FEB 22 2015

Sea Change Church · Ryan Pfeiffer · February 22, 2015
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

One of our favorite people of ours, at one point in time, I tried to get him to start a church. I don't know if he remembers that or not. No, I don't. I wanted him to be my pastor. He's got a real gift with InterVarsity Ministry. I wanted to ask you about, just so you can get a feel for the kind of ministry you guys do, a few years ago at San Diego State, you had a special outreach with something about secrets and you set up tents.

That's right. That's right. Tell us a little bit about that. Well, there's like a little internet phenomenon called Post a Secret where people are posting anonymous secrets. It's sort of like a formal public confession booth and people are confessing funny things and very intense things, illegal things, painful things, but they're anonymous.

And there was something cathartic for that kind of thing. And so we caught wind of that. So we did, we mimicked that on campus where there's like a box and students could drop in a secret, something that they've never told anybody else. And we would post them on this wall and people would walk by and see these things. But of course they were all anonymous and it was really, it was powerful.

People confessing and admitting things that they have done or things that have been done to them. It was powerful. And then we hosted a message at the end of that week about freedom from our secrets. So during that week too, your staff was engaging students on the campus and people could stick around and talk about what, how do you find freedom from the things that we're carrying inside of us?

Students were coming to faith right there on the campus. Yeah. And so that, that type of unique outreach is what these guys are doing all the time. So I just, it's a real privilege for us to, to have him here today. And if you ever need a boost, get onto their website or their Facebook page and, and listen to his messages. Pastor Adams messages are great too, when you need a boost, but this guy, this guy can really preach and it's worth listening to and you'll be really uplifted.

Thanks. Let's, let's pray. Father God, we just thank you that Ryan's here today and Lord, we pray that he would speak as if we're the oracles of God. Lord, open up our hearts, change us today that we're different people than walk in here today. God move upon us with your spirit. Just the, the same way that you're touching these college and university students and campuses here all around Southern California.

And we pray that you would touch us today, reach deep into our hearts, that we're changed people and pray that he would speak freely and just open up the scriptures, even as he's speaking in your blessed name, Jesus. Amen. Thanks guy. So good to be with you guys this morning. When I was a young lad in a grade school, I had a crush on a gal named Cheryl Jasper and my mom convinced me to, it was time to let this girl know how I felt.

And so we decided, we conspired that the week of Valentine's was the best time. And so we kind of worked out a little plan and I'll never forget that day at school. I was so nervous. I remember like my heart was in my throat and I just thought I was going to faint from nervousness. Because after school that evening, I was going to kind of go to her front door and give her some token of my affection.

And so after school, right, we, we go to the grocery store. It's me, my mom, and all my brothers and sisters. You know, I, I'm the oldest of five kids. So it's a family affair and we're piling into the car and we're going to the local grocery store and we're buying like a little stuffed animal and some chocolates and a little card. You know, just say, Hey, you know, I think you're great, Cheryl.

And so we drive to her house. It's evening. This is, does this sound absurd? It's, it's probably more absurd than it sounds. And so we, we roll up to her house and I'm like, Hey mom, why don't you drive down so that Cheryl doesn't see that you brought me here? Now I'm in sixth grade. So how else did I get there? It wasn't like I drove myself, but I didn't want Cheryl to see my mom and my family in the van.

So they drove down and I'll never forget getting out of that van with that brown paper bag. Cause I had all these gifts in this brown paper bag stapled shut with a little letter on the front. And, uh, you know, my heart's pounding. I'm nervous. I'm kind of feeling dizzy. I'm so nervous. I've got my stubby corduroys. I got my knee high socks with the stripes.

I got my little Tigris shirt. I'm dressed to the nines and I'm walking up that front door. And as I walk up there, um, I'm just telling myself I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. And I, I, I knock on the screen door. And as I knock on the screen door, her sister answers the door. Now I, you, I didn't mention that I had prayed and you know, I wasn't a boy of prayer very much in those days.

And I'd pray God, if you're out there, would you please not let it be Cheryl? I was just starting to get cold feet. So when her shirt, when her sister opens the door, I'm like, Oh, there's a God, you know? And, um, there's no atheist in the foxholes or in the dating life. Right? So there I am. And I, and her sister answers. She's like, how can I help you?

I'm like, Oh, well, I have a little gift here for Cheryl. And she's like, Oh, and she shouts. Cheryl, Cheryl, come here. This is so cute. You know, and, uh, I see Cheryl making her way to the front and she's kind of looking to see who it is. And it's one of those defining moments where I could just, I knew that I had a choice. I can either stand my ground and face my destiny and take it by the horns or I could run.

It's like one of those moments that, you know, you'd look back on and go, Man, that moment shaped my life. And so right in that moment, I dropped that bag and I ran. I'm running down the sidewalk. I'm waving at my mom. My mom's like, Oh, okay. She's peeling up. My brother opens a sliding door. The van does not stop. It continues to roll. I jump in the van.

We slam the door shut and we peel out. And I give my brothers high fives. Yes. Yes. I did it. And I felt like I had accomplished something. I felt like I had accomplished the mission and that the running at the last minute was incidental. And, um, I think it's reflective of something that goes with us even into adulthood our whole life. There are things in our life that we want, that we want to pursue.

And we can have moments where in our best moments, our courage, we muster up our courage. We get our cheerleaders and we're going to go for it. And then at the last minute, we chicken out. I have a good friend who's been telling me, yep, things are going tough in my marriage. And I'm like, you need to go see this Christian counselor. Got him the number.

It's been a year. I keep bugging him. Come on, bro. He's like, okay, this week, this week. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. Even text this person. Leaves a message. Following the week. So? Have you set up an appointment? No, no, no, no, no. There are things and moments in our life that we get this courage. I'm going to do it. And then at the last minute, we get called feet.

We get kind of freaked out. We get scared. We get distracted. We panic. And we pull back. And we can do that with God. There are times in our life when we want to draw closer to God. We want to get to know God. Maybe like me with Cheryl. I want to know God. And we get there. And something happens where maybe we get afraid. We get intimidated. Some fear of what might change is that God might bring into our life.

Maybe we get distracted with the busyness of life. Things are going on. The fear of becoming overly spiritual. Becoming one of those fanatics. Who knows what it is. But something kicks in. And next thing you know, we're not praying the way we said we would. Or reading the scriptures the way we wanted to. Or we say, we'll go to church. Or if you tell our friend, I'll go to church with you.

I'll go to church. And then at the last minute, we panic and can't make it. And maybe you're here this morning. And you're like, oh my gosh, I finally made it. And I want to congratulate you. Because I'll never forget the first time I took that step into the midst of a Christian congregation. Because a friend invited me. And I was nervous. And I wanted to run.

And the fact that you're just sitting here this morning says a lot about your courage. This morning, I want to talk about drawing near to God. And what it looks like for us to draw near to God. I want to look at this moment in this man's life. We're going to look at this man who draws near to God. And we're going to look at what we can learn about how to draw near to God.

And how to overcome, sometimes in all of us. And that's something we can all relate to. It doesn't matter how long you've been a Christian. I've been a Christian for 20 years. I still have moments where in my desire to draw near to God, I get cold feet. I start to pull back. And I'll share some of those stories. And I want to talk about how we can draw near to God.

And what it looks like to actually get to know God more closely, more intimately. Because as daunting as it is to get to know someone you're attracted to. To get to know that boy or that girl or that man or that woman. Getting to know God is even more challenging. He's invisible, for one. That makes him challenging to get to know. How do you get to know an invisible being?

He's omniscient. He knows everything about you. Imagine you need to know somebody who knows every thought on your mind before you even speak it. That's a little intimidating. Right? That's challenging. So we're going to talk about drawing near to God. And I want to look at this passage in James, chapter 4, verse 8. We can put it up on the screen. It says this, draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

And here's this incredible promise. One of my favorite verses in the Bible that just has always inspired me and caught my imagination. It's this amazing, immutable fact that when you set out to get closer to God, God is going to draw closer to you. Now this kind of evokes a really profound thought. I want to share it with you. This idea that you're as close to God as you want to be.

There's nothing between you and God on his end of the deal. Whatever it is that you think stands between you and God. Well, you know, I'm not that spiritual of a person. Well, there are the things I did last night. The things I did last week. Well, there's some things about my personality. And if anybody knew some of these things I keep hidden, then, man, God would never want to come near me.

And we all have these things about us that make us feel disqualified from knowing God more intimately, more closely than we do right now. It doesn't matter if you're not a Christian and you're sitting in this room. Or if you're a seasoned believer and you've been walking with Jesus your whole life. We get to these moments where we feel, man, I don't know that I can get closer to God than where I'm at now.

I don't know that God would let me get closer. And this morning I want to look at how, through what Jesus did, Jesus said, Hey, look, there's nothing between me and you on my end. And we're going to learn that through Jesus, God has removed everything so that there is just a direct access to God between you and him. And he wants to open that door for you this morning.

You're as close to God as you want to be. And hopefully this morning we're going to catch a glimpse of how profoundly passionate God is about drawing near to you. All right? We're going to look at Luke chapter 19 and look at this amazing story about how this simple man draws near to God. In Luke chapter 19, verse 1, it says this. Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.

A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was. But because he was short, he went home disappointed and never saw Jesus. No. See, now, if that was how it went, we wouldn't get much of a story, would we? But fortunately, we get a little bit more. He was short and he could not see over the crowd.

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. And all the people saw this and began to mutter, he's gone to be the guest of a sinner.

We'll talk about why they said that in just a minute. But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, Lord, look, here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. And Jesus said to him, today's salvation has come to this house. Because this man, too, is the son of Abraham.

For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. Zacchaeus is a tax collector. And when he is up on that tree, he knows he has a thousand and one reasons why Jesus, as a holy man of God, would not allow him to come into his company. There was an even more profound barrier in that culture in that time between someone who was spiritual and religious and someone who was not.

To associate with someone who was not spiritual, not truly walking with God, would be to contaminate yourself, to diminish your own spirituality, and it would be to ruin your reputation. Much like in politics, when it's a presidential campaign, you know, and everyone's running for office and they start, oh, did you know this person hung out with this person?

Did you know this person had breakfast with that person? Did you know this person associates with that person? And you're guilty by association. And yet, Jesus calls them out of the crowd to join him. They call him a sinner. Why? Because he's a tax collector. Not only is he a tax collector, but the chief tax collector. For those of us who aren't familiar with that history, tax collectors were Jews who were conscripted by the Roman government who was occupying that Jewish territory, had conquered them, was controlling them.

Can you imagine if another country was occupying the United States? And they would send delegates throughout your town to take your money, collect your taxes, and your taxes were not going to the United States government to improve your roads and improve your country, but they were going to another country. Can you even imagine that? It's hard enough paying taxes now.

Can you imagine those taxes were leaving your country? So these tax collectors were Jews who had given their allegiance to the Roman government, were betraying their people because they would always collect a little extra, sometimes a lot extra, and they would keep the difference from what was owed for themselves. And Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, like the pyramid scheme, right?

He had a bunch of other tax collectors that reported to him, making him chief, and he had attained great wealth by robbing people. He was a thief, a crook, and a betrayer of his people. Now, you think you have a reason why you can't get closer to God, then try competing with Zacchaeus. I want to look this morning at how there's, I want to talk about three key lessons we can learn about how to draw near to God.

Three key lessons from Zacchaeus' experience with Jesus about how we can learn to draw closer to God in our life. The first one is this. You need to be willing to act on your curiosity. When we look at Zacchaeus, there's nothing profound about his spirituality, nothing that can commend him to Jesus or to God, right? He's not this amazing spiritual guy.

Look at this. Verse 3. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way. There's nothing about Zacchaeus other than two simple things. One, he's a corrupt person who really probably feels no legitimacy before God.

And number two, he's curious. There's nothing to commend us to Jesus or commend us to Zacchaeus other than the fact that he's curious. But it's that simple curiosity that attracts Jesus. C.S. Lewis said this. If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.

Sometimes our curiosity about God is stirred because we're wanting more in life than we're getting from what we currently have. And that's a gift. Sometimes we're just satisfied with what we have and we're fine. But by the grace of God come those moments when we recognize there's a desire in us that awakens a longing and then a curiosity for more in our life than what we have.

And for Zacchaeus, that desire had awakened a curiosity about God. See, Zacchaeus was raised a Jewish man. He was raised knowing about God. And as a child, he would have memorized the scriptures. But somewhere in the course of his life, Zacchaeus lost sight of God. He lost hope in God. He lost that connection between God and that distance between him and God got wider and wider and wider.

And pretty soon God was just a concept, an idea, an irrelevant philosophical idea out there that had no bearing on his immediate need. And so he turned to his tax collecting business to make ends meet, right, and to get by in the world. But something was stirring in him, right? Here he is wealthy, has everything. Why is he running to find Jesus climbing a tree?

Jesus sees that curiosity and it draws him. The thing about Zacchaeus, he's not just curious, but he's willing to do something with that curiosity. If you want to draw near to God, you have to get in touch with that desire for more. You have to allow that curiosity to bubble to the surface and you have to be willing to act on it. He doesn't just get curious and go, oh, I wonder what it would be like to meet Jesus.

When he sees that he's short and can't see over the crowd, he doesn't go home and go, well, I guess I gave it my best. He climbs that tree and that curiosity drives him to go above and beyond to get that glimpse of Jesus. And it's in that moment that he encounters Jesus. And for us, God, the Holy Spirit moves in our life by stirring and stoking that curiosity.

I've heard about people, you know, fasting. I've never experienced that before. I wonder what that's like. I've heard of people praying in tongues. I've never experienced that. What would that be like? I've heard about people praying and people being healed. I've never heard of that. I've heard about the Holy Spirit. I don't know much about the Holy Spirit, but I don't want to explore that.

And for a lot of us, our curiosity gets quenched by fear, stereotypes that we hold. And a lot of things could have kept Zacchaeus, but he pressed through those stereotypes and those fears, and he drew near to Jesus. And it also gives us a picture of someone drawing closer to God, and it shows us that when we take steps out of curiosity to draw near to God, God notices, and he loves it.

Listen, when you step closer to God by being here this morning, God, it just fires up his heart that you're here. The fact that you're here this morning is an act of faith for some of us. I want to just share an example. One example in my life when I stepped out in curiosity is I had this friend who, I guess you could say he was born again. He was raised on Jesus.

He had walked away, and then he started to feel that fire again. And he started inviting me into conversation about Jesus. And he was like my best friend. I was like, ah, you're a bit of a Jesus freak, but okay, you're my best friend. I'll talk to you about Jesus. And we would get into conversation. And then he started inviting me to his church, right?

Okay, now you're going too far. And at first I would say no. But eventually I went with him. And I'm at this church in Costa Mesa. And this preacher gets up. There's a guy named Greg Lauren. He starts preaching. And he started giving these invitations to faith. He started giving people the opportunity to publicly respond. Do you want to follow Jesus and make him your savior?

And I used to sit there and go, who would do that? That's ridiculous. And I had to see these people standing, weeping. I'm like, whoa, people are really doing this. And week after week I would go and watch this. And it began to make me curious. Right there I could have clenched and go, oh, I don't want to let that happen. I could have run away. See, we can clench curiosity or we can lean into it.

I began to ask myself, what is it about it that's attracting me to this? And then one night, I'm there on a Monday night. And this preacher does the same thing he always does. Hey, maybe you want to receive Jesus. We want to give you a chance to respond. If you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I want to invite you to stand. And I felt it in my own heart.

I wanted to stand. I felt it. I was like, oh, my gosh, I want to stand. What is happening to me? Why is this happening? I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm not going to stand. Curiosity was blossoming and giving way to desire. And I wanted God. I wanted to know him. And I was panicking and freaking out. So there I am, frozen in fear, knees locked, heart in my throat, heart pounding.

What do I do? Revelation 3, or no, actually, I'll come back to that. I want to come back to the story. I want to move on to the next point. The second lesson is this. You need to let God change your life. In verse 8, it just says, Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, Lord, look, Lord, here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.

When we draw near to God, God accepts us where we're at. You don't have to do anything to change yourself for God to want to know you. You don't have to clean up your act before you get closer to God. Isn't that a wonderful thing? Zacchaeus didn't do a single thing to change his life to inspire Jesus to say, Hey, Zacchaeus, I see that you've changed your life.

I see that you've offered up to give half your earnings to the poor. Won't you come down from that tree and I want to welcome you in? None of that happens on the front end. All that Jesus sees is that curiosity. But it's in that moment of curiosity that he encounters Jesus. And as he encounters Jesus, something begins to happen in Zacchaeus. Jesus doesn't look up at him and say, You know what, Zacchaeus?

You need to begin to change your life. And if you change your life, I'll go have dinner with you at your house. Jesus is not like some kind of spiritual boot camp instructor. You know, drop and give me 20 good deeds and I'll approve of you. And a lot of us can feel that way about God. We can feel that I'm not, God wouldn't want to know me more deeply because of all the bad things I've done.

I haven't done enough good things for God to want to know me. Nothing could be further from the truth. And we see that here in this passage. Because before Zacchaeus has made any changes in his life, Jesus is like, Zacchaeus, I've got to come to your house. When we begin to draw near to God, maybe out of curiosity, maybe because a friend invited us, the closer you get to God, the more that closeness and nearness to God inspires change in our own heart.

It makes us want to change. So I'm going to church because my friend invites me, right? I'm just there. I didn't go there with any intention of hoping eventually I would stand and accept Jesus as my Savior. But acting out of that curiosity began to stir my heart. Week after week, watching people respond began to change me and inspire faith in me.

When we draw near to God, it begins to change us and inspire us to want to make changes so that we can get even closer. Because when you begin to draw near to God, and you taste how good he is, his kindness, his love, his mercy, his power, his wisdom, and you're really, truly experiencing this about God, you want more. Taste and see that I'm good.

It says in the scriptures. It says in John 10, 10, I came so they may have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed. God comes in to change our life, not to rob us from the things that bring the best into our life, but he comes to change our life to bring us into his richer, more abundant life. Sometimes the things that we hold on to, we feel like, oh, I've got to hold on to this.

You can't ask me to let this go, God. And God's like, look, if you trust me and let this go, man, you don't know what's waiting for you. I remember when I was in college and I was drawing near to God. I went to college to be a doctor. And I wanted to be a doctor from second grade all the way to college. That's a noble profession. Any doctors in the room?

Any physicians? All right? That's a noble profession. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing ungodly. But I had never asked God, God, what did you make me to do? I just assumed, well, it's what I want to do. That's what I'm going to do. And I became a Christian late in life, so I had already had that with me when I came into my relationship with God. But in college, I began to feel this dissonance around that desire to be a doctor and this growing relationship with God.

There was never a moment where God was like, you need to give up this pursuit of medicine if you want me to continue loving you. But I just felt that as I drew closer to God and got to know him more, that this call, this idea of being a doctor was beginning to get shaky. And I could feel that I was at a crossroads. And allowing God to call that career dream into question was like he might as well have been cutting off my right arm.

There are things in our life that God wants to change that are fine in and of themselves, but they're not his best. They're like second, third, fourth, fifth best, but not his best. And we can rationalize, God, I don't want to let that change. And so for a few months, I didn't let it change. And pretty soon, I started letting God into it. And I would have these intense conversations with God.

And it was fundamentally, do I trust that any changes that God brings in my life are actually for my best? So I wrestled with God about it. And I'll never forget the day I said, Jesus, you can just have it all. I want to do what you made me to do. I could be an okay doctor. Or I could be the best at what you made me to do. And I said, God, I want that.

And I just felt like this weight lifted off my back. Okay, now I've been doing ministry for 17 years. If someone had told me my sophomore year, okay, you're going to graduate. You're not going to go to seminary and go into the pastorate because I was a bit of a nerd and I loved school. And I was like, I'll be a pastor. I'll go to seminary and get my master's and my doctorate.

And he's like, no, no, no, you're not going to do any of that. You're just going to graduate, work for InterVarsity, and you're going to fundraise for the rest of your life. It's going to be amazing. I would have been like, I would have had a heart attack. No, God. You've ruined my life. And I might have had, seriously, a cardiac arrest and needed a doctor.

But looking now here, see, God took me a step. I said, well, let's not give it all to him at once. It would be overwhelming. It's like when you have a baby, right? You don't get that baby. Oh, I'm pregnant. Boom, here's a baby. It hasn't happened that way. God gives you nine months to get ready. Okay. Our lives are going to change, right? And so I look back now, 17 years later, and go, I wouldn't want to change anything for the life that God has given me doing what I do.

I don't have any regrets. I was telling someone that the other day. I don't regret anything about the call that God's given me in my life. I count myself so, so blessed. But see, back in that moment, my sophomore year, it didn't feel that way. Look at Zacchaeus. He's given up all his wealth. He's giving up everything that he's fought for. Because drawing near to God inspires us to want to change so we can get closer.

What changes is God working in your life to make? Not so that you can become a better person so he loves you more. Not so that you become a more spiritual person so he can approve of you more. You don't want to embarrass him. You know, in heaven among all the angels, oh, yeah, that's my son. Oh, yeah, she slipped in. All right, let's be serious for a minute here.

What changes has God been nudging, prodding, urging you to make so that you can come closer to him and know him more? The third one is this. You need to believe God is actually the one searching for you. Let me explain. See, in verse 9, Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house. Now, mind you, this is in front of a crowd of people, and he's got Zacchaeus with him, right?

And when Zacchaeus is standing with him, everyone's like, boo, boo, Zacchaeus. Oh, how can Jesus hang with that guy? You know, he's a Democrat. He's a Republican. He's independent. You know, whatever it is that gets us riled up. And everyone's aghast. All right, yeah. And Jesus says, today's salvation has come to this house. You've got to love Jesus.

Jesus could have said, oh, oh, yeah. You know, I just need to use the restroom. So just a minute, guys. He could have backtracked in that moment. But that says something about the heart of God. Jesus is like, oh, you don't like this? I got some news for you, judgers, you haters. Today's salvation has come to this man's house. Everyone's like, what?

Are you kidding me? This is appalling. Do you know this guy, Jesus? This guy has been coming to my front door. Do you know that when he took my taxes last time so he could add that wing to his house, I couldn't feed my family and had to leave for a month to find a job somewhere else? This guy, Zacchaeus, has hurt a lot of people that are in that group.

And Jesus is like, today's salvation has come to this man. This man, too, is the son of Abraham. Verse 10, for the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. There it is. Jesus says here that his purpose for coming to earth is to find amazingly kind, generous, religious people so he can have an awesome party in heaven with respectable, good-looking, driven, successful.

Did I say attractive? Attractive people. Attractive people. You know, isn't that interesting about God? He came to look for those. He came seeking those who are lost. And he's still searching for those who are lost today. Even this morning. Now, what that says is that this whole time we've been focused on how Zacchaeus, right, is searching for Jesus.

He's running. He's climbing the tree. He's giving up everything he has to get closer. It's all been about Zacchaeus. But pay attention. This whole time we thought you could look at this story and think that the whole time Jesus incidentally was walking through that town in Jericho. And incidentally Zacchaeus heard, oh, Jesus has come near. I'm going to run and find him.

But this story, this moment, this quote, this statement, Jesus is giving you a window and a wink. Wink. Actually, there's something else going on here. I'm not in Jericho by accident. I'm in Jericho because I came looking for this guy right here. Now, how do I know that? Am I making that up? Is it sentimental gibberish? Let me read something to you and see if you can see the clue.

Verse 5. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, come down immediately. You got it? All right. What is it? Come on. Come on. Give it to me. And how can you see that in that verse? What tells you that he knew? Yes. He knew his name. I just imagine it like this. Jesus is walking with his disciples and he's talking to his father.

Jesus is always talking to his father. He's just rapping with his father. What's up, pops? What are we doing today, pops? What are we going to do today? And his father is saying, oh, I got this guy, Zacchaeus. People are going to go crazy. So, son, watch out. People are going to go nuts. And they're going to get livid that you're going to reach out to this guy.

But just hang in there. He's like, oh, I love it when you do that, dad. I love it when you do that. All right. All right. I'm ready. I'm ready, pops. I got Peter right here anyway. He'll knock some guys down. And what are we going to do? There's this guy, Zacchaeus. And, well, he's been a bad boy. But, man, he has just been longing for me. He's been waking up.

I've been stirring his soul. And something is awakening in him. I want you to go get him. It's time for him to come home. And Jesus is like, okay. All right, pops. Zacchaeus. I'll remember that. So Jesus is just walking. Like on a scavenger hunt, right? He's just walking. And people are, all these crowds of people are like, Jesus. You know, he's like, all right, all right, all right.

He's like looking around. You know. He's not just happened to be walking around. He's looking and seeking for that lost guy, Zacchaeus. And he's like, oh, that's got to be Zacchaeus. Because look at him up in that tree. Just like my father told me and described him. And he sees him up there. He's like, Zacchaeus, come on down. It's time to come home.

The truth is, if you want to draw near to God, with all the other ones I talked about, being curious, being willing to change your life, all that will get you only so far if you don't get to the most important step. And that is believing that God is searching for you. You are only on your knees in that room by yourself because God has been just drawing your heart to him.

You're only in this church. Maybe you're here this morning because a friend invited you, a spouse invited you, and you're like, oh, okay. I'll go with you to church. I don't want to go, but I'm going to get you to stop nagging me. And you're here. You're here not because that spouse has been asking you. You're here because God is searching for you.

And drawing you to him. He wants you to come near to him. And drawing near to God requires that we believe that God is drawing near to us to begin with. God is searching for you. This whole message, this whole morning is a sign that God is looking for you. And the truth is, we're lost without God. When we define our life purpose, when we try to live our marriage, pursue our life, our career, our future, our dreams, provide for our family, define our manhood, define our role as a mother, without God at the center, we're lost.

And that's not an insult. That's not God's way of insulting you. It's his way of diagnosing that ache that you feel. So you will open up to him, draw near to him, and discover that he's been seeking you and drawing near to you your whole life. You were here this morning not by accident, but you're here because God's drawn you here. He's brought you.

Whatever reason you're here, you're here because God himself brought you here. And he wants you to draw near to him. And in a few minutes, I'm going to give you a chance to respond to God's invitation. But you have to be willing to open that door. God will not force you to open the door of your heart to him. It says in Revelation 3.20, Here I am.

I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and, pay attention, opens the door, I will come in. And I will eat with that person and they with me. Jesus wants to come into your life. He wants to come into your life in a powerful way. He wants to fill your life with his love and his presence. But you have to open the door. And here's the thing about God.

I want to invite the worship team to come on up here. Maybe the prayer team will come and sit up here in the front. Because I want to give you a chance to receive prayer this morning. So if you're on the prayer team, come on over here. Prayer team, sit up here in the front row. Worship team, come up here. Let me make this point and then we'll let it settle for a second.

But listen to this. God has arranged this life in a way that is pretty risky. You can go your whole life. Because God will never force himself into your life, that means you can reject God and ignore him your whole life. And he will never, ever force himself on you. Think about the implication. You can go your whole life with God repeatedly knocking on the door of your heart.

And you can choose to ignore that and never open the door. As much as God hates that, we can choose that. And God will allow you to do that. But this morning, God is saying, it doesn't have to be so. Open the door. Let me in. Draw near to me. And I will draw near to you. Open the door. And I'm going to come in. As we go into this song, I just want to give us a moment to reflect on in what way is God inviting you to draw near to him in your life at this stage?

Where is God knocking on the door of your heart? And what does it mean for you this morning to open the door of your heart to his presence? Let's pray. If I give you my life. If I give you my life. If I give you my heart. If I give you my soul. Then Lord, I give you my hopes. I give you my dreams. I give you control. I want to worry less and pray more.

Worry less and pray more. I want to worry less and pray more. Worry less and pray more. Lord. If I give you my joy. Lord. Lord. If I give you my joy. I give you all of my pain And you carry my load Dear Lord I give you my plans I give you all of my fears Because my future is yours I want to worry less and pray more Worry less and pray more I want to worry less and pray more Worry less and pray more I want to worry less and pray more Worry less and pray more I want to worry less and pray more Worry less and pray more So the truth is that night I chickened out of church I kind of didn't stand up But the whole week I was like, man, I wish I had You don't have to stand up for God to love you I wish I had gone for it And just let the whole world know, I'm ready for you, God I want you That following week I went to church And I told myself, the minute I see one person stand up I'm just going to go for it And I was so nervous This is a church of like a thousand people It's jam-packed, all my friends are there I'm like, what are they going to think of me?

But I was like, I don't care anymore And that preacher did what he did every week He gave that invitation to faith And if you want to receive Jesus, go ahead and stand up right now And I felt the fear, my heart in my throat My knees locked And this guy right in front of me just stands up And I just stopped thinking I just jumped up I just stood up And I just felt like Zacchaeus I felt like the biggest fool The biggest dork Just climbing up in that tree Where everyone could just see me, you know And I just felt this incredible release This breakthrough I'm breaking through That barrier that was standing between me and God That was never on His end But was always on my end That fear of what if I let God into my life Will He mess it up?

Will He make me look dumb? I don't know what it would be for you And when I walked down to the front And they prayed over me And oh, I felt this, the Holy Spirit come upon me If you don't know what that is And I can't wait for you to find out But just the presence of God coming to dwell And live inside of you The love of God pouring into my heart John 6.40 says For my Father's will Is that everyone who looks to the Son And believes in Him Shall have eternal life What is holding you back?

From eternal life this morning For some of you This morning God wants to give you Your first chance Maybe a chance you've never taken before But an opportunity To accept Jesus As the Lord and Savior of your life And to enter into eternal life And to begin to allow His life To be poured into your soul For others of us We are in the kingdom We're with Jesus But Jesus this morning is saying Don't stop drawing near Further up Further in Come on Come further with me Go further with me Come to know me more Come to seek me more I have so much more to give you Because for some of us Maybe like Zacchaeus We've been raised knowing God But somewhere We started focusing on learning about God And we stopped Relating to God That connection to God In that personal way Somewhere got quenched Got cut off And God is saying this morning Draw near to me Let me in Let me revive your heart Let me revive your life It's grown cold You don't love me The way you used to But I want to come in And light that fire again If this morning you were ready To accept Jesus As your Lord and Savior Or you need to Just give him your heart In a fresh way And acknowledge that you've Kind of wandered away from him Grown cold in your faith And you want to let God Revive your faith Either one I want to just invite you To stand up where you're sitting Right now So wherever you're sitting Go ahead and stand up And as you stand It's just a simple act of faith Between you and God But it's public right So is Zacchaeus I do this with college students Some weeks we have people That nobody stands Some weeks we have like 50 people stand This is not about me and you This is about you and God Says in the scriptures Romans 10 9 If you openly declare That Jesus is Lord And believe in your heart That God raised from the dead You'll be saved There's something About acknowledging outwardly And publicly What we hold inwardly That makes it more real And take root When I devoted my life To my wife I didn't say to her You know I love you And I marry you But I don't want anyone To see that Can we just keep that secret It's a little embarrassing That'd be rude I stood in a room Full of 300 people And openly declared My love for this woman And she did the same It was a very personal moment But it wasn't private In the same way Our relation with God Is personal But it's not private And like Zacchaeus Maybe this morning God is calling you Out of the crowd To take a step of faith To say Jesus I want to give you My life And if that's you I want to invite you To stand up And you can join her There's anybody else That wants to stand You're sitting there With your heart In your throat Nervous You didn't come For that purpose But this morning God is tugging On your heart And giving you An opportunity To open the door To him As you stand It's a gesture Of opening the door To God in your life Would you like to do that?

Because the minute you do God is going to draw near to you Remember what I said At the beginning You're as close to God As you want to be Do you want more of God? Then open your heart to him Let him in And he won't fail you He's going to surprise you With his nearness And with his love Before I pray for these guys Is there anybody else That wants to join them?

All right God bless you All right If you're sitting next To someone who's standing Can you do me a favor? Can you put your hand On their shoulder? Yeah Like maybe A little hand On the shoulder there When we Commit ourselves to God Whether the first time Or it's a recommitment It's always in Community And that hand On your shoulder Represents the hand Of God in your life As you commit yourself To God The hand of God Is going to take a grip On your life In a fresh and new way But also We don't do it alone We walk with God In the company Of friends And you can't do it alone We do it with each other I want you to repeat After me Lord Jesus I receive you Into my heart To forgive me Of all my sin To cleanse me Of any wrong That's been done to me And to set me free I accept you As the leader Of my life And that you Died on the cross For me And that you Rose From the dead So that I Might have Eternal life Please fill me With your Holy Spirit With your Eternal life And in Jesus Name we pray Amen Alright Come on now Listen If you stood up Would you come down With this prayer team Prayer team Come on up here See this prayer team Come on down Real quick Don't Don't Don't Stop now Come on down Like Zacchaeus Let him call you Out of the crowd And they're just Going to pray For you briefly They're going to ask you Why you stood What standing Meant for you And then they're Going to pray A simple prayer For you It's just your way Of allowing What's happening In your heart To kind of Take root