The Good News: Our Mission

Sermon Summary:

The Gospel of Mark introduces us to a pivotal moment in human history – the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. As John the Baptist’s era ends, a new day dawns with Christ’s proclamation of the good news. We’re reminded that God’s work always faces opposition, yet His plan prevails. Jesus announces that ‘the time has come’ and ‘the kingdom of God is near,’ signaling a profound shift where heaven intersects with earth. This isn’t just ancient history; it’s a reality we’re called to live out daily. We’re challenged to repent and believe, embracing a new perspective that transforms our lives and communities. As followers of Christ, we’re not just heaven-bound; we’re meant to be living examples of heaven on earth, offering hope in a broken world.

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Sermon Points:

• COSMIC TO COMMON: The proclamation of Jesus concerning the Kingdom of God had cosmic connotations. Yet, the inauguration of the Kingdom of God would be practically accomplished through the lives of common people!

• From now until Gethsemane Jesus appears in the narrative constantly accompanied by his disciples, and their training and development will be one of the main focuses of the story. They may, and often will, fail him and disappoint him, but their role is crucial to the achievement of his mission, for it is through this flawed and vulnerable group of people that God’s kingship will be established. And it is in tracing their development as Jesus’ disciples, both in its successes and in its more frequent failures, that Mark will expect his readers to find the basis, whether by example or by warning, for their own discipleship.

  -R. T. France, The New International Greek Testament Commentary: Mark

• CALL OF JESUS: Jesus was unique in His day in so many respects. He called people to follow Him! This is still the invitation today!

• CONVERSION TO COMPULSION: What happened to these fishermen? They became followers of Jesus and fishers of people!

• COMMUNITY CASTING: As followers of Jesus, we cast nets together!

Download a copy of the “Together in the Gospel” Devotional Book – HERE

Key Takeaways:

• Jesus calls ordinary people to join His extraordinary mission
• Following Jesus is the first step to becoming “fishers of people”
• Christians are called to glorify God by following the Jesus way
• Evangelism is a community effort, with each person playing a unique role
• The gospel message transforms lives and gives deeper meaning to everyday activities
• Sharing faith can happen in unexpected moments and places

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Scripture References:

• Mark 1:16-20

Stories:

• The pastor’s childhood fishing experiences with his grandfather
• The pastor’s recent fly fishing trip with a guide
• An encounter on a golf course where the pastor shared the gospel with a stranger

Transcript

Yaou know, our theme here at First Baptist Arlington for this year is together, and we are just exploring what that means to be the people of God together. We are walking through this year our various liturgical seasons, and we are focused on different facets of what it means to be together. And so, for the summer, our theme is together in the gospel, and we are studying the gospel of Mark. And our daily Bible readings, or our weekly Bible readings, rather, for our weekly focus are from Mark’s gospel. There’s a narrative reading where if you follow the narrative reading in your devotional guide, by the end of July, you’ll have read through the entire gospel of Mark. But there’s a focal passage every week that we want you to focus on, go a little deeper, explore a little more fully what this text might mean to you, and do that together with your fellow believers here at our church as we’re all reading that same text. And then the together in deed suggestions are there to assist you and encourage you in your own personal application of the scripture in your life. And you remember, we’ve talked about this already, but this, this summer, what I would love for us to characterize us is just what I like to call evangelistic sensitivity. Just that you and I will take advantage of the opportunities that we have, particularly in the summer, to share our faith. You’re, in the summertime, your routine’s a little different, your rhythms are a little different, and so you might encounter a different circle of people, and it’s a great opportunity for you to be able to share your faith. We’ll talk a little bit about that tonight. Tonight, we’re going to have our, Tell Me More podcast. We’re doing that live tonight at 6 o’clock here in the sanctuary, and we’d love for you to be a part of it. We have a couple of special guests who will be here tonight for our podcast, and I think you’ll be pleased with that. And at 5 o’clock, we’re going to have our quarterly business conference, and I want to be sure you know that. We’d love for you to be here for that, church family. We’ll look at our finance reports, our membership reports. I’m going to share a word with you tonight. Then at 6 o’clock, the podcast, then after that, ice cream. Okay? Good, good. That’s fine. I’m happy for you to clap. Mad mics.

But you can’t just come for the ice cream. Okay? I mean, you’ve got to at least participate in either the business meeting or the podcast. Okay? But then we’ll have an ice cream fellowship out here in the Welcome Center. But looking forward to that tonight. Well, with that said, let’s look at our text for today. Good news, the good news. Our mission is the title of the message today. We’re in Mark’s Gospel. We’re still on the first page on Sunday morning, but that’s because I wanted us to slow down and truly grasp what’s happening on page 1 of Mark’s Gospel. Okay? So, with that said, look with me at Mark 1, verse 16. I invite you to stand as we honor the Lord Jesus in the reading of the Gospel.

And verse 16 begins like this. It says, Actually, in Greek, the New Testament is written in Greek. As you know, the first word in verse 16 is the Greek word chi, which means and. What’s fascinating about Mark’s Gospel, 64% of the sentences in Mark begin with and. So, in other words, Mark’s telling you a story that just connects. And so, so many sentences say, and then this happened, and then this happened. In other words, Mark’s story is just woven together that way. The NIV has chosen. The NIV has chosen not to translate that word and every time just because it’s so repetitive in English. Okay? But it’s there under this text. So, verse 16. So, as Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people. And once they left their nets and followed him. When he’d gone a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John in a boat preparing their nets. Without delay. Before they lay, he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. Thank you. You can be seated.

So, some of you were here last Sunday morning, and, you know, we talked about verses 14 and 15 of Mark 1. And that, just those two verses are monumental verses in this story. It’s the page-turner, it’s the shift in history, it’s a story of cosmic proportions. Because all of history changed just with those two verses. Because of the, what took place underneath and around what Mark shares so succinctly. So, I refer to those as cosmic verses, if you will. So, we go from cosmic to common in this text. The proclamation of Jesus concerning the kingdom of God had cosmic connotations. We’ll talk about that in just a second. Yet, the inauguration of the kingdom of God would be practically accomplished. Through the life. Through the lives of common people. So, if you remember what we talked about last week, verses 14 and 15. Mark says, the time has come. The time is full. He talked about Kairos time. The kingdom of God is now launching. Nothing will ever be the same. The messianic age has begun. In other words, Mark very succinctly states this truth. That this present evil age that we are still living in. Now, has been intersected by the age to come. Nothing can ever be the same. The age to come has already begun. It’s what we would call inaugurated eschatology. In other words, the end time has already started. So, this present evil age and the age to come now have intersected each other. That’s a cosmic reality. So, the world will never be the same again. The kingdom of God is now here. So, what happens next? I mean, obviously, this is a massive change. This is a massive truth. So, what’s going to happen next? What do you think? Some huge miracle? Let’s storm Jerusalem and drive the Romans out? No, that’s not what happens. Mark tells a very different story about what happens. Of what we might have anticipated. Actually, what happens is Jesus is wandering by the sea. And he just sees an everyday scene. He sees common laborers, fishermen, doing what fishermen do. On the Sea of Galilee. Fishing. Tending to their nets. It’s what they did every day. And if you happen to live anywhere around the Sea of Galilee, this was a common site. These were common people. Common laborers with a very common job. And what does Jesus do? Instead of something cosmic, something incredibly miraculous. He actually has a conversation with a couple of guys at work. And he invites them to join him. To join his mission. And so, these men will leave what they’re doing. And they will join the mission of God. Fascinating, isn’t it? Here’s what I’d say to you today. You’re not just living your life in 2024. You are. But if you’re a Christian, you’re doing so much more than that. As a matter of fact, not only in the first century did Jesus call these common people. To accomplish an uncommon mission. That’s what he’s doing right now in 2024 in the Metroplex. That’s what you’re doing. If you’re a follower of Jesus. That every day what you’re doing is you are participating in the mission of God. You’ve been called to it as a Christian. So, you’re not just engaging in spiritual activity. And obeying God. And doing the things that you feel like the Lord wants you to do in your everyday life. You are doing that. But every time you do it. At home. At work. In the community. Wherever it is. Actually what’s happening is God is using you to accomplish his mission. And establish his kingdom on this earth. It gives your life weight. And meaning. And purpose. That transcends what you and I would ever come up with on our own. Okay. So, the story is about Jesus. But these people who follow him now become a part of the story. In fact, let me just read you this quote from R.T. France. He’s written a great commentary on the Greek text of the Gospel of Mark. One of my favorite commentaries. Listen to what he says. He talks about after this event. After Jesus calls these first disciples. He says, from now on. From now until Gethsemane rather. Jesus appears in the narrative constantly accompanied by his disciples. And their training and development will be one of the main focuses of the story. They may and often will fail him. And disappoint him. But their role is crucial to the achievement of his mission. For it is through this flawed and vulnerable group of people. That God’s kingship will be established. And it is in tracing their development as Jesus’ disciples. Both in its successes and its more frequent failures. That Mark will expect his readers to find the basis. Whether by example or by warning for their own discipleship. So, in other words. As you’re reading through Mark’s Gospel this summer. Think about your own journey as a disciple. As you watch these disciples. And see what they do. And you know. I get it. Sometimes you think. Well, I don’t want to compare my life to Saint Peter. Or Saint John. Isn’t it interesting what we’ve done with the disciples? We’ve kind of memorialized them, haven’t we? And we usually refer to them as saints. And I’m okay with that. I get it. They’re the original followers. But guess who they really were?

They’re just people. Just like us. Living their lives. They didn’t wake up. They didn’t wake up that morning. And they were walking to the Sea of Galilee. And Simon Peter said to Andrew. You’re not going to believe this. But we’re going to get written into the Bible today. It’s crazy. I mean, 2,000 years from now. I’m going to have statues. It’s going to be awesome. They were just going to work. That’s what they did the day before. As far as they knew. That’s what they were going to do the next day. They were just working people. Living their lives. And God called them. He called them through His Son. And they joined His mission. And because of that their lives took on great meaning. Well, yours does as well. So, let’s think about that. The call of Jesus. When you look at this story and you read the Gospels. Here’s what you learn about Jesus. He was unique in His day in so many respects. Here’s one of them. He called people to follow Him. That is still the invitation today. Do you know when you read the Old Testament. And you read all the prophets. Do you know the prophets never challenged Israel to follow them? You don’t hear Isaiah saying, follow me. You don’t hear Jeremiah saying, follow me. The prophets called the people back to God. They spoke to them powerfully. Inviting them on a journey with God. Jesus does something really different. Jesus preached to the crowds. But as Dr. Garland likes to say. He called individuals to follow Him personally. And so, Jesus takes the initiative. And it’s powerful. It’s personal. It’s purposeful. And He invites people to follow Him. He does the very same thing today. Do you know at our church. Some of you may be newer to our church. You’re going to hear this often at our church. Glorifying God by following the Jesus way. It’s not just something that we put at the end of our emails. It’s not something that’s on our stationery. Do we still have stationery? You don’t know what I’m talking about. I don’t know if we still have stationery. But anyway, you all know what I mean. That’s not what it is. Actually, that statement is a summation of our theology. We believe that God created us as human beings uniquely. In His image. With the capacity to know Him. Relate to Him. And serve Him. And our responsibility is to bear His image in this world. We also believe that He has called all of us to reflect His glory. In this world. And so what we’re supposed to be doing. If we’re going to be human beings. And fulfill our assignment. Glorifying God is our responsibility. The old Westminster Shorter Catechism. The question is asked. What’s the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. So we’re supposed to be glorifying God. That means reflecting God’s glory in our everyday lives. That’s an incredible assignment. It is a great privilege. But guess what? Here’s the problem. You and I are broken people. We’re sinful people. And our ability to do that is marred. And so we can’t adequately reflect the glory of God as we should. In fact, the Bible says this. Everybody has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The very thing we’re supposed to do. We fall short of it. Because we’re broken people. We’re sinful people. We all have propensities. Proclivities to different types of sinful behavior. Sinful thoughts. Sinful activities. Acts of omission and commission. We just all do. So what’s the answer? Well, the only way for us to glorify God as God intended us to do it is by following the Jesus way. And so we have to answer the call of Jesus if we want to fulfill our assignment as human beings. Well, why follow Jesus? Why is He the one? Well, the Bible tells us that He is the Word of God who’s become flesh. And it is through Him that the glory of God is fulfilled. The glory of God was on display. That’s what the Bible says about Jesus. As a matter of fact, in Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus was the exact representation of the Father. In other words, the image of God is on display in Him. He’s the radiance of God’s glory. That means God’s glory is on display through Jesus. Jesus will go on to say about Himself, I’m the only way to do this. I’m the only way to the Father. So the only way for you and I to glorify God is to follow the way of Jesus. Does that make sense? So if you want, does that make sense? Okay, so if you want to know who First Baptist Arlington is, we’re not a group of perfect people. We only have one or two of them left. Okay? And you hadn’t met either one of them because, no, there’s no perfect people here. Here’s who we are. We are a group of people together calling, following the calling of Jesus. And our hope is, through our lives, is to glorify God by following the Jesus way. We’re glory spreaders. So when we’re serving God, what we’re doing is we are reflecting the glory of God. And so here’s what Jesus is saying to you right now today. He knows you. He loves you. And He wants you. He wants you to follow Him. That’s the invitation. It’s the same invitation that these disciples received so many years ago. So here’s what happened to them. I’d put it like this. Conversion to compulsion is how I would put it. What happened to these fishermen? Well, first, they became followers of Jesus, and then they became fishers of people. In other words, they answered the call. If you look back at this text, what does the text say? At once, verse 18, that’s that Greek word euthus. We’ve talked about it 39 times in Mark’s Gospel. Immediately, they left their nets. Without delay, verse 20, they left their nets. So these men, what did they do? Well, first, they followed Jesus, like R.T. France says. Now, the rest of this Gospel is going to include them. They’re going to become followers of Jesus, fishers of people. An amazing journey these men are going to live. It’s ultimately going to cost them their lives. These men are primarily going to be martyred for their faith. But look who they became. They became fishers of people. They joined God in His mission. Well, that’s exactly what God wants you to do. God wants you to join Him in His mission. What is His mission? Well, the mission of God is God’s great plan. And it’s His plan of redemption. And what God is doing right now is He is redeeming all that has been broken and lost. He is restoring all of that that has wandered from Him because of the sinfulness of humanity. And so God is in this great mission, this great plan, where He’s redeeming and restoring everything. Even creation. You know, the Bible says that creation, creation groans, longs for its day of redemption. And so God is redeeming everything. And He wants to use you. You are redeeming agents. And so your life, once you become a follower of Jesus, it takes on so much texture and depth. Because now you’re a part of the mission of God. Again, as you live your life every day, in your work, at home, in your relationships with your friends, at school. If you’re a Christian, you, as you reflect the glory of God in your everyday life, you’re joining God in His mission. And that means there’s a little part of the universe that’s being restored to God’s glory through you because of your faithfulness and obedience to God. It doesn’t necessarily have to happen on a grand scale. Sometimes we think, well, the only way to glorify God is to accomplish these great, incredible, grand miracles. That’s not true. Look at who Jesus called at the very beginning. Just everyday people. And look where He met them. At work. These men were just at work. And God spoke directly to them. And their lives were incredible. They were incredibly transformed. And they joined His mission. You are a part of His mission. Your own assignment. Whoever you are, whatever it is that you do, as Ashley likes to tell us, we’re supposed to live sent. Now, it’s interesting in this story the way Jesus puts it. I want you to become fishers of people. Now, I’ll be honest with y’all. That’s not the most attractive image to me. I’m just not a fisherman. I didn’t grow up fishing. I was a ball player. And so, fishing. Now, here’s what we did. When I was a little boy, my granddaddy in Georgia, Griffin, Georgia, he and my uncle used to take me and my two brothers fishing. And I was the baby. I was the youngest. And we went to Odell, Mr. Odell’s farm. And we fished in Mr. Odell’s pond. Now, here’s how it worked. My granddaddy, I was the youngest one. So, my granddaddy and my uncle would get up, get everything ready. He had a 1950 model Ford. And since I was the youngest. He wouldn’t even wake me up. My brothers would get in the car. My granddaddy would go get me. Put me in the back of the car. And lay me in the back of that Ford. Not in the back seat. But up in the, y’all know what I’m talking about? Where the window was. The back window. And I would sleep. We’d go all the way to Mr. Odell’s pond. Park. They would all get out and go. I’d stay asleep. When I woke up, I would honk the horn because Mr. Odell had a bull in that pasture. That I was scared of. And I wasn’t about to walk down. To the pond without my granddaddy. So, my granddaddy would come all the way up. My brothers would make fun of me. Call me a little baby. I wasn’t, you know, I wasn’t man enough to walk down there by myself. Even though neither one of them walked down there by themselves. They already had granddaddy and uncle W with them. But regardless, whatever. We would get down there. And here’s what I would do. I would go fishing. And what that meant was. My granddaddy had a little bucket. A smaller bucket for me. I’d sit on that bucket. And he had my rod already stopped into the ground. With a little cork on it out there. And you went and you sat on that bucket. And you didn’t say anything. You didn’t move. You didn’t do anything. And you just waited until some hungry catfish pulled that thing underground. And then granddaddy would grab it and reel it in. It was just so much fun.

So, I just didn’t care for it. Okay. So, when I read this. You’re going to be fishermen. I’m thinking awesome. That’s just not me. However, in the last few years. I’ve gotten a better appreciation for a certain kind of fishing. I’m not much of a catfish fisherman. Now, I’m from Alabama. Now, we’re going to eat catfish. Okay. You know, you get it. You clean it. You fry it. The way it was intended. The way God intended for catfish to be. So, we could enjoy it. But, I don’t catfish anymore. But, I do like fishing for trout. So, let me show you this photo. Here’s me in Los Pinos, Colorado. Do I not look like I know what I’m doing? Y’all think that’s coming out of one of those magazines. Well, let me just show you. Look at this next one. Just to show you I can do it. There it is. Y’all can clap. It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. I’m happy for you two. Yeah. But, let me show you the real truth. This next one. This is how it really works. That’s how it works. That’s Mike Steiger. Mike Steiger has helped me know how to get dressed. Showed me what kind of fly rod I’m supposed to have. Ties all the flies. Takes me to where I’m supposed to go. Shows me where the trout are. Has trained me in how to. Any of y’all fly fishermen or women? Do y’all know what I’m talking about? You got to cast it just right. You got to mend the line, you know. And, all that kind of stuff. Because, I don’t know how to do it. I need a guide. And, he is an excellent guide. He knows all about trout. Knows about trout fishing. Well, let me tell you about Jesus. Jesus knows how to fish. And, you know what you need? A guide. You need somebody to show you how to do it. He’s really good at it. He knows what people need. He knows what they want. He knows how to set a hook. Can I say it that way? He knows how to bring them in. He knows when they’re ready. And so, you need a guide. So, the first thing you do is follow him. That’s the first thing you do. Then, you learn how to fish. So, that’s exactly what happened to these guys. Jesus said, follow me first. Once you follow me, and the gospel gets a hold of you, and changes you, then I can use you to change others. And, well, how do you do it? Well, you just do it in your life. You just do it every day. You know, a few years ago, I was playing golf in California with a buddy of mine. And, they paired us with these two guys. So, we get on the first tee. The other guy, one of the guys that was in the other twosome, hits his first drive out of bounds. Just like that. Just harsh, hard-line cuss. So, I’m just standing back there. Interesting. And, so, we played golf together. Y’all just had a very limited vocabulary, it turned out. Just, I mean, high-dollar cuss words. Just one after another. We get to about the sixth hole. I’m standing on the fairway with him, and my buddy’s over here about ten. He said, you know, we didn’t even really hardly introduce ourselves to each other. He said, your buddy over there, what does he do for a living? I said, well, he’s an attorney. I said, he’s a pretty successful guy. He said, oh, that’s okay. And, he said, what about you? What do you do for a living?

I said, well, it turns out I’m a Baptist preacher. Boom, another string of cuss words. And, he said, why didn’t you tell me that on the first tee ball? Why did you, why have you waited six holes? I have lit this golf course up. And, I said, well, what difference would it make? He said, well, just out of respect for you. I wouldn’t have been talking like this. I said, well, I wouldn’t want you to respect me any more than you do God. He’s with you all the time.

It got really quiet.

But, you know what, y’all? As we kept playing, we kept talking. He modified a little, I would say. And, but you know what? We get to the 18th green. And, he says, you know, I never met a preacher. I’ve always wanted to know something. He said, can I ask you a question? I said, yeah. He said, is it possible for you to know for sure when you die whether or not you can go to heaven?

And, I said, well, of course it is. And, that’s where I’m going. So, I said, well, you know what? So, on the hood of his pickup, I just shared the gospel with him. Now, he didn’t accept Christ that day. Okay? But, here’s what I know. He was one step closer than he was when he started. And, that’s my job. That’s your job. Just, would to God, we would get everybody just one step closer. Because, one day, somebody will be there when they get hooked. And, you may not be the one that’s there, but you’ve been a part of the journey all along. That’s just how it works. Being a fisher of people means you just play your role in this long journey. I read in an article the other day, we don’t even know in America any longer how many times does a person need to hear the gospel before they actually come to know Christ. Well, what kind of question is that? How do we know? But, on average, people are saying it’s somewhere between 30 and 40 times nowadays. So, think about that. You may be number three. That may be all you are. But, guess what? There won’t ever be a number 30 unless there’s a number three. That’s kind of how it works. So, we just play our role, share what the Lord has done for us. We have no idea how God may ultimately use it in the life of another person. Now, let me say this also, just as a word of encouragement to us. I want to offer you this picture. We’ve talked a little bit about this before, but I believe in community casting. As followers of Jesus, we cast nets together. Do you notice in the Scripture, when people went fishing, they went together? In the New Testament, fishing was not something you did by yourself. You did it together. You’d be in a boat, cast a net. There’d be someone whose responsibility was to go down as the boat. As the weights of that net fell to the bottom to kind of pull them together so they could pull the fish in, then they’d be transferred over to the boat. And you did this together in community. Well, you and I can join together, join our gifts together to share the good news of Jesus. Now, you can do it individually, and I encourage you to do it. But you can also do it together. For example, your Sunday school class you’re in right now. Let’s just start with it. Sunday school department, Sunday school group. Maybe that’s the group you’re in right now. What if you all said, okay, you know, we need to reach some people with the gospel. What are we good at? Somebody in your group may be really good at praying. That’s kind of their gift. Okay, you become the prayers. What about some of you are good at inviting? Well, you’re the inviter. Some of you are good at hosting. Well, you’re the host. Some of you are really good at sharing. Some of you are good at connecting people. In other words, y’all could come together as a group and say, how can God use all of us to reach those who need to be reached? And we do it together in community. And who knows how God may use you. But here’s where it starts, though. First, you have to be a follower of Jesus yourself. That’s where it starts. So, you may be here this morning. You may be joining us online. And you may not know exactly what that means. You might be wondering, well, how do I become a follower of Jesus? Because that’s where it starts. Well, let me just say this to you, either in this room or online. Here’s how that works. God created everything that is. And he’s filled this world with himself. And so, this whole universe reflects his glory. That’s what the Bible says. And God chose to create human beings. And when he created human beings, he put his image in all of us. Makes us unique, different. And when he put his image in all of us, he’s given all of us the capacity to know him, the ability to know him, to be in a relationship with him. But we have to admit that something’s gone wrong. Because this world is filled with so much brokenness and violence and revenge. And greed and hurt and pain. So, obviously, something has interrupted this relationship between us and God. Well, that is sin. And because of sinfulness, we cannot enter into a relationship with God on our own merit. We just can’t do it because we’re sinful. Well, here’s the good news. God’s answered our need. God chose Abraham many, many years ago. And he chose the people of Israel. And through them, he showed the world who he is. Then he chose to send his son. And when he sent his son, Jesus, now we really know who he is. And it’s through Jesus now that we can now have a relationship with God. Because Jesus lived the perfect life on this earth. And then Jesus died on the cross because the wages of sin is death. And Jesus took the payment for us. He took the wages, if you will, himself. And when he died on the cross, he didn’t just die on the cross. He died in our place. And the sins of the world were placed on him. And when he died, it then made it possible for us, to have our sins forgiven. And we now can have a relationship with God that was broken, that was impossible before. But it’s possible now. Only because Jesus has died for our sin. And what you do is, you just acknowledge all that. You accept the fact that God loves you. And you acknowledge the fact that you’re a sinful person. And you accept the truth that without God’s intervention, there really is no hope for you to have a relationship with him. And then you acknowledge him as the son of God. And you say you believe Jesus died on the cross for your sin. And you accept him now in your own life. And you make a decision to follow him personally and receive him as your Lord and serve him for the rest of your life. You do that, and you’re now a follower of Jesus. And it is an eternal decision. And it’s a personal decision that nobody else can make for you. And I would just say this to you. If you’re in this room or if you’re joining us online and you want to make that decision, we would love to help you understand exactly what that means. Because this church is filled with people who’ve done that very thing. And we’re now seeking to glorify God as we do it every day.