Go a little deeper
The recording opens with an unidentified couple’s testimony about learning generosity early in marriage. Pastor Keith Kirkpatrick then discusses Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3, emphasizing the greatness of God’s love and God’s ability to act beyond human expectations.
Pastor Keith distinguishes religious appearances from wholehearted commitment to Jesus. He draws on Mark 12 and Romans 12 to call for devotion expressed throughout daily life. He names busyness, distraction, and self-centeredness as obstacles, then examines the woman who anoints Jesus at Bethany in Mark 14 and Zacchaeus in Luke 19.
The church describes three aims—strengthen, seize, and secure ministry—including expanding a space called the West Wing and addressing $4.6 million in debt on 38 acres. Congregants fill out commitment cards and bring them forward, and Pastor Keith closes with a salvation invitation and a prayer of surrender.
Take this with you
Daily commitment to God
Pastor Keith brings Mark 12:30 together with Romans 12:1 to urge devotion to God throughout daily life. He explains this as an ongoing choice in response to God’s mercy rather than a decision dependent on changing feelings or religious appearances.
Self-rule and busyness hinder surrender
Pastor Keith identifies busyness, distraction, self-centeredness, and fear as obstacles to surrender. He connects these with Jesus’ teaching about considering the demands of discipleship and daily self-denial.
Jesus defends costly devotion
Pastor Keith reads Mark 14:3-9 as Jesus defending a woman’s costly devotion. Others criticize her use of expensive perfume, but Jesus values the action and connects it with preparation for his death. The pastor urges listeners to consider what they can offer despite the risk of criticism.
Zacchaeus responds to Jesus
Pastor Keith uses Luke 19 to describe Jesus welcoming Zacchaeus despite the crowd’s criticism. Zacchaeus responds with hospitality, generosity toward people in poverty, and repayment beyond what he had taken. The pastor explains this changed conduct as a response to Jesus’ generosity and identifies rescue as central to Jesus’ mission.
The conversation,
in their words.
Transcript from the recording’s captions. Select any timestamp to hear the original audio.
[Music] growing up in the family I grew up in we didn't have very much but my parents were extremely generous with what they did have so it taught me that you know again be being raised in a Christian home I was taught very early on that whatever we had was to be used for the Lord my mom told has told me just story after story of the Lord providing for us when we needed it and she tells a story of one time she was at our church with the family and a woman a single mom came up to her and said you know I'm so thankful um your husband gave me $2 and I really needed that and I just wanted to let you know that and my mom said she was fighting back teers because she knew
that was our last $2 and so um that just spoke to me that you know you're you can give away your last $2 and God will make sure that your needs are met um but we have kind of I can let you tell the story maybe about what really set in our life together and our marriage it was a very hard thing yeah that taught us to be generous of heart so um but I wouldn't trade it for anything so the beginning of our generosity story it's hard to know I mean their Roots can go so far back and graces are are so genuine with her her father but going further right after uh Grace and I were married I'd
been working in banking for a few years at the time and things seemed to be going well uh we bought a house right after we got married um small little place but we loved it I took a couple of weeks off to uh this is just a couple of months into our marriage took a couple of weeks off to move in and do a few repairs and whatever got back to work first meeting of the morning I was laid off so there we were um fresh a new mortgage no savings I mean Mar six months married 6 months already everything we had was had already been put into the house um but we had a neighbor Larry and Cindy Bell I'll even
name them um strong Christian family we had gotten to know know them uh just in in passing uh not deeply but well enough that we both knew we were Christians Larry was a a great at the time became a great mentor for me he came over and they were not overly uh well off either his business was struggling but he came over to me and and first offered Comfort but very quickly and very soon after that in the same conversation he says don't forget to be faithful in giving to the [Music] Lord so we did it was very difficult a little like
Grace's example of $2 to give to somebody who needed it when it was your last $2 but we resolved at that point um and we kind of knew without speaking it that it was a foundational moment for our marriage in our lives Liv time to be painful and we learned it early it our life became almost a an ongoing story of Loaves and Fishes um every time something came up it looked like we only had a couple of fish and when we took care of something we turned around and there was another basket and I don't mean we had baskets of cash but there was always always
enough and that meant so much to Grace and I early in our marriage it meant so much to see that being faithful really mattered and um from that point on it's been I think it's been a foundational part of of our lives in wherever we are and whatever we're doing a great deal of it goes back to the church but it also goes to other things as well and um when there's a need and so um we feel very strongly that that we need to continue to be faithful in that way no matter what our circumstances are good bad or just okay come on when you believe in Jesus it changes
[Applause] things y'all can give a golf clap to Jesus but he's worth more than that I'll tell you that today When You Believe In Jesus he changes you when you believe in Jesus it's a life transformed you're never the same and we're on this journey of generosity saying God what does it look like for for us to surrender our all to you when Paul writes a letter to this church in Ephesus in the book of Ephesians he gets to the third chapter and this was a letter and he he just goes in he starts praying for them it's a powerful prayer Ephesians chapter 3 and he he says I just want you to know the the the the height of God's love the depth of God's love the the the width and the breadth of God's love that
there's there's no end to God's love and he's praying for them to know God's love and then he says that you'd be filled with the fullness of God I just sense from this writer he wants them to experience what he's experienced and he's praying for them not only do I want you to know the the greatness of God's love not only do I want you to know the fullness of God in you then he comes to Ephesians 3:20 and he says now to him that God of love now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think now to him according to the power at work within us to him it says in verse 21 be
the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever shout it with me amen that means let it be so be it I believe it God is able to do more more than we can imagine more than we can pray our God is able so wherever you are right now you can't even dream big enough for God now the devil wants to keep you in your Darkness he wants to keep you deceived he wants to keep you right where you are but if you would just believe in Jesus and receive his promise God's not finished with you yet keep turning to him get to know his love be filled with the fullness of who he is and then pray big bold powerful prayers this journey of generosity is to cover
three things that here a journey as we look forward to transforming our city we just want to lead people to Jesus the first thing we want to do is strengthen our ministry God is doing such a great work here through our kids through our youth through our young adults God is doing a great work and we do not want it to stop last week I shared some testimonies of of just some of the stuff that Journey does I shared with you we partner with Israel and now that is more important than ever you know we actually support Israel not just in prayer but in finances and I'm getting real life updates from Ministries we support there of what's Happening we're a part of what God's doing around the world and we want to strengthen our ministry and the reality is that takes money the second thing we want to do is seize our
ministry we're believing that God wants to do more not only through this church but that you would invite more people to church so we want to expand this Auditorium we want to build more classrooms for our kids so we seize 10,000 square feet right behind me we're now calling it The West Wing we want to expand that and we're ready to go these are the architectural drawings as we look forward to not having kids classes in in our offices and not having lines that take 6 hours to go to the bathroom for the poor kids who only have one bathroom come on somebody if you love kids it's going to require some money but we're believing that we're going to seize this ministry opportunity God's given us and this is all going to happen in the days and the weeks to come not not months not years but believing that we're going to be able to seize this ministry opportunity and renovate that space and then finally we want to secure
Ministry we want to secure our future I'll tell you since we've started this Mo initiative God has implanted dreams in my heart that I didn't even know were possible uh partly I wish I didn't have them because these are Big Dreams uh we don't want to just be another church in our city we want to be a church for our city we've got 38 acres and this is the only debt we have as a church is $4.6 million and we want to eradicate that debt to be in a position to do things we've never done before and as Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus we we want all generations to come we want to leave a legacy we want to say God do much with my life do more do more in me do more in this church do more in this city do more in our day and in our time we're not going to wait we're asking God
would you have your way and if we're really going to do this I believe this is just the beginning of greater things right up here we we have thousands of names that we're praying for just people in our lives that we're believing are going to come to know Jesus we believe it because when you believe in Jesus it changes everything you have a hope you your life is transformed from the inside out he's a God that restores he rebuilds he redeems This Is Our God and we're believing it not just for our lives but the people around us we've got to go all in if we go all in this city will never be the same the history of the city of Ben will never be the same if we go all in you know the world goes all in in all sorts
of places you know when someone goes all in today Sunday and all across America we're going to see grown men go all in for football they're going to paint their bellies they're going to get all decorated and I know this well I'm a Raider fan and we got some of the scariest fans out there we bleed silver and black no matter how many times we lose we just keep cheering and believing one day is going to happen you know football is one of those Sports we see people go all in whether it's on the field or in the stands but even more we see it with the extreme sports you know we're living in an age where people are doing sports like never before I mean who climbs On Ice come on there's not even an ounce of that in me that says hey that sounds like a good idea you've got to be committed to do
that or just think about some Other Extreme Sports this is what I did this weekend I just took some time and got away now think about this if you're an extreme athlete and you're upside down in the air you don't go like I'm just not feeling this today I don't know if I'm going to go Allin today I mean when you when you jump off a cliff in a squirrel suit or something listen you're committed you're Allin people are all in all sorts of ways I mean today marriages have become such a a big thing the wedding ceremony because of the world of Instagram and reality shows people go all out for weddings I'm a minister I like to speak into people that are having weddings and I say this don't spend a lot of money on your wedding day because a wedding is
just a moment a marriage is supposed to be a lifetime so that money you're supposed to spend on your wedding ceremony you save that for counseling because I tell you people call me it's too late they tell me oh pastor we don't want to spend $150 an hour do you remember how much your wedding cake was do you remember how much per person you paid you went all in for that day now it's time to go all in for your marriage listen you want to have a big lavish wedding you can have a big lavish wedding but I'm just I'm warning you that what we ought to go all in for is our relationship with Jesus people go all in for all sorts of things we live
in Central Oregon people love their trucks you notice that I've lived in Central Oregon now for almost 20 years and I forget how much people love their trucks you go to California and you think oh all the trucks are in Central Oregon they don't got the big trucks like we have here I mean people they put money in all sorts of things and then the guys with trucks judge the other guys with trucks now I like bigger tires I like bigger shocks I like bigger this bigger that we go go all in for all sorts of things and I wonder today what does it look like for us to go all in for Jesus see I didn't grow up in the church I didn't really know what it was like to go all in for Jesus when I gave my life to Jesus I thought when you go all in you go all in which means on the outside everything you do I'm going to now
listen to Christian music I'm going to wear Christian clothes I'll tell you Christian clothes are the worst this is what Christian clothing does Christian clothing it rips off what the world is doing and just slaps Jesus on it in this case the Holy Spirit I tell you you you just go Google parody Jesus shirts they're all over if you're wearing one of those shirts I'm I mean no offense there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ I had it all I I had it where it looked like it was Crest toothpaste but it said Christ he'll clean up your life you know make you as wide as snow I mean we steal all sorts of of things instead of Nike just do it Jesus he did it you know we go all in in the wrong type of places I'll tell you going all in for God does not mean we're going to wear something on the outside
going all in is a surrendered life Jesus let us know what matters most when he says in Mark 12:30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all someone shall all with all your heart and your soul and your mind and your strength that's everything and as I start believing what does it look like for us to dream of a church campus we're going to love God with everything that you would be healthy with your body with your mind that you'd be healthy in every area of your life that you would love God with everything when you go through growth track here at Journey Church you discover that's our purpose to love God and love people Jesus summarized all the
scriptures you want want to know what's in the Bible love God and love your neighbor it sounds so simple but we need a big book to better understand that because God has loved us and you can only First Love after you've Been Loved by God and when you are you just want to love him back last week we talked about sacrifice what does it mean to sacrifice and Paul writes to the Romans in chap 12:1 and he says I appeal to you therefore Brothers by the mercies of God when you know who God is and his mercies are new Every Morning present your bodies as a Living Sacrifice would you say Living Sacrifice Living Sacrifice
holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship what does God want from you everything sacrifice and normally a sacrifice is not living when you give a sacrifice it's no longer yours when you give a sacrifice you don't get it back in the ancient days you'd bring an animal to sacrifice before the Lord you never said hey can I just get like half of that animal back it was gone now Paul presents a new idea you no longer need to present an animal to sacrifice before God let your life be a Living Sacrifice now the problem with your life being a Living Sacrifice is every day you have to choose some days I wake up and I don't
want want to be a Living Sacrifice I don't want to go all in I'm just not feeling it today I didn't have enough coffee today the weather's not great enough to I don't feel I don't feel like doing those things well when you give your life as a Living Sacrifice you're responding not based on your feelings but on the reality of who God is it's a life fully surrendered to God is he worth your sacrifice is he worth your all is Jesus worth suffering for giving your all everything that you have your mind your heart your actions would you be willing to say God
everything I have is yours I need you to think about the seriousness of this because what Jesus gave us was everything Jesus did not go partway in he could have the Creator left his throne and came to this Earth as a man fully God and fully man and he wasn't received he was rejected you read in history of the gods that were made up normally a God would get rid of those people he would Smite them he would remove them but not our God he was selfless he served us he demonstrated what real love looks like it's not based on feelings it's about sacrifice and he willingly lovingly went
to the cross for us Jesus gave us his all the only response we ought to have is give our all and yet it's incredibly difficult what stops us from surrender there's all sorts of things how many y'all are busy right now busy busyness will stop you from giving your all distractions at the end of the day it's it's the love of self because if I was to truly ask you what would it look like for you give up all there is so much fear in that question I don't know what that looks like financially I don't know what that looks like relationally I don't know what that looks like emotionally I don't know what that looks like so therefore I'd rather control my life than surrender My All to
Jesus and we have here a conundrum because the Christian church today does not represent well what it means to go all in to just surrender all when we do we're going to see a fruit that has never been seen in history the world will know because we will truly give our all in the Book of John he writes the life and story of Jesus and he tells us right at the beginning what happens when you believe in Jesus but to all who did receive him Jesus who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God see when you believe in Jesus when you receive his name it's no longer about you Jesus warned us about this over and over in his teaching that if you really want to follow him you've got
to count the cost there's nothing easy about following Jesus fact he's he made Extreme statements like you have to pick up your cross daily and follow him what is he saying your sacrifice is daily dying to yourself daily recognizing it's not about me it's all about you daily keep coming back to the truth and the reality of who God is I died in myself I'm alive in Christ it's not just one time it's over and over until we are with him in glory we commit Our Lives to him saying I am a child of God that's who I am I'm not defined by the family I was born into I'm not defined by the former things I've done I'm not defined by what was done to me I'm not defined by who I am or what I do with my life
I'm defined by Jesus Christ and when it's Jesus in me it alleviates religion of me trying to do things for Jesus I want Jesus to do it in me I want him to do it through me I I've worked too hard in my Christian faith I've I've discovered doing things for Jesus is exhausting it sounds good and it looks good at first even to get pats on the backs and some likes on the post that you put on your social media it feels good at first but eventually you discover there's no power in that I'm doing things on my own I want the spirit of the Living God to work through me today I want to look at two examples of what it means to go all in I could look at many in fact I can look at each of these examples and turn them into a
sermon series but just briefly I want to look at a woman and I want to look at a man I want you to see that God wants to use each and every one of us no matter what your background is where you came from how much money you have or don't have God wants you to give all to him why because of who he is the first story is that of a woman and we're going to turn to the Book of Mark chapter 14 if you got a Bible you can go there Jesus is on a journey towards Jerusalem and on this journey we see that no relationship is wasted no opportunity is wasted in Mark chap 14 we're going to read the entire story verses 3 3-9 Mark 14: 3-9 and while he Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper he was reclining at a table this is already
controversial because a leper would be considered unclean and no clean person would ever step foot in the house of an unclean person but isn't that just my God he's willing to go where no one else is willing to go Jesus is willing to reach people other people aren't willing to reach he's reclining at the table he's hanging out and we read about a woman everyone say a woman a woman we don't have her name but we we do know what gender she is and we do know the status of her in society women at this time were considered second class they were overlooked they were marginalized they were not educated they did not have the same opportunities as men they certainly would have never voted they weren't allowed to to to give any testimony in a court of law women were were often marginalized in society and Mark tells us that a woman everyone say
a woman a woman came to came with an alabaster flask that that's a clay jar of ointment of pure nard very costly everyone say very costly very costly I mean this is like more than Gucci or Prada or this is like this is very expensive perfume that's an oil and she broke the flask and poured it over the head of Jesus she pours it over his head and there were some we read in verse 4 who said to themselves indignantly they're angry they're annoyed and this is what they said why was this ointment wasted everyone say
wasted wasted like that this woman immediately is judged for what she did with what she had this was her perfume but they're judging her with what she did with her perfume why was this wasted like this verse 5 continues for this ointment could have been everyone say could have been could have been sold for more than 300 dinari and given to the poor now we start to understand how much money this is a Year's wage here I mean just imagine what we could do with this you know since I've started Journey Church a little Rabbit Trail here in the past 13 years you know the ones that criticize joury most about our money are the people that have never been to joury church you know what you all could do
with that money well why don't you all come to Journey first and give some money and then tell us what you're going to do with it but anyways that's just a little sidetracked U this this could have been given to the poor which by the way we help a lot of poor here in a lot of different ways whether it be rent or utilities or a whole slew of different ways and they they SC sced her they scolded her I need you to get this imagery in your head they scolded her nothing's worse than being embarrassed publicly and being scolded I I can remember back one of my worst school experiences was in the fifth grade when I got scolded by the teacher I can remember to this day he flipped over my desk and said how messy I was and he pushed me against the wall and I just remember being scolded
publicly it's traumatic I still need counseling but we'll just go back like she scolded they scolded her but I need you to see the response of Jesus he did not join in on the Judgment verse six but Jesus said leave her alone why do you trouble her she has done a beautiful thing to me would yall say beautiful thing a beautiful thing to me for you always have the poor with you and whenever you want you can do good for them but you will not always have me and Jesus is an advocate for the poor in Matthew 25 he lets us know that those who actually go to heaven are those that see people the way Jesus sees people he loves the poor but he wants us to love
him he wants us to love what he loves she it says in verse eight she has done what she could she has anointed my body beforehand for burial and truly I say to you verse nine wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world what she's done will be told in memory of her we have here an extraordinary wonderful woman this woman is brave if we could just put ourselves in the cultural context of the day what she was willing to do she was willing to shame herself she was willing to be judged she was willing to to not not care what anyone else
thought but Jesus this woman is incredibly generous for we see exactly how much she gave could you imagine if you came to church and everyone judged you and started talking about how much you gave I can't believe they would give that much to the church I just can't believe it there's so many other ways that we could have used that money that they gave to the church I I need you to look at the cultural context she's exposed is anything more vulnerable than being exposed and then when you do expose yourself you went out on the limb you're judged and she goes out on the limb she's extremely generous she she gives to Jesus what if she gives she anoints
his head with oil now we have to understand the cultural context here the the picture of anointing always points us to the power and the presence of God so when you hear the word anoint it's the power power and the presence of God now going back to the ancient scriptures as we read even in the Old Testament we see several uses for anointing with oil number one is we'd see the high priest would be Anointed with oil now the anointing of the physical oil is symbolic of the presence of a spiritual God so the anointing of oil says God is with you his presence with you so the high priest would be Anointed with oil in Psalm 133 we get the visual of what God desires for his his people how good it is and pleasant it is when Brothers
dwell together in unity now God says when we are in unity it's like the oil going down Aaron's beard Aaron was a high priest it's like anointing the presence of God is with us when we're United Not only would high priest get anointed with oil symbolic of God's presence to be with them as they bring God's presence to others a king would be Anointed with oil oh remember when Samuel was choosing a second king and Saul was the first king and he was pretty Mighty and powerful and God tells Samuel I want you to go find a new king and anoint him with oil this was huge because once he's anointed he's the new king and it's the idea that you only are appointed with the presence of God we see other uses for anointing when
someone's sick they'd be Anointed with oil it's symbolic that our God Is A Healer it's a picture of Rafa the ancient Hebrew word the healer is with you he's able to heal you this woman comes in and of all the people to anoint Jesus it's a woman of all the people to point us to Jesus as the high priest the king the one who's about to give his life on the cross for our sins this woman comes and does what needs to be done all four accounts of the life of Jesus Matthew Mark Luke and John all four of the stories share about a woman anointing Jesus each a different account but in each account one common theme we see is that when a woman takes a risk to
bless Jesus she's criticized she's judged and in each account Jesus goes to the defense for where we hear of the Holy Spirit the holy spirit is a Defender and a helper an advocate and the the the the Holy Spirit through Jesus defend each and every one of these women we have here a woman that that breaks what she has and when she breaks it before the others they see it as a broken opportunity oh the world is full of could ofs and should ofes I declare those are never of God that could have you could have you should have they see it as a broken opportunity but what does Jesus say in Mark 14:6 she has done a beautiful thing
he sees the Brokenness as beautiful and I propose to you today what can you bring that is Beautifully Broken to Jesus that the world might not understand but Jesus says that was beautiful I know why you did that I know what you're doing she surrendered what she had I want to point out two things that Jesus says about her number one is in verse verse verse 8 she has done what she could she has done what she could you know God's never going to ask you to do something that you can't listen he's not going to ask you to go sell all your stock and give it to him when you have no stock he he's not going to go ask you to
do something that you absolutely can't do what God is going to ask you to do is what can you do and we have an example of a woman that she's done what she could and in response Jesus says in verse n i and truly I say to you wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world what she's done will be told in memory of her Jesus Associates that which was Beautifully Broken her sacrifice to the gospel now what does gospel mean shout it out good news the good news is Jesus when we think about sacrifice when we think about good news this woman was willing to count the cost this woman was willing to go above and beyond and Jesus said whenever I'm talked about I want you all to remember this woman I want you to be willing to take risks I want you to understand that you
might be criticized you might be misunderstood you you might have to bring it all at different times I can't wait to get into heaven and meet this woman because she's going to have a big mansion on a hill we're going to discover that although she's unnamed here Jesus has an affinity for those that take risks Jesus taught us too to count the cost what does it mean to really follow him he wants you to remember what she's done that you would examine your life I want to look at one more person and only look at him for just a moment this this story is found in the Book of Luke this time I want us to look at a man he's an interesting man on all accounts is found in the Book of Luke chapter 19 Jesus is still on his journey
to to the Cross he he knows exactly where he's going to Jerusalem he knows exactly what he's going to do willingly give his life on the cross and on this journey Luke chapter 19 we're told he Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through and behold there was a man named zakus this man was a chief tax collector and was rich everyone say rich rich it's what most people still want to be today that money could actually solve my problems it could get me out of this mess it could help me in my relationships I I would be more content or peaceful if I only had a little more money well this guy had a lot of money because Luke points out that he was rich he seemed to have it all and he zakus
was seeking to see Jesus verse verse three he was seeking to see who Jesus was because the word was out about Jesus he could heal he would teach with author he was unlike anyone else could he be the Christ the Messiah would he be the king that takes over now zakus is interested he wants to see who Jesus was but on account of the crowd there were so many people there that day he could not because Luke points out because he was small in stature just as the woman who broke the flask of oil would be remembered for all time Luke now will make us remember this man with his small stature children all over the world will see in Sunday schools zakus was a wee little
man that's how we'll remember this man growing up he was always smaller than the rest you can't do this you won't do this and he says ha I'll show you and he becomes a tax collector he would be estranged from his own family he would have to give an allegiance to the Roman Empire he would go to the Jewish people collect taxes and then give it to the kingdom of Rome he couldn't see Jesus so verse four he ran on ahead and he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus for he was about to pass his way then in verse five when Jesus came to the place he looked up and said to him zakus hurry and come down for I must come to your house today so zakus hurried and came down and received Jesus joyfully everyone say
joyfully joyfully oh that we would see when you encounter Jesus you receive him joyfully there's not a bigger burden when you come to Jesus it's not a list of rules you recognize you realize he knows me he calls me by name he wants to be with me and he received him joyfully oh but when they saw this time Jesus gets criticized they all grumbled he has gone to be the guest of a man who was a sinner and zakus stood and said to the Lord behold Lord the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have defrauded anyone of anything I restore it fourfold he didn't have to do this he could have given back twice as much for the interest from the
time he collected too much but he goes above and beyond and he multiplies just as our God is a generous God we see that generosity come out I'm going to restore it fourfold and Jesus said to him today salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham for the son of man came to seek and to save the Lost in the cultural context of our day zakus would be what we call a hustler he was a hard worker he was an entrepreneur he didn't just collect money he saved money and this man was rich he was not a a lazy man in fact we see that when he hears about Jesus he does what needs to be done to to find Jesus today I want to encourage you if you want your life changed do whatever it takes to get to
Jesus sometimes you got to climb a tree sometimes it's not easy sometimes the journey you got to park two blocks away just to get in here I'm telling you it's worth it because it's not about you it's all about Jesus he sees you you might be in the back and he sees you he calls you by name he knows you he says I want to spend time with you at your house a notorious sinner see Jesus knows what the religious are thinking if you spend time with a sinner you become a sinner but not with Jesus he's the Friend of Sinners he's the lover of Sinner he he's the savior of Sinners and so we see when he spends time with this man this man will be forever changed see Jesus doesn't look at us and judge us by what we've done he's not
impressed with your degrees or your credentials he's not impressed with a big bank account he's not impressed with your identity he's impressed with where you go for eternity he wants you to know that you're Made for More our greatest identity is not in the things we've done for Jesus says in Luke 19:9 and 10 he says and Jesus said to him today salvation has come to this house not because of what zakus did but who he believed in for Jesus restores and says he says since he also is a son of Abraham you know how many people probably told zakus you're not a son of Abraham Abraham's the father of faith for the Jewish people and being a Jewish man that collected taxes for the Roman Empire he would have been told over and
over you're no good no nothing you Abraham isn't even in your VOC you're not a son you can imagine all the things that were said about Jesus restores this and says yes you are a child of God for he shares with us his mission for the son of man referring to him himself here's who I came to seek and save the lost the Heart of Jesus is not to come make religious people more religious he didn't come to make rich people more Rich he came to seek and to save the lost and as we consider our future every name on their matters to God every name of every person you know that doesn't know Jesus and you could be here today and say I'm not sure I know Jesus you can today you can know right
now today is the day of salvation all you have to do is believe in your heart who Jesus is and confess it with your mouth he died on the cross for every single one of your sins once and for all so that you would Surrender Your All to Jesus there was another account where a woman was anointing Jesus and she did it with her tears and she she did anointed his feet and she she cleaned Jesus feet which would be the lowest part of his body the dirtiest place that you can go and she she put down her hair and she cleaned his feet and Jesus was judged by another Simon this one the Simon the Pharisee and Jesus went on to explain a story that you know when you have a large amount of debt and you're forgiven you're a lot more excited the
larger the debt there's a lot of talk today about forgiving student loans a lot of talk about debt and Jesus goes on and says in Luke 7:47 therefore I tell you sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much but he who is Forgiven little loves little and he said to her your sins are forgiven if you know what you're forgiven of your life will reflect God's grace one of our core values here at Journey Church is to be Grace givers that we would receive God's grace the Forgiveness of our sins his Mercy mercies that are new Every Morning the hope of Heaven A great inheritance all that God has for us and then we would give that away that we would reflect who Jesus is but there are so
many things that are stopping us from Full surrender we've got to take Jesus at his word and pray every day in Matthew 6:10 your kingdom come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven and then when we don't want to do what could look lavish which could be criticized when we don't want to be judged by others we pray Jesus prayer father if you're willing remove this cup from me and so many times God's going to do something greater he says nevertheless Jesus prayed not my will but yours be done Jesus willingly went to the Cross not because it was the easy thing to do but it was God's will for you God loves you God wants you to to experience the fullness of who he is here's what I want you to know more than
anything today God made you you're made in the image of God some of you might look in the mirror you might look at your life and say did God make a mistake with me I'll tell you this God never makes a mistake he's so creative he'll make us in different shapes and sizes listen if you're small in stature he looks at you and he says I love you and I want to hang out with you I want you to know who made you and when you know it shapes you and you become a lot more like God for God is the most generous for God so loved the world he gave his only son that whoever believe in him will not perish but have eternal life that was his last $2 dollar he gave zakus response to Jesus is a
reflection of how he was made you're made to be generous oh the devil would love to deceive you and say hold on to what you have but if you're holding on to what you have you're not in a posture to receive what God wants to give you it's in this place that you would understand who God is that he made you he loves you and I have learned this and I need to say this please Holy Spirit help every person to hear this life is short this is not the destination don't be deceived to think that your life is meant to be comfortable on this side of Heaven eternity is real you have a soul that could spend forever with Jesus I've done so many celebration of life memorials funerals you can call it what
you will but statistics say that every one of us is going to die and you don't know your day it would be best to live for what matters most right now God is great he's worthy of Praise because he created you he's the lifegiver he's a god that is love he's the god of new beginnings he rebuilds he brings hope he he heals he's the Redeemer that continues to restore store over and over he's full of wisdom because he is the word he's the forgiver he's our judge and he's still our joy he's our savior today he's our strength tomorrow he's peace he's all powerful and he has a name it's Jesus and generosity is given to God because he's generous first so I want to just ask you
today what does that look like for you to go all in to surrender today I'm going to actually ask that if you would get out a commitment card right now that you would consider what that looks like for you and this church this commitment card is not just meant to be looked at but I'm asking you would you pray God what's my role in this what's my response to who you are and today if you're here visiting for the first time and you're like oh great I came on a money talk day let me just tell you we are not asking for your money we've never been about your money this church is all about Jesus and it always will be about Jesus what we're saying is we want to do greater things with Jesus through Jesus so I want you to
know that there is absolutely no stress for you come back next week I won't do this next week or come back in a few weeks and just hear how great God is I want you to take out a commitment card like this and I want to just explain this for just a moment can you get this out someone wave it in the air just so I know someone has it all right a few people have it if you don't have one of these here's what I'm going to ask you raise your hand in the air nice and high and someone will run one up to you just raise it up in the air I know you're not getting saved right now but just keep your hand up if you want a card like this uh we got some over there over there uh anybody over here need a card uh we'll make sure that you get one of these this is so important to what we're about to do we want you to be a part of Journey Church We Are Better Together this church does not exist because of a few people it exists because the church is made up of people and that includes you so here's this card you can see right behind me we've blown this up so you can see it let me just explain this briefly but but
there's been a lot of people confused we did Advanced commitment last week and it really helped me better understand this here's what the top box is for and you could start filling this out as I go you don't have to wait until I'm done talking you could fill this out right where you are the top box is this what do I normally give in a year to Journey Church what do I normally give in a year to Journey Church now let me just pause for just a moment if if you've been coming a journey and you've never given money or you're new to Journey you've never given money uh let's go to the the ladder real quick the giving ladder uh let me just show you something on the bottom of this ladder are those that have never given before for you to give for the first time I know it's a risk it can be scary it can be weird it can be awkward it could be unknown if you've never given before you're on the bottom of this ladder and that means you're going to give for the first time may I commend you may I say Well done that takes
courage you got to be brave but let's go back to the card for a moment so at the top on the top of the card that first box if you've never given the math is really easy you put a zero just put a zero there there are a lot of people that come to Journey Church and you've given before and you say I don't even know how much I give to Journey you should know how much you give but that's okay if you don't know how much you give just guess this is not a test pass or fail oh you put the wrong number you put too much or too little it's not a test nobody's going to call you or check this I want you to just guesstimate how much do you think you give in a year to Journey Church how much do you give in a year you could start filling this out as I talk about this by the way so I want you to think that do I give 10,000 do I give 100,000 do I give
2,000 some of you could look and say you know I've only given once this year was $100 and put $100 there the second box is what you're going to take a step of Faith to give that's your expanded giving now let me just clarify here there are many of you that make commission many of you who own your own businesses and you say well I've got to guesstimate how much no this is Faith here I want you to reach out in faith and say God I want to give you this number and now you've got to show up for me to give this number how much could that be in a year let's just say this you make $100,000 in a year if you tithe on that $100,000 that would be $10,000 a year that you're giving to the church if you put on here that you want to give $25,000 in a year that would mean you're going to make $250,000 in a year and you
say that's crazy I've never done that before let me tell you we have a crazy God who's able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think get crazy for God I'm not asking you to get safe I'm saying if you love the Lord put it down now here's what's Wild if you do this this is totally up to God none of us here at the church are going to call you and say well you didn't come through on your end of the bargain over the next two years I'm here to challenge you to say what does it look like for you to trust God Malachi 3 says test me in this financially you should not test God in anywhere he doesn't tell you to test him but he does say test being in your finances over the last couple weeks I've been hearing testimony after testimony you're getting to hear some of them on the stories we're sharing I heard one this week of someone who lost their job in coid and they they only got a small
check and they tithed on that check they tithed $12 come on y'all $12 $12 $12 doesn't seem like much does it but when you put it in the hands of God and you say you told me to do this I'm doing this and I'm giving it to you you know what happens after God opens up the floodgates of Heaven he provides opportunities you get phone calls you didn't see coming in this case it was an inheritance check that they didn't even know they were going to get come on somebody way more than $12 okay I'll tell you how much it was it was 5,000 but by the time they got the 5,000 it actually had grown into 24,000 that's a really great $12 investment to give to God so I want
every person fill this out don't look at me right now I'll fill this out the second box you're going to put is you're expanded then you're going to times that by two so that's how much I'm willing to give in two years that's how much God I'm going to commit to give two years and then there's a box at the bottom that says gifts from my stored resources here's what stored resources are stocks that just sit there and go up and down and give you acid reflux give those stocks to the church you don't even need to liquidate them you don't need to pay the taxes on them give it to the church and it's actually a write off you don't have to pay any capital gains that's stocks or or you have digital currency or you have tons of properties and you want to just liquidate one of those properties or you have seven houses and you you sell one and and and give the equity to the to the church or uh stored
resources could be you have an extra car that sits in your garage you sell it you have a boat a trailer some of you are here saying like I wish I was that wealthy all those things Pastor Keith said here's what stored resources could be for you you have a yard sale sell the junk you don't even use in your house and you give that money to God cuz so many who say I'm not using this junk I'm going to go donate it to Goodwill what would it look like for you to do a little work and give it to God that's all I'm saying and then you pray about it you don't just give it to the church you give it to God you pray about it you pray about it what is expanded resource of you write down something maybe you're thinking to yourself right now I don't even know what I have but I'm going to put a number down there God's going to show you what that looks like he's going to show you would expand you heard all the kids talking about lemonade stands
that's because kids are taking it serious some of y'all need to go back to the basics and be like God put something creative me I'm going to give that to God what does he put inside of me and then I want you to add those up and that's your two year commitment so your two years of of what God I'm going to I'm going to pledge to you it's just a pledge and then once you've done that I want you to fill out all your information we're going to pray for you we're going to bless you we're not going to hold you accountable to this but we are going to come alongside you we're gonna say we're doing this together so once you've filled that out I want you to come up forward out of your seat so if you've already filled it out you can get up right now I want you to walk forward and we're just going to bring it right here this is symbolic of the altar we're bringing it to the altar of God so once you filled out your car just come on forward and just put it in there right now if you haven't started filling it out yet start filling it out if your
neighbor's not filling it out hand them a pen all right come on somebody uh I want you to come forward I want you to put these right here in the altar we're dedicating this to God we're saying god this is my more this is my expanded this is my generosity this is my more I'm trusting you God I'm believing you God all that I have is yours so someone needs to say today God I don't know how you're going to do it but I'm going to give it to you I'm going to trust you this is an investment God multiply this use it for your glory if you need a pen just raise your hand we'll get you a pen we got people going around with pens right now we want you to take this serious today just imagine what's going to
happen when you give your all to God I'm talking about your heart today he's your Defender come on forward come on forward bring your cards up bring your cards up bring your cards up some of you need to take a step of faith today you've never done something like this I'm going to get vulnerable and real with you my wife and I we put a number on here that we've never given ever in our lives it's a figure that makes us sick if your hand is shaky that's called Faith giving does not mean you have it figured out giving means I trust you God I trust you with everything come on forward come on forward you are never too young to give to God somebody praise be to God amen amen God is so good and
so faithful so so [Music] good if you fill out your card it's not too late you bring that forward some of you are still thinking about it and you got your spouse with you and it's kind of awkward cuz pastor's pressure in you let me tell you before you leave today if you haven't filled out talk with your spouse before you leave today put a number down there's no harm in this talk to get I know one spouse might be here one might be here that's how God uses does it I'll tell you who's right the one that's here all right so I solve that argument right now come on forward praise God praise be to God he's going to multiply
[Music] blessing I want to shift for just a moment and you can still come forward at any time the reason we're doing this the reason we're doing this is because Jesus Loves You this church is all about Jesus and we're believing that many more people are going to come come to Faith In Jesus today you might have stumbled in a church uncertain of your eternity and right now I want to ask you the most important question that I could even ask you today it's not something I can do for you it's not something anyone else can do for you I want to ask you do you know that you're saved do you know where you're going to go when you die because right now today you can have the hope of eternal life in your heart the Bible makes it really simple all who call upon the name of Jesus are saved if you're
here today and you've never believed in Jesus for the Forgiveness of your sins if you've never said I want to go to heaven and the only way you can get there is because of Jesus I want to give you that opportunity in the seriousness of your heart right now I'm just going to ask that this would be a moment is just sacred this would be the moment between you and the Lord if you want to believe in Jesus today and you want the hope of eternal life would you just throw your hand up just nice and boldly saying that's me I want Jesus right right where you are praise God anyone else you just praise God praise God right where you are your stomach might be kind of nauseous your heart might be beating really fast that's the Holy Spirit saying it's time give me your life anyone else saying I I Surrender my life to Jesus right where
you are praise God God loves you so much he's so proud of you anyone else today right where you are it is never too late you've never sinned so greatly that God can't say I can restore that our God can do anything nothing is impossible with him anyone else right where you are just raise it nice and high so I could see [Music] you it is the greatest decision you can make praise God amen amen amen God loves you so much just want to ask you right where you are we're going to pray a prayer together and prayer is talking to God you could do it anywhere anytime in your heart out loud God loves it talk to you in your car in your shower at your school at your workplace right right where you are you're in trouble call out
to God would you just pray with me just repeat after me these words if you want to receive Jesus today or if you've ever believed in him let's do it with those doing it for the first time lord Jesus I believe in you forgive me of my sins my life is yours I receive the Holy Spirit I receive eternal life in Jesus name amen amen could someone shout amen today amen so be it it is true
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A Surrendered Life: Mark 12 and Romans 12
Pastor Keith brings Mark 12:30 together with Romans 12:1 to urge devotion to God throughout daily life. He explains this as an ongoing choice in response to God’s mercy rather than a decision dependent on changing feelings or religious appearances.
Mark 12:30 · Romans 12:1
- How does Pastor Keith explain the difference between daily commitment and relying on changing feelings?
- Which of the obstacles he names—busyness, distraction, or love of self—is most present in your life right now?
- How does knowing God's mercy, as Paul describes it, shape the way you offer your life to him?
The Woman Who Anointed Jesus: Mark 14
Pastor Keith reads Mark 14:3-9 as Jesus defending a woman’s costly devotion. Others criticize her use of expensive perfume, but Jesus values the action and connects it with preparation for his death. The pastor uses this to discuss generosity despite criticism and attention to what a person can offer.
Mark 14:3-9
- Why does Pastor Keith emphasize the difference between the onlookers’ criticism and Jesus’ evaluation of the woman’s gift?
- How does Pastor Keith connect Jesus’ recognition of the woman’s action with considering what a person can offer?
- Pastor Keith says she was willing to risk criticism and misunderstanding for Jesus. Where does the fear of being judged keep you from surrender?
Zacchaeus: Luke 19
Pastor Keith describes Zacchaeus seeking Jesus, welcoming him, and responding with generosity toward people in poverty and repayment beyond what he had taken. Jesus affirms Zacchaeus’ belonging despite the crowd’s criticism. The pastor connects the changed conduct with God’s generosity and Jesus’ mission of rescue.
Luke 19:1-10
- Zacchaeus did what it took to see Jesus. What might that look like in your own life?
- Pastor Keith says Jesus restores Zacchaeus as a son of Abraham despite what others said about him. How does that shape your sense of identity?
- How does Pastor Keith connect Zacchaeus's generosity with God's own generosity?
Answers from this recording
Start a conversation.
What does it mean to go all in for Jesus?+
Pastor Keith describes wholehearted commitment through daily choices rather than outward religious markers. He connects Mark 12:30 and Romans 12:1 with responding to God’s mercy, including when feelings make surrender difficult.
Why did Jesus defend the woman who anointed him with expensive perfume?+
Pastor Keith reads Mark 14:3-9 as a defense of costly devotion despite criticism. Other people calculate alternative uses for the perfume, while Jesus values the woman’s action and relates it to preparation for his death. The pastor highlights her willingness to act despite misunderstanding and Jesus’ promise that her action would be remembered.
What is the story of Zacchaeus meant to show?+
Pastor Keith uses Luke 19 to describe Jesus welcoming Zacchaeus despite public criticism. Zacchaeus responds with hospitality, generosity toward people in poverty, and repayment beyond what he had taken. Jesus affirms his belonging, and the pastor explains the change as a response to Jesus’ generosity and mission of rescue.
