Acting on Faith: Building a Genuine Relationship with Jesus

1. "What I realized is, it was not enough to teach them how to play baseball. They had to actually play baseball. That the best way for them to learn how to play baseball, is to actually put a bat in their hands and let them swing for the fences. And guys, that's how it is in following Jesus. Some of us may be waiting. Well, I'm going to wait until my life is perfect. I'm going to wait until I got all my T's crossed and I's dotted before I really go all in and start following Jesus. Brother and sister, let me tell you something. That's never going to happen." [04:41] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But, the one who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." [06:29] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Jesus says that it is possible to do things in the name of Jesus without Jesus. Did you hear me? It is possible to do things in the name of Jesus without Jesus. And you may say, Brandon, how is that possible? He says, I'm going to declare to them. They're going to declare to me and I'm going to declare back to them. I don't know you. You did all this stuff in my name, but I don't, I don't know in verse 23, I don't know who you are." [13:59] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Saying the right things, knowing how to sing the right, Hillsong songs or Elevation songs or whatever WPER is playing, knowing the right terminology to act like a good Christian, knowing how to act at church, filling up on intellectual knowledge, reading more books, listening to more podcasts, being able to read the entire New Testament in original Greek, can all be used as a camouflage to make people think you have a relationship with God. But you actually don't. See, guys, intellect is not a relationship. You can know a lot about someone and still not know them." [23:30] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Jesus says the wise person is a person who hears his words and does his words. See, it is not enough to go to a church that talks about Jesus. You got to do what Jesus says. There's many people who have heard his words. Maybe you grew up in church. Maybe as a kid, you colored the coloring sheets. So when you think about church and the Bible, you think about those coloring sheets, or maybe you went to a Christian middle school or high school, or maybe you went to a Christian college. Maybe you read the verse of the day on your Bible out. Maybe you heart and share Christian memes all over Instagram, like whatever it may be, we hear God's word a lot. We hear it a lot. Jesus says the difference is, will you do them?" [26:58] (62 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "The storm is coming in your life. I know there are three types of people in this room today. You either are just now getting out of a storm, and I'm not talking about a literal storm. I'm talking about a storm of your life where you just got some bad news, or you've been really stressed or anxious, you've just gotten the heck beat out of you. Like, I know this. There's one type of person who feels like you are coming out of that, and you're going, man, what was that? Then there's a second type of person who is going through it right now. Like, you came to church today, and you're like, Lord, I need to hear something from you because I am going through it. I am discouraged. I am depressed. I am angry. Things are falling apart. My kids are falling apart. My marriage is falling apart. My emotions are falling apart. And you are going through the storm right now. And then there's a third person. And you go, Brandon, I don't know why you're talking about all these storms. How about a little joy and happiness? Well, the third person is the person that's about to go through a storm." [30:27] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "Jesus says, the storm is coming. The only difference is going to be, will your life stay together, or will your life fall to pieces? Jesus says, that's the difference. And you may go, are those my only two options? And Jesus would say, yep, that that's what's going to happen. And so this is what Jesus says. Jesus says, you're a wise person, you're going to build your house on a rock. This is a real rock, Nate. Heavy. It's a real rock. Here's what we catch. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. But thank you. You were so willing. That was so sweet. It was a real rock. All right? It's hard. It's steady. It's sturdy. It's there. Guys, this is what Jesus says. When you do his words, not just listen to them, not just grow up hearing them, but when you start to read your Bible and do what it says, he says, you're building your house on this. It's steady. It's firm. It's secure." [31:48] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "How do you know that you can do this? You get into a discipleship relationship. Number two, you get into a discipleship relationship. Now, here's what I mean by that. It's where you are meeting with one or two or three other people and you're only reading the Bible and holding each other accountable to do what it says. That is a discipleship relationship. It's not a book club. A lot of people ask me, Brandon, what book should we read for our discipleship time? I say, I don't know. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Genesis, Exodus. I don't know. You got 66 of them to choose from. They're all in the Bible. See, discipleship is not a book club. It's coming together to read the word and hold each other accountable to do what it says." [36:23] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "Jesus has all the authority, not your pastor. Jesus has all the authority, not your church. Because Jesus has the authority. That word astonished means they were dumbfounded. Is that your response to Jesus today? I am dumbfounded. I am astonished that Jesus would love me and want me and include me and give me an opportunity to build my house on the rock, to know him personally. Guys, Jesus has all the authority." [40:12] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "Neutrality with Jesus is impossible. Lukewarmness is disgusting and consumerism is an affront. So let's let the awe and the wonder of who Jesus is lead us to worship him and to obey him and to obey him and to obey him and to obey him and to obey him and to obey him. Let's build our houses on the rock." [44:59] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)