When To Let Go | Pastor JJ Vasquez

ABOUT THIS MESSAGE:

When to Let Go reminds us that surrender isn't giving up, it's trusting God with what only He can carry while remaining faithful to what He's called us to do.

ABOUT UNION CHURCH:

 Union Church is a church that exists to help people know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference. At Union Church, we believe in doing everything possible to connect people to Christ and unite them to their purpose. We are one church in multiple locations in the DMV and Charlotte, NC. 

GIVING

www.theunionchurchclt.com/give 

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weareunioncharlotte 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareunioncharlotte 

Website: https://theunionchurchclt.com/ 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

All right, union. Alright, Manhill, if you got a Bible, you can turn to the book of Acts, chapter 27, verses 1 through 2. We are entering into the story of a man named Paul. And he's not just any guy, he's an apostle. Apostle means he was a church leader, a church founder. He started over 17 different churches by the time he passed to be with the Lord, was killed for Jesus. He was responsible for two-thirds of the New Testament. This is an amazing man of God. And he endured a lot. He endured stonings, he endured persecution, he endured shipwreck, he endured bondage as a prisoner. What I find interesting about the moment of his life that we're going to enter into, he is going through two things at the same time. He is a prisoner. He is a prisoner because he is getting ready to appeal his case to Caesar. He was accused of being disruptive. Because how many people know the gospel will mess up the world? The gospel will mess up the way we live our lives. And he was he was accused of being disruptive, so he gets sent off to Caesar to uh fight his case. At the same time, he's going to Rome in a boat, and the boat is about to go through a hurricane. So he's he's locked up and he's going through a storm. Now that's crazy because some of us are fighting some bondages, and others of us are going through storms. And then there are a certain amount of people in this room that are going through both at the same time. You got a bondage on the inside, and you got the world blowing up around you on the outside. And it's a lot, man. It's hard enough to fight out what's out there, but at night you still gotta fight what's in here. And I think it's important that he distinguishes between bondages and storms because that means to tell you not only that you can experience both at the same time, but that they're different. I think you need to know that too. I think you know that not everything is the devil, not every battle is a bondage. Some things are just like Thursday, you know what I'm saying? And I think it's important that you know that. Like the devil be deviling, amen. But life be life, amen. And if you don't know that, here's why it's so important. If you don't know that, then when you give your life to Jesus and the pastor tells you that you've defeated the devil because Christ has defeated the devil, and in your space, you take that space that so you have defeated, you're gonna wonder why your life is still going through things. It's because you can't rebuke Tuesday and you can't rebuke Wednesday, and and you can try and rebuke your boss, and he might be a devil, but he's still gonna be there when you show up to work the next day. There's just some things in life. I just need you to know that being a Christian doesn't exempt you from storms. So if you're going through both, it's your message. Gonna learn how to navigate them. That's exactly what Paul does. Acts chapter 27, verse 1 through 2. He's got to get through this. When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius. So we boarded a ship and we put out to sea. Verse 7. And we had several days of slow sailing, and after great difficulty, we finally neared Snidas. But the wind was against us. So we sailed across the Crete and then along the sheltered coast of the island, past the Cape of Salmon, and we struggled so hard along the coast with great difficulty, and finally arrived at Fairhaven, near the town of Lycia. And we had lost a lot of time though, and the weather was getting worse. It was dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall. So Paul spoke to the ship's officers about it. Verse 10 and 11. Many said, I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on shipwreck, loss of cargo, and even danger to our lives. But the officer in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship's captain and the owner than to Paul. Verse 14, and before very long, a wind of hurricane force called the Northeaster swept down from the island. And the ship was caught by the storm and could not head in to the wind. Now, I need you to say these next five words with me are important because they're going to lay down the entire foundation of the message that I believe God has for your heart. We're going to say this together. Now, I love that because we learned something about navigating a storm in this passage. The biographer who is telling this story was very careful in the choosing of his words because he says that they gave way to it. Listen, they he said that they gave way, not that they gave up, and there is a big difference between giving way and giving up. They did not let go of the boat. They still held on to the boat. They did not abandon ship, which is a strategy for survival, by the way, when the storm gets crazy. You can't abandon ship and hope to survive. And many of us adopt that strategy in life when storms hit us. When your marriage gets tough, it's a one strategy is abandoning ship. When your kids go crazy, one strategy is abandoning ship. When it feels like your prayers aren't being answered and God is not moving on your behalf, and church feels stale, and the Bible feels like a foreign language when you read it's possible. It's a strategy to abandon ship. But what I love about Paul and his shipmates is they did not let go of the ship. Listen to me, they just let go of the steering wheel.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

They held on to the ship.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

You better believe that. As that storm was hitting and that boat was rocking, they was locked in. Teeth in the wood. Ah, not going nowhere. They was locked in. They just stopped trying to tell the boat where to go. Listen to me. This is the message. Are you ready? Because they did not give up hope, they just gave up control. That's a word for somebody. I'm gonna share the title of my message with you. And if you need it today, when you hear it, I just need you to say amen. So I know who I'm preaching to today. I want to speak to you today on the topic when to let go. When to let go. You need to find two people. Tap two people right now and tell them it might be time. It might be time. It might be time. Woo! I got a confession to make. This feels like a safe place. I have control issues. I got control issues. Usually, when you go preach somewhere, you ask the pastor what he wants you to preach on. And like if there's a sermon series or a topic, and then the pastor tells you, and you go pray and you work on a message to go in line with that sermon series. So I asked Pastor Brian, I said, Pastor Brian, what are you preaching on? You need me to preach on anything specific? He said, You can preach whatever you want. I said, Good. Because I have control issues. Now you could judge me sitting there all holy, or you could join me in admitting that you might have some control issues. In fact, just so I feel better about myself, I will preach better when I know I'm not the only one. If you are in this room today and you think you might have control issues, would you raise your hand if you think that might be you? If you think that might be you. Amen. There's a lot of hands. Come on, there's a lot of honest people in the room, and there's a lot of liars. I see all of y'all. Now, here's how you know you might have control issues. If while you were raising your hand, you were also trying to raise the hand of the person next to you. You might have a control issues, but uh but I want to come to your defense really quickly because I understand what it's like.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

It's it's not you trying to control them, it's just that you know that if they would just be honest about what they were going through, that God could actually heal and deliver and what and so you're not trying to control them. This this is what I believe about people who got control issues. We're not trying to control, we're just aggressively helpful. We just really trying to help. Because y'all, y'all are crazy, and we gotta bring some order, and you don't know, and I'll just let me help you. Let me help, let me help you.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

We are trying to help. I think we try to help a lot of people. And we're honest, I think the first person we're trying to help is ourselves. I think we try and help ourselves and we try and take control of every day of our life. I'm talking to everybody in the room who is super duper uh scheduled. You know, I was talking about you open up your phone right now and your Google Calendar look like a work of art. You got the blue square, the green square, the orange square. If you got the connections, the automations, the notifications, the reminders. You got reminders for reminders. And you think you're on top of the world, you think you better everybody, you got a great control. I got control of my life. I can ask you what you're doing three Thursdays from now, you'd be like brushing my teeth. I know exactly where I'm at. I know exactly where I'm going. My life is I'm in control until you hit traffic.

unknown 9:30

Come on now.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

And now you set back 20 minutes that set you back from your dentist's appointment 20 minutes, that set you back from your work 20 minutes, that set you back from your kids' ball game 20 minutes, that set you back from going to bed 20 minutes later, which now means you wake up 20 minutes later and your whole life comes, and you are standing there in traffic, stressed out. Meanwhile, the person next to you that didn't schedule nothing is chilling in traffic. And they're not chilling because they're a procrastinator and you're organized. You're not chilling because you just learned in that moment that you're trying to control some things that you can't. Like uh life. Can't control it, man. You don't try to help, you're just trying to help. Some of us trying to help our environment, keep our environment clean. We're trying to help, trying to help it, you know? Like in like raise your hand if in your house, um, people gotta take their shoes off before they come inside. Yeah, okay, yeah, you gotta take your shoes off because you can't have no dust in there. You gotta bring no dirt in here. And my wife is that way. We are like that in our house, except she decided that she would implement this rule halfway through our marriage, which I was like, that should have been something that came up in the beginning. It's a lot of work to keep everything like that. She's very organized. Everything in our house got labels, everything in our house got a place. You don't just put the spoons with the spoons, you put the big spoons with the big spoon, and the small spoons with the small spoons, and the big forks with the big forks, and the small forks with the small forks, and God help you. If you put a butter knife with the stick knife, that's a sin, you're going to hell. Which is all great. You're all organized. That's awesome. Can I help you? Ready? Until you marry someone like me. My wife has been trying to fix me for 18 years, and I try, but sometimes I can't tell the difference between the small fork and the big fork. And she's in there, you go, what's wrong with you? I'm sorry. You can't control me. You can't control, which is something that we also try. We when we when we can't control the space, we we try and control others. And that don't work, but we try, and so we put curfews on our kids and trackers on our spouses. And I'm not saying that none of that is bad, and none of that is wrong, none of that is evil. What I'm just trying to say is, isn't it frustrating when you do all that and they still do what they want to do anyway? Like, what the I was just trying to help. You know, I think it's real funny. Well, we try and help God. Yeah, try and help God, I mean, control God. You're gonna try and help them. Some of y'all single, and you're like, Lord, I know you said that my spouse was on the way, and I want you to know that I believe that my spouse is on the way, but I think you need help. Because I've been waiting, and this is not happening. And so, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna just go, I'm gonna I'm gonna do the alley and you can oop. And we'll make this thing happen. And so you were on social media and you found out that that girl you thought looked good, that guy you thought looked good, was gonna be at the RB tour this weekend. And you was like, I'm I'm not really about that life, Lord. But you know, I gotta, if I'm there and they're there, then maybe you will use the moment to then spark something. Because faith without deeds is dead Lord. These are my confessions, that's all right now. But you can't control. You can't, and I've learned this. Listen, how many people know you can't control God? I don't care. Listen, I don't care how many Bible verses you know, I don't care how many days you fasted with no bread and just water, I don't care how many tongues you speak in, you can't control God. I learned that. I got faith, and He's still in control. Still in control. I have learned something, man. I have learned that control seems wise, control seems uh prudent, it seems like the right thing to do in so many areas of our life, but not really when you realize that number one, listen, control is an illusion. Like you know it don't really exist, right? It's like a mirage. Like you can see it, but if you ever try to put weight on it, it doesn't work. Like I have seen people sleep eight hours a night, drink all the water, take all the vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, D, E, F, G, Q, R, T, they get all the vitamins. I I've seen them work out five days a week, go to a chiropractor, listen, and still get cancer. Why how does that work? Because control is an illusion. I have seen people work real hard, grow a business, invest in all of the right stocks, become a millionaire, and then get all their money stolen. How does that work? Because control is an illusion. I have seen people who have never sipped, sipped alcohol in their life, get killed by a drunk driver. How's that work? Because control is an illusion, it does not actually exist, and that's scary if you're anybody, but that's super scary if you got control issues. Because you were doing some things to prevent that, and it's still happening. What is going on? Which is the next thing I've learned about control. Control isn't just an illusion, control is a chain. I'm gonna ask my friend Pastor Joey, who's traveling with me to help me today. Hey, God are only service that clap for him. Thank you. Shout out, manhill. I know you was clapping too. I know you was clapping too. So, Pastor Joey's gonna the best for that. Amen. Pastor Joey is gonna represent everything in your life, in my life, that we attempt to control. So he our kids, we want our kids to do something. We tell them to go this way, they go that way. Our spouses, we want to control them, you're gonna do this, you're gonna do it. My way, my health, my body, I want it to do this way, so I'm gonna hit the gym all these hours, and I'm gonna work out and I'm gonna just eat the diet. Oh, that's good. I'm gonna control it, I'm gonna do that. My career, I want it to go this way, I'm gonna control and and in in trying to control it, we we fail to grasp the other half of this truth. That the thing I have attached to me, I am also attached to. Did you see it? Do you see it? And so that's an issue. Listen, because when my health goes sideways, my soul goes sideways. When my money goes south, my joy goes south. You need to catch this, because everything you are trying to control also controls you. Also controls you. You feel like you're in charge when it's working, and when it's not, you realize you were in bondage. Amen. My wife she um sends me videos on social media. She thinks she thinks it's funny. And she sends a lot of videos about dogs. She sends dog videos. She thinks they're funny. Dogs dancing, dogs uh laughing, dogs tripping, all this stuff. And she sends it to me. And I'm so glad I've been married 18 years, because what that means is I don't have to pretend it's funny. When you start dating somebody, you go out to eat, they make a joke. You're so funny. But when you've been in there 18 years, you're like, that's whack. That's so corny. I'm not laughing at all. But um, and she knows I love her. And but uh, there was one dark video she sent I thought was hilarious, and so I was like, I gotta show Union Church this video real quick. So I want you to check out this video right quick.

SPEAKER_03 18:41

That's funny, I don't care what you say. That's funny. That's so funny. Third time I seen it today. Still laughing, it's hilarious.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

You know, every time I see that video, every time I watch any of these videos, because there's a bunch of them out there, the same question always comes into my mind. Hey, but let me preach it.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

Somebody got control issues. Yeah, I can tell, ma'am. I can tell. I'ma start preaching now, okay? Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

I asked myself the same question. I go, my God, why did it? I don't understand. Did it not cross your mind? As you at what step on the staircase did it not hit you? I don't have to be experiencing this right now. How much dirt and mud and did you need to get into your face? At what point did it, when you saw the water coming and realized I can't breathe underwater, at what point did it cross? Why didn't I let go? Why did you choose to be dragged by the thing you were attached to? If it's dragging you, why don't you let now say it? I I don't, I don't union church. I wanted an assignment from the Lord today to ask a question. And each one of us is gonna have to answer it honestly. Listen to me, if it's dragging you, if it's pulling you through the mud, if it's about to drown you, if you are collapsing down the stairs, Union Church, or I don't you let go. Now that sounds real good preaching, but in application, it's another message because I know exactly why some of them people did not let go. Because if I let go of my dog and I let him run out the house into the street, he can get killed, and so here's the question What is the difference? Where is the line between release and irresponsible? And that's what we really want to know. Because I can't let go of all of it. Because if I if I don't, if I let go of all of it, you keep telling me, let go, fine. Well, I'm stressed out about my job. If I do I let go of my job, I'm let go of my kids. Do I just let go of my kids? Let the because Pastor, if I let go of my kids, they're going to hell. If I let go of my husband, my marriage is gonna crash. So Here's the question we're gonna answer in today's message. When do I hold on? And when do I let go? And that's what I want to answer today. And we're gonna answer it by looking exactly at Paul's life in this storm. Because the storm is actually a picture of the first time you let go. Here's the first time you let go. Ready? When things are out of control. If you're taking notes, you can write that down. When things are out of control. You know what a storm is an image of? A storm is an image of things that you can't control, things that you could not have prevented. That's better said. Things that you could not have prevented, and things that you can't stop from happening. It's nobody's fault if there's a storm. You know? You can't be like, you didn't put the trash out at 3 p.m. That's why it's raining. Like, what? That's what you know what I mean? Like, it's not just rain. And and there's nothing you can do to stop the rain. I don't care how many black belts you got. You ain't gonna karate kick a drop, and all of a sudden the rain be like, ow, and just stop raining. It's not gonna happen. You can't fight the wind, and you can't push a wave back. There's nothing you can do to have prevented it, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. What is that in life? In life, that's like you get diagnosed with a disease, but you took care of yourself. And this disease has no cure. Nothing you can have done to prevent it, and nothing you can do to stop it. This looks like you raised your kids in church, but they grew up and decided that they wanted to do their own thing. But you did your job. That's not on you. Nothing you can do to prevent it. Nothing you can do to stop it. If you're a young person in church today, this is like your parents get divorced. But you a good kid. Nothing you could have done to prevent it, and nothing you can do to stop it. This is like the stock market crashes and you lose 30% of your portfolio, but you weren't invested in Bitcoin. You was invested in Bank of America and all these uh you know legitimate companies, and it's like what happened? Nothing you could have done to prevent it. Nothing you can do to stop it. And here's why it's so important that we talk about these moments. Because if there's no one to blame, we blame God. Because deep somewhere in our mind, even if you've never been to church before, you gotta know he is God, isn't he? So maybe he didn't do it, but doesn't he not have enough control to stop it? And why has he not stopped it? And why he's not prevented it. Last year I took my kids to um play basketball, which is not really new for us, but what I took them was new. I took them to to the court. Now, if you ball, you know there are basketball courts, and then there's the court, and I I took them to the court, and the reason why that's such a big deal is because my kids, Justice and Zane, you saw them on the screen, you met them, they are homeschooled past this kids. So every stereotype you can imagine is true about my kids. And I took them to this school court, and they are playing with kids they don't normally play with. So I see two kids on the on the on the court, and I'm like, y'all just go two-on-two, two on two. And I'm standing on the sideline and they're playing, and these kids are like, they've never met my kids before. But y'all know half of ball on the court is actual ball, the other half is trash talk. And so my kids have never experienced anything like that in their life. So they on the court and the kids are playing with them, and they calling them names real creative, funny too. The kid with the long hair, he looked at him, he said, Yo Buckethead. I was like, What is a buckethead? But I was laughing and I thought it was funny, you know, inside, not outside. But I was like, and then my other son, and then so they got cooked in the score and emotionally. And then they get in the car, and my oldest son, Justice, looks at me. He's like, Dad. I go, Yeah, he goes, I can't believe you took us there. I said, Well, you know what you really ain't gonna be able to believe? He said, Well, I'm taking you back next week. The reason I needed him to be in that arena is because I needed them to be in a place where people don't treat them differently because of who their parents are. I needed them to develop a sense of self-worth that is not predicated on a position or a title or a status. I need them to know that they are not gonna live their life in places and spaces when everybody loves them, that they are gonna encounter people who are angry at them, who hate them, who just don't like them. And in those moments, when you get that opposition, you gotta know who you are, you gotta know why you are, you gotta know what you're living for. I needed them to experience that. Now, if you don't know all that about me, you might look at me as a father on that court and go, you are an abusive and abandon father. And I would look back at you and say, mind your business, alright? I am not abusive, I am not abandoning, I am developing, I know what my kid is. Here's why I did not intervene, because I knew two things about my kids, what they were experiencing that God knows about you when you're experiencing the storm. I knew number one that they would not die, and I knew number two that it was developing something in their life that they were gonna need in the later season of your life. I need you to know yes, God is in control, and yes, God oversees something.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

But if you ever feel like he is standing on the sideline of a storm or a battle in your life, and it's not because he is abusive, and it's not because he has abandoned you, it's because he is watching, and it's because he knows that you will not die, and it's true, that he will develop something on the inside of you that you will need at another season of your life, even a bad guy, he's a good guy. I was ready to step in. If somebody laid a hand on my kid, I'd have intervened. But as long as it was developing, I was watching. That is God, he is watching. If the enemy tries to get in it, if the enemy tries to touch you, you better believe the Lord will throw hands. But until that moment, he will watch, he will guard, he will guide, he will protect.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

He's not abusive, he's not abandoned, he's on the sideline, but he's working, but he's working, he's working, amen. Here's another moment in your life when you're gonna have to surrender control. Listen, not just when everything's out of control, but when someone else is in control. That is honestly harder for me than the storm. And this is why Paul is going through. Look at what Paul, look what they say, how they tell the story. Look how they tell the story in Acts chapter 27, verse 1 through 2. When it was decided. When it was decided, you know, you know what he's saying, low-key. I didn't decide. Luke is the biographer, so they're like, hey Luke, make sure when you write this down, because he's on the boat with them, make sure they all know this was not my plan. When it was decided, you ever have somebody make a decision for you that affects you? They use words like we. But it ain't no we. Some of y'all showed up to church today because somebody woke up this morning and was like, We going to church. It was like, I'm tired. I was at the concert. We going to church. It can be frustrating when it feels like your life is in the hands of another person, the hands of a parent, hands of a husband, hands of a supervisor, hands of a judge. And I just need to know your life is in the hands of another person, but that person ain't no person. Proverbs 21:1 says, the king's heart is like a stream of water. The king's heart. So the king who makes the decision, but the decision comes from his heart. So who guides his heart? Directed by the Lord. And he guides it wherever he pleases. The Lord is the real person in control. There's this couple at my church back in Orlando. They're just beautiful. They could be models, they could be actors, they're amazing, and they're so kind and they love Jesus. He's uh Ukrainian. She, I believe she's Nigerian. And um they came up for prayer after a service. And he said, Pastor, can you pray for us? I said, Yeah, what's going on? They said, Well, you know my husband's from Ukraine. I said, Yeah. He said, Well, um, his citizenship has just come under question. And two months from now, a judge is going to decide whether or not he can stay in this country or whether he has to go back home. And while she's sharing this with me, she's holding their five-month-old. She said, Pastor, Ukraine is in a war right now. If they send my husband home, we can't take this baby there. Our family will be ripped apart. Fall apart. We might never see him again. They said, Will you pray for us? I said, Absolutely, let's pray. She said, But before you pray, Pastor, I just need you to know something. I need you to know where my heart is and where my mind is before you pray. Because I want to make sure you pray right. So I just need you to know where my heart is and where my mind is. I know that two months from now, a judge is gonna make a decision. But I also know that that decision is not that judge's. That there's a God who sits on a throne, on a higher court, on a higher seat, and whatever decision that judge makes is a decision that was guided by the hand of the Lord. So I don't trust that judge, but I trust Jesus. Build my faith. I gotta realize it in life. Listen, even when things are out of control and even when someone else is in control, hear me? God still has everything under control. You gotta learn to I trust God. Well, my husband don't serve the Lord, but do you trust God? Because He's the higher authority. I'm not trying to tell you, listen, to stay in an abusive marriage. And I'm not trying to tell you to stay under ungodly leadership. What I am telling you is that you don't ever gotta worry about someone else's decision derailing your destiny, because ain't nobody on this planet got the power to stop you from getting where God has determined for you to go. Not one person on this planet. So if I've convinced you that it's time to let go, then the next question, because you are either in a situation where someone else is in control or things are out of control, then the next question is, well, Pastor, how do I let go? Because I can't let go of everything. And I'm like, that's so glad you asked that. Because letting go doesn't mean letting go of your responsibility, letting go means letting go of God's responsibility. You know what the real definition of a control issue is? Here's the real definition of a control issue: you trying to do God's job. That's what true control issues are. And having to have the revelation, which hopefully is this day, that there are certain things in life that are not your job. And there are certain things in life that are. And you've got to learn to discern the difference between what is your responsibility and what is God's responsibility. And we're gonna go to the scriptures to teach that really quickly. Your responsibility are three things. Number one, obedience. Your responsibility is obedience. Acts chapter 21, verse 10 and 11. A prophet named Agabus. Did you know that before Paul gets locked up, he actually gets a prophetic word that he will get locked up and goes anyway, even though he knows that he's gonna get locked up? A prophet named Agabus came down from Judea, coming over to us. He took Paul's belt, tied his own hands, preaching an illustrated sermon and feet with it, and said, The Holy Spirit says, In this way the Jewish theaters in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles. And when we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. I like verse 14, because verse 14 is where we get let go. Ready? When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, The Lord's will be done. Paul was essentially saying, Hey, the chains are not my job. God decides if I'm gonna be changed. Here's my only job to preach what God told me to preach. You know, pastors, we we we and preachers, you might not know this about us, but we like to be liked. We just like anybody else. But I realized early on in preaching, I can't control. I once worked on a sermon so well, like I'm gonna make sure nobody gets offended, and I still got emails. Here's what I learned: I can't control whether or not you like me. All I can control is whether or not I say what God told me to say. It's the only thing I can control. And you don't gotta be a preacher to have that application. Listen to all my parents in the room today who are like, Well, don't you ever let your kid convince you not to go to church? Well, it's hard. You know, they they don't like church right now, and I don't want them to grow up hating church because they don't like it. I'm gonna wait till it's not your job to make sure they like church. Union kids is a great kids business. They got that that's God's job to encounter them. It's not your job. You know what your job is to bring them to church. That's your job. Do your job, and then let God do God's job. You gotta be obedient. Even when obedience is hard, it's hard getting the kid up in the morning and don't want to go nowhere. Gotta do it. Here's the other thing you control, your attitude. Did you know you control your attitude? I'm not gonna read it because I don't have enough time, but there's a and then the very next verse, Paul Paul is is eating a meal, he's breaking bread. And the Bible says the prisoners are encouraging one another. Now, that ought to shock you when you remember that they were in the middle of a hurricane.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

Pass the bread. So God's okay. Smiling at each other, laughing, ha ha, encouragement, encouragement. In the middle of a storm, you know why they're able to do that?

SPEAKER_02 36:51

Because they understand that they control their attitudes. It's something you have control over. Don't ever say, they made me mad. They they what? They made me, they they made you. Can't nobody make you mad? Can't nobody make you salty, can't nobody make you bitter, can't nobody make you hate? All of that is a choice. Here's my real big pet peeve. You leave church, I was I was leaving church, and then and then someone cut in front of me, and the devil trying to steal my blessing, but he cannot steal what he did not bestow. The devil don't steal blessings, we surrender them when we choose to have a negative attitude, when we choose to not have joy. Your joy is your job. It's your job. Here's the other thing we can control. Listen, our effort. Our effort, our effort. Someone say obedience, attitude, effort. Again, because I don't have enough time. I'm gonna tell you, they start they start bringing down the mass, they start throwing things overboard, they start tying up the anchor. And I'm just thinking, this is a lot of work for a group of people who had already received a prophetic word that they would survive. This is Timmy Union Church. Never allow a prophecy and excuse to be lazy. Well, God said he was gonna do it. And what you gonna do? Do not allow the Bible with all of its promises to become a bench. Well, Psalms said, and Matthew said, and and and are you doing what you said you would do? Because it well, God said he's gonna restore my marriage. And are you going to counseling? God said he's gonna provide for me financially. Awesome. Now get a job. Do both. Believe and sow seed. Believe for rain and sow seed. Gotta do both. One more time, say obedience, attitude, effort. Are you ready? That's all you can control in life. That's all you can control. Now I'm gonna tell you about what God controls. Number one, the opportunity. Paul's about to go preach to Caesar. That's a pretty big deal. Preaching to Caesar, the emperor of the world. Only God can open doors like that. I have seen so many people spend thousands of dollars, waste thousands of dollars, trying to break into rooms that God never opened the door to. And you see, no, it's not gonna work like that. Only God makes that post go viral, only God brings that angel investor to sow into your business and get you off the ground. Only God has the meetup with the cute person and the opportunity that's God. God does those things, and you gotta let God be God and bring the opportunity. In the story, while they're in the boat, the same prison guard that found Paul saves Paul's life. Some of the other guards say, Hey, they're gonna escape, let's kill them. And the guard goes, No, we're not gonna kill them. We're gonna save them. And uh only God can turn an enemy into an ally. Amen. You know, I have you ever met a bad kid? They say they don't exist, you're not supposed to say things like that anymore. Like, there are no bad kids. I'm like, I get you, but like I've met some. And especially like I've seen them in the grocery store. They just walk down the aisle, they're just knocking off cereal boxes. And I say this every time I see it, I go, where are they bears? And then she comes over and she comes to the kid with the box on the floor and does the whole gentle parenting thing. Well, I'm not coming for gentle parenting, but it'd be something like, are you sure that's a good idea? How do you think the grocery person feels? Are you and I'm just and then the kid looks back at the parent and it's like, whatever, Sharon? Did you just call your mama by her first name? You would have died in my house. And everything inside me wants to go over to that kid. And spank his butt. I know I can't say that, but it's true. And I'll probably get arrested. And you know what that mom would be able to tell me, even though I might parent differently, you know what she would tell me, and she would be all right to do? She'll go, hey man, you parent your kid the way you want to parent your kid. And you let me parent my kid the way I wanna parent my kid, and she would be completely in the right. Because that's my kid. I'm just trying to tell you that person at work that's giving you a hard time, that person you live with that you feel like you're never gonna change, your kid, your parent. Can I just help you? That's not your kid. Look at me. That's not your kid, and you gotta let their parent. You gotta let their parent parent their kid. You take care of what's your responsibility, you let God take care of what's his responsibility. That's up to him. That's not my kid, that's up to the Lord. You do what you gotta do, Lord. Here's the last thing opportunity, other person, and outcome. Somebody say outcome. You know, you could practice and still lose the game. You could work 60 hours and still get fired. The outcome is always God's job. That second line on the pregnancy stick, that's God's job. Now I'm gonna do my part. Amen. Do my part. But uh from someone who has lost four children and four children in pregnancy, that's me. That's my wife and my story. Can I tell you what I learned? Sex don't make babies. God does. God does. Only God can give life. And you know where frustration lies? I'm gonna say this, I'm gonna close. When you try to do God's job, when you put yourself in the seat of control of things that you do not have the power to control, that's when frustration sets in. So you obey, you have a good attitude, you put in the work, and that's literally all you do. And then you wait on the Lord to do what only the Lord can do. You let the Lord bring the man, you let the Lord bring the baby, you let the Lord bring the child, you let the Lord bring the job, you let the Lord bring the breakthrough, you let the Lord bring the live. But I'm letting go. I'm gonna experience freedom today. Cause you don't always have the power of control, but you know what you always got the power of? Surrender. You always got the power to surrender. And surrender is more powerful than control. Cause you know what defeated the back of the enemy? You know what broke his back, not control. Jesus didn't try and control the devil. This is what killed him, not my will. But your will be done. You know what killed the enemy? You know what put him and sent him back to hell? The cross. Surrender. There are some demons you defeat through surrender, some bondages you get free from through surrender. And today is a day for surrender. Every head bot, every eye closed. If you're in this room and you're attached to some things that are controlling you, there's a surrender moment right now. I need you to think of that thing. I need you to internalize that thing. Listen, and I need you to rebuke that thing right now. I give that up to the Lord. That is not mine, that is yours. You are in charge. You are under control. I give that to you, Lord God, as you're praying right now. Symbolically, would you open up your hands as a symbol of release? I'm letting go of the chain, I'm letting go to the leash. I'm not gonna let this thing drag me no more. I'm not gonna let this thing drown me no more. I'm not gonna let this thing pull me no more. I'm letting go, I'm giving to God what it's caused. I'ma do the work, I'ma obey the word, I'ma have joy, but everything else I give to you, Jesus. If you're in this room today and you don't know Jesus, can I tell you the number one thing he wants? More than your sin, more than your struggle, more than your addiction, he wants you. All of you. And if you surrender your life to him today, I promise, he will lead you. Jesus is the only one I'm gonna be attached to. Jesus is the only one I'm gonna be chained to. Jesus is the only one who I wanna give control to. Jesus, have your way in my life. That's you on the counter three. You wanna give your life to Jesus. Watching at Min Hill here in the room at K-Pack on the counter three. Would you raise your right hand saying, I need to give Jesus control of my life? I'm letting go of the steering wheel. It's too much for me. Raise your right hand high on three of that's you. One, two, three. Right now, would you raise your hand high? Come on, I see your hand, ma'am. I see your hand, sir. I see your hand. So many hands over here at K-Pack. I know there's hands over at Minhill. Listen to me. With your hand raised, I want everyone to pray this prayer out loud. Whether you raised your hand or not, everyone say, Father God, today I surrender all of my control.

SPEAKER_00 46:25

You're a good God. I give you my sin. I give you my life.

SPEAKER_02 46:31

Have your way in me. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And amen. Come on, one more time, put your hands together, and thank God for all of those people that made a decision to follow Jesus today.