WEBVTT - The Momentum of a Decision 0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:05.200 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:07.160 and this is our podcast and I wanted to thank 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.479 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.560 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:16.920 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.400 We welcome you right now. Please be sure to let 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.680 us know right now in the comments or the chat 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:26.360 where you're joining us from is significant, and then our 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.040 prayer teams can just start praying for you by name 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:32.440 that God's presence would reach you in a powerful way. 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.160 I also wanted to announce to you what they didn't 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:38.199 tell you on Fox News or CNN. This is the 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:45.280 year of the Lord's Favor. Breaking news. The Lord is 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:53.200 good and his love endures forever. So just to give 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:57.480 you a preview, we're gonna finish with favor. The Lord 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:00.800 spoke that to me. He said, finish with favor, and 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.440 I'll preach about that in coming weeks. But right there 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.400 in the chat, right there in the comments, say I 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:09.280 want to finish with favor, and that's what Jesus did. 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:12.440 He said that it's the year of the Lord's Favor. Yes, 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:14.880 there are blind eyes that need to be open. Yes, 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.039 they are a lame that need to walk. Yes, they're 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:19.200 a poor that need to be helped. It's always been 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.840 this way, but this is the year of the Lord's favor. 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:26.320 This is the year of the Lord's favor. Now everybody 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.080 has an opportunity to participate in this and believe with 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.240 this because we're receiving a year end offering. We set 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:34.760 the date for December thirteenth. You can give any time 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.560 up until then. You can go to Elevation Church dot org. 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.160 And the best thing to do if you really believe 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:42.960 that everything you have came from God, is to set 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:47.039 up a recurring gift of a tithe. That's our way 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:49.800 of saying to God, I trust you and I thank 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:56.360 you all at the same time. Listen, listen, I feel 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:57.920 I'm clicking off. They're going to watch an old Charles 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:00.760 Stanley sermon or something like that. Listen, listen, look at me. 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:03.880 You get to thank him and trust him with the 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:09.760 same act of obedience. And that's a powerful thing. Elijah, 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:12.880 I've been tied in since sixteen and so for every 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.880 fifty dollars on a beat you sell, five is God's 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:19.720 Really it's all his but we returned that top part 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.720 back to him. And if you do it, it'll make 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:25.480 room for him to prove himself in your life. I 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:28.440 promise you that. How many have experienced that? And you 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:32.680 can testify him? So I know it's like, well, this 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:34.440 has been a hard year, and yeah, it's been a 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:36.079 hard year. I'm not going to make it harder by 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:40.919 stopping trusting God. That would be that would be a 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.600 really weird thing to do. So We're just going to 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:48.200 move forward expand God's kingdom. The offering is centered around 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:49.960 the word favor, so I just call it the Favor 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:52.880 Offering twenty twenty. We always choose a word and you 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:54.800 can find out how to give there and give above 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:56.960 and beyond. Holly and I are going to give our 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.600 gift on December thirteenth, challenge you to do the same 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:01.640 all over the world. How many are grateful for the 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.680 givers that make it possible for these gospel messages to 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:09.400 go out? Thank God for you, Come on, say it 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:13.400 in a chat, Thank God for you, all of the givers. 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.200 God is doing great things through you, and God is 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:20.520 about to speak a great thing to you. How many 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:25.239 believe that? Say amen, You've got great faith to say 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:29.600 amen before you even hear my scripture. So today I 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.240 want to take one verse of scripture and I'll launch 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:36.280 from this verse. And it's a very powerful verse found 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:42.640 in Luke chapter five. Thank you God for this little message. 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:44.960 Help me to communicate it in a way that will 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:49.600 make a difference in somebody's life in Jesus' name, Luke 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:55.520 five eleven, one verse. I promise you that doesn't mean 0:03:55.560 --> 0:04:02.640 the sermon will be shorter, but this is the verse. 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:07.600 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:12.960 and followed him. You probably need to hear that another 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:16.920 time to let it sink in just the magnitude of 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:23.960 what they did. They pulled their boats up on shoreft. 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:28.200 I don't want to say it because I don't want 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.520 to do it. I don't want to leave everything. I mean, 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:35.520 I want to leave some things, the stuff that I'm 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:39.600 tired of. I want God to take that away. But 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:41.479 I guess I better preach how I said that in 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:47.920 the verse, left everything and followed him. I want to 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:51.400 speak to you today about the momentum of a decision. 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:58.560 The momentum of a decision. God, you're already doing such 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:00.560 an awesome work in this place can feel it. And 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:02.880 I believe it's happening everywhere that someone is connected to 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:06.320 this word, whether it's by a Wi Fi signal, or 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:10.960 whether it's in a campus with a building that says 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.400 church on it, or anywhere in between. Speak your word. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:19.160 We're listening, and our answer is a man in Jesus name. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:23.080 You may be seated. Oh, Holly, I forgot to tell you. 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:27.480 I had this interesting conversation with Jenny Losco. After Holly 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:30.680 did a reflect sermon. Some of her friends who were 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.719 here came over to the house and they were roasting 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:39.720 hot dogs by the campfire and s'mores and which I 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:43.120 don't eat this'mores. I'm a health food kind of guy, 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:46.719 so I eat hot dogs and sausages. It's low carb lifestyle. 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:52.159 You wouldn't understand. And Jenny wrote a book last year, 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:54.880 and I thought the title of the book was so great, 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:56.520 and I know the story behind it, so for me, 0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.919 there's even more power because I've watched her live it 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:02.880 and her husband Levi. They passed her church in Montana. 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.560 You've met them before, they've been here before. Her book 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:12.039 was called well now I forgot it Fight to Flourish. Yeah, 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:14.680 it's a great title. Don't think because I didn't remember 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:16.480 in that moment that it was bad time. It's a 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.880 great title. In fact, that's what I asked her. I said, Jenny, 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:20.880 how did you think of that title? Because I'm a 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:25.279 title guy. I spend just you can ask my family 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.680 notepads trying to get a title for each sermon, and 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:30.839 so I'm a title guy. I said, I feel like 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:33.640 that title, fight to Flourish is a whole sermon in itself. 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.359 I feel like you could charge fourteen ninety nine just 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:38.760 for the title and not even have to write the book. 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:41.919 And I said, when did you decide to call it? 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:52.839 That awkward silence, she goes, hmmm, I don't really remember. 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.000 I said, well, try to remember. I really like to know. 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:01.400 I'm really interested where he's sitting outside. Were sitting inside 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:04.000 where you, you know, with a group that somebody else 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:06.960 suggested to you to go through some other titles, and 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:09.760 you chose that one. Were you watching Rocky and there 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:11.520 was a flower on the table and you went fight 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:15.040 to Flourish? You know, like what happened? And is that 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.760 Iran or remember she went all the way back and 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:19.520 she went through the chain of events that led her 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:23.560 to write the book. Of course, the book was written 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.880 about how they lost their daughter, Lynda, who went to 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:31.960 heaven suddenly about eight years ago. And she never set 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.520 out to write a book, but somebody had suggested to 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:37.239 her that God could use what she had been through 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:39.520 and the way that she trusted God through it to 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.840 help them through what they're going through. And of course 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:45.240 you're resistant to something like that at first, and that 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.920 makes sense, but you know, she eventually did it, and 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:50.400 she walked through that, and she knew exactly where she 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:52.400 was when someone said that needs to be a book, 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:54.520 and she knew exactly where she was when she decided 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:57.080 to begin, and she went through all of that, and 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:59.640 she gave me the chain of events, but she couldn't 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:05.200 remember the moment of decision when she said I'm gonna 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:08.720 call it Fight to Flourish. She couldn't remember. She remembered 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:10.440 when she saw the cover and she thought, that's how 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:12.280 it needs to look on the cover, but she couldn't 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.760 remember when she made the decision that that's what it 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.200 was going to be called. And that was interesting to 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.360 me because she went back through all of these events, 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:26.200 but she couldn't remember the exact moment of decision. She remembered, well, 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:27.880 this led to that, and that led to that, and 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:29.600 that led to that, and this was painful, and this 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.679 was purposeful. Boom boom boom boom boom, And this I 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.880 knew in my heart, And this somebody else said. But 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.320 even though I can remember the events that led to 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:43.000 it with clarity, I don't really remember the moment of 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:49.680 decision specifically. I thought that was I thought that was 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:53.600 kind of interesting that there's a difference between an event 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:59.200 and the decision. So one thing I like to teach 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.959 since everybody now likes to be offended all the time. 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:10.160 It's our national addiction. We are addicted to being offended 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.960 as a nation. And if you're offended, I said, that, 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:25.280 wouldn't that just finish my point? I don't think you know. Okay, Well, 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:28.880 you know one thing I taught years ago and it 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:30.560 seemed to help people, so I thought i'd put it 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.959 in the sermon up front, is that offense is an event. 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:38.280 That's something that happens to you, and it's a real thing. 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:44.360 Offense is an event. But offend, dead offended, offendad how 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:49.440 do you pronounce it? Offended? That's a decision. So notice 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:53.160 what we just did. We just separated the event from 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:59.520 the decision. So somebody, you know, doing something to me 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.240 that they shouldn't have done might be something that I 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:07.920 didn't choose, but my response to that is a decision, 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:14.200 the momentum of a decision. Beginning to separate this out 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:20.160 is probably important if we're parenting teenagers, because unless you 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:26.120 understand what led to the decision, you will always try 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:30.960 to correct the behavior. I was praying for one of 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:33.400 my kids one day and I was like, why do 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:36.640 they keep doing that? And it was like the Lord 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:38.400 said back to me, I don't know. Why did you 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.240 do the same thing when you were their age? And 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:51.320 I was like, ah, right, it's called puberty. But isn't 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:58.960 it easy to explain somebody else's decision as unwise while 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:05.120 justify your own as completely warranted. I'm really good, and 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:08.000 I think I should get a professional job at breaking 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:11.679 down other people's decisions. You know, they shouldn't let their 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:15.760 kids do that, they shouldn't spend that, they can't afford that, 0:11:16.120 --> 0:11:18.559 Why would they go there? Why would they say that? 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:23.240 Why would they think that? I am so good at 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:29.439 diagnosing your decisions? But I've got to be honest. There 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.960 are some things I do that if you press me 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:36.360 for it, I really can't tell you why or when. 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.480 For instance, I can't tell you when I became a 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.160 cynical person, but I just know that I am a 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:44.880 lot of that. I never woke up one day and 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:49.960 I was like, Thursday, March fourteenth, this is the day 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.719 I didn't make a declaration of cynicism. People don't make 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:57.040 a declaration of depression. I think today I'll go into 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.040 a deep state of depression. It's not a decision, and 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.480 you don't really remember exactly when you started feeling this way. 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:06.319 Maybe you could trace back some events, but it's a 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.560 different thing to understand the decision. And that's why we 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:11.800 have to be a student of how God works in 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:15.720 our lives to understand that every decision has a parent 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:20.920 called an emotion. Every emotion is a descendant of a thought. 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:24.880 If I don't deal with the thought that created the emotion, 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:27.560 I'll try to make a different decision, only to be 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:31.240 overpowered by something that is deeper than what I am 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:37.040 dealing with at the surface of my decisions. And then 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:39.480 I'll know why I bought a peloton and turned it 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:43.960 into a coat rack for my sweatshirts, because when I 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:47.360 decided to buy the Peloton, I was in a certain 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:51.000 state of mind. I was in a certain state of 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.360 guilt and condemnation. This is not a real illustration about me. 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:56.200 I'm just using it. I heard this from some people 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.680 that you make a decision, and you make the decision 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.880 in this certain state of mind, and then you encounter 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.560 a challenge and the decision that you made in the 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:10.240 state of mind where you saw clearly the decision that 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.600 you made, in the state of mind where that better 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:14.640 part of you, where the spirit of God lives in 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.839 rules and reigns and knows what's best for you, gives 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:26.040 into something deeper in you that pulls you back into stuff. Yeah, yeah, 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:35.920 you're getting real quiet. And every decision has momentum. Now 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.560 I am not a scientist, nor the son of a scientist. 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:41.520 So there are people in books that can tell you 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:45.760 the mechanics of decisions that you make. They can tell 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:48.280 you why you pick this over that, and they can 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:52.720 tell you about the neurology and I can't. But I 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.520 chose Luke five to eleven because where I live in 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.959 the scriptures, that seemed to me like a very dramatic 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:08.320 decision to leave everything and follow Jesus. What does it 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:13.080 mean to follow Jesus? For the people who did it 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:16.440 right here, I'll show you exactly what it meant. It 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:26.440 was simple. See, that's what they did. For us, it's abstract. 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:33.480 For them, it was physical. He's not describing a spiritual 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:37.080 decision here. It's just a physical one. They left everything. 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.600 That doesn't mean that they left their way of thinking. 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:42.640 That just means they left their boat, their nets, and 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:47.400 their fishing supplies. They left their bait, but they didn't 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:56.080 necessarily leave their beliefs. So at some point they set 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.800 out and they followed Jesus. I kind of wish it 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:03.480 was this clear for us, that following Jesus was as 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:07.800 simple as come here to be you be Jesus. Won't 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:10.800 that be fun? Just for a minute now, no pressure, 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:17.440 Just walk. That's all that's all you did. I think 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:19.960 I could do it better, follow Jesus if it was 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.160 that simple all I gotta do. I mean, this is 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:26.360 this is not so hard right now? And ship back 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:28.360 down and we'll make you Jesus again later in the sermon. 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:33.760 But following Jesus for me is not a physical decision right. 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:39.320 Physical decisions are sometimes easier, but to be a disciple. 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:42.240 This is a passage about the calling of the disciples. 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:45.560 You know them, you love them. They're famous, they're dysfunctional, 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:49.040 they're crazy, they're stupid. They blow it. They don't understand 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:50.880 that Jesus is going to the cross, so they try 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:52.840 to stop him from going there. That's who he chose 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:55.000 this as disciples. This is how he called them, and 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:57.920 this is this is what they did. They pulled their 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:06.640 boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. There's 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:08.640 a hymn we used to sing called I have decided 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:13.720 to follow Jesus. Will you sing it with me? Cherish Cherish? 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:16.640 I know you love to sing. I have decided. Do 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.240 you know it? I know you were not a church girl, 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:21.080 so this one might have passed you in your prime. 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.560 You were singing about different things back when I was 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.000 growing up in the church, and I know that. But 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:31.280 there came a point. I have decided to follow Jesus. 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:35.760 You'll know it. I have decided to follow Jesus. I 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:42.440 have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:53.040 It's great and singing it is one thing because for 0:16:53.160 --> 0:16:56.440 most of us to sing that all it cost us 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:03.080 is breath. For the people who did it in this scripture, 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:07.720 it cost them their boats. And I want to show 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:10.879 you in this scripture this is really really insightful to me. 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:15.359 And I can't possibly show you everything that's in this 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:19.720 text because well, honestly, when they followed him, it led 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:22.200 to so much more than they could know in that moment, 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.240 like when they started following Jesus. And I want you 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:28.000 to think about it, because some of you have stopped 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.879 following Jesus, and some of you are just starting to 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.840 follow Jesus, and some of you are in stride trying 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:40.200 to decide, and so everybody needs this message. As they 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:44.520 followed him, Although it sounds very dramatic what they did 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.639 on the surface, there were a chain of events that 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:50.720 led up to the decision, and then there were a 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.800 chain of events that this decision set in motion that 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:58.080 would be very powerful. Think of all the amazing things 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:02.720 that they would see because of this decision to follow Jesus. 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:05.879 Think of what it must have felt like to be 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.760 there when blind Bartimaeus for the first time started to 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:13.959 describe colors and sights and objects and shapes. Think of 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:16.040 what it must have been like to see a man 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.840 come through the roof and you didn't even know what 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:20.920 Jesus was going to do, whether he was going to 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.520 fuss at him for destroying property or or surprise, he 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.720 healed him. That's what he wanted. He wanted the kind 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:28.800 of faith that would break through a barrier and do 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:32.960 whatever it takes to get to his presence. Think of 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.240 how amazing it would have been for them to see 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:37.520 a woman who was caught in the act of adultery, 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:39.920 but instead of stoning her, the only one who had 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:42.639 the right to punish her, instead center away with the 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.440 new reality of who she was. Think of all they 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:52.680 saw because of a decision to leave everything and follow him. 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:56.119 They didn't know when they left everything that they would 0:18:56.400 --> 0:19:05.520 gain everything in fact, by human calculations. And I know 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:08.440 this is going to be controversial and somebody's going to 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:11.320 get offended when I say it, but I studied it, 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:14.440 and if you get offended, you're the one that's for anyway, 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:18.639 Listen to this from a human perspective, this is a 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:26.399 dumb decision. I'll tell you why. Because the boats that 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:30.959 they left were full of fish, and fishing is what 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:38.280 they did for a living so Luke five eleven. From 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:41.480 a strategic standpoint, I'm not talking about a spiritual standpoint. 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:46.240 From a strategic standpoint, is the dumbest decision that Peter 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:48.560 James and John. That's who they are in the text, 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:51.440 that Peter James and John could have made to pull 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.320 their boats up on shore. This is their transportation, this 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.440 is their vehicle for their commercial activity, this is the 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:01.639 this is their life, this is their way of life, 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.840 and they walk away from it to follow somebody who 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:11.920 hasn't even proven that what he said is true yet. Wow. Wow, 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:21.040 By any rational decision making analysis, this is dumb. At 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:26.760 the very least. It's a little quick yeah yeah, where 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:28.600 you don't have to do it with no net, do you. 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:31.640 That's a phrase that means like you don't have any 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:35.840 safety net, any backup plan. They follow Jesus with no net. 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:43.800 They left everything. Somebody say that's dumb. It's not disrespectful 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:46.280 to the Bible. It's just a practical fact. That's a 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:50.000 dumb thing to do. It's a dumb thing to do. 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:58.199 But what gave them the confidence to make such a 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:03.800 bold decision? Now, in order to understand this decision or 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:07.720 your teenager's decision, or Jenny Lusko's decision, or the decisions 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:10.840 that you're making right now, the ones that are sabotaging 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.640 you and the ones that are causing you to succeed. 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:17.600 In order to understand those decisions, you kind of have 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:21.120 to work backward. And this is why we keep trying 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:23.880 to change. We can't change. Keep trying to pray, can't pray, 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:25.800 keep trying to get up at five am, can't get 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:27.720 up at five am, So then we try four thirty, 0:21:27.880 --> 0:21:31.479 like that's gonna fix it. Just get more dramatic. You know, 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:34.560 I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna this is the time, 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:37.479 this is the And maybe that's just my personality. I 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.280 relate to Peter in the text because when I did 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:42.840 decide to do a low carb lifestyle, I just did it. 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:46.879 I didn't go shop, I didn't plan, I didn't stock 0:21:46.920 --> 0:21:48.919 the pantry. I just turned to Holly and said, I'm 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:52.520 fat and I'm done. And I don't think I ate 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:55.639 a carbohydrate for eighteen months. And if I went to 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:58.800 preach somewhere where they were doing a barbecued chicken, I'd 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:01.120 sneak the chicken in the bathroom and wash the buffalo 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:07.520 sauce off the chicken because I have problems because something 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:09.960 is wrong with me, and I understand that about myself. 0:22:10.000 --> 0:22:14.080 Now that's not how you're supposed to do it, but 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:15.840 that's how I do it. That's how I do stuff. 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:19.240 I mean, the craziest things that I do, I just 0:22:19.560 --> 0:22:22.680 I just I just do it. Just just do the thing, 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:25.760 you know. Around the campfire with the ladies, they were 0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:28.040 I got to be honest, I hadn't talked to a 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:30.280 group of four ladies in a while until after Holly's 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:33.520 reflect the other day. And ladies talk about different stuff, 0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:35.680 and some of it is not mentionable on a worldwide 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:37.600 platform for the gospel, some of the things that they 0:22:37.640 --> 0:22:39.720 were talking about around the campfire. But I hung with them. 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:41.560 I sat around fire and I talked with them, and 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:45.879 we started telling marriage proposal stories. And mine's real embarrassing 0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:48.720 because I had an elaborate plan to do something really 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:51.359 special for Holly. But I wanted to do it so 0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:53.720 bad once I bought the ring, because I took all 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:55.879 my money, I mean, I left five dollars in the 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:58.639 bank account from the ATM and took it upstairs to 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:01.160 level three of this point on shop of a guy 0:23:01.160 --> 0:23:03.000 that I could trust who was up there, and I 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:05.199 got her ring, and I asked her dad and I 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:07.400 and I wanted to propose that day. So I ended 0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:10.320 up taking her to Pizza Hut. I didn't propose a 0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:13.040 Pizza Hut. I didn't propose it Pizza Hut because I 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:16.080 feel a really really strong hatred from all of the 0:23:16.160 --> 0:23:19.639 ladies in this church right now. But but but I 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:21.880 took her to Pizza Hut. I proposed, I wrote a song. 0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:23.679 I did it. I had to do it once. I 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:25.000 had to do it. I had to do it once 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:26.560 I realized I could do it. I had to do it. 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:28.239 I didn't have time then to wait around. So I 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:31.399 relate to this this kind of decision that I just 0:23:31.480 --> 0:23:33.440 I just can't eat cheetos anymore. Look at me, Look 0:23:33.480 --> 0:23:35.560 how I look. I can't do this anymore. I've got 0:23:35.560 --> 0:23:37.480 to do something different. And how many of you are 0:23:37.520 --> 0:23:40.520 like that, like like just this, uh, just this ability 0:23:40.680 --> 0:23:42.280 and and and I can feel the rest of you 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:53.000 judging us. There's there's wisdom, Pastor Steve. Pastor Steve is 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:55.760 the name I use when I'm making fun of somebody 0:23:55.800 --> 0:24:00.199 who there's wisdom. And I know there is wisdom, but 0:24:00.240 --> 0:24:04.120 there's also in here an impulse to make a decision. 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:07.359 And I think we'll understand more why they made the 0:24:07.400 --> 0:24:10.000 decision if we understand the events that led up to it. 0:24:11.320 --> 0:24:13.760 The events that led up to it, I think we'll 0:24:13.840 --> 0:24:18.080 understand more why they did something so dramatic if we 0:24:18.160 --> 0:24:20.520 understand the context. So I want to go all the 0:24:20.560 --> 0:24:22.800 way back to verse one, and I want to read 0:24:22.880 --> 0:24:27.520 this Bible story that is called Jesus calls his First Disciples. 0:24:27.520 --> 0:24:30.280 That's the headline of it. In my Bible, Jesus calls 0:24:30.320 --> 0:24:35.159 his first disciples. How did the disciples who decided to 0:24:35.240 --> 0:24:39.160 follow Jesus and leave everything that they knew before that, 0:24:39.160 --> 0:24:41.800