What On Earth Am I Here For? Part 2: Worship God

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By Pastor Greg Byman
St Joe Community Church
April 29, 2018

​What on earth are you here for? What person are you to marry? Children to raise? Vocation to occupy? Mission to join? Whatever God may have in store for you, that calling will fall within the parameters that his word provides for all believers in Christ. This week, Pastor Greg Byman takes a look at Mark 12:29-30 and Romans 12:1 to study how God has ordered our worship of him to be the key to understanding his calling on our lives. Pastor Greg Byman delivered “What on Earth Am I Here For? Part 2 – Worship God” on April 29, 2018 at St. Joe Community Church. 

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So if you would turn to Mark Chapter twelve. The book in the New Testament Mark Chapter twelve and we're going to go there today we have started last Sunday a series called What on earth am I here for. And we are discussing what is my purpose why do I exist and how we shared last week is that God put a call on your life and my life before we were ever born he put a call on our life before we ever even knew that he who to call in our life. Before the foundation of the world I called you. And Jeremiah Jeremiah said you saw me in the woman before I was ever born you called me for a purpose or God God said that about Jeremiah I called you for a purpose. David King David the greatest king in Israel's history and their minds to ever live he was the greatest of the pinnacle of success the pinnacle of greatness the pinnacle of a man after God's own heart a human but yet a passionate follower of God the One True God It says that David fulfilled the purposes of God in his generation and then he died in other words he had a purpose for the time in which he was alive on this earth some of that he was a little boy's a shepherd in the middle of doing everything you had to do to keep those sheep from being killed by wild animals and being protected to being annoyed as a king secretly by Samuel. After he had gone through all the other brothers in the house he says Don't you have any other kids and is like well I got this little boy that's out in the with out in the fields with the sheep will well I'll wait awhile let's bring him in God just said Samuel That's the one the one that nobody else thought. Would actually be a king was the very person God chose for a purpose. As a song years ago they say when others see a shepherd boy God might see a king. When others see a drug addict God might see a fully redeemed servant of the Lord Jesus Christ who's making a difference in other people's lives when God might see when others might see a person who is homeless when God when other people might see a person who is just a little kid that is a slow learner in school when some might see this over active kid who's always in the hallway it's getting in trouble for just running his mouth forget all that's about me OK when others see an annoying person who's not yet been redeemed by the Blood of Jesus Christ. God may see that person God does see a person with purpose and meaning a person who will make a difference and hundreds of thousands of lives possible lives possibly it's said that even the most enter Berta person were probably affect fifteen to twenty thousand people in their life can you imagine that for you that would just be it would die a thousand deaths as they come on up here let's talk a little while in this interview with your life you couldn't do that now most of us could in a way because public speaking is right up there with I don't know running down town in your underwear I don't know I mean it's almost worse I don't know but but but but everybody like that you wouldn't do that and yet you the person that would not get in front of people you the person that wouldn't necessarily always initiate a conversation is a high and believe we've met the person I mean how many of you would actually get. An elevator at the hospital or anywhere and you say hi to the person and you say How you doing today and now how many of you would ask another question beyond Hi How are you doing and getting smaller and how many of you would make a comment that you saw what they're wearing you saw some and you had a comment to start up a conversation with them how many of you got some OK so about half of you the rest of your like I'm on the elevator to go to the third floor. And let the pastor tells me I have to talk to that person I'm not going to talk to him. Let's have a purpose involved I'm not going to do that see it doesn't matter whether you're enter verdant extraverted whether you're a person that that may have had trouble trying to figure it out maybe you're a late bloomer I don't know where you're at in life but God has a reason for you existing you're no accident if you're in Bible study with us through our what on earth am I here for Bible study Rick Warren said on the video there may be accidental parents but there are no accidental children. God has a purpose and I want to talk about that first purpose this morning and as I mentioned that Bible study I am with our group we're going to skip tonight and come to worship tonight but we're going to postpone it for a different time but. But we're going through that same study so if you hear something that I've heard we've heard and you hear something today that's similar to what there's nothing new under the sun so I'll give Rick Warren credit for something he may say but I betcha he got it from somewhere else too but anyway that's beside the point. I'm just trying to bring it together so that Sunday morning we can have a journey together that would kind of be encouraged in fostered Beyond this morning in your small group time and so I'm trying to tie those two together this this season these five weeks together so what on earth am I here for my first purpose is to worship God and that's what I want to talk about Smalling our first purpose in life is to be a worshipper of God and I put some verse some pictures up there some people and you hear worshipping God and and you see this guy up on the pinnacle is up there. You know this moment of life and time and of course you can't do that in Indiana at least northern Indiana because there's no such place that tall. You have to go in the middle of a flat land of farm field or something I don't know get up on the tower here at the summit building maybe to be tall enough and but the reality is some people think you have to climb a mountain you have to go a certain place it's a it's a location of what you're doing. I could have done a ton of pictures but but when you think of worshipping God what is what's in your picture of your mind what's what's in your thoughts about what does it mean to worship God Some people they have a picture of it of a church building this is a guy sitting there and he's in this big stately church building and you maybe you have a picture I'm worshipping God so I came to worship this morning at St Joe Community Church I'm here in the middle of a sanctuary we call a sanctuary the place that the meeting place to to meet with God We we want to find God and in a place and we come here on a Sunday it's a rhythm of my life to worship. God here in the church other people they see worship as is that it's a concert it's a gathering of people and and some of you may have been how many ever been to a worship conference or a recent concert or or Promise Keepers or something at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum or somewhere similar to that I mean it's a and it's an awesome moment of just a throng of people just worshipping and praising God together sometimes it's music you like sometimes music you don't like sometimes is a mixture of both there's sometimes preaching involved but there's just this big massive group of people just honoring and praising God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ and it's just as moments in the past worship all that's worship and then you have this little kid over here and he's just excited for Jesus you see him over there yeah you know in my work my idea of worship is the light in the Lord delight in the Lord have an enjoyable walk with God and whether it's on a on a boat a dock somewhere on a on a lake or whether it's out on a street corner whether it's walking your dog up and down the streets or wherever you are there's just a grin when it comes to thinking about that god walking with me and I'm walking with him and it's just a fresh day to know that I'm alive in Christ what a great day and then some of us we see worship is that kitten up on the top corner you're like oh my goodness what in the world is this great big book I can't even read and my grandma gave me this book to read. And it had and I don't even know what what it means and I hope I don't break it because it's pretty fragile and I am not sure of worship is something I'm even cut out for an even know what worship is I'm leaving get it trying to figure it out so this morning I want to unpack what worship really is I want you to think about where you come from. And what worship means to you and your own. Touch taste smell experience way of reading what you've learned your passions your heart desires the way in which you like but I want to not just think about those but I want to think about what is. God's words say about being a true worshipper of Jesus Christ what does it mean to worship God if that's something we're supposed to be doing then we need to be doing it. I want to turn to Mark Chapter twelve and I want to read for us the same thing that was in Matthew chapter twenty two both gospel writers goodnews writers recorded Jesus saying this and I'm just going to go up to verse twenty eight where it says one of the scribes approached and when he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well he asked him Which commandment is the most important of all and in verse twenty nine let's read that aloud together appear on the list up on the screen this is the most important Jesus answered Listen Israel the Lord our God The Lord is one love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and with all your strength and the next week as we move along we're going to talk about the second verse after that the Second Commandment is like it so he really answered as a two part question but he said the primary goal in life is to worship God to love God with all your heart soul strengthen mine mind and strength and so let's break that down when we are loving God with our heart we're loving him. When we're loving when we love God with all our heart soul mind and strength these are different parts of our life think about it with our heart we're loving him passionately with with with our person that with our passion of who we are are our heart conviction is that we're going to love God completely put Him first in our life and we're not going to put something else first you know how you measure somebody is worshipping God you look at their checkbook you look at their calendar you look at their credit card you look at their Google search. Whatever you're on what you're Google your internet history whatever your your time that you're spent and spending the most time that's your worship. The money that you spend on things if you're spending it more on everything else and not on what God has led you if you have everything under the control the Lauren you're still spending that's one thing but if you're just spending because you want to spend and you have got has no control on your finances then you're worshipping money you're worshipping the influence of money you're worshipping power you're worse a ping prestige you're still trying to be popular in front of people you're trying to live beyond your means the are worshipping your prideful life that people you want people to think better of you than you really are. Instead of just loving you for the real person that you actually are and that's a form of worship. And so we need to make sure that our heart is in check that we really are saying Jesus you're more Porton than I am God I want to make sure that you're number one. You heard me ask Michael a phrase and I'm going to repeat it in case you didn't hear it or you forgot it I said and Michael are you saying to us today that as best you know how you're giving your life to Jesus for him to do with as he pleases is that right and Michael said yes. And I often ask that question when I'm helping someone out I actually asked him that question in his home a couple months ago when we met for the first time to talk about spiritual things together privately. And that's just a gut check. Yeah I'm going to give him everything he's all mine I'm all his I'm all in both feet I don't have one foot here and one foot on the other side of the fence this is no fence there is no middle ground at all. You're there in or you're out. With all my soul and personality. The way I express my life I put it under control of Jesus I let God be in full control of my life I'm going to give my entire personality my quirkiness and all it's all his to do with as he pleases. Yes I have an introvert S. I'm an extrovert Yes I'm more this way I'm more that way I'm more Gabby I'm more quiet wherever you are whoever you are you're saying God you're in control of it some of you you're very orderly and careful in the what you do others you're just sort of like all over the place. And everywhere in between all the personality types you're saying whatever personality I am I'm going to take that personality thank you for it and love you completely through it in a way that honors and pleases you God with all my mind my thought life what I think about how I think the way you want me to think about things I thoughtfully and putting my faith in you God. We do not check our brain at the door when we put our faith in Jesus Christ some people they think that faith is just a blind leap into oblivion into darkness the reality is I think that whenever you don't have faith in God or you don't seriously consider the claims of Jesus Christ you're leaping into an oblivion of darkness that is so hard much harder to believe in than the solid evidence of the thousands and thousands of references the thousands and thousands of evidences that accumulate over time in history to show that Jesus did come Jesus did Jesus didn't come back to life and that his followers have been following him ever since proclaiming his name that people have tried to kill the church this way and that way Nietzsche said God is dead well guess what Nietzsche is dead and he's met god. There are all kinds of ways that people try to justify They say that Well faith is is not something that you have to that's just some super stupid people who don't really know any better and I would say that if you don't really know why you believe what you believe well that's that is kind of silly. That probably isn't the very best way to live you need to know why you believe what you believe because if you've been talked into something somebody else can talk you out of it we don't ask people to just believe because we said so I always say take the Scriptures home read them for yourself dissect it for yourself read it say God did the pastor say something that was true or was he off base today God show me personally what the pastor saying and even is small and you can be praying that prayer when the pastor is preaching I'm not telling you what I think and I do say what I think but I hope and pray that as I'm thinking it through I'm doing it out of love for Christ and I'm loving him in a way that I'm trying to thoughtfully carefully explain the Bible in the way that the Bible ought to be explained not the way I just want it to be explained. We use the word Baptists to describe ourselves because we have a doctrinal faith that many Baptists have adopted through the years and centuries but it is really a Christian doctrinal statement and I heard someone say last week a national leader actually his name is can hit was the president at the time that I was in seminary down in southwestern he was here in town got to see him visit with him for a few minutes at lunch he didn't remember me shaking his hand. Over the five hundred people that graduated that day but anyway he he said what's Bible and what's Baptist. He says sometimes we're fighting over things that are traditions of men and not the tenets of scripture. We need to make sure that what we say is scriptural not just because we've always done it that way and there are a lot of things like that that we've done you know I. In a church planning class I'll talk to students and they're not their peers really but they're getting ready to start a church and and since we've done that I've been a part of church planning training and I'll put on the wall on the board what do you have to have in order to worship on a Sunday morning what's necessary what is absolutely necessary to worship God. It starts with having a relationship with God. And everything else in the way we do it our preferences there are biblical ways to approach coming up with preferences but in the end it starts with the very simple thing the heart of worship is that I'm loving him with more passionately more personally more thoughtfully and with all my strength physically I'm putting my all in this I'm all in and you know I say well you left out this no no Jesus say it and the Old Testament Deuteronomy is quoting the Old Testament the commandments of God He's saying look it's all or nothing it's all of you. It's what they understood the body the person to be with these four things and he said all four of who you are worship God completely. All in are not in it all. I'm just going to give my heart soul and mind but I want to do what I want physically. I have a thought life you know the easiest way for a Christian to Senator thought life because we can look really good on the outside but be really dirty minded on the inside you can just say Oh hello sister so and so when they come to church and then you just hate their guts on the air. You see we've got to make sure that we're all in not just party and. That's what worship is. That's a process it starts and then you learn more and more what that means. A person is a child is born. And they learn how to eat they learn how to walk and talk they learn how to go the bathroom without having somebody had to clean up their own mess. That happens over time the bible calls a christian born again when you become a Christian you're born again you're you start over It's a brand new birth your baby Christian baby Christians make messes Yea that means we've got baby Christians around. They upset the applecart Yeah they. We learn from and it's exciting to have new birth in the body of Christ but you grow and you become more and more like Christ and you grow and you become We're going to talk about those purposes as we move along but the first step is to be born again to start worshipping God completely with your whole life and saying I'm all yours God as best I know how I want to worship you this morning because I know that you created me for a purpose you created me to love me you created me to to have a relationship with me and even though I blew it in my sin life I have I still know that you still love me you sent your son Jesus to die for me I know you came and we wanted a relation for the you know I know that because God loves me love me even when I wasn't lovely he loved me even when I wasn't lovely in Romans Chapter five. Romans Chapter five It tells us but God proved his own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us we love first John because He first loved us I have that inscription The Bible verse in my ring underneath in the bought inside of my ring when I got married we knew that our love for one another as a husband wife was not something we fabricated or invented it wasn't from some song writer it wasn't from Air Supply or Chicago Peter said Tara showing my age. It was from God he show me had a love and I got some of those songs in my head OK. He's the one that showed me how to love my wife and he still showing me how to love my wife even more important than that he's helping her know how to love me because that's harder I'm just saying Don't laugh so hard. But it's true I married up so did you guys so in a fit of blindness and madness she said yes OK no one's good enough. God had to be good for us. God had to show his goodness to us before we were ever good enough to get to him he came down to us a little snippet here for us just think about what does it mean to be good enough people being asked the question of that I thought to be interesting for us to kind of listen to some word on the street so let's go and. Do you think people are essentially good or bad oh wow I'm not really sure whether it was good or bad you know there's no true answer that I think they're good but I think there are a lot of temptations out there so that's a good I think primarily in certain situations they probably could be pushed to be bad I think it's like a blank slate idea where we're neither good nor bad essentially I think people. Are I think people are inherently bad. About you I think people are inherently good I think in general people are more bad because I guess that's what our nature is toward sin when you're three years old. You had a lot you don't have to learn a lot of fun when the person's a good or bad person. Are you a good person my good person that's rather person so are you a good person. I don't know what I mean I think. I don't know what's the fire good over you know I go to church every Sunday and I guess I'm a good person and I could be good in the moral sense but I can be bad for a little so I think I'm a good person but I also think pretty much even evil people think they're good people you think you're a bad person. Around the mill and in the middle are you good enough good enough for what So you good enough to do standards to your own standard. I guess you think you're good enough then. I guess yeah good enough for like good enough in general. Yes I think you do you think you're good enough never. Knowns I was good enough I think I'm getting depends on what you thanks God How do you know you're a good person. My own skill criteria and so obviously you know it's questionable it's questionable how do you know when something you do is good or bad. You set your morals and. Just pending on what you think is right and wrong so it's a good situation and. You think what standard do you measure yourself against to know whether you're a good person or not standards I don't know I guess like to me the man said I would just as long as I follow my heart whatever that means one of them inside and I measure myself up to anybody except for. Me how I how the world as I now exist there is no normal sometimes I get religion people say something is bad something else and then you know but then you look at it as acknowledge some bad Well my view is. If you're not hurting anybody then it isn't evil and if you're making somebody's life better other than yourself and it's good how do you know when you're going and how will you know when you're good enough and never well that's what that's what life's all about never know till you know it's over. It's not an unusual remark and that's how so many people when I talk to them here in Fort Wayne or whether I'm on an airplane going somewhere whether I'm in another city whether I'm on a mission trip with the team well I'm down that road or. Wherever I might be it just seems like that is the number one answer but I don't really know I have my own way of looking at things and I'm not really sure if I'm right or wrong I hope I am. You see at the same time that people say that as you talk with somebody about what it means to be a center what it means to do the wrong thing and be in trouble for it I haven't found anyone in the in our I haven't found anyone who says they're perfect I really haven't How have you found somebody and I know they may i know somebody thinks they're perfect but but I mean have you yeah exactly that but I mean literally we there isn't anybody in this world. That we know that says I am absolutely perfect everybody has had to apologize to somebody for something or been in time out or gone to the hallway or gotten a spanking or something has happened where you've lost a privilege. Because we inherently are born with this nature that says now. That's a word we learn before we learn yes now in your piece. You get this look I don't want that we inherently don't want to obey authority thing that right up in that in that question that people are being asked they said well what's what authority or how do you know when you're good enough what defines good where is your moral basis for defining where is your definition where is the authority that says you are you know police officers have the authority to arrest people because the government has given them that authority. I was going to give you a history lesson God gives government authority to mete out justice. God is the one ultimately who created this world and God is the one who gives authority for what is right and what is wrong and all that we have in terms of laws and rules and regulations. Even people that have never had a judeo christian western civilization. There is a code of conduct even in countries even in tribes and villages where the known world has not yet reached there's still even a code of ethics even in those homes in those places because people know through nature through through God's general revelation that he has imposed on us certain restrictions even in the worst places you could ever think of in a prison full of hardened criminals. Most of them not guilty by their own admission and they're in jail. And even in jail there's a code of conduct that says there are certain crimes that you commit that when you come in here we're not going to like you. We're going to treat you in fact some of the people that are perpetrators they have to be put in solitary confinement they have to couldn't be put in protective custody so that the other prisoners won't attack them for what they did on the outside world. Even in the worst places where people have all broken the law and are paying a price for it there is a level of right and wrong that is just known just inherent. And it comes from God. And when you and I sit here and say I don't measure up I'm not good enough I haven't cut the test I don't know whether I'll get to heaven or hell when I die because I don't know if I've done enough good to outweigh my bad. Well I got good news for you you don't have to live in that bewilderment any longer because the Bible says. That he not only made me to love me and that he loved me before I was in love me look lovely while I was still a lovely You see I give I love God back by just giving him me. That's all he's asking us to do he's not saying I want you this this this this and this and this in fact a viable verse I want to look today isn't in Romans Chapter twelve and let's read that together on the verse on the on the screen there are four brothers by the mercies of God are you to Brazil at your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God This is your spiritual worship that's and Romans twelve one think about this we're talking about saying God I'm all yours a living sacrifice that it covers everything that covers my house my my car it covers my marriage that covers my parenthood it covers my friendships it covers my workplace it covers my occupation it covers my hobbies It covers everything you see if you say I just need a rulebook to know what to do right and what to do or what not to do what to stay away from. And so that I'm not doing wrong then I'll be OK The problem is how many of you have done your taxes already yeah hopefully all of you how many got extensions I want to ask you that but but and hope if you DIDN'T DO IT PLEASE DO IT SOON OK. We like your freedom. But the reality is when when the tax code comes what is it the one thing that we always hate about people or we try to find for ourselves we're trying to find a loophole which is in general terms a legal means for not paying taxes the way it's generally laid out you're supposed to do and there are legal there's nothing wrong with a loophole so long as legally you don't have to pay that tax I'm Wanted says I'll pay everything I'm supposed to but I'm sure not going to pay anything I don't have to. I don't even gamble because that's a voluntary tax I'm sorry I just don't I just don't want the government to get any more money I don't want the government to get any more money than what they say I'm supposed to give them no more no less I'd like to spend on other things myself I likes been on my family I like to do things for God but I'm always looking for the loophole where you know what if getting to heaven was just a set of rules you know it be doing looking for loopholes. We will well OK it says Say Love your neighbor but that guy's how far away hundred feet if I move down a block and I then hate this guy because I don't like him. I mean we didn't start figuring out how to define good based on the rule book but when the Bible says that in order to love God back I just give myself as a living sacrifice by the way and this is kind of gory but when you put out a lamb or an animal or bird and you sacrifice them on the altar What are they. Dead. They don't move. They're helpless they're without ability to go anywhere else except for stay on the altar. If we have sacrificed ourself it means that we are dead to the way we want to do things and we're alive to the way God wants to do things we're in his hands completely. God put me in a straight jacket so I'll be exactly where you want me to be because this whole life of mine doesn't always want to go down the right path God put boundaries in my life that I might live the way you want me to live because God. The way I do it. And get it. Oh God I'm a living sacrifice and I would be the servant to my spouse the way you want me to be and I'll live with integrity with my spouse. Of God I can't do it by myself so I'm going to be dead to the natural fleshly way of doing things because if I had my way in the flesh I would be faithful. In the way that I treat my spouse in the way I respect my spouse I need your help to help me do that. It's not a rule book for how to be married it's not a rule book for how to be a parent it's not a rule book for how to live it work and be a good employee or a good boss it's I'm going to sacrifice myself to God and let him show me day by day moment by moment how to be the person you want me to be in every circumstance you give me with all my heart soul mind and strength we love him by giving him ourselves so how do we well see because God desires all of me he deserves all of me and he demands all of me he wants all of you you know I come to in the first place is because I screwed up I need him to. Help me start over he desires to give me a better life God deserves all of me because he made me he created me and for me to say no thank you God I got this some my own it's like you're just basically you know remember back OK show Megan. The hand. You have somebody disrespect you with the hand. Talk to the hand you imagine Almighty Creator God and your sinner go on talk to the hand. I'll do what I want thank you he deserves and he demands it and he's demanding it not because you say he's some cruel God that has some cruel plan for you he has the best plan ever for your life he made you he knows what's best for you and so he's demanding that because if he didn't demand it if need be cruel and unusual punishment if you were to say Wayne do whatever you want you go play in the street kids go ahead so long as you have a basketball in your hand cause it's Indiana you're good. Now get out of the street you get run over by a car go ahead touch the hot stove I don't care just leave it on touch everyone so I just put your hand on it red hot go for it I mean you got the freedom to do it and why should I tell you what to do in your home. Go ahead be mean to your spouse. So yeah goes for you do what you want go ahead go and share your life with other people and see if your spouse will let you do that see how that works for a while you know I don't want to be a killjoy and I love you so I don't want to get on I want to cramp your style go do what you want to do. And God's like I demand it because the best thing I can do you is to give you is to show you the way that is the best way to live ever and he loves you too much to let you keep doing what you're doing. And that's why even this morning you've been drawn here today in this morning you've been hearing the Word of God Even the small inning you're being convicted there's something going on staring at her and says Don't blame me blame God you say Well Pastor I'm not come back as you've been talking to me I haven't talked to anybody in this room of his talking to myself and you're in on my conversation with me because I need to hear this as much as anybody else in this room that my purpose number one is to worship him put him first to be a living sacrifice because he desires that he deserves it and he demands it and I want to take it to a scripture that was brought to my attention before I became a follower of Christ and and truly gave my life to Christ and was gave my life to him in my church years ago I want to go to Romans Chapter ten and if you have your Bible when encourage you to Turn to Romans Chapter ten how do I start worshipping God How do I begin the process of putting God into my life and making him mine and I'm his how do I surrender my life to him. It's very simple and I have taken this passage and I've broken it down and shared it with so many people over the years. And again remember I said earlier that your heart. Soul mind and strength. I want to think clearly about what's being said here and I want you to say in your heart God show me what's real show me what's not real show me what you want me to do based on what I'm about to read it says in Romans Chapter ten starting with verse nine that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness and with a mouth one confesses resulting in salvation now the Scripture says no one who believes on him will be put to shame and the Bible verse simply says that we're to confess openly that Jesus is the Lord he is boss he's my he's in charge of my life. And I have to believe that this same Jesus I'm talking about wasn't some good figure in life that that meant well but he had a tragic death but this Jesus purposely came into this world to save me from my sins and He died on the cross and he rose again on the third day. What Paul is saying as he wrote this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is that we've got to believe the whole enchilada we've got to believe the whole thing it's it is either all Jesus or nothing. He there did what he said he came to do or it's Alliance a sham or Jesus was just nuts and he's not worth following because he was crazy. He's either a liar a lunatic or he's the Lord and the question is Is he your Lord. Because it starts by putting him in charge of our life confessing Him openly confessing openly saying just like in court I did it I confess. I confessed Jesus is in charge of my life world splash. I'm telling the world I'm a Christian I'm done living my life my own way I'm yours God. Because I believe in my heart you really are who you said you are I really believe you came back to life on the third day and it says you will be saved and it says everyone who puts their trust in him. Will never be put to shame. Said told you a minute ago you can know. That you're OK in front of God confess and believe. You don't have to wonder when you die if you're going to go to heaven because the Bible says you'll never be put to shame I know some of you may be thinking pastor you don't know Rob come from I've got family members that have loved me they said they loved me and then the moment I didn't do what they told me they told me to do they shamed me or the minute I screwed up my life they wrote me off and said You're no good for nothing. And we don't want anything to do with you I've had friends that have written me off and said you broke a promise for me. No longer my friend. Out of my life forever you've been shamed by people. You've been let you've been hurt. Yes maybe you blew it but they blew it when it came to the relationship of trust with you and what Jesus is saying is that he's never going to put you to shame. God is a God of new beginnings. He's a god that wants to take you to two heights and depths and and meaningful purpose of life that you never could ever have imagined if only you'll start by surrendering your life to him and he's the model for what a relationship is supposed to be like. His grip doesn't slip his hope never fails his love never runs out it never runs out on you the song person says are teams going to come forward and sing another song for us this morning once you come forward let's all stand to our feet as they're coming forward we've got some people that are going to come down here and stand and maybe it's time for you to openly tell the world that you're Christian and you get that yellow card I want you to take that yellow card and I want to use that as a way of communicating this morning and on the back of it says I'm committing my life to Jesus Christ Maybe this morning it's time for you to do that. Maybe it's time for you to let the world know that you're serious about giving your life to Jesus Christ this water by the way is still in there and tonight we're having another worship service with two other churches and we're hoping that they'll be some more candidates from the other churches and might couldn't be there tonight so we actually were sped up his baptism a little bit it was still pretty warm I think for him but we're going to have it nice and warm for somebody to be baptized tonight if they come forward I don't know what divine providence has in store they're trying to get their candidates ready but maybe this morning it's time for you to tell the world you're Christian and tonight you're ready to come back and get baptized and tell the world you're Christian use this card to let us know and I'd love to visit with you this afternoon before you do that so that you can know what it means so that you know exactly what we're talking about when it means being baptized but I want to give you that opportunity and maybe this morning you just want to come down and talk with Gene talk with me will be down here this altar is open for you to just kneel and talk to the Lord privately maybe you don't need to talk to somebody you just need talk to God openly use this time as your time to openly declare what God is saying to your heart internally and privately Father God show us how to take our next right step this morning it's in Jesus name I pray.