HERD NIGHT- Heartwork W1 (2024)

What is up Vertical! How are you doing? I hope you are excited to be here as we talk about “30 days of Heart-work.” Last week we started a 5 week series on living differently. I asked our student ministry to do an empathy challenge by sleeping on the floor and take cold showers, so that we can be mindful of people with less than us. We actually raised over $152 and we are continuing to raise money to get us over our goal of $2200 by April 17 for RACAP & AGAPE food ministries!

I believe this challenge will change our ministry for the better. I preached this sermon a year ago, so you may be familiar with some of the concepts I will share today but I do believe these information and principles apply to us today.

Make sure you are taking notes, let’s jump into our lesson for today. Here is my main point:

Main Point: The pursuit of success is a great thing, but we can go about it the wrong way.

Students, let me make this super clear. NO ONE desires your success more than God does!

With that in mind:

Do you see God as a dictator that is trying to take away your freedom or as a good King that wants to bless you?

The way that you see God determines your motivation and your loyalty to Him. If you see God as a cosmic killjoy, then there is no joy or benefit in surrendering to Him. On the other hand, when you understand God’s love for you, then you willingly follow His commands because you see the benefit to giving your life to Christ.

My biggest hope is that I can show you that God is worth surrendering to.

God created you for real and lasting joy and fulfillment in relationship with him and others. The Bible is so clear on this, God is not eager to send people to Hell, he wants everyone to accept Him. He wants everyone to succeed, but succeed in what truly matters.

2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

The Lord hasn’t come because there are people that will still accept him. That is why I do this job. I believe that you will hear my voice and believe that God is worth following with all of your heart despite what the culture tells you.

So again, if we know that God wants our success and He actually wants good for us, the main point is:

Main Point: The pursuit success is a great thing, but we can go about it the wrong way.

Success is define as an accomplishment of an aim or purpose. (Scoreboard Analogy)

What are you aiming at? God wants you to be successful, but successful according to God, not the culture.

D.L Moody once said that “Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding in something that doesn’t really matter.” I completely agree with this. I don’t want to waste my life, I want it to mean something according to what really matters. And I don’t want you to spend all your life trying to find happiness and success only to realized that what the Bible teaches is true.

You maybe have heard me say this already but Culture have conditioned us to think that success is about getting “stuff” in order to be fulfilled. Happiness is often related to physical possessions because we can see them, feel them. The problem is that we know these things don’t bring fulfillment, we know they can be bought again but instead they create a longing for more that can never fully be satisfied.

I see way too many Christians that are successful (according to the culture) great house, great cars, great retirement, great anything. Yet their relationship with God is stale.

You see Jesus doesn’t even ask us to get rid of everything and live like homeless, what He says is make sure you understand the proper place of possession. Make sure that you are pursuing success that matters.

I want to share a couple of verses that gives us some principles about how to make sure you are pursing success that matters.

Luke 9:23–25 (ESV)

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

How to make sure that you are pursuing success that matters:

Principle #1- Question your motives.

“let him deny himself”

“The final road you travel as you follow Jesus leads to a criminal’s cross. Not a gold cross on a chain that enhances the beauty of the wearer. Not a piece of art in a museum that enhances the reputation of the artist or brings awe to a young art student. Not a massive cross atop a cathedral that marks off a holy place. No! This cross is among the world’s cruelest instruments of torture. You cannot wear this cross. You must bear it. You bear it to the government’s place of capital punishment. It becomes for you the gas chamber, the electric chair, the lethal injection all rolled into one. What does all this mean for us today? Self-denial.” Trent C. Butler, Luke, vol. 3, Holman New Testament Commentary.

Are you seeking success from a selfish desire?

Jesus asked us to deny ourselves because we have a tendency to be selfish.

Even this week, as you join us on the empathy challenges, whats your motive?

What is your motive? It should be to please God, but ultimately we need to consistently check our motives!

Principle #2- Revisit your commitment.

“take up his cross daily and follow me”

You see I am convinced that following Jesus means a daily decision. We have free will to chose God.

Jesus himself said that “picking up our cross” is a daily activity. We have to commit to follow God and to benefit His kingdom instead of our own.

Dallas Willard once said, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.” Christians therefore, should work hard, strive, and toil—but we do so not for grace but from grace.

You will be face with decisions in the future that will questions your commitment to God. I believe that in order to find success according to God, we must revisit our commitment to make sure we are still strong in our beliefs.

Principle #3- Adjust YOUR plan.

“For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”

I believe that God wants us to have a plan, he wants us to plan for the future, to do the best we can academically, with our relationships, with your future job. But in order for you to make sure you are pursing success that matters, you must allow the Holy Spirit to lead you.

John 16:13 (ESV)

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Am I ready to pivot? Am I asking God for his direction?

The best way to find success is TO SPEND YOURSELF.

This is proven because Jesus did just that. He came to spent himself for humanity.

Isaiah 58:10–11 ESV

10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Main Point: The pursuit success is a great thing, but we can go about it the wrong way.

What does it mean to “Spend Yourself?”

Living in such a way that is so committed to God and his commands that you are willing to make sacrifices in order to glorify God and bless others.

How are you seeking success?

Jesus said that we find success by spending ourselves for others. Would you?

Would you try this with us? I believe that you will see the value in choosing to live differently for others.

So here is how we will do this in the next 30 days:

Join our daily devotional

Participate in Empathy Challenges

Spend yourself & Give

EMPATHY Challenge!

This week’s empathy challenge is to take a break on media. In your daily reading you’ll be learning about your Identity and we’re going to pause on staring at screens, giving us more time to look into each other’s eyes and into God’s word to see who we are! Take this as far as you want to, but may we humbly suggest:

ZERO social media ZERO TV shows / movies ZERO video games Ya! All week! It may seem hard, but think of all the time you’ll have to invest in other ways!

Give

Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you about how to contribute.

This is not about asking your dad or mom for money. Is about what can you do to contribute?

- Can you skip a coffee this week and give that money

- Can you sell some (clothes, games, shoes or misc items) you don’t need to bless others

- Can you mow someone’s lawn and giving that money to the cause. (Kevin Leachman

- Can you be creative in a way to raise money for this? Think outside the box

“How can I participate in your Kingdom, right here, right now as a young person? How can I use my talents, resources or opportunities to bring mercy and justice in the world?”