Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: How's everyone doing?
[00:00:03] Speaker B: Good.
[00:00:03] Speaker A: I am so glad that I am in the house of the Lord with you guys today. I love being with you. My dad is on a well deserved vacation. Has he not been preaching some of the best sermons you have ever heard?
I'm going to be using some content from Priscilla Shire. I meant to bring the book. The book is called I Surrender.
[00:00:28] Speaker B: All highly recommend. But before we get started, let's pray.
I love you, Lord.
I love you.
I don't want to get up here and speak of things that don't touch our heart. I don't want it to be a waste of time, Father. So I ask that your spirit fills us.
That our hearts and minds are open.
That we won't just blindly be walking through life and trying to figure it out every which way. Father. But we will search for you.
We will walk in faith.
We will walk with intention in who you called us to be.
What it looks like to fully surrender, Father.
And I pray that you will use us to be a part of something good in this world.
I pray that you will use us to make our homes better, to make this church better, to make our workplace better.
I love you and I trust in you.
In your mighty son's name we pray. Amen.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: Years ago, my dad gave me the
[00:01:56] Speaker B: best piece of advice I had ever heard. And it radically changed my life.
But before we get to it, I have to kind of set the scene a little bit.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: I was a naive 20 year old and kind of lived in the assumption
[00:02:14] Speaker B: that marriage would fix the problem of
[00:02:18] Speaker A: dating any other naive 20 year olds that got married thinking if we get
[00:02:22] Speaker B: married, this is gonna fix some of the problem.
Okay, one. Thank you. Thank you.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: And so when I, Jacob and I got married, we were 20 years old and I just had romanticized it in my head. Do you know what? I'm just like. I pictured us dancing in the kitchen and him dipping me and kissing me. And I imagined it so beautifully. And then I imagined our babies would just all fall into the row and the little ducklings that follow behind you and not realizing that they would have their own personalities, you know, and their own desires and their own things. And so when I was young and we got married, our life, I wish I could say, man, were we intentional. We planned every pregnancy.
We thought about our five year goals and we were so smart with money and life was good.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: But I found myself in a totally different reality.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Any amens?
[00:03:25] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: I found myself in a reality where we were struggling.
We were struggling because we were 23. We had a mortgage. We had three kids. And that alone is crazy because most people are graduating college and figuring themselves out. And now we have a whole crew that's depending on us to know we've got our stuff together. And we didn't. And our marriage was struggling. I love that man.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: Oh, I love him.
But we struggled.
Our finances were a mess. We were struggling, struggling, struggling.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: We were in debt.
[00:04:04] Speaker B: And I remember thinking, man, if we could just get a fresh start.
And in my head, like, a fresh start meant like, let's get out of this neighborhood, let's move to a different house, let's just get a fresh start. Because again, I was thinking, if I
[00:04:18] Speaker A: could just do something new, maybe my problems would get better.
And I remember going to my dad at this time and talking to him
[00:04:26] Speaker B: and giving him my plan, you know, my well laid out 15 minute plan.
Very little thought. It was just get me out of here and pray to Jesus something better happens.
[00:04:39] Speaker A: And I remember going to him and
[00:04:41] Speaker B: saying, you know, our finances are a mess and our relationship. And he knows because he was Jake's mentor for most of his adult life.
And the advice my dad gave.
He calls me Sari, Sari Lee Botts on good days.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: You know, he's happy when he's calling
[00:04:58] Speaker B: me Sari Lee Botts, but he calls me Sari. And he has this way of getting gentle, this way of looking at you with intention.
And he said, sari, we don't run away from something because where you go, there you are.
He said, instead, we run toward what we really want.
We don't run away from something. And I think for too many of
[00:05:31] Speaker A: us that there are problems that we
[00:05:33] Speaker B: sweep under the rug.
[00:05:35] Speaker A: For too many of us, our life
[00:05:37] Speaker B: is struggling, and instead of hitting it head on, we run or we don't confront.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: And the problem that I wanted to
[00:05:45] Speaker B: do was I wanted to change my
[00:05:46] Speaker A: zip code, thinking my problems would come, you know, be better.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: But where you go, there you are.
Everyone know that feeling.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: What he was saying is, listen, I understand you're struggling. I know that there is a reality that things are hard, babe, but we
[00:06:07] Speaker B: don't run from it.
Instead, we get really intentional and we say, what do I really, really desire for my life?
What do I really desire?
[00:06:21] Speaker A: And see, a new house would be good. We had outgrown our little house. But what I desired was something more.
What I desired was a strong marriage
[00:06:32] Speaker B: that was loving and forgiving and safe.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: What I desired was finances that didn't cripple me every single time we got Paid and figuring out how we're gonna get groceries and living in debt and
[00:06:44] Speaker B: paycheck to paycheck to paycheck.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: I desired stability.
What I desired was to live a life connected to God.
And then he gave me some questions that I wanna give you today. Because when I sat down with these
[00:07:00] Speaker B: and got intentional about these questions, my life started to change.
He said to me, who is Christ to you?
Who is Christ to you?
And I didn't know it at the time, but he was asking a question that was one of the most poignant,
[00:07:29] Speaker A: most intentional, most powerful questions that Jesus
[00:07:34] Speaker B: Christ asks in the New Testament.
In Luke chapter nine, there is this,
[00:07:40] Speaker A: this moment when the disciples are together
[00:07:43] Speaker B: and they had been serving and they had been, they had been going after Jesus. But there is a moment that Jesus gets very intentional with his question and
[00:07:56] Speaker A: church, he's not just asking the disciples,
[00:07:58] Speaker B: but he's asking you and I.
[00:08:00] Speaker A: Today Jesus looked at his 12 guys
[00:08:03] Speaker B: and he said, who do you say that I am?
Who do you say that I am?
[00:08:14] Speaker A: You see, they had just got done feeding thousands and everywhere that Jesus went, crowds would follow and people would gather and they were, they were coming because they had heard of something of Jesus. And, and time after time, Jesus met their needs and he.
[00:08:28] Speaker B: He healed and, and he would do these miracles.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: But people had wrong ideas of who he was.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: And Jesus said, who do you say that I am?
In my 20s, I had to get real with that question because it couldn't be my parents faith, it couldn't just be because I grew up in this tradition. So I'm gonna live in this tradition.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: It had to be that there are
[00:09:00] Speaker B: questions inside of my soul and my
[00:09:02] Speaker A: mind and I want them answered for myself. I wanna dig in and say, who do I say that he is?
So many people say he was a good man that lived long ago. But man, church, if he's just a good man that lived long ago, I don't wanna surrender. All people will say he was a prophet. And they would say different things. And I just. There is a reality in our life that if we are going to live and follow and surrender and change our whole compass and reorient our lives around who he is, then we got to
[00:09:43] Speaker B: start digging into the identity Jesus Christ.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: And the reason this question is so important is because just a couple verses later, in Luke 23, 9, 23, we
[00:09:57] Speaker B: see that Jesus tells his followers and he invites them in to what true discipleship looks like.
[00:10:09] Speaker A: He invites them in and he said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny Himself take up his cross
[00:10:18] Speaker B: daily and follow me.
Keep going. I don't have it memorized.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my
[00:10:29] Speaker B: sake will save it.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and
[00:10:37] Speaker B: loses or forfeits his himself?
Do you hear the weightiness of this call?
[00:10:44] Speaker A: Do you see why identity has to come first? That Jesus Christ is saying, who do
[00:10:49] Speaker B: you say I am?
[00:10:50] Speaker A: Because if you believe that I am who I say that I am, that I've redeemed you, that I've saved you, that I have a plan and a purpose for your life, that then how we live should flow from that.
But he uses words like lose and deny and cross and follow me.
He uses words that have weight and gravity.
And when we're thinking about, who do you say that I am? There's a reality in our life that we have to believe it with every fiber of our being.
When we get intentional about who Jesus is in our life and we want to follow him heart, mind, body and soul, then we have to get intentional
[00:11:43] Speaker B: about who he is in our life.
I think about the book of Luke and it's really cool.
Because when you study the book of Luke and you see that Luke has a purpose for writing this book, you see that in Luke chapter one, he's talking to either a group of people or a man named Theophilus. And he says, I want you to be certain.
And so Luke organizes this book.
He organizes this book in with eyewitness accounts. What did that knew and walked with Jesus?
[00:12:26] Speaker A: What did they experience?
[00:12:27] Speaker B: What did they see?
[00:12:30] Speaker A: And Jesus, this buildup of this question, who do you say that I am in 9? It's all that comes before it. He is showing that he has authority and power.
He is showing that he's not just any other man, but that he is the Messiah that came, that he is Christ the Lord.
And we see this buildup, and it's super powerful when you look at it. Because in Luke chapter one, we get this beautiful.
This beautiful, overwhelming reality that Christ is not just any other baby, that there was divine power and wisdom in his
[00:13:14] Speaker B: birth and his conception.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: We see that the day, night that he was born, that the sky lights up and heaven touches earth and the angels fill the sky and they start
[00:13:29] Speaker B: glorifying God because Christ the Savior has been born.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: We see in Luke chapter two that he wasn't just any other rugrat kid running around playing games, but when his mom and dad were looking for him and they had looked everywhere for three days, they find him in the temple.
[00:13:49] Speaker B: And he says, why would you be looking for me? Don't you know that I would be in my Father's house?
And he was about his Father's business.
[00:13:59] Speaker A: In Luke 3, we see this moment of baptism where Jesus gets in the water and again heaven splits open and the Spirit of God descends like a dove. And you hear the voice of the
[00:14:14] Speaker B: Father saying, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
All throughout these Scriptures, it's building and it's building and it's showing you that
[00:14:26] Speaker A: he is who he said he was.
Luke 4 We get this beautiful idea that he's not just any other religious
[00:14:34] Speaker B: leader who knew the law, that he
[00:14:38] Speaker A: was the fulfillment of the law, that he came to proclaim the good news, that he redeems us. And he brings liberty to the captives
[00:14:48] Speaker B: and gives sight to the blind and freedom to the oppressed.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: That in the name of Jesus, demons flee back to hell with power and authority.
[00:15:00] Speaker B: He speaks.
[00:15:02] Speaker A: He spoke in a way that people had never heard anybody speak.
[00:15:08] Speaker B: No Pharisee, no Sadducee, no religious leader.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: He spoke with such authority that people
[00:15:15] Speaker B: would come from all over that if
[00:15:18] Speaker A: they didn't know exactly who he was or what was going on, that there was a reality that when Jesus was around, lives who were would change, that sins were forgiven, the blind received their sight, the lame walked and lepers are cleansed. The deaf can hear that just even
[00:15:38] Speaker B: at his words, the raging storm would still.
In eight, we see that when all hope is gone and a father's little girl is dying, and he has tried everything.
But Jesus, the Christ of glory, shows up and he gives hope where there is none, that he raises her from the dead. We see this woman with this issue,
[00:16:11] Speaker A: and she's trying to push through the crowd just to get in proximity of Jesus. Because she knows if she can just touch that cloak, not even him Church, just the hem of his cloak, if
[00:16:24] Speaker B: she can just get close enough that everything would change.
You see, when Jacob and I got down to business, we had to say, is Jesus really the priority of our life? Is he the center?
[00:16:41] Speaker A: Do we believe who he says he is?
Do we believe that he is worthy of everything?
Not just when we have good days, not just when we really, really, really
[00:16:54] Speaker B: need help, but he is worthy to
[00:16:56] Speaker A: reorient our life, that he is worthy to restructure and rethink and start getting intentional about our future and how we move forward.
[00:17:07] Speaker B: Is he worthy?
And Jacob and I came with the conclusion that he is worthy.
He Is worthy of everything.
And we found mentors in this church to get around us, to start helping take us through books, Give us good ideas, give us anything you can give us that's good. We will take it.
We start getting intentional.
And our marriage started to heal.
We took this debt that was crippling us.
And I got books like Dave Ramsey, the Baby Steps.
I got a book called Smart Couples finish Rich.
And we read the books together and we started applying the principles slowly and surely. Because it wasn't how much money we had, it was how we were using it.
There was no intention, there was no purpose.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: It was just whatever we want. We would grab it.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: We were broke. We'd put groceries on the credit card. We just. We didn't have any intention with our finances.
We started to say, okay, if God is who he says he is, then my life has to align in all arenas.
I don't think God wants us to be broke. I don't think he wants us to be struggling paycheck to paycheck and full feeling ill.
I think he wants us to get our finances in order so that we can thrive church.
I believe he wants to get us our finances in order so that we can live to the capacity that he's calling us to live.
[00:18:47] Speaker A: So we started saying, okay, what is this going to look like? And we, we would make a budget, A budget church.
As simple as a budget. We just had never had one before.
And we mentor a lot of couples, and a lot of couples do not have a budget.
And if you want true freedom, let me tell you, a budget is the ticket. Anyone on a budget say amen.
We got purposeful. And it wasn't just like we were going to give to God when the church special asked or we were going
[00:19:19] Speaker B: to give to God when we had extra bucks.
[00:19:21] Speaker A: We were going to give to God because we believed he was who he said he was.
We believed in the vision of this church.
We believe that when there are hungry people, they should be fed.
And we love that there are food banks that this church partners with. And then we have food distributions every single month in both of our campuses.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: At west and Old Brooklyn,
[00:19:51] Speaker A: we believe that kids that are hungry, they should have food on the weekends. And so we buy into the idea that I am giving to God, but I'm giving through the church because I
[00:20:01] Speaker B: believe what is being done.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: And kids get food because you guys take your time and you pack it. And we pack these bags and we drop them off at the school and then the school gives it to the kids.
[00:20:12] Speaker B: That need it the most.
We believed in the ministry being done here. Church.
We believed that when our kids went to whatever class they were in that the people loved them.
That there were young and old and men and women giving themselves away to them.
[00:20:36] Speaker A: My children came to faith not because
[00:20:37] Speaker B: we are awesome parents, but because teachers in the program taught them about the love of Jesus Christ in a way that they could feel it. And they accepted accepted Christ into their life, every single one of them.
I believed in the marriage ministries that helped us and I see this marriage ministry, they do these boosters every month. If you just, you're struggling and you just need help in your marriage, we
[00:21:06] Speaker A: have people here who are giving themselves away to teach you new tools. Church. If we knew how to fix it, we would.
Right? The problem is often we don't know how to fix it.
We got serious and I love the ministries. There's a men's ministry called the Forge. Is anyone in the forge?
Oh, I thought there would be like a manly roar with that like in my head. Yeah, I pictured like a woo hoo. Yeah. And it was like, hey, anyone in the Forge?
Okay, let's go. I love men that call out at their mom and strengthen them and call them to their best in Jesus Christ.
[00:21:47] Speaker B: And that's what the Forge does.
[00:21:49] Speaker A: At our next midweek, the Forge is going to be meeting and they're going to be doing baptisms in the pond and they're going to be raising the cross. So if you want to come be a part of that, make sure you
[00:21:57] Speaker B: come on September 16. The cross on the back hill.
[00:22:01] Speaker A: I believe in the ministry that God does in this church. I believe in our 20 somethings loving Jesus. And so because this has always been a hundred year vision, but if I'm honest, I think it's way, way more than 100 years.
[00:22:16] Speaker B: Church.
[00:22:17] Speaker A: It doesn't just stop with dad and his generation. My dad is Doc for those of
[00:22:21] Speaker B: you who don't know.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: Sometimes I call him dad and they're
[00:22:24] Speaker B: like, that is so weird.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: He is my dad.
I believe that their generation has done things that we couldn't dream or imagine. But we are not the next generation coming behind being like, thank you, we'll just skate on your coattails. No. We are a generation that is dreaming and planning and figuring out how to seek God in the kind of ways that we are intentional about where this church is going in the next 40 years.
We're seeking God and it's incredible. We just got done with our planning day.
[00:23:00] Speaker B: I'm so out of Breath.
We got a chair. Just kidding.
We just got done with our planning. There's a leadership team that plans.
There used to be a day when dad could do this alone, when he could lead and recruit all the leaders and get all the volunteers. But the church is so far past that.
You know what I'm saying?
We met four years ago as this team and we started saying, okay, what was the full vision of God for this church?
And it was a church of 3,000, Disciple 3000.
And it wasn't just 3,000 fans.
It wasn't just 3,000 people showing up, but it is to Disciple 3000.
It was 3,000 people that would say, I will deny myself.
And every day I'm going to say, it's not about what I really want, but it's about what does Christ want for me.
We want people who pick up their cross.
And every day you reiterate, you are the Lord and Savior of my life.
I believe you to be master. And so that's how I am going to act. That's how I'm going to live, that's how I'm going to exist and I'm going to die to self and I'm going to follow you.
This picture of follow, it is like quite literally what you think it's to walk behind someone and move in the way which they move.
What happens is the more I walk like Jesus, the more I fall in love with Jesus, the more I can
[00:24:44] Speaker A: wrestle with who do I see that he is.
[00:24:49] Speaker B: The more my heart is cultivated, the more my character begins to grow, the
[00:24:56] Speaker A: more that I think about the future of this church. And Jacob and I, we have gone fully in, we're fully committed that whatever
[00:25:05] Speaker B: God calls, we will do.
[00:25:07] Speaker A: And we've gone all in with the church and the vision and the hope and the future.
[00:25:11] Speaker B: But we also go all in with our family.
[00:25:14] Speaker A: We go all in for our kids. And what is God calling them to be? And how do we be the kind of parents that pull out the best
[00:25:21] Speaker B: in them, not scold them, belittle them or make them small, but call the best out in the character that he has given them.
[00:25:30] Speaker A: We've taught them all how to budget. I still have to work with my
[00:25:33] Speaker B: son a little bit, we'll be honest.
[00:25:36] Speaker A: But budgeting has been a big thing for our family because we don't want our kids to struggle like we did.
[00:25:41] Speaker B: Any amens in the room.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: We want them to have a mentality that there is intention in life. And when you get intentional, your life starts to make choices. That line up with what you want most in church if you don't have a budget.
We're doing a Dave Ramsey class.
[00:26:01] Speaker B: I don't see anyone in here, though, that would know when is the Dave Ramsey class.
[00:26:07] Speaker A: Yeah, it's not fair question. I'm sorry.
It starts in this month.
If you need more information, go online christchurchohio.org Peace University Financial Peace University is what it's called. And if you need help, I think if there's a cost to it and you can't afford it, you let me know. I will cover you. We will take care of you. Because I want this church to thrive in all arenas of your life.
I don't want this just to be like, oh, give so the church can have more money. No, I want this to be that we give because we are cultivating a God of generosity within us that when I give, I give to God through the church. But I also. There's a generosity in me. When I show up at the grocery store and I see a mom with her kids and the card is declined, I've had enough intentionality in my budget
[00:27:01] Speaker B: that I can scan and say, we got you.
[00:27:04] Speaker A: God's got you.
[00:27:11] Speaker B: I've been that mom.
And now I also get to be on the other side of it.
And I am telling you, church, if you want true joy and you want true happiness, it is not found in our stuff.
It is not found in what we can gather and accumulate.
It is found in looking at the eyes of that moment with tears in her eyes, saying, thank you.
There is a joy of intentional living that cultivates something in us because we're walking in step with Jesus.
I want to look at one more thing.
I was reading this little post
[00:28:03] Speaker A: and
[00:28:03] Speaker B: I want to read it to you.
Said, if someone followed you around all day, would they find Jesus?
Wrestle with it.
[00:28:18] Speaker A: If they didn't know Jesus and they
[00:28:20] Speaker B: followed you around all day, would they find him?
[00:28:24] Speaker A: Not your favorite preacher or not your
[00:28:26] Speaker B: favorite podcast, but would they find Jesus?
[00:28:32] Speaker A: What would they find in how you
[00:28:33] Speaker B: talked to people, how you treated people and what you posted?
Would your life lead them to Jesus?
If someone followed you from your kitchen to your job, to your phone screen to your prayer life, to your financial life?
Would they see someone who is just surviving?
Or would they see someone living on mission with intention?
Would they say, wow, they have a peace I don't have.
They've got a grace that I want.
There's something about them and their joy that feels different.
Or would they say, you are living just like everyone else here's the truth.
You might be the only Bible some people read.
So what story are they reading through your life?
Our life does not happen by accident.
Our life happens with deep intention.
The first question my dad asked is, who is Christ to you?
But there were more.
Can you pop him up for me? Dwight, what does he want for your life?
And here's the truth is this isn't a one time set of questions.
This is a question I have to keep going back to. Because when my kids were little, it was one way. And then when they were in high school, it was a different way. And now that they're all adults and married and out of the house, it's a different way.
Who is Christ to you?
What does he want for your life?
This week? If you just spent time on those two questions, who do you say that I am?
And then how does your life follow suit?
Should reflect who we are.
Before we were intentional, we were a disaster. And I think that's what you get, you know, we were just a disaster, but with intention and the goodness of God and making steps that moved us in the right direction.
Trusting and believing that God is who he said he is.
It helped us get through those moments.
It helped us to live a life surrendered.
And I think one of the realities is that you can know if you are fully following Christ by this.
If you hear his call, if you hear his whisper, how long does it take you to follow Him?
[00:31:52] Speaker A: How long do you hold on to whatever it is he's asking for?
[00:31:57] Speaker B: I have a silly illustration, but I
[00:32:01] Speaker A: was like 8 or 9 years old
[00:32:03] Speaker B: and I had gone to a friend's house.
[00:32:04] Speaker A: And going to friend's house back in the day was like, you played outside all day, you know what I'm saying?
They had a park in their backyard.
So I went over, we went to the park, we played all day. And then we had come in to get a snack and the mom was in the kitchen and she's like, have whatever you want.
And I don't remember exactly what the
[00:32:28] Speaker B: food was, but here's what I remember.
[00:32:30] Speaker A: Do you ever remember eating at a friend's house?
[00:32:36] Speaker B: Like their food wasn't like your food, you know what I'm saying?
[00:32:41] Speaker A: And dinner was always like, you're eight,
[00:32:45] Speaker B: you're nine, like, what are they gonna have for dinner?
And on this occasion, I remember she was making meatloaf.
Some of you love actually tastes like vomit to me.
[00:33:01] Speaker A: And so I remember she was making meatloaf and you could kind of smell it. But we were allowed to have a
[00:33:05] Speaker B: Snack, and I could have whatever I wanted.
[00:33:07] Speaker A: So the kids were, like, looking and rummaging, and I saw, like, Coca Cola
[00:33:11] Speaker B: in there, and I was like.
So I reached for the Coca Cola, and I remember the mom saying, no,
[00:33:16] Speaker A: no, no, no, that's Dad's.
[00:33:19] Speaker B: And she was probably trying to tell me, you can't have Coke. But she was like, no, that's Dad's Coca Cola.
[00:33:25] Speaker A: And so I remember they had, like.
[00:33:27] Speaker B: I don't remember if it was popcorn or graham crackers or something, but I was like, I'll take that.
[00:33:33] Speaker A: The kids were like, nope, nope, nope, that's Mom's.
[00:33:37] Speaker B: I was like, well, then what are we eating?
[00:33:39] Speaker A: Cause I cannot eat meatloaf, y'.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: All.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: You know what I'm saying?
And I remember there was this small little section of stuff that the kids
[00:33:47] Speaker B: could have, and it was like, nothing I wanted.
[00:33:51] Speaker A: And I think to myself that sometimes we do this with God in our heart.
We say, have whatever you want, but there are sections that are designated, no, no, no, no, no, no. That entertainment choice. We're not gonna touch that.
There are sections designated like, ooh, you can have whatever you want, but this relationship, off limits.
You can have whatever you want, but ooh, ooh, ooh, not this.
Not this thing, not this dream, not this hope, not this finance.
And we hold onto the bits and the pieces that we want to control.
[00:34:34] Speaker B: But I feel like today Christ is asking us, who do you say that I am?
Am I just a good teacher?
Or am I Lord and master of your life?
Because if he is Lord and master, the release, the surrender, it needs to happen.
If he is Lord and master, then you have to get intentional about how you live.
Let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, I declare that I have decided to follow Jesus heart, mind, body, and soul.
Father, I pray that we are a church
[00:35:24] Speaker A: that is not just a cool fan club that sits on the sidelines
[00:35:28] Speaker B: and cheers other people on.
[00:35:32] Speaker A: But I pray that we will get serious with the question, who do you
[00:35:36] Speaker B: say that I am?
[00:35:39] Speaker A: I pray that when we look at
[00:35:41] Speaker B: what discipleship looks like, Father, that it's different.
[00:35:45] Speaker A: It's not excess, and it's not comfort and it's not ease. But, Father, it is a life well lived. It is a life of simplicity and obedience and discipline and following you. And I pray that you will cultivate
[00:36:04] Speaker B: within us the desire that you are the center of our lives, that it's not just a list and you're at top, Father, but you are at the center that everything else orbits around you and what you're calling and how you're moving and what you want to do in us and through us. Father, will you be the center?
I love you.
I thank you.
In your mighty son's name we pray. Amen.
