Decatur Christian Fellowship
Decatur Christian Fellowship
Your Struggle Doesn't Scare God | Pastor Ben Stanley
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Welcome to the Decatur Christian Fellowship Podcast. We are so glad that you decided to join us. Wherever you are listening from, we pray that God encourages and ministers to you through this message. Somebody say Jesus this morning. Yeah, somebody say Jesus this morning. Hallelujah, he is good, amen, he's good even when we're not right. Hey, there's a ring. Praise the Lord, hallelujah Anyhow, hallelujah Anyhow.
Speaker 1:I don't believe that demons have any power over Christians. I don't believe that powers in dark places and principalities have any kind of authority when it comes to a child of God. I don't believe that there is any name that is higher than the name of Jesus, and I believe that when we lift up and we exalt the name of Jesus, hallelujah, everything else just falls away. Amen. There's nothing higher than the name of Jesus. There's nothing stronger than the name of Jesus. There's no one higher than Jesus. Jesus is the supreme authority. Hallelujah. Jesus is the son of God. Hallelujah. Jesus is God's will manifested in the flesh. If we saw Jesus do it, then we know that it's God's will for us.
Speaker 1:What did God? What did Jesus do? Jesus extended the hand of forgiveness to people that were different than him. Jesus extended the hand of forgiveness to the woman that was caught in the act of adultery. Jesus extended his love towards the woman who was at the well, who had not only been married five times but was also living with somebody that she wasn't married to. Jesus did not judge. Jesus invited tax collectors, who were some of the most hated thieves of his day, to be part of his troop. Jesus invited one of them to be one of the disciples. Amen, matthew was a tax collector Because where Jesus goes, mercy follows, and Jesus was showing us the character of God, and the character of God is that he loves everyone and he lives to extend the hand of forgiveness to everyone.
Speaker 1:The Bible tells me that everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. That's what my Bible tells me. My Bible says in Romans 10, 9, that if we confess Jesus is our Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead, we would be saved. That's what my Bible tells me. The Bible doesn't tell me that you got to be this color, that color, this orientation or that orientation. The Bible tells me, hallelujah, that when that happens, there is salvation available.
Speaker 1:Well, what happens if this person comes or that person comes? My friend, it ain't up to you to deal with, because the Bible says that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of its sin. It didn't say that you would. It ain't up to you to convict the world of the sin. You know who. It is up to the Holy Spirit. So you just let the Holy Spirit do the Holy Spirit's job and you do the work of the Lord, which is to bring people into his presence so that he can do the working out.
Speaker 1:Amen, because, like I said a moment ago, there's no name that is above the name of Jesus and you can identify yourself as this. You can call yourself this race, you can call yourself this that, you can call yourself whatever. You can call yourself a cat, I don't care what you call yourself, but whatever you call yourself is never going to be above the name of Jesus. And when you call on the name of Jesus, jesus will extend that hand of love to you and when he touches you, there is a transference of power that will take place, and when you surrender yourself to him, you will find 2 Corinthians 5, 17 coming alive. That says that we are no longer who we were and everything that I was no longer is. Something happened on the inside of me and I'm changed. Now, forevermore. There is a difference in me. There is a difference on me. There is a difference about me. There is a difference around me. There is a difference in my eyes, in my mind, in my hand. In my mind, in my hand, in my heart, in my will, in my emotions, in my purpose, hallelujah, in my intentions. Everything about me has become different because the Bible says, second Corinthians five, 17, as I said, that all things are made new. You may have been a jerk I was. You may have been this, you may have been that. You may have said this. You may have been that, you may have said this, you may have said that, but in Jesus, you are altogether brand new.
Speaker 1:The love of God is unlike anything you could ever experience. The love of God is unlike anything that you could ever sell. You can't buy it, you can't rent it, you can't hock it, you can't go. And I'm telling you, the love of God is a free gift that is available to every single one of us, and all we have to do is just reach out and touch it. Reach out and touch it. Just reach out and touch it. Just reach out and grab it. It's available, but he's not going to make you. That's up to you. And so if you want to continue down the road that you're on, if you're on a bad road, I don't know you, I'm just talking from the Spirit this morning. But if you want to continue down the road that you're on, and then you find yourself in a ditch and you're like well, I thought God was real. Yeah, he is real.
Speaker 1:You see, god gives you the tools, god gives you the fruit of the Spirit. When the Bible says that the inside of you, all of a sudden, you've got what's called the fruit of the Spirit Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. These are all tools that are in the box, that are available to you. But how many of you are still wrestling with patience this morning? Anybody in here like me like that? Amen, all right, all right. How many of you could love a little bit better this morning? Anybody in here loving your fellow man a little bit less than what you feel like you? Well, you see, all of these things, all of these fruits of the Spirit, are available to us all, but we all are still working on how to use them. Amen, because they're tools in a toolbox that God gives us, but what God's got to do is show us how to use them.
Speaker 1:So how do we do that? We submit ourselves to Him, we allow Him to teach us, we allow Him to grow us, and God, like any father. I gave the example this way when we were praying this morning in here and I said that it's like when say that my son Aiden he's 13 years old, he's as tall as I am, but he's got no experience working with tools and say that I gave him a socket set for Christmas, he would be excited about it because it means that he's got tools, but he doesn't know how to use them. So what do I do as a good dad? I take him into the garage and I say, hey, look what we got, son, we've got this project car that we're working on right now. Here's how you use this particular size socket. You got to turn it this way and make it work. And then, all of a sudden, he's learning how to use those tools and when we submit ourselves to the knowledge of our father in the same way that we would submit ourselves to the knowledge of a good dad or a good influence, then we have got the knowledge that's being poured into us, showing us how to wield the gifts that it is that God gives us. So we have to be patient, we have to allow God to teach us and we can't get ahead of him. Amen, praise the living God.
Speaker 1:I wanna pray for Miss Donna this morning, donnie's wife. She is having some complications with some surgery that she had on her leg. Amen. But we're gonna pray this morning that she's healed, right, amen. The Bible says that where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. Those are Jesus's words Amen, amen.
Speaker 1:And I believe that Jesus actually also was approached by a centurion's servant who said will you please come? Please come pray for my master's servant, I guess. And Jesus said, yes, I'm on my way. And he said, no, I'm not worthy that you should come into my house. Just pray from where you are and he'll be healed. And Jesus did. As a matter of fact, jesus, speaking of a Gentile, spoke about this man who was not of the Jewish covenant, and said I've never seen such faith. We can pray, god will hear us where we are and God will touch Miss Donna where she is.
Speaker 1:Amen, father, in the name of Jesus, we approach your throne and we're so grateful for Miss Donna and we thank you, holy Father. God, that, father, she sought the wisdom of a doctor. Now, father, we pray that you would give her the ability, the want to, and the knowledge on how to heed the advice that the doctor gives her. Father, we pray in the name of Holy Jesus that, father, your healing power would flow through her and that her leg would begin to respond accordingly, that the healing would take place, that the infection would cease, that the wounds would close and that there would be a noticeable difference, not only in the way that it feels at this very moment, at 11.23 am on Sunday morning, but that, father, god, there would be a noticeable difference in the way that it looks when Donnie gets home and looks at it and he could say my God is healing my wife.
Speaker 1:And so, father, we do thank you and praise you, father, for your healing power. We command her leg in the name of Jesus and by the authority that is given us by him, we command that leg to be healed and we believe it's done. In the name of holy Jesus, our Lord, we pray Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen. Somebody say God is good, you may be seated this morning. Thank you for your patience. I praise you, father God, and I thank God that he is good and his mercy endures forever. And this thing ain't on me, it's on God. Amen. Praise the living God.
Speaker 1:I am excited this morning for the opportunity to minister because last week I sat down on several days and I started hammering out the message that I was going to minister. Because last week I sat down on several days and I started hammering out the message that I was going to minister, very excited about it. And then I was like, okay, I woke up on Friday and I was like, well, that's not what I'm going to minister on. And so I started hammering out another message and God began to speak to me about the Godhead and about the Trinity and about the three in one and about how that works out and about where the scriptures are that tell us that Jesus is also God, god is Jesus, the Holy Spirit is part of God, that every one of these three all works together, the three in one, godhead. And I was excited about ministering that message because it's a congruent timeline, that's all the way throughout scriptures, from the beginning to the beginning of the New Testament as well, talking about Jesus and how he's part of the Trinity and all of that, and how he was there when the worlds were being created and I was so excited about ministering that message. And then the Lord woke me up on Saturday and I started to begin to type out to finish that message and as I typed I typed a whole different message. So I've typed three messages this week praise the living God. And sometimes the Lord is just speaking to me and it's not for anybody else, and I'm so grateful for those moments because the Bible says if we seek him, we will find him and if we knock, it will be opened.
Speaker 1:I've been in ministry since 2000 and something four 2004. And I have found myself still learning when I place myself at the foot of the Father and any good minister should always stay there still learning, willing to receive, willing to understand. Not think that we know it all, because we don't. No minister knows it all, but we know the one who does and Jesus Hallelujah, he does.
Speaker 1:This morning we want to start out in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3. 2 Corinthians, chapter 3. I hope you're having a great day. I'm sorry, the balloons couldn't fly. Jacob was on his way to church this morning and a balloon crashed in his neighborhood. What the heck, a balloon crashed in it. I mean no warning. Jacob was on his way to church this morning and a balloon crashed in his neighborhood. What the heck? A balloon crashed in his neighborhood. I mean no warning. Jacob's like here's the picture. I promise I'm not lying. It's like it's kind of a strange thing to make up if you are trying to lie about it. But yeah, there you go. Yeah, a balloon crashed in his neighborhood, so hopefully you don't have any balloon debris where you're going today. Amen.
Speaker 1:So on 2 Corinthians, chapter 10, the Bible says in verse 3, it says in the New King James Version, it says for, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. That's great news for me, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. And now notice, the Bible says the weapons of our warfare, meaning we are in a war. We are in a war. The weapons that we use are not carnal, which means that they're not in the flesh. They're not something like a sword or a gun that you would pick up. That's not how you're going to be able to fight the battles of your life, but they are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Verse four says this for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God.
Speaker 1:That last part right there mighty in God. I would so much rather be mighty in God and to have his help than to try and wage war all by myself and in my own power, relying on my own strength. I don't see that. Things that God sees. God sees into the supernatural, he sees into the spiritual. He knows the influences that are attacking us. He knows the things that are trying to get our attention in the supernatural. And when we pray according to God's word and we pray in the spirit, as the Bible tells us to, we are waging that warfare in the spirit. That part, mighty in God, kept jumping out at me as I read it and the Lord began to show me that mighty in God means that we are not fighting this battle or any other battle, whether it be physical or spiritual, alone. We're not alone in these things. We are in fact fighting our battles with God's help and his power, not only alongside us, but with his power and his mighty resources within us, as a part of us. The truth is that God has never left us, he's never forsaken us. He is with us always.
Speaker 1:But if we're being honest this morning, sometimes it doesn't feel like it does it. We can have these conversations, can't we? We can be honest in this place. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it does it. We can have these conversations, can't we? We can be honest in this place, amen. Sometimes, even in a room full of people, you can feel like you're all alone, can't you? Yeah, talking to the right crowd this morning. How do you begin to fight that stuff? We talk about speaking in faith. We talk about calling those things that are not as though they are. We talk about speaking the word of God and all that and letting the word of God take its place in our mouths, and we speak the right things.
Speaker 1:But what happens when we don't feel that, when we don't feel on the inside that things are okay? About 10 or 15 years ago, a phrase began to sweep through Christendom and it was it's okay to not be okay. And I want to tell you this morning that it's not okay to be not okay. When you become comfortable and you become okay with not being okay, then you become accepting of all of the stuff that the enemy wants to throw at you, and that's not good and that's not the way that God wants you to be. It's not okay to be not okay. It's okay to realize that you're not a perfect human. It's okay to realize that you're in a battle. It's okay to realize that you've not arrived just yet. It's okay to realize that you're in a battle. It's okay to realize that you've not arrived just yet. It's okay to realize that you are a work in progress. But it is not okay for you to settle down into that land, pitch your tent and feel like that. That's where God has called you to be, because it's not okay. It's okay to talk about not being okay, because we are called to be together to sharpen one another, and we're going to get into that this morning. But if we never tell anybody about the struggles that we're going through, how in the world can we expect for our brothers and sisters to fight with us?
Speaker 1:When Moses was sitting on the mountaintop and he was tired of raising his hands, even though the battle was being won as long as his hands were being raised, he still had to have two helpers to hold his hands, even though the battle was being won as long as his hands were being raised. He still had to have two helpers to hold his hands up for him as the battle was being waged, because if he put them down, they were going to lose. He needed help. You need help. You need people who can believe alongside you. You need people who can believe alongside you. You need people who can believe with you. You need people who can speak words of life into you when the only words that are coming at your brain are death and destruction and depression and anxiety and hurt and helplessness and just berating you about your past and all of the decisions that you've made. I'm telling you I don't really need the devil to speak bad into my brain, because I do it well enough on my own and yet, and yet he still does what. You're a minister and the devil tries to get at you. Oh, come on, yeah, he does, he does.
Speaker 1:There are days I wake up and I feel like I have had 10 cups of coffee and just like sugar coming out my ears and I'm just bouncing off the walls and I'm running and jumping in my house, dancing along to the music, doing all the fun things, and then there's days where I feel like I just can't, I can't, I can't, I don't want to. Even I just can't, I don't want to. I was talking to my dad about that yesterday and he said son, do you know what that means? I said don't tell me that I need to be medicated. He said no, son, you know what it means. He said it't tell me that I need to be medicated. He said no, son, you know what it means? He said it means you're human. He said it means you're human.
Speaker 1:We get so spiritually minded sometimes that we forget that we really are humans having this experience on earth. We're spirits inside of a body, but this body is susceptible to all kinds of different things, but still we press on and still we fight and still we pursue God. This morning, if that's you, if it's ever been you that you have felt all alone in a crowded room, or that you've ever felt like you weren't good enough, or that God could never love you because of what you've done, or you felt the mistakes of the past have disqualified you somehow from a future with God, or maybe you've had to battle depression or anxiety or hurt that nobody gets you, or that you're just all alone, I've got a word for you this morning that is directly from God. Can we pray, father? We come before you grateful and thank you for this day and your mercy and your kindness and your compassion and your faithfulness, and I pray that as I speak today, you would speak through me and you would use the vernacular that you want spoken today. I don't lean on my own understanding, I lean on you, I lean on your Holy Spirit that is on the inside of me. Father, I praise you and thank you that your word tells us that when we come before rulers, not to worry about what we're gonna say, because the Holy Spirit will give us the words, and I lean on that today. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:Let's go to John 10, 10,. If you would this morning please. John, chapter 10 and verse 10. John 10, 10, if you would this morning please. John, chapter 10 and verse 10. And the Bible says this the words of Jesus in John 10, 10 are the thief does not come except to steal, kill and to destroy. Who is the thief? It's the devil right? Look at what the Bible says. It says the thief does not come what? Except to steal. That means that whenever the devil comes your way, he is not going to come to be your party pal. He is not coming to show you how to have a good time. He is not coming to lead you and show you how freedom can really be when you are outside of the bondages and repressiveness of religion. No, the devil is coming for one reason only, and according to Jesus, that reason is to absolutely annihilate you, whether it be by death, destruction or stealing from you. Amen. So the devil, when he comes, he's trying to lead you down a path that is only going to end in your destruction.
Speaker 1:And somebody said one time I honestly think that it was one of my kids that was in school that come and told me that they tried to talk about the devil in school and the teacher got onto them and said oh no, don't talk about the devil because we don't want to scare the other kids. And I'm like are you kidding me? If we don't educate ourselves and realize that there really is a real devil in this earth, that there's a real enemy in this earth, how in the world are you going to fight him in this earth? How in the world are you going to fight him? It doesn't make any sense to deny that the devil exists, he exists. Somebody said one time that the best trick that the devil ever played on humanity was to convince them that he didn't exist. Because why would you fight against a foe that you don't believe exists? Why would you stand in faith against something that you don't think is there? Nobody wants to go up and be like Don Cahody fighting against a windmill. That makes no sense to do that. So what we do is we just ignore it and pretend, like that some of the things that we do are all God's fault, instead that everything happens for a reason. Oh Lord, have mercy.
Speaker 1:Let's go to 1 Peter, chapter five, and let's look at this and what the Bible says In 1 Peter five, verse eight. The Bible says verse eight. The Bible says stay alert. Somebody say stay alert, watch out for your great enemy, the devil. Now why in the world would somebody in Christendom, which is the body of Christ, want to try and say that the devil doesn't exist, when the Bible clearly says, by way of 1 Peter, chapter five and verse eight, to watch out for your great enemy comma, furthermore, explaining who this enemy is the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, number nine. Stay firm against him and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering that you are.
Speaker 1:There's so much good information in these scriptures right here that I want to unpack. And first of all, I want to just show you that, like we said a moment ago, the Bible is clear on the fact that the devil exists. Ok, he's your enemy. He is not your friend. He wants how does the Bible put it to devour you. He wants to eat you up. He wants to eat you up. He wants to eat you alive. But look at what verse nine says.
Speaker 1:Verse nine says stand firm against him and be strong in your faith. First of all, according to scripture, it is possible. Somebody say possible. Say it is possible. Say it is possible Now. I want you to say it, like your life depends on it. It is possible, it is possible for you to stand against him. The Bible wouldn't instruct you to do so if it wasn't possible for you to do so. So when you stand against the devil, you're not entering a losing battle and you need to get a hold of that real quick. The devil is not like Hollywood portrays him. The devil is not out there, the same way that Hollywood puts him out there to be. I'm telling you that Hollywood will put a priest in a room with somebody that is demon-possessed and the demon-possessed person will spit all over the priest and cut the priest's heads off and do all kinds of crazy things, according to Hollywood. But I'm telling you there's nothing stronger than the name of Jesus would. But I'm telling you there's nothing stronger than the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.
Speaker 1:Do you know that when Jesus was presented with people who were possessed by demons, there was one in particular? It was the madman of Gadara. Jesus walked onto the shore out of a boat and all of a sudden, the Bible says that a demon possessed man ran towards him. Sudden, the Bible says that a demon-possessed man ran towards him. What the heck? Why? He could have stayed in the cave. Jesus probably wouldn't have even messed with him. But the demon-possessed man recognized God's footsteps in the soil in front of him and felt a power that cannot be contained. It cannot be restricted. There is a flow of power that was radiating out of the Son of God that the demon-possessed man instantly recognized and, instead of trying to hide. Knowing that there's no place to hide from the light of God, he ran towards Jesus and said Jesus, son of God, why are you here? Have you come to torment me before the appointed time? I want to know when the appointed time is, don't you but that demon-possessed man? Jesus wasn't mean to him. Jesus doesn't go. The power of Christ compels thee or anything like that.
Speaker 1:No, you know what Jesus did. He asked for the demon's name, as if to be like now, who are we dealing with? Why would Jesus do that? Because he knows who they all are. And they said we are legion, for we are many. Legion literally translates to thousands. Please do not cast us out into the great unknown. Do not cast us into the dry places. Cast us into those pigs.
Speaker 1:Do you know what Jesus did to cast the demon out? Jesus didn't reach into his back pocket and say fortunately, I brought some oil of gladness with me and I've got it right now. No, jesus didn't do that. No, jesus didn't say I'm gonna dunk you into the Euphrates seven times and then, all of a sudden, you're gonna be delivered. No, jesus didn't do that either.
Speaker 1:You know what Jesus did when the demon-possessed man got delivered. Here's what Jesus did. Here's what Jesus did Go. And that's all it took, because a word spoken in faith and authority is all that you need, man, when the Son of God says go. There is no other option. That whole herd of pigs got filled with demons right in that moment, ran down a hill and jumped into the ocean or the sea, or whatever you want to call it, off of a cliff dove to their own all the way down. Ran down a hill and jumped into the ocean or the sea, or whatever you want to call it, off of a cliff Dove to their own All the way down.
Speaker 1:Stand firm. I say that to say you're not in a losing battle when it comes to battling the devil, because he that is in you is greater than he that is in the world. He that is in you is the one that cast the demons out of the madman of Gadara. That's who's in you. But you don't know if you don't go. You don't know if you don't read for yourself. You don't know the power that is available to you unless you read about the power that is available to you, friends, you're never gonna exercise it unless you know how to use it. It's a tool in your toolbox, that's available to you, but if you don't know how to use it, you're never gonna know. So how do you stand against him? By being strong in your faith, by being fully convinced that God is who he says he is, and then he'll do what he said he'd do, and then in him you also are God, you are and you can do what he says you can do. Then, finally, the last part of that, that verse nine. The Bible says this it says the same your believers, the believers, the family of believers, rather, I believe, I believe, I believe are all over the world going through the same kinds of suffering that you are. You truly are not alone in whatever it is that you are going through, those battles that you face. There is someone in the family of believers that is facing the very same thing that you are.
Speaker 1:A couple of weeks ago, my son and my daughter and my other son and my wife and I were coming back from Tennessee and it happened to be on the day that the Lego store opened up in Huntsville and we were my kids were all excited. They're like can we go to the Lego store? Yes, we can go to the Lego store. We can stop in on the way back. And so in Tennessee it's not raining, but all of a sudden we crossed the Alabama state line and it's like a deluge. All of a sudden it's like you know what I mean. God promised that he wasn't going to send another flood and yet you know, but no, it's like all of a sudden, the rains are just torrential, and all of this. So I'm a man of my word. I keep my word. Yes, son, we'll go to the Lego store. So we ended up going to the Lego store. The bottom is falling out, but we've got raincoats, because we took them with us to Tennessee. And so we put on our raincoats and we start walking through Bridge Street. Now know that is an outdoor shopping venue and so everywhere that you go is outside. So we start trudging through all of the rain and the mud puddles at Bridge Street just being like is a Lego worth this? I don't know. And we get up there and there are people that are standing outside of the store. The line is wrapped around the building and they are getting soaked to the bone because they want to get into the Lego store.
Speaker 1:I was getting out of my car that same day and I parked right up front and I saw God bless us with a good parking spot and I'm walking. And as I'm walking, there is an old man. An old man, I mind you, an old man, and I don't mean like, oh, you can't call somebody older than you old. No, I mean like he's probably in his eighties, early 90s old man who has got shorts and a t-shirt on and he's walking around to get his old wife out of the car in the pouring down rain. He walks around and he opens up the door and he brings her little scooter. He brings her little scooter without any kind of an umbrella around and puts it on the loader, raises it up, puts old grandma on the scooter. Grandma's on there, happy as a lark, smiling to beat the band, goes down it's a slow scooter Gets to the ground. She starts wheeling around and driving and they start driving around Bridge Street I need to remind you that it is raining, cats and dogs, and they don't have an umbrella street. I need to remind you that it is raining, cats and dogs, and they don't have an umbrella, but we don't want to go to church on Sunday because it's raining. And the Holy Spirit began to show me. Once he began to show me something. He said Ben, people will do what they want to do. They will make time for what they want to do. If you want to go to the Lego store and it's raining, cats and dogs, and you have set your heart on going to the Lego store, and it don't matter if there may be a tornado on the other side of 565. It's like my God shall supply all my needs. I speak to the cloud, I speak to the mountain. I say this tornado be ye removed and cast into the outermost limits. And if it's on a Sunday and you're standing in the Lego store, god's gonna send that tornado right across their path and he's gonna take you up in it and kill you dead. That's not true. That is not true. Don't, don't, do not. God doesn't send tornadoes. God does not kill babies and moms and dogs and send people into car accidents so Brother Steve could get saved because Brother Tim died. That's not the way God works. I just wanted to say it. So please forgive me or don't, it's up to you, but the Bible tells you to, and the Bible also says in Mark 11, 25, that if you don't forgive, then you're going to hell. So anyways, praise the Lord, amen, it doesn't. It actually says that God won't forgive you. I don't know which is worse, all right. So anyways, praise the Lord, we're on one today. Praise God, let's get holy. So we go over to the Lego store. Oh yeah, boy, this got way off. Base pete, where are you with this? I don't, dude, that's his fault. All right, praise the lord. I'm gonna start giving you a copy of my notes and you can read along and be like oh no, that does not fit there at all. No, it's my deep sea fishing today. All right, so no, but anyways, I was talking about the Lego store, to tell you that, about the, you know, making excuses, about church and all that, but also to say that when we got those Legos, we ended up going. Last week, we went on a pretty day and we ended up going and my son and my daughter and my other son, they all bought Legos and they got excited about it because there's some things there that you can't get in the store, some things there that you can't get in the store, and so we get home and Aiden spends the next night, you know, doing all these Legos and all this kind of stuff, and all of a sudden he gets stuck right and so I'm like, hey, let's just go to bed, let's get up tomorrow morning, let's you know, blah, blah, blah. All this kind of do and this one piece is not fitting and the rest of the project depends on this one piece being where it's at. I don't understand what I've done wrong. I've done everything the instructions say to do, dad, and I was like, oh, let me take a look at it. And so I picked it up, turned it around, I look at it and I take a piece apart and I look at it and I realize that there's this gear that goes in there, and this gear was one click off. I went, click, popped it in, put the piece in and all of a sudden my kids think that I'm like Merlin, he's like dad. I've literally spent an hour working on this. How, how did you figure this out? And that is why we need the church, because somebody will have done something that you're going through and they're going to have the expertise on how to help you get through it. The church is necessary. The church is God's idea. It's not our idea, it's God's idea. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10, 25, that we're supposed to be meeting together. Right, he says in 1 Timothy 3, 15, that the church is the pillar and the foundation of the truth, and in Proverbs 27, 17,. The reason for the church is revealed to us and it says as iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend, a body of believers to be surrounded with, is important because, number one, you need to understand you're not alone. Number two, you need to understand that there are people that have gone through the same thing that you've gone through, that might be able to pick that Lego up, turn it one click and all of a sudden, everything works. You may have done exactly what the word says, you may have done exactly what you've read, you may be doing everything that you know what to do, and then, all of a sudden, god puts somebody in your path and says you're doing everything right, but here's something to help just a little bit more. And all of a sudden, you find the results that you're looking for. You find the miracle. God places people in our lives to dispense wisdom. We need each other Red, yellow, black, white, green, purple, I don't care. We need you all Old, young, middle-aged, whatever. We need you all Old, young, middle-aged, whatever we need you all. Hair no hair. Beards no beards. We need you all Short, tall, chunky, skinny. We need you all, everybody. We need to stop saying that we're okay by ourselves because we're not okay by ourselves. We need each other. We need each other. We need each other saying that we're okay by ourselves because we're not okay by ourselves. We need each other. We need each other. We need each other's experiences and wisdom. We're meant to learn from each other and to help one another, to help navigate through life's puzzles and pitfalls. We were never meant to live this life alone, friends, the Bible tells us in the book of Genesis, chapter two, verse 18, if you're looking for it, that God looks down at Adam after he's just created him, and he says this it is not good that man should dwell alone. It is not good that man should dwell alone. And if the devil can isolate you and make you feel like nobody understands you and that nobody likes you, nobody cares about you, nobody wants to be around you, then he can get you away from the pack, he can get you away from the herd, so to speak. He can isolate you. And when you're isolated and standing naked in the middle of an open field, you are an easy target. We can't shy away from the fact that there's a very real devil in this world and he's doing his utmost to destroy us. When Pastor John was given the mandate for this church, the Lord spoke to him and told him John, his words, not mine. I would never go up to him and say that, because that's disrespectful. There ain't no way I'm going to go up to him and say, john, oh, the Lord, I feel like would slap me. I don't know if he would, but I just am not going to do that. But God told him. He said John, people have got me confused with the devil. He said they think everything that happens in this world I am responsible for. This is God talking to Pastor John? He says I want you to go. This is where the mandate comes in. He says I want you to go and tell them who I am, what I have and what I can do. And then I want you to tell them who they are, what they have and what they can do. And then I want you to tell them who the devil is, what he has and what he can do and every single bit of everything that this church has done since 1983, it was founded has been according to that mandate to tell people who God is, what he has and what he can do. Also, to tell people who they are, what they have and what they can do. And to not shy from the fact that there is a devil, that he has things that he can do as well and that if you let yourself listen to his lies, you're going to be deceived Amen. We have to know and understand that there's an opposing force in this world that's trying to get us off track, trying to lead us down a path of disbelief. There is an opposing force that hates God and led a revolt against him because he became filled with jealousy and began to see himself as equal to God. The same force, that same being was cast out of God's presence in such ferocity that Jesus, the Lord, god himself, says in Luke, chapter 10, I saw Satan fall like lightning. Have you ever seen lightning strike? It is instantaneous, it is loud and it doesn't care where it lands. And God cast Satan out of heaven with such force that when Satan landed he was like whoa, what just happened? And where did Satan go? Here? Aren't you happy he came to earth. That ain't very cool, but here he is, just the same. He got booted from heaven and cast down to earth and he has hated God and tried to lead anybody who follows God astray. He hates God, he hates his creation. Think about it this way. So we talked about Legos just a minute ago. Think about it this way Say that you've got two kids in the same room, and if you've ever been a parent or a teacher, you know how this works. If you've got two kids in the same room and one kid is jealous of the other kid, right. So say that the kid that's not jealous builds a beautiful Lego tower. He builds this beautiful tower. It's got a drawbridge, it's got windows, pretty colors, it's got all the design, everything. It's an excellent build. You walk through there and you're like man did a 50 year old build that? No, it was a kid. This kid built it. It's amazing. Look at this. It's a beautiful tower and all of he comes and he breaks it. He kicks it over, he tears it apart, he does everything that he can to take away from the creation. And what's the motivation? Because he's jealous, number one, and because, number two, he wants the focus to be on him. Well, look what I did. You built it, but I tore it down. I want to share a secret with you. The devil can't build, he can only tear down. God can only create. The devil cannot create. God can only create. You know what the devil can do. He can pervert, he can distort, he can cause things to be twisted, but he cannot create. Creation belongs only to God. So how does the devil pervert? How does he twist? How does he make things twisted? Well, pornography is a really good example, because sex was meant to be between a married man and his wife. But the pornography industry there's an entire industry that is devoted to pornography and it is a trillion dollar industry. It makes gobs and gobs of money because people will actually sit down and pay to watch other people have sex. And then, when it's not enough to watch other people have sex, it becomes about how weird they can make that sex. And then they start watching, and then they start doing all that and they'll just sit there for it. There were people that are addicted to pornography, will literally sit in front of a screen all day long just watching same stuff happen over and over and over and over again, and they are just intrigued and thrilled by it. That's a great example of perversion. Sex was meant to be shared between a married man and his wife, not between you and your television, but whatever. So there you are, just the same, all right. So what does the Bible tell us in John, chapter 10 and verse 10? That God, I'm sorry, the thief doesn't come and doesn't enter the room except for to steal from you, kill you or to destroy you, you what God has created in love and in excellence and with care and so much attention to detail. The devil hates you. He wants to destroy you, he wants to corrupt you, he wants to corrupt your mind and he wants to taint your beautiful spirit. In Psalm, chapter 139, verses 13 through 14, the Bible says you made all the delicate inner parts of my body, and the psalmist is talking to God, the Father, and he said you knit me together in my mother's womb, thank you for making me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship is marvelous. How well I know it. You, yes, you were knit together in your mother's womb, and if it ever feels like you are a mistake, or maybe you're the result of God having an off day, maybe you thought that God was having an off day when you were baking. I don't know what the case may be. You're being told lies by the devil, lies that are meant to destroy you. Because John, chapter eight and verse 44, lets us in on exactly the mindset of the devil, and it is this he, according to the words of Jesus, the devil was a murderer from the beginning. The devil has always had killing on his mind. The Bible says he's always hated the truth. Because, look at this, there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Jesus said there's no truth in him. There's no truth in the devil whatsoever. That lying is consistent with his character. When something is consistent with someone's character, it means that we should never, ever, ever, expect anything else than what it is. Satan is a liar. Somebody say the devil is a liar. I didn't hear any of the high-pitched stuff. I'm disappointed. I just really want you to know that. I thought maybe we could get there together, but that's okay. All right, we tried, all right. The devil has always had killing on his mind. He's not there to be your friend, he's there to kill you. John, chapter 10 and verse 10, the Bible says that Jesus comes, that we may have life and have it more abundantly. The thing is is that the devil wants to come and try and tell you that freedom, true freedom, real freedom, can't be found in a repressive society in which God exists. God is just wanting to hold you down. It's just all a plan from God to try and repress you and to keep your creative nature from being flourishing. It's all just a plan to try and make you be repressed and walk in this all blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And the devil wants to try and convince you that true freedom is found when you take off and shake off the chains of oppression. That is religion and modern day man-made blah, blah, blah, blah and all the other stupid stuff. What does Jesus say? I have come that they may have life and have life more abundantly. Friend, it's an out and out lie when the devil tries to tell you that you can be freed outside of God. Here's a great example of it Getting drunk. Right, people fill up the bars every weekend and they're excited to go and they get drunk. The Bible tells us don't be drunk with wine. And people are like well, you know, no, no, no, no, it's the word of God. So shut up and pay attention. The Bible says don't be drunk with wine. Why do you not be drunk? Well, it's just wine. It doesn't say anything about any other kind of alcohol. Hey, hey, hey, no, quit trying to make excuses. There's no loopholes in the Bible. It I did only say wine, jim Beam, is just fine. You go right ahead and you get yourself stupid, get in the car and drive off a bridge while you're at it. Okay, it's not okay, it's not okay. People get drunk and they go to the bars and they get absolutely hammered, and then they wake up the next day with a hangover that makes them feel like somehow in the night they've been transferred to a construction site in downtown Manhattan. Ah, everything hurts. And then, when they're going through all of that and they're puking their guts out because the alcohol content doesn't agree with them oh God, will you please? And then they start making all of these empty promises to God about how they're oh, if you get me out of this, god. And then at three o'clock, when they're finally somewhat semblance to normality takes place, they get a call from their buddies.
Speaker 2:Hey man, you going out tonight? Yeah, man, where are we going?
Speaker 1:Like an absolute idiot. And then they wake up the next day and they feel the same way, and all this. There is a story or a line that I like in Lady and the Tramp. Have y'all ever seen Lady and the Tramp? It's that movie about the dogs, right. And so there's a line in there where Lady, she's been running around with Tramp all day long. Tramp's been chasing chickens, tramp's been chasing cars, he's been doing all the things that she was taught not to do. Because, you know, tramp's like hey, man, this is really living, isn't it? And she was like is it? You know, like trying to say is it living?
Speaker 1:And then you know, all of a sudden, tramp is running and guess what happens to the lady? Oh, she gets, she gets the net around her. Oh, son, the dog catcher, he's got her and he puts her into the little trolley and takes her straight to the doggy jail. And she wakes up scared and she's surrounded by all these strange mutts. And all of a sudden she's talking to some of the people in there and they all know the person that got her into trouble and they're like oh yeah, seems like everybody he hangs out with gets caught except him. They sing a whole song about it. You know what I'm talking about. He's a tramp, but they love him. You know that song, yeah, anyway. So it goes on. And then, like one of my favorite lines in the whole movie is when Boris you know Peg looks over and she says that's Boris, he's a philosopher, and Boris goes. Trump is like Nietzsche says Miserable person finds other miserable person and then is happy. And that to a T describes the bar scene. The only reason that people go is to escape their miserableness and surround themselves who are just as miserable and maybe, by means of karaoke and bad notes, they can be happy. It sounds silly, but that's the way it is. I'm telling you. I know from experience. The Bible tells us not to get drunk, because God knows that it's going to hurt us and it's going to encourage us to make dumb decisions. Being drunk has a way of sucking the rationalization right out of a situation. Dear Lord, are the things that people do when they're drunk? Have you ever heard of drunk texting before? Holy cow, what a mountain of bad things that happen when you put a cell phone into a drunk person's hand. All of a sudden, they find that they never did fall out of love with their ex and they're just going to text them how much they love them. And then they wake up the next day in Manhattan and they're like oh no, what did I send? That drunk guy also is going to get a hold of his cell phone and he's going to be like you know what? I had bad enough of my supervisor. And I'm going to get a hold of his cell phone and he's going to be like you know what? I had bad enough of my supervisor and I'm going to tell him exactly what I and all of his little drunk, miserable buddies, who are terrible employees as well you tell him Cletus. You tell him, and Cletus picks up that thing and he says let me tell you. And then all of a sudden, cletus wakes up, fired.
Speaker 1:Alcohol is an encourager of really terrible decisions. I'm telling you right now how do you know that, ben? Oh my gosh, because of all the bad decisions I made on the stuff, I could make you a book. I don't want to, but I could. And we could really keep on going down the list of pet sins that people don't want to give up, that they're secretly addicted to, and instead of letting go of that thing, they just want to hang on to it. I look at that kind of like a guy who's in the middle of the ocean bobbing up and down and he's got a backpack full of dumbbells on him, trying hard to stay afloat, trying hard to tread water. He's got all these dumbbells you can replace it with bricks if you want to. I don't care what your medium is is but he's got a backpack full of weights on and he's trying to just stay afloat with that backpack on him, not realizing that if he just took it off, god created man buoyant. He could just float by himself. Yeah, but he holds on to that thing. It's silly, isn't it? God doesn't want you to go through all that hurt.
Speaker 1:The Bible says in that second part of John, chapter 10, in verse 10, that Jesus wants us to have life and what life more abundantly. The truth is, we don't know true joy outside of God's presence. The devil tries to emulate happiness and mask it with artificial, superficial feelings. But there's a difference in being happy and having joy. We're going to take a little bit of time this morning, is that okay? I'm not going to keep you long, but I'm just warning you ahead of time. I got some good stuff I want to pour into you and the end of the message is you're going to be like thank God, I stayed. Amen, brooke, go ahead and roll that video this morning, if you that.
Speaker 2:How do you keep the joy for so long when anxiety seems like a thing that can very easily set in? Well, the only way that you can have a joy that doesn't fade away is from the Lord, and any other type of joy is actually happiness that comes from circumstances and outcomes, and I think Coach has said this before. But joy from the Lord is really the only thing that can keep you motivated, just in a good mindset, no matter the outcomes. Thankfully we've had a lot of success this year, but if it was the other way around, joy from the Lord is the only thing that can keep you embracing those memories, moments, friendships and all of that. So that's really the only the only answer to that, because there's no other way that softball can bring you that, because of how much failure comes in it and just how much of a roller coaster the game can be.
Speaker 1:I love how she says softball is a roller coaster of emotions. Sometimes you're happy, sometimes you're sad. And what she was saying is also that sometimes you feel victorious and sometimes you feel like a loser. That if you depend on feelings, the feelings that softball brings to you to sustain you, you're going to be disappointed and inconsistent. Happiness is a feeling, but joy is a state of being. There's a difference between happiness and joy. Joy, the joy of the Lord, is what sustains us in the hard times that we face.
Speaker 1:You might be asking yourself well, where can I find that joy? I sure could use some of that, and I'm glad you're asking that question because I'm going to tell you how Psalms, chapter 16 and verse 11, says you will show God, will show me. The path of life in your presence is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. I want you to look at what the Bible says in the old covenant, before Jesus came and was the sacrifice for our sins and we were made heirs of a new and better covenant that was full of new and better promises than what we had in the old covenant. We've now got new and better promises, but part of the old promises were that in God's presence was fullness of joy. And look at this At his right hand are pleasures forevermore. God wants you to have joy and he wants you to experience pleasure.
Speaker 1:Pleasure is not a bad thing. It's not a bad word. Yes, it may be this name of a triple X rated store on the other side of Decatur, but it is not God's original intent of the word. A perfect example of perversion. Pleasure. God wants you to be pleased. He wants you to be happy. God wants you to be full of joy. Amen. He wants you to have joy and pleasure.
Speaker 1:Why would you want to spend time anywhere but the presence of God, if in his presence is joy and in his presence is pleasure? How do you get there? Worshiping, praising him, se, seeking him above all else, reading his word, expecting to get to know him. And when you do so, you're gonna find out some incredible things. When you look into the word of God and you read, you're gonna find out that God is for you and he's not against you. And if he is for us, then who can be against you? You're going to find that in Romans 8, 31.
Speaker 1:You're going to find that, according to Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verse 8, isaiah 41 and verse 10,. John 14, verse 15, matthew 28 and 20, that God will never leave you and he will never forsake you. You're going to find in Exodus, chapter 14, verse 14, that God will fight for you. You're going to find in Psalm, chapter 23, verse 4, that when you're walking through hard times, god is walking through those hard times right alongside you. You'll discover Psalm, chapter 119, verse 105, and John, chapter 16, verse 13, that tells us that God himself will light your path and show you where to go. According to John 16, 13, god's Holy Spirit will show you things to come. Isaiah is going to tell you in chapter 54 and verse 17 that no weapon formed against you will prevail. You'll see in Psalm, chapter 18 and verse 3, that God shows you that he will save you from your enemies.
Speaker 1:You'll find in God's plans for you in John, chapter 20, I'm sorry, jeremiah, chapter 29, 11, god's very plans, plans that are to prosper you, to give you a hope and a future, a hopeful future. Am I talking to the right crowd? This morning, I'm trying to tell you what God's going to give you if you look into his word. I'm trying to tell you about some promises. This morning, I'm trying to tell you that there's hope in the word, hope that you're going to find in 2 Timothy, chapter 1 and verse 7 that says he's giving you power, love and a sound mind, that God wants himself to be your refuge and your safe haven. According to Psalms, chapter 9, verses 9 through 10, isaiah 40, 29, ephesians 6, 10 and Joshua, chapter 1 and verse 9 are going to tell you that God wants you to be strong and if he wants you to be strong, it's possible for you to be strong. Amen.
Speaker 1:The Bible says, according to Isaiah 26, verse 3, john 16, 33 and 4, 7, that God wants you to be in perfect peace. You're going to find in Philippians 4, 6, matthew 6, 34, that God doesn't want you to be anxious and get this. Isaiah 41, 13, 2 Timothy 1, 7, isaiah 41, 10, deuteronomy 3, 6, joshua 1.9, psalm 23.4, psalm 27.1, john 14.27, and Philippians 4.6-7, 1 Peter 3.14, psalm 91.5-7, isaiah 35.3. All tell us that it is God's will for us not to be afraid. We're not done yet, because you're going to find in Psalm, chapter 37 and verse 4, psalms, chapter 37, verse 23 and 24, matthew chapter 11, verse 28 and 29, that God's will for you is to have perfect rest.
Speaker 1:Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 5 through 6,. God wants you to have good sleep. I'm going to say that because somebody might want to write that down. That's in Proverbs, chapter three, verses five through six. God wants you to have good sleep. You're going to find them. Proverbs, chapter 22, verse six and Matthew 19, 14 tells you that you are his children, that he cares for your children as well. Second, corinthians 12, nine tells you that he wants his power active and flowing through you. Philippians 4, 13 tells you that you can do all things through him.
Speaker 1:Isaiah 53,. Are we doing okay this morning? Isaiah, I'm trying to build you up a little bit this morning because the word of God is full of all kinds of things that'll build you up. If you'll let him, and if you're just sitting there letting these words fly over your head and you're not soaking them in and you're not trying to get hold of these things and listen to what it is that God wants to do, they're not going to make a difference. It's the same thing as the tools being in your toolbox but you're not pulling them out to use them.
Speaker 1:You're going to find in Proverbs 22, 6 and Matthew 19, 14, that God cares for your children. Second Corinthians, 12, 9, that he wants his power active and flowing through you. And then you're going to see in Isaiah 53, 5, 1, peter, 2, 24, james 5, verses 14 through 15, all agree that God wants you healed. James, chapter 1 and verse 5 through 6, tells us that he wants you to be wise. Malachi, chapter 3 and verse 10, tells us that he wants to bless you financially. Psalm, chapter 91, verse 16,.
Speaker 1:You're going to find that God wants you to have long life. Isaiah 54, 10, john 3, 16, romans 8, 31 through 39, you're going to find that God's love for you is unending and unchanged by anything that you ever have done, ever will do either. There are promises in the word of God that are available to you like tools in a toolbox, and if you don't take hold of them, you're never going to be able to use them. Open the word of God. Let God speak to you. Let his word come alive to you. Understand that you need each other, we need each other. You're not alone. God loves you very much and he has a great plan for your life. Somebody say Jesus loves me. Somebody say God is for me.
Speaker 1:Did you get anything out of that this morning. Would you mind if I prayed for you and then let you out of here to go bid on a dessert to help send a poor youth child to youth camp? Amen, not that they're poor, amen. Just go with me on that. Father, we worship and praise you and thank you for your mercies that are new every morning, and your love. We thank you for your compassion and your faithfulness and we thank you, father, god, that you are good. We thank you, father, for this place, this space, this time that you have given us. Father, I wanna pray for every single person that's in this place today, father God, I pray for every single person that's here today. If they don't know who you are and they don't know you, father God I pray that they would not leave today without knowing who you are, with heads bowed and eyes closed.
Speaker 1:I want to ask you a quick question, and it is this. We're going to make it easy Are you right with God? If the answer to that question is no, well then you need to get right with God. Maybe you've never asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life. Maybe you have asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life, but you know that you're not doing right by God right now and you want to change that? I'm going to give you the opportunity.
Speaker 1:Well, man, I don't want to be embarrassed. Well, fortunately for you, I don't want to change that. I'm going to give you the opportunity. Well, ben, I don't want to be embarrassed. Well, fortunately for you, I don't want to embarrass you. I just want you to have a moment where you can be honest with God. I'm not going to call you up here, I'm not going to draw attention to you, to where everybody can look at you and then clap for you and all that kind of stuff. Dude, I just want you to have a real moment with God, and that moment is this Would you raise your hand this morning and tell me, ben, I need to get right with God.
Speaker 1:Go ahead and lift them up if you need to Thank you. Thank you, I see those hands. Anybody else? I need to get right with God this morning, anybody else? I'm gonna give you three seconds. You know it's you, because your heart's pounding right now and you're like, oh Lord, don't, but God's talking to you. If your heart's going bananas right now, it's because God is talking to you and he wants you to come home. So if that's you, I'm going to give you three seconds and if you don't respond, that's on you, not on me. All right, three, two. Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate that. Three, two. Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate that. One closed. Thank you, ma'am. I saw that. Thank you, I appreciate that. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:Father, I thank you for the people who have been honest in here today. They said I need Jesus, I need to get right with God. I promised you I wouldn't call attention to you and I won't. So here's what I want to do Every single person in this place today, I want you all to please pray this prayer with me so that those who are here who made that decision that they need to come back to the Lord and get right with Him can do it without feeling embarrassed and called attention to, because we're not here to embarrass people. So, everybody, pray this prayer with me.
Speaker 1:Father, god, in the name of Jesus, I come before you and I ask you to forgive me for every sin that I've done, every place I've missed it, every place I've willingly gone astray. God, I'm sorry for that and I don't want to do it anymore. I believe your word is true. I believe that your son, jesus, really came to earth and right now I confess him as my Lord, my master, my ruler. I believe he died on a cross for me and, god, I believe that you raised him from the dead and right now, father, I receive your Holy Spirit and I receive forgiveness and I walk away from the lifestyle that's caused me harm and led me away from you. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:It's that easy. You walked in with a problem. You walk out without one. You walked in with sin. You walk out without one. You walked in with sin, you walk out without it. That's what happens when you get into the Lord's presence. It's not supposed to be hard, it's supposed to be easy. He wants you to come home and he's made it super, duper easy for you to do so. Hey, if you wanted to raise your hand but you were embarrassed to do it, that's fine. If you prayed that prayer and you meant it, guess, guess what? You're just as forgiven as the person who raised their hand. A raised hand doesn't mean that you get special access to salvation. It just lets me know that we've got people that we need to pray for, that's all. So you're just as forgiven, amen, listen. Thank you so much for being patient with me this morning. I really wanted to get those scriptures into your heart today. And if you need a copy of