Latest / The Salt Company Denver / Meeting Jesus | Mark 1 | Colin Provart

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Meeting Jesus | Mark 1 | Colin Provart · The Salt Company Denver

0:00
SPEAKER_00: What's up, Stall Company?
0:01
SPEAKER_00: You guys can go ahead and take a seat.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: How are we doing tonight?
0:06
SPEAKER_00: If I don't know you, my name is Colin.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: I get to work here at Stall Company, which means I have the best job in the world that we all get to hang out together on Tuesday nights.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: And if it's your first time here, we are so glad that you're here.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: We don't want this to just be a room that you uh sing in and walk in, and then a room you leave without knowing anyone.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: And so we want to get to know you.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: So if it's your first time here, when you walk out those doors at the end of our time together, would you go to the welcome booth?
0:32
SPEAKER_00: We actually have a gift for you.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: That gift does include Chick-fil-A and a cool little canvas bag, which is kind of awesome.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Uh so we we have a gift for you.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: We'd love to meet you if this is your first time here.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh tonight, uh, one more thing before we jump in, I forgot about tonight.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: We have what's called the late night after salt company.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: So what we're gonna do about 10 to 15 minutes after we're done in our time in here is we're gonna uh head to the next room over, and there's gonna be a panel where you can ask questions.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: And and tonight's late night is about is Jesus reliable?
1:04
SPEAKER_00: Is he a myth?
1:05
SPEAKER_00: Can we can we trust in the reliability of Jesus?
1:07
SPEAKER_00: If you were here last week, it's gonna kind of be a 2.0 uh version of what I talked about in my message last week.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: And so if you have questions or are doubting or have friends that have questions or are doubting, we think that's a it's a great place for you.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: You can ask questions, we'll get those questions answered for you.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: Tonight, we're gonna be in Mark 1.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: If you have a Bible, Mark one is where we're going to be as we continue on uh through through asking this question.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: What happens when we meet Jesus?
1:33
SPEAKER_00: What happens when we meet Jesus?
1:35
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna look at Mark I tonight as you turn there.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: I got a question for you.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: I want you to turn to the person next to you, and I want you to answer the question: What are you most average at?
1:47
SPEAKER_00: Look, if I pulled the entire United States of America, you'd land like right at the fiftieth percentile.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: What are you most average at?
2:27
SPEAKER_00: All right.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: All right.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: I need an answer from over here.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: Cooking.
2:35
unknown: Swimming.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: Swimming! That's a great answer, actually.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: Running?
2:41
SPEAKER_00: What's another?
2:42
SPEAKER_00: Give me a couple more answers.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: Chess! Okay, chest was my answer.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Like, I know how the pieces move, but that's about it, you know?
2:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh okay, give me one more answer.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: Mini golf.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: Oh, mini golf.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: That that is so niche of an answer.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: It's amazing.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm about.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about being average.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about being average, and I want to uh talk about my friend Chad.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: Chad is an average guy, okay?
3:17
SPEAKER_00: So Chad's an average guy.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: He goes to an average school.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: You know, think like uh CSU, pretty average, you know?
3:26
SPEAKER_00: And he has like an average GPA, you know, 3.2.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: Not not so much that it's like, I need to like, I'm trying hard, but not so bad that it's like I'm I'm kinda worried that someone's gonna get mad at me.
3:38
SPEAKER_00: You know, some of you are like a 3.2 is way better than average.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: Or you're below average, one of the two, you know?
3:44
SPEAKER_00: Like my friend Chad, he's got he people like him, right?
3:49
SPEAKER_00: But no one's his best friend.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: He's just kind of average.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: My friend Chad.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: Like girls flirt with him, but he's never had a long-term relationship.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: He's just average.
4:00
SPEAKER_00: He's average, right?
4:02
SPEAKER_00: Like he graduates from from college and he gets a job.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: And like the job doesn't stink, but he doesn't love the job.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: It's just fine.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: It's just a job, you know?
4:13
SPEAKER_00: And he makes money, enough money that he can pay the bills, but not enough money that he like does anything extravagant.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: It's it's average.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: You see, Chad lives his entire life, not that it would be good, but that it would be good enough.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: Right?
4:28
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm aiming at good enough.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: And I know a lot of you in the room, and most of you do not aim your life at good enough.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: You aim your life not at average, but at exceptional.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna tell you about someone else.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: Another guy named Scotty.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: Scotty isn't average, he's exceptional.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: He's the best in the world at what he does, and it's not close.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: He makes tens of millions of dollars every year doing the thing that he is better at than everyone else in the world.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: He's an athlete, he's reached the top of all there is to an accomplish as an athlete.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing left for him to accomplish.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: And with his fame and his platform, he often finds himself doing press conferences.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: And he's doing a press conference at a tournament, and in just a few days, he's gonna go on and he's gonna win the tournament.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna make millions of dollars doing what he is best in the world at.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: And here's what he's gonna say at the press conference.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: At the press conference, he's gonna look at a room of reporters and ask the question why do I do this?
5:41
SPEAKER_00: What is life even about?
5:44
SPEAKER_00: Because this doesn't satisfy me.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: Even if I go on to win the tournament, which he will, that moment will last for just a couple minutes, and then it'll fade.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: Like if this is the good life, making millions of dollars, having notoriety and fame, having cameras in my face anytime I open my mouth to talk about literally anything.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: If this is the good life, I don't think it's that good anyways.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: See, Scotty is exceptional and admits he can't find the good life, and Chad is average, and most of you would say that's not the good life either.
6:22
SPEAKER_00: And so the question is, what is the good life?
6:26
SPEAKER_00: What's the good life?
6:28
SPEAKER_00: Is it in being average?
6:29
SPEAKER_00: Is it in being exceptional?
6:31
SPEAKER_00: Well, neither of them can find it, and here's what I want to show you tonight is that the good life is found in following Jesus.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: The good life is found in following Jesus.
6:40
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I know is that as you walk into the room, everywhere you go and everyone you interact with is trying to offer you the good life.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: Right?
6:49
SPEAKER_00: School is trying to offer you the good life in intellectual pursuit.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: Socially, you're trying to get the good life in great friendships.
6:55
SPEAKER_00: Career, you're trying to get the good life in success and monetary gain.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: Social media, you're trying to get the good life in recognition.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: And I think there are two types of people in the room.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: They are Chads and they are Scotties.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: See, the Chads in the room have some measure of good enough, and you think the good life is less about finding the good life and more in finding a life that's good enough.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: And others of you, probably a lot of you, are Scotties, where you're gonna pursue to be exceptional at what you do.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: But I think when you pursue being exceptional at what you do, you'll find that even if you get to the top, which most of you won't, that it doesn't actually satisfy your need for the good life either.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: See, the world, everywhere you go, and to everyone you turn, they're trying to offer you the good life.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: And what I would tell you is that every time, what people offer you is gonna overpromise and underdeliver.
7:52
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna say it's better than it actually is.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: So, what I want to tell you tonight is that Jesus is the only source of the good life.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: Mark one, we're gonna start in verse 16.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: As he, that's Jesus, passed alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: Follow me, Jesus told them, and I will make you fish for people.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: Going on a little further, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John in a boat, putting their nets in order.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: Immediately he called to them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with high with the hired men and followed him.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: Three things I want you to see about the good life.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: The call of the good life.
8:37
SPEAKER_00: And it's a great call.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: The cost of the good life.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: And there's a real cost and the prize of the good life.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: That the good life is actually worth it for the prize on the other side of it.
8:51
SPEAKER_00: That if Jesus says, follow me, we're gonna look at the call to follow him, the cost of following him, and the prize of following him.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let me reread these first two verses again.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: As he passed alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon's brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: Follow me.
9:09
unknown: Right?
9:09
SPEAKER_00: When we meet Jesus, he he looks at us and says, Follow me, he told them, and I will make you fishers of people.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we gotta set the stage, right?
9:16
SPEAKER_00: Because we can make the Bible kind of foreign.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus is walking on the beach.
9:20
SPEAKER_00: He's getting sand between his toes.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: This is why we call him Jesus sandals, because Jesus had drip before you ever did.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: And so he he's he's walking and and and he looks up and he sees some guys fishing.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, yo, follow me.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: Come hang out with me, right?
9:37
SPEAKER_00: And we think, when we hear this word follow me, we think it's like this casual, like, hey, what's up?
9:42
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you want to hang out sometime.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know, take it or leave it.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: Like, maybe if you're ever interested, if you ever would want to maybe do something different than what you're doing right now, you would maybe consider getting out of the boat and coming and hanging out with me, but it's okay, no pressure at all.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: Just wanted to see if you're interested.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: But if you read it in the original language, it actually sounds nothing like that.
10:02
SPEAKER_00: Like if you read it in the original language, it's a military term where Jesus is looking at them and giving them a command where he says, follow me.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: Now, why can Jesus do that?
10:12
SPEAKER_00: Because he has authority.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Because he's gonna show himself to be the king.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: But even in the first century, before he really reveals to his disciples that he's the king, Jesus is called rabbi or teacher.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: And not because he has education, but because from a really young age, Jesus has spiritual wisdom that when people listen to him, he has insight and understanding into their life.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus looks at these two men, Simon and Andrew, and he says, Follow me.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: You see, Simon and Andrew grew up thinking that they'd be fishermen.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: Their dad was a fisherman.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: Being a fisherman, we're gonna talk about this in a little bit, in Galilee in the first century, was actually a pretty good vocation.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: They kind of had things, had things working out for them.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: They grew up on a boat, they grew up with calloused hands from fixed fishing the nets.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't that being a fisherman was bad, it's that being a fisherman wasn't satisfying.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: Right?
11:06
SPEAKER_00: I would guess they knew deep down in their soul that they wanted more than being fishermen, and that has nothing to do with their vocation.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: It has everything to do with the deepest parts of their heart.
11:18
SPEAKER_00: Right?
11:18
SPEAKER_00: We all live a life dreaming that our life matters, that our life is gonna actually count for something that we at some point in our life are gonna discover that we in fact have found the good life.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: We look for it, and so did Simon and Andrew.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I found is that college and your careers feel like a race to find the good life, don't they?
11:44
SPEAKER_00: Is this just me?
11:45
SPEAKER_00: Like college and your career is a race to find the good life.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: That's why it matters so badly what major you choose.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: Because at some point you're gonna get into a job based on the major that you had, and what we think when we choose a major is that whatever job I have, I'm gonna like and is gonna satisfy me.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: And that is gonna be the good life.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: Or the school we choose, whatever school we choose.
12:08
SPEAKER_00: At some point, I'm gonna discover along the way that this is the group of people I want to be with, and this is where the good life is found.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: You see, Simon and Andrew, they didn't grow up with a lot of options of what they could do.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: They knew their whole life that they were gonna be fishermen, but you have a lot of options.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: That's why people change majors and transfer schools and make career changes because what they're looking for is the good life.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: And so it might look wildly different from you to Simon and Andrew, but but the heart posture is the same.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying somewhere to find the good life.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus, with all the authority he has, says, Come and follow me.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: And then he says something kind of weird.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: He says, I will make you fishers of men or fishers of people.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: And when you hear that, here's what you have to hear Come and follow me, and I'll give you more purpose than you ever dreamed of having in your entire life.
12:59
unknown: Right?
12:59
SPEAKER_00: It's the invitation to purpose, a life that actually matters.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: You've spent your whole life catching fish, and over the next three years, I'm gonna change everything about your life and show you that you can actually live with more impact than that.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: Right?
13:13
SPEAKER_00: It's the call to follow Jesus, to learn from him, and then to represent him to the world.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: And as you represent him to the world, as you follow him and disciple him, others are gonna be so drawn to you.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: Like when you start following Jesus and you're like, oh my goodness, the good life is here.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: I know what it's like.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: Like the call to follow Jesus, I want to accept.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: And I'm so drawn to following him that you're gonna begin to live a life that's totally different than the people around you.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: And the people around you are gonna start looking at you and asking, like, how did you find it?
13:46
SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna find what?
13:49
SPEAKER_00: The good life.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: Like it seems like you have something that I don't have, and you're gonna say, Yeah, the call on my life is to represent God.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: Like the mission for you is to be an ambassador for God, to tell other people about the king you represent.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: When you start following Jesus, I don't know if you know this or not, but you're given this royal banner over your life that says, I now represent the king.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: Like I now have been given more purpose in my life than I ever dreamed of having before.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: Because I now represent the king.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: When we say you represent the king, it quite literally means to represent, to represent to others that you found the good life and that the good life is found in Jesus, and that you're gonna live to follow him and to know him and to represent him.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: And as we represent him, we help others discover where the good life is found.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: So whether you walked in here knowing it or not, we all walk in here representing something.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: We all walk in here representing something.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: Let me get this on the ground for you.
14:58
SPEAKER_00: How many of you grew up playing sports?
15:00
SPEAKER_00: Great.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: Wow, there's a lot of you.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: Uh you didn't have to grow up playing sports.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: How many of you grew up enjoying sports movies?
15:07
SPEAKER_00: Every hand should be in the air, or you should repent and believe that the good news of God has come.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: Sports movies.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: Anyone else found this?
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Sports movies have the greatest quotes of all time in them.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: Anyone else agree with this statement?
15:19
SPEAKER_00: Great, okay.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: Coach Carter, timeouts are over, gentlemen.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: Cool runnings.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: Have you guys seen cool runnings?
15:27
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, get on up.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: It's bobsled time.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: The sand lot, you're killing me.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: Moneyball, it's a process, it's a process, it's a process.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: Remember the Titans.
15:42
SPEAKER_00: Attitude reflects leadership.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Karate kid, wax on.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: See?
15:49
SPEAKER_00: Movie, sports movies create the greatest one-liners.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: It's amazing.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: But but can I tell you what my favorite sports movie is of all time?
15:56
SPEAKER_00: It is Miracle.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: The hockey movie.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: How many of you have seen Miracle?
16:02
SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness, more of you need to have seen this movie.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: It is amazing.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: I look stop.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: It's not in my notes.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: Okay, stop.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: Everyone stop.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: Stop.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: I don't care if you like sports.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: You must watch the movie Miracle.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let me summarize really quickly.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: It is about the 1980 Olympic hockey team.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: They're amateurs.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: They're gonna go on and they're gonna defeat the Soviet Union.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I ruined the whole movie, but the movie's not about if they win.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: The movie is about the people they become along the way.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: It's a whole thing.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: It is it is way sappier than you think it is.
16:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm just being honest.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: So throughout the whole movie, Coach Herb Brooks kind of forms this team of a bunch of college guys that play for all different colleges.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: And all throughout the movie, he asks, What's your name?
16:50
SPEAKER_00: Where are you from, and who do you play for?
16:53
SPEAKER_00: Right?
16:53
SPEAKER_00: That's all throughout the movie.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: And so it's like Jack O'Callahan.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: He's like, I'm I'm from Boston, Massachusetts.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: I play for the University of Boston coach.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: And it's this journey of bringing these guys who actually hate each other to come to like each other, to come to be a team, to do something more powerful than they thought they could in the first place.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: And so in the most powerful scene, they lose a game they shouldn't lose, and they're all skating off the ice, and coach is like, get back on the ice.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: And he has them do herbies blue line back, red line back for our blue line back for a red line back, right?
17:24
SPEAKER_00: Those of you that have seen the movie, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: And the lights go off, and you're like, he's gonna let him off the ice, and he doesn't let him off the ice.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: And then in the second best quote of the whole movie, Coach Herb Brooks looks at him and he's like, You boys, you need to understand.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: The name on the front is more important than the one on the back.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: Who you represent on the front, USA, is more important than your name on the back.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: And they still don't get it.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: And so then they still skate.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: And so, in the best line in the movie, the guy who becomes the team captain interrupts him and they, Mike Aruzioni.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: He's like sweating, he's like throwing up on the ice.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: Winthrop, Massachusetts.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: And coach looks at him and he says, Who do you play for?
18:10
SPEAKER_00: He says, I play for the United States of America, coach.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: He says, That's all, gentlemen, and they get off the ice, and it's so epic.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: If you've seen the movie, it's like, it's like, inject this into my veins, yes.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: That is that is the thing that had you on the edge of your seats more than anything else I've said.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: He's like, What is he gonna say?
18:30
SPEAKER_00: See the watch the movie, guys.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, that's beside the point.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: The point is, the point is, who we represent gives purpose to what we do.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: So when they were representing Boston College and Wisconsin and Minnesota, they were trying to make a name for themselves and make a name for their school.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: When Coach Herb Brooks had them realize that you represent the United States of America, they began to realize that we represent something far greater than ourselves.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: So we can do something far greater than we thought we could do before.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: Friends, the name we represent says a lot about the purpose we have.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: And so who do you represent?
19:11
SPEAKER_00: Like coming into this room, who's who's the primary person or the primary thing or the primary place you represent?
19:17
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a boyfriend or girlfriend.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: Like who I represent the most is this person that I spend the most time with, or maybe it's my family.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's the school that I go to.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: Like that's what I'm most proud of, is a school that I go to.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a major that you have, or the career path that you're choosing.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: I'm aerospace.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: That's what you do.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm Mecchi, but I'm aerospace.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: You don't get it.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: That was not in my notes.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: That is hilarious.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: There are so many of you.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: It's like I'm Mecchi, but really I'm aerospace.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's good stuff.
19:59
SPEAKER_00: Alright, alright, all right.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: Bring it back, bring it back, bring it back.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: That threw me off, okay.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: How do you like represent your friend group, right?
20:06
SPEAKER_00: The group chat that you're in.
20:07
SPEAKER_00: The team that you're on.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's who I represent.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: I'm on the team.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: I'm an athlete.
20:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm in the club.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm in the group.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: I got the title, because who you represent says everything about you, and so what does it say about you?
20:23
SPEAKER_00: That in college you've committed your life to a person?
20:26
SPEAKER_00: That in college you've committed your life to being a great athlete for four years where inevitably your career's gonna end.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: That in life you're gonna commit yourself to a career path or trajectory through a major that at one point you're gonna spend your whole life saving so you don't have to do anymore?
20:47
SPEAKER_00: Right?
20:48
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm actually being for real.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: Friends, everyone should hear the call of Jesus.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: Hey, follow me.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: Follow me.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: And it's a life of satisfaction and purpose.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: Like you can actually step off the hamster wheel that the world wants you to live in to try to get one more thing, do the next thing, accomplish the next thing, make the next name for yourself, and you can actually step off of it and just hear the call of Jesus, receive it, and say, I actually want to spend my life following him so that I can be satisfied and live with far more purpose than I could have ever imagined, and represent the greatest name on earth, Jesus Christ, the King and Lord of glory.
21:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: The call is great.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: The cost is real.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: The call is great, but the cost is real.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 18.
21:34
SPEAKER_00: It says, Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21:37
SPEAKER_00: Going on a little further, he saw James, the son of Zebedee and his brother, John, in a boat, putting their nets in order.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: Immediately he called them.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: See, I said this earlier, but being a fisherman in the first century in Galilee was not a bad gig at all.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: They actually kind of had it made.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: Fish, like the fish in the Galilee region, were really in demand.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: People really liked it.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it was a great trade.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Great commodity and it required a lot of capital to be a fisherman in the first century.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: So you when you think like fishermen in the first century, do not think these guys are total scrubs.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: Think these guys are in AI today or Bitcoin in 2015, right?
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Like they've kind of found it.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: They're doing all right.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: And they're so successful, they have people working for them.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: They own the boat and they have people working for them.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of us grew up in the church and we think like, hey, you know, the disciples were super young.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: They actually were younger than you probably think they were.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: They were pretty young.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: But you think of them as like total scrubs who were doing nothing important with their life and like all they had was following Jesus.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: Like these guys had equity in a pretty decent business.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: Their life plan was set for them.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: They weren't gonna have to worry about a whole lot outside of fishing and catching fish in the region of Galilee where there was an abundant number of fish to catch where they could then go sell them.
22:55
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says, hey, follow me.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: And what happens?
22:58
SPEAKER_00: It happens twice in like three verses, okay?
23:01
SPEAKER_00: Look at it again.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: Verse 18.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: What happens when Jesus calls to them?
23:06
SPEAKER_00: Verse 18, immediately they left.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: Verse 20, immediately he called them and they left.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: Friends, when Jesus calls you, you get up and go.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: Why?
23:18
SPEAKER_00: Because he's the king, but not just because he's the king, but because you realize that the offer he has is better than everything else the world has to offer you.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the only thing you'll find that doesn't overpromise and underdeliver.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: But what happens out, what else happens?
23:35
SPEAKER_00: They left.
23:35
SPEAKER_00: You see, when Jesus calls, he doesn't just call us to something, he often calls us from something.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: So why did they go?
23:45
SPEAKER_00: Like if they had a lot to lose, why did they follow him?
23:51
SPEAKER_00: Well, it wasn't a burden to give up the equity that they had to pursue a life of purpose that they'd always wanted.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: Like they're looking for purpose, and Jesus is the one who offers it to them, and so I'll give up whatever I have to to live the good life, to live the life I was made for, to live a life that was satisfying to me.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: So for you, is there something that Jesus isn't just calling you to, but is actually calling you from?
24:24
SPEAKER_00: What I've found in my life is Jesus often doesn't just call us to something, he calls us from something.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: Because to follow someone means we're necessarily not following someone else or something else.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: And so what's he calling you from?
24:40
SPEAKER_00: See, for some of you, I think the thing he's calling you from is actually really easy to leave behind.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: Like it's a life of brokenness and shame and regret.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: It's a life of wounds and pain.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: And for you, you just needed to know where to turn.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: And can I just tell you Jesus is the place to turn to?
25:03
SPEAKER_00: He's the one that's calling you follow me.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: Like you no longer need to live in shame, regret, and brokenness.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: You can actually get out of the boat and follow Jesus.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: But I think some of you, the thing he's calling you from is gonna is gonna feel a little bit more costly.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: Like a little bit more of a gut check.
25:22
SPEAKER_00: A sin that you maybe know is wrong.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: But but Jesus is actually asking you to give it up and to follow him, even when you don't want to.
25:35
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe he's asking you to give up a relationship.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: Like, I want you to think about James and John here.
25:43
SPEAKER_00: They're in the boat with their dad, which they've spent their whole life doing.
25:46
SPEAKER_00: Their dad has trained them to be fishermen, and Jesus calls them and they jump in the water and they begin to swim.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: And what Jesus doesn't do is give them a like a montage of how their life is going to be awesome over the next 10 years.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: He just says, follow me, and all they do is they begin to swim, and they look back behind them as they swim in the water, and the boat gets a little smaller, and they keep swimming towards Jesus, and their dad gets a little smaller and they keep swimming until the boat fades and their dad extends beyond the horizon.
26:21
SPEAKER_00: It's leaving something behind.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: That's sometimes what it feels like when Jesus calls, and it may continue to feel like a loss even when it's the right call.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: Like even when doing the right thing, it may still feel like a loss.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: And so for you, is Jesus asking you to leave, not just called you to something, but from a relationship, another religion.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: Like you need to give up some allegiance that you've carried your whole life, a routine that you have and you like.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: Like if I want to, if I want to give it up to follow Jesus, I actually need to leave some comfort and convenience, maybe.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you need to leave a dream you've always had for your life.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: Hear me.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: It's not that you must drop out of school, you must change your major, you must break up with your girlfriend or boyfriend, or you must move to a new place.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: It's not that you must do those things, but it is that if Jesus asked you to, you'd give it up willingly.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: Because I don't want anyone in this room to say yes to plans you have if it costs you saying no to following Jesus.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: It's not worth it.
27:28
SPEAKER_00: I don't think all of you have to give up those things, but I do think some of you should.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna tell you my story in a little bit.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: But my story in following Jesus required me to give up a lot.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you, spoil the ending, it was worth it.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you a story of a guy named C.T.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: Studd.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: C.T.
27:45
SPEAKER_00: Studd uh lived in uh Britain in the 1880s.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: He was a he was a cricket star, and he was he had a fortune, he was uh had a family inheritance that gave him a fortune.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: In the height of his fame and his athletic career, he gave it up.
28:02
SPEAKER_00: He took the fortune and he cashed it in, and he moved to China to be a missionary.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: He gave up an athletic career that would have made him a first-round draft pick.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: He gave up a fortune where he could have multiplied it to become an incredibly wealthy man, and he gave it up to be a missionary in China, and here's what he's famously quoted with saying: If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: He didn't give up cricket and a fortune because it was bad or evil.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: He did it because he'd found something that convinced him that another life was better.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: And so, what do you need to be willing to give up?
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a better question.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: What, if Jesus asked you to give it up, would you say no to?
28:52
SPEAKER_00: And I think that should be an indicator for us.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps that's the thing in my life that I actually believe is where the good life is found.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: Man, I'd say yes to Jesus, but if he asked me to break up with my boyfriend, I'm not so sure.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you actually believe the good life is in dating your boyfriend.
29:10
SPEAKER_00: Man, I want to follow Jesus, but if you asked me to drop out of school, I would never do that.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps it's because you believe the good life is in getting a degree from the school you're at today.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: Friends, I I'm not saying drop out of school.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying break up with your boyfriend or girlfriend.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying, what in your life are you unwilling to give up if Jesus were to ask it of you?
29:33
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I found in my life is it's easy to answer that question, write it in my journal, close my journal, and make sure no one sees it, right?
29:40
SPEAKER_00: I'll write that in my salt company journal and I'll tear out that page tonight and burn it.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Right?
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Because when when the time actually comes, then we might actually need to give that thing up.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: We don't want anyone to know that that's the thing we wrote down.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: Friends, here's what I'd challenge you is to tell someone the thing that you're most unwilling to give up to follow Jesus, so that they can remind you that if Jesus ever asks you to give it up, it's worth it.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: And I think the best place to do that is in Citigroup.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: And if you've been coming around Soul Company, you're like, man, this dude cannot stop talking about Citigroup.
30:12
unknown: Come on.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: And what I just wish I could spend an hour telling you is that my cigroup changed my life.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: Like I was in a city group, my sophomore year of college, those guys became some of my best friends.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: Those guys utterly changed everything about my life.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: I did not walk into college being the type of guy that could do this with the convictions I have, with the thoughts I have.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: I learned that through everyday ordinary students alongside of me that allowed me to see that Jesus is better than anything I could have ever imagined.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: You should go to Citigroup.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: The call is great, the cost is real.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: Third thing, the prize is worth it.
30:51
SPEAKER_00: What is the prize?
30:52
SPEAKER_00: Like the question is did it work out for the disciples?
30:54
SPEAKER_00: It depends upon the perspective you have.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: In some ways, it worked out great.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: Like they begin to command demons.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of awesome.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: And they start the greatest movement in world history.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: In some ways, it kind of worked out terribly.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: They're arrested and they're pretty much unanimously put to death.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: So it works out great.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't work out so well.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: Was it worth it?
31:14
SPEAKER_00: That's a natural question.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: Like we can get to the point where we're like, okay, I think I'm in on the Jesus thing.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: I think I'll give something up, but like, is it gonna count?
31:23
SPEAKER_00: Am I gonna like leave a legacy?
31:25
SPEAKER_00: Am I gonna be able to dream big dreams and see them accomplished?
31:29
SPEAKER_00: You see, I think some of you dream big dreams, and I want you to dream big dreams, but I do not want you to base the success of your life.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, the prize of your life is not seeing your dreams accomplished.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: I want you to hear that again.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: Even your dreams for God.
31:45
SPEAKER_00: The prize of your life is not seeing your dreams accomplished.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: That can lead you to really dangerous places.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: So, what is the prize of life?
31:55
SPEAKER_00: Let me read to you Acts 4.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: Acts 4 is the story of the disciples.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Let me read this to you.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: Well, they were speaking to people, the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police and the Sadducees confronted them because they were annoyed that they were teaching people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
32:12
SPEAKER_00: Right?
32:13
SPEAKER_00: So what's happened to them?
32:14
SPEAKER_00: They've received this great call, they've been so transformed by their life that they can't help but tell people about Jesus because he's the source of the good life.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: Then what happened?
32:21
SPEAKER_00: So they seized him, they took him into custody until the next day, since they were, since it was already evening.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: So they spent the night in prison, but many of those who heard believed or heard the message believed, and the number of men came to about 5,000.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: So they're seeing the world quite literally turned upside down.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: Because they've been so captivated that the good life is found in Jesus that they can't help but tell people about it.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: Then the next day, I'm gonna summarize kind of for for you.
32:45
SPEAKER_00: The next day, the rulers question them, by what power or in what name has this happened to you?
32:49
SPEAKER_00: Read Acts 4 tonight.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: Peter is gonna go on and just give them like a gospel bar of a sermon.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: And then he ends like this.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: This is verse 12 of Acts 4.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: There is salvation in no one else.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: There is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: Okay, but but check out verse 13.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: This is the point of the whole thing.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: When they observed the boldness of Peter and John, they realized that they were uneducated, untrained men.
33:16
SPEAKER_00: They were amazed and recognized they had been with Jesus.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: Friends, Jesus doesn't make the disciples great.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: The invitation is to do life with Jesus, and that is great.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: Like the prize isn't numbers, converts, platform, recognition, or movement.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: The prize is Jesus.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: Like the great prize of the Christian life is Jesus himself.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: So when Simon, Andrew, James, and John signed up to follow Jesus, they had no idea what the next three years would hold.
33:48
SPEAKER_00: They would watch Jesus change countless lives, and they would watch people hate Jesus.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: They would watch Jesus never be arrogant, never show unnecessary anger, never lose his temper, never show a lack of patience.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: And when he needed them most, in his greatest hour of need, every single one of Jesus' followers would turn their backs on him.
34:08
SPEAKER_00: And they would watch their friend, their rabbi, their teacher, the one they'd given up everything to follow, die on a Roman cross.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: And they would wait there in the silence and in the darkness.
34:26
SPEAKER_00: And three days later, they'd look up and they'd see a man walking towards them.
34:32
SPEAKER_00: They'd say, Man, that looks like Jesus.
34:37
SPEAKER_00: And they'd meet Jesus and he'd tell them that death no longer has sting, fear no longer has power, life now has purpose, has promises, has assurances, has satisfaction.
34:50
SPEAKER_00: And then you look at him.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: He'd say, No matter where you go, no matter what you do, I will be with you always.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: See, the great prize of the Christian life is Jesus.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: Because when Jesus dies, he dies for our sins.
35:05
SPEAKER_00: Then he raises to new life.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: He walks out of a tomb so that we can have new life too.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: Then he ascends into heaven, where he's at the right hand of God, reigning and ruling, and he breathes out his spirit, so that now all who follow Jesus, who place their faith in him, now have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: So wherever they go and whatever they do, Jesus is with them.
35:27
SPEAKER_00: See, Jesus looks at his disciples and he says, Follow me.
35:32
SPEAKER_00: It's worth it.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: And he looks at you and he says, Follow me.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: I'm worth it.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm the prize.
35:42
SPEAKER_00: So friends, I want you to remind yourself that Jesus is the prize every day of your life from now until eternity.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: Friends, if you have the perspective of eternity, when you wake up tomorrow, when you wake up tomorrow, if you have the perspective of eternity and in the first moment you lifted your head off the pillow, you thought to yourself, I could either choose today between having the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me or winning the lottery.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of us would be like, I don't know, that's pretty close.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: But if you had the perspective of eternity, you would for the next, every day, for the next 18 billion years, choose the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me, the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me, the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me, the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me, even on the hardest days of life, the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me, even when you go through things that you think money could buy you out of, the Holy Spirit inside of me.
36:31
SPEAKER_00: Because the prize of the Christian life is God's promise to you, his presence.
36:37
SPEAKER_00: To go with you wherever you go, whatever you do, to realize Jesus is with me by his spirit.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: I have the prize of the Christian life.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: I'll share this quickly.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: Guys, my I remember sitting in the seat in college.
36:59
SPEAKER_00: I've shared this before.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: Like I came to Salt Company in college, not here, somewhere else, but it was called Salt Company.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: We did the same thing week after week.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: And I was sitting there and I'm like, ma'am, the goal of my life is to make as much money as possible.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: Period.
37:13
SPEAKER_00: I am gonna get rich and be successful.
37:17
SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
37:18
SPEAKER_00: I thought I was gonna be pretty good at it.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: Like I'd gotten the things I wanted to get.
37:25
SPEAKER_00: I had a platform and a job and a career path.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: And I just week in and week out, kept hearing the guy say, the gospel's worth it, the gospel's worth it, the gospel's worth it, the gospel's worth it.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay, I'll follow Jesus.
37:37
SPEAKER_00: Whatever it costs me, I'll follow him.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: And one day at a time, Jesus gave me bigger and better dreams for my life.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: What if you actually gave up making as much money as possible so you could tell someone else that the hope of the world is Jesus Christ?
37:54
SPEAKER_00: What if you gave up recognition from a Fortune 500 company?
38:00
SPEAKER_00: You said the prize of my life is Jesus Christ.
38:02
SPEAKER_00: I'll go wherever he tells me to go and do whatever he asked me to do.
38:05
SPEAKER_00: And so I started having new dreams for my life that God might use me to begin to change other people's stories.
38:14
SPEAKER_00: And three years ago, we started Salt Company here.
38:17
SPEAKER_00: We said, God, what would you do?
38:19
SPEAKER_00: And just a few of us said that the prize of the life of our life is Jesus Christ, and we're gonna spend our life telling as many people about it as possible.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: And we started with a hundred people in a room.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: And now some of those people in that room work for Salt Company, and this room's a lot bigger.
38:36
SPEAKER_00: But friends, that's not the prize of my life.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: If Salt Company disappeared tomorrow, if next Tuesday no one came, my life wouldn't be a tragedy.
38:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm married, I have two kids.
38:56
SPEAKER_00: God has been incredibly kind to me, and the greatest prize I've ever received is knowing and loving Jesus and being known and loved by him.
39:04
SPEAKER_00: Let me pray that that be true of you.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: God, I pray that you would so convince this room that a life going wherever you tell him to go and doing whatever you ask him to do is worth it.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: God, I pray that you'd give faith to this room by your spirit.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: That you'd make hearts alive in this room by your spirit.
39:33
SPEAKER_00: God, I pray that you would so convince this room that the prize of life is you.
39:38
SPEAKER_00: And that you're worth it.
39:41
SPEAKER_00: Pray all this in Jesus' name.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: Amen.