March 4, 2025 • 42 mins
Join Chris Schlotterbeck as he discusses how to pray and how to go from distraction to devotion.
To get connected or to give online, you can go to connect.hcv.church or give.hcv.church. If at anytime during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text "change me" to 970-00.
Come As You Are ...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.
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To get connected or to give online, go to connect.hcv.church or give.hcv.church.
If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text
change me to 970-00.
Thank you and enjoy the message.
Hey, good morning everyone.
So good to see you.
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I would tell you to high five your neighbor, but you don't have room to do that because
almost every seat is full.
If you're joining us from home, thank you for welcoming us into your space.
And listen, Corrine in no way is telling you what to do.
Okay.
We had a couple of people during the first gathering, a little frustrated because they
felt like we were telling you what to do.
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We just need to make some room.
So if you could consider going to the first or the third gathering, we would appreciate
it.
We're not telling you what to do.
We just would appreciate you making more space for more people to come.
And if this is your first time here, you're checking us out.
Thank you for joining us.
We know you're going to have a great time because God is here and he's moving in our
community of faith.
A couple of additional announcements.
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Softball.
Today is a softball meeting directly after this gathering.
We would love to have you join one of our softball teams, both male and female.
The plan is to have three this year that play in the church softball league.
So it's a great way to meet people, get a little exercise, get out in the nice spring
time and summer weather.
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It's spring, right?
Yeah.
It's 22 degrees this morning.
It's not even close to spring.
And also to my children, Lily and Nolan are out in the cafe selling homemade candles.
We may have made them in the last two weeks.
Yes, we actually did.
And all that money goes to our youth missions trip.
We're going to the DR this summer with 14 teenagers and five or six leaders.
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So it's our first overseas missions trip.
So if you could support that trip and buy a candle, the most popular scent, Heavenly
Hippie is out there.
It will change your house, man.
It will change your house.
So you picked a great Sunday to be here.
We're kicking off a new series for the month of March called Rooted, Practicing the Way
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of Jesus.
And for the next four weeks, we're going to be discussing what it looks like to follow
Jesus and do what he did.
Our series is based off Colossians chapter two verses six through seven, which reads,
and now just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow
him.
If your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him, then your faith will
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grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness, overflow
with thankfulness.
And that's what our world needs to overflow with thankfulness.
Did you know the earliest disciples of Jesus were actually called followers of the way?
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And this is very important because Christianity was never meant to be another religion.
It is the way.
See, we have to understand that following Jesus is both a journey and the path that
we walk on.
It's not static, but it's constant motion.
It's not just that one time decision to follow Jesus.
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It's a lifetime of choices.
See, we haven't reached our destination, our best life, our God given potential, but we
are always on the way.
We're always growing.
We're always changing and we are called to make a way for others to join us.
We are called to follow, not develop a bunch of religious formulas.
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See following the way of the one who is the way, the truth and the life means that Jesus
is pointing us to real life.
Jesus was focused on the kingdom of God.
And see that's an eternal kind of life.
Jesus never talked about a dead man made religion or rules.
He actually challenged the religious leaders of his day because he was always pointing
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people to a flourishing life through a relationship with God.
In Matthew chapter 4 verse 19 Jesus says, come and follow me to his first disciples.
And what did the disciples do?
They dropped everything.
They left their nets immediately.
And he offers us the same invitation this morning.
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See, it's to walk with him.
And we're all just on a journey here.
And this journey is not always easy, but it's really, really simple if we just look at Jesus'
life and pattern our life after his.
Listen, we can't experience the promise of God without the practices of Jesus.
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To live an abundant life, we have to follow him and do what he did.
Now my focus this morning is the word devoted, what it means to be devoted to the way.
And devoted is defined as loving or loyal, given over to the display, study or discussion
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of this morning Jesus.
That is going to be our application this morning.
And in order for us to be devoted followers of Jesus, we have to just simply put into
practice how Jesus modeled this for us, which leads us to our first thought this morning.
You see, Jesus prioritized time with God.
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Jesus prioritized time with God.
Notice Mark chapter 1 verse 35, before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out
to an isolated place to pray.
So I want to begin this morning with a question.
How do you start your mornings?
How do you start your mornings?
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Do you prioritize time with God every single morning?
Or does the world immediately distract you from the abundance that Jesus invites us into?
See Jesus was devoted.
Every day he dedicated his morning to connection with his father.
And he's setting the example for all of us to follow.
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In fact Paul takes it a step further and challenges followers of Jesus to pray continuously.
Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.
Always be joyful.
Never stop praying.
Be thankful in all circumstances for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
See it's only through connection that we are able to live in abundance.
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Taking hold of God's promises.
Prayer and time with God is foundational for a life with God.
See if we want to hear God speak and we want to receive direction from him, we need to
pray.
If we want to feel God's love because we're struggling with insecurity and doubt, we need
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to pray.
If we need a different job.
If we need God to break in and heal our relationships, we need to bring those requests to God in
prayer.
Right?
If we need a miracle or a mountain moved, we need to pray.
We can't have a relationship with God without communicating to God.
See prayer and connection to God was essential to Jesus and it should be the same for us.
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Now I get it.
Some of you are sitting there thinking, of course Jesus prioritized time with God.
He's Jesus.
Right?
He's the son of God.
His prayer life is great.
He's got plenty of time.
He doesn't have emails and texts and work and classes vying for his attention.
He doesn't have kids with their schedules, schooling and sports.
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He wasn't busy like we are today, Chris.
He's Jesus.
To which I say, slow down.
Jesus may not have been busy like us, but our next thought, Jesus lived a full life.
And when I say full, I mean abundantly full.
Because what we have to do is we have to take that verse at Mark 1.35 where he retreats,
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where he escapes, and we have to put it into context to understand what was happening in
Jesus' life at this point in time.
See the day before Jesus retreated or escaped to be with his father, he was in Capernaum
teaching in a synagogue and we read this in Mark 1.23-25.
A man in the synagogue who was possessed with an evil spirit cried out, why are you interfering
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with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are, the Holy One of God.
But Jesus reprimanded him.
Notice.
Be quiet.
Come out of the man he ordered.
And with those words, Jesus' ministry began to explode.
And word spread throughout the entire region of the miraculous signs and wonders that was
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happening through Jesus.
We continue in Mark 1.29-31.
After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew's
home.
So this is later in the day.
Now Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever.
They told Jesus about her right away.
So he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, helped her up.
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Then the fever left her and she prepared a meal for them.
See Jesus, he had already had a full day of work or ministry up to this point.
People were gathering all around him, large crowds.
He's looking to relax and refuel from a long day.
He and his disciples stop at Simon and Andrew's house for dinner.
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Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law.
She gets up, she makes them dinner, and suddenly word gets out that Jesus is in the house.
And take notice of what's happening.
Let's continue in Mark 1.32-34.
That evening, this is the same day, after sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people
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were brought to Jesus.
The whole town gathered at the door to watch.
So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases.
He cast out many demons, but because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to
speak.
So here we have Jesus.
He's been serving people all day.
And now it's the evening after dinner, and more people are coming from the entire town.
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The sick, the demon-possessed, those with diseases.
They're bringing their needs to Jesus, who is the great physician.
What's he doing?
He's healing many.
Friends, this takes time, energy, and attention.
And we're talking about an entire town here.
But notice next, Jesus meets their needs, but he doesn't stay up extra late.
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He doesn't get up extra early to heal more people.
No, Jesus stops.
He retreats from people to be alone and to reconnect with the Father.
Mark 1.35.
Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up, went out to an isolated place to pray.
See, if you think your life is busy, let me reassure you, Jesus was very busy.
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That was just a day.
Jesus had a choice, though, to either choose what was urgent or to choose what was important.
And friends, you and I have the same choice every single day.
Every day there's a battle being fought for our attention and our devotion.
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And just like Jesus, our lives are full of demands.
We have jobs and classes and homework and children and yard work and church and car
repairs and a honey-to-do list.
We have accidents and traffic and health problems and appointments.
And don't forget, we have to eat and sleep.
See every day we have to make a choice.
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Are we going to choose to be distracted by what feels urgent?
Or are we going to choose to do what's important?
And I hear it all the time.
Every Sunday, all throughout the week, Chris, I want to pray more.
I want to read more.
I want to connect in and serve more.
But I just don't have time right now because life is too busy.
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I want to do it, Chris.
I want to follow the way.
But life is too busy.
And listen, if that's you, if you're the one saying I'm just too busy, here's the reality.
You have time for what you choose to have time for.
You have time for what you choose to have time for.
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We are currently living in a digital age of distraction and our enemy wants to keep us
separated from the power of God that we receive when we connect to Him, which leads us to
our third thought.
See life is full of distractions.
Now here, I want you to do something for me.
Please take out your phones.
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Take them out.
I know you have them.
Don't say I'm holy and I don't have them with me.
Take your phone out.
It's in your pocket.
It's in your purse.
It's somewhere.
Okay.
Hold it up.
I got my phone.
Do you know, question, do you know how many times the average person will look at their
phone and unlock it every single day?
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Shout them out.
How many?
Too many.
I like it.
That's a good answer.
The actual answer is on average 80 times a day we look at our phone and unlock it.
That means that we check in with our phones every 11 minutes and 15 seconds throughout
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the day.
Every 11 minutes we're checking our phone.
We're unlocking it, which works out to us checking our phones over 30,000 times every
single year.
Friends, that's a lot of distraction.
So we have a new appendage, right?
It's connected to our hand and never before in the history of mankind have we ever seen
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a generation more dependent on a digital device.
Our phones have become our teachers, our administrators, our note takers, the weatherman, our news
source.
It has become a part of us.
And how do I know that?
Just simply think about the last time you couldn't find your phone.
Oh, I mean stress, anxiety, did someone steal it?
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Where is my phone?
So I want us all, ready?
You ready?
We're going to perform a miracle this morning.
Everyone take their phone.
If you have an iPhone, I don't know how Google phones or whatever work, but iPhone, squeeze
both sides, right?
And turn them off.
Turn off.
I give you permission.
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Turn your phone off.
And you can leave it off all day.
I don't care.
Just turn it off.
Because just doing that, guess what that is?
That's a miracle.
That's a miracle.
The first miracle of Sunday morning.
Now they're off because I want to share with you what distracts our society the most.
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The top three reasons that our society is distracted is social media, streaming services,
and games.
The average person on social media spends 706 hours a year on their phone scrolling.
And let's put that number into perspective.
The average workday is eight hours.
If we divide 706 hours by eight, a traditional workday, we get four and a half months of
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working hours spent on social media.
That's a distraction.
Streaming services like Netflix, Prime, Hulu, Sling, Paramount Plus, on average, our society
spends over 2,700 hours per year binge watching the latest episodes released every single
week.
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Games.
And listen, I'm going to pick on the guys here a second who play games.
I get it.
I grew up, but I grew up in the classic area of video games, right?
Asteroids, Frogger, Donkey Kong, right?
I spent a lot of time in the arcade, okay?
And I know you don't know what that is, but it's a place that you go to and you put quarters
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in a machine and play them, right?
I was especially fond of Galaga and have set personal bests at that game.
But today, the average male in our society by the time he turns 21 would have spent over
10,000 hours playing video games.
Let me say that again.
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10,000 hours.
And what can we do with 10,000 hours?
Well, the average reader could read 2,000 books.
You can earn an undergraduate and a graduate degree in 10,000 hours.
The New Testament could be memorized in 10,000 hours.
You could earn a pilot license or become a concert pianist in 10,000 hours.
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I wonder what's wrong with our society.
No point, we have time for what we choose to have time for.
And the more our lives revolve around these phones, the easier we are distracted and the
harder it is to pay attention.
Many of you right now, your minds are racing.
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You're constantly looking around trying to see what people are wearing, what they're
thinking.
Why is Chris wearing glasses this week?
Can he see?
What about his contact?
I mean, all these things are bulging your minds because we are currently living in a
time that is full of distractions.
Did you know there are now more cell phones in the world than toilets?
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You know what that means?
We have more crap being pumped into our minds than we have being pumped out of our houses.
That's scary.
And it's impacting us spiritually.
Wake up.
Daily distractions are impacting our ability to connect with and listen to the Holy Spirit,
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to focus on and read the Bible, to be still, to meditate, to pray.
Distraction is the enemy of devotion.
We spend more time listening to the voices of the world than we do the voice of God.
And Jesus warns us in Luke 21, 34, watch out.
Don't let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness and by the worries of this
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life.
Don't let that day catch you unaware.
How do we move from a world of distraction to the way of devotion?
Well, it's real simple.
Colossians 3, 2 spells it out for us.
Think about the things of heaven, not the things of the earth.
See, if we want the promises of God, we have to practice the way of Jesus.
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And what did Jesus do?
He got up early and he started every single day by connecting to the Father.
And we need to do the same, which leads us to following Jesus' example in prayer.
Jesus had a robust prayer life.
And in the Bible, we learn five things about his prayer life.
First, Jesus prayed regularly.
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Regularly.
Luke 5, 16, but despite Jesus' instructions, the report of his power spread even faster.
And the vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases.
But Jesus, notice the word, but Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
Often.
What does that mean?
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That means he prayed consistently.
When Paul tells us to pray without ceasing, that has to become a part of our worldview.
And it needs to be integrated into every aspect of our life.
Right from driving to work, to coming home from work while at work.
To serving others.
It has to be regular that we prioritize in prayer.
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Which moves us to our next.
Jesus prayed alone.
Mark 1, 35, our scripture for the morning before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got
up, went to an isolated place to pray.
See, Jesus understood he needed a dedicated place to start his morning in connection.
Where do you spend your time praying and connecting to God?
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There has to be a spot that you go to.
Right?
Is it your bedroom?
Is it your office?
For me it's the kitchen.
I get up early, I go down a walk around the kitchen, I listen to my devotional, I listen
to the Bible, I worship, and it's just me.
And it's got to be that time between you and God that sets the tone for the day.
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But you've got to find that place.
So Jesus prayed regularly.
Right?
Jesus prayed alone.
Jesus prayed for others.
Matthew 19, 14, and 15.
But Jesus said, let the children come to me.
I'll stop them.
For the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like these children.
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And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.
We are called to pray for others and to serve others.
And he didn't just pray for others, he prayed with others.
Luke 9, 28.
About eight days later, Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray.
See Jesus understood the value of being in relationship, in connection with a small group
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of people where they could pray together and they could pray for one another and encourage
one another.
That's vital to our relationship with Jesus.
And finally, Jesus prayed short prayers and long prayers.
Notice this command in Matthew 8, 3.
Jesus reached out and touched him.
Notice what he says.
I am willing, he said.
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This is a man with leprosy.
Last week, if you were here during our conclusion, right, of Under Armour, we closed last week
by standing and expecting God to change and impact us.
And I asked all of you a question.
Do you believe God can change your life?
And your response was, yes.
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And I had to ask the question up to 10 times because I wanted everybody to respond.
I wanted everybody to raise their level of expectancy like this man with leprosy.
I am willing.
And notice what Jesus said.
Be healed.
And instantly the leprosy disappeared.
That's a short prayer.
Some scholars don't even believe that's a prayer, rather a command, right?
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And Jesus challenges his church and his people to do the same today.
And we're going to do that right now.
So this morning, there was a word from our prayer team, okay, a word of knowledge for
people that were struggling with ADHD or Attention Deficit Disorder.
If you're here this morning and you have ADHD, will you take a step of faith and put your
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hand up?
Okay, thank you.
Now I want you to take a bolder step and stand up.
If you have ADHD.
Thank you.
Thank you for your faith, your willingness.
Amen.
Yeah, anybody else?
Thank you.
Cool man.
All right.
Here's what we're going to do.
Men with men, women with women.
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Get on them.
Get on them everybody.
Let's go.
I want every person with a person on them.
Church, let's go.
Do this.
Yeah, we're going to pray for you.
It's okay.
Yeah, everybody covered.
Everybody covered.
I got to, yup, stay up, stay up.
I got a guy over here that needs prayer.
Yup, come on.
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Bunch of men on this side.
Is everybody, I got a guy here in the middle.
Right here.
Can someone, oh you got him back.
Thank you.
Wendell.
Is everybody covered?
Oh, two here.
I need two.
Two ladies.
I got a couple ladies over there.
Come on.
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Come on church.
Thank you.
Right here.
I need a lady right here on my left.
I need, alright, you got it.
Thank you.
We're coming.
Is everyone covered?
Two sisters.
Two sisters.
Alright, here we go.
You got it?
You got it?
Got it?
Okay, we're good.
Here we go.
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I want one of you to put your hand on their forehead.
Just one.
Choose it.
Choose it.
There you go.
Alright, here we go.
You ready?
In Jesus' name, mind be still.
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Peace come into this mind in Jesus' name.
Holy Spirit, have your way.
Amen.
Thank you.
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That, listen, that is a prayer of command.
Right?
Now, some people say it's not a prayer.
I believe it is.
But I believe that God can move and heal you just like that.
And the point is, that's what Jesus did.
And you can do it tomorrow at work or at school or wherever you may be.
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Someone has a headache.
Hey, can I pray for that headache?
Yeah, I would love for you to.
Raise your hand on their forehead and what would you pray?
In Jesus' name, be healed, no pain, amen.
We all can do it.
Short prayers.
But Jesus also prayed long prayers.
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Luke 6-12, one day soon afterward, Jesus went up on a mountain to pray and he prayed to
God all night long.
Dude, that's a long prayer, right?
I know I couldn't do it.
I would fall asleep, but we would be in good company because guess what?
The disciples fell asleep in the garden.
Right?
It's a challenge.
But we also need to pray long prayers throughout the day that drives us closer to Jesus because
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then we are practicing discipline unlike our culture.
Right?
Our culture says be busy, move around, multitask.
When God says no, dial it down and focus on one thing to get you through today.
Let me challenge you.
Start small and build on it every single week.
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Start small.
Set up that time for devotion in the morning.
It may start with 10 minutes and 15 minutes and it may grow to 30 minutes and then it
may grow to several hours throughout the day.
Start small, which leads us to moving from a world of distraction to the way of devotion.
See, Jesus' disciples, they were not quite sure what a life of prayer, what a life of
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devotion looked like.
So guess what they did?
They asked.
Look at Luke 11.1.
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying.
As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, Lord, teach us to pray just
as John taught his disciples.
So this means the disciples that were watching Jesus pray and the way he was connecting to
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his father and it caught their attention.
They're like, hey, I want that.
I want to pray just like that.
And Jesus taught them.
Right?
He taught them this prayer, which we're all going to read together.
It may sound familiar.
Please flip it up.
Let's read these words together.
Pray like this.
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Our father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
May your kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who
sin against us.
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Don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
Now that may sound familiar, right?
That is the Lord's Prayer.
Many people know it.
Many people have memorized it.
But quite a few of you don't know it with that version.
Many of you have memorized maybe the NIV or the New King James or even the King James.
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But whichever one you look at, the Lord's Prayer is the perfect prayer to begin your
morning time of connection with God.
Because that's what Jesus taught us to do.
And notice, if we break down the Lord's Prayer, what's Jesus first taught us to do?
Approach God as Father.
Right?
Notice he says pray like this.
Our father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
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And when Jesus says our father in heaven, he's referring to God as Abba Father, which
means he's our dad who loves us.
Right?
He's not the religious police.
He's not waiting to punish us when we mess up.
Actually that word Abba refers to our father as warm, intimate, loving.
He wants the best for us.
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In fact, he looks forward to connecting with us every single day because that's what we
were created for.
We were created to be in communion with God.
And notice, Jesus refers to God as our Father in heaven.
He's making a distinction from our earthly fathers because listen, not all earthly fathers
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are good or loving.
So he wants us to see our heavenly Father as one that we can constantly go to and approach.
So that's how we start our time with God.
We approach God as our Father.
Next, we surrender.
May your kingdom come soon.
Notice, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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This, Jesus didn't tell us to say our will.
Right?
It's not Chris's will be done.
No, it's God's will be done in my life.
Understanding, this is the exact opposite of our self-obsessed culture that we live
in every day.
Prayer is not first telling God what we want.
No, it's surrendering our desires to his.
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It's all about laying them down and saying, God, whatever you want me to do, mold me into
your image.
It's about what he wants for us.
And that's the prayer of surrender and self-sacrifice.
After we surrender, we then make our personal request.
Give us today the food we need.
Right?
Now, this is a request for both physical and spiritual nourishment.
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Remember, through the series last month, we talked about how we need to nourish our spirit
first because our spirit connected to God then goes to our mind, which our mind controls
our body.
Right?
God is my daily bread.
God, you're my source.
I'm bringing my needs to you.
I'm making my requests before you.
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God, I'm asking you to intervene in my life.
Right?
It's first, the desire that we get close to God.
Right?
God, you're my father.
I surrender myself to you.
God, then you bring your requests.
You get closer to him because that's what Jesus did for us.
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So with that in mind, I want to challenge all of you.
Rudy, he looked up and found a month-long devotional in the book of Matthew that I want
to challenge our entire community of faith to go through.
So at the end of this gathering, when you turn your phone back on, right, because some
of you are just currently lost and shaking without it, you can scan the QR code on the
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back of the chairs or out in the lobby and it will take you to our link tree and on there
is listed our devotional for the month.
It's connected to the YouVersion Bible app and what it is, it's starting tomorrow and
you'll go through the entire book of Matthew in one month.
And that's a challenge for all of us to grow closer to Jesus.
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So I want to encourage you, scan the code or look on our social media pages, start the
devotional and get closer to God.
And then we move from asking for God to meet our requests to number four, confession.
Forgive us our sins, God, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
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In church, this is so important.
We have to daily admit our mistakes, our missteps.
We have to ask God for forgiveness.
Repentance is not a bad word.
It's starting your morning fresh as God highlights areas where we made mistakes, where we messed
up.
It's starting fresh in our relationship with Him because He forgives us.
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God is inviting us to bring our failures and our anger and our addictions to Him so that
He can forgive us, right?
Repentance and punishment, it's freedom.
It's freedom that we can walk in who God has called us to be and it's freedom for others.
That's why it's so important that we stop holding onto grudges and unforgiveness.
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And I want to pause here a minute and challenge you.
If God highlights anybody into your mind, into your heart, that you're holding onto
bitterness, unforgiveness or anger, lay it down today.
It's just not worth it.
Because when we lay it down today and we go to that person and extend forgiveness to them,
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it's freedom for you and them.
And then they can walk in the person that God called them to be.
And this includes friends, family, co-workers, classmates, whatever it may be.
This is an important part of getting closer to Jesus.
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And then Jesus sums it all up with one final step by saying, then you invite God's Spirit.
And don't let us yield to temptation or distraction, but rescue us from the evil one.
See, the next time you're tempted to binge watch a show, to give into that addiction,
to speak those words in anger, to worry about how the bills are going to be paid, I want
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to challenge you to pause and reflect and say, come Holy Spirit.
God empower me to overcome and make the right choice.
And see, notice when we use this prayer as an outline for our morning devotion and our
morning connection with God, it allows us to move towards Him, not away from Him.
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But it's a choice to wake up early, to have a place established where you connect with
Him because that is being devoted to the way.
Amen?
So now, we're going to have a time of communion.
No one's stand up yet.
It's easier when you're sitting.
If you need a communion element, could you put one hand up so our people can come around
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and get it to you?
Just keep it up until you get an element.
If you need gluten-free, you can put two hands up and wave them in the air because we have
gluten-free.
Kelsey's got your gluten-free.
Everybody else is coming around to meet you.
Keep your hand up so we can get you your elements.
Thank you, one here.
Is there one here in the middle, Rudy?
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Don't try to be Justin Fields though, because...just kidding.
All right, so as you're getting those, about a year ago, about a year ago, I did a Sunday
morning talk on communion, and I challenged our community of faith that this communion
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element in many churches has become a ritual.
It's just become something you do.
In some places, you do it every Sunday.
Here we do it once a month.
But in reality, this isn't a ritual.
This is an opportunity for an encounter.
That's what this is.
Jesus challenged His church and His followers of the way to remember what He did for them.
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The bread, right, represents His body that was broken for us.
The juice represents His blood that covers our sins and our mistakes and our missteps.
So as we partake in this, this is an opportunity, notice, communion, to commune with God, to
draw closer to God.
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And listen, if you're in a relationship with Jesus, get right before you take it.
Lay down your mistakes.
Lay down your unforgiveness.
Get right because Jesus wants to draw close to you.
If you're here this morning and you're not in a relationship with God, listen, just set
this down to the side, right?
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Or, like we do every single Sunday, we're going to pray a simple prayer here in a minute.
And when we pray that prayer, it brings you into relationship with God, which then allows
you to remember what He did for you.
Amen?
So before we stand and take communion, let's pray a simple prayer together.
Jesus, I'm broken.
I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin.
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Change me.
I believe You're God's Son.
I believe You died for me.
Make me new.
Set me free.
Fill me, God, with Your Spirit.
In Jesus' name, amen.
So if you prayed that prayer, man, now we're all going to stand and we're going to celebrate
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what Jesus did for us in communion together.
So if you want to take out the wafer, on the night He was betrayed, Jesus took bread.
He broke it and He handed it to His disciples and He said, take, eat.
This is my body, which is broken for you.
And do it often in remembrance of me.
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Let's remember what Jesus did for us.
Likewise, after supper, He took a cup of wine.
He said, this is my blood, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Drink it often and when you do, do it in remembrance of me.
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Let's drink.
Let's overwhelm us with Your love and connection.
Allow us to draw close to You every single morning and prioritize a time with God through
prayer, through reading, and may we truly follow the way.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, before we go, there were several words of knowledge I need to share with all
of you.
You have pain on the outside of your left hip.
You have pain in your left elbow.
You have pain in your left ear that extends into the neck causing tension.
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The outer edge of your right eye, there is discomfort and it's hard for you to see.
You have left knee pain specifically in the kneecap.
You have pain in the top of your left foot near your toes.
You may be struggling with symptoms of dementia.
If any of those are you, our prayer team is here on my right.
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We want to pray for you and we are expecting God to heal you this morning and set you free.
Amen.
But before we go, God impressed on my heart that we as a community of faith pray the Lord's
prayer together.
That as we close in praying together, we are coming together and declaring this is how
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we as a community of faith will start our day.
Amen.
Can we do that?
All right.
Come Holy Spirit.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our
debtors.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us for the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Now listen, this is going to be a great series where we simply break down and build roots
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and get closer to Jesus so that our relationship with him will thrive and that those in the
tri-state area that aren't in a relationship with him yet will be drawn to that peace and
that love.
Amen.
All right.
Before you go, all right, Rudy's on that side.
I'm here.
Those doors will wait for me to get there so I can say goodbye to you.
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If you're home or watching online, God bless you guys.
Look forward to connecting with you soon.
Looking forward to next week where we talk about community and connecting in.
God bless you guys.
Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.
(00:15):
To get connected or to give online, go to connect.hcv.church or give.hcv.church.
If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text
change me to 970-00.
Thank you and enjoy the message.
Hey, good morning everyone.
So good to see you.
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I would tell you to high five your neighbor, but you don't have room to do that because
almost every seat is full.
If you're joining us from home, thank you for welcoming us into your space.
And listen, Corrine in no way is telling you what to do.
Okay.
We had a couple of people during the first gathering, a little frustrated because they
felt like we were telling you what to do.
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We just need to make some room.
So if you could consider going to the first or the third gathering, we would appreciate
it.
We're not telling you what to do.
We just would appreciate you making more space for more people to come.
And if this is your first time here, you're checking us out.
Thank you for joining us.
We know you're going to have a great time because God is here and he's moving in our
community of faith.
A couple of additional announcements.
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Softball.
Today is a softball meeting directly after this gathering.
We would love to have you join one of our softball teams, both male and female.
The plan is to have three this year that play in the church softball league.
So it's a great way to meet people, get a little exercise, get out in the nice spring
time and summer weather.
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It's spring, right?
Yeah.
It's 22 degrees this morning.
It's not even close to spring.
And also to my children, Lily and Nolan are out in the cafe selling homemade candles.
We may have made them in the last two weeks.
Yes, we actually did.
And all that money goes to our youth missions trip.
We're going to the DR this summer with 14 teenagers and five or six leaders.
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So it's our first overseas missions trip.
So if you could support that trip and buy a candle, the most popular scent, Heavenly
Hippie is out there.
It will change your house, man.
It will change your house.
So you picked a great Sunday to be here.
We're kicking off a new series for the month of March called Rooted, Practicing the Way
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of Jesus.
And for the next four weeks, we're going to be discussing what it looks like to follow
Jesus and do what he did.
Our series is based off Colossians chapter two verses six through seven, which reads,
and now just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow
him.
If your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him, then your faith will
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grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness, overflow
with thankfulness.
And that's what our world needs to overflow with thankfulness.
Did you know the earliest disciples of Jesus were actually called followers of the way?
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And this is very important because Christianity was never meant to be another religion.
It is the way.
See, we have to understand that following Jesus is both a journey and the path that
we walk on.
It's not static, but it's constant motion.
It's not just that one time decision to follow Jesus.
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It's a lifetime of choices.
See, we haven't reached our destination, our best life, our God given potential, but we
are always on the way.
We're always growing.
We're always changing and we are called to make a way for others to join us.
We are called to follow, not develop a bunch of religious formulas.
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See following the way of the one who is the way, the truth and the life means that Jesus
is pointing us to real life.
Jesus was focused on the kingdom of God.
And see that's an eternal kind of life.
Jesus never talked about a dead man made religion or rules.
He actually challenged the religious leaders of his day because he was always pointing
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people to a flourishing life through a relationship with God.
In Matthew chapter 4 verse 19 Jesus says, come and follow me to his first disciples.
And what did the disciples do?
They dropped everything.
They left their nets immediately.
And he offers us the same invitation this morning.
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See, it's to walk with him.
And we're all just on a journey here.
And this journey is not always easy, but it's really, really simple if we just look at Jesus'
life and pattern our life after his.
Listen, we can't experience the promise of God without the practices of Jesus.
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To live an abundant life, we have to follow him and do what he did.
Now my focus this morning is the word devoted, what it means to be devoted to the way.
And devoted is defined as loving or loyal, given over to the display, study or discussion
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of this morning Jesus.
That is going to be our application this morning.
And in order for us to be devoted followers of Jesus, we have to just simply put into
practice how Jesus modeled this for us, which leads us to our first thought this morning.
You see, Jesus prioritized time with God.
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Jesus prioritized time with God.
Notice Mark chapter 1 verse 35, before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out
to an isolated place to pray.
So I want to begin this morning with a question.
How do you start your mornings?
How do you start your mornings?
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Do you prioritize time with God every single morning?
Or does the world immediately distract you from the abundance that Jesus invites us into?
See Jesus was devoted.
Every day he dedicated his morning to connection with his father.
And he's setting the example for all of us to follow.
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In fact Paul takes it a step further and challenges followers of Jesus to pray continuously.
Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.
Always be joyful.
Never stop praying.
Be thankful in all circumstances for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
See it's only through connection that we are able to live in abundance.
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Taking hold of God's promises.
Prayer and time with God is foundational for a life with God.
See if we want to hear God speak and we want to receive direction from him, we need to
pray.
If we want to feel God's love because we're struggling with insecurity and doubt, we need
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to pray.
If we need a different job.
If we need God to break in and heal our relationships, we need to bring those requests to God in
prayer.
Right?
If we need a miracle or a mountain moved, we need to pray.
We can't have a relationship with God without communicating to God.
See prayer and connection to God was essential to Jesus and it should be the same for us.
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Now I get it.
Some of you are sitting there thinking, of course Jesus prioritized time with God.
He's Jesus.
Right?
He's the son of God.
His prayer life is great.
He's got plenty of time.
He doesn't have emails and texts and work and classes vying for his attention.
He doesn't have kids with their schedules, schooling and sports.
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He wasn't busy like we are today, Chris.
He's Jesus.
To which I say, slow down.
Jesus may not have been busy like us, but our next thought, Jesus lived a full life.
And when I say full, I mean abundantly full.
Because what we have to do is we have to take that verse at Mark 1.35 where he retreats,
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where he escapes, and we have to put it into context to understand what was happening in
Jesus' life at this point in time.
See the day before Jesus retreated or escaped to be with his father, he was in Capernaum
teaching in a synagogue and we read this in Mark 1.23-25.
A man in the synagogue who was possessed with an evil spirit cried out, why are you interfering
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with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are, the Holy One of God.
But Jesus reprimanded him.
Notice.
Be quiet.
Come out of the man he ordered.
And with those words, Jesus' ministry began to explode.
And word spread throughout the entire region of the miraculous signs and wonders that was
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happening through Jesus.
We continue in Mark 1.29-31.
After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew's
home.
So this is later in the day.
Now Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever.
They told Jesus about her right away.
So he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, helped her up.
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Then the fever left her and she prepared a meal for them.
See Jesus, he had already had a full day of work or ministry up to this point.
People were gathering all around him, large crowds.
He's looking to relax and refuel from a long day.
He and his disciples stop at Simon and Andrew's house for dinner.
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Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law.
She gets up, she makes them dinner, and suddenly word gets out that Jesus is in the house.
And take notice of what's happening.
Let's continue in Mark 1.32-34.
That evening, this is the same day, after sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people
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were brought to Jesus.
The whole town gathered at the door to watch.
So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases.
He cast out many demons, but because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to
speak.
So here we have Jesus.
He's been serving people all day.
And now it's the evening after dinner, and more people are coming from the entire town.
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The sick, the demon-possessed, those with diseases.
They're bringing their needs to Jesus, who is the great physician.
What's he doing?
He's healing many.
Friends, this takes time, energy, and attention.
And we're talking about an entire town here.
But notice next, Jesus meets their needs, but he doesn't stay up extra late.
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He doesn't get up extra early to heal more people.
No, Jesus stops.
He retreats from people to be alone and to reconnect with the Father.
Mark 1.35.
Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up, went out to an isolated place to pray.
See, if you think your life is busy, let me reassure you, Jesus was very busy.
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That was just a day.
Jesus had a choice, though, to either choose what was urgent or to choose what was important.
And friends, you and I have the same choice every single day.
Every day there's a battle being fought for our attention and our devotion.
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And just like Jesus, our lives are full of demands.
We have jobs and classes and homework and children and yard work and church and car
repairs and a honey-to-do list.
We have accidents and traffic and health problems and appointments.
And don't forget, we have to eat and sleep.
See every day we have to make a choice.
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Are we going to choose to be distracted by what feels urgent?
Or are we going to choose to do what's important?
And I hear it all the time.
Every Sunday, all throughout the week, Chris, I want to pray more.
I want to read more.
I want to connect in and serve more.
But I just don't have time right now because life is too busy.
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I want to do it, Chris.
I want to follow the way.
But life is too busy.
And listen, if that's you, if you're the one saying I'm just too busy, here's the reality.
You have time for what you choose to have time for.
You have time for what you choose to have time for.
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We are currently living in a digital age of distraction and our enemy wants to keep us
separated from the power of God that we receive when we connect to Him, which leads us to
our third thought.
See life is full of distractions.
Now here, I want you to do something for me.
Please take out your phones.
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Take them out.
I know you have them.
Don't say I'm holy and I don't have them with me.
Take your phone out.
It's in your pocket.
It's in your purse.
It's somewhere.
Okay.
Hold it up.
I got my phone.
Do you know, question, do you know how many times the average person will look at their
phone and unlock it every single day?
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Shout them out.
How many?
Too many.
I like it.
That's a good answer.
The actual answer is on average 80 times a day we look at our phone and unlock it.
That means that we check in with our phones every 11 minutes and 15 seconds throughout
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the day.
Every 11 minutes we're checking our phone.
We're unlocking it, which works out to us checking our phones over 30,000 times every
single year.
Friends, that's a lot of distraction.
So we have a new appendage, right?
It's connected to our hand and never before in the history of mankind have we ever seen
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a generation more dependent on a digital device.
Our phones have become our teachers, our administrators, our note takers, the weatherman, our news
source.
It has become a part of us.
And how do I know that?
Just simply think about the last time you couldn't find your phone.
Oh, I mean stress, anxiety, did someone steal it?
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Where is my phone?
So I want us all, ready?
You ready?
We're going to perform a miracle this morning.
Everyone take their phone.
If you have an iPhone, I don't know how Google phones or whatever work, but iPhone, squeeze
both sides, right?
And turn them off.
Turn off.
I give you permission.
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Turn your phone off.
And you can leave it off all day.
I don't care.
Just turn it off.
Because just doing that, guess what that is?
That's a miracle.
That's a miracle.
The first miracle of Sunday morning.
Now they're off because I want to share with you what distracts our society the most.
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The top three reasons that our society is distracted is social media, streaming services,
and games.
The average person on social media spends 706 hours a year on their phone scrolling.
And let's put that number into perspective.
The average workday is eight hours.
If we divide 706 hours by eight, a traditional workday, we get four and a half months of
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working hours spent on social media.
That's a distraction.
Streaming services like Netflix, Prime, Hulu, Sling, Paramount Plus, on average, our society
spends over 2,700 hours per year binge watching the latest episodes released every single
week.
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Games.
And listen, I'm going to pick on the guys here a second who play games.
I get it.
I grew up, but I grew up in the classic area of video games, right?
Asteroids, Frogger, Donkey Kong, right?
I spent a lot of time in the arcade, okay?
And I know you don't know what that is, but it's a place that you go to and you put quarters
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in a machine and play them, right?
I was especially fond of Galaga and have set personal bests at that game.
But today, the average male in our society by the time he turns 21 would have spent over
10,000 hours playing video games.
Let me say that again.
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10,000 hours.
And what can we do with 10,000 hours?
Well, the average reader could read 2,000 books.
You can earn an undergraduate and a graduate degree in 10,000 hours.
The New Testament could be memorized in 10,000 hours.
You could earn a pilot license or become a concert pianist in 10,000 hours.
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I wonder what's wrong with our society.
No point, we have time for what we choose to have time for.
And the more our lives revolve around these phones, the easier we are distracted and the
harder it is to pay attention.
Many of you right now, your minds are racing.
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You're constantly looking around trying to see what people are wearing, what they're
thinking.
Why is Chris wearing glasses this week?
Can he see?
What about his contact?
I mean, all these things are bulging your minds because we are currently living in a
time that is full of distractions.
Did you know there are now more cell phones in the world than toilets?
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You know what that means?
We have more crap being pumped into our minds than we have being pumped out of our houses.
That's scary.
And it's impacting us spiritually.
Wake up.
Daily distractions are impacting our ability to connect with and listen to the Holy Spirit,
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to focus on and read the Bible, to be still, to meditate, to pray.
Distraction is the enemy of devotion.
We spend more time listening to the voices of the world than we do the voice of God.
And Jesus warns us in Luke 21, 34, watch out.
Don't let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness and by the worries of this
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life.
Don't let that day catch you unaware.
How do we move from a world of distraction to the way of devotion?
Well, it's real simple.
Colossians 3, 2 spells it out for us.
Think about the things of heaven, not the things of the earth.
See, if we want the promises of God, we have to practice the way of Jesus.
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And what did Jesus do?
He got up early and he started every single day by connecting to the Father.
And we need to do the same, which leads us to following Jesus' example in prayer.
Jesus had a robust prayer life.
And in the Bible, we learn five things about his prayer life.
First, Jesus prayed regularly.
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Regularly.
Luke 5, 16, but despite Jesus' instructions, the report of his power spread even faster.
And the vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases.
But Jesus, notice the word, but Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
Often.
What does that mean?
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That means he prayed consistently.
When Paul tells us to pray without ceasing, that has to become a part of our worldview.
And it needs to be integrated into every aspect of our life.
Right from driving to work, to coming home from work while at work.
To serving others.
It has to be regular that we prioritize in prayer.
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Which moves us to our next.
Jesus prayed alone.
Mark 1, 35, our scripture for the morning before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got
up, went to an isolated place to pray.
See, Jesus understood he needed a dedicated place to start his morning in connection.
Where do you spend your time praying and connecting to God?
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There has to be a spot that you go to.
Right?
Is it your bedroom?
Is it your office?
For me it's the kitchen.
I get up early, I go down a walk around the kitchen, I listen to my devotional, I listen
to the Bible, I worship, and it's just me.
And it's got to be that time between you and God that sets the tone for the day.
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But you've got to find that place.
So Jesus prayed regularly.
Right?
Jesus prayed alone.
Jesus prayed for others.
Matthew 19, 14, and 15.
But Jesus said, let the children come to me.
I'll stop them.
For the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like these children.
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And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left.
We are called to pray for others and to serve others.
And he didn't just pray for others, he prayed with others.
Luke 9, 28.
About eight days later, Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray.
See Jesus understood the value of being in relationship, in connection with a small group
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of people where they could pray together and they could pray for one another and encourage
one another.
That's vital to our relationship with Jesus.
And finally, Jesus prayed short prayers and long prayers.
Notice this command in Matthew 8, 3.
Jesus reached out and touched him.
Notice what he says.
I am willing, he said.
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This is a man with leprosy.
Last week, if you were here during our conclusion, right, of Under Armour, we closed last week
by standing and expecting God to change and impact us.
And I asked all of you a question.
Do you believe God can change your life?
And your response was, yes.
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And I had to ask the question up to 10 times because I wanted everybody to respond.
I wanted everybody to raise their level of expectancy like this man with leprosy.
I am willing.
And notice what Jesus said.
Be healed.
And instantly the leprosy disappeared.
That's a short prayer.
Some scholars don't even believe that's a prayer, rather a command, right?
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And Jesus challenges his church and his people to do the same today.
And we're going to do that right now.
So this morning, there was a word from our prayer team, okay, a word of knowledge for
people that were struggling with ADHD or Attention Deficit Disorder.
If you're here this morning and you have ADHD, will you take a step of faith and put your
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hand up?
Okay, thank you.
Now I want you to take a bolder step and stand up.
If you have ADHD.
Thank you.
Thank you for your faith, your willingness.
Amen.
Yeah, anybody else?
Thank you.
Cool man.
All right.
Here's what we're going to do.
Men with men, women with women.
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Get on them.
Get on them everybody.
Let's go.
I want every person with a person on them.
Church, let's go.
Do this.
Yeah, we're going to pray for you.
It's okay.
Yeah, everybody covered.
Everybody covered.
I got to, yup, stay up, stay up.
I got a guy over here that needs prayer.
Yup, come on.
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Bunch of men on this side.
Is everybody, I got a guy here in the middle.
Right here.
Can someone, oh you got him back.
Thank you.
Wendell.
Is everybody covered?
Oh, two here.
I need two.
Two ladies.
I got a couple ladies over there.
Come on.
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Come on church.
Thank you.
Right here.
I need a lady right here on my left.
I need, alright, you got it.
Thank you.
We're coming.
Is everyone covered?
Two sisters.
Two sisters.
Alright, here we go.
You got it?
You got it?
Got it?
Okay, we're good.
Here we go.
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I want one of you to put your hand on their forehead.
Just one.
Choose it.
Choose it.
There you go.
Alright, here we go.
You ready?
In Jesus' name, mind be still.
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Peace come into this mind in Jesus' name.
Holy Spirit, have your way.
Amen.
Thank you.
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That, listen, that is a prayer of command.
Right?
Now, some people say it's not a prayer.
I believe it is.
But I believe that God can move and heal you just like that.
And the point is, that's what Jesus did.
And you can do it tomorrow at work or at school or wherever you may be.
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Someone has a headache.
Hey, can I pray for that headache?
Yeah, I would love for you to.
Raise your hand on their forehead and what would you pray?
In Jesus' name, be healed, no pain, amen.
We all can do it.
Short prayers.
But Jesus also prayed long prayers.
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Luke 6-12, one day soon afterward, Jesus went up on a mountain to pray and he prayed to
God all night long.
Dude, that's a long prayer, right?
I know I couldn't do it.
I would fall asleep, but we would be in good company because guess what?
The disciples fell asleep in the garden.
Right?
It's a challenge.
But we also need to pray long prayers throughout the day that drives us closer to Jesus because
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then we are practicing discipline unlike our culture.
Right?
Our culture says be busy, move around, multitask.
When God says no, dial it down and focus on one thing to get you through today.
Let me challenge you.
Start small and build on it every single week.
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Start small.
Set up that time for devotion in the morning.
It may start with 10 minutes and 15 minutes and it may grow to 30 minutes and then it
may grow to several hours throughout the day.
Start small, which leads us to moving from a world of distraction to the way of devotion.
See, Jesus' disciples, they were not quite sure what a life of prayer, what a life of
(27:26):
devotion looked like.
So guess what they did?
They asked.
Look at Luke 11.1.
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying.
As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, Lord, teach us to pray just
as John taught his disciples.
So this means the disciples that were watching Jesus pray and the way he was connecting to
(27:47):
his father and it caught their attention.
They're like, hey, I want that.
I want to pray just like that.
And Jesus taught them.
Right?
He taught them this prayer, which we're all going to read together.
It may sound familiar.
Please flip it up.
Let's read these words together.
Pray like this.
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Our father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
May your kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who
sin against us.
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Don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
Now that may sound familiar, right?
That is the Lord's Prayer.
Many people know it.
Many people have memorized it.
But quite a few of you don't know it with that version.
Many of you have memorized maybe the NIV or the New King James or even the King James.
(28:53):
But whichever one you look at, the Lord's Prayer is the perfect prayer to begin your
morning time of connection with God.
Because that's what Jesus taught us to do.
And notice, if we break down the Lord's Prayer, what's Jesus first taught us to do?
Approach God as Father.
Right?
Notice he says pray like this.
Our father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
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And when Jesus says our father in heaven, he's referring to God as Abba Father, which
means he's our dad who loves us.
Right?
He's not the religious police.
He's not waiting to punish us when we mess up.
Actually that word Abba refers to our father as warm, intimate, loving.
He wants the best for us.
(29:38):
In fact, he looks forward to connecting with us every single day because that's what we
were created for.
We were created to be in communion with God.
And notice, Jesus refers to God as our Father in heaven.
He's making a distinction from our earthly fathers because listen, not all earthly fathers
(29:58):
are good or loving.
So he wants us to see our heavenly Father as one that we can constantly go to and approach.
So that's how we start our time with God.
We approach God as our Father.
Next, we surrender.
May your kingdom come soon.
Notice, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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This, Jesus didn't tell us to say our will.
Right?
It's not Chris's will be done.
No, it's God's will be done in my life.
Understanding, this is the exact opposite of our self-obsessed culture that we live
in every day.
Prayer is not first telling God what we want.
No, it's surrendering our desires to his.
(30:44):
It's all about laying them down and saying, God, whatever you want me to do, mold me into
your image.
It's about what he wants for us.
And that's the prayer of surrender and self-sacrifice.
After we surrender, we then make our personal request.
Give us today the food we need.
Right?
Now, this is a request for both physical and spiritual nourishment.
(31:09):
Remember, through the series last month, we talked about how we need to nourish our spirit
first because our spirit connected to God then goes to our mind, which our mind controls
our body.
Right?
God is my daily bread.
God, you're my source.
I'm bringing my needs to you.
I'm making my requests before you.
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God, I'm asking you to intervene in my life.
Right?
It's first, the desire that we get close to God.
Right?
God, you're my father.
I surrender myself to you.
God, then you bring your requests.
You get closer to him because that's what Jesus did for us.
(31:50):
So with that in mind, I want to challenge all of you.
Rudy, he looked up and found a month-long devotional in the book of Matthew that I want
to challenge our entire community of faith to go through.
So at the end of this gathering, when you turn your phone back on, right, because some
of you are just currently lost and shaking without it, you can scan the QR code on the
(32:13):
back of the chairs or out in the lobby and it will take you to our link tree and on there
is listed our devotional for the month.
It's connected to the YouVersion Bible app and what it is, it's starting tomorrow and
you'll go through the entire book of Matthew in one month.
And that's a challenge for all of us to grow closer to Jesus.
(32:34):
So I want to encourage you, scan the code or look on our social media pages, start the
devotional and get closer to God.
And then we move from asking for God to meet our requests to number four, confession.
Forgive us our sins, God, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
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In church, this is so important.
We have to daily admit our mistakes, our missteps.
We have to ask God for forgiveness.
Repentance is not a bad word.
It's starting your morning fresh as God highlights areas where we made mistakes, where we messed
up.
It's starting fresh in our relationship with Him because He forgives us.
(33:19):
God is inviting us to bring our failures and our anger and our addictions to Him so that
He can forgive us, right?
Repentance and punishment, it's freedom.
It's freedom that we can walk in who God has called us to be and it's freedom for others.
That's why it's so important that we stop holding onto grudges and unforgiveness.
(33:44):
And I want to pause here a minute and challenge you.
If God highlights anybody into your mind, into your heart, that you're holding onto
bitterness, unforgiveness or anger, lay it down today.
It's just not worth it.
Because when we lay it down today and we go to that person and extend forgiveness to them,
(34:04):
it's freedom for you and them.
And then they can walk in the person that God called them to be.
And this includes friends, family, co-workers, classmates, whatever it may be.
This is an important part of getting closer to Jesus.
(34:25):
And then Jesus sums it all up with one final step by saying, then you invite God's Spirit.
And don't let us yield to temptation or distraction, but rescue us from the evil one.
See, the next time you're tempted to binge watch a show, to give into that addiction,
to speak those words in anger, to worry about how the bills are going to be paid, I want
(34:48):
to challenge you to pause and reflect and say, come Holy Spirit.
God empower me to overcome and make the right choice.
And see, notice when we use this prayer as an outline for our morning devotion and our
morning connection with God, it allows us to move towards Him, not away from Him.
(35:11):
But it's a choice to wake up early, to have a place established where you connect with
Him because that is being devoted to the way.
Amen?
So now, we're going to have a time of communion.
No one's stand up yet.
It's easier when you're sitting.
If you need a communion element, could you put one hand up so our people can come around
(35:34):
and get it to you?
Just keep it up until you get an element.
If you need gluten-free, you can put two hands up and wave them in the air because we have
gluten-free.
Kelsey's got your gluten-free.
Everybody else is coming around to meet you.
Keep your hand up so we can get you your elements.
Thank you, one here.
Is there one here in the middle, Rudy?
(35:56):
Don't try to be Justin Fields though, because...just kidding.
All right, so as you're getting those, about a year ago, about a year ago, I did a Sunday
morning talk on communion, and I challenged our community of faith that this communion
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element in many churches has become a ritual.
It's just become something you do.
In some places, you do it every Sunday.
Here we do it once a month.
But in reality, this isn't a ritual.
This is an opportunity for an encounter.
That's what this is.
Jesus challenged His church and His followers of the way to remember what He did for them.
(36:46):
The bread, right, represents His body that was broken for us.
The juice represents His blood that covers our sins and our mistakes and our missteps.
So as we partake in this, this is an opportunity, notice, communion, to commune with God, to
draw closer to God.
(37:08):
And listen, if you're in a relationship with Jesus, get right before you take it.
Lay down your mistakes.
Lay down your unforgiveness.
Get right because Jesus wants to draw close to you.
If you're here this morning and you're not in a relationship with God, listen, just set
this down to the side, right?
(37:28):
Or, like we do every single Sunday, we're going to pray a simple prayer here in a minute.
And when we pray that prayer, it brings you into relationship with God, which then allows
you to remember what He did for you.
Amen?
So before we stand and take communion, let's pray a simple prayer together.
Jesus, I'm broken.
I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin.
(37:53):
Change me.
I believe You're God's Son.
I believe You died for me.
Make me new.
Set me free.
Fill me, God, with Your Spirit.
In Jesus' name, amen.
So if you prayed that prayer, man, now we're all going to stand and we're going to celebrate
(38:16):
what Jesus did for us in communion together.
So if you want to take out the wafer, on the night He was betrayed, Jesus took bread.
He broke it and He handed it to His disciples and He said, take, eat.
This is my body, which is broken for you.
And do it often in remembrance of me.
(38:36):
Let's remember what Jesus did for us.
Likewise, after supper, He took a cup of wine.
He said, this is my blood, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Drink it often and when you do, do it in remembrance of me.
(39:00):
Let's drink.
Let's overwhelm us with Your love and connection.
Allow us to draw close to You every single morning and prioritize a time with God through
prayer, through reading, and may we truly follow the way.
(39:25):
In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, before we go, there were several words of knowledge I need to share with all
of you.
You have pain on the outside of your left hip.
You have pain in your left elbow.
You have pain in your left ear that extends into the neck causing tension.
(39:45):
The outer edge of your right eye, there is discomfort and it's hard for you to see.
You have left knee pain specifically in the kneecap.
You have pain in the top of your left foot near your toes.
You may be struggling with symptoms of dementia.
If any of those are you, our prayer team is here on my right.
(40:07):
We want to pray for you and we are expecting God to heal you this morning and set you free.
Amen.
But before we go, God impressed on my heart that we as a community of faith pray the Lord's
prayer together.
That as we close in praying together, we are coming together and declaring this is how
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we as a community of faith will start our day.
Amen.
Can we do that?
All right.
Come Holy Spirit.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
(40:52):
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our
debtors.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us for the evil one.
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Now listen, this is going to be a great series where we simply break down and build roots
(41:18):
and get closer to Jesus so that our relationship with him will thrive and that those in the
tri-state area that aren't in a relationship with him yet will be drawn to that peace and
that love.
Amen.
All right.
Before you go, all right, Rudy's on that side.
I'm here.
Those doors will wait for me to get there so I can say goodbye to you.
(41:40):
If you're home or watching online, God bless you guys.
Look forward to connecting with you soon.
Looking forward to next week where we talk about community and connecting in.
God bless you guys.
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