Mattering Intro Week 1 God’s Invitational Commands | Pastor Bryan Jarrett | Northplace Church

Hello, my name is Brian Jarrett, and my wife Haley and I have had the privilege of pastoring North Place Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for almost 20 years. We're one church that meets in multiple locations, even on multiple continents, and today you are one of those locations. The church is not about buildings, it is about people, and we have the privilege today of sharing the hope of the gospel with you right where you are. There is no way I can know exactly what you're going through or dealing with right now, but for almost 30 years I have preached about a God who I know, I am confident, knows you, your struggles, knows the very hairs on your head and the thoughts that you think before you think them, and He is passionately in love with you. And our prayer today is that in our time together you feel our love for you and His presence. We pray that this time together gives you hope. Thank you for joining us. Let's stand together and worship the Lord. We're so glad you're here. There is no shadow, no, that has ever overcome your life. There is no rival, no, that has ever overcome your life. There is no battle, no, that could ever stand against your might. You've always been with us. Every battle you've already won. You've already won. There is no weapon that has ever left a mark on you. There is no army with the power to conquer truth. You've always been with us. Every battle you've already won. You've already won. Show me one thing you can't do. Show me a mountain you can't move. He is the God of the breakthrough and anything is possible.

Show me one thing that's too hard. Show me waters you can't pump. He is the God of the breakthrough and anything is possible. It's possible. There is a kingdom that's advancing at the speed of light. And in His kingdom, every technique is bound to rise. God our Redeemer, He is faithful to revive. He will revive. Show me one thing you can't do. Show me a mountain you can't move. He is the God of the breakthrough and anything is possible. It's possible. Show me one thing that's too hard. Show me waters you can't pump. He is the God of the breakthrough and anything is possible. It's possible. All of my fear I will turn into praise. Take off despair as I sing out your name. A victory dance I will dance out in vain. I will crush disappointment and break every chain. All of my fear I will turn into praise. Shake off despair as I sing out your name. A victory dance I will dance out in vain. I will crush disappointment and break every chain. All of my fear I will turn into praise. Shake off despair as I sing out your name. A victory dance I will dance out in vain. I will crush disappointment. Show me one thing you can't do. Show me a mountain you can't move.

He is the God of the breakthrough and anything is possible. It's possible. Show me one thing that's too hard. ♪ New hope, show me what mercy can do ♪ ♪ It's the dawn of the breakthrough ♪ ♪ And anything is possible, is possible, is possible ♪ ♪ Shout out His love with a voice of joy ♪ Come on, we serve the God who does exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ask, think, or imagine. That's the God we're singing about today. A God who is faithful to His word and faithful to His promise. Lord, so we've come today, Lord, to seek Your face, to know You more. Would You help us today, God, to grow in our trust in You, believing that You are who You say You are, a good father, a shepherd. Lord, we thank You today. Lord, inhabit the praises of Your people. Come on, let's continue to worship the Lord together this morning. ♪ Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine ♪ ♪ Jesus is mine, He's been my fourth man in the fire ♪ ♪ Time after time, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood ♪ ♪ And what He did for me on Calvary's morn ♪ ♪ More than enough, come on, we sing ♪ ♪ I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who ♪ ♪ Who will never fail, He will never fail ♪ ♪ Perfect submission, all is at rest ♪

♪ I know the author of tomorrow ♪ ♪ Who ordered my sins, come on, that's good news today ♪ ♪ So this is my story, this is my song ♪ ♪ I'm praising my risen King and Savior all the day long ♪ ♪ Oh, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who ♪ ♪ Who will never fail, He will never fail, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ Fail, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail, He will never fail ♪ ♪ Fail, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail, He will never fail ♪ ♪ Fail, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail, He will never fail, He will never fail ♪ Come on, we sing, I sought the Lord. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. Come on, He's the same God, that's why. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. Lord, help us in our unbelief today to believe that You are the God who is the one who does miracles. exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. Lord, even in the waiting, would you help us to remember that you are a good God, faithful to your word, faithful to your promise. Come on, let your faith rise this morning. ♪ I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him, God ♪ ♪ My Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, I trust, I trust Him, God ♪ ♪ My Savior, the one who will never fail, never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, He will never fail, He will never fail ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord, I sought the Lord ♪ ♪ That's why, that's why, that's why, that's why ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪

♪ You are faithful, Lord, that's why, that's why, that's why ♪ ♪ I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him ♪ Come on, let your faith rise, this morning, to believe. We need what our trust in you is. How faithful you are. ♪ I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, oh, He will never fail, oh, He will never fail ♪ ♪ We thank you, Lord, thank you, Lord ♪ ♪ And I could sing your name for all my life ♪ ♪ And still find more to love each time ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name of your own heart ♪ ♪ It's sweeter every time that I call on you ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name, it makes me cry, oh ♪ ♪ There is no other name, there is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name, Jesus, you're worthy ♪ ♪ And you have been, forever, oh, name of my heart ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name, and I won't forget your faithfulness ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name of your own heart ♪ ♪ It's sweeter every time that I call on you ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name, it makes me cry, oh ♪ ♪ There is no other name, there is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name, Jesus, you're worthy ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name ♪ ♪ There's just something about your name, it makes me cry, oh ♪

♪ There is no other name, there is no other name, there is no other name but Jesus, your worthy name is Jesus ♪ ♪ For the glory of your name, all for the glory of your name, let my life be for the glory of your name ♪ And all that I say, that I do, let it be for the glory of your name ♪ Jesus, your name is like the morning light, the one that darkness can't deny, the resurrection and the light ♪ Jesus, Jesus, your name can save, your name can heal, your name can make the storm be still, you never fail, you never will ♪ Jesus, Jesus, the breath that will heal us, the wounded and the worthy one, the first in my sin still to come ♪ Jesus, Jesus, the King who rolled the world away, the one who will forever reign, the name above all other names, Jesus ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name that gives all the glory ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name that gives all the glory ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name that gives all the glory ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name that gives all the glory ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name that gives all the glory ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name that gives all the glory ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name that gives all the glory ♪ Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name that gives all the glory Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name, Jesus be the name As we welcome our campus family into this moment today, we also always welcome in from correctional facilities all over the U.S. Many of you are aware, some years ago we had the privilege of kind of getting in on the ground floor of creating an app. We didn't create it, we helped join other churches and organizations that funded the creation of an app. The federal prison system went to a tablet system where they were giving inmates tablets. It kind of was odd to me, but mail is the number one way contraband gets into the prison and when they can digitize the mail, it keeps that from happening. And so it also helped them deliver education and a lot of other things through the app, but there where there was some people that had a vision of creating a free app where we could put gospel centered Christian programming on the app and make it available to everyone that had one of these tablets and there are hundreds of thousands of inmates that now have been issued these tablets and so every week

across the country we are one of the services that are broadcast on those and we get correspondence all the time men and women come into faith in Jesus just just a few days ago we got a letter that I wanted to read to you it came to us in Spanish so they translated it for me so I could read it to you but it says good afternoon pastor we hope you had a good 4th of July obviously with the correctional mail system it got to us a little bit after the 4th but we're writing because we watch your videos here and they've stirred something in us they've made us want more of the Lord we're writing from the Norfolk County Correctional Center in Massachusetts and we're asking you to put us on your prayer chain and that everything we're facing would come out right in the name of Jesus in one of your videos you told the story of the widow in the oil how she had one vessel and the Lord told her to keep pouring and then vessel after vessel was filled that's what's happening to us our faith is being filled up thank you for putting these videos out this letter is our way of saying what that encouragement has meant to three brothers who are going through something hard we are Santiago Albert and Lewis and we're asking you this one wonderful favor would you pray for us in your church may the mercy of God always be with you in the name of Jesus and when you read this letter may it come as a shower of blessing on you and on us we'll write again when we get out we'll send you another letter to let you know that God has broken the chains so we're gonna do that today we're gonna pray for Santiago Albert and Lewis this is what they asked and it just humbled me to know there are three Spanish seeking brothers that are gathered around a little tablet trying to grow in their relationship with the Lord and they represent thousands of other people doing that in facilities all over the country and I just want to say thank you because without the generosity of this church we wouldn't help support the app we couldn't sustain our programming on the app and we wouldn't be getting letters I get letters every week and I have to have people help me respond because I can't respond to them all but you get one every now and then you're like you know what we're gonna we're gonna pause and we're gonna we're gonna

pray for these guys and I just want to say thank you as a church before we pray for being the kind of church that we don't have to hide that we have ministries like this that we go after some of the darkest places and people that have done some of the most difficult things that are living the consequences of their decisions and yet we understand the grace of God they have not they may have alienated themselves from certain things but they have not alienated themselves from the grace of God and all of us are in need of that incredible grace of God to rewrite our stories as well so we're gonna we're gonna pray for them but before we do I just want to say thank you and know that we can tell stories like this because of the ongoing generosity of this church there's Lord I do I stop and do what these men have asked us to do I pray for Santiago for Albert and for Lewis and I pray for everyone they represent men and women and facilities across this country Lord who you're using the worst season of their life to change them into something different and what I pray is that when these people these three men but others Lord when they parole out that there's been such a God encounter in their lives that what the man or the woman that comes out of that unit is different than the one that went in because of the life-changing power of the grace of God we all need that in our lives today too we need the life-changing power of the grace of God so will you be at work in us and will you change us through your word today in Jesus name amen and amen I can't tell you how excited I am for the journey we'll be taking as a church over the next eight weeks where we're gonna be looking at what the Bible has to say about the concept of mattering the quest for meaning I'm convinced that the next eight weeks can be transformational for us as we look at some of the most fundamental and basic questions of life through the lenses of Scripture I'm gonna explain mattering more in just a moment we'll dive into the material but before we do that I want to personally challenge you for a minute to take the journey with us you're gonna hear us say it for a couple more weeks you've heard it a lot there are three things you need to do to get the most out of the next eight weeks you need to attend the

series you need to get a guide you need to join a group and when I say attend the series I mean make a commitment to be here every single week of of this series. I know because I've been a pastor now for over 30 years, the attendance patterns of people in church today are very different. It's hit and miss, kinda come and go once a month, twice a month. In order for this to get in you the way it's supposed to, you need to be here every week. Make a commitment. I'm gonna start this season off right. We're gonna start the school year off right. The fall is going to be different. Commit to attend the series every week. Second, get a guide. The first two weeks of the guide are for personal devotion. The last six weeks of the guide can be used the same way, but they're intended to be used within a small group environment. All eight weeks are there. And the guides are in the lobby today. They cost us $15 to produce. That's what we make them available to you for. If for some reason money is an issue for you right now, we will give you a guide because we want you on this journey with us. Attend the series, get a guide, and finally join a group. There's something deeply formational that happens when people get in smaller relational groups

to pursue God and study his word together. I talked a lot about that last week. Research has proven, science backs this up, that when churches collectively focus on one topic during a concentrated period of time, it drives the topic deeper into the heart of the individual and into the congregation as a whole. That's why this is a church-wide emphasis. We're studying this in kids. I mean, if you've got kids, you gotta look at some of this mattering material that our team has put together for your kids. We're studying this in youth. We're studying it in young adults and here in our adult gatherings. But the number one reason we do it this way is this is the way it's laid out in scripture. In the New Testament church, they gathered on the Sabbath in their larger corporate worship environments in the temple and the synagogue, and then they met daily in smaller groups in each other's homes where they fellowshiped together, they prayed together, and they studied the word together. So we're gonna have a group connect next week where when you came in, the lobby looked a little different today. It's gonna look even more different next week because we're gonna have small group leaders and opportunities out there

for you to connect with the group, get plugged in, where you can find a group that works with your schedule, your station of life. You can get connected to a group. Listen, let me say this. I mean, I almost didn't say this, but I think it's important. I've had a lot of people outside of North Place asking, like, hey, we don't go to your church, but what is this mattering thing? I wish we could do this at our church, or I wish we could do this. They're interested in it. And so let me just challenge you. Maybe there are people in your life, family, work, neighborhood, they're more connected to you than they are church. Let me challenge you to be the bridge. Build the bridge, you lead the group. I've recorded some conversation starters, and we're gonna make them available to you. A small group team is gonna equip you so that we just lower the bar. You don't have to be a theologian. You don't have to be an expert. We're equipping you to just have meaningful conversation around scripture and around this topic. And my challenge is lead the group and challenge those people to do the same three things I'm challenging you to do. Attend the series for the next eight weeks,

get a guide, commit to the group. As a leadership team, coming into 2026, we were praying, fasting, seeking God. God, what do you want to do in our church this year? And we sensed that God was giving us two specific directives for 2026. And we kind of summed it up this way. Give honor, add value. And if we would do this with everybody, everywhere, all the time, like if we would give honor and add value in every relationship we interact with, every environment that we stepped into, that we would become the change agents with the people we're in relationship with. And we would become the change agents in the environments that we step into, because nobody expects that anymore. This is a negative, tear people down, destroy kind of culture. And when you step in giving honor and adding value to everybody, everywhere, all the time, you become the change agent. So at the beginning of the year, in our first eight week spiritual emphasis campaign, we focused on the giving honor piece. This one will focus on the adding value piece. And the key verse that frames this entire series are some of the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew chapter five.

And because we're gonna unpack this in detail in a couple weeks, I'm just gonna highlight, I wanna emphasize the highlighted portions of this passage today. Listen to what Jesus says here. Matthew five, verse 14. In verse 14, he says, you are the light of the world. Down in verse 16, he says, let your light shine. Two statements. You are the light of the world. Now go let that light shine. Those two statements are the foundation of this whole eight week conversation. When Jesus says, you are. The light of the world, he's addressing your identity. He's talking about being. He's talking about what you are. He's saying this is what we, as the people of God, have become because of grace. Light in a dark and sinful world. You know what that means? He's saying to you, you matter. Your life has purpose. Your life has meaning. And he's saying, do you wanna feel that? Do you wanna experience that? Then you need to go give your life away. Let your light shine before others with your good deeds. You have value as the light of the world. Now, go add value by lighting up the lives of other people.

This is what we mean when we talk about mattering. I know it's a simple word that we're using in an uncommon way. It probably needs a little more clarity. So let me explain it this way. We could describe the desire for our lives to matter as a subtle, below-the-surface ache. Every person gathered here listening today carries that ache at some level or another, every single one of us. It doesn't announce itself. And most of us have never said it out loud. But it sits underneath the surface of our lives, underneath our busy calendars, underneath our hectic commutes, underneath that long list of things we never get done. There is a quiet question that won't leave us alone. Somewhere down in there, do I matter? Not am I busy, not am I successful. This is the question beneath all of those other questions. Does my life actually make a difference? Would anyone really notice if I weren't here? Do the people around me know me as a person or just as a function, the provider, the fixer, the one who's supposed to hold it all together? Underneath our striving, all of us are quietly asking whether we're seen, whether we're needed, and whether our presence leaves any mark at all. There's a name for that ache. It's called mattering.

Do I really matter? One of America's most beloved and best-selling poets is a lady named Mary Oliver. She said it this way in one of her poems. I don't wanna end up simply having visited this world. She died in 2019 at the age of 84, and I think that line of her poem not only captures her ache, I think it captures the ache in every human heart because none of us wanna have just visited this world. We all want our lives to matter, to make a difference. And experiencing the fulfillment that comes from knowing your life matters boils down to two very basic things. You gotta feel valued. And then after you've felt your worth and your value, you have to go add value to others. In the words of Jesus, know that you are the light of the world and then let that light shine before others. You matter when, number one, you know your worth, and number two, you know you have worth to give away. It takes both. If all you ever do is try to heal the ache by going on a desperate search for value, you're always gonna need the next bit of affirmation to keep feeling alive. Or on the other hand, if all you do is pour yourself out to everybody else so you can try to prove you have value,

eventually you're gonna run dry. Mattering is the two of them held together. The deep assurance that you are valued and the quiet confidence that your life is adding something to the world, it takes both. This series, using Scripture as our framework, is gonna help us experience that deep assurance. And from that place of identity, security, being and belonging to Christ, it's gonna show us how to add something to our world. There's a very important reason we chose the word quest to describe the series, mattering, the quest for meaning. That was very intentional. Our team got together and we started preparing for the series and we searched the Scripture together, literally as a team, looking through the Bible, trying to find all of God's invitations that call us to a new way of life, to take a journey with Him, to live and adventure with Him. That's what the images, designs, and material for this series was meant to capture. That's why there's a topography map, watermark on the screen. and on the images of the book, and there are mountains and wilderness, and that's when you walked into the lobby today. I mean, there are all those things out there, things that make you wanna crawl in and go look for Narnia, you know? It's that way on purpose

because God is inviting us to something. But as we researched and we prayed, we realized journey really isn't the right word. And adventure, good word, but it isn't the right word for this. The right word is quest, and here's why. There is a very big difference between a quest and an adventure. An adventure is simply a there and back again story. You go, you have an experience, you leave what's familiar, you see things you've never seen, you collect some stories, you make some memories, but eventually you come back from the adventure, you return home, and you and everything else returns to normal. It's a there and back again story, but a quest is very different. Adventure is something you choose. A quest chooses you. A summons comes. There is a call that interrupts your life. Something larger than your comfort, larger than your plans, and sometimes larger than your own understanding lays hold of you. And once you answer that call, there is no going back to life the way it was ever. You may return to the same house, you may walk the same streets,

you may sit at the same table, but the person who returns from a quest is not the same person who left. An adventure changes your scenery. A quest changes your identity. An adventure says, come experience something. A quest says, come become someone. On a quest, you can return to the place you left, but you don't return as the person you were. The quest changes you. You see, we have misunderstood the essence of Christianity because we talk about following Jesus as a life of adventure, but Jesus did not come to add excitement or spirituality or inspiration to the life you were already planning on living. He summons you to a completely different life. He walks onto the shores of the Sea of Galilee and says this to his first disciples in Matthew 4. Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Follow me and I will make you. That is not an invitation to an adventure. That is the summons to a quest. Follow me, leave your nets, trust me even when you don't know exactly where this ultimately leads. And somewhere along that road, while you think Jesus is actually taking you somewhere, more than anything, he is making you into someone. And by the time your life is over, the quest is over,

you won't have stories about where you've been. You will have been transformed. This is more than just collecting stories. You're gonna have been transformed into someone that would have never existed had you refused the call, the summons, the invitation. A real quest unfolds in three movements. For it to be a quest, you've gotta leave what you've known. Second, you've gotta become who God created you to be and then you pour yourself out for the sake of others. You leave, you become, you empty yourself for the sake of the mission. And the whole Bible is a quest-shaped story. You read it, it's about Abraham leaving Ur looking for a city, it's Israel leaving Egypt looking for a promised land, it's Ruth leaving Moab, David moves from the pasture to the throne, the disciples leave their nets, Paul leaves his entire former identity behind. The writer of Hebrews describes God's people as pilgrims seeking a better country. And the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, ends not with our escape from the world, but us as spiritual travelers finally arriving home to a completely renewed creation. They all leave, they all become somebody different along the journey and along the journey, they pour themselves out for God's mission, which means the Christian life is not a life of aimless wandering.

We have been summoned by someone. We are being transformed into someone's likeness. We have been sent for his mission and we are traveling toward the fullness of his kingdom. For each of the eight weeks in the series, there's kind of a one-word title that summarizes the direction. of that week. So all eight weeks in the guide, there's a one-word title. Today, week one, this is invitation because that's what Jesus is offering you, an invitation. When he said in Matthew four, follow me and I will make you, he's inviting you on a quest that will change your life and in the process, change everybody that interacts with you and the world around you. We call that statement an invitation and it is. That's why invitation is the title of this week in the guide. But I want you to look a little more carefully at Jesus's statement. Notice something, follow me. That is more than an invitation. It is a summons. You may even see it as a command because he's not really asking, he's telling, follow me. He's telling you, if you want the promise on the other side of this, you gotta say yes to the life I'm calling you to live and only then can I make you

and form you and shape you into who God wants you to be. After we had printed the guides, I started looking at week one invitation and I'm really wrestling with this. Is the statement from Jesus, come follow me, is it an invitation or is it a command? Well, when you look at it through the whole of scripture, it's really both because the Bible is full of what you could call God's invitational commands. We say that Adam and Eve were invited to cultivate creation. When you go back and look at it, they were commanded. Noah was invited to build the ark. No, he was really told. Abraham was called to leave everything familiar. Moses was commanded to confront Pharaoh. Mary is an ask. She is told she will carry the Messiah. Ordinary fishermen are summoned to become disciples. The church is commanded to participate in Christ's missions in the world. And then the very last book of the Bible, one of the very last verses there toward the end, there is one final command in scripture. The spirit and the bride say, come. Now, technically, none of those are invitations. They are all commands. And from Genesis to Revelation, the story of redemption advances through God's commands. So where is the invitation in all of this? The promise that is connected to our obedience

on the other side of this is what makes God's command also an invitation. He's saying, if you want the blessing, if you want the contentment, if you want the flourishing, if you want the fulfillment and the security that I offer and I promise, you gotta say yes to the quest. Sure, God is telling us to do something, but he is also inviting us into something. And that's why all of God's commands are also invitations. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 11? Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. And then what will happen? You will find rest for your souls. Is that a command or is that an invitation? Technically, there are several commands here. Come to me, take my yoke upon you, learn from me. But because there is a promise attached to our obedience, it also becomes a glorious invitation. Because when we say yes to the summons to live that life, we find supernatural deep rest for our weary souls. That's the promise, and that's what makes it an invitation. To give a command requires authority. To issue an invitation requires generosity. In the Lord Jesus, we see authority and generosity perfected. And understanding that Jesus never issues a command that is not also an invitation

changes our relationship to him and our view of following him. And understanding this is foundational to this whole conversation about mattering. Jesus is summoning you. He's giving you an invitational command to follow him on a quest that will transform your life. And saying yes to the quest, saying yes to follow him is the only way he can make you, form you, shape you, transform you into whom he wants you to be. And it's the only way you're gonna experience your real worth. And it's only after you experience your real worth and value that you can truly make a difference somebody else's life. Now think with me for a minute about what it means for God to invite us into anything. The fact that God would ask you and I to do anything, think about what that says about our value, our dignity, and our worth for the creator of the universe to invite us into anything. God doesn't summon us because he needs us. He invites us because he values us. Invitation is one of the highest expressions of dignity and value. We don't invite machines, we operate them. We don't invite tools, we use them. Invitation is reserved for relationship. So every time God says, or you read in the scripture, Jesus says, come follow me, he's communicating something

about who we are, our worth, before he ever tells us what to do. An invitation declares our worth before it establishes our assignment. That's why Jesus started with, you are the light of the world. You have to know who you are. You have to know what you are. You have to have a healthy identity. You gotta know you're valuable because only then will you be able to add value to other people by letting your light shine before others. The gospel doesn't begin by getting you to work harder, to convince yourself you're valuable. The gospel's opening lines begin by declaring to us we already are valuable. Our value doesn't become by participating with God in anything. Our participation with God flows from the value that God has already placed on us. And then he adds value to our life by inviting us into his story, like the invitation to be a part of him, writing his story, conveys incredible worth and dignity. And if the creator of the universe is gonna dignify us with his invitation, then it demands a response from us. The whole epic of the Bible in Genesis, it starts with an invitation. I don't know if you've ever noticed this,

but it ends with an invitation as well, but there is a beautiful difference between those two invitations. In the beginning, after the fall of man, God invites broken humanity into a renewed relationship with him. We've failed miserably, he wants relationships so badly, he makes a way for us to come back into relationship with him. That's the invitation at the beginning. By the time you get to the end of the Bible, the people of God are now redeemed as the bride of Christ, and they are extending the same invitation back to the world, Revelation 22, 17. The spirit and who say come? The spirit and the bride say come. We, the church, are the bride of Christ. And by the time you get to the end of the story in Revelation 22, the church has become the people who are so deeply received God's invitation that we now spend our lives extending that invitation to others. That's the heartbeat of mattering. That's the heartbeat of finding meaning, of adding value. People who have been dignified by God's invitation become the people who dignify others by offering that same invitation. The spirit and the bride say come. Now let me summarize what we've said so far like this. Mattering is the question below the surface of every heart

at some point or another in your life, more pronounced at some times than others, do I matter? That is the question. Saying yes to God's quest is how you find the answer to that question. That's the only way you can experience mattering. The way the world says to discover your worth, your value, your meaning and purpose, you gotta prove it. You gotta climb, you gotta achieve, you gotta chase. At the end, you may find out in the world's eyes you don't have it. But God doesn't hand you a ladder on the quest to meaning. He offers you an invitation. All you gotta do is say yes. Mattering is the question. Saying yes is how you answer that question. And third, the quest is the point. It's the goal. The journey is the reward. When you say yes to the quest, yes to the summons of Jesus, you are transformed into someone who realizes I'm valued by the creator of the universe. That establishes your identity. It establishes your worldview. It establishes your, your peace, it centers your life, that God would so love the world, so love you,

that he would give Jesus all of these things to communicate worth to you, and when you know that, you spend the rest of your life helping others know they matter too, and you are transformed in the process. Look, when Jesus says, come follow me, he's saying that to every person listening to me right now. Every single one of us today needs to offer Jesus a yes, but there are different kinds of yeses that need to be offered today. For some of us, we need to give Jesus our first yes. You want meaning? You wanna find purpose in your life? You wanna feel that sense of security in a chaotic world? You want your life to matter? It all starts with surrender. It starts with offering Jesus your first yes. You need to step into a meaningful relationship with your creator. You need to step into a relationship with the designer of your life, the one who put breath in your lungs today, and right now, he, the spirit of God in this moment, is calling out to you, come follow me. He's summoning you into a relationship. Here's what you have to understand. Jesus didn't come to make your life more interesting. He came to be the Lord of it, and I think this is the dividing line between cultural Christianity, American Christianity,

adventure Christianity, and quest Christianity. It is an issue of lordship. Average American Christianity, adventure Christianity tries to summon Jesus into our life, saying, Jesus, come with me into the life I have chosen. Quest Christianity is God summoning you, saying, come live the life I've designed for you to live. Lay down your life, die to yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. It's an issue of lordship. You don't add Jesus to your current way of living like you add sugar to tea. He's not a value add in your life. He will be Lord of all or no Lord at all. American Christianity just kinda add Jesus to the shelf of all our other idols, and it's nice and sweet, and we got Jesus in there with everything else we're doing. That's not what this is about. Saying yes to the quest is laying down your life, dying to yourself, taking up your cross, and following me, and the scripture says every blessing that God has to offer you is on the other side of your yes to that quest. Listen, I'm not just talking about this today because this is a cute little topic we came up with. This is the story of my life. I've lived this. I'm not just a chosen spokesperson for this. This is my story.

I was an almost 17-year-old kid, an addict, and I stumbled into church one Sunday morning after a party I was still having the effects of. I sat there trying to sober up, listened to an invitation a preacher gave. I desperately felt the spirit of God calling me into a new life. I wanted free from the chains that shackled me. I didn't have a whole lot of faith that I was gonna be able to change. I had tried before and couldn't, and I sat there and I responded that day. I gave Jesus my first yes, and I sit here today. I'm 17, I'm 52 years old. That's 36 years ago here in just a few months, and I'm looking back on how never imagined how that one simple yes would transform the rest of my life. Look, I have children today that are grown. I have grandchildren today, and those lives, all of their life, generations of my family are gonna be impacted. My kids are living a different life. My grandson is living a different life because of one simple yes that changed everything. He invited me into something that changed me and everything else subsequently in my life, and I've seen it, I lived it, and I've spent my life inviting other people to offer Jesus that first yes.

I don't want you to live with less than what he died for. What I lived, what I know, it's available to you. It's what he promises in his word. For the rest of us, we need to renew our yes. Maybe you've, you know, you prayed a prayer at some point in your life and you gave Jesus your heart. Here's the problem for too many people. We come about it the wrong way. We respond, we accept Christ as Lord of our life, and we're like, okay, I checked that box. I got that done as if that was the end, no. Your first yes to Jesus is supposed to be the beginning, the launching pad of everything important in your life that launches you into something transformational. So waking up every day, you say yes to the come follow me, fresh and new every single day. If you're a believer today, living a stale, mundane existence, you are not living the life he invited you into. That was never the plan. That was not what this is about. And if you're still feeling that deep under the surface ache of wondering if your life matters, if you have meaning, you're looking for purpose, renew your yes today because he wants to bring you into a life. Can I tell you how life would be different if every tomorrow we woke up, instead of trying to live the life we wanted to live, we responded with the yes to the come follow me of Jesus. A whole day would be different.

I can't tell you how my life is interrupted. I wind up just going about my business and I'll have a, just this prompting, pulling this gas station and I sit and wait, why am I here? And I wind up in a conversation with somebody and then you wind up leading them to a prayer and they wind up giving their life to Jesus and you realize when you pull away, that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't said yes to the come follow me of Jesus. There is a life to be lived besides the routine. He's trying to write our story. We gotta give him the pen. Yes to the quest. There's so much more to this. When the flight gets canceled and I'm mad because I'm in the airport, I realize the flight just didn't cancel. God, what am I doing here? What kind of story are you writing for my life today? Who have you put in my path today? It reframes everything. We need to get up every morning with a fresh yes to the come follow me of Jesus. It would change our every day. Yes to the quest, more than an adventure. It's all about his Lordship over every moment of our life. Would you stand with me across the room today? I wanna do something. I'm just gonna ask you to make the room,

keep the room sacred just for a minute. I'll let you go. I won't belabor this, but I feel like I need to do this today. There's been a special grace on this moment today and I wanna provide it for this service. I feel like there are people here, like right now, you've been to church, you maybe went to mass, got religious family, but you, maybe you'd even consider yourself somewhat religious, but you have never personally given Jesus your first yes. It's a cultural thing, it's a family thing, it's an ethnic thing, whatever. But you have never personally offered Jesus your first yes. Yes, Jesus, I want you to be Lord. I'm not inviting you to help me live my life. I'm surrendering my way because I wanna live your life, the life you called me to live. Today is my first yes. I want you to bow your head with me all over this room. I promise you, I will not embarrass you, I promise you, but I wanna pray for you. I believe the spirit of God is saying, come follow me. Jesus is asking that right now. And if you feel God summoning your heart and you wanna offer him your first yes, I promise you, I will not embarrass you, I wanna pray for you. If that's you, would you slip your hand high enough

for me to see it, your first yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you. There are hands going up all over this room today. Thank you so much. Yes, yes, my first yes. All right, here's what I want the rest of us to do. Every single one of us needs to offer a yes to Jesus today. So we're gonna pray this prayer together. Let's help our friends that are giving him their first yes today. And let's let the room pray this together. Okay, renew your yes. Let's pray this together. Dear Jesus, I give you my life. Today is the first day of the rest of my life. And I give it all to you. I invite you in. Cleanse my heart, wash me of sin. I have fallen short of your glory. I need your grace. I bow my knee. I confess you are Lord, you are King. Empower me with your spirit to live a life that honors you. I say yes. I give you my life. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Come on, would you give God praise today? Come on, bless his name. Our prayer team, if you would gather here in the.

We're gonna help carry each other's load today. I'm very aware, as a pastor, there's some heavy stuff going on in the church right now, and my heart is heavy for you. And if you need us to pray with you today, we wanna get under that burden and pray with you. If you gave God a first yes today, Jesus said in the book of Matthew, you gotta confess me publicly, like what I'm doing in your heart privately. Don't be ashamed to confess before men what you've confessed to God. Declare it, like somebody in your life that's a believer, come up to one of these people praying in the front of this room, tell them, I gave Jesus my first yes today, will you pray with me? You need to confess it to somebody. Lord, will you bless them and keep them? Will you make your face shine down upon them? Will you be gracious to them? Will you turn your countenance their direction today, and would you give them peace? In Jesus' name, amen and amen. These altars are open today. God bless you. Hey friends, I just wanted to spend a second with you at the end of this message today, and just encourage you, if in some way you've made a spiritual decision,

maybe you've given your life to Christ today, you've recently given your life to Christ, you wanna talk to somebody about giving your life to Christ, our team would love to help you. We're on the Pando app, and have several ministries into various prisons, because God has called us to you. We have a heart for forgotten people and forgotten places, and that means we serve widows and we serve orphans, and we serve special needs kids, and God has given us a heart for men and women in the prison system, because I believe Jesus died for you, he has a plan and a purpose for your life, and we wanna help you know that and discover that. There is an address on the screen that you can communicate with us, we have a team of people that would love to hear from you, especially if you've made a decision to follow Jesus, so that we can resource you and point you to tools that can help you grow. Just know that we're praying over you, and we're genuinely honored that you've taken time to watch our channel and these messages from North Place Church.