Recap:

Last Sunday, we announced that Cross Points Church is planting another church—and that my family and I will be sent out to lead it. We are excited, but this journey has also been deeply emotional. Cross Points has been my home for my entire life. It is where I learned Scripture, where I was baptized, where I met lifelong friends, where I entered ministry, and where my children have grown up. If I were making this decision based on comfort, there would be no decision to make. I would stay. But there comes a moment when patience can begin to turn into disobedience. God first began stirring church planting in my heart years ago, and eventually the question was no longer whether I felt comfortable going. The question became whether I would obey when obedience became costly.

In 2 Samuel 24, King David experienced a crisis of faith. He ordered a census of Israel’s soldiers because he wanted numbers that would reassure him that his army was strong enough to win. But when the census was complete, David realized that he had placed his confidence in the size of his army rather than in the faithfulness of God. Judgment came upon the land, and David cried out for mercy. God instructed him to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah. When David arrived, Araunah offered him everything for free—the land, the oxen, the wood, and everything necessary to make the sacrifice. It was an incredible deal. As someone who loves a Buy Nothing page and has taken some questionable trips to purchase used furniture from Craigslist, I understand the temptation to accept something for free. From a practical standpoint, it made perfect sense. David could still worship. The altar could still be built. The sacrifice could still be offered. But David understood something deeper: if someone else paid the price, it would not truly be his sacrifice. So David said, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

There is a subtle temptation to practice a version of Christianity in which we want all the blessings of following Jesus while avoiding the cost. We love grace, forgiveness, heaven, community, and answered prayer. But we hesitate when discipleship begins to ask for our comfort, time, reputation, finances, preferences, or security. Every disciple eventually arrives at a threshing floor. The threshing floor is the place where obedience becomes expensive. Abraham had one. Moses had one. Peter had one. Paul had many. Jesus had Gethsemane and the cross. Eventually, every follower of Jesus must answer the same question: Will I still obey when obedience costs me?

The cost should actually cost us. It may hurt. It may be uncomfortable. For my family, church planting is going to cost us something. It will cost Cross Points something. It will cost the people who decide to go, the people who decide to give, and even the people who remain and help send us. When was the last time following Jesus truly cost you something? When was the last time you sacrificed for the sake of the Gospel?

A threshing floor was a hard surface where harvested grain was crushed so that the useful wheat could be separated from the useless chaff. Through pressure and grinding, what was valuable was revealed. That is often what pressure does in our lives. Pressure does not create faith; pressure exposes the faith that is already there. The threshing floor separates superficial faith from authentic faith. Our dog Zuzu loves to play a game we call “Mad Dog.” She barks, growls, runs in circles, and acts like she is ready for a fight. But the moment someone actually challenges her, she runs away or rolls onto her back. She is all bark and no bite. Sometimes our faith can look the same way. We talk boldly about trusting Jesus until something threatens our comfort. Then we retreat because following Him suddenly feels too expensive. But authentic faith is tested in the fire. It is often in the pressure, sacrifice, and discomfort that God performs His deepest work and His greatest miracles.

And God is not asking us to do something He was unwilling to do Himself. God’s greatest gift did not cost Him nothing. It cost Him everything. He gave His one and only Son for our salvation. He did not send an angel. He did not send a substitute. He sent the One He loved most—the sacrificial Lamb of God. David wanted to take the punishment for his people, but he could not. He could build an altar, but he could not become the sacrifice. Hundreds of years later, another Son of David would walk up another hill and become the sacrifice that finally ended the plague of sin and death. Jesus gave first, and He gave freely. Because He surrendered everything for us, we can surrender everything to Him—not out of obligation, but out of gratitude and joy.

When He asks us to surrender our comfort, He is not asking us to do something He did not do first. When He asks us to give, He is not asking us to give more than He has already given. When He asks us to carry a cross, He is not asking us to walk somewhere Jesus was unwilling to go. So we can say yes. Yes, God, I will go. Yes, God, I will give. Yes, God, I will step out of what is familiar. Yes, God, I will take the next step, even when I cannot see the entire journey. And when we surrender everything to God, we gain everything, because His plans are greater than our plans.

The place where David made his costly sacrifice eventually became the location of Solomon’s Temple—the place where the presence of God rested among His people. The place of sacrifice became the place of God’s presence. That is the invitation of the threshing floor. Wherever God’s presence leads, we are willing to go. Even if His presence leads us through discomfort, pressure, or sacrifice, we can say yes with joy because Jesus has already given everything for us. So the question is not simply, “What is this going to cost me?” The better question is, “God, what can I place on the altar that will bring You glory and advance the Gospel?”

Group Questions:

Icebreakers

  1. What is the best bargain or free item you have ever found?
  2. What is something you once said you would never do, but eventually changed your mind about?
  3. Would you rather step into something new immediately or wait until you feel completely prepared? Why?

Small Group Questions

  1. Read 2 Samuel 24:18–25. What stands out to you most in this passage?
  2. Why do you think David refused Araunah’s offer, even though accepting it would have been easier and more practical?
  3. Pastor Nick said, “The threshing floor is where obedience becomes expensive.” What does that mean to you?
  4. Why are we sometimes tempted to want the blessings of following Jesus without accepting the cost of discipleship?
  5. Which can be hardest for you to surrender to God: comfort, time, reputation, finances, preferences, or security?
  6. Pastor Nick shared that there can be a moment when patience begins to turn into disobedience. How can we recognize the difference between patiently waiting on God and delaying something He has already asked us to do?
  7. The sermon said, “Pressure doesn’t create faith; pressure exposes faith.” What has pressure revealed about your faith in the past?
  8. How can Christians become “all bark and no bite”—talking boldly about faith but retreating when obedience becomes difficult?
  9. David wanted to take the punishment for his people, but he could not become the sacrifice. How does this point us toward Jesus and the Gospel?
  10. How does remembering what Jesus sacrificed for us change the way we respond when He asks us to sacrifice something?
  11. The threshing floor eventually became the location of Solomon’s Temple. What does it mean that the place of sacrifice became the place of God’s presence?
  12. Where might God currently be asking you to take a costly but faithful step?