What If Hypocrisy Is Keeping You From God? | Easter @ Life | Week 1

Culture tells us to follow our hearts, protect our comfort, and stay in control. Jesus tells us to deny ourselves, carry a cross, and hand him the keys. That tension is where many people get stuck, not because they don’t believe in eternity, but because they don’t trust God with everyday life: habits, relationships, money, stress, and the parts of the heart we keep hidden.

We get practical by looking at the example Jesus gives in John 13 and across the Gospels. He lives on purpose, loves people others avoid, obeys the Father fully, and serves humbly even when it costs him. Along the way we unpack a powerful shift in perspective: approaching Jesus with a mirror to fix our flaws versus looking through a window to see the larger transformation God wants to do in our thinking, our desires, and our calling.

Then we name the hard stuff head on. We walk through barriers like control, fear of what obedience will cost, and the struggle to trust God beyond spiritual “moments.” We also tackle six non-negotiables that block real discipleship: willful sin, divided loyalty, love of the world, pride and self-righteousness, ongoing unforgiveness, and hypocrisy. If you’ve ever felt tired of performing, hiding, or keeping up appearances, this conversation points to a better way: confession, surrender, and a relationship where Jesus is not the co-pilot, he’s Lord.

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Transcript

The True Purpose Is Following Jesus

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello, this is Jamie Bridges, and thank you so much for joining us for this week's podcast. All of our services are inspired and built straight from the Bible. Let's get into this week's message recorded at Life Community Church.

Jesus’ Example: Purpose Love Obedience Service

Mirror Vs Window Transformation

Barriers: Control Cost Trust

Faith As Relationship Not Moments

Six Non Negotiables For Disciples

Unforgiveness And Washing Judas’ Feet

Hypocrisy: The House With Rot Inside

Confession And Jesus As Lord

Surrender Prayer And Final Invitation

SPEAKER_01 0:15

You know, these next couple weeks, we're uh we're coming and we're sharing about obviously the reason we gather. And I want us to be just reminded today that when you when you open God's word, when you dive into the things that Jesus is saying, He doesn't just say them flippantly, he says them with a point. And he has you in mind when he says those things. I think it's easy to get lost in the mindset that this is for someone else and not for me. But as followers of Jesus, and hear me, you guys, this is the this is the goal, idea, the point, and purpose of why we exist is to follow Jesus. I might need to say that again. That is your purpose, to be a follower of Jesus. Where that happens, with whom it happens, how it happens, has been instructed in his word. Everything that you need, he's given us. Do I make it difficult? Do you make it difficult? Do we all make it difficult? Absolutely. But the goal of every single one of us in this room is to follow Jesus. That is the purpose. That is the point. So when Jesus in John chapter 13 says, I've given you an example to follow. Do as I've done to you. He's saying, Listen, you're not blind in this. I've given you an example, and here's what I'm asking, requiring of you as a follower of Jesus. And what I'm telling you is hard. It is difficult. Anytime someone says you must kill your flesh or deny yourself, that's always difficult. I'm not talking to you about a moment, I'm talking to you about a lifestyle, a way to live, not an occasion, not inconsistently, but consistently, daily. All of us. And here's some of the things that Jesus did that I think are worth mentioning. He lived on purpose. The Bible says in Luke 19, he came to seek and to save those that were lost. That was never lost on Jesus. It was always about eternity. It was always about being with people, pointing them in that direction. That is no different for us. And if there's one thing that the enemy wants to steal from you, it's your purpose, your identity as sons and daughters of the king. Like if he could get you off purpose, then you're gonna miss the whole point. You're gonna miss everything. You're always gonna, you're gonna be 55 years old wondering, like, what's the purpose of life? What do I need to be doing? That's the point. He lived on purpose so that you and I could follow in this example. It wasn't random, it was intentional. Everything pointed to people getting saved, knowing who he is. That is our example. And he loved the unlovable. Mark tells us this. Mark says, Listen, people are talking about Jesus. He's hanging out with these people, he's hanging out with these people over here. And Jesus addressed it and he said, Listen, they call them notorious sinners, they call them scum, said these things. And Jesus replied to them and said, Healthy people don't need a doctor. Sick people do. I've come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners. Jesus sat with them, he ate with them, he touched the untouchable. And I would ask this question of all of us who are you avoiding that Jesus would pursue? Who am I avoiding that Jesus would pursue? Because here's what it is people not like Jesus liked Jesus. He didn't participate in the things that they were doing. He would he knew, he understood that he had to reach them, he had to go to where they are. That has not changed, you guys. Jesus still meets you where you are. You might have come in, you might be, your mind might be so far away. You might be over here, God meets you where you are. He doesn't say, clean up, come over here. He says, Listen, I know exactly where you are, and I'm gonna meet you there. He loved the unlovable. And not only that, he obeyed the Father fully. Listen, what we don't surrender to him owns us. What you're unwilling to fully submit to him, that's your distraction. Jesus said at the end of his life, Father, if you are willing, don't make me do this. Let this cup pass from me. But not my will. Let your will be done. In everything that we pray, it has to be the same conclusion. God, I want to go here, but not my will. Your will be done. God, I want to marry so-and-so. I want to go to this field, I want to do all these things. But God, in the end, not what I want, what you want. And what you're saying is, God, open doors, shut doors. You're in control. He fully surrendered. He's calling us to full surrender. And Jesus served humbly. The Bible says, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus washed feet. Jesus chose the lowest places. Jesus understood the greatest would serve others. Jesus took this approach, and this is hard for us as Americans because a lot of times we approach Jesus with a mirror in front of us. And this mirror in front of us, we can see the things that are blemishes. We can see all these things. And we think Jesus just wants to take those away. Jesus approaches us with a window. And the window is to all the possibilities, all of the unknowns, all of the things that He wants to do, all of the things that He wants to transform in us. He doesn't want to make me new, He wants to transform the way I think, the way I see, the way I feel, the way I talk, the way I do. He wants transformation, not a better version of you. So when we come as a mirror, we're trying to fix all these things. And Jesus is trying to get us to look out the window and see how big, how vast, how crazy this world is, and what the purpose and call is on our lives. It's different. Okay? What he's calling us to is different. And there are barriers that all of us bring to the table. The number one barrier, and this is for this is harder on some of us, it's letting go of control. Where are my control freaks at? Come on, this is your moment to control, even this moment. Right? The barrier that all of us have is we like being in charge of our lives. I like known things. And so when Jesus says, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, this is the tension. The tension is culture says, follow your heart. Jesus says, deny yourself. Culture says, do what makes you happy. Well, sometimes what would make me happy is to punch somebody. Jesus says, your heart is deceptive, it's dangerous. If you follow it, it's going to take you down a lot of trails that you should never go down because we're full of emotion and all these other things. And he says, no, no, no. I'm asking you to deny yourself. Well, if you're a person that likes to be in control and not go with the flow, or yeah, you're just easy going, like if you're the control freak, you're probably married to the other. And if there's two control freaks, that's your ex. There's just no way. There's no way. If I married a woman like me, man, that's trouble. And if Kelly married someone like her, uh yeah. You thought I was gonna fall for that, didn't you? I'm not going there. I'm not saying what would happen. But it would be done late. I will tell you that. We got time. No, we don't need to leave now. Fear of what it will cost is also a barrier. What is this gonna cost me? You know what is this gonna cost me? People wonder, what do I have to give up? What relationships do I have to lose? Will my life get harder? Again, Jesus says, whoever does not carry their cross cannot be my disciple. Jesus is saying, here's the image. The only way you can follow me is to die to yourself. That is what the cross represents. When you look at a cross, when you understand a cross, when you visualize the cross, anybody in this culture during this time would have said that meant death. Jesus is calling us to die to ourselves. That is the cost. There is nothing comfortable about the cross. Following Jesus is free, but it will cost you everything. It will cost you everything. And then, thirdly, the barriers, trusting him fully. I think a lot of us love Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. Man, I saw someone came up to me today. They're like, I got it on my bracelet. Trust in the Lord. I like we love this passage. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your path. It sounds so pretty. We beautify it by putting it on the back of shirts, putting it out on our handle, putting it on social media. And yet trusting him fully is a barrier for every single one of us. Because do I really believe his way is better than my way? Do I really believe that? This is the struggle. We trust Jesus with eternity. We just don't trust him every day. So then we come from a standpoint of like Pastor Doby was talking about last week. He's my name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We're like, yes, eternity is fine. And so here's what we do: we put our relationship with Jesus to moments. Baptism moments, salvation moments, camp moments, this experience. We say, in sixth grade, I gave my life to Jesus. In seventh grade, I got baptized. And we point back to these moments, and Jesus is inviting us to a relationship because I can't just look at that moment as a starting point and an end point. It has to start, but it has to take me somewhere. If it doesn't take me anywhere, then I question the moment. If I said our moment, June 21st, 1997, it's the day we got married, and I never revisit a relationship and I just always point back to the date. I'm not married. Let's just enjoy that great day. It was so beautiful. Our closest friends, all these things. I can talk about it, I can do all those things. But if we don't have a relationship coming out of that, you would question the marriage. So why do we then do the exact same thing in our relationship with Jesus? And instead we limit it to moments and say, I'm gonna go back there, I'm gonna live however I want. But listen, I believe I'm I'm going to heaven. It's like, what? How are we reflecting that we're trusting him fully? How are we doing that? Who's really in charge of my life? Is really the question. I'm not just adding Jesus to my life. I'm giving him the keys, I'm giving him the car, I'm giving him everything. He's not the co-pilot, he is the guy. And if not, I'm in trouble. Right? So that was that was the opener. Um I'm gonna talk to us about hard things because I do believe that that Jesus demands, as followers of Jesus, us to stop doing things. And as the church, I think we've done a difficult job letting people ease into and not be accountable. Hear me. Jesus comes from a standplace of conviction, not condemnation. The Bible is clear, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? That means when God convicts, when the Holy Spirit convicts our life, it's always to change us into a different direction. It's always to transform us. Jesus is not about betterment, he's about transformation. It's always about that. It's not a life of guilt, a life of shame. It's always about transformation. That's why repentance is so key. But there are some things that Jesus says and does with people that we have to see. And here's some of them. Okay? The last two are doozies. I'm giving you a heads up. There's six of them. The first one is a life of willful sin. This is not on the screen. A life of willful sin is I started reading my Bible, and the Bible says this. Someone has pointed out something that is in the Bible. The Holy Spirit has spoken something to me, and instead of turning from that, I'm still doing it, but I know it's wrong. To the woman caught in adultery, Jesus looked at her and he said, Go and sin no more. He did not say, Go and figure it out. Go and ease your way into a life of purity. He didn't. In fact, Jesus started using hyperboles, and these are stories of dramatic effects for a point to be taken. There's a passage of scripture where Jesus says, Listen, if you're a believer and you're leading your family and you don't do that well, I liken you to an unbeliever who forsakes the gospel. It would be better for you, as that believer who's not leading his family well, to get in a boat, go in the middle of the lake, to put a millstone around your neck and to jump in than it is to be that person. That's a dramatic effect. Jesus wasn't actually saying to do that. When Jesus says, if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off. Wow, that is like powerful stuff, Jesus. He's not literally telling you, he's getting you to understand how much he deals with sin. He's getting us to grasp how serious he takes sin to the point where it cost him his life. He died for sin. He died in our place. We'll talk about this next week. He died in our place. So for us as followers of Jesus, when we say, I'm following Jesus, I follow him, I'm a Christian, and we don't willingly give up this sin, this is a humongous barrier, you guys. Because this is a non-negotiable to Jesus. Jesus says, When you know, you must do something with it. You must surrender it. You must repent of it. This is important for us to see because what this means is we don't justify sin anymore. We don't live comfortably in sin. We fight it, we confess it, we turn from it. Because following Jesus means sin is no longer something that we protect, it's something that we put to death. That's a big thing for him. Right? So when we know, we gotta do something with it. This all right. He also says, here's a non-negotiable, a life of divided loyalty. He says, Listen, you can't serve two masters. It's impossible. You gotta choose, you cannot be neutral when it comes to Jesus. There cannot be divided loyalty. He says, if anyone comes to me and does not hate even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Jesus demands first place, not shared space. He demands it. What does this mean? Jesus over career, Jesus over relationships, Jesus over reputation, Jesus over comfort. You can't follow Jesus and still let something else sit on your throne, is ultimately what he's saying. He's saying you have to make a decision. I cannot be divided on this. That's why it's a lifestyle, not a moment. We love moments. He's calling us to a lifestyle. He also says, here's another one: a love of the world, non-negotiable. Whoever wants to save their life, they're gonna lose it. What good is it to gain the whole world? Forfeit your soul. Jesus is calling us out of self-centered, world-driven life. What does this mean? We stop chasing approval, success, as our identity. We stop living for more. Start living for eternal purposes. You don't follow Jesus and still live for the same things as everyone else. Yes, you're gonna be weird. Yes, you're gonna be different. Yes, you're gonna be made fun of. Yes, people are gonna dislike you. Yes, you might lose jobs. Yes, you might lose relationships. Yes, you might make a uh take a stand on certain issues, and people don't like that. Understand, they don't mind the stand, it's just that they're feeling convicted by the stand that you're taking. When you take a stand, it's not saying I'm better than someone. You're just saying I'm living by a compass, a moral code, a lifestyle that Jesus is drawing to me. Okay? And it's also a life of pride and self-righteousness. He says, listen, that guys, that can't work. You can't have pride and be in relationship with me. It can't be about you and about me at the same time. You can't, you can't pretend to be God and say I'm God. This is the Lord Savior conversation. Whoever exalts himself will be humble. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in in Luke chapter 18. Jesus consistently opposed religious people. What does this mean? It means we stop trying to prove to God that we're good enough. It means we we we live in humility knowing we need God's grace every single day, every single one of us. I cannot follow Jesus while trusting in myself. Can't do it. It's a non-negotiable. Right? It's it's just Jesus, he's like, I can't happen. And you have these. You have these in your house. Like they're non-negotiables. Like, listen, you're not gonna do this in my house. Jesus is saying the exact same thing. Okay? Now, again, five and six, they're a little different, difficult. A consistency of unforgiveness. Jesus says, we can't do that. To the point where Jesus says, Listen, if you do not forgive others, just know this your father will not forgive you. Matthew chapter six. He's not saying that so that you go, okay, I just I guess I can't do that because I know some of you right now are thinking you don't understand what he did. You don't understand what she said. You don't understand the house I was raised in. Yet Jesus says, Listen, in the same way you've been forgiven, forgive others. So we cannot be people who go, We love God's grace. We're so grateful for his grace, we're so grateful for his mercy that he's extended to our lives, and then say, but you're not deserving of it. In fact, when you read Matthew 7, because this is a passage we like to go to, well, who am I to judge? How people live, right? This is important for us. Matthew chapter 7 is saying, it's not that you shouldn't judge, it says, be careful in the manner that you judge. Because in the same manner that you judge, is the same manner you will be judged. So if you want to judge in a harsh way, just know the ball don't lie. Just know you do reap what you sow. Right? Like we believe that. We believe that how you treat people is probably how you're gonna be treated. The gold rule like can I keep going? Like he's saying this is heavy. This means we release bitterness, this means we don't hold people hostage for the things that they've done. To you. It's the reason when we say Jesus came to serve, and we go like, Wow, that sounds great. I want to serve too. Jesus grabbed a towel and could have skipped Judas, but he didn't skip Judas. Judas he washed his feet. So I would say it's not so much how do you treat people that agree with you like John, it's how do you treat people who treat you like Judas did? The boys, the tri the trio. The fact that he washed Judas's feet knowing what Judas was about to do is the miracle. But hear me. What I read in the beginning, Jesus said that was an example to do likewise. Which I always come back and say who's the Judas in your life that you're washing the feet of the people who are not going to be able to do it. Healing people. The religious people were making fun of him, saying things about him. And he's addressing them. Right? Because this is the last non-negotiable. What bothers Jesus the most is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is the biggest thing. And this is what Jesus is addressing. He's saying a life of hypocrisy. He says, he says to the Pharisees. He says, Listen, here's who they are. These are people who honor me with their lips. Their hearts are far from me. Jesus is saying, Howward! Howward, you guys. Everybody goes, Look how religious they are. They pray in public and their beautiful prayers. They fast and everyone knows, look how spiritual they give, they give, and everybody says, Look how much money they're giving it all. Jesus, like it's all a show. It's all a show. He says so much. He says, when you pray, don't pray like that guy. Get in your closet. And your father who is in heaven, he'll reward you. He says, Listen, if you want a reward here on earth, there's gonna be people and they're gonna come around like, whoa, man, let's get that guy. Look how spiritual he is. You have it. Oh, they're also fasting, they're throwing water on their face, and everyone's going, My gosh, he must be really fasting. Look how spiritual he is. And when they're giving, he says, Look at this woman right here. She gave two pennies. She's given more than this guy. Not mathematically, we know mathematically that makes zero sense. He said, What she gave was everything. You gave, and you can afford it. There's a big difference. What is Jesus addressing? He's addressing the hypocrisy, you guys. And he's saying the hypocrisy is a non-negotiable. I don't want people to follow me who honor me with their lips, but their hearts are somewhere else. He says that's not what this is about. He's making the harshest words. He's saying, No more double life, no more pretending. Integrity matters more than image. He's saying following him is about transformation, not performance. Jesus doesn't just dislike hypocrisy, he confronts it. He confronts it hard because it directly opposes everything he came for. Because he knew purpose. He knew hypocrisy was fighting his purpose. Because when you read Matthew 23, he says, now your hypocrisy is affecting people, and now we got a problem. You want to do it to yourself, do it. But now you're affecting people. Now we got a problem. This is what he dresses in Matthew 23. He says, You're leading people astray. Matthew 23, 13. You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. He says, This is why this is dangerous. You're misrepresenting me. You're pushing people away from the faith. He says, You're making others think Christianity is about rules and appearances and performance. And I'm telling you right now, you're deceiving others. You're focused on the outward image, not the inward reality. And Jesus constantly pointed out that God cares about the heart first and foremost. So much that he says later in Matthew 23, you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but the inside, they are full of greed and self-indulgence. This is what hypocrisy says it says, as long as I look right, I am right. And Jesus said, if your heart isn't right, then nothing is right. And not only that, hypocrisy blocks real repentance. Real repentance. Hypocrisy keeps people from admitting that they need God. The people Jesus couldn't reach were not broken, they were not sinners, they were not the outcast, they were the self-righteous. It replaces relationship with religion. Jesus didn't come to create rule flowers, he came for a relationship. Hypocrisy turns faith into checking off the boxes, impressing people, maintaining appearances instead of knowing God, being known by Him, walking in humility, and ultimately hypocrisy is rooted in pride. And that is the reflection of the devil. At the core, hypocrisy says, I want to look right more than I want to be right. I want to look right. And that's why Jesus was so direct to the people who are prideful. And here's what's the most important thing: Jesus hates hypocrisy, but he loves the hypocrite. This is the game changer, you guys. Because as much as Jesus called them hypocrites, as much as he went after this performance based that these guys were doing, as much as he went after him, he always invited them. That's the difference. Whoever is whoever. Any of you, if you want to come, admit you're a sinner. Admit that we've made it about the wrong thing amid all these things. Don't ask, do I look like I follow Jesus? Ask is my heart actually surrendered to him. That's weird if you want to look just like Jesus. I don't even know what that is, except Isaiah calls him ugly. I don't know. Actually does. There's no form of comeliness that people would be attracted to him. So your blue-eyed, long-haired, perfect beard Jesus from the chosen is a lie. All you ladies that are watching it because of hot Jesus. I actually think he's well, anyway. That's probably another uh that's probably another podcast, you know? I was driving through this neighborhood and and um they were building these houses. And the outside of one of the houses was pretty much done, looks good, but the inside obviously wasn't, wasn't completed. And uh as I was as I was driving, I had this image. Fresh paint, clean windows, landscaped yard. Looks like something like out of a magazine. But what we don't see inside the house is the cracked foundation, the mold in the walls, the wiring dangerous, the structure is slowly collapsing, and instead of fixing it, we just keep repainting the outside. We just repaint the outside. And every time something gets worse inside, just add another coat. Fix what people can see, make sure it looks right from the street. The house isn't healthy, but it is impressive. That's hypocrisy. It's not that nothing is wrong, it's that what we've gotten really good at is covering what's wrong. And I'll even add this, I didn't add this in the other two services. But you don't invite people into that kind of house. Because you know actually what's going on on the inside, so you want people to stay impressed on the outside, and so you don't invite them in. Hear me? We're life community church because I believe that God has incredible life for us that is built through community, and the vehicle is the church. I believe in the church. I believe it's difficult to follow Jesus without community and the church. In fact, I would almost tell you it's not how it's supposed to be, and you're out of God's will if you're doing it that way. But when you live a hypocritical life, everyone on the outside says it's amazing until they open the door and they see you for who you really are, and then in that moment, in that moment, you're caught. And what do we do in that moment? We either push people away, throw another coat on the outside, and get everybody else pretending. It's the reason you guys, I hate the how you doing. I don't like it because most of us don't stick around long enough for the answer to be, to be, uh, for the question to be answered. I don't really give a rip how you're doing. I'm going through a formality. And the formality is, hey, how are you? You might as well say, What up, guy? How you doing, guy? Hey girl, what's going on? You might as well say that, but if you're not willing to stick around, you don't really care how someone is doing. Because if you did, it's gonna cost you time, potentially money, and your convenience. So let's stop saying it unless we actually want to stick around for the answer. This is what Jesus is addressing. He's addressing this game that we constantly play. And the game is that we're gonna figure out life on our own, and you've been instilled inside of you from parents who are hurting, from parents who are insecure, from parents who didn't know any better. And this is a knock on not a knock on your parents, but let's be real. You had hurt people, hurting people, because that's all they knew, and you've believed a lie, and the lie is just keep do better, just try to figure it out, just keep doing it on your own. And God's going, no, surrender it. Let it go, give it to me. Come to me, you who are burdened and heavy laden. I'm the one that will give you rest. You know why? Because I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. That is a bold statement. And the statement is I am a trustworthy God who you can trust. I know your father despised you, I know your father turned his back on you, but I am not that kind of father. That's what he says to you, that's what he wants from you. It's a relationship, and you've never heard a dad say that to you, you've never had a mom say that to you. So instead of excusing ourselves away from the purposes of God, why not lean in? That's the invitation. The invitation is despite where you've been, despite the hypocrisy, he still loves the hypocrite. And we're all hypocrites, you guys. This is not a moment where you look across the room and say, I'm so glad so-and-so is here that they're hearing this message today. Nope, it's for you, ma'am. Because there's not one in this room that's not a hypocrite, not one of us, every single one of us. That should be the best news for every single person in this place. Because if there's a moment that you thought, man, this is a really good message for so-and-so, you missed the whole point. I would actually say it this way: you are the religious person. Now in this way, here's what I know, you guys. Confession is a powerful thing, so powerful. And Paul is writing to the Roman church, and he says this, and I'll expound on this next week. He says, if you openly declare, or if you confess, Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Now, I think what we've done is we've watered down that verse, and we've said, Do you believe? Do you believe? Feel like I believe. The Bible says, even the demons believe that he is God. It's not about belief, it's about confession. Confession, not that Jesus is good, not that he's savior, not that he's a friend, not that he's a good teacher. He said, Do you confess openly and publicly that he is Lord? It's a big difference. Lordship is you only. Am I submitting to Lordship? And in submitting to Lordship, I'm saying, God, you're no, there's nowhere else to go. It's what Peter said. Where would we go? Only you have the words of eternal life, and he says, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for your father in heaven is the one that revealed that. He said, Peter, you're different. And here's how you're different. You're different because God revealed that to you, and because he revealed that to you, upon this rock, I will build my church, is what he told them. What is that? That's confession. I would also say this confession is different than being put against the wall. Confession is me going, hey, listen, I admit I'm a sinner. I admit I'm a hypocrite. I admit I need God's grace. This is not a moment about getting caught and going, okay, I guess I'm a sinner. Confession is, whether you tell me to or not, I'm believing something and I'm confessing, He is Lord. He is Lord. And it didn't say, go tell a neighbor, go tell your best friend, send a quick note. Openly declare. Public. I don't know what that looks like for you. Maybe you need to go on your Instagram handle today and say, Hey, by the way, Jesus is Lord. I confess that today. I dare you, stand in front of your class. Say just an FYI today. I believe Jesus is Lord. That'll get some reaction. You don't have to say anything else. Because the Bible later says, Listen, if you're ashamed of me in front of those, before your Father in heaven, I will also be ashamed of you. What is that? That's the power of confession. From the beginning of time, you guys. My flesh wants to keep a secret. My flesh wants to hide. My flesh wants you to see the outside of my house, but please don't come in. The contention from the beginning of time. When Adam sinned, what does the Bible say? God says, Adam, where are you? They weren't playing hide and seek. God already knew. He was trying to get Adam to figure out where he was. To which the Lord is just asking you, Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? This is important for all of us. As followers of Jesus. Am I surrendering my life? Am I denying my flesh? Are there things that I'm addicted to that I'm not giving up to God? Today's the day, give them up. Surrender those things because what you don't surrender is controlling you. It's controlling you. It's controlling you. And God says, not today. This is how I know you are not here by accident. Because God sees you, God hears your prayer, and God wants to constantly change your life. To transform you. A new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things are new. Upon what? Confession. Confession. Jesus, right now. God, every person in this room, first and foremost, you died for them. You died for every single one of us. God, to live a life that is pleasing, a life that is faithful to you. A life that says, God, where am I missing it? Even David, God, search me, know me. Every anxious thought, everything that is not of you, God, I'm asking you to search and to know. And God, we acknowledge today this is not a moment where we get more strength. This is not a moment where we figure it out. This is a moment where we lean in and we say, God, we can't without you. We cannot without you. So, God, we give it to you. Just in your own words right now. I'm going to ask you to give something to the Lord. Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's a job. Maybe it's the thing that you've been stressed about all week, and people around you know it because, let's be real, you've not been treating them the same. And it had nothing to do with them. You're stressed. And maybe you know it, and everyone else knows it, but right now you need to confess it. God, I give you my marriage. God, I give you this financial situation. God, I give you my job that I've complained about, and I say, God, it's yours. I can't do it anymore. I surrender it to you.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

Whatever it is, give it to him. Give it to him. In Jesus' name.

unknown 43:05

Amen.