“Greatness” as defined by Jesus

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- Well. Hey, how are you today? Good to see you.

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My name is Kyle, if we've never met before.

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I'm the Lead Pastor here at Crossroads.

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You're joining us on the last week

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of a four part series on the gospel of Mark.

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Before we get to today, though,

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we have to celebrate last weekend

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because last weekend, something amazing happened.

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283 people for the very first time,

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stepped across the line of faith and received Jesus.

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That's what happened last weekend, if you were curious.

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[cheers and applause] Amazing.

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It's been an amazing series. So, so pumped about it.

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Now why does that happen?

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It's because a unique teaching style of Jesus.

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Jesus is always drawing lines and circles.

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The lines are markers of truth in our life

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that we have to cross, and the circles are spaces

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of grace and more blessing that He's inviting us into.

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And the purpose of that is to create movement in our lives.

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And today is about a movement I'm convinced

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God wants you to make in your life.

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And the movement is to invite you into a particular circle.

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It's the circle of greatness.

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So the lesson we're going to look at today is, uh,

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what I believe is the greatest leadership lesson

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in the history of the world.

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I don't know where you are in leadership.

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I don't know if it's in your home or your family,

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or maybe at school.

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Maybe you're part of the student government,

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or maybe it's in a fraternity or sorority,

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or maybe it's a volunteer team here at Crossroads.

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Wherever it is, I promise you, this is

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the best lesson you could ever get on what it means

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to step into more as a leader.

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That's what we're praying happens today,

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so why don't we pray before we go any further.

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God, thank You so much for everyone who's here,

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everyone who's listening online.

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I pray that You would call us into more,

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that You would make the line not abstract,

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but exact in our lives.

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Show us the place You want us to cross

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into more greatness, looking more like You. Amen, Amen.

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I said, greatest leadership lesson

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That's a pretty high statement.

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You might be like, "That's very much.

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You really believe that?" Yes, I do.

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I think it's pretty inarguable that Jesus is

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the greatest leader with the most lasting impact

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And the lesson we're going to look at today

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is like His magnum opus on leadership.

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He saves up everything He knows about leading

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until the very end.

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This lesson happens less than a month

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before He's going to go and die.

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And when I say lesson, by the way,

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I should say lessons, because He gives

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this same teaching three times

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to the same group of people, same exact teaching.

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If you're a parent, this is familiar to you.

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This happens in your house.

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For me, in my house this is called where is the dishwasher?

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This is the lesson I teach.

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My kids seem to think it's on top of the counter,

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so I made them this picture to jog their memory

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so they would understand.

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This is not the dishwasher on top of the counter.

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That's the top of the counter.

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The dishwasher is below it.

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You'll notice it's just a little bit lower.

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You have to open it, put the dish in, and close it.

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I think I've given that lesson 3000 times in my house.

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This is the point.

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Jesus gives his lesson because it takes a minute to sink in.

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Some of the stuff that He gives us,

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some of the biggest ideas,

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they're not things you get in one shot.

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And so we're going to actually go through

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each of the three lessons in order.

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Now to get the picture of what He said,

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in this case, where He said it matters.

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Sometimes when we're teaching and we're preaching,

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we kind of skip past place names or nation names

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or whatever, because they don't really add much to the story.

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That's not the case today.

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Where these things happen matter very, very much.

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Now, the first time this lesson is given

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is in Mark 9. It's in a place called Capernaum.

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Mark 9:33: Then He came to Capernaum.

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What is Capernaum?

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Capernaum is a small fishing village

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in the northern part of Israel

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at the top of the Sea of Galilee.

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It was kind of home base for Jesus

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for His three main years of doing ministry.

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He lived in a house there, not His house.

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It was actually His disciple Peter's mother-in-law's house.

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So if you currently live at home with your parents

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and you wish that you didn't and you feel bad about that,

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let me take some of that guilt and shame off of you.

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Jesus didn't live with His mom.

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He lived with his buddy's wife's mom. Okay?

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So you're cool. It's totally fine, man.

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You're just following Jesus, you know, do you.

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Don't worry about it. Mark 9:33:

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You're asking this question, circle of greatness,

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which of us will step into it?

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Which of us will receive the crown?

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Which of us will be the top?

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Now, this is a thing that I think is kind of common.

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It's easy to look at the story and be like,

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"Why would they argue about that?"

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Well, it's because a desire for greatness

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is a core human trait. It's deep inside of all of us.

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I know when the last time that you thought about it,

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but think about the movies that we watch,

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think about the greatest stories that we tell each other,

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every single one of them is about a normal person

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living a normal life who gets a call

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into the circle of greatness.

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If you watch Dune, this is Dune, Paul Atreides,

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he's called into greatness.

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This is Luke Skywalker.

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He's called into greatness in Star Wars.

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This is Rand Al'thor in the Wheel of Time.

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This is Moana. This is Miles Morales in Spider-Man.

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This is Harry Potter. Every single one of them.

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Even the greatest hero of my adolescence,

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Ricky Bobby in Talladega Nights.

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Every one of them called into more. Why?

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Why do we watch that stuff?

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It's because it's what we hope happens to us.

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Just like Hagrid shows up for Harry Potter

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and says, "Guess what? You're destined for greatness."

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Just like Obi-Wan shows up for Luke and says,

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"Guess what? You're called to more."

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We hope that someday a stranger shows up and says,

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"Guess what? You were made for the circle of greatness."

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Now, this actually happened in my life

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just a few months ago. It really did.

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It was a crazy moment. My Obi-Wan showed up.

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Her name was Fran.

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Not not a likely name, but that's what it was.

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I was at a friend's birthday party

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and this woman walked up to me. She introduced herself.

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She said, "Hey, my name is Fran."

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I said, "Great to meet you, Fran."

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She said, "I think I'm related to you."

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I was like, "Oh, okay, great."

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And then she kind of, you know, did the game of,

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"Like, are you related to so and so Ranson?"

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And I said, "Yeah, I am." "Okay. Okay. Great.

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Well then we're relatives." It's like, "That's great, Fran.

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That's nice to meet you. What's the point?"

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She goes, "If you're related to me then you are

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a direct descendant of King Henry VII of England."

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I was like, "Whoa, I am, I'm royalty?" You know.

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So I googled him. I look up this picture. This is him.

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And, uh, you know, you can see the resemblance,

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me and him, we're kind of kind of similar.

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Similar look, dress alike.

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I did what any normal person would do.

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I googled, "Do I own a castle?" and looked it up.

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What's King Henry's castle? It's at Pembroke.

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This is his castle. This is Pembroke.

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It's fine. You know what I mean?

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Don't mean to demean Grandpa Hank.

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He's doing the best job he can.

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It's kind of mid, you know. Nothing, nothing much.

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I thought, what would I do to just kind of

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classy it up a little bit, subtle, tasteful changes?

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And I mocked this up in AI just a little.

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I'm still working on it.

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You guys let me know what you think. Send me an email.

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Got other ideas what it should be like.

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But this is, this is us, right?

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We want to be invited into the circle of greatness.

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Now let's talk about castles, because this matters.

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Every castle is on a hill.

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See, in the world's view, all leadership is elevated.

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It's always about elevation.

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Castles are on a hill.

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You know a king because they wear a crown.

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Where? On top of their head.

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In religious art, Jesus is depicted

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with a kind of a crown, it's called a halo.

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It's this little golden circle floating above Him,

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and it's literally a circle of greatness.

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It's to indicate that He is great.

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One of the reasons that I know I'm not Jesus

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is because my baby pictures don't have one of these,

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and His do. This is me and Jesus.

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You'll notice on top of His head

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He has a halo of greatness.

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You'll notice on my face I have a halo of food.

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That's different.

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He is using His fingers to bless folks.

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I'm using my fingers to put ice cream on corn.

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We're very different, me and Jesus.

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See, greatness is about going up.

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Think about the nomenclature that we use

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to talk about promotions. You got to climb the ladder.

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You got to ascend higher and higher and higher

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because that's where greatness is.

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This is what we think.

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Then Jesus comes along

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and He gives a different response.

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Listen to His response.

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Again, they're debating who's going to be the greatest.

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This is what he says, Mark 9:35:

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The disciples react just like you guys are right now,

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silence, like, whoa, like, somebody farted

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and won't admit it. You know what I mean?

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Like, "Oh, okay. Jesus."

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They literally changed the subject

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and never come back to it in this scene.

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That's just kind of -- that's just kind of it.

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But it does bring up this important question.

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Number one: Does Jesus want you to be great?

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Does God have dreams of greatness for your life?

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Well, notice what Jesus did.

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They were debating who would be the greatest.

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And what Jesus does is He gives them instructions

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on how to be great.

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I would just propose to you that

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if Jesus didn't want them to be great,

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He wouldn't have told them how to do it.

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Generally, if you don't want somebody to do something,

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you don't explain step by step what to do.

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But that's exactly what He does.

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See God wants more for your life.

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I don't know where you are.

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I don't know what your dreams currently are.

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I don't know what your ambitions currently are,

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but God is calling you into more.

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God wants you to win.

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Think about this: the disciples didn't get

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this notion of greatness out of nowhere.

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At this point they had spent three years with Jesus,

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three years with Him.

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Where did the idea of becoming great come from?

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From him. They've been listening to Him

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nonstop for three straight years, and He has started

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to expand their dreams, expand their ambitions,

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expand their vision.

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The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:24 says this:

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Do you not know that in a race all the runners run,

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but only one receives the prize?

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In other translations, that's the crown,

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the circle of greatness.

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So run that you may obtain it. You may obtain it.

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Do you want more for your life?

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Do you have the desire of greatness that God has for you?

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I'll just say the Kingdom of God, it doesn't need

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more people who dream of normal things.

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It doesn't need more people with medium aspirations.

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It needs more people who aspire to be great

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in whatever you are.

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If you're a student, to be a great student.

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If you're a leader, to be a great leader.

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If you're a husband, to be a great husband.

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A dad, a great dad.

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He says you should aspire to greatness.

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This is the call of God. He says go for it.

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Do you have the same desire

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or have you settled for less?

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It's what happens to most of us because

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we go out for greatness. We have big ideas.

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We're going to try out for the team

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and we get -- and we get cut.

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We're going to ask her out and she says no.

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We applied for the job and we don't get it.

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We send in our application to the college

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and they reject us.

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And somewhere along the line, what happens is

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our visions of greatness that we're born with as a kid,

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every one of us is born with them,

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get kind of crunched down into something

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that's more manageable,

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something that's a little less grand

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because you won't be disappointed

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if we don't make it.

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But Jesus says, "Don't, don't. I want you to be great."

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And I think after this first lesson,

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the disciples, they get that point of it.

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They understand that He wants them to be great,

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because the second time it happens,

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it goes a little bit differently.

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Now, this is in Mark 10.

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And when in the calendar this happens

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is very, very important.

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We are right now, just in case you were curious,

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we are in the week before Holy Week on the church calendar.

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That's why you heard somebody talk about

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all the cool Holy Week experiences that we're doing.

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Very excited about that.

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Engage in as much of it as you possibly can.

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It will help you go forward, I promise.

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This is where we are, we're a week before

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in this story in Mark 10 that I'm about to read you

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is this moment in the calendar,

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the week before Holy Week, exactly.

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Now, this time, instead of the disciples discussing

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on their on their own, you know,

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where is great greatness and who is going to be great?

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Instead of discussing it on their own,

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two of them, James and John, who are brothers,

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they actually go to Jesus separately,

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and they just straight up ask to be the greatest.

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Rather than debate it, they're like, "Let's just go ask Him."

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Now, I'm going to read you this out of Mark.

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This story is also in Matthew and in Matthew,

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Matthew records that their mom went and asked for them.

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Pro tip: don't send your mom to ask for a promotion.

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It will not go well for you, that's all.

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Just don't, just don't try it.

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I think Mark's being kind of, um, John Mark,

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who wrote this, I think he's being kind.

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And he's like, "Okay, you know, they sent their mom,

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but it's like they went."

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So this is how he writes it. Mark 10:

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Their response is like, "Oh, man, no,

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we're pretty sure this is what we want.

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Jesus, pretty, pretty cool."

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He's like, "You don't know what you're asking."

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What does that mean?

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Well, see, they thought that Jesus

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was going to go do what every earthly ruler do,

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He was going to go to Jerusalem,

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and He was going to ascend to the throne.

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He was going to climb to the highest point.

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And so they wanted the throne on the left,

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the throne on the right.

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Hey, we can be VP and speaker of the House.

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Whatever. Jesus, I don't know. That's what we're thinking.

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Can we have those spots?"

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But Jesus wasn't going to ascend a throne,

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He was going to ascend a cross.

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And there would be somebody on His right

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and there would be somebody on His left,

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They'd be other criminals on the cross dying.

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He goes, "You don't know what you're asking for."

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Now, as they hear this, as it's happening,

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the other ten guys catch wind.

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They're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa.

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What are James and John talking to Jesus about?

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Are they asking, oh man, what?"

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And they get mad. Why?

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Because they wanted to ask and they beat them to the punch.

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I think that's why, they're like, "Shoot,

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now we got to settle for, like, third and fourth place.

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It stinks. Right?" They're arguing.

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And so Jesus pulls them all together.

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This is Mark 10:41.

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When the ten heard it,

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they began to be indignant at James and John.

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And Jesus called them to Him and said,

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"You know that those who are considered rulers

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of the Gentiles lord it over them,

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and their great ones exercise authority over.

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Up, above.

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But it shall not be so among you.

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But whoever would be great among you

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must be your servant,

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and whoever would be first among you

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must be slave of all.

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For even the Son of Man came not to be served,

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but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

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Jesus goes, "Hey, listen, in the Gentile world,

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in the in the not kingdom of God,

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this is where the circle of greatness is.

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It's about being very high and elevated.

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But I'm going to take it and put it down here.

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That's where greatness is now.

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It's not about climbing up.

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See, the world says the line you have to cross

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is the barrier to move up the ladder.

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And Jesus says, "No, no, no, no, you don't climb up.

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You climb down if you want to get to greatness."

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This is -- this is radical. This is crazy thinking.

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No one's ever said this before

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and no one's ever said it since.

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You got to go down, not up.

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I just wonder in your life, are you frustrated?

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Have you hit a wall does it feel like?

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You can't go any farther, you feel stuck in your job,

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in your career, it's somewhere in your life

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do you feel stuck?

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Friend, could it be because

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you're climbing the wrong direction?

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Could it be because you're pushing up?

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You're doing what everybody says to do.

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You're going to go up

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and you're going to fight for yourself,

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and you're going to put yourself first,

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and you're going to speak your mind and you're going --

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Are you going up? Because Jesus says go down.

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If you want to be great go all the way to the floor,

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all the way.

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Now to hammer this point home, Jesus very intentionally

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picked the location for this lesson.

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If you don't know, according to John 1,

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Jesus is the creator of the universe.

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According to the Bible, He is God.

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It's the idea of the Trinity. He is God

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and He's the one who created the entire universe.

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That means He sculpted the earth.

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That means He determined the high point

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and the low point of the entire globe.

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Now, where was He when He gave this lesson?

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Well, there's context clues in the story.

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Again, we skip past these things most time,

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but I don't want to do that today.

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I want to explain this to you.

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From Capernaum at the top of the Sea of Galilee,

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it says this in Mark 1: Then He arose from there

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and came to the region of Judea

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by the other side of the Jordan.

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Now the other side means that He crossed the Jordan.

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The Jordan extends up above the Sea of Galilee.

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He crosses to the other side to

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the non-promised Land side, the eastern side,

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where there was a highway that went

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all the way from the north to the south.

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It was a main trade route called the King's Highway.

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And He walked down this route.

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And then He has the -- he tells this story

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and then there's this context with it.

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Skip ahead to the end. We'll move backwards.

00:17:37

At Mark 10:45 it says: Then they came to Jericho.

00:17:41

That's right after He delivers His line,

00:17:43

right after He does. Right after He says,

00:17:45

"The Son of Man didn't come to be served,

00:17:46

but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many."

00:17:49

Then they entered Jericho.

00:17:50

Well, Jericho is on the other side of the river.

00:17:52

That means they're at the point

00:17:53

that is the top of the Dead Sea.

00:17:55

Now, this is a significant point in and of itself.

00:17:58

This is the place where Joshua and the Israelites

00:18:01

crossed over the Jordan River

00:18:03

and entered the Promised Land,

00:18:05

the line of the Jordan River

00:18:06

into the Circle of Promise and the Promised Land.

00:18:08

This is the place where Jesus was baptized,

00:18:11

same exact place where He went under the water,

00:18:14

where He lowered himself and come up in greatness

00:18:17

to say, "God, I'll do whatever You want me to do."

00:18:20

Now, if that wasn't amazing enough, do you know

00:18:23

this place is also the lowest spot on the entire globe?

00:18:29

No place lower.

00:18:30

Mt. Everest is the highest point.

00:18:32

This is the lowest point. Think about that.

00:18:36

What are the odds that Jesus,

00:18:38

if He was just a normal guy, if He wasn't God

00:18:42

could somehow give the greatest leadership lesson

00:18:44

in the history of the world in which He says,

00:18:46

"It's not about going up, it's about going down,

00:18:48

becoming the lowest of all,"

00:18:50

what are the odds He'd give that

00:18:51

in the lowest place on Earth?

00:18:54

I'm gonna say it's not coincidence.

00:18:56

Something to pay attention to.

00:18:57

Do you want to be great?

00:18:59

God's call is, "Yes. Step into the circle."

00:19:01

But the picture He paints and the place He tells it

00:19:03

makes it very plain and very clear

00:19:05

the only way to go there is down.

00:19:08

Lower yourself. Lower yourself.

00:19:12

The lowest place on the entire Earth.

00:19:13

Leadership is lowership. Really simple.

00:19:16

Leadership is lowership. Will you go down?

00:19:20

When I took the job of Lead Pastor, you know,

00:19:24

the question I asked myself was not

00:19:26

can I handle it at the top?

00:19:29

It's not the question I asked,

00:19:30

can I take the -- Can I handle the top?

00:19:33

It was, can I handle the weight at the bottom?

00:19:36

See Jesus doesn't elevate people. He de-elevates them.

00:19:40

He puts them down and lower.

00:19:42

The farther you go in the Kingdom,

00:19:43

the more weight you bear.

00:19:45

It's a sobering thing.

00:19:47

As you think about leadership in your life,

00:19:49

do you think about it this way?

00:19:51

Do you think about a job or a promotion,

00:19:53

or, again, running for something

00:19:54

in your student government or wherever it is,

00:19:57

do you think about leadership this way?

00:19:59

Or are you aspiring for the top?

00:20:01

Because if you're aspiring for the top,

00:20:02

you're seeing it backwards, upside down.

00:20:05

The question to ask yourself is do I have

00:20:07

what it takes to go down, to be lowered,

00:20:11

to become the servant of all?

00:20:13

And heads up, naturally, you're not.

00:20:16

You're not ready. Why?

00:20:19

Well, because no matter what we feel,

00:20:20

none of us is born at the bottom of the ladder.

00:20:22

And some of us do feel this way. I know we do.

00:20:24

We feel like we look at other people and we see them.

00:20:27

They they were born with way more wealth

00:20:28

in their family than us.

00:20:30

They just happened to get some smarts that we didn't,

00:20:32

or some athletic skills that we didn't.

00:20:34

And we look at them

00:20:35

and we feel like we're down here, but we're not.

00:20:38

See, every single person ever

00:20:39

is born in the middle of the ladder.

00:20:42

You're right here when you start

00:20:43

because no one's born the servant of all.

00:20:45

And you have a choice to make with your life,

00:20:48

which is will I go up or will I go down? Will I go down?

00:20:53

Now, I found in my life this requires practice.

00:20:55

It's the only way this works in my life.

00:20:57

Practice, really? This might sound goofy to you.

00:21:00

God's given me several of these types of places in my life,

00:21:03

I'll tell you about one of them,

00:21:04

to literally practice being the servant of all.

00:21:08

And the place is Chipotle.

00:21:11

Now, I don't know what your Chipotle looks like,

00:21:13

the Chipotle that I frequent, every time I go there,

00:21:16

they're like soda fountain bar

00:21:17

where you get your forks and your soda,

00:21:19

it's always a mess.

00:21:21

There's like ice everywhere and soda

00:21:23

and empty straw wrappers,

00:21:24

the cup toppers are all over the place,

00:21:26

the napkins are half pulled out,

00:21:27

and there's hot sauce spilled everywhere.

00:21:29

Always, always, always.

00:21:30

If you work at Chipotle, it's cool, man, I get it.

00:21:32

Just make the burritos. That's what we want you to do.

00:21:34

We apologize for the slobs in the restaurant.

00:21:37

Don't worry about it. It's cool.

00:21:38

It's cool, but it's always a mess.

00:21:40

And one time I was standing there

00:21:42

and this is probably like a decade ago,

00:21:43

something like that, standing there.

00:21:46

And I noticed it was a mess.

00:21:48

And I was like, "Man, somebody should clean that up."

00:21:50

Just a thought in my head, that's all.

00:21:52

Just a thought, "Somebody should clean that up."

00:21:54

And then a little voice popped into

00:21:57

the back of my mind and it was like,

00:21:58

"Yeah, you know who should do that?

00:22:00

Whoever's the servant here."

00:22:03

I went, oh, and then this passage jumped into my mind:

00:22:07

Whoever wants to be great has to become the servant of all.

00:22:12

All means, all the time, everywhere you go.

00:22:16

And so I just cleaned it up.

00:22:19

And then the next time I went to Chipotle,

00:22:20

I saw the same exact mess.

00:22:22

And again, I thought the servant should clean that up.

00:22:25

Ah, I think that's me. I cleaned it up.

00:22:28

And every time I've gone to Chipotle for ten straight years,

00:22:31

I cleaned up whatever the thing is there.

00:22:33

To be clear, I don't want to, okay?

00:22:36

I don't wake up like, "Man, I really hope it's messy today."

00:22:40

It's not what I'm thinking. It's hard.

00:22:43

In my life I'm not. I'm not here.

00:22:46

I wish I was, I'm not. I'm somewhere.

00:22:48

I don't know, I'm up in here somewhere.

00:22:49

I'm working my way down.

00:22:51

But I know that the call on my life,

00:22:53

if I want to do what God's called me to do,

00:22:56

is to go down, to become the servant of all.

00:23:00

And I'm practicing. Will you practice?

00:23:04

Will you put it in practice in your life?

00:23:05

Where in your life can you serve?

00:23:08

Where is the spot for you?

00:23:09

Maybe you're a student in here.

00:23:10

I'm going to suggest one to you.

00:23:12

Do your own laundry. How about that?

00:23:14

That would be a great way to serve.

00:23:15

Do your mom's laundry, too. That'd be amazing.

00:23:18

No one wants to do laundry.

00:23:20

Why don't you step into it?

00:23:21

It doesn't have to be fancy.

00:23:22

Sometimes these these big ideas, it can be like,

00:23:24

"Oh, man, I don't know. How would I ever do that?"

00:23:27

Just find something that needs done

00:23:29

that no one wants to do and do it.

00:23:31

And then do it again and again and again and again.

00:23:33

And tell yourself every time you do it,

00:23:35

it's your job because in this place, you're the lowest.

00:23:39

In this place you're the servant.

00:23:41

What would happen if you took that attitude? I'll tell you.

00:23:45

You would see incredible, incredible growth

00:23:48

that you won't find anywhere else.

00:23:49

This advice goes against the advice of pop psychology.

00:23:53

Pop psychology, the rage right now,

00:23:54

it's all about putting yourself first.

00:23:56

Put yourself first.

00:23:58

This is the advice that we're giving to students right now.

00:24:01

Put yourself first.

00:24:03

Who are having a worse mental health crisis

00:24:05

than we've ever seen.

00:24:06

I don't think that's unrelated.

00:24:08

Jesus says, "If you want to save your life,

00:24:11

you got to give your life away." That's what He says.

00:24:14

I'm just telling you, if you're in here right now

00:24:16

and I know you are 18-24, high school influencers,

00:24:19

if you want to be resilient, if you want mental health

00:24:21

that nobody else has in your generation,

00:24:23

if you want to change the world,

00:24:24

there is one way to do it, it's to go down.

00:24:27

If you'll do that, you'll change the world.

00:24:29

You will change mental health in your generation.

00:24:31

You can set a different trajectory

00:24:33

for all of your friends, all of them

00:24:34

who are putting themselves first.

00:24:36

You guys can be different.

00:24:37

You can say, we're going down

00:24:38

and when you get there, oh, man, the joy.

00:24:41

Do you know what it feels like to serve?

00:24:44

Do you know the reward that comes from it?

00:24:46

It's what Jesus says.

00:24:48

If you make yourself last, He'll put you first.

00:24:51

It's amazing, amazing, amazing.

00:24:54

Now the truth from the Bible, what I do love,

00:24:56

is there are some people, there are some people

00:24:59

who are starting to see this because

00:25:00

all truth from the Bible is true,

00:25:03

whether or not you recognize where it's from.

00:25:06

It works like gravity.

00:25:07

You don't have to know about gravity

00:25:08

for gravity to work on you, right?

00:25:10

This is how the Bible truth works.

00:25:12

And there's people who are picking up on this,

00:25:14

more and more leadership gurus are starting

00:25:16

to see these little pieces and put them together.

00:25:19

One of them, a guy I like a lot

00:25:20

named Simon Sinek, said this:

00:25:37

This is great leadership.

00:25:38

When I was a senior in college,

00:25:40

I had one elective credit left to use,

00:25:43

my last semester, one elective left,

00:25:45

which at some schools I know you people

00:25:48

have like tennis as an elective,

00:25:50

underwater basket weaving.

00:25:52

My friend Esther said that one of her electives

00:25:54

was watching disaster movies.

00:25:56

I was like, what? That's ridiculous.

00:25:58

If you did one of those, just raise your hand.

00:26:00

Just want to just just publicly hate you a little bit.

00:26:03

Man, it's awful.

00:26:05

The school I went to was an engineering school, okay.

00:26:07

The the electives that we had were like

00:26:08

fluid dynamics and differential equations.

00:26:11

It was awful. Didn't have any of these things.

00:26:14

My last one, I found what I thought was

00:26:15

the easiest course I could find.

00:26:18

It was a grad level leadership seminar.

00:26:21

And what would happen is every week

00:26:22

a new CEO of some big, impressive company

00:26:25

would come in and they would talk to us

00:26:26

about leadership and we would just take notes.

00:26:29

And it was really cool.

00:26:30

I mean, some big, big, impressive people.

00:26:33

The CEO of Hewlett-Packard and just massive,

00:26:36

you know, fortune 20 type companies would come in.

00:26:40

And one day this, um, this other guy came in,

00:26:42

he was less impressive, um, so less impressive

00:26:45

that I almost left when he walked on stage.

00:26:48

He ran a regional bank I'd never heard of.

00:26:50

I mean, still big, you know,

00:26:51

multi-billion dollar size, size business.

00:26:53

It wasn't like it was tiny or anything,

00:26:55

but he was just kind of unassuming.

00:26:56

He was wearing this old, dumpy suit

00:26:59

that was probably old enough to rent a car,

00:27:01

you know, like it was just --

00:27:02

Just not quite put together.

00:27:04

And he walked on stage and instead of

00:27:06

doing what everybody else did, which is like,

00:27:08

give their top ten leadership little one liners,

00:27:11

you know, "Oh, here's the thing you got to do,

00:27:13

boom, boom, boom."

00:27:14

Instead of that, he just told his story.

00:27:17

He said, "Well, I was, um, grew up

00:27:19

in a coal mining town in West Virginia.

00:27:21

And I graduated high school,

00:27:23

and I just did what everybody does.

00:27:25

I went to the coal mine to get a job.

00:27:27

But while I was in line,

00:27:28

I saw my high school guidance counselor,

00:27:30

and he pulled me out and he said,

00:27:31

'Hey, I don't want you to go to the mines.

00:27:34

Let me, give me, give me one day to find you a better job.'

00:27:37

And the guy did, and he said,

00:27:39

'So I went to work at a bank. It's where he got me a job.

00:27:42

And my job was to just kind of mop the floors

00:27:45

and keep the place clean.

00:27:46

And so I showed up and I mopped the floors.'

00:27:49

And he said, 'I just tried to do the best job

00:27:51

I possibly could.

00:27:52

I just tried to serve as well as I could.

00:27:55

I just tried to serve the customers

00:27:57

and all the other people who worked at the bank

00:27:58

just just as good as I could, ' he goes.

00:28:00

'And then the craziest thing happened.

00:28:02

One day they came to me and said, 'Hey,

00:28:05

would you like to be a teller?'

00:28:07

I was like, "Oh, never thought of being a teller.'

00:28:09

So I said, "Sure, ' I became a teller.

00:28:11

I just tried to do the best job I could,

00:28:14

serve everybody as well as I possibly could

00:28:16

as a bank teller.

00:28:18

And the craziest thing happened.

00:28:19

One day they came and they said,

00:28:20

'Do you want to be the manager of this branch?'

00:28:23

And I said, "Oh, sure.'

00:28:25

He said, 'Then I just tried to do the best job

00:28:27

I could as the manager

00:28:29

and just serve everybody as well as I can.'

00:28:30

He said, 'One day, that kept happening

00:28:33

and happening and happening, and one day

00:28:34

somebody walked into my office and said,

00:28:36

'Do you want to be CEO?

00:28:39

This is what my story, this is my life.

00:28:42

I just tried to do the best job I could

00:28:44

serving everybody I possibly could

00:28:46

in whatever job I was given.

00:28:47

And somehow I became the CEO.'"

00:28:49

And that man's story was so different

00:28:52

that 20 years later, I don't remember

00:28:54

what anybody else says, but I've never forgotten

00:28:57

that advice, never.

00:28:59

Put it in my pocket, folded it up, said,

00:29:02

"That man knows something."

00:29:04

And I promise you that man knows Jesus.

00:29:06

He was quoting Him almost word for word,

00:29:09

before I even knew that that was in the Bible,

00:29:12

before I even knew it.

00:29:13

This is the message of Jesus.

00:29:15

There's nothing special about that guy.

00:29:17

Like I said, he didn't have a college degree.

00:29:19

Just a guy from a coal miner town.

00:29:21

See, when God invites you into the circle of greatness,

00:29:24

His circle of greatness is not exclusive.

00:29:26

The world's all are.

00:29:28

In the world you have to have the right pedigree,

00:29:30

or the right GPA, or the right things on your resume

00:29:33

to get into the school or to get the job.

00:29:36

But that's not how it works in the Kingdom of God.

00:29:38

God's circles are inclusive.

00:29:41

I love how Martin Luther King, Jr. put it.

00:29:43

He was preaching on this exact message one Sunday.

00:29:47

He said this:

00:30:32

You can. [applause]

00:30:37

God's call on your life is greatness.

00:30:40

Will you go there?

00:30:43

The third time He gives this lesson,

00:30:45

the last time He gives it, He goes from

00:30:47

the lowest spot on Earth,

00:30:49

climbs up, up, up, up, up to Jerusalem.

00:30:52

Now Jerusalem, if you've never been,

00:30:53

it's on this like mountain range.

00:30:55

There's about three mountains that come together.

00:30:57

The tallest of the mountains is Mount Zion.

00:31:00

And crazy enough, would you know that

00:31:02

Jesus rented a house on the top of Mount Zion

00:31:05

and then had dinner with His disciples

00:31:07

in what we call the Upper Room.

00:31:10

The lowest point on earth to the highest point

00:31:13

in the capital city of God's people. Fascinating.

00:31:16

And again, this same conversation breaks out.

00:31:19

Again the disciples start to have this debate

00:31:21

about who's going to be the greatest.

00:31:23

It says this: A dispute also arose among them

00:31:26

as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.

00:31:29

And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles

00:31:31

exercise lordship over them,

00:31:34

and those in authority over them

00:31:35

are called benefactors, but not so with you.

00:31:38

Rather, the greatest among you become as the youngest

00:31:43

and the leader as the one who serves.

00:31:46

He tells them again, and the very next thing He does,

00:31:48

don't miss this, the very next thing He does

00:31:50

is He grabs a bucket and He goes over to His disciples.

00:31:54

And He goes, "You know what? Let me just show you.

00:31:56

I'm tired. I'm tired of saying it.

00:31:58

Let me just show you." He gets a bucket, He gets a rag.

00:32:01

And He says, "Come over here. I'm going to wash your feet."

00:32:03

Now, this job is the job of the lowest servant.

00:32:07

This job is the job of the slave.

00:32:09

It's the job that who you look around the room,

00:32:11

who's ever the lowest, this is what they do.

00:32:14

He just starts washing their feet.

00:32:16

He goes, "This is -- This is what greatness is."

00:32:18

That's the circle of greatness

00:32:19

and He calls them to it.

00:32:21

Now, from this moment, He stands up. They have dinner.

00:32:24

He does what's called the Lord's Supper with them

00:32:26

and institutes communion with them.

00:32:30

And then He leaves the Upper Room,

00:32:31

walks down the stairs, walks down from Mount Zion,

00:32:35

down the slopes of Mount Zion into the Kidron Valley,

00:32:39

aka the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

00:32:41

Goes to the lowest point of Jerusalem

00:32:43

and allows himself to be captured, arrested,

00:32:47

beaten, and ultimately crucified.

00:32:51

If you go to Jerusalem, you can actually see

00:32:53

the place where the cross was. Amazing.

00:32:56

Absolutely amazing.

00:32:57

This is one of those places that is not debated by historians.

00:33:00

Everyone's like, "Oh yeah, no, no, that's --

00:33:02

That's definitely where the Cross was."

00:33:03

You know what's fascinating?

00:33:05

If you go there, do you know what you'll find?

00:33:07

No cross.

00:33:09

Know what you will find? A circular hole in the ground.

00:33:15

There's a circle of greatness that marks the earth,

00:33:18

the place where the God of the universe

00:33:20

descended from His high throne

00:33:22

and came down to serve everybody.

00:33:25

Philippians 2 puts it this way:

00:33:28

In your relationships with one another,

00:33:29

have the same mindset of Christ Jesus.

00:33:31

Who, being in very nature God,

00:33:34

did not consider equality with God

00:33:35

something to be used to His advantage.

00:33:37

Rather, He made Himself nothing

00:33:40

by taking the very nature of a servant

00:33:43

and being made in human likeness.

00:33:44

And being found in appearance as a man,

00:33:46

He humbled himself and became obedient to death,

00:33:50

even death on a cross.

00:33:52

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place.

00:33:56

He exalted Him.

00:33:58

Jesus goes from the highest place,

00:34:01

King of the universe, Creator of everything,

00:34:05

comes to earth and goes to the lowest place.

00:34:07

Says, "If you want to follow Me, you got to be like Me.

00:34:11

I'm putting myself underneath everybody.

00:34:12

There's nobody I won't serve, nobody I won't serve."

00:34:16

After He washed the disciples feet,

00:34:19

He turned it on them, and He gave them this challenge

00:34:22

that He gives to us as well. He said:

00:34:48

That word blessed, it means happy.

00:34:50

That's the literal translation, happy are you if you do them,

00:34:53

The life you'll find, the peace you'll find,

00:34:56

you'll find satisfaction.

00:34:57

If you give your life away, you will find it.

00:35:02

This is the promise of Jesus.

00:35:04

It's the line you have to cross if you want it.

00:35:08

He's really clear. It's not about knowing it.

00:35:11

I'm happy you've listened. That's great.

00:35:13

It's not about knowing it. It's about doing it.

00:35:17

Will you do it?

00:35:18

So we saves some time for this in the service.

00:35:20

Don't worry, we've got time. You're not late.

00:35:22

I want you to just close your eyes for a minute.

00:35:24

We're gonna do a little prayer exercise

00:35:27

aimed at helping us do it. Close your eyes.

00:35:30

I want you to ask God for a who.

00:35:34

Say, "God who do you want me to serve?"

00:35:37

A specific person in your life.

00:35:43

It could be a friend, roommate, parent, child,

00:35:51

somebody at work who annoys you a whole lot.

00:35:55

It says serve everybody. Ask God for who.

00:35:59

Whoever popped into your mind, assume that's from God.

00:36:03

Now ask him for what.

00:36:05

Say, "God, what do you want me to do for them?"

00:36:10

Jesus washed our feet.

00:36:11

That probably wouldn't be helpful to this person.

00:36:13

Don't do that. That'd be weird.

00:36:15

But what could you do?

00:36:16

What's the dirty work in their life

00:36:18

that would just bless them and serve them?

00:36:22

Ask God for the what?

00:36:30

If you got that,

00:36:32

I want you to tell God you're going to do it.

00:36:34

But not if you're not.

00:36:36

It's okay if you're not, it's okay.

00:36:39

You're welcome here. It's awesome.

00:36:41

So, so glad you're with us.

00:36:42

But if you're willing to do it, say,

00:36:44

"God, I will do that for that person.

00:36:47

I will serve them.

00:36:50

Help me enter into the circle of graces, Amen. Amen."

00:36:55

Now, we're not done yet.

00:36:58

In that meal, when He served them,

00:37:00

after He washed their feet, He served them communion.

00:37:05

He said at the end there, He said,

00:37:07

"Even the Son of Man did not come to be served,

00:37:10

but to serve." See the good news, the amazing news,

00:37:14

the incredible thing is the God of the universe

00:37:16

came down here not to demand service from us to Him,

00:37:20

but to invite us to receive service from Him.

00:37:25

He came with something to give,

00:37:27

and the thing He gave was His life.

00:37:30

For a lot of us, we received Jesus

00:37:31

for the very first time last week.

00:37:33

If you haven't yet, you can do that right now.

00:37:35

You just say, "Jesus, I believe You are who You say You are.

00:37:38

I want to receive You."

00:37:40

If you prayed that prayer in this moment

00:37:43

last week or four decades ago,

00:37:46

you're in the family of believers

00:37:47

and this communion experience is for you,

00:37:49

a way to remember the gift of the God

00:37:52

who climbed down and gave up His life for you.

00:37:56

You take your communion kit, if you've got it.

00:37:58

Go ahead and peel off that top layer of cellophane.

00:38:02

Expose the little wafer that's in there.

00:38:05

Let me read you the words of Jesus from Mark 14, it says:

00:38:19

You take that wafer in your hands and just break it.

00:38:22

Just snap it in half.

00:38:24

This is the body of Christ broken for you.

00:38:28

Let's eat in remembrance of Him.

00:38:37

Go ahead and peel off the layer of cellophane,

00:38:40

exposes the juice. He used wine.

00:38:46

Continues and says this:

00:38:59

This is the blood of Jesus shed for you.

00:39:02

Drink it in remembrance of Him.

00:39:09

Father, thank You.

00:39:12

Thank You for moving the circle.

00:39:15

Thank You for coming down the ladder.

00:39:17

Thank You for calling us to follow You.

00:39:19

And thank You for the life that comes.

00:39:21

I pray for all of us that we'd have

00:39:22

the courage to follow You, that we have

00:39:24

the courage to go even lower,

00:39:26

that we have the courage to follow through

00:39:27

on the thing You ask us to do,

00:39:29

and the person you ask us to do it.

00:39:30

God, we want to follow you. Amen.

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