From Harbor to Deep Waters: Follow Jesus Boldly

``And this is where grace becomes easily personal. Jesus does not call us because he's impressed with us. He calls us because he knows us fully, completely, truthfully. He knows our doubts. He knows our fears. He knows our sins. And he still calls and says, follow me. This is not tolerance. This is mercy. The law exposes here that we are not known and loved because we deserve it, but the gospel proclaims we are known and loved in spite of it. [00:45:46] (40 seconds)  #KnownAndLoved

In other words, number four, you don't know until you do it. Or you try it, you meet them, you don't know. You just gotta try for yourself. Come and see. I think this is essential because we live in a world where people's minds are so quickly made up. They saw it on social media or been informed, and we feel like we know everything, and we often run to quick judgments and just cut conversations off. And so when that happens when we're giving an invitation and people just cut us off, the simple response is, let me not argue. Let me try to persuade you. Let me tell you how great it is and keep telling us. You just say, look, you just need to come to see. You come to see, then make up your mind. [00:40:26] (52 seconds)  #ComeAndSee

God knows you before you know him. He's knitted you in the womb. He knows you. But here, Jesus makes a point. I saw you under the fig tree. Now the fig tree is very symbolic of the faith in the Israel nation, the Jewish faith, and all through history. And and so this fig tree is not a a real fig tree. It's actually more of a house where he was praying, where he was seeking God. God saw him in this moment of vulnerability in front of God. [00:44:55] (33 seconds)  #SeenByGod

This is why God calls us and and why God commanded the church to baptize infants. Why? Because God is initiating. He's giving faith. He's giving faith to this little infant that's full of sin. You know it's beautiful, but it's sin. It's inherited sin. And before it can say anything, do anything, they wouldn't say, oh, you did a work to please God, to deserve his favor, to deserve his grace. Before it can do anything in respond, God says, I choose you. I give you my grace. You are mine. [00:28:51] (38 seconds)  #GodChoosesYou

We were called for his purpose given us is a out of grace. For faith is a gift of God, not by any of our works, but a gift of grace, a gift from him. And so it's for that grace, that God's purpose that we we forgive, we love, we serve in our vocations. Maybe a way to think about it is this way, use a water analogy. Grace is the water. You are the channel. The channel does not create the water. The channel does not own the water. But grace, the water runs through the channel. And through the channel, it brings what's needed for life. It brings life. [00:32:44] (54 seconds)  #GraceIsTheWater

On his first morning, he started the engines and he started to head out of the the past. But as he was stepping out of the past, he saw the the waves were growing taller and and and the the wind was a little stronger. And so he turned around, he said, maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow, he said to himself. And after a while, he stopped starting the engines at all. He stayed in the harbor and he would cast a net and, yeah, he caught a few fish that kept him going, but he never left the harbor. [00:20:13] (35 seconds)  #LeaveTheHarbor

And so what does that mean for us is that we do not have to have all the answers for somebody. We don't have to try to have the burden to convince them to understand everything. We don't have the burden to try to impress them. I say this is this impressive cool place. You gotta come. No. It's a beach, man. No. No. That's on God. You just gotta say, look. This is a gracious invitation. Come and see. [00:41:55] (32 seconds)  #InviteWithGrace

So the question I ask you is what are you seeking? See, because what are you seeking, you will find. You will find what you seek. Have you noticed that? It's funny how maybe you see a car. You've ever had this. You see a car or you want to buy a car, and you're like, I haven't seen this car anywhere. But then you see it kind of catches your eye, and then, like, the rest of the week, you keep seeing the same car all over the place. Have you ever had it happen? Or maybe you saw this great color of a car. I've never seen that color before. And then all of sudden, you see the color all over the place the rest of the week. It's because now your brain is seeking it unconsciously. You're seeking it and it appears. [00:33:49] (44 seconds)  #SeekAndFind

my last church, we had a younger guy, he had a friend, and he's like, man, my friend is hurt. He's far from the church and God, but he does have questions. He's kinda seeking. He liked to meet with you. So we planned a lunch, and and when we sat down for lunch, he he just started cussing. And then he started to say things about the church, about God, and about me, and it was incredibly uncomfortable. Good thing the food was good. But I just sat there and listened. I didn't try to change his mind. I didn't argue with him. I just listened. [00:42:28] (47 seconds)  #ListenDontArgue

Jesus is seeking us. He's still seeking us, and he's coming to us where we are fully lost like we don't know him at all, or we're just lost on our wayward ways, or we're just staying lost, staying back at the harbor, and he is continuing to seek us, to pursue us, and he's still coming with the same simple invitation. Come follow me. [00:24:38] (30 seconds)  #JesusPursues

Settling often looks like wisdom, but it's actually and most of the time, it's fear wearing sensible clothes. We don't always stop because we can't. We stop because we no longer believe. See, God often calls us not just to safety, but to trust. To trust him for greater things than we could ever achieve on our own. [00:21:47] (28 seconds)  #TrustOverComfort

Jesus did not say understand me. Jesus said, follow me. He doesn't say figure me out. He says, just follow me. And this is where the law of the word really confronts us because we often follow Jesus after we understand enough. [00:26:07] (23 seconds)  #FollowDontUnderstand

He seeks you, He calls you. And in his word, he creates faith. See, here's a point you always need to remember. Jesus never calls you to something. He doesn't give you what you need to follow. He calls us to follow and gives us faith to follow. That is grace. [00:27:52] (27 seconds)  #GraceCreatesFaith

The power is not in Philip's decision. The power is in the words of Jesus, Jesus calling. And that same power of his word is here today, and he calls us today, not because you have it all together, not because you're the most talented and gifted, not because you're strong enough, smart enough, it's because Christ speaks to you. [00:27:19] (34 seconds)  #PowerInTheWord

The power is not in Philip's decision. The power is in the words of Jesus, Jesus calling. And that same power of his word is here today, and he calls us today, not because you have it all together, not because you're the most talented and gifted, not because you're strong enough, smart enough, it's because Christ speaks to you. [00:27:19] (34 seconds)  #CalledByChrist

And the man replied, said quietly, it could. It could. I don't think I just don't think it's built for that anymore. But the truth was harder. The boat hadn't changed. The water hadn't changed. Only the man's belief has changed. He didn't fail because the sea was too tough or too rough. He settled because he stopped believing what he was made for more. [00:21:13] (34 seconds)  #BeliefShapesAction

See, if you write the beginning of the story and say, look, this is all my decision. I found God. I'm the one that did this by my power and ability, my understanding, then what does it do? It puts the burden on following Jesus and everything else that comes after that. Every work that comes at it comes on you. But we understand that our story begins that he found us out of his grace. The burden is not on us. It's on Jesus. [00:31:13] (35 seconds)  #FoundByGrace

But notice the beautiful thing here. Jesus is not offended. Jesus does disqualify Nathan. He's, ah, he doubts. He's done. Philip doesn't argue. Philip doesn't fight, try to convince him. He doesn't shame him. What does he do instead? He simply says, come and see. Come and see. [00:39:56] (30 seconds)  #NoShameJustInvite

And we see Philip does immediately. And that should bother us a little because it doesn't sound very reasonable. It doesn't sound very practical. It doesn't sound like that's a very wise decision. After all, there's no evidence that Philip had a miracle that happened that's not recorded. Jesus hasn't explained in detail who he is, but that's the very point. Discipleship does not begin with understanding. It does not begin with great knowledge. It begins with trust. [00:25:21] (46 seconds)  #DiscipleshipBeginsWithTrust

Now this is an interesting observation in this story, this word found, Because Jesus said he found them. So who found who first? Who's on first? Right? Jesus is. I mean, that's consistent with all scripture that God is the one who finds us. We're the ones who are lost, who are along her ways. [00:30:10] (24 seconds)  #GodFindsUs