Speaker 1: 0:00

What's up? Free Church Wow, you look great today. Looks like some of you got your hair done this week. It's summer, everybody, it's summer, and I'm trying to turn the clock backwards. I want to look younger, not older, man.

Speaker 1: 0:23

What a great day to be in God's house. Huh, feels like it's a. No, do not miss summer around Free Church. Like so electric in this house and so rich in the presence of the Lord. And if you're a guest today, thank you for joining us church family. Let's welcome our guests that are with us today and we love to say this there is no place like this place near this place. So this must be the place.

Speaker 1: 0:55

So if you're looking for a place, listen, I don't think you have to look any further. Settle in, pick out your favorite seat and come back and be a part of all that God's doing. I mean, in an environment like this, I just really see. I just see so much happening that's so good that, even in the midst of every test and trial and struggle, we come into a house like this and we're refreshed, we're filled up, we experience the joy of the Lord, and so I'm just telling you, whatever it is that you're looking for in a church. We're not perfect, and if I haven't offended you yet, just hold on because I probably will but I will tell you this our heart, our heart, is to help people know God better every single Sunday, and I feel like we're doing that in leaps and bounds because we're just getting to just sit in the presence of the Lord and I'm so thankful. And all of our online campus watching all over this nation and around this world. We welcome you as well, and you know, this week our nation celebrated a day that probably went too long without being celebrated, and that's Juneteenth, and maybe our nation didn't get it right immediately, but you know what Every step we take together, we get it right. What Every step we take together, we get it right. Let me just say you can't count on anybody else to get reconciliation right except for you and me If we don't do our part. It doesn't matter what anybody else does, we have to do our part, and so I just, I just want to say I'll pause and say happy freedom day for everybody. For the years it took for that to happen and still happening. Listen, we're going to do our part here at free church and I just, I just want to say, um, there's no other environment I'd rather be in than an environment like this where, thank God, not everybody looks like me and not everybody thinks like me. But the reality is I'm about to preach a word as we begin this new summer series, and I think it lines up with the spirit of this house. So, as I like to say just about every Sunday I get a chance to, I'm excited to preach God's word. Are you ready to receive it today?

Speaker 1: 3:41

The year was 1988 and I was a senior in high school. So start doing the math. I'll be 55 in just a few weeks. I'm working on my exit everybody. No, that's like a 15-year exit, 20-year, 25-year, I don't know, maybe I'll preach till I'm 90. Because I'm turning 55, but I feel 25. And my wife says I act like I'm 12. So there you go Turning, feel, act. So the year was 1988. How'd I get off? 1988.

Speaker 1: 4:22

And I was a senior in high school and our group of friends. We had been running together just about from kindergarten on and it was an experience to go through one school system, my entire educational experience, and by the time we were seniors we pretty much had life figured out. We had our own language that nobody else knew. When something was really good, bennett, we'd say stuff like well, that's too bad, that's too bad, and people didn't know if we were saying it was good or it was bad. People would be like, well, is it good? I'm like yeah, it's too bad. Like well, is it good? I'm like yeah, it's too bad. We had our own phrases, we had our own music. I can't even tell you the music we listened to. My parents did not know I listened to this music. So we had our own music we listened to and we had our own little handshakes and we had it all. We had life figured out. And you knew we were in the room because we had all talked the same, all laughed the same, all hung out the same, all loved the same things. And it's funny because I'll never forget.

Speaker 1: 5:39

One of our assistant principals came in the room and he's like I need to see. And he, just he kind of said, hit the side. He said I need to see all the Cole Grove boys. He's like I need to see. And he, just he kind of said, hit the side. He said I need to see all the Colgrove boys. And I was like, well, there's only one.

Speaker 1: 5:50

But we all knew what he was talking about and we all got pulled down into the principal's office and he's like now listen, guys, it's been a great school year, you've had a good run here, but you're getting out of here. He's like, and I can tell you all have been together for a long time. And he said it just like this because you talk the same, you look the same, you act the same, you skip class the same. Oh, I didn't say that and he said so. He just went on and on and on and he said I know you're good friends, I know you're probably more than friends. You feel like brothers. I know you're good friends, I know you're probably more than friends. You feel like brothers because because I can tell, whenever you all are together, there's just, there's something happens. You change the atmosphere in the room. You see, he said so. I'm just asking you for the last few weeks, can he act like you really want to be here? But it's the year I learned when you spend considerable time and build relationship with people around you, you actually not only start to, you really start to talk like them, you act like them, you show off like them and people can tell that you've been together. Why don't you just lean to your neighbor and say you about to get ready to show me something, ready to show me something? And turn to the other neighbor and just say this, we're going to look like him. Let me ask you something.

Speaker 1: 7:17

In fact, yesterday was the perfect day for this message, because some of you probably got outside in the heat. It's what we've been waiting for Timeout, psa. No, complaining when it's hot, not in this house. No, no, we suffer from November till May and we ain't gonna complain when it's 90. This is when our city, this is what we live in this city for. So some of you got outside. Maybe you worked on the yard, maybe you played golf, maybe you had a kid's game to go to, and you've been out in the sun and we like to say you got a little sun kissed, a little melatonin improvement that you look better than you did when you woke up all pale. I'm on my way to catch up with some of y'all Get ready, but you've been sun-kissed. You might even say you've been marked by the sun S-U-N.

Speaker 1: 8:37

Over the next few weeks, we're going to lean in together this summer season and we're not just going to be sun S? U? N. We are going to be marked by the sun S? O? N. My goal for the end of this series and the end of this summer is that when people walk past you, they stop and they said have you been spending time in the sun? Have you been spending time with the sun? What is different about you from the beginning of the summer? And you can just simply say I have been marked by the sun. I've been marked by Jesus this summer, by the sun. I've been marked by Jesus this summer. So if you want to look like him, you got to know what he looks like. Are you ready? The title of this sermon series is called Summer Shorts. Just kidding, summer shorts. And I'm going to do my best to preach this short, but the worship team man, they blew this thing out today. So, all right, let's go.

Speaker 1: 10:06

2 Corinthians 3, verse 17. The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom and we all with unveiled. Well, let me just stop right there. The Lord is the spirit. That word spirit there in the Greek word is pneuma. We've talked about it a lot. Pneuma, it literally means breath. Everybody just kind of go. That is the spirit, that is the breath. That is what the word means.

Speaker 1: 10:42

In fact, in John, chapter two, john is writing and he describes the spirit as wind, and he says you know when the wind is blowing, even though you can't see the wind. You see the effect of the wind. Yesterday was windy, wind was blowing out at Wrigley Stadium. Come on, somebody, cubs, let's go, cubs Go, cubs go. And you can't see the wind, but you know when the wind is blowing. And so John says that's what the Holy Spirit is going to do in our lives. You might not see it, but you're going to know what happened. So the Lord is the Spirit, spirit.

Speaker 1: 11:24

And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. That's why we can come to have fun in church. That church should be enjoyed and not endured because there's freedom. It's why we can lift our hands and surrender in awe of a holy God, because there's freedom. So where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all who, with unveiled faces, contemplate the Lord's glory that word glory there is kabod. It means weight. So you can't see the wind, but you know it's moving. So you can't see the wind, but you know it's moving. And then the kabod is the weight, the very full weight of God and he says this and being transformed into his image, meaning transformed to look like him with ever increasing glory. Weight which comes from the Lord, who is the spirit. So let me just see if I can frame this before we dive in the idea of pneuma. The breath, it's the same spirit that hovered over in the book of Genesis over a world of chaos, before God said let there be light. The spirit is there, hovering. It is the very same spirit where God breathed breath into Adam. It is that spirit that fell in the book of Acts and it sat on them. It's a mighty rushing wind that blew into that room.

Speaker 1: 12:58

What should happen at free church on every Sunday? Not, it's not like hit or miss. Every single Sunday you should walk in here and feel this breath of fresh air, like you come in and you go whoa, what a week. And you go and you breathe that last week of stress out and you breathe that Holy Spirit and Breath of fresh air. And for us, this is the thing we need the spirit in order that we can carry the full weight of God, the glory of God. So I want to just set this up for a moment that we have this wind in us, carrying the glory of God is not like we're carrying something on our back. It's not like we're carrying this heavy thing, but we carry. We have this wind blowing through us, within us, refreshing others around us, and the glory, the weight is the reflection of the one we serve. So I want to talk to you about getting to look more like him, that as days and weeks and months go by, we should look more and more and more like him, just like all the years of hanging out with my friends. We created our own language, we had our own things we did. Everybody knew we were coming in and we were coming in hot because we had spent so much time together. And that's what should happen when we spend time with the Lord and the Holy spirit that we come out looking more like him. Like I said, if you want to look more like him, you got to know what he looks like.

Speaker 1: 14:45

So I'm going to give you passages of scripture and then we're going to spend a short amount of time in each of the gospels. Are you ready? Ezekiel, chapter one. Ezekiel chapter one, verse 10. Ezekiel is describing a vision, and it's a vision of the Lord. He says this in Ezekiel, chapter one, verse 10,. Their faces look like this Each of the four had the face of a human being. On the right side, each had the face of a lion. Each on the left had the face of an ox. Each also had the face of an eagle.

Speaker 1: 15:24

I'm not going to go into like great detail of this prophecy and this vision that Ezekiel saw, but basically he sees a creature that has four faces, has a lion, an ox, a human face and an eagle, and in these four things represented now in the gospels, we're going to get to see what Jesus looks like. You ready? Look at verse 28. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So if you're going to reflect the glory of the Lord, guess what you're reflecting this eagle, this lion, this oxen, this human face. Okay, so he says this, and when I saw it I fell face down. I heard the voice speaking. So he says what I saw was the image of the glory of God.

Speaker 1: 16:19

Verse revelation four, seven the first living creature was like a lion. The second was like an ox, the third had the face of a man and the fourth was like a flying Eagle. All right, so all of that is in there. All that should be in your notes. You'll be able to follow those scriptures around.

Speaker 1: 16:33

So, basically, I'm going to spend just a short amount of time in each gospel and we're going to talk through this for a little bit. Are you ready? So Matthew Matthew writes about the face of man and he talks about the humility of Jesus. Mark talks about the face of an ox and he talks about the servanthood. This is ringing. Should I switch mics? We? Okay, there we go, that's better. Mark had the face of an ox and it's the servanthood of Jesus. Luke writes about the face of an eagle. That's the divinity and vision of Jesus. But John John writes about the face of a lion, and that is the boldness, the anointing and the authority of Jesus. So we're going to start in the book of John and I'm not going to spend a lot of time reading through the whole book, I'm just going to give you this glimpse and then maybe this week you read the book of John every day through this week. You ready? So we're going to start here. The face of the lion represents the boldness, the anointing, the strength, the power of Jesus, and it's all written about in the book of John.

Speaker 1: 17:30

Now the gospels Matthew, mark and Luke are synoptic gospels, meaning they're in symmetry. It's like a cinnamon Synonym, it's like they go together. You see similar patterns of the scripture. Matthew starts off with the genealogy of Jesus. Luke writes about the birth of Jesus. Mark dives right in into the servanthood of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 17:55

But John does something different. John is not the same. John shows the power and the anointing. John doesn't give you a manger, he gives you his majesty. And you would say well, john didn't start out with genealogy, he actually did. He said in the beginning was the word, he did the genealogy, he just went all the way back to the beginning. In the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God later, in verse 8. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. That's Jesus. Jesus the word, the word was, the word was at the beginning.

Speaker 1: 18:37

So John shows us this. John doesn't give us, he does not give us genealogy, he doesn't show us Bethlehem, but he shows us power from the very first verse. John shows us the anointed Jesus, the creative Jesus, the bold Jesus and that's what the Holy Spirit wants to shape you into are those same features of that lion Boldness, anointing power and authority. John shows us that Jesus has the power of creation, but he also has the power over creation. Jesus doesn't just walk in power, he is power. He speaks to storms, he calls dead men from graves. He creates something beautiful from nothing. He doesn't just fix things, he forms things, he shapes things, he makes things new.

Speaker 1: 19:36

And you carry that breath in you. The very same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. You have the ability to speak things into existence. You have the ability to shape circumstances by your words. You have the very breath of God in you, for a time like this, to speak a powerful word into the lives of your kids, into the lives of your family, into the lives of your workplace. You have the authority to do it. You just got to realize you have the boldness of a lion within you.

Speaker 1: 20:14

But how, how, how, how. How do you carry that breath, because you're the vehicle of that wind, but how do you reflect that weight and that glory? How do we become like that? You have to lean in and start here. Very simple, I'm almost done.

Speaker 1: 20:30

Three things. Number one seek him, seek the Holy Spirit, get close to the very breath of God. When you come down here for a prayer partner and the band's blazing and you say I want you to pray and you're screaming and the prayer partner's going I don't know what you're saying. So they lean in and you lean in and you they whisper and you feel that little breath of air as they're whispering and that's that's the Holy Spirit wants to do with you. That's the Holy Spirit wants to do with you is lean in that closely. How do we seek him? How do we seek him? We seek him in prayer. And here is the victory in prayer. The victory in prayer is not that we have an answer to our prayer. What Well, I thought I prayed for the answer. I prayed for healing and I'm healed. That's the victory. Well, the real victory in prayer is not that your prayer was answered. The real victory in prayer is that you get close to God.

Speaker 1: 21:46

And my wife and I we didn't date and get married and then figure out how to get to know one another man. We would talk for hours. I'd drive her to Grand Haven, michigan. We would walk on the beach, walk out on the pier, have a little nice dinner. I tried to show her how great I was, because I knew how great she was and I'd ask her all about her favorite songs. I'd ask her all the things she loved. We would talk probably talked more about me than anything else, I'm pretty sure but just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.

Speaker 1: 22:39

I remember when Elliot and Anise they were just about to be engaged, to be married and Anise was studying abroad in Manchester and Elliot was home, and I'll never forget, I would walk into the room and he would be on the phone with Anise was studying abroad in Manchester and Elliot was home. And I'll never forget, I would walk into the room and he would be on the phone with Anise. And I didn't know because he wasn't really talking very much. They were just kind of walking around with their FaceTime, working on their phone and I would ask him. He would answer a question. But I thought he was talking to me. So I'd say wait, what'd you say? He's like no, no, I'm not talking to you. I'm like, well, who are you talking to? There's nobody else in the room. He's like a niece. I'm like, oh, and I would look at his phone.

Speaker 1: 23:16

It'd be like on, for like, you know how it shows's that time of conversing with one another. It gets you close and sometimes it's not even saying anything, we're just together. No, I'll be the last to hang up. No, I'll be the last to hang up. No, I'll be the last to hang up. No, I'll be the last to hang up. You hang up first. No, can't possibly hang up first. Why I just want to be together in this time.

Speaker 1: 23:54

That's what prayer is. Prayer is coming to God, and you have a plan? Maybe you have a plan. It could be that you ask that you confess that you thank, and then you just spend time just telling God how great he is. No, god, you hang up first. You hang up first, god, because you're so great. God, tell me again how much you love me. No, let me tell you, god, how much I love you.

Speaker 1: 24:24

The win in prayer is not that the prayer is answered, it's that you spend time and get close to God. That's when we know, that's when you get sun. Marked Is when you're spending time with God, because you come out talking like God. Let there be light in this situation Come out of that grave, dead dream man, if you would just go through and take some of the things God has said in scripture and turn it around into your own life. How can you say that? Because I've been spending time with God, I know how he talks, I know his phrases, I know what he says.

Speaker 1: 25:09

Next, feed on the word. Feed on the word. You know there is a difference between visiting the word and living off of the word. Visiting the word is we just kind of see the verse of the day, that one time in the Bible app it pops up like oh, great verse today. Living off the word is like if I don't start my day with this, then my day is not even going to count for nothing.

Speaker 1: 25:41

Isaiah 10, man why? Why is this summer shorts? That's next week. The yoke will be destroyed. Isaiah 10, 27 the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Now, this is the new king james version. If you read it in the NIV version it gets updated a little bit and the actual Hebrew translation for anointing oil in this case is fat. Everybody say fat, so it says the yoke will be destroyed because of the fat. Can I get a witness in this house of the fat. Can I get a witness in this house? Finally something good? Sorry, what do you mean, pc? Here's the thing.

Speaker 1: 26:48

The Bible says a few things about the yoke Y-O-K-E, not the egg yoke and it says this that you can be unequally yoked. It says that you can have a yoke on you that is burdensome, impinging, restricting and makes you go to spaces and places you don't really want to be going to. But because you're in this yoke you don't have a choice. And the Bible says the anointing destroys the yoke. When we come to Jesus, there is a lifting of theoke and then there's a destroying of the yoke and a lot of us we stop at the lifting. As soon as that weight is lifted from us, we're like, oh, I must be free. And then we go right back into our old habits, our old patterns and our old relationships and all of a sudden that weight gets put back on us. Listen, you need the anointing to destroy that yoke. So let me frame this for you.

Speaker 1: 27:54

I heard an old Pentecostal preacher say this, and he was talking about the yoke, and you just got a picture of this strong workhorse. Strong workhorse like a Clydesdale, just meant for work, meant for labor, meant for pulling, meant for strength, and then a weak mule. And you got to imagine the horse and the mule being yoked together. My dad grew up on a farm in northern Michigan, up in the Upper Peninsula, and he used to tell me they had a decent horse, but they never had two great horses. It was like an okay horse and then the mule, and a lot of times they would borrow another animal from a neighbor because they just didn't have the money to have all like two. So they would borrow so they could get the ground ready to plant. And so you got to imagine A really strong, powerful horse and this mule that's not as strong and powerful and really weakly, not going to get much done on its own, but yoked together. They're yoked together and this powerful horse and this mule.

Speaker 1: 29:02

Now, this preacher was telling the story. I heard him say it and it was so interesting to me. He tells the story and he says that somebody came up to the farmer and said my God, you are going to wear that horse out being yoked to that terrible little mule, right, and furthermore, you're going to wear that mule out trying to do and accomplish what that horse can accomplish. And the farmers looked at the man and said listen to this, put your hand on that yoke for that horse so tight around him. He doesn't even know. He doesn't even know he's carried all. He just figures that's what he's supposed to carry. But now go look at that mule and put your hands up on that mule and the yoke was lifted up off of that mule's back a little bit. He says that mule doesn't even think he's doing anything, but together they're getting the work done.

Speaker 1: 29:53

And there's two ways to look at that. If, when you are when Jesus says take my yoke upon you, for my burden is easy and my yoke is light, literally he's doing all the work, I'm just yoked with him and man, you got to know that mule is like yeah, I am all that and the bag of chips. And the horse is like man, I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do. That's what happens when we get in relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's doing all the work. We're just in a line, in a step, being directed, being guided, being comforted, able to do exceeding more than we could ever ask for or imagine. Why? Because we're yoked with the Holy Spirit. Conversely, if you're yoked with the wrong thing you got to get out of that mess. And the only way to get out of it is for the anointing to destroy that yoke. You want to know how you get the anointing. You feed on the word of God, the same breath that God breathed into Adam, that the Holy Spirit fell in the book of Acts, 2 Timothy 3.16,. It is by the Spirit that every word, every scripture was inspired. The literal translation is it's God breathed. So when you're reading the word, you're actually breathing in the spirit of God. So let me paint this picture In the old days, when they had an ox that would work around and grind the corn, grind the wheat, grind whatever it was that they were pressing, grind whatever it was that they were pressing, they would put that oxen together and he would just start walking.

Speaker 1: 31:47

He's yoked to the work mill and he's just walking in a circle and that corn begins to grind and as the corn grinds it rises. And man don't, you know it, that oxen is going around in circles and the corn starts rising and while that oxen is walking around, working, he starts eating. So he starts feeding, feeding, feeding, feeding, feeding, feeding. And as he's feeding, the yoke's getting tighter and tighter and tighter, because the reality is, when he's done they barely can get the yoke off, because it's become so tight, because he's been eating so much while he's working. It's the fat. It's the fat that he kept feeding, even while he's working and he's getting fatter and fatter and that yoke is just locked in, no getting out of it.

Speaker 1: 32:48

What do you mean, pc? Listen to what I'm telling you. When you're feeding on the word of God, you're fitting yourself into that easy yoke with Jesus that you got to take it in. It's not just visiting the word, you're gonna just begin to devour that word. While you're working, you're eating the word of God. You're eating, you're eating, you're eating, you're eating and you're putting all of the scripture, all of that breath, into your life. Get so spiritually fat that the old yoke can't even lock around your neck anymore.

Speaker 1: 33:25

I've been eating and the old yoke that used to weigh me down, it doesn't fit. Some of you are grinding at life but you're not feeding and you want the yoke to break. You've gotta get so fat in the spirit that the old yoke won't fit anymore. That's why it says the yoke will be destroyed by the fat, because what I used to do, I just can't. I can't be bound by it anymore, because it doesn't fit me. It doesn't fit me anymore to go into those places. It doesn't fit me anymore to talk like that. It doesn't fit me anymore to look at that. It doesn't fit me anymore to talk like that. It doesn't fit me anymore to look at that. It doesn't fit me anymore to be like that. Why? Because I've been feeding on the word of God.

Speaker 1: 34:07

So, number one, we seek him. Number two, we feed on the word. And the last one, we practice what the spirit asks. We're obedient to the spirit and I would just say this we're obedient to the Spirit and I would just say this the Holy Spirit, as our guide and our comfort, our director, our shepherd, he wants to, he's gonna give you, he's gonna speak to you. And I will tell you this it's not like when I feel like the Lord's speaking to me. It's never in like this. I'll say I don't think it's ever been in this audible voice where I was like oh, whoa, what was that? No, it's in promptings, in my spirit. The spirit communicates with my spirit and what happens is it'll come as a thought or an idea, and this is what I would challenge you with when you're spending time seeking God in prayer and spending time with him, and just be the last one to hang up when you're feeding on the word of God and getting so fat that the old habits don't fit anymore. Start listening for the Holy Spirit to direct you and start being obedient to that. So it might happen like this You're driving, you're, you're, you're walking to the grocery store, you're in line, and the Holy Spirit might just say, hey, why don't you get their groceries?

Speaker 1: 35:32

Why don't you get their coffee? Hey, hey, why don't you just, why don't you wave at those people and smile, hey, why don't you hold the door for that mom who's walking in? You would say, well, those are just, those are just like kind, that's just kindness. Okay, it is. But if there's a reason the Holy Spirit is prompting you, the Holy Spirit's not gonna prompt you to do something mean. And the Holy Spirit's not gonna prompt you to like slam the door in somebody's face. The Holy Spirit's not gonna prompt you to like be greedy and to be like no one else gets what I get, like the Holy Spirit's gonna prompt you to do things that will help others.

Speaker 1: 36:19

And if you start listening to the Holy Spirit in that way, then you'll see a series of steps happen where the Holy Spirit might start just by saying do something simple Pay for the coffee the car behind you, pay for the Chick-fil-A for the car behind you, close on Sunday. Holy Spirit might just don't, he's not going to tell you today, because it's impossible, man, it's the only bad thing about Sunday. But the Holy Spirit is going to give you those promptings and if you'll start being obedient students, the Holy Spirit is going to tell you hey, invite that person to sit at this lunch table. Hey, hey, you should just give a thumbs up, high five that person. Tell that. Tell that older gentleman, thanks for being a good example to us. Tell that mom man, thank you, mom, for the way you're taking care of your kid, bringing your kid to the park today. That's really encouraging to see.

Speaker 1: 37:21

The Holy Spirit's going to start you with a series of possible easy to accomplish tasks that if you'll respond in kind, then the Holy Spirit will start knowing well, I can trust this person to do what I asked them to do. And if you want to speak life into people's lives, it's going to start by being an encourager in kind. And the Holy Spirit you say, well, I don't need the Holy Spirit for that, that's right. But if you listen to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit for that, that's right. But if you listen to the Holy Spirit, the kindness will be more impactful because it'll be directed for a specific cause in a specific time, and then the Holy Spirit can lead you to speak prophetic words, lead you to change situations, make you drive the other way around town, even though you normally go home a certain way. Because the Holy Spirit's like listen, I've got an assignment for you. Just be obedient and trust what the Holy Spirit is asking you to do. You do that.

Speaker 1: 38:35

You walk in anointing. The anointing not only lifts the burden, but it destroys the yoke. You think of a few things that have been burdening you down, keeping you locked into a pattern that you don't really appreciate. That you don't like man. I'm thinking like five or six right now for myself. I'm like man. Holy Spirit, I don't want to be tied down to this anymore. Holy Spirit, I don't want this yoke on me anymore. That's enough. Enough is enough. Enough is enough.

Speaker 1: 39:20

Coming into this room, I want to look more like you, jesus, and that means I'm going to have to remove some of the old things and get myself yoked up with Jesus so that we can walk together. What is it for you? What is it? What is it? What is it in the word of God that you need to just spend more time? And what is it? Just being obedient, just very simply. Just very simply.

Speaker 1: 40:00

People will believe you look like Jesus when you start acting like him. People will start thinking you look like Jesus when you start talking like him, thinking you look like Jesus when you start talking like him, when you start to be obedient like him. Because, listen, it's not. It is that he loved you, god loved you that he sent his one and only son to die on a cross for you. But his one and only son, jesus, went to that cross. He loved you, but he went to that cross out of obedience. He was like nevertheless, let this cup pass. If I have to, please don't make me do this. That's what he was saying to his dad Dad, don't make me do this, but if I have to do it, I'll do it. I'll be obedient. Nevertheless, your will be done.

Speaker 1: 40:58

You want to look like Jesus. Have this expression from the Gospel of John of the lion the face of the lion in your life boldness, authority and anointing. It comes from spending time in prayer, seeking the Holy Spirit, reading God's word, digesting it, eating it and just being obedient. Can you receive that word today? Let's pray. Let's pray, lord. We want to be more like you, look like you, act like you, walk like you, talk like you, be obedient like you. I pray that everyone in this room, as we leave today, we leave with an expression of authority and boldness and anointing from being in your presence, spending time with you. Listen, if you've never made a decision to follow Jesus, what a great time to make your start To be more like Jesus. It begins with calling him Lord and Savior, following him, turning from your own ways.

Speaker 1: 42:18

The Bible says if you believe that Jesus died on a cross for your sins and you confess that with your mouth, you'll be saved, and that begins a transformation, a step-by-step process that we're all in. We all are taking steps every single day. In fact, when I take a step, it makes room for others to take a step. When you take a step, it makes room for others behind you to take a step. We're all taking steps. The first step is to follow Jesus. You've never made that confession.

Speaker 1: 42:42

I want to pray this prayer with you. I'm going to count to three when I get there. When I get to three, just say PC, that's me. I want to pray this prayer. I want to begin to follow Jesus. One it means you're going to turn from your own ways and follow after Jesus. Two, it means you believe he died on a cross for your sin, but he rose again on the third day. And three, let me see your hands all over this room to begin a relationship with Jesus. Thank you for that hand. Thank you for that hand. Thank you for those hands back there. Thank you for that hand. Thank you, thank you for those hands.

Speaker 1: 43:09

Let's pray this prayer Ready, everybody with me. Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me, for dying on a cross to pay a debt I could never pay, to give me a gift I could never earn. I turn for my own ways. I'll follow after you. I call you Lord and Savior, and I receive your free gift of salvation. Today I want to be more like you. I want to walk and Savior, and I receive your free gift of salvation. Today I wanna be more like you. I wanna walk like you, talk like you, move like you be obedient, like you. Be my Lord and Savior, jesus, in Jesus' name, amen. Come on church, family. Hey, let's stand together. Amen, come on, everybody, stand. What a great day in God's house.

Speaker 1: 43:54

And I promise next week, summer shorts. We're going to be short next week, much shorter. I'm going to work, I'm going to work on my preaching, so I can say it quicker. Listen, if this is your first time, first time in a long time, stop by our next steps table. We'd love to meet you, fill out some information, give you a gift as our way of saying thanks for being our guest. Stop by, hang out on the patio for a little bit. Hey, we're praying for our students that are leaving for Access Nation to Memphis, tennessee. Be praying for them as they travel. Pastor Matthew traveling, mercies. Hey, it's gonna be a great week. Listen, may the Lord bless you, keep you, cause his face to shine upon you as you give today, give generously, and we