1 00:00:01,501 --> 00:00:04,371 John 10:10. 2 00:00:04,371 --> 00:00:08,341 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 3 00:00:09,092 --> 00:00:11,327 I came that you may have life 4 00:00:11,327 --> 00:00:14,330 and have it abundantly. 5 00:00:17,300 --> 00:00:18,151 Well, good morning 6 00:00:18,151 --> 00:00:21,571 and welcome to what is a big weekend in the life of our church. 7 00:00:21,571 --> 00:00:25,492 Because at least for our church calendar, it's the first weekend 8 00:00:25,525 --> 00:00:30,480 of 2026, the weekend where we unveil our annual theme. 9 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,768 You know, the rhythm here is that every January we do a vision 10 00:00:35,068 --> 00:00:37,821 sermon series kind of cast vision for where we think we're 11 00:00:37,821 --> 00:00:41,541 headed this year as a church, what we think that God wants to do, 12 00:00:41,541 --> 00:00:43,493 and introduce a theme that will really 13 00:00:43,493 --> 00:00:47,697 be part of all of our teaching for the calendar year. 14 00:00:47,697 --> 00:00:52,469 And this year, the theme I'm excited to tell you is More Life. 15 00:00:52,669 --> 00:00:56,973 We take it actually from John 10:10 where Jesus said, I've come 16 00:00:56,973 --> 00:01:00,527 so that they can have life and life more abundantly. 17 00:01:00,527 --> 00:01:04,681 What we're praying for and what we believe God wants for us 18 00:01:04,681 --> 00:01:09,836 as a church is for 2026 to be one of the best years in the history 19 00:01:09,836 --> 00:01:14,791 of this church, a year where this place is infused with more life. 20 00:01:14,791 --> 00:01:16,743 But but not just this church. 21 00:01:16,743 --> 00:01:19,279 We're praying that for your family, 22 00:01:19,279 --> 00:01:22,282 for your marriage, for your career, for your life, that 23 00:01:22,348 --> 00:01:27,470 that you and I will be able to sit back in December of this year, look over 2026 24 00:01:27,470 --> 00:01:33,059 and say, wow, I have never been more alive than I am right now, that my, my, 25 00:01:33,059 --> 00:01:37,213 my life has never been fuller than it is right now. 26 00:01:37,230 --> 00:01:38,882 We believe that's what God wants for us. 27 00:01:38,882 --> 00:01:42,001 That's what all of our teaching is going to aim at in 2026. 28 00:01:42,001 --> 00:01:45,722 What we're going to start this morning by looking at John 10:10. 29 00:01:45,722 --> 00:01:48,708 So if you're here and you have a Bible, would you take it out and open it to John 30 00:01:48,892 --> 00:01:49,709 chapter ten? 31 00:01:49,709 --> 00:01:53,313 If not the verses I talk about are going to be on the screen behind me, 32 00:01:53,313 --> 00:01:56,299 but I have three points I want to use to kind of set up the year 33 00:01:56,299 --> 00:01:59,569 and to help us think about John 10:10, three points. 34 00:01:59,569 --> 00:02:00,170 Very simple. 35 00:02:00,170 --> 00:02:03,923 I want to talk about a mission statement, a marketing problem, 36 00:02:04,307 --> 00:02:08,161 and a method for moving forward. A mission statement, a marketing problem, 37 00:02:08,511 --> 00:02:09,979 and a method for moving forward. 38 00:02:09,979 --> 00:02:11,631 Well, let's start with the first one. 39 00:02:11,631 --> 00:02:13,349 A mission statement. 40 00:02:13,349 --> 00:02:15,802 Now, a mission statement for any company or 41 00:02:15,802 --> 00:02:19,289 organization is kind of a a guiding principle. 42 00:02:19,472 --> 00:02:25,562 It makes clear what that company or organization is all about, what their 43 00:02:25,562 --> 00:02:30,233 why is, and not just why they do things, but but how they do them. 44 00:02:30,617 --> 00:02:34,287 A great mission statement lets everyone in the organization or company 45 00:02:34,287 --> 00:02:38,491 know what to say yes to and what to say no to. 46 00:02:38,491 --> 00:02:43,413 It helps customers to understand what to expect from that organization. 47 00:02:43,413 --> 00:02:44,998 From that business. 48 00:02:44,998 --> 00:02:46,916 A great mission statement. 49 00:02:46,916 --> 00:02:51,321 Make sure that everyone from the CEO all the way down to the lowest 50 00:02:51,321 --> 00:02:55,041 rung of the ladder, know why they came into work that day. 51 00:02:55,041 --> 00:02:58,945 They know what they're participating in, and I happen to believe 52 00:02:58,945 --> 00:03:01,447 that the best mission statements are simple. 53 00:03:01,447 --> 00:03:02,248 They're concise. 54 00:03:02,248 --> 00:03:03,600 They're they're a sentence. 55 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,603 In fact, if you're a business owner or entrepreneur or entrepreneur here 56 00:03:06,753 --> 00:03:10,456 and your mission statement is a paragraph long, come see me afterwards 57 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:13,376 for some free consulting. It's too long. 58 00:03:13,376 --> 00:03:14,928 We can't remember it. 59 00:03:14,928 --> 00:03:18,498 In fact, some of the best companies that you do 60 00:03:18,498 --> 00:03:22,702 business with, some of the best companies of our generation, have the most simple 61 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,222 and clear mission statements like, for example, Amazon. 62 00:03:26,522 --> 00:03:30,293 Amazon's mission statement is to be Earth's most customer 63 00:03:30,293 --> 00:03:32,579 centric organization, 64 00:03:32,579 --> 00:03:35,431 which is why you can go on their website right now and order something 65 00:03:35,431 --> 00:03:38,418 that will probably end up on your doorstep tonight, 66 00:03:38,635 --> 00:03:40,853 because they go in to work every day saying, 67 00:03:40,853 --> 00:03:45,141 how can we make this company better for the customers? 68 00:03:45,141 --> 00:03:50,213 Nike exists to innovate and inspire for athletes. 69 00:03:50,964 --> 00:03:53,366 You know, chick fil A exists to steward 70 00:03:53,366 --> 00:03:56,903 what it has for the glory of God. 71 00:03:56,903 --> 00:03:59,038 Apple creates innovative products. 72 00:03:59,038 --> 00:04:03,860 Tesla, is moving the world towards sustainable energy. 73 00:04:03,860 --> 00:04:07,247 My my point is this great companies understand this. 74 00:04:07,247 --> 00:04:10,550 When you know what you're about, you know how to move forward. 75 00:04:10,550 --> 00:04:12,302 You know what to do. 76 00:04:12,302 --> 00:04:14,387 So here's my question for you. 77 00:04:14,387 --> 00:04:18,107 If Jesus had a mission statement, what would it be? 78 00:04:20,059 --> 00:04:22,128 If we distill Jesus 79 00:04:22,128 --> 00:04:25,348 down, is his why his how? 80 00:04:25,999 --> 00:04:26,449 What? 81 00:04:26,449 --> 00:04:29,719 What he would use to say yes and what he would use to say no? 82 00:04:29,719 --> 00:04:31,854 His guiding principle? 83 00:04:31,854 --> 00:04:33,389 What would it be? 84 00:04:33,389 --> 00:04:35,792 Now I know some of you I know will be uncomfortable with that. 85 00:04:35,792 --> 00:04:38,177 You'll say, well, we'll Zach, Jesus is the son of God. 86 00:04:38,177 --> 00:04:41,881 You can't try to sum him up in one sentence 87 00:04:41,881 --> 00:04:44,867 and I agree, I agree, I can't, 88 00:04:44,867 --> 00:04:47,003 but he can. 89 00:04:47,003 --> 00:04:50,523 And in fact, that's what I think he's doing in John 1010. 90 00:04:50,523 --> 00:04:53,343 He's telling us his mission statement. 91 00:04:53,343 --> 00:04:54,360 Let me read it to you, by the way. 92 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:56,779 He gets it. It's only a sentence. Okay. 93 00:04:56,779 --> 00:04:59,098 But let me read it to you and see if you read it that way. 94 00:04:59,098 --> 00:05:01,617 John 1010. Here's what he says. 95 00:05:01,617 --> 00:05:05,672 I came that they may have life 96 00:05:06,289 --> 00:05:09,926 and have it abundantly say, here's why I'm here. 97 00:05:10,226 --> 00:05:11,511 This is why I've come. 98 00:05:11,511 --> 00:05:15,481 I've come to bring life and to bring it abundantly. 99 00:05:15,481 --> 00:05:18,301 Life and more life. 100 00:05:18,301 --> 00:05:22,372 Jesus is telling us he's in the production business 101 00:05:22,855 --> 00:05:25,558 and what he produces is life. 102 00:05:25,558 --> 00:05:26,275 More life. 103 00:05:26,275 --> 00:05:30,747 He's telling us that he came so that everywhere he went, everyone 104 00:05:30,747 --> 00:05:33,750 he talked to, everything he got involved 105 00:05:33,750 --> 00:05:36,919 in, was infused with more life. 106 00:05:36,919 --> 00:05:40,707 He's telling us that if we get involved with Jesus, if he gets involved 107 00:05:40,707 --> 00:05:44,027 in our marriage, our marriage will have more life, 108 00:05:44,027 --> 00:05:47,030 our family, more life, our career, more life. 109 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:53,453 Whatever area of our lives Jesus touches, we get more life. 110 00:05:53,453 --> 00:05:54,871 That's who he is. 111 00:05:54,871 --> 00:05:59,909 That's what he is about, is that when you think of when you think of Jesus. 112 00:06:02,478 --> 00:06:03,896 Probably not. 113 00:06:03,896 --> 00:06:06,899 And I'll tell you why I think that is in a minute, but probably not. 114 00:06:06,899 --> 00:06:09,902 But it is what he told us to think of. 115 00:06:10,319 --> 00:06:12,321 It's what he told us he was about. 116 00:06:12,321 --> 00:06:15,324 By the way, Jesus isn't being new here. 117 00:06:15,408 --> 00:06:20,179 The Bible says really from front to back that God is in the life business. 118 00:06:20,179 --> 00:06:23,132 God is producing life and more life. 119 00:06:23,132 --> 00:06:24,500 That's what he's about. 120 00:06:24,500 --> 00:06:28,404 Even in places you're familiar with that you might have missed it. 121 00:06:28,704 --> 00:06:29,989 Like like for example, 122 00:06:29,989 --> 00:06:32,875 even if you didn't grow up in church, you don't know much about the Bible. 123 00:06:32,875 --> 00:06:35,478 You know, Psalm 23. 124 00:06:35,478 --> 00:06:37,346 Psalm 23 is read at funerals. 125 00:06:37,346 --> 00:06:37,697 It says, 126 00:06:37,697 --> 00:06:41,267 even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you know this one. 127 00:06:41,484 --> 00:06:44,120 But listen, it's okay to read that at funerals. 128 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:45,421 That's okay. 129 00:06:45,421 --> 00:06:48,324 But it's actually not about dying. 130 00:06:48,324 --> 00:06:49,742 It's about living. 131 00:06:49,742 --> 00:06:50,660 Well, let me read it to you. 132 00:06:50,660 --> 00:06:55,314 And I want you to see if you hear Jesus's mission statement in Psalm 23. 133 00:06:55,314 --> 00:06:56,182 This is what it says. 134 00:06:57,150 --> 00:07:00,153 The Lord is my shepherd. 135 00:07:00,319 --> 00:07:02,422 I shall not want. 136 00:07:02,422 --> 00:07:04,891 He makes me lie down in green pastures. 137 00:07:04,891 --> 00:07:07,827 He leads me beside still waters. 138 00:07:07,827 --> 00:07:10,079 He restores my soul. 139 00:07:10,079 --> 00:07:13,349 He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 140 00:07:13,349 --> 00:07:16,586 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 141 00:07:16,586 --> 00:07:18,838 I will fear no evil, for you are with me. 142 00:07:18,838 --> 00:07:21,407 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 143 00:07:21,407 --> 00:07:24,961 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 144 00:07:24,961 --> 00:07:26,696 You anoint my head with oil. 145 00:07:26,696 --> 00:07:29,215 My cup overflows. 146 00:07:29,215 --> 00:07:33,453 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, 147 00:07:33,603 --> 00:07:37,440 and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 148 00:07:37,457 --> 00:07:40,493 Now listen, there is some life after death. 149 00:07:40,493 --> 00:07:43,196 Language there all live in the house of the Lord forever. 150 00:07:43,196 --> 00:07:45,748 But overwhelmingly this psalm is about life. 151 00:07:46,849 --> 00:07:48,201 It's about a God who 152 00:07:48,201 --> 00:07:52,939 wants green grass and water and comfort and security for us. 153 00:07:52,939 --> 00:07:56,792 In fact, this passage is about God telling us 154 00:07:56,792 --> 00:08:01,164 he envisions his relationship with us like shepherd and sheep. 155 00:08:01,164 --> 00:08:04,917 And do you know how you know a shepherd is good at his job? 156 00:08:06,652 --> 00:08:08,688 The sheep are healthy. 157 00:08:08,688 --> 00:08:12,692 They're living even more life. 158 00:08:13,142 --> 00:08:16,045 Incidentally, when Jesus in John 1010 says, I've come 159 00:08:16,045 --> 00:08:17,997 so that they may have life and life more abundantly. 160 00:08:17,997 --> 00:08:20,900 John ten is famous for being the passage 161 00:08:20,900 --> 00:08:23,819 in which Jesus calls himself 162 00:08:23,819 --> 00:08:26,822 the good Shepherd. 163 00:08:27,623 --> 00:08:27,857 Is it? 164 00:08:27,857 --> 00:08:30,860 The Bible tells us that God is in the life business. 165 00:08:30,910 --> 00:08:32,762 He wants more for you. 166 00:08:32,762 --> 00:08:34,797 He wants more life for you. 167 00:08:34,797 --> 00:08:36,349 That's who he is. 168 00:08:36,349 --> 00:08:39,302 That's what he does. 169 00:08:39,302 --> 00:08:41,604 Which of course begs the question, 170 00:08:41,604 --> 00:08:45,558 why is it that we don't think of him that way? 171 00:08:46,492 --> 00:08:51,147 Because if we're honest, most of us think if we were to give control of our lives 172 00:08:51,147 --> 00:08:56,335 to God, if we were to do things God's way, we wouldn't get more. 173 00:08:57,053 --> 00:08:58,187 We would get less, 174 00:08:59,488 --> 00:09:01,157 we wouldn't get more life. 175 00:09:01,157 --> 00:09:03,092 We'd get less. We wouldn't flourish. 176 00:09:03,092 --> 00:09:04,076 We would wither. 177 00:09:04,076 --> 00:09:07,547 It's why we don't do it right, why we don't give control to God. 178 00:09:07,547 --> 00:09:11,117 Because we don't believe he's in the production business. 179 00:09:11,117 --> 00:09:14,787 We believe God is in the reduction business. 180 00:09:14,787 --> 00:09:17,790 And the reason for that, and this is my second point, 181 00:09:18,140 --> 00:09:20,760 is we have a marketing problem. 182 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:21,744 You know, it's interesting. 183 00:09:21,744 --> 00:09:24,196 Jesus gives his mission statement in John ten. 184 00:09:24,196 --> 00:09:27,033 I've come so that they may have life and life more abundantly. 185 00:09:27,033 --> 00:09:31,170 He also gives Satan's mission statement in John ten. 186 00:09:31,821 --> 00:09:33,022 Now, now I have to say, 187 00:09:33,022 --> 00:09:36,025 if you didn't grow up in church, you're not super familiar with the Bible. 188 00:09:36,108 --> 00:09:39,662 You're not going to be, I know, super comfortable with the idea of Satan, 189 00:09:39,662 --> 00:09:43,399 but the Bible tells us there's a spiritual entity in the world 190 00:09:43,549 --> 00:09:47,553 who hates God and hates everything that God loves. 191 00:09:47,570 --> 00:09:52,224 He he wants to undo everything that God says is good. 192 00:09:52,224 --> 00:09:55,711 He is anti God and he's working in our world. 193 00:09:55,711 --> 00:09:59,432 And Jesus says, Satan has a mission statement and Satan gets it. 194 00:09:59,599 --> 00:10:00,833 It's only a sentence. 195 00:10:00,833 --> 00:10:05,755 Here's what he says John ten Jesus says the thief comes 196 00:10:05,755 --> 00:10:10,443 only to steal and kill and destroy. 197 00:10:11,093 --> 00:10:12,778 That's Satan's mission statement. 198 00:10:12,778 --> 00:10:16,082 I steal, kill and destroy. 199 00:10:16,983 --> 00:10:19,218 But how does he do it? 200 00:10:19,218 --> 00:10:23,022 You can't come up to people like knock on the door or nowadays, I guess. 201 00:10:23,039 --> 00:10:25,908 Get a call from your friend and mine. Spam risk. 202 00:10:27,476 --> 00:10:27,810 And you 203 00:10:27,810 --> 00:10:31,080 answer the phone and they go, hey, we have an exciting opportunity for you. 204 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:32,131 And you say, okay, what is it? 205 00:10:32,131 --> 00:10:35,368 And they say, we want to steal and kill and destroy. 206 00:10:35,518 --> 00:10:38,487 Does 2:00 work for you? 207 00:10:38,487 --> 00:10:39,772 Like that won't work, right? 208 00:10:39,772 --> 00:10:43,893 You can't come directly at people to steal, kill, and destroy. 209 00:10:43,909 --> 00:10:46,195 When we think about Satan, we tend to think about him 210 00:10:46,195 --> 00:10:47,697 like a cheap horror movie. 211 00:10:47,697 --> 00:10:49,248 The lights go out or flicker. 212 00:10:49,248 --> 00:10:51,117 There's a rumbling in the closet. 213 00:10:51,117 --> 00:10:52,802 There's something under the bed. 214 00:10:52,802 --> 00:10:56,339 But if that's how he came to us, we would see him coming. 215 00:10:57,056 --> 00:10:58,858 We would marshal our defenses. 216 00:10:58,858 --> 00:11:01,043 We would batten down the hatches. 217 00:11:01,043 --> 00:11:03,512 He can't come direct. 218 00:11:03,512 --> 00:11:05,748 Well, let me ask you this question. 219 00:11:05,748 --> 00:11:11,487 If Satan wanted to destroy the writer of Psalm 23, how would he do it? 220 00:11:13,222 --> 00:11:14,940 Well, I think the answer is pretty simple. 221 00:11:14,940 --> 00:11:17,927 He would separate him from the shepherd. 222 00:11:18,778 --> 00:11:20,763 I mean, after all, Psalm 23, the writer says 223 00:11:20,763 --> 00:11:24,467 it's it's the shepherd who makes sure he has grass and and water. 224 00:11:24,467 --> 00:11:25,201 It's the shepherd 225 00:11:25,201 --> 00:11:29,689 who comforts him and keeps him safe, who makes sure that he's taken care of. 226 00:11:29,755 --> 00:11:33,209 So if you wanted to steal and kill and destroy 227 00:11:33,209 --> 00:11:36,295 the writer of Psalm 23, it's pretty simple. 228 00:11:36,295 --> 00:11:39,298 You have to separate him from the shepherd. 229 00:11:39,298 --> 00:11:42,301 Well, how would you do that? 230 00:11:42,385 --> 00:11:44,570 Well, the Bible tells us the way Satan does. 231 00:11:44,570 --> 00:11:47,573 It is he lies about the shepherd. 232 00:11:48,774 --> 00:11:51,060 This goes all the way back to Genesis chapter three. 233 00:11:51,060 --> 00:11:52,828 God makes Adam and Eve our first parents. 234 00:11:52,828 --> 00:11:56,549 He he rest them in the Garden of Eden, a Paradise that he's made for them. 235 00:11:56,549 --> 00:12:00,503 The Bible says they're naked and without shame, which means Eve 236 00:12:00,503 --> 00:12:03,806 looks at Adam and she doesn't compare him to her high school boyfriend. 237 00:12:05,574 --> 00:12:07,376 That's not a joke. 238 00:12:07,376 --> 00:12:08,160 Adam looks at Eve. 239 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:11,147 He doesn't compare her to the women he's seen on the internet. 240 00:12:11,147 --> 00:12:12,648 They're totally free of insecurity. 241 00:12:12,648 --> 00:12:13,549 They have a great marriage. 242 00:12:13,549 --> 00:12:16,552 They have the promise of children. 243 00:12:17,453 --> 00:12:18,954 They have meaning. They have purpose. 244 00:12:18,954 --> 00:12:19,939 They have everything they need. 245 00:12:19,939 --> 00:12:22,158 They live more life. 246 00:12:22,158 --> 00:12:24,243 But when Satan shows up, here's what he says. 247 00:12:24,243 --> 00:12:27,780 Genesis chapter three, verses four and five. 248 00:12:27,780 --> 00:12:28,197 It says this. 249 00:12:28,197 --> 00:12:31,283 But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. 250 00:12:31,350 --> 00:12:35,838 For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, 251 00:12:35,838 --> 00:12:39,175 and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. 252 00:12:39,175 --> 00:12:42,378 You see, when Satan shows up, when he says, Eve, Eve, Eve, 253 00:12:42,678 --> 00:12:45,714 God is not for you. 254 00:12:45,798 --> 00:12:48,234 He's against you. 255 00:12:48,234 --> 00:12:50,002 He doesn't want more for you. 256 00:12:50,002 --> 00:12:51,837 He wants less for you. Eve. 257 00:12:51,837 --> 00:12:55,441 This isn't Paradise. This is prison 258 00:12:56,725 --> 00:12:57,393 and you know that. 259 00:12:57,393 --> 00:13:00,362 Why don't you? 260 00:13:00,362 --> 00:13:04,500 I do lives in my head and it lives in my heart. 261 00:13:04,500 --> 00:13:08,788 You see, when we think about Satan, we can't think about him as a bizarro god. 262 00:13:09,421 --> 00:13:11,657 We've seen too many comic book movies. 263 00:13:11,657 --> 00:13:14,393 You know, in a comic book movie, you have to have a hero who's very 264 00:13:14,393 --> 00:13:18,481 powerful, and then you have a bad guy who's just as powerful. 265 00:13:18,631 --> 00:13:20,149 That's how you build the tension. 266 00:13:20,149 --> 00:13:23,869 You watch the movie, you don't really know who's going to win. 267 00:13:23,869 --> 00:13:26,188 And so sometimes we think about Satan because, 268 00:13:26,188 --> 00:13:28,157 you know, Marvel has taught us to think this way. 269 00:13:28,157 --> 00:13:30,509 We think about him as the evil God. 270 00:13:30,509 --> 00:13:32,511 But Satan is not like God. 271 00:13:32,511 --> 00:13:34,830 He's not everywhere all at once. 272 00:13:34,830 --> 00:13:36,782 He's not all knowing, okay? 273 00:13:36,782 --> 00:13:38,601 He's a created being. 274 00:13:38,601 --> 00:13:42,388 He's evil for sure, powerful for sure, but he's not God. 275 00:13:42,388 --> 00:13:46,375 Which means if you're Satan and you want to separate people from God, 276 00:13:46,375 --> 00:13:50,212 sheep from shepherd, and there are 8 billion people on the planet, 277 00:13:50,362 --> 00:13:53,883 he cannot whisper in 8 billion years. 278 00:13:55,317 --> 00:13:56,485 He doesn't have that kind of power. 279 00:13:56,485 --> 00:14:00,139 So what he does is he takes the lie into our culture 280 00:14:01,941 --> 00:14:05,961 so that our culture, in a million subtle ways, tells us 281 00:14:06,228 --> 00:14:09,265 biblical sexuality is repression. 282 00:14:12,318 --> 00:14:16,288 Biblical gender identity is patriarchal. 283 00:14:17,523 --> 00:14:20,693 Biblical approaches to family are old fashioned. 284 00:14:20,693 --> 00:14:25,197 Biblical approaches to career will keep you from ever getting ahead. 285 00:14:25,197 --> 00:14:26,515 A biblical approach to money 286 00:14:26,515 --> 00:14:30,269 will keep you from all the material things that will make you happy. 287 00:14:30,302 --> 00:14:35,257 You see, the lie he introduces in Genesis three is the one our culture propagates. 288 00:14:35,274 --> 00:14:37,943 God is not for you. He's against you. 289 00:14:37,943 --> 00:14:39,511 He does not want more. 290 00:14:39,511 --> 00:14:40,646 He wants less. 291 00:14:40,646 --> 00:14:43,616 If you give him control, you will not flourish. 292 00:14:43,616 --> 00:14:44,700 You will wither. 293 00:14:44,700 --> 00:14:47,703 Do you know that lie? 294 00:14:49,255 --> 00:14:51,407 That's the thief 295 00:14:51,407 --> 00:14:55,344 who comes to steal and kill and destroy and knows the way he can do that is you'll 296 00:14:55,344 --> 00:14:59,815 separate you from the God who made you, from the God who loves you, from the God 297 00:14:59,999 --> 00:15:05,971 who knows what's best for you so that he can steal and kill and destroy. 298 00:15:05,971 --> 00:15:07,289 If you don't believe me, consider this 299 00:15:07,289 --> 00:15:12,978 we have never been freer than we are in 2026. 300 00:15:13,128 --> 00:15:14,396 We can do what we want. 301 00:15:14,396 --> 00:15:15,981 We can be who we want. 302 00:15:15,981 --> 00:15:18,350 We can live how we want. 303 00:15:18,350 --> 00:15:20,152 But we have never been more depressed, 304 00:15:21,503 --> 00:15:22,037 never been 305 00:15:22,037 --> 00:15:26,008 more anxious, never been more insecure. 306 00:15:26,008 --> 00:15:30,896 Because detached from the shepherd, the sheep are vulnerable. 307 00:15:31,914 --> 00:15:33,983 But here's some good news. 308 00:15:33,983 --> 00:15:35,784 You know, Pastor Joe is one of our pastors. 309 00:15:35,784 --> 00:15:36,919 Here is my mentor. 310 00:15:36,919 --> 00:15:38,971 He says a lot of things that I think are brilliant, 311 00:15:38,971 --> 00:15:41,957 and I write them down when he's not looking. 312 00:15:42,358 --> 00:15:43,709 And one of my favorites is 313 00:15:43,709 --> 00:15:48,397 he says that Satan always overplays his hand, and I think he's right. 314 00:15:48,397 --> 00:15:49,682 And here's what I mean. 315 00:15:49,682 --> 00:15:53,152 1985 Coke is losing 316 00:15:53,152 --> 00:15:57,840 market share to Pepsi, and Coke has been the number one soda forever. 317 00:15:58,007 --> 00:16:00,309 And Pepsi is starting to rise. 318 00:16:00,309 --> 00:16:03,362 They just signed an ad campaign with Michael Jackson. 319 00:16:03,362 --> 00:16:06,482 1985 Michael Jackson is the biggest star on the planet. 320 00:16:06,632 --> 00:16:08,667 They've even they've even come up with this ingenious 321 00:16:08,667 --> 00:16:10,703 marketing strategy, which is basically saying, 322 00:16:10,703 --> 00:16:12,955 the only reason you drink Coke is because it's Coke. 323 00:16:12,955 --> 00:16:14,306 It's not because it's best. 324 00:16:14,306 --> 00:16:18,210 And so they do these blind taste tests where Pepsi is in one unmarked bottle 325 00:16:18,210 --> 00:16:20,179 and Coke's in another unmarked bottle, 326 00:16:20,179 --> 00:16:23,365 and people are drinking them and going, I like this one, and it's Pepsi. 327 00:16:23,432 --> 00:16:24,049 It was brilliant. 328 00:16:24,049 --> 00:16:26,418 It was genius. And Coke was getting scared. 329 00:16:26,418 --> 00:16:28,787 I mean, they were they were losing and they knew it. 330 00:16:28,787 --> 00:16:32,091 And they began to believe that perhaps, maybe Pepsi was right. 331 00:16:32,241 --> 00:16:34,526 They had an inferior product. 332 00:16:34,526 --> 00:16:37,413 So they introduced a new product, a product. 333 00:16:37,413 --> 00:16:40,833 If you lived in the 80s, you know, it was called New Coke, 334 00:16:41,250 --> 00:16:44,003 which, you know, if you lived in the 80s or if you watched Stranger Things 335 00:16:44,987 --> 00:16:46,622 or both about. 336 00:16:46,622 --> 00:16:50,125 So Coke introduces New Coke, and the idea was people don't like the old Coke. 337 00:16:50,125 --> 00:16:51,560 They want something new. 338 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:55,397 And it was spectacular as a failure. 339 00:16:56,732 --> 00:16:57,633 This is not a joke. 340 00:16:57,633 --> 00:17:01,437 Within 79 days, Coke had taken it off the shelves. 341 00:17:02,121 --> 00:17:04,490 Like, if you work in the business world, that's not even a quarter. 342 00:17:04,490 --> 00:17:05,908 Didn't even make it a quarter. 343 00:17:05,908 --> 00:17:09,528 And when they took it off the shelves, they came out with a new 344 00:17:09,528 --> 00:17:14,133 can of the old Coke called Coca Cola Classic, 345 00:17:14,133 --> 00:17:17,419 which is the can, you know, which is basically them going are bad. 346 00:17:18,537 --> 00:17:20,072 I mean, basically, right. 347 00:17:20,072 --> 00:17:20,823 Here's the thing. 348 00:17:20,823 --> 00:17:23,809 People thought they wanted New Coke 349 00:17:24,476 --> 00:17:27,479 and then when they tried it, they were like, New Coke is the worst. 350 00:17:27,813 --> 00:17:29,031 We want something classic. 351 00:17:29,031 --> 00:17:30,499 I think that's where we are as a culture. 352 00:17:33,836 --> 00:17:34,203 I think we 353 00:17:34,203 --> 00:17:37,189 were told we could sleep with whoever we wanted 354 00:17:37,940 --> 00:17:40,943 and we've never been more broken. 355 00:17:41,810 --> 00:17:44,580 I think we were told we could identify however we wanted. 356 00:17:44,580 --> 00:17:47,299 We've never been more confused. 357 00:17:47,299 --> 00:17:50,602 I think we were told to make politics our our ideology, 358 00:17:50,602 --> 00:17:54,089 our center, and even stop talking to family members if they disagreed. 359 00:17:54,089 --> 00:17:56,608 And we've never been more lonely. 360 00:17:56,608 --> 00:17:58,227 I think we were told, you don't even have to leave the house. 361 00:17:58,227 --> 00:17:59,361 You can work from home, 362 00:17:59,361 --> 00:18:02,364 you can get food delivered at home, you can watch movies at home. 363 00:18:02,397 --> 00:18:05,400 We've never been more isolated. 364 00:18:06,018 --> 00:18:09,021 And if you find yourself thinking men, 365 00:18:09,388 --> 00:18:11,607 new life 366 00:18:11,607 --> 00:18:14,610 is the worst. 367 00:18:15,060 --> 00:18:17,012 Maybe you need something 368 00:18:17,012 --> 00:18:19,631 a little more classic. 369 00:18:19,631 --> 00:18:22,551 And it just so happens that's the business Jesus, 370 00:18:23,752 --> 00:18:25,437 is that. 371 00:18:25,437 --> 00:18:29,358 Which is my third point a method for moving forward. 372 00:18:29,508 --> 00:18:32,027 If you want more life, how do you get it? 373 00:18:32,027 --> 00:18:35,597 You know, Jesus says two powerful things in John 1010. 374 00:18:35,597 --> 00:18:40,052 He says, I, I've come so that they may have life and life more abundant. 375 00:18:40,052 --> 00:18:43,038 Buried in that are two pretty profound statements. 376 00:18:43,038 --> 00:18:46,859 One is Jesus says, if you want more life, he can give it to you. 377 00:18:48,894 --> 00:18:50,028 No problem. 378 00:18:50,028 --> 00:18:51,730 It's what he does. 379 00:18:51,730 --> 00:18:52,731 In fact, he doubles down. 380 00:18:52,731 --> 00:18:54,917 He says, if you want life 381 00:18:54,917 --> 00:18:57,419 even more, life even more than you think, 382 00:18:57,419 --> 00:19:00,539 even more than you can dream of, even more than you can imagine. 383 00:19:00,539 --> 00:19:01,673 That's what he does. 384 00:19:01,673 --> 00:19:04,710 In other words, Jesus is saying that if you're 20, 385 00:19:04,710 --> 00:19:08,430 26 ends and you don't have more life, it's because you didn't want it 386 00:19:09,381 --> 00:19:12,384 because no problem, he can give it to you. 387 00:19:12,451 --> 00:19:15,437 Here's the second thing he's saying. 388 00:19:15,771 --> 00:19:18,774 You'll never get it without him. 389 00:19:20,042 --> 00:19:20,909 It's what he says. 390 00:19:20,909 --> 00:19:23,512 He says, I came so that they may have life. 391 00:19:23,512 --> 00:19:27,933 The implication of that is if I hadn't come, they wouldn't have had life. 392 00:19:27,933 --> 00:19:30,018 Let me tell you why he's saying that. 393 00:19:30,018 --> 00:19:31,170 Two steps to more life. 394 00:19:31,170 --> 00:19:33,689 If you want it in 2026, two steps up to you. 395 00:19:33,689 --> 00:19:34,556 Here's number one. 396 00:19:34,556 --> 00:19:37,559 You have to fire yourself. 397 00:19:41,096 --> 00:19:43,699 There may not be anything more unpopular to say 398 00:19:43,699 --> 00:19:46,768 to a roomful of Americans than this, but your family's not the problem. 399 00:19:49,588 --> 00:19:51,206 Your environment is not the problem. 400 00:19:51,206 --> 00:19:53,125 Whoever's in the white House is not the problem. 401 00:19:53,125 --> 00:19:55,010 I'm not saying all those things are great. I'm just saying 402 00:19:56,478 --> 00:19:59,097 you're the problem. 403 00:19:59,097 --> 00:20:00,782 I'm the problem. 404 00:20:00,782 --> 00:20:04,219 We have no idea what we're doing when it comes to sex 405 00:20:04,586 --> 00:20:08,340 or marriage or children or money or career. 406 00:20:08,340 --> 00:20:10,592 Our lives should be evidence of that. 407 00:20:10,592 --> 00:20:16,648 We have no idea what we're doing, and everything we touch withers. 408 00:20:16,648 --> 00:20:20,152 We make really lousy God's. 409 00:20:22,020 --> 00:20:23,822 This is what Jesus is teaching us. 410 00:20:23,822 --> 00:20:28,277 It means to become a Christian is to become so dissatisfied with yourself. 411 00:20:28,410 --> 00:20:30,262 You're looking for a new leader. 412 00:20:30,262 --> 00:20:32,397 Jesus says he's that leader. 413 00:20:32,397 --> 00:20:34,967 And to prove that he will live a sinless life, 414 00:20:34,967 --> 00:20:39,204 he will go to the cross where he will take on your sins, come up under the anger 415 00:20:39,204 --> 00:20:43,225 and wrath and judgment of God the Father as part of their plan 416 00:20:43,308 --> 00:20:47,246 to eradicate your guilt, eradicate the judgment that's on you. 417 00:20:47,246 --> 00:20:48,413 So the three days later, 418 00:20:48,413 --> 00:20:54,169 when he raises from the dead, he will say, if you will fire yourself and follow me, 419 00:20:54,169 --> 00:20:57,472 I will lead you to life eternal and life 420 00:20:57,923 --> 00:21:01,293 now, are you ready to fire yourself? 421 00:21:05,881 --> 00:21:08,867 You're ready to follow Jesus. 422 00:21:09,568 --> 00:21:12,571 We're baptizing at the end of the month. 423 00:21:13,038 --> 00:21:15,724 Falls in your court. 424 00:21:15,724 --> 00:21:18,226 Here's the second thing he's saying. 425 00:21:18,226 --> 00:21:21,179 You have to obey him. 426 00:21:21,179 --> 00:21:22,881 But he knows how to get life. 427 00:21:22,881 --> 00:21:23,448 That's what he's saying. 428 00:21:23,448 --> 00:21:26,451 I know how to lead you to life. But. 429 00:21:26,451 --> 00:21:30,055 But to tap into that, you're going to have to do things his way. 430 00:21:30,055 --> 00:21:33,091 And you've you've grown up in a culture that has told you that 431 00:21:33,091 --> 00:21:37,012 God is against you, that does things, everything, the opposite. 432 00:21:37,012 --> 00:21:41,483 So when he tells you how to do sex, how to do marriage, how to do money, 433 00:21:41,550 --> 00:21:45,654 how to do parenting, how to do career, it's going to sound crazy to you. 434 00:21:45,654 --> 00:21:46,705 How could it not? 435 00:21:46,705 --> 00:21:49,941 But you'll never get life unless you lean in. 436 00:21:52,828 --> 00:21:55,697 The problem with that is I. 437 00:21:55,697 --> 00:21:57,299 I know what you're thinking. 438 00:21:57,299 --> 00:21:59,818 It's because it's what I was thinking this week when I was getting ready. 439 00:21:59,818 --> 00:22:00,302 In fact, 440 00:22:00,302 --> 00:22:02,337 the best way to picture this is to connect it 441 00:22:02,337 --> 00:22:05,273 to another story in the Bible, Luke chapter five. 442 00:22:05,273 --> 00:22:07,709 Peter, a disciple, has been fishing. 443 00:22:07,709 --> 00:22:08,777 He's a fisherman. 444 00:22:08,777 --> 00:22:10,278 Which means, of course, that his father was 445 00:22:10,278 --> 00:22:12,414 a fisherman and his father's father was a fisherman. 446 00:22:12,414 --> 00:22:13,648 It's a family business. 447 00:22:13,648 --> 00:22:15,567 He's got the right boat, he's got the right nets. 448 00:22:15,567 --> 00:22:17,102 He knows all the right spots on the lake. 449 00:22:17,102 --> 00:22:18,587 He has all the right techniques. 450 00:22:18,587 --> 00:22:21,390 He's been fishing all night. He's caught nothing. 451 00:22:21,390 --> 00:22:22,607 And Jesus shows up. 452 00:22:22,607 --> 00:22:23,842 And this is their conversation. 453 00:22:23,842 --> 00:22:26,128 In Luke five, Jesus says this. 454 00:22:26,128 --> 00:22:28,163 And when he had finished speaking, he hears Jesus. 455 00:22:28,163 --> 00:22:30,232 He said to Simon, That's Peter 456 00:22:30,232 --> 00:22:33,235 put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. 457 00:22:33,235 --> 00:22:36,321 I, I love to imagine Simon here going, oh, is that what I forgot? 458 00:22:36,321 --> 00:22:38,640 Jesus, just going to lay down the net 459 00:22:40,292 --> 00:22:43,278 because that's how I'd be. 460 00:22:43,428 --> 00:22:47,332 And Simon answered, master, we toiled all night and took nothing. 461 00:22:47,332 --> 00:22:48,450 Listen. 462 00:22:48,450 --> 00:22:51,169 But at your word 463 00:22:51,169 --> 00:22:52,921 I will let down the nets. 464 00:22:52,921 --> 00:22:54,439 The Bible says they took up so much fish 465 00:22:54,439 --> 00:22:56,391 they couldn't even hardly get them in the boat. 466 00:22:56,391 --> 00:22:58,343 Here's what I would say. I know what you're thinking. 467 00:22:58,343 --> 00:23:01,346 I know you're thinking, but I've tried working on my marriage. 468 00:23:03,265 --> 00:23:06,268 But I've tried putting my family back together. 469 00:23:06,451 --> 00:23:08,970 I've tried getting control of my finances. 470 00:23:08,970 --> 00:23:13,642 I've tried it, I've tried it, I've tried it, and I'm tired of trying it. 471 00:23:13,708 --> 00:23:16,128 But here's my challenge. 472 00:23:16,128 --> 00:23:19,131 Did you do it at his word? 473 00:23:20,098 --> 00:23:22,167 Do you know what he says 474 00:23:22,167 --> 00:23:25,437 about sex, about money, about parenting, about family, about career? 475 00:23:25,437 --> 00:23:27,656 Do you know what he says? Have you done it? 476 00:23:30,926 --> 00:23:31,226 That's what 477 00:23:31,226 --> 00:23:34,229 2026 is going to be about for us as a church. 478 00:23:35,213 --> 00:23:38,216 What has Jesus said? 479 00:23:39,017 --> 00:23:41,686 And how can we start doing it? 480 00:23:41,686 --> 00:23:44,723 And when we do, he promises life 481 00:23:46,458 --> 00:23:47,259 even more. 482 00:23:47,259 --> 00:23:48,810 A life 483 00:23:48,810 --> 00:23:50,178 than we can imagine. 484 00:23:50,178 --> 00:23:52,731 Let me pray for us, father God, 485 00:23:52,731 --> 00:23:55,500 what an incredible thing it is, Jesus that when you came, 486 00:23:55,500 --> 00:23:58,520 you said your mission statement was to bring life and life more abundantly. 487 00:23:58,620 --> 00:23:59,571 You could have said anything. 488 00:23:59,571 --> 00:24:02,574 You could have said, I came to bring judgment. 489 00:24:03,558 --> 00:24:04,709 We deserve it. 490 00:24:04,709 --> 00:24:07,529 You could have said, I came to make sure you feel the guilt 491 00:24:07,529 --> 00:24:10,765 and shame you should feel for breaking this world. 492 00:24:10,765 --> 00:24:11,550 We deserve that. 493 00:24:11,550 --> 00:24:14,719 You could have said, I came to find the best and the brightest, 494 00:24:14,719 --> 00:24:18,056 and to start over with them, and to get rid of the rest of you losers. 495 00:24:19,291 --> 00:24:21,693 We deserve that. 496 00:24:21,693 --> 00:24:21,893 What? 497 00:24:21,893 --> 00:24:26,748 You said I came so that you may have life and life more abundant. 498 00:24:26,748 --> 00:24:27,833 Defeat. 499 00:24:27,833 --> 00:24:31,670 Jesus, we ask in the power of your Holy Spirit, the lie of the enemy 500 00:24:32,721 --> 00:24:35,724 that keeps us from you. 501 00:24:36,892 --> 00:24:39,227 Connect your sheep to you, 502 00:24:39,227 --> 00:24:43,248 the Shepherd that we might really live in Jesus name. 503 00:24:43,248 --> 00:24:44,749 We pray. Amen.