WEBVTT 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:16.240 I was worried that I'm gonna come up and trip on the stairs as I come. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:19.679 How are we doing this morning, church? 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:24.399 What an exciting time of worship, hey? 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:26.160 Just man, God was moving. 00:00:26.240 --> 00:00:27.840 Pastor Brody just firing it up. 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:30.399 We had had the opportunity to pray for that family. 00:00:30.560 --> 00:00:31.600 What an excellent morning. 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:34.079 I just I just want to pray, and then we're gonna lean right into this. 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:35.359 Lord, you're so good. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:40.640 Lord, we want our hearts to be open, our spirits to be ready. 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:45.119 Lord, to hear what you have to say to us through your word this morning. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:48.240 Lord, we just want to receive all you have for us in Jesus' name. 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:49.039 Amen. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:55.359 I'm gonna start with uh reading a scripture, and then we're just gonna lean right into this. 00:00:55.519 --> 00:01:01.039 Uh the first verses you are not gonna have until you get to verse 8, then you'll have those ones. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:02.399 I added these this morning. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:08.000 So I want to start with Ephesians chapter 2, and you can start with me, read in your Bible, just bring that up. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:14.879 But I'm just gonna read this, and it says, Um, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:18.079 It is by grace you have been saved. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:33.280 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 00:01:33.679 --> 00:01:46.159 This is where we follow on the screen, verse 8 for it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift from God, not by works, so that no one can boast. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:54.159 For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:58.159 What an amazingly powerful portion of scripture. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:00.400 So I want to start with this question. 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:04.000 I want to start with why are you here this morning? 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:11.680 It's one of those questions that we can just like you can ask us, why do I go to my job every morning? 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:14.400 How many of you have done that this week? 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:17.599 It's like, why did I wake up and why did I come to this job? 00:02:17.760 --> 00:02:19.520 Or why did I go play pickleball? 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:25.359 Or you know what, I played pickleball and I feel I'm gonna tell you, I'm just gonna dislay out my embarrassment for you. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:26.879 I'm not great. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:28.000 That's the first thing. 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.039 And second, I hurt myself playing pickleball. 00:02:31.359 --> 00:02:37.039 That should be not possible playing pickleball, but somehow I pulled a muscle and I'm just like hobbling. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.120 I'm trying to just like right now, just like it's okay. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:41.039 So if you see me hobble, that's why. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:44.800 But what is one of those that why are you at church this morning? 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:49.280 Now, for some of us, maybe your wife or your husband dragged you along to be here. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:53.120 Maybe you feel like it was an obligation or it was a habit. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:57.759 Uh, maybe some of you woke up this morning and you just felt like you had to be here. 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:00.960 And if I was to ask you why, you couldn't even tell me why. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:04.000 You just know that I had to be at church today. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:08.639 I've had many of those moments where I'm like, I don't want to be at church, but I gotta be there. 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:12.159 And so this message this morning, I believe actually two things. 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:19.439 One, I think that it's gonna bring clarity for those that are pursuing God and are walking in what he's called us to do. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:29.439 And the other, I believe that this is gonna bring clarity to those that maybe are sitting in this room right now that don't necessarily know what their purpose is, what God's destiny is, where he wants you to be. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:35.199 So I'm hoping that I can answer those two questions for us this morning because I believe that all of us are called to something. 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:39.199 All of us are called to something, and so I just want to start with verse 8. 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.639 For by grace you've been saved through faith. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:44.159 Lots in this. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:45.680 Let's start with this. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:47.919 This is not your own doing. 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:53.120 You didn't do anything to warrant the grace that God gave you. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:57.520 Your performance does nothing for you. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.400 It's a gift from God, it's not a result of works. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:03.039 I love it because it says later, it says not that we may not boast. 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:04.159 This is a gift. 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:08.240 It's not a paycheck, it's not a reward, it's a gift from God. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:15.439 And I want us to hold on to that because everything I'm gonna share with will actually be through that lens that God's grace is a gift. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:21.759 A gift that we didn't earn, that we can only receive because He gives it to us, because we had faith in Jesus. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:24.160 But I want you to understand something about this gift. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:26.319 It didn't come from a buddy. 00:04:26.960 --> 00:04:31.200 Just when your friend next to you gave you grace, it came from a king. 00:04:31.520 --> 00:04:37.520 And Jesus is not a king who tolerates sin, he is the Lord who bled for it. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:47.120 And when that king hands you a gift, there's no gift that and it comes with a life attached. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:49.440 God did not save you to sit. 00:04:50.640 --> 00:04:53.280 We're talking about build the church, advance the kingdom. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:55.600 We're talking about it in our huddle this morning. 00:04:55.760 --> 00:04:57.360 Pastor Brody leading in prayer. 00:04:57.440 --> 00:05:03.920 When you open up the service, it's about building the kingdom, building faith so those around us know Jesus. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:07.040 We have one mission, church. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:08.240 One. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:15.040 And that's to make sure that people around us and the people that don't know Jesus have an opportunity to know Jesus. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:26.240 Or give up if we do not get up. 00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:31.200 If we have to might as well start and get my word flub right out of the way. 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:34.720 If you do not give up. 00:05:35.280 --> 00:05:37.280 We are called to do good. 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:41.760 Where are you? 00:05:42.400 --> 00:05:44.160 We are called to do good. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:45.760 Right? 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:49.840 We have to do good on purpose. 00:05:50.400 --> 00:05:53.120 We don't get to shelve it when we don't want to. 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:57.760 I'm like, oh, it's just not convenient for me, so I'm just gonna put it away. 00:05:57.840 --> 00:05:58.880 And I want to think about it like this. 00:05:58.960 --> 00:06:04.640 And when I say it like this, maybe you'll be annoyed, but I'm gonna go with it anyway. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:08.960 Christians need to live like Christians. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:13.120 I'm not calling you out. 00:06:13.440 --> 00:06:16.320 If you feel called out, that's between you and God. 00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:31.280 Christians need to act like Christians, and why I say it like this is if we want to live in this culture that is skeptical, that is anti-God, that is against those who believe in God. 00:06:31.440 --> 00:06:44.800 If we want to live in this world, we have to live like the glory of God is in us, that who He is in us, that the transforming power of God that is in us shows out of us. 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:47.360 It can't be something that's restrained. 00:06:48.080 --> 00:07:01.120 If we want people to experience the power of God in their life, we have to live as God has called us to live, to be as Christ's followers, those that are set apart, those that are holy, that are going to do the work of God. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:05.280 But we have to follow Him. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:07.680 And I want you to hear me like this. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:11.120 And you've probably heard it this way before. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:20.160 You may be the only example of what a Christ follower is that they meet in their entire life. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:27.600 Because while there's 300 people in this room, there's 100 and 200,000 outside of KCC. 00:07:27.760 --> 00:07:30.160 Some of those are going to other churches, and that's amazing. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:31.600 That's why we have churches. 00:07:31.840 --> 00:07:34.960 Let the churches do the work that God's called them to do. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:40.560 But there's 300 people sitting in this room, and in our families, we have people that don't know God. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:42.960 We have friends that don't know God. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:52.640 They may be the only example, they may be the only time that they ever see a Bible open is when you're sitting down at work and you open up a Bible. 00:07:52.880 --> 00:07:55.120 People may not walk through this church door. 00:07:55.280 --> 00:08:00.480 Do you know that there was a study done a few years ago that it takes like seven invitations before someone will come? 00:08:00.640 --> 00:08:04.320 So if you've invited someone six times, just do the seventh. 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:06.640 Right? 00:08:06.880 --> 00:08:08.240 Just invite people. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:11.440 Invite people into your world, into your circle, into church. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:13.520 I think this is a great place to go. 00:08:13.760 --> 00:08:15.520 I'm pretty partial to KCC. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:21.280 So when people come here, I think this is a great place for them to experience God, experience our church, our community. 00:08:21.440 --> 00:08:23.280 This is a great place for them to go. 00:08:24.960 --> 00:08:37.200 So they may never know Christ until they see you at that pickup line, like I said this morning during Huddle, or at the grocery store, or at the office break room, or at your school, when would they actually have an opportunity? 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:43.759 That one interaction can potentially shape how they view Christians for the rest of their life. 00:08:45.040 --> 00:08:50.160 So the question isn't whether people are watching, the question is what do they see? 00:08:52.960 --> 00:09:00.240 So did they see Christ at work in that moment when the barista gave you too much foam and you were mad at Starbucks? 00:09:01.680 --> 00:09:03.120 You know who you are. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:14.240 They gave you too much foam, foam, and then you stomp out of there and you get into that car and you're all upset with a Jesus' King sticker in the back. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:25.759 You know, I say that, we all laugh because they're like, it's gonna be someone on Tuesday morning. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:26.720 Right? 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:31.600 But the truth is that being a follower of Christ requires something from us. 00:09:34.560 --> 00:09:37.759 Not just everything, it requires us to get up off the couch. 00:09:39.680 --> 00:09:46.800 We have to be willing to do the good work that God's called us to when it's inconvenient. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:53.600 When someone probably doesn't really deserve it, we still have to do it. 00:09:54.800 --> 00:09:58.160 We have to be ready on purpose every single time. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:01.120 Doing good work is not something that happens by accident. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:03.279 We choose it and we walk into it. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:09.440 You are called by God and these scriptures that we're gonna read to model who Jesus was. 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:14.320 Jesus said we should be the salt of the earth, not be salty. 00:10:16.560 --> 00:10:17.120 Right? 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:22.960 Calling, I don't want to hear this, calling isn't about something important you're gonna do in the future. 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:26.240 It's about your faithfulness to Jesus right now. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:28.960 That's your calling. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:31.840 And what this is what Colossians 3:17 says. 00:10:31.920 --> 00:10:38.960 And whatever you do in word and in deed, do everything for the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:40.720 What do we have to do? 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:44.240 Whatever we do in word and deed, everything. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:48.720 It's not a language reserved for the moment that you finally step onto this platform. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:58.320 You know that what I do and what Pastor Brody does on this stage for 30 minutes once or twice a Sunday, is like 3% of what we actually do? 00:11:00.560 --> 00:11:04.480 It's not for the platforms, it's not for the big title or that big assignment that you were given. 00:11:04.560 --> 00:11:08.399 I'm gonna be a missionary to this, but I couldn't tie that church. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:12.399 He's calling us to be faithful in the little. 00:11:12.560 --> 00:11:14.480 That's the language for right now. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:18.320 What's that small thing that you have to do that the God's asking you to do? 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:36.080 The email that you know you have to send, but you just don't want to, the big conversation with your son or your daughter that you have to have, or how you're gonna show up to work tomorrow, whatever we do, in word and in deed, we give everything we have to the name of Jesus. 00:11:36.800 --> 00:11:40.399 And the thing about this is that your calling happens in real time. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:51.519 We in my house, we've stopped doing this now, but Natalie plays this game called What If. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:58.320 I know you all want to say something, because there's a bunch of you in the room too. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:11:59.279 The what if game. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:01.120 Like, what if this happens, Brian? 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:04.399 What if we were on the highway and our tire were to fall off and go into the bush? 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:06.639 I'm like, I have no idea, that's never happened. 00:12:06.800 --> 00:12:08.560 And it probably won't. 00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:11.040 Like, what if this happens at the mall? 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:18.160 I'm like, I'm pretty sure that that's probably never gonna happen, but she thinks of every scenario before we even get to it. 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:23.120 And she's literally thought out my trip anytime we do a trip to the beginning. 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:24.800 What would happen if the plane went down? 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:26.720 What would happen if I didn't get a buoy? 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:28.000 What happens if I got oxygen? 00:12:28.160 --> 00:12:29.920 If I did get a buoy, what would happen? 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.279 And I like literally, it's in a booklet that comes my way and it sits in my hand. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:36.080 She's like, This is what you will do if anything bad happens. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:39.120 This is the what if game, and you will play it with me. 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:41.120 I'm like, and I'm just along for the rod. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:44.240 I'm like, let's go! I'm ready to party. 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:51.279 There's a running joke in her house that him or Natalie and Jeremy prevented me from getting in a stranger's card that had Uber. 00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:55.120 I swear it was a real car, they swear that it wasn't, and it could have been a thing. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:56.960 It wasn't. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.639 As you can see, there's a difference of opinion. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:10.639 Me and my sister thought it was perfectly legitimate. 00:13:13.040 --> 00:13:18.000 Your calling is happening in real time, in the ordinary, in the small things that you do. 00:13:18.160 --> 00:13:20.639 And I want to be very clear when I say this. 00:13:20.800 --> 00:13:32.560 Um sometimes it's misconstrued that when God calls us to something, our automatic human assumption is that I'm gonna have to do something big and massive like Billy Graham did. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:33.440 That's gonna be my life. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:37.600 Or is I gonna die in the jungles of whatever jungle there is out there to share the gospel? 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:53.840 I want to tell you that wherever you are, if you're following what God has for you right now, in the small, ministering to your grandchildren, taking care of your own kids, showing up faithfully to your job every single day, loving on your wife, loving on your friends, that is the gospel. 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:56.320 That's the calling. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:09.600 And if we're pursuing God in all of those things, very surely, at some point, at some point, God's gonna say, Hey, I got an assignment for you, and it's over here. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:15.360 But do you know what you miss by not pressing into what the Lord has? 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:17.279 Is you miss the assignment. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:24.800 The size of your assignment assignment doesn't determine the significance of your impact. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.320 And I want to say, I added this this morning because I was like, there's something just not right about it. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:35.440 So the size of your assignment never determines the significance of your obedience. 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:42.240 What's the last thing that God called you to do? 00:14:42.560 --> 00:14:44.639 Don't need to yell it at me, I'm just saying. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.040 What's the last thing that God called you to do? 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:48.639 Go do that thing. 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:52.320 Be obedient in that small thing. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:53.920 Do you know how God promotes you? 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.080 When you show faithfulness in the little. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:00.399 Do you know when He hands you that large assignment down the road? 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:02.720 It's because you have proven faithful, committed. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:09.920 I'm never gonna give up, I'm gonna go where God wants me to go, and I'm gonna give God glory in word and deed in all that I do. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:12.560 And will you make mistakes? 00:15:12.800 --> 00:15:13.440 100%. 00:15:14.560 --> 00:15:16.000 And do you know what God has for you? 00:15:16.160 --> 00:15:17.680 We read it in the very first scripture. 00:15:17.920 --> 00:15:19.120 He has grace. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:29.200 That when you missed the mark and you went and did your own thing, and you started that business you weren't supposed to, or you went to that country you weren't supposed to, or you went on that trip, you shouldn't have gone. 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:33.279 He has grace when you come to him and say, God, I need your help, I screwed this up. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:41.360 And this is the thing about walking in what God's called us to in obedience and in impact, is you don't walk alone. 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:46.000 Holy Spirit walks with you. 00:15:46.560 --> 00:15:54.720 In all that you do, your Bible, the Bible says your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, which means the presence of God shows up wherever you go. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:04.800 Just because you can't feel the presence of God when you're at work or you're driving in your car, it does not mean that he is absent. 00:16:06.560 --> 00:16:13.040 Because you know what carries you through when you don't feel the presence of God is the knowledge that God is there. 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:20.879 Because you know what this morning when we're worshiping and we have people on the knees and our hands are up, that is an experience with God that I will never forget. 00:16:21.040 --> 00:16:27.440 So I know that God is real, even when I'm sitting on the floor, angry, frustrated, and I can't feel his presence. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.040 He is still there because I have the knowledge of God. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:34.240 It's not just an experience that you happen on a Sunday morning. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:36.720 I have the knowledge because during the week I'm in the Word. 00:16:36.800 --> 00:16:38.560 During the week, I'm praying. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:52.160 You don't walk alone, which means where you go is the presence of God in your classroom with that barista that gave you too much foam. 00:16:52.560 --> 00:16:55.120 I feel like this is very specific for someone in the room. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:57.360 It's a word from the Lord. 00:16:58.560 --> 00:17:04.000 The same power that raised Jesus from the dead goes with you when you walk through your door. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:06.879 You are the church. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:13.839 And when you're mobilized, our responsibility is to share the gospel and make disciples. 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:15.759 That's our job. 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:27.279 That means that we don't have a program, there's no platform, there's no podcast that we can carry, not because we're super impressive about what we do, but because he is with us. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:40.960 And there's a scripture in Titus 3.1 that says this, a huge part of our calling says this remind them to be submissive to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for good work. 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:43.279 Ready for every good work. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:52.000 Just wanted to sit here for a second, not not just big work, not just small work, not just work that fills with our schedule, but every work that we're called to. 00:17:55.360 --> 00:18:04.240 We see in scripture, all the way through, there is the widow with the two coins, small. 00:18:05.600 --> 00:18:08.799 We see the boy with the five fishes and the loaves. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:12.799 We see the Samaritan on the road that nobody would remember. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:19.279 I say this, God isn't impressed by your scale, he's impressed by your surrender. 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:26.400 Do you know how a gentleman like Billy Graham makes it and was able to preach to millions? 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:28.079 Because he surrendered. 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:41.360 There's a story that I was reading when I was preparing, and it's in 1950, there's a snowstorm that shuts down this tiny little city and uh or little town in England. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:46.000 I was surprised to read that England also gets snow, not just rain. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:50.480 But a 15-year-old kid, he couldn't make it to church on that Sunday morning. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:56.559 So he leaves the house and he ducks into this little chapel, and there's only about 12 people in it, and the preacher just doesn't show up. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:59.360 He couldn't make it to there because there was such a bad snowstorm. 00:18:59.600 --> 00:19:07.839 So one of the guys in the church, just some layman, there's no name, uh, stand up and he stumbles through this scripture. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:12.799 And this wasn't his job, he wasn't really what knew what he was doing, he just stood up and he just shared the scripture. 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:19.200 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no one else. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:22.559 That kid became Charles Spurgeon. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:29.200 Charles Spurgeon is the most public published preacher in our history. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:34.799 He has millions, and people still millions of people still read his sermons today. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:39.039 And the man who reached him, no one knows his name. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:44.720 He didn't have a book, he didn't have a platform, he didn't have Instagram or TikTok. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:48.480 So I wanted to say it like this. 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:52.400 All he knew was he knew he had to get up and he had to share. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:54.880 And that changed this young man's life. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:56.480 Small. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:57.680 Now I'm not done. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:19:59.360 This is really cool. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:03.680 His obedience was complete even before he left that place. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:06.960 He all Charles had to do was say yes to this. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.360 And here's the thing: Charles Spurgeon has written to millions. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:14.319 His sermons called, they call him the Prince of Preachers. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:26.319 But even if, even if that he didn't become anything more than just that nobody that no one knew, that soul is as valuable as what Charles Spurgeon did in his life. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:30.640 We don't pick and choose who we share the gospel with. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:34.880 Well, that guy has money, that guy has the car, that guy has this, ah, that doesn't matter. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:37.519 That's that's a soul who needs Jesus. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:40.319 That's someone who needs to know what the gospel is. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:46.079 That's someone right there that may look like they have everything together, but is actually so broken inside. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:53.600 There's a reason that all through Hollywood you see these people that have everything together, but yet they end up they end up taking their own life. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:56.559 Because they're so unhappy, they're so miserable. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:04.559 So I just want to kind of just turn this around for us. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:06.400 Kind of like a mirror. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:08.240 I want to stand in front of this with this. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:14.400 The snowstorm story, even hearing about Charles Spurgeon, can kind of just like that's that's a good story. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:15.839 That can kind of move us. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.160 You can love it, you can be like, that's such a great story. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:28.319 But we can never, we may never ever in our life do that what that man once did by standing up, being obedient to that one small thing, and just moving forward. 00:21:29.360 --> 00:21:32.160 And I love what James says in James 2.17. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:34.079 He doesn't let us off the hook in this at all. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:44.480 He says, So by faith it's so also by oh wow, so also faith by itself, it does not have, if it does not have works, is dead. 00:21:45.120 --> 00:21:46.559 Do you hear what it says here? 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:51.680 It's not weak, it's not tired, it's not a little iffy, it's dead. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:54.160 You have to get off the couch. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:02.640 But the faith that saves that we see when Jesus saves us is never just alone. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:05.839 You can tell when faith is alive in someone. 00:22:07.120 --> 00:22:07.839 Do you know why? 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:10.319 You can tell that is because it moves in their life. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:20.720 Things change, things transform because you can come to church, hear all of the stories, hear all of the Bible stories, know all of them inside and out. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:22.799 Lift up your hands in worship. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:26.079 Say all the proper things you need to in the lobby. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:28.480 When Pastor Brody was to ask you, how's your soul doing? 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:32.000 you're gonna give them the most beautiful Bible answer you can possibly think of. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:37.200 You can know all of those things, and by Monday, that Monday sees none of that. 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:46.240 And when I was going through this, I realized I had been that guy. 00:22:47.600 --> 00:22:51.360 And I want to be honest, there's maybe a few of us in the room right now. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.839 Maybe there's not someone we know, that's maybe where we're sitting right now. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:58.240 We don't know what to do next. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:22:59.680 We don't know how to move forward. 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:01.360 We don't know, God, where do you want me to go? 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.240 What's my destiny? 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:03.360 What's my purpose? 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:13.759 We go to church, we show up at work, we pick up the Bible occasionally, we pray when we're sick or our kids are sick, but we never, ever, ever actually let God engage us. 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:19.039 And when I say this, that's not shame. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:20.799 That's reality. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:24.000 Because we have stuff going on. 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:28.960 And it's really easy to get stuck in our stuff. 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:36.319 It's really easy to go and just, Lord, I want to do all this stuff for you, and then forget to just pick up the Bible and read His Word. 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:38.400 Or to spend a few minutes in prayer. 00:23:39.360 --> 00:23:41.440 And we've talked about drift many times. 00:23:41.600 --> 00:23:42.880 It's that one little small thing. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:48.720 Oh, you start doing a little bit here and there, and all of a sudden you're you're drifted and you're miles off course where you need to be. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:01.039 And the reality is that sometimes when we're sitting in church, maybe you're here and you just feel like you're alone. 00:24:01.360 --> 00:24:03.920 You're surrounded by people, but you feel like you're alone. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:08.400 Or maybe that you're not good enough, or that what you have isn't good enough. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:12.400 Like maybe you sit like you're you're feeling like you're standing on the outside. 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:17.839 Maybe, and I've heard this a few times, you're looking at the other Christian like they have it all put together. 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:19.519 You know what? 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:20.319 We don't. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:22.960 I don't. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:28.720 Being a Christ follower, not the easiest sometimes. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:33.200 If we're honest, we would say that this is not always the easiest. 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:39.600 So let me ask you what I've been asking that I ask myself often, how is God working in you? 00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:41.519 Is he transforming you? 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:43.200 Is he engaging you? 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:52.480 Because the reality is, is if we're truly connected to what God has for us and we're seeking after him and going with his purpose, that faith grows and moves. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:53.759 And it changes. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:55.920 So here's what I want you to see in all of this. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:25:05.039 When we live the life of just mailing it in, doing the bare minimum, or quietly quitting, we just miss out on some of the spiritual, we don't miss out just on the spiritual reward. 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:08.720 We miss the mark of who God actually has created you to be. 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:15.440 So here's the thing is that you've heard us, I say this all the time, you've heard us say a lot of things because you've been here a lot of years. 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:22.000 God loves you the way you are, but he loves you too much to leave you that way. 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:29.920 How deep are you willing to go to unearth that person that God has called you to be? 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:42.079 We can design or deny every purpose that God has assigned to us and just miss out on the mark for what God has for us. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:48.960 The reality is, is all of these things, you're feeling alone, you feel like you don't have enough, you feel like you're not good enough. 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:53.279 I want to tell you the grace that gets you into this place is the grace that keeps you going. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:56.480 God's grace is never ending. 00:25:56.799 --> 00:26:01.600 It always goes, and when that's in us, it can't help but come out of us in a good way. 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:12.480 Because what you do today in the ordinary, in the small, in the ready is extremely important. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:15.519 So now I just just a few more minutes. 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:17.920 Ephesians 2, go to verse 9. 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:19.360 I'm gonna read 8. 00:26:19.600 --> 00:26:21.360 For by grace you have been saved through faith. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:27.120 It is not your own own doing, it is a gift from God, not as a result of works that no one may boast. 00:26:27.360 --> 00:26:34.319 For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:36.000 Let's just lean into verse 9. 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:37.279 It's not a result of works. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:39.039 We've already talked about it, we may boast. 00:26:39.120 --> 00:26:40.640 Catch what Paul did here. 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:43.759 He hasn't even told you what you were made for yet. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:48.160 That's in verse 10, but before he starts this, he shuts this door. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:50.640 Because Paul knows something about our heart. 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:57.839 The moment that we have a little bit of success, a little bit of we know what our calling is, we frame it in a certain way. 00:26:59.120 --> 00:27:02.559 It's like starting a new job with a little bit of a tiny job description. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:07.279 You frame it the way you think it's gonna be, and your boss looks at you and says, That's not what I want you to do at all. 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:08.799 We do this. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:12.240 The second we have a calling, we frame it our way, not God's way. 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:17.839 The second you start showing up saying yes, being ready for every good work, pride shows up right behind us. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:20.240 That's where it gets into trouble. 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:26.880 It doesn't knock, it doesn't let us know that it's here, it slips in wearing like a hat of faithfulness, like, oh, they're doing the right thing. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:28.880 They showed up to church this many times. 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:33.519 Like you you you people say, how many times did you serve this month? 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:34.720 Fourteen. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:36.000 Do you even sleep? 00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:38.720 Right? 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:41.200 But you're comparing yourself to other people. 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:44.640 Pride doesn't need this massive platform to get in our face. 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:48.000 Pride shows up in any ministry that we can serve on, serve in. 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:59.839 And when Paul writes verse 9 before verse 10, the boastproofing is saying that it's God first comes before he gives us the assignment because he knows us. 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:05.600 God's not looking for availability or ability, but he's looking for availability. 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:11.839 Because some of us in the room, and I believe this for years, believe the lie that I'm not good enough. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:17.759 Now, verse 10 we see we are his workmanship. 00:28:19.600 --> 00:28:21.680 And we read the first five verses. 00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:24.079 We were dead in our trespasses. 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:26.720 God made us alive with Christ. 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:33.680 He just didn't make you, you knew you were going to be born, but then you gave your life to Jesus and He remade you. 00:28:35.120 --> 00:28:37.440 Romans says you are a new creation. 00:28:42.640 --> 00:28:44.400 It's the you that He was raised. 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:47.839 And we said it like this: dead people don't have potential. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:51.120 Raised people have potential. 00:28:51.600 --> 00:28:54.160 You give your life to Jesus, you are a new creation. 00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:59.839 Now you have potential that God sees in you that he can use and he will use you moving forward. 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:01.680 But we have to submit to that. 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:03.519 And he just doesn't stop there. 00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:11.680 The verse isn't just you're valuable, the verse says you're valuable because of who you are and you're assigned to something. 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:13.839 Now you have an assignment. 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:17.440 You were created in Christ Jesus to do what? 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:19.039 Good works. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:23.680 It's identity and purpose all in the same breath. 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:25.519 Love this scripture. 00:29:27.039 --> 00:29:31.839 The first part reminds us that we are created with a purpose, and he has a purpose for each of us. 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:34.960 So here's a few things. 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:39.120 God created you to do good works. 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:43.279 This scripture calls us to see all of our life. 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:44.559 Every part of it. 00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:47.120 Everything that we do, we offer back to God. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:48.640 Amen. 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:50.960 Are you with me? 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:56.480 Your good works weren't confined to the time you came to church on a Sunday morning. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:29:59.440 Or to the missions trip that you took. 00:29:59.600 --> 00:30:06.640 Your good works are for your kids, your job, your marriage, your friends, the things that you do, those are the good works. 00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:10.799 There's a piece in Ephesians 2.10 that we can't miss. 00:30:11.120 --> 00:30:14.960 Our good works aren't just a personal project between me and God. 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:19.680 They're an expression of this community. 00:30:24.319 --> 00:30:25.200 So we read this. 00:30:25.360 --> 00:30:28.079 Yes, individually, you are God's handiwork. 00:30:29.120 --> 00:30:31.680 You can pat yourself on the back and say, I'm God's handiwork. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:33.519 God made me awesome. 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:38.079 I mean, if you want to say it out loud right now, I'd be kind of cool with it. 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:41.279 I just need one person, just one person. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:42.720 There we go. 00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:44.079