Our Pursuit | Rodrigo Vargas

Let me hear you out there. Come on, make some noise in the house today. Welcome to week six of our greater series where we've been discovering that it's not just about believing in Jesus. It's about becoming like Jesus. This is why greater is not about more greater is about becoming who God created you to be by allowing him to shape you. And if this is your first time with us, we want to tell you that you're our special guest. We want you to know something right up front that you're not just a number and that you're not just a guest. You are an answered prayer. You are an answered prayer. Union Houston exists to connect people to God like you through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that gospel says that it doesn't matter what your past looks like. It doesn't matter what struggles may weigh in your heart or what doubts may weigh in your hearts. Jesus loves you right where you are. And he leaves you to, he loves you too much to leave you where you are. He's taking you to a greater place today. And this promise has included every person that's incarcerated. Union, can you help me welcome our Union prison campus? You hear that? Love, baby. We can't see you, but we love you. And we can't wait for the day that you join us in person. Now we've learned quite a bit on what it means to become greater, live greater, believe greater. Last week, we particularly learned that we aren't the main characters in our story, but we're the supporting cast to the main character. Today, I want to take one step forward. As a matter of fact, as soon as Jesus finished the word, we're going to continue in verse 12 today. We're going to go deeper in this. We're going to peel back another layer. But let me ask you something. Have you ever felt like you were just a number? Like in a city of nearly 7 million people, if you were to disappear tomorrow, would the world stop? Well, that's how the world operates. The world values the majority. The world celebrates the masses. And it chases what is loud, what is trending, or what is entertaining. Union Houston, our joy isn't in being the most popular church, but the most welcoming church. That's where our joy is. Our win isn't being the most seen church. It's being spirit filled with the presence of God can minister to hungry souls. Our culture is not built on height, but on the Holy Spirit's hospitality in this place. And every person, for me, it's important that you know, you are noticed, you are known, and you are pursued with the heart of Jesus. But you got to hear me today. God does not do regular math. I like to call this, he likes to do kingdom math. In the kingdom of God, the value of one outweighs the

comfort of the 99. Today, we're going to see the heart of the father, the heart of the shepherd, and the heart of Jesus himself. Because I'm here to tell you, there is no greater joy in your life than joining Jesus in the pursuit of the one. There is no greater accomplishment in your entire life that you can achieve than pursuing the one Jesus is pursuing. So as we continue in our greater series, I'm taking you to a place to live greater. Jesus is going to show us something powerful, that the joy is found in searching the one who is lost. The joy we are searching for is found in the mission we were created for. So let's go to the word. Turn to Matthew 18. Now we're going to pick up in verse 12, and would you stand as we read the word of God? Where Jesus picks up right where we left off last week, and he says, if a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the 99? on the hills and go look for the one that wandered off he asked them and you're wondering why would he ask such a question well the people that he's talking to are mainly yes shepherds they understand the raising of cattle and sheep and camels and if he finds it truly I tell you he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 that did not wander off in the same way your father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish let's pray father God we thank you we thank you that you share your heart through your holy scriptures Jesus we honor you we lift you high it is the name we call on it is the reason why we gather Lord today send your spirit to minister to us to speak to us to teach us to rebuke us to edify us to strengthen us and encourage us Lord but most importantly to reveal the truth of your scripture the truth of what you spoke 2,000 years ago here in this passage open our eyes to see our ears to hear and soften our hearts so that the seed of the gospel may flourish in our lives help me deliver this message that you have imparted into me and I pray this in Jesus mighty name and the people of God said amen amen amen you may be seated I want to talk to you today about our pursuit look at someone next to you and tell them we're talking about our pursuit that's what I like to hear our pursuit this is our pursuit we're gonna take ownership of what our pursuit is now pursuit means chasing after something

with focus and intention the truth is that every single one of us is pursuing something our upbringing our pain in the past our past experiences are our influences our families the world around us shape what we pursue what we chase some chase money you think you've convinced that if you have enough money if you have enough success you've made it some chase power status some chase peace love and fulfillment our nation is built on the idea built into the Declaration of Independence that we are here for the pursuit of happiness but Jesus teaches something really radical and super countercultural because he operates in kingdom and the kingdom operates upside down to the world around you to the world we we are living in what if we have been pursuing the wrong things with a good heart but with the wrong the wrong the wrong things I chased money image success and still ended up empty broken addicted suicidal the wrong pursuit will always lead you to the wrong destination that's why today it's about our pursuit our true pursuit the only pursuit that makes sense of your life and anchors your soul regardless of your background or your circumstances let me say it this way because sometimes I get pushed by both you don't know what I'm going through well the Apostle Paul had been snake bitten he had been burnt he had been shipwrecked he had been in jail he had been beaten he'd thrown hot oil on him and and and he says I've learned to be content in whatever circumstance whether my belly is full or whether it is empty whether I have much or whether I have lack why because Paul had the right pursuit burning in his heart and that's what I want for you today to have the right pursuit burning desire in your heart because if Paul did shouldn't we I asked you have you ever felt like I have you ever felt unnoticed unimportant like you're only valuable as long as you are productive or present with people In this world, it's really easy to feel that, and I'm gonna give you a shocker, even in church. Can we be real for a second here in church and say we're being honest? The world is obsessed with the 99.

The world rewards the majority, the popular. We serve a king who operates in kingdom math, and what he will do is audacious. He will risk audaciously for the one, risking the comfort and the convenience of the 99. That's us. That's audacious. If we look at Jesus, the good shepherd, he calls himself the good shepherd, we see a heart that refuses to let even one wander unnoticed. Listen to my heart. There is no greater joy you will ever experience than stepping into the great commission. Our pursuit is the great commission. That's your pursuit. Maybe you've never heard that in church, but your life will never make sense until you are involved and actively pursuing the great commission. It is the life of this disciple. Jesus didn't just, oh, shocker. Jesus didn't just save you to take you to heaven. He saved you to make you a soldier, a teacher, a healer in the kingdom of God, and that's the great commission. If you want the joy of the father, if you want to feel that joy of the father where you can say definitively like Paul, hey, I don't got nothing.

I'm living off my last three bucks on my snap card, but I am content. I am rejoicing in the Lord. If you want that kind of joy, that's everlasting, eternal, and unshakable joy the scriptures talk about, you gotta be involved. You gotta be, you gotta join the mission that the son of God gave us, and that's audacious. It's very audacious. The audaciousness of the great commission. That is the audaciousness of the great commission. Jesus begins with a question that sounds reckless unless you understand his heart. If a man owns a hundred sheep and one wanders away. Now, I have some business owners in this room. I have some financial analysts in the room. I have some accountants in the room. I have some people that know how to count their nickels. Right? How many of y'all like to count y'all's nickels? Coupon cut, everything. Right? I love those people. My wife is one of those people, you know? You're gonna think to yourself, hey, look, in earthly logic, this don't make no kind of sense, Jesus. Like, I would never expect you as a business owner to risk 99% of your assets to make 1% profit. Right?

Right? It's just illogical. But Jesus is teaching exactly that. He isn't teaching business. He's revealing kingdom math. Where the audacious value of the one is far more important than the comfort of the saints. This is the audacious risk Jesus took on you. Heaven wagered everything on the possibility of rescuing you. Jesus left the glory of heaven for the dirt of humanity for you. He left the worship of angels for the rejection of man for you. He left the certainty of heaven for the chaos of earth for you. That's audacious. I wanna be, that gets me fired up. This is what gets me fired up. Like, this is why, when I write a sermon like this, I feel like testing Pastor Steve Trevino and be like, hey, when we go into Egypt, I wanna go over there and start preaching next to the mosque like I did back in 2019. Come on, let's go. I'm ready. Fired up. Pastor Sarah just got me life insurance this week. She says, I know what he's trying to do. I'm gonna go ahead and sign these documents.

You can make sure. But she also knows what I'm here on earth to do. This is my pursuit, but it's also your pursuit. Now, why would Jesus say this? Because for God, the audacious risk of the cross. was worth the reward of rescuing even one one lost soul now there's a tension here the 99 are safe but you know why the 99 are safe because they're together and that might be the problem in church we got to be together now i'm talking to to us right now but i also want this to be captivated for we we got to stop arguing right about things that don't really matter and save souls i i get you have a reformed theology and you don't believe because you haven't experienced the speaking of tongues or prophecy or healing right but is that important in the rescuing of one soul no we gotta be together that we are safe we are his we believe jesus is the son of god that he lived a sinless life he was born of a virgin and he died for our sins was buried and on the third day he rose again and one day we will rise with him this is the gospel this is the truth everything else you can color how you like right but we gotta be together in that we gotta be together in that we can't start making up scripture and interpreting it in a certain way and starting calling him the universe and and and what is uh what are they mother god no he's a father he's a father he is god we can't do that we gotta be together in this and that means that that means that i'm going to share some things that are kind of controversial that means that mormons are not christians jehovah's witnesses are not christians it is heresy it is not the word of god it is not the truth of god listen when you read the greek when you start reading in the greek it is impossible but people need something to believe everyone else under the sun right if we believe what i just told you we gotta be together and we're safe but here's the problem is some of these denominations make it about the 99 and the one is in danger because they're all alone and that's where that's where the the the the heart murmur is it's not in what we believe it is in what we pursue the shepherd doesn't abandon the flock he priorities the one that cannot survive alone without rescue so he says hey y'all gotta keep it together while i go out and grab this person real quick

i want you to imagine that you and your family are how many you ever been to new york city oh my god it's one of the greatest cities in the entire world i love new york city my god if it wasn't for pastor say i'd probably be a pastor up in new york city i'd fit in like who like this right there go ahead pastor rod new york city right and i'd still wear my la dodger gear too i don't care you know probably live in brooklyn or something cool like that you know with all the caribbeans you know imagine you're in new york city and if you've ever been you know you've seen it in tv shows you've seen it in movies right times square is crazy it's got crazies everywhere people are walking around and all of a sudden there's lights flashing and there's crowds everywhere and there's noise and people are coming from i don't know where in all this all direction and suddenly you realize that in your family that you went to new york city one of you is missing your kid your brother your sister maybe your elderly mother is missing the whole world keeps moving thousands of people are going to pass you not even what's wrong with you brushing right past you taxis are honking screens are flashing but for you everything has stopped in that moment right you don't care which one of you is thirsty you don't care which one of you is thirsty you don't care which one of you is hungry you don't care which one has to go potty you don't care that they're bored the only thing you care about your heart your focus your attention your energy and your prayers are focused on the one who is lost that is the heart of the father that's how god feels about every person who doesn't know jesus every Son and daughter that is wandering alone in the world, too big, too loud, too dangerous. While the world keeps moving past them, the father stops, notices, searches and pursues. But here's the kicker. God doesn't come off his throne and pursues them like he did in the old Testament. Do you want to know how he pursues them? Me and you. What would you risk? What would you risk to find your family member? The shepherd risks the comfort of the 99 to rescue the condition of the one. And if he does, then I must.

And if he does, then we must. Heaven doesn't celebrate when 99 gather in amazing worship like today. Heaven celebrates when the one that was lost is found. This is the heart of the Great Commission. This is the joy of the father. This is our pursuit, Union Houston. This is the audacious and outrageous love of God. This is our pursuit here at this place that we call Union Houston. Now there is an urgency to the Great Commission. You must be urgent. You got to have an urgency to the Great Commission, right? For you sneakerheads, the same urgency you had to go raffle off those new Jordans, right? The same urgency you had to go sit in line at three in the morning to make sure you get the size 11 and a half, 11 and a half. The same urgency. Jesus is expressing the urgency of the church. He is letting us know that what he, what he expects our pace to be. And some of y'all are sluggards. This is how you, this is how you do life. I'm going, I'm going, I'll be there. Yeah. My man, David, over here, I'm staring them down because this, this, Hey, I need David. I need you to go. I got a pastor and he's making me nervous because the way he's walking around just, yeah, I got, I got, you know, what is he doing? We got, come on. We got to go. This is Jay. Jesus is expressing the urgency, the pace of the church, and it should be urgent because he is not only compassionate.

He has urgency. Urgency is what the Western church has lost. Complacency has replaced conviction. Comfort has replaced the calling of the church and maintenance has replaced the mission of the church programs replaced our pursuit. Jesus is shaking us awake today with this parable, the shepherd doesn't leave the 99 because the one is annoying. Although sometimes y'all are annoying. Well, pastor, can we have a dance ministry? No, no. Come to worship night and do your dance ministry between you and the Lord. Yesterday I was at pastor. Can we get tambourine? I said, if the praise sound like this little white Pentecostal church sound like they were infused with black folk. I said, yes, you can, all the tambourines in the world. You can do that. This is the type of stuff they're worried about. They're annoying. So sometimes I got to say yes to things. I don't want to say yes to, because I'm so focused on the one he, he, he leaves the shepherd leaves because the one is in danger. And the, the longer a sheep, just so you know, in context, the longer sheep is alone, the more vulnerable it is because they're kind of dumb, not calling you dumb, by the way, but they are kind of dumb. And Jesus, in a way, he knows that we are blinded, not dumb, blinded. And we get too close to cliffs, cliffs of relationships. You didn't shouldn't be in you, you, you, you, you get attracted. Ladies, you get attracted to predators because he fine. He got a six pack and he got a six figure salary and he got our nice.

but he a predator. He gonna ravage you. They go starvation. They're not getting fed. And this happens if you've stayed away from church for any amount of time, any length amount of time, you'll realize that, oh my God, something was missing. You've been starving spiritually. They go dehydrated. And then every second that they're weaker and weaker, you know what makes it easier to catch them? The wolves. I'm going to get to the wolves in just a minute. Every minute matters. Write that down. Every minute matters. I almost made my sermon today. Every minute matters. Jesus is urgent about one. Then shouldn't we, the church be urgent about the one? Because every minute matters. Anyone in the ancient world would have understood immediately what Jesus was saying in this parable. They would have understood exactly what he meant, what he was emphasizing. A shepherd would only leave the 99 unprotected if he realized that this situation demanded immediate, decisive, intentional, drop everything action. Not when I have time to put it on my schedule. When I'm not that busy. It isn't when it's convenient. When I'm not, right now I'm too stressed out at work. Right now my life at home is too stressed out. Not when the weather clears. Oh, let me see if it's raining today, Houstonians. Oh, or here, I love this one. Oh, I don't agree with them. He didn't ask you if you agree with them. He said, now move, go, urgency. That's what he's explaining. Jesus is letting us know to feel the heartbeat of heaven. The urgency has for the lost. Now, let me give you some eye opening statistics. 60% of Houston is unchurched in a church, in a city of almost seven plus million people. Nearly 60% of them are unchurched or de-churched. Millions wandering the streets of Harris County. Every minute matters. Will you be a stumbling block to them or a shepherd to them? Remember this follows last week's teaching. Will you be a stumbling block and still post? Thirst traps? Or are you going to be a shepherd? Right? One in four are deeply lonely. The most connected generation in the history of mankind is the most isolated. This is why God gave me the vision of connecting people to God because every minute matters. 3 billion. That's with a B. Three billies are unreached. Never have heard the gospel. Don't know who Jesus is globally. Over 3 billion people have zero access to the gospel. They are just wandering around. They don't even know they have a shepherd. Every minute matters. Jesus only gave us one mission, one pursuit because every minute matters. He knew that we would argue about speaking in tongues. He knew we would argue about whether we want Christian contemporary

music or praising gospel. He knew we would argue why is there a black church and a white church? He knew you would argue on my Democrat Christian. I'm a Republican Christian. He knew and he's told you this is the only thing that matters because every minute matters. Matthew 28 19 therefore go and make disciples of all nations. He didn't say you go give commentary about the current situation that's happening, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit. He didn't say baptize them in the name of the father, the son and the mag of the United States. Oh, I feel a fire coming up in me and he didn't just say baptize them, teach them to obey everything I commanded you. This is our pursuit and it carries urgency. A church without with a lack of urgency has a cost. The wife of the man who started the underground church in Iran, the revival of the underground church in Iran, I've had the honor and privilege of traveling with him around the U.S. and his wife said she wanted, she came from Iran, got saved in Iran, came to the U.S., lived five years in the U.S. and said I want to go back to Iran. And I said why did we fight so hard to get here? Get you papers and being in the US because the church in the West is the satanic lullaby They're putting people to sleep We're a sleepy church and a sleepy church is costly to the Great Commission Let's be real while the church has been busy entertaining the Saints in padded chairs I'd love that you get padded chairs. The world has been desperately searching for belonging And you know what? They're finding it in In new age Buddhism Hinduism tarot cards and witchcraft Many Christians are worried about the explosive global growth of Islam nearly 1.9% annually almost double the global population It's crazy in it But The thing we think you know what we've you know, we decided to do as A nation. Here's what we decided to do as a nation. We decided that We didn't like Bad Bunny on the Super Bowl

So we're gonna create our own little concert Right and we're gonna air it at the same time and stick it to them because that's demonic and Did they go out and get like Christian artists like Corey Asbury CeCe Winans, right? Did they go out and and get like Chandler Moore? Hey come did they contact like Elevation Church and and maybe you know, uh What you would call it Bethel or or did they contact any of these places of Red Rocks worship or SEU or Belonging companies. Hey, come y'all and it's not just gonna be a halftime show. Hey, let's make it a revival Let's just go ahead and worship. No, they brought Kid Rock And listen conservative Christians turned on and completely forgot That he said he liked them under age. They call it statutory. He calls it mandatory That's what you celebrate I Would have respected you more if you just shut up turn off the TV for 15-20 minutes Had dinner with your family making about a family night and friends family and come back on after Benito did his thing That's what we decided to do and then afterwards you weren't just not happy with your own show you decided to tear everything about What it means to be a Latino American That's what y'all decided to do in the meantime You know what Islam was doing Islam was out there recruiting people Because I'm gonna tell you something Instead of outrage or fear, you know what? This should be a wake-up call that what I just told you should you shouldn't get mad at me It should be a wake-up call because this isn't about us versus them issue. This is our issue This is the church's issue, this is Christians issue we carry the greatest Message known in human history, but unlike Muslims, they are united They are deeply committed to spreading their faith and we often struggle to share ours in the right way We share our politics our love of nation or your identity

I'm not I'm hitting everyone today instead of the gospel that since I wake up because every minute matters Islam is growing not because it has a better message It's because we stop being the rescue mission and we became religious entertainment Industry with different genres for different people while we argue about the carpet colors About musical preferences and politics and church culture. The enemy is out there recruiting the lost ones We ignore and putting them to read tarot cards to witchcraft in new age and Buddhism We have been entertaining the 99 while the world is perishing without a shepherd We cannot be a church that entertains Saints We must be a church rescue souls Luke 19 10 says so that for the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost Jesus didn't come to manage the found He came to rescue the lost and if rescuing is not part of our discipleship. You're not following Jesus You don't belong to Jesus and you will hear away from me. I never knew you Listen to me if you're not actively in the great commandment you get before him, you will be judged and you will hear get away from me. I never knew you. It doesn't matter how much you tithe. It doesn't matter that you were involved in ministries if you aren't part of the great commission. I know what I'm going to hear. Well done. Good and faithful servant. Second, Peter three nine says if you love Jesus, you will perish. You cannot say you love Jesus and ignore what he's

searching for. It's not about the service. It's about the search. It's not about the crowd. It's about the commission. It's not about today. It's about eternity and delay can mean danger. Indifference can mean loss. It's about the way. It's about the way. It's about the way the world matters. There is an importance to the great commission. There is an importance. Jesus is preaching the importance of the great commission, the weight of the great commission. He moves us from pursuit to protection, from urgency to you have a responsibility. The great commission is also about the little ones inside the church. Those new to faith, those returning to faith, fighting to hold on to faith, the vulnerable, the easily influenced, the struggling, the drifting, the backsliding. He said, don't be a stumbling block. Be a shepherd. See that

you do not despise. See that you do not despise one of the little ones. Jesus is saying, hey, don't dismiss yourself from an assignment that I haven't already declared matters. It matters to him. Pay close attention to how you treat those who are spiritually fragile, those that are wounded, those that just got saved, the inconsistent, the ones that get tempted, the drifting, the backsliding, the ones trying to walk out the life they've wandered into. Guard the vulnerable, protect the wandering, and walk with the struggling. Never look down on those who are down because one day you're going to be down. I remember when I was down. And Jesus confronts the attitude that creeps into church all the time, even in this church. Oh, they should know better, pastor. They know better. I got one disciple that they know better with the head wiggling and everything. They need to

get it together. Hey, pastor, the problem with them is they messy. Oh, you're not. Got it. Got it. Super saint over here. They're inconsistent. And this one doesn't ever come out of someone's mouth, but you might have thought it here at Union Houston. They don't belong here. The Great Commission does not discard them. It protects them. If Jesus left 99 for one, for me, for me, then shouldn't we protect the little ones with the same energy, the same level of importance, intentionality and intensity? If anyone causes these little ones, those who believe in me to stumble, he said last week. To stumble. Jesus warns this because if we cause immature believers to stumble, the consequences are severe. This is Jesus in full protective mode. He's not being mean. It's not because he's hard. It's because he values the one the world overlooks. Remember earlier when I said, have you ever felt like you were

just a number? Well, this is exactly why we don't simply do church. We build a spiritual family. We protect the vulnerable. We walk with the struggling. We encourage the inconsistent. We don't let them stay there. We encourage them back to consistency. We model maturity to the newly saved. We create atmospheres where the hurting can heal because the presence of God is there. Have you ever wondered why the presence of God is so big in this place? It's because of our pursuit. It's because all my leaders know, every single leader, every worshiper, every person I presented, hey, this is our pursuit. You know what matters most? people, all people, always. The Great Commission is not about reaching, just reaching the lost, it's also about protecting the found. And sometimes we preach this message only one sided, but it's both. And that happens when we create an atmosphere and a culture that the weight of the shepherd

and the assignment of Jesus is evident. This is our pursuit. And finally, we get to have the joy. I want you to walk in the joy of the Great Commission. You should walk and live in the joy of the Great Commission, but listen to my heart. None of this will make any sense unless you understand the joy of the Great Commission. It's the joy of Jesus. It's the joy of the Father. It's the joy of the kingdom of heaven. In fact, there is no greater joy than our pursuit. There is none. Union Houston is not only a rescue mission, we believe in having a celebration culture, celebrating when the lost are found, the prodigals come home, new believers are added to his church like in the book of Acts. When Jesus tells this parable in Matthew, he also tells it in Luke 15. But he reveals something in Luke 15 that's breathtaking. It's about heaven. He says, heaven does not celebrate when the nighty-nines stay heaven celebrates when the one returns. Let that sink in. Heaven doesn't throw a party when the nighty-nine, when we gather or worship, but heaven throws a party when one soul is rescued. This is the joy of the Great Commission.

It's the joy of the Father. It's the joy of Jesus. It is the very joy that Jesus watches carried to the cross. It's the joy of the Holy Spirit wants to awaken inside of you. Jesus teaches us the joy of the good shepherd in Luke 15, three through seven. He says that Jesus describes the shepherd who refuses to settle for the nighty-nine. He doesn't shrug and say, well, at least most of them are fine. No, he searches until he finds them. He doesn't scold it. He doesn't shame it. He doesn't punish it. He rejoices. And then watch this. He calls others to join him in the celebration. Rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep. I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven. My goodness. Over one sinner who repents and over 99 righteous people who do not need to repent. I think Jesus left it pretty clear there. Jesus wants his disciple, he wants us to experience the same joy. That joy is the fuel of evangelism. That joy keeps our hearts soft. That joy keeps our mission crystal clear.

That joy keeps our spirits on fire. The reason that you're stagnant is because you haven't been involved in the Great Commission. You've been around, you've been in Houston any amount of time, you'll know that Luke 15, it completely changed my life. When I was addicted, when I was suicidal and drowning in shame, religion told me God was disappointed with me. But Luke 15 told me something different when my spiritual mentor told me to read it. It said that heaven wasn't embarrassed about me. It wasn't embarrassed by me. Heaven was waiting to celebrate me when I came back home. That revelation set me free, but it also healed me and it restored me. And you know what else it did? It filled me with a fire of evangelism and a joy, a joy that I pursue daily. And that's what I want for you. That joy gave me purpose to spend my life pursuing the one. When I sold cars, I pursued the one. When I managed teams, I was pursuing the one. When I started launching a church, I was pursuing the one. When I go into prison to do prison ministry, I love going to the faith-based dorms, but I like the sec unit. I like where the ones are.

I like when my dudes are in there and they was like, hey, yo, yo, pastor, what's this Jesus guy like? That's who I wanna talk to. This is why we take risk as a church. This is why we give. This is why we serve. This is why we love. This is why we need to go. Because the joy of seeing one come home is worth everything. Jesus didn't go to the cross because it was easy. He didn't endure the whipping of the cat and nine tails, the nails, the humiliation, the suffocation, because it was pleasant. You know why he endured it? Because Hebrews 12, two tells us that because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross disregarding its shame. There is someone came to church today that needs to take that verse and make it a life verse. Set the joy before your relationship problems because on the other end of it, Jesus is waiting for you. Set the joy before that illness because on the other end of that illness, Jesus is waiting for you. I don't know who needs to hear this, but that verse there will tell you that the joy of being involved in the great commission is everything. You know what that joy was for Jesus?

Are you ready for this? You, you, the joy of your salvation, the joy of your return, the joy of the one coming home. Jesus needed that joy to finish his assignment on earth. And if he needed it, we need it. Joy keeps us pursuing. It keeps us praying. It keeps us inviting people to church. It keeps us believing. It keeps us holy. It keeps us pure. Don't you want to feel alive again? Feel that joy? Then you got us join the search. Here's what you got to do. Today, we have something called meet the team. It's how we introduce you to our pursuit of connecting people to God. They're going to be out here on the left, holding up some signs. You just walk out there after service. If you need prayer, also, I'll give you this. Tell them, hey, I'm going to go to meet the team. Can I pray afterwards and pray afterwards? They'll pray for you afterwards. Don't worry, the moment won't pass by. Some of you are feeling spiritually numb because you've only been consuming the gospel and not participating in it. You don't need more information.

You don't need more inspiration. You need to be participating. There's no greater joy than seeing the one you prayed for walk through those doors and surrender to Jesus at the altar. You want revival? Start with the one. You want greater faith? Start with the one. You want heaven's joy? Give heaven a reason to celebrate? Start with the one. The shepherd is in the room, like Pastor Andre said. His presence is real and his voice is calling. And there are two different types of groups in this room right now. One is you feel lost, you're wandering far from God. You've been running, hiding, disconnected, don't know him, first time you heard him. You're hurting, you feel unnoticed. The world may overlook you, but the shepherd has walked into this room and he's been pursuing you. You're not too broken. You're not too far. It's not too late. You're not too guilty. If you are the one, the shepherd is here to take those from you. And the second group is us, the 99.

And some of you have grown comfortable and you've been convicted today that you gotta get out of your comfort zone. You forgot what it feels like to be lost and today you were reminded about you were on a cliff one time. You forgot the urgency, but you remember today that Jesus had urgency for you. You forgot the mission and you remember today that if it wasn't for the mission, you wouldn't be here today. But today the Holy Spirit is waking you up, calling you deeper, calling you to higher, calling you to take a step of faith, calling you into the joy of the great commission. So I want you to pray for the one. Start praying for the one. Join our pursuit. Go to meet the team. If you want boldness to share the gospel, pray to God and ask him for boldness like they did in Acts chapter four. And then also join us at meet the team. Listen, if you are ready and you're saying, man, I wanna be part of that mission. I wanna do the bold things. You gotta take steps. And right now that step is going to meet the team because Jesus said there is no greater joy than to lay down one's life for our friends.

This is our pursuit. This is our call. This is our mission. This is our culture. This is our joy. We are not a crowd. We're commissioned servants. We are not worshipers. We're warriors. We're spiritual warriors. We're not just attendees. We're ambassadors of the gospel of Jesus. If you're ready to step into no greater joy, the joy of the pursuit, today's the moment. Don't let it pass you because every minute matters and every soul matters. No greater joy until we join our pursuit in chasing down the one. Would you stand with me? We have prayer partners up here at the front. If you need ministry, if you need prayer, don't leave here without getting a touch. They prayed all week. They prepared all week to pray for you. Bow your heads and close your eyes for just a moment. You want to come home? It's today the day you come home. It's today the day that the Lord with his spirit has captured your heart. I'm going to make it really easy. I'm not going to make it weird for you. As you close your eyes and bow your heads, I want you to make that decision in your heart. You don't know what else is involved. You just want to be found. This is the moment.

It's a holy moment where you're opening up your heart, your mind, your soul to say, Jesus, I want to let you in. I believe that you are the son of God. That you live a sinless life. That you died for my sins and on the third day you rose again so I may have new life. Today, I choose you. I make you my Lord and Savior. I want you to come into my life. If that's you, would you raise your hand so I can pray for you? Jesus, thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Father God, I thank you. Lord, we love you. Be with these people that need ministry, that need prayer. Give them the boldness to walk out of that chair to come get prayer. And with every prayer partner, we love you. And I pray this in Jesus' mighty name. Church, can we give God praise for his worthiness coming to us today? Can we give God praise for his presence that was in the room. How he visited us.