From Pastor Leroy Taylor II’s September 27, 2026 message at Hope City Highlands. This teaching continues our “All In” focus on Acts 2:42 and the earlier message on the apostles’ teaching.

It is possible to come to church, feel the weight of a moment at the altar, and walk back into the week without changing how we live. Today’s message confronted that gap. Jesus does not call us to collect spiritual experiences. He calls us to follow Him.

Acts 2:42 says the first believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. That devotion reached into their shared life, prayer, generosity, and daily decisions. What they heard about Jesus became the way they lived. The question for us is whether the teaching we receive on Sunday is shaping what happens in our homes on Monday.

Read the Word for yourself

Pastor Taylor opened with a challenge to the whole church: examine what you hear from the pulpit against Scripture. A believer cannot do that faithfully by leaving the Bible closed. We need to read, ask questions, and learn what Jesus taught instead of relying on someone else’s familiarity with the Word.

Jesus’ disciples learned from Him over time. They watched Him teach, pray, serve, and respond to people. They also needed the Holy Spirit to help them understand and carry His teaching forward. We need that same posture of steady learning and dependence. Knowing a verse is valuable; allowing the Word and the Spirit to change our response to life is the deeper work.

Do not leave your devotion at the altar

The sermon challenged a pattern many of us recognize: we surrender something in prayer, then pick it up again on the way out. An emotional moment may be real, but discipleship continues after the moment passes.

That is why our connection to the body of Christ matters throughout the week. Read Scripture at home. Pray when no one is watching. Make room for Bible study, small groups, a phone call, and honest conversations with people who can encourage you. Devotion grows as we practice what Jesus taught together.

The things competing for our attention are real: work, money, exhaustion, personal desires, and the pressure of daily life. Following Jesus does not mean pretending those responsibilities disappear. It means bringing them under His lordship rather than letting them decide who we become.

Let your family see what matters most

Children learn from what excites us and what receives our time. If we want them to value Christ, they need to see more than a Sunday routine. They need to see us turn to Him when circumstances are hard, practice forgiveness, serve others, and make space for His Word in the house.

Pastor Taylor pressed us to speak about faith in our homes and point the people we love toward Jesus. We can care deeply for our spouses and children, but only Christ can save a soul. Loving them well includes showing them who He is and making our own devotion visible.

Jesus taught us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37–39). Those commands touch the way we treat the people closest to us and the people we serve in the community.

Hear His Word when the storm makes sight difficult

In Matthew 14:22–33, the disciples struggled against the wind when Jesus came toward them on the water. They were afraid and did not immediately know what they were seeing. Peter asked the Lord to command him to come, and Jesus answered him.

Pastor Taylor urged us to know Jesus through His Word so we can trust Him when we cannot clearly see what He is doing. Fear may be loud; Scripture gives us something steady to hold onto. Peter’s step began with Jesus’ call, and our steps of obedience must be grounded in Him too.

The call is to follow

The message ended with a direct invitation: today’s altar call was a call to discipleship. Jesus says in Luke 14:27 that whoever does not bear his cross and come after Him cannot be His disciple. Pastor Taylor also pointed to Jesus’ sobering warning in Matthew 7:21–23: religious activity is no substitute for truly knowing Him.

That is a serious challenge, but it is also an open invitation. We can ask the Holy Spirit to reveal where our devotion has gone—to comfort, reputation, possessions, our own plans, or even the feeling of a church moment. We can confess what He brings to light and choose to follow Jesus with our whole lives.

The call is not merely to say, “I went to church,” but to say, “Jesus is Lord,” and let that truth govern our decisions. We will be tired sometimes. The road will cost us something. Yet we do not walk it alone: we follow Christ in relationship with Him and with one another.

Take the next step this week

  • Read: Spend time with Acts 2:42–47, Matthew 14:22–33, Matthew 22:37–39, Luke 14:25–33, and Matthew 7:21–23 in context.
  • Ask: What receives my time, attention, and trust before Jesus does?
  • Practice: Bring one decision to Him in prayer and act on what you know His Word teaches.
  • Share: Talk with your household or another believer about what following Jesus looks like beyond Sunday.
  • Connect: Join others for study, prayer, service, and encouragement this week.

To be “All In” is to be a disciple: someone who keeps learning from Jesus, trusts His Word, and follows Him when the service is over. Today we can answer that call again.

A prayer of surrender

Jesus, show me where my heart has been devoted to something other than You. Forgive me for holding back when You have called me to follow. Help me know Your Word, hear Your voice, and obey You in my home, in my relationships, and in the choices I make each day. Holy Spirit, bring what is hidden into the light and shape my life into the life of a disciple. Amen.