day again. Now if you'll just turn to where we
left off last week. We're going to continue in
our sermon series in Matthew and we're coming
to this section that's all about authority and
what it means to follow Jesus and it's interesting
because we use the word follow very loosely today.
If you think about how we use it we say well
I follow this person on Instagram, I follow this
person's podcast, I follow this person on Twitter.
But in the Bible, to follow someone, it meant
something very different. It meant that you actually
left something behind, that you submitted to
someone else's leadership. When Jesus calls people
to follow Him, He is not calling people to just
click a like and subscribe button. He is asking
people to lay down their lives. This is what
He said in Matthew 16. The Bible says, Let him
deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it.
But whoever loses his life for my sake will find
it. You see, when the term follow started being
used in the context of social media, it originally
meant I like this person's content. But it's
developed even further now. There's such a thing
now as a hate follow. which is where you follow
someone that you don't like and you don't agree
with just to keep tabs on them. That's why I
follow the Vatican on Twitter. There are really
three kinds of followers. You have those who
are irritated and they are merely subscribed
because they're wanting to keep tabs with someone
and argue with them. You have those who are interested
and they're just kind of on the fringe. They
want to keep up with what someone's saying, but
it really doesn't affect their life too much.
And then you have those who are invested. They
are prepared to change their lives. They're prepared
to adjust their lives and their beliefs based
on what the person they're following tells them
to do. They are in the words of the greatest
football coach alive today, Dabo Sweeney. They
are all in. And that's what Jesus is doing here
in Matthew 21. He's exposing the difference between
these different kinds of people. And the Bible's
point here is that Jesus isn't looking for spiritual
subscribers, but surrendered followers. Jesus
isn't looking for spiritual subscribers. He's
looking for surrendered followers. He isn't interested
in people who are going to give him lip service.
He isn't interested in people who are just gonna
show up to church on a Sunday morning, looking
nice, saying all the right things. When Jesus
calls a man to follow him, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer
said, he bids him come and die. And so the difference
that we need to consider this morning, the importance
that we need to be looking at this morning is
what is the difference between spiritual subscribers
and surrendered followers? What's the difference
between spiritual subscribers and surrendered
followers? Now as we're getting into this passage,
we need to remember the context of the passage
and what has happened. For instance, Jesus has
entered into Jerusalem at his triumphal entry.
He immediately went and he cleansed the temple.
He started flipping over tables and driving people
out. Then he cursed a fig tree, and exposed the
problem of false faith. And Jesus has done all
of this over the course of an afternoon and a
morning. And so he's made a lot of waves in not
a lot of time. And people are on edge, the religious
leaders, they are irritated, and they are looking
for a fight. And right on cue, they're entering
into the temple, and they see Jesus teaching,
and they say, all right, now's the time. It's
time to start a fight with Jesus. And so this
is what the Bible says in verse 23. And when
he entered the temple, the chief priests and
the elders of the people came up to him as he
was teaching and said, by what authority are
you doing these things? And who gave you this
authority? All right, so you have to understand,
the reason they're asking this question is because
in ancient Judaism, authority came from recognized
sources. It came from the Sanhedrin, famous rabbis,
scribal training or a prophetic calling. In other
words, you would almost never hear a rabbi speak
with their own authority. They would almost never
say things like, I say to you, or I teach you
this. Instead, they would say things like, Rabbi
Hillel says, or according to Rabbi Shemai, And
so they would teach with the authority of another.
It was coming from some other source. I actually
created a graphic. Hopefully we have it for you
to see. You can't read that. That's on me. That's
my bad. Looks nice though. I'll send it to you
if you want it. But basically the idea is that
you would never teach with your own authority.
It came from an outside source. And you see Paul
doing this very thing in Acts 22. When he's making
his appeal to the Jewish people, Paul says to
them in Acts 22 verse 3, I'm a Jew. born in Tarsus
and Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated
at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the strict
manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous
for God as all of you are this day." So what's
Paul doing here? He's anticipating the same question
that the religious leaders are asking Jesus here.
Paul was making his appeal to the Jewish people.
He was telling them that Jesus was the promised
Messiah that the Old Testament had foretold about.
And so he's pointing them to Jesus, he's preaching
the gospel, and he's anticipating that they're
going to say to him, by what authority are you
saying these things, Paul? And he says, well,
Gamaliel. I was trained at the feet of Gamaliel.
And so in order to be a legitimate rabbi, you
had to be validated by this higher authority.
And so it's interesting when we see Jesus speaking
and teaching and healing, and he's not doing
it by saying, I'm appealing to this other source
of authority, he's doing it in and of himself.
Jesus is claiming to have the highest authority
possible. Jesus is saying, I don't need to be
validated by some other source, I validate myself.
I don't get my authority from some religious
teacher that came before me. I am the authority.
And so when the religious leaders ask by what
authority you do these things, you have to understand
what they're really asking Jesus is, Jesus, who
do you think you are? What gives you the right
to come into our temple? and say things against
us and teach things that go against us and tell
us that we're a bunch of bad people who aren't
actually right with God. Jesus, what gives you
the right? You see, what they're hoping is that
Jesus would agree with them. And when Jesus doesn't
agree with them, they want to go around Jesus
and find some authority that will agree with
them. And if that sounds familiar to you, it's
because that's exactly what people still do today.
People like to claim they believe in Jesus. They
like to claim they believe the Bible, but when
Jesus doesn't agree with them, they go and find
someone who will. When I was at North Greenville,
I had to take a class called Senior Seminar,
and every senior seminar has its own topic, and
our topic was the topic of homosexuality. And
so we had to read a book called God and the Gay
Christian by Matthew Vines. I have this book
in my office, but if you find it in my office,
it is stamped with a stamp that says heretical
garbage for research purposes only. I just don't
want people to be confused about what the pastor's
reading, okay? So I got that stamp for a reason.
But basically here's what happened. Matthew Vines
grew up in a Christian household. But he started
to struggle with feelings of homosexuality, same
-sex attraction, and so he said he wanted to
discover what the Bible actually taught on this
subject. And so he said what he was going to
do is he was going to go and do research for
himself. He was going to investigate this topic
for himself, and he was going to let the evidence
speak for itself, and he would just present it
in this book. And surprisingly what he found
is that apparently God never condemns homosexuality.
That all the Bible verses that speak against
it are actually speaking against it. And so he
writes in his book his findings and he says well
this expert says this and this person who's a
scholar in this says this. Here's what he actually
did. He ignored every orthodox and evangelical
authority on this matter and he went and specifically
looked for liberal scholars who would tell him
what he wanted to hear. And so he ignored the
majority voice. He found people who would affirm
his lifestyle, tell him what he wanted to hear,
and then he presented that as though that is
what the Bible actually says on this matter.
He was merely looking for someone to validate
his lifestyle. And this is exactly what the religious
leaders are doing here. You're seeing a key difference
between being spiritually subscribed and spiritually
surrendered. Spiritual subscribers resist Jesus's
authority to the degree that it threatens their
own. Spiritual subscribers resist Jesus's authority
to the degree that it threatens their own. You
see, those who are merely subscribed, they are
completely fine with Jesus as long as Jesus agrees
with them, as long as Jesus tells them what they
want to hear, as long as Jesus affirms their
lifestyle. But the second that there's disagreement,
they resist Jesus's authority and they reject
his authority. I think one of the absolute best
self -examination questions you can ask yourself
this morning is this, when scripture confronts
me, do I adjust my life or my interpretation?
That's going to tell you where your heart's at
this morning. When scripture confronts me and
confronts me in my sin, do I adjust my life or
my interpretation? And we see this in all sorts
of issues today, do we not? People who clearly
see what God has to say on an issue, they clearly
see where Jesus is claiming to be an authority
and yet they don't like what He has to say and
so they just adjust their interpretation. You
see it with the issue of abortion today. The
Bible says that mankind is made in the image
of God. Every single human is made in the image
of God. The Bible also makes it very clear that
life begins at conception, not at some later
point. The Bible says that God knit us in our
mother's womb. Before we were ever even born,
He knew us. Life begins at conception. Every
human is made in the image of God. The Bible
says that murder is a sin, and the taking of
innocent human life is murder. You go to the
Bible, and the Bible says abortion is murder.
God judged nations specifically for ripping open
the wombs of pregnant women. God brought judgment
upon them. And yet you look at what the world
says today. This is what God has to say on the
issue, and then people today go, well it's my
body, my choice. No, it's not. The Bible says
that you are not your own, that you were bought
with a price, so honor and glorify God with your
bodies. It is not your body, your choice. And
no human has the right to do whatever they want
with their own body, regardless of their gender.
And so we have two options here. When we see
what God has to say on the topic of abortion,
we can either change our life or we can change
our interpretation. We can either submit to Jesus's
authority or we can say that we know better.
And this is what we're going to do. If that one
wasn't controversial enough for you, let's think
of another one. You take the issue of women pastors
today. The Bible says that the office of pastor
is reserved for men as qualified by scripture.
That's what the Bible says. The Bible says in
1st Timothy 2, 12 that women are not permitted
to teach or exercise authority over men. That's
what God says in His inspired and narrant Word.
Now we can either submit to that Or we can go,
well, I don't like that, pastor. That's not fair.
That's outdated. That was just for the first
century. We need to get with the times. It's
totally appropriate to have women pastors today.
And all we're doing is saying the same thing
the religious leaders are saying here. What authority,
Jesus? What gives you the right to tell me what
I can and cannot do? I feel a certain way. Listen
to me. It doesn't matter how you feel. It matters
what God says in His Word. I think it would be
wise to tell you at this point that your interpretation
of Scripture doesn't actually change God's intention
with Scripture. God's Word means what it was
intended to mean and our understanding of Scripture
has no bearing on its actual meaning. Let God
be true in every man a liar. If that wasn't controversial
enough for you, take the issue of marriage and
sexuality. The Bible says that marriage is to
be between one man and one woman for life. That
is the only God -ordained form of marriage. And
we can either accept that and adjust our lives
or we can resist Jesus' authority. We can say,
well, God needs to get with the times. People
need to live together before they get married.
They need to see if they're compatible. They
need to enjoy a physical relationship with one
another before marriage. It's completely acceptable.
It's completely appropriate today. God needs
to get with it. Who are you, O man, to question
the Almighty? Are we really going to be so arrogant
that we say that we, the dust of the earth, know
better than the eternal God, who knows all things
is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. We know
better than him and say, God, you need to adjust
what you say to what I believe. We can either
change our lives. We can change our interpretation.
If that one wasn't enough for you, I've got another
one. Let's think about a really fun one. Second
Thessalonians chapter three, verse 10. The Bible
says, for even when we were with you, we would
give you this command, if anyone is not willing
to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some
among you walk in idleness, not busy at work,
but busy bodies. Now, this is where all the men
are going to get uncomfortable. Most men today
think that they're doing a great job fulfilling
this first, do they not? All the men that I know
think they're doing a phenomenal job with this.
Because they look at this, they go, hey, men
are supposed to work, they're supposed to work
hard, I'm doing it. And it's because they're
thinking about their nine to five. They go to
work, they pay their bills, they provide for
their family. And so I read a couple of verses
like this and they go, go on and preach it, pastor.
You lay it on thick because I'm doing good at
this. And that's because these men are thinking
only of their vocation. And they're not thinking
at all about the work that God has called them
to do in their homes. These men go to work, they
come home, they kick off their boots, and they
expect dinner to be on the table for them. They
expect the house to be cleaned. After dinner,
they'd like to unwind and have their wife take
care of their children and their house. So I'm
about to make people really uncomfortable, especially
the men. So happy Mother's Day, mothers. This
is my gift to you for not having a Mother's Day
sermon. Men, I'm going to tell every single one
of you something you do not want to hear but
is entirely biblical. Everything in your house
is your responsibility. You're the man of the
house, right? You like to use that phrase? This
is my house, I'm the man of the house, my rules?
Because God has made you the leader of your household
and put you as the head of your household, listen
to me. Everything in your house is your responsibility.
The laundry is your responsibility. The dishes
are your responsibility. The cleaning is your
responsibility. The cooking is your responsibility.
And I hear you. I hear you. Pastor, this isn't
fair. I can't do everything myself. I can't be
expected to go to work and then come home and
do everything myself. Exactly. That's exactly
right. That's why God has given you an Isaiah,
a helper, a helpmate, not a servant to wait on
you hand and foot. God in His grace has given
you a helper to come alongside of you and help
you take care of the responsibility and take
care of all the work in the house. But make no
mistake, men, everything in the house is your
responsibility. But rather than having biblical
men today, We have men today who use their 9
to 5 as an excuse to check out from 5 to 9 when
they get home. We have men who want to help make
the baby, but then they don't want to help take
care of the baby. We have men who never read
scripture with their families, never pray with
their families, never teach their children about
the Lord. Here's my question to you, church.
Are these men? Is this really the best that we
can do? Is this what submission to Jesus's authority
looks like in our lives? I mean, it absolutely
breaks my heart as I was writing this. I don't
even have a daughter. It literally was bringing
me to tears to think about all the little girls
in our church. I want you to think about all
the little girls that just left and went to children's
church. I want you to think about all of our
youth girls that we have here this morning. We've
got five youth girls here this morning. Think
about all these girls. One day they are going
to grow up and they're going to be looking for
a husband. It breaks my heart to think that this
sort of man is the best that we have to offer
them. A man who will go to work and pay the bills,
but will neglect them, neglect their children,
and neglect the spiritual nourishment of their
families. Is this really the best that we can
do? Men who will gravitate towards the easy work
and neglect the hard work. And I hear you again,
you say, but pastor, how can you say it's easy
work? I go to work all day long. I work a manual
labor job. If you had to come and work a day
in my job, I guarantee you wouldn't be saying
it's easy. I'll prove to you that it's easy and
that you know it is. Here's a scenario for you.
If you were to give most men the option, you
have two options, men. You can either go to your
job, whatever it is, and you can work an eight
hour shift. or option two, you can stay at home
with your family, no technology, no smartphones,
and you have to spend one hour in uninterrupted
family worship, leading your family in scripture
reading, praying, and singing worship songs.
I guarantee you, the majority of men pick the
eight hour shift at work. Because it's easy.
You see men, the Bible says that you're to love
your wife as Christ loved the church and gave
himself up for her. Jesus said of himself that
he came not to be served, but to serve. And so
if you're resisting Jesus' call for you to work
hard, not just at your job, but in your home,
and especially the spiritual nourishment of your
family, then you're no better than the religious
leaders here. You're saying the same thing they
did. What gives Jesus the right to tell me how
to live my life? If you want to know whether
you're spiritually subscribed or spiritually
surrendered, you need to ask yourself the question,
are there any areas of my life that are off limits
to Jesus? I'm fine with Jesus talking about religious
stuff and church stuff. That's no problem with
me. But relationships, finances, careers, sexualities,
priorities, responsibilities, those are off limits
to him. He can't say a thing about it. If you're
resisting Jesus' authority, it's probably because
you sense that your own is being threatened.
You see, you might think that you're good this
morning because you've got the Bible app downloaded
on your phone. And you're subscribed to the Bible
Recap podcast. So you're good. But being subscribed
to a biblical podcast, no matter how good it
is, is not the same thing as being spiritually
surrendered or submitting to Jesus' authority
in your life. It doesn't matter how much you
know if you never actually obey or follow what
you know. I mean, just look at the religious
leaders here in verse 24. Jesus answered them.
I also will ask you one question, and if you
tell me the answer, then I will tell you by what
authority I do these things. The baptism of John,
from where did it come? From heaven or from man?
And they discussed it among themselves saying,
if we say from heaven, he will say to us, why
then did you not believe him? But if we say from
man, we're afraid of the crowd, for they all
hold that John was a prophet. And so they answered
Jesus, we don't know. And he said to them, well
neither will I tell you by what authority I do
these things. Now this is a brilliant tactic
by Jesus, is it not? It was common in that day
to be in a debate and answer a question with
a question. And it was not to try to avoid the
question that was being asked, it was used as
a tactic to try to expose motives and intentions.
And that's exactly what Jesus is doing here.
He's not avoiding their question, he's exposing
their hearts. Because right now they're stuck
between a rock and a hard place, are they not?
When they talk about John's baptism, they understand
if they say, well, he was a prophet from God,
they're in big trouble because Jesus is going
to say, well, why didn't you believe him? But
if they say, well, he wasn't a prophet from God,
the problem is all the crowds held that he was.
And so if they say that he wasn't, then they're
not going to be accepted by the crowds anymore.
And so they take the coward's way out. And they
say, we don't know. Which isn't true. They do
know. It's like I said, their problem is not
a lack of information. Their problem is a lack
of integrity. This is not honest ignorance. This
is skillful evasion at a moment of decision.
And I was thinking of someone else who said,
I don't know, at a crucial moment of decision.
I was thinking of the Apostle Peter on the night
that Jesus was arrested. The Apostle Peter had
three different people come up to him. and point
out that Peter was a disciple and a friend of
Jesus, and three different times, what did Peter
say? I don't know him. You see, in that moment,
Peter did not forget Jesus, he just feared the
crowd. And just like the religious leaders here,
their answer, we don't know, it wasn't about
information, it was about self -preservation.
And I think that just like Peter and just like
these leaders, we all face these moments where
standing for the truth is costly. We're standing
for Jesus, for standing for the truth about sin
and what we believe. It is actually costly. And
the question is very rarely, do you know? The
question is always, what are you going to do
with what you know? You see, the point here is
that spiritual subscribers reject truth to the
degree that it endangers their image. Spiritual
subscribers reject truth to the degree that it
endangers their image, just like the religious
leaders here. When their image was in jeopardy,
and they were fearful that the crowd would no
longer accept them or look well upon them, they
decided to take the coward's way out. We've got
a big problem when our public image matters more
to us than our personal integrity. And I want
to remind you church that every single person
in this room this morning, every single person
who professes to be a believer in Jesus and a
follower of Christ, you're going to face these
exact situations in your life. It starts early.
We've got students and youth here this morning.
You're going to be facing this challenge in school.
Because I promise you it's going to be easier
many times throughout your school years. It's
going to be easier to blend into the crowd than
it is to stand for Jesus. There are going to
be moments when your reputation is on the line,
when your acceptance is on the line, when people
might not look upon you favorably anymore because
of your belief in Jesus, and you're going to
face the same question and situation that the
religious leaders did here. Are you going to
deny Christ or are you going to stand for Christ?
In this problem, it doesn't go away when you
leave school, does it, adults? I think every
Christian, working Christian here this morning,
knows that you still face this same problem when
you go to work. And you're surrounded by unbelieving
co -workers. And you're hearing the way they
talk. And you're seeing the way they live their
lives. And you see that they're hanging out together.
And they're inviting each other to things. And
you're not being included. You're going to be
very tempted to just push the faith aside. So
that you can be accepted. So that you can be
invited. So that you can have a good reputation
and popularity at work and the question is are
you going to stand for Christ? Are you going
to reject Christ? God has not called his people
to blend in to the rest of the world He has called
us to be separate from the rest of the world
to be distinct from the rest of the world Christ
has called his people to be salt and light in
this world You can't be salt and light If you're
covering yourself with a lampshade, as Jesus
said, how's the light supposed to shine then?
You're not called to blend in at work. You're
not called to blend in at school. You're not
called to blend in in society. You were called
to shine the light of Christ. Will you stand
or will you deny Christ? I want to remind you
this morning that any person on earth can stand
for Christ and be a Christian in a church building
where it costs you nothing. This is the easiest
place to be a Christian. Don't you know that?
There's no one in here going to judge you for
it. There's no one going to condemn you for it,
reject you for it. This is the easiest place.
This costs you nothing. This is the easiest thing
you can do. The question is, what are you going
to do tomorrow when Monday rolls around? Will
you still stand then? Jesus is looking for people
who will follow Him with their lives and not
just their words. Which is why He says this parable
in verse 28. He says to this crowd, What do you
think? A man had two sons. And he went to the
first and he said, Son, go and work in the vineyard
today. And he answered, I will not. But afterward
he changed his mind and went. And he went to
the other and he said the same. And he answered,
I go, sir, but didn't. Which of the two did the
will of the Father? And they said, the first.
And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, the
tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom
of God before you. For John came to you in the
way of righteousness, and you did not believe
him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed
him. And even when you saw it, you did not change
your minds and believe him. What is Jesus saying
here? He's saying that the religious leaders
have been given lip service to God for their
entire lives. They've been saying yes to God
with their lips and no to God with their lives.
And the worst part about all of it is that they
actually thought that God was pleased with them.
They thought that God was happy with them. God,
we're coming to the temple. We've got our suits
on. We're nice and dressed up. We're participating
in all the festivals. We're doing all the religious
things. We're doing these things. God, aren't
you pleased with us? And God says, no, because
your lips are close to me, but your hearts are
far from me. Do you think that God just wants
you to say yes and not do it? I mean, it makes
total sense to me when I read this passage that
Jesus told a story about two children, because
that's exactly what this sounds like, does it
not? I mean, it sounds like a bunch of kids here.
I mean, our boys. This was a couple months ago.
They came to me, I think it was a Saturday, and
they said, hey, daddy, can we watch TV? And I
said, no, you bunch of heathens. I said, no,
you need to go and clean up all the toys, pick
up all the toys that are scattered around the
house, and then you can watch TV. So about 30
minutes goes by, I'm doing the dishes, Anna's
doing laundry, and they come back up to me and
they go, can we watch TV now? And I look around
and I'm like, absolutely not. What are you kidding?
There are toys everywhere. You didn't do what
I asked you to do. And Judah says to me, Daddy,
I told you I'd pick up the toys. And I'm like,
this is literally this story. Do you think I
just wanted you to say you'd go and pick up the
toys? Or do you think I actually wanted you to
pick up the toys? Because that's not going to
cut it by you just going and saying, oh, I told
you I would do it. Yeah, that's great. But you
didn't actually do it. That's exactly what the
religious leaders are doing here. And I think
there's a little bit of both of the sons in all
of us. Because sometimes we say all the right
things, do we not? Christians know how to sound
real spiritual, don't we? How you doing brother?
I'll pray for you. How you doing today? I'm blessed.
Or if they're feeling really good and spiritual
that day, I'm blessed and highly favored. We
know how to sound spiritual. We know how to play
the part. We know how to give God our lip service.
But then when we leave this place, we go right
back to living like we are Lord rather than Jesus
is Lord. Other times in our lives, we've said
no to God. Maybe for years. Maybe we have run
from Him. We've resisted Him. We've rejected
Him outright. But then something amazing happened.
God starts working in our lives. And the Holy
Spirit starts convicting us of sin. He starts
showing us the beauty of Jesus, and even though
we started wrong, we want to finish differently.
That's what this parable is about. It's about
two sons, two responses, and only one obeyed.
My question to you is, where's the gap in your
life this morning between what you're affirming
with your lips and how you're living with your
life? Where are you subscribed where you need
to be surrendered? It might be a sin that you've
justified for years. You've tried to convince
yourself it's not a sin. You've tried to convince
other people it's not a sin. It could be a habit
that you won't surrender. It could be a conversation
that you keep avoiding. It could be a step of
faith that you've delayed taking because it's
scary and it seems costly, inconvenient. and
deep down you know you've been saying yes with
your lips but no with your life and I want to
tell you this morning the good news of this passage
is that a past no doesn't disqualify you from
a present yes that God doesn't cancel rebels
he invites those who repent and he welcomes them
into the kingdom I mean that's the beauty here
right like look who's entering the kingdom of
God it's not the religious people It's not the
church people. It's not the people who have it
all together. Jesus says it's the prostitutes.
It's the tax collectors. It's these people who
had been publicly saying no to God for their
entire lives and yet when they heard the message
of John the Baptist and they felt the conviction
of the Holy Spirit, they turned it over to God
and they repented of their sins. God is not looking
for a bunch of polished performers. God is looking
for surrendered hearts. I want to just say this
to you very plainly so no one leaves here confused
about this. Jesus is not calling you to be a
spiritual subscriber this morning. He is calling
you to be spiritually surrendered. Subscribers
admire Jesus from a distance. Surrender followers
follow him and obey at a cost. Subscribers they
like Jesus as long as he doesn't interfere with
their lives. As long as he doesn't say anything
inconvenient. But surrendered followers say yes,
even when it is inconvenient. Today needs to
be the day that we stop saying to Jesus, by what
authority? And what gives you the right to tell
me how to live my life? Today needs to be the
day that we stop giving Jesus part of our lives,
part of our obedience, all of our lip service,
and all of our religious show. And today needs
to be the day that we lay everything at the feet
of Jesus. Today needs to be the day that we say
whatever you ask Lord, wherever you call me,
whatever you want me to do, whatever I need to
pick up, whatever I need to lay aside, I will
do it. Here I am, send me. I will count everything
as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord and Savior. Because when it comes
to the kingdom of God, it's not about how you
start church. It's about how you finish. And
Jesus is calling us today to follow him and be
spiritually surrendered. Amen.