CHURCH OF THE CITY NEW YORK | Sunday Service (Live)

[Music] jesus he is [Music] he is faithful he is [Music] is [Music] we're getting ready [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] rolling thunder [Music] give me [Music] is [Music] [Music] getting ready we're getting ready [Music] [Music] he is [Music] he is [Music] he is [Music] he [Music] he is jesus [Music] we will see you we will see [Music] hello church welcome like to begin this service by reading a passage from psalm 47 verses 6 through 8 it says sing praises to god sing praises sing praises to our king sing praises for god is the king of all the earth sing to him a song of praise god reigns over the nations god is seated on his holy throne one of my favorite things about sunday is i know that today god will be praised outside of this room that today in homes and churches all over the world god is going to be praised by many nations tribes and tongues and so when we worship when we sing praises what we do is we add to that chorus of voices so i'd like to invite you to stand and join me as we right here in new york city add to the worship happening all over the world today let's just start this morning by singing he's worthy he's worthy of everything he's worthy of all our praise [Music] you are worthy of it all for from you are [Music] you deserve the glory sing you worthy [Music] you deserve the glory let's continue to lift that up this morning [Music] jesus your name is [Music] [Applause] [Music] this morning [Music] [Applause] is [Music] lift it up one more time [Music] [Music] you [Music] you deserve the glory [Music] [Music] there was a moment when the lights went on when death had claimed its victory the king of love had given up his life the darkest day in history they're on a cross they made for sinners for every curse is blood attawn [Music] one final breath and it was finished but not the end we could have known for the earth began to shame the veil was torn what sacrifice was made as the heavens [Music] jesus [Music] of the world [Music] there was a moment when the sky lit up [Music] a flashlight [Music] eternity the king of life was on the moon for in a dark [Music] forever [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] oh [Music] so let us [Music] [Music] let's join with all of heaven singing holy [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] the earth we have the king of kings the lord [Music] jesus you are worthy of our praise we sing to the king of all kings and the lord of all lords he's sovereign over everything he reigns over every place jesus you are the center of everything you are the center of all history god everything revolves around you revelation 4 11 says you are worthy our lord and god to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being all things are from you jesus all things are for you all things are to you we live for you in this verse right before everything it's describing the scene in heaven where everything is centered around the throne of god so jesus this morning we say that you are the king of kings and you are the lord of the lord you are lord of lords and you are are also the king of our heart you are the center of our lives everything revolves around you jesus let that be true of our lives that you would be the center of everything we love you jesus [Music] jesus at the center of it all from beginning to the end it will always be it's always been you jesus oh jesus let's sing that again jesus jesus at the center of it all you are the center jesus the center of it all from beginning from beginning to the end it will always be it's always been you jesus oh jesus and nothing else matters [Applause] nothing in this world will do [Music] revolves around jesus you jesus be the son jesus be the center of my life jesus be the center of my life [Music] from beginning to the end it will always be it's always been you jesus jesus and nothing else matters and nothing in [Music] [Applause] everything revolves around you jesus you from my heart from my heart to the heavens jesus be the center it's all about you yes it's all about you from my heart [Music] [Music] from my heart to the heavens jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] so jesus come be the center of our church lord come be the center of the body of christ we are built on your foundation we are built on the rock of jesus we are built on the rock of jesus and jesus so jesus be the center of your church oh and jesus be the center of your church in every need [Music] [Music] in jesus jesus we sing the name of jesus let's just look that up oh jesus we praise you jesus the name of jesus [Music] oh jesus all to jesus and all to jesus i surrender all to him i freely give [Music] his presence [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] his [Music] me jesus [Music] sing all to jesus oh to jesus [Music] make me save your holy thy let me feel the hole [Music] we know that thou art [Music] is [Music] yes [Music] blessed [Music] blessed [Music] [Music] most of us are familiar with the word surrender as a term of war when one side of the war is overwhelmed by their opponents and they surrender to their enemies but hear the word surrender it's not about surrendering to your enemy it's not about defeat this is surrender to your ally this is surrender to jesus who is for you and he is with you it's a surrender to victory it's saying jesus i actually can't do this anymore on my own strength i surrender you come in you have the victory you come in and you win the war and so what i want us to do is just sing that a few more times i surrender all i surrender all know that we are not surrendering to our enemy but surrendering to the god who is with us and for us and loves us [Music] [Applause] [Music] all to thee [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes god we humbly and we wholly surrender to you knowing that where you have victory there is freedom where you have authority there is joy and there is life and so god if there are any areas of our life where we are like tug of warring against you lord we release the rope we surrender we say you come and you have authority here in this place and so god for the rest of our time here together we surrender we surrender all the things that might be distracting us all of our competing priorities god all of the things running through our hearts in our minds we surrender them here on the altar god and we say would you come and would you move among us holy spirit we ask that you administer to your people today god and we ask that you would have your glory today god that you would have praise today that you would be delighted by worship today god we surrender this time to you it's in jesus name we pray amen amen all right kids and youth you guys are dismissed we love you guys we're so glad you're here and worship with us i'd like to invite the rest of you to have a seat as you do scoot in towards the center of the aisle and make room for those who are still finding their way in well my name is ashley and i'm your group's pastor it is a joy to get together with you guys today if you're new here welcome we're so glad that you're here if you've been around for a long time but this is one of your first sundays back welcome back you're so glad that you're here now for us our sunday gatherings as a church this is not the pinnacle of the life of this church but rather this is a springboard for the spirit to move in and through your life throughout the week and the reason we believe that is because we believe that the holy spirit is alive and he's active and he's on the move and he wants to move in this generation in some of the same ways he moved in the first generation of the church we hold tight to the words of the prophet habakkuk who once said lord i have heard of your fame i stand in awe of your deeds lord repeat them in our day in my time make them known all that we do as a church is just angered in this hope that we want to see the fame and deeds of god known and renewed in our time we want to say god come use my life as an open door for your glory and your miracles to come flood the streets of new york city so i'd like to invite you to join us as we press into that i've got a couple of invitations for how to do that and how to do it in community the first is that we are offering the gifts course and we believe that you were made on purpose for a purpose we believe that god wants to use you to build his kingdom and we just want to help you discover how so this course it was uniquely created to help you discover your natural and your supernatural gifts and help you discern how to serve in those gifts registration closes this week so make sure to register and take the assessment by september 30th a couple of opportunities to join into community are at first that we are continuing our coffee clubs into the fall this was a fun experiment we tried over the summer we just wanted to gather in neighborhoods allow you to meet other people from this church in your community and just start your fridays off together and we realized we cannot end this right before pumpkin spice season begins and so you're welcome we're keeping it going through the fall not only are we continuing on the upper east side upper west side harlem midtown williamsburg and brooklyn heights we're also launching a brand new coffee club in chelsea got a downtown location and so make sure to check out the one closest to you this friday finally we have our annual church family tradition of apple picking yes every year we kick off the season together the tysons have been gathering their church family for about 15 years to bring in the fall together by picking apples having some apple cider donuts and there's always an epic group photo so you don't want to miss it you can sign up for all of this check out more information by going to church.nyc this week now i have the pleasure of leading us into a time of generosity every week when we gather we read this liturgy together it's not just a poem it's a prayer we're asking god to form us and so what i want to do is i want to invite you to stand and before we read i just want to give you a moment of silence to center your heart before god and i want you to ask him to highlight a word or a phrase that he really wants to oppress a press upon you this week something he wants you to focus on something he wants to draw out of you so we'll settle for a moment before god and then i will lead us in this prayer holy father there is nothing i have that you have not given me all i have and am belong to you bought with the blood of jesus to spend everything on myself and to give without sacrifice is the way of the world that you cannot abide but generosity is the way of those who call christ their lord who love him with free hearts and serve him with renewed minds who withstand the delusion of riches that chokes the word whose hearts are in your kingdom and not in the systems of the world i am determined to increase in generosity until it can be said that there is no needy person among us i am determined to be trustworthy with such a little thing as money that you may trust me with true riches above all i am determined to be generous because you father are generous it is the delight of your daughters and sons to share your traits and to show what you are like to all the world amen amen you have an opportunity to practice generosity now if you'd like you can go to church.nyc give we have some offering boxes in the back of the room i'd also like to invite you to turn around greet a couple of the people around you before having a seat we'll be right back with the teaching texts [Music] to be [Music] the night your song is with me day by day [Music] [Music] you shall praise come down [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning my name is judy and it is my joy to read the teaching text to you today it's such a good passage matthew 13 44-46 the kingdom of heaven is like a hidden treasure in a field when a man found it he hid it again and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that filled again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls when he found one of great value he went away sold everything he had and bought it this is the word of the lord well good morning church my name is susie i'm the teaching pastor here at church of the city and it's a joy to be talking to you today about the way of devotion we're in our series about the way of jesus and each week we're looking at a different attribute and so today we're discussing devotion now see there's a handful of times in life when we have an opportunity to make a truly momentous decision a decision that will shape the next decade or more of our life in one sense you could say that every decision right is leading towards life or death every decision shapes our life but i think we all know that there's certain decisions that inevitably require us to make a wholehearted commitment to change everything to take the plunge sometimes this is a school choice right where we want to go to college a choice of career and calling this might involve moving and spending money and dedicating your time to learn a particular craft at other times this decision involves a commitment to a person it has far-reaching consequences like the decision to get married or to have children and this requires a deep loyalty an unwavering commitment to another human being and in these instances if we aren't committed if we lack dedication then it can have disastrous consequences and although these are monumental decisions that are costly we choose one career over another one school over another one career over another one person over another one family over all other communities we also know that such decisions and their required commitments and responsibilities can actually lead to the most beautiful and life-giving aspects of life if we didn't commit we wouldn't know these things we recognize that these things can only be appreciated when we dedicate ourselves to them that these people can only be known when we dedicate ourselves to them that the most beautiful part of a person is often only discovered in a lifelong relationship you see devotion enables us to truly experience the deepest and richest parts of life but sadly our modern society has become increasingly inept at commitments and devotion we no longer study a trade and master it and enter a trade guild for example we move from place to place we rarely stay with the same company for more than a few years we enter and exit communities and relationships and of course the percentage of married adults has declined with time as the rate of divorce has steadily increased so instead of valuing fidelity we praise self-fulfillment self-actualization the ability to change partners at any time to have your needs met and along the way because our relationships suffer our children do as well and even in the less monumental decisions of life we're fickle with our loves we're easily distracted we're inconsistent we're unreliable we're unstable and scattered instead of making committed choices that will lead to depth and to beauty we've chosen to chase after fleeting pleasures like sex accumulating money accumulating power and so we've missed out on the richer gifts of faithfulness generosity even servanthood these things that require devotion and loyalty and you know this type of living of not committing to anything jesus warns about in matthew 6 32 he says for the gentiles the pagans strive after all these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them he says that the gentiles are striving they're hurrying they're scattered they're running after each of their pleasures and you see because of our lack of commitment we lose out on the benefits of devotion we lose out on covenant and love and wisdom and intimacy and even expertise in many ways this is the challenge of our generation to choose one thing over the many to choose one spouse one family maybe even one calling even if that means giving up other good things because we've chosen the best thing it's what our culture calls fomo we have the fear of missing out right we don't want to commit because we're afraid that something else good is out there that could be better than this and sometimes it's because we're afraid of choosing the wrong person the wrong career the wrong thing we have the fear that we've made one choice and therefore we're going to mislive but in the process of that we miss the best thing we're afraid of missing out lots of good things we'll never get the truly beautiful things of wisdom and loyalty and knowing someone intimately so how do we choose what to be devoted to if we can only choose one thing and send our devotion in that way what's the best way to live if we choose one thing if we do that are we going to miss out in some way are we better off never committing this question that's in our heart jesus actually clearly answers it in the scriptures from the start of his ministry jesus calls people to not run after many things like the pagans but rather to seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you jesus said that there's one calling in life and that's to commit to the kingdom of god and there's one person to commit to and that's god himself in mark 12 30 jesus says love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength essentially everything that you have love god with that don't hold anything back go all in and jesus in this way is restating what moses says and it declares in the ten commandments the first commandment is you shall have no other gods before me and the famous shema in deuteronomy 6 4 hear o israel the lord our god the lord is one that word one echad it means one unity but it also means alone or first the lord your god is first in your life he's the only god in your life you see jesus traveled all throughout the ancient israel proclaiming the good news of the arrival of god's kingdom and he called people to devote themselves to god and to his kingdom jesus believed that this was the one thing worth devoting your entire life to and he believed that responding to the good news of the kingdom was the most important decision that a person could make in their entire life that it would determine their future both in this life and in the life to come and jesus said that following him would require that someone give up their whole life to change everything change all their plans to follow him but that following him was the only way to truly experience life life and life abundant so jesus is telling his followers his disciples anyone who will listen to commit to the kingdom of god but we might ask what does jesus mean by the kingdom of god well in the gospel accounts jesus often speaks about the kingdom of god but he only ever does it in parables he actually doesn't talk about it directly which makes it a little challenging for us but he did that intentionally because he's trying to build upon the old testament understanding of the kingdom while at the same time seeking to disrupt how that definition had been warped in the first century so he's trying to correct a definition so let's start by looking at what the old testament says well in the old testament the kingdom of god was understood to be god's rule and reign god's rule and reign in the present in the future and forever and this was often expressed through obedience to god's laws god's presence being in the midst of the people and god's king leading the people in obedience and worship so god is in their midst they have a king who's helping like execute god's laws in a social setting and then also individually they're all worshiping and obeying god so this is the definition that they start with but at the time of jesus there was such a deep longing on the part of the jewish people for the kingdom of god because you see for generations they had not had self rule they hadn't had a king who could lead them in god's laws and said they had been oppressed by one foreign ruler after another who brought in their own religious system so the persians the greeks the romans and so they were longing for god to be in their midst again just like he had been in the temple in the tabernacle they're longing for a king who's going to execute god's laws in the world and they're longing to actually be able to be in the freedom to obey that but the problem is that by the time of jesus this sort of longing had gotten distorted in different ways and so you have some who connect god's kingdom solely to the political self rule and so they're thinking we need to overthrow the romans right or they're the sadducees or the pharisees that are competing over who's going to lead the people you also have other groups who say you know what it's probably not going to happen in the present god's kingdom will only happen in the future so these are people like the essenes who go off to qumran and you just say we're going to live in isolation until the messiah returns but jesus in his parables is seeking to reset the definition again to take that kingdom longing and saying yes it's happening now and in the future and forever and the kingdom of god is when the king is in the midst of his people and so in his parables jesus is seeking to reveal the nature characteristics and qualifications for entering into the kingdom but he only wants it to reveal it to those who have ears to hear and so he speaks in parables you see a parable it was a it was a hebrew speaking technique it was called the mashal which was a story that was used that took simple ideas and simple characters and then twisted everything on its head it had a profound upside-down life-altering truth hidden within a simple story and so it was the perfect vehicle for jesus in describing the kingdom and for resetting the hopes and expectations of his audience in matthew 13 in particular where our text is found jesus gives a series of seven parables about the kingdom he begins by describing how the kingdom is growing how it's hidden and small in nature but has a huge impact and then he goes on to talk about good and bad responses to the kingdom of god i.e who will inherit and enter into god's kingdom his future rule and reign and at first jesus is speaking to the crowds but then by the time he gets to his fifth and sixth parable the ones we're looking at today he's taken his disciples aside and he's telling only them these parables and he's using these two parables to illustrate the immeasurable value of the kingdom he wants them to know what does it look like to devote themselves to the kingdom what is the kingdom like that it's priceless it's life-altering and it's worth and so in the first parable jesus tells his disciples that there's a day laborer a man who's working in someone else's field and he discovers a valuable treasure that's buried in the ground it's actually not that surprising that there was a treasure in the ground when you have um political instability a lot of times there's a habit of hiding things in your own home or in your own land because you can't trust the banks and so this man is working in someone else's field and he discovers a valuable treasure that's hidden in the field but he knows that he can't just take it out of the ground and so he goes and he sells everything it's going to cost him everything he has to buy just one plot of land and yet he immediately does that he buys the whole field so that he can rightfully own the treasure that's hidden in the field the man is not wealthy he's not actively searching but he stumbles upon a treasure and he knows it's worth and he joyfully sells everything else giving it up to have the treasure jesus then tells a second parable that's similar and different jesus says that there's a merchant probably of some means who had actively been looking for good pearls now pearls at that time period were kind of like searching for diamonds they were very expensive and after searching the merchant finds an exceptionally fine pearl and recognizing how rare it is and how valuable it is the merchant immediately sells all that he has which probably included some other really nice pearls and he purchases the one exceptional pearl here the man is wealthy and he's searching and he eventually does find the best treasure and yet just like the other man it will cost him everything which he gladly pays now when we step back from these two parables we begin to see patterns that should prompt us to ask deeper questions right if the nature of a parable is to hide a deep truth inside of it we need to ask okay what is jesus telling us about the kingdom about its value and its cost in terms of devotion and we should ask ourselves just sort of like the original disciples did what does this mean for me how do i live in light of this parable what does this mean about my life of devotion to the kingdom so what's the value of the kingdom that's hidden in these parables well the first thing that we learn is that jesus is describing the kingdom the good news that god's rule and reign has come right now through the person of jesus christ he's describing it like a treasure like the finest pearl he's saying that actually here the kingdom is valuable it's worth it and he's inviting people into the kingdom he's bringing the kingdom through his proclamation and his miracles yet jesus wants his disciples to understand that it's here in their midst like a treasure hidden in a field that although the crowds might not recognize who jesus is the king has come to be with them and this is important because jesus is saying that what the disciples have been longing for what maybe some of them have even been searching for that god would be in their midst that he would lead them as king that the rule and reign would happen again in their lifetime that there would be purpose to their life jesus is saying that their longing has come true there is a treasure and it's in their midst at the same time jesus's kingdom is not going to be the political rule that some longed for or only a future eschatological dream because it's going to be better than that jesus is with them right now he's going to give them a new heart he's going to put his spirit within them he's going to lead them from the inside out he's going to bring his kingdom not in military power or just in the future but he's going to bring it here and the now through his people as they work to restore the world so this isn't just any kingdom this isn't just any pearl this is an exceptional pearl this kingdom is better and more valuable than they could have ever hoped for so he wants them to recognize the value of the kingdom next because the kingdom is so valuable he wants to illustrate the cost that it will what it will cost them in terms of devotion because the kingdom is beautiful and valuable it's costly because the kingdom is rare because god's kingdom is unlike any other religious system any other political system any other kingdom available on earth it requires an immediate response to whoever encounters it we see this in the parables although one man is poor and another is rich although one stumbles upon the treasure and the other one searches it out they both must respond it both costs them devotion and in both parables we see four verbs repeated four actions that these men take and the more that i studied this parable i thought wow these four actions are what's required of every person when they respond to the kingdom it's it's actually the definition of a life of devotion the four verbs are they found it they went they sold and they bought i think that if we have ears to hear we can hear jesus saying to us the same thing have you found it will you go will you sell will you buy so let's look at each of these four verbs the first one it was found the first thing that we see is that the kingdom of god it must be found it must be discovered this goes along with jesus early parables where he talks about the kingdom of god being hidden and small he talks about it being like yeast and like a tiny mustard seed and here again this kingdom is not obvious davies and allison say our parable presupposes that the kingdom is hidden that it is not yet revealed to everyone the revelation of god and jesus is not perfectly vivid to all it can only be perceived by those with ears to hear and eyes to see so jesus is walking around the countryside and it's not like there's like a bright neon light over his head that just says the messiah is here right so there's people who miss who jesus is right it's he's hidden in plain sight isaiah 53 says that he did not have any beauty that we should notice him isn't that still true right there's so many times that jesus is misunderstood that he's overlooked that he's not seen for who he is that the kingdom of god is missed we see this because the day laborer is surprised by the kingdom it's unexpected he's not searching for it but it's a joyful find you know this may have been the experience of some of the tax collectors or prostitutes or sinners who came to follow jesus they weren't looking for god they weren't looking for the messiah or god's kingdom but suddenly they encounter the beauty of jesus they say he's told me everything i've ever done he's unlike anyone i've ever met before they're surprised by who he is maybe that's been true for you maybe you didn't set out to become a christian to go to a church to even be curious about jesus maybe you've come into the room today because you're like i have to check this person out jesus is different than i thought he would be the kingdom of god is often surprising and hidden you see the other man though he is looking for the kingdom and he still has to search for it he's going from place to place he's looking from one kingdom or best way to live or one god to another and yet eventually he discovers who jesus is he discovers the kingdom and he recognizes its value how it's far superior to any other kingdom far superior to any other religious system this is a lot like what it says in proverbs 2. if you look for wisdom ask for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure then you will understand the fear of the lord and find the knowledge of god so if we search for wisdom we'll find it matthew 7 jesus says ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and the door will be opened to you for everyone who asks receives the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks the door will be opened so this man was searching jesus saying and he did find he did find the kingdom and maybe this merchant was a little bit like some of jesus first followers like men like andrew or nathan who had been studying the scriptures waiting for the messiah to come and they're amazed and thrilled when jesus shows up right andrew's following john the baptist because he knows he's going to announce who the messiah is and as soon as john the baptist says it's jesus andrew's like great i'm following him right then he goes and finds nathan nathan's like really and as soon as he encounters jesus is like you're the one the prophecies are talking about right so they were searching and they found him so the first thing is that the kingdom of god has to be found the second thing that we see is that they both go there they both went they went away there's a decisive immediate action that's required in order to obtain the treasure one study bible says these two parables describe the great value of the kingdom of heaven as well as the extreme and urgent measures people should take because of it these men they don't want to miss out they're joyful they're excited but what i think is implied in this verb to go is that this is a process that there's a journey that's required to obtain the kingdom to respond to jesus they encounter the kingdom but then they have to make preparations to commit themselves it's very similar to the story of elisha who encounters elijah and wants to follow him so what does he do he goes and burns all of his farm equipment now did elijah tell him to do that no but elijah's like wholehearted commitment i gotta just get rid of everything so i can only follow you so there's a preparation to commit themselves finding the pearl or the treasure what it does is it shatters the normalcy of life it invalidates all previous plans for the future elisha's never going to go back to farming the fishermen are not supposed to go back to fishing right jd crosston suggests that what happens is there's a whole new set of values which is expressed in this moment that the normalcy of life has ended everything has been turned upside down and there's a whole different value system that has to be expressed now through the actions of selling and buying so the action of going of preparation leads right into the action of selling there's an exchange that's required a price that must be paid to acquire the kingdom of god it's going to be costly and it's going to cost them everything and yet each man is convinced it's worth it that everything else that they had previously thought was valuable all their other dreams and plans are like nothing like garbage compared to obtaining this treasure you see they're willing to take the risk they're willing to lose everything to gain this one thing again davies and allison say the parable by reference to a once-in-a-lifetime discovery to an event one only dreams about expresses the incomparable worth of the kingdom and the necessity to do all one can to gain it one gladly risks everything to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity presented by the presence of god's salvific kingdom with all its blessings so they sell everything so they can buy the one thing they exchange everything for it so that they can possess it now again jd crossing points out that the kingdom of god has now determining the course of their existence everything in life has now been exchanged for this one thing but here's the good news because they sold everything and bought it they now have it they now possess it the merchant has the finest pearl the man has the treasure hidden in the field you see to find and go and sell and buy are actually the four stages required to live a life of devotion of commitment to the one thing let me give you an example of this from just our normal world i actually think these are the same stages one goes through when they get married first they find somebody they think wow this person is pretty amazing then they go away and they think about if they want to marry that person right they count the cost then they sell things for men sometimes that means they go and they have to buy rings they have to sell other things right for for all of us though it means we have to give up our independence in certain ways we have to change our plans we have to join our bank accounts to each other right so they sell and then they buy into something new they invest all of their assets into this relationship all of their time into this relationship so to live a life of devotion you have to find the beautiful thing you have to go and make the commitment that you're going to do it and then you have to sell and you have to buy the one thing see these are the right stages of devotion when you encounter the kingdom of god and you recognize its immense value jesus in teaching these parables to his disciples is actually calling his disciples to live in the same way they must find jesus i.e discover who he is and they must decide how they're going to respond are they going to follow him are they going to sell everything and run after him and you know what this is actually a requirement that jesus makes of all of his disciples in luke 14 jesus says clearly in the same way those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples let me read that one more time in the same way those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples it's not an option it's a requirement to sell everything this is the call of discipleship you can't just sort of temporarily follow jesus kind of think that he's interesting you have to give up everything to become his disciples and jesus puts this question before many people and some choose to respond to jesus in one way and some in the others the other way for example in mark 10 and we see the opposite of this parable a rich young man comes to jesus he's been very torah observant he's religiously pious and so he's asking what else does he have to do to inherit the kingdom of god and probably he expected the man jesus to say nothing right like oh you're doing great you've got the money you've got the influence you're very religious and spiritual like you're in but instead jesus says this in mark 10 jesus looked at him and loved him one thing you lack he said go sell everything you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven then come follow me go sell follow me but the young man is unwilling to do this he goes away sad unable to do the one requirement to live a life of devotion to live a life committed to jesus but you know unlike the rich young ruler there's a man named zacchaeus who's also pretty wealthy he has gotten in good with romans he's become a tax collector he also has influence and yet when he encounters jesus he gives up everything he invites jesus to his house he pays back everybody he's stolen from over and over again he says jesus come and meet all my friends i'm all in likewise the fishermen they abandon their nets and their father by the way in order to follow jesus they leave behind their nets their father they follow jesus but there's another man who comes to jesus and says you know i want to follow you but let me bury my dead parents first jesus says come follow me the man leaves sad but probably the most beautiful example of devotion is the woman who breaks the alabaster jar at jesus's feet if you study that text at all you know that probably her entire dowry her savings or inheritance were in that alabaster jar that's how valuable the oil was but she says you know what jesus you're worth it she breaks it on him to anoint him for burial you see this decision to find and go and sell and buy is put before every single one of jesus's followers and jesus asks us the same question he says will you come follow me will you leave everything to be my disciple as one scholar puts it we must exhibit a fundamental element of genuine discipleship which is a total commitment to live under the reign of god without reservation this is discipleship leaving everything being wholly devoted to jesus we can't be people who count the costs of discipleship so to speak and fail to grasp the greatness of the reward we're called to be like those initial men who say oh for joy i sell everything and i follow you jesus you see the only way to receive the kingdom the only way to receive jesus as king to receive the life that we actually long for the love and the wisdom and the intimacy and the beauty of the life that god is offering to us is to give up everything we must commit to him and him alone we must leave behind our old lives and fully live in the kingdom and this should lead us to ask what's holding me back do i have a contingency plan a safety net a prenup in case jesus and his kingdom don't pan out maybe you've sold 95 percent of what you have but you kept 5 away just in case this jesus thing doesn't work out just in case the kingdom isn't as great as you thought it would be are you attempting to live with one foot in the kingdom and one foot in the world the problem is most the time that's how christianity is presented to us jesus is your best friend he just wants to bless your life jesus wants your entire life and he wants to be king of your life which is very different you can't hold on to all of these other loves and hold on to jesus he wants you to love him with your whole heart and mind and stroll and strength your everything you and i are not disciples of jesus until we give up everything you might be a follower it might be someone who likes to include jesus in your instagram posts and show up at church but you're not a disciple until you sacrifice everything for him now i know that sounds offensive it's kind of meant to be jesus is telling you the truth plain and simple he's inviting you into a life of devotion to him but before you stand shocked at jesus invitation and command just know he's not asking you to do something that he hasn't already done himself in fact all of this is only possible because of jesus sacrifice you see there's a second way to also read this parable it's maybe not as obvious from the context and not as popular among all the scholars and interpreters but there is biblical basis for it so don't worry i'll prove my point and you see the second way to read the story is that jesus is the man he's the merchant and the people of the kingdom are the treasure hidden in the field of this world you see jesus is the son of god and the son of man he was both wealthy the lord of lords and king of kings but he also humbled himself becoming a man a day laborer owning nothing to his name and yet the bible tells us that the son of god was searching for a people a chosen people to call his own to be his bride and jesus chose for himself a people from every tribe in tongue and nation he chose them from out of the world to come be in his kingdom and he sets this people apart he makes them holy he makes them his bride his prized possession the apple of his eye but you see obtaining this people for himself would be costly it would cost jesus everything he would have to humble himself becoming a man and then he would have to give up his dignity his reputation and his very life by dying a brutal death on the cross philippians 2 reads in your relationships with one another have the same mindset as christ jesus who being in very nature god did not consider equality with god something to be used to his own advantage rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross but you see like the day laborer and the merchant jesus did all of this because of joy hebrews 12 for the joy set before him he endured the cross scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of god it was out of joy that jesus gave up everything in order to purchase for himself a people a people to be in his kingdom forever and he purchased that people with his very blood it cost him everything first peter 1 for you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed bought from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors but with the precious blood of christ a lamb without blemish or defect you see we the people of god are the treasure in the field of the world we are the pearl of great price that jesus bought and what is true of the people of the kingdom of god as a whole is also true of each person in the kingdom you see he not only chose and bought us he chose and bought you you are the treasure hidden in the field he chose and bought you when you were covered in your sin and your shame he bought you out of your generational curses and out of the things that have been spoken over your life he bought you out of all the ways that you feel like you have disqualified yourself from god's love he saw the treasure hidden in the field and he went searching for you you're infinitely valuable to him and so he bought you even while you were still a sinner romans 5 very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die but god demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were still sinners christ died for us jesus sees you he sees the real you he sees the new birth in you he sees the son or daughter of the most high he wants to wash you and to make you holy he wants to rescue you out of the things that you think disqualify you he wants to heal you and restore in you the image of god so if you receive him he'll wash you from the dirt he'll cleanse you from the shame he'll restore you to the beauty that you were intended to have he'll call you beautiful his treasure you see this is the gospel this is the good news of jesus and his kingdom and this news that jesus is sharing about himself and his kingdom it must be received wholeheartedly we must receive this good news of jesus and of his love and his death and resurrection as if we stumbled upon it hidden in the field we need to receive it as if it's the best pearl the best piece of good news the best kingdom the best relationship that we could ever search for and find because you see devotion is the right response it's the right response to the joyful sacrifice of jesus it's the right response to the inexpressible worth of entering a kingdom that's led by a king of such love it's the right response to a treasure that is knowing and being loved by jesus friends he's the one that you've been searching for his kingdom is the community that you've longed for the life that he's inviting you into is a life of loyalty and beauty and wisdom he went there first so that he could invite you into it devotion is the right way of spending our lives jesus says whoever wants to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it what good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul that's the question of our generation do you want to gain the whole world and forfeit your soul or do you want to go after the one thing the one king in his kingdom who will invite you into life everlasting today we have a chance to respond to that word we have a chance to respond to the investigation of jesus and so our worship team is going to come forward and our prayer team is going to come forward to help lead us in a time of response because every single one of us need to respond to the invitation of jesus can you imagine how sad it would have been if the man had dug up the treasure found it i was like buried it and then went about and did something else and then someone else found the treasure and he missed out the man saw the pearl and he thought oh well you know i can't give up all my other pearls to get the best pearl sometimes we have to give up good things to get the best sometimes we have to give up other fleeting relationships to have the one eternal relationship in our life paul understood this he says in philippians 3 but whatever gains to me i now consider loss for the sake of christ what is more i consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing christ jesus my lord for whose sake i have lost all things i consider them garbage that i may gain christ and be found in him not having a righteousness on my own that comes from the law but that which is through faith in christ the righteousness that comes from god on the basis of faith paul recognizes that all the other things in his life were garbage compared to the surpassing weight beauty glory of knowing jesus devotion is the right response so let's respond as we respond first i want to invite you to stand with me [Music] and let's pray i want to invite the holy spirit to speak to our hearts right now holy spirit you're the one who illuminates the word you're the one who pierces the heart you're the one who highlights the beauty of jesus holy spirit we invite you to do that right now [Music] lord you promise that your word does not return void it's like rain so right now we ask your word to speak to us we invite your rebuke your correction your encouragement your insight [Music] amen so here's the question today what do you need to leave behind to follow jesus maybe when you first encountered him you give up everything but over time you've noticed that other things have snuck in maybe as i was speaking today you thought wow i do have a contingency plan well i have held on to some good things in my life and not given them all to jesus maybe you've realized that some of the plans that you've made about your future your career your relationships you did because you just made those choices you didn't submit everything to jesus you didn't give him everything today is the day to respond in obedience to say jesus i want to be your disciple so i will give up everything i will put behind put down my nets i'll leave my family i'll make different choices i want to obey you our prayer team would love to pray with you to be a witness as you make that commitment again let's not leave here without responding to jesus's invitation i love that before he speaks to the rich young lord says jesus looked at him and loved him he said go and sell everything jesus is saying this to you out of a heart of love he's telling you to sell everything because he loves you and because it will lead to life and joy let's not lose that today let's not walk away and forget this moment so i want to encourage you even right now as i'm still speaking as we're singing to go for it for prayer to respond and say i want to commit to you again jesus for others of you the way you need to respond is to receive god's love it wasn't the first part of the sermon that pricked you it was the second part it was when you realized oh the lord does love me maybe you walked in here today and you didn't feel like you were even worthy of being in god's presence you thought i don't think god's gonna love me until i clean up my act i don't think god could really love me based on my past based on my family based on the decisions that i've made the good news is he does love you he's chosen you he wants to be in a relationship with you he's paid everything for you before you were born he already died for you that's how much he loves you he's not waiting for you to clean up your act he's already bought you he's already found the treasure hidden in the field today your job is to respond in worship your job is to respond by receiving jesus's love if it helps you to do that we'd love to lay hands on you but also if it's just where you are just open your arms open your heart to receive his love to believe that he could love you that much to say jesus thank you for your commitment to me i want to likewise be devoted to you so we're going to take a moment and we're going to respond we're going to respond physically by singing by going to get prayer by moving our bodies right because we want to respond to the investigation of jesus right now let's do that together [Music] see i just want you cause i just want you and nothing else and nothing else nothing else will do i just want you and nothing else [Music] and nothing else nothing else will do i just i just want you and nothing else nothing else nothing else will do i just want you and nothing else and nothing else nothing else will do [Music] and nothing else nothing else will do [Music] [Applause] [Music] nothing else [Music] [Applause] nothing else [Music] [Applause] nothing else [Music] nothing else [Music] [Applause] [Music] nothing else will [Music] so in the morning when i rise in the morning [Music] when i rise in the morning when i rise give me jesus so give me jesus [Music] give me jesus [Music] give me jesus and give me jesus give me jesus give me jesus [Music] jesus [Music] cause i just want you cause i just want you and nothing else [Music] [Applause] nothing else will do i just want you nothing nothing else [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] when i'm [Music] oh when i am alone [Music] give me jesus give me jesus give me jesus [Music] give me jesus [Music] [Applause] this world gives me [Music] hebrews 12 says for the joy set before he endured the cross so jesus this morning we respond to what you have done with joy it is our joy to sell everything we have and run after you wholeheartedly run after you jesus it's my joy oh it's our joy it's our joy [Music] it's our joy to run after you it's our joy it's our joy it's our joy to run after you it's our joy it's our joy it's our joy it's our joy to run after you it's our joy it's our joy it's our joy it's our choice our joy to run after you oh it's our joy it's our joy [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh it's our joy to run after you jesus [Music] so we'll sell everything to come running after you oh we'll give everything to come running after you it's our joy it's our joy it's our joy cause you're worth it all you're worth it all we just want you cause i just i just want you and nothing else [Music] and nothing else [Music] nothing else will do i just want you and nothing else and nothing else nothing else will do i just i just [Music] will do i just [Music] we just [Music] we have a little bit of extended time of worship on the back end of our service so we're going to transition into that now we call it lingering if you're a parent though we'd encourage you to go pick up your kids at city kids but if you can stay and continue to press in continue to linger we'd love to do that as a community as we do i have two invitations for you the first is i sense there are some people in this room that that have committed their lives to jesus that have done so out of obedience out of obligation and maybe have long forgotten the value of knowing god the value of the treasure that they found either this whole time you've been trying to do it out of sacrifice and obedience because you knew it was right but you didn't totally know if it was worth it or you knew you knew that it was worth it when you made the sacrifice but over time you started to count the cost and wonder is it true is it truly worth it i sense that god wants to meet with you today and he wants to reassure you he wants to give you confidence and give you courage knowing that he's worth it knowing that you can forsake all other loves that you can sacrifice all other things because you can count those as nothing compared to the surpassing worth of knowing christ he wants your devotion not just your obligation he wants your heart not only your obedience and so for some of you that's your invitation for others of you i know you and i know that you live out of whole devotion to god i know that you have devotion coursing through your heart and what i'm asking of you is like the woman with the alabaster jar when out of an act of pure worship and passion she broke the jar over jesus feet what that did was it sent fragrance throughout the entire room throughout the room there was this invitation to worship out of her devotion others could enter into devotion so for you if your heart is fully free and fully alive and fully devoted to god pour out your worship fill this room with fragrance invite us into that freedom and guide us into that worship so i'd like to encourage all of us to press in as we continue to encounter [Music] you are god it if i lack every earthly thing but i gain my treasured king it's all worth it you are worth it if i lack if i lack every earthly thing but i gain my treasured king it's all worth it you are worth it if i lack if i lack every earthly thing but i gain my treasured king it's all worth it cause you are worth it if i lack if i lack every earthly thing but i gain my treasured king it's all worth [Music] it's all worth [Music] it's always [Music] every earthly thing but i get my treasure king it's [Music] is [Music] oh you are worthy [Music] i don't need anything else you are my one thing you are my one thing i don't want anyone else i don't need anything [Music] and i don't need [Applause] [Music] i don't i [Music] i [Music] one more time [Music] [Applause] [Music] cause i just want you and nothing else and nothing else nothing else will do i just want you and nothing else and nothing else nothing else [Music] nothing else [Music] let's just end our time together by singing it's our joy jesus it's our joy to run after you it's our joy to run after you [Music] it's our joy it's our joy it's our joy it's our joy to run after you it's our joy it's our joy [Music] it's our door [Music] it's our joy to run after you it's our great joy it's our joy it's our joy [Music] it's our joy to run after you [Music] it's our joy [Music] it's our joy our joy [Music] [Music] oh [Music] yes it's our joy to run after you one more time one more time it's our joy yes it's our joy be your joy it is our joy to run after you this moment it reminds me of hebrews 12 and it says therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses it's a pretty beautiful cloud of witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us fixing our eyes on jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith for the joy set before him he endured the cross scorning its shame and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of god as we go today let's fix our eyes on the one who has fixed his eyes on us on the one who saw joy when he saw us so much joy that he endured the cross may that give you power to endure whatever lays ahead of you this week we're going to continue to dig into this message in our community groups throughout the week and in the prayer room at 7 00 am every day monday through friday let's be doers of the word and not just hearers of it god bless you church let's press in this week [Music] how can i respond to the love [Music] how can i respond to the is [Music] i don't have i much have much but i have a heart that beats for you i have a heart that beats foreign [Music] every part of me [Music] wants to love you like you love me [Music] wants to love you like me [Music] i don't have much but i have a heart that beats [Music] i don't have much [Music] [Applause] [Music] i [Applause] [Music] i'll give to you [Music] i'll give to you [Music] and i don't have [Music] [Applause] [Music] i have a heart that beats four [Music] spirits [Music] [Music] [Music] when you sing [Music] pull your spirit out [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] we can hear the wind [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] see [Music] [Applause] we can hear [Music] [Applause] [Music] we [Music] [Applause] [Music] we can hear

Channel: Church of the City New York

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Id: QhXXrg_yqAw

Length: 109min 57sec (6597 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021