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Speaker 1: Last week, the message was keep it one hundred. I

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Speaker 1: want to go even deeper this week. I want to

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Speaker 1: go even deeper this week. And in order to do that,

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Speaker 1: let's go right back to Romans chapter four. I'm excited

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Speaker 1: to teach God's word to you. God has been speaking

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Speaker 1: to me Romans chapter four. Let me turn off the

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Speaker 1: chat here so I won't be distracted, because boy, these

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Speaker 1: people really need prayer. You should see it. It's just wow.

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Speaker 1: I'm glad I did that because Wow, we really need it.

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Speaker 1: We really need it. Amen, you need prayer too, buddy,

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Speaker 1: Pray for you too, grow up and be a mighty

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Speaker 1: man or woman of God. I couldn't tell from your

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Speaker 1: cry which one whatever applies Romans chapter four, you already

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Speaker 1: thank you Jesus. Romans chapter four. Let's go to verse

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Speaker 1: number sixteen in the NIV translation of the Later Bible. Therefore,

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Speaker 1: the promise comes by, Oh y'all, stand up. Y'all too

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Speaker 1: sleepy sitting for the scripture. Stand up. I thought y'all

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Speaker 1: were mature enough to be enthusiastic sitting down, But I

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Speaker 1: was wrong. Stand up, Yeah, get up, Get up, Get up,

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Speaker 1: Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up, Therefore,

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Speaker 1: the promise comes by therefore, so we know what comes

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Speaker 1: and we know how it comes. The promise is what comes.

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Speaker 1: Faith is how it comes. We don't know when it comes.

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Speaker 1: That's the hard part when we're waiting on God by

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Speaker 1: faith to do something that he promised by grace. And

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Speaker 1: we spoke about that last week from this passage how

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Speaker 1: Abraham was one hundred years old when he finally saw

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Speaker 1: everything that God had spoken to him. So it's not

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Speaker 1: too late shout that out. It's not too late. Therefore,

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Speaker 1: the promise comes by faith, so that it may be

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Speaker 1: by grace and maybe guarantee. If it's by human effort,

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Speaker 1: then it's going to depend on my behavior on any

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Speaker 1: given day. If it's by grace, then it is dependent

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Speaker 1: on God's character, which never changes. I like what you

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Speaker 1: said during the offering. That was good. He said, God's

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Speaker 1: not changing. So if you encounter him, you must change.

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Speaker 1: You need to preach that whole thing before before the

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Speaker 1: next time I see you. Now look at this, I

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Speaker 1: might preach it today. I might steal that on the

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Speaker 1: spot and act like I prayed about it. It said

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Speaker 1: that it may be by grace, may be guaranteed to

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Speaker 1: all Abraham's offspring, not only to those who are of

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Speaker 1: the law, but also to those who have the faith

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Speaker 1: of Abraham, which is a strange faith. He had to

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Speaker 1: set out on a word from God without God giving

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Speaker 1: him a map or a destination. All God said was

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Speaker 1: go to the land, then I'll show you. So the

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Speaker 1: faith of Abraham is the faith to keep going, not knowing.

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Speaker 1: How's this going to turn out? When's this going to

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Speaker 1: turn around? Is it gonna be all right? Is it

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Speaker 1: gonna lift? Am I ever gonna feel better? Is it

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Speaker 1: going to clear up this time? What's the doctor going

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Speaker 1: to say next Tuesday? The faith to keep going not knowing,

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Speaker 1: that's the faith of Abraham. It was also the faith

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Speaker 1: to put his son Isaac on the altar and believe

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Speaker 1: that God was able to raise the dead, the faith

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Speaker 1: of Abraham. It was also the faith to make a

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Speaker 1: mistake and still have God move him into the right position.

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Speaker 1: The faith of Abraham. It's a complicated, complicated faith, but

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Speaker 1: it's simple if we believe. Look what it says about Abraham.

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Speaker 1: He is the father of us all as it is written,

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Speaker 1: I have made you a father of many nations. He

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Speaker 1: is our father in the sight of God in whom

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Speaker 1: he believed, the God who gives life to the dead

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Speaker 1: and calls into being things that were not against all hope.

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Speaker 1: Abraham in hope believed, and so became the father of

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Speaker 1: many nations, just as it had been said to him,

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Speaker 1: so shall your offspring be. Let's lift right there from

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Speaker 1: that verse. Abraham in hope believed, and so became. And

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Speaker 1: look at the person next to you and say, I'm

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Speaker 1: not done becoming. You may be seated. Whoo Hey, y'all

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Speaker 1: know what, in the spirit of keeping it a hundred,

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Speaker 1: I need to admit something to you. There was a time.

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Speaker 1: There was a time about five years ago that I

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Speaker 1: had gotten so upset with preaching sermons that I thought

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Speaker 1: were impressive that I lost my focus on preaching sermons

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Speaker 1: that would be impactful. And through a series of confirmations

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Speaker 1: and impressions that God gave me, I realized that I

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Speaker 1: needed to spend a little bit more time on preaching

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Speaker 1: from my heart, not just from my head, to really

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Speaker 1: flow with the Holy Spirit. I wanted to be a

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Speaker 1: preacher who was more spirit led than mentally dependent. That

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Speaker 1: doesn't mean I don't want to think through what I'm

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Speaker 1: going to say. God knows. I don't want to get

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Speaker 1: up here like I'm naked on the first day of

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Speaker 1: school talking about, Uh, what y'all want to preach about today?

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Speaker 1: Anybody got a scripture? What y'all think that means? I

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Speaker 1: don't know. Let's pray. But I want to be in

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Speaker 1: the flow, in the moment with the Lord, so that

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Speaker 1: whatever he speaks, that I agree with that because if

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Speaker 1: I come into agreement with what he speaks, his authority

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Speaker 1: will be behind it. If I say what I think,

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Speaker 1: I have no divine backing. So to be in the

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Speaker 1: flow with God means that He could give me something

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Speaker 1: to say in the moment that wasn't in my notes.

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Speaker 1: And that's why when I'm up here, I bring notes

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Speaker 1: and I don't look at him. I bring them like

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Speaker 1: what was the character that had the blanket? Was it Linus?

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Speaker 1: And I bring these messy little notes up here. And

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Speaker 1: when I tell you these notes are illegible and unusable,

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Speaker 1: I mean, I don't even know what I wrote when

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Speaker 1: I wrote it. It's just therapeutic to write something down.

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Speaker 1: But really, I'm just trusting in God. Can I keep

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Speaker 1: it a hundred with you? I need God. I need God.

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Speaker 1: I mean I have a structure, I have outline, I

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Speaker 1: have a script sure, in fact, I have more scriptures

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Speaker 1: than I could preach. But I need God. Yeah, this

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Speaker 1: is what I want to tell you about that, because

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Speaker 1: I'm not trying to teach preaching seminar here today. How

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Speaker 1: many of you do not want to be a preacher? Right,

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Speaker 1: that's a lot of y'all that do. I was shocked

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Speaker 1: by that. Trust me, don't do that now. It's great,

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Speaker 1: It's the great privilege in the world. And it'll give

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Speaker 1: you a stomach ulcers. So there's that. But look, the

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Speaker 1: thing that I had to do to become what I

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Speaker 1: wanted to be, which is a more spirit led preacher,

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Speaker 1: was the last thing that I do after all the study,

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Speaker 1: preparation and seeking God, whether go on a walk, or

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Speaker 1: take a cold shower, or lay on my face or

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Speaker 1: listen to Gira, you know, over and over until God

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Speaker 1: speaks or listen to Metallica, is Giro won't get the

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Speaker 1: job done. Start preaching about wrath, whatever it takes, you know,

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Speaker 1: I want to say what God wanted me to say.

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Speaker 1: I really don't need you to feel good when I

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Speaker 1: get done. I just need to feel like I obey God.

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Speaker 1: Because even if you left and felt good and I

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Speaker 1: didn't obey God, I wouldn't feel good when you left.

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Speaker 1: And that's not fear that you feel good and I

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Speaker 1: feel bad because I didn't listen to what he told

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Speaker 1: me to say. So if we pray for Bobby, we

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Speaker 1: pray for Bobby. If I say something crazy, I say

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Speaker 1: something crazy. If they mean me, they mean me. You

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Speaker 1: remember Esther said, if I perish, I perish. If they

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Speaker 1: cancel me, they cancel me. It's got to be that

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Speaker 1: I stay in alignment with God so that I feel

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Speaker 1: good about myself when you're not around. And so, in

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Speaker 1: wanting to be a more spirit led preacher, there's something

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Speaker 1: that began to happen, and it was that I spent

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Speaker 1: more time praying and stuff ud, reflecting and meditating on

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Speaker 1: the word of God. And I'm going to show you

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Speaker 1: why this is important to your life in a moment.

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Speaker 1: But the last thing that I do before I preach

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Speaker 1: is decide what the title of the sermon will be.

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Speaker 1: It used to be the first thing I did. Okay,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna preach about this. I'm gonna preach about grace,

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Speaker 1: and I'm gonna call it this and here's the notes

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Speaker 1: and here's the points. But as I wanted to be

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Speaker 1: more spirit led, I had to change certain procedures and processes.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not saying that you should do this, because,

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Speaker 1: like I said before, this isn't really even about preaching.

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Speaker 1: But this is the method that really helped me is

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Speaker 1: that I started deciding what to call it right before

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Speaker 1: I preach it. And here's the reason for that. The

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Speaker 1: moment I decide what the message is called, it determines

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Speaker 1: what the focus is going to be, and everything else

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Speaker 1: that I was gonna say doesn't apply anymore. So the

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Speaker 1: moment that I label it, I limit it. And I

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Speaker 1: don't want to limit it while God is still giving it.

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Speaker 1: You see where I'm going. If I decide too soon

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Speaker 1: this is what I think it is, I might miss

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Speaker 1: what God intends it to be as it is still unfolding.

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Speaker 1: So I don't give a title at Saturday at six pm.

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Speaker 1: I don't give all my scriptures Saturday at eight eight pm.

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Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, right before we preach. Sometimes

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Speaker 1: right as we're singing the Lord to give me one

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Speaker 1: more scripture, I'll run back, make sure everything's zipped up,

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Speaker 1: buttoned up, tidied up, pulled up, tightened up, everything's good. Boom,

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Speaker 1: and here's another scripture. But I don't want to cut

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Speaker 1: God off while he's still talking, lest I miss his

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Speaker 1: intention because I have my own agenda. I don't want

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Speaker 1: to say too soon. Okay, God, this is what I'm

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Speaker 1: speak on. This is how I'm gonna speak on it.

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Speaker 1: And God's like, that's not even true. That's just what

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Speaker 1: you knew when you sat down to study. So what

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Speaker 1: if I want to show you something you don't know

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Speaker 1: when you sit down to study. What if I want

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Speaker 1: to show you something that you don't know why you're

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Speaker 1: reading your scripture to your congregation? What if I want

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Speaker 1: to speak something? What if I want to say something

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Speaker 1: to somebody's soul that you were too stupid to put

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Speaker 1: down in your notes. But see, the Spirit of God

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Speaker 1: is smarter than I am, So he can give me

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Speaker 1: stuff while I'm preaching if I'm open to it. But

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Speaker 1: if I'm close to it, if I label it, I

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Speaker 1: will limit it. And I have a system for this,

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Speaker 1: you ready, This is a real high tech system. I

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Speaker 1: have a black folder, and I have yellow notes, and

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Speaker 1: then I have how many of y'all love this? Right here.

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Speaker 1: I got some post it notes. I got so many

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Speaker 1: of them, so it's cheap to change the title. I

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Speaker 1: don't want to put it on a parchment where it's expensive.

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Speaker 1: I don't want to make somebody design a title that

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Speaker 1: I'm going to change anyway. So I write it myself

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Speaker 1: and as soon as I get done, I stick it

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Speaker 1: on the folder boom, and I preach right there. That's

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Speaker 1: what I do so right before I came out today.

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Speaker 1: I do this every week. I know y'all care a

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Speaker 1: lot about this. This is really interesting stuff, man, it's fascinating.

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Speaker 1: The last thing I do is label it, because the

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Speaker 1: moment I label it, I limit it. Yeah. I might

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Speaker 1: have an idea, Yeah I might have a path. You

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Speaker 1: might have a hunch. Yeah I might have a lead.

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Speaker 1: But I don't know what it is until God is

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Speaker 1: ready for me to deliver it. That's what I want

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Speaker 1: to call this sermon today. Are we label? Are we label?

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Speaker 1: Put it in your notes? Don't y'all write down the

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Speaker 1: titles that I work so hard in agonize over to preach? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: look like so what nobody writing it down? Come on, Robert,

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Speaker 1: write it down, man, it's a good title. We are

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Speaker 1: we label. You got to call a sermon something what

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Speaker 1: he preached about today a Bible stuff. He was saying

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Speaker 1: about God and stuff up there and how God is

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Speaker 1: good and all that stuff up there. You got to

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Speaker 1: call it something. We are somebody say we are we label.

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Speaker 1: I think a lot of our labels God hates. And

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Speaker 1: when I say label, you probably think about a label

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Speaker 1: that's on some food or a label that's on some medicine.

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Speaker 1: Labels are great for products. Don't get me wrong. They

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Speaker 1: got ibuprofen in the bathroom and the way I know

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Speaker 1: it's not tic TACs is because of what it says

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Speaker 1: on the label. I appreciate label when it comes to

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Speaker 1: keeping me from taking the wrong medicine. I appreciate labels.

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Speaker 1: When Holly puts leftovers in the fridge, she'll often make

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Speaker 1: a little note and put a little post it on

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Speaker 1: the note with a little heart, and it will say

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Speaker 1: who the food is for. Elijah pays no attention when

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Speaker 1: that says for Dad. So now we specified do not touch,

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Speaker 1: do not move, do not look at this food. This

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Speaker 1: is for Stephen. The verdict. Now, when I say God

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Speaker 1: hates labels, I need to counteract that in balance it

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Speaker 1: by saying that as humans, we love to label. We

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Speaker 1: can't live without labels. We'll be popping tick tacks and

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Speaker 1: wondering why our head still hurts. This one girl, one

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Speaker 1: time she came on the van we're traveling with the

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Speaker 1: ministry team, and she was eating Friedo's. She said, I

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Speaker 1: hate the way these taste. Somebody said, why are you

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Speaker 1: eating them? She said, trying to be help. We tracked

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Speaker 1: that back. We tracked that back. We found out that

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Speaker 1: somebody sometimes told her that Fridos are healthier than Dorito's,

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Speaker 1: so she thought it was like the healthy alternative to

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Speaker 1: Dorito's was called Frito's. And when she was asked, how

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Speaker 1: long have you been substituting Dorito's, which you love, with Frido's,

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Speaker 1: which you don't like, thinking that it was better for

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Speaker 1: you than it really was, she says, since I was nine.

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Speaker 1: She was in college at the time. I thought that

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Speaker 1: was so sad that she forfeited ten years that she

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Speaker 1: could have been enjoying the nacho cheesy taste of her

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Speaker 1: beloved Doritos for the Freedo snack, which actually, when we

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Speaker 1: read the label, had a higher fat content than the

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Speaker 1: Doritos which she loved. So she could have just been

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Speaker 1: killing Doritos the whole time. Somebody he deprived this girl

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Speaker 1: of her doritos. And I pray you worked through it

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Speaker 1: once we told her the truth, because for me, I

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Speaker 1: would need therapy ten years, a decade without doritos, because

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Speaker 1: one person planted a seed of deception in your mind

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Speaker 1: and said this is better for you, and you never

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Speaker 1: checked it, and you never read the label. It was

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Speaker 1: on the label. It said on the back of Frito's,

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Speaker 1: this will make you fat, really fat. It was on

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Speaker 1: the label. So I appreciate a label when it's by

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Speaker 1: the FDA or something like that. Please do not send

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Speaker 1: me messages about the FDA is a conspiracy of the

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Speaker 1: Illuminati and came from Star Wars. I don't want to

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Speaker 1: hear none of it. But I'm saying, like a lot

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Speaker 1: of the times in our life, we will label something

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Speaker 1: and limit someone while we are still figuring out what

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Speaker 1: it is. And a lot of what God speaks over

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Speaker 1: your life never happens, not because of your limits, but

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Speaker 1: because of your labels. There were those in the early

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Speaker 1: Church that wanted to limit salvation to those who were circumcised.

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Speaker 1: Paul says, I hate your labels, because in Christ there

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Speaker 1: is no longer slave, nor free, male nor female, gentile

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Speaker 1: non gentile. God doesn't run around labeling stuff like you

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Speaker 1: label stuff. And the difference between you and God is

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Speaker 1: you labeled things you didn't even make. You try to

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Speaker 1: label stuff that doesn't even belong to you. We try

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Speaker 1: to judge other people. So I'm real bothered about it,

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Speaker 1: and I don't want to talk about it much because

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Speaker 1: I get angry and I get unfiltered when I think

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Speaker 1: about it. I hate how our culture has become so

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Speaker 1: eager to believe the worst about anybody the first time

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Speaker 1: we hear it. I hate that so something somebody says

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Speaker 1: gets taken out of context. Oh, now they're a racist.

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Speaker 1: You didn't even see the whole sentence that they said.

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Speaker 1: You just read a headline, and now they're a racist.

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Speaker 1: You're kind of scared to say something to that. We

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Speaker 1: do it all the time, and that's not black people,

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Speaker 1: white people. That can go any way you want to

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Speaker 1: put it. We'll call somebody something because we heard a

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Speaker 1: rumor from somebody that we didn't even verify if that

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Speaker 1: person was the very thing that they were calling the

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Speaker 1: other And especially during political season, when you see how

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Speaker 1: they make these ads. They are praying on our prejudice,

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Speaker 1: trying to get us to believe a snapshot of somebody,

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Speaker 1: so we will go out and categorize ourselves as enemies

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Speaker 1: of something that we don't even understand. Paul said, don't

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Speaker 1: get this twisted. Don't get this twisted in Christ. It's

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Speaker 1: not about what it looks like on the outside. It

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Speaker 1: is not about what you can identify somebody by that

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Speaker 1: you can see and that you can understand. We love

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Speaker 1: labels because we have limitations on our understanding. So the

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Speaker 1: only way we can get through our life is to

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Speaker 1: safely categorize people, like we try to organize our pantry

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Speaker 1: so we can know which shelf to put somebody on.

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Speaker 1: Oh he's not qualified, she's not qualified. She's from this family.

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Speaker 1: Oh they are from that background. We love labels and

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Speaker 1: God hates them. Not telling you to go through and

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Speaker 1: peel off everything on your soup and your green beans

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Speaker 1: in your pantry, some superstitious thing like that. I'm saying

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Speaker 1: that God hates when we label something in order to

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Speaker 1: limit something, Which is why I chose Romans four, or

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Speaker 1: why I believe the Holy Spirit chose Romans four to

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Speaker 1: talk to us about this today, because the greatest limitation

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Speaker 1: on your life right now is not your potential as

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Speaker 1: your belief. When we look at the Bible stories of

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Speaker 1: characters like Abraham, we get into this complicated story and

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Speaker 1: we see one example of his life, and he looks

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Speaker 1: like a man of great faith. But how many know.

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Speaker 1: We could have labeled him a lot of things. We

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Speaker 1: could have labeled him a liar because he lied. We

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Speaker 1: could have labeled him an adulter because he slept with

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Speaker 1: somebody who wasn't his wife, even though the cultural custom

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Speaker 1: of the time was very different than ours. We could

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Speaker 1: have labeled him a lot of things. We could have

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Speaker 1: labeled him by the fact that he laughed at God.

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Speaker 1: We could have labeled him by a lot of things.

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Speaker 1: But when God labels him, he calls him the father

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Speaker 1: of many nations. In fact, it says something that really

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Speaker 1: got my attention. You ready for this? It says, Abraham

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Speaker 1: be believed and so became. Let's look at that with

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Speaker 1: our own two eyeballs. I want you to believe it

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Speaker 1: because I said it. I want you to believe it

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Speaker 1: because God said it. He said in verse eighteen, Abraham

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Speaker 1: against all hope in hope believed, and so became. Say

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Speaker 1: that with me, he believed, and so became he believed,

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Speaker 1: and so became. I love that. I love it because

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Speaker 1: you would think he became it so he believed it.

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Speaker 1: Once he saw the evidence that God could do what

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Speaker 1: he promised, then he believed it. That's how human hope works.

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Speaker 1: You know, it needs to see something to believe it.

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Speaker 1: This is a very different kind of faith, this faith

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Speaker 1: of Abraham, the faith by which God justifies us, the

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Speaker 1: faith which has an ability to know that I can

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Speaker 1: stand in the middle of something that I don't understand,

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Speaker 1: waiting on a detail that I don't yet have, and

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Speaker 1: still believe in a God that I haven't figured out,

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Speaker 1: that I can produce a promise that is inside of

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Speaker 1: me that I can't even perceive with my senses. I

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Speaker 1: feel faith in my spirit right now because sometimes I

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Speaker 1: have to believe things that I can't see, that I

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Speaker 1: can't feel, but that God has called me to be now.

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Speaker 1: Often when we talk about believing, if you go by

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Speaker 1: culture's understanding of belief in faith, we are believing to

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Speaker 1: have something. I want to have a better job, I

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Speaker 1: want to have a better body. I want to have

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Speaker 1: a wife. I want to have a husband, I want

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Speaker 1: to have a child. And that's fine because God will

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Speaker 1: give you things. He will give you the desires of

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Speaker 1: your heart. So I'm thirty seven to four. And not

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Speaker 1: only will he put the desire in your heart, but

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Speaker 1: he will fulfill the desire. So He'll put the desire there,

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Speaker 1: and he will fulfill the desire. He will give you

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Speaker 1: things that you didn't even think you were worthy of having.

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Speaker 1: Some of us are standing in a place in life

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Speaker 1: today that we honestly never knew to ask God to

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Speaker 1: bring us to. I mean, I didn't know to ask

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Speaker 1: God that I could pastor this church. I made myself

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Speaker 1: available to him and He did it. But that doesn't

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Speaker 1: mean that I knew that it was in me when

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Speaker 1: I asked God to use me. But here you are,

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Speaker 1: and here I am, and here we are. Here we

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Speaker 1: are the greatest thing that God will give you. Faith

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Speaker 1: for though, is not something that He wants you to have,

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Speaker 1: someone that he wants you to be. Not what does

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Speaker 1: God want me to have? Although that is a very

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Speaker 1: important thing to your father. To you, Jesus said that

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Speaker 1: the birds store up, yet they're never far from the worm.

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Speaker 1: Because your father knows they need them, so he'll give

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Speaker 1: you a worm. But he is more concerned, infinitely more

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Speaker 1: concerned about who you are becoming in the process of receiving.

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Speaker 1: I don't know who this is for. But if you

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Speaker 1: get it and God doesn't get you, you will not

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Speaker 1: be able to sustain what you obtain, because it's going

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Speaker 1: to take the same grace and the same faith to

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Speaker 1: keep it that it takes to come into it. I

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Speaker 1: want to lay this foundation. This is so important, This

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Speaker 1: is so important. In the passage I read, it said

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Speaker 1: Abraham what believed, and so became against all hope, when

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Speaker 1: it was so far past his time, when it seemed

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Speaker 1: like there was no way it would work, when there

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Speaker 1: was nothing pointing to the fact that he had the

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Speaker 1: potential to bring forth this nation. He believed it, and

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Speaker 1: so he became it. Certain scriptures are not prescriptive, meaning

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Speaker 1: that they don't tell us what to do. They tell

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Speaker 1: us what the character did. That's called descriptive. Not all

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Speaker 1: Bible verses are telling you what to do. For instance,

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Speaker 1: Jonah ran from the Lord, So that don't mean you

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Speaker 1: go and run from the Lord because you read that

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Speaker 1: jonah ran from the Lord is telling you what he did,

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Speaker 1: I get you a better one. Judas went and hanged himself.

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Speaker 1: Don't do that. You'll read about the man start opening

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Speaker 1: his bible. He said, God, speak to me, give me

403
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Speaker 1: a word, show me what to do, and he pointed

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Speaker 1: in it said Judas went and hanged himself. He said,

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Speaker 1: oh God, let me try that again. Flipped again, put

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Speaker 1: his finger right down on the Bible. And they said,

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Speaker 1: whatever they'll do is do quickly. Don't do that. That's

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Speaker 1: old preacher Joe. But look at this. I wonder if

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Speaker 1: this dynamic. I know I'm not Abraham. I know you're

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Speaker 1: not Abraham. I know you're not the father of many nations.

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Speaker 1: I'm not the father of many nations. I'm the father

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Speaker 1: of three kids. And I got my hands full and

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Speaker 1: my quiver full, and my quiver is overflowing, and my

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00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,760
Speaker 1: cup is flowing over, and everything's running over, and I'm

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Speaker 1: grateful and I don't want any more. But I'm saying,

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Speaker 1: does the dynamic apply that we all become what we believe,

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Speaker 1: not what God says. If everybody became what God said,

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Speaker 1: then everybody would be the righteousness of God. If everybody

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Speaker 1: became what God said, we wouldn't live a day of

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Speaker 1: our life defeated because we wouldn't be addicted, because we

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Speaker 1: are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Because

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Speaker 1: that's what God said. But it is not what God

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Speaker 1: said over your life that determines the limit of what

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Speaker 1: you will be. That limit is determined by your belief.

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Speaker 1: And I just want to stand here and tell you

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Speaker 1: I want to be all that God called me to be,

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Speaker 1: all of it. I want to do everything he called

428
00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:16,040
Speaker 1: me to do. I want to walk in everything he

429
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,240
Speaker 1: called me to walk in. I want to give everything

430
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,160
Speaker 1: he called me to give. I want to say everything

431
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 1: he called me to say. I want to write everything

432
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:29,040
Speaker 1: he called me to write, every song, every sermon, every conversation.

433
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 1: I want to put it all out here while I'm here.

434
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,280
Speaker 1: As long as I'm here, I want to see what

435
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:39,960
Speaker 1: God can do through me. I want to get to heaven,

436
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,919
Speaker 1: and God show me a whole warehouse of who I

437
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:47,200
Speaker 1: would have been if I had listened to Him rather

438
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: than listening to the labels of people whose own minds

439
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,960
Speaker 1: were limited. I don't want to get to heaven, and

440
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,159
Speaker 1: God showed me the church. I could have passed her

441
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:57,919
Speaker 1: if I would have had the faith to stand flat

442
00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:00,600
Speaker 1: footed and say what he told me to say. I

443
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,359
Speaker 1: don't want to get there and regret that God would

444
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:07,920
Speaker 1: speak something that I would refuse to believe. I don't

445
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:13,399
Speaker 1: want to go ten years not eating Doritos because you

446
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:18,520
Speaker 1: told me Fredo's were health food. Now I want you

447
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,560
Speaker 1: to get something in your mind. Let's make this a

448
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:24,159
Speaker 1: seminar today, because that's all wonderful. Oh, Abraham had faith

449
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:27,240
Speaker 1: and that's wonderful. And Abraham set out and that's wonderful.

450
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,560
Speaker 1: And Abraham received the promise and that's awesome, and that's terrific,

451
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,400
Speaker 1: and that's spectacular. But if we just do that, this

452
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:37,800
Speaker 1: is a fantasy football service where none of us do

453
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:43,680
Speaker 1: anything but watch somebody do something and loosely associate with

454
00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:50,080
Speaker 1: what they did and call ourselves a coach. The Lord said,

455
00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 1: a lot of people's faith is a fantasy realm. We

456
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:57,840
Speaker 1: don't know how to do this. Believe God? Okay, yeah,

457
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,040
Speaker 1: I believe God. That's great. I believe even God he's

458
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,040
Speaker 1: directing my past. But what does it mean to believe

459
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:08,640
Speaker 1: until you become in order to do this. We're gonna

460
00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,480
Speaker 1: all do this, everybody in the room, everybody on Epham.

461
00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,040
Speaker 1: I want you to get one thing. Write it down,

462
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:16,720
Speaker 1: put it online if you're online, put it in your notebook.

463
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,160
Speaker 1: If you're on a notebook, put it in your phone.

464
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:21,520
Speaker 1: If you can open your phone and not be distracted

465
00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:23,800
Speaker 1: by the people who have been texting you, who should

466
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:26,360
Speaker 1: be in church right now, but are busy distracting you,

467
00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,400
Speaker 1: trying to snatch this word while God's preaching it. I

468
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:31,640
Speaker 1: want you to get one thing on your mind. We're

469
00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:33,920
Speaker 1: gonna make this so some you can't leave here today

470
00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,840
Speaker 1: and be like, Okay, Abraham is the man. We're gonna

471
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 1: talk about you. We're gonna talk about you, your label,

472
00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:46,680
Speaker 1: your limits, your faith, your belief because he said we

473
00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 1: are all the offspring of Abraham who believe. So God

474
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 1: doesn't look through the room and be like, Okay, this

475
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,760
Speaker 1: sermon is good for her. She's at the eleventh grade

476
00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:57,760
Speaker 1: Christianity level. He's at the fifth grade. She's at the

477
00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:01,400
Speaker 1: third grade. He's gonna need some school. God doesn't look

478
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:05,520
Speaker 1: at the class like that. We all need the same grace.

479
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,680
Speaker 1: None of us need mini grace, bitty grace, any bitty

480
00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:10,840
Speaker 1: little grace. We all need the same grace. So here's

481
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:12,959
Speaker 1: what I want you to get on your mind. What

482
00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 1: is one thing that you want to be that you

483
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 1: don't feel like you are right now? I want to

484
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,400
Speaker 1: be not what I want to have. And don't put rich,

485
00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:32,400
Speaker 1: and don't put skinny, and don't put ripped. Put something

486
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,520
Speaker 1: that we can't pull up on TikTok or YouTube shorts

487
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:39,960
Speaker 1: right now. Put something deeper down. I want to be more.

488
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,040
Speaker 1: What is it? Put it in the chat if you're

489
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:51,120
Speaker 1: watching online. I believe God is calling me to be more.

490
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,600
Speaker 1: Somebody got one? Shout it out? Okay, okay, I get

491
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,760
Speaker 1: I heard one. Confident, that's a good one. Write that down,

492
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:06,960
Speaker 1: Hall confident. What loving you said? That's kind of angry?

493
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:11,320
Speaker 1: Loving You really seem like you need it. I'm just kidding.

494
00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:18,920
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding. I just thought that was funny, loving God, God, confident, loving,

495
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:23,360
Speaker 1: put it. I want to be more wet. No, no, no,

496
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 1: you can't pray for that one. She's that comfortable. He's

497
00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:32,040
Speaker 1: that comfortable, because I'm gonna tell you why, because a

498
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:36,760
Speaker 1: lot of times your comfort zone is what kills you.

499
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:42,920
Speaker 1: So if God makes you more comfortable, he's gonna make

500
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 1: you more complacent. Because if you get comfortable, you get complacent.

501
00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,920
Speaker 1: So God is never going to design a life for

502
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:56,200
Speaker 1: you that doesn't require him. He's always gonna give you

503
00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:58,400
Speaker 1: something in your life where you feel like, oh, I

504
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,920
Speaker 1: don't deserve this, I'm not worry worthy of this. I

505
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,360
Speaker 1: can't do this. The moment that stops happening, you stop growing.

506
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:08,400
Speaker 1: The moment you stop growing, you start dying spiritually. And

507
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:10,640
Speaker 1: God isn't like that. So he'll say, I know that

508
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:13,720
Speaker 1: at this point in your life, you've gotten pretty comfortable, Abraham.

509
00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,520
Speaker 1: I know you're rich, Abraham. I know you're settled, Abraham.

510
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:18,600
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna give you a place in your life

511
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:21,120
Speaker 1: where you don't have that yet, that you still need me,

512
00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:23,560
Speaker 1: so that you can see me for who I am,

513
00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 1: not who you thought I was when you labeled me

514
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:31,880
Speaker 1: when you first met me. So let's get another one available.

515
00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:37,480
Speaker 1: Hole keep going, all right? You got confident? Whyse I

516
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:39,680
Speaker 1: wish I could hear every campus right now? I wish

517
00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:43,160
Speaker 1: I could. Okay, it sounds like the Tower of Babbel now,

518
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,720
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna just I'm gonna stop and do a few. Okay,

519
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,040
Speaker 1: So you got one I put down. I made my

520
00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,160
Speaker 1: own list before I came somewhere in this yellow legal

521
00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:56,040
Speaker 1: pad full of notes and it said joyful. I believe

522
00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,160
Speaker 1: God wants me to be more joyful. I do see

523
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:02,880
Speaker 1: myself sometimes and I'm like, you know, like, what do

524
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:07,480
Speaker 1: you have to be so mad about? Stress? It's another

525
00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:09,120
Speaker 1: thing I want to be stressed. I'm stressed a lot.

526
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,400
Speaker 1: So I think God wants me to be more peaceful.

527
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,320
Speaker 1: I do. I believe the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,

528
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,200
Speaker 1: of patience, kind of goodness. Say to this general self control.

529
00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:19,480
Speaker 1: So I believe God wants me to be more peaceful.

530
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:22,800
Speaker 1: I do. I don't think God wants me to get

531
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,640
Speaker 1: my heart rate up every time somebody doesn't know how

532
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,400
Speaker 1: to drive, because I know it's not me. This a

533
00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:34,880
Speaker 1: bad driver. And funny we label somebody else a bad driver.

534
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:37,560
Speaker 1: They're a bad driver. Couldn't have been you? No, no,

535
00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:49,320
Speaker 1: no, no no, no, confident, peaceful, joyful, loving, generous, patient, Well

536
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:52,760
Speaker 1: you better be careful asking God for patience. When you

537
00:33:52,840 --> 00:34:03,400
Speaker 1: pray for patience, God sends problems and people. I used

538
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,240
Speaker 1: to think every annoying person that I met was the

539
00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:08,400
Speaker 1: answer to a prayer for patients I prayed in the

540
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:13,080
Speaker 1: season before I met him. All Right, so here's the

541
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,880
Speaker 1: second question. If I'm believing that God wants me to

542
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:21,040
Speaker 1: be more joyful, patient, confident. I'm thinking the principle It

543
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:25,200
Speaker 1: said Abraham believed and so became, not he became and

544
00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:29,239
Speaker 1: then believed. He didn't go take a personality test that said, oh,

545
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:32,640
Speaker 1: you're the father of many nations and then back into

546
00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:35,880
Speaker 1: that from his God gave him a promise and a purpose.

547
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,000
Speaker 1: He believed that and became it. So here's the second part.

548
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:48,560
Speaker 1: What would I need to believe to become it? If

549
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:52,279
Speaker 1: I want to be more joyful and I do, or

550
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:54,839
Speaker 1: if I want to be more confident and I do,

551
00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:57,520
Speaker 1: or if I want to be more loving and I do,

552
00:34:58,239 --> 00:35:00,080
Speaker 1: or if I want to be more patient and I do,

553
00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:06,279
Speaker 1: what would I need to believe to be it? And

554
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,640
Speaker 1: that good question because if we say, like, well, how

555
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,120
Speaker 1: do I need to behave, then we're trying to do

556
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,360
Speaker 1: it by our own works, and then we forgot about grace.

557
00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:19,400
Speaker 1: And any change that you try to make to be

558
00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,399
Speaker 1: what God called you to be that's not empowered by

559
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:25,040
Speaker 1: His grace, You're not going to sustain it. It's just

560
00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:27,719
Speaker 1: going to be a fad or a phase. And a

561
00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:30,000
Speaker 1: lot of you are here and you are frustrated because

562
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,760
Speaker 1: you can't change you can't change. You bought every book,

563
00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:39,080
Speaker 1: you can't change. You subscribe to every email list, you

564
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:43,240
Speaker 1: can't change. You got an accountability partner, you can't change.

565
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:46,320
Speaker 1: You did every Bible reading plan they've got on the Bible.

566
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:49,279
Speaker 1: Now you're doing Spanish Bible reading plans and you're from

567
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:51,960
Speaker 1: Kansas and you never even took Spanish in high school.

568
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:55,480
Speaker 1: And you can't change. You threw everything away, you bought

569
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:57,920
Speaker 1: it again. You went out and God threw out all

570
00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,520
Speaker 1: the stuff that was causing your problems, and I found

571
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:06,960
Speaker 1: its way back in. You can't change. Any modification in

572
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:11,320
Speaker 1: behavior that is not matched by a change in belief

573
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:18,680
Speaker 1: will eventually hit its limit. I'm just telling you. You

574
00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:20,680
Speaker 1: might be able to do it for a month, you

575
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:22,560
Speaker 1: might be able to do it for a year, you

576
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:24,799
Speaker 1: might be able to do it for five years, But

577
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,120
Speaker 1: you're just going to be trying to see how long

578
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,799
Speaker 1: can I hold my breath? And the answer is you're

579
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:32,960
Speaker 1: eventually gonna have to come up for air unless you

580
00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:38,640
Speaker 1: change what you believe. So, if I want to be

581
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:42,640
Speaker 1: more joyful and I'm currently not, what do I need

582
00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,600
Speaker 1: to believe to have more joy? Well, Number one, I

583
00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:48,400
Speaker 1: don't need to believe that it's a sin for me

584
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:51,440
Speaker 1: to be down, because then I'm gonna beat myself up

585
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,000
Speaker 1: because I'm down. And now, how am I gonna have

586
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:58,200
Speaker 1: joy when I'm beating myself up for being down? How

587
00:36:58,239 --> 00:37:00,759
Speaker 1: am I going to experience the joy the Lord when

588
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:05,279
Speaker 1: all I'm doing is wallowing in my own weakness. When

589
00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,480
Speaker 1: I want to be more joyful, what do I need

590
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:14,720
Speaker 1: to believe to be it? Abraham believed and so became?

591
00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,040
Speaker 1: What do I need to believe to become what I

592
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:21,200
Speaker 1: just said God is calling me to be? So if

593
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:23,799
Speaker 1: I want to be more joyful, maybe I need to

594
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:30,480
Speaker 1: believe that joy doesn't come from circumstances. Come on, That's

595
00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:33,400
Speaker 1: what a lot of us believe that when a situation

596
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,320
Speaker 1: turns a certain way, we betray our belief in our language,

597
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:45,560
Speaker 1: they stole my joy, they stole it. Where's your safe?

598
00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:51,279
Speaker 1: Where's your locks? Where are your protective mechanisms to see

599
00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:55,520
Speaker 1: to it that people don't get to take from you

600
00:37:55,560 --> 00:38:02,440
Speaker 1: what Christ paid for. Joy comes from Jesus, not people.

601
00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:06,640
Speaker 1: Joy comes from Jesus, not events. There are at least

602
00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:08,400
Speaker 1: three of you who have been on a beach at

603
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:11,120
Speaker 1: a time in your life and been sad on the beach,

604
00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:14,120
Speaker 1: So you found out real quick you can move places

605
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:16,440
Speaker 1: but still feel the same way or worse that you

606
00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:20,520
Speaker 1: were when you left. Because you know, joy doesn't come

607
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:24,000
Speaker 1: from a place. Joy doesn't come from a possession. Joy

608
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,600
Speaker 1: comes from God. Now that's the first belief I gotta

609
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:29,480
Speaker 1: have if I'm gonna be more joyful, Because if I

610
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:31,440
Speaker 1: have to go to you to get the joy, you

611
00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:34,520
Speaker 1: might not have any either. So now I'm coming to

612
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,839
Speaker 1: you asking you for something that you don't have. Make

613
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:38,960
Speaker 1: me feel good, make me happy. Oh, you got to

614
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:40,960
Speaker 1: make me happy. I left them because they weren't making

615
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:43,120
Speaker 1: me happy. I left that church because I wasn't happy.

616
00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:45,920
Speaker 1: I left that job because I wasn't happy. Your joy

617
00:38:46,719 --> 00:38:52,000
Speaker 1: is your job. I don't care if you'll like me.

618
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:55,520
Speaker 1: I'm going to Phoenix. I'll be on the other side

619
00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:57,279
Speaker 1: of the country by the time you get mad at

620
00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:01,160
Speaker 1: this message and tweeted me your job. And if you

621
00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 1: don't believe that you cannot access what you don't have

622
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:08,359
Speaker 1: the rightful permission to perceive. And if you don't think

623
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:11,279
Speaker 1: you're supposed to be joyful in God's presence at his

624
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:14,520
Speaker 1: right hand is the fullness of joy at his right

625
00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:19,680
Speaker 1: hand or pleasures Forevermore so, maybe I would need to

626
00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:21,600
Speaker 1: believe that God wants to give me joy that the

627
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:25,320
Speaker 1: world can't take away. What would you need to believe

628
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:28,239
Speaker 1: to become more joyful? Maybe I will believe that joy

629
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:30,440
Speaker 1: isn't an effective circumstance, but it is a product of

630
00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:38,000
Speaker 1: my perspective. Y'all don't want me to teach today Abraham.

631
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:39,960
Speaker 1: I just talk about him because that'll be easy, and

632
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:42,080
Speaker 1: we'd be like, oh, Abraham, he is a great man.

633
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:47,080
Speaker 1: He believed and so became. What are you becoming? Whatever

634
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:51,880
Speaker 1: it is, it's because of something you're believing. Eating Fredos.

635
00:39:53,840 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be a truth to be a

636
00:39:56,560 --> 00:40:03,360
Speaker 1: belief of people confused it to well, that's my truth.

637
00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:10,440
Speaker 1: I'm just living my truth. That's so stupid. If it's truth,

638
00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:14,600
Speaker 1: it's not yours, it's God's. There's one truth, it's his.

639
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:23,239
Speaker 1: Oh we'll see that person there, this there, that there

640
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:28,120
Speaker 1: are another. God hates those labels because moment you label it,

641
00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:32,040
Speaker 1: you limit it. It made me so mad. One time

642
00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:37,200
Speaker 1: somebody told me something about our church, and I know

643
00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:40,840
Speaker 1: they meant it in the nicest possible way, and I

644
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:44,200
Speaker 1: know they were probably trying to be constructive. But they said,

645
00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:48,000
Speaker 1: elevation is the church where you catch the fish, but

646
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:57,839
Speaker 1: you don't clean them up. This brother in Christ, I'm

647
00:40:57,840 --> 00:40:59,960
Speaker 1: gonna say it like that. The label, you know, it's poor.

648
00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:06,600
Speaker 1: He was saying it to me as if like, oh,

649
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:10,320
Speaker 1: because people come in this church and their lifestyle doesn't

650
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:14,920
Speaker 1: immediately change. You know, you catch them and we'll clean them.

651
00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:16,800
Speaker 1: That's what he was saying. He was saying, I'll preach

652
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:20,840
Speaker 1: the word of God that helps them grow. You preach

653
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:25,600
Speaker 1: the grace that gets them saved. That is the dumbest

654
00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:31,879
Speaker 1: distinction in the history of humanity. It really is. That's

655
00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:38,640
Speaker 1: like saying, Okay, you eat and I'll drink. It takes

656
00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:41,960
Speaker 1: both to live. And I want to declare to you

657
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:45,759
Speaker 1: today that nobody really changes to become what God made

658
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:50,959
Speaker 1: them without the grace of God. So we don't get

659
00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:54,120
Speaker 1: grace to become Christians. And oh now I'm saved by

660
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:56,920
Speaker 1: grace and I'll try really hard to earn it from

661
00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,560
Speaker 1: God in the future. That is not how we change,

662
00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:02,719
Speaker 1: not God, not in a lasting way, not in a

663
00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:06,640
Speaker 1: sustainable way. That's ridiculous. That's our label that we want

664
00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:09,799
Speaker 1: to do. Oh he's a baby Christian. Oh he's a

665
00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:12,920
Speaker 1: mature Christian, and we measure that by how much scripture

666
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:17,359
Speaker 1: they knew. That is not how God labels faith. I'll

667
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:27,000
Speaker 1: rather you know one Bible verse and do it. Old

668
00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:29,719
Speaker 1: old Preacher James used to say, you can have your

669
00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:32,120
Speaker 1: Bible so marked up, looks like a color and book,

670
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:34,040
Speaker 1: and it won't get you into heaven. You got to

671
00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:36,200
Speaker 1: come into heaven by the door. You got to come

672
00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:38,360
Speaker 1: into heaven by the grace of God. You've got to

673
00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:40,759
Speaker 1: grow by the grace of God, the same grace you

674
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:46,239
Speaker 1: were saved in. Don't categorize people so quickly. You don't

675
00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:48,200
Speaker 1: even know if they really said that. You don't even

676
00:42:48,239 --> 00:42:49,920
Speaker 1: know if they really did that. You don't even know

677
00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:52,080
Speaker 1: if that's really how it is. You never even really

678
00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:54,279
Speaker 1: talk to them. You never even really asked them how

679
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:56,319
Speaker 1: they grew up. You never really asked them why they

680
00:42:56,360 --> 00:42:58,480
Speaker 1: do that. You never really asked them why they dressed

681
00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,400
Speaker 1: like that. You never even asked them. You remember the

682
00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:03,680
Speaker 1: lady that came into church and she'd never been to

683
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:06,320
Speaker 1: church before. She didn't have any church clothes, y'all remember,

684
00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:08,839
Speaker 1: And she was dressed wearing what she had, and it

685
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:11,600
Speaker 1: wasn't very modest. And when she was in there. Everybody

686
00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:14,319
Speaker 1: was staring at her, and everybody was judging her, and

687
00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:17,520
Speaker 1: everybody was whispering about her. And so afterwards the pastor

688
00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:19,279
Speaker 1: met her at the door and said, you got to

689
00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:21,680
Speaker 1: ask God before you come back here what you should

690
00:43:21,719 --> 00:43:23,960
Speaker 1: wear the church. Now, don't come back here until you

691
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:26,719
Speaker 1: prayed about what you're wearing. So she came back the

692
00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:29,160
Speaker 1: next weekend. She was wearing the same thing, and the

693
00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:31,799
Speaker 1: pastor said, didn't I tell you to ask God what

694
00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:34,680
Speaker 1: to wear before you came back to this church? And

695
00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:38,319
Speaker 1: she said I did. And he said, well, what did

696
00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:41,600
Speaker 1: God say? And she said, God said he didn't know

697
00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:43,359
Speaker 1: what I should wear to this church because he'd never

698
00:43:43,400 --> 00:44:00,400
Speaker 1: been here before. God hates labels. He hates it. He

699
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,279
Speaker 1: hates it when we think we're righteous because we don't

700
00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:06,799
Speaker 1: do this bad behavior. Well, you got some other bad behaviors,

701
00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:10,880
Speaker 1: some bad beliefs. We can't just judge somebody based on

702
00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:17,280
Speaker 1: a snapshot that we saw. We become what we believe.

703
00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:20,480
Speaker 1: And the problem with a lot of us is our

704
00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:23,560
Speaker 1: basis of belief is in the wrong thing. So our

705
00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:26,200
Speaker 1: faith is weak because we started with a weak belief.

706
00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:30,719
Speaker 1: Who said confident, I want to be more confident. I

707
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:33,400
Speaker 1: love that one because I was thinking, what would I

708
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:37,680
Speaker 1: need to believe to be more confident. I probably need

709
00:44:37,719 --> 00:44:40,399
Speaker 1: to believe what the Bible says, that He who began

710
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:44,200
Speaker 1: a good work in me will be faithful to complete it.

711
00:44:45,719 --> 00:44:47,959
Speaker 1: I would be more confident if I believe that God

712
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:52,560
Speaker 1: started it. If I think I started it, I've got

713
00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:56,560
Speaker 1: to sustain it. I didn't ask to be born. I

714
00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:59,480
Speaker 1: didn't ask to be five nine and a half with

715
00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:02,880
Speaker 1: a pretty good beard. I didn't ask for any of that.

716
00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:06,319
Speaker 1: But God put me here, and I want to see

717
00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:08,720
Speaker 1: what I can be. But I don't want to label

718
00:45:08,800 --> 00:45:12,719
Speaker 1: myself too soon because I'm not done becoming yet. So

719
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:15,000
Speaker 1: when I sit in the presence of God, I don't

720
00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:17,920
Speaker 1: just want to tell him what I am, because what

721
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:20,719
Speaker 1: I think I am is what I label myself. And

722
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:23,560
Speaker 1: when I label myself, I limit myself. Oh I'm not

723
00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:25,760
Speaker 1: good at that. Oh I'm not that kind of person.

724
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:28,080
Speaker 1: Oh I'm not a morning person. Oh I'm not a

725
00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:31,359
Speaker 1: worship person. I'm so tired of you telling God who

726
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:34,640
Speaker 1: made you, what label you need to wear. If you

727
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:38,160
Speaker 1: didn't make it, you can't name it. You don't get

728
00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:42,960
Speaker 1: to label what it didn't make. I am fearfully and

729
00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:54,920
Speaker 1: wonderfully made. That's who I am. So God doesn't label

730
00:45:55,080 --> 00:46:00,719
Speaker 1: me based on what I am loyal to. Why are

731
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:04,320
Speaker 1: you loyal to a lie? Why would you be loyal

732
00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 1: to something someone said about you over something that God

733
00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:16,879
Speaker 1: spoke about you. We become what we believe. We are.

734
00:46:17,840 --> 00:46:24,560
Speaker 1: We label, we are, We label, we are, we label.

735
00:46:24,880 --> 00:46:29,560
Speaker 1: We label our lives on where we are. God labels

736
00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:32,080
Speaker 1: your life based on where he knows he's taking you.

737
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:37,200
Speaker 1: So God does not label you by what you struggle

738
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:40,919
Speaker 1: with Right now. People will, that's fine, let them, don't

739
00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:44,040
Speaker 1: even try to change their mind. The devil will. He'll say,

740
00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:46,960
Speaker 1: you're down this far. Look at you, you're grumpy. Look

741
00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:49,200
Speaker 1: at you, you're broke. Look at who you're living on

742
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:52,000
Speaker 1: the street. Look at you. You're in prison. Look at you,

743
00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:54,680
Speaker 1: you're in recovery. Look at you you lost it again.

744
00:46:54,960 --> 00:46:57,120
Speaker 1: Look at you, you can't make it. Look at you,

745
00:46:57,120 --> 00:46:59,759
Speaker 1: you're still in debt. Look at you, you can't get up.

746
00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:04,280
Speaker 1: But God doesn't label being based on where him Right now,

747
00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:08,920
Speaker 1: he stands in eternity pass and reaches it to eternity,

748
00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:14,200
Speaker 1: kilts her and says, I've made you a father homedy nations.

749
00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:23,160
Speaker 1: I've made you nor than a conqueror. Believe that. Believe

750
00:47:23,239 --> 00:47:28,240
Speaker 1: that why you believe the Devil's so easy and believe

751
00:47:28,320 --> 00:47:32,520
Speaker 1: God so harm If he set yours child yours child,

752
00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:36,040
Speaker 1: if he said you're forgiven, You're forgiven. I don't care

753
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:40,040
Speaker 1: what shame's been crawling up on you. I'm bringing right now.

754
00:47:40,239 --> 00:47:51,479
Speaker 1: He's the mighty name of sees so so so does

755
00:47:51,560 --> 00:47:55,200
Speaker 1: God hate your labels? Maybe he does. If you're walking

756
00:47:55,200 --> 00:47:58,160
Speaker 1: around saying stuff about yourself that contradicts what He put

757
00:47:58,200 --> 00:48:00,640
Speaker 1: inside of you. I think God hates you. You're labeled.

758
00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:06,200
Speaker 1: I think God hates some of our labels. As a

759
00:48:06,200 --> 00:48:10,160
Speaker 1: matter of fact, I believe he hates it so much

760
00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:13,600
Speaker 1: that he will do whatever he has to do to

761
00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:16,960
Speaker 1: peel that label off of you so you can see

762
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:24,040
Speaker 1: what's really inside. Sometimes we label too quick, and we

763
00:48:24,080 --> 00:48:31,080
Speaker 1: miss what was given. We miss what was given. You.

764
00:48:31,080 --> 00:48:33,880
Speaker 1: Remember how God told Abraham, you're the father of many nations,

765
00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:35,920
Speaker 1: and then he said, and I have given you this

766
00:48:36,040 --> 00:48:39,400
Speaker 1: land for your descendants. Do you know what's so sad?

767
00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:44,040
Speaker 1: They never got to go into it until a whole

768
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:49,520
Speaker 1: generation had died because of what they labeled themselves in

769
00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:54,240
Speaker 1: the wilderness. When you're in a wilderness, you're not there yet.

770
00:48:55,200 --> 00:49:00,279
Speaker 1: When you're in a wilderness, you have left Egypt. Just

771
00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:05,839
Speaker 1: because you leave Egypt doesn't mean you believe yet in

772
00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:09,279
Speaker 1: what God sees you to be. So here they are,

773
00:49:09,320 --> 00:49:11,440
Speaker 1: and I want you to picture yourself. This is not

774
00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:14,200
Speaker 1: the faith of Abraham. This is the faith of Caleb.

775
00:49:14,320 --> 00:49:16,520
Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember Caleb, but Caleb was

776
00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:20,440
Speaker 1: that one spy who when they got to the edge

777
00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:23,080
Speaker 1: of what God had spoken to them. And I don't

778
00:49:23,080 --> 00:49:25,879
Speaker 1: know who this is for, but you are right on

779
00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:30,919
Speaker 1: the verge of becoming your best version. I'm gonna say

780
00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:35,360
Speaker 1: it again. You are on the verge of your best version.

781
00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:39,160
Speaker 1: Why are you so loyal to the worst version of you?

782
00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:41,839
Speaker 1: Why do you go off on people and say, well,

783
00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:44,640
Speaker 1: I'm just keeping it real. You're not keeping it real.

784
00:49:45,800 --> 00:49:50,520
Speaker 1: You are keeping yourself in a rut. You are keeping

785
00:49:50,560 --> 00:49:53,840
Speaker 1: yourself in the first version. When God says you're a

786
00:49:53,880 --> 00:49:58,440
Speaker 1: new creation, and then people give stupid advice, Oh, just

787
00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:04,200
Speaker 1: do you do you? Okay, that's fine, but do the

788
00:50:04,239 --> 00:50:10,960
Speaker 1: new you, not the old you, not the you that

789
00:50:11,160 --> 00:50:14,080
Speaker 1: was labeled by the experiences of your life up to

790
00:50:14,160 --> 00:50:16,880
Speaker 1: this point. Not the you that's all selfish all the time,

791
00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:18,960
Speaker 1: just trying to figure out how it makes you look.

792
00:50:19,160 --> 00:50:22,960
Speaker 1: Do the new you, Do the new you. Maybe that

793
00:50:22,960 --> 00:50:25,240
Speaker 1: should be the title of this sermon. Do the new you,

794
00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:28,080
Speaker 1: the one that's full of faith. Do the new you,

795
00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:31,200
Speaker 1: the one that's accepted in the beloved. Do the new you,

796
00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:33,880
Speaker 1: the one that knows the Lord is my shepherd, and

797
00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:36,960
Speaker 1: I shall not want Do the new you, the one

798
00:50:36,960 --> 00:50:42,920
Speaker 1: that is transformed by the renewing of your mind. So

799
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:45,600
Speaker 1: they get right up to the edge of the promised land,

800
00:50:46,320 --> 00:50:48,920
Speaker 1: right up to the edge, just like you right now.

801
00:50:49,120 --> 00:50:52,879
Speaker 1: You've been fighting, You've been frustrated. You've been back and

802
00:50:52,920 --> 00:50:56,400
Speaker 1: forth and one step and two steps, and two steps

803
00:50:56,520 --> 00:51:00,280
Speaker 1: and one step, and why can't I change? And God

804
00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:06,400
Speaker 1: brought you into this moment to change your label, To

805
00:51:06,520 --> 00:51:12,120
Speaker 1: change your label. What you call an end, he calls

806
00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:17,080
Speaker 1: a beginning. What you call over, he calls just getting started.

807
00:51:17,520 --> 00:51:22,279
Speaker 1: What you call breakdown, he calls breakthrough. What you call

808
00:51:22,360 --> 00:51:26,400
Speaker 1: a closed store, he calls an open window. I believe

809
00:51:26,440 --> 00:51:29,640
Speaker 1: God's about to rip the roof off of somebody's life

810
00:51:29,680 --> 00:51:37,040
Speaker 1: today and change your label because watch this, watch this,

811
00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:40,560
Speaker 1: I'm almost done. Can I have five more minutes, five

812
00:51:40,560 --> 00:51:43,279
Speaker 1: more minutes to set somebody free, five more minutes to

813
00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:46,560
Speaker 1: break somebody's change, five more minutes to preach down the glory,

814
00:51:46,800 --> 00:51:49,319
Speaker 1: five more minutes to connect with your faith like a

815
00:51:49,440 --> 00:51:52,680
Speaker 1: jumper cable and get you started and back on the road.

816
00:51:52,960 --> 00:51:56,719
Speaker 1: To believe that you're gonna be everything God made you

817
00:51:56,840 --> 00:51:59,880
Speaker 1: to be, and you're not gonna die in what you started,

818
00:52:00,400 --> 00:52:03,080
Speaker 1: and you're not gonna stay down forever, because this isn't

819
00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:06,359
Speaker 1: even really you. This is not really you. You are

820
00:52:07,960 --> 00:52:10,480
Speaker 1: the head is not to tell my love is not

821
00:52:10,680 --> 00:52:17,640
Speaker 1: pasi has se is. You want to call me something,

822
00:52:17,920 --> 00:52:21,239
Speaker 1: call me bless, You want to call me something, Call

823
00:52:21,320 --> 00:52:31,760
Speaker 1: me saved, You want to call me something. Number thirteen thirty.

824
00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:36,240
Speaker 1: All the voices are saying, we went into the land

825
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:38,839
Speaker 1: God gave us. There's some things God gave you you're

826
00:52:38,840 --> 00:52:41,239
Speaker 1: not going into. There are some things God gave you

827
00:52:41,239 --> 00:52:43,640
Speaker 1: you're not going into. There are some things God has

828
00:52:43,719 --> 00:52:46,600
Speaker 1: given you. He has promised you, He has spoken to you,

829
00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:49,359
Speaker 1: and you won't become it because you won't believe it.

830
00:52:50,440 --> 00:52:52,680
Speaker 1: You say, I want to be more disciplined. Well do

831
00:52:52,800 --> 00:52:54,880
Speaker 1: you believe that greater is he that is in you

832
00:52:54,960 --> 00:52:57,560
Speaker 1: than he that's in the world, because if you believe that,

833
00:52:57,880 --> 00:53:00,799
Speaker 1: you can become whatever you need to be. Don't say

834
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:04,799
Speaker 1: I'm lazy, don't say I'm a procrastinator. I was, but

835
00:53:04,880 --> 00:53:07,960
Speaker 1: I'm not doing that version of me anymore. I got

836
00:53:07,960 --> 00:53:12,200
Speaker 1: an upgrade from the manufacturer my goal just plus, there's

837
00:53:12,239 --> 00:53:23,960
Speaker 1: a down law, Caleb saying, Caleb silence the people standing

838
00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:27,520
Speaker 1: on the edge of the blessing and said to Moses,

839
00:53:27,600 --> 00:53:35,440
Speaker 1: let us go up at once and occupy it, for

840
00:53:35,680 --> 00:53:55,759
Speaker 1: we are hold on, we are. I came today to

841
00:53:55,960 --> 00:54:05,400
Speaker 1: change your label. God said, today is the day you'd

842
00:54:05,520 --> 00:54:14,840
Speaker 1: change you're labeled. See we are weak, but He is strong.

843
00:54:15,880 --> 00:54:21,319
Speaker 1: We are we label But if you know God is

844
00:54:21,520 --> 00:54:28,160
Speaker 1: able to do immesserably more than we ask. Don't label

845
00:54:28,200 --> 00:54:32,840
Speaker 1: it yet, dolabel it yet, dolabel a yet. God's not

846
00:54:33,280 --> 00:54:41,480
Speaker 1: through with you yet. Who receives it, Who receives it,

847
00:54:41,640 --> 00:54:45,200
Speaker 1: who receives it? I'm one of those Christians. I'm not

848
00:54:45,480 --> 00:54:49,720
Speaker 1: done becoming. I plead the blood. I breathe the blood.

849
00:54:50,040 --> 00:54:58,200
Speaker 1: I plead the blood. I plead the we are well abled,

850
00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:04,360
Speaker 1: we are well abel. I'm going in, I'm going forward,

851
00:55:04,600 --> 00:55:08,040
Speaker 1: I'm loving in it, I'm walking in it. I'm flowing

852
00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:18,600
Speaker 1: in it. We are well able. I'm little, but I'm able. Eh,

853
00:55:18,760 --> 00:55:22,920
Speaker 1: I'm crazy, but I'm able. I got his spirit, I

854
00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:26,440
Speaker 1: got his promise. That's what I believe. If he called me,

855
00:55:26,800 --> 00:55:33,880
Speaker 1: he'll complete it. I am well, Abel, and I am finished.

856
00:55:34,160 --> 00:55:36,160
Speaker 1: Stand up on your feet and clap your hands for

857
00:55:36,239 --> 00:55:41,040
Speaker 1: the word Holley. Put a praise on it. Don't slip

858
00:55:41,080 --> 00:55:43,840
Speaker 1: out the back. Put a praise on this word. We

859
00:55:44,080 --> 00:55:58,799
Speaker 1: are well Abel. You want to die out here in

860
00:55:58,840 --> 00:56:02,600
Speaker 1: this wilderness of what you think you are? Do you? So?

861
00:56:04,560 --> 00:56:12,600
Speaker 1: We're gonna believe better. Baby, We're gonna eat Dorito's. I'm

862
00:56:12,600 --> 00:56:14,840
Speaker 1: gonna lick the cheese off of this dorito now I

863
00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:19,560
Speaker 1: found out I can eat it. They say you are

864
00:56:19,600 --> 00:56:23,640
Speaker 1: what you eat, and a lot of us have weak

865
00:56:23,680 --> 00:56:30,800
Speaker 1: faith because we eat weak information, weak data, weak beliefs.

866
00:56:32,719 --> 00:56:36,640
Speaker 1: You gotta eat better, baby. FreeDOS are making you fat.

867
00:56:37,640 --> 00:56:44,560
Speaker 1: And it's not FDA approved. The Faith and Destiny Administration

868
00:56:45,680 --> 00:56:51,799
Speaker 1: does not approve all of your doubts and condemnation. So God,

869
00:56:51,800 --> 00:56:56,440
Speaker 1: in this place today and all over the world, I

870
00:56:56,640 --> 00:56:58,880
Speaker 1: just see you with walking around with post it notes,

871
00:57:01,640 --> 00:57:05,719
Speaker 1: just given new labels to people for the rest of

872
00:57:05,760 --> 00:57:12,880
Speaker 1: their life. New labels, no limits, new labels, no limits.

873
00:57:13,960 --> 00:57:17,360
Speaker 1: I only chose Abraham to preach this message because he

874
00:57:17,480 --> 00:57:21,040
Speaker 1: was so old. I thought if God could do it

875
00:57:21,080 --> 00:57:25,040
Speaker 1: through him after a century on this earth, that he

876
00:57:25,080 --> 00:57:35,480
Speaker 1: could do it for me and you too. Don't label

877
00:57:35,520 --> 00:57:38,840
Speaker 1: it yet, even the situation you're going through yet, don't

878
00:57:38,880 --> 00:57:41,720
Speaker 1: tell people yet that it was a betrayal. It might

879
00:57:41,800 --> 00:57:45,400
Speaker 1: be right now, but it might also be an upgrade

880
00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:52,320
Speaker 1: in the making. Don't label it. When you were telling

881
00:57:52,320 --> 00:57:54,400
Speaker 1: me how you felt the other day, I was like,

882
00:57:54,520 --> 00:58:00,120
Speaker 1: stop right now, this story is to be continued. That's

883
00:58:00,120 --> 00:58:02,919
Speaker 1: how we see it right now. That's not how God

884
00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:09,200
Speaker 1: sees it. Your labels are limits, and God wants to

885
00:58:09,240 --> 00:58:14,520
Speaker 1: redeem some things that you will not release. Damn. So

886
00:58:14,640 --> 00:58:16,160
Speaker 1: right now I want you to buy your head, close

887
00:58:16,160 --> 00:58:18,760
Speaker 1: your eyes all over the room. Let's just have one

888
00:58:19,480 --> 00:58:28,479
Speaker 1: minute of ministry by the Holy Spirit, not by me. Lord,

889
00:58:28,480 --> 00:58:30,480
Speaker 1: show me something about me where I need to change

890
00:58:30,520 --> 00:58:34,880
Speaker 1: the label. Show me something about me that I don't

891
00:58:35,000 --> 00:58:42,520
Speaker 1: like that you intend to use. Show me something I

892
00:58:42,560 --> 00:58:49,080
Speaker 1: need to believe to become who I really am. Show

893
00:58:49,120 --> 00:58:54,800
Speaker 1: me that Lord. Only the Lord gets to label you.

894
00:58:56,240 --> 00:59:00,880
Speaker 1: It is He that made us, not we ourselves, for

895
00:59:01,000 --> 00:59:07,000
Speaker 1: we are the clay, he's the potter. Abraham didn't look

896
00:59:07,080 --> 00:59:10,720
Speaker 1: like the father of many nations, didn't feel like the

897
00:59:10,720 --> 00:59:15,800
Speaker 1: father of many nations. Doesn't mean he wouldn't. Hey, Hey,

898
00:59:16,240 --> 00:59:20,520
Speaker 1: sometimes I know you don't feel like the best dad,

899
00:59:20,640 --> 00:59:25,840
Speaker 1: the best mom, the best person, the best Christian. Just

900
00:59:25,880 --> 00:59:29,720
Speaker 1: because you don't feel like that doesn't mean that God

901
00:59:30,400 --> 00:59:33,960
Speaker 1: has become frustrated with you. And he's not casting you off,

902
00:59:34,440 --> 00:59:38,840
Speaker 1: So why would you He's not through, So why would

903
00:59:38,920 --> 00:59:44,240
Speaker 1: you be Lift your hands? Lord? I receive what you

904
00:59:44,320 --> 00:59:50,680
Speaker 1: speak over me. That's what I receive. What you say

905
00:59:50,720 --> 00:59:54,800
Speaker 1: about my situation. I come into agreement with you right now.

906
00:59:55,560 --> 00:59:58,320
Speaker 1: What would it take for me to be more peaceful?

907
00:59:58,520 --> 01:00:00,800
Speaker 1: What would I have to believe? Somebody said, I want

908
01:00:00,800 --> 01:00:03,280
Speaker 1: to be more peaceful? Well, what would you need to believe?

909
01:00:03,560 --> 01:00:06,800
Speaker 1: You would need to believe that all things work together

910
01:00:06,960 --> 01:00:09,880
Speaker 1: for the good of them that love God. And if

911
01:00:09,880 --> 01:00:13,560
Speaker 1: I focus on loving God and called according to His purpose,

912
01:00:15,400 --> 01:00:17,800
Speaker 1: then not that shall be able to stop me. We

913
01:00:17,960 --> 01:00:24,640
Speaker 1: are well able. Christ lives in us. We are well able.

914
01:00:25,640 --> 01:00:27,800
Speaker 1: Put that label on your life. God is able to

915
01:00:27,800 --> 01:00:31,920
Speaker 1: do anything that he wants to do. Heads bowed, eyes closed,

916
01:00:31,960 --> 01:00:34,200
Speaker 1: You can put your hands down for a moment. There's

917
01:00:34,200 --> 01:00:37,520
Speaker 1: somebody in this place and God wants to change you

918
01:00:37,600 --> 01:00:41,200
Speaker 1: today and make you a new creation in Jesus Christ.

919
01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:45,360
Speaker 1: This is my favorite moment that I ever have of

920
01:00:45,480 --> 01:00:49,800
Speaker 1: doing ministry because now this isn't about you writing down

921
01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:52,800
Speaker 1: something in a notebook. This is about you having any

922
01:00:52,800 --> 01:00:55,800
Speaker 1: eternal change. And there is somebody, there's at least one

923
01:00:55,840 --> 01:00:59,520
Speaker 1: person watching me online or here in this room that

924
01:00:59,600 --> 01:01:03,120
Speaker 1: today he is today, that God wants to change your

925
01:01:03,240 --> 01:01:07,600
Speaker 1: name and change your life and give you his grace.

926
01:01:08,480 --> 01:01:10,680
Speaker 1: So right now, in this moment, I'm going to pray

927
01:01:10,680 --> 01:01:12,400
Speaker 1: a prayer. The whole church is going to pray this

928
01:01:12,480 --> 01:01:15,360
Speaker 1: prayer with me in agreement, and it's for the benefit

929
01:01:15,400 --> 01:01:17,760
Speaker 1: of those who want to give their life to Christ.

930
01:01:18,160 --> 01:01:22,080
Speaker 1: This is not a magic prayer, this is not an incantation.

931
01:01:22,800 --> 01:01:27,480
Speaker 1: It's a confession of faith to tell God that you

932
01:01:27,560 --> 01:01:30,200
Speaker 1: know that you're a sinner and that you receive his

933
01:01:30,320 --> 01:01:32,240
Speaker 1: grace to save you. The Bible says that if you

934
01:01:32,280 --> 01:01:35,280
Speaker 1: confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe

935
01:01:35,320 --> 01:01:37,240
Speaker 1: in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

936
01:01:37,880 --> 01:01:41,120
Speaker 1: you will be saved. Right now, in this moment, heads

937
01:01:41,120 --> 01:01:43,920
Speaker 1: bowed eyes close. If that's you, I want you to

938
01:01:43,960 --> 01:01:49,680
Speaker 1: repeat this prayer after me. Heavenly Father, I am a

939
01:01:49,720 --> 01:01:56,120
Speaker 1: sinner in need of a savior, and today I receive

940
01:01:57,160 --> 01:02:04,280
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord. I believe Jesus

941
01:02:04,400 --> 01:02:09,720
Speaker 1: died so I could be forgiven and rose again to

942
01:02:09,800 --> 01:02:15,480
Speaker 1: give me new life. I receive this new life. This

943
01:02:15,680 --> 01:02:20,280
Speaker 1: is my new beginning. I am a child of God.

944
01:02:20,920 --> 01:02:22,600
Speaker 1: On the count of three, shoot your hand up. If

945
01:02:22,640 --> 01:02:25,280
Speaker 1: you prayed that one, two, three, shoot them up. Shoot

946
01:02:25,280 --> 01:02:28,320
Speaker 1: them up online online, let us go into chack. God

947
01:02:28,320 --> 01:02:32,480
Speaker 1: bless you. Amazing, amazing. Well. If you enjoyed today's podcast,

948
01:02:32,520 --> 01:02:34,600
Speaker 1: there are a couple things I'd love for you to do.

949
01:02:34,720 --> 01:02:39,080
Speaker 1: Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. You

950
01:02:39,080 --> 01:02:41,520
Speaker 1: can also help us reach others by investing today at

951
01:02:41,520 --> 01:02:45,560
Speaker 1: Elevationchurch dot org. Slash GiB and thanks again for joining

952
01:02:45,600 --> 01:02:47,200
Speaker 1: us on the Elevation Podcast.