The Search for Success

What is up, Porch? How are we feeling? I don't care if you're excited, because I'm excited. I have to be honest. I'm a little giddy to be here. If I'm like the Energizer Bunny tonight, it's because I've had a lot of Diet Dr Peppers, and I'm pumped to be at The Porch. This is my first time, and getting to be in the room is amazing. Kylen, thank you to you and the team for the invitation. Can we give it up for these men and women who make it all happen?

Somebody on the team I just briefly met… I interacted with Misty, and she was over there interpreting with sign language. It was just like, "Man! God is using so many people to bring tonight to life." I'm honored to play a part. If I would have known Scottsdale was an option, I might have said yes to that. No offense to Dallas. Definitely wouldn't have gone to Midland or Dayton, let's be honest. To the people out in Scottsdale, it's good to be here in Dallas, though. It's always good to be in Dallas.

I got a little run on the Katy Trail today. I won't tell you my average pace, but I ran. Anybody else out on the Katy Trail? I got a little barbecue at Terry Black's. For everybody watching from around the world, let's be really clear: barbecue is better in Texas. Eating barbecue before speaking, however, might not have been the smartest decision. I am expectant, humbled. I also want to thank Watermark Church for blessing the city with this. TA is a great friend of mine, and he was at Terry Black's today. I'm really grateful.

I pray that God would use our time together. I was ministered to deeply through the worship. I was so grateful to come and sing those songs. It was good for my soul. I don't know about you, but it was just good for my soul to lift my eyes and to sing about the blood, the wonder-working blood, and remind me that it's not all up to me, and to remind me that what I've done has been forgiven and covered by the blood.

I pray as we open God's Word tonight… I've been excited, expectant, and humbly timid a bit. I don't take your audience lightly, that I would get 30 to 40 minutes, and if the Lord moves, an hour and a half or two hours (relax, Kylen), that I would get some time with you and that God would use me to bring his Word and encourage you.

I was thinking, getting ready for this, what would I say? Like, what would God have me say? But more of like, when I was in my 20s…and 30s, for that matter… Based on the hair, I'm definitely out of that zone. A lot of times at Passion Conference I wear a hat so people think I'm a little younger than I really am, that I didn't lose my hair so quickly. Anyway, moving on from that.

What would I tell myself? Because I was living in Arlington, Texas. Do we have any Arlington people in the house? Come on. When I was 24, 25, and 26, I was living in Arlington. Some of you in here have all of life figured out. You're on a path, and you're feeling good. You know where you're going. You know what you're aiming for. Everything is sorted. If that's you, don't raise your hand, because that's really going to frustrate the rest of us.

When I was 24, 25, and 26, living in Arlington, I felt a lot of pressure to figure out what my life was supposed to be about. It was the decisions that… At the time, I was following the Lord. I was working at a church. I was wanting my life to be for God's glory, but I felt so much pressure. Like, a dating decision, a career decision, a vacation decision, a lunch decision. It was like, "Man! I want to get it right. I know this is supposed to be the greatest time of my life, and I've got my whole life in front of me, God willing, but I don't want to mess up."

So, I was like, "What would I tell myself looking back on that season of life?" That's part of what I was going to bring. Then I had some young professionals at my house on Thursday night. I was talking to a close friend of ours who's in your season of life. I was just talking to him, and I felt the pressure that was on his shoulders. I could see the pressure on his shoulders, physically.

He was like, "I'm trying to figure life out, and I need some help. Brad and Brittany…" (my wife) "…would you help me make some of these decisions?" So, I pray that God would use our time together and the moments I have with you to encourage you. We're going to be in John, chapter 13. We're going to a very familiar passage.

If we're not too careful with Scripture and with Jesus and church and The Porch, we get too familiar. Familiarity breeds contempt. Do we have any golfers in the house? Any public golf course people in the house, that you just hope when you go play golf that there's actually grass? And you have to make a decision. Do you want to pay the extra \$15 to get a bucket of golf balls off the range?

Yesterday, I got to go and play at a really nice country club, and I was giddy about it. I'm a terrible golfer, but when I got there, the greens were perfect. Somebody came and got my bag out of the car. They put it on a golf cart and were taking care of me. They took it to the range. There were Pro V1 (if you're not a golfer, just follow me) golf balls laid out on this range. The range was perfect. The tee boxes were perfect. The greens were perfect, even in Dallas, Texas, where it can be hard to grow grass. I'm like, "This is incredible."

We only played nine holes. Yes, it was 45 degrees and windy, but I'm like, "I don't get to play here ever. I go back to the public golf courses where there's not a lot of grass most days." But these guys played all the time, so they were like, "Man, should we even play?" I'm like, "Yes! I'm not familiar with this. This isn't normal for me. Don't rob me of this experience."

A lot of times, if we're not careful, when we approach Scripture, when we approach Jesus, we're just too familiar, too flippant. "Oh, I've been there, heard that, know what that's all about." I was reading John, chapter 13, a couple of months ago. It's the night before Jesus would give his life on a cross. It's just before the Passover meal, the last hours of his life on earth. It's the story of Jesus washing his… What is it? His disciples' feet. You're familiar with the story. Good job right there. The point of it is that we should go and do likewise.

This was one of the most significant acts of Jesus' life and, honestly, the most successful 24 hours of anybody who has ever walked on planet earth. But when I was reading John, chapter 13, it hit me in a brand-new way. Let's dig in. John 13:1: "It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew…" I want you to see that word knew. "Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him." A very selfless act, something that someone of Jesus' stature in this culture would not have done.

"He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, 'Lord, are you going to wash my feet?' Jesus replied, 'You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.' 'No,' said Peter, 'you shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered, 'Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.' 'Then, Lord,' Simon Peter replied, 'not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!' Jesus answered, 'Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.' For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. 'Do you understand what I have done for you?' he asked them. 'You call me "Teacher" and "Lord," and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.'"

Jesus, I pray against the spirit of familiarity tonight. Use me and use your Word to give us a fresh glimpse of your greatness, your sacrifice, and what you've done for us. May it blow a fresh wind in our sails. We pray this in Jesus' name. We all say, "Amen."

I'm going to bring three points. Is that okay with y'all? Jesus knew some stuff. That's not a point. I don't know why you're laughing. It kind of hurts my feelings. Point number one: "Jesus knew stuff." Write it down. No, I'm kidding. The phrase that really got me was not what he did. There are a few words. In verse 1, it says he knew something. In verse 2, it says he knew something. In verse 4, he did something. He got up from the meal. John is helping us understand what Jesus was thinking about before he did something.

I have a working title. I don't know if it's going to stick or not, but it's "The Quest for Success." Does anybody want to be successful up in here? Okay. We need more ambition from the people at The Porch. Does anybody actually want to be successful? Be honest. It's okay. By the way, if you want to date somebody, you should have raised your hand, because girls aren't looking for guys who don't want to succeed in life. Can I get an "Amen" from the ladies?

Let me ask again. Does anybody want to be successful? Okay, okay. My guy, you went too hard on that. That looked desperate. Might as well stand up. If you want me to set you up, I'm happy to sort that out after. True story, by the way. I hate to flex. Onstage at Passion several years ago, I was tasked to do something fun in a moment. On a moment's notice, I was like, "We should do a blind date onstage at Passion."

I was a little intimidated, because John Piper had just spoken. I'm like, "Am I really going to be the guy who goes up onstage and does a blind date right after John Piper talks about the glory of God and taking the gospel to the nations?" But I did it anyway. That couple got married. So, let's just say, my man… Should I deviate? No. Okay. Anyway…

We want the quest for success, but the trap you and I get into… This is what I would tell myself. We get so consumed about what we do, what the decision is, and we think too little about why we do what we do. So, I'm not saying don't be ambitious, don't make plans, don't make decisions, but think more about why you choose things instead of just what you choose. It's not about the decision, first and foremost, that God cares about; it's about the heart that leads to that decision and those choices.

Success is the sum of our decisions, both the big decisions and the small decisions. It said Jesus made a decision to get up based on what he knew was true. My question for you is…Does what you know about God and yourself dictate the way you live? Does what you know about God and yourself inform, inspire, and influence the decisions you make, the way you live, or does what you feel drive the decisions, the choices, and the lifestyle you live? Be careful, because feelings are fickle. Can I get an "Amen"?

We're feeling good when we get the promotion, when we get the raise, when we go to the Awaken Conference, and we're on a mountaintop, and everything is rolling, but when the bottom falls out…you don't get the job, you don't get the promotion, the relationship doesn't work out, bad things start happening, and you're starting to walk through hard times…a lot of times, those feelings, which are fickle, start driving the decisions and the lifestyle we have. Be careful. Let what you know, what you know to be true…

That's why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, "For the love of Christ compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, so that we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who died and rose again on our behalf." We're convinced. It's what you know and are convinced of.

Many of you aren't convinced of the truth of Jesus. I pray that through coming to The Porch and being in community and studying God's Word that you would be moved from being interested or open or like, "I think," to being like, "Man, I am convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all so that we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who died and rose again on our behalf."

A.W. Tozer says what comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. Does what you know dictate the way you live or is it your feelings? That's where we're going. What did Jesus know? Are you ready for my three points, the people who laughed at me, the ladies? "Jesus knew some stuff" wasn't one of them. I'm going to go out of order, if that's okay, but I'm still sticking to the text.

In verse 3, it says, "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power…" But here's what he knew also: "…that he had come from God and was returning to God…" Here's the point, to be really clear: Jesus knew where he came from and where he was going. Do you know where you came from? Like, know deep down in your soul. Do you know where you came from and where you're going?

For me, randomly, if you want to go visit my hometown, I would not be a good tour guide. People are like, "Where are you from, Brad?" Well, I claim to be from the great state of Texas. I've been in Atlanta, Georgia, for 17 years. Any Georgia people in the house? I'm going to trace you back to my hometown.

So, I live in Atlanta now. I've lived there for 17 years. It's amazing. But my home is where I grew up in Canyon, Texas…West Texas. Do we have any West Texas people in the house? Come on. I lived in Birmingham for a short season after college, so my cell phone has a 205 number. Everybody is like, "You're from Birmingham?" I'm like, "No. I just lived there for 15 months, and I didn't want to change my number."

Before that, I had been at the great university called Texas A&M, so I'm an Aggie. Got any Aggies in the house? Great. Any Longhorns? God bless you. I'm pulling for NC State tonight with all my heart. Before I moved to Canyon (follow me here), I actually was raised, for the first five years, in a small town at the tip of Texas called Perryton, Texas.

I know a little bit about Perryton. That's where my family lived before my parents got a divorce and we moved to Canyon. But I was not born in Perryton, even though that's where we lived. There was a better hospital on the other side of not just one border but two borders in Liberal, Kansas. So, your boy right here… Nobody really cares for Kansas, but I'm from Kansas, and it's terrible. No offense. (Please come back to The Porch. The preacher next week will be a lot kinder.)

I was born in Liberal, Kansas, and I could tell you nothing about it. I don't know where I'm from. Like, I don't know. I don't know anything about it. I was just born in a hospital there. It was a better hospital. My dad was born in that hospital. I guess we were there two nights and then drove back to Perryton, so maybe that's my hometown.

Here's the point: Jesus knew. He knew he was from heaven, from glory, the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. He knew that. He also knew what he was about to face wasn't going to stop him, and he was getting back to heaven, back to glory, back to the throne. He knew that deep down, so that informed the way he lived.

Okay, Christians. Do you know where you came from? Not just like, "This is when I started going to this church" or "This is where I started going to that church." Do you know who you were before Jesus saved you? This is what you need to know. If you want to live a life that honors and follows Jesus, you need to know deep down what you got pulled out of.

Ephesians 2:1-10 says we were dead in our transgressions. "As for you…" As for me. This is where we're from. This is what we got pulled out of. "As for you [and me, we] were dead in [our] transgressions and sins, in which [we] used to live when [we] followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. […] Like the rest…" It says you and I and the Ephesians at the time… "Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." This is where we were, but the story continues.

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead…" We can't forget it. We can't lose sight of where we're from, what we got saved from, what we got rescued from. Yes, we go on to live mature lives in Jesus and add a lot of value to the kingdom of God here on earth, but we can't forget that we got saved from God's wrath, and it's only by Jesus. When we remember, when we know deep down where we're from, then it informs not just the way we sing but the way we live.

Jesus knew where he was from. Do we know where we're from? Then my question is…Do you know where you're going? Are you confident? This is a crusade-style presentation of the gospel, but are you confident if you died today you would be spending forever in heaven with Jesus because of your relationship with him or are you stuck playing the good-works game, just trying to be better than most? Have you made peace with God?

I was at a funeral a couple of weeks ago of a police officer in our city. We were hosting it. The mayor and the chief of police were sitting right over here next to me. I was standing up onstage listening to several people come up and honor him. One cop goes, "I went to his bedside to make sure he knew where he was going, and he made peace with God." I'm like, "Thank you, Jesus." But why wait until the bedside or the graveside? Do you know where you're going?

Also, are you living like this world is not your home? This is the trap we get stuck in, because we think life is the sum of how it measures up on planet earth with our relationship, our amount of money, our title, and so on. No. You and I need to live with an eternal perspective. This is not our home. Life is fleeting. It's vapor. I'm not saying we just need to live carefree, but we get so overwhelmed with the affairs of this world we forget that we can store up treasures in heaven. So, let your life be defined by where you've come from (thank you, Jesus) and where you're heading. I can't wait.

Hang with me, because I have to correct my theology a little bit. It says in Scripture, "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power…" He knew that. He knew who he was. The theology correction is he knows who he is, because he was alive then and he's alive now. Jesus knows who he is. He knows he's God.

People wanted him to be somebody else. They wanted him to be the earthly king, the earthly messiah. They wanted him to restore the nation of Israel, but that's not who Jesus was and what he came to do. He wasn't just a man born of a virgin; he was the Son of God. He knew God had put all things under his power. My question for you is…Do you know who you are or are you letting the world define who you are?

Jesus moved toward his disciples in humility, in a confidence in who he was; therefore, he served them. He did what was best for them. He did not come to be served but to serve. Here's where it breaks down. You and I move toward the world not often out of humility but out of insecurity. This is what I'm guilty of. It's tricky.

Sometimes it's pride, false pride, but if we're honest, when we're interacting with people, we're not doing it from a place of acceptance; we're doing it for their acceptance. "Do you like me? I'm going to do something to impress you so you like me. What do you think about me? Will you validate me? Will your opinion of me help me feel better about myself?"

This is really insecure, because we go throughout the world trying to get validated instead of adding value. We're letting our title… Are we in a relationship or not? Do we have a good enough job, a good enough apartment, a good enough condo? We're all trying to do it to say, "Look at me and be impressed. Look at me and tell me you think I'm valuable." We're moving to the world out of insecurity, looking to people to determine our value. I can't tell if you agree with me or not. Maybe I'm the only one who does this. Am I the only one who does this?

What we need to be doing is moving toward the world and to people from a place of knowing that we are loved, valued, purposed, and significant in the eyes of God, and we don't have to always aim to earn that from other people. No matter how many friends you have or how much money you have, that will never satisfy your soul, so quit looking for it all the time. Just know you're loved by God. He chose you. He prizes you. You are his workmanship. He knit you together in your mother's womb. You are a prized possession. Don't let the world determine your value; let God determine your value. Know who you are.

Maybe it's safer to use an example from high school instead of right now, because I still struggle with it. In high school, I'd grown up playing basketball my whole life, and I thought I was really good. Honestly, I probably wasn't. I was really good in warm-ups. I just wasn't good in games because I cared too much about what people thought. In warm-ups, I would be like, "Come on!" Then I'd get in games, and people were evaluating me, and I'd just choke completely. I cared too much about what people think.

Well, I'd been really good in some people's eyes (small town, West Texas) most of elementary, middle school, and even early high school, but when I got to my junior year, my playing time went down significantly. It was going farther down, farther down, and farther down. I got really close to being the guy on the end of the bench that in the blowout was going to get his name chanted by the student section. Do you know what I'm talking about? Has anybody been there?

I'm like, "Oh no! I thought I was good, and I'm this close to having all of my friends at school chanting to the coach in a blowout to put me in the game." And I quit. I couldn't handle the thought of it. Do you know what's the saddest thing about that? I loved basketball. I had spent my whole life being good at it, and I missed out on half of my junior year and all of my senior year and being a part of that group of people doing something I loved because I cared too much about what people thought, people I would never see again, for the most part.

I was looking to the world, to people, to validate me, and it made me make decisions that I deeply regret instead of remembering that I am loved by God, chosen by God, valued by God, and I can move toward the world to add value instead of to get value. I can move toward the world to serve, to impact, to love, and to bless instead of looking for people to serve, to bless, and make me feel better about myself. Are you moving to the world and making decisions out of insecurity or out of humility, out of being loved, out of being accepted?

All right, last point. I could get really excited about this. It says in verse 1, "Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father." He knew it was time. He had been teaching. He had been performing miracles. He had been healing the sick and raising the dead. He had been impacting people. He had been training up his disciples, but he knew it was time. The hour had come for him to do what he ultimately set out to do. He knew his assignment.

I don't know if it's still a phrase, so I didn't put it as a point. He understood the assignment. Is that still a thing or not? He knew his assignment. Do you know your assignment? Do you know that there's a calling on your life? Do you care that there's a calling on your life? Because there is. Just like Jesus had an assignment, God has an assignment for you. My question is…Are you even considering it?

I would imagine… Again, this is just you and me and a few friends at a dinner table. Some of you don't care about God's assignment. You think God's role in your life is to be the genie in the sky that blesses the plans you make when you offer them up to him and say, "God, these are my plans. This is what I've got sorted. This is the age I'm going to get married, who I'm going to get married to, and the job I want.

I've figured all that out, God. I'm going to put it up to you, and you'd better bless me. You'd better sign off. You'd better put your stamp of approval. If you're there, you'd better make it happen, and if you do, we're good." No. It's not his life for our glory; it's our life for his glory. Consider… What does Jesus want for you?

For me, when I was 24, I had moved back from Birmingham to Texas, and I'll be honest. The reason I did… I was still trying to figure out what my life was all about, but I'd been in Birmingham for a couple of years, and I had not met one girl I felt like I was going to end up with. I thought, "I need to move back to Texas. I need to marry a girl from Texas, and I need to eventually live in Texas." So I moved back.

A church invited me to be on their staff. I was always open to ministry, but I was now on this church staff in anonymity. It was a smaller church plant. For the previous few years, I was like, "Okay. I want to get married. I'm open to ministry. I'd love the girl to be from Texas. I'm open to being a pastor," but I wasn't really sure about working in a church. But I was like, "I do know one thing. I don't want to be a youth pastor." No offense to the youth pastor. There were a few things I kind of knew. I felt too good for that. Right?

Well, I moved back to Texas. I said "Yes" to this church to be their teaching pastor, but it was a really small church with a young pastor who didn't really like to let other people teach. So, I was like, "I'm the teaching pastor in title, but you're not letting me teach." Then, two weeks into the job, the youth pastor left, and they were like, "Oh, Brad, would you mind hanging out with the youth?" I felt like that was all setup, you know.

So, now here I am in Arlington, Texas, and I'm a youth pastor, and I'm not meeting a girl from Texas. I'm like, "I'm not even sure I want to be a pastor." Honestly, I was embarrassed to tell my friends I worked at a church. I was a finance major. I made really good grades in college. I don't remember what I studied. I mean, I studied finance, but I studied all night before every single test, went and, like, threw up on the piece of paper, and then left and forgot everything I talked about. Is that anybody else's flow or just mine? Yeah.

I made a 3.9, but you don't want me touching your finances. I was really good from midnight to 8:00 a.m. Like, I'm your guy. Anyway… So, I'm here, and I have the things I think I want to be true about my life, and my relationship with God was based on if those dreams were actually coming to reality. I ended up staying at this church for three years and tripled my commitment.

It was this church and one of the guys at this church that God used… He was so humble that he was excited. He connected me with Passion and Louie. Then I got offered this opportunity to be a part of Passion global events, and then Louie invited me to come out to Atlanta and be his right-hand guy. On paper it was a no-brainer. It was a really hard decision. That's when God was kind of forming in me, when I was 26 or 27, "Oh, Brad, I have wired you to be a pastor." I was still having to deal with "I don't know. I'm not going to make much money. All of my friends are doing all this other stuff."

I moved to Georgia, having already been in Birmingham. I didn't take a girl with me from Texas because I didn't meet her. The first week I'm in Georgia, I meet this girl named Brittany. Also, I met her boyfriend Brad at the same dinner. The way I like to tell the story is I told Brittany that the better Brad was finally here and told that guy to move away. That did not happen. We actually didn't hit it off all that well that night. A month later, we did see each other. She gave me a full frontal hug, and I was like, "That girl digs me."

Nine months later, I find out she's single. I just happen to shoot her a message on Facebook. No big deal. I'm like, "I just heard your name. Thought I'd check in." AKA, "Heard you broke up." We start dating. We end up getting married. I love her so much. She's amazing. You'll like her more than me. She's from Kentucky and Indiana. I'm like, "So much more boring than Texas." So, I'm married to Brittany, living in Georgia, and then we start planting this church, and Louie asks me to be the youth pastor. I'm like, "Aagh."

I can tell you from my story… I can't promise you it's going to be easy, but I can tell you from my story that God's plan for your life is better than your plan for your life. Ephesians 2:10. You are God's workmanship. You're his workmanship. He wants to form you and mold you and shape you and make you into someone. It might not look exactly like you think it's going to look.

He has created you in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepares in advance for you and me. So, let the pressure fall off a little bit, and let the trust rise up a lot. Obviously, I can't say it's all going to be easy and you're not going to go through hard times, you're not going to get hurt, and you're not going to get disappointed. No, that's going to happen. We live in a broken world.

More recently, I've been reminded of a sermon I heard in college. Come on, let's be honest. No offense to TA, Kylen, me, and all of the other preachers, but a lot of people forget what we say on these stages. But every once in a while, there's a message that just drops and you never forget it.

I remember hearing this pastor in college, and all I remember is him saying, "I'm so grateful. I'd rather be a pastor than be the president of the United States or one of the richest guys on earth." He just kept saying the phrase, "I'm a rich man. I'm a rich man." Or you could use a different word. "I'm a successful man." He was saying it humbly, not because he had all this stuff the world thought he should have but because he was rich in impact, successful in impact.

So, I want to charge you. Yes, some of you are going to go on and God is going to favor you in the world's eyes in an amazing way. Some of you are going to serve in anonymity. Don't let that determine if you're successful or not. Success is faithfulness. Success is being who God called you to be. Success is letting God work in you and through you.

I wish I had time to preach, but maybe I'll get invited back. In Colossians 1, Paul is writing to the Colossians and telling them about this guy named Epaphras. Epaphras is the guy who took the gospel to Colossae. Paul, Timothy, and Silas never made it there as far as we know. Epaphras went to Ephesus where he heard the gospel. He felt so convicted and burdened and emboldened, and he went back to his hometown and started telling them the message he had heard in Ephesus.

So, in my mind, I'm like, "Well, yes, God is sovereign and does what he wants, but would the gospel have ever gotten to Colossae if it weren't for some guy named Epaphras who no one is ever going to name their kid after?" When I get to heaven, yes, I want to fall at the feet of Jesus. I'd love to shake a few people's hands.

You can mark my words. I'm going to Epaphras' front door. I'll be like, "My man, I'm honored to meet you. I know a lot of people didn't talk about you on earth, but your guy Brad did. I went to The Porch and talked about Epaphras, because what you did on earth mattered to me." How does God want to use you? What's his assignment on your life? Please don't get all worked up on whether or not you're the Paul or the Epaphras. It's all about Jesus.

If my days tell a story, may it be of not Brad Jones; may it be of you only, because I knew deep down that you saved me, that you loved me, that you called me and assigned me, and that I'm going to spend forever with you. I know where I'm going.

I love the way we started this night just taking a few moments. Take a few moments right now and ask God to solidify in your heart what you know to be true.

Thank you, Jesus, for saving us, forming us, calling us, and awaiting us. May our lives tell a story of your glory. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.