Commitment Beyond Easter: Following Jesus Daily

1. "We packed this place out. It was a great time of worship, and in that moment, we celebrated the ... So it's kind of weird to say we celebrated, but we took into account, and we reflected, and we remembered Christ dying on the cross, him taking the burden of our shame and taking the weight of sin and carrying it on himself. And the shedding of his blood that we could be forgiven. And then as Lena shared, yesterday was Saturday. Saturday is a moment of waiting on the Lord. It was also a moment of discouragement, a moment of despair, because everybody was waiting to see if this Jesus was really going to resurrect as he said he was going to resurrect. And so it was filled with doubt, with fear, with anxiety, quite possibly, and we were just waiting. And then came Sunday morning, and the stone was rolled away, and Jesus was no longer there, and Jesus resurrected. Amen, so that we can have life and life to the full. This is a message that we simply don't just preach on Easter Sunday at the collective church. This is what we speak every Sunday at the collective church. And so this is what Easter is all about. Even if you don't know who Jesus is, even if you were forced to be here, even if you've fallen away from Jesus, even if you're a seeker, everybody, we come to celebrate the risen king." [66:00] (72 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "We have this beautiful moment of Good Friday. And then we have our Easter services and we preach the Gospels. We should always be preaching it. And sometimes we're compelled by emotion or we're compelled by a moment to make a decision to follow Jesus. And after Sunday, let me let you guys know, then comes Monday. And then comes Tuesday. Tuesday, in where you still have this responsibility to live out your faith. But what happens is, is oftentimes we say yes to Jesus, but we don't really know what we're signing up for. We say yes to Jesus without counting the cost. And then when we realize what it costs, sometimes we're like, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I really want to do this. I don't know if I can continue to do this because, in essence, this is kind of expensive. And let me tell you something. The gift of salvation, we constantly say it's free. If it is so free, then why does it cost us our lame? Down of our lives as well." [613:00] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "The first temptation that we face is what I said, the cost. Jesus said this. Are y 'all still with me this morning? As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus replied, Father. Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. Jesus was looking at the heart. He saw what his issue would be. Jesus was saying, look, dude, you want certainty. There isn't always certainty, but there's faith. You always want to know how it's going to happen and when it's going to happen. You aren't always going to know, but God and there's faith. And so he said to him, look, man, I don't even know sometimes where I'm going to sleep at night. I don't even know sometimes where my food is going to come from. But I know that my God is. Good, I know my heavenly Father is good and he provides for all of my needs according to his riches and glory." [771:00] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "And so basically to sum it up this man wanted to follow Jesus but he wanted to follow Jesus on his own terms what I mean by that he wanted to let Jesus know how committed he was going to be he wanted to follow Jesus based on how he wanted to follow Jesus instead of following Jesus the way that Jesus desired he followed Jesus does that make sense he wanted to create the conditions for following Jesus he wanted to create the the playbook on how to follow Jesus when we have the greatest playbook it's called the word of God and sometimes what I think happens is we we kind of want to follow Jesus based on our own conditions we want to follow Jesus out of convenience we want to follow Jesus the way we want to follow Jesus we want to do the things that we want to do and all this and then we figure out where Jesus fits into that and Jesus was saying look if you're going to follow me it's going to cost you something and you're going to have to get the concerns of this world lastly before I start my other sermon" [1188:00] (65 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "The third temptation that Jesus would speak to is a distraction another temptation that would hold them from following him would be a distraction he says in verse 61 still another said I will follow you Lord but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family and Jesus replied no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God dang Jesus he just want to go say bye to his mom and his dad and his tia and his abuelita and his uncle chewy he just that's that's the noble that's what that's what Jesus would want to do and Jesus wasn't attempting to be mean what Jesus was trying to articulate to him is the reality is that in your heart you would be distracted with your past as you try to step into your future you choose to follow me your distraction" [1254:00] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "Saying yes to Jesus is the easy part. Saying yes to Jesus is the easy part. This is the easy part. but walking with Jesus will require more than just a yes. Saying yes to Jesus is the easy part, but walking with Jesus will require more than just a yes. What does it require? What does it require for me to truly follow Jesus? It requires, number one, count the cost. Can I really lay down my life to follow him? Can I really die to my flesh, pick up my cross, and follow him daily?" [1594:00] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "I think that the greatest response, the greatest thing that Jesus desires from us as a form of an acknowledgement and an appreciation, and an adoration for what he's done on Easter Sunday, is to simply say, I will follow you. I will follow you wherever you lead me. I will follow you wherever you desire to take me. I will follow you until the end because I know that in you, you've promised me life to the full here and life afterwards. And at the very end, at the very end of the day, you paid a penalty. You paid a penalty in which would have taken me straight to a place like hell that I don't want. You took away my shame. You've taken away my guilt. You've taken away my pain. You've renewed my mind. You've renewed my heart. You've renewed my life. And so my response to you is to say, yes, I will follow you, not in words, but in life." [1711:00] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "He's not just looking for a conversion and converts. He's looking for followers. If you read your Bible, if you read your Bible, when you read your Bible, if you ever dive into your Bible and you read the Gospels and you read the the epistles and you read all of the letters in there, it speaks of the heaviness of what it means to follow Jesus and the joy that it means and comes with following Jesus. I feel like we've bypassed all of that for the sake of the warm and fuzzies and cubes and so maybe you'll never come back but you've heard this message today he is the way he is the truth he is the life he says follow me pick up your cross follow me don't just sing about the cross don't just cry on good friday about the cross don't just cry during communion because you felt the goose pimples follow me do as i do live as i live and then bring more with you to the table because they're watching" [1824:00] (74 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "And what he wants is us to finish what we started. And if you haven't started, he wants you to start. And he wants you to finish. And his Holy Spirit will give you all that you need to accomplish the task. But I remember feeling guilt and shame as I would take back the uniform. Oftentimes, I wonder even how many Christians known Jesus and have fallen away from the faith or have quit. And one of the reasons they don't come into the church is because they feel this guilt and this shame for what they didn't finish. I want you to know that if that's you here at The Collective, there is no guilt and there is no shame. That when you're here, you are family. It is like Olive Garden without the breadsticks primarily because we can't afford them. But nonetheless, he says, come to me all who are wearing burden and I will give you rest." [2090:00] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)