Change the Game // LaMorris Crawford

How do we overcome? 

1. By the blood the Lamb.

2. The word of our testimony. 

3. Not loving our lives until death. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to the Refinery Church Sermon Podcast. We're so glad you've joined us today. Our prayer is that this message will help you grow in your pursuit to love and follow Jesus for life. If you'd like to learn more about the refinery, find ways to get connected, share a prayer request, or explore resources to help you grow deeper in your walk with Christ. Visit us online at refineryohio.com. Now let's dive into today's message.

SPEAKER_03 0:33

What up? Y'all awake? Second service, y'all about to be awake. Y'all slept in, man. Got it good. You feel me? It's an honor to be here with you. And there's a couple things in my heart before I get to my message I want to share with this church. I feel the Lord put on my heart is, you know, there's a principle that says, whatever becomes familiar to you becomes hidden from you. Whatever becomes familiar to you becomes hidden from you. I want to challenge you in worship. Don't let worship become so familiar that you stand here with your hands down. You are worshiping the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is worthy to be praised. Now y'all go to Ohio State Game and scream y'all lungs out. For some dudes who don't know you, didn't answer a prayer, didn't heal you, didn't touch your mind, didn't set you free. You scream your lungs out. Matter of fact, some of y'all scream at a TV. But we get in church and we get silent. The Bible says if you don't worship him, the rocks will cry out. You think I'm finna let a rock take my place? No, bruh. That thing ain't even living. What was God saying there? He will crack the earth to give praise. You gotta worship him. God already set you up to win in worship. Your breath is an offering. Give a praise offering. He gave you the breath in your lungs. Give it back to him. Don't come in here and stay silent. Worship ain't the time to be late either.

SPEAKER_04 2:28

I ain't doing six songs. Starbucks is 0.5 miles. I can still make it.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

No. Isn't it amazing how we treat God's house and expect for him to do different than ours? I don't know what y'all think I came here to do. I love y'all. I love white people. My wife's white. I can crack any white joke I want. My father-in-law gave me permission. Come on, somebody. If you can't laugh in church, I don't know where you can. Stop letting the world get all our stuff. No, laughter came from God. Come on. We get to have fun with no condemnation. If you think fun is drinking and partying and clubbing and going to bars, that ain't fun. Because guilt is chasing you. It is gonna meet you. No, man. The joy of the Lord is our strength. We get to laugh, have fun with no guilt. Come on, somebody. I love having fun. True, I laugh all day. Come on, somebody. Matter of fact, the Bible says it's medicine to your bones, to your soul. Hey, this is a different service. I feel it already. First service. They was tripping. If you need a cultural translation of anything I say, see Pastor Landon. He got the handbook. The hood handbook for translation. Come on. Man, I love white people, man. Gosh, I love y'all. You might have to go watch first service. But I just want to encourage you with that. Make sure y'all come praise God. Clap, sing, raise hands, jump. I don't care what you do. Give God some praise. Wave offering, clap offering, do something. Don't come in here and be quiet. No. The Bible says God inhabit the praises of his people. That word inhabit in Hebrew means to sit. God comes and sit where he's worshiped. I don't know about you. I need him next to me. Come on. Alright, get that out the way. Let's pray. I like to pray again. Holy Spirit, you're invited in this place. You will not be grieved, you will not be offended. Holy Spirit, I give you complete reign and authority. I ask you to articulate the Father's heart through my voice to your people. I pray that every ear is opened, every heart is opened, every mind is open to receive that which you have for us. So I humbly ask you to invade this space. It is not by might, it is not by power, but it is by your spirit. I pray these things in a beautiful, matchless, seamless, whole name of Jesus Christ. In his name I pray. Amen. There's a battle happening that most people never see, but everyone feels. My family don't know who he is. My uncle was in a gang, he was murdered, shot in the head at 17. My aunt was in a domestic violent relationship. Her boyfriend murdered her at 28. And I had another aunt that died from a brain tumor from asbestos in the projects. So my grandmother raised nine kids, four died, she raised nine grandbabies in the welfare system. We slept three to a bed. We were very poor. I grew up with the huge question mark on top of my head of who am I, why am I here? I did not understand why life happened to me the way it did. My grandmother had one rule in her house, and it was this I don't care what you do between 8 and 3:30, just don't come home. Now mind you, she just raised 18 kids. School hours was vacation. No one in my family finished high school. No one in my family went to college. I wasn't made to go to school. I went for two reasons. Number one, I got a free meal. I was on a hot lunch plan. I knew if I went to school that day, I would eat. Because there were times I would come home and I'm hustling, eating syrup sandwiches, sugar sandwiches, powdered milk. I would literally sit in the back of class next to the closet and I would steal kids' lunches out of their book bags so that I could have food after school. The second reason why I went to school was I love gym class. Come on, somebody. I went to gym. Old school red dodgeball print to the face. Come on. Remember Dodge Bama Day? For me, Dodge Bama Day was fighting day. I got suspended every Thursday. Hit me again, bruh. We got a whole generation playing with tickle me and them old dodgeballs. I was speaking at a youth group. They throwing these little soul caught one. I was like, what is this? This ain't no ball. It's a joke. But I picked up a basketball, and for me, it became an escape of reality. When I was on the court, I didn't have to think about all the pain, the abandonment, the trauma, no parents, poverty. That two and a half hours, it was my safe haven, and I got really good at it. My desk sat next to the teachers. I was a kid that was suspended. I was a kid that was in trouble. I started game banging at 11 years old, and I was selling crack cocaine by the age of 14. I began to repeat the cycle in which I was in. See, if you don't get out of the environment, the environment ain't getting you. Some of y'all can't break feet because you're hanging around the wrong people. If I take a fish, I put them on this table, that brother's gonna struggle. I take that same fish, I put him in water, you see his gifts emerge. It's quiet in here. By miracle, and I mean miracle, I finished the eighth grade. Don't know how I did it. I didn't do an ounce of homework, I didn't read a book. I mean, when we first got married, my wife started reading my kids these kids' book. You think I would know? I ain't know none of them. None of them. Didn't have any help, nobody helped me with my homework. I was on my own. So I didn't care. Thank God for my grandma. My grandma was a hustler. No, for real. My grandma could feed 14 people with $10. My grandma was such a hustler, she will bum a ride off of you, and you would pay her gas money. I'm serious. My grandma owed the mailman money. And he went on the same route every day and never caught her. That's a true story. My cousin just told me that. But my grandma walked to the school, met with the school board. I don't know what she said, y'all. To this day, I don't know the conversation. When she walked out of that meeting, they agreed to let her brother graduate. Come on, somebody. I made it to high school. My high school was 2,500 kids. I made the team as a freshman, sophomore, started as a junior and seeing. I was a four-year player on the basketball team. No, it was horrible. I did good on the court, but my life was in shambles. I was turnabout king, homecoming court, prom court. I was voted the most athletic out of my class. I was literally the most popular kid in my high school. But at the end of popularity, no one told me was emptiness. I thought if I got high, my problems would change. I'd come off being high, none of my problems change. I thought if I got drunk, my problems would change. I'd come off being drunk, none of my problems change. I was so empty. I got recruited to play college basketball, always wanted to leave Chicago. I was like, give her brother a scholarship to Alaska, send me to Africa, get me up out of here. I ended up scoring a 14 on my ACT. How many think you go to college with a 14? Raise your hand. You better not raise your hand. If you went to college with a 14, that's called a miracle. God is real. All the schools that were recruiting me turned their back on me because I had athletic ability but no character to match it. So I took a scholarship to a community college. I played one year of basketball there, and when I was 19 years old, I had an encounter that changed my life. I didn't encounter religion, I encountered a person. His name is Jesus. It came through my first cousin. He was the leader of a gang in our neighborhood. He had 300 people under him, 16 years old. He walked his girl he met home one night. Her dad locked him in the living room and told him the gospel. Dad, let her bring him home. Preach to him. His motive would get revealed real quick. Come on, somebody. He ended up building a relationship with him, winning him to the Lord. At 19 years old, I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. It changed the entire trajectory of my life. I finished at that community college with an associate's degree, and then I transferred to the Olivet Nazarene University. There I got my bachelor's degree and my master's degree. I'm the first in my family ever to attend college and get a college degree. Come on, praise God. Praise God. But the most significant part of my story is that I met my beautiful wife there. Come on. Come on, Shorty. What's up, Shorty? What's up, Shorty? Met my wife there. We'll be married 18 years this July. We got four kids. Come on, somebody. We've been in ministry full time for a very long time. Itinerant ministers. We served as the team chaplains to the Cincinnati Bengals for eight years. We're entering our second season as the team chaplains to the Carolina Panthers. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Now, some of y'all thinking really quick, what does that story have to do with me? I'm from Hilliard. Where are we? We're in a boonies, B. I'm from Hilliard, wherever, Ohio. What does that story have to do with me? Believe it or not, we got two things in common. Number one, you gotta die to leave here. Ain't none of us escaping this peace alive. So the question is, how do you want to be remembered? When you die, people won't talk about you. What do you want them conversations to be? I am convinced with every fiber of my being that God wants you to leave a mark with your life. You are not here by accident. Everything that God creates, He creates on purpose and for purpose. Everything. There's intentionality for everything God creates. He created the sun. The sun is still doing its assignment. He said, as long as the earth remains, seed, time, harvest, cold winter, summer, and heat shall never cease. How many of you ate fruit this morning? You ate a promise. It is quiet in here. Trees are still doing what God intended for it to design. Seasons are still happening. Catch this? None of those things are made in his image. When the Bible says God created man in his image, you know what the word image means? It means to take a photograph. God took a selfie and made you. God's been killing a selfie game way before this generation. You are made in the image of your daddy. You look like your daddy. That's why racism sucks. You know why racism sucks? Let me just give you one. Number one. And the only one. There's a lot, but I'm gonna give you one. White people clap on one and three. Black people clap on two and four. Could you imagine what the sound would be like if we got together? And nobody clapped. Listen. God has a specific assignment for your life. Only you can fulfill it. Only you. There will never be, there has never been another you. Ever. So you're gonna waste years of your life trying to be like somebody else. No. You are fearfully and wonderfully made with an assignment that God has an expectation for you to fulfill. He invested in you, and God has the expectation on his return. You're unique. Six and a half billion people on the planet. Now one of us have the same set of fingerprints. Not even identical twins have the same set of fingerprints. You're uniquely designed for a purpose by God. Don't let fear stop you from doing it. You're sitting in someone's idea. You're wearing somebody's idea. There's a dude's face on your money, men leaving their marks. 2,500 cities across America. There's a Mark Luther King Boulevard left its mark. What about you? You get one shot at life. What you do with it is on you. Make it count. The tragedy of life and death isn't dying. It's driving past the cemetery. Thinking of all the preachers that never came forth. Leaders, politicians, men and women dying, not living up to their God-given potential. People die every day. God wants you to do something with your life. Second thing we got in common, we all born sinners. You come that way. Adam jacked us up. Can't wait to see that dude. Of course, I can't wait to see Jesus. He's gonna be tired of me. Lamores, go do something else. Nah, Jesus, I've been waiting for you a long time, brother. Lamores, go do something else. No. Of course, I got some questions for David. I think he's shorter than he let on. David was short. When he killed Goliath, I'm trying to tell y'all. It was supernatural. He wasn't strong enough to kill no giant. The moment he let that sling go, the Holy Spirit picked that rock up and threw it.

unknown 20:08

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 20:10

Can't wait to see Moses. I got a lot of questions for that brother. But you 80 years old leading people, weren't you tired? Come on, somebody. Can't wait to see Ruth. That's my favorite book in the Bible. Man, how did you stay so steadfast? But one of the first people I'm beeling it for is Adam. I'm gonna be like, bruh, you realize you plummeted the entire human race? What were you thinking? Adam's one decision put the seed of rebellion in every human born. You born a rebel. You ain't good, you don't come good, you don't die good. There's none good, none but one. The moment Adam's sin has separated us from a holy God. God was so heartbroken that he was willing to come live in a box to fix it. But the box couldn't hold them. So he came himself, Emmanuel, God with us. For you. If he was the only person to be born after Adam, he would have died for you. So that's why Jesus can make the confession in a very bold statement and say, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me. That's a bold statement. But he had every right because he was God. It's quiet in this room. Let's get to our text. I got a couple verses, three points, and we out. Getting into lunch.

SPEAKER_04 21:57

Those lines get long fast.

SPEAKER_03 22:01

We'll watch an overtime game and complain about Stan Lady Church. Lord, help the American church. Lord, y'all should be praying for mercy every day for the American church. I'm serious. We're way too comfortable. We're way too casual. We just stroll into church with no faith. We sit in the same seat every Sunday. If I was to tell y'all to get up and switch seats, some of y'all would be offended. And you sitting in a seat that don't even belong to you. There should be a prostitute sitting in that seat. There should be a drug dealer sitting in that seat. There should be a single mom in that seat. And you ain't moved. In how many Sundays? Lord have mercy. We're gonna come to church with faith. We're gonna do our four songs. We're gonna do this, and we're out. 35 after. In Africa, they walk in 12 to 18 miles for service. In China, they pass Bible pages. They tear out Bible pages, they fold them to the size of the palm in their hands, and they exchange them through handshakes. Y'all seeing what's happening in Africa? They burned churches, killing Christians. And you get mad if they don't sing your song or somebody take your seat. Lord have mercy. God ain't building a social club. He ain't building a golf club, He's building an army. So you either got a soldier mentality or you don't. There's no fence. You in or you out. Satan owns the fence. You don't ride the fence in the kingdom. It's black and white. You hot or cold. This isn't a game. And if you're casual about your faith, you will end up a casualty. Wake up, church. There should be some fire in your bones to see other people's lives changed. You should be on fire for the Lord. There should be a passion in you. And people should see it. How do we overcome? That word overcome means to conquer. It means to be victorious, to prevail, to overcome. As a matter of fact, that's where we get the word Nike from. That's why I don't wear Ditas. Come on, somebody. I'll walk in victory. But here in this revelation text, in the Greek overcome, Nikeo, it's not about physical dominance or worldly success. It's spiritual victory. The believers are not overcoming by strength and status or likes on Facebook or their own strategy or their money. No, it's through three realities: the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives. So, how do we overcome number one? By the blood of the Lamb. You're gonna change the game. You need the blood. What Jesus did on Calvary set the tone for humanity. Do you realize God got the short end of the stick in his deal? He got the short end of the stick, he gave his only son to die for knuckle-headed people who would never choose him. Who does that? Who gives their best knowing he's not gonna get a great return? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes, there's a lot of whosoevers that don't believe. That's why it couldn't have been him. Thank God he didn't ask me to give my son. I wouldn't have done it. But he did. That blood is still speaking, that blood is still alive, that blood is still transforming. Our victory in winning the game is rooted in what Jesus has already done. Three words that changed humanity on Calvary. It is finished, and there wasn't a comma. Stop putting a comma where God put periods. It is finished, but God, you don't know what I did. It's finished. It is finished, but God, do you have any idea? It is finished. Stop letting Satan put commas in your life. It's finished. You can't add to the cross. If you can add to it, it becomes insufficient. He did it. That word testalesti in the Greek, it is finished. It means to complete, to accomplish, to fulfill, to bring to its intended end. That's it. Do you know when you look at Calvary, it wasn't about the moment. You gotta go 8,000 feet and see it in time. You gotta see the infinite story of what God did starting in Genesis. In Genesis 3, it was God who declared war. It wasn't Satan. And God would never declare war, he won't win. When Adam sinned, God killed something to cover them. Blood was spilt. The Bible says God walked in the garden in the cool of the day looking for Adam. In his sin, God sought him. You didn't catch that. In his sin, God sought him. It doesn't matter what you did last night. Thank God you showed up this morning. Just repent and keep going. God don't hold sin against you that Jesus died for if you repent. You gotta give it to him. Why? It is finished. The only prerequisite of receiving it is the humility of faith. It's quiet in here. God had blood. Why blood? The scripture says the life is in the blood. Why blood? Because Adam sinned as a man. Jesus had to come as a man, so that's why blood was required. God was trying to point this to them even in Genesis. He killed something to redeem Adam. The Bible says the land was slain before the foundation of the world. Then we get to Exodus. Look what God did. He put the gospel story in Exodus. In the plague, a son died. They put blood on the doorposts, and deliverance came through the sea. It's quiet in here. Death, blood, deliverance. It's the gospel. In Exodus. What about numbers? God said, Moses, make a pole. Put a snake on the pole. Everyone who looks on the pole who is bitten shall be healed. The gospel is in Genesis 22. Abraham, take your son, your only son, the son whom you love. The first time we see love in the Old Testament is the father sacrificing the son. The first time we see love in the New Testament, John 3.16, a father sacrificing the son. What about Leviticus? Take a lamb, a spotless lamb. I could do this all day. Spotless lamb. Why a lamb? Why blood? When God created Eve, he gave her a womb, womb man, man with the womb. The womb was the incubator for salvation. He had to come as a man. How is he gonna get here? A stork? No. Ladies, do you know in the womb of a woman, the blood of the baby and the mama never mixes? It was spotless. The seed of God was in Mary. His blood was spotless because you were dirty. I was filthy. Come on, somebody. What did John the Baptist say when he saw him? What did he say? Boy, if you don't read your Bible, what did he say? Behold what? The Lamb of what? Was it the Lamb of the Jews? The Lamb of Americans? The Lamb of God. So we all qualify if you believe. Come on, somebody. The blood of the Lamb. When Jesus died and his blood was spilt on Calvary, that blood sanctifies us, it qualifies us for intimacy with Jesus. Soon as he said it is finished, what did the Bible say? The what? Curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom, not bottom to top. Why? Because a man can get his hands on it. It was supernatural. That veil being broken qualified us for intimacy. The very intimacy that Adam broke, Jesus gave it back. That's why you don't have to wait till Sunday to get in his presence. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Go get it. Go get him. Stop binge watching stuff and read your Bible. Pray. Worship.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

Can't believe he's yelling at me. I just can't.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

Because we don't have a revelation of what Jesus' blood does for us. It's here, but is it here? Because if it's in here, you can't contain it. You gotta tell somebody. You gotta tell somebody.

unknown 33:08

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 33:10

And if you aren't, that's a problem. You rep in the wrong game. Boy, I was relentless in throwing up gang signs when I was a kid. I rep them hard. You think I ain't gonna rep Jesus harder? Some of y'all rep. Where you from? Suburban life. Two parents. Church, all my life. You proud, but do you talk about Jesus? Some of us rep our victim mentality. We walk around like a victim. One people to feel sorry for us. No, no, no. He rose again. You're not a victim, you're a victor. Greater is he that lives in you than he that's in the world. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. You know what it took to raise the dead? Power? It lives in you. Don't visit, it lives. Let it out. How do we overcome the word of our testimony? In this text, there's the witnesses, they align their lives with the truth of what Jesus did. See, there's power in declaring what God has done, is doing, and will do in your life. There's power in it when you just open your mouth. There's so many testimonies in this room. None of us have the same story. Why? Because God wants us to reach everybody. That's why we don't have the same story. There's somebody God wants you to talk to. Open your mouth. Stop letting fear set you up. Just get up. I didn't even tell my wife this yesterday. Walk to the bank. I'm preaching somewhere I don't even know where I was at. Mount Vernon. And our friends are the owners of Walker lawnmowers. They're Olivet grads. So it's a guy who's there sitting in his truck. He had two Walker lawnmowers. So I thought, man, I could record a testimony, send it to our homie. Just as a this is cool. Walked up to the guy's truck. I like standing there. He's tinted windows. I'm like, bro, I ain't finna jack you. Bruh, if I was gonna jack you, it would have been done. He finally let the window down. I said, hey, mom, really good friends out of owner of Walker Morris. I can't even get it out. No. I was like, can I get a 10-second interview? No, man, no. I'm like, all right, cool. You know what I had to start? I got rejected for a 10-second video. Rejected. And I thought to myself, could you imagine how Jesus felt? A little 10-second video. Ain't nothing. Jesus was rejected by the same people he healed. The same people he fed. When Jesus was finna be delivered, they wanted Barabbas, who they knew was a murderer. Everybody knew it. It's quiet in here. Don't let fear keep you from opening your mouth. Share your story. That's how you overcome. See, Satan wants your memory to replay your past. God wants your memory to replay his promises. God has been in a life-changing business for a very long time. He knows what he's doing. And he has invited us to be a part of the story. That's so humbling to me. That God needs your story to share with someone else to connect them to God. How humbling is that? There's so many victories. There's so many prayers that's been answered in this room. That's a testimony.

unknown 37:09

Yes. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 37:11

There's so many stories you know on somebody else's testimony. You're talking about an end to a conversation. Go to work tomorrow and say, Man, this we went to church yesterday. This black dude was yelling at us. But you wouldn't believe his story. Do you know you got their ear to tell them the gospel? To say, man, the Jesus who changed his life is the same Jesus who can change yours. Don't even, if you're that scared, don't even use yours, use mine. Take it. Come on, somebody. We tell stories all the time. Let Ohio State win a national championship. It's a whole conversation for a month. Let LeBron get traded. Whole conversation for a month. Jesus resurrected one Sunday out of the year. We go silent for 364 days. Lord have mercy. You should be praying with people in Walmart. Walmart should be the easiest witnessing ground on the planet. Come on, somebody. Me and my wife walked through Walmart flirting with each other, laughing. People look at us like we're crazy. Crazy be. How many times my wife stopped and prayed, paid for somebody's groceries behind? You're the light of the earth. You're the salt of should be different. Ain't nobody happy in Walmart. Target, a little step up. But they ain't happy either.

SPEAKER_02 38:46

They think Charger is gonna solve up my problems.

SPEAKER_03 38:53

No, they need Jesus. Share your testimony. Go. Last one. Number three. If you're gonna overcome, you want to win the game of life. Yo, this is spiritual. This ain't natural. What you're dealing with is not natural. Stop trying to fight natural and natural. You gotta get spiritual. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers. That's spiritual. Another Facebook post ain't gonna do it. Another meme ain't gonna do it. Get out of this reading the verse of the day that ain't gonna solve your spiritual problems. Get in your word. Study your Bible. It is your only line of defense.

unknown 39:50

That's right.

SPEAKER_03 39:52

In prayer. Pray. Most Christians don't pray. Y'all, this is, I am ashamed. We don't pray. You want to overcome it? You better get in your prayer closet. You want to see your grandbabies serve Jesus? You better get in your prayer closet. You want to see your kids turn back to the Lord? You better get in your prayer closet. Ain't no other way. You spoiled them already. Stop giving your kids what they want. Give them what they need. And it's not what you leave for your children, it's what you leave in your children. If you're gonna overcome, he said, you can't love your life until the death. This reveals the depth of their victory. They are no longer controlled by fear, even the fear of death. See, that's ultimate freedom. That was the only thing Satan had to hang over humanity. And Jesus proved that wrong in three days. Death means to die, to not exist. That's a powerful force. Jesus conquered it in three. You don't gotta be afraid to die. Don't love your life. Hate it. What do you mean, Lamoris? The desires of other things, the deceitfulness of riches, hate it. The pride of life, hate it. You were bought with the price. You only belong to you. So you have no right to say anything about your life if you've already given it to Jesus. Because it's not yours anyway. Didn't Jesus model that perfect for us in the garden? Didn't He? He could have remembered you told Peter, I could call legions of angels right now. Bruh, put that little knife away. I could tell the earth in quarters. Legions, plural. I think we multiplied it out. I think it was like 16,000 angels. He said, No, no, no, no. Listen to what he says. Not my will. But your will be done. He didn't love his life, he gave it for you. No, no, no. Loving your life means that you love this world. Your life is tied to this world, but death of yourself is tied to the kingdom. I'll finish with this example in 2 Timothy chapter 4. Paul, as we know, is changing the world. And you can't change the world by yourself. So he had a team of people. He did this brother's name is in the Bible forever. Not for what he did, right? This is what I love about God. This is how you know the Bible real. The people who wrote it would never write their weaknesses. The Bible says they were carried or born alone by the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible. They didn't even know what they was writing. If I'm writing my story, I'm leaving Bathsheba out. I don't even know her. No, no, no. God does this on purpose because it reveals to humanity you need him. That's why you leave it in there. Listen to what Paul said about this guy. 2 Timothy 14. I didn't give them this verse. For demons has forsaken me, having loved this present world. Demas. See miracles traveling with the bottom, the greatest Bible teacher that ever lived in the past Jesus. And he left because he loved it, the highest one of them loved the woman. What do you love? Your job, your money, your comfortable house, your life. Come on. What do you love? I know what's in hiding with your life. Just let me see your screen time. What do you love? Do you love this world? Y'all, I'm ready to go. Jesus come right now. We want to get as many people saved as we can. We want to have as many marriages as we can, but we ready. I'm ready to go. I don't love it here. This ain't our home. But some of us have kicked our feet up and put our feet on the table because we freaking love golfing and going to Florida and going skiing and Walt Disney World. I ain't knocking it, I'm just saying. Do we love his presence just as much? Do we love the kingdom just as much? Do we love doing what he did just as much? Gosh, what do we love? Where's your heart? And listen, it's not about behavior. He didn't come to transform your behavior. He came to transform your heart. If he gets your heart, he gets your life. What Jesus did on the cross for you. The blood that saved you, that's saving you now. It's an active turn. You sharing your testimony. You're not loving this life. That's how you overcome. There's no other way. You can't pay for peace. You can't. The pain you have in your heart, just give it to Jesus. The unforgiveness, the bitterness, just give it to him. Don't live with it. You don't have to. He gets to hurt. He understands, but he can only go into hearts that he's invited into. He won't invade you. He's a gentleman. The Holy Spirit is very sensitive. But if you call on the name of the Lord, every head bow, every eye close. If you're here today, you've never made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life. I'm not talking about going to church. I'm not talking about because your granddad and your mama went to church. No. Have you put Jesus as the king of your life? He does not desire to be number one on a list of ten. He desires to be number one on a list of one. If that's you today, I'm going to ask you to do an act of faith. It's by faith. Simple act. If you hear you want to say, Jesus, I want you as my Lord and Savior. I'm going to ask you to raise your hand. I'm going to count to three. But this is between you and the Lord. I'm going to lead you in a simple prayer. It's by faith. So if that's you, you want to say yes to Jesus, just throw your hand up. One, two, three, all over the room. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Be bold. No guilt, no condemnation, no shame. Thank you, thank you. I see you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You could put them down. For those who didn't raise their hand, will you just join me as I lead them in this prayer? Let's all pray it as a family together. Say, Father in heaven, I recognize that I'm a sinner in need of a savior. Jesus Christ. I repent of my sin and I ask your forgiveness. I believe you came to the earth. You bore my sins on the cross. You were buried in the grave. Yet you rose again on the third day for me. In you alone, I give my heart, and in you alone, I give my life. Now, Holy Spirit, fill me to overflowing in Jesus' name. Amen. Come on, give the Lord a shout. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Praise God, praise God. Couple things really quick. A lot of preachers don't say, but I ain't an average preacher. If you just accepted Christ, two things. Number one, welcome to the family of God. Number two, all hell about to break loose in your life. We're talking about changing the game. You just got traded from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, and Satan done like it. Anytime we decrease hell and increase heaven, he hates it. See, Satan is a bigger competitor than you think. He hates losing. See, we don't have to hate losing because Jesus got the victory. All we have to do is love winning.

SPEAKER_04 49:47

Did you hear what I just said?

SPEAKER_03 49:50

You are a winner now. You are a victor. Get plugged in. Show up. You gotta be around other believers to help sharpen your faith. Don't isolate yourself. Don't go alone. If you isolate yourself, you make yourself a bigger target for Satan. A lion goes after one gazelle, not the pack. The Bible says he goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. If you isolate yourself, you become a bigger target. Get in community. Show up. Every time the doors are open, show up. And I'm guaranteeing you, one year from today, if you lock in, your life will be different. It will be different. Amen. Amen. Did you enjoy the word? Amen. Amen. I'm gonna pray a blessing over you, and then you're free to go. Get in your line and eat and whatever you whatever white people do at 1217 on Sundays. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon upon you. May the Lord be gracious to you, and may the Lord give you and your family peace. In Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you guys. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 51:07

Thank you so much for listening to today's podcast. If you're ready to take a next step in your faith, please reach out to us through our website, refineryohio.com, or you can email us at office at refineryohio.com. We hope you have a blessed day.