From Babylon's Luxury to Cross-Centered Discipleship

But God did something completely different. Instead of talking, God did action. If you look at John three sixteen, everybody knows John three sixteen. For God so loved the world that he talked about how much he loved you. That God so loved the world, he lamented how we were separate. No. God gave. Jesus became human. He did. God demonstrated his love toward us. That while we were sinners, he did something. Oh, he talks about it, but he backs it up by what he did. And what he did is so much louder than what he says. [00:52:33] (47 seconds)  #ActionOverWords

Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it. Here's what he's saying. The world will tell you, this is living. This is living. This is living. Oh, you need a lot of stuff. Oh, you need a lot of money. You need to be popular. You need to that's life, and there is no life in it. You say, I'm gonna give my life up to follow Jesus. And the world laughs and says, why would you lose your life that way? But God leans in and says, I have your name written in my book. You are losing nothing. [00:56:45] (30 seconds)  #LoseLifeGainLife

The world says you're only valuable to me if you produce. And God says you are my treasured possession. You're my gold. You're my diamond. I'm not trading you. I'm holding on to you. And I will spare them as a man spares his son and serves him. I will treat them like a child, and I will not forget how they have turned toward me. Then once more, you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him. [00:55:06] (37 seconds)  #TreasuredNotProduct

Listen. That question hangs over the kings and the merchants and the shipbuilders. They got everything Babylon could offer, and now it is no more. Just like Edgar Allan Poe and a and a raven that quotes nevermore. When the angel speaks, it keeps saying, no more. No more. No more. It's not there. It's gone. You sold everything for this, and now you have nothing for it. What will a man give for his soul? It doesn't matter what it is. It'll never last. [00:58:03] (33 seconds)  #DontSellYourSoul

God gave. Jesus became human. He did. God demonstrated his love toward us. That while we were sinners, he did something. Oh, he talks about it, but he backs it up by what he did. And what he did is so much louder than what he says. Listen. You may be here and think nobody cares about me. Nobody loves me. I'm telling you, nobody loves you like Jesus, and he proved it by what he did. [00:52:58] (31 seconds)  #LoveDemonstrated

But God leans in and says, I have your name written in my book. You are losing nothing. You're my treasured possession. You're my child. I am not forgetting you. Don't you listen to them. Don't listen to them because they're all talk and no action. And when you doubt me, you look on a cross because there I showed you how much I loved you. You don't have to doubt anymore. [00:57:09] (32 seconds)  #YourNameInGodsBook

I'm not saying we shouldn't talk about who Jesus is. I'm saying if all we do is talk, the words begin to ring hollow because our lives start to speak louder than what we say. But if we really believe it, it changes how you and I live every day. So when we say the gospel changes a person on the inside, the outside, and forever, here's the great question. Is the gospel changing you, or is it just something we talk about? [01:06:23] (39 seconds)  #LiveWhatYouBelieve

Where is it that we commit ourselves and say, this means so much, I'll sacrifice for it. This means so much, I will defend it. I it may be difficult. It may be hard. It may not be fun. Nobody may notice, but I believe in it so much, I will do it. And that for us, we're not guilty of doing a lot of talking and very little doing. That our doing speaks far louder than our talking. [00:44:19] (28 seconds)  #SacrificeNotComfort