River Church NOLA
Sunday, January 12th I have Decided
  • Forever
  • The Way
  • How Great Is Our God
  • I Have Decided To Follow Jesus
  • Intro -
    We are in the 2nd week of 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. I want to remind you fo some, not all of the benefits of fasting and Prayer.

    21 Days of prayer and Fasting

    Prayer Connects us to God

    Prayer bridges the gap between heaven and earth. It’s how we communicate with the Lord.
    Make sure you fill out prayer requests…

    Fasting Disconnects us from the World

    Some people think Fasting is about suffering. They think that they will prove to him how much they love him… God never asks for that.
    Fasting kills the world in us. It subdues our flesh.
    Here are several types of fasting. It’s not too late for you to begin.

    Complete Fast

    This is not for most. It’s water and juices. Don’t do this without medical supervision.

    Selective Fast

    This is where you choose to fast specific foods… like sugar. Someone said that’s just a diet… stop eating sugar and you will see that it’s a war.
    Daniel Fast is an example.

    Partial Fast

    Maybe you fast one or two meals per day.

    Soul Fast

    This focuses on the things that feed our soul… FB, Social Media… TV…
    For some, this is much needed. Fasting news or social media or even TV will free up time to spend with the Lord. It will disconnect you from the world in a good way.
    The world will not collapse if you don’t post what you ate for lunch on FB
    Take out the 2025 Prayer and Fasting Guide… if you have not filled it out and fill it out.
    Fill it out with your information. Check off if you are committing to the 21 Days
    Check the type of fast that you will do… go through them
    What are you praying and fasting for a break-thru in?
    for yourself - write that in…
    For someone else? - addicted relative… lost relatives to come to faith … a job for someone…
    For our church - debt free… roof fixed… more small group leaders… some of your lost FRAN to come to church…

    What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

    If you ask 100 people, you will get a 100 different answers.
    Belief in God (9/10)… Taking care of the poor … being a forgiving person … praying… reading the Bible… attend church every now and then… not lose your temper… help out at church… being grateful… eating right…
    Those who attend church weekly chose 9 beliefs that were critical… those who attended church every now and then chose only 4…
    Only 11% said salvation comes through a belief in Jesus
    Why is that?

    We are living in a culture today where following is based on personal convenience instead of personal conviction.

    Social Media - today following means following them on Social Media. If you click follow you see what is going on in people’s lives… and you find out much more than you ever wanted to know. If you follow the wrong person, they will fill up your feed. That’s the mentality of following today. If you don’t want to follow someone… or they make you angry… you simply unfollow them.
    Today, we will find out that following is much more than that.
    I love the song, I have decided to follow Jesus.
    Song - I have decided to follow Jesus. India 200 years ago. A Hindu Family that converted to Christianity. It was a capital offense to become a Christian. The father, Asam was brought out in front of the village and told to renounce Jesus. He said out loud, I have decided to follow Jesus. They said you don’t understand and they executed his wife in front of him. He responded… no turning back, no turning back. As they killed him, he said, the world behind me, the cross before me.
    That takes following Jesus to a whole new level. So I will ask you again, What does it mean to you to be a follower of Jesus? I don’t think that most of us will face what Asam faced, at least not in the US., but we will face, and already are, persecution of different types.
    So I want us to look at what Jesus said about what it means to follow him.
    Mark 8:27–38 NLT
    27 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.” 29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.” 30 But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. 31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. 33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” 34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
    Mark 8:27–38 (NLT) Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi.
    Caesarea Philippi was an especially pagan city know for it’s worship of Greek gods and it’s temples were devoted to the pagan god pan. The ruler, Philip, changed the name from Caesarea to Caesarea Philippi so it would not be confused with Caesarea on the coast. This pagan city was a great place for Jesus to ask the disciples who people said he was.
    As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” 28 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.
    Some thought he was a re-incarnation of John or Elijah. Others said he was just an ordinary guy… a prophet. This is where a lot of people are today. They would say Jesus was a teacher… All of these responses and most of the responses in today’s survey were incorrect. Jesus continued…
    29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
    All of us will have to answer this question one day. Was Jesus just a man with good ideas, or is he the son of God.
    Peter go it right. Jesus is the Messiah.
    Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”
    Now Peter did not know what kind og king or Messiah he would be, but he recognized that He was the Messiah.
    30 But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
    Jesus didn’t want them to tell anyone because they still didn’t full understand who he was … who he really was nor would anyone else.
    31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead.
    Jesus is telling them that his mission wasn’t to conquer the Romans, but to pay for sins. He would be killed but would rise again. `The disciples missed the resurrection part.
    32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.
    You have to love Peter. He goes and reprimands God. Come on somebody… Notice, it says he began to reprimand Jesus… He didn’t get too far. That’s funny, I don’t care what ya’ll think.
    33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
    He reprimanded Peter and the disciples. Peter went from being the Rock Jesus would build his church on to being filled with Satan… that’s quite a demotion… but it shows the disciples still did not understand who Jesus was and what his mission was.
    Just so you know… we miss it often too. We see things from our point of view and not God’s most of the time.
    Next Jesus says what it takes to be His follower. This is what we want to focus on.
    34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
    Jesus said that if want to be his follower, we have to take up our cross. Today we wear crosses as jewelry. But not to the people Jesus was talking to. They knew what the cross was.
    In Jesus day, a cross was not a piece of jewelry, it was the way the Romans Executed people and everyone knew what he meant when he said take up your cross. So Jesus said, if you want to follow me, You are going to have to die… You have to give up doing things your way…
    Jesus is not against pleasure here, but he is contrasting that with what it will really take to be his follower moment by moment even when things look bleak.
    35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.
    Greek for life is Psuche which refers to the soul of man… the part with our personality, our dreams hopes and goals. Anyone who saves his life to hold on to earthly desires and goals will ultimately lose his/her life.
    We should be willing to lose our lives for the sake of the Good News, not because our lives are useless, but because at best, our lives can’t compare with what we gain by following Jesus. Losing our lives means that we put our personal desires into God’s hands and allow him to direct us.
    Jesus wants us to choose to follow him instead of living a life of sin and self satisfaction. He wants us to stop trying to control our own lives and let Him direct us. This makes good sense since, as the Creator, Jesus knows better than we do what this life is about.
    Jesus asks for submission, not self hatred… he wants us to lose our self centered drive to be in charge.
    36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul?
    Many people spend all their time, energy and money seeking pleasure. Jesus however said that worldliness which is centered on possessions, position, or power is ultimately worthless.
    Whatever we have on earth is temporary, and it cannot be exchanged for our soul which is eternal. When a pleasurable life is the goal, it’s empty when you think you get there.
    Jesus is telling us that we need to make the pursuit of God more important than other pursuits.
    When we follow Jesus, we will enjoy an rich and satisfying life as well as eternal life.
    38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
    Jesus is all the time turning the world’s perspective upside down with talk of first and last. saving and losing. … He says that if we want to be first, we must be last…
    Here he says that we can reject Jesus now and be rejected by Him at his second coming. Or we can accept him now and be accepted by him at his second coming. Rejecting Jesus now may save us from some shame and ridicule now, but will result in an eternity of shame.
    IOW, this is an important decision. We have people at different places of following. sone haven’t started yet. Others are just beginning and we have some who have been following the Lord a while. We need to take following the Lord seriously.
    Keep going after God with all you can do, and you will find real life. Culture says if you want to find life, live it up. God says, figure out how to make the most of this life by following Jesus and you will have eternal life.
    Luke adds a word.

    I have Decided to Follow Jesus

    Luke 9:23 NLT
    23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
    Where ever you are in the following journey, take the next steps. If you do this, you will find your life.
    Rick Warren came up with some steps of following Jesus. Each of these are in pretty much every church.

    1. Crowd: Come and see

    The first appeal Jesus made was to the crowd. Come and see. Huge crowds came to Jesus to either see his miracles, or to be healed or delivered from something. Then he would teach.
    Sunday services are the way we do that. We like to give you extra opportunities on special days to invite people… like Easter, Mother’s day, Bring a Friend Weekend, Christmas Service. But most Sundays will always be good to invite your FRAN.
    A crowd doesn’t make a church, nor does it make you a Christian, but you are welcome. People in the crowd are just checking things out.
    Jesus first said to Peter… follow me. Then Jesus filled his boat with fish.

    2. Family: Come and join us

    If you like what you see, come be a part of our church. We want you to feel welcome to join us and be part of what we are doing.
    Family carries responsibility… If you are a guest in my home for a meal, then afterwards, I clean the dishes not you… because you are not family. You are a guest.
    Family is more than River Church… It is also about being in the family o fGod.
    John 1:12 NLT
    12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
    That’s how you become part of the family. Maybe you need to become a family member today. After that, you need to be baptized.
    I also want you to join our River Church family… serve, give, worship…
    We need to be more regular in our attendance. One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me was faithfulness to attending church. We never missed. About a year after my mom stopped driving, my cousin could not take her to church, so mama just got in her car and wen to church…
    Blue Zones- one of the things people who live over 100 do, is go to church regularly.

    3. Disciple: Come and grow

    People who want more. They want to grow and they are serious about it. Salvation is not the end, it’s the beginning.
    Maybe you need to be in a group. Or lead or host a group. Maybe a Ladies Group… Mens’ group… Marriage group… parenting… financial… Maybe you need to commit to reading the Bible every day. Start the 21 Days now…
    Ephesians 4:11–16 NLT
    11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
    Ephesians 4:11–16Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
    12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
    It’s our responsibility to build you up so that you can do the work of ministry.
    13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.
    If you are not grounded in the WOG, you will fall for anything. People can make all sorts of things sound good if you don’t know the truth.
    15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

    4. Minister: Come and serve

    You are not just coming to grow, but now you want to serve. Kids ministry… run a camera… greet… Serve Day… Dream Team… Small group…
    You won’t know until you check it out.
    Join what I want to call the Dream Team.
    Ultimately, we want you to bear fruit.
    John 15:8 NLT
    8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

    5. Commissioned: Come and die to myself

    I am at the point of I am going to serve God every day of my life in every area of my life.
    You are somewhere on this process. Find where you are on this process, and do the next thing, you will have the best year of your life.
    We are giving you the opportunity to go …
    From No Commitment to Total Commitment
    From a Consumer to a Contributor
    And Jesus is going …
    From Savior to Lord
    From what God can do for me to what I can do for God.
    My job is for me to help you in this journey. So what’s next…

    The First Step is Believer’s Baptism

    Acts 2:41 NLT
    41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all.
    The first thing people in the Bible did when they gave their heart ot Jesus, was they were baptized.
    I was baptized as a baby and went through confirmation. I’m not taking anything away from that, but those were more dedicatory and not decision based. Believer’s Baptism is a decision based action you take. It took me a while to get Baptized because I thought I had… until i read the scriptures. All of the baptism in scripture were post decision.
    That’s why we dedicate babies, and baptize believers.
    Next week, we will hold a baptism for anyone who want’s to be Baptized. If you have chosen to follow Jesus and have not been baptized, next week is your week. Just check it off on your connection card. We will do a Baptism service after Easter as well.
    Three Reasons to take the Next Step

    1. We need to follow the example set by Jesus

    Jesus got baptized and he didn’t need to. Baptism shows we have been forgive for our sins… Jesus never sinned. Paul said…
    1 Corinthians 11:1 NLT
    1 And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
    Wedding band illustration - means I belong to someone. It doesn’t make me married, it just shows that I am married.
    Jesus said that Baptism is the wedding ring of Christianity.
    Look what John said,
    1 John 2:4 The Living Bible
    4 Someone may say, “I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ.” But if he doesn’t do what Christ tells him to, he is a liar.
    Jesus told us to be baptized.

    2. We need to demonstrate Our changed lives

    IOW, wear the wedding band.
    1 Peter 3:21 NLT
    21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
    The water is not magical, it’s the wedding band. It shows that we have been saved by what Jesus did.

    3. We need to declare our commitment publicly

    Big deal with God. He wants us to follow him and not be ashamed. The degree he went to of us, he wants us to go for him.
    Jesus says we are a light.
    You wear your wedding ring to show you are married. We are baptized after deciding to follow Christ. If you are willing to tell Jesus, I have decided to follow You… check off that Baptism box and come ready to get Baptized next week.
    Matthew 10:32–33 NLT
    32 “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

    21 Days of Prayer & Fasting January 6-26, 2025

      • Mark 8:27–38NKJV

      • Luke 9:23NKJV

      • John 1:12NKJV

      • Ephesians 4:11–16NKJV

      • John 15:8NKJV

      • Acts 2:41NKJV

      • 1 Corinthians 11:1NKJV

      • 1 John 2:4NKJV

      • 1 Peter 3:21NKJV

      • Matthew 10:32–33NKJV