All In-1 (Now or Never)

January 4, 2023 WED All In-Lesson 1

These handouts are NOT for sharing. Everyone needs their own copy.

Chapter one hits us right between the eyes:

Now or Never - really? why?

This isn’t a book to read. It is a decision to be made. If you read this book without making a defining decision, I wasted my time writing it and you wasted your time reading it. At some point, on some page, you will feel the Holy Spirit prompting you to act decisively. Don’t ignore it. Obey it.

If we ignore what God is saying through this book (and the Bible) is His best for us all over? Like the Rich Young Ruler Jesus dealt with?

And then there is…

When did we start believing that God wants to send us to safe places to do easy things?

That faithfulness is holding the fort? That playing it safe is safe?

That there is any greater privilege than sacrifice?

That radical is anything but normal?

Jesus didn’t die to keep us safe. He died to make us dangerous.

Faithfulness is not holding the fort. It’s storming the gates of hell.

The will of God is not an insurance plan. It’s a daring plan.

The complete surrender of your life to the cause of Christ isn’t radical. It’s normal.

It’s time to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.

It’s time to go all in and all out for the All in All.

Batterson, M. (2013). All in: you are one decision away from a totally different life. Zondervan.

How did that impact you?

The book All In … [is] an invitation to experience the kind of life God created you to live. You were designed for more than a life of following a few religious dos and don’ts. Your heart longs for more than an hour of worship each week and a few minutes of devotional reading in the morning.

The Christian faith is not boring, mundane, or safe. It is the greatest adventure any human being can ever experience. It demands all you have and are, and then it demands more.

Below is a manifesto that will give you a picture of where God wants to take you. Read it slowly. Read it carefully. Read it with a heart that is willing to go all in and all out for God!

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.

Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes.

Keep seeking God.

Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution.

Stop repeating the past and start creating the future.

Stop playing it safe and start taking risks.

Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences.

Enjoy the journey.

Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can.

Live like today is the first day and last day of your life.

Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God.

Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails.

Don’t let fear dictate your decisions.

Take a flying leap of faith.

Quit holding out. Quit holding back.

Push all of your chips to the middle of the table.

It’s time to ante up all of your faith.

It’s time to go all in.

It’s time to go all out.

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Dietrich Bonhoeffer went all in for the All in All and it cost him everything! In his book on discipleship, aptly titled The Cost of Discipleship, he called people to follow Jesus regardless of the consequences. Before he was forty, he had an opportunity to put his writings — based on the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount — into practice. As he did, it cost him his life.

Talk About It

What are some ways a Christian can stand up for Jesus in today’s society?

In the schools.

In local government by attendance.

Through correspondence with state and federal politicians (and attend local events).

Pro-life events. WEC

Isaiah 117 house

Hope House (working with those outside of relationship with Jesus).

What are some of the possible consequences we might face if we were to actually stand up in this way?

Persecution.

Violence.

Shunning.

Read: Luke 9:23 – 25.

Luke 9:23–25 (LSB) And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 “For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?

When Jesus spoke the words recorded in this passage, He had not yet gone to the cross to die for our sins. What images and ideas must have gone through the minds of Jesus’ followers when He invited them to live out the four distinct calls expressed here? In other words, what do you think they thought Jesus was calling them to do when He said:

Deny yourself - being a pauper. Begging.

Take up your cross - They saw people dying on crosses all the time. I’m sure the visual of that horrified them.

Follow me - Oh that one’s easy! He will feed us lunch every day. We’ll snooze in the sun as He droones on about something or other.

Lose your life - Dying? Come on!

How do most Christians interpret and understand these same four callings today?

They don’t. They ignore them. That’s for pastors, missionaries, evangelists — NOT “ordinary” Christians.

We won’t come alive, in the truest and fullest sense, until we die to self.

And we won’t find ourselves until we lose ourselves in the cause of Christ.

3. What are some signs and indicators that Christians in our culture today are playing it safe and not counting the cost of really following Jesus?

We are not accomplishing much for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

We are more into (Prime) “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.”

Following a scandal, a megachurch pastor and proud first lady must rebuild their congregation to make the biggest comeback that commodified religion has ever seen.

When you are operating in “Safe Mode,” how does your Christian faith change and begin to look too tame?

Absolutely!

We are non confrontational. We go along (with everything!) to get along.

4. Read: John 3:27 – 30.

John 3:27–30 (LSB) John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. 28 “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. 30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.

John the Baptist lived and died with a deep sense of commitment to keep Jesus supreme. His motto, “He must become greater; I must become less,” said it all. When you look at the words, ministry, life, and death of John the Baptist, what do you learn from his example of being all in?

It was not about comfort, popularity or self-promotion. It was all about accomplishing what God called him to do. Even if it meant living in the desert, wearing rough clothes and eating bugs.

He endured the scorn of the elite.

5. What are signs and indicators in our daily life that show us — and the people around us — that we have forgotten that Jesus is the center of the universe, not us?

It is about our stuff.

It is about our comfort or entertainment.

6. Tell about a time in your Christian faith when you were all in, sold out, and unreservedly passionate about Jesus. What led you to that point?

I have told about when I first got saved.

Then I surrendered to the call of full-time vocational ministry — I tried to escape, but God wouldn’t let me.

7. Think of the days, weeks, or seasons you are not all in and sold out for Jesus. What leads to such times and what helps you rekindle the fire and get back to a place of full devotion to the Savior?

I surrender to the nonstop barrage of marketing and advertising.

I listen to people who tell me to calm down and stop being so radical.

I listen to people telling me to make everything more palatable.

At its core, sinfulness is selfishness. It’s enthroning yourself — your desires, your needs, your plans — above all else.

8. Read: Matthew 4:18 – 22.

Matthew 4:18–22 (LSB) Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22 And immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

In this short passage four different men have their own moment of reckoning with Jesus. Each one leaves his nets (his vocation, the family business, his place of security) to follow Jesus. What does this kind of devotion look like today?

Ministers (Pastors, Youth pastors, Children’s pastors) - it means walking away from high income jobs and easy living.

Missionaries - It means putting your life on the line (Live Dead teams, recent China missionaries), being away from family and friends

What is something you have left (or need to leave) as you follow Jesus with a heart that is all in?

Possible financial success in business or government.

Have you inverted the gospel by inviting Jesus to follow you?

9. Joshua 3:5 says, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”

Joshua 3:5 (LSB) Then Joshua said to the people, “Set yourselves apart as holy, for tomorrow Yahweh will do wondrous deeds among you.”

In the video teaching for this session Mark says, “Consecration means to be set apart. It demands full devotion. It is dethroning yourself and enthroning Jesus. It is the complete divestiture of all self-interest. In short, it is going all in and all out for the All in All.” What does consecration look like in your life?

See worksheet.

What is one step you need to take in the coming days to consecrate yourself to and for God?

Anytime God is about to do something amazing in our lives, He calls us to consecrate ourselves to Him.

10. Mark shares an honest fear he faces as a pastor. He says, “I’m afraid we’ve cheapened the gospel by allowing people to buy in without selling out. We’ve made it too convenient, too comfortable. We’ve given people just enough Jesus to be bored but not enough to feel the surge of holy adrenaline that courses through your veins when you decide to follow Him no matter what, no matter where, no matter when.” Offer some examples of how the church has allowed believers to be too comfortable and how our faith has become too convenient.

What can we do to become more engaged, invested, sold out, and dangerous for Jesus?

Closing Prayer

Take time as a group to pray in any of the following directions:

• Thank God for followers of Jesus who have lived sacrificial and surrendered lives — whether they are people you have met, Bible characters, or people from the history of the church. Give praise to God for their faith, boldness, and example.

• Pray that your life will one day be an example of surrender and passionate commitment to Jesus for those who come after you.

• Thank God for the time you experienced a personal Copernican revolution. If you have not yet experienced this, ask the Holy Spirit to bring you to this place of radical life transformation.

• Tell Jesus that you are ready to deny yourself, take up your cross, lose your life, and follow Him.

If Jesus is not Lord of all, then Jesus is not Lord at all.[1]

[1]Batterson, M., & Harney, K. & S. (2013). All in bible study guide: you are one decision away from a totally different life. HarperChristian Resources.