(This transcript was generated by AI. Apologies for any inacuracies)

Good morning, everybody.

Who would have thunk it?

I mean, it's gonna be almost 80 degrees today.

I mean, I know the cold's coming, because it always comes, but God has blessed us while we were in this revival tent.

This is fantastic.

And I'm glad to be with you here today.

If you are new here, my name is Pastor Richard.

If you wonder what I do, when things go wrong, I'm the one they blame.

So it's my fault.

And yeah, so if anything goes wrong today, come track me down.

You know where I'm at now.

I'm usually out in the parking lot or wandering around here.

But I have been here now in South Carolina for three years.

My family and I moved out here all the way from California.

And I will tell you, I have no doubt that it was God who brought us here.

And I am so grateful for each and every one of you here at Valorist Church, because what I'm gonna tell you right now is that God is moving us, right?

And I'm not saying just specifically Valorist.

I think right now we are in a time where God is calling all of his people to stand up and live for him in the midst of the darkness, in the midst of the craziness.

And that is why we're here.

It's to encourage each other.

It's to build each other up.

And so today, and this might take the wind out of your sails, I'm gonna talk about obedience, all right?

Now, before you get up and leave, like, oh, great.

You know, obedience is good for my kids, but Pastor Richard, you know, let's take it easy here.

Obedience is something I know that most of us have a really hard time with, right?

And I would put myself in that boat, right?

I've been known, people call me an instigator, right?

In my home, outside of my home, people call me a pot stirrer, right?

And a lot of the times it's because, I don't know, there's something in me, right?

This flesh side of me that I just desire to rebel sometimes, right?

And it's especially when somebody tries to tell me that I need to do something that I just think is really stupid, right?

And let's all be honest, church, there's a lot of stupid going around nowadays, amen?

Amen.

And so I always would want to know why.

Why do I have to do this?

Now, I was a youth pastor for almost like 20 years, and I think that's why I loved working with these kids so much, is because they always pushed back, right?

It was always, hey, we gotta do this and we gotta do that.

Well, why?

Ugh.

Right, and I mean, the parent in me was like, because.

Right, anybody use that on their kid and hope that that flew?

Yeah, it doesn't, it doesn't.

But yet, what I learned is that the simple answers weren't necessarily cutting it, right?

The answers to their whys of because the Bible tells us so, or because God said so, didn't always cut it with them.

And as I continued to work with them and continued to be in ministry, I realized, why should it?

Why should it?

Because here's what I mean by that.

It's the why questions that get us to go deeper.

Right, it's the why questions that get me to try and understand why does God say this.

And I'll be honest, for at least my experience in church, sometimes churches get lazy, and they just wanna say, well, because the Bible says so.

Okay, like, I love the Bible, I love the word of God, but why does God say this?

And I want to stand here today before we get into this and let you know that here at church, this is where you need to ask the why questions, right?

Don't be afraid of asking questions.

Don't be afraid of wondering, why does God want us to do that, right?

Because here's the thing, by the time we get to adults, to be adults, if those why questions have not been answered, what I've seen is that creates a faith that is basically surface level, right?

It's shallow.

And when the real storms in life come, we don't have the answers to hold on to.

We don't have that knowledge or that faith in God to hold on to that we get when we ask those questions.

So before we go any further today, I want you to know that if you have questions, this is the place to ask them, okay?

You're not a bad Christian.

Nobody's gonna make fun of you.

Nobody's gonna tell you to leave.

And if they do, guess what?

They're the ones messing up, okay?

So today as we begin and we talk about obedience, that's what I want us to understand is that it's okay to ask the why questions.

Because the why is so very important.

As I said before, it forces us to go deeper.

And especially when it comes to obedience.

God, why do I have to obey?

Why do I have to do this?

And we begin to truly understand God's purpose for our lives.

And here's the reality of what obedience leads to.

It leads to the most life-giving, freeing and uplifting experience with God that we can have.

Amen.

And churches, we're living in this world that seems to be just pulling itself apart.

This is why God has come into our lives.

It's so that we can be that hope.

We can be that light in the darkness.

And that's what this gets us.

In Matthew 28, Jesus gives us the great commission.

And it says this in Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20.

It says, then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

And therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age.

And so again, here we have the words of Jesus to his disciples, obey, teach people to obey.

But why?

Why?

It would have been so much easier for Jesus to say, hey, you know what, just go and baptize people.

And once they're baptized, we're good.

They're in, they're part of the club.

But he doesn't.

He goes on and he says, you have to teach them to obey.

And so what I have to do is I have to trust that Jesus has a very good reason for telling his disciples this, for telling all of us this, that we have to teach each other and we have to teach others to obey.

Otherwise he wouldn't call us to it.

And yet what happens is when I typically hear the word obey, what I think about is a list of rules, right?

And I think a lot of us have been there in the midst of our faith is like, I can do this and I can't do that and I can do this and I can't do that.

And what we think is that to obey means that all of the fun is sucked out of life, right?

All of the fun.

I can't listen to the music I listen to.

I can't hang out with the people I used to hang out with.

I can't watch shows.

You know, and part of that is because it's good for us.

But what Jesus wants us to understand and what he wants us to understand about God is that God is in the business of restoring life to the full.

To the full.

Not partial, not taking fun away, not taking joy out of life, not making you boring.

But Jesus said, I've come that they may have life and have it to the full.

And so God is in the business of restoring life to the full.

The Bible tells us that he is the giver of joy and of peace.

And I'm here to tell you that when I hear that word obey, I've got to change it in my head that if God is calling me to obey, he's not doing it to suck life away from me.

He's not doing it so that I change what I am.

He's doing it because he wants me to become more me than I have ever been before.

And for those of us who have tried to obey, right, and a lot of us in here, we've been doing this Christian thing for a really long time and there've been seasons where we've done really good.

And it's in those times that God showed up so much more than ever before.

When we put our needs aside and focused on God and focused on others, what we discovered is that God was there and those were the times of joy.

And those were the times where we felt like God was right next to us every step that we took.

And that is what obedience gets us.

And so the why we obey can't just be because, right?

Again, I want us to understand the why because God wants us to understand the why.

If we don't understand it, God knows we're not gonna do it.

And so to begin our discussion on obedience, I thought it would be helpful, this always helps me, to look at disobedience and what that gets us.

And so if you have your Bible, open up to Genesis chapter three.

And this is where sin comes into the world.

Along with an instigator, I've always been accused of being a downer when you start with a passage like this in your sermon.

But I thought this is so helpful for me to, okay, if you're calling me to do one thing, God, what does it look like to not do it?

What does that get me?

And so we find that in Genesis three.

I'm gonna start in verses one through five.

And it says this, now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?

And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it or you will die.

You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman, for God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

And so the first thing we have to understand is that as we are living this life, there is a crafty adversary that is trying to get us to question everything that God says, okay?

You have to understand this.

You have to understand that just as God is powerful and loves us and is trying to work out for the good, all things for us, there is somebody on the other side that is trying just as hard to trip us up, right?

And this word crafty that the Bible uses, and it's a trait that can be used for good or for evil, right, when you use it for good, what happens is you are a problem solver, you are a resourceful person that can help yourself and others get out of difficult situations, right?

And there have been some crafty people that we have seen in this life, in our own families maybe, that are just super resourceful, nothing seems to shake them, and they just, they face a problem and they get through that problem.

But when it's used for evil, what craftiness is, it's a masterful manipulation of others.

And that's what we're seeing, masterful, the pro, skills that have never before been seen on this earth that are used to manipulate others.

And here's how the serpent did it.

Did God really say?

This is a why question, right?

Because what is he asking Eve?

Why can't you eat from that tree?

And what the serpent is hoping for is that Eve does not truly understand the why, right?

And again, I love this because it teaches us that we need to understand the why.

Why?

Because we can be tripped up if we don't.

There's a crafty serpent that will use our half-truths that we understand and that little bit of knowledge that we have and will twist it to pull us away from God.

Did God really say?

And what we have to understand is disobedience always begins when we question the wisdom and love of God.

That's when disobedience begins, from the very get-go, and that's what Satan is the master of, right?

And Eve's response shows that she didn't quite understand God's commands.

She added to her phrase, you must not touch the tree or you will die, right?

And what we see, if you go back in Genesis 2, God only said not to eat from the tree, right?

He says, you can touch it, you can go up to it, you can have a picnic underneath it, but you cannot eat from it.

But Eve added these words that we cannot touch this tree or we will die.

And what happens is, this is what we often see, is people trying to make God sound more strict than he actually is, right?

If he's a loving God, why wouldn't he allow someone to fill in the blank?

Why doesn't he want me to just be happy?

Why doesn't he want me to just do my own thing?

And we make God sound more strict than he is.

The next thing that Eve changes is the tone of God's commands.

In chapter two of Genesis, he tells Adam and Eve, he says, you are free to eat from any of the trees except this one.

You are free.

Eve changes it to we may eat.

And she also changes where God tells them, if you eat from this tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die.

And what Eve tells the serpent is that God said, we will die.

Now, these might be like small changes to us, but in the Hebrew, it changes the tone.

And what it's basically doing is it's lessening God's generosity, right?

When she takes away that word free, what she's making God out to be is less generous than he actually was.

This entire garden that he created for the man and woman, this entire garden that he said, take care of it, and I will take care of you, you are free.

And so Eve lessens God's generosity.

And in that next phrase, what she does is she softens God's warning for disobedience.

It's like if you've ever had kids and they start moving their hands toward a saw or an oven or something like that, and they go for it and you're like, hey, that will chop your arm off.

That's a lot more serious than, hey, you know what, just be careful.

Let's see what happens.

I have one time where my son, God, he had to have been seven years old at this time.

My oldest son's a very inquisitive person.

And we had a hedge trimmers.

And he's like, dad, can I do the hedge trimmers?

He was seven.

I'm like, yeah.

So I'm mowing the lawn, he's trimming up the hedges, and all of a sudden I look up and he's gone.

And I'm looking around for him, and I go in the bathroom and I open the door, I mean, blood.

Everywhere.

And he was so upset and so afraid that he was gonna get in trouble, right?

That he takes his foot, kicks the door shut on me.

Go away!

And again, there's part of me that it was like, I should have probably said, son, I didn't think I had to, but don't reach over and touch the things that are going like this.

But again, in his head, I saw, he would do it slow so he watched it, and it would come back, and then he did it a little faster, and then he put his finger in there.

He still has all of his fingers, he's good.

But again, what we see is Eve is softening God's warning for disobedience.

And again, this is how the seeds of disobedience start.

When God starts to seem less generous, and the punishment seems to be less severe, we find ourselves that much closer to disaster.

And we know what happens next.

Adam and Eve, they eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in order to be like God.

What does that mean?

They wanted to be in charge.

I wanna make the decisions for my own life.

I wanna be the one who says yes or no.

Sound familiar, anybody?

This is the human condition.

They wanted to be in charge.

And in verses six through 13, we read this.

It says, when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for food.

I love how they said, you know, with a woman.

Like, the food part was the last part, right?

It was gaining wisdom, it was pleasing to the eye, right?

It was, wow, that is a pretty looking fruit.

That is gorgeous.

Desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

She also gave some to her husband.

And by the way, let's settle this dispute.

All right.

Adam was there the whole time she was talking to the snake, all right?

The whole time, the whole time, he was there, all right?

We can't get it in the English, but the Hebrew makes it very clear, he was there.

He was there, he knew what was going on.

So he just, like a good husband, whatever his wife wanted to do, he stayed quiet.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

I got a hole to dig out of when I get home, guys.

She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked.

So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

But the Lord God called to the man, where are you, he answered.

I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked.

I've been there, man.

So I hid.

I hid.

This is getting off the rails quick, everybody.

All right.

And God said, who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?

And the man said, the woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.

Then the Lord God said to the woman, what is this that you have done?

And the woman said, the serpent deceived me, and I ate.

All right, so here's what disobedience gets us.

Number one, in verse seven, it says, then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Now, here's the thing about this.

This fruit that they wanted to eat was supposed to give them knowledge to be like God, right?

That's a lot of knowledge.

That's a lot of know-how.

If I had the knowledge of God, I would understand a lot of things.

But then when it talks about what they did to cover themselves, they sewed fig leaves?

That was the best that this knowledge gave them?

Right, and honestly, this is something the author of Genesis wanted us to understand.

That knowledge betrayed them.

That knowledge betrayed them.

That knowledge that they sought to become like God didn't give them the skill enough to make decent coverings.

And instead of becoming like God, they were overwhelmed by a deep sense of inadequacy, shame, and self-consciousness.

Instead of becoming like God, they were overwhelmed by a deep sense of inadequacy, shame, and self-consciousness.

The second thing we find in verse eight, it says, then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

And this is what we have to understand here, is that their guilt made them ashamed and fearful of being in God's presence.

Now here's something that I think a lot of us have experienced probably in our lives if we're honest.

We fall into disobedience, we fall into sin, and the last place I wanna go to when that's happening is church.

And I make up all kinds of excuses to not go.

I don't like the music, I don't like the preaching, the people are judgy.

But what it is is that there is something in me that does not wanna be, even if there's a chance of it, in the presence of God.

And that's what disobedience gets us.

We become afraid, we no longer desire to be in God's presence if we wanna be the ones who are in charge, making those decisions, failing at those decisions.

And that's where disobedience gets us.

The third thing we see in verses 11 through 12, and God says this, he said, "'Who told you that you were naked?

"'Have you eaten from the tree "'that I commanded you not to eat from?'

And the man said, "'The woman you put here with me, "'she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.'"

In striving to be like God, as disobedience comes into our lives, all of a sudden, Adam now mistrusts and blames the two people who are closest to him, God and his wife.

And we see this time and time again, right?

We're warned about this, right?

When people start going into, you know, let's say alcohol addiction or drug addiction, one of the warning signs is that they start to pull away from family.

We start to pull away from the people who matter most to us.

And this is exactly what we see in Genesis chapter three.

Right, and my hope in showing you this is that a lot of times people get intimidated by the Old Testament.

A lot of times when we think about the Old Testament, we're like, nah, I'm not gonna read that, I'm gonna stay away from it, and we don't get to see the importance of it.

But here what we find is a text that was written probably almost 4,000 years ago, and this is the same stuff that is being taught in counseling classes and psychology classes in this very day, right?

This is what guilt gets us.

This is what disobedience gets us.

It gets us shame.

It gets us hiding from the people who could actually help us.

And it causes us to push away those people who care about us the most.

This is exactly what we are seeing.

When guilt enters our lives through disobedience, it first of all affects us.

And all of us right now are probably playing in our heads those times in our lives where this has been true.

It begins with a feeling of shame.

What we initially thought was a good idea, right?

I'm grown up to make this decision.

Turns out to be a dark pit that we end up falling into.

And as we go about and we scramble to fix things, we realize that whatever we do makes the failure that much worse.

Right, and instead of just being a little pit we tripped into, all of a sudden we are in a deep hole as we try and fix things and get out on our own.

Maybe some of you remember being kids yourselves and you told your mom a lie.

And all of a sudden she asked you a question and you had to tell another lie to cover up that lie.

And pretty soon there's this web of lies that are going around and you're having a hard time spinning all these plates remembering who did I tell that lie to?

And what did I tell this person?

And all of a sudden it all comes crashing down.

And it's all because of our shame.

We don't want people to know how badly we mess up.

And then all of a sudden that shame forces us to take those feelings off of us, right?

Because I don't like to be feeling shame for myself.

I don't like to feel like I messed up.

And so all of a sudden I am blaming other people.

And we start to pull away from people, especially God.

And we feel judged.

And so we try hard to stay out of situations that might shine light on our disobedience.

Whatever that looks like.

And then finally we start pushing away those who are closest to us, rather than getting caught and having to admit our mistakes.

And this is the big one.

This is the one where we just continue to just turn our backs, those who can help us the most.

And instead of being confident, instead of having purpose in life, surrounded by a loving God and supportive friends and family we find ourselves alone and cast out.

Anybody ever been there?

Where like you messed up so bad, like nobody understands, nobody gets it.

It's all right, this is a safe place.

This is why God calls us to obedience, right?

And so this is what disobedience gets us.

It gets us alone and cast out.

Now what we know about God is that the purpose of his plan of redemption, right?

The moment sin comes into the world, God starts his plan to redeem and restore.

And the purpose of that plan was to put us back in a relationship with him.

That's it, that's the plan.

God loved us so much that he looked at that sin and he said, you know what?

I can do something about it, they can't.

And so let's do something about it.

And so God's plan of redemption reverses the effects of the fall.

Every baby step you take, for some of you today, that baby step was stepping into this tent.

And I want you to hear this, God's proud of you.

God's proud of you.

Every baby step that we take reverses the effects of the fall.

C.S. Lewis says this, I got a quote, hopefully this comes up for you guys.

He says, in obeying, a rational creature consciously enacts its creaturely role.

All right, I'll subtitle that.

When we obey, we are doing what we were created to do.

Okay?

This is what God created me to do, to obey him.

It reverses the act by which we fell.

Disobedience brought sin into the world, obedience can turn it back.

It treads Adam's dance backwards and returns.

Okay?

Every little step of obedience that we do brings us little by little back into relationship with God.

And so what does obedience get me?

Well, instead of inadequacy, shame, and self-consciousness, I discover that I am loved just as I am right where I'm at.

Right?

That's what I discover.

And I'm loved so much that God doesn't leave me there.

Right?

Think of who you were when you first came to God.

That person was probably one step above a mess.

Let's be honest.

One step above giving up, one step above losing hope, one step above thinking nobody loved you at all.

And God met you there, but he didn't leave you there.

And so we discover that we're loved just as we are.

I find out that I am forgiven and that I am a masterpiece created by God for an incredible purpose.

Right?

When God created mankind, the start of creation, after he created man, he said, it is very good.

We are the crowning jewels of God's creation.

I know, some of you might not feel like that right now.

But we are the crowning jewels of God's creation.

And all of a sudden, when I discover this, then my weaknesses become strengths and not source of shame.

Right?

And we see this throughout scripture when God encounters people.

Right?

In second Corinthians, Paul was praying to God, God, I've got this thing and it's really limiting me and I need you to take care of it.

And this is what God tells Paul in second Corinthians 12.

He says, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me.

That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for when I am weak, then I am strong.

You see, this is someone who has stopped, stopped running away from God, stopped feeling the shame that he was going through and has embraced that God created him for something.

And that something is bigger than he could have ever imagined.

And what he realizes is that even though he feels weak sometimes, even though he doesn't feel like he's worth it, even though he doesn't feel like he's accomplishing anything, God says, I'm working through you.

And all you gotta do is continue to trust me.

And so Paul says, okay, if that's the case, then guess what?

I'm a loser, right?

And that's how we need to feel, right?

I'm standing up here and I'm a child of divorce.

My parents divorced when I was two, right?

I was picked on as a kid.

I hated people.

I'm warming up to them.

But when your father abandons you, right?

You have an issue with, you know, wow, is there actually a loving father that can come into your life and change anything?

Right, and I stand up here freely, whereas before I didn't wanna tell anybody.

Richard, what's it like at home?

Oh, it's fine, it's good.

But now I'll stand here and boast all the more because what happens is that I stop relying on myself and my shortcomings and my powerlessness.

And I'm not trying to convince myself that the train wreck that is my life is fine, right?

This is what we need to realize.

If you feel at times that your life is a train wreck, that's not what God wants for you.

That's not what he wants.

And I'm not trying to pretend that fig leaves are sweet threads, right?

It's basically me saying, God, I've tried at being God.

God, I've tried at doing everything on my own and I'm terrible at it.

I heard somebody say, yeah, terrible.

I don't know if that was to me or just in them.

But, right, we do all these things and we think like, wow, this is pretty good, right?

And we got these sweet fig leaves going on and it's looking good.

And then somebody walks up in Versace and we're just like, oh.

We did a volunteer appreciation night the other night and I had some sweet leather pants on, y'all.

And because I boast in my weaknesses, I will admit I bought them from the women's section of Goodwill.

And I asked Miss Kim if I could wear them today on stage.

Just, she said no.

And I obeyed.

But I do have pictures, if you need pictures.

So that self-consciousness, that self-awareness, that self-awareness that I have, I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna lie to you.

I'm not gonna lie to you.

That self-consciousness is gone and instead of being ashamed and fearful of being in God's presence, I find mercy and grace and this growing desire for more of God in my life.

It's like a cool drink of water on a hot day.

And instead of hiding, we want God to reveal more to us.

Right, God, what are those things that I can hand over to you?

David, or David says this in Psalm 139.

He says, search me, God, and know my heart.

Test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

Right, most of us don't want God in the messy parts of our hearts.

But here's David saying, God, search it.

Why, because those parts that you've already searched have been strengthened.

And instead of shame, they're a testimony of your power.

And so whatever you have to do, God, search my heart.

That's where we have to be.

And finally, instead of pushing those closest to us away, we seek restoration and adoration.

Because here's what we know, God brings people together.

He says in Genesis 2, it's not good for man to be alone.

It's not good.

And it's funny that when we sin and when we're in disobedience, the first thing we want is to be alone.

That should tell you that there is a real adversary out to get you.

God brings people together.

It's not his plan for us to be alone.

We need others.

And obedience teaches us how much we need God and also moves us to restore relationships that were broken and to seek forgiveness.

And instead of blaming those closest to us for our sins, we want to build them up and encourage them and thank them.

Jesus tells us the two greatest commandments are this, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

This is the first and greatest commandment.

And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.

When I love God, I learn how to love people.

And the more I love people, the more I can love God.

And it's this upward spiral that pulls me out of disobedience, pulls me out of darkness, that I continue to go over more and more.

And so why obedience?

Why?

It's not because God wants to force a list of rules on you.

I hope you get that.

It's because he wants you to know life the way it was intended.

That's what God wants for you.

To not be alone and lost, but together with God and a loving, supportive and encouraging family.

And let me tell you this guys, if you don't have that in your biological family, you have it here.

Okay?

There's nothing you've ever done that we will tell you to leave.

There's nothing that is going on in your life that we would say, hey, you just can't be here.

We want you here.

Why?

Because we know God is doing a work and God is restoring and he's lifting up and he's drawing people back into relationship for him.

And as we do this together, here's what we get to experience.

Pastor Clay's been talking about wanting to do a series on heaven.

And this is where it begins, right?

It's not when we die, but when we decide to obey God, it's a little bit of heaven starts to show up here.

Right?

A little bit of what we get up there is going to start revealing itself here as we walk with God, as we begin to restore that relationship.

And so today, if this is where you're at, if you have been stirred by God today, if you've been feeling like you're stuck in life, maybe you need to take that next step of obedience.

Right?

Maybe you need to start at the beginning.

And I'm gonna share that with you because obedience, a changed life, begins when you put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Until you do that, nothing else is gonna help you get your life right with God.

Nothing else.

There's gonna be roadblock after roadblock.

And so the beginning of obedience is accepting Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

That's where it starts.

And it's you finally admitting, you know what, God, I'm not into wearing fig leaves anymore.

Right?

I'm done pretending.

I'm done thinking I'm smarter than you.

I'm done with this dumpster fire that is my life.

And you accept that he came to restore that relationship with you, to bring you back into fellowship with him.

Right?

You need to take that step today.

Today is that day.

In these seat backs, there's a card that said, I decided to follow Jesus.

Right?

If that's you, take that today.

Go out to this prayer tent that's right outside, and there are people there who will pray for you, who will give you a Bible if you need one, who will encourage you in this journey because you are now a part of the family of God.

And for those of you who have taken that step of faith, that next step is up to you.

What does that look like?

And remember, these are baby steps.

Right?

Maybe it's realizing, man, you know what?

I gotta get here more than once a month.

Maybe your next step of faith is saying, you know what?

I need to just let God know that I'm sorry for whatever you did, and start that journey back.

Maybe that next step is getting involved and serving here at the church because you've got an amazing gift that you haven't been able to use just yet.

Maybe that next step is joining a life group, and we can help you with all of that.

And I wanna close with this today.

The one thing I ask is that you just don't stay where you're at.

No matter who you are, no matter how long you've been following God, there's always another step.

This side of eternity, there's always another step.

Once we get there, we're good.

Once we get there, God's done with us, and we will just worship him for the rest of eternity.

But church, what God's doing here is too good and too important for us just to stay where we're at.

We want you to be a part of this.

We know that God brought you here for a reason, and we wanna do this together as a family.

Let me pray for you.

God, we love you and we thank you for who you are, for what you've called us to.

Lord, there's so many times where we have run and we've hidden because we've been ashamed.

God, we've been disobedient, and Lord, what obedience teaches us is not that you have a list of rules, but Lord God, that you wanna free us from the burdens and the shame and the shackles, Lord God, that are in our lives.

And so Lord, I wanna pray for each and every person here, Father, that they would do a deep examination of their hearts and where, Lord, they need to hand more of them over to you.

Father, I wanna pray for the people who today are making that decision for the very first time to follow you.

May their hearts' prayer be this.

Lord God, I have followed other things.

I have followed my own wisdom, and it has gotten me nowhere except in trouble.

And today I know that I need you.

Today I know that you have called me.

And so Lord, I accept today the sacrifice of Jesus on a cross, the blood that was shed for my sins and the sins of the world, and may today be the first step in obedience towards you.

And Lord, for the rest of us as the church, help us to know, to be reminded that you have called us, Lord, not just to fill a tent on a Sunday, but to stand up in a world and proclaim your goodness.

And Lord, when we live lives that magnify you, that glorify you, that are obedient to you, Father, we don't even have to use words.

People see us and know that there is something different.

And so Father, help us to be a church that is different.

Help us to be a church that obeys and willingly obeys, Lord God, because we just wanna see what you are going to do through lives that are submitted to you.

We love you, Lord, and it's in your mighty name we pray.

And all God's people said, amen.