We have been going through a teaching series to understand what it is to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ and we are using the acronym G.R.O.W. The G represents God’s Word, that we are people of the Word. The Word of God is the authority in our lives. Not just the local church leaders, certainly not the pastor, but the Lord. We spent time last week talking about R.-- building relationships and understanding and identifying what relationships the Lord has called us into, to strengthen our own witness and to be salt and light in this world. I am getting good response from several of you on how the Lord has been speaking to you about developing relationships in your life, not letting important friendships fall by the wayside, becoming a part of a small group as well as your Sunday Worship experience and strengthen you in your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. When you pray for me, that I would be under God’s Word, pray that I would be faithful in the relationships the Lord has called me into, which also includes my relationship with each of you and that I would learn obedience and living out that life that God has given me and that we would worshippers, that we would not be critics as we come to Worship God. We would hear a call to Worship, much different than theatre or being entertained—we need to honor God and enter into His presence and hear His Word.

Today I’d like to address the O. in our G.R.O.W. acronym, obedient living. Obedient living and using our gifts in witness and service. We believe that discipleship to Jesus implies radical obedience to all of His teachings. The Spirit within us equips us to do kingdom work, giving witness to the Good News and serving others in Jesus’ name. God has called us to be the people of God in our communities and each one of us individually where he has put us.

I was captured by the call of radical obedience to Jesus Christ. We obey Him and respond to Him. We know that we are called to obey Him, let’s get on with being the people of God. Let’s get on with being God’s person individually and find out what it is that God has in mind for us this year and this month. I know that we do better spiritually and emotionally when we have a strong sense of God’s calling in our life. We know when we are responding to that call and growing into that call.

I want to focus on four different texts today: The first is Matthew 7:21. Jesus said, Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord did we not prophecy in your name, cast out demons in your name, do many deeds of power in your name? Then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Go away from me, you who do evil. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them, will be like the wise person who builds their house on the rock. The rain falls, the flood comes, the wind blows and beats on that house, but it does not fall, because it has been founded on a rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish person who built their house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew and the house fell. When Jesus was finishing saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for he taught them as one having authority.

There are several things to see in this text. One is that stormy weather is not an option with people. You and I will have stormy weather in our life at some point. You will have it as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. You will have it if you are not a believer. All of us love sunshine and good weather and good times, and we will have that, too, Praise God. It is the desire of God, that as we pass through these storms, that we will still be standing, because Jesus has sustained uw from within. What’s my burden as a Pastor of this congregation, of the leadership in this congregation? That each of us would be in the kingdom of God and that we would be believers. That there would be such a work of the Holy Spirit going on in your life and mine, not that you don’t have trouble, but that when the hurricane happens, we would still be standing. What better gift to give to your child. Do you want everything to go your child’s way? Or do you want them to be able to stand in whatever comes their way and still be standing? Of course, we want everything to go our way. Give character to others, but give grace to me. Give me good times. That is part of our human nature, but that is not the Word from Jesus. It’s human nature for you to want your life to work and go well. God understands that in His mercy, but, don’t you know that the greatest mercy God can give you and me is that we are still standing. Never take a storm as a sign that God doesn’t love you, or hasn’t called you.

Another part of this is, just because you and I come to church this morning doesn’t make us a believer. If a fox is in the henhouse, that doesn’t make him a hen. We don’t become Christians and followers of Jesus just by walking through the front door. It’s a good place to start and hopefully there is such a dynamic going on here in this place, that we are always a collection of those who have committed our lives to Jesus and also those of us who are still looking and searching. Some of us came in only because were in the storm and we wanted to get shelter. My dad, was 53 when I was born, and I understand him better today than I did a lot of my growing up years. He would say, :You don’t know enough to come in out of the rain.” If you have not surrendered your life to the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, I invite you to come in out of the rain. Come in out of the storm. You will have troubles, but Jesus is not your trouble. If you are here today you have an invitation from God Almighty to be part of the Kingdom and be part of the Kingdom family. We are not perfect, but we are serious about following the Lord Jesus.

It’s a little harder to do, but just being a member of the church doesn’t make us a follower of Jesus either. It’s a little a harder, because part of being a member in a congregation is to be examined by one another, though not by some elitist criteria that no one can meet. Do you believe in Jesus? Do you want your life to be shaped by His Word? Then you are a member in good standing in the house of God. Just having a piece of paper indicating membership, and even having experienced baptism and confirmation, if there is no relationship with God going on in our hearts and minds, then it’s not enough. Not that we have to be some kind of phony religious wild person, but our faith really has to be lived out. So Jesus says in this passage, “Not everyone who calls me Lord is going to make the Kingdom of Heaven, but who will make the kingdom of Heaven?” The ones who do the will of my Father in Heaven. There is no short cut to that. We have a Lutheran tradtion here, we have strong grace tradition here, but stronger than any tradition is following Jesus. Part of the Father’s will is that we receive grace. None of us can cleanse ourselves, none of are good enough, so we come and we confess, we receive grace, but the grace I needed 30 years ago is the grace I need this morning. I keep coming for grace and forgiveness, but that grace and forgiveness was never designed so that I wouldn’t have to take the words of Jesus seriously. We want to be on good terms with one another, but not at the price of winking at what it is that Jesus calls us to be and do.

The next text is Mark 10:17 Jesus was setting out on a journey and a man ran up to him, knelt before Him and asked Him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good, but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not defraud or cheat anybody, honor your father and mother.” He said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept up all these things since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell what you own, give money to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven and come follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter into the Kingdom of God.” The disciples were perplexed at these words, but Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter into the Kingdom of God.”

This man comes to Jesus. He likes everything about his life, but he’s not sure that he is saved. So he asks what he must do to have eternal life. That’s what he wants to know. He sees the disciples have it and he doesn’t. He was a commandment keeper since his youth. You and I, as followers of Jesus, are called to keep the commandments of God. We fall short, but we confess that and we never give each other license. We are called to keep the Word of God, the commandments of God and confess where we fall short, but we are not supposed to stop there. Our human nature likes to tell God how far we will go. We tend to say, “Well I’ve gone about as far as I can go.” We settle.

What is odd about this story with the rich young man? With our human nature, most of us hope that it is not us. Most of us hope that Jesus doesn’t say to us, “You know, you need to do one more thing. Give me all of it.” We want to stop at that commandment thing. I’ll go to church and I’ll give some money. I’ll be a part of a committee, but is that enough? Jesus answers, “I just want one more thing. I want it all.”

The wonder happens when we surrender all. It’s not loss, it’s gain. It’s a great mystery, but I guarantee if we surrender all, we receive all. We receive a Kingdom that is like a fire in our heart, that’s energizing everything in our life. We are all in the same category as the rich young man. But does the Pastor have to do that too? You and I are the same. Everything God is challenging you to do, he is challenging me to do. It is possible for me to tell you to do it and not do it myself. God have mercy on my soul should that be true. That’s why Paul would be pray to buffet his body, lest he prays for others and himself be shipwrecked. That can happen to each of us. If you wonder if He is calling you to surrender all to Him, then let me explain it to you. YES.

Jesus is saying, “One more thing. Give me it all and I will give you All.”

Matthew 16:24-27 Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it. Those who want to lose their life for my sake will find it. What will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life. What will will they give in return for their life. The Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.”

Jesus has laid down His life for us. He has risen. Baptism represents that we are go down—we are rising. We are a child of God. We are done with the old and we are free to be what God has called us to be.

The last text is I Corinthian 12:7-11 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

Now we can go about being the people of God. There are so many gifts here. So much ministry here. Such a limitation to be limited to the Pastor and choir and the Council and Sunday School teachers. We need what each of us has. We need each other’s gifts. Let’s each of us bring our gifts and be done with self-centeredness and see what God can bring for the people of God in this place at this time. In Jesus name.