Father, we lift up John to you. We thank you for his minister ministry here. I mean, Wala Tulsa as well as in Columbia and just, pray that you can have your hand upon him.
Give.
Everyone and his family around him peace lord and We just also just lift up us here. Today as we open your word Lord and we learn more about you and that we can grow closer to you Lauren.
Pray for all this and Jesus powerful name, Lord. Amen.
Okay, so. Let me tell you a little bit. About A best friend I had growing up.
So I was, when I was in the youth group, I had a really close friend of mine. His name was Emmanuel.
And we would always hang out pretty much every Wednesday, every Sunday. You know, just hanging out at youth group hanging out at church.
Either in Sunday school, youth, the youth group meeting area time. But also when we meet for youth group playing games together sitting together hanging out It was awesome and I loved Emanuel so much, right?
He was my best friend, loved him. I had another friend his name was Saul. Me and him, we didn't, we went to school together.
We, would hang out all the time. With you manual sometimes but most of times we would only hang out with the manual on Wednesdays and Sundays, cause, you know, he didn't really.
Hang out with us outside of, you know, church a lot. But, me and Saul, we like go to the movies together, we, you know, go golfing or, you know, frisbee golfing, froffin.
I use, I call it for often. I don't know you guys call it but we would play a bunch of other games video games watch movies go to each other's houses hang out whatever and you know we would be like consistent in each other's lives like throughout the whole week and Looking back it's kind of you know crazy to think that you know I saw a manual as my best friend, right?
But Saul, like I really hung I was saw a lot, you know? It's always someone who I was really closer with, but I always would tell people, you manually with mine.
My friend, my my buddy who I'm always with. But I'm being honest, Emmanuel didn't really exist.
He didn't really existed, at least physically. And in this small little story, this representation is Emmanuel.
He really represents. Jesus in that story. I didn't have a friend growing up naming the manual.
I had a really close friend named Saul. Who I would always hang out with, you know, but Emmanuel and me adding him to that story kind of represents our relationship with Jesus today and how we look at him as A friend, a best friend.
We call him our best friend. We say we love him. And that we all want to always want to be around him yet.
We don't invite him, yet we only see him on Wednesdays or Sundays or whenever you do meet.
With your youth group or your your small group or whatever.
And that's what I really want to get into today is. Our relationship with Jesus and the main idea for you note takers.
I don't have like any slides or anything, so I'm sorry for the people who loves taking notes, but it's the main idea is to savor our relationship with Jesus.
That we must treasure. And see him first. So we're gonna figure out this by looking at 2 important points, which are Seeing Jesus.
And treasuring Jesus.
And if you think about it this way, a clock or watch, there's a clock in the back right there, or if you have a watch on your wrist, I don't.
A clock or a watch, they they have a lot of mechanisms. I'm not like a clock expert and maybe someone in here is a clock expert.
I am so sorry if I get anything. If I don't explain it correctly, but how I look at it is there's a lot of gears that work together.
In a clock that or a watch that really make the hands the time move and helps it function properly to fulfill its purpose.
It needs a lot of those pieces working together. And for us to really truly savor Jesus.
It takes a lot of other moving pieces as well. It takes us to Know him by seeing him. And for us to treasure him as well.
So. If we don't, we don't know what it means to see Jesus if we don't really truly treasure him every day in our life.
Then we're not really going to savor him. He's just gonna be that guy, the guy who And, and, my story at the beginning that our best, the person we call our best friend, but really is not around in our lives.
So, similar to a clock or a watch. And having all those pieces and to fulfill this purpose.
For us to fulfill our purpose where God has called us. We need to No, Jesus, we need to see him.
And we need to treasure him. So, we need to understand the end goal of what we're going to be talking about today and why it even matters to savor something, why it matters to even savor Jesus.
Because of, like I said, if we don't see. The purpose or the lack of it in our lives?
Why would we want to work on these things? Why would we want to fix anything? So we need to find out.
We need to open our ears today and like really listen to God's Word. Listen to what the Lord is saying to you.
And where you lack today. In your life. In Treasury and seeing Jesus.
Aside no, and of course, you know, I'm out of town speaker, so I don't know everyone here or the body here quite as well just as I know that I like to mention in you know previous times when I do speak and preach.
That this is an encouragement to the body. I see a lot of times when I go to churches that we don't enter the doors with meekness.
That we towards other brothers or sisters or the person preaching like myself but We got to understand we are all, we're humans, you know, and humans have flies and you know.
As little as I do have. Joking, of course. Thanks for laughing. I'm broken just like everybody.
So. As a body, as as a healthy church. Let's, let's be there for one another. Let's show love.
Let's show encouragement. And let's show. Let's beat, let's hope, be helpful towards one another.
So. Of course, like I said, I'm broken. I have many flaws, obviously.
And If I say anything that is wrong, please. Talk to me. If you feel like it's wrong, please have that discussion.
It's healthy too. It is healthy. And let's build that body. Let's build the body up.
So let's just. Not forget that we are all broken that we can. Show forgiveness to one another, but something I just a little side note, I know encouragement that I want you to mark this these verses down but, James 1, 19 to 26 and something I really love is to not just be here is but doers of the word and I think if you go into any message any any small group
conversation, Bible study with this message on your mind with this passage on your mind is what I'm saying is really going to affect the way you look at scripture.
It's going to affect the way you hear things. So.
I love these opportunities to preach and to share. The living word of God because it does remind me of how broken I am.
It does remind me of what log, what stick is in my eyes. So know that as I am preaching to you today that I have preached to myself.
Before this. I have went through this, the, the scripture what I'm saying and questioned.
And looked in question myself, looked at myself in the mirror and say. And ask myself the same questions I'm going to ask you today.
So. With that said, let's. Let's get started. Let's understand.
What savoring Jesus even is. So we are all told at a young age, or a young spiritual age when you come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
If that's even if that's you growing up in a Christian home. Or if that's you, being in high school or in college or later years and Jesus finding you then?
We are all told to accept them in our hearts. We are told that we need to pick up our cross.
And we know the drill. We know the drill of what it takes to, be saved. But what if I told you there's more to that?
Right? What I was saying before, treasuring and seeing Jesus. What if it's more than just
Saying you love him, saying that you believe him. There are different types of love. As we see see throughout the Bible and in our personal studies but Anyone, the thing is, anyone can say they love Jesus.
I remember going growing up in public public. Public school. So many people would say that they love Jesus.
You know, I think of specific examples of students I had in my class or Piers, I don't know why I call them students, but that they they would proclaim how much they love Jesus and how God is awesome but then Not follow it after leaving the doors of high school or that classroom or whatever, you know, maybe they did go to church, you know, but it definitely.
Their fruits were not being shown at all. So. Any one of us can say that we love him.
But we see. And we know how many people, this was really cool is that we see that there's so many people in our lives and maybe there's people here today that are just on fire for the Lord, 24 7, and I love it.
And this is, these people just I look at it and some of them might be. Faking it to be honest they might not truly be on fire for the Lord but and just put it on a face But there are people who have a genuine relationship with him and Those people truly do savor Jesus.
Those people, you see their lives, you see their walk. And they savor our Lord and God.
John, Duckhorn being one of them and
It's awesome. It's awesome seeing those people and the encouragement they have in our life.
But as we look at these Pivili's examples, we ask ourselves if we're not one of them, if we just have that casual relationship with him with Jesus.
We ask ourselves what makes them so special. And there's nothing that makes those people special. There isn't.
There's nothing that there's no extra, you know, sprinkles God gave them to have them be more on fire for the Lord but they just truly savor Jesus so I'm trying to emphasize savoring Jesus here.
So. Let's, figure out what we are lacking and what we need to do to savor Jesus.
So usually when it comes to.
To savoring. So let's talk about savoring. What does it mean? So usually savoring is like a meal or a memory that we have and we to attempt to fully feel or enjoy and extend positive experiences and Savoring Jesus is simply a response.
It's just Just as we savor memories as we save her food and we enjoy it, we want to fully feel every last drop.
And, and John 7 37 to 39. We talk or the Bible or Jesus talks about how he's the living water and how he we just have an abundance of water to be filled with, that we are filled through through a spirit.
John 7 37 through 39 now on the last day the great day of the feast John stood and cried out saying if anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink He who believes in me as a scripture said from the innermost being will flow rivers.
Of living water. But this he spoke of the spirit. Whom those who believed in him were to receive for the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.
See here We have, if we believe in Jesus and we have Jesus in our hearts, we have a relationship with him.
We have an abundance of living water in us. We have a abundance of living water to have access to and this living water is Jesus is the love, the characteristics of him that can be shown through us.
And he, Jesus himself, wants to fill us. He wants us to be full. But we're not, we're not accessing that water.
At least not all the time. Like I said, I'm preaching to myself.
So.
How, how many times are we? Going to Jesus daily to be filled. To be filled. From him.
Have you guys ever tasted something or have a memory that is just something that is like on your brain so much?
Like it's on your mind and you love it. It's maybe like think about, think about a memory or I like, let's focus on the memory, not the taste, tasting as a little.
A little strange, but let's focus on like a memory of that you have that you just desire so much from your childhood or something and you kind of want to relive it not to redo it or fix a change, but just, man, you really savored that moment.
You really enjoyed it. For me, I had a lake house growing up. My family had a lake house.
It wasn't, you know, spectacular, so don't look at me like that.
But it, it was awesome. I love this lake house. We always go there for celebrations for the Fourth of July or other holidays and it really brought our family together.
Is my favorite place on earth? It was, you know, my family's favorite place on earth, my sisters, my, my parents.
And it was amazing. It was in, it's in Brooklyn, Iowa. Not the Beastie Boys Brooklyn but the you know the cornfield Brooklyn Yeah, if you don't understand that or I don't know, I won't get into that.
So. But, it's a late called holiday lake and a beautiful place. It's private now, so it's like now it's really boujee.
So, but before we sold it a couple years ago and it wasn't that boozy then it was boujee is like I'm not going to explain booze you just whisper to each other I see I see people whispering in the back and I'm like, I'm not even going to.
Okay, but like we loved it so much my sister even went on Facebook and you know said that she was born there she wasn't born there but she just wanted to look foreign I guess.
Whatever. Either way, we love this place. We always, Go there, go fishing, go hop on the boat, go swimming, go tubing, chase each other with golf cards, etc.
Is such an awesome time. I love this place and there's It's awesome. And like I said, we sold it so it hurts that I don't really get to enjoy this place.
With like my friends, my family today, my fiancee up here Rosie, and it's tough, right?
So. Rosie, do you? That to put you on a spot. I'm putting on a spot right here.
She's gonna she's gonna kill me later. But do you miss? Do you miss the lake house?
Do you? You see she doesn't even miss it. She she she doesn't know she hasn't experienced it Why would she miss something that she never experienced?
And that same thing for us is You know. What are we? What are we missing with Jesus? What are we, where's the experience there?
If we don't, are we missing him if we truly don't? Experience him, right?
We are able to savor something without tasting it first and It's we need to understand.
Who Jesus is to see Jesus. So. Let's talk about seeing Jesus. Because we're talking so much about Savior and I feel like we understand a little bit about savoring.
And if you haven't picked up, it's a little topical, I know. Don't worry, we're gonna go through a bunch of scripture.
But. Another quick story, man. I'm telling so many stories. Another quick story.
A couple years ago, 2020, COVID year me my friends go on a bro trip. We called our brochure.
Yeah, whatever. So we go to the out West visiting a bunch of areas and it's something that we went to just super random was the Sherman tree, the general sermon tree.
And I, I get there and it's just a big tree. And I'm like, what is this thing?
It didn't really click to me of what it was. As as I like walked around it I'm like whatever and I left but you know I come to find out that like this this is not just a large tree but it's the by volume the largest tree in the entire world on earth that is known I guess so You know, I looked at this tree, but I didn't see it.
I didn't really see. What it really was, what was truly going on with the, the importance of this tree, you know.
And I feel like this is how we kind of see Jesus today as we look at him consistently time after time and we look at him consistently time after time and we don't really understand, as we look at him, we look at him consistently time after time, and we don't really understand. We don't really understand him truly.
We might say Therefore, God gave them up. In the lust of their hearts to impurity. To the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves because they exchange the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creator rather than the creator who was blessed forever than the creator who was blessed forever.
Amen. Here is an is an example of people who know about God, people who within the context of Romans who know about God, who know.
About Jesus. Yet. They choose the world. They choose the world around him.
Around them.
And even though they know the law, they know. Who Jesus is, they desired the world more and they turned away from it and they exchanged the truth as Roman says they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and they worshiped the lie.
Now that's a little intense. I'm not saying that's where maybe we are today, but maybe some people.
I have a teacher at Mays. His name is Mr. Riley. He had an example that he loved to share that when God created the world, he was on top. God's right here.
This is what he would do. So. God's on top and then it would be man and woman.
Created equal. Separate and different roles. And then creation underneath. And ever since sin entered the world, things all flipped.
Creation is on top. And then, man. And now a woman. And then God and that's how we kind of see things today.
That's how our society, our culture lives today. God's at the bottom, creations at top.
So let's seek that creation. We want to reach the top. So that's why we're always seeking after things of this world.
And not God, because we've put God at the bottom.
So another example is revelation 2. 4 to 5 a and here Jesus is talking to 7 churches of revelation, but I think we can resonate with it even today.
And that it's but I have this against you. That you have abandoned the love you had first.
Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. Let's not forget that Jesus is our first love that God is our first love of and not this world Excuse me.
And we need to treat treat our relationship as such.
So I'm thinking about what it takes to be a Christian. And we're always say that if you're a Christian, it's gonna be a hard life.
It's gonna be picking up your cross. You know, that doesn't seem Easy. A heavy cross.
Hot day walking up on a hill.
But are we sacrificing anything in our lives today? Jesus sacrificed himself for us to go tell others about him to advance the kingdom.
And not for us to sit around and play house. Right? And don't get me wrong, don't get me wrong, please here.
You know, there's plenty of honor and having a family having a house and you know being where the Lord has placed you and he has placed you where you are today for a reason.
But. For for us to see Jesus more clearly we need to we need to treasure him we need to deny ourselves
And we see some guidelines of what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus. In Luke 14 we have Jesus given a very strong strong requirements.
And what it takes to be able to follow him. Luke, 1425, 33.
Now large crowds were going along with him and he turned around and said to them, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters.
Yes. And even his own life. He cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
For which one of you when he wants to build a tower does not first put down and calculate the cost to see if it has enough to complete it.
Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and he is able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish.
Or what king when he sets out to meet other kings in battle will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough.
With 10,000 men to encounter one coming against them with 20,000. Or else while the other is still far away he sends a delegation to ask for terms of peace.
So then none of you can be my disciple who does not give up his own possessions. It's a radical ask.
For radical change. Are we willing to do this? Are we willing to deny ourselves deny? These earthly and worldly pleasures.
Even loved ones. To bring glory and honor to our Lord. To advance the kingdom, to tell others about him.
Where the Lord has placed you. Today, wherever that may be. Are we able to? Deny ourselves deny
Our comfort.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not telling everyone to, you know, leave their family for Jesus to do anything crazy like that.
The Lord has, like I said, his place to where you are, but. For us to see Jesus to see his glory and who he is.
And not just as our savior, but our creator as well. We need, we do need to deny ourselves.
Our flesh.
A convicting verse in Matthew 7, 13 to 14. Enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide.
And the way is easy. That leads to destruction. And those who enter by the by it are many.
Where the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find are few.
Few will enter heaven. There might be people in this room. Who will not see, you know, the Pearl Gates who will not walk on.
But Golden Roads.
And it's sad. It's sad, there's plenty of people in our life. My parents are not saved.
And that's something I have to. Go about every day of thinking about any moment in any day now.
Something crazy could happen.
So what else do we need to do? How do we see Jesus? You know, we're just talking about what it really takes to, have a radical change in our life to really surrender ourselves.
And this is an extremely hard task. And I'm, I'm not trying to make it lightly.
I'm not. This is probably what stumps. Every one of us in this room. From taking that next step in our relationship with God.
Is really surrendering ourselves and really turning away from the world.
But we also got to know Jesus. We also got to know him.
We, from John Piper from the book of seeing a Savior in Jesus Christ, which is kind of where I got a lot of the motivation.
Inspiration for this message, you know, with help with Stephen Hartle. Everyone can read the stories of Jesus and see portraits painted by the words of those who know him.
But not everyone sees the truth and beauty of an infinite value. Some see only myth, some see foolishness, some see offence, seeing they do not see.
It is though a child should look at Michelangelo and prefer a comic strip.
I'm probably someone that does prefer a comic strip over Michelangelo to be honest. I've never been an art guy, not not an art person.
I don't draw right me as a kid for sure, but you don't see me going back to my my house and Just, man, I'm bored.
Let me draw something here. I know. I'm not artistic at pretty much at all. So It's hard for me to.
Really see that. To see that, that side, the art, the art side, cause I don't appreciate it.
I don't appreciate it art, right? No offense to you artists out there, but. I don't, I just don't get it, right?
And I believe this is part of the same reason why we don't see Jesus. We don't savor him because we aren't around him.
We don't appreciate him as much and we don't appreciate him because We don't really know him.
We see more with our physical eyes than our spiritual eyes. There's a big difference. So another example is, you know, celebrities.
You know, a lot of you might have a celebrity, you're a big fan of someone or you or whatever or it could be something that doesn't have to be celebrity but when you are a fan of something you want to get to know that that person that celebrity so you look them up you find out a bunch of facts about them and when they're coming to town or near town.
You're one of the first people to rush and buy a ticket and go see them, you know?
And. This, this is, this is where, this is where we're at is we need to know Jesus just Just as people, if you're.
If you're a big fan of, you know, whatever artist. And you want to get to know them, you want to find out where they're from, maybe they're fair food, favorite color so you can wear it to their concert.
I don't know. And this is what we like. We lack sight. We've been we've been wondering about we've been looking for Jesus.
We lack that site because we aren't. Trying to understand him as a person. We are.
Learning about him as and his character. So we need to know Jesus. And what better way to do that?
Then to go to the Mays Bible College. You know, which is why I'm here. And we have a founders grant that's incoming for every incoming student that qualifies for you.
I tricked all you guys, got you all here to give you a little pitch about a MAYS.
So that's, that's all we have for, I'm joking. I had to throw that in.
I had to throw that in. But no, seriously, we need to study God. We need to study God's Word.
We need to study Jesus, a character study of Jesus so we know him, we understand him because Jesus is a lot of things.
Jesus is the line in a lamp. John 1 29 the next day. He saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus the perfect representation of a lion who is strong who is courage courageous. You know, but then also the lamb.
Showing the lamb of of that really died for us. That is the sacrifice for us. You would think.
You know, something more powerful would. Overtake would be dying for us or to, you know, conquer us.
But God uses the Lamb as Jesus was mocked and ridiculed on the cross. Just as a lamb would.
Just as people treat lamps throughout the Bible. We see that. Gee, this is our joy.
These, John, 1511, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.
Every time I talk about Jesus, I remember many times in high school when I would talk to my friends about Jesus.
I just afterwards I just get this like I don't know what it is, but it's joy.
I get this sense of happiness that is brighter than anything else in my life. I've never experienced it.
Unless it has to do with Jesus. Gee, this is our joy. Jesus is all powerful, he created everything.
Matthew, 2818, and Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.
Jesus is our creator. We need to see him as our Creator. Not just this guy that our parents told about, not just this guy that our friends told us, tell us about.
But our creator, he created us, he loves us. Jesus is wise, James 1 5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let me ask God who gives generously.
To all without reproach, reproach and it will be given to him.
He, Jesus has discernment, he has self-control. I'm not going to say, read the whole passage, Matthew 4, you know?
Well, the, 40 days. Matthew 4, one through 25. Jesus is glorious.
We need to give Jesus glory. Hebrews 1 3. He is the radiance of the glory of God.
The exact imprint. The exact imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe by the word of his power after making purification for sins.
He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Jesus is glorious.
He is our Savior. Romans 19 because you confessed with your master Jesus and Lord and believe in your heart say God raised him from dead you will be saved
He's merciful. Ephesians 2 4. But God being rich in mercy because the great love with which he loved us.
He is sovereign. Ephesians 1 11 in him we have attained an inheritance Having been, predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the council of his will.
Jesus is alive. There's so much guys. I can go on forever. I'm just saying like Well, Jesus alive, Revelation 1 18 and he and the living one I died and behold I am alive forevermore and I have the keys to death in Hades.
He's coming again! He's coming back, everyone!
And Jesus is valuable. Jesus is better than silver or gold. Good song too, but, he has a value greater than all.
He's our ultimate treasure. He should be and is our treasure.
Second country is 4 7, but we have this treasure in jars of clay. To show that's a surpassing power belongs to God, not to us.
We have that treasure in us.
It's all through the Bible. Ladies and gentlemen, church. It's all in the Bible.
And we got to study him to know him. Not just open the word and do your daily devotion.
But to actually see who Jesus is. And to understand him as a human. As Oh, God.
And here's the reality is that, you know, Maybe G, this is a guy your parents told you when you were younger.
And talked about or your friends or your family and whoever is speaking or on stage at church like myself.
And maybe Jesus is a savior that you. Believe in or what he did for you.
And you know how important he is to you in life.
But you don't feel like you don't feel him. You don't crave him.
He's cool. You love him? But you just, it's not that close with him.
Just like the example before, at the beginning, my friend, Emanuel, why only saw on Wednesdays and Sundays.
If that's you being dragged to church, being dragged to youth group, small group. That's who Jesus is.
Maybe you actually savor Jesus and you do treasure him, but Or maybe it's that it's not this as consistent and maybe it's an act or You're brought up in your parents identity.
Identity issue is a huge thing these days. Within the church. And you had to have your own relationship with him.
But wherever you are this morning, just know that Jesus does love you. And has always had his hand reached out waiting for you to grab it.
No matter how many times we turn, run away or fall. His arm will always be stressed out for all of you in this room.
Trying to make it quick, Fred told me, 1130, but Esther had to sing.
I don't have that written. So, he's 1 18 guys. If he's 1 18.
I pray. Oh, okay. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know.
What is the hope of his calling that are the richest of the glory of his inheritance in the saints?
Let this be our prayer this morning. That the Lord. Wants to open our eyes to him today that we are enlightened and that we see the riches of his glory.
A lot of big words being thrown out today. If you don't know what they mean, look them up because this is what I'm encouraging you to do.
This is the first part to really see Jesus. We to really know him, you need to study him.
Right? Of course, it's all right here.
Study Jesus, learn about him, his characteristics, who he is as, like I said, as a person as a human, or as a god.
And the more we know him, the more we will see him with our spiritual eyes, not our physical eyes.
We open this, we open this book, this lovely book, this living book right here. And we see with our physical eyes what the Lord is telling us.
You know or Maybe just goes over our head.
But are we looking at our spiritual eyes? Are we truly? Savoring this word, this text.
For what it is. Are we treasuring it and this is the second and last point but If she, if seeing Jesus is a change in our lives and the action direction or the reaction.
Treasury in Jesus is the result. He's one of the results. Because we can treasure Jesus.
Because once we treasure Jesus, we'll enjoy him more. We'll seek him every second of the day and we won't get enough of him.
Because we'll understand who Jesus is and we'll know. We'll know him. And then we'll savor him.
Second Corinthians 4 4. In whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of the Christ.
Who is the image of God?
And this might resonate with a lot of people here. Or either personally For you or people that you know.
The God of this world. The enemy, Satan and his army, they're blinding us.
They're trying to show all the unbelievers what the world has to offer and the treasure of the world.
What's more important? And of course, us. Being Christians? We fail at this sometimes.
We get distracted. We see the world and we treasure it. We treasure a nice home. We treasure a nice job, a nice living.
Nice clothes, shoes. Things of this world that don't matter, they don't matter.
We should all wear sweat pants next week. To church. I'm joking. I'm not, let's talk to your elders.
Okay. But it's incredible. When we when we see that change, when we see what's really Keeping us from taking that next step in our relationship with Jesus.
Stop treasuring the world!
We need to understand Jesus's traits. His characteristics and will naturally treasure in more. Do you guys know the manp?
You know, I call, I know the ladies probably have one too, but like every time a guy leaves like a house or some some situation or somewhere he is for a long time, he always pats his pockets.
Everything, make sure he's got everything, his keys, wallet, phone. Okay, I got it all ready to go.
And I feel like there needs to be a more advanced. Man Pat for Jesus, you know Like, oh, I got my phone wallet keys, Jesus, got him.
Okay, let's go. But Honestly, let's not just leave the house without Jesus, but Let's never leave him, or let him leave our side, right?
Let's treasure him. Let's hold him tight. Never let him go.
He is valuable. I'm gonna wrap it up with this one little story. I've been telling a lot of stories.
This is wild. But there's a man, one of my friends told me about, he met him on a a conference at a conference.
And. He sat down with this man and they talked about life. About things. About each other their testimonies or Whatever.
And this man, after my friend shared this man, started talking about his life and started talking about his wife.
And how much he loves his wife. How much he, what, how they lived, their life together.
This man is like an older gentleman as well. So, very old and you know he's talking about his wife talking about the whole life they have spent together.
Their love and how much they, what they did for the Lord, their ministry, and just who they are, you know?
And really cool to see like his love for his wife. And then he shares that his wife just passed away a couple months ago.
About a month or 2, actually. So really recently. For this man, stone cold. Right?
Still sharing the love. That he has for his wife. The love he how much he misses her.
But then he gets into, His other relationship he has in life. And he starts talking about Jesus.
He starts talking about his Savior. Jesus Christ. And he balls. Weeps about how much Jesus loves him.
How much he loves Jesus.
And what Jesus has done for him in his life. If this, for me, the contrast is crazy.
The contrast of him talking about his wife who he loves dearly. Who had he has lived a whole life with.
Done ministry with had a family with just passed away Any acts like it's nothing. It's like, she's gone.
Sad. But then he starts talking about Jesus, his Lord and Savior. And he weeps.
Out loud crying tears everywhere of how much he loves God how much he loves Jesus and Jesus loves him and this contrast really hits me it resonates with me you know as I I am engaged and I am getting married soon and I can't imagine myself.
Like if one day when I do either, let's say Rosie pass away first she probably won't I will I'm crazier but look I lose Rosie.
And I'm, I'm a mess. I can't imagine a world that I'm just not a mess.
And that's the contrast of. How much he loves and savors Jesus. More than any relationship, any close relationship he had here on Earth.
Is incredible. This man.
He talked about Jesus with more love, passion, care, and thankfulness than any other person, including his wife.
And what the world has offered him.
And my question to you guys today is Well, we respond like him when it comes time to. Or even today right now as we sit in these pews as we leave.
This church, well, are we responding like this to Jesus, to our Lord, Savior, our God?
Or are we treasuring? Other people, other things in our life. Before him. We know the steps. We know what we have to do.
We got to see him. See who he truly is, know him, his characteristics. And we got a transfer, Jesus.
How will we respond? When it comes close to our finish line, let me pray.
Father in heaven, Lord, I thank you for today. I thank you for this time for us to be here.
Lord, I just pray that we can savor you.
That we can.
Enjoy who you are to know you, your characteristics. To know you and your life here on earth and I'm as well as in heaven Lord.
So we we thank you Jesus we pray that you can Sparks something in our hearts today that you can convict us.
And that we can go out of this place, Lord, treasuring you. And holding on to you every moment of our days to learn.
Jesus, I pray for all this and your powerful name. Hey, man. Did the band want to come up? Where are we good?
We're good. All right. Thank you, everyone