The Response | Rodrigo Vargas

What's good, Houston, Texas? Let me hear you out there. And we are in, just like that, we're in week two of Greater. If you're here for the first time, we're in a sermon series called Greater, but we also want you to know that you're not here by happenstance or coincidence, that you are actually an answered prayer. We pray every week for new people to come here, and you are here because of prayer. And we also want you to know that Union Houston exists to connect people to God with the gospel of Jesus. That gospel says that it doesn't matter what your past looks like, it doesn't matter what your present struggles are, and it doesn't matter what doubts may be weighing on your heart. God, Jesus, loves you right where you are, and he loves you too much to leave you where you are. And I believe today he's taking you to a greater place in your faith. As always, this promise includes every person that is incarcerated. Can you help me welcome every man and woman that is watching through the PandaWab in our Union Prison Campus? Love you. Can't wait for the day that you join us here in person. We may not be able to see you, but you're always in our hearts. Every year we come into this building, we go to church with new goals that probably have already faded by now. Am I right? But greater, our sermon series greater, isn't about trying harder. It's about becoming who God is trying to shape us to be, transform us to be. This deeper in our faith and obedience and purpose and for Christ to increase in our lives. That's what we learned about last week. That's why I left you off last week. We learned that greater living doesn't start with adding more to our lives, but rather removing ourselves. How do we say? Jesus must become greater and I must become lesser. We saw this in the life of John the Baptist, who is Jesus's cousin. A man who knew his assignment and didn't leverage his assignment for a greater position. Instead, he said he must increase and I must decrease. But here's the tension today that we bring to the table.

If Jesus is becoming greater in my life, how do I know? What does that look like for my life? Am I supposed to live like a monk? Right? What a holy roller? Am I supposed to start wearing suits and start coming to church? Am I supposed to answer to everyone blessed and highly favored neighbor? What does it look like? What does that require from me? John surrendered his life to Jesus and surrender is not just something we feel. Surrender is a response. So today I want to take our time together and I want to talk to us about the response. What is the response to becoming greater? It's not our intentions. Your intentions could be pure. Your intentions could be good. But your intentions is not the response. It's not agreement. I agree with whatever it is Jesus is saying, but that's not a response. It's not emotions. A response. Well, Jesus makes this very clear in Mark chapter 12 where we're going to spend our time in today. The kingdom of God is not revealed by what we know, but by how we respond to what we know. So we're going to allow the text, God's word and the Holy Spirit speak to us today. Jesus has been teaching with great authority, greater authority than all the religious teachers of his day. And they attempt to trap him because they're jealous. How could he know this much? He's just a simple rabbi or carpenter from Galilee. He's got a country accent. It's from the hood.

How can he know more than us? We wear suits. They attempt to trap him, debate him, test him. And at this point is where we're going to pick up that passage. Where the intersection of religion and relationship intersect. Would you stand with me as we read from Mark chapter 12? at verse 28 where it says one of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating noticing that jesus had given them a good answer he asked them of all the commandments which is the most important the most important one jesus answered is this hear oh israel the lord our god the lord is one love the lord your god the second is this than these well said teacher the man replied you are right in saying that god is one and there is no other but him to love him with all your heart with all your understanding and with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices when jesus saw that he had answered wisely my god we have a religious leader who has finally got kudos from jesus and he tells them you have answered wisely he said to him quote you are not far from the kingdom of god and then no one dared ask him any more questions let's pray father god we thank you for today jesus we honor and lift high your name lord today as we remembered the perfect work of the cross and what the blood of jesus does for our lives we ask that the holy spirit speak to us today to teach us to edify us to sanctify us in the word open our eyes open our ears and soften our hearts to receive the seed of the gospel that saves mankind from depravity from sin from past from failure from the schemes of the enemy may this seed be watered by your spirit and may it flourish a harvest a hundredfold help me holy spirit to deliver that which you have imparted into me that i might deliver it it may be honoring and praiseworthy to your name and i pray this in jesus mighty name in the church of god said amen amen amen you may be seated now this passage appears in all four gospels with different emphasis at different times jesus returns to this truth often it's a core part of his message in all the gospels but mark is highlighting something here that other accounts do not do now we're going to revisit

some of those accounts in the weeks to come but however mark adds this particular phrase there is no commandment greater than these he's the only one that details this i want that truth to settle into your hearts before we go any further jesus is saying hey look if you get anything right you got to get these things right the greatest law is rooted in love is centered on love and is called to love in fact the greatest expression of faith is lived out through these two commands in one reality love jesus didn't introduce something new a revolutionary by the way his response is because he knows the father intimately he was there in the beginning when he created us and so he knows how to respond from this loving relationship that he has intimately with the father however it's eerily similar to how he responds to the devil in the wilderness with scripture in fact his response is a prayer written in the word of god it comes out of deuteronomy 6 4 through 5 where it says here oh israel the lord is our god the lord is one the only god i want to pause there for just a moment that it does not say a lot it does not say muhammad it does not say buddha now i need you to hear me church because it says here that the lord is one the only god it isn't whether you're a democrat it isn't whether you're a republican the lord The Lord is one. I'm gonna press you a little bit today because I don't think that the Lord is the Lord in your life and some of your lives. There are other lords in your life, are you with me? And here, Jesus is saying, the Lord must be one, the only God. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and your soul and with all your strength and the Amplified Version says, your entire being. He adds Leviticus 19, 18, where he says, you shall not take revenge nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor, acquaintance,

associate, companion, basically anyone you come in contact with as yourself. I am the Lord. This is actually called the Shema, the most sacred prayer in a Jewish person's life. Jesus prayed it multiple times a day and Shema means to listen, to trust and to respond in obedience. Listen, Shema, what Jesus is praying is literally a prayer that says you must listen, trust and respond in obedience. And I need you to hear my heart. That love that doesn't respond, isn't love at all. It's why Jesus says it this way, because he's talking about a response with reverence that's rooted in relationship. Because how can you truly honor, respond to someone you're not close with? That's the problem, isn't it? We're not close to Jesus. Can I propose something that the problem is religion? No, the problem is religion. Yeah, some of you may be religious. The law becomes God in religion. The law becomes, the rules become God in religion. And when that happens, love and trust is replaced by performances. Let me perform my way into God's graces. That's why this religious leader comes testing Jesus. As if knowing the law would make someone righteous.

But the reality is this, knowing God's commands is not the same as knowing God himself. Jesus wants, warns us. He wants us to know something. And so he warns us in Matthew 7, saying that many will come and stand before him. And saying, Lord, didn't we prophesy and drive out demons and perform miracles in your name? And Jesus is gonna say, I never knew you. Away from me, Matthew 7, 23. These are not passages that, you know, sometimes evangelical preachers like to preach. But this is the truth of God. This is what Jesus is saying is that we can go around saying in the name of Jesus. We can go around singing in the name of Jesus. We can go around posting in the name of Jesus. But if we haven't had a relationship with Jesus, he will literally tell us, I never knew you. They knew about him. They worked for him. They moved in power by his name, but they were never intimate with him. This is a sobering truth. Your activity should not be confused with intimacy. You can't act your way into knowing Jesus. Gifting is not a relationship. Ministry is not the same as knowing Jesus. What Jesus desires most is to know you. Intimately, deeply, forming you, shaping you.

It isn't performance. A loving, surrendered relationship where he is truly known and trusted. And this foundation is what moves us into action as to living as disciples. See, religion tests what relationship. relationship trusts. Religion is going to test the boundaries that relationship pushes through those boundaries. Religion approaches Jesus with a little bit of suspicion. Religion wants proof before obedience. Religion demands evidence. It can see before it will follow. Religion wants to control. It evaluates Jesus instead of surrendering to Jesus. It treats trust like a a transaction with Jesus instead of a posture to Jesus. Relationship approaches Jesus with trust. Relationship obeys because it knows the person. A relationship follows by faith, not by sight. Religion produces manipulation and relationship transformation. Can you see the difference? It's in our approach. How are you approaching Jesus? How are you approaching the word of God? Because Jesus here tells us the love of the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength. Jesus is saying this isn't about knowing me, my words, and agreeing with me. This isn't about analyzing me. This isn't about knowing and memorizing Bible verses. This isn't about how you read so many theological and doctrinal books or how many sermons you watch. This is on how you approach me with everything. It's about the approach you have with Jesus. I've learned that I can usually assess my life. I can assess my faith. How many of you ever take the time to really assess your life, assess your faith? I do this when I'm

leading someone in their faith and I'm looking at the response of my response and their response to his commands. Do I truly trust Jesus with everything? And there are some things you can always kind of pull aside and be like this is an area I can look at and see am I truly trusting Jesus with everything in my life? Now there's some that are overlooked sometimes and we just think they're just part of our world. Do I trust Jesus with my worries? Right? Do I bring my worries to him or do I carry them alone? Right? Do I bring them and surrender them to Jesus and say here Lord I'm worried about this but today I need your peace and I'm going to believe that you're going to work in it or do you send that text message to 17 friends to ask them to pray for you and never ask Jesus to intercede for you. Am I trusting Jesus with my words? Does he get my best? Or do distractions get the best or better of me? Right? Some of y'all distraction is the pillow. Some of your lords is the pillow. You like that pillow more than you like the Lord. Some of y'all have a very faithful relationship with your snooze button. Yeah. Get up. Get up. Because it's the devil telling you to stay there and sleep a little while. A little folding of the hands. I think scripture says. Hey. I can go here all day long. Our pastor's offending me. No, no, no. The Lord is offending you. It's meant to offend you. This ain't this ain't to make you feel good. This ain't this ain't uh uh uh uh a crypto forex uh pep talk. This ain't an MLM company. This is the kingdom of God. I'm trying to make you better people. Greater people in Christ. Come on now. You gotta are you trusting God with everything your time? Do you trust him with your Sundays? Do I truly come to serve and

worship the Lord here or do I just come to eat the buffet pastor? prepared do I trust him with my finances yo now this is the obvious one but this is a true assessment do I trust him with him by honoring him or do I hold back because I'm fearful I won't be able to pay my bills sobering but honest these questions reveal who and what I worship and trust and sometimes we are religious without realizing we waited for God to bless us before we can honor him we test God instead of trusting God we treat obedience as if it's a negotiation instead of a response to God listen if Jesus was good enough to save me from my wretched sin to wipe the slate clean of my past my failures my shame my moral impurities shouldn't he be good enough to follow even when I don't truly understand I was thinking about this last night it's like many of you are and I know this is probably how many y'all remember them paper maps right yeah some of y'all still operate on the paper maps and you know all the roads and you know how to get there and you got it memorized you've studied it you know where the destinations are right but you ain't never been to one location you got the information boy you ain't got no movement and yet others are like okay no well I have a GPS you know I put it in you treat Jesus like a GPS that's muted it tells you where to go you see the route for your life for your marriage for your money but you won't listen to the Holy Spirit when he's trying to lead you religion says show me the whole route prove there's no traffic and then I'll decide relationship says I don't need to know where I'm going I just need your voice to get me there I'm glad the Lord gave me that one last night whoo I want to be clear I'm not talking about trusting a pastor a prophet an apostle a YouTube person a church or even a denomination I'm talking about you trusting the Lord Jesus Christ the name is the same who forgave me the name is the same who restored me the name is the same to the one who gave his life for me and his name is Jesus that's why Jesus warned us many if you have your Bibles that you want to make a note Matthew 7 look for it and I want you to circle and read where it says many because it doesn't

say some many prophesied many healed many did works many studied the word many went to their connect group many served on Sunday many tied their time but I will say I never knew you that makes me shudder at times they knew about him they weren't for him they moved in power by using his name I wonder if we ever use his name for our own benefit they performed in his name but never intimate with his name that's that's why Jesus ends the shame I would have called the surrender because a relationship requires a response in that surrender my goal today is simple it's for you to trust Jesus approach him with all your heart your mind your strength your soul like for real for real for real let's speak brass tacks I'm gonna be really raw with y'all we don't understand the concept of love and I know it's real popular to say things like love is love no it's not biblical love is real love Love is God, and God is love. We can't go around redefining who God is. So what does real love actually look like when we trust genuinely? Well, the first thing you need to understand is that love is not a feeling, but the foundation of our faith. It's what made us in our faith, God. Love isn't a feeling, it's a faithful response. Love is the true measure of faith. Love moves, love acts, love obeys, love trusts. Last week we talked about, in great detail about John the Baptist, how he surrendered his life fully into Jesus' hands. You remember that? And because of that surrender, do you remember what Jesus said? Jesus said, born among those born of women, no one greater has risen up to that point. That is a powerful word Jesus said about John the Baptist, but you need to understand something, that John loved Jesus. Remember I said he was his cousin? John loved Jesus.

John trusted Jesus. John obeyed Jesus. When Mary was pregnant, her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant. And so they went to visit each other. Mary went to visit Elizabeth. And the babies were in the womb. I need you to like focus in on me, because I'm going to speak to you very soberingly. In the womb was the life of, you know where I'm going with this, and the life of John. And when John got close to the belly of Mary, John slept for joy. That can be found in the word of God, found in Luke chapter 1, verses 41. And I need you to make a mental note of that, for when I offend you a little bit later. Before he ever preached the word about Jesus, before he ever baptized the soul, John recognized who Jesus was, and he trusted him for who he was. That's real love. Biblical love is called agape love. Agape is a Greek word for selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. The kind of love that chooses the good of another, regardless of the cost or return. Agape is unique and distinct from cultural definition of love, because it's not based on feelings. It's based on a decision and commitment, and not an emotion. It's not earned. Agape love is not earned. It's given freely, even to those who don't deserve it, and who you don't like, who you disagree with. It's sacrificial. It acts for the benefit of others, even when it costs the giver. It acts for the benefit. I have to tell you difficult things sometimes. I have to preach a difficult word sometimes, even if you get mad at me, and leave here, and never speak to me again, because I value your soul more than the popularity I have

with you. I've recognized this is my love for God, and my love for you. Agape is not a steadfastness. It remains faithful through every hardship, rejection, and suffering. Agape is the primary word used in the New Testament to describe God's love. The love believers are called to live out. Let me read you some verses. In 1 John 4, 8, it says, God is agape. John 3, 16 says, for God so agape the world, and he demonstrated his agape love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, Romans 5, 8. Love one another, agape one another, as I have agape you, John 13, 34. Simply put, if you don't know Jesus, you can't agape, because agape looks like Jesus. You see where I'm taking you? You got to know Jesus. You got to sit with Jesus. You got to study Jesus. You got to pray and listen to Jesus. It's not about how do I feel about you. It's I will give of myself for you. That's agape love. Jesus doesn't define love as an emotion. He defines it as an obedient step of response. The response. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 10, 14, 15. Love listens, love trusts, love obeys, love responds, love follows. This is why Jesus frames as a total life response, heart and mind. Why?

Because giving Jesus our affection and our attention is the most important thing. Listen, what you allow in your minds will eventually shape your heart. If you continually think about how they hurt you, that will shape your heart. If you continually think about the sin you committed, that will shape your heart. If you continually think about how it's been, it'll never be any better. But if you fix your eyes on Jesus and you realize that he took away the sins of the world and you realize that he's called you to agape love, that'll begin to shape your heart. Number two, soul, the nefesh. This is the life source, the seat of the will and the decision maker. And this is important why you start with a heart and mind, because what you believe has to move into action, and that happens in the soul level. And then the strength. This is an intentional obedience to push us past fear and comfort and flesh. Agape love often requires sacrifice, discomfort and surrender, but it always leads to life. As a matter of fact, I'll tell you this, it is Jesus's way of life. The early church wasn't called the church. We were called the church and Christians first in, you've learned this, in Antioch, okay?

Before that, we were simply known as the way, the way of life. Jesus says, love your neighbor as yourself in Mark 12, 31. How you love yourself is how you will love others. Some of you love yourselves too much. Yeah. What do you mean, pastor? Do you practice self-victimization? Oh my God. You love yourself too much. You think you're so innocent in every victim situation, right? You ain't, hey, pal, ain't no part in it. Right? We love ourselves too much. We can't forgive someone as if we haven't hurt someone else. Like, what are we doing? We love ourselves too much. Some don't love themselves enough because of something that was done to you. This is the tension of our day. It's hard to love others when people no longer know who they are. The world and culture defines people. Whether you like it or not, the culture out there, the popular voices, okay? They define you. They separate you by gender, by race, by sexuality, by your appearance, by how you perform, by pain, by success and failure.

Yet scripture infallibly and eternally is clear on this. God defines us because he created us. End of story. And Paul goes on to tell us, hey, don't conform to the way of culture, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. We are living in confusing times, y'all, in a very confused world, extremely confused. You can sit here and show someone truth in black and white, and they will argue you down, gaslighting you like you're the crazy one. Do you wanna know why? If this is why, you probably shouldn't even argue with such people. The scripture says it's foolish to do so. This is why the world has walked away from the truth of God. The world has walked away from the truth of God. The world has walked away from the designer's owner's manual. Actual doctors that went to school all these years, they got all these certificates, they spent all this money on education. are trying to convince BNU that men can get pregnant. What are we in a Farrelly brothers movie? That a baby in a woman's womb, like John and Jesus in Luke chapter one, verse 41, is not life yet.

And before we start pointing the world and demonizing them, there are actual Christians that believe that an unborn fetus is not life. They haven't visited scripture in Luke chapter one, verse 41, where that unborn life was leaping for joy because life itself was in front of him. Come on now. You're going to have to somehow take that away from me. And by the way, if this offends you, I'm good with it. These are not my words. These are the words of the God almighty. When we walk away from the designer, we lose the manual for the design and you end up confused. Can you see why the world doesn't love itself? This is why you don't love itself. The reason you're offended, the reason you're upset is because you don't love yourself the way God made you. When identity is confused, love becomes confused. When truth is blurred, then love becomes some shallow thing the world defines for you. But biblical agape, love, is rooted in truth. It is truth, shaped in God's design and sustained by obedience to his love. Let's renew our minds so that we can see some greater transformation in our lives this year. Paul explains what agape love for us is, not in theory, not in a feeling, but in daily practice, according to 1 Corinthians 13, four through five. It says, love is patient. That's what love is.

It's also kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no records of wrongs. Husband, wives, stop bringing up the past because what you're doing is the devil's work every time you bring up. But last time you did that, well, when you used to, every time you do it, you're sowing seeds of discord that the devil himself is planting in your heart. And it speaks more about you than whatever it is that other person did. Let me read that again. Isn't easily angered. Some of y'all got anger problems. You don't know what real love is. The problem isn't the other person that made you angry. It isn't that. It is that you haven't spent enough time with the Lord. There is something you haven't surrendered. There is something you haven't repented. There is something you have unforgiveness for. You can't have this. You know, in our church, I want to tell you, deliverance has really become like a thing over the last few years.

Okay? And I love it because it's biblical. But I want to tell you something, that if you don't know how to do these things, you'll never have deliverance. If you don't know how to forgive, if you don't know how to forgive, and forgives means keeping no record of wrongs, you'll always be enslaved to that demon. And I'm going to tell you something. We don't charge for deliverance. We're not like Simon the Sorcerer. And y'all can make whatever y'all want out of that. Y'all can make, hey, look, for real. I know my conviction is I cannot be Simon the Sorcerer. The Holy Spirit gave us to cast out demons. As a matter of fact, Jesus says these signs will follow those that follow me. Miracle signs, deliverance, okay? So it's free. But here's the thing. Here's the thing, okay? In our intake form, moving forward, I'm going to ask, is there any unforgiveness in your heart? And if the answer is no, I'm going to send you away. I'm not going to spend time delivering people that are unwilling to crucify their flesh, because there's a difference between casting out demons and crucifying the flesh. And we're going to bring biblical order back to this house.

You got to forgive that daddy. You got to forgive that mama that hurt you. You got to forgive that mama that hurt you. I don't forgive that ex-husband, ex-wife, daughter, child, whatever it is, you gotta forgive. I didn't say you gotta go back and continue to get abused. I said, you gotta forgive and move on. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. I should have quit a long time ago, but I love the Lord. And guess what? I love you and you're worth it. Biblical love is not proven by words. Biblical love is proven and evidenced by our faithful response. I wanna bring some reality to what Jesus has been preaching to us. And I summarized this in my journal last week. Just because I have faith in Jesus, it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm faithful to Jesus. Just because your faith in Jesus doesn't mean that you're necessarily faithful to Jesus. Having faith and being faithful are two sides of the same coin. You need both. You might say, hey, no, but listen, Pastor, I believe, I have faith, I really study, I really pray.

That's good. We're really proud of you. But the word of God says, you believe that there is one God, good. Even the demons believe that and shudder. James 2, 19. It's not the same. In Matthew 18, demons come to Jesus, bow before him and say, Jesus, Son of God, what do you want with us? They knew and they believed in Jesus, the Son of God. The sobering truth is that the only difference between a demon and a disciple isn't belief, it's faithfulness. One follows, the other doesn't. James goes on to summarize what I've been trying to teach you that if your faith isn't compiled with faithfulness, it's dead. He says it this way, faith without works is dead. He's not saying that you gotta work to get faith. He's saying if you have faith and you don't work it, your faith is dead. Just because you believe in Jesus doesn't mean you are faithful to Jesus. But here's the scariest part I have overlooked for years. And you missed it earlier. Jesus tells the religious leader, you are not far from the kingdom of God. Just because you're near

doesn't mean that you're in. Just because you got near the kingdom of God doesn't mean that you're in the kingdom of God. Near the kingdom of God is not the same as in the kingdom of God. Now imagine that today you stand before the Lord Jesus and you are sure of your faith. You got a journal for all your deeds. You brought your Instagram account and your TikTok to show him all your social media posts. And Jesus says to you, you are not far from the, not far but not in. This man answered correctly. He had good theology. He had a good heart. He agreed with Jesus. He believed in what Jesus said. Here's what so many of us don't get. Some of you don't wanna get. Some of you got a thousand and one excuses not to get and be faithful to Jesus. Agreement with Jesus is not the same as discipleship in Jesus. And here's the danger that we always get wrong. Here's the danger of the Western church. Here's the danger of the American church. Proximity can often masquerade itself as participation. As long as I'm seen in the picture, it shows that I went to church. Just as long as I stand by the greeter

and I don't do anything else, they'll think that I was serving. Just because I show up at 2355 Bengal and I hang out in the parking lot, hooting, hollering, even if I do it in the name of Jesus. Hugging all my friends, telling them how blessed and highly favored I am this week. We all went there talking all this church at ease. Walking in all late, because we were yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack, yack. And never truly step in to the sanctuary where the presence of God is shaping, forming, speaking to our lives. Good Lord, this is a physical illustration of a spiritual reality that Jesus is preaching to us about. How can someone be near the kingdom and not in the kingdom? Throughout the New Testament, Jesus makes this clear. Those who are truly in the kingdom have some things that are very particular. Number one, they recognize they're sinners and they need a Savior. Luke chapter 5. They repent and begin to walk in the way of Jesus as followers of Jesus, not admirers of Jesus, but followers of Jesus, Mark chapter 1. They are born again or born of the spirit. You need to have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, John chapter 3. However, the hallmark, the seal that Jesus emphasizes of someone in the kingdom of God is that, are you ready for this? Do the will of my Father. Matthew 7.21 says, not everyone, only the one who does the will of my Father. Knowing his truth is not the same as living his truth. Faith in Jesus is not the same as being faithful and following Jesus. Close, but not the same. So what is the will of the Father?

Well, Jesus makes it simple, and I'm coining this moving forward. You're going to hear this a lot by the way, especially this year, okay? These are the three hallmark commandments, the three pillar Jesus hangs his entire gospel on. Are you ready? Really simple. Love God, love people, make disciples. Love God, love people, make disciples. I need it. Love God, love people, make disciples. That's it, church. We ain't got to run around like we're chickens without our heads cut off wondering what do we got to do next? A new program, a new this, a new that, another conference. I got to go here, another worship. We got to love God, love people, make disciples, baby. We will grow as a church when we commit, surrender, and start being faithful to the Father's mission. Listen, there's grace if you haven't been faithful, but the blessing is in being faithful. I don't think, some of y'all are living off his grace, and he's calling you to walk in his blessings. My God, I just got that one right now. I just got, listen, I'm preaching to myself, and some of y'all are living off his grace, and he's calling you to walk in his blessing, and his blessing comes in your faithfulness. Jesus says, in my Father's house, there are many rooms that he intends to fill them all, which is why scripture says, don't merely listen to the word, do what it says. You can be close to church. You can be close to truth. You can be close to Jesus, and still not being fully surrendered, near, but not in. So what do we do?

What do we do? Some of you are not far. As a matter of fact, I can tell you just by pulling a report, the majority of us, listen to my words, the majority of us are not far, but not in. You've been attending. You love Jesus. I believe you. You love what Jesus has done. You love the teaching. You feel connected. This is great. This is all great. But Jesus isn't calling you to be a spectator. He's asking you to be a participator in making disciples. So this 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, I want to challenge you to three things. Along with your fast, along with your praying, get connected. Okay. Well, how do I do that, Pastor? Everybody's eyes on me? I think I need a whiteboard with big dry erase markers, right? Right? Like old school. Like we're doing an old school Pentecostal Bible study. Pretend I'm writing. Get connected. The way you get connected here is real simple. There's going to be some people standing over there just a few minutes. After we pray. And that's for me, the team. We have some snacks.

We have some drinks. We want to hear all about the vision of the church, how we started. Where we come from. Who am I? Who my wife is. Who our leaders are. What our needs are. You can ask questions. But we also want to know who you are. We want to know where you have been. And we want to get you plugged in. Okay. That's today. Okay. But today is incomplete without next week. So if you come today, my goal is to make sure that when I step in next week at Connectors 101, the same people that were here today are there next week. Let's just take it as a challenge of faithfulness. Can I be faithful to repeating the same step two weeks in a row through Jesus? Don't do it for me if you want to get connected. Are you with me? If you have been convicted to move forward in this, take a step. Maybe you started, you never completed it. Start again. Fresh slate. New season. New year.

Let's go. Let's become greater. Until you pick up a towel and serve, you won't fully understand the kingdom of God. It's an important step. Jesus made them serve from day one. You have been living off grace but God wants you to live in his blessing. Number two, serve the mission. We need people. I need people in kids ministry. I need kids ministry. I need people in kids ministry. Why do I need people in kids ministry? Because I believe in those kids. I believe there are future pastors, future preachers, future worship leaders. There are future senators and congressmen and mayors and leaders in our nation right there. But if we don't instill, if we don't train them in the way they should go. Come on now. Can you help me train them in the way they should go? I don't need teachers. I need people who love Christ and will love children to teach them about Jesus. That's what I want. We need greeters. We need people in every area to be honest with you. Why?

Because don't say they don't need me. Yeah, we do. Because without you we're incomplete. We want you. The kingdom makes sense when you. That one person that thinks they don't need me, no, it's incomplete until you participate. Number 3, join a connect group. You can't love God deeply without knowing God deeply. Groups are where faith matures. Group is where disciples are formed. Group is where healthy Christian fellowship grows. Today stop by, find out the different groups. Get into a group. It's going to change your life. I promise you. Jesus didn't ask this man for more knowledge. He asked him for his response. You're not far. But nearness isn't enough. It hasn't gotten you anywhere. The kingdom belongs to those who respond faithfully. Last week I taught decrease. This week it's response. Right? The question is simple. How will you respond to Jesus? Because I really need to move on to the mission. The greater mission that we serve. But I need you to really lean in this week and be like, how am I

going to respond to Jesus? My prayer for you today is simple. Jesus, I don't just want to know you. I want to follow you. I want to trust you. I want to obey you. I don't just want to be near. I want to be in. I don't just want to have faith. I want to be faithful. Jesus, would you help me in my response today? Would you stand with me? We have prayer partners up here at the front. I feel there are some prayer deans in this house. I don't want you to leave without getting prayer. If you come up here and you want to come to meet the team but you want prayer, you need prayer, tell your prayer partner that. Because these prophets will go off and start praying for 30 minutes and won't let you get to meet the team. They'll know what to do. You will leave here with prayer and with meet the team. Even if it means let me walk you to meet the team. I'll pray for you after meet the team. We got that handled. I'm trying to cover all the bases, right, so that we have proper order and decency in this house. Amen. I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes. I feel this is a moment, a holy moment that God wants to meet you.

And I want to offer you an opportunity. You say, you know what, I believe in the name of Jesus but I have never faithfully taken a step to follow Jesus. Today that changes. Today I want to make that decision. It's a decision of your heart. To say, yes, Jesus, I believe but today I want to follow. I believe that Jesus is the son of God, that he lived, suffered and died for my sins and was resurrected on the third day. But I also want to follow him the rest of my days. If that's you, would you raise your hand so I can pray for you. Father God, thank you, Jesus. Father God, we thank you, son. Thank you for your faithfulness. Now help us with our faithfulness. And I pray this in Jesus' mighty name. Come on, church, give God praise for the word of the Lord that has gone forth. Hey, prayer partners up here, come and get prayer for anything. For the ones that said yes to Jesus, either for the first time or you're rededicating your life to God.