← Lakepointe Church with Josh Howerton
Lakepointe Church with Josh Howerton
The Road to Happiness: Are You on the Right Path? | The Rebel Way | Pastor Mike Breaux
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All right, what is up, everybody? Great to see you all, man. Great to be back and miss you all. My name is Bro, by the way, in case we never met, and I get to be on the teaching team here. I want to welcome all of our campuses and those of you that might be joining us online as well. Super grateful for all of you, man. I've missed you. It's so good to be back. And you are stuck with me for the next four weeks. Sorry about that. But I get to be here, hang out with you. And the next four weeks we're going to do. We're gonna do a little series that we're calling the Rebel Way. And we're talking about the greatest sermon that was ever preached by the wisest man who has ever lived. And that man, of course, is Jesus. And his sermon can be found in the book of Matthew, which is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible. If you're unfamiliar with that, it's chapters five, six and seven. And I wish we had a few months to unpack this. What's called the Sermon on the Mount. Cause it was given on a hillside. But we only got four weeks. So we're gonna just hit some highlights. But I wanna throw this challenge out to you here in week one, as we hit these highlights, I would challenge you every week to read through the Sermon on the mount. Just Matthew 5, 6 and 7, however you wanna break it down, just take a little daily chunk and kind of chew on it for a while. I think if we will do that for the next four weeks, we will grow deeper than we've ever grown before. We'll get to know more about Jesus. We and our lives will change. I heard somebody say one time, a black belt is nothing but a white belt who just kept showing up. So if we just keep showing up with God's word and we keep showing up here on the weekends, I really do believe that God will take us to a much deeper place. I cannot wait for this journey. Cause I think a lot of us will start walking in freedom like we've never walked before. And you need to know something about this invitation that Jesus gives us in this sermon. This is so countercultural. This is so counterintuitive, this is so upside down that we're calling it the Rebel Way. I don't know if I ever told you this story or not, but back when I was working in student ministry a long time ago, I had hair and everything, even had abs, I think. But I. I took a bunch of high school students to A canoe trip, which in itself is an adventure. People are swamping their canoes, turning them over, hitting each other with paddles. It was crazy. But I remember when we got there, the canoe guy, who was the host or whatever, he gave us the training tips. He told us what happens if you do turn your canoe over, how to get it back up, if you swamp your canoe, how to get the water out of it, how to use your paddles, how to turn, how to use it as a rudder, all that kind of stuff. The life jackets. He went through all the safety briefings and then this dude, he looked at our students and he said, okay, so I want to say something to you before you take off. You know, most people canoe when they canoe, they just go with the flow. They just go wherever the current is taking them and it's easier. But if you just keep going with the flow, you just kind of end up where all the other stuff ends up. He said, good canoeists will tell you the way to really canoe is to turn your canoe around and paddle. Cause when you paddle upstream, you get to see things that other people don't get to see. You can see wildlife who are not expecting anybody to be coming upstream. And if you just keep on paddling, you end up at the source of fresh water. And then he turned to all these students and he said, I want to say something to you. Turn your life around. Don't just go with the flow all your life. Cause you'll end up where everybody else ends up, doing the same old things everybody else does. Turn your life toward God. Paddle upstream and you'll discover life like nobod ever dreamed you would. And I'm standing there going, canoe guy, man, you're really good, man. And that's what Jesus is doing here in this sermon on the Mount. He says, turn your life around, headed toward the source of life. Jesus sermon is an invitation for all of us to go upstream. Or as Jesus puts it in chapter seven of this sermon, he says, enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction. And many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life. And only a few find it. Now, when Jesus points out two paths, he's not being judgmental, or some would say, oh, he's really narrow minded. He's just being lovingly clear. Like the canoe guy. He's saying, listen, that path right there, the go with the flow path that most people are on, man, that just ends up in a bad place. I'm talking about that path where you're your own God and you're your own source of truth. And that road where you're only led by your appetites and your feelings and you just follow your heart. That broad road, it just leads to a whole lot of destruction in your life. It leads you away from real life. So I'm inviting you onto the narrow path, this countercultural, upstream kind of life, where you will experience the goodness and the grace and the joy and the peace and the wisdom of God. Follow me onto the rebel way. I like how Rich Viotas describes this Sermon on the Mount from Jesus as both an invitation and an inventory. It's an invitation to do what we were all created to do in the first place, to walk with our Creator. It's an invitation to imitate the humility and courage of Jesus, to embrace his heart of love toward God and toward all people, to value what God values and to live a deep, deeply satisfying life, one with purpose. That's his invitation. And we will also see as we go along in this sermon how he calls us to take inventory of our lives. He takes us to what lies beneath, to our thoughts, to our motives, to our hearts. His words will take us on a journey to the center of the truth, to look deeper inside of us as we go through this and ask questions like, why is anxiety and panic and anxiety and worry driving my life? Why do I have all this unresolved anger rolling around on the inside of me? Why do I have a tendency to judge people and criticize people and even condemn other people? How is my lust taking me down a really dark road? Can people really take me at my word? Do I really know God? Do I really trust him as my provider and my father? Now, we're gonna dive deeper into the inventory section next week, and I cannot wait to have my daughter, Jodi Hickerson, here, tag team, teach with me next Father's Day. Can't wait for that. But today I want to show you. It's gonna be so fun. You're gonna love Jody. But I wanna show you today how Jesus begins this invitation into a better way of living. Again, it's countercultural. It is upstream. It's a way that Jesus refers to as blessed. Now, the intro to this sermon in chapter five is a section commonly known as the Beatitudes. And the word that Jesus uses here, that's translated, blessed literally means happy or accepted and approved by God. So Jesus stands up in front of this crowd of people, curious crowd of people, and pretty much asks them hey, anybody chaste and happy? Well, let me give you the upstream path to getting there. And so Jesus lays that out. Now, I don't think that Jesus was ever unprepared. I don't think that Jesus ever got up and just winged a sermon. I don't think that Jesus stood up that day and said, okay, let me start. Blessed are the. What was I going to say? Blessed are the. I left my notes in a boat. Dang it. Blessed are the. I don't think he was that way. I think that Jesus knew exactly where he was going with this. As he lays this out. Now, I may be wrong, and when I get to heaven, maybe Jesus will say, nice try, bro, but that wasn't quite what I was talking about. But I think he lays this out in a progressive nature, sort of like rungs on a ladder, where each one builds upon the one before. In fact, some of you who may be working some recovery steps in regen or AA or na, you're gonna recognize as this is the place where most of those steps come from. Matthew, chapter five. Again, look how Jesus begins. He's the very first step. He says, blessed are the. What? Poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Now, tell me some synonyms for the word poor. I mean, some other words we use for poor. Throw them out. Broke. Yeah, you said it with a lot of feeling. Broke. Destitute. Impoverished. Busted. So Jesus is saying here, blessed are the busted. The word he uses here for poor means lacking. And that word, the word is used all the way throughout the Bible, most of the time referring to a spiritual neediness. The Book of Psalms uses this over 30 different times to describe those who recognize they desperately need God. The word literally means one who is reduced to begging and dependent upon others for survival. So Jesus starts the sermon by saying, you want to be happy? You want to be blessed. Blessed are those who recognize their spiritual poverty, those who will acknowledge a desperate need and a deep dependence upon God. Blessed are the busted. Blessed are those who reach in their pockets, their spiritual pockets, and they turn them inside out, and all they got are little lint balls rolling around in there. You just know, man, I am spiritually bankrupt. It's a step that begins with these two words. I can't. I can't. I can't fix my family. I can't keep my job. I can't stop drinking. I can't stop eating. I can't stop spending. I can't stop watching porn. I can't stand the pain. I can't find a spouse. I Can't stay married. I can't please my parents. I can't save my kids. I can't open up. I can't shut up. I can't sleep. I can't stop worrying. I can't quit comparing. I can't get enough. I can't fix this problem. I can't fix the world. I can't fix myself. I can't save myself. I can't. On my own, I am not adequate. On my own, I am morally and spiritually bankrupt. Truth is, I will hurt people. Truth is, I will disappoint people. I will mislead people. I will break my promises. I will break your heart. So I desperately need God in my life. You see, it's only when you and I acknowledge our poverty that we're ready to bow before the that we're ready to seek the riches of God. Only when we see our depravity that we're ready to bow before the holiness of God. It's only when we see our powerlessness that we're ready to surrender through the power of God. And I've said it many times around here, but there is power in powerlessness. Blessed are the busted. You've probably had people say to you like they've said to me, dude, it just seems like, you know, Christianity, it's just a crutch for weak people. And I'll often respond, oh, man, it's much more than a crutch. It's like a walker. It's a wheelchair. Better yet, it's a hearse. You see, Christianity doesn't say, you got a little limp and you could use a cane. It announces that you and I are dead and we're in need of a power outside of ourself to bring us back to life. Blessed are the busted. Those will admit that they need God. So Jesus, that's how he begins. That's how Jesus begins this quest for happiness. Said, blessed are happy are the busted. So he says, blessed are they that are poor in spirit. Then the second rung says this, blessed are those who mourn. Now, I know that God brings comfort to all of us in our mourning. And many of us have experienced that how the peace of God really is an unexplainable thing. We can't explain it to people, just wraps us up like a warm blanket. But I think if Jesus is laying these out in logical perspective, one builds upon the other. Here's what I think Jesus is saying. Blessed are those who mourn over what? The fact that they just discovered they're spiritually. Busted. Blessed are those who that moves in their heart. The Bible calls this a godly sorrow. The Bible calls this repentance. And many of us know that's true. And he's saying not only blessed are the busted, but he's saying, blessed are the broken. Those who genuinely are broken over their sin will freely admit there are bad choices in life. They will confess that their life is a mess. The Bible calls this repentance. Blessed are the busted and blessed are the broken. Then the next rung says this, blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that mourn. The next rung says, blessed are the what? Meek. Blessed are the meek. Now, the word meek sounds like weak, right? When you see the word meek, you think of weak, but it's not that at all. In fact, the word meek literally means the word that's used here. Literally. It came from the equestrian world, which means to bridle wild horses to get them under control. I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, the horse capital of the world. I've seen it many times. A wild, thorough rig gets broken. They put a bridle on him, and now he's under control. It's strength under control. I don't know about y', all, but I like to drive. I don't like to be the passenger. I want to have my hands at 10 and 2, and I want to control that car, right? Jesus is saying, blessed are you. When you loosen the grip and you kind of do that carry Underwood, Jesus, take the wheel kind of thing, and you slide over, you say, God, you drive my life. I'm surrendering my life to your control. Now, these first four rungs are where they get what they say in aa. When they say, I can't, he can. I think I'll let him. I can't. He can. I think I'll let him. Lisa Turquist talks about how the phrase but I defeats our good intentions. We say, I ought to get in shape, but I am so tired. I need to join a group and make some friends, but I'm just too insecure. I'd love to be able to chill and relax, but I worry too much. I gotta get my finances in order to. But I can't stop buying stuff. I know I shouldn't have a drink, but I had a really, really tough day. I mean, think back through the Bible. How often? Often it said, but I. God says to Abraham, you're gonna be a daddy. And Abraham goes, but I am way too old. He says to Moses, go to Pharaoh and tell him to let my People go, but I am not a good speaker. He goes to Gideon says, deliver my people from the Midianites. Gideon says, but I am the least of my tribe. Jesus tells Peter, throw your nets on the other side of the boat. And he. He says, but I have already been doing that all night long. But I does nothing but defeat good intentions. However, meekness moves us from but I to but God. But God. This phrase is also used a bunch throughout the Bible. Joseph says to his brothers who sold him into slavery in Egypt, when they show up in front of him, he says, you know what? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good. The psalm writers say, my heart and my flesh, they may fail me, but God is the strength of my heart. But God is my fortress. But God is the lifter of my head. But God is my helper in times of trouble. The book of Romans tells us, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But God, in his kindness, demonstrates his love for us by giving Jesus Christ while we were still sinners. You see, God is bigger than your but sorry we disobeyed, But God, we sinned But God, we rebelled But God, we wandered away But God, we are busted. But God, we are broken. But God, we are powerless. But God, you see, but God means that your inadequacy does not have the last word in your life. And that source of power is available to anyone who will humble themselves, surrender and give God the reins and say, I can't. You can. I'm gonna let you. I'm gonna let you. So let's review the first three rungs. The first one is this. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed who are busted. Blessed are the broken, those who mourn for the fact they just discovered they're poor in spirit. Blessed are they that are meek, which means to hand control over your surrender. Say, God, I'm gonna get my life under control. I'm gonna hand you the reins. I'll give you the wheel. I need you to drive my life. And then the fourth rung is this one. It says, blessed are they who what? Hunger and thirst after God's right ways. Hunger and thirst after God's right ways. Man, this is a key step right here. This is when you admit all this and then you get right here and say, you know what? I wanna stay connected to you. I just wanna be hungry and I want to make things right in my world. I want to make things right with other people. But God, I just to do that. I just got to stay humble. I got to stay in the acknowledgment that I am busted, that I am broken. And I just want to humble myself every day and re surrender my life every day. I just want to stay humble. I want to stay hungry. I want to stay humble. I want to stay hungry. I want to stay humble. I want to stay hungry. As the psalmist says, as the deer pants for water, so my soul pants after you. Just humble and hungry, staying connected. Hungry to know God more, hungry to devour his word. And you talk with him all day long. Here's the truth about this pursuit of happiness. Chase after happiness, you'll never find it. Chase after God. It'll find you. It'll find you. Now, those first four rungs on the ladder are all inward things. The next four, you'll notice, are all things that are outward expressions of what's been going in, been going on on the inside. There's preparation and then there's presentation. And both are essential in life. Now, mere religion tends to skip to the fifth rung and just go, just tell me what I need to do. Give me a checklist. I mean, I just need some behavior modification in my life. And we settle for that instead of true transformation. But both preparation and presentation are absolutely vital in life, especially in, in the pursuit of God. Let's just put it this way. Let's say I decided to cook this really fancy dinner for my wife Debbie. Now this is all hypothetical, but say I chose to do that. I'm not a very good cook, but I said, you know, I'm going to do a little filet mignon. I'm going to do like twice baked potatoes. I know she loves green beans, you know, have a really cool salad. Going to make cornbread from scratch. So I got this dream to do this and I'm going to make this like a super special night. So before she gets there, man, I got this table and I got it all set with like a floral arrangement. I got candlelight burning, I got linen napkins, I got china that I borrowed from someone. I got it on the table. I got real silverware and I got a little Marvin Gaye playing in the background. She walks in, she's wow, this is beautiful. The lights are dim. I seat her down at the table, I start to massage her shoulders. Again, this is hypothetical, but I'm massaging her shoulders now. And it's just, I mean, the mood just could not better. The presentation could not be better. Problem is I forgot to fix the food and I saw her driving down the street. Oh my Goodness, I forgot. So I'm throwing a filet, I'm throwing baked potatoes, I'm putting green beans, I'm putting cornbread, flour and all this stuff. I'm stirring it up in a pot and I put it in the microwave and nuke it for a couple of minutes and plop it on her plate. The presentation was beautiful. Preparation was sorely lacking. Now say, on the other hand, she comes home and I've been working all day on this meal. I mean, I have been going at it. I'm really making stuff from scratch. I'm looking up recipes, I'm googling stuff, trying to figure out how to make it super special. But the house is an absolute wreck. And she comes in, I got the table set, I got like a paper towel torn in half to use as napkins. I got paper plates, I got a bottle of two, two liter bottle of generic pop. We're gonna swig out of and pass back and forth. I mean, it's just not very attractive in there. But the meal, oh my goodness. I worked all day long on this meal, but she can't eat it because the place looks so gross. The preparation was amazing. The presentation was sorely lacking. And both are essential in life. These first four rungs that we've already talked about are lifelong everyday practices that we do on the inside. That's the preparation part. And then these next things are presentation things that come out of us because we've. We remained. We remained busted, we remained broken, we remained humble and surrendered and we hungered after God. And as we do that, the very next rung on the ladder, the first thing that comes out of us in this presentation phase is blessed are. What's it say? Blessed are the merciful. Isn't that cool? The first thing that comes out of you and me when we recognize we're busted and we mourn over the fact that we're busted and we surrender our lives to God and we hunger after every day of our life is the first thing comes out of us, is the thing we just receive from God. We become merciful people. That mercy that we have received now translates to other people. Jesus said one time, he said, those who know they've been forgiven much, guess what? They love much. Recipients of grace start to become dispensers of grace. I'll never forget back when I was doing camps and stuff with high school, middle school students, had a middle school camp. There's a guy there, really cool guy from Tennessee. He was so country, really great guy. His name was Tommy. And I Just remember, he would walk around with the students. He walk up to him and go, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Do that. I go, dude, what is that? Why are you always doing that to people? Oh, Mike, you know what that means? That means God loves me and now I love you. Hey, hey, hey. He did it all. Camp along. And that's what this is saying. Jesus said, blessed are those who have received mercy, and now they give mercy. Then he says the next rung, he says, blessed are the. It's up here. Trust me. It's that one right there. Said, blessed are the what? The pure in heart. Now, when Jesus says the pure in heart, he's not talking about perfection. He's not talking about flawlessness. He's not talking about spotlessness. It's only through Jesus anyway that we're seen that way. The word here is more about just being. Just being real. Blessed are the real, blessed are the authentic. They're not trying to fake it or anything. I may have told you this story before, too, but we had a. We're living in a small town in Kentucky, and we went to the grand opening of this new department store. It was a little bitty town. So when something like that opened up, it was like a big deal. And everybody shows up for it. And they had, like, carnival rides in the parking lot. They had a bluegrass band. They had people out there, Cloggers. Cloggers in the parking lot. It was kind of a big celebration for our little town. And they had hired some college students from the local school to pose inside the store as live mannequins. And we walk in the store. I'll never forget it. My boys are probably, like 6 and 4. They walk in the store, and Drew, the little guy, walks up to the mannequin in the front. This guy, this college student, striking a frozen pose. And Drew goes to Derek, he goes, derek, that guy's real. Derek goes, he is not. He goes, yeah, he is. I just saw him breathe. He goes, he's not real, man. Every store's got these. They're dummies, dummy. And then the guy goes, what's up? And Derek goes. He starts backing up, freaks out. And every time we went in that store from that day forward, you know what they did? They'd walked. They'd walk to the mannequins in the front and just poke them. Are these things real or not? Again, you know what? This world is poking around for something real. Will they see it in us? Jesus goes, blessed are you when that's the way People see you, man, you're just what you see is what you get. The Latin word equivalent for the word that's used here is the word sincera, which literally means without wax. Now, wax was used a lot back in the Roman culture of the day. Pottery merchants would fire their pottery in those. What were those big things called where they put pottery? Kiln. Kiln. Thank you. They put it in a kiln, they would take it out of the kiln. And sometimes the pottery would be all cracked with little. Little hairline cracks all the way through it. So merchants would sometimes take pearly white wax and smear it into all those hairline cracks. Then they would pass it off as the real thing. Well, someone would come to their store and buy, like, a statue of Caesar, put it out in the front yard. Their son would come out and his nose would fall off. Cause it would melt the wax. So honest merchants started labeling their wares sincera without wax. So I think Jesus is saying here, blessed are the real those who come to guide cracks. And all who don't try to cover up, don't try to hide, don't try to appear better than they actually are. Blessed are the honest. Blessed are the vulnerable. Blessed are the authentic. Blessed are the pure in heart. For they will see God. And gang, it's hard to see God when you're always wearing a mask. Blessed are the pure in heart. The next rung is way up here, too. It's this one right here. And I think it's the reason it's all the way up here, because it requires quite a bit of maturity in your life. He says, blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the peacemakers. I think it's all the way up there because it does require some wisdom. Some time in your life where you've been spending a lot of time with Jesus, and now the way Jesus is starts to flow out of you. You're surrendered to the Holy Spirit. You're continually doing that prep work. You're extending mercy to other people along the way. And now you just become this person that just brings peace into a place. And, you know, some people like that, don't you? You know, some people like that. You may be one of those people, or you're in a meeting with somebody and everybody's talking about stuff, and there's a person just kind of sits there, doesn't say a whole lot, but when they say something, it's like, oh, my goodness, where did that come from? Peacemakers are those who just work for peace at the expense of their own Comfort. I mean, Jesus modeled that, the one known as the Prince of Peace. He even flipped over tables of oppression and injustice. So being a peacemaker doesn't mean that you're always trying to avoid conflict, that you never rock the boat, or you never have a hard, truth filled conversation with somebody. The goal is just to bring the peace of God, the shalom of God into your relational world. The hope and the goodness and the right ways of God. You bring that into all relationships. You know, there are two types of people. There are thermometers and there are thermostats. What's a thermometer do? A thermometer adjusts to the climate of the room, right? What's a thermostat do? A thermostat sets the climate of that room. And I think Jesus is saying here, blessed are the thermostats. Now let's go back through it real quick. Let's review, see if you got it. Step number one is blessed are the what poor in spirit. Blessed are the busted. Blessed are those who mourn, who are broken over their sin. Blessed are those who are meek and will humble themselves and surrender their control to God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after God. Blessed are those who are merciful. Blessed are those who are pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. And all the way up here, you climb all the way up here, and guess what the last one is. Blessed are those who are persecuted. Really, that's the top rung, Jesus, I did all this. I pursued happiness the way you told me. And the top rung is persecution. Really. Here's why I think it is. It's because sometimes when you start living like Jesus on that narrow path and everybody else is going down the opposite direction, you're going upstream, but everybody else just going with the flow. Some people don't like that. They may see Christ in your life and they don't know really what to do with you. In fact, the people in the crowd that day, many of them would experience that in their life in some pretty drastic ways. So they would think back to when Jesus said this, when that started happening in their life, because their life was so countercultural. And when you live a countercultural life, I'm just telling you, it exposes the schemes of darkness. It reveals the broad path for what it actually is. And so Satan is not gonna back down without a fight. So sometimes ridicule and exclus, even persecution will come your way. Just like people didn't know what to do with Jesus, when they see Jesus in you, they May not know what to do with you. I'll never forget this one moment. In fact, I wrote it in the margin of my Bible. I was watching one of those late night shows, I think it might not have been the Tonight Show. And they had Cy Young Award winner. The best pitcher in the league of the major leagues that year was a guy named Oral Hershiser. I don't know if they remember Oral Hershiser or not, but he's a phenomenal pitcher and a really great dude and he's on the show. And they. It was after the last game, won the World Series in the eighth inning, he struggled and he loaded the bases, finally got his way out of it. Then in between the 8th and the 9th inning, he came out in the 9th inning, just blew the side away, and then won the World Series. But in between the 8th and 9th inning, there was a clip of him sitting in the dugout with his head against the wall and his eyes closed. He was just saying something to himself, just saying something to himself. And the host said, so we gotta know, man, what were you saying to yourself to fire yourself out, to go back out there in the ninth inning and pitch like you did? Cause I wasn't saying really anything to myself. He goes, oh, obviously you were saying something to yourself. He goes, I was singing, actually. He goes, oh, you're a singer. He goes, no, no, no, I am not a singer. I'm a pitcher. I'm not a singer. He goes, well, sing what you were singing in the dugout. And he goes, no, I'm not. And then the crowd starts getting into it. Come on, man, sing, sing. And finally he goes, okay, what I was singing in the dugout was this. And he wasn't a very good singer. He just went, praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise him all creatures here below Praise him above, ye heavenly host Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And when he got done, it was silence. Nobody knew what to do. I mean, the crowd eventually went, and the host reached over and grabbed his arm, I'll never forget. And he said, I'm sorry I asked you to do that. I could tell it was very, very personal. And I thought to myself, sometimes when you exhibit the life of Christ in this world, sometimes people don't know what to do with you. Sometimes they may go, you know what? I want to be more like you. Other times I may go, you know what? I can't stand the fact that you're going upstream. It's just going to happen. He says, blessed are you when people insult you. Persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. Jesus says to you and me, come on, this is the rebel way. This is the upstream path. This is the narrow road that leads to happiness and real life. And he invites every single one of us to get on it. So I just want to invite you right now, take a look at that ladder. Just honestly ask yourself, which rung am I on these days? Where am I in this pursuit of happiness, this chasing after God? Maybe you haven't taken the first step yet. I mean, maybe it's. You're to the point in your life where you need to do a little introspection. You know what? The truth is, I am spiritually busted. I do need help. I can't. I just can't. But he can. I think I'll let him just move on those steps and say, you know, God, I want to surrender my life to you. He invites you to get on this path. Some of us may be stuck right here if we'd admit it, that we're not as hungry after God as we used to be. And as a result, we're not growing a whole lot. So maybe during this series, it's a time for you to go, man. God, I just want to get hungry for you again. I'm going to get into your word every single day. I'm going to read the Sermon on the Mount every single day. I'm just going to hunger after you and see what you start bringing out of me and start applying it to your life. Or maybe the merciful thing is like, I used to be real merciful, but you know what I'm saying, being kind of judgmental these days. Maybe that's what you need to come before God and say, God, I need help to move to the next step. Or maybe you're at that wrong where you go, you know what? I am kind of faking it right now. I'm just kind of trying to put up an image. I just want to be real. Wherever you're at on that ladder, Jesus just wants to meet you there. He wants to help you to take the next step. He invites you onto the rebel way, and he will walk this path with you every step of the way. So let me just pray for us. And Father, I thank you that we're gonna get to go on this journey for the next few weeks. Just diving into the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest person who ever lived. Jesus, thank you for these countercultural words. So many of us. God, you know me. I went with the flow for way too long. I'm so grateful for the day you invited me to turn my life around and paddle upstream, go against the flow. Just walk with you on this narrow path that leads to life. And God, I pray that for everybody here. That's where you desire all of us to spend our days walking with you on this rebel way. So, God, we commit ourselves to you that this week we'll dig into your word. We'll just ask ourselves, ask you to take us deeper into what you're trying to say to us, that we would honestly evaluate our life right now and just take the next step. And I pray all this in the name of Jesus, Amen.