Jesus Doesn’t Want Part of Your Life. He Wants All of It.

Think about it for a second. In the summertime, we're often complaining because what? It's too hot. Now, we're not there yet in Florida, but as we get more into the wintertime, we start complaining because it's too cold, right? Some of us like our coffee really hot, others not so much we want so we can drink it and enjoy it. How do you do your steak? Medium rare, right? It's got that medium in there somewhere, right? We like the medium, even in our relationships, right, with somebody, we'll say something like this or with a used car salesman. Meet me halfway, right? Or how about we split the difference? And I wonder, is it possible that we as Christians sometimes have taken that same mindset in our relationship with God? Not too radical, not too religious, not too committed, just enough of Jesus to make us feel good about ourselves, right? We pray when things aren't going the right way in our life, we'll attend church, you know, it's convenient, something's not on my calendar schedule, it's raining outside. What if Jesus isn't looking for weekend visitors, but rather lifelong followers? And here's the question that we're going to wrestle with this morning from Revelation's chapter three, if you want to turn there in your Bible, Revelation's chapter three is this, is can you call yourself a follower of Jesus when you're still deciding which parts of your life he gets to lead? I want to remind you what I have to say today matters like nothing. I'm a guy on the dusty trail called life. You are a human being. We have a standard, that standard is God. He gave us his word for us to look into and see what God has to say. How is God guiding us? So either in your print copy or your digital copy, join me and notice what God says, Revelation 3 and 15. He says this, I know your works. He says, he knows us. He's writing to a church in Laodicea. He's writing to the Church of Hope this morning. He's writing to you. He's writing to me. He says, I know you. I know all about you. And here's the conclusion. You're neither cold nor hot. I would rather that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and not neither hot or cold, I'm going to spit you out of my mouth. Now, I know what you're going to say to me. You're going to respond back, I am rich. I have prospered and I need nothing. Not realizing you are wretched, wretched, pitable, poor, blind and naked. Now, something about this church, this place called Laodicea, they were a very successful port city, but they had a problem. They had no water source. And so they had to import their water. Now, understand they didn't have refrigeration and ice like we're accustomed to today. So for the most part, the water supply inside of Laodicea was always lukewarm. I don't know if you've ever traveled to Europe or to Africa. Often there is no air conditioning.

Often ice is at a premium. And so this space, Laodicea, although they were very, very wealthy, they were missing out on a water supply. So they very easily connected with this illustration that you're not hot, you're not cold, you are lukewarm and you aren't useful. See, hot water can be useful. Anybody take a shower this morning? Who didn't say yes, we wish you would have? Okay, just saying out loud. Hey, a hot shower goes a really long way. Cold water can be refreshing as well. Yesterday I got into our sauna at our house. I had been out of town for about a week or so. And so I had not been in my sauna. I had not been sweating much. I was up in the North Carolina So I decided yesterday, out loud to myself, "Hey, I'm gonna get in the sauna, 160 degrees, but I have missed it for the past week. So I'm not gonna just do a normal 30-minute session. Why would anybody in their right mind just do a normal 30-minute session? I've missed a whole week!" So I got in there, and I stayed in there. And I started kind of getting dizzy, what's going on? I'm holding on. 'Cause now it's a challenge. I'm gonna push through this, right? I mean, no pain, no gain, right? So I got through the whole session. I came out, and I'm telling my head was spinning. I started getting nauseous. I'm on the outside, I'm on the outside of the house, and I'm kind of in a bad spot. This is yesterday, real time. And almost like that commercial, you know, way back in the day, I think it was a Wendy's commercial. Somebody, I help, I fall in, and I can't. And I'm going, "Andah, andah!"

She's in a house doing who knows what, whatever. "Andah!" Right? And then because I was so dehydrated, I started having cramps. I've never had cramps in my stomach before. And it was like I had done, I mean, even like right now, feels like I did 2,000 sit-ups yesterday, right? And she finally comes outside and I'm on the ground. "Andah!" She goes, "What's wrong?" I'm overheated, I think. So she goes in and she gets all the cold water out of the fridge. And she's just pouring it on me. I'm telling you, there was great value in the cold water yesterday. But lukewarm, lukewarm water can often be very unpleasant. Here's the principle, if you want to write it down, you cannot follow Jesus with your whole heart while keeping half your life for yourself. And so what I want to do is, in this portion of God's word, look at three problems that I think we all have, and three solutions, three action steps that will lead us forward. So here's the first problem if you're taking notes as this, is that lukewarm Christians mistake activity for intimacy. Intimacy is very personal. It's not always sexual. It's knowing somebody and somebody knowing you. It's trusting them with everything.

It's literally what the Bible means about a husband and wife come together, and they were naked and unashamed. In other words, they were uncovered, but they were still loved and cared for. Matthew chapter 7 says this, "Not everyone." Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, "will enter into the kingdom of heaven. "But not only the one who does the will of my father "who is in heaven." You know this in the business space, activity is not necessarily accomplishment. It's why I encourage you as business leaders, and even you, if you work for somebody, get them here on Friday. Because you might be really busy in the activity of whatever your job is, whatever your company's trying to do. The question is, are you accomplishing anything? See Christians, lukewarm Christians often underestimate. They often mistake activity with intimacy. You know about Jesus, but are you walking with Jesus? You're doing the thing, right? You're going to church, you're here today. I'm really glad that you're here today. But what I want to know is, are you the church Monday through Saturday? I mean, I love the song we're singing, right? There's no other name like Jesus, and we're singing the song about Jesus, and you're lifting your hands about Jesus.

Here's what I want to know. Are you walking with Jesus Monday through Saturday? This is important. This is the spark plug for followers of Christ. We come together, we're the body of Christ. We worship, we get into His Word. But here's the deal. You don't park it on Sunday afternoon, and then live however you want to live the rest of your week. We live for Him 24/7/365. Here's the second problem. If you're writing it down as this, is lukewarm Christians confuse comfort with God's favor. I think particularly in the country where we live, we have grossly misunderstood, quote, the blessings that you have. I'll take it one step farther. I don't believe most of the blessings that we have here in the United States come from God. They came from Satan. - That's right. - Can I tell you why? Because God would never do anything to cause people to turn away from Him. Let me ask you a question. The country and you live, are we closer to God today or are we farther from God today? Are more people waking up today and let me make Jesus Christ the center. Let me make Jesus Christ the point of my life.

But wait a second. We want to claim all these blessings. I think lukewarm Christians confuse comfort with God's favor. Again, go back to your Bibles. Look at verse 17, Revelation 3, "For you say I'm rich, I've prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitable, poor, blind, and naked." But then Jesus says you're spiritually poor. See, the issue is we have exchanged temporary satisfaction. You got cash in your pocket. You got a fridge in your house, and you got a fridge in your garage. You've got two, three, four, however many vehicles, we have it all. And what's happened is we have exchanged this worldly prosperity, and don't understand we're walking around spiritually poor. You can have everything that money can buy and miss everything that money can't buy. Here's problem number three is lukewarm Christians are often the last to recognize their lukewarm. We all have that one person right in our family that they have absolutely no self-awareness. What they say, what they do, you're kind of like a mate, did they really just say that? Do they really just do that? It's like they're unaware that we probably work with somebody who has no self-awareness. Self-awareness is a superpower, it's me understanding what reality really is. Not what I think it might be, but what reality really is. Notice Galatians 6 and 3. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. That's what's happening in Laodicea. They think that there's something, but in the reality they have a disconnect with God. First John 1 and 8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. I think the greatest danger we have in our life right now is not Iran. The greatest danger isn't which politician gets elected this coming Tuesday. The greatest danger isn't that you've even rejected Jesus Christ.

It's you become comfortable resisting him because you're getting away with it. Like the house hasn't burned down, the marriage is still intact, the kids ain't gone totally cray, they've gone cray, they haven't gone cray, cray. You've become comfortable in just resisting him. Look a little bit farther down in Revelation 3, look at verse 19, he says this, "The people I love, I call to account, I prod them and I correct them and guide so that they'll live at their best. Up on your feet then, about face, run after God." You know before I met Jesus and I would go out and quote, do sinful things, I never felt bad about it. Like I didn't go home from being in the club and doing whatever you do at the club or going to someone else's house and then going back to my house after that. I didn't go home and say, "Oh Mark, you're such a bad boy, look what you just did, can't believe that." I never, I mean just tell you, if my gunnery sergeant would have asked me something, I'd looked him in the eye and I wouldn't even blink, that just lied. I didn't like, "Oh man, Mark, you lied," I'd be like, "Yes, so good. I manipulated the gunny sergeant, I'm not going to be in trouble, right? But can I tell you with that when I met Jesus Christ, everything changed. The presence of God now lives within me. There is a conviction that says, "You'll Mark, really you're going to look and you're going to think, you're going to undress her?" Mark, really, you're going to tell somebody something that's not true. See, God corrects his kids. If you're here this morning and like you're living in sin, you've been sinning and like you're like, "Yeah, it's not that big of a deal," like there's nothing that's causing you to change, you might want to check out who your dad is. I had two daughters. Now they're grown now and so my days of correcting them, I can offer counsel if they ask it. But when my girls were in my home, I corrected them.

I didn't correct other kids. I'd see kids being absolutely crazy. I bet you've seen kids crazy and in your mind who said to your spouse or someone, and that person, that kid needs a spanking. They need a timeout. Let me see why they're not your kids In verse 19 God saying to my kids he's saying to the kids la to see I I want you to hear me I know it feels like I'm prodding you. I know it sounds like I'm correcting you I'm guiding you, but I want you to live your life at its best. I don't want you to settle for second best I want you to have your best life now. Jesus doesn't confront you to condemn you He confronts you to call you closer Too many of us think that he's condemning us no he's not condemning see here's the thing about God God condemned his son Who knew no sin to become sin for us on the cross so that you and I who are Unrighteous could become the righteousness of God. He wants us to draw closer to him That's why one verse one verse down in verse 20. He says behold God's not giving up on us He says take a look at this I stand at the door and knock if Anyone hears now notice in your Bible. I would circle that and say if and in my Bible. I would write Mark listen up Mark listen up. It's it's a question mark if anyone so you got to make a conscious choice that you're going to listen to what God has to say to you if anyone hears my voice and Opens the door. You got to make a decision this morning. Are you gonna open the door? I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me Jesus is speaking to a church the church at Laodicea He's speaking to a gathering of people He's speaking to people who would say that they're spiritual that they're that they're religious Church who consider themselves spiritually healthy And Jesus is on the outside Think about that It's church

Should Jesus be on the outside knocking or should Jesus be on the James 4 and 8 the Bible says draw close to me and I will draw close to you So how do we go forward this week? How do we go from? the problem of lukewarm Christianity To where you and I are stepping out in our everyday and living the abundant life that God wants for us He wants us to live life at its best. Let me give us maybe three three ideas And they'll be on our way number one is this is change your mind from agreement to surrender to Jesus Change your mind from I'm gonna agree with Jesus kind of on things that I agree with them on to full-blown surrender Now I realize as Americans we hate the idea of surrender Remember back in the day and maybe maybe not so much But you know somebody an older brother or you were in a wrestling match somebody got you kind of in a headlock and gave you a little nuggy And they said cry Uncle I don't know how the uncle got put in the seat of submission But it infuriated us that somebody in this moment has power over us and they're asking us to surrender See I understand that and I feel that in our humanity But with Jesus surrender isn't losing your life. It's placing your life in winning hands I'm told that this past summer Elon Musk was the first human being who became a trillionaire if You want to know how much a trillionaire is it's it's this if you took a hundred dollar bills Not in the end, but stack them little thin right stack those Benjamin's on top of each other like this right to get to a trillion dollars It's about 1400 miles in other words if you drove from Ocala, Florida to Denver, Colorado You would be next to a hundred dollar bill of the whole way Now listen if you want to make some money you might want to put your money in the hands of Elon Musk That you basketball fans right LeBron James King King James

44,000 plus points no one's come close the second closest is like 8,000 points behind him If you have a song in your heart that you want to get out to the world I know you Swifties think that Taylor's all that in the bag of chips But let me tell you the Beatles the Beatles have sold twice as many albums as young Taylor Surrender. authority The Bible says in Luke chapter 9 and he said to all Jesus if anyone would come after me Let him deny himself and take of us cross Daily and Follow me deny yourself stop insisting on your own way when it conflicts with God's way Take up your cross daily die to the illusion that your life belongs only to you Daily discipleship is you surrendering me surrendering our life Moment by moment to God follow me Jesus determines the direction we respond with obedience Anybody ever been up into the I guess the woods the mountains of cashier, North Carolina Highlands, North Carolina Maybe dip down into L.A.J. a little bit. There's Waynesville. Okay, you know I'm talking about right So I'm up there and and like the service isn't that good plus? I don't know my way along around and it's different than the mountains out west out west You got mountains and you can kind of see that's why it's called big sky country, right? but up there in the mountains North Carolina, you can't see not some trees so I'm plugging in my My directions where I want to go and I don't know if you've been up in those up in those those mountains But you're zigging and zagging and zigging and zagging and I mean zigging and zagging at one point I said to Linda, I'm glad no one's in the backseat Because we would be stopping and stopping and stopping and puking and puking and puking right along along the way But I was fixated on my GPS I trusted it I had goals of getting to this next place. I had reservations getting to this next hotel and the GPS dialed me in and it just dawned on me what keeps me from trusting God that way

To dialing into God's word and believing that in life right there I'm in the mountains and I can't see that the destination I know I want I want good for my life. I want good for my family I want to experience life at its best. Why not mark just plug in? God's global positioning system and trust him along the way so you can wear the cross without carrying your cross So if you're not carrying your cross I said yes, you take that cross that's around your neck on your bracelet And if you don't tattooed it on your arm get some duct tape and cover it up until you decide that you're gonna carry your cross Greatest day in your life is when you turn the cross From being an ornament around your neck To becoming obedience to Christ for life Jesus Jesus didn't that was kind of a lukewarm clap Just saying keep it in in context keeping it right there in the world, right? Jesus didn't die to become part of your life. He died to take over Your life. This is the tension. This is the tension in our life. We want a little dab will do We really don't know that we want to let Christ be in complete control. So what's our what's our action plan in this? You know Psalms 120 and 139 says, you know ask God to search me and show me so this this week Just ask God God. Where's there an area that I've been keeping from you in a few moments when we respond to God's word What is that area that you've been holding back? Maybe it's forgiveness Release that forgiveness. I know that they hurt you, but forgive them as Christ has forgiven you What have you been hiding what sinful habit? Confess it and seek accountability How are you neglecting time? Again, I think one of the greatest irony to those of us who say that we're Christians to those of us who say we've asked Jesus To be our Savior I think one of the greatest ironies in the world is that we one day hope to be in heaven with God forever But we can't spend five minutes with God on Monday You got to reconcile that Because that that don't make no sense at all if you don't have five minutes for God on a Monday

You trying to tell me that you're really that excited or you just putting on the show Make your surrender specific not just in a general way Because vague conviction rarely produces lasting change Here's a second. I think the second step we could take this week is is we change our good intentions I think everybody in this space has really good intentions online. You have one I'm all about good intentions, but here's what I know. Good intentions never win the day. It's good actions. So exchange your good intentions to obeying Jesus. Jesus said in John 14 and 15, again, it's a question. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Anybody know how to spell love? It's not a trick question. How do you spell love? L-O-V-E, right? I was up on the pin, and I don't know if you saw this, Linda. I was driving back from St. George Island, and I was going through this area, and there was a sign for boiled peanuts. Do y'all like boiled peanuts? I haven't acquired the taste yet, but I know that it's a thing. And maybe when I grow up, I will get into the thing. But they spelled boiled B-O-Y-L-D, boiled. I'll say, I might try boiled peanuts one day, but I'm not trying them from that stand, right? So, right, I mean, in English,

we learned that you spell love, L-O-V-E. But what Jesus is teaching us is that you also spell love, O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E. For there's no better way to show that you believe, but when you obey Him. James 1 and 22, the Bible says, "Don't just merely listen to the word of God, "do what it says." And then later in James 4, knowing the good we ought to do and failing to do it is said. Change your good intentions to obeying Him. That's a pretty heavy, right? Knowing the things that you ought to do, and then you don't do it. The Bible says that it's sin. In other words, there are sins that I can commit, right? I did something that was against God in His word. And there are times when God is saying, "Mark, you should do this. "Talk to that person at work. "Invite that person to come and discover hope in Christ." But you're like, "Yeah, I don't know." The Bible says that's just as sinful. Can you imagine not all of us go to the gym, but can you imagine if someone had a gym membership or a Costco membership? You pay the money to go to Costco or BJ's, which is now opened in our town, right? You got a membership.

They've paid the membership fee every single month or annually. They downloaded the app on their phone. They bought the T-shirt, Costco is us, right? Whatever it is, right? They follow on Instagram. They know the cashiers by name. They know the trainers at the gym by name. They know all about the equipment. They know all about the sales at Costco. Have you heard about Costco's lean meat? Oh my goodness, it is so good, right? Oh my, did you see this deal, right? But they never ever go to Costco. They never ever go to the gym. They'd pay them for the membership. They know all the people, they know everything. Would their membership ever make a difference in their life? With the membership of the gym and you never go to the gym, ever transform their body? Of course not. Write this down. Information without application doesn't produce transformation. This is where so many of us are in the Western church. We have so much information. I'm four Bible studies. I'm four small groups. I want us to be in our in our Bibles.

I'm looking forward to watching how Pastor Joelle leads us in discipleship. And I see small groups all over our community. But here's the deal. You can go to a Bible study every single day. You can go to Bible study every single night. But if you don't apply what God's Word says, there is no transformation in your life. You have to do it, you have to follow after Him. So where is God maybe asking you to obey Him? Bet you're negotiating with Him. Maybe it's in your marriage. It's in your sexuality. It's in your finances. Forgiveness. Well God, if they ever came to me, I would forgive them. Interesting God never says, wait for them to come to you to forgive them. He says, you go. Where's God asking you to obey Him? But you're negotiating. Your spiritual maturity isn't measured by how much Bible you know. So this week, how do you make it actionable? All right, we got seven days between now and next Sunday. We're moving from following Jesus sort of to saying, we're gonna follow Jesus and we're gonna be all in. And you're gonna begin to hear this. It's gonna become the theme.

We're putting together the 2027 journal God right now. And our thing, this year we have said out loud, that is being more like Jesus. We think the world is better and brighter when we become more like Jesus. That's been our entire theme you've been following along. I'm watching you fill out your journals. Next year, it's all about being all in. Rather than the kind of being in the deep end and kind of sticking your toes in to kind of see where it is with Jesus, we're gonna do a bunch of cannonballs in 2027. We're gonna jump in 'cause the fun is in the deep end. So in the next seven days, as we move from following Jesus sort of to following Jesus and being all in, choose one action step. Doesn't mean two, doesn't mean four. What's one action step that you move from? I had good intentions of reading my Bible. Just start reading your Bible. You can download the U version Bible app on your phone. If you're looking for a place to start this week, here's what I would do. I would read a little bit in the Old Testament, a little bit in the New Testament. Here's what I would do. Today is November 1st, it's very easy. Today read Proverbs 1, tomorrow Proverbs 2, all the way, whatever the day is on the calendar, read that Proverbs, and then I would jump

into the Gospel of John. Start with John chapter 1. Today's the first, read John 1. Tomorrow is so easy, it's November 2nd. So you read John what? Second, on Tuesday is November 3rd, you read John 3, right? Just move from good intentions. Choose honesty over dishonesty. So maybe there's that moment where you're looking and you're talking to somebody and you want them to think that you're really kind of good. And so you're like, okay, maybe I'll jump. It's just a white lie, it's just a little bit of fib. In that moment, choose to be honest. Serve when you'd rather be served. Do the dishes without being asked. Just a thought. Forgive when you'd rather hold a grudge. See, the goal is not seven days of flawless performance. The goal is seven days of intentional surrender. I want you to do the reps, I want you to do the sets. I want to get some spiritual sweat happening in your body. Reveal it, surrender it. Ask Jesus to expose one area of compromise and then just choose to obey Him. All in isn't a promise that you'll never stumble. It's a decision that you'll stop making peace with compromise. That's what all in is because compromise never satisfies. Too many of us are trying to live out our faith

in the middle of the road. And you know what they say happens in the middle of the road. Here's the last thing we'll be on our way is this, is make Jesus first in every area of your life. Again, back to the Scriptures, Revelations 3. I know your works, you're neither cold nor hot. I would rather you be cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I'll spit you out of my mouth. The middle of the road is a dangerous place to park your faith. I'm gonna illustrate it with a portion of God's word. I'm gonna warn you, this is a very difficult and challenging portion of God's word. Most of you, maybe not intentionally, have actually torn this portion of God's word out of your Bible. But I want you to wrestle with it. Luke 14, 26 to 33. One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and he told them. Anyone who wants to come, anyone who comes to me, but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers and sisters. Yes, even one's own self can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. Now, Jesus is not saying to neglect your family. He's not saying to hate your family. He's just saying your family can't be first.

More than whatever you would call a pet sin. To me, as a pastor, since 1990, many of you aren't even that old. One of the greatest tragedies that I have watched inside of the church as a pastor is people I'm for my family. Anybody who knows me would know that I am completely in love with Linda. I chase you around. If you were able to put a camera or we have cameras in our house, if you were able to see the cameras in the house, you would swear that boy is 16 and his testosterone score is 1,300. I mean, I just chase this woman around. Love her. I love everything about her. I love where we are in life. I mean, getting close to four decades of marriage. I have two daughters, Emily and Katie, I've loved being their dad. I mean, all the things from sitting in the lobby of dance classes and first position and second position and all the different things and tutus and all the kind of stuff. I've loved the whole journey with them. But I mean, I just want you to know I've made it clear. My entire life with them, Linda's always known on her best day she's second in my life. Jesus will always be first. Linda didn't die for me. Now Linda can cook for me. Don't get me mistaken. The girl can cook. She made homemade meatballs yesterday. I'm just telling you, there's leftovers this afternoon. Not enough for you, but enough for me.

Emily and Katie stay home because I'm eating it all, right, Camadillo. But she's second. My girls, there's this weird thing and I understand because in some points and places, depending on the kind of church that you grew up in, some legalistic churches, it seemed like, you know, we go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, we go to church Wednesday night. There's visitation on one night, there's group hugs on another night, there's softball league on a night and it's all around the church and kind of like, "Hey, listen, where's family belonging?" That's not what Jesus is talking about. That's just weird. Doing all that church. Listen, listen, God needs us to gather like this once a week and then we go out and be the church. That's how we transform the community. But it's a hard saying, but Jesus is saying there's only one way to follow Him. He's first or he's not. Like there's no middle ground here. He says, "I'd rather you be cold, totally ignore me, doing your own thing or be hot." We thought like the church that laid to see that somehow we can live in the middle and one day we're going to hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. It's alive from hell." He goes on to say in verse 28, "Is there anyone here who's planning to build a new house?" It's going to cost you more than you wanted to pay and it's going to take you longer to get it done. I promise you that. Is there anyone here who's planning to build a new house? Doesn't he first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by is going to poke fun at you.

He started something he couldn't finish. Or can you imagine a king or a president of the United States going to battle against another king, another country without first deciding whether it is possible with his 10,000 troops to face the 20,000 troops of the other? If he decides he can't, won't he send an emissary and work out a truce? Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you whether plans or people and kiss it goodbye, you can't be my disciple. Where are you? Are you in the middle? Is there anything in this world that's first? Jesus isn't competing for a place on your calendar. He's calling for first place in your life. Jesus gave his all for you. Stop offering him some of you. That's why the psalmist said, "Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me, and know my thoughts." That's why he says in Revelations 3 and 20, "Behold, he's not against us. He's for us. He says, "Behold, I stand at the door and I knock." If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come to him and eat with him and him with me. Maybe you've noticed throughout our gathering today this chair. This chair represents the seat of authority. It represents the seat of control, the decisions that are made. Rather, it's a question of who. I think for many of us, we are sitting in the chair. It's not that we're disinterested in Jesus. It's just we're sitting in the chair of life, and we're having a conversation. Hey, Jesus, what do you think about this? Jesus, I love you. I know you're saying that, Jesus, but I'm not quite sure. This is where we're sitting. This is the danger zone.

What needs to happen today is we get up out of the chair. And we invite Jesus. And by the way, in case you're wondering if this is optional, in case in your human mind, you're kind of thinking, let me think about that. I want you to know you're already in the danger zone. Because the only way to follow after Jesus is making him the center and the point for your life. Everything else, biblically, I just taught you for more than 30 minutes, everything else leads to disaster. And somehow you think that you're the exception. Somehow you think, well, I know Mark saying that. I know that's what the Bible says, but look at me. Yeah, you're laying to see you. You're rich. You're 401k. You got it going on. You got your health. You got your marriage. You got your kids. You're American. You're team one. You're candidate one. Okay, great. But you have put eternity in a very small little speck of time called your 70 or 80, 90 years on this life. I'm talking about eternity. And success in eternity is when you and I get up out of the chair and we invite Jesus to sit in the chair. And somehow you think you're giving up something. I'm saying you are putting your hand, your life in winning hands. Thank you. Being together in this space today is really good. If you've never begun a relationship with Jesus, I'd like to invite you today to start following Jesus. It's not about your behavior. It's not about your church attendance. It's about the reality that Jesus is for you. God's not managed you. He's madly in love with you. Would you right now pray this prayer with me? Hey, God, it's me. I've sinned and I know it. And I can't fix me. But today, I receive you, Jesus, as my Savior. I believe that you died on that cross for me and that you were buried for three days. And then you became alive again. And I invite you into my life to guide me and direct me all the rest of the days of my life. And with that prayer, my friend, welcome to God's family. I'd like to continue our friendship. If you would email me, [email protected]. I'll follow up with you. And together, we'll celebrate Jesus in your life. Peace.