SPEAKER_00: Hey man family, we're gonna be in John chapter 18.
SPEAKER_00: John chapter 18 and we are in week two of a series we started last week called 24.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody say 24 ready.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's come on, we gotta have a little more on everybody say 24 ready.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is what we're teaching on the last 24 hours of the life of Jesus, and we said last week his life had all kinds of twists and turns.
SPEAKER_00: It started with Thursday evening.
SPEAKER_00: They had a supper, and it was at that supper where Jesus washed the disciples' feet.
SPEAKER_00: And then we talked last week that Jesus spent some time in prayer, praying for his followers, praying for his church.
SPEAKER_00: And here's a test question on a Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_00: Last week we said he prayed for one specific thing.
SPEAKER_00: Can somebody tell me what was it that he prayed for?
SPEAKER_00: He prayed for unity.
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
SPEAKER_00: Unity.
SPEAKER_00: He prayed for unity in his church.
SPEAKER_00: And then after that, Jesus went to a garden later that night.
SPEAKER_00: He went to a garden called the Garden of Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_00: And he continued praying at the Garden of Gethsemane.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to show you guys some pictures of what this garden looks like today because it's actually a beautiful garden.
SPEAKER_00: And some of the trees in this garden, not all of them, but some of them, actually date back 2,000 years.
SPEAKER_00: So you can go to this garden.
SPEAKER_00: I think we have another picture of it too, and you can see some of the exact same trees that Jesus would have seen.
SPEAKER_00: Now at this garden, something unthinkable happened.
SPEAKER_00: At this garden, something happened that seems crazy.
SPEAKER_00: It was at the garden where Jesus was betrayed.
SPEAKER_00: And his betrayal isn't what really was the most crazy thing, but rather who betrayed Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: That was the crazy thing.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was betrayed by one of his closest friends.
SPEAKER_00: Judas.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody say Judas, ready?
SPEAKER_00: Judas was somebody that spent nearly every waking moment for three years with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Judas was somebody that knew a lot of religious things.
SPEAKER_00: Judas was somebody that was a part of miracles happening.
SPEAKER_00: Judas was somebody that he served.
SPEAKER_00: But something tragic happened in Judas' life that led him to betray Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Is that Judas never owned his own faith.
SPEAKER_00: When we look at the New Testament, we never one time seeing Judas saying, Jesus, you're my Lord, you're my master.
SPEAKER_00: I believe you're the forgiver of sin.
SPEAKER_00: My faith is in you and you alone.
SPEAKER_00: We never see that in here.
SPEAKER_00: We see Judas around people that follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We see Judas engaged in spiritual activity, but as far as Judas personally owning his own faith, we never see it.
SPEAKER_00: And a faith that isn't owned is a faith that won't last.
SPEAKER_00: A faith that isn't owned is a faith that won't last.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what we're gonna see today from John chapter 18.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see a case study of a man that never owned his faith.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe more importantly, I'm gonna show you how you can personally own your faith.
SPEAKER_00: Because I have this fear that there's a lot of people in a lot of good churches that they've never owned their own faith.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, maybe their family member has faith.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, maybe their spouse has faith.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, maybe their grandma's got faith, or maybe their kids have faith, but they've never personally owned their faith, and they're tragically riding on the coattails of somebody else's faith.
SPEAKER_00: And when you write on the coattails of somebody else's faith, and you never personally own your own faith, you miss out on the power of a real relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: So let's pick this up in John chapter 18.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're ready for God's word, would you say amen?
SPEAKER_00: John 18, verse number one says this.
SPEAKER_00: There was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, John is one of four biographies about the life of Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
SPEAKER_00: Those are what's called the Gospels.
SPEAKER_00: So you can see different accounts of the life of Jesus from the four Gospels, from these biographies.
SPEAKER_00: We know from Matthew's account that the other disciples that were with Jesus were Peter, James, and John.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter, James, and John, they go with Jesus to the garden, the pretty one that we just saw the picture of with the olive trees.
SPEAKER_00: And there in verse number two, they find Judas.
SPEAKER_00: Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place because Jesus often met there with his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Judas had already made an agreement to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
SPEAKER_00: He had already betrayed him because an agreement had already been made.
SPEAKER_00: So now what we're about to see is the agreement that's already been signed, sealed, they're ready to go, is now going to come into fruition where Jesus is going to be betrayed.
SPEAKER_00: But the agreement had already been made.
SPEAKER_00: So verse number three, Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you study this out, this is very likely.
SPEAKER_00: This is a mob.
SPEAKER_00: This is a bunch of people.
SPEAKER_00: They're all coming.
SPEAKER_00: They got torches, they got weapons, they are ready to betray Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus, verse 4, knowing everything that was about to happen to him.
SPEAKER_00: After all, he's Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He knows.
SPEAKER_00: Went out and said to them, Who is it that you're seeking?
SPEAKER_00: In verse 5, Jesus of Nazareth, they answered, I am he.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus told them.
SPEAKER_00: Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them.
SPEAKER_00: Now in the original language, Jesus says, I am.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus of Nazareth says, I am.
SPEAKER_00: What he was doing was he was referring back and going back to something that happened in Exodus chapter number three.
SPEAKER_00: There's a guy named Moses.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody say Moses, ready?
SPEAKER_00: Moses was spoken to by God.
SPEAKER_00: God used a burning bush to speak to Moses.
SPEAKER_00: Now, isn't that kind of crazy that God used a burning bush to speak to somebody?
SPEAKER_00: God can use all kinds of things to speak to all kinds of people.
SPEAKER_00: Moses asks God, He says, He says, Who are you?
SPEAKER_00: This is what God said.
SPEAKER_00: God said, I am.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, I am eternal.
SPEAKER_00: I am self-existent.
SPEAKER_00: Simply in a simple way, God is.
SPEAKER_00: God is on his own.
SPEAKER_00: He is self-existent.
SPEAKER_00: He's eternal.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody made him, nobody created him.
SPEAKER_00: He was here way before time.
SPEAKER_00: He'll be, he'll be here.
SPEAKER_00: He stands outside of time.
SPEAKER_00: This is who he is.
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus here, when they ask him, who are you?
SPEAKER_00: He says, I am, referring to the fact that he is God, that he is Yahweh, that he is self-existent, that he is the one that was prophesied about this is who he is.
SPEAKER_00: And watch in verse number six how they responded to this.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus told them, I am he, they stepped back and fell to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: See, friend, when you realize that Jesus is who he says that he is, there's only one right response and one natural response.
SPEAKER_00: And it's humility and it's surrender.
SPEAKER_00: But even though that was how they responded in verse number six, they still would go on and they would betray Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we see who you are, but we're not truly going to follow you.
SPEAKER_00: So verse number seven says this.
SPEAKER_00: Then he asked them, again, some of y'all got that.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: Who is it that you're seeking?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus of Nazareth, they said.
SPEAKER_00: I told you I am He, Jesus replied.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're looking for me, let these men go.
SPEAKER_00: This was to fulfill the words he had said, I have not lost one of those you have given me.
SPEAKER_00: Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear.
SPEAKER_00: The servant's name was Malchus.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, I think Peter missed.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think Peter was going for the ear.
SPEAKER_00: And Malchus did not have an ear there.
SPEAKER_00: At that, Jesus said to Peter, put your sword away.
SPEAKER_00: Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?
SPEAKER_00: Now here's what Jesus is referring to.
SPEAKER_00: The Father had sent Jesus to come and die on the cross for the sins of all of humanity.
SPEAKER_00: That was the plan.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: So your sins could be forgiven and my sins could be forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: And when Jesus says here, Am I not to drink the cup?
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Am I not to fulfill the Father's will by dying for all of humanity and dying for every single person?
SPEAKER_00: This was part of the this was the event that put God's ultimate plan of salvation for our souls into movement, into action.
SPEAKER_00: Then the company of soldiers, verse 12, the commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus and tied him up.
SPEAKER_00: And from here, Jesus would experience court trials.
SPEAKER_00: And from here, Jesus would be beaten.
SPEAKER_00: And from here, Jesus would stand before another Jewish mob and they would cry out, crucify him! Crucify him.
SPEAKER_00: Because Judas was part of all these different things that happened.
SPEAKER_00: And Judas never owned his faith.
SPEAKER_00: Judas never made this personal decision to do what I'm going to invite every person in here to do.
SPEAKER_00: And that is to own your own faith.
SPEAKER_00: Now it's interesting.
SPEAKER_00: Verse number 10 of the passage Simon Peter had a sword.
SPEAKER_00: He struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear.
SPEAKER_00: Now y'all think this is a mob.
SPEAKER_00: There's like hundreds of people.
SPEAKER_00: There's hundreds of people, and there's Jesus, there's Peter, James, and John.
SPEAKER_00: Peter, I love that, bro.
SPEAKER_00: Peter in front of hundreds of people, like a mob of soldiers, he pulls out his sword.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, Let's go.
SPEAKER_00: He tries to cut off the probably not the ear.
SPEAKER_00: Take dude out, misses, hits the ear.
SPEAKER_00: And if you think in your mind, it's like, Peter, there's like hundreds of guys here.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you don't have a chance.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter's like, don't mess with my Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Don't mess with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna mess with him, you gotta get through me first.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody, you guys have, I don't know if any of you are older siblings in the room.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you'll fight with your younger sibling and you'll pick on them and mess with them.
SPEAKER_00: But better nobody else mess with them and pick on them.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00: Because you gotta go through me.
SPEAKER_00: That's your brother, that's your sister.
SPEAKER_00: Peter here said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you don't do that to him.
SPEAKER_00: And here's interesting, though.
SPEAKER_00: If you think uh 10,000-foot view, if you look at the life of Peter and the life of Judas, there's a lot of similarities, though.
SPEAKER_00: Like, Peter spent a ton of time with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Judas spent a ton of time with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Peter heard Jesus teach live and in person.
SPEAKER_00: Judas heard Jesus teach live and in person.
SPEAKER_00: Which can you imagine hearing Jesus live and in person teaching?
SPEAKER_00: Some of y'all are like, I saw the chosen.
SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's not.
SPEAKER_00: Can you can you Peter was a part of miracles?
SPEAKER_00: Judas was a part of miracles.
SPEAKER_00: Peter had all these opportunities.
SPEAKER_00: Judas had all these opportunities.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter's faith was in Christ, in the person of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He said, You are my Messiah, you are my Lord, you are my God.
SPEAKER_00: We don't see that in Judas's life.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe Judas' faith was in religious activity.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe Judas' faith was in everything that Jesus can do for me.
SPEAKER_00: Like my faith is that you're gonna make my life better, Jesus, so I'm gonna hang out with you.
SPEAKER_00: Whew.
SPEAKER_00: It's real.
SPEAKER_00: If you make my life better, my faith is that you will, I can live my best life now.
SPEAKER_00: But as far as Judas' faith in Christ, we don't see this.
SPEAKER_00: And Judas had this knowledge about Jesus, but he didn't have a true depth relationship with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what's really interesting is sometimes in our life we can confuse knowledge with relationship.
SPEAKER_00: We can confuse knowledge with relationship.
SPEAKER_00: We could say it like this just because you know about someone doesn't mean you know someone.
SPEAKER_00: Just because you know about someone doesn't mean you know someone.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, for example, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about some spiritual stuff in here.
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about sports.
SPEAKER_00: Can somebody tell me?
SPEAKER_00: This is a Sunday morning trivia question.
SPEAKER_00: This past week, there was a season that got started, a professional sports league that got started.
SPEAKER_00: Can anybody NBA?
SPEAKER_00: Who said NBA?
SPEAKER_00: That was that Joey?
SPEAKER_00: I know that's my boy.
SPEAKER_00: Joey, let's go.
SPEAKER_00: NBA.
SPEAKER_00: NBA got started.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I want you guys to do on the count of three.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to shout out who's the greatest player in NBA history.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the greatest.
SPEAKER_00: I want you guys to think.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a sports, if you're not a sports fan, just make up a name.
SPEAKER_00: Just make somebody up.
SPEAKER_00: Just say Pastor Nate, right?
SPEAKER_00: It'd be great.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, right?
SPEAKER_00: Ready?
SPEAKER_00: You got the person?
SPEAKER_00: Ready?
SPEAKER_00: On three.
SPEAKER_00: One, two, three.
SPEAKER_00: I heard some LeBron.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I heard so I heard some Kobe.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we got Kobe.
SPEAKER_00: So we got we got a few delusional people in the room.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_00: Kobe's great.
SPEAKER_00: And then you got Michael Jordan.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Michael Jordan.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, he's got an entire like 10-part documentary after him.
SPEAKER_00: The last dance.
SPEAKER_00: Greatest documentary of all time.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, he's pretty great.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, uh, I just want to hear from you guys.
SPEAKER_00: Can can somebody tell me a fact, something about whoever you said was your greatest player?
SPEAKER_00: LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant.
SPEAKER_00: Can can you tell me just something about them?
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody, you somebody talk to me.
SPEAKER_00: They can shoot a good hoop.
SPEAKER_00: All three of them, they can shoot a good hoop.
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
unknown: Uh Kobe, Brian, we always get to the game so like wherever they're playing.
unknown: We get to report first the next four and all night, just so you can leave out like what it looked like.
SPEAKER_00: You're a real Kobe fan.
SPEAKER_00: She just gave us all the details of Kobe's pregame.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's right.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he'd do that.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody tell me something about Michael Jordan.
SPEAKER_00: He was a baseball player?
SPEAKER_00: What's that?
SPEAKER_00: Somebody else?
SPEAKER_00: Michael.
SPEAKER_00: He was in Space Jam.
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
SPEAKER_00: Space Jam.
SPEAKER_00: Can somebody tell me what team did Michael Jordan play for?
SPEAKER_00: Chicago Bulls, the Wizards, North Carolina.
SPEAKER_00: Let's see, let's see any real big sports fans.
SPEAKER_00: Here's a hard question.
SPEAKER_00: How many championships did Michael Jordan have?
SPEAKER_00: Six.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
SPEAKER_00: Some of y'all are like Googling this stuff right now as we're judging.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: We all know these stuff about Kobe and these different guys, Michael Jordan.
SPEAKER_00: But here's my question.
SPEAKER_00: This is really this.
SPEAKER_00: I actually personally want to know this.
SPEAKER_00: Does anybody actually know Michael Jordan?
SPEAKER_00: I'm skinning the room.
unknown: Nobody.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody in the balcony.
SPEAKER_00: Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.
SPEAKER_00: You know about Michael Jordan?
SPEAKER_00: You know where he went to college?
SPEAKER_00: I asked how many, how many championships does he have?
SPEAKER_00: Somebody shouted out, six.
SPEAKER_00: What team do you play?
SPEAKER_00: We're Chicago Bulls.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody said, Wizards, we know all, we know all this stuff about him, but we don't know him.
SPEAKER_00: And friend, it is possible that you know some things about God, but you don't truly have a deep relationship with God.
SPEAKER_00: That you know something that you learned growing up in church.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you know a book of the Bible, maybe you know something your grandma taught you, but it's completely different than actually knowing God for yourself.
SPEAKER_00: And the only way we can have a deep relationship with God is if we personally own our own faith.
SPEAKER_00: And for us to own our own faith, we're gonna have to have some honest personal reflection about where we are with our faith.
SPEAKER_00: I have a leadership and pastoral coach that speaks into my life because I'm trying to be a good leader and trying to be a good pastor, and he speaks into my life, and he talks about making space in your life to think, to pray, to reflect, and to be honest with yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Creating space to think, to pray, to reflect, and to be honest with yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's what's really hard about this.
SPEAKER_00: All of us in the room are super, super busy.
SPEAKER_00: Like if I were to ask you, who's busy?
SPEAKER_00: I'm busy.
SPEAKER_00: If I said who's busy, some of you'd raise up both hands.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you just show me a picture of your kid, you'd be like.
SPEAKER_00: And we're so busy, and it's it's hard to make space to do this.
SPEAKER_00: On top of this, the idea of being honest is really hard.
SPEAKER_00: Because for us to be honest with ourselves, we actually have to address some things in our lives that maybe aren't what they should be.
SPEAKER_00: We have to actually look inside and realize that maybe there's some sin in our life.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's something that isn't quite where it should be, but this is so important because we can only be as spiritually healthy as we are honest.
SPEAKER_00: And some of us, it's been a minute since we've been honest with ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, some of us, we are professional deniers and we are professional suppressors.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_00: Something comes up, maybe the Holy Spirit tells you something, you're like, no, I'm good.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a weakness is exposed in your life, and you're like, no, I'm fine.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we find ourselves drifting into this habit or drinking too much or doing this.
SPEAKER_00: We're like, no, I'm fine.
SPEAKER_00: I know I've had something, a drink every night for the last month, but I don't have a problem.
SPEAKER_00: I'm okay.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have an anger problem.
SPEAKER_00: It's that they're just wrong all the time and they won't listen to me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not bitter.
SPEAKER_00: It's just the whole world, they just I don't understand why the world do this.
SPEAKER_00: Why are people like that?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not bitter.
SPEAKER_00: I'm filled with joy.
SPEAKER_00: Are you are you questioning me?
SPEAKER_00: This is not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: We can be in denial and we cannot be honest with ourselves, but we can only be as spiritually healthy as we are honest, because when we are honest with where we are, now we know where we need to grow.
SPEAKER_00: Now being honest with ourselves begins, it begins with this spiritually, by asking ourselves: has there been a time when I personally trusted Jesus Christ to be my Lord and my Savior?
SPEAKER_00: Have I understood the gospel that Jesus came to this earth, he died on the cross for my sin, and I'm turning away from my sin, and I'm putting my trust in Jesus Christ to be my Lord, to be my Savior, to be a believer in him.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody has to make that personal decision for themselves.
SPEAKER_00: And once we make that decision, then we have to ask ourselves okay, so I began a relationship with God, but where am I currently at with my relationship with God?
SPEAKER_00: How am I doing in my walk with the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: And this requires honesty, and honesty can be hard, but we will only grow as we're honest, and the gospel of Jesus Christ actually gives us the freedom to be honest.
SPEAKER_00: Let me let me explain.
SPEAKER_00: If in our lives we think that our identity is determined by us being right, by us having our ducks in a row, by us being righteous, by us having ourselves together, we'll never be able to admit any failure.
SPEAKER_00: We'll never be able to humble ourselves because we feel like it's an attack on our personal identity.
SPEAKER_00: Let's let me get personal.
SPEAKER_00: It's enough for me to just talk about this general.
SPEAKER_00: Let me talk about me.
SPEAKER_00: I remember as I was coming to grips with the beauty and the depths of the gospel, motives in my life started getting exposed.
SPEAKER_00: So, for example, I was I had measured my standing with God on my performance and everything that I did rather than the grace of God.
SPEAKER_00: I found worth and meaning in everything I quote unquote did for God rather than simply being a child of God.
SPEAKER_00: And for so long in my life, I would live in denial because I'm like, no, I can't admit weakness.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm good, I'm strong, I'm Nate, I go to the gym, I do this.
SPEAKER_00: But when I started understanding in the gospel, my identity is not based on what I do, but based on what God says about me.
SPEAKER_00: It actually gave me the freedom to be honest with myself.
SPEAKER_00: And the most free people are the most honest people.
SPEAKER_00: And the gospel allows us to be free and honest.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we say the gospel doesn't just save us, it shapes us, strengthens us, and guides us.
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing you can do to make God love you more, and there's nothing you can do to make God love you less.
SPEAKER_00: So you can be open and honest with where you are in your faith.
SPEAKER_00: Even honest about the ugly things in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Even be honest about the things that you're watching that nobody else knows, or you think nobody else knows.
SPEAKER_00: And when we're honest, it's then and only then that we can actually grow.
SPEAKER_00: Because owning your faith requires growing your faith.
SPEAKER_00: Owning your faith requires growing your faith.
SPEAKER_00: So if you say, Nate, I want to own my faith, I love that.
SPEAKER_00: Now what that means is that you have to intentionally grow our faith.
SPEAKER_00: But growing your faith takes time and energy and self-awareness.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes what will happen is we can look at people that have a deep faith and we think, man, I can never be like them.
SPEAKER_00: Like we see their faith and we're like, that's that's for them.
SPEAKER_00: I just I just can't do it.
SPEAKER_00: Like, Nate, if you knew what I've experienced, if you knew what I've done, if you knew my mistakes, if you just like, I can never have a deep faith like this person.
SPEAKER_00: Friend, if you knew all the if you just knew this, can I just say, friend, if you knew the grace of God, if you knew the power of God, if you knew how God could change lives, if you knew what God can do in your life, you can have a deep faith.
SPEAKER_00: You can have a faith that's deep, that's resilient, that's strong.
SPEAKER_00: But the question is, is how do we do this?
SPEAKER_00: I want to end with the illustration with a good old backpack.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you, how many of you are in school?
SPEAKER_00: Anybody in school right now?
SPEAKER_00: School, oh man, I pray for y'all, man.
SPEAKER_00: That's a people ask me, do I want to go back to school?
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, ask me if I want to go to the dentist.
SPEAKER_00: The same answer, okay.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta I got a backpack here.
SPEAKER_00: This backpack, this is like a this is a military grade backpack.
SPEAKER_00: So this thing is strong, this thing is durable, this thing could go through snow, heat.
SPEAKER_00: It it don't matter.
SPEAKER_00: This is a strong, durable backpack.
SPEAKER_00: I also have something that's not quite as durable and strong.
SPEAKER_00: I have this right here.
SPEAKER_00: Now, because I'm such a big spender and I'm so rich, I got this at Walmart for like$2.
SPEAKER_00: And uh it's it's kind of it works, but if I were to put this in the middle of a parking lot on a hot summer day, this would be done.
SPEAKER_00: This would melt, it'd be no good.
SPEAKER_00: This right here though, this this thing, this backpack, this is strong and durable.
SPEAKER_00: Now going back to our text, going back to our text, this is like Peter's faith.
SPEAKER_00: Strong and durable.
SPEAKER_00: Now we know Peter messed up, he denied Christ, but he ended up martyr being a martyr and giving his life for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You read Acts, you're like, Peter, you are strong in your faith.
SPEAKER_00: This represents the faith of Judas.
SPEAKER_00: Very weak.
SPEAKER_00: Not a whole lot.
SPEAKER_00: Not very durable.
SPEAKER_00: But if we looked in this bag, we would see some things that allowed Peter's faith to be strong.
SPEAKER_00: We'd look in here and we'd discover, oh, we'll look at that in a minute.
SPEAKER_00: Would discover a foundation of God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Peter knew God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Peter knew the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Peter, Peter, the words of Jesus were a part of Peter.
SPEAKER_00: And for some of you, if you want a deep faith, can I just say that God's word, God's truth, is gonna have to be a part of your life.
SPEAKER_00: You will only be as strong spiritually as you are connected to God's word.
SPEAKER_00: I was so excited to see all those names on the foundation screen just a few minutes ago, seeing all those names.
SPEAKER_00: Those are people that are learning the foundations of the faith.
SPEAKER_00: Those are people that have said, I want to get rooted in what God's word says.
SPEAKER_00: God's word is strong.
SPEAKER_00: God's word will strengthen your faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what, there's so many resources out there to get in God's word.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have a Bible, we'd love to get you one at the Next Epson Information Table.
SPEAKER_00: God's word is the foundation to grow your faith.
SPEAKER_00: As I look in here, there's something else for our faith to grow deep and strong and robust.
SPEAKER_00: It's this.
SPEAKER_00: Say, Pastor Nate, what does a Kleenex box have to do with a strong faith?
SPEAKER_00: I'm confused.
SPEAKER_00: When you go through a hard time and you go through trials and suffering and difficulties, and it causes you to weep and to cry and to be broken and to hurt.
SPEAKER_00: You realize a deep faith is often formed through deep suffering.
SPEAKER_00: You realize a strong, robust faith is not formed on the shore.
SPEAKER_00: A strong, robust faith is formed in the storm.
SPEAKER_00: And some of us right now, you are in a hard season of your life and it's bringing you to tears.
SPEAKER_00: Some of y'all like, I don't cry, I'm good.
SPEAKER_00: But life is hard.
SPEAKER_00: And what you can do is you can let God shape you in this storm.
SPEAKER_00: And God shape you in this suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Because this can be a massive faith-building thing in your life, or you can run from God, or you can get hard-hearted, or you can get mad.
SPEAKER_00: But God uses suffering to be part of our faith being formed.
SPEAKER_00: And could it be that you're upset with God and you're running from the very thing that could deepen your faith and strengthen your faith in ways that nothing else can do?
SPEAKER_00: God uses trials and suffering to deepen our faith.
SPEAKER_00: God often uses.
SPEAKER_00: This is me, Pastor Cody, and our friend Caleb.
SPEAKER_00: These are godly men that are in my life.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Christian community is so important because your friends are the future you.
SPEAKER_00: This is why gathering with the church is so important.
SPEAKER_00: This is why groups are so important.
SPEAKER_00: This is why you having a friend that you allow to speak into your life that's godly matters so much.
SPEAKER_00: Because you need Christian community in your life.
SPEAKER_00: You need to be committed to Christian community because Christian community is what's going to develop you and form you.
SPEAKER_00: And then we have one other thing in here, and it's this.
SPEAKER_00: You can have a faith like this.
SPEAKER_00: Guys, because a faith, a faith that isn't owned, is a faith that will eventually fall apart.
SPEAKER_00: You can have this type of a faith if you will decide to own it.
SPEAKER_00: And my heart and my prayer is that there's somebody in this room.
SPEAKER_00: Is that there is somebody in this room that will say, today is the day, October 26th is the day where I'm no longer writing on the coattails of my mom's faith or my grandma's faith or my friend's faith.
SPEAKER_00: But today is the day that I decide to own my faith.
SPEAKER_00: Today is the day that I decide that this isn't gonna be what somebody else's faith, and this isn't gonna be what somebody else does.
SPEAKER_00: This is gonna be what I do.
SPEAKER_00: Church is not gonna be something that people just drag me to and I'm like, no, I gotta go.
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: Church is something I'm gonna prioritize on my calendar because I am a person of faith.
SPEAKER_00: I am owning my faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to grow in my faith.
SPEAKER_00: Because a faith that isn't personal, it's a faith that will eventually fall apart.
SPEAKER_00: So we wrap up with two questions, and I want to give you time to think and pray about them.
SPEAKER_00: It's this one, have you personally owned your faith?
SPEAKER_00: And second of all, what rhythm, what rhythm do you need to incorporate to grow in your faith?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe some of you, it's it's the word, it's getting around the word, it's church.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, you're newest to our church.
SPEAKER_00: Sign up for connect.
SPEAKER_00: Connect happens next Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: It's the first Sunday of every month.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's something completely different.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it is, but what is it that you need to incorporate to grow your faith?