Skip to content Rules for the Road to Greatness Mar 4 · 36 min ...more
Rules for the Road to Greatness
March 4, 2025 · 36 min
Pastor John Mark outlines five essential principles for men to follow, which serve as 'rules for the road' as they seek to live a life aligned with God's will and purpose.
Series "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton March 4, 2025 · 36 min · "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton
Pastor John Mark outlines five essential principles for men to follow, which serve as 'rules for the road' as they seek to live a life aligned with God's will and purpose. ...more Show the full description Show less Pastor John Mark outlines five essential principles for men to follow, which serve as 'rules for the road' as they seek to live a life aligned with God's will and purpose.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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Five Rules for the Road 0:02 Welcome to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Keaton. Join us as John Mark shares his insights with other men in his ministry rooted in the timeless truths of the gospel. Today's message will encourage you to0:14 inspire, inform, and invest in the lives of others. This is Men's Breakfast with your host, John Mark Caton.0:23 We've been walking through this story stepping up to greatness. This is Moses. The children of Israel should have been in the promised land 40 years earlier, but instead they meandered around in the desert, for 40 years,0:35 not where God wanted them to be. And now all of a sudden in Deuteronomy, they are going back. They're about to go in, but but Moses has been told by God, you're gonna you're not gonna make it in. And so Moses gathers the0:46 men together and God kind of gives them some some ideas of when you go into the promised land, this is what the Lord requires. When you go into the promised land, be sure and live your life this way. When you go into the0:56 promised land, be sure and raise your family this way. Do this. Do that. I can only imagine if I was with y'all out in the desert for 40 years, I would kind of be sick of y'all. How many of y'all would be sick of me? And1:07 I can only imagine the number of water bottles we would have just left all over, the plastic water bottles all over the desert. They'd have been everywhere. But, I love this when we come to Deuteronomy chapter 10. A lot1:19 of what he does in Deuteronomy, he reminds him of what had taken place in the past, but then he points to the future. He says, don't forget when we were here and we messed up and we did this, but also, guys, when you get1:29 into the promised land, don't forget to live your life this way. And so today, I wanna give you, from Deuteronomy chapter 10, 5 rules for the road. These are 5 things that we can all apply. They're straight1:41 from Deuteronomy chapter 10 where where where Moses just gives them the rules. Hey. And and and for a lot of us, we like rules. We don't need we don't well, we really don't like rules. Just give me a1:53 couple of things. Tell me what you want me to do. Anybody ever gone in for a job description? You wanna know, hey, what's my job? Right? What what do I really need to do? And you don't want someone if you're gonna show2:04 up for a job, just say, hey. Just show up and just kinda feel your way around. Now you want someone to tell me and tell you, hey. Listen. What do I need to do to be successful in this job? What do I need to do to get2:15 paid in this job? What do I need to do to get a bonus in this job? What do I need to do to get promoted in this job? I mean, we want some specific things that will help us stay motivated, know we're on the2:26 right route, and ultimately know that we're gonna get rewarded for it. And so I'm just gonna give you 5 rules for the road. They're exactly out of a couple of verses in here in Deuteronomy chapter 10 because a lot of2:37 times, we just want to know what to do. And here's the beautiful thing about the rules for the road that Moses gives us. They're all ones we can understand.2:49 And if we do them, Moses said, it'll keep you out of the spiritual corpse position. You won't end up as a deadbeat3:01 man who doesn't have the walk that God wants you to have. And at the end of the day, he says, and if you'll do these 5 things, you'll be a warrior for your family. You'll be a warrior3:13 for your church. You'll be a warrior for your kids and your community. And so let's just kinda go and let's read it as we're looking along. Here it is, Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 12. He says, and now, he's talking to3:25 them, now that you're about to go into the promised land, Moses isn't gonna go. He says, oh Israel, what does the Lord ask of you? Now just stop right there.3:37 This is gonna be a good answer because he's really scratching the itch that every man wants. Scratched. What did God want me to do? I can tell you this, if I put,3:49 regardless of who you are, in this room online or if you listen to the podcast, if I put every man on a continuum, a spiritual continuum,4:01 I mean, you're as close to God as you've ever been in your life, or if you're as far away from God as you've ever been in your life, I can still tell you that I believe every4:13 man wants to know the answer to this question. What does the Lord our God want us to do? How many of you want to know the answer to that question? Every 1 of us. Alright, God. I'm4:25 I'm I'm 20 years old. God, what do you want me to do? I'm 30 years old. God, what do you want me to do? I'm 40 years old. God, what do you want me to do? I'm 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 years old. What do you want me to do, God?4:35 And this is a universal question for all guys. And what we don't want is God to give us answers that we don't understand. Does that make sense? That God doesn't say, hey, get into this pose and you're like, I don't know4:46 what that is. And so I love what Moses is about to do. He's about to answer them. He's about to tell them exactly what God wants every man in this room online and on podcast to do. He's gonna give you 54:58 things. And the beautiful thing is there's nothing about these 5 things that we won't understand. The question is, are we willing to do it? Are we willing to5:10 apply them in our lives? Are we willing to go at them in our lives? And let me tell you what, even like last night in the yoga, there were times that that that there were a couple of ones that that I just couldn't get5:19 the first time through. But then when she rotates back through and then she kinda gives us I always love this. And she goes in these next few minutes, it's free time, which means she's run you through a couple of5:29 routines, and then you just kinda get to do your thing. Right? And that's when they want you to get better and you just kinda free flow and everything. And, my free flowing wasn't that good either. But there were a5:39 couple of things I could go back to and say, okay, I can do this. And I love what Moses does here. He gives them 5 things that we all understand, we can all apply, and we can live out. And if we do,5:51 you will be better off, your family will be better off, your church will be better off, and your community will be better off. Because listen, here's let's read it. And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your6:03 God ask of you but to, 1, fear the Lord your God. 2, walk in all of his ways. 3, love him. 4, serve the6:15 lot Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul. And to number 5, listen to this, observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today. And6:27 then I love this. What are those last few words? For your own good. Did you get that? He gives us 5 things that6:39 God wants us to do, and these 5 things are for our own good. How many of you know there are some things that you could leave here today and if if you ate right, exercised, did the right6:50 things, kiss your wife, loved her, hugged her, don't kiss someone else's wife. But if you those would how many of you know those would all benefit you? They'd be for your own good. Right? How How many of you know there7:02 are some things that you could go out of here today and do some things like and shoot at people still in batteries or something that they might not be good for you? Right? There are things that we know we can do that7:12 would be good for us. As a matter of fact, do we have any actuaries in the room? Life insurance actuaries? You know what an actuary does? He he he tells you when you're gonna die.7:24 That's what they do. And let me tell you what, good actuaries and good actuarial teams, they can dial you in based on the information they have on you to the month7:36 you're probably going to die in your life. Isn't that crazy to think about it? You know, how do they do that? Well, they usually just have a couple of sets of information. They they they wanna know your7:48 age. They wanna know your gender, you male or female. And by the way, you're the 1 that doesn't live long enough. Right? How many of you know that? You ever gone to a nursing home? Got 97 ladies, 38:00 dudes. Alright. So they if they know your age, if they know your gender, if they know what you do for a living, if they know where you live, and if8:12 they can see 5 years behind you in back of your medical records, they can probably tell you the month you're gonna die in. Isn't that crazy to think about8:24 it? And they don't even have to talk to you. They don't have to interview you. They don't have to ask you how long you think you're going to live. I'm going to live another 40 years. They're looking at the numbers going,8:34 No, no. No, you're not. You better settle things up. Right? And so, I love this. Here here's what Moses said, If you'll do these 5 things,8:46 they're for your own good. Man, a lot of times we get messed up in our mind and we think, hey, the rules that God places and puts in place, they're not good for us or they're not for our8:58 own good. And Moses is just flat out telling these guys, listen, God wants your best. God wants you to do these 5 things, not just because they're good for him9:10 and his kingdom, although they are, but that they're good for you. And the more we'll do these 5 things, the more the more that we'll fear him, the more that we walk in his way, the more that we love him, the more that9:21 we serve him, and the more that we observe his commandments, the better off we're gonna be, the more life satisfaction we're gonna have, the more joy we're gonna have in anything and everything that we do. So I just want9:30 us to walk through these rules for the road, take some notes, write it down, circle this verse. You wanna memorize a couple of verses? I think these are total dude verses. These are total men verses because9:42 there's nothing in here that requires rocket science or a seminary degree. They're just 5 things that you could put them on your mirror in the morning, you could put them on your computer or your, at your desk at the9:54 office and you can look down at these 5 things and you don't have to say, let me go to get a commentary or let me go relisten to what John Mark said. Just do that. Here's number 1.10:06 He says, the first thing you need to do for your own good is learn to fear the Lord. Go back to verse 12. He says, what does the Lord require of you except to fear the Lord? Now, you say, well, what is that word fear?10:18 And I've heard people preach and talk about, well, that word fear means awe, reverence. It means worship. It means a lot of different things. But let me just tell you, it depends, first of all, what that word fear means10:28 to you. It means who you are. If you are an unbeliever, fear means fear. If you're an unbeliever, you need to understand that if you were to die today, if an actuary said this is your10:40 last day, that you would spend eternity apart from God if you were an unbeliever. Let me tell you what, that is a fearful and awful thing. So if you are an unbeliever in here today, I want10:52 you to know the definition of fear for you. You ought to be scared for your eternity. You ought to be scared for your life. You need to be scared. If you're an unbeliever, Hebrews chapter 9 verse 2711:04 absolutely applies to you. Just as people are destined to die once and after that to face judgment. There are no second chances, guys. There are no second chances.11:16 You get 1 shot. You get 1 go at this life. And what you do and how you live and how you respond to Jesus in this life determines your eternity. With God or apart from11:28 God. There's no purgatory that you can wait for someone in the future to come and pray you out of purgatory and on into Heaven. It is basically an eternity. I11:40 love to say, and I I it wasn't new with me. I heard it from someone else that I I you've heard me say over and over. Your last breath here on this earth immediately precedes your first breath in heaven,11:52 unless you've never trusted Jesus Christ as savior and lord. But after death, if you're an unbeliever, it is judgment. And the12:04 judgment is you are sinful. Depart from me. I never knew you. And you will spend an eternity apart from God. So, guys, that's a fearful and12:16 awful thing. And your own good would be to come to a place we are rolling into Holy Week. We are in Holy Week. We are rolling towards Resurrection Sunday that if you have never made12:28 a decision to follow Jesus Christ, you are sitting here with unfinished business. What we are gonna celebrate this weekend is that Jesus finished his business.12:40 He put it all into place. He died for every 1 of your sins. He died your death. He went into the tomb that you deserved. He rose again the third day, and he says today, whoever believes12:52 in him would not perish but have everlasting life. Guys, Jesus has done the work. For you and I, have we accepted his him as savior and Lord? And if so, we've finished our13:04 business. But if you're a believer, you don't need to fear him in that way. Yes. You need to have awe and reverence for God and love for God. But I want you to know, as a13:16 believer, you don't have to worry about your eternity. Yes, an actuary can still tell you where to die, but then the first part of that phrase comes in, your last breath here on this earth immediately13:28 precedes eternity with God in heaven. So I want you to know, as a believer here, when he says that fear the Lord your God, you don't have to walk with a trembling fear. You don't have13:40 to live with a trembling fear that I'm gonna make a mistake today that's gonna cost me eternity. It's not that way at all. Look at Romans chapter 8 verse 38. Here's what Paul says to the believer.13:53 He says, you can be convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons, neither present nor the future, nor any powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation will be14:04 able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. So guys, here's what you need to know. Fearing God for the unbeliever is a fearful thing.14:18 But fear fearing God as a believer is something that I wanna walk and honor God and love God in everything that I do. But if I fail, I can14:29 still have the confidence, not in my own nature, not in my own goodness, but in the eternal and amazing love of that God has for me. That's why Paul says, I'm convinced14:42 that neither things present or in the future will ever be able to separate me from the love of God. So as a believer in the room, man, we don't need to fear God's wrath and14:54 judgment. For the unbeliever in here, you better fear God's wrath and judgment. You say, alright. Then how do I live in fear of God? Well, jump to a a New Testament. I love this. I always15:06 love this New Testament parable found in Matthew chapter 25. It's the parable of talents. And it's it's it's this is what is called a kingdom parable, Matthew chapter 25 verse 14. It's kingdom parable15:18 where Jesus is telling stories that will connect with people, his followers with men, to say, listen. And he always says, it's like a king went on a journey, someone left and they left something with the folks15:30 that are here. Here's the reality, alright? Jesus has given us an analogy that he is in heaven, he's gone away. He's given every guy talents in this room. Not everybody gets the15:42 same amount of talents. There are some guys in here that you have some amazing talents that I don't have and others who had talents that that the other person didn't have. But he says, listen. I've gone away. Remember15:52 John chapter 14, if I go away to prepare a place for you, I will prepare a place for you, come back someday, receive you to myself that where I am there you'd be also. And that's a kingdom parable. So Matthew chapter 25,16:02 he says, listen. Went away and he left some talents with some dudes down here. By the way, this is us. Put yourself in this story. Alright? So let's read it. Verse 14. He says, Again, it will be like a16:14 man going on a journey who called his servants. That's you if you're a believer. If you're an unbeliever, you need to become a believer before you get these talents. He says, again, it would be like a man going on going16:25 on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To 1 he gave 5 talents, to another he gave 2 talents, and to another he gave 1 talent, each according to his own ability. All16:37 right. Not everybody got the same amount of talents. Not everybody has the same amount of ability, but everybody has the same opportunity. And what is the opportunity? To take the talents that I have received and have16:48 been given and use those for God's glory. That's what he says. And he says, then he went on a journey. Look at verse 16. The man who had received 5 talents went out, went out at once and put his money to17:00 work and gained 5 more. So also the 1 who had 2 talents gained 2 more. But the man who had received 1 talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. Now, if you17:12 remember the end of the story, the master comes back, calls the guys in for the annual review, for the life review, and he looks at the guy with 10, says, Hey, what did you do? Well, looks at the guy17:24 here with 5. What did you do? 2. What did you do? 1, did you? And you know what? Here's the deal. The story would turn out the exact same if the guy who had the most talents and17:36 buried his talents and the guy who had his fewest talents had used his talents. Say, how do you live? I want to take whatever time, whatever energy, whatever family, whatever talents, whatever resource, whatever gifts I17:48 have, and make sure that I put them to work for who? The master, not me. The master, not me. And remember, if you18:00 go read Matthew chapter 25, if you don't know the end of the story, the master does come back, calls the 1 who he gave some talents to and said, what did you do? He says, I I knew you were a hard man. Do you wanted me to18:09 work? He says, I doubled your talent. He says, well done. Good and faithful servant. He called in the next guy. He says, hey. What did you do with the talents I gave you? He goes, man, I put them to work. I I I have 218:19 more. He says, great. He says, I've looked at the man with the least amount of talent. So what is you? He he said, I buried them. He says, depart from me. Man, here's the here's the idea, guys. If you are18:31 an unbeliever, you need to fear the wrath and the judgment of God because it is appointed for a man once to die and then judgment. If you are a believer, you don't have to fear that you're gonna lose your salvation. We18:43 can never be separated from the love of God. However, you and I will be judged for how we use the talents and the resources that God has given us. Man, if God's given you another18:55 10 years, another 20 years, another 30 years, another 50 years on this earth, you're gonna be judged by how you use the talents. If you've got spiritual19:06 gifts, abilities, resources, you're gonna be judged by how you use the talent. So thought number 1, rule for the road, fear God. As an unbeliever, you need to come to19:18 faith in Jesus Christ. And there's no better week than Holy Week to make that happen. Number 2, if you're a believer, if you screw up, if you mess up, you're not going to lose the love of God19:30 for you, not because of how good you are, but because of how awesome God is. But then when we understand living in fear, we know that we will be judged, not a judgment as to heaven or hell. That's settled19:42 when we accept Jesus Christ as savior and lord. But how did we use our talents? Rule number 2. Back to Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 12. He says, walk in his ways. Just walk19:54 in His ways. He says, What does the Lord your God ask of you except to walk in His ways? That's number 2.20:06 Guys, this isn't confusing, right? It's not confusing, for I appreciate passages like these, not because they're hard, but because they're clear. Because I'm supposed to fear God, make sure I use His talents20:18 well. If I'm unsaved, I need to trust Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord. But number 2, just walk in His ways. Just live according to His ways. Talk about20:30 getting exercise, you know, the kind of kind of the gold standard they they came out with a number of years ago and this changes in different places. But if what they've said is the general health status, I'm20:42 talking about walking, is you are considered healthy. It is way healthier for you. You probably heard this number. If you take at least 10000 steps a day. How many of you at least heard that? Right?20:53 10000 is that number. Just somehow, someway, if you're in a sedentary position or a calendar or something, get up, walk, make sure you move, make sure you take it 10 at least 10000 steps a day.21:05 That's where you wanna be. Under 5000 steps, you fall into the category category of being sedentary. How many of you know being sedentary, especially in21:17 America, when you consider what we eat, is bad for your health? Yeah. So we want to get our step count up. A number of years ago, how many of you participated in the step count? We would do the in motion thing at the21:29 church. How many of you remember doing that? We we would everybody would compete against me, and y'all would mostly beat me. And, so my wife was in the last thing that we did. And she was a school teacher,21:41 over, over at Lovejoy's seventh grade. She taught seventh grade. And and if you don't know the Carlocks, the Carlocks are good friends of ours. But, she actually had Caden Carlock in her class. And21:53 when I was beating her, what she would do is she would have him come to come to class early. She would put her watch on him and tell him to go run around in the gym while she's22:05 teaching. And I'm beginning to look at my wife. I'm going, Man, she is beating me. And I've worked out twice today, and I haven't seen her work out at all as she's in this classroom. And so she22:17 ends up beating me. All right. She didn't win. She didn't win any rewards. And it wasn't until later that I think it was like that Christmas or something like that, Caden Carlock said, now you know miss Caden was22:29 having me run. Right? And I was like, that's cheap. But here's a more important point. Guys, I can't take your spiritual steps for you. Your dad can't22:41 take your spiritual steps for you. Your wife can't take your spiritual steps for you. You've gotta take your own steps. You've gotta walk your walk. And22:53 whatever you do, don't be sedentary. We've got too many men. We've got too many godly men. We've got too many of god's men that they're not doing their part. They're not taking their23:04 steps. They're expecting someone else to do it. Just look in the ministry. Ask Dave about the ministry of our church, man. If it wasn't for women taking steps, our kids would be in big trouble in children's ministry.23:16 Ask Chase. If it wasn't for women taking steps, our students would be in big trouble these days. Guys, no 1 can take your steps but you. No 1 can study23:28 God's word but you. No 1 can be faithful to God's people but you. No 1 can be faithful with your resources but you. No 1 else can take your steps. But notice, that doesn't keep Moses from telling them, walk23:40 in his way. Man, there's certainly there's that private walk between me and God, and then there's that public walk that I have. You you you ever looked at someone and watched23:52 someone, you thought, man, they're a great dude, a great dude, a great dude, and then all of a sudden you hear that, uh-oh, their private walk with God wasn't exactly what their public walk walk was like? Man, the closer24:03 we can marry those up where who I am in public is who I am in private, the better off we're gonna be and the more God can use us in a powerful and a very real way. Colossians chapter 2 verse24:14 6 talks about our walk. Colossians chapter 2 verse 6 says, so then just as you have received, there is the salvation. Remember, if you're an unbeliever, you need to fear his wrath and judgment.24:26 He says, but as you receive Christ Jesus as lord, continue to live your lives in him rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were24:38 taught, and then notice overflowing with thankfulness. So what does it say? Once I'm a Christian, I'm gonna be taught, I'm gonna be rooted, my roots are gonna grow deep in God's word, in God's grace, in God's24:49 faith, and then I'm gonna overflow with thankfulness by serving and giving and loving and caring and inviting others. Man, that's our ultimate call in life is to be the kind of person that fears25:01 God, but settle the fear that I know where I am in turning. Number 2, that I walk with him. I'm not sedentary, and I can't expect someone else to take my steps. And here's number 3, we gotta love25:13 Him. We gotta learn to love God. Alright? We gotta learn to love God. Back to Deuteronomy chapter 12 verse 10 verse 12. What does the Lord require of you? To love Him in the midst of everything, regardless25:27 Alright? Whatever you face today, love Him. Fear Him. Walk with Him. And then love Him regardless of what is going to take place today. Man, the best illustration I can think of is all back to the25:39 Old Testament where Daniel and his friends, after the children of Israel had done exactly the opposite of what Moses is commanding them today. They didn't fear God. They25:51 They didn't walk with Him. They didn't serve Him. They didn't love Him. And so God finally sent prophets to say, guys, you need to repent. You need to repent. You need to repent. They rejected the prophets. They killed26:01 the prophets. And then all of a sudden, God said, alright. If you don't want what's for your own good, remember that's the phrase. God says, I'll stop sending the prophets and I'll take26:13 my hand of protection off of you and this whole nation of Israel. And he does. And sure enough, Nebuchadnezzar and his army comes in, destroys Jerusalem, destroys the people, pulls people26:25 like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego back to his home country, begins to train them up and teach them. And over there, these 3 dudes decide, You know what?26:37 We're not gonna love your God. We're not gonna fear your God. We're not gonna serve your God. We're not gonna worship your God. We're not gonna walk with your God. And the king builds a statue and says, You're going to26:48 bow down. You're going to worship my God. These 3 guys said, No. No, we're not. We're going to worship the 1 true God. We're going to serve Him only. We're going to walk in His ways. And however it works out, that's the26:59 way it works out. That's love for God that I'm into this. Look at it in Deuteronomy chapter 3 excuse me. Daniel chapter 3, verse 16 says Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied, Here, King Nebuchadnezzar27:11 come in and said, You better bow down or you're going to burn. That's it. There was a third option. Bow down or burn. And so he came in and said to them, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,27:23 King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not even need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing fire, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it and he27:35 will deliver us from your majesty's hand. Look at verse 18 though. But even if he does not, we want you to know, your majesty, that we will not serve27:47 your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. Man, that's just saying I love my god and no other gods. I'm going to love God regardless of the consequences.28:00 Let me tell you what, we can look back on these men and think, boy, they must have been super saints. Well, let me tell you what, they were young men. Sometimes you might look at them and go, they were stupid saints,28:10 right? Because what's the likelihood you're going to be thrown into a fire furnace that's heat up heated up so much that the people who threw them in died that you're going to make it out alive. Right?28:22 But that's the kind of love they developed for God. See, they were living in the consequences of generations before them who didn't fear God, who didn't love God, who didn't serve God, did not walk in His ways. And how28:33 did that turn out for them? They were in captivity. And they were like, Well, listen, here's what we know. Serving other gods didn't turn out well for the whole nation, so I got an idea. Why don't the28:45 3 of us decide to serve God regardless and love Him regardless? And so, man, that's my encouragement with you. Look around. Find some guys that are willing to say, We're going to28:57 fear the Lord regardless. We're going to love the Lord regardless. We're going to walk with the Lord regardless. We're going to love Him regardless of what happened. That's exactly what they say. Said, King29:06 Nebuchadnezzar, we realize that, the cars are stacked against us. Everybody who goes into that furnace, they don't come out.29:19 But the 1 thing that we do know, serving your gods, has got us in this situation to begin with. And the generations before us who didn't serve and love and worship God got us into this situation29:30 because God said, I've had enough. And they said, so the last thing we wanna do is do what they did, but instead, we wanna try to be who God wants us to be. And they said, our God can deliver us, throw us in the29:42 furnace. But even if He doesn't, we're not gonna serve some other god. Guys, we need to man up and have that kind of mindset. We need to man up and have that idea. If I'm gonna step up into great into29:54 greatness for God, we need to have that very same mindset. God, I'm gonna serve you regardless. I trust you regardless. I believe you can restore me. I believe you could save me. I believe you could bring me through this30:04 trial, God. But even if you don't, even if you don't, I'm not gonna serve any other gods besides you. Here's number 4. You ready? Go back30:16 to Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 12. Here's number 4. What does the Lord ask of you require of you guys? To serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all of your soul.30:28 That word serve, I'm not gonna write this down. It means do something. Alright? Do something. Serve somewhere. I'm just gonna put the challenge right out there for those in the room30:40 here. Where are you serving? Where are you serving? We got Easter week coming up this weekend and, man, we need people to serve, park cars, do everything, work, open a door. It doesn't matter. Usher, help30:51 people find because here's what we know. The 9 30 and 11 o'clock service, they're gonna be overflow to capacity. We're gonna have to help people get in to b 1 19 and get into the chapel and get into the different place.31:02 We know that's gonna happen. Guess what? That doesn't happen on its own. We need people to sit here and go, you know what? Listen. I'll go I'm gonna worship an hour. I'll serve an hour. Worship an hour and serve an hour.31:10 But here's what he said. He says, serve the lord your god with all your heart, man, to your core. That's who we need to be. Dudes love to do things. How many of you know that? That's what what we like to do. We like to31:22 do things. We like to sit around. We're not sedentary. Get your steps in. Serve him. Hey. Get some of your steps in at church. There's an incredible story in the New Testament with Jesus'31:34 disciples in Matthew chapter 20, verse 20 and following. And so, James and John's mom rolls into Jesus and said, hey. Hey. You got a31:46 second. Alright? It I mean, this is a total mom scene. Right? Total mom scene. Pick it up. Matthew chapter 20. Love this example. Verse 20 and 22. It says, then31:57 the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus, with her with her sons kneeling down and asked a favor of Jesus. Jesus says, what is it that you want? She said.32:09 Says, grant that 1 of these 2 sons of mine may sit at your right hand and the other at your left hand in your kingdom. Now let me just stop you right there.32:22 Here's what she's saying. Listen, you know my boys are kinda special. So when you get to your kingdom, would you just put 1 on your right hand and 1 on your left hand? And and and I can32:33 only imagine you know, I don't know if Jesus Jesus is like, can you imagine the eye roll? Just what?32:45 Jesus' response was, let me tell you what. What I'm about to go through, you don't want either 1 of your sons to be a part of this because I'm about to be nailed to the cross, be beaten, spat upon, have a crown of32:56 thorns. They're gonna, beat me with cat o'-nine tails. He goes, you you your your kids can't handle what I'm about to go through. The beautiful thing is when we jump all the way down to verse 28,33:09 this is what Jesus said he was about. Just as the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Guys, I33:21 think a lot of times in our own hearts, we wanna sit at the right or the left hand of Jesus, and he goes, you wanna be like me? Go serve somebody. Go do something. This is a mom saying, hey. Listen. We33:33 realize, Jesus, you're number 1, but, you know, if my sons could be the silver and the bronze, all would be good. And Jesus looked at her and said, let me tell you what. They don't wanna be the silver and the33:45 bronze in mine, but here's what you can do. They can be exactly like me. And they can come and seek to serve and not just simply be served. Here's number33:56 5, and this is where we're gonna close, guys. Observe his commands. Just do what God tells you to do. Pretty self evident. If you go back to Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 12, what does the Lord34:08 require of you? Jump to verse 13. It says, to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today, remember those words, for34:20 your own good. Why is God's spirit gonna press upon your heart today on something that you said that you shouldn't have said or34:32 something that you wanna do that you shouldn't do or a place you wanna go but you shouldn't go or a drink you wanna take that you shouldn't drink? You wanna know why God says says no to all those? For your own good.34:46 For your own good. Because God wants you to win. So guys, as you leave here today, there are 5 rules from the road. They're not34:58 yoga poses we don't know how to define. They're not yoga poses we can't do. Every 1 of those are within the35:09 grasp of every man in this room. Let's pray. God, thank you so much for this day. God, let us be men that understand the rules of the road, and we understand that they're the35:21 rules of the road not because god wants to make us his puppets, but because God wants to make us better. God, let us leave these 5 with joy in our heart because we know these will35:33 all make us better. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. God bless. Shake somebody's hand on your way out. You have a great day.35:43 Thank you for tuning in to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Caton. For more information on John Mark's ministry and resources, please visit johnmarkkayton dot com. Until next time, remember, we're35:55 on this journey of life together.In this video 0:00 Five Rules for the Road
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