We Want To Know Him

i want to preach to you we want to know him we want to know him let's pray here at the outset jesus i pray that our hearts would be ready i pray god that our spirits our minds will be ready to hear you and to learn your word i pray god that you draw us closer to you i pray god that you bring us to a place where our attitude towards you and towards life is simply that we want to know you above all else above anything else any other aspiration or goal or future plan jesus we simply want our highest desire to be to know you god i pray you gift us with that attitude right now i i pray you give to us with that kind of spirit in our life as we go through this service jesus because we're looking for it and we want you we want to know you we want to know you and in that wonderful name of jesus we say amen or let it be let it be you can be seated

i'm going to read a a fairly large portion of scripture this is a famous uh passage of script scripture from philippians and paul writes in chapter 3 he says but whatever word gains to me i now consider loss for the sake of christ and what is more i consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing christ jesus my lord for whose sake i have lost all things i consider them garbage that i may gain christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which is through faith in christ the righteousness that comes from god on the basis of faith i want to know christ and i always point this out because i think it is hilariously interesting he says i want to know christ and you've got the little das and he says yes okay i'm the only one that thinks that's interesting and funny says i want to know christ yes indeed i do i want to know christ yes to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings it's a little darker there and becoming like him in his death and so somehow attaining the direct resurrection from the dead now not that i have already attained all of this or have already arrived at my goal but i press on to take hold of that for which christ jesus took hold of me brothers and sisters i do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it but one thing i do and this next line a lot of times we reference this and we're talking about mistakes we've made in our past but and that's certainly applicable here that certainly could be a part of it but based on what paul is getting at in philippians i think paul is talking about just his former life even the good parts even the things he liked and were good like money and fame and respect he says this one thing that i do i i'm forgetting what is behind i'm leaving it all behind and i'm straining toward what is ahead i press on toward the goal to win the prize for which god has called me heavenward in christ jesus in christ jesus paul had a lot going for him when he studied the life of paul we know that he had a prominent place in his culture he had a prominent place in a society he probably was financially secure he probably was postured for a promising future he had a lot of awesome things who wouldn't like to be financially secure with a promising future ahead of them some of us are crying right now that's all i want yeah well paul had that paul had everything going for him but something changed for paul something changed to the point where he decided that everything that was once valuable to him those things were now worthless all the fame all the respect the promising future the money the everything he had in society and culture he believed that those things were now worthless and from the outside one might look at paul's life and say paul you seem to be a little obsessed in an unhealthy way you seem to be obsessed with something or really rather with someone new he had a great life in judaism but all of a sudden he switches and makes an about-face and everything is different and this obsession for paul led him to do some strange things he endured persecution he endured imprisonment and beatings and rejection and all sorts of other things but this wasn't because paul was obsessed and private it wasn't because paul was obsessed in the four corners of his own home where nobody heard about how much he loved jesus and nobody saw how much he believed that jesus was the answer for everything paul wasn't persecuted paul didn't have a rough go after coming to christ because he did it all in secret paul had a rough go and paul had a hard life because he not only privately lived for jesus but he also proclaimed to others that they should do the same that they should follow jesus in the same way he followed jesus that they should be obsessed with jesus just like he was obsessed with jesus not only did he consider the things in his old life to be worthless but he also considered any other non-christ-focused aspirations of other lives to be worthless to and he told them that we live in a society where like jesus is the answer you know but if you don't think so that's good for you can i tell you paul did not believe that if you would have told paul yeah i think i'm okay i don't need jesus i'm living a good life you know what paul would have told you that's dumb that's wrong i'm just going to be an honest christian this morning okay when i say that jesus is the answer to life i don't just mean my life i mean your life in your life i mean their lives i mean our field i mean our society i mean our country i mean the world i actually believe that i i believe you can have all the money in the world i i believe you can follow other religions but you don't have the full truth i actually believe that and i don't believe that to be mean i don't believe that to be hateful i believe that because jesus tells me he's the only way that he's the only truth that if you follow him you've got to say no to other things i i'm just being honest about what it means to be obsessed with jesus when you're obsessed with something you don't care about other things do you when you're obsessed with something you don't want to try anything else who's like me when i go to a restaurant i find the one thing on the menu that i love and every time i go to that restaurant i order the same thing no matter what why don't you branch out why don't you try something new never i will never branch out i will never try something new because i have found something that i like and if we're going to that restaurant we're going there because i have something on the menu that i like and you're not going to dissuade me you're not going to tell me to try the chicken when i want the steak you're not going to tell me to get a salad when i want a euro all right you're not going to convince me the same is true of paul and jesus and what's funny is in philippians 3 15 after he gets done saying how obsessed he is with jesus he says all of us then who are mature oh that's great all of us then who are mature should take such a view of things what view right above this to be obsessed with jesus to consider everything else garbage except for knowing jesus he says all of us then who are mature should take such a view of things and if on some point you think differently you don't think you need to be as obsessed with jesus that too god will make clear to you well i don't think all this is necessary i i don't think i need to be that obsessed with jesus paul says you know what you just need to let god speak to you because you're wrong if you're not obsessed with jesus you are out of the will of god he's just being he's being very plain with the philippian church and i'm trying to be plain this morning that we need to be obsessed with jesus we need to be obsessed with knowing jesus he needs to be our highest aspiration he needs to be the first and last goal of our entire life to simply know him to know him something about paul's experience with christ convinced him that jesus was not simply the only way for himself but that christ was the way for the world and he was so convinced that he decided to make his entire life about this one jesus and some would say that paul's choices were weird sure some would say that his choices were weird and and maybe his choices are reserved for the truly spiritual or the apostles themselves or maybe just church leaders like pastors or evangelists but paul himself rebukes any such understanding when he says all of you think like i do everyone under the sound of paul's voice think this way be obsessed with jesus or when he tells

when paul tells others in in first corinthians 11 1 he says hey follow me as i follow christ be like me being obsessed with jesus isn't for pastors being i mean it is for us it is for pastor i should say being obsessed with jesus is not just for pastors it's not just for ministers it's not just for singers it's not just for people that are playing the piano it's not just for the drummer it's not just for evangelists it's not just for the spiritual ones among it being being obsessed with jesus is for everyone it is for everyone being so compelled by knowing christ was not for paul something reserved for the elite it was the expected experience of all believers that tasted what knowing christ is all about let me repeat that it is the expected experience being obsessed with christ is the expected experience of all believers who have experienced him it is the expected outcome of all who profess to be christians that they should be obsessed about knowing more about this jesus and just as paul had to remind his protege timothy to not be ashamed of the testimony about our lord or of me his prisoner but to rather join in suffering for the gospel's sake by the power of god because he has saved us and called us to a holy life not because of anything we have done not not because of anything we've achieved but because of his own purpose and because of his own grace because god has been so good because god has stepped into our life in such a way paul tells timothy don't you dare be ashamed about being ecstatic about jesus don't you dare be ashamed about being obsessed about jesus don't you dare look the other way when people call you about to call you on your love for jesus do not be ashamed young people do not be ashamed apc to so desire god that other things simply do not interest you don't be ashamed to be so obsessed with jesus so in love with jesus that other hobbies that other things that we could be doing with our time that other relationships that other activities simply do not interest us who has hobbies in this room i've got hobbies and and my wife she calls them my causes i get caught up in my causes i get obsessed with things i've got an obsessive personality okay if that's a real thing i have it okay when i get involved in a hobby youtube and i look up every video known to humankind on this hobby so that i can be the best goat farmer anyone has ever seen let's just be real about our youtube activity okay none of us actually go on there and continue to learn things after the first two videos all right the third video comes along it's a different topic by that point and you just you end up somewhere else okay i forget where i was going with this but i had a point yes my point okay when i get lost in a hobby when i get caught up in a hobby you can ask my wife we're working we've got a great marriage she's helping me okay when i get lost in a hobby sometimes it's hard to pull me out when i started getting obsessed with uh where's bruce there's bruce me and bruce we're good fishing buddies we're good buddies but we like to fish there there was a good month to three month span where we really got into fishing it was like every night we're trying to find a local pond we're trying to do all this stuff tressa's calling me she's like where are you at i'm like i'm fishing you know and like the most that we were catching is like these little bluegill like this big you know it's like it wasn't even a great catch but we were so obsessed with that hobby so obsessed with that activity that almost nothing could pull us away and really we weren't ashamed i would just tell my yeah i'm fishing i need a break from life i'm busy you know i would come up with all sorts of reasons so that i could continue to participate in my hobby can i tell you if we would get that sort of attitude about jesus that hey why don't you come i can't i've got to study the word tonight hey hey why don't you no no i've got to go to church sunday i i can't be there i've got church wednesday night too so i can't be there then i i wonder if we would get so obsessed about jesus like sometimes we get about our hobbies or sometimes we get about those relationships young people i wonder if we would get so obsessed with jesus that this is the kind of behavior that we would begin to depict to the world when we choose church when we choose bible reading when we choose prayer time or youth ministry or youth events or service in the kingdom or we choose knowing god above all other things and anything else please please hear me don't let anyone ever convince you that you are doing something weird you are not doing something weird because if you truly get a hold of what god has in store for you if you truly get a hold of who god is to you nothing that you could do for him could rightfully be labeled weird can i tell you most of you know my story most of you know my family story i am the son of an ex-drug addict an ex-drug addict who's sitting on that back row back there redeemed and changed and saved by god but can i tell you something that before god got got a hold of my dad i wasn't born yet i didn't exist but because jesus stepped into my parents life i am physically present with you here today and participating in the kingdom of god because he got involved so please don't try to convince me that anything i would try to give to jesus is weird or uncalled for or it doesn't quite fit or it's cliche can i tell you i owe him my very existence and so everything i do everything about me is going to be dedicated to him it's going to be dedicated to knowing him it's going to be dedicated to building his kingdom it's going to be dedicated to his purposes i shouldn't be here today but because i am my life now belongs to him and now it revolves around him and i've got to know our youth group and i've got to know this church i have grown up in this church and i know that my story is not the only one the story of god getting involved in such a way that our lives would be drastically different if he did not i'm looking at one right now jeff i don't mean to call you out but god got involved in your life and now you've been involved in ministry after ministry calling people to christ there is story after story example after example of jesus getting involved in a life and transforming it and making it something that it would not be without him and so forgive me if i suggest that because jesus did something in my life that i owe everything to him oh everything to him and because of this because god has been so good and because i am only here according to his will quite literally outlet because god has been present in the outlet student ministries we want to know him i wish i could relay what is sitting right here right now you don't get it no one can get it except you really but once god gets involved in a life you see the new converts a lot man they get saved it's like what can i do i'll replace the roof of this church by myself right now you know they get real excited but truly all it is is that they got to know jesus a little bit and the only natural reaction to getting a taste of him he's gotta we wanna know you more show us more of you the church we want we want to know him and i'll be honest when you go to talk to people that that haven't had an experience with christ sometimes it's going to seem like you're speaking a different language to them no i can't do that i've got to be at church i'm going to i'm going to do this event or that event or do this ministry and that and they're like what are you talking about like you don't need to go to church to know god you don't need to participate in the community like me and god are tight you know i don't do anything i don't pray but me and him are tight you know and we le and we laugh because because we're speaking different languages people in this room and people out in the culture we don't talk the same about god it's gonna seem like there's a language barrier between us in fact when they try to talk to you you're not going to understand them either well why do you do that and you're going to say what do you mean why do i do that because god's been and they're not going to quite get it and you're not going to quite get it

first peter 2 11 kind of gives us some insight peter writes he says dear friends i urge you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from the sinful desires which wage war against your soul and i'm not talking about sin tonight i'm not talking about abstaining from sinful desires although i believe you should do that i believe you should do that but what i am focusing on is that he says i urge you as foreigners and exiles in other words you you should expect there to be a language barrier you should expect the way that you feel about god and the way the world feels about god is going to be different because they haven't had the same experience they haven't had the same walk as you have with god and i'm gonna i'm i'm actually wrapping up so i want to share a story with you story of a book of exodus the children of israel have been rescued from egypt god has got involved moses has has led the people of israel god has done miraculous things god has showed up stepped up and done some amazing things that quite literally redeemed and rescued the children of israel in a way that they could not have done by themselves i mean red sea being parted i don't know about you but i can't part c's i don't have that ability god didn't give me with that spiritual gift but god has showed up and then there's this conversation in exodus 33 that i want to read to you i want to read to you it says moses said to the lord you've been telling me lead these people but you have not let me know whom you will send with me moses poses two questions it says you have said i know you by name and and you have found favor with me if you are pleased with me teach me your ways so i may know you and continue to find favor with you remember that this nation is your people i find that funny and the lord replies and he doesn't answer both of moses's questions he only answers that first one of you haven't told me who's going with me moses asked hey who are you sending with me and and i want to know you more those are the two questions he begins to answer one of them says the lord replied my presence will go with you and i will give you rest then moses said to him if your presence does not go with us do not send us up from here how will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us and he asks a follow-up he says what else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth and the answer is the presence of god that's what distinguishes and the lord says to moses he says okay i'll do that very thing i'll go with you i'll do the very thing you have asked because i am pleased with you and i know you by name and then the lord's just going to move on and not answer the second question of moses which was hey i want to know you and moses is a little bold here and we know scripture tells us that moses talked to god like like a friend would would talk facebook we know that but moses doesn't leave that second question lying the very next thing he doesn't ask this time he simply says in verse 18 then moses said now you said you're going with us now that you've answered my first question show me your glory in other words i've seen you do miraculous things in the people of israel's lives i've seen you show up and rescue and redeem and make a way i i've seen you be present and these people lie and you've even said that you're gonna come with us and that you're gonna go with us and that's good and that's great and i want your presence with us but i but i don't want your presence with us without any knowledge of who you are and so he insists the second time he says okay i'm glad you're with us but now god i need to know who you are i need you to show me some of your glory i i need you to reveal some more of who you are because i want to know you i need to know you i need to have a fuller experience with you and we know in that moment we we know that god couldn't show moses fully who he was he had to cover him in a rock and pass by him and says that no one could really see god at that time because well if you do you die that's a kind of a cool god right we know that that's different in the new testament though because paul tells us in 2nd corinthians 4 he says for god who said let light shine out of darkness made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of god's glory the thing that moses asked for but it's god's glory displayed in the face of jesus christ in other words in jesus we can know who god is fully isn't that really isn't that a really cool thing that this god that we've experienced this god that we've walked with this god that has changed our life we have access to him we can know him fully we can walk in a way that we can know exactly who he is and and there's only one way to do that and that is by knowing jesus christ and i believe that's what's going to happen during our youth week i i believe that we're going to come to know jesus more i i think we're going to come to know jesus better i think our knowledge of jesus is going to be heightened but can i tell you the only way that something like that happens is if we have the attitude and the passion of moses where the second time he talked to god it was no longer a question it wasn't god hey would you please show us who you are it was god show me who you are moses was so obsessed moses was so convinced moses needs to know so bad that he approached the lord of glory with the command lord show me your glory i have to ask a question the music can come i have to ask a question here in closing and that is simply that why is it that when people have an experience with god whether it be moses and the people of israel whether it be paul after his encounter with christ on the road to damascus why is it that after they have an encounter after they have an experience with god that the next question they ask is to know him or or why is it that their highest or their greatest desire becomes to know him more why is that why is it like i said that new converts when they're saved i feel like they could tear this building down and rebuild it in like three days because of how passionate people are when they get a taste of who jesus is why is that why does that happen and we can come up with a lot of reasons we have reasons in this room that you could share but i have to believe it it's because many times we can have a direct comparison of what it looks like when our lives are without god and when our lives include god you ever think about that you ever think over your path there's some moments that god quite literally saved me from making a choice that would have led me down a different road i would physically be here because i was already born but i wouldn't be here and i began to reflect on that i began to reflect on this great god who created the cosmos the stars and heavens and the earth and all the animals and all the trees i began to reflect on how great this god is and and then i also reflect on the fact that this great god would step into my life little old me and care so much to try to persuade me for making one decision that would change the rest of my life that is amazing to me that god has such care and such concern for us so i think that's probably one of the biggest reasons that we have a comparison to make our life without and our life with god but i also believe that during that life with god we experience some things like moses and paul freedom we experience the goodness of god we experience the blessing and favor of god we get to walk in his presence we get to walk with his spirit and and something about that experience something about that walk with god changes us to the point that the only thing we want in life the only thing that we desire in life is simply to know him and i know life can take that from us i know that we can walk with god for a long time and sometimes it gets cliche and sometimes we get tired and sometimes we get worn out and sometimes people are mean to us and sometimes satan gets involved he tries to rob an experience from us to where our greatest desire only in word is jesus but in our actions it's other things we spend time on other things i know i get all of that but i believe i believe that if we would ask for it and we'd be intentional about it god could re-baptize us with the attitude that we had at the beginning that we have a fresh experience with god and all of a sudden the fire ignites in our hearts again and the only thing we want the only thing we desire the only thing that we're looking for is simply to know him more simply to get a better taste to get more of his presence more of an experience with him more of who he is in our life i believe god can give that to us but we have to begin to foster an attitude of jesus we just want to know you more than anything i'm going to invite you all to stand with me here at the end i want to read psalm 34 to you and i love this psalm i think it's powerful i i think it speaks to where i'm at right now where we're at where we're trying to go this is david writing and he's had an experience with god he's walked with him god has rescued him and saved him and and even when david made mistakes god stepped in and forgave him david writes he says hey why don't you taste and see why don't you try it for yourself that the lord is good he says blessed is the one who takes refuge into him and then he goes on he says fear the lord you his holy people for those who fear him lack nothing and i like this last line that i'm going to read he says the lions they may grow weak and hungry but those who seek the lord lack no good thing leave that up for me by the way leave that scripture up there sometimes we can try to live for jesus in a balancing act yeah i'm going to seek the lord on wednesdays and sundays i'm going to give my all so i have time to chase my career and i have time to fellowship with friends and all that's important all that's wonderful school events all that stuff but let me just read this to you again that last line david says those who seek the lord lack no good thing jesus says in another way in matthew 6 when he says seek first the kingdom and then all these other things will be added to you so i just wanted to spell something tonight and then i'm going to call people before we're going to have an altar called prayer time and prep for youth week you don't have to look for anything else in life i'm just going to be bold okay if you seek the face of the lord your career will happen that's just what i believe okay you seek the faith for the lord your family will work out you seek the face of the lord even in sickness you'll have peace even in trial you'll have strength if you seek the lord all other problems all of the situations all other hardships will be taken care of i just believe that this morning and i wonder if apc at large would believe that with me that if we could just get this attitude that i just need to seek the lord and everything else will work out everything else will be just fine i i wonder if we could adopt the attitude of the title of this this morning's sermon that all we want jesus is to simply know you all we want jesus is to simply seek your face all we want jesus is to simply have a relationship with you i i believe if we could get that sort of attitude not only will we have a good youth week not only will we have a great time and experience with the lord but the entirety of our life will be better the entirety of our life will be worked out and

so here's what i want to do what we're going to do this is called an altar call an altar call is where a preacher or somebody after a sermon they make an appeal and they open the altars that means the front of this church is open you can come up here and take a step of faith and you can pray you could also find yourself against the wall you could find yourself kneeling in your pew you could find yourself anywhere in this room but what an altar call truly is is a specified time in which we come to the lord and say i've heard your word i've heard your voice and now i want to respond to the call of it so they're going to play and they're going to sing but if you want this to be your attitude and you want to help us pray for youth week whatever it is if you want this to be your attitude jesus we just want to know you i'm going to invite you to participate in this altar call as i begin to pray i wonder if you'd be so brave and so filled with faith to step out of your aisle step out of your pew either make your way to the front make your way to the side make your way somewhere kneel down and pray and say god we need a fresh baptism a fresh attitude that you are our highest desire you are our highest aspiration we just want to know you we just want to experience your power we just want to experience your name we just want to walk in your presence we want to walk in your goodness and your favor god give us a fresh revelation give us a fresh realization of who you are jesus and help us to respond accordingly god because once we see a glimpse of you once we get a glimmer of who you are we can't help it we can't help it but one more jesus i pray you get that process started in each and every life right now god i pray in the name of jesus begin to move begin to show up here in this place the moment that we see you we are changed show us your glory show us your surrender we fall down show us your glory let every burning heart be holy ground show us your glory in wonder and surrender we fall down show us your glory let every burning heart be holy ground keep not by power but only by the cross we come alive here we're under show us your glory show us your glory and wonder and surrender we fall down show us your glory let every heart be holy ground show us your glory in wonder and surrender we fall down show us your glory that every burning heart be holy ground here not by power but only by the cross we come alive here we're under show show us your glory in wonder and surrender we fall down show us to glory show us your glory let every burning heart be holy ground show us your glory in wonder and surrender we fall down show us your glory that every burning heart we holy jesus you change everything trash jesus you changed everything jesus you change everything's lies healed jesus you change everything show us your glory in wonder and surrender we fall down show us your glory let every burning heart be holy ground show us your glory in wonderland surrender we fall down show us your glory show us to glory that every burning heart be holy jesus you change everything lies jesus you change everything jesus you changed everything show us your glory show us your glory

we're gonna pray for our youth in just a moment but i want us to recognize and realize what's already been stated and what we probably already know but it's worth restating that this is not just for youth and young people but as recently as this last friday as i sat in my chair in my living room listening to the word of god and reading the word of god my prayer was simply lord i want to know you every time i open that bible and every time i lift my hands in worship and in prayer every time i pace that living room talking to him i've got one aim and it is the highest aim that i could shoot for it's higher than anything i want to know you jesus i want to know i want to be your friend oh god i want to be more like you so today across the room we've got people who have walked with the lord for decades but we're still not done knowing him and we're not content with where we are i want you to stand right now and would you just let a little bit of desperation rise up in you it says oh god i've got to know you more and i'm not content where i am would you pray that in your own words but do it in sincerity oh god oh if the apostle paul had to pause and say i want to know him even in the fellowship of his sufferings i am not exempt today i've got to be closer to you i want to know you jesus that's my aim and my pursuit it's why i come to churches it's why i lift my voice in worship and praise and today my prayer is that not only this altar but tomorrow and the next day i would continually pursue you and know you in the name of jesus in the name of jesus pray it sundays and wednesdays pray lord by the time we leave this service help us to know you more you told someone i go to church four or five hours a week or in extra events i go and i pray and i and all i get out of you get more than this we all get more than this but all i got out of it was that i get to know him better i went to church today and i got to know jesus more oh it is worth every moment