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What is a Lord
Key Scriptures: Romans 10:9, Matthew 7:21, John 2, James 2, Galatians 6 Pastor Chris Hufton challenges us to wrestle with a question that sounds simple but cuts deep: Is Jesus truly Lord of your life, or are you? Drawing from Roman history, Pastor Chris explains that when early Christians declared "Jesus is Lord," they were making a politically dangerous, life-altering statement. The Greek word Kurios, used for Caesar, carried total authority over your schedule, finances, and future. There was no opting out. That same weight applies today. To illustrate, Pastor Chris asks: Do you obey your boss through discomfort without quitting? Then why do we leave churches, withhold forgiveness, or ignore God's direction the moment things get uncomfortable? The pivotal question Pastor Chris poses is this: Are you a cultural Christian or a covenant Christian? Cultural Christians enjoy the benefits of faith. Covenant Christians submit to Jesus as Lord even when circumstances, pain, or doubt push back hard. Matthew 7:21 warns that many who called Jesus "Lord" will hear "depart from me." True Lordship means His Word holds final authority, above feelings, finances, politics, and preferences.
Related Sermons
Small Group Guide
WHAT IS A LORD?
Small Group Discussion Guide
Based on the sermon by Pastor Chris Hufton
1. SERMON RECAP
In this message, I challenged us to wrestle with what it actually means to call Jesus "Lord" in 2026 — not just as a churchy word, but as a total transfer of authority over our time, money, decisions, and allegiances. I pointed out that in the early church, saying "Jesus is Lord" was a dangerous, costly declaration that directly defied Caesar's claim to ultimate authority. The real question I left us with is this: are we cultural Christians who enjoy the benefits of the kingdom, or covenant Christians who have genuinely submitted our lives to Jesus as Lord — especially when things get hard?
2. KEY SCRIPTURE
Matthew 7:21-23 (NLT) "Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, 'Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.'"
3. ICE BREAKER
Growing up, who was the person in your life you absolutely did not argue with — and what made you so willing to listen to them?
4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. I described how the word Kurios — Lord — carried enormous weight in the Roman Empire, because saying "Jesus is Lord" was essentially saying "Caesar is not." What does it cost someone today to publicly declare Jesus as Lord? Have you ever felt that cost personally?
2. I asked whether we listen to our boss, our coach, or even a parking sign more than we listen to God. Why do you think it's easier to obey people we can see than to obey a God we can't? What does that reveal about how we actually understand Lordship?
3. I drew a distinction between a cultural Christian and a covenant Christian. Where do you think most people you know — including yourself — honestly land on that spectrum? What does the difference look like in everyday life?
4. I shared that when life gets squeezed — sickness, loss, disappointment — that's when you find out who your real Lord is. Has there been a season in your life where difficulty revealed something about where your true allegiance was? What happened?
5. James 2:19 says even the demons believe — and tremble. I suggested that believing Jesus is the Son of God isn't the same as making Him Lord. How would you explain the difference between belief and Lordship to someone who's never thought about it that way?
6. I mentioned that we often gatekeep certain areas of our lives — our finances, our time, who we forgive — and quietly stay Lord of those spaces ourselves. If you're honest, what's one area where you tend to take the wheel back from God? What makes that particular area hard to surrender?
5. APPLICATION CHALLENGE
This week, pick one specific area where you know you've been acting as your own Lord — whether that's a grudge you won't let go of, a financial decision you're making purely out of fear or greed, or a habit you've been keeping secret. Write it down, bring it before God in prayer, and take one concrete step of surrender: have that conversation, make that call, delete that app, or write that check. Tell one person in this group what you chose so they can check in with you by next Sunday.
6. PRAYER POINTS
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Honest surrender — Pray that God would reveal, gently and clearly, the specific areas where each of us has been sitting on the throne of our own life, and that we'd have the courage to genuinely hand those over to Him.
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Covenant faithfulness in hard seasons — Pray for anyone in the group who is in a difficult stretch right now — health, finances, relationships, doubt — that they would experience the strength to keep Jesus as Lord even when circumstances are pushing them toward turning away.
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Boldness in allegiance — Pray for the courage to live in a way that makes our confession "Jesus is Lord" visible and real — at work, at school, in our families, and online — not just on Sunday mornings.
7. MEMORY VERSE
Proverbs 3:6 (NLT) "Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."
Leader tip: These questions can go deep quickly — that's a good thing! Give people permission to be honest rather than giving "the right answer." The goal isn't a perfect theology discussion; it's genuine reflection on who is actually running our lives.
Daily Devotional
More Than a Title
Romans 10:9 — "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
On Wednesday I asked our youth a simple question: what is a Lord? It sounds old-fashioned, almost like something out of a medieval castle or a BBC period drama. But when Paul wrote these words to the Romans, that declaration carried enormous weight. To say "Jesus is Lord" in the Roman Empire was to stand in front of everything Caesar represented — power, provision, protection — and say, "No. I have a higher authority." It was not a polite religious phrase. It was a complete transfer of allegiance. I want to ask you today: when you say Jesus is Lord, do you mean it the way those early believers meant it? Not as a greeting. Not as a bumper sticker. But as a declaration that reshapes every decision you make, every morning you wake up.
Lord, forgive me for treating your name like a title rather than a throne. I want to mean it when I say you are my Lord. Help me live like I believe it today.
The Narrow Road Is Not Empty — It Is Focused
Matthew 7:13-14 — "You can enter God's kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it."
On Wednesday I said the narrow road is not narrow because God is restrictive or harsh. It is narrow because there is only room for one set of directions. When you are submitted to a Lord, you do not get to drift left and right based on how you feel that morning, who offended you last week, or what your culture is telling you to believe. I think about how many times I have wanted to take the wheel back — when the pain in my body was relentless, when doors were not opening after college, when I felt like I was doing everything right and nothing was working. The narrow road demands that you stay in the lane your Lord has set, not because it is easy, but because it leads somewhere worth going. Life. Real life.
Jesus, when the road feels hard and I am tempted to wander, remind me that you are the one holding the map. I trust the direction you have me walking in today.
Lord Lord — And Yet He Did Not Know Them
Matthew 7:21 — "Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter."
This verse has always sobered me. The people Jesus is describing here are not casual church attenders. They prophesied. They cast out demons. They performed miracles — all in his name. And yet he says to them, depart from me, I never knew you. I do not want to be that person. I do not want to say all the right things, show up in the right places, perform the right religious actions, and still be operating as the lord of my own life underneath it all. The difference between a cultural Christian and a covenant Christian is not how loud you sing on a Sunday or how many Bible verses you have memorized. It is whether you have genuinely handed over the wheel. Not just when it is convenient. Not just when you are in trouble. Every single day.
Father, search my heart today. Show me anywhere I am performing Christianity on the outside while still holding the controls on the inside. I want you to truly know me, and I want to truly know you.
Even the Demons Believe — So What Makes You Different?
James 2:19 — "You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror."
On Wednesday I pointed out something that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Knowing who Jesus is — believing he is the Son of God, believing he died and rose again — does not automatically mean you have made him your Lord. James makes it plain. The demons know exactly who God is. They believe it so fully that they tremble. But belief without obedience, without surrender, without submission to his Lordship, is not saving faith. It is just information. I have met people who can quote scripture, who grew up in church, who know the theology backwards and forwards, and yet they are running their own life completely independent of God. The question is not simply do you believe in Jesus. The question is have you handed your life over to him and are you actually walking it out day by day.
God, I do not want a faith that is only in my head. I want a faith that moves my feet. Help me to obey what I already know to be true today.
Carry Your Own Load, Then Keep Moving
Galatians 6:5 — "For we are each responsible for our own conduct."
On Wednesday I shared something I had to learn the hard way in ministry. I was carrying the weight of every young person who walked away from God, as if their choices were my failure. Then the Holy Spirit rebuked me and said: why are you picking up the burden I already died for? You laid it at my feet and then went and strapped it back on your own back. Here is the freedom I want you to walk into this week: you cannot make anyone choose Jesus as their Lord. Not your children, not your spouse, not your friends. You can love them, you can speak truth to them, you can pray for them, and then you have to trust God with them. Your job is to keep your own walk clean and keep moving forward. Do not let someone else's choice to walk away become a weight that pulls you off the road you are supposed to be on.
Lord, I release the people I have been carrying today. I trust you with them. Help me focus on my own walk with you and keep my eyes forward.