It's an absolute honor to be here in Cathedral and virtually in Nashville.

You know, I, like Jake, I haven't been here my whole life, but I've been here the best part of it.

My wife and I got married in 1998, and we were looking for churches in Atlanta, which is where we live.

And, you know, we went for all the big ones, the 10,000 pluses, and they were nice, and they were good.

And then we ended up in this little kind of grungy, like...

 striving church, and I said, I don't really want to go in there.

It was in an old Ralph's building, and it was still basically half shopping center, half church, and it was dirty, and it was a little hard to kind of appreciate.

And then after church, we stayed for an hour and a half talking to people, and the heart of the people there after God and for each other

 It was absolutely incredible, and we found that to be the case in every C3 church that we walk into.

It's part of our culture, and it's what caused us to fall in love with it, and we've been forever changed.

In that process of 1998 to now, we found a relationship with Jake and Nicole Sweetman.

We were Nicole's young adults pastors, and Jake grew up in the church, so we were around each other.

We were...

 a little different growing up.

I was a CPA and he was a skater, and so we were a little different.

I'm 50, he's 36, so I was 25 and he was 11, and it was a little different.

We didn't hang out a whole lot because if we had, it would have been really weird.

 But we have that depth of relationship.

And being here with you in this space, we definitely walk with Cathedral through the years.

And we truly are.

You are one of our favorite churches in Nashville, too.

And it's an honor to be here.

 It's an honor to preach to you.

It's an honor to serve with Jake and Nicole alongside them.

Yes, we are their oversight, but they also speak hugely into our lives and inspire us, and truly you inspire us.

We came to the Holy Spirit Conference last year.

We're coming back this year.

We were actually a year before as well, and we're bringing like a whole bunch of people with us because, in fact, it's become now a regional event because we believe that what you guys carry is

 is so needed in the kingdom.

In fact, I just believe that you guys have a space that you're going to sow into churches that are far beyond this city.

I think Jake and Nicole, Pastor Jake and Nicole, I think you have a Pauline anointing on you to sow seed into church after church.

And I think you probably won't write modern day epistles, but your voice and your word and your influence will actually impact churches all around this country and

 in South America and in Europe, and I believe that with all that I have.

The fact that he's 36 years old is super aggravating to me because I was not nearly as put together as he is at 36, and he is brilliant, and you guys are lucky to have both he and Nicole as your pastors.

You know what my problem is?

It just took me too long.

 It took me too long.

I raised Methodists, which is not all bad.

I mean, you're not in the Methodist church.

Obviously, I was.

It was a great place.

They were really great people.

I learned the Bible.

I learned Jesus loves me this and I know for the Bible tells me so.

I learned how to worship.

I learned some great stuff.

The thing I didn't learn was how to engage in a relationship with God.

 And so I had all these good ideas, but my expression was just like, hey, this is good stuff to kind of hang on to, and it'll help me throughout my life, and it's some good people around.

And it wasn't life-changing.

It was life maybe, life additive.

It was life nice, but it wasn't life-changing.

I didn't understand, people would say, the power of the gospel, or I once was lost, but now I'm found.

I've been saved.

I was like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Like, just be normal.

 And then when I was 20 years old, I stepped into a church and realized that what those people had been singing about, what they had been saying, the words they had been using, what to me was hyperbolic, like extreme exaggeration of expression, was not their problem, it was mine.

I was totally missing what was possible on the other side of a relationship with God because I knew about God, I believed in God.

And it was not because I was a bad person necessarily, although theologically there's a whole issue there, but...

 I just said that I didn't believe God.

I just didn't trust him.

I didn't know I wasn't trusting him, but that's kind of what it was.

I was like, God, I want all that you have for me, but I'm going to live my life my own way.

It's the Genesis 3 problem.

For two chapters, humanity is crushing it in the Bible.

And in Genesis 3, the serpent comes and says, did God really say this?

 that it's going to be brand new life?

Did God really say that if you didn't eat from the tree that you'd be better off?

Did God really say that you can't do things?

Because he's just really holding you back.

It's still today the prevailing idea about God.

God's holding you back.

I mean, if you can't party, God's not going to let you have a good time.

If you can't

 You know, use all of your money for your own selfish needs.

God's just trying to get your finances from you.

The church just wants your money.

I mean, how many times have I heard that?

And I think the majority of people believe that, and they're missing.

They're missing the reality of what's possible with God.

And I just didn't understand that.

 And so I believed in him.

I would tell my friends, I believe in God.

I believe in Jesus.

I believe all that stuff.

But I wasn't trusting him with my life.

And there's a massive difference.

In fact, it makes all the difference.

The Bible tells us that even the devil believes in God.

He just doesn't trust him.

 And that was my problem.

I wasn't, I don't think, demonic, but I was definitely not a great expression of what that looks like.

So I had these pieces of the puzzle.

Like I got, okay, I should be reading my Bible.

I wasn't, but I should be.

And I had a piece, and then I had a, I need to be a little bit nicer person because it would be good.

And then I had a piece that was, you know, I should go to church and be involved in that community.

And I was like, whoo.

 This Christianity stuff is pretty cool.

There's some colors on here.

It's neat.

So I had pieces, but what I was missing was the full picture.

And I didn't even understand that the picture was idyllic.

 Like, on the other side of heaven, you couldn't even get to all that God has for you.

Like, He has so much for you and for me, there's no hyperbole anywhere because we can't even imagine.

Ephesians says that no eye has seen, no ear has heard.

Like, no mind has conceived that which God has in store for those who love Him and are called to do it for His purpose.

Like, there's a reality that I didn't even understand.

I thought I had it.

Woo!

Woo!

 Super cool colors and great printing.

I had a piece, but I didn't have a picture.

 And so I was like that for 20 years.

And so I'm in my last semester of seminary.

I can give you lots of good theology.

I can teach you how to read your Bible better.

I can give you lots of checklist items.

But I don't want to do that today because for 20 years I missed the bigger picture.

And today I want to give you some tools.

I want to give you some opportunities that you can take your life this week.

Not like when you figure it all out or when you have it all together.

Like don't say, you know, I've got it all together because you don't.

 And don't say, well, come to church when I have it all together because you never will.

Like, you're always going to be missing pieces of your puzzle.

But if you'll take some steps with me this week, and I need to take the steps too.

So don't think I'm preaching to you.

I'm preaching with you.

I'm preaching to myself every single time.

I missed this for 20 years.

I'm still, my puzzle is still, I think I've got most of the end pieces, but that's about all I've got so far.

But you can add some pieces this week.

And I want to give you first the understandings.

 that God's called you to a life worthy, he says.

Paul says that in Ephesians.

Paul says the first three chapters of Ephesians, talking about because of Christ, you have access to something that no one in history has had access to.

First three chapters is all that.

And that's great to read.

You should read it.

It's one of the best books in the Bible.

They're all fantastic.

I can't say one's better than the other because God inspired them all.

But Ephesians, I'm just going to tell you, it's a real good one.

 First three chapters are fantastic, but chapter four, Paul switches.

He does this a lot in his... If you read...

 outline these books and understand them.

He does this a lot.

So first he's going, hey, you need to understand what you have available to you because most people in history haven't had this.

You need to understand what Christ did for you because there's now a brand new life available.

I know that you Jews had a piece or two, you Gentiles had some ideas and thoughts about God, but I'm telling you now the full picture is on offer.

So we've got to change the way we live.

So in chapter four, he shifts to start telling us how to obtain those things.

And so I want to read

 Ephesians 4, 1 through 16 to you, and then we're going to break it down a little bit and see what Paul is trying to tell us.

Here's what he says.

He says, as a prisoner for the Lord, that's Paul speaking of himself, as a prisoner for the Lord then, he says, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you've received.

 Be completely humble and gentle.

Be patient.

And if you know anyone, you know this is true.

Be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

There's one body and one Spirit, capital S. Just as you were called to one hope when you were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

 But to each one of us, to each one, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.

This is why it says, when he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts, gave gifts to his people.

What does he ascended mean?

Except that he also descended to the lower earthly regions.

He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.

So Christ himself

 gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that, this is what I teach my church, I'll give you a little biblical instruction here, whenever you see a so that, you need to know that.

Because so that means he told you one thing so you can know the next thing.

He told you one thing is true so that you can receive the next thing.

To equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up, that's us, all of us together, the body of Christ,

 may be built up until we all, every single one of us, front to the back, even Winston in the sound booth, all of us, all of us may be built up until we reach such a unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining, listen to this, attaining a good measure of the fullness of Christ.

Sorry, hold on a second.

Attaining a little bit of Christ.

No, no, it says, listen to this, listen to how, listen to the hyperbole.

It's not just in my friends that were saying they were born again.

 It's in the Bible.

Attaining the whole measure, complete, of the fullness.

It's like, it's redundant.

Why did you say whole and fullness?

Because it's just so.

 It's so overflowing.

Attending the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, verse 14.

Then we no longer will be infants tossed back and forth by the waves of CNN and Fox News and blown here and there by Facebook and Instagram and by every word of teaching and by the reels that we see on Sundays and the reels that we see on Mondays and by the cunning and craftiness of people and their deceitful scheming.

Instead, instead, speaking the truth in love.

 We will grow and become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head.

That is Christ.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.

Ephesians 4.

 chapter 4, verse 1.

Let me just say it to you again because it's right here.

It says, as a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you've received.

Paul doesn't say that one time.

He doesn't say that two times.

I think he says it five times in the New Testament.

I had them all listed.

I was going to read them all to you, but I thought I'll just...

 Calm down a little bit, and I'll just read one of them to you.

Colossians chapter 1, he says it again.

In Colossians 1, he says, We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that, and it says so that, you need to know that, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord.

Why is he doing all this?

Why is God giving us his word?

Why is he giving us his Spirit?

Why is he giving us community?

Why is he putting us in the body of Christ?

So that.

 So that you can live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.

It's beautiful.

He's giving us a little bit of a picture.

What does a life worthy look like?

He's like all the whole measure of the fullness of God.

It's unbelievable.

And we go, well, what does that mean?

I don't know.

And if someone tells you they know, just say, no, you don't.

 Because no one has any idea what the whole measure of the fullness of God looks like.

No one.

In the Old Testament, when that would get revealed, people freaked out.

When Moses said, can I see you?

He's like, if you see me, you'll die.

I don't even know what that means.

God wasn't playing hide and seek.

He was going, I'm so awesome in my revelation that you can't handle it.

So if someone says, I get it, you don't go, no, you don't.

 So you need to know this.

You need to know that no matter what you think about God, you still only have pieces of the picture of how he feels about you, what he has for you, what your life should look like.

You've only got little pieces.

So don't think I got it all, but you've got hints.

You've got clues.

You guys live in California.

This is God's country except for the politics.

Yeah.

 And I'm not, I'm just teasing you.

I'm from Georgia.

Everyone is like, left coast California.

I'm like, have you seen the ocean?

It's pretty awesome.

I don't really care what the taxes are like.

I'm just visiting.

I'm in.

Like, I don't know what the school systems are like, but the mountains are amazing.

I go to San Diego.

I go to L.A.

I go to wherever.

It's unbelievable.

I go to San Ynez, and it's amazing.

Have you seen the sunset?

Yeah.

 Not like just where the sun's going down.

When the color changes to every hue that you can conceive of.

When the clouds are just perfect so that there's variations and striations.

And maybe you get some of those ones, remember, where they're wispy?

And it's just, it's unbelievable.

That's not the whole measure of the fullness of God.

But man, it sure is a good hint.

Have you seen like a platypus?

Up close?

 They look like a duck and they've got, it's really strange.

Have you seen every color of every flower?

God didn't just create red or yellow or white.

He created an unbelievable.

Have you seen a zebra with the black and the white?

And there's one other one where the legs are like backwards and there's all kinds of varieties of animals.

It's so crazy.

Have you...

 Have you had carrot cake?

It's crazy good.

Like, crazy.

I mean, I know you're probably like, I haven't had carrot cake.

My wife gets Duncan Hines.

No.

Like a real, like, chef-inspired, like, bakery carrot cake.

Unbelievable.

It's got carrots.

You can eat as much as you want.

It's so good.

 And you're good with all of that.

You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I get it.

Maybe you're not a carrot cake fan.

Maybe you're a more rice cream person.

Great.

Maybe you're a dark chocolate coffee lover.

You guys have the best coffee here.

You don't appreciate it.

It's so good.

But you go look at all those things.

You're like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And somebody goes up, man, there's going to be a crazy sunset tonight.

You're like, yeah, we got to go see it.

People travel across the country to see what you guys get to see every day.

It's unbelievable.

It's unbelievable.

 In Atlanta, there's trees everywhere.

We live in a rainforest.

You can't see more than like 10 feet.

So you really don't get good sunsets and sunrises.

Occasionally you do, most of the time you don't.

People go forever to see that stuff.

But here's what I need you to know before we step in.

I'm going way too long on this beginning part.

I just, I need you to know.

The sunset, it's true.

It's not the full measure, but it's a pointer.

 The cool flowers and cool animals that you go, how did God do that?

Like, what was he thinking?

It's crazy.

He could have just given us, like, daffodils and been like, hey, you only get one.

I'm not making any more.

I already made the platypus thing, and that was about the limit of my creativity.

And he made all this stuff.

But listen, this is what you need to know.

In Ephesians, and also really in Genesis, but it's a little bit different there.

In Ephesians, he says, you are my masterpiece.

You.

You.

 You're my masterpiece.

I know you take awe at the sunset because you don't get to see it that often and you see each other every day.

But you are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

You are the son and daughter of God.

You are.

Now listen, you probably don't believe that.

Not like you believe it here, but you don't believe it in your gut because you know all your stuff.

But the Bible says that's who you are.

 C.S.

Lewis, one of my favorite authors, he said, if you were to really understand the glory of the person that's sitting next to you, if you knew what they were going to look like on the other side of heaven, he says you'd be severely tempted to worship them.

Because the splendor of the person that God calls masterpiece goes far beyond any carrot cake, far beyond any sunset or sunrise, far beyond any snow-capped mountains.

 Far be it, anything you can imagine, but we just are so used to the idea.

I want to break that off for you today.

Because God has more for you than you can imagine.

I know you've been going to church.

I know you're a good person.

I know you took communion.

I know, I get it.

You've got like, but I've been saved.

 Salvation is the starting line, not the finish line.

Salvation is when you finally got an idea.

Wait a minute, I've only got three pieces.

Wait, wait, there's a whole picture?

And listen, if you're not in awe every day, if you're not thinking, I've been in school since COVID.

I've been getting my master's degree in theology for four years.

And I went because I'm a CPA and I wanted to find the answers.

 What I learned is I didn't find the answers.

I just got a broader view of the questions.

I was looking like this at God, and now I'm looking like this at God.

I don't have any more answers.

I've actually just got a massive, more deep appreciation for the mystery of his awesome nature.

 It's unbelievable.

And he loves me.

It doesn't make any sense.

Like, I know me.

I'm not that great.

My deodorant isn't going to make it through the service.

So afterwards, if you want to say congratulations, just do it from there.

Because you don't want to smell what's happening under here.

I'm too stupidly human to warrant all of that.

I don't have Dylan's hair.

I don't have the beard.

I don't have the mustache.

I'm not like Steve.

Steve is like, he does this, and it's like bulging out of his shirt.

Right?

 Amy is just in awe of her husband.

But, you know, that's why I can't even go to Nashville.

I can't even be over there because he's just so ripped.

I mean, he doesn't have the testosterone visceral, you know, of a Brian or a Dylan.

But Steve, man, you got, whew, he's pretty impressive.

I don't have any hair on my chest at all.

Not any.

Maybe a wispy.

It makes it worse.

Yeah, Sonny's like, don't tell everyone.

No, it's true.

It's just, it's crazy.

 Because God still loves me.

He still desires.

 relationship with me.

And you go, oh, that's kind of goofy.

You're being self-effacing.

Yeah, but you know you feel like that on the inside too.

You know you've got those same tendencies.

We've got to overcome whatever it is that's our stuff.

Like everyone has insecurities.

All my best traits are great.

But you see those maybe on the outside, but I see all the inside.

And I know my internal voices.

I know what they're saying to me when I get done preaching a message, whether it's good or bad.

I know what they're going to say.

 So I've got to keep all that in check and understand instead, Paul always says, lift up your eyes.

Take your eyes off your own situation and lift up your eyes instead to see what he thinks about you, what he calls you to be, the identity he's placed on you because that's where you need to place your hope.

So what does this life worthy look like?

It looks like an abundant life.

A life worthy looks like an abundant life.

And it's not just my idea, it's the reality.

And the best expression I have of this

 is John 10.10.

John 10.10 says this.

Jesus says, the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.

I have come that, there's no so that, but there's just good.

I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.

 He came to save you?

Yes.

He came that you may be justified using a theological word?

Yes.

He came that you might have his word and you might cherish it and grow in spiritual knowledge and wisdom?

Yes.

But those are details.

The truth is he came so that all those things would lead to life to the full.

He came so you could pray?

Yeah.

But you don't pray to pray.

Come on.

 You don't pray so that I can go, I'm a good prayer.

No, it doesn't matter if you're a good prayer.

You pray to build a relationship with God.

You pray to cast your cares upon him and then see the testimony that comes back.

You pray to give him all of your hopes, all of your dreams, all of your anger, all of your joy, all of your celebration, to give him all of that and then recognize what he does with it is clean out your heart.

 You don't pray so that you can say, I'm a good prayer.

You pray so that you build a relationship with God.

I've been married for 27 years, and my goal is that 28 will be better than all 27 before that because I know that my relationship with my wife can be amazing.

But I've got to spend time with it.

If I wake up in the morning and go, I mean, I wake up next to the girl, but I don't talk to her, then your 28 is not going to be awesome.

You don't have to guess.

I love my wife, but if I don't talk to her, the marriage isn't going to do well.

 If you love God, but you don't talk to him, what's the relationship going to be like?

Now, you may not hear anything audible back, but you're going to know.

If you develop a prayer life, you're not going to be good at it at first.

You're not good at anything at first.

Anybody have teenagers you teach them to drive?

They're miserable at first.

You're in fear for your life at first.

But occasionally, eventually, they learn how.

Like Winston can talk great.

Talk to him after service.

Be like, hey, Winston, how are you doing?

He can talk amazingly.

When I met Winston for the first time, he couldn't say a word.

 He had no idea how, but he learned.

Was he great at it at first?

He wasn't great at it at first.

No one is.

But we go, oh, but when we pray, we should be awesome right away.

No, you shouldn't.

Why?

Because you've never done it before.

It takes you a while.

It takes a lot of practice.

I still talk too fast.

I've been talking for 40, 50 years, and I still talk too fast.

My wife says, slow down, second service.

I don't know how.

I'm working on it.

 You're not going to be great praying the first time.

We don't read our Bible so we can say, I've read the whole Bible.

I've read my Bible in a year for 30 years in a row.

I mean, amazing.

But unless it got you to full life.

 Unless the fruit of reading it developed a change in you and understanding you to go, now I understand who God is and what he has for me.

Unless you can go, yeah, I know what a puzzle is supposed to look like.

I've got a good idea of what this looks like.

That's why we do it.

Because he's got a full life for us.

And that's how I need you to think today because this is what the writer of The Little Prince says.

I love this quote.

His name is unpronounceable.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

But he said, if you want to build a ship,

 Don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders.

Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.

Then they'll build a ship on their own.

If you want to tell people about Christ or you want to follow him yourself or you want to live a life that's so rich in fullness that people, because it was what Peter said, people said, be ready for, Peter said, be ready for when people ask you about the hope that you have.

Yeah.

 And it wasn't because Peter's people were going to be preaching it.

It's because they were going to be so changed by the gospel.

They're going to be people of peace and hope and life.

The people would say, what is it that's different about you?

If you want that, don't go, I need to pray more.

I need to read more.

I need to be in fellowship more.

I need to serve on more teams.

I need to go to connect group.

I need to do all the stuff.

I need to tithe more.

 Tithe to tithe.

Tithe to give all of your trust to God in the most difficult place to surrender it.

It's easy to say I'm going to surrender my prayers because you've got extra words at the end of the day.

But to surrender my first 10% of my finances takes faith.

But I've discovered for 27 years I can't out give God.

 We give way over 10%, we give way over 15%, we give over 20%, and it's still coming.

And I don't tell you that to be impressed by me.

I tell you that because everywhere I go, when I give God, I believe in him, and then faith isn't just believing in him.

Again, the devil believes in him.

Faith is going, I believe in you, and I'm also going to rely, place my life, place my finances, place my marriage, place my kids in your hands.

 Even when I can't see what's possible, I'm going to trust you anyway.

I need to give you a longing for the vast and endless sea that is the richness of the life that's on offer for you.

That's what I want you to have.

C.S.

Lewis says it this way.

This is the last quote.

He says, we're half-hearted creatures.

This was written in the 1950s.

How right is this?

Fooling about with drink and sex and ambition.

I mean, you live in L.A.

Those are the three markers of every unsaved heart.

 sex, alcohol, ambition.

When infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he can't imagine what's meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea, we are far too easily pleased.

Well, we're in cathedral.

We got a good church.

We got good friends.

We got good people around us.

We sing good songs.

Like,

 We have good dinner parties and I have a pretty good life.

I get to live in L.A.

The sun shines like 99% of the time.

I was here once and it rained.

It was like the flood.

It was crazy.

You have a whole river named after the drainage.

It's nuts.

But for the most part, it's unbelievable.

I'm in such a good space.

But listen, this is what C.S.

Lewis is saying and it's absolutely true.

You and I, we settled.

 God's the God of all the universe, and he's your father, not what we call him, what he calls us, his sons and daughters.

And if he's your father, like, how much should we be expecting?

Not just good services and nice messages and good friendships.

We should be expecting total transformation of life, total transformation of character, total transformation of person.

 Before I go any further, I want you to feel that.

I want you to see that.

I want you to understand that because I want you to seek that.

I don't want you to stop short of seeking it.

Ephesians 4, 11, and 12.

I'm going to teach you how to get there, okay?

Because the abundant life is built in community.

That's my last point.

 The abundant life is built in community.

Ephesians 4, verses 11 and 12.

It says this.

So Christ gave himself.

Christ himself gave.

So Christ gave us gifts.

 He gave us the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers to equip his people for works of service so that, when it says so that, you need to know that, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Why did God give us these gifts, which are just positions in the church?

Don't look for business cards.

Don't look for titles.

Just look for what these people are meant to do.

An apostle leads a prophet.

 encourages with words from the Holy Spirit.

An evangelist expounds the gospel, gives you the best picture of what this looks like so you'll respond.

The pastors, the real word there is shepherds.

It's the only place in the New Testament that says pastors.

Everywhere else it says shepherds.

Shepherds, they take you from where you are to where you need to go.

They guide you through.

And teachers, well, I think you know what those are.

To equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ, that's you, that's me, may be built up.

 He gave us all these gifts so that the community and the gifts are all in the community.

You don't need to say, I'm not a prophet.

No, no.

When you say to someone with encouragement, God loves you, that's a prophetic word.

That's a truth about God and their situation that they may not know.

And because God's revealed it to you, you're revealing it to them.

Now, you may not call yourself a prophet.

I hope that you don't.

You may not have a business card that says prophet.

I hope that you don't.

But it doesn't mean you don't prophesy.

 You might consider yourself a teacher.

You got the best teacher, I think, on the planet here with Jake.

Pastor Jake, we have him every year in our church.

He's doing our summer conference, as are Amanda and David.

You guys are amazing.

And then Elijah's coming later in the summer.

All your people are the best.

He's an amazing teacher.

You may go, I can't do that.

It's not what it's about.

Volunteer for a kid's church and just say, Jesus loves you.

This I know for the Bible tells me so.

And you're teaching.

 Just explain to someone what John 3.16 or Colossians 3.16, there's a lot of good 3.16s out there, what they say.

And you're a teacher.

In different situations, you probably have all these hats.

And they're all done so that you, the people next to you, the people in your circle, your spouse, your kids can be built up.

That's how we get there.

We get in community with those people which are all around.

Every one of you, I guarantee you, if you don't have one of these, you've got another one.

Now, my spiritual gift...

 I just want to get you guys ready for the altar call.

My spiritual gift is administration.

So when I do the altar call, if you want to receive the gifts of administration, please come forward.

I want you to respond.

Now, I know it seems too aspirational.

It seems like it's impossible.

Dylan's like, I'm a music director.

I'm a drummer.

I'm a bass player.

I can do video.

I can do audio.

I can do lighting.

I can do all that.

But administration is not really my thing.

Man, I've got good news.

Today is your day, Dylan.

We're going to have an altar call later.

 No one ever in the history of Christianity has an altar call for the spiritual gift.

It's enumerated in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

No one's ever done an altar call for the gifts of administration because no one comes up.

They're like, I didn't want it.

God gave it to me.

I guess it's good because it's a gift from God, so it's got to be good.

I just need a revelation because no one values it.

No one's excited about it.

No one, when they say, I'm a prophet, they're like, I'm an administrator.

No one gets excited about it.

 But we need the community because here's the thing.

You've got the gifts.

You've got the image.

You've got the picture, right?

And you've got some pieces in your hand and you're excited about it.

You're like, okay.

 I don't understand all the scriptures yet.

I don't understand all that God's got for me yet, but I think I'm going to put this thing together.

I know how my mom taught me.

Like, you get the edge pieces first, and you get the whole edge out there, and then you can fill in the middle, and it's good.

And I've got the picture.

I mean, I don't have a full understanding, but I've got a pretty good idea what it's going to look like.

So I think I could find a couple more pieces if I just start to pray.

And then you go to work the next day, and you go to the doctor the next day, and you talk to your wife that day.

You have a little bit of a fight, and...

 You thought that you'd be able to put the pieces together, but has your life ever exploded?

I mean, if it's only exploded once, way to go, you're living a blessed life.

Just when I was 15, it exploded like 19 times.

 Like, if you've ever been a teenager, that's just the way teenagers work, right?

And here's the problem.

It was one thing when I was going to put it on my kitchen counter, and then I got a... This is a really nice puzzle.

They actually gave me another high-def picture so I can put it, like, on my wall in my room and go, like, that's how you do a puzzle, right?

You look at the picture, you look at the puzzle.

You look at the picture, you look at the puzzle.

You look at the gospel, you look at the possibilities.

You look at the gospel, you look at the possibilities.

I know the picture, and I've got a piece, and so let me just see where this goes in here, because I think...

 The problem is it probably doesn't join up to any of your existing pieces.

That's one problem.

Another problem is they're all over the place.

And honestly, I saw some people taking them home in the first service.

Because here's the thing is, you know what the picture looks like, but there's pieces you don't even know you have because Pastor Jake's probably got them.

Or Dylan's got them.

No, no, seriously.

You don't have everything you need for full life in Jesus.

You don't.

 except that you're surrounded by the body of Christ.

It's not just my idea.

It's what the Bible will tell you.

It's through the body of Christ we're all built up.

It's not by myself.

There's nowhere in here it says, just be by yourself and you're going to be good.

Proverbs 27, 17 says, as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

It doesn't say, so one person sharpens himself.

 1 Corinthians 21, 12, after Paul says that we're the body of Christ, he says, the eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you.

The head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you.

You may be an eye, and an eye is like a drummer.

Like the whole body doesn't work without an eye.

The whole band doesn't work without a drummer.

Like no one enjoys the song unless the drummer is on beat.

If the drummer's off, everyone's off.

If the eye is off, your whole world's off.

It's hard.

It's a hard life without eyes.

But

 But the eye can't say to the feet, which are like administration.

No one loves the feet.

They get you everywhere you go and all you can say is, man, my feet hurt.

Like, dude, because I've been doing, the eye just sits there and looks.

I've been doing all the freaking work.

The head can't say to the feet, I don't need you.

You can't say to the person next to you, I don't need you.

Because maybe in the moment, I'm telling you to have pieces of your puzzle and you may have an idea of what the picture looks like.

But I'm telling you, for some of you, James Crocker has a better idea of what your picture looks like than you do.

 And the person in the back you had coffee with this week that you just met, I guarantee they probably got a revelation about joy that you don't have yet.

And you'll never even know what it looks like.

You'll miss that piece of the picture.

Unless you have coffee with them and start talking to them, get to know them, and they'll realize they've got a revelation of joy that is beyond yours.

They can tell you a little bit more about what the picture looks like.

They'll give you a sharper definition.

But like, you know, Sarah's going to take some pieces home with her.

Unless you have coffee with Sarah...

 You're not going to get them.

Even once I get it 30% put together, 50% put together, I'm still not going to know what pieces I'm missing.

Have you ever done a puzzle, you get to the end, and you're missing a piece?

It's bad.

Do any of you remember VCRs?

VCRs?

And now you just binge any show you want.

You pause, you get a drink, you do whatever you want.

Watch the whole season at one time.

Before, when I was growing up, you had a VCR, a video cassette recorder,

 Like they played the episode one time and if you missed it, you never got to see it.

And so everyone had this happen to them.

They played, they watched the whole thing, season finale, here we go.

And the VCR would stop recording at like the last scene.

And it would just suddenly cut off.

What the heck happened?

But you never got to see it.

You don't even know what pieces you're missing.

But people here have the piece you've been looking for.

You ever put together a puzzle and you look for the same piece for like an hour and a half?

 I know there's a lot more pieces, but I want to find this piece.

And then your 12-year-old comes over and is like, boom.

Dink.

They put it in like, that was not fulfilling in any way.

This is what the Christian life looks like.

And it's difficult because we don't want to be vulnerable.

We don't want to show people our picture.

We don't want to be able to tell us that we're short and we don't see all the joy.

Galatians says if we'll be full of the Spirit,

 that will have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

I don't even want that one most days.

Self-control.

In a way that forms our life, we can't even imagine how peaceful, how joyful, how faithful,

 We can be, but if we'll allow these edges to get taken off, these shavings to get by a coffee or a lunch or a meal, you know, we go, I don't know, do you guys have connect groups?

You call them connect groups, small groups?

What are they called?

Neighborhood groups.

You're like, oh, they want me to join a neighborhood group.

Go.

 I've already like serving in three departments.

I already work in kids twice a month.

Like I'm reading my Bible.

I'm doing this stuff.

I listen to the messages.

I don't fall asleep.

Now they want me to join a neighborhood group.

No, no, it's not that.

It's not what we want from you.

It's what we want for you.

You're just not going to get discipleship in a group like this.

You need to be in a small intimate setting where people get to know you like you and they can speak into your world because that's how your life will get changed.

 Listen, Ephesians 4, 14 through 16, this is what it says.

It says there will no longer be infants.

We won't be tossing waves back and forth by the waves, by the news reports, by the Instagrams, by all that stuff.

They're tossing you.

You know they are.

You know those news reports are tossing you back and forth.

You know those social media is tossing you back and forth.

Instead, speaking the truth in love.

 Instead of doing all that stuff and getting distracted, we're hanging out, we're having coffee, and you're asking me this question.

I'm about to tell you to do this.

So just get ready.

Lock in for this part.

You're going to go to lunch in a minute?

Lock in right now.

This is the thing.

I need you to go to it.

You want to get better.

You want to get to full life in Jesus.

You want to get to where your life is changed because of your participation in this body.

I'm telling you, here's a key.

This will work every time.

It never doesn't work.

You'll find someone in the congregation that knows you really well.

 And you'll call them this week and you'll say, hey, can we have coffee next week?

Don't do it this week, do it next week.

Can we have coffee next week?

Sure.

Well, you just want to hang out?

No, I don't want to just hang out.

I want to ask you one question I want you to be thinking about between now and then.

I want you to answer honestly when we get there, even if it hurts my feelings.

I promise you I won't enter a relationship.

It probably needs to hurt my feelings because that's probably what I need to hear.

But this is what I'm going to ask you.

What one thing that if I changed it would be the biggest difference in my life?

 Do you have the courage to trust God that he's surrounded you with people that love you enough that you can be so vulnerable?

Don't ask just anybody.

If they don't have any standing in the church, if Pastor Jake and Nicole haven't expressed a trust in them, I would caution you.

You want to have people that the church trusts that have standing here.

Don't everyone ask Jake and Nicole.

If you're not on their core team, find somebody else because they're special about them.

But you know what I mean?

Like anybody.

 Nobody can do this, but maybe somebody you know well and has the capital in your life, the relational equity in your life to be able to say what needs to be said.

And listen, if you're thinking, I don't think I need to do that, do you know any friend that you have?

One.

Do you know one friend that you have that they ask you that question?

What one thing, if I change it today, would make the biggest difference in my life?

Do you know any friend that you go, yeah, nothing, dude.

You are phenomenal.

Like, flawless.

You don't.

 But with every friend you have, isn't there a part of you, if you think about it long enough, that wishes they would say to you, hey, what one thing?

Because you can see it.

You're not mad at them.

You're not upset by it.

In fact, you love them so much you're afraid to risk the relationship by telling them.

And, you know, five months ago, you know what Pastor Jake said to me?

No joke.

He said, dude, the jeans, they're a little too tight.

 He said, skinny jeans were out in like 2022.

It's 2024.

We're about to go into 2025.

Man, I need you to just hear me.

No, he really said it.

He was like, I need you to hear me.

More fabric on the jeans.

And check this out.

Check this out.

Can you see any definition in those calves?

 Yeah, when you're not wearing skinny jeans in L.A., like, you're like, that's not a big deal.

When you're wearing skinny jeans in L.A., they're like, oh, man, everyone's looking at me like, ooh, Nashville, I'm just telling you, you're the fashion, like, hipster capital of the world.

If you've got skinny jeans on, Pastor Jake.

And he's right.

Because his brother-in-law is in my church in Atlanta.

You know Greg Aleph?

He's in my church in Atlanta, his brother-in-law.

And I told Greg that.

And Greg's like, yeah, I told him that two years ago.

I told Jake that two years ago.

And Jake changed.

Now he's just passing on to you.

 It's the kingdom of God right there.

We're helping each other.

I could tell you deep, deep things, but I'm not going to because that's not appropriate.

But even silly things.

How I look matters.

I'm a pastor.

I go to church.

It makes a difference.

You matter to God.

He surrounded you with people that have the power to see parts of your picture that you can't see.

And they hold pieces of your puzzle that you don't even know exist either.

 They can change your world.

Now listen, it's not just one person.

James, Dylan, they don't have the answers for every person.

Ella doesn't have the answers for every person.

And I'm talking about same sex, okay?

Don't do this to people with the opposite sex unless there's a couple you're going to because you don't want to build emotional connections with the opposite sex.

It never ends well.

But hey, what one thing?

 that if I changed it, it'd be the biggest difference.

You should ask your boss that.

If you have an employer, you should say, hey, can we, don't say what one thing, just say what one thing in my workplace that if I changed in my job, it'd be the biggest difference in my review this year.

But one thing that if I change it, it would give me the biggest opportunity for advancement.

I'd ask him at least twice a year, at least.

Don't ask every week, don't be one of those guys like, hey, can you tell me one more thing I need to do?

Don't be like needy, weird guy.

 But find three to five people.

And, you know, that pretty much defines the amount of men or women that are going to be your neighborhood group.

Find three to five people and say, hey, over the course of a year, don't, like, be a masochist.

Don't ask them all in the same week.

But one thing.

I've noticed.

I said this to somebody in our core team the other day.

I said, you're amazing.

Like, I just, I can see you succeeding in every area.

I said, but when you pray, I can tell you're practicing.

 tell you haven't kind of you say i'm a lot you say god a lot god if you could only just god god just if you could just move in this place god just nothing wrong with that but you're on our senior team it's time to stop practicing like in front of everyone practice at home so when you come i'm gonna ask you to pray i need you to lead everyone

 You're amazing.

I could not tell you.

But I believe in you enough.

I believe that God's got a call in your life that's so big.

I need you.

You know what she said?

Thank you.

Teachable spirit.

Walk in.

I'm telling you.

Because God has more for you than you can imagine.

And if you'll just do this one thing.

I mean, the cost of discipleship is you've got to be vulnerable.

You've got to be ready to get your feelings hurt.

That happens.

The cost of non-discipleship.

 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.

The cost of non-discipleship is lack of peace, lack of joy, lack of kindness, lack of faithfulness.

Things none of us want.

 But I promise you, a discipleship journey isn't easy, but it's so worth it.

It's so fulfilling to be surrounded by people who speak into your world.

The cost of not engaging in discipleship is tragic.

Because I don't even know most of you, but you're here.

God arranged your whole life to get you in this service today.

Amen.

 He arranged for your preaching and worship and word so that you get a little bit closer to him today.

I mean, he organized your whole life to get to now.

He still believes in you.

He still knows what's possible with you.

Don't forget one more day.

Don't put it off one more day.

Engage today, this week.

Find somebody you trust.

Find somebody in the church you trust and ask them.

Can we have coffee?

I just want to ask you one question.

One thing.

 When someone asks you, you'll be like, ah, wow, thank you.

That's really nice of you to ask.

It's going to be tough.

Speaking the truth in love.

Man, I've always wanted to tell you.

I don't need a week.

I can tell you right now, brother.

 Speaking the truth in love.

Hey, I believe you're called to be a spiritual leader in this house.

And honestly, you're called to be a spiritual leader for me.

When you pray, it's like you're practicing.

I just think you could really work on that because I think there's power inside of you if you learn how to express it.

 I think you should go to Pastor Jake and ask him.

Go to Pastor Jake and ask him.

Go to somebody or maybe let me help you.

Let's pray together every week on the phone.

And let's just begin to talk to God like he's our friend because that's what he says he is.

He's our father.

That's what he says he is.

And let's just practice together getting to a place of prayer that is natural and powerful and effective because the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.

That's what we want.

 Let's close our eyes.

Let's ask God to do what only he can do because he's got the whole picture.

He knows what pieces we need.

Let's ask him because he's faithful.

I'm telling you, after 27 years of following him, he's faithful to exactly what he says he can do.

Father, I thank you so much.

 that you got us here today.

God, we're so grateful for what you've already done.

We don't even want to ask for anything else, but you've said, you said, don't be anxious about anything, but ask for everything.

Don't be worried, but come to me.

And so God, we're not worried about what our picture looks like, but we're asking you, would you reveal a little bit more to us?

 because we want all that you have for us.

You're giving us gifts, and we're missing them every single week, but you put prophets in this church that can encourage us.

You put shepherds in this church that can lead us.

You've put, God, apostles in this church that can break new ground for us.

God, you've put these people in our presence, so would you illuminate them for us?

Would you help us to have the courage to step out and ask, hey, what one thing could I do that would make a difference?

 whether you're in Nashville or whether you're in Highland Park, God, I thank you for every person hearing this message.

And I ask you, would you do what only you can do?

Help us to become the people in that picture.

Help us to find every piece.

Reveal to us the people we need to talk to, the questions we need to ask.

 the prayers we need to pray, so that, so that we can live that life and life more abundant.

Not because we're smart, not because we're strong, God, but because we're your children and because Jesus paid every price to get us entrance.

We ask in his mighty name, amen and amen.