The Invitation Is Real | Kyle Idleman

with Southeast Christian Church. My name is Stephen and we are thrilled that you are joining us. I'm not an unusual spot. I'm outside of our South Louisville campus. We're located just off of downtown Louisville across from Churchill Downs. And we are excited that you are joining us as always. We wanna be a voice in your life to encourage you in your faith journey. You can always write in our addresses right there in the description. We have a volunteer team that might write you back, but always praise for you. And hit subscribe while you're there. 35,000 at least have hit subscribe. Join in, that way you can join into the great content that we're putting out every single week to help support you in your journey. But right now we are wrapping up a series. It's called The Kingdom is Real and it's from our senior pastor today, Kyle Eidelman. And you know, I hello inside track as Kyle has told me before that one of his goals as a dad is that his kids know that the kingdom is real. And so I can hear this in the title knowing that that's on his heart and he wants you to know that too, that the kingdom is in fact real. And today's message is all about that invitation. What if you have understood that the kingdom is real for you,

Kyle is gonna invite you in to respond and we cannot wait for you to hear this. It's gonna be the heartbeat of the gospel, the central message of what Jesus is saying to all of us. That's what today's message is all about. So I hope that gets you excited. I hope that makes you tune in. For some of you, it's gonna remind you of a commitment you've made and that you reaffirm that. But for others of you, this might be that moment. So we wanna invite you in to that journey and in that space. So before we happen to worship, can I pray for you, can I pray that you are ready to receive something special from God? And then let's worship together. God, I pray for the men and women across the country, across the world right now through a panda that are gonna hear this message today. That's your message, God. That you're gonna speak through that. You're gonna transform hearts and minds through the tablet that they're holding, but it's not that. It's the power of your word to showing up in new ways. So God, be with us today. I hope all of us are reminded of just how big and enormous your grace is. Join us in worship, join us in prayer and join us in the word today and every day. So right now, God, join us as we all join in worship together.

(upbeat music) Oh, come on, get those hands together, church. (upbeat music) ♪ I praise in the valley ♪ ♪ I praise on the mountain ♪ ♪ I praise when I'm sure ♪ ♪ I praise when I'm downing ♪ ♪ I praise when I'm number ♪ ♪ I praise when surrounding ♪ ♪ 'Cause praise is the waters ♪ ♪ My enemies drowning ♪ ♪ So as long as I'm breathing ♪ ♪ I've got a scope ♪ ♪ Of my soul ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Of my soul ♪ ♪ I praise when I'm feeling ♪ ♪ I praise when I don't ♪ ♪ I praise 'cause I'm number ♪ ♪ You're still in control ♪ ♪ I praise is a weapon ♪ ♪ It's more than a sound ♪ ♪ Oh, come on, it's a shot ♪ ♪ My praise is a shot ♪ ♪ That breaks every cool down ♪ ♪ As long as I'm breathing ♪ ♪ I've got a reason to praise ♪ ♪ To the Lord of my soul ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord of my soul ♪ ♪ No, I won't be quiet ♪

♪ My God is alive ♪ ♪ So how could I keep it inside ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord of my soul ♪ I hope you came to praise the Lord this morning. Come on, this is why we praise you sing with him. ♪ I praise 'cause you're soft ♪ ♪ Praise 'cause you're brave ♪ ♪ I praise 'cause you're old and defeated ♪ ♪ That grave ♪ ♪ I praise 'cause you're faithful ♪ ♪ Praise 'cause you're true ♪ ♪ Praise 'cause there's nobody ♪ ♪ I'll praise 'cause you're sorry ♪ ♪ Praise 'cause you're ready ♪ ♪ Praise 'cause you're old and defeated the grave ♪ ♪ I'll praise 'cause you're fake ♪ ♪ Praise 'cause you're true ♪ ♪ Praise ♪ ♪ Oh, come on, everybody, you slay ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, hold my soul ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, hold my soul ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, hold my soul ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, hold my soul ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, hold my soul ♪ ♪ Oh, no, I won't be quiet ♪ ♪ My God is alive, so how could I keep it inside ♪ ♪ Oh, no, I won't be quiet ♪ ♪ My God is alive, so how could I keep it inside ♪ ♪ Oh, no, I won't be quiet ♪ ♪ My God is alive, so how could I keep it inside ♪

♪ Oh, no, I won't be quiet ♪ ♪ My God is alive, so how could I keep it inside ♪ ♪ Oh, no, I won't be quiet ♪ ♪ My God is alive, so how could I keep it inside ♪ ♪ Oh, no, I won't be quiet ♪ ♪ My God is alive, so how could I keep it inside ♪ ♪ Oh, no, I won't be quiet ♪ ♪ My God is alive, so how could I keep it inside ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Oh, my God, you're with a love raised ♪ ♪ Oh, God, you're with a love raised ♪ ♪ As your everything come on, let's say Christ ♪ ♪ Invisible, made visible ♪ ♪ Christ, the whole for all the world to know ♪ ♪ The only way to the Father, the only one who redeems our show ♪ ♪ He's the only one ♪ ♪ Christ, the Son of God, the Son of man ♪ ♪ Christ, the reason He the great I am ♪ ♪ The only way to the Father, the only one who can make us whole ♪ ♪ We believe there is no other one who's holding me so holy ♪ ♪ No other one who's worthy so worthy ♪ ♪ And I've been compared to you and slowly in power ♪ ♪ In Him, through Him, for Him ♪ ♪ He's everything, yes He was, God ♪ ♪ Oh, you're everything ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Our Christ is silent rock the cornerstone ♪ ♪ Christ, through Him, He's sleeping on His throne ♪ ♪ He made a leap of this feeling ♪ ♪ And made a way that we only could ♪

♪ Thank You, Jesus ♪ ♪ There is no other one who's holding me so holy ♪ ♪ No other one who's worthy so worthy ♪ ♪ And I've been compared to you and slowly in power ♪ ♪ In Him, through Him, for Him ♪ ♪ He's everything in Him, through Him, for Him ♪ ♪ He's everything, yes You are, God ♪ ♪ Oh, you're everything ♪ ♪ We worship You ♪ ♪ He's the cross and resurrection ♪ ♪ He's the fire and the wind ♪ ♪ He was there in the beginning ♪ ♪ And He'll be there in the end ♪ ♪ He's the first to last the only one to never know defeat ♪ ♪ He's the reigning King of heaven ♪ ♪ The God of victory come on ♪ ♪ He's the fire ♪ ♪ He was there in the beginning ♪ ♪ Oh, He's the first to last the only one to never know defeat ♪ ♪ He's the reigning King of heaven ♪ ♪ The God of victory ♪ ♪ Oh, we sing in Him, through Him, for Him ♪ ♪ He's everything in Him, through Him ♪ Is everything in Him, through Him for Him? There is no other who holds on in, so holy and no other one Who is worthy, so worthy, that He compares to His glory and power In Him, but through Him, always everything When worship you, we can do it all Is everything in Him, through Him for Him There is everything in Him, through Him for Him

Is everything in Him, through Him for Him? Amen, Church, we believe those words. There is no one like our God, no one like Him. Amen, let's go and take a seat together this morning. We are going to continue in a time of worship through communion right now. As we take communion together, we are reminded of the love of Jesus, a love like no other. Jesus who sacrificed Himself on a cross to forgive us of our sins, so that we may be brought near to God. That's the good news. So as you take those elements right now, you can do that. Right now, the bread, which represents Christ's body, which is broken for you. The cup, which holds Christ's blood, that was shed for you. And as you take those elements, just take a moment to meditate with the Lord and thank Him for all that He's done, all that we'll do. And with whatever we're bringing in here today with, you know, what crazy weeks we may have had, the chaos of the weekend, the Lord knows everything, He knows your story, He knows your heart, and He holds your life in the palm of His hand. And Jesus is the only name that can save, the only name that can heal, and the only name that can truly transform. So take a moment, meditate with the Lord, thank Him, and you can take Him in whenever you're ready. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] ♪ It's sweet ♪

♪ This is something passionate ♪ ♪ This is something passionate ♪ ♪ This is something passionate ♪ ♪ It makes me cry holy ♪ ♪ There is no other name but yours ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, you're worthy ♪ ♪ This is something passionate ♪ ♪ This is something passionate ♪ ♪ This is something passionate ♪ ♪ That makes us cry holy crying out to you God ♪ ♪ There is no other name I know ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ There is no other name ♪ ♪ Jesus, you're worthy ♪ ♪ You are, you are, yes ♪ ♪ Oh, you can have my heart ♪ ♪ Oh, it's already yours ♪ ♪ It's already yours ♪ ♪ Oh, we magnify the name ♪ ♪ Who is a life lord in all the earth ♪ ♪ Who is a life lord ♪ ♪ So Jesus, you're worthy ♪ ♪ You say, oh, warning light ♪ ♪ The one that taught me ♪ ♪ Can't deny the resurrection and the light ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ And Jesus, you're worthy ♪ ♪ You say, you're worthy ♪

♪ You make the song you sing ♪ ♪ You never fail ♪ ♪ You never will change ♪ ♪ Jesus, the bread of life ♪ ♪ Go deep through us ♪ ♪ Who holds it in the worthy one ♪ ♪ The first of all ♪ ♪ It's here to come ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, let me ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ The great, the Lord ♪ ♪ Who will forever reign ♪ ♪ To name above ♪ ♪ All of us is Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name ♪ ♪ Jesus, be the name of life ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, be the name ♪ ♪ That gets song ♪ ♪ He sees us be the name ♪ ♪ He sees us be the name of love at all ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, be the name ♪ ♪ That gets song of death and glory ♪ ♪ He sees us be the name ♪ ♪ He sees us be the name ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus, be the name ♪ ♪ That gets song ♪ ♪ He sees us be the name of life ♪ ♪ He sees us be the name ♪ ♪ He sees us be the name ♪

♪ Oh, Jesus, be the name ♪ ♪ That gets song ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ You can have my heart gone ♪ ♪ You can have it all alone ♪ ♪ Oh, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ Oh, who could play ♪ ♪ Who could feel like you can ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know we're life alone ♪ So there's just something about your name There's just something about your name that makes us cry There is no other name I know There is no other name There is no other name Jesus you're worthy Jesus we just declare that your name is above every other name and we want to speak your name over some areas of our life today We want to speak your name over fear A lot of things we don't get to control in this world and we are reminded of. Your name is greater. God, we speak your name over sickness. We speak your name over shame. God, we speak your name over addiction. God, we speak your name over the conflicts that we just can't seem to settle. We speak your name over that, Jesus. God, we believe that when it's all said and done, your name will be the only name left standing. So we speak that name together as a church. Church, let's just do that. All of us together on the count of three, let's speak the name of Jesus. One, two, three. - Jesus. - Jesus, it's in your name, we pray. Amen.

Let's be seated. Well, I hope you had a good weekend. You should have had a good weekend. Like no matter what campus you're at, whether you're in Kentucky or Indiana or Tennessee, pretty good day for you yesterday. Louisville One, Kentucky One, IU One, Bandi One, like it's one of those days. You should be coming into church, ready to worship, feeling pretty good. If you're watching this online and you're cheering for one of those teams, same on you. When your team loses, you remember this. Like you remember this moment, you decided to stay home today. A pretty amazing day yesterday. I can't tell you something even more amazing that happened yesterday and the day before, is our church gathered about 10,000 plus volunteers across 12 different campuses. And we packed over two million meals. (audience applauding) Like picture for a moment, Nissan Stadium in Nashville where the Titans play 70,000 fans filling that place as a church. It's like we gave a meal to every single person in that stadium and it's like we did that 30 times. And think of this stadium as being filled with people who are hungry, people who don't have a meal from different parts of the world.

And so we say it all the time around here. Like we want to unleash the full force of the church to love people one at a time. And some of you here think like, well, what's that mean? Okay, well, this is what that means. This is what it looks like when the full force of the church comes together. So thank you for serving and thank you for your faithful giving. Like we get to do things like this. We get to say yes to things like this because of your moved generosity, because of your faithfulness and giving. And what I just love about this is like every one of those meals is given out in the name of Jesus. A long time ago, Jesus said that when we feed someone who is hungry, we're feeding him. And so church over the last couple of days, two million times over, we got to feed Jesus two million times. And so this weekend, this weekend we're continuing in a series called The Kingdom is Real. Like we're wrapping up that series. And one of the things I just want to underscore here as we get into it and we wrap it up is that for me at least, that was a perspective shifting day. On one hand, I'm here walking around, being a part of pack and meals. On the other hand, I'm watching football games and enjoying some football on my phone and back at home later in the evening.

And just as a reminder that there's a lot of things that we enjoy in life and that's good and that's beautiful. Every good and perfect thing comes from God. But we just need to not lose perspective over what will last. And really, that's what this series has been focused on. Just reminding us as a church that it is the kingdom that will last, it's the kingdom that is real. I don't know if you've ever had an experience where paramedics showed up for you or maybe somebody loved. If you've been in that position, then you know there's some questions that they run through. Questions that if you don't understand the purpose of them, it seems out of place for the paramedic. Like questions that feel in some ways less like a medical evaluation, more like speed dating. Like they may not start with your blood pressure or your pulse. Instead, they'll ask you these questions to see if you're awake. And here are the four questions they ask. What's your name? Do you know where you are? Do you know what day it is? And do you know what happened? Do you know what just happened? These four questions, and they're asked in order for a purpose and what they're checking for is something called alert and oriented. And so somebody who can answer all four of these questions is good, like they are considered alerts

and oriented times four. But someone who only knows their own name is alert and oriented times one. I was talking to a paramedic friend of mine, and he said what's interesting is that when a person who is alert and oriented times one, like when they're answering these... that anything's wrong. I don't know where they are, and they don't know what day it is or what just happened, but they don't know they don't know. They think everything's fine. They're not panicked. They're not confused about their confusion. I mean, they'll look you in the eye and tell you, "I'm fine, everything's fine." They might even get irritated that you're bugging them with these questions because they think everything is fine. And I think that's where some of you are spiritually. And I've been there, too, where you're just kind of living your life day to day, week to week, month to month. Everything's fine, everything's fine. But then you start asking some harder and deeper questions, and you recognize that maybe you're not as alert and oriented spiritually as you thought you might have been. And so in this series, we're just going through it, like asking some questions to help us wake up. And so my prayer is that's what's happened over the last number of weeks that your eyes would be opened.

You could see some spiritual realities that can be easy to miss. Like for five weeks, we've just been going through an alert and oriented spirituality test. And then so like what is your awareness level that just life is all there is, isn't all there is? Like how alert are you to the reality of spiritual warfare around you? Like how awake are you to the fact that your life is a mist, you're here for a moment and then you're gone and eternity is real. So can I just go through those four questions from a spiritual focus to discover your spiritual alertness? Like do you know your name? I don't mean the one on your license. I don't mean the one on your business card. I'm asking, do you know who you really are? Because some of you would answer that question with a job title. Some of you would answer that question with your worst mistake. Some of you would give me the name that the enemy has been calling you and you were 14 years old. But the kingdom says that you are a son and you are a daughter of God. If you put your trust in Jesus, you are named and you were adopted and you're spoken for. Like that's who you are. Do you know your name?

Question number two. Do you know where you are? Like right now you're not at a religious event with decent coffee and a parking team telling you where to park. Like I'm talking about do you know where you are in this world, that you're in occupied territory. That there's a war going on for your marriage. There's a war going on over your appetites, over your children, over who you are when nobody else is in the room, over your soul. Like you're not living your life on a playground. You're living your life on a battleground. Do you know that? Do you know where you are? Question number three. Do you know what day it is? Like do you realize that the day is coming soon where you will stand before God. Eternity is real, that check out time has come and it'll be here before you know it. Hebrews just comes out and says it. Like people are destined once to die and after that to face judgment. And that's not a threat. Listen that is an alarm. And if you're living for this day instead of that day, then you need to wake up. Question number four. Do you know what just happened?

Like just happened a few minutes ago during worship. Like well some of you were on your phone. Well some of you were standing there with your arms folded, critiquing what's happening on stage. Like we were worshiping the God who spoke the galaxies into existence and we were calling on the name of Jesus. The name that heaven bows down to. The name that hell fears. The name that stood in front of a storm and reminded the wind who it answers to. Like the name that turned fishermen into world changers. The name that walks into an addicted rooms and says hey that'll be enough of that. The name that makes the grave a temporary inconvenience. Like what just happened, do you realize that? Are you awake to it? We called on the name that is above every name and at that name every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And so in this series, it's been an opportunity to wake up, to remind each other. It's all real and if it's all real, well that changes everything. This weekend as we wrap up this series, we're gonna be studying Luke chapter 14. Jesus is at a dinner party and I use the word dinner party loosely 'cause it's the least fun party in the New Testament. Like Jesus is at the home of a prominent religious leader

and everybody there is like watching Jesus hoping he'll slip up so that they have something that they can use against him. And that's for Jesus, I love this about him. Like he's not especially sensitive to the dynamics of the room. Like he looks around and he sees that these religious guests are quietly jockeying for the best seats. This is room full of religious professionals trying to establish a pecking order based on their presence. In the kingdom, the greatest takes the lowest seeds. And then he turns to the host like the man who invited him and all the others into his house. And Jesus says, look, when you throw a banquet, don't invite your friends and your brothers and your rich neighbors, which is really awkward because sitting around the table is this guy's friends and brothers and rich neighbors. My point is that the people at the dinner were feeling uncomfortable, like they're checking phantom notifications on their phone looking down. But take a look at Luke 14. Jesus is going to lean into it, and he's going to help them better understand how things work in the kingdom, Luke 14, verse 13. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor and the crippled and the lame and the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you

will be paid at the resurrection of the righteous. That's what's real. The invitation is for people who haven't earned it, who don't deserve it, who can't do anything for you in return, and they can't pay you back. And the tension in that room is really thick. It's uncomfortable. And so this guy speaks up in verse 15 because he's one of these guys who just wants everybody to be happy and get along. And so he says something religious that he thinks everybody will be able to agree with. Verse 15, blessed is the one who will eat at the feast at the kingdom of God. It's basically saying, look, we'll all be together in heaven. Can't we just get along? Let's not fight. He thinks he understands the kingdom, but Jesus is going to respond to this guy with a story. And by now, these guys know that if you say something in front of Jesus and he starts telling the story, it's not going to go well for you. So Jesus tells a story, starting in verse 16, a certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited come for everything is ready, and so here's how it works. He sends out an invitation a few weeks ahead of time, kind of like a save the date.

And then on the day of the banquet itself when the meat is on the grill and the table is said, the servant goes out and says, okay, okay, now's the time. You said you would come, it's time to come. So they'd known about it for weeks. They'd already said, yes, but look what happens in verse 18. The time actually comes, and they all begin to make excuses. I just bought a field, and I gotta go see it. I just bought five yolkabocks in, and I'm on my way to try them out. I just got married, and I can't come. Translation, my wife won't let me. Like he's thrown his wife under the bus for Jesus, which in fairness is one of the best perks of marriage. You just use your spouse to get out of going to things you don't wanna go to. But just take a moment and look at these excuses. 'Cause here's what I want you to notice, not one of them is a bad thing. None of them say, well, yeah, I'm gonna go do this evil thing. One of them says, I bought a field. It's a significant purchase. It's just good stewardship. Somebody else says, I bought five yolkabocks, and it says, job. Like this is a guy who's just living a responsible life. And so the first two say no to Jesus, and they point to, listen, a significant purchase. Significant purchases are distracting them

from what's real in the kingdom. My Amazon list is distracting me from the kingdom. The third person points to marriage. Well, marriage is God's idea. My scripture makes it clear that we're to honor marriage. And so here's a guy who's putting his marriage first. But the point is this, like none of them say, yeah, I can't come 'cause it's draft night for my fantasy football league, nobody says that. Nobody says, hey, Jesus, my answer's no, 'cause it's girls night, and it's half price, skinny margaritas, sorry, Jesus, wish I could. The reasons they give are good reasons. They're reasonable reasons. They're responsible. And nobody's rude. Some ways you could say they're very polite. They're apologetic. Two of them say, hey, please excuse me. And listen, listen, this is how it happens. It's how a lot of people respond to the reality of the kingdom, like the invitation of God comes to them. And it doesn't get thrown in the trash. It just gets set on, sat on the kitchen counter, like in a pile with a junk mail, and the school fundraiser, and that thing, that dentist sent you, and you fully intend to get to it, but not right now. Like you fully intend to get serious about the kingdom of heaven when you get married,

or when things settle down at work, or when the kids are older, or when things slow down and you're retired, and I know that's what some of you would say. You would say, I haven't told Jesus to know, it's just not a good time. I've just said not yet, but understand that that is a decision, like you got an invitation, and you just keep politely saying, please excuse me, it's just not a good time for me. One way that Jesus is challenging these religious leaders, See, there's a world of difference between invitation and application. An application you fill out and it's based on your qualifications. But an invitation, that's sent out. It's got your name on it, you just need to show up. An application gets reviewed, an invitation gets accepted, an application has requirements, an invitation has like a time and an address. An application asks what have you done to earn this? An invitation says, hey, here's what's been done for you if you come. An application asks for references, an invitation asks for a response. And so here's what religion does, it'll hand out applications all day. And Jesus comes along and says, no, invitations. And church people can really struggle with this. So I just want to say something plainly here. It's not your kingdom, it's not your party. You don't get to decide who's invited and who isn't. And the moment you look around the table or places like this and you think, well, what's that person doing here? Then you've gotten some things confused.

This isn't your house. It's not mine either. It is the father's house and he can't invite the most undeserving person if he wants and you'd better be glad, and I'd better be glad, because it's the only way that you and I got in. Can I just go a little further here? But Luke 14 is not just a story about empty seats, it's a story about a room full of people who think they own the guest list. It's this religious spirit that can come in and it can think that kingdom runs on resumes. It's a religious person who hides behind their religious language and they think they get to stand at the door who belongs, decide who belongs and who doesn't. And if that's you, I hope you're as uncomfortable in this house as those religious leaders were in that house, like if you're a Christian and you think someone has to earn their chair before they sit in it, then you're preaching a different gospel than what saved you. The father sends out invitations and he doesn't need your permission, like you don't get to manage the guest list. And if you walk in today, you feel pretty good about yourself because you look around the table and you think, man, I'm qualified. You're not qualified, but you're invited, you're invited. So just remember that. The next time you think it's your job to help somebody not get a seat or they took a seat and you think you need to remove him from the seat, like that's a religious spirit that Jesus confronts here in Luke 14, where we disqualify people by their past, where we take someone that Jesus has sat at the table and he's invited them and we drag their history into the room. It's the history that Jesus buried in the deepest part of the sea and we pull it back up and we're like, well, let's take a closer look at that. What did they used to do? Who did they used to sleep with? What did they used to say?

What did they used to post? What did they used to be addicted to? And we say it like it's some kind of spiritual discernment. It's not discernment. It's slander. And it's not just slander against the person. It's slander against the cross that qualified them. It's slander against the king who invited them. You don't get to disqualify guests that Jesus invited. So hear me. The enemy would love for church to become a place where people get invited by Jesus and then evaluated by us. If Jesus seated them, they are a guest of the king and you better treat them that way. When they repented and they believed, they accepted an invitation and that settled it. Like the father, when he invited them, he knew their story. He knew the wreckage and he knew the rumors and he invited them anyway. This is the king's house. It is the king's table and maybe the most dangerous thing we can do in his house is start talking about the invited like they still need to apply. Back to our story. Look 14. We're going to look at verse 21 here. The servant comes back. He's been out. He's invited people. He tells the master about the excuses. And the owner of the house becomes angry at these excuses. And here's what he says to the servant, "Go out quickly into the streets and the alleys of the town and bring in the poor and the crippled, the blind and the lame." And so Jesus gives that list two times, like seriously, they're invited.

In case you missed it the first time, I meant what I said. Here's who gets invited. And the word poor here is worth underlining. It doesn't necessarily mean like financially broke. It carries this idea of people who are without value by the culture. The culture would look out at and say, "No, no, no." And so the servant goes out and he gives invitations and he comes back at verse 22 and he says to the master, "I did it. I did what you asked. What you ordered has been done, but there's still a lot of room at the table." And so he brings in everyone the religious crowd had written off and he comes back to the host and the host says, "No, no, no, there's still room. Go invite more. Go invite more." And so there's the second sending and I kind of love this as a pastor of a larger church because people will sometimes say, "Hey, isn't that enough people? Like isn't that enough campuses? Like don't we do enough services?" But if you understand the kingdom, like you understand the word more, the value of more, our heart is always going to be for more because that is the heart of the king. That is the heart of the kingdom. A few years back, my wife Desiree decided that we needed a new dining table. She scoured the internet, looked at some stores, but she couldn't find one that was big enough that would fit what she had in mind. So she had her brother build it for us, like they don't make a table this size as far as I know. Like she literally measured the room and then had him build the biggest table he could that would fit in that room. And when it came in, I looked at it and I'm like, "That's enormous." And I just want you to know, I sat it with a specific tone of a man who's already calculated

that he's going to be the one moving it because that's what, so much of what it means to be a husband is just moving furniture, like moving it, knowing you're going to move it again, sometimes to back to where it was, sometimes on the same day you already moved it. And sometimes with a rug under it, which is the worst, she had that table built. And there were only like seven or eight of us in our immediate family at the time. The table sits like 20 plus people. For a few years, we'd sit down at this table for dinner, whole family, and there are always a lot of empty seats at the table, more empty ones and filled ones. And if I'm being honest, I'd say there's something about eating at a dinner surrounded by empty chairs that makes the man wonder if the purchase was fully thought through. Like I never said that out loud. And I'm just telling you that now in this building with a microphone, which is like my favorite way to be honest with my wife, I don't know if that's healthy or not, but nowadays. Here's what I want you to know. There aren't seven or eight of us in our immediate family. There's 16 of us, like we've had six grandkids and some weddings, three grandkids in the last five months. She wasn't building for the family we had. She was building a table with seats. For more. She was building a table for a day that she couldn't see and for people that didn't yet exist. And her mind, like every empty chair at that table, had somebody's name on it even if we didn't even if we didn't know it yet. The other day, all of us were at that table feeling pretty full and I heard her say, we're going to need a bigger table. And when she said it, I'm like, can you repeat that? Because I was at the other end of the table and sometimes you have to yell because it's

just so far away. But that's the heart of the host. In Luke 14, the table's been built for more. He's always thinking about more. How do we make room for more? And so look at verse 23. Here's what the master says to the servant, "Go out to the roads and the country lanes and compel them to come in so that my house will be full." So, again, second sinning, go further out, go past the streets, go past the alleys, go past the cities, go to the roads and the hedges to people who would never in a thousand years expect to get an envelope with their name on it and you give them an invitation. The word compel here, it doesn't mean force, it means don't take the first no. It means you go to them and you bring them. So it's inviting them and then it's inviting them again and then inviting them again. If I did a survey in this room, my guest has saw many of you who were invited here didn't say yes to the first time. Like you might not have said no. Maybe you just kept putting it off. But my guest is that most of you were asked more than once and that is the heart of Luke 14. Invite them. Go to them. Bring them with you. And so the master says to the servant, "Go out," and they says again, "Go out even further." So here's how I want you to think of this. Fifteen years ago, the invitation list that you might have had was probably pretty sure, work, school, neighborhood, people in your house. If you wanted to invite someone, you kind of had to be standing next to them. Like your reach was to the streets and the alleys and that was about it.

But that's not your life anymore. For a lot of you who are on social media, like you've got 40 or 400 or 4000 people that can see what you post today. And here's a question for you to think about. What if you thought about that as your guest list? Like if you thought about that as the highways and the hedges that Jesus talks about in Luke 14, like you've got that in your pocket. You've got that cousin in Ohio that you haven't talked to since that funeral. And you've got that girl you went to high school with and she's going through that following you and watching your life this whole time, and they're wondering what's different about you because they watched that thing that you went through, and they might not ever walk into the church building because the door's open, but they know you. And if you invite them, they'll come. And I don't have much interest in social media if it's about marketing or branding or building a following, but if it makes way for a Luke 14 invitation, that's different. So just think about this. When you repost a sermon clip, when you say something vulnerable about how Jesus is impacting your life, if you post a picture of yourself sitting in a church service, or you say something about packing 2 million meals with your church family, like you're handing out an invitation. Let me say one more thing. If you're going to leave a cruel comment in the comment section on Wednesday, then don't post a picture of you at church on Sunday, that doesn't help anybody. Luke 14, what the master doesn't do in this story is he doesn't just prop open the door and hope for the best. He goes, there's a difference between opening a door and extending an invitation, and open door says you can come in, and the invitation says, I'm coming to get you, and I just want to challenge us to be a church that has more than an open door, but a church that goes out and gets. That's what it means to invite, a church that treats empty chairs, like it's a personal problem.

Let's be a church that celebrates because we get stuck in traffic. Like you're like, this is awesome, stuck in traffic coming in and out of church. Like how awesome for your kids to see that and to think that church is something worth waiting in traffic for. And what if as a church we thought maybe the most spiritual thing that we might do is just text in somebody and say, I'll save you a seat. Let's be a church that measures health, not by who's already in the room, but by who's getting invitations, not who's at the table, but who's invited to the table. One of our pastors on Staff Read Milliken, he helps set the temperature around here for next-gen ministry. He helps oversee student ministries across our campuses, and part of his job is to pay attention to metrics, what students are coming and what students are serving and what students are making decisions, but he does this thing where if someone asks him about attendance, he answers that question with a number, but not necessarily with the number of how many students are here, but by how many are not here. So here's a picture of my text exchange with Read this week. And just by the way, ignore the 245 unread text messages. It doesn't bother me, don't let that bother you. I say, Read, hey, what's attendance been like in our student ministry? And Read says, we've seen so much growth over the last few years, we're at about 2,500 students each week, but what matters most is there are 143,556 middle and high school students who are either unconnected to a local church or unreached with the gospel that are within reach of one of our campuses. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. He says, hey, it's great that there's 2,500 students that are actively a part of our church. It's great, but there are 143,556 people who need invitations. And so part of our commitment as a church is to go all in, to make sure that everyone in our community who's a part of that generation, the next generation, we want to make sure they all get invitations. And so we're going to go past the front yard and we're going to get off to the porch and

we're going to go to them and bring them. And we're not going to just offer them a seat at the kitty table. Like the kids table is where you sit someone, where you want them to be present, but not included. You want it to be close enough to see the meal, but not part of the conversation. That's not what we're doing. That's not the heart of the kingdom, it's not the heart of our church. That's not how we're setting this table. The students that get invited, like we want them to walk into the doors of one of our campuses and look around and know, oh, that invitation's for me. It's not an accident that I got that invitation. I mean, that's so much of our heart behind move of two years of radical generosity to reach the next two generations. And so you just need to know, like we are going to go further and then furthermore, we're going to go further than what's comfortable, we're going to ask more than once and we're going to sacrifice our comforts, and we're going to tell them the only thing the host ever told the servant to say, come on, there's a seat at the table. We're not starting without you next weekend. Our students are going to take over for the weekend and I want to be clear about something kind of ahead of time. What I don't want you to think is, oh, that's sweet, we're letting the kids run a service. No, like they are not just a future of the church. So don't come and clap for them like you're sitting down at a school play. Like we're not just throwing them a microphone for a weekend. Like we are throwing them aesthetic keys. I want you to notice how Jesus finishes this story. Well, technically he doesn't, he doesn't end it. The master sends the servant back out. Go out to the roads, compel them to come in.

I want my house to be full. And then the parable just stops. There's no verse where the servant comes back a third time. Like we don't find out. Like who came and who didn't? Like we don't know. Is the house full or the table seats full? We don't know. And I don't think that's an accident. I think Jesus stops the story there because the ending is still being written. And so how does that story end? I mean, you tell me. Because I think what happens here is Jesus picks up his pin mid-sentence in this story and he hands it to you and he hands it to the church. And the story of Luke 14 continues to be written today if you do one of two things. If you respond to the invitation and you take your seat at the table and you say yes to Jesus and you repent of your sins and you believe in him for salvation and you put aside what's been distracting you and you say I'm taking my seat. I'm saying yes to the invitation. Or if you extend the invitation like you're already at the table and you see the empty seats, that's your opportunity. So you either respond to it

or you extend the invitation to someone else to come sit with us. 'Cause there's a house and there's a table and the food decides and the host has been sending out the message for 2,000 years. There's room, there's a seat for you. I've got one more grandchild that comes next month. Babygirl, I don't know a lot about her. This is all I got is this ultrasound picture. You know, an ultrasound picture. It's like a photograph that requires a tour guide. I don't know exactly what I'm looking at here. There's a lot about her, I don't know. I don't know what color her eyes will be. I don't know if she's gonna sleep through the night. I don't know if she'll be quiet or loud. I don't know what she'll be good at. I don't know what she'll struggle with. I don't know what she'll believe. I don't know who'll break her heart. I don't know what she'll do with her life. But one thing I know for certain, I'm not gonna tell you, there's already a seat for her at my table. That's how the table's been built. Like already, like right now. Before the eyes and before the name gets spoken in a hospital room, before she does one single thing, she's gotta see. Like she's done nothing to get it.

She's never helped with the dishes. Like she's never been kind to anyone. She's never contributed a thing to the family. She can't repay us, not one dollar, like not one favor. She will take from that table for years before she brings anything to it. But none of that changes the fact. She has a seat at that table. And she will always have a seat at my table. There will never be one minute of that sweet girl's life where she'll walk into my house and wonder, is there room for me here? Not one minute. Like she might wonder a lot of things in her life, but she will never wonder about the seat at the table. But I know that for some of you, you have wondered at your whole life and you're wondering it right now. You've been waiting for somebody to say, "No, no, seriously, your invitation wasn't an accident." No, we want you here. But you read the room and you kind of look at what you're wearing or you do the math on whether or not you belong and you just feel like you don't deserve it and you haven't earned it. And maybe you've said no a lot. And you kind of wonder, did I say no too many times? 'Cause my invitation is from my childhood and I just wonder if it's expired. It hasn't expired.

There's still room for you. So can I just tell you the difference between you and this house and that baby girl in my house, here's the difference. There isn't one. In your heavenly Father's house, he has set the table for you and he has been sending people for 2,000 plus years inviting you've got an invitation and this is the message that he has sent me to give to you and tell you take your last breath or until Jesus returns, there's still room. You are invited. And so here's how I want to end our time. (audience applauding) I want to give you an opportunity to either respond to the invitation and take that seat or to commit. So my hope is that everyone who hears this will do one of those two things. That you'll either say yes to the invitation and respond or you'll extend it to someone else. And so I'm gonna encourage you to do something that I almost never would do. I'm gonna encourage you to pull out your phones. Some of you already have them out, that's great. Ready to go. In the next few minutes or during our time of worship, I wanna ask you to text the letters RSVP to 733, 733. And after you send that text, you're gonna get a link

with just some information about how you can respond to the invitation to take that seat or how you can extend the invitation to someone else. And maybe you're not sure about any of this yet. Like you can still send RSVP. You're not signing up for anything. Just, it gives us an opportunity to make sure that you get the invitation, that there's no missing it. And then as you leave, there's also some paper invitations that you can pull or grab on your way out. But everyone, my prayers would respond. That you would either receive it and take your seat or you would extend the invitation to someone else to come sit with you. Let's pray. Jesus, I thank you. I thank you that we have a seat at the table. What did we do to earn it or deserve it? Nothing. So God, we're grateful and we're humbled by that. We're not better than anybody. We only have the invitation because you made a way for us to be invited. And so I just thank you for each person who's responded to that. God forgive us as a church any time that we ask somebody that you've invited to fill out an application, like I pray God that you would teach us to have your heart for the poor and the broken and the lost.

God, I pray that at the table, it would be a place where we call each other to repentance just as we've done in this series. That at the table, we would align our lives with the kingdom values. That at the table, we would look around at empty seats and our hearts would be broken by that, that when we see an empty seat, we just can't help but think of who we would long to see seated at the table. God, would you give us eyes like that and would you give us a heart like that as a church? That every empty seat, we just can't help but put a name and a face with it. God, in these next few minutes, I pray that we would respond to the invitation. I pray against the enemy who right now is trying to distract someone from saying yes, trying to accuse someone and say, no, that's not for you, you had your chance and you've missed it, that is a lie from hell. If they are hearing my voice right now, the invitation has their name on it, please God, I pray that you would give them eyes to see that. And Lord, in these next few minutes, would you just let us, as we turn our eyes on you, would you just let us declare together that, no, this is the decision I am making. I'm making my decision to follow Jesus. I'm making my decision to sit at the table and to invite as many people in my life with me as I can

because it's all real. It's in Jesus' name, we pray, amen. We're gonna have a few minutes of worship. While we worship, just wanna encourage you to do that. Just text RSVP to 733-733. If some of you are ready and you wanna talk to someone today, I would love to encourage you to do that. You can go to our next step room on the first floor over here to your left. I'd love to talk with you, love to pray with you, love to show you the invitation. Let's stand together and let's worship. (audience applauds) (soft piano music) ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ No turning back ♪ ♪ No turning back ♪ Can we declare that this morning? ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ ♪ To follow Jesus, no turning back ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ And all you heard, even broken thin ♪ ♪ And laid off the sin that Jesus is calling ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ And had he come to the end of the cell ♪ ♪ To the thirst for a dream from the world ♪

♪ Jesus is calling ♪ ♪♪♪ Let it rise, you see. ♪♪♪ ♪ Who will come to the altar ♪ ♪ If your father's arms are broken wide ♪ ♪ For goodness was part of it ♪ ♪ The precious blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I think your father ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ I leave behind your legacy mistakes ♪ ♪ Come today, there's no reason to wait ♪ ♪ That Jesus is calling ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ You bring your sorrows to treat them for joy ♪ ♪ From the ashes of new life ♪ ♪ Jesus is calling, yeah ♪ ♪ Who will come to the altar ♪ ♪ If your father's arms are broken wide ♪ ♪ For goodness was part of it ♪ ♪ The precious blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ No come to the altar ♪ ♪ If your father's arms are broken wide ♪ ♪ For goodness was part of it ♪ ♪ The precious blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ No come to the altar ♪ ♪ It's only by your blood ♪ ♪ What a Savior ♪ ♪ What a healer ♪

♪ Sing over to Savior ♪ ♪ It isn't he wonder ♪ ♪ For seeing our living up ♪ ♪ Christ is a reserve ♪ ♪ And bound on before him ♪ ♪ Before he is the altar ♪ ♪ For seeing our living up ♪ ♪ Christ is a reserve ♪ ♪ And bound on before him ♪ ♪ It isn't he wonder ♪ ♪ For seeing our living up ♪ ♪ I Christ is a reserve ♪ ♪ And bound on before him ♪ ♪ For he is the altar ♪ ♪ And bound on before him ♪ ♪ Sing over to him ♪ ♪ Christ is a reserve ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ No come to the altar ♪ ♪ The Father's arms are open wide ♪ ♪ Who gave an ass ♪ ♪ Who was brought away ♪ ♪ The precious blood of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Who come to the fields ♪ ♪ The Father's arms are open wide ♪ ♪ Who gave an ass ♪ ♪ Who was brought away ♪ ♪ Justice, blood, love, Jesus, you're all ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ Love Jesus Christ ♪

♪ The Lord speak ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ I pay a cross as you wait for the crown ♪ ♪ Tell the world of the treasure you found ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ Make your father ♪ ♪ Whoa ♪ ♪ The treasure in my friend ♪ ♪ You're all I need ♪ ♪ You're all I want ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ Come on, pour it out ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ You just declare it to today ♪ ♪ Tell him how much you love you ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Come on, he loves to hear you sing ♪ ♪ That you love him ♪ ♪ What you just lifted up ♪ ♪ Sing, "Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Let it rise ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, sing ♪

♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ I lifted up ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ And oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ We pour it out today ♪ ♪ And oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ In my whole life ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, my whole world ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, everything ♪ ♪ Pour the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And if my days ♪ ♪ Turn the story, let it be ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, everything ♪ ♪ Pour the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Pour life, pour your glory, my whole world ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, everything ♪ ♪ Pour the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And if my days ♪ ♪ Turn the story, let it be ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, everything ♪ ♪ Pour the honor of your name ♪ ♪ In my whole life ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, my whole world ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, everything ♪ ♪ Pour the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And if my days ♪ ♪ Turn the story, let it be ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, everything ♪

♪ Pour the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Pour life, pour your glory, my whole world ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, everything ♪ ♪ Pour the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And if my days ♪ ♪ Turn the story, let it be ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, everything ♪ ♪ Pour the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, how I love you ♪ ♪ Jesus, we love you ♪ ♪ In my whole life ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, my whole world ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, everything ♪ ♪ Pour your glory, everything ♪ ♪ And if my days ♪ ♪ Let Him be, help me love me everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of your day ♪ ♪ Is in my whole life ♪ ♪ For in the glory I hold well ♪ ♪ For you only everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of ♪ ♪ And if my days tell a story ♪ ♪ Let Him be, love you everything ♪ ♪ For the honor of your day ♪ - Well, Pando Crew, thank you for joining in. I hope your heart was transformed today

by that gospel message. It's the thing what you just heard that has changed people for generations is that response, is responding to that invitation that's available to you. And what I don't want you to think is I don't want you to think the mistake that because of your situation that you can't respond. The kingdom is real for people across all situations. And so the best way you could respond is in fact to respond to your Heavenly Father first and say, I wanna respond to that invitation and receive Him. And so we invite you, one of the ways you can always respond is to write into us. We'd love to be able to follow up with you more about that. You know, one of the ways you can stay engaged throughout the week and connect with us beyond just writing in is we produce a podcast, we drop it on Thursdays, it's the Pando pod, that's what I call it. And it's just a way to hear the message that you just heard and engage with folks in a conversation through the podcast where we talk about how we're gonna respond to it, how we're gonna take what we heard and put it into practice every single week. And so I hope that you respond. I hope that you receive that invitation and know, ah, that's for me as well. Thank you so much for being a part of the podcast.

Kind of pray for you all before we head on out of here. I'd love to just pray for each one of you specifically as you respond to that invitation. God, I pray that your message today, your central gospel message that Jesus is real, the response is real, the invitation is real, that new life is possible, that no matter our past, God, you give us a power for a future that no matter what our earthly life has looked like, there's a heavenly life that's possible. God, I pray that no matter the situations that are hearing the words today, that they respond and say, Jesus, we receive you. God, I pray that this is not a moment that they let pass by, but it's a moment they lean in and receive you. So Lord, I pray for the men and women that are hears of this gospel, that they don't just listen, they don't just know, but God, they respond and receive you as their heavenly Father and Jesus as their Lord and as their Savior to life that today marks a day when everything changes. God, I pray that that prayer is also true for me and my heart, that I leave things behind that are foolish and I strain ahead to things that are heavenly and for you and from you. God, thank you so much that you give us new life. And it's in Jesus' name that I pray, amen. (silence) (silence) (silence)

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