The End is Near

Man, I'm just so thankful that we're all still here. If you don't know, today the rapture was supposed to happen. Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe it did happen and this is just a room full of heathens and we're the ones who got left behind. So maybe you're in the right place to be at church tonight.

Hey, if we've never met before, my name is Timothy Ateek. I'm the lead pastor here at Watermark Community Church. Kylen Perry texted me last night and said he had the stomach bug and was wondering if I could jump in. Anytime I have the opportunity and privilege to be here at The Porch, it is a very easy "Yes." I'm so glad to get to be here with you guys tonight. Let me just say "hello" to some people who are watching us in locations in different parts of the nation. Hello, Porch.Live Greater Lafayette, Fresno, and Boise. We're so glad you are jumping in with us tonight and just pray God's blessing over you as you gather together.

We're going to jump into studying God's Word in a minute, but before we do, I always love to take a second and pray. Instead of me praying for you, I want to give you a chance to pray for you. I don't know when the last time was that you talked to God. It might have just been when we were singing. Talking to God might be a foreign thing for you. It doesn't matter who you are.

I want to encourage you right now to pray these words. Just say, "God, would you speak to me tonight?" Then, I want to invite you to pray for the people around you and just say, "God, would you speak to the other people in this room as well?" Then I want to ask you to pray for me. People call me TA. Would you just pray that God would speak through me to you?

Holy Spirit, you're welcome here. You don't need us to tell you that, but I'm asking and praying, God, that you would move in our hearts in such a way that we would see you, Lord Jesus, as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the one who is worthy of our full allegiance. I just pray for this time. I ask that the living God would speak straight to our hearts. I want to ask you, God, that there would not be one young adult in this room who would leave here tonight without being moved by you. God, I pray, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight right now. In Jesus' name, amen.

Well, in light of today potentially being the rapture, the title of this message is The End Is Near. I don't say that because I think the rapture is going to happen today; I say that because when you look in the Bible, the Bible is actually pretty clear. You don't know when it's going to happen. We're actually not supposed to know, but we are supposed to live like Jesus isn't just coming back someday but that Jesus is coming back any day.

Those are two different ways to live. One is to live as if Jesus is coming back someday. It's probably a long time off. It's probably not going to happen anytime during our life, so we can just kind of settle in and play around in life. Another is to live like he could come back any day. That's how the Bible tells us to live.

I'll kind of paint the picture this way. When I was in high school, I lost all hand-eye coordination, but I figured out I could put one foot in front of the other pretty quickly, so I ran cross-country and track. In cross-country, it was a 3.1-mile race. It was a 5K. The first mile was all adrenaline. The gun would go off, and you'd just take off. For the first mile, you were like, "I feel pretty good. This is going well."

Then you'd get to the second mile. The second mile was a portion of the race where it had kind of spread out and you could find yourself running alone. You were just left alone running with your thoughts. All you could do was think, like, "Why am I doing this? I chose to do this. I'm actually paying money to wake up in the 4:00 to 5:00 region to put on way too short of shorts to run around a field in a big circle. This was a horrible mistake."

Then you get to the third mile. As you get into the third mile, you begin to sense that the finish is coming. You can really sense the end is near. Then there's this moment in the race, usually where you round a corner and there's a long straightaway where you can see the finish line. In that moment, something clicks in people. If you ever watch a race, just watch what happens when people can actually visibly see the finish line. Everything changes.

People who think they're dead, who have no gas left in the tank… It's like they find the reserve. They shift into a new gear. You begin to pump your arms. You begin to lift your knees, which lengthens your stride. If there are people in front of you, you want to catch them. If there are people behind you, you want to outrun them. You want to finish well.

When you look in the Bible, as I'm going to show you in 1 Peter, chapter 4, what the Bible says is you've rounded the corner and can see the finish line. It might not feel that way, because you're in your early to mid- to late 20s and early 30s, so you feel like, in the 80-plus years of life that you are guaranteed, you're only done with the first fourth of it.

But what Peter is going to tell people just like you is, "Hey, the end is near. Live like you've rounded the corner and the finish line is in sight. Pump your arms. Lift your knees. Race." This isn't a fun run, people. This isn't a fun walk-run where you see your friend and you're like, "Let's just walk together." It's a race. Live like Jesus isn't coming back someday but he could come back any day.

If you have a Bible, I want to invite you to turn with me to 1 Peter, chapter 4. It feels like a fitting passage on a day when the world thinks the rapture is going to happen, because the whole point of this passage is "The end is near." Again, that doesn't mean the rapture is happening today, but it does mean we should live like it might. What I want to do from 1 Peter, chapter 4, is hopefully give you five ways you can live like the end is near.

1. Go all in with Jesus like the end is near. Look at 1 Peter 4:1-2 with me. Peter writes these words: "Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time [however long that is] in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God." Isn't that interesting? Let me just tell you what's happening here. Peter is writing to a primarily non-Jewish audience that is living under intense persecution.

One of the reasons they are being persecuted is that they're no longer living the way everyone in the world who don't know Jesus is living, and they are living in a culture saturated with debauchery, which is just basically getting wasted, and all types of sexual perversion. Does any of that sound familiar? They're living in a day and time where Christians are no longer giving themselves over to a mixture of all sorts of intoxication as well as deviant sexual behavior, and because of that, people are cutting them out and persecuting them.

So, Peter's point to them is "Hey, guys, you might be tempted to live with one foot in the boat with Jesus and one foot in the world because you don't want people to really know you're a Christian. Sure, you want to go to heaven when you die, but you don't want to be so all about Jesus that people actually know and see that you're no longer doing the things everyone else is doing. You just don't want to take that type of heat right now."

Peter is saying, "That might be a temptation for you." But Jesus is the example. Did you see what he says? He says, "Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves…" That's a military term. Why is he using a military term? Because there's a war for your soul. You have an enemy who hates you, who wants to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you. So he's saying, "Arm yourself." Like, make a decision. Jesus is the example. "…live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God."

How is Jesus the example? Because Jesus Christ left heaven and came to earth to do the will of the Father. What do you find Jesus praying in the garden right before he's about to be betrayed and then go to the cross the next day? We find him praying, "Father, not my will but your will be done." Peter is saying, "Look at that example." He ends verse 2 and says, "What are you living for? You are no longer living for human passions but for the will of God." That's what controls you. That's what you're living for. Your life is pointed at pleasing God. Go all in with Jesus. That's the point.

A long time ago, I was a student pastor at a church in Austin, and I invited my friend Jordan to come to one of the high school group gatherings where I was teaching. The reason I invited Jordan was because Jordan had this amazing Golden Retriever named Boone. Boone was like a robot. I've never seen a dog more well trained than Boone.

So, I brought Jordan and Boone up onstage in front of maybe 150 high school kids, and here's what I said. I said, "Jordan, do you think you could take Boone to the back of the room, tell him to sit, and you come up onstage? Do you think I could ask all 150 students, on the count of three, to start saying Boone's name, tempting him, enticing him?"

Boone's favorite thing was a ball. "You can say 'ball.' You can say whatever you want to say. You just can't touch Boone. Do you think Boone would ignore all of these people and just come straight to you?" He was like, "Absolutely." I was like, "Okay. Well, let's see this." So, Jordan casually walks Boone to the back of the room. He goes, "Boone, sit."

Jordan walks up onstage. It's a long runway. I say, "Okay, friends. One, two, three." So, you have all of these high school students. They're like, "Come here, Boone!" Everyone puts on their dog voice. (Why do our voices change when we're talking to animals? What's up with that?) They're like, "Come here, Boone. Ooshie-pooshie. Come here. Ball. You want a ball? Come here."

Everyone is like, "Come here. Come here, Boone," and Boone is just sitting there looking at Jordan. Jordan has his hand up, and then Jordan goes, "Boone, come." While 150 high school students are like, "Come here, Boone. Come here, come here, come here, Boone," Boone crawls. He just begins crawling down the aisle. It's like, "You guys need to go away." He crawls straight up to his master.

I remember seeing that and being like, "That is so different than my dog." If I had brought my dog, Maddie, I would have been like, "Maddie, sit," and she would have been like, "Nice try." She would have been like, "Hey, how are you doing? Did you call my name? Did you say you had a bone or a ball for me? Sure, I'll take that. Yeah, let me say hi to you too. I'll be right with you." She would have been all over the place.

Peter's call to Christians is "Hey, you put your head down. You put your eyes on Jesus. He is the example. He's not just your example; he's your Savior, and he's not just your Savior; he's your King. You've said yes to him. You've given your life to him. You've died to this world and are alive to Christ. So, you fix your eyes on him and live solely for him no matter what it costs. Why? Because you no longer live for human passions but for the will of God."

He goes on in verse 3. Again, remember the point we're in right now: go all in for Jesus as if the end is near. Look at what he says in verse 3. I wonder if anyone needs to hear this tonight. He says, "For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do…" He's like, "Enough. It has been long enough. It has been long enough that you've been living like you don't know Jesus. It has been long enough that you've claimed Jesus to be your Savior but don't live like he's your Savior." He's just saying, "It has been long enough. It has been long enough that you've been having one foot in the world and one foot with Jesus. Enough time has passed."

"For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies…" You didn't know that word was in the Bible. "…drinking parties, and lawless idolatry." This is why I love the Bible. It doesn't sugarcoat anything. It's not some magic, fairy-tale, mythological book. This is reality. Peter is saying, "Look. It has been long enough. Enough. Draw a line in the sand. Are you with Jesus or are you against Jesus?" You're either with him or against him. There's no middle ground with Jesus.

Look. I am the old guy in the room…44 years old. (Thank you. Nothing makes you feel great in life like that. You'll be there tomorrow. Just watch. Mark my word.) Here's what I want you to know. Here's what I want you to hear. Don't miss it. I'm just telling you from personal experience, you are making decisions right now that will determine whether you feel regret or gratitude when you get to be my age.

Right now, you're making decisions. It's crazy. I'm just telling you, if I could go back and talk to my college self… I understand this is a young adult gathering, but if I could go back and smack my college self around a little, I'd be like, "Hey, dude, enough. Enough with the hypocrisy. It has been enough time. It has been enough time of looking at pornography. It has been enough time of leading girls on. It's enough. Enough time has passed."

I wish I could go and talk to the TA who was one year out of college, and then two years out of college, because I'd just smack him around and be like, "Hey, dude, enough. Enough time has passed. It has been long enough that you've been saying one thing and living a different way. Enough. Go all in with Jesus as if the end is near."

I remember talking to my friend who… Partying was a big part of the first fourth of his life. It was a daily routine with this friend to either get wasted, smoke weed, or whatever they were doing that day. There was a moment in his life where Jesus kind of just met him. It was like Jesus was like, "Enough, man. It's time to walk fully with me."

He was riding in the car with his friend he had just been smoking weed with, and as he got out of the car, he looked at his friend and said, "If you want to party, don't call me. Don't call me." That was his way of saying, "Line in the sand. Enough of this straddling the fence. Enough. I'm going all in with Jesus as if the end is near." So, let me just encourage you young adults. Enough time has passed. Go all in with Jesus as if the end is near.

2. Endure opposition like the end is near. Here's the reality: When you go all in with Jesus, people will not understand. Christians won't understand. Watch this. Verse 4: "With respect to this…" With respect to…what? Not doing what the rest of the world is doing, living wholeheartedly for Jesus. "With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you…"

When it says, "With respect to this they're surprised," it means they think it's strange. That's what it means in the Greek. They think it's strange. To malign means to heap abuse. Isn't that interesting? The people Peter is writing to were wildly misunderstood as Christians because they refused to engage in idol worship. Christians were characterized as people who hated humanity. That's how they were thought of.

Christians were thought of as people who hated the human race because they refused to worship the gods of the day. They were wildly misunderstood. Peter's point is like, "Hey, don't you be surprised that they're surprised." Don't be surprised that they're surprised. Don't be surprised that people look at you when you go all in with Jesus and think you're strange because of that. That's actually a sign that you might be doing something right. And don't be surprised when they heap abuse upon you.

Here's the reality: People won't understand why you don't sleep around or move in with your partner before marriage. People won't understand why you won't get black-out drunk at the bachelor or bachelorette party. People won't understand why you don't DM that person back when the conversation is headed somewhere it shouldn't. People won't understand why you spend your vacation on a mission trip instead of on a trip to Cabo.

People won't understand why you choose forgiveness instead of just cutting people off. People won't understand why you aren't chasing every guy or girl who might have romantic potential. People won't understand why you prioritize serving at church over Sunday brunch. People won't understand why you say no to watching The Summer I Turned Pretty or something else everyone is excited about. People just won't understand. They will think you are strange.

Look at what Peter says in verse 5. This is powerful. Just put it together with verse 4. Let me read verse 4 again. He says, "With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready…" Remember, what's the title of the message? The End Is Near. He is ready. Jesus Christ is ready to do…what? "…to judge the living and the dead." This is what I want you to realize. If you're tuned out, welcome back. Listen to what Peter is saying right now.

He's like, "Look. Right now, you're not doing what everyone else is doing, and they think you're strange because of it, but a day is coming where every single person will stand before Jesus, and when those people who thought you were strange stand before Jesus, do you know what's going to happen? They're going to realize you were the sanest person on the planet. That's what's going to happen. When they see Jesus and they realize too late that all of life was all about Jesus, in that moment, you will be the sanest person on the planet. Why? Because you're all in with him."

He goes on in verse 6. This is really interesting. Look at what he says. I'll explain it, because it's not going to make sense at first. He says, "For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does." Track with me on this. Let me explain what he's saying right now. He's actually talking about Christians who had physically died.

Here's his point. People who didn't know Jesus would look at Christians who died, and they'd make a judgment call on them. They'd be like, "Look. They died, so clearly there's actually no benefit to being a Christian, because death has come for them. That means being a Christian is no better. We might as well eat, drink, and be merry. We should just go all in with life in this world. We should drink what we want to drink. We should sleep with whomever we want to sleep with. We should do whatever we want. Why? Because death is coming. If Christians don't escape death, what's the point?"

His point is this: From God's perspective, death isn't really the end; death is more the beginning. Death is actually the beginning of a monumental trade-up. Have you ever played that game "Bigger and Better"? Do you know where that really caught fire from? It's because a guy took one red paper clip years ago and started trading on Craigslist, and he traded from one red paper clip all the way up to a house.

Peter is like, "Look. You're living with a red paper clip right now, but death is going to come, and you get the house if you know Jesus." Like, right now, this world is a taste of hell, and a day is coming where you're going to feast on heaven. If you don't know Jesus, this life is really a taste of heaven, and that's as much as you get.

What's his point? His point is endure opposition. People might think you're strange now, but a day is coming where they're going to finally see that you were sane all along. Just remember, heaven is coming. The end is near. We don't know if Jesus is coming back someday, but we should live like he's coming back any day.

Last month, a friend of mine was like, "Hey, I want to take you to the Rangers game." I was like, "Sounds great. I've only been to Globe Life… This would be my second time." So I was like, "I'm all about it." He told me, "Don't eat before you come." I was like, "What is it, dollar hot dog night? Like, that's not below me. I can gear up for dollar hot dog night. Just let me know." But he was like, "Don't eat before you come."

During the day, part of me was like, "Really? Like, I don't want to be disappointed." I kind of ate some snacks at the office, went home, and pulled out the snack drawer. I was like, "Yeah, he said, 'Don't eat before you come,' but I don't want to show up… If it is just dollar hot dog night, that's great, but at 44, just crushing a bunch of hot dogs isn't the best move in life." So I snacked on some stuff.

We get in the car. We make our way to Globe Life. We park pretty close to the stadium. We walk through an entrance that says "VIP" over it. I was like, "Okay. This is the type of game I can get on board with." We just kept going down. Normally at sporting events I'm going up, but we just kept descending, and we got these wristbands. Then we entered a place, and he was like, "Okay. You can eat whatever you want, as much as you want, for the entire game."

I started looking around. There was a meat-carving station with prime rib. There was salmon. You're like, "Salmon at a baseball game?" Yeah, salmon at a baseball game. It was amazing. There's salmon. There's grilled chicken. There are all sorts of sides. Then, you go around the corner, and there are different types of salads. There are different types of cheeses and meats. Then you have a fruit spread.

Then there's the dessert spread where they have different cupcakes and cakes. They have ice cream machines. Next to the ice cream machine, they have all different toppings that you can pile on. As much as you want, whatever you want. I was like, "This is what you meant when you said, 'Don't eat before you come.'" I had no categories for it. If you had told me, "You're going to eat salmon at a baseball game," I would have said, "Hard pass."

My point in telling you that is people who don't know Jesus are just snacking. They're just snacking on spiritual fast food. They're just trying to fill the abyss of their soul with anything they can. "Maybe sex will satisfy. Maybe partying will satisfy. Maybe becoming a workaholic will satisfy. Maybe finally having money and driving a nice car will satisfy. Maybe having the job title, which tells people I'm it, will satisfy." Then you wonder, "Why do I still want more?"

Peter is just saying, "Don't eat before you come." You're going to get to heaven, and there is a banquet waiting for you where you will feast on Jesus Christ for all of eternity. In his presence there's fullness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore. And here's the good news: you actually don't have to wait until heaven for the feast to start; you can taste and see that he is good today.

I'm just telling you, you have been made for Jesus. Your soul is longing to feast on Jesus. If you don't know him, trust him. If you know him, but you're snacking on all of the things of the world…hey, it has been enough time. It has been enough time. Endure opposition like the end is near.

3. Pray like the end is near. Here's something interesting: your prayer life will tell you everything you need to know about when you think Jesus is coming back. Like, if you want to know when you think Jesus is coming back, just look at your prayer life. It will tell you everything you need to know.

Look at what Peter says. He says, "The end of all things is at hand…" That's why the title of the message is The End Is Near. Even 2,000 years ago, Peter was like, "Hey, man, the end is near." He's just saying this is how we should live. "The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers."

His point is if you're engaging in all of the things he listed…the debauchery, the sensuality, the orgies, and all of that… If you're engaging in that, do you know what happens? Your mind becomes so clouded, and you're just living for today. You're just living for instant gratification today, and it affects your ability to see. Think about being intoxicated. You can't see clearly. You can't think clearly. His point is "You want to live sober-minded. You want to live like you're seeing life clearly. Why? For the sake of your prayers."

If you live like Jesus could come back any day, you pray. Just think about that. The prediction for the rapture was that it could happen either today or tomorrow, so let's just pretend. Pretend that the rapture is going to happen tomorrow. Jesus is going to come back tomorrow. Would that change the way you pray today? If you found out Jesus was coming back a week from now or a month from now or a year from now, would it change the way you pray? I know it would for me.

What would I pray? I think, if I knew Jesus was coming back in a month, I would beg God all throughout the day, every day, to save specific friends and family members, that God would disrupt their lives in such intense ways they would put their trust in Jesus. I think I would just beg God for it. I think I would beg God to reveal himself to the unreached people groups in the world, the people who have literally never heard the name of Jesus before, and I would beg him to show up to them in dreams and visions and send missionaries at just the right time. I think I would beg God for that.

I think I would beg God every day for this massive revival in our city to move through every church that proclaims the gospel, and in workplaces and on college campuses all over our city, people would just be turning to Jesus. That's what I'd pray for. I also think I would beg God to hold me close, to keep me from sin, to keep my heart locked in on him.

If that's what I would pray if I knew he was definitely coming back, why don't I just pray like that? Because here's the reality: to not pray like that is to assume he's definitely not coming back anytime soon. It's a massive assumption. That's why I say your prayer life is a great indicator of when you think Jesus is coming back. My tendency is to pray like Jesus will come back someday, but he's definitely not coming back any day soon. We should pray like the end is near.

Just pray. Just beg God. Like, set reminders on your phone. I have a reminder that goes off at 7:01 every day, and that's to pray for a friend's daughter who has cancer, and now it has evolved into praying for certain people, certain lost family members who have yet to put their trust in Jesus. Right now, it will take a miracle for them to get there, but even as I'm preaching this, I'm like, "But I should pray more fervently." Psalm 65 says, "O you who hear prayer." God hears our prayers, so we should pray like the end is near.

4. Love like the end is near. Verse 8: "Above all…" What does that tell you? Peter is like, "Okay. All that was really good. Now don't miss this." That's what he's saying. "Above all…" Like, if there's anything you get, "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins."

I don't think Peter is like, "Hey, suffering for Jesus is kind of good, but just love people. That's what's really important." No. I think all of it is 10 out of 10 importance, but he's looking at Christians who are living in the midst of persecution. They're being isolated and ostracized, and he's like, "You need each other. Y'all need each other. So, love one another. Keep loving one another earnestly. Why? Love covers a multitude of sins."

What kind of love should Christians love one another with? It's a love that endures wrongs. It's a committed love. It's a forgiving love. So, I just want to encourage you to love like the end is near. Let me encourage you to do two things. There's a lot we could talk about right now in terms of what it looks like to love one another well, but I want to encourage your generation with two things.

First, be very careful with keyboard courage. It's amazing how courageous you are sitting behind a keyboard. It's amazing what you feel entitled to say typing on the little keyboard of your phone. Keyboard courage is a massive area where Christians fall into sin, because people will say whatever they want to say on social media, and they will feel like they're being bold and courageous when they're actually being hateful.

Peter is like, "Love one another earnestly." Before you hit send on anything, do you know what you should think? Imagine an unbeliever, someone who doesn't know Jesus, taking what you've written, posting it to the world, and saying, "This person…" Calling your name out. "…claims to follow Jesus." You don't want anything… You don't want to send anything or text anything that would in any way bring dishonor to the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you wouldn't send that text to Jesus, you probably shouldn't send it. If you wouldn't post that as a comment on someone's post if it was Jesus posting it, you probably shouldn't write it. You're like, "Well, Jesus would never post that." I don't care. My point is you need a stronger filter. You don't match the energy of unbelievers. We don't expect unbelievers to show Christ, but Christians should show Christ. You don't match people's energy. You don't stoop. You only have one opportunity to take the high road. Take it in the name of Jesus. Love.

Then, also, I want to ask you to close your eyes for a moment. If you don't close your eyes, I'll just stare at you. Okay? Here's what I want you to do. I want you to imagine standing in heaven before the throne of God, worshiping Jesus. Just imagine this. Imagine you're worshiping Jesus. There's fullness of joy. Imagine looking to your right and your left and seeing your good friends who also loved Jesus. You see your family who loved Jesus, and they're worshiping Jesus as well.

Now, is there any brother or sister in the faith who you could see in heaven and you'd feel this awkwardness, like there's something unresolved between the two of you? Imagine how out of place that awkwardness between the two of you would be standing before Jesus, experiencing the fullest extent of his grace and forgiveness.

Is there anyone who comes to mind? Let me encourage you to open your eyes. Hey, don't wait. Don't wait for heaven to resolve something. Love one another. Romans 12:18 says, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." I just want to invite everyone to say these words: "Will you forgive me?" Then say, "I forgive you." Look. If those words never come out of your mouth, you're a very difficult Christian friend.

We're sinful people. We're going to hurt one another. We should forgive each other. Why? Because we know what it's like to be forgiven. If we refuse to forgive, it's as if we're saying, "Jesus, I can see why you would forgive me, but don't expect me to forgive them. I deserve to be forgiven by you; they don't deserve to be forgiven by me." That makes no sense.

5. Serve like the end is near. Peter finishes up and says, "Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies-in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

What's the point? Peter is saying, "Look. If you know Jesus Christ, God has actually given you a supernatural gift. You have been wired by God in some supernatural way to serve his church." So, let me encourage you. Look. You don't have to come to Watermark for church, but you should belong to some church. I'm not just talking about showing up sometimes on Sundays; I'm talking about being an integral part of the church. God has wired you with a gift to serve the church. It has been given to you by his Spirit, and it's given to serve the body.

I went to Texas A&M University, and there was a saying around there, like, "Don't be a 2‑percenter." What's the point? Be all in. Don't just do the bare minimum. God has wired you with gifts to belong to his family. That's what the church is: a family where we come together and serve together. Look. Here's what's happening at Watermark. At Watermark, it's young adults who are leading the way in worship in this room on Sundays. It's incredible.

It has been young men in their 20s who have invested in my sons' lives. I'm so grateful for it. You can play an instrumental role in the next generation in some high school students' lives, middle school students, little kids. God can use you to bring people to faith by the power of the Spirit. Leverage your life in the church for the sake of the gospel. Serve like the end is near. Go all in with Jesus, endure opposition, pray, love, and serve like the end is near.

Just go back to where I started with that race analogy. Some of you guys might feel like you're in your first mile with Jesus where it's just exciting. You just became a Christian recently. Man, that's awesome. Some of you might feel like you're in your second mile, where you're like, "Sometimes I wonder why I chose to follow Jesus, because it's hard. It's just not going like I thought it would, and I'm thinking about quitting."

I'm just telling you, if you know Jesus, you're actually in the third mile. Keep going. Keep going. The finish line is ahead. Run your race. Pump your arms. Lift your knees. Widen your stride. Christ is coming back. It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow. It could be. But don't live like Jesus is coming back one day; live like he can come back any day.

Maybe you're here, and you've never started the race with Jesus. You've never put your trust in him. Jesus Christ left heaven, came to earth, and lived perfectly because you and I couldn't live perfectly. He died sacrificially so that you and I wouldn't have to be punished for all of the ways we wrong God. Then Jesus Christ rose from the dead victoriously so that you and I could be raised to a new life with God that begins the day you believe in Jesus and lasts for all of eternity.

If you want to begin the race with Jesus, all you have to do is call out to him in prayer and invite him into your life. Let's pray together now. If that's you, if you want to begin a relationship with Jesus, I'd even encourage you right now to just say, "Lord Jesus, would you come into my life tonight? Thank you that you died on the cross for me. Thank you that you rose from the dead for me. Would you come into my life? Would you forgive me of my sins, and would you lead me in a new life?"

Whether you just put your trust in Jesus or maybe you've known Jesus for a long time… I don't know who it was in this room, but right at the end of worship, David was talking about saying yes to Jesus, and someone just called out, "Yes, Jesus." I was so moved by that. I just wonder… Maybe that's your simple offering to God tonight, as we sing, even to just say, "Yes, Jesus." Like, "My 'Yes' is on the table to you. I want to be all in with you. I want to endure opposition for you. I want to pray fervently to you. I want to love well for you. I want to serve the church for you. Yes. Yes, Jesus."

Lord, we love you. You're worthy of our "Yes." You're worthy of our lives. You can have everything. Use us for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.