Shaped by Jesus: The Transformation of James & John | Sunday Message (Pastor Jonathan Laurie)

A New Beginning presents a new book from Pastor Greg Laurie. We are offering a brand new resource called The House of David Devotional and it's based on the great Psalms of David as well as the life of David. So I'm going to put this brand new devotional in your hand so you can learn from this man of God. Or your gift of any size at harvest.org. It's the official companion resource for the new Amazon TV series also called The House of David. Hey there, thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners.

I'm Greg Laurie encouraging you if you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. Well we're continuing in our series Jesus and You. Last week my dad talked about Simon Peter, a great message. Simon Peter is just obviously one of the most interesting and most fun characters to look at in all of the Bible.

But this week is a close second. We're looking at two characters, James and John. James and John. And my message title is Shaped by Jesus, the Transformation of James and John. And we're going to be flipping around a little bit and so don't be discouraged if you kind of, you know, don't have that many ribbons in your Bible. But we're going to be in Mark chapter 1, Mark chapter 10, Luke 9, we'll look at Acts 12, we'll look at Revelation 1.

Really we're looking at a character study so we're going to be looking at a couple different places in scripture. But you know as we talk about the disciples, as we talk about these amazing men who were called by Jesus and they changed the world, I don't know about you but I feel like every time I read about them I just picture their faces almost up on Mount Rushmore. Like they are just these heroes of the faith, unflappable, undeterred by persecution or the threat of martyrdom and they're just like, you know, full determination, they're chin out, we are going to change the world for Jesus. But as you read about them you realize that actually they're quite human, full of flaws, mistakes, failures, denials of Jesus. They're people that are just like us unlike Drake and they're absolutely, I can tell I'm speaking to an older crowd here now. Or maybe did I say that wrong? Am I showing my age by saying that wrong?

Ask me if I care. But as you look at the characters of the Bible we should find something in common with them, all the way back to the Old Testament. You look at Abraham, you look at Moses, these guys that did amazing things but also had pretty big failures, like big failures and I think the reason that this is recorded for us in the Bible is at least two reasons. I think the first one is so that ultimately God can show his power in our weakness. We've heard it said, when we are weak you are strong.

The Bible tells us that, right? When we are weak we see that God's strength is shown through us and in us and that's ultimately just a dependence on him. And so we see that through these characters that God's power is made perfect in weakness. And secondly I think the reason that he shows the flaws of these characters is because yes we want accuracy but also because we see that if he did it with them he can do it with us. I find myself encouraged when I read about the failures of these guys.

Oh man I'm glad I'm not alone here. I'm glad that I'm you know not the only person that has doubts. I'm glad I'm not the only person that has these things like the disciples, like the characters in the Old Testament. He didn't choose perfect people. He chose people that were willing to say yes to his calling.

Isn't that a good reminder? Jesus is looking for people that are willing to say yes to his calling. The Bible says God is looking for a person to show himself strong on behalf of. That's what he's looking for an available person that's willing to say God whatever gifts you've given to me are from you.

I can't do this on my own. I need you to work in and through me. That's the person that he is looking for. And so listen I don't know what your temperature is today on feeling worthy or not or feeling like you've got the skills to get the job done leading people to Christ or whatever it might be but it doesn't matter how worthy you feel or how skilled you may be or how popular or beautiful you are. What matters is you are called by God.

That's what matters the most. The recurring theme that we see in our series is really ordinary people encountering an extraordinary God. Jesus meeting people right where they were at and calling them to follow him.

Isn't it good to note that he's doing the exact same thing today. He meets us individually. He meets us personally. He meets us uniquely. He sees beyond our past mistakes. He doesn't see us for what we currently are or for the things that we've done. He sees us for who we can be.

That's such a good thing to know. He meets us where we are not where we think we should be as well. Some people we see in the scriptures and today some people need a challenge. Some people need a challenge in order to follow Jesus. That's why Jesus called Simon Peter to get out of the boat on the Sea of the Galilee and come and walk after him and walk on the water.

Take those steps. Others need compassion like the woman caught in the act of adultery. Some need deep theological answers and understanding like Nicodemus did when he came to Jesus at night and others they need a simple invitation like the Samaritan woman at the well and again the same is true today. Jesus doesn't treat you like another name on a list. He meets you in your doubts. He meets you in your fears and he meets you in your failures as well. He doesn't demand perfection before calling you.

He calls you first and walks with you while refining you into who he wants you to be and this is really what we're going to see as we look at the story of James and John who these guys were. They were not perfect people when Jesus called them and in fact they were incredibly flawed. They made mistakes. They were you know self-seekers. They were judgmental. They were you know quick to make really big decisions and they didn't take time to consider things and so before we jump in and look at their story why don't we talk for a moment about who James and John were. Who were these guys?

A little bit of foreshadowing. Well these two guys we can know a good amount about James for sure more than John. James there's only one verse in the Bible mentioned about James and it actually has to do with his death and how he was killed by Herod at the time.

Basically Herod sought to persecute the early church and so he stretched out his arm and he killed James brother of John with a sword. That's all that's written about James just by himself. All the other references to James he's mentioned with his brother John.

Now John we know a little bit more about. John he of course wrote the gospel of John. He wrote the epistles of John. John 1 2 and 3 and also he wrote the book of Revelation. John refers to himself in his gospel as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

That's convenient. He also refers to himself as the disciple that beat Peter to the tomb on the day of the resurrection. Another luxury of writing your own autobiography. He's the only disciple believed according to church tradition to not be martyred, to not be killed for his faith. In fact it's recorded or believed that John lived to a ripe old age and died a natural death even though they put him in oil and boiled him alive.

He did not burn. He did not die and so when that happened they banished him to Patmos which is where he both wrote the book of Revelation and so joke's on them that didn't work out too well for him. And again James there's just that one verse that we know about them. Now both of these brothers together we know that they're a fisherman. We know that they're part of a family business. We know that their father was a man named Zebedee. We know that John somehow knew the high priest in Jerusalem which is how John was able to get Simon Peter into the courtyard of the high priest which is where he denied Jesus for the third time.

So that was awkward for Simon Peter to do that right in front of his friend John. And there's also a good chance that James and John were actually cousins of Jesus. There's a kind of an obscure reference to the two women that followed Jesus as part of his group of disciples.

James and John's mother was named Salome and basically there's another yeah so anyways good chance they may be cousins. So all that is great and nice to know little factoids but the most important thing to know about James and John is that they were with Jesus pretty much every waking moment while Jesus was walking on this earth performing his public ministry over what we believe to be about three years. They were everywhere with Jesus. They saw the miracles.

They heard his teaching. They walked with them and they had all of these incredible experiences. But despite that James and John still struggled with pride impatience impulsiveness and a fiery zeal that was often left unchecked. Their story is a reminder to all of us that we too are a work in progress.

And that brings us to point number one the raw elements. The raw elements let's look together at Mark chapter one starting in verse 19. We see the calling of these young men to be Jesus' disciples. When Jesus had gone a little farther from there he saw James and John the son of Zebedee and his oh excuse me he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother who were also in the moat mending their nets and immediately he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and went after him.

Let's stop there. Now we see Jesus standing there calling these young men and how did they respond? They left everything behind. They left their business. They left their possessions. They left their important positions working alongside their father. Shoot they left their father in the boat with the nets.

All this in pursuit of Jesus. Some might call this impulsive but I would say this is quick decision making and this was an important decision for them to make. I had a friend that was a impulsive guy in high school. It seems like every week he was making some life-changing decision. Every decision you make when you're in high school is a life-changing decision it seems like but he was you know he sold his car and then he bought another car and then he was going to this college and then he changed you know he was going to go to this other college and no now he's not going to go to college at all and now he's going to you know he's dating this girl and then he broke up with that girl and started dating this other girl. He never had really much income.

I don't know how he was able to afford all of these things. He probably had a lot of debt but ultimately when we look at James and John and we see this quick decision making this impulsiveness that could have led them to a bad decision but ultimately when Jesus calls your name this is the right thing to do. It may seem impulsive to those on the outside but when the spirit touches your heart there's only one right answer and that is to leave everything behind and follow Jesus. That's what these guys do and as we'll see James and John were rough around the edges still very raw and unrefined. These traits they possess were not yet honed and polished by Jesus in fact they were dangerous and still leading them to sin as we'll see and that reminds us again that when Jesus calls us he does it before we think we're ready. I hear all the time people saying you know especially those that I'm trying to share my faith with or invite to church oh you're one of those good people Jonathan of course it worked out for you you know it's like no I am not a good person it has nothing to do with how good I am I'm a forgiven person that's what Jesus has done for me he's changed my life and he can do the same thing for you it's not about how good or how together your life may be in fact Jesus often calls us in our most raw and unrefined state sometimes he does it when you're at rock bottom other times he'll do it in the middle of a season and you have to leave some stuff behind to pursue him and this isn't just true for new believers this is true for every follower of Christ Jesus is always refining us he is constantly calling us into a deeper relationship with him and I can tell you from personal experience that whatever you leave behind to follow Jesus is always better than what you left. God often calls us when we are in that unrefined raw state when we're still you know full of pride and we think that we know best and we know how to you know get things done because we've got a big personality or we know how to you know manage a situation well because of whatever wisdom we learned when we were younger we see this same mentality in James and John when later on in their ministry they were on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover and while they were there they passed through a Samaritan village and they wanted to stay there overnight the journey the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem was about 30 miles pretty far so just long enough to where they'd like to stay somewhere overnight could you imagine 15 miles a day that's that's pretty good distance right bringing all your stuff with you and so they try to stay in the Samaritan village and so they send a couple of disciples on ahead and I'll just read for you what happened in Luke chapter 9 but they did not receive him that's the Samaritans but they did not receive him because Jesus was set for the journey to Jerusalem and when his disciples James and John saw this they said Lord do you want us to come to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them just as Elijah did but Jesus turned and rebuked them and said you do not know what manner of spirit you are for the son of man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them and so they went on to another village it's great it's such a great moment right there I just want to know how long were James and John waiting to ask Jesus to do that right like at some point after seeing Jesus do the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 and the raising of Jairus daughter obviously they realize Jesus you know he is the messiah he is the son of God and he's able to do things even greater than what Elijah did and so can he bring down fire from heaven settle down John you know don't worry like we'll ask him at the right time we've got to ask him at just the right moment to bring down fire from him that's going to be so epic I know I would have asked Jesus that same thing and this unforgettable moment earned James and John the nicknames the sons of thunder it's great it's great it sounds like a motorcycle gang now their zeal was right their zeal was right but their reaction was wrong they saw their Lord they saw their Savior their master Jesus being denied being rejected by the samaritans whom there was a thousand year long disagreement with the Jews hated the samaritans and vice versa and so they wanted to bring fire down from heaven this is what happens when zeal and passion and passion isn't shaped by wisdom and love but is instead destructive rather than redemptive James and John here were depending on their own wisdom rather than the wisdom of Jesus and as a result of their immaturity notice Jesus doesn't cancel their membership how dare you say something like that that is so insensitive get out you know you you can't be a part of my group he doesn't condemn them he doesn't cast them off he rebukes them he corrects them he gives them a super cool nickname and then they continue working together he continues shaping them raw elements must be refined by God raw elements must be refined by God just like maybe you know when we we see someone that's super athletic or super tall and we often ask that question you know do you play basketball or do you play volleyball and they're like no I work on computers like well that's a shame just because they have the natural raw talent the raw gifting doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to be a successful athlete that has to be disciplined that has to be taught that has to be coached in them right just like that athlete might have that spectacular build unless they've been refined and disciplined to actually excel in the sport does not mean they will naturally and this is what Jesus did for them and he also does with us and that brings us to point number two the refining process the refining process this brings us to mark chapter 10 now in verse 37 James and John said to Jesus would you grant us that we may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left in your glory but Jesus said to them do you even know what you are asking are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with and they said oh yes we are able so Jesus said to them okay you will indeed drink the cup that I drink and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized but to sit on my right hand and my left is not mine to give but it is for those for whom it is prepared now when the other 10 disciples heard this they began to become greatly displeased with James and John stop there if there's one thing that people don't like it's shameless self-promotion right they heard James and John are going straight to the teacher asking for the thing directly not hoping that he'll pick the most qualified but going and being that squeaky wheel everybody hates that everybody hates self-promotion right telling the boss how hard you worked you know and why you should get that raise and how lazy everybody else is in comparison to you hopefully you don't do that or worse taking credit for somebody else's work when they did it I think I did that a few times on a school assignment James and John and the other 10 ultimately argued about this topic who is the greatest in the kingdom literally until the moment that Jesus was crucified like they're in the upper room Jesus is washing their feet he's talking about how he's going to be betrayed he's going to be crucified on the third day he'd rise again and they're like yeah that's cool Jesus anyways who's going to be the most important who's going to be in charge I'm going to be the boss they never quite got it when James and John said to Jesus you know can we sit on your left and your right hand and Jesus responded back to them you will indeed drink the cup that I drink and with the baptism that I am baptized with you will be baptized you've heard the saying be careful what you ask for right be careful what you wish for these guys they got that James and John they wanted a crown of glory but Jesus gave them a cup of suffering they wanted power but Jesus gave them servanthood they wanted a place of prominence to rule but Jesus gave them persecution and martyrdom and banishment see Jesus he he gives us what we need not always what we want James and John wanted authority they wanted prominence they wanted Jesus to be a literal king of Jerusalem and they wanted to rule alongside him and to be governors or whatever it might be and so they're hoping for some prestigious role but Jesus knew that would be the worst thing for them you've heard I forget who sings that song or who wrote that song but obviously it's been said far longer than it was written thank God for unanswered prayers yeah we can be thankful to God for unanswered prayers James and John even though they faced difficulty and they faced the fire of adversity and the trials of difficulty they can be thankful that Jesus didn't give them what they were asking for we often think of Peter James and John the inner circle the tight group that was with Jesus privy to special miracles that the others were not they were with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration when Jesus' face shone like the sun and and Moses and Elijah were there like just a wild scene and if you haven't read it it's so great and Peter like opens his mouth and the bible says he said this because he knew not what else to say and he's like it is good that we are here we'll build a temple for Elijah and Moses and they're like can you shut up Jesus is being transfigured this is not about you right now but they were there also when Jesus raised Jairus' daughter this little girl who had died rose her from the dead and we think it's because these guys were super holy and super important and they were there to support Jesus maybe or maybe Jesus just really wanted to keep a close watch on them right I don't know if you moms or you dads have ever taken your kids on a on a field trip and you get put in charge of like six kids and you're keeping an eye on them and you're like okay you two literally you have to be attached to me the entire time you cannot go off by yourself okay I think it might have been probably like that I know that I had teachers that did that with me I was a terrible student in high school my 10th grade English teacher actually gave me an F minus on my report card the problem with this is that I was kind of stoked on it like I thought that was cool one teacher in particular also when I was in 10th grade I would often when the seating assignment was unassigned I was always the first one to go sit in the very back of the room right I wanted to be invisible from the teacher and I would always be creating disruptions and you know being distracting to other people talking to my buddy to my left and inevitably you know after a couple of weeks I'd be up a couple rows and then up a couple more rows and I kid you not by the end of the semester she created a special place just for me not just in the front row she brought me up to her podium right here and I had to have my chair next to her podium while she taught the class the entire time I just had to watch her in my peripheral her saliva would land on my on my desk while she was talking it was the worst but the Lord he does the same thing with us he does the same thing with us sometimes we think that God's mad at us because we're we're facing consequences for our actions and we're not getting away with things and he's punishing us and he's disciplining us well Hebrews 12 6 reminds us that the Lord loves those whom he chastens the one that the Lord disciplines proves his love for us and if you do not have the Lord's discipline in your life it says you may be an illegitimate child of God that's a scary thing so when we have the discipline of the Lord when we get called out for that thing by our spouse or we get you know called out by a fellow believer at church for listening to a certain kind of music whatever it might be and we feel convicted over it man we should thank the Lord for that right then and there when I was a kid I hated getting in trouble I wanted to stay up late I wanted to watch tv I wanted to eat whatever I wanted to I wanted to you know play video games all day and it always seemed like I got caught by my parents when I would you know tell them I'm gonna do one thing I'm gonna work on homework and I'd go play video games they always knew when to came in to come in and when I was you know actually working on my homework they wouldn't come in and check on me then I'm like how do they know probably because there's like a blue glow emitting from under the door or something they knew when I was actually working and when I wasn't the same was true as I got older I could never get away with anything they always were there to check on me I'd come home at you know 12 o'clock at night try and sneak in through the side door my dad would be waiting with like a flashlight to shine in my eyes and my mom come here let me smell your clothes like oh gee you know they always knew and I always got busted and I hated that I had friends that could do whatever they wanted and I wanted to be like them so bad but now oh my gosh I am so thankful that my parents drew that line I'm so thankful that in the back of my mind I always knew I can't really get away with this because my parents are gonna call me out I'm gonna get grounded and whatever else I am thankful I got caught I am thankful I got pulled over I'm thankful the truth came out and my plans were thwarted because as I look back and I see that I made the same decision as so many of my friends but for whatever reason they went on to make worse decisions and I was stopped I credit that to the Lord I credit that to my parents and so I look to James and John and I see them getting rebuked by Jesus and I say I'm glad that I'm in good company it's easy to shake our heads at their self-promotion but the reality is with the self-promotion we've all been there we've all been there we want recognition for our work we want to be seen we want to be valued we want to have influence and sometimes we are so focused on position that we miss the process that God is trying to shape us into we see what my dad does at Anaheim City wow that'd be so cool I'd love to do that I'd love to be able to get there one day you don't realize the process that he's had to go through to get to that place to be able to be used by God you know you would think afterwards after the harvest crusade he's going to go to a bunch of fanfare and be interviewed by reporters what was it like to preach to 50,000 people you know what we usually do we usually go to In-N-Out with all the grandkids and they're throwing food at the table and it's like it's normal it's normal and you know what it's a sign ultimately that the Lord gives us exactly what we can handle for others of us we couldn't handle that it would go to our head oftentimes we ask God to to help us to help us grow in an area we ask him for patience and then we're surprised when he gives us a situation that tests it right our kid asks us for a snack at 8 30 in the morning and we're just like oh are you kidding me it's so early it's like yikes dude yeah you definitely need to work in that area right or we ask for strength and God gives us a trial that forces us to rely on him we ask God to make us more like Jesus and then we're surprised when we're faced with persecution and suffering and humility that is why again God's discipline is actually a sign of his love discipline is not punishment though it can feel that way when you have none in your life but in reality it is a refining process the discipline of the Lord is a refining process he is shaping us he is molding us he is correcting us job 23 says but the Lord knows where I am going and when he tests me I will come out as pure gold one of the most powerful tools that God has in his arsenal is the oven of adversity it's the oven of adversity some of you are in a oven of adversity right now you're going through something that is just hard and what it's doing if it's working in the right way it's causing you to depend on the Lord more it's causing you to trust God more and and reach out to him more and pray more that is a good thing though that sickness though that unemployment though that whatever season you may be in is not good you'll never look back and say that was a good thing that happened and you can see that God is bringing forth good results out of it the Bible talks about this as being the refiner's fire when he has tried me I shall come forth as gold basically the way that people would refine gold you know a long time ago and to this day I think people still use it but it's more of like an electronic process I think they take gold and to make it more pure they would put it in a hot oven and as the gold liquefied and I think like 500 degrees or whatever it's a lower degree for more pure gold so anyways as it happens the impurities of that gold would rise to the top the hotter it got the more impurities rose to the top and they're able to skim those things off and refine it over and over and over until that gold literally was so shiny that the refiner could see the reflection in it and see their image in it isn't this what God does with us he keeps scraping off those impurities removing those sins removing those things in our life that he doesn't want anymore that are hurting us that are making us less pure and less holy and he keeps doing it until we bear his resemblance the ovens of adversity some are brought by God some are allowed by God many are brought by ourselves let's be honest we do them to ourselves James and John they started off as rough they started off as impulsive they started off as self-seeking men but they didn't stay that way Jesus didn't take away their zeal he transformed it he didn't crush their ambition he redirected it because in the end his goal isn't just refinement it is complete transformation let's look now at our third and final point the finished product the finished product we rehear again about James the death that he faced in acts chapter 12 now at that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass them from the church and he killed James the brother of John with the sword now we can know that James he was a vocal guy he was a bold guy uh and he was the first of the 12 disciples to be martyred for his faith and similar to John the Baptist who was beheaded by Herod a different Herod for calling him out for a gross incestuous relationship he was having with his brother's wife who happened to be his niece very weird John the Baptist called him out for this and ultimately uh Herod had him decapitated for it we see the same thing happening here with James the brother of John he is decapitated he stretched out his hand and killed him with the sword likely for calling out this Herod for something similar all the Harrods were incredibly messed up and it's likely that that is why he was killed so again fulfilling really becoming that picture of boldness of being zealous in the right way yes it caused him to be killed but ultimately he was standing for Jesus it wasn't for some self-promotion a self-promoting reason that he was killed and then we also read in Revelation 1 about John I John both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ here we see the fully realized versions of James and John the fully transformed versions of James and John James or excuse me John wrote in first John 3 the same guy who was asking Jesus to call down fire from heaven and trying to promote himself and push himself forward he said this dear children let's not merely say that we love each other let's show the truth by our actions our actions will show that we belong to the truth so we will be confident when we stand before God John was talking likely about himself he knew that his actions had changed he knew that Jesus had changed his heart they had been transformed by God when you're in the middle of that process of being refined by God it can often feel like he's just hacking away like he doesn't do he doesn't know what he's doing he doesn't know what is happening in your life why are you going through this difficulty why are you suffering in this way does God even care sometimes it really feels like after you become a Christian then trials really begin to start right difficulties really begin to happen as though God is just indiscriminately hacking away at us like a sculptor at a piece of marble but the reality is Jesus is shaping us into something of eternal consequence he's shaping us into something that is much more beautiful than we ever could have done on our own when you first come to him it's usually pretty dramatic there's a lot of behavior that you're cutting out of your life substance abuse anger and unforgiveness dishonesty materialism and greed idolatry anything that takes God's place really sexual immorality and you notice that those things as you give them up and you turn from them or you know leaving you but then you find that what God is giving you in return is so much better this is like when a sculptor I don't know if you've ever seen YouTube videos of guys who begin to sculpt a piece of clay and they're they're shaping it and moving it around or better yet a guy that's working on a big slab of marble they start off with a giant rectangle and somehow they see the the statue they see the sculpture within and they start off with a huge hammer a huge hammer and chisel or take it off huge chunks you're like what is this guy doing and then they pull out a smaller hammer they're taking off smaller pieces and then they're pulling out sandpaper and then they're buffing this part and slowly but surely the process or rather the marble gets more and more refined and you see it's a beautiful statue it's a beautiful sculpture this is like what God does with us he starts off with a big hammer he knocks off those big areas yeah you know when you first come to Christ you know right away yeah I probably shouldn't be murdering people and so that's a big one I probably shouldn't be you know having sex with my girlfriend you know any longer that's sexual immorality okay boom so you knock that off oh I probably shouldn't be stealing from my employer any longer so there's big obvious areas that you remove from your life but then it's the process of sanctification it becomes smaller and more fine-tuned and now I'm working on your heart there's this thing with pride you know it's all about you and it's like man I didn't even see that I was completely oblivious to it and you notice again those things that God removes he gives you something much better in their place when you're being shaped sometimes you want to say ow that hurts you're taking this thing away from me I don't like this very much the process of being refined by God by God is lifelong it is something that will last until your very last breath again the theological term for this as believers is sanctification sanctification just means to purify to make holy to consecrate to refine and it's something we must submit to for a lifetime and that's exactly what God is doing in our lives that's what he's doing in each and every one of us and also what he is doing in this church now I don't need to tell you just a year ago or so we celebrated our 50th anniversary as a ministry now in our minds we might think that is a sculpture that is finished 50 years what else could God add to it what else could God change to put the reality is we are in a season where God is shaping something new we are in a season where God is shaping something not just in us individually but collectively this church this campus here in Orange County in Riverside this work of God it is a piece of marble and God is still chiseling away shaping something beautiful for his glory the only question is will you be a part of it individually and collectively I hope that individually you're allowing God to shape you and transform you into the image of his own dear son but here at this church we need each and every one of you we want your gifts we want your skills we want you to partner with other believers that have been serving here at the church for five ten twenty some people thirty years even it's crazy we have these lanyards and some of them they'll have the date or the years of how long they've been serving we have people that have been serving for 25 years at harvest and longer it's crazy it's crazy and we're so thankful for each and every one of them yeah but when we're not serving when we're not participating and we think they've got it covered man you're depriving not only yourself you're depriving the church because we need you God made you individually and specially so that you can play a special role here because that is what the church is meant to be that is what it's supposed to be not just a building but a movement of God's people stepping into the pain of this world with his love and truth and as we are a part of this church we believe God is still shaping something here but here's the reality the work of building a church of serving a community of expanding the kingdom of God is not a one-person job we can't just leave it all up to pastor Greg and the worship team and whoever else it takes all of us and so in closing I want to ask you how can you be a part of this church how can you be a part of the church how can you participate in what God is doing in and through this ministry well first and foremost you can pray you can pray this is where it all begins James and John they had their zeal but it lacked wisdom at first right they wanted to do rash things crazy things they wanted to bring fire down from heaven on the Samaritans but they had to learn dependence on God and so do we if this church is going to make an impact it won't be because of strategy it's going to be because of God's power and our dependence on it and so pray for the lost in this community pray for the families who are still in a place of hurting and going through difficulty prayed that this church would really be a beacon of hope a city set on a hill and pray for God to use you individually man that is where the greatest blessing lies truly number two you can serve Jesus transformed James and John's ambitions for status into a passion for servanthood Jesus himself said the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many we need you to serve we need people of every really caliber of faith if you're a brand new believer who came forward at the altar call the last couple of weeks that's amazing that's right we want you we want you to serve we need people to greet those who will walk through the doors we need people to serve in kids ministry and and disciple the next generation we need people to help us with setup and tear down and be stagehands we need people to participate in small groups whatever your gifts are there is a place for you number three we need you to give we need you to give because generosity fuels the mission that's really how we were able to do all of these things if you're hearing my voice right now it's because of speakers that we have in this building if you're seeing me it's because there's a screen or you're looking at me here in person and it's because we are able to pay for these things and to really export the message and encourage people with it all of this has been done and paid for because of faithful people who wanted to get in on the vision and help out with it James and John they left everything to follow Jesus didn't they they left everything behind and pursued Jesus and we are called to live generously as well if this church is going to thrive it's going to be because of people who sacrificially gave to see lives changed maybe giving is the next step of trust God is calling you to today and then fourth and lastly I would say this is at least at the very bare minimum for all of us be present be present be part of this community one of the biggest things Jesus did for James and John was invite them into an environment where they could grow where they could ask stupid questions and not get called out for it and made feel foolish imagine having Jesus himself as your teacher well you know what we believe in the church that Jesus is our teacher as we study the Word of God as we rightly divide the Word of Truth and you too can grow in this ministry we grow in faith together not in isolation now if you're here today we believe God brought you for a reason maybe you're looking for a church home well this is your chance to be a part of something at the very beginning of your faith this isn't just about launching or starting a church or planting a new church or something like that it's really saying God use us to bring hope healing and salvation to this community and so what's your next step for some it's praying for others it's serving for others it's giving for all of us it's being present saying I'm here I'm committed and I'm ready to go I'm ready for you to use me Lord God is shaping something here the question is will you be part of it would you pray with me Lord as we consider these things what you are calling all of us to do father we just pray that you would speak to our hearts and we would see exactly where we need to take that next step whether it's joining a small group whether it's serving starting to give attending services on Sunday more regularly father we we want to continue in this process of sanctification and God we want to be malleable we want to be able to be manipulated by you in your hands we don't want to be rigid and stiff and impossible to work with God we want to be sensitive to your touch we want to be responsive when you call us God and so we respond to your word now help us see Lord where you would have us to move where you would have us to take the next step of obedience thank you Lord for this continuing work in all of us it's clear that we are all works in progress none of us have arrived and we will not ever arrive until we breathe our last breath and really see you in heaven Jesus face to face we look forward to that day when you'll say well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord we thank you Lord Jesus that you have made a way when there is no way it's not because of how good we are it's not because of how polished of an image that we're going to become Jesus is because of what you did for us you shed your blood on our behalf on that cross and because of that we have the hope of heaven not because of anything we've done not because of a mission trip we've gone on or how many hours we serve at church or how often we take devotional notes in the morning or whatever it might be Jesus it's because of what you have done and we say thank you today for that gift thank you for forgiving us of our sin and delivering us from shame and giving us a new nature and not only that calling us your brothers Jesus we're just so thankful we love you well our heads are bowed and rise your clothes and we're praying I know there are some here today who have not yet put your faith in Jesus Christ if you would like to know that when you die you'll go to heaven if you would like to have that burden of guilt and shame removed would you just raise your hand up wherever you are and I want to lead you in a prayer a prayer of repentance a prayer of asking Christ to come into your life wherever you are raise your hand up and I'll lead you in a prayer you may be watching on the screen right now I can't see you but the Lord sees you you can raise your hand as well wherever you are we'll pray together God bless you God bless you anybody else you're saying yes to Jesus you're seeing your need for him anybody else all right for those who that raise your hand or even if you did not I'm just gonna invite you to pray this prayer out loud after me he's meaning in your heart pray this now dear God I know that I'm a sinner but I know that Jesus is the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and I turn from that now and I turn to you from this moment forward would you shape me into who you want me to become Lord would you help me to be more like you would you fill me with your Holy Spirit in Jesus name I pray amen amen God bless you that pray that prayer just now awesome hey everybody thanks for listening to this podcast to learn more about harvest ministries follow this show and consider supporting it just go to harvest org and to find out how to know God personally go to harvest org and click on know God you