Disciple: Following Jesus Beyond Belief - Pastor Joseph Pringle

Show Notes

True discipleship goes beyond belief, it's following Jesus so closely that He transforms who you are and sends you out for His mission. Pastor Joe unpacks Matthew 4:19 to reveal three movements: follow Jesus, be made by Him, and fish for people. Scriptures: Matthew 4:19, John 5:39, Mark 3:14, Luke 6:40, Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Philippians 3:1, Galatians 6:2, James 5:16, Colossians 3:13, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, John 13:34, Proverbs 27:6, Proverbs 27:17, Matthew 28:19

What is C3OC Church?

We are a local Church in Orange County California who are passionate to witness lives being renewed in Christ, strengthened through discipleship, and to thrive in the fullness of living for Christ.
Get connected to us by visiting www.c3oc.com or emailing us at [e-mail]

I believe that God wants to see his church mature, and he doesn't want a believer who is immature. And a lot of that has to do with not just what we are hearing and what we are listening to, what has been poured into us. It is actually what we do with our lives and what we do with the truth that has been given to us. And so this whole series is just called disciple. I couldn't think of a better word except for disciple of Christ or just plain old disciple. And this is who we are called to multiply. I feel like we have lived a life where there can be people who are carrying the cross with Christ, and we've created a spectatorship of following after Jesus instead of first of all, just as Brittany said the this morning, taking up our cross, which means that we first deny ourselves and follow after him. And it's a radical call because just as Brittany was saying when she was speaking about, oh, man, it feels like we had a lack of time, but we laid down our time. And we feel like God has equipped us and given us more capacity to be able to hold what he is doing today. And here's the essence of the kingdom is it works in a reverse economy. It says, we want to hold onto our lives, we want to control our lives, we want to control how the world operates around us. But Christ says, lay down your life and I will give you a new one. Lay down this time, and I will multiply your time in these areas. Seek first the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of Joe, not the kingdom of self, not the kingdom of wealth, not the kingdom of success, not the kingdoms that the world tries to promote for us. And instead seek first the kingdom of God. And this is the call that Christ has set forth for us. And so I want to begin this series with what might be one of the simplest invitations that Jesus ever gave, which is the invitation to discipleship. Matthew 4:19. He says this, and he said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. That's it, three movements. Follow me, I will make you, and fishers of men. And inside that one sentence is almost everything we need to understand about what it means to be a disciple, a disciple of Christ. So today, and the tagline to this whole series is following Jesus beyond belief. Following Jesus beyond belief. I feel like one of the greatest challenges that we face as the church is that we have become very comfortable with the word Christian while Jesus overwhelmingly calls us all to become disciples. I'm not trying to play some kind of weird word game here. I'm talking about what we have allowed Christianity to become within the definitions of our own lives. For many people, Christianity has just become something that we believe. You believe Jesus is the Son of God. You believe he died and rose again. You believe the Bible. You attend church, you listen to preaching, you listen to worship, you know the scriptures and, and all of those things, they matter deeply within our lives. But biblical discipleship asks us another question. What is your belief actually producing in your life? Not just in your life, but what is it producing through your life? What is it producing through you into the kingdom of God and expanding that into. In the world that we live. Jesus didn't walk along the Sea of Galilee saying, hey, guys, come and agree with me. Come and ponder upon these things that I am about to say. He said, follow me. And we are living in perhaps the greatest age of information the world has ever seen. So we could pour that into Christian information that we've ever seen. Before breakfast, you can listen to five of the greatest preachers. You can pull up one scripture and have 17 translations and access to all of these commentaries. And you can listen to all of these podcasts. You can ask AI a theological question and have an answer in seconds. How many of us have done that? Don't be shy. How many of us have done that? We've put in this theological thing and we throw it in there. But there is also, and there's an enormous benefit to all of this. I'm not trying to write it off completely, but there is also a danger that we can mistake access to information or information itself as spiritual formation within our lives. We can know more and still yet become less like Christ. I saw this statistic. This study was done by Banner. They're pretty, pretty, you know, legit. And so they took this study of the use of AI in today's world. And I think this is really important for us. How often would you say you use artificial intelligence in your personal life? US adults, 15% say very often. Practicing Christians say 26%. This is super interesting. Non practicing Christians, 12%, pastors 5%. Because we've got it most together, just by the way, just so you know. Okay, so how often would you use it in your work life? US adults, 12% practicing Christians, 21% non practicing Christians, 11% pastors, once again, the smallest one, because we've got it mostly together. 6%. That's a joke, by the way. This is super interesting because if we start accessing AI first, rather than coming to Christ first, because I tell you, like, there is an algorithm that is after you. There is an algorithm that is built around your preferences, your perspective and it will develop a theology that is you centered. It's so important that we are first coming to Christ and we are living a life that is in the midst of his community. Coming to a place where we ask actual people. Actual people. I feel like we're so scared to ask questions because we don't want to appear like we do not know. Oh, I don't want to, I don't want to ask that question because that's going to make me look dumb. Oh, I don't want to ask that question because I'm supposed to know it all. No, you're not. You're not supposed to know it all. And it's, it's through people that the kingdom of God expands. If we are replacing it all with this AI models and with computer language and a robotic God, then we are only going to build for ourselves a weak faith. And so I believe that we can increasingly build a Christianity where nobody has to know us. And the way that we do it is this way. Nobody has to correct you, nobody has to challenge us. Nobody has to see the inconsistencies between what we say and what we believe and how we actually live. We can live a private faith with a privately designed God from our AI models. And I'm telling you it's a scary thing if this is now going to be the answer before the Word of God, before the community of God, before the Acts 2 church that has been set in motion and that we are currently still existing in here today and Jesus confronted something. Don't think that this is some new issue that the church has currently faced. Don't think that these new wars or these new threats against Christianity, don't think that the rise of Islam has not been seen by the kingdom of God before. There are many things that have risen up to try and bury faith. But our faith has something that's quite ironic. Every time someone tries to bury it, it has this sneaky habit of resurrecting stronger and more powerfully than before. Amen. Jesus confronted the same thing in John 5. He says this. John 5:39. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. And it is they that bear witness about me. That's Christ saying all of these scriptures. They're here to bear witness that the answer for eternal life is in Christ, that the answer for the peace you've been searching for is in Jesus Christ. It is they that bear witness about me. Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. Life is found in Christ, people. I am the way, the truth and the life that if whosoever would seek after me would find eternal life. I'm telling you that when you seek after God first and foremost, and this is the center point of being a disciple, that you would. Yes, we have all these tools and we have all these things, but the center point of your life is desire by Christ, for Christ and in his body. So over these next few weeks, like I said, we're sitting in here for a hot minute. I'm not interested in giving you more Christian content, not interested in preaching a sound bite that you can take away. My prayer is that Jesus forms his image within your heart, that there is a transformation in your life and not just intellect or knowledge that is here, but you look at your money different. You look at your marriage different. You look at your work different. You look at the purpose for your life differently. Because there are too many people who are wandering around aimlessly going, I don't know what the purpose in life is. Your purpose in this life is to follow Christ. That he would make you into a fisher of man. Follow me, Let him make you, and he will give your life kingdom purposes. Amen. And I'm passionate about this because I have sought. And here's the thing, okay, here's the thing. When I sought my own purposes in life, I did it 3,082%, okay? I went and ran the opposite direction as hard and fast as I can. I denied my Christian life and ran. Here's what I found. Emptiness, hopelessness, despair, despondency, depression. I found nothing in the church. I feel like we can live our lives kind of half in and half out. And I'm telling you, it's harder to live lukewarm than it is hot or cold. My whole prayer and objective is to turn you from lukewarm into boiling hot water for Christ. Because life is too short and purpose is too big for us just to live another life for us just to waste another day for us just to waste another week. Amen. I want to see you guys on fire for God, burning so brightly for him. Amen. The first point here today. Jesus must become your center. Jesus must become your center. He said, follow me. Follow me. Before Jesus gave Peter and Andrew any kind of assignment, he gives himself to them. That's important. The first call of discipleship is not do something for Jesus, the first call of discipleship is not, now let's just start doing all these things. It is come after Jesus. Christianity begins with the person of Christ. I know that sounds very simple, but it's our foundation. Christianity begins with the person of Christ. Mark 3:14 says, When Jesus chose the 12 disciples, he appointed them first for this reason in 3:14 it says so that they might be with him before preaching, before casting out demons, before ministry, before mission with him, with Christ, knowing him, seeing him, loving his presence, wanting to hear and feed off of all these words that he is saying. That is our foundation for discipleship. So it's so important that if we're just going to AI or to some insta bro or, I don't know, some TikTok channel that's like, oh, this is how I'm fully formed. And it's all of this information, but nothing actually changes in your life. It's because you're centering your life around something that is flaky, needs to be filled and centered with Jesus at the middle before all the prayer. I see people like jumping too quickly into these, into these callings or to these missions without first spending time with Jesus, like sitting at his feet, sitting, listening to worship at home and just say, man, I love his presence. And until you love his presence more than the promised land that you've been praying for in your life, you are going to find yourself at odds with yourself. Because I'm telling you, when you fall in love with his presence, more than all the promised land, more than all of my prayers being answered, more than anything, I just want to be with Christ. That's where Jesus becomes the center point of our life. And I wonder if we've made Christianity about everything surrounding Jesus while losing Jesus himself at the center. We love Christian teaching, we love Christian music, we love Christian community, we love Christian conferences, we love Christian theology, we love Christian politics, we love Christian culture. But the question underneath it all is, do I want Jesus Christ? Do I want Christ at the center of it all? Do I want to build my life off of his preference and not my own? I'm telling you, when the promised land becomes less desirable than being in the presence of God, your life will shift. Your life will begin to shift when you love his presence more than anything else in this world. You say, Jesus, you are the center. Not the crowds. You are the center, not all the successes. You are the center. Not the answer to this, this and this. No, you are my desire. You are at the center of it all. And it's not that God is going to withhold any of those things from you. He wants to bless his people he wants to see the dreams and desires of our heart, but not at the cost of putting someone else at the center of our lives. Paul says something extraordinary. In Philippine Philippians 3, he lists out this giant resume. I am this and I am the best of this. And he's listing himself as the Jew of Jews, okay? His resume is like, he's at the top of the list. If you're going to be picking anyone for the job of Christian or temple, the temple guy, whatever you want to call him, he's the guy that's at the top. And he lists it all. And then he says, I count it all as loss. All of these accolades, all of these things that I have achieved in this life. I count it all as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord. And that is the heart of discipleship, man. All of this, all of the accoutrements in life, I counted all as loss because I know Jesus Christ. I count it all as secondary in this life, easy to throw away, but I will never throw away being in the presence of Christ, that is the heart of a disciple. It's not I know Christianity, but I want to know Jesus. I want to know him. I want to know him as friend. I want to know him as Father. I want to know him as Lord. I want to know him as Savior. I want to know him as shepherd. I want to know him as corrector. I want to know him as comforter. I want to know him as healer. I want to know him as deliverer. I want to know him as Savior. I want to know Christ in my life. And this is where passive Christianity becomes dangerous, because consumers will always ask, what am I getting out of this? Disciples will ask, where is Jesus going? And what does Christ require of me? Consumers evaluate Christianity according to their preference. Disciples reorder preference around Christ. Let me say it again. Consumers evaluate Christianity according to to their preference. Disciples reorder their preferences around Christ. I can't wait. I'm going to speak on that really in depth in a couple of weeks. We don't want us to become a church full of people who simply know about Jesus. We want this church to become people whose entire lives are increasingly centered upon him. And yes, you will fail. I fail. But it's about throwing ourselves back at the cross. And why that scripture? It says, man, deny yourself daily and pick up the cross. Why? Because I'm human. Sometimes I shrug that sucker off my shoulders. It's too heavy. My bitterness is too great. My flesh is too strong. But next in the morning I will pick up that cross again, I will pick up that shield of faith, and I will stand strong for the trials ahead. We want this church to be increasingly each and every life centered upon our marriages, our money, our sexuality, our ambitions, our friendships, our parenting, our time, our future, our private lives. Not because we're trying to earn salvation. That's not the message. But because when Jesus becomes the center, everything else in our life begins to find its proper orbit. And that's the call. Follow me. And then Jesus says something that I believe is the singularly most important scripture for this whole series and what I would say for our lives. He goes on. He says, follow me. And I, I, I will make you. You were saved. This is point two. You were saved to be transformed. You were not saved to stay the same. Jesus says, come as you are. Jesus says, walk through the door as you are. But the design is not that you would stay the same and Christ would fit into your preferred kind of living, but there would be a transformation that happens within our lives. We can't move quickly past this. He will make you. My question for you is, who or what is making you? Is it self? We live in America. America, baby. Self made, self makin, all of it. Is it self that is making you? Is it money that is making you? Where is all this identity that has been poured into your life? Who is making or shaping you? Who is or what is beginning to inform the decisions for your life? Is it fear? Is it shame? Is it guilt? Is it prior wounds? Is it bitterness? Or is it saying to Christ, man, I need you to make me. I have all of these plans and desires for my life, God. But Proverbs would say man devises plans within his heart, but the Lord orders his steps. Sometimes, man, I feel like we are people who tend to want to drag God's heart into scenarios rather than be the people who are after God's heart following having his heart lead us. So the question I want us to write down is who or what is making me right now? What is it? Who or what is driving these addictions in my life? Who or what is causing this bitterness to hold on to my life? Because Jesus isn't just calling you and I somewhere. His intention is to make something of you along the way. And that is so exciting. He doesn't want you to stay the same. And we need to desire the same thing that there are. This journey that we are on, this journey of what is called sanctification is one where I am committed to continual change. If there's one thing that we all really don't like. It's change. We want to know the order of everything. We just, this is who I am and this is the way it's going to go. But when you are submitted to Christ, there are going to be moments where he asks for your change. And that is discipleship. It's not paused believing something like Jesus, it is becoming like Jesus continually. Luke 6:40 says, Everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. And that is the destination of discipleship. And no one, I love this. You can pick apart yourself and try and disqualify yourself. It says, everyone. No one is left out. I know what you hang on to in the past that says, I am not worthy of being a disciple. I'm just not. I got to clean up my life. You start where you're at. Everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Everyone who is faithful to the narrow path, everyone who walks through a fence, everyone who perseveres in storms, everyone who is faithful when there is lack, will become like his teacher. Who is your teacher? I'm coming back to that. Who or what is making you? Who or what is forming you? Romans 8:29 says, God's purpose is that we would be conformed to the image of His Son. You want a purpose driven life. That's your scripture right there. Be conformed and be submitted to being conformed to the image of his Son. 2 Corinthians 3, 18 says, being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. Notice the language of all of these scriptures. Trained, conformed, transformed and made. Christianity is not Jesus rubber stamping the person I already decided to become. He loves me as I am. He calls me as I am. He saves me by the graces I am. But his grace has no intention of leaving me as I am. He says, I will make you. Ha. That is so good. I will make you God. The guy who opened his mouth and said, let there be stars and unfurl the galaxy out of his mouth, he says, I will be the one who makes you man, if you just follow me. If you lay down your life, if you deny yourself, if you pick up the cross, I will make you. And Peter is such a perfect picture of this. When Jesus finds Peter, he is impulsive, he is inconsistent, he is proud, he is argumentative, he is reactive. He speaks when he should listen. He swings a sword when Jesus is surrendering. He promises loyalty and then denies Jesus three times. And yet Jesus keeps forming him. He keeps correcting him, teaching him, rebuking him, restoring him, entrusting responsibility to him. Until the man who couldn't stand firm before a servant girl denying Christ three times, stands up publicly at Pentecost and proclaims Christ before Jerusalem. Seeing thousands come to Christ in that one moment, I will make you. That's Jesus promise to you. He will make you. If you say I will follow you. I'm not going to follow my own soul. I'm not going to follow my own heart. I'm not going to follow my own mind. I'm not going to follow AI. I will follow Christ that he would make me. And we need this desperately because we live in a culture obsessed with self creation. Find yourself, define yourself, express yourself. Build yourself, protect yourself, promote yourself. Jesus offers something so radically different. It's so different. He says, give yourself to me and I will make you. And most of that formation happens in the places that we naturally resist. This is why we have to lay down our flesh continually. Correction forms you and I. Waiting forms you and I. Suffering forms you and I. Obedience forms us. Serving forms us. Forgiveness forms us. Giving forms us. Self denial forms us. Sacrifice forms the word of God forms us. The spirit of the living God forms us. And the people of God form us. That is why Christianity, you cannot separate discipleship and the Church. It's not optional in serious discipleship, because there are so many commands in the New Testament you cannot obey on your own. Galatians 6:2. Bear one another burdens. James 5:16, Confess your sins to one another. Colossians 3:13. Forgive one another one Thessalonians 5:11. Encourage one another. John 13:34, Love one another. You cannot one another yourself. And in this age increasingly capable of giving us personalized everything, personalized feeds, personalized entertainment, personalized information, even artificial companionship. The Church must recover the beautiful inconvenience of real community. Of real community, of real family, of God, of real the Church. People who know you, people who love you, people who disagree with you, people who forgive you, people who occasionally irritate the hair off your head. These this is good for you. Like we run so quickly from these moments, but we need one another to see the fruit of God begin to grow. Because discipleship is not just me and Jesus. Jesus places us in a body. Proverbs 27:6 says this. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. I don't know when it became the definition, but all wounds are bad. Because this tells me that there are some wounds that are good for you. And I. And I need friends within my Life who wound me properly. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. I need people in my life who are allowed to wound me with the truth. Proverbs 27:17 says, Iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another. As soon as you put the iron together, there is going to be friction and spark. Yet we run when we feel first wounded. Oh, that offended me. Even though I kind of. I kind of recognize something's got to change in my life, but it still wounded me. So I'm offended and I'm going to run. Oh, there was a bit of friction and I don't like friction, so I'm just going to run from all of this. But iron, sharpening iron, there's going to be some sparks. Some of us keep interpreting every friction as evidence that we are in the wrong community, when it may be the very environment God is using to form Christ within us. The question of discipleship, therefore, isn't only what am I learning, it's who am I becoming? Am I more loving today than I was yesterday? Am I more forgiving? More teachable? Am I more generous? Am I more courageous? Am I more holy? Am I more patient? Am I more persevering? Am I more like Jesus? Because if I have accumulated 10 years of sermons and scripture memorizations, but remain equally as bitter, equally as proud, equally as offendable, equally self centered and equally resistant to correction, I have to ask whether I have mistaken information for formation. Jesus said, follow me and I will make you and church. That's a promise over this entire series that you submit your life to Christ and He will make you. I cannot promise you that it's going to be pain free. I cannot promise you that it's not going to be a stretch. I cannot promise you that there's not going to be some uncomfortable moments in your life. But I can promise you that you will be made into the image of Christ and built for a purpose that far exceeds anything you could dream or imagine. Because if you will let him make you, then there are things that you cannot produce in your life that Jesus will form in you. And one of those great things is the mission. So first he will call you. He says, follow me. He says, I will make you. That's your promise. That's you and I. Oh Christ, make me in the middle of this trial or the storm, make me into the image of Christ. Make me be a person who is strong enough to pick up my cross daily. Why? Because your life was made. For whose mission? For his mission. Your life was made for his mission. He will make you for a kingdom purpose. Jesus finishes that sentence and he says, you will be fishers of men. Jesus takes something they understand, fishing, and completely shifts its purpose. You've spent your life catching fish. I don't know what you've spent your life doing. But now Jesus says, I'm going to teach you to reach people with the gift you've been honing. Jesus doesn't only change who they are, he changes what they live for. And this is where discipleship has got to eventually lead. It has to lead into an action. It has to lead into seeing his kingdom come. And you and I, we have a big part. I don't know if you know this, but Jesus would be, and I've said this before, Jesus, if he was your investment advisor, you'd be a little concerned because he put all his eggs in one basket. Everyone else like, oh, you got to diversify and case all the plants. He put all his eggs in one basket. And that's the church. Plan A is the church. What's plan B? The church. What's plan C? The church. What's plan D? The church. It goes on and on. There is one plan to see his kingdom come and his purpose is revealed, and that is through his house. And this is where discipleship has got to lead. That there would be a surrendering to this mission that God has given us. Because transformation that terminates on ourselves is not New Testament discipleship. That is what I would call self Testament discipleship. That serves our purposes, that serves my comfort, that fits into my lifestyle. Jesus forms us so he can send us the gospel, sends us to go and spell it out for others. This is a cheesy way that I remember this gospel. You've got to go and you've got to spell it out for others. You got to take what Christ has given you and see it multiply in others. Your story and your testimony is not wasted just on a singular moment. I see my friend Mike Falcon. I see you speaking in front of many people. And I know you don't like being pointed out, but I feel it so fiercely. You have a voice that is going to bring the gospel to many people who no one can reach except for you. And God has set you apart for a time such as this to preach the good news of the gospel. Your experience is not wasted. Your pain is not wasted. And even the wars that you face today and the challenges that you face today is testament to how much God is on your life. The devil might try and send dragons, but he's made you A dragon slayer. And it's because of the battles you have faced. You are going to preach the gospel, my friend, and many are going to come to Christ. We have got to go and spell it out for others. And at the end of Matthew, the same Jesus who said follow me is the person who sends us out. In that famous scripture, Matthew 28:19, he says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. And that's the movement that we have come to. Me, I will make you now go into the water and make disciples. We don't just want to make Christians who are left with an understanding so shallow that they can't even swim deep, they can't even dive into their faith. We want to create disciples who are mature enough to swim across oceans, who are afraid of the depths of change within their lives. So follow, be formed and be sent. The disciples who were made by Jesus are now commanded to go and make disciples. That's the church, my friends. And this protects us from another version of consumer Christianity where even spiritual growth becomes self centered and actually is the very Adamic nature that Jesus, his resurrection, his death on the cross, it redeemed that. I want healing for me and me alone. I want freedom for me. I want teaching for me, community for me. I want blessing just for me. I want success just for me. I want breakthrough just for me. And Jesus absolutely cares about you. It's not overlooking any of this, but eventually the question has to become who is your life becoming good news for? Who are you discipling? Who are you encouraging? Who are you praying for? Who are you bringing toward Jesus? Who is stronger because you followed Christ? Because spiritual maturity isn't just becoming a better version of yourself. It's becoming useful in the hands of the King. Peter doesn't stay beside the Sea of Galilee admiring how much Jesus has changed him. Oh, I feel like a rock now. No. Eventually Pentecost comes and they tithe themselves to a prayer room, waiting up there, praying and seeking after God. The day of Pentecost arrives and tongues of fire come upon them. And he stands up and boldly preaches the gospel to these people and thousands respond. And that's the fulfillment of these promises. And I'm telling you, you have been made by Christ to be a fisher of men. You have been made to be a fisher of finances for the kingdom. You have been made to be a fisher of people into the kingdom of God that they would know eternal life. I'm telling you, there is only two places where people go at the end of this life. I know we hate to talk about it. It's not comfortable to talk about it. There is hell and there is heaven. There is no other place. And we get the choice to say, where am I going to be sent? Am I going to display the gospel to these people? Because you and I have being called to be light and salvation. I think about the story of Billy Graham, and there was a deacon who was standing at the door, and there was a tent revival in the middle of a field. And these two young boys walk in and it's crowded and there's no seats. And so they end up just walking out. They're just going to leave. I don't know about you, but if you invite me to a party and I have to drive around for 15 minutes trying to find a parking space, I'm going home. I just don't have the patience. God grow within me. But these two kids, they just ended up walking out and there was a deacon that ran after them. There was this one guy who ran after them and he grabbed them and said, I'll find a couple of seats for you. He brought them down the front and he gave him a couple of seats. That's the night where Billy Graham gave his life to Christ. You know, we know Billy Graham's name, but, man, that deacon decided in that moment, I'm gonna be light, I'm gonna be salt. I'm gonna make room for these teenagers. Don't overlook the youth. Don't overlook what God can use within your life. Don't overlook what one simple invitation can do in someone's world. So for you and I, man, I don't want other to stay as follow myself so that I can make a little version of me and I can serve my own purposes in this life. It's going to be a life that you are unsatisfied with. You're going to feel anxious. You're going to feel, oh, I need more. I'm telling you, when you lay down your life and you say, God, use what I have, Use what I have and make me into the person you want to make me into. That I would follow your purposes. And I'm telling you, this is our entryway to discipleship. Amen. Let's all stand here. Today we're going to be talking about surrender and dependence and lordship, devotion, reconciliation, community. All of these different areas of. Of discipleship. Some of it will encourage us. Some of it is going to confront us. Some of it may expose things we'd rather leave alone. But underneath every week is one promise. One promise that I want you to consider one promise that I want you to keep coming back to that I will make you that Christ is going to make you you. The Christ is going to form you. The Christ is going to transform you. Amen. Amen. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. Oh, thank you, Jesus. You are such a good God. I thank you, Father, that in hearing your word today. Let it not go in one ear and out the other. Let us not forget what we look like when we look into the mirror. But we would walk away, Father. Let the Word confront us here today. Let the word encourage us. Jesus, I speak out against all discouragement or anyone who might think I am disqualified for these reasons. That the invitation is for everyone who would come to him. Everyone who would lay down their life for everyone who would say, I want you to make me Jesus. That there would be transformation in their world. God, I pray that through this, through these sermons, through these messages, through knowing your word, our prayers, our prayer life would become more effective. That there would be a standing on the truth of not just a knowing of the promises, but faith in the promises of God. Not just a knowledge of the word of God, but a standing on the word of God. I speak against all doubt under the authority of Jesus blood. I speak against all sickness under the authority of Jesus blood. I speak against all despondency, depression, addiction, hopelessness. I always. All hardness, Father, under the authority of Jesus blood. All bitterness under the authority of Jesus blood. That it would be released in the name of Jesus. God. Oh God, I thank you for true freedom from your word. And I thank you, Father. That there would be an orchard of truth that begins to rise up within each and every person. That there would be true disciples who are frauds and are formed here at C3OC. God, give us wisdom, Father. Give us wisdom as a church. I pray for growth within this church. Growth within people. Growth within numbers. Growth within salvation. Father. Growth, Father. That there would be a multiplication of fruit. I pray that peace is not reserved solely for us. That your salvation is not reserved solely for us. But we would be surveyors of the land. And we would plant the seed that has been given to us. Father, let us not selfishly feast on the promises that you have given us. But declare them to our families. Declare them to our workplaces. Declare them to those who were lost in our worlds, Father. That there would be true life and true formation. So, Father, we surrender our lives here today. Hey, thanks for tuning in. There's a bunch of different ways that we connect throughout the week, including Sunday mornings, and we would love to see you there. You can check out all the [e-mail].