Mercy Church Colorado
Mercy Church Colorado
Out With the Old. | Sunday Series. Open Doors. Part 12.
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Join us as Pastor Chance talks about throwing out the old and bringing in the new renewed mind.
Check us out at www.wearemercy.church
So good to see you guys. I'm glad you're here. We are still in our series open doors for those that haven't been here the entire time. You can go back on uh I say Facebook, but they're deleting the videos now. So you can go back on YouTube and just in YouTube, you search Marcy Church, Colorado, and it'll pull up all of our previous messages and services. And so you can go back and watch them on there and catch up. But basically, what we've been talking about for now 12 weeks is open doors. And open doors, what we mean here is things that we participate in, things that we do, we listen to, um, we watch, uh, we're involved in that open the door for the enemy to attack us, attack our family, attack our homes, whatever that may be. And there's all different types, right? We all know the obvious stuff where we, you know, listen and watch something that we probably shouldn't be. And I know that some people might say, Oh, chance I'm 60 years old. I can watch whatever I want. Listen, pollution is pollution, right? Evil is evil. If it's if it's bad, it's bad. Right? And you can you can say I'm stronger, I'm older, I'm wiser, I'm whatever you want to be. I'm here to tell you that God still wants to have reign and control in your life. Amen. He wants to be the priority. He doesn't want to be second place, right? Right? He doesn't want anything else above him, he wants full access to you.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01Full access. And the only way that we can do that is by letting go of all the distractions. And that takes a lot of time, and that's very difficult. Not an easy task. I know I'm saying it like, oh, just get on it, right? But it's it's really not. Um, so you know, these choices and decisions that go against the word of God that we that we make every single day, they will have big impact in your life spiritually. All right, and so we're gonna talk about mental aspects, but the reality is all of this is impactful into your spiritual life. It's going to determine the way that your spiritual life is gonna go, the direction of your life. And those decisions, those impacts are also gonna affect the people around you. Your spouse, your kids, right, your your family, when you go to you know reunions, when you go to events and parties and things like that, it's going to have impact in those areas. But we've got to limit what we allow into our life. And so some of the things that we discussed were tarot cards, palm reading, spiritualists, mediums, witchcraft, new age, crystals, cultural traditions, like if you're Hispanic, limpias, all these things are part of witchcraft. Sorry if you thought they weren't. They are, and you are participating in something, you are looking to a supernatural source for healing, for guidance, for recovery, for restoration, for whatever it may be. You're looking to an outside source outside of God's word and outside of God.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And those weren't meant for you. If you are a believer in Christ, if you're a follower of Jesus, those were not meant for you, right? And so we've got to limit the distractions. All these things are considered things that the Bible tells us not to even dabble in. Uh, Ephesians 5 11 says, Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness, instead, expose them. Now that doesn't mean go stand out in front of the tarot card reader and start screaming and yelling like a wild animal with your Bible and thumping people as they go in and you're you're going to hell. Um, that's not what that means. What that means is don't be a part of it.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01When someone comes to you and goes, Oh, I I know that you've just been going through this hard time. You should come see my spiritualist. Hey, listen, there's a reason why I don't do that. And since you brought it up, you've allowed me to speak into that. The reason why I don't do that, because that goes against my belief system. My belief system is in the Holy Bible. I believe in Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. And those things are not a part of what I believe in, right? That's exposing it, right? You don't have to be rude, you don't have to be mean, you just have to state truth. Right? Truth is truth, and that's what it is. And Christians need to be able to stand up and say what they need to say, right? For so long now, we've been quiet. We've been very quiet. And and I'm not super political, so take this with a grain of salt. But the but Donald Trump coming into office, whoever it would have been, Republican, changed that for us, right? Because we now have a stronger voice of opinion. So now we're we feel like, oh, we're in power, we can go and say things. And the reality is that the power that you should have and the authority that you should have comes from heaven.
SPEAKER_02Amen. Amen first.
SPEAKER_01That's where it comes from. And so it's okay to say, I don't agree with you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Amen.
SPEAKER_01And if you'd like to know why I don't agree with you, man, I would love to share with you what I believe. Right? It's an opportunity, it's an open door. And then Paul says in Romans 12, 2, do not conform to the pattern of this world. Notice the word pattern.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Another translation is then you will know the God of peace. Right? And so what it's basically saying is don't copy the world's behavior. Don't talk like the world talks. Don't look like the world looks, right? Don't act like the world acts, but be transformed. And how do we do that? Renew our minds.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01We renew our minds. And so we spend so much time. I don't know about you, but what I hear is uh my son said it perfectly. He he uh uh if y'all got haven't had the opportunity to meet Bo, he's not here today, he'll be here next Sunday. But um Bo is our uh next gen uh team leader, and so he uh he said it perfectly. He's like the first thing everybody says when when they come in is like, oh man, my week. I guess the first like negative, right? Just off the bat. The first thing, hey, how you doing? It's been a week, brother. It's like, oh, you just brought it in here with you. Thanks. Um, and we we spend so much time talking about our problems and our our finances, our budgets, our marriage, our career, and we point to our circumstances and say, Oh, that's my battle, right? Um, but but to be honest with you, the war you're actually fighting, the one that determines the quality and trajectory of your life is primarily going to be fought in your mind. It is primarily going to be fought in your thought life.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01What you do with your thoughts. And so everything that you will win or lose this week, your patience, your commitment, your integrity, it will be turned be determined by your thought life and ultimately by what you're willing to believe or not believe. It starts in the mind. And it starts in the mind, but guess where it ends up? Once it's the pattern that Romans 12, 2 talked about becomes a pattern of thought, it ends up in your heart. And the Bible says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So that's why you give it so much airtime. Because that's what you're thinking about all the time. My problem, my problem, my problem, my problem, my problem. Have I told you about my problem, brother? I did. Okay, well, hey, you, I haven't talked to you today. And the next thing you know, what is it? You just have a life of problems. I want to also dismiss the myth that when you become a Christian, all problems go away. That's not biblical.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01Jesus said, You will have trials and tribulations. You will have trials and tribulations. If you came to church to get an easy life, one, you came to the wrong church, two, you church isn't gonna do it for you. Following God is not going to make your life easier. He says, My burden is light, my yoke is easy. In other words, when you trust and rest in him, it will be lighter for you. The crazy we we heard a sermon uh last uh Friday night. Um, and and the the one thing that stood stood out in my head was just mind-boggling because I have read Ephesians 6, 10 through 18 my entire life since I was like nine years old. I I I said it every day. And my mom used to have us read these scriptures every single day. My brother did Psalm 91 and I did Ephesians 6, 10 through 18. Don't know why. And but it but it I know that verse, I know that scripture. And this guy stood up and said, Have you ever noticed that in the full armor of God, the discussion of the full armor of God in Ephesians 6, 10 through 18, that it says, put on all this stuff, put it on, put it on, put it on, put it on. And let me fight the battle.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01Cool. Well, I gotta wear all this stuff. It's heavy and hot. And I don't get a like, mmm, I wanna I want to jab once. Can I get like a whenever old out can like slay somebody? Like, I'm gonna battle, baby. I'll put all this stuff, and it's like, no, no, no, you get ready, you get prepared to watch what I'm about to do.
SPEAKER_02Oh wow, thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01And so many times we think, get ready, get prepared, because you have to go and do it. Wow, God is saying, no, no, no. If you want to do it, I'll let you do it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01But if you want it done well and you want it to last, I'll take care of it. Right? And that's a hard thing for us to lay down, right? We want to pick up that battle. I'm a I'm a warrior at heart, okay? I I I am just a warrior at heart. I want to win stuff, I want to conquer stuff, I want to, man, I want to knock walls down, right? And it's so hard for me sometimes to get there, and it's like, I just want to fight this battle, and God's take a step back. Ooh.
SPEAKER_00All right. Praise the Lord. Good job. Got it. Turned up great.
SPEAKER_01You did good, right? And so everything you win or lose this week, your patience, your commitment, your integrity, it's going to be determined by your thought life. That is the battle. If the enemy can convince you to believe in just one little lie, he doesn't need to take over your whole body. Yeah, he just needs your thoughts. And if I can get you to just open up for a second and have that lie enter into your brain, man, I get access to you, and then I get access to your household.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01And everyone you go across that day, right? That's his thought. If I can just, if I can just get in just a little bit, they'll think about it, they'll think about it, they'll think about it, they'll think about it, they'll think about it. And everyone they go to will be impacted by this one tiny lie. If we aren't in control of our thought life. So the fate of your future hinges on the thoughts that you decide to entertain. Right? And so here's the truth. I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna start this statement, but I'm gonna break it down. God has already done everything that he's going to do for you. And you might think, that makes no sense, chance. Listen, God has done everything he's going to do for you. It's already done. It's been taken care of. He defeated death in the grave, he already healed you, right? He already forgave your sin. He already provided a way for you to stand before him as a son or daughter, because on our own we are not worthy, we are sinful. So I can't go before the Lord. If you haven't read the Old Testament, the people couldn't go and stand before the presence of God because they would die. It was too much. Even Moses, when he came down, he had to wear a veil because they're like, ah, Moses, turn it down, bro. Like he had to veil up because of the time he spent with God. We are not worthy to be in his presence. But because of the sacrifice that was made for each and sing every single one of us, we have righteousness, we have the ability to go boldly to the throne of God. And so uh he already accepted Jesus' sacrifice and made you new. He is already. This is like a new concept that I've been like praying and studying out for the last two months, but he has already made you a citizen of heaven. If it we have Brenda's from Mexico, okay. I don't know if anybody's from another country, but Brenda is from Mexico, so she has been battling for a very long time. We've known them for six years, all the six years and prior, she's been battling for status here for citizenship, right? And so she has citizenship somewhere else. And the thing is, she can go into Mexico right now and boom, she's she's welcomed as a citizen, right? She has that status. We have that status in heaven already. We're not waiting for that status. And you go, but I'm not in heaven, right? What it what we will find today is that the kingdom of heaven is not all physical. It's a spiritual reality, and so you are a citizen of heaven, he's already given you the authority. We're not waiting to win the battle, we've already won the battle. The battle's already been won, done, taken care of, finished, right? Complete, over with. What we're waiting for is walking it out. Right? Mark 1, 14 and 15 says, Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God. I think that's kind of crazy. Um, proclaiming the gospel of God, Jesus, proclaiming his gospel, and saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. He didn't say the kingdom of God is coming.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's now. It's at hand, it's now, it's in the present. It's walking among you. Let me explain this way. Luke 17, 2021. Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them. The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed. Nor will they say, Look, here it is, or there. For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. Your kingdom is a spiritual reality. That is his kingdom. Uh, if you're a believer, it is within you. It's not something you're going to see while you're on the earth with your eyes, but it's something that you can experience while you walk this earth. Um, and you are a representative of that kingdom. You are an ambassador of the kingdom of heaven, 2 Corinthians 5 20. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. Do you understand the significance of God making his appeal through us? Jesus was here for a time, he walked the earth, he spread the gospel, he brought the kingdom to earth, and then he left. So, who is bringing the kingdom? We are. We are, and the thing about that is that is a humongous responsibility. A humongous responsibility. It is not for the weak, it is not for the lazy, it is not for the unintentional, it is not for the wicked, it is for followers of Christ. We are ambassadors of his kingdom. So how does an I I did like a study. We we flew um unfortunately yesterday and didn't get here too late. So I I I we California's crazy. Um we could not find Wi-Fi or internet service anywhere, so I didn't get to work on my sermon until yesterday. I was like, um, I had all the ideas and thoughts in my mind, but I wanted to put all the scriptures to it and study it, and so I didn't get to do that till till yesterday. I spent a lot of time last night. And so I I spent some time looking up, um, Googling and chat GPTing and and looking at this book online um about what an ambassador is, and it it's it's kind of wild. And so I want to share it with you. The role of an ambassador is multifaceted and highly critical in the realm of international relations. You are the liaison for the kingdom to the kingdom you're going to. We are a representative of the kingdom of heaven while we're here on earth, and so as they serve as the highest ranking diplomatic representative of their country in a foreign state, God's giving you a lot of trust.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01He's got a lot of hope in you.
unknownAmen.
SPEAKER_01But it's not because of you, right? Come on, it's because if you allow him, he can do some amazing things through you. Jesus told the disciples, hey, I'm gonna leave. And they're like, You're right here, bro, you're like 33. Where are you going? Uh, and he's like, I'm gonna leave, but you're gonna do some great things. And they're like, Well, he goes, and even greater than I have done. You've been given that authority, you are an ambassador of heaven, right? And so let's go a little further here. Um, when you represent someone else, or when you represent a kingdom, there are responsibilities. You cannot act like yourself, or the way I like to say it is you cannot just act the way you want to.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's true.
SPEAKER_01So you represent him. Yeah, so if you act just however you want, people go, Oh, that's him. He kind of looks just like us. Yeah, he's in the bar, he's in the club, he's with the ladies, even though he's married. He kind of looks is that what the Lord looks like? He looks just like us. This dude's always telling me how he's a churchgoer. But he lives the same life I live. When you are an ambassador, you cannot act the way you want to act. If you were to represent America and you were to go over to a a uh country as a diplomat, first of all, you have uh an enheightened status. Um, so you you you can break some rules. Um, the rules you cannot break are the ones that tell you how you act when you're in front of the president or king. Cannot break those rules. There are supreme and um ultimate uh consequences for that. So if they say when you enter the room you must be lower than him, you better be lower than him. Because if not, it's a high offense. And the consequence could be, yeah, we understand you're a diplomat, but you're gonna sit in prison for a year. I don't care what country crane you came from, you you did not obey the laws and the rules of our land. You're in our land now. So you must obey the rules and laws from our land. So you are going as a representative into another country, and so you must follow those rules. And it's the same in our life. The Bible is constantly telling us to die to self, to die to our flesh, right? And uh, we can't respond to circumstances, trials, uh, relationships, failures, experiences that are not easy to deal with or problems in our life. We cannot respond the way that the world does. We have to look different, we're set apart, right? Um, that's not what God's called us to. We haven't been called to. I'm I'm I'm really sorry. And I know this is not like a woo-hoo, um, but you have not been called to the easy life.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's true. Amen.
SPEAKER_01And actually, um, none of us have because sin happened in the world. Adam and Eve sinned at the very beginning, and what did he say? And so, because of this sin, you will toil. Well, I don't know if you've ever looked up that word toil. But toil is is more intense than just work. Yeah, toil is like if you've ever done, so I was a roofer for a little while, that's really hard work. And then I went and laid floors and I was like, oh, that might be harder. Um, and I've done all these construction things, and like every time I change, it's like, I mean, is this are we getting harder as time? Like, are we choosing harder jobs on purpose, or what are we doing here? And it's really hard. Like, that's how I think of toil. Yeah, you get no rest, you get no break until it's all done.
SPEAKER_00You push and you push and you push and you fight until it's done.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you don't rest on your loyals. That's why the word says rest is in him. If he is your everything, I mean everything. I love my wife, but but God comes first. If he is your everything, yeah, you will just be in rest.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01You will be going through a hard time, and everybody's going, dude. Have you noticed uh they just like threw a whole house at you and you just did it? Where? When? I didn't notice. Yeah, I mean, I was going for a bit, but I don't feel tired.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01When we do it in our own strength, when we do it in our own power, when we do it with our own thoughts, our own mind, our own abilities, our own experiences, we're going to be exhausted. But our rest comes in him. Doesn't mean he goes, take a seat. I got the rest of this. That's not life, guys. That's not life. And so um, I don't know if any of you know, but I played uh I'm from Texas, I played uh football in high school, and um, if if you don't know anything about Texas, you don't have a choice, you just play football. And so um, and then if you're good, you get to keep playing. And so uh I played all the way through high school, and you know it was a it was a big deal to me, and I got to my senior year, and all my friends started talking about all these scholarship offers they had, and they're all going to play college, and I'm like, Oh, that's weird, I'm better than you. And so uh I started looking into colleges, and and my coaches was like, but that's really not for you, and they're probably right, but that just invigorated me even more. I was like, mm, I'm gonna show you, buddy, because they would put their pictures of the guys that got scholarships and the guys that got to play college football. And I was like, I'm gonna have my picture up there one day, and that was a big deal at that time. I'm like, I care now. But I I I realized that okay, there's some guys that are more qualified than I am, so I'm gonna have to put in some work over this summer. Like, I've been doing a good job through high school, but I'm gonna have to like up my game. And so I asked my dad, hey, I I talked to this friend, and he Knows some of the cowboys players, and he was saying that there's this gym they all work out at, and there's a special trainer that he will train you based on your level. And so you go in, you do an assessment test, and then he goes, What do you want to be? I want to play a division, I want to play the highest level possible. And he'll split I'll tell you, not gonna happen. And he'll tell you, hey, if you're willing to do this, I can get you there. And my willing to do was way harder than I ever thought was gonna be. Every day during the sum my summer between high school and college, I got up at 5 30 and I hit I went with that dude for two hours. And it wasn't like normal working out, it's called fast twitch. And so it's not like, oh, one, two. It's like, okay, you ready? You got 30 seconds. Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, okay, put another plate on. What? And you just keep going. And okay, now let's do squats. And so in 20 minutes, you're like throwing up and you're just drenched in sweat. And he's like, You done? Yeah, I'm done. It was a good day. No, you done puking? Let's go. We got a finish, we got an hour and a half. Right, yeah, let's go. Let's do it. I'm I'm ready. Right. And I did that for three months, and I I killed myself, right? And I ate a certain way. And I ate a ton of calories because I was burning so much fat and I needed to put on weight. That time I was 50 pounds lighter. And so I was just ready, right? Getting ready. I go to the worst case scenario is I want to play Division I college football, but not just Division I. I want to play in the SEC. So I had some offers in Texas. I was like, not big enough. I want the biggest. I want to play at Auburn. I want to play in Alabama for the schools that everybody goes, oh wow, you play there. And so that's what I wanted. So I went out there for their tryout. Everybody there. It's like, dude, what are you doing here, bro? I was tiny. I was like 180 pounds, 5'11. I was going, I was a quarterback in high school. Everybody was 6'4 that was trying out for quarterback, and I was like, I have no idea what I did. I made the worst decision. I should have taken that offer in Texas. What are you doing, man? And I showed up and I just I'm gonna give everything I got. I mean, I'm just gonna give every ounce of what I got just to get on the team. And I earned a spot on the team, and most people go, Whew, you did it, bro. No, that was the beginning. Yeah, that was just the start. These guys were massive. I was playing against guys that were 6'4, 6'5, 300 and something pounds, and can still run a 4840. That's fast. And I was getting hit by these guys every day. And my goal was I want to be the most aggressive person when I step on the field. I'll be me off the field, but when I get on the field, I will be the most aggressive person on the field. And they hated me because I worked so freaking hard while I was there. And I man, when I stepped on the field, it was battle. It was, they're like we're on the same team, bro. I'm like, not today. I I want your spot. I'm gonna take you out. And I had to put in something I wasn't willing to before to have something I've never had before. Wow. If you have dreams, if you have goals, if you have visions, you cannot keep living your life the same way. Yes, yeah, you'll never get there. Yeah, you have to change the things that you do, and that's so hard for us, but I'm telling you, if you want freedom in your life, you have to change the way you think. You have to change your thought life. And so um, you might say, Chance, what does this all have to do with it? You're gonna have to sacrifice, you're gonna have to focus, you're gonna have to be determined, you're gonna have to cut things out of your life. Um, I've said it before, but I it's it's an amazing story. Jeff Bezos started Amazon in his garage. A billion-dollar company started in his garage. I guarantee you, that took some sacrifice. Hey, we're not gonna be able to do this for a while. Trips, vacations, we're gonna cut those out for the next two years. We're focused. Buy a new car, no, we'll just keep going in the mechanic and keep that one going. We've got to stay focused. Right? If you want to get somewhere you've never been, you have to do things you've never done before. You are going to have to be set apart, you have to die to your flesh every single day. It's not a one-time thing. Oh, I did it. Woo! I said no. That was 10 years ago. Life hasn't changed. Because you stop saying no, right? You stopped saying yes to the Lord, you just kept existing. Wow, you're just there, just casually existing, right? You have to be intentional. You are going to have to pick up your cross daily.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01I don't know if you know what that means. Everybody likes to quote that. We put it on t-shirts. Pick up your cross, brother. Yeah, it's a it's a casual statement. Jesus' cross was his death. You're going to have to die every single day. Every single day. Right? We must renew our minds to close the doors to the attacks of the enemy. You have to take a stand against the devil. There has to come a point in your life where you say, enough is enough. I'm tired of losing, I'm ready to win. You're not waiting on God to win, he's waiting on you. It's there. He's ready. Right? I've already done it. I'm just waiting for you. Whenever you're ready, bud. Handle it. Let's go. What are you waiting for? Right? And so you have to take a stand. You have to tell the devil that is enough. You can't have my family. You can't have my job. You can't have my finances. You can't have my house. Right? You can't have my marriage. Those belong to God.
SPEAKER_02That's right.
SPEAKER_01Right? And so we have to break off the old habits, the old way of thinking. Um, and it's gonna take some work, it's gonna take some time because we probably got some habits that we've been doing for a pretty long time. And we're used to those habits, and we're kind of comfortable in those habits, and we like those habits, right?
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_01But some of those gotta go.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_01And so the word renew, if you look up the word renew, it says to make like new again, to restore, to bring something back to a former, usually better condition of freshness, vigor, or strength. And so you've been living your life long enough that you've created some really bad habits, some really bad thought patterns, but that's not how you started. When you were a baby, you were dumb. Sorry, man. Sorry. Apologize, brother. I'm not talking about you, talking about the rest of us. You didn't know anything. That's right.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
SPEAKER_01Right? You we're trying to figure it out. If I cry, do I get what I want? That didn't work. So if I make funny goofy noises, oh, that seems mom likes that. I I got what I wanted out of that, so that's my pattern, right? When I need something, that's my pattern, right? And so you developed the way that you are now based on all your past experiences and decisions. Where you are in life now, where your thought life is right now, has come from your life of experiences and decisions. And so uh you try to get back to that kind of state. It says in the Bible to have faith like what? A child, childlike faith. Why? Because you don't have to figure it out. I don't need your brain to get to do what I need to do. I'm God. I need you to be like a child. Moldable, teachable, flexible, obedient, willing. I don't need, hey, hey, hey, I've got another thought though. Hold on, Lord. I've done it before this way, it worked last time. Right? And so you train yourself to be where you are right now. It's not who you were created to be. God is the creator, he did not create you. I'm just gonna use this as an experience, as an example. He did not create you fearful. Your experiences, your decisions, and the people around you, and the devil made you fearful.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right? And that fear makes you avoid certain situations, certain places, certain people. Um, and but now you're a Christ follower, so you have to break that habit because he has a much more fuller life for you to live out. 2 Timothy 1 7 says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. You have to break the old habits. There's a story of a woman caught in adultery. Um, I think this story is is enlightening and hilarious. Um, Jesus is chilling, and these men, these Pharisees, these Sadducees come up and they throw a woman at him and they go, This woman was caught in the act of adultery by herself. And y'all are all watching. Well, are we not? Whatever. So, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. What do you have to say about that? Because the law says she must be stoned. They have an exchange, Jesus doesn't respond right away, right? It says he kneels down to the ground. I'm assuming she was on the ground because you know they threw her, and he went and probably tried to, hey, clear your tears, it's it's gonna be okay, right? And then John 8 10, 11, he says, Jesus straightened up and asked her, Woman, where are they? So he turned to them and said, Whoever has not sinned, I'll let you throw the first stone.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Whoever has not sinned. Well, first of all, we all know you sinned because you're here. You brought the woman and you were watching your pervs, and you didn't bring the man. So, sin one. We caught ya. Blessed. So you're all guilty, right? And so he says, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She turns and looks around. Oh, it's just us. No one, sir, she said, then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin. Go now and sin no more. We've been talking about open doors, things that we listen to, things that we watch, things we participate in, things we let in our house, in our minds, in our lives that leave the door open for the attack of the enemy, like the occult, like the like I said, tarot cards, the palm readings, all these things, alcohol, drugs, sex to help us avoid the pain or deal with the actual problem. These are not the ways God is designed for you to deal with that situation. All these things are actually sin. Sin is separation from God. The longer you follow that pattern, the longer you continue that pattern, the more separated you are from God. Is that everybody's agree? Okay, awesome. So so we are making the choice to take a step back from God when we allow sin into our life. And the longer we entertain it, the more steps that we take back. And you say, Oh, I just don't hear God. How could you? Wow, how could you? You've told him no so long, you can't recognize his voice. Yeah, he just sounds like another voice. Yeah, he's been talking the whole time, but you're so far, and the other voices have gotten louder. The other patterns of life have overwhelmed and overtaken. Ephesians 4, 22 through 24 says, To put off your old self, to put off. In other words, you put off. You put it off. You have to do it. Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life, and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God and true righteousness and holiness. So instead of immediately going to everybody else for all the advice you need for all the things going wrong in your life, go directly to the source. The source of everything. The greatest resource available, go directly to God the Father. Right? Proverbs 1:7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. You want wisdom, must fear the Lord. Acts 3 19. Repent then and turn to God, which implies you weren't turned towards God. You're walking ways, going, hey, over here. My bad. Turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out. That times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Oh. Pastor Chance, I'm just so tired. I'm exhausted. You just don't know what I've been going through. You just you just don't know what I've been going through, man. Work is just, oh, it's killing me. The family, just oh, so busy. Just just all the stuffs. I'm just exhausted. I'm ready to just layer down, take a nap for about 10 years. Y'all think I'm joking. These are my words. The last church I worked at full time burned me out. Beat me down. That's a hard thing to do. I'm not bragging. Everybody in my life was like, we never thought we'd see this chance. Beat me down. I had nothing left to give. And God said, You ready, bud? I got something for you to do. I don't know that I am. I'm tired. Yeah. I'm very tired.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01And God said, I'll take care of you. I gotcha. Just keep following my voice.
SPEAKER_02Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER_01Keep listening, son. Keep stepping one foot in front of the other. And all my family was like, dude, you've lost your freaking mind. Your dad just died. Your mom's struggling. She's by herself now. And you just lost your job at that church. And you got, I mean, what? And you're leaving to go start another church. Yeah, I don't can like wrap up this conversation like that. I'm packed. I gotta go, bro.
SPEAKER_02Amen. Amen. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I got stuff to do.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01The Lord's not done with me.
SPEAKER_02Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER_01We have to be willing and obedient. And maybe you didn't have a good father or a good dad, or don't even know an example of a good dad, but I want to tell you that's exactly what God is.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01He is a good, good father. And he loves you so very much. So very much. And it might be hard for you to picture that because you haven't had that modeled and exampled in your life, but let me share with you some scriptures that say it. Jeremiah 1:5, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
unknownAmen. Amen.
SPEAKER_01And before you were born, I consecrated you. What that means is I set you apart.
unknownThat's right.
SPEAKER_01Before you were born. Matthew 10 30. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. If you don't already know, we can all probably quote the verse, but he gave his one and only son. I'm sorry, I love y'all. I really do. You cannot have my son. Neither one of them. Those are mine. He gave his son to death as a sacrifice for all of our sins. To still watch us disrespect him, disown him, whatever this you do, just whatever. Just to watch us go through that and still says, I'm ready. I'm here for you. Just come to me. I gotcha. I've been I've been just standing here waiting. I'm ready. I'm ready to bring you into the family. I'm ready to accept you. Despite everything you've done. I'm ready to love you. That's the picture of God the Father. And we have to break our old ways, our old habits. We have to change our beliefs. Paul says it this way, 2 Corinthians 10.3. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. Note that he does say we do wage war, though. We do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. They have the power to demolish strongholds. A stronghold is a pattern of bad thinking. That's what that is. We're constantly chasing this positive life, this successful life, right? And we want success, we want joy. But you cannot achieve a positive life with negative thinking.
SPEAKER_00Amen.
SPEAKER_01You can't do it.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01It's it's it's it's impossible. It's just not gonna happen. You cannot wake up every day and say how horrible your life is, and then question God, why isn't it better? Well, you've said what your life is. Why do I need to speak to it? Yeah, you've you've taken ownership of that bad life. It's yours. You want it, you wear it around. Look at my bad life. I got this patch right here the other day. That one, oh, that one back there? Yeah, that was like three years ago. Yeah. I'm I've got some room. I can put some more on. I've got some more bad decisions to make. We have to break our old thoughts. We have to renew our minds. 2 Timothy 3, 16, 17 says, All scripture is God breathed and is useful for what? Teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. If you change what you're putting in, it changes what goes out. Philippians 4 8. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all that you learned and received from me, everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. If you don't know, Philippians, Paul is in prison. Chained up. I don't know if you've had the opportunity to be in prison. It's not fun. And even if you haven't, I'm sure you have an image of your mind in your mind of don't do anything to get there. Right? Paul's not in there like, woo! Finally made it. So he has the opportunity to be whining and complaining, right? Yeah, this is not where I saw my life going, prison. I follow Jesus. And maybe even some would say, Well, he could be mad at God because how'd he get there? Preaching the gospel. And they said, Hey, hey, hey, we don't do that around here. Lock them up. And yet his thought in that state was, How can I help my brothers and sisters? How can I encourage those being persecuted? How can I lift up the body of Christ so they can rise up and take a stand against the enemy and be the church that God called them to be? How can I do that from prison? We like misery. Mercy.
SPEAKER_00We like it. We gotta break that habit.
SPEAKER_01Amen. We gotta break. I don't, I don't, I don't really condone the whole fake it till you make it. I that I can't stand that statement. However, if you need to be telling yourself in faith, I I went to a Bible college, and all these people would always, hey, how are you doing, man? Highly favored, brother. Blessed and highly favored. And then they get into their jalopy with the broken windshield, and then it's like, ooh, I don't want that favor. That favor. I want some different favor. What do you hey man? What do you got? How is your day going? You look like you got a nice ride, nice clothes. Like, I want that favor, right? But what were they doing? Speaking in faith. Yeah. Speaking in faith. I'm not going to give my current search situation authority in my life. I am going to look through the eyes of God and speak in faith. I'm going to speak in faith. I'm going to declare the promises that He gave me, not what I'm looking at. I'm going to push past what all these other people are doing, and I'm going to seek God. I'm going to pursue Him. Whatever comes my way, comes my way. I know that I can handle it. Not because I'm strong enough, because God.
SPEAKER_00What God will do in me if I submit to His ways.
SPEAKER_01Right? Proverbs 23:7 says, For as He thinks in His heart, so is He. Your thoughts control your life. Paul Paul even says in Romans 7:15, I don't really understand myself.
SPEAKER_00That's true.
SPEAKER_01For I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate. I don't always get here, man. Just trying. I end up over here and right. And so we've talked about the war zone being in your mind. We talked about the cost. Everything that you will win or lose is decided in the battle of your mind. Proverbs 423 says, Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. If you continue that pattern of thought, I'm not worth anything. I'm not worth a good man. I'm not worth a good job. I'm not worth a good car. I'm not worth. I'm not worth. I'm not worth. I'm not worth. And you continue that pattern in your mind, that'll sink into your heart.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01And then everything is seen through that filter of unworthiness.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01That's a horrible place to be at in your life.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01Right? You're called to more than that. James 121 says, um, I love James because he's like me, he's very direct, um, even maybe a little bit harsh. Um, James 121. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts. Planted. Planted. A plant starts as a seed. Right. So he planted it. He didn't put a tree in there. He planted it. Has to be developed. Has to be grown. Has to be matured. Right? Holy Spirit does the watering. You walk it out. Right? The Bible is alive and active. It's a truth that can completely completely transform your mind. But you have to actively receive it, welcome it, and implant it deep in the soil of your mind. So God wants to do, like Brooke said, a new thing in you. I don't care how old you are, I don't care what level of Christianity you are or not. God wants to do a new thing in you.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01But in order to make room for that new thing, we got to get rid of some of the old stuff. Jesus calls that pruning. John 15, 2. I am the true vine and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. While every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. I did another study on pruning. Thought it was interesting. I'm not a gardener. It's all new information. I'll end with this thought here. Pruning is much more than just randomly cutting off branches. It's a strategic process that physically alters the plant to redirect its energy so that it can maintain its health and control its shape and production. By removing the unwanted parts like the dead uh leaves, the disease or weak branches, you instantly reduce the demand on the system.
SPEAKER_00Becomes lighter.
SPEAKER_01Because you got rid of the dunk. Tree is lighter. It's holding all these leaves. Some of them are dead, and it's like fall, man. Like you right there. My right hand's so heavy. Right? And then you go and you put in a bank, it's like, oh yeah, that's woo-hoo. I can stand up straight. Right? It's time to get rid of the old thinking that's holding you back. It's time to get rid of the old activities that are harming you and your family. It's time to stop looking to the world for answers to your life and look to God, right? He is your source. He wants to be your source. He wants you to depend on him only. He wants you to trust in him. He wants you to surrender to his ways. And he is ready for you to step into the fullness that he has for you. He has a special and specific plan for each and every one of us. For each and every one of us. Oh, we all have the same plan. We don't have the same plan. I am not like Isabel. I don't have the influence that Isabel has. I don't see the same people that Isabel sees. She has a different, unique plan and calling for her life. It doesn't have to be a pulpit. The number one way to evangelize the world is through living a lifestyle of worship. In submittance, submitting, submittance, whatever that word is, to God and his ways. That's what they're waiting for. In case you were wondering, they're waiting for you to get rid of all of the world's ways and just be the Christian God has called you to be. And if you will accept that call and you will walk in that call, the people will be drawn to the light in you. You'll have battles. There will be other spirits that don't like your spirit. But guess what? You've been given authority over it. Even that spirit has to bow to the name of Jesus. You can walk out an abundant life. I didn't say rich. I didn't say rich. I didn't say easy. I didn't say comfortable. An abundant life. Brooke gives way more money than I want to to the church. And everywhere else we go. And God continues to bless her and bless her and bless her and bless her. Bless her. I stop saying, Don't do that, woman. What are you doing? She just does it. Hey, I'm getting I don't don't tell me. Praise the Lord. Right? And it just opens the windows of blessing from heaven. You are not called to walk among this earth as just a regular human. Amen. You're not from here.
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_01You are a citizen of heaven.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01And that is what we walk out on earth because we're his ambassador.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01We're the way that he's going to evangelize the world. We are the hands, we are the feet. We get to do the work.
SPEAKER_02Amen.
SPEAKER_01We have been privileged enough to be called sons and daughters and gone, hey man, I'm going to give you all of this. I trust you, son, with all of this. Yeah. We just have to accept it and walk it out. Every single one of us. Every single day. Sometimes more than once a day. Sometimes I got to tell myself, stop twice a day. All right. So here's what I want to do. We're not going to close the normal way we do. At the end of service, I'm going to pray with us, but we'll have our prayer team up here. If you need prayer for anything, uh, you're welcome to come up here and hang out for as long as you need. Um we'll have some announcements after I'm done. But I want to take just a minute. Um, I know we're over, but I want to take just a minute and I want you to to just kind of, if you need to close your eyes, um, if you if you don't, that's totally fine. But I want you to to just think about what is that negative thought? What is that one thing that keeps playing on repeat in your head? What is that one lie that the devil gets you every time? What is that? I want you to think about that for just a second. I don't want you to like go deep. I don't want depression when we're done. Like, I just want you to ponder it. That one thought, and and if you even listen, we are not going to judge you. If you need to say this thought out loud, we are totally fine. Right? I'm not writing down. We're not gonna tell everybody who it was that said whatever it is. But if there's that thought that you need to say out loud, um, what I want you to do is you can say it in your mind, you can go home and do this later. But right now, I want us to just practice this. I want you to tell that thought to go. Tell that thought you have no place here. You are not welcome in my life. And again, if you need to say it out loud, I we don't care. There's no judgment. But just just take a second. Now here's what I want you to do. This I would like to hear y'all verbally, but it's up to you. I want you to thank God for dealing with that. I want you to thank God for taking that away from you. I want you to thank God for restoring whatever it was. I want you to thank God for defeating the devil. I want you to thank God for victory in your life. I want you to thank God that you are above and not beneath. So just take a minute, a minute, and and you just declare your your thanks to God. Father God, we're so thankful for who you are, King of kings and Lord of Lords, creator of the heavens and the earth, Lord. We thank you for another day of life, another day of breath in our lungs. Thank you for healing and restoration and reconciliation. We thank you that we've been given the opportunity to be called your sons, your daughters. We're so grateful today, Lord. There's so many things that you've done that we haven't even noticed, that we weren't even aware of, that were going on in the background, that you're working out right now. That we won't see for years to come. We're so very thankful. We lay our lives before you. We surrender our ways, we surrender our thoughts, we give you full reign in our lives. We don't want to carry it anymore. We want you to be in control. So we thank you for these things. We love you so very greatly. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.