Real, Deep Discipleship

Let's stand and worship the God who gave his only son for us out of love. Come sing with us this morning. Come all you weary. Come all you thirsty. Come to the well that never runs dry. Drink from the water. Come and thirst no more. Come all you sinners. Come find his mercy. Come to the table he will satisfy. Taste of his goodness. Find what you're looking for. For God so loved the world that he gave us. His one and only son to save us. Whoever believes in him will live forever. Bring all your failures. Bring your addictions. Come lay them down at the foot of the cross. Jesus is waiting there with open arms. For God so loved the world that he gave us. His one and only son to save us. Whoever believes in him will live forever. The power of hell forever defeated. Now in his world I'm walking in freedom. For God so loved. God so loved the world. Praise God. Praise God. Through him all blessings flow.

Praise him. Praise him. For the wonders of the world. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Through him all blessings flow. Praise him. Praise him. For God so loved the world that he gave us. His one and only son to save us. For God so loved the world that he gave us. His one and only son to save us. Whoever believes in him will live forever. The power of hell forever defeated. Now in his world I'm walking in freedom. For God so loved. God so loved the world. Bring all your failures. Bring your addictions. Come lay them down at the foot of the cross. Jesus is waiting. God so loved the world. Amen. Amen. Well, let's put our eyes on the screen and celebrate some baptisms this morning. That we can celebrate a new life in Christ. Let's stand. I'm gonna read over us some scripture this morning.

It's from 1 Peter. It says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed. field in the last time and that is a hope we can hold on to today that we have an imperishable inheritance that is waiting for us when we put our trust in Jesus and we know that anything we put our hope in in this world we learn over and over and again again that is going to fail us anything that we put our hope in in this world is going to eventually let us down but when we put our hope in Jesus we will not be let down we will not be put to shame and so let's remember that this morning as we praise Oh and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest bread but holy trust in Jesus name My hope is built My hope is built My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness I dare not trust

the sweetest bread but holy trust in Jesus name and Christ alone cornerstone weak made strong in the Saviour's love through the storm He is Lord Lord of all when darkness seems when darkness seems to hide His face I rest on His unchanging grace in every high and stormy game my anchor holds within the veil my anchor holds within the veil and Christ alone cornerstone weak made strong in the Saviour's love through the storm He is Lord Lord of all and He is Lord

He is Lord of all and Christ alone cornerstone weak made strong in the Saviour's love through the storm He is Lord Lord of all and Christ alone cornerstone weak made strong in the Saviour's love through the storm He is Lord Lord of all and He shall come and He shall come with trumpet sound O may I then in Him be found dressed in His righteousness alone All of our hope, Lord, it rests in the fact that you died for our sins, all of our sins. We are placing them on the cross, paying our penalty, Lord, and buried, and three days rose again, and we are risen with you, God. For this, we praise you. For this, we give you all of the praise for eternity, Lord. Our hope rests in you. Let's sing Christ. Christ alone, cornerstone, we've made it strong. In the Savior's love, through the storm, He is Lord, He's the Lord of all. Let's sing Christ. Christ alone, cornerstone, we've made it strong. In the Savior's love, through the storm, He is Lord, He's the Lord of all. Oh, thank you, Jesus. My gift of grace is Jesus, my Redeemer. There is no more for heaven now to give. He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom, my steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace.

To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus, for my life is only bound to His. Oh, how strange and divine, I can't sing. All is nigh, yet not I, but through Christ in me. The night is dark, but I am not forsaken, for by my side the Savior, He will stay. I never run in weakness and rejoicing, for in my need His power is displayed. To this I hold, my shepherd will defend me, through the deepest valley He will lead. Oh, the night has been won, and I shall overcome, yet not I, but through Christ in me. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Oh, that I dread, I know I am forgiven. The future's sure, the price it has been paid. For Jesus bled and suffered for my heart, and He was raised to own the cold and grave. To this I hold, my sin has been defeated. ♪ Jesus now and ever is my King ♪ ♪ All the chains are released, I can sing ♪ ♪ I am free, yet not I, I breathe Christ in thee ♪ ♪ In me, in me, in me, in me, in me, in me, in me, in me, in me ♪ Let's declare this with every prayer. ♪ With every prayer I long to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ For He has said that He will bring me home ♪ ♪ And day by day I know He will renew me ♪ ♪ Until I stand with joy before the throne ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus ♪ ♪ All the glory evermore to Him ♪ ♪ When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me to this I hold ♪ ♪ To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus ♪ ♪ All the glory evermore to Him ♪ ♪ When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me to this I hold ♪ ♪ When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me to this I hold ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me to this I hold ♪

♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me to this I hold ♪ ♪ Yet not I, yet not I, but through Christ in me to this I hold ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me to this I hold ♪ ♪ Yet not I, but through Christ in me to this I hold ♪ Here we are in the throne of God you can imagine in your mind everybody gather together, praising our Lord Jesus So we're gonna sing about this now that he is worthy, he is worthy of it all All the saints and angels bow before your throne And all the elders cast their crowns before the Lamb of God And sing, you are worthy of it all You are worthy of it all For from you are all things, and to you are all things You deserve the glory You are worthy, we praise you Lord We lift our voice, you are worthy, you are holy We sing this together All the saints All the saints and angels bow before your throne All the elders cast their crowns before the Lamb of God And sing, you are worthy of it all You are worthy of it all For from you are all things, and to you are all things ♪ You deserve the glory, we lift our voices ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all, all our praise ♪ ♪ You are worthy of it all, every step of every day ♪ ♪ For from You are all things, and to You are all things ♪ ♪ You deserve the glory, You deserve the glory, You deserve the glory ♪ ♪ Thou, O Lord, art high above all the earth ♪ ♪ Thou art exalted far above all the earth, far above all the earth ♪

♪ O Christ, we sing that He is above all things ♪ ♪ For Thou, O Lord, art high above all the earth ♪ ♪ Thou art exalted far above all the earth, far above all the earth ♪ ♪ Thou art exalted ♪ ♪ High and tall, hey ♪ ♪ High and tall, hey ♪ ♪ High and tall, hey ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, sing that again, high and tall, hey ♪ ♪ High and tall, hey, Lord, we lift you high ♪ ♪ High and tall, hey, Lord, sing that again ♪ ♪ High and tall, hey ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, sing that again, high and tall, hey ♪ ♪ For Thou, O Lord, art high above all the earth ♪ ♪ Thou art exalted far above all the earth ♪ ♪ Far above all the earth ♪ ♪ For Thou, O Lord, art high above all the earth ♪ ♪ Thou art exalted far above all the earth ♪ ♪ For Thou, we exalt Thee all together in one voice ♪ ♪ We exalt Thee, we exalt Thee, we exalt Thee, oh Lord ♪ One more time. ♪ We exalt Thee, we exalt Thee, we exalt Thee, oh Lord ♪ ♪ We exalt Thee, we exalt Thee, we exalt Thee, oh Lord ♪ That is our prayer this morning, Lord, that our whole lives would exalt to You, Lord, that we would live in constant submission to Your will, Lord, in constant walk with You. Lord, You are with us and we know that. Lord, would You just continue to help us lift our eyes to You and exalt Your name, remembering that You are above all things. Lord, we love You.

In Jesus name, amen, you can be seated. Amen. As y'all are taking your seats, I just wanna invite you in on a couple things that we have coming up. The first one is what's called Taste and See. This is a worship gathering. So on June 4th, we're gonna gather in here and we're gonna worship together. It's an evening thing. And then we are going to pray and we're gonna highlight some of our church planters that we support and that have gone out and we're gonna pray together. So I wanna encourage you to come and be a part of that on June 4th. And then secondly, we've also got our summer Bible study about to start up. So starting on June 9th, this summer, we're gonna tackle the book of Daniel. And it's a great chance to dive deeper into God's word. If you're not really, haven't really studied God's word in depth, this is a great time to do that. Because especially in the book of Daniel, what we'll find is we'll find some people who are living in a culture that is completely hostile to what they're used to and what they're about. And so how do we navigate that as followers of Jesus, as we dive in to the book of Daniel? That starts June 9th and it'll be an eight week study,

Tuesday nights for eight weeks, as we go through the book of Daniel together. So, and I'm really excited to this morning, as we get to worship together and we're gonna continue worshiping. What I'm most excited about is who's leading us today. So Tyler Moffitt will be out here in just a moment to lead us into God's word. And so Tyler is the director of discipleship at The Porch, which is in Dallas. It's a part of Watermark Church. But Tyler is, what you may not know is that Tyler also, he started his ministry right here at 121. So he was our student minister for several years and got to work with him. And you will just love the zeal and the intentionality that he brings as he opens God's word. And if you enjoy this space and this time, we also did a podcast episode on our Against the Grain podcast with Tyler. So you can hear more about what God's doing in him and showing him in that. But he's gonna continue leading us through 1 Thessalonians, because as a church, we've been working through that book of 1 Thessalonians. As part of our focus this year, what does it mean to be sent? And so just as a reminder, where we are is we've been talking about each and every one of us have been sent.

If you're a follower of Jesus, you've been sent. The only question is where? Is it across the globe or is it across the street? Where is Jesus sending you into? And hopefully throughout this year, we'll stir some of that up. We've been focusing on church planting and what is God doing to grow his church? And so we've been doing these mission moments. We're about to watch one here where we're gonna talk and we're just gonna see a little bit more about certain moments in history where God moved in big ways to grow his church. Let's watch. Around 385 AD, there was a teenager living a pretty normal life in Britain. He had a family, he had a home, he had a future ahead of him. But then one day, everything got ripped away. He was kidnapped, taken from everyone he loved and shipped off to a foreign land as a slave. 16 years old, no say in the matter, just gone. For six years, he worked as a shepherd, alone outside in the cold. No real future he could see, just him in the fields and a whole lot of silence. But here's what happened in that silence. He found God. Or maybe more accurately put, God found him. He started praying, not because a pastor told him to,

not because it was Sunday, but because he absolutely had nothing else. And the truth is, sometimes God uses the hardest seasons of our lives to get our full attention. Eventually he escaped, he made it back home, back to his family. He was involved in his local church that discipled him and helped him grow in his faith for years until one day he had a dream. Go back. Go back to the place that enslaved you. Go back to the place where people took everything from you. Not with anger, not to get even, but to tell them about Jesus. Because of that obedience, because one person said yes to something hard and uncomfortable, an entire nation heard the gospel and Ireland was transformed. We know this man today as St. Patrick. And every March 17th, the whole world remembers him. But here's what we should sit with today. God didn't use a perfect person with a perfect story. He used someone who had been through something, someone who got knocked down and met God in the middle of it. Someone who was willing to go back when everything in him probably said, don't. You have a role in God's mission too. Maybe it's not a foreign country.

Maybe it's your neighborhood, your job, the church you're already a part of, the city you already live in. The opportunity is closer than you think. Well, good morning to you on. 121 it is good being back. I love I just laughing back there that Mike was in green talking about st Patrick's that's just I'm sure that was coincidence, but Man as as Eric was sharing my name is Tyler and I was the high school minister here at 121 Through 2019 so I'm curious how many of you in 2019 or before were here at 121 you can just raise your hand loud and proud Okay, well, it's good to see you again. Okay. We've there we go But it's so good to be back There was just even a lot of emotions walking in just thinking about all the different memories and rap videos We made and worship nights upstairs and so many fun things In fact, my wife Jen and I actually got engaged here at 121 I think we have a picture of that right in front of the baptistry there. Yeah, so this is a really special place to be here Since since finishing up here in 2019 My wife and I went to Nashville For a little bit then we were in Houston for a little bit And then we've just recently moved back to Dallas at watermark as as Eric was sharing and and we loved it And my family has continued to expand. So we actually just had our fourth kid And so here's the last picture we had before the kid was born So in the middle is Emory my daughter and then I've got Ty who's on the left and Malachi on the right We call him the Malachi Kalachi. That guy is crazy. And then the new addition. I think we have a picture of him This is a little baby jet right there and we're just loving having him But again, just love being back You you have a great church and you also have a great pastor and I know the reason why there's so many guest speakers this summer is because Ross and Lisa are on sabbatical much much needed much deserved and But I just want to brag on them for a second and not a lot of people know this But when I came to 121, I was a single and Ross said hey, why don't you come live with me? So I actually lived at Ross's house. I know all the dirty secrets. Okay, and

And I loved it. Here's the thing. I worked out with Ross at lifetime. Okay, I got the experience. I Learned youth ministry from Ross. I I did my first wedding while I was here and he taught me all the stuff I I learned my first funeral how to learn all the stuff I learned evangelism from Ross and I learned how to pray from Lisa and I just love them Just want to honor them right at the beginning and you have you just need to know you have a great pastor here And I hope he comes back refreshed I remember actually I was here the last time he came back from a sabbatical and he sat on the stage and he just Boom, you know, so I'm I have high expectations for what he's gonna bring when he comes back Hey, let me pray for us and we're gonna dig into first Thessalonians. Let's pray Father we first off. We just thank you for this weekend I mean what an amazing and and sobering chance to thank those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country in Memorial Day Father as a bro, someone has a brother in the military some of my good friends in the military Lord I'm just so grateful for everyone who has served or is serving especially grateful for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice And God we we thank you for Jesus the one who also sacrificed at great cost To purchase freedom for us and God I pray this morning that we get an encounter with you Lord We don't just want more intellect We want an encounter with the Living God So come Holy Spirit, would you invade this place and would none of us be able to leave? Unchanged after an encounter with you in Jesus name. Amen All right. Well if you have your Bible if you'll turn in your Bible to 1st Thessalonians chapter 2, I don't know about you I have loved following along through this series and just this book that often gets forgotten it packs such a punch of truth and of discipleship and of the end times and everything that you could imagine is in this book and and We've looked at some of the background in Acts chapter 17 when Paul Planted this church and we know when he got to Thessalonica, he preached the gospel and this church just exploded I mean it took off and he and Silas are going around and as the church exploded So did criticism and persecution and suffering and hardship

In fact, there's a moment in Acts 17 when a mob forms and they say this about Paul and Silas They say these men who have turned the world upside down and I just love that There are times over with my young adults I go Oh God Would you raise up some young adults who will turn the world upside down in the best possible way started with me? And yet this mob kicks him out and Paul is trying to go back multiple times He tries to go back and he's unable and so he finally writes this letter and and he gives some of the heart in the Little section that we're gonna read Today he gives some of the heart behind why he was not able to go back and we actually see through Paul What true discipleship looks like real life on life Experiential discipleship. So let's read it. It's just a few verses 1st Thessalonians 2 starting in verse 17 Paul says But since we were torn away from you brothers for a short time in person not in heart We endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face-to-face Because we wanted to come to you. I Paul again and again, but Satan hindered us verse 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before the Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and our joy All right, we're just gonna look at that short section But there's a lot in here and what we see Paul just I don't know about you It's sometimes we look up to all these leaders and then there's moments where they they show us their heart And then what we see here is Paul's heart and as he shows us his heart We see his secret sauce for discipleship and it's really three things The first thing that we see in order to experience deep discipleship what you have to do in your life The first is you have to give your whole heart. You have to give your whole heart. Let's read again first Thessalonians to start in verse 17 Paul says but since we were torn away from you brothers for a short time in person not in heart We endeavored the more eagerly with great desire to see you face-to-face Because we wanted to come to you. We'll stop there So you can hear Paul's heart in this section he says we endeavored

Eagerly with great desire we wanted in fact that word eagerly is the Greek word Spudazzo, which means to the max effort with full zeal So Paul said this was not like drive-by evangelism where I just okay you hear the gospel. I'm gone He's like I loved you. I was invested in you I got to know you on an emotional level and so that's why he says it felt like we were torn away When we had to leave I'm just curious. Have you ever had something or someone torn away from you in your life? And I mean to this day it still hurts when you think back to that When we moved up here to Dallas a little over a year ago My my we brought three kids at the time and my dog. My dog's name is Atlas I think we have a picture of him. So this is Jen and Atlas together and He's Avishla if you've ever heard of Avishla but we'd always it's funny we'd go out on walks with our kids and and We'd have all of our cute kids and people would stop and talk about our dog, you know, and but anyway, so Jen Yeah, I'm gonna share it. I didn't know if I would but I'm gonna share it. So Jen got Atlas about a month before she met me and the reason why she was a teacher in Dallas She said I don't want to be an old cat lady. So I'm just gonna get a dog so that doesn't happen Then she met me a month later. So single people maybe get Avishla, but uh But so she gets him and then she's just been his day her day one I mean he everywhere Jen would go Atlas would go and then I stepped onto the scene there was a little power struggle between men for the same girl You know, I won and yet he and I eventually bonded and he'd be my running buddy and everywhere We've been Atlas has gone with us. So last summer my my daughter my oldest daughter Emery She we were at a camp and she kind of broke her foot Not too bad, but she had to wear a boot. And so one morning at 2 a.m She's walking down the hall to come into our room She just stomp stomp and Atlas is in our room And when she opens the door, it just freaked him out and he attacked her and bit her and we're shocked I mean, it's 2 in the morning. I didn't know murder scene going on I'm trying to figure out you know, what's happening and I realized oh no

Atlas has bit our daughter there have been a couple scares, but this one was bad We took her to the hospital and then they had to do a report on our dog and all this and we just went with A baby on the way. We're like we can't have him around. So what do we do? We ended up finding a couple who would take him and we sent him away and I remember some of you've had this before whether you had to put a dog down or send him away or a Person that you weren't gonna see in a while But I remember that night before all of us crying and holding him and he has no idea, you know He's like, I love the attention. It's like man. We're never gonna see you again And it just we felt torn away from him Now the end of the story is we he actually went to a empty Nestor couple in Florida So he's living it up on the beach, you know, he doesn't remember us. We felt torn away from him But but this is the risk, right? This is the risk of investing fully into a relationship because they can hurt you if they leave. I mean, parents in the room with kids, you invest in your kids, you invest in their kids, and then they grow up and they go, I don't really wanna go home for Christmas. I don't really wanna see you this summer. They marry someone who doesn't like you, and all of a sudden, you feel like you lost your kid. Or they grow up and deny the faith so much that you invested. Is there a pain like that? Being in student ministry and young adult ministry, I've seen mamas crying, sobbing over their lost kids, torn away. I mean, sometimes it's a dating relationship, right? You're thinking, this is the one, man.

Like, we're going to the altar, we got a whole life together, and then they go, yeah, I don't think this is gonna work out. I'm breaking up with you. And you just see the heartbreak of that, right? Or a spouse who decides to go a different direction, or whether it's a job where they manage you out, right? But you saw your future there. Torn away hurts. And that happens one or two times, and you go, I'm not doing this. I'm not investing fully again, because I don't want the pain. And so what we do is we settle for superficial relationship. We don't discipline our kids because we want them to like us. And so we maintain superficial relationship. We're not honest in dating relationship because we don't want them to break up. So as long as I say all the right things and do all the right things, they will make it. We don't fully share in community because we don't want the people in our small group to judge us. I mean, this is real life, what Paul's saying here. And yet, deep relationship takes your whole heart. Takes your whole heart. It takes being fully honest, even in the midst of conflict. In fact, especially in conflict.

I have up in my office just this sign that says conflict is opportunity for discipleship. And I have to remember now as I lead a team that, hey, look, there's gonna be conflict. And rather than run from that, I need to run to it. Because it's not despite conflict. It's in conflict that you grow. I was thinking back to my wedding day, the day I was married, to Jen, six months or so after I popped the question right here. And I'm looking at everyone that's there at my wedding. And it was right before Jen came out. So all the groomsmen are out, all the bridesmaids are out. I'm just looking around and just kind of enjoying, soaking it all in. And then I look over at my groomsmen. I just remember thinking, oh, these are my guys. These are my boys. These are the ones that are with me to the end. And this happened to me at my wedding. I'm up there, and then it starts to come into my brain. I start thinking about all the conflict I've had with each one of these guys. I thought about my brother. My parents bought us boxing gloves growing up so that we would punch each other and not draw blood. I thought about my friend, Scott, whose dad was not a Christian. And when I was in elementary school, I told him, your dad's going to hell, sorry.

And then he went and told his mom in conflict, you know? I thought about my friend, Kevin, who I'm like, you're like the worst person I've ever been around. I don't even think you're a Christian. And we made it through that. And he's standing at my wedding. Like all these guys. Here's the thing about conflict. It's a test. Are you gonna push in? You gonna go deeper? You gonna be honest? Or are you gonna stay superficial? And deep relationships take honesty. So here's the question. Who are you giving your whole heart to? Maybe a better question is, who should you be? Is there anyone right now that you are holding back because you're so afraid of them being torn away? You're so afraid of if I say that, they may leave. They may go. And the crazy, delicate reality of relationships is they might. And yet you will not have real relationship if you stay superficial. You have to go deep in your marriage, in your dating relationships, in your small group, with your friendships, with your kids. You have to. If you're holding back on being honest

because it's too risky, then you're holding out on the relationship. The way to deep relationship, the way to true discipleship is honesty. So ask God to teach you how to wholeheartedly love again. That's the first one. We see Paul here with this discipleship relationship. We watch him basically modeling, giving his whole heart in this relationship. That's the first thing. You have to give your whole heart. The second, if you wanna experience deep relationship, deep discipleship, is you have to be aware of Satan's schemes. You have to be aware of Satan's schemes. Let's look back at. Verse 17, kinda halfway through, we're gonna watch this play out. Look at verse 17, he says, halfway through he says, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face. Verse 18, because we wanted to come to you, I, Paul, again and again, but Satan hindered us. Okay, so Paul says, you guys think I just kinda experienced this and then never wanted to be around? He goes, no, no, no, I've been trying to get around you over and over and over. And he said, but Satan hindered me. And that's the reason why. Now, as I was studying this, I go, what does it mean to have Satan hinder you?

Is that happening right now in this room? We're wanting something, Satan's hindering? The Greek word for hinder is the word enkopta, which is a military term which means to dig a trench or to break up a road to deter the enemy. And we're actually seeing this happen in the world right now in the Strait of Hormuz, right? None of you knew what the Strait of Hormuz was a few months ago, now we all know what it is. Where Iran, I mean, think about it, there's a passageway where all oil's supposed to go through and then Iran's deterring it, they're hindering it. They're going, we don't want it to go through and now I'm paying $4 at Costco yesterday because of the Strait of Hormuz. And this is the idea of hindering. The reality is this, Satan hates kingdom work. He hates it, he hates influential people and he hates eyeball to eyeball interaction, face to face. Why? Because something happens when you go face to face with somebody, we know this. It's easy to hate all kinds of people from a distance. It's easy to hate people groups or political parties or that school or that sports team or that denomination but you get down, you sit next to them eyeball to eyeball, you realize, ah, I think you can be a Texas Longhorn and love Jesus, like that's crazy, right? I won't tell you now, I'm sorry, I just had to. There you are, see, I like you people.

I'm kidding, see, eyeball to eyeball, you Longhorns, maybe after her we can love each other. But this is the truth, it's actually been proven, it's been proven scientifically that when you get eyeball to eyeball with something, something happens in the brain, oxytocin's released. Arthur Brooks, who's an author, speaker, Harvard professor, he has a list of, for couples who are struggling, he has a list of five or six things to do to become intimate again, to restore intimacy and one of his things he calls the five-minute oxytocin exercise. He says, if you wanna get close with your spouse, like you really wanna go for it, he says then, five minutes before you go to sleep with your spouse, hold their hand and stare deeply into their eyes for five minutes. Yeah, some of you are laughing, you're like, that would be the most awkward thing I've ever done in my life and that's why you're not intimate, okay? But no, he said, do it, he said, you laugh. But what happens is, oxytocin in the brain just starts to fire with touch and with sight as you look someone eyeball to eyeball. This happens with your spouse, but this happens in relationship and that's why Satan doesn't want eyeball to eyeball. This is why COVID was so destructive, right? Because social distancing made it

so we don't have to look at each other in the eye and all of a sudden, of course, we got all kinds of tension throughout our country and so Satan's hindrance is often keeping us from looking at our eyes. So here's the question, before we move on to something else, who is Satan hindering you from going eyeball to eyeball with right now? Are you aware of that and are you even compliant? I mean, maybe for some of you, you're in deep conflict with someone. They hurt you, you hurt them. Something happened years ago, months ago and you talk to everyone else about what they did and about them rather than them. And in the midst of that, you're just growing further and further and yet Jesus commands in Matthew chapter five. He says, if you're at the 915 service of 121 Community Church, this is my version, but if you're in a worship service offering your worship and you realize someone has something against you, leave your gift at the altar and go be reconciled to your brother. That's what Jesus says. Go leave the 915, go pull out your phone, be reconciled. I don't really care about your worship until you're reconciled eyeball to eyeball or at least you've done the work to go as far as it depends on me,

live peaceably with all, it's forgiveness. Maybe you're at home and you're addicted to this thing and your life is staring at this. And I'm writing this sermon this week, putting it all together. Oh God, that's good. Then all of a sudden I'm getting a few days ago, I'm on my phone. I'm just doing an email or searching something and my two-year-old Malachi Malachi Kalachi. He comes over to me daddy Daddy, daddy. I'm funny daddy. Get off your phone That's what he said. I'm convicted by a two-year-old and so I put away my phone. I'm like, I'm sorry, buddy What's up? Can I have a snack? You know, okay. Well the conviction came through Maybe you need to get off your maybe your home life You're as a parents like the memory that your little kids will have of you is this It's what they'll remember This backside of your phone Maybe you work remote in this season and all of your life. All your interactions are virtual It's very rare like you're in here You're like people, you know Human beings and just your whole world is virtual and and you have to fight to go eyeball to eyeball with people It's interesting though, you know Satan hinders Paul. He I don't know how exactly he did it, but he hindered him He kept Paul from going face to face with the Thessalonians and yet Paul Paul changed strategies. He went Okay, I'm not gonna go in person. So I'm just gonna write this letter and Many people think the letter of 1st Thessalonians is the first letter that he ever wrote So Paul is thinking Satan's hindering me and so it's not as good But I'm gonna write this letter and think about what this letter went on to do This letter gets circulated among the Thessalonians and then beyond and Paul writes 12 more letters 13 Pauline epistles that become half of the New Testament that we 2,000 years later are now studying. So here's the reality Even what Satan is hindering in your life

God can use for his own purposes and for his own glory I mean This is the story of Genesis chapter 50 verse 20 what the enemy meant for evil what you meant for evil God means for good We see this all over the place in life You see this with the diagnosis that someone maybe you or someone in your family gets and it's so devastating you God God, how could you do this? And yet many times it's that very thing that brings intimate relationship That brings those who are far off in that brings those who are far from the Lord To come to know Jesus through this horrific thing you know, maybe it's Conflict in your life like we talked about earlier that leads to deepening of relationship and forgiveness that you go Wow, we're actually better because of that Maybe it's job loss Some of you have had where you lose your job and you think that's the end This is it and it leads to something better I don't know if I need to change microphones, by the way, if that's helpful, you can just run it up and I'll take it But whatever these things are here's the reality it's not prosperity gospel This is God continues to use the very things that the enemy means for evil and he uses it for good What you are experiencing right now may be from Satan We feel weird sometimes saying that but it might and yet don't count God out in What he can use in the midst of that thing to draw your heart and those around you closer to him Look at what Charles Spurgeon says Spurgeon says Supposing that we have ascertained that hindrances in our way really come from Satan. What then I Have but one piece of advice and that is go on Hindrance or no hindrance in the path of duty as God the Holy Ghost enables you. I love that It's this freedom to go. All right, whether Satan's gonna hinder me or not. I'm gonna continue to go I'm gonna continue to trust that God is doing something that I can't see and I'm gonna trust him So two questions before we move on first, where is Satan hindering you in your life?

Where is their broken relationship or difficulty that that are you one? Are you aware of it and two are you actively fighting against it? Think about what first Peter 5 says it says that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion Seeking whom to devour like he desires to devour you He hates you and many of us live like he doesn't exist The second question though is how is God potentially using Satan's hindrance? For his own purposes and glory in your life Don't count God out Maybe you're here at church this morning because you just need that Reminder of faith that mark 9 declaration of I believe help my unbelief God even in the midst of this You are doing something. I can't see and I trust you and I love you and show me give me your eyes Give me heaven's eyes for this situation How do you experience deep discipleship real discipleship? Number one, you have to give your whole heart number two You have to be aware aware of Satan's schemes. And then number three, last one. You find your crown and joy in other people. You find your crown and your joy in other people. Let's look at verse 19. Verse 19 says, Paul says, for what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and our joy. So Paul's big crescendo moment here is he goes, you, Thessalonian church, you are our glory, you're our joy, you're our crown. Now, if you remember the background here, the people experienced this growth of church and then Paul, the one who planted it,

is gone and they never see him again. And many of them, in the midst of persecution, are wondering, man, did he forget about us? Are we nothing to him? Are we just gone? And he goes, no, you have to understand, you're our crown. You're my boast. Like I go around the world talking about you. He says, more than that, you're not only our crown, you're our joy and our hope that one day when we stand before God, we're gonna bring you up. He says, you're our boast. Now, as I was studying this, I was a little, I'm like, wow, that's cool. But also, shouldn't we only boast in God? Like, what are you talking about, boasting in people? 1 Corinthians 1 31 says, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. And yet, if you zoom out, you see what Paul's doing. Paul is not boasting in people instead of Christ. He's boasting in the work of Christ through people. So this is not self-exalting pride, this is spiritual delight. It's the idea of a parent with their child. We see this in this time of year, right? It's graduation season. And so as these graduates are walking across the stage, you look across at grandma and grandpa and mom and dad, sisters, and what you see is boast and crown and joy and this idea of, oh, all the pain

and the sacrifice and all the things we experience. All of that, right, is worth it because we're watching what they are walking across the stage. And Paul says, on the eternal graduation day, I've got you in mind. I've got the, my investment in you is worth it because of your faithfulness with Christ. So I'm curious, what is your hope, joy, and crown of boasting in now? And the secret sauce is something unlocks when you begin to find that in other people rather than yourself. It's been interesting, even when Ross reached out about, hey, will you come back to 121? I hadn't really been back. And so it's wild walking around, seeing so many of your faces. I just recognize many of you, thinking about memories. And one of the memories that came back as I was preparing for this was, I remember when I first got on staff, Ross kind of recruited me to be here and I just went everywhere that he went. He was my boss and I just, everything he did, I did. And he's teaching me everything. It was amazing. And I remember him telling me about this guy, this graduate from A&M that was graduating and was looking to get into ministry.

And his name was Landon Lacey, who preached here a couple of weeks ago. And he said, Tyler, do you want Landon to be your intern? And I'm like, yeah, this would be awesome. So he comes, he's interning with me. We're making rap videos. It's great. And then Ross asked him to teach a young adult Bible study at his house. And so I got my intern, Landon. I'm like, let me tell you how to do a Bible study. And I'm teaching him the Bible. I'm showing him. And Landon goes and does this first Bible study and it's good. I mean, it's really good. To quote Elf, it's a little too good, you know? And I'm watching it and he's finding stuff in scripture I never saw. And he's making people laugh like I can't. And I'm like, oh no, you know, this is not good. And Ross starts bringing him everywhere and then asks him to preach on the stage and he kills it. And I'm like, oh no, my intern. And I remember this little jealousy started to creep up that saw this guy who was a friend, who was a ministry partner become a threat to my ministry. And then I remember having a moment, I think I was upstairs in the student area, but I remember kind of having to get down on my knees

and just surrender my friendship with Landon to God. And I remember just kind of going, God, Landon is not a threat to me. Landon, I wanna invest in his account. It says about the good soil that it's gonna reap 30, 60, 100 fold. I believe that's true of Landon. I wanna invest in it. He's not a threat. Threat, he's my friend, he's my partner. It's interesting as we both kind of win our separate ways, eventually when I got married, Landon was one of those guys that was standing next to me on the stage. Then when he got married, he asked me to officiate his wedding. And as we've done ministry together, we call each other where, I mean, yesterday, he's telling me, I'm on a run, I'm praying for you. You know, like we bonded together and Landon Lacey is a crown of ministry for me. See, some of us, when that jealousy starts to creep up, we start to think, man, you're coming for my crown. This is my crown, this is my glory, this is my joy and you're taking it from me. And yet the reality is the kingdom of God is upside down. And we see the very people who are after our glory and instead we see it switches. And Paul models, hey, when you begin to invest in that account, growth happens.

And in eternity, we will rejoice in what ministry has been able to been done as we bond together. This is so counter-cultural today because we're so quick to see people as a means to an end rather than seeing them as a crown. My mentor, Paul Helbig would always say this. He'd say, I wanna leverage my life for the two things that last forever, the word of God and the souls of men. And then another mentor has told me, he said, my fruit grows best on other people's trees. I love that, that is discipleship at its best. Who is God calling you to invest in in this season? I think a lot of times what we think is, who is the non-threatening person that I can meet with once a week and have a Bible study? And I would just say, maybe who's the threatening person that Satan wants you to hate and compare yourself with? They're doing better at you and your job. They got better kids than you do. They got a better lawn than yours, right? And yeah, God's going, no, no, no, I want you to invest in that account. And you help sow into what will build 30, 60, 100 fold. Who is your crown? Not your God, but your fruit, your investment, your joy. How do you have real life discipleship? True life-giving transformational discipleship, number one, you have to give your whole heart,

not part of it, your whole heart. Number two, you must be aware of Satan's schemes. Number three, you need to find your crown and joy in other people. I just wanna end quickly thinking about Jesus. So we've been talking a lot, pretty practically about other people, but just think of, this hit me the other day, just thinking about Jesus. Jesus went around and to those future disciples, do you remember what he told them to do? He said, follow me, right? See the direction I'm going, see the life that I'm living and imitate my life and follow me, is what Jesus says. This is, yes, follow me. This is the truth though. This is the truth that so many times we think discipleship is only what Jesus does. Instead of, discipleship is actually a Jewish term that Jesus kind of stole. Disciple just means learner or imitator or follower. And Jesus said, yeah, I want you to do that, but make me primary. Every one of us in here, we're already a disciple of something. Whether it's our work, whether it's politics, whether it's entertainment, friends, family, we're all disciples. Jesus says, I want you to be disciple primarily of me. And this is what got Jesus killed.

Because they go, hey, we're good with learning from you. We just don't wanna surrender fully to you. And yet Jesus goes, for those who follow me fully, you're gonna do these three things that Paul just modeled for us. Number one, you're gonna give me your whole heart. I mean, think about the greatest commandment. Matthew chapter 22, verse 37. Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. It's like the number one commandment is give God your whole heart. That's number one. Number two is you need to be aware of Satan's schemes. Paul later in 2 Corinthians four, verse four, will say in their case, in the case of non-believers, the God of this world, that is Satan, has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing what? The light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Satan is trying to blind us from being able to see Jesus in who he really is. And so we have to ask, like I just read this week in Psalm 119, open my eyes, then I may behold wondrous things out of your word. Oh, don't let Satan keep me from seeing Jesus as he really is. And then number three is to find your crown and your joy in Christ, to see.

Him as the greatest treasure. Philippians 3, 7 and 8, Paul says, but whatever gain I had, I counted as a loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I've suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. I was thinking for many of you, maybe it's been a while since you've stepped into a church building and you're checking this thing out and we're good with Jesus as long as he doesn't ask too much. Some of us, I mean, it's Dallas, right? I mean, we're good at playing the Christian game. It feels good to get dressed up and we get to do brunch after this, it's gonna be nice. Jesus, I'll give you enough that it's good for my family, it's good for my career and it's good for my life. The second it costs me something though, I'm not there. And Jesus goes, real discipleship to me, real following after me is your whole heart, nothing you're holding back. Gets scary at that point. And yet life opens up to you. I just see thousands of young adults that show up on Tuesday, the porch. So many of them are coming in,

they think they've cracked the code, man. I got the best job, I got the best girl, I got the best guy, I got tons of money, I'm killing it. And I just start my clock, man. We'll see how long that lasts, just telling you. Eventually your job, your relationship, your friends, your status, it will fail you. Jesus never will, but he calls for all of your life in discipleship to him. Or maybe today God is calling you to the deep end of the pool of discipleship. He's calling you to take discipleship of others in your life to the next level and to be wholehearted, aware of Satan's schemes, seeing other people not as threats, but as a crown and a joy. And I wonder if, what if each one of us leaving today would go, okay, I know who that person is. I'm gonna reach out to them this week and I'm gonna start discipleship in their life, pouring my heart into them. Maybe it's your spouse or your kids or your neighbors, your small group, friendships, whatever it is. Here's the reality. We'll end with this. True discipleship comes at great cost, but leads to great glory and joy. I'm gonna pray for us and then just give us a minute to kind of sit and think through this and then I'll wrap it up here at the end.

Father, we thank you for the reality that discipleship to you, though it is a high call, Lord, there is great treasure that is found in discipleship to Jesus. Father, I thank you that for me, you've taken me to the deep end of the pool a few times in discipleship and I wanna go deeper. God, I wanna go deeper. And I pray that that would be true for each of us. Would our relationships in this room go to the next level as we give our whole heart, aware of the enemy's schemes, seeing other people as a crown, all for your glory. God, would your kingdom be a treasure that's worth giving everything for. Would we experience that? Come, Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name. Would you just take a minute in silence and let's just think about this and I ask God to speak to you right now.