Moments: The Moment He Saw Me

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here, and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's Word in practical ways. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Let's listen in. Oh, I'm so thankful that you're here. I'm glad you have made the perfect decision. The greatest way to start your week is is by spending time in God's house with God's people, reading God's Word, drawing closer to him together. I believe you have made the best decision you can possibly make when you're starting a week. So good for you. I'm glad you're here. Welcome to everybody that's watching online from all around the world. Come on, High Ridge family. Let's give them a big, warm round of applause as we dig into God's Word together. We're so glad that you're with us wherever you're watching from. I believe that God's got something special for you. If you're sick, I'm believing God's gonna meet you right where you are. If you're walking through a difficult season, let your heart go to go immediately to the presence of the Lord today and watch what God can do. Grab your Bible, if you would. Let's open up to John, chapter one. John, chapter one. As we're gonna continue on with our series called Moments. We're talking about the moments of our life where God makes himself real and where he moves us from. Not just a sense of awe, but a sense of intimacy where God calls us deeper into. Because your life happens in moments. We had an incredible moment together this past Thursday night as believers gathered together all across this city to worship the Lord together. Pastors gathered together, churches gathered together. What an Incredible Night at Unite 2025. Thank you so much for making that an incredible night. Come on, let's give the Lord some praise for that. Thank you so much for being a generous church. I remember looking at one pastor after the next, and we tended to. To all say the exact same thing to one another. And it was this. I needed this. I needed this. I needed to know that I'm not alone. You need to know you're not alone. And in the midst of all that we're having to walk through as a nation, as a people, as believers, as parents, as grandparents, it is a crazy time to be alive. And you need this. I need this. I need the presence of God. I need my brothers and sisters. I need God's word. I need Jesus. What an incredible time we had. And as we're talking about the divine moments that God has for each of us, I want to just ask you a really powerful but yet very personal question. And that's simply this. When did Jesus become real to you? When did he become more than a story? And hopefully you have a moment or a few moments, maybe some specific times in your life that you can bring back to your memory that says that's the moment he became real to me. I would venture a guess that that's the moment that you felt something very much like I felt and others have felt. You felt like God saw me. And maybe you're walking through a divorce or walking through the loss of a loved one. Maybe you're dealing with something traumatic, or maybe you're on a mountain, maybe you're next to the ocean, but you felt like God. God sees me. God sees me right where I am. I remember as a young kid, the very first time I got to travel outside of the state of Texas, and we had a youth group that went all the way up to Colorado, and they took us on a bus all the way to the top of Pikes Peak. If you've ever been to the top of Pikes Peak, you know, it's just an incredible view. And the very last thing that our youth pastor told us was, you don't want to get out and run. You're at a very, very high elevation. You're going to pass out. Which was code for us as teenagers to run. We are hardwired to be disobedient to put that to the test, because I'm not just going to take your word for it. That will never happen to me. And about 30 seconds later, we're going to. We started dropping like flies. I learned a divine principle that disobedience leads to some horrible things. I remember watching us. But, you know, later on in that afternoon, we got a chance to really look out over those mountains. And that was one of the first moments that I can recall where God became very real to me. I might be like some of you in this room. We're probably in the minority of those that really connect very well with God through nature. And standing on a mountain for the very first time, looking across the great Rocky Mountains, I didn't just see the beauty and the awe of the purple mountain's majesty. I saw a creator. I saw a designer. I saw that God has a plan. And I felt so small and insignificant in that moment. Until I recognized that the same God that made this made me. And for a sixth grade kid, that was a profound moment in my life. A few years later, I got the first chance to put my feet in the Pacific Ocean. I'd never seen seen the ocean before until that moment, but I had the exact same feeling. There's a God, and he sees me. I wonder, do you have those moments in your life where you know that God saw you? Where you know that you became more than just a distant thought? But God saw me. You know, life happens in moments. You have good moments, you have bad moments. You can't remember every moment of your life, but you remember the important ones, the defining moments, the. The divine moments. And your walk with Christ will have those moments where God is calling you deeper to himself. He's calling you into a more intimate relationship than what you settled for. There is more. Say that with me. There is more. Look at your neighbor and say, there is more. Look at your second choice and say, I'm sorry, I should have turned to you first. But there's more for you too. There's more. Here's what we know, is that God is always calling us closer and deeper into a relationship with Him. God is always calling us closer and deeper. And he will use whatever means necessary to get your attention, to get you to see that you have a plan, that there's a purpose for your life, that you have a destiny, that you have a calling, that you have a God that loves you, that sees you right where you are. The apostle Paul began to speak about this several times. And. And one of the other scriptures that we have is in Romans chapter one, where he says this very clearly. He says, for since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power, his divine nature, have been clearly seen. He's saying everything around you is screaming out that there is a God, that there is a designer, that there is a Father that cares about you, that sees you. He said, since the beginning of the world, God's divine quality, his nature, everything around is screaming the glory of God. The psalms recognize that as well. They said, the heavens declare the glory of God. All of creation declares his handiwork. Why does God do that? Why does God surround us with his nature? Why does God surround us with his holiness? Why does he surround us with things that push us back towards Him? It says this. These things have been clearly seen being understood from everything that's been made, everything that God made. Why? So that people are without excuse. There's no excuse. Everything around us is saying, there is a God, there is a designer, there is a creator, and that God, that designer, that creator saw and created and designed you. There are powerful moments, I believe all around us, that God is calling us into a deeper relationship with himself. I think, unfortunately, we miss it because life gets busy, life gets traumatic, life gets good, life gets fast moving, and we miss the things that are calling us into a deeper relationship with the Lord. Let me just ask you a question. If not now, when. When do your relationship with God go deeper than what you settled for? There are divine moments where God is calling us deeper, closer to Himself. And you need this. So let's focus on a single moment in John, chapter one. And it's a small, small paragraph that's kind of tucked away in John. And it's. It seems almost. Almost like an insignificant story, but yet there's so many powerful truths that we can find today hidden right here. What we see is Jesus is calling a man named Nathaniel, and he does it through Nathaniel's friend named Philip. Look at this, if you would, In John, chapter 1, verse 43, it says, the next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee and finding Philip, he said to him, follow me. Say those two words, follow me. Jesus says this over and over to many people. He's still saying this to you today. Follow me. More than just on Twitter, he's saying, follow me. Let's talk about what that means to be a follower of Christ. Jesus tells Philip, follow me. And then Philip found Nathaniel and he told him, we have found the one that Moses wrote about in the law and about whom the prophets also wrote. It's Jesus of Nazareth and the son of Joseph. And he says what everybody else would say in that day, Nazareth, can anything good come out of Nazareth? It's a common phrase, by the way, that they would use to kind of make fun of Nazareth as this place where nothing good ever comes out of there. It's a. It's a running joke among the culture of this people. It's very similar to in Texas when somebody says, you know, a guy from Baylor and a guy from UT and Aggie walked into a bar, you know, immediately that's going to be an Aggie joke. I don't care that they won yesterday. Nobody else has their own jokes, but we understand it's part of our culture that when you say an Aggie, you're going to make fun of Texas A and M. And this is what's happening. When he said, can anything good come out of Nazareth? He's making a joke he said, there's nothing good that could come out of that. But I love how his friend just kind of breezes right past that. And he gives him some of the most powerful words that we have ever seen in scripture. He just says, hey, come and see. Come and see. Before you dismiss it, before you say it's not possible, just come and see. This is where we pick up the story. Come and see, said Philip. And when Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said to him, look at these words. Because these words changed the life of Nathanael. We don't know a ton of what these words, why they're so important to him, but we know that in this moment, he has a divine encounter with Jesus. And he leaves everything to follow him. He goes from this moment he is dedicated to Christ until his death. And by the way, he dies a horrific death. They peel his skin off trying to get him to deny Christ. So he is firmly committed to the death because of this phrase that Jesus speaks to him when he calls him out of his old life and into his new life. A divine moment. He will never be the same. Jesus looks at him and said, here comes a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit. And Nathaniel says, you. You don't. You don't know. You don't know me. How do you know me? You're saying that you know me. I don't just take these guys word for it. You're saying that you know me. You're saying I don't have any. You're saying, I'm a. I'm a good person. I don't have deception in my heart. You don't really know me. You don't know what's going on the inside. You don't really see me. Look what Jesus says. Nathaniel asked him, how do you know me? And Jesus answered, I saw you. I want you to pay attention to those three words. I saw you. Where did you see me? He said, I saw you when you were still under the fig tree, before Philip called you. Now, these words obviously have a ton of weight for somebody like Nathaniel, because in this moment, he responds to Jesus by making a powerful declaration of faith. This is his divine moment, whatever that might have looked like for you, when you had a moment where Jesus became real to you, when he was more than just a Sunday School message, more than just a thought, or more than just something that you did because people told you to do, he became real to you. And this is that moment for Nathaniel. Look at the response that he says. Nathaniel declared, rabbi, you are the son of God. You are the King of Israel. You see me. You know me. How could you know that? Jesus gives him a word of wisdom that no one else could have known. But obviously, Jesus is speaking to a very private, a very personal moment where something profound was happening in Nathaniel's life. And he's saying, you. You saw that. You heard the cry of my heart. You heard what I was talking about. You heard my prayers, whatever that might have been. In that moment, Jesus says, I. I saw you while you were still under the fig tree. Before he even called you, I saw you. Nathaniel could have said, how could you have seen me? I was alone. Nobody knew I was there. It might have been the middle of the night. It might have been first thing in the morning. No one was there. How could you know what I was doing? And Jesus says this. You believe because I told you. You believe because I told you that I saw you before Philip called you. You believe because I saw you under the fig tree. Oh, you're gonna see. You're gonna see greater things than that. He's saying, take a few steps with me, follow me, and I'm gonna show you things that are way more impressive than just the fact that I can see you, just the fact that I know what you're talking about. I know what you're praying about. I know what you're studying about. I know the condition of your heart. Oh, you're gonna see greater things than that. And Jesus goes on to give him this statement. He says, very truly, I tell you, you will see the heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. It's interesting that Jesus gives him a picture of the Old Testament view of what happened when Jacob had his name changed into Israel. And Jacob had this experience where he has this dream where he sees what's called as Jacob's Ladder. You might have heard of that. Jacob's Ladder where heaven kind of meets earth, and angels are coming down and going back up into heaven on this Ladder. I think in this moment, why it's so profound to Nathaniel is because it's probably what he was studying about. I think Jesus told him exactly what he was reading in his devotional. You're reading about the story of Jacob's Ladder, and guess what? Guess what, Nathaniel? I'm the latter. What you're looking at, you found the answer to what you were asking about earlier in your. In your quiet time. I think that's a pretty good. That. That's a pretty good opinion because he said, here comes an Israelite in whom there is, there is no deceit. It's. It's interesting that you uses the word deceit there. What does Jacob's name mean in Hebrew? It means deceiver. I think Jesus is saying, nobody else understands this. But you know, and. And I know. I know exactly what you were asking about. I know what you're studying about. I know what you were praying about. I know exactly what was on your heart before Philip even called you. I saw you, and I see you now. And there are greater things I have to show you. That's a powerful, powerful truth for us to grasp today, that we serve a God that sees me, that has a plan for me, and that's calling me deeper into relationship with him, saying, I want to show you greater things. God has greater things to show you than what you've experienced. For some of us, we spend our whole life in church, and we've been around, and we've seen the good and the bad, the ugly and the weird and the crazy and the cuckoo, and we've seen the pastors that were good and the pastors that were bad. We've seen it all. We live in the buckle of the Bible Belt. What are you gonna show me? And God's like, can I show you me? You've seen religion, you've seen church. Can I show you my heart? Can I show you things that are much better than what you've experienced? What a powerful divine moment for somebody like Nathaniel where he recognizes that Jesus is speaking the truth. And Jesus says, I saw you. I saw you when you were under the fig tree. Here's three things that I think are so critical for us to understand as we continue on with our series called Moments. Many of you have gone into groups and you're diving deeper into the theology and to the study of what this means. And I'm believing God's got great things for you. Let me just say if you. If you try to get into a group and you found that they were completely full, try one more time, we will stick you in a bathroom somewhere. You need to be in a group. It's good for you. We will. We will find a spot. We will find a way. There's a ton of people coming to groups, and we've got a lot of people that are wanting to go deeper. And I love that. I never want to have to turn anybody away that's seeking after the Lord. We're going to do our best to accommodate you as best as we can. Pastor Paul's looking at me like we have no More room. There's no. They found room for Joseph and Mary and Jesus at the end. Come on. We'll find a major for you, but you need to be in a group. It's good for you. Here's the first thing I want to share with you. Number one. Jesus sees us clearly before we see him at all. He sees you clearly before you ever even knew who he was. And that's important for us to get at the bedrock of our theology. Otherwise, we'll think, this has to do all with me and what I understand about the Lord, and you get stuck there in your own understanding that. But Jesus says, I saw you. I saw you, and I see you. And that's a pattern that we see. Old Testament and New Testament. Think about Jesus when he's walking through the streets one day and he comes upon a man named Zacchaeus. You might have remembered him from your Sunday school teaching. Zacchaeus was a wee little man. And a wee little man. Some of you went to Baptist Sunday school, some of you. Yeah, you remember the little man, Zacchaeus. He climbs up in a tree. But here's the thing. Zacchaeus had never met Jesus before, but. But Jesus looked at him and said, hey, Zacchaeus, I know your name. How do you know my name? He said, I'm coming to your house to have lunch today. How did you know that? Doordash delivered me some extra chick fil a. How did you know that? I was sitting there thinking this morning, I can't eat all this, we're coming to your house to have lunch. It's amazing how Jesus says, I know you. I see you. I'm coming to your house. Think about the woman at the well, the outcast of society. She approaches the well about in the noonday, in the heat, and finds Jesus there, begins to have a conversation. And she has a divine moment where Jesus proves, I see you, I know you. She's like, you don't know me. He says, why don't you go get your husband? She says, he's not my husband. He said, you're right to say he's not your husband. As a matter of fact, you've had five husbands. That is the first East Texas story right there, hidden in the Gospels. You've had five, and the one you're with, that ain't your husband. That's a word for somebody. But she leaves from that encounter and says, come meet the man that told me everything that could be about my life. He knows it all. He sees me. He knows me. We see this in Genesis, chapter 16. And a woman named Hagar, who is the mother of Ishmael, and she's the servant of Abraham and Sarah. And of course, they can't have children. You know the story. And so in their desperation, Sarah says, well, take my handmaiden and have a baby with her. That is East Texas right there. I don't care. And of course, that creates a ton of tension and a bunch of problems. They throw her out, and she's in the middle of the desert by herself, left alone in her frustrations, in her worries. She's lost her job, she's lost her dignity. And in that moment, God shows up. This is where we first get the name El Roy that she calls him. In Hebrew language, it simply means, I've seen the God that sees me. He sees me in the midst of my junk. He sees me in the midst of the mess that's my life. He's the God that sees me. Why is that so important for us to see today? I want to give you a truth statement that is important for you, that reminds us of the words of Jeremiah that tells us, before I formed you in the womb, God says, I knew you. Scripture says, he knows the amount of hair you have on your head. Some of us. He knows the lack of hair. He knows the hair that used to be there. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Why is that so important to us? Because of this. I am fully known by a God that wants me to fully know Him. He fully knows you. He completely knows you. And he is calling each of us to fully know him. And you're not there yet. I'm not there yet. I want to know God. I want to know him better. There is more to my Father than what I settled for. Let me ask you a question. Are you nearer to God than you've ever been in your life? Would you say you're closer to him than you've ever been? God fully knows you. He fully sees you, and he's calling you to know him better. I love this scripture. In Jeremiah 23, God speaks to the prophet, says, where. Where can you hide? Where can you go? To some secret place that I. That I don't see you. You can't. David says, if I ascend into heaven, you're there. If I go to the depths of hell, you're there. If I go to sleep, if I'm awake, no matter what, you're there. You see me in my good days, in my bad days. He sees your sin. He sees your wins and losses. And here's what we know. The God that sees it all, he still chooses to use me and to love me. God sees it all. My mistakes, my habits, the words that I've said, the way that I've treated people. And he still chooses to extend grace. He still chooses to love me. He still chooses to love you. So because he saw me before I knew Him. What does that mean? It means our relationship isn't based on my understanding, but on his grace. It's not about how much you know about Him. He's calling you to know more. And he's given us the grace to do it. It's not based on your understanding, is based upon his grace. It is 100% a work of Christ. He sees you, he calls you, he knows you, and he wants you to fully know Him. Here's the second thing that we see through this powerful story of God calling Nathaniel with this divine moment. Number two is that Jesus reveals himself in layers. In layers. Now, we know that every great story has wonderful layers. It's nothing to just, you know, you've had those movies that you've seen before, it's like, oh, you killed my dog. Now I have to kill your whole gang. Like, okay, that's not a very powerful story. We've seen it all. And some of us are like, that sounds like a great story. I love that. Keep it simple. No, great stories have great layers. The movies that you love, the stories that you love, they got great layers. And Jesus is no different. He reveals himself in fantastic layers. He's saying for many of you, you have a surface idea, a Sunday school, a nine year old idea of your relationship with me, but there's so much more. There's so much more to me. There's so much more that I have for you. I'm gonna reveal myself to you in layers. And that's exactly what he's doing. As he has this conversation with Nathaniel. He said, I saw you when you were underneath the fig tree. He says, before Philip called you. John 1:48, before Philip called you, he said, I saw you under the fig tree. Now, those four words under the fig tree are really important for us not to miss because it helps us to kind of illustrate the point. Under the fig tree is a very. It's a very powerful phrase for those that are living in the Hebrew culture. And this is really based on a scripture hundreds of years before in Micah chapter 4, where God gives this prophetic promise to his people that they there's a day coming soon. And it says this in Michael 4:4, look at this. Where everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid. I want you to keep in mind that scripture, because this is important when it's speaking to somebody like Nathaniel. Philip might have no idea what he's talking about, but Nathaniel does, because as he's studying, he recognizes those words under the fig tree. So that prophetic promise that Micah gives is powerful for everyone that's studying that scripture, that Torah. And what happens is that promise becomes something that they begin to live out. So fig trees become symbolic of a place of peace, a place that you could go when you feel afraid, because your word God says, I'm gonna have my own fig tree, and no one's gonna make me afraid. So they would go to those fig trees, sit underneath them, and say, I need to get rid of this fear. I need a place where I can go and just be seen. A place where I can go and ask God questions. Rabbis would often teach underneath the shade of fig trees when they weren't teaching in the temple. And so the fig tree became a very symbolic place of a place that you would go to bring your questions, a place that you would go to seek God. Do you have a secret place where you go to seek God? Where's your fig tree at? Now? For me, it might look like a closet. I've had a prayer closet that was my own personal war room. Do you have a place? I think for a lot of believers today, it's your car. As you're driving back and forth, you kind of get some worship going. You have this fig tree moment, a place where you can go and just get your thoughts into a place where you submit them to the authority of Christ and you kind of get your day going, and you take all your worries and anxieties and the people that you want to see get hurt. No, just me. Some of us need a fig tree. Like, lord, I need to give that to you, because I'm going to choke slam. Somebody help me not go to jail today. So the words under the fig tree are an idiom constantly and consistently used throughout the Hebrew culture. I didn't say idiot. I'm not calling you. You call me an idiot. No. Idiom. Idiom. So sometimes we would say, like, he's burning the midnight oil. That's an idiom. That means he's working really, really hard, working around the clock, or it's raining cats and dogs. Right. Doesn't mean dogs and cats are falling from the sky. It's not literal. It's an idiom that simply means there's a lot of rain. And under the fig tree would mean, I'm studying, I'm questioning. I've got things that I need to ask the Lord. I need some clarity. I need to take my questions and I need to present them to the Lord. I need a place where I'm not afraid so I can ask God for answers. You ever been in a place where you. Where you knew that you had questions that you need answered? You need to be under the fig tree. And so Jesus says, I saw you when you were still under the fig tree, when you were questioning, when you were looking for a place of peace, when you brought your anxieties to the Lord and you started studying and you started asking God for help, he said, I saw you. Jesus is not saying, I see you physically. He's saying, I see into your spirit. I see into your questions. I see into your anxieties and doubts and your worries. I saw you before Philip even called you. He said, I saw you. And he said, the things that you were praying about, the things that you're asking God for, you found me. I am the answer to your prayer. Here's what we see, is that God sees those that are longing for more and taking steps of faith to find Him. I think for many of us, we never find the more of Jesus because we're not willing to seek him. You're not willing to look. We're expecting a microwave God, that just gives me answers. But you never go to the fig tree. You never go to a place where you honestly sit down, say, God, I need help. I'm not. Okay, let me just encourage you. Life has been a lot lately. Life has given you a lot. And our children have had some traumatic moments that they have seen over and over this week. They need a fig tree, a place to go with those questions. They need a place to go with those doubts and worries and their fears. Worse, where else can they go but to the Lord? Where are you gonna teach them to go to? I remember those moments where it seems like we were a child in one moment and became an adult in the next moment. For those of us that grew up in the 80s, it was the moment where B&G CD companies told you that those. Those three CDs for 99 cents actually become the monthly bill. Remember that? You got your first adult bill. I became an adult in that moment. You got your first bill. For some of us that are around in 2000, 2001, the first time that two planes hit towers. It's like life was innocent at one moment and the next moment is filled with terror and we're afraid. It's a defining moment in every single person's life. You remember where you were and that moment where fear gripped our world. Your children have had those moments, and they're coming with more frequency. Your grandchildren are having those moments. They're coming with more frequency. It was a rare thing for us in that moment, but it's becoming a weekly thing for them. They're not equipped to handle that. We have to teach the next generation about the power of asking God questions and where to go when we're afraid, how we can turn to His Word and find the answers, and how Jesus will reveal himself in layers to them. He speaks to them in a way that they can understand, and he calls them to come closer to him. Our world is evil and it's dark. And please hear me, it ain't gonna get better. We know the end of the story, but our job as believers is to know God, to know his heart, to go deeper with him so that we can find out what our role is in these crazy times. What is God asking of me? The question is, are you really seeking Him? I believe that you are because you came today. You came to church today. You came seeking the presence of God. You recognize that somewhere in your spirit, you recognize the same thing that I do. And the other pastor said on Thursday night, I need this. I need this. And the Word tells us in Jeremiah 29, verse 13, he says, you're going to seek me and find me. How? When do you start seeking me with your whole heart. Seek me with your heart. There's some powerful, powerful moments that will happen when you start seeking the Lord with your heart. We know this, that your relationship with Jesus is as deep as you want it to be. And God is calling each of us to go deeper, me included, than what we've settled for. We know that Jesus reveals himself in layers. And at the end of this conversation with Nathaniel, he tells him, oh, you're going to see greater things than these. I've got more to show you. And that's a word for you. The Lord is speaking to you right now, wherever you may be watching this from. And God's saying, I've got more to show you. I've got more to show you. I've got more things for you to experience. There is more. There is more. There is more. Seek me and find me. Seek me with your heart. Here's the final thing I'll share with you. Number three, following Jesus. What does that mean? It means leading others to Jesus. Following Jesus means leading others to Jesus. And this is the great failure to that we see in Christianity right now. Following Jesus has become about consumerism. What can you do for me? And we've missed the point. It's not what can you do for me, it's what can you do through me? Because the moment that we find Christ, things begin to change where he changes our hearts from becoming selfish consumers to becoming contributors to his plan and for his glory. Did you know that the latest survey from Barna tells us that 90 to 95% of Christians will never lead another person to Christ? Let that slap you in the face for a moment. Because the last words that Jesus gives us as he ascends where we're supposed to go into all the world to share with people the news of what Christ has done for us. But don't let that make you feel super guilty. It should make you see, okay, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I am part of that 5%. I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna change that. And I think the reason why most people will never lead someone else to Christ, I don't think it's anything theological. I think they just don't feel equipped, like, I don't know how to do that. What are you asking of me? Here's the good news. It's very, very simple. And we see it with what Philip did. Jesus called Philip. He said, come and follow me. And what did Philip do? He called Nathaniel and he said, hey, come with me. It's that simple. And for you, it might be just that simple. We allow so many things to get caught up in our minds of. I don't know enough. I don't understand enough. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to answer their questions. Here's the thing. Jesus reveals himself to layers. All you've got to do is bring him into the presence of Jesus and watch him speak to them in a language they can understand. It's incredibly powerful to me almost every single week when I meet people for the first time and I'll say, hey, you know, thank you so much for coming today. I'm so glad that you came. Like, hey, we're here for the very first time. Who told you that we were coming? Cause you were stepping on my toes today. I'm like, I'm. For those that know me, I'm kind of an idiot. I don't know you. I don't know your Story. I didn't hack into your email, but I know the God that knows you. I know the God that sees you. I know the God that has a plan for your life, a purpose for your life. And he begins to speak and tell you the things that you need to hear. And if you invite people into his presence, he will do the same for them. And all you have to do is say, come and see. Come and see. So when Jesus tells Philip and he tells Nathaniel, and he tells Peter and James and John, follow me. That word in the Greek language is a coletheo. It doesn't mean just walk behind me. It means become my apprentice. Become like me in the way that I act, the way that I treat people. Become like me in your identity. Move like I move. Speak like I speak. And this is a powerful truth for every single person that God is calling to know him better. He's saying, I called you. I chose you to do more than just consume. I've called you to be a leader. The apostle Paul says this in First Corinthians, chapter 11. He says, Follow me as I follow Christ. And that should be the mandate of my life. The mandate of your life. I'm going to do the best I can to follow after Christ. Follow after me. Let me introduce you to Jesus. Let me get you to understand the things that I'm understanding. Come and see. Follow me as I follow Christ. And so to follow a rabbi means to imitate his life, to carry his message, to be devoted, to be an apprentice. This is interesting because Jesus is speaking this in a time that's very much like Longview, Texas, today. You see, in that day where Jesus is speaking, people would go from rabbi to rabbi. They'd go from teacher to teacher and say, well, I like this one. He says a lot more of the things that I like. Let me step on your toes for a second. Longview, Texas, we do that. I like this church because this has the best worship team. I like this one because they take better care of kids. I like this one because they do more for the lost and they do more for the homeless, and they do more for this, and they do more for single mothers. And I like that. I like the way this guy preaches. I don't like the way that guy looks or this guy's wife's crazy. And we drop from church to church to church until we find one that we're like, okay, this guy doesn't make me mad. I think I'll stay here. That's exactly what happens. And that's the culture that Jesus is speaking into. He said, you walk from rabbi to rabbi to rabbi. But Jesus flips the script. He says, no, no, I choose you. You didn't choose me. He said, I chose you. Follow me. And as Jesus reveals himself to each of them, these guys and these ladies would lay down their life for him. Because it was more than just consumer Christianity, where I will stay there until you make me mad. I will stay there until you do something or say something I don't like. They say, I'm committed here because you see me. You called me and now you're giving me purpose. Second Timothy, chapter one. The apostle Paul says this to the young pastor. He said, God has saved us and called us to what? To a holy life. To a holy life. That means you're set apart, you are ruined for normal. God didn't call you to normal. He called you for something special. He called you to live a holy life, to follow after. And he said, look, it's not because of anything you've done, but it's because of his own purpose and his grace. When you start seeking after his purpose, you find yours. You find your purpose. I know this to be true and hopefully you can take this for yourself. But you are seen. You are called. You have a divine purpose. You are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. You are called to do more than just exist. You're called to do more than just have a job. You're called to do more than just have more toys than your family and friends or your next door neighbors. You are called to represent Christ to a world that desperately needs it. Please hear me, people. Our world needs hope. Where are they going to find it? They're gonna find it on their phone. Or could it be that God has specifically called and purposed you to bring hope into your world? To follow after Jesus means to represent Jesus to my world. Don't underestimate and undervalue the influence that God has given you. You have influence in your world. You have influence with your children, with your grandchildren, with your husband, with your wife. You have influence on your job. God has specifically and strategically placed you right where you are to to make a difference. He's saying, can I come in there and use you to make a difference? Follow me. Follow me. You have a job. You have a divine purpose. I want to finish up with this statement. Jesus takes each of us from being seen to being sent. You are not just seen, you are sent. And if not now, when? When will you take your relationship with Jesus seriously? If there ever was A time. The time is now. Your world is hungry. They're crying out for more. Your children and your grandchildren are looking to your leadership. Question is, will you lead them by following out the divine moments that God is taking you from just more than awe into intimacy with him. When you do that, things begin to change. The light comes on, you become salt, you become light. You become the city on a hill that God has called you to be. I want to finish up right there today. I want to invite you to go ahead and put away your phones if you wouldn't mind, and put your bibles down. As we finish up today, I want to just take a moment to pray with you. You've walked through a lot. You've seen a lot. You've seen much more than the human, human mind can comprehend and deal with. You're not okay. But thanks be to God, he's an ever present help in the time of trouble. I'm speaking to those that may be watching online today. You've been through a lot. You're not okay. There's a spirit of heaviness here. Where do we go? Where do we go? We seek after the one that's the lover of our soul. We seek after the healer, the restorer, the redeemer, Jesus Christ himself. That's where we go. Would you bow your head and close your eyes with me? I want to invite you to just open up your hands right where you are. Maybe just place them on your knees if you'd like to. Almost as if someone was handing you something. I want to pray over you. Can you be open to receive this? Let me bless you. Let me strengthen you and encourage you with my prayers. Father God, right now we walk into your presence, Lord. We come in heavy, but we come in with a sense of expectation. Believing that, Lord, in your presence is fullness of joy. Lord, we don't feel a lot of joy today, but we understand that if we can just come into your presence that you can change anything. We understand that you are the great refuge. You are the rock that we can stand on. You are a firm foundation in the shifting sands of our world. Lord, you are the only ever present help. You're the only thing that we can trust. So we turn our eyes to you. We lift up our eyes. We lift up our hearts and say, come, Lord Jesus, use me to make a difference in a world that's sick, in a world that's broken. Lord, you've called me to do more than just sit. You've called me to represent you well, to extend grace to extend an invitation, to extend hope to a world that so desperately needs it. Father, would you bless my friends today? Would you encourage them? Would you strengthen them, help them to walk out of this place? Father. Having met with you, Father, I pray that our chins would come up, our shoulders would come back, that we'd receive a breath of fresh air today, fresh wind in our sails to keep going, to push forward, and to represent you to a world that desperately needs it. Use us, Lord. In Jesus name. And now, with heads bowed and eyes closed, maybe you came here today and say, pastor, if I'm going to be honest with you, I don't really have a relationship with Jesus. I've never asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins. I know that I'm not right with God. My friend, you came to the right place, and we're going to deal with that right now. Or maybe, like me, some of you were raised in church. But you know, if you're gonna be honest, you are so far from God right now, you need to come home. My friend, you're in the right place. God led you here for this moment. He's calling you unto himself. So with heads bowed and eyes closed all across this place, I am not gonna embarrass you in any way. I would never do that. But if you need a relationship with Jesus, it starts with a prayer. And I'm gonna lead you in that prayer. And I want you to say these words with me. And as a matter of fact, all of us are gonna say this out loud so you don't feel embarrassed in any way. I. But church, can we pray this together? Out loud? Say these words with me. Just say, Jesus. Come on, let's say it like you mean it. Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God. I believe that you came and died, and I believe you rose from the grave so that I could have life and forgiveness for all of my sins. Will you please forgive me? Take over my life, and I will give you the rest of my days for your glory. Thank you for loving me with heads bowed and eyes closed. If you prayed that prayer. If you say, pastor, I needed a relationship with the Lord, but I meant that prayer when I prayed it. Can I just see just your hands all across this place? Would you lift them up nice and high and proud? That was me. I pray that prayer. Yes, I see you. Good for you. I prayed that prayer. Yes, young lady, I see you up there. Good for you. Yes, sir. Good for you. Others of you may be watching online. Type that in the chat we Would love to connect with you. Good for you. I want you to know that if you've made Jesus the Lord of your life, if you pray that prayer in a minute, that there's a number that's going to appear on the screen in front of you or on the screen that you're watching on right now. And I want to encourage you to text me, text the words I prayed to that number, and we'll send you some things that will help you understand what just happened in your heart and what to do next. I'm proud of you in the decision that you just made. Good for you. High Ridge family, go ahead and look up at me if you would. Then let's stand to our feet together. We have a total of nine people already responding to the gospel. I think that's a pretty big deal. Come on, somebody. That's a pretty big deal. And also know for all of you that are watching online, if you like what you've heard today, or maybe you're sitting here and saying, I think my world needs to hear this message. What happens in these defining moments where God calls us deeper to himself? What do we do when our world gets shaken? If people you think need to hear this message, click the share button on YouTube, on Facebook, whatever social media outlet that you're watching from, people need to hear this. It's such a big honor when you do that. There are people watching this all during the week. All around the world. We're averaging between three and 4,000 people watching every single week. People are texting in, I just got saved. I just received Christ. It's a big deal when you use your social media influence to make a difference. And I'm proud of you. Thank you for that. I'm having our elders and their wives step forward. And as we end our service today, these guys are going to stay right here to be available to pray for you about anything that you might need prayer for. If this has been a heavy week, if you need somebody to grab your hand and start praying with you, then this is that. So as everybody else begins to make their way towards the exits, these guys will stay right here and be available to pray for you. Now let me bless you and send you out. Father, would you bless my friends with an incredible week? Help them to be the salt of the earth that you called them to be. Help them to be the light of the world that you called them to be. Help us to be your hands and your feet extended to a world that needs it. Father, we are available to be used by you would you speak to them with divine moments and divine understanding? Help us to understand what to do and when to do it and we will give you the praise and the honor and the glory. And in the name of Jesus we pray and all of us said together, Amen. God bless you as you go. Have an awesome week. [00:43:48] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. If you want to be a part of our online community, connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv or you can check out our [email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com give we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.