What's Your One Thing? // Judah Smith

I'm gonna start in the verse Matthew chapter 10 in verse 39 we've been doing a collection of talks around this idea of the teachings of Jesus when it comes to finding life finding purpose finding contentment finding satisfaction and it says in Matthew chapter 10 and verse 39 it says whoever finds his life will lose him the paradoxical teachings of Jesus whoever finds his life will lose it which is to say if you try to control your life lead your own life hold on to it hoard it live life in a selfish greedy manner it'll want to go through your hands like sand but whoever lets go of the control of his life for my sake because of Jesus and his control and his beauty you'll find your life and I don't think there's anyone in this room tonight who would be like man I did not come tonight hoping to find life that is really disappointing I came to find more drama more difficulty more challenge you know just more sadistic horrible bad things no I think wherever you are in terms of your belief in God what we're here all in pursuit of satisfaction fulfillment peace joy contentment Jesus says the pathway to those things you so desire is actually letting go of your life relinquish in control laying it down losing your life for my sake and one translation says you'll you'll discover who you are and most importantly you'll discover who God really is so we've been looking at a collection of stories in scripture that help us better understand what it means to let go of your life and so are very much sophisticated provocative titles to these talks and sermons have been what does it mean to let go of my life that's where we're headed Knight what does it mean to let go of my life will you pray with me will you pray that the Vikings beat the Rams tomorrow the Seahawks needed Oh suddenly there's seven Rams fans here weird didn't know you were here let us pray Jesus we love you so much and it is such a privilege to gather Lord together whether it's here in Los Angeles whether in Seattle and different locations Lord it's it's a it's it's our honor and privilege to take these moments now to think about you focus on you we love you thank you so much for your grace Lord we ask that you would help the Seahawks beat the Cardinals Oh God and help Tom Brady lose wherever he is in Jesus name and everybody said amen I wouldn't be mad if I did meet Tom and I would apologize but until then I shall not have you um have you ever lost lost a child at Disneyland and Murray and Elijah have yeah if you want to feel encouraged and I participated in the event and I must say I was somewhat responsible I've never never lost to get at Disneyland I would never do that but I have left our newborn firstborn child in a car went into Red Robin to have a bacon cheeseburger and but it only took five minutes and we went back out there and got him but we lost the fourth child of the waters he goes by Z max this is I don't know a few years ago and we were leaving Disneyland had an exciting time at Disneyland as you do in the happiest place on earth which to me is not Disneyland it's a golf course but that's not the point and we're kind of coming out of Disneyland and - the kinda and and I got my kids and the waters got their kids and so the waters got four kids we got three kids you combine that four by six that's seven kids and thank you seven kids that's a lot of kids okay and and you know late at night when the parade and the fireworks are over everyone's pouring out of Disneyland and I don't want to exaggerate I think it's safe to say thousands of people all at once are leaving the gates frankly of Disneyland I am California venture lands so there's this convergent zone of thousands of human beings I'm trying to paint the portrait of why it is reasonable to think that - very very very solid parents could lose their youngest child so walking around and we're all laughing and and suddenly I don't remember who first noticed that we might have one missing it's probably me and shut up and all of a sudden probably was one of the moms where's where you know it starts off pretty chill where zmax you guys seen zmax oh and then comes where is Ebanks all the sudden it goes from like ah - well where is v-max right and now we alternate you if you've ever lost a child or seen a parent lose a child in a public place okay you-you-you could care there has never been a moment in my life I have cared less about what people think right you're like Zbot hey hey you're like you're like stopping people I you see the limp like a kid never mind hey zmax and now we we have officially it is official zmax is gone like we nobody knows none of the other kids obviously we hold them responsible quite frankly I mean seven kids the kids got to take care of the kids right and we can't find him and if you ever had that experience it is you know I can't even imagine how Elisha felt or Amory felt but I'm you know all the sudden you're playing these crazy games in your head like I I won't forgive myself like that I don't know I will never be able to face my friends again if if I were on my watch we lost the he is so handsome he is so incredible we it's it's zmax he's the life of the party we can't how is this possible and I don't want to exaggerate oh there's clapping for zmax this is amazing the youth culture section is clapping for you me max this is incredible he's front row by the way I don't exaggerate I want to say five minutes was it maybe longer than five minutes it could have been ten minutes Elijah I just I mean I'm getting okay we're gonna go five was hoping you'd say ten but anyway that's not important I'd like to go seven if you don't mind like Judah it's my child relax anyways at least five minutes which literally feels like five hours we're running around you we don't see him we hear nothing until finally now at the time zmax had the cutest little belly to remember that zmax it was the best I mean it just went oh man right and as God is my witness it's a true story I found him but um I saw that little belly where the t-shirt couldn't cover it kind of hang you know right here and I was like I know that belly so I go see max we all run over there it's like you know it's just a moment man we're all hugging each other and it's just incredible and so everyone kind of notices zmax is as chill as commit he's the guy guys hey like I got lost in the Atlanta Airport when I was eight and when they found me oh you can only imagine gave my mom the cold shoulder for two hours Hey how dare you I want to go straight to Toys R Us you know I turned it into negotiating peace zmax is just cool as a cucumber this is a true story he's like yeah and I think it was Elijah who said we'll look at the office services thank you a security or police officers secured officer had kind of hey buddy where's your family and when the officer asks zmax a few years ago like where's where's your family he said this he says I I have a big family they'll find me guys he's shooting the breeze with the officer couldn't be bothered apparently they were just hanging out see back to the officer and you show up in him you're looking at this kid who is just extraordinary who I pride myself in being his adopted uncle and there's got to be something in all of us that like I'd like to be a lot more like that in this life in general well I got a big God he'll find me just I'd like to live with that kind of trust I'd like to live with that kind of faith I mean you ever felt lost in life I don't know what's your knee-jerk reaction just to start a conversation with someone yeah I'm totally lost totally separated from my loved ones and family they'll find me anyways how's your day you good you got a belly looks just like mine yeah I got but that's not what we do usually is it when we feel lost and we feel disoriented when we feel like things aren't going our way we feel like you know things are out of our control what do we do we usually tense up get frustrated agitated anxious worried fearful things are gonna get there bad now but they're probably gonna get worse and you run into any one of us on a given day when we're feeling lost and we don't have that same demeanor do we that childlike faith the Bible talks about that trust is that I got a big family they'll find me I've never forgotten that story never will forget that moment but I'll never forget zmax attitude you know we're talking about letting go and I suppose zmax embodies the attitude we all desire an attitude that has let go just trust that God is good god is big he's so big he's gonna find me he's gonna help me he's gonna see me through but we've said it every single time we've gathered around this idea it is a lot easier said than done we say it so easily to each other let it go oh man just let it go except when you're in the heat of the moment the rubber meets the road in your life and all of a sudden the the bills are due and you don't even have a fraction of enough money to cover your bills it's in those moments typically we don't just plop down in our favorite chair and go ah God's big he'll help me cover the bills so that's usually when we get worked up and I don't know if you've noticed people are more worked up than they're not people are more wound up than they're not people seem to be more stressed than those who are have you noticed like when you're running to someone who's not stressed you're like hey are you okay yeah man just I love life yeah yeah me too it's just hard why are you right light it Scott people like that are anomalies now think about it that's kind of unnerving while we're on the topic that you run into somebody and a mall at a grocery store down the street who's just like man yeah God's helping me he'll work it out it's all good hey how are you wait you won't before you ask how I'm doing did you just say you lost your job yeah it's hard but God's helping me how are you doing anything I can do to encourage in wait well you kind of did by having so much faith I think that's all we all want to be that guy we all want to be that guy who in the midst of challenges and difficulties we clearly have relinquished control and as a result we have found life I mean a life is more than the job you have don't have or used to have life is more than your social media status life is more than income or outcome life is is know to be to be lived to be experienced all of its highs and it's lows I want to learn how to let go so what does it look like what does it mean to let go we've looked at two stories and I'm excited today to look at a third story this third story is found in all three synoptic Gospels and we're gonna go to one record of it one recording of it in Luke chapter 18 starting in verse 18 we have a story of a young man who's rich and evidently he has influence maybe you've heard of him referred to as the rich young ruler he will be asked to let go by Jesus it says a ruler asked Jesus this he's a good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life jesus said to him what why do you call me good no one is good except God alone you know the commandments do not commit adultery do not murder do not steal do not bear false witness honor your father and mother I'll drink to that and he said all these things I have kept from my youth Jesus said well there's one thing you still lack just one cell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven and why don't you join my group instead of 12 let's have 13 why don't you join my group it's pretty amazing invitation by the way Jesus is inviting this young man to be one of the disciples if this man agrees to be one of the disciples we might not have the number 12 it could be 13 by the way but it says when he heard these things he became very sad for he was extremely rich Wow Jesus seen that he had become sad said this to what evidently is it is onlookers and listeners he said how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God for it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God those who heard it said then who can be saved he said well what is impossible with men is possible with God Peter said I love Peter man he asked the questions everybody's thinking Peters like cool cool cool cool so we have left our homes and followed you what do you say to that and Jesus probably the smile was like alright Peter let me rise truly I say to you there's no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times more in this time and in the age to come eternal life I think Peter was like my man knew this was gonna play out I want to give you a full for a few for observations of what does it mean to let go of your life here we have a story where clearly this is a let go moment Jesus says to this young man who is extremely rich I want you to let go of all of your money nope not just your money I want you to let go of your houses I want to let go I want you let go of your jewelry I want you to let go of all of it and then I want you little by little to hand out the cash to people this is quite undertaking by the way he didn't just say sell it all just give it over he like I want you to he says distribute to the poor Jesus well I mean it's gonna be a process this guy's got a lot of stuff he's got to sell it off and then find people who don't have resource and hand it out to him he says I want you to let it all go and follow me this is quite a let go moment number one my first observation which I believe is applicable to you and to me is I think we have to let go of stuff is gonna make me happy stuff is gonna make me happy and to be frank I'm not sure we need this Bible passage to prove that I think many of us have proved that in this life stuff can't make you happy it's yeah things rich people say money can't make you happy and then people who are not so rich are like yeah but can I try and I'm not mad at that oh man I really had no money growing up and Chelsea's family had a lot of money growing up I married her for money and some other things but um oh my gosh relax it's a joke gonna get an email on that one it is not funny when you say that you do not love your wife you make jokes about money sorry but we would go up to Chelsea's family in their big house and they had like a neon sign which to me like in the 80s it's like who has a neon sign in a home like this is so rich right their home overlooked the whole city they had a pool and then one of those you remember the big-screen TVs that had the three like lights like the red the blue the green right in the head like a projector anyways and they all they bought all the home games for the Blazer games which were like I don't know like forty dollars for a home game back and pay-per-view days and the NBA anyways and I'd go up there and I just I remember hearing things because I grew up with Chelsea and their family just like you know it's just it's not about money and I was like I mean it was like a low night every night we drive back down to 76 and Gleeson and I'm like I hate my life I hate my family you think they'll adopt me I'm out of here dad so you know we can we can all sit here bill yeah that's good stuff won't make you happy except that you know a lot of days we we think it does a lot of days we think you know I if I had a little bit more that'd be great I want to make something clear this passage is not about God versus stuff this is Jesus is not against stuff no the the you've really missed the point if if we think this whole passage is about stuff I know my first observation is stuff won't make us happy but it's not really stuff it's how you hold your stuff that can be the problem it's how you hold your stuff in fact there's much scripture to tell you people who hold stuff the right way God ends up giving them more stuff so the issue here is not just that this man has an extreme amount of stuff it's that it's the way he holds his stuff and evidently he holds his stuff like this and he shows up holding on to his stuff his money his power his bank account his gear and he's like hey hey hey how can I have eternal life and Jesus essentially is going I need you to just hold your stuff like this now now what this guy doesn't realize is by the time he leaves Jesus says something that he could have really used do you notice this he says I want you to sell everything give it to the poor and then you want you to roll with our crew and he's like hi I have I'm like the wealthiest person I know and I'm young which is an amazing combination so he I mean I think I'm correct in saying he with his head down sad leaves the scene he shouldn't have left because then Peter goes I you know he's like it's impossible rich people in Jesus is impossible impossible man look and then Peter goes whoa whoa whoa whoa yo what about us and watch what Jesus says he says I promise you telling you the truth anyone who has left houses wives children land for my sake will receive many times over in this life and in the life to come Jesus why you send that sad guy away we're like one scene later you talk about oh you gave stuff up for me i'ma hook you up we're talking bel-air Fresh Prince right like we need to go gift that guy what that guy didn't know is if you'll trust God and you'll hold your things and possessions and stuff and bank account with an open hand oh whatever a man souls that also shall he read people take this passage so out of context you know Jesus wants everybody poor and broke no he just recognizes that the way this man has held on and is holding on to his possessions it's been said that he didn't just possess his possessions his possessions were possessing him they had a hold on him letting go has a lot to do with learning how that doesn't necessarily mean give away all your stuff but it definitely means to hold all your stuff like this my dad was it was famous if you complimented my dad he'd probably give it to you and I learned that just watching my dad people would say WOW pastor that's a nice sweater he said you want the sweater and if there was no shirt underneath I'll be like dad don't you dare no but that that was dad literally give you the shirt off his back Wow pastor that those are nice shoes yeah what size do you wear I'm telling it so am i here you take him nah I got come on that's what Jesus enjoy those shoes and he learned just to live life open-handed now that was the teachings of Jesus wasn't he said you'll be far happier when you give stuff away then when you're hard and keep your stuff I wonder I know it's real simple I know what's real practical but I wonder if today you know we read these poetic paradoxical teachings of Jesus where he says if you lose your life you'll find it and we're all like oh that's so beautiful I'm just gonna lose my life oh that is amazing yes oh man I hope Philip with the team sing a song tonight about losing everything for God wonderful then you go to eat with some friends from church and you're like hey hey I'm not paying the bill I'll tell you that right now okay you have the most money in the group you pay and we're like ah but what a good day in church wasn't it who made love those messages on letting go don't put a big tippet honestly she was rude and then amazing will still hold our stuff like eventually you start to see Jesus for who he is and you realize that it's all his it's all this and it actually becomes this extraordinary adventure of generosity often times people are puzzled by why a church home will take time particularly at the conclusion of our gatherings to say hey if you'd like to please become a contributor in the church please become someone who who gives to the cause of building church and telling the story of Jesus through church home thank you and my dad used to say see son you got to encourage people to be givers because if you don't you are robbing people because giving is not about getting something from people it's about getting something to and through people so they can experience the adventure of letting go in the area of their stuff and their things and can I just say from personal experience it's exhilarating and I don't know if you just find yourself in one of those funks you don't talking about we're like oh I want this I want this and I love those shoes I love that oh my gosh I need this oh my god and you kind of get worked up been there I've learned one of the most simplest things you can do practices is like you know what a generous man devises generous plans I'm gonna find some things to give away and my one rule is I will not give you what I don't want anymore that's that's just now we're talking about my opinion here okay we start giving some like this is old I hate it oh hey brother let me bless you this is not even cool anymore when did I buy this hey do you need a sweater like that nope that's giving right but things that we love and admire it's like you know what I want to give the best Jesus isn't against stuff he's just dealing with the problem of how we hold it I think we need to let go of stuff is gonna make me happy I've learned that the only way stuff can make me happy is really when I give it away ultimately it's like just it just the exhilaration of giving something away and watching someone just you're like wow that was fun I think we need to let go I'll believe in stuff can make us happy or certainly holding on to our stuff the second observation I'd like to make from the rich young ruler is we need to let go of it's possible it's possible this idea of possible notice Jesus says I I want you to give everything away and then go find people that have nothing in and give them the cash and then come follow me not a small ask by the way not a small ask at all the biggest ask this rich young ruler could probably imagine it's his difficulty it's his area that he is not letting go and he walks away sad and Jesus turns to the audience and he says it's so difficult for people who are holding on to their stuff to understand my domain my kingdom and and then he uses metaphor cam on the eye of a needle and it just to emphasize like it's really hard and and and watch everybody goes well well then who who can be saved hold on a second that's kind of an interesting response if you think about it then who can be saved I think the answer is people with not a lot of money which probably was the majority of the crowd they should have been like haha hate those rich guys anyways yeah pays to be poor with God well we're sliding in on something slide right but they're like well then who gets it so I'm like no what's going on here I'll tell you what was going on in Jesus day if you had riches and wealth it was a sign of God's blessing that meant you were a noble spiritual person it also meant that you could go to the synagogue or the temple and you could offer an enormous amount of alms and sacrifices remember when Jesus turned over the table and he was mad you know why he was turning over the table and he was mad something like we shouldn't sell Church merch in church no that's not the point you know we're selling books in church Jesus would throw those books out no they were they were manipulating people for their money they were tricking people for their money they were tripling the prices quadrupling the prices they were by the way doing money exchange there was different kind of currency and they would say ah well yeah you know your money isn't worth as much and so I mean they were just robbing people blind in the name of God but rich people would row up to the synagogue and temple and be like what well I don't I want the best dove I don't want the best lamb I can pay top dollar so the poor person would show up begging to make a sacrifice for their sins so they could be temporarily covered and forgiven by God and then they would be manipulated so they're left with really not able to truly sacrifice because in their mind if I don't sacrifice I'm not in God's kingdom but the wealthy people would rolled in the synagogue lay down all their cash and offer tons of animal sacrifices and they leave absolved and save and so Jesus says it is hard for a rich man to get in and everyone goes what but you bless them with money if you're God and they make all the sacrifices a lot of them we don't really make any said we'd have enough money to make sacrifices and that's why they're like then who gets in if that guy can't get it there's no chance I'm gonna get in and what's Jesus doing he says yeah by the way doesn't he doesn't go no no no that's not what I meant he goes yeah must really freak you guys out yeah he's like but you know what's in possible for man is possible for God what's he saying he's pointing to salvation by faith not according to their sacrifices and their income or lack thereof or their animal sacrifices what Jesus is going to be the once and for all sacrifice and now freely we can receive by simply trusting him complete covering forgiveness and salvation no we need to let go of it's possible to save myself no it's it's not it's not possible to save yourself it's one of the reasons if you notice in our story he says to the rich young ruler what's your reading of the law how do you and and and and he says in Jesus recites the commandments but you notice he doesn't recite the Ten Commandments he recites the last five that's interesting why not the first five the first five our relationship to God the second five or more relationship to your neighbor love your neighbor and he recites these I think because the rich young ruler is good when it comes to his relationship with God but he's not good when it comes his relationship to his neighbor Jesus send a little message and then and then and then listen to the rich young ruler he says oh I'm good the idea I wish I did all that now if I'm Jesus I'm like I've done all of that from my youth no no you haven't in fact I know everything about you want to talk about when you were 40 yeah that's right at the family reunion you were there I was watching you you know like but Jesus like all right cool I'm like cool he's like one thing you lack I'm like no that's not just there's lots of things I number at least five here just in our story just one thing you lack and the reason Jesus didn't say actually you you're not good at this you're not good at this you're not good at this because it would have led this young ruler to go out and try again to save himself and that is never Jesus point because it is impossible to save yourself it's impossible to save yourself we gotta let go of well I still think you know good people get in she's got to work hard be the best I can be now the Bible says the wages of sin is death we've got to pay the penalty for our own err our own wrong and our own sin people over the years have asked me I don't believe in sin let me slap your mom and I'm I ask you a second time do you believe in sin it still works man that's a good example it's not my mom yeah I did cuz it felt right to me no what do you mean no that's wrong there's no such thing of course there is we've got to pay for the wrong that we've all done unless we believe that Jesus took all of our wrong no it's not possible to save yourself and that's a big part of our story tonight Jesus is trying to point out to this rich young ruler it's not possible but I think we also gotta let go of the S idea of things being possible because I do not believe this is the other side of my second observation is my life is not defined by what's possible please hear me my life is not defined by what's possible I truly believe in a God who can do the impossible so I actually believe in the impossible I believe in the impossible I'm actually I signed up I'm a card-carrying member of the impossible Club God can do the impossible imma be the crazy guy in your life when you're like the doctor said I'm bankrupt not gonna make it everything's against me no one's ever recovered no one's ever made it back it's not I'm gonna be the person say so it did somebody say impossible let's go this sounds like an opportunity for God it's one of the things that really gets us worked up in this life is that moment when somebody either says it or insinuates it that's just the way it is no one recovers from this there's suppose you'd need a miracle it's just impossible can can can we just be the people who are like yeah I believe in the impossible for instance how did this place get here like the world of the planet our creation by an intelligent being is still the most logical explanation I have ever heard in my nearly 40 years my boys are asked in the school now but yeah but but where did the bang come from well there was a collision but where did the collision their molecules where did the molecule nobody got the answer for that I love it like if it's it's got it we talk about it's got to make sense got to be possible no I believe in the impossible I believe in the miraculous let's let go of I only work in possible situations oh no let let's be people who believe that God can do the impossible my third observation is I think we need to let go of bear with me now I love you i'ma tell you the truth we gotta let go of the one thing Jesus says which is I mean the guy lies the guy lies he says I've done all of that all the time since I was a young man and Jesus's goes alright there's one thing you still lack I'm like Lord you notice do doesn't lack one thing he lacks like 1109 things but what does Jesus want to focus on boy I just get a little uncomfortable the one thing the one thing I've literally had people over the course of pastoring now for 20 years wow that feels weird 20 years hema how many people have said well that's just my one thing I love God I mean come on it's just that's just my thing everybody's got a thing what do you mean well you know you give God everything big picture you know you get it but you know you just kind of go well this is it's my thing you know what I'm tired discouraged it's my thing what's your thing he says there's one thing could I be the pastor in your life who said sometimes we let me be dramatic let's have some fun with this preachers like me get up and they're like let go of your life give everything to Jesus you can trust him come to Jesus come one come all whosoever believes in Him shall not perish and people get caught up in the moment and they're like yes when I give you my heart I give you everything hey man hallelujah praise God right then we use all these awesome Christian terms King of Kings Lord of lords lying in the lamb you are my everything Jesus and that makes us feel great me included it's like ah ha ha ha and I like feel so good about me because I gave God everything I'm like man God must be pumped tonight because did I not bless him gave him everything yeah and I wonder sometimes if God actually doesn't want everything he just wants the one thing right now that's not what you came to hear tonight let's keep it general preacher let's keep it generic who wants to give their lives of Jesus dude how many conferences conventions retreats advances and summits I have spoken at and we're all like burn your cross in the fire draw a line in the sand I mean I've done it all we had to prevent human size crosses and we all riding things we're giving God and your glance overlooking a friend you like whoa that's a bad list hey I'm scarred but I love how were just like everything and without even knowing it it's it's kind of called oh that's right deflection deflection yeah you've got everything look at this rich young ruler he's like kind of done it all Jesus like really yeah I give God everything it's probably why I'm rich God's blessed me and watch Jesus was just one thing you lack Jesus that's actually mathematically not true he doesn't just like one thing yeah but that's the one thing I want cuz that's the one thing he's holding on to so I just just I just want the one thing well I gave you ninety nine point nine that's like vast majority yeah no but I want that one thing you which thing son you know which thing like the moment I said one thing most of us in torn were like oh dang and you know and I know I don't know why did I say that hey you know and I know Peter like like I know ha ha ha funny but you know and he knows what it is I'm writing this and I'm like this is not enjoyable because if we're honest we probably all have it's that yeah I just say sometimes you know sometimes we hate sin but sometimes we love sin it's our escape hey relax relax relax this is my one thing and I wonder sometimes when we're like God says lose your life like yeah totally but gods like yeah yeah so proud of you love you but I do want that one thing and I'm gonna tell you why we don't give God the one thing because secretly we don't tell anybody that there's a small part of the jury in your heart that is still debating in the back room of your soul and the debate is this is God really that good because if I give him this one thing I'm not gonna have anything and and this is the one thing that you know like when I don't feel him around when things are going tough it's kind of like it's kind of like my medicine and like I could do you know a lot of other people have worse things you know preacher a lot of other people do now I mean in fact just recently I don't know if you saw it on TMZ but so and so that ass grace I would never do that I gave that to the Lord in the eighties but this is my and it's rooted in this and I end with this my fourth and final observation as the piano begins to play softly at the beginning of our story this rich young ruler says good teacher which is a courteous slightly scandalous title to Jesus he says good teacher you see what Jesus did he stops before it goes any further and he goes why do you call me good why you calling me good and I think the rich young ruler is probably like I'm just trying to be respectful I you know he said Jesus said only God is good and then they just kind of went on the story just goes on but that's the most important part of story he said you just called me God because only God is good and I am good but in a few moments you're not gonna let go of your stuff because you actually don't believe that I'm that good and so we will hold on to our one thing because the jury might be 12 people but we leave two back in the room still going do you really think he's good how good yeah he ain't pretty good yeah but good enough to give him everything well I know there had been some nights I didn't feel him close at all see something for us to consider and so we keep the one thing I think last but not least we need to let go of God is good but go guy obey God's good but you know me like sometimes you know you gotta let your hair down man god is good but you know sometimes you gotta get out there mix it up a little bit you know I'm saying how many guys good but he wants me to have a good time you know God's good but but what if God is God he is all good if he is not all good he is not God so therefore a but behind God is good is heresy it's heresy god is good but that is a poor form of theology or view of God no there he cannot be a but or he is not the one true God God is good if you and I truly believed he was good we wouldn't let go of everything and specifically that one thing why because he's good now you say Judah I don't know bad things still happened that's right but God is good on three levels God does good Matthew 7:11 says if you earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask oh God is so good he'll give you good gifts but we keep holding on to that one thing because we don't believe that God is a gift giver so I'm gonna hold on to my one thing because I don't think God wants to bless me he doesn't want me to have a good time he doesn't want me to live an abundant life and so I've got to compromise in this one area because if I don't do what I want to do maybe God will hold out on me and he'll make my life miserable so so I don't know if God is as good as they say can I ask you a question is it possible to make God too good in our thinking the answer my brothers and sisters is no God's got to get more good in your brain he's not good enough to you I'm telling you he's not there are people in here you are struggling with things because God's not good enough to you God's got to get good or to you God's got to get bigger to you God's got to get more merciful more gracious more kind more loving more caring more compassion he is good he doesn't just do good he turns bad things into the Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and in Genesis 15 at the conclusion of the very first book in the Bible Joseph's brother daddy dies and all of his brothers the whole family mourns the loss of Joseph's dad and the brothers they get together and they say do you think now Joseph will condemn us because we sold him into slavery now of course he's the Prince of Egypt I'm sure you've seen it and he says they say they said what do you thinks gonna happen and I quote to you Joseph's testimony he says do you think I'm in the place of God my brothers brothers brothers come around I'm not gonna hurt you see you sold me into slavery because you meant it for evil but God meant it for good God is so good he'll take what other people mean in your life what your opponent your enemy devils and demons themselves who mean to destroy your life and God will put it together to build a beautiful redemptive story and at the end of your days you'll say I went through the valley but I went through it I went through it and God worked it together for good why am i holding on to anything anything and lastly God is so good he'll lead you by His goodness this is what he does you know what's gonna change your mind the goodness of God Romans chapter 2 and verse 4 says don't you know it's the goodness of God that'll lead you to repentance repentance is a change of mind it's His goodness that will change your mind it's his goodness that will change your mind that's how we got to preach the good news in church that's what we're always anchored ourselves to the good news we got enough bad news it's the good news that will set you free it's the good news it'll finally let you say you know what I'm letting go of this one thing in my life because God does good he turns it around for good and he leads me to change my mind with His goodness that's how good god is ah but man don't you feel hurt aren't you in pain don't you feel broken are you lost how you doing well I got a big God I'm sure he'll find me are you serious yeah I know he does good I know he turns situations like now into good and I know he'll change my mind again with his goodness so I'm just gonna go ahead and let go I think it's Psalms 118 says all he does is good this is our God look at his goodness look at his goodness he did for you and me what we could not do for ourselves and he you knew no sin became sin so that we could become right with God all of the sudden it comes into view the most secure life is the life that you let go of in light of God's goodness that's the life I want to live that's the life I believe you want to live God's helping us every day will you pray with me Jesus we love you you're extraordinary and there's not a person or the sound of my voice that I believe doesn't desire a life of trust a life of letting go what a thrill what a privilege and what an honor to live this life if you here today you said Judah I want to follow Jesus I want to be a Jesus follower for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life if you want to put your faith in Jesus I want to pray for you right here right now and what I might do I'm asking everybody to close their eyes just for a moment of privacy as this decision begins ultimately between you and God if you'd like to make that decision to follow Jesus on the count of three I'm gonna ask you to lift up your hand and put it right back down you know who you are one God loves you - you'll never be the same three if that's you would you shoot your hand up all over the room say me that's me that's me thank you that's that's incredible thank you for lifting your hand we trust you Jesus we thank you that forgiveness flows freely in this space we love you we adore you may our hearts minds and souls be filled with thoughts of you thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus I know I don't always do this but then I'm not here to embarrass anybody tonight but I think you know where I'm going it's really hard to just start singing without giving you an opportunity to physically respond to hey I think it's time I let go of that one thing if you'd like to tonight to trust God even with that one specific area you've been holding on to I'm gonna ask you right now with nobody looking around would you just lift up your hand so I mean I just I want to let go of the one thing that's incredible so many hands aha Jesus give us the strength give us the courage give us the fortitude and the sustainability to continually daily relinquish the one thing because you are good and all you do is good we trust you it's our privilege to follow you in Jesus name if you're physically able willing would you stand with us and let's sing to Jesus so do you love our YouTube channel does it remind you of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air I knew it right okay maybe not totally but if you love it you could subscribe right here and we can just keep hanging out and we're gonna have new content like every week so subscribe right here if you love it press it click it now subscribe I miss you we won't hang out more

Channel: Churchome

Views: 44,122

Rating: 4.8921571 out of 5

Keywords: Churchome, Judah, Judah smith, church, message, anxiety, depression, how to, elevation, Steven, Hillsong, oceans, sermon, the city church, church home, Chelsea smith, bobby Houston, td jakes, pastor, pastor preaching, carl lentz, Jesus, conference, guest speaker, sermon jam, worship, Justin Bieber, la Hillsong, Selena, preaching, Judah message, performance

Id: o9pyqkFZtgQ

Length: 55min 24sec (3324 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 01 2018