Follow Me - Pastor John Mozingo, Week 3

Follow Me is a sermon series from Family Church that walks through the life of Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples. His bold steps, honest struggles, and growing faith show what it means to follow Jesus with a willing heart. Each episode highlights key moments from Peter’s journey and invites us to learn how Jesus shapes ordinary people into faithful followers. Join us as we discover how Peter’s story challenges and inspires us to follow Christ every day.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to Family Church's Sermon of the Week. We're so glad you're here. Each week we share a message from God's Word to encourage your heart, strengthen your faith, and help you grow in your walk with Jesus. We hope this time blesses you and draws you closer to the heart of God.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

So I grew up going to church. Uh and in fact, we never missed church. You know, my my parents, we we uh we went to church every time the doors were open, and that's back when church happened Sunday morning, Sunday, Wednesday night, Thursday night visitation, Saturday morning visitation. I mean, if there was something going on at church, my family was there. And and so the only church I knew as a kid, up through when I was a teenager was Bethlehem Baptist Church at 4601 West Ox Road in Fairfax, right across the street from the West County landfill and the fire training center. Some of y'all know where that is now. You know, and and yes, it pretty much always smelled like the landfill when you went to church there. But uh that's where I went to church. And so I just assumed that was the way you do church, that was the right way, and any church that was doing it any other way was wrong. Bethlehem Baptist Church was a good church. If you didn't do it like Bethlehem Baptist, you were a bad church. That's what I thought as a kid, you know? And uh so one day, a friend of mine, Patrick Allen, I was in I was in sixth grade, and Patrick invited me to go to his house on a Saturday and hang out with him all day. So when mom dropped me off, talked to his mom, she said, I'll drop him off uh at your house tonight. We'll go to church first, and then then we'll uh I'll drop him off. So hung out with Pat all day, and uh then we went to church that night. And uh, and and you know, uh old Baptist boy, the only church I'd ever been to was Bethlehem Baptist Church. You know, we went to a Catholic church. And so it was very different. You know, and and first it was on Saturday night, which there was just something wrong to an 11-year-old kid about going to church on a Saturday night. You know, Jesus and Moses went on Sunday morning, so that's when I was supposed to go to church. That's what I thought. You know, if church was Sunday morning, and we got there, and again, I'm not not not trying to be offensive. This was the percep perception of an 11-year-old boy, but here's how I would describe that service. Stand up, sit down, kneel, stand up, sit down, kneel, and do that over and over again while a guy in a robe says stuff in a language I did not understand. That's what it to a to a sixth-grade boy, that's what that church was like. You know, and then as we walked out of church, somebody handed me the leaf from a palm tree. And I'm looking at it, I'm like, what is this? I looked at Patrick, I said, What is this? He goes, It's Palm Sunday. And now I was sixth grade, but I knew my Bible. I went to Sunday school, I went to Iwana, I knew the Bible, and I don't remember a commandment that said anything about Palm Sunday. You know, so I didn't know what that was, but uh I didn't think anymore about it because, you know, back then you couldn't Google and it took some effort to look stuff up, so you just didn't worry about that stuff, you know, instead of looking it up. Now you pull your phone out and you find out what it is. So I didn't think anymore about it. Then I went to college, I graduated college, moved to Jupiter, Florida. Melinda and I were engaged, and one Sunday I went to church with her grandmother, and uh we went to a church, the guy spoke in English, so I understood what he was saying. He talked about uh Jesus riding into Jerusalem and then waving palm trees, and then they handed me a palm palm branch on the way out, and I'm like, ah, I get it. Waving the palm branches. That's what that's all about, Palm Sunday. So that's the first time I really understood what Palm Sunday was, because if you're an independent Baptist, you only celebrate Christmas and Easter. You don't do anything else. You know, that's just the way it was. So, so I learned that apparently those palm branches are important to people in some churches, you know, and and I think it's cool. I think it's cool. You know, I think it's a good way to think about what happened on that day. But as far as everything that happened on that day as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the the palm branches to the people that were there, the palm branches were probably the least significant part of that story. You know, because palm branches back in that day, they would they would wave palm branches, you know, anytime there was a celebration, you know, they were like the big number one finger, you know, you see up in the football stands and stuff. You wave palm branches instead of the big foam finger, you know, you you wave those palm branches, and there were probably guys walking around selling palm branches every time there was a celebration. So, you know, if there was, if if somebody is a royal, if royalty was coming into town and everybody was out to recognize them, they wave palm branches. There was a military victory, they'd wave palm branches. If their team got in the final four, they'd wave palm branches. You know, that was just the thing you did when you were celebrating. And to some people, it's all about the palm branches. But it's not all about the palm branches. There was a lot more that happened that day. You know, every year at the beginning of Passover, what was happening that day, every year at the beginning of Passover, the high priest would ride into town on a donkey, and everybody knew he was coming, and that was like the kick off Passover. That was the big celebration, the big, that was their Macy's Day parade to kick off Passover. And so everybody would be out and they'd be waving their palm branches, waiting for the high priest to come in. And this time, though, when they were there waiting for the high priest, Jesus came over the hill riding on a donkey and walking into Jerusalem, and everybody started waving palm branches. But it's not about the palm branches. You know, when Jesus did that, he fulfilled a 500-year-old prophecy that said that he would ride into town that day on a donkey. Listen to Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice, O people of Zion, shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem. Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey, riding on a donkey's colt. It was about God making good on his promise to send a savior. 500-year-old prophecy. God making good on a promise to send a savior. Wasn't about the palm branches. You know, and and when they expected the high priest to come in, the high priest, the book of Hebrews refers to Jesus as the high priest, our high priest. He rode in on that donkey. It wasn't about the palm branches. And when in that day, when a king would come to a town, when he would come visit, come into a town, if he were coming to conquer, he would ride a horse. If he were coming to serve, if he were coming in peace, he would ride a donkey. That day, the king of peace rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. It wasn't about the palm branches. It was about so much more. So much more. And when Jesus rode on a donkey into town, that fulfilled a prophecy that said, the Messiah is here. The Messiah is here. And a lot of people didn't know what was going on. A lot of people didn't know why Jesus was there. A lot of people didn't know, you know, Jesus from the high priest or whatever. They were just cheering because somebody came in on a donkey. But there were people there that had seen Jesus not too long before this raise Lazarus from the dead and they knew who he was. They saw him do miracles, they saw him heal the sick, and they knew who he was. And when he rode in, they shouted, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, because they knew he was the Messiah. That was the beginning of Jesus' final week. That was how he started his final week on this earth. And uh, you know, after that you would see Jesus go into the temple and overturn the tables. He would uh teach his disciples during that week, he would confront his accusers, he would heal the sick, and then later that week he would gather all of his disciples together for the Passover meal. He'd gather them together. And look at John 13, verse 1. It says, before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, one of uh one son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around him, around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with a towel he had wrapped around him. So two things blow me away about this. First, he already knew that Jesus had betrayed him, or Judas had betrayed him. He already knew it. You know? He knew exactly what Judas had done. And yet he still served Judas. Still served him. The second thing that blows me away is that it says that God gave him all authority. Now, I don't know about you, but if I were in that situation and God gave me all authority, I'd be taking Judas and the high priest out back and I'd open a can of Chuck Norris on them. You know, that's what I would do if I had that kind of authority. But look what Jesus did. Jesus said, I know that God has given me all authority, and then he served his disciples. He had that kind of authority and he served them. And when he got to Peter, you know, he started washing their feet. Started washing their feet. When he got to Peter, Peter protested. Look at verses 6 and 7. It says, When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, Lord, are you gonna wash my feet? And Jesus replied, You don't understand now what I'm doing, but someday you will. And Peter would continue to protest. And he would tell him, Look, you're not washing my feet. That's not gonna happen. And Jesus said, I have to do this. And Jesus said, Well, then wash my whole body. And Jesus said, If you don't let me wash your feet, you're not going to understand what I'm going to do. You won't, he's actually said, You won't belong to me if you don't let me wash your feet. Now he wasn't saying, you know, washing feet was part of the salvation experience. It wasn't that. He wasn't saying that. He wasn't, he wasn't uh uh saying that that I have to do this if you're going to be one of my disciples. What he was saying is, Peter, you don't get it. You don't get it. You keep calling me teacher and Lord, and you're right, but you don't get it. Look at verse 14. It says, and since I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash others' feet. Or wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. Now to put your mind at ease, ain't nobody washing nobody's feet this morning. Okay? Because that's not what it means. It does not mean when he says, follow my example, he's not saying we're supposed to wash each other's feet as part of our fellowship together. He's not saying that. Some churches do that, and it's cool. I've done that, it's cool, but that's not what he's saying here. This was all about. You know, he here's what it was all about. Go back to uh verse four. It says this. So he got up from the table. We already read this, got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with a towel he had around him. When Jesus did that, he wasn't washing their feet because it was the custom of the day. It was the custom of the day. When you had a guest in your home, your servant would wash their feet because, you know, there were no sidewalks, no paved streets in Jerusalem, and there was nobody cleaning up after the donkeys and the cows in the street. So your feet were dirty. So when you came into somebody's home, they would wash your feet. Um, so that's not why Jesus was doing it. He wasn't doing it because he expected us to wash each other's feet every time we came together. When Jesus washed the disciples' feet, he was giving them a living example of the gospel. He was giving them a living example of the gospel. Look again at verse 4. It says he got up from the table. He got up from the table. When Jesus got up from the table, he was giving up his position as master at that meal. So, you know, you've seen pictures, you know, the the the painting of the Last Supper is all wrong. There's nothing right about that. Really, they were at low tables and they were seated on the floor, kind of leaning, leaning like this. They would lean on one arm and eat with the other, and their feet were back behind them because nobody wants their feet near the dinner table, so their feet were back behind them. And so they would recline like that and eat. And Jesus was leading the Passover ceremony. He was leading the Passover meal, so he was probably seated right in the middle of a table that was like a U-shape, so they they could see him and be close to him. And so he was laying there like that. When he got up from his place, he left the place of being the master of that ceremony, and he walked over and he took the form of a servant. So when Jesus, when Jesus got up from the table, that was a picture of Jesus as he gave up his position. Philippians 2, 6 says, though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Jesus was God. He did not give up his deity, but he gave up his position in heaven to come to earth, to die on the cross, so that we can have salvation. Next, it says he removed his robe, okay? He he took off his earthly covering. When he left heaven to come down to earth, it says that Jesus gave up his glory to come to earth. Just like he took off his robe and laid that aside, he laid aside his glory when he came to earth, Philippians 2.7. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. Gave up his divine privileges to come to earth. Then he took a towel and wrapped it around his waist, which is what a servant would have done. Jesus took the position of a servant at that point. He humbled himself and became a servant. Philippians 2.7. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. You've heard me say this before. Some translations say servant, some translations say slave. The literal translation is slave. A servant can expect to be paid for his service. A slave serves because that's who he is. And Jesus took the position of a slave. He took the position of a servant because that's who he is. He said, I came to serve, not to be served. He says, If you want to be great in my kingdom, become a servant. So Jesus took the humble position of the lowliest of servants, and he washed Jesus or he washed his disciples' feet. So if you want to follow Jesus' example, be a servant. You know, serve in your church, serve in your home, serve your family, serve be a servant at work. You know, all those are opportunities to serve. If you're the boss at work, you know, you got to be the boss. You know, things don't go right if you're not bossing. You have to be the boss. You have to direct things. But you can be the boss and be a servant. In your home, you can be the boss and be a servant. My father-in-law was awesome at this. My father-in-law was the president of the Economic Development Commission of Central Florida. He was a well-respected and powerful man throughout the state of Florida. But his business, he knew how to serve. He knew the value of serving. There's a town in Florida called Zellwood. Anybody hear Zellwood? What anybody know what Zellwood is famous for? Nobody? Corn. They have the best corn on the planet. I mean, it is so good and so sweet. There is something about the corn, the corn there, the soil there that the corn grows, and it's just amazing. So every year, Zellwood has a corn festival. And my father-in-law loved Zellwood corn and he never missed the festival. So when he would go to Zellwood, he would buy lots of corn, but he would also buy corn for everybody on his staff, everybody that worked for him. Because he knew the value of being a servant. He'd do the same thing. With Plant City had a strawberry festival. Everybody got strawberries because he knew the value of being a servant. And they knew him as a servant and they saw Jesus in him because he served. A powerful, respected man throughout the state of Florida was known as a servant. You know, so you can be the boss. You can be the head of your home, but you'd be a servant because that's what Jesus told us to do. And we give God the glory. We give God the glory in everything that we do. You know, Jesus laid aside his glory. He laid aside his glory so that God would get the glory. And in the end, God will glorify his son. Jesus laid aside his glory to glorify God. In the end, God will glorify the Son. That's the way that works. And so, you know, you serve others so that Jesus will get the glory. You serve others so that Jesus will get the glory. So, men, you serve your wife. Husbands, you serve your wife in your home. You serve your children in your home. And God will get the glory when your wife and kids see you serve, when they see Jesus in you. Wives, moms, same thing. You serve in your home so that people will see Jesus in you. God will get the glory when they see Jesus in you. If you serve, if you serve people at work, you go to work and you serve people, they're gonna see, they're gonna see God, get God will get the glory when they see you serve like Jesus. They'll see Jesus in you and God will get the glory. Kids, high school, middle school kids that are in here, when you go to school, you'll be a servant. And God will get the glory as people see Jesus in you. When you go home today, you be a servant. And a servant obeys, so obey your mom and dad when you go home today. That's what that looks like when you're when you're in middle school and high school. You're gonna serve, you obey. When you go to school, your kids, your friends will see you, your teachers will see you. And God will get glorified when they say, see Jesus in you because you're serving. Be a servant. After Jesus washed their feet, he put on his robe and he sat back down and he led them in the Passover Supper. And in the Passover Supper, there are four cups that they drink. There are four cups. The first cup is the cup of sanctification, and it's meant to remember the promise God made to Israel, I will free you from bondage. That cup of sanctification is to remind them that God said, I will free you. The second cup is the cup of proclamation, and it's meant to remember God's promise to rescue them from Egypt. It was God's promise when he said, I will deliver you. I will deliver you. That was the second cup. At the second cup, that's when, at the at the Last Supper, that's when Jesus said, Somebody in this room will betray me. And they all said, Is it me? Is it me? Is it me? Is it me? And he said, Whoever I whoever I uh share this next cup with is who has betrayed me. And and I don't know when it happened, if the hands were already in the cup or whatever, but they take the bread and they dip it in the cup, and Jesus and Judas were dipping in the same cup. And Jesus looked at him and said, Jew, buddy. And ironically, the cup to remember when God said, I will deliver you, Judas delivered Jesus into the hands of the high priest. And the third cup is the cup of redemption. It's the cup of redemption. It's it's to remember the Passover lamb, the slaying of the Passover lamb, when they they they sacrificed the lamb and they put the blood over the doorsteps and the angel of death passed over. And that was the cup of redemption, was to remember that. And Jesus said, From now on, when you take that cup, remember me. Do this in remembrance of me. Because his blood, hours later, would be shed on the cross. So as you came in, you were given the elements for for a communion. I'd like you to take those out. If you did not get those, if you would lift your hands, one of our ushers will get that to you, but go ahead and take that out. Before they drank the cup, they they uh ate the bread, and the bread is on the bottom of your cup. You can peel that back and pull that off. Need some down here in the front, uh Arthur. Down here in the front. You know, when and Paul said, when you take communion, when you take communion, it's important that that you take this with a clean heart. You know, you don't you don't want to take communion with with unconfessed sin. So we're gonna take a moment and just give you a chance to to pray and repent of any sin in your in your life right now and to ask forgiveness of that. But if if you're here today and you've never accepted Jesus as your Savior, I want to ask you this question. Why would you take the symbolic Jesus? Why would you accept the symbolic Jesus if you haven't accepted the real Jesus? If you haven't said, I believe in his death, burial, and resurrection, I believe that his blood was shed so that I can have salvation, and I accept his free gift of salvation. Why would you take the symbolic Jesus before you've accepted the real Jesus? You know? Jesus did everything, everything that had to be done so that you can be saved. You know, we we we we baptized Jeff a few minutes ago. Baptism has nothing to do with your salvation. We take communion often. We take communion, it has nothing to do with your salvation. If you never take communion, it has nothing to do with whether or not you go to heaven. What makes the difference whether or not you go to heaven is have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. He is not one of many roads. Say I'm one of many opportunities, one of many paths that all lead to the same place. He said, I am the way. No one goes to heaven except through me. And for somebody to make that claim, they're either they either mean what they say and they are who they say they are, or they are crazy and a liar. Because you can't make that claim unless it's true. And Jesus made that claim. He is the only way. So this morning, if you've never accepted him as your Savior, let today be the day. Let me have every head bowed and every eye closed for just a moment. Every head bowed and every eye closed for just a second. If you've never accepted Christ as your Savior and want to do that today, Jesus made it very simple. He did all the work for you. He hung on the cross. His body was beaten. He was crucified. He was buried. And it's just a matter of you accepting him as your as your savior and saying, I believe in his death, burial, and resurrection for my salvation. I believe in his shed blood for my forgive for forgiveness of my sin. And I accept him as my savior. And if you're here today and you want to make that choice and you want to make the choice to follow Jesus, it's just a matter of saying that to him and telling him that you believe those things and you accept it. And if you're struggling to put what's going on in your heart and mind into words, you can just pray like this. It's not about repeating a prayer, it's about meaning what you say. And you can say something like this and say, Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus. Because without him, I can never have eternal life. I can never earn my way to heaven. I can never deserve a place in heaven. But Jesus, the perfect man, gave his life so that I can have salvation. So today I trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for my salvation. I trust in his shed blood for the forgiveness of my sin. And today I accept him as my savior. And if you just prayed that, I would love to know about it. What I would love for you to do is take that card, the bottom of your sermon notes, and just let me know. Today I prayed. I think there's a space on there. You can mark today I prayed to receive Christ. Or you can come and tell me afterwards, put your hand in mine and say, John, I got saved today. So, God, thank you for anyone in here that prayed this morning to receive Christ. Lord, I pray that you would bless them. I pray that you would help them to grow, help them to understand the decisions that they've made, help them to grow to be more like you, help them to grow as a follower of your son. I pray that that this church would surround them to help them grow, put the right people in their life to encourage them and help them to grow to be more like your son. I pray that they would have just a desire for your word and to read your word. And so, God, as as as we uh take this communion today, Lord, help us to remember your sacrifice, the sacrifice that you made on the cross, that it was all about your death, burial, and resurrection, your broken body and your shed blood. In Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Thanks for listening to Family Church's Sermon of the Week. We pray this message encouraged you and helped you grow in your faith. If it blessed you, share it with a friend and follow so you never miss a new episode. You can learn more about Family Church at myfamilychurch.com. If you are in the area, join us on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. We meet at Patriot High School at 10504.