SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.
SPEAKER_02: Eleven years ago.
SPEAKER_02: Eleven years ago, my dad called a family meeting.
SPEAKER_02: And we were living in Louisiana and I was a teenager and my my dad called a family meeting.
SPEAKER_02: Now I don't know what family meetings meant for your family when you grew up, but this is typically not good news.
SPEAKER_02: We went down to the living room and and my dad said, Hey, I don't know what it is, but I feel like I feel like the Lord is calling our family to move to Texas to be a part of this church called Gateway Church.
SPEAKER_02: We left that family meeting.
SPEAKER_02: We packed up a U-Haul.
SPEAKER_02: True story, we put Gateway Church in a GPS.
SPEAKER_02: We drove down 114, three and a half hours away from our home.
SPEAKER_02: We drove here.
SPEAKER_02: We found the nearest hotel.
SPEAKER_02: My family went and parked a U-Haul outside of the hotel, about five minutes away from here.
SPEAKER_02: I don't remember much about that hotel except the people below us were smoking and we couldn't breathe.
SPEAKER_02: We attended our first service.
SPEAKER_02: We sat up here at Southlake on the wing.
SPEAKER_02: And this place shaped me.
SPEAKER_02: I learned how to worship here.
SPEAKER_02: I learned about the Holy Spirit here.
SPEAKER_02: I when I turned 18, I got my first job.
SPEAKER_02: I found out what taxes and tithing was on the same paycheck, and it almost brought me to my knees.
SPEAKER_02: But not just here at Southlake, at all of our campuses.
SPEAKER_02: My family went to NRH and got planted at our NRH campus.
SPEAKER_02: My brother to this day is a deacon at the NRH campus.
SPEAKER_02: My nephew Judah, he's six years old.
SPEAKER_02: He opens the door.
SPEAKER_02: If you ever go to NRH, you see the little blonde boy welcome you in.
SPEAKER_02: That's my nephew Judah.
SPEAKER_02: When I was 21, I almost moved to Florida, and Pastor Ben over at NFW, he stopped me.
SPEAKER_02: Pastor Zach Rowe over at the Justin campus is one of my closest friends I've known in my entire life.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, even my sister is dating the guy that led worship at Frisco tonight, and I'm watching you, Will.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, when God told the DePrang family to move here and get planted, we got planted.
SPEAKER_02: I proposed to my wife outside of TKU.
SPEAKER_02: I was on a budget.
SPEAKER_02: But not just those places.
SPEAKER_02: Dallas, Plano, and Grand Prairie, Prosper.
SPEAKER_02: I've got memories everywhere.
SPEAKER_02: Jackson Hole, I don't have a memory with you, and I'd love to make one.
SPEAKER_02: This is my home.
SPEAKER_02: And 11 years ago, when we started going to this church, I'd hear people from this platform use terms like son of the house.
SPEAKER_02: And I always wondered, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_02: What does it mean to be a son of the house?
SPEAKER_02: And then about six months ago, I started getting called a son of the house.
SPEAKER_02: And in 2024, I learned what it meant.
SPEAKER_02: Because I didn't grieve 2024 as someone on staff.
SPEAKER_02: I grieved 2024 as a son.
SPEAKER_02: My family.
SPEAKER_02: And he he called me, and we were in the height of everything we're we walked through as a church last year.
SPEAKER_02: And he said, Hey Abram, um I'm really struggling right now because I feel like as your father, I need to apologize for getting you into this mess.
SPEAKER_02: And I didn't tell him this on the phone, but I'm gonna tell him this now in front of thousands of people.
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure he prefers that.
SPEAKER_02: Now I know this is yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Now I want to say this, I've got a little bit of different perspective of these guys than y'all do because I was their kid's youth pastor.
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know if you know this, but if your kids go to youth, they tell on you.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to say this to Trey and Kenneth and Dane, if you're in here, I didn't start respecting you six months ago, I started respecting you six years ago.
SPEAKER_02: Because that's when I met your kids.
SPEAKER_02: Jack, Trey's only son, his senior year, was going through a pretty hard time.
SPEAKER_02: He said, Abram, can can we talk?
SPEAKER_02: I said, Yes, of course.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this is probably two or three years ago.
SPEAKER_02: And me and him were talking, we're one-on-one.
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, when I tell you I'm pouring my heart and soul out to Jack, I'm giving him my best material.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I am every Bible verse I've ever learned, I am throwing it at Jack.
SPEAKER_02: And towards the end of the conversation, he looked at me and he said, Thanks, man.
SPEAKER_02: My dad told me that.
SPEAKER_02: And I thought, dang it, Trey.
SPEAKER_02: But what it told me is that you're not just good elders, you're good parents.
SPEAKER_02: And so we can get up here and honor you as elders, and I'm so thankful that you fought for the church that I fell in love with when I was 16.
SPEAKER_02: But tonight I honor you as parents and the people that you are.
SPEAKER_02: So give it up for them.
SPEAKER_02: Hannah, um, we've been married about six years, and she's pregnant right now.
SPEAKER_02: She's about 27 weeks pregnant with a little boy named Samuel, and and because I've got a microphone and a platform right now, um, we need prayers for Samuel.
SPEAKER_02: Um we've had some hard.
SPEAKER_02: We've had a hard couple months, and we need a miracle.
SPEAKER_02: So when you think about us, if you'll pray for our little boy, he's got some some heart problems and we need some prayers.
SPEAKER_02: So when you think about us, his name's Samuel Brave.
SPEAKER_02: And so if you'll pray for him, now I knew this was the part of the service, I'd be very emotional.
SPEAKER_02: And so I brought a picture of my two-year-old that will stop me from being emotional.
SPEAKER_02: So this is Everly.
SPEAKER_02: We're so tired.
SPEAKER_02: Look.
SPEAKER_02: No, we're families, so I'm gonna tell you this right now.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna be honest with you, don't you judge me.
SPEAKER_02: Right now, Everly has a problem with saying the Lord's name in vain.
SPEAKER_02: I don't say it, Hannah doesn't say it, I promise.
SPEAKER_02: We are, oh my goodness, oh my gosh, people.
SPEAKER_02: But we were walking to the living room one night and I heard, oh my god.
SPEAKER_02: And I looked at Hannah and said, What in the world did that come from?
SPEAKER_02: And so I went up to Everly.
SPEAKER_02: And she's like me with hair.
SPEAKER_02: So I mean it's like this.
SPEAKER_02: And I bent down to Everly and I said, Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, like affirmation.
SPEAKER_02: We say, Oh my goodness, oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_02: And she looked at me like, I said, What'd you say?
SPEAKER_02: And she goes, Oh my God.
SPEAKER_02: So, when you think about our family, healing for Samuel, salvation for Everly.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, I've got a word tonight.
SPEAKER_02: And I actually feel like the Lord gave me this word at the beginning of 2024.
SPEAKER_02: I was getting ready to preach it last year at our youth conference, and I felt like the Lord stopped me.
SPEAKER_02: And I didn't know why, but he stopped me.
SPEAKER_02: And um, when they asked me if I would speak at first conference, I felt like the Lord said, Abram, I stopped you because that wasn't a word for Gateway Youth.
SPEAKER_02: That was a word for Gateway Church.
SPEAKER_02: And so I'm so glad you came here and the youth at every single campus right now.
SPEAKER_02: I know that they're at the front and they're so happy, and I love you, but I got good bad news for you.
SPEAKER_02: I don't just have a message just for you, I got a message for all of us.
SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna dive in tonight.
SPEAKER_02: If you're in, if you bring your physical Bible, physical Bible, somebody, come on, somebody.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna be in Genesis chapter three.
SPEAKER_02: We're kind of gonna live there tonight, and then we'll finish in Matthew chapter six.
SPEAKER_02: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, thank you so much for tonight.
SPEAKER_02: Holy Spirit, we give you glory, honor, and praise.
SPEAKER_02: Would you come and move amongst your people?
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for Gateway Church.
SPEAKER_02: God, thank you for tonight.
SPEAKER_02: Would you come and move and speak in Jesus' name?
SPEAKER_02: And everybody said.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Me and my wife, um, a couple of months ago we were sitting in our living room.
SPEAKER_02: And we're sitting in our living room, and my little girl Everly, that you saw the picture of, she disappeared.
SPEAKER_02: And she was quiet.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm learning as a parent that when your kids aren't talking, it's a bigger problem.
SPEAKER_02: And so we looked around in the living room, and I can't find Everly.
SPEAKER_02: And so I go on a little hunt around our house.
SPEAKER_02: And I come around this corner of our house, and this is not a scale replica, by the way, of our house.
SPEAKER_02: Uh she's in this little dark corner around our stairs, and she's cute, you saw that, also a little constipated.
SPEAKER_02: And she was leaning in a dark corner like this, with her legs crossed, very quiet, just kind of grunting.
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, she just went over there by herself and she started doing this thing.
SPEAKER_02: And I walked back to the living room, and I and I felt like the Lord asked me this question: who taught her that?
SPEAKER_02: And I thought, Lord, I'm not sure how the bowel movement system works, but I think that's your job.
SPEAKER_02: And he responded to me and he said, No, Abram, who taught her how to hide?
SPEAKER_02: And I looked at Hannah.
SPEAKER_02: And we started scrolling through YouTube algorithms and what we watch, and we're like, do we watch hide-and-seek shows?
SPEAKER_02: Are we playing hide and seek?
SPEAKER_02: She's not old enough for that.
SPEAKER_02: As a father, it scared me that without anybody telling her, my daughter had something innately inside of her that said, When I make a mess, I've got to hide.
SPEAKER_02: In Genesis chapter 3, we're gonna read this together.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna set the scene for you.
SPEAKER_02: God has, of course, created Adam, He creates Eve.
SPEAKER_02: They're walking in the cool of the day, they're having good times together.
SPEAKER_02: Genesis chapter 3, verse 1, it says this.
SPEAKER_02: I'm reading out of the New King James Version.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna go ten verses, so so hang in there with me.
SPEAKER_02: Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
SPEAKER_02: And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
SPEAKER_02: And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.
SPEAKER_02: Then the serpent said to the woman, which we know, the serpent, because of Revelation, this is Satan.
SPEAKER_02: No if, ands, or buts in Revelation.
SPEAKER_02: We know this is Satan talking.
SPEAKER_02: The serpent, Satan, said to the woman, You will not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
SPEAKER_02: Verse six.
SPEAKER_02: So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.
SPEAKER_02: She also gave to her husband with her.
SPEAKER_02: And he ate.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 7.
SPEAKER_02: Then the eyes of both of them were open, and they knew that they were naked, and they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
SPEAKER_02: And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
SPEAKER_02: And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees in the garden.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 9.
SPEAKER_02: Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you?
SPEAKER_02: So he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.
SPEAKER_02: A couple observations I want to make very quickly about this verse.
SPEAKER_02: Here's number one.
SPEAKER_02: Sin, death, disease, everything, the praying mamas and grandmamas who got their prayer closet, everything that you're trying to avoid that you're asking God to protect you from in 2025.
SPEAKER_02: Entered the world, not because nobody killed anybody, not because anybody gossiped, nobody backstabbed.
SPEAKER_02: Sin, death, disease, everything you're praying against, entered the world because Adam and Eve tasted and consumed something that they were not designed to digest.
SPEAKER_02: They tasted and consumed something that they were not designed to digest.
SPEAKER_02: Second observation, once this happens, they don't start running, they start hiding.
SPEAKER_02: I grew up a PK.
SPEAKER_02: When you grow up a PK, you hear all the conversations about the people in the church, and you have some people who backslide, and you know, you'll use terms like we got a runner.
SPEAKER_02: We got a runner.
SPEAKER_02: Running from God.
SPEAKER_02: They're just running from God.
SPEAKER_02: But isn't it interesting that that's not the strategy that the enemy used in Genesis chapter 3?
SPEAKER_02: They didn't start running, they started hiding.
SPEAKER_02: Now there's a difference between running and hiding.
SPEAKER_02: And this is what I think the strategy of the enemy is and what he knew.
SPEAKER_02: The enemy knew from the very beginning that you could hide a lot longer than you can run.
SPEAKER_02: If you run from God, he runs the risk of you getting tired.
SPEAKER_02: And if you get tired, then you might actually get so tired that you realize that you can't do this on your own.
SPEAKER_02: So instead, he wanted us to start hiding.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what I believe happened in Genesis chapter 3.
SPEAKER_02: I think Satan implemented a generational strategy.
SPEAKER_02: Whether you're 6, 16, or 60 in this room, nobody taught you how to hide.
SPEAKER_02: Nobody taught you how to hide.
SPEAKER_02: Not only that, whether you're six, sixteen, or sixty, we're all good at it.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what else happened in Genesis chapter three.
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't just the first time that creation started hiding, it was the first time creation stopped seeking.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what I don't and I don't know the timeline here.
SPEAKER_02: Dr.
SPEAKER_02: Irene, you can help me out.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know the timeline of what this looks like, but I can I can guess that when Satan is kicked out of heaven and he's on earth and now he's tempting Adam and Eve to get them to hide.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know what the gap was from him being in heaven to him being on the earth.
SPEAKER_02: But here's what I am confident in is that Satan knew if they seek him, they will find him.
SPEAKER_02: So his strategy can't be to run.
SPEAKER_02: It can't be to get us to run.
SPEAKER_02: It's got to be to get us to hide.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Because you can't hide and seek at the same time.
SPEAKER_02: You can't hide and seek at the same time.
SPEAKER_02: I think I think Satan knew Jeremiah 29, 13.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says this, and you will seek me and find me.
SPEAKER_02: When you search for me with all of your heart, how do we hide?
SPEAKER_02: If it's a generational strategy, how do we do it?
SPEAKER_02: Well, Adam and Eve hid because of shame.
SPEAKER_02: The Bible says they were afraid of their nakedness, and so they went and they hid.
SPEAKER_02: You can look all throughout scripture in the Old Testament, you'll see Jacob hid himself pretending to be in Esau in jealousy and insecurity.
SPEAKER_02: He needed his father to believe that he deserved the blessing.
SPEAKER_02: Here's an interesting one that I think is the most common in the Western church today.
SPEAKER_02: King Saul decided to hide in pride.
SPEAKER_02: And he actually took on the embodiment of his hiding place.
SPEAKER_02: He took his power and tried to kill David.
SPEAKER_02: He tried to flex his muscles and his pride when actually it was insecurity, but he just did it out in the open.
SPEAKER_02: I'll tell you what this looks like as a youth pastor.
SPEAKER_02: I've been a youth pastor serving in youth for seven or eight years.
SPEAKER_02: And what this looks like is I've met a lot of fathers who are great at lifting up weights but not lifting up their kids.
SPEAKER_02: I've met a lot of people who are great at work and bad at home.
SPEAKER_02: Here's one to lighten the mood a little bit, because I know that was pretty harsh.
SPEAKER_02: Me and Hannah have a friend, she's approaching her 30s, and she's single, and she is taken on the embodiment of I am an independent woman and no one will touch me.
SPEAKER_02: And I this, and I thought to myself, you wanted to be married 10 years ago, but what's happened is in her insecurity, even though God's got a plan for her and there's nothing wrong with their singleness, in her insecurity, she is now taking on the identity of her hiding place.
SPEAKER_02: Here's how it can happen to Gateway Church after 2024.
SPEAKER_02: Here's how we could hide and pride.
SPEAKER_02: Tough year 2024, but did you see how many people came to candlelight?
SPEAKER_02: Praise God.
SPEAKER_02: And we can actually take this hiding place and we'll start doing it out in the open in pride.
SPEAKER_02: And here's how he gets us to do this.
SPEAKER_02: When Satan convinces us that meekness is weakness.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know about you, but I felt like at the start of 2024 we were gateway church.
SPEAKER_02: And I felt like at the end of 2024 we were gateway church.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the deal.
SPEAKER_02: I would rather be here in pain than here in pride.
SPEAKER_02: And here's what I also know, regardless of however you're struggling to hide today, because it's a generational strategy.
SPEAKER_02: Satan's plan of hiding doesn't discriminate at age.
SPEAKER_02: My little girl does it, I do it, we do it.
SPEAKER_02: But at some point we have to make a decision.
SPEAKER_02: Because what I know is that Satan implemented this strategy not just to get us to hide, but to get us not to seek.
SPEAKER_02: In 2024, even though there is this thing innately inside of us that when we make a mess, we want to hide.
SPEAKER_02: I know that in 2025, Gateway Church, both as a body and as individuals, we have a decision to make, and it's the title of this message: hide or go seek.
SPEAKER_02: Hide or go seek.
SPEAKER_02: But Abram, we're church people.
SPEAKER_02: The decision is easy.
SPEAKER_02: It's not.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm not here to give Satan credit, but I am here to read scripture, and the scripture says that he's cunning.
SPEAKER_02: And God is a creator, and Satan is a counterfeit.
SPEAKER_02: And what I would submit to you today is God's plan to get us to seek is eerily similar to what Satan does to try to get us to hide.
SPEAKER_02: I'll prove it to you.
SPEAKER_02: Satan slithered in the garden.
SPEAKER_02: He had a strategy.
SPEAKER_02: I need Eve to taste and see.
SPEAKER_02: Psalm 34 says, God says, taste and see that I am good.
SPEAKER_02: Actually, even when they went to hide, it's a counterfeit version of who God already is.
SPEAKER_02: Because in Psalm 32, 119, 27, and 32, God calls himself a hiding place.
SPEAKER_02: So here's what this means.
SPEAKER_02: In 2025, Satan doesn't have to convince us to hide or seek.
SPEAKER_02: We're designed to do that.
SPEAKER_02: He doesn't have to get us to convince us out of nowhere to taste or convince us out of nowhere to hide.
SPEAKER_02: You're designed to do both.
SPEAKER_02: So what his strategy is, is I just got to get him to taste the wrong thing and hide in the wrong place.
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_02: I got a lot going on at home.
SPEAKER_02: I need a miracle.
SPEAKER_02: I felt like in 2024, every part of my life was touched.
SPEAKER_02: Went to work, things are hard at work.
SPEAKER_02: At home, things are hard at home.
SPEAKER_02: I need a miracle and my little boy.
SPEAKER_02: Even my fantasy football team was terrible last year.
SPEAKER_02: But at some point we've got to make a decision.
SPEAKER_02: Are we going to hide or are we going to seek?
SPEAKER_02: Because I'm kind of sick of talking about it.
SPEAKER_02: I'm kind of ready to move forward.
SPEAKER_02: But here's what we can't do: we can't just sit in this building and beg God, God, please come, because I'm pretty sure God is saying back to us, I came 2,000 years ago.
SPEAKER_02: I need you to show up.
SPEAKER_02: We've got to show up.
SPEAKER_02: And I think Satan revealed his entire hand in Genesis chapter 3.
SPEAKER_02: I think he revealed his entire hand, his entire strategy.
SPEAKER_02: I think he revealed it in Genesis chapter 3.
SPEAKER_02: He got Eve to do something that he still tries to get us to do today.
SPEAKER_02: Here's point number one.
SPEAKER_02: Give your ears away.
SPEAKER_02: Long before Satan got Eve to taste, he got her ears.
SPEAKER_02: If you look at this scripture, we go back to Genesis chapter 3, verse 1.
SPEAKER_02: Now, when the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, he said to the woman, he said to the woman, he said to the woman, he didn't walk up and say, Here's the fruit.
SPEAKER_02: He started a conversation first.
SPEAKER_02: He started the conversation first.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, this is what I need us to understand because there's this thing fighting against the church called casual Christianity.
SPEAKER_02: And we love to talk about how God is love and how God is grace, but God is also holy.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm not here to preach religion.
SPEAKER_02: I'm here to preach relationship.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the thing if we're not careful with what we casually allow in our ears, the enemy will get us to hide.
SPEAKER_02: And there are books, music, TV shows, and all kinds of things that have creeped their way into Christian homes and into the Christian church.
SPEAKER_02: It breaks God's heart because the enemy will not serve us anything that does not result in us hiding.
SPEAKER_02: And if we are hiding, we will not be seeking.
SPEAKER_02: Romans 10, 17 says this.
SPEAKER_02: So faith comes from hearing.
SPEAKER_02: Say that with me.
SPEAKER_02: So faith comes from hearing.
SPEAKER_02: Why does the enemy want your ears?
SPEAKER_02: Because he wants your faith.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what that's scary, because scripture says that we are saved by grace through.
SPEAKER_02: I was driving in downtown Dallas.
SPEAKER_02: Now I need a GPS to go literally everywhere.
SPEAKER_02: Literally everywhere.
SPEAKER_02: We're driving in downtown Dallas, me and my wife.
SPEAKER_02: We got our GPS, we've got our destination, and we're just cruising, and we get pretty close to our destination, but we got the music turned up, and I go, hey, babe, I need you to turn the music down.
SPEAKER_02: I need to be able to see where we're going.
SPEAKER_02: You've done it, you know you've done it.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the deal.
SPEAKER_02: The music doesn't physically affect your eyesight, it affects your focus.
SPEAKER_02: If the enemy can take your focus.
SPEAKER_02: If the enemy can take your ears, point number two, he'll give your eyes away.
SPEAKER_02: If the enemy can take your ears, he'll take your eyes.
SPEAKER_02: Genesis 3, verse 6.
SPEAKER_02: So that when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes.
SPEAKER_02: Got a little casual about it.
SPEAKER_02: We've let some things into homes.
SPEAKER_02: We've let some things into our churches.
SPEAKER_02: We've let some things in that wasn't designed to be there.
SPEAKER_02: In Matthew 6, 22, here's why the eye matters.
SPEAKER_02: It says your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body.
SPEAKER_02: When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.
SPEAKER_02: So the enemy comes into your life and he has a goal.
SPEAKER_02: I want to take their faith and I want to take their light.
SPEAKER_02: If I can take their faith and take their light, they'll do this.
SPEAKER_02: Point number three.
SPEAKER_02: Give your life away.
SPEAKER_02: Whatever has your ears and your eyes, you will give your life to.
SPEAKER_02: Can I tell you something?
SPEAKER_02: I love 2025 charge messages.
SPEAKER_02: I grew up a pastor's kid.
SPEAKER_02: I've seen them my whole life.
SPEAKER_02: 2025, New Year, New You, baby.
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
SPEAKER_02: I'm for it.
SPEAKER_02: But I know many of you were like me when you woke up on January 1st this year and you saw what happened in New Orleans.
SPEAKER_02: And you saw what happened in Las Vegas.
SPEAKER_02: You see news today with wildfires in California.
SPEAKER_02: And what you realize is that death, destruction, and bad news doesn't care that the year changed.
SPEAKER_02: I don't care.
SPEAKER_02: And what I'm scared of is that we could live our lives trying to hide and seek.
SPEAKER_02: I was in a service here at Gateway.
SPEAKER_02: Now you're about to think I'm about to roast our own church, but I'm family, so I can kind of do that.
SPEAKER_02: Someone I love, I'd never call them out, but someone I love, and I don't think it's bad.
SPEAKER_02: But someone I love, they came up after a worship uh one of the worship songs at one of our campuses.
SPEAKER_02: And that's a hard thing to do.
SPEAKER_02: Like transitioning from worship to the message is a hard thing to do.
SPEAKER_02: No ill-intended, there's nothing really wrong with it, but they came up and they said, We're gonna take the next 10 seconds and we're gonna give God all the glory.
SPEAKER_01: On the count of three, we're gonna take 10 seconds.
SPEAKER_02: And I felt like the Lord whispered to me and said, The enemy's okay with that.
SPEAKER_02: The enemy is okay with that.
SPEAKER_02: Can I tell you that God does not want 10 seconds?
SPEAKER_02: He wants your life.
SPEAKER_02: He doesn't want 10 seconds, he wants your life.
SPEAKER_02: In Matthew, in Matthew chapter 13, before you put it up on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: Matthew chapter 13.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is talking in a parable, trying to get some people to understand some particular things that he needs them to understand.
SPEAKER_02: And the disciples come to Jesus and they say, Hey, why are you talking this way?
SPEAKER_02: Like, why are you speaking in parables and why are you doing this thing?
SPEAKER_02: Now we're about to read Jesus' response, but the response is important because here's what Jesus is about to say.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is about to describe why he talks the way he talks.
SPEAKER_02: That's important to us.
SPEAKER_02: In Matthew 13, verse 15, here's Jesus' response to why he talks the way he talks.
SPEAKER_02: For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes, so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand.
SPEAKER_02: And here's the scariest part.
SPEAKER_02: And they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says, they can't turn to me and let me heal them because they're worshiping me, but they haven't submitted their eyes and their ears.
SPEAKER_02: Here's the thing: Satan and God want the same thing from you, your life.
SPEAKER_02: Here's the difference.
SPEAKER_02: One is death and destruction, and one is life and life more abundantly.
SPEAKER_02: But if we're not careful, here's how we'll live our entire life.
SPEAKER_02: We will try to hide and seek the same time, and we won't submit our life.
SPEAKER_02: We'll say we love him.
SPEAKER_02: But we're still in and we're still out, and we'll sit back here and we'll hide and we're like, I know the lyrics to Waymaker.
SPEAKER_02: And I'll come to church on Sunday, but I'm not gonna seek him on my own.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what it looks like to hide and seek in Western church.
SPEAKER_02: It looks like this we beg for his hand, but will not seek his heart.
SPEAKER_02: And I refuse to be a part of a church that begs for God's hand but does not seek his heart.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the problem: there's a cost.
SPEAKER_02: There's a cost.
SPEAKER_02: There's a cost to really know him, to really have intimacy with him.
SPEAKER_02: It's not religion, it's relationship, but it is a cost.
SPEAKER_02: In 2025, I don't just want to love God, I want to fear God.
SPEAKER_02: Spiritual warfare is not fictional warfare.
SPEAKER_02: And listen here, my heart, because this is me too.
SPEAKER_02: The Lord knows I'm not perfect.
SPEAKER_02: But there are some people here, there are some people in our body, there are people in Christians all over America right now doing 21-day fasts.
SPEAKER_02: We love it.
SPEAKER_02: But if we're honest with ourselves, we are fasting things for 21 days that some of us need to give up for the rest of our life.
SPEAKER_02: You've got to submit your eyes and your ears, and there's a cost.
SPEAKER_02: And it's so worth it.
SPEAKER_02: It's so worth it.
SPEAKER_02: Because if you seek him, he will find him.
SPEAKER_02: And when you find him, you'll have life and life more abundantly.
SPEAKER_02: But you gotta lay some stuff down.
SPEAKER_02: You've gotta make a choice.
SPEAKER_02: Disciples make decisions.
SPEAKER_02: We have to make a choice.
SPEAKER_02: And as a church, we're gonna do some awesome things in 2025.
SPEAKER_02: I love this house.
SPEAKER_02: I love this church.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna seek him as a church.
SPEAKER_02: We are.
SPEAKER_02: And Gateway kids, we're gonna believe that he is the head, not the tail.
SPEAKER_02: He is above only and not beneath.
SPEAKER_02: We are blessed going in and blessed going out, and everything we set our hands to will prosper.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna believe it.
SPEAKER_02: And gateway youth, we just switched our name from Gateway Students to Gateway Youth.
SPEAKER_02: The reason we did it is because we wanted the entire identity of our youth ministry to be based around Scripture.
SPEAKER_02: It's 1 Timothy 4 12.
SPEAKER_02: Don't let anyone look down on the youth.
SPEAKER_02: But set a standard, be an example of faith, love, speech, hope, and purity.
SPEAKER_02: We believe in Gateway Youth that God is calling the youth of our church to set the standard, not wait on anybody else to lead.
SPEAKER_02: They can lead.
SPEAKER_02: And Gateway Young Adults, I'm so excited in Gateway Young Adults.
SPEAKER_02: We're doing something brand new in 2025.
SPEAKER_02: And on we're launching February 18th, every single Tuesday night in this building, all of our campuses, all of our young adults.
SPEAKER_02: If you're 18, 19, 20s, mid-30s, shout out.
SPEAKER_02: If you got kids, we got kids ministry.
SPEAKER_02: All right.
SPEAKER_02: And we're gonna come together as a young adult community and we're gonna seek after his heart together.
SPEAKER_02: And we're gonna launch groups at all of our campuses, and we're gonna have people plugged in and have healthy groups.
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be awesome.
SPEAKER_02: And we're not just in the next gym.
SPEAKER_02: We've got grief share ministry, and our weekend services are gonna be spirit-led, and Pastor Max and Pastor Young are gonna be here, and it's gonna be awesome.
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be amazing.
SPEAKER_02: Our equip ministry on Sunday is gonna equip people to live a life for Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be awesome.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna have freedom ministry and Kairos and Gateway Performing Arts, and it's all gonna be awesome.
SPEAKER_02: And it's not enough.
SPEAKER_02: It's not enough.
SPEAKER_02: Because you've got to go see for yourself.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus did not walk around in the Old Testament healing people and then say, Text healing to 71010.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus walked around in the New Testament and he said, Hey, come and see.
SPEAKER_02: Come and see.
SPEAKER_02: And listen, we have created a false dependency on the church for what God has called us to do ourselves.
SPEAKER_02: You just gotta go and see for yourself.
SPEAKER_02: You've just gotta seek him.
SPEAKER_02: You've just gotta lay it down.
SPEAKER_02: You've got to.
SPEAKER_02: He wants you, he wants your whole heart.
SPEAKER_02: But it's gonna come at a cost.
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna come at a cost.
SPEAKER_02: And we've gotta lay some things down so that we can really see him.
SPEAKER_02: In 2025, I will not hide, I will seek.
SPEAKER_02: And let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_02: Everything in me, I need a miracle.
SPEAKER_02: My little boy needs a miracle.
SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
SPEAKER_02: Everything in me wants to go home and go in my room and Google every medical term I could ever see for the rest of my life and learn all these things and learn what are the chances of his life expectancy.
SPEAKER_02: I want to go in my room and numb myself with social media to try to forget about the pain.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm not gonna do it because I won't hide.
SPEAKER_02: I will seek.
SPEAKER_02: And my call to Gateway Church to end this conference is to seek.
SPEAKER_02: Seek him.
SPEAKER_02: Don't create a false dependency on anyone on this platform.
SPEAKER_02: Go and see it for yourself.
SPEAKER_02: I beg you, go and see it for yourself.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_02: The band is gonna, the band's coming out at every single campus.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna do this at all of our campuses.
SPEAKER_02: And here's what I'm gonna ask you to do.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna end strong and we're gonna open the altars.
SPEAKER_02: And we're gonna ask you if you want to to start this year, you can come and lay some things down at every campus.
SPEAKER_02: The campus pastor can come up on the stage right now.
SPEAKER_02: Even though you're standing in front of me, it's okay, we'll be fine.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna do something together, and I want you to see your leader at your campus when we do this.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what I'm gonna ask you.
SPEAKER_02: Is there anybody in here that in 2025 you're not gonna hide and you're gonna seek?
SPEAKER_02: If that's you, stand up.
SPEAKER_02: At every campus, if that's you, stand up.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, here's what we're gonna do together.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna end this with some scripture.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna end this in Matthew chapter six, because scripture is abundantly clear on how we should seek and how we should pray, and that's how we're gonna end, alright?
SPEAKER_02: In Matthew chapter six, verse five, and when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.
SPEAKER_02: Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_02: But you, when you pray, go into your room.
SPEAKER_02: And when you have shut your door, pray to your father who is in the secret place.
SPEAKER_02: And your father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
SPEAKER_02: And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as heathen do.
SPEAKER_02: For they do not, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, do not be like them.
SPEAKER_02: For your father knows the things you have need before you ask him.
SPEAKER_02: In this manner, therefore, pray.
SPEAKER_02: Now at every campus, we're gonna do this prayer together.
SPEAKER_02: But here's what this was what we just read.
SPEAKER_02: It's an admission.
SPEAKER_02: I need the secret place.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, Gateway Church is your church, but it is not your source.
SPEAKER_02: This is your church, it is not your source.
SPEAKER_02: At every campus, that's your campus, but it's not your source.
SPEAKER_02: He's your source.
SPEAKER_02: And as a pastor at Gateway Church, I'll tell you this: I am way more concerned about your attendance to the secret place than your attendance at Gateway Church.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna pray this prayer together at every single campus, and I'm gonna say amen, and we're gonna worship, and we're really gonna worship.
SPEAKER_02: And if that's you and you wanna come down to the altar and submit your eyes and your ears at every campus, you can do that.
SPEAKER_02: Ready, here we go.
SPEAKER_02: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_02: Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
SPEAKER_02: For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever! Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Let's worship together.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.
SPEAKER_00: We hope you have a great week.