Are You a Big Loser? Part 1

So I have a very important question to ask all of you to begin the sermon.

And that is, are you a big loser? That's right. Are you a big loser with a capital L? Now, some of you have seen or heard of a reality show on TV. It's called The Biggest Loser. How many of you have actually watched that program?

Four or five? Six of you, maybe?

Well, I don't care if you are the biggest loser, but I do want every one of you to be a big loser. Now, I know you have probably no idea what I'm talking about here, but I think it will become clear as we continue in the sermon. Now, this show, The Biggest Loser, began in October of 2004. It's been going on almost 10 years. I didn't know that. I mean, I just had heard about it, I think, sometime, but I didn't watch my first episode until just a few months ago. It's on NBC. It's had an extraordinary 217 brand-new episodes over the last nearly 10 years, nine years. Obviously, it's been quite successful. It's been immensely popular. It's a show where 15 seriously obese people. I'm talking about men and women who weigh 400, 300, 200 pounds. I don't think anyone is less than 200 pounds.

They're seriously obese for their size and everything. They're selected to compete for a huge cash prize. But, of course, in reality, the largest and the most valuable prize of all is simply this. It's the weight that they will shed. The weight that they will shed will actually be of greater value than any money that they could earn. So, everyone is a winner on the contest because all of them lose incredible amounts of weight. Every single person on it loses a lot of weight, and everyone is a winner because they're all big losers. The overall winner of the contest is the one who loses the biggest percentage of weight relative to his or her initial weight. Now, just to give you a few examples, Rachel weighed 260 pounds. This is the current season. She weighed 260 pounds. She was down to 167 after a 10-week period. Chelsea weighed 241 pounds. She was down to 177. She lost 64 pounds. Jay was 297 pounds.

When the program started, he was down to 196. He lost 101 pounds. Marie was 249. She's down at 187. Tumi was 319 pounds. She's down to 225. Tanya, I believe, was 262, and she's now down to 201. David was 409 pounds, and he's down to 282. Still a rather big boy, but he's lost a lot of pounds. So they are big losers. They're all big losers. So in that sense, everyone is a winner.

Initially, the 15 men and women are placed upon one of three teams, five people on a team, each team having its own coach. The coach's job is to see that his or her team has the highest percentage of weight loss each week. Generally, one person who has the lowest percentage of weight loss on that week's losing team is eliminated. So first, it's the team that's lost the least percentage-wise.

They're singled out, and then it's the person on that team who has lost the least amount of weight. Then they are eliminated. They have to go home. So generally, one person who has the lowest percentage of weight loss on that week's losing team is eliminated and sent home. Eventually, the competition will move from teams to individuals. Later on in the competition, it goes to individuals, no longer teams, and the one or two people who lose the lowest percentage of weight each week are then sent home.

The contestants, frankly, put their lives on hold to dedicate themselves to this very serious job of losing weight for the good of their health and also for the overall good of their families. They realize that being so obese, it's gotten to the point where they really needed to do something drastic. So they'll leave their jobs, their homes, their families, and their friends. They'll leave everything and everyone that they know and love.

Now, they can call on the phone, but they have to get away from that environment that helped contribute to them gaining so much weight, for one thing. Plus, they go to the ranch. It's called the ranch. That's where these 15 people come together. They've never met each other before. This is the first time they've known each other. So they leave their comfort zone. They leave their family, their homes, and so forth.

They come to the ranch, and now they have something in common. They are all trying to lose some serious weight. You know, the weight was making them miserable and slowly killing them, frankly, in certain cases. Some had diabetes, and they were having especially difficult health issues because of it. They all have the common desire to feel better about themselves and to shed their excess weight and live a longer, healthier life.

Now, this sermon is not about losing weight. You know, it's not about losing physical weight because, frankly, in Romans chapter 14 verse 17, it clearly says that the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but it's righteousness. It's about peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. So this is not a sermon about losing weight. Frankly, there will be plenty of obese people physically who will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. You know, I think there will certainly be those who will go into God's kingdom, even though they had a weight problem.

This is not, again, it's not about physical issues. It's about spiritual ones. So I have another question for you. How much excess ungodly weight and baggage, otherwise known as sin, have you put on because of being a spiritual couch potato? Have you ever thought of being a spiritual couch potato?

What spiritual junk food and decadent desserts, again, otherwise known as sin, have you been indulging in sins that are adding harmful weight and threatening your very spiritual existence? So there are some analogies that certainly we can make from this show called The Biggest Loser. You know, these people commit themselves to over three months of rigorous training and serious diet changes when they go to the ranch. But no matter how much they lose at the ranch, they know that when they leave, when they go back home, those killer pounds will go right back on if they don't change the lifestyle that they had before going in.

They must there must be a total change, not only for three months, but a complete change of mind, of mindset, of attitude, of heart, of focus, and also habits for the rest of their lives. Or that way it will come back.

In Hebrews 12, let's go there because this is the theme scripture for the sermon today. I will come back to this particular verse a few times throughout the sermon. And by the way, this is not just a one-point... this is not just a one-sermon sermon. It's probably going to be a three-part sermon. So I know I'm not going to get through seven points. I want to go through seven principles for losing the weight, the sin that so easily ensnares us. Seven principles for losing the weight. Notice in Hebrews 12 what it says here in verse 1, Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about was so great a cloud of witnesses. Now it's referring back to Hebrews 11, where the men and women of faith are listed. So we are encompassed with a great cloud of witnesses. So let us lay aside every weight, basically as they did, is what it's referring to. They laid aside their weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. The men and women of faith in Hebrews 11 have the same nature that we have. They also were easily beset by sin, and yet they are a part of Hebrews 11, the people of faith. They will be in God's kingdom. The Bible tells us that. So let us lay aside or let us lose every weight and the sin which does easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. So we do need to consider that the Bible endorses this idea of losing spiritual weight, losing the sins that destroy us, the sins that tear us down and bring us down. So are you determined to lose the spiritual weight, the sin that pulls you down spiritually? Are you determined to do that? What can you do to help you lose the weight? What can you do personally to help you lose the weight, the sin, and become spiritually lean and fit? Now, frankly, there's only so much you can do. God has to do a great deal of it, and we will cover that as we go through the sermon. But there is a part that you have to play as well. So I'm going to again share seven principles for losing the weight, seven things that we can all do to help us lose the spiritual weight. And the first one is to trust, to listen to, and to follow your coaches. Trust, listen to, and follow your coaches. On the biggest loser, the contestants have a coach whose main goal is to help each person on his team lose as much weight as possible, but still stay healthy. You know, stop and think about it. They could starve all the contestants for three months. They could exercise them to death. They could have heart attacks.

But, you know, I really don't think they want to be sued. So they have to be careful that they don't push them too hard. But they do push them rather hard. But they have to be careful. It has to be within balance. But they do want them to lose as much weight as humanly possible, but still stay healthy. Now the trainers on The Biggest Loser can be rather hard-nosed. If you've seen any of the programs, you will see Jillian yelling at some of them, screaming at them to do one more rap. You can do it! One more rap! Don't quit! Don't quit! And so the coaches are rather hard-nosed, but they seem to genuinely care for their teams. And they want them to succeed. And the longer the show goes on, the stronger the bond becomes between the contestant and the coach. You actually see some bonds developing there and some sincerity and genuineness. I'm sure the coaches also want to win. You know, they're very competitive. So they want to win, and so they will just about push a guy in the grave to win. So, you know, I'm not naive enough to think that that's not some of the motivation, but hopefully it's also a concern for the person as well. Now, obviously, from a spiritual perspective, we have a coach. Now, ultimately, and most importantly, God the Father and Jesus Christ, they are our coaches. You know, they're the ones that we look to, to guide us, to direct us, to show us the way, to help us overcome, to help us get rid of the weight, the sin that easily ensnares us. At the same time, it's very clear from the Bible that God also does use human beings. He does use people. So it is important also to realize that there are human coaches that can also guide and direct you if you're willing to allow them to. So God the Father and Christ are the main coaches, but also those God has selected to also lead and guide you. Now, on the biggest loser, the trainers there are surely not lifestyle models in every way. You know, there are undoubtedly some very serious issues spiritually with some of those trainers. Probably all of the trainers, I don't know that any of them are converted, I don't think so.

They model the habits and attitudes that the contestants must emulate, however, in order to achieve their goal of losing weight. I mean, these are coaches who are basically well-fit. They're ripped, so to speak. You know, they're in good shape because they have pushed themselves on, they have washed their diet, they have exercised, they know something about getting fit, losing weight, and reaching a goal. So they're good from that standpoint. The contestants most likely will never look exactly like their trainers. Now, come on! If you're 400 pounds, you're probably not going to get down to 115. You know, if you're a woman or 110 or 170 or 180 and look fit, you've got too much excess weight to deal with. You know, it's just not going to happen. You're not going to look that great in certain ways. However, no doubt that the health would be much better. I mean, if you get rid of that weight that's affecting the health, it's going to be much better for you.

So the contestants, their past unhealthy lifestyles have taken a toll upon them. They will think more like their coaches and look more like them when they follow their lead and example and when they respond to their training. So even though they have baggies to deal with, they will make some progress. As I mentioned, some lost over 100 pounds and the contest isn't even over. So that's a huge difference, obviously. When they leave the ranch, the contestants will be well on their way to a new life, to a better life, at least better from a physical standpoint, and even in many cases better mentally. Because sometimes it's a self-image issue that has allowed them to put on so much weight. There are many factors that come into becoming obese like that. It's obviously that they're not thinking properly to allow them to get themselves into such a condition. Now, sometimes I know too that chemically there's a chemical problem with some of them, no doubt. I mean, some of us would never get that big, no matter what we did to ourselves. You know, physically it's just probably not going to happen. We have a higher metabolism. So I don't mean to disparage anyone in this sermon at all. Everyone's different. Everyone has different battles to fight. But the main issue, again, is they go there committed to losing weight and to keeping the weight off. Now spiritually, we must recognize that God and Christ, again, they're our ultimate coaches. It is God the Father who draws us to His Son. And it is Jesus Christ who reveals to us the Father. You know, the Bible clearly says that. John 644, no man can come to me unless the Father draws Him. So the Father is the one that draws us to Christ. And then Christ reveals the Father simply by being Himself. Okay, they're the best coaches. You know, if we will just tune in to God the Father and Jesus Christ and follow their example and walk as they walked, then we will be well on our way to getting rid of the sin that so easily ensnares us. So that's most important that we make them our example, that we emulate them, that we want to become like them.

Now, Jesus Christ is our elder brother. We know that is a reference in the Scriptures that He's our elder brother. And so He reveals our Heavenly Father to us by being the very best big brother ever. Now, I have a big brother and I've always loved my big brother. I've looked up to him. He really is a great big brother. You know, he's two years older than I am. And I appreciate him a great deal. He was a good example for me. I think I'm a better person because of the example that my brother set for me. And so I really appreciate him. I love him very much. And, you know, we also must come to love Jesus Christ as the biggest big brother ever. Or not the biggest, but the best big brother that any one of us could ever have. It's important to have that kind of relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, He is the Messiah. He is our Savior. He laid His life down for us. And greater love has no man than this, that He lay His life down for His friends. And He calls us all friends. So Christ is the elder big brother. And we should want to be like Him. We should follow His example. We should study into His life. I'm looking forward to talking about the real Jesus Christ and giving a Bible study on that to some people who frankly don't know the real Jesus Christ. So we're fortunate. We're blessed to know the real Jesus Christ. You know, He is our coach. He is our trainer. We look to Him and we look to His Father. Now, the beauty of our calling is that we can eventually become just like our Father in Heaven and just like our elder brother. We can become just like them. In fact, that's exactly what they want for us. You know, isn't it wonderful to have God the Father and Jesus Christ who are not jealous at all? They're not envious. You know, they don't struggle with us becoming like them. They want us to become like them. We're always going to be subject to them because we are created. They have always existed. They're eternal and they've been around before time was created. They created time. They put into motion the plan of salvation. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. You know, the one that was the Word, the spokesman, the Logos. Logos came down and He became flesh like we are subject to the flesh, subject to problems and trials and pain and agony and a crucifixion. So God the Father and Jesus Christ show their eminent love for us. Their complete perfect love for us. We need to look at them as the greatest coaches ever.

In Psalm 34 verse 8, the Scripture says, O taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste. God is what it's saying. It's saying, you know, experience God. Taste. I'm in Psalm 34 verse 8. Psalm 34 verse 8. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him. Okay, we are blessed when we trust in God. Again, the first point is looking to our coach, looking to God the Father and Christ and realizing that when we place our trust in God the Father and Jesus Christ, we will be greatly blessed and we will come to see that the Lord is indeed good. Let's go to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3 verses 4 and 5. 1 John chapter 3 verse 4. We're familiar with this verse. Whoever commits sin transgresses the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. Now, it's talking about God's holy and righteous law. Speaking of the Ten Commandments and the other laws and judgments and statutes that God has put into place. Sin is the transgression of any of God's laws. When we break God's laws, we are sinning. But notice verse 5. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. Notice, He was manifested to take away our sins. The reason He became flesh was to take away our sins. That's what this sermon is all about, isn't it? It's losing the weight, the sin that so easily ensnares us. And this Scripture clearly says that Christ was manifested to take away our sins. That's why He came to take away our sins. So obviously, He has a huge role to play in taking away our sins. But some people want to just put it all on Him. A lot of people want to just put it all on Him, and think that they have no responsibility themselves. Well, I'm here to tell you that's not true. There is a responsibility that we all have. And when I go through these seven principles, you will clearly see what your responsibility is. You do have a responsibility. The first one is to look to God the Father and Jesus Christ as your coaches. And to follow their example, and to follow what they tell you that you need to be doing. Now, all of us, in a very real sense, have been called to a spiritual ranch. This is our ranch. This little room here in Oklahoma City is your ranch. You've been called to the spiritual ranch. When God called us, we were spiritually obese. Some of us were perhaps more obese than others. Some of us were into sins in perhaps a great way. You know, there is a degree of sin, obviously. We're all sinners, no doubt, but some have gone way into certain lifestyles and sins. And God has brought them out. But every single one of us was spiritually obese.

Really, any kind of weight that you're carrying, in this sense, is being spiritually obese. Because we are to become like Christ who is perfect. That's our goal. That's what we strive for. So we're all in this spiritual ranch together. Habits of indulging in sin over the years has taken a toll upon us. Before conversion, we were stuck in a cycle that we loved and hated at the same time, I suppose. We may have loved the sin that was slowly killing us, but we knew that something had to change. God's Spirit was leading us to a brand new lifestyle and a brand new attitude and heart that would lead to shedding the spiritual weight and becoming a new creation, becoming a new person. We had to be willing to leave everything in this world behind, if necessary, and follow God for our own spiritual survival. Notice Mark 10. Mark 10, verse 28. Let's go there in Mark 10.

Mark 10, verse 28. Mark 10, verse 28. Now, Christ is speaking here. He's giving instruction to his disciples in Mark 10, verse 28. Mark 10, verse 28.

Peter began to say to Christ, to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and we have followed you. So he's saying, we've left everything, Jesus. We've left it all to follow you. That was certainly Peter's intent, and they had walked away from a job, a walk away from their family, to follow Jesus Christ. We have to have the same approach, don't we? We have to be willing to walk away from everything to follow Jesus Christ. We need to be willing to leave everything and follow Christ. So that means, again, that God the Father and Christ are the ultimate coaches. We leave everything behind. We put them first in our life, as was mentioned in the sermon at Matthew 6, 33. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. So that is our priority. We leave everything behind to follow God. Like those on the big loser, we need a total lifestyle change when we come into God's church. We need a change of heart if we're going to get rid of the weight of sin that easily ensnares us. And if we want to keep it off, then we have to make a total lifestyle change. We must not only change our habits, but we also have to change the way we view sin, how we look at sin. We must learn to love the taste of obedience. You know, I was thinking about this particular item here, and there are many times when I really do love the taste of obedience, but there have been a few times when I almost regretted doing the right thing. Has that ever happened to you? You know, you're struggling with the temptation. You overcome, you do the right thing, and then a few hours later or the next day, you're almost kind of wishing you had done, because it's that carnal nature again. It's it's Satan trying to get you to go back to the vomit that you rejected in the first place. So, you know, we have to continue to fight the fight against a sin that easily ensnares us. Satan never gives up. You know, he is just the opposite of a godly coach. He's there trying to destroy us. So, like the trainers, sometimes God has been viewed as a hard-nosed task master, a hard-nosed task master, but nothing is really further from the truth. Now, God is a God of justice, and it says clearly that we should all learn to fear God, because it's only God that can destroy us, ultimately in a lake of fire. But at the same time, God is not some hard-nosed task master. He has godly balance in the way that he deals with us, and we need to have that same kind of balance in how we treat one another. We need to have a godly balance. The trainers on The Biggest Loser, again, can be a bit hard-nosed. Now, they'll get right in your face and scream at you. I'm sure that there have been many who were brought to tears by their coaches on The Biggest Loser. Probably they don't show all the ones that cried, because their task master coaches were screaming at them and trying to motivate them. So the trainers can be a bit hard-nosed at times, too much. God never really is. That doesn't mean that God isn't single-minded in his approach toward us, but God treats us the way we need to be treated. He can be very hard-nosed with us. Isn't there such a thing as the wrath of God that's going to be poured out upon a sinning people who have rejected Him? That's pretty hard-nosed, isn't it? It's pretty hard-nosed. So, in one sense, he's hard-nosed, but he's not a task master. It's not that he's got the whip. God gives us free moral agency. It's upon us to make the decisions. It's upon us to make the choices. God doesn't sit there with a whip and whip us into submission. It comes from the heart. We have to be willing to obey God.

Now, on the Biggest Loser, they do have trainers who are well-trained themselves. They know how to motivate people, to get the best out of people, in many cases. God also knows how to correct us and train us for our good. Let's go to Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12.5. So, we skipped over a few verses that we'll actually go back to later. We started in Hebrews 12.1, the sin that easily besets us. Now we're in Hebrews 12.5.

Notice here it says, And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children. My son despies not you the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by him, or rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chastens not? But if you be without chastisement, wherefore all our partakers, then are you bastards? This is the King James version. They cleaned it up a little bit in the New King James. It says, you're illegitimate. You're not sons. Verse 9. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. And you know, that's certainly true. I know my children, whenever they would do something against my law or my wife's law in the house, when they did something wrong and we knew about it, then there would be a time of reckoning. And when they realized that time of reckoning was coming, they showed us reverence. The only problem is, if they had shown us more reverence, they might not have done it in the first place. So typically, we would go ahead and discipline them for whatever infraction, unless their attitude showed something different. In other words, if they showed us some reverence before we knew about it, if they came to us and they said, you know, mommy or daddy, I did this, or I did that, I know I shouldn't have done it, then we would be inclined to be merciful.

We would let them know that we appreciate the fact that they came and told us. Now, I don't know that I suppose some kids could get to the point where they would use that as a technique.

I don't know that our kids ever did that. I don't recall that ever happening. I do recall only on a few occasions would they not get what they deserved.

And that was, again, when we saw their attitude, when we saw their heart. Now, God is very gracious toward us. He does not punish us according to our many sins.

It's a little different when you're human and you're living right there in the household. You have to be consistent with your children. You really do have to be consistent so that they will learn to obey. It's very important that they learn to obey. So you have to be consistently disciplining them when they disobey you. How else are they going to learn to obey? So God corrects us because He loves us very deeply. And that is why my wife and I would correct our children, because we love them. And we wanted them to learn the lessons that they would need to have for the rest of their lives. Lessons that would put them in good stead in their community, in their job, in anything that they would do. So we wanted certain principles learned. We wanted them to learn certain principles. Now going back to Hebrews 12.

We read verse 9 about having fathers who corrected us and they would show us reverence. Shall we not much rather be in the middle of verse 9 now, shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? So we do need to come into subjection. We need to surrender ourselves. That's part of this first point, is to look to your coaches and surrender yourself to your coaches, to God the Father in Christ. For they verily for a few days chastened us as after their own pleasure, but he for our prophet that we might be partakers of His holiness. The reason God disciplines us is He wants us to become like Him. He wants us to be partakers of His holiness. He doesn't do it for His own pleasure. Now a human father might correct someone because they're getting on his nerves. They're making too much noise or they're playing too vigorously and he can't sleep or watch TV or something that he selfishly may want to do. And so he may correct them for that when really they weren't doing anything wrong if he hadn't told them ahead of time. So sometimes the human fathers correct us and they don't do it properly, but God always corrects us perfectly. He is perfect. He corrects us perfectly. Again, God is an impatient. He's not angry. He's not jealous. Now He can become angry. He can become jealous, but in a godly way, not in a selfish carnal way. There's a big difference there. God is long suffering. He is very, very patient. The fruits of God's Spirit, love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and meekness and self-control. These are... this is what God is. This is His character. So we should look to God to correct us as our coach. He has the right to correct us, and when He does so, just realize it's for our good. Now in Ephesians chapter 4, now it shows that since God isn't here at the present time, He has sent messengers. He has sent people, human beings, to do much of the guiding and directing that He once done on the earth. He has people that are to represent Him. He has people that are to be His ambassadors and to represent Him. Notice Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11. And He gave some apostles, of course this is speaking of Jesus Christ, who's the head of the church. He gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and some teachers. Now let's stop and think about that a moment. The Bible reveals clearly that some were apostles. It speaks of apostles in the Bible. Paul was an apostle. Peter was an apostle. The 12 apostles, the 12 disciples and apostles. It also speaks of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel and Hosea. They were all prophets. They were evangelists. Philip was an evangelist. There were others, of course, who preached the gospel and were evangelists. Some were pastors. He said to ordain elders in every city. And some became pastors or shepherds, overseers. And that's basically what I'm called as a pastor. You know, I'm the pastor of this flock, this congregation. I believe that God has given me a responsibility to be your pastor.

I think that I have a responsibility to you as your pastor to take care of you, to guide you, to direct you, to be faithful to you, to do my very best to set a good example, and to just be the kind of loving shepherd that you all need. You know, that's what God has given me to do. It isn't something I take lightly. You know, I'm not perfect. I'm a human being. You know, I haven't always set the perfect example. I'm sure of that. So, I know I fall short, but nevertheless, this is my lot in life. You know, God has given me this job. I believe that the ministry is a calling. I believe I was sent here. I think I believe I know I have a responsibility to you people, all of you. And so, notice verse 12. Why? You know, it's for the perfecting of the saints. It's for the work of the ministry. It's for the edifying of the body of Christ. That's why I stand before you now, because this is something God has given me to do. And I've recognized it, and I've answered the call, and I'm here. So, again, we're all in this together. I think I'll just quit with one scripture in Judges chapter 8 verse 23. And, you know, I really haven't had a lot of time to even look this one up.

Judges chapter 8, it's about, it's about, oh, I can't even get, I can't even think of his name. It's about Judges chapter 8. Yeah, Gideon. Gideon. It's about Gideon. Notice what he says here in Judges 8 verse 23. Now, Gideon was a man who actually lacked faith. He had to have all these signs. And yet, he was a man who was faithful and did do God's bidding, and God used him. In Judges 8 verse 23, notice what he says here. Well, let's read verse 22. Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule over us, both you and your son, and your son's sons also. For you have delivered us from the hand of the hand of Midian. And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, the Eternal shall rule over you. Okay, Gideon did the right thing there. He said that it is the Eternal that shall rule over you. Now, it isn't much longer before they have a king, remember that? They asked for a king, and God gave them a king, and the king ruled over them. And it didn't always go so well. You know, it's much better to have God rule over us. If I'm allowing God to rule over me, then I will be a good pastor, and I will be able to guide and direct and coach you if you need help, if you want help. You know, God can give me that help, and I can be of some service to you, but I won't rule over you. God is to rule over you. That's the way it goes. Now, that's the first point. The first step, frankly, in the process of conversion is to respond to God's call and to begin to surrender your life to Him and to His Son. And, of course, when God gives authority to others, then you should...you know, you're obeying God when you follow others as they follow Christ. That's what Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. If I'm not following Christ, don't follow me. So, that's the first point, and that's enough points for one day. As I said, we have seven of them. I don't think it's going to take an entire sermon on each one of them. I suspect it will take three sermons, probably, to conclude this. But, you know, the way I look at it, Passover is coming up before long, and we're going to be going through seven steps of conversion, basically, is what we're going to be talking about. We're going to talk about being a big loser. That is, losing the weight that so ensnares you. The days of 11 bread are about what? Putting sin out of your life. That's what this series of sermons is all about. It's putting sin out of your life. It's looking to God. It's looking to Christ, our Passover. I read a scripture in 1 John that showed that Christ, He's the one that will save us. He is the Savior. He came in the flesh to die for us, so our sins could be forgiven. You know, I'm not going to give you seven points that you're going to be able to go out and do. You know, not unless you surrender to Christ. Not unless Christ is your Savior. And you accept Him as your Savior and realize that you're a sinner and that all your sins have to be forgiven. I mean, I can give you some points to help you put some weight off, but you're not going to get it all off. I know that. You're not going to become perfectly slim and trim. I just want to help you get more slim and more trim spiritually. So again, I appreciate all of you very much. This is the first point. I want you to be a big loser, though. I really do. I want you to be a big loser.