WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.220 Welcome, church. So good to see you this morning. 00:00:03.299 --> 00:00:05.059 I want to welcome those of you on our online 00:00:05.059 --> 00:00:06.879 location, wherever it is that you're watching 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:09.220 from, man. We're so glad that you're joining 00:00:09.220 --> 00:00:13.619 with us this morning. Over the last two weeks, 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:16.160 I spoke at back -to -back summer camps, and I 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:20.179 spoke 19 times in two weeks. And, man, it was 00:00:20.179 --> 00:00:24.660 a grind. Yeah, you can... Thank God that I'm 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:28.039 still standing. But man, after speaking 19 times 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:31.460 at multiple places, I'm always so blessed to 00:00:31.460 --> 00:00:35.140 come back here. This is home. And not just this 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:37.679 church, but this is family. You are family. And 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:40.560 so it's so amazing. You are my favorite people 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:43.159 to be able to teach and to be able to open God's 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:45.280 word with. And so I'm so grateful to be here 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:50.350 with you guys. After speaking for that long, 00:00:50.450 --> 00:00:52.450 I ended up flying and meeting up with my family 00:00:52.450 --> 00:00:55.270 in Southern California and my in -laws took us 00:00:55.270 --> 00:00:58.070 to Disneyland. And it was awesome. It was an 00:00:58.070 --> 00:00:59.909 incredible experience. I always love going to 00:00:59.909 --> 00:01:02.009 Disneyland and watching a bunch of kids lose 00:01:02.009 --> 00:01:04.430 their mind and cry at the happiest place on earth. 00:01:04.590 --> 00:01:07.450 You know what I mean? Like the parents are taking 00:01:07.450 --> 00:01:09.189 their kids to the happiest place on earth. They 00:01:09.189 --> 00:01:10.709 took out a second mortgage on their home and 00:01:10.709 --> 00:01:12.989 they're like, you will have fun. And their kids 00:01:12.989 --> 00:01:14.849 just crying and losing their mind at a different 00:01:14.849 --> 00:01:18.120 location. It's great. When I'm at Disneyland, 00:01:18.260 --> 00:01:20.340 man, my favorite thing to do is to stay busy. 00:01:20.519 --> 00:01:22.879 Like you may have guessed this about me. I'm 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:24.760 not a sit in one spot kind of person, right? 00:01:24.819 --> 00:01:26.920 Like I like to do stuff. And that means when 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:29.260 I go to Disneyland, I have a plan. And I'm like, 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:31.000 we will do this and we will do that. We will 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:33.579 get here and we will go there. And I will make 00:01:33.579 --> 00:01:37.519 decisions to keep us moving. And I came to realize 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:39.540 that, yes, that might be my choice and my decision. 00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:41.939 There's other things like sitting and watching 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:45.260 a parade that exists at Disneyland also. And 00:01:45.260 --> 00:01:47.980 my kids like doing that. which is not what I 00:01:47.980 --> 00:01:51.400 like to do. And so my kids decided we were gonna 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.079 go to the parade, but the problem is, is it wasn't 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:54.900 just like watch the parade, which the parade's 00:01:54.900 --> 00:01:56.560 fine and all that, but they wanted to make sure 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:58.480 we had good seats at the parade, which means 00:01:58.480 --> 00:01:59.939 that we were gonna sit there for two and a half 00:01:59.939 --> 00:02:02.640 hours to find the right place to watch the parade, 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:05.480 because you gotta get the right seats. That means 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:08.360 sitting on the concrete for two and a half hours. 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:13.330 You wanna know how I realized I was old? Literally 00:02:13.330 --> 00:02:14.909 the next day, I'm like walking like this. And 00:02:14.909 --> 00:02:16.250 my kids are like, what happened to you? I'm like, 00:02:16.310 --> 00:02:20.289 you, it's your fault. You made me do this. It 00:02:20.289 --> 00:02:22.210 came to the point where I'm like, man, I want 00:02:22.210 --> 00:02:24.409 to go do things. And I have a desire of what 00:02:24.409 --> 00:02:27.250 I want to do here. I've got it planned out. I 00:02:27.250 --> 00:02:29.469 want to do these things. And just because I want 00:02:29.469 --> 00:02:30.969 to do them, though, I had to realize that I needed 00:02:30.969 --> 00:02:34.150 to surrender to what they wanted to do. I had 00:02:34.150 --> 00:02:36.210 to put aside my will and my desire in order to 00:02:36.210 --> 00:02:38.669 do what they desired. And I had to surrender. 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:41.699 And I think in life, oftentimes, we live in this 00:02:41.699 --> 00:02:45.080 tension of surrendering to God's will or doing 00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:47.740 what we want to do. God, I want to do stuff. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:49.960 I want to do these things, but I also kind of 00:02:49.960 --> 00:02:51.460 want to surrender to you, and I'm not sure which 00:02:51.460 --> 00:02:54.039 one I want to do. We live in this tension because 00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:56.419 we want to trust God, but we still want the steering 00:02:56.419 --> 00:03:00.879 wheel. We live in this place where we want God's 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:04.319 guidance without giving up our say. God, we want 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:07.530 a say in this. I'm like, okay, God, I get it. 00:03:07.569 --> 00:03:09.550 Like you're God and all that. So we want the 00:03:09.550 --> 00:03:12.889 comfort of God's promises and the security of 00:03:12.889 --> 00:03:16.069 our own control. And we have to get to a place 00:03:16.069 --> 00:03:19.750 where we can surrender to God. If you've been 00:03:19.750 --> 00:03:21.590 with us over the last couple of weeks, we've 00:03:21.590 --> 00:03:23.370 been going through the book of Luke and we've 00:03:23.370 --> 00:03:25.330 been in this collection that we've called Who 00:03:25.330 --> 00:03:29.129 You Are. And the idea is this, is that one of 00:03:29.129 --> 00:03:31.110 the things that we hold dearly at heights, the 00:03:31.110 --> 00:03:32.830 main thing that we hold in front of us is that 00:03:32.830 --> 00:03:35.780 Jesus is a big deal. And so if Jesus is a big 00:03:35.780 --> 00:03:37.659 deal, then we wanna know about Jesus. And so 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:40.500 as we learn about Jesus's life, that's who it's 00:03:40.500 --> 00:03:43.180 about. That's who it's all about. And so it's 00:03:43.180 --> 00:03:47.500 who you are, who Jesus is. Because when we understand 00:03:47.500 --> 00:03:50.759 who Jesus is, it puts into perspective who we 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:53.379 are. And when he is in the right place in our 00:03:53.379 --> 00:03:55.680 life, it allows us to live in the way that he 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:59.039 has called us to live. And we're able to surrender 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:03.419 to him. We're gonna be in Luke chapter five, 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:06.139 Luke chapter five, starting in verse one, it 00:04:06.139 --> 00:04:09.659 says this. One day as Jesus was standing by Lake 00:04:09.659 --> 00:04:13.419 Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him 00:04:13.419 --> 00:04:17.319 and listening to the word of God. As Jesus is 00:04:17.319 --> 00:04:19.420 teaching, people are listening to the word of 00:04:19.420 --> 00:04:22.220 God. When Jesus speaks, it is the word of God. 00:04:22.819 --> 00:04:25.160 I think sometimes we just go, yeah, there's Jesus 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:27.060 and then there's God. When Jesus speaks, it's 00:04:27.060 --> 00:04:30.730 the word of God. There's authority in God's word. 00:04:30.910 --> 00:04:35.610 And what Jesus says is God's word, right? Dad's 00:04:35.610 --> 00:04:37.449 in here, it's Father's Day, right? We have a 00:04:37.449 --> 00:04:40.209 script that we say, and it's consisted of all 00:04:40.209 --> 00:04:42.050 the things that your dad said that you swore 00:04:42.050 --> 00:04:44.389 you would never say. You know what I mean? When 00:04:44.389 --> 00:04:47.970 your kids ask why, why, why? And you say, because 00:04:47.970 --> 00:04:51.329 I, oh yeah, you've said it too, right? You've 00:04:51.329 --> 00:04:52.750 said it too. And you're like, I will never say 00:04:52.750 --> 00:04:55.129 that. You swore it off. And now it's your line. 00:04:55.689 --> 00:04:57.230 All right, I tell my kids when they ask why, 00:04:57.269 --> 00:05:01.670 I say, because I'm the boss. I'm the boss. What 00:05:01.670 --> 00:05:05.170 I say goes. When Jesus speaks, it is the word 00:05:05.170 --> 00:05:08.250 of God. And there's a lot of major world religions 00:05:08.250 --> 00:05:10.850 that will claim that the Bible never says that 00:05:10.850 --> 00:05:14.069 Jesus is God. And if you study Jesus's life, 00:05:14.149 --> 00:05:15.889 that is just not true because there's multiple 00:05:15.889 --> 00:05:19.629 instances where someone refers to Jesus as God 00:05:19.629 --> 00:05:21.779 and Jesus does not correct them. There's multiple 00:05:21.779 --> 00:05:24.600 instances when Jesus himself alludes to the fact 00:05:24.600 --> 00:05:26.920 that he is God. And it says clearly that when 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:30.000 Jesus speaks, it is the word of God. And when 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.600 people listen to Jesus, what they're hearing 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:36.860 is the word of God. Verse two, he saw at the 00:05:36.860 --> 00:05:39.720 water's edge, two boats left there by the fishermen 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:43.199 who were washing their nets. He got into one 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:45.740 of the boats, the one belonging to Simon. This 00:05:45.740 --> 00:05:48.019 is Simon Peter that we see all throughout scripture. 00:05:48.569 --> 00:05:50.509 And he asked him to put out a little from the 00:05:50.509 --> 00:05:53.149 shore. And then he sat down and taught the people 00:05:53.149 --> 00:05:57.470 from the boat. He hopped in a boat and he goes, 00:05:57.509 --> 00:06:00.230 hey, I'm gonna take this out. Because we have 00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:02.149 to realize that when you follow Jesus, yours 00:06:02.149 --> 00:06:05.670 is his. When you follow Jesus, the thing that 00:06:05.670 --> 00:06:08.449 you say is yours is actually his. Your stuff 00:06:08.449 --> 00:06:12.230 is for the purpose of being used by Jesus. What 00:06:12.230 --> 00:06:14.389 Peter didn't say, what Simon Peter didn't say 00:06:14.389 --> 00:06:17.649 is he goes, no, no, no, that's mine. Jesus, you 00:06:17.649 --> 00:06:20.889 can't take that boat. That's my boat. He didn't 00:06:20.889 --> 00:06:25.410 say, hey, no, no, no. Those are my things. What's 00:06:25.410 --> 00:06:29.970 yours is his. He owns it. At my house, when I 00:06:29.970 --> 00:06:31.889 take anything that's my kids, if I grab it just 00:06:31.889 --> 00:06:34.050 for a second and I use it, my kids gonna know 00:06:34.050 --> 00:06:36.069 that's mine. And I'm like, bro, I paid for it. 00:06:36.110 --> 00:06:39.410 It's all mine. You might think it's yours, but 00:06:39.410 --> 00:06:43.649 it's actually mine. That's what we do to God 00:06:43.649 --> 00:06:46.579 though. It's all his, but we go, no, no, okay, 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:48.879 God, no, no, no. Like, you don't understand, 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:51.620 God, that's my bank account. Like, yeah, you're 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:53.160 God and all, that's great, but God, that's my 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:55.899 bank account. God, like, that's my car. You know, 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.480 I saved up for it and that's my car. Like, it's 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:01.540 my car. God, I know you're good and I know you're 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:03.839 God and I know you're, you know, that stuff's 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:07.019 great and all, but it's my time. I need some 00:07:07.019 --> 00:07:10.459 me time, you know what I'm talking about? Everything's 00:07:10.459 --> 00:07:12.259 for everyone else, I need me time. God's going, 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:14.459 yes. It's my time anyway, what are you doing? 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:17.839 We have a list of things in our life that you 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:20.800 might go, okay, yeah, God, you're God, but that's 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:23.980 mine. What Simon Peter didn't do with his boat, 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:26.040 with his livelihood, with the thing that he used 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:27.740 because he was a fisherman and that was his job, 00:07:27.779 --> 00:07:30.060 he wasn't gonna like, no, that's mine. Because 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:33.220 when you follow Jesus, what's yours is his and 00:07:33.220 --> 00:07:35.740 all of your stuff is just a tool to follow him. 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:39.980 Everything that you have is just for him to use. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.040 If you were with us a couple months ago, we went 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:46.600 through a collection. It was called Just Camping. 00:07:47.139 --> 00:07:49.540 And the idea was, hey, we're just camping here 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:51.759 anyway. All the stuff that you have, it doesn't 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:54.160 matter. It's gonna be like a tent that's laid 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:57.139 flat and you're not even gonna be here. If you 00:07:57.139 --> 00:07:58.620 weren't here for that collection, I encourage 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:00.439 you to go back and watch it. You can watch all 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:02.779 of it. Even if you were here for that collection, 00:08:02.860 --> 00:08:05.420 I encourage you to go back and rewatch it. You 00:08:05.420 --> 00:08:07.259 know why? Because it postures our heart and sets 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:09.839 up the idea of how we should view this world 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:12.839 that we live in. Everything you have, it's not 00:08:12.839 --> 00:08:14.980 yours. If you're a follower of Jesus, it's his 00:08:14.980 --> 00:08:18.300 and it's to be used to follow him. Peter understood 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:20.680 that. He goes, yeah, go ahead, get in my boat. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.120 Verse four, when he had finished speaking, he 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:28.860 said to Simon, put out into deep water and let 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:31.819 down the nets for a catch. And Simon's going, 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:33.419 dude, you don't know what we've gone through. 00:08:33.539 --> 00:08:35.539 And he answered him and he said, master, we've 00:08:35.539 --> 00:08:38.769 worked hard all night. and haven't caught anything. 00:08:38.850 --> 00:08:40.889 We've been out fishing all night and we haven't 00:08:40.889 --> 00:08:43.169 caught a single thing. And then he says, but 00:08:43.169 --> 00:08:45.570 because you said so, I will let down the nets. 00:08:47.429 --> 00:08:50.750 What if that was our response? God, it doesn't 00:08:50.750 --> 00:08:52.429 make sense. It doesn't make any sense at all, 00:08:52.450 --> 00:08:55.350 but because you said so, I will do it. Guys, 00:08:55.429 --> 00:08:57.830 I've done all the calculation and God, I know 00:08:57.830 --> 00:08:59.710 that you've said to do this, but I've already 00:08:59.710 --> 00:09:02.370 checked it out and it's not going to work. But 00:09:02.370 --> 00:09:05.769 because you said so, I will do it. God, I've 00:09:05.769 --> 00:09:08.049 planned it all out and I've tried everything, 00:09:08.269 --> 00:09:12.830 but because you said so, I will do it. We have 00:09:12.830 --> 00:09:17.490 to be willing to be obedient. We have to be willing 00:09:17.490 --> 00:09:20.769 to make what God says more important than what 00:09:20.769 --> 00:09:24.070 we want to do. We have to be willing to be open 00:09:24.070 --> 00:09:27.610 -handed, not having all the right answers because 00:09:27.610 --> 00:09:29.649 that's what faith actually is. If you have all 00:09:29.649 --> 00:09:31.230 the right answers and you've had it figured out, 00:09:31.309 --> 00:09:35.100 you don't need faith. But oftentimes that's what 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:38.220 we want to do. We plan our career. I planned 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:40.000 out my whole career. I planned exactly what it's 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:41.500 going to look like. I planned exactly what it's 00:09:41.500 --> 00:09:43.259 going to do. We plan out when we're going to 00:09:43.259 --> 00:09:45.679 get married. We plan out our kids, how many kids 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:46.879 we're going to have, when we're going to have 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:49.899 kids. We plan out our retirement. We plan out 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:51.779 our income. We plan out our relationships. We 00:09:51.779 --> 00:09:53.600 plan out our daily life. And then we go, God, 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:58.759 I'm just living by faith. I got everything planned 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:02.330 out, God, but I'm living by faith. God's like, 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:03.690 you don't have any faith. You've planned it all. 00:10:04.769 --> 00:10:09.269 You've left no room for me. What he's saying 00:10:09.269 --> 00:10:11.009 here is he's going, hey God, because you said 00:10:11.009 --> 00:10:13.470 so, I'm gonna do it. And I think oftentimes we 00:10:13.470 --> 00:10:15.230 find ourself in a season of questions because 00:10:15.230 --> 00:10:17.230 our plan doesn't go according to planned. And 00:10:17.230 --> 00:10:20.250 we go, God, why? God, why is this happening? 00:10:20.350 --> 00:10:23.250 I had it all planned out. God, I figured it out 00:10:23.250 --> 00:10:24.889 and it's not going the way that I had it planned. 00:10:25.029 --> 00:10:26.889 And I think that when we find ourself in a season 00:10:26.889 --> 00:10:28.649 of questions, we actually need to be in a season 00:10:28.649 --> 00:10:34.059 of faith. God, I trust you. God, because you 00:10:34.059 --> 00:10:36.600 said so. Not because I figured it out, not because 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:41.399 it will go according to plan, but because you 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:46.379 said so. You need to let down the nets when it 00:10:46.379 --> 00:10:50.679 doesn't make any sense. In 2013, that's where 00:10:50.679 --> 00:10:53.460 I found myself. I was called into the lead pastor's 00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:55.139 office at the church that I was working at and 00:10:55.139 --> 00:10:59.080 he let me go. He said, I don't think that you're 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:02.090 called to. I think you need to question whether 00:11:02.090 --> 00:11:04.230 or not you should even be teaching or speaking 00:11:04.230 --> 00:11:06.230 or doing anything in ministry. And I was let 00:11:06.230 --> 00:11:08.049 go. And it was one of the most difficult days 00:11:08.049 --> 00:11:09.870 of my life because it sent me into this place 00:11:09.870 --> 00:11:11.889 where I started questioning, God, did you really 00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:14.529 call me to this? I started questioning, like, 00:11:14.529 --> 00:11:16.990 God, am I even supposed to do this? Like, I was 00:11:16.990 --> 00:11:18.269 just told this is probably not what I'm supposed 00:11:18.269 --> 00:11:19.889 to do, but I feel like you've called me to do 00:11:19.889 --> 00:11:21.669 this. And there was confusion inside. But not 00:11:21.669 --> 00:11:23.169 only that, I was left with no way to support 00:11:23.169 --> 00:11:26.899 my family. I went into... months of depression 00:11:26.899 --> 00:11:29.019 of just trying to figure out what in the world 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:31.700 is going on. God, I had it all planned out. God, 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:33.879 I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And God, 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:35.600 this isn't going according to the plans that 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:40.059 I had. What do I do now? And I was in a season 00:11:40.059 --> 00:11:42.139 of so many questions until God started speaking 00:11:42.139 --> 00:11:43.740 to me and going, yeah, you may be in a season 00:11:43.740 --> 00:11:45.320 of questions, but you need to be in a season 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:49.179 of faith. And yes, it's not going according to 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:51.960 your plans, but you still need to follow what 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:55.990 I've said because I said so. And I had to get 00:11:55.990 --> 00:11:57.509 to a place where I said, okay, God, because you've 00:11:57.509 --> 00:12:00.750 said so, I'll let down my nets. Even though I've 00:12:00.750 --> 00:12:02.269 done all the work, I've done all the things. 00:12:03.370 --> 00:12:04.889 I've already been fishing and I didn't catch 00:12:04.889 --> 00:12:08.409 anything. But because you said so, I will let 00:12:08.409 --> 00:12:14.350 down my nets. Verse six, when they had done so, 00:12:14.470 --> 00:12:17.409 they caught such a large number of fish that 00:12:17.409 --> 00:12:20.950 their nets begin to break. So they signaled their 00:12:20.950 --> 00:12:22.309 partners and they're like, hold on, you gotta 00:12:22.309 --> 00:12:24.730 come check this out. And the other boat came 00:12:24.730 --> 00:12:27.669 and helped them. And they came and filled both 00:12:27.669 --> 00:12:31.750 boats so full that they begin to sink. Can you 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:34.470 picture this for a moment? They didn't catch 00:12:34.470 --> 00:12:36.370 anything all night. All of a sudden, Jesus is 00:12:36.370 --> 00:12:39.289 like, hey, no, we're gonna go fish. Okay, because 00:12:39.289 --> 00:12:41.809 you said so, we're gonna let our nets down. They 00:12:41.809 --> 00:12:43.429 fill their boat up, they fill up the next boat. 00:12:43.970 --> 00:12:46.970 I can't help but chuckle. Can you imagine being 00:12:46.970 --> 00:12:50.590 in a fishing competition against Jesus? Right? 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:53.059 I found out this information. I feel like you 00:12:53.059 --> 00:12:55.120 need to know this. Pastor John has been in fishing 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.019 competitions. Some of you are like, wait, the 00:12:58.019 --> 00:12:59.299 gray haired guy that wears sweatshirts? Yeah, 00:12:59.340 --> 00:13:01.700 that guy. Doesn't look like it, but he's been 00:13:01.700 --> 00:13:03.740 in fishing competitions. Can you imagine Pastor 00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:05.600 John in a fishing competition? That in itself, 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:07.299 you can't imagine that. But just play with me 00:13:07.299 --> 00:13:09.360 for a second. If you imagine Pastor John in a 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:11.779 fishing competition, but then he comes home from 00:13:11.779 --> 00:13:13.460 the fishing competition and his wife goes, hey, 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:16.600 how'd you do? He goes, well, I didn't win. She's 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:18.480 like, why? Did you not catch anything? No, I 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:21.379 caught like 20 fish. Were they small? No, they 00:13:21.379 --> 00:13:23.879 were big. Why didn't you win? Well, there was 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:26.059 this other guy in there that caught 3 ,000. Like, 00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:29.480 can you imagine how that conversation went? Jesus 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:33.059 does things that absolutely blows our mind. And 00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:35.340 the truth is that I think oftentimes we limit 00:13:35.340 --> 00:13:37.399 the power of God and we don't understand how 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:39.960 God, how powerful God truly is. If you're taking 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:42.600 notes, write this down. God's power is mind blowing. 00:13:43.860 --> 00:13:46.039 I wanted to put like the little emoji on there 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:49.360 with the mind blowing emoji, just like. Because 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:51.200 that's what it should do to your mind when you 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:53.240 think about the power of God. But I think oftentimes 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:58.000 we limit God's power. This is not possible without 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:00.679 God's power. The things that happen that we see 00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:02.379 in scripture are not possible without God's power, 00:14:02.460 --> 00:14:03.960 but they're not limited to scripture. The things 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:07.440 that happen in our life today are not possible 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:13.179 without God's power. God is omnipotent. That 00:14:13.179 --> 00:14:14.899 means he is all powerful. That is one of the 00:14:14.899 --> 00:14:18.509 characteristics of God. And there's no other 00:14:18.509 --> 00:14:20.409 being that shares that characteristic. There's 00:14:20.409 --> 00:14:21.750 not another being that's like, well, they're 00:14:21.750 --> 00:14:24.610 all powerful too. There's only one that shares, 00:14:24.669 --> 00:14:27.169 that has the characteristics of being omnipotent, 00:14:27.169 --> 00:14:31.429 all powerful, and that is God. God is all powerful. 00:14:31.830 --> 00:14:33.789 All right, and I think we limit that and we go, 00:14:33.830 --> 00:14:37.009 okay, yes, I know God is all powerful, but then 00:14:37.009 --> 00:14:40.210 there's other stuff in my life. And we separate 00:14:40.210 --> 00:14:42.710 the fact that God is all powerful from the real 00:14:42.710 --> 00:14:44.370 life that we have. But you need to understand 00:14:44.370 --> 00:14:46.610 that all powerful means all powerful. That means 00:14:46.610 --> 00:14:48.610 that God is more powerful than the government. 00:14:49.470 --> 00:14:51.529 That means that God is more powerful than world 00:14:51.529 --> 00:14:54.429 politics. That means that God is more powerful 00:14:54.429 --> 00:14:56.809 than your addiction. That means that God is more 00:14:56.809 --> 00:14:59.470 powerful than your anxiety. That means that God 00:14:59.470 --> 00:15:02.470 is more powerful than your decisions and your 00:15:02.470 --> 00:15:04.870 desires. That means God is the most powerful. 00:15:05.009 --> 00:15:07.289 And if God is all powerful, then it has implications 00:15:07.289 --> 00:15:10.009 for our life. But oftentimes we dumb down God's 00:15:10.009 --> 00:15:13.870 power in our life. We have to realize that God's 00:15:13.870 --> 00:15:17.269 all powerful. That's mind blowing. That's insane 00:15:17.269 --> 00:15:19.509 to understand that the only reason you can even 00:15:19.509 --> 00:15:21.629 comprehend God's power is because he had the 00:15:21.629 --> 00:15:23.210 power to give you the power to understand his 00:15:23.210 --> 00:15:27.429 power. Is anyone confused yet? It should blow 00:15:27.429 --> 00:15:30.610 your mind when you understand God's power. And 00:15:30.610 --> 00:15:33.649 it should change the way that you live. There's 00:15:33.649 --> 00:15:36.409 a response that comes when we understand God's 00:15:36.409 --> 00:15:39.409 power. When Simon Peter saw God's power, it says 00:15:39.409 --> 00:15:43.269 in verse eight, when Simon Peter saw this, he 00:15:43.269 --> 00:15:46.629 fell at Jesus's knees and said, go away from 00:15:46.629 --> 00:15:51.210 me, Lord. I'm a sinful man. For he and his companions 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:55.159 were astonished. Their mind was blown. at the 00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:57.620 catch of fish that they had taken. And so were 00:15:57.620 --> 00:16:00.320 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:03.360 partners. See, when we encounter God's power, 00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:06.940 our response should be humility. Do you catch 00:16:06.940 --> 00:16:09.919 his response here? To an all -powerful God, to 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.120 a mind -blowingly powerful God, his response 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:18.159 is humility. So I think we have oftentimes the 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:21.570 wrong response to God's... If we truly understand 00:16:21.570 --> 00:16:24.669 God's power, oftentimes we miss the response, 00:16:24.769 --> 00:16:26.570 right? And oftentimes our response looks more 00:16:26.570 --> 00:16:29.370 like this, which makes no sense. We live in the 00:16:29.370 --> 00:16:31.210 Grand Canyon State, right? It's on our license 00:16:31.210 --> 00:16:33.669 plate. We know that. And if you've ever been 00:16:33.669 --> 00:16:35.269 to the Grand Canyon, the giant hole in the ground, 00:16:35.330 --> 00:16:37.070 it's one of the wonders of the world. It's amazing. 00:16:37.250 --> 00:16:39.750 Nobody has ever gone to the Grand Canyon and 00:16:39.750 --> 00:16:42.509 stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon and looked 00:16:42.509 --> 00:16:45.389 over everything and stared out at it and said, 00:16:45.429 --> 00:16:49.929 wow, I'm impressive. Like nobody's done that, 00:16:49.990 --> 00:16:53.590 right? And you would laugh when we say that because 00:16:53.590 --> 00:16:55.169 nobody's done that. But here's the truth is that 00:16:55.169 --> 00:16:57.230 oftentimes the God, the all powerful God in our 00:16:57.230 --> 00:17:00.029 life, we look back at him who has all power and 00:17:00.029 --> 00:17:03.769 we go, God, I'm a big deal. Look at me, gold 00:17:03.769 --> 00:17:06.849 star. Look what I've done. But when you encounter 00:17:06.849 --> 00:17:11.089 God, the true God, and we realize how big he 00:17:11.089 --> 00:17:13.150 is, we're finally free to stop pretending that 00:17:13.150 --> 00:17:16.890 we're a big deal. You're finally free to stop 00:17:16.890 --> 00:17:19.089 pretending that you're big. when you understand 00:17:19.089 --> 00:17:23.289 how big God truly is. All right, the brighter 00:17:23.289 --> 00:17:27.170 God's goodness shines, the more clearly we see 00:17:27.170 --> 00:17:30.789 our need for him. Just like Simon Peter, he's 00:17:30.789 --> 00:17:33.849 like, God, I'm not good enough. Like he falls 00:17:33.849 --> 00:17:35.269 at his knees, he's like, get away from me, man, 00:17:35.289 --> 00:17:38.650 I'm a sinful man. We have to have this posture 00:17:38.650 --> 00:17:40.549 of humility to God to go, when we understand 00:17:40.549 --> 00:17:45.089 his goodness, we understand his power. God, you 00:17:45.089 --> 00:17:48.640 are a big deal. And when you understand that 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:50.799 you're a big deal, a response, when you understand 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:52.319 that God is a big deal and you are not, then 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:55.339 our response is what flows from that. Verse 10, 00:17:55.380 --> 00:17:58.099 it says, then Jesus said to Simon, don't be afraid. 00:17:59.299 --> 00:18:03.380 From now on, you will fish for people. If you're 00:18:03.380 --> 00:18:05.220 taking notes, write this down. God's power gives 00:18:05.220 --> 00:18:08.720 me the confidence to tell others. God's power 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:13.099 gives me the confidence to tell others. What 00:18:13.099 --> 00:18:15.059 Jesus said to him is, hey, I want you to go fish 00:18:15.059 --> 00:18:18.029 for people. which is a weird thing to say, right? 00:18:18.109 --> 00:18:20.089 He's not like throwing nets on people randomly, 00:18:20.170 --> 00:18:21.849 like, gotcha. Like, that's not what he's doing. 00:18:23.349 --> 00:18:25.410 What he's saying is this, is the thing that you've 00:18:25.410 --> 00:18:27.849 done since you were a kid, the job that you've 00:18:27.849 --> 00:18:30.349 had, that you've trained to do, that has been 00:18:30.349 --> 00:18:34.089 your livelihood, that you are talented in, that 00:18:34.089 --> 00:18:36.509 you spend time in, that you spend energy in, 00:18:36.569 --> 00:18:38.609 that you put your effort towards, all of that, 00:18:38.670 --> 00:18:42.079 I want you to now make it about people. And I 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:43.920 now want you to spend your talent. I want you 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:45.859 to spend your time. I want you to spend your 00:18:45.859 --> 00:18:47.640 energy. I want you to spend all the things that 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:49.180 you were putting into this thing called fishing. 00:18:49.380 --> 00:18:51.859 And now I want you to just fish for people. I 00:18:51.859 --> 00:18:54.079 want you to use all the things that I gave you. 00:18:54.119 --> 00:18:57.200 And I now want you to reach people for Jesus. 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:00.579 And the charge that he gave to Simon Peter right 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:02.119 there going, okay, now that you've recognized 00:19:02.119 --> 00:19:06.779 my power, I want you now to then fish for people. 00:19:07.430 --> 00:19:09.589 is not just given to him. That is the purpose 00:19:09.589 --> 00:19:11.690 that was given to each one of us. If you are 00:19:11.690 --> 00:19:13.829 a follower of Jesus, if you have submitted to 00:19:13.829 --> 00:19:17.170 his power, your purpose is to reach people for 00:19:17.170 --> 00:19:19.349 Jesus. That's why you're here, right? That is 00:19:19.349 --> 00:19:22.410 your purpose. Now your job, the purpose, you 00:19:22.410 --> 00:19:23.549 didn't know you're coming to church today to 00:19:23.549 --> 00:19:25.269 get your purpose answered. Here we go. Your purpose, 00:19:25.349 --> 00:19:28.089 tell people about Jesus. Okay, how you do that, 00:19:28.230 --> 00:19:30.930 God has called you specifically to do that the 00:19:30.930 --> 00:19:33.309 way he's called you to do that. God has not called 00:19:33.309 --> 00:19:36.130 all of you to do the same thing. Your purpose 00:19:36.130 --> 00:19:38.890 is the same. How you do it is that God has specifically 00:19:38.890 --> 00:19:40.490 called you to. He has not called all of you to 00:19:40.490 --> 00:19:42.109 do what I'm doing right now and step on stage 00:19:42.109 --> 00:19:46.569 and talk. And that's a good thing. God has not 00:19:46.569 --> 00:19:48.089 called us all to do the same thing. We can all 00:19:48.089 --> 00:19:50.890 praise God almighty that he has not called me 00:19:50.890 --> 00:19:54.430 to be on the worship team. People would leave 00:19:54.430 --> 00:19:57.390 church. Be like, I'm finding a new church. If 00:19:57.390 --> 00:20:01.230 that bald guy's singing, I'm out. We can praise 00:20:01.230 --> 00:20:03.269 God that I'm not on the tech team. You know why? 00:20:03.430 --> 00:20:06.789 Because you wouldn't hear anything. I would just 00:20:06.789 --> 00:20:08.150 be pushing buttons. I'd be like, that one's shiny. 00:20:08.269 --> 00:20:10.890 Boom, boom. They'd be like, get out of here. 00:20:10.950 --> 00:20:12.450 They don't even let me back there. They're like, 00:20:12.509 --> 00:20:13.930 please leave right now. You're gonna mess something 00:20:13.930 --> 00:20:17.289 up. We're not all called to do the same thing, 00:20:17.329 --> 00:20:20.549 but you've been called to do something. God has 00:20:20.549 --> 00:20:23.809 called you to do something to fulfill your purpose, 00:20:23.990 --> 00:20:28.259 but it requires surrendering to his power. It 00:20:28.259 --> 00:20:30.420 requires you to surrender to God's power and 00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:32.079 go, God, I understand because of your power, 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:35.160 because of your call, I'm surrendering. It's 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:38.099 not me holding my will, I'm surrendering to your 00:20:38.099 --> 00:20:43.500 will. Simon Peter understood. He said, because 00:20:43.500 --> 00:20:46.000 I follow you, because I've seen your power, I'm 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:50.880 surrendering to you. And verse 11, so because 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.519 of that, they pulled their boats up on shore 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:59.740 and left. everything and followed him. They pulled 00:20:59.740 --> 00:21:03.039 their livelihood on shore, their boats. That's 00:21:03.039 --> 00:21:06.019 what they did to work. And they left it right 00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:07.799 there. Not only did they leave what was there, 00:21:07.859 --> 00:21:09.400 but what was in the boats, remember there was 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:11.720 two of them filled to the brim with fish. That 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:13.240 would have probably set their family up pretty 00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:17.119 nicely. And they left it. That would have probably 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:19.920 been really nice to be able to bring home the 00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:21.480 paycheck of all the fish that were in there and 00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:25.450 they left it. They left everything. See, following 00:21:25.450 --> 00:21:29.009 Jesus requires complete surrender. And what they 00:21:29.009 --> 00:21:30.950 didn't do is they didn't hold on to what they 00:21:30.950 --> 00:21:33.470 wanted. They followed him. They didn't go, okay, 00:21:33.470 --> 00:21:35.269 God, yeah, I'm gonna follow you. But like, those 00:21:35.269 --> 00:21:38.809 are my boats. If you own a boat, you know, that's 00:21:38.809 --> 00:21:42.789 your baby. You know, I gotta hold on to my boat. 00:21:43.410 --> 00:21:45.470 I know I'm gonna follow you. What they didn't 00:21:45.470 --> 00:21:47.769 do is go, okay, God, like I get it. I'll leave 00:21:47.769 --> 00:21:49.250 my boat, but I'm gonna take all those fish. Like 00:21:49.250 --> 00:21:51.779 that was. Insane catch. I gotta take my fish. 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:53.839 They're like, no, I'm gonna follow you. What 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:55.500 they didn't do is go, okay, yeah, I wanna follow 00:21:55.500 --> 00:21:57.920 you. And I understand that. That's great. But 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.279 I gotta take care of some stuff first. And let 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:00.900 me wait. When it's convenient for me, then I'll 00:22:00.900 --> 00:22:04.180 follow you. I just got some stuff going on in 00:22:04.180 --> 00:22:08.440 my life. So no, no, no, go follow me. They left 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:11.579 everything to follow him. Following Jesus requires 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:14.640 complete surrender. And I wonder how many of 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:17.680 us in here today are still holding onto something. 00:22:19.009 --> 00:22:20.670 I wonder how many of us would go, yeah, okay, 00:22:20.730 --> 00:22:23.309 God, I know your power and I'm willing to give 00:22:23.309 --> 00:22:26.069 you partial surrender. But there's something 00:22:26.069 --> 00:22:30.470 that you're holding on to today. I don't think 00:22:30.470 --> 00:22:32.829 anyone came to church today to get this bit of 00:22:32.829 --> 00:22:34.549 information that I'm about to give you, but maybe 00:22:34.549 --> 00:22:36.109 you've heard this before, maybe you haven't, 00:22:36.109 --> 00:22:37.569 but I'm gonna teach you right now how to catch 00:22:37.569 --> 00:22:40.549 a monkey, okay? So I know a lot of you were wondering, 00:22:40.710 --> 00:22:42.349 how do I catch a monkey? Well, guess what? I'm 00:22:42.349 --> 00:22:44.839 gonna tell you. I don't know how they discovered 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:46.180 this, but here's what they discovered is that 00:22:46.180 --> 00:22:48.180 when someone went to catch a monkey, it was very 00:22:48.180 --> 00:22:49.839 difficult because monkeys apparently are very 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:52.240 evasive. I've never seen one in the wild. I've 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:54.039 been to the zoo, but other than that, I don't 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:55.880 know. But apparently if you're going to try to 00:22:55.880 --> 00:22:57.619 catch a monkey, they're going to try to escape 00:22:57.619 --> 00:22:59.680 from you. And so what they discovered is that 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:03.259 they took a jar and they tethered this jar to 00:23:03.259 --> 00:23:04.880 either a tree or to the ground or something. 00:23:05.539 --> 00:23:08.359 And then they put in this jar something that 00:23:08.359 --> 00:23:10.660 the monkey would want. What the monkey would 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:12.359 do is he would be attracted to what was in that 00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:14.759 jar. And so he would slip his hand into the jar 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:18.240 and grab whatever was in the jar, but then could 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:21.700 not pull his hand out of the jar. And as the 00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:23.900 hand was stuck on what they were holding, someone 00:23:23.900 --> 00:23:25.519 could come and capture the monkey. The monkey 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:27.779 could get away free. There's a free path to get 00:23:27.779 --> 00:23:29.880 away from whatever is coming for them, but they 00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:31.480 would then have to release what they're holding 00:23:31.480 --> 00:23:33.440 onto in order to do that, to get their hand out. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:35.240 And they go, what I'm holding onto is so important 00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:37.980 that I would rather be stuck than find freedom. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:42.299 Because of what I'm holding on to. I think some 00:23:42.299 --> 00:23:47.019 of you are monkeys today. I think some of you 00:23:47.019 --> 00:23:48.680 are holding on to something that's preventing 00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:51.460 you from finding freedom today. I think some 00:23:51.460 --> 00:23:53.140 of you are going, yes, I wanna follow Jesus and 00:23:53.140 --> 00:23:54.720 I understand that the path to freedom is only 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:56.819 in him, but I'm holding on to something in my 00:23:56.819 --> 00:23:59.519 life that I'm unwilling to let go of in order 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:03.339 to fully surrender to follow Jesus. And I think 00:24:03.339 --> 00:24:05.480 that sometimes the thing keeping us from following 00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:08.400 Jesus isn't what we're running toward. It's what 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:15.380 we're refusing to release. Write this down. God's 00:24:15.380 --> 00:24:19.900 power is the reason I can live surrendered. God's 00:24:19.900 --> 00:24:22.299 power is the reason that I can live surrendered. 00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:25.579 God's power through Christ's love is what compels 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:28.480 us to live this surrendered life because God 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:31.240 is all powerful. Because he sent Jesus and this 00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:34.400 is what he did through his love for us. We're 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:38.059 able to fully surrender to him. So what does 00:24:38.059 --> 00:24:41.660 it look like? How do you fully surrender to Jesus? 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:45.740 First, we have to surrender to him. If you're 00:24:45.740 --> 00:24:47.059 gonna live a fully surrendered life, you have 00:24:47.059 --> 00:24:50.259 to actually surrender to him. And surrendering 00:24:50.259 --> 00:24:52.339 to him is admitting that his power is stronger 00:24:52.339 --> 00:24:56.180 than mine. Like I can't do this on my own and 00:24:56.180 --> 00:24:58.059 I have to admit his power is stronger than mine. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:03.119 And I'm gonna surrender to his power. Surrendering, 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:05.460 admitting that his power is stronger than yours 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:08.160 is accepting the gospel. And surrender is required 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:10.099 to accept the gospel. What is the gospel? The 00:25:10.099 --> 00:25:13.539 gospel is that you couldn't do it. You were not 00:25:13.539 --> 00:25:15.319 good enough and you cannot be good enough to 00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:18.059 make a way to have a relationship with God. And 00:25:18.059 --> 00:25:21.980 so God had to send Jesus on your behalf to die 00:25:21.980 --> 00:25:25.940 in your place on the cross. And admitting that, 00:25:26.019 --> 00:25:28.500 surrendering to his power, surrendering to him 00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:31.539 to say, I've tried everything. My plans do not 00:25:31.539 --> 00:25:34.200 work. I've been fishing all night and I've caught 00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:38.180 nothing, but I'm gonna surrender to you. I'm 00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:40.279 gonna accept what you've done for me on the cross 00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:42.940 and putting your faith and trust in Jesus is 00:25:42.940 --> 00:25:45.839 surrendering to him. And if you've never surrendered 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:47.880 to Jesus, the first step in following him is 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:49.779 surrendering to what he's done for you on the 00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:53.259 cross. And for those of you who've done that 00:25:53.259 --> 00:25:55.319 before, this is a daily decision. It's an every 00:25:55.319 --> 00:25:57.420 single day to remind yourself, I've surrendered 00:25:57.420 --> 00:26:00.329 to him. Because you can't follow him if you're 00:26:00.329 --> 00:26:04.369 holding on to trying to do it your way. If you're 00:26:04.369 --> 00:26:07.450 gonna surrender to Jesus, because of his power, 00:26:07.490 --> 00:26:10.029 you can live surrendered. It starts by surrendering 00:26:10.029 --> 00:26:14.029 to him. Next is surrendering to his purpose. 00:26:15.990 --> 00:26:19.369 His purpose in your life, the mission that you've 00:26:19.369 --> 00:26:23.029 been given is to fish for people. It's to reach 00:26:23.029 --> 00:26:25.369 people. That's what he has called you to do. 00:26:25.410 --> 00:26:27.470 That is what he has told you to do, is to fish 00:26:27.470 --> 00:26:31.710 for people. people. How do I know that? Because 00:26:31.710 --> 00:26:33.109 it says it all throughout scripture. Matthew 00:26:33.109 --> 00:26:36.809 28, 19, therefore go, right? Not therefore gather, 00:26:37.049 --> 00:26:39.869 not therefore stay, not therefore just sit and 00:26:39.869 --> 00:26:43.190 learn, therefore go and make disciples of all 00:26:43.190 --> 00:26:46.490 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father 00:26:46.490 --> 00:26:50.569 and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It says in Acts 00:26:50.569 --> 00:26:54.009 1, 8, but you will receive power when the Holy 00:26:54.009 --> 00:26:56.710 Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses 00:26:56.710 --> 00:27:00.240 in Jerusalem. and all Judea and Samaria into 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.319 the ends of the earth. You will be my witnesses 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:05.440 in Prescott and Prescott Valley, in Chino, in 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:08.299 Dewey, into the ends of the earth. You have been 00:27:08.299 --> 00:27:10.660 put on mission. Listen, the people that you come 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:14.240 in contact with, those are your mission. If you 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:16.460 are surrendered to his purpose for your life, 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:18.799 then you see the people around you as an opportunity 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:22.480 to surrender to his mission and to tell people 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:26.230 about Jesus. and I'm gonna step on some toes 00:27:26.230 --> 00:27:27.569 right now, but if you're someone who's going, 00:27:27.630 --> 00:27:28.930 but I don't know anyone who's not a believer, 00:27:29.089 --> 00:27:31.609 I've built a nice little bubble for myself where 00:27:31.609 --> 00:27:33.569 I don't have anybody in my life who's not a Christian. 00:27:35.029 --> 00:27:36.630 You're not living into the purpose that God has 00:27:36.630 --> 00:27:38.670 given you and you need to put yourself in a place 00:27:38.670 --> 00:27:40.890 where you can be around people who don't know 00:27:40.890 --> 00:27:43.990 Jesus. And I know that made some of you mad and 00:27:43.990 --> 00:27:45.430 you can write me an email and you can get all 00:27:45.430 --> 00:27:47.309 mad about it, but listen, it's not what I'm saying, 00:27:47.349 --> 00:27:51.190 it's what Jesus said. Your purpose is to fish 00:27:51.190 --> 00:27:53.579 for people. And if you're not around people that 00:27:53.579 --> 00:27:56.140 you can tell about Jesus, you need to get around 00:27:56.140 --> 00:27:58.019 people that you can tell about Jesus because 00:27:58.019 --> 00:28:02.940 that's why you're here. As you have been given 00:28:02.940 --> 00:28:04.960 a purpose, we have to surrender to his purpose. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:07.559 But then we have to get to a place in our life 00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:12.039 where we surrender to his call. Because yes, 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:14.660 you've been given a purpose, but surrendering 00:28:14.660 --> 00:28:16.779 to his call is finding out what specifically 00:28:16.779 --> 00:28:19.579 God has called you to do. God has called every 00:28:19.579 --> 00:28:22.690 single one of you to do something. but it requires 00:28:22.690 --> 00:28:26.269 surrender. You can't hold your plans and what 00:28:26.269 --> 00:28:29.690 you want and also say, God, I'm surrendered to 00:28:29.690 --> 00:28:33.450 you. You have to surrender to the call that God 00:28:33.450 --> 00:28:37.089 has put on your life. Man, I remember packing 00:28:37.089 --> 00:28:40.890 everything we owned. Packing everything we owned 00:28:40.890 --> 00:28:44.569 and leaving the people that we loved, people 00:28:44.569 --> 00:28:46.250 that we had built deeper relationships with, 00:28:46.309 --> 00:28:49.009 anyone that we'd ever built relationships with, 00:28:49.069 --> 00:28:52.910 man, we loved them. And we were packing up to 00:28:52.910 --> 00:28:55.809 move to Prescott, Arizona. I'd never heard of 00:28:55.809 --> 00:28:58.210 Prescott before. To Heights Church. I'd never 00:28:58.210 --> 00:29:00.849 heard of Heights Church before. But God said, 00:29:00.910 --> 00:29:03.650 this is what I've called you to do. I'm saying, 00:29:03.690 --> 00:29:04.869 God, but I don't want to do that. I want to do 00:29:04.869 --> 00:29:08.450 what I want to do. And he said, no, because you've 00:29:08.450 --> 00:29:11.230 surrendered to me and because you've surrendered 00:29:11.230 --> 00:29:14.390 to my purpose. I need you to surrender to my 00:29:14.390 --> 00:29:17.250 call because I'm calling you to do this. And 00:29:17.250 --> 00:29:19.670 what I realized in this time that I was processing 00:29:19.670 --> 00:29:21.190 with God, God, I don't wanna do that because 00:29:21.190 --> 00:29:22.730 I have plans and I don't wanna leave the people 00:29:22.730 --> 00:29:27.210 that I love. God was saying, yeah, you may have 00:29:27.210 --> 00:29:29.750 had those plans, but what you've missed is you've 00:29:29.750 --> 00:29:33.309 departed from your first love. And that's the 00:29:33.309 --> 00:29:35.990 mission that I've given you. And if you're gonna 00:29:35.990 --> 00:29:37.470 be surrendered to me and you're gonna be surrendered 00:29:37.470 --> 00:29:38.910 to my purpose, then you need to be surrendered 00:29:38.910 --> 00:29:40.730 to my call to do what I've called you to do. 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:46.019 And I think for all of us, we have to be attuned 00:29:46.019 --> 00:29:47.559 to the Holy Spirit to go, God, what have you 00:29:47.559 --> 00:29:50.460 called me to? Because if I'm surrendered to you 00:29:50.460 --> 00:29:52.119 and I'm surrendered to my purpose, then I'm surrendered 00:29:52.119 --> 00:29:54.319 to your call. God, what are you calling me to 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:56.539 do? What divine appointment have you given me? 00:29:56.619 --> 00:29:59.480 What talents have you given me? What interests 00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:00.920 have you given me? What things have you put in 00:30:00.920 --> 00:30:03.059 front of me to use my surrender to you and my 00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:05.640 surrender to the purpose to find the call that 00:30:05.640 --> 00:30:11.259 you've put on my life? You will surrender. The 00:30:11.259 --> 00:30:14.339 Bible says that you will surrender. It says in 00:30:14.339 --> 00:30:17.519 Romans 14, 11, it is written, as surely as I 00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:21.720 live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:26.279 me. Every tongue will acknowledge God. Listen 00:30:26.279 --> 00:30:31.759 to me, you will surrender. When will it be? When 00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:34.119 will it be? Because every person that's ever 00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:36.539 walked the earth will surrender to God. It's 00:30:36.539 --> 00:30:38.619 not a matter of if, it's a matter of when you 00:30:38.619 --> 00:30:41.519 will surrender. So when will you? Surrender. 00:30:42.740 --> 00:30:46.299 What is holding you back from complete surrender 00:30:46.299 --> 00:30:52.559 to God? What do you need to leave behind in order 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:57.920 to follow him? What do you need to adjust in 00:30:57.920 --> 00:30:59.779 your life, in the way that you're living your 00:30:59.779 --> 00:31:02.420 life? What do you need to adjust to live into 00:31:02.420 --> 00:31:06.980 your purpose and surrender to your call? Because 00:31:06.980 --> 00:31:13.980 God's power is worth. to. Let's pray. God, thank 00:31:13.980 --> 00:31:18.920 you that your power is worth surrendering to. 00:31:21.900 --> 00:31:24.180 God, thank you that your ways are higher than 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:27.079 our ways. And God, even when we have plans and 00:31:27.079 --> 00:31:31.619 we have things that we want, God, your ways are 00:31:31.619 --> 00:31:35.299 better. God, I pray for your strength for some 00:31:35.299 --> 00:31:37.339 people to do what you've said and put their nets 00:31:37.339 --> 00:31:42.500 down. God, I pray for those in this room that 00:31:42.500 --> 00:31:45.420 are holding on to things, that they would release 00:31:45.420 --> 00:31:48.559 them, that they would let them go so that they 00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:52.460 can follow you. God, I pray for those in this 00:31:52.460 --> 00:31:56.160 room that need to surrender to you for the first 00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:58.480 time in their life. They need to surrender to 00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:00.660 your saving work on the cross because of your 00:32:00.660 --> 00:32:02.960 power. God, you are the only one powerful enough 00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:06.279 to save us and you did it through Jesus. And 00:32:06.279 --> 00:32:13.079 I pray for surrender to Jesus today. God, we 00:32:13.079 --> 00:32:16.380 love you. We're asking for your strength for 00:32:16.380 --> 00:32:20.240 surrender. We praise you, Jesus. We pray this 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:21.579 in your name. Amen.