Worship as a Lifestyle - Pastor Otis Amey | Sacramento

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         Pastor Otis Amey is a former record-setting S.F. 49er wide receiver and punt returner. He was Born and raised in Union City, CA, Otis now lives in Sacramento and serves as the Associate Pastor for Midtown Church overseeing Men's, Young Professionals, and Serve Ministries. He is also a keynote speaker and workshop developer, empowering people everywhere he goes. In addition, Otis serves as the Area Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, where he coordinates on-campus events, sports camps, and mentors coaches and student-athletes. As a Life Skills Coach for Sac State's Football team, Otis is dedicated to transforming lives from the inside out, starting with himself, his home, and his community. As a married father of three, Otis strives to be the role model and mentor he never had.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

This has nothing to do with my sermon, but I want to shout out all the people that are uh working education. You're a chancellor, a president, a coach, a teacher, whatever it is. The reason why I say that is in the North Nathomas where we live, uh the teachers were on strike for about a week. And so there's a couple days where I had to take my kids to work. And I said, Man, I gotta deal with all three of my kids. Y'all gotta deal with 30-something kids at the same time from different backgrounds and upbringings. Uh man, praise God for y'all. So thank you for all the educators that are usually underpaid, overworked. Hopefully, in North Natomas, they worked out whatever they needed to. The the message this morning is different than the message last week, talking about the end times and eschatology is really deep. This is very practical and straightforward. I think there's just some things I believe that if you're paying attention to, you can uh apply to your lives and run with. So the title of the message is Worship as a lifestyle. Worship as a lifestyle. So let's dive in. How do you handle something of great value? How do you handle something that's uh extremely valuable or worth something? Uh depending on your culture. I know back in the day, right, you know, some of folks that look like me didn't really trust the bank. So where do they put their money? Put it in a mattress or in the shoebox, which would not be the wise thing to do today. Uh if you have something valuable, you protect it, you you hide it, you preserve it. As a kid, when I used to go to the homes of elderly black folks, there was always this forbidden living room. It was usually white. There was this cabinet that had all this china that nobody ever used. Um, and there was usually a couch, and the couch was covered in what? Plastic. Why? I don't know. Um I don't know if it was to protect from the Jerry Curl activator juice that was so prevalent in the 1980s. It reminds me of coming to America. I don't know why they did it, but it would be very unsafe now. But a lot of people had these plastic uh uh couches in their homes. See, when something is of great value, we preserve it. I don't know if you guys have ever heard of the Gutenberg Bible. Uh it was printed on the Gutenberg Press around 1454. He introduced typographic printing to Europe, which revolutionized the way information was received, the way that people were able to learn, which increased literacy. So, for those of you that are sneakerheads, you know, sometimes shoes come out and they're limited runs. This Bible had a very limited run. There was only 108 ever created. And today there's just a handful of them. These Bibles are very rare. Um, but because the press was created in 1454, they the press could only print the black letters on the pages. But every Bible had its own intricate design. So each Bible was literally uh a one of one, the designs that were on this Bible. So they say if you were able to get uh uh a hold of one page that was in good condition today, it would be worth$25,000. Just one page of this Bible. Every design is intricate. And if you were able to somehow get a complete edition of a Gutenberg Bible, it could easily go for$35 million. See, some of y'all that got five, seven Bibles at home, and they all ask you, you can go home and see. Do I got a Gutenberg? You know, you ain't you don't got no Gutenberg in your house. On Friday, speaking of value, on Friday, I had a couple conversations with uh some some young men. And I'm getting ready to go walk and check out this pro day, guys trying to go to the league, and about uh three players stop me. Hey, oh, Pastor Oh, we want to talk about women. Okay. This is a very typical conversation, and so they're asking me these questions. How do you see past the aesthetics, right? And see a woman's true value. They started asking me questions. Pastor Oh, don't you find other women attractive? Um, how did you know that girl, because my wife was up there, how did you know that girl would end up becoming your wife? And they say things practically like, man, it's hard out here in these streets. And my response is like, I mean, I've been out of the game for 26 years, so I don't know what it's like, but it has to be challenging to be single and saved. They ask questions like this: how and when did you see the value in all of who she was? And so I didn't give them this exhaustive list, but I strongly recommended some things for them to consider when we're talking about value. So, of course, these are just my opinion, but I'm gonna give you a few in no particular order. Um, hygiene must be on point. I just learned like two weeks ago this means clock it. I'm not sure what clock it means, but I said something good. All right. Uh hygiene must be on point. I never ever have to worry if she's clean. And sometimes she'll be late to a place because she's cleaning the house. It used to really get on my nerves until the light bulb went off one day, and I said, What if it was the other way around? What if she was dirty? Hey, you could be OCD clean, that's fine with me. Another thing, uh, usually women say this about men, but I would say it goes both ways. They need to have drive, determination, they need to have discipline, they need to have a plan for their life, not just hanging around, waiting around to see what I'm doing. I mean, my wife held me down. Been together since the year 2000. She held me down when I was confused about what my identity was, when I thought I was an athlete. She was always there. Right? And this takes time to see if she's the type of woman that will support you through all your different phases of life, through your maturation. Here's one that they did not want to hear. Is she willing to abstain till y'all get married? Uh, because they anyways, uh and here's what I here's what I said to them that made the light bulb go off go off. I said, God created everything, right? Yeah. So that means God created sex. So, if you enter into the relationship the way that God said to do it, in his covenant that he created, do you not think that he won't bless that area of your life? And they were like, they were they were excited to hear it, but they weren't. Yeah, I know. Whole nother conversation for another time. How does she respond to the highs and lows of life? Is she rooted? Does she trust God when she goes through something? Oh, here's an important one. On a scale of one to ten, with ten being absolutely out of her mind, how crazy is she? About once, about once a quarter, my wife comes to me and she'll say, Babe, thank you for dealing with my crazy. And I just say, Yeah, I got you. Does she have a solid friend group? Are her friends messy? Things to consider. Can you deal with her family? Remember being around my wife, her uncle, and all of them. They'll be loud and yelling and cussing, trying to check me. But I knew that I wanted her, so it didn't matter. And here's the most important one: her relationship with the Lord. There's nothing more attractive than faith. That's just my uh opinion. Right? She can't be fine if she don't have faith. She can't be fine if she don't have faith. Uh, you need a woman that when things get ugly, she doesn't. Because she knows the Lord. She doesn't result to maybe how she was before she knew Christ. See, there's times my wife tells me to man up, and times she also calms me down, gives me a kiss and reminds me that God got us and that everything's gonna be okay. So I share some of my internal thoughts. Here's what I was thinking. Maybe here's how y'all should think. See, we can only be friends if you don't have faith, but you better know how to worship if you want to be my wife. See, when I was at my lowest, she was there for me. When I thought, when I was young and I'm in the NFL, we weren't together, and I thought the grass might be greener, she still stuck by my side. When we went through it a couple years ago, she did not abandon me. Sure, there's other beautiful women in this world, but they are not her. So when scripture says, husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church, and it crosses my mind that Christ died for the church, there is no mental hesitation in my mind. Yes, I would die for that woman. Yes, she's that valuable to us and our kids. And don't let nobody tell you or try to fool you and convince you that being married and faithful to one woman and raising your kids and training them up in the ways of the Lord is whack. It's amazing. It's amazing, and it fulfills God's plan for marriage and for families. But we're not all serious. Uh uh, if you know me. Uh we like to play a little a little game sometime. And this game I try to catch her, I try to get her in her feelings, and then I'll hit her with like a bar, a rap line, or I'll start singing a song. So, like half the time she'll catch on to me messing with her. Let me give you an example. So uh I'll come home, be a long day, and I'll tell her something like, Hey, babe, I had a lot of meetings today, met with some players, you know, went to the church, uh, handed out a couple Bibles. I had two breaks, so I thought about you two times a day. And if she knows me, so usually she'll catch on to me. That don't even sound right. But sometimes she gets in her feelings and she'll be like, What do you mean you thought about me only two times? We've been together for 26 years. You thought about me only two times? While she's going on her rant, I already I already got her hooked in. She's going on her rant, and then I just start singing, I only think of you on two occasions. And if you know, if you know the song, if you know the song, the ad lib says, like what? That's day and nah. And then she's looking at me like, I hate you, I can't stand you. I got her though. Like, you got me. It shows her that I'm thinking of her, that I care for her, even doing little things, like as busy as I am, and she holds down the home front. I'll come and I'll see, okay, the clothes and the washer, uh, the dryer's open. Let me let me put those, let me organize the kids' shoes. And trust me, fellas, let me give you a free game. If your wife comes home to a clean kitchen, I don't want to say the word in this service, but for them, it is like, yes. It takes her to another place. Uh free game, free game. All right. Let's get to this message. We'll be in Mark chapter 14. The religious leaders thought following Jesus as Messiah and Savior was a waste of time. The disciples thought a woman anointing Jesus with expensive perfume was a waste of time and a waste of something valuable, a precious resource. So at this point in his journey, the Jews were ready to destroy and kill Jesus, but not during the Passover and the festival of unleavened bread. Uh, they didn't want to cause a riot because there were millions of people that had descended upon Jerusalem. So every single male adult, um, 15 miles away, they had to come to the Passover. Some scholars say that there had to be at least two and a half million people that made the journey to Jerusalem, plus all the lambs that would be sacrificed. So there was a lot of people and animals there. See, the Passover itself was just one day, but they had a Passover week. This sounds like how some of y'all treat your birthdays. Um it's just one day. Don't try to make it a whole month, right? That day was the 14th day of the month of Nisan. Nisan is the first month in the Jewish calendar that marks both spring and the month of the Exodus when God redeemed Israel from Egypt. So the next day is the 15th. It begins a seven-day feast called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And so the big question in the message this morning is this how do we worship beyond church services? Easy to throw on something nice, throw on some cologne, some perfume, whatever it is, and come to service. But how do we worship after we leave from here? What does that look like? Worship being a lifestyle. Point number one is this show up. The first thing we can do to worship beyond the church service is to show up. See, we can we can show up where God is moving, we can prayerfully discern where God is opening up doors. Give an example. For the last almost seven years now, I volunteered my time uh to serve in a chaplainslash mentor capacity at Sack State with some of the athletes. A lot of the behind the scenes stuff that I wouldn't dare share uh uh in public that they come to me with. Right? So last year a new coach came in and I was still volunteering my time because I discerned that God had wanted me to serve there because there was a need. So there were plenty of times my wife would ask me, and I would ask myself, why are you using your free time to go up there? Why are you going to these games and being on the sidelines and pouring into all these players when I still have my own kids and family to pour into? But the moment that solidified why God had opened up that door was when during the bye week, when eight players, including the head coach, gave their life to Christ and then were baptized. And one of the people that got baptized was the cameraman that was just there to film the event. And when I gave the invitation to receive Christ, he raised his right hand. And then when we were outside of the Broad facility in the cold tubs, two more players gave their life to Christ as they were seeing and witnessing their teammates do it. So, praise God. So here's what I realized. In that moment, I wasn't a pastor from Midtown, I wasn't an FCA representative, nor was I on staff at that time in Sack State. I was simply a child of God doing what I knew the Lord had called me to do. And from there, God just continued to open up more doors as I continue to be faithful. This is literally a prayer of mine. God help me to see where you're moving and where you want me to be involved. This is a daily prayer. God, help me to see where you're moving. Who is it today that I need to talk to? Who is it today that I need to pull aside and minister to or pray to or just listen to their stories? Everybody's going through something. Just Thursday night, if you guys saw me, I was talking to a brother down here in the front, and uh he was struggling with uh coming to church, my guy right here. And so his beautiful sister right here said, Hey, can you talk to my friend? He, you know, he doesn't want to come inside the church. So here's the setup. Listen to God's prompting. When I'm here on Thursday nights, I will always go from the lobby and I'll go around through the uh video cafe to the youth center and I'll always come back that way. I never go outside. For whatever reason, I looked outside and something said, go outside. So I go outside, no one's out there, and then I see you. And then you say, My friend's struggling, can you talk to him? I don't even see anybody. So then I turn around and he's right there. And if I'm gonna keep it 1,000, uh, you know, the Oscars just happened and centers won a bunch of awards. I got nervous because he wouldn't come on the property. He was just standing, he was just standing on the sidewalk, and I'm like, my brother, uh, are you waiting for an invitation? I I swear to y'all across my mind. Like, he just was standing on the sidewalk, and I was like, uh uh uh uh. But I had a chance to talk to him and hear him out and hear what he's going through. Then I said, brother, can I pray for you? He said, Please do. And after I got done praying for him, he gave me a big hug. And my assignment was done, and I came back in. And praise the Lord. You are in church right now. See, understand this. Everybody that pulls up is not ready to praise, and everybody that shows up isn't saved. See, I know the typical church mentality is to show up to so I can get fed, and that's fine. But what if we begin showing up already filled up in case we need to pour out? See, if you ask God, he may tell you to do something revolutionary in church. Sit in a different seat. Sit in the different seat. What? No, that's my seat. No, it's not. Sit in a different seat because maybe he has an assignment, aka a person that he wants you to sit next to because they're going through something, and your smile or your testimony or what you have to minister to them with is going to change their life. May cause them to come to the altar and give their life to Christ today. Maybe if we show up already abiding in Christ, we show up filled up so we can pour out. This requires a perspective shift. Again, the typical church mindset is to show up to consume, but what if we showed up prepared to contribute? See, the woman in this story shows up and shows out. She was prepared to contribute. We look in Mark chapter 15. I'm sorry, Mark chapter 14, under the title Jesus Anointed at Bethany, verse 1 through 3 reads, Now the Passover and the festival of unleavened bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. But not during the festival, they said, or the people may riot. While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Depending on which gospel you read, two of them say head, two of them say feet, but the focus ends up being his feet. So I don't know if you caught this, but Jesus was inside the home of Simon the what? The leper. I wouldn't have been inside the home of someone that had leprosy. But if you dig a little bit deeper, Jesus had already healed him because lepers were outcasts, unable to participate in any social activities, let alone host a party. They were considered unclean and were socially excluded. So what stuck out to me was Simon's willingness to want more from Jesus than just healing. A lot of people that stopped following Jesus in John chapter 6, they were in love with the signs, the wonders, and the miracles, but not in love with the one doing them. People wanted to be fed but not filled. See, Simon brought his healer home. He welcomed Jesus into his house and into his heart. But it's saying a lot. If me and my wife invite you into our home, especially since she will attack you if you don't immediately take off your shoes. But I don't know if all women do this, uh, but apparently there's certain parts of the house that are just hers. I just learned this about a month ago. The unused living room, the laundry room, and the kitchen, and the master bathroom, which is my bedroom too, they're uh apparently they're all hers. And so I won't say this next service because she'll be sitting right there, but I'll say it now. If the kitchen is yours, then the dishes. No, sorry. I forgot. This service is recorded. John chapter 12 identifies who this woman with this expensive perfume was. It was Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. She wanted to show Jesus some love. See, why why did she want to show Jesus love? She was grateful, she was thankful, she wanted to honor him. Jesus had allowed her to sit at his feet and listen to his teachings at a time when rabbis did not regularly or usually do this. He had also done what for her brother? Lazarus. He had resurrected her brother back from the dead. So of course she's grateful and she's thankful. It was obvious that she had been saving up and waiting for this moment. Let me ask you this: what would you do if you knew Jesus was going to be here today and you had an opportunity to say thanks for what he's done for you? Her thanks was a gift that today they say will be worth more than$10,000. And it wasn't the alabaster jar that made her get valuable, it was its contents. Inside of this jar was spikenard oil that only came from India. So its smell was rare, it was very earthy and fragrant. My wife usually tells me that I smell earthly and fragrant sometimes, but she says it in a different way. She said, You smell like outside. But in those days, this was a good thing. It was rare. So this combo made it not only expensive, but hard to come by. And so she saved up for this perfume for this moment. She showed up where Jesus was and did what she was led to do. So it's not lost on me how ridiculous this must have looked to those who didn't understand her assignment. What is this woman doing? Why would she waste all this expensive perfume? But not everybody will understand your assignment, and that's okay. Not everybody will know your calling or understand it. Sometimes it takes years until they see the fruit. Oh, that's why you did what you did. But don't let them knock you off your pivot. I saw a quote that said, When you have an uncommon calling, you're creating the blueprint, not following a playbook. See, there'll be times where you have to trust God to help you build the plane while you're still flying it. Here's point number two We have to show up, we have to sacrifice. Verse 4 through 5 says some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor, and they rebuked her harshly. See, Jesus and his disciples were also at this gathering, so there were at least 17 people that were. There. See, Mary moves in faith despite all the murmuring and complaining that begins to happen. See, here's something I do. In any space that I'm in, whether it's here, sax state, at home, family, whoever it is, friend group, in any space I'm in, I quickly identify a few types of people. Here's why. If Jesus had Judas, I got some folks around me I need to be mindful of. So I identify a few a few types. Again, this is not an exhaustive list. I identify the self-preservers. These are the people that will snitch on you the moment they get a second two. These are the people that will play both sides and won't be direct with you. Right? They'll cause problems in your organization. I identify the people that crave affirmation. Those types of people do everything but their job because they're trying to impress the supervisor or the coach or whoever. Right? They want me. Look at me, look at me, look at me. Not just do you do your job, stay in your lane. I also identify the real ones, the people that I can trust. The people that I can say, hey, here's what I need you to do, and I know it's gonna get done because they're trusting in the Lord and they're doing things in excellence. See, I try not to overthink it. Again, Jesus has some soldiers, but he also had Judas. So we definitely need to have some folks uh be by that that we're mindful of. I mentioned Judas because in this story in Mark it doesn't say it says the disciples, but when you look at John, it identifies who the instigator is. And wouldn't you know? Good old Judas Iscariot. If we look at John, it highlights what he says in John chapter 12, verses 4 through 6, it says, after they talk about, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume, verse 4. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, actually does it right after this. He objected. Why wasn't this perfume sold? Uh the money given to the poor, it was worth a year's wages. Here's what's called in part six. I love how the Bible is so direct. He did not say this because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. Just call that man out because he was a thief. So what he was was a skimmer. He would take what came in because he was the treasurer, and he would take it just a little bit. It's a little bit over years. He he he schemed and plotted to do this. So over time, he had, I don't know how much, he had a lot of money because he just took just a little bit off the top every single time that money came in. Look at how diabolical this situation is. We use the word haters very loosely, but Jesus had some real deal. Hey, ain't no one trying to plot and scheme on killing. This is what Jesus is dealing with. In John chapter 12, verses 9 through 11, it says, Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus. Not to see him because they wanted to hear his testimony. Look what it says uh whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priest made plans to kill Lazarus as well. For on account of him sharing his testimony of being dead for four days, many others, Jews, were coming over to Jesus and believing him, believing in him. So they're literally plotting on Lazarus too, just because he's sharing his testimony. Now I don't know what he experienced while being dead for four days, but I know that brother had a powerful story to tell. So notice here they they never deny that Jesus did all these supernaturally amazing and powerful things, but they lamented them. They didn't cheer that he raised the dead, because in their minds, Jesus continually going viral, if you will, and gaining followers made it look like there was an insurrection which would have caused the Roman Empire to come and take action against them. So they needed Jesus gone so they could get their power back. But here's where I want to focus. In the midst of all this chaos and drama, we find Mary of Bethany. She's completely unbothered by insecure men lusting for power because she knows who really has the power, and that's who she decides to worship. It's not just a Thursday night or Sunday thing for her, it is a lifestyle. But why do I say that? Because every time we look in scripture, we find her doing what? Worshiping Jesus. We find her at the feet of Jesus. No matter what stage in life she's at, in, that is what she's doing. In Luke chapter 10, she's at his feet, listening to his teaching, showing that she's fully devoted. Why her sister Martha is doing what? Cooking, right? Pastor Rich says this story, he calls this story Mary and Martha Stewart, right? Uh-huh. In John chapter 11, when she meets Jesus as he's on his way to come resurrect her brother and bring her brother Lazarus back from the dead, what does she do when she sees him on the road? She falls at his feet, essentially saying, I know who you are. You are the Messiah. You are the one that can raise my brother back from the dead. And then in John chapter 12, she anoints Jesus' feet in preparation for his crucifixion, which means her heart was in the right place. See, when it fully sinks in that you're not blessed because you're good, you're blessed because of God, you'll find yourself humbly at his feet. What I mean by that is talking to God throughout the day, thanking him, praising him, uh, asking the Holy Spirit, which leads us into all truth for guidance, for direction, for counsel, for comfort. You'll know that worship has become your lifestyle when your worship is no longer predicated on something good or bad happening, on a response to it. It just becomes this is what I do all day long because God is worthy to be praised no matter what I'm going through. Here's the last point serve. So, shout out to all of y'all. We had an amazing serve fair last Sunday, and a lot of y'all went and signed up to serve. Hopefully, you didn't sign up because you got a spinning wheel, you signed up because you actually are gonna follow through and serve. But uh it was it was an amazing time. But we need every single person. As I look at a lot of the people, the ushers and greeters, they're not on staff, they serve. We can't do what we do if we don't have you guys partnering with us and being obedient to what God's calling you to do and serving in the house of the Lord. Amen. Last point, serve. Mark chapter 14, verse 6 through 8 says, In response, Jesus says, Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them at any time you want, but you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. Imagine that. You do something so incredible for Jesus that this story is told. We're fulfilling this prophecy right now by talking about her. One thing that I missed for so long reading this was that Mary already knew about death, burial, and resurrection before it happened to Jesus because it happened to her brother. See, Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 15, but saying that what Mary did was not only beautiful, but will be remembered forever. See, Jesus was communicating that we'll always have opportunities to engage in generous activities and to bless those in need, but do not miss opportunities to have intimacy with him. Matter of fact, you guys can write this down. Uh I just solidified this on April 14th, which I believe is a Friday. Um we're partnering, well, we're partnering Sack State Football, Convoy of Hope, Midtown Church. We're gonna have barbers come and give free haircuts at Sack State from what time, coach? You remember? Uh 9 to 9 to 11th. You can write this down. If you want to come be a part of it, we're gonna give out free food to the community, um, to Leah Tata Florida, other people in the community. We're gonna bless them with clothes, we're gonna bless them with shoes, we're gonna bless them with food and free haircuts. It's another way that we you can partner with us in serving and giving back. Let me make it plain. Uh, when do people usually get their flowers? When it's too late. I can't do nothing with these flowers now. Um, when they're dead. Mary gave Jesus his flowers before the funeral. She said, Thank you before Judas' betrayal, thank you before the 39 lashes, and thank you before the crown of thorns. If I'm being honest, I regret. I've had three friends in the last two years that have died. They're young. And I never gave them their flowers while they were still alive. So I'm asking myself, who is it in my life that I need to take out to lunch or just give them a phone call? Maybe it's your parents, just to say thank you. Thank you for what you did. I see you, brother, I see you, sister, and give them their flowers now. See, scripture says she did what she could. Are we doing what we can to live a life that gives God flowers every day? So at the end of the day, when you get home, God can look down from heaven and say, Thank you. Thank you for representing me well today. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for allowing me to fight your battles and not fighting it yourself. Thank you for coming to me in your time of need instead of resorting to your old ways and old thinking. Thank you for slowing down and moving at the pace of grace. Thank you for remembering that I got you. Here's my final thought. So it's a familiar verse. Romans 12 and 1. So we talked about showing up, talked about serving. Surrender. Surrender. Romans 12 and 1 says, Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. This is Paul's way of saying, when you consider how good God is, when you think about all the receipts that you have, how he's blessed you and clothed you, even the things that we take for granted, when you think about all those things, it's saying the least that we should do is to give our lives to God. Give our lives to Christ and say, do with me whatever you want. I'm available to serve and be used by you. The least we should do is to have a lifestyle of worship, to operate in excellence, no matter where he's called us to be. See, the most valuable thing we have in our possession is what? Is us. When you think about life insurance, it makes sense. If I'm now gone, it's a rough situation for my family. My income is gone, my influence is gone. The greatest thing we have in our possession is us. So how do you handle something of great value? You being the greatest possession that you have, you place it in the hands of the one that created it. That is what God is asking us to do.