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and get ready for what God has for you today.
We hope this message encourages you, challenges
you, and reminds you that you are deeply loved.
Now, let's hear the message. Hey, good morning,
everyone. How's everybody doing today? Good,
good. If you're joining us from home, thank you
for welcoming us into your space. Today is Communion
Sunday. Every first Sunday of the month, we share
communion together as a community of faith. It's
also available every Sunday. If you would like,
you just have to stop by the Welcome Hub. But
this is a Sunday we gather and follow Jesus.
to remember what he did for us on the cross.
So if you need an element, if you miss it on
your way in, put your hand up, one hand up. If
you need gluten -free, you can put two hands
up. And it's at this point as we're giving out
the elements that I like to remind everyone that
as a community of faith here at HTV, we value
communion. We don't believe it's just something
we do as a church. This is actually an opportunity
for you to meet and connect with a God that is
alive. Jesus told us to remember his broken body
on the cross. Remember his shed blood. right,
that covers our sins. So this is an opportunity
for us to search our hearts. And if there's anything
between us and God the Father, we can lay it
down. We can ask for forgiveness. We can repent.
We can turn the other way and say, God, cover
me in your grace, in your mercy, in your shed
blood. And he can set us free supernaturally
so that we walk away from here whole. So I'm
believing that's going to happen this morning.
I'm going to open in prayer, and then we'll share
communion together. So Holy Spirit, come. Search
our hearts, God, every single one of our hearts,
for those gathered, for those watching online.
If there's anything, God, between us and you,
God, reveal it now in Jesus' name. I silence
distractions from the enemy. I say, open us up,
God, to hear and receive your truth. Reveal it
now. Yes, God. So on the night that Jesus was
betrayed, he took bread. He broke it. He handed
it to his disciples and said, take, eat. This
is my body, which is broken for you. And when
you eat it, do it in remembrance of me. Let's
eat. Likewise, after supper, Jesus took the cup
of wine. He said, this is my blood, which is
shed for you and for many for the forgiveness
of sins. Drink it often. And when you do, do
it in remembrance of me. Let's drink. So God,
we are grateful for your grace and your forgiveness.
Change us, God. Transform us. May we leave here
differently than when we came in. In Jesus' name,
amen. So I would like to update all of you that
last Sunday, if you weren't here, We baptized
72 people in the name of Jesus between the river
and the pool. And the amazing thing about what
God is doing in our midst is that every single
one of those people has a story that matters
to God. And it also doesn't matter to God. It
matters to us. And I just want to say that we
are praying for you. If you got baptized last
week, congratulations. We love you. And I'm grateful
for all that God is doing in your life and in
our community of faith. So I want to begin this
morning with just a simple question. How do we
stand out in the right ways at the right time
and for the right reason? See, the answer to
that question is important because when we do
stand out in the right ways at the right time
and for the right reason, it can change the very
course and direction of our lives. But unfortunately,
the opposite is true as well. When we compromise
on the wrong things in the wrong ways and at
the wrong times, it can cost us way more than
we could ever imagine at this point in our life.
Today, we are starting a brand new message series
for the month of September called Chameleon,
Choosing Conviction Over Conformity. And this
series is going to look at the book of Daniel.
And in that book, we learn about a young man
who found himself living in a culture that was
completely different from the one he grew up
in. Daniel was taken from his home, brought into
Babylon, given a new education, a new environment,
a new name, and a whole new set of expectations.
See, Babylon was essentially saying, Daniel,
we're going to change everything about you. No
one will recognize you. But we quickly learn
that Daniel drew a line. And in Daniel 1 .8,
the Bible says, but Daniel was determined not
to defile himself. And see, that word determined
is perfect because Daniel didn't wait until the
pressure came to decide what he believed. He
decided beforehand. He was determined who he
was going to be. And that's an important lesson
for us today. Because see, if you don't decide
what you stand for before the pressure comes,
the pressure will decide for you. We live in
a culture that constantly tells us, compromise,
fit in, keep quiet, go along with the crowd,
don't make waves. But following Jesus means there
are moments when we have to say, I love you,
but I won't go there. I respect you, but I can't
compromise. I may stand alone. But I will stand.
And see, sometimes taking a stand for Jesus doesn't
mean standing on a stage in front of thousands
of people. It practically means standing for
Jesus in a classroom. Standing at your workplace.
Standing in your relationships. Standing when
nobody else is watching. Daniel teaches us that
you don't have to be loud to take a stand. You
just have to be determined. which leads us to
our first thought this morning. See, Jesus followers
have an enemy. Look at your neighbor and say,
you have an enemy. And make sure you say, it's
not me. It's not Chris. And it's not the church.
We are not your enemy. See, God is moving in
our community of faith. Just like I shared in
the opening, just this past week, in the last
six days, we baptized 72 people in the name of
Jesus. We are practically serving in nursing
homes and schools. We now serve 100 children
every single week food through the Micah's Backpack
program. We are feeding a hot meal. Yeah, it's
all good stuff. You can cheer. You can clap.
We feed more than 100 people a hot meal during
our community dinner every single week. And some
of those are meals that people only receive that
day. And I mention those to celebrate what happened
in the last week, while at the same time to let
you know that we have a war waging against us.
There's a war pointed right at HCV and it's being
waged against us. And it doesn't mean we have
to be afraid. but we need to be aware that it
does exist. See, so many churches in the United
States today minimize spiritual warfare. But
to minimize spiritual warfare is to minimize
the life of Jesus. See, throughout the four gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, within those books,
there are 89 chapters. Within those 89 chapters,
there are over 100 references to the demonic,
the spiritual battle that is raging all around
us. So what this means is within every single
chapter of Jesus's life, the demonic was talked
about. So if we don't acknowledge his spiritual
battle, it means we don't acknowledge the fullness
of Jesus's life. See, within the church in the
United States currently, according to Barna Research
Group, six out of 10 American Christians, that's
60%, do not believe that Satan is a real entity.
Instead, a majority of churchgoers in the United
States today view Satan and the demonic as merely
symbols of evil rather than living literal beings.
Friends, this is a deception. See, the Bible
tells us that our spiritual enemies comes in
the form of angels of light and servants of righteousness,
meaning they could be right before our very eyes
and we don't even recognize them because they
look so good. Our enemy is the father of lies.
He comes at us in disguise and deception. And
as a church, we need to understand our opposition
so we aren't deceived. Now, the Old Testament
prophets speak of God creating this perfect angelic
being and his role was leading all of heaven
in praise. This being was considered blameless
and beautiful and perfect. In fact, the most
beautiful being in the heavenlies. But at some
point in time, his pride got the best of him.
And instead of leading heaven in praise, he attempts
to take over heaven and have everyone praise
himself. See, he wants to take God's throne.
And it's real easy to look at Satan, to throw
shade at him, to judge him. Who does he think
he is? Friends, we do it all the time. My God,
my way is better than your way. I know what's
best for my life, God. I got this. I'm in control.
And we need to read in Revelation chapter 12.
Then there was a war in heaven. Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon and his angels.
And the dragon lost the battle and his angels
were forced out of heaven. This great dragon,
this ancient serpent called the devil or Satan,
the one deceiving the whole world, was thrown
down to the earth with all his angels. And see,
I share this with you because this gives us a
context of our world. The world that we live
in every single day. It's real. And it's right
before us. Now, in Genesis 1, chapters 1 through
4, we read, In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth. Now, many theologians
believe That it is in between verse one that
I just read to you and verse two that I'm about
to read to you that Satan and the demonic were
cast down to earth. Verse two reads, the earth
was formless and empty and darkness covered the
deep waters. Now the words form, empty, and darkness
can be translated into empty, chaotic, and evil.
So when the earth was created, In between day
one and day two, when it was housing Satan and
his demons, it was considered empty, chaotic,
and evil. And let's continue. And the Spirit
of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Then God said, let there be light, and there
was light. And please understand that light here
isn't the sun. See, the sun is created later.
So when God says that there be light, what is
God talking about? Well, let's continue. And
God saw that the light was good, then he separated
the light from the darkness. Or God separated
good from evil. And from this point, God creates
this good garden full of life and order and beauty,
in the middle of which is a tree that was empty,
chaotic, and evil. And as that is being created,
it's almost as if you can hear Satan saying,
but I was created to praise. Who in your creation
is going to praise you? But then we read that
God reaches down into the dust and breathes some
life and says this. So God created human beings
in his own image, in the image of God. He created
them male and female. He created them. Then God
blessed them and said, be fruitful and multiply,
fill the earth and govern it. And see, from the
moment God created us, he has called us and speaks
over us his goodness that we are to spread to
every square inch of his creation. And that is
where the war began. See, there is a term that
is used from the Old Testament to the New Testament
that describes the spiritual war that our enemy
puts before us that we battle through every single
day. And it's the spirit of darkness or the spirit
of Babylon. Paul writes about it this way in
Ephesians 6, 12. For we are not fighting against
flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers
and authorities of the unseen world, against
mighty powers in this dark world, and against
evil spirits in the heavenly places. And this
is important to understand because this battle,
it's not out there somewhere. It's not fictional.
Friends, it's right here. And if you're in a
relationship with Jesus, we are in it and face
it every single day. And today, we're going to
be looking at the Babylonian Empire in the book
of Daniel chapter 1. And we're going to look
at some of the ancient strategies that were designed
from the enemy to attack God's people. But we
must remember, with everything God is doing in
our community of faith, there is a war raging
around us and at us. We need to be able to observe
it. recognize it, and pray against it. So the
background, the book of Daniel took place 2 ,600
years ago. God's people were being unfaithful,
and God disciplined his people for their disobedience.
Every loving father disciplines his children.
God waited 500 plus years for his people to repent
and change. That never happened, so he allows
for the events to happen that we're about to
read. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was an evil
king. He destroyed Jerusalem. This guy was so
evil, he didn't just destroy the city, he burned
the temple of God literally to the ground. He
took the religious symbols, crushed them, destroyed
them, took them back to his God's temple, basically
saying your God is dead. And not only did he
destroy the city, the temple, and all the religious
symbols. He said, I'm going to destroy their
future. He took the next generation, all their
young leaders, and basically indoctrinated them
into Babylonian culture for three years. He was
casting vision that they would become the future
leaders of his government. So Nebuchadnezzar
was not only trying to destroy Jerusalem, but
he was also trying to destroy the very people
of God, which leads us to discuss. We need to
recognize the enemy strategies that are alive
today in our world and within our culture. And
the first is this, division. We read this in
Daniel 1, 1 through 2. During the third year
of King Joachim's reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim
of Judah and permitted him to take some of the
sacred objects from the temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar
took them back to the land of Babylonia and placed
them in the treasure house of his God. Notice,
he took God's elements from God's temple and
said, no, it's this God that we worship. Now
Babylonia is first mentioned in Genesis chapter
11. It's the story of the Tower of Babel for
those of you that may have read it. we learn
that humanity became obsessed with itself and
self -glory and self -sufficiency. So they attempted
to build a massive tower to heaven because they
wanted to exalt themselves as a unified culture
that says they no longer needed to trust or believe
in God. And see, this is the same issue Satan
had in heaven when he got kicked out. He wanted
to take the throne and be elevated to what? The
top. Well, it just so happens in Genesis chapter
11 that God came down, saw the people building
this large tower, and he says this. The people
are united, and they all speak the same language.
After this, notice, nothing they set out to do
will be impossible for them. Nothing they set
out to do will be impossible for them. So friends,
we have to realize unified unbelievers are more
powerful than divided believers. Unified unbelievers
are more powerful than divided believers. And
you say, well, Chris, where does it say that
in scripture? Well, actually Jesus said it in
Matthew chapter 12, verse 25. Jesus knew their
thoughts and replied, any kingdom divided by
civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered
by feuding will fall apart. See, when there's
division in the church, the church will fall
apart. And remember, King Nebuchadnezzar took
all the objects or vessels from God's temple
and placed them in the treasure house of his
God. In the New Testament, Paul describes objects
or vessels as the people of God, that we are
the vessels of honorable use. Also in the New
Testament, the house of God is the church. Paul
and Peter both refer to the church as the house
of God. So what we are seeing here is this ancient
strategy the enemy uses of pulling people away
from the church and attempting to unify them
somewhere else. Divide the church, unify them
somewhere else. And this is happening in our
midst right now. How do I know it? Look on social
media. There's a political divide in our country
right now where people are literally being killed
over it. Social media is full of division over
this issue, over this political issue, and it's
made its way into the church. See, division is
a strategy of the enemy. In America, both political
parties, the right and the left, resemble elements,
elements of the kingdom of God. but neither of
them are the kingdom of God. On one side, right,
you see the focus of social justice, all things
in common, caring for the marginalized, accepting
the foreigners, loving people for who they are.
On the other side, you see kingdom elements like
traditional family, sanctity of life, working
hard, earning your wages, religious freedoms.
Neither are the kingdom of God. Both have elements
of the kingdom of God, but they are not the kingdom.
And since both political parties have elements
of the kingdom, what happens? Division. And there's
a real temptation to unify under the left or
the right rather than the kingdom of God. And
listen, neither party, the left or the right,
can save a nation. Only Jesus can save anything.
And it's kingdom people. It's so important for
us not to get pulled left or get pulled right.
We need to get pulled up. See, we don't want
unity around a political party or ideology. We
want to unify under the name of Jesus and his
kingdom. It's not just politics. It's everywhere.
It's in the church. Dr. Martin Luther King was
quoted as saying, the most segregated hour in
America is 11 o 'clock on Sunday. Data shows
that he was right. 80 to 85 % of Christian congregations
in the United States currently remain racially
and ethnically homogeneous, meaning they're made
up primarily of one single racial group. And
I don't know about you, but I don't believe Jesus
is looking down from heaven at his church, seeing
a black church, a white church, or a Hispanic
church. That's not my church. Revelation tells
us that people from every tribe, tongue, and
nation will gather together in one voice to recognize
King Jesus, true or false. We have to guard against
culture trying to divide the church. We are called,
right, to have a racially diverse, economically
diverse group of people gathering here every
single Sunday because that's what it's going
to look like in heaven. Colossians chapter 3.
Since you have been raised to love in Christ,
set your sights on the realities of what? Heaven,
not the left, not the right, where Christ sits
in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think
about things of heaven, not the things of earth,
which leads us to our second strategy. They re
-educate the next generation. Notice, continuing
in Daniel 1. Then the king ordered Aspenaz, his
chief of staff, to bring to the palace some of
the young men of Judah's royal family and other
noble families. See, select only strong, healthy,
and good -looking young men, he said. Make sure
they are all well -versed in every branch of
learning, are gifted with knowledge and good
judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal
palace. Train these young men in the language
and literature of Babylon. So Daniel and his
friends are chosen because of their high -functioning,
influential young people. They have high IQs,
they look good, and they can make a difference.
And see, the spirit of darkness or the spirit
of Babylonia is always trying to re -educate
our kids. Because the enemy understands our kids
are the most influential people on this earth.
It's not a 53 -year -old man that starts a cultural
movement. Young people do. I'm way past my prime,
right? But young people, young people can change
and impact our culture. How do I know that? Baggy
jeans are back in. I mean, the 90s are literally
coming back, right? And I'm thinking, why? Why?
Why baggy jeans? Well, it's because the young
people Right? The young people spread the thread
through social media and suddenly change happens.
I look at my oldest son, 27 years old, currently
living in Kenya, raising money to build a computer
lab, first ever computer lab in a Kenyan village
so that the young people, what? Can gain knowledge
and understanding and further their capacity.
He's doing more in this world than I've ever
done. And why? Because he's a young person. person.
And it's the young people that the enemy is attacking,
trying to re -educate the way they think and
act. The most prestigious universities in America,
many of which began as seminary institutions
focusing on the Bible, are now teaching and training
their young people to have a non -biblical worldview.
The public school system has removed any references
of the Bible out of the curriculum and has replaced
it with affirming there is no truth. Parents,
caregivers. It's your, it's our responsibility
to raise our children. Yours and mine. They're
my kids. They're your kids. Now hear me out.
HCV wants to come alongside of you. We want to
create systems and classes for all of our kids.
We want them to learn about Jesus. We want to
encourage you parents. We want to integrate the
Bible, grace, forgiveness, truth, sharing the
good news into your and your family's daily life.
We want all of that. But see, we need to integrate
Jesus in every area of our life, not just here
on Sunday. And what happens Monday through Saturday
in your home matters. The enemy is trying to
train up our children outside the home, away
from HCV. He wants to lead them away from the
church. He wants to give them a worldview that
opposes God and his people. And if you're a follower
of Jesus, hear me out, you are charged, I am
charged, all of us, with training the next generation
and passing the baton of faith onto them with
God's truth. And I want to challenge you. If
you're not doing anything in our community of
faith, go teach a kid's class because it will
change your life forever. It changed mine. First
thing I ever did after I gave my life to Jesus
was teach three and four -year -olds. You want
a quick lesson on the Bible and truth? Go deal
with some three and four -year -olds for two
years. Your life will be radically changed. And
after all, Jesus did say in Matthew 19, let the
children come to me. Don't stop them for the
kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like
children. And then he blessed them. See, many
of you know, I have six kids and I'm proud to
say every single one of them love the church,
love Jesus, right? My youngest, Phoenix, is up
at 6 a .m. every Sunday. Like, when are we gone?
When are we gone? When are we gone? You know,
he's ready to go to the church. And guess what?
We forced them to go to church. We force them.
And I hear it all the time from parents. Oh,
I don't want to force my kids to go to church.
What do you mean? You force them to clean their
rooms. True or false? There's a penalty if they
don't clean their rooms. You force them to clean
their rooms. Well, I don't want to turn them
off to Jesus. Come on, man. Jesus is good. He's
got everything under his control. But you also
have to understand We didn't force our kids to
go to church. We taught our kids what it meant
to be the church. We taught our kids the impact
and the change that happens in the world for
Jesus. Because see, when the church is not an
event you attend or a place you go, but rather
a family of God, a community of believers that
you're a part of, everything changes. And so
many people want to train their kids up to go
to church. You know what I say to that? Forgive
us, God. No, they don't go to church. They are
the church. And when we start teaching them that,
then everything good will begin to fall into
place. Yes, we forced our kids to be the church.
Why? Because outside of the church, there's a
demonic attack against them. Parents, train your
children up to be the church. Well, I don't want
to turn them away. Listen, I didn't want any
of my kids to walk through the pain I experienced
of being a non -believer. You know what I mean?
I valued what it means to be in a relationship
with Jesus. And I prayed for my kids and told
them that they are the church. Many of which,
at least my three oldest, when we left Bower
Avenue, literally weeped visibly because that
was their second home. How are you raising your
kids? Which leads us to our third strategy, identity
confusion. Continuing in Daniel. Daniel 1, 6
through 7. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah
were four of the young men chosen all from the
tribe of Judah. The chief of staff renamed them
with these Babylonian names. Daniel was called
Belteshazzar. Hananiah was called Shadrach. Mishael
was called Meshach. And Azariah was called Abednego.
Why did they change their names? Well, in ancient
Israel, parents gave kids names that had meaning.
Right? Aspirational meanings focused on God.
For example, Daniel means God is my judge. Hananiah
means Yahweh is gracious. Mishael means who is
like God. And Azariah means Yahweh has helped.
See, they did so so that those meanings, the
meaning of their names, would be rooted in their
identity. And when these four teens were given
new names, it was an attempt to strip them of
their God -given identities. Listen to the differences.
Daniel is renamed Belteshazzar, which means lady
protect the king. In other words, they gave Daniel
a female name, which immediately creates gender
confusion. Hananiah was changed to Shadrach,
which means I'm afraid of God. You don't want
God? You don't want to associate with the church?
Get away from God and religion is bad. Mishael,
his name was changed to Meshach, which means
I am despised, contemptible, and humiliated.
Did you know that the highest rate of depression
and mental illness is those ages 14 to 20? Hmm.
Azariah had his name changed to Abednego, which
means servant of Nemo, meaning you are not a
servant of God, you are a slave to man. See,
this is identity theft. And the enemy continues
to do that today. He desires that we label ourselves
according to anything other than who God says
we are. If people ask you, well, what do you
do? Quite often our response is, I'm a pastor,
I'm a plumber, I'm a carpenter. We label ourselves
according to our profession or our calling. Or
if not, maybe we label ourselves according to
our hobby. I'm a creative, I'm a musician. And
the truth is, the enemy doesn't care how we label
ourselves as long as we label ourselves. with
something other than him. And that's a problem.
I mean, look around our culture. People are labeling
themselves according to ethnicity, sexual preference,
gender, race, pronouns. You know, pronouns is
a new thing. There's been people literally fired
from their jobs because they wouldn't identify
themselves according to their pronouns. I mean,
the enemy wants us to identify with anything
other than Jesus. Because in Jesus, We are blessed.
We are chosen. We are redeemed. We are forgiven.
We are loved. We are adopted. We are holy. We
are free. And he doesn't want us to walk in those
truths, the truths from 1 Peter. You're not like
that. You're a chosen people, a royal priest,
a holy nation, God's very own possession. And
as a result, you can show others the goodness
of God. He called you out of the darkness into
a wonderful light. Once you had no identity,
now you are God's. People. We have to fight to
be reminded who we are because the enemy wants
to rename us, which leads us to our fourth strategy,
cancel culture. Daniel chapter one, verses nine
through 10. Now God had given the chief of staff
both respect and affection for Daniel, but he
responded, I'm afraid of my Lord, the King, who
has ordered that you eat this food and wine.
Remember, Daniel asked for vegetables only and
water, which again, young people, wow. If you
become pale and thin compared to the other youths
your age, I am afraid of the king. Notice, the
king will have me beheaded. In other words, the
king will kill me if I do not do what he asked
me to do. Now, please understand, Babylon is
an extremely diverse kingdom with all sorts of
colors, cultures, language, ethnicities. They're
taking over the world. Nebuchadnezzar is trying
to blend them all together, leading the way.
And he needs to somehow unify them. And here's
what is clear. If you get in the way of him attempting
to unify his nation and his worldview, he's going
to kill you. This is cancel culture at its finest.
Cancel culture is a demonic attempt to create
a universal worldview that is opposed to God,
his people. And when you get in the way, you
get canceled. And so many of us have bought into
it. People in the church. Isn't it wild that
we live in a society that wants to scream tolerance
from the highest mountaintop in the world called
social media? We need to be tolerant. We need
to respect everyone's opinion. But the very second
someone starts speaking about the Bible, the
second someone shares about Jesus being the way,
the truth, and the life, his exclusivity, the
second someone speaks truth about the kingdom
of God, why is it that at that very second, Society
doesn't want to tolerate. They want to cancel.
They want to cancel you. And we act like this
is new. It's been happening for over 2 ,600 years.
And we have to be careful not to allow ourselves
as a church to be divided and tempted to cancel
on us. See, the difference between the culture
and Jesus is this. Jesus proposes, the world
imposes. Jesus proposes and offers his love.
The world imposes with threats and violence.
Jesus says, come to me, all those who are weary
and carry heavy burdens. I will give you rest.
I will forgive you when you fail. The world says,
conform or die. So my question, where's the real
bigotry? The bigotry is not in the church. When
we live gracefully with a Jesus mindset, the
bigotry is in the world. And we need to remind
it in John 15, Jesus told us, if the world hates
you, remember it hated me first. The world would
love you as one of its own if you belong to it,
but you're no longer part of their world. And
again, Jesus says that we are to have no parts
of this cancel culture, nor to establish a new
way of living. In Matthew 5, he says, do not
resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on
the right, offer your other cheek also, which
is a grace. worldview. Which leads us to our
fifth and final strategy. Remove godly men. See,
there's one person in this chapter that is mentioned
more than anyone else. It's not Daniel. It's
not Nebuchadnezzar. It's not any of Daniel's
friends. Anyone know who it is? It's the chief
eunuch. See, the Bible goes out of its way to
explain that Daniel and his friends were under
the care of a chief eunuch. A eunuch was a person
who 2 ,600 years ago went through a surgical
procedure that would castrate and emasculate
him. Now, the Bible does not explicitly say that
Daniel was made a eunuch. However, most theologians
believe this is the case. The evidence is he
never married, he never had kids, he never talked
about a family. Why? Why change God's design
and distort sexuality? Well, think about it.
The easiest way to erase a godly lineage is to
erase the bloodline. Herod tried to kill off
all the boys under two when he heard about Jesus
being born in Bethlehem. Why? To possibly destroy
the bloodline so that the Savior, the Son of
Man, would never come. And we read this in Daniel
1, 11 to 16. Daniel spoke with the chief who
had been appointed by the chief of staff to look
after Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
Test us for 10 days on a diet of vegetables and
water. At the end of the 10 days, see how we
look compared to the other young men who were
eating the king's food. Then make your decision
in light of what you see. The attendant agreed,
tested him for 10 days. And at the end of 10
days, Daniel and his three friends looked healthier
and better nourished than the younger men that
were eating of food assigned by the king. So
after that, the attendant fed them only vegetables
instead of food and wine provided for the others.
And after three years, they were the top of the
class. And this happens today as the enemy tries
to distort sexuality, legalize abortion. I learned
this week that the state of Massachusetts recently
passed a bill where a mother can have an abortion
performed one day before her due date. Look it
up. It's truth. I also learned that abortion
pills can now be bought for $59 .95 online. And
when you take those pills because you consider
yourself or think you're pregnant, if you are,
The fetus is flushed down the toilet into our
water system, not only contaminating our water,
but destroying a life. And we have so many people
that say, oh, we're so more civilized than those
pagan cultures that would sacrifice babies to
their gods. Yet we sacrifice babies to self,
to selfishness. We're no better. We're worse.
And please understand, this is the enemy trying
to destroy a godly bloodline, trying to demonize
masculinity, trying to tell men they can't lead,
they need to take the backseat. You're no good.
And I am in no way saying women can't be strong.
I am in no way saying leaders can't, or women
can't be leaders within this church. Don't hear
what I'm not saying. I'm saying that men of God
can't be weak and passive. It's time for the
men of God to stand up and take back our place
to lead our families and our churches back in
a way that we are called to do. Paul says it
this way in 1 Corinthians 16. Be on guard. Stand
firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.
And when he says be strong, look it up. The manuscripts
declare that that's men. Be strong. and do everything
with love. See, one of the primary tactics of
the enemy is to demonize masculinity and make
men feel weak. And I am in no way affirming male
chauvinism or misogynistic men. They are sins.
They need to be repented of and you need to change.
I'm talking about men who are willing to die
their self. Men who are willing to follow Jesus'
call to give up their own way, take their cross
daily and to follow him. And not only do we die
to self, but we elevate women around us. We make
women better than what they ever could be. Talk
to my three daughters. Talk to them. I elevate
them. I expect them to be great in this world.
Not because of their gender, because of God in
their life. We need men who are aggressive in
their worship. who will lift their hands in praise.
We need men who are passionate about prayer.
There isn't any reason that after this gathering,
men, that those spots on that 24 -7 prayer isn't
filled up. We need to set the example and be
the leaders in prayer. We need men who resemble
Jesus and love their church. We need men who
are passive but patient. We need men who are
humble but not silent. We need men who are kind
but not soft. We need men who are secure and
sober -minded. We need men who display power
but not prideful. We need men who care for themselves
and others. Right? Who take care of themselves
and are an example of what it means to be good
in this world. So many people talk, I'm 53 years
old, I'm in the best shape of my life. Well,
why don't you eat dessert? Why don't you eat
bread? Why do you work out? Why do you run? Why
do you do the MRF? You know why? Because I'm
going to set the example of what it means to
follow Jesus to the rest of the world. Okay?
We need to take care of our bodies. We need to
put food into our bodies that is fuel to make
us the best. So when I'm coaching kids and they
see me and they say, wow, you're taking care
of yourself. I said, yeah, you can have the same
muscles and this is how you do it. Because we
need to set the example. We need to get off the
couches. We need to stop making excuses. And
we need to become the men that we're called to
be. We are violent about Jesus and his love.
And you say, violent? Whoa, slow down, Chris.
Matthew 11. And from the time John the Baptist
began preaching until now, the kingdom of heaven
has been forcefully advancing and violent people
are attacking it. Right? As the church, we need
to stand up and we need to get a little dog in
us. And we need to be people that are willing
to set the example for others to follow. Amen?
Amen. I'm specifically calling you out, and I'm
about to really call you out. Which leads us
to our one action step, overcoming the enemy.
How do we overcome the enemy in this battle?
We choose to stand for Jesus. Notice Daniel in
Daniel 1, 8 through 9. But Daniel was determined.
Everyone say determined. Not to defile himself
by eating food and wine given to them by the
king. There you go. Determine means to have grit,
to stand up for a cause, to be a dog. To put
your head down and say, no, I'm going to be a
godly example, not only to my family or in the
church, but to the entire world. 2 Corinthians
5. For God was in Christ reconciling the world
to himself, no longer counting people's sins
against them. And he gave us this wonderful message
of reconciliation. So we are Christ's ambassadors.
God is making his appeal through us. We speak
for Christ when he pleads. Come back to God.
For God made Christ who never sinned to be an
offering for our sin so that we could be made
right with God through Christ. See, and these
are coming point in time that we need to stop
over -spiritualizing everything. We need to stop
making excuses. You say, well, Chris, what do
you mean? You need to determine in your heart
that you're going to do the right thing, right?
You need to ask the Holy Spirit to empower you
and start believing all that Jesus speaks over
you. Right? Jesus lived a life that we cannot
live. He was perfect. He took sin on himself
and suffered through the pain and agony of God
turning away from him for three days. Think about
it. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Perfect community.
Perfect connection. And at Jesus' death, the
Father turned away from his Son. And the Son
experienced the pain of separation from God.
In other words, hell. Jesus lived three days
in hell for us. For us. And why did he choose
to do this? Ephesians 3 .20. Now all glory to
God who was able through his mighty power at
work within us to accomplish infinitely more
than they might ask or think. God wants to do
infinitely more in us. He wants to empower us.
He wants us to change the world. And I want to
challenge you right now. Men. It's time to stand
up and be the man of God that you're called to
be. To be the example setter to your family,
to the church in this world. That we no longer
make excuses. We no longer lay on the couch.
No, we're up. We're active. We're praying. We're
worshiping. We're reading the Bible. We're allowing
God to change our life. Will you stand with me?
And here's my call. And I know I'm long. I was
long for a service. I'm sorry. But I couldn't
cut anything out because it all meant something.
So if you're here today and you're a man, I want
you to choose to stand for Jesus. I want you
to make that choice and get up front here so
I can pray for you. Let's go. Come on, man. I'm
drawing a line in the sand. Let's go. Oh, there's
a lot of men. Here, come up on stage. Come on,
come up on stage. I want everybody up here. Yeah,
just jump up. I don't care. I'm already late.
I want everybody up here. Come on. There you
go. Yeah, walk around. Use the steps. I don't
care. I want everybody up front. I don't want
anybody in the aisles. Come on. Let's go. I love
it. Let's go. Let's go. Come on, man. Let's go.
There we go. Come on, just fill in right here,
guys. Fill in right here. You're good. You don't
have to come up. Fill in right here. There we
go. I got everybody up. All right, now look out.
Look out. This is why we're here, okay? We are
declaring that in this battle, we follow King
Jesus, right? That's what we're about. And listen.
Everybody loves my shirt. I don't wear it on
Sundays. I wear it all through the week, everywhere
I go. Football games, baseball games, baseball
practice. Are you willing? Because this is what
it means. It means I'm gonna be willing to say,
nope, Jesus is my king in the midst of everything.
So ladies, we wanna support you, pray for you,
and lift you up because we wanna see you change
the world. And we desire that as a community
of faith, we be a place where Jesus is exhorted,
worshiped, and we choose to say he is first in
our life. Amen? All right, let's pray. God, I
am grateful for these men of God. I just ask
that this be a day, a line in the sand that changes
their life forever. That they choose. To declare
that you are first and foremost in their life
and that by their example, others will come into
your kingdom and desire to follow them into a
relationship with you. I just pray for thousands
more to come home into a relationship with you.
Use us, God. We declare the enemy will not win
in Jesus' name. That you will be glorified and
thousands more will come home to you through
our desire to passionately serve and follow you.
And we all said together, amen. All right, God
bless you guys. Thank you. Appreciate you, man.
All right, now listen, I'm late. I know I am.
I'm sorry. Listen, if you got a child, no one
else leave. If you got a child, go pick them
up and sign up to be a teacher. If you don't
have a child. Just let them leave first, and
then I'll get out there and say goodbye. If you're
joining us from home, God bless you guys. Be
a follower of Jesus. Make him first in your life.
This is going to be a great series. I'm excited
about what God's going to do in the month of
September at HCV. I love you guys. God bless.