Well, welcome to church. Like anybody's heart
just feel full already? No, cool. Just me. Great.
You guys, this is good. This is good. You ever
tried to impress somebody? Right? You ever felt
like, man, I just need to impress them. And if
you've ever fallen in love, I guarantee you,
you've had that tension. Right? There's very
few people who are like, I did nothing and they
came to me, right? Like you put your best foot
forward, you're trying to impress them, trying
to win them over, right? Like the idea of impressing
people is a tension we live with. I remember
being in Bible college and they had a class in
Bible college to help you communicate to people
better. I'll be real honest with you. I think
the class was terrible. I wouldn't recommend
it. I think there's this thing called the Holy
Spirit that gave you gifts that wants to use
you. And I don't think a canned outline platform
is what he intended. I think he wants to use
you to be you and your voice to be you. Anyways,
off my soapbox, right? So we got this class and
you got 10 minutes. And so you got your message
ready and you get up and you look out and it's
all your fellow peers, students, and they've
got. like clipboards type things, and they're
writing down, grading you on everything. What
is his appearance like, right? What is his hand
gestures like? How does he use inflection? Did
it communicate to me? What were his main points,
right? All this kind of stuff. And I'll be honest
with you, I could care less what they wrote,
right? Like I could care less about my classmates,
right? What I really cared about was the professor.
If I wanted to impress anybody, it was him. And
so I got done and I'm feeling pretty good about
myself. And I get a stack of papers from the
classmates. I'm like, yeah, we'll look at those
later. Where's the professors, right? And I look
and there's a grade on there and it's an A. And
I'm like, yeah. And I go to read his comment.
And I'm like waiting for him to like tell me
how much I impressed him. And it literally just
says, don't ever dye your hair again. I'm like,
seriously? Out of everything I did for 10 minutes,
that's what you got? And what I had at that time
was like highlights, blonde highlights in my
hair. And then I chose the natural version of
that at some point in life. God chose it for
me. But here's the thing. I went to him and I
said, hey, what do you mean don't dye my hair
again? He goes, nobody will ever listen to you.
And I was like, well, I don't think that's true
because I think there's something called the
Holy Spirit that's a little bigger than that.
And so for a decade, I dyed my hair just to prove
it to him. So dumb. So dumb. But we try and impress
people, right? It's what we do. We like to impress
people. We like to set an impression, right?
And to set an impression is that I want to do
something to you that leaves a print. And you
think a certain way because of that print. An
example would be two days ago, I walked past
my daughter who's sitting at the kitchen table
and she's got like this little clip package thing
and she's pressing slime into it. And I'm like,
what are you doing? And she's like, well, there's
lettering on there. So I wanna see if I can get
it to stick and read it on the slime. She's trying
to get an impression from this. She's trying
to get a print. Right. And what it would say
is the impression that you would get. I remember
being a missionary kid. And those of you that
don't know what missionaries are like, like it's
people that like a church like ours, we would
send them out. They go to global locations and
share the message of Jesus. So my parents were
doing that. And for about four and a half years,
we were in Papua New Guinea, came back. And a
lot of people called it vacation. It was nothing
like a vacation, literally. Like my parents were
exhausted and burned out. And so technically
it's called furlough, right? But here's what
happened. As missionaries, you walk into a church
and you're instantly what? Put on this pedestal
like, oh, these are the super Christians who
have it all together. Well, I happen to be a
middle school, no offense to middle schoolers,
students. I happen to be a middle school boy.
and we would go to these churches, and they support
my parents, right? So they get money from these
churches, and that's what allows them to do what
they do. So it's really important that we make
a good impression on these churches. So literally,
I can remember a look from my dad when it wasn't
going well, and it was like, oh, you're about
to get it. You just wait till we leave here type
thing, right? So we go into these churches, and
the churches were fine. We knew how to act in
church, and yet God made us. I had two older
brothers and God just made us boys like boys
do what boys do at that age. And so the worst
part was, is people would invite us out for meals
after, which sounds amazing, except they didn't
want to talk to us. They want to talk to my parents
and hear stories. And so we would sit there for
like three hours at these meetings. Right. And
you got to you got to imagine we've been to church
after church after church. I've heard all these
stories multiple times. And so inevitably, you
begin to what? Be a middle school boy. God made
you to squirm. It's what he made you to do, right?
And so you begin to act up and find ways to entertain
yourself with knives at the table, you know,
like that kind of stuff. And it's not long before
you get a real quick clue that you're not making
a good impression. And if you don't make a good
impression on these people, from my parents'
perspective, what happens? They may not support
you anymore. We live with all kinds of pressures,
don't we? We live with all kinds of things where
we're trying to impress people around us. Don't
believe me. Take a look at social media. What
is social media? I have to put something on there
that will impress you. Remember, leave an impression
on you that you think a certain way of me. Think
about it. Some of the stuff that people post,
It's like the pressure to do that. I gotta be
honest with you. I'm waiting for like the social
media that's like, here's my worst day, right?
Like I just woke up, went to Taco Bell for lunch.
Sure, you all wanna see that, right? But it's
not that, right? It's the highlight reel. It's
our best foot. It's our vacation that I want
you to know we took that vacation and I want
you to feel a certain way about it. I want you
to know how we're doing. And all of a sudden
we live with all these forms of constantly we
are aware of what we are projecting to other
people. Hey, think about it. You guys, we just
came in this room and God is present. God who
is the creator God who's holding it all together,
who holds your breath in this very second that
is making the earth spin so fast and yet you're
not dizzy like that God, right? And he holds
it all and he knows right now you're in this
room and you have a moment to worship him. And
this is, can we just like be honest? This, some
of us are like, I don't know if I can hit that
note. I don't think I'm going to sing at this
part because I'm more worried about what my voice
sounds like to you than I am to lifting it up
to this God who is, In complete control of everything,
including the very breath leaving my body. I
feel like I should raise my hand. Okay, I'm going
to go for it. Well, this is what it feels like.
Okay, it's angled. Is angled okay? Does it need
to be straight? Wow, I see that guy over there
and he's waving. Do I need to wave? Like, is
the wave what I'm supposed to be doing right
now? I know, I know, I know. I'm just going to
keep him here. This feels safe, right? I'm just
going to pretend like I'm carrying something.
It feels safe. You know what? Maybe I'll spread
them a little wider. How big was that fish? You
ever heard that one? I love, you guys, I'm going
to pick on Pastor Ben for a second. I love Pastor
Ben in worship. You know why? Because if you
ever stand next to him, he don't care. And why?
Because he loves Jesus a whole bunch. And this
is a chance to worship the God that created him.
And so he worships and the rest of us sit there
and go, I don't know if that sounds good. But
I love that he just raises his voice because
that's what he was created to do. Isn't it crazy?
Like if we just normalize this thing, that am
I the only one that you get in a worship space
and you're like, you're limiting yourself. And
the impression that you are giving to God because
I'm so worried about impressing you. I'm so worried
about what you will think. I'm so worried how
I'll come across. I'm so worried. And all of
a sudden, all of a sudden, a moment, a moment
that was created to enter into a beautiful posture
with the person of God is lost. Because my eyes
are on me instead of on him. But we do it in
all kinds of things. In Galatians chapter six,
Paul kind of is ending the letter and the way
he begins to end it in verse 11, he says, see
what large letters I use as I write to you with
my own hand. We don't know. We don't know what
happened, but all of a sudden there was a font
change. We don't know how large those letters
were. We don't know if it's because of his eyesight.
We don't know what happened. But he states here,
he goes, hey, I want you to know something. If
I wanted to impress you with my penmanship, I'd
let the other person do it. But he goes, I want
my voice to leave an impression on you, and it
matters that much. that I'm going to write with
my own hand, even though I know these letters
are large. Verse 12, to those, to those who want
to impress people by means of the flesh are trying
to compel you to be circumcised. Okay, so he
writes specifically to a group of people. And
if you're like, why are we talking about circumcision?
What does this have to do with anything? This
was, if you follow the kind of trail of the Bible,
specifically into the nation of Israel, it was
given by God as a way to identify as a true son
of Abraham and a true son of God. And so what
happened is that what was a sign there of going,
hey, I represented with this group of people
that God is my God. Then what they did over here
is they were requiring others to do it. But what
I want you to get is this, that it's a group
of people who are making another group of people
do something because they are trying to impress
another group of people. And so they're now looking,
right? They're now going, hey, you need to go
through this act, through this action, this outward
sign. You need to perform this outward sign.
But really what they're trying to do is get you
to do it so they can turn around and go, look
how great we are. Look at what we're doing. Look
at how the impact we're having. And maybe just
for us, you should have your guard up. when it
comes to religion. And what do I mean by that?
I don't know about you, but I'm so tired of reading
about people who were in a position of power
that abused that power and have used it in a
way in the name of God. Like, I'm just, I'm over
it. But the way we avoid that is this. I don't
allow somebody to put me under a gospel, under
the good news, under the message that is not
true. The message that is true is that it is
Jesus and Jesus alone by grace through faith
what saves you. That's it. Right? And so what
can happen though, what can happen though is
that message is really freeing. And so you got
Christians being crazy, right? You got people
out on the streets being wild. And so what the
church did is goes, oh, we got to control them.
And so what happens is a group of people, why?
Because here's the thing, somewhere along the
way, people thought that if I'm a good pastor,
you're going to be good people. That ain't my
job. My job ain't to make you not do certain
things. That's God's job. Right? And so somewhere
along the way, we started to go, okay, okay,
if we're gonna have 300 plus students in a room,
then we gotta control what they do. Right? Why?
Because they are a representation. When they
go to their schools, they're a representation
of what? Heights Church. And so we gotta control
what they do, tell them what to do. Why? Because
we, we, we, the people making them do it, are
trying to impress. Look at how great we are.
Look how good we are. Have you seen our students?
Our students are better than any other students.
They don't swear. They don't smoke. They don't
hang out with people that do. I don't know why
I chose those. Those are weird. Isn't it funny
how we can get sidetracked from the gospel? And
what's happening here, they're getting sidetracked
from the gospel. They're going, hey, you guys
got to do this. You got to put in some self -effort
and self -worth and gain some self -value to
be bigger and better. No, you don't. You have
to believe that Jesus is the son of God and he
died on a cross for your sin. And if you believe
that, you have everything. There's nothing else
to earn. There's just a life to live that is
living that out in every space and let it impact
every single space you go into. And here's the
thing, right? Like they're going, we got to control
this because if we control this just right and
we make you do just the right things, then we
look like we got it together, church. I would
much prefer to be a part of a community Where
we are struggling, but it's real. I would much
prefer to be a part of a community where marriages
are actually changing, not just changing behavior
modification towards one another that will run
out. Right? I don't want to be families that
are raising their kids in such a way that the
rules are so stringent and so tight around them
and we keep preaching at them what it means to
be a good Christian. So much so that when they
get older, they're like, I don't want anything
to do with the faith because it doesn't work.
You know what's crazy to me? I was just having
a conversation with somebody in between services.
You know what's crazy to me? It's how for years
the church Would set all these rules to try and
impress and control, right? That we've got it
all together. And then you go home and the marriages
are toxic. And then we wonder why our kids go,
I don't want to be married. You wonder why we
have promoted a gospel of legalism, meaning there's
things you gotta do and gotta perform, and we
promote that and push that, and then when it
doesn't work and it falls apart, we wonder why
the people who chose, who were willingly with
us go, I'm out. Because you were always meant
to represent God. You were always meant to, as
Todd said last week, reflect God. And so what
happens is in this case, the reflection that's
given is it's more about them and them impressing
somebody else. And then he goes on and says,
the only reason they do this is to avoid being
persecuted for the cross of Christ. He gives
the motive. He goes, hey, they're making them
do this, right? Like, and it's looking good for
them. But then what happens is he goes, hey,
the only reason they're doing this is to avoid
persecution. Now, remember. In the story of God
and specifically, specifically in Paul's life,
there's a moment in Paul's life. Paul's the author
of this. There's a moment in Paul's life where
Paul is going to Damascus and he has in his hands
papers. And those papers are to kill Christians.
Okay, so people that have rejected Judaism, he
is out here on the streets, chasing people down
and putting them to death. Right? That's what
he's been mandated by. So people that are connected
to the Jewish faith that have now met Jesus,
what do they know? If I leave the Jewish faith,
the Jewish faith is what? They're going to come
after me. How do I know that? Because persecution
was rampant when this was written. So there's
this tension, right? So what they decide to do
is to bridge some of the gaps back to what some
thought was there was some thought here and we
can actually mesh these together. So they're
trying to mesh the two religions together by
going, you know what? If we just take a little
bit of that and we take a little bit of Jesus
and we put it together, we'll be safe. Their
motivation was it's easier. Their motivation
was this is safety. Isn't it interesting when
it comes to conversation about how we act, there's
something innate in our brokenness as humans
that we love a good list of rules. You ever notice
that? But you ever notice you can't keep them?
You know what I mean? Like you walk into a room
and there's a sign that says, don't touch the
light switch. And the whole time you're like.
no, I shouldn't, but what happens if I do, right?
There's just something inside as you tell me,
don't do that, right? Like the Bible often says
like, do not fear. You ever tried that? I'm not
gonna be scared. I'm not gonna be scared. It
doesn't work. It doesn't work. There's something
inside of us that we know, we love a good rule,
but we can't keep a good rule. And yet, in so
many religious circles, what have we done? We
create these rules. We create these, I'll be
real honest with you guys, it'd be way easier
to do my job and preach if I could just come
in and go, hey guys, I wrote a bestseller, five
keys, five keys to a healthy life. And I'll just
give you the five keys. Hey guys, I wrote another
book. Five keys to what it means. Why is it always
five? We'll go seven, because that's the number
of completion in the Bible. Seven keys to being
a good Christian. And instantly, instantly, we
would go, ooh, what are these going to be? Right?
Like, well, first off, let me just help you out.
There is no such thing in the Bible as a good
Christian. Like, let's just eliminate that concept,
right? Like, you are a Christian or you're not.
That's it. You're either reflecting Jesus or
you're not. It's that easy. But we love a good
give me a list, right? So you get this list and
now you leave here and you're like, okay, I got
this tangibly. I can go do this. No, you can't.
Because that's not what you were saved to. That's
not what this is all about. When Jesus shows
up and he saves you, he transforms you and he
gives you the Holy Spirit to live inside of you.
Now let's put that in context. The same power
that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, the same
power that allows Jesus to perform miracles,
the same power that brings life is inside of
you right now in the form of the Holy Spirit.
That's the power that's beating inside of your
body right now. And we think, Okay, the power
is in self -will. You are no match. I am no match
for sin. And I never will be. It'll beat me every
time. I will never overcome sin in my own power.
Ever. You know why? Sin is crafty. It finds new
ways to get you. Right? Because the power isn't
in what? In my own flesh. But what we crave is
we crave easier. But you weren't called to easy.
You know what you were called to? You were called
to walk in the, by the spirit, moment by moment.
You were called to take this power that is inside
of you and to live my life moment by moment aware
that the power to overcome, the power to be set
free, the power to not do the same things again,
is inside of you. I don't know if I say this
in church. I don't have anybody to ask. I asked
Pastor Ben last night, so maybe I'll just say
it anyways. That booty call, you don't have to
pick up. What do I mean? Friday night, your phone
rings. It's them. You know why they're calling.
You don't have to pick up the phone. I'm tired
of people going, well, I just couldn't. I just
couldn't help myself. Yes, you can. You know
why? Because you have the power of God who raised
Jesus from the dead inside of you, and you have
the power to overcome that moment and not pick
up the phone. Right? You have the power inside
of you. That for some of you, you're going to
go to the cabinet again. You know the cabinet
I'm talking about? It's out of reach of the kids
because you don't want the kids to get it. And
up there, you got all your alcohol up there,
right? And you're like, well, I can control it.
But you can't. And you know you can't. But you
keep going back to that cabinet, right? And tonight,
you're going to go back to that cabinet. And
you're like, I just can't. I just can't. It's
overwhelming. It's too much. I just need to let
go of what my day's been and what. And so you
go back to it. You, you, you, you, you have the
Holy Spirit inside of you. You have the. power
to not open the cabinet. In fact, you have the
power to pour it down the sink. If it's a problem,
get rid of it. That's the power that's inside
of you. Some of you, you're like, I just don't
know what you're talking about. I went to a prayer
meeting and I just had some prayer requests.
No, you didn't. You gossiped. Because your issue
is you can't control your mouth. Your mouth runs
all the time and it's hurting people. Well, I
can't stop it. It's the way God made me. He made
you to talk, yeah? I'll give you that. He didn't
make you to use your words in that way. Well,
I just can't stop it. You don't understand. Yes,
you can. You have the power that raised Jesus
from the dead and he's inside of you and he can
control your tongue because James tells me he
can. Right? You have the power inside of you.
I have to choose. whether I'm going to set up
rules and regulations, right? So my rule is,
okay, I'm never answering the phone from that
person. Good luck with that. Good luck. Because
I'll find another way to communicate with you.
I'm not going back to that cabinet, but I left
it there, but I'm not going back, but I left
it there, and it's always on my mind, and you'll
go back. Until you choose that the way to live
your freedom that you've been given in Jesus
is by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will
be overcome every time. The Holy Spirit will
never lead you into the things that are opposite
of the person of God. He won't. And we have the
same tension that they have here. We want the
easy way out. Give me the easy option. Give me
the list of rules, John. Tell me what I need
to do. Tell me how I should act. No, no, no.
What I will tell you is you have the Holy Spirit
inside of you, and what we are told is if you
walk by the Spirit, you will not fulfill the
lusts of the flesh. If these people were walking
by the Holy Spirit that he's talking to, they
would not be trying to impress other people by
making other people do religious things. They
just wouldn't. But their own selfish ambition
to be impressive to somebody else is what's driving
them, and in that moment, driving them by their
very flesh. How do I know that? Galatians chapter
5, verse 19 through 21. If you're in any question
of what the flesh is, it's all there. Your booty
call is there, by the way. Somebody liked it.
One person. One person. We'll keep that for next
time. No, don't be sorry. I liked it. It was
a good moment. I hope it's happening in Baghdad
right now. It was a good moment. You see, sometimes
I think we really, really just want this thing
to be easy. But when I look at the person of
Jesus, you guys, the cross wasn't easy. The cross
was excruciating. When I look at the life that
Jesus lived, Jesus didn't live a comfortable
life. Somewhere along the way, we exchange the
idea of a Christian life for a comfortable life.
I know many a person, I know somebody right now
personally who's sitting in a hospital. Ask them
if they're comfortable right now. I talked to
somebody else who lost a loved one this last
week. Ask them if they're comfortable right now.
You weren't designed for comfort. You were designed
to walk with the living God. And because he knows
how broken we are, he went to great extremes
to put inside you the Holy Spirit so that you
could walk the life that he created for in Jesus,
one that is free, one that is abundant. It says
in the next verse, verse 13. Not even those who
are circumcised keep the law, yet you want to
be circumcised that they may, or they want you
to be circumcised that they may boast about your
circumcision in the flesh. It's so interesting
to me that he's going within this context. He's
talking about like, hey, they can't even keep
the law themselves. You know what's crazy? Every
human that ever put human standards on me in
the name of religion can't even live them themselves.
At some point, we got to be honest. We're out
here on these streets together, struggling together.
And the only hope we have is the person of Jesus.
And the only hope for this life is the Holy Spirit
working through us. And we just got to be honest
with that. And that means I'm going to have good
days and I'm going to have bad days. But if I
have honest days, that's the difference. But
we're designed to do it together and walk together.
Because there is no other option that works.
Verse 14, may I never boast, may I never boast
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May I never boast. So Paul kind of reaches this
point with his large letters on this paper. And
he goes, may I never boast. We live in a culture
that boasts all the time. We live in a culture
that's all about us making something greater.
And often it's me making myself greater. Like
social media is something within our cultural
system that it's toxic for us. You don't believe
me? Read the statistics of what it does to your
teenage kids. Read where depression and how the
suicide rate has been affected by your daughters
seeing people who are trying to impress them
with how great their clothes are and how skinny
they are and what body image they should have.
And what do they do? They start to look at themselves.
Why? Because somebody else is boasting about
this is the way. This is what's awesome. Hey,
I'm not preaching, and I feel like I'm preaching,
and I ain't preaching at you. I've raised kids
in two generations. One generation, we let them
have social media. This one, I'm not. Because
I see the damage it's doing. And until they can
handle it, until they can make a choice, it's
up to them. But why? Because people boast. You
know what? I'm sick and tired. Wow, I sound really
grumpy today. I don't know what that's all about.
I don't know where that came from. I'm fatigued.
by seeing your kids and how awesome they are
on social media. Your kids ain't that awesome.
You know why? Because they're hellions just like
everybody else. You just chose to capture them
when they were good. Right? Let's be honest.
That's what it is that you boast about. Look
how great we are as parents. Man, I just want
people to post. I was talking to one of the safety
guys who was walking around today. I'm like,
I think I'm just going to start posting like
reality 100 % and see how it goes. You think
about what we've been given in the Holy Spirit,
that you can produce love and joy and peace and
patience and kindness and gentleness. That you
have this self -control, which means you have
control of the self. That's what the Holy Spirit
wants to give you and wants to produce within
you. And we're so busy trying to go, man, I'm
just going to, I'm going to love you more. And
you try and love somebody more. And they're like,
I'm going to have you arrested. Don't love me.
Right? Or you think about peace. And so you're
like, I got to get to this place of peace. So
I'm going to create a Zen pool in my backyard.
And I'm going to sit there. And you know what's
funny? You may think it's peaceful until your
kids show up. And you're like, oh. Why? Because
the only thing that can bring peace and love
and joy, the only thing that can bring a gentleness
to your anger, the only thing that can bring
kindness for your cynicism, the only thing that
can allow you to actually control this self is
God himself in the person of the Holy Spirit.
And it came at an amazing cost, you guys. The
end of that verse says, through which? So he
says, may I never boast except for in the Lord
Jesus, which is just a random question on that.
Like, what are you boasting about? What's your
life boasting about? If it's not Jesus, it's
pretty worthless. I'm gonna be honest. May I
never boast. And before you go, man, John was
like really in my business today. Hey, I understand
football season's coming. I'm gonna boast about
the Steelers. I get it, I get it. We all got
the same struggle. May I never boast except for
in the Lord Jesus. our Lord Jesus Christ, through
which... The world has been crucified to me and
I to the world. You have to get this. I know
I'm over time, but this is so important, so important.
There is a triple crucifixion that happens right
here. And the first crucifixion is Jesus. What
did Jesus do? He went to a cross and they crucified
him. Now as excruciating as the physical side
of that is, you just need to understand that
what's happening in that moment is he is taking
the entire sin of the human race, your sin, my
race, your sin, my sin, and the entire human
race, and he is putting it on him. him and he
is in that moment he is taking the sin of every
single human that will ever live and he is allowing
it to be placed on him and it's causing separation
with the father on your behalf he who knew no
sin became sin why so that you could become right
with God And so he takes on and he crucified.
He's crucified in that moment and there's separation.
There's a tearing apart. And it says one of the
things that is torn apart in the second crucifixion
is that the world and all its systems, you realize
that the enemy has this world and he's gearing
it towards leading you away from Jesus and everything,
everything around you is geared to push you away
from Jesus, not towards from the world standards
set up. And it says you have been crucified to
that, which means it has no power. It means we
don't have the excuse. They're like, well, I
just live in America in this time. No, you have
no power over you. You've been crucified to it.
But what it also says is I, I have been crucified.
I have been crucified with Christ. He said earlier
in this letter. So therefore I no longer live,
but Christ lives through me. What do you have
right now? You have the greatest gift given to
any human that's ever lived. And it is the freedom,
it is the freedom that comes in the person of
Jesus. You've been set free. And here's what
that means. Here's what that freedom is for.
It means that I can walk and live by the Spirit
of God. That freedom means that as I walk and
live by the Spirit of God, He produces within
me the very taste of heaven. He produces in me
the life of God through me to everything. And
it means that I can live in freedom. Freedom
means you have a choice. And so as we wrap up
our time, I want to do it different today, if
you'll let me. What I mean by that is this, that
we've been in this for, I think it's nine weeks,
maybe 10, I don't know. But we've walked through
the letter of Galatians and you've heard for
weeks now. In fact, there was a four week block
where it was the same message every week, right?
You could have taken your notes from the week
before and kept them. Jesus plus nothing equals
everything, right? Like that was just the...
And then we hit the point where he starts talking
about true freedom. And here's what I feel sometimes
we miss. That this is not designed for you to
walk away and just go, well, that was good. I
hope you do that because I want to impress you.
Just kidding. But we're meant to respond. We're
going to respond to what God puts in front of
us. The only way we change is through response.
And so in a few moments, here's what we're going
to do. That if you're here and you've been here
maybe over the weeks, whether that's here or
Baghdad, Paulding, online family, and you just
go, hey, I felt this tug. If I keep trying to
find my self -worth in what I do before God,
I'm still trying to make God happy. I'm still
trying to live up to some expectation that somebody
else put on me of what this Christian faith looks
like. That maybe you find that you're the one
putting those expectations on other people. That's
not your job. Maybe for you, it was the, hey,
I'm free, but I'm using that freedom and I'm
living for myself and the works of the flesh
are in my life. Like sin is just running rampant.
I keep making the same choices. I keep coming
back to the same place. And as we've gone through
this, you realize I need to go back to the foundation
of Jesus plus nothing is everything. I need to
go back to the foundation of I need to walk in
the power of the spirit. Because I've been missing
that. So here's what we're going to do. If you
are, would you stand where you are? I promise
it's not that scary. And now I'm just going to
ask you right where you are, just kind of close
your eyes or bow your head, whatever, just for
privacy for those around you. And again, I think
there's something powerful about When we respond
physically to a decision and things that are
happening on the inside. And so if you're here
and you go, John, I resonate with those things.
I resonate with someone who's trying to earn
my way to God or I'm trying to make God happy.
I'm trying to earn something that I already have.
Or you're here and you go, I'm just, I'm in a
space where, yes, it's Jesus, but I've added
all these rules and all these things that I think
I've got to keep up with. Or maybe you're here
and it's just a harsh reality that you realize
you live more by your flesh than you do the very
spirit of God that's inside of you. And today
you need to surrender and go, I'm done with that,
whatever that is. And I'm coming back to just
the foundation of Jesus. And maybe for you, it's
just a realization that I need to walk by the
spirit of God. Because my life doesn't look a
lot like love, joy, peace, patience, the fruit
of the spirit. So I'm gonna count to three. And
on three, I'm just gonna raise your hand. And
the reason for your hand being raised is one,
you, you are making that decision. It's happening
inside of you. But I just wanna pray for you.
I just wanna pray over you. And so one, if any
of that resonates, two, God loves you so much.
Three, just go ahead and raise your hand. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you. Hands all over the
room. Thank you. Thank you. God, we just come
before you. The creator, sustainer, maker of
our souls. God, we pray over each and every hand
in this room, in multiple other rooms. where
people are gathered. God, I pray that you would
meet just like we started. Meet us where we are
at. These hands raised, God, it's just our declaration
that we need more of you. That we need to come
back to a fresh foundation of everything you've
given in Jesus. That we need to strip away all
these things where we just want to work. to try
and earn something we already have. God, we strip
away the works of the flesh and the sin that
is beating us down. God, and we come to the foundation
that through Jesus, we just stand by the Spirit.
And so in these moments, would you speak? God,
as we make room for you, we make room through
worship for you to continue to work. God, we
ask for your Spirit. to do what is natural in
heaven. But we ask that supernaturally here,
you speak and you move and you create a power
in this space through our worship, God, that
we feel your presence, that we know you are here.
And would you speak to us and confirm the decisions
we've made? We pray over Baghdad and Paulding
today and our entire online family that the spirit
would be present and moving. As we make room
through our voices and our song to just say thank
you for loving us so much. And everybody said.