Where Else Would We Go || Victory Church [Book of John #20]

Well, good morning, Victory. Come on, are y'all excited to be in the house? This beautiful July morning. So thrilled to be with you guys. And I'm gonna be real, it feels good to be back at Norcross. Man, the past three months has been a doozy. It's been amazing. My wife has been on maternity leave. She just wrapped that up. The baby is three months. Those cheeks are out of control. And yeah, so we've taken some time off. We've taken some paternity time. My wife and I have been building something really exciting as well. So, and I've been moving around in my new role. I've been in them Hamilton Mills streets, y'all. In the Midtown streets. I'm gonna tell y'all, ain't no party like a Norcross party, though. Let me just say. Don't tell them I said that, all right? Don't tell them I said that. But y'all, I'm thrilled to get into the message today. If I could be completely honest, this is a dense passage. It is some heavy content. So I encourage you to take notes if you don't already take notes.

But I believe the Lord wants to speak to us. Now, let me say this. If you're new to Victory, maybe it's your first time here, you should know we've been in and will continue to stay in the Book of John for the entire year. And this series has been unbelievably life transforming for me and for many others, I believe. So I wanna just pick up today. I'm gonna jump right in. Quick recap. We've seen Jesus do some really cool things in the past few weeks. We see Jesus encountering the Samaritan woman at the well and offering her living water. We saw Jesus meeting with Nicodemus in the middle of the night, a religious leader that had questions but wanted to meet in private, which was a very, very interesting conversation. Then we also saw Jesus more recently healing a paralytic man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. And then just last weekend, we heard from Pastor Dennis, one of my favorite Bible stories, even as a child, where Jesus fed not the 5,000, but the 20,000, if you count women and children. I love that. I mean, Jesus took two fish, five loaves, blessed it, and made the first papadum. I support this 100%. But I want you to understand that all of these situations

and moments I just described, they happened back to back. So go with me there. In this season, the following that Jesus had was unbelievable. The crowds are showing up. People are coming by the droves to hear from this man from Nazareth. There are miracles taking place. Blind eyes are open. People who were unable to walk are now walking and jumping for joy. There was no Instagram back then, but if there was, Jesus would have had the blue influencer check mark right by his name. If you don't know what that means, ask a young person close by you. In other words, he was legitimate. But then we flip about 12 verses later, and we see something very, very unexpected happening. We see all of these followers leaving, many of them walking away, even his closest disciples, second guessing this commitment that they had made to Jesus. And the question that I got to ask is why? What did Jesus say? What did Jesus do that would cause these people who were shouting his praises on Monday to walk away on Thursday? And can I just say this? Anything that Jesus does is on purpose and intentional. And we're gonna see today in the next few moments

that the words Jesus spoke were intentional to draw the line in the sand, to separate those who believed and those who were actually ready to be disciples. And how many of you know there's a difference between a believer and a disciple? So that's what we're gonna get to today. Let's jump right into the text. If you're with me, we're gonna start John chapter six, verse 51. It says this. Jesus makes the statement. He says that I am the living bread that came down from heaven. And anyone who eats this bread will live forever. And this bread which I offer so the world may live is my flesh. Okay. Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. How can this man give us his flesh to eat? They asked. Verse 53. So Jesus said it again. I tell you the truth, that unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who. eats my flesh and drinks my blood, has eternal life,

and I will raise that person at the last day. Now, I wanna skip to verse 58. We'll circle back to these hidden scriptures in a moment. Jesus then again says, "'I am the true bread that came down from heaven, and anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did, even though they ate the manna," speaking of the wilderness experience, "'but they will live forever.' He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum." Let's pray. Dear Jesus, help us to understand what in the world you are talking about. Amen. Let's talk about it, because there are people here under the sound of my voice in our overflow spaces, in our family rooms, watching online. You have maybe read this passage in the past, but never took time to really digest and understand what Jesus was saying. And I think it would be wise of us to pause and dig in just a little bit, because how many of you know that when Jesus speaks cryptically, there's always an underlying message? What he's saying has nothing actually really to do with flesh and literal blood. There is a meaning, there is a purpose, and a message he's trying to speak to his people.

So let's just talk about it for a moment before we get into the points and all of that. Let's talk about the flesh, eating of his flesh. Now, the word flesh, when you look at it in its original language, it is a word that we introduced at the very beginning of the series. It's sarx, sarx. Now let me explain what this word means. It doesn't mean flesh such as skin and bone. It doesn't mean flesh just like physical, elastic skin and body. Sarx speaks more to the human experience. It's raw. Sarx, there's nothing sexy about this idea of sarx, because the flesh that Jesus wrapped himself in was the human experience, raw, uncut. It's the weakness, it's the hunger, it's the exhaustion, it's the tiredness, it's the stuff that you and I live in and live out on a day-to-day basis. Now, this is the same language that John used in the first chapter, verse 14, where it says that the word became flesh and dwelt among us. So what John is saying here is this. John is saying that, listen, Jesus did not just put on a costume to come do life with us. Do you realize that there is a world, right,

where Jesus could have shown up wearing a human costume but totally denying the human experience and being fully deity in the earth, but that's not what Jesus did. He stepped into our mess. He stepped into our pain, into the struggles. Why? So that way he could be a high priest that is able to identify with the plight of man. He embraced the full human experience. And why would he do that? Well, look at what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, 21. It says, God, the Father, made him, Jesus, who had no sin, to be sin for us, to cover himself in starks. Why? So that in him, we might become the righteousness of God. So hear me, church. Jesus did not just put on a human being costume to identify with us, he put on flesh so he could carry that flesh to a hill called Calvary. And on that hill, he would eliminate, destroy, and crush the human experience, the sin and the death that has bound us once and for all. Are y'all with me? So when Jesus says, eat my flesh, he's saying, partake in my suffering, partake in my sacrifice. Anybody wanna sign up for that? Doesn't sound fun, right?

And then he goes on to say, not just eat my flesh, but drink my blood. So it's important to know that in Jewish law, blood was considered to be the seat of life. I know in the Western world, we often refer to the heart kind of as the seat of life. We speak a lot about the heart, love, and these things. But the Levitical law makes it very, very clear. When we look at it in Leviticus 17, 11, it says, for the life of the flesh is found in the blood. So the Jewish culture at that time, they legitimately believed. that the blood was sacred, it belonged to God. We don't drink blood, we don't play around with blood. It is sacred and it belongs to God. So hear me, church, what Jesus is saying in this moment is that the very life that has been reserved and set apart for God and God alone, he is now making available to anyone who would say yes to being a true disciple of Jesus. And hear me, the symbolism is wild. It's crazy, it's wild, it's provocative. But if Jesus said it, he said it intentionally. And I believe it's because Jesus wanted us to understand, hear me, church, Jesus wanted us to understand that believing in him is free of charge. But if you're gonna be a disciple, baby, it's gonna cost you everything you have. It's gonna cost you everything that you and I have, why? Because being a disciple is so much more

than just casual Christianity that we do in the Bible Belt of America. Showing up to church twice a year because that's just what we do. Or going to church and doing the thing because culturally that's what we always did. No, Jesus has no desire for your intellectual agreement. Jesus is saying in this moment, if you're gonna follow me, you have to totally consume me, total dependence on me. Which brings me to the first point this morning. If we are gonna move from being simple believers to being fully devoted disciples, we have to live our lives looking upward. We have to look up. What do I mean by that? We have to have a full dependence on Jesus. Come on, someone say Jesus. Jesus. Jesus and nothing else. Come on, we don't need to add anything to Jesus. I will never forget years ago, they made Disney. They put out their streaming platform. Anyone has the Disney streaming platform? All right, eight of you, wonderful, okay. Well, we thought it was great. My kids love Marvel. We were all into the Marvel films. We downloaded it, got the subscription. We enjoyed it for a few years. And then in 2019, someone at Disney had this brilliant idea

to create Disney Plus. Now, in case you don't know, when they brought in Disney Plus they began bringing in films that were not Disney at all. I mean, R-rated films, adult, I mean, films that should not be connected. Can I tell you, when you have a brand like Disney that is just good by itself, you begin adding things to it and it begins to defile the natural intent of the brand. Holy Spirit, help me preach this thing. Can I tell you, too many Christians are treating Jesus like Disney. They want to have Jesus Plus. I want Jesus Plus my crystals. I want Jesus Plus my, it's sage, it's just. I want Jesus Plus my politics. The Lord is your provider, but no, no, no, no. You're not good with that. We want Jesus Plus the 401k because our security is in that, not actually in Jehovah Jireh, the one who sees and provides for his people. Can I tell you something? There is no additional items needed when it comes to Jesus. We preach the gospel that Paul preached, which is Jesus crucified, buried, resurrected, reigning forever, and soon returning for his church. There is no Jesus Plus, Christ alone, no works. Christ alone.

Now watch this. Jesus goes on to say, I live because of the living father who sent me. And in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. Now, the reason why Jesus said anyone who feeds on me, if you notice the tense in which he spoke this, what he's saying is that walking with Jesus and encountering Jesus, it is a habitual, ongoing, sustained nourishment. In other words, this journey is not a one-time thing. Can I tell you? I'll tell you something, disciples don't just make a moment. Disciples commit to a lifestyle. That's what it looks like to be a disciple. Listen, the upward heart posture as a disciple is so much more than just devotional warmth. We don't do this thing just to show up to church on Sunday cute in our Sunday's best, just to tag a little selfie to post on Instagram to prove to everyone else that we're better off today than we were last month. Just to post a cute little saying or a scripture here and there, that's not what Jesus bled and died for. No, to follow Jesus, listen to me, friend, it is a costly, daily, cross-shaped dependence on a savior who gave everything for you and me. So to fully know him, we have to fully go with him even into his suffering, right?

Paul said this in Romans 8, 17. He said that we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. But the problem for many of us as Christians is this, we want the glory, but we don't want the suffering that unlocks the glory. Can I tell you, in the kingdom of God, you will never know the resurrection and newness of life until we first learn to die to ourselves. We have to die to ourselves and look to the life, death, burial, resurrection, and hope that we find in Jesus. Because listen to me, friend, I'm gonna be honest with you. If no one's ever been honest to you about this journey, there will be hardship, there will be, can I get an amen from someone who's been walking with the Lord? If you've been walking with the Lord for any amount of time, you know that this thing is not always peaches and cream. And there have been some people who've been sold a cookie cutter, cotton candy gospel, but the reality, Jesus made it very clear, don't be surprised when the world comes against you. He said that it rains on the just and on the unjust. So friend, hear me humbly as I remind you today, yes, suffering will come following Jesus. There will always be the pain before the promise. There will always be the cross before the crown.

But I've come here today to remind someone that the news does not stop right there, that there is good news. Because as it relates to our suffering, can I tell you our suffering in the Western world church compared to what Christians are enduring in other nations, compared to what the first century church dealt with, having their bodies sawed in half and being dipped in vats of boiling oil. And here we are today shrinking back from the butter knife of persecution. No, no, no, the beauty of the gospel is that the punishment that we actually deserved, eternal death, separation from God, Jesus already paid the price for that. So I don't have to strive, I don't have to struggle, I don't have to perform, I don't got to jump through hoops. All I have to do is look up, look up. All I have to do is look up. Because He embodied my experience. He carried it to the cross. My shame, your brokenness, your failure. And I'm not just talking about the failures before Christ. No, I'm talking about what I did last night failure. He took it all to the cross and it was nailed on the cross on that day. So today, all we have to do is simply look up to Jesus. We have to look to His suffering, look to His sacrifice. And whenever we begin to look upward, that is the first step to us beginning our journey

as a true disciple, amen? Y'all with me? All right, let's keep going, let's get to it. Because the reality is this, believers acknowledge Jesus, but disciples depend on Him. Which one are you? Here it is, we have to look upward. And if we're gonna move from believers to disciples, secondly, we also then have to yield inward. We have to yield, in other words, there has to be a total surrender of our heart. Verse 16, Jesus goes on, or the Bible goes on to say this, that many of the disciples said, this is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it? And Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining. So he said to them, does this offend you? Sadbar, don't y'all love when Jesus asks questions in the Gospels? Like he's asking a question, and before they have a chance to even think through an answer, he already knows what they're gonna say. He says, does this offend you? Then he goes on to say, because if this offends you, then what are you gonna think if you see the Son of Man ascending to heaven? Now let's just pause here. Here's what Jesus, what he's doing right here, he's coaching and also low-key rebuking his disciples. He's basically saying to them, guys,

you have been walking with me for almost two years. You've heard me teach, you've seen the miracles, you've seen the work that we're doing, and yet you still don't understand these spiritual truths. He's saying, if you can't grasp a teaching, what are you gonna do when you have to explain to the world that I literally did what I said I came here to do, right? He's asking them and challenging them to consider their spiritual understanding. But I love how Jesus is so kind and patient with us. How many of you know, he will correct you, and then in the next breath, he will guide you like a shepherd. Show you this is the way. So he makes it then plain. He begins to take the cryptic conversation, he makes it plain. Watch this, picking right back up in verse 63. He then says, the Spirit alone gives eternal life, and human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. Again, look at what I'm saying. He says, the Spirit alone gives eternal life, and human effort accomplishes nothing. Spirit, flesh. Supernatural, natural. Why is this important? If you remember, the author John, we said this from the beginning, that he was a prolific writer,

and he intentionally writes his manuscript with certain themes that keep repeating. So if you recall, just a few weeks ago, Jesus sat down with Nicodemus, and he told him, in order to have eternal life, you must be, y'all get a gold star, great job. You read your Bible, that's great. He said, to be born again, I mean, to be saved, you have to be born again. And Nicodemus, this brother was like, that seems hard, Jesus. How do you do that? But Jesus was not talking about physical birth. He was talking about a rebirth, a renewing of the mind and the heart through the word and the teachings of the gospel. Whenever Jesus met with the woman at the well, if you recall, what was the whole conversation centered around in the natural? Water. She came to the well to draw water from the well, not knowing that she was gonna encounter the living, breathing, living water himself. And then here in chapter six, again, here Jesus is talking, using language, natural language of eating and drinking, but it has spiritual implications. Can I tell you plainly, Jesus is trying to remind us that there is nothing on this earth,

nothing in our human experience that will ever fully satisfy the longing deep in our souls. Nothing. No platform, no promotion, no opportunity, no relationship. Nothing will ever fill the God-shaped hole that is inside your soul, except for God himself. Jesus then goes on to say this. But some of you don't even believe me. For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones did not believe, and he knew who would betray him. We'll come back to that in a moment. Then he said, that is why I said that people can't come to me unless the father gives them to me. I wanna just point this out because this moment, this is a strong theological statement that Jesus is making because he mentioned this earlier in this passage. You can go back and read it later, but Jesus, in the same setting, he told them that no man can come to the son, but by the father that draweth him. And I think it's important for us to know today For you and I, in our depravity, in our brokenness, in our sinful nature, do you realize that the fact that we're even able to raise our hands and say, I need a savior, that alone is the grace of God upon our lives.

Do you understand what I'm saying? There is no good thing within us. We are broken, lost, depraved people who are at enmity with God. So we don't have the privilege of just waking up one day and deciding, you know what? I think today I'm gonna choose Jesus. No, friend, it is an act of grace, supernatural grace by the Holy Spirit that awakens our eyes to see our need for a savior. We don't just one day choose God, we have to understand that he's chosen you. And he's calling you. And Jesus is saying, he's reminding them. He's reminding them of that in this moment. And then in the next verse, he said everything he had to say. The Bible says, at this point, many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. They're gone. Just like that. Monday, they were singing his praises. He teaches hard truth. And Friday, they're walking away. By the way, it's not in the notes, I just realized this. I find it very odd. If you're here today, and if you are contemplating just throwing in the towel, like, I don't know if I can do this thing. I find it odd that the address for this scripture,

so that's you, brother, rethink your game plan. Get that off the screen, please. In Jesus' name, in Jesus' name. They leave, just like that. He teaches something that shouldn't be taught. Just like that. He teaches something that challenges everything that they've always believed to be true. And in that moment, they had a decision to make. Am I gonna lock in and align my thoughts and my understanding to the will of God? Well, I walk away, and they did just that. Jesus made a few hard statements back to back. And every statement he made, more and more people begin dispersing. The Bible says that in verse 41, he calls himself the bread from heaven, and it says, the crowd grumbles. Then a few verses later, he says that, hey, by the way, that bread I spoke about, it is my flesh. And the Bible says in verse 52, the crowd argues. And then in verse 60, he then goes on to say, you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. And at that point, even his disciples look at each other and say, bro, this is crazy. This is hard teaching. Who can understand it? You wanna know what this tells me? It tells me this, that it doesn't matter if you've been walking with the Lord for three minutes,

three years, or three decades. The gospel of Jesus Christ will offend you. I'm not talking about the ear-tickling prosperity, naming and claiming gospel. The unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ, when preached from the entire council, will challenge and convict everything you ever thought to be true. Whether you're a skeptic or a scholar. That's why there are thousands of churches around America, hundreds around Atlanta, filled with thousands of believers and just a few real disciples. You wanna know why? Because being a believer is easy. It's easy to believe in Jesus. Come on, did y'all watch the BET Awards? Some of y'all are lying. Pastor, I would never. You've seen the award shows, though, right? These artists, they get up to the podium, they grab their little trophy. What's the first thing they wanna say in that microphone? Yeah, I wanna give all praise and glory and honor to you know the Jesus, you know what I'm saying? God bless and bless me with all this jewelry. My ring just fell off. off. I'll get that in a minute but you know back to Jesus and his trophy I'm just saying. And I'm looking like brother I seen the music video bruh. Jesus is not pleased with that tomfoolery. Not those shenanigans. Oh friend it's easy to believe in Jesus. In fact what does the Bible say? You already know the verse I'm

going to. You already know. James tells us in chapter 2 verse 19 watch this. You say that you have faith for you believe that there is one God. Good for you. But even the demons believe this and they tremble in terror. Do you realize there are Christians who are just believers and they don't even have enough fear of God in themselves to even tremble. Believing costs you nothing. Believers will show up to the meetings for the miracles but disciples show up for the mission. Believers will show up for the blessing but disciples embrace the breaking. Believers will celebrate the promotion but a disciple. They're okay with the pruning. They're okay with showing up and saying Lord if there's anything in me that doesn't look like you then I need you to remove it. I need you to give me strength to submit it because I want to look, smell, walk, talk, breathe, function like you. It's hard. This gospel is not for chumps. So whenever Jesus preaches a message saying things like to follow me you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. When he preaches a hard message saying that if you want to follow me you must take up your cross and die daily. Understand church we should not be surprised when we see people walking away. We should not be amazed to see even his closest friends second-guessing their commitment. Why? Because everyone is cool with Jesus the Savior but not everybody rocks with Jesus as Lord. We want to compartmentalize things. Oh Lord you can touch that but you can't have this. Have your way here but can I tell you in your life Jesus is either Lord of all or he's not Lord at all. There's no middle ground and our wrestling in this regard it's never just intellectual. It's always the heart. We have a heart problem. We have a heart because watch me to yield to God is to be honest with God. It's to show up to moments of worship. Showing up to quiet time with him with your rib cage open. Allowing the spirit of God to shine his light. His piercing holy light. Disciples they don't show up just to show up. We show up to open up. To allow the Lord to do the work in us that needs to be done. Amen? How y'all doing out there? Like Pastor Dennis says. You know as I was reading and studying this week there's something that stood out. I'm not going to lie to you. I wrestled with it for a while because I thought man is this just my ADD? Come on Holy Spirit

activate. Or is this good? And I felt so intrigued because if you remember the scripture says that Jesus was fully aware of the thoughts and intentions of every disciple in that moment. And especially and I quote the one that he knew would betray him. Speaking of Judas. Now you don't have to be a Christian to know or somewhat know the story of Judas. He was one of the 12 disciples who when things got heated he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. There was no repentance whatsoever. And he took his life. Tragic story. But I've always wondered all these years as a Christian growing in my faith and studying the word I always ask the question how did Judas get to that point? Do you get what I'm saying? Has anyone else ever wondered that? Like, how do you walk with Jesus for three and a half years? You see the miracles, you're involved in the miracles, you're doing the ministry, and yet in that moment, you betray him. Like, you have to ask, was Judas plotting from the very beginning? Did he join the squad from the very beginning, knowing that he was gonna steal money and do things wrong? And was his heart ever really in it? And I was studying this, and this just dropped in my spirit. It was a question, it was a consideration. What if this was the moment? What if this moment right here in the synagogue, when the conviction of Jesus's words collided with the rebellion in his heart? Could this have been the moment when Judas decided in his soul that I can't do this anymore? Jesus is saying some crazy things.

People are leaving. Again, in that timeframe, what Jesus was saying, those words Jesus, he was speaking in the cultural context, they could have stoned him right there. Could that be the place where Judas decided, I can't do this, I'm out. However, I got a good thing going, so I'm just gonna keep showing up to do the thing. My heart's not in it, but I'm gonna keep singing the songs. My heart's not really for the man, but man, I really, I'm intrigued by the movements. I'm gonna continue ministering to the people with no true connection to the Messiah. Maybe that was the day that Judas decided to walk away on the inside. Watch me. If so, it wasn't because the teaching was that hard. It was because he was not willing to fully surrender to the lordship of Jesus. He reached the moment where what Jesus was requiring was too much. And the sobering reality for Judas and for you and for me is that it is possible to be in close proximity to Jesus and still have a heart that is far removed from him. And can I tell you, church, that is a stinking dangerous place to be. There are people right now in this room, in the family room, watching online, and you don't realize it, but you have become stunted in your spiritual growth.

You're trying, trying, trying stuff, trying stuff, don't work, switch it up, try it again, don't work. Trying, trying, you're hitting a ceiling and you're crying out, God, open this door. Lord, do you see me? I need you to make a way. I need you to split the sea. And the Lord's looking back at you, thinking to himself, why would I trust you with something greater when you haven't even done the first thing I called you to do? I've spoken to it, but your heart is closed. I've called it out, but you don't wanna hear. Jesus sits in that synagogue in that moment and he's watching everyone leave. They're leaving by the droves. And in this moment, not only are the outsiders walking away, but the Bible says even his closest disciples are beginning to ask questions. They're second guessing the man and the mission that they gave their lives to. And in that emotional moment, Jesus makes a statement. He asks a question that is one of the most vulnerable moments in the gospel. I don't know about you, but when I read the gospels, I have, there are these, my favorite passages in the gospels are the moments that show the humanity of Jesus. Like the moment when he was hanging on the cross

and with his last few breaths, he looks down and says, John, take care of my mom. It does something on the inside of me because it reminds me that we don't serve a God that is unable to relate to our brokenness and our humanity. Are y'all with me? Well, one of those moments happens right here. Everyone's leaving, his disciples are second guessing. And Jesus looks at the 12, and he asks this question. So are you going to leave too? Are you going to leave? And in that moment, the tension is high. When I read the Bible, I read it in vivid color. I imagine there are probably tears welling up in his eyes. Are you going to leave too? And in that silence, there was only one disciple, the one with the big mouth. Y'all already know who it was. It was the gangster from the south side of Jerusalem, my dog, Peter. Come on, somebody. I can't wait to meet Peter. He'd be slicing off ears. Peter is about that business. And Peter replies with an equally emotionally moving statement. Don't, this is the title of the message today. He says, Jesus, where else are we going to go? Where are we going to go? We have seen too much with our eyes.

We have heard too much with our ears. Where else are we going to go? For you have the words that give eternal life. We believe and we know. Come on, say it with me. We believe and we know. One more time. We believe and we know that you are the Holy One of God. Come on. We believe. I don't care what the world says about you. I don't care what the world says about you. They call you a liar. They call you a lunatic. But I declare that you are Lord. You are who you say you are. Notice Jesus asked all 12 and they were silent. And Peter spoke up. And notice, I love Peter. Peter, he's a bad dude. Peter didn't just say, I believe. What did he say? He said, we believe. Fix your face, man. Bartholomew. Fix your face, man. We believe. We know who you are. In that moment, Peter became the first evangelist in that room. Who stood up and spoke out loud boldly while everyone else was

walking away. Which brings me to my last point today. If we're going to be true disciples, we look upward, we yield inward. But we have to reach outward. Come on, somebody. Look at me. We have to live on mission. We have to be people who live our life knowing the assignments. Because hear me, every disciple understands this one true principle. That in the kingdom of God, as a child of God, baby, there are no days off. There is no PTO in the kingdom. We don't punch in Sunday morning for 11 o'clock service and then punch out to go home and live our lives however we want the rest of the week. There are no breaks. When you're a true disciple, you're on mission. Whether you're in church, if you're in the office, if you're in aisle eight at Walmart, at Starbucks, in the school line, pickup line, if you're on the ball field, everywhere we place our feet, we understand we're on assignment to take up ground for the kingdom. There's no days off. We're locked in or we're not. They can leave if they want. I'm locked in. Disciples, we're intentional with our community.

Met with a guy recently, telling me all the stuff he's going through. Well, bro, tell me about your community. You in a small group? Nah, I just hang with this guy I grew up with and this girl I went to school with and this one. I'm like, well, bro, you need godly community. Disciples don't hang around with the turkeys expecting to fly with the eagles. No. Disciples are intentional about our community. We're intentional with our witness. We're intentional with our language. We're intentional with our behavior. Watch me. We're intentional with our behavior. Watch me. We're intentional with the media that we consume. Woo, don't get me started on that. We're intentional, why? Because we want to carry the same conviction that Peter did. No matter the situation. Because hear me, believers they show up to church to receive the good news. But disciples, they leave ready to share it. So again, which one are you? Do I have any disciples in this building? Come on, do I have any disciples in the family room? Do I have disciples in their messy bedroom? Clean the bedroom, clean up. So we're working on this message this week, and a really cool thing happened.

It was a Holy Spirit moment. One of the guys, I think it was Pastor Olin, he's preaching at Midtown. He said, guys, do you realize that the points of this message are perfectly in alignment with how we define discipleship at Victory? And I said, do tell. So I'm going to throw this definition up, because hear me, the term discipleship, it's one of those churchy words that most church folk can't really define. It can mean a lot of things, right, depending on where you come from. Here's how we at Victory define discipleship. We believe that discipleship is a lifelong Holy Spirit-led journey of fully maturing in Christ through your head, through your heart, and through your hands. Now, I want to throw this up really quick. Like, let's compare and contrast to what we're talking about today. Discipleship, your head, that's living upward. That is our relationship with God. That is us taking time to get in the Word, to be intentional, to spend time with him. Heart, inward, that is the character and the surrender, allowing the Holy Spirit to heal us on the inside so we can move forward. Then, of course, our hands. That is our outward expression of what the Lord has done inside of us. And here's the reality. I want everyone to hear me. Everyone in this room, if you are a Christ follower, you're somewhere in this list. You're somewhere at some stage. There are some people that the upward space, you're good, you have so much head knowledge. Don't y'all love the Christians who have all the head knowledge? Sarcasm. My mama used to say it all the time. Some people are so heavenly minded, they ain't no earthly good. My mama ain't never lied.

But can I tell you, if it never goes from head knowledge to heart knowledge, there are a lot of people that are going to miss heaven by 18 inches. Those who know him here, those who know him here. Got to close that gap. We got to bring him in, right? And the reality is this. Some of you, you have the knowledge and understanding, which is great, and you have the heart. You're allowing the Lord to change you. You're open to correction. You're open, and that's great. But there are many of us, we have never taken the hope that we've received and shared it with the world around us. We don't talk about the Lord. We don't share our story. We're not vocal. We just kind of mind our business. But can I tell you, what if Jesus just minded his business about you? No. We have to assess where we are and then take the necessary steps to grow in those areas. Y'all with me? Now, let me make it very, very plain. I want to give you guys practical one steps that you can take with you as you leave, okay? So here's the first one. What does it look like today to begin growing in your upward living, okay? We have prayer every Saturday here at this campus at 8 a.m. If you don't show up to that, I'm telling you, you are missing a powerful time in the Lord.

Service does not start on Saturday night. Service starts Saturday at 8 a.m. Stop playing. You should pull up. Secondly, fasting. This is a way that we can learn to hear the voice of God clearer. The Lord has revealed himself to me in the greatest of ways in moments of fasting, all right? Now, I'm going to be honest with you. Fasting, I struggle with fasting. Yes, I am a pastor. I'm telling you, it is a struggle because I love to eat, right? But still, I choose to put it aside because my food is that which comes from the Father, amen? Come on. Now, here's another one. Committing to Sabbath. Now, I know that may seem like an odd thing to place here, but it's not because every Friday when my wife and myself and my children, when we put all the noise away, it's in that quiet space. where I can hear God clear as day. I find it odd that the word silent, if you switch the letters around, will also spell listen. This could help. Now, let's look inward. Here's a good one step for you. A few of them, choose forgiveness. The majority of people who are stuck in life and not able to move forward, a lot of it will boil down to a bitter root of unforgiveness. And I promise you, taking that step will unlock new things in your life.

Or just examining your soul health, seeking accountability. And watch this, when you open your chest and the Lord shines his light, you got to submit to the process. We have to submit, right? And then last but not least, outward. Mission strip. If you've never been on a mission strip, I encourage you to do that. We do outreach every weekend almost here with our community transformation ministry. Get out into the world around you. Serve on a ministry team. Join a small group. If you don't want to do all that, man, just start by opening up your mouth and just telling people about what Jesus has done in your life. Amen? And I promise you, as we begin taking these steps, the Lord is going to meet you on the journey. And he is going to begin to reveal himself in a new way you never thought imaginable. Y'all with that? Amen. So as I wrap up, I know this was a heavy message today. I told Pastor Johnson, I'm tired of preaching these hard messages, man. I want to preach a happy message. But we don't do happy messages in this house. Full counsel. And my prayer today is this, that the next time the storms of life are just swirling in your world, the next time you feel the Holy Spirit convicting you of something in your life, and can I tell you this? No one's above the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I've been walking with God for 23 years.

And y'all, he is still pruning me every day, every week. There are areas in even my own life where I got to learn to trust God more. And he's doing that work, and I'm submitted to it. I don't always get it right, but I'm submitted to seeing this thing through. And my prayer is that when the Lord begins speaking to you about your stuff, about your stuff, revealing the things that he's desiring and calling you into, my prayer is that for this house, that our response will not be to walk away, but that our response would be that of Peter, to say, Lord, where else am I going to go? For only you have the words of eternal life. All praise be to the way, the truth, and the life in Jesus. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Listen, if you're here today, I met a girl in the lobby after this last service. She was an unbeliever, and it was her first time in church. I said, girl, you picked quite a day to come and hear our message. But thank God that right from the beginning, she's hearing some strong truth. And today, I just want to say to you, if that's you, if you're here, if you're not, if you don't know where you are in this journey with the Lord, or maybe you're not on the journey at all, let me just start by saying, making Jesus Lord and Savior, that's the first step. That's the first step. You will never know the abundant life. You will never know the fullness of joy. You will never know eternal life until you first said yes to his Lordship. So, I want to ask, if that's you, I'm going to count to three, and if you're here today and you're ready and willing to say yes to Jesus, again, not a one-time commitment,

not just raising your hand because your girlfriend made you come to church with her today. Not just raising your hand to make your wife happy or to make your mom or dad happy. No, I'm talking about you're ready. You realize today that something in my life has got to change, man. I can't keep doing it this way. Here it is. One, you've tried it your own way, you fell every time. The Bible tells us that we deserve separation from God, eternal death. But because Jesus paid the price that you and I deserve to pay, we don't have to leave here as enemies of God. We can leave here as sons and daughters. Two, here it is, friend. Will you say yes to mercy? Will you say yes to putting your faith and trust in what Jesus did on Calvary? If that's you, you're in. Here it is, one, two, three. Just lift your hand right where you're at. I wanna pray with you. Lift that hand high enough so I can see it. I see them in the risers. I see those hands. I see a couple here. I see a family here. God bless you. I see you. The Lord sees you. The Lord sees you, friend. He sees you. And you can put those hands down.

And I wanna lead you in a prayer. If you raise your hand, this entire body of believers, we're gonna pray with you. If you're in our family room, if you're watching online, let's pray this out loud. Say, Jesus, you know who I am. I've made mistakes and I've broken your law. But I believe that my life can change. You are the son of God. I believe that you died for my sin, rose from the grave, and one day you're gonna bring me home. But right now, I need you. Come into my heart. Forgive my sin. Heal my mind. And use me to shine your lights. And I believe according to your word and by faith that I am saved. So thank you for loving me when I was unlovable. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Come on, if I have 11 team people who believe it, can somebody say amen and amen? Thanks for being a part of Victory Church on the Pando app. We hope this content was a blessing to you. But we want you to know that you're not done yet because we want to hear from you. So send us a letter and tell us things like

what God is doing in your life, how we can pray for you, or even content that you would like to see us create in the future. We just want you to know that we see you, you're important to us, and we'd love to continue to create some things in the future that will bless you. So send us a letter and we hope to hear from you soon.