The Invitation to Pursuit
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SERIES: DRAW NEAR
SERIES: DRAW NEAR
Week 1 — The Invitation to Pursuit
Week 1 — The Invitation to Pursuit
the beginning of a year always comes with a lot of voices.
Voices telling us what to improve.
What to fix.
What to accomplish.
What to become.
But before God gives us instructions,
before He gives us direction,
before He gives us assignment —
He gives us an invitation.
Not to do more.
Not to try harder.
But to come closer.
January is not just about starting strong —
it’s about starting close.
Because proximity determines perspective.
And intimacy always precedes influence.
Scripture consistently shows us this pattern.
Before God moves through people publicly,
He draws them close privately.
📖 James 4:8
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
This verse assumes something important:
God is already willing to be near.
God does not say,
“Fix yourself and then come near.”
He says,
“Come near — and I will meet you there.”
The PROBLEM is not God’s availability —
it’s our approach.
From the very beginning, God’s desire has always been closeness.
📖 Genesis 3:8
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Before sin entered the world,
God walked with humanity.
And throughout Scripture,
redemption is God restoring what was lost —
nearness.
OH COME ON SOMEBODY......GOD DESIRES TO BE CLOSE TO YOU AND I
HE DESIRES YOUR ATTENTION
THAT IS OVERWHELMING TO THINK ABOUT
WHEN YOU LOVE SOMEONE SO MUCH
YOU DESIRE TO BE CLOSE TO THEM
AND YOU DESIRE THEIR ATTENTION
I LOVE MY WIFE WITH ALL MY HEART
THEREFORE I DESIRE HER ATTENTION
I DESIRE TO BE CLOSE TO HER
(SHE DOESN’T ALWAYS GIVE ME THAT UNDIVIDED ATTENTION)
THINK ABOUT THAT THOUGH......
GOD....THE CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH
LOVES YOU SO MUCH THAT HE DESIRES YOUR ATTENTION
INTAMACY ALWAYS PRECEDES INFLUENCE....
THIS IS SO GOOD....
This is not a threat.
This is not a demand.
This is not a warning.
This is an invitation.
1. GOD IS NOT HIDING FROM YOU
1. GOD IS NOT HIDING FROM YOU
Scripture consistently reveals a God who makes Himself known.
LOOK AT.....📖 Psalm 145:18
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
Nearness is not reserved for those who have it all together spiritually —
it is promised to those who are sincere.
27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
When God feels distant, it is rarely because He withdrew —
it is because something else moved into first place.
One of the quiet lies many believers carry is this:
“If I feel distant from God,
it must be because God pulled away.”
But Scripture tells a different story.
📖 JEREMIAH 29:13
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
God does not play hide-and-seek with His people.
When THERE IS distance , it is not because God moved —
it’s because attention shifted.
OH COME ON SOMEBODY....
Closeness with God is not lost JUST THROUGH rebellion —
it’s often lost through distraction.
OH MY LORD....
OH MY LORD....
CHURCH...
WE don’t drift away from God overnight.
WE drift a little at a time.
IT COMES THROUGH......
Busy seasons.
Full schedules.
Unaddressed wounds.
Unconfessed sin.
Unchecked noise.
UNCHECKED NOISE????
WHAT IS THAT PASTOR CHRIS?
Unchecked noise WOULD BE any influence that:
constantly occupies your attention
shapes your thoughts without examination
SOMETHING OR SOMEONE THAT limits stillness before God
SOMETHING THAT slowly replaces intimacy with activity
It’s not always loud —
sometimes it’s just constant.
Unchecked noise is NOT rebellion.
It’s unfiltered influence.
None of these THINGS.....push God away —
they just pull our hearts elsewhere.
2. PURSUIT IS ALWAYS A RESPONSE, NOT A PERFORMANCE
2. PURSUIT IS ALWAYS A RESPONSE, NOT A PERFORMANCE
God never asks us to chase Him to prove our worth.
He invites us to seek Him because He is worthy.
📖 HEBREWS 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Notice the language:
Come to Him
Seek Him
Believe He rewards
UNDERSTAND THIS....
Seeking God is not earning points —
it’s positioning the heart.
We don’t pursue God to get Him to love us —
we pursue Him because He already does.
The Bible makes clear that
pursuit always follows grace.
📖 1 John 4:19
19 We love because he first loved us.
Our seeking does not initiate relationship —
it responds to OUR RELATIONSHIP
LOOK AT....
📖 Ephesians 2:8–9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Pursuit is not striving to be accepted —
it is responding to being already received.
That’s why Jesus never said,
“Perform for Me,”
He said,
“Follow Me.”
Teaching Moment
Teaching Moment
Fasting and prayer doesn’t make God closer.
IT MAKES us more aware.
IT REMOVES the clutter that competes for our affection so THAT....
our hearts can respond to His presence.
3. HUNGER PRECEDES ENCOUNTER
3. HUNGER PRECEDES ENCOUNTER
Throughout Scripture, God responds to hunger.
Not talent.
Not titles.
Not perfection.
Hunger.
📖 PSALM 63:1
1 You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. 4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. 6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. 7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. 8 I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.
David doesn’t say, “I seek answers.”
He says, “I seek You.”
OH MY LORD HELP US....
IS THERE ANYONE IN HERE WHO CAN HONESTLY SAY....
LORD, I HUNGER FOR MORE OF YOU
Throughout Scripture,
hunger always draws God’s response.
📖 Matthew 5:6
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
God does not rebuke hunger —
He promises TO SATISFY.
God never tells hungry people to calm down —
He invites them closer.
UNDERSTAND THIS CHURCH....
Encounter is not produced by effort,
it is released by desire.
YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY IT’S SO IMPORTANT TO BECOME HUNGRY FOR GOD?
BECAUSE....
God often satisfies hunger before He solves problems.
Many of us come to God asking for direction,
but God is inviting us into devotion.
when intimacy is established, WHEN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD BECOMES SERIOUS..
direction becomes MORE clear.
........WORSHIP TEAM WOULD YOU COME.........
4. DRAWING NEAR IS A DAILY DECISION
4. DRAWING NEAR IS A DAILY DECISION
CHURCH...
Closeness with God is not sustained by moments
it’s sustained by rhythms.
PASTOR CHRIS WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY RHYTHMS?
Jesus describes closeness not as an event,
but a way of living.
📖 John 15:4
4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
The word remain means
to stay, dwell, continue.
IT’S A RHYTHM OF LIFE
Closeness is sustained through daily choices:
prayer
Scripture
listening
obedience
📖 Luke 10:39
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Jesus affirmed intimacy over activity.
📖 PSALM 73:28
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.
Not convenient.
Not easy.
Not occasional.
HE SAID IT IS.....Good.
STAYING CLOSE TO GOD IS NOT SOMETHING YOU DO BY ACCIDENT —
you choose it.
IT’S DECISION YOU HAVE TO MAKE FOR YOURSELF....
I HAVE MADE A DESICION TO DECLUTTER MY LIFE IN 2026....
I KNOW IT’S NOT GONNA BE EASY
I KNOW THAT SOMETIMES I’M GONNA HAVE TO DO THINGS EVEN WHEN I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT.
I KNOW THAT IT’S GOING TO REQUIRE ME TO TAKE INVENTORY OF MY LIFE MORE OFTEN
AND THEN CHOOSE DAILY TO BE MORE ORGANIZED
BEING NEAR TO GOD IS SOMETHING THAT WILL TAKE
DICIPLINE AND SACRIFICE
BUT I KNOW IT’S GONNA BE GOOD
January gives us a gift:
IT’S a moment to reset rhythms.
Prayer.
Scripture.
Silence.
Worship.
Not as religious obligations —
but as relational practices.
IT WILL TAKE DISCIPLINE
IT’S GOING TO REQUIRE HUNGER FOR MORE OF HIM
.........STAND TO YOUR FEET...........
ALTAR — “COME NEAR”
ALTAR — “COME NEAR”
IS ANYONE READY TO “COME NEAR”?
Scripture shows that drawing near is always met with response.
📖 Hebrews 10:22
22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
God does not resist sincere pursuit.
📖 Psalm 34:18
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
God does not wait for people to be whole before drawing near —
He draws near to make them whole.
WILL YOU START PURSUING HIM TODAY?
This is not a call to try harder.
This is not a call to be better.
This is a call to come closer.
If you feel distant…
If your hunger has faded…
If your devotion has been crowded out…
I JUST WANT TO OPEN THESE ALTARS
I WANT TO......
GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO RESPOND WITH DESPERATION
TO PURSUE HIM
OH COME ON....WOULD YOU COME....
LORD, SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE IN MY LIFE
SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE IN MY MARRIAGE
SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE IN MY WALK WITH JESUS
AND I’M RESPONDING TODAY TO MOVE CLOSER TO HIM
TO DRAW NEAR TO HIM
BECAUSE I NEED HIM....TO DRAW NEAR TO ME
OH COME ON....
The altar is not about shame.
It’s about return.
CLOSE OUT WITH...
Lift your hands and pray:
“Lord, I respond to Your invitation.
I draw near again.
Restore my hunger.
Realign my heart.
I choose closeness over convenience.
In Jesus’ name, amen.”
