The Good Shepherd

I'm really excited to welcome up our speaker tonight. We get the privilege of hearing from Pastor Alex Cruz. But you guys stand and welcome, Alex. We're going to pray for him.

You can stand up. We are going to pray. You can say standing. I just want to say there are people that the Lord puts in your life that are really good at things that you're really not good at.

And it provokes you and calls you into something. And Alex has been that for me working alongside him, just the way that our skill sets line up. And there's enough crossover that we do a lot together. But then the specific way that God has wired him is different.

I mean, it provokes me. And I love it. And for years, I've called ourselves Desert Brothers. Because when this whole thing's over, we're just going to go be monks in a cave somewhere.

And it's going to be awesome. But really excited for what the Lord has through Alex. Would you extend a hand as we pray and welcome what the Lord would have? Holy Spirit, we're so grateful.

We're so grateful that you would share Alex with us. We're so grateful that you would speak to him. And we're so grateful that you've cultivated such a relationship with him that in his obedience he gets to share that. We want to be participants of the harvest that's coming through Alex's life.

And so right now we tell our souls to wake up. It's time to receive the Word of the Lord. God, thank you so much in advance for everything that you're going to do. We bless Alex and bless the preaching of the Word.

In your name, amen. Amen. Amen. There is a lot more backstory to that, because for me, to ever want to be called a desert brother, have anything to do with that lane of things, he has to rub off me on me a little bit.

So more of that story. We'll share it on a different Sunday. We'll save that one. Man, I'm so excited for this tonight.

So excited to be with you all. And right off the bat, I have to introduce my brand new son, Banks William Prius. We got a picture of him. I think there it is.

Look, happy family. Yes, I do want to just talk about my son and my family and show you our pictures. And I am a dad like that. But I also just want to say we were met by so much generosity.

And people bring in meals and send in gift cards. And I wanted to make sure to let you know how grateful we are. And just how excited we are that we have a community that leans in like that. And it's so generous.

And so thank you. And thank you. Whether you gave or not, thank you for being generous. Thank you for being who you are.

We're a family of six now. So if you find yourself at my level, or you're any further along than me, and you have more than that, text me, all your tips and tricks. I need them. We're having the time of our lives.

We love it. He's five weeks old, and it's been the best. I also want to shout some people out tonight. I got any youth owners in here, any youth owners in this service.

We had several in the last one, so we might be lower. I need you to stand up. I don't know how many we got, but I need you to stand up. It's small, but mighty.

We had a lot of the first service. Small, but mighty. There we are. Yeah, there she is.

Let's go. See, that's youth culture right there. You can just follow Lena tonight. She'll lead the way.

We'll all be in good hands. I wanted them to stand up for a second, just to say, there is so much that happens in our youth ministry that are because of our owners and our volunteers showing up, and giving their time, but not just their time. It's their energy. It's their passion.

It's all of it. And youth ministry is incredible. And there's also a lot to it. And you're walking through a lot of different things with young people.

And we want to trade it for anything else, but it doesn't just happen on Wednesday nights. They are in our students' lives throughout the week. And there's so much that's happening. And it would not happen without them.

And so I just wanted to give them a shout out. And we're so grateful for them. And often, that is something that that job never gets thanked enough. We all have jobs like that.

And roles like that. But that job never will get thanked enough. But they'll always have the memories of just what's happening in our students' lives. So we're just grateful for them.

And I wanted to say that. Are you guys ready for tonight? I have titled my message tonight. Follow the shepherd.

Look to somebody next to you and say, follow the shepherd. I am so compelled. I am so compelled in this whole series that we've been going after, understanding the kingdom, that we wouldn't just know about the kingdom, that we wouldn't just have knowledge that puffs up. But we would actually understand the kingdom so much so that it transforms our lives and brings heaven to earth, just like Jesus prayed for.

And so that's what we're going after tonight, continuing to look at another parable. And we are going to look at the parable of the lost sheep. If you had any cue from the title. And I just want to say, right?

Even before I begin to read it, that I feel so compelled by who Jesus is, so provoked by his love. And even just this passage of the way that he goes after the one. And my prayer for you tonight is that you would feel like a spark, that you would feel an acceleration. Whatever God has already started to speak at you, or anything that he has to say to you tonight, that it would like catalyze you into being like our great shepherd.

Are you down for that? Let's go. I want to read from Luke 15, 1 through 7. Says this, tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to Jesus, or often came to listen to Jesus teach.

And I just want to give a full pause. And I want us to pray real quick, put your hands out in front of you. Jesus, we admire the fact that notorious sinners, the tax collectors, that the people that others would have cast off, or counted out, showed up to listen to you. Even before they knew who you were, and we pray that you would do the same, that they would come to our services here, that they would come to prayer room on Wednesday nights.

God, that they would show up at our tables because they got an invitation, that they would come to our connect groups. Jesus, that we would find ourselves at their homes and their tables because of all that you want to do. In your name, amen. Amen.

Amen. Wow. Stay with me the whole time. That was the best.

Jesus, this law, complained that he was associating with such sinful people, even eating with them. So Jesus told them this story. If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the 99 others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?

And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep. In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over the one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than the other 99, then over the 99 others who are righteous and haven't straight. I just love this because it is just a picture of what Jesus is like.

And like I said, I feel so compelled, even just the way it starts off that he's just with the people who don't even believe in him yet. He's taking time. I was thinking, man, you had three years. And it's like, where did you spend your time and so often we find him with sinners.

We find him with people that religious people are going, why would you spend your time with them? Why would you waste your time with them? Would have been the feeling of that. And we have a Jesus that goes to the whosoever, anyone and everyone, the people that would never be able to measure up, the people that didn't have it all together, the broken, the people where you step into their lives, it would feel like there's a mess.

There's something to be cleaned up, the people that were doubting, the people that were hurting. And I think it just compels me because to be honest, it can be easy at times to get comfortable with what we do. Following Jesus, we can find ourselves in worship services often, we can find ourselves with incredible preaching. We have so many moments of connection with God and with others and it's beautiful.

But I just feel provoked that I so often see Jesus paying him with sinners, see Jesus spending time with people who really had nothing to give back to him. It's the most beautiful message in the world. Doesn't it blow your mind that the second that you walk out this door, you start passing people and you have the one thing that they're looking for on the inside of you? I don't even know what you have materialistically or anything like that to offer people, but what we have on the inside of us, it just blows my mind that as I'm walking throughout the city, as I'm going about my day, that I'm walking past so many people that would give anything to know him, that would give anything to understand his good news.

And I wanna be like him in that way. I wanna make sure that my time is actually spent doing the same thing, I want my heart to look like our shepherd, yeah? And it just, I think sometimes I feel like puzzled by it. Cause I'm like, man, we have the greatest message, the greatest news in the world.

We see these stories of transformation that's happening because of what Jesus is doing, taking this message to people that everybody else counted out, he's going up to fishermen, who everybody else would have looked at going, yeah, just some fishermen, that's what, they'll be their whole lives. And he's like, you wanna follow me? And I'll make you become something that you would never imagine in your life. He's offering transformation.

He's passing someone up in a tree, he's a keyist. When everybody else is here overlooking them going, hey, I'm coming to your house today. And it's the one that was cheating everyone else out of money. It just blows my mind to think about what he was up to and to watch him do this.

And it leaves me going, man, I want that Jesus. I want those stories in my life. And hear me out. I don't say that from place that I could earn anything from God, that if I did enough of that, I could feel like I could earn his love.

If you just go back to last Sunday, when Mark run a message about the difference between the olive tree and the fig tree, you'll know right off the bat. We are not about that. It's not about your works or what you can do. But I know you feel like me compelled to go, what on earth were you up to?

That people were responding like this to you. And I want that in my life. I know that there's so many stories in this room of what God's done in you. There's so many stories in this room of what he's up to.

And yet, I think you might be a little bit like me going, but I want more. But if I'm reading this and I'm watching you transform and completely transform people's lives, I want to see that same thing. I don't want to settle here. There's more for us.

Do you want that? Do you feel that with me? And so I just, I think the question that I've been asking myself and that I want to invite you to ask tonight is, where's the gap? Like if we see the good news, the greatest news, like I'm literally, I can't give enough language to do it justice, of the news that we have, the transformation that we're invited into.

And we have that. It's like, okay, I love what's happening, but God, I want to see more. And just if you feel like me at times, like why don't I? Asking the questions, I just want to see it.

And I just think there's something that I even felt God highlighting to me in worship. And I just felt like he wants to take the pressure off tonight. Because are you like me when you step into situations? Maybe moments where you think about bringing him up in a conversation with a coworker, moments where you think kind of going outside the normal routine, wherever you're at, at the coffee shop, at the gym, and like letting people know, because we want them to know what we have, the good news that we have.

But I start thinking things as soon as I'm stepping out, I'm like, but will I even have the words to say? Like I'm so provoked, I'm so compelled. But it's the second that I'm like, ah, then what will I say next? Or will I even have enough time for this?

Like, man, I know, like getting in people's lives. It takes time. And I find myself asking that, have you ever had the thought, like, man, this could be a waste of time. Basically, every day.

And I think it's a good thing that we care about our time and we're aware of it. We just aren't in charge of it. And we're not the one that created it. Will I have, will I have what it takes to step into these situations, to help people the way that our shepherd was helping people?

What is this situation? Does it turn out how I thought? We think all these things. Are you like me?

You're thinking these things all the time? And the crazy thing to me is like most of this is happening in our heads before we even say it worked. Like literally the other day, I'm walking into the gym and we think about these different areas that life takes us, gym and coffee shop and your workplace and where it is. And I'm walking into the gym because I go there often and I don't know if you can.

And I'm checking in. And I'm just thinking, like, man, I have that thought in my head, I should be telling this guy, I should be, there should be more here. And I'm bringing my friends in. I'm getting him a guest pass, which I don't know how he has anymore.

But I'm like, we're gonna find a way in. And we get there and he's filling it out and it's for sure rejecting him on the little iPad. And we're talking just life and all of a sudden this guy at the front desk, he goes, you guys follow the Lord? And I was like, one, we're in.

Two, I'm like, wait, all this time, I've had all these thoughts and he follows Jesus? It's like before we even know and open our mouths, we just don't know as much as we think. And if we would just be willing to step into these places, buddy, it brings a lot of pressure. And it brings a lot of questions.

And we can really feel the weight of those if you're anything like me. And I just believe that God wants to lift that tonight. There's so many different, this is not the first time a message has been preached about reaching lost people. You're like, yeah?

There's so many different strategies, there's so many different ways, there's so many different thoughts about it all. Like there's so much to it. We're thinking about it all the time because we wanna be like him. But I think that God wants to help us shift something tonight.

I think he wants to help take some of the pressure off. And I wanna read a verse from Matthew that gives us some insight into this. If you wanna turn into Matthew 9, 36 to 38. It says this, and you've heard this, you've heard this scripture before.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, ask him to send more workers into the field. Isn't it interesting to you that he didn't say, send more shepherds?

It's like, we're all walking around, but I have good news for you. You are not the shepherd, you are a sheep. And I know not many of you woke up today thinking, hey, I just feel like a sheep. Feel like I wanna be a little more like a sheep today.

In fact, when I said that, someone here is like, bro, I'm like a lion. You are a sheep. And I'm all about it. God has things to speak to us and who we are.

You better believe. I have a six year old boy and I'm praying when I'm praying for that. I'm like, bro, you're a mighty warrior. I'm like a leader of leaders.

I'm like, I'm pulling no punches, dude. I'm JP, I'm giving my best. I'm like everything I've got. But Jesus, the shepherd knows what he's getting at.

And he's saying, your souls are like sheep. And I don't know if you came to church today thinking that you're gonna learn a little bit about sheep, but I'd like to invite you to sheepology 101. Classes in session. I got a couple of facts for you about how our souls, you're like, okay, you're gonna relate here.

Always in panic. It's like, that's a strong start. Sheep only get like four hours of sleep because they are so afraid because they constantly see themselves as prey. That's you.

Or they are in pride. If they don't have grass right in front of them, they just go off thinking they can find it on their own. Hence the lost sheep. Sheep need water, just like any other animal, but they can't tell what's good or bad water.

So they need a shepherd that can actually lead them to where they need to go. Sheep create ruts, which is just taking the same pathway, trampling the grass so that they no longer have any food. And it's like, oh my gosh, we're struggling here. And you and me, our souls are just like that.

We're panicked in one moment, super prideful in the next. Can't figure out what's good and bad for us. We need a shepherd. We can't handle the pressure.

And I just love just what we can see here in Matthew 9, that he's going, I'm the shepherd. I look out at the people with compassion. They're like no sheep without a shepherd. It's our job to connect people to the shepherd, not to be him.

I think that there's, like I said before, I don't think that we have like an evangelism strategy problem. I think that we have a belief issue. What I mean by that is we talk all the time. Like hey, we should do more outreach.

Yes, we should. We should go tell people about Jesus. Great, let's hit the streets. Or hey, let's be relational and do it as we go to our jobs and in our neighborhoods and invite people over and you hear that from us all the time.

Like everyday believers, like on mission, as we go. Yeah, let's do that. We could practically meet people's needs. It'd be the hands and feet of Jesus.

And then as we show up and meet people's needs, we can tell them why. There's a God who loves you. Let's do it. All of them.

Sometimes we can get so caught up in like the strategy of how we should do this. But I think our real problem comes down to our belief. If we could actually realize, God, I am not the one in charge. You are the shepherd and you are so much better.

I think right there pressure will start to fall off. And I think as we, we're gonna hop into a passage tonight. And the way that I wanna unpack it, I feel like as we've been in this series on the kingdom of God, that there's some like principles and some truth. That actually will so transform our lives.

It will remove the pressure, but cause us to continue to invite people to see and get connected to the shepherd. And as we've been unpacking these parables, we've been doing the Pardes whole model. And one of the things that we see happen is often when Jesus is teaching and there's parables, he's often hinting towards something like the Old Testament. It's called the Rames.

It's just a hint towards what he would have been likening it to in the Old Testament. And people would have as they studied, as they followed and listened, they would have been putting two and two together. And the first one, which I don't have up on the slide, but that I believe that Jesus would have been hinting at, is an Ezekiel 3411. You can turn there if you're really fast.

Says this, for us says the Lord God, hold I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. I think prophetically, Jesus would have been helping them understand because the rest of this passage talks about, like false shepherds wouldn't do this, but the truth of shepherd goes to search for the law sheep. He would have basically been saying, I am the son of God. I am the true shepherd.

I am him, as my young people would say. Like that was his prophetic declaration. I am the son of God. The shepherd is here in your midst.

But I also think that the listeners and the people like around would have been going, the shepherd, the one shepherd, and they would have been thinking about a passage that we know very well, Psalm 23. That shepherd, and I want to read that for us. And I want to say one thing, I think as we are carrying these questions, and as we are longing to be like our shepherd, but sometimes carrying too much of the way, we find ourselves in two different places, and you may relate with feeling stressed out, and a little bit fearful. As you're thinking through these questions, do I have enough, do I have what it takes?

Do I have enough time and resource and money, and all those things when I'm just trying to figure out my own life, is anybody else like that? And I think that's very normal. And you might be in this place thinking, I don't really feel that's stressful about it. And I just wonder if the other side of that is that we might be less fruitless than we could be.

Like not in a way where I'm coming at you, I'm thinking about it for myself. I'm like, if we aren't feeling stressed or fearful, then we probably find ourselves on the other side of things, and maybe there's not as much fruit. And God has something that he wants to spark, he has something that he wants to show us tonight, to go, there's more for us, there's more for us. So let's look at Psalm 23.

You've heard this before, but if it helps you, you could close your eyes, listen to it in a way that just helps reveal to you. This is the shepherd, the one that goes after the 99. The Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows.

He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along the right path, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.

You're rod and your staff, protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil, my cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Man, that is a good passage. And that is the reality of the shepherd that we follow. And when he would have been talking about this shepherd that goes to see, to go after the one, which in that day would have been very offensive. We don't do a lot of shepherding.

And so we wouldn't know that, but when he leaves the 99, people would have been thinking, why in the world would you do that? That's a ridiculous idea. Why would you leave this whole group of sheep for that one sheep, like let it go, you got 99 others? But he's conveying his heart for the one.

And they would have also been thinking, wait, that shepherd that goes after the one is the one that gives me all that I need, that leads me where I couldn't lead myself, that walks with me when I'm in my darkest valley, it would have been mind-blowing to them. And as what I wanna do tonight is unpack Psalm 23, and pull out some kingdom truths as we do it. And I believe as we look at these and allow them to actually transform us and shift our beliefs, that it will cause us to be so impacted by God's kingdom and so enthralled by being able to follow a shepherd that is so good, that that's just it will lead to us connecting him to others. People will wanna know what is up with your life.

So I wanna read Psalm 23, one. It says, the Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need. Look to somebody next to you and say, I have all that I need. You gotta say it with more like, I have all that I need.

Like I didn't even believe the first one. The first thing that I have for us is in the kingdom of God, there is more than enough. There's more than enough. Yet how often do we think?

I don't know if I have enough. We think about stepping into a conversation with somebody. I don't know if I have enough words. Like I was saying before, we think about giving our time and situation and you're like, I don't even have enough time for my own life.

I have four kids now, I have less time than I did five weeks ago. Like we all feel it. Like I don't know that I have enough. Have you ever noticed the difference between you when you have more than enough when you don't have enough?

Let me ask you this. Have you ever hosted a party and ordered way too much food? It's like every human being on the planet. Every time I host something for you, then I'm like, I don't think we have enough pizza.

We should get more pizzas. And we just end up with so much leftover. You do the same exact thing. Don't look at me like I'm the only one.

You host your party. And the next thing you're like leftovers for the week. And I think one of the funniest things that we all do is we then think, oh, I'm gonna bring the leftovers to my coworkers. And we bring them the next day and we're just feeling like the most generous people.

We're like, hey, extra chick fillet in the fridge. If you need it. And it's like, dude, everybody brought their lunch. Like no one really needs that.

But you're not giving up. It's like lunch time and you're still just like, hey, I got more donuts from the grocery store. You sure you don't want one? Like it's free.

It's like nobody wants it. Like why do we all do that? Yeah, we feel so generous. But that's how we act when there's more than enough.

We're like, are you sure you don't want it? Like one more try, one more chance. Can you imagine if we walked with the kingdom of God reality that we actually have more than enough, we would be eavesdropping on people being like, did I hear you had a need? Cause I follow a shepherd who's given me everything that I need.

Is there any way I can help? Is there a situation that needs my time? Because I have something to give because it doesn't come from me. It comes from a shepherd.

It comes from his kingdom. And I have more than I could ever imagine. So who needs my time today? Does anybody need resource?

Does anybody need money? You're like, not money. Don't touch them. Like we all feel it.

We all feel it in our lives. Like often we are thinking we are in kingdoms, the kingdoms of this world as we are actually grafted into the kingdom of God. And the kingdoms of this world are often saying, you don't have enough, you don't have enough money. You don't have enough security.

You don't have enough time. And we're just constantly thinking like that. And God's going news flash. Everything's changed.

You have more than enough. Can I give you a practical takeaway? Because I just want this to transform us and actually give us something that we could walk into. Not just know it, but actually step into it.

So practical takeaway is you are connecting people to the shepherd. Practical radical generosity this week. Give away something time, attention, money, encouragement, like someone who lacks nothing. Like someone who lacks nothing.

And just step into it. Now say it again, pressure's off of you. This is your response to going, I follow a good shepherd. And he has all that I need.

And so I can give something this week. You cool with that? I want to continue in Psalm 23, 2 through 3. I forgot to put it in my notes.

So we're reading the sky Bible on this one. That's what we called in use. This is the sky Bible. Psalms 23, 2.

He leads me to rest in the green meadows. He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along the right path, bringing honor to his name.

The second thing that I think can be so transformational for us. The truth and the kingdom of God, you're free to get it wrong. In the kingdom of God, you're free to get it wrong. But nobody likes to be wrong.

And we are often so committed to being right. And the way that we think and the way the things that we think we're right about, is there anybody here that's married? That's all I have to say about it. You get it.

You understand, hey, I'm not always right. I used to think I thought I was. And it's the fact that he leads. It's the fact that he guides me.

He's the one that's leading and guiding, and he's good at it. And often we feel like we need to do so much of the work by being sure about things. God's inviting us to have conversations with people. And do you guys realize how many judgments you have in your life all the time throughout your day?

You're like, I feel like that person might need something. You're thinking that person seems like they have everything. I don't think they need anything. And you feel intimidated.

They seem to have to be. You guys are thinking this all the time. We're walking around with judgments all the time. Whether it's helping people understand who Jesus is, or just in your life.

The problem isn't that we have judgments. It's that we are so committed to being right about them. If we could just understand, I actually might not be right about this, we could step into situations and God would move. And we'll see stories of him on the move in our lives, experiencing the kingdom of God in our own lives and doing it with those around us.

I was after spring or treat a couple years back. I was going to Lifetime, just another gym day at the gym. Just kidding. And after a weekend with young people, spring or treat, man, it's the best thing in the world.

And I'm like, y'all tired me out. I'm going to eat a day. And so I just go, and I'm getting shots up at Lifetime, and it's me and one other guy in this gym. And I'm exhausted.

And out of nowhere this guy comes up to me, he's like, yo, you want to run once? And he's like, do you want to play me one on one for anybody that doesn't play basketball? And that's like, we were here. And then we just went here.

It's basically just being like, are you a man? And I'm like, I'm tired. And it's like what you do with your best friends. He's, I don't know.

He wants to play once. So we play. I give him a couple of losses. It's like, OK, that's weird.

Why are you talking like that? You think, yeah. But we get done. And we're sitting down together, and we're just talking for a second.

And I'm like, man, this conversation's going somewhere. You've had those moments where you're like, man, what's like, there's some deeper questions going on here. And we're talking, and we get a little bit further into the conversation. And I find out that he's Muslim.

And I wouldn't have known that. Culturally, he was white. I'm like, OK. And so we're just talking more about it.

And I'm even like, oh my god, you've got to show up. And I'm like, all right, I'm going to ask him if he wants to just hear from God right now. He's like, you better not leave me out to hang. These will be wild.

God, use me. And I'm doing listening prayer with him, or soul care type prayer. One of the first questions that I ask, I'm going, hey, is there anywhere in your life that you feel fear, that you feel overwhelmed? And he's like, no, I don't have any fear.

And I was like, this is going great. Not what I pictured. What's the next step? And we just end up further in this conversation.

And we're just basically ends right there. I told you this story to just let you know you can get it wrong. Like, you can step out. And I thought it was going somewhere.

And I was completely wrong. And by the way, we stayed in touch. And over the next two months, I received so many text messages from that man. I think more than any I've received from one person in my life.

And they were like TikTok videos. But I'm not about Islam. But they weren't like good. This man was more committed to evangelizing me.

I didn't necessarily agree with his way. But it was like the TikTok videos where he's sending me. It's like, you found that at 1 AM at night. It's like this one artifact proves that all Christianity is wrong.

And I literally get to the point where I'm like, bro, I need to stop sending me the TikTok videos. It completely backfired on me. I'm like, I'm here trying to help people see Jesus. And I'm like, don't text me.

OK? And I still see him. Everyone throw out the gym to this day. And I don't know where it's going to end up.

But I'm like, but no more TikTok videos. None. I'm done with that. The whole point is that we can get it wrong.

We don't know how it's going to turn out. There are situations that you think is going to go move towards Jesus and conversation that way. And it's not. And there are situations where you've counted people out.

And you've thought, no, this would be awkward. Or I don't know where this would end up. And I'm not going to go there because it might be a buzz kill. And you don't know.

You might be wrong. And some of the greatest things that are happening in your life are probably going to happen on the other side of you thinking you're right. Can I give you another practical takeaway? Because the thing is, you don't have to be right.

You can just be curious. Practical takeaways. You're connecting people to the shepherd. Upgrade your questions.

I'll give you a couple of trust that you guys can think of them as well. But a couple examples would be like, hey, what's the best thing happening in your life right now? Because how often are we just passing people going, how are you doing? Good.

It's like, how are you doing? Good lies. But we've just bought this whole like this. Is that how we do it?

What if we upgraded our questions? What's one thing you wish you had that you don't have yet? When's the last time you asked God about that? And ask that to anyone and everyone.

Because you have no idea who's following Jesus. You don't know. The whole point is we could just get curious. We show up in our lives all the time to conversations and situations and relationships.

If we're being honest, within agenda. But if you could just show up getting curious, I wonder what he might do. If we could just get to the need. Because that's where Jesus wants to show up.

We think we have the idea of what should happen in this situation, what people want, and all these things. But if you can just get to the need, that is like a sacred space. And when you're there, Jesus wants to show up. And he doesn't want to reveal himself to someone else in just the way that you think.

He can meet them in any and every way. So get into that need. And getting curious enough to do so can actually help us connect people to the shepherd. The pressure is off.

The weight's off. Because you don't have to be right anymore. God's way better at that. I want to read the last couple of verses of Psalm 23.

Psalm 23, 4 through 6. It says this, even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid for you are close beside me. You're rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil, my cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life. And I will live in the house of the Lord forever. This is what I am pulling from that.

In the kingdom of God, mystery is better than certainty. It's a truth. In the kingdom of God, mystery is better than certainty. But aren't you like me?

I'm like God, no more valleys. He's like, I'll be with you. I'm like, how will we never go? I got a better idea.

Let's just not do it again. Because that would be awesome. And every time he invites me into something, he sparks a new dream in my heart. He sparks just something that he's prompting me into.

It could be a daily thing or a bigger life decision. And all I want are certain answers. OK? And God, I did a pros and cons list.

And I'm seeing some good things that could come of this. But there's something, he's like, I know. All I need is you to trust me. You to follow me.

In the mystery, there's wonder. It's crazy to me how badly we actually fight for certainty. And we want to ask God questions about certainty. But we are actually created for mystery.

We enjoy the journey with him. We enjoy searching out who he is. We're filled with wonder. We could sit for hours and talk to our family, our best friends.

Just being like, oh my gosh, you'll never see God like this. And honestly, I think we want to say a lot more than people want to listen most of the time. But have you ever seen it like this? If you're anything like me.

But we were created for mystery. And I'm talking again, kingdoms of our world. We live in a culture that's like, you need certainty. How's your financial future?

Do you have your career figured out? Do you have everything set for your family? Do you have it all together? And we're looking for certainty.

But God wants to invite us into mystery. You know what's so interesting to me? That early on, when God is first calling Abram, that the invitation that he extends just could basically come and follow me. It's wild to me.

He's speaking to a man who wasn't even in a Christian culture. So he wouldn't have even known God yet. And his first words to him is follow me. And I'll make you the father of many nations.

And it's crazy because from the beginning of time, God is operating from a place of going. Just follow me. Follow me in the mystery. If we can give up certainty and follow God in the mystery, we find connection.

We so badly want certainty. We want the answers. We want to know that things are going to be safe and things are going to work out. And God's going, you would miss the best part.

Connection with me. I just picture when Abram would have been following God, that he's stepping out and he's going, all right, I'm following you and I don't know where I'm going. So the next day, he'd be like, what now? And God would speak.

And this relationship would grow. And it'd be beautiful because God's going, this is how I always wanted it to be that you would be connected to me. So if we can give up our certainty and just embrace the mystery that God has for us. Or the certainty that you have to be so certain about the situations that you're thinking of helping other people.

Guess what? That's not for you. That's for the shepherd. The pressure's off.

Stepping into the mystery with him. I don't know how this would help. I don't know if I have the time. I don't know if I have enough.

But God, if you're prompting me, I'm willing to step into it. He wants that connection with us. Can I give you another practical takeaway? As you're connecting people to the shepherd.

I said this, start that business. Start that Bible study. Learn that new skill that you've been thinking about. Start hosting those people at your house that you've been talking about, and you've been wanting to do forever.

And at first you're going, what? That's about me. It's about the ways that we walk in the kingdom. We follow the shepherd that is so good and so beyond what we could ever do for ourselves.

That as we do it, and as we step into things, do you know where you're going to leave most people to Jesus most likely? Kind of a bold statement. But it's going to happen as you follow Him and as you go. As you build that business, as you start that prayer group that you've been thinking about, as you start baking because you're passionate about it.

It's just the things that are on the inside of you that you actually follow and go, man, there's something about this and you step into it. God's going to use that in your life. You're going to end up alongside other people who don't have a shepherd. The ones that Jesus had compassion for it, and He wants to use you to point them to the shepherd, but not be the one that has to answer everything for it.

Can you imagine this? Because I think we just think, man, we've got to be so certain and so right about everything. But I just picture it like at the beginning of time. Like in the garden, Adam and God.

And this just is funny to me. God invites Adam to name the animals. Y'all. Think about it.

If you were asked by God, I'm looking at each and every one of you, you better be honest right now. If you were in charge of naming the animals for all of human history, I promise. We would just be like, I need a couple days to pray. And you'd be like, I'm right here.

It's like, I gotta pray. What? We would feel so much pressure and anxiety. Being like, are we sure?

Can we talk about it? And I don't know what it would have looked like. But I just picture that. See, God and Adam, standing right there.

Next. It's like what he got? He's like giraffe. And I looked up the original meaning.

It means one who walks dirty. It's like, OK. God would have been like giraffe. He's like looking over the angels.

Like, hey, we're going to go with giraffe. OK, what he got next? Hip-hop. I don't know what it would have looked like.

But I think we think about it in the garden. And before it, it's the kingdom. It's the way that he initiated it. Like we're so concerned with certainty and with getting things right, if we would just realize we have permission to fail.

We have permission to step out. We have permission to not have it all together. And if we can follow him, oh my gosh, what we're going to see in our own lives, and then the way that we're going to be able to point others to the shepherd will blow our minds. The last thing that I think is really helpful for us to understand is you'll never know the impact of your yes until you go.

It's tied to everything that I was just saying. You'll never know the impact of your yes to God, of your trusting God, and your obedience. We've been talking about listening in obeying. You'll never know your yes until you go.

I got a text last week from my neighbor. And he just reached, he called me. He called me and he goes, hey, could you come over and move this couch with me? So I'm like, yep, head over there.

And backtrack, when we first moved in about five years ago, I get in, I'm like, hey, we live in Minneapolis. Our neighbors are like right there. So it's like, hey, we should make this thing work. We're going to be with each other for a second.

And I remember in our first conversations, just like you would be, I'm like passionate. Like, man, I want this family to know Jesus. I want them to know what we're about. I want them to feel like living next to us as a gift.

And in those first conversations, I picked up pretty quickly that he's not a fan of God. And actually, there's a whole lot more of a backstory that has just a lot of hurt and some hurt from even being a part of a church early on. And what started, if you're anything like me sometimes, what starts is like this big passion. And like, man, I can't wait.

And I'm excited to see what God does. Quickly became like a little bit of like something that I'm trying to avoid if I'm being real. Can I be real? What I found out is like, man, this dude left a talk.

And like, they were in like a 30 minute conversation. He's talking for 29. And I'm like, maybe God could. And he's like, I don't like something.

Sorry, I'm sorry. And there's lots of opinions, lots on his mind. And to be honest with you, I can't pretend to be like, man, and I have so much faith for this situation. I'm in these conversations, but I just felt like prompted by God.

Like, man, could you just stay in the conversation? And believe me, every time I left, I was like, that did nothing. It didn't. I didn't feel full of faith.

I'm just trying to be honest. But I get this call the other day, hey, can you come help me move the couch? And I go over there. And I'm about to help him.

And he's like, man, he's like, telling me what he's been walking through lately. And it's some pretty difficult stuff. And he's like, but he's like, yeah, I've been talking about it a little bit more. And I was like, yeah.

And he's like, yeah, actually my boy sends his Bible by his bed every night. And he was reading it the other day. And I was telling him, hey, you don't have to read it all at once. You can break it down in verses or chapters and see what sticks out to you.

And I'm like, so now you're disciplining him. And he goes, yeah, he's like, he'll come to my room at night. He'll go, he'll read one of those verses. And he'll go, man, this one was sticking out to me, dad.

And he literally says to me, I'll just start crying. And I didn't know all this time. I thought, this wasn't doing anything. And he's one man, all those conversations we can have it open me up to talking to God.

And I'm like, you've got to be kidding me. You could have told me at least once, whole this time. But the whole point and the thing, the way that I just feel God is so good at taking the pressure off. There was never meant to be so much pressure around helping other people understand who he is.

But we were meant to live in his kingdom and watch his truth transform our own lives. And watch the way that as we walk, going, hey, I have more than enough. Even though I don't always feel like it, it's because my shepherd has more than enough. Hey, I don't get everything right.

So I'm leaning in with curiosity. I'm forfeiting my certainty to follow the mystery that is the shepherd leading me. Because I don't know how he's going to turn situations around. And I have to remember again and again, you are so much better than this God.

And it looks like that type of connection that you're walking with them every day. You want me to lean into this one? And I just want us to have a chance to respond tonight. To give God a fresh, like, yes.