You know, I felt the need to do this series because
in my young adult life, I have seen people, young
and old, fight to feel like they were worth something.
both in the physical world and in the digital
world. On social media, you get on Instagram
or Facebook or TikTok, and you see people doing
everything they can trying to get likes, trying
to get followers, trying to get subscribers.
You go into your job and you see people killing
themselves, working themselves literally to death,
trying to get a raise, trying to get the promotion,
trying to get just noticed by their boss. You
look on TV and you see ads for people trying
to be... in positions of power, trying to be
voted into offices so that they can have these
positions of acclaim. And you see all throughout
society, in social circles, in schools, in jobs,
in the digital spaces, people doing things even
if they have to compromise their morals and values
for the sake of having a place of value. You
even see people tear others down. So that they
can feel just a little bit bigger. As if tearing
people down doesn't make you look even smaller.
You see people compromising on what they believe
just so they can be accepted by somebody else.
Compromising on what they believe just in hopes
that it would finally make them feel like they
mattered. Only to be disappointed every single
time. So I felt like we needed. A series to say
that in the eyes of God, you don't have to chase.
You don't have to accomplish. You don't have
to achieve in order to have value. You don't
have to be better than anybody else in order
for God to see you as worthy. It is not a competition.
It is not a rat race. You know, you watch enough
ball games and you'll notice something about
how we hand out value. You know, we started the
college football season this past week. Regardless
of what people say, I enjoyed staying up till
1 a .m. last night watching UNLV versus Memphis,
and I would do it every time. Because we watch
these guys on a field, on a court, in a gym,
and we look at them and we say, if they win,
they matter. If they win, they're worth millions.
If they win, they're worth all of the notoriety.
They're worth the parade. But if they lose, then
who cares about them? If they lose, they're a
failure. If they lose, they don't matter. And
so we hand out worth based on achievement. And
I hope you know this morning, and I hope you
believe it to be true. And if you don't yet,
I hope you do by the time you leave here. And
if that doesn't work, please give me a call.
God does not define worth that way. He never
has. God does not define your worth, your value
by talent. He doesn't define it by achievement,
by income, by popularity. God does not care about
what you have built or where you rank on somebody's
list. He does not care about any of that. In
fact, the Apostle Paul tells the church, the
Colossian church to bury that mindset. If you
have your Bibles, turn to Colossians chapter
2. That is in the New Testament. It is one of
the letters from the Apostle Paul, Colossians
chapter 2. We're just going to look at three
verses from this chapter at this moment, and
then we'll look at some more passages in a minute.
But Colossians chapter 2, starting in verse 8.
Colossians chapter 2, verse 8, 20 and 23. See
to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy
and empty deceit, according to human tradition.
according to the elemental spirits of the world
and not according to Christ. If with Christ you
died to the elemental spirits of the world, why,
as if you were still alive in the world, do you
submit to regulations? These have indeed an appearance
of wisdom, but they are of no value against the
indulgence of the flesh. Let me repeat that last
line in verse 23. They are of no value. Against
the indulgence of the flesh. Mind you, he doesn't
say they're of little value. He doesn't say they're
of less value. He doesn't say that. He says they
are of no value. Paul's not exactly being subtle
here. He's not being gentle here. And when you
think about it, he's very right. He is not saying
something that is questionable. He's not saying
something that is up for debate. Paul is saying
every system that the world... hands you to rank
yourself. Every measurement, every calculation,
all the rule keeping and tradition, the performance,
your image, all of that stuff, all of the accumulating
that you could try to do, all of the things you
could try to do to achieve status, none of it
can give you what it promises. And this is why
all of these people that are famous, all of these
people that are wealthy, all of these people
that have the power, they have the status, they
are not happy. They are sad. They are miserable.
They feel empty. And they would tell you that
there's still something that they're missing.
And I've been talking about. my goat the last
couple of weeks in Drew Brees, but I know there's
some people in this room that have a different
goat. His name is Tom Brady, and I don't care
what you think about him, but Tom Brady is considered
the greatest football player of all time. He
has all the accolades. He's won, what, six Super
Bowls. He has the MVPs. He has the records. He
has all these things to prove that he is worth
something. But would you know, Tom Brady was
doing an interview one time and he told the interviewer
that after all of the accomplishments, he still
feels a void. He still feels like he's missing
something. And I just wish somebody would grab
Tom Brady by his arms and shake him and say,
it's Jesus. It is Jesus that you are missing.
The reason there is a void when you have all
of this status, you have all of the money, you're
going to be in the record books, you'll be in
the Hall of Fame. The reason you still feel like
you are missing something is because you are
missing the fullness that only God provides.
All of the measurements of this world cannot
manufacture value. Only Christ has that ability.
And he's already done it. He's already given.
He's already proven your worth. And we need to
know, and I hope you do, that true worth comes
from God alone. And he says you are priceless.
We have to know it. We have to believe it. God
has gone to great lengths to prove. your value.
He's gone to great lengths to prove how much
we are worth to him. As we've discussed the last
few weeks in this series, God has proven time
and time and time again that his children, his
people, his creation, they are worth, we are
worth so much to him, even when we may not feel
it or see it. And so I tell you the truth that
our worth is not defined by what we can achieve
or accomplish. It's defined by what God achieved
when he purchased us with the sacrificial blood
of Jesus. And that truth changes everything.
I like to say that when you learn something to
be true, it demands a response. And so we've
learned this truth that God deems us to be priceless.
He deems us to be worthy of sending his son to
die for us, of doing these things, of fulfilling
these things so that we can have a chance to
be in his family again. And when we learn that
to be true, it demands a response. And God wants
you to not just see your worth, He doesn't want
you to just believe it. He sees you as a part
of his mission. And so I want you to think about
a guy like Moses. This guy spent 40 years trying
to hide from his mistake. He was trying to run
from what he had done, but then when he's called
by God, or then when he's called by God, he's
so convinced that he is not the man for the job
that he flat out tells God that he must send
someone else. And God still used him anyway.
He uses Moses to lead an entire people, God's
chosen people, from being slaves to being this
new chosen nation. Or think about a guy like
Zechariah. We talked about him a few weeks ago.
This old priest who has no real value. He has
no real reason to expect ever having children.
He's old. His wife's old. It's just not going
to happen. His wife was barren, as the scripture
says. But God chooses them to have a miraculous
child who would not just be a kid for their pleasure,
but this child would be the forerunner of Jesus.
You talk about using somebody who the world would
have seen as worthless to do something incredible.
Or last week, we talked about Peter, this ordinary
fisherman from this small little fishing town.
And Jesus comes to Peter despite all... his flaws,
despite all of his deficiencies. And he says,
I'm going to use you. to launch the church. I'm
going to use you to bring the gospel to the nations.
I'm going to use you to preach the first good
news sermon. I'm going to use you to no longer
fish for fish. You're going to fish for men and
you're going to bring them into the kingdom,
into the family of God. I want you to notice
something in all of those stories, in Moses'
life, in Zechariah's life, in Peter's life, that
God finds... these people. He keeps picking these
people that the world would have never picked,
that the world would have looked at and said
they are useless. They are not of value. They
are not essential to the mission. He finds these
people, not by accident, but intentionally so
that he can use them for a great mission, a great
cause. And when he uses them, no one will think
Peter is so awesome. Peter is so capable. Peter
is so talented. The only thing they'll think
is God. is so good to work through somebody like
Peter. And think about some of the stories we
love to tell in our society, these redemption
stories of people going from a nobody to a somebody.
You think about the guy that nobody would have
ever picked to be on the team, that nobody would
ever, it would not have been the first choice
for the job, but then he does the thing and he
does it so well that we make documentaries about
it and we tell stories about it and we write
books about it because it's so... incredible.
I think about like Easton, my five -year -old,
his favorite person in the world right now is
Michael Jordan. And we love to tell the story
about how Michael Jordan as a sophomore in high
school didn't make the varsity team. But then
he goes on to be the greatest basketball player
of all time, one of the most notable figures
of all time, which is why I can say Michael Jordan,
and everybody in the room knows who that is,
regardless of if you like sports or not. We tell
these stories because it shows something incredible.
But can I tell you, the truth of the matter is
that the human body, just in a general sense,
if you're kind of athletic and you work hard
enough, you can do that. But some of the things
that God has used people for in the past, it
is by no explanation of genetics or by working
hard. You talk about, like I love, we just talked
about Joshua. And I love that Josh said, well,
yeah, the recruitment for our army is a little
down. You think about the story of these battles
and how there is no way that they win these battles
if not for the hand of God. We tell these stories.
Because they show that it is only God's power.
And God does that through every one of us if
we let him. But we first have to believe that
he wants to use us. And he needs you to believe
that because there's more to your life than what
you have been doing. You know, I don't know if
you caught on, but when we had our three little
characters up here, I say little, they're all
bigger than me. When we had our three characters
up here, I said, you guys have been working.
You guys have been doing something. And there's
a reason we say working, because we weren't meant.
The kingdom of God was not about these chairs.
We weren't meant to just sit here and listen
to someone tell you how good you are. You weren't
meant to sit here and listen to someone tell
you how powerful you are or how qualified you
are, how capable you are, because the truth is
you're just like Peter. You're not qualified
for the job that you've been called to. You're
just like Zechariah. where it makes no sense
that you're going to do what you're going to
do. You are just like Moses where you've got
all the reason to feel ashamed. You have all
the reason to feel guilty. You have all the reason
to feel dirty. But guess what? God still can
use you and he will. He wants to for work. And
I don't care what anybody says. He wants to use
us for work because we've got a kingdom. to spread.
We've got a family to grow. We've got a job to
do. We've been put here for a reason. And so
the first step is believing that you are valuable,
that you have a place in the mission of God.
The second step is, as I said, when you find
something to be true, you have to respond. The
second step is walking in our worth. It's not
enough to just believe you have value. You have
to live it out. Like I said last week, you know,
you don't take an escalate through a mud hole
unless you have no idea what that escalate is
worth or you just don't care. Walking in worth
starts with how and what you think. Once your
view of God changes, you know, that's kind of
the easy part of getting someone to believe,
to become a Christian is getting them to believe
that God loves them. I say the easy part. I mean,
that's still a pretty difficult part, but that's
like the easy part of it if there was one. It's
getting people to believe that God loves them,
that God values them, that God treasures them,
that yes, God would send his son to die for them.
The hard part is getting people to understand
that that should change your view of yourself,
that that should not only change the view of
yourself, but that it should change the way you
live. You see, once you know that God doesn't
just see you as some worthless blob on a random
planet in a random period of time, you then have
to see yourself as he sees you, at least you
should, and then you have to live like he destined
for you to live. Let me not... leave room for
confusion this morning, it's tempting to think
that being used by God makes you worth more than
others. That if you are used by God, that if
you're accomplishing God's will, if you're fulfilling
the mission of God, that you're suddenly worth
more. You know, like we look at these offices
in the church, you know, I kind of, when people
say, like, you know, people will refer to me
as Pastor Donovan. And I'm like, no, no, no,
I'm just Donovan. I don't deserve a title. Because
I'm no different than you. I'm just trying to
do what God has called me to do, just like you.
I'm just trying to fulfill the mission, just
like you are. I'm just trying to walk in my worth,
just like you are. We're worth the same. The
only difference is our function. I do a little
bit different. You do a little bit different.
But guess what? The apostle Paul says that does
not matter because if the body was missing a
foot, how would it stand? If the body was missing
its ears, how would it hear? If it was missing
its eyes, how would it see? They all do different
things, but they are all equally valuable. And
so don't think that I'm saying working makes
you worth more, but also don't think that I'm
saying not working makes you worth less. In fact,
this is what the Apostle Paul says in his letter
to the Ephesian Christians. Here we are. For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and
this is not your own doing, it is the gift of
God, not a result of works, so that no one may
boast, for we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should... Walk in them. We
were created not for or not to earn our salvation.
We were not meant to earn our redemption. This
was something that Jesus did for us. And we were
created not as better than. We were created handcrafted.
I love that word. It's his workmanship. Created
in Christ Jesus for good works. We were handcrafted
to do the good. that God put us here to do. You
notice in the garden, when God created Adam and
Eve, he puts them in this garden, and he gives
them what? Work. He gives them a job, and I've
mentioned it before, and if you haven't heard
this, I hope you take it and run with it, because
I love this. The first time I heard it, I was
like, oh my goodness, it blew me away. The word
work, there in the Hebrew, in the Garden of Eden
in Genesis, the word work is the word avoda.
And that word also is used to describe or to
translate worship. And so how do we worship?
How do we praise God in the work that we do in
this world? God put us here to accomplish some
good. And we're saved not as a result of those
works. Your worth isn't earned. It doesn't go
up. It doesn't go down based on what you do or
don't do. This isn't like a meritocracy. But
in verse 10, Paul turns right around and he says,
you were created. You were designed for this.
You have the things in this world that you can
tell they were created to do nothing. It's like
the designer dogs. And some of you have designer
dogs. And I'm not messing, like I'm not making
fun of you, but designer dogs, like the little
tiny things that you can fit in a purse and carry
around. Those dogs have no, like they don't do
anything. They just eat food and cost you a vet
bill every six months. But like if you've got...
a bloodhound, or if you've got a Doberman, those
dogs have a function, right? They're either for
hunting or for protecting. And we had a Chihuahua
when I was in like the ninth grade. It wasn't
mine. My aunt had it and I hated that dog because
you know what that dog did? It didn't serve a
purpose. It didn't do anything except bark. All
it did was bark. And I think a lot of Christians
are kind of like that, right? We just talk. We
just bark. But we're not working. We're not doing
what we were designed to do. We were designed
not to sit on a couch. We were designed not to
sit here and listen. We were designed not to
go out on a street corner and just talk. We were
designed to do good works. These works were prepared.
In our design, they were prepared ahead of time
for us to walk in. These two things aren't competing
with each other. This idea of work and faith
or accomplishing and salvation, they're not competing
with each other. Your worth, your value, it is
settled. There's no question about that. Before
you ever serve in a ministry, teach a class,
go on that mission trip or give the offering,
your worth has been determined. But settled worth
does not mean you sit on worth. It doesn't mean
that you just sit on the shelf. You were not
rescued to sit on the shelf. You were not redeemed
to occupy a pew. You were not put on the team
to sit on the bench. You were made to go and
do, to be a part of God's redemptive mission
in this world. There's a song called Made for
More. It's a really popular song right now. I
know there are some of our Christian colleges,
it's like their theme for the year. And I know
some churches, this is their theme song for the
year. It's made for more. And I think it talks
to this point. The idea that too many of us were
living this quiet, sidelined life where we're
content with just sitting on the bench and just
watching the game play out in front of us when
we were actually built for something bigger than
that. I want you to listen to these lyrics. I
know who I am because I know who you are. The
cross of salvation was only the start. I am chosen,
free, and forgiven. I have a future, and it's
worth the living. Because I wasn't made to be
tending a grave. I was called by name, born and
raised back to life again. I was made for more.
So why would I make a bed in my shame when a
fountain of grace is running my way? I know I
am yours and I was made for more. You see, that's
the tension there in Ephesians. It's this knowing
you're valuable, knowing that you are worth,
knowing that you were made for something great
and then doing absolutely nothing with it. Y
'all, that's not humility. It's not being safe.
It's not being cautious. It's waste. And it's
poor stewardship. And the Bible talks about stewardship.
And I don't think any of us want to be poor stewards.
We don't want to be wasteful with what God has
entrusted us with. And it's not. It's not that
sitting on the bench makes you worthless. I don't
want that to come across because we need the
sixth man, right? We need the extras. We need
the people that are ready to go whenever one
of us can't. That's why I love Aaron and I love
Chad and Phil and Greg and the people that are
here that are willing to preach when I can't.
It's why I love that we have a song leader rotation
so that when one of us loses our voice, guess
what? Somebody's ready to go. It's why I love
that in our ministries, like our deacons are
developing people that can come behind them,
that can work alongside them. The way I would
put it is we are discipling people to take our
jobs. We need that because the quarterback gets
the flu sometimes. And sometimes you need a guy
to sub in because I just can't go all the time.
And so what I'm not saying is that sitting on
the bench makes you worthless. If you were worthless,
I would tell you you are perfectly fine. You
are in the perfect spot on the bench. It's because
of your immense value that I say we need you
ready to go in the game. We need you prepared
and ready. And let me just say this. Honestly,
I don't consider being a backup. I don't consider
that sitting on the bench because it's more of
like in a war, right? There's no bench. This
isn't a game. I guess we should do this. Okay,
in a war, you have your front line. But guess
who's still in the fight with you? The people
behind you and the people behind them and the
people behind them and the people in the command
center and the people that are offering air support.
And so we're all in the fight. There are no bench
players here. Let me just go ahead and correct
that bad illustration that I used. We're all
fighting. There's no sideline in God's army.
And so I ask the question, are you using what
God gave you? Are you using the life that he
has designed you for? Are you using it or are
you wasting it? Are you walking in worth or are
you sitting in your own self -doubt, your self
-pity, in your shame, in your fear, in your cautiousness?
And here's another thing. It doesn't stop with
how you see yourself. Like I said, walking in
worth changes how you see yourself. It changes
how you view yourself, but it also changes or
it should change how you see other people too.
I want you to think about maybe you had a friend
growing up or maybe you have a friend like this
now that was more like family to you than a friend.
My best friend growing up in the fourth grade
we met, his name was Ty. And Ty, he was awesome.
He was the best friend you could have as a kid.
He's still a great friend now. But so my friend.
He invited me over one day after school. And
so I go over to his house and I hang out with
him. And I think we like played with lightsabers.
And so it was awesome, right? He had woods behind
his house. And so we went in the woods. We were
like Star Wars. There's no woods in Star Wars,
but you know what? Who cares? It's our own fiction,
right? And so we go in the woods, we're playing
everything. And we come back to the house and
I didn't ask for anything to eat. My grandma
was going to, well, no, his mom was going to
drop me off back at home, and I thought I was
going to eat dinner at home. But his mom, she
made dinner, and she invited me to sit at their
table and eat dinner. And this friendship progressed.
And next thing I know, everything they did, it
seemed like I was doing. They'd go to the water
park, and I'd get a call. Hey, do you want to
go to the water park? Yeah, but I don't have
any. Don't worry about money. We have season
passes and my little sister isn't going to go
so that you can go. Or do you want to go to a
movie? Well, don't worry about it. And so it
was like this thing where I became a part of
their family and they treated me like one of
their kids. I didn't bring any value to them
other than maybe like giving them laughs because
I was so chaotic. I didn't bring any value to
them, but they treated me like I was one of their
own. Or maybe you were blessed to marry into
a family that treated you just like one of their
kids. I was. My in -laws are the best in -laws
I could have ever asked for. And they treat me
like I am genuinely their son. Like if they do
something for one of their children, they do
it for me too. And it's the coolest thing. And
I'm super grateful. And I hope to do the same
thing for my in -law. What do you call that?
I don't know. My kid's wives one day. Like I
hope to be that type of father -in -law. And
the same is true in God's family. When God sees
us, he looks at us and he says, you've got a
seat at my table. You've got a seat in my living
room. We're going to the water park. Come on.
We're going to the beach. Let's go. We're going
to do something cool. We're going on a mission
to do something way greater than whatever you
had planned with your life. You're invited. And
he expects us. To do just like my friend Ty did.
And look at other people and say, you're invited.
We don't care if you can't afford it. We don't
care if you're good enough. We don't care what
value you think you bring to the team or don't.
We don't care. Let's go. It should change the
way we see others. That's the picture. that I
think scripture uses for God, for what God did
for me and you. He looked at us despite all of
our flaws, inadequacies, deficiencies, and honestly,
sometimes our uselessness. And he said, I can
use you. I want to use you. I want you in my
family. And we, as Jesus said, we forgive because
we've first been forgiven. We treat others the
way we have been treated. We do for others what
God has done for us. And I know that can be uncomfortable
sometimes. This idea that we have to look at
the outcasts. We have to look at the person that
is less than. We have to look at the person that
we wouldn't necessarily associate with. We have
to look at these people and we have to say, hey,
you can be a part of our family too. But guess
what? That's biblical. And so I don't care if
it's uncomfortable. I don't care if it steps
on my own toes because it does. I have my people
that I like to gravitate towards, but guess what?
That's not what I was called to do. I was made
for more. And so we go and we reach the people
that aren't like us. We reach the people with
the different sin issue than us. We reach the
people from the other country, from the other
religious background, from the other socioeconomic
status. We reach the people that, as Jesus would
call, the least of these. And we love them because
what Jesus says is, as you have done for the
least of these, you've done for me also. And
I want to glorify my God. I want to worship him
in everything I do. I want him to know that I
love him. I want him to know that I value him,
that I honor him, that I treasure him. And so
what do I do for the least of these? I honor
them. I value them. I treasure them. I show them
love and grace and compassion. And I got to say
it. We live in a world right now in this day
and age, especially in this country, where it
has become very easy to look at people that are
not like us, that think different than us, that
are from different places than us, and say you
are not worthy of being around us. You do not
belong here. Go somewhere else, somewhere that
fits you better. That is not biblical. And it
is not the way of the early church. I've read
to you before the letter to Diognetus, and I
love in this early first century letter the way
that he writes to Nero, and Nero wants to know
what the deal is with this church, why the Christian
church is able to take over a nation. And Diognetus
writes back to Nero, and he says, they treat
the outcasts like he's a brother, and then they
treat the immigrant. Like he belongs. And if
there's somebody among them that's hungry, they
fast so that they can feed him. And if there's
somebody who doesn't have clothes, they take
off their own to put clothes on him so he's not
cold. If there's somebody who needs a home, guess
what they do? They house him in theirs and they'll
sleep on the floor if they have to. And the way
that he explains this, because Nero wants to
know why, why are they able to do this? He says
there's something divine among them. There's
something supernatural about them, something
godly that's changing the way they see people.
And what it is, is it's a people, it's a church,
it's a family, a community of believers who have
learned what God says about them, and that is
that they are valuable, that He loves them, and
that He has done what needs to be done to redeem
them. They learned it, they believed it, and
then they lived it. And that's what we've been
called to do. In Acts 10, I was going to go through
this, but we are running low on time because
I've ranted a little. In Acts 10, Peter has this
vision and it's from God and God comes to Peter.
He says, Peter, what I've made clean, don't call
uncommon or don't call common or clean or unclean.
And he says, I need you to understand that things
are different now. And when this happens, this
other guy named Cornelius, this Roman, he's a
Gentile, Peter was a Jew, this Roman centurion,
a guy with a lot of status in this world that
Peter, quite frankly, conflicted with. And so
Cornelius has a vision and he's been praying
to God and Cornelius, he fears God. He loves
God. He wants to honor God. Well, God says, Cornelius
sends some men to Peter. Cornelius does. He sends
some men to Peter. Peter goes to Cornelius. He
preaches the gospel. Guess what? Those people
are saved. These people who were once outside
of God's chosen race are now welcomed into the
family of God. And what I mean to say by that
is. There is nobody in this world that is not
worthy of saving. There is nobody in this world
that is not worthy of our fellowship, worthy
of our relationship. There is nobody in this
world that is unworthy of God's family. Peter
looks at these people, he says, you yourselves
know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate
with or visit anyone of another nation. But God
has shown me that I should not call any person
common or unclean. See, God was flipping the
script on how people saw each other, how the
Jews saw everybody else, and how everybody else
would see the church. And I love what the Apostle
Paul says to the Gentile Christians in Galatia
in Galatians 3 .28. There is neither Jew nor
Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There
is no male. You see, in God's kingdom, a fisherman
is worth just as much as a high priest. In God's
kingdom, the awful Gentile is just as good, well,
not as good, but just as valuable as the Jew,
the chosen people of God. In God's kingdom, everybody
is worth. something. In fact, God would say everybody
is worth everything. You see, that wasn't just
a nice thought to the religious establishment
back then. This was groundbreaking. It was earth
shattering and it was earth world changing. And
so I asked the question, how do you look at other
people, the people that you disagree with, the
people that are not like you? Do you see them
with the worth that God sees in them? Or do you
see them with the worth the world has defined
them with. I want you to imagine how different
our life would be and how different the world
would be if the church, if God's people, Christians,
disciples of Christ, whatever you want to define
us as, imagine how different the world would
look if we started looking at other people the
same way God does. Because your worth believed
and lived out isn't supposed to just affect you.
It is supposed to change the world because it
sends you and it puts you to work. And this means
that you are someone who helps set other people
free from the prisons they're living in. It means
you get to carry and deliver the good news. You
don't go with a self -help message. You don't
go with something to put people in a better mood.
You go with life -changing information about
a Christ who lived, died, and rose again and
caused us to follow him through the waters of
baptism into a brand new life and to keep walking
from there. It means you get to invite the very
people that you would normally overlook. I get
to invite the people that I would normally overlook
into this family. And so God is asking us to
walk in a way that says, I am valuable. I was
made for more than this comparative rat race
of a life. And I was made to bring people into
that same place, that same sense of worth. We
weren't made to sit this mission out. We weren't
made to believe we were worthless. We weren't
made to sit on the sidelines and pout. We were
made. for a life -changing, a world -saving mission.
And so I need you, I want you, and I need to
believe that to be true and then go live like
it. And so today, maybe you've never believed
it was true for you. Maybe you've never taken
God at his word. Maybe you've never given your
life to the one who redeemed you. But today,
you're ready to, or you're at least questioning
it, you're considering it. I'd love to talk with
you about that. Or maybe you've accepted the
redemption. You've been baptized. You've given
your life to Christ, but you've been living on
the bench instead of in the game. No matter where
you're at today, whether it's you've never given
your life to Christ or you have, but you have
not been walking in that worth, wherever you're
at, please do not walk out of here still living
like that because you weren't made for it. And
I believe that when we live against God's grain,
it makes life really uncomfortable. And we sit
there and we wonder why our life feels the way
it does. It's because we're not living in accord
with what we were designed for. If I use a fork
to eat soup, I'm going to be pretty disappointed.
And if I use a spoon to eat spaghetti, I'm going
to be pretty disappointed. But when I do, when
I use something the way it was designed to be
used, it's so fulfilling. The same is true for
our lives. God is not looking at us as forks
and trying to eat soup. And when we try to do
that, we mess up the will that God has. Now his
will is going to be done, but we mess up if we're
going to be a part of it. And so this morning,
I pray and I hope that you will not walk out
of here still living like that. If you need anything,
if you need prayer, conversation, if you're ready
to be baptized, whatever it is that you need
today, please know that the invitation is open.
We really do love you and want you to feel that
love and that welcome because we see you as priceless.
And I hope you do too. If you need anything,
please come as we stand and as we sing.