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Amen.

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Um, okay, so I want to shift here because um I'm trying to get to this because we're gonna kind of take a a shift in our in our topic or our I don't know what you want to call it. It's been a long series, it's been from the beginning of the year, it's not even really a series anymore. I don't know if it's an anthem, it's a theme, I'm not sure. Uh but we've been talking about transformation. And the first ten weeks of this talk, um, we talked about just the topic of transformation itself, the necessity of it, the need, the the continuation of it, transformation, how we can't go without it, transformation, how it doesn't stop, it continues on, no matter how old you are, how long you've been saved, the need to transform is is continuous in our life. And we we're calling it still transforming, is what we called this still transforming. Uh so just the topic of transformation, just that first part of Romans 12.2, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. Uh, we just kind of just looked at that transformation idea. Uh, and there's a battle for your transformation, just all kinds of thoughts on that. And now today we're gonna kind of shift or move, as I like to say, kind of crawl along that verse a little bit more today. So, Romans 12.2 is continuing to be our main text, and um, here's where we want to kind of look at, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And we're gonna start to kind of go into a little more depth of the verse and the depth of what we need and how we get there, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now, I have this verse in many other translations. I haven't shown you a lot of the translations lately for mostly sake of time, and just because I didn't want it to get too repetitive because it's quite a few. But today, since we're gonna start kind of crawling along through the verse, let me go ahead and show you uh and what I highlight through the other versions. Don't change yourselves, the ERV version. Don't change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Let me show you the next translation. Easy Bible. Do not become like the people who belong to this world, but let God completely change the way that you think. And uh I had a friend one time that said, Man, my mind must be pretty messed up if God needs to completely change the way I think. And when I read that verse, there's there's a there's a very strong incentive there as to, I guess they'll say it like this. God, don't just change some of my mind, change all of my mind. Like change the entirety of my mind, the entire way that I think, even if it's good, God, I'm change you to make it even better. Let's go to the next translation. The voice. Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. And I think I got one more for you, my favorite one, the New Living Translation. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you, hear me, into a new person by changing the way that you think. And that part's pretty cool because now we're actually talking about you as an individual. Like, God transformed me into a new person. Like, that's special. And that's kind of where we're kind of gonna start diving into this thing and this idea of renewing the mind, of changing the way we think. Because as we've read through all these translations and we've kind of shown you all these different ways it's said, after weeks of highlighting just a portion or the thought of just transformation itself, we're gonna turn our attention to focus for a while here. I don't know for how many weeks or what. Like I told you in the beginning, we're gonna talk about this until God says we're done. And uh we're gonna kind of now shift our focus from just transformation to now how do we get there? Um, what's the process? How can I see transformation in my life? So we turn more attention to this part of the verse, which I highlighted for you in the different translations. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Let God completely change the way you think so that you live differently. Be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Now, I want to throw one thing out before I pray. I need to let you know transformation is not a destination, it's a journey. You never reach a point where you arrived. And you think, I know it all, I've done it all, I've seen it all, God's done with me. Well, then if that's the case, you're you're probably dead. Like then I, you know, you're no longer really living. Like you're not alive. Because this is ongoing, this is progressive, this is a continuation, okay? So as we're talking about this today, I don't care how long you've been saved, you better give your ears to attention, alright? And yes, that's Pastor Emmanuel being a little strict in the classroom today, I guess, right? Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for everything you have to say. Corona X 2.42, it is received gladly. Corona X 19 20, it'll prevail. I pray now, Father, use these lips of clay to speak your word without error and with excellence according to your desire. For we've gathered to hear the truth of your word and not the opinion of man. So, Father, I thank you now that your word takes root in the soul of our hearts, and we shall see the fruit of it in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Why don't you compliment your neighbor real quick? Tell your neighbor you look good, tell your neighbor you sound good, you smell good. I like your shoes, I like your hair. Give him a nice little compliment. If you didn't get complimented, come to me after church, I'll compliment you. So, as the board says we're on part 11. Part 11. And um as we read through the verses and show you the different translations, I think it becomes clear, and we'll put it on the board for you, that our mind, our thinking, is the key to transformation. That's the key here. Now, some of you are Bible scholars and know the word very well and have heard teachings on the mind and things I'm about to talk today, and you may, as we sit through service, think to yourself, Well, I've heard all that before. Like I just said a little while ago, well, listen again. Hear it again. Alright? Repetition is good. Say amen to that. So, because we're gonna dive into some topics here that maybe you sound familiar and you're like, well, I think I've heard that. Okay, well, we'll we'll hear it again, okay? Um, because we need to be reminded sometimes. If you and if you don't know, well, congratulations, you're gonna learn today. Um but our mind, our thinking, is the key to our transformation. That's why the Bible says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, change the way you think. You want to become a new person? Start with the way you think. Our mind, our thinking, is the key. So, question. What is the mind? What is the mind? Guys, can I get that board? Appreciate y'all. Can I what is the mind? And um that's a very kind of in-depth question and kind of a lot going on there. So, today, what I would like to do, today, I'm gonna take this a little retro, a little throwback, and kind of just um ignore that noise. I don't know what happened. They're not you know making anything in there or fabricating something. It's just the board. Alright, there we go. Alright. I'm gonna use a whiteboard today to help to help us hopefully understand this today. And hear me. I know it's like, don't we have screens and TVs? We do. But I feel like for the sake of just kind of making this a little easier to follow, uh, we're gonna like draw some things and put some things on a board. And if you're taking notes, just follow along with me, okay? Picture yourself back in class. Do the do they still use whiteboards? Do the kids still use whiteboards? I don't know. Picture yourself back in class again, and we're gonna kind of like dive into some thoughts here. Thank you. Give Kevin and James a hand clap, appreciate them. We've nicknamed them the Sons of Thunder. Um so I love them, they're awesome. Um if we're gonna talk about the mind, I first need to introduce you to something called spirit, soul, and body. So I am not an artsy person, okay? So if these circles are crooked and these lines are crooked, you know what I'm trying to do, okay? It'll be understandable. So um, spirit, soul, and body is kind of where we first need to start. And um, it can be a little, I don't know. It can be a little tricky, maybe a little in depth, that can be kind of hard to follow a little bit, but I promise you it's it's actually not it's actually not that complicated. Um, spirit, soul, and body. First, 1 Thessalonians 5.23, put it on the border. We still got scriptures though. I know I'm blocking it, but we got small screens. First Thessalonians 5.23, where does this idea come from? Now, this is Paul writing to the church uh in Thessalonica, and he's letting them know he's about to close out his letter, he's giving them final instructions, and he says, Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus comes again. So may your whole, say it with me, spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. So, why is he addressing your spirit, soul, and body? Well, to start off with, on the TV screens, let me say it like this. You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. So, here is spirit, and out here, just ignore the middle for now, is body. Sorry if you're waiting in the back, you can't see it, but I promise it says body. So we got body and we got spirit. Some may uh refer to this part as the physical and the spiritual, spirituality, physicality. So you have a body, you are, and but you are a spirit. You live in a body, but you are a spirit. So, let's kind of go slow here. What's the spirit? This will be on your screens for you. It's the the inner person. It's the inner the inner man. This is the deepest part of you. Some would even say it's the center of you. You are a spirit that created by God, the spirit, hear me, is what allows you to have connection with God. It's because of the spirit you can have fellowship with God. You can have communion with God, you can have intimacy with God. Spirit speaks unto Spirit. The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, connects with your spirit. And I know sometimes people say, Well, I heard this and I hear that. I have time today to get into it, but I need you to go beyond physical ears and eyes and start to understand you have spiritual ears. I remember my pastor laid hands on me and he said, Lord, help him hear the words of the spirit. And I understood in that moment, he wasn't talking about these ears, he was talking about being able to hear within my spirit man, the inner man. This is the deep part of me. This is the center of me. I connect with God through the spirit. Now the body, as we see here, we're talking about now the physical, the tangible part. Uh, this is like your, we'll call it even like your five, I'll put it up there, then right down here. Your five senses. I'll just write it down here. Your five senses. And these five senses, your body, are connecting to the material world. This is how you interact with the world. Now, I'm not gonna lie, when I was putting notes together on this, I had the hardest time remembering what the five senses were. I may or may not have to have Googled it to remember and refresh my memory. Because I was literally going like smell, ears, taste, like, oh my god, I can't remember. Okay, but the five senses smell, hear, taste, touch, um, um, sight. Yeah. I'm not a biology science, biology teacher, I'm a pastor. Okay, so here, but the five senses, and with these five senses, what do you do? You interact with the world. You you live, you see, you hear, you feel, you you feel the world around you. We're real big on feelings nowadays, aren't we? And and and the body is what God put us in. Like one uh children's pastor said one time, when men go to the moon, they put on a spacesuit. You're on Earth, you have an earth suit. This is just your earth suit. This is just the this is I like to I like to say it like this. This is just rental property. Like you don't even really own this thing. Like, it's gonna die one day. Like, it's physical, it's decaying. Like, and you make it look good, awesome, you're still getting older. Say amen to that. Like, like, like it's just the way it is. And and and here indwells like your brain, your nerves. Um, the body, we remember, is formed from the dust. And by the way, is subject to death. This that's the body, and that's what we dwell in. Now I want to be clear about something because I feel like as time's gone on, the body has kind of gotten a bad rap because of this thing called the flesh, which we'll talk about in a second. But I want to just clear something up. The body's not necessarily a bad thing. We use our body to speak to people about Jesus. We use our body to serve people, we use our body in service and sacrifice to the kingdom of God. So, church, what I want to tell you is this is that when we go through this message and you see the body, we're not gonna necessarily like boo body, no. There's a part of it that we have trouble with, but I'll explain in a second, but I want you to know what God gave us, according to 1 Thessalonians, this is to be holy. This is to be used. This is what's used to be able to testify and live and serve God. But I'll say it like this: we are called to worship him with our body. You lift up hands, you sing your songs, you you you use this body in service to him. But now we have spirit, we have spirit, we have body, but between the two, between the spirit and the body, we do have this thing called the soul. Here's where we start to kind of narrow this down a little more. Remember, you are a spirit, you have a soul, you live in a body. So, what is the soul? Put it on the board. It's your mind, your will, your emotions. It's made up now of three things, just the way your spirit, soul, and body, your soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions. Now, I think to myself, God, there's a lot going on here. Mind, will, and emotions. The soul is made up there. The will is your decisions, the choices you make. God calls it free will. Like some people say, I didn't mean to punch him in the face. Okay, but you made the decision to punch them in the face. I didn't mean to cuss them out. Well, you made the decision to cuss them out. Got very quiet all of a sudden, but that's fine. Your emotions, your feelings. Now, I don't mean like the tangible things we feel on earth, I mean happiness, anger, joy, sadness, depression, anxiety, the feelings that we dwell within, we deal with within. And look at me. I don't care if you claim to be the toughest guy in this room, we all have feelings. And look at me. I don't care if you claim to be the toughest guy in this room, all of us at times get caught up in our feelings. Say amen to that. Husbands, look at your wives and say amen to them. Amen. Wives, look at your husbands and say, Amen and amen. Sometimes the men want to act like, I don't know how. And I've learned that sometimes men, we are the most sensitive people because we have feelings. We all have feelings we're dealing with. But then there's this part where we start to narrow it down right here. Because the Bible gets specific, it talks about the mind. And if you see on the board right now, the mind is lengthy. Your thoughts, your beliefs, your ideas, your responses, your your your imagination, your reasoning, your memories, all within the mind. And right there is where we start to need to kind of ask ourselves some in-depth questions. And before I ask you one in-depth question, I'll kind of say it like this. The body, soul, and spirit, I've even heard people say like this, if this helps you kind of uh narrow it down a little more for you as well, and kind of breaks this down for you a little bit. You have a chooser, soul, mind, will, and emotions. I'm sorry, mind, will, and emotions. Mind, will, and emotions. Mind. You have a thinker. Again, excuse my handwriting. Will. You have a chooser. Emotions. You have a feeler. Again, excuse my handwriting. Thinker, chooser, feeler. I submit to you that even though they're grouped together, mind, will, and emotions, the soul, I submit to you, just in my lifetime, in my short 40 years here on earth, just in my lifetime of ministry, talking to people, from teenagers to adults, to married, unmarried, to just all types of different people, walking with people through situations of life, from death to newborns, to all kinds of things, I just had this conviction that right here is where we get in the most trouble. Right here is where problems will start to develop that lead to other problems. Even though the soul has the will and the emotions, notice the Bible says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So somewhere along the way here, it was God was speaking to us, and throughout the Bible you can see it, where it becomes clear to us you want to fix your life, fix your mind. You want to change your life, change your mind. The thinker. Start there. Begin there. Within the soul, where you have all these things lying, it's like the processing center. All this information's being given to the soul, and I'll speak on that in a second. And the soul has to think on it and choose based on it and develops feelings because of all the information it it takes in. So, question. And this is where we'll get in depth and we'll go from here. What informs your soul? What influences your soul? What persuades your soul? What motivates your soul? What sways, what pours into your soul? Because all this going on right here, something is persuading it. Something is motivating it. What's motivating your thoughts? What's what's what's persuading the way you think? What what is it that is that that is uh swaying the thoughts you have today that's influencing the thoughts you have in the morning? What is it? What what what is coming in to your soul specifically now? What is channeling, pouring into? Or I'll say it like this hear me. What is your soul receiving from? Think, just think with me. What is your soul receiving from? Well, you are a spirit, you have a soul, you live in a body. And there's this thing called the world. You know the world. You live in it. The world. And in case you didn't know, your body, my body, takes in sights and sounds and ideas and thoughts from the world that you live in. That I live in. Driving in the car, if you still listen to the radio, things get thrown out to the radio. You're walking down the road and you see billboards for things, and you're like, man, that that doesn't look nice at all. You're at work and people are having ugly conversations around you. Here's the thing. You may think, well, that's not affecting me. Your body's taking it all in. Your body is receiving all these things. And I'll tell you today, maybe you don't think so or not, but the world is pouring into your body. The world is pouring into you every single day. The ideas of the world, the thoughts of the world, what success is defined as, what a man should be, what a woman should be, the way you should live, uh, the way you should believe, the way you should treat others, it's all being poured into you through this thing we call the world. I wish it wasn't maybe the case, but it is, because we live in this world. And when the Bible talks about what is it worth for a man to gain the whole world, but then lose his own soul. The Bible is saying that you're taking in all the material things of the world, you not only take them in, but they settle within your life. You think according to them, you live according to them, you do life according to the ideas, the philosophy, the thoughts, the ways of the world. And guess what begins to happen? Your soul begins to get impacted. Your soul begins to take in all these things, all these ideas, all these philosophies, all these thoughts. Your soul takes them all in. And can we be the first to admit there could be some good things the world does and good things we see in the world that oh, that's nice, that's cool, that's kind of lovely, that's sweet. But if we're being honest, we know that Satan is the ruler of the. So I guarantee you, there's more pollution being poured into your body than you realize. So this world now is polluting your body. The green is pollution, because I just chose that. And it's just polluting your body, it's just polluting your body, it's just polluting your body, it's polluting your body, and all those ugly ways of thinking, ugly ways of doing, ugly ways of living, all of that is just being poured into your senses. So I remind you now you are a spirit, you have a soul, you live in a body. If all that is coming into your body, where does it eventually arrive? Right here in the soul. You didn't even realize it. You don't even think about it sometimes. And if it comes, hear me. If it gets into your soul, what is it affecting? Your mind, your will, and your emotions. I like to call it almost like this pollution of the soul. How? It comes from the world through your body into your mind, and all of a sudden now, you think certain ways, you act certain ways, you believe certain ways. I'll give you a good example. Parents, you've done the best you can to the but the best you can to raise your kids in a godly home, in a godly environment. All of a sudden they start to get a little older, a little older. And all of a sudden they start saying things, they're like, where did you learn that from? They come back to you with some type of back talk. Where did you learn that from? I've heard I youth pastor says, they're acting a little differently. Why? Because even your children live in the world. And the world wants to pour into your children, and guess what? Wants to pollute even the soul of your little child. Because I remind you, in the kingdom of hell, or to Satan, I should say, to Satan, it doesn't matter how old you are, every person is fair game. He will pollute the minds of kids, he'll pollute the minds of grandkids, he'll pollute the mind of any person he can. How does he do it? Through the world. And that world, ideas and thoughts get into your body, the senses take it in, it ends up channeling into your soul. And you would think to yourself, though, hear me, but I'm not a bad person. Even if I'm not saved, like Manuel, I'm not this horrible, wretched person that wants to do ugly things and bad things and be ugly to people and do things God doesn't want me to do. I'm not that person, I'm not like that. Like I'm a I'm a decent human being, I'm a decent guy, I'm a decent woman. Well, here's the problem. Here's your body, and part of your body has this thing called the flesh. And you know what? Your flesh loves all the bad things. And you think, man, I'm not a bad part no, but like your flesh gets a little taste. Oh As I said earlier, that's that personnel feel pretty good. Oh. Slipping around with people, that feels pretty good. Oh. Stealing from my boss and their company, I I feel alright about that. It tastes and it says, you know what? That feels pretty good. But I'm not a bad person, I'm not an ugly person, I'm not this horrible. I I believe you, Boo-Boo. I think you're an angel, I think you're a sweetheart. But you have a flesh, and that flesh, the Bible even calls it the lusts of the flesh. And I can't have time to get into it. How did we get there? There's this tonto named Adam back in the Garden of Eden, along with his tonta wife, Eve, back in the Garden of Eden. Ladies, you don't get off today. You do the who just messed this all up. And now we have to battle this thing called the flesh. And the flesh, what did I say earlier? The body's not bad. The body's good. God gave it to us. We use this body to work for the Lord, to serve the Lord, to do the kingdom's work. But hear me, the ungodly things that get poured into our body, it's our flesh that's like, more please, two pleas. Let's do that again, please. And you know what happens? Because the flesh enjoys it, your mind starts to think, well, that ain't so bad, is it? That feels pretty good. You start to replay the night you had last night that you don't kind of remember, but you're like, it was all pretty fun. You start to think some of the things you did are like, well, you know, nobody really got hurt. You know, yeah, yeah. The mind's like, yeah, you know what? I think we're okay. We're alright, it's all good. Oh, how about this one? I I love this one. Hey man, I am who I am. You know what happened? Your mind, your mind has just been captivated by satisfying the flesh. If the flesh is happy, the mind gets convinced. I think we're good, man. So what happens? You start developing a thinking, you start to develop a mindset that you know what? As long as I feel good, I can make decisions, choose things that are gonna be my decisions, and in the end, life is fine. And your mind says, Let's go with that. And I know this is kind of crazy, and maybe a little more than you came to church expecting, but here's what I'm trying to get at here, real quick. I don't care how long you've been saved, look at me, especially older people, I'm not picking on you, but look at me. You will always have a flesh. You can be alive till you're 95 years old on a, God forbid, on a hospital room, ready to die. And you still have a flesh. True story. I went to go visit a man one time that was 93 years old in the hospital. He was not saved. The fellow in my heart to go visit him. Man, this guy was still telling dirty jokes, still cussing people out, still saying this and this about his kids. And I'm like, man, you're about to die, man. You should probably straighten up a little bit. Why? Because he still has a flesh, and that flesh will still crave and love doing what satisfies it, and the mind is polluted, so next thing you know, what happens? Well, put it on the board. You develop a way of thinking that follows the pattern of the world, which has been pouring into you, and you live according to those thoughts. That's all it is. The patterns of the world have poured into you so much, you begin to think, you begin to ponder, imagine, according to these things that you're taking in. And even if the party's like, well, it could be wrong, but it's okay. Because why? Often the world will say, Fine, don't worry about it. No big deal. It's alright. And in the end, hear me. Your soul is dying. And even though it it it you're alive, that soul of yours is suffering. It's being buried by the thoughts and the ways of the world that have been poured into your life. And Satan's tricky like that. It makes people think that if you feel alright, everything should be okay. No. Church, look at me. You should bring everything before the Lord. And say, My God, I want your will, not mine. That even if the world says it should be this way, my God, what do you say? Even if the world says that's okay, God, what do you say? What do you say? So I tell every person here today, hear me. If you're alive, which you are, say amen, you're alive today, you do have a world that is pouring into your life. You do. And I'll be honest, I don't like it. I don't like thinking that my thinker, my chooser, my feeler is being polluted or trying to be polluted on a daily basis, but it is. And if I'm not careful, guess what? My soul becomes polluted, and all of a sudden, I'm just living life according to those thoughts, those ways, and those ideas. And if you don't think it's possible, huh, Philippians 3, put on the board. For there are many of whom I often told you, amplified Bible, and now even tell you with tears, Paul is crying as he writes this, who live as enemies of the cross of Christ, rejecting and opposing his way of salvation, whose fate is destruction, whose God is their belly, their worldly appetite, their sensuality, their vanity, and whose glory is in their shame, who focus their mind on earthly and temporal things. Romans 8 5. Those who live according to the flesh have set their minds on what the flesh desires. Church, the mind can literally become locked in, set, secured into a worldly way of thinking. And again, I remind you, nobody is exempt from this. I'll show you as we go in the next few weeks where there's even a passage that talks about where Paul says, I'm concerned that you have the correct thinking, but your thinking's gonna change. Because even after you've been saved, all of a sudden this world doesn't stop pouring in and wants to continue to try to pollute us. Yes, hear me. Even godly ways of thinking can be pushed out of our lives. But before we get into those in the weeks to come, I hear you in some people today, and we'll wrap this up. Some people will say today, but Pastor, I'm saved. Jesus is in my heart. Like I this this sounds like things maybe I really used to dwell in the past with, maybe, where I was really kind of messed up in the way I was thinking and messed up in the way I was living. And I will admit that the pattern of my life was following the world. Like, like, you know, like it was, it was it was in the past. Thank you, Jesus. I'm so glad you're saved. Say amen to that. Who's glad that they're saved? Raise your hand. Give the Lord a handcuff if you're glad you're saved. Like, I know. I I'm so glad. I'm so glad. I'm so glad I'm saved. If I wasn't saved, you know what I would do? I'd get saved. Like that's like I like that. I I wanted, like, I'm so glad I am saved. But I got some news for you. Put on the board. When you got saved, your sins were washed, but your mind was not. That's the battle. All this pollution in the soul, specifically the mind, you got saved. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Thank you, Lord. I'm so glad I'm saved. Thank you, Jesus. Awesome. But hear me. You still got a mind that needs work on. You still got a mind that needs help. And I want to tell everyone today that good news. The Bible tells us what to do. Put it on the board. I read it to you earlier. That the pollution of the mind is still present. That is why, this is why you must what? Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Let God change you inside into a new way of thinking. Let God completely change the way that you think so that you can live differently. Be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. This applies to you. This applies to all of us. We are all here because yes, our sins are washed, but our mind is not. And we are in this process. And I'm gonna tell you today, and I don't want to leave on a doom and gloom thought. I just want you to know this. Hear me. Renewing your mind is possible. Say amen to that. We have to believe this. You have to just have this thought in your heart that my God, this mind I have, this way of thinking that I have, this, this, this, this mind that was polluted for many years and still battles the pollution of this world. My God, this this mind can be renewed. Church, it is possible to have your thinking changed. Why is it possible? How is it possible? I'll tell you what, I'll play a fun game with you real quick. And back to my youth pastor days, I guess. And I will remind you today one more time as we close. You have a spirit, or you are a spirit. You have a soul, you live in a body. We just went through it. Body, five senses, the uh the the connects with the world. It's your body. Soul, mind, will, emotions. It's there. Now, here's my question to you. Put it on this side. Before salvation, this is you. Soul and body, and you have a spirit. Before you're saved, we're gonna play a little game. We're gonna play a little game of Pictionary. I'm a horrible drawer, so you know. So, but but just if you if it I'm gonna I'm gonna draw something for you on the board. And it's and if you know it, just yell it out. If you get it, just yell it out. So, spirit. Who said coffin? Who said it first? Oh, we got people getting challenged here. I think Henry said it first. You know what, Henry, I'm gonna give you five bucks, my man, because you got that right. You know, now some of you are like, I wish I would have said it. Yeah, see? You get blessed in church today, alright? Somebody said they were thinking it. Well, my brother. Sorry. We're not redoing. Coffin, casket. Why? Because before salvation, your spirit was dead. Dead in spirit. By the way, dead spirit, impossible to renew your mind. Get ahead of myself. Dead spirit, impossible to have a godly soul. It starts with salvation, giving your life to Jesus. And I tell you today, before you were saved, that was you. You had a body. You all that's what you live in. Your five senses. Notice that after you got saved, you didn't go from brown hair to blonde hair. You're still five foot eight after you got saved. Wish that could have changed for me. You're still you. Brown eyes still have brown eyes. You're still, you still have the body. Your soul, after you got saved, still there. Mind, will, and emotion still there. But question, and here's the beauty of it. After you got saved, oh, good news, that inner man got saved by the blood of Jesus. That spirit was saved, and the blood of Jesus again washed those sins away. And now we're saved, thanks be to God. So the beautiful thing I think about now is that when you get saved, I tell you today, oh church, good news. You were dead, but now you are alive in Christ Jesus. And the reason why, and the reason why a renewed mind is possible is because Christ lives inside of you. The reason why you can change the way you think is because you're no longer dead. You're living. You are alive in Christ Jesus. So as we go through these talks and we go through these ideas of changing the way you think and renewing your mind and thinking to ourselves, can I really do this? Can I really, can I really change the way I think? Can I really have a renewed mind? I will tell you today, you absolutely can. Put on the Board because when your spirit came alive, renewing the mind became possible. It became possible. It became possible. So to every person here today, look at me. I'm a heart to heart to you, and we're done. We all battle things up here. We all have thoughts going on up here. I don't want to think the way I want to think. I want to think the way you want me to think, uh. I don't want this mind to be just polluted. I'll get into next week about how there's another channel that pours into your soul. I want my mind to be healthy. No. Scratch that. I don't want my mind to be healthy. I want my mind to be godly. I want it to be godly. A godly way of thinking. And it's possible. Why? Because I'm no longer dead. I'm alive in Christ Jesus. And if I'm alive, God, you're going to work on the inside of me. Yes, there's things within here that need help and need fixing. But thank God. Hear me. You can't really work on somebody who's dead. They've passed on. But if somebody's alive, oh, there is hope in Jesus' name. And today, look at me, every single one of you. There is hope. You can change the way you live by changing the way you think. He's a good God, isn't he? Give the Lord a hand clap. We're gonna talk more about it in the weeks to come. If you're listening to this on Spotify, Apple Music, one of our digital channels that uh doesn't have the visual, I know you heard the whole sermon. I would encourage you now to go back and watch it on YouTube. Be the board. Hope it helps. To close today, though. Hey guys, can we can we move this thing? Actually, no. Sorry. Wait. Sorry. Oh, it's about to hit me. Alright, we're good. We're good. I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. Nobody's gonna get hurt. We're good. We're good. Perfect. No panic needed. Can I have a heart to heart with you a quick? I want to actually speak to all of our minds today. The one who's not saved, the one who got saved recently, the one who is saved, and you've been saved. And can I ask you some deep questions? Josh, let's let's play some piano. What does your mind battle? Hear me. Just just please, just look toward this is so important today. I I know this is very much a teaching today, very much to kind of set the stage for what's ahead for us. But what does your mind battle? What thoughts do you seem to ponder that are not good? Ask you another one. Hear me. What experiences of life have affected your way of thinking? What have you even gone through or are going through now that has produced a way of thinking in your mind that you know is not right? They left me. I'll never trust anyone again. They hurt me. I'm never gonna help anyone again. I'll go deeper, you ready? You young people, you children. Dad wasn't there. For some reason, up here, just I've never really known what to think about that. It hurts me when I think about how dad hurt me. It hurts me when I think about how mom hurt me. And I just begin to think these thoughts to myself. Am I unloved? Am I not worthy? Am I not worth the time? A parent. You get into church and church hurt happens, and that's a whole nother thought in itself. But next thing you know, you're mad at the pastor, you're mad at people, you're angry with others. You question your faith, you want to be mad at the person who says they love Jesus because something was done. What I'm trying to get at is this. When we think about renewing the mind, hear me. I'm not just talking about, hey man, this battle with pornography, although that's important, we need to fix and talk about your thinking process, or hey, young lady, uh, you you have this battle with the with self-worth, and and you seem to just kind of find yourself just in going from guy to guy because that's a way of no, but I'm talking about those are important things and things we're gonna tackle, but what about even things that are just simply affecting you on the inside, affecting your mind? Pain from others, things that were done to you, said to you, the way you were treated. I meet men sometimes and women that I'll never marry again because my first marriage was just so bad, it's so horrible. I'm done with men, I'm done with women. Well, the problem in the mind. Oh, yeah. My kids are there, they've done this to me, and they've done this to me, they've done this to me. I've just given up on them. Well, there's a battle there on the mind. I'm trying just to wrap up today by going even deeper because I want to pray with you and pray that as we go along talking about this process of renewing the mind, that we will begin to not just tackle some things, hear me, that seem obvious, but that our mind, our heart, our soul, our body, all of us is open, hear me, to everything God wants to address. Because I think sometimes, sort of renewing the mind is not just pushing out worldly ways of thinking or getting rid of worldly ways of thinking. I think sometimes renewing the mind is also about God, I don't want to walk around mad all day. I don't want to walk around upset all day. I don't want to walk around just sad all day. God, I don't want to have to. How about this one, ready? Ponder that memory. I find myself battling now within the mind. Regret and even hatred and bitterness. So today, as we close, I ask you, look at me. What are you really battling in your mind? What are you really fighting in your mind? I'll go further, parents. Sometimes you have a fear mentality. My kids, I'm so scared, I'm so scared, I'm so scared. There's a battle in the mind there. You're worrying every day. Worrying so much. It's a battle in the mind there. So today, as we embark, get ready to embark on this journey, hear me today. What if I told you that God isn't just trying to address the sins of our thinking? He's trying to even address the burdens of our thinking. The weight of our thinking. The parts of our thinking that weigh us down and burden us, and that even make us want to give up sometimes. Church, he wants to renew all of it. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Live up a hand to heaven. Can I ask you right now, right where you're at? Will you just be willing to whisper to God right now? God, here's the battle I have. Here's the fight I have. I saw you at the door. Still keep your hands up. And I just felt in my heart to let you know. He sees. He sees. And to this morning, you're seeing, you're seeing. It shouldn't have been done. Shouldn't have happened. But today, Lord, I ask, even those things of life, Father, that were not fair, I pray today, Lord, you heal. Heal. And that this mind, Lord, will be set free in Jesus' name. The pain of the past, Lord, will no longer hold her bound. But let her renewal, let her renewing of the mind begin with freedom today. And I pray that over every person here with your hand lifted. That even the heaviness of the thoughts that you have, that even the weights of the thought that you have, even the pains of the thoughts that you have. Yeah. Some of you lost loved ones. It just seems like I just can't seem to get over that hurt. I just can't seem to move past that hurdle. Father, I pray today. Every battle of the mind, every battle of the mind, we are gonna see victory in Jesus' name. We're gonna see a change of the way we think. A renewing of our mind, Father. Yeah. Bitterness go, let love abound. Fear leave, let faith abound. Sadness, you must go. I declare joy rules my life. Today I pray, Lord, that we are taking steps in our transformation, by addressing even the hardest parts of our mind. And we're saying today, you ready? Father, I am ready for a renewed mind. To you be all the honor and glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Give the Lord a hand clap. I am done. The reason why I said that this board is up here for one last minute is because I want to show you one last thing and we'll invite you to worship. With this body, with this body, even though it goes through so much and takes in so much. I told you today, this body's not a bad thing. We use this body for the honor and glory of God. And you know what I've learned? I've learned that when I worship God, just point arrows up. When I worship God, hear me with a demonstration, singing, hands lifted. I'm using this body to exalt him. And it's funny. Can't explain it. But when I start to worship him, exalt him, church, I've learned something special happens in here. Something unique happens within me. And within you. And I tell you today, when something unique, and we'll get in the weeks to come, unique and special begins to happen in here? Something unique and special begins to happen in here. That's when the mind, will, and emotions are impacted. So my question to you is this. Have you been robbing yourself? Have you been kind of denying yourself of simply using this body to exalt God? To see something special happen first in here and then impact out here? Well, in the name of Jesus, let's not rob ourselves anymore. Let's make sure we worship the one who deserves all the praise and the worship every day of our lives. Do you agree, Church? If you still give the Lord, if you do give the Lord a handcuff today, go ahead, guys. Appreciate it. Go ahead. I tell you today, I love you and I'm proud of you. Now hear me. We address the mind, we address those issues. Prayed about them, and we're gonna continue to work through them through this series. You're gonna see. But hear me. You made a declaration of faith today. Lord, you're gonna do something special in all of our minds. Tell your neighbor, especially your mind. Especially your mind. Something special's gonna happen. We're gonna journey through this together. Honest with me, my show of hands, who can say? Hey man, yeah, there are some thoughts sometimes that I know they're just heavy thoughts. They're just burdened thoughts. Lift up your hands and let me hang in. I'm there with you. Like they're just heavy thoughts, they're burdened thoughts. Well, today I want to re- that's my call to you today. Let the Lord even handle and do something special with those thoughts as well. In fact, lift up your hand before I call you forth. Father, I'm gonna make a bold declaration today with our hands lifted. Somehow, somehow, because it's possible because we are alive in Christ. So, somehow, somehow, Lord, every thought that has hindered us is gonna leave in the name of Jesus. And we will give you honor and glory. If you believe it, say amen and give the Lord a hand clap today.