SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Life Family Church Sermon Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: If this is your first time listening, you can check us out on our website at lifefamily.church or on Facebook at LFC Bears.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's get right to the message.
SPEAKER_01: He's good, amen.
SPEAKER_01: He's good.
SPEAKER_01: He's worthy of all our praise.
SPEAKER_01: I looked up the definition of the word hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: I believe it means worship.
SPEAKER_01: It means worship God.
SPEAKER_01: I saw the definition once they said just the highest prize.
SPEAKER_01: The highest praise.
SPEAKER_01: And that really stuck with me.
SPEAKER_01: So every time I see the word hallelujah, I just think the highest praise is yours.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not even sure I know what that means or what that looks like.
SPEAKER_01: I'm enjoying the journey and trying to figure it out.
SPEAKER_01: But we talk about it as a praise of worship team, and as a as a leadership team, of just magnifying him and everything we can.
SPEAKER_01: Making him bigger than everything else is calling for our attention.
SPEAKER_01: And doing everything we can to present our worship.
SPEAKER_01: I don't even think we can crack the surface of what it looks like to present him with everything that he's worthy of.
SPEAKER_01: A man we can try.
SPEAKER_01: We can pour out of our heart, out of our spirit.
SPEAKER_01: We can give him all the honor and the glory and praise that he is truly worthy of because of everything that he's done for us.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Hallelujah.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Go ahead and have a seat.
SPEAKER_01: You can uh embrace the person next to you.
SPEAKER_01: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_01: Uh obviously I'm not Pastor Tim.
SPEAKER_01: Um and he is he had I want to read this, I don't want to uh misquote him, but he he sent me a text this morning, obviously encouraging me because this is not it's not easy.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm I'm much more comfortable up here.
SPEAKER_01: I I've got a guitar to guard me, and like I uh it's just I don't know, it's a little easier on me.
SPEAKER_01: Um so he sent me some words of encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: Um but but he also said to tell everybody that that they love you and uh they can't wait to be back and see you and that they appreciate you.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to make sure I shared that.
SPEAKER_01: Um because we miss him.
SPEAKER_01: And and like he he's just he's doing such an awesome job, and you all, I'm sure you all agree.
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's been incredible.
SPEAKER_01: I I was saying, and this has been a little bit yet, but or a while ago, I said, man, like at certain surely at some point he's gonna preach a message that just seems like normal, like you know, like average, and I don't mean that in a disrespectful way at all, but uh you know, sometimes ministers, it's just like, okay, yeah, I've heard that, and and uh it seems so so.
SPEAKER_01: And I just don't think he's done it yet.
SPEAKER_01: He just keeps he just keeps going and I'm enjoying every every time he shares.
SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't get real fired up or emotional or show a lot of expression, but man, I'm I'm just sitting over here and I'm just eating it up.
SPEAKER_01: And I love I love his his presentation, how he's able to explain things in an easy way for me to understand and grasp.
SPEAKER_01: And he's just doing a phenomenal job.
SPEAKER_01: So uh I'm doing everything I can to not compare myself.
SPEAKER_01: Uh Paul said, don't compare yourselves among each other.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and so I'm trying not to compare myself to him because there's just no way I'm not him, uh, and I can't hold a candle to what he's what he does and how he does it and what he's done.
SPEAKER_01: Um we're just blessed to have him.
SPEAKER_01: Um but when he asked me to, he gave me plenty of heads up.
SPEAKER_01: Uh he asked me if I would be willing to share while he was gone, and I started thinking and uh thinking about I already had a topic, honestly, on my heart.
SPEAKER_01: And uh so I started I started preparing for that.
SPEAKER_01: And but I kept getting a bit of a nudge to go a little different direction, which happens often.
SPEAKER_01: Um and I, you know, kind of went back and forth because the the nudge was for me to share my testimony.
SPEAKER_01: And I know many of you, maybe all of you, have heard my testimony.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, so I kind of fought back a little bit uh and went back and forth, and um but it didn't go away.
SPEAKER_01: And so I really feel like I'm supposed to share my testimony again, and um and I think it's for a reason.
SPEAKER_01: And the more I studied on it and started preparing really for my other topic, I kept coming across a few things that reinforced it, the importance of it.
SPEAKER_01: And so I um uh forgive me if you've heard it before.
SPEAKER_01: I hope that you maybe catch something that maybe you didn't catch the first time, and maybe some of you haven't heard my testimony.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I'm gonna I'm gonna springboard out of that.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna share my testimony and then springboard out of that and and share a little bit of uh another topic that's on my heart.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I promise I can do all this by two o'clock.
SPEAKER_01: But no, no.
SPEAKER_01: Um that's the thing.
SPEAKER_01: I could start rambling and we could be here till two, or we could be here out of here at 10 45.
SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
SPEAKER_01: But no, but you know, Paul shares, um, like I said, I kind of went back and forth as far as my testimony is concerned, but Paul shares his testimony multiple times in Acts, and and he references it as well in uh his epistles.
SPEAKER_01: And it's a it's powerful, it's a very powerful thing to have a testimony.
SPEAKER_01: And uh in Acts 9 is where he was uh converted, uh his conversion on the road to Damascus, and you guys know that story, and and uh uh where where he Jesus appears to him on the road to Damascus, and he says um he says, uh, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
SPEAKER_01: And uh he says, Who are you, Lord?
SPEAKER_01: And he said, I'm Jesus, the one that you're persecuting.
SPEAKER_01: And this is a little rabbit trail for me.
SPEAKER_01: Whenever I hear that, it solidifies in me so much how Jesus views me as one with him.
SPEAKER_01: Um and I hope it does to you as well.
SPEAKER_01: Like that, I I don't even I don't even think that scripture is meant to go there, but to me when I read that, Jesus Jesus had already ascended.
SPEAKER_01: Saul was persecuting Christians, and yet Jesus appears to him and says, Why are you persecuting me?
SPEAKER_01: Uh to me, that is a very powerful thing.
SPEAKER_01: He's not separating us from him, you know, and that's not where I'm wanting to go, but it just it's a little nugget for me.
SPEAKER_01: Um but so uh quite a few years had had passed.
SPEAKER_01: I believe it's actually close to 20, like if you look at a timeline, I think it's actually over 20 years had passed before Paul shares his testimony in Acts 22, and he shares it again in Acts 26, and even more time had passed between that time.
SPEAKER_01: And he still shares it with the same fervency and the same like fire as if it had just happened.
SPEAKER_01: And he's doing it under persecution.
SPEAKER_01: He's doing it while he's basically on trial, uh, and and he does it with such boldness, uh, and that tells me it's our it kind of gave me the okay to share my testimony.
SPEAKER_01: If he can do it in that situation, it was good enough for him.
SPEAKER_01: I feel like I can, I think I think you guys will give me enough grace to uh share it.
SPEAKER_01: Um but my testimony basically um, you know, well, before I get into it, I want to say, you know, we all have amazing testimonies.
SPEAKER_01: We all do.
SPEAKER_01: We all have a story, we all have a journey.
SPEAKER_01: And and I think it's very important for us to to be willing and ready to share that.
SPEAKER_01: You know, Paul talks about that, being ready and willing to share the reason or foundation for our belief.
SPEAKER_01: But um also I think we should be ready to share our testimony uh for a couple reasons.
SPEAKER_01: You know, Paul says uh in Philippians 3 13, says he focus I focus on this one thing, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.
SPEAKER_01: I press on to reach the end of the race and reach the heavenly prize for which God through Jesus Christ is calling, is calling us.
SPEAKER_01: And obviously I agree with that.
SPEAKER_01: I think that's uh a very powerful statement.
SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, you'll remember that Paul brought up numerous times that he had killed Christians and that he was like the least of all the apostles because he had done that, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so he didn't technically completely forget.
SPEAKER_01: It's not like he had amnesia, right?
SPEAKER_01: So I think it's important to us, yes, we want to forget the past.
SPEAKER_01: We don't want to associate with that anymore because we're brand new, right?
SPEAKER_01: We're made brand new in Christ Jesus and we're moving forward.
SPEAKER_01: But it's important for us to remember where he delivered us from.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we do we uh we got into uh doing a Messianic Passover meal at our house uh the last few years, and it's been amazing.
SPEAKER_01: And part of that is everybody should have the story of Jesus leading us out of our own Egypt, taking us from that, because we were all in it.
SPEAKER_01: We were all in the kingdom of darkness, we were all into sin.
SPEAKER_01: We just were, right?
SPEAKER_01: But he delivered us out of that, he translated us out of that kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of his son.
SPEAKER_01: And I think it's important for us to remember that, right?
SPEAKER_01: Uh, because it just brings him more glory.
SPEAKER_01: Um, the other one is it's a very, very uh powerful thing to be able to share a true authentic story and a true authentic encounter with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's something, Paul, when he shares his testimony, he's not quoting scripture and he's not giving a theory.
SPEAKER_01: He's not giving you his theology.
SPEAKER_01: He is sharing what he encountered with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And man, that's a powerful, powerful thing.
SPEAKER_01: That's something that nobody can take away from us.
SPEAKER_01: And that can compel people more so than just some words that you're quoting.
SPEAKER_01: Scripture is powerful, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's powerful than any more powerful than any two-edged sword.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not taking away from that.
SPEAKER_01: But there is something to be said that people can relate to and grab onto if you're able to share with them your story, because they can they know it's real, right?
SPEAKER_01: It's not just a story to uh to you.
SPEAKER_01: Um and that's that's a very, very powerful thing.
SPEAKER_01: And if you if you're in here today and you feel like you don't have that, if you feel like you don't have that testimony and that that uh that understanding that he has taken you from that place and translated you in his into his kingdom, I promise you, today it can all change.
SPEAKER_01: And that that can start today.
SPEAKER_01: That line can be drawn in the sand for you today.
SPEAKER_01: So I'll get into my testimony a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: I grew up, as most of you know, actually just down the road, but just a few miles away.
SPEAKER_01: And my my journey with my journey with Jesus started at a young age.
SPEAKER_01: I spent quite a bit of time with my uh grandparents on my dad's side.
SPEAKER_01: Um my parents were split, so I spent like every other weekend with my uh dad.
SPEAKER_01: But a lot of that I remember being with my grandpa.
SPEAKER_01: And uh he took me to the Lutheran church there in Beardstown, and it felt like every Sunday, so I I don't know if that's the case, but it felt like every Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: And he would also read uh scripture every night.
SPEAKER_01: Every night I was with him.
SPEAKER_01: And he had one of those big, like coffee table Bibles, you know, a big white one that's like super thick.
SPEAKER_01: Um but he would always read that and he would follow this um like a devotional, and it was called Portals of Prayer, and I'll never forget it, because my my grandma continued to give give me those.
SPEAKER_01: She would get them from the church, she would give them to me uh right up until she died.
SPEAKER_01: Uh it was it was amazing.
SPEAKER_01: So that's how it started.
SPEAKER_01: And as I got older, uh I attended the Methodist Church in Bearstown with my mom and my stepdad, went through Sunday school, um, and I think it's called like catechism.
SPEAKER_01: You go through that, and then and then I was confirmed.
SPEAKER_01: And in that process, I remember, I remember being like sprinkled with water to represent baptism.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, but you're basically dedicated to the church.
SPEAKER_01: And and I also remember going to a uh a youth camp that was called Chrysalis, and Justin was there, and um and I had an incredible, the way I can best describe it, I had an incredibly like emotional interaction with God at that time, and it was it was powerful to me.
SPEAKER_01: And if you would have asked me at that point if I was born again, I would tell you yes.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and actually Deborah did ask me that because shortly thereafter I think I started dating Lucy, and that was one of the first questions that she asked me, and uh, rightfully so.
SPEAKER_01: And my my answer was yes, of course.
SPEAKER_01: But looking back on it and thinking about it, I'm not so sure that I was.
SPEAKER_01: Um and one of my good friends refers to that as being stillborn, and um and there's some legitimacy to that um because the more I learned and understand understood, and looking back on it, like I said, I I'm just I'm not so sure I was.
SPEAKER_01: I was still very much hanging on to myself, I was still alive for me, I was still a very selfish individual, and this put me and God in a very difficult place because the bottom line is I was a hypocrite.
SPEAKER_01: Um there's no other way around it.
SPEAKER_01: It basically gave me enough knowledge to where I could be dangerous, I could uh I could quote scripture a little bit, and uh I could mold into situations if I it was I could be a Christian and talk like a Christian and act like a Christian when it was very convenient for me.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but at the same time, I was more than happy to live like the world, talk like the world when that was when that was convenient.
SPEAKER_01: So I was double-minded.
SPEAKER_01: I had one foot in, one foot out, and uh there was no transformation of life.
SPEAKER_01: So to me, understanding what I know now, I I would say I wasn't born again.
SPEAKER_01: I had an emotional experience and an emotional encounter, but I had not given myself totally and completely to the Lord, and to me, that is not being born again until we are transformed and changed forever.
SPEAKER_01: I don't believe we're born again.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not saying that towards anyone, but that's for me, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Um but uh we ended up moving to uh I ended up moving to Florida and uh I was pursuing a golf career and I was there for a few years and then Lucy Lucy finished up college.
SPEAKER_01: Uh somehow she uh agreed to marry me after that, and um we moved to Florida and we spent about six years there, I want to say, somewhere around there, and Landon was born there in Florida, and shortly thereafter we moved back home.
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know if he was one yet, probably probably around one.
SPEAKER_01: He was one and a half.
SPEAKER_01: Uh when Landon was one and a half, we ended up moving back home.
SPEAKER_01: And um I mean the entire time I was in we were in Florida, I was a mess.
SPEAKER_01: I was a selfish wreck.
SPEAKER_01: And I was not a good, you know, I wasn't a good husband.
SPEAKER_01: I if I would have continued on that path, I wouldn't have been a good father.
SPEAKER_01: Um I was like I said, I was a hypocrite and uh did a lot of damage.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and when we moved back, um felt like kind of hit rock bottom at that point.
SPEAKER_01: We sold everything we had pretty much.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and I remember, man, it was kind of devastating because we were selling our house for next to nothing.
SPEAKER_01: Uh we took a huge loss on our house and and we uh I remember having we had a yard sale, like move a moving sale, and a lot of the stuff we didn't even put out in the yard, we just opened up our house.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember people coming in our house and like like, hey man, you want 10 bucks for that TV that you spent two grand on?
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, take it.
SPEAKER_01: So it was uh it was a pretty it was a pretty tough time.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, but my we moved back home and it was good to be with family, and uh my in-laws allowed us to stay with them, and um I'm very grateful for that.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember telling God that at that point I realized I had tried to do everything on my own.
SPEAKER_01: I tried to do it my way, and it didn't work, nothing worked out the way I wanted it to.
SPEAKER_01: My marriage wasn't good.
SPEAKER_01: Um, how can it be when you're selfish about everything?
SPEAKER_01: And um my golf career didn't work out, I wasn't good enough.
SPEAKER_01: I I drank too much.
SPEAKER_01: Um when I should have been practicing and focusing, I was partying and drinking and acting like a fool.
SPEAKER_01: Um and that was um, I mean, that was that's just the truth and the reality.
SPEAKER_01: But I remember telling God, I said, Um, I give up, I'm done with my way.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna seek you with everything I got.
SPEAKER_01: And I started, and I meant it.
SPEAKER_01: I meant it with a sincere heart.
SPEAKER_01: And so Deborah has uh a lot of study material at home, and so I had the opportunity to tap into that.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember sitting there every morning.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't have a job.
SPEAKER_01: Uh so I I would sit every morning and I had like multiple Bible, my multiple Bibles out on the table, and uh the sparkling gems is what I remember the most.
SPEAKER_01: Like I had sparkling gems out, and I'm like I'm taking notes every day.
SPEAKER_01: I'm reading other books, uh, and I'm just sincerely seeking him the best I understand.
SPEAKER_01: But for a considerable amount, a considerable amount of time, nothing changed.
SPEAKER_01: It didn't mean anything to me.
SPEAKER_01: I I was reading words on a page, but man, it just it wasn't hitting home.
SPEAKER_01: It felt like I couldn't understand anything I was reading at all.
SPEAKER_01: Uh very frustrating.
SPEAKER_01: I felt like I was wasting time.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember specifically telling my mom that.
SPEAKER_01: I said, Mom, this isn't, it's not working.
SPEAKER_01: It's just a bunch of letters written to dead people.
SPEAKER_01: Uh it has nothing to do with me and my life uh at all.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I have nowhere else to turn, so I'm not gonna quit.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna keep going.
SPEAKER_01: It has to be right.
SPEAKER_01: And I kept going.
SPEAKER_01: And so a little while later, I got we got an announcement that Pastor Hagin was gonna be coming to our old church in Rushville.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember that, and so I got curious, and because to me, I grew up in a Lutheran church and a Methodist church.
SPEAKER_01: To me, the charismatic stuff made me very nervous.
SPEAKER_01: So I looked up YouTube videos and I'm like, yeah, this is very uncomfortable to me.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that you know, so I'm like, I don't know how I'm gonna handle this.
SPEAKER_01: And so I reached out to Jared, and Jared wasn't even coming to our church at that time, but I reached out to Jared, I'm like, dude, will you please come to this service with me?
SPEAKER_01: Because I'm freaked out.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know about all this.
SPEAKER_01: And um, so being a good friend, he did come with me.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember at a certain point within that service, Pastor Hagan got fired up.
SPEAKER_01: I don't even remember exactly what he was talking about, but he got sincerely fired up and he says, All right, if you want blessed, get up on this wall and uh and line up and come up front.
SPEAKER_01: And so we did, and and Bob was there, and he was he was the usher.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember look, I looked over at Jared, I said, Wait, are we actually gonna go up there?
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_01: And like, okay, but I was terrified, I was terrified.
SPEAKER_01: But anyway, so uh it was on it would have been on this wall if we're looking at the stage.
SPEAKER_01: And so we got up there and and kind of kept moving towards the front.
SPEAKER_01: As I'm moving towards the front, I just uh there were some things that started to happen that I I certainly wasn't conjuring it up or trying to do anything, and I I I just remember starting to feel very different.
SPEAKER_01: My legs started to feel weird.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I can't really explain what that felt like exactly, but it just felt weird, almost numb, just odd.
SPEAKER_01: But the one thing I remember the most was like my tongue felt real funny, like like big in my mouth.
SPEAKER_01: It just felt weird.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, all right, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: And I just got up closer, and Bob had us get up in line, and I would have been about right here, kind of where Justin sings, and and uh I would have been right here.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember, I'm sorry for turning my back.
SPEAKER_01: I probably shouldn't do that, but sorry.
SPEAKER_01: But so I'm right here, and I I remember looking down the line, and and Joyce, and she knows I I share this all the time.
SPEAKER_01: So like she's right here, and Pastor Hagan touches her and she just melts into the floor, and I'm like, that's totally fake, it has to be fake.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody does that.
SPEAKER_01: That doesn't that doesn't happen, and so I'm like, I that was my first reaction.
SPEAKER_01: But in the sincerest way imaginable, I said, but God, if that is you, I want it.
SPEAKER_01: And I want you, I want all of you.
SPEAKER_01: Gosh darn it.
SPEAKER_01: I want all of you, but I won't fake it, I won't pretend anything.
SPEAKER_01: I want your authentic presence, and I want you to change me.
SPEAKER_01: And I said, but I won't fake anything, so I'm gonna close my eyes.
SPEAKER_01: And I closed my eyes because I didn't want to know where Pastor Hagin was or what he was doing.
SPEAKER_01: So I closed my eyes and I just lifted my hands, which was uncomfortable for me to begin with.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I just lifted my hands and I sang with the worship team, and they was, you know, they were singing a song, and I just remember uh singing with him, and at some point, I'm I don't know, but I assume he touched me at a certain point because I ended up on the ground on my back.
SPEAKER_01: And and it felt like I don't, I mean, I couldn't see myself, Bob maybe, I don't know, but to me, it felt like I was doing a back bend almost, like my back was arched on the ground.
SPEAKER_01: And it all the best way I can explain it is there was electricity and fire mixed together, rushing through my body.
SPEAKER_01: It went in my head, so I'm on the ground, it went in my head and out my feet, and then back through again.
SPEAKER_01: And it did it over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_01: And I just laid there and he, I mean, he showed, he's showing me what he's doing.
SPEAKER_01: He just he was cleansing me, he was cleaning the inside of me.
SPEAKER_01: And it was the most incredible thing I've ever experienced.
SPEAKER_01: And and I remember laying there on the ground saying, My God, my God, you're real.
SPEAKER_01: And it hit me all of a sudden that that was the very first time that I knew that God for sure was real, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
SPEAKER_01: And from that moment on, everything changed.
SPEAKER_01: Um, I Bob came and helped me up eventually.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how long I was there.
SPEAKER_01: I could have laid there forever.
SPEAKER_01: It felt like it was amazing.
SPEAKER_01: And and uh Deborah, Deborah took me over to Pastor Gary and and and explained what had happened and just said, you know, Jimmy's never experienced this before.
SPEAKER_01: And and he looked at me and he just looked straight through me.
SPEAKER_01: Like I've never seen anybody look at Me before, and he just started prophesying to me, and I don't have a clue what he said, except for he said, You will be a leader of men.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm laughing basically inside because I have no desire to lead anyone at anything, and I don't have the capacity to do that in any way, shape, or form.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but from that moment, everything changed.
SPEAKER_01: All of a sudden, the scriptures that made no sense whatsoever started to make sense.
SPEAKER_01: It does relate to my life, and it started to explain everything I experienced.
SPEAKER_01: It it validated everything that I experienced.
SPEAKER_01: It started to teach me that I was purified and cleansed of all unrighteousness, right?
SPEAKER_01: And I I my marriage started to get better, and it was almost like he he allowed me to see into the spirit just a touch, just enough, to where to where I could see that it, you know, we used to when we before Jesus, we would argue for days, you know, and uh I was never right, but I would think that I was and pretend that I was.
SPEAKER_01: And um, but it would just go on for days.
SPEAKER_01: And and I remember one time we were in uh Deborah's kitchen and and uh it started to happen over nothing.
SPEAKER_01: It was some small thing as it usually is, and I remember it was almost like I could see, and it was probably because of all of the things that I was reading and listening to, but like it's almost like I could see what was happening.
SPEAKER_01: It was like something was hopping up next to us and whispering in our ear, each one of us, and poking and antagonizing and sowing division and discord in our marriage.
SPEAKER_01: And I remember I said, We're not doing this anymore.
SPEAKER_01: No, no more.
SPEAKER_01: And um, and we really haven't.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I have times obviously you know, nothing is ever perfect, and marriage is hard, but we're on the same team now, right?
SPEAKER_01: And uh so everything changed in that aspect.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I had the opportunity, I my job gave me a tremendous opportunity because I had the opportunity to listen to the word nonstop all day long.
SPEAKER_01: And so it gave Holy Spirit the opportunity to teach me.
SPEAKER_01: He just kept teaching me and and and showing me what he had done and how that looks in in real life, how to walk that out.
SPEAKER_01: And he would show me examples.
SPEAKER_01: I remember being at a restaurant one time and the uh you know the the food was taking forever, and I remember everybody starting to get pretty grumpy and it was late, and and I I I said, I kind of joined in with it, and I said, Yeah, this is getting pretty bad.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is taking forever, what's taking so long?
SPEAKER_01: And Holy Spirit said to me, Why are you why are you complaining?
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing wrong with you.
SPEAKER_01: You are you actually aren't even that hungry.
SPEAKER_01: Like you have no reason to complain, you are perfectly content.
SPEAKER_01: And he would take little things like that, and he would just teach me.
SPEAKER_01: And uh the best example, and I know I've shared this before, and it was um it was a uh a powerful, powerful thing that changed me uh a great deal.
SPEAKER_01: I was at a party one time and I I drank.
SPEAKER_01: I still drank after that.
SPEAKER_01: Um it was just part of what I did.
SPEAKER_01: It was like my I mean my my flesh was still on autopilot, right?
SPEAKER_01: Um, but uh my mind was being renewed and the spirit was teaching me.
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm at a party with beer in hand, and and I heard a voice it was directly behind me, it shook me, and but nobody else could hear it, just me.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, You don't need that anymore.
SPEAKER_01: I'm all you need.
SPEAKER_01: And I walked over to the trash can and dropped it, and that was it, never again.
SPEAKER_01: And uh that was just such a such a powerful thing, uh, because then I because I had a choice to make.
SPEAKER_01: You know, either I made that up and I can, you know, like pretend that I made it up, whatever, or God just spoke to me and I have a choice to make.
SPEAKER_01: I can ignore that and carry on living how I want to live, or I was sincere and believed that he changed me forever, and I continue to let him shape me and mold me.
SPEAKER_01: Um and uh I also started uh you know, I shared all of the experience that I had with my mom.
SPEAKER_01: And uh I remember her saying, she said, if you weren't my son, I would not believe you.
SPEAKER_01: But I can't deny all of the change that's happened.
SPEAKER_01: And that's that was an awesome thing to have somebody that knew me since I was born and saw me, how I was, and she could see a distinct change because I believe that I had died to that old person, and I believe that he had made me brand new.
SPEAKER_01: And uh it was just super powerful.
SPEAKER_01: I remember also in that in that time talking with Justin and Jared at Jared's house one time, like because I was just consuming the word constantly, and and I'm reading things that I didn't know.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, did you guys know this?
SPEAKER_01: Did you know this is written in here?
SPEAKER_01: And uh, and I remember telling him that night, I said, I don't even know what it means, but you guys are gonna be on my team someday.
SPEAKER_01: And uh honestly, I thought it meant some sort of like like ministering or praying, or like I don't know, I I didn't know exactly what it meant.
SPEAKER_01: And then lo and behold, years and years later, we're up here praising and worshiping together, and we overcame a whole bunch of different things.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Justin wasn't even coming to church here.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I led a Bible study that Jared started coming to, and then Jared started coming, and I was supposed to move to St.
SPEAKER_01: Louis, and then then Justin came to church like the day after I was supposed to move, and the house that we were supposed to buy fell through, somebody else bought it, and we changed our mind and decided to stay, and everything just happened just like he said it would.
SPEAKER_01: I just didn't understand or know, but just just cool, cool stories.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that ultimately is my testimony.
SPEAKER_01: That leads me here to you know being your praise and worship leader, and I want to take I want to say thank you to all of you who uh whether you've been here since the beginning uh or or not, you've been so gracious to me and patient with me.
SPEAKER_01: I remember standing here with no stage or anything, just with a guitar, and it was just me, and I was terrible at it.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not saying I'm good at it now, but I'm trying.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, but you guys were so patient and just gracious, and it's been such an awesome journey with you.
SPEAKER_01: Um, our praise and worship team is getting better at what we do, but you all are making it so much better.
SPEAKER_01: We are so much more in one accord, and I can't explain it perfectly, but man, the worship time is getting so good and so powerful, and I just want to thank you guys for that.
SPEAKER_01: Um so that's my that's my testimony, and there there are there's a couple things that I left out, and I I did this on purpose, um, because it this was uh part of the topic that was burning in my heart before I felt like I was led to share my testimony.
SPEAKER_01: Um the whole time, like I said, the whole time, well, I mean, my wife and I have been married almost for 20 years, and we've been together for 27.
SPEAKER_01: And for well more than half of that, I was a fool and lost and a selfish idiot.
SPEAKER_01: Um and my wife prayed for me that whole time.
SPEAKER_01: The whole time.
SPEAKER_01: And and I don't know that I'm gonna be able to express this as I as I want it to be understood, but the motives that we have when we are praying for ourselves and for others are very important.
SPEAKER_01: It will help dictate the the results that we get.
SPEAKER_01: And so that I want to talk about that just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: She prayed for me.
SPEAKER_01: If I was to, if I was to give you an example, like I just tried to tell you, I'm using gentle words of saying I'm an idiot, right?
SPEAKER_01: Or a fool.
SPEAKER_01: If someone is that way towards their spouse or anyone, it would sound justified for her to pray, like, Father, can you please change him because he's making my life awful?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: That would sound justified, but that's not how she prayed.
SPEAKER_01: She saw through all that garbage, and she could see me for my potential in Christ Jesus, and that's how she prayed for me.
SPEAKER_01: She didn't pray for me like I was gonna be in that place forever.
SPEAKER_01: She saw me beyond that, and so she prayed me out of that place because she wasn't praying selfishly, she wasn't praying so that her life would be made easier or better.
SPEAKER_01: She was praying because she truly loved me.
SPEAKER_01: She had the love of God in her heart for me, so it had nothing to do with her own well-being, had everything to do with my value and my relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: She wanted me to understand who I was in Christ Jesus and how much God loved me.
SPEAKER_01: And everything else would flow from there.
SPEAKER_01: And I hope that impacts you the way it does me.
SPEAKER_01: And I hope I'm articulating it well enough because that is an incredibly powerful place to pray from.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to encourage all of you, when you're praying, make sure that you're praying from that place.
SPEAKER_01: See, if if there's anything in prayer, if there's anything in your life, honestly, if there's anything that is selfishly motivated, it can't be fruitful.
SPEAKER_01: It's very it you're putting God in a very tough spot if you're praying from a selfish motive.
SPEAKER_01: Because God created us in his image and in his likeness, right?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus came to restore that.
SPEAKER_01: We're made brand new, and we're in him.
SPEAKER_01: He is love, and there is no selfishness in love.
SPEAKER_01: So to have a prayer that is selfishly motivated and expect God and ask God to make that happen and make that come to be would be him validating something in you that shouldn't be there.
SPEAKER_01: That's a very tough spot.
SPEAKER_01: And so if we can shift our minds to pray for, to pray for people and to pray for ourselves, it's okay to pray for yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Paul prayed for himself all the time, but what the way he prayed was, Lord, give me boldness to declare the the gospel, right?
SPEAKER_01: Give me boldness, um, give me a deeper understanding and revelation of your goodness and your love and your mercy so that I can become more and more like you.
SPEAKER_01: I can grow up into Christ in all things.
SPEAKER_01: That's how you pray for yourself.
SPEAKER_01: It's never from a victimhood mentality, ever.
SPEAKER_01: It's never self-focused.
SPEAKER_01: Anything that has to do with ourself should be in that manner of I thank you.
SPEAKER_01: I thank you for what you've done.
SPEAKER_01: I ask that you give me a deeper revelation of that.
SPEAKER_01: Give me your eyes to see people, give me your heart to love.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, I'll probably let you out early because I feel like I'm I'm hitting I'm hitting the topics I want to hit, but that just that there's something about that motive when we're praying.
SPEAKER_01: It's uh there was a minister that shared a story one time and I it stuck with me, and I think it's great.
SPEAKER_01: Uh someone came up and asked for prayer one time and said, Can you can you pray for my neighbor or my boss or whoever it was?
SPEAKER_01: They're pushing my buttons all the time.
SPEAKER_01: And he prayed that her buttons would go away, that she would have no buttons.
SPEAKER_01: And that's true.
SPEAKER_01: Like that's how we should be.
SPEAKER_01: There's so much power in that.
SPEAKER_01: It that gives us freedom to never be focused on ourselves is such a freeing thing.
SPEAKER_01: And it's a powerful place to come from in prayer, in ministry.
SPEAKER_01: If you're focused on yourself, there is no way that anybody uh oh, that's gonna sound arrogant.
SPEAKER_01: I shouldn't say that.
SPEAKER_01: I don't, there's no way you're gonna offend me.
SPEAKER_01: You can't offend me.
SPEAKER_01: If it even started to happen, I would run straight to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I'd run straight to him and say, Lord, there's no way that can be actually happening to me.
SPEAKER_01: I I'm not alive for myself.
SPEAKER_01: If I'm if I'm if I'm becoming love, because I'm not just trying to act like I love, I'm asking him to make me be love, to become love.
SPEAKER_01: And if love takes no account of or suffered wrong and it doesn't seek its own, how can you offend me?
SPEAKER_01: How can it take offense?
SPEAKER_01: It can't.
SPEAKER_01: We are called to walk in that, and it's possible, and it's fun, it's a fun pursuit, and and we're not doing it alone.
SPEAKER_01: There's no way you could grit your teeth and bite your lip and do that.
SPEAKER_01: It's impossible.
SPEAKER_01: You must become it.
SPEAKER_01: You must allow him, every time that you get together with him, the whole purpose should be for him to make you more like him.
SPEAKER_01: It's his grace, it's his power, and you can't do it on your own.
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely impossible.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, that's about as fired up as I get.
SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm pretty excited.
SPEAKER_01: I'm pretty excited.
SPEAKER_01: It's fun for me.
SPEAKER_01: But that stuff is fun, you know.
SPEAKER_01: It's because it's not just a story, it's not just a theory.
SPEAKER_01: This is true.
SPEAKER_01: And nobody can take that away from me because it happened.
SPEAKER_01: You know, he did come and save me.
SPEAKER_01: I was so lost.
SPEAKER_01: So lost.
SPEAKER_01: But he did come and save me.
SPEAKER_01: And you know, you think about the way my wife prayed for me.
SPEAKER_01: That sounds an awful lot like the love of God.
SPEAKER_01: While we were yet sinners.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: He sent his son.
SPEAKER_01: And we need to be able to see people that way.
SPEAKER_01: Not everybody's gonna be perfect.
SPEAKER_01: Paul writes in his epistles that we need to be tolerant of people's shortcomings, right?
SPEAKER_01: And pray for each other.
SPEAKER_01: And there's something awesome that's happening with this group of believers, guys.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I hope that what I'm sharing stirs you up and makes us that much stronger as a tight-knit group of believers that truly can start to change this area.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just about us.
SPEAKER_01: We have an awesome time when we get together, and I love you.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but man, he's just, I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: He's preparing us for something that's gonna be very important.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I don't, I don't know exactly what that looks like, and I'm okay with that.
SPEAKER_01: I don't have to know.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I know that I know that we can encourage each other and we can prepare ourselves for whatever that may be.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and we we've talked about that on our praise and worship team.
SPEAKER_01: Like, man, I feel like stuff is getting better, and I like I think it's happening for a reason.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I think we're gonna go, we're gonna go places, stuff's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01: People are gonna look to us because we're different.
SPEAKER_01: Because we don't look like the world when it's convenient, and just act like church people and act like believers when we're when we're with other believers, we're gonna be truly transformed in every circumstance.
SPEAKER_01: Our situation doesn't have to be perfect for us to to rightly represent the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: We don't need that.
SPEAKER_01: We can rightly represent the kingdom no matter what's what no matter what we're facing, no matter what pressure we're feeling.
SPEAKER_01: So please don't misunderstand me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying, you know, if you're going through a trial, you know, you should just take it and like it.
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm saying, I'm saying fight.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm saying don't let anything ever change you.
SPEAKER_01: You're in him.
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
SPEAKER_01: Your your identity is found in him.
SPEAKER_01: Your circumstances have nothing to do, and they have no right to dictate who you are and how you're gonna be.
SPEAKER_01: Ever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I think I think that's I think that's all I have for you.
SPEAKER_01: Um, but I do want to take the time because uh when I was before I shared my testimony, I I remember saying that uh Justin, would you mind?
SPEAKER_01: Just in just in case.
SPEAKER_01: Um I remember saying that if you don't have a testimony, and everybody's testimony is different, everybody's story is different.
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna be very different than mine.
SPEAKER_01: Um and it doesn't it doesn't have to be the same, but everybody has that story of him delivering us out of our own Egypt, taking us out of that kingdom of darkness, translating us into the kingdom of his son.
SPEAKER_01: And and if you don't have that, I'm asking you to be bold.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm asking you to come up and I'll and I'll pray for you, and I can have my wife come and pray as well.
SPEAKER_01: But and I'm saying this not for not just for people who maybe I've never been born again, I want that, but I'm also talking to people that maybe are just just in a place where you feel like you're kind of going through the motions.
SPEAKER_01: Um and maybe you don't have, maybe you don't have that that testimony, maybe you don't have that line in the sand, maybe you're still holding on to yourself a little bit.
SPEAKER_01: You know, maybe you haven't completely laid it down and and given him everything and made him Lord, truly Lord of your life.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Saul said before his Paul.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Who are you, Lord?
SPEAKER_01: He had boom, you are Lord of my life.
SPEAKER_01: My opinion no longer matters, no longer my will, it's your will from here on out.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't have that, I'm asking you to come up.
SPEAKER_01: And and to me, it's like it's a powerful image.
SPEAKER_01: I've drawn that line in that sand.
SPEAKER_01: From this day forward, you know, maybe maybe you weren't, maybe you weren't baptized, maybe whatever it may be, but from this day forward, I'm changed forever.
SPEAKER_01: Because I promise you he'll meet you there.
SPEAKER_01: I promise.
SPEAKER_01: Because if he met me, if he met me there, that means he'll also meet you there.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: But we're not doing it with an Americanized, I call it the Americanized gospel.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying come up here and ask Jesus into your heart and make a little room in your life for Jesus, and he's gonna make everything easier for you, and then go to church on Sundays and pray every now and then and read your Bible, and then you get to go to heaven when you pass away.
SPEAKER_01: That is not what I'm asking.
SPEAKER_01: I'm asking for people who are truly willing to lay everything down, to die to your old life, and allow him to be, allow yourself to be buried with him and raised to new life in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And then from then on, we are never ever again associated with that old man.
SPEAKER_01: Ever.
SPEAKER_01: Complete and total transformation by his grace, by his love forever.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not, again, like I said, I'm not saying it's gonna make everything easy and perfect because it won't.
SPEAKER_01: But what it will make you is untouchable, it will make it to where you can go through that fire and through that furnace and come out with no smell of smoke whatsoever.
SPEAKER_01: Because there's a fourth man in there with us.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: We're not on our own, it's no longer about us, it's about him, his kingdom, and his glory.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
unknown: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna take a couple minutes and pray for the folks that came up.
SPEAKER_01: If you want to come up, be bold.
SPEAKER_01: Be bold and come up.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for being so attentive.
SPEAKER_01: Um, like I said, it's not easy, it's very interesting to prepare a message uh to be able to share with people.
SPEAKER_01: It's much easier to have a dialogue and have questions and things like that.
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I appreciate your patience and your attentiveness.
SPEAKER_01: And I thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I thank you for being you.
SPEAKER_01: I thank you for being such an awesome group of believers and allowing me to be a part of it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for our future.
SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to see what God's doing in us, uh, and I'm excited to see what's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: I love you all.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Have a great week.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening.
SPEAKER_00: We hope that this message helps you draw closer to God as you walk out your faith.
SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next week.