YOU CAN’T BE HELL BENT & HEAVEN BOUND | Mark 10:17–31 | Chris Durso

Man, before we dive in, I'm just thinking about that. We got the email last week that our services were trending in prison. I mean, I think about everything that's happening on the other side of those walls and we could pray for them, but to hear that men and women are engaging with the word of God. Come on, how many of us know that we believe in redemption, regardless of who they are, where they've been, God could meet them. Come on, can I get a good amen? And I just think that's so important, so powerful, just so excited, so excited. What a beautiful moment with everything that's going on in our world. Hey, if you have your Bibles, open up with me to the book of Mark. I'm going to read to you from the book of Mark, Chapter 10. Versus 17 through 31. I know it's a good amount of scripture, but we'll be OK. We're in church. Mark, Chapter 10. Verse 17, this is the famous story known as the rich young ruler. Here's what the Bible says. As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. Good teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Now, let's just pause here because it's important to note that this man may not fully understand who Jesus was, but he knew who Jesus was. He knew enough to ask him about eternal life. There's also another clue here to let us know that this man knew that Jesus was more than just the typical rabbi or teacher because he called him good. That word good in the Hebrew wouldn't just be thrown around or shared with anyone because it meant that they had the power to save. Now commentators would argue that whether this man was just blowing smoke because he wanted an answer from Jesus. So he didn't really meant what he said or others might say he did know. Here's what I would say.

And for the sake of this conversation, this man knew enough about Jesus to have this conversation with him. And that's important. It goes on to say, Jesus says, why do you call me good? No one is good except for God alone. That's why Jesus says that. You know the commandments. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. You shall not defraud honor your father and mother. Teacher, he declared all of these I have kept since I was a boy. Verse 21 says, Jesus looked at him and loved him. He looked at him and loved him. One thing you lack, he said. Go sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. At this, the man's face fell. He went away sad because he had great. Well, he goes on to say in verse 23, Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, how hard, how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. The disciples were amazed at his words, but Jesus said again, children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. The disciples were even more amazed and said to each other who then can be saved. Jesus looked at them and said, with man, this is impossible. But now with God, all things. Are possible with God.

Then Peter spoke up, we have left everything to follow you. Truly, I tell you, Jesus replied, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields along with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first. I want to take next few moments. I want to preach to you from this thought. You can't be hell-bent and heaven-bound. If you're taking notes, write that down. If you decided you weren't going to take notes, write it down anyway. You can't be hell-bent and heaven-bound. Let's pray it one more time. Holy Spirit, work in our hearts, work in our minds, allow us to comply with what it is that you have for us in the precious and match this name of Jesus. Come on, if you agree with that, can you? Come on, shout amen. Amen, amen, Stephen, thank you, man. Thank you. Anyone here ever quote something with complete confidence only to find out later that whatever they said was wrong. This happens, depending on the cultures we grew up in, we hear parents or brothers or a friend say something, and as a result of whatever it is they say, it sticks in our mind. I remember I was around nine years old, hanging out with a bunch of Christians. Now you have to understand I grew up in church, so most of my life I was surrounded by Christians. And as we're hanging out, we're talking,

people were quoting verses. And I was like, oh yeah, I got one. God helps those who help themselves. That's not a Bible verse, by the way. That's not in the Bible at all. So when looked at me and they go, that's not in the Bible. In fact, here's what they were really saying. That's not even biblically accurate. Like we do not believe that at all. But yet I heard my grandfather say it over and over again. Therefore, I thought it was Bible. Why? Because he was my grandfather. Now the issue is, my grandfather wasn't a Christian at the time. He was just a hardworking small business owner. Here's what he knew how to do. He knew how to make mitzvah. He knew how to make marinara sauce. He knew how to make pasta. If you came over to our house, he would have fed you. He had a small business, deli, where he sold raviolis and sausage called dersos. It still exists today in fleshings, by the way. That's a plug for them. But at that time, now he's no longer with us. And before he passed, he did give his life to Jesus. But then he ain't know nothing about the Bible. And yet I remember him telling this to me. And as a result, I held on to a why.

Because I heard him say it and therefore, because I heard him say it, I thought it was true. We as believers do this all the time. We quote things that we think are true for our situation because we want the best from our situation. And yet what we don't realize is we're quoting things that have nothing to do with our situation. I just read to you two verses that have become so popularized in our culture that we use them all the time, not even realizing what they were for or why they were said in the first place. In other words, we love the verses, but we miss the context. Mark chapter 10 verse 27, it says, "With God, all things are possible." Mark chapter 10 verse 31, the first will be last and the last will be first. And here's the thing about these beautiful verses. We love to quote these verses over our relationships, over our situations, over our homes, over our businesses. And nobody mentions the fact that when Jesus was talking about this, he was actually talking about a rich man who couldn't let go of his money. That's the context. This is important to know because we love claiming the promise without practicing the obedience attached to it. We love claiming promises without attaching the obedience that comes with it. Now, let's break it down real quick so we could all get on the same page because what Jesus does is he connects the promise

to obedience, he connects promise to obedience. So when he says Mark chapter 10 verse 27, "With God, all things are possible." You know what he's actually saying? He's saying that God can transform anyone's heart. That's what he's saying. He's saying it's difficult for a man or a woman who has a lot of wealth to enter the kingdom of God because their hearts are gonna be so, so gripped to the money that's in their pocket or in their bank account. But then he also then says, "Although it's difficult, it's not impossible." And then he says, "Although it seems impossible, it's only impossible for a man." In other words, if there's somebody in your life that you know their heart needs to turn towards God, you know it's not gonna help them, nagging. You know it's not gonna help them, pressuring them. You know it's not gonna help them, making them come to church. And if you don't come to church, I'm not gonna talk to you. And if you don't show up to church and if you don't start to tithe and if you don't start to give an offering, I'm not gonna hang out with you. Here's what he's saying. That's what men and women do. And because of that, it's impossible.

It's impossible for someone's heart to turn. But for God, nothing's impossible. What is he saying? He's saying I could turn any heart of any human. There's not a person that exists that I cannot reach and I cannot touch. No matter if it's the greediest man and the wealthiest woman, I could meet them where they're at and they could have an encounter with me. And as a result, their hearts can turn. Now, I love claiming this verse over our life, but I even love when I understand that this verse is actually talking about souls. It's talking about seeing the lost saved. It's talking about seeing the saved disciple. It's talking about seeing the discipled accountable because there are people, some may be in this room. And for some of you, it's greed. Maybe you grew up without, maybe you didn't have much growing up. And now that you have a little bit, you're like, God, I'll serve you. But don't, don't talk to me about my money, that's, that's between me and me. And God says, look, just so you know, there's nothing possible for me. So even if you think you don't want to give that over to me, I'm going to touch your heart because what I want from you is to be a generous man in your success. I want you to be a generous woman in your success. And then in Mark chapter 10 verse 31, we hear this one all the time. "The first will be last and the last first." When somebody's going through a tough season, when someone is literally fault to the back of the line, we go, you know what, just because they overlooked you and because they didn't promote you,

you're going to be first. And that's powerful and I pray that's true, but that's not what the Bible says. And it's important to note that what's happening here is Jesus literally saying the one who has everything but refuses Jesus can end up with nothing. And the one who surrenders everything to follow Jesus discovers what truly matters. In other words, you could be first by the world's standards and last in the kingdom. You could look last to the world because of what you surrendered and be first in the kingdom. This is important, you can keep that up there for one more second. You could be first by the world's standards and last in the kingdom. You could look last to the world because of what you surrendered and be first in the kingdom. Keep that up there for a second. I want to explain this to you because there are many of you that God has asked you to give something up. Now we're going to talk about money, but it's not only about money, it's about your heart. It's about where you're positioning yourself in obedience to God. God has asked some of you to walk away from a relationship. And you've told yourself you can't walk away from the relationship because you've already given too much to it. The engagement invitations already went out. People are already aware we post about it on Instagram. Therefore, it's a done deal. You can't take a post down. That was a joke. Okay, we won't laugh. We think, we think, we think because of what people are going to think of us. We rather remain in a place that we know God is calling us out of. And therefore, God is saying, listen, the first will always be last. Those people that put the world before me, they're going to end up last. But those that say, God, whatever you want from me, regardless of how I look, regardless of what they believe of me, I'm going to surrender it to you. And then that's what the Bible says. Those people are first. This isn't just about a get back. This isn't just about a raise.

This is not just about moving to the front of the line. This is about being in a place of obedience before God. This is important because this is going to frame the conversation for us. Mark 10 verse 22, look what the Bible says. It says, teacher, he declared, all these things I have kept since I was a boy. And then Jesus looked at him and loved him and says, one thing you lack. Go sell everything you have and give to the poor. And you will have treasure in heaven, then come follow me. I want to emphasize the fact that verse 21 says, Jesus looked at him and loved him. He looked at him and loved him. The reason why this is important, because I've heard preachers preach this text and suggest that Jesus was being rude to this man. That he was almost being tongue in cheek with him. And that is not what's happening at all in the text. In fact, Jesus loved him so much that he was willing to challenge him. There are some of you that do not know what love is because you've never been challenged. And I feel sorry for some of you because your parents never challenged you. You've never had anyone in your life push you forward. And so now when you hear someone challenging you, you take it as a threat or disrespect. But Jesus, because he loved this man, what does he say? Says, he looked at him and loved him and he says, you lack something. Many of us would not think this is what love sounds like. And yet this is exactly what love looks like. Love will look at you and call out your lack. Love will look at you and say you're missing this. Love will look at you and say, I need you to grow up. I need you to get better. Some of you lack empathy. Some of you lack kindness.

Some of you lack generosity. And this is exactly what he's getting after in this conversation with this man, which side note, this man knew who Jesus was. And it's obvious that Jesus knew who he was. And yet he still walked away, which tells me this, some of you could hear a word from God, know that it came from God and because you don't want to receive it, you walk away from it. And because you walk away from it, what you are choosing is, I know that these are uncomfortable conversations, but I'd rather have an uncomfortable conversation on this side of eternity. Then you end up in a place because nobody wanted to tell you that you lack something. Can I encourage you, good company? If we're gonna be believers in 2026 and we actually wanna get better, can we be okay with being challenged? Does it sound like a good idea? I need a bigger yes than that. I'm telling you because there are some of you literally cannot stand correction. Thank you, young man. Some of you cannot stand correction. You're almost allergic to it. You come against it, you get frustrated by it. And the fact of the matter is God loves you so much that he's gonna point out your lack. I love it because many of us wanna be the glasses have full kind of people.

But God here says, hey, you met all those commandments? All right, let me also point out to you where you lack. Because right here, this thing has your heart. And because it has your heart, it's keeping you from me. And this is why the man walks away sad. Why? Because he didn't wanna hear what Jesus said. Let me say it this way. He wanted what Jesus had but couldn't release what he had. He wanted heaven but could not release what God was asking of him. He thought he had too much to lose. And this right here will shift everything if you could understand this one thought. This man thought that he was so wealthy that he was giving up more for God than what it is that he could gain through God. He thought he had too much to lose. That is a lie straight from the pit of hell. And I wanna start the conversation identifying that because there are many of you here that need to hear this. He was hell bent on holding on to what he had while wanting to be heaven bound. There are some of you. You want the blessings of God on your relationship but you do not wanna take the path that heaven is offering you so that your relationship could be best. You want the blessing of God on your finances but you don't wanna steward it correctly in order so that your finances can be blessed.

And we're gonna talk about this because the blessing is on the other side of obedience. The blessing is for the bold enough that are willing to submit to God and some of you, some of you, we're gonna talk about all of this. Some of you are so hell bent on your ideals. For some it's relationships. For others it's how you serve God, how you follow Jesus. For many of you, it's how you steward your money. And the issue with the church today is that many people will treat money within the church like it's charity and those are two different things. When you are giving your offering, when you are giving your tithe, it is not a charity unto God. Let me say it this way, God does not need your money. But he utilizes your money and when you do, you actually step into what he's doing. See when we look at our offering like a charity and when we look at our tithe as a charity, we walk around with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder like, yeah, I gave. And just like charities that have people's names written on buildings and walls and bricks, people start to feel entitled to something else when in actuality the fact is, the fact is everything I have comes from God. So why would I hold back any of it from him? Jesus loved him enough to lead him. This was not about Jesus loving this man.

You ready? This was about this man truly loving Jesus. Well, if he loved him, why would he challenge him? Because he loved him. But this man showed, yeah, but the man called him good. Remember that word? The man said that he was amazing. Yeah, but miss me with all your smooth talk. Because if you mean it, your life will show it. If you mean it, you'll be able to follow it up with obedience. You won't just say what what itching ears want to hear. And that's what God is saying to him. He's like, why do you call me good? Because he's setting the man up. He knows what's about to come. He said, you really think I'm good? You know that I hold eternal life in my hand? Okay, so then if you love me and I'm good and I'm perfect, why aren't you willing to part with what has you bound? And that's the thing what you think you're holding on to is actually holding on to you. It has you bound. It has you stuck. It's literally keeping you in the same place. So the question is not whether or not this Jesus loved this man, but it's whether or not this man loved Jesus enough to trust him. Let's ask that question. Obedience requires trust. See, he could see what was in his hands, but he couldn't see what was on the other side of his obedience.

He could see what was in his hands, but he could not see what was on the other side of him, laying it down, and then following Jesus. Hellbent says, "I know what I have." Heaven-bound says, "I trust where he's leading." Those are two different conversations. Hellbent says, "I know what I have. I know I got money. I know I got a relationship. I know I have security, which if we're being honest, if we were doing a psychological analysis on it, it would be that exactly. It's this idea of security. We find security when we check our bank account. We have security when we have a knot of cash in our pocket. We have security when we have money waiting for us under the dresser. We have security. But is this about security and what you possess or is it about security and what God is leading you into? Write this down. We calculate obedience by what we're leaving, but Jesus calculates it by where he's leading. We calculate obedience by what we are leaving, but Jesus calculates it by where he's leading. Imagine it this way, and this part is so important. This part is so important. Imagine two doors, okay? Imagine two doors. You have door number one. That's God's will. It's where he's telling you to go. Let's say door number one is over here.

Okay. Then there's door number two. There's my will. And my will is what feels safer for me. Has anyone ever noticed that about your own desires or will? Your will feels safer than God's direction. God says I want you to walk through door number one. Because on the other side of door number one is blessing. But you say I can't see the blessing behind door number one, but I feel good about door number two because I know that feeling so well. But can I tell you the difference? One is faith and the other is fear. Faith says go through door number one. Fear says go to door number two. Why? Because it feels safer. And what feels safe will keep you from God's blessing. What feels safe, what feels like security will keep you from the blessings of God. Now, here's the part that I need you to understand. If there's obedience on the other side of door number one, and I walk through door number one, what am I walking into? Blessing. Does that make sense? Come on, you guys are way too quiet on this rainy Sunday. If I walk through door number one and there's a blessing on the other side of it, what am I walking into? Blessing. But if I choose not to walk through door number one, the blessing remains behind door number one. But if I go to door number two, which my will, there's no blessing waiting there. Too often we will go with our will and ask God to bless it.

We want there to be blessing on the other side of our will, but God doesn't work like that. And listen, for the sake of the conversation, we could say door number two is forgiveness. We could say door number two is bitterness. We could say door number two is anger. We could say door number two is loneliness. We could say door number two is, is, is whatever it is that you're thinking of. But for the sake of this conversation behind door number two is what you think you should do with your money. And the reason why this is so important. The reason why this is so important is because I need you to hear me say this. There's too much poor teaching out there. There's too many TikTok videos and sermon clips that have gone viral. That has promised you that if you just prayed this prayer, if you just shared this video, if you just sow this seed, you would be rich and it doesn't work that way. Let me say it this way. Obedience doesn't activate God's blessing. Obedience does not activate it. That word activate is a big issue when it comes to our theology because many people will say you have to activate the Holy Spirit. You have to activate blessing. That's not true. The blessing is already waiting for you. The question is, are you going to run into it? Are you going to walk into it? My obedience is not creating God or making God do what he wants. My obedience is leading me into the direction that he wants. So am I going to walk into his blessing or am I going to walk away from it? And that is the truth. You do not activate blessing.

All my Pentecostals and Charismatics, you've been lied to. They've lied to you. They told you, they told you it was something else when it wasn't. The truth is God has a will and a way and he has a blessing for you along the way. And if you choose not to walk down that route, you are choosing. Here we go. You turn your back on blessing. but it doesn't work that way. And this is why we have to wrap our minds around it. Obedience isn't how I control God. Obedience is not how I control God. It's how I follow God. And when I follow Him, I will walk into blessing. Although He leads me, besides still waters, if I follow Him, I will walk into blessing. Why He's the good shepherd, and He leads me, and He directs me. Therefore, there are things God has on the other side of your obedience that you will never discover by standing on this side of it. Mark 10 verse 28, then Peter spoke up. We left everything to follow you. This is one of the first times Peter gets it right, by the way. Why? Other times he's cutting people's ears off. He's rebuking Jesus. He's making mistakes after mistake. This is the first time he got away, he goes, "Hey, he compares himself to the rich young ruler."

He goes, "Hey, we left everything to follow you." And Jesus says, "Truly, I tell you," in other words, you're right. And as a result, no one, no one who has left home or brother or sister or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive hundreds times as much in this present age. Notice the beginning words. No one who has left, somebody say left. He had to leave to follow. I had to leave where I was to walk through door number one. I had to leave where I was to walk through door number one. He says, "No one who has left and followed me appropriately will not see the blessing of God in their lives." For the rich young ruler, it never crossed his mind, it never crossed his mind that there was more blessing by following Jesus than holding onto what he already possessed. And this is the mental hurdle that many of you have to leap over today. It has not crossed your mind that the very thing he's asking you to let go of, the 10% in the tide that he's asking you to let go of, there's actually more blessing on the other side of it, that generous gift that he's asking you to give, it could be for the church, it could be for a family member, it could be for a neighbor, it could be for a parent, the Holy Spirit's literally asking you to let go of something and you think in your mind that if you let this go, you're gonna lose it.

And what you don't realize that according to the word of God, anyone that leaves where they are and follows his direction will actually receive a hundred fold. There is more blessing on the other side of letting go. There's a few doors that I wanna point out to today. But before I get to these doors, what's impossible for man is possible for God, maybe the impossible thing God wants to change isn't what's around you. Maybe it's what's holding you, your finances, your mindset, the door of tithing is one that many of you need to walk into. Now, if it is your first time here at Good Company Church, what is Sunday for you to show up? We've just celebrated a year. In fact, it was the first Sunday of this month that we were full year, I wanna say this, I've never preached on tithing before. Anyone that's been here or 50-something Sundays would tell you, we do not preach on money often and I'm not scared to talk about money. It's not something that we make a main thing about, but we will speak about it if the Holy Spirit's leading us to talk about it. I believe that there is equal blessing on this conversation than there was on a sermon on grace and mercy because I think all of it, all of it is as valuable to God. I know one of my dearest friends, Al Beriosus seated up here, he actually got saved in a service where they were preaching on tithing.

I love that because it allows me to know that it doesn't matter what the conversation is, if Jesus is present, then people can be saved. I believe that there are people that will be saved and delivered today predicated off of this conversation, not because of what I've said, but because what Jesus is doing, write this down. The issue isn't whether God needs my money, the issue is whether my money has my trust. You might be thinking, why tithe? The Bible instructs us that the early church was able to grow together because people tithe. They took 10% of what they have and they gave it for the sake of the kingdom, for the sake of the church to move and grow together. We're not able to do baptism services. We're not able to have our videos played in the prison if we're not giving to it. None of that is free. That is us taking a mission's budget and saying that we want to use it for the sake of the kingdom. We are not able to grow. We're not able to add more services. We're not able to reach the city. I love how Artie Kendall says it. He says, "You should tithe because of what it will do "for the work of God on earth." Why should I tithe? Because of the work of God it will do on earth. We spend money on so many things that are pointless,

that do nothing for our souls, that do nothing for our neighbors, and yet for whatever reason people make it weird when it comes to this conversation. Can I tell you we're never gonna make it weird? This is never gonna be a weird conversation with us. Without money we're not able to do what we do, we're not able to rent the Gramercy Theater, we're not able to put chairs on, we're not able to use sound equipment and videos so that we can help other people hear about Jesus. And here's what I know. God owns everything. Yet he has chosen to find much of his work on earth. He has chosen to fund much of his work on earth through the willing generosity of his people. He owns everything. But yet he wants us as people to steward what we have financially so that we can give it willingly to him. Because here's what I know, like many of you know, if we do not participate in reaching other people, we will become entitled to what God is doing. When you participate in giving, when you participate in giving a tithe, and can I tell you, a tithe isn't a donation. A tithe isn't just giving something once, and then giving a few months later. That's a donation, that's an offering. A tithe is when you consistently say,

I'm gonna take 10%. And I'm gonna give this money to the work of God. In order to reach the city, you know, like I know, it's an expensive city. But if everyone just gave a little bit, I believe that if everyone in our church started to tithe, just 10%, we would be able to do so much more than we could ever imagine or think. And this is why we have to work together because it's one thing for one person to give us a financial gift. It's another thing if we all contribute collectively. Here's what I know, the goal is people reached. Kids disciples, people baptized, needs met, the gospel preached. And here's what giving does. It doesn't make me a spectator of what God is doing. It allows me to participate in it. And can I tell you something? tithe doesn't just help the work of the kingdom. It helps the work of your heart. Tithing does something inside of me. Why did Jesus touch this man's money? Because this man's money had a grip on his heart. He says, I'm gonna tap your pockets 'cause I really wanna fix your heart. You trust so much in your money, you don't even realize that you recognize me as God. You identify me as God. You know that eternal life is found on the other side of me

and you find more valuable, the money in your pocket than you do eternity. This is what happens when we put too much emphasis and we call too many things valuable that really aren't as valuable as we think they are. And here's what I know. Matthew six verse 21 says this, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. You know what tithing does? It confronts fear. It confronts control. It confronts greed and self-sufficiency. See, sometimes God touches what's in my hand because He's revealing what's happening in my heart. If God is asking you for something today and you know what's God and you're fighting with it, ask yourself, why is this so difficult for me? All right, worship team, can you come on up now? Thank you, come on up, yeah. Ask yourself, why is this so difficult for me? And let's be honest, I know that when you tithe, it's not like you're just giving up a latte to tithe. But we got to be careful that we don't reduce money to that. Like, has anyone ever just found yourself in like a real life situation and you're like, God, I want to give but I'm finding it difficult right now. Anybody? Which side no? If you are poor and you're not able

and you lack finances and you are not able to pay your bills, I'm asking you not to tithe. But if it is a matter of stewardship and properly prioritizing your money, then I am asking you to tithe. If this is your church, I'm asking you to tithe. I remember years ago, over 15 years ago, my son's Dylan got sick and it was a pretty scary moment. And after a few days of him being in the hospital and us not knowing what was gonna happen, he was healed. And I remember this huge hospital bill came in. Our bill was $30,000. Somebody say, poof. Yeah, there you go. My wife was sitting at this little desk that we had and she prayed a very simple prayer at her desk. And as she was doing that, We knew we had a bill of $30,000. She said, we'll figure out a way to pay it. We could still tie. And the moment, the moment, she signed that check, the phone ring. And the woman on the phone said, probably called her Yaris, 'cause no one says her name right. She says, Yaris, we looked into your case. And you're responsible for only 3,000 after us looking into it. They said, we're gonna take care of 90%,

you only have to take care of 10. And I can't think of the irony as she takes the 10% that we're giving to God, that simultaneously this call comes in. How many of you know hospitals don't just call you? They're not looking to help you, no disrespect. And if you own a hospital, not yours, all the other ones. They don't look to help you. But as Shirley and she was there, she just prayed a simple prayer, she didn't run a lap, she didn't go to a conference, she didn't take out oil and anoint the check, she just prayed a simple prayer. God, can you do this first, can you help us? She signed the check, phone rings. Hey, we're gonna take care of 90%, you're responsible for 10. I remember early 20s we were able to buy our first home. And I was clueless, man. I had no clue what I was doing, the fact that we were in this position, I thought like we made it, you know? I didn't know that they were closing costs when purchasing a home, some of you are laughing, you knew? Okay, I had no clue that there were additional costs too close, I'm like, what kind of scam is that? In fact, in fact, you're supposed to show up with a certified check, how many of you know this? I didn't know this, I showed up with a regular Schmegula check. And the lawyers and the people that we were buying a home for,

they just started laughing, I was like, "Oh, just got you, let me go get that certified check." And I jumped in my car and I ran to the bank, or drove to the bank, 'cause I remember. And I remember how tight our money was. And my wife took our tithe, signed that check. And the next day an unexpected check came in the mail from a dear friend of ours that said, "I just felt to bless you with this." And do you know, it was the amount to cover the closing costs? This friend, what a good friend, by the way. Like, I need friends like that, you know? This friend didn't know we were buying a house, he had no clue, we didn't tell anybody, no one knew that we didn't have enough money for the closing costs, and we were trying to figure it out. And yet, before we got to that moment, because it came in the mail, by the way, it wasn't digital, it wasn't a text, it wasn't cash shop, it came in the mail, which means, God had to put it on this man's mind days ago, so that it could be in the mail. And the moment, the moment we found ourselves in a place of being obedient to God, we found ourselves blessed by God. Now, hear what I said, God doesn't owe us anything. I did not activate blessing. I'm not saying we tithe, therefore God owed us a check, because that's not tithing, that's transaction.

We are not transactional people. Before we knew how God would provide, we decided we were gonna obey, and that's the thought. Before we knew how God would provide, we decided we were gonna obey, and this is the bridge that many of you have to cross, because you're waiting to find out all the details, you're waiting to find out who's all over there, you're waiting to find out what's happening over there, and God is saying, I just want you to trust me, and I promise you, when you trust me, I will meet you, and I'll take care of you, and what you're gonna learn, what you're gonna learn, is that when you learn how to be obedient, you walk around. Not as scared as it used to be. Not as close-handed as it used to be. I believe that it does not matter how much money you have, more money will not make you more generous. This man had a whole lot of money, and he still wasn't generous. And you might say, well, until I have X amount of dollars, then I'll start to tithe. My brother and my sister, it does not work like that. If you do not start now, you will not cultivate that spirit of generosity. I think about my own daughter, my own daughter times. Never told you to. Sorry to do it on the wrong. 16 years old.

She hates that I'm saying this right now, so I'm not gonna look at her. How much more can we now hear me if you're in a financial place where you don't have a job, you don't have any income, I'm not asking for you to talk, but I am asking those that call this church your home and you have income and you've battled with this rationale and this understanding that you would be bold enough to step up today because here's what I know. I can't promise how God will provide, but I could tell you I've never regretted trusting Him. I've never regretted trusting Him. Psalm 37 verse 25 says, "I have never seen the righteous forsaken." I've never seen the righteous. First say, "I don't know how he's going to do it." It's so funny. My wife knew that I was exhausted. In fact, I was supposed to be at two conferences this week on the West Coast and a part of me traveling and speaking, it actually helps us as a family financially and she said, "Hey, you're so tired. I need you to cancel." And I said, "Woman, I got to go to a conference. I'm online. I never said that. I'm going to talk to her like that." And she said, "No, Chris, you're tired. You need to cancel." And we have this agreement that if she doesn't feel I should go or if one of us feels that we shouldn't go, we're not going to do it because we have to operate an agreement. And I didn't agree with her. I'm fine. I'm good. Give me a red bull. Give me a jog. I'll be fine. Anyway, we canceled. And then she looked at me and she smiled. She goes, "I can't wait to see how God makes up when you just let go of." And it's that kind of trust. It's that kind of mindset that says, "Look, I'm not losing it. I'm releasing it into your hand because how could I preach to you about being a healthy pastor, about being healthy people as a pastor, and then I'd be unhealthy?" We have to understand that when we say no to something that God is telling us to say no to, we're saying yes to His will and to His way. Second door. Some of you did not plan to be baptized today, but the door of baptism is waiting for you. You know that you should be baptized, but you keep delaying the obedience. And here's the thing. It Jesus, with His time on earth, decided to be baptized. He who was perfect, who knew no sin who became sin, made sure that He was baptized. How much more should we? Now, there are some sex and forms of Christianity that preach that unless you're baptized, you won't go to heaven. That's not true. That's a lie straight from the pit of hell because if that was true,

what would happen to the thief on the cross? He was in sin. He was a sinful man. He looked over at Jesus and said, "Hey, remember me." Jesus said, "Today you'll be in paradise." Jesus didn't just pause the scene, jump off the cross, baptize them real quick, and then jump back on. It didn't happen. However, if I have the freedom to be baptized, why would I not want to make that public declaration that the old is gone and the new is here? Some of you did not plan to be baptized today. Some of you did not plan to be baptized today, but even now as I'm saying it, you know you need to be baptized. If that's you, just show me your hand real quick. You know it. There you go. Show me your hand. You're going to sign up in a little bit. We're going to get you baptized. There are more of you. You're like, "I don't know what this means. Forget about the plans. This moment, it means more than you realize. There's a door of tithing you need to walk through today." Others of you, the door of baptism, this last one, the door of getting planted. Some of you have been dating us for too long. It's time you commit that this is your church. Listen, I appreciate all the social media reviews. I appreciate you talking about good company like it's a good place to hang out, but at some point you visit one, three, seven times, at some point you need to make a decision and get planted. And listen, maybe there's another church that you prefer more. Bless you. Get planted there. But what we do not need are people that are committed to a church and then also go to other churches and you're going to both. Because here's the truth. Look at Acts 2, verse 42, one of the most famous scriptures says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer. You know why this is so important? It's because there were many Bible teachers in those days. Well, they didn't call it the Bible, but there were many godly teachers in those days. What they did was they devoted themselves under a voice. They devoted themselves to a community. They devoted themselves. They devoted themselves not attended but devoted they committed and at You gotta have some ownership here and here's the thing look it's your one is done And I've been playing and I've been playing it nicely and I've been being kind and I'm like hey come go whatever And I'm telling you I just felt the Holy Spirit encourage me to challenge you all today that if you were gonna call this church A place that you attend but you've been coming every other week or once a month that you make a decision And you can say this is my church now you can make this your church and not serve you Some of you are not in the place to serve

Some of you have gone through too much life is too busy for you You literally don't have the time then don't start serving But you do not have to commit to this church and serve at this church if you can serve we want you to serve We need you to serve We have an incredible team But the plan is look we're we're growing we're we got a pack builder we need to add a second service We have to figure that part out we can't do that without more people we need people serving and I promise you I'm not gonna stress out all the beautiful people that have been serving not gonna do it We need people service if you're gonna make this your church, please make it your church and Stop stop going back and forth. Just like just like the disciples devoted themselves To vote yourself to a house devote yourself in good companies your church devote yourself to a church I Realize that the three doors that I just recognized are simply for those that are gonna identify this church is their church Can I tell you that's my purpose for you as a pastor? Here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna make it easy for you. Can you put that QR code on the screen? If you need to tithe Pull out your phone right now. Come on. This is your altar call right here. Pull out your phone If you need to sign up for baptism pull out your phone If you need to take a good start good start is a One class that we ask you to take so that you could learn about our church pull out your phone right now And scan that QR code It's so funny the day I was on the plane this one was trying to get her QR to code her QR code to work So she took a picture of it And I started to take a picture like three times. I was at you don't you don't take a picture. You just scan it. I Thought it was funny. How's that doing my sermon anyway? Because here's the thing. Here's the thing If we're gonna grow as a church We got to be honest and here I love you enough to say hey if you're not tithing this is an area you like If you're not willing to get baptized even though you should be baptized you've given your life to Jesus This is an area you like if you're church hopping constantly

This is an area you like Make a commitment be devoted Why do I say that because I love you if I didn't love you I'm like keep showing up keep doing over you are That's not what love sounds like a love calls us higher love challenges us here it is to own our Commitments and here's what I know there's a blessing on the other side of the obedience that God is asking you to commit to Is that a good word? Okay now do you stand up? I May run through this real quick What does your tide look like it looks like 10% If you want to give above that that's called an offer If you're scared to give 10% and you want to give beneath that could do that what I'm telling you is test God See where he meets you Secondly if you've not been baptized Not been baptized and you just been prolonging it The pool where we're gonna baptize people the water is three feet If you're scared of water, it's only three feet And you're looking at me like well, you're about four feet. I am so I'll be I'll be close enough to pick you up It's why I wear heels come on Thanks Ryan I'm a strong 5 9 My wife says 5 7 anyway You should get baptized today Two o'clock in the go hotel want you to sign up want to be a part of you might think it's not a big deal All it means so much more you were baptized as a child. Hey, no disrespect to you being baptized as a child However as an adult you're able to make the conscious decision that this is something you want to do as opposed to your parents deciding for you I'm not telling you it was bad. I'm not telling you to get rid of the pictures of you in those beautiful linen outfits. Keep them But what I'm saying as a grown adult I Want to challenge you that this is the decision you make for yourself Hey, this is my church. This is my home. Good companies my home. That's my pastor. Those are my people

That's my community. We devote ourselves like acts two four two tells us to do now fourth. Here's the fourth door The door of surrender What is God asking you for today may not be in your pocket might be in your heart might be a relationship might be a job I'd be an internship might be a degree. Whatever it is. You know, he's asking you of something. Let me see your hand That's you come on. I know you're in the room. Yeah, lift it all the way up lift it all the way up You got two hands lift up two hands. He's asking you of something today The balcony I see lifted up keep both those hands up He's asking you to forgive lift it up. He's asking you to repent lift it up He's asking you to stop being petty lift it up. Oh That was for you, okay Gotcha, you know Skidding just kidding just kidding lift up your hands lift up your hands lift up your hands Come on some of some of you know exactly what I'm talking But you don't want to forgive that parent lift up your hand. You don't want to forgive that sibling lift up your hand You don't want to forgive that ex lift up your hand. I'm not telling you to contact them That's not what forgiveness looks like I'm telling you release whatever is frustrated whatever is gnawing on the inside of you That you know you need to let go of and you need to give it to God for some of you It's ambition for some of you. It's a career. You're so hungry to make something happen in your life You are literally refusing to trust God's process. Let it go lift up your hand lift it up lift it up I'm telling you. I love you too much one thing you lack one thing you lack whatever it is that you look I love you God. It loves you. He's looking at you. He's saying son daughter It's time to step up and let it go. You think it's not a big deal and yet for you You're willing you're willing to walk away from blessing for it. So it has to be a big deal What you think is so difficult I'm telling you there's blessing on the other side of it But yeah, well, we don't realize we get so stuck on what we want. We're we're just like the rich young ruler We would part with eternity what? How much money could have been in this man's pocket that he was willing to to part with eternity? He was willing to argue with with his with his future of eternity Heaven or in hell? What you think is a little thing will cost more than you realize lift up your hand lift up your hand lift up your hand

Keep those hands up keep those hands up. I'm a prey over us But before I do just lead us in one course whatever that course is just make it our prayer lift up those hands lift up those hands go Shake up to ground Break down the wall for religion your way is better Shake up to ground for light finish break down the wall for our religion your way is better Your way is better Shake up to ground for light finish Set down the wall for our religion your way is better Your way is better so I will make room for you Jesus To do whatever you want to do whatever you want to I will make room for you Yeah To do whatever you want to do whatever you want to Yeah I'm going to pray for all of us, but before I do I want to make sure that I include each and every one of us If you've never given your life to Jesus, this is your moment This last door it's the door of salvation You've been going back and forth You haven't given your life to Jesus. He says son daughter. I'm calling you home. I'm calling you to salvation It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter where you were at this morning where you were at last night You could have came here from a party. You can still have alcohol on your breath. None of that matters He says I love you and I'm for you You want to give your life to him if that's you I'm accounts three and when I say three you shoot up your hand one Jesus loves you and he died specifically for you Two tomorrow's not promised any man or any woman, but the Bible says today is the day of salvation Come on if that's you lift up your hand now three lift it up lift it up. Yeah one two. Yeah seven hands over here hands over here hands up there all of you that have your hands lifted up can you repeat this with me say Jesus come on so I'll say it together say Jesus you are king you are Lord forgive me of my sins

and all my wrong doing I love you I give my life to you in Jesus' name amen can you put your hands together for the people