Boldness in Christ — Acts 1-28

0:00 Hey, good morning. It's a pleasure to be with you. The calendar has turned. The weather has turned unfortunately. When I was driving here, it was snowing.

0:15 Yes. But I think back longingly at the days of warmth. And we recently just finished Halloween and our house is brimming with candy. Do you have too much candy? You can make a donation before I leave, that'd be great.

0:34 But my kids got this new candy that I'd never seen before, and it's incredible. Have you seen, it's a Reese's peanut butter cup. You know a Reese's peanut butter cup? Inside the Reese's peanut butter cup, you know what this is? Is an Oreo.

0:56 Oh my goodness. I'm pretty sure I'm a diabetic now because the amount of time, the amount of these I have eaten because holy cow, these are so amazingly good. And I'm not a huge sweet tooth person, but like, let's all leave now and go to the local store and buy some and we can eat them together. It's like totally transformational. It's not hyperbole.

1:18 Like, they're that good. Like, it's that peanut butter, that chocolatey, but then the crunch of the Oreo. Oh, it's good, it's good. And it's just, it really is like an experience. I remember Matthew got one, my son, and he let me have it.

1:33 And I took a bite, and I was just like, woah, that's good. And then we kind of shared the remaining remnants of it, and then my wife went out and bought a four pack. And there are strict rules of like, no double dipping. You got one because there's four of us in the family. It's like one for you, one for you, one for you, one for you.

1:50 That's it. And there was many attempts at getting more. But they're that good. And this is a stupid, silly illustration. But when I think of what we're going to look at here in book of Acts, turn your bibles with me to Acts chapter four.

2:11 When I look at the experiences of the apostles. We're gonna look at the story, we're gonna continue the story that we started last week, that you all started last week with Peter and John. And it's, they have, like they have this response that I find to be just completely mind blowing. Like how do you get to that reality? And they have been utterly transformed.

2:38 Like if we just read, I think we're so used sometimes to the stories in scripture. But if you just read in a sequential way, starting in Acts into Luke because it's part one, part two. We think of them as like two separate books, but they are meant to be read as one. Right? Part one, part two.

3:00 You see the disciples in the Gospel of Luke and in all the other Gospels as well. They're a bunch of losers. Like they're just pathetic. They can't do anything right. They do some things right and then they do some things really wrong.

3:14 Like we... How do we leave the disciples in the gospel of Luke? Are they faithful to the Lord? No. They utterly are faithless.

3:27 They abandon Jesus in his moment of need in Garden Of Gethsemane. They don't stand for truth. They don't stand for what's right. They don't stand for Jesus. But because of their experience with the resurrected Jesus, Jesus who had been raised from the dead, they've been completely transformed.

3:51 It's a total, mind boggling 180. And it's not just like with silly candy like, woah, this is incredible. It's like, it is completely transformational. And what I love about this historical narrative that we're given here is that it brings out this sense in which their experience in some ways speaks and should speak to our own experience. And when I see in this passage, and I've been so blessed and so encouraged by working through this passage, I thank you for letting me join in working through the book of Acts with you.

4:54 Well I don't think I could do that. And I think in some ways like there are differences between the apostles and us. But I think in some ways this passage speaks to what our experience of what and how we too can find that transformation in our lives and reorient our lives back to the Lord. Because we have those experiences in our life of being faithless followers. Where we have fallen away from the Lord or we are not living the way that we should.

5:29 And what we're gonna look at here, is I wanna look at how these disciples Peter and John and the rest of the early church community. How they give us four steps of being a disciple. What does it look like to experience and to bring about that transformation in our own lives? So that's what I want to look at this morning. So we're going to look at Acts chapter four.

5:54 I want to hit like, I want to say every single gospel except the book of Acts. I want to say Matthew, then I'll say Mark. It's Acts. We're in the book of Acts. So we're going to look at Acts chapter four.

6:04 We're going to start where we left off last week at verse 13. And we're going to go through the end of the chapter all the way down to 37. And I'm sure there's much more that we can deal with and get into some of the nitty gritties, but I just want to kind of point out these four steps of being a disciple. Number one, they were with Jesus. This is what we're gonna see in verse 13.

6:33 Is the verse that has just been of like wormed its way into my mind. Just can't get out of my head as I read this passage. They were with Jesus. Notice what it says here, we'll work through these steps here in just a minute. But notice, when they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

6:58 So this first step that we're going to see here of being a disciple is being with Jesus. That we can't be a follower of Christ unless we are with Him. The second step that we're going to see here is the step of obedience. Of choosing to follow the Lord versus following anyone or anything else. And then we're going to see in verse three, this empowerment.

7:27 Being empowered by the Holy Spirit. And what I want to just press upon us, I'll probably say this too many times. But what I want to press upon us when we think about this idea of being a disciple, And being a follower of Christ. We're gonna talk about things that we should do. Things that we should not do.

7:49 But what I want to just impress upon us that it is not about us trying harder. Of having all these different habits to stack on top of one another. To check off on our spiritual to do list. I have read my bible today. I have prayed.

8:05 I'm good. Like you should, we should totally be reading our bible. We should totally be praying. We should totally be coming together as a community. But those things in and of themselves don't make us a faithful follower.

8:21 Don't make us into a disciple. We need this holy spirit to empower us to live for him. And so a big part of what we're gonna see here, and I'm maybe getting ahead of myself, is this relationship that we have with Jesus. And the relationship that we have as part of that with the spirit and seeking his empowerment in our lives. It's not about trying harder.

9:10 That our relationships with one another are a fundamental aspect of our discipleship of Jesus. If we, and this is where we'll, I'm giving a brief preview here of this fourth point. If we think that our discipleship is only with our relationship with the Lord, we have fundamentally misunderstood what it looks like to follow Jesus. It is first we follow that vertical relationship where we are with Jesus. Where we are transformed by him.

9:45 We see him and he transforms us. But that flows out to our relationships with others. And if we're only thinking I'm going to be a better disciple with Christ, so I'm going to be by myself and pray more and read more by myself. Those are all good things. But if it's only that, we're not fulfilling the mission that God has called us to do.

10:10 We as believers, as followers of Christ, should be on mission in our relationship with those around us. So these are the four steps that we're going to be looking at this morning. If you remember in Acts chapter three, really the story is one giant story from Acts chapter three into Acts chapter four. And if you remember, let's just take one quick step back here. In the beginning of Acts, this is part two, as we've already said, of the Gospel of Luke.

10:43 Part one, part two, Luke from the very beginning intended these two to go together. There's much symmetry between the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. And where Acts begins is almost like, what do they call that? The recap. When you watch a show and it goes like previously on your show.

11:06 Then it just dumps you back. Here's a thirty second recap of what happened. That's what he gives us. Of Jesus commissioning the disciples. One of the key verses here is in verse eight.

11:17 Right before the very last words that Jesus says to his disciples, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. That they're gonna be witnesses by the empowerment of the holy spirit and then in these three locations, and this is almost like a mini mini, outline to the rest of the book. Chapters one through seven, they're in Jerusalem. Chapters eight through 12, Judea and Samaria. Chapters 13 through 28, the ends of the earth.

11:53 And then the church has this dramatic experience of the Holy Spirit coming on them in chapter two, And then Peter standing up and preaching and many people being saved. And then they begin this new community of Christ followers surrounded upon following him. We know this passage well, or it's a common passage that we know in the end of chapter two. The early church, they devoted, this is verse 42, they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. As a community they did this.

12:30 And then as they're doing this, Peter and John, they go into the temple. They're still worshiping in the temple. And they go and they heal a man who's been lame. And then everyone's freaking out about this. And then they begin to preach the gospel.

12:48 But in the midst of their preaching the gospel, there's conflict. You see this at the beginning of chapter four. The priest and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. See this is the, what I think the fascinating thing about Christianity and the fundamental aspect of Christianity, is that it is Christ crucified and Christ raised from the dead.

13:27 That fact is not just an apologetic thing that we learn about and try to defend our faith with. It is the very focus of who Jesus is and it transforms our reality. It transform Peter and John's reality. And so there's this conflict here between Peter and John expressing about we've seen Jesus. He is the Messiah.

13:58 He has been raised from the dead. And I don't know what to tell you, but that's my experience. And the religious leaders at the time here, they're going, this is pretty wonky. Not a fan of this. And Peter and John expressed, no, it is only through Jesus.

14:22 You see Peter's great response here in eight through 12. Where he talks about Jesus being that Messiah who has been crucified, the end of verse 10. And in verse 12 he says, Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. And notice, so he makes this bold assertion. This very revolutionary idea about who Jesus is and the response that needs to be taken in light of who Jesus is.

15:00 And notice the response of these religious leaders in verse 13. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, They were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. I just think that's such a funny line. It's like this list of adjectives. They're unschooled.

15:28 They're ordinary. That's it. Like they got nothing. They got no street creds. They didn't go, wow, Peter, your sermon was so fantastic.

15:46 I can't believe your deep exegesis of the of the Hebrew Bible. This is incredible. They go, these guys are not the scholars, but they understand. They're understanding the deep recesses of scripture and because they have been with the Messiah. Their experience with him has dramatically transformed who they are.

16:34 Like all those different things, right? And you just go like, one thing in front of the next thing, next thing. And then we kind of just, Christianity and our faith becomes a thing we do. It becomes a part of our life. A feature of our life.

16:50 Something that's on the calendar. But notice the like for Peter and John, reality for them is that they have been with Jesus and it flips their life upside down. And this is what Jesus desires to do in our life. He desires not to be just like a part of our lives. He desires to be our life.

17:15 To enter into our life. I love this passage in John chapter 15. You can turn there with me or you can just listen if you'd like to. But in John chapter 15, this wonderful passage, this statement from Jesus of what he says. I'm just going to read verses one through five.

17:41 John chapter fifteen one through five. This is what Jesus says to his disciples the night before he's crucified. And I just love this because he gives like, what is it, three, four, five chapters, 13 through 17, 13 through 16, and then he prays in 17 of all these things he's got on his mind that he wants to tell his disciples. Like, he knows he's not got very little time, so he's gonna just give, here's all the important things you need to hear. And he says this, I am the true vine and my father is the gardener.

18:18 Verse two, he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine.

18:42 Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. And then verse five. I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing.

19:01 And I think this is just the, like, this is the problem sometimes we face as believers. Is that we tend to think that we can take our Christian walk, our discipleship, in our own power. And what Jesus is reminding us here, is impressing upon us here, is that in our walk with him, we have to actually follow him. We have to actually spend time with him. We have to remain with him.

19:34 Apart from him, we can do nothing. I love this passage too. Well, before we go there, I just, I love this imagery that he says. Verse five, I am the vine, you are the branches. And just notice, you know, maybe we don't want to take the metaphor too too fully here, but like think about a vine with branches.

19:56 Like they are symbiotically, like they're one. They're connected. It's not just like I'm attached to this. But we are, like they are one symbiotic being. Not that we become Jesus or something like that.

20:43 How do we deal with the flesh? How do we deal with that sinful nature? How do we live more like Jesus? And what Paul is going to do in verses five through 17, is he's gonna give you a list of things you should not do and things you should do. A list of vices versus five through 11.

21:09 A list, don't do these things. A list of virtues versus 12 through 18, 12 through 17. Here's all these things that you should build up in your life. But you know I tricked you? What verses did I skip in chapter three?

21:27 Besides 18 through following because that's a different section. What passage, what verses did I skip at the beginning of chapter three? The first And four this is fundamental to what Paul is saying, which corresponds with what we're seeing in Acts and what we're seeing with Jesus in John 15. Is that our relationship with Jesus is the foundation point of our spiritual lives. You can't just do...

21:54 To avoid vices and do virtues and expect, I'm going to have this great spiritual growth. We need to be with Jesus and live into that intimate union we have with him. Notice what Paul says here in Colossians three verse one. Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

22:27 So he's talking about how when Christ has been raised from the dead, when he died, we spiritually died with him. And when he was raised from the dead to new life, we too, in him, have been spiritually raised to new life. We have been transformed. And not just of like a fairy godmother coming out like, there you go. You've been transformed.

22:54 But we have been transformed in him. Notice what verse three says. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Your life, this new life based on Jesus' resurrection causes our spiritual resurrection and will result in our physical resurrection in the future. That life that he gives us, it is bound up and hidden in Christ, with Christ, in God.

23:28 Isn't that amazing? Like we have been stitched together and united with the God who has created the universe. That's the type of relationship we have with him. And for us to follow Jesus as his disciple, we need to number one, enter into that relationship through faith as a believer. But then live into that relationship by following and living into that union with him.

24:02 To continue to be with him. And so like this is what I think is so powerful is if you miss verses one through four here of what Paul is saying, like we're missing the very core. It gets much deeper than just our actions or our mindsets. It's the reality of our relationship. And if you have trusted Christ, you have that relationship.

24:32 This is who you are. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Since, and this is Paul's logic here, if this is our reality, and it is, live into that reality. This is why we can't just make Christianity a part of our life, or Christ a feature, or something that we do.

25:34 And this is not about, okay, everyone make sure that you read your bible one hour every day. It's not a spiritual checklist. We can we can be with the Lord as we're at work. The other day, this is another silly example. I'm getting my doctorate in silly examples.

25:56 The other day, I was feeling grumpy. Has anyone ever felt grumpy before? Yeah. Okay, good. Mason's the only one.

26:03 The rest of you are all believers and are further along in our journey. But you and I can relate. Yes. So I was feeling grumpy and I was just like, I need to get out of the house. I need to just go on a run.

26:14 I need to get out of here. Running helps me clear my head. And so I was like, I need to get out of here. I'm just going to go for a run. And then I'm trying to find my special running socks so I don't get blisters.

26:24 And I'm looking through the laundry and I cannot find my stupid socks. And then I'm getting grumpier. And I can't find my socks. And then I just had this moment. I was like, JC, take a chill pill.

26:39 Just pray. And it's like it's the stupidest little thing. The world's not crashing down. This is not a big deal. We're not in an existential crisis.

26:52 I was like, Lord, I'm feeling grumpy. I want to get out of here. I want to go on a run because I think that'll help me clear my mind. If you could just help me find these socks so I could go on a run, that would be great. And I found my socks.

27:08 And again, this is a silly example. It's not just like if I pray then I'll get what I want. Like, it's just a, it's a moment in which I thought like, oh my goodness, I'm not where I should be in my walk with the Lord. I'm not right in my heart. Things are just chaotic.

27:23 I need him. In a small way, I'm going to spend some time with Jesus. And say, Lord, I'm going to yield myself to you. Please just show me where these stupid socks are. And as I was on my run, it did help me clear my mind and I came back a lot happier.

27:42 But it was also just a time to reflect on that. Like we tend to think of being with Jesus as I have to be in my special chair with my coffee and my bible. And you can do that and that's wonderful and I love that. But as we go through our day and through our lives, making those small conscious choices to think and reorient our minds and our hearts back to him. That's what he's looking for us.

28:09 That's what he's... To think back of who we are. That we are not just an individual going through life. We're not just like all alone and just trying to do the next thing in front of the other. The one foot in front of the other.

28:22 The Lord is right there with us. That he has brought us together with himself. And he desires that we would live into that relationship, that identity that we have with him. And so here he's reminding, he's telling us, as we see here, they were with Jesus. They're not like, I think it just challenges of what we think is impressive.

28:50 Oh, what an argument. What an education. Look at all the great things that they've done. They were with Jesus. Are we spending time with Jesus?

29:03 Do we have that experience of being intimately united with him? And are we living into that reality? Set your mind on things that are above. That's the same as what we're seeing here of they were with Jesus, we should be with Jesus as well. And what we see here in the rest, in the next section here, that the religious leaders, they don't know quite what to do with these guys.

30:13 Don't do it. And I love the response by Peter and John in verse 19. But Peter and John replied, which is right in God's eyes? To listen to you or to him? You be the judges.

30:30 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. And this gets to the second step here of being a disciple of Christ. Is the more that we live into and experience that identity, that union with Christ, the more it leads us to obedience. Because if you think about this, like these are the religious authority. These are the religious elite in their day.

30:59 These are the people who have authority to to teach, to tell them what they should do. And they're going like, we respectfully say, we honor your position, but we have two paths here. We can honor you or we can honor God. We have to honor God. And this is a reminder that we not only must reorient, How do I phrase this?

31:32 There is so much in this world that challenges us to not honor the Lord. And scripture is inviting us, even in our own Christian culture. To live this sort of way of life and that will make you, and don't buck the, don't upset the apple cart. That's the term. But our allegiance is to Jesus.

32:06 If we honor him, he will honor us. Throughout the scriptures, Christians are frequently pressed with this of which life will they live into. Will they live into the life of the world around them? In which they'll have social honor that'll be easier for them? People around them think, hey, that's a really cool person.

32:42 Hey, that person is a real true team player. Or will they choose to honor the Lord? Because like these two paths, both are difficult. And this is the kind of the scenario, the fork and road that Peter and John are going through here. And that the text throughout scripture is reminding us is that we can have honor now, but then not live into our identity as Christ.

33:16 To have the joy, to have the easy, to have all those experiences. Or we can have the difficult path of following Jesus, but it ends ultimately with God honoring and glorifying us. And so here, they make this choice. They are making this mental analysis of which path they're going to live into. When I read this I go like, yeah, of course, that's an easy thing to say.

33:45 But like think about how difficult this would have been for them. Like they say, don't ever say this ever again. And like I would imagine the implications are, we'll bring the house down on you if you do it again. And they go, they're taking the long game. They're looking towards God's perspective.

34:08 Because they've been shaped by that intimate relationship with him. I love this passage in first Samuel. We don't have time to do all first Samuel 15 here. But in first Samuel 15, the prophet Samuel says to Saul, King Saul. I have a new Bible, know it's on my old Bible, it's on the right side in the middle and it's not there anymore.

34:39 Where's the first? 22, verse 22. Samuel replied, Saul is talking about like, oh, I have obeyed the Lord. I've done everything that he said to him. That he told me to do.

34:51 Isn't it like it's great? I did all the sacrifices. I did all this great stuff for the Lord. He should be happy. Don't worry about the details Samuel.

35:02 And Samuel says to him, in verse 22, does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice. And to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.

35:30 But I love this line, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. Are we being obedient to what the Lord has called us to do? Maybe there's something in your life that you know, I need to be obedient in that. And the Lord's just kind of pulling on the heartstrings going like, you need to do it. You need to do it.

36:00 And it might be something really big. It might be something really small. Part of our relationship with him, as we said, is living into that identity. And he's inviting us that we would be obedient. That we would not just look at all of our accomplishments.

36:20 Look at all the great things that I'm doing for God. He just wants, he wants our hearts. He wants us to reorient back to him. And that starts with obedience. When we look here, they made that choice.

36:38 They did the analysis. They looked at, okay, where are the choices? I'm gonna follow the Lord. And they didn't look at what's all the steps down the line. They just took one step.

36:54 We know this is right. We're gonna follow the Lord. And this is I think just a beautiful aspect of the Lord's not looking for us at every step to know all the answers, to know all the steps, but to just step out in faith and obey him. And if we're going to be followers of him, we have to trust the Lord. We have to...

37:16 And when he says for us to do something, whether it's just in ethics and how we deal with one another, or in our choices in our lives, that we would be obedient. That we would live into that relationship. Because we have that relationship and we have been with him. And the more, and these sort of like all work together, the more that we are with Jesus, the more it transforms our vision. The more that it helps us to see what we should obey.

38:09 And if it me, I'd be going like, hey guys, check out what me and Peter just did. Pretty great, we shut them down. Lots of people heard the gospel. Isn't that awesome? We apostles are top notch.

38:26 That's not what they do. Notice what they do. They go back to their own people. They report what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And then when they, as a community, when they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.

38:46 They seek the Lord. They don't go like, hooray. Our community avoided a difficult situation. Our community is just growing. We can do great things for God now.

38:57 Their heart is focused back to the Lord. They know and realize that they need him to empower them. They say, sovereign Lord, you made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. For the sake of time, won't read all of this this prayer, but it talks about God's sovereignty over these events. Then in verse 29, now Lord consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

39:35 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. They pray for that boldness. They pray for that empowerment. And I love this because they're living into the reality of their relationship with the Lord. And they are continually seeking him.

40:02 Because they know they need him. We as believers, we need the Lord. And they believe the word that God has said. That he would provide the Holy Spirit. That he would empower them.

40:14 Remember what we saw in chapter one verse eight. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and you'll be witnesses. They don't go like, God's prophecy is being fulfilled in us. They go, we need you Lord. And notice verse 31.

40:29 God answers their prayers. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. We wonder why God doesn't work in our lives. Why God doesn't show up. Maybe sometimes it's because we're not seeking him.

40:56 And maybe sometimes it's because we're not yielding ourselves to him that he would empower us. That he would empower us as a community. That we yield ourselves to him. And that it's not that we learn all sorts of new strategies or smart things to do, but that we would just lift our eyes to the Lord and he would work through us. The fundamental aspect of our relationship with the Lord is that he is going to empower us.

41:27 The Christian life is impossible. It is only possible through Christ and his spirit. I'm gonna spend one minute, because I know we're out of time, and thank you for the extra time. On this final one, this idea of our horizontal ethics. We've spent a lot of time talking about our vertical relationship with the Lord.

42:09 I like no one touching my stuff. I'm an only child, so it's like mine, don't touch it. I share with nobody. But this is weird. From my perspective this is weird.

42:20 From my American culture this is weird. But they are living into the heart of Jesus. In their relationships with one another. Because our God, the God of the Bible is not a greedy God. What can I get?

42:37 He is a God who gives. So if we are going to be transformed into the image of Jesus, we too are going to be a people who give. I would encourage you to read Deuteronomy chapter 15. Not now, for the sake of time we won't do it. But I would encourage you to look at Deuteronomy 15 verses verses seven through 11.

43:03 It talks about the need for generosity in the Israelite community. And this is a echo, this passage here in Acts is an echo back to this. In this tale of two temples. Is it gonna be the Jerusalem Temple? Or is it gonna be the temple of the church?

43:22 And will they live as this community that serves one another? That takes care of one another? That is not selfish and seeking of what they can gain, but they seek to give. As we've said already, if our... If we view our relationship with Jesus as only with Jesus, and not with those around us.

43:47 We are not following Jesus as he desires us to be. When I look at the radical transformation of individuals like Peter and John and many other disciples throughout the century. It always comes back down to these four things. They spend time with Jesus. They reorient their life back to Jesus.

44:12 They're obedient to the things that he asked them to do. They are living in that empowerment by the spirit. And that flows out in mission towards others. Jesus is inviting us to live similarly. To have these aspects, these steps in our own walk with him.

44:39 Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word and we thank you for this passage and it's reminder of your love and your beauty and your kindness towards us. We pray Lord that you would transform us. Father that you would make us into the image of your son. Father, we just pray that you would work on our lives to draw us close to you.

45:03 Help us to not settle for a version of discipleship or Christianity that not fully what you want. Help us to follow you. We love you Lord. We ask all these things in Jesus name, Amen.