Speaker 1: 0:00

Recently my daughter has kind of made a step in her development where she has begun to understand the concept of death, that people die and what happens after that. To kind of give you an insight on where she's at, I've got to go back a little bit Around three years ago or so, when she was around three or four we were watching the Disney classic, the Lion King. It's a good one, it's one of the best ones, and it got to the part where Scar grabs Mufasa by the hands and throws him into the stampede. And when that happened my daughter Kingsley starts to laugh. She says ha ha ha. I was like what? No, that's not funny, that's not funny. Then there's another time. We were watching a Disney movie called the Good Dinosaur and in this movie the dad is walking alongside this raging river, then he falls into it and the dad dies. During this scene my daughter Kings, at age three, begins to laugh. That's so funny. He falls into the water and I thought to myself oh my gosh, I'm raising a psychopath. You know I was really concerned. Okay, all right, fast forward around three years.

Speaker 1: 1:08

We just recently watched the Lion King again with her brothers and it got to that scene Scar grabs Mufasa by the paws, tosses him into the stampede. He gets trampled over, he gets knocked over. Then a little Simba comes up to him and says Dad, get up. Dad, get up. And Mufasa doesn't move. Kingsley, now six, looks at me and weeps hysterically. She jumps into my arms, says Dad, never leave, dad, don't let your mean uncle Scar do that to you. And she hugs me the whole day. The whole rest of the day she was tied to my hip. There was even one point I was taking a shower and all of a sudden she bust into the bathroom. Dad, you in there. She was with me the whole day. Needless to say, this is kind of a new development for her. All these Disney movies they're always so sad. There's that one sad scene. She can't barely watch them because she understands there's something that happens to people now.

Speaker 1: 2:06

Now you may be wondering why are we talking about death? And I can understand that. A lot of us probably don't really like to think about or talk about death, and that's understandable. But at the same time I think we're all a little bit curious what happens to us after we die, after we die? Again, you may be wondering why are we doing this? Why are we talking about this series? You may be thinking, wait, are they going to try to scare people into heaven by talking about hell? No, we're not going to do that. I don't think fear is a good technique to get people to repent. According to scripture, it's the kindness of the Lord that leads to repentance, you know, not fear. So we're always going to lead with that.

Speaker 1: 2:47

But there are three reasons why we're going to hit this subject for the next three weeks, and it's because it's one because death is a reality that a lot of us in our church community are facing. A lot of us are in our church community are facing See the way we plan our schedule here. I plan out the whole year of teaching. I love it. I get kind of nerd out on it and I get to pick where we go, all this stuff. But in the process of the year I say come, holy Spirit and God, lead me and direct me if there's something that you want us to talk about. And recently there's a lot of people in our church that are dealing with this, either from loved ones that passed away or some health scares, and so we want to create safe places for people to be with Jesus and find hope. And the truth is here's the truth. When we begin to talk about death, you will become surprised by the hope you have in Jesus, by the hope you have.

Speaker 1: 3:35

Second is it is Halloween season. It's spooky season and whatever you think about Halloween, whatever, more people are open to the supernatural Darren during this time than any time of the year. And, yeah, people can get into some weird stuff that's not good. But also people can get into the presence of the Holy Spirit and the work and the supernatural work of God during the season. So it's a good opportunity. And the biggest reason, but the biggest reason why we're talking about this for the next few weeks is because what you believe about eternity determines how you live today. What you believe, what I believe, what we believe about eternity will determine how we choose to live today. Check this out.

Speaker 1: 4:21

The Apostle Paul gives us some insight. We're going to read some scripture today. Hopefully, that's okay to read the Bible in church, but we're going to read some scripture today. Hopefully, that's okay to read the Bible in church, but we're going to read some scripture today. 2 Corinthians says this For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down.

Speaker 1: 4:34

That's him talking about our body, our earthly body. We will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We go weary in our present bodies and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing, for we will put on heavenly bodies. We will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and we sigh. My back, my knees, my toes, everyone you feel that right, the older I get, the more my body hurts. But it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. So we are always confident that, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies, we are not home with the Lord. Yes, we are fully confident and we would rather be away with these earthly bodies. Check this out.

Speaker 1: 5:31

Another translation says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So this leads to a question what is our goal here, while we're on this earth now? What's our goal? What's our mission? What's our assignment? What's our purpose and the our assignment. What's our purpose?

Speaker 1: 5:45

And the Apostle Paul gives us an insight to it. He says in verse 9, he says so whether we are here in this body or away from this body. Our goal is to accumulate more money. Wait, did I mess that up? Yep, no. Now our goal is to become YouTube famous. Our goal is to have the perfect picture with the perfect filter, with the perfect caption and all the likes. Now our goal is to work so much in the office that we never see our kids. Our goal is to just have the newest house, the biggest car, to show everyone that I'm doing all right. What does Paul say? Our goal is Our goal while we're here, while we're living today, while we have breath in our lungs, our goal is simply to please Jesus. What To please Jesus? So he continues. He says Interesting, interesting. Okay, our goal is to live for him. Our goal is to do what lasts eternally. Ultimately, we need to remember, whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please Jesus.

Speaker 1: 7:07

What you believe about eternity determines how you live today. If you believe you're an accident and that there is no God, and that doesn't mean you're not a good person or you do good things, but if you believe that there's no God, there's no afterlife, then chances are you're going to settle for a more selfish, driven life, for pleasures of this time. You know about everything being right here and right now, but can I be honest about that, though? The problem is, if you don't believe in God, that kind of makes sense, right, like why would I live for anyone else? You know, it doesn't matter, I'm going to live for myself. The problem is, what has happened recently in the church is that the church has kind of picked up that same mindset. Well, why does it really matter? Why does it really matter what I do? Because the truth is. The truth is this If the enemy can get Jesus followers to love comfort over calling, well, then the church doesn't become very effective, does it? And if we just keep getting so comfortable, so cozy and comfortable, and we can forget our calling, let's continue, let's figure this out. Let's figure this out. We're going to talk more about that next week, but um, but here we go. But in turn, if you believe that you are created by God for his glory, you will live and that you will live somewhere for eternity, it will shape how you live today. What we believe about eternity will determine how we live today.

Speaker 1: 8:32

Now I want to talk about three things that immediately happen after we die. Well, okay, fine, then I'm going to talk about three ways that we can please Jesus, okay, here you go. First thing, first thing that happens after we die our physical bodies die. All right, physical bodies die. Hebrews 9 says this just as people are destined to die once. Here you go. Let's pause at that for a second. Let's pause at that for a moment.

Speaker 1: 8:56

I want to make sure that we understand that, according to recent studies, studies are conclusive that one out of every one people will die. It's going to happen. You're going to die. You're going to die somehow, I don't know how. Hopefully you don't die from a shark attack. That just doesn't. I don't want to die that way. I don't always die. I don't want that. That would be very unfortunate. What's interesting, just in case that was a fear of yours I don't know if that's a fear that you have to die from a shark attack. Just what's interesting you're more likely to die by getting hit in the head by a champagne cork than you are from a shark attack. So just be careful of this New Year's. Okay, just watch out, all right. Also, just in case you were wondering, you're more likely to die from getting hit in the head by a coconut than a shark attack. So next time you're on vacation, watch out for those coconut trees. They're coming for you.

Speaker 1: 9:47

Another one, and this is important. This is important You're more likely to die when sitting on the toilet than by a shark attack. So when you're on your phone on the toilet, first of all, that's nasty. It's nasty. Don't do it, use some hand sanitizer or something. But when you're up there looking at something good, just watch out.

Speaker 1: 10:09

Okay so, and the last one, last one, you're more likely to die from getting your head stuck in a vending machine trying to get that last bag of Doritos than a shark attack. So, just in case, just in case you had that fear today, I hope you're delivered in Jesus' name. Okay, there you go, there you go. I'm with you, but the truth is you're going to die. You're going to die. You're from dust, you come from dust. Your body will go back to dust. You're nothing but dust. And you're like wow, jacob, you are so encouraging today. Thanks for that. Now, here you go, let's check this out.

Speaker 1: 10:43

What does the Hebrew writer say? She says this and after that, to face judgment. So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time Check this out Not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Well, that's good news. That's good news. What does it mean? Here you go, let's keep going, let's keep going.

Speaker 1: 11:01

So, first thing is, our physical bodies will die. Second thing is our souls separate from our physical bodies. Our souls separate from the physical body. Our physical bodies stay behind, but our soul continues to live. Jesus gives us a little insight in this in Matthew 10. He says do not be afraid of those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. A lot to unpack in that verse. We're going to talk about hell next week, okay, but don't fear people is what Jesus is saying, but instead live in a reverent fear of God, With a heart cautious and aware for what God is doing. So when your body ceases to exist, your soul continues to live.

Speaker 1: 11:45

Jesus again illustrates this truth in John's gospel when he's talking to Martha. Martha is incredibly upset because her brother, lazarus, has died. Lazarus has been dead for four days and I love what the New King James Version of the Bible says. I love how the New King James Version tells this story because the New King James I love it because it's so proper, it's so righteous, it's you know, it's so intellectual. I love sometimes just to read in the King James.

Speaker 1: 12:12

It says when Jesus went to the tomb where Lazarus was, new King James says his body stinketh. His body stinketh, it won't stink you, it stinketh. That's what I be saying to my kids sometimes. You stinketh, get in the bath, you know. So I love it. Okay, but check this out. This is what Jesus says. Jesus says this in John 11. He says Jesus said to her I am the resurrection and the life. Come on, that's good news. The one who believes in me will never die. What happens to the soul of a follower of Jesus after the body dies? Now, here's the truth. The Bible isn't very clear. I'm not going to come up here and say, oh well, it says this in the Bible. This is going to happen. The Bible is not very clear about it. It doesn't give you a concrete. This is what's going to happen to you A couple of studies.

Speaker 1: 13:03

I encourage you, if you're really interested in this topic, three books I recommend for you to read. You can talk to me after the service to get them again. But the first one is Garden City by John Mark Comer. It's a very interesting one. The second one is Surprised by Hope by NT Wright. That one is probably the best book I've read on what happens in the afterlife. And the third one is the Great Divorce by CS Lewis. And those three I would encourage you to read.

Speaker 1: 13:27

But what we're going to do? We're going to look at Paul, because Paul does give us this interesting insight to what happens with our souls. Okay, check this out. Philippians 1 says this and he says and I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For me, this is what Paul's saying, for to me, living means living for Christ and dying well, dying is even better. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Paul.

Speaker 1: 13:55

Another translation says Paul says Now, what does he mean by this? What is he saying here? Is he suicidal? Is he afraid what is happening here? No, what Paul is saying here, based on his experience and his connection with Jesus, him being in the secret place with God, for him, understanding God. He says man, when I get around God, when I get into God's presence, that makes more sense than the things of this world. When I get into the presence of God, it makes more sense than all the riches, than all the fame, than all the accolades I can get on this earth. So he's saying man for me, man for me. For me, and this is Paul's like for me, this may not be for you, but for me, paul's saying for me to live. If I'm going to live, that means I'm going all out for Jesus, because to die I get to be with my Savior.

Speaker 1: 14:51

It continues. He says this but if I live I can be more fruitful, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better. I'm torn between two desires. I long to go and be with Christ, which is far better for me, but for your sake, for your sake. And so Paul has a missional mindset. He has a mindset that is saying I have an assignment while I'm here. I'm made on purpose for a purpose. So while I'm here, while I'm here, it is better for me, it's better for you, that I continue to live so I can share more about Jesus, to be in this body, to be fruitful, to share the love of Jesus it is better to be away from the body, though, he's saying, because I can be in this body is to be fruitful, to share the love of Jesus. It is better to be away from the body, though, he's saying, because I can be in the presence of Jesus. I really want to be with Jesus, but before you're sick, maybe I'll stay here.

Speaker 1: 15:43

What happens after we die? We know our physical bodies die. Our soul continues to live and separate from God. And then the third thing. The third thing we will all face judgment. Now that sounds scary. That face judgment? Now that sounds scary. That sounds intense, but maybe it's not as intense as you think. Let's check this out. Peter said it this way. Okay, peter said this. And remember that the heavenly Father, to whom you pray, has no favorites. That's good to know. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. You must live in reverent fear of him during their time as temporary residents. So why is this so important? Because this is important, because what we do on earth now matters. It matters.

Speaker 1: 16:29

Nt Wright says like this, like the book I just referenced Surprised by Hope. He says this. He says Jesus' resurrection is the beginning of God's new project, not to snatch people away from earth to heaven. This is important. His project wasn't just to get people off of earth Now you got to get to heaven one day. No, no, no, no, no, no but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord's prayer is all about that the kingdom of God will invade earth, that God's kingdom invades earth.

Speaker 1: 17:02

Now, this is interesting when we look at the life of Jesus. He's always doing something. He's always healing people and forgiving people of their sins and speaking life to people. What is Jesus doing in these moments? Is he just doing Jesus things? What is Jesus doing in these moments? Is he just doing Jesus things? Is this what Jesus just does? He just does cool things? No, what Jesus is doing in his ministry, when we see healings, when we see miracles, when we see the dead come back to life, it is a glimpse of the kingdom of God on earth. It's a glimpse of heaven invading earth.

Speaker 1: 17:37

Now, the craziest part about all of that when we flip out of the gospels and go to the book of Acts, we now see the everyday followers of Jesus doing the kingdom work of God. We see the everyday people, the screw-ups, the mess-ups, the ones that don't have it all together, the one that just learned about Jesus one day and the next day. Now they're praying for people and we see that the kingdom of God has no favorites. It just uses those who are available. Come on, am I preaching good right now? Because the kingdom of God moves. When we see people healed from addiction in Jesus' name. The kingdom of God invades earth. When we see someone who has been struggling with depression find hope, the kingdom of God invades earth when we see our young people have joy and confidence in who they really are. The kingdom of God invades when we pray for people and he heals the sick. When we pray for people and he heals the sick, the kingdom of God is at hand.

Speaker 1: 18:39

Nt Wright again he says this. He says the point of the resurrection is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die. What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it. What you do in the present by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself, will last into God's future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day we leave it behind altogether. No, they are a part of what we may call building for God's kingdom. How beautiful is that. It's so good. I need some water. Life matters today and what you do matters. So what is this judgment? So what's these judgments about? Why is god being all judgy? What's the judgments about? Check this out. I'll give you two judgments that we see in the bible. Okay, that jesus and peter talk about the first one and john talks about the first one is called the great white Throne Judgment. The Great White Throne Judgment.

Speaker 1: 19:57

Most scholars believe that the Great White Throne Judgment is for non-believers, which is most likely true based on what we see in scriptures, in Revelation, which that is a tricky book to interpret, I was going to be honest, and if you ever meet someone that says, oh yeah, I know everything about that book, okay, but here you go. So what we understand is this is that in Revelation, john was exiled to Iowa, patmos, and he had a vision given to him by the Holy Spirit. And this is what he saw. Okay, and he saw a great white throne and one sitting on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne and the books were open, including the book of life, and anyone whose name was not found recorded in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire Again. We'll talk about that more next week.

Speaker 1: 20:56

But what is this book of life? What is the book of life? Here's the amazing news and this is what I want you to know that Jesus is the Son of God, that he was born without sin and he was called the Lamb of God, who was slain for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus died in your place, in my place, in our place. And when you recognize your need for Jesus and you call on his grace, you're not saved by anything you can do. You're saved by grace through faith in him. It's not about your works, it's all about his finished work on the cross. Come on, that's good news. And when you call on him, something amazing happens your name is written in the book of life. He goes. Think about this God writes your name in his book and once it's there, scripture says it can never be blotted out, it can never be erased. No one can take something, no one can take white out on it and erase it. It's there forever.

Speaker 1: 21:52

And here's where it gets serious, though. If your name isn't in that book, if you haven't truly called him, the scripture says you won't like the next place you go. It's not a place that you'll enjoy. And then Jesus says something that used to bother me. It used to bother me. I don't know about you guys, but when I read the Bible, sometimes I get bothered. I would actually say to you, if you read the Bible and you just never feel bothered, you're probably not reading the right book. Like, because there's things that Jesus says sometimes like man, jesus, come on, man, you going there. You saying that, for example, jesus says something in Matthew 7. He says not everyone who says to me, lord, lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. I don't like that. I don't like that verse. Not everyone who says to me, lord, lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. What's Jesus saying?

Speaker 1: 22:47

Jesus is saying it's not enough to say you just know him, that you just say well, I went to church on Easter, I gave, maybe I did kind of good things, but you don't have a real relationship with Jesus. He'll say. I never knew you. You might say, but I went to church, I gave at Christmas time, I was nice to people, I wasn't as bad as those mega church hypocrites. But Jesus will say I never knew you. Now, that's tough to hear, but here's the truth. It's not about religion, it's about truly knowing him and friends, friends.

Speaker 1: 23:27

I am more convinced that our purpose is to know God, not just know about him, but to know God. Know God, not just know about him, but to know God. Know him through and through. And not just know him, but to be known by God, to be fully exposed to the one who made us Friends. That's scary. It's scary to be known by God and to know him deeply.

Speaker 1: 24:03

So there's two judgments. The first is known as the great white throne judgment, but it's written on the Lamb's book of life. The second judgment is called the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat of Christ, here you go. Paul was talking to the Corinthians believers. In 2 Corinthians he says for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us, so that each of us may receive what is due for due for us, that each of us may receive what is due for due us I wrote that wrong For us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. So what exactly is the judgment seat of Christ? In the original Greek, it comes from the word bema. Okay, it comes from the word bema, and which is which is taken from the Greek Olympics. All right, imagine this After a race. After a race, all the winners would come to the bema seat. They would come to so, all the winners, the first, second, third. They would come to the Bema seat and there the judge wouldn't determine whether they can compete, because they already competed. The judge will reward them for the race that they ran, and the judge would put the crown or the wreath over them to say well done for finishing strong. The Bema seat wasn't about judgment or disqualification. It was about celebration. It was a moment to say you finished the race, you are faithful and here's your reward. Now. This is key. I need you to get this. This is key. The judgment seat of Christ is not about judging your sins. That's serious right now. The judgment seat of Christ is not about judging your sins. If you are a follower of Jesus, your sins were judged and forgiven on the cross. Your sins were already judged and forgiven. The judgment seat of Christ is where Jesus acknowledges what you did on earth and rewards you in heaven for it. Now you may be thinking but hold on, hold on. I thought you said we're not saved by works, and you're right. You are never saved by works. You can't be religious enough, you can't try hard enough, you can't clean yourself up enough to earn salvation. The problem is this by nature, we are all sinners, and sin separates us from a holy and loving God. But but Jesus, like the old hymn declares Jesus paid it all. He went to the cross for me. And when we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that we are saved, he saves us. Who His Son sets free? Well, they're free. Indeed, they're freed through and through. So the good news is this we are saved by grace, and I want you to hear this you are saved by the grace of Jesus, and only by the grace of Jesus. You can't earn it, but you are saved by grace. Here's the amazing part, though You're saved by grace, but you're rewarded for your works. Did you catch that? I want you to see. If you caught it. You're saved by grace, but you are rewarded in heaven for how we live. When you've truly been transformed by Jesus, when you're no longer who you used to be, you become a new creation. You don't work for your salvation, no, instead, you live for the glory of Jesus because of what he has done in your life. You have been changed by His love, and that changes. Well, that changes everything. It changes how you live. You're saved by grace, but you're rewarded for how you live. And so what we do today, well, dang it matters. So how, jacob? Real fast, jacob, dang it matters. So how, jacob? Real fast, jacob. Just tell us how can we live a life that pleases Jesus, that pleases Jesus? Three thoughts, Three thoughts we must be with Jesus. First thing is we must be with Jesus. We must spend daily time with Jesus. Here you go, here you go. If you want to know what Jesus wants you to do, then you got to spend time with Him. You got to be up in His business. If you want to be about the kingdom business, then be in His business, be with Jesus, be with Him, Spend daily time with Him. The principle of first things give your first to Jesus is worth waking up a little bit early. That means you get some clarity on your purpose. That's why coming to church regularly is so important, because it provides you a place to be with Jesus, to sing, to worship, to be with others. Two things that I do, two things I do that I recommend. I give my mornings to Jesus and I give my nights to Jesus. In the morning time I have a devotional routine, but at night I do what's called a prayer of examine. I just go through my day and ask God where did I see the most, where did I have a hard time connecting with you and what do you want me to do tomorrow? And then at the end of that I do a thankfulness journal because I want to end my day on gratitude. Second thing is this Second way to please Jesus is learn how to become like Jesus. We got to learn how to become like Jesus. When we spend time with Jesus, he begins to rub off on us and those rewards that we will be judged for, they start to become a part of who we are, because you'll be judged by and rewarded for how you treat people, how you cared for the least of these, how you cared for the outcast, the poor, the broken, the marginalized and the hurting. You'll be judged and rewarded for your motives, the words you speak You'll be judged and rewarded by for how you endured suffering, what you did with what you had, how you used your resources. Were you a blessing to others or did you just hoard it all for yourself? You'll be rewarded when you bring people to Christ. There's a crown, scripture says, for those who are soul winners for Jesus, and it pleases Jesus when you become like Him. And lastly, that leads to this, because when we can be with Jesus, become like Jesus, then we can get passionate about doing the stuff that Jesus did. That we can just do the stuff, doing the stuff that Jesus did, that we can just do the stuff. Can we get passionate about serving Jesus? Can we get passionate about doing the things of God? Can we get passionate about going all in for Jesus. Jesus, the greatest servant leader, gave us the example of what it looks like to live a life that's constantly being an inconvenience for God's kingdom, and so often all we want is comfort. Imagine, imagine this your life is over, boom. One day it's going to happen. Your physical body ceases to exist and all the stuff you have is left behind you and you stand, and you stand before Jesus and Jesus comes up to you and he looks at you and he says to you man, you were really comfortable, weren't you? You had a lot of good throw pillows, that comforter that you got from Martha Stewart, nice, I imagine. Imagine we stand before Jesus. Truthfully, we won't even be able to stand before Him. We'll be on our knees in the presence of our Savior. We'll be on our knees in His presence and imagine if Jesus walks up to us. Come on, come on. Imagine if Jesus walks up to us and he says well done, good and faithful servant. Well done, because when you served in kids' church, there's young people, there's people here today because of what you did back then. You may not have saw all the benefits of what you did back then, but they're here today because of what you did back then. You may not have saw all the benefits of what you did back then, but they're here today because of you. Well done, good and faithful servant. Well done, good and faithful servant. When that office relationship was going this direction, you decided to not buy into it. You were faithful to your spouse and you were faithful to what God calls you to do. Well done, good and faithful servant. Imagine when you were faithful to what God calls you to do. Well done, good and faithful servant. Imagine when, instead of going to heaven and saying, I had songs to sing, but I never joined the worship team. I had leadership to give, but instead of leading in the church, I was only concerned about climbing the corporate ladder. I had gifts for young people, but instead of using my gifts for young people, I just wanted to be fed on Sunday, so I sat in the corporate ladder. I had gifts for young people, but instead of using my gifts for young people, I just wanted to be fed on Sunday, so I sat in the auditorium. Imagine I'm before Jesus. He says well done, good, faithful servant and friends. Can I be honest with you guys? Sometimes I keep my eyes off of eternity. I don't always think about eternity, and you want to know what I discovered. The reason why that happens? Because the more comfortable my life gets and my life is far more comfortable now than it ever has been the more comfortable my life gets. My roots grow into the things of this world and the more comfortable I get, the more I crave more comfort, and I want more and more comfort to add onto my comfort. There's nothing wrong with being comfortable, right, there's nothing wrong with having nice things Don't hear what I'm not saying but comfort can never come at the expense of calling. And when God's calling you to do something, I mean you got to go for it. Last story I'll share. Last story I'll share. A little over a year ago, we did this thing for church that we were trying to invite people to and get on church people to come. And when we did it, I didn't invite not one person. I didn't invite one person. I was like, dang, how am I telling the church to do something that I'm not doing? I didn't invite one person to it. And then the Lord hit me. The Lord hit me in the best way possible. He said Jacob, you're too comfortable. It's time for you to intentionally inconvenience your life. And so I started one day at a time. God, show me who you want me to love today. Show me. So. At school drop-off I'm looking for people talking to people In my neighborhood. The cashier is that food lion, because you know they need Jesus. You know, I'm just looking for people. And I'm going and guess what? The other day we were taking a family walk. We were taking this family walk on our Sabbath and there was this nice lady who has this little kid and wanted her little kid to play with our kids. But everything inside of me was like man, I am tired, I am burnt out, I just need a good family day. And here she come, walking with her kids, and everything inside of me wanted to be like run, get away, go back to your comfortable house. But the Lord said you might be the only Jesus this person sees, might be the only Jesus this person sees. And so we say hey, you want to walk with us. Did I want to do it? No, but did Jesus really want to go to a cross and die? But he did, didn't he? Because the kingdom of God invades. When we can be with Jesus, become like Jesus and do the stuff that Jesus did, and when we do those things everyday, people can learn how to become Jesus followers. So, father, jesus, holy Spirit, we need you. Lord, we don't always get it right, we don't always have the right answers and do the right thing, but we say inconvenience our lives for your kingdom. Lord, show us how to live for you, and you may be in here today. And when we talked about those two judgments, you're kind of like I don't know which judgment I'm at. I don't know if I'm going to be on the one where I get the crown or the one where my name's not written in the book. If that's you today, if you don't know where you are in your faith journey with Jesus, I just want to pray a simple prayer with you. I want to pray this prayer with you so you can have confidence in your relationship with Jesus. Maybe you have followed Jesus before, but life kind of got in a way. You want to recommit. I'm going to count to three and on three, I just want you to shoot your hand up in the air so I can see who I'm praying for. With every eye closed, every head bowed, I just want to see who I'm praying for. If you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life for the first time'll, recommit On three, shoot your hand up in the air. One, two, three. Bless you, bless you, bless you, bless you all across this room. Bless you, bless you. Now I want to lead you in this prayer. You can say it out loud, or you can say it right where you are. Just say Jesus, forgive me for my sins. Write my name in your book of life Today. I trust you. Today I follow you In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Let's give God some praise in here today.