Do Whatever He Tells You

GENDER & SEXUALITY SERIES STARTS NEXT WEEK Good morning everyone. My name is David and I’m the Lead Pastor here. Before we get into our message today, I want to say a quick word about our teaching series that we are starting next week: (Gender & Sexuality Schedule) As you heard in announcements, next Sunday we are going to be starting a 4 week teaching series on what the Bible teaches about Gender & Sexuality. Here is where we will be going with that series: Next Sunday we’re going to take a detailed look at what the Bible says about Gender and specifically the idea of being Transgender The following week, we’ll dive into the issue of sexuality and same sex attraction. We’ll spend the 3rd week looking deeper at the issue of identity. And then we’ll finish with a week on the really hard practical questions that Christians ask about this topic. I want you to be here next week for this. In fact, I want you to try and be here for all 4 weeks and not miss, and catch up online if you are out of town. This is not going to be a series on what David thinks or what the latest bestselling author thinks. We’re going to look at what God’s Word says And I’ve been working really hard this past year to be able to do that with truth and grace. Let me tell you something: I have been preaching and teaching the Bible for 20 years now; I have preached over 1,000 times… …and there is no teaching series in my life that I have worked harder on than this upcoming one. Because…this is such an important and personal topic for so many. …and I wanted to be able to study it deeply, so that I could help you be able to talk about it effectively, and Biblically, and kindly, as a Christ follower. So, DO NOT miss next week. THE PASSAGE All right, let’s get into our Bible passage for THIS week. John 2:1 12 PAGE 724 We are in our last week of our series on John chapters 1 & 2 There is one passage after this in John 2 about Jesus clearing the temple, but we aren’t going to do that as we just taught on that story 2 years ago when we were in Luke. If it’s your first time here this morning (hi, welcome! We’re glad you’re here), let me give you some context: In the first chapter of John, Jesus was just introduced on the scene, and today, he’s going to do his first public miracle. Let’s take a look: (John 2:1 12) – NIV On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” 11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. (SERIES Slide) Okay, so Jesus is at a wedding with his disciples and his mother, Mary. And Mary says to her son, “They have no more wine” I’ll tell you in a bit why this is such a big deal, but for now, it’s enough to say that Mary wants to help, and she knows Jesus can help. But Jesus says, “My hour has not yet come” Jesus is saying: “My hour, to demonstrate my sacrifice, my love, to the whole world, it’s not here yet” But…his mother senses that He’s still willing to help (probably because this is going to increase the faith of his disciples!)… And so his mother Mary turns to the servants, those waiting tables at the wedding, and says: (Title screen) Do whatever he tells you And those important words that Mary spoke to those servants are important words for all servants of Jesus today. Do whatever He tells you. Do whatever He tells you. Seriously. You want to write this on your mirror, put it on your lockscreen. Make it your phrase of the week…or your focus for the year. Do whatever He tells you. But maybe you’re thinking, “WHY?” Maybe you’re newer to the faith, or just checking out this church or Christianity… And you’re thinking, “That seems a bit intense. Do…whatever…He tells you?” Feels like a bit much. But I want to walk you through why Christ followers don’t see it that way. In fact, I want to cover 2 questions: #1: Why are we to obey Jesus? #2: How are we to obey Jesus? WHY ARE WE TO OBEY And for those of you that are Christ followers, I want you to be thinking about where God is calling you to obey But let’s start with “the why” Why in the world would we trust one person so completely? Let me give you 3 reasons: Why are we to obey Jesus? #1: He is infinitely wiser than us Think about this. One of the main reasons that you don’t want to obey someone is because you think you know better. This goes back to Eve in the garden. Why does she believe Satan’s lie and eat the fruit? Because she thinks she’s knows better than God! But obedience takes faith and trust. And even the servants at the wedding had to think about this. “This Jesus guy is asking me to do what now?! Is this even a good move right now?!” Because listen, in those days, to run out of wine at a wedding was a major social faux pas It was to “not be hospitable in a culture where hospitality was everything” This couple would have experienced shame the rest of their life for a mistake like this. And so when Jesus asks the servants to fill the jars, they’ve got to decide is this guy going to make the situation better or worse? And we have to make the same decision. But listen, You can DO WHATEVER HE TELLS YOU because Jesus is infinitely wise. There is no teacher, no author, no social influencer, no culture…nothing has more wisdom than Jesus. And honestly, you’re going to listen and follow someone, so make it Jesus. Let me give you another reason WHY you should obey Jesus Why are we to obey Jesus? #1: He is infinitely wiser than us #2: The best place to be is in the center of the will of God When I don’t obey God, it’s not just because I think I KNOW better, it’s also because I think things will GO better for me if I disobey Him. Right? When we know God has asked to give generously of our resources and finances to His work (to others in need), but we don’t. Why is that? It’s because we wrongly think things will go worse for us if we obey and give what we have away. It’s like when Jesus asked the Rich Young Ruler to sell his possessions and follow Him… The ruler just couldn’t imagine that obeying Jesus in that could be the best thing. When we don’t obey Jesus regarding what he says about purity, or relationships, or speech, or anything… it’s often because we think things will go better if we don’t. But the best place to be is in the center of the will of God…doing whatever He tells us to do. The servants could have said, “This is going to go poorly for us if we listen to this crazy guy,” but they would’ve been dead wrong. When you read something that Jesus tells you to do: Do whatever He tells you. It’s the best place for you to be. Because think about this interesting thought: Jesus didn’t need the servants. He could have just made water appear in the pots first, or just directed the whole wedding party over to the new wine Himself. But He chooses to use the servants because He wants them to share in the blessing of what He can do. And hear me, Jesus, the creator of the universe, wants to use you. Stop and think about that for a second! And if you want to see God do amazing things, you’ve got to be obedient to His commands. The servants don’t get to see the miracle if they don’t first obey Jesus. And listen to me, the last thing you want to be saying to God is, “No.” Because if God keeps prompting you to do things, and you keep saying “no” Don’t think He’s going to keep coming to you with assignments. It’s like when God started by using King Saul in the Old Testament, but when Saul hardened his heart, God went to King David. God will do the same with us He’s looking for a heart that will do whatever He says. Is that you? And let me give you a third reason why as Christ followers, we subscribe to the belief of “Do whatever He tells you” Why are we to obey Jesus? #1: He is infinitely wiser than us #2: The best place to be is in the center of the will of God #3: Our obedience brings Him glory When the servants obey, the miracle is performed, and God is glorified. When you obey…God is glorified. It might even be counter cultural obedience. You might be 24 and dating, and it feels like no one you know is “saving themselves for marriage” anymore. But you are waiting…because you know that’s what God told you to do in His Word. Listen, God will be glorified in that. In your relationship In your future marriage someday. And even in people asking you questions about why…and you can say, “This is a God who is so wise, so trustworthy, that I will do whatever He says” HOW ARE WE TO OBEY So now that we’ve talked about the WHY, let’s talk a little bit about the HOW. How are we to obey Jesus? #1: Obey immediately even if it isn’t totally clear I don’t want to say too much about this one because we talked about this a little in our Christmas message. It’s a major theme of the Bible and of faith. The wise men obey and follow the star even when they don’t have a ton to go on. The servants in John 2 obey the word of Jesus right away even though it makes ZERO sense. Jesus says, “Fill up these six huge jars with water.” I can literally almost hear myself saying to Jesus, “What is that going to do?” But isn’t that the story of faith? We’re prone to ask: What is walking around the walls of Jericho going to do? What is walking up the red sea going to do? What is praying over a sick person going to do? But we believe…we obey…even if it’s not totally clear at first. That’s what faith is. (Title Screen) And so where is it that God has been calling you to obey Him, but you’ve maybe even been hesitant, or putting it off? Did a friend or family member challenge you lately from God’s Word? Do whatever He tells you Did you hear something in Pastor John’s message last week that you knew was from God? Do whatever He tells you. What has The Holy Spirit been telling you in your mind, and your heart? Do whatever He tells you. And just start filling the jars! Let me give you a second “how” How are we to obey Jesus? #1: Obey immediately even if it isn’t totally clear #2: Obey even if it’s inconvenient I think we can miss this part of the story when we read it in hindsight. We tend to think, “of course they are going to listen to Jesus! He’s a wonderful miracle worker!” But remember, Jesus hadn’t done a public miracle yet! And think about how incredibly inconvenient this would have been for these waiters. All of their guests are already upset that the wine is gone… And now, they’re supposed to take time to fill up 6 jars with 20 to 30 gallons of water! They’re not filling them with a fire hose here. This is going to take a while! And people are already mad! But despite the inconvenience, they do what He says! But in our consumeristic culture in which we live, we tend to expect that if God asks us to do something it should be easy. And we wrongly think, “If it’s not easy, God must not have our best in mind…or God must not really love us.” As if the only way we love someone is by making their life easy. Is that the way we parent children? By never asking them to do anything hard? By only asking them to obey if it’s going to be easy and convenient?? Or, do we believe that sometimes, the best thing for them, will be to be inconvenienced along the way? By the way, this is why it’s not generally a good idea to figure out God’s will by “open and closed doors” as people say. It’s not a Biblical phrase. When Pharaoh said, “No, I won’t let your people go!” Moses didn’t say, “well, that’s a closed door, let’s close up shop. Back to slavery!” We are to keep obeying God’s will…even if it’s inconvenient. And this leads me to my final point about how to obey the all knowing, all loving Jesus. How are we to obey Jesus? #1: Obey immediately even if it isn’t totally clear #2: Obey even if it’s inconvenient #3: Obey all the way, not just in part Jesus says to the servants in John 2: Fill it the brim. Obey all the way. And then bring it the master But this a tough one. Let me say something hard. Most people who call themselves Christians only fill the jar (they only obey) up until the line of inconvenience, or pain, or sacrifice. It reminds me of a quote I read from Christian author Rachel Gilson last month: She said of her life: “I wore the name of Jesus, but I was living like a pagan with Christian hobbies.” Rachel Gilson And that is too many of us in America. We call ourselves Christians We have Christian hobbies: We go to church. We go to house groups. We maybe even try out a Bible reading plan every January. How are we to obey Jesus? #1: Obey immediately even if it isn’t totally clear #2: Obey even if it’s inconvenient #3: Obey all the way, not just in part But when we read Jesus’ words honoring our parents, or your sex life, or your language, or what you watch with your eyes, or how to forgive those who wronged you... We refuse to obey all the way We refuse to obey past the line of inconvenience or pain. We say, “I read what you said, Jesus, but if I had to stop sleeping and living with the person I’m dating, that would be incredibly financially inconvenient” “If God is asking me to forgive that person after what they did….No…too painful” And this comes back to the question of: Who is Jesus Christ? Just some person who’s there to make your life better and give you a ticket to heaven? If that’s all he is, you’ll never obey Him to the brim. But if Jesus is the Son of God… If He’s your creator… If Jesus is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords… If He’s the one knows absolutely everything, including what’s best for us. If He’s so trustworthy, so loving, that He gave His own life for you. Then He is the only person that’s worthy of obeying all the way. Do whatever He tells you. BAPTISM As we’re talking about obedience today, I want to call our Baptismal Team on stage right now As we are going to celebrate a baptism at this service A big part of being obedient to God is getting baptized as a Christ follower. We’re commanded to do so in Scripture, and yet, many of us are hesitant. For some of you today, this may be your “Do whatever he tells you” moment. And you need to open your church app or go out to the lobby afterwards and sign up to be baptized…because the King has told you to Baptisms are a visual reminder that God’s Son, Jesus Christ has paid for our sins. And by our faith in Him, we were forgiven, washed clean. And not only that, that God has raised us up from the dead and given us new life. And so when we get baptized, we’re publicly proclaiming that Jesus has washed away our sins. Baptism doesn’t save you. But it is such an important symbol of his love. Every person you see baptized at Renovation Church is baptized by a sponsor (people who’s had a spiritual impact on them) But before we do the baptism, we get to hear their testimonies THE GOSPEL (title slide) I would be remiss if I didn’t mention today that for some of you, the thing that Jesus is telling you to do, is to give your life over to Him. The reason that Jesus came to earth in the first place, and taught and did miracles, was to ultimately give his life on the cross, and rise again. And let me show you why he gave his life for you. (Romans 3:23) – NIV for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, That means that God’s standard is perfection…and we all fall short And because God is holy and just there must be justice when we sin against him. Which means what we deserve is justice in hell, not eternity in heaven. We sinned against God. A few chapters later in the Bible, it says this: (Romans 6:23) – NIV For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And that gift is the fact that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for our sins, to take the punishment that we deserved. And the Bible say that whoever believes that Jesus died for them can have eternal life with God. That God will come in and lead them right now, change them right now, and give them eternal life in heaven. I like to think of it this way: (CrossBridgeIllustration) We all start on this bottom side. And we are chained in our sin, unable to please God, unable to save ourselves. And the only way to God, to forgiveness, to heaven, to that other side….is life is through Jesus. Otherwise there is a huge chasm separating us from God…and it’s our sin. And so we need Jesus to pay for our sins, we need the cross. We need to give our lives over to Him in faith. And if you’ve never repented of your sins before… That is to say, God, I want to walk away from that, I want to start living for you, I want your forgiveness…your eternal life. Do so today. And God can forgive you of anything. That’s why Jesus came! And I want to give you an opportunity to cross that bridge this morning. Let’s just have everyone, just for a minute, close your eyes and bow your head. I want to give you an opportunity to receive Jesus in as your Savior If you need to make this decision for the first time today…to tell Jesus that you need His forgiveness for your sins…to make Him the leader of your life…to believe He died in your place…and walk across that bridge. In just a minute, I’m going to ask you to stand up No one’s going to be looking at you, that’s why we had everyone close their eyes. But by standing, that’s like you walking across. But sometimes in life, we just need that moment…that line in the sand moment. To say, “God I believe. I receive you in!” And if you need to do that today, and I bet you already know it on your heart and you can feel it inside right now… If you need to tell God for the first time today that you do believe, and you want to follow Him and be forgiven. Then I invite you to stand where you are right now (and keep standing). The Bible tells us that in this moment we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths. Repeat after me Dear God I confess to you, that I have sinned against you. But God I believe, that you sent your Son Jesus, to take my place And God I thank you, for forgiving my sins. And now I commit, to following you, with my life. (NEXT STEPS) As everyone still has their eyes closed, for those of you standing up, you just made the most important decision of your life, and I believe that requires some more information… So here’s what we’re going to do to get you that… in just a second, I’m going to close the service in prayer, and then right after the service, I want the TWO/THREE of you to meet me up here in front. And I, and our follow up team, for just a couple of minutes, are going to get you some extremely important resources & next steps to get you started If you’re part of this church, and your friend or family member raised their hand, PLEASE come out there with them. Let me just close by thanking God. Copyright: David Sorn Renovation Church in Blaine, MN You may use this material all you like! We only ask that you do not charge a fee and that you quote the source and not say it is your own.