Let Jesus Manage Your Life | Under New Management | Full Experience

♪♪ CCV, so good to see you all here. If you're able, let's stand to our feet. Put our hands together. Let's worship, sing this out. ♪♪ ♪ Hasn't He made a way for us? ♪ ♪ Didn't He part the waters? ♪ ♪ Didn't those walls come crashing down? ♪ ♪ Wasn't He in the fire? ♪ ♪ Haven't He kept His promises? ♪ ♪ A thousand generations? ♪ ♪ And hasn't He made a way? ♪ ♪ Didn't He make a way? ♪ ♪ Won't He make a way for us? ♪ We sing. ♪ He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. ♪ ♪ He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ Haven't He been so good to us? He has. ♪ ♪ Didn't He heal the broken? ♪ ♪ Didn't He freely give His life? ♪ ♪ Wasn't the veil torn open? ♪ ♪ Doesn't He call the dead to rise? ♪ ♪ Oh, right through creation? ♪ ♪ Hasn't He been so good working it all for good? ♪ ♪ Won't He be so good to us without you all? ♪ ♪ He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. ♪ ♪ He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. ♪ ♪ For good. ♪

♪ He's working, everything for good. He's working everything for good. ♪ ♪ For good. ♪ ♪ He's still working miracles. Right here in this moment. ♪ ♪ So we pray for the impossible. And believe that He will do it. ♪ ♪ He's still working miracles. Right here in this moment. ♪ ♪ So we pray, we pray for the impossible. And believe that He will do it. ♪ ♪ Hasn't He made a way? Didn't He make a way? Won't He make a way for us? ♪ ♪ Oh, I say, hey. Hasn't He made a way? Didn't He make a way? Won't He make a way for us? ♪ ♪ She will make a way for us. He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. ♪ ♪ He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. ♪ ♪ He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. ♪ ♪ He's working, He's working, He's working everything for good. ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ We pray with you, God, we come to you today. We believe that to be true, that you will not fail us. We read your scripture, we read your word, and we just know by the stories, not only in those pages, but the stories of our lives and the friends in this room right now, the ways that you have shown up time and time again. You have never failed us. You are the God who is there. You are present. You listen to us. God, we thank you. And as we continue to worship now, we thank you for who you are, that you have always been faithful. You've always been good. Continue to celebrate that in this place today. It's in your name that we pray. ♪ Father, you've done what you said you would do ♪ ♪ You carried me through like I knew you could ♪

♪ You have been faithful, so, so good ♪ ♪ I know you've heard every prayer I've prayed you ♪ ♪ And my faith may have wavered, you stayed the same ♪ ♪ You have been faithful, so, so good ♪ Put all our hope, all of our trust in Him. ♪ My defender, here in your presence, I'm resting sure ♪ ♪ You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪ ♪ I know the days ahead are troubled days ♪ ♪ And trials yet to come, you will be faithful ♪ ♪ You're just like good, you're just like good ♪ ♪ Oh God, I will trust in your name forever ♪ ♪ My defender, my provider, my defender ♪ ♪ Here in your presence, I'm resting sure ♪ ♪ You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪ ♪ Oh, nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪ ♪ Oh, nothing but good ♪ ♪ I lift my hands, holy surrender ♪ ♪ Sing hallelujah ♪ ♪ I lift my hands, holy surrender ♪ ♪ Singing hallelujah ♪ ♪ I lift my hands, holy surrender ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ I lift my hands, holy surrender ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh, hallelujah ♪ ♪ God, I will trust in your name forever ♪ ♪ I'm provided by your favor ♪ ♪ Here in your presence, I'm resting sure ♪ ♪ You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪

♪ You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪ ♪ You've been nothing but faithful, nothing but good ♪ By the name of the Head Parker You have always been good Worthy of all our praise All my words fall short I've got nothing new How could I express All my gratitude I could sing these songs As I often do But every song must end And you'll never do So we respond So I throw up my hands Praise you again and again Cause all that I have is a Hallelujah Hallelujah And I know it's not much But I'm nothing else There for a king Except for a heart singing Hallelujah Hallelujah I've got one response I've got just one move With my arms stretched wide I will worship you So I throw up my hands

Praise you again and again Cause all that I have is a Hallelujah Hallelujah And I know it's not much But I'm nothing else There for a king Except for a heart singing Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Come on my soul Don't you get shy of me Lift up your song Cause you've got a light Inside of those lungs Get up and praise the Lord Come on my soul Don't you get shy of me Lift up your song You've got a light Inside of those lungs Get up and praise the Lord So come on Come on my soul Don't you get shy of me Lift up your song You've got a light Inside of those lungs Get up and praise the Lord

So we can be free So So I throw up my hands Praise you again and again Cause all that I have is a Hallelujah Hallelujah And I know it's not much But I'm nothing else There for a king Except for a heart singing Hallelujah Hallelujah Oh Hallelujah Come on every voice So I throw up my hands Praise you again and again Cause all that I have is a Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah And I know it's not much But I'm nothing else before a King Except for a heart singing Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah CCB, thank you all for singing with us. You can go ahead and be seated. Well, if I haven't met you, my name is James, and I serve as one of the pastors here. Whether you call CCB home, or you're joining us online, or for the first time, we just want to welcome you. Last Easter, it was exciting, and there was a lot of amazing stories that happened. Take Phil, for example. Phil is 86 years old, and don't worry,

I got permission to share his age. 86 years old, and he was coming here to our Peoria campus by himself. And a family who calls CCB home, the Oliva family, they seen him. And they could have chose to ignore it, but they didn't. They decided to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and make contact with him. So they took him out to lunch, and they learned his story, and they learned that he's been battling cancer, and he's got some health complications, and he's widowed, and he hasn't seen his son in over 50 years, and essentially he has nobody here with him. So the Oliva family said, you know what, we're going to put a stop to that, and you're going to be a part of ours. So that's exactly what they did. They adopted him into their family, and they did Christmas, and Easter, and birthdays together. Well, last Easter Sunday, he had leaned over in the midst of a conversation and asked them this question. He said, am I too old to get baptized? And this was the answer. And the Oliva family, they answered exactly how we would. You're never too old, and it's never too late. We learned that Phil's son had reached out, and they're in the process of reconciling, and starting a relationship. And the Oliva family had the opportunity to baptize him. And that's Phil. It's just one story. Last Easter weekend here at Peoria campus, he was one of 570 people that went all in with Jesus in the waters of baptism. 570. And here's the thing, we're one church, many locations. 18. 18 campuses all across the state of Arizona that were doing this exact same thing. And across all of our campuses, to include online, we saw some people come from online and go to a physical campus. We saw 2,297 people get baptized Easter weekend. Something to celebrate. We saw dads baptize daughters. We saw sons baptize mothers. We've seen people that didn't have their life together step into the waters of baptism. We saw people that didn't know each other. They met in line or in the restroom, and they said, hey, are you here with anyone? No, let's do this together. And as they came out of the water, we celebrated and celebrated and celebrated across all of our campuses. And there's a verse from scripture that really gives language to what we got to witness. Out of Romans chapter 6, verses 4-5, it says, therefore, we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. And that's what baptism is. It's literally making a U-turn in your life and choosing to follow Jesus. And that's not where we stop. We're going to continue to celebrate. And August 19th at 6.30 p.m. across all of our campuses, we're going to have a night

of worship. And we just want to invite you and your family to come and be a part of this. This is absolutely amazing. And we're going to worship and we're going to celebrate all that God is doing, not only at CCV, but in our state and in our country and all over the world. And we're so looking forward to seeing you there. It's a family-friendly event, so please bring the kids. But we're going to take communion here in a moment, but none of this would be made possible if it weren't for what Jesus did. Jesus willingly gave his body to be beaten. He willingly went to the cross and gave his blood so that you and I could experience hope and peace and forgiveness and the opportunity at eternal life. So as we take communion, I just want to invite you into a moment just to posture your hearts, your minds, your spirits on the goodness of God. And just sink it in. Attitude like the song that we just sang, remembering that God is faithful in the past, he's faithful today, and he will be tomorrow. Amen. Let's pray before we take communion. Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for who you are. Father, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you for all that he did for us on the cross, and because of him, we have what we have now. Hope, peace, healing, and comfort because of you. We love you, we pray this in Jesus' mighty name and all of us said, amen. Our audience Friends, you are auditioning right now. Call today to request the night glimmer service you've just chosen, considering that you only have one new call. The bestirdious Friend 411 is championing the voice of the tongue, and on behalf of all彩lогод residents,

our hearts are saying thank you to you and God for everything. This pandemic is truly frightening for our nation and for our world. Please pray for our new man and help us to get through this difficult time. Thank you. God bless you. Can you imagine if your entire life was put into a file cabinet? Everything you've ever said, everything you've ever done, it would be a big one, but all these drawers just have the files of your life. One of the drawers would probably be called your money drawer. This is not just your budget, but your credit card receipts, the things that you bought when you were five years old, the nickels, the dimes, the tithes, all of that would be your money drawer. Then you're gonna have one, but we all have one, it's the passion drawer. Girls that you liked, hearts that you broke, lies that you told, lust that you kept secret, that's in your passion drawer. Then you've got, of course, a career drawer.

That's what you do for the daily. That's how you get your finances. Then you've got your family drawer. Moms, dads, sisters, brothers, the weird uncles and cousins, all of that is in there. Now, if I were to walk up to your cabinet and just start opening the drawer, is there any drawer that you would stiff arm shut and go, excuse me, you got no business in my drawers. Stay out of the money drawer. If I came in and started looking over your shoulder at your credit card receipt and said, really, you spent money on that? It's a way better deal over here. Or if I said, how much debt do you have? Would you be okay with that? The answer would be a big fat no. Or if Ashley came in your family and just started like walked into your house, into your living room, while you're disciplining your kids and he goes, it's not the right way to do that. Would you be okay with that? Probably not. Question, what if it wasn't me or Ashley or any other pastor? What if it was Jesus? Are there any drawers that are off limits to him?

Now don't lie. There are. Well, how would you label the drawers? Are there certain files that you would not want him to take out? For example, there might be a hobby drawer where you go, I really enjoy this hobby. And there's nothing wrong with a hobby, but Jesus says, listen, I've got something else in store for you over here. Would you be willing to sell the boat, to give up the quad, to turn in the guns? What would you just say to Jesus? No, this is a hobby of mine, don't touch it. Or this one, a lot of people don't want him touching this one, the grudge drawer. I don't, don't act like you don't have one. There are people that they did you wrong, and you're not necessarily gonna get revenge, but you're not ready to let it go either. Holding onto the grudge just feels so good in your hands, even if it is piercing your heart. Yeah, all of us have drawers that even to Jesus are off limits. I'm gonna share one with you. Don't judge me for this. It's my reputation drawer. And I would like to say, of course I trust Jesus, I trust God, I know that they have my best interest in mind,

but I just don't want them completely in control of my reputation. I would like to have some say in this. And I know, I could tell you why I'm confident that I've not let him fully control this drawer, is because when some of you email me those complaints, like, why did you say that? What were you thinking? Do you have no brain in your head? I start spinning a response in my head. I don't want to, it just happens. It's like, I wanna show how I am righter than you are. That's just the honest truth. I get it with texts from friends. Where are you? Oh my goodness, I forgot. I'm like, I totally just blew it up, but I don't want to say that. So instead of being completely truthful, I will spin a narrative. It's not exactly a lie, but pretty much it is. Or when my wife says, we need to talk. I start, you can't believe the athleticism of my brain at that point, just spinning this narrative that would put me in a better light. So my question to you is, how much of this does Jesus have control over? And just to make it as simple as possible, he is either Lord of all or not Lord at all. And the reason I'm bringing this up now

is because last week you've heard the announcement of how many people confess their faith in Jesus. How many people through symbolic death in baptism died to themselves and then were resurrected with a new life in Jesus. That is the expectation that Jesus would be Lord fully and finally. I know we don't use the word Lord a lot. So let me give you a more modern word. It's not completely accurate, but you'll understand. We don't call anybody Lord today. Oh my Lord. We will call people CEO. Like he's in charge. And when you're CEO, you can go into anybody's office. You can look at it in anybody's files because you're the chief executive operating officer. So you have right to everything in the company. That's the position Jesus wants with you. And to be honest, most of us, we're not wanting him to be CEO. We're wanting him to be a consultant. Like I'm gonna call you up when I have a trouble, I'm gonna call you up and have you help bail me out. Tell me what to do in this difficult situation or maybe not a consultant. How about a janitor? He kind of follows you around and cleans up your mess. Or how about this? We wanted to be part of the HR department

because we have people in our lives, honestly, they need to be put on a pip. And Jesus, if you could just come in and straighten them out or the PR department, like I made a blunder and we're gonna spin this narrative out there to make it look better. Jesus, could you just help me out? I don't want you to be fully in charge. The problem with that, and you're smart people, you know this. Anything we control, controls us. Have you tried to control a child? Have you tried to control like making money? Have you tried to control a romantic relationship? Everything we try to control winds up controlling us. Here's the truth of the matter and everything I wanna say in a single sentence. Until Jesus controls it, we will damage it. Don't you find that to be true? We want to be CEO of our lives. And in fact, this temptation to push God out of the CEO seat goes clear back to the garden of Eden. Isn't that what Eve and Adam did in the garden? I'm gonna take the fruit and I'm gonna eat it because I want to know good and evil so I can determine my own morality and the steps of my life. That's problematic. And I wanna introduce you to a passage. It's our verse of the day.

That is the most frequently cited saying of Jesus in all the gospels. It comes from Luke chapter nine. If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily and follow me. Now, if you're a follower of Jesus, Just in case anyone's not clear, you're gonna have to give up your own way. a cross was an instrument of torture and death. You're gonna have to give up your own way We have turned it into an inconvenience. Oh, it's my cross to bear. I got a little brother, he is a pain like you can't imagine. That's not a cross, that's like an irritation. I've got a boss and he's so demanding and he's unkind and that's my cross, no, that's an irritation. My husband, he's got this halitosis, it's awful. No, that's not a cross, it's an irritation. A cross was an instrument of torture and death and when you pick one up, you do not turn around and talk about it. It is a one-way ticket to the grave. And Jesus wants you to understand that's his expectation of you. And you think, well, but can't I manage, can't I? No, whatever we try to control winds up controlling us. Jesus said it himself in verse 24. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will find it.

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? Jesus is challenging us, inviting us to give the CEO seat to him. Now, you can still be manager. In fact, you have responsibility. You have agency, you just don't have control. And when you become a Christian, let's be crystal clear, you sign away the rights to the CEO seat and you scoot over, let Jesus sit down and say, yes, sir, to whatever he orders you to do. That is the call to Christ. And that's what we saw thousands of people do last week. It was exciting, right? And now a week later, we have some drawers that aren't fully submitted to him. You've been on this journey for a long time like me. You've been a Christian all your life, but there's still drawers that you're trying to yield control over to him. So I wanna put it in perspective to take you to the beginning of this conversation. We've just airdropped in, here's how it began. Two and a half years into Jesus' ministry, he takes the boys aside. Think of it as a corporate retreat. Just the 13 of them, Jesus and the 12 apostles, and he takes them to a distant place away from all the hustle and bustle, and it's actually a pagan place,

so they're like on pins and needles. What is going on? He wanted to ask them the most important question that they would ever be asked. And he's asking you the same question right now today. Now, the first question that I'm reading, it's not the important question, it's the warm-up question, because he needs to get everybody on the same page. He says, only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, who do people say I am? Well, since when did Jesus care about public opinion? I mean, seriously. But he wants them to think about, like, who's in the mix? What are people saying out there so that you can understand the difference between a true follower and public opinion? Here's the public opinion. Well, they replied, some say John the Baptist. Some say Elijah. Others say you're one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead. Now, if you look at those names, John the Baptist, he confronted King Herod about his illicit marriage, and he lost his head. It's not a metaphor, it's literal, like, executed. And in Elijah, you might remember from the Old Testament, he confronted King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel, and they chased after him, trying to kill him. He ran into the desert. So what they're noticing about Jesus is, look,

if you keep talking like this to those kind of people, because Jesus was confronting the powers of the day, if you keep saying this to those people, you're gonna wind up like them. And Jesus turned and asked the only question that really matters, the most important question you'll ever hear in your life, who do people say, who do you say I am? Forget about what everybody else says. Who do you say that I am? And Peter replied, and Peter wasn't known for his witty repartee, but on this day, he got it spot on. He said, who do you say I am? You are the Messiah sent from God. It's a Hebrew word, Mashiach, which means anointed. It's the same as the Greek word Christos, or Christ, which means anointed. Christ is not his last name, it is his position. It's his title. So question, who in Judaism got anointed? There were three roles, prophet, priest, and king. Would the Messiah be a prophet, priest, or a king? Answer, yes. The all three wrapped into one. Now, you gotta understand this. When the Jews were hoping for a Messiah, they weren't looking for a savior of their souls. They were looking for a warrior, a mighty man of God to come in and conquer their enemies,

which makes Jesus' next statement so stunning. As soon as Peter says, you're the Messiah, Jesus says, great, perfect, you got it right, but clarification. I'm not the kind of Messiah you're hoping for. You want a mighty man to conquer the enemies. I wanna be conquered by my enemies. You want someone to put the hurt on the opposition. No, they're gonna put the hurt on me. Jesus, in his own words, the son of man must suffer many terrible things, he said. He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day, raised from the dead. And we all go, yeah, Jesus. We celebrated that last week at Easter, right? He raised from the dead, woo! I promise you, they didn't hear those words. They couldn't get past killed, suffered, rejected. Because in their minds, the Messiah was gonna do the killing, not the being killed. He was gonna reject other people. He wasn't gonna be rejected. He's gonna put suffering on the enemies, not be suffering for us. So the reason the religious leaders of Jesus' day missed their Messiah was because they didn't understand

that he would suffer for our sins so that we could be saved for eternity. Likewise, we miss the Messiah because all we think about is what he did for us to get us to heaven someday, not what he demands of us today. Both are equally true. Both are equally imperative. That brings us up to our verse of the day. I wanna read it again, and I wanna focus on one word. And I'm gonna highlight a word. I want you to say it out loud when we get there. Jesus said, if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross. Daily. I didn't hear you. Daily. How often? Daily. What does that mean? Well, when I was 15 and a half, I got my driving permit. I was so proud. And I was a Christian, so I said to Jesus, Jesus, I give you my driving. I don't even have a license. I'm gonna give you my driving. I'm gonna drive as if you are directing me. Now, I'll have the steering wheel, but you're really the driver.

I haven't kept that commitment completely. If my wife were on stage right now, she would use the word daily. You need to give this up again and again and again, which is precisely why she is not on stage right now. Some of you, when you're a teenager, and you started a date, you pledged your purity to him. You even got the ring. You remember the purity ring? And you said, I'm gonna wear this as a pledge to be pure for Jesus. Four relationships in, two broken hearts later. You might need to re-up on that commitment. When you got your first job, some of you were raised by God-fearing parents. They said, you gotta tithe. So if you make 10 cents, one penny goes to God. If you make a dollar, one dime goes to God. Do you remember that? And you said, yes, God, I'm gonna honor you with my money. And you started to tithe in your very first job because you were making pennies. It's easier to tithe with pennies than dollars. And now, three raises later, two bonuses higher. You've added several zeros to your salary. Maybe you need to re-up on this commitment daily to let him have control over that file of finances. Some of you had kids, and man, what a blessing. Those little babies, they came out and you just think,

God, I want this child to know and love you. And so you pledged to raise that child as a Christian. Maybe you even had a ceremony where you gathered some people together, you prayed over the child. They were dressed in that cute little white dress or that little suit he was wearing. And you pledged to raise the child as a believer. That child is now a teenager. And they don't need anointing with oil, they need an exorcism. It's a daily commitment. You stood before the altar long ago and you pledged to God until death do us part. for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. And you're wondering if it's gonna last. It is a daily commitment to hand the reins of your life over to Jesus. Paul makes this incredible observation. I know this is a big ask. To give everything to Jesus, really everything to Jesus. It's a huge commitment. It's an absolute commitment. It's not even a commitment on our part, it's a demand on his part. You cannot be his disciple unless you're willing to yield everything to him. And we think, I don't wanna be like a slave. It's a dirty word because of our shared history. But it's also a biblical word.

And I wanna read a passage to you that the Apostle Paul wrote that explains why this is such a big deal. Romans chapter six. Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin which leads to death or you can choose to obey God which leads to righteous living. You are going to be a slave to whatever you choose to obey. You could run after dollars. You're gonna be a slave to money. You could run after health and you're gonna be a slave to health. Whatever you try to control will ultimately control you. I wanna quote a modern prophet, Bob Dylan. Maybe you remember his song from 1979, You Gotta Serve Somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you gotta serve somebody. Bob Dylan became a Christian in 1979. And the first album that he produced after becoming a Christian had the first song of the first album, You Gotta Serve Somebody. Two months later, he was invited on his only appearance to Saturday Night Live. And the first song he sang, You Gotta Serve Somebody. It is a seven minute song. He lost a lot of fans, so does Jesus. Because when he makes these absolute demands,

a lot of us just throw up our hands and say, man, I don't know if I'm in for all that. Like I like the consultant part, I like the salvation part but the Lordship part, the CEO, no, I wanna control my own life. But remember, whatever you try to control will control you. And whatever is not yielded to Jesus, we will mess up. You are most free when you are most surrendered to Jesus. As I think about that, some of you are CEOs and you realize you're not free as a CEO. In fact, the least free person in an organization is the one at the top. Because at the end of the day, you go home, you leave work to go be with your friends and family. A CEO may leave work but work doesn't leave him. The CEO may have a nicer vacation than you but she carries the load with her on that vacation. They may have fancier cars but their schedules are a golden handcuff. CEO is not freedom. And so why would you try to hold onto that when all it is doing is burdening you? Yeah, well, they're my kids. No, they're not your kids. They're God's gift to you, they're his kids. Now, do we manage? Yes, we have responsibility to manage what he has put under our authority. That includes our kids, our family, our time, our health, our finances,

but we are not in control. And the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be happier. There are only two conditions. I could be wrong about this but I can think of only two conditions in which someone willingly throws up their hands and say, I give you total control. This is not an easy ask, I recognize this. Condition number one is when you hit rock bottom. Condition number two is when you fall in love. Under only those two conditions do you throw up your hands and say, you can have it all. I met a man last weekend over our Avondale campus. He was walking in, it's Easter. He's got his five-year-old daughter. She's in a little Easter dress, cute as a button. And I said, man, your daughter is so cute. What a great day. And he goes, yeah, yeah. I haven't had custody of her for that long. Now, when someone talks about custody, you usually think of divorce. That was not his issue. He and his wife had lost custody of their children because of their drug abuse. And it was only when the state took their kids away from them that they. that we have got to get straight. And they both went into rehab, praise God.

They're back together as a family. It took quite a while to get there. If you lose everything, you throw up your hands. But honestly, most of you won't lose everything. And so what is going to convince you to give the CEO seat to Jesus when you want it, like everything in you craves control over your own life? If it's not rock bottom, it will only be when you fall desperately in love with your Savior. When I gave my life to Christ, there was a Bible verse that I memorized. And I want to share it with you. This has been so pivotal for all my life, Galatians 2.20. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. It would be difficult to overstate how much Jesus adores you. He's just nuts about you. 30 years ago, I read this kind of parable, and I want to summarize it for you here. It's a story. In that place between waking and dreaming, I found myself in a room. There was no distinguishing marks in this room save the wall of files. You know, the old kind of files with the index cards like a library has for the books.

But the name on each of these files, from floor to ceiling and as far as you could see, the names of these files were so specific. Lies that I told to my best friend. Hearts that I had broken. Things I said under my breath to my parents. The one that caught my eye first was girls I liked. I opened the drawer and began to read the cards only to find out I knew every name. This was the files of my life. When I saw the file, Lustful Thoughts, I didn't want to look, but I couldn't not. I pulled it open just an inch. I didn't want to see how deep it went. But when I started to read, I was ashamed at how detailed they were. And every card was in my own handwriting. From jobs I tried to get to dreams that I have given up to Bible verses I memorized to people I shared the gospel with. Every moment of my life was there. And one thought overtook me like an animal rage. No one must ever see this room. I pulled out one of the file folders and I smashed it on the ground. No matter how hard I beat at it, it wouldn't break. The cards would not dislodge. I tried to tear one of the cards to find out it was as hard as steel. So I shoved it back in its slot

and I fell to the ground and I began to weep. No one must ever see this room. And then out of the corner of my eye, through tears, I saw him. I thought, no, anyone but him. And as he approached, I recognized the scars on his hands. And he just sat with me and wept. And when he got up, he went over to one of the file folders and in a rage, I slammed it shut. No, but he pulled it back open gently. And starting at one end of the room, going clear to the other, he read every card. I'll never understand how he did it so quickly. But every card he read, he signed his name in blood. With crimson red blood, I shouted, no! He didn't belong in the files of my life. But he gently pushed me aside and signed every single card. And when he was done, he said, sat down with me and wept. He wasn't mad at me. He wasn't even disappointed in me. He was sad for me because he had something so much better than what was in those files. His love was so overwhelming. I just wept with him. And when I finally caught my breath, he lifted me to my feet and said these words, it is finished. And he walked me out of the room. And I noticed there was no lock on the door. There were still more cards to be written.

When you understand how desperately Jesus loves you, when you grasp how much he gave for you, it is easy to give the CEO role completely over to him. You might be thinking, yes, I'm going to give everything over to Jesus. No, you're not. It doesn't happen all at once. You can commit all at once. You can commit in a moment. But this takes a lifetime. I'm going to do something right now. And I want to invite you to do it with me. I'm going to choose one drawer from the file of my life. And I'm going to give it over to him daily. How do you know what drawer to choose? Let me ask you to ask yourself three questions. And by the end of the three questions, you will know what drawer you need to choose. Question number one, what area of your life do you keep secret? Do you have a closet that has a lock on it, an account that nobody knows, a URL that you have erased? That's a drawer that Jesus does not yet have lordship over. Question number two, what area of your life do you ask God for what you want rather than what he wants? These could be good things. You could ask to bless your children, to bless your marriage, to bless your work. But rather than asking him for what you want, would you consider asking what he wants in your marriage,

what he wants in your kids, what he wants in your vocation? Third question, what are you worrying about? What keeps you up at night? What wakes you up at 2 AM? That is an area of your life that you've not yet yielded over to him because you're still bearing the load and the pressure. He wants to release you from that. One drawer to give it over to him. And I promise you, it will never happen until someone else knows about the drawer. Just be honest. If we make a commitment sitting in this room or you're watching online, but you don't have another person who knows about the drawer, who knows about the commitment, you will never keep it. Maybe one day, possibly two, but daily, not a chance. So would you consider sharing the drawer, could be with a friend, could be with a spouse, could be with a mentor or a pastor, or if you have no one you feel comfortable sharing it with, as soon as we're finished, in the room that you're in or if you're online in the chat room, there will be people standing here ready to pray for you. They will listen to you as long as it takes, and they will help you find the accountability you need to give that drawer over to Jesus. But some of you, honestly, you haven't given any drawer to Jesus. You have not made him Lord of your life.

You may love him, respect him, but you've not made him Lord. And maybe last week, you were here at Easter, and you saw all those hundreds of people getting baptized around you. And you thought, I need to do that. But there was something, you almost made it to the baptistry. This is now seven days after Easter. Do you know what happened on seven days after the first Easter? The disciples were in an upper room, and Jesus appeared to them again, only this time, all of them were there. Thomas, who had been absent, who had said, unless I put my fingers in his wrists, unless I put my fist in his side, I will not believe that he's raised from the dead. And Jesus just appears. And he said, Thomas, no condemnation, no criticism. Thomas, here's your invitation. Try me out. Put your fingers here, put your fist in my side. And Thomas replied, this is unbelievable. My Lord. Lord and my God and maybe you're ready to make that commitment now my Lord and my God if you are ready to be baptized today maybe you missed it on Easter but today you're not going to miss it again we are ready for you instead of coming forward to talk about the drawer you go out to the baptistry make a beeline there because we are ready and waiting for you to give your life to the one who gave his life for you holy father we are so struck by your kindness and your overwhelming goodness what can we do but worship you what can we do but honor you with all of our life with all

of our words with all of our time and Lord we know we won't do it perfectly but we pledge right now to give this drawer over to you and bit by bit daily make you the ceo and lord of our lives it's in the powerful name of Jesus that we pray amen let's go make him famous