WEBVTT 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.519 So, it's time to renegotiate the deal you've accepted. 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:15.919 Okay? 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:17.600 Here's the deal. 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:22.160 We can't get a new start to our story, but we can't change the ending. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:26.160 A new narrative, God's narrative, and a kingdom narrative. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:30.480 So that's what I want to encourage today is that we're looking to finish one. 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:34.159 The enemy wants to remind you how you started. 00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:40.719 Now you can't go over there and live in that complete space because, well, just remember over here, let's let's go uh take a look. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:43.840 I want to get you stuck in the rear view mirror. 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:46.240 He'll always try to get you to live that way. 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:48.560 So renegotiate a new deal. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:53.520 At The Road, our mission is to empower people to change the world. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:57.759 For more information on The Road, visit theroad.org. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:01.039 We hope you are encouraged by today's message. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:18.319 I want to talk today, guys, just about um something that's kind of been building in my heart, and I know that this has been an interesting 2020 to say the least. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:23.439 A lot could be said and a lot has been said about 2020 to date. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:26.400 And we think that we're getting out of the woods and then something else happens. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:28.879 I feel like this has been the year of being flexible. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:36.239 And here we find ourselves again, kind of having to, you know, be flexible and in kind of where we meet with spirit, where we meet with God. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:38.719 And so it's, I think it's kind of like a training ground for us. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:47.599 And so, what's happening in the background, what's happening in the landscape as all of us in our own energy and understanding are trying to negotiate these times. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:49.040 And what do we do with that? 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:54.480 Where do we go with our hearts when we feel like we're discouraged, we're disappointed? 00:01:54.719 --> 00:02:07.760 I know this from my own perspective, that we've tried to plan things in our family, hoping that things will uh lift out there, we'll have some freedom, and we're gonna be able to go on this trip, or we're gonna be able to go to this place. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:10.960 Come to find out, you know, the rug gets pulled so quickly. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:22.319 And so what I've really started to understand and to find is that, like no other time in our culture or history, freedom is fragile, which is a weird concept for us as Americans. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:36.879 It's something that we've always fought for, it's something that maybe not that we've taken it for granted because our our young our men and women in the services and armed forces uh you know have done a valiant job and they go out there and they've earned our freedom in which we stand. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:40.159 And so for them I thank God, and I thank God for the founding fathers. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:49.199 But we find ourselves in a unique place today where our freedoms have never been more challenged, and it's so fragile about what is on the precipice, the horizon. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:59.199 And so our hearts, our souls and our minds, when we when we wrestle with this and we see the landscape, we see the news feeds, we get troubled. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:00.719 I get troubled. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:07.199 And so, what I want to talk today about is the title of this message is kind of when we trade the truth. 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:18.240 When we trade the truth of the gospel, when we trade the truth of the word of God, what that means for us, what that looks like in our lives, and where can we go from there? 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:20.000 What is God calling us to? 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:22.080 What do the scriptures say and where we're at? 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:26.560 And so this is gonna be a boiled-down meat and potatoes uh kind of message. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:28.479 And so the times are dark, right? 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:29.919 The times are troubled. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:32.479 Um, future seems uncertain. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:36.479 How do we plan anything with the notion that the rug can be pulled from us anytime? 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:40.639 The term flexible has taken a new meaning for us. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:43.680 We're all a little bit like gumby these days. 00:03:44.960 --> 00:04:11.360 My wife and I were trying to plan a trip, and we were waiting for this moment that we thought, uh, okay, we're gonna hit this window where it seemed like the curve of COVID had flattened, and maybe we would sneak through this window, this kind of black hole, and get to um a destination and we were trying to celebrate and kind of have a second honeymoon, and we were waiting and waiting and waiting to see if this other country was gonna open up, come to find out that we weren't blessed uh to be Canadians or Europeans. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:12.319 Therefore, as U.S. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:14.159 citizens, shut down. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:15.680 Okay, that's fine. 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:18.879 Um, God's in control, so God had something better and a different plan. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:21.360 He already knew what was gonna be happening here. 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:38.160 And so all you have to do, and many of us are doing this right now because we're searching, we're scanning the airwaves, we're reading the papers, we're looking at our social media feeds, and we're scanning, we're scanning the horizon, looking for hope, looking for encouragement. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:40.000 Where does our hope come from? 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:44.399 You know, Psalm 121, and though, and when we're and we're anchored in. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:56.639 But sadly, the media, the tools of our culture, tools of the enemy, are there to rob and steal our hearts, our life, our faith, our hope, our joy, and pull us back down. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:59.040 And so we do this exchange, right? 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:00.399 This is the premise today. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:09.439 When we trade the truth, we do this exchange, we sit down and we barter and we negotiate with him, and we trade away the truth of God, which is where our freedom is. 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:11.759 It's the only place that we're gonna find freedom in today. 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:15.279 And we're gonna barter that away, and we're gonna trade it for something far less valuable. 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:29.759 I've been thinking about this as a kid that, you know, you remember like for guys, we would trade uh there there were always um uh modes of currency as a kid, the the valued baseball cards. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:38.000 And you know, sometimes if your buddy had the one that completed your deck, you'd have to trade two or three of your cards to get that one to complete the set that you wanted. 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:40.079 And he'd, you know, there's always this bartering. 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:50.240 And um go to any third world country, this isn't meant pejoratively, but you know, you do some bargaining and some negotiating for the value of the thing you want to buy, whether it's a rug, vase, whatever. 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:51.839 My wife's excellent at this. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:55.279 Uh, she's highly skilled, and she does all my negotiations. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:06:02.959 I tried to do that once, and I think uh I actually the guy ended up keeping his valuables and I'm just donating to him some money, and I didn't get anything in the exchange. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:04.240 And she said, That's enough of that. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:06.240 Anytime we're doing this again, I've got this. 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:09.759 And so now she does all my negotiations and she's she's awesome at it. 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:11.839 I pray you all have a good negotiator in your life. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:18.560 But here's the deal we sit down at the table, we've been doing this, by the way, since since humanity began. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:26.720 We traded away and we bartered away our freedom, our eternity, when we when we bartered uh with the enemy over the tree and we ate the apple. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:38.079 And so, in that transaction, we've been bartering and negotiating ever since, and we've walked away from the true freedom that we have through Christ Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, our Creator. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:43.439 So I want to take us here to a verse in 2 Corinthians 4, 16 through 18. 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:55.040 This will kind of be the theme verse for the message today, because I think it's where we need to kind of hang our hat in this process of scanning the horizon, looking for hope, looking for the door. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:59.600 Where are we going in this situation right now with COVID spiking in an election year? 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:04.480 Election years are always weird, but this one is unprecedented in anything we've ever seen. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:08.800 So we turn to the good word and we stand on God's word, and that is the truth. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:15.199 That is why we never give up, though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:19.360 For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:25.759 Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:33.519 So we don't look at the troubles we can see now, rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:40.000 For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.759 And so this verse has been kind of critical for me. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:08:03.279 I've referred back to this verse several times over this uh the season of COVID, um, the coronavirus, and all this, and kind of just renewing my heart, my mind, my soul, and my hope to remind myself that while this feels like a long process, we're bouncing back and forth, we're ping-ponging, our emotions are always on the rebound. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:09.040 You know, God is pulling me back to remind me to say, okay, this isn't gonna last forever. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:10.399 This is temporary. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:12.800 Keep my bearings. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:19.279 Remember, I have access to the freedom that is offered from the cross of Calvary in such a deep way. 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:36.960 And I'm gonna share a little bit here in a minute about a journey that I've been on this last year in my own life, where true freedom, complete freedom, the likes of which I've never experienced in all my 40 years on this earth, God has walked closely with me, he's fathered me in it, and I think it's for such a time as this. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:50.320 He's brought me to a new place of understanding and freedom that to sit down and barter with the enemy, which he's always looking around our fortifications, looking around our foundations, he wants to come in and he wants to barter away some of our truth. 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:56.320 Because he knows if he can get us to accept the lie, we're gonna trade our freedom, and he's gonna replace that. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:58.320 It's always a crappy deal, right? 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:00.639 We never get a good deal on this situation. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:03.120 We get fear in replace for freedom. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:08.399 Instead of truth, we get some lies, and they always underdeliver, always underdeliver. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:33.279 You know, uh you you you go to a used car lot, you hope for the best, and generally speaking, by the time you're a month into the used car, if you didn't discover what you were buying at the car lot, you'll soon discover it a month or two into that used vehicle, you know, where it's been, what it's been through, and it's got some nicks, some wounds, and and it's got uh, you know, some tape on the radiator, and you're having to put oil in, you know, at every other fill-up just because it's got a leaky oil pan or whatever. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:39.440 So sometimes the car deal at the car dealership is very often like the deal that we get from the devil. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:47.039 Uh it looks shiny on the outside, but it never lives up to the promise, and certainly what he delivered, and that's always the case. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:52.399 And so what we see here, generally, everything is wrapped in this fear scenario. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:10:01.759 So when he can convince us and get us to take the apple, to take the trade, to take the deal, and we barter and we agree, he replaces the truth with a lie. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.720 We give him our freedom, and he replaces it with fear. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:19.039 And so from there uh begins the bondage, begins the slavery, and we start to settle and we gradually accept this existence of this is my reality, this is my narrative, this is where I have to live from. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:27.840 And anything outside of that, if we live there long enough, anything outside of that is foreign, uh, we can't accept it. 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:33.200 It's too much of a concentration or it's too big of a jump or a leap to consider something else. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:37.919 To consider that maybe the work that Christ did on the cross was complete. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:44.879 It was meant to cover everything, and that we have full access when even reality we barter and trade away and we only take partial access. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:52.080 Now I'm speaking to the the crowd here because as a as a lifetime Christian, I grew up in the church. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:53.519 Uh we were always there. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:59.440 I think you guys have heard me say, uh, all my aunts or all my uncles and my grandfather, they were they were on the elders' team. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:02.159 Uh, mom was the bookkeeper, grandma was the receptionist. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:03.360 We were there three times a week. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:04.240 I went to the school there. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:04.799 I was there. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:05.919 I grew up in it, right? 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:10.080 And for the most of it, um, there there, you know, it was here. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:21.600 I believed it in my head, and and I believed it enough in my heart, but there was always a little bit of this gap where this full transfer, this complete freedom, didn't exist. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:41.120 And I would walk through life and I would journey over the next several decades of my life from woundings and from brokenness, responding to that and trading away crucial freedom, my God-given right to his freedom through the cross of Calvary and what's available to the devil. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:49.759 And in that was only bondage, shame, rejection, fear, all of it was wrapped up, complete package. 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:58.159 So I was reminded of when I was writing this, there's a commercial that came on a couple years ago, and um, I think it was through, it was one of the insurance companies. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.799 I think it was progressive, and it's about the settlers. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:08.480 You know, they're in this neighborhood, and you guys I know you I would show it, but I understand that anytime we show anything on YouTube, we lose our stream. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:10.240 So I'm not gonna show any videos today. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:13.679 I did have a few lined up, but um settlers commercial, right? 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:25.039 So so they're hanging out, uh, they're in their living room, and they look like they're um like in a carriage going across the the plains and they're trying to settle, and they're looking across the neighbors, and they're all modern day. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:28.720 They have their full-blown, I think it's actually, no, I think it's a cable ad or whatever. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:31.360 And they said, no, son, we just only got three channels. 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:38.960 We're settlers, and it's like, you know, they don't have a microphone, they got a dirt floor, and they got a carriage outside and their horses, and then the neighbors are living it up, right? 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:44.879 Because they they have moved beyond settling for things, um, settling for less is the idea. 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:46.799 But we settle for less. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:13:03.360 And so the core truth and where we have to wrap our heads around it today is that God always offers this exit to our negotiations, to the contract of the deal that we do with the enemy. 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:08.799 It's always able to be undone, it's always able to be burned up, thrown away, write the new deal. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:18.320 If we're able to take the courage, conviction, risk it all, to go full in, all in, recover our whole hearts, the Father is faithful to do that. 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:21.200 Luke 14, or sorry, Luke 4, 18, right? 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.519 The Spirit, this is Jesus now, red letter. 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:29.279 Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:36.399 He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, and that the oppressed will be set free. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:40.159 That's the whole purpose of what he came down to. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:46.639 And sometimes we do ourselves such a disservice and we live in a half-hearted state. 00:13:46.720 --> 00:14:05.919 We do a lot of work in our men's events about being half-hearted, living from this place of we've only accepted so much of the gospel, so much of God's grace, his truth in our lives, but we don't ever, sometimes, so many of us for too long don't go in and accept the full gift of being whole-hearted and accepting the complete freedom that Jesus is offering. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:09.600 The work that he did at Calvary for us is limited. 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:13.039 We mute it and we take a partial, a portion. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:14.559 Well, we only take a half portion. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:21.759 Like we go to the restaurant, we sit down, and they say, Oh, would you like uh, you know, I want the fish and chips, but I don't want the whole fish and chips. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:23.759 I just want one fish and three chips. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:25.039 Well, you know what? 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:26.799 He's saying, What? 00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:30.240 Take the full meal, take the full offering. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:35.279 I didn't come to the cross, I didn't take on flesh, I didn't offer my blood, only part of my blood for you. 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:36.879 I offered all of it. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:51.919 And so this is discouraging because, as brothers and sisters, even in the body, even in conversations that I'm having today with other pastors and people in my community, I'm I'm hearing sometimes in their voice, um, they're discouraged. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:55.519 And I'm thinking, well, okay, to be fair, I get that way too. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:59.279 But then let's encourage one another that there's a full meal out there. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:06.000 And oh, by the way, I think that gone are the days uh when we could just come and eat, and this was never the intent, by the way. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:08.399 We come and we get one meal uh a week. 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:19.440 We come in our Sunday, we get that one meal, and it's supposed to sustain us, and then what happens is by the time next Sunday comes around, the tank's empty, we're coasting in on fumes for the next fill-up. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:36.080 So that probably gives, that analogy probably gives my wife PTSD because when we're on vacation and we're in between and we're doing these long stretches and we're only stopping for the bathroom breaks at every fill-up, I'm coasting sometimes beyond her comfort level to get to the next fuel station. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:38.639 And the lights on, and she's like, How long has that light been on? 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:40.080 Has that been on for a while? 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:40.879 When is that? 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:41.279 How many? 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:41.840 How long? 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:42.879 A couple miles? 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:45.279 Okay, well, we should be looking for some gas station. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:47.039 And uh, and I'm like, babe, we got this. 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:48.480 Trust the car, we're good. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:55.039 We're fuming, we're coming in, and and so too many times, even in our own Christian walk, guys, that's how we're living. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:58.879 We're coasting in on the next Sunday on fumes. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:15:59.840 Okay? 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:02.799 So, rewind the clock. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:07.679 COVID hits, we go into quarantine, we feel this, we feel this call. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:09.120 We feel this call from God. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:10.240 What's this about? 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:12.080 There's there's an invitation here. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:14.480 He's inviting us to do something deeper. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:17.519 We have this margin now that's created, this space. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:19.120 Spend time with me. 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:20.720 And so fine, okay, great. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:22.480 I'm not gonna eat just on Sunday. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.279 I'm gonna check in and I'm gonna have breakfast too. 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:27.279 Oh, breakfast is great, okay. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:37.039 Well, what I'm finding right now, church, is to keep my head in the game, to keep focused with where the enemy wants to take all of our hearts and minds right now in this year and where we're going. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:39.200 It's a minimum three meals a day. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:46.720 I'm having breakfast, lunch, and dinner with Jesus, and sometimes some snacks in between, depending on what's happening in the day, because you never know. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:17:01.840 It seems like we'll have a couple good days, and then there's like another, uh, then there's something else that hits and it transfers, and then and then we have another bad news situation, or there's something we have to respond to or react where all of a sudden we've slipped and we've lost this sense of freedom. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:09.440 And so our freedom is fragile right now, and whatever we think it is, it's not reality. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:21.200 And I want to give you a quote here, and this is from Viktor Frankel, Austrian professor, neurology, and psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:27.440 When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:31.119 Everything can be taken from a person but one thing. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:39.920 The last of the human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:42.240 That's all we have left. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:47.359 Our decision to think and respond to a situation in our minds and heart. 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:54.720 The battleground for freedom is between the ears, and it connects with a with a lifeline to our hearts. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:03.119 And so we are to not live in a spirit of fear, but we are to live in a spirit of power and love and a sound mind by the blood of the cross in Calvary. 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:04.960 And that's what we are called to have. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:12.960 And that's all we have as we start to look around and the perceived freedoms that we had that we thought, oh, we can go in and have dinner at a restaurant and sit down. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:14.319 Well, no, that can be removed. 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:16.319 I can travel to these other countries. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:17.200 Well, no, you can't. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:18.319 You've got too many outbreaks. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:19.359 The U.S. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.480 is uh full of outbreaks, and you can't do that anymore either. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:26.960 Um, well, maybe I'm gonna go across the state line, visit my cousin or my aunt over in Ohio. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:40.960 Um that day may be coming where they're shutting that down too, and interstate travel could be uh closed too as they try to get this thing under wraps, and they're doing it under this premise of restripping our freedoms away to see how we respond. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:51.119 And some of us are getting angry, some of us are getting frustrated, and the cracks are starting to show, and and all the stats are showing, and you've got to go look for them, but they're out there. 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:57.200 Self-harm is on the rise, drinking is on the rise, drug abuse is on the rise, domestic violence, all of these things. 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:05.519 Humanity is cracking at its core right now because our perceived freedoms are being stripped from us, and how do we respond? 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:09.359 Well, we respond with a couple truths that we all need to embrace. 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:10.799 And I want to give them to you right now. 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:20.960 Here are three basic truths that if you haven't got yet, write them down and start reading them because this will impact you greatly and you will start to have some freedom today. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:23.440 One, we are not God. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:26.240 There's only one God, God of creation. 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:27.839 We are not Him. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:30.640 Okay, we are also not in control. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:33.759 If you think you're in control, well, that's the first lie. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:36.079 You need to go rebarter that deal and take that back. 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:42.960 Because once you realize that you're not in control and you're not God, then that leads you to the third phase, and that is you are only human. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:44.480 We're only human. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:46.559 We were only ever created to be human. 00:19:46.640 --> 00:20:01.279 Now, inside of that humanity are a lot of beautiful things that God gave us in creation: his belovedness, his affection, his desires, his sacrifice, his invitation to something far greater than what we trade away. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:06.720 But when we can put those three things together, well then now we're stepping into some freedom now. 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:10.880 We're stepping back into his truth, we're stepping back into some free places. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:12.880 And that's where we want to live from. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:21.359 See, we have a far greater access to the Father through Christ, his power, presence, love, and mercy than most of us ever fully realize. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:27.759 Somehow we've accepted the lie that God is a million miles away and he's not all that interested in us. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:30.559 He'll pick up the phone once in a while. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:36.960 If he's not too busy, somehow we get this in our mind, in our scripting, and we get stuck there. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:38.319 But that's not the reality. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:46.240 That's a lie that we've bartered away because he looks at us, he delights in us, he desires to meet with us in the cool of the day. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:49.279 He wants to come and refresh our souls. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:52.240 And so much of that is happening in our church. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:56.240 I mean, I'm so encouraged by the things that have been happening in the last couple weeks. 00:20:56.319 --> 00:20:59.039 Our Wednesday night prayer meetings have been fantastic. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:00.799 Uh, there's a new level of faith. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:05.359 We're hitting a new gear, we're praying, we're praying about the situation, right? 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:10.799 We're not in control, but we can pray to the God who is in control and he can deliver us from that place. 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:15.759 And so, our battle tool, this is how we fought our battles, is in prayer and in worship. 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.400 And you guys are responding in such a beautiful way. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:20.640 We are so encouraged as the leadership team. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:26.000 The 10 days that we went through prayer and fasting, 35, 40 people here every morning. 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:28.960 That was fantastic, blown away by that. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:32.240 Um, and so that is how we're fighting. 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:34.880 That is the way God is calling us to do that. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:44.240 And so, to experience more of Him, church, this is the call today is that we go in and we say, Okay, I've lived with this construct. 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:50.559 God wants to offer more because God needs more of us right now to be a light in this dark place. 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:59.759 And he wants us to empty ourselves, fully accept complete freedom that he's offering, not this partial construct that we've negotiated maybe this year, maybe yesterday. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:07.519 Maybe decades ago, that we bartered away our freedom or a portion of it, and we've lived in bondage and a lie for far too long. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:11.839 So it's time to renegotiate the deal you've accepted. 00:22:12.079 --> 00:22:12.400 Okay? 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:17.680 Here's the deal: you can't get a new start to your story. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:22.319 We can't get a new start to our story, but we can change the ending. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:26.160 A new narrative, God's narrative, and a kingdom narrative. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:31.039 And so that's what I want to encourage today is that we're looking to finish well. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:34.240 The enemy wants to remind you how you started. 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:35.759 He's going to remind you of the deal. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:38.880 He's going to put the contract back in front of your face and say, ah, wait a minute. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:39.599 No, no. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:40.960 We've already made this deal. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:42.400 We've already talked about this. 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:44.480 You traded that away, remember? 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:47.279 There's some sin and some shame around that. 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:54.160 No, you can't go over there and live in that complete space because, well, just remember over here, let's go uh take a look. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:57.359 I want to get you stuck in the rear view mirror. 00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:57.839 Okay? 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:02.559 I want to distract your face from the front wind shield, which is always bigger, by the way. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:03.839 I don't think that's a mistake. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:05.440 We need to see where we're headed. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:05.920 Okay? 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:08.480 That other rear view mirror is a lot smaller. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:10.960 We don't drive forward always looking backwards. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:13.519 But he'll always try to get you to live that way. 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:16.000 So renegotiate a new deal. 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:17.759 Access. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:30.799 The only way to sustain and maintain right now in this world is coming together, encouraging each other as believers, as blood washed saints, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the King. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:33.680 And we also have to be meeting regularly. 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:37.440 I think it's a call to spend more time with the Father. 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:39.279 He's asking for more time. 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:42.079 He's like, listen, I'll eat with you all day long. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:43.440 I've got the buffet out. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:44.559 Come sit at my table. 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:46.960 Whatever you're struggling with, let's talk about it. 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:48.400 Let's spend time together. 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:49.680 I love you, son. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:51.039 I love you, daughter. 00:23:51.279 --> 00:23:52.400 I want to eat with you. 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:53.440 I want to meet with you. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:54.640 I want to encourage you. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:57.279 You're going to need it for the days ahead. 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:00.880 You're going to need it to encourage your neighbor. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:06.160 You're going to need it to encourage your brother, your mother, your dad, your uncle, your grandmother. 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:12.000 Like no time in other human history right now, our country is divided. 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:15.359 Perhaps like it was during the Civil War. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:16.880 I wasn't alive, I've only read about it. 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:24.960 But I remember but I've read that brother fought against brother in that war, and it was divided over social issues of the day. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:27.440 And deeper things too. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:30.640 In the humanity of our country. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:50.319 But today we're divided over some things about how we respond to the fear that's been placed in us by the media for an agenda that we respond to, and relationships are being divided on whether or not you'll wear a mask. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:52.960 And it's all over. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:53.839 I mean, we can read it. 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:54.880 It's all over the media. 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:56.319 I don't have to explain this. 00:24:56.400 --> 00:25:02.240 You guys have probably had discussions in your own homes and your own personal feeling on it one way or the other. 00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:07.359 I guess what I'm saying is, as Christians, let's not be divided over that. 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:08.960 Let's not be divided over that. 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:10.880 Let's respond in love. 00:25:11.519 --> 00:25:13.119 Let's counter with love. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:20.400 The world is going to give us its angry defense, its angry reasons why we need to do this or why not. 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:25.920 And you're taking something, you know, you're being risky with my health, and they're framing it in all that way. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:31.759 And so I'm just going to couch it and say, take that all to the Lord, let him sort that out. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:35.039 He'll give you, he'll give you, he'll set your heart free. 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:36.640 Because here's what he says, right? 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:40.000 First of all, Jesus says, I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:42.880 There is no other way to the Father but through me. 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:47.920 Jesus gives you, there's only one set of directions to God's house, and it's through Jesus Christ. 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:48.400 Okay? 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:50.240 So we have the directions. 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:53.119 So if you take a different route, it's not going to get you there, guys. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:53.440 Okay? 00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:54.799 There's only one set of directions. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:59.759 I don't care how many different ways GPS wants to be creative, Jesus Christ is that only way. 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:02.079 And by the way, what else does he say? 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:07.839 If you're spending time with him, because he's all those things, he's the truth, he's the life, he's the only way. 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:12.240 He's also telling you that the truth, which is him, will set you free. 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:15.119 The truth, you will hear the truth, and it will make you free. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:19.920 Ladies and gentlemen, we are not hearing the truth from our media, from our politicians. 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:21.200 I wish we were. 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:28.720 There's only one source that we're getting the truth from, and that's a direct connection, plugging in, direct dial, picking up the phone and talking with Jesus. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:30.400 Jesus, I need your truth today. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:31.359 I need your light. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:38.319 I need you to re recalibrate my mindset today before I get out of bed, before I look at my phone. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:42.559 Man, I just like when I wake up in the morning, I cringe because I'm like waiting. 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:46.319 I know what's waiting for me on that little evil device of my phone. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:51.279 And what I try to do is I try and sift through it, get to the Bible app verse of the day, get into some scripture. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:55.359 I don't want to get into the news feeds first, man, because it's right there. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:56.720 It sucks you down. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:58.799 Your light goes out and it's an ember. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:01.440 You wake up and you're fighting. 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:07.519 You're fighting from the beginning of the day right now to keep that light, to keep that passion, to keep that energy going. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:11.200 So, how do we do this? 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:14.000 There's this invitation from the Father that we need to accept. 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:16.960 I'm sorry, it's the repeater eater card. 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:18.559 Uh used to be Jimmy John's. 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:22.079 When you go in there, you get the you get a sub, they call it the repeater eater club. 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:25.119 And every time you went in, they stamp your card and you got like a free sub when you got there. 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:26.000 A lot of people do that. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:27.039 Uh Dutch Bros. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:28.079 Nobody's doing cards anymore. 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:29.039 Everybody's doing apps. 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:30.079 Fine, I don't care. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:31.039 I'll do an app. 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:33.920 I am a repeater eater at several places. 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:37.440 And I want to be a repeater eater with the father. 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:38.000 Okay? 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:40.160 I want that free sub. 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:55.839 And every time I sit down with him, there's always this free gift, this offering that he's giving me to renew my heart, to renew my mind, to recalibrate, and say, oh, by the way, here, by the way, here's a bunch of armor that you get to put on a battle for the day. 00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:57.200 So don't forget to put that on. 00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:00.480 And that's a new discipline to do it every day. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:07.039 Hebrews 2 12, 2, uh very, very familiar passage, but this is the access, right, that we get. 00:28:07.279 --> 00:28:08.960 Um we do this. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:11.200 We renew our hearts, we renew our minds. 00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:17.200 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:22.720 Because the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. 00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:26.480 Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:32.240 He's seated beside God in the heavenly places. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:34.400 He went to the cross. 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:38.240 He looked beyond the cross, its shame, and he had joy. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:42.240 This verse has always inspired me because I'm going. 00:28:42.400 --> 00:28:49.599 He knew it was in front of him directly, but he could look beyond the cross and have joy about what he was about to endure. 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:52.400 And he was gonna reject the shame. 00:28:55.920 --> 00:28:57.119 Oh, wait a minute. 00:28:57.839 --> 00:28:58.799 That's heresy. 00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:01.599 I think everybody, you know, the needle goes off the record. 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:04.640 Okay, so here's the deal, right? 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:07.440 He was for a moment in our history. 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:18.640 He took on the shame of our entire world, and he knew what it felt like to be a murderer, to be a robber, to be a thief, to be an adulterer. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:22.480 He knew all the sins of this world. 00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:24.960 He took them on and he felt that. 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:30.640 And he endured it, and he rejected that shame. 00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:36.319 And he knows, I love this passage because he knows that the enemy attaches the shame to it. 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:37.839 He's like, I'm gonna reject that. 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:40.640 I'm gonna take it and I'm gonna reject it. 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:52.319 And I'm gonna endure this because I'm gonna go beyond this, and I'm gonna make a transaction here that, by the way, will undo anything else you've negotiated with the devil along the way. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:30:02.640 Because this contract, this contract that I'm doing for you, the work on the cross that I'm doing for you, is gonna undo, rewrite anything else that you've signed in blood with the enemy. 00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:04.160 I'm gonna give you freedom here. 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:07.839 I'm gonna endure this, and you're gonna get freedom from this sacrifice. 00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:12.720 And God's gonna give us his blood because it's the only blood that would be sustainable. 00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:14.799 We don't have to do any more sacrifices. 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:16.400 It's one and done, it's all good. 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:17.759 Can we step into it? 00:30:17.920 --> 00:30:21.839 Can we receive the complete freedom that we have at the cross of Calvary today? 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:22.880 That's the challenge. 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:30.960 What are some of you right now wrestling with that you've like accepted and you got this boulder on your back, and I'm thinking pilgrim's progress right now? 00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:36.000 This guy's like working through everything, he's walking through life, and he's like, I've just lived with this boulder forever. 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:37.359 I just I know how to carry it. 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:38.720 I can actually get really good with it. 00:30:38.799 --> 00:30:43.279 I can even negotiate obstacles, I can get through meetings, I can get through life. 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:45.440 You're not meant to carry it. 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:47.519 You're not meant to carry it. 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:48.799 You never were. 00:30:49.680 --> 00:31:04.160 See, it's interesting is that everything that I saw growing up about Roman crucifixion, we see this picture of Jesus and the two um thieves with him on either side, and they're raised up, like they're up high above the ground, and you see them up. 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:08.400 But historical accuracy and facts were Romans didn't do that. 00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:11.039 They didn't have the crucifixions way up in the air. 00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:12.480