when we become lesser and lesser. This year won't be greater because you tried harder. It'll be greater because you surrendered deeper. Jesus increases intentionally when we choose humility over pride, disobedience, over obedience, over comfort, and surrender over control. John the Baptist shows us the way forward. Not striving, not self-promotion, and not comparison, but joyfully stepping aside so that Jesus can step forward in our lives. Our prayer this year is simple. Jesus, become greater and greater. And let everything in me that doesn't look like you become less and less. Because when Jesus increases and steps in, everything else in your life will fall into the place it's supposed to be. Would you stand with me? What's God saying to you? We got prayer partners up at the front. I want to give you a moment to gather your thoughts and what God has said. And if you need prayer, if you're facing something, if you need to hear from God, look, that's what they're here for.

Don't leave without getting prayer. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes for just a moment? I want to offer you an opportunity where if you've never fully committed to Jesus, this is your moment. You want to step aside so that Jesus can step into your life. Because you want your spirit to live in the presence of God the day you take your last breath. You don't have to wait till your deathbed. You can start living that right now. Maybe today's the day you finally say, I become lesser and lesser so that Jesus can step in and he can become greater and greater. Well, that becomes greater and greater the moment you say yes to Jesus. So with every eye closed and every head bowed, if you're making that decision in your heart that Jesus is the son of God, that he lived, suffered, and died for your sins, and on the third day he rose again to give you a new life in him, if that's you, shoot up your hands so I can pray for you. Shoot up your hands. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Father. Father God, we thank you. Thank you for what you're about to do. We expect greater from you as we become lesser. Lord, be with everyone that comes to the front to get ministry. Your touch be on their lips as they pray, but it be received by the spirit of those that are coming forward. I pray this.