Jesus: Is At The Core Of Everything | Crossroads Students

Everyone's life is built around something. Something shapes what you trust, how you make decisions, how you treat people, and who you are becoming. You may never name it, but whatever sits at the center eventually shapes everything around you. Jesus didn't come to remain at the edge of your life. He invites you to build your life around him. A life of adventure that's shaped by his truth. A life that mold you into who he's made you to be. A life that includes everyone, everywhere. A life that is ready to follow wherever he leads. These are just values we talk about. These are the values that make us who we are. [MUSIC PLAYING] Hey, my name is Parker. And we are kicking off a brand new series, talking about our core values and the things that are most important to us at Crossroads students. And to kick us off, our biggest core value is that Jesus is at the core of everything we do. I don't want to lie to you. Straight up, if this is your first time or a million time with Crossroads students, everything that we do here is to point you and your friends and everyone you know towards the person of Jesus. We do a lot of things around here. We play games. We do epic events. We go camps. We go across the world and serve people.

But if we miss this one thing, if we miss having Jesus at the core, then all of it is for nothing. And we've completely failed. We believe that Jesus is the biggest deal. He's the most important thing for you to build your life on. And Jesus is at the core of everything we do. You saw the miracle. He sang on it. He can say he did not use those words. It's what I meant. Jesus, you're not helping. Jesus is at the center of everything we do. But he might not be the center of everything that you do. He might not be the core of your entire life. And for me in middle school, definitely wasn't the core of everything I did. Here's an example. For me, I hate running. Like, I hate running so much. And if you're a runner out there, does anyone told you, like, you don't have to do that? Like, nobody needs you to run. You don't have to-- it's an optional thing. You don't have to do it. OK, I hate running. And so in seventh grade, I did what anyone does when they hate running. I joined the track team. That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little runner.

Which is crazy, because it was, like, practice four days a week, 7 a.m. before school, running sprints, running long distances, like, weekend meets, traveling all over the place. I suffered through all this, and I was so unbelievably slow. Like, so slow, they didn't even let me run. I'm on the track team, like, you can't run. Here's a ball, go throw this thing. Like, that's not even a sport. I'm chucking a disc of frisbee somewhere, because they're, like, just don't even get on the track because you're that slow. And I suffered through all that because there was a girl on the team that I liked. I love you. And I was like, hey, if I joined this team, we'll get to spend some time together. We'll travel. She'll see how fast I am. And then pretty soon, my life will be complete. Everything will be perfect. And I did that because for most of my life, the center of my life was making other people like me. Like, I needed to be liked. I needed to get the approval and the acceptance of other people, and that was the center of my life. And I bet and know that you have a center in your life. Maybe it's like me. Maybe it's being liked by other people. Maybe it's accomplishments.

Maybe it's sports or grades or getting the approval of your parents or someone you respect. But whatever it is, your life has a center. It has something that everything else is circling around. And the decisions you make, the way you spend your time, the way you talk to people, the choices, the things you say yes to, it's all to serve that center. But around here, we believe that Jesus is the thing that you should center your life around. It should be the core of everything that you do. But we don't often see Jesus that way. Like, Jesus is a big deal. He's the most influential person in human history. No one has ever been written about or talked about or debated or songs, everything. Every religion in the world wants a piece of Jesus because they see who he is. And they're like, this guy is a big deal. I mean, what year is it right now? Like, why is it the year that it is? It's the year that it is because as an entire society, as a universe, as a world, we all decided that we're gonna mark time based on Jesus' birthday. So it's like Jesus plus 2,026, 27, whatever it is. That's how big of a deal Jesus is. But you might not see Jesus that way. There's a lot of different ways that people see Jesus. Some people see Jesus as like a fairy tale, right? It's like a nice story that my mom would read to me before bedtime, but like none of that actually happened, right?

Some people see Jesus as a moral teacher or someone who's like really, really wise. Like he said some really great things. He has some quotable lines. I liked how he lived his life, but like that's about it for me. Some people see Jesus as like a spiritual leader, that there are to get to God. But he's a cool dude and I respect him, but like he's like everyone else out there. For me, most of my life, I saw Jesus like a magic apple. (audience cheering) Like this, where I would have something in my life, something that I was working towards, typically it was like someone liking me. And I would go to Jesus and I'd be like, "Jesus, hey, like, can you help me get this thing? "Like, am I gonna pass this test?" Most likely. Okay, sick, let's go Jesus. I liked Jesus, I was cool with Jesus, I liked his vibe, I liked that he could get me into heaven one day, but it was still my life and my center. And Jesus was just something that I use to validate my choices and make me feel good and hopefully get me closer to the center in the thing that I really wanted in life. But what I learned throughout the years is that this is not at all how Jesus works. He's not interested in being a vending machine

or a magic eight ball or a fairy tale. Like Jesus is serious about who he is. If you read the Bible, it's crystal clear that Jesus is none of those things and he's not interested in any of those things. And he actually doesn't give any room to be something other than what he says that he is. If you read the New Testament and you read the Gospels, the eyewitness accounts about Jesus' life, he's teaching with authority that no one's ever even like heard of before. Like who talks like this, who says these kinds of things? He's healing people, he would pull up to a town and they would bring every sick person from all around in surrounding areas, from miles away and he would heal every single one of them, like everyone. He would raise people from the dead. He talked about his own death, how he was gonna die and how he was gonna come back to life and then he did it, like he backed it up. He says that he can forgive sins, that he has the keys to eternal life. He says that he himself is truth and that he is the only way to God. Paul's this early follower of Jesus and he's trying to help people figure out who this Jesus person is. Is he another prophet? Is he just like a really cool dude? Is he really smart?

Like who is this Jesus person? And here's what he says to a community of Jesus followers. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation. For through him, God created everything and the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see, such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else. He holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning supreme over all who would rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. That's pretty intense. Like the Bible isn't messing around with Jesus. And I think it's because Jesus isn't messing around with who he is. Jesus is him. He's exactly who he thinks he is. And he's putting this fork in the road time and time again and asking the question, who do you say that I am? I mean, right now, think about who is Jesus to you? Who is he? Is he a fairy tale? He's in some crazy stories that you heard when you were a kid, but you don't really put any weight in that.

Is he a moral example? And you're like, I'm going to try to live like Jesus. He's a good example of how to live my life. I'll take some of it, but not all of it. Some of it's a little too much for me. Is he a great teacher? And you're like, hey, he's quotable. He's in my bio. I like what he said. Is he one path? Who is Jesus to you? Is he a magic eight ball? Is he something that you're using just to get what your life is centered around? Or is he actually supreme? Kind of use that word for anything, but Jesus is supreme. He's first in everything. For most of my life, Jesus is first in some things, but not everything, like certainly not everything. Who is Jesus to you? That's the question that we come down to time and time again. At Crossroads students, we believe that you and everyone you know is looking for Jesus. The center, the thing that everyone is orienting their life around and building their future on, the questions that they have in their life, the thing they're looking to fulfill them and give them identity and purpose and belonging, that thing is actually Jesus. And it's only found in Jesus.

Jesus is supreme. He's first in not just some things. He's first in everything. Jesus is the center of the center of the center. This is why, for the last 2000 years, billions of people have been fascinated with the person of Jesus. The things that he said, the life he lived, the complexity of being grace in truth and going after the people that society had overlooked, the way he lived his life. There's something magnetic about Jesus. Jesus is the thing that you're looking for. He's the thing that you're ultimately searching for. But that only comes when you make Jesus the center, the core of your life. If Jesus is just a magic eight ball, or a good teacher, or someone that you look up to, he's gonna let you down because that's not who Jesus is. You're putting an identity on Jesus that he's not gonna carry, that's not who he is. He's interested in being the center. And when you make Jesus the core, when you make him the center of your life, and you are more loved than you ever imagined. You're forgiven, and you have freedom from sin and shame. You have eternal life, like you have belonging, like you could never dream of. He's the answer for the question you have. He's the solution to the pain that you're feeling.

He's what your heart is looking for. He's already rescued us, he's already saved us, and he's offering you and I his resurrection power. And across from students, we believe that's the best news. And that's why Jesus is at the core of everything we do. [BLANK_AUDIO]