Alright, good morning, good morning. Hey, I get to fill the pulpit like Oleg was saying. Refuge, Trevor's small group was scheduled to go over to Refuge so he's over there this morning serving and loving on them and all that great stuff. And so the sermon titled today is The Word That Changes Everything. And it might not be what you're thinking but The Word That Changes Everything. We are in a series. I got assigned the second part. Super glad to do it. The series is called The Great Commission Series More and Better Disciples. And so I'll be in Romans the entire time. So you can turn to Romans chapter 12 and follow along if you want. If not, the Bible will be on the screen for ease of consumption. Hey, as you're finding that in the Bible, kind of in the middle and then take a right a little bit and you'll find Romans. One of the things I did want to talk about, it is what we call Membership Sunday. Every Sunday we highlight a different next step that we feel is very important. And this one is membership. It's one of the ways that we lock arms together. Our membership process is very clear and straightforward. It's really more of a discipleship type process where we help people grow in their faith. And it's really a good way. Sundays like this are a really good way to take the mystery out of what the steps look like. A lot of people, you know, everyone has their own idea of what membership in a church looks like in the process. And some envision this very intimidating process. And that's not us. But we really do like to make it easy right after this service. At this banner over here, it says, Ask Me About Membership. You can go over there and ask questions or really just listen to someone from our membership team. And they'll explain to you the process, all that. There's no pressure. You're not signing up for anything if you go over there. Okay? You're not joining the church if you come down front. That's not how we do things. But it is just a good way to answer some questions and stuff. And just a really big shout out to our membership team who works so hard on making things so kind. [00:48:00 - 00:56:00] and loving, and they work through this, and so they do a great, great job with all of that. So at the very least, you ought to just go over there and meet some wonderful people. They'll be over there after the service. Now, I did want to start the sermon with a little mystery, almost a riddle of sort. I'm thinking of a word. You don't have to guess. You don't have to say it out loud. We're not going to play it like that. But I'm going to give you a couple of things about this word that stand out, and you can see if you can guess it if you'd like. It's one of the smallest words in the English language. It's three letters. That should help. You've said it a thousand times, probably a hundred times this week alone. You may have even said this word today before you finished your coffee. And most of the time, you didn't think twice about it. It just kind of rolls off your tongue. But I need you to know something about this word. It has launched businesses and built families. This word has sent people across oceans. It has started wars, and it has ended wars. It is a very powerful word. No one's famous for saying it. You won't find it on a trophy. It never makes the headlines. And yet, if you could trace back the biggest moment of your life, the best one, the hardest one, I'll bet you'll find this word sitting right at the beginning, like a little key that's about to unlock a massive door. And here's what's really strange about this word. When you said it, you almost never knew what you were saying it to completely. You just kind of said it, and your whole life from that point forward tilted in this new direction. And this three-letter word that costs you nothing to say, it can cost you everything to mean. Do you have any guesses? The word is yes. And I want you to think about with me how many major moments in your life started with that simple three-letter word of yes. Yes, I'll go on the second date. Right? Yes, I'll marry you. Yes, I'll take that job. Yes, we can move. Yes, let's have a baby. Yes, I'll go back to school. Yes, I'll start that business. Yes, I'll pitch the idea to the boss. And here's what's interesting about saying yes. You almost never know everything you're saying yes to. When you said yes to marriage, you had no idea of every conversation, every argument, every bill, every season of sickness and uncertainty. And you said yes, and you discovered the meaning of that yes one day at a time. Or when you said yes to children, nobody told you about the sleepless nights and the outrageous cost of diapers and the fact that kids have the supernatural ability to eat all the groceries you bought within 24 hours. Nobody warned you about that. You didn't know everything, but you said yes. And through this, I think we learn something very important about faith. That you don't have to know everything before you obey God. You just have to trust the one who knows everything. In other words, you don't have to see the whole plan when you trust the one who does. And look, I get it. I see the panic on your face. If you're a planner, you're kind of freaking out right now. What do you mean we don't need to know all the details? How can we plan? And that's a little bit of the point, I think, when it comes to faith. And so that's what we're going to be talking about today. You know, the Bible uses a word for this type of living. It's called surrendered. And we have this Great Commission engine that really kind of governs our strategy as a church. And we want to make sure we keep the main thing the main thing. And if it doesn't fit into the pistons of this Great Commission engine, it usually doesn't make it to the table when we're planning. You see, the Great Commission engine is our church's roadmap for filling Jesus' command, which is in Matthew 28, to go and make disciples. It's called the Great Commission, which is what our church is named after. It has these three primary pistons all running in sync. And rather than just running some random church programs that we think might be cool, the engine aligns everything we do. Does it fit in the engine? Does it fit? Does it help us achieve what we're trying to achieve according to the Great Commission to go and make disciples? You know, last week we talked about the catalytic weekend experience, which is our Sunday gatherings, and how important that is and how vital that is and how to approach Sunday of the importance to it. And today we're going to talk about the next piston, which is surrendered living. And then the next week we'll talk about groups and the importance of life-changing community. Don't miss that one next week. Here's what surrendered living is. It's simply this. God, I don't need to know every detail before I say yes to you. And we tend to think, if I said, have you ever surrendered to Jesus? And you would say yes, and maybe you'd go back to your salvation experience where it's like, yes, I made a decision to be saved, to surrender to Jesus, and now that's done. But in reality, surrender is, in fact, the Christian life. And so that's what we're going to be looking at. You can see that in Romans 12.1. We'll start there. It says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. And I want you to notice the unnoticeable word there is therefore. It's an incredibly important word. Anytime you see the word therefore in the Scriptures, you need to pause and realize that it is tying in everything that was said before to what is about to be said. And see, Paul has spent 11 chapters in Romans laying out the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I'm going to give you the highlights so we don't have to read all 11 chapters. You're welcome. Everyone wants some lunch. Here's the highlights. Are you ready? We are sinners, but God loved us anyways. Christ died for us. We are justified by faith. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God lives in us. Nothing, no nothing, can separate us from the love of God. And then Paul says, therefore, in light of everything I just talked about, bring your life to the altar. And I want you to notice what Paul does there. Something very important. Something very counter-cultural at the time. Paul doesn't start with sacrifice, as in you have to earn your salvation or earn the love and favor of God like a lot of, if not all, of the world religions and systems do. He starts with mercy. And he builds a case for 11 chapters about mercy, about the gospel, about there's no condemnation. [00:56:00 - 01:04:00] There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Hey, God loves you despite of what you've done. And Christian surrender is never, never an attempt to earn God's love on your life. It's a response to the God who already does love you. And the next phrase is this, a living sacrifice. It says to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. And here's the problem with a living sacrifice. It can crawl off the altar. A dead sacrifice stays where you put it. It's dead. It's done. A living sacrifice gets to make the decision, do I stay here or do I go? So Christ is requesting a living sacrifice where you make this decision to serve. But a living sacrifice can say, Jesus, I surrender everything. And then Monday morning rolls around and says, okay, hold on, Lord. I know I said everything, but let's clarify what exactly everything is when I say I want to present myself as a living sacrifice. And we say, you know, if we're really honest, and I think we can be, it's just us here, right? We're okay with that. We'll kind of roll in and we'll say, hey, Jesus, you know, you can have my whole life. Ooh, except my schedule. I'd kind of like to stay in control of that. Or, oh, you can have everything, Jesus. Although my opinions, I really like my opinions. I'd like to keep my opinions. Or, ooh, you know, my comfort, that's kind of where I draw the line. I don't want to be uncomfortable if I'm going to follow you, Jesus. You know, we sing these great songs about surrender. I surrender all, right? And then heaven's like, really? And we say, well, mostly. I feel like maybe we'd be more comfortable if the song was I surrender almost all. You know, or I surrender all unless he touches my schedule, right? That's my singing voice, by the way. And keep your hands off my wallet. It's pretty awful, huh? I surrender all, but don't inconvenience me, please. And please don't ask me to talk to Jesus about my want or talk about one about Jesus. And it's like we sing this I surrender all, and then we start negotiating a little bit, right? It's like all doesn't mean all, but it all does mean all. Now, we're going to get kind of nerdy for a moment, if you don't mind. I've serenaded you in music, and now we'll get a little nerdy with some words. I mean, I'm living my best life right now, guys. So I wanted to show you something in the scriptures that I think will help, and it'll be illuminating. But we kind of got to look at the words, like the original language type words, because that word present is a very specific word that Paul uses. It means to offer or to place something on. Okay, you see this word when it's in reference to bringing an animal to the altar and to place the offering on the altar. But it's also used as a military word in some places. Basically, a soldier reporting for duty. You know, present yourself. Yes, sir, awaiting orders type of language. And so Paul is essentially saying, hey, show up for duty and place yourself on the altar. I think that's a pretty complete picture of surrender that the scriptures want us to grasp. In the Navy, there is an elite group called the Navy SEALs. And when a candidate raises their right hand to sign up for the Navy SEAL training program, BUDS, they are told up front, you are writing a blank check to the Navy up to and including your life. Blank check up to and including your life. They make no excuses about it. They say this is what is demanded of you if you decide to pursue this. And a lot of guys grunt and say, oh, yeah, that's cool. And they sign up. And when the candidate, when they start this training process in the Navy SEALs, they are very clear. They put this huge brass bell in the middle of the field so you can see it 24-7, basically. And the idea is that if you want to quit, if you get cold or tired or, man, this is too hard, you get a little too sore, you can go and ring that bell three times, that little brass bell three times, and instantly you get a warm blanket and a hot pizza. And I guarantee they remind them of that all the time. You see, most men quit not because they're not strong enough. Most men quit because they start renegotiating the yes that they put on the table. When things got a little hard, they go and ring the bell. When it's like, man, I bet they instantly regret it too. After they get a little warm pizza, I bet they think, man, I could have went a little farther than I did. You know, a lot of Christians, I confess, carry a brass bell in their back pocket ready to ring it at any inconvenience or any slight offense. We pull that out and ring it and say, nope, not today. You know, we tell Jesus, I'll surrender all until he touches our schedule. Then we get that little bell out and say, I'm out. Or I'll follow you anywhere, Jesus, until he asks us to give up a little comfort and we ring the bell, I'm out. Hey, someone's in my seat, I'm out. You know, reach my wand, I'm out. Pray out loud in the small group, I'm out. And now look at verse 2 for me. It says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. That word transformed is metamorpho. It's where we get our word for metamorphosis. It's what happens to caterpillars. You know, you've learned this in school, right? And here's something profound that we see in the original language in the Greek is that it's something that's done to you. A caterpillar does not will itself into a butterfly. It surrenders to the process in the cocoon. You see, God wants to transform you into something new. And every time you say that little word, yes, it makes you a little more like Jesus. It's actually the same word that's used in the transfiguration of Jesus. Don't have time to talk about that, but that's something cool if you want to go look into that. And that's surrendered living. Let me give you a definition. Surrendered living is the daily practice of letting go of your own control, your desires, and self-reliance, and instead aligning your life and your decisions and your heart with God's will, making you less focused on yourself so that you can be more like Jesus over time. Now let me boil that down for you just a tad. Surrendered living means living with open hands, letting go of your plans, letting go of your pride, letting go of your control, and trusting God to lead your heart and your decisions and your future. And if you're like, hey, can you make that a little simpler? Yes, I love simplicity. Here's how I would say it. Surrendered living is trading control of your life for God's control so you can become more like Jesus every day. In other words, less of me, more of Jesus every day. And I think the Bible has the best definition of surrendered living I've ever seen in my life. It's in John 3.30. He must increase, but I must decrease. And if you don't have a life verse, that's probably a pretty good one, right? He must increase, I must decrease. And here's the basic but profound truth. The gospel doesn't only change where I'm going when I die. The gospel changes who I am while I'm alive. [01:04:00 - 01:12:00] That's where confusion of surrender is. Oh, I'm saved, I was baptized, I'm good. Versus, wait a minute, my whole life is a little different now. I want you to think briefly with me about the direction that Jesus' life took, right? He came down from heaven, and what did He do? He served, He interacted with people, He listened to people, He cared for people, He fed people, He healed people, and ultimately He gave His life for people. And then He looks at His disciples and He says, consume my resources. No. Attend my meetings. Listen to my sermons. Sit and be served. No, He said, follow me. Which means, hey, come live the way I lived. And how did Jesus live? He served people. He interacted with people. He listened to people. He cared for people. He fed people. And ultimately, He gave His life for people. Do you know what Jesus found very important? Interacting with people. Helping people. And here's where I think we need to get a little honest, church. Probably a little offended. It's not me, right? It's the Bible. The Bible's going to offend you, not me. So hang with me, though. Just the messenger. Romans 12.3, are you ready? Don't think you're better than you really are. Isn't that cool that's in the Bible? Be honest in your evaluation of yourself, measuring yourself by the faith God has given us. Because one of the greatest enemies of surrendered living is consumer Christianity. Now look, I hope you love church. I really do. I hope you love the worship, and I hope you love the preaching, especially today. And I hope you love your small group. And I hope you love your church family. And I hope you love being on a team, and I hope you are excited about showing up to church on Sunday. And I hope you love the prayer ministry, and you come and receive prayer, and God ministers to you. I hope you love hearing God stories during the offering. I even hope you love the coffee, guys. I really do. And all those things are wonderful things, and they're important things, and we try to make everything non-offensive, but the gospel is always offensive to a prideful heart. But something dangerous happens when we start to think the church exists primarily to make us comfortable. And here are some classic inward phrases that you may have said, you may have thought. I'm guilty of these from time to time. It's this me first, what's in it for me type of thinking. Maybe you've said a phrase or two like this. Buckle up, right? I'm not being fed. You ever said that? I don't feel like this is my church anymore. I give my offering. Isn't that my contribution? I don't get anything out of the service anymore, or I didn't get anything out of the service today. The room is always too cold, too hot, too crowded, too loud, too quiet, right? And sometimes, look, I get it is. There are too many new people sitting in my spot. Look, church is the only place that this happens, right? When was the last time you walked into a restaurant and you're like, man, this music isn't really my style. Let's get out of here. Or why is nobody spoon feeding me? Someone come feed me. Or is that someone sitting in booth number four? We always sit in booth number four. Why did they let someone sit in booth number four? And now look, I get it. There are seasons where you need to come here and you need to sit and you need to heal. Amen to that. This is a great place for that. And I get it. Sometimes those seasons are hard and difficult, and that's what you need to be doing. But eventually, you need to start feeding somebody else. And if I was honest with you, nothing grows a Christian like feeding someone else. That's why I think it's one of the primary commands for us to go and make disciples, to baptize them and teach them what Jesus taught them. We always, and I'm talking about always, get a report from a small group leader, someone teaching in the kids class, elders, deacons, who after they said yes to those roles, their Christian life skyrockets. Not that it gets easier, but that they start pursuing Jesus like they've never pursued Jesus before. Because when you get the responsibility to feed someone else, man, you start feeding yourself a little more and a little better. Your diet of the Word starts increasing quickly because you realize, hey, this kid, when I go lead this small group of these children, they're going to ask me some questions because they're sharp as all get out, and I need to have some answers. I want to give them something. I want my cup to overflow into the people I minister to. You know, there's a difference between a baby who needs someone to feed them and an adult who's crying, someone feed me. And maybe one reason some Christians stop growing is that Christianity has become entirely about them. My sermon, right? My worship, my seat, my preferences, my needs, my comfort, my spiritual growth. What's it sound like? Me, me, me, me, me. Right? You ever raise a small child? And at some point, Jesus attempts to turn our face, and I like to picture He just grabs our head and points it in a different direction. And a lot of us are fighting with our eyes closed. I'm not going to look. I'm not going to look. And what's He trying to show us? He's trying to look at the person who doesn't know me is what He's saying. Right? Look at the single mom who needs help. Look at the kid who needs someone to teach them or mentor them. Look at the neighbor who's far from God. Look at the woman at the warrior center that you can minister to. Look at your one. Who's going to reach them if you don't? And something starts to change inside of us, doesn't it? And the Christian life gets bigger when it stops revolving around us and we start becoming on mission with Jesus' mission. And look where Paul goes next in Romans 12.4. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. And you are a part of Christ's body, by the way. We are many parts in one body and we all belong to each other. My life in Christ is connected to your life in Christ. Isn't that cool? God gave me something that you may need and He gave you something that I definitely need. And that's why consumerism is so destructive. Christian consumerism is what can the church do for me and surrendered Christianity is what has God put in me for the church. Slight difference, but very important. It's easy to celebrate what God is doing at Great Commission Church because He's doing some really cool things and if you just start looking around, you'll see the movement of God everywhere. And during the offering every week, we try to include a God story is what we call them. A time where we can celebrate what God's doing and we get a clap and it's victorious and it's just a reminder of the faithfulness of God in this community of believers. But here's the danger. It's just as easy to celebrate these from a distance. We watch ministry happen. We watch people pray and serve and give and invite and we hear the great stories and we clap, but we never really get our hands dirty. We're basically renting the wins. And look, renting is great, right? There's no commitment, no major cost, no maintenance. You get to enjoy the house and you don't have to fix the roof. Renting's good. But God didn't [01:12:00 - 01:20:00] save you so you can be a tenant. He made you part of the family. And here's what renting a win sounds like, okay? I love that our church is reaching people. Instead of, hey, my neighbor's meeting me at church today, man, I'm so excited. I hope God does something in his life. Renting a win is, man, it's wonderful our church serves the city. Instead of, hey, I can't go eat with you this Wednesday. I'm actually going to go to the Warrior Center. I'm going to be feeding and praying and ministering to some great women. I can't wait. Maybe we'll catch a rain check next week. Renting a win is, I'm so glad we care about kids and youth here. Instead of, you know, calling home after GCS on Sunday night and saying, hey, look, I'm going to be a little bit late. Man, I'm going to get some ice cream at Sonic with my high school boys. They were locked in today asking some good questions. I just wanted to celebrate them. And here's my favorite part about Romans 12, especially if you feel inadequate or if you feel the need to grow spiritually before you can become surrendered, before you can start living surrendered. I love how easy Paul makes this. Romans 12, verse 6, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. I love it. Simplicity. Hey, let us use them. If your gift is serving, well, do it. Grab a towel, set up some chairs. Let us use them. If it's teaching, do it. Open the Word with a small group. Mentor a teenager. If it's encouragement, do it. Send the text message, right? Tell the person, hey, I see God working in your life. If it's giving, do it. Open your hands. Meet financial needs. Tip generously. If it's hospitality, do it. Open up your home. Share a table. I love the idea of do it. Let us use these gifts. Imagine buying a Christmas gift for a friend. And you're pumped about it. You bought it way, way too early. And you're thinking, man, they're going to love this. It's going to help them. It's going to change their life. This is going to be really good stuff. And so Christmas comes around, and they open it, and they look at it, and they admire it. They're like, man, thank you for this gift. And then they put it back in the box. And a year later, you roll back by their house, and it's still sitting in the box. Five years later, you come by their house again, and it's still sitting in the box. And they're like, man, I love this gift you gave me. And you're like, well, use it, right? Or give it back to me, because I'll use it. Just collecting dust. Some Christians have spent years asking, oh, what's my spiritual gift? And heaven may be saying, could you just start doing something? You see, God guides people who are in motion. It's hard to steer a car when it's in park. And you see this all over the Scripture, and I wish I had more time to get to it, but you see these common, ordinary people going about their life, and then all of a sudden God intervenes and gives them a choice to either stand up for their faith or say no. You know, I don't see any place in the Bible that says the opposite. I don't see any place that says, having gifts that differ, let us take a six-week personality inventory and discuss them indefinitely. What I see is, I see let's use them. Let's do something. And I want you to miss this, the GC graphic. I don't want you to miss this very important part. The Great Commission Engine's driving force is your one. And we get this from Luke 15. Jesus tells a story about a shepherd with a hundred sheep, and one wanders off, and the shepherd leaves the 99 to go after the one. The one represents the lost person. The 99 represents the church family. And we are called by Jesus in something we see in the Scriptures called the Great Commission. We've named our church after this. And it's the commission to be on mission with Jesus. And here's what I need you to catch, right? The shepherd doesn't send us the 99 because he loves us less. He sends us to be on mission with him because he loves the one also. Surrendered living is when his mission becomes our mission. It's realizing that I don't have to do this, I get to do this. And once you get a one in your life, like a real one that you have a holy burden for, like it wakes you up in the middle of your night because you're terrified that they're going to hell. Not just a name, but someone you're pursuing in Jesus' name. Once that happens to you, everything changes, doesn't it? Have you ever experienced that? And you used to say, oh, the music's too loud until your one sits next to you weeping during worship because the lyrics are pouring into their soul in that moment for the first time ever. Oh, someone's sitting in my usual seat until you realize that it's your friend's one they've been praying for for 10 years and they finally decided to try this Jesus thing out. Absolutely, you can have that seat, brother. Or I didn't get anything out of the service today until you get a text message on the way home and it's your one that says, man, thank you for inviting me to church. That was so meaningful. I'll see you next Sunday. Do you see how everything changes when you start looking beyond yourself? And I want you to do something right now in your mind. Don't say it out loud. I want you to think about that one person. That one person in your life who doesn't know Jesus. You might be the only person in their life who knows Jesus. Not just the lost is a vague category. I don't think that's as helpful. But a specific human being. Maybe it's a neighbor. Maybe it's a co-worker. A friend. A family member. Because here's what I know. Your one has a name. And they have a story. And they have fears. And they have hopes. They have a whole life that they're living. And maybe God has placed you in their life to reach them. And maybe you're just fearful of saying that simple three-letter word, yes. I'll go. And I want to tell you a story as you're thinking about this one as we're coming to a conclusion. This is a story I heard from a guy named Doug Parks. It resonated with me and I thought it would be helpful to share it with you. He says, there was a woman, I'll call Margaret, retired school teacher, faithful church member for decades. One of those ladies who'd say yes to anything, the kitchen team, the nursery, the Christmas program. If you asked her to do something, she'd show up with a casserole and a smile. Amen? But Margaret had a confession. For almost 11 years, she had lived next door to a man named Frank. And she had never gone past. Nice weather, isn't it? Frank was a widower, stern, kept to himself. His wife had died the year before Margaret moved in and he'd quit almost everything in life along with her. He'd sit on the porch, nod at the mailman and go back inside. Margaret told Doug later that she'd prayed for Frank for years. Lord, send somebody. And then one Tuesday afternoon, Margaret felt something she couldn't shake. It wasn't dramatic, no audible voice, just a nudge. Quiet but firm, why not you? And she argued, Lord, I'm 72. He doesn't want company. I'll make it awkward. But the nudge didn't leave. And so she made a pound cake, the kind she'd made for 40 years, walked across the grass, knocked on the door with her heart beating like a drum, and Frank opened it, looked at the cake, looked at her and said, what do you want? Margaret said, nothing. [01:20:00 - 01:28:00] Frank, I just thought you might be hungry. He didn't say thank you. He took the cake, nodded, and shut the door. She walked home thinking it was a disaster. But the next Tuesday came around and she did it again, a pie this time. Same result, a grunt and a shut door. And she kept going, Tuesday after Tuesday after Tuesday. After a few months, the door stayed open a little longer. After a year, Frank started saying, hey, why don't you come in for a couple minutes? After two years, she learned his wife's name and the story of how they met. After three years, Margaret asked if she could pray for him. And Frank said, yeah, I guess it wouldn't hurt. It was almost five years before Frank ever stepped into a church. He sat on the back row with his arms crossed. Margaret sat beside him and didn't say a word. He was baptized the following spring, 78 years old. And when he came up out of the water, Margaret, standing in the third row, was sobbing so hard people turned around to look at her. Frank lived two more years. And when he died, his daughter, who had barely spoken to him in a decade, came to town and found his Bible on a nightstand. It was worn, underlined, and sitting beside a small stack of handwritten recipe cards in Margaret's handwriting. At the funeral, his daughter stood up and said, I don't understand what happened to my dad, but someone loved that man back to life. Church, do you know what Margaret did? She didn't preach a sermon. She didn't have a seminary degree or a platform of any kind. She didn't even know the whole plan. She just said yes to one nudge, one Tuesday, one pound cake. And a man who spent decades behind a closed door is now in the presence of Jesus today because a 72-year-old woman decided, I'm going to stop negotiating. I'm going to stop ringing that brass bell just because it seemed hard. I'm going to stop renting winds. I'm going to start getting my hands a little dirty. And I'm going to use the gifts that God gave me. And hers was cooking. And I want you to hear this very clearly. Your yes may be smaller than you think, but bigger than you know. Your yes may be smaller than you think, but bigger than you know. And here's the prayer. If you want to start down this unapologetic, yes, surrendered living lifestyle, here's the prayer I want to challenge you to pray every morning when you wake up for as long as you can remember to do it. This will help you start down this path of giving more of your life to Jesus. Simply this. Jesus, help me want what you want. Help me see people the way you see people. That's a dangerous one, guys. Today, I will do what you ask me to do. Simple. It's going to be hard. I promise. Because God's going to answer that prayer. Got to make sure you're ready. Make sure you're ready on Monday when the negotiating starts, right? Jesus, help me want what you want. Help me see people the way you see people. Today, I will do what you ask me to do. Jesus went to the garden. You've heard this. He knew what was coming. He knew the cross was coming. He knew there'd be a betrayal. He knew there'd be pain and rejection. And he prayed, not my will, but yours be done, Lord. You see, Jesus said yes to the Father in that moment. And he said yes to the cross. And he said yes to us. And so here's the question I want to leave you with today. What's your next yes? See, surrendered living is not about doing more church. Please don't hear that. Surrendered living is giving Jesus more of your life. A little more. It's baby steps. Give him a little more. Give him a little more. And he'll keep pointing some stuff out. Hey, what about this? Can I have this? Yes, you can have that. And as we finish up today, our prayer ministry team will be up front in a moment. And they would love to pray for you about anything and everything. It would be their honor to lift your name up to Jesus. You might want to receive prayer because you're ready to give Jesus your yes this morning. Whatever that looks like for you. Or maybe you're carrying around a heavy burden and you came in here with a big decision. Come up here and let them pray for you. They would love to ask God for wisdom on your behalf. They would love to ask God to give you peace in that heavy burden you're carrying. Or maybe you want courage to reach your one. Maybe that friend or that family member, that neighbor who just is in your life for some reason. And you don't know why. Jesus knows why. Say yes. I'll go. Hey, as the prayer team comes forward, would you stand with me? Let me pray for you. Get you guys out of here.