The Urgency of Salvation for Our Neighborhoods and Cities

♪ For every night ♪ ♪ For every heartbreak ♪ ♪ For every circumstance ♪ ♪ I believe that you are my fortress ♪ ♪ And you are my monster ♪ ♪ And you are my hiding place ♪ ♪ I believe you are the way ♪ ♪ And the truth ♪ ♪ And the life ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believe you are the way ♪ ♪ And the truth ♪ ♪ And the life ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believe in through every blessing ♪ ♪ And every promise ♪ ♪ Through every breath I take ♪ ♪ I believe that you are provided ♪ ♪ And you are protected ♪ ♪ And you are the one I've loved ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believe that you are the way ♪ ♪ And the truth ♪ ♪ And the life ♪ ♪ I believe you are the way ♪ ♪ And the truth ♪ ♪ And the life ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believe you are ♪ ♪ Oh, you are ♪ ♪ ♪ It's a new horizon ♪ ♪ And I'm sent on you ♪ ♪ 'Cause you meet me here today ♪

♪ Mercy's out of noon ♪ ♪ All my fears and doubts ♪ ♪ They can all come too ♪ ♪ Because they can't stay low ♪ ♪ When I'm here with you ♪ ♪ It's a new horizon ♪ ♪ And I'm sent on you ♪ ♪ 'Cause you meet me here today ♪ ♪ Mercy's out of noon ♪ ♪ All my fears and doubts ♪ ♪ They can all come too ♪ ♪ Because they can't stay low ♪ ♪ When I believe you are the way ♪ ♪ And the truth ♪ ♪ And the life ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believe you are the way ♪ ♪ And the truth ♪ ♪ And the life ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believe you are ♪ ♪ It's a new horizon ♪ ♪ And I'm sent on you ♪ ♪ 'Cause you meet me here today ♪ ♪ Mercy's out of noon ♪ ♪ All my fears and doubts ♪ ♪ They can all come too ♪ ♪ Because they can't stay low ♪ ♪ When I believe you are the way ♪ ♪ And the truth ♪ ♪ And the life ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believe you are the way ♪

♪ And the truth ♪ ♪ And the life ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believe you are ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believe you are ♪ ♪ And the life ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believe you are ♪ ♪ - And man, we give God praise this morning. It is great to be together. We worshiping in the house of the Lord this morning. We just give Him the honor, the glory, the praise and the worship that He deserves. ♪ ♪ In the darkness we were waiting ♪ ♪ Without hope and without light, till from heaven ♪ To fulfill the law and prophets, to avert you came the word From a throne of endless glory, to a queen in the dirt Praise the Father, praise the Son Praise the Spirit, three in one God of glory, majesty Praise forever to the King of demons To reap the Kingdom coming, and to reconcile the lost To redeem the whole creation You did not despise the cross Don't worry, but then your suffering gets off to the other side Knowing this was our salvation Jesus, for our Savior died Praise the Father, praise the Son Praise the Spirit, three in one God of glory, majesty

Praise forever to the King of demons In a moment you rose, all of heaven held its breath Till the storm was moved for good, for the land the conquered dead And the dead was from their toes, and the angels stood in awe For the souls of all who had come, to the Father of restored When the church of Christ was born, and the Spirit made the grave Now this gospel truth of all, shall not be, shall not be But it's love in this name, and it's free, and I am free For the love of Jesus Christ, who has resurrected me God Praise the Father, praise the Son Praise the Spirit, three in one God of glory, majesty Praise forever to the King of demons Praise forever to the King of kings Amen, amen, we are so glad we're together to worship here at the house of the Lord, whether you're here in person, if you're watching online, if you're watching from your prison cell, we just say amen and celebrate what God is doing, but as part of our celebration also y'all can have a seat, we get to celebrate baptism this morning Well, God, we just praise you this morning, God, we celebrate the gift that it is to be called your sons and daughters God, we praise you, God, but you are a good God, we're a holy God, you're a worthy God You're greatly to be praised, in our songs, God, in our lives, in our fellowship and our actions followed through the baptism God God, we're reminded of your word today that there is one narrow path to follow you, God that you are the way you are the truth, God, you are the life and so we thank you for the life that we have and you, God God, may our worship this morning be narrow-minded God, may it be strictly you that we look to this morning

not thinking about the things that we've rocked into this room with God the things that we're curing God We've made the songs that we sing, made the songs So, guys, we sing songs about building our life on you, God. Christ being magnified in our lives, God, may that be our narrow way of thinking, God, just to look strictly to you, straight to you, God. And may our worship be pleasing to you, Father. May we offer a sweet aroma of praise to you, because you deserve it, Father. God, may we hold nothing back in the words that we sing this morning, God, in the way that we live, and we love you, ask all this stuff, everything in Christ's name. Worthy of every song we could ever see, Worthy of all praise we could ever breathe, Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you. Jesus, the name above every other name, Jesus, the only one who could ever see. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you, only live for you. And holy, there is no one like you, there is no beside you, open up my eyes and wander. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and leave me, and you love to those around me. Worthy of every song we could ever see, Worthy of all praise we could ever breathe, Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you. Jesus, the name above every other name, Jesus, the only one who could ever see, Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you. Jesus, we live for you, only live for you, there is no one like you, there is no beside you, open up my eyes and wander. And holy, there is no one like you, there is none beside you, open up my eyes and wander. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and leave me, and you love to those around me. And holy, there is no one like you, there is no one like you, there is no beside you. And I will build my life upon your look, it is a fun foundation, and I will burn my trust in you. And I will build my ways upon your own It is a far foundation And I will burn my trust in you And I will not be shaded And holy, there is no one like you There is none beside you

Open up my eyes in water Show me who you are And fill me with your heart and lead me And you're down to the top ground Holy, there is no one like you There is none beside you Open up my eyes in water Show me who you are And fill me with your heart and lead me And you're down to the top ground And I will build my life upon your own It is a far foundation And I will burn my trust in you And I will not be shaded And fill me with your heart [Music] You will create a suddenly heart together Without the tongues of lift hold out And from north to south And east to west Be your Christ, be mad without it [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] And I won't bow to lies I stand strong and worship you And if it puts me in the fire I'll rejoice 'cause you're there too I won't wait for my feet I hold fast so what is true The cross brings transformation I'll be crucified with you 'Cause death is just a doorway In true resurrection life If I join you in your sufferings Then I'll join you when you rise And when you return in glory All the angels and the saints My heart will still be singing My soul will be the same Oh, Christ be magnified Let His praise arise Christ be magnified in me Oh, Christ be magnified From the altar of my life Christ be magnified in me Oh, Christ be magnified Let His praise arise

Christ be magnified in me Oh, Christ be magnified From the altar of my life Christ be magnified in me Amen, Amen, what a beautiful time Singing to the Lord together you can have a seat ♪ Thank you 121 for making Serp Week incredible this year We have had so much fun just organizing from projects Throughout the week for y'all And it has been such a dream come true To watch the church body just truly invest into our city And love on our city so well So thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus Getting out there and serving the people that we love ♪ Hi, I'm Keith with Mid Cities Women's Clinic And today we're celebrating one of our patients By doing a baby shower in partnership with 121 A lot of these young ladies come to us They're in a need of material items Like baby clothes, strollers And I'm just so blessed to be here I just want to say thank you 121 We're doing all that you do And all the partnerships that we've had ♪ Thank you 121 for all you're doing To step out and serve GCISD today And make our schools a better place for our kids

Thank you, thank you Thanks guys Thank you 121 for serving today At Six Stones during Serp Week It's been awesome just to see everybody going around Building fences and doing a bunch of different things It's serving so many people So we're so grateful for everyone doing this together Hey 121, thank you for serving And thank you for bringing your family out to serve the Lord Hey, thank you 121 I love being out here and seeing everybody working And just thanks for showing up And showing the love of Christ to all of our neighbors It is really cool to see So tonight we have middle school and high school kiddos here 121 that are serving clean up We're the recipients Your guys is good grace and mercy We're at local apartment communities We're even at refugee communities On either side of the Metroplex Thank you students and parents For making Serp Week fantastic We're grateful Hey 121, thank you so much for coming out and doing this We had such a great turn out today And we couldn't do without you guys Thank you all so much for serving We had nearly 1200 people

Serving over 30 job sites And we're so grateful for each one of you Stepping in to serve the communities around us And really be the body of Christ Our neighbors and the city Thank you all for serving Yeah Awesome And I would be remiss if I didn't say thank you as well So thanks for turning out The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. And to give His life a ransom for many. So when we serve in Jesus' name, we're serving the way that Jesus did. Thanks for being a part of that. You may or may not have seen a story on this young man, but I want to introduce you to someone this morning. This is Tyler Ulrich. This picture is a 21-year-old picture of him. And Tyler is the great nephew of my brother Randy on his wife's side of the family. When Tyler was in middle school, his uncle, Nick, gave him a Bible. And Tyler put that on his desk in his room and didn't look at it for the next couple of years. In ninth grade, he felt a little bit lost, as often high schoolers do. And instead of, he said, turning to drugs and parties like so many of my friends did, he started reading his Bible.

And he wanted to understand and have his relationship with Christ strengthened. It was through that reading of the scripture then that he became a follower of Jesus in high school. He was later baptized, part of the church, part of Bible studies, and following the Lord. He was also a football player and academically astute. And he went to Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma, Bethany, Oklahoma, to play football. He's had a good career there. And then two weeks ago, on Saturday afternoon, they were playing Wasthaw Baptist University in Arkadofia, Arkansas. And he suffered a traumatic injury in that game five days later on the Thursday Tyler past. I share that story with you 'cause this afternoon will be his celebration of life at two o'clock. They are busing in the football team, the pastor at his church in Oklahoma is coming to do the main service. Immediately found that service will go do the grave side and I'll be with the family and close friends, be leading that part of it. And I want you to just think about it for a moment. This young man's story and God's grace in bringing him to salvation in Christ. And as I thought about the passage of scripture that we're in today, I couldn't think but help how we could weave Tyler's story through this message today. And I've had the privilege over the years

to oversee and lead several celebrations of life. It's what we call funerals for a Christian. And it's always a privilege when I can share about them. And if you read the scripture and you just overlaid the scripture on their life, it matches. And if you were to take the scripture and lay it over Tyler's life and look at the way he lived in his 21 years, it matches when he came to Christ and followed Christ. There's a confidence that we have when somebody is in Jesus. Now, I don't pretend this morning that I've also learned this over time. There are not words that are words of comfort to a parent in these kinds of moments. I believe that God himself is the one that can actually bring a strength and a supernatural peace and comfort because everything else pretty much falls hollow. I can't imagine what it's like to be a parent losing a child. But I do know that we have a God who is a God who suffers, a God who gets in the suffering with us and a God who can get into the core of who we are unlike any person. And God will in his mercy meet a person in their deepest grief. But Tyler's story is a good picture of what Jesus teaches in Luke 13. If you'll turn in your Bible to Luke chapter 13,

we'll be in verses 22 through 30. And as we move through this part of the scripture, I'll share different things from Tyler's life that I believe illustrate what Jesus is saying. But what I want us to think about from a big idea today, and I've been praying for this moment today for our church, that we would not bypass this, that we would not move through it and just move on. But that we would understand today in a fresh way and inside of our own souls a deeper urgency for the salvation for our neighbors and those who are in our cities. the urgency of salvation. Now, you could look at some ways life like Tyler and say his life was too short. But what I'd like to say today, you can agree or disagree, but from scripture, this is what I believe. I don't believe his life was too short. And I don't believe somebody's life is too long. The scripture says that God has numbered our days. And each of us have a certain number of days to live. Why, 95 year old mean crotchety man who opposes God gets to live 95 years and a 21 year old Tyler Ulrich who loved Jesus and was following Jesus only gets 21 years, I'll never be able to explain that. I would not be able to give anyone a satisfactory answer other than what I believe God has already said. And that is, our days are numbered. We have a certain number of days. He has purposes in those days and I trust and love God

in the hardest of moments, as many of you do as well. I also wanna be careful this morning in a story like this, not too sensationalized or overdramatized so that you feel some kind of emotional pressure. Rather, I wanna tie the power of the story to the power that is far greater in God's word. And that's where we would tether ourselves in these moments. Now, we've been in a series for those who are newer that we've called Sint. This is our 10th month in it. You'd say, well, why would we spend so much time? And one of the things they teach you as a preacher is about the time you're getting tired of it. They're just now getting ahold of it. And we just wanted to make sure that we really understand that God sent Jesus Christ into this world. And not only do you send us into this world, what Jesus said to his followers, that I'm sending you. So we are a Sint people. We've talked about it globally. We've talked about it in church planting. We've been talking about it in our cities and neighborhoods. What I know today is that maybe God is calling some of you to be sent to a different ethnic group somewhere across the world. And it may be that God is calling some of you and sending you to be a part of church plants. But what I know for sure today is that you live somewhere and you have a neighborhood and that you're in a city. And at least in this moment in time,

we've been sent into that neighborhood and that city. What will we do with the responsibility that God has given us for where we currently are? And I just hope this morning from the scripture that we will see the urgency. I can't tell you what to do with it. It'll be different for everyone. But I hope we'll sense the urgency of salvation for our neighbors and cities. There's three ways that I've thought about this as I've unpacked it. The first is this. As we go, pass on the teachings of Jesus. There is such an urgency today that as we're going, we can pass on the teachings of Jesus. It's not just a meeting with someone. It's not just a set time. It's as we're going. Let's tie it to the scripture and he was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching and proceeding on his way to Jerusalem. Jesus was teaching city to city, village to village. Now, some of you have had the privilege of going to Israel. Others of you might be able to do that in the future. But when you're there, you can just get in your mind a picture of what Jesus was doing with his disciples. And he would be in one city and he would teach in that city. Then he'd go to the next city. He just kept teaching in the different cities as he was passing through.

Now, he actually had a destination. In Luke 951, it says that Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem. He was determined to go. He was resolute. So from Luke 951 on, we know that Jesus is determined to get to Jerusalem. Why? It was there that he would lay his life down on the cross and God would raise him from the dead. Jesus was headed to something horrifically hard. Something harder than any of us can possibly fathom. And on his way to the hard, he was teaching in the cities and the villages. He wasn't just aiming at his destination. It was as he was going to that hardest point in his life, he was teaching. And for all of us, we can continually be teaching While we're thinking about our neighborhoods and cities, I couldn't help but think about church planters in India. Several years ago, I had the privilege to be a part of equipping and training some church planters in India. And I have a picture of this in my office at home. I've showed this picture a few times. It is so impactful to me. And these church planters came from all over the country, from all over India, and they would come and they would have a bag, just imagine your gym bag, maybe about this size or maybe a beer bag.

I don't know, they have small bags. And that was their life belongings. And literally God has sent them village to village, city to city to bring the message of Jesus. When they enter into a room, they take their shoes off. So the picture I have is not of the people, the planters, the picture I have is of their shoes. Because everyone in that room represents to me Isaiah 52, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. As they're going, they're passing on the teachings of Jesus. I couldn't help but think about Roddy Yuri in our church. She's a global worker who, later in life, believe God was sending him to the Middle East and to Africa to equip church planters so that they can go village to village and be more effective in what they're doing. There are people that are equipers of those going out. And then I couldn't help but think when it come closer to home of city to city in New York. And in New York City in the last 10 years, they've started over two, or somewhere around 250 churches in the five boroughs and in the different neighborhoods in the city. And then that brings us to here. And when we think about bringing the teachings of Jesus, we do it from city to city, from Colleyville to Grapevine, from Grapevine to Eulis, from Eulis to Hurston, North Rich on Hills, North Rich on Hills to South Lake, then to Westlake to Trophy Club,

to Bedford, to Keller, to Flower Mount. I'm confident I'll left out one of your cities. But you get the idea. We move from city to city and wherever God is places, we're bringing the teachings of Jesus. Why is that so important? Well, we'll see more so as we move through this part of the scripture, but what we know today statistically is that almost 90% of the church is biblically illiterate. Almost 90% of the church is biblically illiterate. Not only do we want to be passing on the teachings of Jesus as we go out there, we want to be passing the teachings of Jesus on in here. And we want to be passed on in our homes in Deuteronomy 6. It's the instructions to parents that when our children rise up and they walk through the day and when they go to bed, all day long, we're passing along the teachings of Jesus. What would be a practical way for us to think about this? Be ways that we continue to immerse ourselves in God's word. After Tyler became a follower of Jesus in high school, he read the Bible through three different times. By the time he was 21. Just immersing himself in God's word. Not stopping when it didn't make sense, but continuing to read, continuing to immerse in it. So what can we do with that? We continue to abide in God's word ourselves. But several years ago, I ran into and met Sean Severide.

He's in our church now and when I met Sean, the very first time I met him, it was up on the staircase, I can still see it. It was years ago, I meet him on top of the staircase at the gym and almost immediately, he tells me Psalm 36 eight and talks about how we're a river of delight to the Lord. Now, candidly, I think that's a little weird between two guys. Why did he share that with me that day? Because that's where he was that morning. And he told me, he said, wherever I read in the word that morning, that's what I pass on to people all day long. So we don't have to have like one way or we don't have to be able to share the gospel all the way through every time we run into somebody, we just pass on the teachings of Jesus. And what did God teach you this morning and share that all through the day? Just keep that one thing locked away and pass it on. Even to people you meet for the very first time, you never know how that will transform a person's life and then transform others as they talk about it. Verse 23, "Someone said to him, 'Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?' And then he said to them, 'So we'll pause there for a moment.'" In Matthew 7, part of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus preached, he talked about the way being narrow that leads to life and the way being broad

that leads to destruction. I don't know if this guy heard that. I don't know where his question came from, but are there just a few who are being saved? Jesus had margin in his schedule. He had time to pause and answer the question. Do we have margin so that those who are interested in whatever their questions are, we could pause and help with the question. Now, Jesus did not always answer the question that was being asked. Oftentimes he answered the question that they needed to hear. He does that again in this moment. He's not going to answer the question, are there just a few being saved? That's not the thing we need to be concerned about. What he says you need to be concerned about to this man, he says you need to be concerned about you. You don't need to be worrying about the fear or the many about you. So could I just ask you even more pointedly this morning to think about this, what Jesus said here for you? And then beyond that, what do we do with it for those who are near and around us in our cities and neighborhoods? So my second point is to be clear about the narrow way in the short time to respond. Be clear about the narrow way in the short time to respond. Verse 24, here's what Jesus says.

Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able. I have to tell you as I was studying this, that first word in verse 24, it bothered me. Because what we teach is you're not to try to work hard to get in with God, to get in good with Him. You're not to strive. You're to relax and just receive the grace of God. So what does Jesus say? Jesus says strive. Well, what does that word strive mean? It's a Greek word, agonitsima. It means agony. And it describes what an athlete does in training. Tyler was a beast of an athlete. He won multiple competitions in weightlifting. He was excellent on football field. He knew what it was to agonize. He knew what it was to train. You know it was to labor. So that he could excel on the field. There are so many in here. You're elite athletes. You're elite at what you did or what you do. And you know what it is to train hard. You know what it takes so that you can make that team so that you can be a part of what's going on. So that you can excel when you're a part of it. You understand it takes,

it is agonizing to get there. That's what Jesus is saying. What happened with relax? Grace, mercy. Well, Jesus says strive to enter through the narrow door. This is striving to get to the door to enter it. And this is what makes sense to me. How many people just immediately heard the message of Jesus and you're in. Or how many people had to go through every door possible that is wild now to control because you didn't like the idea of this one. Or how many people have this question after question after question and you can't quite surrender to Jesus 'cause you have one more question about the Bible being true. You have one more question about who has got really? You have one more question. Did Jesus really die? Is it really the only way? It's question after question after question. We've walked with so many people that's years of just walking with them. But what I would say today is would you be willing? And many of you are. To agonize for a little bit over the truths of Jesus, to read the scripture like Tyler did and not surrender on it. When it's hard, just keep at it. Are you willing to get with other Christians and say, hey, can you help me understand this?

I don't have a clue. Would you be willing to get in a Bible study with a life group and say, you know what? I don't know what any of this is about. Don't ask me any questions 'cause I won't know the answers. Let me just sit here. I actually wanna see if you guys love each other, 'cause somebody told me that Christians love each other more than anybody else. I wanna see and hear and understand God's word. I wanna be able to ask questions so that I can understand it. Are we willing to agonize and go against the grain of what everyone's doing around me in a cultural shaping against God and instead go towards God? Am I willing to not do what the rest of my family's doing to follow Jesus? Am I willing to lose friends if all of a sudden I was making fun of Jesus and now I'm following Jesus? Am I willing to listen to what Jesus said and we said, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me? That's a lot of striving that you have a wrestling match that goes on, you're just kinda agonizing over, do I really believe this or not? I wanted today to make sure that I could just lay out for you what that narrow path is. And years ago, decades ago, someone taught me using a bridge illustration. I've shared that and trained people with that

for 40 years or more. And I've found that children understand this, the teenagers understand this and adults understand this. There's an urgency today and my prayers, if there's anybody in here that you don't know Jesus. And by the way, I don't know today if you think he's the only way. I haven't asked most of you that question. But Jesus said he's the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. There's only one way he is that narrow door. So what I'd like to do is just do it around one verse, it's Romans 6, 23, I'm gonna do a quicker version, depends on who I'm talking to, of how much time I spend, or how much interest they have. But if you can just kinda roll with me for a minute, I'm not the best of artists, but imagine a couple of mountains. You have to be creative in your imagination. This is us on one side. Here's God on the other side. It's not bad. (congregation laughing) The wages of sin is death. This one verse from in 6, 23 is one part of Scripture. I think this one verse is a good summary of the gospel, of the message of Jesus. So the wages of sin is death. Right behind the guitar, the sin and death, it's hiding. The wages of sin is death.

What are wages? It's something I earn. What do we earn? We actually earn death, physical separation and spiritual separation from God, through the work of our sin. What is sin? Sin is missing the mark. Did you know that in Europe, if you're in a shooting contest, if you miss the target once, it's called sin one. If you miss the next one, it's sin two. If you miss the next one, it's sin three. There's a target to hit and when it's missed, it's a sin. In archery, it's a term. When you miss the bullseye, it's a sin. God is perfect in who He is. The expectations that you and I would be perfect. Every time we sin, we miss. We miss the mark of perfection. That is our separation from God. Not only that, we're actually born with a sin nature so that every person is separated from God from the outset of birth. None of us start out okay with God. We're all separated from God. Sin separates us. Now, there's ways we try to make it right. Here's where you're just gonna have to trust me that I actually wrote this.

We try good works. We try being good. We try religion. We try being moral. We try being spiritual. Look where all those lead in a ditch. Those do not get us to God. Your catechism class did not get you to God. Your confirmation class does not get you to God. Your baptism at six months does not get you to God. Your baptism at 25 does not get you to God. Your attendance in church does not get you to God. Your serving in the church for a lifetime does not get you to God. None of those things, religious things get us to God. No, but do they get us to God? No, does our own truth being spiritual get us to God? No, none of these get us to God. Jesus said, strive to enter through the narrow door. But since I have to work through and say, there is not another way. Jesus said in John 10, I am the door. He's the way. So how do we do it? The good news is the word but, at the bottom. But the free gift of God is a gift. God's the giver and he gives us life. Look at even the contrast of both sides. You got wages, sin and death. Then you've got a gift from God that's life.

It's free, we don't work for it. There's a purchaser. Anytime someone purchases a gift, it costs them something. It costs God Jesus' life and that gift gets us life. Eternal life for Tyler did not begin when he became a follower of Jesus. No, did not begin when he passed away a week ago Thursday. That's not when eternal life began for him. Eternal life began for him when he received Jesus in the ninth grade and started following Jesus. In John 17, it says eternal life is knowing Jesus. So the point where we know Jesus, then eternal life begins. So everybody in the room right now are online. You're either in eternal life right now or you're in eternal death separated from God. Those are the two choices. But it's already started. It's simple transfer that happens when life ends. So how do we bridge this gap? If none of these things get us there, what actually gets us there? And it's the cross of Christ. It's through Jesus Christ that we get there. It's only through the cross. It's Acts 4, 12. There is salvation in no one else except the name of Jesus. Jesus is the only way to salvation. How do we move from here to there? If that's the way to God?

The scripture says it's by repenting and believing. Repenting means I'm turning away from anything else I believe. And I'm putting my trust in Jesus Christ crucified and risen who took away my sins. Now, we don't have enough sense to cross that bridge ourselves. So what happens? God in His grace comes and gets us. Somebody was telling me earlier in John 644, it says the scripture says that God's the one that draws us. That word draws means drags us. So oftentimes we don't even have enough sense to do it on our own. So He comes and gets us and brings us to Himself. And that's when the relationship begins. And then from there, it's a lifelong following of Him. That's where purpose is, is in that path of Jesus Christ. At least now we're in North Carolina a few months ago on our sabbatical and one of the towns we were in, this church, it's one of our favorite moment. We just kind of stood there for a long time and just enjoyed it and then caught a picture of it. But the cross, it's kind of, it's beautiful anyway, but the shadow of the cross across the roof of the church. It's a reminder of Psalm 90 that we dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. Well, the only ones who are dwell in that shadow of the Almighty are the ones who have come by way of the cross of Jesus Christ. So it's through Christ. But then next to that, this particular building is a door into the church.

And can you read the top? Oh God, my heart is ready. What a cool way to enter into a worship service. My heart is ready. I didn't need Travis to get me ready today. I came in ready. You didn't need me to get you ready. You came ready. 'Cause your heart is a heart ready to worship God. It's been transformed by him. But there's another way to think about that. Has your heart ever been in the ready position to say yes, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. It's faith in Jesus Christ. Striving is over at the cross. Jesus agonized for you and for me. When I believe it, the striving is over. The grace overwhelms our hearts. We're forgiven and freed. And now we're inside Christ himself. Is that your story? Could you write your story for your celebration of life with some kind of intervening moment like that, like Tyler's story? Jesus said, "Strived to enter." Now, he says something really interesting because he says not only "Strived to enter," but I tell you, many will seek to enter, will not be able. Well, in the Sermon on the Mount,

Jesus says, "Knock and the door will be open." Seek and you'll find. So what's the problem? He says, "If you seek, you'll find him." What happens? Well, too often, it's our desire to go in the door the way we want to go in it. And the only way in is God's way. We don't get to choose how to go through and get in that relationship. So we can seek, but if we're seeking just to do it our way, then that will not get us through the door. Verse 25. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door and you begin to stand outside, knock on the door, saying, "Lord, open up to us." Then he will answer and say to you, "I do not know where you're from." We know that Jesus described himself as having known who he was. That he knew where he was from and he knew where he was going. He knew who he was. And when people are knocking on the door, they're saying, he says to them, "Hey, it's a little late. "I don't know where you're from." There are two parts in scripture to me that I understand and this is why we need to be clear that the time is short. Enrollment chapter one, it's a really uncomfortable chapter of the Bible.

How do seminary professors say years ago that the four hardest words in the Bible to him are in Romans one? And they're said three times. God gave them over. If we so want to follow our sin and chase after our opposition to God, I don't know when that moment is. I swing for the fences until the last breath of a person with the hope that they'll come to Christ. But God knows, and there's a point where he says, "I'll just hand you over. "That's what you want. "I'll give you over to what you want." Death is that second part. There's not another option. There's not a purgatory. There's not a way you can be baptized in absentia by someone so that you're okay with God. There is a time that is appointed for man to die and then comes death. That's it. The time to decide is now. So it's a short moment that we have to make that decision. I've told you that we are going to life groups and talking and just trying to figure out where people are serving and where they're sent. The other night, I was with a group of men and there's a man in there that immediately, I wasn't real familiar with him, but it's like Jesus just kind of falls out of him.

You ever with people and it's just like, goodness, it's just, he's just kind of all in you, over you and comes out of you. And so we had a great life group visit, but he shared this one story that I think he was probably my age or 10 years younger or 10 years, I don't know, somewhere in range of me. And he went back to school a few years ago, he's at UTD, his last semester in the spring and he ran into a girl in one of his classes and he shared his story with her about how he had become a Christian. And then he left and the semester was over, he was done with his, what he was doing at school. And then fast forward to not too long ago in 2026, this man, you know, I was really asking God for a sign, he said, I was just wondering if what I'd do is effective or not in the way I talk about Jesus. And he said, I get contacted by that young girl that I had talked about my faith with in 2023. And she shared how no one had ever told her about Jesus before, until he did on that day. And then she said, it was like all these people started telling me about Jesus. And then she became a follower of Jesus, she had baptized in November of 2025. And we don't have to hear what it is that God does when we talk to somebody about Christ, but what a gift to this man that he heard it. And what a gift that the door was made of,

to that narrow door of Jesus. And you just need to know today that while the door is narrow, we have the most inclusive invite imaginable, but it's exclusive in the way in. The invite goes out, but there's an exclusive way in. And I know this is troublesome to people. This is the way Jesus let this is who Jesus was. He is the truth, he is the way he is the life. This is our faith. Verse 26, then you will begin to say, we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets. And he will say, I tell you, I do not know where you're from, depart from me, all you evil doers. I say, wait, Jesus, we were with you. We ate with you, we drank with you, we were with you, we listened to you teach. And what's Jesus saying? Saying, just being present does not get you salvation. We can be in church, part of what I've said, and I think God's giving me such a burden for sixties and up, I'm afraid that sixties and up, grew up in a time where you go to church, you kind of do your thing, and then you might serve in the kids for a while until your kids out and then you're done, and then you kind of ease out for a while and then kind of wrap up.

And we do every funeral for somebody's sixties and up. All you have to do around here is just be old and somewhat of a decent person. And it's like you're following Jesus your whole life. Now, you can be in the presence, you can be in church, you can be certain, you can do all these things and miss Jesus. That's why there's such an urgency for knowing him and for making it clear who he is. And he just said, "I don't know where you're from, "depart for me, all you evil doers." These were the people that thought they were in good standing with him. But the heart is evil and wicked, and he calls it. Well, the third piece of this is verses 28 through 30, and we know the urgency. We need to explain the two outcomes of decisions in this life. There is an outcome with these decisions. This is what Jesus said in verse 28. In that place, it will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. So just thought that they're confident that as Jewish people, they'll be there. But Jesus is saying, "No, there's going to be a place "and you're shut out of the door, "and you'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This is sobering when we think about the descriptors of hell.

And Jesus described it multiple times in his teachings. So it's clear that there are two outcomes, either hell or heaven, and he's describing what hell will be like. Imagine in your worst moment in the deepest weeping that you've ever done in the core of your being, and that it's that and beyond that for eternity with no relief. That's what he's describing. And gnashing of teeth, imagine who has been the meanest person to you and treated you the poorest. That will be the community and worse for all eternity. Jesus, this is not what you want. You don't want to keep choosing other doors. There is a different way. In verse 29 is a much better outcome, and they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. So there's that one path towards hell, and I'm in this group of 90 day, we call it a 90 day spiritual challenge, hard spiritual challenge for men. We have text threads going in different small groups in the group, and a guy sent this the other day from the screw tape letters that C.S. Lewis wrote. Indeed, the safest road to hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones,

without sun posts. That is how Satan works. It is a slow descent. when Christ becomes who we're after. And then it becomes an ascent that will ultimately land in the new heavens and the new earth with him. But it's people from the east and the west, the north and the south, and they'll recline at the table. The Jewish people lived with an idea that there was going to be this great feast in the end and everything would be made right. And that's absolutely what will happen. There will be this great messianic banquet of all those who know Jesus, all those who said yes to Jesus, all those who said yes to the narrow door who've come in by the way of the cross. There will be this banquet and they'll come from everywhere, every tribe, tongue and nation, of which we're one of those nations, gratefully today, that God would send people too so that we could know Jesus also. One of the things that we talk quite a bit about is Bible translation and getting God's word in the heart language of people who don't have it. And one of the translations among many that we've been a part of at 121 is the Andrulo people in Uganda. And this is a copy of Luke. We're in Luke this morning. Until three years ago, the Andrulo people

did not have a copy of the scriptures in their language. And now this copy of Luke is distributed among the Andrulo people, that they can read this and know who Jesus is, that they can read this and potentially have the hope of coming into that relationship with him. So it's people from the north and the south and the east and the west, every tribe, tongue and nation. It's why we celebrate with Psalm 67, let the nations be glad and sing for joy. God is for the nations today to come to him. And then verse 30, and behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last. He doesn't answer the man's question. What he does say is those who think they're good with God are gonna end up last. And those who are last are going to end up first. That's what you need to be concerned about and have the same concern for your neighbors and for your cities. I started with Tyler. I've shared a lot about Tyler and I'm gonna end with Tyler. He was a football players, by the way. I wore my Aggie shirt on purpose today. I could have worn it last week when we beat the Citadel, but I opted not to. And I wore it on purpose today

to highlight the gravity of what we're speaking of. I love the banter with college football. Some people don't love that banter. I've offended people before. I've bantered too much, so I've tried to back down. But college football does not matter. I don't care if you're a long horn fan. By the way, the long horn fans win and they barely show up wearing their shirts. It's just saying. (audience laughing) But it doesn't matter. The Texas speed Ole Miss. And it doesn't matter the Texas, there you are. Good job. It's a way to hang it. The long horn shirt. There we go. Sorry. People stood up in the other service, so good for y'all for maintaining a humility. (audience laughing) Those things don't matter at the end of the day. This is what matters. Time is short. The message is clear. It's Christ and Christ alone. For Tyler, his whole life changed in ninth grade. He believed it, and then he lived it. I've told you, he's been part of a church in Bible studies,

but I wanna finish by telling you the urgency he felt and he didn't even know his life was going to end at 21. The impact they had on other people. This is Tyler with his back to you. I wanted you to see the shirt. Jesus is king. Many of you have that shirt that you wear. That's his high school, Azol, and he's going back to cheer on some of the guys that are there. One of the guys, when they were coming by his hospital bed, when they knew that he was not gonna make it, one was overheard saying, Tyler, you gave me my first Bible. [BLANK_AUDIO] that were impacted by Tyler's life through FCA. Yes. It's story after story talking about the impact and the urgency he had to get his friends into a Bible study to get his friends to FCA with him to talk about Jesus with his friends. It's an urgency. Do you have that same kind of urgency in you that Tyler has had in him? That Jesus has, when he's helping a man see not the right question, let's talk about something else for a minute that really matters. These are the things that matter today. If I thank you for our time and space here to be in your word and thank you even for just the intensity of this part of the Scripture, and I pray God that we would not miss that today, Lord, I pray that anybody in the room or online that doesn't know you and hasn't received you and responded to you in a real and personal way, I pray God today would be that day for them. And then Father, I pray for those of us that do know you, that it would amp up in us the

urgency of the gospel to go out. The time is short, the way is narrow, it's clear. You laid it out clearly. It means today, God, that our Muslim friends do not know Jesus. It means today that our Hindu and Buddhist friends do not know Jesus. It means today that our atheist friends do not know Jesus and God, our desire and hope for them is that they would know you. So Father, I pray that you give us an urgency and however you'd like for us to do it to somehow share it. And Father, we just thank you for the cities you've placed us, the neighborhoods you've placed us, and I pray God, our hearts will be burdened for those around us. And I pray God, it would not be out of an arrogance, but out of a humility and knowing that you've humbled us to bring us to yourself and what a gift and that we could share that gift with someone else. So give us a boldness, a confidence and a humility God to bring the message of Jesus. It's in Christ's name I pray. If we could just be quiet for a moment before the Lord, I don't know what God is doing in your heart, but let this at least be a moment for you to consider the things that Jesus said in Luke 13, and then what that might look for you to be obedient to those things. [BLANK_AUDIO]