Speaker 1: 0:00

Now I have a question for you. Have you ever said yes to way too many thanks? Do I got any over-committers in the house today? Okay, yeah, I think most of us right Say a yes way too often. Recently there was a time that I committed to something that I definitely shouldn't have, but I did. Okay, here you go. Long story short. My daughter, kingsley, was recently having kind of a hard time at school, saying that she just feels sad because she's away from us for so long and she's telling me this story. And because I'm a softie, I say, oh my gosh, I can't believe we're so mean to you by sending you to Gordon Elementary. Okay, and so I said you know what I'm going to do. I'm going to have lunch with you tomorrow. Kingsley, you know I'll go to lunch. Here you go. Normally that's okay for me. That's normally not that bad. My afternoon is pretty open. But this particular day was the day I had a very important meeting, and so I said to myself well, maybe I should just tell her like the next day, because tomorrow is bad. But I felt bad and I'm a sucker. So I said you know what I can do it. I can have my meeting finish it in time. Go pick up my son, jameson, from preschool, get some lunch and meet Kingsley at school. No problem, famous last words. All right, here you go.

Speaker 1: 1:10

The day comes and guess what? I'm having my meeting, and then all of a sudden I notice my meeting is running way too long. I say, oh my gosh, it's 11.50. Her lunch is at 12.15 and I'm about 15 minutes away from the preschool. I got to go to get Jameson before I go get Kingsley, and so I hurry up and get in my car and then I drive the speed limit. I drive the speed limit to go get Jameson, and I was so proud of myself, and so I get Jameson. Then I run over the sheets, because sheets is right next to the school. I run the sheets, order some sliders and now it's 12.05.

Speaker 1: 1:46

I'm feeling pretty good, okay, I'm like, all right, we're going to do this, we're going to do this, we're going to make it in time. Then Jameson hits me with the phrase that every parent dreads when you're in a hurry, dad, I need to go to the potty. I'm like, oh, okay. And so we go into the bathroom. He's in the bathroom doing his business and time is ticking. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is taking forever. I call Erin. I say Erin, I'm going to be late. I don't even know why. I called her because she couldn't do nothing about me being late, and so I just called her and then the time's ticking, ticking. Finally he's done.

Speaker 1: 2:16

We grab the sliders, we run to the school. I'm like man, I'm a horrible dad. I can't believe it. She's probably sitting there all by herself, adding on to the feeling that she already feels lonely. We're running, we're running into the school and then, because I'm dragging Jameson, he trips, falls, skins his knee all up and he screams. And if you ever met my son Jameson, he is the loudest screamer ever, okay. And so he's screaming and he's bleeding. I'm like I'm holding a bleeding child with some sliders and some slushies, some sheets, thinking to myself why did I commit to this? This is bad. Okay, I get inside the school, I check in, I walk into the cafeteria and there is Kingsley sitting at the table with Aaron, my wife, my wonderful wife, who was tracking me on Find my Friends, which I shouldn't be concerned about, that right.

Speaker 1: 3:17

Okay. So she saw it was going to be late, so she hurried up and got there in time and she sat with Kingsley, so we ended up having a good time having a lunch together. But this all happened because what I overcommitted myself, I said yes to way too many things, even though I know I shouldn't. And haven't we all done that before, Saying yes to things that we that not necessarily bad things, but the things that we just really can't do? And we and we, when we stretch ourselves too thin, why do we overcommit? Why do we do that? Here's what I learned Sometimes we say yes to so many good things that we don't do one thing very well. We don't even do one thing well. So, as everyday people are learning how to become Jesus followers, what does it look like to give God our yes? What does it look like to give God our yes? What does it look like to give God our commitments and our schedule and prioritize God in our lives? What is it like? Because Jesus has something very interesting to say about this. He says in Matthew 5,. He says All you need to say is simply yes or no. Anything beyond that comes from the evil one Dang. I didn't think my overcommitment problem could come from the evil one Dang. I didn't think my over-commitment problem could come from the evil one, but this is what Jesus is saying. What is Jesus talking about here when he says this See, here you go.

Speaker 1: 4:32

In that culture in the ancient world, they often took oaths. They were. They were saying I swear by this, I'll do this, I swear by this, I'll do that. And Jesus says, hey, hey, you don't need to swear by this or swear by that, you just need to be honest. You need to be honest with yourself and honest with your commitments. For example, when I need to cancel a meeting with someone or getting coffee with someone, I used to do this thing, and don't judge me. Don't judge me because I know I'm the only one that has done this, so pray for me. But when I needed to cancel a coffee or something with somebody, most of the time I need to do it, not because something else came up, but it's because I'm pressed for time or I really just can't make it out to it. But when I need to do it, there's this thing inside of me that feels like I've got to give someone a reason why, other than saying I can't make it. And so I always say, hey, can't get coffee today, my kid is sick. They ain't sick at all, you know, and I know I'm the only one that's done this I may say to someone hey, I can't meet up for coffee today because I got bit by a shark. Can we reschedule to next week? My leg hurts, you know? Like why did I say that? Why can't I just be honest with people, right, and I know I'm the only one who does that, right, okay, but you know, but even one thing that we do.

Speaker 1: 5:53

Another example sometimes we actually do like to pick our kids up early from school, and the reason for that actually and this is my opinion, don't make me my opinion is the best one. I actually do think school days are unnecessarily long, you know, and I think it's a lot to ask a kid to do that, to work a nine-to-five basically every day. So sometimes we get her up early, we pick her up early, and my temptation when I go to the front office is to say, when they ask, well, why is she leaving early? My temptation is to make up a lie. Oh well, she has a doctor's appointment or there's a death in the family and that's tragic. But now, recently, I just say, why is she picking up early? And I just say, well, I just want to hang out with my kid. I just learned how to do it, learned how to be honest, learned how to be honest with people. And now here you go.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Why is this important? Because Jesus is offering us something by saying let your yes be yes and your no be no. What is he offering us? What does it mean? He is offering us freedom to live a simple and truthful life. To live simple and truthful, that we don't have to be people pleasers. Let me think about that for a second. How often are the decisions that we're making we're not making them because we want to do them, or we feel like we're supposed to do them, or called to this? We do them because we want to please somebody. We want someone to think highly of us, we want someone to think that we're great because we're more concerned about pleasing people than pleasing God. Come on, I'm going somewhere with this, all right. So Jesus gives us this freedom to not just please people, that we don't have to overcommit ourselves to make ourselves feel valuable. Did you know? Just because you overcommit doesn't mean you're more valuable. You're valuable because you are a child of the Most High God. That's where your value comes from.

Speaker 1: 7:39

And why is this important so that we can say yes to the things that God wants us to say yes to. Some of us are so over committed to others that we aren't committed to God. We aren't doing the thing that God wants us to do. Because here's the truth Every yes we say, we are saying no to something else. Every time we say yes to another work meeting, we're saying no to friends or family. Every time we say yes to mindlessly swiping through our phones, we're saying no to using our time wisely and productively. Every time we say yes to another sport or after school activity for our kids, we're saying no to prioritizing family dinners. Every time we say yes to this addiction or to this habit or to this thing that we know we don't want to do, we're saying no to God's peace and joy and freedom and liberation. Every yes comes with a no and every no comes with a yes. So how, as everyday people, can we become, as everyday people, learn how to become Jesus followers? How do we give God our Y-E-S, how do we give him our yes?

Speaker 1: 8:46

Here you go, three ways why we yield to God. We yield to God Come what may, come what may. What a scary place to live. God, I just trust you, come what may. Lord, I know I can't manipulate every situation. I know I can't control every situation. I every situation. I know I can't control every situation. I yield to you, lord, I surrender to you.

Speaker 1: 9:05

Now, I like this word yield. I like it because it has two meanings to it. I like it a lot Because the yield. The yield means to give up, surrender, to hand over oneself. I like that. But it also means to bring forth something it's to bring forth.

Speaker 1: 9:20

So let's be honest, yielding isn't something that most of us do. Naturally, we like to be in control. We like to make plans and set timelines and call the shots, and nothing wrong with making plans and having goals. Nothing wrong with that. But here's the problem when we hold on to control, we leave very little room for God to move, for God to move. And Jesus shows us a better way.

Speaker 1: 9:40

Check this out the night before his crucifixion, this is what Jesus does. Here you go, luke 22. He says he walked away about a stone throw away. He knelt down and prayed Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine. Jesus in his most difficult moment, jesus surrenders his will to the will of the Father. That's what yielding looks like.

Speaker 1: 10:09

It's saying God, I trust you, even in this thing. I don't understand. It's not saying God, I trust you. And thank you for the three-point summary of how I'm supposed to do this. No, it's God, I trust you, and I don't even understand how this is going to work out. I don't even understand how this is going to work out. I don't got all the details, but I'm going to follow you. I'm going to yield to you Come what may. Lord, I'm trusting that you are good and your gifts for me are good. And since you're good and you've been good and you constantly have been good, you're going to be good to me, even in the things to come to me. Even in the things to come, I'm trusting you. Come what may, I yield to your will. I give up, and this prayer, this prayer that Jesus demonstrates for us, this prayer, this mindset, is of a person who is learning how to be a Jesus follower. Here's the problem With too many of our churches and too many of our teachings we're not really telling people how to be Jesus followers.

Speaker 1: 11:09

We're actually showing people how to get Jesus to follow you and because we're so concerned about getting Jesus to follow us when that relationship doesn't work out, when that promotion doesn't happen, when this thing that we think we want doesn't happen, we look at Jesus and say, do you even care, are you even concerned? Instead of the other way around, when I'm following Jesus and he's leading me to do things that, jesus, I wouldn't normally do that, but because you're leading me, I'm going to follow, because you're inviting me to live in the tension of giving up this addiction and choosing you, choosing you, is harder than giving up the addiction. But I'm going to live in the tension and live for you. Come on, come on, come on. Am I speaking to anyone today? Because the problem is we have gotten good, especially in the American church, of teaching people how to consume Jesus like he's Target. And if they don't got it at pickup, they'll ship it. If they can't ship it, they'll deliver it.

Speaker 1: 12:14

And I'm going to tell you this we can fall into the trap of us and our God following us instead of us following our God. Come on, I hope I'm getting real today. See, I yield. I yield to your will. I give up my need to control outcomes. I give up my need to be in charge. I yield to trying to make that person understand me or fix that person, because you can't fix nobody. I yield to you, god, and I give up the idols that I place before you.

Speaker 1: 12:45

And in this beautiful exchange of yielding to God, what we see is that God yields. God brings forth a harvest in you more fruitful and plentiful than anything that you could have done by yourself, and he brings forth something. So when we yield, when we surrender, god brings forth something better. So how do we yield to God in our everyday lives? Let's get practical. Okay, three steps, three steps Trust his timing. We got to trust his timing.

Speaker 1: 13:12

The prophet Isaiah reminds us. He says this my thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, says the Lord. My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. When things aren't happening as quickly as you like, trust that God is still working. This is what we see with Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Right, people wanted him to retaliate, people wanted him to do violence. And he says no, no, god put something in my heart of unity, and we're going to do it peacefully. Come on, I yield to God. I yield to his grander, bigger purpose, and the fruit that he brings forth is better. We got to trust his timing.

Speaker 1: 13:56

Second thing is we got to depend on God for everything. We often try to depend on ourselves, our plans and our strengths, our understanding, but God promises to supply all of our needs. A prayer that I pray every morning and that I've been leading our church in during the 21 days of prayer and fasting and the morning call, is this a prayer of dependence. And it's simple. It says God, I give you everyone and everything. And it's not a good prayer. God, I give you everyone and everything. Scripturally, where do I find that the Bible says cast your cares upon the Lord, for he cares, he cares about you. So, god, I give you everyone and everything. I depend on him for everything. And the third way is this we pray God's agenda first.

Speaker 1: 14:40

When you pray, start with this God, not my will, but yours, be done, not maybe in a more practical way, you can say God, here's my schedule, make it more like yours, make it more like yours. And suddenly, when yours, and suddenly, when I do this, I am not worried about tomorrow, because if God cares for the birds in the air and he makes beautiful the fields that I don't even see, surely he will care for me. He will care for me. And when I'm anxious and I yield my fears to the Lord, I see that he tenderly loves me. Here's the good news. Yielding doesn't mean giving up. It means giving over, giving over to the Lord. And then when we do that E we expect God to be with me. Expect God to be with you. Here you go.

Speaker 1: 15:22

I remember when I was 15 years old, I gave my life to Jesus. Me and my brother Isaiah, we gave our lives to Jesus. At the same time, dude and I was pumped up for Jesus. I mean, I was like just so over the top enthusiastic. I was that guy. I bought the t-shirts and everything. I was pumped for Jesus. And one of the things that me and my brother did when we first gave our life to Jesus, we served in our kids church and we would do the songs, do the skits for the kids. We loved it.

Speaker 1: 15:51

And there's this one song. As I was preparing this message, this one old kids church song popped up in my head and we used to sing this to the kids and it'd be like every move I make, I'm making you, you are my way, jesus. Every breath I take, I breathe in you. Come on, every move I take, I'm making you, you are my way, jesus. Every move I take, I'm making you, you are my way, jesus. Every breath I breathe, I breathe in you. And this is the best part. Waves of mercy, waves of grace, oh, everywhere I look, I see your face. Your love has captured me. Oh, my God, this love, how can it be? Was that very good? Can I join the team? Can I join the team? Can I get up there? No, okay, it's okay, it's all right. I didn't want to sing. No way we got our kids actually singing that song today in kids' church.

Speaker 1: 16:54

But I remember when I was 15, I was singing that song and I was like, yes, that's my jam, because everywhere I move, I expect God to move. Everywhere I step, I just see God changing my life and transforming me. Where I used to be angry, I have joy. Where I used to have no peace, I have peace. God, this love is amazing and it's wonderful, and I remember as a 15, 16 year old, that song spoke to me and I want to give us some kids church faith today. I want to give us some kids church faith today that when you wake up, when you go through your day, expect God to move, expect God to be with you, expect God to be beside you and near you and with you when you enter that work meeting that you're dreading, expect God to speak on your behalf. Expect God to do something for you when you're having a hard time with your kids, with your teenagers, with your family. Say it in the morning God, I expect you to be with me.

Speaker 1: 17:49

Because expectancy changes the way you view your day, like, for example, if you got a vacation coming up, you know you leave on vacation on Friday. When you go to work on Monday, man, you are waiting for that vacation, right, and that helps you get through Monday a little bit faster, helps you get through Tuesday. You're ready to close by Wednesday. You already checked out you thinking about the Bahamas by Wednesday. You already checked out you thinking about the Bahamas, you thinking about wherever you're going, because you have a level of expectancy for something to come. And I'm going to tell you this LVC let's begin to live with a level of expectancy for God to move in our lives, because where there is expectation, there comes this level of liberation, and when God liberates you, you begin to have a level of declaration that God is for me, because I'm expecting him, he's delivered me and I'm going to declare how good he has been. Come on somebody. So we're going to live with this level of expectancy. I expect you to move and I love this.

Speaker 1: 18:53

We see this in Scripture. We see what Jesus preaches one of the best, worst messages ever. He preaches this message. He had about 1,000 people with him. He preaches the message. All of them leave. Every church planter's worst nightmare. And everyone leaves like this dude's crazy. They left Google reviews about his church, everything. This guy, jesus, he's crazy, don't talk to him.

Speaker 1: 19:19

Then he looks at Peter and the other disciples. He said you guys gonna leave too. You gonna bounce too. And check out the response of Peter. He says this Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe and check this part out and we know that you are the Holy One of God.

Speaker 1: 19:47

The word here know is the Greek word gnosko. That's a good word, gnosko, which means it doesn't, it doesn't apply head knowledge, it's not just oh, I know this and I know that this knowing is is is based on experience and personal connection. It's based on experience and personal connection. So when he says, where can we go, where else would you go, you have the words of life. We believe and we know you. He's saying it's because every move I make, I'm making you, jesus, and every breath I take, I've seen you move. This love, I see it everywhere, jesus. So even when others leave you, I won't leave you. Even when I don't understand, I yield to you because you're so good, because I just don't know you, but I know you and you give me the words of life, you give me the words. You speak, jesus, bring truth to my heart, bring truth to my life. And so we got to live with this knowing.

Speaker 1: 20:53

And when I live with this knowing and I discover that he's trustworthy, and since I discover that he's trustworthy, I can choose joy. I can choose joy. And I can choose joy not because it's the Christian thing to do Christian, be nice, be kind, no, no, no. I choose it because I have a deep, rooted relationship with my maker. And though the things on the outside aren't great and though I struggle, I choose joy because I know he is with me. Friends, this is union with God, this is connection with God. This is as Jesus prayed Father, let them be one as I am one with you. There's oneness here he says I have given them the glory that you have given me. There's oneness here, there's union here, and based on that union with God, I can choose joy. And because I can choose joy, then I can walk in step with the Spirit. I can walk in step with the Spirit Like the Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians. He says since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. The keep in step with the Spirit means we're not running too far ahead and we're not lingering back too far behind.

Speaker 1: 22:11

See, a few months ago we got off the airplane, we got to the airport, we got off the airplane and we're going to our next stop and my son Hayden, my 3-year-old son Hayden, he's walking and he's like five steps behind us and he was just so distracted by the airport the airport was super nice. He's just distracted looking at all this stuff and he's five steps behind us and I say Hayden Hayden, come on, catch up, buddy, catch up. And then he starts to run and Hayden's kind of pigeon-toed a little bit. And then when he runs he swings his arms like this it's super cute, it's so cute. And he's running and he gets beside us but guess what? He keeps going. He's just running. Now he's about ahead. You're too far ahead. And then he circles back around and I grab his hand and I say just walk with the family, walk with the family. And he go.

Speaker 1: 23:01

As a father, I say that to my son Don't walk too far behind me, don't walk too far ahead, walk beside. And your heavenly father, your heavenly father, is telling us the same thing Don't walk too far behind. Holding on to our baggage, like I talked about last week, we got all these things that we hold on to and we're keeping them close and there's all this shame and regret and because we're so busy living with our baggage, we're never seeing where God is moving today. But also, don't be so far ahead. Oh, I want to do this thing, I want that thing, I want to marry this person and that person and this thing and that. And God's like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Even if I gave you that, you're not ready for it, even if I answered that a yes to that prayer. If I gave you that, you wouldn't even be able to know how to handle it. Instead, walk beside me because I'm with you. I'm Emmanuel God with you, so you can walk step by step, step by step. Every move I make, everywhere I look, I see your face, this love, how can it be, how can it be this good that he doesn't want to leave me behind? But he's so good he doesn't let me get so far ahead that I make a fool of myself. He's beside me. He's beside me.

Speaker 1: 24:28

And here's what I want to say to people today. Maybe you're in here and you are experiencing a lot of blessing in your life. The prayer I will ask you to ask is this Lord, how can I use these gifts to glorify you? But maybe there's some in here that you're seeing a lot of challenges, a lot of bad things, hardships. Hardships are not signs of God's absence. They are often the very means he uses to grow our faith in him. Trials are not a sign that God is far away. They are a sign that he is near and shaping us into the people he has called us to be. And here is what I want to say Next time you face a challenge. Instead of asking the question why is this happening? Ask the question, god, what are you teaching me through this Church?

Speaker 1: 25:21

Don't limit what God can do with your small expectations. He can do immeasurably more. He's the God who split the seas, he's the God who breaks chains, he's the God who moves mountains. And he's the same God who worked miracles back then. He's working miracles today. So we live with expectancy and then we can give God our yes. The S stands for it, because we can serve others and make a difference. Serve others and make a difference. Serve others and make a difference. When you give your yes to God, it's not just about what he's doing in you. It's about what he wants to do through you. And one of the most powerful ways to live out your faith is by serving others and making a difference.

Speaker 1: 26:06

Here's the thing Following Jesus isn't about a self-centered life. It's about living a life surrendered to His will. Jesus said it himself to the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. So if we want to follow Jesus, we have to do the stuff that Jesus did. We have to do what he did. He served, he loved and he lifted up others.

Speaker 1: 26:32

There's this guy in our church. His name is Daniel and I love him. He has this big heart to make people feel comfortable and welcomed and valuable. Now, daniel's not some. He's not like, holy, I'm a super spiritual person. No, he's just a normal person. And here you go. I can't tell you how many people who have come through the doors of our, the doors of our church, that said I came back not because of preaching, not because of the worship, not because of music. I came back because that guy, daniel, made me feel loved and cherished. That's when I come back. That's when we get that a lot about our church, our hospitality, that people feel loved and cared for when they came in. I love that about our church. I hope that's always in the DNA of our church and so that's someone. That's the everyday person using his gifts. See, here's the thing I want you to see when you serve.

Speaker 1: 27:25

It's not just about doing a task, it's about making a difference, and that's why at LVC, we believe everyone is a minister. Like what the heck does that mean? What does that mean? That means everyone can make a difference with your life. It's not just me. It's not just my job, but you can do it. You can actually do it better than me, to be honest, especially if you're in the workforce. If you're going to work around people who don't believe in Jesus, what a great opportunity for you to be the light of Jesus to people. I'm not talking about beating people in the head with the Bible. For you to be the light of Jesus to people. I'm not talking about beating people in the head with the Bible. Don't do that, but just live your life in a way that makes people say why is this person different? It can lead to Jesus. Here you go.

Speaker 1: 28:04

We believe every task is important, from the team holding the babies which we got an awesome kids team From the person picking up trash in front of the building, from the person singing on the stage. Every task can be used to help the mission that everyday people learning how to become Jesus followers. And then everyone is attending something. My 10, no matter how hard I try and I try to do it today my 10 is not singing. I wish my 10 is in administration, but maybe it's your 10. Maybe it's your tent and God can use it. So how do we serve others in a real way to make a difference.

Speaker 1: 28:39

Here you go Three practical steps Do the stuff Jesus did. I'm about to say something that's wild here. Okay, so if you're ready for this, be ready for it. If you're not, then I'm going to say it anyway. Jesus healed the sick, so should you. Jesus fed the hungry, so should you. Jesus stood up against injustice, so should you. He comforted the brokenhearted, so should you. He loved the outcasts and the excluded people groups. So should you. We may not be multiplying loaves and fish, but we can show God's love in tangible ways.

Speaker 1: 29:19

There's this lady in our church who came up to me and said, hey, I make birthday cards. I'm like, wow, you work for Hallmark. And she said, no, but I make birthday cards. And I'm like, well, we send out birthday cards every month. We try to. When I took in charge of it because I'm not administrative, I will be forgetting, so I'm sorry, but she started making these birthday cards the other day.

Speaker 1: 29:41

My son. He just had his birthday and all of a sudden in my mail I get a card from LVC. I'm like, what? Why is my church mailing me? And I open it and it's a card for Jameson and he was so delighted that's an everyday person Using. Now he got the gift of creativity. It's a spiritual gift, like we'd be overthinking it sometimes, but that gift of creativity and thinking about people, spiritual gift, and God used that to bring joy to a little boy's heart. Come on, we have this guy in our church. There's a family in need. Their van broke down and this guy in our church said here, use my van. You know how inconvenient that is. But he said, hey, use it until you need it. And he let them use a van, seeing a need, making a difference. Come on, is this practical? Is this practical for us today? I want to make this practical because this is how we can give God our yes.

Speaker 1: 30:33

The second way is we serve at church. We do serve at church. The church is not a building, it's a body, and when you serve your church you're creating a space for people to encounter Jesus. Here's the thing I want you. What I want for you is to grow in your relationship with God and grow in the church community. In small groups and being on a serve team are the best two ways to do that. Best two ways. Our small groups are coming up. I encourage you to participate, but get in on a serve team, and one of the best ways to join a serve team is going through local basics and learning more about the mission, vision and values of our church.

Speaker 1: 31:06

See, serving isn't just about the task. It's about being connected to others and making a difference. This is the way I like to say it Making a difference for people who are making a difference, while doing something that makes a difference. That's what serving is, and so I'll be honest if you're gifted with kids, then there's kids in our church that God wants you to encounter and make a difference in their lives.

Speaker 1: 31:26

If you're gifted with singing, but you're sitting, there's people who are waiting to learn how to sing to God, but they're waiting for you to start singing to lead them. If you know how to pick things up and put them down, we got a serve team. Come on, we got a great setup team. But here's the thing about setup team. I'm going to say this about setup team when you're moving the stuff and you're setting up our kids' environments and you're putting the mats down and the safety stuff down and the TVs, all the stuff we got down there, you're not just picking things up and putting it down, you're creating an environment for the single parent to come in. The single parent that's been struggling raising these knucklehead kids to drop off their kids in a safe, fun environment for them to hear about Jesus and grow in their character, while the single parent can come in hear a message, be with Jesus, worship. And because of that this single parent gets closer to the Lord. Because of you serving and setting up that environment, these little kids are learning about Jesus and how their lives really matter and how God is trustworthy. And because you set up, because you woke up a little bit earlier and came to help us set up at eight o'clock you can always come here every Sunday at eight o'clock and you helped us set up you are now a part of the grander story of that person's life. Come on, am I making sense today, guys? Am I making sense today? Because serving isn't just about being on a team, it's about your spiritual formation, it's about God growing you and showing you that you are not an accident and your life matters In the vehicle of church.

Speaker 1: 33:13

You can serve at other different places. There's Red Cross, there's thrift stores. Serve, do it. That's great. But the church is God's vehicle to change the world. It is, and I believe the local church mobilized is the hope of the world, and so serve at the church. Serve at church. Last thing is this Invite others to experience Jesus. Invite others to experience Jesus. Invite someone to experience Jesus. Sometimes serving others is a simple invitation. Who in your life needs to know that they are loved, seen and valuable? Come on, let that one hit who in your life, who in your life? They just need to know that, man, I'm loved, I'm seen and I'm valuable. Invite someone to join us at our Feels Like Home Sunday. You never know what can happen.

Speaker 1: 34:07

I was watching the some post-game interviews after the Washington Commanders won Come on, come on. And you know every game's down to the wire. Besides, last night, they put a whooping on them last night, but it was good. But one of the interviewers asked Dan Quinn. He said do you think your team can legitimately make a run for the Super Bowl? They got a rookie QB in Jaden Daniels, not the best O-line, not the best defense, but somehow they keep winning games and I like what Dan Quinn said. He said why not us? Why not us LVC? Why not us?

Speaker 1: 34:49

I know we don't got all the bells and whistles, I know we don't got the biggest budget. I know we don't got all the stuff that whistles. I know we don't got the biggest budget. I know we don't got all the stuff that consumeristic church people want, but why not us make a difference in our community? Why not this body of God's church be used to help people with addictions find freedom? Why not us see families restored? Why not us See families restored? Why not us See the next generation know that they matter and they don't got to spend all their time on screens? Why not us? I know we ain't the best, I know we ain't the fanciest I try to wear skinny jeans to look cool but why not us? Why not make global impact, generational impact? Why not us?

Speaker 1: 35:44

I'll say it again there is a story in the Bible about this young rich man. He ran up to Jesus. He said what must I do to inherit eternal life? I love what Jesus says. Jesus looks at him and loves him. He says one thing you lack, one thing you lack go sell all your possessions, give them to the poor, then come follow me, the poor, then come follow me. And at this the man's face fell because he had great wealth and he walked away. And I told this story every single week of this series and today I tell it with this in mind.

Speaker 1: 36:32

When I read that story, I think to myself what book in the Bible and hopefully this isn't heresy what I'm about to say what book in the Bible don't we have? Because this man said no to Jesus instead of yes? What impact was he supposed to make? But he said no to Jesus instead of yes? Was he supposed to make? But he said no to Jesus instead of yes. And the thing that was blocking him was his wealth. That was standing in between his yes and Jesus. What is the thing standing in between you and Jesus and your yes? And what, come on Holy Spirit, what does God want to use with your life If you just give him a yes? I'm going to say yes to you, jesus. I'm going to say yes to what you've called me to do. I'm going to say yes to you, and the stories that God wants to write because of your yes can change a generation upon generation upon generation. So two questions, two questions I'll leave us with today, is this Two questions I'll leave us with today is this when in my life do I need to say no so I can give God my best, yes.

Speaker 1: 38:07

Question two what area of my life? What's one area of my life where I need to trust God and yield control? So, god, jesus, holy Spirit, we thank you for your love. We thank you, jesus, that while you were in the garden, you said yes. You said yes and you went to the cross for us and you died a sinner's death for us. And scripture says for the joy set before him, he endured the cross and that joy is us. So you said yes, lord. So we give you our yes. We don't have it all figured out. We got crazy schedules, god. We got kids that don't listen sometimes and we got problems. We got emails that we got to respond to. But, god, we give you our yes. We trust you, we yield to you, lord, we expect you to move and, lord, we know we're refreshed when we refresh others. So we give you our yes.

Speaker 1: 39:31

If you're in here today and you don't have a personal relationship with this Jesus I was talking about, maybe you grew up in church or whatever, whatever reason but you say, man, I want to follow Jesus, I want to follow him. If that's you, if you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life. I want to count to three On three. You can just toss your hand up in the air just so I can see what I'm praying for. I'm not going to call you out. Have you come up front? Nothing like that. Just want to see what I'm praying for. If you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life on three, just put your hand up in the air One, two, three. Bless you, bless you All across this room, bless you, and you can just pray with me out loud or say it in your heart Say Jesus, forgive me for my sins, make me new Today. I say yes to you In Jesus' name, amen, amen. Let's give God some praise in here today.