Our House - Week 4: Joy

And amen, others are going to continue to come and

we're uh, we're still in our in our series, our house.

We're talking about core values, those those five values that

that kind of surround the four things that we do experience, God, walking, freedom,

find our place so that we can live with purpose

and kind of give some some direction and structure to

those four things beyond just casting vision and today, even

though we always talk about transparency as the foundational one,

and then of course generosity is also something that that

that that I love, This is probably my favorite one today.

It's the core value of joy.

I believe that that joy is transformative. I believe that

when you step into joy and you understand scriptural joy,

that it sets you free from a lot of things

and allows you to operate in a way where the

tax of the enemy just don't quite feel the way

they used to feel.

Come on, somebody, you know, you know who.

I talk about those people that it just seems like

they walk through the course of the day and bad

things happen, but it just doesn't quite tear them down

the way it does something.

You know who, you know those people and you're like, oh,

they make me so mad. I mean.

It's okay to feel that way that I just wish

that I the apostle Paul is that imitate me, is

I imitate Christ. So he said that we can see

people's lives and desire to operate in kingdom principles the

way they operate. And I think the spirit of joy

is something that elevates you to a place where you

are that city set on a hill, that you can

navigate life's conditions.

As a matter of fact, this is kind.

Of the way the way we write it here, we

believe that joy is essential to successful kingdom living.

Let me read that again. We believe that joy.

Is essential to successful kingdom living. It is the source

of our strength to endure the hardships of life. Strong

people are normally also joyful people. And when we understand that,

and we buy into that, and we lean into that,

we can just navigate the whole plan of God in

our lives in a so much better way. Because you

know how many of you have come to the realization

by now, how many have you been saved by for

more than one day? Raise your hand, you've been saved

for more than one day. So if you've been saved

for more than one day. Maybe you've come to this

realization too. It's not all puppies and picnics, Amen.

Amen.

Kingdom living is adverse to the natural world in which

we live in.

It's opposite of that.

We live in an upside down world, and as a

result of that, it's hard to navigate. Joy gives us

that internal pressure that pushes back against the external pressure

that gives us the spiritual equilibrium to.

Continue to walk the straight line towards purpose. Amen.

I cannot say that again the way I just said that,

But that sound is so good.

Somebody needs to remember it and tweet it. Amen.

If you got a Bible, go to Niamia chapter eight, NIAI,

chapter eight.

This is that famous. This is like the go to.

You can't preach about joy without reading this scripture. In

Nami chapter eight, starting in verse ten, it says, then

he said to them, go your way, eat the fat,

drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom

nothing is prepared for. This day is holy to our Lord.

Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord.

Is your strength.

Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word. It's

the only change agent on the face of this planet.

And I pray that today you change us, or that

some of us you take us.

From glory to glory.

Some of us, Lord, we just understand the basic principle

of joy a little better man, that for the rest

of us, Lord, we are able to walk in it

in a purer way before we give you glory and

honor in Jesus' name. Amen, he says, Listen, I want

you to go your way. I want you to eat,

I want you to drink. I want he says, listen,

I want you to go enjoy your life.

I want you to go and enjoy the things that

people do.

Come on, somebody, did you know that as a believer,

it's okay for you to enjoy life.

But a lot of times.

We walk around like you know, we've got this weight

on our back, and it's this whole posture and attitude.

Of oh no, the devil's out to get me. I

don't know what I'm going to do.

He's around that turn, he's around that turn, and everything's hard. Listen,

if that's your you will get what you look for

and expect.

Amen.

You can have faith for the enemy to show up too,

just like you can have faith for God.

To show up.

And here's the difference between God and the enemy. God

very rarely shows up early, but he never ever shows

up late, and the enemy is always early.

The enemy is always early.

Because he will feed you something and give you something

that feels good enough that you'll stop chasing the real thing.

And here he says, listen, I want you to go

and I want you to engage in life. I want

you to engage in those things in culture that are

there because it puts you in front of people, and

don't worry about it when hard times come. The joy

of the Lord is your strength, that intestinal fortitude, that

thing that Jesus deposits deep down at the fabric of

our being is the strength that we use to persevere.

But one of the greatest tools that the enemy uses

to kill joy, to rip joy out of our lives.

And that's what the enemy does. He steals your fruit.

He steals the things that are natural to the people

of God, the things that are natural to the people

of God, those things that should naturally be in our

lives are those fruits of the spirit, and one of

those is joy.

If you're planted in.

The listen, let me say this. If you're planted in

the Kingdom, the fruit of the Spirit, joy, peace, kindness,

long suffer.

Those are not things you.

Go try to do. Let me say that again. Those

are not things you go try to do. If you're

truly planted in the Kingdom, securely planted in the Kingdom,

those are fruits that manifest in your life. There are

things that you do because you're planted in the Kingdom.

If you're going to try to do those things, you

can't go do apple. Come on, somebody, you can. I mean,

you can look at an orange tree all you want

to and say apple, apple, aipple and it's just gonna

grow oranges. Or you can go to a pecan tree

and say banana, banana, and no bananas go happen.

Amen, you can't do fruit. It just happens.

It's just what's supposed to happen. We are planted in Jesus,

and the fruit of the Spirit just supposed to happen.

It just comes out of our lives. But we get

so distracted by comparison.

That he will sneak up behind you. Listen. There used

to be this show, I.

Think it was Door of the Explorer, and there was

this there was this character called Swiper Parents raise your

head if you know what I'm talking about, Swifer. Some

of y'all are young enough that you grew up. Now

you're adults, and yeah, my daughter's like that was like

that was my jam, you know that was And there

was this he was this little fox or raccoon or something,

I don't know.

He wore this he was a fox, okay, and.

He wore this mask and he would sneak up and

he would try to steal stuff from door. He tried

to steal her backpack. He tried to steal stuff, and

she try just say swipe or no swifing. But he

was like sneaky. He would just like sneak into the picture,

just like subtly. And that's what the enemy does. He's

coming and he's trying to swipe your joy. But here's

the difference. He usually doesn't use big things on the outside.

He will use the people close to you, and you'll

see the blessings of God, and you'll see their blessings

and you'll compare your life to their lives, and you'll

feel like God's not doing anything for you. If you

got a Bible, go to a John chapter five. John

chapter five, starting in.

Verse three.

It says in these lay a great multitude. Now now

we're talking about the pool of Bethesta. Here it was

a place where where the angel, the Lord would come

and stir the water and people would be healed. And

it was a gathering place for sick people. Let me

just let me just say that again. It was a

gathering place for sick people. It was a gathering place

for people that needed something. It was a gathering place

of the broke. Sounds kind of like church, a gathering

place of people that were in need of something and

looking for something, and they knew that the water held

the answer. In John Chatter five, he says, and these

in these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed,

waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel

went down at a certain time into the pool and

stirred up the water. Then whoever stepped in first.

Let me read that again.

For an angel went down at a certain time into

the pool and stirred up the water. Then whoever stepped

in first, after the stirring of the water, was made

well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man

was there who had an infirmity thirty eight years. When

Jesus I saw him lying there and knew that he

had already been in that condition for a long time,

he said to him, do you want to be made well?

I just so Jesus he was a great observer. Amen.

He comes in and he looks and he sees all

these people gathered, all these sick people gathered. This man

has been sick for thirty eight years. He's been at

the pool of Bethesda every day for a long time.

And Jesus just kind of.

Asked the next logical question, Bro, you've been here this

long and you ain't been in the water yet. Do

you want to be made well? Do you want to

be made well?

Or is this is for somebody?

What I'm about to say is not for everybody, but

it is for somebody here today.

Amen.

God, God delivered me a long time ago from preaching

to everybody. Sometimes I just preached to somebody.

Amen. He said, you've been here a long time, You've been.

Gathering with these people for a long time, and you've

still been showing up and you've still been here, but you.

Still got the same condition.

Do you want to be different? Do you want to

take the next step? Do you want what's next? Do

you want? Or are you so comfortable being surrounded by

the people that you're surrounded by and they know your

condition and they talk about your condition, and they give

you attention because of your condition. Do you like the

attention of your dysfunction better than healing? Listen, I think

I think I'm more ready this morning than y'all are.

He said, listen, do you want to be made well?

And was like, come on, I get somebody to drag

me here every day.

Every day, somebody brings me over here.

In verse seven, the sick man answered him, Sir, I

have no man to put me into the pool when

the water is stirred up. But while I'm coming, another

steps down before me. Jesus said to him, I just

we can say it like this, or I can just

say it. Jesus said to him, get up, fold up

your bed, and walk. You don't need no angel water,

you don't need a hot tub. All you need is

faith to stand up and walk. All you need is

a change of thought. All you need is a different perspective. Rise,

take up your bed and walk. And immediately the man

was made well, took up his bed and walked.

No waiting around but here's the reality.

This man was convinced because he couldn't get in first,

he couldn't be healed. At some point somebody looked at

that crowd and said, whoever gets in first is going

to be healed.

Somebody told them that. At some point it became the rule.

At some point it became the religion of the gathering.

Come on, somebody, did you know that religion will cap

your experience with God? That man made rules and set

protocols that do not further you towards purpose will cap

your experience with God. The number one thing we do

experience God is not about religion. It's not about the

things we do. It's about who we do them for.

And he said, here's the thing you need to gather,

and you need to understand that you may have a

rule in your mind.

But I supersede all the rules.

Joy says, there's something more and I'm going to chase

after it. I'm going to release this thing locked up

in me. And my condition may look bad. I've never

been here before, I've never had this happen before. But

Jesus is who he says he is, and because there's

something on in the inside of me, that's pressurized. That's

depressurizing my environment. I'm going to continue to walk and

experience him. And Jesus shows up and he steps over

all of you. Religion will create a spirit of competition

if you're Christianity, if your faith goes from convocation to convocation,

formal gathering to formal gathering. If you're from convocation to convocation,

you live in an environment of competition. We think that

there's not enough blessing for everybody to get it. Oh well,

Pastor Steve's favorite is that person.

I could never be his favorite.

Listen, I don't really like none of y'all, just so

there's an equal opportunity. I'm just kidding.

I should have said it this way. I love all y'all.

But if you already mad at me, you're not gonna

believe that anyway. Right, so I might say I don't

like you. Jesus shows up at this pool where religion

is made it a competition. Jesus shows up to the

pool and he turns formality on its head, and what

was competition becomes cooperation. See, when we come together, it

shouldn't about who gets It shouldn't be about who gets

there first. It should be about how can we help

one another? So everybody gets there.

How can we.

I'm just gonna say, if I was there, I would

have figured out a way that everybody hit the water.

At the same time. I would have said, all right, everybody,

line up.

For those of you that can't walk, somebody hold them.

When the water.

Bubbles on the counter three. If you go early, you

can't come back. If you get in early, you're out.

We don't want glory chasers. We don't want selfish people.

We want selfless people who were kingdom first. Who wants

everybody here?

Now? When the water.

Bubbles, I'm gonna count one, two, three, and when I

hear at three, everybody.

Goes in at the same time. Or I would have

put a water hose in it.

Come on, somebody, and I would have flooded the whole place.

So we were all laying in it, so when it bubbled, we.

Were all there when it happened.

But because they were so bound to the rules of

the day that said this and that, and I can

have this and I can't have that, and it's about

me looking the right way and feeling the right way,

they went one at a time, and this man was sick.

For thirty eight years. I know my God doesn't.

Want you in your dysfunction for thirty eight years, and

the enemy will trap you there with a spirit of

competition and a spirit of comparison until you get so

sick that you just give up and he sucks the

joy out of you and there's no faith and there's

no hope, and you're a shell of who you.

Were when you first experienced Jesus.

That's why we look at people that first get saved, man,

and they're so on fire.

How many of you of you've ever used that?

Listen, listen, how many of you have ever used that

to describe a new Christian?

Oh, they're so on fire. Raise your hand.

Oh they're so on fire for the Lord. And usually

we don't say that about people that have been saved

for a long time, do.

We We say, Oh, they're so wise, they're so wise,

they're so kind and gentle, because.

Y'all ain't doing nothing.

We try to make ourselves feel better by coming up

with these other adjectives.

But we talk about all the new people, Oh, they're

so on fire for Jesus.

Man, they've had this experience in there, they've got a

white hot flame and they're they're so passionate about God

and bringing people to Him. And when we've been saved

for a few years, she's shouting.

Boy, she is looking at.

Me, smiling and shouting, I'm telling you, we have these

people that have been saved, and it's like, because we

compare ourselves to everybody else's blessing, because we compare ourselves

to what everybody else has, and what our perception of

what God has done for everybody else is that it

slowly beats the.

Spiritual life out of us.

Until we're no longer a reflection of what we used

to be. Because joy demands that we're involved with other people.

Because joy is a share experience that is expressed through

relationship and community. And we could either have religion or community.

That you can't have both, and the only way to

have it is you get involved in the lives of people. Well,

didn't shout too much about that, did you, Because it

requires us to do some extra things. It requires us

to get over ourself and look for God to do

great things in other people. You know, somebody gets somebody

gets a blessing. But I'm not telling you to go

play the lottery. That is not what I'm saying in

the story I'm about that, that's not what I'm saying. Okay,

so don only here a little Pushthuve said, go buy

a lottery ticket.

That's not what I'm saying.

If you buy one, buy one for the highest game

they're playing. Right, So somebody could come in and win

a billion dollar lottery. You come and say that I

we give half of it to the church, and about

thirty percent of the people would be.

Like, well, I don't know why it am win the

lottery because you wasn't gonna give any of it to

the church. Well, I don't know why. I don't know

why they're happy. I don't know why. I don't know

why they're I don't know why they don't ever fight.

I don't know why.

My husband always fights with me, but their husband. I

don't know why Pastor and Stephen Angie, why they don't

ever disagree and they don't ever fight.

Come to my house.

You set this comparison trap, and it steals joy.

Because it's not based in reality.

It's based in fantasy and selfishness.

Listen, if one.

Of y'all win the lottery, it ain't gonna help me

in the least bit other.

We're gonna reach more people for.

Jesus, but personally, it's not gonna help me. I'm not

gonna get a raised because you win the lottery.

Bless God. But I tell you what I'm gonna do.

As soon as you drop the.

Check or give online, or I don't care if you

bring it in pennies, I'll be counting those pennies. Thank you, Jesus,

Thank you, Jesus, Thank you Lord. You know, when somebody

comes to me and they say, oh, Pastor, God did this.

For me, I rejoice with you. I rejoice with you.

And when you come in.

You say, Pastor, I got this going on, and I

just don't.

I cry with you. And I'm not being boastful, but

I just want to let you know I'm.

The most joyful person.

I know.

Y'all are laughing, but I promise I'm not trying to

be funny. For those of you that know me, you know,

it's like my thing. It's like my fruit. Nothing else

grows on my tree, just big joy fruits.

And it's because.

I don't compare, because I want the best for you.

And if God blesses you, it's a blessing. To me,

I don't look at other churches and say, why can't

I pastor a church that side. Most of the time

I say, thank God, I don't pastor a church that size.

But I just understand that God's plan is his plan

for me.

And if I compare the worst part of me to

the best part of Terry, I'm gonna come up wanting

every single time. And if I compare the best part

of me to the worst part of Randy, I'm gonna

be prideful every single time. But we're not competitive forces

in the kingdom. We're cooperative forces working to bring glory

to God in establish his kingdom right here in Oakwood.

My prayer is that we so.

In fact, that we so rich and invade our city

that we have to change the name to Bethel, the

House of God, because every person that comes in the

city limits is blessed because of the anointing of God

and God's people in this city.

You know, have to clap this.

Okay, I'm almost done, Patrick Clay can come and get ready.

In Psalm fifty one, starting in verse ten, it says,

creating me a clean heart, O God, and renew a

steadfast spirit within me, do not cast me away from

your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.

And here it is, restore to me the joy of

your salvation and uphold me by your generous spirit, he says,

Just restore to me.

Those early days, that that that experience.

Of yours when I Lord, when I still realize that

you did it and I didn't have anything to do

with it. Salvation belongs to the Lord. It's his salvation

given to us, and when we first experience it, it

awakens this gratitude on the inside of us, and it

implores us to be joyful and to live out loud

the things that Jesus has done on the inside that's

spilled to the outside. And we we worship and we praise,

and we do all of those things.

He says, Restore to me that.

Because I've lost it. I don't want to be an

old geezer. I want to be a child of God

running in play in the backyard of my father. And

you know, maybe maybe you're here and you've never even

asked Jesus to be your savior. Maybe you've never asked

him to forgive you of your sins. You don't have

a relationship with him, and you think about all the

things you've done and all the hurts you've called. Listen

to what it says in sec of Corinthians, chapter five,

for seventeen reasons like this. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation. You're not the same. Old

things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

There's more for you. There's more for you. You're built

for more. There's more. And if you're here today and

you've never asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins,

but be the lord of your life. In just a moment,

I'm gonna count to three. And when I count to three,

if that's you, I want you to make your way

to the front. Our prayer team is gonna be here,

and we're gonna pray together. You're gonna become a new creation,

and that guilt and that shame is gonna be buried

and washed away by the blood of Jesus.

But maybe you're here and.

You know Jesus, but you just feel like a second

class citizen in the kingdom. You feel beaten down, you

feel overlooked, you feel isolated and alone.

It feels like God bless us everybody else and not

you just a moment.

I'm gonna count to three for you also, and when

I get to three, you might have.

To push somebody down.

But I want you to get out from where you

are and I want you to make your way to

the front. And we want to pray that God infuses

you with the spirit of joy and returns the joy

of your salvation, that joy that you once felt, that inspires,

that invigorates, that brings a smile to your face, that

makes you want to wake up in the morning and

endure all the things that you have to go through

because you know God has more.

Then one of those things.

I want to experience Jesus for the first time, or

I just want.

To I wanted to restore joy.

I want a joy infusion this morning because I feel

like the pressures of life are crushing me. Everybody's staying

with me all over the building. Alter team, come on down.

On the count of three, fast you.

I want joy.

I want Jesus to forgive me one of those two things.

On the count of three, I want you to step

out and move. Don't look to see if anybody else

is moving. This is your time for your thing.

From your God. On the count of three.

I want you to step out and come one, two.

Three, step out and move right now. I need joy.

I feel depleted, defeated.

Thank you, Jesus, Thank you, Jesus, Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus,

thank you.

Jeez, thank you.

Cheese.

Tak you cheese,